Defended By Darkness: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 2

by Bolryder, Terry

  “I like to think so too,” I say. “And I’m glad to hear at least one person’s parents were in love.”

  “They would have died for each other,” Tanner says. “Fought for each other to the end. They loved each other so deeply it touched everyone around them, including their children.” His eyes meet mine. “Someday, I want to have a relationship like that.”

  I flush, staring down at my nachos. “I’m sure you could.”

  “Can I get you another plate of our fresh cookies?” the waitress suddenly interjects, casually putting her hand on Tanner’s shoulder.

  Tanner looks over at the hand in offense (and maybe even a little disgust), but she doesn’t even notice because she’s practically drooling as her gaze roves up and down his body.

  “No. Remove your hand,” he says in what sounds like a command.

  She immediately pulls back, looking abashed. Almost like she hadn’t even realized what she was doing.

  She goes to get the check, and I’m just sitting here wondering why my chest felt so tight when she touched him.

  He’s not mine yet. He may never be. So why am I so jealous?

  The waitress brings the check back to the table and disappears, and Tanner turns back to me, calm as ever.

  “I suppose we should head back to the office,” he says, looking disappointed by the thought.

  “I suppose,” I say, reaching for the check, though he stops me and pays before I can.

  As I watch him, I realize that everything about him is just different than everyone else I’m used to.

  He’s polite. He’s kind. He listens. He takes charge, but not when I’m the one who needs to be leading.

  And he sometimes mentions cryptic comments about things I don’t know that he does…

  “Tanner?” I ask, not sure how to broach the subject, but nervously anxious to see what he says.

  “Yes?”

  “About what you said before. Back at the office. About how I’m special. About how you’re the same way.”

  “Yes?” His eyes glitter with interest, and I’m both excited and scared by the endless possibilities awaiting me there.

  I swallow nervously. “I do want to know more, even though it scares me. I just…”

  “Just?” It’s like the air has stopped moving around us. Like everything is poised for this moment.

  “I haven’t told anyone certain things about me. I don’t even know if you’ll understand or think I’m crazy, but—”

  “I won’t think you’re crazy.”

  My chest squeezes, warning me to stay away from this topic. It’s too intense, and I know once we go there, we won’t be able to go back. I don’t want everything to turn into chaos.

  “I…” I open my mouth to speak, when suddenly a crashing sound echoes through the restaurant. Instantly, my focus is averted, and I look over my shoulder toward the sound.

  Across the restaurant, two men have knocked over a table. The larger one is bent double, throwing himself over a chair.

  The other is yelling at his friend, trying to get him to respond.

  “Chaos,” I hear in a low voice from Tanner. He stands. “Stay out of this, Eva. Let me handle it.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “What?” I tune back in to the scene, and when I lock eyes with the larger man, I know exactly what is happening. “He’s choking. I’ll be right back.”

  “Eva, no, you can’t—” Tanner’s fear for me is real, and yes, the man I’m going to help is huge enough to be two of me.

  He’s panicked and, sure, he could hurt me, but it’s unlikely since I’m strong.

  And besides, when someone is choking, you don’t waste time. You help them. Period.

  Ignoring Tanner’s attempt to grab my arm and stop me, I run across the restaurant as fast as my feet can take me safely around the tables that are in the way.

  I hear Tanner’s footsteps right behind me, but I ignore him as I reach the big man and his friend, who is now hitting him on the back.

  “Adam! Adam, talk to me.”

  “His airway is blocked,” I say, moving his friend aside gently. I get behind the bigger man, who is standing now, trying to hit himself in the stomach.

  “Wait, it could be dangerous,” Tanner says.

  But I shake my head because I know how to deal with this due to my corporate training, and I’m not sure he does.

  “I don’t know what’s happening,” the friend babbles. “One minute we were eating, and the next…”

  Using strength I know defies my height and build, I grab the big man by the arms and turn him to face away from me, wrapping my arms around his waist.

  Quickly, I grab my fists together and pull upward into his stomach with hard thrusts, nearly pulling him off the ground with each one.

  Thankfully, it only takes two tries before the big guy coughs up whatever it was he hadn’t managed to get down. He takes in a gulp of breath, coughing as he does, and I take a step back to give him space.

  And as quickly as it started, it’s over. A few waiters come up, offering water or additional help, along with scattered applause. But I didn’t do it for the adulation.

  Even now, I just feel awkward about any attention.

  Once he’s recovered, Adam gives me an earnest thank-you and offers to pay for our lunch, but I’m just glad everything’s okay as Tanner and I go back to our table.

  My heart’s still racing, and I don’t really want to sit down again since everyone is still staring.

  “How about we go for a little walk?” Tanner asks me gently, putting an arm around my side, steadying me.

  I nod.

  He pays the check and we leave, and the chance to revisit our conversation from before is over.

  I don’t know if I’m relieved or disappointed about that.

  12

  Tanner

  Eva is safe. That is all that matters to me right now.

  The afternoon sun is warm in spite of the winter chill outside, and I continue to keep my arm around Eva as we make our way down the walk, going nowhere in particular.

