Gold: A Bandia Novel Part 18

"What am I afraid of then?"

"I only get the emotions, not necessarily the reasons behind them. But if I had to guess I'd say you're afraid of falling in love."

"Not even close. You're not as good as I thought."

"And that, right there is denial." He sniffs the air. "Tastes like chicken."

I laugh with him. "You know for an evil killer, you're kind of fun to hang out with."

"I could say the same thing about you."

"Why would you think I'm afraid of falling in love?"

"When you were here with your friend, you kept pushing your feelings away."

"Maybe I don't want a relationship right now. That doesn't mean I'm afraid."

"Tell yourself whatever you need to." Braden shakes some water out of his hair. His eyes flit back to my wrist.

"Stop staring at my bracelet."

He looks up quickly. "Sorry. It's a fuath thing. I'm drawn to shiny, pretty things. They're like magnets for people's emotions. Yours seems particularly potent, which means it's probably very old, and maybe even magic."

"Do you want to see it?" I lift my wrist toward him.

He backs up. "Don't tempt me. I might be able to stop myself from taking you to the bottom of the sea, but I make no promises where that thing is concerned." "You want to steal it?"

He smiles. "You really have no idea what I am, do you?"

The sky lights up with silver behind us. Braden looks over his shoulder. "Wait here." He darts around the corner. I blink toward where the light came from, searching the ground for something I can use as a weapon.

A clacking sound, hoof beats on stone, comes from where Braden disappeared. I peer around the corner. A horse emerges from the shadows in the alley, shaking its mane at me. Calling it a horse is not exactly right. It's an unearthly white, almost glowing, with black eyes that blink under white lashes. Long feathers of fur flow from its fetlocks. It's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen.

I step toward him. "Braden?"

The horse shakes his mane again and lowers his head to the ground.

I reach for his neck, stroking the soft fur. His coat is gorgeous, more mink than horse hair. I want to bury my hands in it.

Jonah appears a few feet away in a bright blast. I don't have time to think.

The horse drops to his knees, and I put my hands on his withers and swing my leg over his back, grabbing a handful of the thick mane.

Jonah lunges at me with his knife, but Braden is faster. He takes off in a canter down the street, rounding a corner and then another before Jonah can dematerialize. Braden's hooves clop along the stone as we emerge onto the main road, out in the open. The flash of silver light behind us is the only warning I have that we haven't lost Jonah. Braden turns toward the harbor, racing for the pier. As we gallop onto the wood Jonah appears directly in front of us. Braden's pace doesn't slow. If anything, he speeds up, lengthening his stride.

Jonah raises his knife just as Braden leaps into the air. All I can do is lean forward and stay with Braden as we sail over Jonah, jumping high into the night sky, barely missing the blade in Jonah's outstretched hand. At first it feels like we're flying and I'm sure I must be smiling from ear to ear. Then Braden drops his head and we dive straight into the black sea.

Oh my G.o.d.

I try to push off his back, as we go deeper into the freezing water, but it's like my legs are glued there. I can't get away. I hold my breath, desperately searching for some connection to the water as Braden swims. But the water is silent. It does nothing but close in on me as I struggle to keep from trying to breathe in.

I feel a swish behind me and we're rising again. We break the surface and I gulp in a breath. Braden tilts his head to check on me and then glances back at the pier, far in the distance. There is no sign of Jonah's glowing demiG.o.d form.

Braden moves along the surface of the water, making no move to take me under again, and I let myself relax.

I'm drenched, but somehow warm and comfortable as we swim along the sh.o.r.eline. The rain stops, and from here, I can see the lights of the small town flicker. It's beautiful. Peaceful. Perfect.

We swim to the other side of the harbor, before Braden turns for sh.o.r.e and walks us in. I slide off easily when we reach the beach, grateful to be on solid ground. I turn to pat the animal's neck.

Braden stands in the horse's place, grinning. "You were really scared there for a minute."

"I'm pretty sure that's what you were going for."

He laughs. "Maybe. There were some pretty sweet emotions in there too."

"A couple."

"I like those better."

"Me too." I shiver in the cold. I'm soaked.

He takes off his coat and sets it on my shoulders. "Come on. We'll get a cab back to your car. You should probably lay low for a little while."

"So everyone keeps telling me."

We walk to the cab stand on the corner, right in front of the Cath Pub. "You're nervous." Braden picks up on the change in my emotions immediately.

"Stop doing that. It's intrusive."

"Sorry. It's not like I can turn it off. What's the matter?"

I nod to the pub. "The Sons are staying here."

"Since when are you nervous about seeing the Sons?"

"Not all the Sons. Just one in particular."

"I think we've ditched him for a while." His nostrils flare and I know he's reading something else in my emotions. It's not Jonah I'm nervous about seeing. It's Blake. "Ahh. No wonder I can't make a dent. Your dance card is pretty full."

"If you mean my love life is already a train wreck with its fill of evil creatures who will only break my heart, then yep, got it covered."

Fortunately, a cab pulls up almost as soon as we get to the curb. Braden opens the door for the couple inside. Portia takes his hand and steps out. Braden glances at me with raised eyebrows as my nerves morph into heartache and betrayal.

