With strong arms, he lifted me from the chair and carried me to the couch. I pulled him forward, his weight seeping into me. His lips were on my neck, his hands everywhere. I tugged at his shirt, fiddling with buttons. Soon my hands were on the bare flesh of his back, his chest, my fingertips tracing the lines of his torso. His fingers ran along the line of my sports bra...
What about Caleb?
My mind jolted. What was I doing? I couldn’t do this to Caleb. It wasn’t fair. Not with Caleb still thinking I was his girlfriend, unaware that I had chosen Sunder over him.
“Sunder,” I panted. “We, we should stop.”
“We should? Okay.” He sat up and exhaled with a chuckle.
“What’s funny?” I asked, slipping my shirt back on.
“Oh nothing really, it’s just…it’s because of Caleb, isn’t it?
“As far as he knows, I’m his girlfriend.”
“I see,” he said, the familiar green tinge of jealousy filling his aura. “I understand. It is important for you to have your fun.”
“What do you mean, my fun?”
“While you’re still young. The prophecy never insisted I’d be your only love. Just your true love.”
Prophecy. Why did everyone keep talking about this prophecy? It was about time Sunder started explaining things. “What are you talking about, Sunder?” I said, my voice shrill with irritation. “What prophecy?”
Sunder ran a hand through his hair then steadied his elbows on his knees. “Many years ago, one of the most hallowed oracles of all of the realms made a prediction. She said that a Re’em, born to a centaur father and human mother, would be the one to rid the worlds of a terrible darkness. She would be queen, a faerie her Tamer, and her true love a centaur; her teacher and her guard.
His words sunk in slowly. Queen? That was why Genniver had referred to me as queen, Ebonine too. And all the people I had freed last night.
But Sunder? Was he destined to be my lover? My husband? Did I not have a choice?
I sat on the couch next to him, processing my thoughts.
“So you see, Bianca,” Sunder went on. “That’s what I mean when I say it’s okay.”
“What?” I responded, groggily.
His hand stroked my back. “You and Caleb. It’s okay for you to have your fun. You’re still young. We have time. Time is something I have learned to bide.” He swallowed. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not jealous beyond words, Bianca. The thought of you with someone else…” He stretched his hands, popping his knuckles. “But we will be together in the end, so what does it matter?” He shrugged. “You have my permission.”
“Your permission?” I rose from the couch. “Oh why thank you! That’s so kind of you!”
“Bianca, I—”
“You don’t get to complain about being jealous, Sunder. Not when you only confessed your feelings for me last night after you met my date. And you know what? I think I will decide on my destiny, not you, not some oracle I’ve never met. Me,” I snapped. “If I want to be with Caleb I will. And maybe…maybe I’ll even marry him, huh? What then? I guess your oracle will have got it all wrong!”
I stormed from the room, down the hall and into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I’d have slammed it, but I didn’t want to wake my mom. I flopped onto my bed. Sunder’s ice-blue aura floated down the hall and out the front door. Yeah. Get the hell out.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest. How dare he? How dare he decide my choices for me? I wanted to run after him and yell. I also wanted to kiss him as hard as I could, rip off his shirt, and press myself against him. I let out a scream as I threw a cushion at the door.
I picked up my phone and immediately started thumbing a text to Fae.
OMG! Sunder is such an asshole! I stopped. Had she known too? Had Fae known about the prophecy all along?
I deleted the message and instead opened my inbox. Caleb’s name appeared at the top of the screen in bold.
Hey Bianca, what a crazy night. Just want you to know I’m thinking about you. C.
A smile crept across my face as I read his text. He was so sweet and kind. He was the boyfriend I’d always longed for. Someone who liked me for me. But then there was Sunder. A creature of the realm, like myself, who filled me with longing and drove me mad with his arrogance. You have my permission. Seriously? What a jerk.
