Murder Page 7

  A little voice in his head whispered that he’d not yet mated Phrygia, and that was the reason. And perhaps it was. But he’d expected to feel more… driven was perhaps the word he was searching for.

  “Murder?” Phrygia called from inside.

  “Yes! I’m right here,” he answered, getting to his feet.

  “I don’t have anything to wear,” she answered.

  Murder stepped inside his home, looking around the living room as though he’d find women’s clothing there. “Uhhh, I’ll give you something of mine, and we’ll set about getting you clothes tomorrow. Will that work?” he called as he walked through his home to his bedroom to find Phrygia something to wear.

  “That’s fine,” Phrygia answered just as the door opened, and Murder stuck his hand through the opening with a shirt and socks for her to put on.

  Phrygia giggled as she took them from him.

  “What’s funny?” he asked, a small smile in place at hearing her laughter.

  “You are. You burst into Hell, snatch me up and bring me back here though I beg you to leave me there. Then you introduce me to everyone as your mate, bring me home and make me a bath, but then you’re too shy to even look at me.”

  “Well, you have no clothes on. It is common courtesy,” Murder said defensively.

  “Yes. But if I’m your mate, you’d think you’d be trying to steal a glance or at least influence me to feel more comfortable with you and sway me your way.”

  “Sway you?” Murder asked with humor in his voice. “Do you think I’d try to seduce you?” he asked, eyebrow raised, smirk on his face.

  “Maybe,” she answered, with a towel wrapped around her body. “You could try, but… I’m no fainting school girl, so, I doubt you’d be successful,” Phrygia teased.

  Murder smiled. He was enjoying this banter more than any other time he’d spent with her. “Come. Sit with me,” he said, pushing the door open and just literally sweeping her off her feet and into his arms as he returned to his back yard. He retook his seat and settled her in his lap. “Look,” he said, pointing up at the sky. “It has always made me so humble to look up at the sky, and realize just how small we really are. Just how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. It does wonders to humble oneself when feeling pretty proud of one’s accomplishments.”

  Phrygia, with one hand holding her towel in place and the other on Murder’s shoulder, looked up at the sky he still pointed at. “It’s stunning,” she said breathily.

  “It is,” he agreed.

  “All the little stars twinkling and blinking in a bed of black velvet…” she said softly, her eyes taking in all she could see. “And some of them look red, and even blue.”

  “So many different worlds, so many different chances at life. Makes you wonder how we ended up where we are rather than up there in one of those worlds. What would we be like if we were there, rather than here?” he asked wondering aloud.

  Phrygia pulled her gaze from the night sky above them and looked at Murder as he gazed still at the stars. This male was not just a grunting, fighting, dominant, YOU ARE MINE kind of male. He had deep thoughts and questions about life in general. He was able to pause for a little while and appreciate the beauty around him. Phrygia let go of the towel she held closed at her breast and caressed Murder’s cheek. When he met her gaze, she placed her other hand on his other cheek and used her thumbs to softly brush against his face. Slowly she leaned into him, pressing her lips against his.

  Murder kissed her back, tentatively at first, but then after feeling a little shiver go through her as he responded, he pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. He used his tongue to lick at her lips, tempting her into opening for him. When she did, he invaded her mouth, nipping her softly while tasting, yet still holding back with an air of gentleness that made her want to give him even more.

  Gradually their kiss died down and Phrygia leaned into Murder, resting her head on his shoulder as she looked up at the sky again.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  “It is,” he agreed. “But you should see it when the blue haze is overlaying it.”

  “Blue haze?” she asked, still gazing up.

  “Yes. For some time now, there’s been a blue haze, almost shimmering, each night when I come out to look at the stars. It’s not here tonight,” he said, his brow furrowing in the darkness. He realized he felt sad at the loss of the blue haze.

  “Is it just a trick of the starlight, making it appear that there’s a blue cast to the sky over the darkness?” she asked, looking for a reason for it.

