Shades of Blood (20 page)

“You promised me you wouldn
’
t forget how I feel about you and yet you
’
re blaming me for Romany being here.”

“No,” Eden denied. “You didn
’
t tell me she was on her way here. And you picked her up from the airport like a goddamn traitor!”

His mouth dropped open. “Traitor?! What the hell aren
’
t you getting here, Eden? Why do you insist on villainizing Cyrus and me? We
’
re trying to protect you!
You!
”

“From Darius?” She huffed. “I don
’
t need you to protect me from him. I need you to understand why I hate her, why I want to…”

“To what, Eden?” he quieted now, his trembling fingers combing through his hair in uncertainty. “This isn
’
t about protecting you from Darius. This is about protecting you from
you
.”

“What?”

Noah reached for her, his large hand cupping around her waist, drawing her closer. His eyes soft and scared. For her, she realized. Eden wanted to give in to him, to his affection. Noah did love her. She knew that. She had to keep reminding herself that. “Eden, you
’
ve only ever killed soul eaters and the occasional Neith in self-defense. You have no idea what killing a Neith, who
’
s only fault was making a mistake in battle, would do to you.”

And just like that Eden forgot to remind herself that Noah loved her. It was as if he
’
d slapped her. She tugged back from his hand, putting space between them, watching his eyebrows draw together in concern. “What are you saying?” she asked hoarsely. “That her
murder
of Stellan was just… a
mistake
? You think she didn
’
t do anything wrong?” She felt tears of disbelief shine in her eyes and Noah
’
s concern changed to panic.

“You have to understand,” he answered quickly, making a move towards her. But Eden backed up, not wanting him near her, “If the soul eater in question hadn
’
t been Stellan you would see this as clearly as we do, Eden. Romany is sorry for what she did. Her mistake was forgetting an order that I gave. She didn
’
t know your brother. All she saw was a soul eater and her duty to kill him. You don
’
t have to forgive her for that mistake but you can
’
t punish her for it.”

“Don
’
t tell me to understand,” her voice was flat, hard and Noah flinched from it. “Don
’
t tell me to understand when you don
’
t understand me. It
wasn
’
t
a random soul eater, Noah. It was my brother. The only person in the entire world who loved me. Who took care of me. You have no idea what living in that house was like. No idea.” A brittle tear fell and she could barely see Noah through the blur. “He was the safest place I knew and if she hadn
’
t stolen him from me he would be here and he would be human. He would be free. And you have no idea how much he would have wanted that. He wasn
’
t like the others. He didn
’
t want to
be
one of them. But you don
’
t understand that.” She sniffed, swatting at her tears like they were an embarrassment. It took her a moment to realize where she was going with this. Perhaps it was just the hurt, the argument, exhaustion. Perhaps she didn
’
t even mean it. But in that moment she at least believed she did. “You don
’
t understand me, Noah.  I don
’
t know if you ever did.”

And without waiting for a reply, Eden hurried from the room and from what had sounded an awful lot like a break up.

I So Don
’
t Get You

Consciousness was beginning
to settle in and Eden groaned, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed against a dark hollow in the couch. Since she
’
d left Noah in her room Eden had found a sitting room on the first floor that no one ever used. Curling up on the couch there, she
’
d tried to come to terms with what she
’
d said to Noah. Had she really meant that? She didn
’
t know. Sometimes
–
before Romany came back into the picture
–
Eden had thought Noah was the only person who really understood her.  It was clear that right now the two of them were on completely different wavelengths. And over something so huge. Giving into her weariness, Eden had cried herself to sleep, missing him when he was only a few floors above her.

As the light from the window pressed against her closed eyelids signaling late afternoon, Eden let her body awaken. And with it came the tingle of awareness.

She wasn
’
t alone.

In one fluid movement she spun up and onto her feet.

Romany stood at the door, her back pressed against it. Her wide eyes were trained on Eden. “That was impressive.”

Wildness spilled into Eden
’
s blood and she fought its instincts to hunt and kill the girl in front of her. They were alone in a room and Romany was just there. For the taking. Eden could end it now.

But something stopped her.

