Hidden Darkness (Hidden Saga Book 4) (14 page)

Asher turned around and walked back to his truck, climbing into the cab and slamming the door behind him. I crossed the grassy flat toward my own little car, stooped to pick up my dropped keys, and pulled it back onto the road, turning back toward Altum.

I halfway expected the Light Elven guards to take me out with long-distance arrows before I got near the massive magnolia, but it was Culley I ran into first. He was on the forest path, making his way toward the road.

              His eyes flared when he spotted me. “Ava—you can’t mean to go back there? I think they hate you even more than they hate me, which is saying something. You must have succeeded brilliantly.”

              I nodded grimly. “Yes, actually, I did. But I failed at being a decent human being, which is why—”

“You’re
not
a human being,” Culley interrupted with a sneer. “You’re better than that. We all are—every last one of us.”

I shook my head, giving him a pitying look. “You’re wrong.” An image of Asher’s kind eyes was burned into my mind. “We’ve all been wrong.”

“My father says—”

“I thought you didn’t believe everything your father said. Right now… you sound like his little puppet.”

For a moment, there was stony silence, except for Culley’s rough breathing. As we stared at each other, there was a flicker of something in his eyes—I wasn’t sure what. He was so hard to read. A strange look passed over his face—he seemed to be grasping for words that were hard to find. Or hard to say.

Finally, the tense standoff ended. His usual world-weary expression returned, along with his signature sarcasm. “So… what? You’re going back to say you’re sorry? Enjoy your time in Altum’s deepest darkest prison cell.”

“Yes. I
am
going to say I’m sorry. And to try to fix what I’ve broken. Maybe it’s not too late. And don’t bother to warn me about what Audun and my mother will say. I already know I’ll be banished. I don’t care anymore.”

              The mocking look on his face slowly morphed into anger. “Well that’s just lovely. And what about me?”

              I blinked. Blinked again. “What about you? I assume you completed your mission—whatever it was—or you wouldn’t be leaving. You’ll be fine. You won’t be implicated. If they track me down, I’ll tell them you had nothing to do with my ‘treason.’”

              “That’s not what I meant. You don’t care about me anymore, either? I
am
your betrothed after all. Or is this the official ‘break-up?’”

              I stared at him, bewildered by his question. “Culley… we did this—came here and agreed to the betrothal—because we
had
to. You know that as well as I do.”

              He let out a harsh laugh. There was unmistakable pain in the sound. “Yeah, I know that. I know I’m only wanted as long as I’m
useful
. And you’re just like the rest of them, tossing me away now that you’re done with me. Well, have a wonderful banishment then. Now that I’ve gotten what I came for, I’m off for L.A. myself—until Father finds me too much of a bother to have around and sends me somewhere else. Tell you what, Angel—just for old times’ sake, I’ll make sure my phone’s ‘not working’ until I get there—give you a few days’ head start.”

              I’d never seen him so upset or so vulnerable. What was he saying… that he
wanted
to be with me? Why would he be interested in me when he had so many other choices? We didn’t even get along that well. It made no sense. I studied his face, trying to see past his defenses. Unfortunately, Culley Rune was a master of disguises.

              When I didn’t say anything, he blew out an irritated breath, shook his head, and charged past me down the path.

              “Culley?” I called after him.

              He stopped in place but did not turn around. He stood, shoulders tense, hands clenched.

              I hesitated, then said, “Thanks for the head start.”

              He gave a tight nod and resumed walking, his long strides carrying him out of sight within a minute.

              I turned back around and continued on toward the tree that marked Altum’s entrance. When I reached it, the expected guards were indeed on duty, and thankfully, they elected not to shoot me on sight. Instead, one of them grabbed me by the arm to escort me down the winding earthen tunnel entranceway.

             
The king’s betrothed has been looking for you.

              Awesome.

             
Someone must have alerted Ryann to my return because she came running up to me as we emerged into the common area.

