by Quinn Loftis
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he began as he met each of their eyes. “I know that Vasile gave you the abridged version of what has taken place over the past weeks. I will try to give you a little more information, and then I’ll open it up for questions.” He waited until he had received nods from each of them and then began.
“Some of you may remember a high fae named Volcan. A very long time ago he began practicing dark magic, and the witches that once occupied this world were all created by him. The fae and some of the wolves that agreed to help attempted to destroy him, and they thought they had succeeded. But now, centuries later, another high fae, Lorelle, has defected and stumbled upon Volcan’s castle along with his essence that he had somehow managed to preserve. Lorelle has been dealt with, but Volcan remains at large,” Dillon continued while they silently listened. He told them all of the things Peri had shared with him regarding the healers, her sister, and Volcan’s past. The males all listened intently and when he was finished the room was silent as they all absorbed the information he had just given them.
“Do you have a place to start looking?” Drayden, of the Canadian pack, finally broke the silence.
It was Peri who answered. “Of course we do. We wouldn’t have dragged you across the world into this mess without having a starting place.”
Drayden looked at her expectantly. “And?” he drug out the word.
She let out a deep breath. “And, we will start with looking on each continent, in each realm.”
“Glad to hear you have it narrowed down,” Nick chuckled but bit it back as Peri’s sharp eyes met his. “I mean, uh, where do we start?”
Peri’s lips curved up into a wicked smile as Lucian laid a hand on her thigh. “Good to know there is at least one smart one in this bunch.”
“What of the lasses? Are they alright? Are they well?” Kale of the Ireland pack asked, his voice a deep timbre filling the room and drawing everyone’s attention.
“You mean the healers?” Dillon asked. Kale nodded.
Peri’s nose scrunched up as she glanced at Sally. She let out a small laugh that was about as real as the tooth fairy. “Yeah, about them....”
~
Darkness was all she knew. Jewel couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been surrounded by the bleak, black hole that she seemed to be falling further and further into. The only time that she felt like a sliver of light was penetrating the dark was when she heard his voice—the deep timbre that soothed her and made her want to crawl back to reality. She hadn’t known his name until she had heard Sally say it after one of his many visits. From what she could gather, Sally didn’t know that Jewel could hear everything that was going on around her, but the more experienced healer spoke to her continuously as if the constant conversation would somehow bring Jewel back from the brink. Jewel had felt Sally attempting to heal her, but the girl could only do so much. When Sally had realized that there was nothing else she could do, she had gone off on a bit of a tirade about this male named Dalton who kept coming to visit Jewel but refused to, as Sally put it, grow a pair and be the mate that Jewel needed. Jewel had been a little shocked to hear Sally say something so blunt. In the short time that she had known the gypsy healer, she had only seen gentleness and kindness and loads of patience.
From that moment on Jewel found herself drifting further and further away from life, only to be drawn back when Dalton was near. She could literally feel him when he came close to her without him ever speaking. A sense of security and peace would rush over her, and she felt as though, in that moment, nothing could touch her, nothing could hurt her, not ever again. But though it felt safe and secure to have him near, it felt equally panic inducing when he left her. It was during these times that she tried to draw on the facts that she knew. She had deduced that her state was induced by the horror and pain that she had endured at the hands and mouth of Lorelle, the twisted fae woman who had been under the control of an evil spirit. It made perfect sense. Okay, so, a team of psychiatric professionals might not agree that it made perfect sense. But in the alternate reality that had become her life when she had been ripped from her home by Lorelle, it totally made perfect sense. Knowing what was wrong with her helped her keep from panicking, but then that was the story of her life.
For as long as she could remember she had been the butt of the jokes her classmates made regarding her mother and her chosen “profession.” Jewel had grown a rather large chip on her shoulder towards her mother because she felt that if her mom had just chosen a normal job, like bank teller, or secretary, then her problems would be solved. But no, her mother just had to be a fortune teller. But Gem hated to be called a fortune teller; she much preferred the term seer. Regardless of the laughter and pointed fingers, Jewel loved her mother. So in order to cope with the jeering, she escaped. She began reading at a young age and found that she not only loved to be able to escape into a story, but that she loved facts surrounding the story as well. The more she learned, the more empowered she felt. So what if she didn’t fit the mold that her classmates said that she should—that society said she should? Big deal, because guess what, suckers, she knew every country, their capitals, their government types, and even their national religions. In her mind that put her a step above them simply because their meager minds could only come up with insults because of something they feared. But her mind held the secrets to all sorts of knowledge. Okay, so maybe they weren’t really secrets since anyone could do a Google search on them and get the information, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Jewel had felt powerless, stuck because of her circumstances, until she discovered that she had a knack for learning. She found that anytime someone made her feel inferior she would become desperate to learn something new, almost as if by taking in new knowledge somehow pushed out any hurt a person had inflicted on her.
