by Dean Murray
He squeezed my flesh lightly as though he was measuring the pressure carefully. “I have let your emotions progress unassisted. You should know the difference.”
I did. I just didn’t want to admit it. He nudged me gently with a slight compulsion as though he was trying to remind me just what he could do.
“Zach—”
“You will listen to me. I have given you more leeway than any other Elemental I’ve had. Don’t look at me that way. I can’t help what I am.”
I stared insolently at him. “You could try. You don’t have to claim me.”
“If I don’t, one of my brothers will.”
“But I thought you said—”
He shrugged. “They will not fall for that long. You are different. I don’t know how. Jett was probably right. You might be the Nexus.”
His fingers moved on my skin. I sighed then stiffened. “What is it exactly?”
“You already know that Elementals are chosen at birth. Every living thing is made up of the basic elements, but there is always a dominate element that dictates how we will be. Even humans have this trait.”
“I don’t understand.”
He looked at the ceiling and sighed. “Haven’t you ever thought someone was solid as a rock or a breath of fresh air? Where do you think those adages came from?”
I bit my lip. “I haven’t ever thought about it before. So the Nexus has an equal amount of each element?”
He picked at a broken tile on the wall. “That is what the prophecy says.”
“What prophecy?”
He glanced at me briefly. “It is sacred. I cannot share it with you.”
I was disappointed. I had hoped to clear up the question that had me really nervous. “Do you know someone named Ainessa?” I still had no idea how she fit into this.
He lifted my chin up so fast I practically got whiplash. “How do you know that name?”
“Cassie told me.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. It fell into place perfectly, of course. “If my sister is here, we are in serious trouble.”
I blinked. “Your sister?”
He glanced down the tunnel. He threw his head back, covering his eyes, and groaned. “It’s a long story. Sh—crap. I hadn’t expected her to be this bold.”
He was not going to get me to soften-up just because he was trying not to swear. “What are you talking about?”
He kicked the wall. “If she is here, there can be only one explanation: She has convinced the counsel to let her try a bonding.”
I made a choking sound. He leveled his gaze to mine.
“You should be worried. She is sadistic to the core and will use you in ways you can’t even imagine.”
“What can we do?”
He smiled broadly. “Bond with me now—before she can get to you.”
“Here? But I thought—”
He shook his head. “It can be done. It would be better to be in Faeresia first.”
“What is bonding, exactly?”
He smirked. “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
“Yeah, rub it in. Rayla’s clueless!”
He placed a wary arm around my shoulders. “I know this is hard on you. I’m trying to make it easier. I promise. I can’t believe your mother abandoned you.”
I scooted away from him. “She died! It isn’t like she had an option.”
He pulled me back against him. “She could have made sure that you at least knew what you were. There are steps that are taken. We didn’t even know you existed until you appeared in Utah. I was the first one that sensed you. We are still trying to figure out how they concealed you.”
I didn’t want the fae anywhere near my home. “What do you mean?”
“A team will be sent to investigate soon.”
I gasped. “You can’t let that happen. My whole family lives there.”
His expression was confused. “We aren’t going to hurt them. We are not the monsters you have imagined. Give me a chance.” He dropped to one knee and reached for my hand. “Make me the happiest man who has ever lived. Bond with me?” His smile was charming, roguish.
I yanked my hand away. “Wouldn’t you just like that?”
He jumped to his feet. “Don’t be stubborn.”
“You have a lot of nerve.”
“You wouldn’t like me much if I didn’t.”
I laughed scornfully. “Who said that I liked you?”
He pulled me into a light embrace. “I don’t care if you deny it. I know how you feel about me.”
“Is that right?”
He grunted. “Would you shut-up already?”
I had to get the last word in before his lips reached mine, even now my anger melted away. I trusted Zach. I didn’t know why. It made no sense, but I did. If I had to spend an eternity with a fae, I could do worse than him. I hadn’t given up yet, but I didn’t want him to know that. “Only if you do.”
He brushed my hair from my face. “You’re impossible.”
I smiled impishly. “You should consider that a bit more before you willingly take me for five hundred years.”
He laughed. “Good thing it probably won’t be that long.”
I stiffened. “What do you mean?” I hated to admit it, but I wanted him to claim me. He was like breathing oxygen. I had to have it whether I liked it or not.
He let go of me and looked away as though he couldn’t face me. “Every Elemental is different. I’d only have you that long if you will live to be a hundred. The bond lasts for five of your lifetimes.”
My heart broke with each word he said. How could I let my feelings for him grow? I would be devastated when he released me no matter how many years I spent with him. I would be destroyed if he left me right now. “How do you know when it is time to return someone to the human realm?”
He wouldn’t turn around. “The power fades toward the end. When it is gone, we bring our bondmate back to live her true life.”
I could barely get the words out. They were gravel against my throat. “Have you loved any of them?”
He turned. His gaze locked with mine. I would find no apology there. “Yes.”
I should have found comfort from his revelation, but it only made my pain more unbearable. I stiffened. “How many have there been?”
