Immortal Need (22 page)

He now regretted not explaining everything to her before she was captured. After they had bonded, he should’ve told her what Freya wanted him to do, and that he hadn’t wanted to. All he hoped was that he would get the chance. He rubbed his chest, feeling a sudden ache. He knew that she was still alive. The connection they had made at least gave him that much. Each step down the dark corridor, he hoped, would bring him closer to her. When Alexander stopped at a door and listened intently, Sevani was overtaken by a sense of urgency. Somehow he knew that Ayah was inside. He pushed Alexander out of the way and grasped the handle. Whatever was inside he could face. He opened the door, and his world tilted on its axis.

There was Ayah, shackled to the wall. She slumped in her bonds, her eyes closed, dried blood caked to her arms. There was bruising around her mouth, shaped like fingertips. Her knees were scraped and red where she knelt on the floor. But her robe was pristine white other than where it touched the floor. At least he knew that she wasn’t touched there. But the rage at seeing her hurt at all still consumed him. He rushed to her side and framed her face in his hands. She was there, right in front of him.

“Ayah,” he whispered.

He touched each of her bruises with soft fingers. Her eyes fluttered, but they didn’t open. He could smell her blood and ran his fingers over her body for any other injuries. When he ran his hands down the back of her head, she moaned, and blood covered his fingertips when he pulled back.

“Ayah,” he said with more force. Her eyelids fluttered once more before slowly opening. He gave a sigh of relief, his eyes closing. He had made it to her in time.

“Have you come to kill me?” she asked.

His gaze swung to hers. Her face was stern, lips tight. But her eyes, it was her eyes that broke his heart. They were filled with distrust and hurt. Tears glittered, like diamonds, gathering at the corners of her eyes.

“Have you come to do what you are commanded?” she said, her face twisting, her voice dripping with sarcasm. His stomach dropped.

“Let me explain,” he began as Ayah jerked out of his hands. She struggled to put as much distance between them as possible, pressing herself against the wall.

“Just do it. I’m stupid to trust you. I never should’ve thought you wanted me.”

“Ayah, you have to understand. I didn’t know you when she commanded me to kill you. I told you my job was to keep you safe from whoever was trying to kill you. It was your uncle, Ronald, who sent those men after you. I killed him for you.”

“You’re nothing but a liar. Uncle would never hurt me. If you’re going to kill me, go ahead and do it,” she argued. Tears fell like rain from her eyes.

Sevani felt loss. Freya had obviously divulged his entire mission to Ayah. The regret of never having explained everything to her hit him. He should’ve known better. After they bonded, he should have taken the time to explain the whole story. With Valerie, Alexander, and Lei at his side, he could have made her understand. Now he had to try to get her out of here, and she wanted nothing to do with him. He gripped her face and pulled it closer to him.

“You have to listen to me. Yes, I was supposed to kill you, but I decided that I would not do it even before I met you. The fact that you held Nila’s soul was enough for me to fight against Freya. I never wanted to do as she commanded me. And then I touched you, and I could not let her hurt you. I could not bring myself to hurt you.”

“You already have,” she argued with her shoulders slumping. “It doesn’t matter what you didn’t want to do. You didn’t tell me. I’m sure the other Watchers knew, and they didn’t say anything either. My God, I took a bullet to make sure you were okay. And you were lying to me the whole time. How could I have ever thought I loved you?”

He felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart. She said that she thought she loved him, as if it was now past tense. He knew that he should have told her the whole truth, but he had his reasons. He had tried to keep her safe. In hindsight, he knew that he should have told her, and that she would have been strong enough to take it, but he didn’t have that chance now. They also didn’t have time to have this argument. They had to get out of here. But he remembered that, before, she had told him to make time, and he was willing to do that now.

“What we share is real, Ayah. Don’t let Freya take that from us. I didn’t tell you everything, but I have risked my life to protect you, and risked it to come here. We are bonded. I am so sorry that I hurt you, but it was not my intention.”

“Well, we are free of Freya now. You have two choices: you could kill me and go back to the life you had, or you could walk away and never return. But me going with you is not one of them.”

