Wicked Game Page 3

  I get into the car and Asher starts the engine. I expect him to drive like a maniac, given his mood, but he seems to go back to being courteous while we’re on the road, even if he’s giving everyone inside the car the silent treatment at the same time.

  Eden spends half the journey staring at her phone and picking through her purse. Asher gives one-word answers whenever I attempt to strike up a conversation. I switch on the radio and no-one mentions it.

  We get to the airport and I watch Lawson with interest as Asher pulls in to the private parking lot. The rock star is standing near a car on his own, no apparent security. Eden would have brought someone if she didn’t have me with her. He doesn’t seem to have a bodyguard, or even a personal assistant of some sort. Seems odd given his celebrity status. He’s either very green, or his ego has been overinflated to the point where he thinks he can handle anything. I’d guess the second, but I could be wrong.

  Asher gets out and walks straight over to him. Eden scowls as she gets out of the backseat to chase after him. I take my time. I want to hear what Asher’s concerns are, but I don’t need to rush to get there. I get the bags out of the trunk. I can’t hear what they’re talking about, but I do catch Eden telling Asher off. By the time I’m on my way over, he’s kissing her goodbye.

  Seeing them together stirs something inside of me, a need that’s long lain dormant. I want what they have. It should be a messed up situation, wanting to be with this woman who has other lovers she has no intentions of giving up. It should be making me angry to see her with one of them.

  All I feel is desire. I want to be a part of Eden’s life. This is my chance.

  Chapter Seven

  Asher

  I can’t stand the thought of Eden putting herself in danger. I know I have no right to tell her what she can and can’t do, but it’s driving me mad that she’s even considering going back to L.A. with this complete fucking stranger, just to get her unpredictable friend out of a mess she’s gotten herself into. I march over to Lawson the moment the car is parked. He raises his eyebrows as I approach.

  I can hear Eden calling out after me. She can’t believe my behaviour. Well, I can’t believe she’s so willing to leave with someone she doesn’t know just because he’s telling her he needs her help.

  I hold out my hand and force a smile. “Asher Reynolds. I’m Eden’s boyfriend. And you are?”

  He takes my hand and I send the Goddess light into him.

  “Lawson Black,” he says, shaking.

  I don’t let go of his hand. “Why exactly do you need Eden to find Skyler?”

  He frowns. “I know what Eden is. She might be the only one who can help.”

  Why do I get the impression he’s avoiding spilling his guts?

  Eden slaps my arm as she catches up to us. “Asher!”

  I don’t turn my gaze away from him. I have to find out if he’s trustworthy. I won’t let Eden go with him if he’s not. “And how does Eden being a Goddess help you to find Skyler?”

  He glances Eden’s way before he turns back to me. “Eden loves her. She’s connected to those she loves. She can use that to find her.”

  So far, his words seem to be passing my lie detector test, but I’m far from happy. He’s hiding something. What the hell is it?

  Eden’s hand covers mine and she nods at me when I look at her. “He’s not lying, Asher.”

  I sense that he isn’t. So we have a reason. It doesn’t make this any more acceptable. “He’s knowingly dragging you into something dangerous.”

  She winces as our gazes meet. “I can’t be hurt.”

  “Maybe not physically.” I sigh deeply and let go of his hand, to pull Eden into my arms.

  “I have to do this, Asher. She needs me.” Her light rushes along my arm as her hand travels up to stroke the back of my neck. She needs to do this. She needs me to trust her. It’s paining her that I’m questioning her decision.

  Damn Skyler to hell. “You’d better not get hurt.”

  She smiles. “I promise I’ll come back in one piece.”

  I lean in and kiss her soft lips, heart hammering. I don’t want her to go, but I know this is something she needs to do. I let go reluctantly, stroking her face as she gazes up at me.

  “I’ll call you every night.” Her promise makes me smile.

