mythean arcana 06 - master of fate (6 page)

“As I said, I wanted to meet you.”

“And all week you’ve known I’ve been in this tree but have no’ said anything?”

“I saw you climb up the first day. But I dinna want to frighten you. I wanted you to come to me.”

“Why?” Why did he care so much that she not be afraid?

“Because I know what it’s like to be a Mythean, hiding from my own kind and mortals alike. But today I realized that you never were going to say anything, so I did.” Sincerity radiated from him.

And he was right. She wouldn’t ever have said anything. And what did he mean, he knew what it was like to be a Mythean hiding from everyone?

Her resistance broke. “All right. I’ll let you down. But then you’ll have to come with me somewhere.”

He didn’t hesitate. “All right.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly lowered him to the ground. If she was going to try this... this
friendship
, she wanted it to be on her turf where she was safe. She climbed to the ground to join him.

“You’re quite short, aren’t you?” He grinned.

“You’re too tall.” She looked him up and down. He was at least six feet tall and likely around twenty years old.

“I’ll only grow taller,” he said.

“What’s your name?”

“Felix.”

“I’m Aurora. You really doona mind that I drain your power?”
Everyone
hated soulceresses. But he didn’t seem to.

“Nay. I doona need it normally. Almost everything I do can be handled physically, without magic.”

Her gaze traced over his tall form and broad shoulders. He was all power. He was right—he could handle anything that came at him even without using his powers. 

“Can you aetherwalk?” she asked. Mouse sidled up and pressed herself against Aurora’s legs.

“Aye.”

She held out her hand and he grasped it immediately. A shiver streaked across her skin at his touch. She’d never touched a boy before. In truth, she’d never touched anyone but her mother. “Follow me, then.”

She closed her eyes and focused on the abandoned city, on its great stone walls and towering buildings, and aetherwalked them there. He followed along with his own power. She could have simply aetherwalked them both, but it would have taken too much power and she liked to conserve. 

It was necessary to conserve.

When she opened her eyes, they stood atop the tallest stone building in the abandoned city. It sat atop an enormous glacier. White snow stretched out in all directions around the city. The chill in the air sent a shiver across her skin.

“Where are we?” he asked, his voice awed. She appreciated it. Exploring ancient cities was one of the best things to do, in her mind, and this was her favorite one. Not only that, this city was vital to her.

“It’s the only known soulceress city. It’s been abandoned for a long, long time.” She gazed down at the roofs and winding streets, fascinated. Mouse walked to the edge and peered over.

“Tell me about it.”

She turned to him, delighted that he shared her interest. And pleased, because he should know of this place. He should know what would happen to her if he revealed her identity and location to any of the Mytheans and mortals who were now wracked by fear of witches. 

Her mother had told her the story dozens of times. “Two thousand years ago, when Iceland—that’s where we are, by the way—was uninhabited, soulceresses built this city. They wanted a place as far away from other Mytheans as they could get.”

“So they picked the middle of a glacier?”

“Aye. It was safest. Most Mytheans revile us. They doona like that we drain their power.” She glanced at him to see what his expression might tell her.

He just grinned. 

“You really doona care that I do?” She just couldn’t wrap her mind around it.

“No’ really. I have plenty that I canna really use, and I just regenerate it anyway. And it’s no’ like you can control it, can you?”

She shook her head. That was the crux of it. She
couldn’t
control it. No soulceress could. They drained the power of others whether they wanted to or not. And he understood that. “What do you mean, you canna really use your power?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment. I want to hear the end of your story.”

“All right.”

“Let’s sit.” He sat on the parapet of the building. Though there was no snow on the roof because of the protective magic still enveloping this place, he spread out his cloak for her to sit upon.

Something warm fizzed in her chest as she sat.

“So what happened to the soulceresses?” he asked.

“They lived here happily for centuries. Because they could aetherwalk to anywhere on earth, the remoteness of this place protected them but dinna bind them. They’d used their power to fuel this place and its protective charms. But then the Vikings came. Eventually Mytheans followed. This place is invisible to mortals, but not to Mytheans. Many of the soulceresses were killed by Mytheans who hated them. The few that remained abandoned it.” Her throat tightened at the thought. Once, this whole place had been filled with people like her. She could have had friends. A huge family like the mortals did. Instead, they’d all been slaughtered. She sniffled.

“That’s terrible.” He reached for her hand and squeezed.

Her heart pounded. She felt the intended comfort in the gesture, but more as well. She blinked back the tears that mercifully did not fall and said, “That’s what will happen to me if you tell anyone that my mother and I live in that forest. We’ve been running for years, ever since mortal fear of witches became so great. It’s near hysteria now, getting worse every year. Mytheans have joined in too. Mother and I have heard that they’re capturing soulceresses and killing them. They’ve been so successful that there are probably only a couple dozen of us left.”

Fierce protectiveness arose in Felix. “I
will no’
tell anyone.”

He would protect her with his life. Ever since he’d seen her a week ago, he’d known she was important to him. The wolf in his soul had recognized her. He hadn’t ever believed in fated mates the way the rest of his clan did, but he wasn’t full wulver. He’d thought it wouldn’t happen for him.

Then he’d seen her—so beautiful, all golden and bright as she walked through the forest. But that hadn’t been what had drawn him. It had been the feeling of belonging, of rightness, that he’d felt around her.

