Prophecy Accepted: Prime Prophecy Book 2 (Prime Prophecy Series)

by Tamar Sloan

  “You are my half-sister, Eden.”

  Orin was right; I should have sat. I take two shaky steps back and drop onto the stone bench, pulling Noah close beside me.

  I have a brother?

  I look to Noah, those elephant eyes back again. His blue gaze matches my own.

  I have a brother!

  Shock has me forgetting to breathe, forgetting to blink. Doing nothing but repeating that one statement over and over.

  I have a brother.

  “Our father, Avery, is King of the Fae.”

  19

  Noah

  Eden is stunned into silence. Her mouth open, like it’s looking for words. But empty, because it hasn't found any.

  I have to say, I'm glad we're sitting down. I realize I'm getting a taste of how Eden must have felt when she discovered there was more to the world than is supposed to exist. That the supernatural beings you thought belonged in books are guides at your chosen university. Are blood-related to your girlfriend. That the one you already knew was special is special in a whole new way.

  Mind. Blown.

  I want to take Eden in my arms and shield her as she tries to process this. The girl I love was just served up more secrets, more complications. And a family.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, giving Eden's shock a voice.

  “I feel I should explain.”

  Ah, yeah.

  “Fae have always lived amongst humans, as Weres do.”

  I frown. “Then how come we don't know about you?”

  “It was more important to keep our identity as secret.”

  More important than Weres? “What is it exactly that Fae do?”

  “We are protectors of the animal world. Our connection with animals allows us to be their advocates and their champions.”

  I look at Eden, quirking a brow. “Well, that explains a few things.”

  Eden closes her mouth then opens it again.

  “When humans began degrading the Earth and impacting the lives that depend upon it, we were concerned. But when it not only continued but escalated, we decided to expand our reach.”

  Eden glances at me again. We are both thinking the same thing. This time she speaks. “What does that mean?”

  “Fae can mate with humans, and pass on our gifts to our children.”

  A few more pieces click into place.

  Now Eden frowns. “And then you leave them.”

  Orin smiles, a gentle smile, maybe a sad smile. “The children must grow up human, understanding them, working with them, bringing change from within.”

  I frown myself. I think of Eden's life with her single mother. “That seems a little harsh.”

  Those green tilted eyes look straight at me. “Shielding others from pain is admirable...but not necessarily beneficial.”

  What is that supposed to mean? Protectiveness has me straightening, moving closer to Eden. Who runs around impregnating women then leaving them?

  Orin seems to read my thoughts. “It is how we will ensure the survival of Earth.”

  I don't point out that it doesn't seem to be working.

  If I wasn't holding Eden's hand, and she wasn't holding onto mine like a sinking half-Fae, I'd cross my arms. “Does the medieval talk ever raise eyebrows?”

  Orin smiles again, only his lips moving in that calm face. “It is very popular with the women.”

  I snort, shaking my head.

  “But wasted. I do not seek relationships with humans.”

  “So, you talk this Fae policy of yours, but don't subscribe to it.”

  Orin inclines his head, the most movement we've seen in a while. “Something like that.”

  Orin turns back to Eden, “Where is your mark?”

  Is there anything this guy doesn't know?

  Eden's hand comes up to rub behind her ear, in the way she always used to before...I quickly stamp on that little thought, just in case Orin does have some kind of mind-reading abilities.

  “Behind my ear.”

  Orin looks surprised, and for once more than just one set of muscles move. Both blond brows shoot up as his mouth parts. “On your head?”

  As opposed to ears being elsewhere?

  Eden pulls her hair to the side, leaning a little toward me. Her wildflower scent stirs up the next wave of protectiveness. Orin steps forward and looks at the five-pointed star resting within its circle. Then just stands there, stiller than still.

  Eden picks up on the too-still weirdness. “Why?”

  “It is usually on the chest.”

  I wonder what would happen if I mentioned it was on my chest. Orin would probably never move again. Then I'd be the guy that froze my girlfriend’s long lost half-brother. Just another reason to keep my mouth shut.