  I can tell she’s still stressed, and I want to ease her worry.

  “You did a great job back there,” I say, feeling a little silly to have thought the man back in the restaurant could have been possessed by chaos.

  The imbecile had just failed to chew his food properly, after all.

  “Thanks,” she says with a sigh, relaxing into my side slightly. “You probably could have handled it, but I didn’t want to waste time asking for your first aid credentials.”

  “No, you did the right thing. It was very brave,” I reply.

  She scoffs. “I wouldn’t call it brave. Responsible maybe. My civic duty.”

  “No, it was brave. You charged toward an unknown situation that could have been dangerous just to save another being. I think that’s the essence of bravery.”

  “Dangerous how?” She looks up at me. “He was choking.”

  “He could have been faking, trying to pull someone over to him…” I trail off, realizing that since she isn’t constantly watching for undercover chaos fae, this won’t make much sense to her. “You’re right. Still, I was impressed by what you did.”

  She waves a hand dismissively. “Anyone could have done it.”

  I shake my head. “No, I was watching. Not a single other person in the restaurant got up to help, Eva. They just stared.”

  It’s not unlike her company, where she has to do practically everything while people like Morgan and Bill just mess around.

  She acted every bit as brave as my best soldiers have in the face of adversity.

  A chaos fae would have called such an action stupid and foolhardy.

  But for good fae, and good people, it can hurt more to simply watch another person suffer than to do nothing. Indecision is a choice, one that not only hurts the people we fail to help, but ourselves for our lack of integrity.

  I had no idea what was actually happening, but I’m glad Eva did and that she acted
to help out.

  It’s only further proof that she’s fae.

  She looks up at me curiously. “You were saying something about chaos when you were trying to hold me back. What was that about?”

  I feel my face redden, and I’m not proud of my reaction, though I was only being understandably protective of my soul bond. “I simply meant the situation was chaotic. Hard to understand. I have never seen someone choking.”

  “That makes sense,” she says, smiling up at me, beautiful blue eyes twinkling in the sun, the sight of her completely breathtaking. “Thanks for watching out for me and coming to back me up.”

  “Always,” I say softly, and I’ve never meant anything more in my life.

  I want to be with her forever.

  I want to further our bond, show her who she is and who I am.

  I don’t know how much longer I can take things slow.

  “Anyway,” she says, flushing as she keeps us heading down the sidewalk in a more or less straight line. “We’ll need to get you some first aid training. So you know what to do next time.”

  “Sure,” I say, though I doubt I’ll be at Qualtechnics long enough for it to happen.

  As a fae prince, I hardly care about learning human first aid.

  “I’m glad we went to lunch,” she says. “Even if things did get a bit crazy.” She looks up at me, and my bond reaches out to her, dark and swirling, waiting for her to respond.

  She’s so far from being in touch with her fae side. Yet I can sense she’s intentionally holding it back. Keeping it deep within.

  She lets go of my arm and stretches, then looks at me, relieved. “All right. I’m ready to head back now.” We turn back to walk in the direction of the restaurant but stop when she sees someone she knows.

  I squint at the couple walking toward us, unable to recognize them with the sunlight behind their backs.

  Eva keeps her distance from me as she walks forward to greet them, and I let out an internal sigh of relief when I see at least one newly familiar face.

  “Eva, Tanner. I’m glad we caught up to you,” Ray Phillips, CTO of Qualtechnics and the one VP I don’t hate there, smiles at us, trying to catch his breath.

  Next to him, a tall, lithe woman I assume is his wife pats him on the shoulder. “Calm down, dear.”

  “Right,” he says, straightening. “Eva, we saw what you did back there. Amazing.” He gestures to the woman with him. “I’m sure you’ve met Dawn. But Tanner, this is my wife. Dawn, this is our new interim CEO. And if I’m not out of line to say it, I wish he’d be here for more than the interim.”

  Eva looks up at me, almost hopefully, but I just shake my head with a laugh.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing here. Eva would be a better CEO,” I say quickly.

  Ray’s sharp eyes turn to her. “I wouldn’t doubt it. Eva has always been one of the sharpest people here.”

  “What would you know about it, hiding down there with the techies in the basement?” Eva asks, clearly teasing.

  Ray just shrugs. “You know I hate the other officers. I don’t know how you put up with it.”

  “Honestly, Eva, we’re just glad there’s one other sane person at the company,” Dawn says, smiling warmly.

  “I’m glad for the same thing,” Eva says. “Ray is one of the good ones, always happy to sign off when his vote makes a difference.”

  Ray nods. “Happy to help.” He slides an arm around his wife, pulling her close, and looks curiously between me and Eva. “So what are you two up to?”

  “Just a business lunch,” Eva says, putting some distance between us.

  It’s a little disappointing after the progress we’ve made, but I understand she’s still nervous about anyone from work thinking she’s unprofessional.

  Human customs are so strange sometimes.

  “You two were eating there as well?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “Yes,” Ray says, adjusting his thick glasses on his nose. “The waiter took forever to bring the check, so it took us a minute to catch up to you. Honestly, I was feeling a bit bad about not keeping up on my CPR.”

