Just a little flow. She could do that. What happens then?
I put it back where it belongs.
In the lines?
Exactly. He lifted his hand, just as he’d done a few days ago when they’d been practicing during that freezing cold night back in Texas. It felt like an eternity ago. Just let it out of yourself. No big deal.
She slowly lifted her hand, not even blinking as her stare bored into his. Fear and pain threatened to consume her, but she pushed it aside, trying to focus on what he’d asked her to do.
It’s just a little release, he coaxed. Movers do this all the time. You’re not exactly a mover, so you just need a little help.
Right. No big deal.
She studied the chiseled features of his handsome face, hoping he alone could keep her grounded. The hair on her arms stood on end as magick charged the air.
What’s that? Panic filtered through her brain at the new sensation.
I tapped a line. Are you ready?
Hell no. Yes.
On the count of three, I want you to let it go. Turn the knob inside of you and push it into me slowly. His voice was calm and soothing, nothing like the fear and panic mosh pit she had kicking in her brain. She tried to focus on the sound, relaxing into the deep vibrations of his thoughts inside her head.
That’s right. Just calm down, he said steadily. One.
She absorbed the resonance until her own thoughts and fears were nothing but a dull drone in the recesses of her mind.
Two.
She could do this. She’d blasted a queen with ley line fire, for God’s sake. She could do anything.
Three.
With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and imagined the invisible line running between Eldon and herself. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel its presence tying them together. Her heart, her soul, her mind was all bound to him. She opened her eyes as she let a sliver of the energy go.
Eldon groaned, his knees bending slightly as if he carried a tremendous load.
Eldon? she asked into his mind.
I’m fine, he bit out. Keep going.
She did as he asked, focusing on the amount of magick leaving her body. Every muscle in her body tensed, and she grit her teeth. The sensation was akin to holding on to a live fire hose, the power tremendous and her strength so feeble by comparison. Still, she gripped the magick with her mind and dialed it back, forcing it to comply with her demands until the release slowed to a trickle, a whisper of power from her body to his. The tension in his face eased.
Thank God, she didn’t seem to be hurting him anymore.
They stood there, bound by their magickal communion for several long moments as her magick unraveled. It discharged from her and back into Eldon, then through his palm and into the ground before it vanished. The weight of the magickal energy lifted slowly from the center of her chest, her breathing coming easier by the second.
When the last of the magick dissipated, she shuddered. Her knees gave out, and she dropped to the ground, the loss of the pressure such a welcome absence that she wanted to cry.
Eldon rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her body, filling her instantly with his warmth.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice muffled against her hair.
She nodded, still unable to speak.
“Brilliant performance, you two.” From out of the darkness emerged a familiar redheaded woman, her dark brown eyes sharp. “Simply brilliant.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Eldon shot to his feet, leaving Rho on the ground beneath him as he shielded her with his body. The world snapped back into focus, Preshea still sitting on one perp and Tim manhandling the other. They’d been sitting so quietly and he’d been so focused on Rho, he’d nearly forgotten they were there.
“Cadence?” Eldon squinted, wondering who the hell would have called the Collective leader. No one should know where they were. “What are you doing here?”
“I was notified that the wards here were tripped. I thought I’d investigate.”
Bullshit. “The Kamen has already been stolen from this place. Why would the wards still be set?”
Cadence smiled. “The guilty ones always like to come back to the scene of the crime. I wanted to see who’d shown up.” With a hard stare, she glanced at the man still squirming beneath Preshea then the other with a gun dancing against his temple. “I didn’t, however, expect these two.”
“Friends of yours?” Rho asked, brows drawn.
The Collective leader waved a hand. “Release them.”
“What?” Tim tugged the man closer against him.
“No—” Rho started.
“These are my subjects.” Cadence’s eyes narrowed. “My claim to them supersedes yours.”
Eldon didn’t want to be insubordinate, but he couldn’t just let them go. “We need to question them.” That woman had put him on this team. Surely she knew they had a job to do.
“I’m not going to keep you from your work.” Cadence rolled her eyes, as if she were irritated with the conversation. “But I am going to make an example of them.”
Hard to disagree with that logic. Eldon lifted a shoulder. “As long as I get my turn.”
Preshea and Tim both shot Eldon a concerned look, but he didn’t budge. Most of the race leaders of the DarqRealm led by fear. Cadence wasn’t far from that truth, but Eldon knew her personally. They’d been…almost friends, really, for years. She was a fair and honest leader, and she’d never steered him wrong in the past. He didn’t expect her to start today.
Tim clenched his jaw and stared at Eldon for a long moment before he shoved the man in his grip toward Cadence. With the slow grace of a predator, Preshea rose, and the man scrambled out from beneath her. Neither man made a move to run, which only punctuated the power Cadence held. A blue ball of ley line fire encircled the two men like a net, trapping them in place.
At once, the connection between Eldon’s mind and Rho’s collapsed. He gave her a sidelong glance, and she shrugged, as if she’d realized the same thing. Maybe their connection only held in intense situations? They still hadn’t quite figured out how it worked.