I wondered what else the oracle had predicted. Could I change the future she’d seen for me? What if I decided never to be with Sunder? What if I dated Caleb for the next ten years and got married? Had children?
I hit reply and started thumbing a new message to Caleb.
Hey Caleb, I’m doing much better. I’d really like to see you. Free tonight? Want to come over?
Chapter Thirty-Eight
There was a gentle knock on my bedroom door. My mother’s lilac aura hung behind it. I put down my book and braced myself, guilt reprising its role in my belly. I’d been dreading this conversation, but we had a lot to talk about. If we left it, the tension between us would grow like a cancer.
“Come in,” I called.
The door creaked open and my mom’s face appeared. “Hey.” She sat on the bed, wrapping her dressing gown around her.
“Mom,” I began, already feeling emotion tug at the corners of my mouth. “I am so sorry. I—”
She held up a hand. “Bee, I’ll start okay?”
I nodded.
She took a breath. “I understand it must have been hard for you, honey, growing up without your father. Never knowing who he was or why I wouldn’t talk about him.” She swallowed, her bottom lip trembling. “I am so sorry, Bee. I didn’t realize how much of an effect that had on you. I never thought you’d blame yourself. That you’d think he left because of you.”
“Mom, I—”
“Please Bee, let me finish.”
“Okay.”
“When you said…what you said last night, it hurt me. Not because of what you said, but because of how you said it.” Her voice cracked. “I heard so much pain in your voice, Bee. So much anger at what the Skadhavar had taken from you, at what I had kept from you.” She buried her face in her hands, releasing gentle sobs.
“Mom, I am so sorry I told you like that. When the Skadhavar told me about my father, I wanted so bad to tell you but I didn’t know how. I knew it would help you move on but I knew it would hurt you too.”
She dropped her hands and turned to look at me, her face blotchy. “Bee, honey, part of me always knew.”
“You did?”
She nodded. “When Lars left that night I swear I felt a light go out inside me. I was still sitting out on the porch in disbelief when I felt it. ‘Click.’ And just like that, I knew he was gone.” She sniffed and wiped her face. “Of course I never gave up hope. I prayed and prayed, Bee. Every night. I never stopped loving him. Or missing him.”
“I know Mom. I could feel it.”
She shook her head. “I should have known better. I knew you were different, that you could feel and see things about other people. I accepted that about you, but I didn’t consider that you’d be picking up on my energy too. Feeling my sadness. Feeling responsible for it.”
She pulled me into a hug, pressing my head against her shoulder. I released a long exhale, my eyes filling with tears.
“And I know I’ve been distant lately, Bee,” she went on. “With everything that’s going on, I thought it was best to give you space.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Space? Mom, I thought you were mad at me. I thought you preferred Fae—and Hyssop—over me.”
“Why on earth would you think that?”
“You’ve been so worried about Fae controlling her glow but you didn’t seem worried about me controlling my gifts.”
“Oh Bee, it’s not at all that I’m not worried. It’s that I have absolutely no idea ho
w I can help you. I’m just a human, remember?” She smiled. “I felt I could be of some use to Fae—she was such an anxious child. But when it comes to your gifts Bee, Sunder’s the most qualified.”
Sunder. My supposed centaur lover, teacher and guard. I wondered how much my mother had been told about all of this. I couldn’t imagine her being okay with it. She’d always called herself a feminist. “Mom? What do you know about this prophecy?”
She sighed and shuffled her weight. “The prophecy is what sent Sunder here to find you in the first place. It is what also sent Ebonine after you. It seems a little self-fulfilling, don’t you think?”
“You knew about it? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why would I do that?” She shook her head. “I couldn’t tell you some without telling you all. And finding out you are a unicorn is enough without the pressure of supposedly becoming a future queen.”
“No mom, I mean the part about Sunder being my…”
“Oh,” she sighed again. “Life will happen to us whether we are ready or not. It doesn’t wait for us. Don’t think about the prophecy. Just live your life, honey. Que sera, sera, and all of that.” She smiled. “Find happiness wherever you can.”