  “I don’t know,” Murder answered after a few moments of thinking about it. “But I miss it. It almost makes me sad that it’s not here tonight.”

  “We’ll look for it again tomorrow night. Yes?” Phrygia asked.

  “Yes,” Murder answered.

  Phrygia was still leaning her head against Murder. She snuggled in even closer and he felt her yawn. “We have accomplished much this day. We should rest now,” Murder suggested. “I should have brought you straight home and put you to bed. I apologize for my insensitivity.”

  “Insensitivity?” Phrygia laughed. “You do realize where I’ve been for more years than I can even remember, don’t you?”

  “Still, I should have taken better care of you,” Murder affirmed.

  “It’s alright, I understand. It’s kind of awkward. I’m glad we stayed for dinner with your friends, too. It gave us a little more time to adjust to one another — and I was starving!” Phrygia admitted.

  “It will not always be awkward,” Murder promised.

  “I know,” Phrygia answered.

  Murder looked up one more time, hoping for some trace of the deep blue shimmer that appeared across the sky above his home, but it was still missing. He looked down at the female, sleepy in his arms. “Bedtime for us,” he said softly as he rose from his chair and headed back inside.

  Murder paused at the door and locked it, securing it tightly. Then he took Phrygia to his bedroom, tucking her into bed and climbing in beside her. Just as he settled, she turned to him, lifting a hand to brush across his cheek. “Thank you for coming to get me. Thank you for making me come here. I was fading away there. I wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

  “You are welcome, my Phrygia.”

  Phrygia lifted up and pressed her lips against Murder’s again, pressing her entire body down the length of him, letting him know he could have her if he wanted to. Murder’s hands ran up her back, stroking, touching, feeling. Then he smoothed them back down, cupping her tight, muscular bottom in his hands. He rolled her over and positioned himself half on, half off her, and kissed her into a frenzied state.

  When he stopped, lifted back and looked down at her, the look on his face wasn’t one of ecstasy or even anticipated ecstasy, it was one of confusion.

  “Are you all right?” Phrygia asked on a heavy breath.

  “Yes. I just… Maybe we should wait a while, until we feel more comfortable together.”

  “Are you sure?” Phrygia asked.

  “I think so. You?” he asked.

  “We don’t have to at all,” Phrygia started.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to,” he pressed his hips to her thigh for her to feel that he was ready, “it’s just that it feels rushed, off a little. It just doesn't feel like the right time.”

  Phrygia took a deep breath. “In truth, though you worked me into a frenzy,” she paused to smile at him, “I think I’d like a little time to adjust first.”

  “Then we agree.” Murder leaned down and pecked her lips, smiling at her, with an expression that could only be interpreted as relief on his face. “Get some sleep, and I’ll show you around Whispers tomorrow.”

  Phrygia nodded and turned onto her side.

  Murder settled himself again, then turned on his side and spooned her as they both fell asleep.

  Just before Phrygia drifted into the best rest she’d had in centuries knowing that Murder
was at her back, keeping her safe, a face flashed in her mind. Soft brown hair streaked with sun bleached golden strands, tanned skin, bright blue eyes and a single deep dimple. Her mind seized on this face and with it imprinted on her consciousness, she fell peacefully asleep.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  As the house fell quiet, Lucitari misted through the trees and stood on the slate-stoned patio Murder and Phrygia had sat on barely an hour before. Her eyes were sad and dull as she looked at the house that held her mate, and the woman he was claiming as his. She’d removed her protection earlier in the day, so that no trace of her remained, and now she was here to claim the rest of that which belonged to her.

  Lucitari held her left hand up to her face to examine it. She turned it left and right, watching the outline of Murder’s home through it. She’d been only half of herself for too long now. She’d been but a ghost of herself, having gifted Phrygia with her soul just before Acaelo had cast her into Hell.

