by C. L. Nelson
“I have waited so long to have you back. I have missed the way you make me feel,” he said while he stared at me with longing.
I tried to move away, but he held me tight.
“You don’t have to worry about me forcing myself on you. I learned my lesson the last time,” he said, gesturing to the large scar on his face. “Though I could probably take you now in your weakened state, but I will not take what I want to be freely given.” He kissed me on the forehead and then climbed out of bed.
I wipe off my forehead.
He frowned. “You will love me one day, one way or another, and soon we will have forever to get to know each other,” he said before leaving the room in a huff.
I desperately wish the real Finlay was here right now, so he could get me out of here. I’d settle for Kian or either of his brothers. Hell, I would be happy to see Jaxon right now. At least, the Finlay imposter, Lachlan, is gone for now. I fight to stay awake, but sleep pulls me under. I fall asleep alone in a strange place in the bed of the enemy.
***
I know I am dreaming. I have always been a lucid dreamer, so I usually know when I am in a dream, but this one seems different somehow. The dream started with me being lost in a forest, unable to find my way out. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why I was dreaming that. In the dream, I am running by trees and I feel panicked at not knowing where I am.
Suddenly, there is a clearing and Finlay is standing in the middle. He runs up to me and hugs me in relief. “Thank the Creators, it worked,” he said, sounding relieved. “Charlie, love, do you know where you are? Tell me, so we can find you.”
I am confused like I have just been woken from a sound sleep. “Fin, is this a dream? It feels weird,” I said as I shake my head to try to clear away some of the cobwebs.
“Try to concentrate, love. I am dream walking and I have found your dream so yes you are dreaming, but this conversation is real,” he said, trying to explain as fast as possible. “Charlie, please tell me where you are?” he asked again urgently.
I open my mouth to tell him where I am and about the king of the reapers, but nothing comes out. The dream is slipping away. I feel someone shaking me.
I wake suddenly when someone slapped me across my face. When I open my eyes, I see Alaric leaning over me.
“Sorry, dearest one, but I can’t have anyone finding you,” Alaric said while bending down to try to kiss the cheek he just hit.
I rolled to the other side of the bed to avoid his mouth, getting out of the bed to stand on the opposite side. “Stay away from me! I am not your dearest one! Stop calling me that!” I yelled at him.
Alaric took a deep breath as if he is trying to control his temper. “As you wish. Bending you to my will is going to be a challenge, I see. You are still as feisty as ever, Carina,” he said as he started to walk away.
I touched my face where it is sore from being slapped. “My name isn’t Carina, dumbass,” I said, not able to help myself from being petulant.
He turned and smiled at me. “Oh, but it is. You just don’t remember yet. I refuse to call you by any of your mortal names. See you soon, Carina,” he said like he was annoyed with me before leaving the room.
Whatever. Good riddance.
I think about what he said. Is he just trying to get under my skin? Could my name have been Carina at one point in time? I feel that strange feeling in my mind again, like I need to remember something. It doesn’t matter if my name was Carina, if that’s what he calls me, then I will stick with Charlie.
Chapter 16
Finlay
Damn it! She was just about to tell me where she was when she was pulled from the dream. Someone must have woken her up. Was it whoever abducted her? It had to be someone who knows what a person looks like when they are in a walking dream.
I can try again later, but she needs to be asleep for it to work. In the meantime, I have contacted Flora and I am meeting her at her house. The best solution to our Charlie problem would be to remove the shielding spell, so Kian can feel her soul again and find her. However, if that isn’t possible, then I will have the witch try a locating spell.
I glimmered to the witch’s house. She has done well for herself during all these extra years that she has been alive. She earns a decent living from performing spells for hybrids. Most witches can’t perform her level of magic, but with my blood, she is far more powerful than the average witch.
Flora lives in a large house, far away from nosey neighbors, with a few of her descendants. She stays away from non-magic humans as things would probably go badly if they realized how long she has lived.
