What did it mean? Did it change anything about how he felt? Would he even act upon it? How could he not?
But how could he, right in front of his brother? What kind of man would he be then?
He brushed his fingers over her neck. “No, I will not hurt my brother this way…”
“What?”
Such puzzlement in her eyes. She didn’t know, did she? What was he supposed to do with her? Should he tell her, and risk her not believing him? Risk screwing something up between them? Would she be happy with such an action of the Fates?
Somehow he did not believe she would be.
No. He would be best to wait, to formulate a plan. To talk to his brother, first.
For though he’d waited five thousand years for his female he would not deliberately hurt his brother.
But that did not mean he would not have a small taste of her.
She was his, after all.
**
Something had changed, hadn’t it? Loren wanted to run and hide, but the tree behind her definitely prevented that. “Jushua…what are you doing?”
“I am trying to figure you out, little witchie. You know…I have never kissed a witchie. At least, not in thousands of years.”
“What are you going to do? Eat me?”
“Hmmm. Maybe. No, just hold still…”
She should get away, far, far away. She looked to the left, the last direction she had seen Deki. What would he think, seeing her this close to his brother? “Deki…”
‘Is far enough away that he cannot see. Do not worry, I would do nothing to hurt him. And I know what was once between you—No. What was once between him and Nelanora. But you are not her, you are Loren. And I find Loren fascinating.”
“I see.” He wasn’t so annoying now, was he? She wanted to pull away from him, but she got it in that moment.
The Fates…they were messing with her life again. And this time they wanted her with Deki’s brother. If only for a little while.
But what was she supposed to do about that? “What are you doing?”
She knew the answer, and as he lowered his lips to hers she didn’t fight or resist.
Not at all.
It was a soft kiss, nothing pushy or obnoxious. Nothing arrogant like she would have expected from a warrior such as Jushua.
That was probably why it got to her so much.
And that was why she pulled away. “We have to stop. We can’t do this. It isn’t the right way, the right time, or the right…”
Person.
Surely the Fates couldn’t be serious?
“Let’s go. We have more important things to worry about.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Loren could smell him, the warm earthy scent of a healthy male surrounded her and mingled with the forest. It was all she could do not to keep breathing him in.
Something about him…was it some curse of the Fates drawing her more toward this brother than the one she had been destined for so long ago?
Something someone was putting into place to keep her mind off of where it should be?
She glanced at Dekimos—or toward where she’d last seen him.
The darker brother had disappeared over a hill, and though she could still feel his presence, she could not see him. Had he left her with his brother deliberately?
For what purpose? “I don’t know. All I know is that the Four Fates wanted me to be here now.”
“And you always act as their puppet? The Nelanora I knew—“
She snorted at that. “And just exactly how well did you know her? Me? Damn, that’s going to get confusing, isn’t it?”
“Feeling a bit uncertain about who you are, precious?”
Didn’t he look all cocky? She wanted to move away from the hot hand that was still almost caressing her neck, but to do so would give the big ass exactly what he wanted.
Loren was feeling just snarky enough to give the man enough of a hard time to make herself feel better. “Hardly, sweetums. I’ve had eighty lifetimes to know exactly who I am. And to know that you can’t escape the hands of the Fates. I’ve tried a time or two, and they took great pleasure in knocking me back on my butt.”
“It’s a nice ass. I noticed that before. A little more curved than your sister’s, I think. More to grab onto when a man has a need.” Something in his eyes made her want to shiver. Told her he may just be experiencing that need right now.
“Nelciana was always thin.” Most of their Kind were. Their paternal grandmother had been of a Kind that was more sticks than hills. A lot of Nelanora’s sisters had been tall and thin. Most Druids still were.
“Hmmm. Yes. Still is. She will want to see you. Soon.”
“I don’t want to see her. Not yet. What am I supposed to say to her? Sorry I missed you these past five thousand years, eighty lifetimes, wanna catch up? How well do you think that will go over? No. I can’t handle a distraction right now.”
“Do not wait too long. Every day I miss the ones I could have had with my brothers and sisters. Every day. When Deki and Kennera were returned to us, they were the best days of my life. The reborned ones, almost the same. I know the same would hold true for Nelciana.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The city of Darda was right about the same size as Thrun, as near as Loren could tell. But that’s where the similarities ended. Thrun had modern-esque plumbing, with mostly hot and cold running water and indoor toilets. Darda was more like something out of the Gaian Middle Ages.
And it shouldn’t have been. It didn’t look like it had progressed even a decade more than it had been five thousand years ago. And it most definitely should have.
It bothered her two companions as much as it did her. Jushua stayed close to her, and Loren almost appreciated his hovering. Almost. She had a purpose in this world and she didn’t need him experiencing new and definitely misguided feelings of overprotectiveness.
This might be the one area where she defied the Fates. She was not going to be paired off with Jushua just because they said it should be so.
