Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,56
anticipate. Landing hard enough to make her see blotches of red and green, it all began to fade to black.
Er’it’s vicious roar was the last thing she heard.
Chapter 11
Aida
Coming awake, Aida gasped and sent a hand to hover at her cheek. Throbbing with malignant pulses of heart-blood red, it tinged the edge of her vision in her right eye with shades of purple. Painful enough to send her thoughts reeling, the wet smack of flesh meeting disoriented her further.
“Up, girl, up!” Tor’en appeared at her side, his bony fingers tapping at Aida’s ruined shoulder and adding another layer of agony. “You must intervene before he kills him.”
Aida whimpered as rough hands pushed her up, hauled her to her feet, and sent her stumbling forward. Arms pinwheeling to find her balance, she shouted at the scene before her. Er’it’s fists a bloody mess, they were no equal to the meaty pulp of Ath’asho’s face. Nearly every inch of him showed patches of torn skin and the hideous purple of deep bruises.
Er’it bore no marks other than on the fists he wielded against his general. Knuckles split and painted in bruises, his hands dripped with the residue of Ath’asho’s pain. Er’it’s power manifested in shimmering bands of red. How Tor’en expected her to stop this insanity was beyond her. By the rabid gleam of Er’it’s eyes, he’d strike out at her if she dared come too close.
“We will try this again, and we do not have the time for me to be as gentle as you might wish. Deep breath now.” Tor’en took her elbow, turning Aida toward the sight.
Before Aida could do much more than blink, Tor’en took control. Dusty earth, warm with the sun and alive with growing things, invaded her senses but did not touch that space inside her heart filled to overflowing with cedar and musk. Leaving the brilliant cold of the blue light alone, Tor’en stretched out his hand and sent a steady stream of power toward Er’it and Ath’asho as they tumbled over the ground, building a whisper-thin barrier, formed of energy and intent, between the two men.
As with Er’it when she healed his wounds, Aida discerned the paths of Tor’en’s magic. Seeing it flow through the air, it was so different from the vicious lightning of Er’it’s power and the overwhelming waves of her own. With an ease that unnerved her, the thought of the azure light called it forth. Sending it along those same paths, the strained trickle threatened to overflow the bounds that Tor’en set around it.
“Easy, child. Slow, deep breaths. You control it, not the other way around.”
“I-I can’t… It’s too s-strong!”
“You can, and you will. Now pay attention.” Despite the sharpness of his tone, Tor’en never wavered, not as he built the yellow-gold power around the chilled blue, even when it battered against his. He did not flinch as Aida cried out, knees folding beneath her as her power surged. He caught hold of her arm, pulling her upright with clenched teeth as he molded the rush of her magic to block Er’it’s next blow.
It was enough. Er’it’s enraged shout echoed through the valley as he turned, but as soon as his gaze met Aida’s, he rushed her. Grabbing her up in his arms, long legs took them far away from the others as he cradled her close and murmured against her hair. Meaningless words that meant so much. Tears burning the back of her eyes, she curled in tight against Er’it, basking in the warmth and safety of his embrace for just a moment more.
Too soon, he found his way to the tent. Canvas torn in places, possessions scattered about, the disarray reminded Aida all too vividly why it happened.
“You let him,” she sobbed, hitting him with her fists and striking him about the head and shoulders with little effect. “Let him touch me! Will you now parcel me out to the rest of them as Otaso swore he would? Let them have their use of me, too?”
“You are mine,” Er’it bellowed, dropping Aida to the pile of cushions. Seconds behind, he was on top of her before Aida could sit up. Pressing her back to the pillows, covering her body with his, he set his mouth to her shoulder and growled.
It took him mere moments to shed his clothing, flinging the articles away as he shoved the blanket from her body. Baring her to his ravenous gaze, he then crushed her beneath him. She still ached, yet at the