She looked at the lost expression on her face and her tone softened. “Well honey, that’s great news! Doesn’t it make things much easier for you?”
She turned and faced the window to think about this. No, it didn’t make it easier. Bodhe and Morkain both made her crazy. How could she trust anything at this point as confusing as it all was?
“What are Sensati, Amele?”
She heard her gasp behind her. “They are rare Isabel, as rare as the time sifters. The Sensati can channel others’ thoughts and even conform them as they wish. Please tell me you were not channeling in Loveryn last night?”
“I don’t know what the hell I was doing Amele. One second Bodhe is saying something to me in his language and out popped the answer to his question out of my mouth. I didn’t understand what he said, I felt it.” Her head dropped. “All of this is just too much.”
“Formequen Leiei?”
“Yes of course I understand you Amele!”
Her hands flew up to her mouth and eyes got wide. “I did it again, didn’t I? That wasn’t English by any chance?”
“No Isabel, that was very far from English. It was the language of the Dragons, as ancient as our own.” She settled back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest with a playful grin toying at the edges of her mouth.
“Bel, do you have any idea how good you’re going to be at kicking ass as a Sensati? You could will your opponents into just about anything or you could just play with them and know every single move they’re going to make. That is one of the best gifts of the Sidhe if you’re a warrior! Halfling, I am so freaking jealous!”
Isabel began to laugh even though she called her a halfling. How did Amele manage to sound even younger than her when she had centuries more that she had lived?
Amele shot up. “Isabel! Get dressed and wear your Raka! First lesson begins now!”
“What the…?”
“Now! The Unseelie are headed for your front door! I will call the guard but we need to move fast!”
She threw her dagger to her and Isabel strapped it to her thigh, quickly throwing a tank on and shorts.
“I’m under siege in my own house?” She looked around the home that she shared with her parents, that she had all of her childhood memories in. Wonderful ones, full of laughter and music. Not a chance they were going to come here and destroy this. It was all she had left! Anger rose from the pit of her stomach so black and dark that she would not have recognized herself in the mirror. Her eyes went wild and crazy and she touched the handle of her Raka. You’ve sealed your fate you nasty beasts, bring it on. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I have one of the best immortal warriors by my side either.
She raced to the front of the house and they were swarming around as she looked out the picture window, there must be 20 or more that she could see. The lanky bodies and white eyes came closer, perking up when one of them saw her through the glass. He oozed grey stuff from an open sore on his face and if the adrenaline was not pumping so hard surely she would’ve lost her coffee. Thank goodness that was all she had consumed so far today.
“What are they doing here and how are we going to take them all?”
An ancient laughter erupted from Amele. “Watch and learn princess, and feel free to jump in! It’s a blast!”
Amele flew out the door and began a graceful dance with her sword, dropping them like flies. Isabel watched from the doorway and readied her Raka, feeling more than inadequate as she watched the smooth almost death-by-ballet moves of her friend. The way she jumped and spun was like a dance, only it was a very bloody one. If that grey oozing matter could be called that anyway. Out of her peripheral vision she saw one of the nasty beasts scrambling towards her with death in his starched eyes. For the briefest of moments she almost thought she felt sorry for the thing that was racing to kill her. But it was fleeting. As soon as she saw the smile stretching across rotted teeth as he stampeded over her mother’s rosebushes she felt only one thing.
Anger.
Amele was tending to the horde so she took a deep breath and jumped over the railing. The creature’s eyes opened a little wider, as if surprised that she was confronting it.
“You think to harm me in my home? You underestimate this human.” He snarled at her and leapt through the air, gangly outstretched arms reaching for her. Guided nearly by itself, the Raka found the creatures gut and she heard a beastly cry come out of his mouth. He grabbed her and threw her into the side of the house, wood splintering even beneath her small frame, and raged toward her again. Groaning, she rolled over just as his nasty hands landed on her throat and plunged the dagger into him once more. Once wounded, twice dead. He fell on her with all his grey disgusting weight.
