Absolute Surrender (38 page)

“Týr, can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot,” he said, sucking from the can.

“Do you have to Ground, too?” she asked, reorganizing the apples in a bowl on the counter.

“No.” He shook his head. “We aren’t as dangerous as your Empyrean. We’re pussycats really, more docile than Bob.”

That made her smile. “Yes, I’m sure you are.”

He laughed.

“Is that the only way?”

“Well there’s bed-sport, a damn good way to get off, I’d say—ah hell.” Consternation darkened his eyes. “Echo, look, you’re all he wants. He nearly rearranged my face for hitting on you. That’s my fault, though. I just wanted to settle a score. Things will work out. Aethan Grounds at the Catskills when the need arises. The mountain does the job just as well. Now, before I put my size fourteen in my mouth, I’m gonna go.”

He grabbed his biker jacket off the chair. His expression was pained as he strode from the kitchen.

Echo stood frozen beside the counter. The one thing Aethan wouldn’t risk with her. Bed-sport:
sex.

Her heart went into an agonizing tailspin at what that meant.

CHAPTER 25

Aethan changed into his work clothes, his mind still on the close call that had occurred yesterday. The
demonii’s
desperation was growing. He’d risked coming out during the day when it could mean his death.

Breaking free of his mountainous prison had left Aethan raw. Pain ate at his psyche with his powers roiling so close to the surface. But until he killed the bastard, he couldn’t take another chance with Echo being unprotected while he Grounded.

Aethan picked up his cell and walked out of the dressing room, only to stop in the bedroom. He’d not shared it with her last night. He was too dangerous right now. Instead, he’d spent the time patrolling until dawn broke. He’d promised Echo they’d try. But how could he? When he was unable to Ground his cursed powers.

“Aethan, man, hang on a sec,” Týr called out, running down the stairs behind him.

Aethan turned his attention to the warrior. “Yeah? What’s up?”

Týr stopped beside him and stuck his hands in the pockets of his leathers. “You’re not gonna like this. Elytani’s gone. She’s missing.”

“What do you mean she’s missing?” he growled. “She’s supposed to stay at the castle ’til Michael gets here—dammit! You know what can happen. Let’s go—wait, I’m supposed to take Echo to her apartment.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay, give me a minute, then we’ll do this.”

Aethan found Echo sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor, talking to her pet, who seemed more interested in inhaling his food than the hand stroking him. She lifted her head. When she saw him, she bit her lip and rose to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was feeding Bob and forgot the time. I won’t be long.”

“That’s okay, no rush. I have to take care of something first.”

“Oh...okay,” she murmured. Before he could kiss her, she sat back on the floor.

“Is something wrong?”

She glanced at him and shook her head. “No. I’ll see you later.”

Frowning, Aethan left the kitchen, meeting with Týr who waited out on the portico.

What the hell was going on? He felt like he’d hit a brick wall when he went to kiss her. If she thought to push him away just because they couldn’t—his teeth snapped together.

“What did you tell Echo?” Týr asked him.

“That I had to clean up your mess.” He ignored the male’s narrow-eyed stare. “Let’s do this fast.”

“Fast?
You
know where she is?”

The suspicious tone was starting to irritate the shit out of Aethan.

Finding Elytani shouldn’t be difficult, he hoped. He recalled she liked spending her time in the open grasslands and forest back in Empyrea. “Let’s try CP first.”

He and Týr dematerialized to Central Park.

“She has a proclivity for these kinds of places,” Aethan said as they took form again in a shadowy thicket of trees.

“And you remember that?”

Oh, he knew where Týr’s thoughts were heading. Aethan nailed the Norse with a cold look. “There was never anything between us. Her brother, Reynner, was one of my best friends. She would constantly get lost, forcing her sire to send out the guards to find her. But we were the ones who did, in parks or on the moors.”

“Just checking,” Týr retorted. “You have an amazing female. Don’t hurt Echo.”

Aethan clenched his jaw as they searched the park. He was already hurting her by not consummating their love. He was just too afraid of losing her.

Scanning the park, he soon located Elytani. Late afternoon sunlight struck her pale hair as she sat on the grass near the lake, feeding the ducks. Children ran around her, and she laughed, seeming quite in her element.

“The female’s been here all this time while I’ve been searching every freakin’ hotel in the city,” Týr muttered in annoyance.

She looked up and a smile lit her face when she saw Týr. But the moment her gaze fell on Aethan, the glow faded and wariness settled over her. She pushed to her feet and brushed the grass from her gown.

“You cannot leave the castle unchaperoned. It’s far too dangerous,” Aethan told her.

She sighed. “It’s so beautiful here. I like it, in all its entirety.” She tossed more crumbs into the lake, her smile wistful as the ducks dove for the food.

“How did you get the food for the ducks?” Týr asked her.

“Oh, that man.” She looked toward a bench along the edge of the lake. “There was a man right there. He gave me some when I asked.”

Elytani had the same angelic allure he did, so Aethan wasn’t surprised that the man had given her what she wanted.

“I see,” Týr murmured. “You’ve been gone a few days, where did you stay?”

