“We did not interfere,” Wyvern wheezed.
Erion released his neck and punched him in the belly. Wyvern doubled over and dragged in a breath.
“It was none of your fucking business.” Erion drew back and landed another punch.
Wyvern collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
Erion squatted beside him. “How do I get her back?”
Wyvern looked up at him and rasped, “You don’t.”
“You sent her there, and you will tell me how to get her back.”
“We did not—”
“I won’t leave her in that hell.” Erion grabbed him again.
“They said Ghen wasn’t hell,” Kenna said.
Erion shot to his feet and swung to face her. She stood five feet from him, naked in the moonlight and even more beautiful than he remembered. He closed the distance between them but stopped short and stared.
“How were you able to return?” Wyvern demanded.
Erion whirled. “Interfere, and I’ll kill you.” He shot a glance at the other man. “Both of you.”
He faced Kenna. She stared up at him, and he was suddenly sure he was dreaming after all. She shivered.
“You’re cold.” He pulled off his shirt.
Kenna lifted her arms, and Erion slid the shirt over her head. She glanced down, fingering the edge of the garment where it hung to her thigh. Then she lifted her face to his. A corner of her mouth turned upward in a gentle smile.
“I couldn’t leave you there.” She touched his cheek.
He closed his eyes. Trembling fingers traced a line along his jaw. Then her hand was gone, and he opened his eyes to see her step past him toward the Drakaura.
“You said Ghen wasn’t hell.” The vehemence in her voice startled Erion.
“Hell is a mythical place of punishment, torment,” Wyvern replied. “Ghen is simply the void. It is what exists beyond—”
“The world of form,” she cut in. “You try living there, then tell me it isn’t hell.” She faced Erion. “Are you all right?”
He gave a shaky laugh. “Yes, though not unchanged.” At the stricken look on her face, he quickly added, “I’m fine, just a little shaken up. I thought I was dreaming.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “You put up a fight coming back.”
He started to reply that he hadn’t put up a fight at all, when she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You shouldn’t have done it.”
“Dragging Aiden into Ghen was the only way to ensure he could never hurt you again.”
Kenna shivered. “I’m not sure I would wish that place on anyone. Not even Aiden.”
“He would have enslaved you,” Erion replied.
She took a deep breath. “I know. But we can forget about him.”
Cool fingers trailed his flushed skin.
Cool fingers
. Her element hadn’t warmed to his touch as it had before. Acute pain pierced his chest. He was no longer Erion,
the Element.
He shrugged off her hand. She frowned, but he couldn’t answer the question in her eyes. Without his air, how could he protect her? Their bond remained with his element in oblivion.
She laid a tentative hand on his arm. “I can’t believe all that’s happened since you blew into my life.” A corner of her mouth lifted in a faltering smile.
Another wave of regret washed over him. He would never blow into her again. He smiled gently. “You have your whole life to figure out where you go from here.”
The smile vanished. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I—”
“Erion.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He glanced down at where her hand lay on his arm.
Her gaze dropped to her hand, then lifted to his face again. “No. Nothing is obvious.”
“
Nothing
is exactly the problem. Kenna, there’s no answering fire in you when you touch me. Our elements are no longer merged.”
She glanced at her hand again, then looked back at him, frowning. “We can make love, merge again.”
He gave a mirthless laugh. “Do you sense any air in me?”
“I don’t know how to sense air.”
Erion grasped her hand and placed it over his heart. His pulse spiked. A slow stretch began to harden his shaft. He forced back the desire. He couldn’t let her know how he still reacted to her—nor could he let the Drakaura know.
“I’m a man, human, no longer Element.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Ghen.”
“Yes. My element, my air, remained in the void.”
Kenna launched herself into his arms and buried her face in his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
Erion gritted his teeth. Her nipples prodded him through the thin fabric of his shirt. He grabbed her shoulders, roughly pushing her back so that he looked down into her tear-stained face. “I don’t need your pity.”
She blinked, then stared a moment before yanking free. “Pity? Did you lose your mind in that place, too?”
“I have nothing to offer Fiera. I’ll go back to being Eric Gray, ordinary man.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s been a long time.”
