Genesis (11 page)

I doubted he thought winning this time
around was stellar. I could see that about him, though. He had a
silent pull I was sure would be hypnotic to an Elemental that
wasn’t already connected to someone else.

His face brightened. “You understand
more about compulsion than you know, my lady. If I were to compel
you and there was no connection between us, my effort would be for
naught.”

He more than any other lord slipped
into formal dialect at the most frustrating times. I sometimes had
to think about it to get what he meant. “So what you’re saying is
if I wasn’t really into you at all, compulsion wouldn’t work on
me?”

“
Exactly.”

So if he did try to compel me and I
felt it, then that would mean…

He took my shoulders between his
elegant fingers. “All it would mean is that we have the capability
to have a solid connection.”

Capability. I needed to remember that.
It didn’t mean I would be stuck with him.

“
On the contrary, Rayla, all
it would do is clarify a question that still remains in your
heart.” His lips turned in a genuine smile that made my heart
squeeze. I had misjudged him in so many ways. I needed to learn not
to jump to conclusions about people. From my experience, first
impressions were rarely right.

I peeked up at him. He waited patiently
in front of me, letting me come to my own conclusions. The most
amazing thought surfaced. If I was equally attracted to all the
lords through compulsion then it pretty much didn’t matter. The
choice was still ultimately mine to make.

Styx had said as much to me in the
borderlands. I had been so afraid of someone else taking this
decision from me, but that wasn’t really possible anymore. I was
still in control, well, as much control as a person can have in
situations like this.

I missed Styx. I wished I could have
talked more to him before I came with Taylor. Undoubtedly, he would
have had some advice for me.

His pain had been undeniable. Why would
Jett have his mate? I needed to find a way to help him.

Taylor touched my arm. “Getting off
course again, aren’t you?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Am I right
though?”

“
Mostly.”

When he didn’t go on, I asked, “Are you
going to explain that?”

“
You’ve got the basics.
That’s all you really need to know.”

I took a deep breath, lifting my chin.
“Then do it.”

Heat blasted through my body like a
deadly tornado. Without even thinking about it, I wrapped my arms
around his neck and pulled his mouth toward mine.

He pushed away, his face indifferent.
“I think that answers that particular question.”

I blinked, coming out of the fog that
clouded my mind. Fire inched up my neck when I realized exactly
what I had just done. I had no control at all.

Good thing he did. I opened my mouth to
thank him for not taking advantage. I was quite sure any of the
others would have.

He waived me off. “That is not
necessary.” His mouth turned in a smug smile that he quickly tried
to hide.

“
Go ahead,” I told him.
“Gloat.”

On went his placid façade. “I have no
desire to do so, Rayla. You have your answer. Now, what are you
going to do about it?”

A thought occurred to me. “Would you
take me to see Jessica?”

“
What would that
accomplish?”

I needed to see if she was as mindless
as it had appeared when she was with Taylor.

“
I don’t know if that is a
good idea. Hers is a different circumstance.”

“
Please, Taylor, I have to
know.”

He took my hand. “Very
well.”

Taylor led me to the side of a large
estate that was a tiny bit smaller than his main house. He’d told
me Jessica was bound to an underlord named Braiden. He had assured
me the transition had been seamless for her, yet I couldn’t forget
the images of Taylor and Jessica together. How she had cried when
he wasn’t with us after Zach dumped us in Eirie. She’d also
screamed at the top of her lungs until Taylor returned.

The bench she occupied overlooked a sea
of lush gardens. Her brown hair glistened in the bright afternoon
light. The only way I was sure it was her was because I had a view
of her profile. Unlike the last time I had seen her, her skin no
longer held the pasty pallor I had once mocked. Guilt crept inside
me. I’d been horrible to her. She hadn’t exactly been nice, but
still. I wasn’t proud of the way I had treated her.

She turned. Her eyes weren’t brown like
I thought they were. The vibrant green rivaled the plant life
surrounding us. The effect had to be a bonus of bonding, but I
could no longer label her mousy.

Her lips curved in an uncertain smile.
She stared at me for quite a while, and I let her process without
interrupting. I had come here to see for myself exactly how the
bond had affected her. She rose to her feet. Her long neck combined
with the way she moved made me think of the grace of a swan. This
was not the same woman I had known at school.

She stepped closer, studying me. The
most she had given Taylor had been a cursory glance. “I know you,”
she said, confusion clear in her tone. “But how? When have we met,
my lady?”

My lady? This was definitely not the
Jessica I knew and loved to hate.

“
I know!” She gave me a big
smile. “It was at the fair last month, right?”

I shook my head, unsure if I was
capable of speech at the moment. This was so not good. Sure, she
looked fine, happy even, but where was the fiery girl that had
pushed my buttons nonstop? Where was Jessica?

Taylor shook his head then said under
his breath, “I knew this was a bad idea.”

It was time for me to open my mouth.
“We didn’t meet at the fair, Jessica. We met at school,
remember?”

Her fingers shot to cover her mouth. To
my surprise, she giggled. “My name is Sabrina. You must be
mistaking me for someone else. I have one of those faces, or so
I’ve been told.”

No she didn’t. This fail was going from
epic to catastrophic fast. “No. You are Jessica St. Claire. You
grew up in Michigan. Your mother is a leader in the resistance in
the human realm. You were three days away from your twenty fourth
birthday when you were taken against your will.” I pointed at
Taylor who was now red with anger. I didn’t have much time left,
and I knew it. “Don’t you remember, you were supposed to bond with
him when you came here?”