  “Be careful, Eden.” I can’t help but give one last warning. I pull away with effort and see Eli behind us. At least he’ll be with her. The reservations I had about him melted away after a couple of phone calls. I trust that new intuition, but I touch his shoulder in passing to be sure. “Keep her safe.”

  “I will.” His promise reassures. He fully intends to protect Eden with his life. He already feels like he belongs to her.

  I’m still getting used to using Eden’s Goddess light, but it’s coming more naturally now that I know what it is. I really could use her guide’s help in figuring out how to focus it better, but given how little help he gives Eden, I doubt he’ll spare a few seconds for me.

  I leave them with slightly lighter shoulders. I’ll be worried every second that she’s gone, but I know she’s capable and I know someone has her back.

  “Just, hurry back, Eden.” I mutter under my breath as I start the car.

  Chapter Eight

  Eden

  I watch Asher go and wish I could have done more to put his mind at rest. I’m going into a dangerous situation. I can’t really blame him for freaking out about it. I know Nick trusts me not to put myself in harm’s way, not to bite off more than I can chew. It was why he could let it roll right off of his shoulders. But Asher is more protective. I know if Eli wasn’t coming with us, he’d have insisted on coming along.

  “Everything okay?” Eli asks.

  Lawson glances him over. “Another boyfriend?”

  I don’t know what to say. I feel my cheeks burning.

  “If Eden decides I’m worthy,” Eli tells him, with a wry smile.

  “Oh, I’m sure she will.” Lawson cracks a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

  He’s still deeply apprehensive. After everything he told me, I’m sure he’s not going to be able to relax until we have Sky back, safe and sound.

  “I have some questions about this whole cult thing.” Eli keeps his voice low as he speaks.

  Lawson nods. “We can talk on the flight. There’s a lot to go over.”

  I’ll bet, I think. How the hell does he know so much about Goddesses anyway?

  His gaze meets mine and there’s such intensity there that I wonder for a second if he might have read my mind. He smiles as he gestures towards the building. He comes closer and leans in as we start to walk towards it. “Careful what you think of.”

  Holy shit. Did he really just say that? Cupid, where are you? I need answers.

  As usual my dark glasses wearing invisible friend isn’t listening. Ugh. He’ll probably show up at the worst possible time, as always. Like when I’m trying to have a meaningful conversation with Eli.

  I can picture the conversation now, but my mind runs away with that scene and moves straight into images of Eli with his shirt undone and handcuffs being dangled in front of my greedy gaze.

  Lawson glances back at me and shakes his head. I really hope he didn’t just see that.

  What the hell is going on?

  ***

  Eli sits next to me on the flight. I let my gaze drift over his uniform and wonder when I’ll get the chance to strip him out of it. Patience, Eden. You have a rule for him, remember? Oh, yeah. Getting that dark secret out of him to gain his trust before I hand my heart over. Why am I insisting on that again?

  Lawson takes the seat across from us and looks Eli over. “It’s going to be better if you can blend in more when we land. I don’t know who might be watching when we get to L.A. Seeing Eden with a bodyguard isn’t going to make anyone bat an eye. This,” he gestures to the uniform, “is going to attract the wrong kind of attention.”

  Damn. I barely got the chance t
o lust over him in it.

  “There’s a bedroom at the back of the plane. You can change in there.” Lawson points it out.

  I’d forgotten about that. I’d pointed the bedroom out to Nick when he came back to Rapture with me, but he’d been far more interested in fucking me in his seat.

  “I’ll change when we’re in the air.”

  Lawson nods. “Won’t be long now.”

  The take-off was smooth. We were officially allowed to roam around the cabin a few minutes later. Eli gets up and grabs his case from the storage. He gazes at me with those dark eyes of his.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  I nod, swallowing. I’m wishing we were already at that place. Where I could follow, and watch him get naked…

  “You realise you’re imposing human thought processes onto this whole thing.” Lawson’s words snap me out of my thoughts as Eli goes into the other room.

  I stare at him. “You can read my mind.”

  He nods. “I’m further along than you are.”