  “Great, I'm not even a normal Fae-Human.”

  “Changeling.”

  “Changeling.” Eden repeats the word quietly, testing it, exploring it.

  Sitting so close, I feel Eden's feelings change as understanding sinks in. As more questions form.

  “Why did he appear then leave?”

  Orin knows exactly who Eden is talking about. It's a flipping valid question, too.

  “We do not inform Changelings of their heritage. Our secret is too important. We seek to reconnect humans with their roots in nature, nothing more.”

  Confusion tangles Eden's face. “But he showed up.”

  It's a look I probably share. “And you just told her. And me.”

  Orin shrugs, a small, smooth movement. “Maybe it is because you are of royal blood; our father does not have any other Changeling children.” His green eyes flick to Eden's ear, where her mark rests. “Your Fae heritage is...more powerful than we predicted.” That was almost a ‘the Force is strong within this one’ comment. “The rules do not seem to apply.”

  Orin looks at me again, serious and still. I shift, straighten, and look away. Eden straightens, too, matching emerald eyes connect and lock. “So, what do you want from me?”

  Orin takes a step forward, a soft, gentle smile is gracing his face.

  “We want you to learn about your heritage. Fae have such a wonderful, incredible part in this world. We want to help you reach your potential.”

  “Okay.” That one word says so much.

  For some reason, those cryptic words and Eden's response has me putting an arm around her shoulder.

  Orin ignores the movement, taking another small step. “And Eden, I want to get to know the sister I was never allowed to meet.”

  “Oh.” The quiet word almost whispers out of Eden's surprised lips. “I think I'd like that.”

  There and then it starts to sink in. Eden is half supernatural, which really explains a lot. Pretty much everything. It also makes her more like us than we ever considered. I can't wait to tell Dad, and Mum, and Mitch and Tara.

  “You cannot tell anyone that you have a brother.”

  Eden nods. “I know. I figured that.”

  I grimace a little. I don't even want to imagine how Alexis would react if she found out Eden has a half-brother. Actually, I have no idea how she would react, but I doubt it would involve smiles and hugs.

  “I mean, neither of you can tell anyone about the Fae.”

  What?

  “Oh. I'd like to tell Tara, she's my closest friend.”

  That would mean Mitch, too. Tara and Mitch aren't an open book, they're volume one and volume two of the same book. I'm pretty sure Eden knows this.

  “And her mate, he's Noah's twin, Mitch. I would trust them with my life.”

  “You are trusting them will all Fae lives.” Orin frowns. “They cannot tell other Weres.”

  Eden looks at me as she realizes she's going to have to ask me to keep this a secret from my parents. And my pack.

  Orin steps forward. “Our power is in our invisibility. Reconnecting is not something that can be taught. It must be discovered and experienced.” His green eyes come up to connect with mine. “Nor do we have strength to protect ourse
lves if we are discovered.”

  Unlike Weres.

  I look at Eden, eyes steady. It's a no-brainer; she never questioned the need for secrecy with Weres. “You carry mine, I carry yours.”

  Eden smiles a sweet smile, one of the ones that make my heart clench and swell at the same time. “Okay.”

  Although Orin barely moves, I can sense he's excited. It could be the brightness in his eyes, or maybe because they quadruple in size. All of a sudden, I wonder how he's felt knowing he has a sister but never being able to meet her. I think this may have been something he wanted. “Shall we meet soon? Perhaps tomorrow afternoon?”

  Whoa, for a guy that doesn't move he sure acts quick.

  Eden bites her lip for a moment, contemplating the grass at her feet.

  That all-of-a-sudden moment keeps going. In less than an hour, everything has changed again. But this time, THE feeling isn't there. I notice what happens in its absence. Because there were some things I already knew long before Orin's bombshell, the ones I never doubted. I knew Eden's differences made her special, that she is more than she ever thought possible. And it turns out I was right. Which means all the things I wish for could turn out to be true, too. It leaves a space for a new feeling to take root. It feels like light in the dark, like a present with a future.

