Marie Harte - Aftershocks

“Easy,” she murmured and touched his forehead. Instead of the hurt he’d come to associate with Lexa, gentle ease flushed his pain, providing a strength and fortitude he’d been missing of late. “Now tell me again what you saw.”

He repeated his vision, up until the last few frames. At his pause, she frowned.

“Continue.”

“And then, Dark Mistress , I watched you wound and prepare my uncle for the torture and amusement of you dear brother, ‘Sin Garu.”

Her reaction surprised him. A hint of fear danced in her eyes before anger assumed dominance. “Go on.”

“I was near death in the claws of his new hybrid-wraith creatures.”

“His wraintu. A combination of wraith and forli , one of the more vicious Shadren and a cousin to the Nocumat .”

Nocumat. It figured. That explained how one of the hybrids had been able to launch a Nocumat at him from within its being.

“Yes, well, the next thing I know, Ellie’s growling a warning at the Dark Lord, and she’s not herself.”

“Meaning?”

“I don’t know. She’s Ellie, but I’d swear Arim was looking out at me through her eyes.”

“Yet you saw me bind him, saw me wound him.”

“Yeah.” He glared at her. Despite her promised help in fighting ‘Sin Garu, there was too much about Lexa that confused the crap out of him. Her Dark nature precluded trust, and the visions he’d had of her made him doubly wary of the blue-eyed schemer. Half the time it was an exercise in energy to simply keep his wits about him. Who knew what she made him think and feel, especially when she weakened him past his endurance?

Which made her recent healing questionable.

“I’m not the monster you make me out to be,” she said quietly, a smirk on her full, red lips. “And I thank you for that most informative session.”

She seemed pleased by his tale, and he could only imagine she liked the idea of Arim’s pain. Angry, he opened his mouth for a caustic retort and found himself unable to speak, then unable to move.

“No, don’t say a thing. Don’t spoil this incredibly pleasing moment for me, Cadmus.” With a smile, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the mouth, a cool meeting of the lips that set his blood on fire.

Infuriated she could make him feel when his heart clearly belonged to Ellie, he fought through her spell and, to his amazement, began to move.

“Oh, Cadmus, you are so much like Arim.” She chuckled. “Handsome, strong, and aggravating in the extreme. Don’t worry, Earth Lord, your Djinn is still waiting for you on the other side of the forest. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to face the Sarqua on your own. And Ethim’s temper leaves a lot to be desired. Just ask Amanda.”

She vanished, freeing Cadmus to move and speak. “Son of a bitch!”

“Well, well, well,” a Djinn warrior Cadmus knew as Remir spoke from directly behind him.

Before Cadmus could twitch, a dozen Djinn appeared from out of nowhere and surrounded him.

“Ethim wants a word,” Remir said in a deep, threatening voice.

Of all the Djinn, Cadmus had given Remir the most trouble before Jonas had bailed him out of Foreia.

Remir smiled, his eyes pitch black. “But not before we have a few things to discuss, considering we missed our chance before you left the last time.” Three Djinn stepped forward and restrained Cadmus. Remir grabbed Cadmus’ wrists. Dark bands of energy crept from his fingers into Cadmus’ skin. The Dark burned with cold, and Cadmus fought the urge to blast Remir through the woods. It would hurt, but it could be done. But Cadmus knew he deserved some payback, if not for what he’d done to these warriors before, then for what he’d almost done to Jonas, their leader and friend, their brother.

He sighed and shook his hair out of his eyes. “Go ahead, Remir. I probably deserve it.” He grinned, knowing it wasn’t smart, but was unable to help himself. “But I wouldn’t be too hard on me. Lexa just planted a kiss on these lips, and we all know the lady is decidedly choosy.”

Remir and his brethren scowled on Cadmus. The beating to follow didn’t surprise him. It didn’t take long for Cadmus to black out, and he fell into a painful, empty sleep.

Ellie felt frantic with worry when her father refused to go to Cadmus’ aid.

“He’ll be fine, Elliara. She wants a word with him, that’s all.”

Who the hell was this woman to whom everyone seemed to defer? Her questions fell on deaf ears, and in a snap, her father spelled her to within a few feet of him and her mother, who grabbed her hand and held on. A nice way to eliminate Ellie’s attempt to rescue Cadmus herself. Damn it.

“Now, to my home.” Ethim teleported them all into a wooden construct much like a large, indoor tree house. Gnarled logs walled the main room and carried into the dining area. The ceiling seemed to consist of wooden crossed beams, smoother than the walls, which framed a series of massive skylights. In contrast to the natural simplicity of the place, her fathers’ home hummed with magic from the sparkling marble floors to the endless transparent ceiling. A Djinn servant nodded with a smile before disappearing again.

Her father motioned them to an expansive marble dining table set for three. Glasses filled with what looked like wine complemented the fancy diningware. Apparently, her father had told his people to expect them. They sat for a moment in silence.

“Relax, honey.” Her mother stroked her hair, its colour about the only similarity mother and daughter shared. “If your father says Cadmus will be okay, he will be. I liked him. And I don’t like all that many of your father’s kind.”

Ethim practically spit out the wine he’d been drinking. “My kind? Please, Amanda. Cadmus Storm is a Light Bringer, one of those dreaded holy pests who think they’re superior to everyone and everything.”

Ellie frowned. “He’s not like that.”

The serving woman returned with a large tray of fruits. “She’s right, Sarqua. The Storm Lord was most unlike what I expected a Light Bringer to be. I found him pleasant, even humourous in our discourse.”

“Who asked you, Mera?” he grumbled.

Despite Ethim’s title as leader of the Sarqua clan, his people didn’t bow or lower themselves to him, or so Jonas had told her. They showed their respect and obeyed his orders, but nothing more. Truthfully, Ellie thought their contradictions fascinating.

She found it hard to believe a king could have servants who spoke their minds openly, without fear of retribution.

Then Mera’s words penetrated and Ellie took a good, hard look at the serving woman. Mera had long black hair, amber eyes and the curves of a centrefold. What the hell kind of discourse had she and Cadmus shared, exactly?

“I agree with Mera,” Amanda said and took a sip from her glass goblet. “Cadmus felt right.”

Ethim glared. “Why the hell were you feeling him at all?” Jealousy, from her father?

“Now, Ethim. You know you’re the only man for me. I just wish you’d be home more often.”

Ellie stared in shock at her mother’s smile of sincerity. Who the hell is this woman impersonating my mother?

“We’ve had this discussion. Considering this is the last year I agreed to, I’d say you’re right where you belong, Mandy.” Her father looked smug with satisfaction, and Ellie took a harder look at her parents. Using the senses that seemed to be growing stronger the longer she stayed in Foreia, she noted the joining bonds of Dark energy from her father holding tight to her mother. And her mother’s odd, purple signature bands of energy invited and latched onto her father eagerly.