Heart of Stone (20 page)

The water shut off. He didn't want Faith to come out and find him sitting there as if he'd been waiting; she'd take it as pressure. Once she'd broken free of the stone's hold, his abilities had come rushing back, and he knew that while she was attracted to him and was beginning to trust him, she still had reservations.

And he had one or two himself, at least until he got the full story out of her about how her husband had died.

He swung his legs up onto the bed and made himself comfortable on top of the covers. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she glanced at him, her titillated uncertainty like spiced honey on the tongue. He didn't give any indication he was awake. She reached back into the bathroom, the light behind her silhouetting her breasts and erect nipples through her thin cotton T-shirt. She flicked the switch and the light went out.

Darius lay as still as he could while she tiptoed around to the other side of the bed and got in with a quick dip of the mattress and a rustle of sheets. The mating bond between them stretched warm and sweet like old-fashioned taffy, and he wanted a taste more than anything. She did, too, but that barrier of wariness still lingered. Until she took it down, it was hands to himself on his own side of the bed.

Besides, the remnants of her encounter with the stone still lingered, rippling through the currents of her drowsiness like jagged driftwood, leaving splinters in tender places. He reached out with his senses, captured those shards of negativity, smoothed them into soft, warm balls of reassurance and eased them back into her fading consciousness. She drifted into a peaceful sleep.

He stared into the darkness. The oblivion of slumber beckoned just beyond his reach. Sunrise could not come soon enough.

 

CHAPTER NINE

Darius woke up at 6:30 the next morning, years of keeping a disciplined schedule rousing him without benefit of an alarm clock. He glanced at Faith. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully, and a quick empathic check confirmed it. No nightmares from the stone's antics last night. He grabbed his cane from the floor and slipped from the bed, trying not to jostle her.

He'd started toward the door when she made a sound. The sheets rustled, and he paused to appreciate the image of her in bed, her delicate features relaxed and her dark hair tousled. She'd kicked away the bedding, and he took a moment to enjoy her long legs revealed by the skimpy cotton sleep shorts, the inches of midriff uncovered by the cotton T-shirt that had ridden up. He imagined slipping back into bed beside her and pushing that shirt all the way up. She wasn't particularly busty, but he couldn't deny the affect her slender, athletic build had on him. The idea of nuzzling those sweet, small breasts in the early dawn hours had his body responding.

She murmured in her sleep. Could she sense his thoughts? In his mind he stroked his hands along that fair skin, sliding under her top to grasp her breasts. She murmured again and arched her back. Her erect nipples poked against the pliable cotton.

He gripped his cane. His morning erection had returned with a vengeance, and his mouth watered as he stared at those inviting peaks.

She said no, dumb-ass.
He made himself turn away. He had time for a swim, and the water would still be chilly from the evening's dip in temperature. Seemed like the most prudent option right now. He went to the door and paused again with his hand on the knob. The gentleman in him knew he should probably leave a note or something, but the raging horn dog part knew that if he moved back toward that bed, all bets were off.

He opened the door and stepped out, pulling it shut behind him with a quiet click, and headed down the hall, pondering tackling the stairs rather than the elevator. The physical challenge might help work out some of his sexual frustration. That and the pool should do the trick.

A door opened on his right. “Dar, what are you doing up here this early?” Tessa came out of her room, clad in a navy blue business suit and heels.

“You're all dressed up.” He dodged her question with one of his own. “Heading into the office?”

Tessa fell into step beside him. “As a matter of fact, I have to interview someone for the part-time position we have open.” She leveled a look at him, which he pretended not to see. Her curiosity scratched like a stiff tag in a new shirt.

“Going in with Dad?” he asked.

“Yes, and you didn't answer my question. You're usually in the pool at this hour. We don't see you in the main house until at least eight o'clock.”

“Couldn't sleep.”

“Uh-huh. Again, that usually drives you to the pool.” She stopped at the top of the stairs and stared him down with those unique violet-colored eyes. Not for the first time, he took comfort in the fact that his sister's powerful ability to see the future did not work on other Atlanteans.

Didn't take the creepy out of that stare, though.

