Origin of Angels: Elemental Legacy Book 1 (25 page)

Laughter erupted behind me. I wanted to be mad, but man, relieved didn’t even come close to what I was right now. I twisted and smiled. “Funny. Now I know where Rayla gets it.”

He chuckled. “We accomplished much in a short period. You now know you do not require air to survive, which I thought would be obvious considering our locale, but I’m glad you caught on eventually.”

“Yeah, but I am breathing …”

He nodded. “Not in the way a human does. Your cells do not require outsi
de sustenance. All you need, including nutrition, is supported within you. You are capable of eating and sleeping, even breathing, but these things are not necessary. Being self-sustaining is part of being immortal.”

“So immortals can’t die ... ever?”

He gave me a superior look. “It’s the meaning of the word, son. You might want to look it up.”

As much as I wanted to embrace my newfound awesomeness, I wasn’t sure I wanted to let myself believe him. It would totally suck if in the end
— my end — he was wrong.

He laughed again and pulled me into a totally awkward man-hug. I shifted away as soon as he let go. When pride registered in his eyes, I had no idea how to react. It wasn’t as if I wanted to shoot the breeze with him.
Although if I let myself consider it, the idea wasn’t too revolting. I was given a smile before serious covered his features. “Are you ready to face your enemy?”

I nodded, more than eager. Even though I wouldn’t let myself truly go over to the idea of not having to worry about death, I would probably be hard to kill, if nothing else.
A good quality when facing a man who couldn’t bite it himself. The thing was my father had it wrong. I let my face match his. “Which one?”

DURING A BITE OF THE JUICIEST burger I’d ever had, a thought came to me. I knew of a way to check out the bunker without going in myself. In fact, several ways, namely Gibbit, Creed, or the borderland creatures would do the trick quite nicely.

Since Gibbit was already investigating Liverpool, I opted for Creed. He’d told me he’d be close. As I understood it, he hadn’t been assigned to any particular team because of his mad skills with drifting. It didn’t hurt that he was the only person who could keep the borderland creatures under control. They tolerated me, but every time I crossed into their lands, they were going against their nature by letting me live.

I allowed my mind to wander, keeping the intention of contacting him close. I didn’t want to come right out and call for him because Heath might be listening too thoroughly to my thoughts. On the surface, I enjoyed my food, especially the chocolate shake so reminding me of the one I’d had when I’d been fae-nipped: mortals who partake of fae food are immediately hooked. Human food doesn’t do it. The need is an unquenchable addiction. Gibbit saved my bacon when he offered me the cure. It was totally gross, but I managed to keep it down. Now that I was immortal, it didn’t matter so much. I could eat either fae or human food with little difference. Thank heaven. I thought I was going to die or get to be as big as a house before Zach took me to the fae realm.

We’d gone through the borderlands, and I’m ashamed to say I was afraid of the hellhounds we’d met. I hadn’t known they were actually cursed fae at the time. The fact they remained in the state frustrated me to no end. No one would listen to me, though. I was certain we could kick Valen’s butt no matter what condition the fae were in, cursed or not. My concerns weren’t worth fighting over now, though. If it came down to it, I’d simply start naming each creature as I saw it. As it turned out, the curse stripped them of their identities, and to break it, all I had to do was give them a name.

Heath took my hand. The contact sent a thrill through me. Damn this war for stealing my honeymoon. The smile stretching his lips showed his dimple, which brought a big grin to my face. The man could make me melt from a single look. Add in touching, and I was a goner. His thumb traced my wrist. When his honey gaze landed on mine, my heartbeat thumped in my neck while my head floated on a cloud. His voice dipped low and seductive. “We could maybe stay here until tomorrow.”

It would be amazing to spend more time on my home turf. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been before I left for college. I thought life was all about what I could accomplish, but what I didn’t get was that it wouldn’t matter what I did if I didn’t have my family to share it. Now that I had Heath, my priorities had shifted a lot. I still wanted to become a better painter, but he and I together would do much more for the world than I could do by making it a prettier place. Art would always be important to me, but never again would it come before those I loved.

