Aftershocks

Chapter Four

Cadmus stared at a male version of Ellie in helpless fascination. Good Light, but Ellie was his spitting image. Ethim had the same high cheekbones, the same stubborn nose and strong chin, identical bright blue eyes, though his glowed with a fierce anger that had Arim braced for attack. The Djinn’s aura was Dark, so much so that Cadmus had no trouble seeing it.

Yet the Darkness of the man in no way detracted from his physical presence. Ethim il Ruethe looked like a walking piece of art. It was all Cadmus could do not to reach out and touch the man to see if he were real.

His skin and features were unnaturally attractive. Cadmus had just spent the last few weeks among the Djinn, but he’d never seen a creature so physically striking, save Ellie. Glancing at her, he noted the guarded look in her eyes as she stared at her father.

Interesting.

He’d known from her many comments she had no close ties to the man. But watching the two, he thought perhaps her distance was mostly of her own making. Ethim glared at Arim and Cadmus, but his gaze softened with love and worry when he lit on his daughter.

“I asked what you’re doing here.” Ethim’s tone shifted, seeming to echo throughout the small room, commanding obedience.

“I don’t think so.” Arim waved his hand, and the compulsion to answer the Djinn faded.

“Don’t think you can come in here and take charge like you try to do everywhere else. This situation goes beyond the Light Bringers now. At least, it’s beyond you.” Ethim looked past Arim to Cadmus and nodded. “Jonas mentioned some of his troubles, but I have to admit I never thought he’d bring you back here.”

Cadmus thought it telling Ethim had yet to address his daughter.

“Why are you here?” she finally asked, her voice flat.

Ethim drew himself to his formidable height and his features tightened. He pursed full lips and frowned. “I just wanted to see for myself that you were all right. I know you’ve been having trouble with the university and wanted to offer my assistance.”

Ellie blinked. “You did?”

“You didn’t think I would notice your troubles? I see everything, Elliara.”

She blushed and darted a glance at Cadmus, who strove to look uninterested. Elliara? A beautiful name, and one that spoke of Djinn ties, a connection that for some reason she wanted to sever.

“It’s Ellie, Ethim.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but a glance at Arim and Cadmus and he changed the subject. “Are these two bothering you? I’ve found a suitable place where we can stash the Earth Lord until a time where he may be of some use.”

Arim’s expression darkened. “It’s funny you mention his use. What exactly do you intend for my nephew? The last I knew Jonas was doing us a favour by keeping Cadmus safe. Now, it seems, there’s an agenda we know nothing about.”

Cadmus shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I have no clue what you’re talking about. I had a slight altercation in Foreia so Jonas whisked me away. If you’d open the doors to Tanselm, we could take care of everything right now,” he challenged his uncle. Oddly enough, he didn’t want Arim to make it that easy.

For over a year, Cadmus had been dying to return to his homeworld. But being around Ellie again made him long for time with her alone and without distraction. If Arim took him back home, he would have no excuse to stay behind with Ellie.

“You know you can’t return home without an affai,” Arim explained matter-of-factly. “So work your magic and find her. I have the feeling time is moving us towards something we’re not quite ready for.”

“I know.” Cadmus had felt a shift in the possibilities of the future for some time. His clairvoyance had deserted him of late, and the only visions he now had involved sex with the alluring blonde next to him. “But I can’t see it, no matter how hard I try.”

“Would one of you care to explain just what’s going on here?” Ethim asked again, this time with more patience. “If you’d like, we can take this conversation someplace safer. I have space in Foreia that would be perfect for you, Earth Lord, while we—”

“No,” Ellie blurted, surprising everyone. “Cadmus is fine here, and with everything otherworldly happening around me, I feel safer having him around.”

She wouldn’t meet Cadmus’ gaze and refused to respond to his mental questions.

“Safer with him around?” Her father sounded as incredulous as Cadmus felt. But satisfaction danced through his soul. Ellie didn’t want him to leave. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.

She nodded. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, pushing me out of this. But I’m already a part of it.” She shrugged with a nonchalance that didn’t fool Cadmus in the slightest. “I might as well see this through to the end. You know, make sure the Djinn are taken care of.”

Ethim beamed, a blazing display of affection that made Cadmus cringe. The Darkness seething in the Djinn was curiously compelling, and he wondered if Ellie found it hard to refuse her father anything.

