Chapter 23
T he moon was partially hidden behind a cloud when we left the main building with Taz in tow. The feline hadn’t been too eager to leave the cozy confines of Yarrow’s quarters and had waited until we were out the door to shoot after us.
He trailed behind us now, vanishing into the underbrush only to pop out ahead of us, then wait for us to catch up before trailing us once more…or stalking…Maybe he was stalking. Either way, it seemed to be a game to him, and it was kind of sweet.
“I don’t like keeping this Melanie thing from the others,” Touron said as we approached the elite tower.
“I know, it feels as if we don’t trust them. But it’s better this way. The more people that know, the more likely that the information will spread, even inadvertently. We can tell them once Melanie’s recovered enough to speak to us.”
He unlocked the door and held it open for me, but Taz dashed in first and vanished up the stairs. “You need to make sure you speak to Mirrowind about your sidhe moon problem too.”
Wait, had I told him about that? No…I’d told Shar and Derek. “You see, this is what I mean about information being spread.”
He shrugged. “It’s hardly the same. We all care about you and want to help you. I just can’t…” He looked down at my crotch. “Do that for you.”
I hid my smile behind a frown. “Do that ?”
Twin spots of color bloomed high on his cheeks. “You know what I mean.”
I leaned closer and stage-whispered, “Sex?”
“Urgh.” He shuddered. “Stop.”
A giggle climbed up my throat. “I love you, Tor.”
He slung an arm around my shoulder. “I love you too, Cam. In a totally platonic, brotherly, non-sexy way.”
The twins, Shar, and Derek were deep into a movie where a couple danced on screen, twirling, bodies indecently close. There was no sign of Levi, Curi, or Orix.
Shar spotted us and grabbed the remote to pause the movie, leaving the characters mid hip grind.
“How’d it go with Yarrow?” Shar asked.
“He wasn’t there,” Touron lied for us both.
“But you managed to pick up Taz?” Shar asked, glancing at the door behind us where the feline now sat watching us with his intelligent peridot eyes.
“Oh, yeah, Flora let us in,” Tor said quickly with a light chuckle that sounded fake.
Shar frowned. “You’re lying. Why are you lying?”
Touron’s eyes flew wide. “How dare you suggest such a thing. I’ll have you know I am no liar.”
“Um…why are you talking like a character from a historical novel?” Ginia asked.
“I knew you’d been raiding my stash!” Palia said to her sister.
“So what? I love a good bodice ripper.”
“Touron?” Shar said, her tone stern. “Cameron?”
Touron looked to me sheepishly. “I probably should have mentioned I’m a shit liar.”
He really was, but, “You managed to keep your romance with Selas a secret.”
“Only because no one confronted me about it.”
“Hello?” Shar waved a hand. “What happened with Yarrow?”
I trusted each person in this room with my life. “Okay, so this is what Yarrow thinks…”
I filled them in on the black crystal, Yarrow’s theory, and how he felt Mirrowind could help.
“And he counseled you to keep it a secret?” Shar asked.
“Even from me?” Derek looked hurt.
I ran a hand down my face. “I don’t even know what I was thinking. I trust you guys with my life.” I smiled at Derek. “Especially you.”
“But I get it,” Palia said. “The more people that know, the more chance that they might speak about it to each other, and someone else might overhear.”
“So we agree not to speak of it,” Derek said. “We don’t speak of anything important or vital unless we here, in this tower.”
“Agreed,” Shar said.
“Now come watch the movie,” Palia said. “It’s only just started.”
“I’m in.” Touron climbed over the back of the sofa and settled beside her, but I begged off, hands in the air.
“I think I’m gonna curl up with a book.”
“I didn’t know you read,” Palia said, eyes brightening.
“It’s been a while, but I fancy it tonight.
” I wandered over to the bookshelf across the room and ran my finger across the spines.
“I’m sure I’ll find something.” The titles meant nothing, so I grabbed three at random.
“These’ll do. I’ll see you for breakfast.” I ducked out of the room before anyone could stop me.
A few weeks ago, I’d have wanted nothing more than to hang out with them, but now there was a strange comfort in solitude. Solitude, my thoughts, and dreams.
I wanted to sleep. To dream. I wanted to find Serath again and ask him if he was real. If he was alive.
I needed to know if my suspicions were correct. I needed to know that I wasn’t going crazy.
This time there is no grassy path. This time I find myself standing by the red bench opposite the lake, and there is no sign of Serath.