Portia flashes a pretty smile at Braden, but it lasts only as long as it takes for her to shift her head in my direction. "Oh my G.o.d. You are stalking us."

Blake steps out of the cab behind her, his face nearly as dark as Portia's. Then he takes in my wet clothes and sees Braden and his expression changes to something darker. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Portia's eyes narrow, but it's not me she turns on. It's Blake. "Don't. Please. Do not tell me that you still give a s.h.i.t what happens to her. Not now."

The vein on Blake's neck throbs, his tell that he's furious. Why? I'm obviously perfectly fine aside from the fact that I'm soaking wet. Blake closes his eyes. When he opens them again, he looks concerned. "You sure you're okay?" "Fine." I push past him into the waiting cab. Braden climbs in beside me. "Wow. What was that about?"

"You mean the uber-jealous new girlfriend of my ex?"

"That, and the fact that she was pushing her emotions into him."

"What?"

"I could feel her emotions in him. And his in hers for that matter, but hers were stronger."

And now my day is perfect.

Blake and Portia are bound.

THIRTY-ONE.

Austin is waiting for me when I get home. He barely lets me get in the door before he starts giving me the third degree about going into town alone.

I walk past him, ignoring his questions. He's right of course, and the last thing I want is to have to tell him about Jonah. Or Braden. Or Blake.

I'm cold and I'm wet, and I just want a hot shower and a long, long, sleep.

"We need to talk," he says. "I need to know what happened in the library."

I left as soon as he mentioned that I was the girl he met a thousand years ago. I hadn't even told him about Liam's attack. Water drips on to the floor where we stand. "I'm not ready to talk about it." Or about your secret lover in the underworld.

Besides, he'll throw Liam out if I tell him what happened, and we need to know more about the Gathering.

Keep your enemies closer.

I am letting my enemies get much too close. I move past Austin and up the stairs to my room.

Everything is changing too fast.

Braden is definitely fuath. But he doesn't seem nearly as evil as Austin made him out to be. Blake and Portia definitely slept together. And now he's bound to her. And Austin? Austin has definitely been keeping secrets.

The only thing I know for certain is that I have to stop Liam. No way do I let that s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.d take over the world.

So I fight.

I just have to figure out how. My options are pretty limited at the moment.

I keep going back to the idea that I can stop everything before it starts. So the next morning, I take Panda back to the ruin.

I rub the little horse between my fingers. The carvings in the stone look softer somehow. Are they fading? That doesn't make sense. They've been here for hundreds of years. The last few weeks would barely register on a timeline. Unless I'm the one who is running out of time.

The charm still fits into the carving perfectly.

The sun gives way to clouds. The fog is less disorienting now that I know what's on the other side. I close my eyes and wait until I feel the gra.s.s beneath my feet. Sun warms my skin. The wind is quiet.

There's a rustling to my right. I open my eyes, expecting to see Austin. But it's Gwyn who meets my gaze and strides toward me.

She lifts the wide skirts of a dress that is a shade deeper than the blue sky overhead, "Who are you?" It's more accusation than question.

"Your heir."

"Is that so?" Her accent is thick, and I have to strain to understand her. "You believe you can just appear out of nowhere and claim my birthright?"

"I don't know why I'm here."

Gwyn puts her hands on her waist. I can't help noticing the chain around her neck, the wolfsbane pendant is identical to the flower charm on my bracelet.

"Look." I hold out my wrist. The setting is different, but the flower is only differentiated by the centuries of tarnish and wear.

Gwyn's fingers fly to her neck. "A good replica."

I shake my head. "It's the same. A thousand years from now."

She moves closer, examining the charm that dangles from my wrist. She wrinkles her forehead, her eyes narrowing. "Why are you here then?"

"I don't know. To change things, I think."

"Perhaps it is so you can fulfill your plot to kill my mother."

"My plot? I don't want anything to happen to your mother. I'm trying to stop it."

She waves me back. "False modesty flatters no one. We have avoided the inevitable for too long. If we are to rise to power and take our place among the G.o.ds, we must act."

"You're not even making sense." She can't possibly thing that I am here to kill her mother. She's much too calm.

"I said we must act. You were right to come and shake things up. The path we are headed on will a.s.sure our destruction. My mother has forgotten our purpose. But she may still be of use. Her death will ensure a war with the Sons, will it not?"

Can she seriously think that killing her mother is a good idea? "No. I mean yes. But it won't work."

"You know it will. Her death will be blamed on Killian. We will spark a war. That's what you told Aaron, isn't it?"

"She's your mother."

Gwyn takes another step, invading my personal s.p.a.ce. "She is a p.a.w.n when she should be a knight. When she could be queen."

"A war won't change anything. Killian's Sons are winning."

"His sons claim victory now." Gwyn practically spits out the words. "My mother is married to one of them."

Austin, Aaron in this century, rides into the clearing on a huge bay warmblood. He brings the horse to a halt in front of the ruin, dismounting with the ease of someone who has been riding all his life. "I see you two have met."

Gwyn grins at Austin. "We were just discussing the reason she might be here."

"And what wicked ideas have you concocted in my absence?" Austin looks from Gwyn to me with a gleam in his eyes.