I gave Heath my best smile. “What do the others think?”

His eyes darted to Cassie and Finn,
then to Amy, who nursed a vanilla shake as if it were scotch. Her pale features had surprisingly pinked up. When I scanned to Cassie, she was the same. She laughed at something Finn said and slapped his hand before she turned animatedly toward her mother.

Hope spread through my chest. Maybe it wasn’t the bond so much as the fae realm that was hurting the Lambert women. With a start, I pushed the name of the man I hated out of my head. They weren’t Lamberts any longer. They were Campbells. “How about we stay until morning?” I asked the group with a smile.

Natalie was the first to speak up. “I thought you’d never ask. I’m dying to try the place by the river. I almost came here for a story once, and I was really looking forward to it. It would be a shame to lose the opportunity. We’ve got to sleep, right?”

Heath pumped his brows and gave me a sly grin. “Right,” he said, making me blush.

Seeing as how it was late fall, the likelihood the hotel was booked wasn’t really an issue. “How about you take Finn and Cassie to scope it out while we finish our food?”

She shrugged and made her way to the other two, who seemed more than eager to have some alone time. The night was shaping up to be a good one, so I was a little leery of following through with contacting Creed right now, but then again, he could have plenty of time to look the situation over and get back with me before we left for Liverpool. I’d pulled our next location from Heath pretty easily. It only made sense we would examine the suspicious Elemental activity in the area. With Cassie and Amy in our midst, if Heath were right about them somehow shielding Elemental power from fae detection, we’d be just fine.

Feeling a little shifty, I excused myself to the ladies room. Using as much control as I could manage, I called for Creed. He answered immediately. Yes, my lady, how may I be of service? I explained where we were and what I wanted him to do. He told me he’d get back to me by morning. More than a little relieved, I walked out the door to find Heath barring my way, arms folded and an ornery look on his handsome face. So much for controlling my thoughts.

His frown deepened. “You do not answer to me, Rayla, but I had hoped you would trust me more.”

A few of the customers were staring, so I pulled him out the door and away from prying eyes and perked up ears. “It’s a feeling I have. I’m sorry, but I can’t leave here without knowing we aren’t abandoning people who could use our help. Creed has it under control. Besides, I thought you wanted some alone time.”

He sighed. “I would hardly call it a want right now. What I wanted was to give you a special night. Now, we will have worries to contend with.”

My hands shot to my hips. “When don’t we have something to worry about?”

He shrugged. “Good point.” Without saying anything else, he swept me into his arms and started toward the hotel. Since the car was gone, hoofing it was our only way to get there, but being carried down a busy road was creating a spectacle. Somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to care. I put my head on Heath’s shoulder and enjoyed the rhythm of his heartbeat.

We hadn’t gotten more than two hundred feet before Creed stepped out of the shadows of a tall stucco wall. The grim look on his face brought a gasp out of me. Heath stumbled to a stop, letting my feet drop beside him. “What is it?” I asked.

“You must come, my lady. They are dying.”

THE HAZE OF COMPULSION FOGGED MY mind. I knew I needed to remember something—someone, but the details were beyond my grasp. Valen lay beside me, stroking the bare skin of my abdomen. His intense stare struck me as odd somehow. “What troubles you ... my ... my lord?” Although the name stuck in my throat, it came out nonetheless. No matter how hard I tried to shake his thrall, it remained glued to my every thought and action. I had a feeling only a piece of my true self remained intact.

His jaw clenched tightly as his hand flattened against my skin. “You have not adapted as I desired, Emily. I grow weary of your resistance.”

I lowered my gaze, the power of my name weaving another layer of command i
nto my mind. “I’m sorry, my ... l-o-v-e.” I nearly gagged uttering the word.

