Jewel of Darkness (26 page)

The pixie’s eyes widened. “How am I supposed to get one of them to leave? And how do you know that I even have the ability to do that?”

“Perhaps, letting them know that I have released Jewel, their sister healer, could be useful information to use on them. Honestly, I don’t care how you do it, just make it happen. And I know you can make it happen because you wear the royal crest of your lineage. You aren’t King Ainsel. I know him, but I also know he has a brother. A brother who is known for getting himself into trouble. It wasn’t hard to deduce your identity. The veil will listen to you.”

“My brother will be able to undo my magic. And how will you know if I’ve succeeded?”

“Jewel will make it known to me.” He paused then and leaned down once again, but this time he placed a finger on the shoulder of the pixie. He pushed some of his own magic into the little one. “Now, the magic you use to close the veil will be infused with my own. No one but myself will be able to open it back again. Off with you now,” Volcan said, making a shooing motion with his hand.

The male didn’t have to be told twice.

Volcan leaned back in his chair, folding his hands contentedly in his lap. Things were falling into place much easier than he thought they would. Once his little Jewel started using his magic, the urge to continue to use it would grow and she wouldn’t be able to control herself. He wouldn’t even have to force her to come back to him; she would do it of her own accord. It was almost too easy. He considered trying to find a way to aggravate Perizada, just to add insult to injury, but decided he’d rather focus his attention on making sure Jewel indeed began to use the power he’d given her.

He hoped she didn’t take too long. She was strong and she’d fight it at first, but she would eventually give in. Her soul had been damaged over the years by those who didn’t understand her intelligence, and a damaged soul was one that was very susceptible to influence. Yes, she would give in and then all hell would break loose.

C
iesel stood just outside of the veil to his realm. His brother would banish him once he found out what he’d done. But he hadn’t had a choice, had he? Surely Ainsel didn’t expect him to spend the rest of his life looking like a freak. He’d done the only thing he could. He didn’t know how he would keep it from his brother, but if he couldn’t, he would have to leave. There would be no other option. He entered the veil and made his way towards Adira’s home. Though his anger still burned at her, his conscience was yelling at him to stop, to not go any further. But his feet continued to move forward as if no longer under his control. He knew in that moment that he no longer had a choice. He would end up at Adira’s doorstep whether he wanted to or not.

What’s done was done. All he could do now was somehow figure out a way to keep himself from being thrown in his brother’s dungeon.

J
ewel heard the crackling of leaves behind her. Her shoulder’s tensed as she prepared herself to face Dalton. But it wasn’t Dalton’s voice that she heard.

“Your mate is looking for you,” Peri said as she stepped up next to where Jewel sat on a large tree stump. She stared at the creek as the water rippled peacefully. It had been two days since she’d been brought back to Peri’s home, and she’d spent both of those days figuring out ways to keep from having to spend time with Dalton. Yes, she’d agreed to the whole courting thing, but they’d never made it official as to when that would start.

“Why are you avoiding him? Has he done something to anger you or hurt you?” Peri asked with a slight growl to her voice.

Jewel’s heart ached. “No,” she whispered. She fought the tears that had constantly threatened to fall. It wasn’t fair what she was doing to him. But she didn’t know what else to do. Jewel couldn’t stand what was happening inside of her, and she didn’t want to expose Dalton to it, nor did she want them tempted to touch one another. She was at a loss at how to handle the situation so she was simply avoiding him all together.

“Then what is going on, Jewel? And don’t lie to me. Liars make me want to curse and I’m trying very hard to clean up my language.”

Jewel glanced at her from the corner of her eye.

Peri huffed, “Okay, fine, I don’t give a crap about my language but I don’t like liars. So let’s go with the truth. Spill it.”

She wanted to tell Peri the truth. She wanted someone else to bear the burden with her, someone who wasn’t in danger of being affected by the magic inside of her. But something was stopping her. Something powerful was fighting with her to keep her mouth shut tightly now that Dalton knew of the curse. It was as though Volcan didn’t want anyone else to know, but she didn’t know why. “I can’t, Peri.”

“Yes you can.”

“NO! I can’t. You don’t get it. I physically can’t tell you. He won’t let me.” A few tears escaped her control but she quickly wiped them away. “Did you know that mind over matter is a load of crap?”

“I kind of figured it was,” she said dryly and then added, “Volcan,” Peri bit out. “He is really beginning to tick me off.”

Jewel had a feeling that was as big an understatement as they came.

“You are both hurting. Doesn’t just being with him help? It’s obvious you don’t want to touch him, though I don’t understand why that is.”

Jewel’s head snapped around.

“I’m not obtuse, Jewel Stone. I’ve noticed the few times you’ve been around him how you carefully keep space between you and him, though Dalton tries very hard to stay as close to you as possible. It’s almost painful to watch. He wants nothing more than to wrap you up in his arms and keep you safe from everything and everyone and you are practically running from him.”

