The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (133 page)

“Aziz has trapped him beneath the floor,” she explained hurriedly. “We have to find a way to break him out.”

Aiden gripped her arms, pulling her up as though she weighed nothing. He set her down behind him. “Let me,” he said. Stepping forward, Rain watched as his eyes roamed the floor slowly as if he were looking for something specifically. Finally he stopped on one spot, his mouth tightening. “Stand back.”

Rain did as she was told, stepping down onto the floor below. Aiden walked over to a small tile with the picture of a star on it, then brought his fist crashing down. The tile cracked in two. Rain gasped as Aiden did it again. She expected his hand to be broken from the force, but he appeared completely unhurt. Finally the tile gave way, falling into the darkness beneath. Rain held her breath, letting it out in a whoosh as she said dark hair appear inside the hole Aiden had just made. Aiden reached down, another hand coming up to grasp onto his forearm. He lifted Elex out as easily as he had lifted her.

The two boys stared at one another, their faces unreadable. Rain wanted nothing more than to run at Elex and unbind his wings that looked painfully tied to his body, but she didn’t. Something was passing between them that she did not want to interrupt.

“The little boy with wings,” she heard Aiden say softly. “I always thought I had made you up.”

Elex didn’t reply at first, his face the usual mask he wore. When he finally spoke, it was to say, “we should go.” Aiden nodded as if he expected this, and looked to Rain.

“Bring me to Lily and the others and you two can do whatever the hell you want,” he said.

Rain stepped to Elex and began helping him untie the rope wrapped crudely around his wings. When they were free he spread them as wide as they could go, the greatness of them breathtaking as always.

“I hate to say it,” Aiden commented as he looked at the sparkling white and blue feathers, “but I think you got the better end of things.”

Elex smiled thinly. “I was raised here with Aziz,” he pointed out. “Trust me when I say, you got the better end of things.”

Rain’s heart broke a little for the man she loved, seeing the pain in his eyes at the reality of his childhood. Aiden didn’t say anything else, but she could see the understanding written on his face. “Let’s go,” he said. Elex grabbed each of them then and rose up through the top of the room.

Aiden took a second to regain his balance when Elex let go of him. That had been the strangest thing in his entire life. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get use to flying if he had wings himself. The magnitude of meeting Elex was something he couldn’t deal with just now, but it lay on his shoulders like a heavy weight. Instead he focused on what he needed to do. He had spent all night looking for the entrance to this fortress, and then most of the morning trying to figure out how in the world to navigate through it. He was beyond exhausted both mentally and physically, and the day was just beginning.

They stood in what appeared to be a dining room. A great, long table was set up, two plates still sitting there from breakfast. Aiden looked up at where they had just come and admired the way the ceiling was open to the sky. He wondered if Aziz had done that for the effect, or for the convenience of Elex.

“Follow us,” Elex said, leading them toward a doorway. Aiden walked behind Rain, his hand at the ready to grab the axe on his back if he needed to. Not that he thought he did. Something told him Elex was well aware of the power Aiden had now, even if Rain wasn’t. He couldn’t see Elex letting her do something stupid. Aiden was still trying to process who and what he was, and the amount of power he could feel running through his veins. It was all so much, and yet he couldn’t let himself rest long enough to absorb it.

They walked down a narrow hallway before turning left into another one. “We don’t have keys,” Rain said softly.

“We don’t need keys,” Elex answered in his deep, emotionless voice. Aiden wondered what drew Rain to him, figuring the man must have shown her some sort of affection to have won her heart. He remembered when he had first lain eyes on her. He had tackled her to the bed in Wolf’s childhood room back in Avalon. When her hood had fallen back and he’d had a clear view of her face he had been shocked by her beauty. There was no denying Rain was stunning, it was just too bad she had her alliances mixed up. He still hated her for what she was putting Hawk and Sunny through.

They came to a large, wooden door that Elex broke down effortlessly. Inside Aiden saw cells along the right. His heart picked up speed.

“They’re in that one,” Elex said, pointing to the middle door. “We will leave you now. Rain and I cannot stay here.”

Aiden looked at them both before settling on Elex. What was he supposed to say? Technically this was his
brother
and yet he was a complete stranger. His world had taken such a hard and strange twist, he was completely at a loss as to how to deal with it.

“Good luck,” Elex said. Aiden got the impression he understood Aiden’s feelings. He probably felt just as weird about it all as Aiden did.

“Same to you,” Aiden returned. As angry as he was at the both of them, he wasn’t going to stop them. Elisa’s words rang in his head,
”the prophecy says that without one there can be no other. You can’t kill him, Aiden. If he dies, you die. It’s why Aziz has kept him so well hidden.”
No, there was nothing he could do, and right now all he cared about was getting to his friends. Aiden and Elex nodded at each other in goodbye. Aiden turned to see Rain looking at him, tears in her eyes. He wondered how much she had changed after spending this time with Aziz. He couldn’t imagine coming away from all of this without having changed in some fundamental way.

“Be safe, Rain,” he said softly.

“You don’t have to say that,” she replied. “You don’t owe me anything. I know how you must hate me, especially after you were so kind to me before.”

Aiden thought about the rides he would take with her just to see her laugh, or the way he’d tried to get her to talk at the dinner table when she had looked so unhappy. It had been a brutal blow to know she had betrayed them all, but Aiden couldn’t find it in his heart to hate her.

“Go,” he said, not addressing her statement. “Before he comes and finds you.”

