by Julia Crane
They were surprisingly well hidden. I wouldn’t have stumbled upon them on my own, that’s for sure, which also meant they were paranoid. Yet after running into the chimera, I could understand their need for seclusion and paranoia.
They lived in a sectioned off cave system. Before we even made it to the entrance, we were surrounded by armed guards. Hopefully, things didn’t get ugly.
Michael held up his hands. “I found this girl wandering on her own, and I thought I’d bring her in and feed her before she continued on her way.”
The guards lowered their blades. One of the taller guys came forward. “Dad’s in a mood, so I’d make sure to stay out of his way.”
This was obviously his brother. I’d always envied the bond between siblings. I wondered what “in a mood” meant.
Michael nodded, but didn’t say anything.
I stood there feeling awkward.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your pretty little friend?” His brother took a step closer, his eyes leering down the length of my body. Every muscle tensed. I really hoped he wasn’t going to cause trouble.
Michael took both of his hands and pushed his brother backwards. The guy stumbled and had to regain his footing.
“She’s mine,” Michael practically growled.
My head jerked up. I’m what?
His brother laughed. “Hey man, can’t blame me for trying.”
I sagged slightly as the tension left my body. For Michael’s sake, he better hope he was just talking tough.
Michael roughly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want him to give you a hard time. As you can imagine, there aren’t a lot of potential partners in this area. I should have given this more thought. If I’d been thinking I would of had you change into a boy. This could get nasty.”
Inwardly I groaned. The last thing I wanted was to cause more trouble for Michael.
“Just make sure you stay close. I knew this was a bad idea.” He blew out a breath. “Why’d you want to come here anyway? I’m not sure what you are trying to prove.”
All I wanted to do was get through this and get back to my room. I didn’t relish the idea of being in the home of the very people that tried to kill my mother. “Can you just take me to your water supply? And then we can leave.”
He winced. “Our what?”
I stopped and glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was in hearing range. “I can charge the water with my energy. It will heal your people and also help your plants grow.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “You’d really do that?”
I nudged him with my elbow. “What were you expecting me to do?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I just couldn’t tell you no when you looked at me with those big pleading eyes of yours.”
My heart skipped a beat or two. Could he possible still be attracted to me even though the idea of me being a dark faery repulsed him?
“Let me bring you in to meet my family and then I’ll show you where our water comes from.”
Great. Just who I didn’t want to meet.
We trudged down a rocky hill, and I had to hold onto Michael’s arms to keep from losing my footing on the loose rocks. Touching his warm skin sent a thrill through me. I had to pull myself together. Too much was at stake. My focus right now had to be on convincing Michael that the merging of our kind was a good idea. Not on how his muscles rippled when he moved, or the way he seemed to still be seeing me, Tulupea, when he looked at me, and not the form I’d taken on as a human. Being near him made me feel alive in a way I hadn’t known until now.
Once we reached the bottom of the rough terrain, we climbed over large boulders until we stood before what appeared to be the opening of a cavern. I could hear muffled voices in the distance.
Michael stopped and turned toward me. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah.” What other choice did I have?
He draped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him. My eyes widened in surprise. And then I remembered what he’d said earlier about there not being many females in the area. He was putting on an act, and I had to play along. It was easier than I would have thought to melt my body into his. The warmth of his skin sent a wave of calm through me.
As soon as we stepped through the cave, heads snapped up. Michael hadn’t been kidding; I only saw a couple of women and about a dozen or more men. They were all focused on me, making me very uncomfortable.
I really hoped I didn’t have to access my magick in here. But there was no way I would allow someone to harm me.
One of the women stepped forward. Her hair was long and dirty, braided to keep it out of her face, which was sunken and her eyes vacant. My skin prickled. “Michael, what do you have here?”
“Mom, this is Sarah. I found her wandering and brought her in to have something to eat. I hope that’s okay?”
The woman grunted. One of the men came forward. He was large and had the same color eyes as Michael, his hair receded, but the resemblance was unmistakable. He extended his hand and I grabbed the rough, strong hand in my own. “Sarah, it’s a pleasure.” His voice was smooth, inviting.
I found I liked this man even though I knew he was in charge of the rebellion. His manner was charismatic. Even in this short introduction I could see how he could rally a crowd.
“Thank you.” I glanced down at the ground.
Chapter Twelve
Michael tightened his grip on my shoulder. Everything about this was strange. I felt dirty and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. I wanted to be back with my mother and her guards, but I was the one that came up with this hair-brained idea and now I had to see it through.
Everyone in the cave moved forward to get a better look. I felt like I was on display and not in a good way. The men stared at me hungrily, making me feel like prey. I had to force myself to take a breath.
“Michael, you know you gotta share your goods.” One of the men came closer, and I saw that his eyes had a glassy look about them that made the hairs on my neck stand on end. It took all of my self-control not to drop him to the ground.
“Touch her and you die.” Michael’s voice was laced with venom.
My breath caught in my throat. I glanced up. His face was set in stone.
