Marked (22 page)

“Let me help you,” Roman says, rising from his chair and setting his empty glass down on a table. 

I feel like I have an angel and a devil on each shoulder.  One voice says it’s not a good idea, but the other, louder voice is saying that I’ll have a better chance of successfully walking to my room if he helps me.  I can’t believe how drunk I am.  Then again, I’ve never drank straight whiskey before.  I suspect in the morning I’ll regret having done it tonight.

I put my hand in Roman’s and let him pull me up.  He puts an arm around me and I lean against him for support as I try to walk a straight line.  From where she’s sitting, Brielle says, “Watch those hands, Doc.  No feeling up the drunk princess.”  Roman ignores her.

He opens the door to my room and I try to stop him at the threshold.  “I’m okay from here,” I say.  I may have slurred a word or two.

“I think you should let me walk you to the bed.”

I take a step away from him and the world spins a bit.  “Okay.”

He closes the door and helps me walk across the room.  When I’m at my bed, I crawl on it and lay down on top of the covers.  It feels so good.  I smile up at Roman.  “Thank you.” 

My god he looks good.  Over all, he’s the best looking man I’ve ever seen in my life.  And he wants to keep me safe.  Why am I denying my attraction to him again?  Screw the past.  His body is mouthwatering.  His blue eyes are beautiful.  I tug on his shirt to pull him closer.  “Doc, come here.  I want to kiss you good night.” 

He smiles and his eyes smolder, but he resists my tugging.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea in your condition.”

I frown up at him.  “There is nothing wrong with my condition.  Are you going to kiss me or not?”

After a moment of deliberation, he says, “Yes, I’m going to kiss you.”  And he does.  He leans over me and takes my lips in a fiery kiss that takes my breath away, but I still want more.  I pull harder on his shirt and he topples onto the bed. 

Trying not to laugh, he says, “Skye, I should go.  I’m not going to take advantage of you being drunk.”

A pout forms on my lips.  “How come you only want to kiss me when it’s your idea?” 

He stares at me for a moment, his eyes focusing on my lips.   I run my tongue over them hoping it looks sexy.  It must be because he’s kissing me again.  A deep, hard kiss that has me pulling him closer.  His body is pressed against mine and he has one hand in my hair, holding me close.  His other hand is wandering all over my body, making me moan softly.  I tug at his t-shirt and he breaks our kiss long enough to tug it over his head.  Finally, my hands can explore his smooth chest and hard muscles that I’ve been admiring for days. 

He finds the string on my pajama pants and tugs on it.  The waist loosens and his hand slides into them.  I buck against his palm when he touches me over my panties.  I groan into his mouth and push against him.  Pushing my panties to the side, he slides a finger into me, feeling how wet and hot I am, and he pulls it out only to do it again.  Soon, he has a rhythm that has me writhing on the bed.  I frantically move my hands to the waistband of his jeans and struggle to get them open.  I want to feel what’s straining so hard against the denim.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.  I push at Roman’s chest and tear my mouth from his.  I push harder until he gets his weight off from me.  “I’m going to be sick,” I say, and I stand up only to fall back down again.  I put my hand over my mouth, trying hard not to throw up.  Roman scrambles from the bed and helps me up.  I make it to the bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet. 

I haven’t eaten much today, which probably helped me get so drunk, so there’s not a lot in my stomach to get rid of.  That doesn’t stop the dry heaves, though.  I continue to wretch long after my stomach is empty.  Roman finds a wash cloth and soaks it with cold water then holds it to my forehead.  He’s a sweet man.

When I’m sure I’m not going to be sick any more, I need to get up.  I don’t want to stand up, but I have to brush my teeth.  I have to get rid of this taste in my mouth.  Roman helps me and I find my new toothbrush and toothpaste.  I scrub my teeth and tongue until I’m afraid I’m going to make myself throw up again.  I use the washcloth that Roman had to wash my face.

“I need to go to bed,” I mumble and he helps me back to the bed.  As soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes close and I start the descent into sleep.  I’m vaguely aware of Roman kissing my forehead and turning out the light on his way out.

I have no idea what time it is when I hear my door open.  Startled, I sit up and immediately regret it.  My head is pounding and my nausea still hasn’t gone away.

