“Oh my God, Bodhe…we’ll never make it out of this room,” she moaned.
She wrapped her fingers in his hair and looked down at the beautiful beast just as his mouth covered her little nub, sucking her greedily. Steadily he sucked and licked, bringing her to a raging orgasm before she could even protest. Not that she would have, not in earnest. Had his hands not been holding her up, she would have hit the ground as she climaxed.
When the haze receded from her vision, she shuddered hard once more and held onto his muscles that flexed beneath her touch as he stood. Lips that were demanding much more than a kiss claimed hers, the sweetness of their love a unique flavor that had her moaning.
He took her dagger from her hand and strapped it to her left arm instead. “I wasn’t finished, Princess. And the dagger on your thigh will not only be difficult to get to in a dress, but it will command me between your legs if you raise that skirt. Which wouldn’t be good if we’re being attacked by a shadow being, true?”
She just nodded dumbly, still reeling from his mouth. No way she was his first. He was like a Don Juan of the Sidhe, she was certain. “Please, take me to my mother.”
He placed a fleeting kiss on her mouth and grinned triumphantly, materializing his sword on his back. In a blink of an eye he gathered her into his arms, flying toward wherever the cavern was that had been the home of her sleeping mother for twenty-two years.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Magically Bound
TOO MUCH TIME had passed, and Keiren knew there was something that was terribly wrong. If the spell had been lifted she should be free. She’d agreed that she would give up her child in exchange for her safety as she grew in the mortal realm. That was the deal, the only deal she could’ve made when that bastard had bound an Elemental after killing Norgelon. The deal was that if she chose the Prince, then she would awaken. She had been awakened, so why was she still locked in the cave, unable to sift?
Her dress had long since dried and been put on again. Had her own people put the spell on the cave or had the Goddess Isura done it? And to what end? She felt the Prince approaching outside, and though she could reach into his mind it seemed as if he was unable to sense hers. She gasped when she touched her daughter’s. Isabel was coming! She stood and tried to fuss with her tangled blond curls and make herself at least presentable. Maybe Isabel had to come to the tomb herself for the magic to be dispelled?
They landed outside. Oh Gods, her beautiful daughter was just on the other side of this stone. Placing her hands on it she tried to reach out to her, and failed. Keiren would soon turn into a caged beast if she could not get out. All this time and now to be teased like this! She screamed and pounded on the stone, decorum not an issue with her daughter just a foot from her hands. She couldn’t hear her though, and neither could Prince Bodhe. She screamed for her, tears brimming in her eyes.
*****
“I don’t understand, Isabel, the Cave should’ve opened when the curse was broken.”
Bodhe lifted his hands and tried to move the rock but it didn’t budge at all. He strained for another moment and then let out a heavy breath.
“It’s magically protected. We must go get the mages and come back. I don’t know why this hasn’t opened.”
Her heart hammered. It dropped, flopped and then felt like it completely stopped altogether in her chest. Blood was drumming in her ears and she could feel the heat rising in her chest and face. Her soul in that very second, felt as if it had shriveled up and died. She dropped to the ground and pounded the earth with her fists, shaking and squeezing her eyes shut.
Isabel finally looked up at him with tears running down her defeated face. “Because you lied to me. She can’t wake up until my heart has been given to the right one. Was anything you told me the truth? For that matter, why the hell did you come to me in the Unseelie kingdom? What did you win by sleeping with me? By making me love you! ”
Keiren screamed again, but her voice didn’t carry beyond the cave because of the enchantment. She was to suffer this conversation in silence, unable to tell Isabel the truth. Her daughter’s pain ripped through her own chest.
Bodhe looked at her as if he’d been struck. “Gods be damned, Isabel! How can you still be unsure of me? What do I have to do to convince you that I have never lied to you and that you’re my life? I don’t know what magic is here now, but it’s not woven from the Sidhe.”
He came toward her but she backed away. “No. You’ll not touch me again until I know what’s happened here. Everything I’ve seen or heard tells me that you’ve betrayed me. And now, this too!”
She stormed off guided by only her feet, the aching in her heart, and a guess of which way she should go. She looked down and realized that it wasn’t her feet guiding her at all, since they weren’t touching the ground. She wished she could say that she was enjoying these new powers, but there was too much hurt raging inside at the moment.
She couldn’t outfly him for sure, but she knew of someone, of something, who could. “Toressa! Please come, I need you!”
She heard the flapping of the wings in seconds and her larien dropped down next to her. Not hesitating a moment, she jumped lightly onto her back and whispered to her, “Take me to Morkain.”
Toressa whinnied in protest and stomped her feet. “No, girl. I’ll not be swayed here. Take me or I’ll take myself.”
Toressa shook her head and lifted her to the sky. Just as he’d told her, a larien was always faithful to their rider.
“Isabel, wait! Gods be damned, I won’t lose you again!” he screamed at her back. The wind began to whip all around him and he swore that he could hear a voice whispering within it.
Follow her.
“As if I wouldn’t!” he roared back to the gust of wind, and chased her through the woods. The wings of his own larien were coming.
