Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  But by the look in her eyes just a second ago, she now knew exactly who I was, at least for that short period of my life.

  I was still mad at her for a lot of things, so being nice to her wasn’t exactly at the top of my list at the moment. Not until I had my answers. And I could wait. She could wait.

  I could feel her eyes on me again, but the moment was lost, so I reached down and grabbed the long neck bottle by my feet then took a long swig.

  “That her?” Clay said from the loveseat angled next to the couch I was sitting on alone.

  I took my pick from the couch cushion and strummed a chord as I nodded in response to his question.

  A deafening whistle blew through Clay’s fingers, but I didn’t flinch. “We’re taking thirty, guys! Get the hell out of here and let us breathe for a few minutes! Go refill your drinks or take a piss break. Kane and Lair are setting the equipment up out back. We’ll do some older songs and I’ll make Trey play with us.” The people cheered, and then started to slowly file out of the room, talking and laughing as they went. “Go!” Clay shouted, and they gave him wide eyes as they beat feet out of all four exits of the living room.

  There were only a few people left in the room, and I knew, without looking up, that Andra was one of them. Sinna dropped into one of the recliners, bored.

  Clay blew out a huge breath as he fell back into his seat and grabbed his guitar. “I see now why the fuck you wanted out, dude.”

  I only pulled my fingers down the strings as a response.

  “You Andra?” I heard Clay say. She must have nodded. “I’m Clay. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you over the last week. You’ve really got my boy messed up—”

  My head shot up and I gave him a shut-the-fuck-up look. “Clay.”

  He held his hands up in defense as he chuckled. “I’ll shut up.”

  “Ace, can we talk?” Andra said, and my eyes moved to her. My mood turned sour. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore. She could wait to get something she wanted, just like I had been doing for six days.

  “Can’t,” I said as I let my head drop back down so that I could concentrate on the tune, instead of the way I wanted her wet and against me in my shower. I should have just pressed her against the shower wall and kissed her. She’d been telling me no for days. What was one more no going to hurt? I knew exactly what one more no from her mouth would hurt: my soul. “I’m busy.”

  “Hey, about those five things you need…” Clay said, interrupting. “I don’t exactly carry a spell book, herbs and a living sacrifice with me when I tour, dude. I have no way of getting the things I need to cast it here. I can have Chaz mail them to the hotel in Denver. We’ll be there in four days. I’d have him ship them to me here, but we’re leaving out around noon tomorrow.”

  “What five things?” Andra said, but I ignored her.

  It would take another day or two to get them in the mail after Clay sent them to me if I didn’t fly to Colorado to get them myself. Phoenix would be here in less than two, and gone in less than four. Shit! It wouldn’t work. I was not leaving Andra here alone with Phoenix.

  I sighed, and then downed the rest of my beer, letting the last swallow smack on my lips. “If there is no way to get them any sooner, I guess that will have to do.”

  “What are you getting?” Andra said. Again, I ignored her.

  “Well,” a fiery redhead said as she sashayed into the room, her slender fingers cupped around the bowl of a wine glass. Sinna sat up a little straighter in her chair and ogled the woman, letting a low whistle pass through her lips. Emerald green eyes stared back at me in amusement, and I had a feeling that she was fantasizing about how many different ways I could please her. I had to admit, I would have been on board with anything she had in mind only a week ago. She looked familiar, but, for some reason, I didn’t think I had ever met her in person. “There is one other way you can get them tonight, but it will cost you… big.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest as my eyes slowly glided down, and then back up her body. It was obvious this girl liked to be looked at. The way she carried herself told me that much.

  “Trey!” Clay barked. “Please stop eye-fucking my sister.”

  I blinked, and then spun around to face him, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Andra’s face was beet-red and she was glaring at the girl Clay had just informed me was his sister. His sister! “You have a sister? How did I not know that? We’ve been friends for over six years, Clay.”

  “I have two, a brother as well, and I think I have a pretty good idea where Embyr here thinks she can get you what you need.” Clay cut his eyes over at the redhead. “She won’t do it, Em. You’re stupid to think she will.”

  Embyr’s full, red lips stretched over a set of straight, white teeth as an angelic laugh escaped her throat. “Maybe not for you.”

  “I have money,” I said quickly.

  She smiled devilishly. I had to admit, that grin scared me a little. “Rainey won’t want money.”

  “Rainey?” I said, and she winked at me.

  “Our other sister,” Clay deadpanned, not taking his eyes from Embyr. “If—and I mean if—you can even get her to make the potions and bring them here, I’m not going to be the one to pay her fee. Let that be known now.”

  Embyr nodded toward me. “He’s the one who wants them. Let him pay for them.”

  Clay shook his head. “This is not a good idea.”

  “I don’t care what it costs,” I said. “Call her and see if she will do it. Tell her I need them tonight.”

  Andra turned to me. “What is it that you need so badly?”

