Hidden Heir

by Amy Patrick

  hidden heir

  Book Ten of the Hidden Saga

  Amy Patrick

  Oxford South Press

  Contents

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  18. Epilogue

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Amy Patrick

  Also by Amy Patrick

  1

  Chapter One

  RYANN

  Safety is like a thick, heavy blanket. Comfortable, comforting, cozy under the right circumstances. Necessary on cold, blustery nights.

  But the same blanket can become a smothering burden on a balmy day, weighing you down, blocking your vision, and restricting your movement until you feel like you can barely breathe.

  There has to be a balance. But sometimes it’s hard to predict what the weather will bring. It’s hard to know whether to lean toward safety or freedom… and what the consequences will be if you make the wrong choice.

  * * *

  I could not have felt any safer as I sat curled up in the corner of a comfy couch in the receiving room of the royal suite in Altum’s palace. Tucked in an overstuffed chair opposite me with a cup of tea in her hand, laughing hysterically, was Ava.

  Her laughter subsided, and she unfolded her long legs from beneath her and put her feet on the floor.

  “I should get going. I still have some packing to do, and you need your rest. You’re sleeping for two now.”

  I stood and set my tea cup on the carved wooden table beside me. “If I could just sleep through a single night, I’d be thrilled. I’m up at least twice every night because someone keeps kicking my bladder.” I patted my rounded belly.

  Ava smiled at me wistfully. “I’m still jealous. Maybe the fact that you and Lad got pregnant pretty quickly will mean Asher and I won’t have to wait decades like some couples do. I mean, he’s part human, too, so maybe that’ll help?”

  I knew she was referring to the fertility issues experienced by the Elven race. Most full-blooded Elven couples had to try for many years—sometimes decades—to have a child, and with rare exceptions, had only one. Lad and I might have broken the Elven world record.

  I hugged Ava before walking her to the heavy wooden door of our suite. “I’m sure when the time is right it’ll happen. And by the way, I’m the jealous one. You’re so lucky to be going to Europe. I’ve always wanted to go. Lad’s traveling the world without me while I sit here growing into the Mississippi dirt like a mushroom.”

  She laughed and raised a sardonic brow. “Those guys get to have all the fun.”

  Like Asher, Lad had also been away from home for weeks. And I was well aware it wasn’t all fun. In the spring they’d traveled to a small Scottish island to retrieve the necessary ingredients for an antidote to a plague that would have wiped out the entire human race. There had been some question about whether the ruler of the Nymph sanctuary there would ever release Lad and allow him to come home.

  Now, less than eight months later, Ava’s bond-mate was back in Europe, training a new Elven healer, and mine was meeting in Rome with the leaders of the Ancient Court at a peace summit. Ava had been staying here in Altum during Asher’s absence.

  If only I could hop on a plane like she was doing tomorrow and go to meet Lad. A hollow longing ached in my chest. Bond-mates weren’t meant to be apart for long stretches of time. Unfortunately, this was a business trip for Lad, and I’d wanted to spend Thanksgiving here with my family. Besides, I’d had college finals to take.

  “You’ll get your chance,” Ava assured me. “I volunteer to babysit when you do.”

  When she opened the door to leave, a servant was standing in front of it, knuckles raised, as if she’d been about to knock.

  “Hi, Hedda. What’s up?”

  I looked at her eager expression in confusion. The servants were normally off-duty after supper, and I hadn’t called for any help. I’d been planning to carry our empty teacups and plates back to the kitchen myself after Ava left.

  Hedda relayed a message to me mind-to-mind. Before she’d even finished, I bolted from the door and ran as fast as my feet would carry me down the hall and toward the front entrance of the royal residence.

  “Where are you going?” Ava shouted after me. “Be careful. Remember your balance might be a little off.”

  I wasn’t thinking about balance, or Ava, or anything but the shocking news Hedda had just delivered. Nothing mattered but reaching those enormous double-doors and seeing the person who’d just arrived in Altum.

  As I skidded into the grand entry hall, the doors opened, and he strode in.

  “Lad!”

  I screamed and ran toward him, giggling and jumping into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He held me securely against him, burying his face in my hair.

  “Hello sweet girl.”

  Servants hurried forward to take their king’s luggage and disappeared just as quickly, leaving us alone. The instant they retreated, Lad kissed me.

  It wasn’t some little hello-how-was-your-day peck. He kissed me hard. Hungry. Devouring me like a man who hadn’t eaten in months. He tasted amazing, and smelled amazing, and felt… amazing.

  My hands, which had been clinging to his neck, ran over the hard muscles of his shoulders and back and then into his hair. I never got enough of touching him. These past few weeks apart had been torture.

  When my palms came to his cheeks and jaw, Lad pulled back and gave me a brilliant smile. “Look at you,” he exclaimed on a hushed breath. “How is it possible you’re even more beautiful than when I left?”

  His words were ridiculous, but the look in his spectacular leaf-green eyes told me he was just as overjoyed to see me as I was to see him.