*************
Where the hell were they? Amele sifted from place to place in Loveryn, not finding Bodhe or Isabel anywhere. Why couldn’t she reach anyones mind? She reached her brother’s chambers and knocked hard. “Rystrom! Open the door!”
The doors breezed open and her brother Rystrom, the mage Syon, and the Queen, all stood there staring at her. “What the hell is happening here? Why is everything so damned quiet, and where the hell is Isabel?”
Her brother looked at her with unease. “She’s running to Morkain as we speak.”
“But why? The Elemental told me that Bodhe rescued her. There is only one way that could have been done. Why is she not here, coupled happily in his arms?”
They all gasped and Rystrom’s eyes flared dangerously. “Which Elemental were you speaking to against the laws of the Sidhe, Sister?”
“Oh to hell with the laws, Rystrom! Was there any choice? I didn’t know that Bodhe was playing hero and I was stuck there in the mortal realm thinking that Isabel was being sucked dry and killed by the Unseelie. I had no choice!”
Their faces softened but still looked shocked and slightly angered.
“Don’t worry,” she said with a dismissive gesture, “my binding with Nikolai was almost too good. I’ll restore the veils and bring Isabel back…though I guess restoring the veils alone since she was already saved, is worthy enough.” A little lie wasn’t terrible since it was really all for nothing. They didn’t need to know that. It would only serve to make them even more angry about what she’d done.
“And your cost?” he asked, his voice as soft as a breeze in the room.
“Merely three months of my life. No biggie. Now tell me what happened to Isabel.”
Relief flooded through the room. “I went to the caves after they had gone,” Danua said. “They’re sealed with Elemental magic. My belief is that Keiren is awake within it, but she is bound. Isabel doesn’t know that the curse is broken and she’s headed for the southern cliffs of Albequen. We have asked Syon here to consult about out how we can release her mother, because I do not know if she will listen to anyone else at this point. Bodhe is running afte
r her, and she has her larien. She will be okay. But it would be helpful if we could get Keiren free, then all could be explained to the girl by her mother.”
“But she runs to that beast? How could she run to him after the news of Rhonan? What if something happens to her?”
“Don’t worry, Sister The guard is just a step behind. I don’t believe Bodhe had gotten to the part about Rhonan and Morkain yet, but Morkain will have his due today. The Prince is very angry as you can imagine. We saw much in the waters when Phera had a vision.”
The Queen explained what had happened and Amele flared with anger and looked at the three of them.
“Did you see the part where I killed her?” Amele growled, wishing she had done it a bit more slow and painfully.
They just stared at her. “Always the warrior, Sister. We did. We’re glad it was you that was sent to Isabel in these last few years. It could have turned out much differently…for everyone.”
“She may have started as my charge, but she’s a friend now. More than that, she’s family, even if it hadn’t been Bodhe that was the right one—which is why I’ve got to go to her. I’ll sift to the border to see if there’s anything I can do to help. If that bastard Morkain is there, it will be a very sweet ending to this whole ordeal to get my claws on him.”
Maybe she’d get to run the piece of horse shit through herself.
“Welcome home, Ameieloreya,” Rystrom said as he hugged her. “It’s been too long.”
“A short lived reunion, I’m afraid. But we have an eternity to make up for it.”
“So, when does the three months begin?” he asked after their embrace, just before she sifted.
“Tomorrow. After I’ve had a chance to see her and say goodbye without really saying it. But please, don’t speak to anyone else about the deal I made with the Elemental. After everything she’s been through, she needs to have a little happiness and peace. Just tell her I went on a hunting trip or something. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
She sifted to the cliffs before anymore more could be said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Elemental Trouble
~REALM OF Isura-The Air Elemental God
“Sister, release the immortal from the cave. I have had a binding request from one of them.”
She looked at him from her nest of clouds. “Really, Nikolai, the end of my binding doesn’t have anything to do with yours, so don’t get all frayed over it. Besides, you are absolutely delighted about the queen coming to you.” Blowing from her hand, a tornado hit the valley of a remote area below as she smirked. Branches bent under the force and a deep groove of earth exploded.
“Isura!” he bellowed, as he filled the hole with water, creating space for inhabitants to live. “This has gone on long enough. Release the female!”
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Really, must you yell so? It is nearly over. Plus, you have your plaything, what do you care about the other two females, anyway?”
“I don’t,” he growled, “I just think this has gone too far. You are relishing in the mistakes of the immortals, like Reisha does now. Do you really think that they will call on us more often if tragedy follows every time? Look at them, Sister. The new immortal called Isabel will fall to her death in the very place of her father. Do you think this a good plan for future bindings to occur? Besides, we must call our brother Bhaumik, so that we can restore the veils. You may have your Other, but would it not be pleasant to be invited once more to the realm gatherings, as allies?”
She frowned but he watched her puff an exaggerated breath as she realized he was right. “Oh, fine. And lest you forget, Nikolai, that you have an Other, as well. A lot of good you allow her to be to you.”
