by Gwen Rivers
Her expression turned soft. “Addison.”
“You don’t mean Addison Sophia, the One True Queen?” And Liam had helped raise her?
Nic nodded. “The very same. Although right now she’s a teenage brat who is dodging my phone calls because she’s failing French.”
So weird. A week ago, I hadn’t known anyone influential and here I was talking to Underhill about her daughter, the One True Queen while the Alpha werewolf recovered in the next room.
As though summoned from my thoughts, the brown and gray wolf appeared around the corner, Aiden trailing him.
Those multihued eyes took me in. At least he wasn’t snarling.
“Don’t look him in the eye,” Aiden barked.
I dropped my gaze immediately, even as I asked, “Why not?”
“It’s a challenge for dominance,” Nic supplied.
Like the fights he’d wanted to keep Kiesha out of. “You said he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“And he won’t,” Aiden assured me. “Not challenging him is for his ease, to help soothe the wolf. Normally, Liam wouldn’t take offense or see it that way, especially with someone who isn’t a wolf. But his beast is the one in control and until he cedes it, we need to work with him.”
Liam moved closer. It was a slow, deliberate pace, as though he feared he would scare off prized game.
I swallowed. In that scenario, I was the game. “Anything else?”
“He needs to know you’re all right. Your safety is his top priority. We’ll make sure he’s fed up well before we leave you for the night.”
“Leave us?” I squeaked. Surely, they weren’t going to abandon me here with a werewolf and no way to get home?
“You’ll have the place to yourselves,” Nic said. “Just contact North if you need anything. He can get a message to us.”
I surged to my feet. “But I can’t stay here. I have obligations back home.”
As much as I wanted to help Liam, Malcolm was out there.
Liam blocked the doorway, effectively cutting me off.
“That…isn’t a good idea.” Aiden spoke carefully, his green eyes locked on the wolf. “If you leave, he will follow. And he will annihilate any he views as a threat to you. Including innocents or members of his pack.”
I sank back down on the bed. “How long?”
“Until he’s ready.” Nic exchanged a glace with Aiden. “There is one more thing you should know. Time moves differently on this side of the Veil. You may return back seconds after you crossed….or years later.”
I gaped at her.
“It’ll work out,” Aiden said in that calm, soothing way. “Whatever is meant to be, will be.”
I nodded and then closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was alone with the wolf.
Liam’s posture slumped. He jumped up on the bed beside me and circled like a large dog. He circled again and then collapsed as though caving in under his own massive weight. The bed shook.
“So I guess you’re sleeping here too,” I grumbled.
He closed his eyes and let out a contented sigh.
It was weird to think of this creature as Liam. Other than the eyes, they looked nothing alike. I reached out with a tentative hand and stroked the spot between his pricked ears. The green eye slit open, before he leaned deeper into the touch.
“Can you understand me?” I asked the wolf.
He made no reply. I decided to act as though he could.
“I’m sorry if I caused this, wolf freak-out or whatever. I guess I was so wrapped up with my own stuff that I didn’t see how on edge you were.”
His breathing leveled out and he began to snore.
“Come back to me, Liam.” I whispered and then curled up next to him.
Liam awoke surrounded by Emma’s scent. Instinctively he reached out and connected with a soft, warm body.
She lay on her side, facing away from him. His left side hurt like hell. He couldn’t remember why, but with temptation so close at hand, he could happily ignore the discomfort.
It wasn’t until he pulled her flush against him that he realized he was naked.
No. No. How had they gotten here? He thought back, on the edge of frantic as he tried to recapture his missing memories.
Emma murmured something in her sleep. She was still dressed in her jeans and tank top, but her leather jacket and shoes were missing. His heart rate slowed a bit. Okay, she was clothed and appeared uninjured.
Next he took in their surroundings. The bed was even larger than the one in his apartment. Over on the hearth a purple fire burned. Underhill?
How did we get here?
Emma stirred in his arms and rolled over. Her hand connected with his shoulder. He forgot his mental backtracking as she began to stroke his arm in an easy caress. His breath came out in soft puffs as he waited to see what she would do next.
Her hand moved up his neck and her fingers sank into his hair. She tugged him forward and parted her lips.
The scent of her desire washed over him, around him, into him. His mate wanted, yearned.
It would take a stronger man than him to resist her.
Slowly, carefully, Liam molded his lips to hers. She was so incredibly soft and sweet. So alluring. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, enticing him to deepen the kiss.
He did. His hands went to her bare arms, to the glyphs that shimmered in the purple firelight. Her skin was so soft, so sweet. He hungered for her, hungered for more of her.
She licked and teased, coaxed and toyed until he was sure he would lose his mind. “Emma.”
“Make love to me.” Her eyes were still closed, but her hands went directly to him. Touching caressing, coaxing the part of him that longed to be inside her.
A growl ripped from him. He rolled on top of her. She squirmed under him. He pinned her hands, not having enough self-control to resist her coaxing hips. Her sweet kiss, which was growing less sweet and more aggressive. She bit him, hard. He let her, too lost in scent and sensation to mind if she wanted to play rough.
