by Bonnie Dee
There came a clunk, a thump and some rustling, through which Aurora’s breathless voice answered, “Joel? Oh good, how do I get out of here? She’s locked me in.”
“What the…?” Anger such as he’d rarely felt surged up against the woman he’d always regarded as a friend. What the hell was she thinking of? Furiously, he took hold of the key still in the lock and wrenched it around. The lock turned easily and he pushed against the door. It still didn’t give.
He frowned, trying in vain to turn the key farther. “Aurora, are you all right?”
“I’m fine…”
“I’ve unlocked the door but it won’t budge. I’m going to get Vee.”
“No!” Aurora cried out in clear alarm. “Don’t do that! She must have put some kind of spell on it. Joel, Joel, are you still there?” Her voice seemed to be coming from very close now, as if she’d thrown herself to her knees and was speaking through the keyhole.
At the obvious distress in her voice, Joel found himself crouching down to comfort her. “Of course I’m still here. I just want to get you out of there the quickest way, and Vee is in for the verbal smacking of her life.”
As he spoke, as lightly and soothingly as he could, he drew the key from the lock, peering inside it to find the source of whatever was blocking it. But all he could see through the tiny hole was a shadowy section of Aurora’s lips and her teeth biting down on her lower lip.
“It’ll be something more mundane than magic,” he promised her, eyeing the space between the door and the frame across which the lock should slide. There was nothing there, and yet when he turned the handle once more, he still couldn’t budge the door. “Bizarre,” he murmured.
“Joel, I understand it now, or some of it at least. I know why I slept so long and I know we have to stop Valborga before she regains all her old power and more—the power she wanted when she first attacked me.”
Distracted, Joel laid his forehead against the door. Somehow, in the last week, he’d become so absorbed in Aurora, in his love for her, that he’d almost forgotten the shadowy threat that hung over her. Any vague attempt to research her history had resulted in dead ends. Aurora’s birth had been recorded, but there was no record of her death or anything else about her. It was as if she’d been forgotten by history. But after a thousand years it wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t as if she’d ever reigned in Schlaushagen and, except as marriage tools and the bearers of heirs, women hadn’t been regarded as being very important in those days. She wasn’t the only woman to be lost in the mists of time. What was surprising, to say the least, was that she was still here. And in Vee’s locked bedroom.
Shaking his head to clear it, he said grimly, “I won’t let her harm you. Vee picked a bad time to play such games.”
“Joel, listen to me,” she pleaded and, aching for her obvious pain, he placed his lips at his side of the keyhole. He felt like a stupidly romantic boy prevented by a cruel guardian from contacting his love, and he didn’t care.
“I’m listening,” he whispered.
“Joel, Valborga is here. In this house.”
He inhaled sharply. Weirdly, he could taste Aurora, as if he’d drawn her breath in with his own. The sensation overcame the sudden prickling of alarm at her words. “Have you seen her?” he asked urgently.
“Yes…”
Something clicked. It didn’t make a sound, yet he was aware that something in the door suddenly gave. Flinging out one hand he again grasped the handle and the door swung open.
Aurora threw herself into his arms and he clutched her to him with the satisfied feeling of reattaching a missing part of himself.
“I was trying to climb out the window when I heard you,” she confided.
“Aurora, you could have killed yourself! It’s too high.”
“Well, I didn’t know what she’d done with you.”
“Yes, well,” Joel said, releasing her and squaring his shoulders. “Time to have a final chat with Vee, I think.”
Aurora seized his shoulder and gave him a frustrated little shake. “Joel, haven’t you grasped it yet? Vee is Valborga!”
Chapter Thirteen
It was the moment Aurora dreaded. She knew the knowledge would hurt him. Worse, she was afraid he would blame the accusation on her own jealousy, and she was aware they didn’t have time to quarrel. They needed to work together to foil Valborga.
Joel stared at her, frowning. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said at last. “I’ve known Vee forever.”
