Shafted (9 page)

The connection with Eros he hadn’t sensed
since his brother’s fall, rippled through Anteros as his twin
shifted his corporeal form to mist. Shooting a last glance over his
shoulder he caught Eros’s half salute and nod good-bye before he
vanished.

“What’s all the racket?” Christian burst in
from the opposite side of the room leading from the kitchen and his
eyes fell on Callie.

“Callista! What’s this Neanderthal done to
you baby?!”

The next few moments became surreal and
Anteros had to shake his head to remember he wasn’t watching a
Greek tragedy.

Looking from one to the other, he watched the
inn keeper turn her gaze on him and cover her gaping mouth with her
hands as though he were already convicted of a terrible crime.
Christian leaped like some parody of a two legged gazelle over the
coffee table to sweep Callie up in his arms. Hers dangled at
awkward angles and her head lolled forward until her chin came to
rest on his shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly and focused on the
first thing in her line of sight.

Him.

Anteros’s mind raced ahead and he felt sick.
Like watching a car spin out of control heading for the ditch, he
knew he was powerless to stop what was about to happen.

From one heart beat to the next, time stepped
in line again and the imprint took hold. Callie’s face lit up.
Seeing the false adoration shining so bright in her beautiful eyes,
her heart filled to overflowing, shattered his into tiny
pieces.

Chapter 12

Callie couldn’t remember anything after
telling Teran about her mother and grandmother not getting along.
And what the heck was wrong with him? He looked like he was ready
to peel his skin off, he was fidgeting so much.

“Sorry about the noise Mrs. Turnbull. Callie
fell asleep and I didn’t want to turn on another light in case it
woke her. So I ended up stumbling on the rug, banging my shin into
the chair and knocking it over.”

When exactly had she done that? She didn’t
remember feeling sleepy.

“Callista, Sweetie-pie, are you sure you’re
okay?”

She hated it when Christian called her that.
Even though his concern was genuine, the way he was fussing like a
mother-hen, made her want to push him off the couch. “Chris,
please, for the third time, I’m fine. You heard Teran. I dozed off.
It was him who banged his shin, not me.”

Hoping he wouldn’t sense how badly she needed
him to back off, she put pressure on his shoulders pressing him
back and bounced to her feet. “See all good.” By the confused look
on his face she hadn’t totally succeeded.

Mrs. Turnbull turned the overhead light on
and gave each of them a pointed look. “Well, I’m just happy
everything and everyone’s okay. Now if you’ll follow me Mr.
Stapleton, since you’re settled into your room now, we can see
about putting together something for you to eat.

“Oh and Callie, there’s an email for you from
Community Services. You can access it from the desktop at the front
desk or there’s a plug in thingy there behind the desk for a
laptop.

“Mr. Anders if you need anything for your
leg, there’s first aid supplies in the upstairs bathroom.” With
that she sailed from the room on fuzzy slippers with her paisley
patterned house coat flapping around her ankles and disappeared
around the corner.

Christian looked at the empty doorway and
back at Callie. “I think I should walk you to your room.” He sent a
sideways glance at Teran.

Who did he think he was kidding? “Don’t be
silly. Mrs. Turnbull’s making you up a plate, and I’m fine thank
you.”

His mouth opened and his stomach growled.
Callie’s eyebrow shot up and his jaw snapped shut. Escaping through
the door with a red face, he grumbled over his shoulder. “Well
night then. See you in the morning.” He shot one last look Teran’s
way that left no doubt what he was thinking.

A loud pop from the fire broke the spell and
they both started to snicker. Callie held her hand over her mouth
to stifle her laughter and Teran had to sit down at the table and
hide his head in his arms for the same reason.

Whether it was Mrs. Turnbull’s flourished
exit in flannel, Christian’s completely out of character belly
protest, or the fact the tension between them had reached a
breaking point, it seemed to take forever before they got
themselves back under control and not before they both had tears in
their eyes.

“Whew, enough. Now I get why people say they
died laughing, my sides are killing me. I can’t take it
anymore.”

“You can’t? What about me? I must look
horrible with mascara down to my chin.”

