Fate Undone (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 5) (15 page)

At first, she’d used them to survive. Then to gain wealth and power. But she’d really liked those women. Except mortals died so soon. Her immortal friends here at the university died so much less often, only through beheading or truly grievous magic. In the five hundred years she’d been at the university, she’d lost only two friends, compared with the dozens she’d lost during the three hundred years she’d lived in Norway. It was a vast improvement.
 

The sadness in Sylvi’s voice made his chest hurt. He’d made the right decision to turn her away all those years ago and he stood by it, but he was starting to fully realize the pain he might have caused her. He’d been out of his mind with agony when he’d made the decision—and then for several centuries after—and hadn’t been able to fully take her feelings into account. He’d been so obsessed with protecting her he hadn’t thought it all through.

Now that he was realizing how he’d hurt her, guilt was starting to eat at him. He wasn’t going to try to excuse his behavior because he would probably do the same thing again, but the least he could do was apologize, as strange as it would feel.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He took a breath, then tried again. “I’m sorry for the hurt I caused you in the past.”

Her gaze hardened. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“What?” He’d just
apologized.
He hadn’t done that… well, ever. When he took an action, he did it because he knew it was right. There was never any need to apologize, but he had hurt her. It made ugly guilt fill his chest, a thick black tar that wrapped around his heart. She deserved an apology for the way he’d made her feel—even though he didn’t regret his actions for a second—and she wouldn’t accept it? “You have to hear it. I said, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care. It’s no longer relevant to me.”

He desperately wanted to make her pain go away. He wanted to make all the bad things in her life disappear. Not just the labyrinth that threatened, but any pain she might feel over their past and what she’d lost as a result.

As usual, he decided to focus on something concrete that he could fix.
 

He walked to her and gripped her shoulders. She tried to pull back, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Do you still want godhood?” he asked.

She frowned, her brow creasing. “No. I don’t.”

“Are you sure? Because I will get it for you if you want it.”

“What? Just like that?”

“Well, it’ll take some time. We’ll have to defeat the labyrinth first. But I could make it happen.”

From her expression, she clearly had no idea what to think of his offer. “Well, I don’t want it anymore.”

“Why?” He wanted to run his hands up and down her arms, but she was skittish. She’d pull away if he tried that.

She looked like she didn’t want to tell him, but eventually she spoke. “It took me hundreds of years—which no doubt would have been sped up with a little therapy—to finally figure out that godhood represented acceptance. You were right about me being an outcast. We were both outcasts. But unlike you, I didn’t want to be one.”

The way she said outcast made his heart ache. He wasn’t used to feeling this way for other people, but with her, he felt everything. Pain, hope, longing.

And she was right about being an outcast. He liked it. Thrived on it even. “But you’ve found what you’re looking for?”
 

She nodded. “At the university. I tried to find my way for nearly three hundred years before I found the university. I had friends, but none that lasted. The university finally gave me a home. A family. That’s why I can’t possibly believe that the entire university is behind the prison.”

“So you’re happy here, then?” If he convinced her to be with him, he’d probably have to live here. He wasn’t sure he liked that idea.

“Yeah. Why do you care?”

“I want you to be happy.”

She scowled. “You didn’t want me to be happy when you kicked me out of your life before.”

“I did want that, even if it didn’t seem like it at the time. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re smart, strong, funny, beautiful. I had my own shit going on back then and it put us in a bad situation. But as soon as the labyrinth is destroyed, I’m coming for you. I want you back, Sylvi.”

Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes flashed in surprise. “Wait, what?”

He reached up and cupped her face, wanting to crush his mouth to hers. “Exactly what I said. You make me happy. I want that again. I want you again.” He wanted her so badly that he ached. Not just her body, but her mind and laughter and joy and sadness. He just wanted
her
.

“It’s over. What was between us has been dead for centuries. It doesn’t matter anymore.” She was shaking her head slowly.

It didn’t feel dead. “What if I don’t want it to be over?” He’d never wanted it to be over.
 

“It’s a bad idea.”

She hadn’t said
I don’t want you.
If she didn’t want him, she’d have said so and made him listen. He remembered the staff she’d thrust at his throat on several occasions. She’d have
made
him listen.

The way her pupils dilated, the way her pulse fluttered… she wanted him.
 

He leaned closer to her, drawing in her sweet scent. It made aching need coil within him.
 

“It’s not that bad of an idea,” he said. “I’d make it the best you’ve ever had.” He’d learned a lot in the time since they’d parted. He’d chased the high he’d felt with Sylvi with countless other women. The experiences had always fallen short, but he’d learned a lot.

“No. It’s a terrible idea. It will distract us from the labyrinth.”

“What if we used it to
help
us with the labyrinth?”

“What—” Her cheeks turned pink. “You mean, use the sex for my power so that I can access the knowledge in my staff?”

“Yes. Use me.”

A small breath whooshed out of her. “I don’t use that type of magic anymore.”

He leaned closer and whispered into her ear. “Start again. Use me.”

She shivered against him and he knew she was tempted.

