The Relentless Warrior (10 page)

Instead I took a small step forward and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. My
finger trailed down the line of her jaw, along the slender curve of her throat. I
was pretty sure I knew which thought I decided on.

“I’m making you feel just a little bit better,” I coaxed.

Her breathing picked up and her Magic faltered a little bit before she recovered like
it tripped into mine, accidentally, clumsily and unsurely. “Not at all,” she shrugged.
 

“More than a little.”

She shook her head and I leaned forward. I would kiss her this time… I would. Nothing
could stop me. Then I would get her out of my system and move the hell on.

I just needed to taste her, just once. I just needed to break the spell of misplaced
fascination.

Her hands reached forward and I felt her fingers slide along my waist. She wasn’t
fighting it this time. She was pulling me closer.

And I had to view this as an opportunity.

I dipped my head, and wrapped my hand gently around her throat, tilting her chin up
with the pad of my thumb. Digging the fingers of my other hand into the inviting curve
of her hip, I tugged her closer to me with enough force that her feet splashed in
the hot water.

“Olivia,” I whispered worshipfully just before the logical part of my brain kicked
in. I detoured to her nose and lamely planted a weak kiss on just the tip. “We should
get back.”

She blinked up at me, confused and a little dazed. “What?” Her tone was as dry and
brittle as anything I’d ever heard.

“We should get back,” I repeated. I held back the wince that ripped at my throat.
God, this was stupid. And embarrassing.

At least Sebastian wasn’t watching this time from the doorway.

Olivia’s forehead dropped to my chest with a guttural growl of frustration. My fingers
slid into the back of her luscious hair before I could stop them and I had to count
back from one hundred just to keep my resolve strong.

However, my desire ebbed the minute she flung me backwards with the surprising force
of newly-born Magic. Her hands were like missiles on my chest and I didn’t have the
presence of mind to catch myself. I crashed through the icy surface of the lake that
had been made weak by the trick I’d been showing off with. Freezing-cold water swallowed
me whole and my breath stopped in my lungs and I made an embarrassingly high-pitched
gasping sound.

We were still in the shallows, so my ass landed in murky mud and my knees poked out
of the sharp edges of a body-sized hole.

“I swear, Jericho!” Olivia growled. “Stop trying to kiss me!”

And then she stomped out of the water and swooped down to grab her shoes and socks.
She didn’t even bother to put them on, she just kept marching back to the Citadel
while I stared after her.

I scrambled to standing and let my body heat and dry. I watched her go, the ground
steaming under each of her barefoot steps while she used her new Magic to stay warm.

She would have to wait for me by the back gate; otherwise I would have run after her.

But right now I needed some space between us. This was twice now my idiot advances
had pissed her off. Obviously she wasn’t interested in me. And I should be happy to
know that.

Except for some reason, the urge to kiss her was even stronger now.

And there was that small, evil voice that whispered she wanted to kiss me too. For
at least five seconds she had been as wrapped up in the moment as I was.

She might be pissed at me now, but I could get her back to that place.

If I wanted to.

That was the most important question. Did I want to?

Chapter Eight

Olivia

What an idiot! What an annoying, pushy, demanding, stupidly attractive idiot
!

And I was no better.

I couldn’t believe this had happened. Twice! Why did he keep trying to kiss me?

More importantly, why did he chicken out this time?

Was it me? Did I have bad breath or something? Or food in my teeth?

I showered last night, so I knew I didn’t smell. Or at least… I didn’t think I smelled.

Shoot. Did I smell?
No, none of that mattered. I didn’t want to kiss Jericho. I didn’t want him to keep
trying to kiss me.

And I would have remembered that if he hadn’t forced me into that winter wonderland
perfection with big, fluffy snowflakes drifting all around us and that picturesque
lake that belonged in a Thomas Kinkade portrait stretched out at our feet. It was
like we walked into a snow globe and we were playing parts from an old school Christmas
musical.
 

The whole scene was obnoxiously romantic and I had been charmed by the ambiance he’d
created and not by his personal questions or inquisitive eyes.

Yeah, sure, Livie, you were seduced by frozen water….

Plus, he’d done the whole vulnerable-open-up-his-soul thing to me and I was a sucker
for tough guys with insecurities.

Damn it.

Damn him!

I made it back to the wall we’d walked through earlier and realized too late it was
still locked. I pushed and tugged on the handle, but nothing happened.

I groaned, knowing I would have to wait for Jericho to let me back in.

I briefly entertained the idea of walking around the enormous wall that gated in the
castle. Stupid idea, but at this point I was willing to try anything to avoid Jericho.
However, there would be no guarantee any other door would be open and I didn’t know
how big this place truly was. I’d seen glimpses of a town that stretched out on the
other side of the castle, but I’d been so contained to O’s room that I only vaguely
remembered antiquated buildings. Who knew what the people were like down there? Would
they be warm and inviting? Or ready to burn me at the human-stake.