Shrieking she rolled him off her and fought the nausea rising in her throat. She gazed across the lawn and watched Amele dance with the last two, gracefully taking them both out with one circular move. She was good.
Surveying the destruction all around them she saw that there were definitely more than twenty but probably less than thirty. But she couldn’t count them because as soon as she started they began to disintegrate. Now the remnants of the coffee truly began to churn and swell in her stomach, threatening to be released at any second. Their grey skin peeled away leaving just bones before the wind came and took the rest of the dust. Okay, that is gross.
She looked at Amele and saw that her eyes were glowing almost yellow now, grey matter clung to her sword and she looked like something out of a medieval war movie. Fierce and ready she stood there with her straight black hair blowing in the wind. She was indeed born to fight. Her eyes came up and stared into hers, a wicked sheen to them. “Now tell me that wasn’t a serious rush?”
Isabel smiled even though she didn’t know how it was possible that she was doing so. “It was a serious rush Amele. I assume at this point the Unseelie know about me?”
“You think?” She raised her eyebrows at her.
“So now what?”
“Now we pack your things and hide where they can’t find you until the turn. After that they will be no match for you anyway.”
Walking over to the garden hose she turned it on and began to wash her dagger. Amele soon joined her, the fire receded from her eyes. “You did really well today Isabel, your mom and Da’ would be terribly proud of you.”
“Thanks Amele. I’ve got a good teacher is all. I wonder though, shouldn’t I be taking this a bit worse? I mean, I’ve never even killed a spider and I just killed that thing without thinking twice. Why does it feel so normal?”
“Because it runs in your blood Bel. Your turning has begun and your heritage speaks to you in many ways. It would be stranger to me if you didn’t take it as well as you are. Both of your birthparents were very strong in their own rights. Everything is as it should be honey. C’mon, we have a lot to do yet today.”
Okay, so it’s good that I feel normal killing creatures that I couldn’t even conjure in my wildest dreams. Great. What else is going to feel normal to me before this is all over?
Amele smiled at her. “You’ll surprise yourself in many ways Isabel, now pack your things, the Guard are coming soon.”
She nodded and trudged back into the house. It was going to be a long day.
The Sidhe guard escorted them to a house on the outskirts of Troy. It was an enormous old mansion and she wondered how they had procured it. She also wondered why she had never seen it before. Didn’t she know every house in this little town? Apparently all but one. The house loomed ancient and dark as they pulled up the drive and were it not for the lights on inside she would have assumed that it was abandoned. Creepy old house, but it looked more like a fortress than her pansy filled yard and yellow painted home with white trim.
Why did they keep bowing to her? It was really getting annoying! What if she chose wrong? Would they come after her like the Unseelie had? She shuddered just thinking about the grey things that disintegrated in her once beautifully manicured yard. Forget the nails, b
ut her garden always looked lovely. She sighed and let her mind drift to the happier, less complicated days of her life before all of this happened.
They got settled in, Amele taking the bedroom right across the hall and after a quick dinner of Pizza delivery and salad Isabel decided to soak in a bath to clear her head. The guard apparently loved pizza as much as Amele loved her ice cream. Funny, you would think that you wouldn’t take as much pleasure in eating after being alive so long. Would she still like her favorite foods after 100 years? Would she even make it another year? If she chose wrong her death could be swifter than if she had never had to deal with this at all.
Laying there she closed her eyes and imagined her time with Bodhe in Loveryn and the way Toressa had flown her all over the valley. Why did her mother run with her? Why didn’t she let her be raised there and why couldn’t anyone tell her in depth what this prophecy and curse was all about? Did she really have to go see that liar tonight? Only one Mate my ass. Why couldn’t she go to Bodhe again tonight and finish what they started? At least he didn’t outright lie to her. Perhaps he had other lovers but he didn’t try to pass it off any other way. He did claim her as her partner and partners stayed together forever. Morkain had offered the same thing, but he lied first. But maybe he lied to protect her? Yeah right. Oh God, what was she going to do about these men!
