Hadaen [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book One (9 page)

"These women need no anticipation, I
can tell you that," Gideon grinned. "They just jump right at
it."

Esyth stiffened. Now it was the older
woman who was blushing.

Retrieving a couple keys with a large
wooden number ten and twelve attached to the keychain of one and
the other, she flashed a toothy smile. "Well, here you are. Have a
good night."

Hadaen nodded his gratitude and tossed
one of the keys to his brother.

As soon as they were within the hall
leading to their rooms, Amelia sounded her discomfort. Hadaen knew
it would only take a matter of time before she did.

"Esyth and I will take one of the
rooms. I'm sure you two wouldn't mind."

Hadaen didn't stop walking. "As a
matter of fact, I would mind. You're staying with me. End of
discussion."

"Amelia, it is fine. Really..." Esyth
muttered softly, aware of Gideon's gaze on her. It felt frightening
and welcoming both at the same time. He was walking too close
behind her, his breath on her neck and she knew he was doing it on
purpose.

"I hate to burst your bubble,
sweetheart. But you're stuck with me. There is no other
alternative."

"Must you be an asshole 24/7? How much
more arrogant could you get?"

"Do not push me, Amelia," he
growled.

Amelia shoved past him and stopped
directly in his path, causing him to still in his tracks. She
pointed a finger in his face. No other woman would have dared. "You
don't own me. And you don't get to tell me what to do. The past
cannot be unwritten and you're still an egotistical
prick!"

Hadaen looked her over for a minute,
watching the anger burn in her eyes. He loved those eyes. His gaze
roamed further down. And those lips too; they were made to tempt a
monk into oblivion.

"I don't have an ego," he muttered,
pretty sure that Gideon and Esyth had already left them. He then
walked around Amelia, coming to a stop at a door with a large
number '12' painted into its center top edge. "I don't give a damn
what you think." He shoved the door open after twisting the key in
the lock. "Now get in."

It took all the strength within her to
step over the threshold, and when she did she was so shocked she
was confident her limbs shook. She turned to glare at him as he
locked the door behind them.

"Nice bed, isn't it?"

* * *

I
t
was hardly what Amelia would call a nice bed. The four-poster
monstrosity sat in the center of the room, covered by snowy linen
sheets and half a dozen plush pillows. It was very inviting...and
for that reason alone, she hated it. For it would only mean that
she would be at a dilemma: lay there with him edging only inches
away from her or spite herself and sleep sitting up in the armchair
by the fireplace. It was late summer there was not yet need for
firewood. The air was merely cool.

She observed the interior of the room.
There was a TV in front of the bed, a low wooden stand holding its
weight. A mini-fridge stood at the other side of the room with a
table and two chairs next to it. A dresser and a chest of drawers
were the rest of the furniture, and a narrow closet peeped its way
past a long silk drapery near a door she supposed led into the
bathroom.

Amelia wiped her palms against the
sides of her pants. She was badly in need of a shower. She was
feeling rather sticky from the events of the day before.

Pulling her bag to the foot of the
bed, she sat and dug around for clean underwear, a blouse and
shorts. She could feel Hadaen's ogling. Her mind had been out of
sorts ever since she had woken up in his arms the previous morning.
The worst part of it was that she had found her arm thrown over his
broad chest, her face snuggled against his neck. She had woken up
smiling only to look up and see the face that had once scared her
half to death.

So she had jumped off the bed like a
cat cornered by a dog, and run from the room. She hadn't expected
to see his face again, to recognize him. The man who had threatened
to brand her as his own. She had been terrified, she still was.
Amelia felt like a different woman. Centuries ago, she would have
never dared challenge Hadaen Maruj the way she had in the last few
hours. But she did and she feared she might just be setting herself
up for his wrath once again. It wouldn't come as a surprise, she
knew that.

What terrified her most was that she
knew she'd never manage to escape him a second time.

"You can get the shower first," she
heard him say as if her intentions weren't obvious.

Hadaen started to remove his shirt and
she took that as her cue to leave. Her feet carried her swiftly to
the bathroom, and she locked the door behind her and slid down to
the floor before her legs gave out.

F
ifteen minutes later, she was out of the bathroom,
fresh...and hungry. She followed the scent of bacon and cheese, and
the smell of warm bread. Her mouth watered and she turned to see a
white food bag on the table. Hadaen stood, placing ice in a cup and
then setting down a soft drink next to it. She wondered why he was
being so efficient; so thoroughly...nice. He then turned to face
her.

A day's stubble had stretched across
his jaws, giving a sharp edge to his features. Amelia wondered how
she hadn't noticed it before. His hair looked shorter than it had
been back in Maruj. But no less beautiful, silvery strands
threading through the otherwise blackness of his hair. His eyes
were hard as they had been the last time she had seen him, however
somewhat tired. He looked as if he hadn't slept in forever. She
swallowed. If anything major had changed about Hadaen Maruj, it was
that he seemed even more handsome. The First help her
soul!

Amelia cleared her throat. "Smells
good."

"There's a cook shop across the
street. I was surprised to see it open."

"Thanks." She felt like she had to
force the word out.

A moment passed before he responded.
He had been staring at her again. "You keep shielding your mind
from me."

"I don't believe I should give you
access to my most private thoughts."

"Why not?"

"Must you try to impose on everything
I call my own?"

Hadaen strode to her, the scent of
sandalwood soap assaulting his senses. He breathed in deep and
stared her down, his mind going into a frizz whenever he was this
close to her. He brushed his fingers across her cheek; a touch so
light she wasn't sure if he'd touched her at all. She flinched
still and took a step back. He pursued her, step by step until she
was cornered between him and the wall.

