“Frighten me? Is that what you think you did? First, you have your goon kidnap me as if I’m your personal healer created just to heal you, and now you’re back to kidnap me yourself! Frightened? I’m so past frightened, Amon.”
If her emotions weren’t beginning to take their toll on him physically, he might be turned on by Thea’s outburst. He liked her like this. Feisty. Brave. A perfect match for him. Her emotions were beginning to cause him great pain, though, and in his still weakened state, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sustain much more of her anger.
“Please, Thea. Don’t be angry. I missed you.”
As he spoke, he took her hand in his and stroked his thumb over the soft skin of her knuckles.
“Amon, you broke into my house.”
Smiling happily as he felt her anger abate just a little, he answered, “Technically, I didn’t break in because I didn’t use the door.”
Thea looked at him with a confused look that made him want to explain, if only because it seemed to have calmed her down.
“I teleported in. So no breaking, really.”
“Teleported?”
“Yes, it’s one of my powers.”
“One?” Thea seemed to consider what he’d said and then continued. “I don’t care. You can’t just come into my house without being invited in.”
“I’m sorry. Can we sit down and talk?”
Amon saw her resolve weaken and knew he’d won her over for the moment. Still holding her hand, he walked with her to the couch and sat down next to her.
“Your house is very nice.” His words were predictable, but he hoped to avoid another emotional outburst from her that would be sure to hurt.
Thea turned her body toward him. “Amon, why are you here, if it’s not to kidnap me again?”
Her refusal to let him set the pace made him smile. He was going to have to tell her about Sevine.
“I missed you. I wish you hadn’t left.”
“Amon, I can’t just stay at your house for the rest of my life. I have a job...”
Thea caught herself and corrected what she’d said. “Well, I had a job before you sent that man to kidnap me and you held me captive.”
Amon felt her sadness cover him, and he felt truly sorry for what had happened. “I never intended for that to happen. I will compensate you well to make up for everything. I promise.”
While he spoke, he looked directly into her eyes and wished they were back at his house together. Or better yet, at his home in Greece, somewhere he was sure she’d enjoy.
“You can’t just do things that hurt others and then simply throw money at the problem. I loved my job, and now I’ve lost it.”
Thea’s sadness stabbed at him now, and he closed his eyes to ward off the pain. Unlike before, this was more an ache than searing pain.
“Are you okay, Amon?” he heard her say and he opened his eyes.
Wincing, he nodded, but she placed her hands on his and held them. “Where is the pain located?” she asked when she couldn’t figure out how to heal him.
“You can’t heal this, Thea. This is the pain I explained to you before.”
Gently squeezing his hands, she said quietly, “I can heal your pain. Please tell me where it’s coming from.”
There would be no explaining this away, so he decided to tell her the truth.
“Thea, you can’t heal it because you cause it. Or more specifically, your unhappiness causes it. My destined one cursed me to feel unrelenting pain each time I make you unhappy.”
“Why? I thought you said you hadn’t even seen her in lifetimes.”
“I haven’t.”
“Then why curse you with something from me?”
Amon sighed and knew he couldn’t avoid telling her the most important part of Sevine’s curse.
“She didn’t. The curse is more general than that. It affects me with anyone I love.”
Lifetimes of confidence seemed to evaporate in seconds as he watched Thea’s face darken.
“Love me? Is that what you think coming to my house to take me away is? Love?”
“You don’t understand. I found out...”
Thea cut him off in mid-sentence and put her hand up. “I understand perfectly. You want me back at your house to heal you, and you think the way to soften me up into accepting being kidnapped a second time is to tell me you love me. You must think I’m pretty pathetic if you believe that will work.”
Pain once again raged through his body and Amon silently reached out to Gethen to call for help. Moments later, he and Markku entered through the front door and Thea leaped from her seat on the couch.
“Don’t either of you have any manners either? Get out of my house now!”
Both men stood still waiting for instructions from Amon and appeared to almost look right through her. With each word, Amon felt weaker, and he leaned back against the couch, twisted in pain.
In a strangled voice, he whispered, “Thea, please listen. They’re here to help me. Your emotions are killing me.”
Turning to see his face drained of all color, she asked, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
Quietly, he said, “Yes. Can we please just talk?”
With his hand, he gestured to Gethen and Markku to leave and the two men quickly exited. Amon remained silent for a minute as the ache ebbed out of him. When he was sure he had the strength to finish what he’d started, he inhaled deeply and let the air out in a sigh.
“Thea, I found out my destined one has moved on. When I told you what you were feeling wasn’t possible, I didn’t know. Then when I experienced pain when we were together in your room, I realized the spell she put on me that causes me to suffer when I make someone I love unhappy was affecting me and that I’d fallen in love with you. But even then I didn’t think anything was possible, so I sent Markku to investigate the possibility of Sevine’s moving on, hoping but never thinking that I’d actually be blessed with you as my destined one.”
Amon watched as she listened intently and then closed her eyes when he finished. As he waited nervously to hear her response, he thought in desperation of gently probing her mind to understand her thoughts about what he’d just said and end the uncertainty he felt. Never before had he felt so unprepared to hear another’s answer.