“No, you haven’t. You’ve known her a few years. I’ve known her considerably longer.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I only just recognized her! I was with you, holding your hand, perfectly happy, even feeling magnanimous toward her, and then she turned around and it was if her mask slipped. She saw at once that I knew her. That’s why she grabbed me and put some kind of sleeping spell on me. I was so afraid I was going under for another thousand years and that you’d be dead when I woke!”
She couldn’t help throwing both arms around him once more, and he hugged her convulsively. “Shit, Aurora, this is way beyond me. I can deal with business conflict. I’d fight off any number of robbers or muggers for you. I can even deal with a jealous ex who locks my girlfriend in her bedroom. But this stuff, this magic you’re talking of, I don’t understand any of it. What does she want?”
“Power, like you said.” Aurora had spent some time thinking about Valborga’s words while she worried away at the window lock with a hairpin from the dressing table. “It was what she always wanted. She used to be very strong, but her sisters were always enough to counteract her. From what I remember, and from the fairytale you told me, I think that when I was born, she cursed me. I never knew why, and to be honest I don’t think anyone else did either. They put it down to plain badness, but now I think she always had a plan. The curse was a spell to draw me to the spinning wheel, to make me prick my finger.”
Aurora frowned. “I don’t quite understand that bit yet. But I was meant to die of it, and my death should somehow have given Valborga the extra power she craved. At the moment I fell asleep, every memory of me died.” She swallowed. “My parents, my friends. They never even knew they were bereaved. I should be glad for them, and yet it hurts me so much not to be remembered, not even to have been known.”
Joel’s arms tightened. His lips in her hair, on her forehead and cheeks, comforted her, gave her the strength to move on with her urgent explanation.
Catching at his head with both hands, she said. “But the good fairies, Valborga’s sisters, stepped in yet again. Though they couldn’t undo the curse, they commuted it, so that I slept rather than died. True love always breaks a bad spell, so I suppose they hoped my true love would find me and kiss me. Only he never did, until you came.”
Joel regarded her with fascination. “You say the most outrageous things as if they’re plain fact. ‘True love always breaks a bad spell’. How the hell can you know that?”
Aurora shrugged. “It was plain fact in my day. Everybody knew it. How do you think we broke the spell on the bedroom door just now? Our breath mingled, the breath of lovers, and overcame it. That was how I finally recognized Vee, because we were holding hands, because we have grown so close and because…” She broke off and gave him a quick, teasing look. “Because you’ve stopped fighting it and accepted me as your love.”
Something leapt in his eyes, drowning his struggle to accept her explanation. “Oh, I accept you. That part I have no trouble in believing.” He lowered his head, bestowing a quick, sensual kiss on her lips. “And if our love gives us strength against Valborga, then by all means let us do a little more loving.”
“Joel,” she protested in a half-hearted sort of a way. He pushed her against the wall and followed to pin her there by his hips so she could feel his erection growing. Suddenly breathless, she realized he was serious, and her heart seemed to plunge straight downward past her stomach to her core, which heated with su
dden, completely inappropriate desire.
Joel’s hot, clouded eyes devoured her. His hand, swiftly freeing her breast from the alluring green dress, caressed with urgent, trembling fingers that melted her to delicious weakness. “I can’t keep my hands off you. You tell me that’s a good thing, so take your medicine,” he breathed, covering her mouth with his.
Oh help, did they have time for this? Did she care? Was the satisfaction of this craving not more important right now than anything? Of course not. Valborga in charge of the world didn’t bear thinking about, and she tried to tell him so, muttering the words into his devouring mouth, even while she kissed him back.
He dragged up her skirt with his free hand, spreading his fingers over her thigh and sliding inward to her already wet panties. He gave a grunt of satisfaction and drew them to one side, his thumb sliding over her slick, sensitive clitoris and making her gasp and writhe against him.
Wicked excitement that she was doing this with him in Valborga’s own house, where they could be discovered by her or anyone else at any time, surged through Aurora, urging her on. She lifted one leg over his thigh, pushing her hands between their bodies to unfasten his buttons, feverishly seeking and finding his now fully erect cock. His breath hissed when she grasped it, and guided it to her hungry pussy. Standing on tiptoe to give him easier access, she pushed his cock inside herself and gave a moan of pleasure and need.
