6. Ellie

"Come on, Ellie. You know you can't stay mad at me forever." Cadmus grinned, but I couldn't see past the haze of anger to his charm.

Clutching the strap of my purse, I hurried into the nearest coffee shop and ordered a latte with a double shot of espresso. "I cannot believe you announced to everyone in the bursar's office that the only reason Jane Rascoll took the new teaching position is because she's probably sleeping with the head of the department!"

He arched one arrogant, black brow. "It's what you were thinking. What of it?"

"What of it?" I poked him in the chest, gratified by the scowl that replaced his grin. "I was thinking it. I never said it aloud. Several of the students that were in there know me. They're going to tell Jane and the professor what I said."

"But Isaid it." He had the nerve to look puzzled.

"Are you really that ignorant, or are you just playing at being stupid?"

He scowled, but before he could speak, I added, "This is not a large school, and the English department is a tightknit group. No one knows who you are here, Prince Big Mouth. But they know me. Since you were all over me like a cheap suit, they'll know who put those words in your mouth."

His brow furrowed. "Cheap suit?" Glancing down at his plain black t-shirt and denims, he shook his head. "I hadn't realized this passed for inexpensive formal wear."

I glared at him and muttered a thank you to the girl with my coffee. Swallowing the potent brew, I could only pray my day would get better. As it was, my patience had all but frayed to nothing. My bright career seemed in the toilet unless I moved to bum-diddly university far away from here.

And I had a bad feeling my head throbbed due to the vivid sunlight. As much as I wanted to pretend I wasn't a Darkling, I had an aversion to the sun even here in the mundane world.

Tuning back in to Cadmus, I noted the feminine speculation directed our way. He flirted with the girl behind the register.

So I cursed him under my breath and left him to fend for himself. Instead, I found a table outside and sat, watching the passersby while deliberately subjecting myself to the daylight, refusing to be anything but a normal woman.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger ran like a mantra through my head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cadmus growled in my ear and yanked me to my feet.

"Hey, you just made me drop my drink!" I watched with no small sorrow as my latte disappeared down a nearby drain.

"You intentionally put yourself in pain. This is unacceptable."

Trying to ignore the pounding behind my eyes, I pulled back, only to find Cadmus refused to let me go. Not wanting to cause a bigger scene than we were already stirring in front of half a dozen mooning customers, I let the royal busybody haul me into the shade of an adjacent building.

I forced myself to gently tug my arm free instead of ripping it away and slugging him. I lowered my eyes and rubbed at the sore lids. "Thank you."

I could have done that myself, Cadmus.

Ah, I love the way my name ripples off your thoughts so lovingly when you're angry.

He stroked my arm, causing shocks of warmth to shoot through my system. My blood heated as he sent me beads of his energy to soothe away my hurt.

Unfortunately, he'd taken my anger away with my pain.

I don't need your help with this, I shot him with my angriest mental tone.

Little Djinn. So angry all the time. You don't want anyone to help you.

I watched several young professionals eating up the sidewalk with their three-inch heels and designer suits. I wished I needed to be somewhere and in a hurry.

Out loud, I said, "I'm five-eleven, Cadmus. I'm not little. I'm an independent woman and used to making me own decisions in this world."

"Then I'm doubly glad you gifted me with your body not so long ago. The memories keep me more than warm at night." He leaned closer, subtly working me with his nearness, with his earthy scent that made me want to melt. His lips touched the rim of my ear when he whispered, "Do your dreams haunt you as much as mine haunt me? I can't stop seeing you naked, over me, taking me into your body."

"That's enough." To my horror, I found myself breathing hard. I glanced at him and felt marginally better to find him in the same state.

The rigid evidence of his desire pressed against his blue jeans.

That's right, baby. I want you. I'd take you right here, right now, if you'd only say the word.

My lips parted before I thought the better of it. "But I thought you wanted me to beg."

His gaze caught and stayed on my mouth. I licked my lips, and he groaned. "Ellie, with little effort, you could have me begging you."

The thought brought forth the wicked streak I'd been suppressing since he'd shown at my door. "Is that right?"

I projected a vivid recollection of the last time I'd trailed my lips down his frame, licking at the tantalizing skin on his perfect body. Nibbling my way toward that most impressive part of him.

"Stop," he rasped. "I swear, if you'll teleport us to your home, I'll get down on my knees and apologize for anything you want me to."

I started to smile when his words penetrated. "Teleport us to my home?"

