by India Amare
“And Axl?”
His jaw ticked again. He seemed almost angry. “One of the things your father’s family can do is bring things back from the dead. With humans, they have the ability to not only bring them back, but to make them into samhain. Their blood, it splices the DNA or something. I’m sure Gigi can explain it all to you if you care. But it’s a terrible process and most humans go insane as they transform. They can’t handle it. The metaphysical plane overwhelms their senses and they lose their minds.”
Dear god that sounded horrific. “Then why do they do it?”
He grimaced. “They can grow their numbers at will. It’s how the House of Axl became so powerful and why no one will stand up to them.”
And why the especially fertile House of Wren was such a threat to them. If the whole family started growing at the same rate, the House of Wren would overwhelm all the others.
Dray pulled up to a cabin and parked. “Turned samhain aren’t as powerful as true samhain, but if they have children, in three generations that weakness is bred out and it’s as if the human never existed in their bloodline.”
“Is this what the whole war is over?”
He shook head. “No. But it is a big part. Come on.” He waved me out of the cart. “This is Bo’s house.”
It was a lovely home. It looked more like a cabin than a treehouse, with a view of the pretty, untouched valley below.
“This path leads to most of the other homes and it’s always a great place to take a hike. If you leave from the house and follow the full loop, you’ll get a good two miles in. Here is my cousin Seamus’s house.”
A lot of forest separated the two houses, giving everyone their privacy. As we climbed upward in elevation the houses started to resemble the main house more. Wide porches, elevated views, rustic charm. He stopped in front of one that appeared to be the highest of them all.
“This is mine,” he said very quietly.
For some reason I expected him to live in the main house. Probably because he was the Lord of the house. I should have known someone as broody as Dray would live as far away and as high up from anyone else as possible.
“It’s lovely.” And it was. It was also the most like a treehouse of all them and I wanted to live there forever on top of the world. Not only did the home have beautiful open porches, but all the railings were specially carved with symbols and designs. All the windows were flung open and inside I could just barely make out a great room filled with large furniture and dimly lit bookcases. The green roof slanted down sharply to keep any water or snow from collecting.
Because of the steep slope of the mountain, it was built out on wood stilts, sitting up and above the valley below. I bet if he let me walk out on that wide porch I’d get a stunning view of the setting sun and a sea of trees.
He held out his rough hand. I stared at it for a long moment, knowing touching him would begin all that electric pleasure all over again. I took it anyway. This seemed to relieve him and for the first time all day I saw a glimmer of humor in his eyes. He led me along the porch to the view I wanted to see.
It was even more stunning than I imagined. “This is heaven. I could stand here all day.” The sun was beginning to set behind the mountains. The reflecting light caused little rainbows to appear, including a large one in the blue sky beside the adjacent mountain. I was able to pick out a winding stream in the sea of trees, but nothing else. No other houses, no roads. Nothing.
Dray came to a stop beside me, hands in his pockets. “Sometimes I do. It’s my favorite place to clear my head.” He turned just his head to look down at me. “I thought you might like it too.”
“I do.” I couldn’t look away. Aside from the breathtaking view, it was the quiet that got me. No cars, no electronic garbage. Just the wind and the occasional bird.
“A lot is going to change for you. It will be hard some days. Come here when you can, find your own peaceful place wherever you go.”
I swallowed hard. Wherever you go. Gently reminding me I couldn’t just hide here. I had a future to face, one that very well might never include him.
Dray turned, resting against the railing and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve thought a lot about what happened between us. I won’t pretend we don’t have something special. We do.” His piercing eyes locked with mine. “But I also have to face the reality that you are my enemy and there’s no place where we can be together like the weight of the world isn’t sitting on our shoulders.”
He was right, of course. But that only made the ache growing in my chest, the one caused by being near him, worse.
I was the enemy.
“You took a great risk bringing me here.”
He huffed, shaking his head. “You can’t learn who you are from him. Antyne Axl will corrupt you and use your abilities for his own ends. You need to know what you can do, who you are, for yourself first. So you can decide who you want to be, not who he makes you.” There was so much frustration and venom laced into his words. It was almost as if something like this had happened before.
“I appreciate that.”
His eyes locked with mine again. “And I am sworn to protect you in the name of your mother. Antyne agreed to leave you be for now. You’re in no danger here and you aren’t endangering us. Samhain are bound by their word and we adhere to that strictly.”
I let some of my nervous energy go.
“I have something else to show you. Something special.” He stood and waved for me to follow. We moved along the other end of the porch where the railing had a gate. Dray opened it up and reached for a long rope dangling outside. It was attached overhead by some sort of pulley system. He pulled it closer, showing me a little circle attached to the rope for our feet, and gripped the rope firmly in one hand. “Come on now.”
I tried to grab the rope the way he had, flustered by his nearness.
“Put your arms around me,” Dray said quietly.
I swallowed hard and did as he asked, sliding my palms along his hips to his back, letting him haul me against his chest. The broad chest that was now pressed against mine with his strong arm around my waist.
