FALL (The Senses) (42 page)

Trinity laughed. Delara suspected
a bat having its ear twisted would’ve made the same sound. “I think he can
decide that for himself, little Senses. Now, you must know where the…delightful
Waleron is. You’ve been stalking him for years. I remember him telling me as we
lay in—”

“Trinity! Shut it,” Keir shouted.

Trinity smirked and leaned back
on the desk. “Well, never mind then. It isn’t right to share pillow talk
anyway, is it?”

“Oh but I will,” Delara said with
an air of joy in her voice. “He told me that he was so drugged up when he was
with you. To try and numb out who he was forced to screw. He can’t even
remember fucking you.”

“Where is he?” Trinity’s fingers
curled around the lip of the desk and her smile had disappeared.

“Oh, I suspect still in bed. At
least, he was when I left.” A small white lie, but damn it felt good to see
Trinity speechless. Delara licked her lips and seductively ran a hand over her
hip.

Trinity straightened and Delara
could see her take several deep breaths as if she was trying—and failing—to get
control of herself. Her long fingernails smoothed over her tight black pants
before she walked slowly towards her. A heat radiated from every pore in
Trinity’s body. Her lips were pursed together so hard that her bright red
lipstick was smudging. “Oh, did you finally convince him to fuck you? How
sweet.” She stopped a few feet away. “Only took you what…twenty odd years?”

The scrape of the chair sounded
as Keir got to his feet at the same time as Jedrik came into the room. Both men
stood uneasily waiting to no doubt break up a fight.

Delara smiled. “At least I didn’t
have to bargain or drug him.”

Trinity’s hand rose to slap her,
but Delara had been ready for it. Trinity would not take kindly to anyone
matching her and Delara had waited a long time to be able to put her in her
place. She grabbed her wrist and halted the assault.

Trinity yanked free, but Delara
wasn’t done yet. “He’s mine. Understand me bitch. You use his loyalty against
him again and I will hunt you down and rip each and every fingernail from their
nail beds and shove them down your throat.”

“Frig,” Jedrik whispered.

Trinity raised her hands and
Delara knew exactly what she was going to do. Some spell that would just piss
her off and probably piss off the rest of the Talde. Delara hauled off and
punched Trinity in the face.

Trinity screamed while staggering
back from the force. Her heel caught on the edge of the Persian carpet and she
teetered for several seconds trying to get her balance and then she toppled
over backwards. A loud ripping sounded and Jedrik laughed out loud, knowing
full well that Trinity’s pants just gave way. His thoughts practically screamed
it.

“Damn,” he said.

Trinity was cursing and yelling
incoherently—something about her visions and how Waleron would never get
anything out of her again. It was most likely her visions that sent her here in
the first place. She’d seen Delara with Waleron. She knew that they’d been with
one another and arrogant witch-bitch didn’t like it.

Trinity, as elegantly as she
could muster considering her embarrassing circumstance, came to her feet and
swung around to Keir. “Tell him,
never
to ask for another vision. Ever.”

Delara moved out of the path to
the doorway and gestured with her hand. “And you are no longer welcome here.
Ever.”

Trinity made a strange squeak and
strode from the room, the rip in her pants flashing her black lace underwear.

“Woot.” Jedrik applauded and
Delara smiled. It felt damn good, finally settling the score with Trinity.
She’d been a sore spot in Delara’s life for a long time and now that she had
Waleron, she was going to fight for every inch of him.

Delara had one more thing to do
and that was say goodbye to Xamien. He’d left before she had the chance to say
anything and well…he deserved more. He’d been there for her when she’d been in
so much pain; he accepted her for who she was, given her what she’d needed.

In a way she loved him. Just not
enough and differently. No one would be enough except Waleron.

“Jedrik? I need to see Xamien.
I’m going to see if he can Trace to the gallery.” It was the first place she
could think of that they’d have some privacy. “If Waleron calls, can you tell
him for me?”

“Yeah sure, but Sass are you sure
you want to do that?”

She walked over and threw her
arms around him. Kissing his cheek she said, “I’m saying goodbye. To all men
except one. The one who owns my heart.”

Jedrik squeezed her tight against
him then picked her up off the floor. “He’s always loved you. I knew he did.
Damn, Sass. It’s about time.”

Yes, it was. She took out her
cell and dialed Xamien.

Chapter
26

Xamien had been…well his usual
self. He’d teased her and was cocky and arrogant. She still noticed the
disappointment in his eyes. But he understood. In the end he gave her a hug and
told her to get the hell back to Waleron.

It was the phone call from Jedrik
on her way back that threw her into a tornado of alarm. Waleron was at the
Talde house. And he was going crazy. He was uncontainable. Unrecognizable. They
may have to call the Wraiths to incarcerate him or…the words wouldn’t even pass
Jedrik’s lips, but she knew the last option—death.

No. Waleron. Why? Not now.

The devastation she found upon
entering Keir’s house was mind-bending. Furniture was overturned, book shelves
and books were scattered across the marble floors, and the new window in the
living room was shattered, letting a cool spring breeze sift through the house.

Delara ran down into the basement
and stopped in her tracks. Balen lay on the couch, pale and unmoving. Anstice
knelt on the floor, her hands healing him, while Danielle hovered. Oh god, was
she too late?

“How bad?” Delara asked.

Anstice looked up and gave a
half-smile. “He’ll live.” She nodded towards the hallway that led to the
sub-basement. “They’re trying to lock him into the cell. But he’s getting
worse.”

Fear pumped through her. She was
barely able to breathe as she ran. Every particle in her body screamed for him.

