"I need someone I can trust to be with Felix every day, talk to him and help him recover." Cyn's voice brought my gaze back to him. His other hand closed over mine, and he held it tightly, looking straight into my eyes. "I want you to be the one to help Felix, Eisha."
My breath caught in my throat as my pulse raced. I knew he was going to ask that of me even before he spoke.
“You must not refuse him.”
Asrhia's words returned, and I wanted to wring her neck for putting me in this position.
Art whirled around not able to contain his anger anymore, walked back to us and stood in front of Cyn, defiantly. "What the hell are you thinking, brother?? Are you so distracted having sex with Bri that you no longer care about the rest of us? Does she have you so enthralled that you can’t see the danger you are bringing up on your village? You may be happy now, but that does not eliminate the threats we have to live with, and you cannot turn your back on us. You might not care about what happens to Eisha, but I will not allow her to put herself at risk, especially with that Roman!" Art shouted at Cyn, and my eyes widened as I gasped, covering my mouth.
"It is her decision to make, and not yours!" Cyn yelled back, standing tall in front of Art. "You may love Eisha, but you do not own her, brother!" I jumped up from the chair, startled. I had never seen them go against each other this way. "I regard her as my family, and I would never dare to place her in any danger, lest of all the people in my village. The fact that you would even suggest that I was doing so, is not only insulting to me, but to her capacity as a Warrior. Everything I have done in the past two thousand years has been for my Druid family, and you of all people should know that, Art. This decision was not made lightly. I extended you the courtesy of informing you before I asked her, because you are my brother and I know the way you feel about her. Nevertheless, I am your Àrd-shagart, and any decision I make is under the consideration of everyone I deem under my care. Felix is now under it, and I will make the choices I need to make for the well-being of my entire village whether you like them or not!"
Art stepped back as shocked as I was by Cyn's response. It was the first time Cyn had ever raised his voice at Art, and acted as the rightful Àrd-shagart. However, it was also the first time Art had ever gone this far questioning, and disrespecting Cyn. It hurt me to see the rift between them, but Cyn was right.
"Boys, please," I begged, stepping closer.
Cyn took a deep breath and stood back, answering my plea while Art still looked at him enraged.
"I know it has been hard for you to find your place in this village, brother, and I have been as patient as I can. I have shut my mouth while you go out there into the world to do only the Goddess knows what, because I know you are trying to prove your worth to yourself, even when the rest of us see it as clear as day. I have put up with all your indiscretions but make no mistake, Art. I will not tolerate these disrespectful tantrums, especially when you dare use Briana’s name! You are a man, not a child and I expect you to act like one.”
My heart broke as Art took another step back. I could see the hurt and regret begin to show in his eyes, but the hate and fear that were driving him were too powerful to let anything else through.
“I am truly sorry about this, a chara.” Cyn’s voice forced my gaze back to him. “I did not intend to disrespect your home this way. It is your decision to make, and I will accept it no matter what it is, but it is you who must decide.”
I could feel Art’s eyes on me. The heat of his gaze was scorching.
“I shall do as you asked, Cyn.”
“Fuck!” Art roared, and stormed out of my house, slamming the door behind him with such force, that the walls shuddered.
ART
* * *
I slammed the door to my hut and saw Lia jump on the bed.
"What happened, Chewie. Are you ok?" She asked, rushing towards me.
I remained just beside the door as the words I had just screamed at my brother replayed in my mind. I was rooted in place by my stupidity. What the fuck had I just done? Was my hate towards Felix so great that I would disrespect my brother to this extent? Apparently so. I knew better than anyone what my brother had sacrificed for our people and how personally he took anything that happened to us. He loved Eisha like a sister and would never ask anything of her that he did not believe she could handle. She could hold her own and defend herself no matter who she was facing. No one, not even I could sneak up on her. What had happened with Ronan, as hard as it was for me to admit it had been an accident. The helping nature in him had wanted to comfort Felix, assist him through whatever he was going through, yet I knew Felix was no threat, especially in the condition he was in at the moment.
