Protecting Shaylee (The Fae Guard Book 1) (5 page)

“How dare you, Aden? How dare you twist something that means so much to me?! Are you mocking me? I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I won’t put up with it. I won’t let you disrespect my Dad by turning his beliefs and stories into a joke,” her voice is calm, monotone. “I want you to leave.”

“Shaylee,” Violet has regained her speech and calls to her daughter. The look on her face is one of understanding, and I feel relief that somebody knows what the hell is going on. At the sound of her voice, Shaylee whirls towards her. When she sees the look on Violet’s face, her anger begins to fade and is replaced by a bone-deep sadness.

“You knew?” her voice is confused and coated in despair. “I don’t understand, Mom. Why would you let him ridicule Dad?” Suddenly, it becomes clear where I went wrong. Shaylee had grown up with her dad telling her stories of the Fae. Stories she believed, until Orin died, and she became convinced that they were concocted in his imagination . . . told for her amusement. She didn’t realize that Orin had been preparing her. He told her the stories so that the knowledge would be ingrained in her and, hopefully, when she was told the truth after her marking, she would find it easier to believe . . . to transition.

I don’t wait for Violet to intercede. I decide to take back control of the situation. She needs to trust me. She needs to have faith in the things I tell her and not rely on believing it because of her mother’s conviction. If she doesn’t completely trust me, then I won’t be able to convince her of the one other truth that I will keep to myself for today.

“Shaylee, have I ever lied to you?” I ask calmly.

She turns back to me, and I can see her thinking. I know her mind has wandered to her birthday, when I agreed to meet her in her room. I stress my point. “Have I ever
lied
to you?”

“No.” Her eyes narrow in annoyance, but she admits what she knows is the truth.

“I would never tarnish your father’s memory, baby.” She stiffens at the nickname, but I don’t give a shit. She’ll get used to it.

“I loved him like a father, too.” Her shoulders slump as the anger completely deflates, left only with the sadness. I pat the couch next to me, “Please sit, and let me explain.” I can hear the urgency in my own voice. I need to make her understand. I need her to trust me. From the moment I saw her again, I knew the council had been correct. We were fated.
You shouldn’t be surprised, dumbass.
I knew it when I left, but for some reason, I let the distance talk me out of it. Now I feel the pull, the need to be near her, to touch her. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her all night, and I particularly enjoyed her reaction. She is still affected by me, even though she doesn’t want to be attracted to me.
That’s just too damn bad.

She seems to consider my words for a moment, and then decides to let me speak my piece and sits on the far side of the couch. I fight the instinct to haul her over next to me, knowing she needs time to process it all. Once it appears that she is calm and open to listening, Violet and Rhoslyn quietly move to the kitchen.

“I need you to hear me out before you flip and hit me again, alright?” I see a slight lifting of one corner of her mouth, and want to breathe a small sigh that she has calmed enough to listen.

“The things your father told you were true.” I put up my hand in a stop gesture when she opens her mouth to speak. I can see the mutinous expression creeping into her eyes. “You promised you’d listen.” She harrumphs, but doesn’t speak.

“Your dad was trying to prepare you for today. The day when you would find out who and what you truly are. If you’d heard the stories, especially from him, he hoped it would be easier for you to accept it.” I can’t keep the sorrow from my voice, “Of course, he intended to be here for this.” I sidestep my emotion and continue on before she decides to stop listening.

“We keep our realm a secret from the humans to preserve our way of life.” I look at her pointedly, “Humans are too volatile, too unpredictable. To be blunt, they cannot be trusted.” I repeat my last words, emphasizing their importance. “They
cannot
be trusted.” I don’t wait for her to respond before continuing. “Your comprehension of the Fae world was limited, and it’s too big of a risk to trust our secret to a child. So, we wait until you are marked to tell you the truth.”

“While we are all protectors by nature and the Mie’Lorvor are our guards. We protect the Faeland, and those living in the human realm.” I can see the word register with her, the meaning somewhat clear. “You’re surprised that you know what it means, right?” She just nods. I’m not sure if I should be worried about her silence. Shaylee has issues sitting still for long periods of time, much less sitting and listening with patience. I’m wondering if there is an explosion on the horizon. But, I don’t have the time to dwell on it. “When you turned twenty-one, you were marked. Basically, all of your Fae genetics, for lack of a better term, wake up. The language will come to you; you won’t have to learn it. The magic will as well, but you’ll have to learn how to use it.” I stop and wait to see if she is following me. She is still calm, so I give her a chance to speak.

Her brow furrows for a moment. “Marked? What does that mean?” she asks.

“Mostly, it’s just the term we use to describe what happens when you turn twenty-one. You’re able to access your Fae magic and others are able to detect it.” She raises an eyebrow at me and I have to stifle a laugh at her show of attitude.
There’s my Shaylee.

“We’ll come back to
others.
For now, explain what you meant by ‘mostly’ a term.”

“You do have a literal mark somewhere on your body.” I can’t help the wolfish grin that splits my face when I think of how fun it’s going to be finding that mark. I shift a little in my seat trying to relieve some of the pressure from my, suddenly, very snug pants. Shaylee gives me an annoyed look, clearly aware of where my mind has wandered. I just wink at her.

“I don’t have a mark, Aden. You’ll just have to take my word for it, since you’ll never have the opportunity to look for it.” There is ice in her tone, but it doesn’t faze me. I am well aware of my ability to make her melt.

