The Balance

by C. L. Nelson

I gave it a shot. I closed my eyes and concentrated on wanting to go home, back to my apartment. I thought about how I wished that shooting never happened and I was just living my normal boring life. I tried really hard but didn’t feel anything. I opened my eyes and looked at the guys who all shook their heads.

  I am both disappointed and relieved. I am just about to tell them that I must be human after all when two small beautiful women appear in the apartment. This must be the Ladies of the Waiting, but I thought there were three of them.

  While both of them are small, one of them looks delicate while the other one looks like she could fight all the men in the room at the same time without breaking a sweat. The delicate one has the most beautiful brown skin I have ever seen and golden eyes that look like they can see directly into my soul, which I guess they can. The other female is beautifully androgynous with short red hair, pale skin, and glowing silver eyes. I am pretty sure I don’t want to piss this woman off.

  Kian stands up to go greet them while the rest of the men get to their knees to kneel before them. “Karma, Destiny, thank you for meeting us here in my brother’s apartment. You honor us with your presence,” he said formally while bowing. “I am sorry to see that Fate wasn’t able to make it,” he added, noting the absence.

  The androgynous female, who he referred to as Karma, looked annoyed with the formal display while the other one, who he referred to as Destiny, looked gracious.

  “Please stand everyone and be at ease in our presence,” Destiny said serenely. “I am afraid Fate has been unavailable lately,” she added with what sounded like an edge of suspicion in her voice. “This young woman must be the one who is called Charlene James,” she said to Kian, nodding in my direction.

  Kian stood up straight. “Yes, you are correct,” he said as he walked back to me to escort me to the woman. “Destiny, this is Charlene James, though she goes by Charlie. Charlie, this is Destiny,” he said, introducing us formally.

  I have no idea what to do, so I curtsey. “Um, hi it’s nice to meet you, I guess.”

  I hear muffled laughter behind me.

  “I’m sorry I have no idea how to do this,” I said to her.

  She gave me a kind smile. “Do not worry, child. Please just pretend I am a good friend and we are having a nice chat. Nothing I do here today will hurt you. You have my word that no harm will come to you today,” she said as she put a soft hand on my shoulder.

  I am instantly more relaxed by her touch. She has a calming presence that just sucks my anxiety away. “So, what’s going to happen next?”

  “I am going to touch your soul. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt,” she adds quickly when I flinch. “I am going to send my power into your body and when it touches your soul, I will be able to read all of your past incarnations. With this information, I am hopeful that we will be able to figure out what went wrong, so we can get you back on track,” she said, smiling warmly at me.

  I steel myself. “Okay. I am ready. Let’s do this.”

  She laughed softly. “I am afraid the easiest way for me to get into your soul is for you to be asleep. Your body will put up less resistance,” She explained before looking at Finlay. “Light Fae, do you possess the ability to dream walk?” she asked him.

  He nodded.

  “Then you will be able to aid her in falling asleep, yes?”

  He nodded again.

  “Perfect. Charlie, please lie down on the sofa, so we can begin,” she instructed me.

  I hesitate for a moment and then shrug. I believe her when she said she wouldn’t hurt me, so let’s just get this over with. I lay on the couch and Finlay kneels next to me.

  “Did you ever use this sleeping power on me before?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.

  He just gave me a mischievous grin and before I know it, I am asleep.

  It feels like only seconds later and I am awake. I look around, but I do not see anyone. Not the brothers or Finlay and not either of the Ladies of the Waiting. Then I realize that I am not on the couch anymore. I am in a large bed in a bedroom with huge ceilings. I really hate not being in the same place I was a moment ago. Where am I and how long was I out?

  Chapter 14

  Kian

  There is chaos in the room. Charlie fell asleep after Finlay worked his magic, literally not metaphorically. Ameny knelt down to place one hand over Charlie’s head and one hand over her heart. She closed her eyes to begin the soul reading when she was suddenly blasted across the room.

