Burn the Night

Eleven

My right wing screamed with pain as I tried to fully extend it. I had walked nearly a quarter of a mile from the main camp of the animal clan to a wide stream. Stripping off my clothes, I tried to rinse out some of the blood before stepping into the icy water myself. In the center of the stream, the water rushed past my calves, numbing any lingering pain I might have felt in my right ankle. Now I was only left with the wound in my right wing, which seemed reluctant to fully heal. I knew it would be completely fixed by the following evening, but I didn’t want to wait that long. I wanted to go to sleep at sunrise knowing I was back at full strength.

I had been somewhat reluctant to leave Rowe alone with the animal clan, but he’d already promised to behave himself, and for now that was the best I was going to get. I could only hope he was intrigued by the promise that the Fire Starter planned to join our little uprising. At the very least, he now knew we were headed for Savannah, and the one-eyed naturi could take another swipe at her if he had it in mind.

Bending down, I cupped the cold water and splashed it on my face a couple times before wiping away the excess. Kane’s blood had covered my face and hands, leaving me feeling sticky and dirty. I pushed the cold to the furthest reaches of my mind as I scrubbed my hands together, washing away the last of the blood. Before rising, I ran my wet hands over my legs and the rest of my body. It had been too long since I’d properly bathed. Too many nights of running and hunting. Cynnia had kept me on the run for the better part of the past month, seeking out any who might join our cause. Savannah held the promise of a day’s sleep on a comfortable bed and a warm bath.

There was a subtle shift in the air, a slight change in the energy that had me jerking upright. I was completely unarmed in the stream, leaving all my clothes and weapons on the bank. I thought I would be safe so far in animal clan territory, that I could sneak a few private moments to myself. Of course, the alliance with the animal clan was shaky at best, and I wasn’t sure everyone agreed with the idea of working with Rowe and me. Someone could be looking to strike while I was at my weakest.

When I scanned the immediate region, my heart stopped beating for a second. Rowe had sought me out. The area was thick with trees, blotting out the moonlight, but after a moment I could pick him out on the rise leading down to the stream, leaning against one of the trees. He hadn’t been standing there long since it was impossible for him to sneak up on me with the iron collar around his neck. He couldn’t cloak his presence.

“What do you want?” I demanded. I pulled my left wing around my front, blocking his view of my body as best I could while my right wing continued to hang limp at my side. I turned in the stream so I was facing him, taking an unsteady step backward on the slippery rocks.

“How is your wing healing?” he asked, descending the rest of the way to the bank of the stream.

“Fine. It will be just fine,” I snapped, taking another step back. “Return to the camp. I will be right behind you.”

“It’s not fine,” he growled back at me. “You can’t retract your wings yet. It’s not healing properly.” He took a step into the water and I took a wobbly step back as my left foot settled on some shifting gravel. “Stay still! I’m not chasing after you. I just want to look at your wing.”

“And I said it’s fine! I don’t need you looking at it!”

“Look! If your wing isn’t properly mended, we’re not flying out of here tomorrow night, and I’m anxious to set foot in Savannah,” he admitted. “Now let me look to make sure that it isn’t broken.”

“It’s not broken. Please, Rowe, don’t come any closer.”

The naturi shoved his hands through his shaggy black hair, pushing it away from his one good eye. For just a moment I could clearly see the scars that stretched across one side of his face, disappearing under the eye patch and down his neck into his shirt. “What? You make these grand speeches about me being the savior of our people and you don’t trust me! I’m not going to hurt you. If I was going to do that, I wouldn’t have bothered to walk out into this icy water.”

“I trust you,” I whispered, staring down at the water, wishing it was darker out, but it didn’t matter. His night vision, like mine, was perfect.

“Then what? You’re embarrassed about being naked in front of me? We’re soldiers, Nyx, tending wounds. That’s all. Besides, it’s only your back.”

“I know.” And that was where the problem lay. He was going to see my back and I was afraid of taking the risk.

“Will you hold still?” he asked after a long tense moment.

“Only if you promise to never breathe a word of what you see.”

“This is ridiculous—”

“Promise me!”

