by Rinna Ford
Lunch went on for far too long, but when the last sandwich had been eaten, I knew it was drawing to a close. I picked my plate up with a quiet smile as well as Della's and took them into the kitchen to be washed. When I turned around to walk back to get more dishes, Della walked into the kitchen with her hands full.
"You've had a trying morning, mon ange," she told me. "Why don't you go sit on the patio and listen to the stream. It is most relaxing, I promise. Xander and Chei Yun will take care of the dishes." She smiled at me as a mother should, and I couldn't help but do what she suggested.
I gave her a hug. "Thank you, Della," I told her. When I pulled away from her, I saw Lucia just inside the doorway. She had a pained expression on her face, and that was when I knew that she knew for sure.
Without a backward glance or even a care, I did as my mate’s mother suggested, and left the women in the kitchen while I went outside to relax.
Della was right. I needed to unwind, and going outside to sit on the patio helped me do exactly that. I found a comfortable-looking lounge chair and laid back in it, crossing my ankles and just melted into the cushions. Not too far into the distance, I could see the creek that Xan's mom told me about. It twisted and wound around the back of the house down the left side, next to the driveway. Xan did such an amazing job of planning and building this mountain home, making it seem as though it were a part of the landscape. If someone had asked me what my dream home would have been two months before, I couldn't have told them. But, sitting here, listening to the running water and taking in the scenery, I knew it would be this place. Every detail, from the placement of the home to the bathroom fixtures, was so well thought out, and absolutely perfect.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, as I felt my body relax even more. After everything that had happened that day, the last several days actually, I needed to calm myself as much as I could. A calm Emelia was a smart Emelia, and I needed to be smart if I was going to get out of this unscathed and happy.
I wasn't sure how long I lay there listening to the running water, but I almost didn’t hear the sound of footsteps until they were right beside me. I slightly turned my head and peeked open one eye to see Lucia standing next to another lounge chair. She had her hands clasped in front of her in a nervous way, and I sighed in exasperation.
"May I sit?" she asked.
I opened my eyes and gave her a courteous smile. "Of course," I said, and rearranged myself so that I was facing her a bit more.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your solitude, but I've wanted to talk to you since I arrived earlier," she told me. "I hope you don't mind if I take a little of your time. I promise that's all I'll take."
"What would you like to talk about?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for games, and I made it known with my attitude.
She sighed. "I, I don't know how to begin."
"Well, how about I begin then?" I threw my legs over the side of the chair so I was fully facing her. She interrupted my moment of peace, so I was going to tell her exactly what I was trying to calm myself down about. "Tell me, Mom, how long did you wait after my father was executed before you claimed your fated mate?" She blanched and moved back as if I had slapped her. "How long did you wait after you cursed and abandoned me? An hour? A day? A week?" She shook her head and tears sprung to her eyes.
"It wasn't like that," she whispered.
"I mean, I understand the pull of mates," I laughed, my voice getting louder. "I have Xan who is incredible and everything I've ever wanted, but then I have another one that wants to turn me in to the Council! Can you believe that, Mom? He wants to cause me harm, and yet, I want him just as much as I want Xan. Why would I want someone like that? So I get it, I do. But you loved my dad, right? You loved me. Why would you bond with someone who had a hand in taking us away? Huh? That I don't get! Devlin always thought you were a victim in all this, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that you always had a choice. Sure, the Council could have killed you too, and I wouldn't have wanted that. But, why would you choose to be that monster's mate, willingly unless you're a bit of a monster yourself?" My chest was heaving by the time I was finished, but I refused to cry. No more crying over the things I couldn't control.
"This wasn't how I expected this conversation to go," she quietly told me after a few seconds of silence between us.
I laughed. "Then, by all means, tell me what you wanted to say, then leave me the hell alone as you promised. I've had enough heartache in my life, and it doesn't seem to want to end, so please, just get it over with."
Lucia looked down at the ground in defeat. "I did, do love you and your father, very much, Emelia, and that's why I did what I did. Everything I did was for you, and if you'd let me explain, you'd understand."
"I'm listening!" I demanded.
"No, you're not. You already have your mind set on who I am, and that's okay. I know things haven't been easy for you these last many years..."
"Lady, you have no idea what I've been through," I gritted through my teeth.
"Well, my life hasn't been as wonderful as you'd expect either, Emelia, and I'd do it all again because it kept you safe."
"Safe. Safe? Are you fucking serious?" I jumped up and took a few steps away. I needed to distance myself further from her before I did something foolish.
"You're not dead, so yes!"
I clenched my jaw and shook my head in disbelief. "If you've suffered like you said you did, then you know there are worse things than death. You have no idea how many times I wished for it during the last fifteen years, Mom." I pulled the dress up and over my head, balling it up in my hand and turned around so she could see my back. I could hear her audibly gasp as she took it all in. "One hundred and eighty times, I endured the curse that you bestowed upon me. One hundred and eighty times I writhed in pain as this mark added to itself for hours, only to feel the soreness for days after. And that wasn't half of what I went through." I turned back around and slipped the dress back on. "I've been neglected, beaten, raped. But at least I am alive, right Mom?"