  Ingrid ran over to her lover to assess her for injuries. My brothers, Finlay, and I all offered our aid. We all had our backs toward Charlie, so no one saw what happened. When we turned around, she was gone. She was still asleep, and it is unlikely that she could have glimmered out while unconscious if she can even glimmer at all.

  I begin to pace the room. “What just happened?” I asked to no one in particular.

  Ameny was sitting up, being supported by Ingrid. “I wasn’t able to read her soul,” she said, sounding defeated. “This has never happened to me. A soul has never been able to resist me, and they certainly haven’t been able to blast me across the room,” she added while getting to her feet with the help of her lover. “I have never felt a soul like hers. Her soul is unquestionably not human.”

  “We are leaving. If Charlie was abducted, it isn’t safe here and we must get back to the Waiting. Dashiel, you will accompany us back to the palace and remain there with us until it is deemed safe,” Ingrid commanded.

  While the Ladies of the Waiting are powerful beings, they are not invulnerable nor immortal. They are extremely important to the Balance, so their safety is a top priority. They are safer in the Waiting.

  Dashiel is one of their personal guards and cannot refuse an order, though he looked torn between helping us find Charlie and doing his duty.

  I shake my head. “It’s alright, Dashiel. We will find her,” I reassured him before he left with the Ladies of the Waiting.

  Finlay looked distraught. “I told her nothing bad was going to happen to her and now she is gone,” he said while he sat with his head in his hands.

  I walked over to the fae and put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be alright. It has to be alright. She may just wake up and call us after she realizes she accidentally glimmered herself somewhere,” I said, hoping that I sound optimistic.

  “While we wait for her call, we will start to look for her,” I added. “Jarrett, call Rhett and see if he can find anything. Maybe her cellphone is still on her and he can track that,” I directed, taking control of this situation.

  “Finlay, see if you can find a witch that can either remove the shielding spell or perform a locating spell,” I ordered.

  Jarrett and I exchanged numbers with Finlay before he glimmered out to find a witch that can locate Charlie.

  Jarrett turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know you like her, Kian,” he said and stopped me before I can protest. “I am not blind. I can see the way you look at her when you think no one is looking and not to mention that you punched me in the face for being slightly inappropriate with her. Stop fighting it, man. She is a good female and she is hot as Pit-fire. Even if her life isn’t very long, isn’t it worth it to spend whatever time she has with her,” he said to me insightfully. “And, if you don’t cut the crap. I am going to do my best to steal her from you,” he warned, before heading to his bedroom to call Rhett.

  I try to tell myself that he is wrong, that I don’t like Charlie and my interest in her is only professional, but I’d be lying, of course. He is right. I do like her. The woman turns me on like nothing and nobody ever has before. Between her looks and her smart mouth, I have been hard more times than I can count. In fact, I had to leave the kitchen earlier to go take a cold shower when she asked sarcastically if I wanted to be the one pressed against her body. The images that went through my mind…well let’s just say I was busy in that cold shower. The shower and multiple releases didn’t help. I got hard again as soon as I sa
w her in that blue dress.

  And while she is beautiful, more importantly, she is smart, witty, feisty, loyal, and determined. And not to mention, she is stubborn, has a nasty temper, and throws a mean right hook, but does any of that matter? Finlay is definitely in love with her and not entirely in a friend only kind of way. How can I compete with thousands of years of friendship, even if she only currently remembers the past ten or so years?

  She may end up being forced to reincarnate when all of this is said and done. She won’t remember me, and even if she isn’t forced to be reincarnated and have her memories wiped clean, she isn’t a reaper.

  As future king of the reapers, I will be required to produce heirs. Reapers can only reproduce with other reapers. We are genetically incapable of producing offspring with any other species. And I am pretty sure Charlie isn’t the kind of woman that would stand by while her male reproduces with other females.

