There. Right there. She saw the fight drain from him just as fast as it had appeared. He actually looked at little helpless. It made her heart hurt for him. Of course he would feel somewhat useless in this department, which was never her intention but it was a fact.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it on my own,” she went on.
Before he could reply, Joseph carefully pushed up from the table, mumbled an “Excuse me” and proceeded to head out before finishing his bacon.
“Mo ri,” Deanna interjected, “I’ll go get those things started.” They both nodded to one another as she excused herself from the table as well.
Distractedly, Fallon watched her go.
Jess just watched him as he did. She felt bad for giving him something else to worry about. She knew things weighed heavily on him right now.
After a few moments, when he was still staring off at nothing in particular, she reached out and placed a hand on his bare arm, above his leather cuff. Right away the runes shinned bright. A server, who happened to pass by their table at that exact moment, stopped dead in her tracks to stare down in shock at Jess’ hand and the blue gleaming on his skin, prominent. She didn’t go unnoticed by Jess, but she didn’t withdraw her hand. The need to touch him was stronger than the need for secrecy.
Just as the woman began to tear her gaze away and move down the table, Fallon seemed to finally feel her touch. Looking down at her hand, he smiled a little, covering it with one of his own. The swirls and vine like lines appeared on the back of his hand now, wrapping around the knuckles and down the length of his long fingers.
“I need to go,” she whispered. He was still looking down at their hands. She watched as he nodded his head.
Alyss remained quiet on her end of the table, except when Kaer came to sit beside her at the table, bidding her a “Good evening,” she was thankful for being relieved of her third wheel status. Seeing that her cup was close to empty, he held p the pitcher of juice in silent askance if she wanted a refill.
“No thanks,” she said, shaking her head, then wincing a little. “Last night is still haunting me. I should probably switch to water.”
Kaer chuckled under his breath, filled his own glass with juice and set the pitcher down to fill his plate. He glanced down the length of the table to the somber scene of Fallon and Jess as they talked quietly amongst themselves.
Concerned, he looked to Alyss for an explanation.
Swallowing the mouthful of eggs, she informed him of Jess’ plan to go live with the Unseelie for a while to learn about magic. When she’d finished, she saw something she’d never seen before on his face. Worry. And irritation. Before she could ask him what was wrong, his expression changed to indifference. Still, she didn’t leave it alone.
“What? What is it?” She queried.
“It’s nothing,” he said waving her off with his free hand while the other lifted the the glass of juice to his mouth to take a sip.
“Kaer, please. Don’t feed me bullshit. I’m not in the mood,” Alyss said, putting down her fork, the mood turned serious.
Halting for a moment, Kaer plastered on a polite smile before he turned to face her. “Your highness,” he started, putting her back up.
Asshole, she thought.
“There are certain things I’m not at liberty to discuss so casually with my king or about him, in public view.”
Boom. Alyss said silently. She’d just been schooled.
He had a point though. She hadn’t thought about it, but discussing something that he might disagree with the king about, probably wasn’t good etiquette. Especially in a time when everyone was uneasy.
She swallowed her desire to snarl back at him and instead just nodded, letting it go for now. Apparently they would all be having a conversation behind closed doors later.
Looking over to her sister and Fallon, she frowned when she spotted some blue light coming from around their hands on the table. Scratch that, coming from his hand. What the hell was that? Just before she could open her mouth and let loose all her questions, she felt Kaer nudge her with his elbow. Looking back at him, she saw him shake his head minutely as he shook pepper on his eggs.
Oookay. Fine. I’ll wait, she thought.
Jess didn’t eat much of her breakfast and was relieved when Fallon asked if she was finished. They stood up together, Fallon keeping his wings high and tucked back as he led her out of the room. Alyss followed Kaer’s lead though and didn’t race off after them. She did keep a diligent eye on them though as they exited and turned in the opposite direction of their room and quite possible headed for Fallon’s instead.
She began to count in her head to give her the look of calm to everyone else, and had reached one-hundred and fifty-two when Kaer set his napkin on top of his cleaned plate and pushed off from the bench to stand, his wings nearly brushing her shoulders as he maneuvered away from the table. Standing as well, she followed him out of the meal hall and down the same path her sister and Fallon had taken.
Shoulder to shoulder now, so to speak, as Alyss was still about a foot shorter than him, she could see he wore a determined look on his face. Fallon may be king but judging from Kaer’s expression, he was about to get an earful from his second man.
Chapter Six
Fallon barely waited for the door to shut before turning Jess to press her to him. He held her tight for a few moments, just keeping her close. She wouldn’t be so readily available for him to do so after she left for Unseelie.
She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her hands on his back, her hold almost as strong as his own. He relished the moment and put to memory how she felt against him, the fit, where her head reached below his sternum. She was so small compared to him, yet she was going to brave another unknown world soon. And willingly this time. So much had happened since he spotted her exiting the bar for the first time. Not the night he brought her to D’lanisis, but a week prior. They’d hired a private investigator after finding the girls had moved back to the New York City area after their parents’ deaths. He had spotted her walking home late one night in the dark hours of morning on a street in Queens. He waited atop her building’s roof, watching the streets for her return. The investigator told Deanna that they resided in the five story building, no elevator, and that employment hadn’t been determined. The next night, Fallon discovered that she worked as a waitress in a bar on the other side of town. When he saw her aura though, he felt a catch in his chest. Brushing it off, at the time, as relief from finding what they’d searched a year for. Now he realized it for what it really was, his heart recognizing her as his mate. His mind was slow to catch up.
