Read Between the Waters (Symphony of Light) Online

Authors: Renea Mason

Tags: #Paranormal Romance, #Paranormal Erotic Romance

Between the Waters (Symphony of Light) (9 page)

BOOK: Between the Waters (Symphony of Light)
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“And that is supposed to deter me?”

“That sassy mouth of yours drives me mad.” He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back so he could whisper in my ear. “Do you have any idea what that means?” His stubble left a pleasant burn on my neck with each thrust.

“That my mouth is going to get me in trouble.”

“No. Wrong, love.” He kissed me behind the ear. “I just broke a six-hundred-year-old vow. I’m afraid your mouth is going to be too busy making up for lost time.”

He turned my head and captured my lips as he unleashed his punishment.

He fucked me so hard it was impossible to tell if the penitence was for him or me. But one thing above all else: he affirmed I was alive.

“I almost lost you.” He wrapped his arm across my throat and held my back to his chest while he gave into his desire. “I love you so bloody much, it hurts.”

The pain and passion in his words brought me to the precipice. My legs shook as orgasm gripped me, stealing my breath and squeezing him tight.

His arms closed around me as his syncopated thrusts signaled his impending release.

He groaned, my name his final utterance as he filled me once more with splash after splash of seed.

The soft kisses on my neck, caresses on my arms. Tender Overton was back.

“I love you so much more than I ever thought possible. I would have done anything to save you.”

I wanted to give him the words, but didn’t. If I did love him, saying it out loud made it seem as though I had given up on Cyril. Was it possible to love them both?

“You don’t need to say anything. I know you still love him. I do too. I just hope someday your heart will grow to hold us both.”

He turned me around. I felt the evidence of our lovemaking trickle down my thigh. He picked up his shirt and held it so I could slip my arms through the sleeve. When he bent to pick up his pants, he paused and then ran his finger up the inside of my leg, collecting the thick moisture on his finger. He placed a hand on my abdomen.

“Knowing I left a part of myself inside you…if only…” He paused, and then he lifted his gaze to connect with mine. The depth of his love could not be disputed. I knew what he was thinking. I’d never know children from any of them; it simply wasn’t possible. But there were advantages—no disease, no birth control.

He rose, placed a soft kiss on my lips, and buttoned the shirt before helping me into his jeans. He slipped on his boxers and lifted me. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”

I wanted to climb into his arms and never think again of the past hour, but there was too much at risk. “Clarence! We’ve got to find Clarence.”

“I’m sure he knows the way home.” He took long stride up the hillside.

“I doubt it. Go that way.” I pointed upstream.

“Linden, love, I’m not exactly dressed to be encountering guests.”

“You don’t understand. Just go.”

“Fine, but you’re going to do the explaining.” He bent and kissed my hair.

“Believe me that’s the last of our worries.”

“If the others find out about us, it’s going to make things…difficult…” We crested the hill, and my ritual mound came into sight. “Dear Lord, what did you do, Linden?”

Blood covered the ground, and two bodies lay supine.

I gasped.

Overton pulled me tight against him.

“Oh my God. Put me down.” I writhed in his arms until he released me.

I stumbled as I hit the ground and sprinted toward the gruesome scene. “It can’t be.” As I looked down on the body that was once the beast that so graciously gave its life to save Clarence, what I saw was not a beast at all.

Overton’s words mimicked my thoughts, “Oh no, Mary…Lance. What could have done this?”

I caught the sob in my throat. “I did.”

“I don’t believe you. There is no way.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind, encasing me.

“Let me go. We’ve got to find Clarence. We’ve got to find Clarence. If he attacked me, he could hurt other people.”

The opening of Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach broke through the tension of the moment. He released me and answered his phone. Wait…his fucking cell phone was working?

“Yes. Splendid. I’m not quite sure. I see. Yes, I found her. You got my location? Send Dominic. On my way.” He pressed a button on his phone and turned me to face him.

So much anger filled me, before I could stop myself, I punched him. “How did you get your cell phone to work? What makes you so fucking special? Had my phone worked none of this would have happened.” My hand throbbed. Overton was a solid son of a bitch.

