Shadowfae (15 page)

For an instant, I died, agonizing. Then it slammed back into me, writhing in the grip of a twisting, gnashing thing that ripped and tore its way into my heart, burrowing deep. A fragment of Kane, inside me forever. The chains popped free, and the golden bracelets shrank onto my wrists, immovable. And then Kane’s breathless
thank you,
the hesitant brush of his fingers in my hair.

I nodded slowly. To break the thrall—to excise that vicious, whispering Kane-parasite for good—one soul at a time would never be enough. All four at once . . . Well, that might be a start. Excitement thrilled in my veins, warm. “So what now? What does
primordium
mean?”

“It means ‘origin.’ ”

“I know that. I mean, what origin? Whose origin?”

“I’ve thought about that.
Primordium,
‘origin.’
Terminus,
‘the line that separates.’ Where you start, where you finish. It’s your origin, Jade. The one who made you what you are.”

“Kane?” My vision blurred for an instant, overcome with confusion. “Kane doesn’t have a soul. How does that work?”

“Not Kane. Kane does what he does. You can’t blame him.”

Realization slammed into my chest, sucking my breath away.

Vorenus Luna, my golden-haired god. An immortal sorcerer, bound to Kane with blood. My blood.

I imagined it. Luna’s misbegotten soul, sparkling with power and grace, free of the encumbrance of conscience. And Quinn’s vile hatred, thrashing and spitting vitriol. Mixed up, furious, lashing out. Maybe I did have a chance against Kane’s nasty little cancer.

Rapture shimmered in my flesh just thinking about it, and I gasped, energy sizzling all the way to my fingertips. So much for not wanting to think about sex. The energy felt cooler than normal, weak and sputtering with my fatigue, but it didn’t stop me. Immediately I was hyperconscious of Rajah, just a foot away, his warm lean body, the sound of his breath past his lips, the wonderful fragrance drifting from his skin. The way his hair just brushed his shoulders, soft and sleek. The hard muscles of his thighs, moving beneath those second-skin jeans. “But . . . he’s . . . he could be anywhere. I can’t possibly . . .”

Rajah’s gaze slipped, and he tucked his hands beneath his thighs, shifting. “You might be surprised. Things happen when they happen for a reason. Why do you think these auras burn now?”

My nerves twitched. I wanted to squirm, but I didn’t want to leave a mess on his couch. I wanted to grab that silky hair and drag his mouth onto mine, and it wasn’t only the rapture drawing my gaze to his lips. I coughed, struggling to keep my mind where it should be. “You don’t mean because they’re all here?”

“Precisely.” His gaze met mine, dark and driven, and I couldn’t help but stare, enraptured in more ways than one. My pulse thudded, my flesh aching and thick, but my heart ached, too, and for a moment I wished that none of this were between us. Not thrall, not rapture, not Dante, not the vengeful search for corrupt and hideous souls to drink. Just a man and a woman who liked each other. He’d said he wanted a mortal life. Was this what he had in mind?

Then he let his beautiful head fall back on the couch and laughed. “Oh, Jade. It’s so near. It’s just a matter of searching. Asking around. We’ll find them, both of us.”

I laughed too, grateful for the release in tension, though my body still screamed at me to act, move, touch, take. “Asking around? You’re so cute. You might have missed it, Rajah, but this is the twenty-first century. Ever hear of the Internet? It’s quite popular.”

He shrugged, sheepish. “I’m not so good with computers.”

“You have an Xbox and the world’s biggest TV but not the Net? Shame on you.”

“I have it. I buy stuff on it. I just don’t get the rest of it. What am I going to do, blog about thrall and luring souls to hell? That’d be a hit.” He knelt to rescue his laptop from beneath a pile of books on the floor and handed it to me. “Be my guest.”

I took it, careful not to let his fingers brush mine.

He sat again, closer so he could see the screen, resting his arm on the couch behind me so it almost—but not quite—touched my shoulders. “Do you mind?”

Oh, I minded. That he was too close. That he wasn’t closer, on me, all over me. That he wasn’t Dante. That I didn’t want him to be.

