Page 71 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

Twenty-Five

KIERAN’S MEN HADviolently shoved Aiden into a dark, closed-off room right below the kitchen. The outside of the mansion was extravagantly beautiful, almost castle-like. But that room was different. The baseboards and shelves were heavily covered in dust and reeked of mold and decay—it felt like an ancient tomb.

His mouth tasted bitter and dry as bile rose to his throat from the acrid smell leeching out of the rug he sat on.

Aiden leaned back against the wall with his hands clasped together between his legs. Waiting. He was unsure how long he had been in there, but it felt like at least a day.

He thought of Tegan, despite his constant battle to forget her.

How had she betrayed him? Sure, he barely knew her, but for him to not see it? To not see through her façade of deception? She tricked him easily, like a child, and he struggled to wrap his head around it. At what point had he let his lust for her overtake his common sense? It was even worse knowing that he craved her. Not only then, he still did—desperately. He hated her for what she did, but that did nothing to temper his hunger for the woman.

Perhaps Kieran had given her the pretense of a choice between loyalty to him or suffering the consequences—as he did with Janelle.

Or maybe she really was just a liar, he concluded in his thoughts.

He could hear the soothing torrent of flowing water that spilled into the river behind the mountain which stood outside the window. The mountain’s peak towered over the city, its presence being the only peaceful thing about the area. Aiden looked out the window at the damp trees hovering over the river. A crack of the window would bring in the scent of the crystalline water, drowning out the grotesque odor. He took a deep breath, trying to cleanse his lungs of the foul air that polluted the room.

He clambered off the dirty, rough rug when he heard the creak of the door.

“Aiden,” Tegan said, sticking her head through the crack.

He watched her expression change when their eyes met. She slid inside, shutting the door behind her.

Aiden was unsure if it was guilt or if she genuinely cared that they locked him up. She pressed her palms against the wall behind her and leaned back. Tegan’s bright red hair lay messy around her face as if she hadn’t slept for days.Her eyes looked distant, like a ship adrift in the sea.

“Tegan,” he said calmly, but his jaw tightened.

“I want to explain,” she said. “I need you to understand—”

“Understand?” he repeated with distaste falling on his tongue. “Understand that for the few short days since we met, I saw you as a kind, fierce woman willing to fight to protect someone she barely knew. One who—” He swallowed. “One who I gave myself to because I couldn’t stand another moment without wrapping myself around your naked body. I wanted you so badly from the moment I saw you in the tavern, and I gave in to that temptation like a damn fool. How foolish I was to think humans were anything but selfish.”

She blinked while he studied her expression, wondering if he was simply wasting his breath. She is no different than the rest, he thought. A liar—my enemy.

“You know what I don’t understand,” he continued. “Why would you fight Kieran’s men at the bar? Clearly, you knew who I was. Why not simply have them take me?”

“Because,” she said, her eyes glistening. “I changed my mind when I met you. Janelle is my friend. I saw something in you and me—” She paused. “But then you left me at the cabin, so determined to go on this suicide mission of yours. I . . . I realized it didn’t matter what I did or how much I warned you to stay. You were going to Kieran, anyway.”

He looked down to the ground and shook his head. “Alright, fine,” he said. “You had a guilty conscience. But you, you’re—” His stomach tightened. “Tegan, what are you?”

He waited for her answer, but all she did was press her lips together.

Silence moved between them.

“I’m a creation that Kieran’s uncle made twenty years ago before he died and gave control to his nephew. Something that will, in time, protect the people in this land.” She stepped back. “A weapon.”

A hybrid, he thought, remembering what Janelle had told him.

“I, um—” She fiddled with the bottom of her shirt. “I can speak with Kieran. I know if you don’t threaten him, he might be willing to listen to you.” She threw her hands up. “You were going to bargain for something! Right, you had something Kieran could want?”

Of course, his plan was always to get inside the mansion and make Kieran hear him out, but the circumstances were different now. He had no control over what happened next. He had no way of escaping if Kieran decided he didn’t like what he had to say.

“I’ll tell you what, Tegan. You retrieve my sword from the barrel you stuck it in and bring it to me. Not to Kieran,” Aiden said. “Then perhaps you can earn back that trust.”

Tegan looked at him with her brows furrowed and nodded. “Okay,” she said, not even questioning why. “I’ll hide your sword under my mattress until you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Now, leave me alone.” His lips set in a rugged, fierce line. “I cannot look at your face right now.”

Her lips parted, and she stepped back. Her hands were balled into fists, but she said nothing, backing out and locking the door behind her.

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