FALL (The Senses) (24 page)

Waleron
sensed two men coming up behind him. He also knew that he’d never allow Tarek
to take Delara without him.

Tarek
loosened the noose and Delara bent over sucking in gulps of air. “Where were
you running, Delara? I told you what would happen if you ever left me, didn’t
I?”

Waleron
noticed Delara’s face blanch and her breathing stop. He fought the urge to
smash his fist into Tarek’s arrogant face. One slip up and Delara was dead. He
couldn’t take the risk, not with the rope still around her neck.

“Come
and give me a kiss, my love. It has been what, twenty years? I expected a
warmer greeting.”

Watching
the indecision on Delara’s face was a haunting image. Disgust. Fear. Tarek left
nothing to be decided as he tugged on the rope and she fell forward.

Waleron
went for her, his roar of outrage uncontrollable as he dove towards them.

The two
men tried to grab him, but with one gesture Waleron sent them flying through
the air. Tarek laughed. Waleron’s pulsating energy bounced off Tarek’s shield
and came back at him full force, sending him into the brick wall. As Waleron
got to his feet, he saw Delara struggling against the rope as Tarek dragged her
up in front of him.

“Waleron
don’t fight him. Please. I couldn’t bare it if… Go. God, just go.”
She slowly leaned forward, placing a chaste
kiss on his lips. Waleron saw the quiver in her hands as she placed them on
Tarek’s chest. He searched her mind and heard the voices. Her words repeated
over and over again proved how much Tarek how broken her spirit.

I
promise to be good. Don’t hurt them. Please.

Waleron
wanted to be sick. What had this man done to her? Who was she referring to? Why
the hell hadn’t he been sent to Rest for eternity? Why had the Wraiths been so
forgiving with his sentence? Even Zurina had asked for mercy on Tarek. She
thought he was redeemable. But did any of them know the extent of his abuse?

Tarek
grabbed Delara around the waist and deepened the kiss, driving his lips onto
hers with force. Waleron couldn’t control his rage and he flew across the alley
towards them.

Tarek
tightened the rope and instantly Delara started choking. She fell to her knees
just as Waleron plunged his knife straight for Tarek’s heart. It bounced off
Tarek’s invisible shield and landed on the ground. Waleron’s fist came next, but
when it hit Waleron heard the cracking of bones in his own hand instead of
Tarek’s face.

“Enough!”
Tarek shouted. “Delara, get in the car.” Waleron noticed she never once met
Tarek’s eyes. She was petrified. She refused to fight. This wasn’t the woman he
knew.

“Delara.
Do not get in that car. Help is nearly here. Call your Scar, baby.”

When she
took a step towards the SUV, Waleron shouted. “
Delara stop!” He turned to Tarek.
“What do you gain by this?”

“I gain
my maite!” Tarek words were spoken with venom.

“She is
no longer your maite. You lost that the moment you broke our laws and lay your
hands on her. She will never be yours. She is mine. Always has been,” Waleron
proclaimed. Waleron had hesitated once before to send a ball of energy in the
direction of a woman he loved. When the vamp Liam had his daughter Rayne in his
grasp, Waleron been afraid of taking the risk at throwing a ball of energy at
him with Rayne so close. He nearly lost her because of his hesitation, but
never again. Delara was not leaving him.

“And
I need you safe.”
Delara’s
words whispered across his mind.

What the
hell was she saying? No. Never.
“Delara, your Scar. Use it. Now.”

“I
can’t.”

“What
the hell do you mean?”

“He
killed it. A long time ago.”

“Fuck.
Fuck! Jesus.” Walerron had never sworn so much in his life, but everything was
caving in around him. His woman’s Scar was killed. The bastard had killed it.
The thought was unbearable.

Delara
took a step to the SUV. Just as she was getting in, Waleron sent a ball of
energy at Delara’s legs. It sent her off her feet, into the door, and to the
ground, loosening the rope.

“No!”
Tarek yelled.

