Chapter 14

Morning's Glory

Devlyn stretched out beneath the soft silk sheets and rolled over, fully expecting to find Bane’s sleeping form. She rolled over and found an empty space. She sat up quickly, the sheet clinging to her naked form as she called out his name. After a few moments with no answer, she drew her own conclusions. He was gone. He had had his one night with her, and that was all he had wanted. He had dismissed her so quickly he hadn’t even woken her when he crawled out of bed.

She showered and had a new pair of Seven jeans and a blue tank top waiting her on the bed. She dressed quickly, seething with anger at being left. She couldn’t believe how foolish she had been, to believe everything he had whispered in her ears, each caress she had mistaken for love and tenderness had been nothing more than him wanting an easy lay and a solid good f**k. He had probably already returned the heavens, or hells, high-fiving Merrick and Errie on how easy of a conquest she had turned out to be.

How foolish could she be? She screamed at herself as her tears spilled down her cheeks. She had done the unthinkable and fallen for him in his arms, and he hadn’t even bothered to leave a rose on the pillow or some money by the door. At least if he had left the money, she could feel like a w***e, rather than just used like one. She looked around the room, quickly scanning to make sure she grabbed all of her clothes from the night before when her ears caught the metal embedded in the wall. Quickly, she pulled it out, looked at it in her hand with disgust, disgust at the poignant reminder of a job failed, and stuffed it into the knife sheath at her back.

She stumbled out of his apartment, with every intention of locking herself in her bedroom for the next few days to lick her wounds in peace.

 

Katerina awoke to a different sort of experience altogether as she came once again in Merrick’s arms. She looked up at him from hooded eyes and smiled. “You do know how I like to wake up in the mornings, don’t you?” she said sleepily.

He kissed her soundly on the mouth. “Some things a man never forgets. The appetite of his lover is one of them.”

She kissed him again, enjoying just the feel of his flesh, his sinewy grace, his masculine scent once again after having been denied it for so long. As she cuddled against him, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to Devlyn. Had she succeeded in her plan? Or had Bane succeeded in his? Katerina didn’t realize it, but as her thoughts played havoc, she began to chew on her bottom lip, a habit that Merrick more than recognized.

“Such serious thoughts so early in the morning should be banished, love. Come now, what plagues your mind, my muse?” he asked tenderly, the timbre of his voice vibrating so soft but deep that it rolled across her.

“I’m just worried about Devlyn.”

“Why? You don’t think my brother would hurt her, do you?”

She shook her head. “No. If I was afraid for anyone’s safety, it would be Bane’s.” She winced. Oh damn. This was why she chose not to wake up with men in her arms. Pillow talk could land you in the worst sort of predicaments. And she had just let slip something that she had had no intention of telling him.

“Why would you say that?”

His tone was light, but she wasn’t to be fooled. The man was a mask even at his most revealing. “She had plans to seduce him.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“D****t, Ekaterina, tell me! I don’t know what Eyes had planned, but you do. If she succeeded, what did she do?” he demanded.

She looked down. D****t. She loved Devlyn dearly, no more but certainly no less than she loved the man lying next to her. Only Devlyn had never once betrayed her. When she had been at her lowest point, it was Devlyn who had saved her. She owed Devlyn more than to betray her. But she also could never let Devlyn harm herself.

“She stole a knife from Eliyana,” was all she said to that.

Merrick jerked up from the bed with a string of curses that set her own ears on fire. What had she done? He was the God of Vengeance, and Devlyn may have just killed his brother. He would have the goddess’s head for it, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Merrick, please don’t hurt her. I tried to talk her out of it, but there was no getting her out of the idea.”

“No, but you didn’t have to help her plot it!” he yelled.

“I didn’t! Not entirely. We were all in on it, mostly. I was helping him. I helped him seduce her just as much as I helped her get to him. It took so much power, yes, but it was so easy. You helped me make it easy.”

She flinched as she saw his eyes turn slowly from a beautiful green to a deep crimson. “Are you trying to imply that I had a part in this?!”

“No!” she quickly assured him. “All I’m saying is that there were many agendas going on last night, and it was never my intention to help kill Bane. Honestly, I don’t think Devlyn has it in her to do it.”

“Then you are an even bigger fool than I am, my dear. That child is half something even darker than me. And that is plenty capable of putting an enchanted knife through the heart of a god she means to destroy.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked, rising off the bed, the sheet covering her body. She had learned her lesson once, and she knew that bent on a wrath, even her body could not tempt him, but rather would only ignite his anger further.

He smiled wickedly. “I’m going to find out what happened to my brother. And if Eyes has finally embraced her darker side and slayed him, then I will not hesitate in handing out my vengeance.”

“Which will be?” she asked hesitantly.

“Death.”