  Eva grins, looking up at me. “You and Tanner can take a class together.”

  “If you can get him to come out of the basement.” Dawn laughs, nudging her husband, and when he grins down at her, I can’t help but be jealous of the easy love between them.

  The way they can just be together, so comfortable.

  “Anyway, we should put it in the company newsletter or something. Eva the hero,” Ray says.

  Eva shrugs nervously. “I wouldn’t want the extra attention, especially not right now with the board up in arms about my recent benefits proposal.”

  “I read it actually. I think it looks very promising, even though I know the higher-ups are going to throw a fit over the costs.” He looks between us curiously. “Is that what you two were discussing over lunch?”

  At that, I can see Eva bristle again as she glances at me awkwardly, even though I see absolutely nothing awkward about furthering the bond with my soul match.

  But human customs be damned, I will defend my bond.

  “We were going over a new training program for the sales force,” I say, drawing Ray’s attention to me instead. “Among other things.”

  I stare at him, challenging him to make this any more awkward for us.

  “Ah, splendid,” Ray says, adjusting his glasses again. “Sales is about as far as you can go from my department, but I’m glad one of our CEOs is finally taking his job seriously.”

  “Interim CEO,” I reply.

  “Well, in the interim, it’s nice to work with you, Tanner,” he says, extending a hand, which I shake firmly.

  Eva and Dawn exchange a few more pleasantries, and then the two of them wave and cross the street, presumably to where they parked.

  “Phew, that was a close one,” Eva says, fidgeting as she continues to look in the direction Ray and Dawn left. “Thanks for… you know.”

  I glance down at her. “For pretending this is only business between us?”

  Her cheeks flush. “Yes.”

  “It was nothing,” I say, yearning for our bond.

  She sighs. “I’m glad at least it was Ray who saw that whole thing and not Bill. Bill would probably have found a way to make himself the hero while also saying something mean about HR at the same time.”

  “I hate Bill,” I say flatly. I’d like to send him to eternal darkness.

  Bill’s father owns majority share in the company, and he’s COO but pretty much in name only, since he seems to be fairly useless.

  He seems cheerful with everyone, but I can sense he’s not a nice person, despite his power at the company.

  I can also feel chaos in his heart.

  Eva looks at me with confusion. “You don’t hate Bill. After all, he hired you.”

  “I still dislike him.” I’m too on edge from everything to pretend to like people I don’t right now.

  Eva just smiles, and we head back in the direction of the Qualtechnics building, walking side by side now. “Well, your secret is safe with me.”

  As we walk back to the office, I wait for her to bring up the subject she was about to broach before the choking incident.

  But as she tells me about Ray and how he’s been an ally ever since he joined the company a couple years ago, I realize that perhaps she’s still not ready.

  But I swear I saw in her eyes as she was about to ask me more that she’s close.

  Close to realizing everything. Close to letting me show her what we are.

  But until that time, I will remain vigilant.

  After a few minutes, we’re back at her office, standing in front of it. The company is winding down for the afternoon, and the halls are empty as people at their desks finalize their projects for the day.

  “Well, that was certainly an adventure,” Eva says with a grin.

  “Yes, it was.” Her smile is infectious.

  “I can say that was absol
utely the most exciting business lunch I’ve ever attended.”

  The word “business” hits me again, and I come closer to her, feeling the pull of our resonance as strongly as the day I first laid eyes on her. Eva’s eyes widen slightly, but she doesn’t back away.

  “You feel this between us, do you not?” I ask. I want to pull off a suppressor, remind her what she felt for me earlier.

  When neither of us was holding back.

  She blushes, averting her gaze from mine. “You’re obviously very, very attractive. And kind. Any woman would be lucky to have you, Tanner,” she says neutrally.

  “I don’t care if other people want me. I want you.”

  She twists her hands in front of her, looking genuinely torn. “Look, I like spending time with you, but today just proved how dangerous that can be.” She looks up at me. “If I’m caught dating the CEO, the professional image I’ve worked on for years will go up in flames.”

  I sigh. “I don’t see why that has to happen. It’s allowed by company policy.”

  She puts her hands on her hips. “There is company policy and personal policy. I just don’t think it’s right.” Her eyes linger on me. “Though, I admit it’s hard to resist.”

  “Then stop resisting,” I say flatly. “Eva, there is so much more you could have.”

  She shakes her head. “I’d love to discuss this more, but I have work to catch up on.” She runs a hand through her hair, avoiding my gaze. “I’m sorry, Tanner.”

  She isn’t angry or frustrated.

  Just resigned. Avoiding our bond.

  How can she possibly resist so easily when the feeling is so strong it steals the very air from my lungs when I look at her?

  But I know that, for now, I have to respect her wishes. It’s what a soul bond would do.

  “I’ll leave you to your work, then, Eva,” I say, turning to go back to my office.

  I can feel her watching me the whole way, and when I turn back, I see a hint of longing on her face just before she whirls around, blushing, and stomps back to her office.

  I grin because this battle may be lost, but the war is far from over.