by Lisa Daniels
Cyprian was still looking at Noely. “Is that what you really want?” She looked back at him and a sweet smile spread across her face. The shifter sighed, “Alright, but so help me, if she becomes a problem, I am going to make your lessons that much more difficult.”
It was like light was radiating from her face as Noely threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Cyprian. You won’t regret this.”
For a moment, Ivy saw the way the man looked at Noely, and she felt a twinge of jealousy. His eyes were as clear and beautiful as an untouched lagoon, and the smile that passed over his lips was like the sun on the beach.
Lucky bitch.
She was startled when a voice close to her ear whispered, “Now, now, she just saved you from prison. No thoughts like that. Besides, someday you will find happiness, too. You just need to learn how to be happy first.”
Ivy looked at Ash. The same angelic expression was plastered on his face as when they had first met. “I think that Ailey is luckier than Noely. Shame.” She didn’t wait to see how he reacted as she moved over to pick up the bags that Noely had been carrying.
Unaccustomed to having to think about coordinating, Ivy tried to pull the loving couple back into the task at hand. “Come on, you two. I want to get as far from Derbe as we can before anyone changes their mind. We have to save Augustus.”
Cyprian’s voice was cold as he corrected her, “Augustin.”
“Him, too.” Ivy began marching away from the town.
Noely looked up at Cyprian and grinned, then turned to catch up to Ivy.
Cyprian turned to Ash. “If she causes us any trouble-”
“Noely will take care of it.”
There was a pause and a quick nod as the oldest shifter agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you will be off the hook.”
Ash smiled at him. “I look forward to hearing you apologize for being so overly protective of Noely. Having someone for her to mentor will be invaluable.”
Cyprian’s eyes followed the two women. Noely was attempting to chat with Ivy, who was responding with rather lukewarm answers. “I suppose I can see how that will be valuable.”
“Besides, you two will get farther with a third wheel. After having to listen to you guys last night, I can understand why you haven’t made it very far yet.”
Cyprian’s face was pink as he turned to look at the young shifter, a rebuke difficult to find since the words caught him off guard. Ash simply covered his mouth with his hand, winked, and hurried back into town.
With a heavy sigh, Cyprian shook his head as a smile spread across his face. It had been a long time since he had been able to really enjoy the company of others of his kind. It looked like he had nearly as much to relearn as Noely. “Anani did an excellent job with the young man – he’s got his family’s love for life with a more measured logic. Can certainly see Hisa’s influence, though. I think I have to agree with the girl’s assessment, the medic is much luckier than Ailey.” Cyprian’s eyes narrowed as they shifted toward the town. “Ailey had better be worthy of him.” He ran his hand through his hair again, trying to shake the feeling that things couldn’t be as easy as they currently appeared to be. Something was off, but he couldn’t quite focus enough to figure out what it was. Cyprian drew in a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “Anani, huh? Things just keep getting more complicated.” Turning to see where Noely was, Cyprian picked up the rest of their stuff and headed after the two women as they disappeared from sight.
Chapter 3
The Tunnel, the Stranger, and the Trap
Ivy soon found that Noely wasn’t quite as sweet as she had appeared. She had a critical side that she brought out as soon as the two women were alone. As they were walking away from the two males, Ivy’s new acquaintance took a hold of Ivy’s hand and slipped the ring on her finger. Ivy looked down at her finger, then up at Noely, wondering if this was a trap of some kind. Instead of explaining, Noely said, “Thank gods you are here. We have to find Augustin, then we are taking a trip to Senones. It will be so much nicer to do at least some of that with someone else to talk to. As much as I love him, Cyprian can be a little too intense sometimes. While that is quite enjoyable when he’s on top of me, it can make it incredibly difficult to persuade him to change course. Once you know what kind of shifter he is, you wonder how he could have been anything else. Stubborn, thickheaded, sweetheart of a man.” Ivy noticed the smile on Noely’s lips as she turned a little to see the target of the discussion hanging back to talk with Ash. “I want to be friends because I have an idea of how you feel. Never quite fitting in, never comfortable anywhere. That’s over now because we are going to help you.”
