by Raine Thomas
Amber nodded. “Thanks,” she said, and turned and walked out of the chamber. Gabriel followed. Olivia moved forward and stepped to the edge of the chamber. She paused, looking around at the vast openness before her. Then she resolutely walked out of the chamber and followed Gabriel and Amber. James stepped out behind her.
“This is something else!” Skye exclaimed as she and Caleb followed them. Glancing over his shoulder, James saw her looking around in wonder. It made him smile. Estilorians never wore such wide-eyed and curious expressions.
He noticed Caoilinn staring at him again from her position behind Skye. Because he found that disconcerting, he quickly turned back around and focused his attention on their path.
“—until you learn your way around,” Sebastian was saying. “Your Gloresti will certainly be able to assist you in finding anything you need. Your assigned Lekwuesti, who will introduce themselves to you tomorrow when I inform them of your arrival, will also be delighted to assist you in any way you need.”
The invisible hallway fed into a corridor that actually had traditional walls and a ceiling. The walls were a calm shade of blue, the ceiling a slightly lighter shade. The floors were smooth and midnight blue. Decorations of various kinds lined the hallway on either side, from mirrors to wrought-iron wall sculptures and paintings. There were also a multitude of windows on either side. At the end of this hallway, they turned left down another hallway done in similar colors. This hall, however, had windows only along the left-hand side. On the right were cream-colored paneled doors with antique fixtures. James took note of the entire layout and was pleased that the hallway in front of them stopped at a dead-end. Only one point of access.
“This first room is yours, Gabriel,” Sebastian said. “And your avowed’s of course,” he added, giving Amber a wink.
He opened the door and invited them all in, walking to the left of the room and opening a similar cream-colored door. “Olivia, your room is on this side.”
They all walked as a group into the chamber. Sebastian continued on, opening one door after the next. James would be beside Olivia, Skye beside him and Caleb on the end. Once all of the doors had been opened, they walked as a group back out into the wide hallway.
“Each room has its own bath, and you will find your things have been arranged for you,” Caoilinn informed them.
“Is there anything we can get any of you before we take our leave?” Sebastian asked.
James, Olivia, Skye and Caleb shook their heads and thanked him. Amber flushed pink and caught Gabriel’s gaze.
He grinned at her, then looked at Sebastian. “Some food would be great.”
Giving them a knowing look, as he was well aware of Amber’s condition because he was an elder, he smiled warmly and said, “Of course. Coming right up.”
They left the doors between all of the rooms open until it was time for bed. Because Gabriel was an elder and because he and Amber were sharing a room, they had more space. A table with chairs had been set up on the far left-hand side of the room. The huge bed was centered on the right-hand wall. It was made of rich cherry wood and had a dark blue canopy, matching the fluffy comforter and mounds of pillows. There were no windows in the room, but the mirrors and artwork on the soft-gold walls combined with the ever-present balls of light on the cream-colored ceiling made it seem as though there were. The dark blue floors continued into the room and were softened with vivid, patterned rugs. A wardrobe and dresser lined two of the walls. A door to the left of the bed led to the nicely-appointed bathroom.
Gabriel sat with them at the table and discussed security. He didn’t think it made sense to leave the sisters out of the conversation since they were the ones who needed protecting.
“It was foolish of me not to think about mentioning something like the invisible hallways,” he said once they were done with the security overview. He rubbed an apologetic hand up and down Amber’s arm. “We’re so used to it that it didn’t even occur to me. There will probably be other things you’ll encounter that I didn’t think to mention, so just ask us about anything that seems odd or you don’t understand.”
They nodded in agreement.
“I’m sure each of you observed some of Caoilinn’s reactions today.” When he noted everyone’s expressions, he nodded, his eyes growing more serious. “Yeah…me, too. She didn’t know what to make of you girls. No one here knows anything at all about you. We decided it was safer that way, but it will make for some rather awkward moments when Estilorians first meet you.”
“What is it she finds so strange about us?” Skye wondered in a small voice. She was fiddling with the bracelets on her right wrist. It was obvious that Caoilinn’s behavior had made her self-conscious. Olivia gave her an empathetic pat on the hand.
“Well,” Gabriel said, looking around at each of the girls. “First of all, because you’re triplets, the three of you are virtually identical. There aren’t any two Estilorians who look alike, so that’s an anomaly that’s sure to draw attention.” The sisters glanced at each other. Then they shrugged at the same time, making him grin briefly before he continued. “The markings around your eyes will also be seen as unusual. Not a lot of Estilorians have them. It’s an indication of power beyond that of a class’s natural abilities.”
There was a pause as they considered this. Olivia hadn’t realized just how odd she and her sisters were in appearance compared to everyone else. It was rather unsettling.
“The unusual colors of your eyes and markings, as well as the streaks you now each have in your hair, will also stand out. And your emotions and expressions, of course, and your wings…” he trailed off and once again looked at the girls. He finally seemed to realize that he wasn’t helping matters. Reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “Maybe I’m explaining this the wrong way.”
