“DELARA! FUCK. WALERON IS HERE and is freaking out.”
My heart leapt and I ran for the house. “What’s wrong?”
“Basement. Now.”
I crashed through the kitchen door and raced down the stairs into the basement. I could hear the commotion in the other room, and fear pumped through me as I ran down the hall. The moment I crashed through the door, I knew I had every right to be scared, because the man standing in the middle of the room was not Waleron.
It was breathtaking and horrifying at the same time. He was something different. An entity.
Oh God, it was his Ink. He’d warned me it was trying to take control of him. He kept the room in his house for this reason, but why then had he come here?
Waleron’s Ink had always been different. A being that lived inside him, able to slither across his skin at random. It had a mind of its own.
And that was what Waleron had always feared. That was why he’d kept me at a distance.
Waleron stood in the center of the room, his hands out. A wild rage had been unleashed as his eyes darted around the room as if searching for something. The power in his stance filled the room with his presence.
Most unsettling was how his Ink slithered across his skin. It stretched across his arms, disappeared under his shirt, then reappeared around his neck, red eyes beaming and fangs exposed.
I ducked as a statue flew across the room and hit the archway above my head. Shards of ceramic landed on me.
Keir, Ryker, and Jedrik were inching toward Waleron, but every time they came within a few feet, he shot a blast of energy at them.
Oh God, Waleron, no. Don’t do this.
Was fate so cruel to break us apart once again?
“What happened?” I asked Jedrik.
“He totally lost it. He Traced here in a rage. Something about you being gone and Trinity and Xamien.”
“What?” What the hell was he talking about?
Jedrik ducked as a wave of energy came at him. “Frig, I think he thought you left him or something. Or that bitch Trinity contacted him and told him bullshit. She was really pissed. She could’ve contacted Mariana in the Realm.” Shit. And then when Waleron had Traced home, I wasn’t there. I was in the garden with Xamien.
I approached Waleron. “I’d never leave you. I told you.” But it felt as though my words hit up against a brick wall in his mind.
His Ink stopped on his forearm, red eyes staring at me. It flashed its fangs as it hissed.
God, it was as if the Ink was furious at me.
“I don’t think we have any choice here. We can’t restrain him,” Jedrik said.
“No,” I retorted. “I can reach him. I know I can.”
“Delara,” Keir warned. “He doesn’t know who you are.”
“He does!” I argued. “I promised him. I promised I would never give up on him.” This was why he’d kept us apart.
It was his Ink. The rage consumed it and was trying to control him. His Ink thought I’d left him and was controlling Waleron.
Keir shook his head and while Waleron’s attention was turned to me, he ran at him. But Waleron’s eyes snapped to Keir and he blasted him with a wall of energy, and he flew backward twenty feet, his back slamming into the wall.
“We have no choice,” Keir growled.
“NO! Back off, Keir.” I continued my approach to Waleron. The rage swirling around the room was like a heated mass of air and it suffocated me within its grasp.
The bed lifted off the floor and slammed into the wall. The flat-screen TV that was bolted to the wall went next as Waleron used his powers to throw it at the cement wall behind Jedrik’s head.
I trusted him. Trusted that no matter who lived inside him now, Waleron would never hurt me, and his Ink was part of him.
“Giving you one minute, then we call the Wraiths.” Keir shook his head, sighing. “You understand me?”
Yes. If Waleron continued down this path we’d have no choice. The Wraiths would incapacitate Waleron and he’d never be a Taldeburu again. They’d either incarcerate him or put him in Rest. There was also the possibility they’d kill him.
Ryker stood in the corner, arms crossed as if he were just there to keep watch. I’d seen that look before. He knew what would happen if we failed to bring Waleron back.
Ryker had lost the one woman who made him whole; he’d never let Waleron be taken by the Wraiths and incarcerated. Ryker would kill Waleron first.
I was his only chance.
He won’t hurt you. He has sworn to protect you. “Tac,” I said. God, what was I doing? His nickname was a way to keep him distant. “Waleron.”
Nothing. A high-pitched screech pierced the room and both Jedrik and Keir covered their ears. I gritted my teeth as I attempted to fade out the sound. It was his Ink.
