by Jana LaPelle
The sorcerer gently kisses her forehead before tipping her tearstained face up to his and says, “Nimue, you know as well as I do, that is not how visions of this nature work, there is not much that can be done. When a witch scries, the witch sees possible outcomes to the future, but they are only a possible outcome, but when one has a vision or the sight, it is of a future event. I’m sorry my dear, I’m so very sorry.” He moves to pull her into comfort her, but she pushes away and stands to pace the room before turning to address Ashlinn.
“Is that all that you saw? I want to know everything. Tell me!” She demands.
Ashlinn hesitates before asking, “Are you sure, Nimue?”
“Yes, please, I need to hear every last detail.”
Before Ashlinn can continue, I ask through our bond, “Mo grá, I can continue if you would like.”
“I’m okay to continue, Alaric, the worst is over at this point.” Her reply is soft but resolute through our connection before she turns back to Nimue and begins recounting the vision in its entirety. Everyone listens intently until she comes to the part about the children and suddenly there is an uproar around the room.
Dagda steps forward, “Quiet everyone, quiet. Ashlinn is that how your vision ended? The children were unharmed?”
“Yes, Dagda, my final thought before coming out of the vision was that they had been forgotten in the dark corner as the voices within the chamber began to crescendo and echo throughout the room.” Turning to face Nimue, she says, “There is still hope for the children. We are planning to go to talk to Lugh. Apparently, he is the only one left in existence that knows of Lainn’s place of entombment other than Morríganna herself.”
Nimue narrows her eyes, before asking, “You mean to travel to the Northern Badlands?”
I speak up, “Yes, Ashlinn and Lexie are going to leave in the morning for The Mortal Realm, they will be gone from this realm for two or three day’s time. That will give us time to plan, time for Lexie to have her child, and time for the twins to grow. We also need to determine what we are going to do with the twins, right now they have not been away from Ashlinn for more than a couple of hours at a time, and much to everyone’s dismay Lachlan will not bottle feed. He is rather fiercely opposed to it. It’s Ashlinn or nothing at all.” That gets quite a few chuckles from some in the room.
Nimue settles back down next to Myrddin and lays her head on his shoulder before murmuring, “I knew it that day… the day that they were cursed. I knew that I had lost them forever. That’s why I was so desperate. I was willing to do anything to get them back. Even hand Ashlinn over to her, as wrong as that line of thinking was. All I knew was that I could not give in to my fears. But it sounds like they are resigned to their fate. My sisters have always been strong, but this curse was not something any of them could have overcome.” Looking up at Myrddin and then to Ashlinn, she says, “We have to save the children. They are all that I will have left of my sisters. We must save them from a horrible fate. They must not continue to reside under that twisted bitch’s control. Promise me that you all will do everything in your power to save them. Promise me,” She pleads.
Ashlinn walks forward and kneels down in front of Nimue, the skirt of her gown rustling and bunching about her, and she clasps the female’s hands in her own before saying, “It is my solemn vow to you that we will do everything in our power to save your children from The Morrígan and her twisted sisters. I will not rest until they are safely tucked away, back in Avalon with you and Myrddin. They are going to need you both once this is said and done. I also promise to have my Keepers on the ready to usher your sister’s souls away from that dark place. That is my vow to you, Nimue.”
Nimue smiles through her tears and says, “That is all that I could ask for, thank you Ashlinn.” Then the Lady of the Lake raises their clasped hands and kisses each of Ashlinn’s on the back of her knuckles and murmurs, “Thank you, my little queen.”
Ashlinn smiles tightly before pulling away, gathering her skirts she stands and addresses everyone in the room, “We should leave here in no less than three days’ time to head to the Northern Badlands. We will need to get to Lugh as soon as possible once we head out. The Morrígan grows bolder with every passing day. She has recovered from our battle of wills over The Tree of Life and now has a new purpose. The race will be on from this point forward. First, we save the children, and then we find the Spear of Lugh.”
