Darkness Undone (21 page)

“Are you okay?”

The rare sound of North’s voice jerked her out of her self-pity. She nodded.

Eve gave her attention to the sculpture she’d started, but her heart wasn’t in it as she melted and molded. All that took form was her rage and hurt in the wild twists and furious turns of pewter and steel.

Warmth stole through her and built up like she had a temperature. The sheet of metal she’d abused in her fit of temper lay distorted on the floor. Running out of steam, desperately unhappy, she dropped to the floor on her knees and stared at her hands. The ugly scars crisscrossing her skin and melting into each other ached, while intense heat radiated through her body. One she didn’t understand.

She clenched and unclenched her fingers. What was wrong with her? It felt as if she were on fire. Eve pushed to her feet and staggered to the sink. Holding her hands under the cold water, she struggled to calm down. Filling a glass, she drank some…the heat in her hands and her body slowly subsided.

Movement and low voices distracted her. Lucan stood near the doorway. She hadn't been aware North had let him in. He glanced around the place, seeming intrigued by the tall shelves that held all types of metal. Both purchased and scrapyard finds.

North and Lucan held a conversation in their language. The tensed air between them told her that wherever Lucan had been, things weren’t too rosy there. Had he gone to Empyrea?

Thankful she didn’t have to talk to him, Eve headed back to her worktable and flipped through several sketches she’d done for her sculpture of Reynner. Selecting the drawing she liked, she began redefining the lines.

“That’s good.”

Her gaze shot up at the sound of Lucan’s voice. She looked around, only to find that North had disappeared, leaving this glacier in his place.

Oh, joy. Alone with the iceberg. But his clipped praise shocked her.

“We need to talk.”

Now that wasn’t a surprise. “About what?”

His eyes gleamed. Amusement? No, it had to be irritation at her snarly tone.

“In a minute.” His gaze dropped to her hands. “How did you get those scars?”

Her fingers tightened around her pencil, and she stifled the urge to hide her hands. Instead, she started another drawing. “What’s it to you?”

“Enlighten me.” An order.

He probably never uttered the word,
please
. Scowling, she told him. “Ten years ago, I was involved in a car accident. I tried to drag my dead parents from a burning wreck—hysterical kids tend to do that, with the illusion we can save them and no thoughts to safety.”

He didn’t respond to her caustic account of the tragedy. His silent scrutiny hauled her out of her anger, making her uneasy. In a sugary-sweet tone full of bite, she asked, “Is that all?”

“What caused the accident?”

Apparently not.

“At fifteen, I was more interested in texting my friends than how my dad drove. They said he swerved to avoid a jaywalker, maybe another car—the damn Easter bunny, I don’t remember.”

She tore off a sheet, crumpled it in frustration, and tossed it with the pile on her table.

“Where?”

“At Columbus Circle.”

Lucan didn’t speak for a moment as if considering what she’d revealed. Then he said, “You do understand, Reynner cannot remain on this realm once we find the Stone.”

“You’re telling me this why?”

Glacial eyes hardened. And she’d always thought turquoise a calming color.

“You know why.”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to spell it out. I’m busy and don’t have time for puzzles.”

A long stretch of silence followed. His gaze skated over her like winter’s kiss, and to think, she’d been sufficiently warm and sticky from the heat until he came.

“When the time comes, will you leave?”

“Where—
why
?” she asked, unable to fathom what he was getting at.

“Empyrea. It’s where Reynner will go.”

Her heart stopped. Her chest constricted painfully. Reynner had never asked her to go anywhere with him. She had to force out the words from a tightening throat. “Why would I do that?”

“It’s good you feel this way. Our realm is ravaged by civil wars. And Darkreans, who fight for rule. You will be a distraction he can ill-afford.”

Eve held back a biting retort. She’d sensed Lucan’s dislike, but to detest her to such an extent that he would warn her off Reynner? If only he knew the truth. The only thing Reynner thought about was finding the Stone and leaving. She only mattered because they needed her to search for the artifact. And he’d made love to her…
Because I didn’t give him much choice
, she realized with painful insight.

She
pushed him into doing so. The reality wasn’t any easier to swallow two days later.

Even if he had gone off to Exilum last night, it was probably to spare her feelings. Why would he want her when he seemed to hate women, didn’t trust them? And who could blame him after what he’d endured in Hell?

“He’s been gone too long from Empyrea,” Lucan continued, interrupting thoughts that left her raw. Hurting. “Ademéras needs him. When he’s gone, the bonding ties will ease—”

Her head snapped up. “The
what
?”