He fondled her through her t-shirt, exploring all the curves he’d spent hours imagining. “Emma.”
A tear touched his lips, breaking the lust-filled enchantment. She was crying?
Memories surged back like a tidal wave. The alley. What she told him about her brother seducing her. The wolf wrenching control from him.
Liam threw himself off of her.
She curled in a ball in the middle of the bed. Sobbing.
And his heart broke.
“Emma, I’m sorry.” He wanted to comfort her. Didn’t dare touch her. He’d never felt more powerless in his life. “Please, don’t hate me.”
He watched, waited for her to say something. She didn’t. Her breaths leveled out and grew steady.
It was then he realized she’d slept through the entire thing.
16
I awoke to the sight of a pair of mismatched eyes.
Human eyes.
“Hey,” I sat up. “You’re you again.”
“What happened to your face?” Liam lifted a hand as though to touch me, but then withdrew before he made contact.
I disgust him. The thought made me flinch. “Um, a troll backhanded me when I tried to stop him from taking you through a portal.”
Liam didn’t say a word. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. As if I were a bomb and my counter had just switched to single digits.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you…remember what happened last night?”
“Of course I do. I’m not the one who had the out of body experience.”
Though the tone had been light and teasing, he didn’t smile. “Emma, I shifted back in the middle of the night.”
“Okay…?” I shook my head, still not seeing the problem.
“You kissed me. I thought you were awake. Were you?”
I’d kissed him? Holy stench of desperation, Batman! Maybe I ought to be grateful I’d waited until he was human to do the deed.
; Liam leaned in close. “Emma? Do you remember any of this?”
“No.” I glanced down, relieved to see I still wore my jeans and tank top. There had been times when I strip slept. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened. But Liam still looked like I’d beheaded his best friend.
He ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
For what to happen? Hadn’t he just said I’d been the one to kiss him?
He stood abruptly. “We need to get back. Time moves differently here.”
“I know, Nic explained it.” I recalled what Aiden had said about talking things out. “Liam, what happened yesterday in the alley?”
He shook his head. “I was stupid. I’d been tamping the wolf down. I skipped the run under the full moon.”
“And that was it? You missed a workout and had a mantrum?”
He held my gaze with his own. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
What if you have another destiny? The suspicion that had been with me since the night before redoubled.
“Liam, am I your mate?”
“Yes.” The word burst from him like it was making a jailbreak.
Shit, maybe I didn’t want to know. Too late to take it back. “Okay. What does that mean, exactly?”
Liam shook his head as though he were denying reality. “It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
I didn’t believe that at all, not after hearing Aiden’s spiel about jealous gods and split souls. “Then why, if it’s no big deal, didn’t you tell me sooner?”
He huffed out a breath. “I thought you had enough on your plate, what with being the savior.”
It was the truth but not the whole truth. I could tell by the way he wouldn’t look me in the eye.
I stared down at my lap. “Is it because of what I told you?”
Liam knelt down and curled one finger around my chin. “Look at me.”
I did, shame burning my cheeks.
“No Emma. I think you’re brave and reckless, independent and stubborn and the most beautiful, warm woman I’ve ever seen. You would be so easy to love….”
It clicked then. He said I kissed him, come on to him in my sleep.
The way I had done with Malcolm.
No wonder he couldn’t look me in the eye. He’d seen me respond sexually to what I’d thought was my brother.
Humiliation made my gorge rise. Don’t vomit.
Had I really expected Liam to accept my past? Could I blame him for protecting his heart when I always kept mine under lock and key? Did I really want Liam to mourn me when I was gone? To feel my loss more acutely?
Fuck yeah, I did. I wanted to matter to someone. To make a difference.
But Liam deserved better. Someone clean and pure and strong.
“Well, at least everything’s out in the open.” I slid off the bed and reached for the chair where I’d deposited my jacket the night before. “We should get back.”
Liam blinked. “You’re really okay with this?”
No. But my being not okay didn’t change our reality. “My brother is still out there, Liam. I have a destiny.”
Liam stared at me for a beat. “I need to talk to my uncle before we cross back to the PR.”
“Just point the way and I’ll go on ahead.” I was eager to get away from him. Knowing that he knew made me squirm.
Again, he hesitated. He wasn’t going to fight for me but he still didn’t want to let me out of his sight.
“Liam, let it end here.” I murmured. Whatever was between us needed to stay in this room.
We had no future. At least not together.
His eyebrows drew together as though he were in pain, then he nodded once. “Follow me.”
Liam watched Emma disappear through the in-between that led directly to the PR. Every instinct in his body screamed that he should be with her. Only Aiden’s hand on his shoulder kept him from following.
Besides, Emma didn’t want him.
“You need to take better care of yourself, Liam.” His uncle wore a concerned expression.
“I know.” Werewolves couldn’t play fast and loose with their eating, sleeping or exercise schedule. It led to cranky wolves which led to wolf takeover which led to disaster.
