“I don’t think you should go, T. It’s a reckless move.” Hayden.
“I have to. She’s never going to be safe until he’s dead.” I was fairly certain I’d recognize Talon’s voice even if we were underwater.
“You’re certain Thax has men in here?”
No response. Did he nod or shake his head? Dammit.
“You don’t even know if Thax is back in the Underworld,” Hayden whispered. “He could be hiding out in his underground castle again. It’s too risky, brother.”
“So what do you want me to do, sit around and wait until he tries to take her again? Or worse? He’s already stolen her from me once, and the Azara we found is a shadow of the one I lost. I won’t let him do it again.”
Hayden huffed out a frustrated breath. “I can see I won’t be able to change your mind on this, so at least let me help you.”
“I need you to keep her safe while I’m gone.”
“You shouldn’t go by yourself, T.”
“I won’t drag one of you guys into this. Thax is my problem, and I’ll handle it.”
“Be careful, brother.”
“Always am.”
The hiss of the door opening again sent my heart into a frenzy. I couldn’t let Talon go after Thax alone. More than that, I wanted my revenge. Even with my she-demon numbed by the magical restraints, her dark desires were clear in my mind.
I leapt out of bed as Hayden settled into the bottom bunk.
“Where you going, pumpkin?”
“Bathroom,” I called out over my shoulder and slipped through the narrow opening right before the door slid closed.
Hayden’s muffled shouts echoed behind me as I raced to catch up to Talon’s heavy footfalls. I trailed a few feet behind him, slowing my pace as soon as his broad shoulders came to view. Creeping down the stairs, I followed him through the training room and into SCOM, where he whispered the words of the spell to reveal the hidden tunnel.
I stepped softly, sneaking through the mystical doorway before it disappeared into the ether. Talon was already a few yards ahead of me, his massive form taking up most of the width of the narrow tunnel.
I held my breath, cringing at every creak as I trailed behind him. My mind raced with visions of confronting Thax, watching the light vanish from his bottomless irises as I devoured his soul. He took everything away from me, and now he’d pay.
A dense silence swam over me, and I froze. Glancing up, I scanned the dark, empty passageway. Where was Talon?
A thick forearm closed around my neck, and I backed into a firm chest. My heart smacked against my ribcage, and I muttered a curse.
“Do you remember anything I taught you, one thirty-eight? I heard you trailing me since you stomped out of our cell.”
“I hate it when you call me that,” I hissed.
His hold fell away, and he spun me around to face him. Two huge silver orbs bored into me. “You remember that?”
Now my eyes widened. Did I? The nickname incited a swell of anger I couldn’t quite place. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”
The flash of excitement dissipated, and darkness settled over his features. “What are you doing following me anyway?”
“I’m going with you to find Thax.”
He barked out a laugh. “No, you’re not.”
I slapped my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “Yes, I am. If anyone deserves to get revenge on my traitorous cousin, it’s me.”
“Which one?” he muttered under his breath.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I guess treachery runs on both sides of your family.”
“Explain. No memories, remember?”
“Your cousin, Ella, on your mom’s side. She was part of my team on the SIA. She’s the one that clued Thax in on our mission that night. She’s the reason he captured you right from under my nose.”
Ella? I searched my vacant mind for a lingering memory, but none came. “Why would she do that?”
“Ella claims Thax threatened her family, and she had no choice. She’s probably telling the truth, but it doesn’t absolve her of what she did.”
Just another person Thax manipulated. “This isn’t changing my mind about going after him. It’s only strengthening my resolve.”
Talon glared down at me, puffing out his chest. “There’s nothing to change. I simply won’t let you go with me.”
“Let?” I mirrored his stance, but it didn’t have quite the desired effect since I couldn’t loom over him as effectively.
“How are you going to get to the Underworld? Do you have wings too?” A pair of silvery scaled appendages snapped out from behind his back, tearing through the fabric of his jumpsuit. Even in the dim light, his scales glimmered like the brightest star.
I drew in a breath as a pang of loss streaked through my chest. Then the twinge of a memory. A fleeting thought I couldn’t quite grasp onto. My hand jutted out of its own accord, and my fingers fastened onto the zipper of Talon’s jumpsuit. The faint rise and fall of his chest stopped, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. I dragged the zipper down, exposing the scintillating dragon tattoo beneath.
I clenched my fingers to keep from running them over his glistening flesh.
He lifted his shoulders and shrugged free from the sleeves of his jumpsuit. The gray material dropped and hung loosely from his hips, revealing the entire dragon. I sucked in a breath as I took the beast in from its silvery snout to its barbed tail.
“I remember this,” I rasped out. “And not just from the training room.”
He nodded, his lips pressed in a tight line. He was barely breathing.
I reached for his chest but halted midway, my hand frozen in midair. Touching him felt like the most natural thing in the world, but something stopped me. Something I couldn’t explain.
His hand wrapped around my fingers, and he guided them to his chest. He pressed my palm against the glimmering tattoo, and all the air siphoned from my lungs. Heat radiated from his skin, seeping into my flesh and igniting a fire in my core.
I glanced up to meet a pair of bottomless silver pools searing into my own. “Azara,” he whispered, the anguish in his voice like a knife to the heart.
I swallowed hard and forced my jumbled emotions into words. “I may not remember what we had, Talon, but I know what I feel. Every cell in my body recognizes yours. I know your scent, the curve of your jaw, the lines that furrow across your forehead when I piss you off…”
He smiled, revealing that elusive dimple. “Talking like that won’t increase your chances of me taking you to the Underworld.”
“That’s okay. You’re going to take me whether you like it or not.” I smirked and danced my fingers down his torso. “Because I have a feeling that’s the kind of relationship we had.”
“You’re right,” he murmured, his lips a hairsbreadth from my own.
“Kiss me.” The words floated from my mouth unbidden.
He clenched his jaw and slowly shook his head.
“What?” I screeched.
He seared me with those eyes, those eyes that shone like windows to my own lost soul. “Then I’ll never go. And I have to.”
My heart ached for him, not to mention my lower half. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt alive. I couldn’t let him go now, not when he was the only one to ignite my missing emotions.