Dusk whisked her from the hall, fast. Reginald’s oceanic energy was still pummeling Adrian – and through him, into Layla. But though Adrian was a match for Reginald, resisting his inundation, Layla wasn’t. Her lungs felt filled up with seawater; her pulse was slowing as she choked. Though they were out in the gardens now, Layla couldn’t hear, couldn’t see – the weight of the ocean pressing her down.
“Reginald, stop! You’re killing her!” Dusk’s roar, raging with lower-than-sound vibrations, cut though Layla’s crushing darkness like a thin beam of light. She could barely feel his hands on her, pouring light and warmth through her as fast as he could, her body laid out on the patio’s flagstones.
“I can’t release Adrian until he gets his rage under control!” Reginald’s cold snarl sounded like a tsunami inside her mind and Layla screamed, though all that came out was a struggling gasp. She felt distant from the surface; from oxygen. Layla flailed, but her body wouldn’t respond; even her Dragon seemed like a tiny spark now – crushed in a leviathan’s blackwater coils.
“Reginald – release her!” Adrian’s cry was tortured with fury and pain; Layla felt him fall to his knees beside her, clutching her hand. But he was cold from Reginald’s inundating power and Layla was even more ice-chill as she gasped now in tiny sips.
“Control your Dragon, Adrian Rhakvir,” the Head Courtier snarled low, his voice pounding through Layla’s ears, “or she dies through your Bind! You have the strength to resist me; Layla does not. Decide now if your rage is worth her life.”
“Adrian, please!” Dusk’s voice was grating where he knelt at Layla’s side. “Don’t let your anger over Layla’s and my Bind kill her! It was an accident, by all the gods I swear it!”
“Adrian, don’t let her die, my god!” Adam’s voice came also, and Layla felt his gentle touch upon her hand, a smooth curl of summer-orchard scent easing around her. Tracing to her lips, that small flow was precise; pouring sunlight and warmth in through Layla’s lips into her lungs. It wasn’t much, but Layla seized on that small drip of warmth and air, gasping, holding onto it like a lifeline. She felt Adam shudder, falling against her as if feeding her his very life though their breath. The blackness receded enough that Layla could see him kneeling by Dusk, his hunter-green eyes devastated in the night.
The moment stretched – Layla gasping with the last of her life, Adam feeding her the barest breath to keep her from dying, Dusk pouring his crystal vibrations through Layla’s body in an attempt to push back Reginald’s black tide. As she gasped the meager life Adam and Dusk provided, her gaze found Adrian’s – seeing the fury evaporate from his eyes at last.
With a heart-wrenching sob, Adrian moved in, seizing her face tenderly in his hands. As he pressed her with his kiss, a surge of smooth, hot wind poured down Layla’s throat and deep into her lungs – letting her gasp a real breath at last. As Adrian’s love for her poured in, filling her to the brim, the crushing cold of the ocean poured out. Layla felt Reginald’s power washed away as Adrian poured all his heat and power into her through his kiss.
And his love.
Layla’s Dragon woke in a rush of fire and golden light, flooding upwards to meet Adrian’s kiss just as much as Layla wanted to sob from it. She felt their beasts surge deep into each other’s bodies. And though Adrian’s kiss stole her breath just as much as it gave her life, Layla suddenly roared inside. With a twisting surge of coils, a hard wave of heat rushed out from her in a flood of golden ether – hammering Adrian in the chest, hard.
It hit him like a battering ram and he was shoved off her as she snapped up to sitting on the flagstones, her left hand making the same palm-out gesture like she’d done in the Vault. Adrian’s lips fell open, his beautiful aquamarine eyes shocked that she’d warded him away. He surged forward again as if to embrace her and Layla’s hand slammed out a second time – that same wave of power hammering Adrian so hard he was hurled to his ass on the flagstones. Coils seething through her body in fury, Layla rose to standing – staring down at Adrian with wrath burning in her heart.
“Layla, I—” he stammered.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Layla’s voice was colder than midnight sands; a voice she didn’t know – the wrathful voice of her Dragon. “You could have given me a chance to tell you about Dusk and I and the accident that caused our Bind, Adrian. You could have shown upanytimein the past three days and spoken with either of us. Instead you show up now, likethis. Trying torip your Bind with me apartbecause you were too unhinged to act like a human being. Well, I’m done. I’m done with your games. I’m done with you putting your fears and cold-hearted secrets before the people in your life that you say you love. You say you’reprotectingme? Us? I call bullshit. From what I’ve experienced tonight… you’re only protecting yourself.”