“Satellite, love. How do you think I found you? After your stunt the other night, I sent your car out to get a tracer placed on it. That’s why I wanted you to take mine. I can track it by satellite. When you veered off the beaten path, I figured I’d check on you.”

“You were going to spy on me!”

“Absolutely. And I make no apologies for it. Aren’t you glad I did?”

I hit him again.

“Enough of that. You’re cranky and unreasonable. Clarence is at the house. They found him when they came looking for me. I sent them a message when I saw the empty car.” He picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

“Overton. Stop. You can’t just leave them here.”

“I’m not planning on it. Dominic is our…cleaner. I guess that’s what you might call him. He’ll see that they are cared for.”

“What the fuck? You have a cleaner? Am I part of the supernatural mob?”

Overton was graceful in his navigation of the woods—perfectly silent and swift. We reached the car in no time. His mouth was equally as quiet as he ignored my tirade.

“So you’re not denying it?”

He growled. “No, I’m simply not going to entertain nonsense. You know what we are and what becomes necessary sometimes. If you remember, we’ve had to use Dominic’s skills, on one occasion, because of you.”

“Fuck you, Overton.”

“Love, I told you what it does to me when you call me Overton. Now get in the car, or we’re going to work out all that misguided frustration the old-fashioned way. Duck your head.”

 

Chapter Eight

Ties

 

What the fuck had I done? The cold night air stung my face as I stepped out on the balcony. The city sparkled against the black backdrop. The metal tube I clutched in my fist took on the new ambient temperature and caused my fingers to ache. I had to let go, not of just the cylinder, but to say good-bye to everything I was before. Tonight I crossed a line, perhaps two. I may or may not have been mortal, but there was no way I could be considered human now.

I wrapped the thick robe around me, dropped the towel I held in my other hand to the ground, and dropped to my knees. With the terrycloth settled on the concrete, I uncapped the capsule and poured the three orbs into my silk-covered hand. I shivered with the passing breeze, looked up into the night sky, then closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath.

Could I do this? I placed the orbs on the towel. From the moment I gained the ability to retrieve souls from the dead and witness all of the experiences each life held, I made excuse after excuse for not releasing the souls of my parents and aunt. Taking a life was something I never thought I was capable of, but I now had a body count. The only thing left to do was to cut all ties to my past and embrace the insanity my life had become.

The click of the door told me he was here. I had mixed feelings—not wanting to be alone—but a certain amount of self-pity I needed to indulge in. I knew he wouldn’t allow it.

“Have you ever loved someone you’ve never met?” My words carried on the wind.

Overton wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, placed another on the ground, and took a seat beside me.

“Yes. I’ve dreamed of you for the entirety of my existence. I was certain of my love for you long before I met you.”

“I’ve watched over and over again, the point in time where my parents begged Cyril to save me. I felt my mother wash away the pain of my birth with her love for me. When Cyril bit into his wrist and fed me his blood, she wasn’t at all afraid. She knew he could save me. She would have done anything for me.”

“I’ve encountered humans over the years who have had a kind of sixth sense about Cyril. Perhaps your mother was one.” He reached over and pulled the blanket so that it covered my shoulder.

“I don’t know. I don’t know who I am anymore, and trying to be who I was isn’t helping me.”

“How can I help?”

“I’ve got to let them go. It’s not fair to keep them in purgatory just so I can root around in their memories. Besides, with Clarence gone, this is the last tie.”

“He’s not exactly gone; he’s just different.”

“He tried to attack me. I was running from him when I fell off the damn cliff.” The wind kicked up again, and I shivered. Overton wrapped his arms around me.

“He was confused. We all are after being soul-bound. When you are done here, you should go talk with him.” He placed a soft kiss in my hair. “There is something I should warn you about.”

“Great. More surprises.”

“When you hurry the ritual or perhaps when performing it under duress, sometimes everything isn’t quite as cohesive. When Cyril created me, Dominic, Sinclair, Thoresen, and Rhys, we were born blank slates. Outside some strange convictions there really weren’t many intact memories that carried with us.”

“What about your celibacy?”