He groaned, unable to hold himself back any longer. He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. She was soft and sweet as she opened her lips and darted her tongue against his own. Fast and hard, he plundered her mouth as he ran his hands down her sides. She was soft and smooth and he couldn’t get enough of her. Pleasure rocked him, a grinding need that made his cock thrust hard against his pants.
 

Without warning, she pulled out of his arms.
 

“This is a bad idea,” she said, shaking her head and backing away. “We need to focus on the labyrinth.”

The edge of panic in her eyes made him back off. He could take this slow if that’s what she needed, but damn, it was hard. His cock ached and his palms itched to touch her. He clenched his fists and tried to focus on something else. “How will you access the knowledge in your staff?”

“I know I can do it on my own, but it will take a while. What I need is a faster way. There are several people at the university that I can ask and one of them is certain to know how to speed up the process. I won’t mention the prison. I’ll say it’s a problem with my magic. If there’s any way to access what’s trapped, they’ll know it.”

She sounded confident and it settled his worry a bit. “All right. On the condition that you bring me with you.”

“Why?”

“I want to get a feel for them myself. You trust them, but I don’t. You can’t go without me.”

“I need some space, all right? And I can handle this.”

“Not without me, you can’t.”

“You just love to make decisions for other people, don’t you? First, you leave Ian locked up and now you can’t get enough of bossing me around.”

“I simply know when I’m right about something.” His tone sounded perfectly reasonable to his own ears, but from Sylvi’s scowl, he could tell she didn’t agree.

“Fine. But when it really matters, I
will
be getting my way.”

“Fair enough. When will you start?”

Sylvi glanced at the old wooden clock in the corner. He followed her gaze. The clock read ten PM. They’d been awake since the night before.

“Tomorrow morning,” Sylvi said. “I’m exhausted. You can sleep on the couch. I’ll go get you a blanket.” She walked off toward the back of the house.

It was going to be a damned long night.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next morning, Sylvi and Logan made their way across campus so that she could ask her colleagues about her problem accessing the knowledge within her staff. Logan had changed his appearance to that of a blond, blue-eyed man with a large nose. He’d chosen not to be Logan, but someone else entirely.

“Good look,” Sylvi had said when she’d seen him. “You look suitably boring, so at least you won’t distract my friends.”

“Distract them?”

“You know, with your usual…” She faltered. “Anyway, I’ll think up an identity for you. Just go with it.”

His usual what? His looks, he had to assume. Which meant she liked how he looked. He repressed a smile on his boring face.
 

It didn’t take long to walk to a pretty courtyard populated with half a dozen cottages surrounded by a profusion of flowers. Every color of the rainbow spilled from window boxes, hanging baskets, and raised beds. Rabbits hopped around the yard in unusual abundance.
 

“What’s with the rabbits?” he asked. He noticed some cats lounging on a sunny patio. Snakes and lizards dotted the perimeter. “And the cats and reptiles?”

“Witches. Some of them are animus witches. Animals like them.”

“Clearly.” A cat had come up to sniff at his leg and wind its warm body around his calf. A purr rumbled up.

“Likes you,” Sylvi said.

“Cats do.” They were tricky creatures, too.

They walked up a stone path to a cottage that sat in the middle and knocked on the wooden door.

“Hang on!” An American accent drifted through the door. A crash sounded from within.

The door swung open to reveal a sleepy-looking woman with mussed pink hair. A fat marmot rode on her shoulder, its short fur disheveled. “Any chance you brought donuts?” she asked.

“Shit, no. Sorry,” Sylvi said.

“Ugh, fine.” She closed her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. A plate of frosted pink donuts appeared in her palm. “Everything tastes better if someone else makes it.”

“True,” Sylvi said.

“Come on in. Want a donut?” She held out the plate. The marmot on the witch’s shoulder reached down and plucked one off the plate.

Logan grabbed one too and bit in as he followed her into the room. It was sticky and sweet, but as good as any from the shop. The marmot’s was already half gone.

The room they entered was open and bright, with bookshelves along the wall and tables and chairs scattered throughout. It was more of a workspace than a living cottage. Wine bottles were scattered around and witches were sitting up from where they’d fallen asleep on the floor.

“Cora, this is Kevin. My third cousin,” Sylvi said.
 

Third cousin? If she said so. Logan smiled and nodded.

“Hi, Kevin.” Cora shoved half a donut into her mouth and chewed. “What brings you to our humble abode? Well, workspace, really.”

The other witches staggered to their feet, scraped messy hair out of their faces, and zombie-walked to the donuts.

“Big spell night last night?” Sylvi asked.

“Huge,” Cora said around a mouthful of donut. “We wanted to see if Cary Grant would come back and hang out with us for the night. Almost made it, too.”

“And you didn’t invite me?”

“Check your phone, dummy. We totally did. But you’ve been ignoring us for days.”

“Shit, sorry,” Sylvi said. “I’ve been swamped and haven’t really been checking texts. But I’ve got a question for you all.”

Logan listened as she laid out the problem with the knowledge trapped inside her staff. She didn’t mention any pertinent details, but gave enough information to be relevant. Cora and the other witches asked her questions and joked around with her. Sylvi really did have a home here.

“Huh. Well I’ve got nothing,” Cora said. “Sounds complex.”