The Darkest Craving

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE



The Realm of Blood and Shadows

IT DIDN’T TAKE Torin long to dig up the video Lucien had requested for Kane. “I’m sorry. Just one second longer,” he said, then messaged the footage to the pair. That done, he swiveled his chair around.

First, his gaze hit the painting still resting beside his door. He hadn’t peeked.

Second, the female sitting at the edge of his bed.

The mystery of her name had not yet been solved, even though she’d come every day, as promised. In an effort to relax her, he hadn’t pressed her for information, but had allowed her to watch him as he researched the Paring Rod, looking for answers about Cameo and Viola, all the while getting to know his mannerisms, his habits. He’d fed her. He’d allowed her to wander around the confines of the room.

What would crack her hard shell?

“You’re very good to your friends,” she said.

“They’re very good to me right back.”

“You love them.”

“Very much.”

She nibbled on the end of a strawberry he’d given her, licked the juice from her fingers. “I have a friend.” A beat of silence. “I miss her.”

Finally. Personal information. Easy. Don’t push too hard, too fast. “She’s...gone?”

“No. I see her every day, and I speak to her, but there are always prying eyes and ears, so our conversations are limited.”

“Who pries?” he asked, treading lightly.

“The others.”

That told him nothing—but it was a start. “The others listen to you and your friend....” He propped his elbows on his knees, trying to appear relaxed rather than foaming-at-the-mouth eager. “What’s her name?”

“It’d probably be better if you didn’t know,” she said. “But...I’ll tell you mine.”

“Please,” he rushed out.

“I’m...Mari.”

Excitement at learning this new detail nearly shot him out of his chair to fist bump the ceiling. “Where do you come from, Mari?”

“The...past,” she whispered, looking down at her bare feet.

“I don’t understand. The past?”

“Cronus plucked me from long ago and imprisoned me in one of his homes. I don’t know how many years passed before my friend was placed in the cell across from mine. I can’t visit her, and she can’t visit me. We can only talk to each other through the bars.”

A prison? He withdrew the mental files he’d kept on her, and compared those with what he saw now. Her pale hair was tangled each new day, her skin streaked with dirt, despite the showers she’d taken here. But the fear had slowly faded from her eyes, and the food she’d eaten had caused her cheeks to fill out.

“Cronus is dead,” he said. “You don’t have to return. You can stay here without fear.”

“You still don’t understand. We’re stuck there, tethered somehow. We have no water, no food and have only managed to survive...I’m not sure how. He must have done something to us.”

Yeah. There were ways to keep prisoners nourished without actually feeding them. Ways that kept the prisoners docile and weak.

“We’ve tried to dig our way free, but so far, we’ve had no luck. I can flash in and out to meet with you, because Cronus made the allowance before he died, but no one else can leave, even through a flash.”

Rage started little fires in his bloodstream. He still had no idea what “from the past” meant—actual time travel? Or was she an immortal Cronus had found in, say, the Middle Ages, and the monarch had kept her imprisoned all these centuries?

“You should have told me sooner,” he said, still trying for a gentle tone.

“I didn’t know you. I didn’t know what I...wanted from this.”

“I can help you. Cronus’s homes were given to one of my friends—Sienna Blackstone. This friend also has the former Titan king’s abilities and powers.” Most of them, anyway. “If you’ll tell her everything you know about the home, she’ll find it and release you and your friend.”

Hope glistened in eyes gone dark. “Really?”

“Really.” And then you can stay with me.

Hand fluttering over her heart, she hopped to her feet. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say thank you.” For now, that would be enough.

“Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you,” she said with a grin.

“You’re welcome.”

He stood. “I’ll call Sienna.” She split her time between training with the Sent Ones and hunting the Unspoken Ones, monsters now on the loose. “She’ll come and meet you, and we can get started on our quest. Agreed?” He held out his hand.

She looked at the glove, then his eyes, then the glove. Slowly she removed the material, and...he let her. He couldn’t bring himself to stop her. Then, she studied the hand that hadn’t seen the sun in decades and gulped.

“Mari?”

“I agree.” She placed her palm against his, twined their fingers, and shook.

His response embarrassed him. His body instantly reacted, as if preparing for the dirtiest kind of sex. His skin tingled as if brushed by living flame, and his blood turned molten.

Must. Have. More.