“I see. Well then. I’ll leave you two alone. Protected, but alone. Arim? There are things we need to discuss.”

Arim glanced from Ethim to Cadmus, then focused on Ellie with a puzzled frown. “I suppose, as long as you stay put,” he directed to Cadmus. “We’re not even close to being done our discussion.”

Cadmus felt threatened by Arim’s steady regard. He prayed his uncle couldn’t see the uncomfortable Darkness seething within him. “Fine, sure. I’ll be right here, protecting Ellie.”

Arim snorted his disbelief before turning back to Ethim. “How about Shathra in the between?”

“It’s in Shadow.” Ethim considered. “That will work. Ellie, call if you need me.” He disappeared without a whisper, and Arim soon followed, leaving Ellie and Cadmus alone at last.

“So,” Cadmus said slowly, taking in her unsteady breath, her wandering gaze that rested briefly on his lips. “You don’t feel safe?”

“It was the best I could do to get my father out of here. When he gets that look in his eye, you just want to disappear.” She began roving the living room, straightening pillows and magazines that didn’t need straightening.

“If my presence here makes you uncomfortable, perhaps I should go with Ethim,” he said quietly, wanting her to look at him.

At his words, she stilled, her back to him. She was so tense, so uneasy, and he didn’t understand what her father had done to make her so unnerved.

“It’s not my father, it’s you,” she said through her teeth and turned to face him. Her eyes were so bright they glowed, and he took a step back at the sheer vehemence of her tone. Dark, hungry energy slid through the air, caressing and curling around him, drawing him closer to the precipice he didn’t want to cross.

“I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re all I can see and hear. All I can think about.” Her breath caught, and she glided nearer, stalking him. Her nipples beaded through her T-shirt, and Cadmus swore he could sense her desire as if a living thing. “You’re like a spell that’s taken me over. Magic in my once-normal world.”

“Ellie,” he said thickly, telling himself over and over that this had to be her decision. The urge to take her, to throw her down on the floor and fuck her until neither of them could walk was overpowering. But he refused to let his cock direct his actions.

Ellie took the decision out of his hands. Snarling, she closed the distance between them. “You jerk.” Plastering her mouth over his, she stole every thought as his blood rushed below his beltline.

Moments later, when she finally let him go, he gasped for breath. “Fuck, Ellie.”

“Yes, fuck Ellie,” she urged, tugging at his shirt and unsnapping his jeans in a flash. Her hands ran over his chest like trails of heat surging through his blood. Mountains of lust erupted, consuming him despite his desire to take things slow.

Succumbing to his needs, he moved in a frenzy. Cotton and denim flew everywhere until skin met skin, and he sighed into her mouth. The feel of her full breasts pressing his chest made him groan with raw need. She felt it as well, her mind completely open as she broadcasted her wants.

“I’m going to make you scream,” he whispered in her ear before darting in his tongue to make her shiver. Running his lips down her throat, he sucked at her hammering pulse. She arched closer to him, responding as if made for him. Moving farther down, he kissed and nipped his way to her breasts, bringing them both to their knees as he sucked, biting with enough pressure to make her sigh with pleasure.

Unable to resist, he stroked down her belly as he toyed with her breasts. The silver ring piercing her navel felt cool against his fingers, and he pulled gently on it before continuing his search lower. Petting the blonde curls between her legs, he thrust a finger through her cleft, deep into her pussy.

“You’re so wet for me,” he growled and unconsciously thrust his swelling cock against her belly. “So ready for me to fuck you.”

“Cadmus.” She held him to her breast with shaking hands. “I can’t believe how much I need you.”

Need you. Not need this. Male satisfaction poured through him, a heady mixture of lust and affection for the woman in his arms that made him want to do more than simply fuck her, more than take her body. He wanted to claim her, to brand her as his own so no one else could touch her without her thinking of him and him alone.

“Elliara,” he rasped as he began thrusting first one finger, then two inside her. She was more than human, more than a woman. She was a goddess he planned to worship with reverence. He sucked her nipple deep, gratified by her loud moans and trembling body. “I’m going to love you so hard, so deep, baby.”

He continued to kiss her, moving back to her luscious mouth. By the Light, his Ellie knew how to kiss. She used her whole mouth, her lips inviting, pouting under his while her tongue ravaged his mouth. Stroking and sliding, she mimicked lovemaking so urgently he was soon lost to finesse.

