From The Falls (The Falls Trilogy Book 2)

by Heather Renee

  “There’s too many of us and not enough room,” Oliver said. “If someone walks by, they’ll either smell us or hear us. It wouldn’t matter if they can see us or not.”

  He was right. I had no idea what other kinds of creatures were out there, but I knew at least other vampires would smell us sooner or later.

  “Tell them it’s okay,” Strix said. “I can put a shield on the entrance and as long as nobody tries to come in, it will ensure that they’ll never hear or smell you.”

  “What happens if they try to come in?” I asked.

  “Then be prepared for a fight.”

  Alright then. I relayed the message and watched and Strix flapped his wings in the entrance to the cave. The opening shimmered for a moment and then Strix flew outside.

  “I’m going to keep watch out here,” he told me. “I’ll alert you if I see anyone coming this way and be back when it’s clear for you guys to leave.”

  I thanked him and got settled on the hard ground. Someone had stayed here before and made a fire, but there wasn’t much wood left. We decided to save it for a bit to see how cold it might get.

  I had Lucas on one side of me and Jordan on the other. I leaned into my best friend and she gave me a nudge.

  “All jokes aside, I’m really glad you’re okay and I didn’t have to fight any vampires tonight. None of them would have survived if they’d hurt you.”

  I looked into her emerald green eyes and saw how scared she actually was for me when Cian had taken me.

  I squeezed her hand. “I know they wouldn’t have, and that’s why I love you.”

  “Love you, too, best friend.”

  I gave her one more squeeze and leaned back into Lucas. I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline finally catching up with me or what, but I was sick to my stomach and exhausted.

  “Why don’t you sleep, love?” Lucas said after hearing my thoughts. “Actually, most of us need to sleep. We need our rest, because this will be the only rest we’ll have before we face Cassius. Oliver and I will keep first watch while the rest of you sleep.”

  Oliver nodded, but Tiana pouted. “Come over here and snuggle with me, Tiana.” I patted the rough ground next me. “We can keep each other company.”

  She smiled at that and came to lay next to me. “Much better than sleeping alone. Too bad we can’t kick the boys out and have a girls’ night.”

  “Who says we can’t?” Jordan chimed in.

  “We do,” Lucas, Oliver, Kane and Ryan all said in unison.

  Everyone let out deep belly laughs. The boys were so used to us girls and being around each other, they now talked the same. I shook my head and got comfy on the ground with Tiana. I laid my head on my backpack and was out cold two seconds later.

  ***

  I had a kink in my neck, something sharp stabbing my back and someone nudging my shoulder. Whoever it was better have food and hot chocolate or I was kicking their ass.

  “I don’t have hot chocolate, but I have food.”

  I cracked my eyes open to see Lucas smiling at me and holding some sort of food in his hand. I smelled it and immediately rolled over and threw up.

  “What the hell is that?”

  Lucas rubbed my back. “It’s dried fruit. Normally you love that. Are you okay?”

  “Do I look okay to you?” I snapped and then immediately put my hand over my mouth. What the hell was wrong with me? “I’m sorry, I must still be tired. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

  Lucas eyed me carefully and reached a hand out to help me up off the ground. I felt a little light-headed from throwing up and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or yell at someone else. I needed to get myself sorted out sooner rather than later.

  “Kali, Lucas,” Lorelle called out. “Can I speak with you outside for a moment?”

  I nodded, but before I followed her, I grabbed some crackers from my bag. I hesitantly smelled them and sighed when they didn’t make me gag. I was starving.

  Lorelle was waiting by a rock and gestured for us to sit down. I gladly did so, but Lucas hesitated. She was making him nervous. Last time she spoke with us privately, she dropped a pretty big bomb on us with the fact that she was half mage.

  “What’s going on, Lorelle?” he asked.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed subtle differences in wife your lately, correct?” He shrugged his shoulders and Lorelle rolled her eyes. “Men. No use in dragging this out. Kali, you’re pregnant.”

  “WHAT?!” I screeched.

  “How is that possible?” Lucas asked.

  “Do you really need me to explain it to you?” Lorelle chided.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Things are changing and you guys are going to be a big part of those changes. It started with the half-Guardians and it will continue with you. You’re going to have the opportunity to make a big difference in Arvata, if you choose to.”

  I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, and in complete shock. We had the baby conversation after our ceremony and Lucas said we couldn’t have one until the Fates said we could, which I thought was bogus at the time, but what could I do about it? Plus, we had really long lives. If we had to wait a few decades, then we had to wait.

  “I’ll give you guys a few moments,” Lorelle said before she walked back in the cave.

  Cheese and rice, I had a baby in me.

  I wobbled a little and Lucas grabbed my arm. “You’re as white as a ghost. You going to be okay?” I nodded and he flashed me his megawatt smile with those dimples I loved so much. “We’re having a baby.”

  His smile was contagious and I couldn’t stop the one forming on my face. “I guess we are. I’m still in shock and probably will be for the foreseeable future.”

  Lucas’s face sobered quickly. “We need to go home, let the others finish this. I won’t put our baby’s life at risk.”

