The limo is waiting for us. Alyssa and her family are already seated in it as I climb in. Alyssa is snuggly sitting between her parents and refuses to even look my way. We travel the distance to my home in complete silence, until the mansion looms ahead.
Scotty gives a whistle as we pull up to the large, ornate gates. “Would you look at that? Wow, Ally, you’re too lucky.”
I watch Alyssa, but her eyes never leave her lap. Her hands bunch the fabric of her dress. I see an unfamiliar car as we approach the front of the house. It must be the other couple’s.
I slide out first and wait for her family to get out. I tap at Alyssa’s shoulder as she quickly grabs her mother’s hand. “Alyssa, please do me the honor of allowing me to escort you inside,” I say with a pleading tone.
Alyssa doesn’t look at me, but Toni takes her chin, lifting it to make her look at her. “Alyssa, you should let him. This will all make sense very shortly, and I know you’ll feel terrible about depriving Eden from introducing everyone to you.”
“But I don’t want to. I don’t trust him, or any of you, to tell the truth. I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter,” my mate says.
I notice my ring is gone from her finger. I take her hand and her eyes fly to mine. “Where’s the ring, Alyssa?”
She opens her other hand and shows me she has it. “Please put it on, princess. Like your mother said, you will understand all we’ve told you very shortly.”
“I don’t want to,” she says.
David steps close to her. His voice gruff, he says, “You were not brought up this way. No matter how unbelievable this is, it is the truth. Now put this little pouty crap away and put the ring on. Let Eden take you in and introduce you. Smile and be polite, or so help me, Alyssa Shaylee Devlin.”
Alyssa looks at her father with wide eyes and I can no longer allow him to speak to her that way. I step between them and take Alyssa by the waist, pulling her close to my side. I take the ring from her and place it on her finger, then turn my attention to her father.
“David, I beg of you to remember who she belongs to and how protective I am of her. Please don’t rile my anger. I fear I would not be able to control it.”
David backs away as Alyssa looks at me in surprise. “Eden, don’t talk to my father like that.”
“Princess, I apologize. Let’s just go inside where this will all be explained and you’ll have proof of what we’ve told you to be the truth,” I say as I move her with me up the stairs to the front entrance.
The door opens as we approach. The head butler, Niles, greets us with a stoic expression. He’s not big on smiles, or emotions of any kind. “Good evening, Master Fontaine,” he says.
I smile at him and gesture to Alyssa who allows me to hold her by the waist, yet still remains distant. “This is my Alyssa, Niles.”
Niles makes an attempt to smile and it turns out a bit creepy. He bows low and says, “A pleasure to meet you, Mistress Devlin.”
“The pleasure is mine, sir,” Alyssa says, and I find I could not be more pleased with how gracious she is, even though she thinks us all insane.
“Your parents and their guests are in the main salon. Please follow me and I will announce you,” Niles says.
Toni, David, and Scotty have caught up with us, and we follow Niles out of the foyer and down a short hallway into the main room. A monster sized chandelier hangs high above the marble floor. Double sets of spiraling staircases lead up to the east and west wing suites where all thirty-six bedrooms have private lavatories.
Toni and David have been here many times, so they’re not struck by the beauty of the house, but Scotty is wide-eyed and captivated.
“Dang it, you’re lucky, Ally,” he says as he looks over the grand room.
To my disappointment, Alyssa looks straight ahead. I squeeze her a little, and speak quietly in her ear, “Do you like it, princess?”
Her voice is flat and emotionless as she answers, “Of course. Who wouldn’t?”
Nothing is going as I thought it would.
We arrive at our destination to find my parents sitting on a scarlet-colored, chenille cover sofa and a silver haired couple sitting across from them on a matching one. They all rise as we enter the room.
Niles begins the introductions, “Master and Mademoiselle Fontaine, and Master and Misses Covington, I am pleased to introduce you to Master Eden Fontaine and Mistress Alyssa Devlin.”
