Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
PARIS
Acocoon of shadows engulfed me, freezing every part of me.
Help…
Aidan’s laughter echoed in my mind, a slimy presence oozing through my veins, probing, searching for something.
“What could it be?” Aidan said.
Get out of me!
My eternal screams were swallowed into a shadowy vacuum, rendered useless by this toxic bullshit.
“Let me tell you this,” Aidan spoke, the sound of his voice like nails being hammered into my skull.
There wasn’t any obvious way for me to get out of this. Only darkness, as if I was trapped in a deep cave, the walls crushing me in place. I couldn’t even blink.
“I gave the world Aidan’s fire,” he bleated on, “but I can’t tap into its full potential. I need to do more, to be more.” He sighed. “An unfair twist, don’t you think?”
You don’t want to hear my answer, fucker!
“Alas, I must abide by the rules of our connection.” He chuckled.
What about his deity powers? Surely, he had some super magic tucked up his sleeves.
I forced myself to stay calm, to listen while he handed me a chunk of information.
“Because you set me free, I can only use things connected to you,” he said. “What a precious little elf you are to me.”
He found his own words hilarious.
“But it’s a maze in here,” he added.
Fingers crossed he got lost.
The prick sniffed, the sound loud enough to hurt my eardrums. “Magic, magic, magic. What can you tell me about magic?”
Sweet fuck-all.
But a figure pulled itself free from the darkness, ringed in silver light and shaped like me, hurrying down a pathway with a determined gait.
Other Me veered left, then right, taking an incline until the darkness peeled open like a shadowy curtain, revealing my apartment inside the Aidan Temple back in Oreflame City, seeing myself on the green, overstuffed sofa with Oliver my pink orchid.
Was this another vision?
Damn, I missed Oliver and my own bed. But I’d never get back there, would I? Not without a miracle, and certainly not with Hal sharing the same air.
“Keep going,” Aidan said. “Now I’ve told you, show me what I need, my dear conduit of hope.”
Again, he pissed himself laughing.
Weirdo.
Hal appeared, joining me on the sofa with a big mug of coffee. As he aways had, because the man was a real coffee fiend. He laughed, stroking his beard, with me grinning ear to ear. Aidan only knew what I’d said to set him off.
Not Aidan!
“He’s a mage,” the deity in question said. “Your friend. Your lover. You’ve been inside him, shared body fluids. But he hurt you.” A sigh. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”
Like fuck it was!
The vision or whatever collapsed, sending me back onto the island slopes. I lay splayed like a starfish on the grass, gasping for air, a fine drizzle falling from the sky.
Thunder crashed in the darkness above, scaring the crap out of me.
Dammit!
I rolled onto my front, pushing myself to my knees.
Where was Aidan? He’d left me with a worse headache, a sickening roiling in my belly.
Lightning illuminated the island with a savage violet flare. Second by second, the rain fell heavier, the wind really gaining speed. I stood up, then hurried back to the house, its glow a beacon.
Aidan couldn’t use magic without me, so he needed Hal because Hal was connected to me. Was that what’d just gone down in the vision? He’d looked for him, found him, and then…what? What the hell came next?
Ugh. This threatened to turn my brains to porridge. But one thing I did deduce was Aidan not being the other presence inside me. At least, it didn’t seem so, especially after shoving his fist down my throat.
Prick!
I reached the garden path, passing the tree and getting some energy from the sweetie pie.
Rolling my shoulders, I fought to strengthen my focus. I needed to rest and let my healing work through me properly. If I allowed myself a good hour of sitting, I’d be okay, ready to crack on with the bullshit ride.
Heal up, survive the night.
Easy, right?
Gingerly, I crept into the house, braced for Aidan. He wasn’t in the living room, his rotting smell pretty much gone. I closed the door behind me, the storm beating against it in a sudden surge of aggression.
Yikes.
Taking a breath, I checked upstairs, finding no deities there.
I was alone.
Thank Ai—
Thank the universe for throwing me a bone.
I went back downstairs, searching through the kitchen cupboards for some painkillers to take the edge off while the wolfy healing did its thing.
There weren’t any.
So, I made a cup of tea instead, watching my reflection in the kitchen window, the world beyond the glass pitch black.
What if Aidan came back, armed with spells via Hal or something? Would he bind me? Turn me into a rat and lock me in a cage?
Man, the possibilities were endless.
Erm, no. I wasn’t doing this. Spiraling didn’t help the situation, getting out of it did.
Executioners who used their smarts as well as their brawn were winners. Pearl used say that for encouragement, bestowing her confidence upon me. It always made me feel better, especially on difficult days.
I made my tea and sat down on the sofa, angling myself to face the door.
Pearl’s words would do me a world of good right now. I needed her more than ever, her strength greater than mine.
Can’t you come back to me, sis?
I wrapped my hands around the mug, trembling. Not being strong, allowing myself to sink into the damn pit of sorrow. Too tired to fight back.
Come on. You’re better than this.
I saw my sister smile, felt her warmth like the summer sun. My twin, my bestie, my everything. Time didn’t make things easier, only worse. The longer I lived in a world without her, the wider the gulf grew between us.
“I just want you back,” I whimpered, tears running free.
Ugh. More crying. Really?
If she were here, she’d slap me upside the head and demand I buck up.
Obviously, she’d also bollock me for shagging a vampire, but that would yank me out of the mire.
She had the gift of pep talks, of chasing the shadows away.
I saw her as my protector, the better half of us, and the one who shouldn’t have died.
I slammed on the brakes, my tears drying up suddenly.
“You idiot,” I hissed, kicking my left shin with the heel of my right foot.
I didn’t do that sort of thinking. Yeah, she’d been murdered, taken before her time. But she’d be furious at the suggestion of us swapping places. Sure, I’d lay down my life for her, but not like this. This kind of thinking shit on her memory and wouldn’t make her proud.
I wanted to make her proud, to show her I would change the world with everything I had. Even a little bit.
Aidan wasn’t winning this. His lies had to be exposed, his rot to be bleached from the world.
“Bet you’re just as surprised things took a turn this way, huh?” I asked her.
Man, if only she’d answer.
I sipped my tea, imagining her response. She’d be in total agreement, giving one of her epic speeches. Then she would insist on us taking a shot of whiskey, her favorite tipple, to commemorate the drama.
A smile crept to my lips. The thunder boomed above the house as if the sky were falling, the violet flashes of lightning aggressively bright, burning through the windows.
I kept smiling.
A different storm was coming for Aidan, one to tear down all his plans.
“I can’t wait to kick your arse.”
The door crashed open. I leaped to my feet, the mug flying from my grip and smashing against the wall.
A furious Silvanus filled the doorway, thunder announcing his arrival.