  “By not being here, we would be doing exactly that. What if something happens because we’re not here and Cassius wins? Then a lot more than just our baby and us are at risk. Maybe Lorelle can do a protection spell or something?”

  His face lit up with pride. “You’re the strongest woman I know. I am so proud to call you my wife and the mother of my child.” Lucas gently grabbed my face and pressed light kisses on my forehead and cheeks before placing a quick kiss to my lips.

  He kneeled down before me and kissed my belly. “We won’t let anything happen to you, little guy. You’re safe and sound in there for now.”

  “Little guy, huh? Not a little girl?” I teased.

  “Boy or girl, doesn’t matter. As long as my baby and my baby momma are safe, then I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

  I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him closer to me. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Should we tell the others or wait?” he asked.

  “Jordan would kill me if I made her wait, but we can’t tell her and not the others. Let’s tell them all at once, then ask Lorelle privately about the protection.”

  Lucas agreed, so we walked back into the cave to the tell others. Cheese and rise, I was nervous. I mentally asked Lucas to the honors. I didn’t think I’d be able to tell everyone without crying. My emotions were all over the place.

  Lucas cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention as I was barely containing my happy tears.

  “Kali, what’s wrong?” Lela asked concerned.

  I shook my head and Lucas answered for me. “Nothing is wrong. We actually have some good news.”

  “We get to leave this leech-infested place and go home?” Jordan asked.

  “Not yet, but hopefully by the end of the day,” Lucas answered. “Lorelle informed us that we’re going to be parents.”

  “As in right now or in another century?” Oliver joked.

  “As in right now. Kali is pregnant.”

  Jordan let out several choice words while the other girls shrieked and ran over to give me all the hugs. The guys took turns giving Lucas a pat on the back an
d telling him great job like he was the only one who made this happen. Figures he’d get all the credit when I’d be doing all the work for the next nine months.

  “I don’t know how this is possible, but I can’t believe I’m going to be an auntie! Best day ever! Well, until I get my own little munchkin.” Jordan winked at me.

  “I know we’re all excited. Believe me, so am I, but we need to get moving,” Lorelle said. “We have even more incentive to make sure Cassius doesn’t win now.”

  I smiled at Lorelle. She was growing on me more and more every day and was becoming an essential part of our team. I couldn’t wait to get to know her better. She had been through so much in her long life.

  As everyone started packing up, Lucas and I pulled her aside one last time. “Is there anything you can do to protect the baby while we’re fighting Cassius and the Parias?” I asked.

  “It’s already done.” She smiled. “I’ve known you were pregnant since we went and saw the Fates together. I wouldn’t have let you come to the Otherworld without protections knowing what I knew.”

  “Why did you wait so long to tell us?” I asked even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

  “Lucas never would have let you leave Arvata if you knew before, and then you would have fought about it. You didn’t need more stress. When you got sick earlier, then went from hot to cold with your mood, I knew I needed to tell you in case it got worse.”

  I gave her the biggest hug and started to tear up. “You’re the best. I don’t know what we would do without you. Thank you for thinking of us and knowing exactly what to do.”

  I gave her one more squeeze and went to get my things. As I put away the last of my stuff, Strix informed me we had company. I rolled my eyes and told everyone else. Whoever it was better be coming in peace because I was going to go momma bear on them real quick.

  “It’s the Succubi,” Strix said. “There are only two of them and they know exactly where you’re at. I won’t intervene unless they get aggressive. “

  We left our things in the cave and walked outside to wait as a group. Lucas still had a ridiculously happy smile on his face. I had to remind him to focus. I didn’t want the Succubi to think we weren’t to be taken seriously.

  A few moments later, the Succubi came around the corner. They looked like Amazonian princesses and were already making me a feel a little self-conscious. Both them were close to six feet tall with long, toned legs. One of them had sleek obsidian hair. The other’s hair was the color of rich mahogany. Their skin was tanned and smoothed to perfection. I knew it, because they left little to the imagination with their tight leather dresses.

  What caught my attention the most were their eyes. They each had identical colored eyes. I couldn’t tell if they were blue or green as they seemed to shift colors with each movement they made.

  We waited for them to make the first move. It might have been stupid to choose the defensive position, but I was really hoping they didn’t mean us any harm. I hoped we wouldn’t have any more issues until we found Cassius.

  “Hello, Guardians. I’m Gia and this is my sister Jade,” the one with the obsidian hair said. “We heard you had some trouble with the vampires last night, but Cian let you go because you’re trying to stop Cassius.”

  Lorelle nodded. “We are. He will bring too much darkness to our worlds if he survives.”

  “Agreed. More people need to choose the light,” Gia replied and I let out a sigh. She was on our side. “The Fae Queen told us what you needed and we’d like to help. We have a good thing going on down here and we don’t need that piece of shit messing with it.”

  Jordan let out a laugh. “Amen, sister. We won’t let you down.”

  Gia and Jade both smiled and I cringed back a little bit. They may have been beautiful, but their smiles creeped me out.

  “We need some of your blood to use as a bonding agent for a dagger we’ve been given. It is supposed to kill Cassius once and for all,” Lorelle said.

