Genesis (16 page)

I cocked my head. “And I
don’t?”

“
You have desire, my lady,
but I am afraid it will not be good enough.”

“
Why did Tabitha order the
training to be shortened then?”

He turned away from me, but I wouldn’t
let him get very far. I stood in front of him. “I can take it. Just
tell me what’s going on.”

For a moment I thought he was going to
refuse me then he sighed. “Tabitha had a vision. She has not shared
the details with anyone, but she ordered Taveon to bring you to me
just after we received word of a large compound found on the
outskirts of Phoenix.”

“
Arizona?”

He nodded. “It appears the Order has
set up compounds near every known rebel stronghold.”

When he didn’t go on I prodded him.
“What else?”

“
The Order has integrated
into the rebel hierarchy, but we can’t determine if the rebels are
aware of this. We also don’t know exactly what the Order has
planned.”

So even if I had stayed at home and
gone to Snow College this crazy life would have eventually found
me. That was comforting. Something else bothered me. “I thought
there was only one sanctuary.”

He grumbled something under his breath.
“I said stronghold.”

“
What’s the
difference?”

“
We weren’t aware of the
rebel sanctuary when news spread of your emergence into the human
realm.” He smiled at me. “You took us all by surprise. We couldn’t
be sure where you came from, and the council ordered a search of
the area after we had you within Faeresia. When we arrived, the
town you grew up in had been leveled.”

My stomach turned to stone as I thought
about the home I would probably never see again. “What
happened?”

“
The official story is
earthquake, but we think the Order had something to do with it. We
also know that many Elementals were taken from the facility your
aunt headed.”

“
Were they taken to
Okefenokee with my family?”

“
We don’t think so. I have
been lead to believe they have been placed in other compounds
around the globe.”

I cringed, feeling the weight of my
calling once again. “What will the Order do with them?”

“
That is something I wish I
knew. I haven’t gotten permission to send teams to the compounds.
With the dangers that now exist to my people, reconnaissance is no
longer safe.”

I frowned at him. “Neither is sitting
around waiting for the enemy to get stronger. Haven’t they already
allowed this to go on long enough? Why don’t you people just go get
Ainessa?”

Jett hissed at me before he grabbed my
hand. We were suddenly in a different room. “Never say her name!
Haven’t you learned anything?”

I ignored the dizziness and tried to
focus on speaking. “What I have learned is that no one wants to
confront her for what she has done.”

“
It is not as simple as you
have imagined, Rayla. She is more powerful than any of us could
have anticipated. Besides having infiltrated into the highest
levels of the council, she brought down two of our strongest
warriors. Worst of all, she has gained control of dark
matter.”

“
Why are you telling me
things I already know?” I shouted.

“
Because you haven’t learned
the lesson. You think you are being strong when you say her name.
You think you can bluff your way through this life?” He clasped my
elbows. “My lady, you could not be more wrong. As the Nexus you
have unlimited potential for power, but she has the darkest force
in existence at her fingertips. All she needs is a bit more power
from unsuspecting Fae and she will be able to unleash the dark
matter, and I am quite certain she will come after you first. Once
it has finished devouring your power, your world will be next. She
will not stop until she has created her own.”

“
God would never allow that
to happen!”

“
Oh, no? Think about it,
Rayla. He cannot stop the free will of man. It is part of the
parameters of this world.”

Silence claimed me. I couldn’t speak
for a while. Jett didn’t push me to respond; he let me process what
he told me. “Why didn’t someone tell me sooner?”

“
We cannot jeopardize who
you will become, my lady. We need you and your power to conquer
her.” He stepped closer and caressed my chin. “She cannot be
allowed to have you.”

I looked away, unnerved by his soft
touch. “If she has you quaking like this, how am I supposed to
fight her?”

He took a step back, the formal façade
securely over his features once again. “Forgive me for putting such
a burden at your feet. I did not mean to imply that you need to do
this alone. You cannot. But the sooner you choose your bondmate,
the quicker we will be able to deal with her betrayal.”

“
The council claimed they
had it under control.”

“
The council claims many
things.”

I shook my head. This just kept getting
deeper. “Who can I trust?”

His expression was unreadable. “Only
you can decide such a thing.”

“
That’s not very
helpful.”

“
I know.” He nudged my
shoulder. “Enough training. How would you like to go
sightseeing?”

What was there to see around here?
Since I had no hope of seeing my mom again, I shrugged. “I
guess.”

“
Don’t sound so
enthusiastic.”

I raised my brows, smiling. “Stop
talking and start showing then!”

He laughed then reached for
me.

We appeared outside in a small pasture.
Over in the corner under a surprisingly verdant tree stood the
white pegasus I had glimpsed a few weeks ago when the fae army came
to rescue me from the island. My heart twisted for Styx, and with
it came a clench of renewed anger for Jett in my gut.

He led me closer. I tried to keep my
judgments from showing on my face, but I wasn’t sure how long I was
going to be able to hold in my temper. Why would Jett take Styx’s
mate? For that matter, why didn’t she just fly away? Unless
something kept her here, but what?

The closer we got to her, the more
beautiful she became. If Styx was darkness, she was pure light. Her
wings glimmered in the sunlight as if a pale dusting of diamonds
covered her. She shimmied at our approach. Jett made a cooing noise
that settled her down immediately. She didn’t exactly appear afraid
of him, especially since she trotted happily toward us. She stopped
two feet away then bobbed her head while she nickered.

