Free Eversong (Midnight Playground) by Eden Bradley Page B

other, for her. But it was time to wake now. To become a part of the world once more.
    She forced her eyes to open and found Deo resting beside her. She blinked. He smiled.
    “You are back, my love.” He kissed her lips, her cheek, lifted her hand and brushed his lips over her fingertips.
    “How long was I…?”
    “For three days. I was worried. I reached into your mind, but everything was so dim. Ever assured me you were fine, but still… I’m glad you’re back with us.”
    “Yes. I’m better now.”
    “I’m glad. Do you need to feed? I can have Calam send for one of the club members.”
    “Not yet. I’ll feed later.”
    Deo stroked her hair, running it through his fingers, as he often did. His eyes were that lovely blue-green of the summer sea. “What was it like, love? Did you dream?”
    “No dreams. It was as if my mind was at rest. I felt you here with me. Both of you. I felt safe.”
    “We were always with you, love, one or both of us. We always will be.”
    She flexed her feet, her legs, feeling her strength returning. She lifted her hand to his smooth cheek, loving the hard silk of his immortal flesh beneath her palm.
    “I love you, Deo.”
    “As I love you. Always. Truly forever.”
    “Yes.” She smiled. “Where is Ever?”
    “Conducting some club business. He’ll be back soon. You can’t wait to have him.” Deo grinned. “I can feel your need.”
    Mercy laughed. “Always. Both of you, my lovers. My loves. But I need a bath first. Draw one for me?”
    “I’ll be right back.”
    He kissed her hand once more and stood. Mercy stretched, raising her arms over her head. It felt good. A bath would feel wonderful. And being in her lovers’ arms, their bodies joined, even better.
    It was nighttime, she realized, her gaze going to the high windows. There was no moon tonight. Or perhaps it was simply obscured by clouds. She could smell the rain outside, heard the distant rumble of thunder. And in the club below her, if she focused, she could hear the heavy pulse-beat of music, of human blood thundering in those delicate veins. She could hear—could sense—the desire. And something else… What was it?
    There was a crash of splintered wood, and she bolted upright, her heart hammering. A dark flash, and then he was on her, hands gripping her waist as he lifted her from the bed. She struggled, but he was so much stronger than she. So much older. Ancient.
    Familiar.
    Gaius.
    She knew the tone of his anger, the scent of him like old earth and moss and the hardest granite, even before she saw his tall, dark form hovering over her.
    “Deo!” she screamed.
    He was there, his hands on her, and she wanted to cry with relief. But Gaius was so ancient, so powerful. Even with the two of them struggling against him, they would never win.
    “Do not fight me, Mercy.” Gaius’s gravelly voice echoed with what she now knew was the hollow tone of centuries untold, and that strange accent. “I made you. You belong to me.”
    “Never!” Deo roared, trying to keep one arm wrapped around her waist. But she was slipping from his grasp.
    “Gaius, you abandoned me,” she accused him, tears pouring down her cheeks, her hands clawing at his, trying to make him let go.
    He paused for one moment, and in his dark eyes she saw a sadness unmatched even by Ever’s. But they were devoid of that depth. They held instead the flat shadows of insanity. “You left me. You ran away. I’ve come to collect what is mine.”
    “I belong to whom I choose,” she argued, using all of her strength to try to push her way out of his arms. There was one moment when his grip on her lessened, and she yanked back. Deo held her, stepped back. But Gaius’s expression shifted instantly, filling with rage. He lunged for her.
    Deo pulled her away so quickly they nearly toppled over, but he wasn’t fast enough. A small table went over with a crash, a lamp shattering on the cool marble floor. And once more Gaius had her, so tightly this