by Candra Kylar
We went back to Elizar’s car and Braeden had met us there. He had his arms crossed and was listening to Max going on about something. Two introverts formed a nice friendship. Rynna had stayed behind and I could tell that it bothered him. I would ask Ethan to be extra kind to him for the next few days until he got back to work. We would all have to do that. The news had left and Dimples gave a long description of the events, as if she were reciting her favorite comic book, and embellished quite a lot of the big showdown with Voldini. She deserved to be seen as the hero. The police had already went through the circus owner’s office and confiscated the Elder Fae artifacts. I knew the Council, with the direction of my father, would have his hands on them soon enough.
“Is Dimples riding with Frankie and Holly?”, Braeden asked.
Max looked sheepish, “I promise that I won’t be useless on the territory. I have some carpentry skills and did a lot of the building and repairs. My Wolf isn’t reliable for guard patrols as he lives for the hunt. I can help, though.”
Braeden slapped his shoulder, “We’ll figure it out. For now, let’s eat and relax. Everyone has a place in Crestwood’s territory as long as the Stedwell pack is there.”
“It’s a pretty great pack to be in”, I concurred.
“Does this mean that I’d be part of the great Stedwell pack with such a vocal leader that chases off journalists like you, Braeden?”, Elizar teased him.
Braeden grunted, “Yeah, technically. If you’re good with Abbie and treat her right, then I’m good with you.”
“I think we can agree to that”, Elizar bounced back to him.
So many people cared about me, ones that I had never known just a year ago before my birthday had hit, ones that would die for me if it came to it. That was the kind of progress that I never expected. It was the kind of life that I had wanted to live but had always felt was out of reach. My father ingrained so many things inside of me that I had to let go of. My mistrust, my worry that one day I just wouldn’t be enough, was the first thing. I left it there with the circus that would never perform again. After wishing on a star for Rynna and the others to find safety wherever they went, I got in the car to head home. Elizar closed my door and ran over to the driver’s seat. How could I break the ice about the bond I had with him and expect it to end happily? I thought about nothing else on the way home.
Twenty
“The ending didn’t hold up to seeing it performed in front of me”, Dimples told the nail technician that artfully painted tiny pink flowers on her stone nails, “and poor Abbie was more flat chested than the lead. Still, with her overacting and persistent accusations against the heiress of our version, it was a sight to see. I even bought Abbie a push up bra for her next stage show!”
I wanted to hide away in my seat next to her, “Thank you for explaining that to the entire salon, Dimples. So good to have you back to your usual quips.”
“Don’t be ashamed of what you’ve got. You’re starting to dress like an adult instead of a stripper and you can really outsmart the best sleazeballs in Iverli. That’s something you can take to the bank. I wasn’t condoning prostitution. You’ve got that rich Duke of a boyfriend, after all”, Dimples gushed.
“So you’re Team Elizar with no problem?”
“He had to grow on me. I bet he had to grow on everyone! I love him in his leather pants and flashy jacket telling off some weak caster to protect his lady, makes quite a sight, but I worried if he was right for you. Sure looks like he is”, she then joyously admired her other hand.
“I know he is. I can feel it with every part of me. My wolf naturally guides me to his place whenever I’m on a midnight run and I feel the draw of it. I just don’t know how to tell him any of it”, I said while ignoring the progress on my own nails.
“If he loves you for who you are, which he should if he knows what’s good for him, then he’ll know that being bonded to you for life is totally a good thing!”, Dimples inspired with her encouraging words.
I squeezed her little hand, “I’m glad to have you back.”
“If only your sister wasn’t being a major grump over there with her stylist. What’s the big deal about giving her highlights? At least she wouldn’t look dead.”
I came to her defense, “Amaris wanted to spend more time getting to know me. The spa was my suggestion and I thought she’d take to it better.”
