by Dean Murray
“Were you?” He asked. His beautiful eyes searched mine intently.
I looked behind me. “Was I what?”
His brows furrowed. “Trying to avoid me.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Didn’t you get my message?”
I closed my eyes slowly, grinding my teeth. How had I forgotten? “I meant to call you, but I was up really late last night.” I smiled to reassure him. “I was planning to call you later.”
Thankfully, his expression brightened. “What time do you get off?”
I looked at my watch. “In a few, but I need to study again. We’ll have to hang-out another time.”
“Let me give you a ride back to your dorm.” Zach tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I miss you.”
His nearness calmed me, giving me a sense of security I desperately needed. Looking at him, I realized something very important: Alex wasn’t the biggest threat in the human arena. I was looking at him.
At least this lion didn’t make me feel like I was on the menu. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
I grabbed my things and clocked out. I bounded down the stairs toward the exit, not wanting to spend another minute in the library. Would I ever find a safe place again?
“Ms. Tate,” a male voice I didn’t recognize called out behind me before I had even gotten halfway down the staircase.
“Yes,” I said, turning warily.
At the top of the stairs stood a distinguished looking middle-aged man with jet black hair that was silvered at the temples. He held a puzzled expression. “Didn’t Alex tell you I wanted to talk to you before you left?”
“It must have slipped his mind.” I wasn’t about to tell him that Alex’s tongue had been too busy doing other things. “Are you Mr. Hansen?”
He shot me an irritated expression. “Follow me, Ms. Tate.”
I looked longingly toward Zach, who waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. His expression said “Go ahead. I’ll be here when you’re done.” I hesitated.
My boss grunted in displeasure. “I assume you are intelligent enough to understand what I just asked of you. What is the matter?”
I looked at him with pleading eyes. “I’ve already clocked out, and my ride is here, Mr. Hansen. Do you mind if we meet on Wednesday?”
His face was indifferent. “Very well. Come to my office first thing.”
“I will. I …” There was no point in saying another word as he had vanished from view.
I spun around with a big grin plastered across my face. Zach held an arm out for me, and I gratefully accepted.
“Long day, huh?” he asked, holding the door open.
“You have no idea.”
“Are you sure you have to go straight to your dorm?” he asked, giving me a sidelong glance.
“I really should.”
He smiled, slipping his hand into mine. “But …”
I was curious now. “What do you want to do?”
“Wipe that look right off your face.”
I nudged him playfully. “What look?”
“You’re obviously stressed, when you should be enjoying life. Let me give you a bit of joy.”
I giggled. “How do you plan to do that?”
He squeezed my hand gently. “I’d like to see you hold onto your misery with the wind whipping through your hair at a hundred-miles-per-hour.”
I yanked my hand from his, backing away. “Oh, no I’m not.”
“Rayla, trust me. I know of which I speak.”
“I don’t know.”
He took my hand again, pulling me into motion. “I dare you to refuse my ride.”
He led me to his motorcycle. It was definitely different than the one I had seen on my way here. First of all, it wasn’t morphing into an eight-foot tall winged horse. Also, it had plenty of gleaming chrome, but this classic Harley was electric-blue, not black. I felt at ease instantly. The nagging suspicion I had about Zach had just been obliterated.
Whatever else he turned out to be, he wasn’t the man that followed me to campus. I let the thought circulate a few times.
I smiled brightly. “What are we waiting for?”
He gave me a told-you-so look before climbing on. I slid behind him, not needing any encouragement. He turned around, fastening a helmet to my head.
“Where’s yours?”
He glanced down at me glibly. “It’s sweet of you to be concerned for me, Rayla.” He nudged the tip of my nose. “There is no need.”
“But —”
“Stop worrying, already. Put your arms around me and hold on tight.”
I set my hands on his waist. What I really wanted to do was slide them greedily up and down his ripped torso.
He grabbed my fingers and tugged, placing one hand over the other in front of him. I was firmly planted against his back now. Oh, what the heck? I nestled into him. His muscles tensed then, relaxed under my touch.
He pulled out slowly. Once we got off campus, he opened up the throttle. The roar of the engine ate up the world. After a few minutes, my mind stopped racing as fast as the motorcycle. I was connected to Zach and the night.
For the first time in my life, I held no fear of the dark. I was amazed at the feeling swirling inside me. Adrenaline of a different nature coursed through my veins. I felt more alive in that moment than I ever had. I stopped paying attention to where we were and just enjoyed myself. I hadn’t done that in forever. It felt good.
I had no idea how long we sped through the streets of South Bend. I didn’t care.
I couldn’t fight the impulse any longer. Zach gasped when my fingers traced the hard lines of his stomach. I ran my palms up to his chest and left them there. Then, I buried my face into the hollow at his neck, inhaling his scent and closing my eyes. The helmet might as well have been nothing at all. I could have sworn I drifted off for a moment because my body was weightless, as if I were a bird riding a thermal. The road melted beneath us. The wind was a gentle caress against my skin. The crisp night air refreshed my senses.
