by Shea Balik
Ryley felt his jaw drop, but other than that, he couldn’t feel much else. Numb with that revelation, he had to force his mind back online. But no matter what he tried, Ryley couldn’t seem to find two brain cells to rub together.
“Told you, you would regret asking these questions,” Arne said way too cheerfully as he brought several of the dishes Oluf handed him to the table. “Now, I don’t know about any of you, but I’m hungry.”
Arne, Ulf, and Hrafn all pulled out chairs and sat down. Oluf brought over two more dishes, one filled with meatloaf and the other with a vegetable mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. When he also took a seat, Ryley was sure this had to be some sort of bizarre reality he’d stepped into.
People didn’t act as if the death of an entire family meant nothing. Did they?
Fen let out a long, weary sigh, as if he was being put out by having to explain things to Ryley. “Your family’s fate was sealed.”
What dumbfounded Ryley was Fen acted like that just explained everything. “So, what you’re saying is, you just let my family die?”
“Yes.” Again, no remorse, no guilt.
“Who the hell are you to decide that?” Ryley demanded.
Smiling at Ryley like he was a simpleton, Fen said. “I am a Faerie.”
Meghan let out a mix between a yelp and a squeal as if she couldn’t decide if she was terrified or excited by the statement. Ryley was just pissed. “A what?” he asked, sure he’d misheard the obnoxious man.
“Fae-rie.” Fen said one syllable at a time, like that would make it any better.
Glancing over at Eirik to see his reaction to all this, Ryley’s gaze narrowed when he saw Eirik having trouble holding back his laughter. The others wore similar expression, although Arne was looking at him with that, “I told you so,” look.
Were they all messing with him? Looking back at the man in question, he looked so serious, and at the same time pleased with himself.
Deciding the man had to be trying to pull one over on him, Ryley asked, “You mean like never grow up, boys in tights, Peter-friggin’-Pan, flying around with pixie dust, Tinker Bell fairy?”
Eirik and his friends didn’t bother to try and hold back their laughter. Arne was on the floor rolling around, holding his stomach. Oluf was pounding the table, with tears running down his face. Ulf pointed at Fen and outright laughed at the man.
Hrafn was laughing but he was also looking worriedly at Fen, as if he feared what the man would do in retribution. Even Meghan was laughing, but the glare she was giving Fen told Ryley she was angry that the man was so blasé about their family dying.
Fen scowled at Eirik, as if Fen thought this was all his fault, but that only made Eirik laugh harder. “I told you she wasn’t going to be cowed by you,” Eirik told him in between trying to catch his breath.
Ryley had heard the expression, steam coming out of one’s ears, but he’d never thought he’d see it literally happen. Smoke poured from Fen even as the scent of an electric charge, like a layer of ozone, permeated the air.
Eirik was suddenly standing in front of Ryley. “Watch yourself, Faerie.” His voice was colder than even the snow outside.
That only seemed to anger Fen further as he crossed his arms across his chest. “You take orders from me, human,” Fen said the last word with disdain. “Not the other way around.”
“No,” Eirik snapped. “I am a Viking. Cursed to protect the Druid line at all costs.” If possible, the chill of Eirik’s tone went downright subarctic. “Even from you.”
“Cursed?” Ryley said without thinking about whether or not it was wise to get in between the two. “Who cursed you?”
Ice formed within those green eyes as Eirik continued to stare at Fen. “His mate,” he spat out. When he turned to Ryley with the exact same look as he’d been giving Fen, Ryley couldn’t help but take a step back. “Who happened to be your ancestor, Áed.”
“Áed?” Meghan gasped. “But he died…” her voice trailed off as she stared wide-eyed at Eirik. Her head was moving back and forth slowly as if she couldn’t wrap her mind around what Eirik had just said.
Ryley recognized the name, but he wasn’t quite sure why. His grandmother was always talking about their history and Ryley had learned early in life to tune her out. Meghan, on the other hand, had loved hearing about the old stories.
“Who was Áed?” he asked his sister, who looked pale enough that she just might pass out.