But he was already thrusting. Like that day in the kitchen, this was hard and fast and furious, and with the extra, naughty fillip of possible discovery, Aurora’s climax rose quickly. As they strained and writhed, coupling with a desperation that was entirely new to her, she wondered if she could stop now, even to save the world, and realized as orgasm exploded, convulsing her, that this wonder, this joy could never destroy the world. Only the lack of it could do that. And Joel joining her at the peak with a muffled groan was like an affirmation.
The abrupt click of a door, the rising hubbub of noise from the drawing room, broke through her wild pleasure but couldn’t halt it. Joel’s head turned with hers toward the drawing room door. The dark figure of Valborga stood there, curiously small and insubstantial when seen through the haze of orgasm.
Aurora clutched Joel, as if to warn him of what he had to already know, but again Joel surprised her, giving one last, extra thrust inside her to prolong the bliss. His long, low groan was both blatant and graphic.
Only then did he slide out of her, smoothing down her dress before tucking his cock discreetly back into his pants. While Aurora, still tingling and bemused, leaned back into the wall to gather herself, he turned, still buttoning his pants, to face Valborga.
“A little loving,” he observed unnecessarily, “never hurt anyone.”
“Except you,” Aurora said hoarsely. She cleared her throat. Her voice might be weak and breathless from the furious encounter, but inside, she suddenly felt as strong as a lion.
Valborga said coldly, “You found each other. How sweet. Do come back to the party.”
“You might prefer to discuss things in private,” Joel said. Aurora had never heard him sound so grim or so cold and had a sudden vision of the hardness that had brought him success.
“On the contrary,” Valborga drawled. “I want you to see my new birthday present.”
“Your call,” Joel said grimly. “But company won’t stop me, Vee.”
Valborga cast a contemptuous glance at Aurora, still straightening her gown over her breasts. “Clearly,” she said with distaste, and in spite of herself, Aurora laughed.
Valborga sniffed as if it was hardly the reaction she’d been looking for, and turned on her heel. Joel strode after her and Aurora ran to catch at his hand. They needed to face her together with all the strength of their love if they were to overcome her power.
They entered together into a ring of murmuring, laughing people surrounding Vee’s mysterious present. The crowd fell back to let their hostess have access, and Aurora stopped in her tracks. Her lips parted; her fingers slid numbly out of Joel’s as she stared at a pure gold spinning wheel.
It was happening again, that nearly irresistible need to reach out to the device. Memory of the last occasion flooded back, and Aurora clenched her hands into fists at her sides. So that’s what happened to the spinning wheel in the tower… It appeared wildly out of place here in the midst of the throng of well-dressed party guests, who gazed at it with curiosity and amazement.
“Vee, what in the world…?” a woman in red sequins and satin asked. “Who sent you this contraption, and why? It’s unique, I’ll grant you, but what are you supposed to do with it?”
“Display it, of course.” Valborga answered smoothly. “Most of you don’t know this, but my great-ancestors were in the textile trade. Many hundreds of years ago, the women in my family were known for weaving the finest cloth in the land. This wheel is an homage to my past and a testament to the bright future I plan to spin with my betrothed, Joel Thorne.” She grasped his arm and pulled him beside her, inserting her body between Joel and Aurora. “We’ve chosen tonight to announce our engagement as well as his candidacy for the National Assembly.”
Aurora felt the pall of sleepiness settling over her like a heavy fog and the sounds of the guests applauding and calling out congratulations sounded distant. She knew she had to physically connect with Joel. Only together would they be powerful enough to fight off Valborga’s magic, but she felt like she was in a dream. Her heavy hands seemed disconnected from her body as she struggled to reach for him.
Then his voice rose above the others as he protested Valborga’s announcement. “I’m sorry to contradict my long time friend, Vee. At the risk of ruining her party, I must explain that while it’s true I plan to run for the Assembly, this engagement announcement is premature. Vee and I had discussed the possibility, but I’ve decided against it. As you may have noticed, I’m here with another woman.”