I take my mate and lead her first to my mother, who wears a giant smile. “Alyssa, this is my mother, Sierra,” I say.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fontaine,” Alyssa says.
My mother holds her arms out for a hug and I let my hold on my mate go, praying Alyssa will accept my mother’s gesture. Thankfully, she moves forward and hugs her.
“We’ve waited so long for you, daughter. Please call me Sierra until the wedding, then call me mother. Nothing would please me more.”
Alyssa is released and I’m pleased to see a slight smile on her gorgeous face. “Thank you, Sierra. You seem very sweet. I love your French accent. It’s even richer than Eden’s. It’s very charming.”
My father is itching to get his introduction. He doesn’t wait for me, but jumps right in as he reaches out to Alyssa and says, “I’m papa to you from now on, sweet princess Alyssa.”
He takes her into his arms and hugs her, rocking her back and forth while murmuring something to her I can’t hear. When he releases her, she’s really smiling.
“My, you are something else. I bet you keep your wife on her toes, such a charming man you are, and your French accent makes you all the more interesting,” Alyssa bats her eyelashes at my father.
How adorable she is and my parents already love her. My father turns our attention to the other couple. “Please let me introduce you to the Covingtons. They’re from London. This is Grace,” he says.
I reach out and take the silver-haired, still quite beautiful woman’s hand, placing a kiss on it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She giggles a little. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you, Eden,” she tells me with a British accent.
I release her hand and Alyssa reaches out to shake the woman’s hand. Grace looks at my mate and smiles. “Could I please have a hug, Alyssa?”
Alyssa nods, allowing the old woman to hug her. The woman whispers something to my mate and Alyssa giggles. Grace joins her, giggling too.
As odd as it may sound, they have very similar laughs. Grace lets Alyssa out of the hug, but keeps one arm around her shoulders.
She turns her to face her husband. “This is Rodney, my mate,” Grace says.
I extend my hand to him and he takes it in a firm handshake, much too strong for a man of his advanced age. “It’s so good to meet you,” I say.
He claps me on the back and grins. He too has a British accent as he says, “Good to meet you too, son.”
Our attention turns to Alyssa as she says, “Is it true?” to him.
The room which has been filled with hushed whispers as Toni, David, and Scotty have been greeted by my parents, falls silent.
Rodney nods his head at Alyssa and answers her question, “It is, Alyssa. We are about to show you your future.”
Grace takes Alyssa’s hand in hers, then tells her, “Place your hand in my mates as you hold mine. All your doubts will be gone in an instant and the truth will reside within you.”
I take a step back as Rodney reaches out to my mate. Alyssa takes his hand and her eyes close as Grace and Rodney look into each other’s eyes.
A few seconds later, Alyssa opens her eyes. They’re wide and twinkling. She pulls her hands away from the couple as she looks back and forth between them.
“Oh my! Oh my!” Alyssa says as she brings her hands to her mouth and shakes her head. “It’s unbelievable, yet I know it to be true. Thank you!”
She hugs Grace, then Rodney, “Thank you both so much,” she says, then turns to me.
Her eyes look even more blue somehow, without an
ounce of sadness or doubt to them. She moves slowly to me, then takes both of my hands in hers.
“I am yours and you are mine,” she says with a determined tone. “We are something not of this world and we will be together for eternity. I could not be happier with who Our Creator has chosen for me.”
Finally, we’re on the same page and my heart races with excitement. “So now you know how I feel,” I say.
She nods and hugs me as she whispers to me, “I’m so sorry I ever doubted you. It will never happen again, Eden. I love you.”
As my body feels as if it’s on fire, I have to wonder if it’s possible to love someone so much it physically hurts. And just how long will this pain last?
CHAPTER 27
ALYSSA
Grace and Rodney hold my brother’s hands in theirs and show him the truth. I couldn’t have him left in the dark. He might be a pain in the rear, but he’s my pain in the rear and I love him.
The look of complete cluelessness he had when everyone in the room knew something he didn’t left me sad for him. I had to ask the current Phoenix couple to enlighten him.
