Into the Dream [The Arcadians] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Laurie Roma

  “I wouldn’t let you touch me with a ten-foot pole, asshole,” Allie snarled out before she could stop herself, her anger directed toward the middle light-haired brother who had spoken. She could see the surprise and interest in his glowing eyes as he turned his attention her way. “Not that you’d even get the chance after my mates tear you to pieces,” she added after her mates let out another threatening growl.

  She was satisfied when Tynan shot her an amused look and nodded in her direction. Allie wanted to smile at her mates, to assure them that she had every faith that they would protect her when another voice rang out.

  “They are right,” a female voice shrieked out. “She is an abomination! Look at her small form. She is a useless female who will not be able to bear the princes any heirs!”

  Oh, Allie knew that voice. It was that bitchy female Vanya who had called out. Fury coursed through her veins like lava, burning a path through her body. She wanted to jump on that stupid female and tear her apart with her bare hands. A wave of rage hit Allie so hard she jerked where she stood.

  This wasn’t just anger…this was something else.

  Something was very wrong.

  Allie gasped as the wave of fire receded, only to be replaced by another much stronger than the first. She wrapped an arm around her middle and would have keeled over if King Arik hadn’t caught her before she fell.

  Tynan turned and saw his mate almost fall to the floor. With a snarl of pure wrath, he shook off the warriors holding him and leaped over the table to take her from his father.

  “What is it, little one?” Tynan whispered as he held her close.

  Allie was panting as she tried to answer him. “I…I don’t know. Something’s wrong.” Her body jerked again, and this time she did cry out. She could feel Cael and Ryder’s presence by her side as a sheen of sweat slickened her feverish skin.

  “What is it? I cannot tell what is going on inside her,” Ryder growled in worry at his older brother.

  “She is blocking us,” Tynan answered, a look of worry darkening his features. His glowing eyes connected with Allie’s. “Stop it, let us in.”

  Allie tried to do as he asked and released the wall inside her mind. She knew the moment she succeeded as she felt all three of her mates jerk at the impact of her pain.

  “How long have you been like this?” Cael whispered.

  “Just…happened,” Allie breathed out. She jerked again as another wave of pain hit her.

  “What is it? What is wrong with her?” Queen Kyriani whispered in concern as she hurried up to them.

  “We do not know, mother,” Tynan replied, his voice harsh with fear.

  “Tynan, I’m scared,” Allie whimpered against the pain racking her body.

  Tynan drew her close to his body, as if he could somehow shield her from what was happening in her body. “Breathe easy, little one. We will figure out a way to help you.”

  “Take her to the healing chamber,” King Falon ordered. “The healer—”

  “Can do nothing to help her,” Ryder snarled in return. “She is the greatest healer there is. If our princess does not know what is wrong with herself, then they can do nothing to aid her.”

  “Come to me,” a voice said softly in Allie’s mind as the argument raged on around her. The feminine voice was beautiful, with a strange accent that was lyrical to hear. Allie quickly looked up at her mates but knew they had not heard the voice as they continued to argue with their parents. Allie thought she must be going crazy until she heard it again.

  “Come to the crystal temple, and I will aid you.”

  “The crystal temple,” Allie croaked out. “Take me there, now.”

  Everyone stopped speaking and turned to her in question.

  “Would the Goddess aid her?” King Arik asked. “She is not of our world.”

  “Take me to the crystal temple now!” Allie screamed out.

  The command in her voice must have worked, because Tynan turned and left the hall at a dead run with her cradled in his arms.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tynan quickly carried Allie through a dark hallway cut into the very stone of the mountain. “We are almost there, little one. Do not worry, there will be light soon enough,” Tynan said with a voice that had gone tight with tension and worry.