And then we were floating down, down, down, through the trees, into the shadows, past all the other houses we’d just walked by.
“Oh my goodness!” Butterflies took off in my belly at the sudden change in height.
“Pretty fun way to get from one place to another.” His hand gripped my hip a little tighter.
I couldn’t resist this. It was one thing to keep my instincts in check when we were standing apart, but having his arms around me, his skin on mine, I lost the battle. I breathed in his scent, let my heartbeat sync with his, let the sounds of his breaths echo in my ears.
Why was I so drawn to him? Just him. I never had this physical response; this need to synchronize with anyone else.
As we descended the rope rotated, giving me a full view of the stone of the mountain face, the tree canopy, the shadows and flowers that dared to bloom here.
And then our feet touched the ground. We separated our bodies but he didn’t let go of my hand. With the other he tied off the rope. “If I timed it right, you’re about to see something truly amazing.” A full-blown smile lit up his face and a glint of mischief flashed in his eyes. This Dray was an entirely new level of sexy.
We practically ran through the woods, jumping over rocks and fallen limbs. I was vaguely aware of the sound of water, but mostly I was trying to keep up with Dray, so I was a little surprised when he suddenly came to a stop in front of a pool of water and a magnificent, roaring waterfall.
“This is lovely!” Now I was absolutely sure I was living in a fairytale. I’d never seen a waterfall in real life. The water cascaded over a mountain cliff and plummeted into a pool of water below. “Does this become the creek?”
He nodded. “It does. Look up at the falls and don’t look away.”
That was hard to do when all I wanted to do was watch Dray, to study the relaxed way he smiled
, and how his laugh was different. How he kept glancing back at me to see if I was ready for whatever was about to happen.
And then it did. I blinked several times to make sure my eyes were working properly, but the only thing that changed was the shade of red. As the sunlight hit the water and the rock behind it just so, it began to turn red.
A deep shade of red.
“We call it Blood Falls.”
An appropriate name. It very much looked like the water had turned to blood.
“My ancestors thought it was a sign. That this land belonged to the samhain.”
And a great home it became. “Why can’t I do the things you do?” As I stared up at this magnificent natural wonder, I couldn’t help but think of all the samhain who lived here.
“What do you mean?”
“You can speak in my mind. Gigi can see my aura and the future. I’m...I’m the same as I was before all this happened.”
He finally broke his gaze away from the falls and turned to me, taking my hand. “It’s all in there, but it’s a lot. The Plane and your ability to interact with it are a powerful and brand-new ability. It’s overwhelming and I think you’re blocking it out on purpose. Like a protection.”
I was protecting myself? Yes. This seemed possible. Whenever I changed homes or school, or something unpleasant happened, I blocked it all out. Just pretended it wasn’t a thing that could hurt me.
Maybe I was doing some of that now. Every time a new sensation hit that I didn’t know what to do with, I buried it.
Dray ran his thumb along my palm. “Let it in slowly. Open yourself up a little at a time.”
“I’ll try.”
“You’re doing great.” His thumb stopped.
I heard his heart pound harder.
“Not alone,” he whispered. “No matter where you go or what happens, I’ll be there.” He moved my hair behind my ear. “I know I’m confusing and it’s probably not fair to you, but I can’t let myself get caught up in you. I won’t be able to let you go.”
Chapter 8
“You don’t have a choice, Dray. I have to leave,” I whispered back. “And you’ll let me go. But does that mean we can’t enjoy what we do have?”
If we were Fated, then this couldn’t be the end. Not unless the Universe was playing a cruel joke on us. And given my life so far, maybe I should expect the Universe to be meaner.
His hand moved through my hair to the back of my neck as his eyes drank me in. “If it makes what’s coming harder, then I think we have to keep our feelings to ourselves.”
Then why was he touching me? Could anything really be harder than resisting this magnetic pull? “Maybe it will make it easier...knowing there’s something more out there. Something to come back to.”
“Rhysa. You’re not going to spend happy weekends with Grandpa. You’re the heir.” And yet somehow his lips were even closer. “We can’t be together.” But then his lips were on mine.
I sank into the kiss with everything I had, taking everything as if it would be the last. His strong arms held me firmly against his solid body, his fingers dug into my skin.
There was no mistaking that Dray felt things for me. Not only was the connection undeniable, but our physical responses were so dramatic. Even now I wanted to devour him in whatever way he’d let me. With a kiss, with a drink, or with my body. All of it was on the table.
And based on the desperate way he kissed me back, I had to believe he felt the same way.
As quickly as the kiss started, it ended.
Dray stepped back and let go of my hand. He stared at the falls. “We can’t risk it. The cost is too high.”
This is where the vast differences between us showed the most. “You’ve always had a supportive family around, Dray. Always had the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Not to mention fifty more years of experience with all of it. “But I’ve had nothing.” He winced at those words. “It’s been my habit to never let a good thing go to waste—even when I knew it wouldn’t last.”