“Waleron, you’re hurting us. You’re hurting me.” The sound stopped and Waleron spun around. I gasped when I saw the tattoo slithering violently across his neck.
His stare was blank and his eyes were no longer blue, but bright red. Like his Ink’s.
Jesus, what the hell happened to him? I stepped back.
“Slowly, Delara,” Ryker warned.
“Jesus friggin’ Christ, you see his eyes? Man, that’s some freaky shit,” Jedrik said.
I did. And it terrified me. “Waleron, please. I know you can hear me.” He remained transfixed on me. I was uncertain if he even knew who I was. “I never left you.” He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. “Waleron, I’m here. I won’t ever leave you. Whatever you were told is a lie.”
His jugular pumped madly and sweat dripped from his brow. Waleron was fighting his Ink.
He walked toward me. I stood still. Five steps. Four steps. Three steps. My breath sucked in. One step.
He grabbed me around the throat and squeezed.
Oh God. The pressure was harsh, but I was still able to breathe. I put my hands on top of his and curled them around his wrists.
“Delara?” Keir asked. “Wraiths?”
“No, don’t,” I ordered. “He isn’t hurting me.” “Waleron,” I whispered. “You don’t want to do this. Look at me.”
He flinched but the pressure around my neck didn’t increase. “Remember me. Feel me, breathe in my scent.” His Ink stopped moving. “Stop hurting us.”
For a second the pressure on my neck increased and I almost called out to Keir and Jedrik, but suddenly he eased up, although he didn’t let me go. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keir nod, trusting me to reach Waleron.
“Waleron, look at me.” I touched his cheek and the moment I did, I knew it was a mistake. He reacted as if I were a demon, a fierce hatred masking his face.
“Fuck, Delara, move. Now!” Ryker ordered.
I raised both arms and knocked Waleron’s hands from my neck, but he’d been ready and grabbed my arm before I could run, swinging me toward him.
A cold chill swept over my body and I knew it was possible that this would be the end of both of us. “You broke my will, Jasmine. You killed me. You destroyed what I live for.”
“Waleron. No, she didn’t. I’m here. She didn’t destroy us.”
“Please, Delara. Let me call them,” Jedrik said.
I shook my head. The Wraiths would have no choice but to kill Waleron.
A quiet stillness settled over the room. No one breathed or moved.
I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to break from his cruel hold, and relaxed in his arms. “Remember. Please remember, my love. Come back to me.”
My breath came in short gasps as his arm tightened around my chest. I blocked out Ryker, Jedrik, and Keir, who watched, undecided as to how far to let this go before stopping it.
If I couldn’t reach Waleron—no one could. I’d never give up on him. I’d promised him.
And I trusted he’d never hurt me.
“I’m never leaving you. I won’t. If they kill you, then they will have to kill me too.”
“Noooo,” he roared.
He threw me away from him and I landed several feet away on my ass. Ryker came toward me, but I held up my hand and shook my head.
He growled, scowling, but backed off.
My lip bled from biting it when I hit the floor and I licked the blood away before crawling to my feet again.
“You destroyed us. For that I will cause you more pain than is imaginable.” Waleron approached me, eyes staring, but he didn’t see me. He looked right through me.
He grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently.
“Delara. Fuck,” Jedrik ground out.
“No more,” Keir said.
Ryker inched closer on one side and Keir on the other. They were going to blast Waleron at the same time. It would either kill him or really piss him off.
Waleron had been in control of his emotions for twenty years, never once faltering. But he was off the pills and now vulnerable to his Ink.
“Don’t do it,” I warned Ryker and Keir.
“If we all blast at the—” Jedrik said.
“No! It will kill him,” I shouted.
“He thinks you’re Jasmine. He’ll kill you. This shit has to stop. Now,” Keir insisted.
“I can get through to him. Please. I promised him.” Maybe he was too far gone. Maybe his mind had snapped and there was no saving the man I loved. But killing him wasn’t an option.
“Give her more time,” Ryker said.
Jedrik and Keir glared at him, but Ryker had experienced what it was like to lose the one person who lived inside you.