Mom gave me her version of the news when we were on the plane. Can’t say I really believed her.
Here’s how that little conversation not every girl gets to have with her mother went:
“I would like for you to lie back, Alyssa. I think it’s best if I tell you all this, like I used to tell you bedtime stories. Remember how I did that when you were a little girl?” Mom asks me.
“Yes,” I say weakly, sniffling. I lay back on my pillows. Mom covers me up, tucking me in.
“Once upon a time, there was an ancient secret society which tended to a couple of extraordinary creatures. These creatures were sent to them from God. The creatures helped to warn humans of disasters before they happened, as to give those who heeded their warnings a chance to survive.
Almost every culture has stories about these creatures, from the ancient Egyptians to the American Indians.
These creatures are human, but they can also take on the form of large birds. There are only two of these birds at a time. Once one pair is done with their jobs and too old to go on anymore, a new pair is formed.
Now, not just anyone can be these creatures. They’re chosen before they’re even born. The two who are chosen are mates for life, from birth until death. There is no other way.
Your father and I are members of the society which takes care of these God-given creatures. When I was pregnant with you, we were summoned to a gathering. All the pregnant couples in this group came together. The high priest, Galchobar, was there for what reason we did not know.
He walked through the mass of people, touching each woman’s stomach. After he had done so with all the pregnant women he went up to the altar, first calling out the man’s name, Lyle Fontaine, then the woman’s name, Sierra Fontaine.
They walked up to the altar with him. He beckoned us to say the chant of unity. Then he stopped us and spoke another man’s name. This time he said David Devlin, then he said Antonia Devlin, and we walked to the altar. The same process was repeated.
It was our unborn children who were chosen to be the next pair. Your names were given to us at that time. Yours, of course, was Alyssa, which means ‘princess’ in Greek. The Fontaine’s were given the name Eden, which means full of fire.
After conferring with the Fontaines, we made an agreement you would be raised in a very normal environment, as long as we kept you chaste.
It was your father’s and my intent to give you at least a few years of normal before you had to begin an extraordinary life. Not a bad life, by any means. It will be fantastic, Alyssa,” my mother tells me in a soft and comforting voice.
I open my eyes, not really believing the story she just told to me. “Mom, are you on acid?” I ask her.
“What? Oh, heavens no, silly girl,” she admonishes me.
I sit up very slowly, then turn and look her in the eye. “Mom, are you telling me that me and the gorgeous stranger are some kind of flying people? That we are destined to be together or some shit like that?” I ask.
“Alyssa, I will not have you talking like that. You’re about to step into a very important role. Now, Eden has been groomed for his role his entire life. We sheltered you, a fact that now I don’t think was fair to you, but it’s done, nevertheless. Now we have to get you to grasp onto your immediate future and all that it entails,” she tells me.
“So, where is Kyle in all this?” I ask.
“Sorry, sweetie, Kyle is nowhere in this,” she says.
“Mom, you let me be his best friend since I was ten years old, and now, oh sorry, that’s over. Ummm … not so easy to do, okay?” I gripe.
“I realize that now, but it changes nothing,” she says.
“Yeah, it does. He has feelings too, Mom. What about him? This will kill him, if he even believes me. Who is going to believe me Mom? This is ridiculous. When are you going to tell me I’m on some kind of morbid TV show where parents prank their kids with really mean pranks?”
“You can’t tell anyone about this, Alyssa. They won’t understand,” she tells me.
“Well, you got that right, Mom. Like, who would understand that a couple of babies were summoned up from hell, or wherever, to rule the skies as giant birds?” I ask.
“Stop that right now, Alyssa. You are not from hell. Far from it. You come from all which is good. The things you will do are for the good of mankind and there is not one thing evil about it,” she tells me sternly.
“Unless you count the part where you make a couple of kids spend the rest of their life together. Whether they want to or not. I mean, can’t I be this creature and still be with who I want to?” I ask.
