Storm Mistress

by Rivers, Brandy L

  “And it wasn’t directed at you?” he asked Toryn with intrigue.

  “Not in the slightest. It seemed to join us.” A burning shiver ran through to her core, before radiating out to leave her breathless.

  Reance gave her a knowing smile. “I can see that. It’s a rare gift and no one can argue against that bond. It grew out of true love and friendship before intimacy came into the picture.” He gave her a warm look. “If Toryn ever manages to leave your side, you’ll find you’ve developed another tie. You’ll know when he’s near and will hate it when you are apart.”

  He turned to Toryn. “It works both ways, you’ll feel it every bit as much as she does.”

  And she knew he was speaking from personal experience. Her parents spent the better part of two centuries mostly apart. Even before her tie to Toryn, she didn’t think she could go more than a couple days away from him.

  Lost in thought, she grabbed the first thing off the plate she could reach. It vaguely looked like shrimp but brighter in color and cooked in a spicy sauce. Reance smiled as she popped it in her mouth. “Mmm, that’s really good,” she mumbled.

  There was wine at the table, but she wasn’t about to touch it, not in the presence of her father. She remembered how hard it was to control the urge to rip Toryn’s clothes off after drinking the night before, and after having him, there was no way in hell she could stop herself.

  Another connection popped into existence. One she didn’t recognize, but instantly knew and it was close. She looked around frantically and whispered, “She’s here. Isn’t she?”

  Puzzle pieces started clicking into place. She was nervous, excited, and scared. She’d given up on finding real parents long ago. Even though she understood their good intentions, it hurt knowing they chose to send her away.

  Reance’s already radiant complexion seemed to brighten. “I sent word. Your mother has waited a long time to finally meet you. She hated sending you away, but it was the only way to prevent you from being used.” Her father’s gaze moved to the door and so did hers.

  Aeryana walked in. Isa could hardly breathe. She looked like a pagan goddess. Her long hair was a black silken veil over skin that appeared to be made of crushed opals. She had sparkling diamonds for eyes.

  Isadora was paralyzed by her mesmerizing beauty as her mother floated across the room in a gown of shimmery white material. Her voice was so light and airy that she wasn’t sure she actually heard her at first. “Isadora, I am so very happy to finally meet you, but I truly hate the circumstances and lack of time.”

  She stood, unsure of what else to do and simply stared, until the question blurted out of her mouth. “What’s coming?”

  Isa closed her eyes. There had to be a better way to greet her mother for the first time, but for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom how.

  With a gentle touch, Aeryana brushed Isadora’s hair behind her ear before caressing her cheek. “Aeremaius sent for Henroyld and they will be here shortly. Thankfully, they do not know about the portal in the tunnels.” Aeryana’s voice was like music, the song sad and longing. “You have to leave. I am truly sorry. I want nothing more than to stay with you, but it’s simply not possible.”

  That was a blow to her chest. “You just got here.”

  “I know, and I regret the circumstances. However, I brought a gift that will help you later.” Aeryana took her hand and placed a small silken pouch in her palm. When Isadora didn’t close her hand, Aeryana closed it for her and kissed her forehead. “Please, put it on, before going home.”

  Fear passed over Toryn’s face briefly.

  Before Isadora could reply, Aeryana took Toryn’s hand. “Thank you so very much for taking care of my daughter. I am only sorry we kept the truth from you. Henroyld had to believe he was your master, but Reance shared enough of his vision to convince me Isadora’s life was secure in your hands.”

  A tear slid down her mother’s pristine cheek as she motioned to a guard Isadora hadn’t noticed before. “You don’t have long, Isadora. Please be safe, my beloved daughter.” After her farewell, she followed the guard out the way they came.

  Reance took Isa’s hand, and Toryn took her other, as her father led them through a hidden door and into old, medieval-looking tunnels whose walls seemed to ripple. The air changed, like stepping from an airplane onto the jet bridge in a hot, humid state.

