Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (26 page)

Clutching his brother
’s neck, Bach threw Lluc to the ground. “I am not cursed and no one controls me.”

Flipping Bach unto his back, Lluc smashed Bach
’s head into the stone floor repeatedly.

The pain felt
dulled, but it made it hard for Bach to think. The next thing Bach knew, he had his brother sailing across the room, shattering a stone and iron column. “Never do that to me again.”

“
I thought perhaps the arrival of the girl made you weak.” Lluc laughed.

Bach heard
noises coming from one of his rooms.

Wisteria must be
up.

“
Now give her to me and I will put her in the stronghold,” Lluc suggested.

“
Go now. I will take her to the stronghold. Or what you did to me will be nothing compared to the pain you are going to see.”

“
Have your fun, but be fast.” Letting out a deep laugh, Lluc nodded and left. “Just do not break her,” he called, closing the door behind him.

Once again alone, Bach
moved to go to her, but paused. What was he going to say to her? He’d changed a lot since the last time they’d really spoken. The seconds they’d seen each other on Smythe she’d been afraid of him.
Dy’obeths want people to fear them,
the dark voice spoke again.
Fear is what makes us strong. When she is terrified that means we are powerful.

He made his way through the dark corridor
s to the room where he’d placed her. Opening the door, he looked into the stone and rubble, sparsely decorated with a ratty sofa and modest bed.

On the large
windowsill sat Wisteria. Her long braids draped down her back as she watched the wildlife below through the glass. Her delicate fingers pressed against the window and her curved legs pulled up to her large chest. She was beautiful and she belonged to him.

He could watch her like this forever.
“Wisteria.” Her name escaped him before he could stop himself.

“
Am I your prisoner?” She didn’t look at him, but fixed her gaze outside.

He stepped toward her, longing
to touch her again, but this time on his terms. His terms were simple, she wasn’t to leave or put herself in any more danger. Finally, he’d be able to keep her for himself away from everyone—she was his.

“
Are you going to let me go?” she asked.

“
Is that all you want to say to me? I’ve saved you from Dy’obeths and the Family.” He advanced.

“
Sorry, was I meant to say thank you for bringing biters to Smythe or gathering all the humans in your realm together to be destroyed?”

“
That is High Father. I have nothing to do with the purification.” Bach was inches away from her. “You are safe now.”

“
Safe? There was a Dy’obeth in this apartment. I heard him. What would he do if he discovered I was here?”

“
Once you have been taken to a stronghold, no one will be able to get to you or find you.”

“
Help me to stop them.” Turning to him, her eyes were swollen as if she’d been crying.

She
’s manipulating us,
the darkness warned. “What is wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“
Didn’t you hear what I said? They’re going to kill all the humans here.”

“
That is not our fight. We have other things to concern ourselves with.”

“
What things?”

“
Things.”

“
Bach, please, stop them from killing my people and maybe I can forgive you for bringing biters to my town.”

“
Biters? I didn’t summon the biters to your island. We have to thank Didan for that. He might be a heartless snake, but he was a good empiric.”

“
You think it was a good idea?” She shrieked. “What happened to you? You used to protect humans. When Red Phoenix came to Smythe, you—”

“
I have always hated humans, but now I realize I hated the Family too.” He smiled. “I have been freed by that knowledge and soon, I will be free to have everything I have ever wanted.” He entangled his fingers in her dark hair. She smelled glorious.

“
Oh.” She mouthed and slid from the window.

“
We will finally be a family. You, me, Oleander and the other children we have in the future.”

“
That’s what you want?” Nervously, she bit her lip.

“
This should make you happy.”

A tear ran down her cheek
.

“
Simply, tell me where you hid our daughter and I will bring her to you too.”

“
Bach, Ollie’s dead,” Wisteria whispered. “Your mother killed her.”

“
That is a lie.”

“
It was either her or Felip, but both of them tricked you into leaving. They’d already killed and left her body for my mother to find.”

“
You’re lying to me,” he roared. “Where is she?” He’d known of Oleander for weeks, but it felt like a lifetime.

“
I—I—” Stuttering, she burst into tears, burying her head on his chest. Clutching his shoulders, she sobbed for what seemed like hours. “Why couldn’t I save her?”

She
’s really asking why ‘we’ couldn’t save her
, the darkness taunted.
It was because you were too weak to protect your family. This is why you need me. I will make us stronger than you ever will be alone.

After weeping on his chest
for what he calculated as almost seventeen minutes, she pulled away from him. “Can I go now?” She wiped her eyes.

“
No.”

“
Bach, don’t start with me. I’m not hanging out with you while my people are being led to slaughter.” Brushing past him, she headed to the door.

“
I didn’t bring you here to let you walk out.” He blocked her path. “You’re not leaving. Do you understand? What happened to Oleander will never happen to you.”

“
You’re going to protect me from your mother or Felip?”

“
My mother will never hurt you and as for Felip, I will deal with him at the right time.”

