“Oh sorry—Skye…” I said nervously. Great, I hadn’t even made it in the door yet, and I was already going down in flames.
Skye took my arm and led me into the house. “Don’t mind Andraya, she’s harmless—mostly.” Mostly being the operative word.
I looked around the foyer, the fact that they even had one said a lot. I had thought the outside of the house was impressive, but it didn’t even hold a candle to the inside. An elaborate glass-topped table with a vase and a stack of mail stood in the middle of the room on a large pale blue oriental rug. Above the table was an impressive looking chandelier like one you would find in an old opera house. Intricate Victorian woodwork lined the bottom and tops of the Impressionist sky blue colored walls. They were the ornate wood carvings one only found in high-class, turn of the century homes.
I was staring at it—a little awestruck—when I heard a soft purring. I looked down to see a blueish-purple gray cat rubbing against my leg.
“Oh, Denaya likes you!” Skye said in an excited voice.
“Who?” I asked, looking around.
“The cat,” Skye answered pointing at the gray cat currently looking up at me with curious golden eyes. “If the cat likes you, you’re golden.”
“Good to know,” I said mostly to myself as I reached down to pet the cat.
“So do you normally do stupid things like run off and marry random strangers, or did my little sister drag you into this mess?” Andraya asked as she glared at me with disdain.
I stood up and just looked at her. There was really no answer I could give her that wouldn’t come back to fuck me over later. Sure, Nualla had dragged me off to Vegas, but I had never for one second blamed her for anything that had happened.
“What Patrick does or doesn’t do is none of your business, Andraya,” Skye said, crossing her arms under her chest.
“Sure it is. We already have our hands full with her poor judgment, we don’t need another one compounding the problem.”
“Would the two of you stop picking on my son-in-law? He looks about to faint,” a deep male voice said from the stairs.
I looked up to see a tall gentleman walking down the stairs, book in hand. He had shoulder-length wavy pale blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. His hair was a lot like Skye’s and it was very clear that they were related. He also had the same unusual eyes as Nualla and Skye, periwinkle-blue with silvery flecks in them like moonlight reflecting back at you in the night.
Well this was a turn for the better; I had been expecting him to say something like, “Here’s that jerk my daughter ran off and married.” I swallowed hard; now to make a good impression. “Hello, Mr. Galathea, I’m Patrick Connolly, your daughter’s—” somehow I couldn’t get the word out.
“Husband,” he finished for me, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, I know, and please Patrick, call me Alex. You are part of this family now. We needn’t be so formal.”
My brain screeched to a halt. Had he actually just said I was part of his family?
Alex placed his book on the glass entry table and reached down to scoop up the dainty little Denaya. He looked up into my eyes, and I got the feeling he was doing more than just looking. It felt more like he was reading my soul.
“It’s good that Denaya likes you. You see, animals are not fooled by our illusions, only humans are. Dogs tend to not like us. But cats, cats see past what you are to who you are. They judge you by this,” Alex said, pointing to his heart. “Nothing fools a cat.”
“I don’t have any pets,” I said like an idiot. “I mean I like animals—I just don’t have any.”
Andraya didn’t even try to stifle her snort as she slunk away into the next room.
I heard the sound of a door closing and looked past Alex; a lady with long straight black hair came down the hall looking at some papers. When she got closer to us, she stopped and looked up, a little startled to see us standing there in front of her.
“Ah Loraly,” Alex said to her before turning to me. “Patrick this is my wife Loraly, Nualla and Andraya’s mother.”
Loraly smiled the kindest smile I had ever seen, and said in a soft friendly voice, “Hello Patrick, it’s very nice to finally meet you.” Her eyes were the same dark blue as Andraya’s, but without the cold stare behind them.
“It’s very nice to meet you too,” I said, smiling back at her in a way I hoped looked friendly.
“Is that for Nualla?” Loraly asked, pointing at the corsage box in my hand. “It’s really lovely,” she said, moving closer for a better look.
I looked down at it myself. “Yeah, I got it to match her eyes.” Then I realized what I had said and nervously clarified, “Um, because I didn’t know what color to get since she didn’t tell me what color her dress was.” I ran my free hand through my hair; I had only been here a few minutes an already I was losing it.
“This must all be very strange to you,” Loraly said sympathetically.
Truthfully? Yes, but to be completely honest, it was no weirder than the plots of some of the anime I had seen. Maybe that was the only reason I was keeping it together, because I was more willing to accept weird. “Um—yeah a little, but I’m okay.”
“Really?” Andraya said dubiously from the other room; apparently she had been keeping up with the conversation while only pretending not to be interested. “Because you look like you’re about to keel over any second now.”
“Andraya, don’t be rude,” Loraly scolded her eldest daughter before turning back to me. “Patrick, be honest, do we frighten you?”
I wanted to lie at this moment more than any other time in my life, but I just couldn’t. “Yeah, actually I’m terrified,” I admitted reluctantly.