“I promise,” he grumbled as he trudged out into the icy stream to where I stood. It wasn’t until he was almost directly next to me that I finally turned around so he could look at my injured right wing.

His touch was amazingly gentle as his fingers first glided over the feathers in a soft caress before slowly moving up along the bone. I flinched beneath that touch as he neared the wound and his hands stopped until my wing settled again.

“The bone might have been initially cracked, but it feels solid to me,” he announced after completing his inspection. “You’ll probably have to sleep with them out today to allow the healing to finish, but you’ll be in the skies again by sunset. I’ve seen far worse.”

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he bent down and cupped his hands together so he could capture some water. He poured it over the wound, washing away some of the dried blood that was sticking to the feathers.

For a second I thought I was in the clear. Then he repeated the process a second time, pausing to stretch the wing out.

“Great Mother forsake me,” he swore, his hand stilling on my wing while his other hand rested on my left shoulder. At that moment I knew he had finally caught sight of the tree tattoo on my back.

“You promised, Rowe,” I reminded him desperately.

“Nyx,” he whispered in return. He released my shoulder and I could feel the cold tips of his fingers tracing down my spine along the massive tree that covered my back. “I don’t understand. You’re younger than I am. Younger than the ancient weavers, and yet . . .”

“I know,” I murmured, hanging my head. I could only envision what he was seeing. I hadn’t seen a reflection of my back in more than two centuries, but I could guess what was there—the branches now stretched over my shoulders and were starting to creep down my arms.

All naturi were born with the tree tattoo. It was a symbol of our connection to the earth. As we grew in age and strength, the tattoo grew as well, stretching across our bodies and gaining more details. My father had not kept me alive because of some deep love for his daughter. He had kept me alive because my tree had been more developed than any other child he’d ever seen. In me, he saw great possibilities, a deeper connection to the earth.

Unfortunately, it all had to be hidden. I was the Dark One. If anyone suspected that I might be stronger, more powerful, than some of our ancient weavers, I would be killed on the spot.

The fingers on both of Rowe’s hands traveled up my back again. He gently forced me to lower my wings so he could see the branches starting to stretch down my arms.

“The roots have reached the backs of your knees,” he whispered in awe. “At this rate, in a few years, the soles of your feet will be covered in the roots. You will be in constant contact with the earth and her powers.” His warm breath brushed against my neck, sending goose bumps down my arms. I could feel his body heat against my exposed back and the gentle brush of his shirt.

“If I live that long,” I muttered under my breath. With the war coming, I was no longer counting my remaining expanse of life in years.

Rowe abruptly stepped away from me, dropping his hands back to his sides. “Your tree is more advanced than Aurora’s,” he declared. “That’s why you’ve always dressed like you have. You’ve had to hide.”

“It was for the best,” I quickly argued. “Our people needed to believe in Aurora, and it would not have helped their faith in her if they knew that her younger sister had a stronger connection to the earth. She would have been dethroned.”

“And you would have been killed,” he said, finishing the thought to its natural end, but he quickly continued. “Why hide it now? Let the world know that you are stronger than her.”

I twisted around to look at him, holding my left wing to my front with my left arm. “I’m still the Dark One. They don’t follow me. They follow Cynnia. Our people still need the promise that I will never be their leader. No matter what strength the Great Mother may give me, I will always be in the shadows.”

“That’s wrong.”

We stood in silence, embraced by the darkness. Only the sound of the stream flowing around us filled the night air. He knew my great secret; the one thing I had hid my entire life from my people, and I felt that I could trust him. I just wondered how far he trusted me.

“Will . . . will you show me your back?” I asked.

“Why?” he demanded, suddenly very defensive.

“I can guess that the scars stretch across your body. I want to know if they had hindered the growth of your tree,” I admitted.

“Growth?” he scoffed. “Our Great Mother abandoned me centuries ago.” Yet as he spoke, Rowe grabbed the top back of his shirt and jerked it over his head. He stood with his back to me, facing the thick woods that surrounded us. Even in the darkness I could easily make out the white lines of the scars that crisscrossed his arms and went over his shoulders. There were a few that streaked through his tree, but I was relieved to find the tree tattoo had grown over the scars, indicating that his connection to the earth had not actually been damaged. It didn’t seem as advanced as it should have been, considering his age, but I could still spot bits of new growth near his shoulder blades.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Why?”