  Love poured into Allie, momentarily distracting her from the pain as she realized that Tynan remembered her fear of the dark. Not that the darkness would really bother her as the pain engulfed her once again. They burst through the end of the tunnel and entered a large cavern. Surprise had Allie’s eyes going wide with shock. The inside of the cavern was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. The walls of the cavern were completely made up of crystals that cast a radiant glow of blue light that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. The lush greenery shone with an iridescence that made every leaf and vine seem unreal. In the center of the room was a large pool that shimmered a brilliant amethyst color.

  Hearing the unspoken question at the usual color of the water, Cael answered Allie in her head. “This is the sacred pool of the Goddess of the Moons. The water is charged with the light and power of the moon, so it takes on a different coloring.”

  Normally, Allie would have been fascinated by the story, but the fire burning in her belly took all of her attention. Allie allowed a whimper of distress to escape, causing her three mates to curse loudly.

  “What is wrong with me? What’s happening?”

  “Goddess of the Moon. We come seeking aid for our mate.” Cael’s voice was thick with emotion as he called out to the empty room. “Help us!”

  “Place her on the altar.” A voice echoed through the cavern. It was soft, but the voice rang with a feminine power so mighty it was impossible to ignore.

  Tynan placed Allie down gently on the altar as ordered. Cael reached down and moved the hair off of her face, cupping her cheek in his large hand. She opened her eyes and saw all three of her mates staring down at her, their glowing eyes filled with a mixture of worry and fear. She wanted to tell them she was okay, to soothe their worry, but she didn’t know if that was true.

  “Aye. All will be well. You must leave her to me now.”

  “We will not leave her,” Tynan said on a growl.

  “You do not have a choice.”

  Ryder cursed under his breath and moved forward, but he was stopped by an invisible barrier. He let out a vicious snarl, and Allie watched as he threw his body against the barrier, unable to get any closer to her. The altar grew warm and started to glow with an inner light. “What the hell...” Okay, this is starting to get freaky.

  “Allie!” Tynan snarled as he pounded on the air in front of him. The altar blazed with a white glow, encompassing Allie in its bright light, and she heard Tynan’s anguished roar from a distance. She threw up a hand to shield her eyes as the world seemed to explode around her.

  * * * *

  “What the…”

  The light faded, and Allie had opened her eyes to see that she was no longer in the cavern with her mates. Allie blinked her eyes a few time then sighed in resignation. She should be used to being transported to strange places by now, but the truth was she would never get over the whole “beam me up, Scotty,” moments that seemed to keep happening to her.

  She had found herself lying on her back on a large chaise, wearing a long silver gown made of a material as soft as a cloud, yet lustrous as silk. She looked around and saw what looked like a temple, gilded in gold, silver, and every shade of blue that Allie could think of. The open windows let in a soft, soothing breeze, giving the room an open feeling, even though she couldn’t see anything but misty white outside the walls of the temple.

  “Where the hell am I?” Allie huffed out.

  “I do not appreciate my home being called hell,” a deep voice rang out from behind her.

  Allie gasped and spun around, her jaw dropped.

  The man was huge. He must have been around ten feet tall with thick, bulging muscles and the fac
e of a fallen angel. He had a white toga wrapped around his trim waist, and his skin sparkled with a dark-golden hue. His eyes blazed with an amber light similar to her mates’, only deeper, as if they could see straight into her very soul. His hair was the palest blond and reminded her of sunbeams.

  The massive man lounged on what could only be described as a golden throne. Beside him sat an empty silver throne, ornately carved with beautiful dragon designs that matched the golden throne perfectly. Allie eyed the massive male with pure female appreciation but also felt confusion as to where she was or who this man was.

  “I am Silas.”

  Umm…okay. By the way he said that, Allie assumed the name should have meant something, only it didn’t. Nevertheless, she was not about to tell the giant that.

  Silas heaved out an exaggerated sigh and sat up straighter from his slouched position. “I am the God of the Sun, Silas.” Before Allie could speak, he continued. “You are here as my lady wishes, and only as a favor to her. I do not concern myself with the matters of mortals and could care less if you live or die.”

  Well, that was certainly telling her.

