“I feel great,” he murmured.
Figured.
Emma set her tablet aside. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a date with my niece, Hope. Something about a chess game.” She smiled, and the screen went dark.
* * * *
Hope kissed her aunt Emma bye and crawled into her bed, taking out the hidden tablet. She typed online, and soon Drake the Kurjan came into view. She yawned. “Hi. You get into the dream worlds yet?”
His eyes were a deep green edged with purple, and he had a bruise across his cheekbone. “Nope. You?”
She shook her head. “What happened to your face?”
He rubbed the bruise. “We were training, and I didn’t duck fast enough. Not a big deal.”
It was too bad kids didn’t have the healing cells that adults got. Hope rubbed her nose. Maybe Pax really was getting bruised in training, just like Drake. She wondered if one day the two of them would wind up facing each other on a battlefield. “Do you think we’ll all be friends someday?”
Drake shrugged, showing a dark T-shirt with snapping turtles on it. “I don’t know, but that’d be nice.” He settled back against what looked like a wooden headboard. “I’ve never met a shifter, and that’d be fun. Or a witch.”
“They’re cool,” Hope said, plucking at the bedspread.
He yawned. “Do your folks know we’re talking?”
“Nope. You?”
He shook his head. “No, my dad doesn’t know. My uncle Terre asked me the other day, and I told him no. He’s my dad’s brother.”
She didn’t know his daddy had a brother. “I have uncles, too.”
“I know. Two of them are members of the Seven.” Drake smiled, showing long canines. “We know stuff about you.”
She rolled her eyes. “We know stuff about you, too. Like Ulric isn’t coming home.”
“Yes, he is.” Drake leaned forward. “Now that Quade is on this world, Ulric is next.”’
Yeah, she’d figured he knew about Quade. “Ulric is a bad guy. You’re a good guy, so you shouldn’t like him.”
“He’s our spiritual leader,” Drake countered, his jaw looking hard. “You don’t know him, and we do. Maybe the Seven is wrong. Have you thought about that?”
“No,” she burst out. “The Seven knows stuff.” But sometimes, late at night, fate whispered in her ear that things were scary and could go wrong. She wasn’t sure how, but she needed her green book and her dream world to fix things. She and Drake had to get back there.
A knock on the window had her jumping.
Drake stared at her. “Is the hybrid there?”
She’d told him about Paxton a long time ago, figuring they’d all be friends someday. “Yes.”
“Tell him hi.” Drake clicked off.
Paxton opened the window from outside and jumped in, his boots muddy. He gingerly took them off. “Whatcha doing?”
“I was talking to Drake.” She set the tablet beneath her pillow.
“The Kurjans can trace calls like that.” Pax shrugged off his snowy jacket and set it by the window.
She snorted. “They all know where Realm and Demon headquarters are, Pax. We have defenses in place, and you know it.” In fact, Paxton was interested in defenses and had asked Hope’s daddy to show him the missiles and how they worked. She wasn’t as interested and would rather learn about people than missiles.
Pax jumped on the edge of the bed. “Did Drake try to find out more about the Seven?”
They weren’t supposed to even know about the Seven, and maybe Hope shouldn’t have told Pax. But he was her best friend, along with Libby. “Kind of?”
The window opened again, and Libby jumped inside, her blondish hair in pigtails. “Hi. Saw your dad outside and he told me I could use the door, but this is more fun.” She shrugged out of her coat and boots, leaping gracefully across the room to land next to Paxton. “I decided I’m gonna be a spy.”
Hope coughed and covered her mouth until she was done. “A spy? How cool. How do you do that?”
Libby shrugged, her brown eyes concerned. “Do you have another cough?” She shared a look with Paxton.
“No.” Hope crossed her arms and then ruined it by coughing again. “Maybe a little one.” She frowned at her friends. “It’s no big deal.” Except it was. Immortal kids didn’t really get sick like human kids did, and she was immortal. The first and only female with vampire blood in her. So why was she getting sick like a human?
Pax grasped her hand. “Did you tell your mom?”
She shook her head. “Mom looks all worried when I get sick, and since it’s just a little cough, I figured I’d just get over it myself.” She didn’t like it when her parents got worried and all quiet. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me?” she whispered.
“No.” Paxton’s grip strengthened. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Sure, you might get a little sick once in a while, but someday you’ll get healing cells, so it’ll all be okay.”
Libby nodded, her hair tossing all around.
Hope swallowed. “What if I don’t get healing cells?” She’d never had the guts to say those words out loud, but she was starting to worry.
“You will,” Libby piped up. “Or I guess you could mate somebody and get his healing cells.” She scrunched up her nose.
“Gross,” Hope and Pax said at the same time.
Hope giggled. She was never gonna mate, so she’d have to figure out healing cells on her own. Boys were gross, except for Paxton, and they were gonna be best friends forever. He didn’t want to mate anybody, either. Grown-ups were so weird.
Her friends jumped into bed beside her, and she coughed a little more.
Pax took her hand. “I promise you’ll be okay.”
