Horizon

by Christie Rich

Unmistakable devotion appeared on his face. How I had earned such a thing, I would never understand. “Thank you. I may just end up having to call upon you one of these days.”

  He clapped his fist against his chest, saluting me as he had all that time ago in Ignis, before all of this trouble found me. He gave me a blazing smile. “We are at the ready for your command. All you have to do is say the word and we will be there, no matter where, no matter when.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t do anything else. Why were the creatures of the dark realms so feared when they were the best people I knew within Faeresia? What had they done that was so grievous?

  I had a question to ask Creed, yet I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know the answer. I asked anyway. “Who sentenced you?”

  “What?” he asked, eyes wary.

  I leveled my gaze with his. “I need to know.”

  “I would be happy to tell you if I only knew myself.”

  “How can you not remember who cursed you?”

  He shrugged. “Memories have started returning. They are jumbled and do not make much sense.

  I placed my hand on his forearm. “You’ll figure it out.”

  He looked over his shoulder, the breeze whipping his hair into his eyes. He listened for a moment and a grave expression fell over his face. “I must leave before they come looking for you. This man that seeks you is evil, Rayla. You must protect yourself at all costs. Your feelings where your bondmate is concerned are apparent, but keeping yourself aloof from him leaves you exposed.”

  “You too?” I hissed, not believing what he was telling me.

  He shook his head. “So many of us are counting on you to cure the ills in the realms, nay in this world. If you cannot succeed, no one can. You must purge the evil from Faeresia once and for all.”

  “I’m trying,” I said.

  “This is a thing you have to do, Rayla. Sacrifice is always required of a savior.”

  My jaw tightened. “Don’t call me that.”

  His jaw clamped shut, mirroring me. “I cannot call you anything less.”

  A single tear escaped my eyes and trailed down my cheek. He was right, and I knew it; Heath knew it; Zach knew it. This would be the last tear I would shed until this battle for power was over. One way or another I had to succeed or die. There was no other acceptable alternative. He offered me a sad smile, but his eyes still held expectation. “Are you asking me to give in to the bond?”

  He sighed. “There is a reason you have connected more strongly with the lord of space. I cannot tell you why. I am sorry for your hurting, but you must lay all emotion aside until Valen is vanquished. I may not be able to come to you again.” He clasped my forearm, glancing behind us. “Godspeed for you, my lady.” With that said, he vanished, leaving me grasping air.

  A firm hand clamped on my shoulder moments later, and I whirled around, more than a little startled. Zach stood there, concern written across his face.

  “Are you all right, love? I sensed something was wrong.”

  I nodded before I threw my arms around his neck. I wasn’t even sure why I did it, but I needed his strength right now. “I’m fine. I just wanted some time alone.”

  “More like time to talk to Creed,” he said, giving me a wink.

  I pulled away from him. “You knew?”

  “Of course. I am tied to you in every way other than through your mind.”

  In that moment the many strings of our connection tugged me toward him. He was right. I was bound to him in nearly every way.

  He stared at me, love replacing the curiosity in his beautiful eyes. “We’d best head out if we are ever to find your brother, or cousin, or whatever he is to you,” he said, running a finger along my chin.

  I smiled at him, so many emotions flurrying through my heart. This was it. Time for me to completely trust. “There’s something I need to do first.”

  His brows furrowed, but before he could say anything else, I lifted myself onto my toes and pressed my lips to his. Creed was right. If I ever hoped for a chance to move on with Heath, I had to deal with my connection to Zach. Holding back wasn’t doing anyone any good and only gave Valen a better opportunity to win.

  The minute our mouths connected, an explosion of light rained down around us. Elemental particles in every color imaginable swirled through the air. Being inside the most brilliant firework ever created couldn’t compare.

