Unexpected Eden (19 page)

Eryx’s fisted his hands and prayed for guidance. He definitely should have killed Angus when he’d had the chance.

Chapter 21

Lexi stepped beyond the castle walls into the brilliant Myren sunshine and most of her tension released. The chill of the night before was gone, dew sparkling off every surface in the morning light. Flowers dazzled under the light of day, a perfect balance of wispy pastel petals and vivid, sharp-edged blooms. The air shimmered and her lungs sang with a mix of sweet and exotic perfume from the garden.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes against the sun’s warmth as she walked. “I love it here. It’s like a fairytale.”

Ludan’s lazy footsteps swished in the soft sand path beside hers. “Since when are you the fairytale type?”

The ocean roiled beyond the castle bluff. God, she could relate. Nothing in her life felt settled right now. Nothing except Eryx. Her anchor in the center of the chaos.

“Every girl dreams of fairytales. Some of us are just more realistic than others.” She crooked one eyebrow at him. “Which is rather ironic when you consider the last week of my life.”

Her closet had proven to be a fairytale too. The thing was as big as her entire apartment in Evad and packed with gowns in bold colors. Some were casual, made of comfortable, soft fabrics. Others were elaborate and covered with jewels, guaranteed to make any number of female jet setters swoon.

She’d chosen a comfy gown for her walk, but Galena had shoved it back in with the others and insisted on a blood-red number trimmed in black. It fell from one shoulder and clung to her curves, leaving the Shantos Pegasus well exposed.

She’d brushed out Lexi’s hair and made her promise to leave it unbound. When Lexi asked why, she’d shrugged and said, “Trust me.”

“Galena told me to call her before she left. Did she mean I could talk to her telepathically?”

Ludan scanned the far edge of the garden. “She did.”

“I thought it was only for family. And people you’re linked with.”

“She’s your family now. Once you’ve mated, you gain the family links of the person you’ve mated as well.” His gaze kept roaming, never stopping for long on any particular spot.

He tucked her hand protectively around his arm, the bare skin of his elbow warm against her fingers. Odd how the touch of another man felt awkward. “Can I talk with you that way?”

“Not yet. Eryx and I are close enough to be brothers, but we don’t share blood.” His gaze flicked to her fidgeting fingers, then back up. “You’d have to share a link with me.”

“Will you teach me how?”

Ludan halted and a rare, wicked grin crept into place. “What the hell. He’s already gonna rip me for ratting him out. May as well have a little more fun.”

“Ludan?” An airy, cultured female voice flittered from behind them.

Ludan stiffened.

Bitterness scented the garden, heavier than lemon, but lighter than vinegar. Out of place with all the flowers.
Irritation.
On the bright side, she was getting faster with her new gift. The downside, they were kicking in over a woman.

Ludan pivoted, a solid wall of muscle between the woman and Lexi. “Serena.” Not a greeting, but an accusation.

“I came to see Eryx.” The stranger paused. Sand crunched as the woman shifted. “Who’s your friend?”

Ludan’s shoulder blades bunched beneath his drast.

The fine hairs along Lexi’s arms and neck rippled to life. Oh, hell. Ludan’s emotions. Pissed as hell and ready to pounce. Not a good sign for things to come.

“Eryx’s not here.” His tone spelled trouble.
All the better to eat you with.
“I’ll introduce you to his baineann though.” He stepped back and angled himself so Lexi’s marked arm stood on display. “Allow me to present you to our new malress, Alexis Shantos. Lexi, this is Serena Doroz, an
old
acquaintance of Eryx’s.”

Two seconds and Lexi hated her. Cerulean blue eyes, pale blonde hair to the small of her back, and soft-looking pink lips. The type of woman who could bring a man to his knees with little more than a crook of her fingers. Perfect.

All of a sudden she was fourteen again, gangly and inadequate, keeping to the shadows where the mean girls wouldn’t see her.

Screw that. No Barbie doll was going to knock her off her fantasy life. Not without a decent catfight. She squared her shoulders and offered her hand. Emotion to rival a blowtorch blasted her and her knees nearly buckled. She struggled for breath, the weight of Serena’s feelings as heavy as a smoke laden room.

“A proper welcome is in order, Serena.” Ludan stepped closer and towered over her.

Serena’s ire spiked another notch.

Lexi’s legs wobbled. God, she was going to kill Ludan. Slowly. With a spork. Just as soon as she could get away from the beautiful Satan and her pissed off mood.