“The hell it isn’t,” Sevani said roughly and grasped the manacles holding her wrists. With one strong pull, he jerked them from the wall, rocks exploding and pelting his shoulders. He grasped her wrists in one hand and kissed her ragged wounds. He would take care of her. It would be okay. He would find a way. He lifted her struggling body into his arms and tossed her over his shoulder. She was not strong enough to stop him.

In all of his existence, Sevani never thought that he would risk giving himself for another. Nila’s death, he thought, had ruined any chance of him ever loving another. But with Ayah, he felt alive. He felt more than a tool for a vindictive goddess intent on getting revenge for her fallen son. He felt like a man. He felt, once more, like his life meant something. He could protect her. He could cherish her. He could be there for her. She had given him hope in a life that had become dark. He had made so many mistakes, and he thought that he had learned better. He could say that it was all from having to depend on just himself and his friends for so long, but that wasn’t the case. He had been afraid. Afraid of loving someone so completely and losing her. Afraid that he would fail her, and she would walk away. But now he would fight. He would not allow Ayah to walk away. It may be selfish, but he would not let her go.

“Put me down!” she yelled, but he ignored her. He wrapped his strong arm around her thighs to hold her in place and spun to get out of the room. But they had company.

With a wide-eyed stare, Alexander turned as well. “How the hell?” he grumbled.

Sevani hadn’t heard the man either. It was the same giant he had seen earlier in the halls who’d been stomping around. He hadn’t expected the man. He moved so quietly. The giant bent over to step into the room, his eyes going to Ayah hanging on Sevani’s shoulder.

“Not today,” Sevani threatened. He ran backward and sat Ayah down in the corner of the room, never taking his eyes off the giant who had stopped just a few scant feet from him.

The room they kept Ayah in was small. There was enough space in the room to maneuver his blade safely and make sure that he didn’t hit Alexander, who circled behind the giant, but he pulled out twin daggers instead.

“She’s mine,” Sevani roared and lunged at the giant.

The giant didn’t make a sound as he lifted big, meaty fists and swung at Sevani. His long reach allowed for him to hit Sevani long before he got his blades into his body. Sevani flew to the opposite wall and plowed into it. His teeth slammed shut at the impact, and blood gushed from his mouth, as he’d bitten the sides of his tongue. He spit to save himself from choking and blinked away the stars winking in and out of his vision. His bones ached as he stood. But the giant wasn’t coming back toward him—he was making a beeline for Ayah.

“Alexander,” Sevani cried, but Alexander was already moving. He still gripped one of the daggers he had taken from Sevani. He found the head of the blade and allowed the blind side to rest along his forearm. Alexander rushed in and swiped at the giant’s back. The giant roared, turning around and swinging his fist at the same time. Alexander went flying, but Sevani was back on his feet. He rushed in, when the giant wasn’t paying attention, and stabbed him in the gut.

It didn’t have the effect that he thought it would. The giant grabbed one meaty hand around Sevani’s hand on the hilt and held him in place. His other fist lifted and then slammed into Sevani’s nose with punishing force. Again and again the giant struck, knocking Sevani’s head from one side to the other. Sevani could hear Ayah whimpering behind him, but he couldn’t focus. Pain exploded over his nerve endings. Cartilage crunched and bone cracked around his nose. Sevani heard Alexander’s war cry and through tear-filled eyes saw the blurry image of him in the air. He had the dagger raised high into the air above him. He landed on the giant’s back and swiped the blade downward, into the giant’s chest. Sevani slipped from the giant’s grasp. He coughed, spitting blood. He gripped the bottom of his shirt and lifted it to wipe his face, ignoring the pain of touching his battered flesh. He knew that he would start healing immediately, but he had to get his enemy killed first.

The giant bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge Alexander. He pounded Alexander with his fists before getting a grip on his shirt and tossing him over his shoulder. Bits of rock cracked from the wall and fell to the ground with Alexander. Sevani was up on his feet and moving again. He wavered, his vision blurry. He stumbled toward the giant and lunged dizzily. The giant swatted him away like a fly. As strong as the giant was, he must’ve been a demigod. Some gods and goddesses had married Jotnars in the past, and given birth to giants who were nearly as strong as them.