His voice lowered to a whisper. “Does it matter?”
I stomped away. He followed but didn’t say anything.
I wandered in silence for what seemed like hours. When I reached a dead end, I whirled on him. “Are we ever going to get out of this hades hole?”
He pulled his hands from his pockets and shrugged. “I thought you might need to get some energy out.”
I spun around in circles looking for the right way to go. “Where is the exit?”
He leaned up against the wall casually with his feet crossed. “Are you talking to me again?”
I didn’t even bother looking at him. “No.”
He grunted. “Then I’m not telling you.”
I glared at him. “What is this place, anyway? I’ve heard about the tunnels, but we have to be a long way from Notre Dame by now.”
His hand scrubbed at his forehead. He pulled at his jaw. He pursed his mouth into a pucker and then a grimace. He sighed heavily as though he was bored. “The Order used to hide Elementals down here before the compact was signed. It was quite pathetic. As if we didn’t know what they were doing? We stepped in when they started experimenting.”
I shuddered. “How long ago was that?”
His expression turned grim. “During World War II. There had never been a need for an official understanding before then. I hated that time. There was so much carnage in your world already. We couldn’t allow them to continue their useless endeavors.”
My voice was shrill when I spoke. “But why do you even need Elementals? You have power of your own.”
He pushed away from the wall, coming closer. “It is the only way we can determine who will rule without war break
ing out between our nations. We have a tenuous relationship, at best.”
“You still haven’t told me how the bonding works.”
He grinned. “You caught that, huh? I had hoped you had forgotten.”
“Why?”
“Rayla, you are special. It is possible that you wrecked your mark in that accident, but it isn’t likely. I am beginning to believe you have all of the elements within you. If we bonded, your power would converge with mine.”
“Grace already explained that, but what aren’t you telling me?”
He gazed directly at me. “I would be stronger than all of the lords combined. I would have more power than any of our current kings. I would essentially be the first high-king in fae history.”
I gasped. “You could control the world.”
His gaze was steady. “Yes.”
“Mine too?”
“Yes.”
My mind was whirring. I couldn’t get the questions out fast enough. “Would I be as strong as you?”
“You would have the potential to be as powerful, but you would not have the practice that I have.”
“And if I bonded with someone else?”
“They would have your power.”
The full force of his statement slammed into me. I would be creating a sovereign king, or queen if Ainessa had her way. I couldn’t allow that to happen. She sounded awful. There was something else that was bothering me. “How is the bond created?”
“Through intimate contact.”
I cringed at the thought. My stream didn’t flow that way. “Is your sister gay?”
Chapter Eighteen
Zach smiled, rolling his eyes as if I had asked the stupidest question he had ever heard. “The contact does not have to be sexual to take, but the more intimate the emotions, the stronger the bond.” He took my hands. “For example, if we were to bond right now….” I yanked on my hands, but he didn’t release them.
“I’m not that stupid,” I said firmly.
“Thanks. I was speaking hypothetically.” He winked at me. “Of course.”
“Yeah, sure.”
He shook my fingers lightly. “If you are finished being rude.”
He waited. I nodded.
“As I was saying, I could hold your hand, and open my soul to yours like so.”
I felt him nudge my consciousness as though he were knocking on a door. I waited on the other side, unsure what to do. If I opened it, would this all be over? I could be his for a long time. Even if it wasn’t for eternity, wouldn’t it be better than not having him at all? “What would happen if I locked the door on you?”
He opened one eye and smirked. “I haven’t actually started the process, Rayla. If I had, and you refused…” He hesitated a little too long for my liking but continued before I could say anything. His voice was barely audible. “You would die.”
I jerked my hands from his and stepped back. “Why?”
His feet shifted in the dirt. “We did not make the rules. We only follow them.”
Too many people had given me that excuse lately. I gave him a wary look, but it couldn’t have been as guarded as I felt. “Who did?”
“Faine.”
My ancestor did this? How could she inflict such a punishment? “But why would she condemn her posterity to death?”
He shook his head. “It was meant as a way out. She was young and foolish.”
I laughed. “No duh.”
His face brightened in amusement. “Golly gee-whiz, Rayla. No one says that stuff anymore. You don’t swear. You’re still a virgin. I’ve never seen you drink or smoke. Where’d you grow up? Mayberry?”
I was offended on several different levels. “What if I did?”
He scratched his stubbly chin. “I’m not complaining. I just think it’s funny.”
“You would.”
He sidled into me, joking around. I shoved at his shoulder.
My smile fizzled and I looked away, overcome with pent-up fear. “What are you going to do with me, Zach?” I managed a tenuous glance.
He lifted his brows, smiling wickedly. “Other than ravage your body the moment I am able?”
I kicked the wall behind me and gave him my back. I couldn’t look at him knowing what I did about who he was.
He stood in front of me. His eyes were full of some kind of emotion I couldn’t read very well. Was it regret?