“
You’re bleeding.” Glancing up at him, she finally made eye contact. Reaching up, she touched the side of his head and then pressed her finger against the wound. “I hope it hurts.”

“
It does, but I enjoy the pain.” He leaned over her. “I love to give and receive it.”

Angrily,
she squinted at him. “You will release me Bach.”

“
Or what? Peeka, you cannot do anything to me. Even if you were as powerful as ten Famila, I could destroy you in seconds.”

“
Then hurt me, because you’ll have to do that to keep me here since you can’t renew me.” She stormed past him.

“
I said
do not
leave.”

“
Bach—”

Gripping her upper arm
, he yanked her back to him.

“Let go of me,” he cried out.

“
You want to be here with me.”

“
You’re deluded.” She tugged to break free.

“
You smell like burnt molasses—”

“
Bach.”

“
Because every part of you is preparing yourself to breed with me—to have my child.”

“
I’d rather die than ever let you touch me.”

“
You want to die?” He tightened his grip.
Do it,
the voice in him suggested.
It’s what we want.
An image of him flinging her across the room filled his mind. He saw her body hitting the wall and her broken figure crash to the ground lifelessly.
Do it.

Bach didn
’t want to hurt her. She was his life. Glancing at his hand that was clamped around her upper arm, he let go.

Bolting for the door, she rattled the locked handle to try and force it open.
“Unlock this door and let me out.” She ran her hand over the control orb, hoping it would open the door, but nothing happened.

“
Don’t leave me. I am afraid,” He couldn’t believe he’d uttered those words. In a way, he felt relieved for the first time in days. The darkness was gone.

*****

“You’re afraid?” Stunned, she froze in her tracks and ceased her vain attempt to force the door open.

When she
’d awoken in that cell, she felt terrified. For a moment, she thought she was back in the bridewell in Jarthan until she saw the window was the size of an entire wall. There were no windows in Jarthan’s prisons. Still, she’d no clue where she was. The hint of orange in the sky that was fast fading to blue, suggested she was in Jarthan.

As she
searched for a way to escape, a bird the size of a cow flew at the window hard. She expected the glass to smash or at least crack, but the glass remained intact. The bird on the other hand broke its beak. Watching, the poor animal fall, she noticed how steep the drop was from the castle to the forest below.

Leaving through the window was
n’t an option. It seemed impossible to break and between the drop and the giant birds outside, she wasn’t sure how far she’d get. She searched for way out, tapped the stone floor and walls for a hollow chamber and found nothing. By sunset, she ran out of ideas. Perhaps she could convince Bach into letting her go, but the man she saw in Smythe seemed very different from the one she’d once loved.

This Bach
was dark.

When he walked in
to the room, she took a quick glance at him before fixing her stare on the forest below. He was darker than before.

Squinting his amber eyes,
he’d cracked his knuckles as he approached as if getting ready for a fight.

Trembling,
she’d tried to keep calm and demand he let her leave. Part of her wanted to break his neck for everything he’d done to her town, her stepfather and her. Doing that would leave her hands broken and destroy any chance she had of convincing him to free her. Instead, she sat watching the wild animals below trying not to cry as she thought about the people she’d lost.
Now he says, he’s frightened?
“This is some kind of trick? You think you can manipulate me into staying?”

“
Wisteria, I don’t understand what is happening to me.” He sounded broken and not like the arrogant jerk, he’d been moments before.

“
Just let me go.” She didn’t look at him.

“
I will, but you will do one thing for me.” He was now standing inches behind her.

“
If you think I’m going to—”

“
Kill me,” he whispered.

“
I’m not that stupid.” Turning around, she was startled to see his eyes were back to green. “This is a trick.”

Taking out
a dagger, he offered it to her. “Ninth metal, it will poison me and as long as I do not regenerate myself, I will die.”

“
Don’t point it at me.” Slapping the blade away, she knocked it to the floor. “I’m not a killer.”

“
I am not either.” Picking up the knife, he stared at it. “But I am becoming a monster. All I want is to see blood—even yours.”

“
No.”

“
After you have done it, I will still be able to get you back to Smythe or wherever you want to go.” He forced a smile.

“
Why don’t you just leave with me? Leave your mother and the others behind—”

“
You do not understand. This darkness is growing. If I let it, I am going to hurt a lot of people.”

“
It can’t be that bad if you’re telling me this. This means you’ve got some control over this darkness.”

“
It is because you are here. If you were anyone else, I would have broken every bone in your body long ago.”

Her eyes widened, but she tried to
suppress her shock.

“
Everything is so confusing now. I blackout and do things I do not remember and then find destruction in my wake.”

“
Come with me, we’ll find a way to reverse this.”

“
You do not get it Peeka. I cannot kill you now because I love you more than my life, but I see a day coming when I will break you to pieces and be happy.” Bach’s eyes turned red, as he seemed to struggle to control his emotions. “Please, do not let me be that person.”

“
You’re not that person and you’ll never be. Ask someone else to this. I can’t do that to you.”