He’d started believing in mates then. He’d come back to the forest every day, hoping she’d approach him. He’d felt that she was a soulceress right away. Of course she’d be wary of other Mytheans approaching her. Now she was worried that he might put her in danger?
Never. 

His hand tightened on hers. He cursed inwardly and loosened his grip. She was so much smaller and more delicate than he was. He’d have to be careful not to hurt her with his strength.

“You’ve lived in the woods for several years?” he asked. He and his mother had just arrived.

“Aye. For three years. But my mother is growing worried. Witch hunts are becoming more common and we’re even hearing stories of soulceresses being captured in Edinburgh.” Her voice turned bitter. “No’ that there are many of us left.”

He had nothing good to say in response. He wanted to make her feel better, but had no idea how.

“What are you?” she asked.

He tensed. His mixed blood hadn’t always been a good thing. He didn’t like sharing it. But she’d trusted him. He could trust her.

“I’m part wulver, part timewalker.”

“Wulver? Like a wolf?”

“You have no’ heard of wulvers?”

“I’ve no’ heard much of anything. My mother and I have no’ spent much time around other Mytheans.”

“Wulvers are men with the spirit of the wolf inside them. There’s only one clan of us and a full-blood can shift into the shape of the wolf. They live in the Shetland Islands.” The thought of his homeland, windswept and beautiful in the middle of the North Sea, was bittersweet.

“They? But no’ you? You’re one of them.”

“I used to live amongst the clan. No longer. Wulvers doona like mixed-bloods. My father was wulver, my mother a timewalker. I doona shift. My wolf is a shadow. My soul is torn between two species. As long as my father was alive, the clan tolerated us there. When my father was lost at sea during a fishing expedition, my mother and I were expelled from the clan. We came here. I want to go out on my own, but I canna leave her yet. She’s no’ handling his death well.”

Her worried gaze searched his. “When did this happen?”

“Last month.”

Her hand tightened on his. “You lost your father just recently?”

He nodded, his throat tightening. Embarrassed, he tried to force the feeling away. He was a man—tears had no place with him.

“And it’s just you and your mother? As it’s just me and mine?”

“Now? Aye. See—we have something in common.”

“I suppose. My mother is pregnant. I never knew my father. This baby’s father is in the New World. I’ve never met him. My mother met him while traveling. But I canna wait until the child is born.”

Another thing they had in common. “I have a half brother from my father—Malcolm—but he’s far older. We were very close, until he was expelled from the clan when they learned he’s half warlock.”

“A warlock?” Her voice held the awe and nerves that anyone’s would at the mention of warlocks. They were immensely powerful, but also dangerous. Warlocks, known as oath breakers, were masters of destruction. They specialized in tearing apart spells and were capable of the greatest magic, but they paid a great price for it. “Is that why you doona mind that I’m a soulceress? Because your brother’s species is almost as despised as mine?”

“I’m used to prejudice, both for my brother and myself. It makes it easier to understand you, since you experience it as well.”

“Perhaps,” she said, her voice nervous. 

He thought she sensed how strong his feelings already were and it made him uneasy. They were mates. She might not know it yet, because she wasn’t a wulver and soulceresses didn’t have mates. But she would learn eventually.

“Let’s do something fun,” he said. “Show me your city. What’s your favorite part?”

She brightened, then stood and tugged at his hand. “Come on, we’ll go down through this building. There are stairs. I’ll show you the hot springs in the basement.”

He grinned, then followed her. 

He’d follow her anywhere.

CHAPTER FIVE

Vatnajökull Glacier, Iceland

Present day

Aurora’s teeth chattered so hard she was afraid they would break. Even with the special outdoor gear she’d brought, she wasn’t built for this cold. Worse, it sent her back to her time in the aether prison. Cold, dark nothing.

She shuddered again, though this time, it wasn’t from the cold. She hated that she couldn’t banish those memories or their effect on her.

“Damn it,” Felix muttered from behind her.

The snowmobile slowed. Her face burrowed under her scarf, she looked up. Snow stretched in all directions. They were still in the middle of the glacier. She felt him shifting behind her. If she hadn’t been so cripplingly cold, she’d have appreciated the feel of his hard muscles at her back. 

As it was, she couldn’t feel anything but misery. Suddenly, she was enveloped in the fabric of Felix’s jacket.

Had he zipped her into his coat with him? A thrill of excitement shot through her. But when she didn’t feel the warmth of him at her back, she realized that he’d taken off
the entire jacket
and zipped it around her.

She tried to turn around on the seat, but couldn’t get far enough to see him. “You’ll freeze!”

“Wulver, remember?” he said gruffly. “I’ll be fine. Turn around.”

She wanted to argue, but his tone was final, so she turned, still skeptical. The half-wulver part of him might keep him warmer than a normal Mythean, but he still had to be miserable. 

“Thanks,” she said.

He might have grunted, but she wasn’t sure. He didn’t appear to be much for talking these days. Not like the boy she’d once known. Flutters of the affection—maybe even the love—she’d once felt for him beat within her chest like the wings of a butterfly. She crushed them as easily as she would a real butterfly. Whatever they might have had once was lost. Their future had been devoured by the beast of fate. And she was no longer the same girl.