  They came to a stop at another door she could barely make out in the dark. “I know you won’t go to Faerie yet,” Reance explained, “and really, it’s for the best because Henroyld would expect it.” There was a goodbye in his tone and she wanted to cry. He caressed her face. “I’ll be leaving from here as well. They cannot know I live. Aeryana has to be back in Faerie before they arrive. The further you are from this location when they get here, the better off you’ll be.”

  She nodded, but didn’t have words. It was a relief they weren’t shoving her into Faerie, but she was still heartbroken. She found her parents only to be sent away a second time. Although, Reance had watched over her for years, even if he never once spoke to her—he always disappeared in a puff of smoke whenever she tried to engage him—she had missed her angel for the last decade.

  Reance gave Toryn a heartfelt hug. “I trust you with Isadora’s life. You are the only one, Toryn, who can save her from what’s coming.” Reance pressed a set of keys into his hand and turned back to Isadora.

  With tears in her eyes, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tight.

  He embraced her briefly then set her back with a hope-filled smile. “I will see you again, soon. I swear it.”

  “I hope so.” Isa managed a weak smile.

  Toryn pulled her through the door where a midnight black Humvee sat. She stared at the vehicle as he opened the door for her. Everything was moving too fast. She felt numb and distant.

  She climbed into the seat without his help and saw their bags already in the backseat, along with a picnic basket.

  Apparently, her father really did see everything and planned it all out. That only left her with more questions she wasn’t ready to explore.

  Chapter 22

  Toryn hated seeing Isadora hurting. She was closing down, shutting him out. He knew it wouldn’t last long, but it still stung. He closed the door and went around to climb in beside her.

  “Isa, talk to me. Are you all right?”

  “I don’t know.” Her tone was hollow as she stared out her window. “One minute, I’m a girl who owns a bar, the next I’m in the middle of some crazy fairytale. Except faeries are real and I could be used as a weapon. Oh, and then I find out that the one man I fell in love with isn’t human. And the worst part? I’m a fucking Faerie princess.”

  A soft laugh escaped his lips as he started the Humvee. “You will always be my Princess, Isa.”

  She didn’t have a response. He wanted to push, but didn’t. He couldn’t even decipher what she was feeling.

  Speeding down the tunnel, he took Isa’s hand. When they came out in downtown Spokane, she gasped and looked at him with wide eyes.

  Toryn sighed. “I can’t claim to know exactly what you are going through, Isadora, but I am here for you. No matter what, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I won’t leave your side without necessity, unless you ask me to. And even then, you would have to order me away, but I would still make sure you are always safe. I need you to be safe and happy.”

  She turned toward him, bringing his hand to her mouth for a kiss. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to leave. Even if we hadn’t gone there, I would be begging you to stay because you are the only thing grounding me at the moment.”

  He squeezed her hand. “How does San Francisco sound?”

  It took her a good minute to process that. Nodding, she dug her phone out of her boot and called someone. She held her finger over her mouth in warning.

  Isa turned the speaker on. Four rings later, Lana answered, out of breath and irritated. “What’s up?”

  Toryn could en
vision Lana on top of Reese in his bed. Good, maybe the prick would be nicer to Isa when they got back.

  She managed a smile. “Hey Lana, I have to go out of town for a few days. You know I never bail, but I won’t be able to train Tiffany. Can you handle her yourself? Or maybe James could train her?”

  “Shit, Isa,” she burst out, irritated and worried, “I went by your apartment and it looked like someone ransacked your place. We were supposed to go to dinner. Remember?”

  There was a slap and then a grunt that wasn’t hers. Yeah, definitely Reese. There were footsteps and a door slamming.

  Toryn had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing.

  Guilt passed over Isa’s features.

  Toryn refused to feel remorse for keeping Isa safe. He knew about their plans, but purposefully neglected to remind her.

  Isa grimaced. “Shit, I’m sorry, Lana. I forgot all about dinner. I don’t know what happened at my apartment, but I’m heading to the airport to see an old friend. He was in a terrible accident. It’s not looking good. He’s in bad shape. I don’t know for sure how long I’ll be gone.”

