“Why you ungrateful—”
“Nancy, enough.” Their father lifted his focus from his food as if coming out of a trance.
“It is not enough. Our daughter needs plastic surgery in a hospital. Not this new-agey place. And she’s gained twenty pounds in the last month.” Her mother’s disgust made Ashlynn feel three years old again.
“My modeling career is over. It doesn’t matter how many plastic surgeons I see. My face will forever be damaged goods.” She pointed to the long scar under her ear. “Nothing is going to change.”
“Being here on this island, with her”—their mother turned her gaze on Dana for the first time—“and all of these hippies will not help you. She is the size of a small bear.”
Everything happened so quickly, Ashlynn couldn’t process it all. One second Rekkus was staring down his mother-in-law, the next he was on the other side of the table, his face only inches from hers. Ashlynn could have sworn he jumped over the table, and where had the growl come from?
But beyond the chaos, a sudden cold chill ran through her, as if someone had opened a door to the arctic. She could see her breath. She couldn’t see Rekkus’ face, but the fear covering her mother’s made an impression. She had never seen her mother cower. She had never seen anger like she did in her brother-in-law.
Sage and Cemil appeared from out of nowhere, and Cyrus ran from the other side of the room. As if sensing it wouldn’t do any good, no one touched or grabbed Rekkus.
Sage’s soft voice broke through the tension. “Perhaps Mrs. Stone would like to return to her room for the evening.”
“I would not.”
“I could drop you into a cavernous hole if you would prefer,” Rekkus said.
Sage moved a little closer to him, her calm extending over the table. “Let me restate the rules of the Haus. If you cannot be polite to others, we cannot have you in the dining room or in classes with other people. This is a place of healing. I will not have you disrupt the healing of others out of pettiness on your account.”
Their mother’s eyes blazed. “He attacked me, and I am being reprimanded?”
Cemil placed a hand on her elbow and guided her to her feet. “Had he attacked you, there would be very little any of us could do to stop it and even less of you left to identify.”
“They’re right, Nancy. You are disruptive and acting like a spoiled child.” Dr. Stone’s gaze landed on Myron, who joined the others around the table. “Is your offer for a separate room still available?”
Myron dangled a key before him. How had she known of the request before he made it? “The room is ready.”
“Rekkus,” Tall, Dark, and Awesome said in a low tone. “Her soul is dark. Do not let hers affect yours.”
Rekkus gave a jerk of his chin which passed as a nod. “Stay out of my sight,” he tossed over his shoulder as he stormed out of the dining hall.
“That man is an animal!” Nancy announced.
Dana got to her feet and, for the first time in Ashlynn’s experience, stood up for herself. “You have no idea, Mother, and I pray you never do. This is my home, and I will not have you making our lives hell. Just because you’re miserable does not give you the right to make everyone else unhappy, too. If you think for one second I give a damn what you think of me anymore, you can think again. The time of you being able to bully me around, belittle me, or make me feel less of a person is over.”
“You will not talk to me in that tone of voice, young lady.”
“Oh, shut up. You might think you hold clout in New York City, but here you are a guest like everyone else. But, unlike everyone else, no one wants to be with you. So here are your choices. You can continue to be ill-mannered and insulting to everyone, in which case I will give my husband full permission to lock you in the kennel like the bitch you are, or you can show some breeding and class and start to act like a human being for once.”
The room became icy and quiet, everyone’s attention locked to her sister, and Ashlynn couldn’t have been prouder. Perhaps the hormones raging through her system or a backbone she grew while here on the island accounted for her candor, but it had been too long in coming and Dana had reached her breaking point.
“Dana, have some chocolate cake. You earned it,” the man across the table said with a smile, pushing the cake toward her. “I realize your dinner hasn’t arrived, but sometimes dessert first is a win-win for everyone.”
Dana’s face lit up, but a sheen of tears edged her walnut-colored eyes. She took her seat and focused her energy on the dessert before her.
Ashlynn turned to the man and whispered, “Thank you for defusing the situation.”
“Is that what I did?” he said, taking a bit of cake from another plate. Had he had two? “I thought I announced the arrival of dessert. Here, try some.”
Without hesitation, she allowed this stranger to feed her from his fork. Wrapping her lips around the tines, she savored the moist chocolate piece of heaven he gave her. “Oh my.”
“The kitchen staff is some of the best there is and they have, from what I am told, been enjoying catering to the needs of the mama to be over there, because usually such things as chocolate cake aren’t on the menu.”
“That is a crime.” She could listen to his voice all night long. It soothed her. The more he spoke, the calmer she felt.
“I must agree.” His green eyes sparked with merriment as he took another bite. When he finished his cake, he left his fork on the empty plate. “Pardon me for saying this, Ashlynn, but I don’t believe there is a thing this place can do to help you or your mother.”
“No pardon needed. She has never been mother of the year and isn’t going to open herself up to alternative practices anytime soon.”
He reached across the table in greeting. “We haven’t been properly introduced. I am Shadedor, but my friends simply call me Shade.”