“He died in 794 A.D.” Her voice was barely audible, and Ryley was sure he had heard wrong.
“But…” Ryley’s gaze went to Eirik. “That would mean…” Try as he might, he just couldn’t finish what had to be impossible.
“Over twelve hundred years old,” Arne piped in cheerfully. “Didn’t I tell you; you’d regret asking questions?” he asked again. “Just wait until you hear the rest. It will make you want to crawl under a rock and never come out again.”
Ryley wasn’t so sure he wasn’t already there.
CHAPTER 11
“You okay?” Eirik asked as he took Ryley on a tour of the house.
Ryley wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. “I don’t know,” he finally said, honestly. “I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that you and the others are over twelve hundred years old.”
Eirik nodded in understanding. “We’ve lived it and still have trouble grasping how it happened. I mean, one day we were told we were joining our fathers to go raiding. We were so excited, well, all but Hrafn, who had recently been beaten by his father.”
The more time Ryley spent around Hrafn, the less he harbored any ill-will for what he’d said when they first arrived. It wasn’t that Hrafn was dumb, for he was knowledgeable about a lot of topics, but it took him longer to understand the conversation going on around him.
That was especially true when his friends were teasing. It was as if he had to work out in his head what the meaning was behind their words before he’d get the joke.
“Hrafn’s father, Dagmar, was considered a great man, having raided three times before. The last time he’d beat Hrafn, he’d decided the only way to toughen his son up was to take him raiding.” There was so much sadness in Eirik’s tone that Ryley couldn’t stop his hand from reaching out to touch Eirik’s forearm in comfort.
Those emerald eyes stared at that point of contact for several heartbeats. Ryley could have sworn the air in the room became electrified, almost as if Fen were about to make an appearance. The only difference, instead of dread, Ryley felt excitement and lust coursing through his veins.
After all he’d been through in the past couple of days, Ryley desperately wanted to forget the pain and heartache. Somewhere inside of him, he knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to lose himself in Eirik, but then, why did it feel so damn right?
They moved together, as if they’d both come to the same conclusion at the same time. One of Eirik’s hands moved to Ryley’s hip, while the other went to cup his cheek, tilting his head just so before leaning in.
His skin tingled where Eirik held him. But when Eirik’s lips brushed across his, tiny shocks went off along his nerve endings and suddenly Ryley knew, without a doubt, Eirik would be more than just some guy to forget his sorrow with for a few hours.
It was as if something deep within him had awoken. It was a million times stronger than lust. Every cell within his body craved to get closer to Eirik’s strength, to wallow in the bliss he felt being in his arms.
When Eirik deepened the kiss, and his tongue slid along Ryley’s, there was a moment when Ryley felt as if he stood on the edge of a cliff. If he continued, he would fall so deep into this man, he feared he’d never be free again. Hell, who was he kidding? It wasn’t so much that he wouldn’t be able to be free, but that he wouldn’t want to.
What if Eirik didn’t feel the same? What if Ryley lost himself to this man? Never had he imagined that could happen. He’d dated plenty, especially in college. No one had ever meant anything to him. Of
ten, his dates would call him cold and selfish.
Had he been waiting for Eirik? Had his heart and soul somehow known this amazing strong and brave man would come for him?
Would he survive if it was him who got left behind because Eirik didn’t feel the same way? The keen loss of his family just days earlier surfaced, giving Ryley the fortitude to pull away.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I can’t.”
Instead of being upset, or walking away, Eirik pulled him closer and just held him. “Shhh,” Eirik whispered. “It will be okay.”
It wasn’t until Ryley heard the words that he’d even realized he’d started shaking. Before he could think about what he was saying, he blurted out, “Why do I feel like this is where I belong? I hardly even know you.”
Eirik’s hold tightened. “I don’t know, but I feel the same way.”
“It’s because of the curse.”
Both Eirik and Ryley whirled toward the voice to find a large, menacing man standing there frowning at the two of them. Tension seeped into Ryley, his body preparing for a fight. He didn’t know who this man was, but the dangerous vibe he gave off didn’t make Ryley want to find out.