Surely with everything she had learned, all the knowledge she had acquired, she could figure out how to deal with the situation she now found herself in. Knowledge had never failed her; it couldn’t fail her now. She wouldn’t let it, because she wasn’t ready to die, not when a new world with amazing possibilities had just opened up for her. In this new world she would no longer be the freak, and that was something worth living for in her mind. Perhaps Dalton was the answer to the question of how. When he was near she could feel her spirit stir, and instead of trying to slip further away, it reached for him. Maybe it meant that he would be able to accept her for who she was. She had read so many paranormal romance novels that spoke of soul mates, and she wouldn’t deny that she had dreamed of such a thing for herself. Until recent events she never thought it would be possible, but the connection she felt to a man she had never even spoken to was something that she couldn’t ignore, not when she now knew of the magical world around her. But even as her heart leapt at the idea of having a soul mate, of having a perfect counterpart, something whispered to her mind that it wasn’t possible. How could anyone really accept you as you are? The voice didn’t sound like her own, but yet it felt as though it was coming from inside of her. You have buried yourself in your books to find acceptance in knowledge. Why do you need anything else from anyone else? Okay, now she knew that couldn’t be her because she had never not wanted to be accepted by at least someone. Everybody needed someone…didn’t they?
~
I don’t need her, Dalton thought to himself, knowing it was the biggest lie he had ever told himself as he paced back and forth within the cover of the forest. Every few steps he sent scathing looks towards Peri’s home, growling low in his chest. “How dare she bind me from…,” he paused. From what? From the woman he adamantly claimed wasn’t his mate? And yet he couldn’t stand the thought of being kept from her. Still that didn’t give his Alpha and Perizada the right to choose separation for him. It should be his choice. He should be the one to decide to torture himself mercilessly by denying himself the other half of his soul.
After Dillon had left him standing there seething, Dalton
had repeatedly thrown himself at the house only to be repelled time and time again. He knew it was pointless. He was no match for the power of the high fae, at least not when it came to magic. The physical pain of being thrown back from the barrier was much more tolerable than the hell he was living with inside of himself. For the first time in a long time he truly wanted something more than the loneliness he had wrapped around himself like a warm blanket. He wanted the light that a true mate would bring to him. He wanted a love that he knew he didn’t deserve—wanted it with a desperation that scared even him. Dalton knew the only way that it would be fair to Jewel would be to bare his soul to her. He needed to come clean about his past, about what was done to him and his family, and about what he had done in the time after that. It wouldn’t be fair to claim Jewel without her truly knowing him—knowing the things he was capable of. Only then would he know if she could love him.
The idea terrified him. It was hard enough to admit your weaknesses to a friend, not that he had any. The idea of revealing all of your secrets, no matter how ugly, to the one person who could rip you heart out was beyond frightening. He was drawn from his thoughts when he saw movement from the window of Jewel’s room. His head whipped around and he moved closer as he watched Dillon and one of the new males step into the room. A low rumble built in his chest as the two wolves stepped even closer to her bed. The spell that Peri had put over the house made it impossible for him to hear anything. Admittedly, it might be a good thing that he couldn’t hear them. When the tall wolf, he finally recognized as Gustavo, stepped even closer to Jewel, Dalton finally lost it in a haze of fury. He let lose a roar worthy of an enraged lion, and despite the spell, he knew Gustavo had heard him as the Spanish Alpha’s head whipped around. Dalton knew his wolf was at the surface staring at the Alpha. Gustavo narrowed his own eyes, staring right back at Dalton, attempting to make him submit—it only made Dalton want to laugh. He would submit to no wolf who thought he had the right to get so close to his Jewel. Later he would evaluate the fact that he had mentally just called her his. Right now he just wanted to rip the other male’s head off and Dillon’s as well.
The Spanish Alpha took another step closer to the bed but his eyes never left Dalton’s. He was testing him. Dalton shook his head slowly at the Alpha. Not a smart move, old man, he thought to himself. Up until that point he had been able to keep his wolf from taking over completely, but when Gustavo reached out and touched Jewel’s cheek, Dalton’s hold broke. Spell or no spell his wolf was going to get into that house. He had no idea what would be left once his wolf was finished, and at the moment his need to get to Jewel was stronger than his care for the safety of the others. The Great Luna help them all, he growled as he ran full force towards the window to his mate’s room.
Chapter 3
“There were days that I honestly believed being a blind seeing eye dog trainer for the blind was about as weird as it got. Man, was I wrong.” ~ Heather
“Peri is producing lazy warriors these days.” A small but firm voice had the group jumping from their reclined and seated positions. Elle was the first to her feet as she quickly looked around to make sure all of those in her care were accounted for.
Once she was sure the three healers were safe, as well as the others, she turned back to the bearer of the small voice. A pixie known to her as Dae, one of Ainsel’s top warriors, was standing on a low hanging branch. Pixies often chose to stay in the trees when dealing with other species. Their diminutive frames, ranging from one to one-and-a-half feet in height, made them appear vulnerable to those bigger than them, but Elle knew they were powerful in their own right. She wouldn’t let her guard down just because they were smaller.
“Why don’t your comrades show themselves?” Elle asked him. She knew better than to believe that Ainsel would have sent only one warrior out to confront them. He wasn’t as old as he was because he was careless.