Loraly’s shoulders dropped, and she got a hurt expression in her eyes. She looked about to burst into tears at any moment.
Oh, this is bad. This is really, really bad.
There was a scuffling behind us, and I turned to see Shawn coming through the door. He shut the door behind him and looked up at me, a smile on his face. “Patrick, buddy, how did you beat me here?”
So we were buddies now? Um…cool?
The smile disappeared from Shawn’s face as he looked past me. “Loraly, what’s wrong?”
“Patrick thinks we’re scary,” she almost sobbed.
Oh fuck, that’s why she had looked so upset. She probably thought I thought they were monsters. “Oh no, that’s not what I meant at all!” I said quickly. “It’s not because of what you are. That doesn’t bother me in the least, it’s kinda cool really. It’s just, you’re her parents and well, I was terrified to death you would hate me.”
Shawn, Alex, and Skye all bust up laughing, Loraly looked momentarily confused, and Andraya mumbled something unpleasant.
“Well that clears things right up there, doesn’t it,” Skye said, poking me in the ribs. “He’s only terrified of what every other teenage boy is; his girl’s parents.”
Loraly looked at me questioningly, and I nodded. The smile returned to her face, and she took a few steps toward me. In one swift movement she swept me up into a hug, the papers in her hands fluttering to the ground forgotten. “Please don’t be frightened Patrick, I assure you we like you very much.”
I just stood there more than a little stunned. My own parents didn’t normally hug me like this, and these people had never even met me before.
“Loraly, I think you’re just making the poor boy even more nervous,” Skye said with a playful smile.
“Oh, sorry,” Loraly said apologetically as she released me.
Alex looked at his watch. “Well you all really should be going soon. Saturday traffic is really awful, even this time of year.” He looked back up at me. “We will have more time to talk when Nualla brings you to The Embassy tomorrow.”
“Embassy?” I asked questioningly
.
“You have to go before the Grand Council tomorrow, didn’t she tell you?” he said, looking confused.
“Oh right, she did.” Yeah right around the time she was stunning me with her eyes and revealing her secrets. I had a really good memory; I had just been a little—distracted.
“I should really get going too, if I don’t the club will already be swamped. But I’m not going anywhere without seeing those girls all dressed up,” Skye stated before she walked over to the stairs and pushed the intercom on the wall. “You know it’s rude to leave them standing down here too long, girls.”
“He’s here already?” Nualla yelled back into the intercom. I wondered how many floors up she had to be to have not heard our conversation.
Skye pushed the button again. “Yes, he’s been here for fifteen minutes already, and at this point you guys are making me late too, so get your butts down here!” Skye released the button and looked over at us with a smirk. “Three…two…”
Right on cue, Nikki ran gracefully but whimsically down the stairs and into Shawn’s widespread arms. He caught her as if she weighed nothing and spun her around. When he placed her on her feet again he smiled down at her now white blond and red streaked hair.
“Like it? It matches my dress better than the blue,” she said with a grin as she turned her head back and forth.
“Yes…like…a lot,” Shawn said rather stupidly. I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one here that seemed to be at a loss for words.
“You didn’t say anything about my dress, Shawn,” Nikki said with a slight pout.
Shawn looked slightly like a deer in highlights, and I was pretty sure what he was thinking about Nikki was not fit for public consumption.
I was trying not to laugh at the expression on his face when I heard the faintest of steps coming down the stairs. I looked up to see Nualla and nearly fell over. She didn’t look like she was going to a high school dance; in fact, she looked more like she was going to a red carpet gala in the 1930’s. The light satin fabric of her dress hugged every curve of her body and was nearly the color of the blue streaks in her hair. The top of the dress plunged dangerously low, and I couldn’t help but gape at her. My imagination in no way compared to the girl in front of me. Not even close. And the realization that I was actually married to this dark-haired beauty made it very hard to breathe.
Nualla came to a stop just in front of me. “So…” she said, looking up at me through her lashes. “Do you like the dress?”
“You—you’re gorgeous!” I blurted out.
“Aren’t you glad I didn’t show it to you at the mall?” Nualla asked with a slightly teasing smile.
Honestly even if she had shown it to me, I would still be standing here staring at her like a complete idiot. But I had enough sense to go with the easy answer. “Yes.”
“I thought so,” she said with a broad smile. Then she looked over my shoulder and folded her arms under her chest. “Has my family been playing nice?”
“The cat likes me,” I unthinkingly blurted out again as I jerked my thumb toward Denaya the cat. And then I wanted to kick myself because I sounded like an idiot.
Nualla smiled. “Well that’s good to know, she’s hated all the others.”
20
Who Needs Self-control?
Saturday, January 21st
PATRICK
We stood in front of the backdrop, a picturesque painting of the Golden Gate Bridge rising out of nighttime fog. Jokingly I leaned in to whisper in Nualla’s ear. “So will they show up in the picture?”
“Nope,” she replied with a smirk.
