Finding Eden (23 page)

“
You expect me to
run and hide when my people are getting ready to fight for their
lives?”

“
Yes.”

I stare at him,
dumbfounded. Did he really just say that?

“
You know I can't
do that,” I say and begin to walk away.

“
Here's something
you can do instead of following me,” I say, “you can go
and make sure that Tobi is alright After that, find out where Lelaine
is and keep her safe, but do not follow me. That is an order.”

I walk away and he
doesn't follow. I'm not thinking about what I'm doing. I just rush to
my room, pray that Tobi is alright and curse myself for what I said
to him last night. I hope that nothing happens to either of us so I
can apologize. I paw through my closet looking for some light armor I
was given but I can't seem to find it. Where did it go?

I hear people run by my
door. I hear them shouting, but I can't understand them. The yelling
gets louder, footsteps pound and then several thuds sound. Then
there's nothing; no shouting, no pounding; nothing.

I pull the door open and
the first thing my eyes see are the bodies. I stare at them, my eyes
noticing them but my brain not able to comprehend. Five men are on
the ground like rag dolls. Their arms and legs twisted, their eyes
open and filled with fear that no dead man should be able to express.
But it's there, and it's instilled upon me.

I look away and I try not
to scream or cry. I bite my lower lip and focus on the pain. I close
my eyes and concentrate as hard as I can on the feel of my teeth
against my lip.

“
And there is the
lady of the night.”

My eyes fly open. In
front of me is a man. A tall, scary man with long, silver hair,
yellow eyes and a scar running across his face.

“
W-what do you
mean?” My voice shakes.

“
You,” he
says, “are the one I've wanted to see, to find. Lucky for me
the enemy decided to finally make some sort of noticeable move the
day I planned my move. But, then again, I never thought I'd actually
find you in your room. I thought they would have tucked you away
already given the circumstances.”

“
You did this to
them,” I say, “but why?”

He laughs. He laughs from
deep down inside of his belly. I don't like it. It sends chills
through my body.

“
They simply got in
the way of my ultimate goal.”

I'm scared to ask him,
but I need to know.

“
What is your
goal?”

“
Simple, girl. To
kill you.”

I can't see my face, but
I know that a horrified look has made my eyes go wide and my mouth
hang open.

“
Why?”

He takes a deep breath,
his head tilting back. When he looks back on me he has a smile on his
face. A small, smug, egotistical smile.

“
I wasn't able to
kill Dragar, your enemy got to him before I was able to. And
unfortunately fate killed your mother before I could. But I shall
take revenge for what you did to my family. It will be a slow, sweet,
lovely revenge.”

“
I don't know what
it is you're talking about,” I say in a surprisingly steady
voice, “but I don't know you or your family. I don't know what
they could have done to you, but whatever it is; I don't think any
sort of revenge is the right thing to do.”

“
Oh, that's right,”
he says, “you weren't born here. Let me give you a little
history lesson then.”

“
My name is Illidan
Sornova. Five hundred years ago my father and his name were cast
aside by your grandfather, erased completely from the record books.
My father was once a noble, but we were cast out with nothing and
given no means to provide for ourselves.”

“
That sentence,”
he glares, “was the worst thing anyone could be put to. Death
would have been better than that.”

“
How does killing
me solve anything? It doesn't make any sense.”

“
When has revenge
ever made sense?”

He glares at me. The air
around him shimmers and in a blink he's gone from being feet away
from me to his yellow eyes being only inches from mine, and the only
thing I can think about is crying. I know he's planning on killing
me, and my brain is telling me I should fight, but I don't really
know how. All I can see are his yellow eyes and the blur of green,
yellow, red and brown all swirling into black around him. His eyes
are glinting emptily. I still can't understand why he's doing this,
even though he's explained it. I know there's more to it, I just have
to live long enough to find out.

“
Please,” I
cry out, “Please don't kill me.”

“
Oh, I'm not going
to kill you, not right now at least.”

He holds up a needle, the
quicksilver liquid inside sliding thickly through the tube.

“
I'm going to make
you suffer for a very long time, just like your grandfather did to my
family.”

Then he lunges at me.

I never knew someone
could move so quickly. I blink, and a blur of movement comes at me
from my side. Something warm trickles down my neck. I swipe at my
neck and my fingers are sticky and warm. I look at my fingers and
they're covered in a silvery liquid mixed with a deep red one.

Blood.

The needle sits on the
ground between us, a drop of blood falling off the tip.

“
You stabbed me?”

“
Dying slowly
requires poison,” he says, and then he's gone.

Just like that he
disappears, leaving me alone in a hallway with five dead men whose
expressions reflect the torment running through my body. My vision
clouds, but I don't know from what. Tears fall from my eyes and I
feel my body crumple and fall to the floor as everything fades from
existence.

Everything is dark for so
long. There's nothing; no sound, no light; nothing. I can't feel my
body. I can't feel any emotions. I can't even feel the tether that
binds me and Sahariel. I'd feel uneasy about it if I could.

