“And you love that about me.”
“I do, actually. It’s nice to be with a woman who understands my dark, happy go-to place.” He kissed her, then lifted her gently from his hips. “Damn. You have the nicest ass I’ve ever seen.” He nipped at her cheek as she rose so that she could begin redressing.
She brushed her fingers over his cheek and gave him a warm, sweet look. “You keep doing that and we’ll never get out of here.”
“Don’t tempt me. Besides, we can’t stay. We don’t belong in this world. The balance would be disturbed.”
That was true. One thing she knew about interdimensional travel, unless you had special permission or circumstances, you could visit, but only for a very limited time. In order to stay, you had to exchange places with someone else.
A soul for a soul.
That wasn’t an easy thing to do. And if you didn’t choose or steal the soul for yourself within a specified time, the powers that be would do it—usually at the worst possible time.
That was the last thing anyone wanted, as they seldom chose the one you’d have picked. Rather they went after the one to cause you the most pain possible. Vengeful bastards, they always found a way to punish you for daring to thwart their wills.
Much like the Fates.
And the gods.
Sadness chased away her happiness with that thought while she dressed. As the gods and Fates had never once allowed her any kind of peace or real happiness. They seemed to take a perverse pleasure in ripping it away from her.
Tears choked her as reality came crashing back and that tiny glimpse of a future she’d had just a few moments ago died horribly. There was no chance of anything with Falcyn, or anyone else.
She was an Apollite damned over a curse her father had levied against her race because of the actions of a jealous bitch-queen.
Falcyn was a dragon damned for his own birth by a jealous bitch-goddess. As the old saying went, fire and gunpowder made for a very poor and extremely short marriage.
There could never be anything for either of them, except death and misery. That was all the gods would ever allow for them. All their enemies would let them have. And between the two of them, they had a frightfully long list of creatures wanting them dead.
Drawing a ragged breath, she relegated herself to a cold, bitter reality. To an eternity of being alone. “We have to find the others.”
Falcyn nodded. “I know.”
As he withdrew, she saw the strange scroll marks on his lower back that she’d missed during their earlier play. She reached out to trace the ancient black swirls. “What’s this?”
He glanced at her, over his shoulder. “Symbols of healing and protection that were placed there by my brother, Hadyn.”
“They’re beautiful.”
He nodded. “He was incredibly powerful. One of the strongest Simeon Magi ever trained. A true manslaghe.” That was impressive given that a manslaghe could not only take a life, they could destroy a soul.
It was what made them some of the most dreaded breed of god-killer. More so than even the Chthonians who’d been created to police the gods themselves.
“You fought together?”
“We did.” Sadness darkened his eyes. “He saved my life during the Primus Bellum.”
“Which side did you fight for?”
“It wasn’t so much a side I fought for, as a person I fought with.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “I served with the Sephirii. Protected their commander.”
She paused while dressing to gape at him. Surely he was kidding.… “Jared? You protected that bastard?”
“No. Before him. His mother. Myone.” A tic started in his jaw as if he shared her anger for Jared’s behavior.
And when he spoke, she realized that he did, indeed, understand why she harbored so much hatred for the former Sephiroth warrior. “I was there when Jared turned on his army and led them to slaughter. Whatever you did to him while your mother held him for Artemis, I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, he deserved it. I know he thinks he had a noble reason for his actions, but I can’t forgive it. All I can say is that I’m glad his mother was dead at the time. It would have broken her heart to see him betray his oath.”
“You’re one of the few who feels that way.”
“Because I was there for it. I saw the carnage.” He fastened his pants. “There’s so much I hate the gods for.”
“Believe me, I resemble your pain.”
Falcyn moved to her side so that he could brush his fingers through her hair. “I will help your parents. Not because of what we did just now. But because I’m tired of watching the gods destroy lives for no reason.”
“Thank you.”
He inclined his head to her. “No problem. You just have to find a way to get us out of here so that I can get to them.”
“Well, that’s easier said than…” Medea paused in her sentence as a strange sensation went through her body. Like someone or something had squeezed her soul. It was the most peculiar thing.
A deep, dark ache set in. One that made her strangely depressed and exhausted.
“Medea?”
“I’m so tired, all of a sudden. Can barely keep my eyes open.” She sat down to finish dressing. “Just overwhelmed, I guess. There’s so much to do. I don’t even know where to start.” Her heart sank at the thought of what lay ahead for them. “What if we can’t get to them in time? What if it’s too late?”
“It’s not.”
“What if it is? What if we’re underestimating Kessar and Apollo? He’s a god, you know.… How can we hope to fight that?” She rubbed at her forehead as tears choked her.
Falcyn went cold as he saw a movement in the shadows to his left. Something wasn’t right and he had a bad, bad feeling that he knew what it was.
“Medea? Look at me.”
She did.
Cupping her chin in his hand, he studied her dark eyes. Her pupils were a bit dilated. She had a funny glaze over them as she continued to lament their situation.
Shit …
“Did you sit in a shadow?”
“What?” She frowned at him.
“Did one of the shadows get you? You’re whining, and that’s not the psychotic Daimon I know so well. I’m thinking you got hit by one of the SODs.”
Her eyes were filled with uncharacteristic despair. “How would I know? Oh, what does it matter? We’re doomed anyway. Even if we succeed, we’ll fail.”
Oh yeah, that had SOD all over it.
“Dee … stay with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Why bother? It’s all useless, anyway.”
Growling low in his throat, Falcyn tried to think of some way to get her back to normal.
It was hopeless. Like she said. Everything they did turned to shit.
Ah crap …
He now had it, too.
10
This was so bad, and on so many levels. Falcyn turned around slowly as he tried to think of how to combat the SODs. But like Medea, he felt an overwhelming sense of doubt in his abilities to do anything at all, and the ultimate despair.
Never had he known such.
I am drakomai!
Yeah, so what? So are a lot of dragons.…