A Demon's Dark Embrace: An Elite Guards Novel (22 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

In a futile effort to take her mind off the Demon, she sat on the floor and continued to work through the stacks of papers, books, and files. She hated that her heart beat wildly at the array of emotions going through her. She needed to get away from him before she ended up falling for her captor, because when it was all said and done, that’s just what he was.

She stood and moved to another stack of papers, and picked them up, scrutinizing them as she scanned them. Nothing made sense; the files they’d retrieved from the catacombs, they were all wrong. Pages were still missing, and the supposed relics he was referring to weren’t mentioned in the pages at all!

She mentally replayed her training and how they’d worked the archives. Her heart sped as realization dawned on her and she could have sworn that the proverbial light bulb lit up above her head.

“This isn’t working,” she told herself and smiled. “It’s not working because you’re not doing it right.” She mentally saw the files in her mind and her eyes moved over the stacks. “You’re an idiot!”

“You’re not an idiot,” Ristan said softly from where he’d entered the room quietly, just in time to watch her berate herself. “I need to apologize for earlier,” he started, but she held up her hand for silence.

“Not now, I’m being brilliant,” she quipped as she grabbed for the pen and started writing down letters for each file. “I thought…well, I thought the missing pages were in the room we visited in the lower levels of the catacombs, but I don’t think they are. You see, I’m not the only librarian with a photographic memory, and I’ve been adding things up. One, what is the safest way to hide sensitive information from an enemy? Two, why hide something where people would know to look? And three, what if you could have an entire file saved in person’s mind that not even they knew about?”

“I don’t follow,” he said.

“I have the files up here,” she said tapping her head. “Think of it like this; if you want to hide information from an enemy in a way that they could never decode it or access it, yet you needed to keep it on hand; where would you put it? You wouldn’t put it all in the same file, because if your enemy wanted it, they’d go straight for it. So I think the more sensitive archives were split up and then sent to different parts of the catacombs. However, I know I wasn’t the only one who could easily remember the files, so what if the librarians are a type of backup memory drive?”

“Like a flash drive for a computer?” he asked as he turned it over in his head.

“Exactly,” she said with enthusiasm as her eyes lit up with the idea. “Think about it, though. We didn’t use computers to back them up, as the Guild library system was initiated before computers were even an idea, and once they became commonplace, security was always an issue. In the Guild system, the librarians would process the mission logs or the archives as they came in from the other Guilds, then we would have another librarian check our work, then they would go into another section with the Elders before they were finally filed away. I think the Elders would decide which information was classified and needed to be split up and they were the ones who hid the pages that had been separated. As it was, I was lucky I knew where some of the hiding places were for the separated pages because I’d gone with a few of the Elders when they filed them. I just didn’t know exactly what was going on at the time. I was still pretty young and they didn’t tell me what we were doing other than filing old archives. I do remember one time that they couldn’t find all of the pages to an archive that an Enforcer had requested from a mission; the Elders couldn’t find them, and Alden asked me to write down the missing pages word for word, because I had it here,” she said and tapped on her head again. 

“Well fuck me, you’re a backup hard drive for the Guild,” he said with a smile that touched his eyes briefly before he shook his head. “Brilliant bastards,” he mumbled. “This entire time we’ve been wondering how those archives never end up in enemy hands or how to get the ones on the relics back and couldn’t figure it out. It’s so simple and yet also so complex that no one would even consider it.”

“If it’s actually true; but either way, I can get the information on these ones. I’m not sure what we should do for any archives I didn’t process myself,” she said with a beaming smile that lit up her eyes.

“So they gave them to you, and you have them all in here,” he asked as he tapped on his temple and winced. “And now I have you.”

She expelled a breath and nodded her head. “Yes,” she admitted. “Now that I think about it, I thumbed through a lot of the archives as I returned them to the shelves…” she trailed off in wonder as the impact of the Guild system hit her. Sure, it was a system that had flaws, but it was probably more secure than most corporations had set up on their computer networks and subject to hackers on any given day. “Anyway, this also means that we don’t need to continue searching for missing pages because I have them in my head.”

