Jewel of Darkness (15 page)

She could hear his rapid breathing. Had she not been the object of his abuse she would have thought he’d just run a marathon. Jewel tried to steel herself for the blow that she knew was coming. But after several minutes of nothing, she looked up. Volcan was staring down at her. His face was contorted into a picture of rage. She saw the minute he came to a decision. The triumph in his eyes told her she was not going to like what it was.

“If I cannot get you to obey by punishing you, then I will punish the ones you love. Perhaps, I will pay your mother a visit. Do you think she would fare as well as you have if I turned my wrath on her?”

Jewel’s blood ran cold as his words sunk in. He’d found her weakness. She would protect those she cared about at any cost. He’d won. Jewel shifted until she was on her knees and then bowed her head before Volcan. Her stomach rolled in revulsion of her actions, but she didn’t know what other choice she had. She would not stand by and watch others be tortured by Volcan if there was something she could do to stop it.

“I knew you would come around,” he purred.

Jewel wanted to spit in his face. She wanted to dance an Irish jig on his man parts and listen to his screams as her feet slammed into him. But all she did was kneel there, defeated, at a loss as to what she should do next.

“You give me your word that you will not harm my family or my friends,” she said after a few heartbeats of coming to terms with her decision. She looked up at him. That was a bad move because it took everything in her not to jump up and claw his face off.
Wow,
Jewel thought,
I’ve gotten quite violent in my time with the evil fae.

“As long as you give me your word that you will obey my every command.” Volcan’s eyes narrowed as his gaze bore into her.

“You have it,” she told him and the words tasted like poison in her mouth. They might as well have been poison because something inside of her died as she agreed to basically be his slave.

“Good, now I need you to be a good little healer and stay in your room while I prepare things for your coming departure.” Taking her arm he flashed them to her room. “Sleep tight, my little dark Jewel,” Volcan whispered against her ear. She heard him mutter a few words just before the darkness swallowed her.

Chapter 7

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it is
not
healthy for a powerful djinn to be left alone to his own devices for centuries at a time. How did I come to this conclusion, you ask? It might have had something to do with the creepy stare, or the way he sniffed me, or maybe it was because he asked me question after question while simultaneously invading my personal space. He may have been very, very nice to look at, but the creepy factor was putting a major damper on the outer package.” ~Sally

S
ally stared at the large, imposing figure that stood in the doorway of the room. He was striking and about as far from grotesque as a man could get. His white blonde hair contrasted dramatically with the dark eyebrows, long dark eyelashes, and dark eyes. He had a tapered nose, strong jaw, and thin lips that somehow managed to be sexy despite not being all plump and full. He was tall, very tall, and very built. Sally suddenly pinched herself, pulling herself from whatever influence he was exhibiting over her. Costin would not like her ogling another man, not that she
was
ogling another man.

“Are you doing something to me?” she asked him incredulously.

He shrugged, a fluid-like motion that reminded Sally of rippling water. “I cannot create feelings, only intensify those that already exist ― even if they are minute.”

Sally nearly rolled her eyes. Of course, he just had to have a voice deep and as smooth as butter. She still didn’t think he held a candle to Costin, but it was disturbing just how much she was intrigued by him.

“You’re Thadrick?” she asked him, deciding to ignore the whole feelings have to be there remark.

“I am,” he answered as he took a step into the room. “You are a healer.” His words weren’t a question.

“I am,” she copied his own response. Sally blinked and suddenly he was standing directly in front of her. She gasped and nearly stumbled backward. She caught herself before she tumbled to the ground. Thadrick leaned in, seemingly unaware of her reaction or uncaring, and took a deep breath through his nose. He was smelling her. That pissed her off. Only one man was allowed to breathe her in.

Sally placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back. She knew she couldn’t have been able to make him budge if he hadn’t let her. Thadrick took a single step back, looking at her as though she was a puzzle he was trying to put together.

“You need to watch where you’re sticking that nose,” she told him sternly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I have a mate. I don’t cheat and he doesn’t share.”

To her surprise the djinn laughed. It was deep and rumbled in his chest. “Your wolf is no threat to me.”

“Pride cometh before a fall,” Sally told him, tilting her chin back and pursing her lips.

“Facts do not mean I have a problem with pride. I am more powerful than your mate. That is simply the truth.”