All traces of humor drained from his face and
the crackle of the fire fell away, taking the last of his laughter
with it. “Callie, you couldn’t look horrible if you tried.”

Tension of a different sort flooded the room
sending butterflies winging up her chest and down her arms. Teran
had that almost predatory look about him again and was staring at
her with such longing and intensity it was down right mesmerizing.
He was so handsome, he stole her breath away.

Teran rose to his feet and started toward
her. Her heart wanted to fly, but specters of the hot and cold
nature of their encounters so far, held her back. Without realizing
it, Callie shifted a little higher, pressing herself further into
the corner of the sofa, indecision sending a tendril of doubt
through her. No, he was not going to do this again,
was he?

Something in her expression must have
telegraphed her thoughts and Teran’s eyes grew wide, his step
faltering. Callie looked down and discovered her hands were
shaking. She couldn’t continue riding this rollercoaster. If he
couldn’t make up his mind, she’d do it for him before her stupid
heart had anything more to say in the matter.

Lifting her eyes from the hands she’d clamped
tight together, Callie jumped. Teran was suddenly sitting on the
coffee table in front of her. He was way across the room a second
ago? How’d he do that?

Teran reached out, took hold of her hands and
coaxed them apart, much like he had that first day. There was such
sincerity in his beautiful eyes her brain hiccupped shoving her
great intentions aside. Damn, her sneaky heart had already said too
much and her brain apparently was listening - the traitor.

“No, Callie, it’s not what you’re
thinking.”

She opened her mouth to argue, desperate to
extract herself before it was too late, but he brought their
entwined hands up to press one long finger to her lips and the
words on her tongue refused to form.

“Shhh, let me finish. I tried to tell you
this the other day, but I handled it so badly and you were so
angry, you were gone before I could.” Leaning in closer he dropped
his finger and pulled their hands toward his lips to brush a
fleeting kiss over her knuckles. “I know how things must’ve looked,
that I was regretting what happened between us.”

“Teran, you really don’t have to explain
yourself—”

“Yes I do. There is so much more going on
than you know; believe me, it’s not you it’s—”

“Oh no!” Callie pulled, trying to get loose,
but he shifted his grip making sure he wasn’t hurting her but left
no doubt he wasn’t letting go either. “We are not having the ‘it’s
not you, it’s me’ conversation! Forget it.”

“You’re right we aren’t.” He tipped forward
touching his forehead to hers. “Callie, if it was up to me, I’d
grab on tight and never let you go. I’ve never felt this way about
anyone, but there are reasons I can’t. Ones you wouldn’t believe,
even if I could tell you.”

Her heart already beating too fast ramped up
another notch. He’d grab on and never let her go? Never felt this
way before? Those words resonated deep in her soul, feeling more
right than she ever imagined they could. It was like something had
opened up inside her and she didn’t want it to close again.

Callie wiggled one hand free and this time he
let her. “Teran, I don’t know how this happened so fast and I don’t
even think I care. All I know right now is I feel the same way.”
She swept a wayward lock of hair from his face and ducked her head
so she could look into his eyes. “You can trust me. What could be
so wild you won’t even try to explain it to me?” A small smile
crept onto her face. “Really, unless you’re about to tell me you’re
from another dimension or you’re a vampire or something, I think I
can handle it.”

All the color fled from his face and icy
fingers traced her spine. “Teran?” Instead of answering he leaned
in with a barely there caress of his lips to hers, igniting both
fire and fear in her.

“Callista, I was going to grab a fresh drink
and wondered if you’d like...one?” Christian stood in the doorway
with a partial glass of water in his hand and look of shock on his
face. “What’s going on here?”

Teran’s dark eyes held hers briefly, but not
long enough for her to decipher everything laid bare in them. “I
was just saying good night to Callie.” Standing he stepped away
before she could stop him and her breath caught as he returned the
favor and tucked a stray curl back behind her ear. “Glad you’re
feeling better now. Sleep well.”

As though watching a movie screen, the events
taking place in front of her seemed beyond her control. Callie saw
Teran hesitate at the doorway, like he was considering looking back
over his shoulder at her and from the audience she cheered him on,
desperately hoping he would. Instead she watched him nod his head
once as he passed Christian and melt into the shadowed foyer
beyond.