I felt my heart rate slow, and my breathing returned to normal, and the more I calmed down, the more I realized how royally I had fucked up. I had even insulted my little Sis when she had nothing to do with this. Fuck. I took a deep breath and suddenly realized why I was once again calm. My gaze fell on Lia while she soothingly rubbed my chest with her hand while hugging me.
"It's ok. I'm here. It's going to be ok," She whispered like I had done for her so many times while leaving tiny kisses on my chest.
I kissed the top of her head, and she held my hand pulling me to the bed. She laid down and opened her arms wide. I couldn't help but chuckle at her petite form, in my bed with open arms as she offered me comfort. For a moment, she reminded me of my mom. I laid next to her and rested my head on her soft chest accepting her embrace. Closing my eyes, I took another breath.
"My mother used to hold me like this when I was boy," I said, fixing my cheek on her breasts. Lia's fingers lazily caressed my back. "I loved it. I could spend all day in her arms without a care in the world. My Dad used to get upset. He said she was coddling me too much, and I wouldn't become a man." I chuckled. "I think he was just pissed because he couldn't have sex with my mom while I was on top of her." I laughed and felt Lia smack my back. "Too honest?" I asked, raising my gaze to hers.
She laughed. “No, too hilarious.”
I laid my head down again and chuckled. "I loved the feel of my mother's chest under my cheek. I drank milk from her breasts until I was five years old. I think that is why I like big boobs so much." I lifted my head again. "Too honest?"
She shook her head, laughing. “Oh, please. Everyone knows that men’s obsession with breasts comes from their mother. That is legit popular knowledge.” I chuckled. “What happened, Chewie?” She asked, rubbing my back soothingly. I didn’t want to tell her. I was embarrassed at the way I had behaved.
I sighed. “I had a fight with my brother. He made a decision I did not agree with and I behaved like an ass. I ended up disrespecting him and Bri.” She remained quiet and I lifted my head, worried this might change her opinion of me.
She cupped my cheek. “Do you believe you were right in disagreeing with him? Or did he make the right decision?”
I held her gaze as I thought about it. Now that my mind was clear, I guessed he was right. I still hated the fact that Eisha would be close to that filthy Roman, but I understood where my brother was coming from. “He made the right decision.”
“Then you need to apologize for being an ass.” I took a deep breath and nodded. She kissed my cheek and smiled as I got up. “Good luck.”
“Thanks, and thank you for helping me calm down.”
She grinned. "That would be fifty dollars. I accept credit cards, debit cards, and money orders. No personal checks, though."
I laughed and bent down kissing her cheek loudly, then turned around and walked out the door.
FELIX
* * *
It felt good to be clean again. It would feel even better if I was in one of my Armani suits but beggars couldn't be choosers. The linen pants and shirt were light and refreshing against my skin though. I really couldn't complain.
I pushed the bed back in place with Ronan's help and took a deep breath enjoying the scent that now clung to the air. The strong fragra
nce of the eucalyptus leaves we had placed around the cave after cleaning it, had managed to chase away the stench. We had put fresh water from the river in the rudimental toilet that was here, allowing it to clear, and taken away the soiled sheets and trash.
“Well we are done, my friend. This place is officially clean.”
I looked at him while I sat on the bed exhausted. “Ronan, I…” my throat constricted stopping the words I must say.
I wanted to say thank you. I wanted to apologize for attacking him, but every time I opened my mouth Agustina's words stopped me. My father's words were hard to erase after I had spent a lifetime cultivating hate for this people. I had witnessed what had happened centuries ago, what my people, the Romans, and my uncle had done, and a part of me knew we were the actual monsters, but even then, there was another part of me that somehow believed they were wrong. I had too many years of hate in my heart to let go off. My hands cupped my head and I began to rub it. The voices were getting loud again.
“Hey. It is all right, my friend. No troubles. Yes?”