* * *

CAMEO PACED THE confines of the office. It was weird. Visually, no part of the room was off-limits. She could see everything. The desk, the chair, the bookcases, the glass shelves. But she couldn’t walk everywhere.

Anytime she approached the shelves, she would experience a moment of vertigo, blink and find her nose in the far corner of the room.

The same had happened to Lazarus, but only once. After that, he’d given up. Now he reclined against the far wall, watching her with sardonic amusement.

“Is the guy still there?” she asked. “And you never told me who he is.”

“Yes, he’s still there. But he’s more of a monster than a guy. And his name? No. I won’t give it.”

Why not? “What’s he doing?”

“Watching you.”

The thought irritated her on every level. “Why can’t I see him? Why can’t I get to him?” And where was Viola? What had happened to her? Was she still trapped inside the Rod? “You led me to believe I would be involved in a dangerous battle.”

He waved her words away. “I was wrong. It’s happened once before.”

“Well, stop lazing around, and help me figure out a solution.”

“No. I understand why the monster is having so much fun. Watching you use the same methods every time, and failing the same way, just to try to reach him is highly amusing.”

So. Irritating. “I hope you choke on your own tongue.”

“Why, so you can dig it out with your own?”

Argh! “Are you flirting with me?”

“How cute.” He looked past her. “Pretty warrior woman doesn’t know the difference between an informed question and flirting.”

Was he speaking to the invisible beast? His supposed enemy?

She marched to the wall where he sat and sank beside him. “I’m done being the night’s entertainment.”

“Too bad.” His dark gaze swept over her at a leisurely pace. “You’re quite attractive, female, but your voice needs work. A lot of work.”

“Insults from you?” She drummed her nails against her thighs. “I remember you, you know. A few months back, you attended the Harpy Games with Strider and Sabin. You’re the consort of the Harpy in charge.”

Fire crackled in his eyes—literal fire. “I am no one’s consort.”

Hit a nerve, had she? “I wonder what your consort would say about that. I met her. Juliette was her name, yes?”

His nostrils flared, a testament to the fury brewing inside him. “When I get out of this office, and I will, she’ll be too busy being dead to say anything.”

“Because you plan to kill her?”

“Yes.” Simply stated, leaving no doubt he meant what he said. “I once chose death over her companionship. I will again, no problem—only this time, I’ll do it in reverse.”

“Maybe I’ll kill you and gift her with your head,” she replied pleasantly.

“Maybe I’ll cut out your tongue and do the world a favor.”

She gritted her teeth. “Maybe I’ll gut you just for giggles.”

“Maybe I’ll stab the life out of you and do myself a favor.”

Enough! Cameo jumped to her feet and motioned him over. “You want to do this, warrior? Because I’m ready. Anytime. Anyplace.”

Lazarus unfolded his big body and straightened. “You don’t want to take me on, little girl. You’ll lose.”

She went chest to chest with him. “I think differently. On both counts.”

He squared the wide width of his shoulders, standing his ground, not the least bit intimidated. A mistake many men had made. “Do your worst then. But have no doubts, I’ll then do mine.”

No. She wouldn’t do her worst. That’s what he expected, maybe even wanted. She’d just have to go another route and surprise him.

Like a child, she shoved him with all her might. His startled expression was priceless as he stumbled backward and into the wall—no, through the wall?

Gasping, Cameo rushed to the space he’d last occupied. One second she stood inside the office, the next she was outside. Trees swayed in a gentle breeze. A river rushed and trickled over smooth rocks. Birds sang as they flew across the sunny skyline. White clouds drifted past, serene and flawless.

“What did you do to me?” Lazarus demanded, striding from the shade of one of the trees to get in her face.

“Me? You went through the wall, and I must have followed.”

He spun, seeming to take everything in at once. He stiffened. “I think we’re moving between the dimensions,” he muttered, clearly talking to himself. “That would mean the Rod spit us out in another dimension, the office was another, and this is yet another.”

This was the first she’d ever heard of different dimensions. “Care to explain what you mean to the rest of the class?”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “There are two realms. Natural and spiritual. Between the realms are dimensions—pockets of life caught between the natural and the spiritual.”

Dread wrapped hard fingers around her heart. “What does that mean for us?”

His eyes were dead as he said, “We’ll never go home.”