by Aneesa Price
Anais waited, for him to continue as he made a study of wiping her pink-stained cheeks with a warm, damp cloth. “Anais,” Sylvain said seriously, “he loves you. He loves you as I’ve never seen him love another before and it is that love that is making him push you away.”
“I don’t understand,” Anais responded. “At first he’s all hot and over me, making promises, swearing we’d be together when I was uncertain. Then, when I warm up to him, he cuts me off completely. What the hell is that about?”
Sylvain regarded her as he contemplated his next words. “I think he’s protecting you. The night that Yves and he were ensconced in the library, he recounted their conversation but after you both left, the ghosts added to the tale by recounting their behavior. Based on that and what I know of Conall, which is a lot after all the time we’ve been together, I’d say that he’s wanting to ensure that Yves knows you’re in the dark by actually keeping you in the dark.”
“God,” Anais said with exasperation, “as convoluted as that sounds, it makes perfect sense.” She reiterated his earlier words. “So, what do I do next?”
“That depends,” Sylvain answered.
“Enough of the cryptic shit, Sylvain,” Anais retorted waspishly.
“Do you love him?” he asked.
“Yes,” Anais answered, clearly, firmly.
“Then I’ll help,” Sylvain responded. “He loves you, you know – enough to lose you.”
“Again,” Anais stated, “convoluted but sensible.”
Chapter 24
Anais sat with her mouth agape like the fish that must be swimming below the boat she was in. Conall’s home was as impressive as the fae hollow, yet different; magickal, but not fae magick – the magick of witches. She felt the pull of the magick as it recognized the royal blood of her ancestor. It felt strangely like coming home.
“Welcome to the Enchanted Island,” Niul said, grinning appreciatively at her wonder.
“Mon Dieu!” Anais exclaimed. “I feel like Cinderella going to Prince Charming’s castle or a knight at the first sight of Avalon.”
“You’re neither Cinderella nor a knight,” Niul responded, “maybe a bit of both – warrior and lady.”
“Merci, friend,” Anais acknowledged the compliment.
Anais wanted to ask after Conall but bit her tongue. She’d play the game she’d devised with Sylvain and she would score the goal. To prevent thoughts of him, she focused on her surroundings. It was amazing. The island, invisible from land or see to the human eye, came into view as they’d drifted out on the Irish Sea and Niul said a bit of magick. Then, the magickal mist parted to reveal an island where green vegetation met golden sands. Like in a fairytale, gleaming turrets and towers of marble and jewels denoted the palace as it stood out amongst the idyllic cottages and homes of the witches who chose to populate the island.
Anais found a bevy of beautiful ladies waiting for her, who subsequently escorted her to her room. It was another page out of a fairy tale book – all pastels, gold and silver, with a view to die for and a canopy bed fit for a princess. Feeling exhausted, Anais succumbed to the lure of the Egyptian cotton sheets, her last conscious thought being that he’d remembered that she preferred them.
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She really was Cinderella at the ball. Anais thanked the Goddess that she packed heavily and that the load included her vintage Valentino ball gown. She wore red – vampire red, knowing that the color brought out the red of her eyes, which she didn’t bother to mask. She needed to be accepted for who she was. Her scarlet eyes picked out the red in her rouge noir mascara – so red, it was black. She wore the same red on her lips. On her feet, her Jimmy Choos gave her the added confidence she needed to go into the social battle of winning the witches over.
She met Conall’s mother and was charmed, she laughed and cajoled with Conall’s sisters and was warmly and openly engaged by a number of witches who were invited to the ball held in her honor. She’d done this while avoiding Conall as he avoided her, fighting the urge to rip the necks of the female witches who continuously swarmed around him. Things became tricky though when she was ushered onto the dance floor by an honest-to-goodness footman to dance the opening waltz with Conall.
The polite conversation they made killed her while they danced but Anais fought against her irritation at the situation, her anger at his disregard and hurt at their foolishness. She put on a picture perfect face and unwittingly looked like a queen.
Anais replayed the night’s events in her mind as she slipped off her clothes and sank into the deep, warm slipper bath. She willed herself to soak up the warmth, smell the fragrance of the water and closed her eyes.
She shrieked when she felt masculine hands on her.
“Damn it, Conall,” Anais shouted at him, still handsome and debonair in his tux, his bow-tie and top shirt button enticingly undone. “What the hell are you doing? Come to think of it, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I haven’t seen you in a week, what the hell do you think I’m doing?” he shouted back.
“Oh, no luck with the other women downstairs, huh?” Anais bit out.
“What other women?” Conall’s was still shouting, his eyes narrowed at her. “I told you that you’re the only one for me. I told you that there are no other women. Did you not hear me?”
