A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1) (12 page)

“What are you going to do, huh?” Rich yelled. “Who are you protecting?”

“Just stay out of it, Rich! I’m warning you!”

Rich growled sharply, eliciting a thick cloud of breath from his mouth. His handsome features morphed into a cross between a wolf and a man. His thick muscled body extracted even larger into a mass of fur and skin. Jace lost his grip on Rich’s thickening neck and he landed on the ground.

“Stop it!”

Both turned to Ariya racing inside to close the door behind her. Her dark eyes focused on them, a mixture of quiet strength and that of a hint of fear.

Rich slowly morphed back into his human form, his muscles dwindling to human size. The fur shrunk back into his skin as if time rewound itself. His yellow eyes widened and focused on Ariya.

“You left the door open?” Jace said toward Rich.

“He’s protecting me,” Ariya said walking toward him. Her eyes darted from one to the other and Jace had to give it to her. Despite the way he had treated her, how scared she was in this new world, Jace noticed she was showing a healthy dose of moxie. He was impressed.

“Is this her?” Rich pushed off of Jace and turned to Ariya.

Jace straightened his unbuttoned shirt. “She is not your concern, Rich!”

Rich’s bright yellow gaze danced from Jace to Ariya. He took one step toward her and was met with a hard slap as Jace slammed his hand against his chest.

“Back off,” Jace said coolly.

“You know what you have to do, Jace. If you don’t go to the council, I will.”

“Why won’t you just let me handle this?”

“You don’t know who this is!” Rich said pointing toward Ariya. “She could have killed Shelly!”

Ariya stepped forward between them. “I assure you it wasn’t me. I saw what killed her. And I’m sorry—I may have put you all in more danger now than I had intended. I escaped from a dangerous creature that may be after me this very moment and I thought I would find solace here, but I may have been wrong.”

Rich raised an eyebrow and scoffed a little. “Is she serious?”

Jace shrugged it off. “She seems to believe so.”

“Either way it’s your duty to tell Julian, Jace. As regents we have to bring this murder up to the council so it can be dealt with.”

Jace headed back to the kitchen where his drink waited for him. Just what he needed; duty and interrogation. That contract looked more tempting each moment. “The council will have to wait until I figure this out first.”

Rich scoffed. “So, then what?”

Jace took a slow thoughtful sip of his drink. He swallowed even slower. “We talk about this later.”

“Jace—”

“Later!” Jace yelled, his loud voice melting into a growl.

Rich took one last look at Ariya before storming toward the front door. “If you aren’t at the Ashen Twilight House at 8 p.m. I’m telling Julian everything I know.”

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Jace sneered into his cup.

The door slammed behind Rich, the room and windows shaking with a loud vibration.

Ariya turned to Jace and watched him closely as her heart raced within her chest. “What just happened?”

“Goody two shoes at its best.”

“No, I mean. He changed—into a wolf—man—creature—.”

“Lycan.”

Ariya raised an eyebrow. “So he wasn’t like those werewolf Lycan shifter things—only bigger? And—bipedal—”

“No, he can only shift into Lycan and human form.”

“Well, what’s the difference between Lycans and werewolves then?”

“The difference between bipeds and quadrupeds? Look, do you always ask so many questions?”

“When I’m curious about something I ask questions to get to the truth,” Ariya said folding her arms. “A natural instinct of interrogation.”

Mumbling to himself, Jace stormed past her and wandered into the bedroom. Ariya followed close behind and stopped in the doorway. She watched as he descended onto the bed and buried his face in his hands with a sigh. The room fell silent.

Ariya wasn’t sure what to do. She regretted entering this world due to the death and destruction following her. It had already caused a rift between two best friends.

Jace peered up from his open palms. “How did you know we were best friends?”

She shrugged. “I could tell. The passion you feel for each other and the way you two are at odds. I didn’t have to read your mind to sense it.”

“Hmm. Yeah, well he’s always been the boy scout of the two of us.”

“And you?”

Jace peered ahead, deep in thought, remembering a dark side of his past he kept locked away. “I’m the complete opposite.”

Slowly she approached him, her hand outstretched as if she wanted to touch him. “You don’t seem so bad.”

Ariya felt his hand grip her wrist. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of her, pinning her against the bed with the weight of his body as he seized her throat.

“You sure about that?” his voice was low, husky and somewhat inviting. “You don’t know me, Ariya.”

“No,” she said evenly, staring deep into his blue eyes. “But by the time this is all over, we’ll know more about each other than we ever imagined. Plus, if you wanted me dead, I suppose you would have done it already.”

Jace’s expression softened. He reached to his back and pulled his shirt off over his head. Tossing it to the side, he fell back onto the empty side of the bed next to her.

“You got me there.”

