2. Cadmus

I stared at Ellie Markham, aware of my constant hunger for the woman. I smiled broadly, amused at her shock that quickly turned to anger. Her brilliant blue eyes that I couldn't seem to forget narrowed like lasers. Her breasts heaved, making my mouth water and my fingers itch to touch.

Hell. Two seconds in her presence and I wanted her.

"What the hell is he doing here?" she growled at Jonas.

"Things got a little too…interesting in Foreia."

"He means I pissed off one too many Djinn," I explained, pleased at Ellie's ferocity.

I'd missed her, more than I'd thought I would.

"So why bring me here?"

She still hadn't asked me a direct question, but I didn't mind. I'd have my hands full as soon as she realized I meant to stay with her for the foreseeable future. Messing with the Djinn had been entertaining, if not smart. But I knew I'd pushed them too far.

Had Jonas not been present to teleport me out of Foreia and into this plane, I might have been seriously hurt. Despite my insults and attacks, the Sarqua Djinn remained loyal to their Dark Lord. Or Dark Mistress, in Lexa's case.

Jonas sighed. "I can't take him to my place." He frowned at me.

Good. About time the Djinn experience a little of what I felt.

"The Netharat are swarming around my house. As much as I'd like to return to Tanselm, Arim won't let me back until Cadmus has an affai."

An affai—a Storm Lord's bride.

I didn't bother to stifle my grimace. Jonas knew how much I detested the thought of marriage, and I had made my views known to Ellie all too well, when I'd told her about my brothers and their brides…under her Dark influence.

Clearly sensing my irritation, she turned her back on me, as if by not looking at me I might disappear.

I forced a chuckle, drawing her reluctant gaze. "Nice try, Darkling. You don't have to look at me if you don't want to. But I'll be right here for the next few…what, Jonas? Weeks, months?"

Ellie stared, horrified, from me to Jonas and back again. When her eyes met mine, I thought I detected a hint of fear and wondered at its source. For the short duration we'd been together, fear had never been one of our shared emotions. Lust, anger, need — those we knew intimately.

I couldn't help looking her over, remembering how she felt all too well.

"Look," she said between clenched teeth, her hands fisted aggressively in what gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction. "I told you. I have a life to return to."

"Me too, Ellie." I sank onto her comfortable leather couch and crossed my arms behind my head, propping my feet up on her coffee table. "But thankfully, time passes much more slowly at home. So I could be here another year and it would only be a month or two in Tanselm, right Jonas?"

His scowl made my whole day brighter. It was obvious Jonas didn't like me staying with Ellie. But what did he really know of our involvement?

"It's funny you're so upset with me being here, Ellie." I gave her a sly grin, noting her sudden alarm. "The last time I was here, we seemed to really hit it off." I couldn't wait until we hit it off again.

Not one word or I'll personally invite Sin Garu to flame your ass while you sleep. Ellie's words filtered into my mind, and that deep thrill of connection startled me for a moment.

Ah, Ellie. If you really knew how terrible that sorcerer is, you'd never threaten me. I don't think you could live with yourself if you hurt any portion of my perfect ass.

She glared but didn't reply. Though not telepathic like my brother, Darius, I had been able to share thoughts with Ellie since the first night we'd slept together. Whether it was a Djinn thing or some wacky skill I was just now coming to possess, courtesy of my scarily powerful mother, I didn't yet know.

Jonas crossed his arms over his chest and fumed. "What exactly does ‘hit it off' mean?"

I looked at Ellie. I'll keep quiet, but only if you welcome me properly.

She gritted her teeth so hard I was surprised she didn't crack her jaw. Funny how my sense of humor returned the longer I was in her presence. My brothers had sensed my despair these last weeks, and though I'd been down, it had been hard to face my fear over a changing future.

All my brothers had found love with special women, leaving me behind to fight against an evil I wasn't sure I could defeat.

Reunited with Ellie and my bad mood vanished. Needling her was even more fun than irritating Marcus, the most arrogant of my siblings.

"We were friends once," Ellie explained with a false smile. "I'm sorry for my temper, Cadmus." She clasped her hands in front of her, to resist from throttling me, I assumed. "It's been a long day, and I'm going to miss working at Outpour."

The little liar. I smirked and held back a laugh when her blue eyes sizzled.

"You are?" Jonas didn't sound convinced. He kept staring from Ellie to me, as if waiting to see something between us.

"I am. And I really am glad to see you again, Cadmus." You stupid, self-righteous Light Bringer. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like." You're out of here as soon as I can make it happen. "And I hope you'll be comfortable." Bastard.

Talk about not holding back, I sent her.

Instead, I nodded. "I'm glad we can catch up. Jonas, don't you have some place to be?"

The Djinn scowled, his expression causing him to physically darken. Despite having seen the Djinn in truth more times than I could count in the past few weeks, a Djinn's natural state never failed to instill awe.

Jonas' golden skin glowed brighter and brighter, until all that remained was a mass of energy with the outline of a man's face. Eclipsing much of his brightness, a visible aura of black flame surrounded his entire body. The dark fire licked at the shadows in Ellie's small apartment.

"What the hell are you looking at, Light Bringer?" Jonas snapped and deliberately turned to Ellie. "Keep an eye on him. From a distance. I'll be back as soon as I can." He glared at me. "You treat her with the respect she deserves." He grinned with evil intent. "Or I'll bring my friends back to play with you again, and this time I won't save your sorry ass."

"She'd never allow it." I shrugged, as if unconcerned. My disinterest made Jonas' skin glow brighter under the outline of black flame.

"There's a lot you don't know about her. If you play your cards right, you won't learn her rules the hard way." With a nod to Ellie, Jonas vanished.

After a few tense moments of silence, Ellie cleared her throat and met my gaze. "Who is ‘she'?"

"I've been sworn to silence. Ask your cousin, if that's who he really is. Talk about a secretive bunch. You Djinn are all about conspiracies and stories on top of stories." I smirked.

She glared, but I could see the smile she tried to hide.

"Ellie, I —"

I don't know what I would have said, but she cut me off.

"Yeah, we Djinn are full of it." She yanked my dirty work boots off her coffee table. "Let's get something straight, Your Highness." She leaned over me to poke me in the chest.

I stopped grinning, not so amused. She seemed honestly angry.

She continued, "You've got more Darkness inside you than I've ever had, so cut the crap. You need a place to crash, and apparently I'm the only game in town. Keep yourself out of my business and you can stay. I've got things to do with my life. Things that don't involve Tanselm and Storm Lords and freaking Djinn."

I stared at her, picking up a few things she tried to hide.

How much she loved my brown eyes, that fluctuated from honey-gold to earth-brown. How she missed what she'd thought she'd had. And how she hated being part Djinn.

For years, Ellie had tried to live a normal life. No magic, no Dark versus Light, and no Dark Lords and their minion Netharat threatening death and dismemberment. But within a short span of time, she'd become involved in a life full of magic, excitement, and bitter heartache.

I felt badly for her, until her thoughts grew muffled and ended with What an utter asshole.

That kind of hurt, but so did the knowledge I'd caused that bitter heartbreak. My prejudices against all things on the Dark side of the spectrum had wounded her. But I was still grieving our losses back home.

I had no idea how to make it right. "Ellie?"

"Just keep to yourself and we'll be fine, Storm Lord."

Stomping from the room, she entered the only bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

I groaned, lost between wanting to make her feel better and respecting her need for space.

It was going to be a long night.