Face contorted with anger, he hovered over me. “I do not have to keep you conscious at all! You have no idea w
hat I’ve rearranged for you ... for your happiness, and you mock me.”

Fear crept through my veins, making my movements stiff. I forced myself to relax, needing to keep him happy. I had to for my
— why couldn’t I remember the reason? I had to remember the reason.

Valen grabbed my jaw, holding it steady so I couldn’t look away. “It is your child.
Blade. He is your world, when it should be me. He will grow old and wither, while I will be with you until you have no more power. Why can’t you see the difference? Why do you insist on keeping him between us?”

Blade
— my son. My heart stuttered as a sense of peace washed over me. I closed my eyes, letting my mind recall his dark hair and black eyes, so like his father’s. An image floated in my memory, tangential and unobtainable. In a flash, it was gone. The thought of the man was stolen from me, but the loss remained. Tears came, and Valen cursed, calling for help upon a name so vile I could hardly believe what I heard.

His touch was gentle this time. “Humans have been fed a lie. The one they call dark merely seeks to free them from the tyranny of a controlling creator. Heylel is not the enemy they have imagined. If they wish to truly reach their potential, they need to rely on him.”

Dear God, the man was mad. I sent a silent prayer for help. He and I would never agree on where those prayers should go. A growl erupted from him as he leapt from the bed. The more he paced, the clearer my thoughts became. If he would stay in his own head, he wouldn’t have to know how much he repulsed me.

He whirled, coming at me with blinding speed. His hands came around my throat, but he didn’t squeeze. I couldn’t recall much from the past few days, but from what I had gathered, the man bonded with me. Perhaps it hadn’t worked completely because of my state as a mother.

I pulled at his hands, and he allowed me remove them. “Let me see him,” I pleaded. “Let me be his mother, and I will be a devoted bondmate to you.”

His glacial gaze found mine. “You are more trouble than you are worth.”

“Then, let me go. I’m sure you could gain more power from another Elemental.”

His fist pounded the mattress by my head. “I do not desire another! It is you I want, and you are what I shall have.”

A whimper wanted to shoot up my throat, but I remained still. He was trying to scare me. I only wished it wasn’t working. If he couldn’t compel me, he would do anything necessary to intimidate me. “Give me what I asked for. I promise I will be good to you ... if I have my son.”

He settled beside me, scooting me over on the bed. His voice came out as a whisper, yet hard as a stone. “He should not be the one to gift you with children.”

I swallowed, not wanting to think about what he implied. “I was told fae can’t ...”

His eyelids fluttered, then closed, and he rolled onto his back. All at once, he seemed tired. If I let myself connect with his thoughts, I would have known for sure what was going on inside him. The unknown was more of a comfort to me than the truth. I let myself study the man. For someone centuries old, he looked pretty good. Who was I kidding? He was the epitome of beauty and seduction. His body was perfection come to life. It was unnatural. I could hardly believe the truth of his life
— one without end. My mind couldn’t wrap around the idea of immortality any more than I could hold onto a sunset. The hardest part of my ordeal with him was the realization he wasn’t completely evil. I’d seen softness in him. I’d witnessed his caring side, but his volatile nature couldn’t be suppressed for long.

After a while of silence, he rolled toward me. “I will compromise because I desire your happiness above all. You will see in time I am no different than any other man. I protect what is mine. I crave love and acceptance. I would do anything for you, if you’d only give in to me.”

My brows lifted, letting a teasing tone take my voice. “Doesn’t sound much like a compromise.” He chuckled, then pulled me into his chest. I snuggled close, trying to ignore the unsteady beat of my heart and the faint whisper of betrayal tingeing my thoughts. “So you’ll let me see him?”

His lips brushed the top of my head.
“First thing in the morning. Now, rest. I need you at your full capabilities.”

I leaned away, frowning. “Why?”

His light eyes searched mine. “Our enemy is weak. Tomorrow night, we strike.”