“It is not the same, you know this better than any of our siblings. I have trusted you with things that are for us alone concerning her. The Sidhe female will give me release that is long overdue, as is my right to take an offering. Besides, this is not the time for this particular discussion. It is time we restore the veils. What I do with the Sidhe Queen or my Other is not your concern at this moment.”
Her crystal gaze looked into him deeply. “No, it is not my concern today, Brother, but it shall be.” Isura created a geometric pattern with a cloud before continuing. “Do you not think Reisha or Prana should be involved in restorations?”
Shaking his head he looked at the scene unfolding at the cliffs. “No, Reisha would cause more harm than good, and unless I have missed a reunion, Prana has not been seen in a very long time. The three of us are powerful enough to do this.”
She nodded and flicked her wrist, creating a gust of wind so strong that it toppled the boulder at the cave’s opening where Keiren was held. “Happy now, Nikolai? Now, call Bhaumik, there is work do do. I do wonder where Prana has gone. Perhaps she has taken form in her element, becoming the energy of all?”
“Perhaps. She will get bored of that someday, however, and return to us.” He began to disappear back to his mountain before he turned back to her. “Oh, one more thing. We are going to do something that may get us in a little trouble. But it will bode well in the years to come to set this wrong right.”
She glanced at him curiously. “Ohhh, I do love a little trouble. What are we going to do, Nikolai?”
As he began, her eyes grew wide. “No, it’s against our laws…against all laws!”
“No sister, it is not. Not if we affect nothing in the past.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Never Call Us Faeries!
THEY WERE NEARING a break in the trees and something in her gut urged her forward. Flying swiftly now she could feel the magic of Loveryn ebbing away from her.
“That’s it, Toressa! We’re close now, aren’t we?” Her larien made a sound that depicted a yes. She hadn’t known the depths of the larien before this ride. They could speak, much like she understood languages with her Sensetai gift, but their communication was more of a feeling, than words. Isabel coaxed her gently, running her hands down the smooth, white feathers. Could she really be nearing the outer bands? Was Albequen so close by?
She was more confused than ever right now. How could she be sure of anything anymore? She felt as if she couldn’t trust anyone. If her mother had been free then all of this would have been over, and she could live happily ever after with Bodhe.
Right.
As if things like that happened in the real world. Real world, she almost snorted at that. What the hell was her real world anymore? Whatever, screw the happily ever after. At the moment, not being suffocated by doubt would do. Why didn’t he explain anything to her? If the curse had ended and some other magic was keeping her mother contained, then why was he still talking in circles? She thought of how confused he looked at the cave being sealed. He was either a really good actor or she was an idiot, but either way, she had to get her mom out of there.
Isabel frowned. It didn’t matter that he was perfect in every way, that her heart pounded even now thinking of him. It didn’t matter that he had told her he loved her. Those were just words, after all. As Toressa dropped down below the tree line, she neared a great cliff and her heart caught in her throat. Her mind tingled and burned with memories that she didn’t even have; that she shouldn’t have. This was the place her father died. She knew it as certain as she knew her name, and had to force herself to choke back the sorrow.
“Set me down here please.”
The larien circled to the earth and set her down a hundred yards or so from the edge. The beautiful being backed away to the tree line, stopping there and making warning sounds low in her throat.
“Shh, girl, it’s okay. I promise.”
Toressa stomped a few times in protest, and she went to comfort her. “Go home, Toressa. Thank you for being my wings. I’ll call you again soon, sweetheart.” She kissed the larien’s head and walked toward the cliff edge, hearing her shriek a final protest as she flew away.
A dark storm threatened in the distance and painted the sky with grey and black hu
es. The heavy rains poured in sheets from the heavens not too far away, and a crack of lightning struck a tree behind her and set it on fire; an ominous warning. The lightning was too far from the storm but as she watched the tree burn she felt a chill up her spine. Awareness hummed and her skin pricked, and all the hairs on her arms began standing up because of the electric current from the storm. Above the skies were clear, stars twinkling…and that lightning had no place here. As the flames licked the tree, and had it smoldering into gray ash, she shivered. No. Oh please, no….
Suddenly it felt as if all the air had been stolen from her lungs.
The lightning. Her mother’s curse.
She halted at the edge of the cliff, contemplating calling Toressa back. She growled at her idiocy. Looking over the edge she got slightly dizzy and backed up a few feet. Her mother had told her to think of her curse. The lightning. Bodhe’s touch caused lightning within her, rather than him being struck by it. She’d felt the sensation a hundred times since they had been together. Not once with the Elf.
“Just as lightning may strike the earth, so shall your lover strike you with his touch.”
The lightning would never strike him, but he would strike her with it every time he touched her. There had always been heat with Morkain, but that couldn’t be helped. He was gorgeous, and utterly motivated. Son of a bitch. She put her hand over her mouth. Bodhe had even told her! He called Rhonan a mate. Dammit! The Sidhe had partners, it was the Elves that had mates. What a fool! She was running away from the man she loved, and for what?
Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1) Page 32