Her lip trembled a bit as she took one last look at him. Then they were both gone, and Aiden was left standing there alone. He walked to the middle cell, taking a deep breath. Then he reached out and pulled the door open with one quick yank.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ethan could hear muffled voices outside the cell. He roused Melissa who had drifted off against his arm. “Someone’s coming again,” he whispered. Melissa gripped the sleeve of his shirt as they both waited. What happened next was nothing either of them expected. Without warning the door was ripped off its hinges and flung aside easily. In the doorway stood Aiden, looking different and yet achingly the same all at the once.

“Aiden?” Ethan called out, praying his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Aiden’s eyes were searching the cell before landing on him and Melissa.

“Ethan?” he replied.

“Jesus,” Ethan breathed in relief, standing up and embracing his best friend in the tightest hug he had ever given. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

Aiden pulled back, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “I’m so sorry about – everything,” he said, guilt and remorse filling his eyes. “I didn’t know you were here until a couple of days ago, or I would have been here sooner, I swear.”

Ethan opened his mouth to reply but was suddenly pushed aside from behind as Melissa flung herself into Aiden’s arms. A slight pang of jealousy hit him, but he instantly squashed it.

“I knew you’d come,” Melissa said, her voice muffled against Aiden’s shirt. Aiden looked up at Ethan over the top of her head, their eyes meeting. Ethan felt bad about the amount of guilt he saw there.

“I’m so sorry, Melissa,” Aiden said softly, stroking her hair. She looked up at him. Ethan couldn’t see her face, but he could hear the tears in her voice.

“It’s okay, you’re here now,” she replied. Aiden smiled gently down at her.

“I’m glad you guys are unhurt,” Aiden said. “Although you need a serious shower, dude,” he said to Ethan. Ethan smiled for the first time in what felt like years.

“The amenities here leave something to be desired,” he replied.

“That’s what you get for staying at Hotel Insane Sorcerer,” Aiden said dryly.

Ethan nodded with a chuckle. “I have so many questions for you.”

“I know. We’ll talk later, for now there’s a whole army out there waiting to finish this, and we need to move.” Aiden stepped back from Melissa, who instantly moved to Ethan’s side. His chest expanded as she gripped his hand. Aiden noticed and gave Ethan a quick, private smile. It soon died as he took another look around. “Where’s Lily? Is she in another cell?”

They both stiffened at the same time. Ethan looked sadly at his best friend. He didn’t understand his relationship with the other girl, but he could see the concern on Aiden’s face and it killed him to say the next words. “Aziz took her,” he told him. “He came not too long ago and dragged her out.”

“He was going on about her calling her friends, or something like that,” Melissa added.

“Damn it!” Aiden cursed, slamming his fist into the stone wall. A few pieces crumbled to the ground from the impact.

“Christ, Aiden!” Ethan exclaimed. “What have they been feeding you here?”

“I’ll explain later,” Aiden answered, his voice tight with anger. “Let’s go.” He reached behind him pulling a large weapon forward that had been strapped to his back. Ethan raised his eyebrows but kept silent as Aiden motioned them to follow. They left the cell and started down a hall. Melissa’s hand shook in his, but her face was set in a determined look. Part of him wanted to cry, he was so happy to be out of that small room, but now was not the time. He gave Melissa’s hand a quick, reassuring squeeze as they walked behind Aiden. They were getting out of here and going home. Help had finally come. Ethan felt a million times stronger than he ever had. No matter what stood in their way at this point, nothing was keeping him from making sure Melissa was safe and things were put back to normal.

Aiden retraced his steps back to the dining room Elex had landed in. His mind raced, wondering how in the world he was going to get them all out of there. The tunnels were worse than a maze. They entered the doorway and Aiden came to an abrupt stop. His hand flung out to halt his friends behind him, keeping himself between them and the man before them.

“Ah! The prodigal son has returned! So good of you to join us, Aiden,” Aziz said conversationally. “I see you’ve found your friends,” he smiled, “although you seem to be missing one.” He pulled his arm forward, his hand gripping Lily’s hair as he positioned her in front of him. Her face was tight with pain as her eyes met his. Aiden’s heart stopped. Every instinct told him to run forward and take her in his arms, but he couldn’t move so long as Aziz held her.

“Let her go, Aziz,” he said darkly. “I’m here now, you have what you want. Now let her go.”

He feigned consideration before shaking his head. “No, I think not. Perhaps I’ll make an example of her first, so you will learn what happens to those who try to oppose me.”

“You will not harm a hair on her head,” Aiden bit out through clenched teeth.

Lily let out a cry as Aziz’s grip tightened. “Too late for that I think,” he replied. “I have waited a long time for this. If it weren’t for that meddling Goddess they call
mother,
” he spat, throwing Lily forward so she lay sprawled on the floor between them. “I wouldn’t have lost you to begin with,” he continued. “You always seem to slip out of my grasp.”

“Well I’m here now,” said Aiden, splaying his hands in front of him. He kept his eyes on Aziz, but watched Lily out of his peripheral vision. He just needed to get closer so he could grab her and place her behind him.

“I should apologize for that incident before,” Aziz said calmly.

“Which one?” Aiden asked disdainfully.

“The poison,” Aziz answered plainly. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it to have such an adverse effect on you. I guess I judged the dosage wrong when I provided Brutus with the arrow. Elex can handle so much more, but you,” he shook his head. “You spent too much time in that other world, your body was too weak to handle it. I thought perhaps you had spent enough time here by then to have regained most of your powers, but I thought wrong. Now though,” he said in a proud voice, his eyes roaming over Aiden. Aiden fought back a chill. “Now you have reached your potential. I can feel it,” he smiled. “Your powers are linked to the very essence that makes up Eden. The longer you are here, the stronger you become. I’m sure you’ve noticed…”