“Layla!”
But Layla was already turning, walking away into the night. Adrian lurched to follow her and Layla just held up a hand in warning, ready to blast his ass all the way to the north pole if she had to. He stopped and watched her go, devastation upon his handsome face. Adam stepped to her side, but Layla waved him back also. Reginald just watched her, but as Dusk stepped forward to take her arm, Layla heaved a deep breath.
“Not right now, Dusk. I need to be alone. Please. This just… this fucking sucks, and I need to think.”
Dusk’s luminous gaze was crestfallen as she rejected him, but he stepped back with a low bow, understanding in the way she knew he would. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here.”
A crowd had gathered at the entrance to the gardens, mostly Dragons watching the scene but quite a few Hotel staff also. Layla saw the Madame hurry out through the doors, bustling to Reginald’s side and speaking low words. Layla didn’t want to be anywhere near any of them at the moment. Turning from the Hotel, she walked off into the night. She didn’t know where she was going, she just chose a path. Her eyes stung and it was a moment before she realized she was crying – reaching up to wipe tears away as she moved off through the chill October night.
Silence shrouded her with the rustling of dry leaves as she made it to the edge of the manicured grounds. She didn’t know where she was going until she wound up at the horse barns near the edge of the forest where the pheasant-hunt had been. Sliding in the barn doors, Layla could barely see as she moved through the quiet stables, not caring that the train of her silk gown trailed through straw and dry horse shit.
Without knowing what she needed until she was there, Layla collapsed upon the wooden stall-gate of her big bay gelding, sobbing. The bay’s nose came out to meet her, nuzzling her hair as he whickered, resting his forehead against hers – which only made Layla cry harder. She hadn’t noticed anyone was in the barn with her until a hand settled to her shoulder. Layla startled, but the orchard-sweet scent of the man beside her gave him away.
“I thought you might come here. Are you alright?”
Adam’s eyes were deep like a forest as he gazed at her. His sweet orchard scent blossomed out around Layla, surrounding her like the world’s most comforting blanket. Before she knew it, she was turning, throwing herself into his arms as she sobbed. She didn’t care if her Bind-magic was calling him, or that her Dragon was conflicted about him. She needed someone unrelated to her problems right now, just to hold her.
Adam did, his warm hands lifting to stroke her back. He cradled her close and she could smell his apple-orchard scent. So vivid, so intense; Layla was drowning in honey and blossoms as it soothed her. But suddenly, it seemed like too much. As if his scent was swamping her, Layla felt a strange lightheadedness, like a cloying perfume surrounded her now rather than a summer’s day. It was something she couldn’t push away; couldn’t escape. Easing through her muscles, it made Layla lethargic as Adam’s warm hands cradled her. The world didn’t make sense as she felt him gaze down at her with a strange look in his eyes, his hunter-green irises impossibly dark. Layla suddenly smelled lemons in his scent, and gin. She blinked, having a vision of her dark-haired Tom Collins from the bar in Seattle months ago.
“Your scent. What…?” Layla looked up, feeling fuzzy.
“Rest, Layla.” Adam breathed, a smooth curl of lemon-gin scent easing from his lips and diving down Layla’s throat – deep into her body. “Don’t fight it. Just sleep…”
Layla blinked, feeling a forest-dark fugue pour through her. Her mind quieted as her muscles relaxed. Her Dragon coiled up, tucking its nose beneath its tail. And Layla was suddenly melting against Adam’s strong body, held effortlessly in his arms.
She couldn’t keep her eyes open. Layla felt Adam Rhakvir lift her into his arms as she slid sideways into darkness.
CHAPTER 27 – VISAGES
Blinking blearily, Layla surfaced from a fugue of white sands and black oceans, of dark forests in a land where prehistoric things walked. Finding herself in a world as strange as her dream, crystal towers rose up around her, glowing with a low, soothing light. Blinking, Layla realized she was back in the Vault where she had practiced shielding with Dusk three nights ago – though she couldn’t recall getting here.
