“Cecily…” the monarch cut in his voice a low warning.
“I’m sorry, my liege.” Her tone dripped sarcasm. “I spoke out of turn. I forgot for a moment that I am but a bird in a cage who must only parrot what I am told to chirp.”
He moved so quickly she didn’t have a chance to avoid it. Fingers glowing, he grabbed her arm. I leapt from my seat. Only Billy’s pleading gaze and staying hand allowed the monarch to keep his head. I could feel my eyes glowing. I could smell the sizzle of her singed flesh before he released her. She. Didn’t. Even. Flinch. She only glared at him with barely concealed fury.
“Cecilia, you are excused. You may return to your room. I will come and…discuss this infraction later.”
She pushed back from the table and arose to leave. Fiori reached back for her and touched her hand before she could pass. “I’m ok,” she told the princess squeezing her fingers once before she departed.
When the fiasco of dinner was finally concluded, Phoebus and Bacchus entered the library to engage in private discussion. I seized the opportunity to steal away. Billy took one look at my face and didn’t even try to dissuade me. He promised to sound on his harmonica in warning if the Progeny returned sooner than expected.
Out the back of the palace and up to her balcony I flew. I landed softly folding in my wings quietly but she still heard me.
“What are you doing here?” Her eyes darted around the room as if expecting Phoebus to jump out of the corner. “You’re going to get us both killed.”
“Don’t worry. Your oppressor busies himself in the library with Bacchus. He’ll be there a while.” I stalked closer to her. “I felt the need to check on you.”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t need checking on.”
“In that you are mistaken. Let me examine your wound,” I insisted when she tried to hide it behind her back.
“Oh, alright. But it’s ok. He didn’t use high heat.” She extended her delicate arm for my perusal. “And I don’t know why it really matters,” she huffed. The skin was red and obviously had been burned, but because of her immortality it was already healing. I stroked a soft caress around the injury. She inhaled sharply. Her eyes were dark when her gaze lifted to meet mine.
“You say that a lot, but it’s not true.”
“What’s not true?” she whispered.
“It does matter what happens to you.”
“Why should it matter to you?”
“Because you belong to me,” I admitted.
“Are you crazy?” she hissed.
“No more than you are.” Why was she trying to deny it? “I think you feel it, too. Admit it.”
“I thought you were just here to find your friend.”
“Originally. But now I have an additional goal. An inescapable one. You.” I took her gently by the shoulders. Her pulse noticeably picked up. Her body swayed bending toward mine subconsciously.
She shook her head in denial and tried to pull away from me.
I tightened my grip and let her feel just the pinprick edge of my talons. “Wherever you go, Cecilia, I will follow. Wherever you hide, I will find you. However fast you flee, I will overtake you. I am a falcon. I always catch my prey.”
“I’m not prey.” Her eyes flashed. Gloriously stubborn. Admirably resilient. Clever. Brave. Beautiful. Could the magic have chosen a better match for me?
“You are if you try to run away from me, from what is destined to be between us.”
“We’re not destined.”
“We are,” I interrupted. “But if you want to make it a game, I assure you I will win it.”
“You arrogant buzzard. Your cockiness knows no bounds. I can see that your reputation is well founded.”
“I have a reputation for many things.”
“Yes. I’m sure. You have had many conquests.” Her eyes flared. Was she jealous? “I find those stories hard to believe. I am always skeptical when I hear the term legendary used in reference to one’s skills in the bedroom.”
“Shall I let you be the judge?” I took her hand and brought it to my very hard and very impressive length. Her breathing shallowed. Her skin flushed. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. My cock lengthened growing impossibly harder.
“Show me then,” she whispered. “Seeing is believing,” she challenged.
“I would be happy to oblige,” I teased. “But we don’t have time for the other things that will happen once I do. We need to build up to the unveiling otherwise I don’t know if you’ll survive it, little bird. Your heart’s already beating a mile a minute just from the anticipation.”
