Mikal (Second Wave Book 3)

by Mikayla Lane

  “You think she abandoned me?” Mikal asked, somewhat shocked.

  “Never!” Indrid said forcefully before he calmed himself again. “I found her body, several hours later. There were other Relians that we didn’t know about, and she hid you then ran, hoping to lose them and circle back to get you.”

  It makes sense, Mikal thought. In his mother’s situation, it would have been the only option to try and protect him.

  “Why didn’t you find me?” Mikal asked, assuming his mother couldn’t have hidden him far from where Indrid had left them.

  “I had been gone for hours when I felt your mother’s distress. I went to where I’d left you both and you were gone. Her energy was gone, and your faint energy was as well. Grai must have found you not long after your mother was killed and thought you were alone,” Indrid said, with no malice towards Grai.

  Mikal was silent, alone in his thoughts as his emotions flowed riotously through his energy. Indrid could feel it and he sat beside his son but didn’t touch him even though he wanted to hold him.

  “Son, your mother loved you very much. As do I. I have lived these years since your disappearance searching for any sign of your energy as you matured. Every time I sensed you and rushed to where you were, you were gone. But I never stopped trying. I never gave up hope. I have missed you, Mikal,” Indrid said, his voice breaking with emotion.

  “Why couldn’t you find me?” Mikal asked, his own voice shaking.

  Indrid drew a heavy breath.

  “You were a hybrid, so your energy didn’t emerge at birth as it does with our people. There was something different about yours even though you were a hybrid. Even your mother’s energy was much different than yours. It was as if you had a part of the both of us but something else as well. Something we didn’t have a chance to understand before she was killed and you were gone,” Indrid said honestly.

  Mikal knew the strange energy Indrid was speaking of was his Dranovian side, but he figured he’d save that explanation for another time since he was still trying to wrap his mind around everything.

  From what he could tell, he was cursed on his father’s side and his mother’s. The Valendran/beast part of him from his mother made him a Dranovian, which made him an outcast among the beast species. And his Hyperborean half was basically in servitude to the planet because of a mistake made by his ancestor’s.

  It was like his parents had spun the genetic roulette wheel, the Fates decided to play a game of “fuck you all,” and he got seriously screwed.

  Mikal leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees and ran his hands over his head, trying to force it all to make sense. Indrid’s hand on his back felt familiar and yet not, confusing him even more, although he didn’t move away either.

  “Mikal, I know all of this is a bit much for you right now. I understand that you will need time and will have many more questions for me. I reformed the connection between us in your mind, so you can contact me at any time. I will stay here for a few more days as well before I will have to leave again,” Indrid said softly.

  “If this is our home, why isn’t anyone here? Why haven’t the hybrids seen anyone here? Where the hell is everyone and why did you let the government get our DNA?” Mikal asked in a rush, the questions forming as he spoke.

  Indrid smiled sadly. He should have known that his son would want answers now. Mikal had an unclaimed mate and daughter and he’d want to ensure they were protected.

  “The guardians are the energy of the bodies of our dead. It is their bodies that the government found in the earth. By the time we felt the disturbance in the bridge, they had already taken the samples away. We were able to create enough of a problem to make the government move from our ancient burial ground, but the damage had already been done,” Indrid explained.

  “Our people haven’t stayed here in a very long time. The closer the world came to the conversion, the weaker the bridge became and the more the humans became under siege by beings that aren’t meant to inhabit this realm,” Indrid said.

  Mikal drew a sharp breath.

  “Are you talking about the evil I sense in the humans sometimes?” he asked.

  Indrid nodded his head sadly.

  “Yes, it is our duty to protect the rest of the humans from the entities that come through and live among them in the weak,” Indrid explained.

  “What do you mean?” Mikal asked warily.

  “The humans call them demons, poltergeists, bad spirits, each culture has its own term for it. They are all entities that latch onto a human with the ability to travel the energy of the bridge and they come here,” Indrid explained.

  Mikal shook his head, more confused than ever.

  “I thought the guardians prevented that kind of thing from happening,” Mikal said, wishing any of this would make sense to him.

  “No, son. They prevent anything from coming through, we can’t prevent a human from coming back to their own realm. Most enter unknowingly through the dream realms and the demon latches on the spirit. We cannot prevent the spirit from returning but we can hunt down the evil that came with it,” Indrid said with a sigh before he continued to explain.

  “Sadly, the closer we come to the conversion, the more the energy is shifting enough for a lot of the humans to begin awakening. Which means more and more are using these abilities, not knowing that what they are seeing is real and not a dream,” Indrid said, wondering at the smile on his son’s face.

  Mikal couldn’t help it and he burst out laughing.

  Yeah, the fates sent a big ‘screw you’ to me,” he thought, before he turned on his father angrily.

  “Why did the two of you think that mating would be a good idea? I mean hell, she was Valendran and you’re some evil killing, ghost busting, I don’t know what the hell you are! Did either of you think of the mutant I might end up being? I’m a damn freak of mother’s people, doomed to freaking kill them when they turn anomalous and now you’re telling me I have to kill demons and boogie men and I don’t know what!” Mikal said, his voice rising until he was screaming.

