“Shane, Sean, don’t make our guests stand out in the cold.” The warmth of that new voice had Cassie grinning. She’d missed the matriarch of the Dunne clan. Aileen had defied her Sidhe family to bond with her leprechaun, much like Cassie was running from her own family. Cassie could respect that. Hell, she was hoping to get some pointers.
“Coming, Aileen.” Sean opened the door, gesturing for Shane, Cassie and Oberon to precede him into the house. “After you.”
“Thank you.” Oberon walked into the Dunne house as if he owned it, his head held high, his stride regal. He greeted Aileen with a kiss on the hand, causing her cheeks to flush.
Sean gently tugged his mate away from the High King, tucking her close to his side.
Aileen smiled up at her husband indulgently, obviously used to his small displays of possessiveness. “Tea before Shane takes you to the work room? Leo and Ruby are in the kitchen, preparing lunch for all of us.”
“I think I need to take him over now, Ma.” Shane led the way into the kitchen, briefly running his hand over the shoulder of his pregnant mate. Akane bowed when she saw Oberon, her belly preventing her from bending too deeply. Her strange eyes, the mark of her Seer heritage, lowered in homage to her king. One eye was dark brown with a startling light hazel star in the center. The other eye was a pure light hazel. Black brows were a straight slash above them, giving her a stern expression.
She was one of Robin’s favorite Blades, a dangerous warrior dedicated to protecting the very man Cassie was going to mate.
Oberon reached out and ran his hand over her head. Cassie wasn’t certain if anyone else caught sight of his confusion before Oberon controlled his expression. “My Blade.”
“Sire.” Akane stood, throwing a quick glance toward Shane, who shook his head. Akane grimaced, her hand rubbing her distended stomach. “Jaden has agreed to guard you while you’re here.”
“Sire.” Jaden bowed, his dark hair hiding his face for a moment. His mates flanked him, one golden, one redheaded. Duncan had his hand on Jaden’s back, while Moira, his red-haired mate, watched with a pleased expression.
“And you’re not.” Shane’s tone was firm.
“No, I’m not,” Akane grumbled.
“Aw, darlin’. Don’t look so down. You can start kickin’ Black Court ass again just as soon as you pop out the kids.” Shane winked. “Of course, I could just keep ya barefoot and preg—oof.” Shane rubbed his stomach. “Ow. Why’d you hit me?”
Akane shook her head. “Knock it off, Jethro. I swear, I don’t know how you survived to adulthood.”
Aileen smiled serenely. “He’s cute when he’s sleeping.”
Aileen’s comment generated a little laughter from everyone except Oberon, who merely smiled. Cassie doubted the High King ever truly laughed. There might have been a time when such came easily to him, but the wound to his soul inflicted by Titannia ran far too deeply.
“Cassie, wait here. What I have to show the High King is for his eyes only.” Shane’s tone was once again normal, the “Jethro” accent he put on only to make Akane insane completely gone.
“I guess I’ll have lunch with Leo and Ruby, then.”
“Cassie. Are you sure about this?” Oberon’s quiet question caused everyone to stare at her in confusion. Everyone except Shane, that was.
She nodded. “You can trust Shane.”
Oberon studied her for a moment before nodding slightly. “Very well.” Without another word he turned on his heel and followed Shane out of the house. Jaden murmured something to his mates and followed the two men out the door.
“Lunch?”
Cassie allowed Aileen to take her arm and guide her into the kitchen, but her thoughts remained, as always, with her mate.
“Well?” Raven perched on the edge of the building, his claws digging into the edge of the brick to steady himself. “What have you heard?”
The sylph shivered not from the cold, but from his gaze. Good. Let the fae know that Robin had a new Blade willing to do what it took to get the job done. If they learned to fear him almost as much as they did Robin, his job would be that much simpler.
Of course, it also meant he wouldn’t be sent on the easy jobs, or the ones that required him to hide in the shadows. That had never been his strong point. Unlike his father, he kept to only three shapes, his human Seeming, his unkindness of ravens and his true self.
