Ensnared (Sorcery and Science Book 5) (7 page)

He felt a jolt break through from her body to his, and he caught a flash of Aaron Pall, leader of the Selpe Diamond Edges. It was a strange sight, everyone and everything painted in colors too vibrant to be real. Aaron stood in the imperial palace ballroom in Orion, high above on the emperor’s pedestal, before the emperor’s throne. Someone lifted a crown onto his head, and the room erupted into applause.

“Ahh,” Isis murmured and stumbled away. She tripped and landed in a puddle.

Cameron reached out toward her. “What was that?”

“Aaron, being crowned emperor,” Isis told him.

“How did that happen?”

“Not did happen.
Will
happen,” she said. “At least, it seems very likely now. There’s no way around it, I fear.”

“But how Aaron Pall?”

“Aaron Pall will become Aaron Selpe.”

Cameron stared at her blankly.

Isis shook her head, as though to clear her thoughts. “Sorry. My mind’s a bit muddled right now.”

“Let me help you.”

Smiling weakly, she explained, “Aaron is Ambrose Selpe’s nephew.”

Finally, she took his extended hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. As her exposed skin touched his, another flash rushed through him like a cold shower. This one was different, though. Rather than the exaggerated colors of Isis’s foresight, everything was soft and subdued. It differed from his flashes of Memory, but Cameron knew it had to be a scene from the past.

Aaron stood with his arm across the doorway, blocking Isis’s passage.

“Don’t you know who I am?” he asked her.

“I don’t care,” she replied. “Now move your arm before I remove it.”

“You wouldn’t,” he challenged. “I know you don’t kill.”

“I don’t have to kill you to cause you an enormous amount of pain, Aaron would-be-Selpe. Yes, that’s right, I do know. Hayden told me you’re his cousin. Somehow, he’s gotten it into his head that you’re ‘pretty cool’, the poor kid.”

“Good kid,” Aaron smiled, then turned to leer at Isis.

His eyes shone sickly, as though he were mentally undressing her. Cameron felt like punching him. His palms sweating anger, he almost forgot that Aaron wasn’t right there in front of him.

Aaron leaned forward, his arms braced against the doorframe to show off his muscled torso. He pressed his lips dangerously close to hers and whispered, “Now, where were we?”

Isis took a step back. “Aaron, just let me pass. Why do we have to go through this every single time? One of these days, I really am going to have to hurt you. Then maybe you’ll finally get it through your head that we’re not meant to be.”

“You didn’t feel that way at Ribbon Falls,” he reminded her, looking really pleased with himself.

“Stop following me. Stop stalking me. Stop with this ridiculous obsession of yours. Just leave me be!”

“But, Isis, I love—”

“Do you even know what love is, Aaron?” she demanded. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. I do not share your feelings. Now let’s go before Ethan comes down.”

“Who’s Ethan?” Cameron asked her as the memory faded away.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, turning toward the lake—no, turning away from him.

It was awhile before she spoke again, and she didn’t look at him as the words fumbled uncomfortably from her lips. “I need to see Jason.”

“Oh,” Cameron said, deflated. Of course, she was there for Jason.

Usually so perceptive, Isis didn’t seem to notice the slump in his shoulders. She stared at him with turbulent eyes, gleaming like sapphires in the sun, and coughed. Blood splattered her hands and dripped from her lips. Cameron’s pulse pounded against his clenched fists. The stimulants flooding her blood should have enhanced her fast healing. What kind of sick torture had the Selpes come up with that could make an Elition with enhanced abilities cough blood?

“Now, Cameron. I need to see him
now
. It’s important.”

“How long has it been since you fled the Selpes?” he asked.

Isis flinched at the word ‘Selpes’, but she didn’t shy away from answering. “It’s been twelve hours. I haven’t stopped since I left Lord Adrian’s fortress. I must see Jason.”

“What’s so important that you marched your broken body here, nearly killing yourself in the process?”

He caught her as she stumbled forward. She muttered, “Terra,” into his ear before she passed out cold.