Ivy looked at the woman with incredulity, but didn’t want to say anything that might offend her since Cyprian had made it clear what he would do if Noely was hurt. Just stealing her ring had made him want to kill Ivy – of that she had no doubt he had been serious. Now Noely had given her the ring and said that everything was going to be fine. It was like a poorly scripted play, but something about this woman made Ivy feel at ease. The idea that she felt she could trust someone so easily made Ivy feel that something must be terribly wrong, but she couldn’t get upset, and she entirely lacked the ability to feel suspicious. It was like a hole had opened up in the world she had known, and she was defenseless in front of a woman she barely knew. There was no way to win in this situation; Ivy knew when she had been beat. Now all she could do was wait to see what would happen. After a lifetime of running, hiding, and rising again, Ivy found that she was beginning to feel detached from her own future. At least in her current situation, flight didn’t seem to be necessary. Something about Noely made Ivy feel trust and hope. For the moment she simply wanted to believe in it because it meant a short respite from the misfortune and disappointment Ivy was accustomed to.
Noely continued to talk as if they were friends. “I can tell you what they are talking about.” She didn’t wait for a response from Ivy, clearing her throat and doing a nearly spot-on impression of the man. “How can you stick us with your charge to run after some human? I’ve been telling you for decades now that they are a complete waste of your time.”
Ivy giggled, “And Ash will respond with something like, ‘You just haven’t gotten to know all of them. You would love their little bitty mortal hearts to death. Let me wheedle my ideas into your heart so that you can better understand the world.’”
Noely laughed, “Would he really say something like that?”
Ivy shrugged, “I’ve no idea. I only just met him yesterday.”
“You what?” Noely threw her a look of interest. “And yet you’ve already slept with him?”
Ivy’s eyes widened as she turned to look at the woman trying to keep from giggling. Noely burst out laughing. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. He seems really sweet. It’s a shame that he didn’t take to you – he seems like he is incredibly impulsive when it comes to women. I think that you might have been able to make him happy. It would also be nice to have him on this trip since he and Cyprian know each other.”
“How long have you known Cyprian?”
Noely squinted her eyes as she looked up at the sky. “If you go by this life, we’ve been together… um, a month? Maybe two?”
“You don’t know?”
Noely shook her head. “That’s part of the reason it is a shame you aren’t going to get Ash. If Cyprian is any indication of their abilities as lovers, well, I’m just going to say that time pretty much ceases to exist. I know that we’ve lost days, so I don’t even bother trying to track the time.”
Ivy blushed a little at how frank the woman was. Usually she was the first to bring up such a taboo subject. Now it was the thief’s turn to see what it felt like when someone rambled on about their bedroom life. Hearing it made her both jealous and uncomfortable. Trying to change the subject, she went back to something Noely had said earlier. “What did you mean about this life?”
Noely looked over at her with a thoughtful expression. “Well, I�
�m not human. I’ve always known that I wasn’t, but I never knew exactly what I was until recently. In fact, until I met Cyprian and Hisa, I had no idea about my rather voluminous history. I mean, I knew about my parents’ death and my guardian disappearing, but I didn’t know that I keep getting reincarnated. In fact, Cyprian didn’t even tell me that I was one of a kind until a week or two after we started this trip.”
“You what?” Ivy stopped and stared at the woman, suddenly thinking that her new companion may not be entirely stable. Ash, what did you get me into?
Noely sighed, then launched into a short monologue about how she had lived before. Now that she knew, Noely would occasionally remember things from her previous lives, but never more than a few moments at a time. “It’s all quite frustrating.”
A voice startled Ivy. “And I have loved you ever since the first time I met you.”
A huge smile spread across Noely’s face. “And I actually remember that encounter. I was immediately smitten.”
