Authors: Annette Marie
She frowned. “Ash, I’m fine, I swear,” she insisted, trying to sound soothing. “I’m not dying and the ryujin is gone and—”
His hand slid from her cheek to the back of her neck and tightened. He pulled her down with inescapable strength, and then her mouth was on his.
The kiss wasn’t the carnal, aggressive kind they’d shared before. It was slow, intense, gentle but somehow challenging. Her hands found their way to his face, fingers tracing his jaw as his lips moved against hers. He held her in place with one hand, not giving her the option of pulling away—not that she tried—while his other slid over the small of her back, hot against her skin.
Only when dizziness threatened from her shortness of breath did he allow her to raise her head and gasp for air. She brushed her fingers over his cheek and stared into dark eyes that weren’t quite shaded to black.
“Stop doing this to me,” he whispered, voice husky. “I can’t take it anymore.”
“Take what?”
“You dying. How many times are you going to die on me?”
She huffed. “I’m not doing it on purpo—”
He pulled her back into another kiss. She sprawled across his chest, weak from the warmth rushing through her. He kissed her, slowly, precisely, with the same intense determination she’d seen him take into battle, until her body tingled with leisurely tides of heat.
Their prior intimacy had been all passion and hunger, driving desire that made her pant with desperate need for him. But this was different. Deeper. More powerful. This wasn’t lust. This time, the heat came from within her, from within him, intense and passionate but so much more. This time, the need to just hold him, touch him, kiss him without ever moving again overwhelmed her.
An animal squeal erupted above them.
Jarred out of her dreamlike obliviousness, Piper jerked her head up in time to see Zwi swooping in. She landed right on top of Piper’s head, wings flapping against her face as the dragonet chittered ecstatically. Piper sat up and Zwi jumped into her lap, nuzzling her stomach and squirming in delight. Grinning, she pulled Zwi close and petted the dragonet’s back. Zwi cooed, tail flicking all around as if she couldn’t keep still.
Ash pushed himself up. “Zwi is happy you’re okay,” he murmured. He looked around at the clearing. “How
are
you okay, actually?”
“Now you ask?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
“I was getting around to it.”
Her smile faded as confused wonder whispered through her. She looked toward the water. “The ryujin healed me.”
She turned back to find him staring at the water as well.
“But ... why?” he asked.
“I don’t know. But he didn’t seem to want to hurt me.”
“He sure seemed intent on hurting
me
.”
She cleared her throat. “I think he
was
planning to kill you, and then ... I don’t know. He must have changed his mind. He put you in some kind of trance, and then put you to sleep.”
He slowly nodded. “I remember the trance, and your scream, but nothing after that.”
“He did the trance thing to me too. What kind of magic is that?”
“I’m not sure. It wasn’t a paralysis spell; he would have had to touch me first, and I know how to defend against it.” He paused. “I think it was some kind of telepathy.”
“Telepathy?” she repeated in disbelief.
Telepathy as a caste ability was nothing more than a rumor. The closest thing she’d ever seen was the draconian/dragonet bond, and that was a limited connection between each pair. As far as she knew, no caste in either the Overworld or Underworld had been confirmed as having telepathic abilities.
“Do you think he can read our minds?”
“I have no idea. Either way, that hypnosis ability will be hard to fight.”
“I’m not sure we need to fight it—or them,” she said. “Maybe they only have bad reputations because other castes keep trying to steal their territory. Why else would he have healed me? He had no reason to. What if he read my mind and knew we weren’t here to harm them?”
Ash shook his head. “Either way, you’re damn lucky. Your injuries were so severe ... Vejovis himself would have been hard pressed to heal you in time. I have no idea how that ryujin did it.”
As he spoke, his eyes travelled over her face with a desperate sort of hunger—not desire, but the need to reaffirm she was really alive. Slowly, hesitating, she leaned toward him. Yes, they’d just kissed. Yes, she’d kissed him before. But aside from that first kiss in the Styx’s ring, he’d been the initiator, and she wasn’t sure about anything anymore. The ground beneath her feet was crumbling away, and all she knew was that she desperately wanted to feel his mouth on hers again.