Ariya looked to the living room, illuminated by broken strips of sunlight streaming through the closed blinds. It was then she noticed that the bedroom held no windows and the only light came from the immense amount of candles that lined the room.

She thought to question him about it. Instead she put the idea out of her mind when she spotted his bare muscled chest, rising and falling with each breath. Slowly she crawled up next to him. His handsome face remained blank with peace, unaffected by outside events. He looked like an innocent young man and she had to wonder what brought him to this point in his life? How did he become this creature lying before her?

“
Scotland
. Fourteen hundred and forty three. But never mind me. I think you owe me an explanation.”

Ariya quickly moved away from him. “Must you keep invading my mind?”

He chuckled. “Must you let me?”

“Look,” she said sitting up. “I’m tired of fighting and running. Maybe I was naïve when I came here, but I thought—” Slowly she turned to face him. “Did you say
Scotland
? Fourteen hundred and forty three?”

“I sure did.”

“It couldn’t be him in the dream,” Ariya said softly to herself. Or could it? If it were true, then that would explain what led her here.

Everything happens for a reason, Ariya.
Her father’s deep voice returned to her in that instant like a voice from the grave.

“Okay.” Jace folded his arms behind his head and peered up at her. “Why don’t you start at the top? Where’s your family?”

Ariya ignored the twisting ache in her heart.” They’re dead.”

His eyes widened for a moment before he let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Relaxing her posture, she couldn’t help noticing his demeanor softening.

“And this creature you keep thinking about? It killed them?”

“My sisters and my parents, yes. When I last left my realm, it was after me.”

“And how does this dream factor into everything?”

Suddenly she felt light headed. She slid off the bed to her feet and gripped the side of his dresser without looking. She felt the brush of a falling sculpture on her hand.

Jace leaned forward and the next thing she knew he stood over her. He quickly caught what looked like a mini wood sculpture of a medieval trebuchet with one hand and slipped his other arm around her to anchor her body against his.

“Be careful now,” he said with a smile. “Your body may be wearing out from all the excitement going on.”

Truer words were never spoken, but she was sure he meant the external goings on rather than the emotional chaos he was causing to her body. “Yeah, could be,” she breathed. “Being thrown out can do that to a person.”

Jace cleared his throat, focusing on the small trebuchet in his hand. “This was a one of a kind gift from the artist Germain Pilon. It helps to remind me of our military advancements over the years. How far technology has come. I can’t just go to eBay and get another.”

She fought the urge to ask what an eBay was as she felt his body against hers. Although his skin was cold, an undeniable heat emanated between them.

Jace looked down at her, his blue eyes signaling he felt the same desire. This time it didn’t feel metaphysical to her. It felt genuine.

Ariya quickly moved away, brushing her curls behind her ear. “I, uh—was saying something.”

“The dream and the creature, yes.” He set the trinket back on the dresser and returned to the bed. “My apologies for rudely interrupting your story. Please continue.”

“Right.” She nodded again and cleared her throat. “The night of the attack I dreamt of a war that happened a long time ago. The closest I can think of is the Ottoman war— the people of
Turkey
now, I guess you call them—against Vlad Tepes of
Wallachia
,
Romania
. The problem is you were there.”

Jace nodded. “Understandable. I fought in that war.”

“How?”

“It’s a long story but I will say that I fought alongside my immortal brethren for the freedom to live and survive as we were allowed when we were mortals.”

“Considering you were not mentioned in the books of history I studied nor did I see you until now, you understand why it is strange that I dreamt of you.”

“Look, I know what you’re thinking and I’m not one to believe in destiny or fate or any of that. I think it’s highly possible that you dreamt of someone who
looked
like me and when you saw me, your mind made the connection.”

“Is it also highly possible that you happened to be wandering by the
exact
alleyway at the
exact
time I needed help?”

Jace shook his head. “Coincidental.”

“All right, well considering this creature tracking me, I’m not quite sure what he is but the closest I can identify it is an elemental creature. I’ve only seen him command itself like the wind but if he is a true elemental, that would mean he can integrate himself into almost everything from fire, water, earth and air. We’ve tried to stop him.”

“Hmm? You know what he is then?”

Ariya nodded. “Somewhat. I felt it was him and a familiar one at that but I don’t know who or what it is exactly. My parents realized that I could feel some events before they happen. Sometimes it comes as a dream. They tried teaching me to harness the elements of nature. But my powers aren’t what they should be.” Slowly she shook her head. “I still don’t know how to control it, but if I were to use my ability of second sight—I fear he’ll find me and kill me like he did my family. There has to be a reason he’s after me. I just don’t know what he’ll do once he’s crossed into this land. In fact he may already be here because I dreamt of that girl dying, exactly the way your friend found her and the same way my two sisters died as well.”