“Bjorn.” Eirik went over and gave the man a one-armed hug. “Were you successful?”
Eirik and the others had informed Ryley and Meghan that they had been trying to save the other druid families before the Unseelie found them. Over the centuries, they had protected many druids from harm, but in the past hundred years, things had turned against them.
The Unseelie were attacking more viciously than ever. No matter how hard Eirik and the others tried, they just hadn’t been able to save the ones under their care. In fairness, many of the druids had run scared, leaving the protection Eirik’s team had offered and paying the price before Eirik could save them.
“No.” Apparently, Eirik wasn’t the only one who believed in one word answers. But it had only taken a look from Eirik for Bjorn to add, “They weren’t there. It was obvious the Unseelie had been, but I don’t know if the Tulach clan got away or not.”
“Tulach?” Ryley asked. “Are you talking about Kegan and his family?”
Bjorn didn’t answer, he just stared at Ryley, like he was a bug under a microscope.
“Stop it, Bjorn,” Eirik growled before answering the question. “Yes. Do you know them?”
He more than knew them. Kegan was one of his best friends. Or at least, he had been before Ryley had gone to college and Kegan had decided to go backpack around the world.
“We spent a lot of time with other families like ours,” he told Eirik. “The Tulach’s were just one of them. But because Kegan and I were so close in age, we became good friends.”
It wasn’t just them, either. Ryley frowned as he considered the others that had been a part of their group. They’d always thought it funny how they were less than a year apart with each of their birthday’s coinciding with one of the rituals. Well, sort of. Ryley and Cullen were the only ones with fixed birthdays of Samhain and Beltane.
The others, because of the date depending on the Gregorian calendar, varied by a day or two. This generally meant their birthdates didn’t always fall on the festival dates. But there was something inside of him that warned him, this time around, all of them would.
His gaze went to the dangerous looking Bjorn. “What did you mean before when you mentioned the curse?”
The man’s lips tilted upward into what Ryley assumed was a smile, although if anyone asked him, it made him look even scarier. “I think we should go back upstairs so everyone can hear this, since it will affect us all.”
Eirik’s tour had led them into the basement, where several sparring rooms were set up. There was also gym equipment in one room, as well as a room whose walls had been scorched, gouged and well… crumbled, as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.
When he’d asked Eirik what the room was used for, he’d just grinned and said, “Fen.” Not sure what to make of that, Ryley decided he really didn’t need to know more. Or at least, he hoped he wouldn’t.
The three of them headed back upstairs to find not only Ulf, Arne, Hrafn, and Oluf there but two others Ryley didn’t recognize. He assumed they were the last of the eight men who lived in the house.
“Huh,” he said, as they made their way into the living area where the men were. “You told me that there were eight of you living here.” Eirik raised an eyebrow as if silently asking what he meant by that. “What about Fen? Where does he live?”
“In the realm of the Fae,” Eirik said, but when Ryley opened his mouth to ask his next question, Eirik held up a hand. “He was part of the curse, but in a different way.”
“He’s immortal, like us,” Ulf added.
“But, because it was his mate who did the spell, he’d amended the second part, by allowing Fen to go back and forth through the veil without issue,” Oluf grumbled.
“Basically, we got screwed and he got the perks.” Ryley was learning that Arne tended to add the most imagery to his statements.
“What exactly did the curse do?” he asked, sitting down on the loveseat that was still open and happened to sit across from the sectional couch where the others sat. He tried not to let his body react when Eirik sat next to him, but Ryley could feel himself leaning closer.
“You already know, we’re immortal,” Eirik told him.
“Which sounds great.” Arne said that with way too much false cheeriness. “Then, when you’ve been alive for two hundred years and friends you keep making die on you, you realize, it’s more like hell than anything else.”
“But we do get to shift into our animals,” Hrafn chimed in. “I really love being able to fly.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryley sort of managed to get out with his jaw dropped. “You what, now?”