Her eyes narrowed, and her cheeks flushed. He wasn’t sure if she was simply angry or if Fiera was about to emerge.
“You deserve someone who can share both halves of who you are,” he said in a hard voice. “You deserve better than me.”
“You think I fell in love with you because of your
element
? I didn’t know what you were or what I was to become. For all I knew—”
“What did you say?” he demanded.
“I’m saying you’re an idiot if you think I give a damn about your element.”
“You can’t love me, Kenna.”
She arched a brow. “Really? So as a man, you don’t think you could love me, the woman? Like Aiden, you were only interested in my element?”
“Of course not.”
“You used me—used my fire.”
“I’m not like you anymore!” he shouted.
“Until yesterday, I wasn’t like me either.”
He couldn’t prevent a laugh. “You’ll adjust.”
She gave him a penetrating look. “Just like you’ll adjust to who you are now.”
“It’s not the same.” He faltered. “I’m not whole.”
Kenna’s eyes widened. “Airiana. She led me to you in the void.”
Fear knifed through Erion. He’d been so obsessed with the changes in him, he hadn’t thought about Airiana.
He’d stranded her in Ghen.
Chapter Fifteen
“Erion!” Kenna cried as Erion fell to his knees.
She dropped beside him on the cool ground.
He looked at her. “What have I done?”
Her heart wrenched. Erion had taken Aiden into oblivion to save her and sentenced Airiana to a timeless hell.
Kenna placed a hand on his arm. “You couldn’t know.”
“But I forgot her. How…”
“It’s that place,” she said with a vehemence that sent heat spiraling through her. “It’s—it’s soulless.” He paled, and she cursed her stupidity, adding in a gentler tone, “I worried you wouldn’t remember me. I called for you, pulled as hard as I could, but you were—I don’t know—stuck.”
He frowned. “I heard you. I thought you were a dream.”
Kenna jumped to her feet. “I’ll bring her back.” Heat warmed in her core.
Erion surged upward. He yanked her against him. “No!”
She shoved at his chest. Her teeth rattled with the hard shake he gave her.
“I can’t live with knowing I’m responsible for both of you being there,” he rasped.
She stilled. The fierce pounding of his heart beat against her breasts. Kenna stared into his face. “I saved you. Let me save her.”
“For all you know, you left your element there as well,” he said.
She dropped her gaze to her stomach. A soft glow lit the space between their bodies.
Erion whirled toward the Drakaura. “Stop her.” He took a step toward them. “Stop her.” He lowered his voice. “I beg you.”
“Who is Airiana?” Wyvern demanded.
Kenna’s heart twisted at the pain that crossed Erion’s face.
“She was the first Element I merged with. I…I consumed her.”
“
Consumed
her?” Wyvern’s sharp reply yanked Kenna’s attention to him.
“Yes,” Erion replied.
Kenna tensed at the intense look that entered Wyvern’s eyes. “Yet she has
existed
in your consciousness since?” He exchanged a glance with Ormond.
Erion glanced from one man to the other. “What is it?”
Wyvern gave a single, slow shake of his head. “No Element survives being consumed.”
Erion barked a harsh laugh, but Kenna cut off any reply he intended to give. “I sensed her. She lived within him.”
“Impossible.” Wyvern’s attention shifted to Erion. “Had you consumed her, she would cease to exist. She could not affect your return from Ghen.”
“You profess to know what goes on in that place?” Erion snarled. “I’ll make sure my next trip to hell fits into the neat little box you think it should.”
“I heard her,” Kenna cut in.
“There is only one explanation,” Wyvern said. “She is not Element but Shadow.”
“Ryalda?” Erion said. “Fuck—”
“You did not consume one of your own kind,” Ormond snapped. “She is
Shadow
.
She
possessed
you
. She has taken your element.”
“I don’t understand,” Kenna said.
“Shadows are the Ryalda that reenter the world of form. They are—”
“Parasites that exist in this world only as Shadow,” Kenna ended, recalling what they had told her only moments ago. Had it been such a short time since she had gone into Ghen?
“You’re talking demon possession,” Erion said and scoffed. “Airiana possessed the song of an angel. She was Air.”
