Eye of the Tempest (13 page)

“Shhh, Jane. I know. He can do that,” Anyan said, stroking his hand across my cheek. I had to remind myself that it was Anyan’s hands, not Graeme’s. Then I remembered what Graeme had said, and I shuddered, pulling away from the barghest.

Sitting up, I drew my jean jacket tighter around me. “Why didn’t you tell me he could do that? Why didn’t I know?”

“I’m sorry,” Anyan replied, letting me move away from him. “There was so much to teach you, and so little time.”

“Why did he never do that before?” I asked.

“Um…” Anyan said, clearly trying to figure out what to say. “He didn’t really have to before,” the big man finally said, sounding embarrassed. It took me a second, and then I cottoned to what he was saying.

I’d been so weak before that Graeme didn’t need to pull out his big guns
.

I bit my tongue on the nasty retort I had waiting. I was letting Graeme get to me, and taking it out on the barghest.

But what Graeme said
… came an insidious thought that, try as I might, kept worming deeper into my consciousness.

Shivering, I looked toward where Nell knelt over Gus. What I really wanted to do was take a scrub brush and Lysol my brain. But if I couldn’t do that, I wanted a distraction. No more thinking about Graeme.

“Is Gus all right?” I asked, even as I forced myself to take a deep breath. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what Graeme had said to me.

Anyan is Anyan. Graeme is Graeme. And a liar
, I reminded myself, even as I focused on Nell.

“He’s hurt. Anyan’s stabilized him, but I think we should get him to Caleb or Dr. Sam,” answered the gnome.

“Can you apparate us?” I asked, wanting to get right the fuck out of this glen so I could think straight. I felt like I was wearing Graeme residue, and I needed to get away, to where I was only me again.

“Yes. You both ready?” she asked.

I nodded and stood, as Anyan moved toward me. I tensed, but didn’t let myself move away.

It’s Anyan
, I told myself, trying to get Graeme out of my head.
It’s Anyan. Don’t let that monster get to you
.

So I held still as Anyan walked to my side. I held still as the barghest raised his hand. I didn’t flinch when he took my chin between his fingers.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I forced myself to nod, and I forced myself to say, “I’ll be all right. Just really freaked out.”

Anyan nodded to me and then nodded to Nell.

“We’re ready to go.”

It was only when Nell’s magic surrounded me that I allowed the long, rolling shudder to work its way up and through my body. For every time Anyan touched me, I heard Graeme whispering again.

Don’t act innocent, slut. I know that’s just how your barghest likes it
.

CHAPTER NINE

I think Dr. Sam is stoned,” I whispered to Trill, who nodded gravely.

“He was with Amy,” she whispered back, and I grimaced. That would explain the red eyes. And the fact that the goblin was wearing only boxer shorts and a few multicolored leis.

“Is Gus going to be okay?” I asked, from where I sat next to the kelpie. She’d taken Anyan’s overstuffed chair, and I was perched on the arm. Gus was stretched out on Anyan’s sofa as Caleb and Dr. Sam attended to the little stone spirit.

“He’ll be fine by tomorrow. He got quite a knock to the head, but we got to him before his brain could swell too much,” Caleb’s deep voice rumbled.

I grimaced as Dr. Sam giggled delightedly and totally inappropriately.

“Why on earth did they attack Gus?” Anyan asked. He was sitting on his fireplace ledge across the room from me.

“Who knows?” Nell replied, rocking away in the littler rocker she apparated everywhere with her. “But it was definitely a coordinated attack. Phaedra got my attention and kept Anyan and me busy while her entourage went after Gus.”

“They weren’t after Gus,” I interrupted. “They were interested in his rock.”

“His rock?” Anyan asked. “Why on earth would they want Gus’s rock?”

“Why on earth would they want Gus?” Trill countered, voicing what we were all secretly thinking.

“A great big fucking Zen garden?” Dr. Sam questioned the universe.

“Maybe,” I conceded to our stoned doctor’s wisdom. “Or maybe there’s something on or inside that rock we’ve never noticed. I’m betting it is, or it houses, one of the locks. We need to check it out, carefully.”

Caleb nodded. “Definitely. But how about in the morning? We’re all tired, and it’s not going anywhere. Plus, I left Iris alone.”

None of us missed the plaintive note in his voice, and Nell smiled at him.

“Home you go, Caleb. Thank you for your help.”

Caleb’s magic gathered as he gave Gus one last once-over before saying his good-byes. After which Nell apparated him back to Iris in a burst of magic, tousled-blond hair, and enormous schlong.

Lucky Iris
, my libido sighed, jealously.

Then I nearly jumped out of my skin as a hand brushed beneath my hair to grip my nape gently. Anyan (
to whom
, I reminded myself for about the twentieth time,
I need to attach a bell
) tilted my head away from him to reveal the vulnerable shell of my ear, just a little, as he leaned down toward me. My whole body shivered.

And not in a way that has anything to do with Graeme
, my libido purred, although my brain was still swirling around discontentedly.

“Don’t leave with the others,” Anyan growled into my ear. “I want to know what happened.”

Trill got up from the chair, giving us some space as she gave me a cheeky side-eye. Then she went and whispered to Nell.