Was it blinding me to the many issues ahead of me? Yes. I knew that. But I also didn’t fully understand what was coming, so why worry? Maybe my time with the Wrens was fleeting, but I would enjoy every second of this while I could, whether Dray did the same or not.
“Your old life is a memory now,” he said. “Things are different. You need to behave differently too.”
Ouch. Another difference. It was easy to look at Dray and pretend we were close to the same age, but when he said things like that...it was obvious he was much older. He probably saw me as a naive inexperienced child, not as a woman. I hugged my arms around myself realizing what I fool I was.
He moved so fast. One second he was several feet away staring up at the blood red falls and the next he was in front of me, taking my hands and pulling them away from my body. “No.”
I stared at his throat. “No? Are you reading my thoughts?”
He didn’t let go of my wrists and I noted that his lips were a tantalizing few inches away from mine again. Close enough to feel the soft puffs of warm breath. “I can’t read your thoughts Rhysa.”
“Then why do you seem to know what I’m thinking? How can you talk to me without speaking?” I was so sick of not understanding anything.
“It’s true I’m more sensitive to the people around me, but when it’s someone I care about, their feelings...I don’t know...it feels like they’re mine. You especially. When you have a sharp reaction, I feel all of it. And just now? You had bad thoughts about yourself.” His fingers traveled from my wrists, up my arms, to my shoulders where his fingers danced along my neck and his palms pressed against my chest. “My desire to keep away from you has nothing to do with you. Not your name, not your future or your potential power, and certainly not your lack of understanding.”
It sure seemed like he could read my mind, but I was also distracted by his amazing nearness and the dance of his fingers along my skin, so I didn’t want to argue.
His hands moved to cup my face as he brought his forehead to mine, swallowing hard. Believe me. I closed my eyes and sank into the connection he offered me. It wasn’t enough, but for now, it would have to do.
“Told you…” Gigi whispered in my ear after we got back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She pulled a leaf out of my hair, giving me a “gotcha” look.
I shrugged. “It’s not what you think.”
She tossed the leaf to the ground. “It’s hard to resist fate.”
Dray came around the cart, giving his sister one of his looks. “Don’t start. I don’t want to hear it.”
She may be right about us being drawn together, but the simple reality was that Dray was never going to let anything happen.
And I really didn’t want to dwell on things I couldn’t control. “So is everyone here?”
“I hope you had a nice, quiet, relaxing time with Dray because things are about to get loud.” We walked up the stairs, with each step the hum of music, conversation, and kids grew louder.
She wasn’t kidding.
All the windows were open to the night air and inside the lights were low, candles lit everywhere. Kids ran, weaving between groups of adults of all different ages. “Is this all family or is it friends too?” Everyone looked so different.
“Just family… and a few friends.” She pulled me through the door.
“You’re really going to have to explain the genetics to me. Can we start there first thing tomorrow?” For some reason I expected to walk into a room of Wrens who all looked like carbon copies of each other. Sure Dray had just told me they married people from many different houses, and obviously their kids would look like a blend of them, but it hadn’t sunk in that samhain from different houses could be as different as humans from different parts of the world.
I had so much to learn but I was mostly really excited about it all.
“Bookstore girl!” Bo came toward me with a smile, one hand holding a drink
, the other outstretched for a hug. “The universe works in mysterious ways, does it not? Who would have thought Georgiahana’s desperate need for a paperback was also us being called to find you?”
Gigi punched him in the arm. “I did need that paperback.”
He looked down his nose at her. “There are what? Five bookshops in that town? You chose hers for a reason and you know it.”
Her lips twisted off to the side. “It was on the way to the ball.”
“Gigi.”
She sighed. “Fine. Yes, the Sight showed me the sign outside the bookstore days earlier.”
The Universe sent her to me. “The Sight?”
She waved her hands through the air. “My psychic ability to see what’s coming and going. I meditate every day to tap into the Plane. Sometimes it’s all background noise and garbage. Like getting junk mail. But sometimes it clearly features something that will be important. I knew I had to go to your bookshop, I just didn’t know when.”
Fate. The Universe. Destiny. Part of me hated feeling like I wasn’t fully in control of my own life, but part of me enjoyed knowing I was part of something bigger than myself.
“Is this the infamous Rhysa?” Two women who looked like slightly younger versions of Gigi surrounded Bo.
He put his arms around them. “These two are full time trouble and you should ignore them.”
“I’m Cassandrha. Everyone calls me Cass.” The blonde on the right stuck out her hand.
I shook it, feeling a warm connection to her, just like I did with Gigi.
“And I’m the far prettier, much more intelligent twin, Bridghet, but everyone calls me Bridge.”
“Are you sure you three aren’t triplets?”
Bo gasped. “How dare you? I look nothing like these troublemakers!”
I laughed so hard I had to cover my mouth. “I meant Gigi.”
“Oh, well then, all is forgiven.” He released his sisters. “I’m clearly far better looking than they will ever be.” He straightened his flannel shirt and brushed back his hair.