“You’ll only see it after today, baby. It wasn’t there before. Look, we can get to that later. I have more to tell you,” I inform. She sits back, gesturing for me to continue. “Since you are half human, you cannot enter Rien, the Fae Realm, until you are marked. For whatever reason, the magic simply won’t work and it cloaks your family as well, keeping you off the radar, so to speak. That’s why you grew up in the human realm. Your dad chose to stay with you and your mother. But, when you turned twenty-one, your parents intended to take you to Rien.”

“My mother can go there but I can’t?”

“Well, yes, until you were marked. Although, once she is there, she will not be able to leave. You have enough Fae blood that you are free to move in and out of the realms.”

“So, Dad never went back after he met my mom?” Her face softens and I know she’s thinking about how her dad had been hopelessly in love with her mother.

“He was going to take her there eventually. But, by not going back, even for a visit, he was able to age with her.” I realize I’ve jumped ahead as soon as the words leave my mouth.

“He what?” Shaylee is looking at me intently, and then I see the realization on her face. “You’ve never aged. In all the years I’ve known you. I just thought you had really good genes.” The wheels are spinning in her head. “You’re not—you won’t die?”

I nod slowly, watching for her reaction. To my surprise she seems to take it in stride. “If we spend enough time outside of our realm, our immortality diminishes.” I gesture back to her aunt, “Some, like Rhosalyn, have made the choice to make the break permanent. Especially if they’ve found the one they are fated with here.” I wince inwardly; I didn’t want to bring up the issue of the fates yet. So, I rush on, hoping she won’t dwell on that statement. “Shaylee, there are so many things that you will learn, but right now, we only have time for me to explain a few last things ,and then we need to go.”

Shaylee scoots back on the couch, retreating from my words. “I’m not going anywhere, Aden. For crying out loud, I need time to process this all, to decide if I even believe you.”

“Baby, we don’t have time. You’ve been marked and I’ve got to get you to Rien where you’ll be safe until you’re properly trained.” I grab her hand in mine and squeeze it lightly. When she tugs it back, I keep a firm hold on it. “Shaylee, don’t think I won’t drag your ass out of here to keep you safe.”

She tugs a little harder and this time I let go. “Safe from what, Aden? Evil elves? Wicked witches? Black River werewolves? Give me a break. A few days isn’t going to matter.”

I roll my eyes at her sarcasm, but let it go. Today is not the day to get into the other species in the Fae realm. I debate whether to tell her what I’ve noticed all day. Someone is watching the house. I don’t know how they found her so quickly; they must have known already and were waiting for her birthday. I only consider for a moment, I know she can handle it and hopefully, it’ll get her moving so we can get the hell out of here. “You’re already on their radar, baby. You’re being watched.”

She stiffens and I see awareness creeping into her eyes. She noticed. Good, her instincts are already sharpening. “You felt it today?” I ask.

“I had a funny feeling, but this is New York City, Aden. Some creep is always watching.” Her excuse is feeble and she knows it. “Who is it?”

“Most likely, a Ukkutae.” Once again, I see that the word’s meaning is familiar to her.

“Evil?”

“Shaylee, if there is good in the world, there must be bad. There is always a balance. The Fae are bound by laws of honesty. I cannot lie and neither can you.”

“How would you know?” She knows I’m right, but stubbornness is written all over her face.

An exasperated sigh escapes my lips. “I just do. Now will you shut it, so we can get going?”

Anger sweeps across her face and she jumps up from the couch, ready to stalk away. But I’m too quick for her. I grab her around the waist and pull her down onto my lap. Her expression turns defiant and she struggles to get back up. She’s beautiful when she’s angry and all the wiggling brings my dick to life. The moment she feels it, she stills. I lean down to her ear and whisper, “We’ll talk about that later, too.” I place a soft kiss on her neck and just stop myself from tracing the shell of her ear with my tongue. I feel the raw possession clawing at me. All I can think is—
mine.

ADEN’S BREATH ON MY neck has my heart racing. I want to sink into his embrace and run like a bat-out-of-hell at the same time. I settle for moving away from temptation. “Don’t tell me to
‘shut it,’
Aden.” I shoot for venom in my voice and instead get mildly annoyed. Ugh! I hate what he does to me. “I’m not going to leave; you can let me up now.” His arms tighten around me and he places another sweet kiss just below my ear. He buries his nose in my hair and breathes deep.

“I like you right here, babe.” I just suppress the shiver. His voice is smooth and washes over me, causing heat to rise and the wetness to gather between my thighs. I pull away and he lets me go this time. I move to the other end of the couch and once I’m away from him, my mind clears of the lust-induced fog I’m always in around him. My brain leaps back into our conversation and I can feel the weight of all the information pushing on my shoulders and causing a tension headache to surface.

The oddest part about this all is that, after I calm down, I admit to myself that I already believe him. Somewhere in my heart, beyond the knowledge that he would never lie to me, I recognize that he is telling me the truth. The electric feeling I noticed earlier is probably the result of the magic that is now free of its restraints. I just don’t
want
to believe him, so I’m being stubborn.
You’re punishing him and you know it.
Okay, it’s possible that I’m being overly difficult because I’m still pissed at him for ditching me the last two years.

It doesn’t help that I’m completely confused by his attitude. It’s like he wants to pick up where we left off and move forward. He’s obviously still attracted to me, but I’m wary of his motives. Still, I feel a spark of hope that I can’t tamp down. But, I don’t have time to examine that right now.