  My body shook and my mind tingled, expanding to let him enter. I opened myself to him then. I let it all flow out of me: the first time I had seen him, our first kiss, when I found out he was fae, when he left for the island, how upset I was when I saw him in my dream, beaten and broken, how disappointed I was with our reunion. I let him feel every single emotion I’d had since I went away to college. I let him experience my love for Heath, which was different than the love I had for him. I didn’t know how it was possible to hold all this love inside me, but it fit somehow. I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but right now I vowed to trust my bondmate. I vowed to honor our connection like everyone, including Heath, expected.

  When I showed him the deepest levels of my heart, he gasped, stepping away from me. Then he said something I will never forget. A simple, “Thank you.”

  I chuckled. “For what?”

  “Trusting me,” he said, offering a shy smile.

  “I’ve always trusted you, Zach,” I said, and I meant it. “It was me I couldn’t trust.”

  He frowned at me. “Oh now, I’ll have none of that. You’ve done a bang-up job. No one could have handled this life any better.”

  I took a deep breath, letting the spice of him heighten my senses. “Thanks, but I’m not so sure.”

  He shook his head. “If you’ve done your best, it’s the best you can expect. Stop comparing yourself to some unseen woman that doesn’t exist.”

  “I just wish—”

  His fingers brushed my lips. “Hush now, love. You are perfect just the way you are.”

  Boy, I had him fooled. I’d shared everything with him except…

  “You needn’t worry. I will protect your guard.”

  I narrowed my eyes again. I hadn’t said that out loud. “Are you reading my mind again?”

  He laughed. “Didn’t you know what happened just now? I’d hardly think you experience kisses like that very often.”

  Only twice. He cringed for the second time in so many minutes.

  “Sorry,” I said, my mind drifting back to the time I shared with Heath.

  “Love, I’ve told you before it doesn’t matter.” He threw out a casual hand. “It’s not like I’m a virgin.”

  I coughed, and suddenly, my fingers itched to cover my ears. The thought of another woman being in his arms set fire to my veins. It was our connection, but it was more. When a memory wanted to surface, I let it flow until I realized it wasn’t my memory I was seeing. I didn’t know if it was coming from Zach or a memory planted in my mind by the angel. It didn’t matter because I couldn’t handle any more confusion at the moment. “I’m not thinking about this right now.”

  He clasped my hand and guided it into the crook of his elbow. He brought his other hand over and gave a solid pat to my fingers. “Don’t you worry, we’ll sort it all out, but first we have a brother of yours to find.”

  I nodded, allowing a bit of the excitement in me to leak into my heart.

  “Zach,” I said as we walked back toward the others.

  “Mmm, love?”

  “You know I’m still not going to sleep with you, right?”

  He chuckled then waggled his eyebrows at me. “We’ll just see about that.” My heart exploded in my chest. Even though I had said it as a joke, I meant it. I was no two-timer. He gave me a sidelong glance then smirked. “We’ve hardly the time to delve into the art of lovemaking. Like I said, we’ll sort it out when this is over. At least now, we just might have a shot of succeeding.”

  Heath wouldn’t look at me when we came out of the trees. However, Jett, Luke, and Tayl
or stared.

  Luke spoke up, “So, she finally gave in?”

  Zach laughed. “I wouldn’t say that, but she’s one step closer.”

  “Just answer the question, Ammon,” said Taylor, exasperated. “Are you two bound completely now.”

  “Aye,” said Zach. “In every way save the union of flesh.” I didn’t miss his not so subtle glance that traveled over every inch of me.

  I blushed down to my toenails, but no one commented. Heath turned away, which made my heart plummet. I still couldn’t believe he’d given up on us. He’d told me to keep the faith, but it was him that seemed to leave it behind in Lombarda. He’d set out to conquer Valen, but now I understood something none of them did. It was going to take all of us together to accomplish such a thing.

  Zach told Luke to scrap his thoughts about rural places. It must have done Zach some good to see my memories of Lambert. Once Luke changed the settings on his gadget, only one possibility remained.

