Beloved LifeMate: Song of the Sídhí #1 (2 page)

“I would never disclose your appointments to anyone, except the captain,” he said primly, ruining the effect with another gap-mouthed grin. “He offered me an entire bushel of fiskberries if I warned him the next time you planned on opening a gateway to Earth. You know how nervous he gets when you refuse to let him send guards with you.”

Chi’Kehra tried suppressing a chuckle. Gabe must have been desperate. “Fiskberries are out of season.”

Mirk grinned bigger. Sharp teeth gleaming, his head quickly bobbed up and down. “I told him I'd only accept the freshest and plumpest of berries.”

Chi’Kehra nodded his acceptance, not really surprised; the two had gone behind his back, bickering and working together, for over a thousand years. His personal guards and household staff were more like family than servants. Pleasure tightened his chest; he'd have it no other way.

He glanced toward the row of windows. The snow covered mountain loomed high above; frozen in place like a sentinel. Its massive presence guarded the castle, which was carved in the side of the lower mountain that sprawled outward down the valley.

He walked toward the window’s archway – not that it mattered where he opened a gateway – and raised his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Mirk race from the room, no doubt fetching the captain of his guard. He wasn't worried. Even if he was attacked, not many people could injure him, much less actually kill him. As Chi’Kehra, he was nearly indestructible with synth laced bones and instant healing.

With a mere thought, he gathered energy from the synth crystal, feeling the raw power hum through his veins. It sizzled and burned through him like a wild animal released for the first time. He focused, tightening his grip on the volatile power, and mentally imaged a tunnel, a gateway leading from Sídhí to Earth.

He funneled a tiny part of his vast power into his desire. The air shimmered and a gateway opened, connecting Sídhí to Earth. It opened in a grove of trees. The small strip of trees was part of a public park that lay on the edge of a river, which flowed through a large town.

The gateway opened. As planned, it was the middle of the night on Earth. A casual observer was not likely.

He stepped into the glowing archway and froze. The park was not as deserted as he thought it would be.

Near the tree-line was a young woman, frozen in mid-stride. Her long white-blonde hair swung around her hips, rippling down her back in layered waves. Her scent drifted toward him on the gentle breeze and he inhaled the purest aroma he had ever smelled. Like a mixture of midnight roses and a hot summer breeze, her scent woke a part of him that had long been dormant.

After such a long life, females all looked alike to him; he'd grown bored with their song and dance a thousand years earlier. Their constant attempt to manipulate him rubbed him raw and he refused to put up with it.

This willowy female – he inhaled her mouth-watering scent again – might change his view toward women.

She turned toward him, slowly, as if fearing what she might discover. Her intense blue eyes, the color of a shallow sea cove, widened in fear and her heart raced. He watched as she argued with herself, trying to decide if she had any hope of out-running him.

His pure-blood elvish core trembled in shock; he was attracted - and completely smitten - with a halfling. The scent of her vampire/elf nature should have warned him, not tempted him beyond rational thought. Her beautiful blue eyes, not elvish in shape, and tiny pointed ears peeking through her thick hair shouted her impure bloodline.

He didn't care, briefly wondering if he could convince her to return to Sídhí with him. She would make a magnificent concubine. He would keep her until he found his destined lifeMate, perhaps even longer.

He ground his teeth together, realizing he didn't have the luxury of offering her a choice. No one but him – the dreaded Chi’Kehra – had the power to open a gateway. If he didn't remove her from Earth, she'd scream her newfound knowledge to anyone who'd listen.

Chapter: Chi’Kehra

Fear froze me.

At the threshold of the door-sized gateway stood a man, a gorgeous elf with shoulder length midnight colored hair and hunter green eyes. He looked about twenty-five, but it was impossible to tell how old a Sídhí was by their looks, appearances could be very deceptive. Once we reached our mid-twenties, all Sídhí stopped aging. For all I knew, he might be thousands of years old.

It was brutally apparent he was an elf; his eyes and ears were different from a vampire. His pointed ears were about an inch taller than a non-elf's ears. And the black center of his eyes were larger, as well as the colored area. Actually, I could barely see the white around the dark green of his eyes.

