Absorbing poison, p.10
Absorbing Poison, page 10
That was laughable.
If I could find the Star of Tranquility, a stone that had been missing for decades, surely I could uncover whatever secret they were hiding.
By the time I got back to the castle, and wrestled my way past the dragon muscle wall, Kieran was in his bed recovering. I crossed the room slowly, unable to take my eyes off his face. Most of the surface cuts and scratches had already healed. The only remnant of his trauma was the dried blood in his hair. Tears welled in my eyes, and my lower lip trembled. The adrenaline had begun to wear off, leaving me stunned at how close we’d come to dying.
“Those wouldn’t be tears I see in your eyes, would they?” Kieran rasped.
Swallowing, I dabbed at my cheeks. “I think I deserve a sob fest.”
The sparkle in his expression sobered, darkening his emerald eyes. “I put you in danger. I won’t ever forgive myself.”
Tears blurred my vision; I couldn’t hold them at bay anymore. “That’s bullshit. If you think I would have survived that without you—survived any of this—then you’re crazy.”
As I hoped, a small smirk emerged on his face. “That might be true, but I can attest that I’m somewhat crazy.”
With care, I sat on the edge of the bed and gave a short laugh. “The four of you really are. Are you going to be okay?”
He shifted on the bed to sit up, but frustration overcame his expression at the difficulty of the everyday movement. Switching tactics, he stayed lying down, and reached for my hand instead. “Nothing a few hours of rest won’t cure.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” He was nuts. I planned to sleep for a week, if only I could. Tianna made it impossible. I had a stone to find and couldn’t afford to take off any time. Kieran might not die today or tomorrow, but unless I found that stone soon—very soon—he could still die. They all could.
And I would never be able to live with myself… live without them.
These four dragons had become not only the most important people in my life, but also the only people in my life. I needed them as much as they needed me, probably more so, and I refused to let Tianna take them from me.
Leaning over Kieran, I brushed my lips across his. “Get some sleep.”
I needed to get to work ASAP.
As I got up to leave, Kieran grabbed my wrist, and I stared back at him. “I know that look. Don’t do anything stupid,” he warned me.
Best not to make a promise I couldn’t keep. “The last thing you need to do is worry about me. There are three other dragons to do that.”
His fingers gently fell away from my wrist, and I stepped out into the hallway. As soon as I was out of Kieran’s sight, I let my tidal wave of emotions release. Boiling rage. Gut-wrenching sadness. Gripping fear. The powerful emotions swirled inside me, threatening to consume my soul. My lip trembled. My nails dug into my palms. And my heart quivered.
Just when I thought I would burst into a million fragmented pieces, I was engulfed by three sets of arms. Warmth, calmness, and coolness all surrounded me in a dragon-sized hug. They sensed my emotions, overwhelming them as much as they did me. My head came to rest on one of their chests—Issik’s, judging by the frigid aura.
What would I do without them?
I never wanted to find out.
Lifting my chin, I met each one of their gazes. “We need to do something.”
“We will. This isn’t the end. A minor setback,” Jase assured me, but he wasn’t hearing me. I was talking about right now.
“Tianna thinks she’s hurt us. She’s wrong,” I vowed with conviction.
Curiosity entered Zade’s eyes. “Did you learn something new in the Mirrored Shallows?”
I relaxed my fighting stance. “Uh, not exactly.”
“Then there really isn’t anything for us to do at the moment. I suggest you get some sleep. You look like you’re going to crumble to the floor.”
My shoulders straightened to prove Jase, the know-it-all, wrong. There was still some energy left in this body. If they weren’t willing to do anything right now, then I would. Couldn’t they see we didn’t have time to waste?
Brushing past Issik, I stalked down the hall, heading away from my room and toward the stairs. The descendants might not let me leave the castle, but there were many, many rooms in Viperus Keep left to be explored. The woman in white had said the stones returned to a place of importance and meaning, to the heart of Viperus. Maybe that meant somewhere in this maze of a castle.
“Where are you going?” Issik asked, falling in step behind me. Zade was right beside him.
I kept walking, not that I actually thought I would get far.
The descendants were, if anything, predictable. Zade’s blazing arms came around me, and swooped me off my feet. “The only place you are going is to bed, Little Gem.”
“Let me go,” I ordered, torn between crying and screaming.
Thick, contoured muscle kept me secured against Zade’s chest, and I gave up fighting fairly quickly. I was too tired. Too weak. And outnumbered. Not to mention, in pain. I groaned as the slashes on my back made themselves known. Crap. I’d forgotten about my own injuries.
“You’re hurt,” Zade murmured, carefully putting me back on my feet. He lifted my shirt.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Issik’s hands bunch into fists, and his expression freeze over. “I’m going to kill her,” he snarled in a voice so low I almost didn’t hear him.
“Get in line,” Zade growled. “She will pay for this.”
Wiggling Kieran’s tattered shirt back down over the cuts, I kept my face neutral to block them from seeing the pain. “It’s a few scratches. They’ll heal.”
“And we can help. You’ll feel better after you’ve slept,” the fire-breathing dragon reasoned. “Jase?” Zade called.
