Page 55 of Blue Embers
Killian cleared his throat, walking toward the window where the light washed him in a warm hue.
“I suppose it’s a bit unnerving to know I’m bound to someone now,” he sighed. “Ashlings are dangerous. They’re distracting.”
I scoffed. “You think these shocks and tingles aren’t distracting for me, too?”
“That’ll pass. It won’t feel so literal down the road.”
“Down the road,” I nodded. “You mean forever.”
Killian’s eyes locked on mine. He was quiet for a while, his gaze piercing like he was dissecting my thoughts. At this point, maybe he was. Maybe the mark allowed him to do so. I didn’t really know. I’d only read about these kinds of connections. I’d never had one myself. I knew they were all different, so maybe there was no telling what to expect.
“There are many Ashlings and Draak who live apart,” Killian said. “There are plenty who go their separate ways. Live their own lives.”
That statement caught me off guard. Deep down, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go a separate way. Killian had been there through tragedy. He’d comforted me. He was unpredictable and fascinating and he’d shown me the best sex of my life. All things any woman would fall in love with, but I wasn’t sure yet if that’s what I was feeling. I wasn’t sure if all these things had just happened at a time that I was too defenseless to see through them or if I was actually feeling things for this man. This Draak. I wanted to kiss him so damn badly, but at the same time, I felt like that was just my lack of control speaking.
“Is that what you want?” I asked softly, hoping Killian wouldn’t just outright tell me to get lost after everything.
He stared, but I couldn’t see an answer in his expression and he certainly wasn’t providing one with words. It felt like the silence would go on forever before I finally shook my head and reached down for the boots by my feet. Sitting myself on the bed, I began lacing them up tightly, frustrated over all the uncertainty.
When I finished, I stood again and shot Killian a pressing glance, hoping he’d have more to say, but instead, he turned and started for the door. I followed, now feeling a little discarded, and tried desperately not to overreact. Neither of us really knew what was happening between us and I was just aching to understand what was going on in general at that point.
I followed Killian down a hallway to a set of stairs that descended into a large space on the first floor. Only then did I realize how big the cabin was. Not exactly a small camping getaway sort of accommodation.
Two sofas were set up in the sitting room where a tall, stone fireplace was bright with flames and filling the cabin with warmth. Sitting on one of the sofas was Malice, one foot up on a petrified wood coffee table. By the fireplace, I saw Everly, Saxon and a menacing Draak with copper hair that was tied into a ponytail. He wore a leather coat with fur lining, much like Everly’s but aged more obviously with use. When I came to the bottom of the stairs, his orange, fiery eyes met mine and it felt like a punch to my chest. If I were a dog, I’d probably roll over onto my back in submission, but instead, I just carefully made my way to the sofa and stopped, trying not to act as small as I felt.
From another section of the house came Keera with a young, dark-haired boy beside her and a tall, Draak man close behind. She smiled at me as she and the boy passed through the room and headed for the front door. As she exited, her large, male companion made his way to the other side of one sofa, but he didn’t sit. Instead, he crossed his arms and tossed me a glance that wasn’t nearly as terrifying as the man with the copper hair. Killian stayed close to me, despite the distant feelings I’d gotten upstairs, while the copper-haired man and Everly walked toward us.
“Draven,” he said, gesturing toward me with one hand. “This is Persephone Grant.”
Of course it was Draven. Any photo I’d seen of him definitely didn’t do him justice now that I was seeing him in the flesh. Draven’s heated eyes scanned my body from toe to head. I could feel him reading me. He was an Ash Bringer and I knew now that his brother was the one who was responsible for saving my sister’s life.Mylife, in a sense. I felt my professionalism starting to come back up to the surface and sucked up my nerves until I could express myself.
Holding out a hand, I said, “It’s an honor to meet you,” and raised my chin in as confident a manner as I could muster.
Draven gave my hand a glance, leaving me hanging for a while before he finally humored me. His handshake was firm and almost unbearably hot to the touch, but still I savored it. I couldn’t stop staring. He was the Archon, standing there in front of me. Shaking my hand. It was his flesh and blood that impacted me on levels so few people would ever understand. His eyes darted toward Killian for a moment before I heard the first words come from his mouth.
“She’s yours,” he said to him in a voice fitting of his appearance. “Your responsibility now.”
“I’m aware,” Killian said flatly.
Draven nodded and turned back around to casually make his way back toward the fireplace. Everly stayed with me rather than follow her mate as if she sensed my discomfort.
“In case you don’t know, Persephone,” Draven said on an exhale. “You were attacked by a full-blooded Zephyre named Haera. We just barely learned of her existence and we’ve been trying to track her for months. She’s leading a large band of rebels called Falcons.”
“I know them,” I nodded. “What’s she after?”
“Leviathan,” he said. “My brother, Valerio, somehow knew where a large number of them are located. He’s dead, so she’s after the next best source. Saxon told me that your sister was touched by him when she was pregnant. That would mean the child would have inherited his memories. It’s rare, but it happens if the child is in early stages of development when a woman is marked.”
“It might have been why she fell ill and died,” Saxon added, looking at me with a far gentler gaze. “The benefits of a mark might have been passed to the child rather than your sister.”
The reminder that Artemis was dead was a pinch on my heart. I nodded, accepting the fact, and crossed my arms to listen to whatever else Draven had to say.
“After one of Haera’s daughters was killed and the information she had was destroyed with her,” he continued, “the next best thing was to find you. She’s getting frustrated and eager to show her power, which means she has enough to flex. Killian said she poked around in his head when he found you, which means she was there waiting.”
I shook my head, recalling the blond woman who’d attacked me. I was certain that she wasn’t a Zephyre and if I was going to speak up about it, now was the time.
23
Persephone