“Can we leave Gus here for the night?” the gnome asked, nodding at Trill’s words as she stood up from her rocking chair. She walked over to the stone spirit, placing a small hand on his forehead. “I could apparate him, but he’s so peaceful. And I’m not entirely sure where he sleeps.”

“It’s fine, Nell. Let him rest,” Anyan said as his hand began to massage the back of my neck in a way that neither my overactive brain nor libido could argue with. My eyes closed as my body relaxed. His touch was so strong and possessive, and I felt almost hypnotized by my desire to submit…

Just like Graeme made me feel
.

I sat bolt upright, dislodging Anyan’s hand with the force of my movement. He cast me an iron look just as we heard a thud.

Dr. Sam, giggling, had ended up ass over teakettle from where he’d tried to sit in Nell’s rocking chair. His long, scaly green limbs waved in the air as he chortled, his lei tangled around his head.

Nell sighed and wiggled her fingers. Dr. Sam poofed out, no doubt apparated back to Amy and her famous five-foot glass bong. Then the little woman nodded her goodbyes to us and poofed away herself and the kelpie.

Leaving me alone with Anyan.

I raised my eyes, slowly, to meet his. He wasn’t looking at me like he was angry. Instead, his face betrayed a hint of confusion but also a stubborn look like he just wasn’t having any of what I was dishing out.

And since what I was dishing out were undoubtedly the lies of a known psychopath, I couldn’t blame him.

“Outside?” he asked, inclining his head toward where Gus slept. The little stone spirit had had enough drama for the day. He didn’t need to be involved in our little Graeme-inspired soap opera.

I nodded, and we headed toward Anyan’s front porch. Once there, he took one corner of the railing to perch on, and I took the opposite side. Our knees were almost touching, and we could see each other’s faces, but otherwise we had space.

“What’s going on, Jane?”

Anyan was never one to beat around the bush.

“I’m just skeeved out from my run-in with Graeme, earlier. He was in my head. I still feel… dirty.”

“Tomorrow we’ll work on some mental shields for you. Graeme’s talent is rare, but dangerous. Now that he’s in the picture again, we’ll get you protected.”

I nodded, avoiding his eyes. “Well, I always wondered how he did it. I mean, how he fed on the women he tortured, since incubi aren’t supposed to be able to feed on pain.”

Despite my logical tone of voice, I shuddered. Knowing that Graeme had
literally
made his victims “want it” totally skeeved me out, on so many levels. It was an ultimate act of victimization that made me hate the incubus even more, if that were possible.

“Now,” Anyan said, his voice low, “what else is going on?”

I hugged myself tighter, unsure of what to say.

“Spill it, Jane. I can hear those brains of yours crunching all the way over here. You’re obviously upset, and with me. Tell me what I did.”

Shaking my head, I finally met his eyes. “You didn’t do anything. I promise. It’s just that Graeme said something. About you. Being like him.”

“And you believe him?” Anyan’s voice, considering the fact I’d just compared him to a vicious sexual predator, was remarkably calm.

“Of course not,” I replied. “I mean, I know you’re not like him.”

“But?” Anyan asked, playing our old game, now gone horribly less fun.

“But…” I paused to think, and then decided thinking wasn’t going to work. Sometimes, the best way to come at an issue was by babbling it into submission. “But you scare me, to be honest. Not the way Graeme does. I do know you’re nothing like him. But you’re still… still a lot. A lot to handle. I don’t mean your junk, obviously, as we’ve not gotten to the fondling-bits stage yet. And I can’t believe I just talked about your junk. Anyway, I’m not saying you’re
not
a lot to handle, in the junk department, but I meant ‘a lot’ more as in, like, ‘you.’ You’re a lot. Just… a lot.”

I finally stuck a cork in it, amazed, once again, at how much absolute shite could fall out of my own face.

Anyan frowned at me for a second. It wasn’t a look of anger, more of concentration as his brain scrambled to tease apart my word snarl. Then he smiled.

Why’s he smiling?
my brain wondered as I dropped my eyes downward, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze.

Who cares? Lick him!
my libido answered.

Meanwhile, I sat with my hands in my lap, again feeling a bit like a bunny rabbit in the sights of a hunter.

Only I kind of like it when it’s Anyan
, I realized. So I forced myself to look back up at him. His eyes had grown hot, and I knew things were going to come to a head.

You thought that on purpose
, my virtue chided, as my libido chortled.

Mmm. Head
, was its only reply.

“You know I would never hurt you,” he asked. His voice was rough with lust, and it made my spine quiver.

“Of course,” I replied, forcing my eyes to stay on his.

“But you’re afraid of me?”

“That’s not it, really. It’s just… It’s more like… I’m just…”
Scared shitless of this whole thing
, I thought, not wanting to admit it.

“So you’re not really afraid of me. But you’re afraid of something involving me?”

I frowned. “Obviously, but that doesn’t mean…”

“Are you afraid of how you feel? Of how I make you feel?” With those words, Anyan stood his long frame up from where he’d been sitting on his verandah railing and came to stand in front of me. He towered over me, of course.

“Stop it. You always do that. You get up in my space and I feel… crowded.”

Instead of moving back, he moved a step closer.

“Is that all you feel?” he asked, doing his best imitation of Socrates. “Crowded?”

Gagagagagaga
, my libido supplied, helpfully. It also sent my blood skittering to all the organs my blood shouldn’t be in, if I wanted to think. And I did want to think, damn it.