He stared at her for a short, silent moment. “He didn’t tell you? I guess I should have given him more credit, despite the temptation your kind presents to us. Mortals were never meant to be mates to our species.”

Mate?
Mate
!

“What the hell are you talking about? What mate?” Eve glared at Lucan. And found him studying her. Probably searching for whatever Reynner had seen in her that made him sleep with her.

Then he shook his head. “Impossible to believe…you humans are far too weak. Frail. You would never last the course of being mated to one like us. It’s best you make this easy on yourself, tell him you don’t want him here.”

The superior tone made Eve want to shove him out of her studio. Except the pain inside of her rendered her helpless. She’d spent far too much time with them to not understand what the word
mate
meant. North had lost his wife to the wars in their realm.

Reynner had bonded with her and never said a word. But then he’d never lied about staying with her either. Swallowing her hurt, she pinned Lucan with an unforgiving look. “Relax. I have no plans to taint the purity of your bloodline. Reynner is a free agent. I won’t force him to stay, nor will I be your scapegoat. You want him to leave,
you
tell him so.”

His piercing turquoise gaze swirled white with power, with knowledge. Tendrils of ice wrapped around her. “You won’t win.”

“Then you should be glad with me out of the picture. I want him to be happy—can you say the same?”

When she received no answer, she turned away, growing weary of the conversation. “I thought not. Now, if you don’t mind, please leave. I have work to do.”

After Lucan left, North sat on the over-turned crate near the door again, staring outside.

Eve leaned her elbows on the work-surface, staring at her faceless sketch of Reynner for several long minutes. And wondered how she’d held herself together as she faced that heartless man.

When he’s gone, the bonding ties will ease.

Lucan’s words were like a razor peeling off layer after layer of her heart until it bled so profusely, she didn’t think she’d ever heal from the shock. The betrayal.

Immortals finding their mates and bonding was cause for celebration. After all, it was the only way they could have children Aerén had said. And yet, Reynner wouldn’t acknowledge her.

Tears clogged her throat. Her chest hurt until she could no longer breathe. She dropped her head in her hand, wishing the unbearable pain would ease.

But, no matter how much she hurt, she did want Reynner to be happy, and she’d never force him to stay. Not after what she’d seen—what he’d lived through in Hell.

Reynner stood outside Eve’s studio, feeling like he’d been torn apart and put together again. He watched North head up the darkened alley, not before telling him that Lucan had been by.

Raking a shaky hand through his hair, he retied it. His gait too slow and his body too lax, his strength was that of a babe. Hell, he probably looked as wrung out as he felt. After the period in his dungeon, Aerén had insisted he rest. He didn’t agree. With his mind on Eve, desperation clawed at him to return. A night and day had passed since he’d left her.

Reynner scanned the studio and found Eve alone. She had to be busy with her work.

He stepped inside. Amidst the acrid odor of melting metal, the briny scent of tears hit him hard. His stomach in knots, he flashed to her side. “Eve, what’s wrong?”

She stiffened at the sound of his voice and dashed at her face with the back of her hand, the movement too fast. His gaze fell on her drawing book, and he saw the soggy patch on her sketch sheet.

“Nothing.” She closed the pad, pushed off her chair, and started to clear her table. Frowning, Reynner ran his gaze over the tidy surface. The sketches were placed in their folders, pens in their stands, and even her jellybean jar had received her attention. No longer within her reach, but against the wall. Everything lined up like soldiers.

The place was too damn neat. This wasn’t her. One thing he’d learned, Eve liked the chaos on her worktable. He stepped in front of her, blocking her attempts to avoid him. “I know Lucan was here. What the hell did he say?”

She finally looked at him, her eyes filled with pain and betrayal, and red-rimmed from the tears she’d shed. “Only what you didn’t.”

Like a light had been switched on, his gut tightened, and he knew. The bastard had opened his fucking mouth and spilled. He wanted to kill the mage for interfering in something that was none of his damn business.

“What exactly am I to you?” she asked. Her fingers closed around her pencil, tightening as if she needed the thing to anchor her.

He didn’t want to get into this now, not when his head felt like someone had jabbed an ice pick through his skull and mushed his brains. He just wanted to hold her, forget the last tormenting twenty-four hours until Inanna had finally gotten bored and the pain had eased.

“Tell me.” A choked demand.

He pinched the bridge of his nose then found her gaze, his mind fuzzy as he answered. “You are who destiny chose for me.”