"Why do you run from me?"

"I refuse to go down that road with
you again, my lord," she muttered. It was the first time she had
acknowledged him directly since she'd recovered her
memory.

"This is no place for formalities," he
said, voice husky. "We are sharing a bedchamber... A
bed."

Suddenly all interest in food
evaporated from her mind. She could not enjoy a meal knowing that
she'd be sleeping next to him. She'd rather take the cold floor.
She didn't trust herself around him at all.

Hadaen leaned in towards her and
suddenly all panic broke loose. Her eyes widened as she dumbly
watched his head dip towards her. For the life of it, she believed
he was about to claim her lips with his own. A part of her was
scared, the other part eager to taste him again.

But then he stopped short, a strange
look forming in his eyes. And he pressed his lips against her
temple lightly before striding away in the direction of the
bathroom.

Chapter Seven

H
adaen gazed to his north at the snowy-capped peaks of Mount
Lensai. It seemed tremendously closer now, which meant that the Hub
was not terrifyingly far away. It was then that it began to dawn on
him how close Amelia had been. He had spent centuries searching for
her; threaded through country after country, continent after
continent. How could he have thought she had been anywhere but one
dimension and a few miles away from him?

His eyes never wavered from the
mountainous terrains which currently held his interest. To those
outside his dimension, it was known as Mount Tacoma. He inhaled
sharply and welcomed the stiff cool breeze of an on-coming autumn.
An odd inkling in the back of his head made him frown. Where had
that feeling come from?

Thunder clapped overhead, hundreds of
birds flew across the sky in the opposite direction. Dark clouds
thickened quickly as a heavier breeze smashed against
him.

Gideon looked up from where he had the
gas hose in the tank. Amelia wrapped her arms about her
midsection.

"Are we going to have a storm?" Esyth
said, stepping nearer to his side, her long blonde hair blowing in
the fierce wind.

Hadaen knew better. The Pacific was to
the west. But the clouds formed in the south-eastern direction.
Whatever was coming, it was no damn storm.

"We'd better keep moving."

It was somewhere around 2 o'clock.
They had been driving for hours until the women had requested a
restroom stop. He and Gideon had thought it wise to fill up the
tank and grab a few food supplies for the rest of the journey. He
had confidence in Esyth's word that they'd arrive at the Hub by
sunset the latest.

Gideon slammed the cover to the gas
tank shut and jumped into the driver seat. Everyone else was secure
in the jeep by then so he spun the key in the ignition and stepped
hard on gas.

"That's the work of Deorci if my
instincts are correct," he said. He did share Hadaen's sharp
instincts. It was a quality that ran through their
blood.

"Yeah," Hadaen agreed, gripping to the
handle bar at the corner above his head. Gideon knew how to steer a
vehicle fast. "But he wouldn't come in person. Not yet. He'd always
been the type to make an entrance when we least expect
it."

"He's got men trailing us," Amelia
said, her knuckles going white where she grabbed the leather of
Gideon's seat. "I can feel them. And they are not
mortals."

"I can feel twenty separate energies.
There could be more!" Esyth screamed, her eyes glowing golden
again.

"I can try to divert them for a while
but it won't be long until someone catches on." Hadaen tapped into
his mana and breathed sharply. The silvery red glow drowned out his
eyes. He could sense the energy of the man leading the group; his
was strongest and most unique. Hadaen sent a calming energy
outwards, reaching into the mind of the leader. "I've got in," he
said through clenched teeth. "I can hold him off track for an half
hour the most."

Sweat beaded his forehead. The men who
were following them were at least fifty miles away but they were
still too close. Kankul soldiers didn't possess the superhuman
speed that Marujan nobles had. But they were still fast...and smart
nonetheless. They'd figure out when someone was toying with their
path sooner rather than later.

"How far can we get before they catch
up on us?" Amelia questioned.

"Just about two miles outside the
Hub," Esyth said, her eyes glowing brighter. Her body lifted
slightly, gently levitated. "I'll try to create a distraction and
set up a few dummy trails leading west. But from the looks of it,
these men are smart. I'll have to make it look good."

"What can I do?" Amelia felt hopeless.
Although she'd somehow managed to regain her memories, she knew she
hadn't exactly received a manual about how to use her mana. She'd
only discovered her powers a week before her escape. She'd merely
thought of her mother, wishing her to somehow rise from the dead
and tell her how to endure it all. Her necklace had glowed
brightly, her eyes blazing in the similar fashion.

It was at that moment Amelia had known
she was never mortal.

"What
can
you do?" Gideon asked, steering
wildly out of the path of a truck.

"I don't know."

"Well, think of something quick or
take the wheel. I can help with distracting those
assholes!"

Amelia hadn't a clue. She suspected
it'd be more of a gain to them if she took over the driving while
she thought about it. "Pull over."

"No time. We can't spare a second.
I'll steady the car and keep press on gas until you take
over!"

Amelia knew that Gideon meant he'd use
his powers to drive the jeep while they switched places. She nodded
and watched through the rear-view mirror as his eyes glowed with
the same silvery red as Hadaen's had.

Gideon slipped with ease between the
two front seats and landed on the back seat next to Esyth who held
a poise which reminded him of deep meditation. Her energy was
strong; the feel of it was almost scorching. Amelia squeezed pass
him over his knees and slid into the driver's seat just in time to
swerve around a blue pick-up truck.

"I've got it!" she said, shifting
gears. Gideon grunted and released his control over the
vehicle.

"Head straight north for a mile," he
directed. "Then pull off the freeway at the second dirt trail.
That'll take us to the Hub."