She nodded. She had to be, right?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Haven spent the day painting in the back room with horrible light, but she didn’t care. She needed time away from everybody to process the last few days, and the process of creating art on canvas soothed her. She painted the place Mercy called Brookville, the rock, Ulric, and different portals. At some point, Mercy brought her some soup, and she ate it before losing herself in her painting again.
“You got your way with Pierce,” Quade said from the doorway.
She jumped, turning to see him lounging against the doorframe. “What?” She wiped her hands off on a rag
He shook his head. “I talked to the queen, and she said Pierce was committed to some facility. Can you believe it? These days we send crazy cougars to facilities and don’t just cut off their heads?”
He looked so bewildered she had to smile. “It’s the right thing. Maybe he’ll get help.”
Quade tucked his thumbs in his faded jeans as if he’d been wearing jeans his whole life. “If he comes after you again, I’m taking his head clean off. You need to understand that.”
Kinda bossy and definitely sexy. She glanced at a painting of his face, eyes hungry, jaw hard. “I painted you.”
He loped into the room. “I can see that.” He looked around. “These are all of the places you can get to?”
Huh. She looked at the paintings, and saw they were all of the places she’d seen in the dream worlds. “I hadn’t realized that.” If they closed all the portals, would she still have subjects to paint? Sure. There were tons of possibilities on this planet, and if nothing else, she’d paint the sexy Quade Kayrs.
He looked over a depiction of the rock and Ulric. “Do you ever paint yourself?”
She coughed. “A self-portrait? Not really.”
“If I could paint, I’d do you.” He brushed hair away from her face, his touch soft. “It’s almost nighttime. Mercy is on me to save those Fae, and I was wondering if you were up to trying?”
She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
He leaned down and brushed a kiss over her mouth as if it were the most natural thing to do, and she leaned into him. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to join you yet. You have to promise me that if I can’t, you’ll wait for another time.”
That didn’t make any sense. “Those Fae don’t have any time left, Quade.”
He cupped her jaw, holding her in place. “You can’t control the jump, remember? You might get them free, or you might end up with Ulric. Promise me.”
Mercy appeared in the doorway, eating a chocolate Santa. “Has anybody decided what to do with that Allison woman? Christmas is only a week away. Shouldn’t she be somewhere else? Somewhere not here?”
Haven paused. Apparently, her new sister wasn’t forgiving. Nice to know. “What are the options?”
“The usual,” Mercy said, walking toward a painting of Brookville. “Wow. That’s perfect. I loved going there.” She sounded wistful. “Hopefully, we can get there again.”
Haven grasped her arm. “The usual?”
“Oh.” Mercy ate off the Santa’s arm. “We like to keep humans from knowing about us. We usually scare them into keeping quiet, and since nobody will believe them anyway, it’s pretty easy to do. But there is an island off Ireland that the demons have sent humans to as well. Totally off the grid.”
Quade reared up. “Fire Island?”
“No.” Mercy frowned. “It’s called Green Island. What’s Fire Island?”
Quade shrugged. “Dunno.”
Haven looked at him. Hadn’t he said something about an island with dragons that was a secret? Interesting. She’d love to see floors covered in diamonds. She cleared her throat. “Who decides about Allison?”
“You do,” Mercy said, finishing off the treat. “She’s your connection, so you get to decide. I’m not calling her your mother.”
“I’m not, either,” Haven admitted. “I owe her something for trying to protect me as a kid, and for at least loving me a little. But it’s been over a decade since I saw her, and I don’t feel like I owe her a lot.” Should she feel more than she did? She bit her lip.
Mercy patted her arm. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m totally with you, sister.”
Sister. It was so odd to think about having a sister. Haven smiled. “I promise we’ll try to get those Fae home tonight.” No matter what Quade said, she was going to try to save them. For her new sister, if for no other reason. That connection mattered.
“That’s good. Thanks.” Worry darkened Mercy’s eyes.
Haven swallowed. “Not for nothing, but why do we care if humans know about us? I mean—vampires, demons, Fae—we’re all just different species.” How freaking crazy it felt to say those words and have them make sense. “Why is everything such a big secret? I don’t get it.”
Mercy licked chocolate off her fingers. “Well, think about it. Humans would love to be immortal, and they’d probably go to war to figure us out and experiment. We’d go to war, end them all, and then we wouldn’t have humans. So we’re doing them a favor.”
Quade nodded.
Haven exhaled slowly. “All right.” There wasn’t much of an argument to make against that logic.
“Well, then. I guess we should get ready for bed.” Quade ducked a shoulder and tossed Haven over it, turning and striding out into the hallway.
Haven yelped and the blood rushed to her head. She smacked his back and chuckled. Apparently, they weren’t going right to sleep. As he carried her, humming, she tried to relax into the moment. Happy times for her had never lasted, and it was difficult to take this night and just enjoy.
When he flipped her onto their bed and kissed her, she forgot all about relaxing.
* * * *
After a very energetic evening with Quade, Haven felt relaxed and exhausted. She fell into a deep sleep, and was soon wandering along a beach, enjoying the sparkling diamonds in the sand.
She leaned down and picked one up, turning to face the gentle sea. Hmmm. Okay. She was asleep in the good place. Now. She turned and faced the darkened forest. “Quade?” she called.
