by Jaymin Eve
Finally, as I puffed in and out, the burning started to cease, before dying off altogether. I sucked in a few more ragged breaths, the air drifting over my raw throat. It hurt. I’d screamed myself hoarse.
The pain continued to ease, until finally it was completely gone. My eyelids flew up, and I dropped my chin to see my hand.
What the hell?
The stone had turned itself into a piece of jewelry. A shiny, blue bracelet curved in thin lines around my wrist and up my arm a little way. Okay, it was beautiful, but definitely not worth the pain.
I flexed my hand. Despite the stiff, unbreakable feel to the cuff, it shifted easily. It didn’t limit my movements, which was a relief.
Brace’s arms closed around me as the energy disappeared altogether. I sank into his familiar comfort, just for a brief moment. No matter how strong I was or would become, he would always be my rock. My true strength. His body was steady, although his arms shook a little as they held me tight. He wasn’t speaking, but something told me he was too stressed or pissed off to open his mouth.
Eventually I pulled away … well, as far away as Brace would let me. Which meant I was pressed firmly against his hard chest. I turned my head to the right and found Josian hovering close to my side. I held up the bracelet.
“Is this what generally happens during a transformation?”
He stared down at the sparkle of blue flashing up from my wrist. He shook his head slowly, once and then again.
“No.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t know what this is, but it appears your laluna doesn’t want to be separated from you.”
The familiar, comforting warmth I’d always felt around the laluna was flowing through me. Along with power. My Walker side started to hum with contentment. If there was something my energy well inside loved it was power, and the laluna was pure undiluted energy.
Lucy broke the tension. “Okay, well let’s add that to this week’s weird.”
I snorted out my laughter. “Truthfully, besides the pain, which I could definitely have done without, the rest doesn’t even feel that weird. I’m starting to just expect these kinds of things.”
“Word!” Lucy, Talina, Fury and Ria all exclaimed.
Delane was the only one not quite up to our Earth slang yet.
I couldn’t help the full-bellied laughter that followed. In some moments, like right then, when my arm was no longer charring off my body and I could look at the faces of my loved ones, I knew how lucky I was.
Even if we only had these brief moments, I wouldn’t change one thing.
Chapter 3
During the next hour everyone dispersed to their destinations. Some entered a doorway to the First World war zone, and others traced to their youngling planets. After seeing them all off I had just ducked inside to change out of my beautiful emerald dress. Brace and Josian were waiting for me downstairs. We were heading for the laluna.
Lucy was with me, standing in my dressing room. “So you’re sure that you can handle these wacko faeries without me?”
The pixie’s stunning white-green dress had already been replaced by jeans and a black tank with custom-made cuts in the back for her wings. White and green flowers still threaded her long curls.
“Yes, Luce, you go and finish the final Walker mating step. You don’t want Colt to get heat mange from stress.”
“Damn smart-ass Walker,” I heard her mate mutter from where he stood at the entrance to my room.
Lucy grinned at me before leaping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around me. “I’m going to miss you. I promise we won’t be long, but I know the urgency to get to Dronish, so I’m afraid we might not be back in time. You better take Brace with you – and be careful.”
I returned her hug tightly. “If I end up leaving before you return, I’ll make sure to come back often and see that you’ve made it home safely.” I raised my voice then. “You better look after her, Colton, or I’ll find you.”
And I would. Although, I did trust her mate. He would die for Lucy and you couldn’t ask for more than that from anyone.
With one last kiss on the cheek I watched my oldest friend in any of the worlds, my sister and soul mate, fly out the door. Yeah, Brace was also my soul mate; he owned the vast majority of my heart and soul. But there was plenty there for Lucy too. There are some people who walk into your lives and change you. Never again will you be the same person. If I lost Lucy I wasn’t sure what sort of person I would be after, and right then I hoped like hell that wasn’t something I ever had to experience.
Stepping further into my closet, I shimmied out of the beautiful gown, placing it on the end of the rack to be cleaned. I was dressed within moments. Jeans and a shirt didn’t take much time to choose.
Just as I was stepping out to wash my hands in the bathroom, I paused as a light wash of energy entered my room. Weird. I had not expected to see him today. Or any day really.
I stared at the man who stood awkwardly near the end of my bed.
“I’d have knocked,” he said, “but I wasn’t sure you would open the door for me.”
“What do you want, Samuel?” I focused on the dark eyes of my brother and felt the familiar tendrils of emotions course through me. A mix of anger and guilt.
He’d been the person to take Brace from me, which in turn facilitated the release of the third Seventine. But in other ways I knew I was being a little unfair, judging Samuel without the full story. I’d done some pretty questionable things myself lately, thinking I was doing the right thing, but still ending up causing trouble. Who was I to throw stones in glass houses?
He pushed back his dark hair. “I don’t know why I’m here. I feel as if the entire world has been out of control since I was taken by Que. I’ve been tortured and mind-wiped and caused so much pain and trouble. But … there’s something inside me that needs to make things right with you.”
He bled sincerity, and pain. I recognized agony quite intimately now, and it blazed from every facet of Samuel.