The fae’s words smashed through the wall Jewel had erected and Jewel crumbled with them. Her shoulders folded over and shook as the tears she’d struggled so hard to hold back flowed. For two days she’d held herself together, barely, but she’d done it. Even at night she didn’t allow herself to break down because she knew Dalton slept in his wolf form right outside her door. She didn’t want him breaking down the door to get to her and she knew that he would. But she couldn’t hold it together any longer. The picture Peri had painted broke something inside of her. Jewel wanted to scream and rage but knew it wouldn’t do any good. So instead she allowed herself a few minutes to grieve her broken heart and dreams.

“I’m sorry this has happened to you, Jewel,” Peri said solemnly. “I’m going to fix it. You have my word.”

Jewel didn’t respond. There wasn’t anything to say. This wasn’t Peri’s fault. It was no one’s but her own.

“It’s getting late. Why don’t I take you back to your room so you can take a hot shower and put yourself back together. You know he’s going to find you eventually.”

She was right. Dalton would find her and if she was a mess he would touch her, he wouldn’t be able to help himself. The only reason she knew that was because if she saw him fall apart she wouldn’t be able to keep from holding him.

She nodded to Peri and took the offered hand. Peri flashed them to the room she was now staying in. Jewel was pretty sure Peri’s house had some sort of spell on it because the number of rooms inside did not seem to match up to the outward appearance of the home. Had things been different, she would have been very interested in it, but as it were, nothing interested her anymore other than fighting the urge to seek out humans to turn.

Once she was standing in her room, Peri bid her good night and flashed away. Jewel looked around her, feeling lost. She decided Peri’s idea of a hot shower sounded like as good a plan as any and gathered her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She once again noticed the markings on her back as she undressed and let out a sigh. She still hadn’t mentioned them to Dalton. He had a right to know about them. But because of her doubts about things actually working out between them, she was worried that if he knew about the markings it would give him false hope. Jewel didn’t like hoping for something just for the sake of hoping. She wanted there to be some sort of proof that the hope wasn’t in vain.

Just as she was slipping her clean clothes on, she heard the door to her room open and close gently but she didn’t bother to ask who it was. She figured Sally was coming in to check on her, no doubt sent by Peri. As Jewel began to brush her hair, her mind kept drifting back to a certain, tall, strong, brooding werewolf; no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t keep from thinking of him.

“Are you going to be in there all night?” The object of her thoughts materialized in the doorway of her bathroom.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, self-conscious of the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a tank top and shorts.

“I wanted to see you,” Dalton told her matter-of-factly.

“Did you think about knocking?” Jewel felt the blush on her cheeks heating her skin.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said, ignoring her question. “Why?”

Her eyes met his briefly before darting away. His face was so intense, his gaze seeming to see straight through her. Jewel felt as though she couldn’t hide anything from him, which is exactly why he was right ― she had been avoiding him. But he didn’t need to know that.

“I haven’t been avoiding you, Dalton. I’ve just been busy.”

He took a step toward her and then another until he stood in front of her. His fingers slipped under her chin and lifted her face until she was looking at him. She tried to back away but he held her gently, but firmly. “Too busy for your mate?”

Jewel shivered as she felt his warm breath blow across her face. She was praying fervently that he wasn’t being affected by the touch ― that the darkness wasn’t growing inside of him. His skin against hers felt so good, even if it was just a tiny touch. It had been so long since they’d touch, really touched. Jewel hadn’t realized just how badly she needed it. She forced herself to keep her eyes open and not lean into his strong body that was crowding her own.

She didn’t know how to answer his question. Regardless of his words, she still didn’t feel like his mate, at least not any more. And for that reason it was hard for her to be intimate with him in any way. “I,” she started but then stopped because she realized she didn’t have a clue what to say.

“Jewel,” Dalton purred to her as he leaned down. His lips stopped just short of touching hers and she had to force herself to keep breathing.

“Stop,” she said desperately. “You shouldn’t. We can’t. Please,” she was begging him not only with her words but her eyes as well.

His eyes were so intense, so focused on her, and she could tell that he wanted her. She tried to turn away but he still had a hold of her chin.

“Believe it or not, Little Dove, a man can touch a woman without lustful intent. There are many forms of touch. Comfort, encouragement, friendship, love. It doesn’t all have to do with sexual attraction. I can touch you without needing to bed you.”

Her eyes widened at his bluntness. She was aware of the truth of his words.

“Now that we have that little detail dealt with, do you still want to be mine?”

It was a question he’d asked her before. She wanted to scream that,
of course, she wanted to be his,
but she was so unsure about them now that there was no bond to reveal how he truly felt about her. Jewel wasn’t sure where they truly stood since she’d revealed Volcan’s curse. She heard Dalton’s words, but a part of her didn’t understand how he could possibly still
want
her. She was worried that he just felt obligated to her and, therefore, felt he should continue the relationship.