She frowned at me. “You are mistaken. I
am happy to be here. I would never want anyone but Braiden.” She
folded her arms across her chest in a very familiar way. “I don’t
mean to be rude, but I think you should leave.”

Maybe I was getting to her. “You wanted
to marry Adam Wilder. You didn’t want to come to the fae realms at
all.”

A flicker of recognition fled across
her eyes. She covered her mouth then let out a huge sigh. “Lord
Taveon, would you please take this woman away? I am afraid I have a
headache.” She whirled around and stomped toward the nearest
door.

“
Jessica! Remember him.
Remember Adam!”

Taylor clamped a hand over my mouth.
“That is quite enough out of you? Do you hate her so much you wish
her devastated?”

I waited for him to remove his hand.
“There is no way I am bonding with any of you!” I hissed at him.
“Not after this.”

He grabbed my arm, stopping me from
leaving like I wanted to. “I realize how this must look to you.
Hers is a severe case. We had to remove some of her memories. It
was done for her sake.” My eyes flew wide, but he didn’t let me get
a word out. “It is better for her this way. Don’t you see? She did
recognize you. Her memories are still there for the most
part.”

“
Well that’s comforting,
Taylor. You people are more screwed up than I ever thought
possible. This little charade is over. Take me to
Tabitha.”

“
Rayla…”

“
Now!”

He took hold of my other arm. “Then
what? What do you think you’re going to do? You have no allies to
aid an escape. We would find you anywhere you went. There is no
running anymore, my lady. I know seeing Jessica was a shock. I can
feel your turmoil, and I do understand, but you need to calm down.
There is more at play here than you know.”

I yanked away from him. “Why don’t you
explain it all to me if you think it will make a difference?
Although, I can tell you this, nothing short of a miracle is going
to make me think bonding is a great idea.”

A brownie scuttled outside, asking that
we leave. His mistress was distressed.

Of course she was. She was living a
fake life for heaven’s sake. I hoped I ignited a burning within her
to discover the truth for herself. No matter how much Jessica had
bugged me back at school, I would have never wished something like
this on her. She wasn’t even herself. She had to be in there
somewhere; but from what I had seen, she was nearly opposite to who
she had been. I could have just gotten her on an off time, yet that
didn’t settle easily.

I let Taylor lead me off the property,
preferring to walk rather than drift. This was not good, not good
at all.

It took him a while to speak. It would
have been so much easier if he would open his mind for
me.

“
After how you just reacted,
that would be the stupidest thing I could do. You have no idea the
damage you inflicted on that girl, and for what? Your peace of
mind?”

I bristled at him. “She was in love
before you took her. She has a right to know that!”

He edged closer to me, narrowing his
eyes. “You judge so easily, Rayla. I wonder what you would have
done in my place? Should I have taken you instead?”

My blood left my face. Knowing how
strongly I reacted to him a while ago, I wondered if he would have
been able to truly compel me in the tunnels under St. Mary’s
College.

He waived a hand. “It is doubtful. We
are connected now. Your reaction to me is based on the current
state of things.”

I groaned, thinking about what I had
done to Jessica. I didn’t want to hurt her. “Will she be
okay?”

“
Only time will give us the
answer to that question. Braiden is bound to be furious. We had
better get you back to my lands before he finds out why his new
bondmate is distraught.”

I nodded. Why did I keep making so many
mistakes? It was as if my mind wasn’t capable of processing
everything it should anymore. I didn’t want to think that the real
reason might just be that I was plain selfish.

The rest of my time in Uldran went
pretty quickly. Training was superficial at best. Taylor hadn’t
taught me anything of significance, and I knew it. He distanced
himself from me immediately after I ruined Jessica’s fae life, and
I had no idea if he would ever forgive me for doing it. I’d been
there when Braiden showed up at his house, demanding to see me.
Taylor refused him but promised to help settle Jessica down once I
was gone. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I didn’t want her to
be hurt, yet part of me hoped I had affected her enough to pull her
out of the trance she was in.

My days blurred together, yet one thing
remained unanswered. I kept feeling that strange sensation of being
watched whenever I was outside, but Taylor refused to tell me what
was going on. At first I’d thought it was probably some cloaked
guard, but after a while I realized it would make no sense for
Taylor to keep that information from me. Either way, I was on edge.
My only hope was that whatever was watching me wouldn’t follow me
out of Uldran.

I was about ready to learn where I was
going next. Waiting was getting on my nerves so I practiced
manipulating air. My skills were growing every day despite Taylor’s
refusal to help me. In my left hand sat a pintsized whirlwind. The
tail end tickled my skin. I let it go, commanding it to the ground
then back to my hand like a bouncy ball. Dirt whirled in the tiny
cyclone. I’d never seen a real tornado, but I was sure it would be
amazing. The raw power of this miniature version astounded me. It
left a path of destruction wherever I pointed it.

Once I was bored with that, my mind
drifted back to which realm I would visit next. I couldn’t decide
which place would be best, but I was sure I wasn’t going to ever
have an opportunity like I had blown here again.

Jett’s approach hit me far sooner than
when he entered the room. My body vibrated at his nearness. I
closed my eyes and willed this to be a bad dream.

“
Good morning, Rayla. I
trust your stay in Uldran was enjoyable.”

Why did it have to be him? He frowned
immediately. Great. He could read my mind, too.

I glanced around, but it appeared as
though Taylor wasn’t going to say goodbye. Looks like I had done
more damage than I thought. Without another word, Jett took my
hand. The pull of the matter stream made me dizzy. Was I ever going
to get used to drifting?