“Unknowing symbiotic relationships. So yes, they are demons in nature,” Ormond said.
“No Ryalda have entered our world for centuries,” Erion said. “You saw to that when you sealed the door—and every crack you could find.”
“And she is a perfect example of why that was necessary. The Shadows are not like you.” Ormond stared hard at Erion. “Shadows don’t care who or what they use—she used you.”
Erion’s fists worked at his side. “I don’t give a damn—”
“Wait.” Kenna looked at the men. “How can you be so certain Airiana was Shadow and not an Element?”
“He knows.” Wyvern stared hard at Erion. “You did not experience her as you did Fiera.”
“You son of a bitch.” Erion lunged for him.
“Erion!” Kenna seized his arm and yanked him back.
He turned blazing eyes on her.
“Please,” she whispered.
His mouth thinned, but he turned his attention back to the men. “This better be good.”
“Shadows appear human,” Wyvern said, “but cannot experience the world of form. They must attach themselves to humans in order to do so.”
“But I’m not human,” Erion countered.
“No, but your kind are closer to their natural selves than humans. You are, in effect, a symbiotic extension. Imagine how much more they experience through you than is possible through humans.” Wyvern regarded him. “Your experience with Airiana was not like that of Elements.” His brows rose in challenge.
Erion didn’t immediately answer, and Kenna feared his anger would get the better of him.
“Kenna is the first since Airiana,” he finally said.
She gasped. He looked at her, the despair in his eyes so deep, she wanted to cry.
“After Airiana, I couldn’t chance stealing another Element’s life.” He paused. “She was a singer. Her voice…”
“That explains her wind song,” Kenna murmured.
He nodded, then returned his attention to Wyvern. “This is bullshit.”
“Have you heard of an Element living with another after being consumed?” Wyvern demanded in an impatient tone.
Erion shot Kenna a glance, and she realized Wyvern had finally made a hit. “You believed you’d destroyed Aiden,” she said. “If you’d consumed him, he would have lived within you.”
“I consumed Airiana…as we merged. Not in battle.”
“Do you understand why we can’t allow Shadows into the world of form?” Wyvern asked. “She led you to Kenna. She’d manipulate both of you in hopes of experiencing Fiera’s existence as well. She possessed your element and she would find a way to get to Fiera.”
Something in Erion’s expression stopped Kenna cold. Wyvern must have noticed as well, for he said, “Wait.”
The strange tone in his voice sent a wave of fear through Kenna. “What haven’t you told me?” she demanded.
“Airiana didn’t lead him to you,” Wyvern said.
“Shut your fucking mouth.” Erion took a threatening step toward him.
Wyvern looked at Erion. “Kenna is your mate.”
“Motherfucker,” Erion cursed.
“That explains why she could find you in Ghen,” Wyvern said.
Shock rolled over Kenna. Her heart pounded so loud, the rushing in her ears and the heat that churned in her stomach frightened her. “Erion?”
He whirled, and their eyes met.
“What is he talking about?”
Erion threw a dark glance in their direction. “They’re lunatics, Kenna, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Erion, please.”
He looked back at her. A long moment of silence passed before he said, “What do you want me to say?”
The trees spun around her. “Only the truth. Is it true?”
He didn’t reply.
“What does this mean?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” he said. “I’m a man now. It doesn’t mean a fucking thing.”
“Airiana stripped you of your air,” Wyvern said. “Can you see now why we won’t allow Shadows back into the world of form? She possessed you. Lied to you. And will do it to others if we allow her to return.”
Erion whirled on him. “You say you protect the world from Shadow. I say you condemn beings of beauty to an eternity of darkness.” He gave Wyvern a disdainful look, then added in a dark mutter, “
Alal
.”
“Alal?” Kenna repeated.
“Not us,” Wyvern said. “The Air Shadow stripped you of your air and kept it with her in Ghen. We cannot blame her. She is what she is. Just as we are. This is our destiny.”
“Destiny?” Erion repeated with such vehemence. Kenna stepped closer and placed a calming hand on his arm. “You Drakaura never tire of using that fucking line. You really expect us to accept your claim to be among the first beings Tiamat created as a reason for hunting us?”