Unexpected Eden (21 page)

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Maxis stepped from the shadows of his balcony perch. The royal couple disappeared behind the farthest bend on the main council passage and the throngs lined up for the formal procession filled in behind the band of warriors at Eryx and Lexi’s backs. Shouts and cheers settled to a dull rumble of gossip and predictions, some craning their necks for one last glimpse of the prophetic mark.

He’d damned near flayed the messenger when Reese had finally gotten around to sharing that little tidbit. Yet, seeing the touted symbol on Eryx’s arm with his own eyes went a long way toward assuaging his anger. True, his original plans might be little more than dust, but he could adjust. Myrens were a cautious lot, prone to superstition with a more-than-hyper fear of the unknown. A perfect situation—if one knew how to spin it.

A couple argued by a nearby lamppost, a sight that scratched his inner predator behind the ears. Convincing Reese to partake in one last meeting with Serena hadn’t been without challenge, but had definitely been worth it. So much emotion on her face, her stance shaking with fury while she gestured wildly. Raw ire. Perfect for him to work with.

The knotted crowd loosened, and Maxis put his modified plan in play.
“There’s a cootya one street over.”

Reese stood passively next to Serena, no indication of Maxis’ mental communication showing on his face.

“Meet me there with Serena in twenty minutes,”
Maxis added.

Reese placed a hand at Serena’s back and gestured toward the cootya, his face a passive mask of nothingness. No mental response, no glance in Maxis’ direction, just acquiescence.

An odd sensation stirred behind his breastbone, one he was loathe to accept but couldn’t afford to ignore. He needed Reese. Wanted more than mere compliance.

He shook off the sentiment and ambled into the crowd. The cafe he’d selected was an open-air environment, a stucco roof jutting out over a smattering of tables where patrons could look on the throngs of people beyond. With the crowded streets, his anonymity was a near certainty, so he pressed toward the cootya, and kept to the shade wherever possible.

“I don’t care who you want to meet, I’m ready to go.” Serena’s petulance pounded the stone walls as Maxis entered. “Give me one good reason why I should stay.”

Reese maintained his facade of ennui—or maybe he truly was bored to tears.

Maxis approached, his footsteps camouflaged by the rumble of other, chattering customers, and leaned in close. “Revenge.”

Serena spun in her chair, more righteous indignation in her elegant frame than fear. The air around her hung thick and heavily charged.

“It must rankle to be replaced with a human-raised no one. I’d say the malran deserves a lesson or two.” A risky punch of provocation on his part, but at this point the risk was worth it.

A regal bearing settled around her. “And who are you to suggest such a thing?”

He sidled closer, offering his hand.

Her fingertips tickled his palm, barely deigning to touch him.

“My name is Maxis Steysis.”

Her mouth parted.

He curled his fingers around hers and held her wary stare. Her presence was intoxicating, and his eyelids weighted with unexpected desire. “It appears you recognize the name.” He pulled her hand to his lips, grazing her knuckles a second longer than was appropriate. “So you know I’m inclined to be
sympathetic
to a beautiful woman scorned.”

“I’ve heard the stories of Evanora.” She smirked and folded her hands in her lap, the picture of gentility, though her eyes were sharp enough to cut diamonds. “She wielded quite a bit of her own power by the time she died—without the help of any man.”

“As could you.” Maxis pulled a chair out. “Should you choose to seize the opportunity.”

The cootya workers bustled behind the counter and shuffled plates and glassware to waiting customers. Cutlery pinged against thick clay plates and the soft lilt of laughter floated from a distant table.

Serena held her silence. Her gaze flicked beyond Maxis’ shoulder to the milling people in the street beyond and straightened to a haughty stance. “What are you looking at?”

Maxis pivoted in his chair to see who had captured Serena’s attention, then shot to his feet.

“I thought your name was Wesley.” Phybe’s voice trailed off, both accusing and injured.

Maxis darted forward without thought, Phybe barely more than an arm’s reach.