Something I said took away the teasing glint in her eyes and her expression hardened. A flash of hurt surfaced. I tried again. “I want to taste you. Every single inch of your skin. I want to give you pleasure like you’ve never known.”
“You want to possess me like he does.”
Failing. I was failing fast. “No, Cecilia.” I told it to her completely honestly. “I want you. But I want you to choose me of your own will. I won’t break you. I don’t even want you to bend.”
“Ow!” I cried, trying to shake the throbbing sting from my wrist.
“Serves you right, Cici. You’re not paying a bit of attention today.” Catonia turned her staff to the floor in Fiori’s studio and leaned on it. Not even out of breath, she had me panting for air. “What’s wrong with you today? You’re usually much more focused when we train.” Her face softened as she studied me despite the fact that her criticism struck home. “Is it because of what happened last night with Phoebus?” Her lips turned down. “You shouldn’t taunt him, you know.”
“I’m alright.” I shrugged as if what Phoebus had done hadn’t affected me. He pushed. I pushed back. He thought he had the upper hand. But his petty little victories meant nothing to me. I was biding my time for the one confrontation. I would be strong. I planned to win. Then it would be over.
Finally over.
Thoughts unsettled, I reached in the pocket of my spandex shorts for my feather. Touching the talisman didn’t soothe me the way it usually did. Not after being comforted by the real thing, a quiet voice in my heart said. Morpheus. He inhabited my thoughts. He haunted my dreams.
When I finally had managed to fall back asleep, my slumber had been uninterrupted. I had told him to go, to leave me alone. He had done as I had asked. Why was I so disappointed?
“Then get your guard up, Cici.” Cat lifted the staff holding it horizontal in front of her body in demonstration. “Otherwise you leave yourself wide open to attack. You’re lucky I went easy on you that time.”
I grimaced. Her easy was going to leave behind a big bruise. I already had earned several from her today. I would have to make up plausible excuses to explain all of them if they were seen before they healed.
“I don’t know why all this sparring is necessary,” I complained. “The elves carry crossbows not spears, and I wear my protective vest.” My torso and most of my vital organs were protected by it. The intricate obsidian weave was tight enough to repel most weapons strikes even at close range. We were fortunate that Hephaestus supported Cypress’ cause and gave us a hefty discount. We wouldn’t have been able to afford such things otherwise, even with the unofficial backroom deals we brokered with my talents.
“You rely on that armor too much.” Cat frowned. “A severe wound to your arms or legs can kill you. You asked me to help you. I have and I’ll continue to do so. You and Fiori…” She trailed off glancing over at the princess who was stretching at the bar and watching us closely in the mirror. Catonia’s voice was noticeably huskier when she continued. “We would never have been able to get rid of Roderick all those years ago without your help.”
“We didn’t do much,” I told her.
Fiori joined us, nodding her head in agreement.
“You and Evercy were the ones who really put your necks on the line leading the insurrection.” We had just provided the distraction and the means that they had needed, making sure t
he Sun Elves had been otherwise occupied and supplying their side with more weaponry than Roderick and his gang had possessed.
“You two are too reckless for your own good.” Cat shook her head. “If Phoebus ever catches you…” Without warning she lifted her weapon and I barely had enough time to deflect her blow with my new dagger. But even deflected, the force of the blow rattled my grip and painfully strained my arm muscles. “Good,” she praised. “Never let down your guard, Cecilia. Not even for a moment. Watch the eyes of your opponent. They often tell you where they plan to focus their next attack.”
I lifted my chin to acknowledge that I heard her advice as she circled me. I pivoted on the balls of my feet as she took another swipe at me with her stick. It hit my abdomen. I grunted, leapt aside and held onto my weapon, just barely.
“You’ve brought hope to Evercy and me and so many others, yet you have none for yourself. Sometimes I think you don’t care what happens to you as long as you defeat Phoebus in the end.” Her gaze narrowed. “What happened with him after court the other day is a prime example. How are you ever going to get that shiny new dagger of yours anywhere near him if you are naked and restrained?”