“Really, why?” I asked, looking at her.
“Give us some credit Patrick, we thought of that a long time ago,” she answered, rolling her eyes.
“So is it that I can’t see them in the picture, or is it the camera?”
“The camera,” Nualla answered, looking back at the photographer.
“Interesting.”
“Okay kids, smile,” the photographer said before blinding us with a flash.
When my eyes had stopped seeing bright circles, Nualla and I shuffled out of the way so the next couple could get their photo taken. I looked at Nualla and finally noticed something although I had been staring at her all night. “You’re not wearing your necklace.” She was wearing a necklace, but not the familiar Daenarian pendant or wedding ring. This necklace looked like a strand of captured stars, delicate and dangling just above her dress.
“Yeah it didn’t really go with the dress,” she stated, then stopped and turned to me. “Oh! I hope you don’t mind that I’m not wearing my ring, it’s just—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a reassuring smile. “It’s just I don’t think I have ever seen you without that pendant.”
“You’ve seen me without pretty much everything else,” she said with a crooked smile.
“But if I can’t remember, does it really count?” I asked jokingly.
“Next time, I’ll make sure you remember,” she said as she pressed up close against me.
I was knocked momentarily senseless by the images in my head.
“Did I break you?” she asked teasingly.
“Maybe just a little.”
With a smile, she took my hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
We swayed back and forth in the dark room, pressed up close to each other. My heart was racing; this felt way too close to last Friday, and I quickly looked away from Nualla’s eyes and caught sight of Nikki and Shawn. They were dancing together, but not quite as close as they had been at the club. “So what’s up with those two?” I asked, gesturing with my head.
Nualla followed my gaze. “Oh Nikki and Shawn?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re either going to stay best friends forever, or one day one of them is going to make a move. The three of us have been friends since we were in diapers. Shawn’s dad is my dad’s best friend.”
“Ah,” I said, still watching them.
“He’s also on the Grand Council.”
I looked back at Nualla. “The people we have to talk to tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“Fun times,” I said with an uneasy smile.
I looked back out at the other dancers, still avoiding her eyes. They were hard enough to withstand in the daylight, but here in a dark warm room, they were just a little too much for me to safely resist.
“Why are you acting guarded all of a sudden?”
Though I knew it was going to be a bad idea, I looked at her anyways. “Because being with you gets me in a lot of trouble.”
Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You um…make me do and say things I normally wouldn’t,” I admitted nervously.
“You make it sound like I’m corrupting you or something,” she said with a sly smile as she pressed closer to me.
I stared at her with unfocused eyes as I lost the fight with my self-control. “Oh please, please corrupt me,” I practically purred.
She looked at me briefly before bursting into laughter.
I swallowed hard, a blush spreading across my cheeks. “See what I mean, you turn my brain to mush.”
“Geez, if I knew I could get that kind of reaction I might have done it more,” she said, still laughing.
“You like teasing me, don’t you?”
“Do you mind?” she asked with a playful smile.
No, please keep doing whatever you like to me. I’m yours completely, totally, forever. “No I…”
“Kinda like it?”
“Yeah…” I answered breathlessly.
Nualla slid her hands from my shoulders to behind my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. I had been carefully controlling myself all night
, but somehow the minute her lips touched mine that control always went out the window. I pulled her closer, pressing her body as tightly against mine as I possibly could. Her kisses pressed against my lips, hungry, needy, like she couldn’t get close enough. I kissed her back meeting her need and surpassing it with my own. Normally I would be analyzing this; worrying about it in my head. But this time I couldn’t help myself; my brain felt numb with pleasure much like being drunk. I parted my lips as I felt hers do the same. She flicked her tongue just inside my mouth, and I let out a soft uncontrollable moan. Oh god I wanted her, wanted her more badly than I had ever wanted anything.
I finally opened my eyes when I realized the whistles I was hearing were not part of the music. I jerked away from Nualla when it occurred to me where we were. That we were not alone, but in fact in the center of a crowded dance floor. Flushed, breathing heavy, and highly embarrassed, I looked around at my classmates.
“Is it hot in here? It’s really hot in here, let’s get some air,” I said unsteadily as I pulled Nualla from the dance floor.
I finally stopped running when we were in the cool, brightly lit hallway far from the loud music and tempting darkness.
“Patrick, what’s wrong?” Nualla asked, looking a little startled.
I took a few deep breaths. “Self-control is apparently one of the attributes I just don’t have.”
“What?”
I looked at her, still breathing heavy. “Every time I kiss you I start to forget where I am and…I’m afraid any day now I’m going to go a little too far.”
“Oh.” She looked away and then looked back at me. “Self-control has never been something I had much of either,” she admitted conspiratorially as she leaned in. Every time she leaned forward the neckline of her dress dipped lower revealing more of her bare skin, if that was even possible. Her necklace glittered in the harsh lights just above her cleavage daring me to come closer.
Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One) Page 13