I opened my eyes at Ronan’s voice and looked at him confused. I had forgotten he was even here. His eyes roamed my face as I looked around me.
"We are in the cave. We just finished cleaning, remember?" He added, reaching for my wrists and slowly lowering my hands to my lap.
I looked at him confused. “Can you read minds?”
He laughed, loudly, making me chuckle. I felt stupid for asking, but I truly had no idea what these people's powers were.
"No, my friend. Although sometimes I wish I could. It would certainly help with my love life." He winked, and I smiled. He pulled the chair we had set at the table a moment ago and sat in front of me. "I just have a knack for reading people. It does feel at times as though I could read their minds, but it is more an intuition ability than anything else. No, I do not have powers, not like Cynwrig or Briana. I just have a really strong sense of instinct, and I can understand others. I was a counselor during my younger years. It was not until later in life that I became a Warrior."
“You are a shrink?”
He shook his head, not fully understanding. I sighed. Of course, I'd need a shrink. "Is that the reason why you have been taking care of me? So you can mess with my mind?" I asked, suddenly realizing how much it bothered me to think he wasn't just a decent man, or trying to be my friend as he had portrayed. Of course, there was an ulterior motive. The voices in my head began to rise again. Maybe they were playing mind games with me after all. Was anything Ronan had told me true? Had that girl placed false images in my head? Oh, God. What if they were just manipulating me as my father had said? Brainwashing me? I stood abruptly from the bed while my chest rose and fell sharply with my breathing.
“Hey! I am still here. I have not gone. Look at me.” My gaze found Ronan’s and he smiled. “All right. Good job, my friend. Focus on me. I have an answer for you. Do you wish to hear it?”
I frowned and blinked, focusing on Ronan as he asked. The voices began to recede. I nodded. He held my arms and guided me to sit down on the bed. He sat next to me.
“I decided to come here and care for you because I needed to forgive.”
The weight of his statement fell on me like a bucket of iced water, reminding me of the truth. I turned to face him “Did you?”
He gave me one of his brilliant smiles. "Yes." My chest tightened with his answer, and I looked away from him. "It is all right, my friend. With time you shall forgive too."
I swallowed. “Who do I need to forgive?”
His gaze became kind. “Yourself.” I looked at my hands, letting his words settle inside me. “What is your profession?” My gaze returned to him, and I frowned. “Before you came here?” he added, standing and reaching for the bottle of water on the table. He handed it to me.
“Um, I’m a lawyer,” I answered, taking a sip. “But that’s only because it’s what Agustina said I would be. It’s the face of the Brotherhood to the unknowing world. We have offices all over.” I took another sip of water realizing what I had just told him. Was he tricking me into giving him information? My mind couldn’t help but wonder.
“So what would you have been if you could have chosen for yourself?”
He asked, breaking my train of thought. I looked at the water bottle, and the memory instantly played in my head. I chuckled.
"I wanted to be a doctor. As a child, I used to walk around the mansion with a rolling suitcase I got out of my Dad's closet. It had a plastic stethoscope, a syringe and an empty bottle of shampoo in it." I looked at him, and he seemed a bit confused, but he was smiling. "The bottle was filled with medicine that cured all ailments of course." He raised his shoulders and widened his eyes as though it was only logical. I laughed. "I usually wore my Dad's white bathrobe. It was my doctor’s coat, but it dragged on the floor because it was huge on me. It used to drive Agustina raging mad. I was always taking the guards’ temperature, and as she put it ‘distracting them from their real obligations.' My Dad loved it though. He bought me every science and medical toy ever invented until I was like nine years old." I looked into his eyes as the memory shifted in my mind. It was faint, but it was there. "I remember this one time when I walked out to the terrace and found a squirrel, bleeding. He had fallen from the roof, and had hurt himself. He couldn't move, and I could hear his whistling cries. It broke my heart to see him like that. I rushed inside the house and placed him in a shoebox over one of my Dad's crumpled old t-shirts. I cleaned the blood from his body and caressed him over and over wishing he could be ok. I gave him from the magic medicine of course, but he seemed like he was going to die at any moment. An hour later he jumped out of the box and ran out of the house." I shook my head, chuckling. "I guess he was not as hurt as I had originally thought. I mean, I was nine, what the hell did I know? But I swore to my Dad that I had taken care of him and cured him. Instead of being happy for the squirrel he told me never to do it again. He didn't like it. Agustina got pissed out of her mind when she found out. It turns out one of the guards had seen me. They threw all my doctor toys away the same day. That was the last time I ever thought about being a doctor. The rest of my life was planned, and I followed every order given to me, becoming part of the Brotherhood just as she wanted."
