Turning to the group, I narrowed my eyes on Von's hostile expression.
"It appears that it wasn't me in charge of the actual ritual. I was overwhelmed, and my body was taken over." Yeah, it sounds as crazy as I thought it would.
Everyone's eyes were on me and they all looked full of different emotions—rejection, caution, fear, confusion and finally, my very favorite, casual non-interest. You have to love Leo for always making everything so blasé and unimportant.
"What? Do you know how insane that sounds, Celeste?" Von's voice dominated the conversation as I watched Solomon take a stance next to him, crossing his arms and generally looking intimidating.
Von turned his head towards Solomon's frozen expression and shook his head in disgust. "So, let me get this straight. It wasn't you out there in the clearing? It was someone else, possessing your body?" He paused for a moment to let the question sink in. Although he was waiting for a reply, I could see the curtain actually pull away from his expression—it was finally beginning to sink in.
"Yes."
Leo pushed up from his cushy leather seat and walked towards Von's shoulder, laying his long fingers over Von's collarbone.
"I believe that she is speaking the truth. There was definitely something...different about her." Leo's eyes flicked over to me with calming strength. "Who could this person have been, Celeste? Who in all of the kingdoms could ever be strong enough to take control of you?" His head quirked to the side as if he thought the view would change from that angle.
I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly. Yeah, I was going to have to come clean here or we were going to start out on the wrong foot for the future.
"It...was...," I laid my head back on the seat to help get the words out, "it was me." My eyes cut to Leo for some reason. Out of everyone in the room, it was Leo that I was turning to for strength and support.
"Hmmm, interesting." Leo rubbed his chin and eyed me from head to foot. Even in my seat I felt like he was undressing me with his eyes.
"Stop that." I reacted rather poorly to his scrutiny.
Leo's lips turned up in a mischievous grin, one eyebrow climbing skyward as his eyes burst with a ruby red glow before sliding back to his crystal clear ice-blue hue.
"Stop what exactly?" His grin was the epitome of devilish, but it made his face look oh, so sexy.
Down girl. You're in love with Solomon. Yeah, but dear old Daddy doesn't want you to mess with Solomon. Yeah, he also doesn't want me to mess with the demon either. I shrugged.
Solomon growled beneath his breath and it drew my eyes to him. He was staring threateningly towards Leo, but the demon didn't seem to take notice of him or his deeply hostile reaction. Men. Did Solomon really think that I would be interested in Leo in that way just because he looked at me?
Shaking off all of the testosterone-fueled negative energy in the room, I leaned forward again to get a better view of everyone present.
Tisha was sitting in the back, hands folded in her lap, watching all of the drama unfolding in front of her like she didn't have a care in the world. She was just prepared to tear the men off of each other if she had to. Gabriel was standing over by the cockpit, leaning against the wall on his shoulder, looking as composed as ever. He looked like he was considering if all of the fuss was even worth his trouble. He eyed me every now and then but then he just went back to looking unconcerned. Jack was a basket case as far as incredibly strong military types went—he was quiet and broken. The poor thing deserved to be alone, not in the middle of this insane discussion. Leo was happily participating like he always did and Von was nearly foaming at the mouth, ready to tear anyone apart for saying one wrong word. And then there was Solomon, eyeing every man in the room like they were all his competition. It was kind of cute, really, but he also had the appearance of a man standing on the edge of a knife—ready for anything, and as dangerous as a cobra ready to strike. We were in a serious jam.
"Look, it was me. I know." I shuddered just getting the words out.
"How?" Von's voice sounded weak as Leo released his shoulder and patted him on the back. Von looked at Leo through the corner of his eye like he didn't trust him at his back.
I wasn't about to share the twisted conversation that I had with myself. I mean, how many people get to talk to their future selves while being possessed by them? In certain circles, that might just be considered a little...insane.
My eyes drifted to Leo's and he offered a sly smile in return. "It's time that we left. I have informed the tower that we will be leaving shortly, so..." He stepped towards the cockpit door and then turned back towards Von. "I hear that you are a pilot." His words were like a loaded invitation. "Would you mind taking the co-pilot seat for the flight back? We especially need your magical abilities...to ensure that we don't fall out of the sky like a stone." His eyes were set on Von's until Von finally gave in and turned to face him.
With a sharp twitch in his cheek, Von followed him into the cockpit. When Leo returned to close the door, he winked at me and smiled wickedly again.
I rolled my eyes slightly and then I smiled back at him and mouthed "thank you" as he closed the door. Leaning back into my seat, I waited until the engine roared to life before reaching over for Jack's hand. This time he accepted it and gave it a slight squeeze.
"I'm going to get some sleep." I said aloud to no one in particular.
Closing my eyes, I let the darkness overtake me as the plane jumped to life and began to rocket us back to the West Coast.
24
Seven months later...
Well, I would like to say that I loved every second of being pregnant, but I honestly can't. It was a miserable existence both physically and emotionally. Between vomiting fits and my teary hormones within the first couple of months, I thought that I was going to run off every single man, vampire and demon in the castle.
