I dated dark resonance, p.1
I Dated Dark Resonance, page 1
Surviving an explosion and recovering from her own death, Xeva finds that she is finally free of obligation and demands for her time. Being in a relationship now feels like a choice.
Xeva wakes with a splitting headache in a strange bed with warm air and bright light around her. She is told that she is recovering and just has to learn to move again.
Jeron is there, and she is in his mother’s house. Her recovery is rapid, and she skips past milestones. When she is fit and able, there is only one more thing on her to-do list. Jeron.
Dark Resonance caused her injury, but he is also the instrument of her recovery, and through him, she finds more clones like her, and her seer’s instinct shows her that they are on the very island that she woke up on. Fate is working overtime.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
I Dated Dark Resonance
Copyright © 2024 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-990635-45-8
©Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Smashwords Edition
Look for me online at violagrace.com.
I Dated Dark Resonance
Blind Date Corporation Book 15
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
She looked at the bomb and the man in custody and cursed. They were too close together considering that the countdown hadn’t ceased. She rode her spectral horse toward the bomb, leaned over, picked it up, then galloped to the edge of the crevasse and hurled the bomb into the darkness below.
She turned and rode as fast as she could, catching the criminal and hauling him over the saddle as she tried to outrun the—
Boom!
Xeva felt the blast wave hit her as the man across her thighs grinned and disappeared. She flew end over end, and her head snapped around inside her armour. She fell to the ground, and her body armour cushioned the impact as she tumbled down the hill.
Her vision was flaring black and crimson as she let her armour fade, and she fought for air while her com called for help.
Dark Resonance loomed over her. His eyes widened, and he muttered, “Fuck! Twenty-one, stay with me.”
She wanted to speak but coughed blood and saw the approach of team members and agents behind him.
He looked at her and gripped her hand, sending pain through her. He let her go and cursed as he looked skyward. “I will never forgive you if you don’t survive this, Twenty-one.”
Her vision was red, and she didn’t know who was talking to her. Her head hurt. Her body hurt. She was broken, and someone was yelling at her.
Remark was calling out, and she coughed more blood. He checked her com and gasped. “Horseman?”
She couldn’t see, but they got a back board under her and carried her for treatment. She passed out before they hit the city.
Xeva pressed a hand to her forehead and looked around. She wasn’t in Aksalla anymore. She could hear the rushing of waves, and the scent of sun-kissed sand was everywhere.
Her head ached, and there was light everywhere. She sat up and checked her com. It was deactivated for communication. It only recorded vital signs.
A young woman came in and gasped. “Miss, you shouldn’t be moving around. Lie still.”
“No, thanks. My headaches generally ease up when I can walk.” She looked down and wrapped the white sheet around her. Her limbs felt a little loose and floppy as she tried to get off the bed, but they didn’t work. Her legs were jerky, and only when she willed her leg to move it skittered sideways that she caught on. “Oh, fuck.”
She focused and tried again. Less movement the second time. “Oh, no.”
“Miss. Please. Let me help you back into bed. I will prop you up, and Jeron will be here shortly.”
“What happened?”
“He will explain it.” The woman got on the bed and helped move Xeva back into place.”
“Great. Who is Jeron?”
The woman looked at her in surprise and then flicked her gaze toward Xeva’s head. “Oh, dear. He will remind you. He’s been very worried.”
“Okay. Um, who are you?” Xeva sat against the pillows that were propping her up.
“Oh, I am Leaf. I am Jeron’s sister. I am also in nursing school, so he asked if I could help you during my break.” Leaf smiled. “The way he talks about you, it is great that I can meet you now, even if the circumstances suck.”
Xeva rubbed her forehead. “Right.”
“Oh, would you like something to drink? You can only have sips of water until the doc gives you the okay.”
“I will lick the dew off a leaf right now.” She looked at the young woman. “No offense.”
Leaf had black hair with green highlights and beautiful golden eyes. She moved gracefully around the room as she found the glass and the water pitcher.
Leaf brought the water over and held a straw to her lips. “Just a few sips.”
Xeva’s lips closed around the straw, and she could feel the inside of her mouth hydrating. After her first sip, she took a second and rolled the water around. She swallowed slowly and released the straw. “Thank you. I need to call my sister.”
“We don’t get good signals out here.”
“Oh. Where is here?”
“Arnuala Island.”
Xeva blinked. “What?”
“Arnuala Island. We are a thousand miles away from any coastline. It is very peaceful here.”
“Yeah. I guess so. How did I get here?”
“Jeron brought you. He called the doctors in, and they worked on you until Jeron finally was able to relax. You have been out for three days, but your vitals are steady.”
