Dark Matter (14 page)

Before I could blink, she dropped her
little warriors onto the table. They raced through the doors of the
castle with Finn’s troop not far behind, but Cassie’s troop had the
doors barricaded before Finn’s men made it across the
drawbridge.

Levi laughed and shoved his open palm
toward one of the other men. The guy replied with a quick shake of
his head. “It isn’t over yet,” he said softly.

Cassie sat back in her seat and calmly
watched her little band of soldiers secure down the castle. Finn
didn’t look all that upset for someone that was about to be
defeated.

Seeing them like this released a
tension within me I hadn’t known existed. They were safe, playing
fae games even. I smiled, feeling happy for the first time in
weeks.

I noticed movement from the corner of
my eye. Heath detached himself from a wall and walked out of the
room. I hadn’t seen him when I came in.

I was tempted to go after him, but I
wasn’t sure I was ready to face him yet. He had gotten under my
skin in a big way, and I was hoping that he hadn’t actually taken
root. My life was complicated enough without adding him to the
mix.

Laughing and cursing erupted
simultaneously bringing my attention back to the game. The entire
castle was ablaze and Cassie’s men were rolling around face-down in
the courtyard snow trying to snuff out their burning
clothing.

Cassie scraped her chair backward and
shoved her hands at her hips, scowling at Finn who looked at her
through amused eyes. “You cheated,” she accused.

“
The rules of Subterfuge are
clear,” Finn said evenly. “I had every right to give my men
whatever advantages I had in my possession.”

“
Yeah, but you had an unfair
advantage. I don’t have any power to share with my men. Look at
them!”

Their poor little bodies were covered
in soot, but they didn’t look as if they were injured. Levi inched
closer to me and nudged my shoulder. I tensed immediately,
expecting him to blast me with a compulsion.

But all he did was say, “What do you
think, Rayla?”

I shrugged. “I’m hardly equipped to
judge. I don’t know one thing about this game.”

He smiled, pushing some stray hairs
behind his ear. “We use this exercise to keep the boredom away, but
it is also meant to keep our skills honed.”

Cassie looked at me for help, but I
wasn’t sure I could actually give it to her this time. “If a real
enemy attacked the castle they would use whatever advantages they
had to win.”

Instead of pouting at me like I thought
she would, Cassie got a glint in her eyes and motioned me over to
her. She pulled me in close. “Do you think you could lend me a bit
of your power?”

I smiled, hiding my laugh behind a
cough. She was such a sore loser. I leaned into her ear. “What if I
blow your little warriors up instead of helping them?”

She groaned and marched up to Finn,
pulling him out of his seat and toward the corner of the room. He
was laughing the entire way. Once in front of the couch, he
stripped off his shoes and stretched himself into a comfortable
position. Cassie motioned me over before she began massaging his
feet.

“
Where have you been all
night, anyway?” she asked if a little distractedly. “Don’t tell me
you’ve been outside this whole time?”

I hadn’t considered that the only
people who were aware of what had really happened were me and
Heath. I was done keeping secrets from her, but I wanted to discuss
this alone. “Something like that.”

She pushed herself out from under Finn
and stood up. “Hey. Are you okay?”

I felt tears pushing against my eyes.
“I’m fine. When you guys are finished can you come to my
room?”

She turned around asking Finn a silent
question. He nodded toward the door. She shot him a smile over her
shoulder. As we were walking away he said, “Don’t think you’ve
gotten out of this, Cassie.”

“
Wouldn’t dream of it,” she
replied without bothering to turn around.

We didn’t say much on our way to my
room, and I tried to organize my thoughts so I wouldn’t keep her
away from Finn for very long.

She shut the door firmly behind her. I
looked around the familiar room. It was hard not to put a mine
behind everything. I took her straight to my sitting
room.

I couldn’t wait long enough for her to
sit down before the words gushed out of me. “Ainessa almost got me,
Cass.”

She gaped at me. “When? I thought you
were with Heath.”

“
I was.”

Chapter Ten

Cassie’s pale face lost all color as I
recounted the evening’s events. I didn’t leave anything out. She
didn’t smirk or scold me when I told her about how I’d nearly lost
it with Heath. She just sat there listening intently.

She waited for me to finish before she
said a word. “Rayla, I need to tell you something, but I don’t want
you to get mad at me.”

“
Okay?” I hadn’t known
Cassie to be this serious. Normally she walks around with a tiny
smile on her face as if she is harboring an amazing secret the rest
of us would die to know. Right now she was staring at me
compassionately, but there was something else behind her gaze that
I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“
I’ve seen you with Zach and
Luke. I know you have feelings for both of them, but there has only
been one time in the past few weeks when you have been truly
happy.”

I didn’t remember ever being exactly
happy since I came here. How could I be when I was so worried about
the people I love? “When was that?”

“
When you were dancing with
Heath at the ball.”

I couldn’t deny it. I had felt
exuberant when I was in his arms, but it was only because of the
dancing. Wasn’t it? “I don’t like him that way.”

“
Really?” She laughed. “You
might not want to like him that way, but you do. You just need to
consider all your options before you rush into a decision that you
might regret down the line.”

I swallowed hard. She was right. I
cared for Heath. He was different than Zach and Luke. He’d never
made any qualms in admitting what he wanted. The worst part about
it was I honestly didn’t think he even cared about my power all
that much. “He scares me,” I whispered.