She found her hands curling into fists and she reined the wildness in. “What do you want?” her voice was unrecognizable. Like a tiger who was learning to talk.

Romany shifted a little and Eden saw the wariness the Neith was trying very hard to hide from her. Bravely she pressed up from the door and took a few careful steps towards her.  It suddenly occurred to Eden that when she looked at this young woman her features were blurred by the atrocity she
’
d committed. Now, there, with them so alone together, Eden
’
s focus sharpened. Romany was pretty. Pretty enough to have drawn Noah
’
s attention. Large chocolate eyes, long dark blonde hair, cute button nose and full lips. She looked like a pop princess rather than a warrior. She didn
’
t look like a killer at all.

But she was.

To give her, her due, Romany didn
’
t seem afraid of her. Just…cautious. “I wanted to apologize.”

Eden flinched, stumbling back a little, not quite awake enough to be dealing with this. “You don
’
t get to apologize.”

“Just hear me out.” Romany held up her hands in supplication. “I know you
’
ll never forgive me. I know that because in a twisted way I
am
you.”

Eden curled her lip. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. Really.” Her eyes hardened and she looked off over Eden
’
s shoulder as if she were somewhere else entirely. “Noah might have told you that he helped kill the soul eater who murdered my dad but… he probably didn
’
t tell you that I
’
ve been hunting the soul eater who killed my mom and little sister.”

I don
’
t want to hear this!
Eden screamed inside, feeling her body shrink in on itself in an attempt to run from Romany. She didn
’
t want to know this. But she couldn
’
t speak, the words choking her, grating against her vocal chords and turning her throat to sandpaper.

“They were killed when I was five. My dad hunted the soul eater but she got away from him. I picked up the trail when my dad died, every turn leading me to a dead end. But I couldn
’
t stop, Eden. I can
’
t stop. The need to avenge my family is what gets me up in the morning.” She blinked now and focused on Eden
’
s frozen face. “I finally tracked her down a few weeks ago but Cyrus called me in to help with this and my duty to the Ankh comes first. I
’
m still keeping tabs on her and as soon as I
’
m done here, I
’
m going to get my vengeance.”

Eden shuddered, her body warring with rage, resentment and fear. Fear of… understanding.

“So I understand,” Romany finished on a whisper. “I just wanted you to know that. And I wanted you to know that… if I could take back what I did to you, to your brother, I would in a heartbeat. I never, ever wanted to cause someone else the kind of pain that I go through every day.”

Silence nudged its way into the room. A brittle, slice of quiet that prodded Eden
’
s hurt.

“Get out,” Eden choked out. “Get out now.”

With a hesitant nod, Romany backed up and turned on her heel. At the sound of the door clicking shut the fury blasted from Eden and she kicked out at the glass coffee table in front of her, watching it spin through the air and shatter against the wall. She hissed as a tiny shard ricocheted back from the force of impact, slicing across her cheek. The cut healed instantly but Eden was still left trembling. A few seconds later the door burst open and a Neith security guard came in, his narrowed eyes searching the room for the cause of disturbance. He stared at the shattered furniture, the million shards of glass littering the carpet. With a frown of annoyance he glanced back up at Eden.

The way he looked at her… it reminded her of the way the kids at Salton High used to stare at her.

Fine,
she thought bitterly,
you want old school? I
’
ll give you old school.

With a look of disdain Eden walked past him with all the arrogance and bitchiness of pre-Ankh Eden. “Clean it up,” she ordered and strode determinedly from the room.

For the next ten minutes she hunted for her outlet, finally finding him in the CCTV room.

“Eden.” Jack frowned up at her. He was sitting with his feet up, drinking a mug of coffee and looking totally relaxed. Unfortunately Eden had every intention of ruining that for him. “One of my guys says you wrecked a glass table on the first floor.”

“Your guy is right,” she answered in a monotone.

Jack sat up straight, putting the mug down. “What
’
s going on?”

“I need a training partner. Now.”

“Eden. Tell me what happened.”

“What happened is I need a training partner.” She sighed, feeling her fragile control slipping. “Now, Jack.”