He still hadn’t shown his father his true self. He wondered briefly what Robin would make of it. He had the feeling his father would understand as no one else could.
The sylph gulped as Raven smiled. “I…I saw the High King on the road.”
“And you didn’t think to inform the court?” Raven crooned.
From the look on the sylph’s face it was all the poor man could do to keep from shitting himself. “It’s the High King. I thought he was doing something he wanted to do.” The man shivered again, his expression terrified. “Who am I to question royalty?”
Raven bit back a frustrated growl. It was the same with every sylph he’d questioned. Each and every one had been playing in the early spring winds, and each one claimed to have seen the High King walking on the icy road. Where he was headed, or why, none knew.
Hell, Raven hadn’t even been able to figure out how he got out of the palace undetected. The servants were flustered, the majordomo was in a tizzy and the courtiers who flocked to the Gray Palace were still reeling from Robin’s announcement that he was Prince Regent. The only thing he could be sure of was the High King appeared to have left under his own power, alone.
It was a start.
The sylph flew off after pointing out which direction the king had walked. Each sylph had pointed the same way.
The High King had walked down the mountain, toward civilization. Now to find out why.
Oberon stared at the glass sculptures Shane showed him. One depicted a man, long-haired and sad, his hand extended toward the sea. A woman, obviously a mermaid, reached back for him, her expression full of such yearning need his heart ached.
Cassie. It was Cassie in her merform, reaching out to that man with everything she was.
The other showed the same man in black glass, his eyes red gems, his expression an evil, fanged snarl.
Both looked disturbingly familiar. “Is that me?”
Shane nodded. “Yes.” He stroked the man holding his hand out to the mermaid. “This is the path you’re currently on.” He touched the back of the black sculpture. “This is what will happen if you don’t allow Cassie into your heart.”
“You’re saying if I want to survive I need to take Cassie as my mate?”
“More than your mate. Cassie is your truebond, and you know it. But you’re fighting it with everything in you because of what happened in the past.” Shane leaned back against his work table. “Only you know how to make one come to pass rather than the other. I can tell you that refusing the bond will result in that.” He pointed toward the fanged sculpture. “But I can also tell you that trying to form the bond without acceptance will simply drag Cassie down with you.”
“By forming the bond I make Cassie a target.”
Shane nodded. “Anyone you bond with will become a target, and not just of the Black Queen. Gloriana won’t exactly be thrilled either. Plus there’s complications with Cassie’s family that may come to bite you in the ass.”
“Is she in danger from her family?” Oberon understood all too well how family could turn on a person. It wouldn’t surprise him to find that they were the ones she was running from.
“I’m not sure. The people her family are trying to form an alliance with might be. Maybe.” Shane’s gaze became unfocused. “And both sides are closer than you think, despite being so far away.”
Oberon ground his teeth. “Could you be any clearer? I can’t protect her if I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Shane merely smiled. “You have to figure it out for yourself. Just because I see something doesn’t automatically mean I understand it.” Shane moved to the sculpture of Oberon and Cassie. “But I guarantee you that it will definitely be worth it.” Shane glanced toward a third sculpture covered in cloth. “That’s not all I needed to show you. There’s another problem you’re going to have to worry about, and I can’t tell you whether or not you’ll succeed in keeping this from coming to pass.”
Before Oberon could question what the man was talking about, Shane whipped the cover off of—
He froze at the sight of another sculpture, his hair practically rising on end.
This sculpture, though made of glass, looked almost as if it had been carved from solid ice. Frozen in time was the mermaid of the first sculpture, pale and lovely, her scales frosted. But what sent rage coursing through his veins were the two mermen flanking her. They held her, her arms straight behind her, forcing her body to bow forward. Her hair hid her face, her pose one of utter defeat. Even her tail drooped, her fin limp. Shane had captured the strain of her muscles in her arms and shoulders, how the two mermen held her with slightly bored expressions, as if they’d done this many times before.
