15. Cadmus

"Hell. Not now." I threw up a protective shield around us both and pushed Ellie behind me.

Within moments, I felt oppressive sorcery sucking at my energy.

"Ellie, focus on your father and teleport to him right now." I gritted my teeth and transferred what power I could still control into Ellie's shield. Damn, Lexa aggravated the hell out of me. I'd just had utter bliss with Ellie. And now the memory of it would be tainted by a Dark Lord.

"I'm not leaving you."

Fuck. I didn't want her anywhere near Lexa Van Norsen. At least Ethim would protect Ellie from harm. I couldn't fully trust Lexa. But how to get Ellie out of here? The stubborn woman would no doubt rather be killed trying to make a point.

"Fine." An idea sparked. "Teleport out of here and bring help back with you. Find your father. Don't let us both get trapped here. Quickly, before she arrives."

Ellie frowned. "She? But who?—"

"Ellie, go. I can't hold your shield much longer."

Finally noticing the strain on my face, she paled and backed up a step. "Okay. But I'll be right back."

I nodded, relieved when she shimmered away. Her father wouldn't let her return. Likely, Lexa had a score to settle. I'd blasted Jonas, her favorite lackey. Not to mention I'd just tainted Ellie, a daughter of Darkness, with the carnal delights of a boorish Light Bringer. No sense in trying to bullshit my way out of this one.

"Ah, the Earth Lord finally learns to accept responsibility. How noble. At least one of you dreadful Light Bringers has a shred of redemption." Lexa glimmered into form a few steps to my left, her ice-blue eyes predatory as they studied me.

She wore a body-hugging dark-purple tunic over black leather pants and knee-high black boots. Her garb blended into the darkening horizon of Foreia's sky. If not for her pale skin, I would have thought her a shadow within the trees.

I rolled my eyes, knowing it would piss her off. "The queen of laughter and light, Lexa Van Norsen. What a surprise."

"We never finished our last lesson." She ignored my taunt, and I strove to try harder. She was almost as much fun to rile as Marcus. "It would do you well to shield your thoughts the way I taught you. Likening me to your brother is no way to get on my good side. I do believe our next lesson might leave scars." She smiled, her teeth white, her grin feral.

Masking the dread bottoming out in my stomach, I clenched my will tight and grudgingly called on that odd Darkness within me to shield my thoughts, strengthening my resolve with bands of Light.

"Impressive." She circled around me.

I forced myself not to turn with her. "What now?"

What happened next shocked the hell out of me. As quick as lightning, she laid a hand on my cheek. Pain, the likes of which I'd never felt, reached into me and grabbed hold. Ice speared through my soul, bone deep and dark.

"Don't ever, ever forget who is in charge, here, Cadmus. Despite your reason for being, the rules are, and ever have been, mine. Do you understand?"

My first instinct was to argue and fight her control. But that wouldn't save Ellie or Tanselm. I could feel Lexa pulling the life from my body. I could submit and fight another day or hang onto my pride and die for no good reason. Reluctantly, I nodded.

The pain disappeared, and I sank to my knees.

"Good. Now that we have that unpleasantness out of the way, why don't you tell me about Ethim's daughter, your lovely affai?"

Fear magnified my weakness, turning me inside out. By the Light's fucking blaze. How did she know what I'd just acknowledged to myself?

My eyes narrowed. I'd pledged to protect Ellie from danger. If I had to die to ensure her safety, so be it. "You even think about screwing with Ellie, and I'll kill you." Rage gave me strength, and I stood on shaky legs, preparing to do her real harm.

"You would certainly try, I'm sure." She laughed, the charming sound making me blink in confusion. For someone so Dark, so seemingly evil, Lexa could at turns be extremely enticing. Right now she resembled an innocent young woman, lovely in face and form.

Though she was almost petite, her body curved in all the right places. Long black hair accented the paleness of her skin, and her startlingly light-blue eyes enthralled with a glance. Such a sweet mouth…

But no. I didn't love Lexa. A picture of Ellie filled my mind and clearing my erotic daze.

Lexa shot me a sly grin. She'd tried to turn me from my affai. Fucking Dark Lords. But I forced myself to smile, my inner shields tight.

"Damn, Lexa. If I'd known how hard up you are for a man, I'd have brought my uncle with me."

It was subtle, but she flinched. I'd only guessed before that she and Arim had been emotionally involved, but now I knew I'd been right. She quickly masked her distress, and I felt a hint of remorse for having wounded her.

How strange was that?

"Very good, Cadmus. Like Arim, you have an instinctive ability to pierce an opponent's weakest point."

Surprised to hear her admit any vulnerability, I realized my small victory stung more than it should. My interactions with Lexa had always cast her in the role of the villain, a strong and crafty opponent not to be trusted. But as she stood so still before me, I saw in her a woman who'd been hurt in the past.

Images flashed, of Lexa and Arim laughing and holding hands, of their shared kiss and deep well of affection. Flickers of innocence, of the timeless bond of young love before age tore innocence apart. And then a woman's body, covered in blood, her throat slashed, her entrails covering a stone floor. More bodies, these of a man, and worse, a young child, denied the joys life would have provided. Lexa's horror, Arim's anger. Harsh words and heart-rendering pain…years passing…

"You never really knew me." Lexa's eyes flashed. "And you never will."