“Catonia,” I warned. “Enough.” She and Evercy had been on me about that topic before. She was right. I didn’t much care what happened to me beyond ending Phoebus’ life, but I didn’t want to talk about it. Talking wouldn’t change the fact that Phoebus and I had been circling around the inevitable conclusion between us for years. He would die or I would die trying to end him. But I held to my own counsel. I didn’t share beyond what was necessary for us to achieve our goals, even with Fiori. I loved her dearly. She would be a great ruler someday if that chance ever came. The question was would she really stand aside if I were in a position to defeat Phoebus once and for all?
“Alright, Cecilia. Have it your own way. You always do.” She handed off her staff for Fiori to stow away in the secret closet. After all this was the princess’ dance studio not a combat training facility, not officially. “But you’re not as alone as you think you are. If you would look beyond your hatred of Phoebus you would see that there are many who really care about you.”
My throat got tight. I saw them. All of them. And I worried about them. Constantly. Only I couldn’t afford to let them close. Phoebus would use my love for them against me if he even suspected. Like he had done with my sister. So I pretended not to care overly much. It was the only way. Until after…if I succeeded.
“Millie would not have wanted you to let your rage consume you,” Fiori said softly.
My eyes instantly filled at the rare mention of my twin by her. Fiori knew about Millie’s last words to me. I had rambled on about it after she had healed me with her blood the second time. I turned away so she wouldn’t see the effort it took to hold back the grief that still after all this time threatened to close my throat. Every day I mourned her absence. Every single long empty day. I was successful hiding my response from Catonia, but Fiori saw the glassiness in my gaze. She always saw. Her eyes met mine in the mirror. Hers filled, too. She was nearly as compassionate as Millie had been.
“Oh, Cici,” she breathed. “If only…” She didn’t finish. She knew the futility of ‘if onlys’ as well as I did. We couldn’t change our fate, only how we responded to it. She bit her lip. Eyes the color of the desert like her father’s began to glow softly, as if I needed a reminder of her lineage, of the chasm that would always separate us. We could never be the best friends she had always wanted us to be. I closed my eyes and turned away severing the connection.
When I reopened my eyes music was blaring from the speakers. Our music. Hers and mine and the vamps. She moved back beside me once more, her expression completely devoid of emotion. Professional. She was ready to do what had to be done. My movements had to match hers perfectly.
“Fiori, I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok,” she replied dully, too quickly but I caught her reflection in the mirror, the way she had seen mine a moment before. She couldn’t hide from me anymore than I really could from her. It always hurt her feelings when I shut her out.
“You spent too long with Cat. This is just as important. You know it is.” Her words were stiff, but her body was liquid motion. She lifted her arms above her head wrists together, moving more beautifully and gracefully than anyone I had ever known. Everything I did seemed a poor imitation. “Follow my lead, Cici. Pay attention. You need to do the spin tighter. He is more observant than you imagine. We’re never going to be able to keep fooling him into believing I am you if it’s not exactly right.”
Marcel rapped on the closed door. Again. “Open up, Fiori.” I doubted she could hear him. The music from the other side rattled the walls. I didn’t recognize the band. According to Billy I was as woefully lacking in my knowledge of current music as I was of the colloquialisms of the modern age. A particularly angry electric guitar passage rose above the thumping bass and contrasting keyboard. The instruments I recognized from Billy’s band, but this sounded nothing at all like his southern rock. The noise coming out of Fiori’s studio assaulted my keenly honed hawk senses.
“Don’t get your tunic in a twist!” Fiori ripped open the door. “Oh, Marcel,” she acknowledged in a softer tone. The petite princess had her gold hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore a pink dance leotard and tights that were damp with perspiration.
Even from where I stood on the opposite side of the hall leaning against the wall legs crossed at the ankles balancing a Styrofoam cup in one hand and the white paper takeaway bag in the other, I could see that my friend’s eyes had stalled out on her breasts. He attempted to clear his throat. She crossed her arms covering her chest and helped him out.