  “You’re further along than… You’re a God?” I somehow manage to keep my voice low, though hell only knows how.

  “I knew your guide was Cupid before you thought of him. He’s an asshole. Believes in letting us figure our powers out on our own.”

  “Well, yeah, he is kind of an asshole.” But that’s the last thing we need to be talking about while we have this moment alone. Eli will be back soon, and he knows nothing of my Goddess status. “So why can’t you find Skyler on your own if you’re a God?”

  He smiles wryly. “This is where your other boyfriend is going to wish he never let you come with me. The cult knows about the awakening. There are Gods at the top of the chain, the dark forces kind.”

  My stomach begins to churn. “Are you serious?”

  “I wish I wasn’t, believe me.” He sighs. “Alone, I stand zero chance of getting Skyler out of there. With you, maybe we can do this.”

  I’m still taking his words in when Eli comes back. The dark grey T-shirt and black jeans are kind of bodyguard style. Heat ripples through me as my gaze travels over the muscle definition the short-sleeved shirt puts on display. It’s fitted enough to show off a six-pack underneath too. I bite down on my lower lip. He smiles warmly as he sits back down. He knows the effect he has on me, damn it.

  His attention goes to Lawson. “Tell me about this cult.”

  I just heard everything I needed to hear, but it wasn’t anything we could share with Eli.

  “Skyler was born into it. Her parents were members. I was born into it too. I didn’t know her then. We were probably in different sects. It’s difficult to leave, but not impossible. Those who do escape are left alone unless they try to speak out against the cult. Sky wanted to do that. We talked about finding a way to do it carefully. Then they took her.”

  Eli glances at me warily. “Took her? How?”

  “I don’t have security at my house beyond electronic systems. The cult has members everywhere. I can’t trust anyone.”

  I frown at him. If he can read minds, surely that part is BS. He should know who to trust.

  He shakes his head lightly, glancing at me pointedly. “As I’m sure Eden can attest to, after everything she’s been through, trust is hard earned.”

  Fuck, he’s right. Diana was able to use Logan against me. Someone I’d trusted my life to for years. Lawson really can’t trust anyone if Dark Forces Gods are in control. They could use the people he’s closest to against him.

  Eli frowns. “You left her alone, knowing there were dangerous people who might come for her?”

  Good point, Eli. I watch Lawson’s face, wishing I could read his thoughts right now. I concentrate, but nothing happens. Damn it. I’m going to have to beg him to show me how to do that.

  He sighs. “I’m being blackmailed by a woman who insists I got her pregnant. This woman is unstable and has ties to the cult. She’s a liar. I couldn’t bring Skyler with me to meet her. I tried to put off the meeting, but she claimed…”

  His voice chokes up. I can feel the emotion pouring out of him now, heartache and relief under that. It’s a strange thing to feel, as if these emotions are my own. I feel my eyes well with unshed tears.

  “She claimed she knew where I was hiding my first son, my only child. She told me she’d take him and hand him over to the cult.” He can’t meet our eyes any longer. I move to the seat next to his to comfort him with my touch. Taking his hand in mine, I struggle to keep my own tears from falling as I see him choke back his own.

  “She was lying, but I didn’t know that.” He sounds drained now, worn out. “It was a ruse, to let them take Sky while I was gone. It’s my fault they got to her.”

  I let my light bleed into him. He needs it. A few moments are all it takes to restore him. He looks at me with something like surprise in his eyes. “Thanks.”

  I let go and move back to my seat.

  Eli looks uncomfortable and I’m not sure if it’s the outpouring of emotion, or something else.

  “They left this note.” He passes it to Eli.

  Eli takes a good look at it. “This is blood?”

  He nods. “It’s something they do.”

  He hands it back and Lawson puts it into his pocket.

  “I don’t understand why you’d come to Eden with this?” Eli sounds suspicious. His gaze doesn’t waver from Lawson’s face.

