“Look.” Noah shook his head. “You’re right. She might never forgive me. But I believe she’ll forgive and trust Cyrus.”
Emma reached for her husband’s hand and squeezed it. They shared one of those looks that Noah had always envied, the kind of look in which a whole conversation passed between them. Finally his father gave a small nod. “OK. I’ll reserve judgment and pray that you are both correct.”
Cyrus nodded gratefully and watched his friend and fellow warrior quietly leave the room with his wife, an air of anxiety pulsing all around him. The Princeps heaved a sigh and turned to Noah. “Your father is a good friend and a great warrior, but sometimes his pragmatism gets in the way of his faith. You don’t share that quality, Noah. In some ways you are much like him. Arrogant and elitist,” he teased. “But in other ways you are very open-minded.”
“You mean with Eden?”
“Yes.”
“I spent a lot of time with her. I know her. I believe in her.”
“And yet you believe she will never forgive you?”
“She might not, no.”
“And that matters?”
Noah snorted and raked a shaky hand through his hair, not quite able to meet the Princeps’ eyes. “More than I ever thought it would.”
“Then I want you to stay.”
“What?” He frowned, looking up sharply.
Cyrus’ face had hardened again, as it did when he was relaying an order. “Eden may be angry with you, but you are also the one thing that has pushed her to hold tight to humanity. I believe in that more than I believe in her anger. You will stay-”
“But, Princeps-”
“No buts. We are in this together, Noah Valois.” And finally Cyrus let himself smile a little. It was a smile of hope and Noah felt a twinge in his chest at the expression. He prayed that Eden didn’t let this noble warrior down. “Me, you, Eden and Valeria.”
At the mention of the ancient Ankh, Noah raised an eyebrow. “Valeria has finished her assignment then? She’s returning?”
Cyrus nodded. “She is already on the plane. Alain and I are driving to meet her at the airport. We will be gone a few hours, so I leave you and Emma in charge. Valeria’s presence here should help greatly.”
Noah sighed. God, I hope so.
Chapter Nineteen
Me, Myself & I
Eden, we have to get out of here. Can’t you hear the heartbeats all around, the heartbeats of such delicious pure souls? Oh Eden, Eden, get us out of here. We need to feed, Eden. Let’s take them, Eden. They deserve it, Eden. For Stellan. They took him from us, Paradise. They cut him apart and snuffed out his life without caring. Why should we care if we do the same to one of them? Get the blonde, the one who killed Stellan.
The hunger shredded her insides with its vicious claws.
Hmm, yes. The blonde. Smell the souls, Eden. We want them. Need them. Need. Need. Take. Take. Stellan. No. Souls. Souls. Pure. Stellan. Need. Want. Give in. Forget. Stellan. Hungry, Eden. Hungry. Take. Take.
Eden screamed, pulling at her hair, yanking strands of it from her scalp in her desperation. Her chest was burning with agony from the hunger, her heart weeping in pain from the grief and her mind wrestling with the sanity to deal with both together. Her nerves felt fried, as if there was too much blood and muscle and veins for her skin to contain. Her entire being bubbled beneath the surface, desperate to break apart, free.
She began to hyperventilate.
Sometime later, Eden awoke, her body aching from having passed out on the lumpy mattress in the basement Cyrus had put her in. He hadn’t wanted to. Or so he had said. And despite Eden wanting to trust him – no, needing to trust him - she couldn’t. She couldn’t trust anyone anymore. As the blurriness of unconsciousness faded, Eden struggled to sit up. She felt mildly better, although she could sense the hunger beginning to awake along with the rest of her body. She’d really thought she was going crazy before she collapsed. Maybe she already was crazy.
I wonder how long he’ll keep me here.
Eden gazed around at her dismal setting. At least Cyrus hadn’t chained her up.
And that will be his first and last mistake. As soon as someone came into the basement, Eden was getting out of there. Even if she died trying.
Unfortunately she had to wait a while, and the longer she waited the hungrier and angrier she grew. Her grief for Stellan hovered and throbbed around her, despite her reasoning that he probably had known the truth about who she was. It didn’t matter. She had known he had loved her. Would have died for her.