Why did she suddenly feel so empty?

A vice clamped down on her chest making it
hard to breath and pain, too much for her heart to deal with alone,
shot down the muscles of her arms into her hands.

Had she fallen in love with him? Is that
why?

The back door closed rattling the parlor
windows and Callie’s world stopped turning. She knew who’d just
walked out that door.

She finally understood what her mother had
been trying to tell her. While there was never a guarantee, somehow
she’d realized love was rare but did demand one thing in return:
courage.

Teran was gone and he’d taken her heart with
him. Question was did she have enough courage to go after both of
them?

Chapter 13

Anteros paced along the frozen lake shore
where he’d first met Callie and ranted till he was hoarse; calling
for his brother, mother, uncle, anyone who’d listen to his plea.
Seeing the light of love shining in Callie’s eyes, and having his
heart sing in response, was more punishment than he could take.

It was bad enough fighting his own arrow
induced feelings, but to see them mirrored in her and have it feel
so good knowing none of it was real was killing him.

He needed his damn bow.

“All right, I’ll beg if that’s what it takes.
Please, do whatever you want to me, but don’t take her will away
like that.” He’d seen the way Christian looked at her; the blasted
mortal loved her too. She should have a choice. “Did you hear me?
I’m begging you! Send my bow.”

The wind skipped in gusts across the lake,
spinning ice and snow eddies in all directions. A dot of light
began to glow hot in one spot growing wider until the edge of it
touched the shore. At first Anteros didn’t realize what he was
looking at.

A dome, laced with dancing iridescence waves
chasing over the surface lifted from the centre until it stopped at
the edge of the glowing circle. A portal, here?

“Yes Tero, a portal, here.” The light waves
shot toward the center and a figure began to appear. It was like
looking into ripples and seeing a person beneath the water before
the vision finally took a recognizable solid shape. “Don’t look so
surprised. There are a few places left on earth where the energy
still pulses strong enough to bridge our worlds.”

“Psyche, is that you?” The last time Anteros
had seen his sister-in-law, after a particularly bad spell his
brother had gone through, she’d been a ghost of the vibrant beauty
standing before him now.

The limp blond hair was gone, replaced by
waves of amber she’d tamed into a myriad of shimmering braids. Gone
also were the traditional Olympian robes. Instead she wore a
sleeveless black leather number that stopped a little above mid
thigh. Not that you could see much of her legs. They were encased
in thigh high boots sporting buckles around the ankles matching the
ones he’d seen on his brother’s. Come to think of it, Eros had gone
all biker since he’d seen him last too – and looked better than he
had in eons.

“Yup it’s me. Whatcha think?” She spun a
pirouette in mid air and gracefully floated to the ground. “I know.
I know you don’t have to say it. Cool huh.” As her feet touched the
ground, her expression turned serious and she pulled something from
behind her back. “Anteros here, take it quickly, before they notice
I’m gone.”

His black titanium bow glowed softly in the
moon light.

“I don’t have time to explain everything, but
know they did everything out of love for you.”

Anteros hand automatically grasped his weapon
at the sweet spot where centuries of use by him alone had created a
perfect seat for his hand. “Then why did you bring this to me?”

She looked at him with a sad smile. “Because
I know what it does to your brother every time he shafts someone in
an ambro-fever fit, so I know what having your little mortal
friend’s will thwarted must be doing to you.” She started to drift
backwards toward the portal.

With her words came a cold realization he’d
blinded himself to since his brother’s fall. He’d been so angry at
Eros, not because of what he’d ended up doing, but because he’d
lost his brother. All this time, he’d held onto a self-righteous
grudge over something no one, least of all his twin, could
control.

A knot of guilt grated against his voice
choking the strength from it. “Psyche, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I
was so angry having to clean up after him I never gave any thought
to what it was doing to him.” Compassion shone from her face giving
him hope Eros might one day forgive him. “Tell him, please, for me.
I didn’t understand...and I’m sorry I haven’t been there for
him.”