  I shake my head; my brain is getting ahead of itself. My feelings for Charlie do not matter if we can’t find her. She may be in danger as we speak. If my father has her, he will kill her. He will want to save face as the King of the Reapers. He won’t want a mess up like this to be associated with his reign. He is a cruel man who cares for nothing, but himself. Charlie cannot be brought to the Waiting, so they have to be somewhere here in the Provisional. We will find them.

  Chapter 15

  Charlie

  Where the hell am I? I woke up in a strange bed in a strange room with no one around to tell me what’s going on. If they had moved me when I was asleep, surely someone would have stuck around to fill me in on what happened. I don’t feel any different from the soul reading. Did they find out something?

  Suddenly, Finlay walks into the room. “Oh, thank god you are here, Fin! I was starting to freak out because I didn’t know where I was. Where are we anyway?” I asked him, as I started to climb out of the enormous bed.

  Finlay stood near the side of the bed. “Don’t worry. You are safe. Someone attacked us while you were asleep, so we had to move you here.”

  I furrowed my brows. “Where is here?” I asked him again, feeling a little worried.

  “Don’t worry. We are in the Waiting. I took you to the King of the Reapers. You can trust him,” he said.

  I look at Finlay warily. I have never felt so uncomfortable around him. “Finlay, is something wrong? You aren’t acting like yourself.”

  He pulls me into a hug. “Don’t worry, love. We are going to get this all figured out. The king will take care of you,” he said, patting me awkwardly on the back.

  I really wish he would stop telling me not to worry.

  I pull out of his stiff hug. “Okay. Where are Kian and his brothers?” I asked as I walked to the far side of the room to look out the window.

  Holy crap is it beautiful outside. It’s like spring on steroids. The window overlooks a city, but not like a human city. There are trees and flowers everywhere. The colors are so vibrant. From this window, you can see a good portion of the city. People or I guess reapers are walking around, children are playing. It looks like everyone is happy. Outside of the city, I can see forests, rivers, and mountains; all of which are just a slightly different shade than you would find back home and much more vibrant. It’s like a fairytale land come to life.

  I turn back to Finlay to hear his response to my question. “The princes are fine. They won’t be bothering you anymore. Their job is done, now that the king has you.”

  Princes? What the hell? I am a little hurt that Kian and his brothers wouldn’t say goodbye to me. I thought we were maybe becoming friends. Was I really just a job to them? I mean I can believe that Kian felt that way. He made it clear more than once that I was just his responsibility. I shake my head. I have been abandoned before, what’s a couple more people that I barely knew.

  I look at Finlay who is not quite acting like himself, but I just can’t put my finger on what’s wrong. I am about to ask him when I feel something in my mind. It’s like a thought or a memory that wants to form, but I can’t get at it. You know like when you are trying to search for a word that you know you know, but you can’t quite pull it out of your memory? That’s what I am feeling, but I can’t make the thought form.

  I start to mentally pick at that feeling to try to unravel it when a large man walks into the room. This man looks a lot like Dashiel, only older and his body is starting to lose muscle and gain fat. He also has a large scar on his face. They have to be related unless all reapers look alike like some freakish incestuous species.

  He walks up to me and looks at me like he is thinking about purchasing a car. I instantly hate this man. Something about him, besides the way he is looking at me, makes my skin crawl.

  “Oh good, you are awake at last. I hope you slept comfortably in my bed,” he said as he kissed the back of my hand.

  What the fuck? His bed? Why aren’t I in a guest bedroom? This place definitely has guest bedrooms. I took my hand out of his and took a step back. “Uh, thanks for your hospitality, but I should probably go see the Ladies of the Waiting. I need to know if I can go back to my life or not,” I tell him, trying not to sound desperate to get away from him.

  He laughs a very unpleasant laugh. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about the Ladies of the Waiting, dearest one. It has been decided already. You are to stay here with me.” He takes a step closer to me and I back up again. “It is the only solution. You cannot go back to your old life or back to the Provisional. You do not belong there.”