“Of course not.” I tugged my skirt straighter, flushing, and flipped the shiny white laptop open. The wallpaper showed the Taj Mahal, white marble glowing golden in the sunset, and the desktop was littered with e-books.

If I knew anything about Vorenus Luna, it was that he craved the limelight. He wore his vanity like a prize. If he was in town, everyone who was anyone would know about it.

Rajah shifted next to me, cautious. “You really think you can find him with this thing?”

“Watch and weep.” I launched the browser and typed
[http://www.myspace.com] www.myspace.com.

In five minutes, I had him.

I stared at the pictures, my stomach writhing. He was calling himself Luna, just one word like Beyoncé or Madonna, but he hadn’t changed a bit. Gorgeous golden hair flowing, face like an exotic catwalk model, body copied from a Michelangelo. Dressed like an SM rock star, black velvet, leather and lace, studs and diamonds and bright steel. Dating movie stars, models, celebrities. Here he was in black tie at some dreadful television awards ceremony, showing that stunning smile for the camera, an up-and-coming starlet clinging to his arm.

And he’d lived in Melbourne these last few months, in the penthouse of a high-rise city tower. His perfect face no doubt scattered through those glossy gossip magazines Kane adored so much. Just went to prove that I didn’t get out enough.

My rapture had evaporated, but my blood throbbed, sick and hot, revitalizing my faded headache. He was . . . decorative. Dazzling. Spectacular. I wanted to smash my fist through the screen, break him into glassy shards. The idea of touching him made me want to rip off my skin to get rid of his filth. Sucking out his soul would be worse than anything I’d done with Quinn. Whatever his grotesque faults, at least Killian was honest. Luna was a seething asp’s nest of lies with beauty’s face. I’d vomit buckets before I was done with him.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Scrolling down the page, I saw from the inane comments that he was throwing a party. At his place, tonight. Invitation only, but my rapture could take care of that, no problem.

I looked at the address. EurekaTower, Riverside Quay.

My heart skipped as I remembered Dante’s message. I wouldn’t have to glamour my way in. I already had an invitation. Coincidence?

I looked away, discomfort coiling inside, and realized I hadn’t asked Rajah the obvious question. “So have you found yours?”

He stared at the screen, chewing his bottom lip absently. “I’m sorry, what?”

“
Primordium.
Have you found them?”

He grimaced and stood, shoving his long hands into his pockets and walking away from me, turning only when he reached the window. “I have a confession to make.”

His dark expression sent a shiver of apprehension along my skin, and I smiled uneasily, trying to shake it off with a joke. “That you’re in a hot fog of lust for me? Yeah, look, I figured that one. . . . Damn it, Rajah, you’re scaring me. What is it?”

He laughed, helpless, shaking his dark head. “This is so unfair. Remember the student I told you about? The one who traded me to Kane?”

Black dismay stiffened me. I realized I knew what he was going to say, and horror clawed up my throat, nearly choking me. “You’re joking.”

“Afraid not.” His gaze flicked to the screen on my lap, where Luna gleamed out at me, beautiful and horrible.

I swallowed, my mouth dry. “How long have you known?”

He didn’t look at me. “Since the other night. When you told me how you ended up in thrall.”

Anger burst into my blood, sizzling with rapture to make a seething mess of fury. I pushed the computer aside and bounced up, my nerves jerking. “And when were you going to tell me? When you’d already stolen his soul behind my back?”

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I? I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.” He walked closer, reaching out a hesitant hand.

I shook him off. Disappointment soured my rage, and I berated myself for my stupid wishful thinking. Everything Dante had told me about him was true. “Don’t touch me. I can’t believe you lied to me like that.”

He frowned, his mouth tight. “I never lied to you—”

“You omitted, then. Whatever, okay? It’s the same fucking thing.”

His golden-brown eyes stormed, dark. “Well, shit, Jade, you were pretty fucking preoccupied last time I saw you, what with your tongue down Dante’s throat and all. Not like I had a chance to mention it.”

Fury made me laugh, short and dry. “Oh, so now we get to it. You’re jealous.”

Hurt clouded his face. “Of course I’m jealous. He’s a gold-plated asshole. I thought you were smarter.”