“Good,” he said as he closed his eyes. “I’m going to bed,” he announced abruptly as he stood and moved towards the door. He waited for her to follow, but when she just stood watching him, he grinned. “Easy or the hard way, little librarian, tonight I don’t care either way. Hard way will get you fucked here and now; easy way will probably postpone playtime for the morning. Decide.”

“I’m coming,” she said as she moved in his direction and watched as his eyes smiled at her.

“No, not yet. Trust me; you will know when you are coming, because you’ll be screaming like earlier.” His eyes sparkled with mischief as he grinned wickedly.

“I need sleep,” she hissed, then gasped as his magic slithered around her skin, and before she could protest, she was dressed in a creamy satin nightgown that showed off more than it hid from prying eyes.

Once they entered his bedroom, he pointed at the lights, flicked his finger down to dim them, and crawled across the bed without a care in the world as his clothes seemed to melt away from his body. She, however, felt the unease of having his huge, now naked, sex God body bared before her eyes. He turned over slowly, revealing a very impressive erection. She slid onto the bed and gave him her back as she pretended to not notice it.

“Get some sleep; tomorrow we will be heading out,” Ristan warned, as his hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her close against his body, cradling her tightly to himself. She didn’t stop him, because based on his past actions, it would have been pointless to even try.

She replayed the day’s events and felt elated at her discovery and proud to know that she hadn’t just been pushing papers around as a simple librarian. That her place inside the Guild had meant something, and had been a meaningful position that not just anyone could do. Her joy faded a little as she thought about her other discovery of the day. She was feeling an emotional connection with her captor, and she found herself wanting to delve deeper into it, which was insane. She found that she enjoyed having sexual relations with him, but it should end there, right?

She’d needed the connection of his mouth against hers as much as she’d needed him to be inside her body. His touch felt like fire and it kindled her desire until it was a smoldering blaze that not even the most skilled firefighter could put out. She also liked talking to him; he was intelligent, funny and, since she had come to really know him, she didn’t feel that awkward or self-conscious.

His body cradled hers, and she closed her eyes as tears welled, and her heart pounded against her chest with what was happening. She was more than falling for her captor; she had already fallen for him.

She was addicted to his company, his touch, and his kisses.

This was so freaking bad!

*~*~*

Ristan felt the moment she’d fallen asleep and opened his eyes. He’d felt her emotions, and knew she was just as screwed as he was. He sensed what she was feeling as she’d come to the realization that she was becoming emotionally attached to him—and damn if it didn’t bring warmth to him that left him reeling with a sense of joy he’d never felt before.

This was new territory for him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to tread into this kind of new terrain. Every excuse he made up to stay away, wouldn’t last more than a moment or two and his resolve kept failing. He couldn’t get enough of her, and even though he knew he’d developed feelings for her, he wasn’t sure staying around her for much longer was healthy for her.

Eventually, Danu would come to him. Their little tiffs wouldn’t be enough to make her leave him alone for very long. Olivia’s life would be in danger at that point, and he wasn’t sure that he could honestly say that she was his prisoner and he was only torturing her because their relationship was evolving; he just wasn’t sure where it had taken a turn into her being more than his prisoner.

He held her against his body, protected in his embrace, and considered his options. One, he could keep her as his sex slave. That held a great deal of appeal and many Fae had pets like that. But it might break her spirit, and that wasn’t something he wanted to do. He loved watching the fire in her eyes and he enjoyed finding ways to provoke it. Two, he could have her help him look for the relics and help them with deciphering the archives. He could consider it payment for her part in his capture and let her go once she finished helping them. He at least owed her that much.

His stomach churned at the thought of her leaving this bed, let alone leaving his world. If he could figure out a solid remedy to his problem with the Goddess, maybe he could have the best of both worlds. He shook his head before he placed a soft kiss to the back of her neck and closed his eyes. He needed to pull away from her, because letting her go wasn’t going to be an easy feat.

He shifted in the bed as he heard Ryder call for him through their shared mental link, and he groaned softly with the summons. He sat up as he gently detangled his limbs from hers and whispered a spell to strengthen the wards that surrounded the house that would hopefully make it harder for Danu to find his or Olivia’s signature traces leading to this location. He knew he couldn’t hide from her forever; she was a Goddess, after all. As it was, he was buying time to figure out how to fix the issue.