The world is fuzzy at the edges as if it’s been erased by invisible forces, and I’m gripped with a sense of urgency. “Serath! Serath, where are you?”
A finger of awareness slides up my spine to rest at my nape.
“Here,” Serath says from behind me.
I turn to face him, and ice pricks at my senses. He looks gaunt, his eyes dark smudges in his face, his skin pale and drawn.
“Serath? What’s happening? What’s?—”
He gathers me to him, solid and real. His scent fills my head, chasing away any doubts. He cups my face, and the calluses on his palms tease my skin. His eyes are all pupil. Unfocused and dazed. “Serath, what’s happening to you?”
“They have me, Cameron. They have me, and I’m not sure how long I can hide this part of me before they find it and tear it away.”
This place… “You’ve created this place as an anchor?”
He scans my face with dark eyes. “I did. But I have no idea how you’re able to find it. Find me. But you’re here, and I am so grateful to have seen you once more.” His tone holds defeat.
“Don’t you dare give up. I’m going to find you. I’m going to save you. You’ve got to hold on a little longer.”
He tucks his chin in, wincing as if in pain. “I’m trying, but…Cameron. I’m afraid I’m failing.”
“You’re stronger than them. You can fight this. I’m going to find you. Just…hold on.”
He drops his forehead to mine, his breath warm on my lips. “I’m trying. I’m just…I’m so tired.”
A little more color leaches from his skin, and the world around us dims. His hold on this place, on this sanctuary is slipping. “No. I won’t let you go.” But his skin is so cold against my warm hands. A bad sign.
I press my lips to his and breathe my life into him.
He’s mine, and I’m his, and we are one. I won’t let him go. I won’t let them have him.
I break the kiss, lips moving against his as I speak. “Stay with me, Serath. You can stay with me. Fight until I can find you because I will find you. I swear it.”
He wraps his arm around me and crushes me to him, claiming my mouth, hungry and desperate. His fingers weave through my hair and clutch at my scalp as he deepens the kiss to a bruising intensity that leaves me reeling.
A wave of prickly heat rushes up my body, and a phantom hand squeezes my nape. Serath gasps and breaks the kiss, his gaze stunned as it moves off my face and up to the sky.
The world is dark, the sky a vista of twinkling stars, and set in the center is the moon—too large, too round, and outlined in crimson.
My pulse beats hard in my throat and between my thighs, and my gums throb strangely.
When I speak, my voice is lower, a deep, sultry timbre.
It belongs to my beast, but it’s different, laced with something else.
Something new. Something ancient. And suddenly I know what must be done to protect what belongs to me.
To us.
“Cameron?” Serath stares at me in awe. “Your eyes…”
But all I see is the color in his cheeks and the life in his veins. Life that belongs to me. I won’t let them take it. I won’t.
“Mine.” My head whips forward, and I bury my fangs into his neck.
I woke with the tang of iron in my mouth, heart thundering in my chest, and peeled off the covers stuck to my body. I was burning up, my lungs so tight I was afraid they’d fracture on my next breath. I tried to swing my legs off the bed, and my lower abdomen tightened with need.
Oh no. Not again. I pressed my thighs together against the swollen throbbing between that ached for release, but that just made it worse.
Dammit. I shoved my hand into my pants, thighs falling open as I touched myself.
It didn’t take much to tip me over the edge, and I bit back a cry, my whole body shuddering with pleasure.
But the relief was momentary. The twisted need never ebbed, rising instead, tightening, and growing stronger.
I worked it, finding release once more, but the need grew greater until it was bordering on pain.
Hunger.
This was hunger. Strange, awful, and empty. A yearning that couldn’t be filled by the thrusting of my slick fingers.
“Cameron?” A knock on my door. “Cameron, are you all right?”
I clamped my mouth shut to cut off the needy sounds spilling from my lips.
“Cameron, answer me!” Curi demanded.
Yes. Need him. Want him. Thoughts filled my mind. Thoughts of his body on top of mine, of his cock pushing into me. No!
Pain ripped through me, sweet and sharp.
I flung myself off the bed, yanked open the door, and threw myself against Curi. His scent filled my head as I grabbed at his biceps, digging my nails into the lastonflex.
He wrapped an arm around me. “Fuck, Cameron…fuck, you smell so good.” His tone was thick, just like his cock would be.
My pussy throbbed eagerly, hungrily. I needed him. I needed him to make the need stop.