He opened his mouth then shut it again before shaking his head as if clearing his thoughts. “We want you to come with us.”
Her eyes widened. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “Excuse me?” What on Earth had he meant by that, and what did he mean by ‘us?’
Were Tristan and Seth together?
Her heart ached at the thought. What if they were bonded and she was on the outside looking in. It was a familiar place for her to be, after all.
“Come with us to my realm,” Tristan said softly. “We need to speak with you, talk to you about things. And, well, the others said it’s been a long time since you’ve been out of the human realm. Maybe you can call this a vacation of sorts?”
She frowned. “You talked to the others about me? What on Earth do you have to talk to me about that you can’t say right here?” She looked around and was relieved to find that there weren’t many people walking around them on the sidewalk in front of Dante’s Circle. The fact that humans weren’t alone in the world wasn’t something that was out in the open, and frankly, she didn’t want the crazy looks strangers would give her once they overheard their conversation. She’d had enough of those looks to last a lifetime.
“We weren’t talking about you behind your back,” Seth put in then cursed under his breath. “What I mean is, they’re worried about you, and frankly, so are we.”
That put her back up. “Why are you worried? I don’t think it’s any of your concern.”
“Damn it,” Tristan muttered. “We’re going about this all wrong. Fine, Amara. Seth and I are your mates, yet we know you don’t feel the tug of the bond like we do. So we want to go to my realm where we’re away from prying ears and eyes and get you away from the job that is putting a strain on you, the one you so clearly hate. We want to figure this all out. The others agree that you should leave here and find some peace, though, frankly, I don’t think peace is exactly what we have in mind at the moment.”
She took a step back at his words, her hands shaking.
“Oh, that was good,” Seth said with a snort. “Why don’t you just scare her into coming with us? Good plan. Next you’ll be listening to Eliana and wanting to throw her over your shoulder and kidnap her.”
“If I remember correctly, you were the one who mentioned kidnapping first.”
Maybe if she turned and ran away right then, they wouldn’t even notice her leaving. Amara pinched herself, trying to wake herself up from this bizarre dream. There was no way what these two were saying was true.
Kidnapping? Mates?
What. The. Hell.
She needed a drink. Or to wake up. Or something that wasn’t her standing on the side of the street with her mouth gaping like a freaking fish.
“Whoa,” she finally said. She held up both hands, palms facing the two men, and blinked. “I have no idea what the hell you two are talking about, but first, there will be no kidnapping. I know you’re stronger and bigger and have magic and crap, but I’m drawing the line at kidnapping.”
Tristan’s mouth quirked with a smile while Seth winced.
“I didn’t mean actual kidnapping,” Seth said softly.
“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t,” she lied. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. “Second,” she continued, “Why do you think I’m your mate? Because if that’s the case, then there’s something wrong on my end.” Pain slashed at her chest, but she ignored it. “I’m a bad bet, so you’d better just walk away.”
“Amara,” Tristan whispered. “You’re anything but a bad bet.”
“That’s why we want to take you away from here and figure out what’s going on,” Seth added.
She shook her head and pressed her lips together. The back of her eyes burned, and she did her best not to cry. Crying was for weaker mortals, and frankly, she’d cried enough in her life.
Something the men had said earlier finally penetrated all the other monumental things filling her brain.
“Wait. The others said I should go? As in they don’t want me here anymore?” Anger slid over her like a warm blanket, and she let her hands fall to her sides, curling them into fists.
Seth shook his head quickly. “That’s not what they were saying, Amara.”
“They only want you to breathe,” Tristan added. He stepped toward her, and this time, she didn’t pull back. When he put his hand on her cheek, she gasped at the shock of his skin against hers. “Come with us, Amara. Let’s figure everything out together. It’s long past time we actually talk.”
“I…what if you’re wrong,” she whispered, voicing her deepest fear.
“I’m never wrong,” Tristan said smoothly.
Seth let out a cough. “I’m wrong sometimes about other things, but not about this.” She looked over as he rubbed his fist over his heart. “I know what I feel. And I’m not going to back away because things are different than how they normally are.”
She didn’t know what to say, what to think. It was all too much. But…what if what they were saying was true? What if she was their mate and there was an actual future for the three of them?
She’d never backed down from anything in her life, even when it had almost killed her. Maybe she should take the risk, knowing full well that if the two men in front of her were wrong, she’d break worse than she ever had before.
The others wanted her gone, and even if it wasn’t rational in her mind, she didn’t want to go back in there and see their faces. She didn’t want to see the looks of pity and hope she couldn’t quite understand. The others had their mates, and Eliana…well, Eliana might understand, but she had Malik.
Amara had no one.
Yet she might have a glint of a chance with the two men in front of her.
Seth reached around and touched her hip while putting his other hand on Tristan’s back. The three of them formed a unit, touch to touch, and she gasped at the contact.
“Okay,” she whispered, knowing she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. “Take me to your…realm.”
Tristan smiled full-out while Seth let out a relieved breath. “Then let’s get out of here. Do you want to say goodbye to the others first?”
She blinked. “You mean we’re going right now?” She needed to pack. Or brush her hair. Or something.
