Genesis (25 page)

Silence.

Not exactly the reaction I expected,
but hey. “I want to talk about something. I’ve discovered the
people of the borderlands.”

Jett groaned. “I cannot believe this!
When, my lady, did you think it safe to talk to the borderland…” He
grunted. “People?”

I stood up. “But most of those
creatures are people, Jett.” He frowned. “Tell me I’m
wrong.”

Heath cut in. “Where are you going with
this?”

I swallowed hard. “I’ve made a
decision.”

“
And?” Luke
prodded.

Taylor had been quiet throughout,
leaning against his headboard. He shifted. “I don’t think you
should, Rayla. It is too soon. You are still too
confused.”

I nodded, giving him a faulty smile.
“You’re right. That’s why you will pick for me.”

“
What!” Heath
shouted.

“
You heard me. I’m giving
this decision to you, all of you.” Feeling quite smug, I laid back
down and pulled the covers up to my chin. I’d either just sealed my
doom or made the best choice of my life. Now I might be able to see
more of their true nature. “Night, boys.”

I didn’t even get my eyes closed before
I was yanked out of bed.

Luke stood over me. “You cannot do
this!”

No amount of struggling could release
me from his beefy hands. I was stuck. “Why?”

He full-out glowered at me, but his
eyes were panicked. “Because they will not pick me! They never
do.”

Whatever he was ranting about had
nothing to do with me. I took a step back. “Look. You all know
better than I do what Faeresia needs. You also know who will be the
best leader among you. I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to
figure this out. Well, I won’t do it anymore. I like all of you.
I’m attracted to all of you. I could love all of you. The other
stuff is your problem. You brought me into this. You figure it
out.”

Zach settled onto my bed before I could
claim it again. “You’ve sure changed your mind since the last time
we discussed arranged marriage.”

I gave him an ironic smile. “Funny how
things work out, huh?”

They all looked at each other, sizing
up the competition as far as I was concerned. I pulled my blanket
from under Zach’s leg and headed for the door.

Taylor blocked me before I could find
my way to the knob. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I shook my head. “I’m
tired.”

“
You’re sleeping in
here.”

“
No I’m not.”

“
Yes you are.”

I put my free hand on my hip. “You
gonna make me?”

He stiffened his spine.
“Maybe.”

“
Try,” I said. I didn’t let
my smirk linger long enough for him to comment. Instead I drifted
away from them. Away from everything.

They found me.

Six hours later. I only knew that
because Jett wouldn’t let me live it down. At least I got some
sleep.

I’d never realized how easy it was to
pass out in pitch black. I’d come to the underground room Jett had
trained me in. I figured it was safe because it seemed to be his
secret place. Weird thing was I felt safe here, like I was in a
cocoon. I gazed at him through sleep weary eyes.

He glared at me now, completely awake.
“Woman, you make me want to take Neanderthal to a whole new
level.”

I bit back my immediate laugh when he
scowled at me. “You know, Jett, I think you’re finally getting the
hang of comedy.”

He stalked closer to me,
seething. “Do you have
any
idea what you have put us through? We all tried to
contact you. Why didn’t you answer?”

“
Uh. I was asleep, in case
you didn’t catch that on your way to barging in on what happened to
be a decent dream.” I yawned and stretched all the way to my toes.
“So, did you decide?”

“
Decide?” His hand clamped
around my wrist. “Decide!”

Heath made it a point to step nearer.
“That’ll be enough of that.”

Jett whirled on him, his fists curling
at his sides. “You’ve not done a single thing to find
her.”

Heath scoffed. “I was the one who told
you where she was.”

“
Yes. Hours after you should
have!”

“
She was safe, and she
needed sleep.”

“
Enough!” said Zach. “We’re
all exhausted, and seeing as how Rayla has found the perfect place
to sleep, I motion we defer arguing for morning. All in
agreement?”

Five distinct voices concurred just
before beds appeared around the one I’d managed to pluck from my
old room. Turned out drifting objects wasn’t as hard as I thought
it would be. I put my own “Aye” into the mix and settled back in
bed.

A smile found my lips. This was working
out just the way I’d hoped. If everything else went right, I would
know who I would bond with within a few days, tops.

When I woke up a small light reflected
off the dirt wall in the corner. Since daylight had no chance of
ever reaching this place, the glow appeared brighter than it should
have from a single candle.

I slunk out of bed and made my way
toward the figure hunched over a small table. Zach? Yeah, it was
him. No one else could make messy hair look that good. As I got
closer, I noticed the book held between his fingers. His eyelids
drooped, but the distinct twitching revealed just how fast he
devoured the pages.

“
What are you reading?” I
whispered.

He gazed up at me and smiled. “Good
morning.”

“
Morning back.” I peeked
over his shoulder and amazingly he let me.

The book was a list of names all kept
in three neat columns. He turned the page and sorted through more
names.

“
What is this?” I asked
again.

“
A list.”

I groaned. “Could you ever just give me
a straight answer?”

He smirked. “If the situation called
for it? Sure.”

I drifted a chair next to him and slid
in. “Oh, it calls for it, buddy.”

He grinned. “I was getting
there.”

I made a face. “Well?”

He scratched his bottom lip with his
teeth. “This book houses the names of every human I have interacted
with.”