  I nodded at the swollen belly between us. “Even more round, you mean.”

  “I meant exactly what I said. More beautiful. And I love you even more.”

  Easing me to my feet, Lad dropped to one knee in front of me and planted a big kiss on my stomach. “Hello baby. Are you being sweet to your mother? Or giving her a hard time?”

  I ran my fingers through his soft curls as he knelt there, unable to keep my hands off him for a second and smiling so widely it hurt my cheeks. “It hasn’t been too bad. My back’s sore, but otherwise, I feel great.”

  Lad rose again and took me into his arms. “Have you seen Wickthorne recently? Can’t he help?”

  I lay my head on his chest, pressing my ear against it to hear the wonderful inhumanly fast heartbeat I’d come to love more than my own.

  “It’s just part of it. I don’t mind.” Leaning back to see his face again, I said, “I can’t believe you’re here. Why did you cut your trip short?”

  “I’ll tell you about it later. I wish I hadn’t missed any time here at all. I wanted to be here for every day of your pregnancy. You really have changed.”

  “Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of time left for you to watch my belly expand to grotesque proportions. I can’t believe Elven women put up with this for two years.”

  “Maybe yours will be shorter, like your grandmother’s,” Lad suggested, obviously trying to cheer me. “Hers was only eighteen months, right?”

  I chuckled. “Right. Only eighteen. But her baby was hal
f human. Ours will be mostly Elven—less than a quarter human. Even Wickthorne says he’s not sure about the gestation period.”

  A shadow crossed Lad’s eyes. “I’d like to go to his clinic with you—first thing in the morning.”

  “Why? Everything’s fine.”

  “I’d just like to speak to Wickthorne. Humor me?”

  I smiled and took his hand, walking with him through the dimly lit halls of the palace. “Of course. I’ve never known you to be a worrier, though. Is something else wrong? Did everything go okay on your trip?”

  There it was again—that ripple of worry across his features before he mastered it.

  “Nothing for you to be concerned about.” He gave me a big smile and squeezed my hand. “Tell me what you’ve been doing. How did your finals go?”

  I’d just completed the fall semester as a commuter student at the University of Mississippi, only fourteen miles away in Oxford. The baby’s impending arrival and my work at Magnolia Sugar Tea company might mean my time as a college student would be extended beyond the norm, but I was determined to get my business degree, no matter how long it might take.

  “Pretty well, I think. The only one that really gave me trouble was chemistry, which has never been my thing. I hope I’ll squeak by with a passing score.”

  “Of course you will. You’ll see. I bet you did great.”

  “I hope so. I did not sign up for round two of chemistry when I registered for next semester.”

  He gave me a funny look. “Is it too late to withdraw your registration?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Well… the uncertainty about when the baby will come.”

  I nodded in understanding. “I see what you’re saying. But I’m only twelve months along. It could still be a long time. I can always drop the classes later if necessary.”

  His brows drew together, and his mouth formed a flat line. “You shouldn’t push yourself. I want you to get plenty of rest and not have too much stress.”

  “The only thing stressing me out was you being so far away—without me.” I stopped walking and turned to face him, taking both his hands in mine. “Actually, maybe it would be a good idea to take next semester off.”

  He smiled at my apparent acquiescence as I continued. “I’ve been thinking… if little Mister—”

  “Or Miss,” he interrupted with a grin.

  “If little Mister or Miss does keep us waiting, maybe we could take a trip together. You know, a baby-moon, just the two of us. It’ll be our last chance to be just a couple for a long time. And you made Europe sound so amazing, I really want to—”

  “No.”

  The answer came so fast and harsh I blinked.

  “What?”

  “It’s not all that great.”

  I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Not all that great? Really? Aren’t you the same guy who was raving on the phone to me about Florence and about Nic’s winery in Tuscany a few weeks ago? And about Scotland before that?”

  “Yes, well, they were nice, I suppose.” We reached the door of our suite, and his grip on my waist tightened. “But I want you to be safe. There is so much evil out there in the world.”

  “I’m not exactly a helpless damsel, you know. I handled Davis. And Reggie Dillon.”

  Lad nearly growled. “Don’t remind me. And you weren’t pregnant then. If it were up to me, you’d never leave these walls without me.”

  We entered our suite. His bags had been placed just inside the door, and the bedcoverings had been turned back invitingly.

  “It’s good to be home,” Lad said. “I don’t want to leave again for a long time.” He paused then continued. “I’ve been thinking… I’d like for you to stay here.”

  I studied his frown, perplexed. “Here, as in Mississippi?”

  I couldn’t help but be disappointed. If a trip to Europe was out of the question, I was at least hoping to get away for a few days to the Florida coast.

  “Here as in home—in Altum.”

  I blinked a few times before forming a response. Lad had always been protective of me, but this was bordering on insanity.