  “Eden is the only person who knows Sky outside of L.A. I can’t trust anyone in town. I had nowhere else I could go.”

  Why do I get the feeling this whole thing is going to be a goddamned mess by the end? I groan inwardly as I nod at Eli. It feels wrong to lie to him but letting him in on my big secret before we’ve decided what we are to each other would be a horrible mistake.

  “Do you have a starting point? Places they might have taken her?” Eli turns his gaze back on Lawson.

  “I can make a list.”

  I shiver slightly as I realise how dangerous it is to have brought Eli along. He could be used by Dark Forces Gods to strike against us.

  My head starts to fill up with questions. Why the hell would they go to such trouble to take Sky? Was she really going to talk out against them? Why was she in the cult to begin with?

  I need answers for all of them, and more, but Lawson’s not going to be able to give them in front of Eli. Why the hell didn’t I just let Asher come?

  Chapter Nine

  Logan

  I’m going to have to go back to work sometime, and I know it. But watching Diana sleep in bed next to me, I’m sure how well she’ll take me leaving her so soon, even if it’s temporary. My best bet for staying close by is asking to be assigned to Eden’s task force. I know that won’t go down well either, on both sides, but it’s the only way I’d get to stay in Rapture for the foreseeable future.

  I doubt Diana would be okay with a long-distance relationship. Not after I’d convinced her to turn her back on the life she was living to be mine. She’d lost her Goddess powers the moment she told me she loved me. She’d made her choice real by speaking the words out loud. Those damned headaches were over with now. We were both mortal.

  She still looked like a Goddess, or a vampire. Supernaturally gorgeous; the kind of perfection that’s impossible for mere mortal women to maintain no matter what their beauty regime. Darkness still lies beneath that divine exterior, but it’s going to fade. Though, I hope not too much. Her twisted soul with its compassion buried deep is what drew me in. Maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t want her to start being nice to everyone. She’s mine. Everyone else can go to hell.

  The sound of the doorbell makes me suspicious. Diana isn’t exactly popular in this town. Chances of the caller being someone she doesn’t actually want to see are pretty damn high.

  I get up and pull on my jeans and T-shirt. I realise I don’t have any weapons left and it makes me curse under my breath. I must have left my bag at Eden’s house when I broke in there. I walk out onto the landing just as a woman’s voice
calls out, “Diana?”

  I turn, but my dark beauty is still sleeping. I close the door on her and start down the stairs.

  “Diana’s asleep,” I call out as I move, locking eyes with the woman who walked right in to her house as I get to the bottom of the staircase.

  She has short dark hair and a disapproving look on her stunningly beautiful face. She could almost be Diana’s sister. If she wasn’t dressed as if she were twenty years older. Shit. This is her mother, the Dark Forces Goddess who birthed her. She runs that disdainful look over me and lets out a sigh.

  “Well, you’re new.” She squints at me for a second before she rolls her dark eyes and tries to idly shoo me out of her path.

  I smile patiently and block her. “She’s sleeping. You’ll have to come back later.”

  Her gaze is ice-cold as she sears me with it. I feel the dull throbbing of a Goddess-induced headache and spit a curse out through my teeth.

  Her lips curve up in a mockery of a smile. “Move out of my way.”

  I follow her command, because that’s what it is. I’m mortal. She’s an all-powerful Goddess. She can do whatever she wants with me. I watch her walk up the stairs at a leisurely pace. I have no idea what Diana’s relationship with her mother is like, other than to know the woman never loved her. She couldn’t. If she had, she wouldn’t still be a Goddess.

  “Fuck.” I contemplate my options. Without a weapon, I don’t have many. With a weapon, they’d be pretty damned low too.

  I can guess why she’s here, even if I don’t understand how she could have found out. Diana made the choice to become mortal. Somehow, I don’t think her mother’s going to like that.

  I head up the stairs, suddenly afraid of what the woman might have come here for.

  I find her sitting on the edge of the bed, slapping Diana awake.

  “Get your hands away from her.”