Ivy watched as the cold, calculating shifter beamed, picked up Noely’s hand, and kissed it. “Oh gods, is this what it is going to be like the entire time?”
A pair of cold blue eyes turned on her. “Well, I could treat you like a prisoner and make you do a rather significant amount of work so that we could do this in private.”
Ivy blinked as Noely gave his upper arm a slap. “Don’t tease her like that. She will think you are serious.”
He turned his eyes back to Noely. “What makes you think I’m not?”
With a sigh, Noely shook her head, stood on her toes, and gave him a peck on his cheek.
Cyprian looked at her for a moment, then pulled her into a long kiss.
“Oh gods, I think I will take my chances with the guards.” To her surprise, the air was suddenly filled with beautiful music. Turning around, Ivy realized that Cyprian was laughing. “That’s your idea of funny?”
He gave her an honest smile, and Ivy felt her heart skip a beat. “You sound exactly like I did for a very long time.”
Ivy felt a blush on her cheeks. “Are you comparing yourself to me?”
“My Noely wants me to give you a chance,” he pulled Noely to him, “and I see she has given you the ring, which is her way of saying that I am being overly protective of her. Even though I know what that ring means to her.” He looked down at Noely, who was looking at him like no one else in the world existed. “In my experience if she is open to something, she is right. Hearing you sound like me simply reminds me of how far I have come. Despite what you did at the inn, there may be more to you than a selfish drive to steal.”
Ivy’s eyes were wide open as he smiled at her. Then he turned his attention to Noely, took her hand, and pulled her forward. “Besides,” he said over his shoulder, “I think having you around with Anani will make this a much more interesting trip.”
Baffled by how quickly he could go from wanting to kill her to accepting her presence, Ivy followed them at a slight distance. The idea of running away occurred to her, but Ivy wasn’t sure how well that would work out.
They had been walking for much of the day, keeping up a pace that Ivy wouldn’t have believed possible. Sometimes she walked with the couple, but mostly she walked in front of them so that she didn’t have to watch. Humming to herself, she pushed back some bramble and turned to see how close they were. Suddenly, she found herself plummeting. Her hands stretched out, grasping at anything she could to stop her fall. A sharp pain in the palm of her hand caught her attention, causing her to forget everything else. Aware that she was no longer falling, Ivy’s eyes hesitantly went up to look at what had stopped her rapid descent. When she had stuck out her hand, the thief had apparently rammed it through a small, hook-shaped root. Her hand was impaled on the root now, and that was what had saved her from the fall. However, she did not feel grateful as the understanding of the pain only served to magnify the pain. Ignoring the part of her that wanted to faint, Ivy grabbed at the root with her other hand and began to pull herself up. Her feet found some purchase as she clung to the root.
Despite her situation, Ivy’s eyes turned downward. Focusing on the sights and sounds, she was able to ignore the excruciating pain, a trick that she had learned long ago. From where she was, Ivy could see some kind of metal beneath her. Trying to focus her eyes, she attempted to make out the writing on it. A part of her mind knew that if she had fallen, her body would have shattered on the metal.
Why is it there? And how far does it go?
A concerned voice above her extracted the thief’s mind from its current focus. “Oh my gods, Ivy! Are you alright?” Noely’s voice sounded a long way away. Looking up, Ivy could not see her, but suddenly a sense of calm began to spread through her.
Why am I not yelling at them? The thought was strange, but Ivy didn’t bother to analyze it any further. Looking at her hand, the thief managed to keep her voice level. “Not really, Noely. I’m going to say that currently I’m in a considerable amount of pain.”
“Hold on, I’m coming down to get you.”
“No you are not.” Cyprian’s voice was firm. “I will get her. You wait here.”
“Cyprian, I don’t – Cyprian!” This last part was almost shouted as Ivy heard something coming down the tunnel toward her.