“If that hair dresser keeps pushing the foil”, Dimples spoke with diffidence in her tone, “then there may be a murder and we’d have to drive to snotty Hillsleigh to get our nails done.”
“I’ll go intervene”, I pushed myself up from the chair, “you start thinking about the next color of your dress.”
“I may choose rhinestones and animal prints to shake it up a bit!”
I felt the warmth of her words wash over me, “Don’t ever change, Miss Elemental.”
“So long as I’ve got you, I’ll never want to”, she insisted.
I went to my sister with the intention of diplomacy. The highlights would brighten up her image but she wasn’t having any of it. Even her nails were manicured with a plum polish so dark that it could only be recognized apart from pitch black in the sunlight. It did have a way of complimenting the fishnets that went up her legs. She wasn’t having the best of times here but I intervened to get strands of purple placed in her hair instead. Amaris was appeased by this bargain and the hair dresser, with little choice to protest on the matter, got to work. I could be the younger sister that got my older one to loosen up. It was a task worth working on.
“The purple was a nice touch”, Amaris pulled her hand through long strands of her hair, “makes me more camera ready. I’m doing this thing with a budding journalist who wants a smear piece on the Council. It has adequate public funding and may stick it to our father.”
“Be careful rattling his nest”, I said anxiously.
“It will keep him away from you and entertain me to watch him struggle through it. I’m looking out for you and our mother, Abbie. It’s what an older sister does.”
I tucked a purple strand behind her ear, “I’m glad that I have one.”
Moving forward had been a process back in Crestwood. Max had gotten a job doing construction to expand the territory and had enough gold set aside from his circus days to buy Derrick’s old house that had been abandoned for a year. He had a place in the territory, a roof over his head, a steady job and a pack to belong to. Liam had become more optimistic because of Ethan and helped Braeden keep Max’s Wolf identity in line. The natural formation of a shifted pack would come in time. I was happy to be part of it now. Rynna had not reached out to Braeden or myself but I knew, in some way that couldn’t be fully articulated, that she was finding her own way. I hoped it would lead her back to Braeden.
Frankie gave Dimples an earful and made her hang around the store to catch up. Dimples swished tea leaves, joked with customers about the hotness level of the men on romance novel covers, and chased old Boots the cat around the store. Frankie could pretend to be sour the whole time but I could see how relieved she was to have Dimples back home. A hole had been filled and a mystery solved. Dimples planned to find every book available about the Elementals and learn the story about who she was. Frankie had a long list of ordered volumes and my mother, who had given in and taught a “Manners of the Cultured Youth” class at the learning annex in the next town, helped when she could. New bridges were built where they hadn’t been before.
Cecilia tried to whine to Trent at the police station that I had mistreated her but, after reading off her list of current charges and reminding her about her probation status with the Council, she dropped it all. I couldn’t explain the darkness that had taken over me that day. I knew it belonged to someone else, drawn in by the world my father wanted to build for me, the kind of caster that I never wanted to be. His hold on me would end one day. Amaris had promised me that. Cecilia didn’t see darkness or light. She only saw her survival and ways to get ahead with being on top.
I remembered her words to me as she left the police station.
“I hope that I never see you again.”
There would be no bridges between us. Cecilia Blaine was a mystery that I could never solve. I went back to my apartment and felt the emptiness of it there. Ian spent more time with me but made social calls throughout Iverli. He would pop up in the vet clinic and get sworn at by Braeden, or dance on the rafters of Haze on a Saturday night. When he got bored with the pace, he would veg on the couch with me and watch sappy movies. I was in an emotional rut and felt that thinking about it would only sink me further into the sand. I didn’t hear from Rynna or Tippler. The zoo reached out through my e-mail with some photos of the seamuck and catarachnid in a vibrant habitat. Alexei sent me an old fashioned letter detailing the coverage he received in the media and an offer from a museum curator for a job. He now lived at the top floor of the museum and enjoyed being a tour guide.