Nothing.
Okay. She walked along the shoreline, careful to stay clear of the real diamonds. Her feet were bare, but she wore leggings and a tunic. The sun warmed her, and she lifted her face and shut her eyes.
“Haven?”
She jerked and opened her eyes. Quade stood down the beach, his legs braced, his fists clenched. “Where are we?”
“It’s a good place.” She hustled toward him, her voice hushed. “You’re here. Really?”
He looked around, scouting for threats. “Yes. Where are the Fae?”
“This isn’t the right world.” A chill from the forest swept over her, and clouds began to cover the sun. “Did I call you here?”
“I think so,” he said, frowning at the clouds.
Had she been able to do so before mating him? She’d never tried.
Quade cleared his throat. “This doesn’t feel right. Wake up, now.”
A cry in the distance alerted her. The Fae. “We have to get to them.” She turned and started to run toward the forest.
“Haven, no!” he yelled, running behind her.
The ground dropped out beneath her again, and she spun around to grab his arm, but she wasn’t fast enough. She tumbled end over end, her head hitting something solid, until finally, she landed on her side on soft grass. She blinked several times and sat up. Brooks bubbled around her, and the trees in the distance were taller than ever.
Quade. She could sense him. Back in their room, trying to awaken her. She fought him, needing to stay in this world. Huh. Who knew she could do that?
A portal opened, one with swirling blue lines. Ulric.
She fought the pull. “Hello? If you’re here, hurry up.” The pull from the portal picked up, along with the wind.
The seven Fae limped out of the trees, looking emaciated and pale. Five females and two males. They made their way to her, over patches of grass, helping one another move like elderly people. Juliet reached her first. “You came.”
Haven braced her legs against the portal’s pull. “Yes.” Now what?
The blonde eyed the portal. “I don’t think we should go that way.”
“No.” Haven struggled to stay on her feet, noting the other Fae weren’t being pulled. It was only her? She recalled the time she’d spent on the rock. When she’d fallen off, she’d awakened. She looked frantically around, starting to slide on the grass.
Juliet grabbed her, but she wasn’t strong enough to stop the pull.
Haven struggled wildly, but the portal drew her. She gasped and stared at the brook. Wait a minute. Biting her lip, going on pure instinct, she focused on the water. Slowly, it began to spin, turning a light green color. She swept her hand out, as if painting, and the water swirled faster. Power flowed through her, much like when she painted. “Everyone jump into the brook,” she yelled, going with her instincts. “Trust me,” she snapped when they hesitated. “You have nothing to lose.”
Juliet nodded and grabbed Haven’s hand. “Let’s jump together.”
This was either going to be a disaster or a triumph. Who knew what the heck was in that brook or how she’d changed the color and movement. The portal’s pull increased in force, and Haven dropped to her knees, fighting with every ounce of strength she possessed. “It’s now or never,” she grunted, pitching forward and holding Juliet’s hand.
The water was surprisingly warm. It enclosed her head, and she dropped down almost gently.
“Haven!” Quade shook her so hard, her teeth snapped together in the back of her jaw.
She sucked in air, sitting up, her eyes wide.
“What the holy hell?” he snapped, shaking her one more time for good measure. “You wouldn’t let me awaken you.”
She coughed and shook her head. “Are they here? Where ar
e they?”
He jumped from the bed and yanked on a pair of jeans. “I was in the snow when you brought me back.” He tossed her his hastily discarded T-shirt, and she pulled it over her head, running barefoot out of the room and down the hallway to the computer room.
Mercy and Logan were waiting.
“Well?” Mercy’s eyes were wide, the blue one extra dark. “Any luck?”
“Don’t know.” Haven looked around, trying to feel for the Fae. Nothing.
“Outside,” Quade said, motioning for Logan. “When I came back, I was by a river. Maybe water has something to do with it?”
Yes. The water. She’d somehow changed the water by pretending to paint. No wonder she needed to paint so badly all the time, especially when life got crazy. Shoes. She needed shoes. Haven turned to head back to their room just as the computers all buzzed.
Ivar strode out of the kitchen along with Adare, both eating what looked like chicken legs. He jogged for the nearest keyboard and typed rapidly. A woman came up on the screen. Blond hair, dual-colored eyes, regal bearing.
Mercy stood. “President. Hello.”
President? Haven cocked her head to the side and studied the leader of the Fae.
The president nodded. “We have reports coming in from all different locations of Fae returning to this world. They’re in bad shape, but they’re alive.”
Quade stepped up to Haven’s side and slid an arm over her shoulder. “Where are they being found?”
The president focused on him, her gaze moving to Haven. “Different places that have significance to each of them, I think. Many by water.”
What was it with water? Haven stared at the female, not sure what to think. Or feel. “Are you the one who had me created?”
The president’s eyebrows rose. “I wondered if that was you. The elders made those decisions, and I didn’t even find out about you until years later.” She eyed Quade. “I heard that you were left to be raised by humans, and on behalf of the Fae nation, I’m truly sorry.”
“That’s not good enough,” Quade said grimly, his voice beyond hoarse.
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