City of Everdark (Chronicles of Arcana Book 3) Read online

  “Yes. Problem is, she’s undefeated,” Gilbert reminded me.

  “Until now. If I beat her, I can force her to give Azren back.”

  “Hang on,” Noir said. “She always wins because she has five mates. She has five fountains of power to siphon from. Wila, this is suicide.”

  “Nope.” Quinn shook his head. “I root for the chick who busted me out of a maximum security facility. If anyone can do it, she can.”

  “Aha, so you admit I busted you out.”

  He responded with a grin.

  I stepped closer to Sebastian, my back brushing his chest, and his arms slid around my waist as if on autopilot. “Quinn’s right. I can do this.” I glanced at Sebastian because this concerned him too. Because we were one. “We can do this, right?”

  His brow was furrowed in a slight frown. He exhaled through his nose and closed his eyes. “We are powerful, Wila, but with her mates and her experience, Elora may have the upper hand.”

  My heart sank. “There has to be something we can do.”

  He smiled small and smug. “Oh, there is.” He tucked in his chin and looked down at me. “Together, you and I have boundless potential, but we can have more power to play with. All you need to do is take mates.”

  What? “Mates?”

  He gave me an indulgent smile. “It’s inevitable, Wila. We’re part dragon, and although I’m born of ether, you, the flesh and bone part of us, are female, and female dragons require more than one mate.”

  It made sense, it finally made sense. The need for more, the conviction that one lover wouldn’t be enough.

  “Your flesh and blood body doesn’t have the endurance to channel my ether power,” Seb explained. “But with Tay, Azren, and Valance mated to us, you’ll have access to my ether power.”

  “And what is ether power exactly?” Noir asked.

  Sebastian’s smile was a tad bit on the sadistic side—even, white teeth that seemed a little too sharp. “The ability to manipulate the elements themselves.”

  The heat of victory was already coursing through my veins. We could do this. We could win the games and liberate Azren. We could find the key, and we could strip Elora of her rule. Together we could do this.

  Gilbert had put on a feast to celebrate my being whole again, and to allow Seb to try a ton of different foods. Noir and Mack did a supermarket run, and the table was heaving with different dishes. By the end of the evening, Sebastian looked as if he was about to be sick. Quinn, on the other hand, would probably be able to give Azren a run for his money in the shoveling-food-into-your-mouth department. I couldn’t help but pile more food onto Seb’s plate. Seven years he’d been locked in the dark. Seven years of catching up to do. Taste and smell and touch. He’d be by my side now, forever by my side.

  Trevor had retired to the study, exhausted by the day’s events. A small, niggling part of my brain worried about him. He’d been sleeping a lot more recently. I’d have to speak to him about that soon. What if there was something wrong? Gilbert had gone with him, saying that he was going to look up information on the Triumph games to make sure we were prepared. Noir, Quinn, and Mack sat at the table sipping tea in silence and Sebastian’s eyelids had begun to droop. We could all do with some downtime.

  I clapped my hands to get their attention. “Okay, how about a wind-down TV session before bed?”

  Quinn perked up. “Wind-down, like season five of the slayer show?”

  “Not exactly a wind-down kind of show, but fuck it, yeah, why not?”

  He drained his cup. “Bring it. Those cheapskate liars at the facility can suck my balls.”

  Noir choked on his gulp of tea.

  Seb remained unmoved. “You want to watch television?” He shot me an incredulous look. “What about Elora? We need to start planning.”

  “And we will, first thing tomorrow after we’ve all had some rest. We’re no good to anyone if we burn ourselves out. We’re flesh and blood, remember?” It wasn’t meant as a slight, but the tightening of his lips told me he’d taken it as such. I sighed. “I’m tired, Seb.”

  His mouth softened a fraction and he nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Quinn was first out of his seat.

  Mack lingered. “Wila, can I have a quick word?”

  “Sure. Noir, can you set the DVD up?”

  “No problem.” Noir headed out, but Seb lingered, his arm brushing mine.

  I focused on Mack. “What’s wrong, babe?”

  “It’s Tay.”