“Oh. Great. So, heart is beating, but legs are floppy. Wonderful.”
Leaf smiled. “Since you can’t get anything entertaining on your com, do you want a book or something?”
“Sure. Something a little steamy?”
“I know just the thing.” Leaf laughed and left.
Xeva looked through the open window with the fabric panels blowing softly. It looked lovely. The ocean was a beautiful azure, and the sand was pale and sparkling. She had read about beaches, and now she was stuck on one and unable to take a step. The amount of cursing in her mind was extreme. She needed to get a message to Nelith. She didn’t remember what happened, but she did know that she had been with Nelith that day. Whichever day it was.
Leaf returned with a wide grin and a huge stack of books. She lowered the stack to the bedside table. “Tourists have left them behind. You can have them all, and there are more in the library.”
Xeva chuckled and said, “Can you just pitch one at me, and I will fumble it open?”
“Oh, right.” Leaf looked at the stack and pulled a book out. “This one qualifies as steamy.”
Xeva held her palms together and settled the book on her lap.
“I am going to be studying next door. Just call out if you need anything.”
“Sure. Thank you.” She opened the book and began to read. Her head hurt, but boredom was the bigger threat. If she got bored, she was going to be out of bed and crawling for the ocean. That was a very stupid thought.
Xeva had managed to bend her legs and had the book propped up on them. The book was hot and was a boss-secretary-mafia-blackmail situation with a lot of bondage. She smiled and kept reading.
“If you keep reading that, you are going to go blind.” A rich male voice spoke from the doorway.
She looked at him and blinked. He was familiar, but she didn’t know wherefrom. “Hello.”
He smiled and walked in. “Hello.” Loose pale clothing, bronze skin, black hair, and eyes that showed he was happy about something. His lips were wide and soft.
Xeva stared at his face, and she could only place him as someone she had seen at the teahouse and the mall. “Do I know you?”
“Yes, and I am going to bring Zera’s wrath down on me. I am your patron. My name is Jeron.”
“Pa—oh no.”
He grinned.
“And you are... under arrest?”
He laughed. “So, you do recognize me.”
“Yeah. The idiot with the explosive device on the promontory.”
He inclined his head. “I got what I needed, but I was devastated when you were injured.”
“Yeah, so was I. How am I here?”
He looked at the edge of the bed. “May I sit?”
She nodded.
He settled next to her and said, “Do not assign me evil intentions. No one was to be hurt. If you had not been there, the explosion would have extracted the mineral I needed, and no one would have been hurt.”
She blinked. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I went where I was sent.” She narrowed her eyes. “How old are you? Twelve?”
He grinned. “Twenty-four.”
She folded her book and set it aside. “You aren’t old enough to read that.”
Her hands were shaking as she pulled them back onto her lap. “Why am I here?”
“Your aneurysm burst, and you died.”
“So, this is hell?” She raised her brows.
He sighed, reached out, and took her hand. He stroked her palm with his
She blinked and rubbed her head with her free hand.
“Headache?”
“Yeah, but I think I am just hungry or thirsty or dead. Why am I not dead?”
Jeron frowned. “I got you back, and once you had died, the blocks that were in you were nullified, and healers were able to work on you. You are still a tricky fix, but you are whole and now have to do some rehab to get your body in touch with your brain again.”
“Can you call Dmitri and let him know I am up and running?”
He blinked. If she had to guess his expression, it was jealousy. “Why Dmitri?”
“Because if my sister sees you, she’s going to slice you into tiny pieces.”
He smiled again. “You care about my outcome?”
“Don’t get full of yourself, junior.” She huffed. “She would feel remorse after the initial murder, and she doesn’t need another government after her.”
“So, you know I know Dmitri?”
“He’s shifty, so yes. It was a safe guess.” She shrugged. “If not, I could give you his code.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Yes, I have met with Dmitri before, and he has shared your survival with his fiancé.”
“Aw, I missed the proposal? Damn it.” She asked, “Did she say yes?”
“She did.”
Xeva leaned back. “Yay. That’s good. They are so cute together.”
He was still massaging her palm with his thumb. “How are you feeling?”
“Wobbly. It is like I send an order to my body, and it goes huh? before responding.”
He nodded. “Leaf said you had some water.”
“Two sips.”
He reached for the cup and said, “Take some more.”
She nodded and reached for the straw with her lips. She tried to bring her hand up, but it was shaking. He said, “Let me hold it.”
He moved his fingers and held the straw. She sipped slowly, feeling the icy splash in her gut. She released the straw when the cup was empty and said, “Thank you.”
“You have no idea how happy I am that you are sitting up and talking. Brain injuries are notoriously unpredictable.”
