“I struck a deal with a shadowed soul. If I break them free, they will aid us in taking down Crass, freeing the chains on my boy and that will allow us to get the show on the road with this war.”
“But if they’re free will they not lose that ability?” Freeing shadowed souls, in a sense, made them mortal.
He shook his head, “Almost every shadowed soul is or was a witch, they will be an asset, they will be loyal to those who freed them.”
River glanced away. She was sure she knew who gave him that lead, that insight. Which meant Dagen was on the right path, and it meant this war was really about to happen.
The notion sickened River with fear for a split second. No matter how brief it was, Dagen sensed it, he pulled her against him and ran his hand down the back of her head slowly to calm her. “I’m not going to let anything ever happen to you. I vowed that long before I became enchanted with you.”
River smiled slightly as she felt his lips innocently kiss her brow. He did vow to protect her, all of them. Rydell King had asked him to do so. The friendship between Dagen and River after that point did nothing but intensify his vow.
“This isn’t a lavender haired shadowed soul that you bargained with is it?” River asked.
“Nope, he’s a blond. Why?”
“Saige’s daughter, that’s her. I think she’s hoping I can help get her out by reading all this—help with the Crass thing too.”
He glanced away as if he already knew that, and he more than likely did. He was well-connected with the coven River was born and raised by. “Any luck?”
“Not yet…you’re sure this missing Lord of Death is here?” River asked moving to lean against the table for nothing more than balance. She needed space to think, to breathe.
“His scent is. This manor is locked down, though. You’re safe in the house and on the grounds.”
River vaguely shook her head knowing that facing a Lord of Death that had haunted her dreams might be easier than eventually facing Mason Wade.
Dagen nudged her shoulder with his. “Spill it. I know damn well that some boy didn’t decide to mark you because you were knocked out.”
“What am I a fire hydrant?”
He chuckled. “You’re evading.”
Yep. She glanced away. “I haven’t seen him because I was knocked out, but rumor has it a boy I used to know lives here.”
“A boy you used to know,” he repeated.
Dagen was not a fool. He knew that River had left a big gaping hole in the history lesson all lovers give each other.
“I don’t know why he’s here.”
“He didn’t call you here?”
“Nope. I’m here to read all this,” she said with a glance around the room. “He just happened to be here, and by the way, he was very human when I knew him, meaning this marking statement isn’t making very much sense.”
Dagen wasn’t buying it.
“I swear.”
“Look, I know what we are. I get the warning labels Jamison put all over us, but if you’re hooking up with a Phoenix, I think I at least deserve a heads up.”
“A do what?”
“You’re telling the truth,” he said as he moved in front of her.
“Have I ever lied to you?” she asked leaning her head back so she could look into his eyes.
His ice blue eyes searched hers. “Fire is in the energy that was given to you. Not just energy, a lover’s mark. A claim. A red flag for all males to back off, meaning, do not touch, look only if you’re brave.”
“You touched,” River said with a wry smile, trying to break his mood. He wasn’t the kind of guy to get upset over much, but she wasn’t the type of girl to hurt her friends, either. If by some fluke if she even thought of going out for coffee with Mason Wade, she would have stopped short and had a pow-wow with Dagen, because he deserved as much.
“I touched because as far as I know it’s still mine for the taking,” he said as his eyes moved over her. “So in a way, I was challenged.”
Not good. “Dagen.”
“I know.”
Yeah, he knew. He knew River didn’t care for labels, that it is what it is between them—that her energy was like crack to him. They were having a good time and somewhere down the road they would figure out if they were more than a vice, long after the war that was looming was over and done with.
“A Phoenix,” River said glancing away.
She knew of them, had read extensively about them. If Mason was basically dead days ago, and now he wasn’t, that added up. River was betting his mother was having a blast with that revelation.
Dagen breathed in. “You’re surrounded by them.”
“I was told I was in the Queen of the Veil’s lair. No Phoenix was mentioned.”
“Who do you think would guard such a Queen beyond beings that cannot die?”
“Good point.”
“Tell me about him,” he urged.
“Nothing to tell. I haven’t seen him in years.”
He playfully narrowed his gaze.
“I swear, I only knew he gave me energy because his buddy mentioned it.”
“You’re avoiding him?”
“I’m doing my job, or trying to.”
“What have you found out?”
“Nothing clear, I have to let it sink in, but,” she glanced back at the book on the table. “I think these are keys or title pages, not the story. I have my doubts this room is big enough to hold what this text is eluding to.”
“Anything about Lords of Death.”
“That’s why I picked the books I picked, to read first. Jamison gave me topics and titles to search. They’re mentioned here. Camlin is a pretty dark name.”
Dagen went rigid.
“That’s the rain boy?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t think he was hidden. I think he was trapped in a clock prison, someone set him free.”
“Interesting.”
“Have you ever seen him?” She asked.