“You think?” Amber said dryly. She was sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze was centered on Skye, who looked positively horrified.
“You’re basically saying we’re total freaks,” Skye said. Her voice was unsteady and she looked dangerously close to tears. “So—what? Tomorrow we get to be paraded in front of everyone and put on display so they can gawk at us? Well, forget it!”
She got up and hurried from the room. An audible sob floated into the room behind her. Caleb swiftly rose and followed her.
“Man, I screwed that up,” Gabriel said, running a hand over his face.
Amber rose, moving behind him and leaning down so she could put her arms around him in a backwards hug. “You said nothing less than the truth,” she consoled him. She pressed her cheek into his dark hair. “You answered her question. It just wasn’t easy to hear.”
He sighed, glancing at Olivia and James. “I think we’d better call it a night, you two. I’ll see what I can do to fix the mess I made in the morning when we’ve all had some sleep.”
“Sure,” Olivia said, giving him a small smile. She stood and gave him a light punch in the arm on her way out. “Don’t beat yourself up.”
He nodded. She went into her room with James right behind her. She saw that the door between her room and James’ was still open, but the door to Skye’s room was closed. Skye had broadcast a clear thought to her sisters that she wanted to be alone, which was why neither of them went after her. But Olivia was troubled over her younger sister’s reaction to their circumstances.
“Are you okay?” James asked.
He had stopped right behind her once he closed the door to her room. She could feel his body heat against her skin. There was something she wanted to ask him, but it was so important that the words lodged in her throat. Gathering her reserve, she turned around to face him. If there was one thing she knew she could count on when it came to James, it was his honesty.
“Did you know that I would be this different when you first became my Gloresti?”
“No,” he said calmly, tilting his head slightly in the way he often did that said he was giving a question carefu
l consideration. “Your form was completely nebulous. None of us knew what to expect.”
She nodded. For some reason, the answer depressed her.
“I had no idea what to expect,” he continued, reaching up and tucking a wisp of her hair—her now green hair—behind her ear. “But when you did assume your form and opened these incredible green eyes, smiling your amazing smile, I knew I had never seen such beauty before in my life.”
Her breath caught. He was never poetic. He always spoke only the truth. Which made his words all the more potent.
“It is your uniqueness, your emotion, your absolute magnificence inside and out that will draw everyone’s attention,” he said softly. “And it is why archigos Gabriel, Caleb and I cannot be anything less than completely vigilant. You are, in short, everything Estilorians aspire to be.”
She simply stared at him while she regained control of herself. Then she smiled. “I think Gabriel should have let you do the talking.”
Chapter Eighteen
Caleb paced.
It was a decidedly un-Estilorian action, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He would get about three feet from the closed door connecting his room to Skye’s and then turn around.
On the other side of that door, she was weeping. She had been going strong for the better part of half an hour. Ever since she closed her door against him.
Of the three sisters, Skye was by far the most emotional. She felt everything very passionately, something that often left him perplexed and all but spinning in circles trying to keep up with her. Her remarkable range of emotion was something to behold when she flashed one of her breathtaking smiles or burst into bright and contagious laughter. It even gripped him in a completely baffling way when she funneled that passion into anger. The stubborn lift of her chin and sassy tilt of her hip when she railed at him twisted him into knots.
But he had never heard anything like the uncontrollable, heart-wrenching sobs coming from her now. The sound tore viciously at him.
Estilorians nearly never cried. That depth of emotion was essentially unknown to them. This lack of experience with intense emotion now left him feeling utterly powerless. He flexed and unflexed his hands, unable to shake the urge to protect and defend her. And it wasn’t even his Gloresti energy causing the intense reaction. He knew enough now to identify the difference.
No, he just wanted to pummel someone for causing Skye such pain.
There wasn’t anyone to lash out against, however. Archigos Gabriel, besides being powerful enough to crush Caleb to dust if he had a mind to, had only spoken the truth. He had been trying to prepare the sisters for potential reactions they would face by members of their society. He had only been answering Skye’s question.
And Caleb couldn’t exactly take out his ire on all of Estilorian society. Not yet, anyway. The moment any single male or female caused this kind of a response from Skye in the future, though, he would not be held accountable for his actions.
As he neared the door again and he heard her take a shuddering, gut-twisting breath, he squeezed his eyes shut against the emotion that coursed through him. He simply couldn’t take it. Striding forward, he opened the door to her room. He was relieved beyond belief she hadn’t locked it. It saved him the time and trouble of tearing the thing off its hinges.
She was sprawled across her bed, her head pillowed on her arms. Somehow, she managed to make the positioning of her body look like a graceful dance, even though he knew she had just thrown herself onto the handiest surface. She had unbound her beautiful hair after their trip, so it flowed in soft, glimmering, brown curls all the way down her back and over the side of the bed. Tomaganuk had been standing beside the bed, but as soon as he spotted Caleb, the spirit nodded and disappeared.