“Of course.” Serena coughed less than delicately. The ocean breeze teased her long, powder blue tunic, the chiffon panels lapping at her matching silk pants. “Forgive me, my malress. I was unaware Eryx had taken a mate. I was with him only a short time ago.”

Bitch
. She’d had more powerful digs thrown at her in kindergarten. Eryx was hers and she’d flay this bitch before she let Serena anywhere close to her man. Assuming she could stay upright. Beads of sweat formed along the back of her neck and the muscles along her back shook with fatigue. Her vision turned dim and fuzzy.

Serena dropped as smooth as a feather to both knees and bowed her head, her near-white hair framing her devil/angel face. “It is my great pleasure to meet you.” She rose without waiting for a response and faced Ludan with an oh-so-haughty smile. “I suppose I’ll have to speak with Eryx another day.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Lexi snapped a little straighter. She gripped Ludan’s forearm in a way she hoped would cause him to follow and strolled past Serena with the proudest stride she could manage. “I’ll convey your request. If Eryx’s interested in what you have to say, he’ll send for you.”

Serena gasped as they passed.

Even with Serena behind them, malice shredded her from the inside out. Her lungs seized, but she kept walking.

Fifty feet away color registered in her vision, but no focus. Stay upright, keep walking, and breathe—best plan she could come up with. Except maybe pray the woman would storm off in a huff.

“She’s gone.” Ludan’s voice seemed far away. Muffled. His hand settled on her back and his heat spread across her skin in a wave of strength.

Her sight sharpened. She gulped in air, coughing and sputtering, greedy for oxygen. “She was really pissed.”

“Serena’s been a thorn in Eryx’s side for years. Their thing’s old news. Didn’t last. Comes around every now and then, convinced he’ll change his mind. He banned her a few days ago—for all the good it did.”

On trembling legs, Lexi angled toward a wrought iron bench nestled by tall grass capped with cotton-ball tops.

“The anger impacts you more?” Even his cool curiosity came out with the strength of a dominant.

She rested her elbows on her knees, let her head fall forward, and stretched her neck. Her temples pounded. “Apparently, anger does.”

Blissful quiet, only the hum of wind and happy birds.

Ludan’s feet shifted in front of her. “If it’s any consolation, you rocked the queen bit.”

Lexi looked up.

Pride filled his gaze, so powerful it rocked her to her toes. “It’s not often Serena gets the setback you dished out.”

She sat up and reclined with a throaty chuckle. The cool iron fairly sizzled against her heated skin. “It is a consolation. A good one. No woman likes confronting an old girlfriend.”

“Lexi?”
Eryx’s voice.

She sighed.
“Too bad he wasn’t here a few minutes ago.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lexi sat ramrod straight. No way did she hear him in her head. She was imagining things.

“You’re hearing fine. What happened?”
His demand whipped through her mind.

“Guess that answers how telepathy works. And don’t get snippy with me.”
Could she add a snarl to her thoughts?
“I’ve had a hell of a morning.”

Eryx’s sigh of resignation feathered through her head. Maybe sounds were possible.
“I take it I won’t find you warm in our bed?”

She gripped the slats of the iron bench so hard her fingertips turned red. It was either the bench or Ludan. The latter didn’t seem fair since it was really Eryx’s neck she wanted to choke.
“Oh, no. I’m up and about. Greeting my people, so it seems.”

“I see you’ve got telepathy down.” Ludan’s low voice, spoken aloud, startled her.

“How could you tell?”

“You have a shitty poker face.” His mouth curled in a sarcastic twist. “Plus he’s bitching in my head. It wasn’t a stretch.”

Eryx landed not ten feet away with an earth-rattling boom. He jerked his head at Ludan. “Go.”

Ludan blinked, slow and lazy. An intentional move that flipped Eryx the bird without lifting a finger. “Think not. Too risky.” He headed toward an arbor less than thirty feet away. “But I’ll give you space.”

“What happened?” Eryx strode toward her until his towering form threw her in a too-cool shade. He scanned her in a quick but thorough assessment.

Lexi folded her hands in her lap with a mock sigh. “I’ve had a lovely morning, thank you for asking. How was yours?”

Eryx crouched before her. He hung his head on a heavy exhale then looked up, his gaze resolute and sincere. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have learned about who I am from my family.” He wore cuffs around his wrists and throat—the same as Ludan and Ramsay.