  “Call her,” I said to Embyr, ignoring Andra. My only concern was getting those potions for Andra. I knew how upset she’d been when she’d found out Phoenix, Heath, Alex and Roel had gone to hunt a moonrising wolf, how scared she’d been for them. It would only take one of them dying to kill them all, aside from Alex. I didn’t give two shits if that vampire died. Hell, I’d probably throw another party in celebration, but if she lost three of her pack members to an accident, it would kill her. If I was being honest, it would kill me, too. Not only had I gotten to know those knuckleheads over the last few days, but they were my pack now, too. I protected what was mine.

  Embyr pulled her phone from her back pocket as the corner of her mouth lifted. “Remember later that you were the one who asked for it, handsome.”

  Andra walked to the couch and sat down beside me. I clenched my hands to keep from touching her. I didn’t want the bond to take away my reason for being irritated with her right now.

  “What is she getting you, Ace?” she said quietly.

  “You’ll see,” I muttered under my breath, and reached down for my beer, only to find that it was empty. Fuck!

  I heard her swallow before she spoke. “Will you please talk to me?”

  I nodded. “Later.”

  “Why not now? I need to explain—”

  I raised my head and leveled my eyes with hers. “What you were talking to your boyfriend about while I was in the shower?” I finished for her.

  Her eyes widened. “How do you know I talked to Phoenix while you were in the shower?”

  I rolled my eyes as I used the tip of my ring finger to pick at a string. “You used my phone, Andra.”

  She lifted her chin and put her shoulders back. “Actually, yes, that’s part of what I want to talk about.”

  My jaw worked as I shrugged. “So talk,” I challenged, but she only stared at me, like a scared kitten. “That’s what I thought.”

  “She’ll be here in a little over an hour,” Embyr said as she walked back into the room. “She already had some of those particular potions made, so all they have to do is fly them over here.”

  As Clay stood from his seat, he clapped his hands together, sending a loud pop into the almost silent room. “Sweet! We can jam until then.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said to Clay. There was so much tension betwee
n me and Andra that you could cut it with a knife. I didn’t want to talk to her right now. Well, I did, but I wasn’t going to, because that was what she wanted. I was tired of trying to please her and always coming up short. This time, we would do things my way and at my pace.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Salacious Limerick?” Andra said.

  Clay looked back and forth between me and Andra a few times, and then smiled. “She didn’t know? I thought you said—”

  “She has all my memories,” I said. “She just refuses to look at any of them. She’s a real bitch like that.” Andra’s lips tightened in anger. I didn’t care. Let her be mad. She was a bitch, a bitch I was in love with, but a bitch nonetheless. I was an asshole. I didn’t deny it. “Just calling it like I see it, baby.”

  “You’re a jerk,” she spat.

  “So…” Clay started, ignoring that Andra had stated an obvious fact. “She doesn’t know anything about you?”

  I shrugged. “Only what she has cared to ask about.” Taking my guitar with me, I stood and walked away from Andra, before she got a crazy notion to reach out and touch me. “Which isn’t much.”

  Slade took that moment to stumble into the room, with Karma on his back, piggy-back style. “They’re all set up,” he said.

  I turned to look at Andra, giving her bored eyes. “You wanted to see a Salacious Limerick concert. Here’s your chance.”

  There were tears shimmering in her eyes as she stood. She bit her lower lip, and my eyes were instantly drawn to her mouth. I couldn’t help it. No matter how mad I was at her, I still wanted her more than my next breath. “Fine,” she said, fighting back a sob. “You want to do this here in front of everyone?”

  I set my guitar against my leg and threw my hands up in the air. “Why the hell not! Let’s hear it, since it’s so damn important that you can’t wait a few fucking hours to get all my attention.”

  The room fell silent. She swallowed, and then took a big breath and let it out fully before speaking. “I wanted to kiss you this morning after you poured water over me. The urge was so strong that I almost did, but I would never be able to forgive myself if I did something with you when I knew in my heart that it had nothing to do with the bond. It was all me, Ace, but I’m not a cheater. I couldn’t do that to someone.” She cleared her throat when I only stared at her. “That was the reason I called Phoenix. I had to get it off my chest. The urge to be with you was only growing stronger. I thought that if I talked to him—just heard his voice—that my feelings for you would go away. They didn’t, and he knew it.”

  I looked to Sinna for confirmation. She was grinning from ear to ear. Why couldn’t she have told me this before the concert? Given me a hint or something. Damn! I looked back to Andra. “What did your boyfriend say when you told him that you wanted to kiss me?”

  “That maybe he shouldn’t be my boyfriend anymore,” she said quietly as her head dropped.

  I blinked a few times. I was having trouble believing Phoenix would break up with her over that. The guy was obviously plotting something. “Really?” I deadpanned as I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “He doesn’t want me to be unhappy, so he thought it would be best if we removed the monogamy from our relationship and I dated both of you.”

  I raised my eyebrows at that. “And you got in the shower with me this morning, because…” She blushed. Holy shit! She’d wanted me to fuck her! I kept my thoughts from showing in my expression as I asked her. “You wanted to have sex with me?”

  She nodded, and hesitated a long moment before replying. “Yes.”

  I ran a hand through my hair as I huffed. “You want to date both me and Phoenix. That is what you’re saying, right?”

  Andra nodded. “I want you, Ace.”