At least she had Amele to help her through this. There wasn’t much time left and as the days grew to a close faster than ever before in her life she noticed the changes not only around her but within her as well. Was she really going to be a princess of one of these lands? It was still unfathomable. She couldn’t even rule her coffee maker most mornings, how the hell was she going to manage this? Mom, I could really use some advice right now.
Sliding down lower in the warm water she let it cover her hair and face, nothing but quiet all around her as she held her breath beneath the warm steamy heaven. There would not be quiet tonight though. Oh no, he was going to get a few choice words before the ‘goodbye’. Sighing, she dragged herself from the warm water to towel off and decided against pj’s tonight. They wouldn’t matter anyway.
************
She opened her eyes to dusk falling in Albequen. Seated on a lounge in a beautiful gold pavilion she nearly forgot that she was here to tear Morkain a new one. “Welcome back beauty,” he purred from her side.
She scowled with all the brute force she could muster. “Beauty my ass. You are a liar!” She hissed at him.
Taken aback he peered at her. Damned if he wasn’t still just as beautiful as last time, his long dark hair braided at his back and ocean blue eyes staring at her in shock. If she wasn’t so mad she may have to admire the way he dressed today, straight off the cover of some medieval romance novel. Dark leather bands circled his arms and his long muscled chest was bare. The same dark leather fashioned his pants as well and it was a perfect contrast with his skin. Ugh! I will not ogle, I will not ogle.
“Be careful your tongue Beauty, for I do not lie.”
She sat up and looked at her own clothes, or lack of them actually. His choice for her today? Leather straps that crisscrossed over her breasts and back, barely covering anything at all and matching pants with a kilt like skirt and brown boots. She also had the arm bands and if she wasn’t so busy being angry, she might have had to admire this new warrior look in herself too. She guessed that it was pretty hot the way his eyes kept flaring as he looked her over. Hmph!
“Don’t give me that crap about ‘my tongue doesn’t lie’! It does. Do you care to tell me again about the whole mate thing or are you sticking to your story about ‘we’re the only race who waits?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared hotly.
“Who spoke of this to you? Bodhe? He is not allowed.”
“It wasn’t Bodhe, and the who doesn’t really matter you jerk! I happen to know from a very good source that Elves do in fact sleep with others for pleasure, that they do not wait for a freaking mate! You lied to me and I want to know why.”
He glanced at her and shrugged. “I am very short pressed for time Princess and I thought that you would want to know that I will be faithful. There is only one mate for me, and you are her.”
“So do you want to tell me that you have never been with another? That you have been waiting for me all this time?” She scoffed.
He seemed to calculate his words for a moment. Yeah that’s right, come up with something good. These words will be the last I hear from you.
“You are a spoiled brat.”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. “You have the nerve to call me that? You are the one that lied! All I wanted was a good answer and you call me names? Ugh! You are even worse than I thought and now I want to go”
“Stop!” He raged. “Do not say the words or so help me I will bind you like an animal.”
She tried to move her mouth but it didn’t work, she was stunned. Could Amele get to her here if she covered the ring? Though fire burned in her eyes her heart was thudding in her chest.
“Isabel, I have something to give you.” He said softly, the grass stirring gently beneath his feet as he approached her. “It will explain better than I can. I’m just not very good at all this. I’m sorry for yelling at you. Please.”
She looked at him, her stance still firm and unmoving. His blue eyes pleaded with her and tore at the strings of her heart.
“What do you have that I could possibly want?” She said through clenched teeth.
His body stiffened with the rejection and she thought he would pounce on her at any second. “Other than that which only I can give you, the most senseless mind numbing orgasms of your life…well there is one other thing.”
Her mouth opened and closed. “I’ve already had one of those. What is the other thing?”
