Owen blinked at me and finally seemed to snap out of his wondering. “Ember, I need you to keep me updated on any changes you feel or notice, even if it’s the smallest, most benign thing.”
Suddenly I understood. The strange experience I had with Vek. The speed, agility, strength. What I had felt and how I responded to Vek. The instinctual desire to hunt him down and kill him. I had felt possessive of him; he had been my kill. The feeling was pure animalistic. But my Dae powers stemmed from fire and earth. My body was made from their magic, like a current of energy in my body. This felt more deep and instinctual like a deep-seated, inborn reaction. There was only one thing that could be causing me to feel like this—Eli’s blood. It was changing me, and Eli had observed the change and set this up. This was a test to show Cole and Owen what he had seen the day before. He had threatened me enough today for this new characteristic to come out and show itself to the others.
“You mean if I want to hunt and kill? Like how I took on a Strighoul without any kind of training and would have killed him if Eli hadn’t stopped me? Things like that?” Anger flared. My body was no longer my own; I was a science experiment.
“Yes. Things like that,” Owen responded. “I understand your frustration and anxiety. But to help you, I need to know every little change you feel.”
“How do I know what is different if I don’t know what I was before? Nothing about me is the same.” I had little understanding of what I was becoming.
Owen pressed his lips together. “This must be unsettling for you.” With a tilt of my head I gave him an exasperated expression. “Will you permit me to extract more blood from you?” Owen pulled out a syringe from his pocket. He had come prepared. My stubbornness wanted me to say no, but I knew I needed to know as much about what was happening to me as well.
I nodded begrudgingly. Shifting my gaze to look outside, I felt the prick of the needle enter my vein. Owen was efficient and quick, filling the vile with my blood. He left as soon as he had it, probably excited to test and examine the changes.
“Eli, come to the office when you have wrapped up here. We have some security issues to discuss.” Cole looked over his shoulder as he left the room. Eli nodded.
When the door shut behind Cole, I whipped around, glaring at Eli. Fury expanded my chest up and down swiftly. I once again felt like an object to him. All of them did a good job of pretending to treat me like a person when they merely wanted me to help them get back to where they belonged. Like Gabby my subconscious threw into my head. What a deceitful, little bitch. Ohhh . . . she’s good.
The night before suddenly seemed like a ploy, a way to play with my head. Perhaps even the way she had left, making it seem like she slipped up and told me something she shouldn’t, was part of the plan. She had preyed on me, used my vulnerability about my friends, for Mark, and mostly my weakness for Eli, against me. She manipulated me into thinking our stories made us some kind of kindred spirits. Pulling on my heartstrings had really been an attempt to get back into the Otherworld.
I cursed under my breath at my own gullible stupidity. I should have known something was up. Why would she open up and talk to me unless there was something in it for her? I looked over at Eli, but his stony face held no emotion as he looked back at me. I was an idiot. He wasn’t any different from Lorcan. Being a Dark Dweller was his nature. Cold, calculating, and cruel. And I wasn’t different to him; I was a means to an end.
“So, this was a test? Training me so you can study me more? Learn how to use my powers to benefit your needs, like I’m some lab rat?” My eyes narrowed. “Guess I should have known. You don’t do anything that isn’t for your own selfish reasons.”
“Selfish?”
“You are only nice to me or help me when you get something out of it. You don’t care if you lie, cheat, or use me to get it,” I shot at him. “Why don’t you be honest about it? Why do you flirt and act like there is something between us? You can drop the act now. All of you can.”
“Act?”
“Yeah, the whole, interested, seducing act. I can see through your bullshit from a mile away now.”
Really? You think so? He stepped up to me making my breath immediately tighten in my throat.
Yes, I countered, stepping up to him, the tips of our toes meeting.
You think I’m pretending to be attracted to you? His eyes moved slowly over my body.
Not liking the intimacy of the connection of our eyes, I spoke out loud. “Even if you are, it's not the only reason why you are doing it. You get some sick pleasure out of it. The power. Control. But I’m not falling for it anymore.”