“Who?”
Shane shivered. “You aren’t the only one being hunted.”
“So if I fail, if I fall into the hands of my enemies, this is Cassie’s fate?”
“No. This is Cassie’s fate if you don’t accept your truebond.” Shane frowned. “Actually, it could be her fate even if you do. Your actions will determine whether this remains her fate.”
He leaned against Shane’s work table, unable to tear his gaze away from the image of Cassie being subjugated. “I need to regain my memories faster than I thought.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Shane took a deep breath and dropped his human Seeming.
The vibrant red-gold hair of Shane’s human Seeming was dull as dishwater compared to the almost metallic shine of his true appearance, rich as Black Hills gold mixed with copper. His hair grew to just below his shoulders, emphasizing his strong jaw. Those blazing sapphire eyes glittered like dark jewels, the whorls of his leprechaun heritage emphasizing them like pale tribal markings. Light danced around him, gold and green, in a hypnotic pattern, sometimes random, sometimes making figures or places Oberon could almost make sense of. His skin sparkled like it was coated in golden glitter, reflecting the light of his magic back into the room, creating a halo like effect around his body. Even his fingernails glittered with green and gold, as if he’d been carved from the very earth itself and adorned with its finest gems.
Oberon gasped, the knowledge of what Shane truly was slamming into him. The man was a hybrid, one of the rarest of the fae, blending his leprechaun and Sidhe heritage equally into a power that only another hybrid could understand. That he exposed himself to Oberon, who couldn’t even remember if they’d met before, showed a huge amount of trust. True hybrids were prized by the Black Court, like unruly pets, but powerful ones like Shane would be hunted for his powers. If Oberon fell into their hands, the knowledge of what Shane was would become theirs. By exposing himself this way he was silently asking for Oberon to believe in him.
“I’m not certain Cassie’s fate can be averted. It might have to come to pass in order to fulfill either one of the other fates, or it could mean that her loss is what drives you to darkness. Then again, avoiding that fate could be what causes her to be lost.” Shane shrugged. “I just don’t know. If you wish, I could call the Seer, ask her to check my visions for me, but her answers might be even more vague than mine and there’s no guarantee that she won’t tell someone where you are. The Seer remains neutral in all things.”
“You mean she’d tell the Dark Queen where I am?”
Shane nodded. “If asked, yes. She refuses help to no one, no matter how good or how evil. It’s just her way.”
Oberon studied the three sculptures, one so dark, one so sad, the last full of despair. “Then I’ll take my chances and do my best to avoid the dark fate, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Shane smiled. “Then you’re ready for the next step of your journey.”
Oberon nodded as he listened to the hybrid lay out the path he needed to take to regain everything he’d lost.
Chapter Five
Cassie tapped her fingers restlessly on the kitchen table, her gaze drawn over and over again to the back door. Oberon and Shane had been gone for well over an hour. The sandwiches were long since gone, the tea consumed, and still they didn’t return.
“Easy.” Ruby, Leo’s mate and one of the few people Cassie considered a close friend, put her head on Cassie’s shoulder. “I know this is difficult, but Shane won’t steer him wrong.”
“Do you know what Shane wanted to tell him?” That was what bothered her the most. Shane knew most of her secrets. Would he reveal to Oberon who she was?
“Nope. Akane might, but she’s not telling. Not even when I told her I could help her open the puzzle box.”
Akane growled, her fingers caressing a golden square she never let far from her sight. “I’m still going to kill him for this one of these days.”
Cassie grinned. Akane was still trying to open her mating present, a puzzle box Shane had crafted for her. The half-dragon, half-Seer still hadn’t figured out how to open it, and it was driving her insane. More than once Cassie had watched as Akane got so frustrated she flung the puzzle box at Shane’s head, only to turn around and pick it right back up.
Shane only laughed. He seemed to enjoy Akane’s frustration. Their relationship was an interesting one, Akane a perfect match for the easygoing Shane. Their harmonies resonated with each other as only those truebonded did.
