Descending (The Rising Series) (20 page)

Kyros had Gretchen on his arm as they staggered into the office of a tiny, sky-blue, clapboard motel in Somerset Village. Gretchen leaned heavily on his arm, with dark circles shadowing her eyes. She looked exhausted. Still, she gave a friendly smile to the man at the desk.

A hefty,
middle-aged man with a shiny, bare head stood as they walked in. Curly, grey fluff stuck out from his collar. Kyros was never so glad he didn’t have to worry about the effects of aging.

“Good evening,” the human greeted.

“Good evening,” Kyros answered. “I would like a room with two beds.”

The man smiled. Kyros was taken aback at the gaping spaces between the man’s teeth. “Now why you be needing two beds with a girl as pretty as that one on your arm?” He gave an exaggerated wink.

“Are you always this rude to your guests?” Kyros scowled.

The man blinked back in surprise. “I, uh… No
, sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Gretchen ran her hand down Kyros’s arm and smiled at the uncouth human. “Don’t mind Kyros. He’s had a
really
bad night.”

The man avoided Kyros’s gaze as he spoke to Gretchen. “Yeah, he needs to lighten up.”

“Don’t I know it,” she said. “Listen, do you have a room with two beds? Or two adjoining rooms would be fine too.”

“Yeah, I got adjoining rooms.” He kept his eyes on Gretchen. “You paying with card or cash?”

It looked like this man didn’t want to deal with him anymore. “Cash,” Kyros said, forcing the man’s attention.

The man looked at him briefly while completing the transaction. “Okay, sure. Follow me.”

The rooms were much smaller than the rooms in Xanthus’s home, but they looked clean, well tended, and each had a wide window. Through the dark pane, he could see a few yellow flowers lighted by the glow from the room’s lamp.

“This is perfect. Thank you,” Gretchen said.

“Well, pretty lady, just dial 3 if you need anything.”

Pretty lady?
Kyros scowled. Finally, the human left. “Is that normal behavior?” Kyros asked.

“What behavior?” Gretchen looked baffled.

“Human men calling you nicknames when they don’t know you?”

Gretchen shrugged
and sank into the bed. “I guess. But not every man is that friendly.”

“Friendly? That was friendly?”
Kyros stood, too angry to sit.

Gretchen smiled and nodded.

“When would you say they’ve crossed the line?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know.
” She lay back on the bed and turned toward him on her side. “It depends on the culture.”

Kyros raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, all right.” She sat up. “I guess if he touches me too much, or in an inappropriate way. Or if he starts calling me baby, honey, or ‘ooh la la woman.’” Gretchen’s smile broadened as his frown deepened. “Or if he looks me over like he’s undressing me with his mind. And a guy looking at me like that while licking his lips…” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “Then there’s pinching my butt, grabbing my—”

“I get it,” Kyros snapped, interrupting her. He had the insane urge to crush his fist through the human’s face.

Gretchen smiled innocently, but the gleam in her eye told him she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

“Okay,” Gretchen said, “so tell me again why you
’re determined to lock me away in here while you leave and go talk to Xanthus.”

Kyros paced the floor, his leg shooting daggers of pain with each step.
“Drakōn can’t track you here. He’s the one that took me to your mother—”

“Birth mother.”

“Right. Anyway, I think it’s safe to assume he will kill you if he gets the chance.”

“Probably. You know he’ll most likely kill you too.”

“I’m much harder to kill than you are.”

“I’m not a weakling.”

“No, you’re not. But you
are
injured and exhausted.”

“So are you.” She crossed her arms
over her chest.

Kyros sighed
and dropped onto the bed beside her. “All right. I give up. I’ll call Xanthus and have him meet us here.”

“Sara too?”

“Okay.”

“We
might want to wait ‘til morning,” she said. “It’s pretty late.”

Kyros frowned and nodded.
Lifting her chin, he examined her face. “You look worn out.”

Gretchen cracked a smile. “
Let’s see. What did I do today? I escaped from prison, took an early morning swim, played a game of tag with the sharks, hiked a mountain, explored caves, ran for my life while being chased down by a murdering lunatic, got choked near to death, stabbed in the hand, and yanked my own hand out from said knife.” He internally cringed at the memory, regret still fresh in his mind. “Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.”

“Get some sleep,” he said. “
You need your rest. I’ll… I’ll keep watch until you fall asleep.”

“You don’t need to. I’m sure I’ll be asleep
as soon as my eyes close.”

He sat
, not moving. She was right. Obviously, she wasn’t afraid to be left alone. He should just go to bed himself. After all, he was honest enough to admit he was also dead on his feet.