  Phrygia had only been human, and Acaelo intended to cast her unprotected into Hell, knowing she’d never survive, and that she’d suffer greatly before she died. Lucitari had had only seconds to decide before Acaelo found her lurking in his home. In a move she didn’t ever think she’d regret, she gathered her powers, flinging a piece of herself at Phrygia, gifting the girl her soul so that she’d have some protection at least, until Lucitari could find a way to free her. Lucitari didn’t want a mate, didn’t think she’d ever find hers, and so didn’t mind giving the piece of herself necessary to bond with your mate when you did find your other half. As long as she didn’t have someone she cared about, Acaelo couldn’t intimidate her. She had no one to protect but herself.

  But then, she’d met Murder and known at once, he was supposed to be hers. Her lack of soul was the reason she’d not been able to go into Hell with Lore when he went to save his Evangeline. It was the reason she’d not allowed Lore to hug her or touch her, because then he’d know she was missing the most precious part of herself. It was the reason she’d kept her distance from Murder except when she cured him after he’d been saved, the fear she associated with having a mate was just so much greater now that it was a possibility, than she’d ever imagined before. He’d been confused because he was drawn to her and rightly so, because he was her mate, and she was his, but he’d also been drawn to Phrygia because she had a piece of Lucitari inside her. And of the two, he’d chosen Phrygia.

  Lucitari’s heart hurt. She’d intentionally kept herself apart, and Phrygia had reacted to the pull she’d felt toward Murder. She’d reached out to him, allowed him to see her, to feel her. But Lucitari hadn’t, so she had no one to blame but herself.

  Lucitari looked toward the chair Murder and Phrygia had sat in just a short while ago and allowed herself a moment of self-pity. Ultimately, all she wanted was for Murder to be happy. It didn’t really matter if she hurt, as long as Murder was happy.

  She’d learned so much from watching her brothers try to manipulate their own destinies — Acaelo had lost his life as a result, and Lore wasn’t rewarded with his angel until he stopped trying to manipulate her and everyone around him. The pain they both caused so many along the way was unforgivable. She would not add to that. If Murder wanted Phrygia, he’d have Phrygia. Lucitari looked back toward the house both Murder and Phrygia now called home. “He will see me, though. Before I take my leave, he will see me,” she promised herself.

  Lucitari lifted both hands above her head, calling to her soul, the soul that had lived inside Phrygia for the last uncountable centuries. She dropped the wall she kept around herself and her powers, and allowed her soul to feel her, to hear her call. And it answered.

  Inside Murder’s home, Phrygia slept soundly as a presence that had been buried deeply within her without her knowledge, slipped away and made its way to its rightful home, taking its place where it belonged, deep inside Lucitari.

  Lucitari stood alone in the moonlight, her face raised to the sky, her arms lifted in welcome to the part of her that had been so long gone. She breathed deeply as she slowly began to feel herself again. Her eyes opened and she looked around herself. The world was sparkling, bright, and clear, to her. This was the first time she’d been whole in a very long time, and she’d forgotten the clarity that came with it.

  Lucitari lifted a hand and looked at it, trying to see through it as she had just moments before. It was solid. She was herself. She was complete once again. As complete as one could be without their mate.

  Lucitari looked longingly at the home Murder would share with Phrygia, and wrapped a slender arm about her own stomach and waist at the pain the thought brought her. “You will see me soon,” she said aloud. “If she remains your choice, I will wish you well,” she whispered. She closed her eyes, gathered her mists, and disappeared from Murder’s land, knowing full well, this may be the beginning of her disappearing from his life altogether.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Enthrall heard the coos and babbling of his young son as the sun came in through the bedroom windows. He smiled, stretching his arms above his head and looked down at Felicity, still deeply asleep. He dropped a kiss on her head and gently got out of bed. Enthrall slipped his feet into his bedroom slippers and quietly made his way to the new room they’d had added to the house for the nursery. As he pushed open the door and peeked inside, Ezekiel’s bright blue eyes and ever present smile greeted him.

  “Dadadadada!” Ezekiel said excitedly, standing up in his baby bed and jumping up and down as his little hands gripped the high edge of the baby bed that kept him safely inside it.