  A soft tsking sound filled the air. “There was no need for such brevity, my love.”

  Allie blinked in surprise as the lethal man’s harsh face softened with a look that could be described as sheepishness from a lesser being. Huh. On him it just looked…hot.

  “Allison.”

  Allie turned her head, and her eyes widened in shock as the most beautiful woman shimmered into view. The woman wore a gossamer gown that flowed over her body like liquid mercury. Her hair was a mass of silken ink-black curls that framed a face so beautiful it was almost painful to look at. Her skin glimmered in the light as if it was made up of thousands of tiny crystals. Where the man was gold, the woman before her was perfection in silver.

  The woman’s lips curved in a small smile, and her pale-silver eyes swirled with mirth as if she could hear what Allie was thinking. “I am Lunaria, Goddess of the Moons,” she said, her voice soft as a whisper. “Welcome to the Isle of Dreams.”

  “Umm…thank you.” I think.

  Lunaria let out a soft tinkle of laughter that made Allie want to smile as she heard it. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Silas’s lips curve at the sound and his eyes brighten as he looked upon the Goddess. Damn, she could look at the God all day, Allie thought, but forced her attention back on the lady in silver as she spoke again.

  “I have asked Silas to bring you here to our home so you may go through the conversion in peace.”

  Allie’s brows furrowed. “Conversion?”

  Lunaria sat down next the Allie on the chaise in one graceful movement. Leaning back on the end, she looked like the ultimate fantasy, one that mortal men would die to be able to touch.

  “They would die if they touched her…I would kill anyone that tried,” Silas announced as he stood up from his golden throne. He walked down the steps in a sure stride, quickly coming to Lunaria’s side. The Goddess nuzzled her face into his side in an affectionate gesture, and the God’s massive hand stroked over her hair in a loving caress. The chaise grew and lengthened underneath Allie until it was large enough to accommodate Silas’s large frame as he sat down next to his lady.

  “He jests,” Lunaria said with a smile.

  “He does not,” Silas fired back as he hauled the beautiful woman into his side. She seemed to bend and curve fluidly so they fit perfectly against one another. They shared a sweet kiss. Allie smiled as she watched them, but a nagging feeling of her mates’ pain lingered in the back of her mind, turning her thoughts back to why she was there.

  “Well, this has been great and all but—”

  “You would like to know why you are here and what the conversion is,” Lunaria finished as Silas wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back into her lover’s embrace. “I understand you have questions, and I will answer as many as I can for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lunaria bowed her head in acknowledgement before speaking. “Before you ask your questions, let me give you the essentials of why you are here. Together, Silas and I combined our powers to pull you from your home on Earth. We brought you forth to Arcadia to mate with the Princes of the Sands to be the beginning of a new era, a new turn for a world that seems to have stagnated from their own brutal past.”

  Geez, that seemed like a lot of responsibility.

  “It is,” Silas confirmed. “So, you best not disappoint us.”

  Allie gulped a second before Lunaria jerked her elbow into Silas’s side. He shot her an innocent look, and Allie was shocked as the Goddess rolled her eyes at him. Silver eyes gleamed with mirth as Lunaria turned back to Allie.

  “We may be Gods, but all of them seem to have their stupid male moments, aye?”

  Ah…did she really want to answer that?

  Lunaria chuckled as Silas let out a low grumble. “Let us get on with this,” he said impatiently. “The sooner the telling, the faster she can leave and we can be alone.”

  “Forgive my mate. We are only able to meet twice a day when the sun and moon align in the sky. During the hours of the day, I am trapped in my own world, and during the long hours of the night my love is similarly trapped in his. It is in the in-between that we are allowed to meet here, where we can be together.”

  “That’s lovely…and very sad,” Allie said. Her heart broke at the loss these two lovers probably felt each time they were torn from each other’s arms. It was telling that Silas called this beautiful place his home, since he shared it with his love.