Opening her eyes, Thea said tearfully, “Is this true? Have I been blessed with a destined one finally after all these lifetimes?”
Smiling, he took her hands in his and brought them to his lips to kiss them softly. “Yes, Thea. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
“I wasn’t wrong,” she said in astonishment.
“No, I was. I’m sorry you were hurt by my not knowing she’d moved on.”
Thea grew silent and then said sheepishly, “Amon, we may be destined ones and love each other in some way, but we don’t even know each other. This seems all backwards.”
Cradling her face in his hands, he smiled. “We know everything we need to know. We know I love you and you love me. And we know you look incredibly sexy in my shirts.”
Unconvinced, she squinted her eyes into tiny slits in fake anger and wrinkled her nose. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. Those seem to be the most important things, as far as I can tell.”
Thea’s blue eyes stared back at him, and he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “Okay. What do you want to know?”
“Everything. Where have you lived other than the house I’ve been in? How many destined ones have you had? Do you like extra cheese on your pizza?” She stopped and hesitated before asking another question. “Do you like children?”
Amon lifted both his eyebrows and wrinkled his forehead. “Want to jump right in? Okay. I’ve lived in many places. Greece, Italy, Britain, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, in addition to other places in the United States. I have homes in many of them that I can’t wait for you to see. I’ve had three destined ones before you. I do like extra cheese on my pizza, in addition to sausage and green peppers. And yes, I like chi
ldren.”
He knew the last answer was the most important, so he made sure to smile when he said it. After, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to hers.
Thea pulled away and studied his face. “What would you like to know about me?” she asked in a hopeful voice.
“What makes you happy?”
Thea wrinkled her nose again. “Because you don’t want to feel that pain again, right?”
Amon shook his head. “No. Because I want to make you happy.”
*
Outside, Gethen sullenly watched the comings and goings of Thea’s neighbors. Markku stood next to him smiling as he surveyed the same scene, albeit from a different perspective.
“Gethen, do you ever wonder what it would be like to be one of them? To be human?”
“No.”
Markku turned to Gethen with a look of amazement. “Never once? C’mon. They seem so interesting.”
“For all the years I’ve been around them, I can’t figure out what anyone would find interesting about them,” Gethen replied testily as he stared straight ahead.
“Not interesting? That’s crazy! They only live one life, old man. One life and it doesn’t seem to bother them at all.”
Gethen knew he should simply ignore Markku and avoid getting drawn into the conversation, but the man’s ignorance irritated him more than being forced to wait on the porch for Amon did.
“I have only one life.”
Markku shook his head. “No, that’s not the same. Sidhe may only get one life, but they get a much longer life than humans. Christ, they only get about eighty years before it’s all over.”
Gethen’s thoughts trailed off as Markku spoke. One life. Unlike those he spent all his time near, he would cease to exist upon his death, another of his kind sent to the afterlife in the Summerlands. He was nowhere close to the natural end of his life. Three hundred and some odd years was relatively young for his kind, who often lived twice as long. But now, as he felt the early November chill bite at him, his many years away from his world made him suddenly feel old.
He knew what was making him miserable. Inside, Amon was reuniting with the woman he was destined to share his remaining lifetimes with, and outside, he was struggling with jealousy he’d never experienced with Amon. He’d entered his world after his previous destined one had left, so he’d always had Amon to his own, despite the myriad of females who’d been in and out of the Aeveren’s life. Now his life would change, and he’d very likely see Gethen as an unnecessary addition. Or more correctly, his destined one would.
Markku jabbed Gethen’s side sharply with his elbow. “We got trouble.”
Gethen shook off his thoughts and trained his eyes on the man Markku was watching. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“He’s a bounty hunter, probably the one sent to take Amon back.”
Gethen felt the adrenaline pump through him as his body shifted into protection mode. He watched the Aeveren male make his way down the suburban side street, looking distinctly out of place surrounded by housewives loading up minivans with bags and children to go to play dates with other housewives and their children.
He assessed the man’s physical character instantly as formidable, and since Amon was still recovering from his escape from the very place the bounty hunter intended him to return, Gethen decided to alert his friend to the potential danger.
As the man came closer to the sidewalk in front of Thea’s house, both Gethen and Markku agreed he was Amon’s bounty hunter. In his mind, Gethen heard Amon’s response to his alarm, and he grabbed Markku by the arm.
“Amon wants us inside...now.”
As they closed the door behind them, Thea hurriedly gathered her things and stuffed them into her purse.
“Is he the man, Markku?” Amon asked as he stood from the couch.
“Yeah. My guy described him to a T. Says he’s on a mission.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Gethen snapped.
“I don’t know. My guy said that this guy was released from his job at Nil last year and was just recalled for this job.”
Amon stood next to Gethen to comfort him, silently reassuring him. “Well, he’s going to have to get used to failing, gentlemen.” Turning to Thea, he added, “Time to go.”
