by Sarah Beth
Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. Panic coursed through her veins, making her head spin. Before she could even reach for him, Wesley was there, holding her steady against his chest.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Abby, speak to me.”
Shaking her head, Abby gripped the arm around her stomach in a vice. Swallowing, even though her mouth felt so dry she didn’t think it would make any difference, Abby let out a gust of air. “This — I think this...is my room—.”
She was definitely having a panic attack. The walls and ceiling were closing in on her, the air felt heavy and far too difficult to breathe. Even though she thought it before she said it out loud, saying it made it seem all the more true. Dreams flooded back into her conscious — no, not dreams. Memories. Memories of afternoons spent in the grass behind the house, collecting flowers to bring to her Papa. Mornings spent in the safety of his office, that Abby had walked right by in the hallway, as he worked on some important matter or another. Nights falling asleep to the sound of his voice as he told her a story, the stars above her head shining in and out of existence.
More memories of a long-forgotten time filled her mind, but one in particular gave her panic pause. It was the gentle and kind face of a woman, Faye ears pointed at the ends, who had dark ebony skin and bright blue eyes. Patient hands that would help Abby as she worked on whatever a little girl deemed necessary. But it was the woman’s face, a very familiar face, that had Abby’s panic fleeing and being replaced by anger.
Without a word to Wesley, she spun out of the room and headed for the front door.
~~~
As soon as a servant opened the door, Abby barged past her and went looking through the house. When she came upon the study, the figure she sought sat behind a large oak desk. Lady Neirdre lifted her head, eyebrows pulled tight in confusion, but Abby didn’t give her a chance to speak. She flooded the room with her anger and stopped inches from the oak surface. “You knew. You knew, and you did nothing.” Silence filled the room for minutes. The only things that Abby was acutely aware of was the sound of her own heart beating in her ears and the comforting, and very confused, presence of Wesley behind her.
Finally, the Faye sighed, setting her work down on the desk and laying her hands in her lap. “Yes, I did.”
Abby didn’t think it was possible to be any angrier than she already was, but her blood boiled with renewed vigor at Lady Neidre’s admission. Her hands turned to fists at her sides, warmth flooding her body from her chest. “Why — why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you come looking for me after my father…” She couldn’t continue, not after being in his house — her house.
Remorse and sorrow filled the woman’s eyes. Her eyebrows pulled inward. “It wasn’t my place. Your father made the decision he felt best for you, and I agreed.” Abby opened her mouth to speak, annoyed at the flippant and almost expected answer, but Lady Neirdre held up her hand for silence. Only with a frustrated sound did Abby stay quiet. “By the time word got to us that something had befallen Thaliyunn, I could no longer find you.”
Confusion replaced anger in Abby’s veins, halting her power as it pulsed under her skin, ready to defend her. “What do you mean? I was only in Seattle, that isn’t even far from here.”
A faint smile graced her lips, “Is it? According to logic, The High Forest is situated North-East of Seattle, far into the mountains. But nothing is logical when magic is involved.” Lady Neidre sighed as she stood from her desk. She walked around to stop beside Abby. “Magic and logic aren’t the point here. The point is, that by the time news reached me and I returned to The High Forest, Lord Elazar had already returned here with news of you.”
Sometimes Abby really forgot how slow things could move when it came to the Faye. But that was just an excuse. “Why didn’t you say something when you saw me? Or when we came here yesterday?”
“Because, what would it have achieved? You are safe, you are back with your people. You have already surpassed anything I could have hoped for you. Your father would be proud of the woman you have become.”
With a growl, more like her Mate than herself, Abby turned her back on the Faye and headed for Wesley. Only when she reached the doorway, his hand resting on her shoulder, did she stop and turn back. “So I keep hearing, and yet he’s not here to tell me that himself.” Without another word, Abby left Lady Neirdre’s home and headed for Elazar’s tree. Ignoring the stone path that led off to a past life, sitting just beyond the boundaries of Lady Neirdre’s house.
Chapter Nineteen
Wesley
Wesley didn’t dare say a word as he and Abby made their way through the village. He could still feel her anger and hurt coursing through her, and into him in waves. It would hit him square in the chest every few steps, making him struggle to determine what his own emotions were doing. He tried to touch her consciousness gently, sending calming emotions through their bond, but every time he tried he was met by a stone wall. He didn’t know what to say to make the situation better. Even though he knew how she was feeling inside, that didn’t mean he truly understood what her mind was doing with all the information presented to her.
Walking through the halls of her father’s home had felt strange, like they were trespassing into someone’s space. He wanted to ask her more about the dreams she spoke about, the ones she had as a little girl, but he was afraid to bring them up again. It was like every time they thought they had all the cards, one was tossed at them from across the room. Things that had made sense were unraveling in front of them, and Wesley wasn’t sure how to stop it. If it wasn’t for the war brewing, maybe he and Abby could take more time to sort it all out. But time was something they didn’t have.
When Elazar’s home came into view, Abby all but ran up the flight of stairs, with Wesley right on her heels. Just when his breathing was becoming labored, the stairs leveled out onto the last platform. Elazar stood by his table of plants, long blue robes still covering his figure. As their footsteps echoed on the sleek wood floor, the Faye raised his head.