  Just as I thought, Ireland, but it wasn’t Dublin as I’d imagined. It seemed my one time father figure had taken up residence somewhere near Galway in Western Ireland.

  The only problem was we couldn’t pop on over. Plans had to be made, and the best person I knew to plan things was Aunt Grace. I asked Zach where he had taken her, once again, and he told me I’d see her soon.

  The only other person we needed was Tabitha, if anyone could find her. She hadn’t been seen since that horrible day at court, and I worried that she had washed her hands of us all. Time would answer that question, but I wondered if she knew what had happened.

  Chapter Twelve

  Once we ditched India, Zach insisted we find a better way to hide from the guards. Valen somehow had control over them and seeing as how they could pinpoint us when we drift, traveling fae style was out of the question. Even with using mortal means, Zach couldn’t cloak all of us for more than a few hours at a time and that was with him using my power to aid him.

  He said it would work better if I could help him, but all I’d been able to cloak was a few trees, and that was only for a few minutes. My power still wouldn’t work right, and I just hoped it would be ready when I needed it.

  Luke finally rigged some kind of machine that scrambled our signals, so unless the guards were right on top of us, they shouldn’t be able to find us. Zach still hadn’t mentioned more about Nicco, and I wasn’t about to say anything else. If I was wrong, and he wasn’t my father, he could face some severe consequences.

  No matter how fond I was of the borderland creatures, I didn’t want him to become one of them, or shipped off to the dark realms to become a permanent resident.

  I’d learned more about how the place worked, and it seems I wasn’t actually inside the dark realms, like I thought. We were just in the tunnels leading into the underworld.

  That was a comforting thought if there ever was one. Not only had I not seen the worst of the creatures there, I had no capability to see some of them.

  Seemed the fae weren’t the only ones sending discarded beings into that place, but they wouldn’t tell me who the other party was, even though I could guess.

  The way the lords talked about life and eternity floored me. I supposed viewpoints change when you know you will live forever, but these people really didn’t have a thing to look forward to. The only distraction they had came from Elementals.

  You’d think they would have figured out a better system of taking care of the women and families that made their existence bearable, but hey, that was just me. I felt even worse for fae women now because I’d learned that they had no other way to interact with Elementals other than to serve them. So many things were lopsided. I just hoped we could find a solution to the problems the fae faced.

  After a few hours on the road, I’d asked the lords again about finding Tabitha, but they all said it was impossible. Once she decided she didn’t want to be found, she wasn’t. She’d left Faeresia one time during the dark ages and was gone for over a millennium. I couldn’t believe she’d just leave like that without contacting me, but they assured me if she was gone there was a good reason.

  We drove from India to France in a matter of days. I would have loved to stop along the way, and in many ways it reminded me of my trip to Indiana, although with six of us, five of which were huge men with broad shoulders, I wasn’t allowed to even think about driving the minivan.

  I’d offered to sit in the back row, but they all insisted I sit up front, so I could see some of the countryside along the way. Borders were no problem with compulsion in play. Many times during our trip I felt like I was witnessing the Force in action, minus the droids and storm troopers, of course.

  When we arrived in Paris, I thought I might lose it. I’d already been here once without having enough time. All of the lords promised me I could come back as much as I wanted once we had our situation under control, but I had to wonder if they would ever let me out of Faeresia again.

  From Paris we traded our car for the Tube. The idea of riding underneath so much water should have been frightening, but having been to Uldran, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

  Once in Ireland, we headed west, bypassing Dublin. I figured we’d at least stop for a meal, but we were on to Galway just like that.

  The trip hadn’t been half as bad as expected, but that was probably because I had quite a bit to keep my mind distracted from missing the sites.

  Zach had somehow procured another car at the last terminal and now drove us toward some unknown destination. He maneuvered the streets of Galway like a seasoned cabbie. The lanes were narrow and the cars whizzed past us way too close for comfort.

  When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I said, “Where are we going?”