“Nope. But I know back in the day he traveled through The Fall. Caught new souls as they fell.”
“Why?”
“So he could curse them.”
“Awesome.”
“Right.”
“Gray eyes, dark hair, smaller guy,” River presumed.
Her statement didn’t help Dagen’s rigid appearance. “You said you hadn’t seen him.”
“No, I said I hadn’t seen Mason, the boy from my past, that dude was at the front gate of this place and didn’t want me here. Told me I was trespassing.”
Dagen leaned back. “Then this is where you need to be.”
“You’re serious?”
“Very.” He glanced away. “Are you going to be able to handle that? This boy obviously marked you without your knowledge, which might be why the signature is so weak, is he a threat to you?” His diamond stare met hers. “Do I need to handle it?”
“Trust me, if you think I’m good at avoiding circumstances, Mason Wade would put me to shame. I doubt he meant to do what he did. If he was transformed into a Phoenix, it just happened recently. I’m sure he’s balancing out his energy.”
“Maybe so, but you can not fake, or accidently feel the way he would have had to feel to mark your energy the way he did.”
“What does that mean?” she asked in a hollow tone.
Dagen leaned into her, and against her ear he said in a low tone. “His soul claimed you...”
“You don’t know him,” she said as she pushed away. “He dropped me like I was yesterday’s news and never looked back.”
He held in an ironic grin. “I’m not going to convince you that this boy has a thing for you because that would be a little jaded of me. I do know that I don’t care for the idea of you not being in my life anymore.”
“And surely I’m more than a quickie to you so even if that was taken away I would still be in your life.”
“You are,” he said as he reached to trace her jawline. “Life would be too
boring without you,” he said with a wink.
River sucked in a breath. “You really came here because of that scent, you didn’t, you know, sense me?”
He read right between those lines.
“He’s in your head, this Mason boy.”
River didn’t answer.
“No,” he said reaching for her chin and turning it so she would have to look him in the eye. “You don’t need to worry about me walking in on something I’d rather not see.”
“It’s not like that.”
He swayed his head.
This mark thing must be serious business in his world. River’s question was why would Mason mark her? Would that not tick off his Indiana girl?
“I’m making a deal with you,” Dagen said. “No matter what we’re still friends.”
“Weak word in retrospect.”
“I’m just telling you that I’ve been around a while. I know how ex’s can get into your head. You might be right, this might be a fluke of energy, I don’t know. I don’t want to know, but if I’m right, and this mark was legit, I’m not going to be good with letting you walk out of my life.”
He reached for her waist. The touch was different, guarded even. “You got me through losing my best friend—my brother, through taking over this Faction. You have been the only person I can or would confide in beyond him. I’m not going to let someone take the link between us away, no matter how many flames they spout out.”
River smirked because his expression, though serious, was still playful. She knew, but at the same time she didn’t realize all the dynamics of their relationship. They lost a lot the day Rydell left. River assumed they’d both stood strong. Looking back, she thought that perhaps Dagen was leaning a little bit on her, and that made her happy. Knowing she was able to make a difference.
“I can handle that.”
He winked. “If you leave these grounds, think about me so I can come and get you out safely. Camlin can’t get in here, but that doesn’t mean he will not try something when you do leave. I’m going to hunt for him now.”
“Will you tell me if you find him?”
One nod.
She tugged on his shirt. “Be careful.”
He reached out and touched her nose in a playful manner. “You, too,” he said as he vanished.
Run. I needed to get some energy out, which means I needed to change clothes. Here’s hoping that I don’t need a map to get back to my room.
Chapter Ten
Whatever energy Mason had burned off was all for nothing. Adrenaline was pumping through his soul. Downright electrifying. He had thought of a million different opening lines.
Fancy seeing you here, oh yeah, I saw you before. Wow, you look amazing. How’s it been? I missed you. I’m still in love with you. You’ve always been my air. I should have fought harder. I know you hate me, but I swear I’m not the same as I was at the end. I need you right now. Before you kill me, can we at least acknowledge that fate brought you here, that has to mean something.
They all sucked.
Everything he knew of her was rushing through his mind. The phone call with his grandmother had amplified the memories because apparently it’s a grandmother’s job to remember every single detail of your childhood. She talked about the first time he saw River, all the crazy on the verge of getting in trouble moments they were caught doing.
Mason thought about going out and getting her favorite flower—water lilies—but that was a little too mushy for him. He thought about grabbing some almonds and a Red Bull and taking it down to her because that was her study fuel. The thought crossed his mind to have their songs play through the manor or even have the theater blare the movies they pretended to watch when they were a couple. All of that was stupid, sappy, not her style, not his.
He had nothin’.
He had read the letter he wrote her a thousand times, pulled it in and out of his pocket, every word was still true, the emotions were still raw. He had no idea how she would take them if they would make this worse or better.
Which was why he was now pacing the hall outside her room, more than like appearing on one side then the other.