With an animalistic growl, he brought them to the floor. Looming over her, he nudged her thighs wide, lowering his cock to the burning entrance of her core. Her wetness covered his tip, and with a loud curse, he plunged deep through the tight, hugging flesh that welcomed his intrusion.

“Cadmus, oh my God,” she cried, clutching him tightly. She wrapped her ankles around his waist as he thrust like a man possessed. In and out, hard and without cease. He deliberately rotated his pelvis to rub her clit, the slap of his flesh against hers erotic in the extreme.

Her moans escalated, and he could feel her climbing steadily towards climax. He wanted to hold her there, but he had no room to play. Dark ecstasy wound around and through him, trapping him helplessly in her feminine power. He quickened his movements, pummeling as her cries increased his pleasure.

“Yes, yes,” she pleaded. Her body clamped down around him, squeezing him into a mind-blowing climax as she found her own.

Shocks of energy shot through his body, leaving him connected to her mind, body and soul as he emptied inside her womb, filling her with his Light.

“Ellie,” he groaned as he shuddered, his orgasm so intense he could only ride the wave and pray he had enough strength not to come crashing down when it was over. On and on, he pulsed, and he felt seed trickling down his thighs as he continued to come.

Some time later, when he could again think, he stared down at the woman who had robbed him of speech.

“Cadmus,” she sighed. Her eyes were hazy with satisfied contentment. “Am I alive?”

He chuckled, the vibration of his voice causing him to press deeper inside her. Leaning on his elbows to keep from crushing her, he marvelled at her beauty as he lay buried in her heat. “If you’re not, we’re both in the Next.”

“Heaven,” she agreed and pulled him close for a kiss. Lazy yet stirring, her kiss had him twitching within her.

“Not yet,” he groaned, needing more recovery time. Hell, she’d nearly made him lose his mind, and now had him hardening when he should have had nothing left to give her. “Ellie,” he warned as she squeezed around him. “You’re asking for trouble.”

She grinned and arched a brow. “Are you saying you can’t deliver?”

He pulled out and surged back inside, thickening with every push. “Baby, I’ll more than deliver. Can you take all I have to give?”

Her lips parted, and her lids lowered. “Baby, I can take anything you’re giving.”

“Good,” he said with a wicked grin. “Then get ready for more of this.”

She moaned and writhed as he grew long and hard once more, and soon, his humour was replaced by the all-consuming lust that only Ellie aroused.

Standing in the neutral haven of Shathra, Arim frowned at Ethim il Ruethe, determined to hear the Djinn out before he found his conniving nephew and beat some sense into him. Screwing around with the Sarqua ruler’s daughter was not only stupid, but incredibly dangerous. Despite Ethim’s fair features, the man was a walking threat. Equal in ferocity to a Storm Lord in a rage, Ethim had Dark powers that easily countered that of a Light Bringer. And Ethim’s kind played by no one’s rules but their own.

“So Guardian of Storm, we‘re at an impasse.”

“It would seem,” Arim said slowly. Where was Ethim going with this?

“You want to keep Tanselm ‘pure’ while we want to return Tanselm to its natural order.”

“To the Dark, you mean?”

“No.” Ethim looked irritated and began pacing in the small stone keep that provided sanctuary for those needing it. “That’s not what I mean. You aren’t old enough to remember what Tanselm was like before the Dark Lords turned, when those of Light and Dark coexisted peacefully.”

“Oh? Was that before the Djinn drained the lifeforce out of half the Light Bringers in existence, or after the Dark Lords converted the unwilling into wraiths and demons?”

Ethim scowled. “The wraiths have always been. Yes, some were Light Bringer converts, but most were as they are today. And demons aren’t a Dark Lord invention.” Ethim sniffed. “Really, Arim.”

“Really, Ethim,” Arim mocked. “Don’t tell me you want to share Tanselm? Not when so many Djinn have gone to such extremes to have it back.” He hid the pain of Faustus’ death, remembering too easily his sister’s grief when her husband fell to Djinn poison.

“You know those aren’t my people.”

“How do I know? Because I’m supposed to trust on faith?” Arim looked at him in disbelief. “The reason we’ve held onto Tanselm for so long is that the Light Bringers have distrusted everyone and everything of Dark and Shadow. We’ve resisted the Netharat before and will do so again.”