He pulled off the main road, winding through the countryside. We finally stopped at a deserted park.
The equipment was old-school, nothing like the new things that look more like a spaceship than a playground. I felt at home instantly. In Castlerock, we were lucky to have a place to have fun at all.
Two swings waited for us to fill them. My fingers slipped around the cold metal links, and once I was settled, I pushed off from the sand. Zach stayed motionless in his seat, his gaze intent on me.
I leaned back, watching the stars blur as I sailed through the air feeling oddly liberated. “You have no idea how badly I needed this,” I said after a few minutes. “Thank you.”
He grinned. “I had a feeling. I love to see you smile.”
I gave him a big one. He let me soar through the night for quite a while before he caught my swing and pulled me to face him.
“I need to ask you something. I hate to even bring it up, but I worry for you.”
I frowned, not wanting this moment to end. “What is it, Zach?”
“Have you had a chance to talk to Grace, lately?”
I scrubbed my shoes into the gravel. “I wish. I still can’t get my calls to go through. I haven’t gotten a letter from her, either. I have no idea if she even received the one I sent to her.”
“It’s very unlikely. Have the lords bothered you anymore?”
I looked at him sidelong. “Funny you should ask. Luke gave me a present today. He said I would want to talk to him after I opened it.”
Zach’s expression fell. “Have you seen what it was?”
“Haven’t had time. Other things keep coming up.” I looked over at him pointedly. “But I don’t mind some distractions.”
He didn’t laugh, in fact, he seemed on edge. “Do you have it with you?”
“It’s in my purse.” My muscles stiffened in response to the look he gave me. “What’s wrong?”
He shrugged then, gave me a reassuring smile. “Why don’t
we see what it is before I pass judgment?”
I stood up. “I was planning on waiting until later, but I guess I could open it now.” I jogged to the bike and took my purse out of the saddlebag then, ran back to Zach and plopped it in his lap.
I rummaged through the contents. The package was gone. “It was in here when I got off work.”
Relief filled his eyes. “What did it look like?”
“It was small, maybe fist sized, wrapped in blue foil. It had a pretty bow tied around it.”
We walked over to the bike, searching the surrounding area. I was disappointed. I hadn’t gotten a real present in a long time.
He started pacing in front of me. “Maybe it fell out on the way here? It’s probably for the best. Fae gifts always come with strings attached.”
I grimaced. I hadn’t thought of that. “What sort of strings?”
He frowned. “It could have given Luke more power over you.”
I stared. “You just said ‘more.’ What power does he have now?”
His expression fell to nothing short of dismal. “Your name.”
I knew it. Why had Cassie given them my name? “How do they use it?”
He sighed. “When they say your name in a certain way, it lessens your will.”
That explained my odd bus ride. “What would have happened if I had opened Luke’s gift?”
“If it was what I think it was, it would have connected you to him in a way that would have made you want to be with him so badly you would have done anything to make it happen.”
Had Luke really given me a booby-trap that would have made me a mindless zombie if I’d opened it? I gazed up at Zach. “I don’t want to be connected to him. He scares me.”
He nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m taking you to work from now on.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t.”
I turned toward him. “It’s too much.”
He took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. His touch eased the tension inside me, as if we had been dating for years, not days. I still couldn’t understand why I felt so close to him. “I’m grasping for any excuse to be with you. Besides, I liked having your arms around me. I could get used to it.”
I didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness. “Zach.”
He pulled me into a hug, pressing my face against his chest. “I won’t let them have you. No more arguing. It’s settled.”
I lost the grip on my purse and it thudded to the ground. He bent to pick it up. “What’s this?” He grabbed the edge of the diary, pulling it out.
Why not tell him? He was trying to help me. Not even Cassie cared this much. “I found it at Roger’s the other day. It’s why I told you I couldn’t come with you tonight. I wanted to read it. I think it can help me figure out a way to get rid of the lords.”
He whistled. “That would be quite a feat. What makes you say such a thing?”
I shrugged, but I instantly moved to protect the journal, just like when Cassie had held it. I made myself stop. It was extremely difficult for me to not snatch it from his hand, though. “It’s how I feel when I hold it. I can’t really explain. I need to give it back in a few days. So I have to finish it quickly.”
He thumbed through the pages. “My place isn’t far from here. We could read it together.”
. . . . .
Zach took me on so many roads I could have been in Kansas for all I knew. He pulled down a dirt driveway that wound through some trees. We stopped in front of an old farmhouse. The moon shone brightly, highlighting the peeling paint. More than a few shutters were missing, and the rest held on by a nail or two. I almost laughed because it looked like a haunted house. Curiously, I wasn’t afraid with Zach by my side.
The front door creaked loudly when he opened it. I followed him through a foyer into the den. I liked this study even better than the one at Roger’s, although they were very similar. Mahogany bookcases lined the walls here, too, but they were simple, not ornate. The leather chairs were old and worn in. The musty smell of aged paper and ash surrounded me.
