Page 54

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Ellery

Ianto pulled his watch from his pocket and opened it.

“What is it?” Callan asked.

Ianto didn’t reply as he stared at the watch. When the stone flashed red again, my nails broke my skin as I dug them into my palm.

I bit back a moan as the ache within me became almost painful. I sensed Ryker’s rising tension but didn’t dare meet his gaze.

“What is this thing?” Callan demanded.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?” When no one responded to him, Tucker spoke again. “Ryker!”

“What?” Ryker growled.

“You’ve traveled through a lot of different realms; have you ever seen anything like it?”

“No.”

The word came out clipped and angry. Tucker quirked an eyebrow at him, but I couldn’t see Ryker’s reaction.

When the gem flashed red again, I stepped away from the pedestal as a whimper lodged in my chest. I ached everywhere, and the only thing that would make it stop was Ryker’s hands on me.

I couldn’t think of anything more inappropriate than jumping him in front of our friends and fucking him in this city of the dead, but I craved it with a desperation that bordered on insanity. There are thousands of dead bodies here.

That should have been enough to douse my rising lust; it wasn’t. This thing was making me crazy.

“One minute,” Ianto said.

“What?” Scarlet asked.

“It was exactly one minute between flashes.”

“Oh.”

The seconds ticked away until it flashed again. This time, I found the strength to turn away from it. My wooden legs trembled but locked as I walked awkwardly toward the stairs.

“I have to…. I can’t be….”

I didn’t finish my sentence before plunging into the dimly lit stairwell. My awkward movements and frenzied escape caused me to bounce off the walls as I rushed down the stairs.

When I tripped over my feet, I pitched forward and nearly tumbled down the rest of the steps, but I caught the railing in time. Agony flared through my wrist and arm as I jerked myself to a halt before stumbling down the last few steps.

I ran onto the wall and rested my hand on one of the parapets as I struggled to catch my breath. When red flashed over the town again, I waited for that clawing, ravenous sensation of need to envelop me again, but while it remained deep in my bones, it wasn’t as all-consuming away from the stone.

“What was that?”

I hadn’t heard Scarlet follow me from the tower, and I jumped when she spoke. My shaking hand went to my heart as I spun toward her.

“What was what?” I asked.

Her skeptical look made it clear she didn’t believe my innocent act, probably because my voice was higher than a man who’d taken a kick to the nuts.

“What happened back there?” she asked. “Why did you run away like that?”

Heat crept into my cheeks as I recalled what I’d almost done up there. Scarlet would have been mortified, and once I returned to my senses, I would have wished I could turn to ash.

I glanced at the tower, but from my angle, I couldn’t see Ryker and the others. I didn’t know how he could stay so close to that thing.

“It made me feel….”

My words trailed off as I considered how to explain what it did to me. Scarlet and I had always shared everything. I’d kept my lightning from her and still harbored the secret of my control over all the weathers, but we’d always shared the most humiliating things we’d ever experienced.

I didn’t know how to share this.

“That stone has a lot of power,” she said. “Did it scare you?”

“No. I mean, yes… a little… but that’s not why I left.”

“Then why ?”

Movement in the tower drew my attention as Ryker appeared at one of the openings. He rested his hands on the stone while he gazed at the town.

I couldn’t see his eyes, but I sensed the lightning emanating from him and knew they’d be as black as the walls around us. The muscles in his neck stood rigidly out.

“Ellery, what happened?”

I shifted my attention back to Scarlet’s concerned face as she rested her hand on my elbow. I couldn’t lie to her, but I really didn’t know how to explain this.