“Is there something you need, Marcel?” she prompted.
“Your father wants you and the seer to come upstairs at once. He plans for you both to accompany him as he takes the wine god and his subjects on a tour of the City of Lights. Then he expects Cecilia to return to her quarters while the rest of the party continues on to the La Ville Sombre.”
“But I can’t today.” Her eyes widened slightly as she spotted me over the elf’s cross bowed shoulder. I lifted my chin to acknowledge her. Her lips tipped into an engaging smile that remained as she returned her attention to Marcel. “Tell him that I have a million things to do before the concert.”
“You know I can’t, Fiori. He’ll have my head if I contradict him.”
She frowned. “Well, it’ll just have to be the basic highlights then.” Her expression indignant, her hands went to her hips. “I don’t have any interest in the extended tour with the prison. And he’ll have to agree to let Cecilia accompany us,” she muttered to herself. “The streets will be too crowded for us to get back to the castle to change and then back to the club in time for the show.”
“I don’t know about all of that.” Marcel looked flustered. “My orders are just to fetch you. You know he doesn’t like the seer going to the Dark City.”
“Yes, I know. It galls him that they love her there and despise him. He fears another insurrection. If he would just…” She shook her head turning to glance back into the room over her shoulder. “Cici!” she called and the music abruptly stopped. I maintained my position against the wall feigning indifference. I had my raptor pride after all. I wasn’t accustomed to being rejected.
My heart leapt from my chest when she appeared. I drank in everything from her hair bound up in a loose bun, to her skintight rainbow halter top to the black shorts that barely covered her rear end. A sheen of perspiration coated her skin making it glow. I wanted to lick the salt from every inch of her body as I had so magnanimously offered to do the night before.
“Cecilia,” I said when I managed to draw my gaze upward. “You look…” Sexy. Irresistible. “Well,” I concluded taking the safer path.
“Morpheus,” she acknowledged, her gaze meeting mine, a jolt of awareness sizzling psychically across our connection. Her eyes darkened and her nostrils flared, r
evealing that she felt it, too, though she did not want to acknowledge it.
Fiori stepped out into the hall, zipped on a hoodie and closed the door she had only cracked open wide enough for Cecilia to barely slip through. The princess locked it and pocketed the key. I got the distinct impression that they had been caught in some subterfuge.
“What were you two doing in there?” I asked studying them both looking for clues, a cursory sweep of Fiori, a lingering one over Cecilia.
“Nothing,” the princess answered too quickly.
“Why are you down on this level?” Cecilia demanded. “I tried to find Thyme yet again this morning, but my gifts have not returned…” She trailed off her gaze falling to the things I held. “What is that in your hand?” Her curiosity brought her closer to investigate, her proximity making my pulse fly.
I had forgotten my gifts. A conversation with Billy had given me the idea. I hadn’t revealed to him that Cecilia and I were Fated. He had enough on his mind. But I had confided that I was interested in the oracle. After relaying what had happened between us thus far, Billy had suggested I try being a little less heavy handed with her. Unlikely if not impossible. My compromise was bribery.
“That looks like something from La Bombonera!” she exclaimed noting the takeaway bag. “Did you fly all the way to Old San Juan last night?” She blinked rapidly as if she might cry.
“Even I am not able to traverse such a great distance in half the night.” I chuckled. “But I did manage to find a little restaurant in the city below with passable fare.”
“Tell me that’s not café con leche in that cup.”
“Ok, it’s not.” I played along. But it certainly was. I had watched them pour the thick syrupy concentrated coffee into the cup before diluting it with hot milk.
She took the cup from my hand her fingertips brushing mine making my nerve endings flare before she peeled back the lid, inhaled deeply and moaned appreciatively. The flare became a blaze, my gaze alternating from her expression of ecstasy to the movement of her breasts in that ridiculously tight top. My cock became as hard as it had the night before when I had held her. But then I noticed something disturbing that instantly made my ardor cool.
Dream Magic Page 28
