4. Cadmus

I stormed into the living room, seething with irritation and a foreign sense of hurt that made no sense. Way to go, jackass. Why not just wave a red flag and admit how much you want her?And while you're at it, act so conceited that now she won't touch you with a ten-foot pole.

Groaning at what I'd done, I tumbled onto her short, uncomfortable couch and wondered how I'd gone from smooth talker to lackwit in so little time. For some reason, Ellie affected me badly.

With other women, I could charm and flirt. Hell, I'd once done as much to Ellie before I'd learned the truth. That I'd begun falling for an enemy Djinn.

She'd been so sweet and so intoxicating that I'd been helpless to resist her. Enthralled by her beauty, one that radiated from deep within and was mirrored outwardly in an irresistible package, I had trouble focusing around her.

She'd made my nights at Outpour bearable until I could think of little more than seeing her again.

Touching her again.

Tasting her again.

My cock throbbed at the memories, my frustration compounding as turbulent images pressed me. Our first kiss, the feel of her silken skin under my palms, skin that I'd so recently stroked…

I growled and stood, pacing the narrow confines of her eclectic apartment. I'd let the woman bewitch me until I didn't know up from down.

I frowned, not understanding why she acted like the aggrieved party when I'd been the one played for a fool. She'd tricked me into sharing vital knowledge about my family, possibly putting us in harm's way. It was only sheer dumb luck she and her father were rebel Djinn, bent on helping our cause.

Throwing myself back onto the couch, I linked my hands behind my head and focused on cooling down my overheated body.

Thoughts of Jonas and the chaos I'd wrought in Foreia put me in better spirits. I hadn't exactly told Ellie the truth of why I'd left the Djinn homeworld. Yes, I'd riled Jonas' friends, but I'd also attacked Lexa, a Dark Lord.

Surprisingly, she hadn't reciprocated. Instead, she'd helped me.

The spells she'd taught me, as well as the knowledge she'd shared about her own kind, would more than aid me should I—when I—met Sin Garu again. I still didn't understand Lexa's convoluted relationship with her family, a relationship so different from my own.

Growing up with three irritating though loving brothers, as well as nurturing parents, had taught me to revere family. I couldn't imagine being pleased with one of my brothers' deaths. I'd never consciously betray us to an enemy, no matter what the cause.

Perhaps all the Dark Lords were evil, not just Dark but full of death and corruption. From what I'd heard of Balen, that description applied. I'd seen enough of Sin Garu to confirm that bastard's perfidy.

Oddly, Lexa didn't seem anything like a Dark Lord. In her presence, I had to remind myself not to like her.

Her dry sense of humor, breathtaking beauty, and incredible knowledge were enough to disconcert even an experienced Djinn like Jonas, who had bowed in her presence. Everything I'd learned about the Djinn told me how little they thought of sovereignty. Yet Jonas spoke to her with reverence, nothing at all like the way he talked to me, an actual Storm Lord prince.

Jonas could be such a dick. He and Lexa deserved each other. Both had layers of Dark power surging through their blood — if Lexa even had any through all that ice.

And trying to make sense of anything Jonas said half the time gave me a headache. Admittedly, he had a wicked sense of humor that made me want to laugh despite my irritation at being denied my homeworld.

In the weeks I'd been forced to endure the Djinn's company, I'd never seen the man so affected by anyone, with the exception of Lexa and Ellie, of course.

I scowled. Were Jonas and Ellie related? They called themselves cousins, but Jonas referred to his fellow warriors as brothers. So maybe cousin was a vague Djinn reference for friendship?

Just the thought of Jonas and Ellie being intimate brought forth a strange anger that had me hungry for something beyond my comprehension.

"Cadmus?" Ellie asked tentatively from her doorway.

"Yes?" I kept my voice even, determined to keep my cool around her. I'd never get her to surrender if I taunted her at every turn.

She cautiously approached, wearing jeans and a blouse. Casual, but on her they looked like designer wear. Her eyes widened.

She reached out and stroked my arm, making me groan at the tingly sensation. "You're in truth. How is this possible? Because you are definitely not yourself."

I glanced down at my arm and stared in shock. Where my arm should have been, a bright white band of energy glowed, surrounded by black flame. What if my brothers saw me like this? Or Arim? Would they ever let me go home again?

Storm Lords were Light Bringers, not Darklings.

"Relax and breathe. Nice and even, in and out." Ellie calmed me with her steady nerve. "I've seen my father control this. You just have to release whatever's inside you holding onto that energy."

"What energy? What the hell is this?"

"I'm not sure." She turned my cheek to face her and looked deeply into my eyes. Her power was an almost tangible thing I wanted to reach out and touch. "Trust me. Focus on the core inside you, that anger, rage, whatever passion that has fixed you intruth. And let it go. Deep, consistent breathing helps."

"Sure." Easier said than done. I evened out my breathing, trying to unglue my mind from the wall of panic threatening to overtake me.

Since when did Light Bringers burn in truth?

Ellie's touch grew soothing, and after several moments passed, I gradually felt something inside me ease. I looked at Ellie, truly seeing the beauty of her spirit. My heart leaped, and I struggled to grab hold of my senses.

By the Light, her eyes were a startling, alluring shade of blue.