Am I dead? If so, why
isn't there a bright light or anything, no life flashing before my
eyes? If this is what the afterlife is like then it sucks. Movies
lied to me.

I float for a long time.
At least I think I'm floating. I can't tell since there's nothing
around me, no ground. Come to think of it there's no air either,
which, again, should bother me, but it doesn't. Then something
happens. The air begins to feel heavier. It's slowly building like
I'm in a plane that's about to take off and it's making me feel
uneasy.

I concentrate on that
feeling of unease. It grows along with the pressure. It feels like
someone has boxed my ears. I can't take it anymore. It's too much.
Then the bubble pops and my world crumbles back with agonizing
clarity.

“
Eden!” A
voice shouts.

A pair of familiar hands
lifts my head; a thumb strokes the side of my face. Arms slowly,
gently pick me up and cradle me. I can smell cold air and smoke.

Sahariel.

Of course he'd come. But
why does he have to hold me so closely. It's too warm. I want to push
him away but I can't. My arms won't move. I can't open my eyes. My
mouth is dry and feels like it's full of cotton. Every breath I take
feels like sand is running through my lungs. The heat is blistering
across my body. My brain feels like it's about to explode. I can't
breathe anymore. My breaths are short and shallow.

I'm being carried. I can
feel that movement, but all I can concentrate on is the heat. Then
the heat flees from my body. My stomach sinks and I get the sensation
that I'm falling. I'm falling and I can't reach out to catch myself.
And then there's nothing.

“
What happened to
her?!” Is the next thing I hear.

Someone is yelling from
across the room. I can't sense anything else. I can't see, I can't
feel; I can only hear.

“
I don't know.”

“
You don't know?!”
The man is hysterical with anger.

“
We're trying our
best to figure it out.”

“
Well then, try
harder,” I hear the man growl an audible snap sounding as his
teeth together.

Now I can smell. I can
smell the man sitting next to me. The cold air and smokiness softly
surrounds me and makes me feel a little more at ease. Of course
Sahariel would be here. Here in this extremely clean, sterile
smelling room.

I'm finally able to open
my eyes and as I open them, bright light assaults my senses. I see
Sahariel through slit eyes, who's glaring at Kal who is on the other
side of the room. I look at him, try to memorize his face. His
expression shifts as he feels my gaze and he looks down at me.

“
Eden.”

He breaths my name like a
sigh of relief. I smile at him and attempt to speak just as my sense
of touch comes back. Instead of words, a blood curdling scream rips
through my throat. My sense of taste comes back before I black out
and the coppery taste of blood enters my mouth.

When I come to, I'm
curled up on my side and I can hear Sahariel speaking; having a
conversation with someone. But I don't know with whom. They sound so
faint and far away. I don't know who he is talking to, and I can only
make out part of what the other man says and only bits of what
Sahariel says.

I try to sit up but I
can't. I give up and flop back onto the bed. Footsteps echo off the
walls and I look over and see Marius walking up to me.

“
You're back.”

“
I came back as
soon as I heard your highness.”

His sapphire eyes look at
me with concern and I feel tingly, but as I smile I can't help but
feel guilty. Having been sort of reunited with Sahariel makes all of
this new stuff with Marius a little more complicated.

“
How's the fifth
division?” I ask.

Marius sighs and rolls
his eyes.

“
As good as they
can be, I suppose,” he says, “I'm just glad you're
feeling better. Say, how about when you're able to get out of here I
treat you to another one of my amazing meals?”

I smile at him, my eyes
looking into his blue ones. I hear footsteps behind him and I look
over his shoulder. My smile fades. Sahariel stops as soon as he sees
Marius leaning against my bed. That same weird look crosses his face;
anger mixed with something else. Damn colors.

Marius looks over his
shoulder. His body stiffens. Pink drains from him and orange
self-control takes over, laced with green.

“
Sahariel.”

“
Marius.”

I watch as Marius'
shoulders slump and a mixture of colors take him over. He turns
around and looks down at me. The pink, which is still there, changes
shades and there's still that friendly yellow along with that ever
steady loyal blue. Me smiles softly at me, squeezes my hand and
quietly leaves the room.

Sahariel watches Marius
leave and as soon as the door is closed he is by my side.

“
Eden,” as
soon as he says my name in my ear, he's the only one I want to hear.

“
Hi,” I say.

“
How are you?”

“
I've been better.”
I say.

There's an awful awkward
silence that spans for what feels like hours. It's only seconds later
Sahariel clears his throat and glances away.

“
I was really
worried about you,” he says.

“
I'm sorry.”

He stares at me for a
long time, his gaze intense, his gold eyes swirling with emotions.

“
God,” he
says. “I can't believe you did something that stupid.”

“
I'm sorry,”
I know exactly what he's talking about. “I ordered him to.”

“
That's no excuse,”
he says, “you ordered me away before, but I never left you. I
never would.”

He looks down at me and
all the anger, frustration and worry is replaced by compassion, care
and love.

“
I don't think I
could ever leave you,” he says.