“Because I want to help you.”

“How?”

Instead of answering, I placed both of my hands against his warm back. Muscles danced and flexed under my touch, but he didn’t move. Closing my eyes, I spread my wings as far as I could, ignoring the pain that shot through my right wing. I reached out, pulling the energy straight from the earth and through my body. It left through my hands and poured into the limbs of the tree that graced Rowe’s strong back. He jerked once and then a low groan escaped him as relief rolled through his body.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the power from the earth that was flowing through me and into his body. My own thoughts and emotions poured unbidden into him no matter how I tried to control the flow. I had admired and cared for Rowe for as long as I could remember, but was careful to hide all those emotions deep inside as I fought to become his strong comrade in arms. I was his second in command of the armies, the weapon of the queen, the protector of our people. I was the Dark One. I wasn’t permitted my own feelings.

After nearly a minute my hands began to tremble under the weight of the energy flowing through me and my knees buckled. I collapsed down into the icy water so it flowed around my hips. The cold water helped to clear my head from the fog that seemed to have grown around my thoughts, but fatigue still kept me on my knees.

Throwing his shirt on the nearby bank, Rowe turned around and knelt in front of me. He gently captured both of my upper arms in his hands, his thumbs slowly caressing my flesh as if he could push away the growing cold. My wings hung limp behind me and I no longer cared what he could see of my naked body. I was too drained and emotionally embarrassed.

“What did you just do to me?” he whispered.

I kept my head down, staring at the water that flowed between us. “I strengthened your connection with the earth. It had grown weak because of all the trials you’ve been through. It was like I rejuvenated your tree.”

“You can do that?”

A half smile twisted on my lips. “I learned long ago that I had more skills as a healer than as a soldier. Unfortunately, my father only saw my strength with the earth as a weapon of war.”

“I’m sorry.” He lifted his right hand and pushed some of my hair away from my face.

“It’s no matter,” I replied brusquely, lifting my eyes to meet his. “The important thing is whether I have won you. Will you help us?”

A smirk danced across his face, lighting his expression. “My brain still rebels at the idea of fighting against the woman I still see as my queen, but I cannot just simply bow down and die for her, because she does not see my work in a positive light. I struggled and gave her freedom, and yet she calls me a traitor. But I will be accepted in Cynnia’s world, once again given a place as commander of armies.” He paused and his smile grew even wider. “I will be once again faced with the Fire Starter, allowed to be close to her as she is forced to work with me. It will be an interesting experience, and I wouldn’t miss it.”

With rubbery, tired legs, I pushed to my feet and stepped around him as I walked back to the shore. “I’m realizing that this is the best answer I’m going to get from you.” Shuffling through my clothes, I picked up my left boot and opened a small compartment in the heel where I withdrew a small iron key. I walked back out to where he was standing in the water, watching me.

“You had the key?” he demanded.

I reached up and inserted the key into the lock, trying to avoid his gaze. “Of course. I had to be able to set you free if you saw reason.”

“And what if you were killed?”

“Cynnia has a second. You would have had to go see her,” I replied as I removed the iron collar and tossed it out into the water.

“I should have suspected as much,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry, but keeping you weak was the only way of keeping you from killing me in my sleep.”

A weak smile crossed his mouth for a second as he reached up and let his fingertips stray across my cheekbone. “I don’t think that I would ever be able to do such a thing to you, no matter how bad things became.”

I shook my head, my cheek brushing against the palm of his hand. “You would have done so to protect yourself. It would have been understandable.”

To my surprise, Rowe continued to stare at me with his piercing gaze roaming over my face. “I always suspected that I married the wrong sister.”

I tried to form the words that Cynnia would have been a wise choice, but the words grew stuck in my throat because I knew without a doubt that he was talking about me. I knew by the softened gaze and his hand lingering on my face. Also through the infusion of power from the earth that I had given him, he now fully knew my feelings for him.