CHAPTER SEVEN

~
Touched ~

526AX August 20, Eclipse

IN THE PREDAWN light, Jason stood beside the central fountain of Eclipse. The large decorative faucet cast in the form of an
outstretched phoenix spit a continuous stream of water into a basin that faced Silver’s front door. Inside, the healer of Eclipse tended to Isis’s lacerated body. Jason had caught only a glimpse of her when Cameron carried her into the house. That was late yesterday afternoon, and no one had emerged since. Shadowed figures darted across the curtained windows. Jason considered going in for a closer look, despite Silver explicitly banning him from the office. Apparently, he made the staff nervous.

“I wouldn’t,” Lana advised. “Silver may be easygoing most of the time, but he’s as fierce as a mother dragon when it comes to taking care of his patients. You know how he gets if his workspace is invaded.”

Jason realized he’d taken a step toward the house. An unconscious step, as though he were being drawn in there. He frowned and leaned his back against the fountain, trusting the cold stone to snap him out of it.

“I have to see her. She knows something about Terra,” Jason said. It came out more like an excuse than he’d intended. Assassins weren’t supposed to apologize for anything. Ever.

Lana’s dark brows lifted. “Are you sure that’s it? Or is there perhaps another reason your hands are shaking?”

Jason pressed his hands against the cold stone. Assassins were most definitely not supposed to suffer from shaking hands.

“Have you forgotten that before our father died, he made me swear to protect Terra?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” she replied.

“She’s my friend, Lana. You of all people realize I don’t have many of those.”

“Are we talking about Terra or Isis now?”

“Terra.”

Her lips spread into a smile. “Are you absolutely sure?”

He frowned. “I hate when you do that.”

“Ask questions?” she asked, clasping her hands together as she gave him an innocent smile.

“Ask the wrong questions.”

“Perhaps it’s these very questions that you should be asking yourself, Jason.”

“No.”

Chuckling, Lana slipped her hand into the water stream that shot out of the bird’s beak, rubbing the cool water between her fingers.
“That’s my brother, the cold-hearted assassin.”

“You say it as though you don’t believe it.”

“You know I don’t,” she countered, flicking a few drops at him. Her emerald eyes were too wise for her years, but her grin was as girlish as they came.

He wiped the water from his cheek. “What is it?”

“You like her. Isis. You don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I would prefer if she didn’t die before she told me about Terra. She knows something.”

“Something she dragged her broken body all the way here to tell you. You, Jason. She asked for
you
.”

“Her actions speak for her feelings, not mine.”

Lana shook her head. “Come with me, Jason.”

“I’ll wait here until Isis is ready for questioning.”

Lana smiled again. No, she wasn’t fooled by his act. Even Jason himself was not fooled. He longed to see Terra after all these years,
and yet he could not deny that he also felt compelled to remain there to make sure Isis would be all right. There was something unsettling about that. He’d always thought himself immune to the nonsensical sway of compulsion.

“Come join me for tea on the terrace,” Lana said.

Jason stared pointedly at the door to Silver’s office.

“She’s fine, Jason. All healed. Silver sent her out the back door a few minutes ago.”

“Where is she now?” he asked, following Lana around the side of the temple.

“You will soon see.”

Positioned in rows upon the square-shaped wooden floor in the center of the back garden, Elitions dressed in unitards performed a series of synchronous poses on their exercise mats. As the sun broke the horizon, they all rolled forward and extended up into a headstand. Their forearms cupped behind their heads in support, they reached their pointed toes high toward the cloudy sky above.

Then the bell chimed, signaling the start of morning tea, and they rolled down again—well, except for one who tumbled down and nearly collided with the people on either side of him. The man stood up, throwing an apologetic look at the two women. They giggled in response. Jason was surprised to see that the man was Everett. Since when had he started taking part in the Rising of the Sun Dance?

“Hey, Jason,” Everett greeted him as he joined them. Then he looked at Lana, a little dance in his step. “And? What did you think?”

