Prophecy Fulfilled: Prime Prophecy Series Book 3

by Tamar Sloan

  “And yourself.”

  My mouth snaps shut.

  “And the Prophecy.”

  I fall silent.

  United we conquer.

  I look at Avery across the lamp lit space. “It’s bigger than we imagined, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose it’s who you have to unite.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “And what you have to conquer.”

  I’m about to ask more when a thin shaft of light punctures the dimness we’ve been living in for twenty-four hours. I squint in disbelief. It worked? It’s two steps and I’m at the little break in the wall of brown, confirming that what felt insurmountable has now, indeed, been breached. I reach in, ready to start tearing away at the soil myself when I jump back. A black, dirt-covered nose juts out, sniffing, then jerking back with alarm.

  Avery stands, his eyes shut. His face is the exact opposite of how I feel—serene and smiling. “Your scent makes her nervous. It would be better if you stepped back.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  But I do as I’m told, hoping like hell that the faith I’m putting in this guy is well placed.

  A paw, black claws looking disproportionately big, slashes at the soil and the hole steadily widens. More and more fractured light starts to filter in.

  I look at Avery. “It’s working!”

  “Yes. Who would have thought?”

  I ignore the sarcasm; the restless impatience is exploding into nervous excitement. I’m coming, Eden!

  When the hole becomes big enough to see the whole wolverine, I wish I could hug it. It pokes its head in, gleaming black eyes alert and curious in its furred face.

  Avery steps forward, nodding. The wolverine looks at him for several seconds and in the gloom it looks like it almost nods back before disappearing.

  Eden’s father turns to me. “Shall we go find her?”

  I’m already at the hole before he’s finished. Scrambling in, the space is just big enough for me to squeeze through, meaning Avery’s lean form will be fine. The tunnel is short, only a few feet, but it makes a sharp turn as it navigates around one particularly large boulder. If I’d dug this, there’s no way I would have been able to maneuver the obstacle course Mother Nature had created. Well, certainly not in one night.

  The lungful of fresh air that I suck in when I reach the other side isn’t because I’ve been cooped up underground for hours. My lungs suck in as much air as they can contain, drawing in the smells and possibilities carried on the wind.

  I’m searching for Eden.

  The wolverine has brought us out on the side of the hill, the entrance that Kurt caved in is several feet away. Two rocks provide steps and I’m back on solid ground, no chance of being trapped in a rock belly in sight.

  There’s rustling behind me and I turn to see Avery pulling himself out. But as my eyes adjust to broad daylight, it’s not the wide-open space and trees and total lack of obstructions between me and where I want to be that has my focus, it’s Avery that I really take in.

  The shallow breathing, the skin tinged with grey, and the unmistakable strain that taking those eight steps have caused all tell me that Avery is far more unwell than I’d realized. He straightens and takes a step down to the first rock, only to have his leg give out. I leap up and grab him before he stumbles, then help him down to ground level.

  The moment we’re there, Avery straightens.

  Giving him a moment, I take the time to dust off the dirt that hitched a ride as I pulled myself through the tunnel.

  “Thank you.”

  I look up at him. “No. Thank you.”

  Chest still working overtime, he smiles. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to get to?”

  As my heart hungers to find its mate, I pause. I can’t leave Avery here, not looking like that.

  But Kurt has almost a day on me.

  And no-one knows where Eden is.

  And I’m the only one who can find her.

  I look Avery up and down. He looks weak, but there’s an inner strength about him that I recognize from his daughter. “Have you ever ridden a wolf?”

  The surprise that bursts across Avery’s face gifts me my own little flare of satisfaction. I bet not many people can say they’ve seen that expression on the King of the Fae’s face.

  I arch a brow. “Your daughter has developed quite a taste for it.”

  Avery looks at me, clearly weighing up his options. He’s already seen how stubborn I am, and has realized there’s nothing that will keep me from going to Eden. It’s whether he’s realized that I won’t leave him behind that could waste precious seconds.

