by Celeste Raye
He revealed a hidden door in the floor and told her to go inside.
“There is no way that I'm getting in there. What do you want me to do, hide?”
“You knew this time would come. They are going to take you, and this will start a war. Now we’ve got to figure out how to get around it. I can put the walls up, but I don't really know what that's going to do. Just get us stuck here with the servants.”
It hadn't occurred to Freya, until that moment, what he was saying. The little community, with fewer than twenty people residing in the house, was now under attack. And it was all her fault.
Freya refused to get inside the floor, and she watched him move levers to lift walls that were buried in the ground too. It certainly did not match the ancient building. Had he installed them recently?
“I am not going to hide. If they're here for me, then I want to talk to somebody. I want to tell them to leave.”
“Why are you so stubborn, Freya? I don't want anything to happen to you. This is going to be a war, and I don't want you involved.”
“I don't think I really have a choice. They are here for me, and this is all my fault. I should have known that running off was going to create even bigger problems. I just thought that they would disown me or something. I didn't realize that they would come here.”
“I wasn't going to say anything, but I was pretty sure they would. That's why I had some extra things put in place, just in case.”
“You didn't tell me.”
“Well, I didn't think...”
Freya could feel her temperature rising because she knew almost instantly why he had not told her anything. It was because she was female, and obviously, she couldn't handle it. It wasn't like Freya had not heard that sort of thing her whole life, but coming from Nik, it stung a little bit more.
“That I could handle it because I’m a woman?”
“No, nothing like that.” Nik laughed at the idea of it.
“I would say that you are the kind of woman that can handle anything, Freya. I just didn't want to ruin our little bit of time together. I knew they would be coming, and it took almost a week to find us. I thought it would be sooner.”
“So, you knew this would happen the whole time?”
“I just thought from the perspective of what I would do. If somebody took my sister, Ophelia, that's exactly what I would do. I would not rest until she was home, so I would track her down, just like Lachlan has done now.”
“Even if she wanted to be there?”
Nik stopped for a minute and then shrugged because he wasn’t sure if that would change anything or not. He liked to think that it would.
“Well, she has found the person that she wants now, but I would like to think if she wanted to be there, I would have let her stay. As long as I knew she was safe.”
“Do you think that will be the same for my brother?”
Nik chuckled again. “No, I really don't think that he feels the same way about it.”
“Well, what are we going to do then?”
Nik wasn’t sure, but he knew that she needed him to be. She was looking to him for not just guidance, but to tell her that everything was going to be okay.
“We are going to put the wall up and let them work something out with you. These walls will not be breached, as the local witches put a spell in the open air above us. Nothing is going to happen. We are safe here, and you will be given the space to decide whatever it is you want to do.”
“Just like that?”
He agreed. “Yeah, Freya, just like that.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nik was doing the best he could, even though he could see his enemies gathering on the other side of the wall. It was a rather new development, just like the extra protection spells and even cloaking spells to hide them a little better. Nik had not wanted anybody to find them, but at the same time, he had known that nothing would stop them from being found. He had just hoped that he would get more than a few weeks with Freya before it happened.
They watched the walls rise from the ground, then watched dragons start to drop out into the woods from the sky. Nik knew then that he was going to get the war that he thought he always wanted. He had never understood letting another family exist if they were that bad for his family. He would pick his kind every single time, and now Freya was part of that group.
While he had known that it was going to happen, Nik had certainly not said anything to Freya about it. She had only made a couple of comments about war in general, and they had never been favorable. She was like most of the other women in the packs: convinced that talking could fix everything. If that were the case, then there would be no wars.
So now he watched more and more fighters approach, and he was filled with a mix of emotions. If Nik would have been alone, then he would have let his anger take over, and the war would have been swift. He would have called his family to double flank them and take them from behind. It would be an all-out battle, and many people would die on both sides.
He could not let his anger take over though, because Freya was there, and he had promised himself that he would not let anything happen to her. Even if keeping her safe meant that he had to keep her away from her own family. He was the only one that could save her. Nik just didn’t know from what yet.
When it was almost nightfall, they were calling to him, goading him to come out and meet with them. They wanted him to go on the other side of the wall, and he could not stand it anymore. Nik could not hear such things being said about him and not answer.
Freya stopped him.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“I'm going to go talk to your brother. He is the one that has been hollering for the last thirty minutes, and it's giving me a headache.”
“He wants you to go out there.”
“Yes, well, he's going to get his wish. I cannot stand here and listen to this. What sort of man would I be if I did?”
She smiled at him in the most loving way that he had ever experienced and then shook her head.
