Rae’s voice turned shrill as she babbled incessantly. The fireflies whirled faster and faster in reaction to her anxiety.
At what point did my life become thus?
Eyes crossing, I grabbed Rae’s chin and closed her yapping mouth. “Spit it out.”
“No touching.” She twisted from my grip. Rae squeezed the rabbit a mite too firmly. It thumped its feet against her arm. Starting at the creature’s sudden desire for freedom, Rae dutifully set it down, but ignored its nippy bounce into the woods, preferring to glare at me. “High gods, why does everybody forget the personal space issue?” Appearing confused as to why she held another animal, Rae knelt and let the hedgehog plod into the bracken.
“We hugged. We are family, or have you changed your mind?”
“Since I need you I won’t unleash my godlike powers and singe the mane of hair Daphne considers glorious clean off your head.” She sniffed. “You deserve hideous baldness.”
My heart tripped at the mention of the vampire. Glorious? “Touching is allowed if it is inappropriately violent?”
She stomped her foot. “We’re not having a ‘touching’ moment. They happen when you’re being nice to me.”
I groaned and held my head. The throbbing returned. “Rae, please–”
“Honey-cakes.”
My brows lowered in mystification. “Honey-cakes?”
“I need one.”
Why is she bothering me with this? “You are immortal. You no longer need to eat fruits of the earth.”
“You’re High Lord and no longer need that gigantic massively humongous chip on your shoulder, but it’s there. I deal with that. So you need to deal with this.”
“Go. Away.”
Her smile dropped into a snarl. “I am fully prepared to set Baako on you if you don’t help me.”
“That is not what a Familiar–”
“Here’s the funny thing about something being mine.” She stabbed a thumb to her chest. “My Familiar, my highly inappropriate rules.”
Squinting – because the gods know her voice grates on my nerves – I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Lily oversees the food.”
“And she’s being unreasonably tight-fisted with it. Do you think I’d be asking for help if I were able to ask for one? Lily’s guarding each cake as if they’re sweet and fluffy droplets gifted from heaven.” She licked her lips. “Not that I, uh, think they are, or anything.”
I eyed her askance.
Breandan suffered her predicament countless times as a youngling. The cooks pinched his ears when they found him ankle-deep in the pastries he favoured. Sticky nectar smeared over his ingenuous face.
Ancestral tattoos of the Wyld Guardian crawled up his thin arms even then.
My lips twitched at the memory.
“’Tis strange. Lily is not vigilant. Most times you can easily pinch a treat as long as she does not catch….”
Rae blushed and chewed her thumbnail. She mumbled crossly at her feet, the sooty crescents of her lashes gleaming in the low light as her sulky expression morphed into mortification.
“She caught you stealing?”
Rae’s luminous face darkened as it lifted. The air charged, and the leaves quivered on their stalks. “Stealing.” The squeal ripped through the higher octaves of her vocal register. “Really? We’re calling it that?”
We faced off, staring at each other with equivalent measures of sibling dislike.
I would have smiled at how easily we’d fallen into the roles of brother and sister if my features weren’t iced into the glower I saved for intimidation.
Despite being shorter than me by a full head and a half, Rae managed to look down her pert nose. “Are you going to sneak me one or not?”
I thought back to our past confrontations. I grinned. Finally, I win. “Not.
Face slackening, she blinked. “You’re just like Breandan.”
She stalked off. Stopped. Spun and jabbed a finger. “I’d watch your back, Lochlann. Never know when a bear might maul you from the shadows.” She clawed the air in front of her with a feral grin then skipped away.
Perplexed, I turned to Gunarr who’d dropped to the ground, and landed crouched. Scratching the second spike on his red Mohawk, scarlet irises shifty, he muttered about skinning an owl for a feathered hat.
“What did she mean?” I asked. “What traits do I have like besotted, obstinate, impetuous little brother?”
Ignoring me the fairy searched the tree canopy. He stilled. Growled with such menace, I fully expected an enemy to charge from the gloom.