I let out a string of colorful f-bombs, knowing exactly what was coming. Zade had his hands on my shoulders and spun me around. Jase was waiting for me.
Son of a bitch.
Not again.
My head shook back and forth. “Don’t you dare open your mouth,” I hissed.
His violet eyes bore into mine. “Cupcake, calm down before you hurt yourself more.”
“If you do this, I won’t ever forgive you,” I seethed, narrowing my eyes at the tranquility dragon who was about to force me to sleep.
Bringing his face near mine, his fingers tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Sorry, Cupcake.” Regret shimmered in his gaze, and I actually believed he was sorry for what he was about to do. Pain radiated from him, as if hurting me hurt him.
Poof. A cloud of purple smoke expelled from his kissable lips, except in this moment, I would have rather bit him than kissed him.
Chapter Twelve
I woke up sweating my tits off, like my skin was melting off my body. Only one explanation came to mind, and no, it wasn’t my hormones.
Zade.
God, he was hot. In more ways than just his body temperature.
Rolling my head to the side, I inspected my bed partner. Some girls might disapprove of waking up next to a different guy each day of the week. Not me. I enjoyed the variety, and I didn’t really care what that said about me. Judgmental bitches could kiss my ass.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked, stretching. I hated to admit that I was feeling better. The pain in my back was gone.
“Not long enough,” Zade grumbled, yawning. “Do you know that you grind your teeth in your sleep?”
“It’s better than drooling,” I defended myself, rolling over onto my side. I doubted I’d ever get a normal night’s sleep again. The descendants didn’t seem to believe in a schedule.
His expression was thoughtful as his half-lidded eyes roamed over my face. “You’re not mad,” he stated, feeling my emotions.
Throwing off the covers, I contemplated whether or not I should also take off my shirt. Someone had removed Kieran’s and slipped a clean one on me. Beads of sweat rolled between my breasts. “I’m too hot to be mad, but I still plan on killing Jase, by the way.”
Zade’s lips split into a grin. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“I should give him a dose of his own medicine,” I mumbled. My brain started to imagine all the ways I could get Jase back for knocking me out last night.
Zade moved closer, lifting up on his elbow so he was propped over me. “I’m supposed to bring you downstairs now that you’re awake, but first…” His finger traced over my jaw, leaving trails of fire behind, and yet my face turned into his touch, craving more.
I was insane.
Dear God, is that all they ever thought about—kissing me? I wouldn’t normally complain, but what I needed was a blast of Issik to counter the heat from Zade. “If you kiss me right now, I’m afraid I might spontaneously combust. It’s so hot in here. Where’s Issik?”
Hurt splashed into his eyes, but he blinked, quickly masking it. It hadn’t been my intention to cause him pain or reject him.
“Shit. Sorry,” Zade cursed, sitting up. He ran a hand over his face before climbing out of bed, and crossing the room to open a window. “I wasn’t thinking,” he admitted. His was back was to me as he leaned against the windowsill. “When I’m with you, it is so easy to forget you’re human.”
I got out of bed and padded across the room, berating myself for being so careless with his feelings. Laying a hand on his shoulder, I endured the wave of heat. Zade was worth being burned. “I didn’t mean it to sound as if I preferred Issik over you. That’s not the case. The truth is I have feelings for all of you. I don’t want to hurt any of you.”
Zade turned around and looked down at me. “This thing between the five of us is new. It will take some getting used to. And I’ll try to remember to turn down the heat.” He winked.
My shoulders relaxed, and I beamed up at him.
“We should probably find the others,” he added, breaking the silent conversation we’d been having with our looks and smiles.
I was eager to see how Kieran was faring. Had his injuries completely healed?
Zade waited for me to toss on some clothes, before ushering me downstairs into the conservatory, a room made entirely out of glass. Kieran and Jase were sitting around a rectangular wooden table. Issik was standing, leaning against one of the glass walls. The sky was still gloomy and gray, casting somberness over the room. The conversation died when Zade and I walked in, making me suspicious. They were definitely hiding something from me, and it was time someone told me what the hell was going on here.
I brushed up against Issik, letting his natural coolness seep into my skin. He shot me a funny look.
My brow lifted. Was it so hard to believe I would pick him to stand next to? My critical gaze evaluated Kieran. Although he lounged in the chair with his usual carefree attitude, something felt wrong. His eyes lacked some of their luster, and his skin appeared paler.
Issik’s hand landed on the small of my back, and the earth tilted underneath me as a gust of cold danced down my spine.
“Is someone going to say something, or are we just going to stare at each other?” I asked when no one began conversing.
Jase looked like a king at the head of the table. It wasn’t even his house and yet it was clear which of the descendants was in charge. “Have you forgiven me?”
I frowned, my attention pulled away from Kieran, and coming to rest on the tranquility dragon. “Oh, I’ll get you back, Jase Dior. When you least expect it.”
“That’s what I was worried about,” he mumbled.
Issik’s lips twitched as he loomed over me. “The witch isn’t going to make this easy.”
Jase tapped his fingers on top of the table, contemplating some scary-ass plan, I was sure. “When does she ever?”
“God, I can’t wait to kill her,” Zade added, the red in his eyes overtaking the soft brown.