His eyes held my attention; they indicated he was older than me, much older.

I wished I knew how much older. I got a small hint when his normally large pupils didn't expand upon seeing me. A younger elf couldn't suppress the expanding reaction when surprised or when their emotions changed.

I groaned. Elves were wickedly fast. I might have had a chance against a younger elf, but not an older one. I was so screwed.

The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach grew into a rock-hard chunk. I couldn't teleport away, because the gateway was too close. The enormous energy contained within the gateway totally screwed up the synth crystal in my blood. I was less than helpless without my natural vampire abilities. I couldn't even extend my claws or fangs.

I swallowed several times, trying to rid myself of the lump lodged in my throat. Screaming jitters raced up my spine, warning me to run, but I'd waited too long, running for my life wasn't an option. I started praying for a miracle.

Except in really rare instances, elves hated vampires, always had and always would. The attitude was a fact of life. A reality of racial hatred that I was normally unconcerned about, but the man, glaring at me from the gateway, shoved the problem smack in my face.

A look of haughty distaste flickered across his immobile face. It was just my bad luck the slight breeze sent my scent straight to him. I was a halfling. Well, more like a fourthling, but there was no such term for someone like me who was one-fourth vampire and a three-fourths elf.

If there was anything an elf hated more than a vampire, it was a halfling. Well, that was too bad. I couldn't exactly change what race I was, even if I wanted to.

On the other hand, I wasn't prejudiced toward elves or vampires. I could care less if a person was full-blood or half. And truth be told, I thought the tall, muscle-wrapped elf was a true piece of eye candy. He was gorgeous, not that I was into older men or anything, but his sculptured features, slender body, and muscled shoulders screamed high-dollar movie star.

Other than the opportunity to ogle his hunky body, today was not turning out to be the fun birthday I had planned on, so much for getting home and being shocked over my 'surprise' birthday party.

Yeah, at this point, I worried I might not make it home in one piece.

I tried building up my courage. I told myself he didn’t have any reason to kill me. When that didn’t work, I figured I might as well make the best of a bad situation.

I smiled at him, carefully keeping my fangs from flashing. There was no point in starting a fight with a rude flash of fang, especially a fight I couldn't win.

“Hi,” I said, wishing my voice didn't tremble.

“You're a halfling,” he said, his deep voice sounded nearly musical as he spoke in the old tongue. His firm lips curled-up and his nose crinkled, increasing the disgusted look on his face.

So sorry! Said once, said twice: Hello! I couldn't help being born a halfling, I wanted to shout. Of course, I didn't say anything. Even though my mom didn't think so, I did have a few grains of common sense in my head; I tried – very hard – not to act sarcastic with people who wanted me dead.

It might irritate them.

I sighed with regret, wishing I had tried running for it, but elves were the fastest of all Sídhí races. Running was out of the question.

I tried hiding my fear behind a larger smile, but it probably wasn't working. Knowing my lifelong run of luck, he would think I had gas or something.

I didn't know what else to do or say. Of all times, my mind decided to go totally blank. What could I say? Other than: Please don't kill me, Mr. Elf.

If he had been a vampire, I might have thought of something, but not an elf, especially an elegantly dressed elf that looked like he stepped out of a medieval castle. He had on tight fitting calf skin pants, knee-high lace-up boots (that looked hand crafted,) and a hand-embroidered silk shirt.

How often did someone like him appear out of thin air? It simply wasn't possible.

Suddenly, the answer hit me smack between the eyes. Oh, crap! I thought, realizing how eyeball-deep I'd plummeted into trouble, I felt the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach increase into sweat-popping fear; it smacked me upside the head, really hard.

That gateway wasn't a connection between Earth and a valley. It was a gateway to the old world, to Sídhí! As the truth dawned on me, my panic shot through the top of my head and terror strangled me.

Oh, hell's bells!

There was only one answer: He must be the current elvish monarch on Sídhí. In other words, he was the Sídhí Chi’Kehra. And being Chi’Kehra was more than a title. Just like my sister, it meant he had the ability to manipulate raw energy, pure synth crystal. And everyone knew synth crystal, created by the Ancient Ones, was the most powerful form of energy ever created.

