Darian, this is not the time for such thoughts. Ready yourself for battle instead.
How about you shut up and get the fuck out of my head? I mentally retorted.
If you want to get home to your Jinn, I suggest you put your worry aside and focus.
“Focus” was the million-dollar word of the day. Armed with swords, axes, and spears, the Nymphs were battle-ready and waiting. Good thing I never backed down from a fight. I waited in silence, my mind a blank page, my heart rate slow and steady. Fear tickled at the edge of my senses, but Raif always said fear was what kept you alive in battle. I didn’t fight it, but I didn’t let it overtake me either.
I gripped the handle of the short sword and tested the balance, surprised that it felt as though it had been made for me. It didn’t sit well with me that I was about to fight creatures unaware of their own actions. But war was war, and the rules of morality did not apply. Kill or be killed. Protect the Keeper and the natural order. If I didn’t…the consequences were too terrible for me to comprehend.
Tension mounted, the air nearly soured by it. The Nymphs continued to pace, their empty eyes staring off into space. I knew it was time to charge into battle when Moira let the first arrow loose, the sound of its passage like a whisper before it struck one of the Nymphs in the neck.
I hurled myself from my hiding place, entering the fray with a battle lust that would have made Raif proud. I dedicated every slice, thrust, and stab to his teachings, a silent vow that I’d keep his daughter safe and reunite them if it killed me. Moira had managed to drop three of the six Nymphs, her aim impeccable and deadly. When she joined the fight with her bow slung across her shoulder, I was grateful to have her by my side. I have to admit, we made quite a pair, our blades ringing out in the quiet clearing, our enemies retreating under our unrelenting attack. It felt so right, fighting with her instead of against her, as if I’d finally found my place in the world.
Moira fought with a sword not unlike the weapon she’d given to me. A black blade with veins of glowing green. Hers was much longer, more of a broad sword than a saber. She handled its weight well. As she swung at the Nymphs coming at us, she maneuvered the weapon with as much precision as she would a dagger. Good thing, too. Those Nymphs were fast fuckers. Flanked on both sides with an attack coming at our center, I had no choice but to concentrate my efforts on one enemy at a time. The Nymphs took us on with a blade in each hand, making it feel as if we stood against six enemies instead of just three. But damn it, I wasn’t about to lose. Not when there was so much at stake. I emptied my mind of everything, save the fight. My sole focus became letting as much blood as possible. Swinging with a strength that surprised me, I caught the Nymph on my right with my blade, slicing open a nasty gash in his side.
From my left, the other Nymph came at me, sinking his razor-edged teeth into my forearm. I cried out, spun away from the one I’d cut, and with an upward sweep, drove the dagger through the Nymph’s chin and straight up into his head. His eyes cleared for the barest instant, horror and confusion written in the depths of blue. I swallowed down the bile that rose in my throat as he rocked back, careened forward, and crumpled at my feet.
“Look out!” Moira called out just in time to save me from a sword thrust to my face.
I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the injured Nymph’s teeth. My sword arm stung, weakened by the tears in my flesh that oozed blood down to my fingertips. The dagger felt heavy in my grasp, but I lunged and swung, managing to nick my attacker’s shoulder before he spun away. Moira had her hands full at my side, distracting me as I watched her parry blow after blow, getting in a few good stabs of her own. I had to give her credit-the girl could fight.
A sudden, jarring pain blinded me, a thousand stars against a black sky in my vision. The world slipped away, and I fell, down…down…through the void until all that was left was welcome oblivion.
“Paris,” I said, tossing the postcard across the farm-style table. “You know, he’d be better off hiding somewhere like Wyoming or Montana. Paris is a little conspicuous, wouldn’t you agree?”
Azriel nodded absently, his eyes swirling with a darkening storm. He hated the postcards almost as much as they intrigued me. “Lorik is a fool. And he has no intention of lying low. Not now, not ever.”
Tapping the postcard on the table, Azriel stared out the window as the rain battered the leaded panes before running in rivulets to the ground. I supposed we’d go out walking soon; he loved to be outside in the rain. “Why does he send them?” I asked, nodding at the postcard. “You know, don’t you?”
“There’s more to Lorik than meets the eye.” I could tell by his tone Azriel would not open the subject for discussion. “That’s all you need to know.”
“What is he to you?” We’d been receiving the postcards for almost a year. I wanted-no needed-to know why. “Why don’t you trust me enough to share your secrets with me?”
“What do you mean, love?” His words were spoken softly but carried a warning edge. “I share my life with you. Is that not enough?”
“Do you not think I can handle the truth? Is that why you keep things from me? Do you not think I’m strong enough? Capable?”
“What I do is for your protection.” He’d abandoned the facade of calm, heading down a path I knew better than to follow. “If I keep things from you, it is for your own good. Do not make me regret the decision to save your life, Darian. Leave all things to me and you will be safe. Accept that fact or risk your safety.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. He’d saved my life; he’d cared for me. How could I question him or doubt his honor for even one second? “I-I was just curious, that’s all. The postcards, they’re like a mystery. A puzzle to be solved.”
“Perhaps you need diversion,” Azriel said, pulling me onto his lap. His breath tickled where he lowered his lips to my throat. “You need no puzzle to solve or mysteries to unravel.” His lips were warm, soft, sending a ripple of pleasure across my skin. “You have me, and I am enough.”
My head rolled back on my shoulders as he unbuttoned my dress. Yes. I had him. And he would be with me. Always. I didn’t need to know the truth. I didn’t need to know anything besides that he loved me. He was enough.
And I trusted him.
Chapter 28
I hadn’t trusted him.
I’d done to Tyler what Azriel had done to me all those years ago. I’d taken control of him and the situation, and I hadn’t trusted him to be my partner, my equal. I’d used my body to distract him. I’d treated him as if he were weak, beneath me, and he knew it. I’d expected him to blindly trust me without offering anything in return. And I’d left him.
I reached for my thumb, touching the skin that had been worn smooth by Tyler’s ring. What had Faolán done with it? I needed it. I needed to feel that part of Tyler on my body.
“Darian,” Moira said, not so gently slapping my cheek. “Darian, can you hear me?”
No. Well, I didn’t want to anyway. Admitting I could hear her was acknowledging this reality, the fact that I’d dug myself a hole I couldn’t get out of, and had more than likely lost the only thing in my life I cared about.