Chapter 11
(Ashlinn)
The Mortal Realm
Jasmine was right, after being in The Otherworld of Faerie, the air here does not smell as sweet, and The Mortal Realm is in danger of ruining their planet, my planet, the world I called home for eighteen years. I was never really able to tune into it before now, but daily I find that I’m becoming more and more connected to the earth. It’s spring, and the weather has been mild since we have been back to our eastern Kentucky homes. Now that we’re back, I realize that I’ve missed my home a lot, and so has Lexie. The first two days that we were back, we binge watched The Vampire Diaries, The 100, and Game of Thrones. The one thing that I have missed the most is my favorite TV shows. Lexie was restless when we first arrived, but under orders to take it easy, so we decided that a TV marathon was in order. I think that we were awake for almost forty-eight hours straight before she finally succumbed to sleep. Declan was not happy, and Lexie took to calling him Mr. Cranky Pants behind his back. I cannot even count the gallons of ice cream we went through, it’s quite embarrassing, actually. I can’t help but smile at the thought. Millie and Hank indulged our every whim those first couple of days back.
Several days later, Samuel Declan Torok Revven greeted The Mortal Realm. Samuel, for Lexie’s brother that we lost in that deadly crash. He was all of six pounds and five ounces. Everyone took bets before the delivery as to whether or not he would have the signature elf ears and low and behold he did, although not as pronounced. Alaric was here to heal Lexie after her delivery, and within a week she was almost back to normal. To Declan’s dismay, she was back to training. She’s under the impression that she has baby weight to lose, so we had a couple of treadmills installed in the basement and turned one of the unused rooms down there into a training gym. Even though we are only planning on being here for a short amount of time.
Today marks our twenty-third day here, and we have determined that we will stay another twelve days before heading back. At that point, we will be arriving two and half days later in The Otherworld. Alaric has been popping back and forth between both realms and his sense of time is completely out of whack. I told him yesterday that from this point forward Dagda can come to us if there is any news or any changes. Most of the plans and research have been completed. He’s going to need his rest before we head to the Northern Badlands.
I have taken to spending time in my favorite spot. I’m sitting on the ground, cross-legged in the grass by the brook out behind the house, the twins are lying on a soft pallet in front of me, and they’re watching the sun stream through the branches and leaves of the trees that surround the back. Talila and Jasmine, in her sprite form, are entertaining the two as they fly about above them. Their little hands are waving overhead trying to catch the two. A little squeal escapes Lachlan and Lillie has begun to make a noise that sounds a lot like giggling. They’re getting so big at almost four months old now, and both have started rolling from their back to their belly and back again.
I’m brought out of my ponderings over the last few weeks to see that Alaric is approaching me and the twins. Damn but the male can wear a pair of jeans and a simple black tee shirt, the jeans sit low on his hips, and the tee hugs him almost like a second skin. I could watch him all day long. Standing, I now only have eyes for my kindred, and I watch as he approaches. His walk becomes almost a swagger, and when my gaze hits his face, I see that he’s smirking and his dimples are deeply etched in his cheeks.
“Like what you see mo grá?” He asks.
Knowing that I was just caught checking him out,
again, my comeback is sassy, “I’ve seen better.”
Chuckling, he walks right up to me and grabs me by the waist pulling me to him, his eyes intense, before saying, “Ash, you wound me. I thought I was your one and only heart’s desire.”
“Well, my gorgeous Elf-Man, there is one other male that owns a piece of my heart.”
“No, mo grá, say it isn’t so. Tell me what I must do to win back your heart. I will do anything.” He plays along with me. “Tell me? Is he as tall as me?”
“That remains to be seen, he is but a wee little man,” I say, my lips twitching, begging to break out into a full-on grin.
“Curious, is he a dwarf or maybe a gnome? No? Is he a sprite? You could be under the influence of his pixie dust.” He proclaims a serious look on his face, his eyes twinkling.
Laughing out loud, he spins me around, and I ask, “Pixie dust? I thought that only disoriented the enemy?” He spins me around again before smothering my laughter with a kiss.
“Wee little man? I certainly hope you are referring to our wee little man. Oh, and pixie dust is a majical substance, it has the power to render the individual it is intended for to experience a number of different things, disorientation is only one of them and is commonly used in that regard during battle.” Alaric replies as he begins to trail sweet kisses down the column of my neck.