  “You don’t want me to leave Altum—at all? Lad… that’s… I have to see my friends. They can’t come here. And I’ve got Christmas shopping to do. I haven’t done any at all because of school and finals. What about work? And I have to go to class.”

  “You don’t have to. You’re most likely immortal—you literally have forever to get your degree.”

  I shook my head at him, baffled. “What’s brought all this on? Talk to me.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just so happy to see you. I want you all to myself.” He pulled me toward him and tried to stop my questions with a kiss. Which almost worked. He was a talented kisser.

  When our mouths parted, I said, “Nice try. Now talk.”

  He let out a sigh and dropped into a chair, running his hands through his hair. “Fine. During my meeting with the Ancient Court… things got a bit… strange.”

  “Strange how? Were they still angry with you and Nox?”

  Lad and Nox, along with a few rebel Dark Elves in Europe—and a Nymph—had worked together to stop the Ancient Court’s plan to eradicate the humans with a new plague virus. Once their scheme had been defeated, the Ancient Court leaders admitted it might have been a tad hasty, not to mention an overreach, and resumed communications with the Dark Court in America under Nox’s leadership.

  Now he and Lad were working to establish better relationships with the formerly antagonistic European leaders and convince them of the benefits of improved Elven-human relations as well.

  “No, not angry,” Lad said. “I wouldn’t say we’re best friends, but things were cordial. I had a weird conversation with the King of the Dark Court in Italy, though.”

  “Alessia’s father?”

  Alessia had traveled with Asher and several others to help distribute the plague cure to villages around the world where it had been activated. Well, she’d actually been the one to trigger the pandemic with her glamour, but Asher assured us she’d changed, and her actions since then seemed to back up that opinion.

  Lad nodded. “That’s the one. Vincenzo. He’s probably the most disgruntled of the entire Ancient Court about our ‘interference,’ as he called it. But that wasn’t really the problem. You remember their concern about how much the humans outnumber us was at the root of their big scheme? Their backup plan was to study Nicolo’s twin sister Estelle—and her glamour gift of exceptional fertility—to help with the Elven reproduction conundrum. But then their Dr. Schmitt died, and Estelle had other plans.”

  “Right. Anders,” I prompted.

  “Exactly. So Vincenzo basically commanded me to hand over some of the Nymph blood we collected in Aes Sidhe for the cure because that supposedly has not only incredible healing powers but also boosts virility and fertility.”

  “Oh. Wow.”

  Lad looked flustered. “Yeah. Of course, I couldn’t do that.”

  “There was none left?”

  “No, actually, there was. But that’s not what it was intended for. We asked the Nymphs for their help to save the humans, not to enable the Elves to create a baby boom and overrun the earth. Sometimes I think the only thing keeping the Elven tyrants from enslaving the world is our small relative population. Anyway, the Nymphian queen trusted us with that precious resource, and I didn’t feel right about handing it over to the Ancient Court, no matter how much they claim to have ‘learned their lesson.’”

  “I’m guessing he wasn’t real happy about that.”

  “Not at all. And then he…”

  Here Lad stopped talking and just stared at me as if trying to decide whether to tell me the rest.

  “And then he…” I led him into it.

  “He accused me of using some for myself. They’ve all heard of your pregnancy, how fast it happened.”

  “Oh. That’s creepy.”

  He glowered. “Yeah. Good news travels quickly, I gue
ss, even across the ocean. I assured him he was wrong, reminded him of your partial human heritage. He went on and on about it, congratulating me, exclaiming about my illustrious lineage—and yours—saying any child of ours would have the potential to be exceptionally gifted and would be someone ‘worth getting to know,’ as he put it.”

  “What on earth does that mean?” My hands encircled my belly protectively.

  “I’m not sure. But it sounded vaguely threatening.”

  “I was talking about the illustrious lineage part.”

  “Oh. Yeah, well, my father’s bloodline goes back to the First Ones—and so do yours, not only through your grandmother’s family but Davis’s, too.”

  “Oh. And that’s a big deal?”

  I knew Davis Hart and his successor Audun Rune had been of like mind with the Ancient Court, believing the Elven race should dominate the humans and longing for the days that predated our history books, when they’d been the gods of this earth and the humans their servants. But I didn’t realize Davis had come from ancient blood.

  Lad chuckled. “You could say that. Our people are rather obsessed with genealogy. Being able to trace your roots back to the First Ones is like a modern American being able to claim to be a direct descendent of George Washington or of English royalty. Anyway, I didn’t like his level of interest in you and our baby. There’s no way I’m letting anyone from the Ancient Court—or anyone connected to them—get near you. Either of you.”

  Something dawned on me. “Is that why you wouldn’t let Asher bring Alessia here to train her?”

  Much to Ava’s displeasure, her bond-mate Asher was essentially living with Alessia and her human bond-mate Wes on the remote Scottish island of Eigg while he trained her as a healer. The Italian Dark Elven princess had been raised in the Ancient Court to believe her glamour could only cause pain, that she’d been “born bad” essentially.