Reese intercepted his path. With a subtle inclination of his head, he noted the heavily populated shop. “Not now.”

Frantic footsteps scampered along the dusty sidewalk, the visual blocked by Reese’s hulking form.

His strategos glanced over one shoulder and his face hardened. “I’ll find her.”

Excitement kicked Maxis in the chest and he smoothed the front of his shirt to cover it. More than mere compliance from his strategos. Finally.

“Find her,”
Maxis said.
“And make sure we never see her again.”

Chapter 23

Lexi plunked next to Ludan on the fire pit ledge and fiddled with the hem of her red tunic. Morning pinks and corals coated the horizon and workers trickled in to care for the castle. Eryx was already gone. “Is it always going to be like this?”

Ludan peeled the edge off a long lilac flower petal that looked a lot like a palm tree leaf. “You mean the council stuff?” He snapped off the end and formed a square corner, tossed the scrap over his shoulder into the pit, and shook his head. “Nah. He’s just tap dancin’ around Angus’ claims.” He set the colorful strip aside and restarted the process with another.

“Guess I’ve stirred a lot up, huh?”

Ludan gave her a sideways grin, but didn’t pause in his task. “You could view it that way. Or you could see Eryx’s got another shot to neutralize Angus and find Maxis. It had to be Maxis who tipped Angus off.” He threw his latest scrap in with the others and scanned the skies and garden—the same visual sweep he did every few minutes.

“You’re worried about him.” Well duh. Even without her special newfound spidey senses sending prickles down her arms it was kind of hard to miss.

“Eryx can handle his own. I’m only backup.” He weaved the strips into odd-patterned knots. “It’s you we’re worried about. It’ll be fine as soon as we find you a somo and get you trained.”

“It’ll be better when I’m not so helpless.” She stood and clutched the stone rail bordering their private garden, the same place Eryx had sworn his blood oath. The ocean churned beyond and the breeze lifted her hair off her neck. “Why can’t you teach me?”

Ludan stayed bent to his task, but jerked on a huffed chuckle. “Because when a man finds a good woman, they’re protective. He wants to be the one who teaches you. That and he’s still yanked ’cause I nabbed your memories.” He stopped and looked up. “You gonna tell him what happened?”

She turned into the wind. Those memories couldn’t stay hidden much longer. Eryx had come clean with her. The least she could do was drag her own baggage from the closet.

“I think he already knows.” She lowered her head and rubbed the coarse, gray stone. “Maybe not the details, but the gist of what happened.”

“It wouldn’t change how he feels. Not like you think. And details make a difference to a man like him.”

So not going there. Not today. She strolled toward Ludan. “We never did get around to linking.”

Ludan’s mouth parted on a sly smile. “You sure you want to do that without Eryx here?”

“He’s my mate, not my dad.”

The smile grew. “Atta girl.” He tied off another knot and held up a circle about the size of her wrist. “Here.”

With the knots he’d woven, the simple lilac strips had become an intricate mix of pale to deepest purple. “What is it?”

“A bracelet.” He stood and brushed flower scraps from his pants. “Used to make ’em with Galena when we were kids.”

A giggle slipped out, the image of Ludan traipsing dutifully behind Galena simply irresistible. She still couldn’t get used to him in the warrior’s get up, but it fit his personality more than the council jammies.

“Don’t laugh. Galena’s fierce when she sets her mind to something.” He grabbed her hand and fitted his palm against hers. “You ready?”

Lexi nodded, focused on their joined hands. “What do I do?”

Such a warm laugh. Out of sorts with the boredom he usually affected. “For starters, relax. Close your eyes.” He brushed her knuckles and lowered his voice. “Feel for my energy. Give it a visual.”

A tingle darted through her palm. In her mind’s eye, a ribbon of light—a perfect match to his arctic blue eyes—winded up her arm. “It’s like what I feel with Eryx.”

“It damn well better not be,” Eryx said from behind her.

She jumped and tried to pull her hand away, but Ludan clamped down tight, the sensation still dancing up her forearm.