“You’re definitely improving, though you almost flattened Aura and Harmony at the end. Again.”

“Oh, that? Yeah, that was intentional, of course,” he said.

“Don’t toy with their poor hearts, pirate.”

He grinned. “Remember, that’s ‘sexy pirate’ according to them.”

Lana snorted.
“How about you wipe the sweat off your head, sexy pirate, and join us for tea.”

Jason ignored the rest of the dull exchange and turned his eyes toward the wooden deck below the raised terrace. Most of the mats had already been cleared away, but one person still remained, legs extended straight and steady into the air. Perfectly motionless in the headstand position—except for her gentle breathing—her pink hair spilled out over the grey mat. Jason would have recognized that hair anywhere, even with her back to him. Isis.

He hopped down to the deck and walked slowly toward her. As he stopped before her, her long eyelashes swept open and she stared him in the eye. Though her breathing was steady and her skin mended, her eyes trembled with the horror she’d experienced at the hands of the Selpes. A pit formed in his stomach, igniting his anger. He felt the sudden urge to kill every last one of them.

“You’re here,” he said, pushing down the fire flaring inside of him. He wouldn’t inflict an enraged Phantom on Eclipse. Especially not the Elite Phantom. The resulting damage would be…unthinkable.

Isis swung her legs back in one, fluid motion and landed neatly on her bare feet. Meeting his stare, she took a step back from him. His anger must have made his eyes go obsidian.

“I’m here,” she replied.

“You don’t look as bad as before. Um…what I meant was, you don’t look as bloody as when Cameron brought you in.”

She winced.

What the hell am I rambling on about?
Jason chided himself.
Most people don’t enjoy being reminded that they’ve been tortured.

“You look good,” he offered.

That elicited a smile, however weak. “Under Silver’s care, my wounds have completely healed.”

The physical ones at least. From the way her eyes were quivering, Jason wasn’t sure her fractured mind would survive this. Silver must have dosed her up on Balancing Serums, but it was clearly not enough.

Guilt mixed with the angry pit in his stomach. The Selpes had tortured her because of him. She had helped him escape, and they’d made her suffer for it. Jason was unused to the feeling of guilt. And he didn’t like it.

Isis managed a smile and reached for his hand, as though to comfort him. She’d been tortured because of him, and she was trying to comfort him. There were so many things wrong with that.

She squeezed his hand, and as her skin met his, her lids dropped and she shuddered. Unlike before, it was not a shudder of pain, but rather of relief, as though a cool ointment had just been spread over a hot burn. Her body rocked and she gasped.

“I’m sorry,” she spluttered, releasing his hand. Her cheeks flushed. “It’s just you’re so…so soothing. Being around you calms my mind. When I touched you, I could nearly forget… I know that sounds ridiculous.” She took a step back. “I apologize.”

“Don’t,” he whispered, closing the distance between them. He lifted her hand, pressing his palm against hers. “You’re in this situation because of me.”

As their hands touched, she drew in a deep breath. Her eyes flicked to his, then dropped in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“No.” He interlocked his fingers with hers. “If this is what calms your mind, then it’s the least I can do to mitigate your pain.”

“Jason,” she breathed, lips trembling.

He felt himself pulled in toward her, struck with the sudden urge to kiss her. Lana was right. He did care about her. But it was far more dangerous than mere friendship, he feared. He stopped, his lips hovering before hers. Then he leaned over to whisper into her ear.

“Don’t be alarmed, Isis. Half of Eclipse is staring down on us from the terrace.”

She tried to shift her weight to look, but he matched her movement, blocking her view. In her current state, the sudden sight of several dozen pairs of eyes could send her into a panic.

“Wait,” he said. “We’re going to walk up there and join Lana for some tea. They will all be gaping at us.”

“They know what happened to me,” she muttered, shoulders drooping.

“Take a few moments to calm your mind. Then we’ll go up there. Together.”
 

“You won’t let go?”

“I won’t,” he promised, squeezing her hand.