But I wasn’t really human anymore….

The thought both depressed and excited me. While I was more angry than upset about
the intrusion into my blood stream, I was also quickly learning how useful Magic could
be.

I aimed my hand down at the locked handle before me and let lose a stream of my newly
acquired Magic.

And then I shot back into a pile of snow when the Magic bounced off and hit me in
the chest instead. The air rushed out of my lungs along with a string of curse words.
I rubbed at my chest and dropped my head back into the soft snow, defeated, depressed
and oddly feeling harshly rejected.

“Olivia?” I heard Jericho call faintly from over the ridge.

“Ugh,” I groaned when I grasped that he would be coming to my rescue again.

I had just decided to take my chances with the Great Wall of Weirdville when the stone
door swung open and a tall, tattooed guy with longish hair and a crown poked his head
out. He looked up the incline and then back down to me with the most confused expression
on his face. His golden crown tilted sideways on his head and he rubbed a finger under
his earlobe with a look of pure consternation mingled with mild amusement.

“Are you trying to break in?” he demanded in perfect English.

I didn’t know why I expected an accent or a different language, but whatever the reason,
I definitely didn’t expect him to be an American.

“Break in?” I laughed. “More like break out!”

His eyebrows furrowed and he stared down at me, waiting for more. I hauled myself
into standing and brushed the snow off my legs and frozen butt.

“I’m not
breaking
in; I’m just trying to get back in. My sister’s in there. I need to go see if she’s
alright.”

“Your sister?” Crowned guy glanced back at the gardens behind him and then to my face
again.

“Ophelia Taylor,” I explained with forced patience. “The human.”

“She’s not your sister.” He shook his head, sounding adamant.

“Pretty sure she’s my sister,” I huffed and took a few steps toward the door.

“But she’s human,” the guy answered obstinately.

“I just told
you
that!”

He shook his head slowly and then said, “But you’re
not
human.”

“Oh geez.” I looked around for Jericho but he hadn’t appeared yet. “Who are you?”

“You first,” he demanded.

I dropped my head into my hands and shouted out a muffled, “Jericho!”

“Jericho?” crowned guy said. “You’re Olivia!” He snapped his fingers together and
a slow, mischievous grin tilted his lips.

He looked completely different now. Where one might have found him intimidating before,
or at the very least, surly, now he was ridiculously handsome. He had bright green
eyes, perfectly olive-toned skin and dark, black hair. He was well built, but overly
casual. Even the maintenance guys in the ballroom had been dressed nicer than him.
The crown on his head hinted that he was possibly the other King Jericho had briefly
mentioned, but something about this guy made the idea of him ruling a kingdom sound
like a corny joke.

He also reminded me of someone… but at the moment I couldn’t remember who.

“I’m Olivia,” I confirmed with a tight-lipped smile. “Now can I please go inside?”

“Is that Jericho chasing you?” the guy gestured with his chin over the rise of the
hill.

“Yep.”

“And he pissed you off in some way?”

“You’re very perceptive.” I intoned dryly.

His roguish smile grew and something wicked glinted in his eyes. “And you’re welcome
to enter now.” He stepped out of the way and made a sweeping grand gesture with his
arm.

“Uh, thanks.” I stepped past him and jumped when the door slammed shut behind me.
I shot him a look over my shoulder, but he was concentrated on the lock. “Jericho
was right behind me.”

“Sure, sure,” he finished whatever he was doing with the lock and looked up at me.

“Did you lock him out?” This was so confusing.

“No,” he answered quickly and then amended, “Not permanently. He’ll be able to get
back in… eventually.”

“Ok?”

“I’m Avalon,” the guy introduced himself with an outstretched hand. “I’m the King.
Or one of them at least.”

“Hi,” I shook his hand and jumped at the pulse of electricity beneath his skin. “I’m
the human. Or one of them at least.”

He grinned at me and then ushered me back through the mess of a maze that Jericho
had taken me in before. The wild, tangled shrubbery reminded me of something from
Alice in Wonderland gone terribly wrong. Branches reached out to grab at my skin every
other step and I was forced to duck and weave. Avalon didn’t seem bothered at all
by the aggressive bushes, he just walked beside me, bouncing with energy.

“So, where were you?” He asked that question like we were friends.

I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Uh, with Jericho.”
“Did he take you for a walk?” Avalon pressed.

“Sure.” I said.

He looked down at me and waited until I turned to face him before flashing me another
huge grin. “Was he trying to teach you how to use your Magic?”

“Yep.”

“How’d that go?”

“Fine.”

“Jericho’s my best friend, so feel free to open up to me.”

I did a double-take, not entirely sure what to make of this King. “I’m good.”