“Well, love, it seems you’ve cured me of that.” He chuckled, than ran his fingers along my cheek. “OK, seriously. I know what you are getting at, but those kinds of propensities are more like someone’s irrational fear of spiders or what some humans equate to past life experiences. They are more feelings than memories.”

“You didn’t mention Moreaux.”

“You’re right. His is the only transformation that Cyril performed under less than ideal conditions, besides your aunt. I’m a little fuzzy on the details, but Moreaux’s dominant soul was a very close friend of Cyril’s, an accomplished musician he held in high regard. He was attacked after leaving the pub one evening and was approaching death when Cyril found him. To save him, he had to act fast. The result is that Moreaux is not quite as cohesive as the rest of us. He retains many of his memories because he’s not balanced. Think of it like having multiple personality disorder. For the most part he is Guillaume de Machaut, famed medieval poet and composer, but every now and then another side takes hold.”

“Is that why he stays away? Doesn’t he fit in?”

He gave me a tight squeeze. “It’s not that, love. He never knows how he’ll react to things. He’s had a hard time adjusting.”

“So you’re saying Clarence is like Moreaux?”

“We believe so.”

“But he didn’t recognize me.”

“I bet he does now.” He stroked his finger down under my chin, lifting my face toward him. “Would you like me to leave while you—”

“No. Please stay.”

He placed a soft kiss upon my lips. “You do your thing. I’ll make sure you’re warm.” He nestled in behind me, straddling me, and wrapped his arms around my waist.

Cyril always said, “Magic is equal parts energy and will.” Whatever it was, it always taxed me. Ever since the first night he showed me how to release souls, I had been reluctant to do it again. I knew it was my duty, but the soul-freeing hangover I got was not incentive. He told me it would get better, but there were times I grew so tired that I was willing to leave the entire world in purgatory.

The trick was only releasing the souls in front of me and not calling them from miles away. I found that if I did too many at once, I passed out. I couldn’t afford that. I needed to see Clarence.

“Nium parnum omsti narum.” I breathed in the cold air and held it. I focused on the river below—an excellent source of energy—and tried to ignore Overton’s heat. His proximity ignited my overstimulated libido, but I couldn’t let it rule the moment.

“Nium parnum omsti narum.” My mind quieted, the numbness started in my fingertips. I reached down and picked up my aunt’s soul.

Slammed with images, I held it tight and clasped it in both my hands. “Nium parnum omsti narum.” I couldn’t allow what I saw to distract me.

More energy filled me, and I thought of the happiness I wished my aunt, the freedom she would have on the other side, and my apology for never understanding what she went through.

I squeezed my hands and mashed my palms together all the while chanting. “Nium parnum omsti narum.”

With the subtle pop and the rush of euphoria, the energy escaped. I unclenched my hands and threw the dust that remained into the air. It glittered like a fine silver powder. It was only the remnant, the casing of the soul that remained. The energy was free. My aunt was free. If there was a heaven, I hoped she found her place there. That was my prayer.

I did the same with my father and then my mother. I had asked Cyril once how he knew what he was doing was right. How did he know he wasn’t simply destroying the soul? He told me once I experienced it, I’d have no doubt. He was right. The unexplainable feeling that came over me the instant the soul was free was an indescribable peace.

I sighed. My final connection broken.

“Are you all right, love?” Overton reached up and stroked my hair.

“I am. I just need a few minutes to gather myself.”

“Take your time.” He kissed my ear. “Every day, I’m more in awe of you. Such a beautiful, confident woman and extraordinary beyond compare. I consider myself blessed that you indulge me.”

“Indulge you? I don’t indulge you.” He made it sound as if I were doing him a favor. I wiggled free of his hold and turned to face him, straddling his waist. “Why would you say that?” I searched his eyes.

“Linden, we both know what’s happening here. I have no doubt that given enough time you’ll free Cyril, and when you do, I’ll step aside.”

“You won’t have to. I’ll free you too—break the bond. Then you’ll be able to find someone you want to love.”

“You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” He cupped my face with both hands. “What a cruel world to have given me a taste.”

“You won’t care anymore. Maybe you’ll be over the whole celibacy thing and you can get yourself laid every once and a while.”

BOOK: Between the Waters (Symphony of Light)
5.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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