“Okay, let’s do this.” Nix donned the Mantle and opened her mind completely to its power and—
Held on for dear life. Vivid images flooded her senses. The bitter smell of smoke, burning acid or plastic. A thousand tiny stings pricked her skin and made it burn. Vertigo twisted her mind. Her stomach rose to her throat, then dropped suddenly. A high-pitched alarm whined in the background.
Then impact. Darkness. Pain. Capture.
Realization slammed into Nix. The cloak wasn’t a sentient object, it was a separate being. “How did you get this way?”
Images of stars filled her mind’s eye. Another galaxy.
“Aliens?”
Yes. Long ago, we were explorers. Observers. We came to this place merely to watch the life. Our ship crashed and we were captured and brought to a great and terrible being. He harnessed thunder and lightning. He enslaved us, made us weapons.
For the first time, ever, Nix was fully aware of how the Mantle operated. It formed to her skin, a full body suit of indestructible armor. While in Destroyer mode, the wearer followed the mission and used the suit to accomplish the task. With her mind opened and free, she realized the truth.
“The Mantle. It’s made out of your skin.”
Sorrow, anger, desperation, all competed for airtime in her skull.
Yes, Zeus did not bargain in good faith. He promised to set us free to return home, if we shared our knowledge. We were ignorant of the rules of the game and didn’t see the pitfall until too late. Our skin was taken for its strength; our minds for their control and vast knowledge. Souls were bound to the skin, the rest of our bodies discarded.
Damn Zeus. How cruel. Nix had a ringside seat to the creature’s memories. The violation, the trauma of being skinned and trapped.
It has not been all bad. We work with the Destroyers to help others.
“If you call murder and destruction helpful.” Bitterness threatened to choke her.
The alien added, his voice optimistic,
when we are not on duty, Nereus lets us mingle in a mainframe.
Okay, that didn’t help make the situation any less horrifying. The only time they were free was to witness death or mayhem and then in their downtime, they got to hang out in a server somewhere. “My father knows you are in the cloaks?” More lies from him. Not a surprise. “Is there any way to reverse this?”
Not for me. But there are others of our kinds trapped in stasis. It would be nice to be allowed to interact with our hosts. It gets boring being folded up.
“I bet.” Nix’s breath caught hold. “Do you have my memories?” If she could get them back, maybe she could find out what she was doing the night Cal’s soul was taken. What mission was she on? Was it good, or something sinister? “Did I take Cal’s soul?”
No, you did not. But your memories—
Nix cried out as their minds were torn apart. Bright light momentarily blinded her, then was blocked by Cal’s hulking form.
“What the fuck? Are you trying to destroy your mind?”
Busted.
Chapter 17
“Are you going to tell Nereus?” Nix stared down at her feet.
Cal didn’t know if he should hug her or shake her. He should turn her in, but he wouldn’t. “Of course not. But I want an explanation. Merging your mind with the Mantle. What were you thinking?”
Nix stood, her head tilted up toward his face. “I was trying to save you.”
Cal dropped the Mantle on the floor and pulled Nix tight against his chest. Words escaped him. “That was too great a risk. We’re partners in this, remember?”
“Yes. And I will do whatever I have to,” Nix said, tone defiant. “Besides, no harm was done.”
“You were lucky. Next time, let’s talk first.” Cal felt Nix tense in his arms. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you think of me now, after reading my file?” Nix burrowed deeper against his chest, as if afraid to face him. “How can you stand to be so close to such a cold-blooded monster?”
“Stop that. Nothing has changed. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” The words came out short, clipped. Too angry. He took a deep breath and softened his tone. “You’re a warrior. A soldier. A defender of the innocent. I am proud to stand by your side.”
She pulled back, holding him at arm’s length, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “But Cal, my gut tells me I had something to do with your soul. I may not have taken it, but I could be an accessory.”
Cal cupped her chin, tilting her head to face him. “I don’t care.” His soul was hers to take and keep. Gods grant him the strength to tell her the truth. “Nix, did you notice we had a mission together?”
“Yes. Pannis.” Breaking away, she picked up the Mantle and smoothed it across the bed. “That’s the mission where I ended up with a jar of Satyr gonads in my uncle’s fridge.”
Christ, that wasn’t all she took away from that mission. “Did you read the other details?”