  I look to Finlay for help, but he is just standing there watching the exchange. He sees me looking at him and said, “Don’t worry, Charlie. King Alaric is a good male.”

  The king of the reapers, Alaric, looks to Finlay. Someone, please tell me this creep is not related to Kian and his brothers. They both nod at each other and smile. I’m really creeped out right now. This isn’t happening. This is all just some weird dream I am having because of the soul reading.

  Come on! Wake up, Charlie! I think to myself.

  Alaric grabs me when I am not paying attention and wraps me in a tight hug. “I am so glad you are back, dearest one. I will let you settle in while I go attend to business matters. Finlay will stay with you,” he said before releasing me. He tried to kiss me, but I stepped away. He looked angry but just walked out of the room.

  I turned to Finlay. “Fin, you have got to get me out of here. I am not staying here with that creep!” I said, begging him to help me.

  He looked at me with absolutely no warmth in his eyes. “Don’t worry. You will grow to like it here,” he said, repeating himself once again.

  And then it hit me, the thing I couldn’t put my finger on about what is wrong with Finlay. His eyes aren’t the right shade of green. I have stared into Finlay’s emerald green eyes countless times over the past decade or so. The eyes I am staring at right now are more like the color of grass, not as vibrant as an emerald.

  I stumbled back away from him. My heart is racing. “You are not Finlay!” I accused while trying to slowly make my way to the door that Alaric left through.

  He shrugged. “I’ve never been a very good actor,” he said as his Finlay disguise slowly melted away, revealing his true appearance. Standing where the Finlay imposter was, is now a male that looks like he could be Finlay’s evil cousin. He is roughly the same height and build as Finlay, but he has long green hair down to his lower back and pupil-less red eyes.

  I shudder at his appearance. He has to be descended from an infernal. “What are you? Where is Finlay?”

  “I am dark fae and you should abase yourself before me, human filth. If I wasn’t getting paid well to deceive and watch you, I would never have lowered myself to appear as a light fae, let alone one as weak as Finlay,” he said in abhorrence.

  I don’t respond as I continued to inch myself towards the door.

  He is standing across the room, watching me with cold eyes. He doesn’t make any move to try to stop me from getting to the door.

>   I finally reach the door and grab the doorknob that I feel behind me. I try to turn it, but it won’t move. I turn around, taking the risk of turning my back on the Finlay imposter, to try to open the door.

  He scoffed. “I probably should have told you not to bother, but I knew such a clever human like you would figure it out on your own. We are locked in from the outside.”

  He grabbed my arm and turning me around to face him. I didn’t even hear him sneak up on me. “You are lucky that I am forbidden to hurt you,” he said before shoving me away from the door, back toward the center of the room.

  I’ve had enough of this shit! I am sick to death of men manhandling me and pushing me around. I am growing angrier by the second and I can feel my body start to get hot like I have a fever. Before I know what I am doing, I am walking up to the dark fae who has turned his back on me to look out the window. With a display of strength that I didn’t know I had, I picked up the Finlay imposter and threw him through the glass window, where he falls three or four stories before hitting the ground hard with a sickening thud.

  My legs give out suddenly and I collapse to the floor in exhaustion. I feel my body cool down back to its normal temperature. Whatever just came over me has left me weak and tired.

  Alaric rushed into the room, having heard the window break. He seems relieved that I am still in the room as he leans out the window to take a look. “Pity. Lachlan is going to be mad at you after he heals himself,” he said, not at all concerned about the man that I just threw out the window.

  He turned toward me. “Tsk, Tsk, my dear. You mustn’t use your powers. It will speed up the burn out timeline. We need as much time as possible to find your real body,” he said while lifting me off the floor and carrying me to his bed like I am a child.

  I am too weak to fight him. He placed me in his bed and climbed in beside me. He holds me like a lover while he talks to me, caressing me.