***

Eve stared at him for a long, silent moment. “But not who
you
would have chosen.”

At his baffled look, anger warred with her bitterness. She clamped a lid over it. “Is that why I can sense you—your presence in my mind?”

He nodded. A flare of yearning so powerful crossed his face. It made her insides tremble. But she refused to let hope spring, imagining what she wanted. The fact that he’d kept something this important from her showed her the stark truth.

“Yes, when we were together, we bonded.”

When we were together
—not
when we made love
. Even his words screamed the truth at her. He wouldn’t have touched her had he known. She got that loud and clear.

“I understand.” She struggled to raise her protective shields around her emotions. She dropped her pencil on the table and went back to her work in progress. How she managed the simple feat of walking, when it felt like she’d been shattered, every inch of her broken, she had no idea.

“That’s it?” he bit out, following her. “No questions about why I didn’t tell you?”

She turned dull eyes to him. Why was he so angry? He wasn’t the one having to deal with the unbearable pain of being unwanted. “What do you want me to say? You obviously don’t want a mate, because if you did, you would have said something. And we both know you only slept with me because I wanted you.”

She stuck her earphones on and cranked up her iPod, trying to lose herself in her music and her work. But she had no prayer in hell of that happening when she was aware of him like a tangible force of power behind her. Even his scent taunted her.

He hauled her around, startling her. Her earphones were ripped off and pocketed, along with her iPod. The metal strip in her hand hit the ground with a thin twang.

He yanked her close, his fingers biting into her upper arms. “We have a problem, you talk to me. Don’t shut me out, Eve, or you won’t like what I’ll do.”

“Don’t threaten me—” she snapped, pushing away. “You want to talk? Fine. After the Stone’s found, what do you plan to do?”

“It matters little what happens after. For now, this is where I’ll be. With you.”

His decision broke her heart. He would stay with her for now, but the end result remained the same. He
would
leave.

Eve shook her head. Her despairing mind finally registering the lines of pain bracketing his mouth, the paleness of his skin. But she couldn’t worry about that—couldn’t do this any longer.

“I know it’s what I asked for, a moment with you, but this…this
bonding
changes everything. It’s not enough anymore.”

His expression became stony.

Eve knew what he thought.
You can’t trust a woman. Because here she is, changing the stakes again.
But this was her life she was fighting for. “I stay with you a day longer, it will make it that much harder when you leave. I can’t live like that—”

“What are you saying?”

“I want a life—a family.”
I need them…to forget you…to breathe again.
“I want it all.”

“And who’s going to give that to you, Eve? You can't touch anyone—”

“You bastard.” Pain ripped through her. Eve backed away, felt as if her very foundation had fractured. He’d taken her heart, her feelings, and crushed them into shards with his callousness. Used the very thing that caused her so much hurt against her.

“
Fuck
!” He squeezed his eyes tight. “Eve, I’m—”

“No—” she cut him off. In a voice gone brittle with determination, she said, “I will accept David if he still wants me. Like you pointed out, my choices are limited.”

His rigid composure cracked. His eyes snapped open, blazing with savage fire. “That will never happen!”

“God, you're selfish! You don’t want me, and no one else can?”

“Don’t want you? You have no idea—” His mouth clamped shut. The vein on his neck pulsed so violently she half expected him to shake her. Instead, he stalked off, his fists crashing on the table, making her jump.

Inhaling an agonized breath, Eve turned away, pressed her hand to her chest as if it would ease her shattered heart. She only understood one thing; she had to find a way to move on. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t survive, not loving him the way she did

***

Chained to the wall for hours, his wrists were rubbed raw and blood dripped down his biceps. His body in a haze of pain from the barbed cat ’o nine tails whip she’d used this time.

Kalinin took pleasure in physical torture, relished in it.

His head hung low, his matted hair fell in dark hunks to block his view of the bitch watching him. She strolled closer. Fingers ran down his chest, digging into the grooves of torn flesh. “Say the words and all this will end—admit I’m your mistress.”

Reynner gritted his teeth, so the words wouldn’t tumble out. The whip cracked through the air and slashed him again, tearing through flesh. Unmitigated pain surged through him.

A silent scream trapped in his throat.

By all that was merciful, was there no way out of this endless pain?

Urias, end me…let me leave this hellhole.

Oblivion hovered. Elysium, their final resting place was just a heartbeat away.

“Oh, no, my dear Empyrean,” she cooed. “I won’t let you seek death. You are mine.”

