Amy Sumida - Out of the Darkness (The Godhunter Book 11)

by Unknown

  “If you didn't want to be ravished,” he leered as he crawled over me. “You shouldn't have shown up wearing only a sheet.”

  “It's a toga,” I whispered against his lips.

  He grabbed me on the outside of each thigh and pulled me forward in one swift yank. My legs went around him and he settled against me, starting an avalanche of all kinds of lovely sensations.

  “Togas were never that easy to remove,” he said right before he covered my mouth in a kiss.

  “Wait a minute,” I pulled back and narrowed my eyes on him.

  “What? Have I made you jealous?” He grinned.

  “No but nice try,” I smirked at him. “You were born centuries after togas were in fashion. For all you know, they were bed sheets.”

  “The fey dressed in versions of the toga for many years,” he lifted a brow back at me. “I happen to know quite a bit about them.”

  “Oh really?” I gathered the ends of the sheet. “Then maybe I'll just put my toga back on and go back to the party where it's appreciated.”

  “You look more beautiful lying across your idea of a toga than any faerie I've ever seen in the real thing,” he said as the scales started to spread down his cheeks.

  “I guess I could stay awhile longer.” And boy was I glad I did.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I wanted to ask you something,” I said, hours later, after we'd thoroughly worn out the toga. I was going to have to wash it before I wore it back to that party in Hell.

  “Of course I can pleasure you again, I'm a dragon,” he grinned and started to lower his face to mine.

  “No, you egomaniac,” I pushed him away. “I wanted to ask you about Odin.”

  “Odin?” He blinked. “A Thaisce, I've come to terms with you having other lovers but would you mind not mentioning their names when we're in our marital bed?”

  “Our marital bed?” I chuckled. “Okay but it's kind of why I came back.”

  “Oh? Then you wouldn't have come back at all if not to ask me about Odin?”

  “Shut up,” I rolled my eyes and rolled out of bed. “There,” I held my hands out to my sides. “Is this better? Now I'm not in bed.”

  “Oh yes, it's very nice,” he grinned slowly and looked me over.

  “Arach!” I grabbed a robe and put it on.

  “Oh fine, what do you want to ask me?”

  “Have you felt his death yet?” I whispered.

  “Vervain,” he sighed. “Yes, I felt him die but there's something you should know.”

  “Yes?”

  “I haven't felt his spirit let go.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?” I took a seat at the table near the window.

  “I can still feel him clinging to his magic,” Arach shrugged and sat up in bed. “I prepared myself for his death so it wasn't such a shock for me but I was expecting a complete severance. I would think his tie to the Hunt would have disappeared upon his death but it's still there. I can feel the barest touch remaining.”

  “I've seen him in my dreams,” I confessed. “I know it's probably just my mind comforting me but in them, he tells me to stop looking for him.”

  “Well, they could be a coping mechanism but I hardly think telling you to stop looking for him would be something you'd find comforting,” Arach frowned. “I think it's more likely that he's communicating with you.”

  “If that's true,” my heart was speeding up with hope. “Why would he tell me to stop looking when he's holding onto the magic? He'd let go if he truly wanted me to stop.”

  “I think you answered your own question.”

  “What?”

  “He doesn't want you to let go,” he said simply. “But he also wants you to be happy, so he's telling you to let go.”

  “So you think I should keep looking, keep trying?”

  “Far be it for me to usher you into the arms of another lover,” he sighed. “But I as well want you to be happy. Yes, Vervain, I think you should keep searching.”

  “Sabine must have been a fucking saint,” I whispered.

  “Now I'm confused,” he frowned. “Why would you say that?”

  “Why else would I be lucky enough to have such amazing men in my life? That's some seriously good karma. I mean like saving a bus load of children kind of karma.”

  “Ah yes,” he shook his hair back and preened. “I'm glad you know how lucky you are.”

  “Then again,” I reconsidered.

  “You are going to get the proverbial it,” he growled as he started to climb out of bed.