“At that castle.” She pointed a finger across the lake where parts of a building showed. “And the other night, I saw a fight—people fight without powers here, did you know?”

Týr glanced at the ducks, hiding his grin.

Aethan sighed and shook his head. She still was as amusing as he remembered. “Come on, we have to leave,” he said, leading the way to a secluded grove of trees so they could dematerialize. And he was damn grateful no one had accosted her, which would have been devastating for the human.

***

Aethan stood by Echo’s bedroom window later that afternoon, his gaze on several youths playing basketball on the eroded court below her apartment building. The yells and curses reached him since he’d open the window. While he followed the game, his senses were attuned to his mate.

During the drive to the city, she’d remained silent, staring out of the side window. He’d never seen her this quiet.

He turned to her. Leaning against the sill, he crossed his arms over his chest and watched as she tossed some clothes onto the bed. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

She picked up a sweater and looked at it, her brow furrowing.

Either the sweater confused the hell out of her or his question did. He knew damn well which one it was.

“Why would you ask that? Nothing’s going on.”

“Something upset you. I want to know what.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Is it because of yesterday morning?”

“No.” She stopped folding the sweater and finally met his gaze, but her eyes swam with despair.

Fear took hold of him. “Echo, what is it?”

She shook her head. “Týr told me what helps you to fully Ground.”

All his anger drained out of him only to come rushing like a backdraft when he realized what she was referring to. “You think I’ll betray you because we haven’t consummated our relationship?”

“No...”

Her hesitant answer made him curse. “Echo, before I met you, I hadn’t been with a female for a while. Grounding in the mountains was far preferable to the emptiness inside me after one of those encounters. Being with you is all that holds me together. It’s when you’re not here or keeping me at arm’s length, like now, that messes me up.”

“I’m sorry. I’m trying to make this easy on us. I feel as if—” She swallowed. “—as if I’m going to lose you.”

“That will never happen.” He reached out and tugged her into his arms. “Gods, Echo, talk to me. Don’t build walls between us. It just hurts us both then.”

She held him tightly. His heart settled as the barriers between them vanished. He sat on the windowsill, pulled her between his thighs, and captured her mouth in a tender kiss.

“Echo, are you home?”

Aethan’s head jerked up at the intrusive sound of a male in her apartment and every possessive molecule fired up.

Her face flushed, her mouth swollen from his kisses, she blinked and inhaled unevenly.

“I’ll be there in a moment,” she called out, her gaze on him. “It’s Damon. He’s been away on business. He must have just gotten back.”

“And he came straight to you?”

She frowned, brushing at her wispy bangs. “Yes. Most times he does. Aethan, I haven’t told him about us yet—he’s a bit protective so, please?”

She wanted him to what? Tone down his...aggression? Did she think he’d hurt her guardian?

Her hand stroked his chest. “Please?”

He nodded.

Yeah, he was grateful the male kept her safe, but he hated his guts. Hated him for being all the things he could never be. Why the hell didn’t Fate let him find Echo all those years ago?

Truth was, he would have walked right past her. As long as he kept the streets safe, he never interfered or took an interest in the homeless, the street-kids. And that stung more.

“Echo, I need to talk to you,” the male called out again.

“Hang on a sec. I’m coming.”

“Echo.” Aethan caught her hand when she would have walked away. “We will tell him about us. No need for details, just keep it simple.”

Sighing, she nodded before she left the room.

He heard the murmur of voices and dragged in a rough breath. He’d let her have a minute before he interrupted the reunion. Then he heard the male laugh and say something about being glad she’d gotten rid of her contacts.

Dammit, the human was her guardian, like a father. Aethan hauled in his possessive shit. Unable to claim his mate was screwing with his perception.

Jealousy? Gods, it was a bitch of an emotion!

He walked out into the lounge. What happened next became a blur. He saw the human, who looked far too young to be anyone’s guardian, touching his mate. Then he got a good look at the male and his stomach lurched as he realized the enormity of what faced him. This fucker was responsible for Echo’s safety? The one who’d stood by and watched a Guardian die?

A’Damiel.

Centuries of animosity broke free. Aethan’s dagger was drawn and pressed into the male’s throat.

***

“Aethan, no!” Echo cried. Fear for her guardian tearing through her, she shoved at Aethan. Unable to move him, she grabbed the blade and tried to pull it away from Damon’s throat. A burning sensation slid across her palm.

Aethan pulled back his dagger and smashed his fist into her guardian’s face instead.

Damon staggered and hit the couch. Eyes narrowing, he wiped at the blood trickling from his mouth. He straightened. She rushed over and slapped a hand on Damon’s chest, keeping him back.

“Stop it, both of you, and tell me what the hell’s going on!”

At her yell, they looked at her. Then Damon crossed to the kitchen. Her eyes snapped to Aethan. He didn’t respond. He sheathed his dagger and reached for her. But Damon was there, wrapping the dishtowel around her palm. Only then did she realize it was bleeding and Damon’s white shirt was stained with her blood.

His expression stony, Aethan headed for the door.