Chapter 18

18

E lektra was still smiling by the time she got back to Eiline's cluttered rooms. She stood outside in the hallway and tried to school the blush from her cheeks. She hadn't expected Vanth to kiss her, but damn if she didn't like the way he took control and did it. He kissed like a demon, and if it wasn't for the interruption, she would still be in his lap with her tongue in his mouth.

It wasn't as if she had lived as a nun at the temple; there had been the occasional one-night stand when she was in the human world and felt the need. She hadn't really liked someone enough to have a connection with them before the sex started though. There was the other small issue of people being put off by her or outright afraid of her. Vanth didn't seem to be either of those things.

Elektra had thought that Vanth was a clown when she first saw him dancing with ghosts. That playfulness had been deceptive. Vanth was like her. There was the face he showed to the world, and then there was the darker one who loved the death power that roiled inside of them. Like called to like, despite the power level differences.

Elektra didn't think that Vanth had any real idea just how deep his magic went. Gods, she hoped she was there when he found out. The touch of his magic in the training room had made her mouth dry and pussy wet. She could still feel the thrumming echoes of it.

Elektra took some deep breaths. She needed to calm down if she had any hope of being helpful that day. One brush of his hands against her skin had made her burn from the inside out. Fuck, he was so beautiful pinned down beneath her.

"Are you going to come in or just hang about in the hallway?" Eiline called from inside the room.

"Fuck," Elektra muttered before schooling her face and going in. "Sorry. I just had to get my thoughts together."

Eiline looked up from her place at her desk. "Has my son been stirring you up? He does that, you know, with people he likes. He doesn't mean anything by the teasing."

That's not how he was stirring me up. Elektra placed the sickles back onto the work counter. "I was just showing him how to use the sickles. He's a natural."

"That doesn't surprise me. He's always been a quick learner. I could barely keep up with him when he was a child. I sent him to the citadel of mages so he could go through their library more than anything. I knew they wouldn't be able to hold him for long either," Eiline said, closing the book in her hand and picking up another. "I see the way he looks at you."

Elektra's heart skipped a beat. "Like he's waiting for his chance to kill me?"

"No. Like he's a kid on Christmas morning," Eiline clarified. "I haven't seen that expression for years. I hope that your mating cycle isn't the thing that's causing it and you like him back. A broken heart is the last thing he needs right now."

"I'm sorry, my what now?" Elektra choked out. "I'm not on a mating cycle. That's impossible... I'm too old... I mean..." She didn't have the words.

Eiline started to laugh. "Oh, dear gods, you have no idea, do you?"

"I'm too old. All that nonsense was skipped in my fifties," Elektra replied stubbornly.

Eiline must have noticed how freaked out Elektra suddenly was because she stopped laughing.

"What age were you when you went to the temple?" she asked.

"Seventeen," Elektra replied, suddenly struggling to breathe. "I was about to be married off, and then I was recruited. Why?"

"Because the temple itself sits in a liminal space between worlds, honey. You never went through a mating cycle because you were there outside of time. I bet this is the longest time you've been in the real world since you were recruited. Right?"

Elektra nodded. She was going to throw up. All fae females went through a mating cycle at least once. It was a fucked up primal way to tell everyone that you were mature and ready to be mated. The chemicals your body produced were a way of attracting your mate to you. Elektra thought she had gone through it already, but maybe everything had gone dormant the way Eiline implied.

"And you think I'm going through it now?" Elektra squeaked out.

"I know you are. I can smell it on you, and so can my father. He was too polite to ask if you and Tarael were 'doing the dance' when you were around, but he cornered me about it," Eiline replied. She lifted an expectant brow.

Elektra flushed. "No! I had no idea. I... I've only been thinking about how to stop Lazarus." And how to get railed by your son. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Had Vanth kissed her in the training room because she had been sending out pheromones? Or had he actually wanted to?

It cast a whole new and horrible light on their flirting.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think Tarael knows what's going on either. He's not been around the fae enough to understand. But you do. That's why I'm politely asking you not to take advantage of his lack of knowledge," Eiline said, a flash of fiercely protective mother in her eyes. She had been one of the temple's most feared reapers, and Elektra knew she could still kick her ass if she wanted to.

"I would never take advantage of him in that way. I'm kind of offended that you would even suggest it, but I understand that you are protective," Elektra said, trying to summon a shred of dignity. Gods, she was so fucking embarrassed.

"Tarael is a demigod. You are the only person outside of the family that knows this. When he comes into his full power, he will be unstoppable. Some females would try to ensure their place beside him before he comes to that realization." Eiline's eyes softened, and she moved to place her hand on Elektra's arm. "If you two really like each other, the mating cycle won't matter in the long run. I just don't want you to hurt him. I like you, and I don't want to have to kill you."

Elektra choked out a laugh. "That's fair. I have no designs on him or his power, Eiline. I just want to do my job and protect the Veil. That's all." A small pain stabbed at her heart as she said it. This changed everything between her and Vanth.

She had to protect herself because she was vulnerable during the cycle. Every part of her was crying out for a mate, whether she wanted one or not.

She had grown up hearing horror stories of females who had gone mad with lust as they had tried to fight it. The cycles didn't always end up with a permanent mate. Some females already had partners they could ride out the storm with.

Elektra had none of that. All she had was a mission and an iron will. There would be no more flirting. No more wound tending or fighting where she would end up with him on top of her. She had to stay focused because if she didn't, she would get them both killed. She already had so much blood on her hands. She wouldn't have Vanth's as well.