  He glanced at me and smiled. “My ancestral home. It’s not too far now.”

  I tipped my neck from side to side and stretched my aching legs as far as they would go. His idea of not too far was another twenty minutes. My body ached so badly I wouldn’t have cared if he parked on the side of the road and told me to find a stump to curl up with.

  The moss covered ground looked as soft as velvet. I bet it was.

  My jaw dropped when he pulled down a private lane toward an enormous estate set atop a hill that overlooked the now glowing city. The lights from the house spilled across the garden, illuminating the sculptured boxwoods in front of the palatial home. The place was what I should have expected considering his castle in Eirie, but somehow this sprawling mansion didn’t fit the man next to me.

  He’d chosen a worn out farmhouse back in Indiana to call home, when I was pretty sure he could have afforded Wayne Manor.

  A twinge of guilt hit me. I hadn’t asked about Roger in a while, or Lacey. Thinking to get some answers, I glanced behind me. Every man back there glowered at the back of Zach’s head. For once I figured it was because he was the one driving instead of getting carsick like the rest of us. Taylor, especially, seemed to glow with a green tinge that had nothing to do with his power.

  I couldn’t help it. I chuckled.

  Their hate filled stares shifted to me. “Hey,” I said. “I had nothing to do with that ride.”

  Just as Zach pulled to a stop grumbles sounded for Jett to get the side door open. I wasted no time in ditching the stifling space too.

  The humid air was laced with salt and something sweet like honeysuckle. Faeresia had nothing on Ireland as far as I was concerned.

  Determined to still ask my questions, I followed the guys into the grand foyer where a butler held the door for us. He was old so he had to be human. This situation was just strange on so many levels. First thing I did was ask for the bathroom. I had been so eager to get here I’d held my bladder for eight hours. It wasn’t going to take anymore.

  Once I had taken care of business I wandered back the way I came. This place might not have been the Crystal Castle, but it certainly wasn’t a shanty.

  The marble floors squeaked under my shoes. Suddenly worried for the human occupants that had to cl
ean the place, I glanced behind me to make sure I wasn’t scuffing them up beyond repair. I was pretty sure the butler had the same idea when he rounded the corner looking like he was on the hunt of a pesky critter that had invaded his kitchen.

  He took one glance at me and said, “Follow me,” in the most uppity tone I’d ever heard.

  Who’d this guy think he was, Zach’s dad? What did I care if he didn’t exactly approve of me? It wasn’t like I wanted to make this my permanent residence.

  By the time he showed me to the sitting room, I was pretty well fuming. He’d gotten to me a little too easily, and I wondered what the heck was going on. It was like the minute I stepped into this house I’d gotten the worst case of PMS in my life.

  I didn’t care what anyone thought at this point so I made my way across the room and sat right next to Heath. He stiffened, but he didn’t move away from me. Good thing too. He did not want to see what I’d do to him if he did.

  “Rayla,” said Jett. “You okay?”

  “Peachy,” I said, shooting him a look. “Why do you ask?”

  He pursed his lips and slid his hands along his slacks. “Oh, it’s nothing if looking like a lunatic with homicidal tendencies is what you’re going for.”

  I laughed, which surprisingly helped a bit. “That was a good one.” I let my smile fizzle. “The truth is I don’t know what’s going on. I’m trying to fight it, but it’s like I’m getting my first period all over again.”

  Jett’s eyes flared huge which made me laugh again. “What? You can’t stomach talking about women troubles?”

  Zach stood in front of me and offered his hand. “Rayla, in case you hadn’t noticed, our women don’t have those kinds of troubles.”

  I hadn’t either, for a really long time now. I’d gotten used to not having to worry about packing tampons. I had no idea if I would actually have a period, but it sure felt like I would.

  I just stared at his outstretched hand, having no intention of taking it.

  He shook his head at me. “I think you should lie down.”

  “And I think you should step back.”