Eryx’s hands curved around her shoulders and he bolstered her in front of Ludan. “Send yours into him.” He pressed chest to hips against her back, his voice a rasp at her ear. “Wrap it around the image and let the fibers weave together.”

She shivered, embarrassed at her obvious response. Hard for anyone to blame her though. With Ludan’s intimate connection spearing through her palm and her mate tight against her back, even a nun would swoon.

As Eryx coached, she visualized her mental handshake and wound her stream of energy around the one Ludan provided. The strands circled each other, her own tendril a slate blue. They meshed in a sudden grip and snapped tight.

“Now get out of my baineann, Forte.”

“Unwind your panties.” Ludan took a polite step back and planted his hands on his hips. “You get her a somo who doesn’t crank your attitude and she won’t need me. Until then, one more line of contact doesn’t hurt.”

“It was my idea.” Lexi ran her hand up Eryx’s arm and his bicep flexed beneath it.

Eryx pulled her close and dropped a kiss at the top of her head. “I shouldn’t have made you wait.”

“I get it.” She pushed away. “But I’m ready to learn how to throw one of those fireballs now.”

Ludan and Eryx exchanged one of those puzzled looks reserved for the male species. Eryx rubbed his chin and the stubble he’d yet to remove scratched in the windswept quiet. “Not sure that’s doable. Not like what you saw us do anyway.”

“Why not?” She shuttled her gaze between them. “I thought everyone could manipulate the elements.”

“They can, but only for basic needs like building a fire—or defense at best,” Eryx said. “Most female gifts manifest as nurturing skills, like Galena and her healing. Or you with emotions.”

Ludan eased himself into a chair near the fire pit and propped his booted foot on the ledge. “Yeah, but she’s not just any female.”

Eryx nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. His brow wrinkled up. “You sure you don’t want to start with something smaller? Like move a pillow or something?”

Stupid. Fucking. Men. “You won’t let me leave the house without you or Ludan and you want me to start with moving a pillow?”

Eryx smiled, the big one, full of teeth, and then finally had the good grace to duck his head a notch. “Fire it is then.” He turned her toward the pit and motioned at the dry wood stacked in the center. “Jump in and see where it takes you.”

Lexi peeked at Eryx, some of her enthusiasm stifled under a damp blanket of doubt. “Is there a trick to it?”

“No more than when you learned to fly.” Eryx pressed behind her as he had days before. “Your body calls the element it wants and the mind directs it.”

Lexi closed her eyes. The image of the fire pit, alive with flames on the night of their mating leapt from her memory. Deep reds and oranges. Long, fat flames, curled at the end. Random sparks as the wind pushed and pulled around it. She imagined the streams routing through her chest, held one hand out, palm up, and pushed.

Wind gusted. Flowerpots scattered along the patio, broken clay mingling with rich soil and crumpled petals.

Ludan raked the mess to one side with the side of his foot. “Not fire, but not bad for a first shot at air.”

Lexi wrinkled her nose at Eryx. “Sorry.”

He shrugged and patted her shoulder. “It’s your home now as much as mine. Just be sure to point away from the house.”

“Gotta say, the wind bit looked promising.” Ludan ambled out of the line of fire. “Kind of a ‘don’t piss off Mother Nature’ image.”

“But it’s air,” she whined.

“Hey. Don’t underestimate air.” Eryx squared her to the fire pit and leaned in tight. “Now try again.”

She screwed her eyes shut, and tried again, leaving the wind element out of her mental image. A fat stream of fire arched from her outstretched palm and landed short of the waiting pit. A sizable scorch crackled in what had been soft, green grass, and a cloud of smoke lingered above the sweet scent of fresh cut hay. Weird. She expected something more like a grass fire back home.

“Kinda lame.” Ludan’s gaze gleamed with a challenge.

Oh, she’d totally take that dare. No way was she leaving the boys to throw their muscle around without a little fight. Closing her eyes again, she recreated the landscape, targeted where she wanted the flame to go, and Eryx and Ludan’s positions.