“Tyr,” Sevani prayed, “help me.”

Sevani struggled to grasp the rage he had felt earlier. It was buried deep inside of him, but he pulled it past the pain and felt it saturate every single one of his pores. If he did not do something, the giant would kill Ayah. He’d had thought it was too easy to get to Ayah once they were in the temple. Freya must’ve known they were there and wanted him to either die by the giant’s hand or watch Ayah die. Sevani could let neither happen. Slowly, power suffused his cells. He struggled to stand once more, unsteady on his feet. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. In front of him, the giant was bending to pick Ayah up by her head. Alexander lay on the ground, unmoving.

“No!” Sevani screamed.

As the giant lifted Ayah, Sevani mustered all the power that had spread to his body and through his blade. He fell to his knees, tired, as his knife buried into the temple of the giant. He watched Ayah crumple to the ground, face white with fear, but breathing. He crawled toward her and wrapped his arms around her when he reached her.

“Safe,” he whispered and forced himself to get up. He couldn’t pass out now. He had to get them all to safety. He would have to get Alexander, as well, who hadn’t woken up.

“Valerie, I hope you’re close,”
he thought then. At the rate he was going, he was going to pass out before he could get them all out of there. They hadn’t flashed to the temple, not knowing what reception they would get, but they could flash out now—if he could just get to Alexander.

“I’m here,” he heard Valerie say then, and it was the sweetest words he’d ever heard.

When Sevani opened his eyes, he was back in Ayah’s living room. He groaned, rubbing his aching head as he sat up.

“You took a hell of an ass kicking,” Valerie said. “It took Lei and I both to get you guys out of there. Freya was on a warpath, and I think she didn’t mean for you to survive.”

When Sevani looked up, Lei was standing behind Valerie with a concerned look on his face. Sevani smiled, feeling that at least one thing had gone right and Valerie had been able to save him. If Sevani and Lei were no longer beholden to Freya, then that just left Alexander and Valerie. Two out of four was better than none out of four.

“I see you and Lei were busy,” he said then.

“It didn’t work,” Valerie said.

“He’s your servant?” Sevani asked, mind spinning.

Valerie nodded as she blinked away tears. It seemed that Lei was safe, but not in the way that they had hoped. As Valerie’s servant, Freya could no longer touch him. He now belonged to Valerie. But he still did not have a soul, and his first thought would be to please Valerie. He would not be the same man that he was.

“I’m sorry,” Valerie said.

Sevani closed his eyes and sighed. Nothing was going right. But losing Lei was not Valerie’s fault. Sevani shouldn’t have forced the decision on them. He had hoped, with the love they shared for so long, that it would’ve worked for them.

“It is not your fault,” Sevani repeated. “I should not have made you do it.”

“It was our choice. My goddess knows right,” Lei said, smiling softly at Valerie. The look only made her cry harder. Lei turned her around and pulled her into his arms, cooing softly in her ear. Valerie pulled violently from his arms.

“Don’t touch me! Where are you? I know you’re in there somewhere!” she cried. “Give me Lei back.”

“But I’m right here,” Lei said, confusion marring his face.

Sevani stood slowly and wrapped his arms around Valerie. “It’s okay. He’s safe from Freya now. We have time to figure this out, Val. We’ll bring him back, I promise.”

Valerie nodded, wiping tears from her eyes, as she stepped back. “Ayah is recovering in her room. I healed her. I have Alexander in one of the spare bedrooms. He suffered a deep fracture to his head. It takes time to heal, but he’s okay. Go to your woman. I’ll deal with Lei.”

Sevani thanked her silently by squeezing her shoulders before he left the room. He took a few steps at a time and rushed into Ayah’s room. When he opened the door, she whirled around with a surprised look on her face. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with sneakers on her feet. She had a bag in her hand and was tossing clothing from her dresser.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Sevani exploded, stepping into the room and slamming the door behind him.

“Away, what does it look like? No reason to stay here just waiting for you to kill me.” She slammed the dresser drawer, then closed and zipped up her bag. She flung it over her shoulder and turned to stare at him. “Now move,” she ordered.

He narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not going to happen. You were mine.”