He pulled his arm away from Valborga and stepped back to reach for Aurora’s hand. But before he could grasp it, the evil fairy raised her arm and began to mutter. Even through her debilitating heaviness, Aurora realized with despair that Valborga was uttering another curse. But there was no time to warn Joel. A bolt of lightning conjured from the air blasted him, throwing him across the room, away from Aurora. She cried out, but had no idea if the wail of loss and terror sounded only inside her head.
Among the guests, the celebratory mood changed as fast as the lightning bolt. Several women screamed. Other people cried out and fell back from the source of the crackling electricity. Valborga stood in the center of a widening circle, revealed in her true form. Her human mask had slipped entirely to show the evil within. Not that her face was the twisted scowl of a demon. On the contrary, she was perhaps more beautiful than ever, but so hard and cold it hurt the eyes to look upon her.
She turned to Aurora, whose feet were too numb to run. Her head felt thick and so heavy she could barely hold it upright as she stared at Valborga like a mouse confronting a hypnotizing snake.
“No need for me to hide from these fools any longer. My moment is at hand, and afterward none of them will remember what they saw. Come.” The evil enchantress crooked a finger, beckoning her forward and Aurora stumbled to obey like a jerky marionette.
No! She must rouse her will. She could not give in to the inexorable pull of Valborga’s invisible strings. Aurora dug in her heels and stopped moving.
“What do you want from me?” she gasped.
Another crook of Valborga’s fingers dragged Aurora a step closer to the spinning wheel with its needle-sharp spindle. “It’s so simple one would think it would be easy to take, but no, my sisters’ spells have hemmed me in and blocked me from getting what I need.”
“What is it I have that you need so badly?” Though it was difficult to form the words, she managed to push them out.
Valborga smiled, a thin, chilling gesture. “Blood. Your power is in your blood, and it will make me invincible.”
Aurora w
as dumbfounded. As far as she knew, her family was not magical. “But how? Why?” she got out.
Valborga’s lips curled into a pitying sneer. “They never even told you that, did they? Your mother was the last of the royal humans to carry ancient fairy blood in her veins. I did everything to prevent her marrying the king who carried the purest of human royal blood, including seducing him myself. The fool could have known such power, such splendor with me. But he chose her, and even worse, conceived you when the planets were in perfect alignment. From the day you were born, I knew you had to die to give me your blood and your power.”
Valborga laughed. “No wonder they coddled you so. You truly were the most precious being in either the human or magical realms.”
Aurora struggled to grasp the words, staring into Valborga’s cold, perfect face as if she could somehow absorb the explanation better that way. Her parents had never given her any inkling what it was Valborga sought from her. Instead, they’d foolishly kept her away from pointed objects and the plain truth. If they’d only trusted her enough to give her some control over her own life, perhaps she could have prevented the curse from occurring.
A burst of fury at them for endangering her through their over-protectiveness jolted Aurora awake. She shook off her stupor and threw her body into Valborga, knocking her backward.
The enchantress was completely taken by surprise. Clearly she’d never anticipated a physical blow. She staggered under the weight of Aurora’s tackle and fell to the floor. Aurora landed on top of her, the long skirt of her evening gown twisting around her legs and binding them. She pulled back her arm and plowed her fist into Valborga’s face, cracking through that frozen demeanor and startling a cry from the enchantress. Rage for the loss of her family and the stolen years of her life blazed through Aurora with the heat of a forest fire. She would not lose her life again nor would she allow Valborga to take Joel from her.
“Leave. Me. Alone.” Aurora punctuated each word with a hit. Her knuckles ached. The ring Joel had placed on her finger cut Vee’s cheekbone, and blood trickled down to her ear. Another blow and Valborga’s head snapped to the side. Aurora was vaguely aware of noise around her. The party guests hadn’t left, but seemed content to keep their distance. No one tried to break up the fight.