“A pleasure—Ashlynn Stone.” As her fingers touched his, a tingle ran all the way up her arm. Heat pooled in her belly, and her mouth went dry. New sensations blending with the sudden rise in temperature in the room made her light-headed. Taking off her sweater, she eyed her sister engaged in happy conversation with Cyrus. “What is it with the temperature changes in this place?”
Shade squinted at Dana before returning his attention to Ashlynn. “They must have turned up the heat. The island can get chilly at night. Have we met before?”
“Is that a pickup line?”
“No, but if it worked, then we can use it.”
“Um, not so much.”
He laughed, the sound rusty as if he didn’t do it much, and laid his napkin on his empty plate. “I have seen you somewhere before.”
And here it came. Discover she had been a famous model and he would be curious about her superficial life, a life she wanted to forget. “I have one of those faces, I guess.”
“No, it’s something else…. You are on the billboard outside my flat in London. The face of some makeup company or was it beer?”
“I was the face.” She ran her fingers down the scar, remembering the moment when the light hit her.
He reached out to grab her hand. “Don’t hide who you are. You are beautiful, scars and all. The scars might make you imperfect, but they also make you interesting. You have a story. It makes you unique.”
How did a man she just met know the exact words her soul craved to hear?
“Shade with all the commotion, I didn’t get to welcome you, my friend.” Cyrus came around the table and embraced Shade as he stood. “Do you ever age?”
“Yes, but extremely slowly. How are you?”
He shrugged. “Eh—it’s a process I suppose.”
“Still healing?”
“It is a journey we all take in our own time.” Cyrus lowered his voice. “I want to get Dana home, so perhaps tomorrow we can catch up.”
“Tomorrow is perfect. I need to meet with Dana and Rekkus, but tonight I feel is not the night. Perhaps
in the morning.”
The mention of her sister had Ashlynn turning in her direction. Her sister’s pale cheeks and drooping eyelids sent a pang of worry through her. Although she had eaten the first few bites of her chocolate cake with enthusiasm, she pushed the remaining part around her plate. Ashlynn wanted to cheer her for telling her mother off, to plead with her not to let the old hag affect her, but who was she to talk? Their mother had her master’s degree in finding the right barbs to throw and knowing where to aim them. No doubt she worked up a string of them now.
“Ashlynn,” Cyrus said, a friendly smile curving his lips, “I believe you have a busy evening of relaxation ahead of you. First reflexology and then deep breathing with Trixie.”
“Dana didn’t eat, even the cake.” She twisted her napkin, worry for her sister seeping out. “She only took a few bites.”
“Ash, I’m fine. Exhausted but okay.”
“You have nothing to worry about. The staff always ensures your sister has what she needs. Most of the time before she asks for it. She is, after all, our family.” Cyrus helped Dana to her feet and wrapped a brotherly arm around her. Smiling at Ashlynn again, he led Dana from the room.
“Your sister will be fine. It’s been a hard day for everyone. And one Rekkus and, I think, many on the island have been dreading,” Shade assured her as the pair escaped from view.
“What do you mean?”
“Rekkus has done his best to keep your family away.”
“He has that.” Ashlynn wondered now if Dana’s lack of communication with anyone in the family had been at Rekkus’ insistence. After all, with one phone and one computer conveniently guarded behind the front desk, how hard would it be for him to prevent her from contacting anyone? Jessie came back to visit, but hadn’t she said the last visit had been at Rekkus’ request?
“Rekkus can act overbearing at times but remember when she arrived here, raw, hurting, and depressed at your mother’s rejection? The woman Rekkus met had been broken down.”
It made sense. “How would you know any of this?”
“Their souls speak to me.”
Cemil started coughing so loud one of the wait staff brought him a glass of water.
“Their souls as in the force within them?” Ashlynn inched away a bit in her chair. What kind of healing could this man be here for anyway?
“Yes, you see—”
“Right…okay. I think I am going to head on to my reflexology appointment.” Throwing her white napkin down in surrender, Ashlynn pushed back from the table.
“Can I escort you to your destination?”
“No thanks.” Before Shade could stand, she worked her way through the maze of tables and out the door. She stayed focused on the hallway before her. Bummer Tall, Dark, and Handsome was quite whacko. Just her luck.
“What just happened?” Shade asked no one in particular. Her soul, open and receptive, had, in a matter of seconds, slammed shut to him.
“It could be because she has no knowledge about anything to do with the para world,” Cemil said, shaking his head. “If you had acknowledged me when I began my coughing fit, you might have saved face. I wasn’t at all subtle in trying to get your attention.”
“How can she still be in the dark? Her brother-in-law is a tiger shifter.”
“Until today, Dana hasn’t spoken to any of her family since she left the mainland. No one took her calls or received her letters. Her mother, as you have discovered, is a force unto herself, and effectively disowned her.”
“So they have no idea Dana, when she gives birth to the cubs, will take on the title of queen?”
Cemil sighed. “I don’t honestly know if Dana is aware of the title, but I don’t think even knowing he is royalty would help the situation. I’m somewhat surprised you couldn’t assess all this on your own.”
“Her soul, though interesting, isn’t what caught my attention.”
“After one hundred and fifty years, your libido has reawakened?”
“You make it sound like I never get laid.”
