Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1)

by Jennifer Sage

  He missed being worshipped and loved by the people. Now he was only spoken of in hushed whispers and fearful bedtime stories to young immortals to teach them what the outcome is of having a dark, greedy soul. He missed hearing his name on the lips of the magical beings in a reverent way. He was alone more so than the other Gods because he was not attached to his Other, and he missed being called on. It brought him great joy to be entertained. Perhaps they would be called on again someday when the sands of time had dispersed enough—and new generations of immortals came into power.

  Nikolai sighed and scrolled through a few more scenes in the pool, his ears tingling at the sound of his name from a female’s lips. It was a pleasant sound, the way it carried through his pool and circled in the stone fortress his seeing waters sat within. He zoned in on the source and saw a Sidhe warrior—royalty at that if the piercing on the top of her left ear were true indicators still of the royal house—ogling over him a few days ago. Dark, silky locks cascaded from her head, two braids on each side mixed in with her loose hair showed her delicate ears, but there was something fierce in her—something very not delicate. He laughed aloud when he heard her say that she would love to summon him just to get a better look. Did he really just laugh? Shocking himself, he watched her more closely. Delicious curves softened her tall frame, and when she was in the heat of battle her eyes burned with amber fire. She was more brutal with a sword than many males he’d seen, and he watched her, intrigued, as she cut down any Unseelie or Demons that neared her.

  “Aren’t you interesting…” he said to the pool.

  He had seen her before, but never looked at her too closely. She was a wild one, and he remembered her taking on the Dragons before. That had been an entertaining few moments, watching her take down half of the realm after she upset the Queen. When she was set free a good deal of time later, she’d been like a succubus in heat. Those images of lust came into the waters and he realized that not only was he not very fascinated watching it, but he may actually be feeling displeasure while looking at it. He wasn’t certain since he didn’t know what displeasure felt like, not truly, but he had an odd sensation in his gut that did not resonate with anything good. He stopped the pool from playing it out further with a swipe of his hand, erasing the images as he pulled her back up in present day moments. How strange? Immortals did not affect him—he was a God.

  Nikolai brushed it off, certain he must be going slightly mad from the lack of interaction the last few millennia. But, as the water swirled to present day and her face swam in it longer, he made a decision to keep an eye on her. Her and the little mortal named Isabel were about to get themselves into trouble and for some reason, he wanted to continue to watch. Was she eating ice cream? He wondered what that tasted like as she licked her lips, and that strange sensation in his gut stirred again. He had been alone for too long—there had been no offerings to him in centuries. He growled and paced the mountain, frozen rain coming down in sheets because of his anger.

  Damn Reisha, and her curse. Because of her they had all suffered. She should have told the greedy prince ‘no’ and then they would not have been ravaged by the loneliness that comes with thousands of years of isolation. At least before, there were great celebrations to honor them and beings were offered for their pleasure. He couldn’t remember the last offering that was sent to him, at all. Couldn’t even remember what color hair she had. Well, it’s no wonder that he was going quite mad. At least the other Elemental Gods had their Others. He was not so lucky with his. He needed some entertainment, and soon, and that was far too apparent in the way that he couldn’t keep his eyes off the dark haired Sidhe female. He roared from his mountain and thunder and lightning crashed to the realms below.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Empty Streets

  ~MONTREAT, NORTH Carolina

  The town was unbearably normal. There weren’t any Unseelie or Demons anywhere. “Where the hell have they all gone, Amele?” But even as she said it, she knew where they were.

  Amele just looked at her. They were standing in the center of town and there was nothing unusual anywhere. Just normal people going about their day to day business, completely unaware of the army that was amassing itself on the outskirts of Montreat. Isabel wanted to be one of those people.

  “No you don’t, Bel. Even after everything, you really don’t.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “How do you know? I would love to be in ignorant bliss right now, going to my classes and not having learned any of what I have in the past week. Hey, maybe even having a normal date like other women my age? That would be awesome.”