“
Are you sure you are afraid
of him? Have you considered you might just be unsure of how you
feel about him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know how to
feel anymore. I’m confused about everything. I enjoyed myself a
little too much out in the cold with him warming me up, and I can’t
blame it all on Ainessa if I am being honest with myself.” Cassie
nodded and I continued. “Her compulsion was subtle to the point
that I couldn’t tell how much she used to make me shed my
inhibitions. I could have easily lost myself in the moment. And,
yeah, that scares the crap out me. What if I make the wrong choice?
What if Ainessa gets to me before Zach and Luke escape?” I
shuddered at the thought of them being trapped on that horrible
island. “I’m starting to suspect that she has something to do with
them being gone this long.”

“
I’m not going to say
another word about Heath. I just think you should consider how you
really feel before you discount him. I know you think you’ve
narrowed your options down to two men, but are you sure those are
the right two?”

“
How can I possibly know
that? I don’t really know any of them.” I straightened excitedly.
“I think I finally get how compulsion works. Luke was definitely
using it on me, but I have no idea how much. I’m pretty sure Zach
didn’t use it on me at all. I think my feelings for him are real,
but I could easily be wrong. Ainessa was able to penetrate my mind
without me knowing. Maybe her brother has the same
talent?”

Cassie considered that a moment. “I’m
not sure Zach would resort to something like that. He seemed
genuinely interested in you. He could have taken you so many times
back at school it’s absurd to think about it. You were alone with
him in the woods, at Roger’s house, and then at his place. He could
have easily bonded with you after you found out he was a lord. My
point is I don’t think that’s his style.”

She shook her head before she
continued. “As far as Ainessa is concerned, that wouldn’t surprise
me a bit. She’s horrible. I’ve heard stories that would curl your
earlobes. She enjoys torturing people. I’ve been trying to find out
where Nixlan is, but no one I ask has even heard of her. The way
these people treat the lower fae is despicable. They act as if
brownies don’t even have names. I’ve even tried to approach the
brownies here, but they won’t talk to me. It’s as if they’re
afraid.” She sighed. “Apart from going to Lombarda to search for
myself, I don’t know if I will ever be able to find Nixlan.” A
frown claimed her mouth, and she worried her lip. “I would feel
much better about trying something like that if I could ever get
Finn to bond with me.”

The thought made me smile. “What’s he
waiting for? He’s clearly not in prison.”

Her expression grew distant and she
wouldn’t look at me. “He hasn’t gotten permission yet.” The skin
between her eyebrows wrinkled with worry as she turned pleading
eyes on me. “What if they don’t allow him to?”

“
Why wouldn’t they? He’s no
longer lord of fire. What difference does it make?”

She threw a hand up in the air. “They
claim it’s for my safety.”

I didn’t like where this was going.
“What do you mean?”

“
They’re not exactly sure I
could survive a bonding.”

The thought chilled me. “Who’s
they?”

“
I should really say she.
The queen called us into her chambers a few hours ago. She insisted
they consult Tabitha to get her opinion, but that could take months
if not years from what Finn explained to me. She never comes here,
and she rarely sees anyone outside of bonding rituals. If you ask
me, the queen is just afraid of a little good old fashioned
competition. Her time is almost up and she is becoming
restless.”

I pulled my ankle up to my knee. “Finn
is hardly going to stand for that.”

Her gaze lingered on the fire. Her
pupils dilated as if she was in a trance. “We’ve been warned. If we
try to take matters into our own hands we will be punished. They’ll
dump me back into the human realm without so much as a backward
glance and Finn…”

“
What?”

She gulped. “He will be sent to prison
until I’m dead.”

I hit the pillow beside me because it
was the closest thing I could pound. “They can’t do
that!”

“
Seems they can. He had real
fear in his eyes when she was talking to us. He hasn’t mentioned it
since.” She shook her head. “He’s been so sweet trying to distract
me, but I know he’s worried.”

“
This just keeps getting
worse.”

“
Speaking of, what are you
going to do about Heath?”

“
I have no…”

A muffled knock sounded from the other
room. I was content to let whoever it was think we weren’t here.
The sound came again, more urgent this time.

Cassie said, “You’d better answer
it.”

I got up in a huff and flung the door
open. Heath stood at my threshold looking conflicted in a big
way.

He pushed past me. “I’ve come to a
decision, Rayla.” His voice was full of an emotion I couldn’t quite
grasp. Before I could even react to his statement or how I was
feeling about him being mere feet from my bed he said, “My offer is
officially off the table.”

My mouth fell open. “You aren’t going
to help me?”

He shook his head. “You misunderstand.
I am putting a team together as we speak. I think you are right.
Ainessa is a bigger threat than any of us imagined. We’ll be
leaving in the morning.”

I released a sigh of relief. “What are
you talking about then?”

His gaze shifted away from me, and I
got the distinct impression that he couldn’t look me in the eyes.
His voice was edgy when he spoke. “I will not bond with
you.”

“
Okay?”

“
Let me finish.” His voice
fell to nearly a whisper. “Not now. Not ever.” He took my shoulders
between his hands. “I’ll get you to that island so you can rescue
your beloved Zach, but that’s as far as this goes.”

I couldn’t say anything. I could barely
blink.

Without another word, he turned around
and walked out the door as Cassie strolled into my bedchamber.
“What was so urgent?”

“
Heath is sending a team to
investigate the island.”

She rushed over to me, pulling me into
a warm hug. She stopped short and pushed herself away from me with
an almost comically puzzled expression on her face. “Wait a minute.
Why aren’t you jumping up and down right now?”

I bit my lip. Heath’s words circulated
my brain like a racecar at the Indie 500. I should have been
thrilled. One less complication. One less man to worry about. So
why was my stomach plummeting into an abyss of despair? I shrugged
off my feelings and wrapped my arms around her. “It’s just strange
to have someone actually hear me, you know?”