  Avery shakes his head as he steps toward me. “Well, I imagine she didn’t inherit that from her mother.”

  I shift and crouch down beside Avery. Slowly he climbs on, and I know I won’t be able to run at my usual speed, but I’ll take it. Any movement in the right direction is what my heart is crying out for. Avery settles on me and I notice that even though he’d be taller than Eden, he doesn’t weigh much more.

  As I angle for a gap in the trees, I wonder if the mental connection works with all Fae. Ready?

  I’d like to see my daughter, thank you.

  Apparently, it does.

  As I run through the forest to the truck, I send my senses out wide. Eden and I have never had to test how far our personal radar can go, but I do know our connection has only become stronger since our Bonding. The only thing that has kept me sane is the knowledge that if something really serious had happened to Eden, I would know about it even if Kurt launched me to Mars.

  I also start to wonder. Eden would have left for a reason, and not the one Mitch suggested. She’s stronger than that, we’re stronger than that. What has my hackles tingling and chest tightening, is that it would have to be a pretty good reason. Eden has loved the sense of belonging she’s discovered with us.

  I trust Eden to know it would have to be important, this isn’t something she’d do lightly. It’s the why that has eluded me.

  And the insidious question which has wormed itself into my mind still doesn’t have an answer.

  Has Kurt figured it out before I have?

  Chapter Nineteen

  We’re in the truck when I first catch a tendril. It’s so fragile, so insubstantial that my foot slackens off the gas. As the truck slows I concentrate.

  It’s there, faint but undeniable.

  Eden.

  I accelerate, relief powering everything in me, then anticipation levelling it up again. Beside me, I feel Avery relax, then from the corner of my eye, watch him sink back into the seat. His head leans back, eyes closing, as a small smile tips up the corner of his mouth.

  I don’t pay attention to where we’re going. I don’t really care. The location itself isn’t important. It’s the person who I’ve haven’t seen in too long that is my sole focus.

  We’ve been driving for over forty minutes before someone speaks again.

  “Oh, yes.” Avery’s green eyes gleam.

  I can’t help the grin. “You feel her too?”

  Avery’s smile looks like it’s inspired by the gorgeous glow of a new dawn. “Yes.”

  As the feeling gets progressively stronger, the band around my chest begins to release its crushing hold. I have to make a conscious effort not to tell the speed limit to go to hell. My brain now knows that she’s okay and that I’m on my way, but my heart thumps with impatience.

  When I see the truck stop that Mitch and I originally pulled into, I turn in.

  Avery glances at the dashboard. “We do not need gas.”

  I’m already pulling into a parking spot when I answer. “No. We don’t.”

  Avery sits up straight, moving faster than should be possible considering his frail body. His eyes scan the empty area out the front of the building. There are no cars. No people. He’d probably look to me next, but I’m not there to know, or to tell him that there’s a diesel pump around the back. I’m out of the truck and striding to the building, th
en when that’s not fast enough, I break into a run.

  The feeling of closeness, of deep connection, is so strong I can practically grab it like a rope and hand over hand, take myself to her.

  I round the corner and my momentum comes crashing to a halt. A lean, lithe, auburn haired girl stops her own determined strides on the other side of the tarmac space. Her forest green eyes widen, then round, then glisten.

  Eden.

  My mate.

  I breathe in as deep and as hard as I can. The scent of wildflowers, so faint but so powerful, threads its way into my heart.

  We take each other in across the expanse. Which do I want to do more? Take her in with my eyes or take her into my arms?

  My legs propel me forward because the answer is a no brainer. Every inch of my being has been craving the feel of her.

  Eden seems to have lost the ability to move, because she’s rooted to the spot. It doesn’t matter, because I’m with her within a breath, holding her within a blink.

  I crush all of her against all of me, hands sinking into her hair, face sinking into the curve of her neck. I worry for a second that I’m being too rough, but then I feel the hold she has on me and I know she’s drowning in this moment just as much as I am.