She opened her door right before I knock. “Come in, Finlay,” she said like she is psychic and knew exactly when I would arrive. I’ve known her for years, foresight isn’t one of her gifts, but she has a flair for the theatrics.
Flora is well over three hundred years old. She has used my blood twice now to extend her life. She now appears to be in her thirties, thanks to my blood running through her veins. Her white hair has returned to blonde, her wrinkles smoothed out, cataracts gone.
“You look well, Flora,” I said politely.
She smiles brightly. “All thanks to you, Finlay. How can I help you now? You were very cryptic on the phone.”
“I apologize for the ambiguous phone call, but I wanted to discuss our business in person. My friend, the one you helped with the shielding spell, has gone missing and I need help finding her,” I said, getting straight to the point of my visit.
“Oh dear, did my spell not work? Was she taken by the reapers?” she asked with her hand over her heart, an unconscious gesture from when she had an older, weaker heart.
“No, it did work, but she was still abducted. We do not know who has taken her or where she is. Can you remove the shielding spell from her, so her reaper can locate her?” I asked hopefully.
She smiled. “Yes, I can remove the spell if you have another drop of her tears. That would be no problem for me.”
My heart sank. “I do not have another tear. Is there no other way to remove the spell?” I asked desperately.
“Oh dear, I am sorry, but there is no other way. I am very sorry that I cannot help you when you have helped me so much,” she said.
I feel like I am failing Charlie. “Can we try a spell to locate her? We must be able to at least try that,” I asked her, practically begging.
She put her hand on my arm. “Of course, Finlay. I just need blood, saliva, skin, or a strand of her hair. It won’t take long. Do you have any of that with you?”
I mentally cursed myself, I should have thought to bring something like that. Her comb is still in the bathroom at Jarrett’s apartment. “I will be right back. Give me two minutes,” I told her before glimmering out.
In a little over two minutes, I am back with a strand of Charlie’s hair. “I got it,” I said, carefully handing the hair to Flora.
She took the hair to a map of the Provisional that included a small section on the side that depicted the Waiting. “It’s a simple spell and I won’t even require payment for it,” she said as she began the spell.
She placed the hair on the map and said “circumspicias.” As soon as the word is spoken, the hair begins to move around the map. When it stills, it is circling the small map of the Waiting.
Flora frowned. “I am sorry, Finlay. I can tell you that she is currently in the Waiting, but I cannot tell you exactly where. Magic like this does not work in the Waiting. I am sorry I cannot be of more help,” she told me while touching my shoulder in condolence.
I shrugged her hand off my shoulder. “Thank you for your time, Flora. I must be going,” I said tersely before glimmering out of her home.
I probably should have been more polite, but I am in no mood for pleasantries. I have failed Charlie. I was supposed to keep her safe and now she has been abducted right from under my nose. If anything happens to her, I will seek to end my long life. I cannot live in a world without her.
I glimmered to C
harlie’s apartment. I just need a minute alone in a place that is filled with her energy. Her apartment has been cleaned up from the mess the vampire made. I don’t know if it was my guy or one of the reaper’s clean up teams that removed the evidence. Either way, the humans won’t have a nasty shock when someone reports Charlie missing.
However, as I walked further into the apartment, I noticed they did too good of a job. They have completely removed any trace that Charlie ever lived here. It had to be the reapers covering up her existence, so the humans don’t ask questions. I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach.
After a minute, I grow angry, very angry. How could they do this? Erase her like she never existed. I glimmered to Jarrett’s apartment and head straight towards Kian. He seems confused at my attitude. Before he knows what is happening, I punch him in the face, and he goes down hard. I jumped on top of him and continued to hit him.
“How could you do that? She exists! She matters! Her life isn’t something that should be erased like it never happened!” I screamed at him before Jarrett pulls me off him.
“What the fuck, Finlay?” Jarrett asked as he separates us.