“It’s just me,” Zane whispers through the dark.

Thank god.  There’s no way I’d be up for fighting djinn at the moment.  “What are you doing in here?” I ask.

“Protecting you, remember?” he says curtly.  He straightens out the blankets that are still on the floor from last night. 

I lay my grateful head back down on my pillow.  “I thought I wouldn’t need that anymore with Roman being bound to Brielle.”

“Grams doesn’t want to take any chances,” he says.  I don’t think he wants to, either.  I hear him lay down on the floor.

It dawns on me that his answers are short and terse, lacking the teasing tone he usually has.  “Is everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah.  I’m tired.  Do you mind if we forego the chatter tonight?”

Something is definitely eating at him.  “Are you mad at me?”

“Nope.  Goodnight, Skye.” 

Despite my aching arm muscles, I pick up a pillow and toss it where I think his head is.  “Why are you being such a jerk?”  He doesn’t answer, so I force myself to sit up again.  “Zane?”

“I’m trying to sleep.”

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and nudge him with my foot.  “Tell me what’s wrong.”

There’s a pause and then he sighs.  “I can feel what you feel.”

I frown even though he can’t see me.  “What?”

He sits up and reaches for the light on the nightstand.  I’m blinded when he turns it on and cover my eyes instinctually to shield them.  “Was that necessary?” I ask.

He chuckles.  “Can’t handle your whiskey, huh?”

“No.”  I lie down on the bed again and squint at him.  “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

He runs his fingers through his brown hair.  “It turns out that since I didn’t send you behind the veil when I bound you, I can feel what you’re feeling.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s so I know if you’re plotting against me or something.”

I laugh.  “I’m not plotting against you.”

His eyes meet mine.  “I know.  You were too busy doing other things.”

My whiskey befuddled brain is slow on the uptake, but I eventually get it and suck in a panicky breath.  “You knew what I was feeling when Roman was…”  He lies back down and puts his hands behind his head.  I’ll take that as a yes.  Shit.  “Zane, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Zane, I was drunk.”  Why am I defending myself to him?  It’s not his business what I do or don’t do with Roman.  But for some reason, it’s important to me that he isn’t hurt by my actions.  Is that because of the binding, too?

“It’s not a big deal.”

I can tell I’m not going to get through to him tonight and my head hurts too much to keep trying.  I reach over and turn the light off.  I’m starting to remember why I put so much effort into work instead of dating.  I close my eyes and drift back to sleep.

I’m so cold.  This windowless room is so disorienting that I’m not even aware if it’s day or night.  I haven’t seen a soul since I was locked in here.  How long has it been?  Days, weeks?  All I know is that I can’t sit or lay on that hard mattress anymore.  It’s like sleeping on the floor.  I started to count my steps earlier as I paced back and forth, but I lost track hours ago.  I haven’t seen a soul since I was locked in here.  How long has it been? 

My hand goes to the mark on my neck and tears spring to my eyes again.  I have been crying almost constantly since I found out that everything was a lie.  I touch my side where his wife slashed at me in a fit of rage.  It’s long healed, but the emotional pain it represents will linger forever.  I am such a fool.  Malik tried to warn me.  I should have stayed by his side; comforted in his protection.

The sound of a key turning in the lock startles me and I quickly sit down on the bed, careful to not move a muscle lest I be held in contempt.  I haven’t eaten in days; could they finally be bringing me food and more water?  The pail of water that was here when they locked me in here is almost gone. 

The door opens and the guard walks into the room.  I am disappointed to see that he has no food, and his lips curl up into a cruel smile as he notes the frustration in my eyes.  That immediately changes when I see Malik standing behind him.

I rush from the bed and into his arms.  The guard tries to separate us, but one look from Malik stops him.  He gives a slight nod and backs out of the room.

“Have you come to take me home?” I ask.

He shakes his head.  “I cannot.”

The tears begin to flow again.  “Am I to stay here, in this tiny little room forever?  I will go mad!”

Malik hugs me tighter.  “My dear one, I wish you would have listened to me.  You have no idea how deep your betrayal has cut me.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper through my tears and break our embrace, afraid he doesn’t want me to be so close to him.  “What will become of me?”