  “That’s all you, Sister.” Jade backed away. “You know the sight of blood, even my own, makes me woozy.”

  Gia rolled her eyes, “I’ll give you what you need. Just don’t be greedy or I’ll be tempted to take something back.” Hers eyes roamed over each of the men and she licked her lips.

  Jordan flinched next to me and I grabbed her arm. “Do not say a word,” I whispered. She huffed at me, but stayed silent.

  Lorelle pulled a knife and small vile from her bag and went over to Gia. I swore that bag was never-ending. She seemed to have everything we could ever need in there.

  Gia snatched the knife out of Lorelle’s hand when she got close enough. “I’ll take care of that, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not.”

  I watched as Gia sliced her wrist and tilted it toward the open vile. Deep red blood began dripping into the vile and continued to get faster. Once the vile was almost full, Gia turned her wrist up while Lorelle sealed the blood then handed Gia some cloth to stop the bleeding.

  “Is it over yet?” Jade called out.

  “Yes, dear sister.” Gia rolled her eyes as Jade turned back to us and walked to stand next to her sister again. “We can’t stay any longer. We don’t want anyone to find out we helped you. Good luck with Cassius, and don’t linger down here too long. You’ve been lucky twice. I wouldn’t count on a third encounter with the others who live here to be as pleasant.”

  The sisters both turned and flicked their hair out at the same time. They even walked with the same stride. Creepy.

  “I’m not sure whether we should be thankful that went so easy or creeped out by those two.” Tiana cringed and I agreed. “What do we do now?”

  “We need to figure out how to bond the dagger and the stone with that blood,” I said. “I’m assuming you know how, Lorelle?”

  She shook her head no. “Actually, I have no idea.”

  I gaped at her in astonishment. I never thought I’d see the day when Lorelle didn’t have the solution.

  “We can help with that.”

  I turned toward the singsong voice and smiled. Bam and Sam were suspended in the air, grinning at us.

  “Queen Lucinda sent us to help,” Bam said. “We were to wait until you had collected everything you needed and then bond the dagger. We won’t be able to help you fight Cassius, but we will be back to bring you home.”

  “Fair enough,” Lucas said. “We will take any help we can get. The sooner we get out of here the better.”

  He placed a protective arm around my waist and I leaned into him. He was going to be the best father ever.

  “Kali, we’re going to need some of your blood, too,” Sam said. Lucas immediately shoved me behind and growled out.

  “Why?” he snapped.

  “So we can bond the dagger to her. The Queen was very specific as to what we needed to do.”

  This task wasn’t going to be as easy the pixies might have thought. They had to deal with an overprotective Meraki and now father.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Over my dead body,” Lucas challenged. “My wife will not be bonded to that dagger. You can bond me to it.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and moved so I could stand next to him again. “I appreciate your concern, dear, but I can decide for myself. I love you and I understand your concerns, especially with what we just learned, but everything will be fine. We need to trust in the Fates, remember?”

  He hated it when I used his words against him. I smiled, because he knew I was right, regardless of whether or not he agreed with what needed to be done.

  “I don’t like it.”

  “I know. I don’t either,” I said. “It’s going to be okay, though. We wouldn’t have been given this gift, just to have it ripped away from us.”

  Everyone was watching our private discussion. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but at least these were my closest friends. Well, and two pixies.

  “I’ll concede for now, but you will not leave my side,” Lucas said. �
�I will help you defeat him.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I turned to the pixies. “Do whatever you need to do.”

  They eyed Lucas carefully and flew closer to us. “As the Arelia, you’re the only one who can handle the power of the stone within the dagger,” Bam said. “Once you’re connected to it, the dagger will help guide you in your fighting skills. The powers of the emerald stone are some of the strongest in all the worlds.”

  I gulped and nodded. I was proud of how far I had come in our combat training over the last year, but it was good to know that whatever powers this dagger would hold, would help to enhance things.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I said. “The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can get home.”

  “Agreed,” Jordan called out. “I need a spa day after sleeping on the ground in a cave.”

  I shook my head and smiled. “What do you need me to do?” I asked the pixies.

  “We need the stone and the dagger first,” Sam said.

  I pulled the items from my bag. The stone was still nestled in the box the Queen had given it to us in. The dagger was wrapped in a thick cloth, since the box got left behind when I froze the crazy Elf.

  Bam gestured for me to set them down on the ground. Lorelle brought the vile of blood from the Succubus over as well. The dagger started to vibrate on the ground as soon as Lorelle sat the blood down. Bam smiled and grabbed the blood.

  Once the lid on the vile was opened, she added a few drops to the dagger and it stopped shaking. Next, she put several more drops on the stone. It lit up for a moment and then the color went flat again.

  “Kali, I need you to grab the stone and place it in the hilt,” Bam said. “Then I’ll prick your finger and add your blood plus a little pixie dust.”

  “Pixie dust?” I questioned. “That’s a real thing? Like Tinkerbell?”

  “Nah, I just like to joke about it. Silly humans always putting their ridiculous twists on what we can actually do.”