“He sent a clean-up team to her apartment! It’s like she never lived there!” I explained, still in a rage.
Kian sits up, his face already healing the damage I did to it. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I haven’t called a clean-up team. It didn’t even cross my mind. I’ve been a little preoccupied with other issues!” he said, his voice rising to a loud volume but not quite a yell, towards the end.
“I was just there, and the place contains absolutely no residual evidence of Charlie’s presence. Every trace of her has been removed,” I seethed at him.
Kian looked confused and then angry. “It wasn’t me. I swear on the Creators. It must have been whoever took Charlie and it seems more and more likely that it was my father,” Kian said angrily.
I start to calm down at his assertion of innocence. I believe him. “I overreacted. I apologize,” I said as I watch my knuckles heal the damage they sustained while punching Kian.
Kian stood up and brushed off his clothes. “I understand. I hope you consider us even now for when I ripped your soul out,” he said with a smirk.
I looked at Kian. Is he making a joke? That can’t be!
He starts to laugh at my incredulous look. He walked over and offered his hand. I started to laugh too. I shook his hand. “Yes, Kian, we are most definitely even.”
Jarrett looks back and forth between us and laughed too. “You are both idiots,” he said as he sat on the couch. “I can’t wait to see which male she chooses,” he said, bringing us back to our main focus, Charlie.
I relayed what happened with both the dream walking incident and with the witch. “She is definitely in the Waiting, but the witch wasn’t able to be more specific than that.”
Kian started to pace the room. “That’s not possible. I tried to bring Charlie to the Waiting myself and it wasn’t possible. Unless…unless my father has figured out another way to astralocate a corporeal body between the realms or as king he has added power to achieve what I could not,” he speculated.
Jarrett’s phone rang. “Tell me what you found, Rhett,” he said into the phone. He listened for a minute before ending the phone call. “Rhett located her cell phone signal and has confirmed that it is in the Waiting. He wanted to make sure we understand that that doesn’t necessarily mean she is with her phone, but with Finlay’s report, I think it’s safe to start our search there,” he said before abruptly looking towards the kitchen.
I turned toward the kitchen a second before a female appeared near the kitchen island. It’s like Jarrett could sense her arrival. The female has long vibrant teal hair that is tied high on her head with curls that cascade from the elastic. She has tan skin, large deep-set hazel eyes, and a cupid’s bow mouth that is upturned in an amused smile.
She is wearing dark blue high-waisted shorts with handcuffs hanging off a belt and a light blue crop top with a fake badge on it. It takes me a second to realize she is wearing a sexy cop costume like the ones human females wear on Halloween.
I stood there speechless as she begins to speak. “Brothers…and male I do not know…was anyone going to invite me back to the party?” she said while smiling. She continued before anyone could say anything. “Pfft, like I would ever wait for an invitation. I have come to crash your party, though it looks more like a funeral. What’s going on?” she asked, her gaze turning to me.
Jarrett got to his feet and went to hug the female. “What the hell are you wearing, Em? You do know the human holiday involving costumes is not until October, right?”
“I came to crash your party. Cops crash parties, albeit to shut them down. Shush. You know I love a good theme,” she said.
I feel a stab of jealousy for a moment and then realized their eyes are identical. “Are you related to Kian and Jarrett?” I asked the female.
She answered my question, her eyes never leaving mine. “Yep, I’m Emilia. And I know, I clearly got all of the good looks and brains in the family. It’s not fair, is it?” she said with a laugh.
“I don’t know. Jarrett is awfully sexy. He may have you beat,” I teased playfully.
She smiled at me. “Well since he is my twin, I will take that as a compliment, but I understand if you prefer males, but you might have to get in line for this one,” she said, gesturing to her brother.
Jarrett scowled at our interaction. “Enough, both of you. Finlay stay away from my sister!” he commanded, clearly seeing my attraction to his sister.