“How did you stop the bleed?”
“Sonic interference. The same way I got the blood off the surface of your brain. You were dead at the time, so it minimized the risk.” He smiled. “You started breathing shortly after that.”
“You also did CPR.”
“How did you know?”
“You did it right. My sternum is on fire.”
“The healers should have fixed that.”
“They did. This is recovery pain.” She smiled, and then a horrified thought hit her. “Can I get a walker or something?”
“Why?”
“When I need to relieve myself, it is going to be seriously awkward.”
He cocked his head. “I will help you. I did the damage, so I will help you recover.”
She groaned. “This is going to be humiliating.”
“I have already seen all of you several times.”
“Well, I didn’t see you,” she muttered.
He stroked his thumb across her palm, and she felt a twinge between her thighs.
She tugged her hand free of his grip. “Stop that.”
“Why? You like it.”
“Look, skippy, I just want to get my legs under me and get my ass back to my sister.”
He frowned. “I want you to get back to full health and remain here until your activity returns. The researchers have said it is possible for your full strength to return.”
Xeva looked at his youthful features and saw his earnest expression. “I am dealing with some stuff here.”
“I know. I will have the kitchen make you a smoothie or something. We have a lot of fruit on the island.”
Xeva smiled. “I still am pretty sure that I am dead. I am remembering bumping into you and then searing pain and a weird cold feeling.”
He shook his head. “You aren’t dead. Come on. You need to touch the world a little.”
He lifted her, sheet and all.
She tried to make sure her breasts were covered as he touched what she thought of as a drape on the wall. It turned out to be a doorway. The sun made the world so much brighter, but it was too bright. She covered her eyes. “Who turned on the sun?”
He smiled. “The island is usually bathed in light with the night sky filled with stars.”
She felt the motion of his steps through the sand. Then he stopped, and she felt a cool mist against her arm and shoulder. She squeaked as he suddenly sat.
He pressed his lips to her ear. “Look.”
She blinked and squinted at his face. It was actually a strange feeling to feel her eyes adapting to the light.
He was near her, and as she turned her head to look out at the ocean, bands of colour extended in blues and greens leading toward the horizon.
“That’s lovely. Why would you ever leave?”
“The island has many things, but there are a few essentials that we are missing.”
She nodded. “So, how long until you unblock my com?”
Jeron paused. “Coms don’t work here.”
“And yet, you have been in touch with Dmitri, so either you are linked to a booster, or my com is jammed.”
“I didn’t think you would figure it out that quickly.”
She chuckled. “I am smarter than I look.”
“You are very intelligent. That is something I don’t doubt. I was just hoping I would have you to myself for a little while.”
“That costs extra,” she muttered. “But as you are aware, I have been retired from sexual interaction.”
He sighed. “I am very aware. I enjoyed our dates, but they caused tension.”
“No kidding. They made my head hurt.” She looked around and saw distant small boats and other people in the distance. “And other bits.”
Jeron sighed. “I would confess to the same. I am so sorry. I thought your armour would protect you. Why did you come back for me?”
“It was my job, and I had no idea what the effect of the explosion was going to be. I have been blown up before, and it didn’t feel like that.”
He pressed a kiss to her head. “It was a resonating device. I was looking for minerals, and the blast shook them loose from the stone around them. After you were taken away, I gathered the samples needed and did what I needed to.”
“What was that? I am really hoping that turning my brains to mush was worth more than a necklace or something.”
“It powers a storm shield that protects the island. Aksalla has several deposits from an old meteor strike, and while they were considering my request, there was a storm coming in that would have flattened the villages. I simply took matters into my own hands.”
“And I walked into it when the coastline registered your transport.”
“You rode into it on your steed.”
“Yup. I was in the area. The closest team member.” She rubbed her forehead. “I feel like an idiot. If I hadn’t shown up, you would have detonated the unit, they would have lost some frontage, we would have had dates when you were in town, and I was in town.”
“Two miles.”
“What?”
“It would have blown two miles of the promontory away.”
“Shit. You got what you needed?”
“I did.”
“If I were up and running, I would beat the hell out of you.” She stared at him.
He shrugged. “I accept that. I look forward to you being well enough to try.”
“So, you are a bit of a dick, huh?”
He blinked. “My people needed it, and it was the fastest way to get the mineral.”
“Three couples were walking on the nearby pathways that I had to warn off before I got you in cuffs and then got to the bomb.”
“The cuffs were fun in hindsight.” His lips twitched.
She snorted. “You definitely said you weren’t into that sort of thing.”
“I was just protecting my ego. Plus, cuffs don’t work on me. I never said they didn’t work for me.”