  “Good morning, little man!” Enthrall told him. He never, ever, got tired of the happiness on his son’s face when he woke each morning. Ezekiel was most certainly a morning person. Enthrall went to the baby bed and lifted Ezekiel up and over the side. “Are you hungry?” Enthrall asked.

  Ezekiel grinned at him and shoved his fist into his own mouth gnawing on it. “Okay, okay. Let’s not eat the hand. Come on, let’s see what Dadadadada can find for you to eat.”

  Enthrall made his way leisurely down the hallway, bouncing Ezekiel, and playing with him to make him laugh as he approached the living room and kitchen. When he got to the living room and turned toward the kitchen, it was all he could do to not wake the whole house.

  “Good morn, Enthrall.”

  Enthrall hugged Ezekiel to himself tightly, snarling at the unexpected greeting. Once he got a good look at who reclined on his couch, browsing through a book while he waited patiently for the Larocque family to awaken, he began to relax a bit.

  “What the hell are you doing here this early in the morning, Lore?” Enthrall demanded.

  “I’ve come to apologize and beg forgiveness for my callous words.”

  Enthrall just glared at Lore as he consciously felt his heart rate drop back to normal, and the adrenalin rush dissipate. He shook his head and turned back toward his kitchen. “Go back to your mate, Lore. It’s too early for this,” Enthrall said matter-of-factly.

  “I could not sleep. I feel very badly for the things I said. I was frightened. I’ve lost a friend in Hell before. We were lucky to bring Murder home. When you went missing with no word at all, I panicked. I could not lose you there, too.”

  “It’s fine, Lore.”

  “No, it is not. I should not have spoken to you disrespectfully. I apologize for that.”

  “Fine. You’re forgiven.”

  “Are you sure? Is there not something that you may wish to say to me in turn?” Lore asked, his brows lifting high above his eyes as he waited. “Hmm? Perhaps?” he prompted again.

  Enthrall handed Ezekiel a hard biscuit to chew on while he prepared a proper breakfast for him. Baby momentarily satisfied, he turned to face Lore who still stood in the living room. “I’m sorry I slipped away without telling you where I was going.”

  “Thank you for your apology. And you are correct. You should have told me you were stepping away, then I may not have panicked about leaving another friend
behind in Hell,” Lore said, his voice rising slightly. “But, it is all well and good now. Apologies have been made, and accepted. Now, let me see my nephew. Come to Uncle Lore, Ezekiel,” Lore cooed to the baby, stepping forward and taking Ezekiel from Enthrall’s arms.

  “I’m getting ready to feed him,” Enthrall objected.

  “And when you are ready, I’ll give him back.” Lore stopped making silly faces at Ezekiel and looked over at Enthrall who just stood there watching him play with Ezekiel. “What? Get to cooking, he’s hungry,” Lore said, shooing Enthrall toward the stove.

  Enthrall watched for a moment longer before turning to the stove. “Don’t leave this house with him, Lore.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. Felicity is quite a force to reckon with when she is angry,” Lore answered, playing with Ezekiel, and causing the boy to give him great, big belly-laughs.

  Chapter 9

  Aubreigne’s eyes fluttered open, and the sunlight in her little cottage nearly blinded her. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking around the room. It was easily past 7:00 A.M., and she was usually up and tired by now having tackled the first of the day’s chores. She went to stand from the small sofa she awoke on and stepped on her sketch pad. As she bent over to pick it and the charcoal pencil up, she fought a bit of anxiety. She didn’t remember moving from the rocking chair to the sofa. She’d been sketching one moment, and then no memory of anything until she woke up on the sofa.

  Aubreigne glanced down at her sketch book and started to flip it closed as she moved toward her kitchen to get the day started. But she froze in her tracks. Her eyes had caught something at a flash that just didn’t look right. Slowly she looked down at the sketch book in her hands and opened it to the last page with a drawing on it. Her breath caught. She looked around the room. All was as it should have been. Surely no one had been inside her home while she slept.