While enjoying Alaric’s attention, I call out, “Jasmine, we need to talk about your pixie dust, you’ve been keeping secrets from me.” Alaric’s hot kisses make it back to my earlobe, and he pulls it into his mouth between his teeth, and I suck in a breath. I’m lost to his touch as the entire world around us falls away.
Suddenly, water is raining down on us, and I jerk away from Alaric to see what the heck has happened. Jasmine is laughing, a full-on belly laugh in mid-air above us. She is completely doubled over and is no doubt responsible for our mini cold shower. Mischievous little water sprite.
“You should have seen your faces. Oh by the goddess, that was hilarious.” Jasmine squeaks out.
“Nice one, Jaz,” Lexie calls from the back deck. “You two are insatiable. Keep it up, and there’ll be another bun in the oven, or two.” Her laughter rings out across the backyard.
“Hilarious, both of you, I’ve seen both of you with your mates. Trust me. I’m not the only one that could end up with a bun in the oven.” I glance over to see that the twins are still being entertained by Talila before assessing Alaric. “You are not allowed to wear that tee shirt in public. You’ll start a riot.” I pull back to take him in, and the now damp tee shirt which accentuates every muscle in his torso and his arms, and let’s not talk about his abs. Damn, his biceps look huge. Standing by my decision, I say, “You need to change into, I don’t know, something else. The women of Pikeville have never seen the likes of you. Mark my words, they will be swooning just watching you walk down the streets.”
“Is that so? Or are you just being overly possessive?”
“Alaric…” I say in a menacing tone. “You will not wear that tee into town.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll change.” He looks over to see that Declan and Camoryn are both wearing overly large button down shirts with the sleeves rolled up exposing their large forearms. “I see that none of you are wearing your first choice in shirts. Last man standing, wins.” He says with a cocky laugh.
“What?”
“Never mind, it’s all water under the bridge now.”
“I can’t believe you guys.” Exasperated, I move to pick up Lachlan and Lillie. Their little faces make me smile. By the gods, I love them so much. Smiling, I look to Talila, “Thank you for keeping them entertained this morning. They really enjoyed you and Jasmine.”
“It was my pleasure, Ashlinn. Anytime, I will always be available to entertain these two little bundles of joy. That goes for Alexia’s son as well.” Talila smiles before giving a quick curtsey and heading back into the woods.
Looking up I see that Lexie is looking at Sammy in the same fashion that I look at the twins. Her and Declan and Sammy make the perfect family picture. Next to their little family, Jasmine morphs into her faerie size some few feet away, and I realize that it’s time for us to go. Today we’re going to town to have some fun and just be a couple of regular young adults, as if. Alaric is by my side in an instant, and he assists with Lillie while I tackle my wee little man. He’s squirming in my hands, kicking, and squealing.
“Come on, Lachlan, don’t be such a handful,” I say as I nuzzle into the side of his face, inhaling his sweet baby scent. His tiny fist latches onto my hair before patting my face.
Looking up to the deck, I see Camoryn and Jasmine together. It is so odd to see him in jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and no horns, not to mention no hooves or goat legs. Lexie glamoured all of us this morning to appear as ordinary mortals so that when we go into town, no one will be any the wiser. Jasmine pouted for going on fifteen minutes once the glamour took hold. That sprite has an unhealthy attachment to her mate’s horns. She can be found stroking them fondly and often talks about how big they are. Honestly, some things are best left unsaid. Although I totally get where she is coming from, I dislike the look of Alaric’s now rounded ears and his muted complexion, not to mention the babes.
Alaric and I follow the group, and we all head around the side of the house to climb into the two Toyota Sequoias that are parked out front. The first week we got back the guys went shopping for vehicles that would accommodate a large group. Our only stipulation was that they were different colors. One is black, and the other is a gunmetal gray, in the driveway. Go figure, so much for different colors.
As I approach the vehicles, I realize how large they are and look over at Alaric, “Really? You had to get the biggest, tallest, SUV you could find. Did you forget that I’m vertically challenged? Lexie and I are going to need a step ladder to climb into that monstrosity.”
With a smirk he pulls me to him and leans in for a lingering kiss and murmurs against my lips, “Ash, I’ll be your step ladder any day, you can climb me anytime you want.”
