Chapter Nine
Tangled Webs
The first touch of his lips was hard and rough, almost frantic in its intensity. I felt him suck in a harsh breath and with it he seemed to grow taller, until he towered over me. And yes it was true Aranu towered over me all of the time, though not by much.
But I didn't usually feel it quite like I did right now. His mouth moved over mine before he pulled back and stared down at me. He was everywhere, or at least he seemed to be. Even though he surrounded me, the old familiar urge to run didn't rear its ugly head. Self-preservation was the last thing on my mind, because somewhere in the deepest recesses-the part of my body that remained grounded even while the rest of me began to feel heady and just a little bit strange-I recognized that I had nothing to fear from Aranu.
So it never occurred to me to flee into the night and the cover of darkness, because at that moment, Aranu was my refuge from the shadows. We were banded together in those shadows. Instead of running from them, for the first time in months I wasn't watching my back and I didn't feel afraid. Aranu had one thickly muscled arm around my neck and the other encircled my waist, just below the middle of my back. One hand cupped the back of my head, urging me forward until I was tucked close to his chest and sheltered in the crook of his neck and shoulder.
My hands rested on the wide expense of chest in front of me and I stared, wide-eyed in the dark, barely able to see his eyes. It didn't matter. I felt him staring back with an intensity that stole my breath and all but robbed me of the ability to think clearly. Because this was Aranu and I knew him but all of a sudden not as well as I'd once thought and not nearly enough.
Never enough. In a trance, I stood on the tips of my toes and closed the remaining gap between our bodies. He stood rigidly still while my lips brushed his chin and moved up a little higher to explore the hardness of his mouth.
Abruptly, his control snapped and I found myself snatched even deeper into his heat. It was an entirely new sensation, this being cut off from everything around us.
Aranu surrounded me until the world beyond his chest and shoulders, beyond his breath mingling with my own?just went away. Instead of night sky and deepening shadows, my eyes found smooth, spiky lashes and bronze skin. My hands searched and found smooth muscle instead of rough plank. I didn't guard my back or think of days that were long gone and lost to me now. Together, we wove a bit of magic in the middle of the black night, our own snug bubble where we held the rest of the world at bay.
I clutched handfuls of his tunic and pressed closer, and my hair became a thick onyx curtain when he tugged the strands free of their confining leather band. His fingers grew restless and he stroked the side of my face with the pad of his thumb.
"Ari?" he whispered raggedly.
A loud, exaggerated cough sounded behind us, close behind us. Aranu tensed before he looked up, grimaced, and let his forehead rest against mine.
My entire body froze. I immediately knew the identity of the throat-clearer. Mike.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said, not sounding at all remorseful. "But Megan just went into labor and she's asking for you."
My fingers knotted in the leather of Aranu's tunic. He was still breathing heavily. The taste of him was fresh on my whirling senses and it took a minute for Mike's urgent words to break through and make sense. "Your sister?the baby's coming now?" I released Aranu and faced Mike with no small degree of shame.
"Yes." He nodded, refusing to look at me. "Claire sent me to find you and ask if you'll come to the hospital."
Guilt and confusion were creeping along the edges of my world in a steady torrent now.
"Yes, of course I'll go," I said, unable to meet either man's eye.
"I'll go with you."
I glanced awkwardly at Aranu before answering Mike. "That's not necessary. I can make it to the hospital without your assistance."
"But I can't," he admitted. "I don't know where it is and everyone else has already left with Megan."
"Oh." Both men were staring at me now, waiting for my answer and I felt my face heat. I didn't want to be the center of attention. I didn't want to be alone with Mike. I didn't even want to be alone with Aranu now that the spell was broken and reality had intruded once more.
But I was afraid if I didn't speak up and take charge of this situation it would quickly deteriorate into conflict, or worse, one or both men would decide we should all go. I cringed at the thought of Aranu and Mike walking through the woods, one on each side of me, and knew that as much as I didn't want to be alone with either of them at the moment, the thought of being alone with both of them together was even worse.