  “Noah.”

  That one word breathes life into my soul and I pull back, hands cupping her face. “God, I missed you.”

  My lips descend to hers before she can respond. The kiss we lose ourselves in is one of reaffirmation, reunion and reanimation. It tells me that although separation is going to be an inevitable part of life, I’m only a shadow of my soul when I’m not with Eden.

  Her lips move beneath mine, reveling in the feeling, rejoicing in the sensation. Her arms wrap around my shoulders, impossibly pulling me closer.

  It’s that moment that I notice something is different. Her wildflower scent is different, earthier somehow, and then I notice the body that I’ve memorized is also different. It’s subtle…but unmistakable to my Were senses.

  I pull back, eyes wide.

  Eden’s arms stay where they are, her eyes studying my face. She’s waiting to see what happens next.

  I fall to my knees. My legs give out, literally losing the ability to keep me upright. My gaze settles on the subtle swell that confirms what my Were senses just registered.

  I look up, so much emotion jammed into my chest is hurts. “You’re…?”

  Eden sucks in her lip, eyes moist. Slowly she sinks to her knees too, her beautiful, tentative face coming level with mine. “I’m pregnant, Noah.”

  I watch as I raise one trembling hand to rest on her stomach, then feel something clench deep inside me as Eden’s hand comes to rest over mine. I know I need to talk, say something, but there’s no air in my lungs. No words in my head.

  Just shock.

  No, amazement.

  Actually, it’s awe.

  My gaze comes up to find Eden’s, hoping she can sense all this. She has to—she’s just prompted another one of the most intense moments of my life. Her tremulous smile, her green eyes pools of moisture and joy, feel like an echo of my own expression.

  “We’re going to have,” I swallow, “a baby?”

  Eden nods. “It’s why I’ve been fainting.”

  “Fainting? As in plural?”

  Eden rolls her eyes. “They’ve stopped now, just like Dr. Martinez said they would.”

  I glance back down to where my hand hasn’t left her stomach. I caress it, reverence and trepidation tingling through my fingers. This is big. Really big. “But how? I thought you… We were using contraception.”

  Eden shrugs. “It seems the Prophecy had other ideas.”

  That snaps me back to reality. “That seems to be the theme of the past few days.”

  Eden’s hand comes up to caress my cheek, leaving a trail of warmth across my skin. “I’m glad we’re both back.”

  I grin, the happiness that just multiplied exponentially powering my smile. “I know that feeling.”

  “I have a lot to tell you.” She glances down. “Apart from this.”

  “Me too.” I wonder if her words are just as much an understatement. “But first, I have someone for you to meet.”

  Puzzlement crinkles Eden’s brow. She looks past me, beyond the bubble our reunion had created, glancing around. Grasping her hand, I pull her around the corner. I watch her face as her eyes settle on my truck, then zoom in through the windshield.

  Her wide, forest green gaze flies back to mine. I watch and wait, allowing her time to process this.

  “It’s him?” she whispers.

  I nod. “It’s him.”

  Eden visibly swallows and her hand tightens around mine. I give it a squeeze and then wait. It’s up to her how this goes. If she wants to turn around and drive off, I’d totally understand.

  But Eden takes a step and then another. We walk side by side to my truck.

  Avery is watching us intently as he climbs out, eyes looking like they’re memorizing every inch of the girl approaching him. Eden stops a few feet away, studying him right back but giving nothing away.

  “Hello, daughter.”

  “Ah…hi.”

  I suppose it’s a start. I wonder if Avery, in all his watching and spying, noticed that the use of names in the family he created isn’t something done lightly. Avery is going to have to earn the title of ‘father.’

  Avery’s hand is gripping the open door and I narrow my eyes. Standing up for this long is hard work for him. “Eden…”

  That has my mouth twitching. The great King of the Fae is at a loss for words.

  Eden shifts her weight, a small frown twitches and then is gone. “Why now?”