“If I didn't know better, Dar, I'd think you were sneaking home with the sunrise after some romantic liaison.” She folded her arms. “But liaisons take two. Unless you're trying to do Rafe dirty with Cara, there's only one other person in this house that could possibly qualify as the other party. And I don't think you're that stupid.”

“Butt out, Tess.” Darius reached for the banister.

“Tell me I'm wrong, Dar. Tell me you're not betraying this family with that … that person.”

He stopped and narrowed his eyes at his sister. “You've been a bitch to her since she first showed up here. I'm not sure what's eating you, Tessa, but I can take care of myself. If Faith had any bad feelings toward this family, I would know.”

“Someone has to keep a cool head about her.” She glanced back at Faith's door, then at him, eyebrows raised. “Clearly you're not.”

“Don't pretend you know what's going on, Runt.” He used the hated nickname on purpose. “Because you don't.”

She tried to hide her flare of anger, but it seared his senses with satisfying intensity. “Whatever.”

“Leave Faith alone, Tess. She's not here to hurt us. I'm sure of it.” He touched her arm, sent a pulse of reassurance to ease the fear she didn't want to admit. “If you think any woman could come between me and my family, you're wrong.”

Slowly she unfolded her arms and twined her fingers with his. “Be careful, Dar. I see the way you look at her.”

“It'll be okay, Tess. You have to trust me.”

She gave a little laugh. “I do trust you.”

“That's all that matters.” He grinned. “Race you down the stairs?”

“Ha, I know a sucker bet when I hear one. If you kill yourself, Mom and Dad will kill
me
.”

“Then you'd better make sure I don't fall.”

She rolled her eyes. “See? Sucker bet.” But she stayed beside him every step until they reached the first floor. “Okay, safe and sound.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Stay out of trouble.”

“Don't terrorize your interviewee.”

“Would I do that?” Her normal confident smile in place, Tessa waved and headed toward the front door.

Darius shook his head and made his way out the patio doors in the back of the house. He'd taken over the guesthouse when he'd been confined to the wheelchair. It was easier for him to get around if he didn't have to deal with stairs, and he'd set up his private workroom in the cabana, where he could work his healing energy. Eventually his parents had installed the elevator in the house so he could get to the upper floors, especially the
tenplu,
but he'd never moved back into his old bedroom. He liked the privacy of the guesthouse.

He heard his cell phone ringing as he reached his door. Shoving it open, he hurried as fast as he could to where the device sat plugged into the charger on his desk. He glanced at the display and answered the call. “It's not even seven o'clock, Gray.”

“Sorry, Darius. This was the best time for me, and I know you're always up early, anyway.”

Darius frowned at Gray's somber tone. “What happened?”

“Ben and I were attacked last night.”

Darius sat down in his desk chair. “Mendukati.”

“I didn't stop for interrogations, but I assume so. Four Warriors jumped us in a restaurant parking lot, tried to grab Ben. One of them was a Whisperer.”

“I'd say they know Ben is Faith's weak point.” Darius rubbed a hand over his face. “Ben isn't safe.”

“I know, but he insists on finishing this show before he'll even talk about protection.”

“Stubborn.”

“Don't I know it. Listen, I'm sticking to him like glue, but as soon as his show is done, I want to bring him to Sedona.”

“Absolutely. With the new modifications to security, this is probably the safest place. Even if you did eventually get in when Dad had you test them.”

“Well, it took me awhile. That would buy us some time. And I know where the weaknesses are. It's still the best option.”

“Okay. When is the show over?”

“It's a two-day thing. We should be on the road tomorrow night, heading to your place.”

“Maybe you should fly. I can have the jet waiting at Santa Fe airport. Should be safer than the road.”

“Even better.” Adrian sighed. “Damn, I'm going to have to haul all Ben's equipment onto the plane. Stuff's heavy, and he won't leave it.”

“Come on, Gray. I think you can handle a few boxes.”

“A few boxes of rocks and rock-carving equipment. Heavy as hell.”

“Man up, buddy. You've got all that super strength working for you. Call me when you're in the air.”