CHAPTER 12
It had taken some effort not to laugh at the shocked expression on Ryley’s face. Not that Eirik could blame him. The first time they’d shifted had been quite terrifying, but after more than a millennium, it was kind of old hat.
“Hrafn can shift into a raven,” Eirik explained.
“Feel like you’ve dropped into that rabbit hole, yet?” Arne teased. “Because, I gotta tell you, after being alive for twelve hundred years, I still end up shocked as shit more often than should be possible at this point.”
A part of Eirik was tempted to tell Arne to shut it, but he doubted his friend’s teasing was having much, if any, impact on Ryley at the moment. Feeling it was better to just rip off the bandage, so to speak, Eirik started around the room.
“Arne can shift into an eagle. Ulf, a wolf. Oluf, a Boar.” He pointed to the two men Ryley had yet to meet. “That is Brandr, who can change into a hawk.”
Brandr gave Ryley a slight nod of his head in greeting.
“Then there’s Fritjof, who can change into a horse.” Fritjof smiled at Ryley and gave him a slight wave of his hand.
“Finally, you just met Bjorn and he changes into a bear.” When Ryley turned to stare at Eirik expectedly, he let out a sigh, wishing he didn’t have to explain his own ‘gift,’ as Fen called it.
Admittedly, as curses went, the shifting wasn’t bad. Oh, they had freaked out at first, but it had been something they’d all gotten used to and even enjoyed. It was the immortal part that sucked ass.
Ryley’s eyes narrowed when Eirik didn’t say anything for a moment. “Is yours that bad?” Ryley’s voice was shaky and hesitant as he asked the question.
“No, just different than the others.” Or the same, depending on the viewpoint. “I can shift into pretty much any animal.”
Those pretty blue eyes widened a fraction as Ryley tried to digest what he was just told. Considering everything else, it wasn’t as big of a shocker as being told they could shift in the first place. “What does that mean?”
“That he won the shifting jackpot,” Arne grumbled. “Lucky bastard.”
Ignoring Arne, Eirik took Ryley’s hand in his and said, “It means I jus
t have to think of an animal, and I become it.” He gave a little shrug. “Admittedly, I haven’t tried every animal, but any one that I have tried, worked.”
Ryley glanced back over at the others. “Even the ones they shift into?”
Eirik nodded.
Then Ryley’s head whipped around as if searching for something. “Where’s Meghan.” Or apparently, someone.
“Poor thing was exhausted,” Oluf told him.
Hrafn nodded vigorously. “I made sure she got to the right room safely, but she looked as if she were about to fall asleep on her feet.”
Eirik was a little surprised to hear Ryley thank Hrafn for taking care of Meghan. Then again, being around Hrafn for longer than a few minutes, it was hard to stay upset with the guy. He really was sweet and caring. He just had trouble understanding what he should or shouldn’t say around others.
Hrafn practically beamed with pride when Ryley had thanked him. Eirik was happy, for he knew Hrafn had been worried since he’d hurt Ryley and Meghan’s feelings when they’d arrived. Meghan had quickly forgiven him, but Hrafn would have fretted about it until Ryley had done the same. At least now Hrafn would be able to rest easy.
“Can I see?” Ryley’s blue eyes looked right at Eirik, a silent plea within them.
Never before had Eirik been willing to do so when asked. It usually was one of the others who’d shifted. To Eirik, it had been akin to performing like a one of those circus monkeys. Something he’d refused to ever shift into.
Then again, none of the people who’d asked before had been Ryley. It was as if Eirik couldn’t deny him anything. With the others knowing how he felt about shifting, Eirik decided if he was going to do it, he might as well make a statement.
He imagined the animal he was going to shift into and seconds later, he became a monkey, with the little fez hat and vest that he’d seen in circus pictures long ago. Laughter broke out from his friends, but Ryley sat there unmoving with his eyes ready to pop out of his head.
Afraid Ryley was about to pass out, Eirik had nearly shifted back, but just as he was about to, Ryley reached out. His hand trembled as it neared Eirik, then stopped when he was just a couple of inches from touching him.