  Indrid looked around at the curious faces and tried to calm his son.

  “Mikal, it’s not what you must be thinking,” he said softly, reaching to touch Mikal’s arm.

  Mikal stepped back and threw his hands up in between him and his father.

  “Don’t touch me. Just leave me alone for a while. I need to think,” Mikal said before he hopped the railing of the gazebo and strode angrily towards the kitchen where Chance and Charlie had gone.

  Indrid stood and watched Mikal walk away and wondered if he would ever be able to reach him through the anger he felt simmering under the surface.

  “You might want to slow down a bit on the revelations. He’s got a lot hitting him at once already,” Chris said from behind Indrid.

  Indrid turned to Mikal’s brother and wasn’t surprised to see more than one.

  “Tell me, what is it that you all are? What is this curse he believes he got from his mother’s people?” Indrid asked, hoping they loved their brother enough to help him reach his son.

  Liam chuckled and came into the gazebo along with Declan, Luca and Chris.

  “Yeah, maybe if you know about his other curse, you’ll understand why finding out he’s got another one wasn’t the best way to start out,” Liam said.

  Chris sighed heavily. The last thing he wanted to do right now was waste time explaining things to Mikal’s biological father. But he had felt Mikal’s anger and pain when he’d walked away and knew he had to do something to help his brother find peace with himself again.

  “Let me tell you a story about Dranovians,” Chris began.

  *****

  Chance felt Mikal’s energy before he came near the door. She’d already sent Charlie with Lauren and stood to meet him when he opened the door. The Shengari’ had been wild with what was happening outside with Mikal and his father, and no one wanted to be in the way of either man at the moment. No one but Chance.

&nb
sp; Her eyes sought his when the door opened, and she walked silently to him and closed the door behind them as Mikal took her hand in his own. Chance remained silent as he led them along a heavily forested path along the lake.

  “I’m sorry,” Mikal said, finally breaking the silence.

  Chance snorted and looked up at him with a wry grin.

  “Don’t be. It had to be hard to go from not knowing if you were the only one to finding me, then your father. I think learning anything else was just the final pebble on an already teetering hill,” she sympathized.

  “You think I’m unhinged?” Mikal asked, a little offended until Chance started laughing.

  “Of course not! I think you just reached a point where you didn’t need to hear anymore before you understood what you learned already. Kind of like overload. I know the feeling,” Chance said as she looked around the magical place pointedly.

  Mikal couldn’t help but chuckle at the reminder that Chance and her sisters were also dealing with their worlds being turned upside down.

  “Yes, I bet you do understand. And you’re right. It’s like an overload in my head. I want to rage at the past. At decisions I wasn’t around to be a part of making, yet affect me in the present. How do you blame someone when they did the best they could for you?” Mikal asked, feeling overwhelmed by the thoughts and questions in his head.

  Chance looked at him incredulously.

  “You’re kidding right? You went from one loving family to an even bigger loving family. Yeah it wasn’t your real one, but they’re wonderful. I’d say the only blame to be placed is on people no longer around to punish. Unless you think punishing yourself is the best route to go,” Chance said with a teasing grin as she pulled him into a small patch of soft grass next to the lake.

  Mikal laid back in the grass beside Chance and gaze her a dark look.

  “You really know how to make me feel like a petty asshole,” Mikal teased back even though he did feel pretty petty when he thought of it from her point of view.

  Chance grinned broadly at Mikal and nudged his shoulder with her own.

  “I’m still working on my small talk skills,” she said.

  Mikal pulled her into his arms and sighed in contentment when she placed her arm over his chest and tucked her head onto his shoulder. They lay in silence for long moments, enjoying the sound of the birds and animals around them and the lapping of the water in the lake.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Mikal said softly, squeezing her for a moment.

  “I am too. How long are we going to stay here?” she asked.

  “You don’t like it here?” Mikal asked, starting to sit up until he let her hand push him back down.

  “Of course I like it here. I’d be a fool not to, it’s an incredible place, and I have to admit that I feel safe here. More than I’ve ever felt anywhere,” she admitted.

  “Then why would you talk about leaving already?” Mikal asked curiously.

  Chance shook her head at him.

  “Because you don’t plan on staying here,” Chance said, surprising Mikal.

  “How do you know that?” he asked warily, wondering how she’d guessed.

  “Because you and your family are a team. You have a job to do and you won’t stay here forever. The moment you all think it’s safe, we’ll be leaving. So I was curious how long you thought we’d be here before we moved on,” she asked honestly.

  Mikal’s breath caught in his throat and it took him a moment to relax and draw a proper breath so he could clarify what he thought she was saying.

  “We will leave when it’s safe. As wonderful as it is here, I’d rather not use this as a base for such things. It just doesn’t seem right to taint this place with what we do even if we are welcome to stay. You think you and Charlie would mind leaving here?” he asked tentatively.