The thought of it had her head swirling and her heart pounding and every rational thought in her head flying right out her left ear.
But she had to admit it was kind of nice to have a great big male determined to stand between her and all the bad things coming.
If she was the kind to need that sort of thing. Which she wasn’t.
“What do we do first?” She was the one to ask, even though up to that point, the men were following her lead. “I’ll admit it, I don’t really remember much about the city.”
“That’s because as a child of the ruling families you were kept in the palace. You should have studied the maps in your youth, but if I recall, Nelanora wasn’t one for studying.” Deki said from where he stood beside her. It was the first time she’d heard humor from him
They were atop a hill that looked down on the city approximately two miles away. The mere sight of the town had her filled with trepidation. “Yeah, well, that doesn’t help us much now, does it?”
“We need to keep walking. Let’s go.”
**
Loren took her first real look at the City of Darda and felt the rush of memories flood her mind more fully than they ever had before. And compounded upon those were the memories of each and every lifetime and death she had experienced since the day Nelanora had fallen beneath the Dark Sorcerer’s blade.
Little Pin, her favorite of the Dardaptos siblings, always laughing, always playing. The sight of that child dying was one she would never forget.
The air smelled differently, less real and almost toxic to her Druidic ancestry. “Something is off, here.”
Her companions turned to her and looked at her from nearly identical eyes. Their mother’s eyes in two extremely handsome faces. Jushua favored his mother more, though he was built like a damned mountain. Dekimos was almost a carbon copy of his father. But he was leaner, like Eaudne. So intriguing, the
two, when she compared them side by side. So, well…beautiful. She’d met a few beautifully built human men in her lifetimes, but they held no comparison to two prime Evalanedeans.
Evalanedeans, Dardaptoans, Nellanae, or Druidics—it didn’t matter what the two men were in actuality—they were perfect of form in every possible way.
And these two were some of the best she remembered from that lifetime so long ago. Deki, with his brooding good looks, and Jushua…Jushua with his arrogant Viking resemblance. They towered over her, strong and protective…and waiting for her to decide what they would do next.
Ihth.
She touched the sword, then said the first thing that came to her mind.“We need to return to the Gardens of Ihth.” Where Nelanora had died. Where Deki had.
She no longer thought of herself and that girl as one and the same, though she knew that was probably exactly what she was. She’d never felt a disconnect from that girl, had always known she’d lived other lives. The other reborned ones she’d encountered in her life hadn’t known they’d been reincarnated. So why had she?
It had taken her over a year to figure out that she wasn’t truly dying when she’d end one life and begin another.
No, she was just living out the curse repeatedly, loving and leaving all who ever mattered.
Mourning them every day.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
No one looked at them. Not a single person that Loren could see glanced directly at them. It was like…they weren’t really there. Jushua walked at her left, Dekimos at her right.
Some things we see are not what they really are.
No kidding. She touched the sword to acknowledge what it had said.
“Loren, you are to stay by my side. Have either that sword or those little sticks of yours at the ready.” Jushua was tense, going into full all-out warrior mode. Gone was the joking irritant who’d made sure she handled the hike as well as he and his brother. Gone was the arrogant prince of Dardaptoans who’d flirted her every step of that journey. He’d had her laughing a few times. Deki, too. Her former mate had almost acted as his brother’s wingman a time or two. Loren knew what it meant—Deki was silently giving his consent. To her and his brother. What was she supposed to think about that? “I do not want us to get separated here. This is not the Darda that I remember.”
“Perhaps because it is the Darda we remember. It has not changed. At all. In five thousand years.” Deki said quietly. He had a staff in his hand, and an ancient sword on his hip. Loren wondered just how well he could use either of them, if it came to it. She had her shillelagh if needed, and she’d trained every lifetime with a variety of weapons. For when the time came. Because she had always known a time would come. “There is Ri’s father, Jushua. And I know he burned in the flames. He was one of the last to fall. But he fell. I stood over his body myself, after I was healed. He was gone; there was nothing left. I do not know where this is, but it is not the Darda we left.”
Loren thought back to the first life she had been reborn in. Dekimos was right, the city had been nothing like this. It had been a burned shell reminiscent of the Dardanos city in Colorado that she just seen. People were rebuilding then. “It’s been five thousand years.”
“And I would have expected some changes,” Jushua said. “Instead the buildings are the same. Exactly the same as they were when we last lived here. Over there is the haberdashery, there is the same bakery mother visited whenever we came into the city. The exact same one. Just as it looked that last time I passed it.”
“Guys, are you sure you’re remembering it the way it looked back then?”
“Yes.” They said it together and their certainty almost had her fully convinced. Yet…what did it all mean? “Maybe we should get out of here. Figure out another way into where we need to go?”
“We can go around the city,” Deki said. “Come into Ihth from the back. Through the woods.”
