“Yes, I am,” I agreed.

“Then kill me, spare me the prisons or a death sentence,” he begged, the first evidence of fear darkening his light blue eyes.

“No,” I answered in response to everything he petitioned. His face flickered surprise for only a brief moment before I reached for his magic with mine and then it turned to fear. He fought to hold on to his magic desperately. Unlike everyone before him who fought me while trying to hold onto their electricity, Dmitri concentrated solely on his life’s blood.

At first, his tactic seemed effective. He held onto his energy with surprising strength, clutching it to his body with a vise-like grip. My resolve began to waver whether it was necessary to take his magic after all when I felt the shove of Avalon’s magic in my own blood. He made himself known without a word spoken between us, the silent offer of help end this man.

I let his magic join with mine in a concerted, focused effort to drain Dmitri of what he did not deserve. With Avalon’s magic aiding mine, Dmitri didn’t stand a chance, his magic fled from his body and absorbed into mine like it had always belonged with me. He fell to his knees, helpless and defeated.

“You won’t be able to kill him alone,” Dmitri whispered in a raspy voice, clinging to the last edges of awareness. He referred to Lucan. His words rang with truth, and for the first time I saw him as a desperate man, trying to save his people in his own twisted version of morality.

“I won’t have to. I have a twin brother,” I confessed dramatically and then sent a wave of magic at him that finished his already waning consciousness. He crumpled to the ground with the rest of his men.

Thank you. I whispered internally to Avalon. I dropped my arms to my sides in sudden and overwhelming exhaustion. The room, quiet from the after effects of my destruction, reminded me painfully of the evil side to my magic, the side that craved vengeance and justice at any cost. I remembered the dark months after Amory died, the good part of my soul that seemed lost forever and wanted desperately to mourn that lost innocence.

Eden, we will do what we have to, so that one day we don’t have to do evil anymore. Avalon reminded me, his voice resounding in my head with truth.

You’re right. I conceded.

Go to Kiran. He commanded and I obeyed.

I stepped over the stilled bodies carefully, feeling shaken and disoriented. I noticed the onyx necklace lying across Dmitri’s table and I grabbed it, slipping it over my head before I walked down the stairs. I leaned heavily against the railing all the way down and then stumbled to the front door that hung half off its hinges from the men who fled not minutes before. Kiran and his Titans were in the middle of a tactical effort to surround the cottage. Kiran seemed to be leading the attack, moving stealthily across the front lawn and toward the house.

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying not to be amused as I stepped out onto the front porch.

Kiran stood up from a semi-crouched position and looked around confused. He made a swirling motion with his fingers to his men and then walked toward me with renewed purpose.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he called out, “Coming to rescue you.”

“You’re too late,” I half-laughed from hysteria.

“I can see that.” He met me on the grass at the bottom of the porch stairs. His turquoise eyes were eager and searching as he stood over me and then whispered in a rush, “These men believe you are my fiancé.”

With that warning, his arms slid around my waist and pulled me gently, very gently against his chest as if I were delicate and breakable, as if I hadn’t just taken the magic of six men. His mouth moved against mine before I could protest in soft, anxious movements. He sighed longingly when his arms pulled me closer against his chest and my fingers tangled in his hair. I let him kiss me, thankful for the touch of a lesser evil and resting in the strength of his arms.

When finally he removed his lips from mine, he held me closer still, burying his face in my hair and keeping his arms locked around me. I sensed the Titans removing the drained men from the farmhouse and loading them into the van that followed the three sedans here. I pressed my face into Kiran’s chest, not wanting to be reminded of my actions, of my seemingly constant fight for survival.

After a while, the sounds around us died down. Kiran, still reluctant to let me go sighed when I lifted my head to look around the quiet farm. The Titans stood at attentive alert, watching the van, the horizon and the house waiting for more bad guys to appear from nowhere.

“You play a very convincing part,” I mumbled into Kiran’s chest.

“What do you mean?” Kiran asked lightly.

“You’re all worried and tense,” I mused, rubbing my hand against his flexed bicep.

“Believe it or not, I was actually worried,” Kiran admitted thinking I should be absolutely shocked. “Whether you love me or not, you’re still my friend and I left you alone to be kidnapped by the most vile, disgusting creature-“

“No, please, stop,” I begged. “I don’t want to think about him anymore, I don’t want to think about this anymore….” I pleaded, lifting my fingers to his lips, quieting his protests.

“For now,” he relented, “but I will need to know what happened.”

“Later,” I promised, smiling bravely at him.

“Are you all right, Love?” Kiran asked sincerely.

“Yes, I am. I’m fine, really.” I pulled away from him and started walking toward the car. I didn’t know how much longer Kiran wanted to stay here, but I was anxious to get back to the castle and shower. I was covered with dried blood from my chest wound and dirt from the hole they tried to keep me in. “I just got shot in the heart, but really, no big deal.” I tried to laugh it off, but the joke sounded unnatural coming out of my mouth.

