Slave to Passion (20 page)

Kavin held her breath. Waited. Was so afraid if Nasir killed him this way, it would cross a line they couldn’t come back from. She needed to know the djinni she’d fallen in love with was inside him somewhere. That he could pull
himself
back from the brink if he needed to.

Then Nasir released his hold on Zayd’s shirtfront. Zayd hit the water with a splash, sending droplets all over the stone floor. Nasir’s sword fell from his hand, clanked against the ground. And then his arms were around her, pulling her close, his face sliding into the hollow between her shoulder and neck to breathe warm against her throat.

“
Rouhi
…”

Relief pulsed through every inch of her body, swept her up in a tidal wave of emotion that poured through her. She slid her arms around his shoulders, held him tight. Closed her eyes and just breathed.

He’d done it. He’d saved her. And himself.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m right here.”

He eased back, looked down at her. Blood and dirt stained his handsome face, but the rage was gone. In its place were the soft, sweet, gentle eyes she’d come to love. “Thank you,” he rasped.

Tears burned her eyes. She was just about to tell him he had no reason to thank her, when she caught sight of movement behind him.

Zayd lurched to his feet in the bath. Blood ran like rivulets down his face. He gripped the sword in his hands and lifted it over his head.

Things happened so fast, Kavin barely tracked them. She screamed Nasir’s name, pushed him away from her, then reached down for his sword, which he’d dropped at their feet.

She thrust out before Zayd could. The tip stabbed into his chest, his forward momentum forcing it deep. Zayd’s eyes went wide. He stumbled back. Kavin gasped and let go of the blade. Then his body fell into the bath again with a splash that sent half the water spilling over the sides and onto the stone floor.

Silence descended. Then Nasir looked her way. “Holy shit.”

Kavin’s own eyes were wide with shock. She hadn’t thought. She’d reacted. Her pulse shot up; her adrenaline peaked, then plummeted. She stumbled back a step, but Nasir was right there to catch her.

“Breathe,
rouhi
.”

She gripped his arms, focused on the draw and pull of her lungs, was relieved when Nasir stepped in front of her so she couldn’t see what she’d done.

“That’s it.” He rubbed a hand down her back. “Allah, you’ve got more fight in you than I ever expected. Remind me not to piss you off.”

A laugh slipped from her lips. One she didn’t expect. One that pushed aside the horror and brought her around to what mattered most. Hands resting against his strong chest, she looked up into his eyes and tried not to be gripped by fear all over again. “How are we going to get out of here? The guards are busy in the arena, but the city walls—”

“I’ll show you.”

They both looked toward the door, where Hana stood with her hands at her sides, bitter victory on her face as she stared at Zayd’s dead body in the bath.

Seconds passed in silence, then she finally met their eyes. “So long as you take me with you.”

Kavin sagged against Nasir as she looked up at him. “Take me away from here. Away from death and dying and slaves and highborns. Please. I don’t care where we go, I just need…”

Her chest tightened with the weight of everything that had happened, cutting off her words. Of what
could have
happened.

Then his mouth was on hers. Claiming hers in a swift, fierce kiss she felt everywhere. Banishing the fear, telling her this—the two of them together—was all that mattered. And when he eased back, the smile that curled one side of his mouth was so damn handsome, it softened everything inside her. “Your wish is my command,
rouhi
. And just your luck, I know the perfect place for us to go.”

Chapter Sixteen

As they stood on a bluff overlooking Gannah, the salty breeze whipping the hair back from their faces, Nasir wondered what Kavin was thinking.

The tall spires of a city he’d loved since he was a child sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. Palms waved in the air, mountains rose to the north, and the sea filled the horizon beyond. Below them, past the city walls, his people—his tribe—milled about the streets, shopping, working,
living
as they did every day.

He saw home. He saw safety. He saw people removed from war and suffering who had no idea just what kind of horrors were being unleashed in Jahannam. But he’d made Malik a promise. He’d tell them. He’d make sure they all knew it wasn’t just those from his tribe who were being imprisoned. It was djinn from all tribes, from all races, from every part of their world. And it was time it stopped.

Kavin leaned against his side. “What if they don’t let us in?”

He glanced over her head toward Hana, and read the same worry in the young girl’s face that he heard in Kavin’s voice. They were both Ghul, about to enter a city they feared would despise them on sight. But Nasir knew differently.

He tightened his arm around her. “You brought their prince home. I don’t think they’re going to care if you’re Ghul or Shaitan or even human.”

She looked up at him, and, as the sun warmed her features, he remembered how scared he’d been as they’d fled the arena. Getting out of the tunnels had been easier than he’d expected. But out in the open, he’d been so afraid they’d be recognized. That he’d lose her so close to freedom. But Hana had known a secret passageway under the city walls, and with the guards distracted by the revolt, they’d slipped away quickly and easily.

It had taken three days to reach Gannah. Though his powers had returned once they’d been free of the confines of Jahannam and he could have teleported home, both Kavin and Hana had been imprisoned so quickly after reaching adulthood, they’d yet to develop their gifts. But that would soon change.

“You sound so certain.”

“I know my people,
rouhi
. You’re free. No one will hurt you here.”

Uncertainty filled her eyes as she ran her fingers over the opal at his throat. “Freedom means nothing to me unless you’re here to share it. What about this?”

He’d thought the same thing more than once. Wherever the sorceress was, she could call him back at any moment. He had no idea if his brothers were alive or dead, if she was using them and biding her time with him. But he was done living his life under the control of others.