His calm demeanor was annoying as all get out. Sally ground her teeth together as she tried to think of who could possibly scare the djinn enough that he would let her go. “Fine, you aren’t afraid of my mate. Maybe it’s time for me to mention that I am very close friends with a high fae named Perizada. And she doesn’t take crap from anyone, djinn or not.”

Thadrick gave her a feral smile that had Sally taking a step back. “Perizada,” he growled. “Yes, I know of her.”

“I see that her reputation precedes her.”

“She is dangerous,” the djinn admitted. “But not because she is more powerful than me. Perizada’s shadow is trouble and her constant meddling is like a festering wound into which she likes to pour salt.”

Sally’s eyes widened. “Wow, you do know her. Sounds like you two have a history. Perhaps, it would be good for you to talk to her. You know, hash things out and what not.”

“There is nothing to, as you put it, hash out. She meddled in djinn business many centuries ago. We djinn have a long memory.”

Sally hated that she was curious. She was supposed to be finding a way to escape him but instead she heard herself ask, “What did she do that was so bad?”

He didn’t answer. He moved so quickly that she couldn’t track him. He was suddenly behind her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her hair.

“It has been a long time since a healer was involved with the supernatural world. What, pray tell, is one so innocent and young as you doing seeking out one such as me?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “There are five little healers now, each with a male desiring to make their claim. How is it that the great Perizada has lost two of them so quickly?”

Sally waited a few heartbeats and when he didn’t say another word, but rather continued to circle her like a hunter stalking its prey, she finally spoke, “You obviously know the answers to those questions considering you know all about what’s been going on. Why can’t we just get to the part where you answer the question we came to ask you?”

“It has been a very long time since I have had a companion to talk to.” The look on his face made it clear that he thought his answer was explanation enough.

“It’s obviously been an even longer time since you talked with a female.”

His dark eyebrows drew together. “Why do you say such a thing?”

“Because you seem to think that you will win this battle of wills.” Sally stepped around him and took a seat on one of the couches. “You want to chitchat, for a while, or shoot the breeze for a bit? Fine, then how about a little tit for tat?” Sally motioned to the chair opposite her, “Take a seat, Thad. Do you mind if I call you Thad? I figure if we’re going to be bosom buddies nicknames are in order.”

He eyed her warily as he moved toward the chair and slowly lowered his large frame into it. “So you will talk with me awhile before requesting the information you have come for?”

She gave him her biggest grin. “Oh, definitely.
I
will talk. Okay,” she began as she rubbed her hands together eagerly. “You’re a guy,” she paused, studied him for a minute and then continued. “Well, sort of. Let’s go with you’re a male.”

Thadrick gave a slow nod.

“Then maybe you could help me out. Costin, that’s my mate, he’s been a little distant lately. Of course no one else notices, but that’s because the distance only happens when we’re alone, as in alone, alone.” Sally winked at him. “You know what I mean?”

Thadrick shook his head from side to side.

She blew out a breath ruffling her hair. “Alright, let me go back to the basics. When two people love each other, they get married, and then they join their bodies as a way of showing love to each other. They do this while alone. Get me now?” Sally had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as she watched the djinn’s eyes widen. But still he nodded. “Great! Okay so he’s distant and I’m thinking maybe I’m doing something wrong. I mean things have been a little slow lately but that’s mainly because of my cycle. You do know what a female cycle is, right?”

His mouth opened and then closed, and then it opened again only to close again.

“Well, just so you will have a full understanding. Humans reproduce by having babies. It’s part of the whole
alone
thing I was just talking about. And the cycle is part of a woman’s reproductive… system, for lack of a better term. In this system, an egg is released each month. The egg can’t do much on its own. So it just waits around until it gets attacked by a man’s… let’s call them soldiers. They came marching in all uninvited like. But if that doesn’t happen during the month when the egg is waiting around to be invaded, then the women’s body gets rid of it. And let me tell you, this process is not fun. There’s all this cramping and bloating. No, seriously, it feels like one of those blow fish things has ballooned itself open inside of you. And to top it off, the pants that you could button two days ago, yeah, they don’t button anymore. It seriously sucks.” Sally checked his reaction, taking a breath as though she’d run out of air as a guise to look him over. His body was rigid and she swore she could see the wheels turning in his brain working out an escape plan.
Fat chance, genie boy,
Sally thought to herself.
You wanted to talk. We are going to talk.