We had chosen to stay, upon Leo's invitation, at the demon castle for the duration of the pregnancy. We were going to decide what to do after Cora was born. Currently, in the past, I didn't have a kingdom and castle. Even considering that I did have one in the future, I knew that the safety of my baby was of the utmost concern underneath Leo's roof.
Leo had become the overly affectionate father—doting on me and the belly any chance he got. Because he already knew Cora, he would talk to her in Italian and ramble on for hours. It seemed that he was taking advantage of the fact that there was a baby in my belly because he would caress, snuggle and kiss my belly as much as he could. It felt so incredibly sensual and silly until he would finally sit up from his position hovering over my huge mass, only to lean over and kiss my forehead. He never made a move to kiss me on the lips or even the cheek—always the forehead. It made me feel safe, and it also convinced me to allow him the latitude to continue his lovefests with my belly. There seemed to be no harm in it.
Von was a different story. He would ask that I recline on the loveseat in my room while he pulled up a wing-backed chair and read from dusty old volumes. Some of them I recognized and enjoyed like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but others were not as entertaining. Socrates, Dostoevsky, Einstein, and countless others had each had the opportunity to bore me until drool would drip from my mouth as I dozed off to sleep.
I wasn't trying to be rude by falling asleep, but I couldn't help it. Each time Von would close the book, he would smile down at my belly, pat it gently and then reach over to kiss my cheek. The contact would send a flurry of action through my body, but I suspected it was just our powers mingling. I could see how that would have been attractive to me when we first met. Physical contact that gave you a buzz like that could be addictive.
Von was enjoying himself so much as he read from those dusty old books, that I began to recognize some of the reasons that I had been attracted to him originally. He was intelligent, handsome, and thoughtful when he wanted to be. Whenever he would show up at my doorway for one of our reading sessions, he would hand me a ginger ale—the only thing that seemed to calm
down my intense stomach cramps, and then he would ask me how I felt. There was always a genuine sense of shock at the sincerity, and I would blush sometimes when he would ask. My conflicting hormones would rage within me until he would read me to sleep, and then I could shake myself out of just about any mood. It was just soooooo very boring! What man can be sexy while being boring at the exact same time? Indiana Jones when he was teaching a class? Yes, but he was still Indiana Jones. HOT!
Gabriel never seemed to require the bonding time that all of the others wanted. He would come in to check my health, measure the belly, and then ask me questions like a doctor. It turned out that he actually had his license, and he was impressively intuitive and skilled. But the thought of him being my OB/GYN was kind of gross, and I told him right off the bat that I was going to turn to Tisha to act as my midwife. What better qualifications could any midwife have than to be a fairy?
Gabriel hadn't been offended or bothered in the least when I told him about my choice. Actually, he seemed rather relieved. It rolled all over me that it was one more time that he was happy that he didn't have to touch me. Other than that, he would assign me exercises and stretches intended to help with my back pains and overall fatness.
Was I fat? Absolutely! I was so large that I was going to have my own atmosphere soon. No one was idiotic enough to imply anything so rude, though. It appeared that everyone valued their lives and kept their heads low. Sooner or later, someone was going to have to take the job of rolling me around the castle, and I was pretty sure that there were not going to be any takers...except...
Solomon had surprised me more than any of the other fathers. Just looking at him, the things that would pop to mind were weapons, military, vampire and pure hotness. Don't forget the hotness! The first morning that I had been pregnant, he just appeared at the edge of my huge king-sized bed with an acoustic guitar. It had rich caramel colored wood with black enamel around the edges. He was sitting down, holding the neck with his long, capable fingers.
He smiled down at my disheveled hair and asked in his sexiest voice, "Would you mind if I sang to the baby?" His smile was so disarming that I felt a little confused.
"Um, I don't think she can hear you yet." I pushed up on the bed and leaned back against my flattened pillow.
Solomon simply smiled as his fingers began to caress and strum the guitar. The tune was gentle, a quiet lullaby, and it was beautiful in its foreignness. Solomon began to hum with the guitar and every cell in my body melted into a huge blob of mush. The timbre of his humming was so incredibly sensual that, for a moment, I was jealous of Cora for inspiring such a beautiful instinct in Solomon.
That was then, the first time that he had played for me. This was now, seven months into the pregnancy, and I was savoring every moment that Solomon would spend doing this for the baby and me.
I closed my eyes as he continued to play and allowed myself to be transported to the fantasy realm where everything was perfect and Solomon and I were meant to be together. I sighed as the gravity of our relationship hit like a ton of bloody red bricks.
Unconsciously, my mind began to scan through the memories that I had of Solomon. He had been my protector above all things, then he was my friend, and then he was my lover. I had always tried not to compare him with Von, but it was hard when my mind would go on its own walkabout sometimes, sifting through thoughts, memories and dreams. Sometimes I would catch myself thinking about the stark differences between Solomon and Von in both appearance as well as personality. But you know, women are willing to ignore the most atrocious behaviors in men when the men treated the women well. Why the hell are women like that, anyway?
My heart still harbored ill will towards Von for the way that he had treated my disappearance. He had been so cold, disillusioned about what he suspected were my motives, that he didn't even care to come after me himself. And then, when he finally did find me, all I ever received from him was hostility and accusations.