She was right. Screw the prophecy. This was my life. I would live it how I pleased, with who I pleased. Sunder could go to hell. “Mom, is it okay if Caleb comes over later? We were gonna watch a movie.”
She smiled. “That’s fine with me. You’ll have the place to yourself. Hyssop is taking me out to dinner tonight. We’re going to that new vegan restaurant, Mung Bean.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Vegan?”
“Hyssop is a raw vegan. He says he can’t eat anything that had to die for his meal.”
“You know,” I said, “plants have feelings too.”
My mom laughed. It was a laugh I hadn’t heard from her before; a light, schoolgirl laugh. “Well, I don’t know if we’ll even make dinner—Hyssop is exhausted. He was up most of the night trying to get a handle on the chaos. Fixing glamour charms. As far as anyone outside the town will know, there was a freak mountain lion attack at the prom last night.”
“You mean, like, a cover-up?”
“More like a smokescreen,” she said, shaking her head. “Imagine what a circus the town would be if news got out.”
That was true. It would be mayhem if the media got a hold of it. Hundreds of paranormal enthusiasts would flock here, visiting the vortex, traipsing through the woods looking for Skadhavar. It would be great for the town’s economy if the Skadhavar weren’t still such a threat.
I sighed. “At least it will keep people away.” I didn’t know why, but I felt like the world should know. That they should know about the Skadhavar and Ebonine. I had a terrible feeling she’d be back and that we should all be ready. But how much could the world be told? All of it? Other realms? Faeries? Centaurs? Even unicorns? It was too much. As Mr. Litster, the vortex founder, had written himself: the world is not yet ready for this.
My mother’s aura bloomed. It was no longer soft lilac but now a vivid purple.
“Well,” she said. “I’d better go and wake Hyssop. He may be tired but he still needs to eat.”
“He’s here?”
Her eyes probed mine for assurance. “Is that okay, Bee?”
I smiled. I wanted her to be happy. I really did. It was weird for me to imagine my mom dating someone. But then, I’m sure it was weird for her to see me dating too. It would take some getting used to for both of us. I just hoped Hyssop wouldn’t try to fill the void my father had left.
“It’s fine with me, Mom,” I said.
“He’s so lovely, Bianca. He makes me so happy.”
“I’m glad, Mom.” I wrapped my arms around her.
There was a firm knock at the front door, making me jump.
“I wonder who that could be,” my mom said, releasing me from her arms. But I had already sensed the auras of the two FBI agents standing outside on the porch.
“I’ll get it,” I said, rising to my feet.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Agent Peters leaned against one of the porch posts. His face was ashen; whether it was from shock, sleep deprivation, or whiskey withdrawal, I couldn’t be sure.
Agent Jeffries offered me a tired smile as he adjusted his tie. His navy aura jittered around him like it was hopped up on too much caffeine. “Hi Bianca,” he said. “Could we come in? For a chat?”
“That’s probably a good idea.” After what they’d seen last night, I figured they were going to need some answers. I hoped they were open-minded enough to hear the truth. I was far too tired to have to shift in front of them to prove a point.
“Who is it, Bee?” My mom called, coming into the hall. “Oh!” Her hand flew to her mussed bed hair. “Goodness. We weren’t expecting company. We slept late.”
“Lucky for you.” Peters chuckled. “We’ve been up all night!”
“We’re sorry to bother you, Ms. Taylor,” Jeffries said, “but after what happened last night we thought it was important we talk to you both as soon as possible.”
“Right.” My mom tightened her dressing gown around her. “I’ll put on some coffee.”
Agent Peters looked relieved to be sitting down. He sat at the dining table, leaning back in his chair. His caramel-colored aura felt overwhelmed but also a little excited.
“Here you go.” My mom handed him a mug of coffee.
“Thanks, ma’am.”