“I don’t like the forest of Ihth. Too many things have happened there.” Jushua nodded toward a passing merchant. The male didn’t seem to register their presence. It was enough to convince Loren that the two men were right.
Something about the city was definitely wrong. But what was it?
“Well, we can’t just turn and run. That will not get us what we came for.” She had to keep going. They all did. “So what do we do?”
“We keep going,” Jushua said.
“We keep going.” Deki echoed the sentiment but there was something in his eyes that had her wondering if he was really there with them in that moment.
“Deki? What is it?”
“What if this is just a memory? What if something has happened to put us in an illusion that we have become trapped in?”
“Think you the Dark Sorcerer is still here?” Jushua asked. He walked close enough to her to shield her and it took a moment to realize that was exactly what he was doing—using his big body to hide hers from the townspeople. She looked at Deki and realized he was doing the exact same thing.
Anyone looking at them would have a hard time seeing her. Instead all they would see would be the two strong, healthy male warriors no one would want to mess with. Even in their simple garb—traditional to Thrun, but still similar to the Evalanedean peasants they were seeing—it was obvious they were important men.
But still no one was looking at them.
Look without your eyes.
The sword vibrated and she brushed her fingers across its hilt lightly. “Maybe we are looking at the city wrong. Maybe we need to actually touch it.”
“And how do we touch a city?” Jushua asked.
Loren thought for a moment. Everything around them would be tangible, if it was real, wouldn’t it? She stopped walking and picked up a stone. It felt smooth and cool beneath her fingers. She slipped it in her pocket for a reason she couldn’t name.
The rock was real. She could feel the weight of it. But what wasn’t?
She walked over to the nearest building, some type of shop as far as she could tell. She ran her hand over the worn brick.
It felt as real as the stone in her pocket. “I don’t know. Let’s just get to where we’re going.”
Don’t rush. Take the time to see what you need to see.
Jushua held out a hand for her. Loren took it without thinking. He pulled her closer. “Stay between us.”
“How far are we to Ihth?” She refused to be distracted by him anymore. Now wasn’t the time. If they lived through this journey, then she would try to figure out what to do about him.
“Not far. Ihth was a small village that grew into Darda’s outskirts. It started about a mile from here.” Deki said. He stared at their clasped hands with an inscrutable expression on his face. She wanted to pull her hand away but Jushua held her too tightly. She glanced at Jushua, was he doing it deliberately?
She didn’t think so. He was staring off into the distance. When his attention shifted back to them he was frowning. “How long did we hike into the city?”
“A little over three hours. Why?”
“It should have been almost twice that. The Heirche were further away from Darda of old. There is no reason we should have made such good time. Especially with a human halfling. We are not in Darda.”
Score for young Jushie. My brother is not just a fair looking male. There is intelligence between his ears.
The sword almost laughed against her. It was feeling more and more real every time it spoke with her. She wished she could talk to it, but she didn’t dare. Not with Jushua and Deki so close.
Deki knows. How could he not? He cared for me five thousand years, did he not?
Why had he not told her?
Because it was not his place. And it hurts him too much. The first thousand years he tried to free me. His efforts, while appreciated, were not to bear fruit. It is not his path to free me.
Then whose was it?
If you need to ask then you are not ready to hear the answer.
Great. The only talking inanim
ate object she’d ever owned and it was being cryptic.
Just go forward. The answers you seek are deeper in the city. Or are they past the city? Perhaps you need to close your eyes to guide your steps.
“Close your eyes, Jushua. What do you hear?”
**
What did he hear? He heard the hum of Evalanedea, he heard the sound of his female breathing, of birds flying overhead.
What he did not hear was the sounds of the village around them.
And he should have. “It is an illusion. A clever one, but one we will not be trapped in. This is not Darda. We continue on.”
They would use his and his brother’s memories of that time to guide them. Rather than his eyes sight, they would follow the knowledge he had possessed this time. He knew the way to Darda, and to Ihth beyond. He would not fall for such illusory traps as this. Not again.
But he was not letting go of his witchie unless he had to.
He opened his eyes again, and his gaze immediately met his brother’s. Dekimos nodded.
His brother knew what Jushua was thinking. And Deki agreed.
As soon as they were out of this false town they would speak of it.
Chapter Thirty
Loren’s feet hurt, and her head was beginning to spin. Something about the air in this Darda-that-wasn’t was messing with her somehow. She did not know what it was, and it was becoming harder and harder for her to ignore.
It is the darkest of sorcery that can create something such as this so many years later. Watch yourselves.
The sword spoke exactly how she was feeling. That really freaked Loren out; but the blade comforted her, as well.
She’d started talking back to it—mentally—an hour or so on their trek through the convoluted magical city. It wasn’t a straight walk through the place; they’d had a few unexpected detours along the way.
And she was getting so tired, drained. Frustrated. And lost.
The Witch Page 9