  “Tay’s in Slumber, right?” I’d just assumed he was still dealing with the knell. It had only been three days on this side of the breach, so it hadn’t been a pressing issue to ask, but the look on Mack’s face had my spine tingling with apprehension. “Mack?”

  Mack pressed his lips together and exhaled through his nose. “Okay, you cannot freak out.”

  “Well, that’s just the perfect thing to say if you want someone to freak out.”

  He didn’t crack a smile. “Tay’s gone.”

  My heart plummeted. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

  “I mean he went into Slumber, and when he didn’t come back out, I went in after him and they blocked me.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The knell has him, Wila. I think they’re stopping him from coming back. I think they’re trying to force him to remain in the knell, and I have a feeling they’ll keep him there until he agrees to do what they want.”

  “I don’t understand. I thought it was okay to leave if you wanted.”

  Seb made a sound of exasperation. “Wila, come on, since when have you been so naive?”

  Mack glanced up at him, his lips turning down. “If she’s naive, then so am I. In fact, so are all the troll bloods. The laws are clear—there is no obligation to remain in the knell.”

  “And has anyone ever left before?” Seb asked coolly.

  Mack looked taken aback for a second. “Um. Actually, none that I know of.”

  “Naive,” Seb said shortly. “Well, we better add retrieving Taylem to our list of things to do. We’re going to need the troll blood in our fight against Elora just as much as we need Azren and Valance.”

  His matter-of-fact, dispassionate tone rankled. “That’s not why I’m going after him. I’m going after him because I fucking love him.”

  Seb flinched as if I’d slapped him, and then his eyes narrowed to lethal slits. “Trust me, Wila. If he wasn’t of use to us, if you didn’t have a deep connection with him, if he wasn’t more than a friend, then there’d be no way I’d be allowing you to expend your energy going after him. You love him, and therefore I have no choice but to love him. End of.”

  My pulse was pounding like crazy in my temples. “Fuck you, Seb. You do not get to tell me who I can and cannot save.”

  “Yes, I do, because it’s not just about you, Wila. It was never just about you. This—” He waved an index finger between us. “This is an us. It always has been. Your flesh and blood suit could get us both killed because there is no fucking me without you.”

  We faced off, chests heaving, and then he turned on his heel and strode out of the kitchen. I sagged against the doorframe.

  “You all right?” Mack asked tentatively.

  “It’s going to take some getting used to.” I blew out a breath and stood up straighter. “I’ll figure out a way to get Tay back, Mack. I promise.”

  Mack gently cupped my shoulders. “It’s not that easy, you can’t just wake him up. You could kill him.”

  My head ached from all the action and the revelation. My body was weary, needing to recharge, needing a moment. “First thing tomorrow, we’ll find a way to kick some knell butt.”

  He released me and looked at his shoes. “Wila, you will claim him, right? As one of your mates? Without the knell ... it won’t be easy for him. He’ll need you. All of you.”

  “I love him, Mack. I won’t let him down.”

  His shoulders relaxed. “In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He
dropped a kiss on my forehead and headed out of the kitchen. The front door opened and closed a moment later.

  In the lounge, I took the spot between Noir and Seb. Sebastian tensed as I sat down, and my instinct was to move away, to give him his space, but this was no normal situation, this was an ether-kindred issue, and no matter what, we were connected. There would be no running from this, from us. He was right, we belonged together. I’d take whatever he needed to dole out until he could move forward with me.

  The slayer came out to play onscreen, and I lost myself in the episode. Forty minutes later, as the credits rolled, Sebastian draped an arm around my shoulders and tugged me into his side. The knot in my chest eased as sunlight skipped across my arm and seeped into my skin, warming me, reminding me that even in the darkest hour, there was hope, there was light. I’d found the lost piece of my soul, and with his help, I’d gather the lost pieces of my heart.

  So much had happened in the past few hours. I’d escaped the Everdark, I’d been hurt and been healed and then met my psycho mother. I’d liberated a part of myself I’d forgotten existed, and yeah, it was time for a wind-down. A recess from the madness, because what was to come would be epic, and when the shit hit the fan, God help anyone who wasn’t in top form.