“I was kidding,” he said with a laugh. He lifted my hand, running his thumb across my wrist. He cleared his throat and searched my eyes. His barely there smile broadened. “Well, not really, but I’ll wait until you want me to.”
I looked away. He was too much right now.
His tone fell to a somber cadence. “We have to wrap things up here before I can take you to my land. You will have to say goodbye to your friends. I need you to make up an excuse to leave school.”
I blinked back unwelcome moisture, not wanting him to see my pain. He was the last person I ever expected would ask me to give up my dreams.
He sighed, looking at me as though he knew what I was thinking. “I know how important art is to you. I will make sure you have the finest education. You will not regret that part of your new life.”
No—just the part that gave him more power over my world. I hadn’t missed that little tidbit even though he had tried to skim over it. I had learned something from Lily even if it wasn’t what I needed: Cowardice was not an option for me. If I couldn’t find a way around this whole mess, I only had once choice I could live with. Hopefully, that could be put off for longer than I thought.
Zach let me stew for a while as he led me out of the tunnels. We emerged in a dense forest.
I recognized the shack I had hidden in my first day on campus. “Where are we?”
“The borderlands. There are certain places that are neither human nor fae. Think of it as an alleyway. If we walked twenty feet that way, we would be in the nature area at St. Mary’s.”
Good to know. “What if we went in that direction?”
He smiled gloriously. “You would have the great honor of being in Faeresia, albeit a crappy part, but still.”
I looked at the rickety building again. The last time I was here, I hadn’t had time to really see the place for what it was: Other. Not when I had been fleeing for my life. The air was different here, a bit tangy like ozone and thick with the humidity of a summer’s day. My voice was raspy when I spoke. “Why didn’t you take me that day, Zach?”
He circled me, taking his time about it. My heart raced, a shadow of the first encounter I’d had with this man.
His eyes were aglow with a new intensity. “I wanted to. You could never know how badly. The way you looked at me—” He groaned. “Heaven would be seeing that expression on your face for eternity and knowing I was the cause. When those girls came, I cursed them. I wished them dead for taking that look from your eyes. Instead of unbridled desire, I saw fear. I couldn’t take you knowing how you really felt. That was when I changed tactics.”
“By lying to me?”
He cocked his head. “Omitting. There is a difference.”
“Maybe where you come from, but not in the real world.”
He tucked his hands under his armpits. “So my world is not real?” He nodded toward the boundary. “I dare you to find out for yourself.”
I bristled at him and began walking deeper into the woods. He let me go a few feet before he stopped me.
“Come back. You are not ready to see it.”
I whirled on him. “Go…come. I am not your dog.”
He shrugged and started the other way. “Suit yourself. It won’t be long before someone or something finds you.” He put quite a lot of emphasis on something.
Images of enormous fanged creatures popped into my mind. I raced to catch him. “Stop trying to scare me.”
He laughed. “I don’t try. I do, or I do not.”
I couldn’t stay mad at him no matter how hard I tried. I smirked, glancing sidelong at him. “Okay,
Yoda.”
A boyish grin spread across his lips. His eyes danced. “I love that movie.”
“I could tell.”
His smile faded, and he squeezed my hand. “In all seriousness, don’t ever wander the borderlands alone.”
“Got it the first time.”
“Good.” He rubbed his hands together menacingly. “Now what should I do to, uh, with you?”
I chuckled. “You’re enjoying yourself entirely too much.”
He tucked his thumbs through his belt loops, walking with a bit of a bounce. “This is way better than the ‘snatch and grab’ approach. I’m still trying to decide if it is you or my change in tactics.”
I laughed. “Let me know when you figure it out.”
To my surprise, he took me back to the dorm. Jessica came barreling toward me as I fiddled with the lock. I didn’t get my door open fast enough.
She seemed different today. Tension was visible behind her eyes.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
She glanced worriedly at Zach. “I need to talk to you. It’s important. When you get a minute, I’ll be in my room. I’m sorry about Cassie. If you talk to her, tell her I miss her.” She turned and walked down the hall before I could respond.
Zach looked after her. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, glancing back one last time before ushering me through the door. “Who is that girl?”
Why the sudden interest? “What? Do you want her now instead of me?”
A funny look crossed his face before an ‘are you kidding’ one covered it. “She seemed familiar for a moment.”
Okay. I wasn’t going to rat her out if he couldn’t tell what she was. “She’s a senior. She lives down the hall.”
He lifted a shoulder before it went slack. “I must have seen her here.”
“I guess so.” My stomach rumbled so loudly it startled me. How had I forgotten about food?
Zach groaned. “I came in such a hurry when I found out they had you that I didn’t get to grab your present.”
Butterflies replaced my hunger pangs momentarily. Zach had gotten me something. I rose onto my toes and rocked back. “What is it?”
He laughed. “Now I wish it were something special. I got you the fae equivalent of jerky.”
That was so sweet. He could have left me to suffer until I caved. “I still have a little candy left. I think I’ll survive, but do I need to eat regular food too?”