The owl hooted. The sound came from the opposite direction we travelled in.
Throwing his head back to yowl a battle cry, Gunarr bolted, blurring into a green and red streak.
Lifting my hands, I let them fall with a slap to my sides. “Does no one listen to me anymore?”
Daphne weaved around low bushes and shrubs towards me. Her ankle was bloodied, but healing.
Kian battled with the badger, swinging his arm back and forth in panic until he tripped and fell.
Stopping in front of me, tottering on her toes, Daphne blinked, swayed, and patted my chest. “I listen to you.” One eye closed in confusion as the other rounded in distress. “Don’t I?”
“You most of all disobey. I warned you the wine the human drank was strong. Still you fed.”
Daphne pointed to her throat then her stomach. “Hungry and thirsty.” She blinked oddly then pointed to her mouth. “I meant my stomach was thirsty, my throat hungry. Wait. That’s just not right either. Is it? My stomach–”
The twitch under my eye quickened to a vibration. “Then you should have taken from me.” My chest heaved, and I clawed back the protectiveness that detonated within me, an upsurge of jealousy and desire that occurred from the mildest of things concerning this vampire.
Tipping her head back, Daphne’s eyes sparked. “I don’t care for your tone.” She softened, eyes dreamy. “But I do care that you do pretend to not care because you do.”
My brows plunged as I waded through her convoluted meaning.
She hooked an arm around my neck and hopped a foot in the air. Our eyes connected as she mashed her lips to mine.
Braids bounced around her shoulders when she landed lightly, but awkwardly. “Breaking the rules is fun.” Looking side to side suspiciously, she slinked back. Whispered, “Don’t tell Rae I said that. Never tell her that I said that.”
My mouth curved in a smile. How unexpected.
Gawking, Daphne shook herself all over. She forcibly turned her head, hands pushing out. “Just like Breandan.”
Flushed and grinning, she staggered away singing off-key.
Refined features curdled, twigs in his hair and scratches marking his arms, Kian shook his fist. “Save her from a forest creature, she bites you. Bellow at her and she kisses you. Mad female.” Yet he trailed after her.
Just like Breandan? I smile like little brother? She couldn’t mean I kiss like....
Spinning on my heel, I roared, “What did you say, vampire?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rae
I haven’t learnt the greatest lesson of them all. No matter what happens, stay in bed.
The furious male hurling epithets and curses at my back as I attempted to reach the Wyld boundary unseen made me wince.
When I woke, and peered at the dark figure looming over me, reluctance stomped on my earlier resolve. Wry, I shook my head. Again I planned to leave the safety of Breandan’s arms. Recent history made me cautious, and I didn’t want to leave. I’d hesitated ready to make a number of selfish excuses as to why waking Breandan was a brilliant idea. I haven’t fulfilled my dare. I’d looked up to find the space above me empty. My gaze roamed until I found Tomas’ flickering body blending into the surroundings as he walked through the dwelling wall. I sighed and turned to press kisses on Breandan’s face. He mumbled nonsense, and his lips pressed a wild kiss in my direction. As I tried to slip from the bedding, he shifted, an
d slung an arm around my waist. I released a pent up breath when he tightened his hold in a hug then released me to roll over. My sad sigh became a squeal as I was shoved out the bed by his much larger and stronger wings. Landing on the floor with a noisy oomph, I rubbed my bruised bottom. Amused, I watched Breandan’s broad back rise and fall in slumber. At least I know he’s used to sleeping alone. I was set to crawl under the covers again when Tomas cleared his throat outside.
Leaving had been hard enough.
Now I stood a few minutes from the boundary arguing with my dangerously pissed Familiar.
I’d managed to leave Breandan’s dwelling unseen, but Baako sensed my heightened emotional state as he guarded the tree base and roused himself to investigate. He’d found me sneaking off with Tomas playing look out, and a crappy look out at that.
Seconds from Changing and clawing at the air, Baako growled and exuded menace. His eyes darted every which way. He could sense Tomas and hear his voice. Distinguish a glimmer of mysterious power in his periphery vision, but he couldn’t smell or see him. Scent was vital to how shapeshifters perceived the world.