Cemil arched a brow. Who did Shade think he fooled? “When did you last get laid?”
“Seventy-five years, give or take a year.” When a person didn’t feel much, sex for the sake of pleasure got old quickly. He had lost interest sometime after the Great War.
Cemil choked. “I have no words.”
“And you? When was the last time you got laid?”
“We aren’t talking about me, and the pool for me to choose from is much smaller than yours, oh world traveler.”
“Until this evening, I had no interest. But, with my kind, that is the way it happens.” They would go decades, sometimes centuries, until they found someone who started a spark. For many, the spark would fade following intercourse or at the next full moon. His father, a shaman, had stayed long enough to learn about his mother’s pregnancy. The spark had faded with the cresting of the full moon weeks before. It had been better, in a way. She would be taken care of and, unlike humans of the time period, she wouldn’t be shunned but revered for her fertility.
He met his father sometime after his thirtieth year, an amicable and informative encounter, but Shade felt no desire to see the man again. They had connected several times over the last century as his job with the Syndicate had brought him in contact with most talented magicians, his father the top shaman. Later, the same connections would have him crossing paths with the Duteigr Streak, Rekkus’ pack, and the Rowans.
Pulling out of his musing, he met Cemil’s twinkling eyes. “But it’s never happened with one like her.”
“I suggest you try and act more like her, then. More human.”
Human? How did one act human, and what did a soulpath do when his abilities were clouded by intense sexual desires he hadn’t felt in decades, if ever? Their inherent lack of emotion allowed them to deal with souls and be unaffected. An ability Cyrus should have been blessed with.
“You’ll figure it out, my friend.” Cemil patted him on the shoulder and walked off, leaving Shade to eat the rest of his meal in silence. The others at his table had left to follow their own pursuits.
He scanned the room for no other reason than to get his mind off Ashlynn Stone. In the dark-green section of the dining hall, a few paras still dined, including one with shifting issues—never an easy thing for a shifter to admit—and two witches healing from spells gone wrong. In the light-green section, he observed a young couple with infertility issues and an older couple dealing with Parkinson’s, and, in the back, between the two sides, a mermaid in love.
The Siren caught him off guard. Mermaids showed little emotions, and this one radiated both kindness and love. Well, miracles never ceased. So what did one do when he was supposed to act human normal?
A question he had no answer for.
Chapter Five
It didn’t matter if he was crazy. She wanted him with a desire she had never experienced in her life. This pull to him unbearable, tied her stomach in knots. Sleep, when it graced her, came in broken naps and fretful bouts. Her traitorous body and erotic dreams kept luring her back to images of his green eyes set against his tanned skin. She needed to focus on healing, on finding a cure for her headaches, and coming to terms with her scars. Scars she discovered cut as deep inside as they did out.
A headache had hit her so hard during her relaxation class she’d curled into a fetal ball. She had no recollection of how she came to be back in her room with an eye mask over her face, lavender filling her senses, and Sage’s soothing voice whispering orders to those around her.
A single candle gave the room what little light she needed as Sage chanted something in a language Ashlynn didn’t recognize. The sounds and cadence soothed. Twice she awakened to find Sage sitting in the chair beside her, a kind smile always gracing her soft face.
“How did I get back here?” she remembered asking at some point.
“My brother Cyrus brought you here.”
“You don’t have to stay.”
“Of course I do. You need me.”
Her own mother couldn’t be bothered to sit more than half an hour and this virtual stranger whom her sister called family sat all night in case the headache returned. No wonder Dana never came home. Not with people this welcoming and warm to stay for. Even the imposing Rekkus showed moments of softness her mother could not summon.
“Why are you crying?” Sage asked, concern marring her perfect brow. “Is the pain back?”
Shaking her head, she buried her face in the pillow. How could she overcome such sadness and the realization she had never been given motherly love?
Sage climbed into the bed and embraced Ashlynn, holding her tight and secure as she wept. When the sun came up, she slept, dreaming of a tall, dark man with skin the color of melted caramel, eyes the color of shamrocks in the Irish countryside, and hair of silken black.
She awoke refreshed, filled with a new vigor as if the world might not be a painful thing.
“You’re awake.” A whisper washed over her and the voice soothed her mind. “Shall I call Sage?”
“No, not yet. Who are you?” The curtains were closed, leaving the room drenched in forgiving darkness. She sat up, hesitant at first, surprised to find the woman at her side to assist.
She passed Ashlynn a glass tumbler. “Sage said you must drink this before you start your day. I’m Serena. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Are you another Rowan?”
“No, I am a staff member but at one time a guest, too.” Serena walked across the room, humming as she picked up a blanket which lay on the floor in a puddle of fabric.
“What’s the tune you are humming?”
“I didn’t mean to hum. I am so sorry.” Horror pinched the woman’s beautiful face.
“Please continue. It’s….” Searching for the right word, she bit her lip before deciding on, “Comforting.”
Serena smiled and hummed as she straightened the room. “Drink up and I’ll go draw you a bath.”
“What time is it?” The room had no clock. Considering the place ran on tight timetables for classes, Ashlynn had yet to see a clock.
Healing His Soul's Mate Page 5