And as he held her close now, both his heart and mind screamed at him not to let go. He knew though, rationally, that this was the best way to help her learn her magic. He was not Seelie. He couldn’t help her discover it. Still, it didn’t make him comfortable with the decision what-so-ever. With her at Unseelie, he couldn’t protect her, her safety would fall onto Queen Brianna and Cormac, which pushed him from his comfort zone a little too much.
Alyss was going to walk slow, had every intention to give the couple time to talk behind closed doors about what Jess had bombed Fallon with. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince him of the transfer. She was going to make obvious sounds as she walked down the hall, to announce their approach before knocking, respectfully, on the door. She had every intention of doing all of that.
Kaer had other plans.
The male looked like he had a rather large bone to pick with his patriarch, though it seemed that he’d thrown that decorum he reminded her of in the meal hall. His boots ate up the distance to Fallon’s room door in determined, heated steps. He ignored her when she suggested they slow down, an angry scowl on his face reminded her that she’d never seen this side of the usually light hearted man. Ready to crack a joke to break the ice, or smile at you to ease a situation, Kaer even gave the occasional, though harmless, flirtation to make a girl feel speci
al. None of that man showed now, with his brow drawn over his piercing eyes, jaw clenched to the point that she could see his cheek bones peek whenever he appeared to grind his back teeth. Gone was the friendly giant. What walked ahead of her now, with twitching wings, was something one might have nightmares of. A chill coursed down her spine, leaving her skin raised with goosebumps.
Before she could race ahead to knock on the door, in warning at least, he pushed his way around her and barged in without preamble. If he was in his right mind and thinking clearly, he might have saw his error for what it was the instant that Fallon and Jess saw him enter. The intimate moment they were so obviously having being broken so rudely would piss anyone off. Alyss knew this wasn’t going to go well when it was Fallon’s territory that he’d torn into.
“What’s the meaning of this,” Fallon growled, not dropping his arms from around Jess, who had obviously been crying. Alyss made eye contact with her and she tried to look apologetic, tilting her head towards Kaer, who stood imposing beside her, in explanation.
“You can’t honesty mean to let her go,” Kaer burst out accusingly.
“Excuse me?” Fallon said, still trying to catch up. They had unlocked from one another, but he had taken Jess’ hand in his, holding it tight, the blue swirls and ruin like patterns glowing, allowing Alyss to get a good clear look this time.
Eyes bugging out, she looked up to Jess in shock. Jess glanced at her sister, saw her gaze as it jerked back down to their hands and looked down as well.
“What the hell is that?” Alyss exclaimed. First the wings and fangs and now this.
Jess answered a little haltingly, taken off guard by Kaer. “It’s um what happens when they touch their mates.” Glancing at her sister briefly before darting back to Kaer. Clearly just as taken back by his current beast state as Alyss was.
“Oh, okay,” Alyss said, plugging in that bit of information.
Processing.
“Mate?”
Jess only looked at her and shook her head. Not the time
Okay fine. But later, her look told Jess with her eyes.
Whatever.
They returned their attention to Kaer and Fallon. Both males had their wings slightly raised and held out to the sides, not completely fanned out but it definitely spoke of their agitation.
“What right is it of yours to tell me what I can or can’t do with my mate?” Fallon challenged.
“She needs to stay here,” Kaer ignored the question.
“It’s the smarted move at the moment. She suggested it,” Fallon went on.
“She leaves the nead and the whole plan could go up in smoke.”
“Kaer,” Jess interjected. “It was my idea.”
“You risk us all by doing this,” Kaer ignored her, still spitting at Fallon.
“She needs to be with her own kind. We can’t offer her that here,” Fallon explained, his muscles starting to unclench little by little. Though his wings still twitched slightly here and there.
“She leaves this place and she’ll die,” Kaer said, so finally.
The women gasped at the statement. Everyone having gone still, the room was silent for a moment. Slowly, Alyss watched Fallon’s wings start to lower and his body grow calm, the fight drained from him entirely now.
“My friend,” he said softly. “This is not just about Jessandra going to the Unseelie” he concluded.
Kaer didn’t respond, but close his eyes tight, as if clearing his vision of something no one else saw.
“Jessandra isn’t going to the Seelie. Brianna wouldn’t allow that to happen,” Fallon went on, his tone growing calm.
Something had changed. Alyss and Jess picked up on that right away. They couldn’t tell exactly what it was but judging from Fallon’s new demeanor it appeared as if he knew something they didn’t.
Seeing his guard take an imaginary blow, Kaer’s breath caught and he looked between all of their faces looking confused and a little shocked at what was going on. To Alyss, he looked like he was just now snapping out of whatever had possessed him to lash out and forget himself with Fallon.