His brows pulled together when he looked at Abby and then Wesley. “Child, what’s happened? You look ready to burn my home to the ground.” He turned away from the table in front of him, wiping his hands clean with an already dirty rag.
Before Abby could do more than make a frustrated sound, Wesley reached her side and laid a hand on her shoulder. “We just found out some troubling news.”
Abby turned to him, her brows pulled tight and a glare still present in her eyes. “Troubling? That’s what you’re calling it?”
He raised his hands in surrender, taking a step back to give her more space. Her anger spiked in his chest again. “Hey, easy. I’m on your side here.”
Her eyes softened slightly, her mouth pulled into a frown. “Wesley — I’m sorry…” She ran a hand down her face, groaning in frustration again. She looked back at Elazar, who had been standing patiently to the side, “Lady Neirdre knew of me. I — I used to dream of her, when I was little. But they weren’t dreams, they were memories. I realized it when I went to see my father’s house.”
Elazar’s brows rose into his hairline, “You went to your father’s home?” Abby nodded, and her confused expression mirrored on Wesley’s. Of course they had gone to her father’s home, why wouldn’t they? Elazar scratched his chin, “Apologies, Abigail. Of course you have every right to visit your home, I am just surprised. After your father was confirmed passed, no one dared enter his home for fear of backlash.”
Wesley took a step closer to Abby, leaving his hands at his side this time. “What sort of backlash? The magical kind?”
Nodding, Elazar gestured to the surrounding room. “Most Faye have protections places on their homes, especially if they are leaving it. Only predisposed people can enter with nothing befalling them.” He shrugged elegantly, a small smile forming on his lips, “But then it should be no surprise that our Abby could enter. It is her home after all.” His brows pulled together then, the
smiling disappearing from his face. “Now what is this you say of Lady Neidre knowing about you?”
Abby sighed, and it felt like to Wesley that her energy dropped a few notches. He was afraid for a moment that she would collapse. But she remained standing, her shoulders slumping as she told Elazar what they had learned. When she was finished, the old Faye looked troubled.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, Elazar looked away from them before speaking. “I am saddened that my dear friend did not see to confide in me his most precious secret...but then, I shouldn’t be. I was a different back then, before I began to realize that the world around us didn’t deserve to be shunned.” He clasped his hands in front of him, his knuckles going white with how hard he held them. He looked back at them, at Abby specifically, “I know this will be hard to hear, but you must let the ill feelings you have towards your father, Lady Neirdre, this whole situation, you must let them go. Before you will ever be able to advance in your training. Your magic feeds on love and the light of life around you, not hate.” Wesley stood by her as she sighed, but she nodded her head at Elazar’s words. He inclined his own head and then gestured to the benches by the fire, “Come, let us sit. We have much to talk about.”
Once they were seated around the blazing fire, Wesley laid a tentative hand on Abby’s knee. When she looked at him, he raised his brows in question. He felt her apology before she said it, laying her own hand over his. “It’s okay, just remember that I’m here. You don’t have to weather this all on your own.”
She smiled, dipping her head slightly before turning her attention back to Elazar.
The Faye clasped his hands in his lap and regarded them both. “Now, what I wanted to teach you is incredibly advanced magic. Such that I probably shouldn’t be teaching you for a few more years, but I know time is not on our side.” He paused, looking at both of them in turn before nodding his head. “I am sure you two have heard tales of the Keepers and Protectors of old?”
Wesley exchanged a glance at Abby before they both nodded, her hand clasping his a bit tighter. Elazar bowed his head minutely before continuing. “What many don’t know, or have forgotten over the years, is that the Keepers — and their partners — were near unbeatable, once they had received the proper training and had years of experience under their belts.”
His brows pulling together, Wesley looked at Elazar over the flames of the fire. “But they died; were corrupted.”
A sad smile graced the Faye’s face, “Yes, my boy, that is true. Because the easiest way to destroy a Keeper is to kill their partner.” He paused a moment, looking from Wesley to Abby, before continuing. Wesley got the distinct feeling that this was going to be a long conversation. “A Keeper and her partner are not unlike your True Mates, they’re quite similar, actually. It is another form of magical bond, one that can only be broken through death. When a young Keeper would choose their Protector, they would undergo a ceremony — a ritual, if you will — that would forever bind them to each other. After the magic is complete, the pair would forever know where their partner is at all times, as well as be able to communicate with their minds.”
Wesley leaned forward on his knees, eyebrows pulled tight. “That sounds exactly like a True Mate.”
Elazar inclined his head, “As I said, they are quite similar. The bond also allows each partner to unlock a new level of power that they would have been unable to achieve before.” He paused again, casting a sidelong glance at Abby. A small smile forming on his lips. “Of course, none of those Keepers had such powerful blood, not like our dear Abigail. So I feel like I should caution you both — I don’t know what may come of your bond.”