  “I reiterate, no you don’t. You really think that you would give up Bodhe or Morkain, or your mother for that matter, to go back and study at the university? Ignorant of your heritage and happy? You wouldn’t likely be on that date you refer to so lovingly, but probably being fed on by the Uglies right now. No, Ms. Masters, you wouldn’t be happy. You’d be miserable.”

  She glared at her, but shut up. She wouldn’t want to give up the small pieces of her mother and father she now had, or the incredible pleasure she’d found. She wouldn’t mind just a little bit of ignorant bliss though, that would be nice. Oh yeah, she’d had twenty-two years of it.

  I guess that’s enough.

  They walked down to the tavern and slipped inside the usually well populated bar that was minimalist at best today with only a few patrons that didn’t even look up from their drinks as they walked in. Amele walked up to the bar and ordered two shots of some dark colored liquid and Isabel nearly choked when she smelled it. It smelled like cough syrup.

  “Seriously?”

  “Trust me, it will take the edge off. When you enjoy things in moderation, it’s much different than your birthday night. Just saying, Halfling. Me, around much longer than you. Remember that.”

  Isabel looked at her and remembered the night of throwing up less than a week ago but the stress and pressure of her choices the last few days made her throw caution to the wind. “What the hell. Why not, Grandma?”

  Amele grinned at her, clinked their glasses, and they both downed their shots. It burned like hellfire and tasted worse than cough syrup, if that was even possible. Isabel started choking a little, and Amele just laughed. “What was that crap?” she said as she rubbed the goosebumps that had raised on her arms. “You know what? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” Her throat down to her stomach was freaking on fire.

  Amele put a ten dollar bill on the counter and turned to her. “Are you up to checking out the closest city?”

  “Lead on.”

  They sifted from city to normal city all across the state and found nothing. No Demons, no Unseelie feeding off emotions. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And thank God, Amele didn’t make her visit anymore bars, though, she definitely understood the moderation thing. One shot was like a confidence boost without the falling down drunk and being sick. It really was much more enjoyable.

  “This is almost creepier than seeing them everywhere, knowing they’re here but not seeing them at all. I wonder what they’re up to? They can’t possibly all be there? With only a few days left before they’re sent back to their world, why wouldn’t they be feeding?”

  She looked at her with a seriousness that wasn’t usually Amele. “The only possible explanation is that the Unseelie don’t think they’re going back. Shit, we need to get to the house.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Powerless Mages

  ~LOVERYN~

  “They’re being attacked mother. She is being attacked! There are only a hundred or so guards there and from what she told me, the Unseelie have found a direct portal into her backyard! They are far too outnumbered and we can’t send any in to assist them. The veils are breaking and even in our own lands we have found some shadow beings lurking. I had to kill a Formyan myself near the edge of Loveryn. It was just crawling along in the shadows on its twenty three legs trying to get to the lariens keep. The damn thing actually atta
cked me. We have to do something, before it’s too late!”

  She looked at him with sadness. “But, what can we do? Beyond making a pact with an Elemental ourselves, which you know we cannot, there is no more that can be done, Bodhe. She must make her choice, and soon. Only then can we deal with the repercussions of it.”

  He was pacing the floor feverishly. “Repercussions? This is our life and the lives of every soul of Loveryn and all the realms! I’m running out of time and I don’t know how to fix this, but I feel like there is something more that I don’t understand. She said specifically, ‘another vision’. Where else could she have had a vision? Loveryn is the only place that holds the sacred waters. Unless, Gods, you don’t think that she had one in Albequen?”

  “That’s impossible, there is no vessel for her there to see with. Even her mother required the waters of Loveryn to see into.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t make sense. She hasn’t been anywhere near the sacred grotto when she’s come here before. I have to get out of Loveryn, Mother. Something is going terribly wrong!”