He moved from the bed slowly and glamoured on his armor that designated him as one of the Elite Guard before he opened a portal and sifted into Faery.

Ryder was in the war room, spreading an ancient scroll across the table as he lifted his eyes with a subtle greeting to his brother.

“For the love of the Gods, tell me you got something on the archives?” Ryder asked as he picked up more papers and tossed them into the stack Zahruk was still adding to.

“I don’t think you’ll find any useful information in there,” he said as he sat beside the growing stack. “Olivia had a breakthrough, but it’s not certain.”

“Elaborate,” Ryder said as he took the chair opposite Ristan.

The men turned as Synthia entered the room, her eyes glowing as she smiled at Ristan. She moved gracefully as she slid into the chair at Ryder’s side.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she took in the faces of those in the room and Ryder gestured for Ristan to continue.

“Olivia has a photographic memory,” he explained. “She doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that she and a few of the other librarians had the same ability. She thinks that it’s how the Guild keeps the archives safe from enemies. The librarians are like the backup drives for the Guild.”

“It’s inside her head,” Ryder mused. “What if she was killed? They’d lose the information. Technically, it’s brilliant, but there are a lot of flaws in that plan. Too many unknowns,” Ryder mused as he considered Ristan’s story.

“That’s the thing; they would send new mission logs and archives through two librarians and then through an Elder before they were filed. Olivia thinks the sensitive archives were split up by the Elders and sent to separate areas of the catacombs. Just imagine how much information she could have potentially absorbed as she looked through those tomes and scrolls before she refiled the returns in the library catacombs. Speaking of which, I took her to the catacombs today and we found some strange shit. One being a mausoleum full of caskets, the other being a room that she hadn’t known about which was filled with grimoires. She brought back files and a lot of loose pages that should have made the archives we have make sense, but they don’t fit or pertain to the archives in any way.”

“There’s a lot down there. Too bad you didn’t sense any relics when we went through there the first time.” Synthia shook her head and placed her hand on the top of Ryder’s comfortingly.

“Just wards,” Ryder agreed. “I would have sensed the relics if they’d been inside the walls of the Guild.”

“I don’t think the Guild would have left them there, at least not at the Spokane Guild.”

“No actual relics, a lot of information, though. We did get the cauldron because of the information stored there, and I did get a good lead on another relic, but until I’m certain what and where it is, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Synthia agreed as she smiled. It evolved into a grin in her excitement as a thought struck her. “I know Olivia was given a file by Marie that pertained to a dagger; I know because I was the one she asked to hand it to Olivia. It was weird, and at the time I thought the same. It was a long while back and Olivia was fresh out of training. Marie insisted that I give her the file and only her. I’m wondering if Marie was a little clairvoyant, because if it is what I think it is, we have the location to the dagger and it could lead us to the other relics.”

“You gave Olivia the file, but that also means another librarian had the same information,” Ristan noted.

“Maybe, but maybe not, Marie was there when I handed it to Olivia, and she remained in the room. She was also the one who helped the librarians and taught them how to navigate through the catacombs. If she knew what I was, and could sense the future in the way that you can, Ristan, maybe she only wanted me and Olivia to know of its existence.”

“I guess I better go ask a Witch about a dagger,” he said as he pushed away from the table and stood.

“How is she?” Synthia asked, her eyes sharp as she took in his proud stance and smirk that lit in his eyes.

“She’s mine,” he said with a short grin. “I have a few loose ends to tie up. After that, I’ll be heading out to see what I can find. I’m going to need someone watching my back, though, because I’m sure if we figured it out, the Mages are not far behind us,” he admitted. Even though he could handle most the shit those sick, twisted fucks could throw at him, he’d be moving with a woman at his heels and he wanted to be sure nothing happened to her while she helped them.

“Be careful of the devil,” Ryder said with a wicked grin. “That one could be far more dangerous than he appears. You let us know when you need help; you know we will come when needed. There isn’t one of us who wouldn’t draw swords to aid you.”

“I’m counting on that,” he said as he stood and moved from the room.