On one of those little jaunts, he slammed right into Gavin.
“Someone is a little amped up,” he said as Mason jarred back.
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
He gave Mason a hardcore stare that screamed BS.
“I told you to cut that connection. Get out of my head and let me think.”
“And why is that?” Gavin said in a knowing tone.
“Not your business, Gavin.”
“She’s hot. Smart as hell and that wit would make anyone drool. And, damn, those eyes of hers.”
Mason didn’t know what came over him, he slammed Gavin into the wall, his arm was across his chest and his face, carrying its menacing glare, was an inch away from his. “Is that why you hit on her?” Mason pushed against him. “Is that why you had that grin on your face? If I was in your head the way you’re in mine what would I have seen?”
He pushed Mason back matching Mason’s strength.
“I knew you popped in. Did you hear what I said before you bailed? Something about irony.”
Mason didn’t hear, but that didn’t make him cool with the way Gavin was looking at her.
Mason had never acted this way before, not even when River was his. It had to be the Phoenix thing in his system. He was ready to kill anyone that even looked River’s way—like it was his right to do so.
“You and I have talked about this. We’re not going down the road of dating the same girl again. Irony. I get why you were so pulled to Indie, why that went down as fast and hot as it did.”
Mason didn’t even try to deny the rebound thing.
“She feels the same way you do,” Gavin said.
“Stop yanking my chain. I went back after I was over the idea of killing you for looking at her like that, and I heard her tell you she was taken.”
“Then why are you outside her room?”
“Because my grandmother is a very convincing woman.”
He popped a brow.
“I didn’t end it right with River. I’m trying to find a way to make it right. At least so she can be here and not feel at odds about it.”
“She said it ended badly.”
“It did.”
“Couldn’t have been that bad if you’re still in love with her, and her energy seizes at the mere thought of you.”
“Seizes?”
“Her aura turned crimson the second I alluded to you. Passion, love. Some anger, I’m sure. But her feelings are not dead in the water. And for the record when she said ‘both’, whoever he is did not strike an emotion, so for all we know that was a fib.”
“She doesn’t lie. There is no way she’s single, or has been.”
“Like you have been? Stop giving me that murderous glare. You’re a player. It’s your front. Jewls, Sophia, Indie and all those between never once caught your interest the way this has. You were just going through the motions, getting what you needed out of it, using flirting and charm as a form of deflection, keeping the attention off of you so you would never be forced to say how you really felt.”
“Thanks, man, that makes me feel awesome.”
“It should if you see it the right way.”
“I’m not seeing any of this the right way. We have a universe standing between us.”
“You’re worried about a few state lines?”
“No, I’m worried about this war. My cousin told me River is just like me, a Guardian, to someone else, obviously. So tell me, brother, how I am I supposed to walk up to this girl and tell her I’m jacked up, severely, and I still care about her, but we can’t be together? Because the girl she thought I cheated on her with—that by the way I later did hook up with—is someone I have to throw my life down for. How am I supposed to tell her that I don’t want her in this war, that Indie is more important than who she is meant to protect? I can’t,
no one can. We have always been doomed, clearly.”
“Who is she guarding?”
“Think of the most powerful coven leader you could ever imagine, then triple the dominance, give him a daughter, and assign River as her guard and you might be close to grasping this.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. Royalty, that is what the BellaRose and Sabien name means in my old neighborhood.”
He let out a curse. “You still have to deal with this. I mean, it’s not like Indie is going to counter that man or his daughter. If anything, if River is hurt, Indie should be able to bring her back.”
“Hurt? We can’t figure out what to do with the souls locked in those freaking clocks much less the spirits at the gates, and you’re telling me Indie will just figure it out if River gets hurt.” After a pissed sway of his head he said. “Get real, man. This is over already.”
“She’s not in danger while she’s here. This is all fresh, days fresh. Down the road when it counts, yes, Indie will figure it out, she’d do anything for us.”
“This is not fresh for River. They’re expecting something any day, which means River is speed reading down there right now, probably has a flight booked out of here already.”
“Skylynn told her she was not going anywhere right now, that whatever dead they were going raise would be done by Indie.”
“You tell River not to do something, and you can bet that will be the first thing she does—what dead?”
“Not sure on that, you’ll have to ask her.”
Awesome.
***
Gavin had told River, ‘walk to the wall, press the marble stone, a magic staircase will appear. Once you reach the dome room, climb the stairs to the third level, seven doors down take a left, three doors down you’ll find your room.’
It’s taken her ten minutes of speed walking just to reach the first wall. Who in the freaking world would need a house this big? Better question, how would anyone find the energy to move a house this big? I got nothin’.
River found the only marble stone in the wall and pressed it in, and what do you know a staircase started to appear. Nifty.
She followed it up, ran up actually, a few times she landed on air and had to catch her balance.
Dome room, that makes sense. There was a large dome as a ceiling in this oval formal room.