  He paced like a caged tiger around the massive bedchamber and Danua looked at him with pity in her eyes. “I wish I could ease this burden for you, my son, but I cannot. Not without risking the entire world we live in. You must be patient and let this play out. Keiren knew what she was doing—she must have. She risked so much to hide her.”

  His emerald eyes flared. “I’ve run out of patience, Mother. The moment she returns I’m making her mine and not a second later. Godsdammit! What if I’m too late?”

  He stormed out of the room and sifted to the Mages quarter of the city.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Sleep, Beauty, Sleep

  ~MONTREAT, NORTH Carolina

  In a blink they were back in the room that Isabel currently occupied in the old house. Nothing had changed outside—the Sidhe were still fighting the Unseelie under a sunless sky and it didn’t look as if they were tiring a bit. She didn’t know for sure, but it also seemed like there were more of the Shadow Demons than before. She gripped the dagger at her side and looked to Amele for guidance.

  “All we can do is hold them off until the curse is broken. Which we will. You’re under my care, and they’ll not harm you here. Not ever again. Besides, you can’t tell me that it isn’t a complete rush when you’re fighting?” She grinned as she slipped her sword off her back.

  “Aren’t we going out there?”

  “Not right now, Bel. You lost a day and are in need of a nap. You have to go to Morkain and make up for that lost time. The hour comes to make a decision, maybe even sooner than we think. With all this damned darkness outside I don’t know how much time…ah, never mind. The moon will rise, regardless.” Amele looked worried for a moment before turning her gaze back on Isabel. “But, I promise I’ll let you have some fun when you wake. Deal?” .

  “Sleep, right now? But I feel like I just woke up. There’s no way I could even if I wanted to.”

  “I’ll have one of the guard bring you some tea that will help with that. Really, you must. A lot depends on you now, and you’re still uncertain. You have to make a choice soon.”

  She felt utterly deflated as she sat down on the bed, removing her sword and leaving her dagger. “Alright, I’ll sleep if I can. How am I supposed to know though, Amele? This is all so confusing.”

  Amele turned away from her and looked out the window. “Go and be with him. Give him your body and listen to what it says. Maybe then you’ll know. You really haven’t spent as much time with Morkain as you have with Bodhe, and maybe that’s the answer to the questions you have.” Amele’s face darkened looking at the scene unfolding outside.

  A guard entered silently and set some tea next to the bed, quickly bowing and leaving the room. Isabel looked over at Amele’s face and just nodded. “Okay, okay. I’ll try.”

  She stripped naked, crawled under the soft sheets, and gulped down the bitter, earthy tasting tea. She was surprised when she was feeling drowsy as soon as it was gone. Laying back against the pillows she drew the covers up and was fast asleep before she even started counting Uglies in her head.

  *****

  “Where the hell have you been, Isabel? I’ve been waiting for you the whole day!”

  She opened her eyes to Morkain’s snarling face and groaned. Her lids closed heavily again and she stretched her arms above her head.

  “Well aren’t you a pleasure to wake up to,” she said groggily. “It just so happens that we’re under attack right now and I was seriously injured, so I couldn’t make it last night. Sorry.”

  He eyed her doubtfully. “Under attack, from what?”

  “Well besides a direct portal to the Unseelie Kingdom taking up residence in our yard, there are also these Shadow Demon jerks that want to kill me really bad. Too bad I’ve been getting them first,” she said defiantly. “Except that one that dissected my intestines. Other than that, I’ve been doing peachy.”

  “Are you okay now?” His tone quickly softened.

  “Yes, my intestines are back where they should be, clearly. Thanks for asking.”

  She looked around and saw that she was in his chamber again, laying on the oversized bed in not much more than a thin nightie. He was bare from the waist up and wore only a kilt like skirt and pants with his boots. He had blood on his chest and his hair was in warrior plaits.

  “What’s happening here? Why do you look like you’ve just come from battle, as well?”