  His chase was cut off by a knocking at the door.

  “Come quickly!” Isleen shouted.

  We looked at each other with wide eyes and then pulled on our clothes and shoes. Arach threw the door open and we followed Isleen down the stairs all the way to the ground level.

  “What is it?” Arach questioned her as we went.

  “There's something falling from the sky and it's not rain,” Isleen reported.

  “Hold on,” I stopped our mad dash with an outstretched hand. “Is it white?”

  “Yes, my Queen,”she nodded.

  “Kind of looks like little stars when you catch them in your hand?” I continued.

  “I believe so, yes,” she looked confused.

  “It's snow,” I laughed as we exited the castle in a more sedate manner. “Didn't we tell you how it would cover everything in white?”

  “Yes but you never said it was going to fall from the sky,” she huffed. It was the first time I'd seen her huffy.

  “Where else would it come from?” Arach cocked his head at her.

  “I thought it would just appear,” she said defensively.

  “Just appear?” I chuckled. “And that would have been less frightening for you?”

  “This is Faerie,” she shrugged.

  “Yeah alright,” I nodded. She did have a point there.

  We went out the back entrance into the kingdom proper and found everyone standing in a group, staring around them in wonder. I stopped and stared too, not at the snow but at the fey. The first time I saw snow, I was an adult, visiting a friend in the mainland(that's what we people who live in Hawaii call the continental US), and we were going to our car in the middle of a parking lot when it started to snow. I'd caught a snowflake in my hand and stared at it, fascinated. I'd thought the stories of snowflakes looking like little stars were just an exaggeration. I had no idea they were so beautiful. My friend had laughed at me but I didn't care, I caught more and more of them, standing in the middle of that parking lot, staring at snowflakes like a child. I saw that same child-like wonder in the fey except it was magnified tenfold.

  Isleen went out among them and told them it was snow, there was nothing to fear, and their joy increased even more. Some of them spun about, faces turned up toward the sky. Some chased the falling snow and caught it on their tongues. Some just stood and cried at the beauty of it all. Oh and it was beautiful. I'd never seen anything like the Fire Kingdom dressed in white.

  All the harsh elements of the landscape were softened, the browns, reds, and dark grays complimented with white highlighted in light blue. The woods a little ways to my right were covered as well but the bright green of their leafage still peeped through the snow. I guess the more tropical plants of the Weeping Woods didn't know how to bow to winter. There were icicles hanging off the edges of rocks and the snow glinted in the sunlight, making everything sparkle like diamond dust. As a finishing touch, there were great sheets of steam running through it all, rising from the crevices that opened onto the lava rivers below. It made it all seem even more fantastical, faeries dancing in the steam and snow.

  Off to my left was the fire pixie village. The fire pixies had taken Arach's suggestion to move into the kingdom instead of remaining in the edges of the Forgetful Forest, right outside of Castle Aithinne. They'd built themselves, with the help of some of the red caps and their earth pixie cousins, a magnificent tiered city set into some boulders along the sid
e of Castle Aithinne.

  It reminded me a little of pueblo cliff dwellings but these were much more refined, with the beauty of detailed carvings in the sides of their walls and inset jewels instead of stained glass windows. There was a lot of metalwork too; railings, walkways, and adornments but mainly the buildings were made of stone, positioned in five tiers with little gardens besides each one. The gardens were covered in white now and the buildings were deserted since we'd invited the pixies back into the castle for the winter, but it made a pretty picture.

  Next to Neala's pups, the fire pixie penthouses looked like doll houses and the children must have thought the same thing because they started to head for them and had to be cut off by their parents. The pups were getting bigger but they were still children, having the looks of five or six-year-olds, and they were quite a handful. They ran about, collecting as much as snow as they could and then casting it back into the air as if they were freeing the snow from the earth's imprisonment. Then they laughed and laughed, running back and forth between their parents.