“I swear to you, Abby, that I never intentionally did anything to hurt you or Lucy.” He ran a shaking hand through his hair again. “I might have been weak, allowing myself to be manipulated, but I’m not a bad person … deep down. I know I’m not.”
I was feeling all sorts of extra emotions now. Guilt, anger, worry and pain. Because I hated to see anyone suffering the way I could see Samuel was.
“You weren’t at Lucy’s mating.”
His features fell even further. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Despite everything, I just couldn’t watch her belong to … another.”
In his own way, Samuel had loved Lucy, but his problem was that he was just too broken. He’d been so busy trying to make sense of all the missing pieces of himself that he’d never truly appreciated Lucy.
Colton was broken too, but he was old and had had a long time to come to terms with the new individual he was. And it didn’t hurt that Lucy and Colton were true mates. You can overcome a lot in those circumstances.
Colton also knew something which Samuel had not figured out yet; being broken doesn’t mean there’s no hope for you. You just have to find the new person you are, learn how to exist with a few less pieces. And maybe Samuel was finally starting to do that.
He stopped fidgeting and stared straight at me. “You’re my family, my sister. I might not have appreciated that in the first few months of discovering you were alive, but I don’t want to lose you.”
In so many ways this man was a stranger to me. But it didn’t have to be like that. Both of us had made mistakes. My heart was telling me that it was time for both of us to work harder.
“I’m willing to try and build a relationship with you.” I reached out, briefly hesitating before finally grasping his hand. “But no more lies and secrets. Full disclosure.”
He met my gaze. He had to look down a little to do so. “I can agree to that.”
I pulled away. “I’m sorry I don’t have time now, but soon I’d like
to have dinner with you. Catch up on your life. I want to know who Samuel was before the kidnapping, but more importantly, who you are now.”
He moved swiftly and hugged me. My breath whooshed out in a loud exhalation. I hadn’t expected that move, but I returned the gesture.
“Thank you, Abby, thank you so much for … not dismissing me.”
My heart ached a little at his sad words.
“I’ll let you go now. Be safe and I’ll see you when you return.”
He pulled away and started to leave before turning back at the doorway.
“In the spirit of full disclosure … I might be imagining things here, but be careful of Josian. When I was influenced by Que and the Seventine, I had a few weird dreams … your dad had two faces. He was being controlled with these strings on his arms and legs.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I know that it’s just a dream, but I’ve learned to not completely discount these weird occurrences.”
With one last half-smile, he left the room.
I clenched my hands into tight fists. Samuel’s dreams sounded an awful lot like the dream Lucy had had of Josian. My throat seized. I tried to breathe around the thought that my father might be in trouble. I knew in my soul he was a good man – he would move mountains for his loved ones – but was he involved in something that was outside his control?
If this meeting with the laluna didn’t reveal anything I was going to have to spend a lot of time with my dad. I couldn’t help, unless I knew what was happening to him. I was definitely going to talk with Brace about my worries; he’d have great insights. He always knew more than I did.
As I stepped out onto the front grassed area I saw that only three figures out of those who had taken part in the previous wedding celebrations remained: Lallielle, Josian, and Brace.
And Cerberus, of course. He was stretched out enjoying the twilight.
My family was in the middle of a conversation. Their relaxed expressions indicated that the discussion was not about anything serious.
Lallielle pulled me into a hug when I reached her side. “I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon, Aribella.” Her grip was tight and her words low. She was generally so calm, especially amongst all of us volatile and emotional beings, but she was overflowing a little today. “I just want one normal day with my daughter. We never have enough time together.”
“I know, Mom, I wish for that too.” I buried my face into her familiar scent. “It’s for this very reason that we fight the Seventine so hard, so that one day we’ll have so much time together we’ll be bored.”
As he’d done many times before, Josian enclosed us both in his long arms, his strength adding an extra dimension to our dynamics. In that moment I prayed for a million more hugs like this. Despite my shaky faith in the gods, I needed hope that there was something bigger than me out there giving us a helping hand.
As we untangled ourselves I decided to provide my mother with a little bit of happy. “I talked to Sammy,” I said.
Lallielle’s pale-green eyes met mine, and I saw the hope light them.
“We aren’t suddenly besties or anything, but there was some healing and I think … well, one day soon, I hope we have a normal sibling relationship.”
With a shriek, Lallielle cupped my face in her hands. “Oh, that makes me so happy to hear, baby girl.”
In my peripheral vision I could see Josian and Brace. My father’s expression was a little wistful, and a little resigned. He wasn’t Samuel’s biggest fan, and while most of us had pretty much accepted Samuel hadn’t willingly betrayed us – he’d been influenced – Josian still retained some suspicion.
Brace, on the other hand, was smiling. He’d been friends with my brother for a long time and had always encouraged me to look deeper into what had happened, to dig for the whole story. Too-clever-for-his-own-good Walker. His advice was always geared toward making me a better version of who I already was and, really, that was a pretty amazing quality to have in one’s mate. Instead of tearing you down, they built you up.
Lallielle and I pulled away as Josian spoke.
“We need to go now. Get this laluna meeting over with so that Aribella can move on to Dronish.”
