Zurlo, Michele - Torment [Daughters of Circe 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (20 page)

She said nothing and her actions didn’t pause. Where the hell was that damn Buckeyes sweatshirt?

Grasping her firmly by the shoulders, he turned her to face him. “Torrey, I will find Riley. I will bring her home safely.”

Torrey shook her head, the gesture short and generated by her subconscious. “You said you would take me home. You said, if I wanted, you would take me home.” She raised her eyes to meet his. They were dark blue. All silver was gone. “I want to go home.”

His mouth opened and closed in shock, and his hands slid from her shoulders to drop at his sides. “You’re upset. I understand that, Torrey, but don’t do something stupid. If I take you home, Soren will find you. I can’t let him find you.”

She stepped away from Shade. His nearness was too distracting. A large part of her wanted to throw herself in his arms and let his assurances soothe her fears. She took a shaky breath. “I want him to find me. You can’t seem to find him, Shade. If I go home, he will come to me. He’ll take me to Riley. I should have stayed at home in the first place. I should never have done what the Shadow Man told me to do.”

He had given her hope. She saw that now. Hope that Riley would be found. Hope that she wouldn’t have to sacrifice her life. Hope was futile.

“Give me another chance, Torrey. Give me tonight.” As if he recognized her fragile state, he maintained the distance she put between them. “If I fail tonight, then I will take you home tomorrow.”

The energies surrounding him changed. Torrey’s mouth dropped open. “You’re lying. You have no intention of taking me home.”

His temper snapped. The emotion slammed into Torrey with palpable force, knocking her backward into a chair. “I won’t use you as bait! I won’t give you to him! I won’t lose you again! Why are you so hell-bent on dying for Soren’s compulsion?”

Finally, she understood. Shifting in the chair so she was sitting up, she leaned forward. “I’m not Hope, Shade. You aren’t in love with me. You barely know me.”

“I know you.” He crossed the room in two strides and bent to hover over her. “My wolf knows your scent, Torrey. You’re in my system. No matter who you are or aren’t, you are in my system. You were meant to be my mate.”

Torrey couldn’t breathe. The way he looked at her left no doubt he had no intention of letting her go, ever. Deep down, she responded to him. She wanted to be wanted like this. She wanted to be vital to someone, to Shade. Her breasts followed her lungs by tightening in response to his nearness. “This is about sex?” Her question came out on a breathy whisper.

“No,” he said. “This is about destiny. You were meant to be mine, Torrey. You were meant to be my wife and bear my children.”

She shook her head. This was too much. She wasn’t so sure she didn’t want the life he described, but she knew she couldn’t admit to wanting it, not yet.

Shade didn’t have the patience to wait anymore. Jerking her from the chair, he lifted her against him and kissed her hard. His fingers fisted in her still-damp hair, holding her in place. Delicious heat ran rampant through Torrey’s veins. He was in her system, too. She burrowed her fingers in his hair and kissed him back.

When he broke the kiss, Shade dropped her back into the chair. “Stay here, Torrey. Don’t leave the house. I will return in the morning, and I will have Riley with me.” He was gone before she could respond.

With absent fingers, she traced the places on her lips that throbbed from his show of possession. Outside, an engine roared to life, and the only vehicle for miles left the area. It looked like she was staying, at least until morning. She knew Shade would return without Riley. She knew it as sure as she knew anything.

He had to be tired. He would return in the morning and fall into bed. She would take his keys and leave. It would give her time to cut a deal with Soren.

Kneeling on the floor in front of the dresser, she continued rifling through her drawers for that sweatshirt. Eventually, she found it. Sliding into a fresh pair of underwear and jeans, she threw the OSU shirt on and dug in the closet for her hiking boots. It was thoughtful of Shade to pack everything that wasn’t nailed down.

At the last minute, she withdrew the black blanket from her backpack. If she was going to find Caiden, then it made sense to have something he’d given her. She wrapped it around her shoulders, surprised to find it fit like a cloak.

The tree called to her. The bright glow beckoned in the distance, giving her enough light on this final moonless night to see her way clear of branches and fallen logs. There was a slight clearing, as if other trees moved away from the majesty of this one white pine.

Caiden sat on the ground beneath the spreading boughs of the lowest branches. He glanced up with a smile on his face and patted the ground next to him. “I see you followed my advice and let the wolf teach you.”

“He had a book,” Torrey said. “The book told me much more than he did.”

“But he showed you how to put the words into practice. I knew he would.” Caiden’s smile was sad.

Torrey pulled the cloak tighter around her body and sat, cross-legged, on the ground next to him. Immediately, energy flowed into her. The blanket was definitely charmed.

Now that she was close to him and fully awake, Torrey was able to get a much better look at him. He was tall. His muscles were lean and long, and his eyes were intelligent. Everything about his face matched hers. He was handsome without being overly attractive. He could blend into a crowd, lose himself in the masses. Perhaps there was an evolutionary genius to their looks after all. Female birds were brown to blend in, protect them from predatory attack. Perhaps powerful witches were plain for the same reason. It truly didn’t matter to Torrey anymore.

“He won’t be able to bring Riley back. Soren will only trade her for me, and Shade won’t barter me.”

Caiden shook his head sadly. “He’s in love with you.”

She snorted at that. “He thinks I’m the reincarnation of someone he loved. Hope. Maybe you knew her?”