He turned her, wrapped both arms around her back, reveling in the warmth of her body, the feel of her skin, her love that had reminded him who he was—who he
wanted
to be. “We’ll worry about that if it happens.”

“But—”

He pressed his finger against her lips. “She hasn’t contacted me in months. I don’t know what happened to her, but I’m not going to live my life in fear. I want to spend it with you. However long that may be. Nothing in life is certain, Kavin. All I know is that I love you. Right now, that and what we do to stop the torture in Jahannam is all that matters.”

Her eyes softened, and she lifted her mouth to his when he lowered to kiss her, curled her arms around his neck, and held him so tight he felt her everywhere. And though he knew the battle with Zoraida wasn’t over, for now he didn’t care.

He was back. He’d found his heart and soul and a reason to live in a Ghul. In the most amazing, beautiful, gentle creature he’d ever met. And because of her, he was alive. He wasn’t about to waste a moment of the time he’d been given all because of her.

“Come,
rouhi
,” he said, easing back, smiling down at her with all the love she’d given him, even when he hadn’t deserved it. “I want to introduce you to my parents.”

She gripped his hand in hers as he stepped back, pressed the other against her belly, and shot him a nervous look. One that was so damn sexy, he itched to kiss it from her face. “The king and queen? In this?” She glanced down at the ripped purple gown she was still wearing. “Maybe you could take me somewhere to freshen up first?”

He chuckled, waved his hand, and muttered magical words in his language. Her dress transformed into a simple but elegant pale blue gown that hit at her calves and showcased her slim arms and waist.

Surprise lit her eyes as she looked down. “How…?” She glanced up sharply. “How did you do that?”

His smile grew wider. Behind her, Hana chuckled.

“I am full of surprises. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”

Her lips curled with a wicked grin that sent heat careening through his belly. A heat he planned to shower on her as soon as they were alone.

She tightened her fingers in his and took a step down the hill, toward their future. “Something tells me life with you will never be boring.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,
rouhi
.”

Don’t miss the exciting third book in the Firebrand Series

POSESSED BY DESIRE

Coming December 2012

Read on for a sneak peak at

ENSLAVED

book five in Elisabeth’s bestselling Eternal Guardians Series,

coming November 6, 2012.

Chapter One

The bloody voice was back.

Not that it ever completely went away, but most days he could deal with it. Today it was like a pounding drum, growing louder each and every second. The sound so intense, it left him wanting to stab his eardrums with a hot metal poker just so he didn’t have to listen anymore.

Come to me. Bring me what I seek. You know you can’t deny your destiny
.

Gryphon twisted in the May sunlight, squinted through the trees, searched for the source of the voice that continued to torment him. But it wasn’t close. Not in this vast Montana forest, not in the remote village down the hill to his right, not among his warrior kin, who’d been eyeing him as if he were bat-shit crazy for the last two months. No, this lovely voice was in his head.
Inside
his body. Calling to him every hour of every day, drawing him toward a darkness he feared might soon consume him.

Panic and a need to break free tightened every muscle in his body, pushed him to do
something
. He couldn’t give in to the darkness. He wouldn’t let it have him. He’d seen its wrath firsthand, knew the horror it would unleash. No matter what, he had to keep fighting that voice. He couldn’t let go and…

“Gryph? Dude? You okay?”

Gryphon startled at the gruff voice—the
real
voice—coming from Titus, his Argonaut kin, standing in the shadows of a large pine. A lock of wavy hair fell free of the leather tie at the nape of Titus’s neck, brushed his weathered cheek. The guardian tipped his head, narrowed his eyes, seemed to study Gryphon more intently. A descendent of Odysseus, Titus was the keenest of all the guardians, and he had the ability to hear others’ thoughts. Could he hear the voice too?

“Gryphon?” Titus asked again, this time crossing the small clearing toward him, his knowing hazel eyes honed in on Gryphon’s face, his boots crunching over dried needles and broken sticks as he moved. “Maybe we should take a break.”

Oh, yeah, Titus could hear it.

Shame, fury, helplessness welled inside Gryphon. Before Titus reached him, he stepped out of the guardian’s way and beat feet for the hillside, where his brother Orpheus was scanning the small village with binoculars. “Stop treating me like a freakin’ five-year-old. I’m fine.”

Titus’s boots stilled, and he heaved out a heavy sigh. Without looking, Gryphon could see the
you’re not fine, you’re fucked
expression on his kin’s face.

He didn’t need the pity from Titus. He could barely handle the way Orpheus looked at him, as if he had some terminal disease. Did they think they were helping with their constant coddling and useless baby-sitting? Gryphon scratched at the back of his neck, dragged his hand down his chest, and clawed at the skin hidden under the thick henley and leather strap that cut across his torso. Things would be a helluva lot better for everyone if they’d just leave him alone. Couldn’t they see that?

Come to me
, doulas.
You know you want to. Stop fighting me
.

He clenched his jaw, rubbed his ear against his shoulder. Flexed and released his hand so he didn’t draw his blade against the only threat out here he could see: himself. Stopping next to Orpheus, he tried like hell to ignore the voice and asked, “What do you see?”

Orpheus lowered the binoculars, shot him a way-too-fucking-concerned look. “Nothing. No movement. Looks like a ghost town. You okay?”

Gryphon ground his teeth at the question—and the worry he saw on his brother’s face—took the binoculars, scanned the distance. Saw the same thing Orpheus had, nothing but empty houses and swaying tree limbs. No humans, no Misos—half-breeds who often lived together in isolation—not even a damn dog roaming the empty streets.