“Oh man, that reminds me of a time one of my best friends ― of course, you know who she is since you keep the history and what not. Anyways, Jen, that’s the best friend, was on her period, that’s another word for cycle just in case you weren’t aware. I have no idea why they call it a period. The only thing I can figure is that like the period means the end of a sentence the period for a chick means the end too. The end of rational thought as the hormones take over.” She waved her hands. “I’m getting off topic. Okay, so Jen was on her period and had run out of feminine products. I am not even going to begin to explain what those are. She made me and our other friend, Jacque, go with her to the store, because chicks don’t do anything alone. We’d probably all pee in the same toilet at the same time if there was one big enough. Anyhoo, we’re at the store looking for the correct aisle and Jen, being herself, starts yelling, ‘Code red, this is a code red. All available employees assist the teenage girl bleeding to death on the feminine products aisle. I repeat this is a code red people. This is not a drill!’ ” Sally did laugh then. She’d yelled out the words, just as Jen had, and Thadrick was staring at her as if she’d sprouted three heads.

Sally clapped her hands together and let out a sigh. “Oh geez, good times.”

“Good?” Thadrick asked sounding utterly horrified.

She chuckled. “Yes, most definitely good. I’ve got plenty more where that came from. Oh, oh,” she said hopping in her seat. “This is a really good one. It’s another Jen one, of course. She tends to be the one who manages to get herself into interesting situations. So, she’s married to her mate, Decebel. He’s like this big, stoic, no non-sense Alpha male. About a month after they got married, she had her period. Jacque and I were hanging out in my room, and she comes busting in hollering incoherently and flinging her arms around. Once we finally got her to calm down we were able to see what she was holding in her hand, waving it all over the place. It was a note from Decebel. Usually, she would have showed it to us just so she could rub it in our faces that she was having alone time. You remember what
alone
time is? She loved to rub it in. I know, weird. But then, everyone has a thing, and that just happens to be hers.

“This time, she showed us the note because she was panicking over what to do. I won’t go into details about what Dec wrote in the note, exactly, but let’s just say Dec was hunting and Jen was the prey. She isn’t one to be embarrassed easily. Usually she’s incapable of actually becoming embarrassed, but she’s different with him. She allows herself to be more vulnerable. Well, that was one of her moments when she suddenly had the need to be accepted in all her messy glory. Pun intended, sorry couldn’t resist.

“She starts sputtering out, ‘He expects action, which you guys totally know I would be all over that like mosquitos on a bare leg.’ We ask her what the big deal is and she says, ‘The big deal is I’m bleeding like a freshly stuck hog. I can’t even fake a headache because he’ll be able to smell it. I mean, how messed up is that? He can smell my period. That’s just all kinds of wrong. So instead of the good old headache excuse, I have to shut him down with,
Sorry babe, but I’m pretty sure you only like your prey bloody when you’re in your wolf form
.’ ”

Sally nodded at the traumatized djinn before her. “I know, she has a way with words. Just hope you never have the misfortune of being the object of her quick witted tongue. Chick can be brutal. Okay, let me think,” she said as she tapped her lips with her finger. “I know I’ve got more hilarious stories like that.”

“No,” Thadrick said, finally having jerked himself from his stunned silence. “That’s enough of that.”

“You’re right,” she nodded. “We need to get back to the original topic. So the distance between me and Costin. I totally don’t think it has anything to do with my period. Jen claims that men have periods too and I’m beginning to agree with her. Maybe he’s just on his period” ― she made quotations with her fingers ― “and his hormones have him acting out of character. Yeah, that must be what it is.” Sally whooshed out a breath. “Man, that was good. Thanks for fleshing that out with me. Alright, new topic!” She clapped her hands rapidly while grinning like an idiot. “What’s your stance on boxers versus briefs and the whole relation to sterility thing?”

D
alton held up a hand to indicate that he was finished. He bent forward, bracing his hands on his knees. He was out of breath, but it had taken all of the males sparring with him to finally wear him out. Had he been fighting only one wolf, he might have killed him, not necessarily on purpose, because his control was nil. Peri had announced that Volcan was going to let Jewel go in two days’ time and then she’d left him in Farie. To say he was pissed would have been like saying the sun was a little warm.