Spent (Wrecked #2) (8 page)

“You should’ve let me die that night. You really should have because you’re the one who doesn’t fucking get it. I could talk until my tongue falls off, and you still wouldn’t comprehend what you’ve done. You weren’t real. I needed you to be real.”

Lucien’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m real.”

Bailey waved her arms wildly, grasping for a way to make him understand. “Everyone thought…” A hot rush of tears filled Bailey’s eyes and clogged her throat. She blinked them back, incapable of standing this a second longer. In one swift motion, Lucien reached for her. Bailey jumped backward out of his reach, barely stopping herself from smacking his hands away. “I’ve tried making you see things from my point of view, but I can’t, and I’m tired of trying. You think I don’t get it. I do. Life is short. Death is forever. I get that. None of that changes anything. It doesn’t impact how you don’t get what you did to me.” Bailey shook her head. She was talking in circles. It was useless. Her hands fell to her sides, brushing a lump in her pocket and reminding her of Sol’s gift.

Heading for the door, she pulled the bag of herbs from her pocket as she went. If Lucien wouldn’t leave, she would. With one foot in the hall, Bailey glanced over her shoulder, taking one final look at the man who’d meant so much to her. He appeared every bit as frustrated as Bailey felt. This was for the best. It didn’t matter if they loved one another if they couldn’t understand each other. Without giving Lucien time to guess at her intentions, Bailey bent and dumped the contents of the bag across the threshold.

Lucien’s expression transformed as the scent of sage and rose oil filled the air. “What have you done?” The anger and disbelief in Lucien’s tone told Bailey he knew exactly what she’d done. Whatever Sol had given her was the real deal.

Bailey shrugged as she straightened away, making sure she stayed outside the line she’d created in front of the door. “You’ve refused to stay away from me, so I’m taking my freedom by force.”

Lucien’s form shimmered before he disappeared and reappeared at the edge of the doorway. “What have you done?” he repeated, sounding even more angry. He tried stepping over the herbs. His form shifted—like a TV with too much static, but he couldn’t breach the barrier. “Bailey, what have you done?” he roared.

She held his stare, refusing to be cowed in the face of his rage. “Something I should’ve done a long time ago. Long before I let you demolish me.” Bailey swallowed past the sting of bile and self-hatred clawing at her throat. “Long before your love became the death of me.”

Lucien’s anger turned to panic when he realized how serious Bailey was. “You can’t leave me like this, Bailey. This place will tear you apart without my protection.”

Bailey’s face hardened. She felt it happen. The reaction was out of her control. “There’s nothing left of me for this place to destroy.”

*

Lucien stared at the closed door, incapable of believing his eyes. There was no way her spell would hold him for long. However, it could keep him locked up long enough for one of the underworld’s many demons to eat her whole. Bailey thought she had nothing left to lose, but she was wrong. There were many fates worse than death.

A cold breeze skirted up Lucien’s spine, letting him know he wasn’t alone. Forcing his features to go blank, Lucien turned and found himself face to face with his prince. Like that, Lucien knew. The only being who possessed magic powerful enough to keep him bound was Solas. Realization struck. With it came a sinking sensation. Lucien had always believed he’d eventually win Bailey back to his side. Now he realized how wrong he’d been.

“Did you think you could take what’s mine?” Sol’s eyes flashed with fury as he backed Lucien into the nearest chair. As powerful as Lucien was, Solas was more so, and he wasn’t immune to the prince’s crackling energy.

“I wasn’t told who she belongs to. You know that. Soul exchanges are private.” He shook his head. “There was no plan. I can’t explain what happened.”

Sol scoffed. “Your idiocy knows no boundaries. That’s what happened.” Before Lucien could move away, Solas brushed his fingers along Lucien’s jaw and added, “Luckily for you, I understand how Bailey affects beings such as us. She loves you almost as much as she does me. It’s irresistible.” Solas shook his head. “Things could’ve been so different between us.”

Tightening his hold on Lucien’s chin, Sol bent and opened his mouth over Lucien’s. No one could withstand such a blatant act from Solas. He was pure lust and longing, leaving others flailing in his wake. Addicted to his touch. Lucien’s body reacted as if a thousand orgasms hit at once. Every muscle in his body seized, threatening to shred his ligaments under the strain. Images filled his mind of Bailey on her knees, sucking him off while Sol fucked her from behind. His dick leaked, crying for attention. Sol’s tongue stroked his, filling Lucien’s mouth with the flavor of cinnamon. Lucien met him head on. For every gentle caress, Lucien returned it in kind. Lucien already knew he’d come in his jeans. A kiss from Prince Solas was the equivalent of touching the stars. The price was steep and eternal.

