Kiss of the Goblin Prince (25 page)

He
frowned. His dream wasn’t right. There were supposed to be goblins, heaps of them. Where were they? This dream was more like a reminder of what it had been like during the first few decades of survival. Hungry and covered in dust, hoping to blend in to the bleak landscape.

Claudius
advanced, laughing. “Like old times. A boy in a man’s body. You know how I like it when you fight back.”

He let himself be distracted as he tried to figure out what was wrong with the dream. He stepped back several paces, keeping the distance between them constant. Dai needed to attack, stab his sword through his heart, through his neck…hell, he wasn’t fussy; any killing cut would do.

He
kept
one
eye
on
the
not-quite-a-goblin and one on Claudius. He shifted his weight and drew out a knife for his other hand. It was cold in his palm. He glanced down. Goblin bone. When he looked up Claudius held Mave in a vicious grip.

Dai
clenched
his
jaw
but
kept
the
hold
on
his
weapons
loose. He would not make that choice again. He circled slowly, inching closer while Claudius grinned like he’d already won. He always won no matter what Dai did.

“Stop.” A hand landed on his arm, coving the Sanskrit.

“Amanda?”

She
smiled, and golden light burned his skin and traveled up his sword until it was ablaze. He dropped the blade then realized it wasn’t hot in his hand. He glanced back at Claudius, who stalked closer, dragging Mave with him. Dai raised the knife, ready to throw and kill. He wouldn’t be defenseless. Never again. He wasn’t a slave to be commanded anymore. He would kill Claudius and save Mave.

“Dai.” Amanda held out her hand to him. “Come with me.”

She
lit
up
the
Shadowlands
with
her
perfect
light. On her body he could see her scars had healed. That didn’t mean they didn’t hurt, but the wounds no longer ruled her body.

“I can’t.” And she shouldn’t be here. “I have to finish this.” His voice echoed oddly across the plane.

“None of this is real.”

“It is…it was.” It still felt real. The fear resurfaced every time he saw Claudius, but he cloaked it in anger and used it to make himself strong.

“You can’t change the past. No one has that much power.”

His
eyes
narrowed; did he have that much power? Could he unravel the Roman invasion of his lands and save himself? What of Roan and Eliza? They’d never meet. Changing the past would unravel the present and re-create it. Even subtle changes could destroy a thousand lives and re-write history and wipe out cultures.

He
couldn’t go back and undo the damage without causing more.

“Get on your knees,” Claudius barked in Latin. Wine soured his breath. It was always worse when he’d been drinking. For a heartbeat, Dai wanted to obey just to get it over with. Gods help him, he was weak.

He
should
have
run
the
bastard
through, but he’d been warned. If he did, his sister and brother would pay the price. So he’d kept his silence and fed the rebellion in retaliation.

“Trust me.” Amanda’s lips curved and promised sweet refuge. Behind her, the sky lightened to blue, and grass pushed through the dust as she brought the perfect beauty of Summerland and turned his nightmare to a dream.

“Obey me, boy, or I’ll have you whipped.”

Dai
flinched. Better the leather than the blade. Claudius kept Mave in front of him as a shield.

“Dai?” Amanda’s hand closed over his fist. “Don’t you want me anymore?”

He
stared
at
her. Of course he did, who wouldn’t? She was beautiful, smart, and too kind to be wasting her time on the likes of him. He turned back to the man who made four years of his life worse than two thousand years in the Shadowlands. Amanda’s touch warmed his skin, tempting him. He had to choose where he wanted to spend his nights.

The
Shadowlands
or
the
Summerland?

The
past
or
the
future?

Battling
Claudius
or
with
Amanda?

He
lowered
the
bone-handled knife, not in defeat. He couldn’t fight nightmares of his own creation and win. He saw that now.

But
he
could
banish
them. “You don’t own me anymore.”

“I will always own you,” Claudius yelled as he lifted his sword to Mave’s throat.

Dai
sucked
in
a
breath
but
refused
to
give
into
the
nightmare. He shook his head. “No. I don’t give you that power.” He sheathed the knife and took Amanda’s hand. “I am free.”

The
general’s armor tarnished. His body caved in, crumbling from the inside as if the rot and corruption finally succeeded in eating him. The short Roman sword in his hand became dust as the body of the man who’d been in charge of slaughtering the Decangli toppled over and broke apart.

Mave
stepped
away
from
the
dust
and
vanished.

Dai
faced
Amanda
expecting
to
experience
the
perfect
dreams
the
Summerland
brought. Around them the sky darkened to black, but nothing hid in the darkness seeking his blood. He opened his mouth to speak and ask why he didn’t get a dream.