No one knew about the rape, no one but my assailant and me, and I hadn't planned on telling a soul until that moment. I wanted her to know exactly what her actions put me through. What I had suffered through because of the things she had done.
She put her face in her hands and began to weep. "I'm so sorry, Emelia," she cried. "I thought you'd be safer in the human world than in our own. I, I did what I thought was best, but I see that I was wrong. Please forgive me."
"Tell me why!" I demanded. "Tell me why you bonded with one of the men that caused all of this to happen to us then!"
A big piece of me wanted me to be wrong about her because she was my mother. I was slowly regaining all of my memories of her and my childhood, and they were all good ones. She was loving, kind, strong, funny... everything a girl would want in a mom. But, I just couldn't understand how that person could be sitting in front of me now. She wasn't forced into bonding with Michael Ironshot, that was obvious by her freedom to come and go as she pleased. So then, why? Why would she do it?
She remained quiet while she gathered her words. Then, she said quietly, "Michael found me just after my eighteenth birthday. I knew who he was, and despised him already. He wasn't a good person, Emelia. I denied him many, many times, and he always came back. I'm sure you know by now that bonding with our mates makes us stronger, more powerful, and Michael was always hungry for more power. He didn't love me, he just loved what I could do for him, and I knew it. He made my life Hell because I wouldn't agree to bond with him."
"Dev already told me all this," I said and sat back down on my chair. The fight had left me, and I just wanted answers. I needed them like I needed my next breath of air.
She nodded, then continued. "Then I'll fast forward to the night your father, ddddied." Lucia wiped a stray tear from her eye as she sputtered out that last word. "Devlin had taken you away, and your father was...gone. Michael commanded that I be brought to him, and I thought he was
going to kill me. I hoped that he would. But then, he offered me the chance to bond with him. He told me that he would forgive everything I had done if I could do two things. One was to promise that I would devote myself to him and agree to be his mate, and the other was to prove that you were dead and gone. My immediate reaction was to spit in his face, but I knew that you were still out there. If anyone could ensure your safety, I knew it was my brother. So, I decided that I would play the happy mate, so I could keep an eye on Michael and the Council. I knew that being his mate would give me access to everything I'd need to keep you safe!"
"How did you prove that I was dead, then?" My eyebrows were scrunched as I was trying to piece it all together.
"Despite what you're thinking, that wasn't the hard part. I showed him a pile of ash and said that I tried to curse you, but it had gone wrong. I told him that your dragon consumed you from the inside out, leaving the pile of ash."
"He believed that?" I questioned. It seemed far-fetched.
Lucia nodded her head. "It has happened before. Your father told me about a friend of his that got into a fight with a caster and the result was the excuse I gave Michael."
"Huh. How about that." I learned something new every day. "So he just accepted you as his bonded mate with open arms, no questions asked after that?"
"No. That was the hard part. Convincing him that I was devoted to our relationship. It's been fifteen years, and he still has escorts go with me wherever I go. But, I have more freedom now than I did back then. I'm allowed to take trips and see my friends without him checking on me every second, or him asking a million questions."
"Then how did he know to send Ronan? The dreamling?”
“What? What do you mean?” She looked genuinely confused.
“I had a dreamling attack Dev and me back when I thought I was a human. How did Michael or someone with his kind of power know that I was alive? How did they know when to attack? And most importantly, how did he know to send Ronan who was looking for his mate at the exact time I got my powers back?
“I, I don’t know.” She was forthcoming up to that point, I thought, but I knew she was lying about this.
“Lucia, my dad told me that you told your husband about me and the curse you gave me, so don’t lie,” I gritted through my teeth. “Before you even ask, I talk to Dad in my dreams. It’s a dragon shifter thing.”
She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m glad you get to talk to him. But, I thought I had dreamed that I told Michael about you,” she quietly replied. “He must have spelled me into telling him the whole truth. I really thought I dreamed it, Emelia. Please believe me. I didn’t mean to tell him that you were alive.”
I didn’t know what to think at that point. It was all a big cluster fuck, and it didn’t seem as though things would get any less complicated any time soon.
“Were you really on your way to see Devlin?" I then asked.
"Yes, I was," she nodded. "Why do you ask?"
I huffed out a non-humorous laugh. "A group of Council casters attacked the cabin I was staying at with Devlin and his boyfriend, Ainsley." She gasped, but I continued. "Xan knocked me out so he could escape with me, while Dev and Ainsley fought them off. I saw Ainsley fall. I don't know if either of them are still alive, but it's unlikely." I stood back up, feeling a nervous energy that I knew all too well. Ronan, my caster mate was close by and getting closer. "Does your mate know that you're here?"
"Yes, of course. If I didn't tell him, then either Mark or Hugh would have. Why?"
I shifted from one foot to the other, and back again. "Would he have sent Ronan after you? As part of your chaperone detail?"
She furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. "It's possible. Ronan has been a Council escort of mine in the past. Why? What's the matter?"
"He's here. Please, tell Xan! I need to go!" I yelled out over my shoulder as I took off running in the opposite direction of the energy pulling me toward my caster mate.
"Wait!" she called out! "I can help you!"