Nix closed the distance between them. “About my sister? Yes. Although the file never said which one it was, I think I know.”
Cal wanted to pull his hair out by the roots. He was acting like an idiot. Reading the file wouldn’t have magically granted her memories back. He squared his shoulders. It was now or never. Time to come clean and just tell her the truth. But not so close to a bed. Gods, that was tempting all by itself.
“Come on, I need to tell you something.” Taking Nix by the hand, he led her into the kitchen. She leaned against the granite island, waiting, her pale skin like spilled cream against the black backdrop.
After a moment of pacing, he faced her. “Pannis wasn’t the only one who lost something to you.”
Nix blanched and clutched her stomach. “Oh God. I didn’t castrate you, too, did I?” What little color she had in her face drained away.
Cal shuddered, his balls shriveling at the thought. He smoothed his hands down Nix’s arms. “No. I’m all good.” His cock hardened and jerked in his pants as if ready to prove the point.
“What did you lose?” she whispered.
“My heart. To you.”
Nix’s mouth formed a small O. He didn’t wait for her to respond. He kissed her. Her lips, a perfect rosebud, pale pink and petal soft, were exactly as he remembered. Sweet, warm, all his. The only problem—the heat seemed to be all one-sided. Reluctantly, he stopped.
Fingers to her lips, Nix stared at him thoughtfully, as if seeing him for the first time. “It’s you.” She choked back tears. “You’re the reason why I wake up crying.”
Well didn’t that make him feel like a complete shit? “I’m sorry. I never meant for us to be apart, but Nereus wiped your mind before I could say anything and—”
“You knew. All this time.” She backed away, frowning, betrayal written all over her face. “Why didn’t you find me and tell me the truth?”
“Nix, by the time I found you again,”
—
Cal struggled, his emotions out of control
—
“You had moved on.”
“To Nate fucking Adonis!” She threw her hands up, then tightened them into fists by her side.
“You seemed happy. I didn’t want to interfere. Besides, all I had was my word. Would you have believed me?”
Nix stalked into the family room, stopping at the coffee table covered in scattered folders. “What shocks me the most is how we kept this a secret from my all-knowing father.”
“Contrary to popular belief, your father is not omniscient.” Cal joined Nix beside the couch. “We were very discreet.”
A range of emotions played across Nix’s face. Her body was rigid with anger, while her face had softened, frown lines less pronounced. “I don’t know what to say or do right now.” She looked longingly at the water outside his windows.
“It’s too dangerous for you to leave. The water is the first place the Furies will look for you.” Cal backed away, finally settling against the kitchen island. “I can leave if you want, for a few hours.”
Nix shot him a dark look. She didn’t appear to like that option. “No. Don’t go.”
Wariness filled Cal. The emotional roller coaster ride was taking its toll. If something didn’t change soon, he would snap. Nix approached him like a skittish fawn, tentative. Her hands by her sides. She stopped in front of him.
What she thought about him mattered. It always had. Nix raised her hand to touch his face. He braced himself, the hard granite digging into the edge of his ass. She hesitated.
He gripped her wrist. “Go ahead. Touch me. Hit me. Whatever makes you feel better.” Anything. As long as she didn’t shut him out. He closed his eyes as her fingers trailed lightly across his jaw. He didn’t move a muscle when she leaned into him, tiptoed, and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Tentatively, she deepened the kiss, her arms wrapped around his waist. Her body molded into his. Her lips crushed against his, greedy, hungry, passionate. The effect on him was instant. His body hardened, ready to take her.
Cal pulled back and asked, “Nix. Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“This means more to me than to you.” Gods, he wished Nix could remember their love, but he would take what he could get.
Nix’s beautiful blue gaze fixed onto him. “Cal, I’m sorry I can’t remember before. But I know you now. You are the male I want. You matter to me.”
Her arms snaked around his neck, her fingers threading through his hair. When her lips captured his, his control snapped. To equalize their heights, Cal lifted Nix, without breaking the kiss, onto the granite island.
She moaned, the same sweet sound he remembered. When she split her legs wider for him, he wedged his torso between them, snug inside her warmth. She ran her hands under the back of his T-shirt, the sharp tips of her nails raking his back. Her tongue tangled with his, sweet and salty like taffy, melting in his mouth. A warning went off in the back of his mind. He should slow down. For her this was all physical. Did he want to reopen already sore wounds?