The idea he still thought of me more as a Djinn than a regular woman stopped me in my tracks. Despite my desire for the royal idiot, I resolved to avoid going down that road with Cadmus again. This time, we'd start our relationship on a fresh, platonic slate.

Swallowing around a dry mouth, I forced myself to grin. "Look, Cadmus, I was just teasing. We have more errands to run. Let's get started, okay?"

Deliberately keeping space between us, I invited him to accompany me downtown with a polite smile and friendly chatter, my mind a careful blank. I could feel his will trying to force its way through, but I remained firm.

The sexual tension between us was as thick as Seattle fog in October, and even the cabbie who dropped us off on Pine Street gave us a second glance before leaving.

"I really have my work cut out for me." Cadmus sighed. "Fine. Show me your world, Ellie. All I know of Seattle is Outpour, Green Lake, and Mt. Rainier. If I don't see it now, I may not get a chance before Tanselm beckons me home."

The realization Cadmus had been away from his homeworld, was in fact hiding from a powerful enemy made up of more than a few Djinn, gave me a moment's compassion.

A pretty woman eyeballed him as she walked by, and Cadmus openly returned her smile.

My compassionate moment passed.

"Great, Cadmus. I'm so glad we can at least be friends." I smiled with as much fake sincerity as I could muster. "Today is going to be so much fun."

Shoe shopping, clothes shopping, and more shoe shopping. I'd teach him to ogle strange women during an argument.

* * *

Four hours later, my feet hurt, and I knew the heels I'd spent two hundred dollars on would never see more than the inside of their box.

Cadmus' upbeat mood should have soured. Unfortunately, he'd behaved wonderfully all day. He'd bought me sweets at the market, the chocolate-covered cherries I loved so much. He'd taken part in finding me clothes to try on, unerringly finding the correct sizes. And he'd been pleasantly polite to the saleswomen throughout town.

If he said one more nice thing to me today, I just might lose it.

"Really, Ellie. Your eyes were the first thing I noticed when I saw you enter Outpour for the first time."

I groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just hunger pangs."

"You should have said something." He frowned and immediately guided me to the nearest restaurant.

And that was another thing. He kept taking care of me, as if I were the one hiding out from the bad guys and he my protector.

We sat and ordered our meals in record time. The minute the waiter left, I leaned close and hissed over the floral centerpiece, "That's it! Stop it. You're driving me nuts."

He blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't ‘sorry' me. This nice attitude of yours is ridiculous." Even to my own ears, I sounded bitchy.

He looked confused. "You don't want me to be nice to you?"

I kept my inner shields in place as I thought, No, because you're way too hard for a local girl to resist, Your Freakin' Majesty. Thank God Jonas had taken the time to teach me to shield my thoughts long ago. Though most Djinn weren't telepathic, other beings in the universe certainly were. Like the sexy Earth Lord staring at me in confusion.

"It's not that I don't want you to be nice to me," I tried to explain. The waiter neared with a tray, and I prayed he had our lunch. He arrived at our table. "Thank God."

"Ellie?"

"Our lunch," I said quickly. "It's here."

I spent the next half hour engrossed in food and a pleasant, if slightly distant, Cadmus. When the bill came, he motioned for it, as if there were no question of his paying. Thinking of my two-hundred-dollar shoes, I reluctantly waited for him to pay.

We left the restaurant, and he pocketed his wallet. "I noticed you paying with a credit card. Is it real?"

His lips curled in amusement, I lit up at the sight. I was a sucker for a man with a sense of humor. Put that together with a face to sigh over and a body to kill for and I had to remind myself not to drool.

"The credit card and the money are real, courtesy of some local gambling and a few spells Uncle Arim taught us."

"I thought you didn't like your uncle."

"Of course I like him. He's family."

Now I was confused. "But before you said?—"

"Look, he's a pain in the ass, has a quirky sense of humor, and always thinks he knows best. He's more than a little annoying."

"Really?" I asked dryly, amused that he was describing himself and unaware of it.

"And he always has the worst timing. When Marcus was courting Tessa, Arim showed up and frightened the poor woman into attacking him."

I wondered what that had been like. The few times I'd heard Arim's name mentioned, it was with awe and usually a warning to steer clear of the powerful Killer of Shadow. Of course, that had come from Jonas, and he tended to over-dramatize most things.

"How did Tessa do?"

Cadmus smiled, his grin an obvious indicator he approved of his brother's wife. "She caused him some damage before he fully phased."

"Phased?"