  Oh, God, how I wanted to smile at hearing her say that, but I couldn’t, because it wasn’t true. After I meditated, and could feel the real me again, I discovered the reason why she didn’t want me. She couldn’t possibly. That reason hadn’t changed in one day.

  “No, you don’t. Do you want to know what really happened today? You were jealous that I was talking to Sinna before training this morning, and that I asked her to go to the concert in your place. Just so you know… Sinna has probably been with more girls than I have. She’s a lesbian. That’s why I asked her to go, because you said that you and I were not dating, and I knew she wouldn’t expect to get laid at the end of the night. You don’t want me, Andra. You don’t even know me.” I clenched my hands as an overwhelming urge to kiss her ran through me. I couldn’t, not until she knew me. If she regretted her decision afterward, I’d go insane. “Get to know me, Andra. If you still want me after you’ve seen all I’m capable of, then maybe I’ll consider fucking you. Until then, stay out of my shower.”

  I sighed, and picked up my guitar when she started to silently cry. I couldn’t stay and watch her cry, and I couldn’t listen to anything else she had to say, not tonight. I turned and headed toward the backyard without looking back.

  Chapter 26

  Friday, February 6th 2015 12:23 a.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Andromeda

  The house was empty of any stragglers. Everyone was out back, watching the concert of the century. At any other time in her life, she would have been over the moon about getting an opportunity to see a private Salacious Limerick concert, especially since it was Trey Thatcher’s first performance since he’d left the band.

  Andra sighed as she made her way to the kitchen, her mind full and her heart heavy with Ace’s last words. He’d rejected her because she didn’t know him. That was true, of course. She really didn’t, but now she knew that she wanted to. She’d seen a different side of him today, one that couldn’t be ignored by anyone with a vagina.

  Before, he seemed like he had only been trying to force her to feel things for him. She knew exactly why she hadn’t until this morning: the meditation. He knew everything about her, because he’d looked at her memories. It was possible he knew her better than she knew herself, but she hadn’t looked at any of his memories, besides the images that forced their way out, like the ones when he’d been with other women. Who could blame her for not wanting anything to do with him up until now? Well, Ace, for one. She blew out a breath through puffed-out cheeks. And herself, for another, for not looking at his memories. She should have looked at them, if only for the sole reason of making sure that she wasn’t bonded to a serial killer. The verdict was still out on that one, especially since he’d told her that if she still wanted him after she knew what he was capable of, he’d consider fucking her. That had stung.

  The fact that Ace was Trey only had a little to do with why she wanted to get to know him. Okay, it maybe had more than a little to do with it. How had she not known it was him? Maybe it was his hair? It had been much longer back then, a lot longer in fact. He’d also had facial hair then, not much, but he’d had the sexy scruff thing going on. Above everything else, he had the voice of an angel. She’d had the biggest celebrity crush on the Salacious Limerick’s lead guitarist and backup vocalist from the first time she’d heard him sing. But Ace hadn’t sang or even hummed since she’d met him. How the hell was she supposed to have pieced that impossible puzzle together? There had been many times she’d considered leaving Marc to become a groupie, for that band alone… for that man alone.

  She never would have done it, but every girl fantasizes about living a different life. It was just silly thinking. Now that silly thinking was a reality. Only she wasn’t a groupie. That rock star god was actually falling in love with her, and she had been doing everything in her power to keep it from happening. “Joke’s on you, Mena. It doesn’t look as though he has those feelings for you any longer. The bridge is burned. Time to get your act together and rebuild the damn thing.”

  She frowned as she walked into the kitchen to find that the room looked as if a tornado had gone through it.

  Stepping over red cups and beer bottles on the floor, she made her w
ay to the island where the food was located. Taking a paper plate from the top of the stack, she piled it high with finger foods, and then grabbed two Sprites from the selection of sodas at the end.

  The cell phone in her pocket pinged, so she set the plate down to retrieve it. It was running on 1% battery now, but it stayed on long enough for her to see that Roel had replied to her mass text.

  We’re staying at Phoenix’s until this asshole shifts back to its human form. If you need to get hold of Phoenix for anything, text one of us. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but we know something did. I’ll just say his cell isn’t capable of making or receiving calls or texts and he isn’t saying shit about why it’s in pieces all over his chamber floor. Maybe there was a bee in his room. ~ Roel

  Her eyes slammed shut as her hand came up to cover her mouth. The phone in her hand beeped three times, and then the screen went black.

  Knowing she might need the phone in case an emergency happened in Montgomery, with her pack and the moonrising wolf, she decided to grab her charger from her room before taking the food and drinks to the human girl.

  She didn’t want to think about what Phoenix did to his phone after talking to her this afternoon, or the reason he did it.

  There was one word for a man like him: altruistic, she thought as she made her way up to her new room. He’d practically broken up with her—or ended their steady dating—because he thought he was doing something for her that she needed.

  If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t know what the hell she needed, but she hated that he was hurting because of her. That was the last thing she wanted, but she couldn’t deny these feelings Ace was making her feel any longer; she had to know if they were real or if it was only the bond. Since he’d started meditating, she was afraid it wasn’t the latter.