He cleared his throat and tried again, “Plus, I’m the king. You’re supposed to tell
me everything. It’s the law.”

I was pretty sure that was not the law. “I’m not part of your cult. I don’t have to
tell you anything.”

“Cult’s don’t have kings.”

“Tell that to the KKK.”

“I, uh…” It was Avalon’s turn to do a double-take. Sounding exasperated he said, “I’m
not sure where to start with this. The KKK doesn’t have a king, they have a grand
wizard.”

“Aren’t you a wizard?”

“I’m a witch.” He ground out, clearly becoming frustrated.

“Right, and aren’t witches and wizards pretty synonymous?” I sounded as serious as
I could, but truthfully I was just as confused as he was.

“This is not the KKK!” He had about lost his temper, but it was Okay since we’d reached
the ballroom again.

“Sure, whatever you say, Grand Wizard.” I scurried forward when one of the maintenance
guys called out to Avalon.

Avalon looked back and forth between us as if he couldn’t decide what to do. I hid
my smile and turned my back on him. This was my opportunity to escape. I wasn’t exactly
sure what Avalon wanted from me, but my intuition told me it had something to do with
Jericho and why he was trying to kiss me. I didn’t need to hear about Jericho’s commitment
issues, or excuses for why he so clearly didn’t know what he wanted. I didn’t want
Jericho, so whatever Avalon had to say, he could save for a different female, one
that actually cared.

“Jericho is in so much trouble with you!” he called after me anyway, confirming my
fears.

“Jericho is in more trouble trying to get back inside the wall than he ever is with
me!” I called back and then escaped into the hallway.

I pressed my back against the cold stone wall once I was through the doorway and let
out a steadying breath. The last hour had been…. weird.

I didn’t get Jericho’s sudden interest in me, but I had an idea that it revolved around
my new
Magic
. Too bad for him, the Magic was only temporary.

Too bad for me, this new twist in our precarious friendship had me shaken up and more
confused than ever. One part of me was flattered that I could catch the attention
of a guy like Jericho. I mean, well, honestly he was super-hot. Plus, he was clearly
respected here. People looked up to him, leaned on him for leadership and respected
what he had to say. I mean, this guy was a catch.

Just somebody else’s catch. Not mine.

Maybe if it were at a different time in my life, or if my life would have gone differently
to begin with. But it didn’t. Even apart from this whole kidnapping-changed-on-a-molecular
level thing, I wasn’t the kind of girl that was fishing for a relationship or even
a boy’s attention.

I had issues.

Issues that I was willing to let run my life for the rest of it.

And that was the other part of me, the one that resented his attention and felt itchy
whenever he got too close. I had spent the last six years of my life avoiding boys;
evolving into an entirely different species was not going to change my life plan.

I just needed to keep my head on straight.

I just needed to survive the second half of this vacation from reality just like I’d
survived the first part of it.
 

“There you are,” Sebastian called down the hallway in his crisp English accent.

I lifted my head and forced my eyes open. “Is Ophelia alright?” I asked immediately.

“She’s the same,” he promised quickly, before the fear and dread had time to change
my blood to ice. “I just hadn’t seen you in a while and I’d begun to worry.”

“Jericho took me for a walk,” I admitted easily, as if it was no big deal, because
it wasn’t. “I was headed back there now.”

“Where is he?” Sebastian asked.

“Who?”

“Jericho? You said he took you for a walk?”

“Oh, he’s, er, your King locked him out I think? I’m not exactly sure.” Once I caught
up to Sebastian, he led the way back to O’s room.

“That makes sense.”

“Does it?” I asked skeptically. Because it definitely didn’t make sense to me. Sebastian
and I walked the rest of the way up the stairs in companionable silence. He had been
around almost as much as Jericho, but we had never bonded in the same way. He kept
his distance and I kept mine. I appreciated that he wasn’t trying to become lifelong
friends with me; his lack of initiative in our friendship seemed born from respecting
my privacy and a healthy fear of my temper.

I could be a lot to handle. I knew that. But I also had a sister in a coma and
Magic
in my blood; I mean, I was allowed a temper tantrum every once in a while, wasn’t
I?

Just before we reached O’s door, Sebastian put a gentle hand on my bicep to slow me
down. “Listen, I know that Jericho can be….”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” I cut him off. “I don’t need your well-meaning
excuses for him. I get that he doesn’t know what he wants. And I also get that I’m
this big cloud of confusion over whatever plans he was laying out. But honestly, I’m
not interested in him and I’m pretty sure he’s only interested in me because I’m shiny
and new. You don’t have to share his sob story. It’s obvious that he doesn’t trust
girls, and it’s even more obvious that he was hurt by someone. That sucks for him,
but I am not the girl that can fix his issues. I’ll just add so many more problems
to his life. Trust me.”