“You look at me with the same compassion in your eyes that you always have. You don’t see the monster that I’ve become. You don’t treat me like an outcast like the rest of our kind.”

“Because you’re not,” I argued, cupping his cheeks with both of my hands. “All I see is a man who has sacrificed more for us than anyone else. You only wear the scars to prove the trials you’ve been through.”

“And you wear your scars on the inside. We are a pair.”

Rowe pulled my face closer to his and kissed me gently on the lips. My eyes fell closed, basking in the feeling of being touched by another; to feel such warmth and intensity toward another creature was new to me. No naturi had ever touched me in such a way. They had used weapons to hurt, but I’d never been touched with compassion and what could only feel like love.

Threading his fingers through my hair, Rowe pulled me tighter against him, deepening the kiss. My hands slid from his cheeks to his chest as his tongue slipped into my mouth, tasting me. I moaned against his mouth, enjoying the feel of his warm chest pressed against mine. I traced his scars with one hand, trailing from his shoulder down to the top of his pants.

Rowe gave a soft chuckle as he slid his mouth away from mine and down my neck to my shoulder. “You taste sweeter than honey and your hands are driving me more than a little mad.”

“Should I stop?” I whispered, stilling my hands where they rested on the sides of his stomach.

“I don’t think there is any stopping now. We owe each other this after so many years,” he admitted. “You’re not the only one who has been watching from afar, admiring but remaining silent.”

This time I leaned in and pressed my lips to his mouth, kissing him deeply. We had done our duty to our people. We were owed this moment, no matter how brief it might be. Without breaking the kiss, Rowe scooped me up in his arms and carried me out of the stream to gently lay me down on the soft earth of the bank. He pulled back and looked at me laying beneath him in the pale moonlight. My black wings were thrown out to either side, like two dark glistening sheaths of night, while my pale white body shone like a grounded star. A small sharp pain intruded into the moment from my wounded wing, but I paid it little heed as I focused on him.

“I’ve watched you grow as a warrior,” he said. “I’ve admired your determination and your strength, but I never for a second expected you to be so beautiful.”

Kneeling beside me, careful so his knee did not crush any of the feathers on my wings, he drew his hands slowly over my naked body. His fingertips danced over my thin waist and cupped my breasts, drawing a soft moan out of me as my back arched.

Rowe pulled away from me for a second to remove the last of his clothes and then gently spread my legs so he could kneel between them. My heart pounded in my chest as a mixture of fear and longing raced through my veins. I had never been with a man. I wanted his touch more than I wanted my next breath, and yet at the same time I feared what was about to happen. What if I couldn’t perform as he hoped? What if I disappointed him? What if . . .

Everything will be fine. There was a slight chuckle of amusement lacing his words, but there was also warmth and concern.

His hands resumed their roaming on my body, but this time there was a new sense of urgency. His mouth followed close behind his fingers, washing my body in a series of long wet kisses that left behind a trail of fires. My legs shifted around his waist, pulling him closer to me. His hand finally dipped between my legs as one of his fingers slid deep inside me, wringing a low moan from me in the sound of his name. My body writhed beneath him as he moved his finger slowly in and out of my body.

“I’m trying to take this slowly for you, Nyx, but you’re breaking what little willpower I have,” he said in a rough voice.

In response, I reached out with one hand and slid it down his body until I finally reached his hardened member. My fingertips grazed the tip and his whole body jerked between my legs.

Yes, he hissed in my mind with near desperation.

Rowe put his free hand beside my head, moving his body closer to me so I could more easily reach him. I wrapped my fingers around him, slowly stroking him, drawing a low groan out of him that seemed pulled from his very soul. He was rock hard within my hand and yet the skin was velvety soft. None of his scars reached past his waist, leaving him perfect, but only for me to see.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he moaned as he once again shifted his position between my legs. Grabbing both my wrists, he held them over my head as he slowly guided his body toward the entrance of mine. He pressed slowly inside and then pulled out again, bringing a whimper of need from my throat. I didn’t want slow. I wanted him inside of me. I needed this feeling of desperation to be squashed and his body deep inside of mine.