I had given up hope on seeing Tippler again and toyed with his little cowboy hat once in a while. My alcohol supply remained untouched and I tossed out the smutty magazines he hid under my couch cushions. He was with Rynna exploring Iverli. I couldn’t be mad at him for following his heart. Mine had brought me continually back to the circus when it looked like I was fighting a losing battle. Rynna had just as much hope as Dimples did and that amplified with Tippler around. He was uncouth at the best of times but had a charm that shined through. I would miss having him as my familiar. My pity party was put on hold by a series of scratches on my door. I opened it and caught my breath.
“Rynna’s a great gal but she’s mighty boring. Wouldn’t let me judge a mud wrestling contest at a bar on the other side of Iverli. You shoulda seen the ladies and how little they had on”, Tippler hopped along, “some days I miss being a handsome human with some big ol’ cowboy boots. But only some days.”
“What really happened?”, I raised a brow.
“She isn’t satisfied anymore and keeps porting to new places. Iverli is big and a guy can get real tired going back and forth. Thought we would never settle until she found a little studio to rent in the West Coast. It’s kinda sad lookin’ but it gives her a place to paint and sell her canvases of past visions”, he filled me in.
“I’m glad that she found her place.”
“She talked about Braeden an awful lot which, for the record, I could dig. He’s an awesome guy and would make one hell of a cowboy. I think we’ll see her here pretty soon”, Tippler sniffed, “and I’m bettin’ all my chips that she might just like stayin’, too.”
“And you came back here. Just like you said.”
He pawed at the hardwood in the hallway, “Yeah well, I did make a promise and a guy like me follows through. It was a real tornado bein’ yer familiar but I liked the action. Made me want to drink less. Ya have this way with people that I like.”
I held the door open, “Come on in. Are you staying for a while?”
“Was hopin’ this could be my forever home. It’s real whiney of me to pull up with a sob story, but I need a permanent place to rest my paws. Ya saved me from that blonde bimbo with a cold streak, I mauled Voldini for yer protection, we make a good team. Think that’ll work?”
I squatted down to ruffle the top of his head, “I think that’ll work.”
My place felt less empty now with him and it was hilarious to see my mother cringe at his return to Crestwood. He wouldn’t miss a chance to shock her. Everything was coming into order. Ethan and Braeden were as close as brothers again, Liam had calmed down and got back to making money as a mechanic, and the school semester continued on. Soon, the teen couple that I had helped would graduate and discover their own place in the world. They would have a huge family to talk about it with. I knew that they wouldn’t be afraid to take that step together. It was more than I could say for myself. A lack of sleep and restless days at my office booking some smaller cases made the decision for me. I went after work to Elizar’s lavish home and knocked on his door.
What are you most afraid of, Abbie?
Him wanting nothing to do with me if he realizes monogamy is a forever thing for me.
What are you most afraid of, Abbie?
That he would get bored of me and just leave in the end.
Wha are you the most afraid of, Abbie?
That I’ve grown so much only for it all to feel like nothing when he breaks my heart.
There were so many reasons for me to run in the other direction and halt any progress further. I could brush it off with a jump into his arms and a blissful tryst in his bedroom. He could get badly distracted by my kisses. I could fall endlessly into what I had now and hope that the topic would never come up. Perhaps it never would. We could stay at this balanced level of the scale and never tip in a certain direction. Elizar Andros and Abigail Everlaine standing their ground exactly where they were. I was afraid of many things that awaited me in Iverli – the vicious resilience of my father who schemed to acquire forbidden things, the possibility of the Elder Fae waking from their slumber to destroy our world, that darkness inside one day conquering me – but Elizar’s rejection felt like the worst of it. He opened the door before I could reconsider.
“Do you need a shot of whiskey? You’re pale and, even though you always look beautiful despite the situation, I can tell that something’s bothering you. Family trouble? Pack issues?”, he pulled me inside.
I denied the whiskey but not the problem, “I need to tell you something but I know it will hurt.”