  She was so convincing, that had he not known better, he would be wondering who the hell was in the hospital.

  “Where? Who?” Lana asked, obviously rattled and probably confused.

  “Miami. Sorry Lana, can’t explain right now. I’m getting on a plane in a few minutes.”

  “Right, well, I hope he’s okay. We’ll be fine without you for a bit.” Lana sighed heavily. “Don’t stay gone for too long. Everything would fall apart without you.”

  “We’ll be back as soon as we can,” she assured, and promptly flinched.

  Lana jumped on the slip. “We’ll? You and Toryn finally did it!” A statement, not a question, and she was delighted.

  Isa licked her lips, her fingers trailing over her thigh as she blushed. “About that, well… uh… I’ll bring you up to speed another time.”

  “What? No details? I bet he was amazing. I’ve been telling you for years that you two should hook up.”

  Toryn’s brow arched, but he held his tongue.

  “Mmm.” She shivered. Her hand drifted between her thighs as she cupped herself. “Getting on the plane, I can’t talk. Chat with you later.” She hung up and turned off the phone before Lana could drill her for details.

  Toryn glanced over and watched Isadora caress herself. What he wouldn’t give to pull over, spread her open, and devour her until she was screaming his name, again. Licking his lips, he took her hand.

  Isa blushed furiously and gulped. “San Francisco will be perfect.”

  Probably not once she found out exactly why they were going, but he could only hope she would forgive him. Eventually. “Miami?” he inquired.

  “Someone ransacked my apartment. Lana is too loose with where I am. That’s how Evan found me at the club. I figured if I told her across the country, she isn’t lying and whoever is asking looks in the wrong place. I think we need to turn our phones off, and leave them off, until we figure out what we’re doing.”

  “Good thinking.” He dug his phone out. “Right after I ask a favor.”

  He hit speed dial and Scotty answered immediately, “What’s up?”

  “Hey, Scotty, I need another favor.”

  “Sure thing, man. What is it?”

  “Someone trashed Isa’s place. Can you ward it to keep anyone else out? Maybe bring Lonny to find out if anything was taken?”

  Isa frowned at him.

  Scotty’s humor evaporated. “Of course. She all right?”

  “She is.” Toryn squeezed her hand. “I’m taking her to San Francisco. You know the place to meet me.”

  Scotty coughed. “To Morrigan? You sure she’s ready for that? Have you two finally gone there?” There was a smirk in his tone by the last question.

  “I hope so, and yeah. Remus threatened to force it,” Toryn ground out through clenched teeth.

  “Shit,” Scotty muttered. “Take care of her. When do you want me down there?”

  “Two nights from now, unless I send word. You know where to find me. And thank you.”

  Isadora leaned in and spoke up. “Thank you, Scotty. I owe you.”

  Scotty chuckled, and Toryn wondered what that was about. Then he demanded, “Let me talk to Isa.”

  “Sure.”

  Isa plucked the phone out of his hand but Toryn hit speaker.

  “Hey, Scotty,” she answered sheepishly.

  Now he was doubly curious.

  “Finally made the first move?” he teased.

  “Guess I couldn’t ignore the truth anymore.” She grinned back at Toryn.

  “Was I right?” Scotty prodded, and Toryn raised a brow at her.

  “Yes.”

  Toryn kept his mouth shut, for the moment.

  Scotty laughed. “Good, maybe he’ll be more fun now.”

  “What?” She frowned at Toryn, obviously confused.

  “His foul mood started a couple months ago,” Scotty explained, and Toryn was thoroughly tempted to hang the phone up, but she should know. “Toryn kept getting worse. He’s a mess when you aren’t around. You could ask Lonny, or even Leon. Especially Leon.”

  Isadora gasped and blinked at Toryn, understanding flashing across her features. “Another time, and thanks again.”

  “Be safe, and be sure to enjoy him. Thoroughly.” Scotty’s laugh echoed through the phone as he hung up. Isadora stared at Toryn in disbelief.

  Toryn shut off the phone and winked at Isadora. “Lana’s been telling you for years that you should hook up with me?” He couldn’t help the mischievous smirk.