Unfortunately, this guy didn’t give in as easily as his brother. He reached out and grabbed my arm to pull me into him. Michael had a hold of my shoulder, so I was being pulled in both directions. My magick stirred, begging to be released. “Let go of me!” I demanded.
Laughter filled the cave, and I instantly felt sick to my stomach. So this was how they treated women? Like property to be passed around? I attempted to yank my arm back, but the man’s fingers dug into my flesh.
With his left hand Michael pulled back and landed a crushing blow to the side of the man’s face. Momentarily stunned, the man let go of my arm. I retreated back a couple of steps. Now his attention was focused only on Michael. I glanced around at the crowd of people. Their eyes were lit with excitement. It became increasingly clear that no one was going to try to stop the fight or come to my rescue. They were enjoying it too much.
Michael let go of my arm without looking at me. I could feel the anger radiating off of him in waves. I couldn’t use my magick, but I could transmit some of it to Michael.
I sent him a burst of strength, and in a flurry of motions Michael and the other guy were going at it. They bounced around, circling each other like wild animals. When Michael landed a punch, the man staggered from the power of it. I bit back my smile.
Even though the guy outweighed Michael by a good forty pounds, I knew he didn’t stand a chance.
The next punch laid the guy out flat. Knocked out cold.
Michael looked down at the man and back at me with a raised brow. He was still buzzing from the adrenaline rush, but he was also surprised. He let his gaze fall to each man in the room. “She’s mine.”
The others began to back away and returned to doing what they had been before we walked in. The only ones who stayed were his parents.
His father gave Michael an appraising glance. “It’s about time you manned up. Too bad it took a sweet little thing like this to get you to put away your dresses and act like a man instead of a sissy.”
My mouth dropped open. Oh no he didn’t.
“Tom, leave him alone,” the mother said so low I could barely hear her.
His thin smile turned into a smirk.
Unable to contain myself any longer, I straightened and glared at his father. “It might come as a surprise to you, but I’m my own person. I don’t belong to your son or anyone else. I came here willingly, and I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. How else do you think I survived this long on my own?”
Michael sucked in a breath. I knew he was worried I would unleash my power but that was not my intention. However, I also wasn’t going to let this fool talk to me or Michael in such a way.
At first his father didn’t respond, at least not overtly. Then he took a step forward; he was so close I could smell his foul breath. A bead of sweat shimmered on his forehead. There was a look of lust in his eyes that I didn’t like. His hand reached out and he trailed his thumb down the side of my face. A shudder of disgust ran through my body like liquid fire. “You’ve got spirit, girl. You’re too good for my boy.”
I smacked his hand away and he grabbed my wrist, yanking me forward. Head low, Michael lunged after us, but the rest of the men leapt forward to hold him back.
I was dragged through the cave, away from the others. Glancing back I locked eyes with the mother, who shrugged and glanced away.
Oh shit.
I tried with all my might to yank my arm away but his grip only tightened. A sick smile spread across his face. He was moving too fast for my feet to keep up. He threw me into a darkened corner of the cave. I scurried backwards on the ground, trying to get back on my feet. I could hear Michael’s voice rising.
Please, let him get through. I sent him another surge of power.
If Michael could not save me I would have to save myself, alerting the others to my powers. And then I would have to take down the whole tribe because they would not let me leave alive. Of this much, I was certain. Why hadn’t I listened to my mother?
The weight of his body pressed down on me, and I gasped when his knees forced my legs apart. I jerked my hips to get him off of me, but all that did was make him laugh. “Such a beauty. Much too good for that no good son of mine.”
Rage welled up inside of me. Just when I was about to release my power, his father’s body jerked off mine. His feet got tangled with my own, pulling off my shoes.
“You’re a disgrace,” Michael yelled, slamming his fist into his father’s face. “You make me sick.”
I rose to my feet, more shaken than I’d liked to admit, and smoothed down my shirt.
His father stumbled to his feet, his eyes blazing, and launched at Michael. They sparred, each getting in a few hits before Michael’s fist connected in a crunch to his father’s jaw. I knew it was broken. Fueled by my magick, Michael lifted his father in the air and tossed him against the wall. His body thunked when it hit the rocks and slid to the floor in a heap.
This was not how I’d envisioned this meeting taking place.
I called forth my power and did something I probably shouldn’t have done, but I didn’t see any other way out of this mess. Using my power I froze everyone in their place. His father’s face was frozen in alarm. I weaved in a time of twenty-three minutes before they would awaken. When they came to they wouldn’t recall the last half hour. I wasn’t sure how far the magick would reach, so it was possible his brother would remember us approaching. However, it was the best option I had right now.
Loathe to do it, I reached out and placed my hand on his father’s jaw, instantly healing the broken bones and reducing any swelling.
Grabbing Michael’s hand I pulled him out of the cavern. “Where’s the water supply? We need to hurry.”
With wide eyes, Michael stared down at me. “You’re still going to help them after what they did to you?”