  Fionnaghal and Toak had their babies out as well and the little ones were reaching out to the falling snowflakes and giggling. Fionnaghal had the two girls and Toak had his arms full with Daoir. To me, they were the picture of a perfect family and I smiled to think of how much the idea of family had changed for me.

  I watched as Arach stepped forward and reached out a hand to catch the snow. He peered at it and then looked back to me with shiny eyes. I took his other hand and leaned into him, a question in my expression.

  “I remember,” he said softly. “I remember being with my parents in the Human Realm. I can see my mother's face so clearly now. I was doing this,” he held up his cupped hand, “catching the snow and showing it to her. I remember her smiling at me and saying... she said that snowflakes were the spirits of stars but they could only last for a short time on the ground. Then they would have to return to where they came from.”

  “That's beautiful, a very good memory,” I said quietly and vowed to myself to repeat the star spirit story to our children, when we had them.

  “It is,” he swallowed hard. “A memory to be cherished.”

  “And it was brought out by snow,” I grinned. “Who would have thought?”

  “It's just so cold,” Roarke declared from behind us. He had Hunter in his arms and a snowflake fell right on the baby's forehead. Hunter scrunched up his face and looked up at his father as if it were all his fault. “I know,” Roarke said down to him, “but I'm told it's an experience we shouldn't miss,” he jerked his head over his shoulder, transferring the blame to the other cat-sidhe coming up behind him.

  “Well,” I walked further into the snow with Arach. “I know it's an experience I wouldn't miss for the world.”

  “Because you're wearing a fur cloak,” Roarke griped. “Why don't I have a fur cloak?”

  “Maybe because you annoy Isleen,” I offered and saw Isleen laughing, out of the corner of my eye.

  “Isleen loves me,” Roarke vowed.

  “Roarke,” I sighed. “You're a fire fey now, just turn up your internal heat, you idiot.”

  “Oh, right,” he looked down and saw Hunter staring up at him. “Don't look at me like that, you didn't know about the heat thing either.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I stared down at the Ring of Remembrance feeling very conflicted. I was in the solar, which I called the lavafall room because of its proximity to the lava that flowed down the left side of Castle Aithinne. It was only a few feet away from the large window on the left side of the room. If I had a stick, I could have touched it. There was another big window on the right side but it only had a view of the forest and as much as I loved looking out on the Forgetful Forest, I could get that view from any room in the castle. It was the view of the lava that I found thrilling... and warm. Shutters had been put over the right side window but they couldn't be placed over the left, they would have caught on fire and the heat coming off the flow actually warmed the room anyway. So it was there that I sat, in front of the open window, contemplating going back in time to meet my father.

  Arach had said it was a bad idea but I often didn't listen to him and I'd spent a lot of time considering what he'd said. He was right in that I shouldn't speak to both of my parents at the same time, I didn't want to influence any of their decisions, but if I spoke to them individually and gave them very little information about the future, it should be okay.

  I felt guilty for deciding to do this without telling Arach but he was right about something else, I didn't like asking for permission. I was more of a it's better to ask forgiveness than permission kind of gal. Besides, what did either of us know? Maybe I should just ask the ring.

  “Ring,” I said down to it and a sheen passed over its surface. “I want to meet my father but I don't want to disturb history. Will you take me back to a time when I can do so with the least amount of risk?”

  The answer was an immediate shift in reality. My body tingled and vibrated, shooting through time while I remained in the exact same place. I felt time roll around me and my head spun as my stomach rolled on a wave of nausea. I'd never traveled back so far before and it was far more uncomfortable than the other shifts I'd made.

  Finally, everything settled and I opened my eyes to find myself still in the solar. There was more furniture in the room, more decorations, little tables with doodads on them and large pedestal frames for working on embroidery. It was very feminine and very warm, filled as it was with bodies. I panicked for a second but then realized that no one was paying me any attention. They were all focused on a body laid on the floor in the center of the room. I quickly made myself invisible and went to peer over their shoulders.

