He frowned. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I cannot bear
it.”
“Tell me what you did.”
He turned his back on her in favor of the dark shadow of his
memory. His heartbeat pulsed in the silence between them. After a long pause he
said in a small voice, “I don’t want to tell you.”
“Was it so bad?”
“Yes!” He whirled on her and she took a step back, horrified
by the pain and regret in every line of his body. “Yes. I deserve every second
of my incarceration. Every punishment. Every torment.”
A cold ball curled in Aimalee’s chest. “Did you kill
someone?”
He winced. He didn’t answer right away. But then he didn’t
have to. She could read the answer in his eyes.
At long last he muttered, “I killed lots of men. I was a
warrior.”
“But that’s not why you’re here?”
He snorted a laugh. It was not a happy sound. “No. I made
the ultimate mistake.” His lips worked. “I-I fell in love.”
“With whom?”
His Adam’s apple made the torturous journey up and down his
neck. “His sister.”
“He had a sister?” Somehow she’d never expected that. But
then the Dark Djinn had been a man. Once.
“It was beyond betrayal. He was my teacher. My friend. He
welcomed me into his home, gave me a seat at his feet, taught me, trusted me.
And I…seduced her.”
“Was she pretty?”
“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Straight down to the soul.”
“And you loved her?”
“Beyond sanity.”
“Did she love you?”
A flicker of longing flitted through his eyes. “I think so.
I hope so.”
“You don’t know?”
“I… When Duvalli found out about us, he banished me, ripped
us apart. I tried to get back into the palace but his magic was too strong. I
never saw her again. I never…never got the chance to tell her…”
“What happened to her?”
His features turned to stone. His shoulders shook. His aura
vibrated with tightly held energy, agony, pain. He blew out a great breath,
whispering on the cusp of it, “She died.”
The words cut through the air like a knife. Aimalee cringed
at the import. He stood before her, this great hulking bear of a man, utterly
bereft and there was nothing she could do to ease his pain. She placed a hand
on his shoulder nonetheless. His flesh rippled in response.
He swung around, fury flaring. “Loving me, he told me, ended
her life. So you see? His punishment for me? See how fitting it is? Century
after century he sends me a woman, a woman I am compelled to want. Compelled to
seduce. But never really have. Each one a reminder of what I did to him. What I
took from him.” He stilled, stared out at the shushing sea. “It is a punishment
that shall never end.”
Aimalee enfolded him in her arms, hoping, somehow, to soothe
his soul. No one deserved to suffer like this. Not for a day. Not for a year.
Not for centuries upon centuries without end. Forever.
So she held him. And he wept.
Once he recovered from his outburst, Keeshan sat still in
Aimalee’s arms, more than a little mortified.
What was wrong with him? He’d never shared his story. Not
with anyone.
He’d certainly never broken down and cried like a child.
Could it be he was becoming addled in his old age? That this interment was
beginning to break him down, destroy him, drive him mad, as the Dark Djinn had
always taunted would be his destiny?
Keeshan did not care for this prospect.
Sometimes his strength of spirit was the only thing he had
left in this shell of a life. He couldn’t bear to lose that.
And the tangled wash of emotion he had whenever he thought
of Aimalee—he didn’t like that at all. Despite his vow to keep his distance
from this woman—his emotional distance at least—he was sinking and sinking
fast, wavering between his tattered guilt, the sharp edge of the lamp’s lust
and something else entirely. Something tender and tempting and utterly
terrifying. She was a threat to his sanity, a threat to his guarded heart. He
was an idiot to creep closer.
But
it.”
“Tell me what you did.”
He turned his back on her in favor of the dark shadow of his
memory. His heartbeat pulsed in the silence between them. After a long pause he
said in a small voice, “I don’t want to tell you.”
“Was it so bad?”
“Yes!” He whirled on her and she took a step back, horrified
by the pain and regret in every line of his body. “Yes. I deserve every second
of my incarceration. Every punishment. Every torment.”
A cold ball curled in Aimalee’s chest. “Did you kill
someone?”
He winced. He didn’t answer right away. But then he didn’t
have to. She could read the answer in his eyes.
At long last he muttered, “I killed lots of men. I was a
warrior.”
“But that’s not why you’re here?”
He snorted a laugh. It was not a happy sound. “No. I made
the ultimate mistake.” His lips worked. “I-I fell in love.”
“With whom?”
His Adam’s apple made the torturous journey up and down his
neck. “His sister.”
“He had a sister?” Somehow she’d never expected that. But
then the Dark Djinn had been a man. Once.
“It was beyond betrayal. He was my teacher. My friend. He
welcomed me into his home, gave me a seat at his feet, taught me, trusted me.
And I…seduced her.”
“Was she pretty?”
“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Straight down to the soul.”
“And you loved her?”
“Beyond sanity.”
“Did she love you?”
A flicker of longing flitted through his eyes. “I think so.
I hope so.”
“You don’t know?”
“I… When Duvalli found out about us, he banished me, ripped
us apart. I tried to get back into the palace but his magic was too strong. I
never saw her again. I never…never got the chance to tell her…”
“What happened to her?”
His features turned to stone. His shoulders shook. His aura
vibrated with tightly held energy, agony, pain. He blew out a great breath,
whispering on the cusp of it, “She died.”
The words cut through the air like a knife. Aimalee cringed
at the import. He stood before her, this great hulking bear of a man, utterly
bereft and there was nothing she could do to ease his pain. She placed a hand
on his shoulder nonetheless. His flesh rippled in response.
He swung around, fury flaring. “Loving me, he told me, ended
her life. So you see? His punishment for me? See how fitting it is? Century
after century he sends me a woman, a woman I am compelled to want. Compelled to
seduce. But never really have. Each one a reminder of what I did to him. What I
took from him.” He stilled, stared out at the shushing sea. “It is a punishment
that shall never end.”
Aimalee enfolded him in her arms, hoping, somehow, to soothe
his soul. No one deserved to suffer like this. Not for a day. Not for a year.
Not for centuries upon centuries without end. Forever.
So she held him. And he wept.
Once he recovered from his outburst, Keeshan sat still in
Aimalee’s arms, more than a little mortified.
What was wrong with him? He’d never shared his story. Not
with anyone.
He’d certainly never broken down and cried like a child.
Could it be he was becoming addled in his old age? That this interment was
beginning to break him down, destroy him, drive him mad, as the Dark Djinn had
always taunted would be his destiny?
Keeshan did not care for this prospect.
Sometimes his strength of spirit was the only thing he had
left in this shell of a life. He couldn’t bear to lose that.
And the tangled wash of emotion he had whenever he thought
of Aimalee—he didn’t like that at all. Despite his vow to keep his distance
from this woman—his emotional distance at least—he was sinking and sinking
fast, wavering between his tattered guilt, the sharp edge of the lamp’s lust
and something else entirely. Something tender and tempting and utterly
terrifying. She was a threat to his sanity, a threat to his guarded heart. He
was an idiot to creep closer.
But
Similar Books