“Are you nuts?” Anais forgot the carefully laid out plan she and Sylvain had come up with and just felt. For the first time in her life, she felt and it was pissed off. “You don’t frikkin’ speak to me in days, you ignore me when I get here, treat me like a fucking acquaintance when we dance – the one time we danced. You’ve flirted with scores of other women and then you stand there and tell me you’re faithful. Do I look like a moron?” Anais was screaming, not caring if the whole darn Enchanted Island heard her.
“I’m nuts?” Conall shouted back. “You go all business-like on me when I say I have to leave for Ireland and then act like a cold fish when you get here.”
“What do you expect?” Anais screeched. “I hadn’t heard from you for a week!”
“I didn’t call because I was protecting you! I thought I’d explained that but you obviously weren’t listening! I even masked our blood bond so that Yves wouldn’t see. Until we put up wards at the plantation, we can’t risk that Yves and Ayden aren’t connected and that they won’t pick up on what’s really going on with you and I!”
“Oh,” Anais responded, winded by how stupid she’d been. “God, I’m an idiot! I thought you’d broken up with me.”
“You’re not an idiot,” Conall explained, “I should’ve found a way to make sure you knew.”
“Yes,” Anais acknowledged, “that was pretty idiotic too.”
“I guess I’m a fool in love,” Conall grinned. “Goddess, if this is what being away from each other for a week does, I don’t want to know what a longer separation will do.”
Anais returned the grin, “I don’t think I want to find out too.”
“I must admit though,” Conall said, “it’s refreshing to see you jealous for a change.”
Anais huffed at that and he laughed, climbing into the bath with her, his clothes having magickally disappeared.
“Goddess,” Conall stated earnestly, “I’ve missed you.” He pulled her back into his arms so that her back rested against his chest. He let the shield down and allowed their blood bond to surface. Both of them gasped at that.
“My God, Conall,” Anais stated in wonder, “you do love me.”
“I guess I’m not the only fool in love then,” he responded. “I think I’ve both told and shown you often enough that you didn’t need to doubt my love.”
“I guess I wasn’t ready yet to accept it,” she responded. “Being without you this week, not knowing if I was part of your life still, was the most painful, heart-breaking experience of my long life. I realized that I can’t bear to be without you, Conall. You’ve become part of me. Even before the blood bond, I realized that I loved you but I was scare
d to give into it; to take the risk.”
“I’m sorry for causing you pain, love,” Conall said, kissing her head. Anais wiggled up, offering her neck for the ministrations of his lips. “No,” Conall smiled, “if you do that, we won’t have this conversation and it’s needed.”
In the next instant, Anais found herself in a white, luxurious night-gown, in front of Conall, who wore a sinfully snug black pants and kneeling in front of her. The room was blazing with candles, exuding the scent of the many roses placed on every available space but Anais didn’t notice it. She only saw the man in front of her, looking up at her with complete adoration. She let their connection flood her senses and staggered back onto the bed with the force of his love. It was time to let go, she thought, and allowed him to feel the love she returned in equal measure.
The impact of her love had Conall stumbling on the bed next to her. “If anything,” Conall stated, “the past week has taught me not to take things for granted. Not to assume that the love I feel for you and from you through the blood bond means that we’re vowed to each other.”
Conall cleared his throat as he sat next to her on the bed, taking her hand in his. “Anais, I love you with all my heart. My very being, my existence, is dependent on our love to thrive. The path in front of us is a hard one, filled with the challenges that the Goddess spoke of. With you, I know we can overcome any obstacles. Without you, I’ll try but there’ll be no true victory. My hope is that when we finish this mission, that we can rule the witch community together – from here and from Papillion. That we’ll have a family –the one we both already have in our friends and your sisters. My hope is that we’ll live, laugh and love together for as long as we both live.”
Conall wiped the pink-stained tears that slid down her cheeks. “My hope is that I go to sleep and wake up every morning to my favorite color – the red of your eyes. Anais, will you marry me? Will you be my wife, my partner?”
Anais was sobbing into his arms and despite the love for him he felt emanating from her through their blood bond, he worried that what he said had not been enough to dispel her fear. “Anais,” he pleaded, “please put me out of my misery.”
“Yes,” Anais got out in between sobs. “Yes, Conall, you have me love, for now and forever.”
Neither of them could speak a further word and none were needed. Despite the battles that lay before them and their friends, they gave themselves to the moment and to their love, unbarred for the first time, and made love to seal the deal.
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THE END…of this part of the Coffin Girls’ tale
About the author:
Aneesa Price lives in South Africa with her husband and two daughters. Her romance with her husband is a special tale on its own, colored by the challenges they faced early in their relationship in a newly democratic South Africa. They now live out their own romantic fairy-tale with their daughters and a menagerie of pets. Aneesa has worked as a therapist and currently holds the position of a Senior Change Consultant in the financial industry. She hopes to make another career change to that of a full-time writer, with the help of happy readers that enjoy her books.
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