The moment she crashed through
the door, she knew that the man standing in the middle of the room was no
longer Waleron. It was breathtaking and horrifying at the same time. He was
something different. An entity. Maybe his Scar? She couldn’t tell. Waleron’s
Scar had never been called upon and she’d never known a Scar to take over the
body of the one it lived in. But his had always been different. A being that
lived inside him, able to slither across his skin without being called on. It
had a mind of its own.

This is what he always feared. This
was why he kept her at a distance. And now she understood why.

Waleron stood in the center of
the room, his hands out. A wild rage had been unleashed through him. Every one
of his muscles were tense and his eyes darted around the room as if searching for
something. The power in his stance filled the room with his presence. He did
that anyway, but now it was all-consuming. The most unsettling was how his Scar
slithered across his skin. It stretched across his arms and neck then
disappeared from sight only to reappear again, red eyes beaming and fangs
exposed. It hissed its discomfort and brought obvious pain to Waleron. Even if
he wasn’t in control any longer his body reacted to the torment.

Delara ducked as a statue went
flying across the room and hit the archway above her head. Shards of ceramic
landed on her hair and shoulders.

Keir, Ryker, and Jedrik were
trying to approach Waleron, but every time they came within a few feet he shot
them a blast and they went flying back into the wall.

Jesus. Oh god Waleron, no.
Don’t do this
. Delara was frozen in place, unable
to do anything but watch the man she’d just got back fall deep into madness.
She’d never seen him so crazed, so out of control. It was like a monster stood
before her—her monster. The man she loved more than anything. Was fate so cruel
to break them apart once again?

“What took you so friggin’
long?”
Jedrik asked. “
I thought I’d have to sink
as low as calling one of the Wraith’s. Edan would love this.”

“What happened?”

“He totally lost it. Damn
Sass, you could’ve just emailed Xamien. Text works, done that with lots of
chicks. Did you really have to meet up with him?”

“What?”
No. Please, don’t let this be about meeting up with Xamien.

“He Traced here a crazed man,
searching everywhere for you.”
Jedrik ducked as a
wave of energy came for him.
“Frig, I think he thought you left him. When I
mentioned you seeing Trinity here, well that started it. And then going to meet
Xamien…fuck all hell broke loose. I tried to explain that you were just saying
goodbye, but it was like he didn’t even hear words anymore.”

“Oh god no, Waleron. I’d never
leave you. I told you.”
But her words were nothing
to him. They failed to penetrate his mind.

His Scar noticed her and it
stopped on his forearm, eyes staring in her direction. It flashed its fangs and
made a malevolent hiss. Delara flinched under its rage. It was like it was
furious with her.
Christ.

“I don’t think we have any
choice here. We can’t restrain him and he’s already seriously harmed Balen,”
Jedrik said.

“No,”
Delara retorted.
“I can reach him. I know I can.”

“Delara,”
Keir warned.
“He doesn’t know who you are.”

“He does!”
She turned her anger onto Keir.
“I promised him. I promised I
would never give up on him.”
This was why he kept them apart. Whatever had
control of him was so powerful that not even Waleron was strong enough to fight
it. This was what terrified him more than anything—her seeing this. And it was
her fault. She left to talk with Xamien and Waleron was terrified she’d leave
and not come back.

Keir shook his head and while
Waleron’s attention was turned to her, he ran at him. His body hit the
imaginary wall Waleron had erected around himself and he grunted as his body
fell backwards and his head whiplashed into the floor.

“Scars. Leaving us no choice
here,”
Keir said.

“NO! Back off Keir.”
Delara took a deep breath and approached Waleron. The rage swirling
around her was overwhelming and she was afraid he was going to blast her into
some treacherous hell if she went any further towards him.

The bed in the cell went slamming
into the wall. A crash sounded as the bedframe smashed into the cement floor.
The flat screen TV that was bolted to the wall flew across the room. It hit and
broke into a million fragments above Jedrik’s head.

Delara still trusted him. Trusted
that no matter who lives inside him now, Waleron would never hurt her.

“Giving you five minutes then
we call Scars,”
Keir said. He was sitting up and
rubbing the back of his head when he looked at her. He looked
grief-stricken—the corners of mouth down, the lines in his forehead deep and
accentuated. “
Doesn’t work, we call Wraiths.”
Keir shook his head
sighing.
“You understand?”

Yes. If Waleron continued down
this path they’d have no choice. The Wraiths would incarcerate Waleron and he
would never walk as their Taldeburu again. There also was the possibility that
they’d kill him.

Ryker stood in the corner, arms
crossed as if he was just there to keep watch. She’d seen that look before. He
knew what would happen if they failed to bring Waleron back. Ryker had lost the
one woman who made him whole; he’d never let Waleron be taken by the Wraiths to
live without Delara. Ryker would kill Waleron first.

She was his only chance.

He won’t hurt you. He has
sworn to protect you,
she said repetitively to
herself.
“Pez,”
she said. God, what was she doing? His nickname was a
way to keep him distant. It no longer felt right slipping from her tongue.
“Waleron, baby.”

Nothing. A high-pitched screech
pierced the room and both Jedrik and Keir covered their ears. Delara grit her
teeth as she attempted to fade out the sound. It was his Scar.

“Waleron, you’re hurting us.
You’re hurting me.” The sounded halted and Waleron spun around. Delara gasped
as she saw the tattoo swirling in deep red all across his neck. His stare was
blank and his eyes were no longer blue, but bright red. Jesus, what the hell
happened to him? She took a step back, legs trembling at a man she failed to
recognize.

“Slowly Delara,”
Ryker warned.

“Jesus friggin’ Christ, you
see his eyes, Ryk? Man that’s some freaky shit.”