Did he jump? Is he some kind of large bird? Never met a bird shifter before! Holy shit! The last thought happened as a large pair of eyes in a very elegant-looking face approached her. The creature was like nothing she had ever seen before, and Ivy was at a loss for what to say as it raced toward her at an impossible speed. It easily stopped itself just over her. Examining her hand, the creature turned to look at her, and for a moment, she thought she saw compassion. Before she could say or do anything, the creature was under her, taking her weight off of her hand. Ivy realized that she was resting on the creature’s belly as its claws tore away the dirt from the root, being careful not to knock any on her, although it was getting all over the creature’s beautiful white coat. With a loud snap, it sliced the root from the tunnel wall. Much faster than she would have thought possible, it began to travel back up the tunnel.
Ivy was gently placed on the ground. Quickly she hid her hand in her dress as Noely came over to her. The woman’s eyes were looking her over. “Are you alright? Did you hit the ground?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” The last thing she wanted to do was to let either of these strangers see her at a disadvantage.
“Oh, yes, perfectly fine. You just can’t use your hand.”
Ivy turned to glare at Cyprian. “What do you know about it? You and Noely-”
The man’s smile was sincere, and it was utterly unnerving to Ivy as he said what she already knew (but wanted to believe was untrue), “If not for me, you would still be hanging from the root.”
Noely looked between them as Cyprian reached out to Ivy. “Did she scrape her hand trying to stop her fall?”
“Not at all, my dear,” his tone was level, almost touching as he pulled Ivy’s arm out from her dress. Noely gasped at the amount of blood pouring out, and some bone poking through. “Her hand was impaled on the root.”
Ivy’s heart began to race for a moment. Cyprian looked at her, then over at Noely. “Focus, love. She’s going to go into shock if you don’t help her remain calm.”
Noely looked white as a ghost, but nodded. Closing her eyes, Ivy suddenly began to feel at peace again. Oh, it’s her. I’m still a mess after all. It was a discouraging thought, despite the calm that began to wash over her.
Ivy looked away from the couple as she tried to hide the disgust she felt at herself and the situation. A warm hand touched her chin and forced her to turn back. A pair of warm blue eyes looked at her. “It’s alright. You just need to learn your own abilities. There are tangles and knots in here,” he tapped her forehead, “and here,” he tapped her sternum. “You will get there if you stop worrying about surviving and focus on living.”
Ivy had no idea how to respond to the
kindness the cold shifter was showing her. He gave her a sincere smile. “For now, I think it is best that you rest. I apologize for this, but I’m going to help you sleep so that we can determine what to do next.”
“What do you-” Ivy was about to protest when his warm hand touched her forehead. The last thing she remembered was the feel of strong arms around her as she fell into the deepest sleep she had experienced in years.
“But how can we travel with her in her current state?”
“I think you are underestimating her. Just as I did when Ash told us to take her. I saw what he meant down in that tunnel. It may be buried under all that belief that she is human, but the powers are there, and she could be as useful as he believes if we can just-”
“Cyprian, are you talking about using the girl?”
Ivy’s brain was just beginning to come round as the voices were talking. It took her a minute to understand that they were talking about her, but as soon as she did, Noely’s words inspired indignation. To her surprise, it was Cyprian who stuck up for her.
His tone was cold, “I am using her as much as I am using you.” Noely tried to interrupt, but Cyprian had clearly noticed that he was in the wrong. “I apologize. That was not helpful. It’s going to take a while for me to get accustomed to… My dear, I love you, but you always underestimate people. You cannot fix the world –we have to find our own ways.”
“I…” there was a long pause, “I understand what you are trying to say, but how can we take her with us now? With her hand like that? I think it needs to be amputated.”
A voice that Ivy did not know spoke up. “You do realize that she could fix it on her own.”
Cyprian’s voice was low as he muttered, “Thank the gods.”
The unfamiliar voice was male. He responded, “And just what do you mean by that?”
“Considering what you have suggested in the past, Anani, I was afraid that you would be –”