Heat burned up my body, scorching my cheeks. “No, you thought I was easier. Well, I’m not easy, okay?”

“I never thought that. But I bet he does.”

I almost hit him. My fist clenched, indignation sizzling in my bones, and I took a step toward him. “What the fuck does that mean?”

He didn’t back off, just fixed me in that inimitable stare. “Don’t you think it’s weird, how you’re acting around him? What did you drink last night? Do you even remember?”

Uneasiness wriggled inside me, a flash of disquieting memory, but I laughed it off. “My god, you’ve got an ego. Just because I’m with some guy who isn’t you doesn’t mean I’m up to my eyeballs in Rohypnol.”

“Oh, so you’re ‘with’ him now?” He dragged a frustrated hand through his hair, black locks spilling so close, I could have touched them. “Funny. I could have sworn I remembered you begging for it from me.”

My skin crawled with embarrassment and memory even as I bristled at his arrogance. I could still feel that amazing kiss, the way he tempted me, pleasured me. “You’re a fine one to talk. Taking your frustration out on fairies now?”

“Is that what Dante told you?” He laughed, humorless. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. That fairy was sick. She wanted me to kill her. She came to me for help, Jade, and I shouldn’t have but I did. Haven’t you ever done someone and regretted it later?”

I remembered Nyx melting in my arms, and sharp guilt pierced me. But I didn’t want to hear Rajah’s explanations, no matter how reasonable. He’d deceived me. “Oh, yeah. I’m regretting almost doing you more and more every minute.”

“Really.” He drifted closer, and his eyes flashed, daring me.

Despite my fury, my mouth watered. God, he smelled incredible. Clean, hot, sinful. I lifted my chin, defiance tightening my jaw even as I trembled. “Really.”

He slid his tongue over his bottom lip, just because he knew it drove me crazy. “So you’re not tempted now.”

My gaze glued itself to his shining mouth, inches from mine, and warmth crept up over my skin. I wanted to touch him, to trace my fingertip over those swelling wet lips, slide it inside into his warmth. I dug my nails into my palms to keep my hands still. “No.”

He bent closer, his breath hot on my cheek, and drifted his hand over my hair, barely touching. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.” My legs weakened with desire, blood rushing to my tender, yearning flesh. Nerves flowered and tingled between my legs, moistening me. I should have pulled back, slapped his hand away, but the intoxicating flavor of his closeness maddened me beyond sense or anger. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. How did he do it? Only this man had ever turned me on with a glance, made my sex weep and ache with a lick of his lips. Well, only this man and Luna. But I didn’t want to think about Luna right now.

Rajah brushed burning lips across to my ear. “Not a bit?”

“Not even a bit.” My breath caught as he flicked his hot tongue around my earlobe, slow and tantalizing, sparking delicious shivers that started at my neck and tingled all the way down. When he nipped me, I nearly moaned. I wanted to crush my breasts against him, feel his mouth on my nipples, his hands on my thighs as he spread them and feasted on me. And there wasn’t a scrap of rapture swimming in the air. This was pure, honest need. Helpless and dizzy, I leaned into him, on fire for his kiss, accepting his victory.

But he pulled back, his lips twisting in a smile. “Me either.”

Embarrassment seared my skin right to the top of my scalp, and I whirled away, spinning full circle to face him. My skirt clung to my damp legs, pulling tight. “You bastard.”

He stared me down hotly, his chest heaving slightly with short breaths. What I could see of his skin above his shirt buttons gleamed with fragrant sweat even in the cool air. Those soft dark jeans revealed the clear evidence of his desire, wrapping around his swollen cock and showing every quiver. “Tell me now that you want to be with someone else. That you could bear to be with someone else. He’s tricking you, Jade. Think.”

I tried not to let my gaze slip below his face. My eyes stung with unshed tears, my throat aching like the rest of me. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“I bet you don’t. Feeling a bit tired, are you? Did you spew this morning? Was it red?”

“Just don’t say anything else, okay?” I yanked hair from my burning face and walked away, my nerves seething and my body still flaming with desire and frustration. “See you at Luna’s. Or not. I’ve already got an invitation from Dante. Maybe you can just fuck your way in.”

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