  Glaring back, she crossed her legs, tightly. “Would you have defied your orders if you knew how I felt?”

  With a heavy sigh, he looked back at the road and dodged the question. “You needed a friend when I met you. I did my best to shut down those feelings and give you what you needed.” And he hated keeping anything from her, but as the days stretched into weeks and weeks into months, he realized he loved her with every fiber of his being, and would have done anything and everything for her. She seemed to need a friend, not a lover.

  He could have taken her away back then, back before Remus showed up. Kept her hidden. Then he wouldn’t have been so afraid of her reaction. Maybe. He was an assassin, which meant sometimes he carried out the dirty jobs. She could still change her mind when it all sank in. There were things that had to be done for the greater good, and he did them reluctantly. Found ways around them when he could, but there were killings that had to be done.

  Her beautiful voice broke his musings. “Did you ever guess what I really felt?”

  “Until recently?” A few weeks before Evan showed up, he had caught her watching him with awareness he was sure he imagined. Such a damned fool. “No. I convinced myself you couldn’t possibly be attracted to me, so I whored it up.” If he could go back in time, he would stay celibate.

  “Why?” she asked with so much sadness, he couldn’t fathom what she was thinking.

  “Why what? Me being a slut?”

  “Whoa, you didn’t do anything wrong. You enjoyed yourself and it turned me on to watch you with someone else.” She blushed, but moved closer, her hand caressing and massaging his neck.

  His eyes flared as he glanced over at her, surprised. He only saw truth on her face.

  “Is that so?”

  Licking her lips, Isa nodded. “You are so beautiful and it’s not only your outside, Toryn. I couldn’t imagine you taking interest in me because you’re just… you’re everything I want and I am not that lucky. The few times I thought we might go there, you would find a new playmate or something would bring me back to reality.”

  “You did the same to me, Isa.” So many times there was a hint of something, and then a new man would step into the picture. He sighed. “There was a drunken night, about a year ago when you looked at me with those burning emerald eyes and I was sure you were about to kiss me on the dance floor.” A sa
d laugh escaped and he looked back at the road. “Then Blake came up behind you, his hands all over, and I couldn’t get my own fantasies out of my head.”

  Flabbergasted, she asked, “Wasn’t that the night you took Tiffany home?”

  Grinning, he shrugged. “Why do you think she hates me?” He didn’t call Isa’s name once or twice, but quite a few times. Tiffany had been so lost in her own pleasure that she didn’t catch it while he was inside her. No, but once she had her mouth around his cock, he chanted Isa’s name like a prayer. Justifiably, Tiffany slapped him, several times. Toryn deserved it. He still couldn’t figure out how he imagined his naturally gorgeous Isadora and her sexy curves when he had Tiffany and her fake body. Fake tan, fake hair, injected lips, fake tits, and bad ones at that. How in the abyss he ever confused the two, he would never know.

  “I only threw myself at Blake because I never imagined you felt the same.” Her tone was defensive and he had to bite back his smile. “I took what I knew I could have because I was close to dragging you back to the storeroom.”

  “Oh Isa, you had me so hard, it was all I could do not to carry you back there myself and make you forget Blake and every other man in the place.”

  * * * *

  Like Toryn needed to worry, silly man. Now, thinking about the way Toryn made love to her, she wanted him. Needed him. Time for a change of subject, like pronto.

  “Okay,” she took a deep breath, “we have to stop before I make you pull over. I’m not sure I’ll make it to San Francisco as it is.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, because she could feel the heat growing between them. The bond was unsettling because she could sense his arousal as sure as she felt her own.

  With a desperate attempt to distract herself, she asked, “What is in San Francisco, anyway?”

  “A mystic who wants nothing to do with Faerie. She can teach you a lot more than I can.” Isa knew there was more to that story, but had a feeling he wasn’t ready to share yet.

  Well, the topic was successfully changed, but now she found herself wondering if he’d slept with this mystic. And somehow, that stung worse than the humans he had slept with over the last ten years.