  Chance could feel the hesitation and concern in his energy and hoped that she was making the right decision for herself-and Charlie.

  “We wouldn’t mind at all. She would hate to be away from you. So would I,” she admitted, holding her breath to see what he’d say.

  Chance gasped when Mikal quickly rolled on top of her and looked down into her startled face.

  “Do you know what you’re saying?” Mikal asked, trying to keep his energy calm.

  Chance nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

  “I’m saying I want to stay with you. I . . . I want to be true parents to Charlie,” Chance said a little breathlessly.

  “You mean you want to be a true mate to me. We already are true parents to her,” Mikal said, watching her closely for her reaction.

  Chapter Twenty

  Chance felt like she was lost in Mikal’s eyes, and no matter how hard he tried to hide it, she could feel the nervous excitement in his energy. She knew he was giving her an opportunity to back out and it only made her love him more.

  When Mikal had been taken, she’d had a lot of time to think about why she felt like a piece of her had been ripped out, why she felt such loneliness and emptiness even though her sisters and Mikal’s family surrounded her. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that she loved him.

  He was every fairytale prince she’d ever read about or seen in movies. The hero who had come and saved her when she was at her darkest and loneliest moment. When she needed someone the most. And he’d never left her side. She never wanted to leave his either.

  “I would like to be your mate. If you want me,” Chance said softly, hoping she hadn’t misunderstood him.

  Mikal closed his eyes and sighed heavily, and Chance’s heart sank. Feeling utterly humiliated that she’d misread Mikal’s intentions, she started to move out from underneath him.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Mikal asked as he leaned down, putting enough weight on her to stop her from moving.

  Chance was forced to look into his eyes, suddenly a little squashed beneath his hard body.

  “I . . . I figured it would be a good time to head back,” she said, embarrassed and not willing to discuss it further.

  Mikal chuckled and she felt his body hum against hers, and it sent shivers up her spine as he leaned down and whispered against her lips.

  “I think it would be better to spend some alone time with my mate,” he said before he took her lips in a soul searing kiss.

  Chance felt the heat of his lips and gasped, giving his tongue easy access to her mouth. Chance matched the movements of his tongue as her arms twined around his neck, pulling him closer. In the back of her mind she felt the change in their energy, the way it began to beat as one rhythm. Soon their hearts also changed, their beats matching the one throbbing in their energy.

  Mikal felt the change as well, and the heat between them increased as their bodies vibrated in tune with one another. It was overwhelming and so right at the same time. More vivid and beautiful than he’d ever imagined.

  Mikal pulled away, opening his eyes and saw his amazement reflected in her own eyes.

  “Do you see the colors?” he asked, as she nodded her head mutely.

  Mikal knew the answer before she acknowledged him. There was no way that she wasn’t seeing the ribbons of energy that shone through her skin. It looked like an internal rainbow reflecting through the shimmering particles in their skin.

  Mikal ran a finger along her cheek and the curve of her neck and she shivered at the trail of heat he left behind while he chuckled softly at the shimmering rainbow of color that pulsed with life at his touch.

  “So beautiful. Try it,” he whispered in awe.

  Chance stared into his eyes as she reached a hand up and caressed his face the way he’d done it to her and she gasped at the sight of the colors pulsing in the wake of her touch along his midnight skin.

  “Is it normal,” she asked on a whisper.

  Mikal shook his head slowly and touched her shoulder, running his hand gently down her arm. He watched as the colors pulsed more deeply and he finally understood it. The colors reflected their emotio
ns, pulsing more deeply as the desire increased between them.

  “I don’t know if it’s normal. I know it feels right,” he said before he took her lips in another toe curling kiss.

  Mikal gently wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his side, taking her with him without breaking their kiss. Chance could feel the heat building between them and she pushed at Mikal’s shirt trying to get the scratchy fabric away from them both.

  She knew her senses were overstimulated, she knew that the increase in her sensitivity was causing everything but the feel of his skin to bother her, but she didn’t care. All she wanted in that moment was to feel him, all of him, and she pushed at their clothes until Mikal began to help her remove everything standing in the way of their bare skin.

  Mikal knew they were going too fast. That he should take his mate somewhere other than outdoors. But the heat and energy between them was raging out of control and he couldn’t stop it.

  Chance thought they would be cooler once their clothes were off, but she was wrong. The heat increased along with the pulsing of their energy and heartbeats. The only thing that seemed to ease the conflagration was Mikal’s touch. Each brush of his skin against her heated body temporarily relieved the fierce fire burning her up.

  Chance wrapped her arms tighter around him, drawing him closer to her body so that more of their bare skin touched. She smiled as he groaned at the contact and stroked her hands up and down the strong muscles in his back, marveling at his size and strength.

  Mikal leaned closer and gently kissed her cheek before leaving a burning trail of kisses and licks from her cheek and down her neck, each one sending the heat and need in them both spiraling farther out of their control.

  Mikal tried to draw back, to give her time, but when Chance moaned and pulled him closer he was done trying to control himself.