~Alaya
Not only is the forest we walk into dark, but it’s cold. Ice cold.
Asher walks in front of me, no part of his gait suggesting he is worried about what he just did. He killed someone. No, he killed one of Sinful’s workers.
There is no direct path Asher follows. He just walks blindly into the darkness, that swallows us whole. The crunch of our footsteps on fallen leaves is the only sound I can hear, the entire place drenched with an eerie feel. How Asher can even see in this darkness is beyond me, as it gets to the point where I have to fist the back of his jacket in my hand as he blindly leads me forward.
“Care to explain?” I question breathlessly. His strides are much longer than mine, and the more I walk, the more I struggle to keep up. Soon, his shirt comes out of my grasp, and when I reach out again, he’s not there.
I quicken my pace over, my feet catching at times on the debris I can’t see. Eventually I accept that I won’t be able to catch up with him.
“Asher!” I cry out loudly, but it’s as if the ebony of the night consumes my words.
Suddenly a pair of warm hands clasp my biceps from behind, making me shriek and jump. “Lost, sweetheart?”
Fate.
I don’t need to see him to know. He has this caressing voice that’s back by a tone of arrogance. Even though it would be nice to have some space between us, I still turn around and hold tightly onto his arm, pressing it against my chest. I’m not about to be left behind again.
“Where’s Asher?” I question. I could strangle him right now.
All of a sudden, the space we stand in alights, and I can suddenly see again, after a few blinks. There are a circle of people around us, each one staring at Fate and I. In the middle, close to my feet, a pit fire had been lit by a force I would never be able to question.
“Right here,” he says, and when I glance over my shoulder, he is right there, as if he had never left. Quickly, I let go of Fate’s arm, stumbling away from them both, and the fire.
“How did you do that?”
It’s pointless to ask, but I don’t appreciate being messed with. When I look around the small group, I only see familiar faces. Destiny sits on a log pushed close to the fire, her hands folded neatly over her lap. She looks directly at the fire, her gaze unwavering. Aspen stands away from me, watching carefully to see if I would run. And Death, who sits close to Destiny, looking plain bored.
“We had to play with your mind to make it hard for you to explain where you went, if of course, in case you decide to speak to Sinful about us,” Asher explains, and I growl lowly under my breath.
“Asher told us about your current relationship with Sinful,” Fate adds, a smile toying on his face.
I’m not going to explain myself to him at all. There’s no point. Obviously they find ridicule in the job I’m doing for them, so I’m not going to bother making sense of it to them. They can thank me later, when they are taking me back home. And if I’m right, I’ll be the one who figures out why everyone is so terrified by him.
“Leave it,” Asher says darkly, cutting Fate off from continuing on the subject matter. I try my best to ignore the look Fate shot us both.
Fate only continues to play. “Is there jealousy here, or is Alaya still convinced you can’t feel any emotions?”
There’s a darkness in Asher’s eyes that chills my blood. No single rupture of expression is made, but with the golden swirl of his irises, I can see a secret. A threatening one, that if pressed, might get someone killed. I know he’s into keeping to himself, but for the first time, I truly see something that has me almost terrified.
It was Death that shifted the attention. “Can we talk about why we are here?”
“Yes,” I say, “I would like some answers.”
Aspen steps forward, holding his hand out to me. It’s a trust manoeuvre, as he tries to convince me with just his eyes that he doesn’t want to hurt me. I have no other choice, if I want answers, to grab his hand and let him know that I’m willing to listen. I know I’m not about to find out anything about the plan, since I still am working with Sinful to find his secrets.
“Me first,” Asher suddenly says, taking everyone around the circle by surprise. “You’re hiding things from me. Not just the extent of your relationship with Sinful-”
“There is no relationship,” I snap, but Asher holds his hand up so he can continue.
“And also what you found up in his bedroom.”
That got everyone’s attention. His piano, the music, even the kiss we shared. Even if I wanted to tell them, I don’t think I could. When I try consider if I wanted the kiss or not, I feel ashamed when I realise I did. As much as I try to regret it, I can’t possibly do so. If I admit the music thing, then surely the conversation will make it back to the kiss.
Luckily, I’ve already come up with a way to cover my tracks up. “Why would I tell you that when all you have been doing is keeping secrets.”
“That’s for your own safety,” Asher exclaims.
“Maybe this is for your safety,” I snap back my reply, folding my arms across my chest protectively. Everyone shifts uncomfortably, while Asher narrows his eyes. Something tells me he doesn’t like the idea of being protected.
Aspen pulls me slightly closer to him. “Maybe you should sit down.”
I listen, but only so I can tear my gaze away from Asher’s. Whenever I look into those eyes, it’s almost impossible not to get lost in them. It seems as if the group is ready to discuss why we are here, finally. After all that, I’m exhausted by arguing with Asher and deflecting all of Fate’s comments. I don’t know how anyone could handle him for a long time…
“The plan is going quite smoothly,” Death says directly to Asher. I’m not important here. This is their plan, and has been this entire time. I’m only here to full one duty.
“Have you found a way to get in yet?” Asher asks.
It’s as if I have an idea of what they are talking about, but I’m not completely sure what they mean. They are trying to get into Asher’s estate back in the mortal lands to take down Shanae. I want to ask how powerful is, considering a group of immortals can’t get to her. I don’t though, not wanting to intrude on their conversation.
“We can lure her out, but that’s as far as we have figured out so far,” Aspen informs Asher, running his hand down the back of his neck. That information doesn’t seem to go down too well with the Alpha of Desire.
“We don’t have that much time until he gets into her head,” Asher growls.
I give him a flat look, even though his attention isn’t on me. He says his words as if I can’t tell he’s talking about me and Sinful.
They continue talking, but the importance of it doesn’t register with me. If I’m perfectly honest, I don’t care. I miss Sky and Carter every day, knowing the moment this is over, I will never have to associate myself with Asher ever again, even if he is my Alpha.
When there was a break in their conversation, I decided to cut in with a question that is weighing on my mind.
“Why does this place look like this?” I ask, staring up at the boughs of the trees. “I mean, why are there trees everywhere, this place reminds me of the Freedom Pack.”
It took a few moments for someone to respond.
“This is Time’s territory. An immortal. He disappeared millions of years ago, and left this place to overgrow. No one comes here anymore, which makes it the perfect place for this meeting. That way, Sinful can’t hear us,” Death explains, seemingly bored.
Where would an immortal disappear to? Where can you hide around here, and why?
Asher speaks before I could. “Speaking of time, Alaya and I don’t have much left. We need to leave.”
At the mention of that, I remember the man Asher killed to keep this whole thing a secret. What would he do to me if I threatened to spill anything, especially to Sinful? I would be dead in less than a second, with no mercy, I’m sure of it.
No one has a specific way of saying goodbye. Aspen promised I would see him again soon, Fate disappeared, and that was that.
The drive back to Sinful’s estate was silent. We couldn’t speak, in case Sinful heard. I’m desperate to know what kind excuse Asher will make to Sinful about the driver. Whatever it is, it has to be good to convince him.
I go straight back up to my room, wanting to avoid Sinful for another day. I hardly get down the hallway before I bump into someone.
It’s a tall man, who immediately strikes me as someone from the Love Pack. He has dark mussed hair and striking blue eyes. I have no idea who he is. He doesn’t look surprised to see me at all.
“My name is Cyprian,” he tells me softly. “You don’t know me, but I know you.”