My options were to tuck tail and run, or make a firm stand and settle the perimeters of our relationship. I straightened my shoulders. “Do this for me?” I wish my voice hadn’t pitched higher at the end.
“I should be going with you, Twitch. Not that vamp–ghost–argh! Not that thing.” He snarled spinning a circle so fast it made me dizzy. He resumed pacing until his weighty tread flattened the brownish grass. “I need to protect you. Do you know how hard it is to rein the impulse to grab you and run somewhere dark and safe right now? Yeah. A dry cave somewhere nice and high. A river nearby for fish.” He spun again. Dirt flew, and his heel carved a circular groove. “I’ve begun to think of you as my cub. You can’t wander off with a thing and not let me go with you.”
I realised by accepting a predator shifter as my Familiar I’d be dealing with possessive animal tendencies, but this was extreme. “You promised you wouldn’t interfere. I warned you. I do things that won’t make sense right away. Please, Baako. I can’t tell you anything more that I have. Stay and look after him.” He threw me a scathing look, and I responded with a wobbly smile. “For me?”
Baako scrutinized me. With a full-bodied slouch, he dry washed his face. “Whatever you say, Twitch.”
Scowling fiercely at the moniker, I paled, shaking my head when the roguish twinkle in his eye gave up his next move. Squawking, I turned to run. He latched onto my shoulders and jerked me off the ground. Rotated mid-air, my eyes rounded as bulging arms crushed me in the ultimate bear hug. My dangling legs thrashed thinking themselves still in-flight.
“Don’t die,” he grumbled, rubbing his bristled cheek across my crown. His chest vibrated with laughter. “I’d never live it down.”
Gasping for air, I grunted my agreement. Breathing proved difficult when several hundred pounds of shifter squeezed you tight.
Baako shot a baleful look over his shoulder that drifted when he couldn’t pin point his target. “I don’t care how infallible you think you are.” Anger roughened his tone. “Anything happens to her and there’s nowhere you’d run where I wouldn’t find you.” Growling to reinforce the warning, Baako squashed me to his muscled chest one more time, dropped me, made sure I was steady on my feet then stalked off without looking back.
Materializing with a surly expression, Tomas opened his mouth to verbalize the nasty thought mirrored on his expression.
Something caught his attention over my shoulder.
The whites of his eyes blotted with black, and he sneered. Jealousy tinged with fear twisted his pale face into a frightening mask.
Eyes briefly slipping closed, I turned.
Breandan stood behind me with an expression so bleak, I swear, my heart ruptured and bled.
Gaze skimming over the scene, his face remained guarded until he decided to forgo the shouting, and clutched my shoulders.
Breandan’s eyes burned a hole through Tomas until they swooped to me, clouded with betrayal. “Why?” The question was resigned. “Why leave me?”
This is more than difficult.
It was painful.
“I knew the moment you left my bed. I thought you needed a moment to yourself but when you didn’t return….” Breandan released his hold on me. “I knew this would happen.
Alarm hitched my voice. “You did?”
“The moment you hugged me before you fell asleep, I knew it. Your eyes were sad.” Trying not to look panicked he held out his hand. “This means nothing. Already forgotten. Come home.”
I stared at his broad palm, particularly the faint lines I’d traced during the night as he slept. I’d taken a step reaching for him before I realised what I did. All the people I sacrificed in that action.
Breandan stiffened when I retreated.
I grabbed my opposite arm, hoping the physical barrier would keep my gooey insides spilling a confession of what Ana and I concluded must happen to restore balance, and for the minimal loss of life.
I have to leave, and he mustn’t follow.
Avoiding his eyes, beautiful traps set to snare, I mumbled, “I have to go.”
“No.”
Chuckling, Tomas murmured, “Yes.”
Ignoring the bait, Breandan took a calming breath and kept his palm extended. “Put your hand in mine, and let’s go home.”