Tristan lowered his arm while Seth moved back. She immediately felt the loss. She was already a goner.
“Why not right now?” Seth asked. “It’s Friday, and you don’t work weekends.” He paused. “At least, you shouldn’t. Right?”
She worked seven days a week and was on call twenty-four hours a day, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to say that.
Tristan narrowed his eyes. “You need another job, Amara. That’s just one thing we’ll discuss this weekend.”
She raised a brow. “I’m not going with you if you’re going to spend the entire time telling me what to do. I lived with someone who did that most of my childhood, and I’m not going back to that kind of life.” She closed her mouth quickly as soon as she’d revealed that tidbit. The other women knew of her past, but no one else did, and she’d be damned if she’d let these two find out. They didn’t need to know how she’d grown up. She was past that.
She was healed.
Again, if she kept telling herself that, then one day, she’d believe it.
“We’ll discuss that, as well,” Tristan said smoothly.
Seth let out an aggravated breath. “What he means is, we’ll talk about all sorts of things. We’re not going to tell you how to live your life. I promise.” He turned to Tristan, who raised a brow before looking at her again. “We promise.”
She let out a breath. “Okay, then. Let’s…go, I guess?” That hadn’t come across very confident. This was a life-altering decision. Amara could do better than that. “I don’t need to say goodbye to the girls. Apparently, they’re ready for me to be gone.” She couldn’t help the bite in her tone, and by the looks on their faces, the men seemed to notice. “To the fae realm?”
<
br /> They both nodded, and Tristan held out a hand to each of them. “Let’s be off, then.”
She gripped his palm and let out a slow breath. “Okay. One question, though. Why are we going to the fae realm and not the mer one?” She looked at Seth, who shrugged.
“He’s older.” She snorted, and Seth grinned at her. “Plus, the fae realm isn’t underwater so it’s a little easier for you to acclimate.” Her eyes widened, and he reached out to grip her other hand. “Don’t worry. When we go to my realm, I’ll help you. You won’t drown. I promise.”
She knew Faith and Levi had been to that realm before and had almost drowned, but that was another’s doing, not the merpeople’s.
Tristan squeezed her hand and met her gaze, and she knew that with this one step, everything would change. She wouldn’t just be Amara, lonely human with no future anymore. She’d be…well, she didn’t know what she’d be, but she’d change. Because there was no way she’d come out of whatever happened next the same.
Tristan looked up into the sky and muttered a few words under this breath, and Amara gasped. Purple and blue lights surrounded them, swirling into a vortex that didn’t look like Levi’s or any other’s that she’d seen. Instead, the colored tendrils wrapped around her, Tristan, and Seth, their warmth and energy pulsating along her skin until she couldn’t see the bar or the street anymore.
Before she could figure out what that meant, or even say something about what was going on, the colors faded away and she no longer stood in front of Dante’s Circle in the city she’d grown up in.
Instead, she was in a new realm, a new place she’d never seen before.
Tristan let go of her hand but stood close, as did Seth. She looked at them a moment before letting her attention fall to the beauty surrounding her. Green. So much green. Though they’d landed in a clearing, tall trees reached toward the sky, the girth of their trunks and limbs speaking of centuries of life and history. Flowers and green vegetation covered the ground, and a dirt path cut through the meadow as if people had traveled amongst this beauty for years yet didn’t want to harm it other than this one path.
The sky was a dark blue, slightly different than the one she’d grown up under. The magic in the air sizzled but didn’t harm. It was as if it had always been welcome. As if the world had matured and evolved under the heavy weight of the fae’s power.
In the distance, she could see a large mound with a shaded doorway at the edge. She’d grown up reading fantasy and lore and had heard of the fae, but as with all myths, she knew that it wasn’t all truth. Not with as many supernatural races as she’d met in the past few years.
“Wow,” she breathed, and Seth chuckled.
“I know, right?” he said as he came to her side. “I’ve only been here once, and that was with my sister, Calypso for a Conclave thing. I’ve never really ventured out and explored.”
“Well this is your lucky day, then,” Tristan said, pride and a little bit of anxiety in his voice. “I took us near my home instead of directly inside like I usually do because I wanted you to see this.” His gaze was on the mound and not her, but Amara knew he still had his attention on her. Despite the fact that she didn’t feel the tug she should, he apparently did, and he wanted her to like his home.
Unsure of what to say or do, she placed her hand in his. “It’s beautiful. Thank you for showing me your realm.”
He squeezed her hand while Seth took her other one again. “Thank you.” Tristan cleared his throat. “My home is behind wards right through there.” He gestured with his free hand down the path toward a grouping of trees. “The mound is where our Court is and most of our business happens.”
“Court?” she asked as they made their way down the path. “Like Seelie and Unseelie?”
Tristan winced and looked over his shoulder. She winced, as well, aware she’d said something she shouldn’t have. “We don’t have those Courts anymore,” he said finally. “I’ll explain it all once we’re at my home.”
She nodded and kept her mouth shut. There was apparently a lot of history she didn’t know, and she didn’t want to end up saying the wrong thing.