Oh, boy, that sounds dumb. Am I beginning to believe this crap? Yeah, I’m going to turn into a big bird, squawk. Mom has lost it, I thought.
Needless to say, it was all true.
Grace and Rodney let Scotty’s hands go and we all wait for his reaction. As his eyes open, I see new depth to them. “No way!” he says. He looks at me. “No way! You’re going to be a giant bird, sis.”
Everyone in the room laughs at his reaction. He looks around at all of us. “I can’t believe you kept this a secret from us, Mom and Dad,” he says, then comes and gives me a hug, much to my surprise. “I’m really sorry about all those jokes I played on you, Ally. Please forgive me. I’d never have done those things to you if I’d known what you are.”
My mother and Eden’s share an, “Awww, how sweet.”
I hug my brother, then ruffle his hair. “I forgive you, Bubba. It’s what little brothers do, after all.”
He gives me a smile and says, “Thanks, Al. You’re the best.”
The butler announces dinner is being served in the formal dining room and Eden takes me by the waist. We follow the old man through a myriad of halls and rooms until we reach a spectacular dining room. It’s even more beautiful than the five-star restaurant Eden took me to.
Now this is the life!
Eden pulls out a chair for me at the enormous table. I sit and he takes the place next to me. The other Phoenix couple sits across from us. It’s odd, but I have no questions to ask them, because they’ve told me everything in short clips of visions in my mind.
When they held my hands, I saw things so quickly it’s not humanly possible to process the information. Yet I did. Here I was thinking this whole time that I was plain old Alyssa Devlin, ordinary girl. I thought my destiny was to become Kyle Boyd’s wife and mother of his children. Nothing more than that.
Wow! I couldn’t have been more wrong!
Apparently, these creatures have existed for thousands and thousands of years. The couple who sits across from us doesn’t look it, but they’re one hundred and fifty years old, and they don’t look like they’re kicking the bucket anytime soon. They appear to be in excellent health. Both are still attractive, with few wrinkles and silky, shiny silver hair.
Grace has green eyes. In her younge
r years, they were a brilliant almost teal color. The years have faded them some, but not a lot. Rodney had chocolate brown eyes when he was young. His have faded a bit too, but they still radiate compassion. That’s what I feel the most in them is a compassion for others.
I know it dwells in myself, as well as in Eden. It will enhance once we’re able to change. So many things will enhance. They couldn’t show me the future, only the past. What our gifts will be is unknown, as each pair has different ones. But it’s the overwhelming compassion for all creatures which drive the Phoenixes.
An odd fact they shared was about birth control and how it doesn’t work on us. They’ve had five children in their marriage of one hundred and thirty two years. We’ll have children when Our Creator wants us to.
That’s another thing they gave me—faith. I believe without a shadow of doubt in Our Creator. Never have I had such a strong belief.
The only thing which bothers me about all of this is the knowledge that Kyle will never leave my heart. I made a place for him there and he will always reside within me.
My place is with Eden and he has a much larger place in me. He’s in my heart and soul, so much different than the small piece of my heart Kyle’s in. But he is a part of me, and I don’t know how the future will be with him always in my life.
He will be a part of it, though, and Eden, as well as Laura or anyone else who gets involved with Kyle, will have to deal with it the best they can. It’s out of my hands.
A maid fills all the stemmed glasses with a white wine and I look down the table at my parents. Scotty is on the same thought as he says, “Hey, Dad, am I allowed to drink wine?”
“If it’s placed in front of you, it’s yours, son,” my father answers.
Scotty does a funny thing with his eyebrows and says, “Man, life sure has changed, hasn’t it?”
We all find ourselves laughing. Eden’s hand comes to rest on my thigh and I look at him. It’s almost as if I can see right into his soul. I’m so nearly there. I send a thought out to him, shouting it loudly in my head to see if he can see it. ‘Tell me you love me.’ I send it out to him over and over as I look into his emerald eyes.
His Sweet Torment: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 119