Dark Matter (13 page)

I wanted to think I had some power in
this situation. I wanted to think I would be able to choose who I
bonded with, but I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“
Look at me,” he demanded.
My eyes shot open without my permission. A self satisfied
expression settled on his face. “Good,” he purred.

So there it was. My suspicions were
confirmed. He didn’t need to use my name to compel me.

He softened into me. Whatever battle he
had been waging was now decided. He ran his hand slowly up my side
then cupped the back of my neck. I trembled under his touch, partly
out of fear and partly out of sheer lust. I had never really felt
this way about a man, and I didn’t want to. My feelings were dark,
uncomfortable.

My resistance to him trickled out of me
taking my panic with it. The only thing keeping me tethered to the
here and now was the snow melting into my hair, and the blessed
cold seeping into my back and legs. I welcomed it, trying to focus
on that sensation instead of the man that was so close to
shattering every barrier I had.

His lips settled onto mine in a soft
pressure. I felt a sigh escape me. He pulled my bottom lip into his
mouth and sucked gently. A burst of heat spread through my veins,
and I found myself responding to his kiss. Soft and timid at first,
but soon it morphed into something resembling violence. Our teeth
collided and his tongue battled mine for dominance. He moaned,
pulling me closer. I melted into him needing more.

What was I doing? I didn’t want this. I
didn’t want him, so why was I acting this way?

I found the will to speak, but my voice
came out in a sultry whisper instead of the demand I had intended.
“Heath.” I was only able to force out one more word.
“Stop.”

He didn’t so much as pull away from me,
but something changed in his expression. It wasn’t a lot, but I had
the sudden impression that he had been under the same sort of spell
I had, as if someone else was orchestrating this scene.

Was that a laugh I heard? It sounded
like…

Oh, no. Not her. It couldn’t be
her.

Chapter Nine

That was quite impressive,” chimed
Ainessa in her bell-like voice. “I should have brought a camera.
Ammon is sure to be interested to find out that you will fall for
anyone if the circumstances are right, Rayla.” Her presence in my
mind was undeniable.

Heath rolled off me and tugged me to my
feet. I glared at Ainessa. How had she done that? I hadn’t felt her
penetrate my barriers at all. She was dangerous; I had to get away
from her.

Heath trudged over to her like a rusty
robot and placed a stilted kiss on her cheek. I couldn’t see his
expression, but his body was stiff as if he was fighting against a
current. She glanced at him sidelong, not seeming overly pleased to
see him.

She gave him a somber expression. “It
is done then, Heath?” She put a sharp twist on the end of his
name.

He only nodded slightly, but it looked
painful for him to do it. What was she talking about?

She lowered her voice. I couldn’t hear
everything she was saying, but it had something to do with
Finn.

This had been a disaster. I should have
never come here. Why had Zach trusted Finn? Why had I trusted
Zach?

I should have fought harder to go with
him. I should have done something else. Anything would have been
better than this.

Ainessa and Heath were still talking,
he looked at ease now, and I was beginning to wonder if they had
planned this whole thing. Why would Heath want to help Ainessa? He
didn’t seem the sort of guy that would allow a woman to rule
him.

He nodded at her then stalked toward
me. I planted my feet, refusing to run anymore. I wasn’t really
that great at calling the elements, but I understood the general
concept. I just wished I could figure out why it worked sometimes
but not others.

I imagined a brick wall, solid and
strong with impenetrable mortar. The vision became clear in my mind
and suddenly it appeared in front of me, cutting Heath off. I
couldn’t see the top. The length disappeared into the forest while
the other end abutted the castle wall. I turned toward the trees,
planning to find a place to hide until I could figure out what I
was going to do, but Ainessa blocked my path.

How had I forgotten? She was from the
house of void. She could command space, but so could I. I just
never had the opportunity to learn how to use it. “How did you just
do that, Rayla?”

I fought her compulsion as realization
hit me. That was what Styx had meant when he said I would have
figured out how to save myself when I had jumped off the terrace of
the Crystal Castle to avoid being bound to Jett.

It was space I had to manipulate. But
how could I do that? Was it as simple as thinking? It seemed like
it should be more complicated, but I tried anyway. I thought about
my room in the castle, imagining the enormous bed, the closet, my
bathtub that was more like a swimming pool.

“
What are you doing?”
Ainessa hissed. She race toward me, screaming at the top of her
lungs for me to stop, but she was too late.

I was in my room. Relief flooded
through me until I heard footsteps behind me.

I whirled around. I had escaped
Ainessa, but I hadn’t managed to evade Heath. Dark emotions were
clear in his eyes, but it didn’t terrify me like it would have
before. For some reason I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. That didn’t
mean I wanted to stay with him.

He closed the distance between us
faster than I could think my way out of there, as if I even could.
I hadn’t forgotten the castle was warded, but I had to try. To my
surprise, he pulled me into a smothering hug.

His voice came out strained. I could
feel him trembling. “I thought I’d lost you.” He held me away from
him. “I’m…sorry.”

His eyes were pleading for me to
release him from the pain that clearly held him bound. How could I
say the words he wanted to hear when he had betrayed me? I just
stared, but something in his expression brought out a compassion
within me that refused to be buried. I closed my eyes, trying to
focus on finding a different place to be. Now that I knew how to
drift, I no longer needed my feet to escape him. His fingers slid
between mine. “Please,” he said. His voice was laced with heartache
that made my soul constrict.

I opened one eye, peeking at him. He
was kneeling in front of me, gazing up at me with those pleading
dark eyes.