"Fine. Let's go," I told Mike.
He glanced at Aranu before saying a cool, polite, "Fine," and turning away to start out for the path in the woods that led back toward the mansion on the hill.
Aranu's steady gaze cut back to me. What was I supposed to say to him? It was difficult to answer that question, so I gathered my hair into a loose knot at the back of my head and made quick work of securing the smooth black strands with the leather band.
"I think we need to talk later. After?" I gestured toward the path. "I have to go," I finished lamely.
"I'll find you later." He shrugged, sounding casual and looking anything but.
He was angry, that much was obvious, but there wasn't anything I could do about it now. The situation with Megan was urgent and besides, I had no idea where to even begin when it came to having a heart-to-heart with Aranu-or Mike.
"Go." Aranu turned on his heel and began to stride toward the fence.
"Aranu!" I called, clenching my hands into fists as I watched him vault easily over the top rail. On the other side, he paused and even in the dark there was no missing his cocky stance. The dusky gold of the fence's light illuminated his face enough so that I could just make out the faintly amused twist of his lips, the raised eyebrow. I forced my fingers to unclench. "The Lahuel might still be out there," I called.
He nodded and in the next second he was loping easily through the forest, his steps carrying him away from me and our shattered bubble.
"Be careful," I whispered, watching him go.
I stood there for long moments after he'd gone. I would have liked to jump the fence and go home, to my silent solitude and my own bed. Which obviously wasn't happening tonight. Great. I smoothed an unsteady hand over my hair and glanced to the space Mike had just vacated. Wonderful. My head swiveled until I once again stood staring at the path where Aranu had stood. Aranu. What in the hell had I just done? No, wait, I corrected, it hadn't been me at all. What had he just done? Only, it had been me, too, a little voice inside my head whispered and I cringed at the truth of that statement. Dumb bitch Aries chose that moment to rear her unwanted head and insist it wasn't all that surprising, Aranu kissing me, or me liking it. A lot. Damn.
"Aries. Are you coming or not?"
I spun around, dismayed I hadn't heard Mike approaching. This was the kind of distraction I couldn't afford. And oh, yes, one look at his angry, shuttered face told me that Mike was going to spend the rest of the night breaking my concentration. I needed some down time, damn it. Even just a few minutes alone in a quiet place so that I could put my scattered thoughts into something resembling order. Another quick glance at Mike's terse expression told me to keep dreaming. And why not? Yes, I was rattled, but had anything changed tonight?
No, I reasoned grimly, mentally gagging dumb bitch Aries. The world hadn't really shifted this evening, so what was there to figure out? Romance was still off limits, to me, anyway, and what I used to have with Mike was still a long-dead memory. All the glowering looks and posturing from him wouldn't change that.
And all the overbearing, He-Man, kiss-me-now crap from Aranu wouldn't change anything either. My eyes shifted back to Mike and I glared at him. Maybe it was about time they learned that?
"I said I would go, didn't I? Follow me, we'll head back to the house and take one of th
e cars."
"I've already got a car. It's on the side of the gravel road, just before the turn off."
"Fine." Of course he hadn't walked here. Why would he have left the cars at the house to find me on foot?
"Aries, stop for a minute."
"I thought you wanted to get to the hospital."
He exhaled. "I do-in a minute."
"Megan," I reminded him.
"Wait." His hand closed around the upper part of my arm as I made to pass him. "We're going to talk. Now. And I don't care if you stab me, or throw me again, dammit stop!"
I drew back my leg to kick him again, then paused. Behind us, a branch snapped and leaves crunched and an eerie chill swept over the back of my neck. I couldn't shake the sensation of being watched. "Not here," I said, turning my head back to Mike.
"I said-what?" He stopped. Clearly he'd been expecting me to argue some more.