She pierced Arim's shoulder with a bolt of blue flame as they battled against Tanselm's dark, starry sky. Atop the northern castle's eastern wall, Lexa danced and flowed with the wind, her Dark energy seething as she trapped Arim in a binding so tight his essence began to blend with the night.

Arim's eyes rolled back in his head, and I feared him dead. Then, in the next breath, Sin Garu appeared wreathed in smiles, his teeth canine-sharp, his white-blond hair waving in the brewing storm.

"Sister mine, perhaps I was wrong about you."

Lexa stared at her brother, her features in shadow as the clouds suddenly covered the moon. "You're late."

"Ah, but I brought along some entertainment."

He tugged on a rope, and suddenly, three wraiths appeared, creatures like the ones Jonas and I had battled in Ellie's apartment. The creatures held something between us.

"Arim, wake up. I'd like you to watch as the Dark swallows what you prize most dear."

In their arms I lay, blood covering my body.

"Let him go," Ellie commanded in a deep voice from behind us. Her hair shimmered like lightning as she flashed in truth. Yet within her gaze, Arim's stare shone bright with fury.

My head hurt, and I was so confused. I'd seen the past and the future? Or was Lexa fucking with my mind?

"Cadmus?" Lexa stared at me with concern. "What is it? What did you see?"

I gritted my teeth and clenched the hair at my temples, blindsided by this unexpected and unwelcome vision—because that's what it was. I forced myself to gain control.

"Blood, senseless death, you and my uncle, but many, many years ago." I tried to see her through tears of pain but couldn't see more than her blurred image. She reached out a hand, and I recoiled instinctively.

"Easy." She touched my forehead. Instead of the hurt I'd come to associate with Lexa, gentle ease flushed my pain, providing a strength and fortitude I'd been missing of late. "Now tell me again what you saw."

I repeated my vision, up until the last few frames. At my pause, she frowned.

"Continue."

"And then, Dark Mistress, I watched you wound and prepare my uncle for the torture and amusement of your dear brother, Sin Garu."

Her start of fear surprised me. But anger soon replaced it. "Go on."

"I was near death in the claws of Sin Garu's new hybrid-wraith creatures."

"He calls them his wraintu. A combination of wraith and forli, one of the more vicious Shadren and a cousin to the Nocumat."

Nocumat.It figured. That explained how one of the hybrids had been able to launch a Nocumatat me fromwithin itself.

"Yes, well, the next thing I know, Ellie's growling a warning at the Dark Lord, and she's not herself."

"Meaning?"

"I don't know. She's Ellie, but I'd swear Arim was looking out at me through her eyes."

"Yet you saw me bind him, saw me wound him."

"Yeah." I glared at her. Despite her promised help fighting Sin Garu, there was too much about Lexa that confused the crap out of me. Her Dark nature precluded trust, and the visions I'd had of her made me doubly wary of the pretty schemer. Half the time it was an exercise in energy to simply keep my wits about me. Who knew what she made me think and feel, especially when she weakened me past my endurance?

Which made her recent healing questionable.

"I'm not the monster you make me out to be," she said quietly, sounding hurt. Again, at odds with the smirk on her full, red lips. "And I thank you for that most informative session."

She seemed pleased, and I could only imagine she liked the idea of Arim's pain. Angry, I opened my mouth for a caustic retort and found myself unable to speak, then unable to move.

"No, don't say a thing. Don't spoil this incredibly pleasing moment for me, Cadmus." With a smile, she stood on tiptoe and kissed me on the mouth, a cool meeting of the lips that set my blood on fire.

Infuriated she could make me feel when my heart clearly belonged to Ellie, I fought through her spell and, to my amazement, began to move.

"You're so much like Arim." She chuckled. "Handsome, strong, and aggravating in the extreme. Don't worry, Earth Lord, your Djinn is still waiting for you on the other side of the forest. But I'm afraid you're going to have to face the Sarqua on your own. Ethim's temper leaves a lot to be desired. Just ask Amanda."

She vanished, freeing me to move and speak. "Son of a bitch!"

"Well, well, well," the Djinn warrior I knew as Remir spoke from directly behind me.

Before I could twitch, a dozen Djinn appeared from out of nowhere and surrounded me.

"Ethim wants a word." Remir smiled.

Of all the Djinn, I had given Remir the most trouble before Jonas had bailed me out of Foreia.

He smirked, his eyes pitch-black. "But not before we have a few things to discuss, considering we missed our chance before you left the last time."

Three Djinn stepped forward and restrained me. Remir grabbed my wrists. Dark bands of energy crept from his fingers into my skin. The Dark burned with cold, and I fought the urge to blast Remir through the woods. It would hurt, but it could be done. Yet I knew I deserved some payback, if not for what I'd done to these warriors before, then for what I'd almost done to Jonas, their leader and friend, their brother.

I sighed. "Go ahead, Remir. I probably deserve it." I grinned, knowing it wasn't smart but was unable to help myself. "But I wouldn't be too hard on me. Lexa just planted a kiss on these lips, and we all know the lady is decidedly choosy."

Remir and his brethren scowled. The beating to follow didn't surprise me.

It didn't take long for me to black out, and I fell into a painful, empty sleep.