She
kissed
him
gently, her lips on his for a moment. He ran his fingers ran through her golden hair and held her close, not wanting to let her go. Not ever.

“Sleep,” she whispered in his ear.

And
he
obeyed
her
command.

***

Dai’s muscles were stiff and cold. His body was screaming for motion. But he didn’t move. Sleep clung to the edges of his consciousness. Real sleep. The restful kind that he almost forgot existed. He opened his eyes. Above him, the moon hung close to the top of the Andes. He eased his legs out into a stretch after being crossed for too long.

Pins and needles filled his limbs as his blood began to move. He raked his teeth over his lip. The effects of Amanda’s kiss hadn’t worn off. But he didn’t fight the erection pressing against his jeans. He eased the denim and ran his palm over the hardened flesh. The lust didn’t hurt, and it didn’t try to tear him apart. So he let the heat in his blood remain as memories of Seiran, and everything they never got the chance to do mingled with everything he wanted to do with Amanda. He tipped his head back against the rock and let himself sink into the warmth of desire.

The talons in his chest squirmed and adjusted their hold. He clasped a hand over his heart and glanced down. He saw what he already knew—they were still there, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Claudius was gone. What did he have to do to be free?

He remembered Amanda holding out her hand to him in the dream. All he had to do was have the courage to accept what she was offering.

***

Amanda thumbed the pages of Flynn’s psych file, looking for a clue. He’d never appeared suicidal. What had she missed? Nothing. As Dai had said, she’d done everything she could. Sometimes people couldn’t be saved; they had to save themselves. Her thoughts remained on Dai. He hadn’t called her yet and she wasn’t going to make the next move—it was his turn.

It was the first time she’d tried seeing anyone since Matt; maybe she was reading him wrong and he wasn’t that keen. But in her heart she refused to believe that. She saw desire shimmer to the surface in Dai’s dark eyes. That wasn’t a trick of the light or the desperate fantasy of a woman who hadn’t kissed a man since before the birth of her daughter.

If he was attracted, why was he so hesitant?

The easy answer was she was too much work, she came with an instant family with high demands. But that wasn’t the logical answer. The silence was something she saw in her office every day. Each new teen who walked through her door went through a period where they tested the bonds of trust before opening up and revealing their wounds. Was that what was happening?

She pulled out more files that needed attention. If she kept busy, she wouldn’t think about him. Life was much simpler without wondering if he was ever going to kiss her again—outside of her dreams. Dreams that had been disturbed by Brigit’s nightmares. Eliza’s stories of goblins and the Shadowlands had freaked the child out. She would have to talk to Eliza about her choice of bedtime story.

Her cell phone rang. Without looking she picked it up and answered, “Hello.”

“Meet me for coffee.”

Her heart jolted at the sound of Dai’s voice, but she forced herself to remain calm. She wasn’t fourteen. She was an adult. “I’m at work. I can’t just leave.”

But she wanted to. She couldn’t sleep without dreaming of him. There was a moment’s pause and for a second she thought he was going to retract the offer.

“When are you free?”

She might be an adult, but she was too old to play games and make him wait a few days. “I have a couple of hours free this afternoon before I pick up Brigit from school.”

There went her errands and food shopping time, but there was food in the freezer. She could shop tomorrow. She could take Brigit out after seeing the healer and make it a treat with takeout dinner. Amanda closed her eyes as bubbles of excitement began forming in her belly. It was only coffee. She’d drunk coffee thousands of times before…but not with Dai. And he made everything different.

“At the tea house?”

“That would be lovely.” A smile formed on her lips. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Amanda put her phone into her bag. It would be the first time they were going out without Brigit. She wouldn’t have to watch what she said because her daughter might be listening. And Dai wouldn’t be worrying about watching the girl who looked like his dead sister.

When she got to the tea house on Cottesloe beach, Dai was already there. He was sitting at a sunny table, his hands cradling a cup. His gaze focused on the waves rolling in against the sand. His mask was down. There were no lines of tension scratching his face. She waited a moment, willing him to turn so she could catch his eyes and see how deep the water ran beneath the surface, but he was lost in his own world. He seemed different—like he’d lost substance, yet was more at ease as if just living no longer cost him.

Her lips curved as she slid onto the seat opposite him. “Hi.”

Dai flinched as if she’d woken him, but he managed a smile. For the first time his gaze wasn’t gridlocked with pain and secrets. They were still there, slithering among the shadows, and darting below the surface, but they didn’t have control. Whatever demons troubled him were sleeping at the moment.

“I’m glad you came.” His voice was warm.