“Me or you?”
“It could hurt the both of us”, I answered.
He brought me over to a plush loveseat and sat down next to me, “Tell me. I don’t ever want to hide anything from you or make you feel like you have to do that with me. We’re past that.”
Elizar had the kind of shocking blue eyes that pulled me in. I wanted to dive into his being and read his answer before the confession came from my lips. My hands started to shake as the shame of what I could imply actualized. He would “belong” to me in some primal way, a connection that the wolf side of me would be territorial about, a dedication that he may never want. I had nothing but trouble to lay at his feet. Then his look softened and his hands brought heat into mine. A little magic to comfort my trembling and a plea for the truth. He deserved nothing less.
“Werewolves go through a bond when they find the one who will be the perfect mate to suit them. It’s overwhelming and confusing at first but becomes more clear when both sides of ourselves come to accept it. The bond lasts for a lifetime and, once bonded, it’s said that the two will always be connected to each other. I don’t think the divorce rate is very high in werewolf territory”, I faltered before pressing on, “I shouldn’t joke about it. It’s serious.”
“And you’re afraid that you’ll have this bond with someone and have to leave me one day?”, Elizar assumed gently.
I shut my eyes tight, “I’ve already bonded to someone. You.”
My eyes opened to see sunlight fall through the room from small openings in the curtain. Elizar was illuminated like a statue posed in deep thought. His brows lowered and he mulled over the whole thing. What was I most afraid of? This moment of waiting that would feel like forever. Hearing that a person belonged to another in a lifelong commitment of sorts was a lot to take in. He may need time to accept and understand it. Time to decide that it wouldn’t work for him and to move on from me. I’d throw myself into my work and try to forget that I truly knew what it was like to love someone with all of my being for just a short time. It took one year for the hybrid investigator to find her soulmate. It could take one sentence to end it all.
Elizar sat back in his chair, “Interesting turn of events. Changes some things.”
A sharp stab of pain pierced through my voice, “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. It would mean this permanent life of monogamy so long as you were with me. Total dedication, knowing that I would always be tied to you. They say, at some point in the relationship, the wolf and mate can sense
each other when they draw near. That it’s beautiful.”
“Nothing could be more beautiful than you. Not even a psychic upgrade”, Elizar disagreed.
“You probably need time to process this and decide if you want to call it quits or not.”
“I don’t need any time to make a decision”, he casually drawled out.
I pressed back into my side of the loveseat, “Rip the bandage off quickly. I’m used to the whole bandage thing at this point.”
Elizar pulled me back to him and across my lap. His lips met mine and I could feel the burning need of his love emanate into me. Some magic came naturally and didn’t need a spell. My bond to him deepened just a bit more. That would make a rejection harder to endure. I didn’t pull away from his kiss, not knowing if it would be our last, and wanted to see this moment through to the end. I was lifted up in a swift motion and taken down the hall to his master bedroom. This was one hell of a goodbye. All of my fears waited back in the sitting room to return for them. I could leave them there and have this last night with Elizar. He carried me with such deep reverence and careful attention. We stopped outside of his bedroom door.
“Is there some kind of explosive sex ritual to follow through with?”, he inquired with a glint of that slyness in his eyes.
“What do you mean?”, I asked while searching his face.
His lips embraced mine before he whispered his answer, “I accept the bond, Abigail Everlaine. I’m yours for the long of it. A monogamous, successful, warlock who is madly in love with a woman that has shown me a new reason to live happily ever after. Until you, I was missing out.”
“You don’t have to do this if you aren’t sure”, I quickly let leave my lips, “I don’t want you to feel burdened or pressured.”
He set me down and squared my shoulders, “I don’t do anything because I feel indecisive or pressured. You certainly have never been a burden to me. Between us, alone here in this big place that feels empty without you, I was in love the moment you came to ask me for help using chrono magic. I knew I’d end up following you wherever.”