Wesley opened his mouth to speak, but a small hand on his arm stopped him. He looked at Abby beside him and found her intense green eyes looking at Elazar, the flames of the fire dancing in her eyes. “We’re already Mated, we can already hear each other’s thoughts and emotions.” She paused briefly, a slight color coming to her cheeks, but Elazar simply nodded his head.
“I would expect that, have already seen signs of the Bond.”
Abby glanced at Wesley quickly before licking her lips, her fingers played with her dress. “What do you mean, that no other Keeper had blood like mine?”
Gesturing to the fire between them, the flames shifted and change in shape. First a teardrop shape formed in the center, but then is shifted to a snake’s head. Next came the form of a horse, the fire moving as if the horse itself was galloping, and then the next moment is melted into a tree. The tree grew tall and wide, far bigger than the original fire had been, before dissolving into nothing. As the fire shrunk back to its original size, Wesley looked at Elazar through the flames with a new found respect. The light still danced in the Faye’s eyes, making him look far more intimidating than Wesley had ever seen him.
“Because, Abigail, no other Keeper in our history was born of such potent blood as yourself. There are very good reasons why the High Council members are never all in the same place for very long. That much power concentrated in one room can be unpredictable. It is why no descendant of a High Council member could become a Keeper.” He gestured to the fire again, its flames small and comforting, “If you think my parlor trick is impressive, then I implore you to think differently. The Council will not be so easily entertained.”
Silence descended on the platform, the only noises coming from the birds in the trees and the wind whipping through the branches. Wesley thought about what Elazar said and only one conclusion came to him — Abby’s father must have been a member of the High Council. How had they not known this? No one said it outright, but had the evidence been there, and they just hadn’t seen it? Every time they found out more information it turned out that there was still more they didn’t know.
Turning his attention to Abby, he immediately became aware of how closed off she was. He wasn’t getting any clear emotions or feelings from her at all. He hadn’t realized how important, or vital, those shared emotions had become until he no longer had them. He placed his hand on her knee beside him, squeezing firmly.
She took a shuddering breath before she looked at him, her eyes stormy and guarded. As she looked at him, he focused on the sound of her heartbeat and then her emotions leaked back into his conscious. But her walls were still there, holding most of them at bay.
Elazar cleared his throat, causing them to turn their attention back to him. He clasped his hands in his lap, “If you two are ready, we can begin.”
When she spoke, her voice sounded strained to his ears. “Begin what exactly?”
Elazar smiled tightly as he stood, walking away from the fire and towards a clear area of the platform. Over his shoulder he said, “To begin bonding you both as Keeper and Protector.”
~~~
The only noise was their breathing, separate at first before slowly becoming in sync. Even though he wasn’t touching her, even though there were a few inches between her knees and his, he swore he could feel the warmth of her magic as it crackled in the air. With his eyes closed he couldn’t see the magic reaching out to him, but he could feel it. Tendrils of light growing from Abby’s heart and out towards him. As soon as the warmth sparked against his fingertips, a flood of her emotions cascaded into his mind.
After the morning they had, he expected her anger, but her intense sadness surprised him. A sadness that went deep into her bones, that extended from hearing about a father she couldn’t remember to a world she should have belonged to and yet didn’t. A deep yearning to belong, to have a family she could call her own. The emotion was so strong, Wesley couldn’t help but react and lean away, his brows pulling together tightly.
Elazar’s voice filtered in through the fog of emotions. “Wesley, you must focus. Do not break the connection.”
He took a deep breath, focusing on his own emotions and sending them towards Abby. His loyalty for his family, a family that was hers now too. His love for the woman before him and the future that laid out in front of them. All of it he sent
to her, envisioning it wrapping around her like a blanket and holding her tight. He felt her smile like a bubbling sensation deep in his bones.
Time fell away as they basked in each other and their emotions. Neither aware of Elazar’s presence or the breeze against their faces. All that existed was their minds and hearts intertwined. Wesley felt like he could stay in this state forever — he never wanted to leave the warmth and love again.
But the power kept growing, sparking off his fingers and head. Abby was containing it in their own little circle, not letting it arch any further, but it was causing strain. Wesley could feel it as if it was happening to his own body. As her brows pulled tight in concentration, so did his own. He could no longer decipher his own emotions, or feeling from hers. They were one in the same.
A voice was speaking somewhere, but it sounded far away, Wesley wasn’t able to concentrate on it. All of his senses were filled with his Mate and nothing else mattered. Just as he was getting even more comfortable in the world that existed between him and Abby, everything exploded around him.
The world lit up in technicolors; everything was brighter and louder. It didn’t matter that his eyes were still closed, he could see everything around him in his mind. Abby sat in front of him, her own eyes closed and hands on her knees, but she was surrounded by bright colors. They danced around her as her hair floated around her head. Whether it was being blown by wind he couldn’t feel or something else, he didn’t know. His senses were in overdrive. Smells of every kind assaulted his nose and sounds from all over the forest rattled his ear drums. He was aware of Elazar standing beside them, hands clasped behind his back. Colors surrounded him as well, but they differed from Abby’s — more blues and greens, fewer pinks and purples. And they were darker too, not as bright as the rainbow flowing around his Mate.