With a quick pop, Preshea transformed back to her human self. “I’m getting really tired of all this magick bullshit. Seriously.” She dusted off her leathers and ran her fingers through her short, zebra-striped hair.
Cadence marched forward, bypassing Eldon completely. As he turned, she extended a hand behind him and pulled Rho to her feet. “You and I need to talk.” The Collective leader saddled Rho with a hard stare.
There was no way that would be happening without him. Rho had enough issues, and they did not need the Collective involved in any of them.
“I’m coming,” Eldon said.
Rho glared at him and pursed her lips in disapproval. He ignored her. This wasn’t just politics; this was magick. Dangerous magick. No matter how much he trusted Cadence, he wouldn’t leave Rho alone with anyone that powerful.
Cadence shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She pointed a finger between Tim and Preshea then toward the glowing blue cage. “Keep an eye on those two for me, will you?”
Tim nodded. Preshea scowled and folded her arms across her chest, obviously irritated about being excluded from the conversation. Frankly, Eldon was happy. They didn’t need the shifter getting hotheaded with the leader of the mover nation. Not today.
Cadence led them toward the walkway and hopped over the short railing. Eldon exchanged a quick glance with Rho before they both did the same.
He frowned as he followed behind her. Rho’s emotional grid was off. He wasn’t an empath by any means, and their connection had dropped, but he could usually read people’s body language like a book. Especially hers, with how close they’d become. Right now Rho was putting off a whole bunch of nothing, which either meant he was off his game or she was keeping something from him.
When they were alone, Cadence stopped and whirled around to face Rho. “What I have just witnessed, young lady,
is the use of your power against a member of the DarqRealm. You’ve confirmed everything Rhyannon has spoken.”
Rho didn’t flinch, her expression completely blank. Fear churned in Eldon’s gut, that familiar feeling when you knew something was about to happen but you couldn’t pinpoint what. Rhyannon had claimed to the Council that Rho had stolen the Kamens, but surely Cadence didn’t buy that line of garbage.
With mahogany eyes that never seemed to miss anything, Cadence scanned the darkness. “Our laws dictate that I could call you out right now and you’d never make it to the trial.”
Wait. “What trial?”
Cadence met his stare. “The fate of your vampire friend is being discussed as we speak.”
“Fate?” When Cadence didn’t respond, he turned to Rho. “What is she talking about?”
Rho bit her lip but didn’t answer the question. Which confirmed his suspicion. She knew exactly what Cadence meant.
“Rho?” he prompted.
Cadence sighed, as if bored with the whole conversation. Or tired of repeating herself. “She is now both immortal and proven to be capable of wielding magick. This makes her a danger to our world.”
A spark lit in his chest, partially fueled by his anger at being kept out of the loop. The slow burn of his need to defend her made up the other part. “She’s not dangerous. Not if she can learn how to control herself.”
“That’s not the point.” Cadence shook her head. “If word gets out about her abilities, every Dweller will be in a panic. And it’s a double standard. We can’t allow this to happen.”
“Then we keep it a secret.” His lips were sealed on that subject. And he’d staple everyone else’s shut if he had to.
Cadence chuckled. “In a perfect world, yes. But this world is far from perfect.”
Rho still didn’t say a word, which only made him more nervous. His gaze darted between the two women as he tried to figure out what wasn’t being said. “What’s going to happen?”
“Your lover didn’t tell you?” The corners of Cadence’s mouth twitched.
He couldn’t respond. Instead, he stared at Rho, watching as the guilt of the unspoken words covered the beauty of her features.
“No.” As the word left his mouth, the sense of total betrayal washed over him, a bath of saltwater to an open wound. “She didn’t tell me anything.”
After all they’d been through, after everything they’d done together, Rho still didn’t trust him. He’d wanted to believe they were past that issue, but here they were. Back to square one. The realization was a punch to the gut, and damn if it didn’t make him feel an inch tall. And piss him off.
He cleared his throat and tried to redirect the conversation. He had every intention of speaking with Rho about this revelation, but that was a conversation to be had in private. “You haven’t answered my question, Cadence.”
Cadence’s smile drooped into a frown. “Your vampire teammate will be going to trial in front of the Council, both for her apparent theft of the Kamen and for whom…or dare I say what she is.”
Eldon’s gaze flew to Rho. “They’ll kill her,” he clipped out.
Rho stood there, motionless as she stared back at him, her somber expression saying everything that she’d been keeping from him. His heart turned to ice in his chest as the weight of Cadence’s statement anchored him to the ground. They didn’t need a full trial of bullshit for him to know the inevitable outcome. The line would be drawn between the public’s perception of safety and Rho’s life, and the Council would vote for the people every time.
The expression on Cadence’s face turned thoughtful. “That’s another reason I came here tonight. You’ve done a fine job of staying under our radar.” She glanced up at the basilica, the dome lit brightly against the dark sky. “The main reason I set up the wards was to know when you’d arrived. I knew you’d come here. I needed to speak with you.”
“You could have called,” Rho said, her voice stiff.
Cadence shook her head. “You know the phones have been tapped.”