After the workout she’d endured via Serena, she was too tired to muster much of a fuss. “I think I understand.” She traced one wing of the horse etched into the platinum surface, a perfect match to the one along her arm. “Everyone deserves to be loved for who they are, not what they are.”

Eryx stood, pulled her from the bench, and wrapped her up tight. His leather scent still clung to his skin, though it was silk that caressed her cheek. “I could have done without meeting your ex though.”

The muscles along his chest went cinder block rigid. “Did she hurt you?”

Her eyes slipped shut and she melted deeper into his strength. “I think it’s safe to say the fair Serena is not pleased with my newfound status, but she’d very much like the pleasure of your company.” She leaned back and found his brow creased with worry. “I’ve also learned angry emotions are extremely unpleasant. Especially when they’re directed at me.”

Eryx massaged her neck. “I haven’t been with her in a long time.”

Lexi’s eyes burned with fatigue. She cupped the side of his face. “Everyone has a past. I just don’t want to run into her again anytime soon.”

His expression shifted, the look of a guilty boy gauging how much he could fess up. “You’re not angry about being malress?”

Her inner radar pinged with the promise of an incoming sucker punch. “Angry isn’t the word. Anxious maybe.”

He ran his fingers through her loose hair and a muscle near one temple twitched. “Ludan said you held your own quite nicely.”

She rolled her eyes and rested her forehead against his chest. “Nothing like a crash course.”

He angled her face toward his. “Then buckle up because I’ve got two more bombs for you.”

A growl ripped past her throat and she stomped a good three paces away before she faced him. “More?”

His shrug was so typically male she wanted to scream. “Nothing too bad.”

She raised her eyebrows and waited.

“Your presentation to the Myren government is tomorrow.”

She raised them another notch.

“A tidy chunk of Myrens will show up to see it.”

She straightened and a slow throb started at her temples. “What else?”

He studied her a second then shrugged out of his silk coat. An incredible sword marked the entire stretch of his arm.
Her
mark. Elaborate symbols with a Celtic flair were etched into the hilt, jewels nestled above and below the grip. Its blade resonated with power, and ivy twined around it, tapering off near his shoulders.

She shuffled forward, eager to trace the fine lines. Her hand shook as she made contact.

Memory snapped its fingers and plastered the picture from Graylin’s sunroom on the wall of her mind. Her stomach nose-dived, and she swayed. Words refused to surface. She lifted her gaze to Eryx. She was a bartender, not a queen. All that came to mind were the words she’d use if she’d run out of liquor on a busy night.

“Oh, hell.”

* * * *

Maxis strolled the main hallway of his grandmother’s vast estate, hands clasped behind his back. Each footstep echoed off the white marble, but otherwise the grounds were still as winter snow. Gray and gold veins ran along the slabs beneath his feet.

His plans weren’t moving. Not like he’d hoped. Ramsay’s troops scrambling to find Maxis tickled him shitless, but it also kept his spies too far from the castle for any sighting of Lexi. Reese had all but disappeared except for a few grumbles about locating Serena.

He stopped at the end of the hall. Evening sun slanted through the windows of the rooms behind him in a dramatic angle. Everything was ready. The warriors’ quarters, the estate, his receiving room. Soon Brasia would be the home of the malran as Evanora had intended. Only a few loose threads to tie off.

The main entrance rattled open in the foyer beyond, then slammed shut with a hollow
boom
.

Maxis strode toward the sound, his clipped steps hammering against an equally confident stride headed in Maxis’ direction.

He turned the corner and nearly slammed into Reese. “What in histus are you doing here?” Even at low decibels, Maxis’ voice rumbled along the stone floors and walls.

Reese’s gaze roamed the tall, domed ceiling with its sky murals and gold edging. “Nice place.” It wasn’t a pleasantry. A rabid dog near to starvation would hold less bite.

Maxis didn’t mind. He had teeth of his own. “Not on par with where you grew up?”

Reese’s green eyes took on a lethal edge. “I’d take my homestead over your pomp and bullshit any day.”

“Then why are you here?”

He sneered at Maxis and meandered to the wall of windows overlooking the rear grounds. The mountains rose in the distance, covered by a blanket of snow with a soft rainbow of purples, pink, and yellow thrumming beneath. “I thought I’d make use of our new link and seek you out. Share the latest and greatest news.”