“I have persuaded the high council into exile rather than execution,” he says.  His tone is harder than usual.  He continues to relay my sentence for betraying not only him but
our kind.  All for a love that was never real, other than in my own stupid heart.  “You will be sent beyond the veil and your memory will be erased.  You will live amongst the humans as one of them.”

“No!” I cry, dropping to my knees.  “Please do not send me away!”

Malik kneels down before me.  “Skye, it is not my decision.  You may have turned the tide of the war with your actions.   The high council has made its ruling and we have to abide by it, no matter how painful it is.  It was difficult to persuade them this was the best course of action.”

I wipe at my tears, trying hard to be brave.  “I know,” I sniff.  “When must I leave?”

“I have come to send you away.”

I throw myself into his arms.  “Malik, I’m scared.”

His hand strokes my back gently.  “I know you are, dear one.  I know you are.”

For the second night in a row, I wake to find Zane shaking me.  “Skye, it’s just a dream,” he says, his voice breathless.

I open my eyes and all the pain and grief from my dream remains with me.  I throw myself into Zane’s arms.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, it’s okay.  You have nothing to be sorry about.” 

His words of comfort mean so much to me, but he’s wrong.  I have much to be sorry about.  “This is all my fault.  All my stupid, stupid fault.  None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so foolish.  I threw away everything that mattered for
him
, and it was all a lie.”  I’m crying now like I was in my dream.

“Shh,” Zane says again.  He holds me tighter.  “You have to stop, Skye.  I’m not used to such strong female emotions,” he says with a half laugh.

Oh shit.  He can feel what I’m feeling.  All the panic and sorrow brought back from my dream is coursing through him, as well.  I disentangle myself from him and wipe away my tears.  “I’m sorry.”  I take a deep, shaky breath.  “Zane, I know this is a lot to ask, but will you help me so I won’t make the same mistake?”

I can’t see his face but I can tell he’s frowning.  “What do you mean?”

I take another breath.  “Roman.  I need you to help me.  I don’t want to fall for him again.  I will be his friend, but I can’t be his lover.  I don’t want to be, but for some reason when he’s close to me, I can’t resist him.  Is that because of my mark?”

“Yes,” he growls.  His hatred for Roman has just increased exponentially. 

I wipe away the last of my tears.  “Will you help me?” I whisper.

He’s quiet for so long I fear his answer will be no.  Finally, he says, “Skye, I’m not sure how to do that without my own feelings getting in the way.”

“What do you mean?” I ask stupidly.

He sighs.  “You know I’m attracted to you.  I haven’t gone out of my way to hide it.”

I smile even though he can’t see me.  “Yes, I’ve noticed.”

“Look, I don’t know how strong this binding is between us.  The closer I get to you, the more I want you.”

If I want his help, I need to confess something to him.  “Zane, I don’t think we’re bound.”  He’s quiet again.  When I figure out he’s not going to say anything, I continue.  “After you did the thing with the copper pot, I didn’t feel anything.  When you told me to kiss you…I did it so no one would know that we weren’t bound.”

I can feel his anger vibrating around him.  “You let us believe it worked.”

“Yes,” I whisper into the dark.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

I can’t lie.  “I don’t know.”

“This doesn’t make sense.  Why am I able to experience what you’re feeling if we’re not bound?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe it has something to do with me being the Protector or something that made the binding go haywire?”

“Or maybe I’m bound to you instead of the other way around.”

I don’t even want to ponder that.  “No, that can’t be it.”

“Tell me to do something,” he growls, startling me with the anger that has returned to his voice.

“Like what?”

“Something that I wouldn’t want to do.”

I’m scared to do that.  What if he’s right and he is bound to me, not the other way around?  But I owe him and we have to figure out what’s going on.  “Um, okay,” I have to think a minute.  “Juggle the pillows.”

“That’s idiotic,” he says, but I feel him rise from the bed and retrieve the pillows from the floor.  He begins to juggle them.  “Fuck,” he says harshly.  “Can you tell me to stop now?”

“Please stop.”  I close my eyes and think about the horrible repercussions of this.  Mrs. Gregori and Hank are going to kill me when Zane tells them.

Zane sits back on the bed.  “I can’t believe this.”  After a moment, he says, “We can’t tell anybody about this until we figure out what happened.”