  I watch and wait, admiring my girl for her honesty and calling it what it is.

  Avery seems to contemplate the question. He’d better give an honest answer, too. If he gives one of the cryptic remarks that Orin seems to favor, something like ‘it was time,’ my guess is Eden will turn around and walk away.

  He sighs, glances at me, then back at his daughter. “I wish to do things differently.”

  Eden chews on her lip and I can sense the churn of emotion inside. This is the man who left her to be raised by an abandoned, bitter woman. This is her father. I feel her tense. This is the father who she just registered is sick.

  She looks up at me, and I wait, letting her know that I’d understand whichever decision she makes. Her hand comes up to rest protectively on her stomach and I lose myself in her eyes for a second. This brave girl is carrying our future in more ways than one. This decision deserves some time.

  She turns back to Avery. “It’s together that we move forward.”

  Avery’s smile is slow but sure. He nods, his forest green eyes full of pride.

  I wrap my arm around Eden’s shoulder. “That’s something we talked about, wasn’t it buddy?”

  Eden looks up at me, brows tilted quizzically. “Did you just call him buddy?”

  I grin and wink. “It gets his goat a bit, which is mostly why I do it.”

  She opens her mouth, but another voice cuts across. “Hey, are you gonna pay for your gas?”

  We turn to find Willow standing in the doorway. Even across the lot her features are plain to see, including the tilted eyes that Eden always thought were hers alone.

  I glance over at Avery, but he doesn’t seem surprised to see this Changeling, which is what I would have guessed. The Fae probably secretly follow all of their offspring.

  Eden is a different matter, though. She’s staring at Willow and staring hard. I lean over and whisper, “We met another one in Bowerman.”

  Her startled gaze flies to mine. She looks like this is more of a shock than meeting her father, but then again, she knew he existed. “I suppose it makes sense that there are more of us.” She turns to Avery. “Do you know her?”

  “I have not met her directly, but I have been here before.”

  Oh yes, silently following his daughter and her mother.

&n
bsp; Eden nods before turning to the building. Willow sees that we’re coming and heads inside.

  Eden brushes her fingers over the potted jungle that Willow has built around the entrance. I thought she’d appreciate it.

  Inside, Willow’s smile is apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

  Eden smiles back, not in the least bit surprised to see an owl hunkered down behind Willow. “I just met my dad for the first time.”

  Willow’s jaw drops open. She glances past us to my truck outside. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Really.”

  Willow leans back again, shaking her head. “I’ve never met my real dad. I mean, my step-dad’s a great guy and everything, he recently lost his job so he’s working for his brother as a second-hand car dealer just to make sure we’re okay. But you always wonder, you know?”

  Eden’s smile softens. “I do. I know exactly what you mean.”

  I hand over the cash, and I sense Eden’s gratitude. I’d be distracted too.

  Willow pushes up her glasses. “How was it?”

  Eden bites her lip. “Discombobulating.”

  I can’t help a chuckle as Willow smiles. She hands me my change. “I hope it works out.”

  With a thanks, Eden and I head to the front door. At the last moment, she turns back. “Willow?”

  Willow looks up, eyebrows raised in question.

  Eden pauses, but must make a decision. “It wasn’t about you. He left because he hadn’t figured out what was really important.”

  Willow frowns and opens her mouth. But when she can’t seem to find any words, she shuts it again. The owl stretches its wings and leaps onto her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Her smile is almost involuntary as she strokes him back.

  Willow looks at us as we stand in the doorway. “That seems to take some people longer than others.”

  I glance at Eden as she nods. Wisdom seems to be part of Fae DNA.

  We step outside and I pause, the first sense of disappointment since I arrived pricking at my chest. We now have to drive back in our separate cars.

  Eden stops beside me. “Oh, I was looking forward to…”

  Talking. Touching. Realizing that being apart was what needed to happen, but deciding we’re never doing that again. I squeeze her hand. “Me too.”