Issik’s scowl deepened, and darkness seemed to gather around him. “Get in line.”
Jase stood up, pacing the length of the room. “We’ve wasted enough time. Going to the Mirrored Shallows cost us.” That was an understatement.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
An unrecognizable emotion swept through his violet eyes, and it worried me. “Comb every inch of Viperus if we have to. We split up and section off the kingdom. Every day we get out there—rain or shine.”
My arms crossed over my chest. “Great. Now that we have that out of the way, what are you guys keeping from me?”
Four sets of guarded eyes met mine. “What are you talking about, Cupcake?”
“I know there is something you’re not telling me. I can feel it.”
No one jumped at the opportunity to fill me in on their secret. Suddenly, they had a keen interest in the grain of the wood table, or the texture of the stone floors.
I engaged my bitch mode. “Don’t ignore me! I don’t need to be coddled.”
“We don’t want to worry you,” Jase eventually answered, his palms flattened on the table as he leaned on its corner.
“About what?”
Their discomfort was evident. Issik sighed beside me, iciness infiltrating the air. “She is going to find out sooner or later. What is the point in prolonging it?”
Jase’s gaze went around the room, looking at each descendant. One by one, they nodded. A decision had been made. Finally, those eyes reached mine. “Our powers are getting weaker,” he revealed.
My mouth dropped open. To me, they were nearly invincible. It was hard to imagine the four of them being anything but fearless, powerful dragons. “You didn’t think that was something important I should know?”
The muscles in Jase’s jaw tightened. “It isn’t easy to admit, and we weren’t entirely certain.”
“Not until last night,” Kieran added.
Meaning when he was struck down from the sky. From what I understood about the descendants, they weren’t immortal, but nearly impossible to kill in their dragon form. They had healing abilities, and their scales were almost impenetrable, protecting their bodies from damage of all kinds—including a fall that would have killed a human. Something had been wrong with Kieran. This only reassured me that my hunch had been right, and that I had a valid reason to be so worried about him.
“As the deadline nears, we can feel the abilities inside us losing potency,” Zade admitted in vexation.
Fan-flipping-tastic. Like we didn’t have enough to stress about. It had seemed like an incredibly difficult task before, but doable. Now without them at full power to ward off Tianna’s attacks, it felt hopeless.
“And you’re afraid that if we don’t find the stones soon, you’ll be unable to defend yourselves against Tianna?”
Issik hooked a finger under my chin, lifting my face up to his. “It isn’t just that. We wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
I swallowed. “You guys have to stop worrying about me. I’m not useless anymore. I have powers of my own.”
It was all true, but none of us actually believed I could take care of myself. I wasn’t a superhero. I wasn’t ridiculously smart. I wasn’t immortal.
I was average.
Jase straightened up, his expression shifting. “You might be on to something.”
I didn’t like the sudden lightbulb I saw go off in his mind. “I should have kept my mouth shut,” I grumbled.
“Definitely,” Issik agreed.
Jase ignored us, moving forward with his brilliant thought. “We’re going to train you.”
My brows scrunched together. “Train me for what? And when do I have time for that?”
“We’ll make time. You learning to defend yourself might be what helps us stay alive.”
Issik scratched the day-old stubble under his chin. “That isn’t a horrible idea.”
My eyes darted from one descendant to the next, unable to believe any of them thought this was an answer to our problems. “Are you guys insane? Have you been paying attention at all since I got here?”
“She has a point,” Kieran spoke up, having spent most of the time quietly listening. “What if she hurts herself… or worse?”
The “worse” being I accidentally kill myself, which wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. “Finally, someone who understands me.”
“Olivia is often a danger to herself.” Kieran shot me a faint smile.
Jase wasn’t about to let the idea go. “I think it could make a difference. We can add it to your tranquility training.”
My body sunk against Issik, recognizing I was outnumbered, as always. On the flipside, I could use my new combat skills to kick their asses. That was a perk I couldn’t say no to. “Fine. It’s your grave, Dimples.”
Jase chuckled. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was looking forward to it.
Regardless of my argument that Kieran needed to stay behind and rest, the five of us were hoofing it through the woods to another creepy grave site on the west side of Viperus. The never-ending search for the Star of Poison continued. As a kid, I used to love hide-and-seek, but now, the game grew tiresome.
Kieran and I hadn’t said much to each other since the night in Mirrored Shallows, but a charge of electricity hummed between us. I swore he was playing with his lip on purpose to taunt me with his sexiness. I remembered all too well what it was like to have the cool metal touching me in the most intimate places.
My cheeks flushed. Christ, I was suddenly wearing too many clothes. “Stop looking at me like that,” I hissed between my teeth, keeping my voice low so the others wouldn’t hear me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied as if he was an innocent lamb. His fingers brushed mine, and I jerked my hand away, afraid the others would pick up on something, but the light touch had done its damage, heightening the color in my face.
I scowled at the poison dragon, giving him a pointed glare. Didn’t know what I was talking about my left butt cheek. I was on to him, and he had another thing coming if he thought he could seduce me in the woods with the others present. “I am not some prize you can claim.”