That soft smile was back. His nod was full of sadness. “I knew Hope.”

“Then you know I’m not her?” The anticipation she harbored, that she somehow was Hope and didn’t remember, faded. “It’s driving his actions. If he could accept that I’m just Torrey, then he could make the trade. He could deal with Soren.”

Caiden’s hand connected with hers. She jumped. Even though she knew she was awake, a large part of her consciousness refused to accept that Caiden might have a physical body. “There is no Torment without Hope. I’m sorry, my lady. Your name was no accident. Francis might have been a horrible father to you, but he named you according to my instructions. Hillary wouldn’t listen to me. She hated the name.”

There was more, she felt it in her bones. “Why?” She knew there was no need to elaborate. It was obvious why her mother hated the name.

“Because that is what you are. That is your power. Hope brought hope to those she met. You bring torment.” Caiden’s hand tightened on hers. “That’s a powerful thing, Torrey.”

She ripped her hand away from his. “That’s a terrible thing, Caiden, and you know it. I don’t want to bring pain and misery to anyone, especially people I love.”

“Riley isn’t happy right now, and neither are Shade and Soren. You did that.”

Torrey rose to her feet and stood on shaky legs. “No, you did this, Caiden. You made me. You chose to inflict me on the world. You want people to be miserable and in pain.”

Caiden rose with her. He towered over her by several inches. “No, Torrey. I was a vessel for creating you, it is true, but you are necessary. You aren’t Fury. Yes, those are Daughters of Circe, too. Hope, Bliss, and Desire are as well. You can’t have one without the other. They’re two halves of a whole.”

She stared at him, willing him and the whole conversation far, far away. This was too much. Not only did her long-lost father confirm her given name, he chose what she was, what she represented, what she controlled. Caiden disappeared, and the light from the tree dimmed. Torrey blinked, wondering if she had done that.

“Powerful stuff, witch. I see now why Soren wants you so much.”

Torrey pivoted to find Tiffany standing several feet away. In the dim glow of her white pine, Tiffany’s beauty hit ethereal proportions. Luminous blue eyes dominated a face featuring smooth skin and lush lips. A long mane of blond hair fell to her waist. Though she was clad in pants and a vest that appeared military in style, her fine figure wasn’t hidden.

Exactly what had Tiffany seen? Was her arrival the reason Caiden disappeared?

“Are you going to take me to him?” Torrey hoped the answer was in the affirmative. She really wanted a face-to-face with Soren. With her newly found powers, the dynamics of their relationship were definitely different.

Tiffany shook her head. “Soren is already powerful. I fear what will happen if he is able to take your powers from you. I want you gone, witch. I want you far, far from here. Or dead.”

The threat did curiously little to instill fear in Torrey. “But you’re not going to kill me. If Soren finds out, he’ll kill you. Or if Shade finds out, you’ll lose your chance with him.”

Her smile was the only thing crooked about her. Even that didn’t mar Tiffany’s perfection. “I lost my chance with Shade a century ago. That’s ancient history, especially to someone with a life span as short as yours.” She came closer. “I will deliver these two warnings. First, when you use your power, it lights up the senses of any wolf within ten miles. Second, if Soren commands me to kill you, I will do so without hesitation.”

Torrey threw caution to the wind. “I want my sister. As soon as I have Riley, I’ll leave, and I’ll never return.”

Tiffany’s ears perked up. Her head turned to one side, then the other, looking for all the world like the she-wolf she was. “There is magic all around us, but you are not the source.”

It was Caiden. Torrey had no doubt on that front. “Forces out there don’t want me hurt, not yet.”

Wide blue eyes rounded on her. “If I find your human sister and give her to you, then you will go? I have your word on that, witch? I have your bond?”

“Yes.”

“What if Shade cannot let you go?” Tiffany’s head moved, fear making her seek out the source of the power Torrey could feel as well. “What if he wishes to take you for his mate? He is drawn to your kind. He always has been.”

When he finally figured out she wasn’t Hope, he would let her go. “I will deal with Shade. You free Riley, and we’ll both disappear from here.”

Tiffany nodded once. Extending her hand, she sealed the pact with a handshake. “We have an accord, witch. I must go.”

Torrey watched her new ally flee on fleet feet. Wolf visual senses were definitely an asset, as were their senses of hearing and smell. Too bad heavy magic spooked them so badly.

“That was effective,” she said.

“That was you,” Caiden said, appearing by her side. “You know she cannot see magic? She can only sense it. Your essence is inside this tree, Daughter. Wolves will avoid this area for as long as you live.”

She turned to him, gathering her courage. “You’re not my father, are you?”

“Not in the way you want,” he said. Sympathy softened his face and his words. “I have many Daughters, Torrey, but they command me. I am their servant. I assist when they need a rebirth, and when they need guidance. But no, I am no one’s father.”

His arms slipped around her, and he held her in the most paternal hug she’d ever received. “Have faith in yourself, Torment. You are only a force of evil if you wish it to be so.”

Shade cursed the day Soren was born, even though it was his day as well. Why did he have to be paired with a brother whose compulsion made their lives a living hell?

He found his brother in the living room. Soren looked up when Shade entered. A wary smile twisted his mouth and clouded his turquoise eyes. “You could have left a note. It’s easier to read and far easier to clean up.”