“Now you’re sure you’re fine with water?” she said to Jeffries. “We do have tea. And soda.”
“Water is great, Veronica,” he replied. “Honestly, I think I’m about ninety-nine percent caffeine right now,” Jeffries said as my mom sat down at the table. “So Bianca, given last night’s events and your heroic involvement, we thought it would be a good idea to make sure we are all on the same page.”
“Okay.”
“You see Peters and I are not, as we previously claimed, part of the Crimes Against Children Division of the FBI.”
“You’re not?” My mom said, her eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.
“No. We’re actually part of a highly classified unit known as P.A.D.”
“P.A.D?”
“Paranormal Activities and Dangers,” said Peters, taking a swig of his coffee.
“You mean like the X Files?” my mom said, a smile creeping across her face.
Jeffries laughed. “A bit like the X Files yes, but less little green men, more…whatever those creatures were last night.”
“Skadhavar,” I said.
“Sorry?” said Jeffries.
“The creatures from last night are called Skadhavar.”
Jeffries made a note in the file in front of him. “You see, Pentacle has been on our radar for a while because of the history surrounding the vortex site and of course, the discoveries of John Litster. There have been numerous reports of paranormal activity in the area for the past few hundred years. Countless sightings of strange beings.” He slipped some photos from the file and fanned them out. A herd of centaurs running through the forest. What seemed to be a flying woman, wisps of light curling from her back. A dark, nondescript, murky photo of a large angular creature, probably unidentifiable to most people but not to me. Skadhavar.
“Creatures,” Jeffries placed one more photo on the pile, “that technically don’t exist.” The photo was taken at night but it wasn’t hard to identify the subject. In the middle of the forest clearing stood a bright white horse with a long glowing horn protruding from its head. It was me.
I looked up at Jeffries. “You knew?”
Peters interjected. “We were never sure, not a hundred percent, if any of it was legit.”
Jeffries let out a short breath, shooting Peters a look and fanning his hands to the photos in front of him.
“Okay
, well I wasn’t. Not without solid proof. Anyone can edit photos.” He turned back to me. “What I’m saying is we had reason to keep an eye on things out here, but honestly…” He shook his head. “We had no way of knowing. We had no idea those things would…” He sighed and sat back in his chair.
Jeffries eyed him cautiously.
Peters ran a hand through his sparse hair. “When we received word that Mr. Coutts had gone missing and then Sheena, we thought it was best to check things out. I figured we’d be offloading the case to animal control in a few hours.” He shook his head. “But…gee.”
“Bianca, Veronica,” Jeffries said, “we need to work together here to make sure nothing like this happens again. We also need to ensure that word of this doesn’t get out, which I understand a friend of yours, Mr. Hyssop Gaia, has helped us out with already.”
My mom smiled at the mention of his name.
“We’re working at our end to block any online leaks of the attack last night. All social media use will be monitored, as well as all phone calls and good old-fashioned snail-mail.”
Peters leaned forward and spoke quietly. “Basically Bianca, we need your help.”
“My help?”
“There’s no way we would have survived the night if it weren’t for you. I mean Jesus, when we rolled up we had no idea what we were walking into. It was a bloodbath. Those things were everywhere. I watched one jump on a kid right in front of me. When I tried to help him, he vomited black crap all over me and then tried to eat my face off.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Our guns were useless. Then all of a sudden the bastards fall to the ground and people start popping out. Honestly, I thought my head was gonna explode.”
“What we need, Bianca,” Jeffries went on, “is for you to tell us everything and anything you can. The more we know, the more we can do to contain the details. ”
A pang of nervousness twitched in my gut. I trusted these agents. Their auras felt genuine. Genuinely overwhelmed and desperate for answers. But a part of me was still afraid that telling them everything could get me locked in a lab and strung up to all kinds of machines.
Bianca De Lumière : High Suspense Urban Fantasy Romance (The Re'em Prophecy Book 1) Page 25