Tiny threads wavered across the image. Gossamer and flitting in the wind, they seemed connected to Ludan and Eryx. Maybe a visual connection to their links?
Focus.
Think about that later.
She narrowed her mental aim on the pit, and pushed a visual stream of fire in its direction.

She opened her eyes and a fist-wide stream hit its target. “Yes!”

“Good.” Eryx hovered over her shoulder, his voice urgent. “Now, throw a stream all the way to the edge of the bluff. Do it now. Don’t think.”

Eyes open this time, she aimed far and poured every shred of focus into a narrow blaze.

Whoosh.

Not quite to the bluff’s edge, but close.

“It’s about as far as Galena can throw, which is saying something.” Ludan found his chair again and gave her a stern glare. “I think wind’s your thing though.”

“Eryx.” Ramsay dropped from the sky and shook the ground. Another man she’d never seen before landed shortly behind him. “We gotta talk. Jagger’s got news.”

Eryx released her and greeted the stranger with a warrior’s clasp at the forearms. “Jagger.”

The guy looked like he’d been birthed by the sun. Golden eyes, warm brown hair with honey strands at the top, and skin that glowed. You couldn’t call him pretty though, not with the pronounced slant of his cheeks and jawline. Fierce, like some avenging sun god.

Ramsay shifted, an uncustomary tension in his face.

Lexi waved them off. “Y’all go. I’ll practice.” Rather than give anyone time to argue, she faced the pit. Their voices rumbled behind her. Nurturing skills didn’t bother her, but doing anything average rankled. Surely she could find a way to make the stream stronger.

She drew the garden’s image, this time focused farther out. The ocean and the rainbow painted horizon.

The pale-white, nearly translucent strands wiggled for attention. Ludan, Ramsay, Eryx, Jagger. Each of them reached out—

Wait a minute. She wasn’t linked to Jagger. So why was it there? She angled toward the castle, eyes still closed, and found more strands, less defined than those nearby. A complex spider web pattern shooting out in all directions.

She faced the ocean again. Maybe she’d been doing it wrong. She reached out with mental fingers and touched those closest to her, channeled a vision of fire, and stretched out her palm.

“Holy shit.”

“That’s impressive.”

Ramsay and Jagger’s exclamations rang out behind her.

And man, were they right. She’d not only reached the bluff, but had thrown a stream of fire to make what Eryx had done at the Waffle House look like a softball.

Eryx came up behind her. “How’d you do that?”

Lexi glanced at a smirking Ludan, then back to Eryx. “I’m not entirely sure.” Not a complete untruth, but with the way everyone was looking at her, coming clean on what she’d done didn’t seem such a good idea.

Eryx draped his arm across her shoulders and tugged her tight to his side. “We’ll figure it out.” He kissed the top of her head and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Jag’s right though. It was damned impressive.”

“We need to follow up on this, Eryx,” Ramsay said. “If Jag’s right about the men he’s seeing in Asshur, we gotta follow it before Maxis can cover his tracks.”

She nudged Eryx in the ribs. “Go handle your business. I’ll stay here.” She noted the tight line of Ludan’s lips. “And take Ludan with you.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.” Eryx’s levity disappeared, replaced with the hard edge that usually got him what he wanted.

She had hard edges, too. Lots of them. “The castle’s guarded right? So, I’m safe. Take Ludan, figure out your business, and give me some time alone. I’m not used to being shadowed all the time. Makes me feel like I’m two.”

“We could use his input,” Ramsay said. “But we need to get a move on.”

Eryx tilted her face to meet his. “Promise you’ll stay here. And don’t leave the grounds. For anything.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Bad guys. Everywhere. Got it.” She waggled her eyebrows. “But I can fry ’em now from a decent distance.”

“Don’t get cocky, hellcat.” He kissed her forehead and headed for the waiting men. “And keep that blowtorch pointed away from the house.”