              “Ava. Oh Ava, thank God.” She gripped my arm, her hands ice cold against my skin. “I’m so sorry for what I said to you last night when you offered to help fix Lad, and I’m begging you—if you
can
do anything to help him, please do it. I was wrong. I didn’t mean it. People
can
change—and maybe it’s not too late.” 

              Her words lit a new fire in my heart. Not a big one—a tiny spark of hope—but it was there. She was willing to give me a second chance, a chance to repair the damage I’d caused and use my gift for good for once.

              I stared into her desperate eyes. “Take me to him. I’ll do my best.”

I stood by, impatient, as Ava was brought in to Lad’s room.

The lights were low, a small crowd was gathered, including Wickthorne, Nox, and Lad’s mother, Mya. Vancia was there, too. She’d been the one to tell Lad about Ava’s return to Altum and for what was about to happen since he felt strange and mistrustful around both Nox and me. At her urging, he sat in a chair in the center of the room.

              The scene reminded me so much of the anxious moments after Lad had been shot and brought here, when I’d stood in a corner and watched helplessly while he hovered between life and death. Now it wasn’t his mortality at risk but our entire future together.

Just as back then, I could do nothing directly to help him, except maybe to verify that Ava’s intentions were pure. Reading her emotions I detected nothing but remorse, sincerity, and determination. If she
could
help him, she would.

              “What’s she going to do?” he asked Vancia, his voice filled with suspicion as he watched Ava approach.

              Ava was the one to answer. “Just talk to you. Lad, first I want to say… I’m sorry for what I did. Thank you for giving me a chance to make it right.”

              He gave her a terse nod. “I’m still not sure
what
you did, but Vancia and my mother both say I need your help. So… I guess… do whatever you’re going to do.”

“Thank you,” she said again and took a seat in the chair placed directly in front of him. They sat, their knees almost touching, their gazes locked. Ava reached out and placed her hands over his. He flinched but didn’t pull away from her.

“Focus on the sound of my voice,” she instructed in a low, measured tone. “Your memories are still there. They have not been erased, only sunk to the farthest depths of your subconscious—think of it like the underground river here. Your past experiences are caught in the deepest current. It’s strong, but we are going to fish for them, and together we’ll bring them back to the surface.”

Lad’s eyelids drifted closed as Ava continued to talk, guiding him on a mental journey in search of what had been buried so deeply, of those things hidden from his conscious mind by her glamour. I shifted from foot to foot, fiddling with my fingernails as I watched and prayed her efforts would be successful.

“Let’s go back to the beginning, okay?” she murmured. “You were seven. It was a cold night—January—and you were on your way to your special treetop hideaway. When you got there, someone was already there, huddled at the base of the tree. Can you see it?”

Lad’s slow, even breathing continued. His voice, when he finally spoke, sounded sleepy. “I can’t… wait I’m not sure.” He winced and opened his eyes, shaking his head in frustration. “I can’t do it. I’m not getting anything.”

“It’s all right. It will come. Close your eyes please.” Ava glanced over to my corner.
Ryann. Come here please.

I stepped away from the wall and went to her and Lad, instinctively tiptoeing because she had communicated with me silently.

Stand behind him,
she directed me.
Place your hand on his shoulder, but don’t speak.

Aloud she said, “Lad, someone’s going to touch you, but don’t worry. It’s all right. It’s part of the process. You’ll get this—don’t worry. Just relax.”

As she’d instructed, I stood behind Lad and lay a hand gently on his shoulder. Immediately, the tension released.

She nodded and resumed her work. “Someone is there at your special tree. It’s no one you’ve ever seen before. A little—”

“It’s a girl,” he interrupted. “A little girl. She’s not Elven. She’s… different.” There was a smile in his voice now, a hushed, almost reverent quality. “She’s beautiful. I think she must be a human—Father told me about the humans who live on our land.”

