Jewel of Darkness (28 page)

“Yours didn’t go away,” she pointed out. Her breath caught as he ran a finger across her skin and began tracing the markings.

A surge of possessiveness rushed through him. “Do you need any more proof that you belong with me?” he asked, unable to keep the pleasure from his voice.

“It might not mean anything, Dalton.”

“Is that what you really believe?” His finger continued to trace the markings. He slowly began to feel the darkness rising again. He let out a harsh breath and reluctantly pulled her waist band back up and tugged her shirt down, covering her tempting flesh.

“No,” Jewel finally answered.

“Good.” He rose from the bed and held out a hand to her. Jewel hesitated. Dalton didn’t give her a chance to think on it. He leaned forward and took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“I’m going to let you get some sleep. I’ll be in my usual spot just outside your door. I expect tomorrow to be different then the past two days. I want you by my side. We can’t get to know each other better if we don’t spend any time together.”

He could see the resignation in her eyes. She was giving in. Thank goodness for that. Dalton was beginning to think he was going to have to tie her to him in order to keep her nearby.

Once he was out in the hall, he leaned his back against the wall and pressed his head into the hard surface. His eyes closed and the sight of her skin bearing his markings filled his mind. A slow smile formed on his lips. Perhaps Volcan hadn’t really been able to fully destroy the bond. Just maybe the fact the markings were still on both of them was proof that they were still bound to one another. Dalton felt lighter than he had in weeks. His wolf was in heaven knowing that their mate bore their markings.
I told you she was ours,
his beast growled at him. The man conceded to the wolf. He quickly stripped and phased to his wolf form and as he tucked himself on the floor against the door that separated him. Both he and his beast felt a contentment flow over them that hadn’t been there since the bond had been stripped away.

Ours,
his beast rumbled again.

Always,
the man agreed.

J
ewel watched as Dalton left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. She was a tad shell shocked. She didn’t know what had happened. First, she’d been determined to keep distance between them, and then the next thing she knew she was caving to his every whim. She’d let things go too far when they kissed and had watched as the magic Volcan cast began to work. But what could she do? The damn stubborn wolf was going to do as he pleased, and it’s not like Jewel could do anything to stop him. She’d just have to try and be more careful. Dalton had told her that he wanted her by his side, and that was exactly where she wanted to be and would be. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t set some boundaries for them in order to keep him safe.

Jewel readied herself for bed, brushing her teeth and hair. Then she crawled in between the warmth of the sheets. Her eyes drifted closed and her mind was filled of thoughts about Dalton, Volcan, and what was to become of them all. As sleep pulled her under, she swore she could hear the evil fae whispering in her ear something about one of the other healers and sharing the gift he’d given her. Jewel gave up trying to understand what he was saying and decided it had to be a figment of her imagination. She knew that post-traumatic stress disorder was a common occurrence for people who’d been through very horrible experiences, and they could hallucinate as a result, so she chalked it up to that and fell into a deep slumber.

A
nna rubbed her arms as she stood at the entrance to Adira’s home. Her skin was tingly with the anticipation that something was coming. At first, she thought it was the wolf who would be her mate, eventually. But as the feeling grew more and more ominous, she knew it wasn’t him.

“Everything okay?” Adira asked from behind her.

Anna turned slightly so she could see the pixie but still see out as well. “I just can’t shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

“Have you ever had premonitions before?”

Anna shrugged. “I wouldn’t call them premonitions. I mean, I’ve had feelings when something big was going happen. I don’t really know how to explain it. Like there was this time when I just knew something was going to happen to the business across the street from our shop. Every time I looked at it I would get this sick feeling. Sure enough, three days later it burned. The fire department was able to save some of it, but they suffered considerable loss. I felt like I should have warned them somehow. But how do you tell someone, hey, something bad is going to happen to you? People would look at me like I was crazy. So I just kept my mouth shut.”

“Did you ever tell your mom about it?” Adira asked.

“Once,” Anna said and smiled. “She, of course, claimed it was my gypsy blood. At the time I thought
she
was crazy.”

Adira stepped up next to her and looked out into the forest. Anna glanced down at the woman and wondered why she didn’t fly more. If she’d had wings, Anna would have been flying everywhere. She didn’t want to offend Adira so she kept her question to herself.

“Of all the people to show up here,” the pixie suddenly growled.

Anna followed her gaze and saw a male pixie flying toward them. He held out his hands in a pleading gesture. “Wait, Adira. Please I have important news,” the male begged as he dropped to the ground in front of them.

“Ciesel, why does your face look like that?”

That was when Anna realized that this was the king’s brother. And his face was back to normal.

“I found someone who could help. But before you curse me again,” he hurried. “I’m here to try and redeem myself. Jewel has been released by Volcan.”

Anna’s heart pounded in her chest. “What?” she breathed out. “Is she okay?”