Emotion clogged my throat. The urge to scream ‘yes’ and run into his arms was maddening. I hated hurting him. I was principled enough to do the right thing without flaking out because of Breandan.
I’d used Ana’s unparalleled foresight to tread the paths of my future. Nothing was set in stone. The slightest diversion drastically altered my future. Fate only took so much wear before it split, and the future became unrecognizable.
If I let Breandan accompany me to the Northern City too many people died. The confrontation would be apocalyptic. Eternal conflict that made the atrocities that occurred during the Rupture mild.
War that extinguished Breandan’s life.
I shivered at the memory of Ana’s devastated face when she described him exploding into dust because something antagonised Marinette into a blinding rage.
His future, and the futures of countless others were secure if he stayed.
Breandan deserved a happy life. So did I. I didn’t want a dream. Some insubstantial vision viewed solely through the eyes of a Seer. I wanted life with Breandan as reality, and our family and friends safely living their lives. Fate would keep throwing us in life or death situations that forced our hands until balance was restored.
I have to finish this. Higher gods, I mean there to be no more fighting.
The scared female part of me wanted to curl into Breandan’s lap. I craved his protection. That was my instinct; letting him take care of me. Acting on pure instinct was no longer enough.
“Rae.” Tomas’ tone failed to conceal his impatience.
The interruption rankled. This was another reason I’d hoped to leave before Breandan woke. My intention was to avoid stressing him unduly. Who I’d chosen to bring on this journey would cause him unease and panic – cause him to doubt the strength of my love. It made it hard for me to convince him to stay behind if he didn’t feel he could trust me.
“Tomas, leave please.”
He huffed. “Rae–”
I tossed a glare over my shoulder. “This is private.” I focused my attention back on Breandan. His face paled, but he seemed less edgy at my detached response to Tomas’ insistence. “Wait for me at the Wyld boundary.”
It was eerily quiet. I peeked to check he’d gone.
He hadn’t.
Flashing his fangs, Tomas’ face pinched with annoyance.
I spun and took a threatening step.
He turned his face to hide a frustrated snarl then blended into the shadows, disappearing from sight.
I sighed my relief and thrust a shaking hand through my hair that ended on a manic tugging of the
ends. It made it easier to think when the cause of mistrust wasn’t hovering and spoiling for a fight.
When I gathered enough poise to turn, Breandan adopted a stony composure.
My mood sank into murkier depths.
He became this aloof when he resolved to see something through. The frame of mind was welcome when he battled an enemy. Facing it, I felt a newfound respect for those who’d withstood it. The immovability of his wide-legged stance was aggressive. It made you wonder if you were crazy to defy him. The flinty stare of piercing blue glossed with a silvery sheen enthralled. The wintry silence was deafening. The press of his power a hot pressure that demanded submission.
The souls daring enough to withstand his displeasure are courageous indeed.
Beneath the stonewalled composure, he felt threatened. Worried he’d sacrificed everything to watch me slip away into the arms of another.
His reaction was difficult but understandable.
Pushing past the urge to cower, I wrapped my arms around him. He remained rigid though his breathing deepened and his heartbeat raced.
Lives depended on us getting past his fear of losing me, yet I couldn’t tell him that to make this easier.
I rubbed my face on his chest. Inhaled his pleasant earthy scent. “Breandan, I’m sorry. I-”
“Is Baako going with you?”
“No.”
“He’s your Familiar. A protector.”
“Exactly. He’ll die fighting for me, and I can’t have that. I couldn’t get past the guilt of someone so important to me dying.”
“Leaving your Familiar is not an option.”
I swallowed, and felt horrible heat turn the back of my neck sweaty. For the first time, I outright lied to him. “Say-so.”
He relaxed infinitesimally. “We will return to our dwelling where we can finish sleeping. Travelling during the day is safer. Baako will find you safe places to rest at night. At dawn, you can begin your journey.”
Damn, Breandan, don’t you think I know you well enough to hear the unsaid. By then he would have either convinced me to let him come, or be ready to follow me in secret.
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