She undid his chains, and he fell into the filth, his legs too weak to support him. She scored her wrist with her teeth and pushed the gushing wound to his lips. His stomach gnawed itself in hunger, but he turned his head away. The sludge from the floor coated his face. She grabbed him by his hair and forced the blood into his mouth, ignoring his sputtering.

The coppery taste slid down his parched throat, he gagged, but she held his head down. After a minute, she yanked his head up. “You want water? Say the words.”

He didn't speak. He no longer did. Blood dripping down his chin, he pulled his head free from her vicious grip, leaving behind a hunk of his hair. She ran the dull strands against her face, her expression filling with victory.

Despair constricted his chest. He couldn’t hold out much longer…she’d win.

No. Can’t let her—can’t let her—

“Hush, Reynner, I’m here.”

The faint fragrance of peaches teased his nose, chasing away the sulfur and coppery stink. He clung to the wispy tendrils like a lifeline and followed it.
There
. He found her. In his soul. A light that burned for him alone. So bright, it led him out of the darkness and into her warmth.

“She can’t hurt you.” Light fingers smoothed back his hair. “It’s over—she’s dead. You killed her.”

Yes, I killed her…killed her…

“Come back to me, please…” her gentle voice pleaded. Reynner forced his eyelids open and stared into beautiful dark green eyes damp with tears. “She can’t hurt you anymore.”

Eve sat on the living room floor, stroking his hair. Hers appeared like a dark, tangled halo around her shoulders. The soft sounds of her voice soothed him.

She’d come to him, pulled him out of his nightmares, even when he’d been an utter bastard.

Eve.
Her name stuck in his throat. He knew he’d warned her never to touch him when nightmares took him under. He couldn’t bear it if he hurt her. A pang of regret settled in his chest that all she did was stroke his hair.

He reached out to touch her face, needing the contact, and stroked her petal-soft skin with his fingers. She leaned into his touch, her eyes squeezing shut. Then she eased away from him, rose to her feet and walked back to her room. Her door closed with a soft click, shutting him out.

Reynner pushed off the couch, agitation knotting his belly. He headed in the direction of her bedroom. But the closed door brought him to an abrupt halt.

His hand rested on the wood, the other rubbing his chest at the pain there. He wasn’t even sure what the hell it was any longer. The nightmares that followed him like a shadow, or the star that would soon throb again, reminding him what a crapfest his life was. Or the sheer torture cutting through him to have finally found his mate and that everything was falling apart.

His fist crashed into the wall. Rubble rained down to the floor. Pain exploded as skin split and bones shattered. He stared at his ruined hand. It didn’t compare to the agony strangling him.

If he didn't find a way out of this mess, then Eve would do as she threatened, move on and find a life without him…

***

Her numbed emotions were the only thing that got Eve through the day as she dressed the following evening for her art debut. Pulling up the zipper on the side, she turned to the mirror and studied herself, grateful she’d let Kataya pick out her dress several weeks ago.

When she’d protested having to dress so formally, Kataya had insisted.
Just because you’re an artist, doesn’t mean you have to dress like a hobo.

The dark blue strapless number with a dull sheen hugged her from her chest to her hips, ending with a swirly flare above her knees. Okay, so the color did look good against her tanned skin. But the hue reminded her too much of Reynner’s eyes.

Instantly, she shut off the thought as unhappiness threatened to invade again, but she pushed it all back and concentrated on the evening ahead. Focusing on the show was the key to survival.

“One day at a time,” she murmured. “One day at a time, Eve.”

Slipping on ice-pick heels that matched her dress, she picked up her black elbow-length gloves and walked out of her bedroom, tugging the bodice up so the inch-long scar on her left breast wouldn’t show. She ignored the gaping hole in the passage wall.

Last night, she’d heard the thud of something hitting the wall and it had shocked her to see the damages this morning. But she didn’t ask. She’d seen the light scabs on Reynner’s knuckles.

Eve slowed to a standstill near the kitchen counter as Reynner turned from the living room window. No matter how broken she felt, he still took her breath away.

He wore the deep burgundy coat she’d first seen him in. The color offset his golden skin and pale hair. Her reaction to him then, too, had been instantaneous, not realizing just how deeply their paths interconnected.

There was no sign of the destroyed man she’d comforted last night, whose pain had awakened her and drew her to him. But if one looked closely, beneath all that male beauty, one would see the killer held on a tight leash.

Avoiding his gaze, she picked up her cell from the counter and slipped it into her purse.

“Ready?” he asked.