Zach sat on his haunches, arranging logs and kindling as though he had been doing the task his entire life. Before I knew it, a blaze roared in the hearth. There was something about the way the fire licked at the wood that was more satisfying than the artificiality of gas.
I lowered myself to the couch. He settled in next to me and pulled a blanket over our legs.
“This place has a lot of drafts. Let me know if you get cold.”
With him next to me, it was impossible. I didn’t want to start over so I summarized what I had read so far.
My captor took me to the fae capital. I still didn’t know his name or what he was going to do with me. I have never seen the likes of the place. The streets are paved in gold. The air is ripe with heavenly spices and the sweet smell of the springtime blooms that line the roads in every color of the rainbow and others the human eye can’t quite see.
He was right. My body did adjust to my new surroundings. My eyes became accustomed to the intense glow emanating from everything. Even the dust glittered in infinite hues.
He took me to the high priestess. Her appearance shocked me. Twiggs and leaves adorned her matted blond hair. She wore layers of animal skins. Her eyes were the color of frosted glass. Her skin was as pale as a new fallen snow.
She circled me, sniffing the air like a bloodhound. I could not take the intensity of her gaze after one look. She could see my soul. I kept my eyes locked to the glowing earth while she touched my hair, inspected my nails, and held my face in her tiny hands.
“This will be a good union,” she announced to the crowd that had gathered. “She has abundant power and will aid the light court for many years to come.”
The people cheered. My captor took my hand. “Come,” he said. “Tonight, I make you my queen.”
Two of the lords stepped forward formally. “We bear witness that this woman was taken of her own will,” the tall, dark one said.
I planted my feet. “I was not,” I said, but no one listened.
“We acknowledge Taveon of Uldran as the rightful claimant to this Elemental,” the other one said.
“Don’t I get a choice in any of this?” I asked, but, again, I was ignored.
I looked up at Zach. His face was dispassionate, as though bored.
“How awful,” I said. “Can you imagine not having a say in who you marry?”
Zach shrugged. “Plenty of societies throughout time have used arranged marriage for social gain.”
Chapter Twelve
My muscles stiffened. I glared at Zach. “That doesn’t make it right.”
He pulled me tighter. “It doesn’t make it wrong, either. You just don’t understand the custom. I have met plenty of men and women alike that feel a sense of ease with their life because they already know what will happen. They don’t have to worry about dating or finding the right person.”
“Yeah, someone else gets to decide that.”
“That’s my point.”
“Whatever,” I said in disgust.
“Don’t get angry, love. I know why this affects you so deeply.” He squeezed my arms. “I, more than anyone, want to keep you from going through what Lily did.”
“Luke would probably have me in front of that creepy woman right now if it weren’t for you. Thank you for helping me.” I attempted to pull out from under his chin, but he tightened his grip.
His voice sounded strange. “Why don’t we keep reading?”
I couldn’t understand why he kept me cocooned in his arms. Was he trying to avoid looking at me? I wasn’t in the mood to pursue the line of questions, though. I was tired. “What time is it?” I had to be back in my dorm by twelve.
“Eleven.”
I groaned. I hadn’t even done my homework. “Zach, I really need go now.”
When I pulled away this time, he let me go, if reluctantly. The look on his face was conflicted. Had I
misjudged him? Was Cassie right about him? Would he be another man that didn’t respect my wishes?
He stood up suddenly, grabbing my hand. “Let’s get out of here before I change my mind and do something we will both regret.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. The night had turned cold. I shivered when he opened the door.
“Stay right there,” he said. He was back in seconds with a jacket. He gently slid it around my shoulders.
The thing dwarfed me, but I gratefully pushed my arms through the sleeves. His scent engulfed me. I swayed on my feet. Being near him was like an aphrodisiac. I couldn’t believe I was falling so hard and fast for him. I still didn’t know him very well.
I was almost asleep by the time he pulled up to my dorm. Yawning, I started to wiggle out of his jacket.
He placed a hand on my arm before he wrapped me in his strong embrace. “I’ll get it from you later. Good night, love.”
Guilt nagged at me as his face approached mine. Should I tell him what happened earlier? The moment his lips met mine, all thoughts of Alex disintegrated. His kiss was leisurely, as though we had all night. I could only take kissing him in short bursts. Otherwise, I would lose my mind and take it too far. I pulled away reluctantly.
He smiled sadly, as though he really didn’t want to let me go. “I’ll be right here Wednesday to take you to work.”
I was too exhausted to argue. Even though I had made it on time, I was glad the nosy guard wasn’t at her station when I went by. I slipped inside my room as quietly as I could. All the lights were off. Cassie snored lightly. I didn’t even undress. I fell into bed with Zach’s jacket on.
. . . . .
I woke to Cassie shouting at something unseen in the corner of the room.
“You filthy little tyrant! Give me back my things!” She paused with her hands on her hips.
I raised myself onto my elbows to see her better. I grinned.
She tilted her head belligerently. “Yes. I can see you. I don’t care if you like them.” She started pacing the room. Her eyes were aflame. “I can’t give you something else! Go steal from someone who thinks you’re a ghost!”