I rubbed my hand along my forehead and
squeezed my tired eyes shut. “Why exactly do you need to have a
list of every human you’ve ‘interacted’ with?”

“
It’s for
remembering.”

I gave him a hard look. “Isn’t that
what your brain is for?”

He laughed, and I immediately shushed
him. His voice lowered to a whisper. “I’ve met billions of humans
in my travels.”

I nudged the edge of the book. “Not
from the looks of this.”

“
The size is
deceiving.”

I grunted. Of course, it was fae. “Why
do you want to remember every person you’ve met? Seems like
overkill to me.”

“
One never knows when one
will need a memory.”

“
What memory?”

“
Ah. You’re getting much
better at asking questions.” I motioned for him to get on with it.
He smiled. “I once met a man in Yorkshire who told me of a local
legend.”

I waited for the punch line. When a few
seconds passed, I asked, “About?”

“
The end of
days.”

That response should have come with an
automatic dun-dun-dun behind it. Not much of a punch line. “What
about it?”

“
The year was six hundred
twelve, give or take a few years. I met him along the trail to the
largest village in the area. I only remember the time because it
was my first attempt in the mortal realm…” He paused for a really
long time, and his eyes grew distant. There was also a hesitation
as if he didn’t want me to know something.

“
And…”

“
I can’t remember, but I
recall it because he said something about an awakening.”

“
So you’re trying to sift
through billions of names to recall what he said?”

“
Exactly.”

“
Shouldn’t be too hard. Do
you have them listed by year?”

“
I don’t know.”

I frowned at him. If anyone should know
this book, it should have been him. “Why not?”

“
The book changes. It’s how
I created it—to keep wandering eyes from being able to decipher it.
I designed it to shift based on what is important, unfortunately, I
don’t always agree with what it deems to be
significant.”

I huffed. “Sounds great.”

His crooked smile caught me off guard.
“It used to be…until my sister found it and put a curse on it. She
couldn’t change the nature of the book and she couldn’t destroy it,
but she did change the rules. It gives me memories I can’t use and
doesn’t explain why.”

“
Lovely sister you
have.”

“
Tell me about it.” He shook
his head and took a swig of his drink. I stared hopefully, my dry
mouth seeming even more parched. He tipped the cup toward me. “Want
some?”

I sniffed. No odor. “What is
it?”

“
Water.”

I smiled and took it from him. The cool
liquid slid down my throat, sending a shockwave of energy with it.
I might as well have downed ten colas with how amped up I was.
“Water, huh?”

“
I never said it was from
Earth.”

“
I’ve had water here too,
and it’s never done this to me.”

“
That’s because it isn’t
from the source.”

Talking to him was like
conversing with a five year old. Could he ever stay on topic? I
just nodded because I wanted to find out more about the guy he
mentioned. “So, why do you think that memory is important? You have
to have met plenty of doomsayers in your travels. Why him?
Why
that
memory?”

“
Just a hunch, I guess. It’s
come back to me several times over the last few weeks. It has to
mean something.”

“
Couldn’t you just find out
what the legend was…like look on the internet?”

“
Oh, yeah, grand idea.” He
gave me a mocking tilt to his head. “Why didn’t I think of that? A
wealth of information to be had—once you slog through mires of
muck.”

I bumped his shoulder. “It’s worth a
shot.”

He twisted his hands around the book as
if to hold it more securely. “I have better odds of finding what I
need in here.”

A bed creaked, and I scanned the
room.

Heath watched me.

I would have said
us
, but his eyes never
roamed away from mine. He patted the mattress beside him and gave
me a sly smile.

I shook my head and looked away. Man
those walls were solid. And the cold floor sent an ache to my bare
feet. Yep. Uncomfortable.

When I looked back at Heath his smile
had turned to a grin that brought out his dimple. My pulse thudded
in my ears. His words from the other night surrounded me. He said
he ached for me, his almost bondmate—if this was almost, I
shuddered at the thought of complete.

He patted the mattress again and gave
me a lazy smile. I shook my head. With a pout of his lips, he
flipped onto his back and placed his hands behind his head. His
dark braid trailed over his bare chest and bicep. My fingers curled
as if contouring to his tawny skin. I could almost feel the hard
planes and chiseled valleys.

Making myself turn away from him was
harder than it should have been. I gulped and took one last look.
Zach frowned at me, but it wasn’t in a hateful way. It was more
like regret.

“
It appears much has changed
since I left you with Finn.”

I picked at a high spot on the rough
table. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

A gentle hand pulled my face toward
him. “I knew the risk. I had hoped I would return to you in three
days.” He laughed. “Not even Heath could have swayed you in that
short of time.”

I giggled. “Yeah, it took him way
longer than that.” The truth was I didn’t know when I had softened
toward him. Attempting to change the subject, I asked, “So, did you
guys even talk about who you will choose?”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t say discuss
was the right word.” His bright eyes lit with laughter. “You
surprised everyone with that one. Very clever, I might
add.”

“
How so?”

“
I know what you’re doing,
Rayla.”

“
Really?” I joked, although
I was now worried. “You been sneaking around in my
mind?”

He rubbed my chin. “There was no need.”
His lips curled in a tempting smirk. “I have a bit of an advantage
over my brothers in that I was able to watch you for a while before
we were introduced. I know more about you than you might
think.”