  He snorted, “Because I have. Some shadow beings have come into Albequen and our warriors are hunting daily. Since I’m the Captain of the Albequen Guard, I’ve been fighting too. You know, all this would be over if you’d stop being so selfish and just give yourself to me.”

  “And what if it’s not you? Then the curse remains and we’re damned anyway!”

  “How can you still believe that?” He began to remove his kilt and the sword that hung from his side. It was then that she noticed the oversized tub of steaming water in the room. Apparently she’d caught him just before a bath.

  “You are mine, Isabel, and the sooner you come to terms with that, the better off all of the realms will be. He strode quickly to where she lay and kissed her lightly.

  “Why am I yours?” she asked, swallowing the anger that rose when these men got possessive. The kiss deepened then, his tongue lapping hers with a gentle ferocity. Warmth tingled through her flesh and she moaned. “That’s why. Now, I refuse to get the spoils of battle all over that beautiful gown, so if you will excuse me a moment.”

  He stood and pulled off his boots and quickly removed his kilt. She sucked in a breath as it slid down his bulky thighs, and another area that was swollen with desire. He stood straight in front of her and smiled, his deeply tanned muscles glistening with sweat in the firelight.

  “Do you like what you see, Beauty?” he asked, his chest expanding as her eyes and cheeks heated. She could only nod and lick her lips. She did like it, very much. What’s not to like? He’d definitely be eligible to be on the cover of Elven Playgirl Magazine. Any magazine, really.

  She saw a deep gash on his leg and started to fuss over it. “It’s fine, Isabel, I will be healed in a few hours. But I’m happy that you’re distressed by that. It must mean that you care. Now, you can stare at me from there, or come to the tub with me, but I am going to get clean.”

  She hesitated for a moment, an image of Bodhe flashing through her mind that she promptly pushed away with the memory of Amele’s words to experience them both. And, good hygiene was very important after all. “I’m not ogling you, at all actually. But I think you should totally get in that bath and rinse yourself off—you’re covered in muck,” she said with humor in her tone, crossing her hands over her chest and remaining where she was.

  He scowled and turned around, every muscle on his backside just as tight as the front. Sinking slowly down into the steaming water he hissed a little. She was sure that the gash in his leg was hurting him.

  “Are
you sure there isn’t anything I can do for you?” she asked as she tip-toed across the room.

  “Actually, it might be nice to have my back washed if you could. It’s so terribly hard to reach most days,” he quipped over his shoulder as she approached.

  She contemplated this. Didn’t Amele say that she should try to be with him? And didn’t he look absolutely delicious sitting in that hot water? Why shouldn’t she at least give him a chance? She shook Bodhe’s face from her mind again as she approached him.

  “Good girl,” he practically purred, as she took the cloth from his hands and began to wash him slowly. He moaned as her hands ran over his skin. The bruises had already begun to fade from battle and as she peered over at his leg she saw that it too was nearly fully closed. It was all she could do not to gasp when she saw what else was beneath the clear water. Were all immortals made this way? She bit her lip and tried to refrain from being a pervert while he was clearly injured. That, wasn’t injured, thank God.

  Lathering the cloth with the soap that smelled like sandalwood and a green earthy smell, she slid it over his endless back, mesmerized by his frame. He unbraided his plaits one by one as she washed him tenderly and then immersed himself completely in the water, drenching his mane. Isabel just stood behind him when he rose from the warm depths, unsure of what to do next when he grabbed her hand.

  “You aren’t finished yet,” he growled lowly, and pierced her with his cobalt eyes as he turned to face her. “My chest needs washing too.” Those eyes sparkled with mischief and he grinned at her with full lips and beautiful teeth. Oh, why the hell not? She bit her lower lip and lathered the washcloth again, taking in a sharp breath when he sat up further in the tub so she could reach him. Now there was barely an inch from his growing shaft and the top of the water, and her curiosity was about to overrun her.