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“Ditched, past tense,” he stated, and her lips parted. “I crave you and no other.”
As she floundered for a response, a new voice sounded. “Tsk, tsk. I’m highly disappointed in you, Rathbone. I came to give you one last chance and you’re moving on.”
Lore. His head whipped up. Smirking at him, she floated beside the bed. “How are you here? There are no bones.”
“I never needed them,” the goddess said with a smirk.
Neeka followed his line of sight, jolted, and hissed. He sat up, allowing his oracle to do the same, freeing her wings. Never again would he leave her in a position of vulnerability.
In that moment, everything he’d felt for Lore was just dead. There was nothing. Not even a spark of attraction.
“I’m actually relieved by this turn of events,” Lore said, a little gleeful now. “At last I can tell you how much I’ve dreaded each of our encounters. How I’ve longed for the day you learned the truth, so I could rub it in your ugly face. What a fool you’ve been, thinking someone like me would want someone like you.”
Her words were a gut-punch that sparked an avalanche of pain. He almost couldn’t process the changes in her. Who was this female before him? “You are everything Styx accused you of.” That much was clear.
She smiled now, a cold display of perfect teeth. “I did worse. I played the part he wished me to play until I had no more use for him. Then I played the partyouwished, baby boy. Helpless, subservient, and eager to please.” She pretended to gag. “Such a needy royal. You should be embarrassed.”
Rathbone came to his feet with a quiet snarl, intending to—do something. What, he didn’t yet know. “Why me?” he grated.
“Why not?” She hiked her shoulders in a negligent shrug, a sheen of translucent scales seeming to ripple under her skin. “You were the right man at the wrong time. Measures had to be taken to ensure your continued cooperation, so, I ensured it.”
All the centuries he’d wasted on this female. All the guilt and shame he’d carried. The torment he’d endured. For nothing! His hands fisted. “And you don’t need my cooperation now? You think you’ve won?”
“I know I have.” A laughing Lore vanished.
He stood in place, panting, soon to come out of his skin. Until soft arms wrapped around him from behind.
Neeka rested her cheek on his shoulder and sculpted her body to his. “That had to hurt, and I’m sorry. I’d comfort you more, which wouldn’t mean we’re together or anything, because we’re not. But. We are roughly ten seconds from an Astra invasion. Nine. Probably best to avoid Azar now. So, if you’re to be my travel buddy, you’ve got to flash us to the spot I insert into your mind. Eight.”
Insert? He drew her around to face him. “How will you—”
“Six. I’ll explain later.” She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly... “Five.”
The image of an unfamiliar red door popped into his head, jolting him. She’d linked their minds, pushing a thought into his awareness without triggering his defenses? A dangerous skill to possess.
“Four. Go, go, go,” she cried. “Three. Two.”
Rathbone grabbed her backpack and flashed his female to the red door.
26
Here we go again.
Neeka stood before the red door, her stomach churning. If this didn’t work... This had better work. If she lost her memory afterward... She had better not lose her memory afterward.
There was an amazing, potentially tragic decision that required addressing. To accept Rathbone or forever ditch him, that was the question.
With his total rejection of Lore and his newfound devotion to Neeka, she was willing to reconsider a future together. But she refused—refused!—to forget all the bad and the ugly that had transpired between them until they’d addressed everything, and he’d earned back her trust. And what if he decidedNeekawasn’t his fated? Would she get the ax too?
In the name of calm, she drew in a deep breath. “Stay here,” she told him twisting the knob and stepping forward. She braced for the coming onslaught—
Her companion gripped her chin and forced her attention on him. “That’s not happening.” He slung his arm around her waist to further punctuate his words. “We do this together. You are mine, and I am yours. I will see to your protection.”
Argh! The man was proving to be a huge distraction she couldn’t afford. How was she supposed to not melt into a puddle of goo when he went around making primal declarations about her.Her.The Unwanted.
“Lookit. I’m not sure you can handle the Hall—no, you know what? Never mind. It’s your anguish.” There wasn’t time for an argument. Not with Grenwich on the hunt and the Astra once again on their tail. Neeka had to win this round. Had to save Rathbone, the harpies, and the Astra, or die trying. “Whatever happens, flash us to safety in five minutes.” She doubted she could withstand much more of the barrage. “By the way, I might pass out and wake with no memory again. Do everything in your power to help me remember as quickly as possible.” Please!
“Oh, I’ll make you remember,” he told her, his expression fierce. “Then you and I will come to an agreement about things.”
