The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (123 page)

“She’s just tired,” he said quickly. “There is nothing going on here. I will not let you harm her.”

A humourless chuckle surrounded him. “Boy, you are no hero. Now move aside.”

Ethan stood, his feet braced apart. “No! I will not let you hurt her. She’s done nothing wrong.”

Aziz’s hand shot out in front of him at the same moment Ethan felt his body being thrown through the small space and into the wall beside Melissa. She shrieked, calling out his name as he fell to the floor. Ethan moaned. His body felt like he had just been hit by a truck. At least he was still alive, he thought thankfully. The same couldn’t be said about the guard who just experienced the same thing, so he supposed he was lucky in that aspect.

His vision swam as he watched Aziz approach Lily. He wanted to call out, to do something to warn her, but he was at a loss. A rush of breath escaped him when Lily’s eyes flickered open. An urge to call out ‘thank you God’ filled Ethan, but he kept quiet.

“Aziz,” Lily greeted like she had just woken from a quick nap. If it was possible Ethan would have laughed right then. Too bad he felt like his insides were bleeding. Melissa had moved closer, but didn’t touch him yet. He knew she was probably freaking out.

“Get up,” Aziz ordered. Lily did so gracefully, no movement stiff. “What have you been doing, forest brat?”

Her face screwed up in confusion.
Oh she’s good,
Ethan thought. “I was sleeping,” she answered simply. Aziz grabbed her neck so suddenly, Melissa gasped in terror, gripping the sleeve of his shirt.

“Speak the truth!” he yelled. “Do not take me for a fool!”

“I was doing nothing,” she croaked around the pressure.

Aziz breathed deeply before speaking. “Fine. If you will not tell me here, perhaps you will speak under other circumstances.” His hand moved to grab a fistful of her hair. He dragged her out of the cell roughly. Lily didn’t let out a sound of protest. Her eyes briefly met Ethan’s, and in them he saw her message to not worry and be brave, but as her tiny body was dragged out and the door closed and locked again, Ethan was finding it extremely difficult to do so.

Rain and Elex were practicing her blocking techniques, even though she thought it was a waste of time since she had no plan on being in the actual battle. Elex seemed to think it was important though. What was the point of learning sorcery if she couldn’t use it against people, and had to resort to normal hand-to-hand combat? There was no point. Which was why all this work and her achy, protesting muscles were all for nothing. Rain’s thoughts froze as the tip of Elex’s sword rested lightly on her collarbone.

“You’re not focused,” he accused. He kept the blade where it was, making it difficult for her to move at the risk of cutting herself. Unlike the sword they had given her which was blunt, his was very sharp.

“How could you tell?” she asked dryly, eyeing the weapon. He stared at her blankly. Cocking an eyebrow, she asked, “Do you mind?”

He dropped his arm with a shake of his head. “You need to take this seriously. I need to know that you’ll be safe if something happens.”

She raised her left hand, a small ball of fire instantly forming there with little effort. She was much better than she had been only a short while ago. With a grin, she replied, “I’ll just torch ‘em”

He smiled crookedly, crossing his arms over his wide chest as he stood before her, feet braced apart. His wings were folded behind him, relaxed. “What are you going to do with that now, hot shot?” he asked, pointing his head at the ball of flame.

Huh. She hadn’t thought of that. Looking around, she saw a small section where no one was and let the flames fly. It hit the wall and extinguished without issue. “There,” she said proudly, turning back to him. His face had hardened as he watched something over her shoulder. Rain looked toward the entrance to see Aziz walking in, dragging behind the small forest girl. All her humour fled, leaving her chilled and nervous.

“How are you feeling this morning, my dear?” Aziz asked conversationally, like he didn’t have someone by their hair.

Her eyes instinctively flitted to the girl whose face was much calmer than Rain would have expected. “Uh…” she faltered, forgetting what he had asked. Shaking her head she looked back to him, his face a blank mask of civility. “I-I’m a little sore,” she replied.

“That’s normal,” he said encouragingly, not that she needed it – at least not from him. She nodded, not knowing what else to say. The forest girl’s eyes were glued to her, and it was beginning to make her nervous.

“Why is she out of her cell?” Elex asked. Rain breathed a sigh of relief that someone was going to ask about it.

“She’s up to something,” he answered.

“I am no – ah!” the girl’s head snapped back as Aziz gave it a hard tug.

“She’s up to something,” he maintained. “I’m just not sure what. I thought perhaps we could teach her what happens to those who lie to us.”

Her mouth was uncomfortably dry all of a sudden. Aziz walked over to the wall where one of the manacles that held the beasts lay empty. He secured it around her ankle before stepping back with a pleased look.

“How do you feel about burning, witch?” he sneered. “Maybe after you’re done sizzling you might feel more inclined to tell me what you were doing in that cell.”

“I was sleeping!” she insisted.

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” His breath came out quick, angry. Turning to Rain, he nodded his head once.

She looked back and forth between the two.

“Rain,” he urged.

For whatever reason, Rain looked at Elex for – something. She wasn’t really sure what. Normally she was very careful not to look at Elex at all in front of Aziz, but especially not with any sort of emotion. There was just something so extremely nerve-wracking for her in this situation that she couldn’t help but look to him. Despite all she had said about the girl, and about revenge for the Shaman, being in the situation now – just felt wrong. For the first time since her arrival, Rain was starting to doubt her ability to become what she had dreamed of. Being cruel wasn’t something she could stomach. She wasn’t a heartless killer.

As soon as their eyes met she knew she had made a mistake. She saw it written in Elex’s eyes as if he were speaking the words to her out loud. There was the part, the hidden part only she could see because she was look for it, where Rain saw his concern and sympathy for her. Somehow he had known this was going to bother her. He knew it back in the dark cell where they had first seen one another too, and Aziz had tried to make her kill one of the men who attacked her. She couldn’t do it then, and she couldn’t do it now. And Elex knew it.

