Her Imaginary Lover (11 page)

Lycille
patted her hand and let the subject
drop, and Macie shot her a grateful look. The arrival of the food further
distracted her, and for the first time since her arrival in the
Athuron
realm she partook fully of the excellent dishes
provided by the cook.

When
she at last scraped the bottom of her dessert dish, she looked up to find
Kaylom
and his parents watching her with identical smiles
of amusement on their faces, and she took a sip of water.

"Guess
I was hungry," she said.

Kaylom's
sinful grin sent tingles of need all
over her skin. How she could be ready to jump him again, was beyond her right
now.

"It's
good to see you eat, child. We've been worried about you."

Arich's
kind words wrapped Macie in another
layer of happiness, even as the rational side of her brain finally kicked in
and urged her to speak up.

"What
happens now?"

She
hated the way
Kaylom's
expression hardened and
Lycille's
eyes clouded over with worry, but she had to make
her position clear.

"What
do you
mean,
my daughter?"
Arich
asked.

"I
mean, I know
Kaylom's
name is cleared, but I can't
stay here, can I? I have a life in the human realm. Clients who depend on
me,
and my parents…" A sob escaped her, and she brought
her hand up to her mouth in horror. Not once had she thought of them since
Kaylom
and she had started their re-union
sexathon
. "They must be going frantic with worry. I
need to see them and explain—"

"You
can't,"
Kaylom
said, and Macie froze. His harsh
expression softened somewhat at her horrified gasp, and he reached across the
table to grasp her hand. "The fewer humans know about our existence the
safer it is for all of us. I'm sorry, munchkin, but they cannot know."

"But
they're my parents. I can't lie to them. You know how much they worry."

"No."

One
word uttered in that deep, commanding voice of his and her happiness evaporated
in a puff of smoke, and she snatched her hand out of his grasp. Refusing to
look at him, she kept her gaze riveted on the gleaming mahogany table, even
though she could practically feel the force of his will urging her to look up.
It was like a physical ache that threatened to tear her heart in half.

"Let's
not be too hasty on this, son."
Arich's
voice
broke the tense moment. "We cannot expect Macie to give up her entire
existence in the human realm. This is one of the reasons why the elders took
such a long time to debate the outcome of this mating. We had to be sure."

That
brought Macie's head up to glare at
Kaylom's
father,
and the older man smiled and nodded.
Kaylom
just sat
in stunned silence, and
Lycille
got up to stand
behind Macie and placed her hands on Macie's shoulder in a silent act of
support. Macie glanced up at her in gratitude, and
Lycille
gave her a light squeeze in answer.

"You
mean to say the elders put us through all this for nothing? They always
accepted the mating. What the hell, Father?"

The
fact that
Kaylom
seemed as clueless as she was soothed
some of the pain in her chest.
Arich
shook his head.

"The
true nature of your mating was never in question, son. The mating tattoo and
the entry into our archives ensured we all knew this was a true call to mate,
and besides I know you. You would never have gone against all of our laws
unless you were in the thrall of the mating call. We all know you cannot resist
the true calling. The elders couldn't ignore the effect it would have on the
whole of
Athuron
, however. Macie is human, and as she
quite rightly pointed out, she has a life in the human realm that she cannot
just abandon. She would be missed. Questions would be asked. On that
note,"
Arich
took a long sip of his wine and
smiled at Macie over the top of his wine glass.

"Arrangements
have been made to reassure your parents and your practice that you have not
simply gone missing. As far as they are concerned you're in a safe house, until
the police can arrest the man who attacked you."

"What?"
Macie had to remember to shut her mouth, and
Kaylom
,
too, looked at his father as though he had grown another head.

"We
do not interfere in human affairs as a rule, but you're one of us now, Macie.
It turns out that the human filth
Kaylom
killed in
his defense of you was a member of a gang that has been terrorizing that area
for some time. All it took was a few phone calls to the right places for the
right questions to be asked. Arrests are being made as we speak from what my
guards tell me, which means you can return to the human realm in safety. No one
is going to come after you, and as far as your parents are concerned you have
simply returned from your place of safety."

"I
see," Macie said, not really seeing at all and feeling more confused than
ever.

"You're
sending her back?"
Kaylom
asked. His chair went
flying, and he ran his hand through his long hair before he started pacing. A
shiver of unease went through Macie at the barely concealed fury in
Kaylom's
expression. He looked just about ready to pummel
his father into a pulp.
Lycille's
fingernails dug
into Macie's shoulder, and she, too, tensed as the air thickened in tension.

"No, son.
I am giving your mate a choice.
There will always be a place at this table for her. Nothing will change that,
but this way she is free to live in the human realm, too. Keeping human mates
confined to just either realm is what caused all the problems in our ancient
history. Macie has shown herself to be a strong and capable mate, and the
elders have decreed that her unique abilities to detect
Athurons
in the human world will prove invaluable in bringing in those rogue
Athurons
that overstep the bounds of moral decency in the
human realm."

"Like
little Ava's evil presence?" Macie asked.
Arich
had questioned her at length about this case and others she had been involved
with over the years, and Macie's heart beat faster at the thought of a
resolution for the youngster.