  Eden looks from me to Orin, and says the words, even though we all know what her answer is going to be. “Yes, tomorrow sounds good.”

  20

  Eden

  I’m more nervous than I was for my entry interview at Wyoming State. That nerve-wracking scenario had three people in suits, a big room with an even bigger desk, and me, all twitchy and uncomfortable in my own power outfit.

  But I’d been prepared for that. There were rules, clear expectations, and known outcomes.

  I stand at the edge of the trees, looking right, looking left. This is where he said to meet. The middle of nowhere. A one-hour hike from the visitor’s center, into the reserve, without the guidance of a trail. I check the instructions again, scrawled in script that looks like it was written by Grandfather Douglas. Old and curvy and penned deep into the paper. I’m sure I’ve got it right, but nervousness has me second guessing, double checking the map.

  “Hello, Eden.”

  I jump, turning to see Orin a step behind me. Talk about a walking ghost! He’s wearing a smile, and his eyes hold a warmth and acceptance I’m not used to seeing in family.

  “Ah, hi.”

  “You needed a map?”

  This was actually the first time I pulled it out. The terrain of this reserve has slowly become part of my anatomy. Navigation points created by animals I’ve encountered, magnificent vistas I’ve memorized, overwhelming moments I’ve experienced—like Were sightings, human threats…meeting up with your newly discovered half-brother. My internal compass means I can navigate the atlas in my mind largely without the man-made map. I fold it and shove it into my bag. “Just checking something.”

  Orin smiles, and I wonder how much of the churning in my mind he senses. “Shall we begin?”

  “Sure.” Whatever it is we’re starting.

  Orin enters the shadowy protection of the pines, and I follow. Only a few steps in and he stops, sucks in a deep breath, holds it then releases it. I can’t see his face, but I practically feel the wave of peace and contentment that washes through his body. Without conscious thought, I find myself doing the same. As pine and earth fill my lungs, I feel something light and expansive enter alongside them. It’s a peaceful feeling, so serene and effortless. It’s one of those feelings that’s so earthy you want to sit beneath a tree and grow roots beside it, but so light and free you want to dance over the pine-needled ground, arms thrown to the sky, face kissing the sun right back.

  I look over to see Orin watching me, that acceptance still glowing in those green tilted eyes, now smiling. “You feel it.”

  I nod. “I love it. It’s always stronger in the forest.” And when I’m with Noah. “I’m just not sure what ‘it’ is.”

  Orin nods, like it was the question he expected, or I was supposed to ask. “Come.”

  He walks further into the forest, hands reaching out to brush grooved bark, whorls of pine-needles. “It is you, your soul, your spirit, connecting with the elemental dimension of yourself. It is remembering, remembering and returning home.”

  Orin’s words swirl in my head. “Home?”

  “Yes, Eden, home. All sentient beings are embedded in the natural world.”

  “Is that what makes you, ah me, Fae?”

  “In part. But this deep affiliation with the natural world is universal. Yes, it is deeply rooted in Fae, but it is also just as much a part of human biology. Or Were.”

  I nod, eyes scanning the world around us, sensing the rightness of his words.

  We keep walking, no clear direction apart from heading deeper into the body of the forest. I glance at Orin and find him equally lost in thought. “Where does the melody come in?”

  “You hear the music?”

  “Yeah,” I say the one word uncertainly.

  Orin beams. “That is wonderful.”

  “But not normal.”

  “There is no normal in nature. Diversity is a beautiful, wonderful thing.”

  It’s the first time my differences have been seen in that light. It’s liberating. Unsettling. Quite a few beliefs would have to be rearranged, maybe a couple moved out, to accommodate this new perspective.

  Orin stops, and I pull up beside him. Around us the pines are still, silent. “Hold my hand.”