"Let go of my damn arm," I snapped, "and walk. We'll talk on the way to the car," I informed him, shrugging him off easily now and stalking away from the clearing without a backward glance. Mike fell into step beside me a second later.
"So that's him," he observed, going for casual and falling flat. He sounded bitter, angry.
"Aranu?"
"Aranu," he repeated, frowning. "That's different."
"I thought you liked all things unusual."
"Not this time."
"Oh, come on." I laughed, harsh. "You're the perpetual explorer, right?"
"Is that what this is about?" He came to a halt, one hand shooting out to stop me, too. "I had no choice but to leave with Claire and Ashley. Damn it, Aries, we were under attack. It was use the portal or stay and be killed. How long are you going to hold that over my head?"
"First of all, if you don't stop doing that, I'm going to kill you myself." My bicep tensed under his hand and he released me a second later. "And how dare you come back here and assume me kissing another man is some ploy to punish you for something that happened almost two years ago. You can't possibly be that conceited." Then again, he was a man.
"Mark forgave Claire for leaving. He understood."
"Oh, I understand, all right." I shoved my face close to his. "It took me a while, but finally I understood that you didn't give a damn about me, not like I cared for you, anyway."
"That's bullshit!" he raged, nose-to-nose with me now.
"It's the truth!" I shouted back, abruptly shoving him a few paces back. "You think I don't understand why you and Claire and Ash had to go through the portal and escape? I do. I got it the minute Claire explained a year later, when she came back. Key words, Mike-Claire explained it, a year later. She came back. You didn't. You didn't even bother to give her a damn message to pass along to me." I threw the words at him, carelessly opening the old wounds and, for once, not stopping to worry over who saw them.
"I never forgot about you!"
"You didn't have to leave the first time."
"The first time?" He frowned, some of his anger appearing to lose steam.
"You don't even remember, do you?" I snorted, shaking my head and raising my eyes to the tree tops. "I asked you to stay. The morning you left the dome." I pressed on before he could speak. "You said you had to go, that there was something you just had to do. But you wouldn't trust me with what that something was, and you never came back. Yes, I know why you didn't come back," I said, holding up a hand when his face darkened and he opened his mouth. "But it doesn't change a damn thing, Mike. What it comes down to is this: adventure, a thrill, was more important than me. And you sure as hell didn't hurry back once you were able, did you?" I shook my head. "I would have gone with you," I said, quieter now.
"And now?" He took a shaky breath and abruptly shoved his hands deep into his pockets.
Slowly, I shook my head, let my gaze rest on his face. "No. Anyway, I have nothing left to give."
"Shouldn't I be the judge of that?"
I shrugged but remained silent. Leave it to a man to come up with something like that.
"It's because of him, isn't it?" Mike asked after several moments had ticked by.
"No," I finally answered, sorely tempted to keep my mouth shut and let him sweat it out. But I had no desire to hurt Mike, not anymore. There was no use in prolonging the discussion. It was long past time to get everything out in the open. "And there is no him, not like you mean."
"Really."
"Yes, really." My chin came up a notch.
"Did you somehow forget that ten minutes ago I walked up on the two of you kissing. And don't tell me he kissed you and not the other way around. I've got eyes. You weren't exactly fighting him off."
"Fine. I kissed him back. Are you happy now?"
"Hell, no."
"Aranu is just? We were under stress back there and it was?stress," I finished, cringing a little inside. Even to my own ears, it sounded pathetic. Mike snorted and my eyes narrowed. "Not that it's any of your business, but it's not like that with Aranu. He and I grew up together. He's-" I shut my mouth, having been about to make the claim of Aranu being like family. No, that wasn't quite right. Once more, I felt the lines of my world begin to blur and fought like hell to regain control. "We used to play together, as kids. He's always been there," I explained.
"He cares about you."
"Not like that," I argued.
"Exactly like that." Mike ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "I'm too late, then, right? That's it."