His voice had an unusual inflection when he’d mentioned the laluna. They were his little world, so why did he seem less than excited to take us there? My suspicions grew further.
I glanced down at the sudden burst of power and heat from my new bracelet.
Were they warning me too? I already knew to tread carefully with Tenni, and I hadn’t forgotten I owed her a favor. Which I wasn’t looking forward to fulfilling. Damn, I really hoped Josian’s issue wasn’t to do with the favor I owed.
With one last kiss on the cheek we left Lallielle and Cerberus on the beach and took a Walker doorway to Josian’s cave planet. I knew it was hard for Mom to always be left behind, but she was our trusted delegate on First World; she kept everything functioning. Her plan was to go across to this war camp. Quarn would take her in his little buggy. Knowing Lallielle, she would move between home and the camp as needed. Lallielle often played a behind-the-scenes role in this battle, but that didn’t make her any less important. For the time being my hellhound was to stay by her side and keep her safe.
Brace held my hand as we traversed the vacuum-worm-hole. Josian strode beside us, quiet, expressionless. It took us no time to cross through the cave and into the garden that hid the laluna world. The weird little faeries were waiting for us, Tenni front and center, as always the spokes-crazy for the rest of them.
Unlike the last time when I was devastated by the decision to break my melding bond, now I could really pay attention to what was going on in this little cave alcove. Tenni moved closer to Josian, and as she moved so did the others. It was slight, but it seemed as if there were invisible strings connecting the laluna creatures. They moved as one unit.
“Hello, our precious bonded one,” she said to Josian, and even I felt the wash of power directed toward him.
The fine skin around his eyes tightened. It was ever so subtle, but I was paying attention.
“Hello, Tenni.” He exhaled loudly. “As requested, I’ve brought Aribella and her mate.”
His greeting was a hell of a lot colder than it had been the last time we were here. If I had to guess, he’d had a fight with his laluna … why the hell would he fight with them? I exchanged a glance with Brace, but now wasn’t the time for more questions.
“Why have you come here, our bonded one’s daughter?” Tenni asked me, even though she already knew the reason.
“I’m going to reform the melding bond with Brace, but Josian though it prudent that I check in with you first, just in case you wanted to tell me something.”
I carefully phrased my sentence. I didn’t need or want their permission, and I sure as heck wasn’t owing them anything more.
Tenni looked from me to Brace, her eyes lingering on the way our hands were tightly connected. “Why have you changed your mind so quickly? Do you no longer care about the fate of the worlds?”
Brace spoke this time. “I wasn’t involved in the decision to break the bond. Had I been, I would have told you all that a melded couple is the strongest force in the star system. In no way could our melding weaken Abby. I have no doubt that she will need my strength in the final battle, should it come to that.”
I nodded a few times. “Yeah, what Brace said.”
Tenni didn’t pull any punches. “You owe us a favor … we order you not to reform the melding bond. We believe the initial visions were correct. We work to protect the worlds.”
Ahhh, eff me. What the hell was I going to do now?
“So your favor is that I never reform my melding bond?” My voice held all the horror of my thoughts.
“No,” she shook her head, “just until after the final battle.”
My swallowing sounded loud in the cavernous room. The walls were spinning a little, and I thought I was going to pass out. I wasn’t sure I could survive that long with
out Brace. It felt as if my skin were paper thin now, and I was moments from turning to dust and dispersing into the air.
Brace’s stance was confident as he spoke. “Just one small problem there.” His eyes were not black, so he wasn’t too pissed off. What did he have up his sleeve? “Abby’s an original power, as are you.”
Tenni smiled, as if that acknowledgement of her status pleased her. But that expression disappeared with the next words from Brace’s mouth.
“Original powers cannot owe or ask favors from each other. You know that. It throws off the natural order of the worlds.”
What? I mean, what the eff?
I spun to stare at my silent father. Josian had his eyes lifted, as if he were observing the ceiling. What was he looking at? There was nothing above us but stone. Was he even paying attention to this conversation?
Surely he knew original powers couldn’t owe each other favors, so why hadn’t he mentioned this when I initially broke the bond? And why was he not looking at me now? My heart clenched tightly. Whatever Josian was involved in was bigger than I’d imagined, and right then my brain was churning out some very unappealing options.
Tenni was solemn as she stepped closer to the edge of her area. “You know your history, young Walker. Due to Aribella’s dual nature, we did not initially know she held original power.” Her tone indicated that she still had her doubts about my abilities. “We do not want to anger the gods, so … in regards to this we concede that there is no favor.”
My body tensed and my heart jumped for joy. For a brief moment I imagined I could reform the bond without repercussions. But then she spoke again, shattering that brief moment of joy.
“We still cannot allow you to reform your melding bond.” As Tenni hesitated, all of the faeries swayed forward. “We control Josian, and in turn we can make him do anything we want.”
The words fell from her lips and shattered across me in jagged spikes. My instincts had been correct. My brain had been slowly lining all the dominos up and now they were falling around me in a splash of pain and light. I really hadn’t been prepared for her to confirm my suspicions.