His face fell into a dark slithering nightmare. “Do not taunt me child, I could break you in half!”
“Oh, all that love, how could I ever refuse? Child? I think not.” Her chin barely had time to raise in indignation as she was flat against the floor of the pavilion in less than a second. Dammit, he was really fast!
He held her hands above her head with one of his, the other roughly glided over her skin. If his hot mouth wasn’t covering hers she would’ve been able to mouth the words to get home. As it was, the searing kiss consumed her and she couldn’t speak if she wanted to. She could hardly breathe, but in an oddly good way. A low growl came from his throat as he searched her with his free hand and she realized that she was actually beginning to moan with him. God help her but he felt good. Why did he have to be so destructively handsome? She couldn’t deny the anger she felt towards him, nor the fact that it all disappeared as soon as he touched her. If Bodhe’s touch was a searing lightning, Morkain’s was a quick smoldering fire.
“Open your mouth Beauty.” He hissed from above her, his hands holding hers above her head in submission.
She complied.
The warmth of his tongue was so aggressive and bold as it explored her mouth. He explored her mouth with a fervor that made her melt from the inside out. She began to tremble beneath him and he broke the kiss and smiled a victorious grin. Stretching up languidly on top of her, an image that would always be burned in her mind, he grinned and stroked his warm hand down the side of her face tenderly. Hair was falling from his braid and he had such a smug look on his face. But damned if even that didn’t suit him.
“Are you done with your fit now? I do have a gift for you after all. So help me though if you utter those words before it is given I shall truly become a beast.” He grinned, nipping at her shoulders slightly.
“Oh, alright. But don’t think that just because you can turn a virgin’s body into a melting pot that I am suddenly yours. I still don’t trust you Morkain.”
He smiled. “I do not need your trust at the moment. I am going to give you a gift that will earn your eternal heart. Come, we are going for that walk that you wanted,” he stopped and looked at her deeply. “Really?
A virgin?”
“Yes really! It just so happens that every time a man tried to touch me in my world he was nearly struck down by lightning, or worse. It’s humiliating, so don’t even think about laughing!”
He pulled her up and stared at her with a half-smile. “A virgin indeed. She protected you well then.” He brought his lips down to hers and gently stroked her mouth with his tongue until she was vibrating with him again. Her pink lips were slightly parted and swollen from his kisses, silently begged him for more and her eyelids were half closed with a dreamy gaze. He took her hand instead of her lips again however and began walking through the field to a nearby cave.
She just looked at him as he brought her around to the back of the rock and through a small entranceway, never letting go of his hand. Thank god it wasn’t as dark in here as it looked to be from the outside. When they passed through the narrow passage and came to the large center her breath got lodged in her throat.
“We call this the cave of illuminations Beauty. I think the name says it all.”
She looked around and saw crystals jutting from the walls and ceiling…even coming out of the floor. There were a hundred glowing spheres of every color imaginable that surrounded them. There was a slight vibration here too, it made all the hairs stand up on her arms.
“Holy shit.” She stammered.
Morkain just stood there looking at her curiously. “You know, you have a very foul mouth for such a young girl.”
She looked at him incredulously. “Young girl? I’m 22 years old thank you very much and my mouth is quite tame compared to most girls my age. So do you want to fight some more, critique my choice of words or are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
Defiantly as he glared at her she walked up to the small pool of water that was in the center of the cave. The water glistened because the moonlight swam in from a hole in the top of the cave. The blood moon was not far away at all.
He studied her looking down at the water, her dark hair blowing gently in the breeze. The clothing of the warrior suited her, as he knew it would. Small and fragile she seemed but he knew that she hid a beast inside. She was Norgelon’s daughter, when she turned and had some training she would be fierce. Not to mention the Sidhe side would be powerful as well. The halfling would be a great wonder to behold when she was a little older. He strode up behind her and put his hands around her waist.
Immortal Dreams Page 8
