“What?” Aerolus shot off the couch, Marcus and Cadmus both stunned as well.
Samantha’s head throbbed. “Say that again?”
“By the Light, Darius.” Marcus shook his head. “I think a decent explanation is in order here, for Samantha and for us.”
Cadmus nodded, his frown clearly disapproving. “Yeah. You really have no sense of tact.” He turned to Samantha. “Though your taste in women is definitely improving.”
Darius growled and Samantha held up a hand to stop the insanity. “Everyone just shut up.” Her voice rose over the brotherly discourse. “You, Aerolus, you’ve been fairly quiet. Why don’t you explain this to me?”
The calmest of the four, and the one with the most mysterious eyes, sighed. “With the way my brother acts, it’s a wonder you’re still here.” He shot Darius an accusing glance, one that wounded him into silence.
“Samantha, what Darius has said is all true. It may be hard to accept, but we four are from another world, a place in which magic exists and evil and the Light are fighting a battle for control.”
“Of course you’re from another world. I should have guessed that from the start.” She thought she’d said that quite calmly, but Marcus snickered.
“Take out your contacts, Darius,” Aerolus said. “That might help.”
With a sinking feeling, she watched Darius remove his lenses. His dark eyes turned a startling red, as they had in the hotel room. Well, so much for the ’I must have imagined that‘ theory. Then the sudden remembrance of her erotic dream in the hotel room became vibrantly significant. Red eyes. Affai. She hastily visualised a mental barrier when his brows drew in puzzlement, then in heat. So much for not reading my thoughts.
“Here, in Seattle, all of us but Darius could pass for your kind, though I’ve yet to see identical quadruplets.” Aerolus appeared thoughtful and Darius groaned.
“Just get on with it.”
“Yes, well,” Aerolus coughed as if to hide his amusement. “We are the sons of a mighty Storm Lord, a man born of elemental magic who ruled the western portion of Tanselm, our world. Specifically, our father commanded the winds. He died over a year ago.”
Samantha clearly felt their pain, and without thinking she reached for Darius’ large hand. Warmth unfurled through her at his touch, and she gripped his palm before trying to ease free. He wouldn’t let her. Why this pleased her she couldn’t say, but unwilling to show it and give him the upper hand, she sat quietly, waiting for Aerolus to continue.
He stared blatantly at their hands and the corner of his lips curled. “My father was one of four identical siblings, like us, and so was destined to rule one of the four kingdoms. Our uncles ruled the south, north and east, leading their kingdoms under the power of the Storm Lords.”
“What does that mean exactly?” She eyed them all, wondering how she could possibly believe any of this.
“Storm Lords command the elements.” Aerolus waved his hand in the air and a breeze stole through the still room. “As you can see, I command the winds. Each one of us, of the Royal Four, is born with a certain ability to leash and control a specific element of nature. Marcus controls water, Cadmus the earth, and Darius harnesses the power of fire.”
She stared in astonishment as Marcus made water appear in his palm out of thin air and Darius snapped a flame to life. She turned to Cadmus, who shrugged.
“If I make the house shake again I’ve been threatened with a week’s worth of dishes. Earthquakes aren’t too popular around here.”
Having seen their power with her own eyes, Samantha’s disbelief began to fade, replaced by awe and uncertainty.
Aerolus seemed to sense her unease for he continued in a gentle voice. “Despite the power of the Storm Lords, they, we, are but mortal. Father was killed by dark magic, and soon after our uncles and their families were killed too, all by an evil sorcerer known as ’Sin Garu and his minions the Netharat.”
Darius squeezed her hand. “’Sin Garu is the blond you met this morning.” He briefly explained her dream, making no mention of their lovemaking, for which she was grateful. Hearing it all again, however, reinforced her fear.
Her mouth grew dry. The tale of an alternate world, which had started as entertaining, now felt all too horrifyingly real. “Saying I believe all this, what does this ’Sin Garu want with me?”
Aerolus opened his mouth but Darius interrupted. “We’re not sure. Bottom line is that this is real, you are in danger, and you’re not leaving until we know why he wants you.” His voice grew harsh, his eyes like lasers that pinpointed her desire to flee all too readily.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat, determined not to lose it in front of him or his brothers. Focusing on her strengths, she met his arrogance with resistance, just to show him he couldn’t push her around, that she wasn’t that afraid.
“If I stay it’s because I decide to stay, not because you’re ordering me to.” She tried to glare at him but couldn’t maintain the fiction when she met those dark red eyes. He didn’t look even slightly freakish, rather like a supernatural lover who could melt her with one glance.
Someone cleared his throat and she realised she’d been staring at Darius, and he at her.
“So long as you stay, I don’t care the reason,” he conceded, his voice husky. “It’s clear you’re tired and you need time to, ah, adjust to all this. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed you.” She noted his brothers’ surprise. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
She stood when he did, her sluggish body finally breaking down. She would have fallen to her knees had Darius not caught her.
“She’ll stay with me,” Darius murmured as he carried her out of the room and up the stairs.
She heard male mutterings but hadn’t the heart to question Darius anymore. As much as she wanted to walk strong on her own two feet, she couldn’t stop the pounding from behind her eyes, or the weakness invading her limbs.
Darius carried her with ease, her desire to be strong of no consequence. He felt her pain, could sense her near the end of her tenuous hold on control. Cursing his stupidity for not allowing for her comfort first, he placed her gently on his bed.
When she made no move to get up, he knew she’d reached the end of her endurance. Staring down at her, a spiral of tenderness blossomed, surprising him with the amount of feeling he suddenly experienced for the lovely Samantha Brooks.
Though just having her near made his cock ache and his heart jump, he made no move to seduce her, knowing she wouldn’t say no but unable to take advantage. With any other woman it would have been easy to get his way, to use every means available to press his suit for protection.
Samantha, however, made him conscious of a sudden softening in his attitude. Her eyes fluttered closed and she breathed softly in his bed, under his watch. Thoughts of Tanselm paled in comparison with the need to keep this woman safe and by his side.
Thoughts of Tanselm paled… As his awareness of the moment penetrated, the crystal around his throat came to life. Blazing with heat, the Knowing Crystal seared through his flesh, rising to rest on his chest in flashing lights of blue and silver.
He fell to his knees on the bed and toppled on the covers next to Samantha, anger at the pain in his throat fading under a sudden alarm. The crystal’s power shook him, as for the first time in his life he found himself unable to control the fire burning him from the inside out.