“The blue smoke healed you?” he asked, remembering how effective it could be.

“Yes,” and then I remembered the Titan that also got shot. “How about the Guard at the castle that he shot? How is he?”

“He’ll survive,” Kiran answered cautiously, “although, maybe you could help aid the healing process when we get back?”

“Absolutely,” I quickly agreed. “Is his wound just not healing or is he exhausted?”

“The bullet won’t come out, actually,” Kiran explained and I wondered at the surgical like expertise the blue smoke seemed to remove mine with. “He’s in some kind of coma and no amount of magic will remove the bullet.”

“I can get it out,” I confessed.

“I assumed,” Kiran smiled down at me and then opened the door to the car so I could climb in the backseat.

“Take me straight to him,” I ordered, when he closed the door behind us.

“I will, but first we’re going to make a stop,” Kiran whispered secretly.

“Where?” I asked, curiosity overwhelming me.

“To see your parents,” he smiled and then put a protective arm around my shoulders. I sat too stunned to object.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Kiran pulled up to a darkened rustic mountain house in the southern part of Ukraine that bordered Romania. He had sent the Titans ahead of us, back to the castle, using the excuse that he wanted to be alone with me. They took the prisoners and all of the vehicles except one while he drove us deep into the Carpathian Mountains on this side of the Ukrainian border.

The sun dipped below the jagged, mountain horizon, so the sky, painted with streaks of brilliant pink and darkened blue clouds, lit the landscape like a glowing candle. The house, nestled into the side of a mountain with a breathtaking view of a river valley below, appeared well kept and relatively modern.

I followed Kiran’s lead out of the car and to the front door where he used magic to open it. Inside the house the decorations were non-existent, but the furniture seemed comfortable and practical and a fire place took up one entire wall of the living room. Despite the heat from the mid-August evening, the house was cool and drafty so Kiran started a fire immediately.

The wall perpendicular to the fireplace was made entirely of glass and opened up to a large deck that gave a direct view of the rushing river at the base of the valley. The kitchen, parallel to the living room, was tiny, but efficient and Kiran went right to work, putting a tea kettle on the small gas stove and pulling cups down from the cabinets. I walked over to a barstool pushed against the kitchen counter and sat down to watch him wait for the water to boil.

“My parents actually a coming here?” I asked carefully, afraid of the answer.

“Yes,” he smiled, looking up at me from the stove. “I wanted Avalon, Lilly and…. Jericho to be here too, but they were down in Peru with Silas working on something. We can only stay for a few hours; we need to be back at the castle tonight. Your parents were in the vicinity, so they are going to meet us,” he explained.

“How do you know where my parents are?” I snapped, afraid of what that kind of information in Kiran’s hands could do.

“Eden, Avalon told me. He’s in constant contact with them. When you were taken…. When, we all found out that you were gone, everyone moved into action immediately. Not just me and my Guards, but your brother, your parents, everybody. I happened to be the closest, but from what Avalon said, your parents were not going to sit around and let anything happen to you. They were coming to rescue you, I just got there first.” Kiran turned his attention back to the tea kettle.

“Oh,” I said simply, a little humbled by my misjudgment of him.

“They’ll be here soon. They want to see you for themselves,” he said quietly.

The tea kettle started to whistle, softly at first and then to a loud screeching sound that filled the silence between us. He took the two mugs, poured the hot water into them and then dipped the tea bags to let them soak for a while. He looked up at me, his eyes soft and intrigued. I squirmed on the barstool, not sure what he was looking for.

“We’re not alone very often,” he began, “it’s nice to be able to be ourselves completely.”

“I know what you mean,” I agreed. “Sometimes I forget how we feel about each other

between all of the pretending we’re in love and the fighting.” I laughed at my joke, but he didn’t.

“So which is it?” he asked, pouring milk into my tea and adding a teaspoon of sugar before handing it over to me. “Do we hate each other or love each other?”

“How did you know I like my tea like that?” I mused, avoiding his question.

“Eden, the first time you were my fiancé you also wanted to marry me,” he replied vaguely.

“So?” I pressed, wanting more of an explanation.

“So, I wanted to marry you too.” He fixed his tea and sipped from it casually.

“Ok, and?” I didn’t want to play games. Even four hours of sleeping in the car hadn’t expelled the exhaustion that I felt in my very bones.

“And, I paid attention to things like that. How you like your tea…. How you put your hair on top of your head when you’re frustrated…. How you leave it down when you’re feeling rebellious…. How you prefer your steak…. How you bite your thumbnail when you’re nervous…. Although I think that is a family trait. I noticed those things, I loved you. I couldn’t help but notice those things….” Kiran admitted, his cheeks blushing the softest shade of red.