I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of all the times I’d insisted Lad and his people were living on
my
land, on Grandma’s land. That was before I found out the Light Elves had prior claim to it for about… oh, eight thousand years or so. 

The pace of his breathing picked up. I could feel it in the movement of his shoulders. “I should go—I’m not supposed to let them see me. But…”

“What is it? What do you see?” Ava prompted.

“She’s in trouble. She’s shivering. And she shouldn’t be sleeping out here in the open at night. Where are her people?”

“What do you do, Lad?”

“I… first I just look at her. She’s beautiful,” he repeated. “I’ve never seen anyone like her. Then I squat down so I can see her face. She doesn’t know I’m there—she can’t hear me, I guess. She’s really shaking. I’m afraid. I think she might be sick from the cold, she might be dying. I can’t just leave her. I reach out and touch her face—it’s so cold—and her eyes open. She jumps, and that makes me jump. She’s surprised to see me—I can tell. I wonder if she might scream or run away. But she doesn’t. She laughs.”

Now my smile turned into a ferocious battle to hold in sobs. Tears streamed from my eyes.
He remembers.
Maybe even better than I did. His description of our first meeting took me right back to the moment, back to our magical first contact—the moment that changed my life.

Lad and Ava talked through his other lost memories in similar fashion—some aloud—some mind-to-mind—helping him to retrieve and relive them one by one.

After a couple of hours, Ava brought her attention back to me for a moment.
You can go sit down now if you’d like. We’re almost done.

Did it work?
I asked anxiously.

We’ll see. It’s looking good.

I crossed the room and sat on Lad’s bed, observing as she guided him out of his state of deep relaxation and concentration.

“Lad. You can open your eyes now.” He did, and she asked, “How do you feel?”

He didn’t answer her question. Instead, his gaze swept the room, landing on me and focusing with laser-like intensity.

“Ryann.”

He stood and crossed the room in wide, purposeful strides, stopping in front of me and taking my face in his hands before I could even say anything. His head lowered, and our mouths met in a scalding kiss that went on for minutes and left me weak-kneed and dizzy.

This time he did not pull away in disgust or for any other reason. He kissed me and kissed me until we were both starved for oxygen. Only then did he break contact with my mouth and draw back just enough to look into my eyes. I searched them for any trace of repulsion. All I saw was love and blazing desire.

Wow.
“I guess it worked,” I gasped.

“Marry me,” he said. Not a question. A command.

I nodded vigorously, my heart surging and my face still firmly clasped between his palms. “Yes, of course. I want to—as soon as possible.”

“Marry me
today
. No more delays. I don’t want to wait for the next disaster to strike. I don’t want to wait for anything. I’m going to make you mine
tonight.
” His gaze went to the bed then flicked around the room, cataloguing all the people present, frowning as if
tonight
weren’t soon enough and
right now
was more like it—if only he could make them all disappear.

“What about the mourning period for your father?” I asked, glancing over at his mother across the room. I knew how important tradition was to her, and it was her husband who was being honored.

Lad turned and met her gaze for a few moments. When his eyes came back to mine, they were filled with passion and certainty.

“I’m ending it early. It’s what I should have done in the first place. I am king after all—I can make decisions for the good of my people. And
this
—you and me—is necessary.” Wrapping me in his arms and holding me close, he lowered his forehead to mine. “I’ve spent
far
too much time living in the past—it’s time to move on to our future.”

Taking in my expression, which no doubt conveyed my shock at his complete turnaround, he smiled and puffed a little laugh. “Am I scaring you?”

I shook my head, matching his smile with one of my own. “Not even a little bit. I’m ready. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t wait even a few more
minutes.
”

Now his laugh was louder, and he lifted an eyebrow at my eagerness. “Tempting.
Very
tempting. But I need a little time to make everything perfect for you. I’m king, but I’m not a miracle worker.” He held my face between his hands again and gave me a look that was also a promise. “Tonight. And then… oh, princess, you’d better run.”