“Rowe,” I moaned, shifting beneath him in an attempt to press more of him inside of my body.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he groaned before plunging deep inside me. There was a flash of pain as my body struggled to expand enough to accommodate his size. He paused, unmoving inside me, as he leaned down and kissed me. His tongue swept through my mouth until I was moaning again. It was only then that he started moving, sending the first waves of pleasure through my body.

“Release my hands,” I pleaded, squirming beneath him as I raised my hips to meet each of his thrusts. It took me only a second to catch his rhythm, driving a fresh moan from his body.

Rowe forced out a chuckle and shook his head, sending his long black hair cascading around his face. “If you start touching me, I’ll lose what little control I do have.”

“I need to touch you, Rowe.” My breathing grew heavier and my eyes closed as I concentrated on the feeling building between my legs. “Rowe?” I said in a fractured voice.

“Just let it come,” he whispered in a husky voice. At the same time, he picked up his speed, pounding inside of me a little harder. He released my wrists and let his hands sweep down my flushed body. Each touch only added to the feeling, until the dam finally seemed to break. A scream was ripped from my throat and my body arched beneath him. Muscles clenched around him as he slid in and out of me, sending fresh waves of pleasure through my frame.

As the last ripples of pleasure ran through my frame, Rowe let out a low groan. I could feel him expanding within me before he finally exploded with a gush. He fell forward, his hands on either side of my head as he finally grew still inside me. His breathing was heavy and a bead of sweat trickled down from his temple. A slow grin grew across his face as he leaned down and pressed a slow kiss against my lips.

“So that’s what sex is like,” I murmured, feeling completely relaxed.

“You haven’t been missing much,” Rowe teased, kissing me again before slowly pulling his body out of mine.

I sat up as he sat beside me, flexing my wings. The pain was gone from my right wing completely, allowing me to slowly and carefully dissolve them into a fine black dust. I reached across and touched his arm with my fingers, drawing him out of thought. I wasn’t sure what this meant between us, if things had changed forever or if this had simply been a release of built-up tension.

“Things are different,” he admitted.

“Do you just live in my thoughts?” I demanded, pinching his arm.

A crooked smile lifted his lips as he looked over at me. “That time I wasn’t in your mind. It was just a guess because I was wondering the same thing. Things are different between us now. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I do know that I’m not going to let you out of my sight. Unfortunately, for now, we have a new duty before us.”

“Cynnia,” I murmured.

“And the defeat of Aurora. We can’t be free until Aurora is gone.”

“I know. You’re right.”

Rowe reached over and took my chin between two fingers, turning my face toward him. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t steal a few moments to ourselves when we can.”

I smiled as I leaned in and pressed another kiss to his lips, my fingers straying across the scars that crisscrossed his beautiful face. The Fire Starter was right. There was something evil about this one-eyed naturi, but I welcomed that sinister grin and his nimble fingers.

We finished dressing but lingered by the side of the stream, watching fractured bits of moonlight dance across the water as it splashed within its banks. We talked softly of our time apart, of the years that had passed, separated on two different worlds. Unfortunately, there was one reoccurring thought eating at my mind. I was reluctant to bring it up and spoil our companionable moment but afraid that it had a bearing on what we faced.

“What happened to Nerian?” I found myself softly asking when a long silence settled between us.

“The Fire Starter killed him.”

“I know how he died, but I am more concerned with how my brother lived. I spoke with a couple survivors of the first trip to Machu Picchu those many years ago. They told me how Nerian tortured Mira, and deep in my heart I can’t fault her for wanting revenge.”

“If you’re going to pity Mira, then you should know that Nerian wasn’t alone in her torture,” Rowe stiffly said, looking over at me with a stern expression. “We needed her to be our protection when the nightwalkers came. And as it turns out, we needed her more when it came to opening the door.”

“I know about your role in Mira’s torture as well,” I replied in a soothing voice. “You and I are no different in the duties we’ve had to fulfill during our long lives. However, the others spoke of the twisted joy that Nerian took in Mira’s torture.”

