Authors: Penelope Fletcher
Amelia pursed her lips. “I see your
point. They are strong.” She cleared her throat and blushed. “I too
would like an escort.” Her eyes darted to Ana who now had pink in
her waxy cheeks and was smiling at her shyly.
“
I suppose,” the witch
began, her tiny hands twisting in front of her in agitation, “that
I could go too. I know some magic and my Sight would keep us well
out of harm’s way.”
“
A good idea,” Breandan
said and shot a glance at me, his eyebrow quirked.
“
What will you do?” Byron
asked me curiously. “I doubt you will go to the vampire city. Your
mate seems resolute.”
I made a rude noise, but didn’t
disagree. I had no doubt that Breandan would rather die than let me
go into the vampire city. “I know. I suppose I’m going to make
myself useful by training. I need to get my magics under control to
have any chance at defeating the he-witch I faced
today.”
I scrunched up my nose. The idea of
facing Cael again did not appeal to me at all. The shield from Papa
Obe had worked wonders on his black magics, but I doubted it would
hold for long, and a witch of his power would find a way around it.
I needed to learn more about the Coven Father. Where did he fit
into all of this? I had many questions to ask Breandan and Conall,
but now was not the time or the place. I could confidently guess
that since the grimoire was a book of witchcraft, that Cael wanted
it for some evil end or other. It explained why he was so drawn to
my amulets. Even though the book was almost in his grasp, he still
needed the key, which hung around my neck. It was only a matter of
time before I had to face him again … or was there more too it than
that? Unlike the fairies whose magic was structured around rules of
engagement, I was certain a witch would have no problem simply
taking the amulets from me. Cleric Tu had proved that. So why did
the he-witch focus his mind on the Temple, announcing himself and
his intentions when he had the perfect element of surprise. He
could have taken the amulets from me before I knew what was
happening. More than this, why did I feel like I knew him? I still
did not have the full story and it was beginning to bug me. There
was the huge piece of the puzzle I was missing. I was so close, yet
so far.
“
I need to somehow figure
out how to fight the effects of iron, or how to store magics within
me,” I said out loud. “Is that possible without an amulet or
charm?” I had intended the question to be answered by Conall, but I
realized he was not next to me. I scanned the rubble for my
brother, my teacher, wondering why he had been so quiet for so
long.
Alec whistled to catch my attention
and threw a thumb over his shoulder.
Conall was asleep standing up. Head
bowed, and leaned slightly to the side, his chest rose and fell in
a steady rhythm. A snore rumbled from his throat.
A bubble of laughter from Ana had me
in fits of giggles. Resting my head on Breandan’s chest I was
thrilled to feel his own body shaking with repressed
laughter.
Wasp clapped her hands together in
irritation. “What about my mate? Or have you forgotten?”
My giggles stopped and were replaced
with a grim smile. “No. I remember the problem of Devlin quite
well. I have an idea.”
Stepping away from Breandan I searched
through the darkness. I looked inward, felt along the blood tie and
called him to me. I wish I could have given him space but we simply
didn’t have the time. I turned the moment Tomas stepped from the
shadows. Our circle swelled outward, openly distrustful of the
vampire in their midst.
I stepped forward and jerked my head
toward the other side of the courtyard where it lead into the
desolate Temple. Tomas walked off and I followed behind.
Breandan caught my hand, eyes narrow
and panicked.
“
We need an ally with the
vampires,” I soothed. “You know this.”
Dangerous.
The word came with a flood of emotion.
Jealousy. It was a warning that had my nature twisting in
discomfort. I sent back a wordless wave of reassurance. Tomas and I
had so much between us. I would be fine and he had to see
this.
Breandan let me go, fingers releasing
their hold one by one with reluctance. “Alright,” he said
flatly.
My eyes wandered to Conall. “Will you
find him somewhere to sleep? Away from this place, we can’t stay
here.”
“
We all need to rest before
we go our separate ways,” he said thoughtfully. “I will find
somewhere.” Oh, my heart swelled at the sight of him. Trust, it was
a beautiful thing. He smiled; showing his fang-like teeth then
yanked me back to him. “Kiss me,” he demanded.