No one could help me, especially her. No one but Xan. I knew that no matter how far I ran, he would find me, so I did the only thing I knew how to do.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I ran for almost a mile, and the feeling of nervousness didn't fade one single bit. I knew I was running away from the source of it, but no matter how far I ran or how fast, it wasn't enough. My dragon was beating against my barriers to let her out, but I needed stealth over strength to get out of this mess. She didn't completely agree with my assessment, but that wasn't anything new.
I continued on for another quarter of a mile before stopping. The jittery feeling was getting more pronounced, and I knew that running any further was hopeless. I needed to face this head on if I had any chance of getting away. I had to face Ronan and whatever he brought with him. My dragon was ready, and I also had a few tricks up my sleeve if worse came to worst.
I held my palm up as I surveyed my surroundings, and within seconds, my backpack appeared, dangling from its straps. I quickly put it on my back and waited. It turned out that I didn't have to wait for long.
Ronan appeared several feet in front of me with a smug look on his handsome face. I nearly buckled at the knees at the sight of him. Holding strong was harder than I hoped it would be. My hands itched to touch him and I needed his lips on mine with a desire I had only felt once before.
"Hello, lovely," he purred. "Did you miss me?"
"Hello, Ronan," I ground out through my teeth.
"So, you know my name, then. I'm sure the beast told you all about me." He took a step forward, and I held my hand up, asking him to stay back.
"He didn't have to tell me much," I spat out. "I learned everything I needed to know about you from our last encounter. And don't forget, I'm a beast too."
"I haven't forgotten," he said softly. "It's been all I've been able to think about."
"Has it kept you up at night?" I taunted. "Because I've thought very little about you since I saw you last."
Ronan put one hand over his heart and tilted his head to the side as if I'd wounded him. "Why do you lie to me like that?" His smirk was back in place, and I wondered if he was making fun of me or if he thought he was just being funny.
"You don't love me, Ronan. So, why don't you just let me go? I promise I'll go far, far away and never darken your doorstep again."
"No," he growled and took another step closer to me. I held my hand out to my side, but Ronan was a hard one to get a read on. I couldn't tell what his intentions were until he did them. He crossed the distance quickly and had me slammed against the tree. The book inside of my backpack jabbed into my side, and I let out a pained groan, but he ignored it. "I can't let you go, Millie.” He cleared his throat and shook his head as if to change his thought process. Then he said to me, “You’re a fugitive. I need to take you to the Paranormal Council."
“I told you not to call me Millie,” I gritted through my teeth, “and I’m not going anywhere with you, especially to the Council.”
“I promise, I’ll take care of you. You just have to trust me, lass.” He seemed to be at war with himself, and I felt bad for him. I felt for him because I was at war with myself too. If he wanted me even a little bit as much as I wanted him, I had to try to get him on my side, to see that he shouldn’t turn me in.
“Ronan, why am I a fugitive? What have I done wrong besides being alive?” I asked him softly.
He sighed and looked down, but didn’t let me go. “Because you’re a half-breed, lass. I’m sorry, and it’s shit, but your existence is against the law.”
I maneuvered my head so that he could see my face from his viewpoint. “Then what do you think they’ll do with me if I’m an abomination? Huh? You know that they won’t let me go, and no matter what you do, you won’t be able to help me if they get me. They’ll kill me or worse, and you know it. You have to let me go.” I gulped back the tears that threatened to fall.
“I, I can’t. I need you
.” Ronan’s expression broke my heart.
“I know,” I replied. “I need you too, but it’s almost impossible for us. You have to let me go.”
“No!” Ronan growled, then he roughly kissed me. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, I needed to kiss him just as much. I gave in and gripped the back of his hair in both of my hands. He lifted me so that my legs fully wrapped around his waist, and he ground his hard cock against me. I was so lost in the sensation, that I almost didn't realize that more casters arrived to witness something that I deemed sacred.
I heard the rustling of leaves on the ground off to the right, and my eyes popped open to see one of Lucia's escorts walk upon us, and in his hand was a sword-like weapon. I yanked on Ronan’s hair, pulling his face off of mine and released my legs' grip on his waist. He looked at me in surprise until he realized why I pulled him away.
I slipped to the side of the tree so I could get a little distance, then with all of my strength, I kicked him right in the balls. He reached for his crotch with one hand and bent over at the waist, his other hand holding onto the tree.
"Millie, we may not be able to have kids now," he groaned. "I promise, I didn't bring the egits with me. I'd never hurt you, lass. I swear it." He took a couple of deep breaths as if he were trying not to throw up.
Both of Lucia's escorts were inching closer, one on my left and the other on my right, and both holding their weapons ready to use on me.
"I don't believe you, Ronan," I told him quietly. "You wanted to turn me in last time I saw you, so why would this time be any different? You were just distracting me so they could get the jump on me." I looked back and forth between all three casters, and spread my legs and crouched down slightly, ready for whatever they came at me with.
The one on the left; I couldn't remember his name; ran towards me with his sword raised. He swung it down almost slicing straight through me, but I ducked out of the way, rolling across the ground. I popped back up as the other man swung across his body, nearly decapitating me.