He didn’t fight my hold, and as the shock in his expression faded, it was replaced by lustful swirls in his light eyes. “You are truly spectacular,” he murmured, and there was a mingling of icy power between us—a moment of attraction, possibly, until both of us came to our senses.
I released him as quickly as I’d taken hold, and as his boots hit the ground, I realized that I’d lifted him in my rage. He was taller and heavier than me, but I hadn’t noticed.
Len straightened his collar, still smiling that maddening smile. “Truly spectacular,” he repeated. “We all know it and have wanted to approach you over the decades, but Reece never allowed us to look more than once. If he caught us a second time... Trust me, he made Shadow look like a friendly puppy.”
Everything inside of me stilled. “What did you just say?”
That was the moment Len realized he’d screwed up, his pale features turning icier.
“He warned you about getting too close to me?” I choked out, rage and despair fighting for supremacy within me. “For centuries you all ignored me, even when we were in the same battles. I assumed it was because of my own personal shame. I accepted it and lived with the consequences of my actions, all the while working toward making amends. But now you’re telling me that the reason I’ve always felt shunned, even among those I have never wronged, was because of Reece?”
Shadow and his friends had been treated as the supreme beings in this Solaris System for a long time. Everyone looked on them with envy, fear, and awe. If life had been different, I might have joined them—a thought I’d had more than once—but I’d been repeatedly rejected from their circle until eventually I stopped even trying. Then, for many decades we’d ignored each other until I’d become invisible.
Reece’s punishment went too far—it was our feud, no one else’s. To bring them all in on it… The bronzed god of the deserts appeared then, like my rage had called him. Swinging around, I caught sight of Len frantically swiping his hands in the air, attempting to warn Reece that my wrath was coming his way, but it was too late.
Reece had manipulated me, and for that, we were about tohave a little chat.
Never again would he control me.
11
He knew before he’d taken two steps toward me that I was furious. I hadn’t spilled any energy, but my wings were pitched at an angle above that indicated I was ready to fight. Whatever peace I’d found from my blessing in the meadows, was long gone in the face of my oldest friend turned enemy. Reece, as always, upset every part of my equilibrium.
“It’s time for us to head to the Desert Lands,” he said, addressing the others, even though his eyes never left mine. The blue bored into me, attempting to strip me down, but I was too far gone to be affected by that look.
“How dare you,” I said, my voice bristling with the undercurrents of my anger, even if the words never rose above a whisper. “You had no right to dictate who could and couldn’t form a friendship with me.”
The skin around his eyes tightened minutely. He was confused, but that would last all of two seconds before he figured it out. Unfortunatelyfor all of us, this bastard was both powerful, attractive, and intelligent. The full package if, of course, you didn’t mind the arrogant, controlling,piece of shitside of himthat was part of the deal.
Reece’s gaze flicked up and over my shoulder toward Len, and from my peripheral I saw the fae shrug as if to saySorry, it kind of slipped out.
Returning his attention to me, Reece’s expression gave nothing away. “You deserved what you got.”
I slapped out with my energy, cutting through the protective layer of sand that always surrounded him. Most could not see it, the invisible barrier of red Rohami sand that was part of his natural defenses, but I knew exactly where to hit to bypass that security system.
He took a step back, jerking his head like I’d punched him.
“I accepted my punishment,” I growled, moving closer, my power seeping from me for the first time, swirling around and around until it formed spears. “I lost that day too. I lost everything, and yet you have continued to hate me for so many years that I’ve nearly forgotten what it was like to be your friend.”
His growl was annoyingly more impressive than mine, and then he was moving toward me fast. My energy-formed-projectiles released, and while he swiped most away like flies, a few sliced across his body, leaving wounds that healed almost instantly. It would take a lot more than I was throwing at him to truly wound the god, and I wasn’t so far gone that I’d go there.
Yet.
“You’ve forgotten what it was like?” he growled again, his chest swelling as he stormed closer. He didn’t stop as he swept me up in his powerful arms and slammed me back against a nearby shelf. The entire structure shook, books tumbling down around us, and despite the shouts of horrified goblins, neither of us looked away and no one approached us.
“I’ve forgotten everything,” I lied, tilting my head and calling more power to my hands, the energy ready and waiting to reject his hold. “It was far easier than I expected. I’m sure you can say the same, since you’ve ignored me for a thousand years longer than you cared for me.” I forced myself to hold his gaze, even as I wanted to look away.
He stilled, predatorily still, and after the galaxies flashed in his irises, ice followed, chilling me to the bone. “I’ve never forgotten a thing about you,” he breathed, leaning in so our lips were almost touching. “Your taste. Your scent. The burning knife of your betrayal.”
My eyes squeezed closed because I just couldn’t do it any longer… stare into those beautiful blue depths.
“Lale,” he bit out, and I couldn’t ignore him when he used that name. No matter how much I wished I could. When I opened my eyes again, red filled my vision; his sand was surrounding us on all sides, preventing the others from seeing us or stepping in to break this up.
“You took everyone away from me,” I said, an annoying tremble of hurt in my voice. Fucking hell, these new emotions were a pain in the ass. “I’ve been alone. No family. No friends. No goddamn hope. Your brother was injured in that battle; I understand that and know he was never the same until he passed. I get why you haven’t forgiven me, but try and understand… I lost everything.”
He didn’t reply, but he was clearly confused by the impassioned nature of my speech. My newly reborn emotions had not been on display for him before now, and no doubt he had zero idea how to handle them.
Reece released me suddenly, and as he stepped back, I resisted the urge to rub my skin where he’d touched. His power continued to burn me, but I refused to show him how affected I was. “You’ve changed,” he said, still staring at me like I was a mystery he needed to unravel. “Just when I needed the robotic warrior, you’re back to being...” His words trailed off as he shook his head.