Ciesel nodded at her but his eyes were wide as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was saying was true.

“So can we leave?”

“That’s what I’m here to tell you. Adira is supposed to take you back to Peri’s realm. They need all the healers back together,” he explained.

Anna was both excited and afraid. She wanted to see everyone again, but she knew that it probably meant meeting
him
as well. She let out a resigned sigh. It wasn’t like she could hide from him forever.

Adira’s eyes narrowed on the male. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

“Do you think I’m dumb enough to stir your ire again?” Ciesel asked her.

Adira seemed to think about it for a moment before finally shaking her head. “I would hope you aren’t that dumb.” She then looked up at Anna. “Do you think we should go back to your group first or go straight to Peri’s?”

“The group has already left,” Ciesel quickly added. “That’s why they sent me to tell you.”

“Why didn’t one of the fae just flash here?” Anna asked.

“They apparently have a lead on where Volcan is hiding, and so the fae all jumped to there.”

Ciesel’s explanation was valid, but at the same time Anna felt like it was somehow off. But she wanted to see Jewel, so she’d just have to take her chances with the information Ciesel was giving them.

“We need to go,” Anna told Adira. “Regardless of whether everything he says is true or not. I need to see Jewel.”

“Is this one of those feelings again?” the pixie woman asked.

Anna thought about it. Was it a feeling or did she just really want to see that her friend was okay? “Honestly, I don’t know.”

Adira nodded. “Sometimes we just have to act on faith. Let’s be off then.”

Anna followed her out of the shelter of her home and into the forest. This time, Anna noted, Adira was flying.

The pixie paused and looked back to Ciesel, who stood just outside the entry to her home. “After you informed us that Anna was to return to Farie, what were your orders?”

Anna thought it a peculiar question, but then figured Adira had her reasons for asking.

Ciesel motioned back toward the direction that Anna had come from when she’d followed Adira home. “I’m to report back to my brother.”

Adira stared at him a few seconds more before saying, “I really hope you aren’t lying to me.” Then she turned and started off again.

Anna quickened her pace to keep up with the pixie. Neither of them spoke. Anna was too busy worrying about Jewel and the possibility of meeting her future mate. It was becoming less and less odd to think of him that way ― as her mate, not her boyfriend or husband. She wondered why that was. Perhaps, she was becoming more acceptant of it than she realized. She still had reservations and fears, but maybe they could move slowly, like a snail’s pace slow.

“You’re going to have to keep up or we won’t get there until next week,” Adira called out.

Anna’s attention snapped back to the present and she realized that she had slowed to a near crawl. “Sorry, just thinking about some things.”

“Well think faster, and then maybe your feet will move quicker.”

“Thanks for the suggestion,” Anna retorted dryly. She picked up her pace, pushing away all her worries and focused on getting back to Peri’s house as quickly as they could. Her stomach suddenly dropped at the thought of being back at the fae’s home. She was definitely having a feeling this time and the feeling was telling her that whatever waited for her in Farie was extremely dangerous.

G
ustavo surged to his feet as he felt the pull of the mate bond being stretched. It grew less and less until she was just an ache in his gut again.

“She’s gone,” he growled.

“What? Who’s gone?” Adam asked as he too stood up.

“Anna,” he said through clenched teeth. “She’s not in this realm any longer.”

“How can you tell?” Kara asked.

“I can feel her distance through our bond. It feels like it did when I was at Peri’s home and she was here.”

“Where could she possibly be going?” Crina wondered out loud.

“Do you think something’s happened to her? Like someone’s taken her?” Stella spoke up next.

Gustavo considered the question but then shook his head. “I didn’t feel any alarm from her. If she’d been in danger I would have felt it. Her fear would have been strong enough to come through the bond on its own.”

“Why on earth would she just suddenly decide to leave? And not even tell us?” Heather asked.

“Maybe she knows something we don’t,” Stella pointed out.

“Can you flash to Peri’s?” Gustavo turned to Adam. His wolf was growing impatient with all the talk, wanting some action.

Adam nodded. He looked at his mate. “Should I take all of you?”

Gustavo let out a low growl and he was sure his wolf was peering out of his eyes. “There is no time for discussion. Please just flash us there. You can come back for the others.”

Crina gave her mate a slight nod. “Grab on,” Adam told him as he held out his arm.

Gustavo took the offered arm. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly in an attempt to get his wolf under control. He didn’t want the first thing Anna to see when she met him to be his agitated beast. After several heartbeats, he opened his eyes and saw all of the same eyes that had been staring at him still there. “Why are we still in the pixie realm?” he snapped as he looked over at the fae.

Adam’s eyes were wide. “I don’t get it. I’m trying, but it’s like there is a barrier. I can’t force my magic through it and therefore I can’t flash.”