Waleron
went for her, diving on top of her motionless body. She was stunned from the
blast, but Waleron hadn’t put enough energy behind it to harm her. He placed
his hands into the loop of the rope before Tarek had the chance to tighten it
all the way. The rope burned through his hands, but Waleron held tight,
refusing to give way as Tarek pulled harder.

Waleron
smelled the burning of flesh—his own flesh. It did nothing to Delara, yet to
him it was as if a hot poker was being held to his palms.

He felt
Delara’s hands on top of his, the determination of her face as she tried to
help him release the rope. It was to no avail. It refused to budge.

“Waleron,
leave me.”

“Never
ask me to do that!” Waleron said through gritted teeth. “I will never leave
you. Ever.”

Waleron
kept the rope from tightening around her neck, but soon his hands were so burnt
he couldn’t hold on any longer.

Suddenly
the rope’s noose gave way and they both yanked it off her neck.

Waleron
fell back, taking Delara with him. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled so
she was protected beneath him.

“Delara?
Waleron?” Balen came charging into the alley, Damien on his heels.

The SUV
was empty and Tarek was gone.

“Take
her to the Talde house.” Waleron heard Delara call his name just as he Traced.

Chapter
9

Waleron Traced
to the only place he was able when bleeding and injured—the Realm. The usual
blue calm that settled over the Realm was discolored and he could taste the
uneasiness in the air. The temperature here was nonexistent as it adjusted to
what each person’s body was most comfortable at. It was the Wraith’s imaginary
home, because what you saw was not always what it was. The four Elemental
Wraiths had a particular favorite pastime, playing with the location of rooms.
They also had rooms with no doors or windows, a marble box. He’d once been
incarcerated in one. Not even he could escape a Wraith’s prison.

Waleron
strode through the gardens, the one place he detested more than any other. They
were a reminder of when Delara was with the Wraith of Fire, Edan. How Waleron
had begged her to let him try. How he’d failed her again. Try was not good
enough and he knew it. Trying had been a lie. There was no try with them. He’d
been attempting to keep her away from Edan and she’d seen right through it.

With
Delara, the only way to have her was to give himself completely. She wanted him
to take away the valium, the numbness. She wanted him to feel, but he’d be a
danger to all if he did that. She’d never be safe with his Scar. He’d wanted to
show her that. To bring her to his house, to his steel room and let her see why
he was so dangerous, why he couldn’t get off the pills.

If her
emotional pain finally healed, would she stop the cutting? Would she understand
why they’d never have a real relationship? Would she give up other men? Would
she be willing to have him as he was—emotionless and on the pills? A man that
she couldn’t have completely. A man that had become split in two, sharing a
body with a Scar that was trying to take him over.

Would he
now even have that chance? The Wraiths could take it away.

But his
real fear was whether Delara would run from him if she saw what he was like
when chained and raging. Would she walk away from him and be with Xamien?

The
thought was so painful that he stumbled. All of it wouldn’t matter if Delara
was taken from him.

He
stopped on the threshold of the council room. Only Genevieve, the Wraith of
Water, and Urtiz, Wraith of Air, were present. Good, he didn’t want to deal
with Edan’s jealousy. Despite Delara only using Edan to get to the Realm and
the council to speak on Balen’s behalf, the fire Wraith still wanted her. When
Delara used Edan, Balen was being sentenced for drinking vamp blood. He’d been
the first Senses to drink the blood and not Transition. He’d resisted and won
where Damien’s witch Abby had failed.

Genevieve
and Urtiz looked at him expectantly. They both stood up from their seated position
on the lip of the pool around the fountain. Genevieve held a lily pad in the
palm of her hand and Urtiz had what looked like a handful of the pebbles from
the bottom of the pool.