Ethim shook his head. “But you’ve never before fought a Dark Lord like ‘Sin Garu. He killed his own kin. And like you, we Dark have limits against fratricide. He rules the wraiths, creatures that should not have enough control to follow a man. You know this, you have seen it with your own eyes. ‘Sin Garu even tempts the Shadren. And should they turn, the Light will surely fade under Dark’s creeping taint.”

“You admit the Dark is evil.”

“In the Dark Lord’s hands, yes, but not in and of itself. Foreia is my home, the place I consider most sacred outside Tanselm. Yet, even in my homeworld, some Light is welcome. Without it, there can be no Dark, no Shadow. Think, Arim. Once, two powerful forces existed in Tanselm. In the years since, the land’s magic has faded.”

“Not so.”

“It is so.” Ethim cursed, running his hands through his hair in agitation. “Are you so biased against us you cannot see the truth in your own magic?”

Arim said nothing. For years, he’d been struggling to overcome growing weaknesses and disconcerting gaps in his energy that he’d assumed were his vulnerabilities made flesh. If what Ethim said were true, then Tanselm was in more danger than from the Netharat.

It just didn’t make sense. Why now, when the Tetrarch was so vulnerable, did Tanselm show its limitations? The land had always before risen to face challenges, standing strong in the face of adversity. Tanselm had always worked with the Light Bringers, yet now, according to Ethim, needed saving from the Light Bringers?

“You make no sense.” Arim shook his head. “Tanselm is strength, as well you know. I realise you had nothing to do with the treacherous Djinn responsible for our Tetrarch’s falling. But like calls to like. I have a hard time believing you Djinn would completely turn on your own, regardless of your opposition to Dark Lord involvement.”

“You’re a hard-headed fool,” Ethim snarled, his eyes bright in the shadows of Shathra’s main hall. “Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you now, right here?” He snapped his fingers and a score of Djinn warriors surrounded Arim.

“Not quite so easy.” With a small motion of his hand, Arim created a shield so blindingly bright the walls shook.

“Okay, okay,” Ethim rumbled, and his warriors disappeared. “No need to kill us both. You’ve made your point. But I gave you warning when, had I really been interested in your death, you would have been attacked the minute you entered this place.”

Arim grudgingly admitted as much.

“You can see how serious I am about this matter. Hell, Arim, I left my daughter with your nephew, and I love her more than life itself.” He grimaced. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to know what she and that Light Bringer might be doing.”

“Oh?” Hell, Cadmus had really stepped in it this time.

“Do not take me for a fool because I appeal to your good sense. Of course, appealing to your good sense does make me seem—”

“As if you lack all intelligence,” Arim finished wryly.

Ethim’s eyes narrowed. “Nevertheless, I believe in this cause so strongly that I’ve allowed my daughter to befriend a Light Bringer. Can you not see my position and understand it?”

Arim studied Ethim carefully. Ethim had a point. There was no way in hell a Djinn would ever let his child near a Light Bringer, and especially not a Storm Lord, knowing the two might share physical pleasures. The Djinn prized their sexuality and considered the sharing of it as more than a gift, but a tying bind that would only grow stronger if not kept in check.

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

Ethim shook his head. “Nothing for now. Elliara didn’t like the thought of him leaving.”

“I noticed.” He’d also noticed Cadmus’ half-hearted plea to return home. And that worried him.

“It’s as she predicted. Our time is coming, and we have to be ready. Cadmus will help pave the way towards defeating the evil that threatens us all.”

He hadn’t known Ellie was a seer. An uneasy feeling roiled in his belly. “Who predicted? Your daughter?”

“A Djinn soothsayer. No one of importance to you. Now, Arim, promise me you won’t interfere in your nephew’s time in the mundane world.”

“Why should I promise that? You’re interfering already. And you have ties to that mundane world that keep you there most of the time.”

Ethim coughed. “Yes, well, my wife is not as easygoing as most humans. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was part Light Bringer.”

“I’d like to meet her sometime.” He had an uneasy feeling he’d need to meet her, seeing as how friendly Cadmus and Ellie had become. The Light help him if another Dark female joined the royal family. Arim thought he might be turning a touch crazy. He had enough to worry about making sure the Dark Lords didn’t invade Tanselm, not to mention keeping watch over those untrustworthy Aellei.

