Woman of Silk and Stone (18 page)

I seemed to be an anomaly in a number of
ways; I was only the second
halqu
to come
from Earth, and I was the only one who arrived with special
abilities. There was no journal from the other Earth
halqu
, but from what I gathered through sporadic
conversations with Tilmun, the man from my world was the third
halqu
to come to Solis, some three
thousand years ago. Apparently, his contribution had been to teach
Solisians how to read and write. Guess he was too busy to practice
what he preached.

At any rate, for the most part I was just
winging it, muddling through on the scanty knowledge I'd managed to
acquire thus far, and bluffing my way through most interactions.
For Adar to state so plainly what I had been going through chipped
away at a wall I'd erected within, one of my endless means of
shoring up confidence, of keeping that poised smile ready for the
world.

I melted in his arms, and for the first time
since opening my eyes on Edin, I leaned on someone completely; just
let the tears fall, my knees crumple in weakness, and my fingers
cling to something so much more substantial than my fragile
hope.

And he held me.

Sometime later, when I finally stopped
weeping and that twisted clenching in my chest had unknotted, I
blinked my salt-encrusted eyes open and stared into the swirling
green-blue depths of Adar's gaze. He smiled at me, so beautiful, so
exquisite, and the last of my defenses crumbled.

"Thank you, Adar. I'm so sorry I..." he cut
me off by pressing his lips against mine, soft, warm pillows of
satin that gently teased and feathered along the opening of my
mouth. It was inviting, a tantalizing request for more. After a
moment, I breathed in his spicy-sweet scent, opening my lips and
allowing him entrance.

All the tender consideration vanished and he
drank at my mouth as though it was a fountain in the desert, the
source of his immortality. His kiss first smoldered, stoking the
embers of passion between us until I was trembling, then erupted in
a brilliant flash of heat that seared me to my bones, and finally
engulfed me in a tingling warmth that filled my core and spread
outward, as though seeking to touch every part of me, the flames
licking around my heart without pity or hesitation. It went on and
on, until stars burst behind my eyes, and my whole body yearned
toward him, breaking free of my skin and pressing into his, forcing
my pleasure out to crash against his in a merging of souls.

He gasped against my mouth, his body
stiffening before he groaned and sank to his knees, taking me with
him. Burying his face in my neck, he panted for a long moment while
I drifted on a sea of tranquility, feeling the intensity of our
exchange ebb and ease, leaving me to radiate with a blissful sense
of completion.

Adar was breathing heavily, his body
vibrating slightly as he continued to hold me, and I felt small
drops of what felt like warm oil sink into my shoulder. If I didn't
know better, I might have thought my new husband was weeping.

"My treasure,
ti
summu
, thank you," he gasped, pressing his lips against my
skin, kissing every inch of me he could reach without moving. "I
will wait forever for you, for whatever you can give me now. At
last...I am complete," he whispered, and in that moment, despite
the fact that I'd only just met him, that he was a seven-foot
immortal fire guardian from another dimension, that I still had no
idea what I was doing or how I would cope with all the changes
bombarding me; I knew that I was falling deeply in love with
Adar.

And it was going to last forever.

Thundering footsteps and the clash of steel
woke me.

Adar and I had simply decided to ignore the
rest of the world for the evening, so after he called for a servant
to make sure everything was settled for the night and that Tam was
okay, he locked the door and told me we weren't leaving until
morning. I put up a token protest, but honestly, I was exhausted,
and I simply didn't have it in me to put on a brave face for
everyone after nearly being murdered again.

So we curled up together on the enormous bed
and talked. I told him about my life on Earth, and Adar explained a
few things about Edin I hadn't known, as well as a more detailed
description of Shinar, which I was looking forward to visiting one
day. All things considered, I was dealing with the new paradigm
shift pretty well. Darwin would have loved me.

We fell asleep snuggled against each other,
and for the first time in my life I slept with a man's arms around
me all night, feeling a sense of homecoming unlike any I'd ever had
back on Earth.

That was then.

Now I shot up in bed, confused because
everything I heard sounded so much like my dreams; except instead
of hoof-beats, I heard frantic running and fleeing. Instead of
battle cries, I heard truncated screams and loud clatters that
seemed to be getting closer and closer.

And this time, there was no empty field, and
no thin trail of smoke twining around my ankles. This time, a
man-shaped figure of smoke and fire sat up in bed next to me,
turning the sheets beneath us to ash within seconds before he
extinguished the flames and clutched me to him.

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered,
knowing instinctively that something was deeply wrong. I glanced at
the window high on the wall and saw that it was still dark out, so
we couldn't have slept for more than a few hours, but in that time,
it sounded as though all hell had broken loose.

"Wait here, I will find out," Adar ordered,
and without further ado, dissolved into the black smoke I was so
familiar with, vanishing under the door and taking all the heat
with him.

I sat there shivering for a moment,
terrified and bewildered, before my brain caught up to the rest of
the world. And then I wanted to kick myself.

Since when did I huddle under the blanket,
waiting for some guy to save me? Particularly when I happened to be
immortal and packed one hell of a punch? Tam could be out there
right now, in terrible danger. After all, even though the earlier
assassination attempt seemed to be directed at me, he was standing
right next to me at the time.

Had I been looking at this all wrong?

I assumed the attacks on me were personal in
some way; most likely instigated by Efrim or someone like him that
I had rubbed the wrong way. But from what I understood, violence
like that was pretty rare, if not unheard of, at court, and I
hadn't been here long enough to make any more dangerous
enemies.

So why now? Why all these attacks?