Kaylom
, too, knew how important this was to
her, and he stopped his incessant pacing and sat down with a heavy thump.
Lycille's
death grip on Macie's shoulder lessened, and her mother-in-law
let out an audible gasp of relief.

"Yes,
like Ava, and others like her,"
Arich
continued
and nodded toward her. "
Athurons
, once in the
human realm, leave no trace. They are undetectable by us. It's a loophole our
scientists are working on, but, until we come up with a solution, having
someone on the other side who can trace them for us will be invaluable."

Kaylom
growled low in his throat, and
Arich
smiled at his son.

"I
can see what your mate is thinking, Macie, but they will not be able to harm
you. Besides, I'm sure my son will be your personal bodyguard. Even when he is
not there, he will be in mind communication with you, and will be able to shift
to you in an instant, as he well knows." He glanced at
Kaylom
again with a small smile. "I understand his reservations, of course. He
wants to keep you safe, and anything that might jeopardize that sends his gut
into spasms."

Kaylom
didn't answer him, but he relaxed
somewhat, and the heat in his gaze when he looked at Macie took her breath
away.

"The
choice is yours, my dear. Whatever you decide, the elders will abide by. No one
will hold it against you, if you simply chose to live your life and shift
between dimensions with
Kaylom
as you need to. It
would help us immensely to have you on board, of course, and there is one other
thing that may or may not influence your decision. The minute you shift back
into the human realm you will be blind, and it is highly unlikely that you will
ever be able to see again in this realm."

Kaylom
swore, and Macie smiled at him to
reassure him.

You
don’t have to do any of this, munchkin. I could wring his neck for springing
this on you like this.

"I've
been blind all my life,
Arich
, so that isn't much of
deterrence. It still feels strange and often overwhelming to me to be able to
see in this world."

Arich
nodded, and
Lycille
drew her in for a hug that helped to make her mind up further.

"So
let me get this straight in my head. If I shift into the human realm, I lose my
vision, but I get to reunite with my parents, carry on with my job, and I'm
free to come back here with
Kaylom
whenever I want
to?"

Arich
inclined his head in confirmation.

"And
in doing so I can help bring in those of your race who wish to cause harm to
humankind, and I can help little girls like Ava to live a life free of
Athuron
influence? And this doesn't affect what
Kaylom
and I have at all?"

"That's
right,"
Arich
said with a smile.
           

"Well,
then there really is no choice to be made, is there? I'll gladly help to keep
Athuron
safe and my kind, too. It's the least I can do for
the race of the man I love."

Are
you sure, munchkin?

I've
never been more certain of anything in my entire life, Sir.

Epilogue

Six weeks later

"Ava,
can you sit outside with Judith for a minute? I just need to make a phone call,
sweetie."

The
little girl looked up her with big, brown eyes and nodded. Macie glanced behind
her where the
Athuron
responsible for ruining the four-year-
old's
life leaned against the wall with an evil sneer on
his face. The cocky bastard had no idea what was about to happen. It had come
as somewhat of a surprise to everyone that Macie could see, rather than just
sense, the
Athurons
on her return into the human
realm. It took a lot out of her, because she had to really concentrate hard at
first, but it made her job so much easier. Not to mention how lovely it was to
see
Kaylom
when he loomed over her. She might only be
able to see
Athurons
in her own dimension, but it
meant her vision was almost complete when they shifted back into
Kaylom's
realm. It had soothed one persistent niggle of
worry in the back of her mind, and that had been her ability to look after any
possible baby. Whilst there were no guarantees, with Macie's
Athuron
ancestry it seemed likely that she might be able to
conceive
Kaylom's
child.

Kaylom
had gone so quiet and still at that
little tidbit of information, Macie had been worried at first that he might not
want any children.

"How
do you feel about that, munchkin?" he'd asked, every muscle in his body
coiled for action. "I mean, I never used protection, because I didn't
think … fuck … I mean, please forgive me for putting you at risk like that. I
know you have your career and—"

"Oh,
do, shut up, Sir," Macie had interrupted him, and after a moment of
stunned silence
Kaylom
had exhaled roughly, and shut
his eyes. She hadn't caught his murmured words, but he'd pulled her into a hug
and kissed her with so much passion, her eyes had filled with tears.

"I
would be honored to have your child, Sir, so please don't worry about that.
Besides it might never happen, and if it does, I'll be the happiest woman on
earth … and
Athuron
."

Kaylom
had smiled and simply held her.

"I
really don't deserve you, baby. I never want you to regret this decision,
that's all."

She
hadn't regretted her decision for one moment. The reunion with her parents had
been emotional, but not as much of an ordeal as it would have been, had they
not thought her safe. The cretin who'd assaulted her had indeed been arrested
and had sung like a canary, after
Kaylom
had paid him
a visit. He refused to say what he'd threatened the weasel with, but overnight
the man had mysteriously gained a few cracked ribs and a black eye.

Macie
had earned herself a spanking session for questioning how wise
Kaylom's
interference had been, and the orgasm torture that
followed had left her completely and utterly limbless.
Kaylom
had merely smiled, and she'd fallen asleep in his arms.