“You need not worry yourself with them, she-warrior,” Dae told her. “They have no orders to attack—unless you first engage me.”
“I really want that to be reassuring, but the last time we were confronted by a group of pixies, the males were cast into the In Between,” she pointed out.
Dae’s face scrunched up as though he was sucking on a sour lemon. “Yes, that was a nasty bit of business. King Ainsel has discussed the situation with both Perizada and Vasile. He will not go back on his word to assist the fae and the wolves.”
“Then why is he hiding the veil?” Adam asked.
They watched as the pixie warrior glanced warily around the forest. “King Ainsel does not trust the human realm any longer. Volcan was once a very powerful sorcerer. There is no telling how far his reach is.”
“He’s been in lock down for centuries,” Stella spoke up. “Surely, he isn’t that powerful yet.”
“Healer,” Dae said as he bowed respectfully. “We are honored by your presence as well as the presence of your sister healers.” He motioned to Heather and Anna. “But in response to your comment. Evil is like mold that begins to grow on one tiny weak spot on a single piece of fruit. It begins to quietly eat away at that piece until there is nothing left but rot. Then before anyone is aware, it has quickly infected the piece next to it and then the piece next to that one until all of the fruit has been covered. The only way to stop the mold from spreading is to get it away from any other fruit; otherwise, it will just continue to move on to the next piece. Evil, like the mold, will spread quickly.”
“Okay, well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Heather quipped.
“Considering we are the fruit in that analogy, could we please enter the pixie realm?” Adam asked Dae.
Dae made a motion with his hand and the group watched as a ripple in the air began at a spot just below the branch upon which the pixie stood. “By invitation of the King of the Pixies you may enter.” He waved the group forward.
Elle started to move but Sorin placed a hand on her arm and the hard look in his eyes softened as he looked at her. “I will go first.”
Elle didn’t argue; she was learning that there wasn’t anything she could say that would change the protective nature of her mate, no matter how powerful she was.
Anna followed Stella and Heather through the rippling air that was the veil between the pixie and human realms. Three months ago she had been sitting in the voodoo store, Little Shop of Horrors, attempting to avoid the crazies that came out after dark. Now she was entering a “realm” that was not her own where lived little magical beings no taller than the length of her shin. Her mother, being an American gypsy, had always believed in the mystical. Anna wondered now, as she stepped into the cool air of the pixie realm, if her mother had known such creatures existed.
Her eyes widened as she looked around. It was obviously night time, but the stars in the sky shone so brightly that they had no trouble seeing the beautiful, lush foliage around them. Anna had thought that everything would be small considering the size of the pixies. But to her surprise, and to the surprise of her friends as well judging by the looks on their faces, the trees were huge. The flowers growing around them were as big as sunflowers, though they looked nothing like sunflowers. She felt as if she had just stepped into the pages of a fairy tale.
“Okay, is it me or does anyone else feel like the animals that are bound to be hiding just behind all those leaves will bust out in a song at any moment?” Stella mumbled.
Heather laughed. “I’ve only heard Disney movies, but I’m assuming that is what you’re getting at?”
“Like good old Walt himself drew this place into existence,” Stella agreed.
Dae motioned them forward, and Anna smiled as more and more little pixies emerged from the forest. Some were males and dressed in warrior type clothing. Others were obviously female, wearing dresses that shimmered as they moved. She realized as they flitted about that they had wings; she hadn’t noticed that when they had been listening to Dae in the human realm. The wings fluttered so quickly that you could only see the
m if you looked very hard. Anna realized she had stopped when she looked down to see a little pixie pulling on her pants leg urging her forward. She glanced back up to see that the group was indeed further ahead of her now. She smiled at the pixie. “Thank you.” And then she hurried to catch up with the others.
“Overwhelmed?” Crina asked her.
Anna chuckled. “A little. It’s so beautiful it almost doesn’t seem real.”
“Okay, so blind chick moment,” Heather broke in. “This is one of those times when I really wished I had some concept of what y’all are talking about. I can tell from your voices that it must look amazing.”
Stella patted Heather’s hand that was laying on her arm. “Console yourself with the fact that once we are battling the evil Volcan again, you won’t have to see your death coming.”
“Anyone ever tell you that your nurturing instincts suck just a bit?” Heather asked.
“Anyone ever tell you that it’s the thought that counts, not the technique?” Stella asked, causing a sudden shout of laughter from the group.
“Touché,” Heather conceded.
Anna smiled at the two girls and was thankful for their ability to take things in stride when at times she felt like the weight of the world was being dumped on their shoulders. Since they had begun their journey, the young healer had noticed a dull ache deep in her chest. At first she chalked it up to all the walking; she wasn’t exactly in the best of shape. But the pain never abated. But the most troubling thing about it, and the part that made her certain that the pain wasn’t physical at all, was a sudden desire to go back to Farie. It was like when she would forget something after having left her house, only she didn’t know what it was, just that she was sure that she had forgotten something. Anna rubbed the place on her chest just over her heart as they continued on, all the while attempting to ignore the little nudges that urged her to hightail it back to Peri’s.