  Tomorrow we’d begin the final stretch of our journey. Tomorrow was the first day of the end of Elora’s rule.

  To be continued ...

  Wila’s adventure concludes in City of War, book 4 in the Chronicles of Arcana.

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  Chapter 1

  “Azren? Are you there? Can you hear me? What is this? Why the wall? Please don’t shut me out. I can hear your heartbeat. Why’s it beating so fast? Let me in! Just let me in, dammit!”

  My fingers scraped at the brick, talons coming out to claw and dislodge the cement holding it all together. The murmur of a voice drifted through the gap.

  This can’t be happening. I won’t let you. I won’t let you do this.

  An icy wind and an eternal darkness closed on my mind. “Azren?”

  Wila? No!

  The force of a phantom impact hit me in the solar plexus, sending me spiraling into an eternal night.

  I opened my eyes to find myself drowning in a turquoise sea. Seb blinked slowly, keeping his stunning gaze locked with mine. We’d slept together, just slept, curled up like we’d done so long ago before we’d been born. No dreams, no nightmares, just deep satisfying slumber ... Well almost.

  “He’s blocked us out,” Seb said softly. “I can’t get through either.”

  I closed my eyes. “Why is he doing this? Why won’t he speak to me?”

  “He’s protecting you from something. Hiding something.”

  A Salvador Dali clock appeared in my mind, the hands melted and dripping. No time. There was no time. But for the first time in my life, it felt like I’d actually slept. My body was energized, fizzing with potential, and my mind was crystal clear with the actions that we needed to take before the Triumph Games in order to bring Azren home and force Elora to her knees, and maybe take off her head, who knew?

  “Your inner monologue is strangely loud,” Sebastian drawled. His cinnamon breath tickled my senses and soothed the flutter of anxiety in my chest.

  “Then stop listening.” Despite the lingering disconcertion from the dream, I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips, because this felt so perfectly right, so absolutely normal.

  He was in bed with me. Right up close, legs entwined with mine, arm slung over my waist possessively, and groin pressed to ... whoa. Yeah, it seemed that even ether-beings got morning glory. My mouth was suddenly arid and heat blossomed in my lower abdomen.

  Sebastian leaned over me, his silver hair tousled from sleep. His intense gaze dropped to my lips. “You snore, did you know that?”

  “I do not.”

  “Do to.” He brushed his lips across mine. “You breathe.” He licked my bottom lip. “You squirm.” He kissed me lightly, teasingly, but the flex of his fingers against my hipbone spoke of restraint, it told me that the control was an act. “You’re alive, Wila. So alive and it’s impossible to drift while lying beside you.” He trailed kisses across my cheek and into the hollow of my neck, lingering with a flick of tongue and the scrape of teeth.

  My pulse raced, breath coming shallow and fast. “Seb, we should ... there’s stuff we have to ...” Shit. Where was my train of thought? Oh, yes, being torn to shreds by the press of his body, the heat of his mouth and the brush of his fingers across the tops of my breasts.

  “Do you want me to stop?” His voice was thick with desire and his pulse, beneath my fingers, echoed mine.

  No. No, I didn’t want to stop, but now wasn’t the time for this step, even though it felt inevitable, even though it felt as if we’d been waiting for it forever.

  I shifted beneath him, drawing a shuddering breath. “I really don’t want to stop, but we have to.”

  He pulled back and looked into my eyes, his pupils large and all encompassing. “Yes, I suppose we do.”

  He rolled away to lie on his back, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. This, being free, must be so weird for him. Was the stimulation too much? Was I expecting too much of him?

  He chuckled low and abrasive and then I was crushed to the mattress by the length of his powerful, lithe frame.

  “Nothing is too much for me, Wila.” His mouth claimed mine in a devouring kiss that sucked the air from my lungs. His hips settled between my thighs, and his arousal ground against me, sliding against the telling wetness in my panties.

  He broke the kiss, his breath ragged, tearing a moan of protest from my lips. Oh, God. I needed more, so much more. But he was pulling away, leaving me cold and bereft as he padded across the room, his body glowing with an inner light.