Pulling away, Solas gripped the arms of the chair as if physically stopping himself from ripping Lucien apart. When he spoke, he did so through clenched teeth. “If you think to hide a soul from me again, you’ll spend the rest of eternity hanging from my ceiling while I peel the skin from your body with a paring knife. Every day, you’ll wake up whole, and we’ll start again.”

Lucien couldn’t breathe past the pain wracking his body to respond. Straightening away, Solas stared at him with merciless eyes. His gaze dropped to Lucien’s chest. Something dangerous flashed across Sol’s features. Reaching out, Sol snagged the necklace Bailey had given him. With a tug, he pulled it loose. He flashed it Lucien’s way before tucking it in his pocket. “This belongs to my wife. If you ever decide you’re man enough to retrieve it, you know where Bailey will be. With me.”

There were countless beings in the underworld Lucien did his best to avoid touching for any number of reasons. Solas topped that list. Lucien had known the moment Sol’s lips met his skin that the other man passed something to him. Not until Sol released him from his control did Lucien understand what it was—Bailey’s memories. They slammed into Lucien’s chest with enough force to render him mute and took away every sexual emotion raging through him.

Without a backward glance, Solas walked away, leaving Lucien paralyzed by the overwhelming human emotions, thoughts, and images. Flashes of light passed through him, bouncing off the synapses of his brain, carrying information faster than any human could absorb. Unfortunately, Lucien had no such problem. Bailey’s choking fear, as she’d waited each night for her father to sneak into her room, squeezed Lucien’s guts until he retched. Her pleas for Sol to save her filled Lucien’s ears, forcing him to cover them or go deaf. She’d begged for Solas to take her soul in exchange for an escape. Her calls weren’t ignored.

The way Sol had viciously torn her father apart didn’t surprise Lucien. Bailey’s father had it coming and Sol enjoyed the sight of blood. The smell assailed Lucien’s senses, as they had Bailey’s. Lucien flinched as Sol’s blood-drenched hands cupped Bailey’s face. His soulless eyes held hers while Lucien remained trapped inside her mind.

“Dream, child.” Bailey’s eyes fell closed as Sol captured her mind, imposing his will. Visions of beautiful places around the world filled Bailey’s mind, carrying her away from the ugliness surrounding her. “Life is short and bitter, but I will come to you.” And he had. Every night, Sol had returned to Bailey, giving her relief in her dreams from the life handed to her by an absentee creator who no longer heard her cries.

Even as Bailey was found guilty of her father’s murder and sentenced to remain institutionalized until twenty-one, Sol kept her mind preoccupied with happier visions. Sol fed her peace, making her love him. No doubt, for Sol, Bailey’s love was the purest light he’d ever seen. For someone as dark as Sol, it had to be even more irresistible and twice as powerful as it was to Lucien. Solas was evil to his very core, but for some odd reason, he cared for Bailey.

Perhaps the being who was one of the devil’s four sons was incapable of tender emotions, but Lucien knew from experience that covetous greed was more intense than any amount of love. The images inside Bailey’s mind became more distorted as she slowly lost the ability to tell the difference between what was real and what Sol created for her. Sol’s image was never clear. He was more dream than reality, but the way he felt to her was clearer than any other memory inside Bailey’s mind. A pain cut through Lucien’s gut, too intense for him to tell if it was physical or emotional—if it belonged to him or Bailey.

Without thought, his hand flew to his stomach. Something wasn’t right. He looked down, seeing Bailey’s hand resting on a rounded belly. Sol’s hand covered Bailey’s. Understanding dawned a split second before a chasm of grief opened beneath his feet and swallowed him whole. He could barely breathe around its choking hold. The child was gone, but Bailey’s memories were too distorted for Lucien to decipher. Not to mention the intensity of her pain was too much for him to contain. She was so much stronger than he would ever be. Somehow, her tiny body held everything Sol had shown him and more. On the heels of his new discoveries, realization took hold. Solas was wrong. Idiocy didn’t cover his transgressions.