“Excuse the interruption.”
A woman's voice reached us, and we both turned towards the entrance. Eisha was standing there.
Ronan's elbow playfully connected with my rib. "What did I tell you? The ladies like it clean." He laughed getting up. I stood beside him. "And what a beautiful lady she is." He added, kissing her cheek, and she chuckled looking at him endearingly. He really did have an infectious laugh. "I shall be right back," Ronan said to me, and they stepped out of the cave.
I stood there like an idiot, wondering what they were talking about out there.
When they came back in, Ronan walked towards me while she looked straight into my eyes. I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but it seemed like she found it when she stepped closer taking a deep breath. It was as like she was mentally preparing for something.
"Well, my friend. It is time for me to leave," He said, picking up the bucket and the mop looking thing we had used to clean the place. "I shall leave you with this beautiful lady. Do behave like a gentleman, please. I do not want to have to come back here and put you in your place." I frowned, and he laughed. His laugh was infectious. I chuckled and noticed Eisha chuckling too.
My eyes followed him as he walked through the portal into his hut.
Eisha widened her stance as she stopped a few feet from me.
“Shall we begin?”
CHAPTER 9. UNEXPECTED
FELIX
* * *
How long had she been standing there? Did she hear what I confessed to Ronan?
Fuck.
I looked at her while she stepped closer. The monster in my mind awoke one more time. The words spoken about her in the meetings, as Leigh shared all the information he had on the Druids
were harsh. I had heard her name so many times yet I hadn’t had a face to place it with. Eisha had an incredible ability to fight. Although that was obvious by just looking at her. Her body had been made for a Warrior. My eyes involuntarily roamed it, taking in every inch of her. I frowned when I realized she was dressed in regular clothes, not rudimentary ones like the rest of the Druids. She had on a black Nike, sleevles exercise tee that clung to her skin showing all her curves. Her arms were slender but well defined. Her neck was long and her shoulders a bit wide due to the presumably insane exercise routine she probably maintained. Her body still maintained soft feminine curves as far as I could see. The smooth lines perfectly traced the muscles of her firm biceps and triceps. She had small perky breasts, a delicate waist, and small hips. Her thighs were thick and firm for what I could see over the loose yoga pants she wore. My eyes returned to her face. She was truly beautiful. The contrast between, her softly tanned skin, the pitch-black hair and her ice blue eyes was a mesmerizing one. I remembered Leigh had told us that her mother died when she was a young girl. He said Eisha’s heart was frozen in time. That ever since her mother had passed away she had changed, becoming the tough, fierce Warrior that took every challenge with determination but never felt anything inside. That wasn’t true though. I knew it was a lie because I had seen the tears make her striking eyes sparkle as she asked why I had killed Phelan.
I pulled my eyes away from her as the memory of Phelan returned. The muscles of my jaw clenched, fighting the two sides of my brain. I forced myself to focus on her.
“What do you need? Have you come to make good on your promise?”
She frowned. “What promise, Roman?”
I silently grunted at the term. “Your promise to kill me,” I answered simply.
Her eyes widened and then she crossed her arms over her breasts. "If you tempt me I shall. Keep looking at my body that way, and you will have a slow and painful death."
Unwanted Magic (The Ancient Magic Series Book 3) Page 14