“So, you don’t think I could still seduce you if I wanted?” His eyebrow cocked up, his tone magnetic. This was not a game I should be playing. He could seduce me simply by breathing and the breathing part was probably overkill. He always could, but lately it seemed even more so. His blood boiled in my veins, calling me to him. I sensed his eyes on me when I couldn’t see him, felt him in the air around me when he was nowhere near. I got a buzz when he was near me, and I hated it. I hated I was so weak when I knew it was all a game to him.
“You actually thought you seduced me the first time?” What was wrong with me? Why did I always have to challenge him? My pride spoke before my common sense kicked in, even when my pride knew it was a losing battle.
A smile twitched on his lips as he backed me up against the wall. “Is this a challenge?”
“No.” I breathed in shakily. “It was merely an oversight on your part.” I had to concentrate extremely hard on every word, making sure there was no tell-tale sign he was getting to me.
“Funny, that wasn’t the way I remember it,” he whispered in my ear, his breath hot on my neck. He then lowered his head, his lips over mine. Everything in my body was screaming for him to take me right there, but I didn’t move. “I know you were listening last night. There’s nowhere you can go I don’t feel you.” The end of his hair tickled my cheek as he leaned in, his lips lightly brushing the curve of my neck. He didn’t kiss my neck or do anything more, but by just doing that, I already felt my legs turning into butter. His mouth and stubble lightly skimmed up my neck, warm breath tickling the sensitive spot behind my ear. Locking my legs, I forced them not to give out. Both of us were breathing more erratically, desire and passion filling the space between us like fire.
“This is you not being seduced?” he mumbled in my ear.
Turning my head to look at him, I grabbed his biceps as I flipped us around, throwing him back against the wall. I leaned in, my lips grazing his ear and throat. My hands moved up his body, my nails trailing up his chest, past his neck and through his hair, causing a small growl to vibrate in his chest. This was no act; I knew he wanted me.
“Seems you were right,” I dragged my lips lightly over his, my voice sounding breathless and needy.
“Really?” His lips curved into a smile over mine.
My knee came up hard hitting its target. Eli doubled over in pain, sliding down the wall to the ground.
“I have been dreaming about doing that since I met you.” I turned and sauntered There would be hell to pay and a cold shower to take, but I didn’t care. It was SO worth it. towards the door. “I can play this game, too.”
TEN
Before I had a chance to even think about what I was doing, I stomped into the house and down the hallway, throwing Gabby’s bedroom door open. The décor fit her personality; it was a nod to the 1970s English-punk era. On one wall hung a giant, framed, black and white picture of the Queen of England. Written across her eyes it said “God Save The Queen.” Over her mouth spelled out “Sex Pistols.” I didn’t know Gabby all that well, but she seemed like the type who would hang a poster like that one because of the pure twisted humor she found in that statement. Her bedspread was black with red fuzzy pillows. She looked up from her bed where she was reading.
“You are a manipulative bitch, you know that?”
Her eyebrows rose, but she didn’t respo
nd otherwise.
“So were you trying a new strategy with me? Get me to sympathize with you so I’d voluntarily help instead of being forced to?” I took a few more steps into the room.
“It would make things a lot easier.” She rolled off her stomach, sitting up.
A scream threatened to escape. I was so sick of being used, and her nonchalant confirmation of this made me even angrier. “So you admit you’re a lying, deceitful bitch and everything you told me was simply to get me on ‘your side’?”
“Not one word was a lie.” She closed her book, setting it down next to her.
“It was ALL a lie.”
“It depends on your point of view.” Gabby stood up and walked over to me. “Eli is dragging his feet on this. So, yes, I’ll admit I was hoping it would convince you to help us. If I had to manipulate, so be it. But I did not lie to you.”
“Then what did you mean when you said you could feel Eli ‘claiming’ me?”
Gabby’s eyes darted nervously over my shoulder, away from me. Clearly she did not want to bring it up. Maybe she really didn’t mean to tell me everything.