That concern flew out the window when Nix reached down the front of his jeans and stroked the tip of his erection. With a single motion, his hands were over the mounds of her breasts, unencumbered by a bra. The only thing separating him from her was her T-shirt. She arched her spine. Her nipples tightened into tight, little beads, beckoning his mouth.
He broke the kiss and trailed his tongue down the hollow of her throat. Nix heaved her shirt over her head. She was gorgeous. Perfect breasts, flawless skin, the pink hue of seashell. All as he remembered, only more beautiful.
“Nix . . .” he croaked out as he breathed in the fragrance of her skin. Like fresh air, sunshine, the salt of the surf. “I thought I would never be able to touch you again.”
She remained silent, her hooded eyes capturing his. With slow deliberation, Nix leaned back onto the island, her hand held out. “Make love to me, Cal. Help me remember.”
Cal walked to the end of the island, grabbed Nix’s ankles and pulled her forward, his arms supporting her legs. “Oh, I’m going to love you. Every inch. Starting right here . . .”
Nix’s heart hammered against her chest as Cal unzipped her jeans. They were off in a matter of moments. His mouth—
Oh God! So hot against her core, already throbbing with need. And yes, she needed him. As soon as she stopped fighting their mutual attraction, her mind and body were in sync with what she’d suspected all along. He was important to her because she had loved him.
Cal sucked and licked, adding pressure then, taking it away. Driving her crazy. She raised her hips, greedy for more. She had to have him inside her before—
She exploded. Her orgasm came hard and fast. Spots danced before her eyes, while her blood sizzled. When her sight returned, Cal’s eyes flashed from her sex to her face. He looked like a hungry tiger.
“I’m not through with you yet,” he said, his voice low and throaty. Placing his hand on the island, he channeled his power into the granite, warming it up. The two-sided fireplace flared to life. Cal grasped her hips and positioned her until she was at the lip of the island.
She reached forward and tugged at his T-shirt, which he promptly pulled overhead and tossed to the floor. Her eyes feasted on chiseled muscles that begged to be touched and licked. Especially, the tight ridges of his stomach and the trail of hair that led to where his jeans . . . She frowned. The pants had to go. When she leaned forward to touch him, he laid her back down.
“Not yet, love. If you touch me now, I won’t last.” The fire’s light caught the angles of his face, softening his features. His eyes echoed the warm hues of the flames. With slow deliberation, he ran his palms down her stomach in slow circles. He nipped the skin on the inside of her thighs, then blew his warm breath on her inner folds. She shivered with anticipation, feeling herself dampen.
His fingers plunged inside her. She cried out his name, lost in the exquisite sensation. Another orgasm raced ahead, taking over, until her whole world was pleasure. Her back arched up and off the table as her hips rode the rhythm of his strokes. The release—electric, explosive, so sweet—drove the breath from her lungs. Suddenly, she was floating in Cal’s arms, drifting on the warm cloud of his body, moving off the countertop. The motion stopped. A cool softness touched her back. She opened her eyes to Cal’s warm smile as he lay alongside her on his bed. Somewhere along the line, all his clothes had disappeared.
“I love you, Nix.” He kissed her, his lips tender, his pace slower. She gave herself over to him, trusting his love.
Nix rolled onto Cal’s body, straddling his hips. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, and his throat. When he went to touch her hot wetness, she moved back and grasped his erection. His eyes rolled back as she worked his shaft. His palms traveled to her knees and gently stroked her skin.
“Cal.” While he watched, she raised his penis, slid him under her and sat straight down, taking him all in. She rocked her hips, not waiting for her body to adjust to his size. The friction was a sweet combination of pleasure and pain.
As she gave herself over to the sensation, she threw her head back, blissful. This moment was real. It couldn’t be erased or taken away. She was going to be free . . . She cried out, coming again. And again, until they were both spent.
She collapsed on Cal’s broad chest. The scent of wood smoke filled her nose, the slick feel of his sweat damp against her face. Joy filled her heart as Cal embraced her, snuggling her against his body.
She vowed to fight to the bitter end to keep him safe. Even if it meant defying her father, and her duty.