It was the same with all of the Dunnes. Each had been lucky to find their truebond, Moira even entering into a tri-bond with Duncan Malmayne and Jaden Blackthorn, the three of them in perfect accord. Their bond was so strong their melodies blended, something she’d never before seen, even in a truebond.
Akane flung the golden cube at the floor with a snarl, startling her.
Ruby laughed. “You should just ask Shane what the trick is to solving it.”
Akane growled. “No. I won’t give Jethro the satisfaction.” But she was already out of her chair, picking up the puzzle box and placing it gently on the kitchen table. “One of these days I’ll figure it out.”
Ruby tilted her head as she studied the puzzle box. “Have you tried a Fibonacci sequence?”
Cassie and Akane stared at her. “A what now?”
Ruby picked up her mug and grinned smugly. “Zero, one, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, twenty-one…”
Akane’s eyes went wide. She picked up the puzzle box and began flicking the symbols on the sides, symbols Cassie recognized as Sidhe script.
“How did you know that?” Cassie had never even heard of a Fibo-whatever.
“I’m an accountant. Numbers are my thing.” Ruby watched Akane’s fingers flying over the puzzle box. “A Fibonacci sequence is basically addition. You start at zero, add one. Zero plus one is one. One plus one is two, and one plus two is three. You follow the sequence, adding the new number to the previous number, over and over again.”
“I didn’t know you can read Sidhe script.”
Ruby tilted her head, her expression becoming puzzled. “That’s Sidhe script? It just looks like numbers to me.”
“Huh.” Cassie didn’t bother to tell her that she shouldn’t have been able to read it. Ruby was just as unique as every other member of the Dunne clan. Who was to say what the human was capable of, now that she’d secured her Sidhe lord?
“Yes!” Akane pumped her arms in the air as the puzzle box opened.
Cassie leaned over to see what Shane had hidden inside the box. “Is that…?”
“Holy shit.” Ruby reached out, but before she could
touch Akane slapped her hand away. “Ow.”
“Mine.” Akane lifted the ring out of the box. It was a perfect fire opal, almost the exact color of Akane’s golden eye, set in shining yellow gold. There was something about that ring that matched the fire in Akane, a slight hum that resonated with her harmonies perfectly.
“You finally opened it!” Shane entered the house, Oberon and Jaden right behind him. “Good. Now I can give you the second one.”
Akane’s expression went blank. “Second one?”
“Yup.” Shane reached into his pocket and produced another puzzle box, this one in the shape of a pyramid. “There’s a prize inside this one too.”
Akane picked up the pyramid with a resigned sigh. “I hate you so much.”
“Aw, shucks, Miz Akane. You sure know how to embarrass a man with your lovin’ ways.”
Jaden slipped past Oberon and Shane, shaking his head. “One of these days she’s going to rip off bits and pieces.”
“Of the puzzle box?”
“No, of you.” Jaden winked at Cassie as he plopped down in the chair across from her. “But don’t worry, she won’t take anything she’ll miss. She has uses for you, after all.”
Akane held the pyramid toward Ruby. “Well?”
Ruby picked up the pyramid and gestured for Akane to follow her out of the room. “Let’s see how quick we can break this bad boy open.”
“That’s cheating.” Shane scowled, but Cassie could see he wasn’t upset at all. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d planned it this way.
Akane stuck her tongue out at her mate and left the room.
“We need to go.”
Cassie turned her attention back to Oberon. He was pale, almost the same shade as his hair. His gray eyes glittered darkly, almost molten, gunmetal gray instead of their normal silver. His ears were pointed, peeking out of the fall of his hair, hair that now brushed the floor and glittered with metallic highlights. His skin shimmered as if he was coated in opalescent fairy dust. And his voice, when he spoke, echoed through her, causing her to rise to her feet and bow.
Siren's Song: The Gray Court, Book 5 Page 5