She hesitated just shy of touching him, his breath warm against her lips. Half-expecting to be rejected, she brushed her lips over his. His hand came up to cup her cheek, and he gently pulled her mouth back onto his. Another light brush of lips. Then he pressed his mouth harder, deepening the kiss. Heat rushed through her and she reached to wind her arms around his neck, pressing close to him. Zwi let out an angry squawk.
Piper jerked back. Zwi shook her mane out and rustled her wings, giving them reproving glares for having squashed her.
“Sorry, Zwi,” she said contritely.
Zwi chirped, though Piper wasn’t sure whether the sound meant forgiveness or a warning not to do it again.
Ash rose to his feet and stretched, then held out a hand. Scooping Zwi up to her shoulder, Piper took his hand and let him draw her up off the ground. As soon as she was on her feet, she swayed dangerously, the world tilting strangely. Ash wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
“What’s wrong?”
She opened her mouth to answer and a huge yawn overcame her. “I’m suddenly so tired I can barely stand.” Her legs felt like jelly in the aftermath of all the adrenaline.
“That’s normal after major healing. Are you up for walking?”
“Ah. Not really. I’d be back on the ground if you weren’t holding me.”
“I see. In that case ...”
He turned and crouched, presenting her with his back. She put her arms around his neck, and he hooked his arms under her legs and stood. She laid her head on his shoulder and let out a long sigh. His clothes were still damp from the river but his back was warm. Closing her eyes, she relaxed as he walked, his steps smooth and his strong arms holding her in place with no effort on her part.
The ryujin’s parting words whispered through her head. When she was ready ... Ready for what? And why would they be waiting? Maybe the problem with the ryujin wasn’t that they were vicious, but that they were crazy.
Putting the whole thing out of her mind, she snuggled against Ash and let the motion of his stride lull her to sleep.
CHAPTER
15
E
XHAUSTION
lay over her like a heavy blanket. She drifted in and out of consciousness, returning to fuzzy awareness only to drift away again. Healing major injuries was a huge drain on the body. After his near-death experiences and subsequent healings, Ash had slept for an entire day each time. It was no wonder she couldn’t fully wake up.
The first time she remembered stirring awake was when Ash had found the others. The shouts and disbelieving exclamations had been unpleasantly loud, though they’d soon died off. She came around several more times just to reassure herself that Ash was still carrying her, his back warm and his mountain-air scent comforting. Then she would go back to sleep again.
By the time the exhaustion finally began to lift, she sensed a significant amount of time had passed. Ash was still walking, the motion rocking her gently. Her eyelids fluttered, letting in the dim evening light from a setting sun beyond the tree line. She let out a silent sigh, still limp and weary.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Lyre’s voice murmured from somewhere to her left. “Why would a ryujin heal her?”
“I don’t understand it either,” Ash replied, his voice low. Either they were trying not to wake her, or they didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation.
Too tired to move, she listened to them talk.
“He was going to kill me,” Ash continued. “He would have succeeded too. I was defenseless.” A growl crept into his voice on the last part.
“Why didn’t Miysis warn us about the telepathy? Unless he didn’t know?”
“I suspect he knows more about the ryujin than he’s letting on,” Ash murmured, that hint of a growl still roughening his voice. “He’s far too knowledgeable about their territory for casual study. He mentioned mapping it. You know the Ra territory shares a border with ryujin land.”
“Do you think they’re planning an invasion?”
“I’m not very familiar with Overworld geography, but I believe the ryujin territory is the key to controlling trade between the northern and southern halves of the continent. No doubt the Ras want it.”
Lyre snorted. “That would explain why the ryujin are so damn territorial.” A pause. “Which, again, makes me wonder what the hell that one wants with Piper.”
“Maybe they want her for the same reason as everyone else.”
“The Sahar? But how would they know about that?”
“No idea. But nothing else makes sense. Maybe he saved her—and didn’t kill me—to win her over. I’m just glad I was there. He could have disappeared with her without us ever knowing she hadn’t drowned.”
“Speaking of that ... I gotta ask, man,” Lyre said hesitantly. “When Piper fell ... have you considered that Seiya—”
“She didn’t.”