I gave him a timid look from under my
lashes. “In front of everybody?”
He dipped his head down to flick the
tip of his tongue over my lips. Inhaling in a rush, I fluttered my
wings as he pulled me to him. I fiercely crushed my lips to his.
Pulling away, his eyes were wide and burning with the silver-blue
flames I loved. I flushed and gave him a challenging look, which he
intensified and returned. He kissed me again and I clamped one arm
around his back. The other fisted in the dark hair now cresting his
head.
There was a not so subtle throat
clearing, giggles and long-suffering sighs that became grumbling
mutters about public displays of affection.
“
Rae! Off!” Conall barked
unexpectedly not sounding at all sleepy. Thunderous brow smoothing,
he shrugged his shoulders helplessly, eyes darting every-which-way.
“Perhaps, it does not even matter now the bond is
sealed.”
Jerking away from Breandan guiltily, I
stumbled. My wings flexed straightened me out and I settled them
neatly against my back. I knew Conall would bestow his blessing on
my mating with Breandan, but it was done now. Surprisingly, the
blood tie was still there. I knew Breandan had been sure it would
break when we mated, but I had a feeling Tomas was bound to me till
death, and since he was immortal, that meant pretty much for the
rest of my life.
Breandan pressed a cracker into my
hand. “Eat,” he ordered then strode away, motioning the others to
trail him.
I flicked my tail at Alec when he gave
me a cheeky thumb up and followed Maeve.
Trotting after Tomas, smiling, and
blushing furiously, I clutched that damn cracker like it was a gift
from the gods.
Chapter Eight
We walked without speaking for a
while, and Tomas took my hand after a few steps. I bit my tongue
when my mouth opened to tell him that I did not think it was a good
idea. He was just holding my hand.
Nothing bad ever happened from someone
holding your hand.
“
Thank you for not taking
off,” I said quietly.
He stopped and stared at the empty
street. At what I cannot say since he seemed look past it. “I can’t
leave. I need your help.”
I nodded slowly. It pained me to admit
his cold admission that he stayed because he needed something from
me hurt. I slapped myself mentally. Hadn’t that always been the
case with Tomas? He had always needed something from me. When I
thought of it objectively so did Breandan … in the beginning. The
difference was now he no longer needed a thing from me. He was
guiding me to make the right choices, helping me to carry out my
decisions. I sighed. But the comparison wasn’t fair. Everyone
wanted something from someone I guess.
Raking my bottom lip through my teeth,
I glanced at him then away. Back again then looked at his chest.
“You’re bleeding?”
“
I healed.”
I nodded three times too many feeling
awkward. “Are you hungry? I mean, can you eat solid food at all? I
have a cracker.” I offered the mealy disk shaped biscuit to him.
“It has nectar in the middle. It’s not awful; it’s sweet in an
earthy kind of way.”
He grimaced uncomfortably. “Anything
but blood makes me ill.”
“
Oh.” I looked at my palm
then shrugged and stuffed the cracker in my mouth and swallowed.
Even with the liquid centre, it made my tongue dry without water to
follow it down. I guessed it was good to have something in my
stomach. I did not feel hungry at all, but mentally I felt better
for eating. I wiped crumbs from my mouth and felt rude for eating
in front of him. “Sure you’re okay?”
His grip on my other hand tightened.
“Rae?” There was no patience in his tone.
“
Okay, okay.” I plucked at
my bottom lip before placing my hand on his shoulder in what I hope
was a friendly, platonic way. “I need you to bring the leader of
your Nest back here.” I paused and forced myself to look him in the
eye. “Please.”
He cocked his head and shifted so he
faced me. “You wish to meet my Queen. Why?”
Queen? The vampires truly called their
leader Queen. There was reverence in Tomas’ voice when he had
spoken so I swallowed my pithy remarks about the title. Just
because I found being called Lady Priestess awkward did not mean
others would not approve of being addressed by the title their
hierarchy afforded them.