There had only been four Chi’Kehra in all of history and that included Sarah and this guy. He wouldn't like having a halfling knowing any of his business, especially if he was scouting Earth for an invasion.

I gulped, trying to shove my fear down, but my mind kept racing away with itself. Why else would the Sídhí Chi’Kehra open a gateway to earth? Especially a gate opened in the middle of the night and hidden in a bunch of trees, but still had access to a large city?

Every person who wasn't a pure-blood elf was screwed with a cherry on top. Oh yeah, the entire world was rushing toward a disaster and didn't even realize it.

“I can tell from your horrified expression you've realized who I am,” he said seriously. An emotionless mask covered his face as he walked toward me.

He stopped beside me, towering over my nearly six feet by a good foot. “Tell me, do the people of Earth approve of mixed births or are you an outcast?”

“That's rude,” I said snappishly, speaking much louder than necessary. I had to buy some time until Fritz came looking for me.

I crossed my arms in front of me, trying to keep him from seeing how bad I was shaking. I hated what I was doing. It made me literally sick, because poor Fritz didn't stand a chance against Chi’Kehra. I gritted my jaw, refusing to shed the tears that built behind my eyes.

I prayed Fritz heard me; I didn't have a choice. If the horrid elf planned on invading Earth, or even if he planned on uniting all the elvish houses, Trellick Valley was worse than screwed. He would wipe all of us from the face of the Earth. The urgency to warn my family crashed through me; I couldn't let anything stand in my way.

Right on time, I heard Fritz weaving through the trees. He appeared some ten feet away, running full tilt toward us, dagger drawn.

I groaned, mentally slapping myself over my slow reactions to an emergency. Why hadn't I screamed for help? Hello, idiot that I was!

I mentally screamed for reinforcements – from anyone who could hear me. When I didn't get any type of response, I realized the gateway must be interfering with my telepathy just like it did with my ability to port.

“Help!”
I mentally screamed and spun around, running as fast as I could.

Swords clashed and my gut clenched in grief. I complained about my shadow, but Fritz wasn't only my bodyguard, he was a friend. I ran harder, but tears blurred my progress. Roughly, I slashed my hand across my face, knowing I had to get a grip. Every Sídhí that wasn't a full-blooded elf depended on my warning, whether they knew it or not.

Without a shred of sound to warn me an iron-hard fist wrapped around my upper arm jerking me to an abrupt halt. “That's far enough halfling.”

After killing Fritz and chasing me, he wasn't even breathing hard.

My lips curled-up, baring my short fangs at him. I snarled, letting him glimpse the danger of man-handling a vampire, a dangerous adversary.

I certainly wasn't a weakling. I'd never go down without a struggle. He might kill me, but I'd make him work for it. I growled and lunged toward him, snapping my now elongated fangs at him. The hair-raising growl rumbled through the trees, silencing the nighttime symphony as the tiny creatures recognized a larger predator in their midst.

He arrogantly lifted his eyebrows in disbelief at my show of defiance, uttering a loud sigh he shook his head, looking like a bored aristocrat surveying a dirty peasant.

My anger and fear gave way to rage. The burning emotion bubbled through my veins, giving me strength. I twisted, trying to break his hold, but it solved nothing. His hand clenched me tighter and I cried out. It felt like he was going to pinch my arm clean off. And with a full-grown Sídhí, it was quite possible.

I hated the injustice of it all. As bad as I wanted to get away from him, he wasn't even bothered by my struggles. I was the one who looked worse for my attempted escape. My sunshades slipped off the top of my head where I'd stuck them. My face stung, where small branches had slapped me in my dash for freedom. And my hair, my hair was a disaster and my downfall. The long stuff swirled into my mouth. Biting a hunk out of someone was impossible with a mouthful of hair in the way.

He didn't pause at my show of anger. Instead, he jerked me backward, dragging me behind him; he silently marched toward the gateway.

Understanding his intentions my eyes widened in terror. I tried extending my two-inch claws, but it was too late. Under the power of the gateway they shrank back to normal fingernails.