I knew what I had to do. Push him to break. Push him to fight against his Ink.
There was one thing that Waleron would abhor. He’d fight against his Ink in order to stop it from happening. The problem was, if I was wrong—the Ink may kill me.
I raised my chin and met Waleron’s blazing red eyes. I tensed, ready for the backlash that could come from my words. “Then destroy me, Waleron. Kill me if that’s what you want.”
“Delara, no!” Jedrik shouted.
“Is that what you want?” I was talking to his Ink now. “To kill me?” I punched Waleron in the chest and his hands dropped from my shoulders.
“Delara, need to end this shit. Not telling you again, get the fuck away from him,” Keir said. He started calling to his Ink.
Waleron’s eyes flickered with uncertainty, the blue surfacing for mere seconds before turning back to red. “Hit me, damn it.” Waleron raised his arm and took a step toward me. I had seconds before Keir and the others stopped this. “Goddamn it, do it!” I screamed.
His arm swung toward me.
My body tensed, waiting for the blow, but I refused to move, knowing he had no one who would trust him except me. His fist came at me in a blur, then suddenly stopped inches from my face.
The room was quiet. Even the snake had settled on his neck, curled into a tight coil. I watched Waleron’s eyes as they changed back to an ice blue and widened with pure horror at what he’d been about to do.
“Delara?” He staggered back until his back hit the wall.
He took in the state of the room and then looked to Keir, Ryker, and Jedrik. It was like a shield had dropped.
I stepped toward him.
Waleron shook his head and held up his hand. “I…. What have I done? Delara, I….” His eyes went to each of us then he bowed his head and closed his eyes.
“Everyone out. Now,” Keir demanded.
Ryker left the room while Jedrik came over and squeezed my shoulder. Keir gave a diminutive nod and then left, closing the door behind him.
Waleron moved farther away from me. “Why? Why did you risk your life?” He placed his hands on either side of his head. “I almost killed you.”
“You’d never harm me.” I approached and this time he didn’t stop me. “You stopped the pills. That’s why this happened.” Of course he had. The pills were Zurina’s way to dull his emotions and therefore his feelings for me. But he’d used them to control his Ink.
He was silent.
I waited.
“Trinity said you left with Xamien.” Shit. That bitch needed my knife through her cold, wretched heart. “I came to the house and you were gone and then came here and saw you with Xamien.”
“Waleron, you know I would never do that.”
He nodded. “But my Ink doesn’t.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He wants you, and when the doubt crept into my mind, he took over. I couldn’t stop him this time.”
Holy shit. His Ink wanted me and it was what had driven him to this. I stepped closer and reached out for the snake tattoo that now lay silent and still, its head resting on Waleron’s neck.
With one finger I stroked the Ink, and almost drew back when its eyes opened. Waleron tensed, but I continued to stroke the Ink.
My breath hitched when his eyes changed to a light shimmering blue. Like Waleron’s. “Oh my God,” I whispered. “Beautiful. His eyes are blue, Waleron.”
“I feel it. The calm in him.” He snagged my waist and tugged me up against him. “Baby.”
I placed my hands on his chest; his heart beat steady and strong beneath my palm.
This was home. In his arms. Where I was meant to be, and his Ink knew that.
“Maitagarri,” he whispered.
And then he kissed me while his Ink slipped beneath his shirt and slept.
Five months later
“I’ll take the job,” I said into the phone, my eyes on Xamien’s house and the girl standing in the window.
When Adrian first called and asked me if I wanted the job of protecting Max until it was decided whether she was to be eliminated or not, I’d hung up on him. That was my initial reaction. Of course, Adrian had no idea I’d been stalking her for months.
But if I didn’t take the job, Adrian would hire another rogue Scar and there was no chance in hell I was letting another Scar near her, so I called him back.
“You understand the circumstances?” Adrian asked.
“Yeah. I underfuckin’stand. And my fee is doubled.”
Silence. It was a hell of a lot of money and I didn’t really need the cash, but it was the principal of it.
“Fine. Double. I’ll email you details.”
I hung up and glanced back at the house. At her.
Fuck, I was so royally screwed.