"You're months too late and it has nothing to do with Aranu."
He was silent for what felt like a long time. But for all his other faults, Mike had always been sharp. I saw it in his eyes, the exact moment when he put all the pieces together and the light finally dawned.
"Then it has something to do with why you've changed," he correctly surmised. "When I first came back here, I thought the war had become so bad, the army needed all the able-bodied men and women it could get to fight. But none of the other nymphs are fighting, are they?" He cocked his head to the side and regarded me thoughtfully. "The sprites, yes, regular women, yes, a few-that I've seen, anyway-but other nymphs? No. Not like you, at least. And they don't command any of the male warriors. They don't fight hand-to-hand, either."
"Who told you all that?"
"Mark. He was trying to convince me to quit worrying about you so much. So, is it true?"
"Yes."
"Why?" The single, softly spoken word seemed to echo around us.
"Because I'm needed."
"But that's not the only reason, is it?"
I wished he'd stop staring at me. He wouldn't, of course, so I turned to the side, taking up our trek and walking in silence. Mike fell into step beside me. The moment I'd spent months secretly dreading was finally here. When the trees thinned and dirt met gravel, I paused and took a deep breath, faced him.
"No, that isn't the only reason I fight. When Claire came to Terlain to find you, she was led to the dome and that's where she and I first met. Some of the other nymphs and I agreed to take her as far as the border. At that time, most of the area was protected. Some of it wasn't, even then, but still, violence wasn't that common. We all knew to be careful, but?we weren't alert enough."
"What happened?" Mike demanded.
"Claire and I were abducted by the guards." I watched the blood drain from Mike's face and I remembered that he'd also been abducted by Kahn's guards, so he knew exactly how brutal they were capable of being.
"Oh, my God," he breathed, reaching for me in the next breath.
"Don't." I backed up a step and held out my hand. "I don't want your pity, Mike. And I damn sure don't need it."
"They hurt you."
"Claire tricked the guards and helped me escape." I shook my head as I thought back to that day. "I knew we were more or less doomed, at least, for the moment, but Claire had spent all afternoon plotting and planning our escape. She never told me what she was going to do. When we were being moved, she created a distraction and shoved me, tol
d me to run, and then she threw herself into the guard that was with us. There wasn't time to talk her out of it, or grab her. They had her in an instant, so I ran. I tried to send help, but by the time I'd recovered enough to tell anyone what happened and where we'd been held, she was gone. Bob found her at the auction and I guess you probably know what happened after that."
"Jesus, Ari," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his eyes.
"There's the car." I took a breath and pointed to the metallic green shimmer at the side of the road. "Megan will be wondering where we're at, let's go."
"Wait! You can't just tell me something like that and then-"
"Walk away?"
"Well, yeah. Jesus, Ari," he repeated. "Are you?okay?"
"I am now. Give me the keys, I'll drive."
"Here. What did you mean by recover?" he demanded, climbing in beside me and clicking his seatbelt into place as I revved the engine to life. The dash light cast the sleek black interior in a neon blue glow and I swung onto the narrow gravel lane, executing a neat three-point turn and heading back the way Mike had come.
"I fell into a river and ended up getting a fever."
"Did Claire?did they-" he broke off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him knot his hands in his lap. "They didn't rape her."
"God." He hung his head, then glanced at me with an unreadable expression in his eyes. I watched his throat work as he stared fixedly out the passenger side window a second later.
The car was silent except for the clicking of the turn signal as I steered us onto the main road that would take us to the hospital.
"What happened after you fell into the water? How did you make it home?"
"I didn't. I blacked out next to the water. Aranu found me and took me back to his camp."
"I see."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Light from a passing streetlamp tracked across his face and I could see that he was scowling.
"Nothing."
"The hospital is just up ahead."
"Great."