Genevieve
let the lily pad go on the surface of the water and Urtiz dropped the pebbles
making a splash. Then they both moved towards him

“Tarek
should’ve been sent to Rest for eternity. I knew this would happen. I told
you.” Waleron stepped back before they got too close to him. “Do you know what
he did to her? For years?
Years
he subjected her to fear. How did you
not see this? Explain to me, Urtiz. You are the Wraith of Air. You should have
sensed something in that house. Her fuckin’ Scar was killed. Killed. He did
that to her. Do you realize what he had to have done to her to kill it? Do you?”

Genevieve
clasped her hands, her eyes widened in shock
. “Waleron. No. You have to stay
calm. Please. You shouldn’t be here.”

He
ignored her. “We protect one another, yet one of our own was being tortured
right under your noses.” Waleron stared at Urtiz. “How?”

“Waleron,”
Tor said as he entered the room. The Wraith of Earth smelled like cinnamon
today. He changed scents often, but cinnamon was his favorite. “Calm. The water.”
Beside Tor was Zurina looking rather frazzled with her hair tangled and her
clothes wrinkled.

Waleron
nodded to her in acknowledgment. She returned the gesture.

Waleron
glanced at the fountain and saw it boiling over. Genevieve was trembling, her face
ashen. She was the keeper of the fountain and when she was distressed so was
the water.

“We were
unaware, just as you, of Delara’s ongoing situation. It wasn’t mentioned at
council.” Tor nodded to the other Wraiths. “She never mentioned her Scar.”

Waleron
paced back and forth in front of the marble table. “Of course she didn’t. She
was terrified of him.” He stopped for a second then resumed pacing. “Who is
helping him?”

The
Wraiths all looked bemused. Zurina walked around the marble table and reached for
his hands. He pulled back, but she waited patiently, her palms up.

She
closed her eyes. “Please Waleron. Let me. Your hands are burned and you’re
bleeding.”

He
reluctantly placed his hands in hers and instantly felt her healing. Zurina let
his hands rest lightly, never once closing her fingers, knowing he’d instantly
withdraw. It took mere minutes to heal the wounds.

He
pulled his hands away, nodding his thanks. She bit her lower lip and gave a
single nod. He wasn’t used to seeing her so out of sorts. He’d felt her mind
when she’d touched him, little sparks flaring instead of her usual calm. Was
she just as upset as he was over Tarek’s attempt to take Delara? After all,
she’d been there, seen the devastation that Tarek had done twenty years ago.

Waleron
addressed the council. “It was Tarek. He attacked us. I told you he would do
this when he rose. He won’t ever let her go. I warned all of you and look where
it got us. I have led the Senses for centuries. I know them. I know what they
will do before they even know themselves. Damn it, I warned you he should be
executed.”

“Some
have changed after experiencing Rest. Tarek was once a well-respected Senses.” Tor
spoke in his usual calm manner.

“He was
a hit man,” Waleron said.

Tor
nodded. “Yes. But he never broke our laws.”

“Until
he beat the hell out of my woman.”

“She
isn’t your woman, Waleron. You’ve never maited her.” Tor answered, his eyes
unwavering. “Where is she?”

“The
Talde house. I will Trace her to Spain and then I will hunt him. And this time
he will not be shown mercy.”

“Waleron,
please be cautious with your words,”
Genevieve said.

Tor
slammed his fist down on the table. “You should’ve Traced with her two weeks
ago. Before Tarek rose.”

“Waleron,
defending her is not your only reason you walk this earth.”

He
flinched.
“What are you saying, Zurina?”

“I’m
saying to remember why you’re here. Delara has made you think unclearly for
years.”

“This
wouldn’t be an issue if you hadn’t voted against me when I wanted Tarek
executed. Now look where it has led us.”

“I am
a Healer, Waleron. And everyone has the right to a second chance,”
Zurina replied in a soft, calm voice.
“And she is not the only Senses.”

Waleron
knew what Zurina was trying to do—make him release the promise he made to
Delara when she lay dying on the side of the road. Zurina thought it was
ruining him, making him careless. She also begged him to give up on saving
Delara the same night he made that promise.