When she suddenly lifted her head, obviously having heard him enter, he gripped his hands together behind his back until the knuckles turned white. Her cheeks glistened with tears that continued to fall freely from her lovely blue eyes. The devastated expression on her face was like a spear through his heart. He wanted nothing more than to walk to her and gather her against him, an impulse he hadn’t had toward another being in his entire existence.
Instead, he snapped, “Cease your ridiculous weeping. You are not a child.”
“What?” she asked, sounding shocked and bewildered.
That wasn’t his goal, so he added in the same hard voice, “Sitting in here and wallowing in self-pity is completely unproductive. You all knew what you were getting into when you transitioned here. You cannot control the actions of the beings on this plane, but you can control your own.”
Finally, he saw the hurt fading from her gaze, anger and indignation slowly building to replace it. Before she could speak, he continued, “I thought you were stronger than this.”
And watched the remark hit her like a slap.
Knowing he had reached his limit and seeing that he had successfully stopped her tears, he abruptly turned and walked back through the door to his room. He left it open, as he had intended to do before she slammed it closed, so he could properly guard her through the night.
Then he sank down on the side of his bed and braced his elbows on his knees. An intense and excruciating heat spread through his chest and seized his throat, bringing a strange sting to his eyes. Confused and overwhelmed, he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes in an effort to alleviate the pain. It didn’t seem to help. His jaw clenched.
He was so focused on trying to control himself that he didn’t hear her approach until she was nearly upon him. Surprised, he looked up. He expected her to be furious.
Instead, she watched him with amazement. She stood in front of him, her face still shimmering with tears and achingly beautiful, and reached out to touch his cheek. Her touch inexplicably relieved the pain in his chest. And when she pulled her fingertips away, he saw the wetness there.
It was then he understood with a tremendous amount of shock that he had shed a tear.
“Thank you, Caleb,” she said, her voice a caress.
Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. His mind emptied of all thought. He could hear the blood rushing through his head and pounding in his ears. The kiss was incredibly gentle. She lifted her lips once, pressed them equally tenderly to his again, and then she stepped back. And smiled.
“I’m going to shower,” she said.
He waited until she was out of the room before he allowed himself to fall back on the bed and tried to stop his head from spinning crazily.
She was going to be the death of him.
“I sure hope Aurora is okay,” Olivia said loud enough to carry to James’ room.
She was sitting cross-legged on her bed after her shower in her pajamas and robe, brushing her damp hair. He was changing into his pajamas in his room. They had left the door between their rooms open because James wasn’t willing to separate himself from her by even that barrier in case someone tried to get into her room. The fact that this was at all a concern had her agreeing to the open-door policy.
“I am sure she is fine,” he called back. “We will check on her in the morning.”
“I don’t—”
I’m okay, Amber and Liv. Sorry for wigging. I kissed Caleb. See you in the morning!
Olivia choked off abruptly as Skye’s thoughts flashed through her head. She simply froze as she processed this new information and Amber’s responding mental head shake.
Then she glanced over instinctively when she saw movement in James’ room.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, walking quickly into the room and looking around.
Since her mouth was already hanging open on Skye’s confession, she didn’t bother to close it when she took in the sight of his bare upper body. He had hurried into the room still holding his sleep tank because she had stopped talking in such an odd manner. He wore only a pair of dark blue pants that sat low on his narrow hips.
She simply couldn’t believe the impact removing a tank top from a person cou
ld do to one’s mental picture. God, he was gorgeous. Lean in the waist with a chest and abs that she swore looked like they had been lovingly sculpted beneath his skin. Heat suffused her face when she realized he was staring at her, staring at him. She worked to swallow and tried very hard to tear her eyes away from him. She failed miserably.
“Olivia?”
Taking a deep breath, she managed to ask, “What was I saying?” She still couldn’t move her eyes. And when he took a couple of steps closer, she even forgot to breathe.
“You were talking about Aurora.” He paused and raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
She nodded quickly. Her heart was racing. She wondered if he could see it thudding right through her robe. Why couldn’t she stop staring?
Finally, he seemed to realize he was still holding his tank top and put it on. She let out her pent-up breath and started brushing her hair with a great deal of energy. She thought she would simply die of embarrassment if he figured out what had caused her weird behavior.
“I was interrupted by a few unexpected thoughts by Skye,” she blurted, shamelessly throwing her sister under the bus. “She’s okay though,” she hurried to add.
“Oh.” He seemed to consider this. “That is good to hear.”
“Yep!” she said a little too brightly. Consciously toning it down when he gave her another curious look, she deliberately caught his gaze and said, “As I was saying before, uh, Skye’s interruption, I’m not receiving any thoughts from Aurora even though I’m sending them out to her. She’s been unhappy and uncommunicative for a while. I think she’s upset that her mate never came to Gabriel’s.”
His brows drew together. “I will go and visit her tomorrow to ensure she is all right. You will have to remain out of sight until the dinner event, but I will have the ability to venture out.”
