Shadow Rising by Cassi Carver Page A

said more than his simple words. If a man could keel over from shame, Jaxon was a goner.
    She backed away and forced a smile. “Aiden can drop me off when we’re done. I’ll rest easier knowing I’m coming home to a safe place.”
    “I can’t leave you in this condition. And I need to speak with you—” he lowered his voice, “—about tonight.”
    Kara sighed. She was still reeling from seeing Julian and didn’t have time to worry about Jaxon’s feelings. No matter what arguments he came up with, she knew one thing—if an angry black-wing came after them, she’d heal a hell of a lot faster than Abbey would. “We’ll talk. But right now, I need you to do this for me.”
    He turned his head away and nodded. “Very well.”
    “Now that that’s settled…” Aiden brushed past Jaxon and gathered Kara in his arms. Without another word, he dissolved, transporting Kara into the mind-numbing sludge.
    And it hurt. The weight of the universe pressed in from all sides…bearing down on her soul. But somehow…it still felt like her guts were being sucked out through her pores.
    A moment later, Aiden set Kara on her feet at the entrance of his large bedroom, but he kept an arm wrapped around her waist. She knew to stand still for a moment until the world stopped spinning and she didn’t feel like she was going to puke stardust. “Thanks for the ride.”
    She didn’t understand how these warriors could seem so unaffected by something that made her feel as if she were being turned inside out, every single time. She missed visiting Julian’s grave, but she didn’t miss the travel.
    “Lie down. I’ll fetch the healers,” Aiden told her, swiping his palms over his eyelids as if to clear the sleep from his eyes.
    He showed her to an oversized bed with navy blue silk sheets, then walked quickly from the room. The comforter was pulled back and the bedding disheveled, as though he’d left in a hurry when he’d answered Kara’s call, but it was the middle of the day here on Mercury Island.
    She glanced around. Vanilla candles burned low, mixing with the subtle scent of female blood. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and judging from the lace and pastel colors, not all of the clothes were his. His bedside table held vials of lotions and oils that Kara didn’t want to ponder too deeply.
    She drew the covers over his bed and fell into the soft mattress. Sleeping for a week was sounding like a pretty good idea. Now that Julian wasn’t standing in front of her, she wondered if the whole thing had been a dream, or worse yet, if an Aniliáre really had been playing a trick on her.
    But she wouldn’t believe that. What could anyone gain by posing as a violent, disoriented Julian? If they wanted to mess with Kara’s head and break her heart all over again, coming back as the loving, kind Julian was a better bet.
    Aiden returned with two other men trailing behind him. Kara was ready for gnarled healers, wrinkled with age and ready with wisdom. She didn’t know if she would ever get used to the fact that Demiáre didn’t age like witches. The handsome men coming toward her might be twenty-nine—or twenty-nine hundred—for all Kara knew. She sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed. So much for a nap.
    “Kara, you may remember Rasi from your time here on the island.” Aiden gestured to a black-haired man with Asian features.
    “Hi, Rasi.” She didn’t want to admit that she couldn’t keep all the men she’d met straight in her head. He might have been one of the men who’d helped to subdue Julian when he’d been in a mating rage.
    Aiden gestured to a man with a long brown braid tied behind his back. The man wore brown leather pants and a flowing white shirt. “And this is Tyre. He’s recently come to live with us.”
    Kara nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
    “The pleasure is mine, my lady.” Tyre approached the bed and knelt before her. Rasi came to stand on Tyre’s other side.
    Tyre picked up