  That's when I realized they were all dragons. I could feel the beasts inside them and my own dragon was rolling inside me with happiness. The heat coming off their bodies was a balm to me, the feeling of home and safety, and I wanted to touch them so badly, feel their attention on me, but I knew that to do so would be a mistake. Instead, I reined in the urge and focused on what they were looking at. It was the body of a woman, a beautiful dragon-sidhe with long golden hair and silver scales on her cheeks. Her skin was pale, deathly pale and the front of her dress was stained with blood.

  “Finnian,” I flinched to hear a woman speak my father's name. “I'm so sorry. Our hearts grieve with yours.”

  I frowned as I realized that they were speaking the fey language and I could understand them. Would I be able to speak it as well? I glanced down at my ring and it gave me a little flash, a wink. I smiled back, grateful that I'd be able to talk to my father without him wondering why I was speaking English. That would have been hard to explain.

  And there he was, my dragon-sidhe father. I don't know what I'd been expecting to feel upon seeing him; love, pain, longing. I just felt grief, his grief. He was so wounded, destroyed obviously by the death of the woman on the pallet. His wife, it must have been. He cried out and pushed the others away from the body.

  “Get out!” He shouted, green eyes wet with tears. “Leave us alone.”

  The room cleared quickly, the door shutting with a soft click, and then the only sound in the room was his sobs. Deep, body-wracking sobs that I knew so well. I'd cried them myself very recently, been just where he was; holding my dead spouse in my arms and wishing I was powerful enough to change the past. I knew how his body felt, muscles tight to the point of burning, lungs constricted with confusion, should I breathe or cry? Mind filled with anguished screams that seemed endless. Yes, I knew exactly what he was feeling.

  I also knew why the ring had brought me back to that particular moment. Only I could understand his grief. Those other dragons hadn't experienced loss as he had. I'd come back not just to meet him but to comfort him, to help my father survive so that he could one day help give me life. The ring had given me a reason to offer Finnian for my appearance, a reason that wouldn't hint at his eventual death. I sniffed and his head shot up. He looked
around the room, suddenly alert.

  “Who's there? Can't you see I want to be alone?”

  “My name is...” I hesitated as I revealed myself, dropping the invisibility. Should I tell him my current name or the name he would one day give me?

  “Yes?” He frowned as he stood, his expression changing to one of confusion. “I don't know you and you don't look like a dragon-sidhe but I can sense the dragon within you. Who are you?”

  I held up my hand in answer, my throat too constricted with emotion to be able to produce sound.

  “That's,” he looked from the ring on my finger to the one on his hand. “That's my ring. How did you get it?”

  “You gave it to me,” I was finally able to speak. It wasn't really a lie, he did leave it to me. “In the future.”

  “Why would I...” he gaped and closed the distance between us. He took my face in his hands and turned it left and right. “You have a look about you that's so familiar.”

  “I am dragon-sidhe,” I called upon my dragon and let her show through my eyes, let the scales pop up on my cheeks, golden scales. “I'm also your daughter.”

  “Impossible,” he withdrew. “There lies my wife,” he threw a hand back toward the corpse. “Speared through the heart by some human knight, thinking he was saving his kingdom. We never had children.”

  “I know,” I sighed and considered my words carefully. “I came back to comfort you and give you hope in your time of grief. I know what it is to lose a lover. I've lost my husband recently, believe me, I know your grief and I know that what I say to you now won't really take root in your heart till much later but it must be said. Or then again,” I reconsidered, “maybe I can simply show you. If you will trust me enough,” I held out my hand.

  “Trust you?” He frowned at my hand. “I don't know you. All I have is your word that you're my daughter, which is an impossibility.”

  “And the ring,” I turned my hand over so he could see it better. “Touch it, ask it yourself who I am.”

  His hand reached out slowly and with one fingertip, he touched the ring. His jaw dropped and he yanked his hand back, to stare at me with disbelief.