  “Oh, fuck, that was just mean.”

  Another chuckle. “You have no idea, Wila. No idea.”

  It was the simmering rage speaking again, the broken glass voice that wanted to tear at something. It was a cold bucket of water washing away the wanton heat.

  It was definitely time to get up and start the day.

  I was on my second cup of tea, and Seb was on his third when Noir and Quinn padded into the kitchen. Quinn was dressed in his usual black on black outfit with his feet bare, and Noir was sporting only his PJ bottoms and totally rocking the bare chest vibe.

  The testosterone in the room spiked.

  Trevor trotted into the room, paused to take in Noir’s bare torso, and then sniffed. “Do you have an aversion to shirts?”

  Gil snorted and then placed a plate of bacon on the table. The sleepy-head guys were suddenly all animation. Yeah, bacon had that effect on people, and the delicious, crispy bites were gone way too soon.

  Quinn sat back and patted his taut abdomen. “That was delicious, Gil. You truly are a maestro in the kitchen.”

  Gil was more than a maestro in the kitchen, more than my friendly paternal resident ghost, he was also a Draconi, and I needed to find out who he was and how the heck he’d ended up trapped in my house—the house Liana had asked Lex to buy for me. It was time to formulate a plan to get all the answers, to put an end to the mess Elora and Liana were planning to cause once and for all.

  Seb poured himself another cup of tea, and when I shot him a shocked glance, he shrugged.

  “It’s called making up for lost time,” he said lazily.

  Yeah, there was no arguing with the fact that there was no more time to lose. “Noir, can you take me back to Lex’s so we can pick up Valance?”

  “I called up and checked on him,” Noir said. “He’s not ready to be moved yet. Another day should do it, maybe this evening?”

  My skin itched, antsy. I needed my scalemate with me. Lex had helped Liana hide who I was all my life, and there was only so much trust I was willing to give him. “Are you sure he’s all right? Did you speak to him?”

  Noir smiled reassuringly. “Yes, Wila. I spoke to him. Lex won’t do anything to hurt Va
lance, in fact, from what he said, I got the impression he was severely regretting his part in hiding your identity.”

  “Bit late for that now.”

  “Maybe, but maybe he can be of some help? Liana seems a little ... fanatical.”

  “Pfft, that’s an understatement. I can’t believe he agrees with her, that he thinks all Draconi should be wiped out.”

  “He doesn’t,” a mellow voice piped up from the kitchen doorway.

  Leopold sauntered into the room, his body rippling beneath the skin-tight material of his all in one suit. Eyes up, Bastion. Eyes up. “You’re supposed to be watching Valance.”

  “Valance is fine. In fact, he sent me here to watch over you.”

  I rolled my eyes. Typical Valance.

  “What do you know about Lex’s views?” Sebastian asked the Other.

  Leopold tore his gaze from my face and fixed it on my ether kindred. “It’s good to finally meet you,” he said. “I’m sorry for the way you were treated.”

  Sebastian’s jaw flexed, and his eyes grew dark. His teacup clattered into its saucer. “No, you’re not. If you were sorry, you would have taken some action.”

  Leopold inclined his head. “Action is why I am here. I wish to ally myself with your cause. Liana’s thirst for revenge has warped her mind. I hoped and believed that once she was confronted with her daughter she might see the error of her ways, and that she may mellow and listen, but alas, it isn’t to be.”

  Seb’s jaw was ticking, his eyes dangerous slits of distrust.

  His doubt pierced me becoming my own. “How do I know you can be trusted?”

  Leopold blinked in surprise at the question. “How can you know?” He shook his head. “Haven’t I proven my loyalty time and time again?”

  Dammit, he was right. Liana had been more than pissed when she’d found out that Leopold, in the form of Hound, had been saving my ass. It was Seb’s suspicion clouding my mind, and I needed to shake it off.

  I locked gazes with my ether-kindred. “We can trust him. He saved my life several times.” I turned to Leopold. “I’m sorry. I’m just on edge, of course we’d love to have you on board.”