Pleasures of the Night(24)

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Everything, except you.” He met her frown with earnest intensity. “When I leave, you’re going to lock the door behind me, and you’re not going to let anyone in. Not even me.”

“Huh?”

His tone lowered, became more urgent. Even now, his skin crawled with the realization that Guardians were out there, hunting her with precision. “They’ll come. They’ll try to trick you into thinking it’s me at the door, but it won’t be.”

“Aidan, you’re scaring me.” Her embrace tightened, saying without words that she trusted him to protect her.

He would die trying. For him, the legend of the Key was in doubt, but it was woven into the very tapestry of their lives. Guardians risked their lives in pursuit of the Key. There was no alternative to them or the Elders. The Key must be destroyed. No questions asked. By joining with Lyssa, he, too, would be hunted.

“Promise me you won’t open the door to anyone.”

“All right, I promise.” She chewed her lower lip, her eyes shiny with unspent tears. “You’re telling me I won’t see you again, aren’t you?”

“You’ll see me again, Hot Stuff.” He caught her face in his hands and kissed her with all the hunger she aroused in him. “But you won’t know who I am.”





Chapter 5





For an age now, the simulated lightening of the sky had filled Aidan with relief. It meant his shift was over. Another day had passed. He could travel up the hill to his home and try to forget that the endless days before him would be just like the last.

But today the incremental passing of time set his heart pumping in unsteady measure. He paced his covered porch like a caged animal.

Tick tock, tick tock. Like the clocks he had seen in the remembrances of Dreamers. In a matter of hours, Lyssa would fall asleep again, and someone would be sent to her. When she denied them entry, it would force the collective hand of the Elders and they would go after her en masse.

He had to find a portal between his world and Lyssa’s, and he had to find it now.

The possible risks were no deterrent. Aidan was decided. There were no options, no choices. If he didn’t go, Lyssa would die.



Where to begin? Aidan’s curiosity had led to months of researching data in the Hall of Knowledge, and he’d found only vague references to fissure creation in a few of them.

Aidan didn’t have months.

“You’ve got that look on your face,” muttered a voice behind him.

Glancing aside, Aidan found Connor ascending the short steps to the porch. “I think I’ve found what some might consider to be the Key.”

Connor reached the deck and shook off the dewy blades of grass that clung to his robe’s hem. “I thought you said the Key doesn’t exist.”

“She doesn’t.” Aidan shook his head. “It doesn’t. Or if it does, it sure as hell isn’t Lyssa.”

“Okay…?”

“Lyssa can see me,” Aidan explained.

Connor’s eyes narrowed. “You’re certain?”

“She drew a picture of me.”

The low whistle that rent the still morning was filled with things that did not need to be said aloud—surprise, worry, and a heavy dose of chastisement. “I hope you’re planning to step back and let the Elders take over. You should leave this task to someone else.”

Aidan paused mid-step, his robes falling to rest around his ankles. “She is not going to die.”

“Cross,” Connor warned in a low tone, “stop thinking with your dick.”

“You know she’s not the Key,” Aidan growled. “There’s no way in hell Lyssa would open the Gateway. No way for her to even get there. Why should she die to perpetrate a myth?”



“Can you say with absolute certainty that it’s a myth?” Connor ran his hand over his jaw. “You thought we’d never find a person with the traits, so of course it was all bullshit. But now you have found someone. If she’s real, maybe the prophecy is, too. Are you willing to risk everything and everyone we know for a piece of ass?”

Clenching his fists, Aidan stared at his friend and felt the true weight of his convictions settle on his shoulders. If he didn’t have Connor’s support, he was completely on his own.

“She’s not just a piece of ass. Say that again and see what happens.”

“Awww, man.” Connor flinched and shook his head. “You’ve never given any other woman a chance. This is the first time you’ve spent more than a few hours with one. Trust me. They’re all great. If you want a steady fuck, any one of the single Guardians would volunteer. Shit, most of the partnered ones would, too.”