But Fallon knew what was going on, Alyss saw. There was something more.
“She isn’t Lillian,” Fallon said softly.
Right then, Alyss could visually see the male that was almost always happy, have his heart ripped out and stomped on. Her own heart ached for the torment that was so obviously tearing him apart.
He took a stumbling step back, then turned and quietly walked out, leaving them in the wake of his suffering.
“What was that all about?” Alyss asked after they all had a moment to take a breath.
Fallon rested his hands on his hips and hung his head before lifting it to look at her, answering, “His mate died in Seelie a few years ago.”
Both her and Jess gasped. Kaer being mated was news to them and to hear that she had passed, especially to pass as a slave to Seelie was a punch to the gut for both of them. And, now that they had seen first hand what happened to a mate after being separated from his mate for too long, they both had another concern. Karshan had been missing for three years. Would Kaer go mad too?
“She took her own life,” Fallon explained. Jess brought a hand to her mouth to cover a sob. Alyss had to lock her knees to keep steady.
“How long did they have her?” Alyss asked, shakily.
“One night,” Fallon started, prepared for their obvious confusion, he told them the story. “When Banner discovered that her and Kaer were mated they took Lillian from the Nead to King Sylus. It’s not uncommon for a stay in the dungeons the first few nights there until they determine the slaves flight risk or conditioning. The guard found her body the following morning.” He rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and middle finger, then dropped his hand back to his hip.
Incredulous, Jess looked up at him and asked, “She couldn’t stand the thought of being a slave that much?”
“No,” Fallon disagreed, deepening their confusion. “She didn’t want him to be a slave because of her.”
A tear ran down Jess’ cheek, unchecked. No one spoke for a moment as they all thought on the bravery this woman had.
“He’s so happy,” Alyss pointed out, ending the memoriam.
“Yes, he is. Usually,” Fallon agreed with her, a small smile pulling at his lips. “It was quite some time ago. He has had time to mourn.” He dress in a deep breath, then said, “To move on.”
“That,” Alyss point in the direction of the opened door that Kaer had exited just moments ago. “Is ‘moved on’?”
Fallon looked out the open door, nodding. “Time passes differently for us when you live as long as we do.”
“When,” Jess said, opening the pandora’s box that no one else wanted to.
“A little under a hundred years ago. Though I’m sure he could give you the exact time passed,” Fallon answered gravely.
“Holy shit,” Alyss breathed. Both sisters were wearing identical incredulous expressions.
Smiling at their reaction, and seeing the topic had changed he pointed out to them, “Remember, you both are Fae. Your life spans were never going to be normal, even if we hadn’t have found you.”
They looked at each other now, both shocked that he had just informed them that they too would have immortal status, so to speak. Even if the magic was bound, it didn’t change genetics, Jess mused.
It never crossed Jess’ mind, the whole genes part. Too focused on the whole magic part, she completely forgot what other things came with being fae. When Fallon told Kaer that she “needed to be with her own kind,” she was reminded that they weren’t the same species as the other in the Nead. Though the females looked like her and human women, too, their DNA said otherwise.
DNA… It was so important to the Seelie King, her grandfather. To think, if he knew what was going on right now, between her and Fallon, he’d probably pop a vein or something. She didn’t have to know what the bastard looked like to take pleasure in knowing that little fact would o
ne day, hopefully sooner rather than later, would provoke his ire.
No, Manahan. He’d murder Fallon and then you.
A shiver ran over her at the thought. Purity of the bloodlines. The Seelie people valued purity to the utmost import that she worried if they’d tolerate her as their leader, or anyone else she chose to rule. She still hadn’t decided on whether or not to stay on after things were settled, if they were successful.
Shaking off the thought, she tried to focus on the decision at hand; to move to Unseelie for a while. Fallon was taking it better than anticipated, though she knew it was tearing him apart inside.
Hearing about Kaer’s mate hit her hard, some might say she was a coward for taking her life and not thinking of Kaer and breaking his heart with her death. But the Fomorians understood. She wasn’t the first to commit suicide while in King Sylus’ captivity. Though it was after a few months, years of being a slave, abused and neglected, that the women chose death was their only escape. Fallon explained why Lillian had done it so soon. She knew, as well as anyone, that Kaer wouldn’t make it as a slave mercenary. They’d all seen Karshan and what Seelie had done to him. She couldn’t imagine how it would change Kaer.
His mate had sacrificed herself to save his soul, though his heart may never fully heal.
She and Fallon waited for Cormac in a small chamber that looked like it was a catch all. Fallon could probably stand in the center of the room, fan out his wings and turn in full circle, but have no room to do anything else. Lining the far wall were medium sized boxes. All sealed though and new looking. Not what you’d expect in a storage room. It had a massive industrial sized metal shelves taking up the whole of the right wall, filled with what looked like medical supples. Bandages, a few bags of saline, sealed needles and tubing. A few vials of some liquid Jess couldn’t make out the labels of, too. Maybe antibiotics, but then, they weren’t refrigerated, so she was still left with more questions. Maybe morphine, she considered. The door wasn’t locked when they had arrived.
Ascending Into Light (Descending Series Book 2) Page 7