Pulling
back the blankets, she slid under the sheets. She punched her pillow a few times, lay her head down, gingerly placed her injured hand across her chest, and closed her eyes. Still, he didn’t move. He looked to the door of the adjoining room. He should go to bed. But he didn’t. He just sat there, watching her—unwilling to leave her alone.

“Are you just going
sit there and stare at me all night?” She spoke without opening her eyes.

Kyros grunted.

She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Look. If you’re scared—”

“I’m not scared,” he snapped, angry at the mere suggestion.

Gretchen cracked a smile. “I know.”

He continued to glower at her. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he bring himself to do something as simple as go to bed? Because, in order to do that, he
’d have to leave her alone in this room. That was just not something he could do right now. Gretchen had nearly died today. He came close to spilling her guts on the sand—the woman he loved!

Drakōn had no such feelings stopping him. If Aella compelled him to, he would slice Gretchen to ribbons without a second thought.

Gretchen
scooted next to him. She looked deep in his eyes. “Why are you so angry?”

“I came so close to killing you.” He dropped his head and closed his eyes
, too ashamed to look at her. “And I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but I love you, Gretchen. I truly do. I don’t know how it happened so quickly, but it did. I don’t deserve you. You have no idea how much I wanted to kill you, even
while
I loved you. I wanted to see you broken, bleeding, and dead.”

“That wasn’t you, Kyros. That was her. I don’t blame you at all. And I’m the last one to judge you. You’re less of a murderer than I am.”

Kyros jerked his head up, shocked at what she was implying. “What do you mean? It’s not your fault your mother killed that girl.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” There was a glimmer of a tear on her cheek.

He tugged her to lean against him. “Tell me.”

She took in a ragged breath. “It’s why I came here in the first place. I killed a man—back in Hawaii.”

Kyros forced back his reaction. He needed to hear the whole story before making any judgments.

“Who was he?”

She looked down and took in another shaky breath. “He was the father of a client—a five-year-old girl he nearly beat to death. The state took her away from him and placed her with a good, loving family. They were trying to adopt her. But somehow, the father convinced the judge he’d changed. They gave him back his daughter. He almost killed her, and they gave her back to him! She was terrified. She didn’t want to go back. And I… I was angry. I wasn’t thinking straight. I walked straight up to him and told him if he ever hurt her again...” She couldn’t finish; she couldn’t say it. “I didn’t realize I’d used compulsion. I was just so angry.”

“You compelled him without singing?”
Kyros asked.

She nodded. “It’s not so much the song that holds power, it’s the emotion. S
inging emits much more emotion than speaking, and it’s easier to control. But that day, I guess my voice was emotionally charged. Regretfully, it was enough to compel him to kill himself.”

“You and I share a similar past, Gretchen
, but at least you didn’t know what you were doing. I was fully aware of what I did.”

“What happened?”

“That’s a story for another time. You need your sleep.” He lay down, keeping her in his arms.

“Isn’t this against your moral code? Sleeping with me in my bed?”

“Not if all we do is sleep. And to tell you the truth, I’m too exhausted to do anything but sleep.”

“Me too.” Her voice trailed off and within
seconds, her breathing deepened. Minutes later, he joined her in his dreams.

Aella paced back and forth across the deck. She picked up a chair and smashed it through the nearest window as she screamed. Glass shards flew everywhere. “I knew it! Why didn’t I listen to my doubts? I knew Ambrosia would give me trouble. Kyros should have delivered me her body by now.” She turned to Drakōn and snarled. “Why isn’t he here?”

She knew he wouldn’t answer her. Being entranced—he didn’t embrace a conscious thought. “Come here, Drakōn.” He responded at once and strode over to her.

She softened her voice, allowing him to speak. “What do you think happened with Kyros?”

His eyes lightened. “I think he defied your commands.”

“Impossible!” Aella glowered at him. “How could he?”

“He loves her.”

“I only told him to
say
he loved her. I didn’t compel him to actually feel anything for her. Besides, love’s a myth.”

She waited for him to contradict her, but he remained silent. “Do you believe in love?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever felt love?”
She circled him as she spoke.

“Yes.”

“Can you give me more than a one-word answer?”

“Yes.”

“Well…” She stopped to face him “Tell me more. Who do
you
love?”

“My…”
He collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.

Aella frowned at his resistance.
“Your wife?”

Still thrashing around, he growled
.

“Your son?”

He slammed his fist into the deck, cracking the floor.

“Your daughter?”

At those words, he bellowed out a roar and snarled, “Leave me alone, witch!”

“Ah ha! You have a daughter.”

“I’ll kill you. I swear I will.” He slammed his head against the deck, breaking the wood. Blood dripped down his forehead.