I didn’t dare believe this was anything
more than just a strategic maneuver he’d concocted to win our
ongoing battle for control. Soften me up so he could take my mind
over again.

I didn’t think so. I sliced my head to
the left, but halted when I saw moisture gathering in his
eyes.

He stood, swiping at his face and
walked away from me. “Do what you must.”

I stared after him. He had just
assaulted me. I should be happy to be rid of him. But had it really
been him doing it?

I had lost control of myself for a time
out there. Was it so difficult to believe that the same had
happened to him?

The thought of him walking out the door
tightened my lungs. “Wait,” I heard myself say. I had to think this
through. “I need to ask you some questions.”

He stood there, his hand poised near
the knob. His breath came fast and shallow.

I had to know before I could truly make
any decision. “How long did she have control over you?”

For him to even admit it would be
devastating to his mountain-sized pride. He didn’t turn around.
“It’s too difficult to tell.”

That wasn’t much of an answer, but I
understood what he meant. Ainessa had slid into my mind sometime
after his lips touched mine. “What would you have done differently
if you had been completely in control of yourself?”

His head turned toward me slowly. His
face was emotionless. “Not much.”

He was evading. I swallowed. “I need to
know.”

Our gazes locked. “For one thing, I
never would have pushed you that far.”

“
Meaning?”

His eyes were pleading with me to drop
it, but I couldn’t. He shook his head and his fists tightened at
his sides. “Forget it. Leave if you will. I’ll be in my room if you
want me to come.”

“
What about
Ainessa?”

He was nearly to the doorway, but he
turned back again. “You needn’t worry about her right now. She
failed. Even if she was stupid enough to stay around, she does not
have the power to transport you out of Ignis herself.”

The instant he finished speaking he
whirled around and was down the hall faster than I could get
anything else out. Was that why Ainessa needed Heath? To transport
me out of Ignis?

I released the breath I had been
holding, letting my cheeks puff out. I shook my head in relief.
With my mind whirring with new possibilities where Heath was
concerned, I closed the door softly.

I waited a few minutes before I opened
my door again to steal a look down the hallway. Heath hadn’t
returned. Somehow I had envisioned him waiting there for me to come
to my senses. His absence caused a hollow feeling to melt through
my chest, but I shrugged it off as best I could then set out to
find Lysanne.

Besides Cassie, she was the closest
thing I had to a friend in this castle. I had to find out what had
happened to Finn and Cassie. Had Finn been arrested after the
tournament like he said he’d be? Was Cassie curled up in a corner
somewhere crying her eyes out because of me? I needed to see that
she was okay.

I realized one thing when I had been
out there with Ainessa and Heath. There was no way I could risk
going to the island alone. If I was going to do any good, if I ever
actually made it there, I was going to have to take some help.
Going solo wasn’t an option anymore, not with that sadistic woman
lurking in the shadows. I didn’t know enough about my powers to
really control them, and I couldn’t risk running into bigger
problems than I already had.

I found Lysanne in the east-wing
garden. She was tending to a bunch of plants that looked like
squash.

I cleared my throat. She immediately
looked up at me, startled.

“
Rayla!...uh, I mean, my
lady. I thought you would be occupied elsewhere tonight.” A slow
blush suffused her cheeks.

When I realized what she had just
implied I felt my own face fill with heat. I supposed the whole
castle thought Heath and I were bonding right about now. “I need to
talk to you.” A strange look crossed her eyes and I realized I had
spit out my request as an order. “That is, if you have some time to
spare,” I added hastily.

“
Of course,” she said,
rising to her feet.

We walked in silence to the edge of the
garden. A dome of glass was the only thing separating us from the
raging blizzard blasting against the barrier. Just looking at it
made me shiver. Grateful I hadn’t been trapped out there with
Heath, I sighed.

We sat beside each other, and I was
having a hard time finding the words to ask her about Cassie. I
finally settled for an honest approach thinking she would most
likely see through any attempt I made to conceal how worried I was.
“What has happened to Cassie and Finn?” I bit a nail waiting for
her response.

She turned toward me, confused.
“Happened?”

“
Are they okay?” I blurted
out.

“
Why wouldn’t they
be?”

“
I…Finn implied. Oh…would
you please take me to wherever Cassie is?”

She stood up and beckoned me to follow.
We took a different route that led to a part of the castle I had
never seen. My mind had raced with worry, but I never expected to
see what I was now witnessing.

Cassie sat across a table from Finn,
thank heaven. Each of them was sending the other speculative
glances before looking under the table at their hands. When I
walked nearer I didn’t notice any cards like I expected. Levi and a
few other guys congregated around them, speaking to one another in
mumbled tones.

“
What’re you doing?” I asked
as I nudged my way through them to Cassie’s side.

She gave me a brief perusal before she
shushed me. Now that I was this close I saw she was holding
something but they weren’t cards—at least not in the strict sense.
She bent lower in her chair and rearranged the tiny—for lack of a
better word—people in her hand. They were about as tall as a field
mouse with completely white skin. I don’t mean white like in
Caucasian. Their skin resembled the blanket of snow outside. Each
wore a leathery looking helmet and a numbered jersey. In the middle
of the table was a miniature version of the castle minus the roof
and the surrounding mountains.

Finn grinned at Cassie. “Quit
stalling.”

She shook her head at him, not looking
up. She made some gestures under the table and watched as one of
the people in her hand replied in the same odd language. “We’re
ready,” she said with a glint in her eyes.