“Yeah, Gabb, what did you mean?” A deep, husky voice spoke behind me. Eli stood in the doorway, his tall form filling the entire frame.
I looked back at Gabby. She swallowed nervously then laughed, “It was a way to get her to help us.”
“You are such a bitch.” My eyes narrowed into thin slits. Embarrassment rocked my emotions; I had wanted her words to be true.
Scanning the two of them, I let out a crazed laugh. “You’re all so obsessed with the idea of getting back to the Otherworld you don’t even care how you get there. Manipulate, deceive, screw, kill . . . whatever it takes, right? But you know what’s funny? I don’t know if you guys know why you want to go back anymore. I’ve never heard one of you say what you miss about home or what would be there for you if you got back. Do you even know anymore?” I pushed Eli into the wall, broke past him, and darted out of the room.
Furious with myself and everything associated with the Otherworld, I rushed out into the forest, needing to be away from everyone. I walked for a bit before plopping down under a tree, where I inhaled the cool air. Earthy scents filled my nostrils as I inhaled, immediately relaxing me. A humming force flickered through me. It was so minute, I was sure I imagined it. I looked down at the Goblin-crafted bracelet on my wrist. It weighed next to nothing, but its significance weighed heavily on me. I stayed under the trees for a long time before the copious fog clung to me, not distinguishing the difference between me and the trees.
When my blood began to fizz in my veins, I moaned. “Go away, Eli. Leave me alone.”
“Not possible or likely.” A large, dark mass emerged from the mist.
I rubbed at my forehead, trying to keep myself from snapping into a million pieces. “Why? Why can’t you leave me in peace?”
He moved closer, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Because you really don’t want me to.”
The memory of him saying something similar to me in the woods months earlier, before he first kissed me, produced heat, which stung my cheeks and body.
My eyes shot up to his. “Oh, I do. I really do.” Ignoring my words, Eli sat down next to me. His shoulder brushed against mine as he adjusted himself closer against the tree.
“I probably deserved the knee to the groin earlier.”
My smirk told him I agreed.
“Do you feel better now?” His tone held slight amusement.
With my head down on my arms, I tilted it to look at him. “I did in that moment.” We sat in silence for a while, watching the fog weave over the ground and plants.
Eli let out a sigh. “Do you know, Brycin, how easy it would be if I wasn’t attracted to you? I want nothing more than not to care about you.”
His words only invoked resentment and riled my anger further. “Gee, I am so sorry. I’m sure you’ll get over it.”
“Em . . .” he groaned.
“What Eli? Was that supposed to flatter me? Make me feel better?”
“It wasn’t meant to do either.”
“Plus, it’s probably the blood. Something you will get over in time.”
“Em—” He tried to cut in, but I continued over him.
“I mean do you even like me? As a person? Or is it completely superficial because I have your blood?”
“Yes—”
“Yes?” I cut in again. “Are you kidding me?” Fire burned deep in me. I rose with ignition. “Why should I be surprised? From the first day you met me, you looked at me like I was a bug under your shoe. Being attracted to a repulsive Dae must make you sick. How do you stand yourself, Eli?”
“I don’t.” Eli was suddenly inches away from my face. “You have no idea how hard I fight this—fight you. These feelings are my own personal hell.”
My palms met his chest, half hitting him, half pushing him away. “Fuck you!”
“That’s the problem.” He threw his hands up. “That's exactly what I want to do. I fight wanting you every minute of the day. And I shouldn’t. I should be disgusted by you, by the mere idea of kissing you. But, I’m not. I like you—as a person. You make me laugh. You constantly challenge me. I like when you are around and I hate that. You are everywhere and in everything,” he fired at me.
“Then trade me. Give me to the Unseelie King. Problem solved. All of them.”
“I wish it were that easy.”
“You’re the one who gave me your blood. I didn’t want this connection either.”