We drove the rest of the way in silence, but I was hyper aware of Mike practically radiating tension beside me. I parked beneath a giant, lit-up white sign with the word Emergency in blue lettering. It was another three or four seconds before I could no longer stand the silence.
"Okay. What?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, staring morosely out the window.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing. Not one damn thing. Everything is just great."
"Really. Well, good, then I suppose you can quit stalking me after tonight. And you can damn sure quit grabbing me every time we run into each other. It's getting old."
His head whipped around then, and he gaped at me. "Stalk you? I've been trying to talk to you ever since I got back."
"Well, now we've talked."
"Yeah," he snorted. "Excuse me if I need a minute after our talk, tonight. You kind of threw me for a loop."
"I did what?"
He shook his head and sighed, his mouth still a tight, grim line. "None of this is what I expected. Hell, I don't know what I really expected. My sister's husband ran off on her and she's a walking ghost. I'm pretty sure the same hitman who tried to off my other sister, is in love Megan. My parents are shell-shocked. And you?" He closed his mouth.
I folded my arms over my chest. "Go on," I said evenly, my eyes flashing a warning that he evidently decided to ignore.
"You've moved on, and everything is different now. You're different."
His words shouldn't have cut so deep, but they did. "Sorry to disappoint you." I slapped the key onto the dash and shoved my way out of the car. The slam of metal on metal echoed once, then twice through the otherwise peaceful night. Then Mike was stalking beside me to the entrance. I cooled my heels while we waited to be buzzed in.
"I'm sorry, but the girl I remember was gentle and full of life. She wove light into flowers and she smiled. A lot."
"Hm." I grunted and tapped a boot against the concrete.
"Just forget it, Aries."
"Finally, he gets it," I muttered, sending a fierce scowl his way.
"Yeah, I get it. That doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Then please do me a damn favor and not like it quietly," I snapped, sick and damn tired of hearing that line.
"You want me to be quiet?" he demanded hotly. "Because I can be quiet."
"So can I," I shot back.
The door buzzed and we strode through the double doors, gave Megan's name at the desk, and were directed to the third floor.
"Hey, you made it!" Claire met us at the door to room 308, throwing her arms around Mike and me so that we were momentarily shoved together.
We tensed and Claire pulled back, a concerned expression lighting her eyes. "Uh, is everything okay?"
"Fine," we answered together, then frowned.
"Okay. Right." Claire drew out the second word and stood aside to let us pass. "Megan, Mike and Aries are here."
"Hello, Megan." I walked into the dimly lit room, nodded to Mark and Mr. Roberts, who stood together beside the room's only window. Mrs. Roberts and Carl occupied chairs on either side of the narrow but comfortable-looking hospital bed. Mrs. Roberts' mouth was set in a thin line and she nodded at me. Her gaze hardened when she looked at Carl.
Carl leaned back, removing his arms from the wood-and-chrome bed railing and scooting over so I could lean down and hug Megan.
"Aries, you came." She smiled, looking flushed and a little tired but overall much improved over the last time I'd seen her.
"Of course I came. How are you feeling?"
"Nervous?" She laughed a little. "Grateful everybody is here with me."
"Well, I was pleasantly surprised when Mike said you'd asked for me." I squeezed her hand, easing into Carl's chair when he stood and offered it to me. I ducked my head and hid a smile when I noticed that he didn't leave Megan's bedside. Instead of taking up a spot with Mark and Mr. Roberts, he simply stood at the end of the bed. Behind us, I could practically feel Claire's glare on our backs; she wouldn't be happy-at all-that Carl was glued to Megan like this. I thought it was kind of sweet.
"You're my first friend here," Megan was saying. "Thanks again for coming."
"I wouldn't miss it," I said, smiling down at her. "This will be a team effort."
She seemed to consider that for a moment. "I like the sound of that." She finally nodded, darting a covert glance at Carl. Her eyes met mine and I nodded. She smiled then, and I laughed, feeling some of my earlier tension drain away.