“Those rocks broke away
right
when Piper stepped—”
“It was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence that the ledge broke under Piper and not any of the heavier men who went across before her? Seiya has—”
“I would have sensed her magic,” Ash snapped. “She was right behind me. And how would she have set a spell beforehand? She was with us the whole time.”
“You have to admit it’s suspicious.”
“Suspicious or not, it isn’t possible. I would have noticed. It’s more likely that one of the Ras set a trap.”
“Why would a Ra want Piper dead? Seiya is the only one who has a problem with her.”
Ash made a sound of anger and exasperation. “
Why
does she have a problem? Nothing I say makes a difference.”
“Well, I already told you my theory.”
“Yes,” Ash said acidly. “I know.”
“I warned you something like this might happen.”
Ash growled.
Lyre pressed on. “Seiya is too strong for Piper. If you let this go on, Piper might not survive.”
“Seiya did
not
make Piper fall.”
“Maybe she didn’t,” Lyre said softly, “but you know it’s her fault you weren’t able to grab Piper in time.”
“She was just trying to keep me from falling in too. She overreacted.”
“You have wings, Ash. You can’t fall anywhere.”
The silence stretched between them.
“I know she’s just trying to protect you,” Lyre finally murmured, sympathy in his voice, “but you can’t protect Piper from her.”
Ash grunted.
Lyre lowered his voice. “You know what you have to do, right?”
A heartbeat of silence. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
They walked in silence. Wide-awake by this point, Piper did her best to feign sleep. Anxiety churned in her stomach at the things she’d overheard—mainly the possibility that Seiya had tried to kill her, and would keep on trying until she eliminated her as a threat.
Lyre’s voice broke the silence again. “You should go talk to Seiya. Do you want me to take Piper?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Piper had to work to hang limply while the two guys switched her from Ash’s back to Lyre’s. Once she was settled, she cracked her eyelids open and saw Seiya a dozen yards ahead, walking alone. Beyond her, Miysis and two of his men were leading them through a lush forest. The murmur of the river was nearly lost to the rustle of leaves in the breeze.
Ash strode ahead of Lyre and caught up to his sister. Piper saw him bend his head toward her, mouth moving with unheard words.
She licked her lips, nervousness churning inside her. “What does Ash have to do?” she whispered.
Lyre jumped about a foot in the air, nearly dropping her. “Holy crap, Piper!” he yelped. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Sorry.”
He took a few deep breaths. “Trying to give me a heart attack? Jeez.”
“So? You told Ash he knew what he had to do. What’s that?”
Lyre grunted. “That conversation was none of your business. You shouldn’t have pretended to be sleeping.”
“It’s my business if Seiya is trying to kill me.” Betrayal burned in the pit of her stomach. “How can Ash defend her?”
“One, because she’s his sister and he loves her. Two, there’s no proof and of course he doesn’t want to think the worst of her. And three, she’s been the prisoner of a violent, sadistic madman for her entire life and only escaped two months ago. That’s not a fast or easy adjustment. She came from a world where
everything
was life or death and you had to kill to survive.”
“Ash was a prisoner too and he’s not trying to kill people left and right.”
“He has his hang-ups too. I’m sure you’ve figured out why he can’t stand enclosed spaces. You were in those cells yourself.”
She shuddered. The cells of the bastille in Asphodel were small, dark, freezing cold, and underground. She wondered how many days Ash had spent down there.
“Ash got out of Asphodel way more often than Seiya did. He saw other places and other worlds where not everything was a threat to be destroyed and not everyone was out to get him. Seiya is still learning the difference. It’s going to take time to retrain her instincts.”
“But—”
“She’s alive right now,” Lyre said firmly, “because she was tough enough and hard enough to destroy those who threatened her and Ash. Do you really expect her to just ignore things she perceives as threats because she’s outside of Asphodel? In Asphodel, she knew the rules. Now, she doesn’t know. She’s going to do everything she can to make sure she and Ash can live to enjoy their freedom. My suspicions aside, we don’t actually know if she did anything to cause your fall.”