Unwilling to wait another moment, I jumped
out of bed, pulling on the shoes waiting by the couch. I dithered
for a moment, worried about leaving a note or something for Adar,
but then I glanced at the merrily burning fire and wondered if he
was still keeping track of me that way. Feeling like a complete
moron, I nonetheless spoke to the fireplace, hoping I was sending a
Darisam's
version of a text message.

"I'm not waiting here. Come find me. I'm
going to check on Tam."

Frankly, annoying though Hamsum's dogged
presence could be, I was pretty worried that he wasn't bursting
through the door right now. I couldn't imagine anything would have
kept him from my side during such pandemonium, and a sick feeling
churned in my gut when I thought of what might have happened.

The fire flared and I thought it seemed
displeased, but that was probably the panic talking. Darting over
to the door, I cracked it open slightly, peering through the slight
opening to see a darkened hallway. No one seemed to be running
past, and the screams were further off now, making me think that
the danger had passed my door by.

And why was that, I wondered, creeping down
the silent hall with my deadly fist at the ready. After all, I'd
been the focus for all the recent violence, so why would it skip me
now? Because no one knew where Adar had taken me? Or just because
of Adar? Maybe. Then who was the real target?

Tam.

It had to be. According to everything I'd
heard, apart from some brewing discontent regarding the tax
situation, the kingdom had been at peace for longer than anyone
could remember. Even at the death of the previous monarch ten years
ago there hadn't been any uprisings.

So what had changed? Me.

The moment I met Tam, we had a connection,
and over the past few days it had deepened to the point I was
thinking of him as a little brother. Someone to look out for. And
Tam had developed a pretty intense attachment to me as well,
spending at least half his days with me in one way or another. I
had been included in all the council meetings, sat next to him at
dinner; I had become a new friend and confidant to an
impressionable young boy with unthinkable power.

Which made me a threat.

I reached the end of the hallway without
interference, and knelt to the floor before peeking around the wall
to what appeared to be a larger hall, probably one of the main
thoroughfares leading to the great hall. There was still no one in
sight, so I sped along with my shoulder to the wall until I reached
the opening to the main area.

All the while I kept thinking, running
scenarios through my head. Who would benefit most from my death?
And why had the attacks on me now shifted to something that clearly
affected the whole palace?

Because I was immortal now, and everyone
knew it.

That was the only rational explanation. Up
until now the attacks had centered on me, because as far as
everyone knew, I was powerless when I first arrived. I had kept my
strange healing abilities and the reinforced bone from everyone,
and even my survival of the first attack could have been written
off as a lucky fluke. Of course after that, I had Hamsum watching
my every move, so any further attacks would have to be surprise
ones. And while Hamsum and I had discussed a few possibilities, it
had never occurred to either of us that someone would attack me
while I was out in the open, walking next to the king.

But then, very publicly, Adar had made me
his
arrami
and secluded us for the rest of
night, making sure everyone who knew anything about
Darisam
would realize I was now either immortal or
simply untouchable because of my mate.

So killing me no longer had any purpose. But
if my influence on the young king was the motive, and I had to
believe it was, then Tam made the next logical target.

There was only one person I knew of that
might view me as a threat to their position, and if I was right,
and all my instincts were screaming that I was, then Tam was in
grave jeopardy.

Well, screw that.

I wasn't dragged all the way from Earth and
given a petrified wood arm to let my new little brother get
assassinated.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder and I
squealed.

"
Ti summu
, I cannot
imagine what made you think you should risk yourself by leaving the
room without me," Adar's voice grumbled in my ear, his tone
menacing. I took a deep breath and ordered my heart to start
beating again.

"I cannot imagine what makes you think I
will respond positively to that tone," I retorted, bristling like a
cat rubbed the wrong way.

He blinked at me and a smirk crossed his
face before he narrowed his eyes.

Which, let me just say, was really freaking
intimidating.

"I told you to stay in the room where you
were safe," he snarled, making that weird rumbling sound in his
chest again. It wasn't anything like a purr, or even an animalistic
growl; it was more like the sound of thunder rolling, which was, if
possible, even more unnatural.

"Yeah, you did, and then I realized there
was no good reason for me to stay there. Now stop arguing with me
and tell me what's going on. Where is everyone?" I snapped, loathe
to waste any more time on this dominance shit.

Adar glared at me, and if things hadn't been
quite so dire, I might have felt a little faint, but he finally
just shook his head and gave me a look that clearly stated,
"
this conversation is not over
."

"
Ensi
Tam is gone.
As is his
Ahatki
and half of the
Litum
. Two council members and a few
guards are dead, many are poisoned, and
Sukkall
Efrim is being held responsible. The danger
has passed; we can return to my chambers." Adar recited this litany
of horrors as though telling me what he had picked up at the
grocery store. I stared at him in utter disbelief for a moment
before snapping out of it.

"Please tell me you're joking," I begged,
and some of my desperation must have gotten through.

Adar gently folded me into his arms and
pressed my head against his broad chest. "I tell the truth,
Honey-
sa
. There is nothing to be done now.
You are no longer a target, and there is nothing to do until Tam
returns. We will travel to Shinar and return when the palace is
more settled."

For a second I took comfort there against
his solidity, an unmoving stone in the midst of a tempest, but I
shook him off and pushed away, fury surging through me with
intensity I didn't know I was capable of.

If Tam wasn't dead already, he needed me.
And there was no way I was letting him meet with some tragic
accident under the care of his psychotic, power-hungry aunt.

"You can go to hell, Adar. I'll be busy
here," I spat out and pushed passed him to enter the main hall.
Only a few were about now, mostly servants who appeared dazed and
unsure of what they were to do. There were a few bits of furniture
knocked askew, and one guard lay on the floor moaning and clutching
his stomach, but for the location of what had sounded like an epic
battle, it didn't look that bad.