“
Well, we agreed that a
meeting between demonkind would be best to decide what to do about
the Sect and the witches. We should work together to find a
peaceful solution to the mess we’re in. If we remain divided
everything will continue to spiral out of control.”
“
What of your promise to
me?”
I stopped fidgeting and glared at him.
“I am helping you, albeit not in the way you expected.”
His brow furrowed, lips twisted in
anger. “You gave me your word.”
“
Breandan does not want to
go,” I snapped. “I can’t, okay.”
“
You let him control you
this way?”
I gritted my teeth and squashed the
rebellious voice that yelled he was right. “I know you’re anxious
about what’s happening to your kind, but you won’t
starve.”
“
No thanks to
you.”
Now I was mad. I tried to
tug my hand from his but he held on. Trying to argue with someone
whilst they clutched your hand like a lifeline was difficult, but I
managed to keep my voice biting as I said, “Believe me when I say
I’ve done more for you than I’ve ever done for another. Never has
Breandan received the same blind faith as I’ve given you and he is
bonded to me by magics. I’ve kept your secret about the fairy you
drained two days ago.” He jerked back and I got in his face. “Yeah,
I know. I saw it. Felt it.” I thumped my chest. “If I didn’t care
what happened to you I would have told Breandan or Conall, and not
even I could have stopped what they would have done to you.” I
breathed in sharply through my nose, controlling the urges of what
I wanted to do for him for taking the girls life. “You keep killing
people and while I can forgive you once, even twice I can’t simply
ignore it or pretend it isn’t happening.” My voice lowered
dangerously. “If I didn’t care, Tomas, I would have let you burn in
the sun. I risked everything,
everything,
turning my back on my kind
when I saved you. Don’t you dare ignore or forget what
I
have done for
you
.”
It was clear from the blank look on
his face he was unmoved by my words. He made a fast movement with
his free hand. “This is your choice.”
“
There never was one. This
is who I am and I refuse to run from that anymore.”
He regarded me silently. “You’ve
grown.”
His hand was cold as he stroked my
cheek. His touch sent a shiver down my spine and I no longer knew
if it was lust, fear, or my nature recoiling from him. Slowly and
with great tenderness Tomas wrapped his arms around me and pulled
me into his chest.
“
I’m going back to my Nest,
to whatever fate awaits me, but … please,” he whispered over my
head. “Please do this for me. You know what I want, and what I need
from you. To have you with me is something I never dared to dream.
Two nights ago, I did not want to wake to the reality where you had
chosen him over me, but I understand. Now I only ask that you come
to help me save my Nest, my family.”
He sounded so forlorn and
grief-stricken it made my heart wrench. My conviction wavered.
“Gods, Tomas, what you do to me….”
Working my bottom lip in my mouth I
tried to make the decision that would let me have Breandan as my
mate, and Tomas as my friend … that would mean I could go to his
Nest on behalf of demonkind, and say the words that would make them
help us.
Would making this kind of choice work
for everybody make me the Priestess believed I was destined to be?
My heart sunk. But I didn’t truly believe I was destined to be the
fairy High Priestess. Is that why this was so hard for
me?
Was there a way to convince Breandan
to let me travel with Tomas to the vampire city? Would he believe
my desire to destroy Devlin had been doused by my wish to help
bring peace?
Devlin dying at my hand before
Lochlann was named High Lord would throw the entire fairy race into
turmoil, I saw that now, and I would not bring more harm to my
race. But my behavior in the past had been so mindless and
self-absorbed the chances of Breandan believing me were slim. I
guess I could swear with magic…. No, no I could not go. It was too
close to where Ana said the witches Coven was located, and Breandan
would have a fit at the idea of me walking into a vampire Nest
without him. I doubted Tomas would agree to take my fairy with us,
or protect him if things went wrong when we were there. More than
this, I knew Breandan wanted to return to the fairy Wylds. He
wanted to see his brother and be in the presence of the Tribe. I
could understand that.