  Silas’s face softened for the first time while looking at Allie. “I know your heart, human. I feel the love you have for your mates. So why is it you have been so resistant to your new life?”

  “I haven’t…I mean I have tried to acclimate as best as I can.” Allie bristled silently under Silas’s penetrating gaze. “Hey, it’s not easy being taken from your life and thrown into another. I think I’ve done pretty well so far.”

  “You have,” Lunaria agreed, shooting a glare at Silas. “In fact, you have done better than I have hoped, which is why I am hoping you will cope with what is happening right now just as well.”

  Okay, that sounded sort of ominous. Allie braced herself, but nothing prepared her for what the Goddess said next.

  “Right now you are not really here, only your spirit is. Your body remains in stasis on the altar back on Arcadia. Have no fear, when we return you it will be but a matter of minutes that have passed. Your mates are not able to see you as you slumber behind the veil we have protecting your body as you go through the conversion. I know their fear for you, and you will be able to be with them again shortly after we have our discourse.”

  “Conversion…you mentioned that before,” Allie said slowly. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “In order for you to thrive in this new life, Silas and I decided that we needed to…hmm, how to say this so you understand. Basically, right now your body is undergoing a change. We have, in essence, altered your genetics. It is a painful process. You got only a glimpse of just how much. Our magic is being infused into your body, changing your cells and organs to suit your new form. You will still be you…with a few new additions.”

  Allie could feel the color draining from her face at the thought of something happening to her body that she wasn’t aware of. It was scary…no, it was downright frightening, and it was also pissing her off.

  Silas huffed out an impatient breath. “You just turned twenty-eight? Your mates are one hundred and thirteen years of age. The Arcadians usually live to be close to five hundred years. If not for the conversion, you would die before you even began to live.”

  Shocked filled Allie at his words.

  She had never suspected that the life expectancy would be so different in this new world. She blew out a shaky breath before squaring her shoulders. “I appreciate you changing me so I can be with my mates, but I would still like to know what these ‘new addit
ions’ entail.”

  “I am aware that your mate Cael has informed you a little about the past that Arcadia has undergone, but there is more that the current generations do not remember clearly.”

  Allie watched as Silas leaned back and closed his eyes as if he were bored with the subject. That was okay, she was fascinated and could use a reprieve from his probing gaze.

  “In the distant past, the Arcadians were true shifters, gifted with the ability to change into their animal form, similar to the folklore of your home planet,” Lunaria began.

  “You mean like werewolves?” Allie asked, trying to wrap her head around what they were saying.

  Silas snorted in derision, his eyes remaining closed as he spoke. “Wolves, they are nothing compared to the true nature of the creatures Arcadians once were. You have been gifted with the ability to shift into a dragon…a truly noble beast.”

  “Dragons! Dragons are real here?” Allie exclaimed, intrigued.

  “Dragons are very real,” Lunaria said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “For centuries, Arcadians roamed the universe as a peaceful race. They traveled to distant lands in search of other life, hoping to observe and connect with other living beings. It was not long before they realized that other cultures were not as advanced as they. And so the travels ended, and they were content to remain on their home planet. But from the years of wandering with full autonomy over their action, establishing a new regime back at home became…difficult for those in power. Wars ravaged the planet, and the lands ran red with the blood of the fallen. Entire villages were destroyed, and families were torn apart. It became obvious that the Arcadians had strayed far from the path which we had set out for them, and so we bound their shifter ability to try and end the wars.”

  “We do not like to interact with mortals—” Silas began, only to be interrupted.

  “You. You do not like to interact with the mortals,” Lunaria corrected. “While I would like to take a more hands-on approach, unfortunately there is only so much I can do. Once we bound their powers, the Arcadians evolved. During the wars, the male genes seemed to take over, somehow knowing that the tribes needed more warriors to fight. As the years passed, more females were lost until the population was completely unbalanced. Even so, there is a prophesy that tells of the return of the Great Ones. That is where you come in.”