He’d thought, foolishly, keeping her alive past her expiration date had driven Bailey mad. It had been him. He’d been the reason Bailey killed herself. For too many years, she’d suffered and ridden the line of insanity until even Sol had shown mercy, releasing her. Then Lucien had come along, trapping her once more. It had been too much to ask of any one person.

*

The path was easier to find this time. Even with a dozen other landmarks changing around her, the clearing at the edge of the water was exactly the same. A boat bobbed on the bank. Bailey pushed off and jumped inside without a second thought. She sort of hoped the water would swallow her whole, dragging her into its inky void of nothingness. At least then, her reality would match the inside of her mind. Maybe this was her punishment, Bailey thought for the thousandth time.

As solid ground slipped away, so too did the daylight. Countless stars filled the sky. Bailey slipped from the seat and settled onto the floor of the boat. Before her head connected with the bench, a warm weight appeared beside her. Bailey automatically rolled into it. Her hand found the hem of Sol’s shirt as his arm found its way beneath her head. As her fingers connected with the soft bare skin over hardened muscles, a lead weight landed on Bailey’s throat. She readjusted her weight, unconsciously finding the perfect spot inside his hold.

Against her will, Bailey’s fingers stroked Sol’s stomach. Bailey squeezed her eyes shut against the pain. She traced the ridges of his abs. Her body fell into habit, remembering its place. Inside, Bailey sobbed. The warm, soft skin against her palm was achingly addictive and heartbreakingly familiar. Sol shifted slightly, and Bailey started to pull her hand away. Before she had time to move, Sol set his hand on top of Bailey’s, stopping her. Bailey inhaled, taking in his scent, before even she knew what she was doing. Sometimes, when she hovered somewhere between awake and asleep, Bailey would smell Sol.

“They kept telling me you weren’t real.”

The deep rumble of Sol’s voice against her ear caused hot tears to rush to Bailey’s eyes. “You always knew better, even as you pretended to believe them.”

A low sob escaped Bailey’s lips before she could swallow the sound. “Our son.” It was all Bailey could push past the lump in her throat.

Sol’s palm slid up her arm. “He is alive and well. When it’s time, he’ll join us here.”

Bailey covered her face and let the tears come. Years of pain flowed from her, spilling out. When she found her voice again, Bailey couldn’t stop the question from escaping. “Was our time together mercy or cruelty?”

Sol’s fingers didn’t stop skimming her arm as he answered. “Worse. It’s always been love. If it’s possible for me to have a conscience, you’re it. They would’ve taken our child and given him to strangers. What little was left of your life would’ve been a living hell of trying to get him back. I’ve never had to decide what’s right and didn’t know what to do. All I knew was loving me was destroying you. So I sent our child to live with someone who will give him an amazing life, and I tried taking away your memory of us. If I’d loved before, maybe I would’ve realized it’s more powerful than I am. How much do you remember?”

“I don’t know,” Bailey answered honestly. Some of her past was still a blur, making it hard for her to tell the difference between reality and dreams.

“Do you remember your name?”

An image of Sol braced on his elbows, staring down at her, floated across Bailey’s mind.

With flushed cheeks and lips swollen from their kisses, Sol was the sexiest picture of satisfied male. Bailey never tried fooling herself. He wasn’t a good man. Sol wasn’t a man at all, but she loved him. When he looked at her, the way he did now, she had a hard time picturing him tormenting the souls of the damned. Perhaps she simply loved him enough for both of them. Taking her hand in his, Sol brought it to his mouth and placed a kiss on her knuckles. His gaze never left hers. Her fingers tingled. A ring of gold appeared on her left hand. Bailey gasped at the sight.

“I want my name on your tongue.”

Confusion filled Bailey at his choice of words. “What?”

“When the Ferryman comes for you, I want him to know exactly where he should take you.” Leaning in, he brushed his lips over hers. “I am one of the few immortals who has a last name to pass to you. I beg you to take it, Bailey Leanne Angelo.”

Bailey held him tighter as she whispered her name against his chest. “Bailey Leanne Angelo.”

No sooner than the name left her lips, Bailey found herself on her back. Sol hovered over her. His features shimmered, seeming less human than before. A tiny voice inside her head whispered she should be terrified. She wasn’t. Sol’s lips brushed hers. Bailey moaned. Heat spread through her.