Tristan held out his free hand in front of him once more, and the image in front of her shimmered before peeling away. Instead of trees, a large stone home—or castle, rather—stood in front of them, tall, proud, and intimidating as hell.
“This is home,” he said simply.
But there wasn’t anything simple about the stone structure in front of her. It spoke of countless histories and paths she’d never thought to take. The man at her side was over nine hundred years old according to Faith. Amara couldn’t even comprehend what that truly meant in terms of experiences and memories.
For all she knew, this old building in front of her was his new one and he had even older ones dotted along the landscape.
She wouldn’t hyperventilate, but damn, she was close.
Amara rolled her shoulders back, knowing she needed to be strong with what was to come. These two men thought she was their mate, and even though she desperately wanted that to be the case, she couldn’t allow herself to hope. Because if they were wrong and it was merely sexual attraction, then she could lose everything; both the things she had and the things she hoped to have.
If she faced what was to come head-on, she’d be able to look in the mirror with some semblance of respect. Her heart ached with the fact that she didn’t feel the tug, the pull she should. She’d always been different, and this just cemented that.
Amara was just so tired. She’d spent years running from her past, only to end up in job after job that sucked the life out of her. She had nothing to show for her hard work except circles under her eyes and pity from others.
Lost didn’t begin to cover how she felt. She wasn’t like the other lightning-struck. She’d never been. She never took chances because she had to fight for what little she had and she didn’t want to lose that, too.
Yet now, look at her.
In a new realm, between two men who wanted her as their own.
Could she do this? Could she give in?
She sucked in a breath as they walked through the large doorway, the men on either side of her watching her reactions. Maybe she could roll with the punches. Maybe she could…take that chance.
Maybe this would be the adventure she never thought to have.
It was past time, after all.
MALIK
Malik awoke with a shout, his body sweat-slick and his pulse racing. The nightmare had come again, this time with a vengeance. The Pride had burned around him, their echoing screams never leaving his memory. He was a lion shifter, a prince, and would one day be the Leo of his people.
And yet, he had no successor.
No mate. No bond.
If he didn’t make changes soon, he knew his dreams would become prophecy, instead of simply nightmares.
With a sigh, Malik got out of bed and strode naked to his dresser where his phone chirped. The sound had thankfully pulled him from the dream where he’d stood alone amongst the death and destruction of his people. Glancing at his cell, he saw that Tristan, his long-time friend, had texted him, letting him know he wouldn’t be available for the next few weeks. It seemed his buddy had taken the leap and was doing his best to find a bond with not one, but two mates.
He was happy for Tristan, so damn happy, but he knew he wouldn’t have that. He’d been alone for too long. He might not be as old as Tristan or some of the other races, but lion shifters were different.
With that nightmare and now Tristan’s news, Malik knew he had to do what was expected of him. He didn’t want to, but it was past time he did what he had to in order to protect his people.
A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts, and he quickly pulled on his jeans. He’d been sleeping in the middle of the damn day since he hadn’t had a chance to sleep before that. But now, the person he needed to see was here.
When he opened the door, he did his best not to lean forward
and inhale Eliana’s sweet scent. His lion loved that scent and wanted more of it. They both wanted to roll around in it and let it seep into their skin. And because of that, he knew it was time to do what he had to do.
“Come in.” His tone was short, and Eliana raised a brow at it. It hadn’t escaped her attention that he hadn’t leaned down to kiss her or rub his nose along her cheek like he was prone to.
“Were you sleeping?” she asked. “I thought you said I should meet you here for dinner, but if you need to go back to bed because of work, I don’t mind.” From the heated look in her eyes, he knew what she wanted to do in bed.
“I’m sorry you came over here, Eliana. I should have called you.”
She tilted her head. “What’s wrong, Malik?”
“It’s over.” There. He’d said it. As long as he did this quick, it would be okay. Just like tearing off a bandage. “It was fun while it lasted, but I’m looking for something long term and you’re not it.”
He was a fucking asshole, but if he didn’t push her away, he’d do something monumentally stupid. Like mate with a human. His kind couldn’t mate with humans. Not that she knew about his kind and what went bump in the night. Her friends might, but Eliana didn’t. And he knew the secrets of his kind were far more important than a human’s feelings. Even if it killed him to break her heart…and perhaps his.
Lions couldn’t mate with humans because of the way their bonds were created. They chose to mate, rather than allowing fate to decide. And because he hadn’t been able to find someone to mate with in all this time, he’d have to allow the Pride to choose his female. If Eliana were anything other than human, he and his lion would have chosen her. But because his fate was fucked up, he’d never have her.
And he had to push her away before the other lions heard of her existence…or before he fell even more in love with her.
Tears filled Eliana’s eyes and her hand shot out. He let the slap come, relishing the ache.
“You bastard. You’re looking for forever but I’m just a good fuck? Is that it?” Her chest heaved and she took a staggered step back. “I thought…I thought…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought because, apparently, I was wrong. I’m an idiot. Well, fuck you, Malik. Go find your perfect wife or whatever the fuck you’re looking for. I don’t need this. I’m better than that.” She turned on her heel and opened the door, practically running from him.
An Immortal's Song (Dante's Circle #6) Page 3