Rowe heaved a heavy sigh and his shoulders seemed to slump under a new weight. “I know where you are going with this, and I have to admit that your suspicions are correct. Nerian had gone mad. At first I thought it was just an obsession with the Fire Starter and getting her to do exactly as he commanded. I thought it was just a need to break something that he perceived as weaker than him. But even after our defeat at Machu Picchu and we became more concerned with simple survival, his obsession never waned. In the last years that I knew him, he no longer followed orders; he mumbled constantly to himself and accused others of helping Mira to escape him. I was finally forced to banish him from the rest of the group that remained under my command before he killed someone.”

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I rested my chin on them while wrapping my arms around my legs. “During the brief time that I knew him before the wars, I could see flickers of moments where I knew his thoughts were in a dangerous place. He looked at Aurora with envy and I heard him utter traitorous words about our father. I think if he had remained with the royal family, he would have tried to kill Aurora in an effort to steal the throne.”

“It is a possibility,” Rowe said, slowly scratching his jaw.

“And now I’m only left to wonder,” I sighed, letting my eyes fall shut.

“Wonder what?”

“Has the same madness that struck down my older brother come to claim my sister as well? During the past century, Aurora has come to see conspiracy against her around every corner. People were killed by me in the name of treason, and there are some that I struggle to believe would harbor a single treasonous act against her. And then she turned on Cynnia, who wanted nothing more than to find a peaceful solution instead of pursuing a route that will ultimately lead to our extinction.”

“She also turned against you, her one and only true champion through it all,” Rowe added.

“Is this madness that is eating away at her brain? She was always a cold, distant person, but in the past years I’ve seen her act in the name of sheer cruelty. Has the same madness that afflicted Nerian taken hold of my sister?”

Rowe reached out and ran his hand down my back in a soothing caress, wiping away some of the tension that seemed to be growing in my shoulders. “Aurora is not the woman I remember or the person I agreed to be consort to. She is power hungry and obsessed. While I have no love for the humans, you are right that she will lead our people to extinction if she continues this course of action. She’s not thinking clearly.”

Rowe paused abruptly, and I lifted my head to look over at him. He was staring into the woods but I don’t think he was actually seeing the world around him. Without reading his thoughts, I could feel the pain of him reviewing that night on Machu Picchu when his wife-queen rejected him despite everything he had done for her. I could feel the heavy weight of that rejection and his own self-doubt over his appearance, though he hid both very well from the world around him with a thick veil of confidence and sarcasm.

“I think you’re right,” he whispered, still not looking at me. “I think she has gone mad.”

Reaching up, I placed my hand against his cheek, startling him back to look at me again. “Then we have to stop her. We have to protect what is left of our people before she kills us all.”

A crooked smile crossed his lips and then he turned his face and pressed a kiss into the palm of my hand. “I may not agree with the idea of giving the throne to someone as inexperienced as Cynnia, but she will be better than the madness of Aurora.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Cynnia,” I said with a smile. “She may be young and inexperienced, but she will have us as counsel at her side during her first few years. I feel confident that between the three of us, we will find a way to rejuvenate our people.”

“And what of her new consort Locke?” Rowe asked, arching one brow at me.

“I am hoping that he proves to be more than just eye candy for Cynnia.”

Rowe lunged at me, knocking me on my back while grabbing my wrists with both of his hands so he could properly hold me down. “Eye candy? Where would you learn such a phrase as that?”

A soft giggle escaped me as I stopped struggling against him. “Cynnia has made a friend with a human witch. I overheard them talking and they used the word eye candy when referring to the man Cynnia has chosen to be her consort.”

“Are you . . . disappointed? I mean, I’m not the man you came to care for those centuries so long ago. I’m not . . .” he stammered, his grip loosening on my wrists as he started to straighten.

Pulling my arms free, I sat up and cupped his face so he could not pull away from me as I forced him to look me in the eye. “I would change nothing.” And that statement went for my entire life. There were things I regretted and many things I was sorry had to happen, but somehow that connection of events led me to this moment alone in the woods with Rowe. I would not risk changing anything and miss out on this exact moment. I would change nothing.