A growl erupted out of Eli, his hands tearing back through his hair. A sign he was hitting high levels of frustration. “This has nothing to do with my fucking blood.”
“Then what does it have to do with?” I screamed back.
“I don’t know.”
“Does this have to do with your hatred of Daes? Tell me what happened, what occurred to create so much disgust towards them.”
He turned away, his jaw gritting together. “You don’t understand,” his voice was low and cool.
“No, I don’t. So tell me.”
His eyes swung over to mine. I can’t.
Can’t or won’t?
Eli sucked in a swig of air, his attention going up to the tops of the trees. “Daes slaughtered my clan. They took away my family and everyone I loved.”
My jaw went slack. “What?”
“Don’t think for one moment your kind is a defenseless, misunderstood species. They are not. We aren’t the only soulless monsters out there.”
“My God, Eli. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
His gaze snapped away from mine. I could feel the shift in his body. He was shutting himself off from me again. “I don’t want to talk about it. I actually came out here to give you this.” He moved back over to where we had sat on the ground and picked up an object. I hadn’t noticed it when he first walked up.
He twisted around, shoving at me. It took me a moment for my brain to comprehend what he had given me. When I did, intense emotions swelled. “My sketch pad?”
“It’s a new one. I wasn’t able to grab yours from your home. I know how much you enjoy drawing and thought you might like having one here.”
I stared at the brand new drawing booklet. “You went out and bought me a sketch pad?” My head shook in confusion. Eli shrugged, keeping his eyes on the trees. “Sometimes I really don’t get you, Eli.”
“Me neither, Brycin.”
I felt so disoriented. A moment ago we were fighting and the next he was handing me a present. A very thoughtful present. He went all the way down to an art store to buy me something he knew I’d enjoy. My heart reacted before my brain could weigh in. I stepped up to him, placing my free hand gently on his cheek. My lips met his in a soft kiss. His lips didn’t hesitate in reacting to mine. Heat charged instantly between us. I quickly pulled away. Without a word I turned and rushed out of the forest.
When I returned to the infirmary, my room for now, Jared was sitting up
, showing minimal signs of his injuries. He smiled. His cheerful personality was back in abundance.
“Hey. You feeling better?” I asked.
“Yeah, Dad says I’m healing quickly; not as quickly as they do, but I’ll be up soon.”
“Good.” I sat down in the chair next to his bed. “I’m sorry . . . this shouldn't have happened to you. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have asked you guys to go there.”
“Are you kidding?” he spurted. “I actually got to fight and not with a punching bag or with one of the guys going easy on me. I won’t lie and say it didn’t hurt, but it was the first time I actually got to fight something real.”
A laugh of relief erupted out of me. “You’re not upset?”
“No, not at all. It was awesome,” he replied. “I know these guys protect me because I’m not quite a Dark Dweller. They’re afraid my human part will be killed. I’m much more vulnerable than them, but they forget I’m still hard to kill and not a baby anymore. I’m going to be seventeen in eight months. But because I’m not centuries old like them, they treat me like a kid.”
“Yeah, but they do it because they love you.”
“I know, but I’m grown up now. I want them to start treating me like I’m a part of the clan. Do you know what it’s like to have all these guys treating you like a kid, acting like fathers, mothers, older brothers, sisters, and uncles? Telling you what to do, never letting you really do anything, always trying to keep you in this safety bubble? I feel like I’m in a prison and it's making me crazy.”
I smiled. “You know, I’m starting to.”
ELEVEN
A while later Owen came in and smiled to find both his patients in one place. Being looked over like a lab rat was becoming second nature to me.
“Both of you are healing well. One more day in bed, Jared, and you will be good as new.” Owen ignored his annoyed huff. Jared was so full of vitality, getting him to sit another twelve hours was going to take a miracle. Owen moved towards my bed. “Ember, I got the results back from the blood I took earlier . . .” he trailed off, which made me gulp. When a doctor's voice becomes quiet, it was never good.
Fire In The Darkness (Darkness Series #2) Page 10