"Thanks," I said gruffly and rubbed my temples, a headache brewing. The last time I'd been thrust in truth, I'd had head pain for hours afterward.

"What were you thinking before you changed?"

About you and Jonas doing things you should never do, I thought but didn't say.

"I don't know. Let's just forget this happened, okay? Now what's on the agenda for today?" I glanced at her and saw her bite her lip as she gave me a thorough onceover.

My cock hardened. More pain I didn't need right now. But watching Ellie turn a pretty shade of pink and try to pretend she hadn't been looking appeased my frustration. Somewhat.

Ellie coughed and looked anywhere but at me. "First, you're going to get dressed."

"I am dressed."

"Put a shirt on. Then we'll go down to the university, where I'll register for the upcoming summer classes. With any luck, I'll be able to finish at least four of my remaining six credits."

I grabbed a shirt from my duffel bag and threw it on, pleased my naked body made her uncomfortable. That had to be a good sign, right? I joined her in the kitchen and settled on a stool overlooking the kitchen island. She grabbed a pan and a carton of eggs and started working.

Satisfied she didn't intend to bolt, at least not anytime soon, I gave in to my rampant curiosity and asked the questions I'd wanted to ask for weeks.

"So how is it you don't see yourself as Djinn?"

When she'd first denied her ties to herDark kin, I'd wanted nothing more than to prove her for the liar I knew her to be. To make her pay for causing me such hurt. But after those first few days of almost hating her, I considered all I knew about her.

I'd asked Jonas a few questions and realized Ellie meant what she'd said. She didn't consider herself Djinn. Ellie Markham, Seattle native and graduate student, wanted no part of the Djinn or of Tanselm.

As far as she was concerned, she was a xiantope, a being of no magic and proud of it. It made no sense then, and it still didn't. I could feel her magic just by looking at her.

Her movements grew stiffer as she scrambled some eggs in a large skillet. "Why do you want to know?"

"Ellie, I already told you I'm sorry about what I said before. I don't hate all Djinn. Just the ones who killed my father and want to destroy Tanselm."

Her gaze flew to me. "What did you say?"

"I said I didn't mean it."

"No. The part about your father being dead."

I frowned. "Over a year ago, my father was killed by Djinn poison. Apparently, we've had Djinn infiltrators. Not your rebel friends, but real baddies who insist on killing as many Storm Lords as they possibly can before taking over Tanselm as the kingdom's ‘rightful rulers.'"

"Oh, wow. I didn't know."

"Yeah, well." I didn't want to talk about it.

"So you aren't just a prejudiced bastard who hates those different from his royal self." She watched me carefully.

I rolled my eyes. "Would you get off the royal bandwagon? I'm a prince, big deal. You're the daughter of Ethim il Ruethe, clan leader to the Sarqua. That's royalty in my book, Princess."

She glared at me then turned back to the sizzling eggs. "I thought you hated all Djinn because we're—they're—Dark."

"I already said I don't hate all Djinn. Jonas is a pain in the ass, and his brothers or cousins, or whatever his fellow warriors are, could use some lessons in manners. But most of the Djinn I've met in Foreia have been fair." More than fair considering what I'd put them through.

She took the pan away from the heat and turned to me. "I really am sorry about your father."

Uncomfortable with the topic, still not having come to terms with my grief, I shrugged. "He's in the Next, waiting for my mother. I'm sure wherever he is, he's getting into as much trouble as possible. My dad was a wind master."

"Like your brother Aerolus, right?"

"Right." I swallowed the orange juice she placed in front of me in one gulp. The rage I'd once felt in having confided in her had faded, and I now felt pleased I could talk with someone outside of my family about my loved ones.

A year in this mundane plane had forged a closeness with my brothers I sorely missed. "You'd think Aerolus, a Wind Mage, would be as laidback. But no way. He's one uptight sorcerer."

She scooped a large portion of the eggs onto a plate and set it down before me, bringing a second, smaller plate for herself. Then she sat across the counter from me and began eating. "That's not what I hear."

"Oh?"

"Rumor has it Aerolus has been pleasantly low-key since marrying Alandra le Aelle." Ellie suddenly smiled, a wicked grin that had my blood rising. "You know what they say about creatures of Shadow and Dark."

I stared, transfixed by her expression. "No, what?"

"That anything Dark is dangerously good. Shadows are sexy and Darklings are sinfully seductive. It's why they make the best lovers." As soon as she said it, she froze, then she hurriedly stuffed the rest of her food in her mouth, nearly choking on her eggs.

"From my experience, I'd say that's true." Her distress amused and enflamed me. Why had I dared her to come to me, again? "But then, I'm just a Light Bringer, so what would I know? Now my uncle —" I stopped, wishing I hadn't brought up that unpleasant topic of conversation.

"Yes, your uncle?" she prodded, no doubt grateful to have the attention off her.

"Let's not talk about him. Arim's not real popular with anyone in Foreia." Anyone meant Lexa, and I'd been forbidden to say her name outside the small circle of rebel Djinn. I silently agreed. The less said about Lexa, in my opinion, the better. "Besides, I'm on his shi—bad list."

"Now, Cadmus," she teased, the old Ellie making me long to pull her in my arms and forget the past hurt between us. "Why would you be on anyone's bad list? I simply can't imagine."