Jett reached out and rubbed between her
eyes. She nudged his hand with the tip of her nose as if asking for
something in particular. He laughed. “So impatient.” He pulled some
kind of fruit out of his pocket. I watched her take the shining orb
wishing I had one of my own. All that training had drained
me.

“
What’s her name?” I
asked.

Jett glanced at me before he mounted.
“Bastion.” The pegasus sidled in response to her name.

It fit. I smiled at her. “Good to meet
you, Bastion.” I waited for her response to sink into my mind, but
nothing happened. Tentatively, I sought her out. Nothing. There was
nothing. How odd.

Jett pulled me up behind him. He held
no reins; however, Bastion cantered toward a clearing as if he were
guiding her. Once she cleared the trees, we took flight.

Exhilaration ignited my belly, and I
squealed when we banked left. The arid wind circled my face, making
it difficult to breathe. I didn’t care. This was just too much fun
to worry about something so trivial.

After Bastion leveled off, I set to
scanning the landscape. Pockets of green dotted the otherwise tan
ground below. They had to be settlements of some kind, but I
couldn’t make out anything more than vague structures from this
height.

Jett shifted and turned in the seat.
“So, what do you think?”

I laughed. “I’d be able to tell you
more if we actually landed somewhere.”

“
Good point,” he said. We
immediately descended in a cloud of kicked up dust.

When the air finally cleared, Jett
handed me down then hopped off Bastion’s back. His smile lit up
when I gasped at the sight of the nearing oasis. Similar to
something you would see on a postcard, the palm trees swayed in the
gusty wind. We made it through the underbrush, and I smiled at the
sight of a sparkling pool. Smooth rocks lined the edges as if
strategically placed for best access.

I ran over to one and climbed on. The
glistening water invited me to plunge into its cool depths, so I
stripped off my shoes and dipped in my toes. Just right, but what
now? I wasn’t comfortable with skinny dipping, besides the idea of
spending wet time with Jett sent a shiver through me.

Jett raced past me and dive-bombed into
the pool, completely soaking me in the process. I laughed, not
needing any more encouragement to join him. I pulled my knees to my
chest just before I entered the water. When I surfaced, Jett was
wiping water from his dark eyes.

He grinned. “Water war?”

In answer I splashed him.

“
So that’s how it’s going to
be?” Before I could escape, he grabbed my upper arm then tucked me
against his chest. He turned me around and pushed me under. No
fair. He could reach the bottom. I kicked away from him and set to
work a plan I hoped I could pull off.

I emerged five feet away from him.
“Cheater!”

“
I did no such thing, Rayla.
You need to learn to move faster.”

“
Uh-huh,” I said, trying to
keep my gaze off the boulder sized ball of water I had levitated to
just about over his head. “And you need to watch out.” Without
another word I dumped it on him.

He shook out his hair and laughed. The
beautiful sound reverberated inside me.

How had I ever been afraid of this
man?

He moved toward me. “Oh, it’s on
now!”

“
Learned some new words when
we were out sightseeing, did you?”

He cocked his head. “I might have been
listening to a few young people earlier.”

I smiled as charmingly as I could
manage while I froze the water around me, yet made sure to leave a
cocoon of warmth near my body. Jett halted at the barrier, giving
me a questioning stare. “You have not had training in the water
element, have you?”

I shrugged. “Luke showed me a few
things on the way to Lombarda.” His concerned expression didn’t
change. “What is it?”

He tried to wipe the look from his
eyes, but I wasn’t buying his placid mask. “I hadn’t expected you
to be this adept.”

I laughed. “I hadn’t expected you to be
that much of a kill-joy, either, but here we are.”

He tested the blockade I had created.
“Solid. Well done.”

I started to say thanks, but the water
around me jiggled with a suspicious force. Two seconds later, sharp
chunks of ice rained down around my head. “Careful,” I chided. “You
trying to kill me or something?”

He frowned. “I would sooner banish
myself to the dark realms, Rayla.”

“
I was kidding! Geez. Don’t
you know how to take a joke?”

He shrugged. “I don’t get much occasion
for such skills.”

As captain of the fae army, probably
not. “Well, maybe we should work on that.”

“
I’d be happy to…another
time because unfortunately right now we have to return to the
fortress.”

I frowned. We were having fun, at least
I was anyway. “Why?”

He gave me a strange look. “Eldrea is
best discovered in the light of day.”

Okay. Weird reply. “What, are there
monsters lurking in the dark or something?”

Shadows danced in his eyes. “Let’s just
say, you wouldn’t want to be caught out in the open when night
falls.”

I sloshed through the water toward him.
“Why won’t you answer me?”

His eyes were clearly evading. “I don’t
want to scare you.”

“
Like you aren’t already.
You’re freaking me out, Jett.” I circled a look behind me. “What
exactly is out here?” Maybe something had really been stalking me?
I was tempted to tell him. The next time it happened, I would. For
now I didn’t want to ruin our day.

He groaned. “Some of the creatures from
the borderlands roam this place during the dark hours.”

“
Like hellhounds?” I
wondered how Cerberus was. I still couldn’t believe how he had
transformed after I touched him. His wound hadn’t just healed, his
entire body had morphed into the biggest hellhound out there. I
hoped he was adjusting well. It warmed my heart to think I had
changed things for him.

“
Sure,” he said. “But I
meant wraiths.”

The word brought frightening images
into my mind. I faced him. “Do borderland creatures have access to
Uldran too?”

He frowned at me. “Not that I am aware
of; why?”

“
It’s just a few times I
felt like I was being watched. I thought maybe you might know who
it was?” Or maybe Cerberus had been checking on me? “Are you afraid
of wraiths?”