“Rise and shine!”
Nix cracked an eye open. “Basil, go away.” This was not how she wanted to be woken up. By a big mouthed bird. She burrowed deeper into Cal’s side, pulling the covers around her chin.
“Out of bed, sleepy heads!” The parrot flapped his wings from his perch on the headboard, took flight, and landed at the foot of the bed.
Cal groaned, his arms tightening around her waist. That wasn’t the only thing waking up. A warm hardness pressed along her naked backside.
Basil dug his clawed feet into the sheets, pinching Nix’s ankles. “Time’s a wasting, Mateys. Got to sail on the tide.”
Fire streaked past Basil’s port side, singeing his wing feathers. He got the hint and flew off, leaving a trail of sailor curses in his wake.
Nix sighed. The damned basilisk was right. Time was wasting away, and she knew exactly where they should head to first. Nix eased the sheets back and tried to slip out of bed. A hard arm encircled her waist and pulled her back under the warm covers.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Cal rumbled into her ear. His lips nibbled the base of her neck.
“To take a shower,” Nix said, relaxing against Cal’s firm body. His hands trailed down her hips, and smoothed across her stomach. When his fingers sank lower, she split her legs open, craving his touch.
“Want company?” he breathed into her skin.
“Love some.”
After a long, hot shower and two more bouts of lovemaking, they finally started to get dressed. Nix hunted around the room for her clothes. She found her underwear by the kitchen island. When she stood up, she caught a glimpse of Cal shrugging on his jeans. On his left buttock, he had the same Umbra tattoo as Devlin. Weird, she hadn’t noticed it before. She must have been too distracted.
“Cal,” she called out to him.
“Yeah.” He zipped up his jeans and joined her in the kitchen, T-shirt in hand. “What’s up?”
Nix ran her greedy eyes over his bare chest. Even though her body was slightly sore and well used, she could have gone for another round. She licked her lips instead. “Put your shirt on, please. You’re distracting me.”
Cal chuckled. A full smile on his lips. Her comment obviously pleased him. “As you wish.”
“That’s a nice piece of ink on your ass.” She watched his reaction carefully. His face clamped down. Okay, it was going to be one of
those
conversations. Where she asked questions and got no answers. “I’ve noticed that Devlin has one, too.”
Cal moved so fast she didn’t see him coming. He gently gripped her shoulders, but his expression was all serious. “Nix, no joking around. Don’t repeat what you saw to anyone else. Not even Zephyr.”
“I won’t. Promise.”
“Do I want to know how you saw that tattoo on Devlin?” Cal grumbled.
“Maybe if you tell me why you would get your tattoo on your ass . . .”
Cal didn’t look amused. “Quit stalling.”
Nix kind of liked the jealousy. “Purely by accident. Needless to say, it threw me for a loop. I had no idea that Satyrs were even allowed into . . . you know.” She left the name Umbra off.
“Devlin is different. Which I have been trying to tell you, but...”
“Yeah, the whole Pannis thing.” Nix shivered in the cool morning air. She was still half-dressed, and they needed to get a move on. “Let me put on clean clothes, then we can leave.”
“Where to?” Cal whistled for Basil. After the bird swooped inside, Cal closed and locked the slider.
“My favorite place.”
When they arrived at the beach house, the first thing Nix did was run up to her room and head straight for the closet. “Thank goodness. Chloe hasn’t been in here cleaning.”
The bloody shirt and sandy sneakers were exactly where she’d left them the week and half before. She lifted the shoes, careful not to loosen the sand, and placed them on her end table. “Cal, hold out the bag.” After sifting the blue sand into the plastic zip bag, they took a closer look.
“Have you ever seen sand like this?” Cal asked, holding the bag up to the light.
“No. It’s not from any ocean or island I recognize.” Nix examined her T-shirt. The silver bloodstains had hardened, but were still vivid and flaky in spots. “I wonder whose blood this is.”
Cal flicked a chunk of blood residue onto his palm and ignited it. It went up in a puff of smoke. “It’s not mine. My blood is fireproof.” He leaned over and kissed her. “See? You didn’t hurt me.”
“That’s a relief. But, that leaves only hundreds of more possibilities.” Nix gathered up the shirt and sand. “Let’s see if anyone else recognizes this stuff.”