“I won’t let them kill her just for existing.” His words were a vow. Anger and disappointment jockeyed for the front position in his mind, and he shoved them aside. No matter what Rho kept from him or why, there was no way would they take her away from him.
“Me neither,” Cadence said.
Rho’s brows shot up in surprise as she stared at the woman. “I thought you wanted me dead.”
Cadence’s gaze fell to the ground. “In my lifetime, I’ve only ever known two other siphons. One is the reason Etherealis remains sealed. The other is the one who helped me seal it.” She lifted her head. “I don’t believe a person’s race dictates who they’ll become. I believe our future is cast by the choices we make and those choices alone.”
“Why did you come here?” Rho whispered.
“I won’t tell the Council what I’ve seen tonight.” Cadence fiddled with a button on her jacket. “I knew your father, Rhowen. I even considered him a friend.” Her eyes turned sad. “We hid you when there was danger, but we knew what you were and what you could become. That no one told you is truly an atrocity, but the Council decided collectively this would be best.”
“You knew?” Disbelief fluttered through Eldon’s brain, and he swiveled around. Rho would be so angry to know—but the expression on Rho’s face wasn’t one of surprise. It was resignation. “You knew they knew?”
Rage and betrayal roundhoused him in the chest, and he rocked back on his feet, the sensation of complete distrust washing over him like a cold bucket of water. Rho had known all of this, and she hadn’t said a word. Not one single, motherfucking word.
She’d told him they’d just had a little status update. Just a quick meeting to discuss Rhyannon’s accusations and how the team was progressing. No. Big. Deal.
Every single word from her mouth had been a total lie. Not only did she not trust him with this knowledge, but she also didn’t trust him with her life. None of it. Oh, she could give up her life for him, but heaven forbid he do the same for her. Like a real man should. Like he would.
Rho opened her mouth, but the fire in his gaze must have made her reconsider. She snapped her jaw shut. With a timid hand, she tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear and cast a glance toward the ground.
He turned to the Collective leader. “You said you wanted to talk to me. So talk.”
Cadence’s voice lowered to a whisper as she stepped forward. “You must stay in hiding. The Council is changing. It isn’t what it used to be.” Her eyes surveyed the darkness again. “Finish what you’ve started here and then leave. Go to wherever you have the highest level of defense. It’s unwise to stay longer than necessary.”
He gave her a short nod. “Anything else?”
“No.” Cadence straightened as she glanced back toward her blue prison. “I’ll take care of those two. They won’t bother you again.”
“See if they’ll tell you who sent them,” Eldon said.
The Collective leader nodded then vanished with a blue pop.
When they were alone, Rho spoke. “Eldon, I—”
He lifted a hand to hush her. “Don’t.”
Betrayal twisted his heart, constricting his chest until he could barely breathe. She’d become the center of his world. He would give her anything or follow her anywhere, just to keep her safe. In all of their moments together, he thought he’d made that clear. But despite everything he’d laid on the line, it wasn’t enough. She had no faith in him.
“I was going to tell you. I just didn’t want you—”
“Save it.” The words came out as cold as his frozen heart. He’d truly thought they’d gotten past whatever trust issues they had, but to know she still didn’t have confidence in him was a knife to the heart. “Actions speak louder than words, and yours have done more than enough talking.”
He pivoted on a heel and marched back over to Tim and Preshea. He couldn’t make himself look at Rho. Because if he did, they’d both r
egret the words he’d never be able to take back.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As Eldon weaved through the darkened Paris streets, Rho rested her chin on her hand and stared out the passenger window. The cobblestone paths were probably a sight to behold around here at night, but she couldn’t focus her thoughts long enough to appreciate them. The sour stench of Eldon’s anger and disappointment permeated the car, suffocating her as she sat in silence.
This car was bad luck.
On their way to meet with Tim and Preshea earlier, she’d been mad at him for not telling her about Trinador. Now she got to take a turn on the guilty bus, Eldon’s quiet fuming doing nothing but frazzle nerves that were already shot.
As they rounded another curve on the winding road, she recognized the view. They weren’t far from the flat, and she had to break the awful silence. She swiveled in her seat to face Eldon. “The silent treatment doesn’t work for me either, you know.”
The muscles in his jaw twitched, but he didn’t respond.
“So is that how you’re going to be?” she asked. “Do I need to remind you about the whole ex-girlfriend stunt you pulled tonight? Or did you conveniently forget about that?”
She could hear his teeth grinding together as his hands flexed against the leather wrap of the steering wheel. He cranked the thing to the right and made his way around another tight corner.
God help her, she’d prod him into talking if she had do. For some reason, she needed to know they were still okay. “Just so we’re clear, we didn’t have sex back there just because—”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” he cut her off.
Well, that was something. But not good enough. “I don’t care. We’re in this thing together and we need to talk.”
“Later.”
“Or we can talk now.”
He gazed out the windshield in a daze, as if his mind was in a million other places. “No, we can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I have nothing to say.” The frustration rang clear in his tone, despite the fact that he’d done the exact same prodding to her on the way here.
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