“You are going to be the sort of man that stays by my side and keeps me safe. You're going to be the sort of man that is alive, Nik. That is all I'm worried about at this moment. Don't let your pride take over everything.”
Her words would have meant nothing to him if not for that genuine look of concern in her eyes. He liked to think that it was real because it would mean that she cared.
“So, what are we going to do then? Stay here and wait it out?”
“They’re not here for me. They're here for their ego. So, let's wait them out for a little while.”
Nik felt like she was enjoying it, and he wanted to ask her more questions, but he decided against it. Maybe it was better to keep thinking about what he wanted instead of knowing the truth. Whatever that may be.
They were standing on the same balcony that they had been on before, the one that wrapped halfway around the house. He could see his enemy, but at the moment, he was expected to do nothing. That part was hard to swallow for Nik, but it was made easy with Freya by his side.
He caught the eyes of Lachlan and pulled Freya closer to him.
“I think I've pissed your brother off.”
“He's always mad. Why don't you kiss me and give him a real reason to be upset?”
Her answer made him smile, and Nik certainly didn't need another prompt to hold her in arms and kiss her. It was something that he wanted to do anyway, and if she was going to give him clearance, he was sure the hell going to take it.
“You’re horrible, trying to enrage him like that.”
“If you had to live with Lachlan, I doubt you would say that to me. This is my moment to see him finally get what he deserves. I wouldn’t change this for the world.”
Nik liked her answer, but even as they kissed, he couldn’t get his mind off of everything that was going on. He knew that he had supplies for a short siege, and that is what the situation was going to turn into quickly. It was hard to be pres
ent when that was all he could think about.
Eventually, she coaxed him into bed. It wasn’t late enough to go to sleep, but they had been out on the balcony watching more and more dragonkin surround them, and it was time for a break.
He pulled her into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom that they had been sharing. The place had more than enough room for her to have her own sleeping quarters, but she didn't want it. Freya had told him more than once that she wanted to be next to him. Who was he to take that away from her?
They were laying down, staring up at the ceiling, and she told him that she was nervous.
“I am worried about my family being so close by. They are not going to let this go.”
Nik already knew that, and he was fine with it. He knew that it was going to be the catalyst that brought the two families to the brink of war, and maybe beyond. It was something that was hanging over his head, most of his lifetime, and to end it one way or another was satisfying to imagine. To know that he would keep Freya if he could find a way was more than enough incentive for Nik. If he couldn't be with her because of her family and the war between them, then the only thing to do, was to get rid of the family.
He knew that his own family would have problems with his plan, and that was why he hadn't said anything to them. They would come to his aid when he needed them to, and that was going to be enough. They were not too far away, waiting to leap into action. They would do what was necessary. Even if that meant, laying down their lives for him or Freya.
Nik went to sleep, trying to figure out how it was all going to play out. The Domin family was quickly surrounding them, and by the looks of it, they had come in full force. It didn't appear like there were many not present. It wasn’t just a search party that he saw gathered; it was an army.
He could also hear the crackling of the magic surrounding the castle, as well as the loud zaps high overhead when one of the people on the other side of the wall decided that they would shift and try to get in another way. It happened over and over again and Nik was worried if it would stand up to the constant abuse. He did not know the witches well that had cast the spell, but he knew he was going to have to put his faith in it either way. He had no choice at this point.
Chapter Fourteen
When Freya woke up a little later, it wasn't quite dawn yet, and she felt the absence of Nik almost immediately. Since they had been sleeping together for quite some time now, Freya was used to his warmth next to her.
She searched around the room a little panicked, a thousand bad scenarios playing in her head. She wanted to push them all away but it felt almost impossible to. All she could think about was what could have happened to him. And how he could be taken away from her.
After a quick walk around the top level, she realized that he was downstairs and most likely he was outside. Freya worried that he would go to them and it would end with an attack. She had no idea what was going on the other side of the wall and was afraid of what she would see on the other side.
Her heart jumped in her chest when she made her way onto the balcony and saw Nik on the other side of the wall with her brother. She strained her hearing as she tried it catch a glimpse of what was being said, but she couldn't make anything out. It was almost like everything was garbled on purpose.
Freya waited and watched for a long time, trying to will Nik to look up and see her. She wanted him to know that she was waiting for him, but he never did. His eyes were on her brother, and Freya felt helpless. She had promised Nik that she would not leave the wall under any circumstances, and it was hard not to imagine that this was the reason. She worried that he would sacrifice himself for her. He was that sort of man and it made her hurt inside.
She couldn’t watch anymore because there was nothing to see. There was some yelling, but she couldn’t hear, and they weren’t coming to blows, so she was happy about that, but she had no real idea what was going on either. It was frustrating to no end, and before long, Freya went inside, trying to forget about it. She felt like a helpless female, wringing her hands in wait.