“You’re one to talk.” Nic poked her mate in the side.
Aiden looked down at her with complete adoration. “I may have made a few poor decisions along the way. But it was just me. As goes the Alpha, so goes the pack.”
Liam watched as Nic closed the gateway to the in-between. “I’ll do better.”
It was his constant refrain. One he told to himself day in, day out. For Kiesha, for his pack, for the fae, he needed to do better.
“What brought you out of it?” Aiden led him to the large table where the human thralls were spreading out the morning meal. “The wolf had a tight grip on the reins when you first woke up.”
“It was her,” Liam picked at the edge of a pancake. Aiden and Nic always ate pancakes for breakfast. And passed a bottle of oddly colored syrup back and forth like a game of hot potato. It was some sort of running joke between them.
“So she is your mate.” Nic passed him a bowl of blueberries. “Try those.”
Liam popped a handful into his mouth and grimaced.
“Sour?” Nic made a face. “Damn it, I thought I got them right this time.”
“It’s only been a few months, love.” Aiden folded his fingers through hers. “You’re doing remarkably well.”
Liam had to agree. If anyone’s job was tougher than his, it was Nic’s. As Underhill, it was her job to bring the fae realm back from the edge of total catastrophe. Not an easy task considering the fae themselves were no help. They were unskilled in anything but magic and the majority of them were sulking in the center.
“So if she’s your mate, why is she on the far side of the Veil while you’re eating sour fruit?” His uncle turned his unnerving green eyes on Liam.
He couldn’t think of a way to explain without betraying Emma’s trust. “It’s complicated.”
Aiden made a frustrated sound. “Did you learn anything from us?”
Nic and Aiden had been separated for sixteen years, with his uncle trapped in Underhill before Nic had been able to save him. Their story was epic. His was shaping up to be a tragedy.
“Did you tell her?” Nic asked.
“She mostly knew. But…she’s the savior. The one prophesized to die to save the fae.”
“So?” Nic arched one white-blond brow.
“So, she’s doomed to die.” Liam gave up all pretense of eating and put his head in his hands.
“And you’re just going to accept that?” Did his uncle have to look so disappointed in him?
“She has a death wish. What am I supposed to do?”
“Give her something to live for.” Nic didn’t look at him as she spoke the words out loud. Her gaze rested on Aiden.
“It’s not so simple.”
“Have you accepted her as yours?” Aiden asked.
Liam glared at the older werewolf. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“There’s a difference between knowing a truth and accepting it. When you know, part of you still fights against it. But when you accept it, you make it your reality. You give up the fight and embrace it.”
Accept the things I can not change. That part of the serenity prayer that Emma recited.
“It took me a long time to give up my fight,” Nic said. “It felt at first like admitting defeat. It was safer to deny the truth or ignore it. People do that every day. They get busy living and forget what all the work is for, those whom they love. All I was really doing was wasting the time we had together.”
Liam stared at her, one of the most powerful beings in existence. She didn’t look it, with her pale blond hair, wearing jeans and a white sweater.
“Be smarter than we were,” Aiden set aside his coffee and folded his hands. “Fight for her and for yourself right from the onset.”
“But the prophesy.”
“I’m going to say this once, pup. Fuck. The. Prophesy.” Aiden’s words came out in a low growl.
“You need to be over there, having her back.” Nic added. “Convince her and yourself while you’re at it.”
“She won’t just walk away though. Her brother is leading the twisted ones.”
Aiden swore.
Nic closed her eyes. “That’s not good.”
“She’s incredibly strong. With training she will be even stronger. But she doesn’t want to see him for what he is. She thinks she can save him.”
“Maybe she can,” Aiden said. “She is the savior, isn’t she?”
The dark tunnel of the in-between led to a red door. No idea why. The lights overhead, which Nic had told me belonged to souls, pulsed. Not with life but with being. A sense of peace washed over me as I watched them. I wondered if that’s what would await me after I fulfilled the Savior prophesy. It seemed nice. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
Into chaos.
Bursts of magic lit the inside of the warehouse, glowing like an indoor sun.
Smoke billowed from several different fires and screams were cut off with loud crashing noises.
It wasn’t until I saw the hooded cloaks that I knew.
The twisted ones had found their way into the pocket realm.
A blur of gray streaked by. A werewolf. Another, a smaller white wolf lept from a platform and onto the back of a cloaked figure. The wolf sank her claws into the twisted one’s back, her teeth clamping over the jugular.
I drew my sword and yanked all the elemental magic out of the gateway behind me. The fae didn’t know how to fight, but I did. I struck out with my magic to my left, pulling all the moisture out of the air. Thunder rumbled within the warehouse as the storm gathered. Lightning flashed, forking out to hit three different robed figures simultaneously.
They fell to the concrete, their bodies charred.
“Emma!” I heard the cry and turned to see Magda. Her blue arms stretched out overhead. She was the source, a ball of light in the Center. She’d been drawing them away from the other fae, acting as the bait to give the others time to flee.