I hear Jasmine chuckle over my left shoulder, “Now there’s a proposition. Cam, why haven’t you used that line on me?”
I swat his bicep, trying not to give into my laughter and say, “Stop that, we have places to be, Elf-Man. I’ll climb you some other time.”
His smile is dazzling, and his dimples have the tendency to melt me, “Promise?”
I wink at my handsome mate and reply, “We’ll try that tonight. Now let’s get busy.”
We get the twins strapped into their car seats and I look over to find that Declan is strapping his son in. My heart melts a little as I watch him kiss Samuel’s forehead before closing the door and moving to the driver seat. Declan can be overbearing and overprotective, but he loves his family. Camoryn and Jasmine are safely tucked away in the very back of their vehicle, and we are all ready to go.
It takes us about twenty minutes to enter the city limits and another ten minutes to find a parking spot. The town itself is nestled into the hills and valleys of the Appalachian Mountain range and is most well-known for the Hatfield and McCoy feud. The likelihood of running across someone we know is pretty good. Taking a deep breath, we exit the vehicles and Alaric goes about getting the stroller ready for us. I can’t help the huge smile that graces my face as I watch him struggle with the two-seater contraption. It takes a moment, but both he and Declan figure out the strollers with the help of Cam, and we get the babes settled.
It’s a beautiful morning, the sun has not yet reached its apex, the sky is a brilliant blue with fluffy white clouds, and the foliage of the trees is green and fresh and new. We quickly take to the sidewalks as Lexie, and I lead the way, Jasmine is excited to be a part of our little mundane shopping party, I’m afraid she will sprout her wings as she bounces between us. Everything she sees is a marvel. Every shop we pass she wants to enter.
“Oh, oh, oh, can we go in here? This place looks really neat. Please?” She begs.
“Jaz, that’s a florist. We have plenty of flowers back home,” I say, laughing.
Jasmine grabs my hand and whines, “Ashlinn, we haven’t entered any shops yet, what are you waiting for? Do they always have hanging baskets of flowers, and potted plants? It’s so quaint here, and the streets are pretty, but the air is not clean with all the traveling vehicles coming and going. Where are all the horses? Why don’t mortals use horses anymore?”
“Shhh, Jaz…” Lexie and I both are quick to quiet her questions in fear of people overhearing.
The guys are not far behind us with the strollers, and we are unfortunately taking up most of the sidewalk. Taking pity on Jasmine, I say, “Here we are, Jaz, this is one of the shops that we wanted to visit today. It’s a specialty boutique, and I’m looking for gifts and things to take back with us, things that remind us of home.”
“Finally, let’s do some shopping!” Before we can respond, she’s bounding through the door of the shop.
I look at Lexie with wide eyes before she says with a laugh, “Who knew she was so crazy about shopping?”
“Hilarious.” Calling over my shoulder, I say, “Cam, Jasmine is on a mission, for what I have no idea. Watch out.” Laughing we hold the door so the guys can push the strollers into the shop and realize that there really isn’t a whole lot of space.
Alaric leans down and briefly kisses my lips and says, “Mo grá, I think we should wait outside for you. Take your time.”
I reach up to trace his jawline as my gaze roams over his handsome face, “Are you sure?”
“There’s not much space in here, and these strollers are overly large especially ours, you girls have fun.”
“We’ll be quick, maybe fifteen minutes okay?”
“Take your time, Ash.” He smiles and kisses me again as he maneuvers the large stroller back out to the sidewalk. Followed by Declan. The two are definitely bonding over fatherhood. Camoryn stays behind to shop with Jasmine who is attached to his left side. Lexie goes one way, and I go another and quickly find quite a few gifts and knick-knacks, one of which is a coffee mug and hand towel that says “Kentucky is my Happy Place.” It doesn’t take us long, and we all pay for our purchases and exit the boutique to find that Alaric and Declan are engaged in an awkward conversation with a familiar looking woman, all though she looks much older than her now twenty-six years. She is still attractive but is no longer model thin and has three children in tow ranging from eight to two and one on the way if her rounded belly is any sign of the child to come. Wow, she’s been busy over the last eight years.