It pained me to admit, but Von and I were never going to be able to make our relationship work ever again. The proverbial bridge had been torn down plank by plank, doused with lighter fluid, and burned while my heart danced around the pyre. Well, that's what it felt like—I was purging myself of him, and for some reason I felt grateful. I was grateful that he had left me alone. I felt grateful that I had been given the chance to be independent. I was especially grateful for the fact that Solomon was always there when I needed him—my avenging angel coming to bring balance to my life.
But your life isn't balanced because of him, is it? I stared off into the corner of the ceiling as I realized that the music had ceased.
I allowed my eyes to drift back to Solomon to find that he was staring at me with an intense look of wonder on his face. My fingers automatically fidgeted and I looked down at them to give them a fleeting glance. Stop making me look bad!
As I forced my eyes to focus back on Solomon, I realized where we stood. This is where he would sometimes ask about us. He would ask, I would put him off, and then he would usually leave me alone for another month. Then he would get this intense look in his eyes again and we would start the entire process all over. It had felt as if this conversation had been due to come along before now, though. I was actually impressed with how long it had taken for the topic of us to come back around.
Solomon looked deeply into my eyes and leaned on his guitar, using the balanced weight that was already based on his upper thigh.
"So, have you finally learned some Hendrix for me? I think his music is massively sexy." I had to change the subject before it even began. It was my best strategy.
Solomon shook his head as his eyes began to glow a subtle white glow. He was getting emotional or angry—usually it was difficult to tell the difference just by his eye color. Both emotions scared the living tar out of me when it came down to Solomon. I didn't want to hurt him, and I definitely didn't want to be hurt by him.
This pregnancy seemed like the perfect time to do some serious soul searching to decide what I was going to do. After months and months of deep thought and deliberation, my thoughts and emotions were just as confusing and discombobulated as they were to begin with.
Every part of me wanted Solomon. But my father didn't want me with him, stating that it would be a terrible choice, basically, and my future-self had been hurt by him so badly that I was still reeling from the projected anger that I had been sending out from the future. Grrr.
My hormone-riddled months of pregnancy were also no help because everything was a big deal. Heck! The fact that we had run out of real butter and I had to use that fake 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' stuff had me in tears for hours. My life was a mess. Or was that just my hormones that were the mess? I could dream.
"Celeste," Solomon looked up at me through his luxuriously long lashes with his glowing pearly white eyes, "I think that we need to talk."
My stomach began to pulse frantically and I could feel the spasm push down through my gut. I was panicked at what we were going to have to eventually talk about. The spasm began to cramp and I shifted in the bed, with Solomon leaning on the comforter.
"Okay." I sighed. Good, you got that much out. Now, let him do the talking. Just listen. I released a cleansing breath as I leaned forward in the bed. I just couldn't get comfortable.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" He locked eyes with me and a chill ran down my spine as my body began to heat up.
"Avoiding you? I don't feel that I've been avoiding you. Whatever gave you that idea?" Besides everything that I have done for the past five months to keep us from having a serious conversation about our love life.
"Well, I may just be reading too much into it, but, you have been going to bed extra early and skipping our evening sessions where I get to play for you and the baby." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with his huge, strong hand. "And then there was the time that I accidentally walked in on you in the shower and you freaked out like I had never seen you naked."
He
paused just long enough for my gut to begin freaking out again. I felt like all of this talk was making me feel like I was being beaten up. It's nothing like when you get the butterflies in your stomach and you fight to keep them in. This was as if I was trying to keep from hurling, but the pain was just a bit too extreme to keep it from happening. I shifted again on the bed, huffing as I fought desperately to find a comfortable position.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Solomon turned his whole body towards me and assessed me from head to toe. "You look a bit...sweaty."
Uncomfortable? Why should I be uncomfortable? We're just approaching the topic of conversation that I have been avoiding for months.
"Look Solomon, I'm fine. It's just a little hot in here." I was lying...big time. Solomon's head turned towards the raging fire in the fireplace and turned back to eye me. He knew better. "Please," I shifted again in the bed. "Continue."
Solomon sighed and reached over for my hand, stretching over his guitar to do so. I allowed him the opportunity to do whatever he wanted to do with my hands because I owed him that much. I had been mistreating him by giving him the cold shoulder during the last five months, but I just didn't know what to do.
"I love you Celeste," he looked down at our hands, "and I want to be with you always...but not if it makes you miserable. Not if it makes you unhappy." His voice gave everything away—his deep sadness and depression, his fear, his self-loathing for anything that he may have done to me that would cause my helpless reactions. Every insecure emotion you would never want a man like Solomon to experience was coming to the foreground, and it was obviously all because of me.
"No, that's not it, Solomon." I threw my other hand over his and held his hand tightly between mine. His temperature had been warming to my own during the time that he was holding my hand. I felt the warmth in the hand below and the cool underneath the hand above—it was a miracle that was all Solomon. I sighed as I shook my head. "I guess I should have told you already. It's not fair that I haven't told you this." I clamped my eyes shut as tears began to well up in the corners of my eyes. You will not CRY! This is stupid!
Ritual Magic Page 23