"Completely teleported back into the house," he explained. "Then Marcus stepped in to protect her."

"Typical. You Storm Lords are a pushy bunch. Always taking charge, protecting the little woman."

"Little woman?" He laughed. "Tessa's almost as tall as I am. Trust me, she kowtows to no one, especially not Marcus."

The affection he held for his brother and Tessa started another fissure in the ice surrounding my heart. "You really love your brothers, don't you?"

He nodded, sobering as he stopped us on the sidewalk. "I truly do. That's why I was so angry when I learned you weren't who I'd thought you were, Ellie. I could never imagine placing my family in danger. I'd give my life for any of them, including my new sisters. Family is everything to me."

And the Djinn had killed his father.

"I understand." I felt like crying, which made no sense. Grabbing him by the arm, I started us moving again. "Let's see if we can't forget the past for just a little while, okay?"

He nodded. "Let's use the rest of today as our own personal —"

"There you are." A large man, taller even than Cadmus, with blue-black hair and brown eyes so dark they looked black, loomed dangerously close. "When I'm through with you, the Netharatwill look like a pleasant diversion."

I took a step back and unconsciously tapped my powers, lending Cadmus aid as I subtly drew off the large man's negativity.

"Shit." Cadmus placed himself between the man and me. "I thought I'd lost you for at least another few months."

The stranger smiled, a menacing grin that had my heart racing. His teeth were bright, and the whites of his eyes seemed to glow with rage. My senses screamed Light Bringer, though I'd never before encountered one besides Darius and Cadmus.

"Ah, Cadmus—" I swallowed the rest of my words when the large man turned his gaze on me.

"Wonderful," he growled. "Another Djinn."

His attitude grated.

Despite my fear, I snapped, "Look, buddy, I don't know who you are —"

"Ellie, wait," Cadmus warned.

"— and I don't much care. We're in a public forum here, so take your bad mood and your hokey magic and go away. I'm not a Djinn," I snarled, including Cadmus in my aggravation.

He at least had the sense to nod in agreement.

The stranger seemed to grow taller and stared incredulously from Cadmus to me. "Now you've got them fighting your battles for you, too?"

"I said —" I paused and took a step closer to Mr. Attitude. Cadmus tried to hold me back, but my anger gave me strength. "I said I'm not a Djinn, so stick that up your tight ass, you Light Bringing piece of —"

Cadmus interrupted in a loud voice, "Ellie, meet my uncle. Arim, my good friend and Jonas' cousin, Ellie Markham."

I froze and glanced back and forth between the men. Cadmus had many of Arim's features, his strong nose and chin, the same almond-shaped eyes, the golden skin. Even his dark hair looked similar, styled the same way.

But whereas Cadmus looked charming, rogue-like, and clearly sensual, Arim possessed an air of cruel strength and rigidity that screamed "hands off."

Arim, in turn, studied me with an intensity that made me squirm. He said what sounded like a curse in a lyrical, foreign language.

Then he bowed, shocking me speechless. "Forgive my rudeness, Ms. Markham. But I've had the Dark's own luck in finding my nephew. Could I perchance ask you to find us a safe haven in which to speak?"

Cadmus snorted. "He wants to know where we can talk privately."

"English is my first language, Cadmus." I scowled at him before turning a polite smile to the Killer of Shadow, his supposed uncle. Uncle? Right. He's maybe a year or two older than Cadmus…until you look into those ancient eyes of his. Scary, no doubt.

I swallowed and tried to pretend like the notorious Light Bringer sorcerer wasn't freaking me out. "Sure, Arim. We can go to my place and talk."

He smiled. The black eyes that had moments ago been flat and treacherous now looked deep and full of promise. His full lips quirked in a half-grin that made him look both cocky yet attractive. Seductive.

So like Cadmus.

"Take my hand, Ellie, and —"

"Hey. Back off, old man," Cadmus growled, pulling me under his arm. "She's with me."

I didn't understand. "But I need to show him where —"

"He's not putting his hands on you." Cadmus glowered, and I had to blink at the complete role reversal between Light Bringers. Now Cadmus seemed as remote as his uncle had been, while Arim screamed temptation.

"Very well, youngster," Arim said with a straight face, though I would swear a smile teased the corner of his mouth.

Arim reached out to Cadmus, and everything blurred.

The next thing I heard were loud voices, a doorbell buzzer, and my father's startled, "What the fuck are you two doing with my daughter?"

Hell on earth, and all in my little apartment. Was nothing sacred anymore?