But that look was only fleeting. So quick no one else would have caught it but her. Right after it came a look of warning. It said ‘don’t look to me for support. He’ll know. Look away’. But it came too late, because Rain was already looking at him for the first reaction. She was looking for someone to tell her it was okay, and that she didn’t have to do this. To make her feel strong even if she couldn’t kill so callously. By the time it registered in her head that looking to Elex had been a massive error on her part, and she was putting them both at risk right now, it had already played out. It couldn’t be taken back.

All this happened in mere seconds before Aziz bellowed, “DO
NOT
LOOK AT HIM!” There was sharpness in his command that hit her almost like a physical blow. Her head even snapped back at his words. She whipped her head back to him, a cold sweat breaking out in the dip of her spine. It crawled up slowly as she saw the rage in his caramel eyes.

Rain could not find her voice; could offer no explanation, or
something
to ease the tension. Nothing. She just froze, wide eyed and frightened. Aziz made no move toward her. No accusations were thrown at either of them. Was he going to pretend he hadn’t seen what just happened?
Maybe he won’t suspect anything,
she thought hopefully. Maybe she and Elex were overreacting. They always thought they couldn’t even really speak to each other when Aziz was around, in fear they’d tip him off somehow. Perhaps Aziz was so self-assured it would never have crossed his mind that Rain could be interested in anyone but him.

No,
she thought, remembering how jealous he could get. He would have considered the possibility. He must have seen something in their earlier interactions to know that they both harboured an attraction for each other.

A warm feeling spread over her palm. She glanced down to see a ball of fire hovering over her hand. She gasped, moving it away from her body before she set
herself
on fire. Panic overwhelmed her as she looked to Aziz.

“You wanted revenge,” he said darkly, “and now you may have it.”

Rain looked from the fire to him and then back to the girl, who watched her with wide eyes. “I don’t want it anymore,” she argued. “Please, Aziz.” Her weakness disgusted him. She could see it in his face.

“You will do this, because I command you to do so!”

Her arm started to lift on its own. With all her strength she tried to stop it, but she couldn’t. Aziz was moving her like a marionette.

“Aziz,” she pleaded. His face, a mask of cold anger, did not falter from its focus. Her hand pulled, ready to shoot forward and release the flames.

“One last chance, Rain,” he said. “Do this, or I shall make you myself.”

Rain could only shake her head in horror and disbelief. He was really going to force her to light the tiny girl on fire. All that talk from Elex about Aziz being able to control her had been true. She had lost her independence; her ability to decide what she would or would not do. The realization angered her fiercely. Her blood boiled in outrage that someone would take this power from her. Most of her life choices had been dictated to her. This was supposed to be her freedom from that, and yet now she found herself bound to another’s decree, stronger than ever before.

Her eyes looked back to Elex, regardless of what Aziz would think. She no longer cared. Elex returned her gaze silently. She could see how worried and panicked he was, but he made no move toward her.

“So be it,” Aziz declared.

Rain felt her muscles tense, her arm pulling back further, the ball of fire aimed at the manacled girl. As her arm flew forward Rain let out a scream that reverberated off the walls around them.

“NO!”

The fire was released.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The air was crisp with the fresh scent of a new season beginning. Soon the spring showers would fall and bring to life all the magnificence that was Eden in the Spring and Summer. There was nothing like the Capital during the warmer months. People were more joyful, happy to be outdoors after the long, cold months. A feeling of energy would flow through the city like a tangible force. Callum loved his home during the summer. He had missed so many years of it.

Breathing in the smell of wet grass and melted snow, he took a moment to glance up at the sun’s position in the sky. They’d been riding hard all morning. His brother seemed to favour this fast pace, the same as he had set on their way home from the south. Not that he was complaining. The sooner they got to where they were headed, the sooner he could return to his wife and unborn child. That was the problem though, wasn’t it?
Where
were they headed? To go to Ramel would be pointless since they all knew Aziz was not there. His own people had wanted nothing to do with him for years now.

There had been stories of him being up in the mountains, north-east, but the range there was vast and wide. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Callum, Jameson, and Turk had argued over it all morning. None of them could agree on where to start. Even though Callum had been Aziz’s ally for many years, he couldn’t provide them with anything helpful.

For now they rode eastward, with Jameson in the middle, and Callum and Turk on either side. It was funny to him how natural this all felt. Callum had spent a good part of his life hating the two men he rode with now, blaming them for his unhappiness. A misplaced hatred, he saw now. One he wished he could take back, while at the same time wouldn’t, because then he would have never met his Rose. Life worked in mysterious ways. He had to believe all things happened for a reason, even though he knew Aziz had pushed things in certain directions with his own purpose in mind. Well that would be remedied. Aziz would learn to not cross Elrond’s sons.

“Do you think it wise to stop, my lord?” Turk asked, breaking the comfortable silence, aside from the sounds of their steeds’ hooves.

Jameson chuckled. “I’m going to take it from that eloquent question that you need a rest,
old
friend?”

Callum grunted in amusement. Turk smiled.

“I am not too old to outride you, my King,” he replied false sweetness. “However, I do think it would be a smart decision to let the rest of the men take a moment to regain their strength before we cross the Giants Hills. Once we reach the sands on the other side it will be tough travelling.”

Jameson nodded solemnly. “Wisely stated as always.” Turk shook his head in exasperation from Jameson’s cheeky grin. Callum wondered how Turk had put up with his brother for so long. It took a lot of patience to deal with the childlike humour his brother exuded.