“Don’t worry, Jarrett. I am saving myself for you,” I said and blew him a kiss from across the room.
I looked at Kian and he seemed to be both relieved and unhappy with my interactions with his sister.
“Seriously, Emilia is off-limits to you, light fae,” he said, echoing Jarrett’s conviction.
I laughed. “Sir, yes sir!” I said and salute him. “We need to focus on finding Charlie, anyway.”
Emilia frowned. “I thought you already found her,” she said to her brothers, waiting for an explanation.
“She was abducted during the soul reading. We believe our father has her,” Kian explained, looking murderous. His eyebrows are drawn together so hard they form a deep crease, his nostrils are flaring, and his lips are in a tight line.
Emilia’s mouth dropped open. “I have been hearing rumors from other reapers about a female that the king, our father, has been doting on. They were talking about him making her his queen. That couldn’t be your Charlie, could it?
Both of the brothers looked stunned at her words.
Kian spoke first. “Father hates all females. He has always spoken vilely of females and he has never wanted a queen before. The rumors have to be misinformed,” he said, sounding like he hoped by saying the words out loud that it would make it true.
“I don’t know. I have witnessed what she does to males, how she makes them feel. Even I am considering giving up all other females for her and I am clearly in line behind the two of you.” Jarrett said, nodding toward Kian and me.
“Oh, my Creators! I need to meet this female immediately if she can make my slutty brother feel that way,” Emilia said, full of mirth. “Also, I am very interested in seeing if her siren powers also work on females,” she said with a wink.
“I don’t think she is a siren. Reapers are born immune to a siren’s call just like we are born immune to other hybrid tricks like glamour. We wouldn’t be able to do our job if hybrids were able to easily avoid being collected,” Kian said, his voice strong and steady.
“Whatever. Em and I will go back to the Waiting. We will do what we do best, sneak around. You don’t become the best pranksters in the Waiting without the ability to go unnoticed. We will see if we can find Charlie’s location or any clue as to where she is,” Jarrett said.
“Ooh, let’s go! I just bought the perfect outfit for being stealthy,” Emilia said, grabbing Ja
rrett’s hand and disappearing with him.
She seems impulsive. I like it!
“I guess you can stay here, or you can go to wherever it is you go when you aren’t hanging out with Charlie. At least, I am pretty sure you didn’t live with Charlie, right? You weren’t there the day of the shooting or the morning after,” Kian said, his dislike of my relationship with Charlie leaking out again.
“Kian, listen, I see the way you look at Charlie.”
“Damn, Jarrett said the same thing. Am I that obvious?”
“To everyone but Charlie, I think. I watch her. She notices you. She looks for you when she walks in a room, but I can also see that she is confused about you.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Kian asked.
“I am telling you because I love her and would gladly be her lover if she chose me. However, if she chooses you, I won’t stand in your way. Just know that I am not going anywhere. I am always going to be in her life, and I won’t stop playfully flirting with her, but I will stop flirting with intent to sleep with her if she chooses you.”
“This isn’t the time for this conversation. We have to find Charlie, or it won’t even matter.”
“It is the time for this conversation. You are about to go somewhere I can’t go and potentially rescue our girl. That may tilt her feelings in your favor, so you need to know what you are getting yourself into if you want to be with her. If you can’t handle my friendship with her, then don’t cross that line with her.”
Kian ran his hand through his hair. “Thanks for laying that out for me. I will take it into advisement if I decide to pursue Charlie.”
“Shut up, Kian. If you don’t see her worth by now, then you don’t deserve her. Now go find our girl before I lose my shit again,” I said.
“I will keep you updated,” he said before astralocating out of the apartment.
Chapter 17
Alaric
Should I wear the grey tie or purple tie? I think to myself as I compare the two fucking ties for the hundredth time. I am trying to get dressed for dinner with Carina and I have been stuck on the ties for the last twenty minutes. I have never cared so much about a tie before, so why am I so concerned now?