Thea came to Amon’s side and molded her body to his as he curved his arm around her shoulders. Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he whispered softly to her to calm her fears.
“Gethen, get back to the house with Markku. Thea, I promise we’ll come back again.”
Looking up and smiling, she said, “We better. I have things I need.”
*
Out of the corner of his eye, Amon spied the man through the front window. He felt the man’s eyes meet his and even from a distance of twenty yards away, there was an almost electric connection. Either he would fail in his task or Amon would return to Nil. There was no middle ground.
Quickly, Amon turned to Markku. “Get Gethen back to the house. Go now!”
Just as fast, he positioned Thea on his other side near Markku and when the magickian began to disappear, thrust her hand into his with the warning, “Hurt her and I’ll kill you. Go!”
In seconds, Thea’s cry of protest and her eyes full of worry were a memory, and her house was silent. Amon stood in her living room waiting. It didn’t take long for the knock he waited for to come, but this meeting would be on his terms.
Before the other man knew what had happened, Amon stood behind him on the porch. When he felt satisfied that he had the upper hand, he cleared his throat and the man spun around. They stood facing one another, each one sizing up the other. Amon spent little time on him before he decided that he wouldn’t be much to handle physically. What powers he had was a different story. With a quick look into his mind, Amon knew all he needed to know.
“Leave here and never come back, or I promise you this won’t end well for you.”
“Amon Kalins, I’m here to take you back to Nil to serve out your sentence.”
Amon grinned. “I see. All official? Okay. I’ve warned you. The next time I see you will be the last.”
Moments later, Amon reappeared in his bedroom. Silently, he summoned Gethen to bring Thea to him and waited patiently to see the woman he’d completely fallen head over heals in love with.
Thea burst into his room, her anger obvious by the look on her face.
“What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt or worse!” she screamed.
Amon was so happy to see her that he’d momentarily forgotten that her emotions could still affect him and was surprised when a stab of pain shot through him. He stumbled backwards toward the bed as Thea and Gethen raced to catch him.
“Amon! I’m so sorry! I forgot,” she cried as she clutched at his arm.
Gethen supported him and they guided him to the bed. After helping him into it, Gethen stood back and waited.
With Thea seated next to him stroking his cheek with her fingertips, Amon began to relax. Looking up at his friend, he smiled. “Thank you once again, Gethen. You seem to be always saving me.”
Amon saw the pleasure in Gethen’s eyes and was happy he understood him so well.
“Always, Amon.”
“Let me rest, friend. When I’m ready, I think it’s time to see our friends of the Soren. We may need their help with this bounty hunter.”
Nodding, Gethen said, “I’ll tell Markku,” as he left the room.
Thea continued to tenderly trace her fingertips over Amon’s cheek as he closed his eyes. Leaning down, she softly touched her lips to his and then whispered, “I am so sorry.”
Just the touch of her lips excited him, and he caught her face in his hands to return the kiss.
“Don’t be sorry. You had every right to be upset. I should have remembered the effect you have on me.”
He slid his tongue into her mouth to mingle with hers and gently sucked her tongue between his lips. “I like this effect better,” he teased, his face flush with desi
re.
Moaning softly, she climbed on top of him and straddled his hips. “And just what effect is that?”
As he ran his hands over her back, he groaned, “The one that makes me want to be inside you.”
He pulled her down to him and wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her deeply. At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not what he’d have to do to save himself from being dragged back to Nil. Not the last vestiges of pain he felt slowly leave his body. No, the only thing that mattered was how he felt with Thea.
Amon realized she’d been healing him as she touched his face and now was quietly sleeping with her head on his shoulder. Gently, he stroked her hair as she lay on top of him and thanked fate for sending her to him.
For now, he’d let her sleep and he’d build up his own strength because what they faced was something they’d need all their powers and more to overcome. But even though he was just days away from the hell of Nil, he felt stronger than he had in lifetimes. He had something more than himself to fight for. He had a destined one who’d ended his loneliness. He had Thea.
Chapter Eleven
Ryu Jansen remained on Thea’s front porch considering what he’d learned so far. He’d known the girl was important the moment he’d seen her run from Amon’s house, but now he needed to find out who she was. The other players in this drama he already knew. The servant/bodyguard named Gethen had watched him approach the house with the magickian Kalins kept on hand.
And Kalins himself? Ryu adjusted his jacket and thought about his prey. Amon Kalins presented a formidable challenge. Physically, he was as big as Ryu had expected. However, it wasn’t physical power that concerned him. Kalins possessed more powers than the Council knew if the invasion of his mind was any indication. An almost imperceptible tug but he’d felt it as Kalins had stared at him. Bringing in a tempuster who could teleport and read minds was going to be a bit more difficult than he’d first thought.
Maybe it’s time for a visit with the Council.
Two hours later, Ryu once again found himself back in Nil—“home”, as they’d called it. As he watched the Council members file into the chamber, he wondered if they were right. Was Nil truly his home? Could a place created for the worst of their kind be where he was most comfortable, where he was meant to always return to? And if that were true, what did that make him?
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