“You got it. See you in a couple of days.”

“See you.” Darius disconnected the call. Tossing the phone on his desk, he wondered how he was going to break the news to Faith that Ben was in danger.

*   *   *

Faith awoke alone in the morning. Darius was gone, with barely a dent in the pillow where he'd lain. She might have imagined the whole thing.

Except she hadn't. She remembered every bit of the journey through the stone's emotional wasteland, how it had lured her in. How lonely it was. How it had tried to consume Darius. Just the memory made her shudder. And even after several hours of sleep, she still didn't feel a hundred percent.

Something that had become clear to her afterward was how much the stone longed to be reunited with its counterparts. She didn't mention it to Darius because she didn't want to get his hopes up. Eraldatu, the Channeler's stone, was in Santutegi under Criten's guard and had been for centuries. Igarle was here. That left only Gerlari to find, and if they did somehow locate it, perhaps with the help of this stone …

Criten couldn't harness the power of Atlantis with only a single stone, and while the Seers would be equally powerless having only two of the three, it would keep the war at a stalemate. Taking the plan a step further, perhaps they could even get their hands on the third one, the stone from Santutegi. With that much power in Seer hands, the Mendukati might finally be defeated.

If, if, if. All speculation.

Dismissing her fantasies, Faith got up, pushed aside the curtains of her bedroom window and gazed out. The sun shone strongly from the east, casting its light over the brilliant hues of red rock country. The jagged buttes glowed as if afire against a cloudless blue sky, cut throughout the red by the occasional streak of white or gray or beige, with spiky green foliage dotting the landscape below the peaks.

She'd lived most of her life in New Mexico, so she was no stranger to the beauties of the desert, but this place possessed an almost magical quality different than anything she'd ever known. Even now, she could sense the ancient whispering of the sandstone monoliths around her, rock that had once been at the bottom of a prehistoric ocean or simmering as molten lava. She knew that iron oxide in the mix gave the ordinary sandstone its extraordinary color. She knew the buttes and mesas were the sculptures of water and volcanic activity. But such mundane facts did nothing to dull its majesty, or her own feelings of awe.

The vortexes murmured just beneath audible hearing, like the hum of powerful machinery. She had an idea she wanted to try out using vortex energy, but she wanted to wait until Darius was with her when she did. Just in case.

Strange how quickly she was beginning to trust him, a Seer. First she was working out a plan in her mind to help him get all the Stones of Ekhia and now she was cautious about using her powers without him nearby.

She mused over the strange development as she turned away from the window and went to get her clothes for the day. She hadn't trusted anyone but Ben in a very long time, especially not after so short an acquaintance. And she certainly hadn't kissed anyone, not since Michael.

She laid her clothes out on the bed, then wandered into the bathroom and turned on the shower. If anyone had told her even a few months ago that she would be not only living in a house full of Seers but kissing one of them, she would have thought they were nuts.

She stripped off her new cotton T-shirt and sleep shorts, and stepped beneath the spray.

After Michael's death, she had retreated completely from the Atlantean world, helped along by the condemnation and suspicion of the Mendukati. They had considered Michael an up-and-coming leader in their organization, and hadn't been pleased to hear of his death. But then again, her late husband had convinced them he had her powers—and her—under his control.

And hadn't he? She faced the showerhead and let the water stream over her face. Even now her own gullibility stung. She reminded herself she had been barely twenty-one when they'd married, and younger than that when they'd dated. She'd been a child, blind to the manipulations of an ambitious man five years her senior. She knew this, intellectually, but no one wanted to be a sucker, and that's what Michael had made her.

She'd allowed him to talk her into helping the Mendukati, spinning a tale of the “misunderstood” organization that was only trying to right an ancient wrong. The Seers had selfishly hoarded the Stones of Ekhia, he said, then misused them in a greedy attempt to conquer the other sects of the Atlantean population. The Mendukati was trying to find out the truth by interrogating Seers and searching for the missing Stones of Ekhia to restore the balance. She'd bought that story, too naïve to realize the group's real purpose. It was right there in the name, and she'd missed it.