  I look down at the outstretched palm and tentatively slide mine into it. Straight away I feel it. Orin’s feelings, so tranquil and peaceful and blissful, I look down at our joined palms. It’s the first time I’ve felt the connection with someone other than Noah.

  Orin smiles at me; I can feel his happiness, and it lifts me, lightens me. “Close your eyes.”

  My eyes drift closed, and in the darkness the melody starts but stronger than before, amplified, intensified by my brother beside me. It brings with it the peace I have always felt, but this time there is more. The harmony holds a timelessness, balance, harmony, somehow so complex but achingly simple.

  I open my eyes to find they keep going, widening until they hurt. Animals, so many animals are scattered through the trees. Butterflies flutter around us, a halo of color. Furred bodies leap and dance and play, some so close you could touch. Beetles and bugs crawl over the leaf litter, surrounding our shoes. Birds are everywhere, some big, some small, some still, some flickering with infinite energy.

  The scientist in me tries to name them, find their place in this amazing ecosystem. But the other part, probably the Fae part, just watches in wonder. Predators, prey, competitors, loners. They all come and wait.

  I wish Noah could see this. The space around us is a kaleidoscope of life.

  Slowly the animals start shifting, moving in closer. Wings touch, fur brushes. All the animals surrounding Orin and me, like they are welcoming me to the place I have always felt is home. My smile is the only thing moving, growing wide with wonder. As each animal touches, it leaves and slowly our clearing empties.

  When a Canadian lynx arrives, I lose the ability to breathe. Their status has never been formally documented in the reserve, and yet the pale grey feline, his black pointed ears erect, is most definitely a lynx.

  “He’s unsure,” I whisper to Orin. The lynx’s stubby, black tipped-tail is twitching, pale eyes wide and watchful.

  “Reassure him.”

  I reach out to the lynx with my mind, finding the edgy distrust that his body communicates. I call up the melody, finding the hint of curiosity flickering in the feline before me.

  Long legs carry those wide paws closer, toward a species he instinctively avoids. A few feet in front of me he stops.

  “What now?”

  “He came to see you. It is your decision.”

  Somehow, I know I could have the lynx closer, maybe even touch it if I
wanted. And that thick, pale grey fur has me curious. But for what end? The lynx doesn’t gain from my human contact. So, I give him all that I can.

  Thank you.

  I kneel, knees sinking into the soft ground, and smile. A sighting of this threatened, reclusive species can be the beginning of conservation efforts. A blink of those canine-like eyes and the lynx turns. With a graceful leap, his stumpy-tailed body disappears between the pines.

  The blond head beside me is moving, and I turn to find Orin shaking his head. The nervousness that felt so far away suddenly creeps back. “Was I supposed to pat him or something?”

  “No.”

  I wait, bracing myself because I realize I’ve done it wrong. Again.

  “Well done.”

  “What?”

  “You know the influence you can have, but you did not use it for your own gain. Our gift is powerful, but you did not abuse it.”

  “I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt it.”

  Orin has gone from shaking to nodding. “Yes, we feel it because we are connected. It is not the same for so many others, those that have distanced themselves from their roots. The tear in the human-nature relationship means they no longer feel the pain of the natural world.”

  I glance at the timeless beauty around us, feeling sad that others don’t get to experience this.

  Orin nods, no doubt sensing my thoughts. “But when they cut themselves off from painful feelings they stay numb. They stay stuck.”

  I suck in a breath as his truth hits me. Orin just described Alexis.

  “That’s what you do, isn’t it? Help people reconnect with nature, to heal it.”

  “And to heal humans. One does not stay healthy without the other. That is what we do.”

  We. “How?”

  “That answer is as infinite as snowflakes, as endless as time, as evolving as nature itself.”

  “I don’t think that’s an answer.”

  Orin smiles. “You will figure it out.”

  “That’s even less of an answer.” I glance at the trunks and branches that just swallowed all our visitors. “I’m going to be a vet. That will make a difference.”