I glanced back at the cave over my shoulder, debating. “Yes, I saw signs of children. They should have a chance to thrive.” I forced a smile. “Plus, you live here.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if I can come back after this.”
“They won’t remember,” I said gently.
“But I will. They are savages. No better than the darkness they are trying to keep out.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
I didn’t know what to say to that so I reminded him we had to hurry. We climbed over rocks and slid down to the bottom of a ravine. Their water source, which was a gurgling creek bed, was in surprisingly good shape. I sunk to my knees and dunked my hands into the water. Mentally I envisioned restoring the molecules and infused them with healing energy. When I was satisfied, I rose to my feet and shook off my hands, wiping them on my pant legs.
Michael watched me carefully, as if he were afraid I was going to fall apart at any moment. And maybe I would. I’d never had to deal with anything like that before. As a princess, I was highly revered in my land. No one would dare try to force themselves on me. I took a shaky breath to clear my mind.
Crossing the distance between us, he put one of his hands on my neck and drew me against him. I dropped my head on his chest. I could feel the heat emanating from his body. His touch was warm and comforting, and I didn’t want to move away from it.
When his lips brushed my forehead my pulse began to sky rocket.
“My God, I thought …” he whispered.
Swallowing to ease the tightness of my throat, I pulled back to gaze up at him. “We should really get out of here.”
He nodded. “I’m really sorry, Tulupea. I knew how they were, but I didn’t think anything like this would happen while you were with me. I should have known better.” The despair was evident in his voice.
I laid my hand on his chest and a shudder went through him.
“If anything would have happened to you because of me …” His voice broke, and he was unable to finish his sentence.
Nothing would have happened to me, but he still didn’t quite grasp the enormity of my power. True, I’d been shaken, but I never doubted my ability to get out of the situation unharmed. Still, I understood what he meant and his concern touched me.
His hand closed on top of mine, and I looked down at our joined hands. It felt warm, nice, right.
“I want to go through with the merging. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
He glanced down at the water and back at me. “Let’s get back to your place and tell Henrek to get started as soon as possible. And, Tulupea, change back into your true form. I don’t like that you have to pretend to be someone else to be with me.”
I let go of a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding and smiled up at him.
Together we quickly made our way back to my mother.
Chapter Thirteen
Before we even walked through the front door I felt my mother’s mood trickle throughout every cell in my body. She was beyond irate that I’d snuck out of the house right under the nose of the guards. And she was going to be even more ticked off when I explained to her what’d happened with Michael’s father and his tribe. After taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I made my way into the kitchen and braced myself for the lecture that was sure to come.
My mother set her cup down, and turned her eyes in my direction, shooting me a withering glare. “Tulupea, I told you not to go wandering alone. You have no idea how dangerous this realm can be. You cannot do the foolish things you were able to get away with in our realm.” Her hand slammed on the table, startling me. “Here on Earth there are real dangers. You don’t have the slightest idea what we are dealing with.”
I glanced over at Michael with a raised brow. He stood back near the entrance as if uncertain he should
fully enter the room. I couldn’t say I blamed him—even I was a little afraid of my mother when she was in one of her moods, but I wasn’t going to allow her to get to me today. I’d genuinely thought I’d been doing the right thing. So my conscience was clear.
“Oh, I think I have a slight idea. Seeing as I’ve been nearly maimed by a chimera, and almost assaulted by Michael’s father … and I’ve only been here two days. So yes, Mother, I realize Earth is a dangerous place. From now on I will not leave without the guards.”
Momentarily struck speechless, her face went ashen. Standing, she moved with stilted steps as she crossed the room until she stood before me. She took me by the elbow, pulled me aside, and lowering her voice, she asked, “What are you saying? Did he harm you in any way?”
Suddenly feeling very weary and exhausted, I smoothed back stray wisps of my unruly hair as I chose my words carefully. “No, he didn’t harm me even though he wanted nothing more than to do so, along with the rest of the tribe. Mother, you have to know this was my idea and not Michael’s. He tried to talk me out of going.” The last thing I wanted was for her to blame him. “I convinced him to take me to his tribe. Before you lecture me you should know I went with good intentions. My plan was to convince Michael that we were not a bad race in hopes of changing his mind about the merging. I know how important it is to you, and also to the planet’s chance of survival. All I intended was to lace their water with healing energies, nothing more. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that easy.”
My mother blinked at my words as if she were surprised.
I continued on quickly. “Don’t worry, I didn’t go barging in with my powers. I cloaked myself as a human. They had no idea who or what I am, and I also deleted their memory before I left. So there shouldn’t be any repercussions.”
She pulled back and held me by my arms, glancing over my body as if to make sure I was still intact. Still pure. “What exactly did Michael’s father do to you?” my mother pressed.
A shudder ran through me at the memory of Michael’s father’s eyes filled with lust and pure evil, the feel of his skin on mine. “Nothing.” I paused. “But he wanted to, they all did. Mother, they are like savages. Is this how all the humans are now? What have we done by bringing magick to this land? I remember earthlings being a kind race.”