Aerolus and his unruly hormones. Why couldn’t he have married a nice human like his brothers Darius and Marcus?

As if his thoughts conjured them, Arim felt a beckoning spell calling him to Tanselm. “This discussion isn’t over.”

“I agree. There is much more to talk about. We’ll get to it when you’re ready to hear the truth.”

Arim scoffed. “You can debate Tanselm’s weaknesses as much as you want, but don’t forget who and what I am.” Arim’s vision expanded, and he trembled with indescribable power, inexorably bound to Tanselm’s riches. “I won’t let you destroy her, Ethim. I am charged with protecting Tanselm at all costs. Her people won’t suffer annihilation like they once did.”

“So be it,” Ethim acknowledged the warning. “Your threats are groundless since I am already on your side. Go if you must, but contact me in Foreia when you’re ready to talk. I’ll be waiting.”

Arim nodded, banking his energy as he sought a portal home.

“Tell me again why I couldn’t simply tell him the truth now?” Ethim asked, rubbing the back of his neck in agitation as Lexa took shape from the shadows.

She narrowed her gaze, aware Ethim had been suitably intimidated by Arim’s theatrics. “Leave Arim to me, Ethim. He doesn’t have the power to hurt you while I’m here.”

“So you say,” he muttered.

She kept her mouth closed, used to thinking before she spoke. For years, she’d had to prove herself among her peers and those she should have considered friends. Ethim, however, was more a weapon to be directed than a friend. Only Jonas put her at ease enough to relax in his presence.

“I have been lenient with you, Ethim, because I need the help of your people. You know we work towards the same end.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Forgive me, Mistress. I know what you say is true. But I can’t help feeling like a traitor to my own flesh.”

He referred to Ellie, his daughter, who even now knew more pleasure at a Light Bringer’s hands than Lexa ever had. Grinning at the thought of Arim’s displeasure when he learned a Djinn would soon join the Royal House, she clapped a hand on Ethim’s shoulder, forcing her touch to comfort rather than harm.

“Be at ease, Ethim. I would never have advised you to use Ellie in this scheme if I thought Cadmus might harm her. Believe me, everything your daughter has done has been of her own free will. We merely introduced her to another aspect of her life she’s been trying so hard to ignore.”

“I admit I enjoy the fact she’s finally recognising her heritage. Hell, ‘til now, she’s only been accepting of Jonas. She’d rather see a hardened warrior than her own father?” He sounded hurt, and she well understood his pain.

Lexa shrugged, but knew Ellie’s temperament better than her own father did.

Ethim was used to command and thought he could simply order his daughter to love and respect him. Had Ellie’s mother not been so stubborn, the poor girl wouldn’t be so dead-set against her Djinn heritage. Her connection to Jonas made perfect sense. The Djinn had his own scars to bear and was a warrior through and through. Compassionate though strong, he’d learned much among the short-lived humans.

He treated Ellie with a respect and care her father might have tried, had the autocratic Djinn ruler been allowed more time with his daughter.

Ethim glowered, and Lexa suppressed a smile. He and Ellie looked so alike it was uncanny. It was no wonder Cadmus had fallen for the girl. She had a Dark passion that matched his own, the inner strength of true integrity and the looks of an otherworldly Djinn.

“Don’t worry, Ethim. I’ve seen happiness in Elliara’s future.”

He relaxed and made polite small talk before leaving for Foreia. Left standing in the shadows, Lexa felt as alone as she’d ever been. Dark yet not, orphaned with a family who hated her. Lexa had never really fit in, and it was with some envy that she watched fellow women of the Dark find true love. That those women found a future with creatures of Light gave Lexa a perverse sense of pleasure that she—a Dark Lord—was helping to shape Tanselm’s future.

And if anticipation licked at her core at thoughts of finally meeting Arim face to face in a no-holds battle to the end, so be it. She was honest enough with herself to admit they’d never resolved the past. Until that happened, she had no future.

“Sister dear, where are you?” A dark voice mocked her through space and time. “I’m looking for you, sweet Lexa. I have a message from B’alen that really can’t wait much longer. Come find me and we’ll…talk.” Husky laughter trailed in the recesses of the between, and Lexa shivered. ‘Sin Garu knew. He knew what she’d done. If he found her, the Next would be a welcome respite from the pain sure to follow.