Freya wanted to go to him, but at the same time, she had made a promise and intended to not go back on it. It felt like there was nothing else that she could do at that point but wait and put her trust in Nik. Trusting was easy, but the waiting was torture.
When she heard a commotion on the side of the castle, she had to go back out to the balcony and see what was going on. Freya couldn’t help herself.
All she could think about was Nik out on the other side of the wall. He wasn't safe. She didn't feel all that safe where she was, but at the moment, it was better than where he was. As much as Freya wanted to believe that her family was good and wouldn't do something to her, she knew better. Freya knew that things could go bad very quickly.
Her heart eased almost immediately when she saw Nik coming back through the gates. From the looks of things, he was unharmed, but he did not seem happy. That was understandable, considering who he’d been talking to. Freya didn’t want him out there by himself, and she was a little upset that he had gone without telling her, but she had to let it go.
Freya wanted to run to him, but she waited until the gates were closed and he came to talk to her. The guy was obviously bothered, and Freya wondered what was going through his mind. What had her father and her brother said to him? Was he going to stop this madness, or was it going to continue? She didn't even know what she wanted to happen. At this point, she was just riding out a wave that she had jumped on without really thinking it through.
When he finally got upstairs, she found herself in his arms. It wasn't something that she had consciously done, but when he had opened the door, she’d started towards him, and before it was closed, she had her arms wrapped around him in a hug. Freya was squeezing a bit too tight and she loosened up some, embarrassed by how she had acted.
“Sorry about that, but I was worried about you. Why did you go out there by yourself?”
“You know why. Because you need to stay in here with the protection around you. If they could get to you and take you away, there's nothing to stop them from killing us all. That seems silly, don't you think?”
“It seems stupid that you went out there by yourself. What would have happened if they would've just killed you?”
“Then at least you would have been safe and able to make whatever decision you wanted to. I know what it's like to be controlled by others. I would never want that for you.”
Of all the things he had said to her in the last couple of weeks, that hurt the most. The idea that even if something happened to him, he would still look out for her. It made her also realize that the feelings she had for him were not wrong. They didn't have to be understood to be right.
“I am okay. I told you that everything is going to be fine.”
“Well, my family isn't leaving, so I doubt it's going to be fine.”
“Yes, well.” He took a deep breath, trying to shake the feeling that it had not gone well.
“So, what did they say?”
Another sigh came out of him before he would even look at her again. It was obvious that something was weighing heavily on his mind, and it was equally obvious that he did not want to share it with her. Freya could understand why. There were a lot of emotions that she kept inside as well.
“I know that this sucks; but you have to tell me. Is there any way that this is going to turn out well?”
“I honestly don't know, Freya. I guess it depends on who is more stubborn. We can stay in place for a very long time. I can call my pack home if necessary.”
She was shaking her head no almost immediately. She did not want a war between the two of them. She loved people on both sides, so it was a lose-lose situation for her.
“No, there has to be another way. I will go home before I let that happen. I don't want anybody to die because of me.”
“Sometimes we don't have a say in what other people do. We made a decision, and it will have consequences. You had to know
that.”
“I know that. I guess I just didn't really think about it. I never thought that it would be like this.”
“What did you think it would be like?”
“I don't know. Not this.”
“Well, for now, we're at a standstill. They can't get in, but we probably can't get out. I will have my people look into it and see what can be done from here. This isn't just any old castle, of course. It's in a good position, and there is a small coven that lives near the graveyard. It is thankfully on this side of the wall.”
Freya didn't know what to say. While she didn't think that everything was just going to end with rainbows and sunshine, she had to believe that something good could come of it.
“Okay, Nik. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“There is nothing to do at this point. All we can do is wait it out. Maybe use the extra time that we have to figure out why this is all happening to begin with. I am starting to understand what you meant by needing to at least know. If they're going to control this, we should at least know why.”
Freya smiled back at him and agreed. It was what she had wanted from the beginning. All she wanted was answers. Freya had a feeling that the missing pieces of this puzzle were rather large.
“Right. We need to find out.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jillian was upset with her husband. She was just as shocked to find out that her daughter had left in the middle of the night with the enemy, but at the same time, she knew why. Deep down, it had always been clear that one day, it would happen. But the way her husband was handling it was not going to work.
She had to call him back from wherever he was. Franklin didn't want to come home, but she didn't care. He was going to listen to her, no matter what.
It took him a week to arrive from Jillian’s initial discovery of his plans for their daughter. She couldn't believe that he had gone to such levels. Both knew that pride made a man do very ignorant things.
