“Wow, that was something, huh, Soph?” Storm waved a hand in front of her friend’s face. Sophia’s expression did not change even when the Phoenix flicked her tongue across the woman’s cheek a second time. “Soph? Sophia? Come on, you’re making me nervous.”
Finally, Sophia blinked a few times, her mouth opened and closed like a trout and then she focused on Storm. “That was bad. Very, very bad. Storm, if the Unseen is behind this we have bigger problems than I ever imagined.” Sophia fell silent again, absentmindedly stroking the Phoenix’s head, her mind clearly elsewhere.
Storm’s stomach rumbled; she was still hungry. Gods, she was always hungry these days. Standing, Storm brushed at her pants and noticed a strange dust falling to the floor about her. The Phoenix noticed and flicked her long white tongue out to catch reminiscent of a child in the snow.
“What’s up with that, sweetie?” Storm bent to scratch behind the creature’s ear and felt a foreign presence in her mind, feminine but with an echo effect. She looked into the swirling eyes of the Phoenix.
It is fae dust, rare, powerful, tasty, it is. Helps us restore magicks lost. Have you more, Emerald, ours?
“I am not sure. Where did it come from?” Storm held the Phoenix’s gaze, speaking aloud but sounding far away. She wondered briefly if this was a version of what Sophia felt.
Shake hair for us, Emerald, ours. The Phoenix stretched and inclined her head. Dust is from the place beyond. Yes, this is like our communes with Sophia ours. She is me, I am she, we are yours, you are ours. See the circle and find your way, Emerald ours.
Storm leaned over and shook her hair out over the Phoenix, the dust particles falling all about only to be caught by the flaming white tongue. “Will this restore you?”
No, Emerald ours, we cannot be restored in this lifetime or the next, perhaps never will we be restored but Sophia ours was worth the sacrifice. She is necessary as are you, as are them. The Phoenix rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
“The Immortals? Angeline? Frederick?” Storm found this interaction surprisingly helpful and relaxing. No wonder Sophia remained so mellow all of the time. Something about the Phoenix reverberated through her in the most fascinating way.
All, Emerald ours. All you claim are important. Them come by you for a reason. Them come by you to be tested. You claim them and them join in war with you. You claim them not, them left for the Unseen. You claim us when we come to you in him though you know it not then. You claim us again when we come by Sophia ours. You have power you know not yet, Emerald ours. You must find it soon. Time runs short. The Phoenix withdrew her paw and flicked her tongue across Storm’s cheek affectionately once more.
“So what, I’m like a supernatural recruiter?” Storm studied the Phoenix awaiting a response but received none. Instead, the creature laid her head back on Sophia’s lap and began humming, her tail flicking lazily side to side. Storm took that as her cue to leave, collected the tray from earlier and slipped out of the library toward the kitchen.
Roane – before recorded time
He smelled her before he felt her. His female. His Goddess. It sounded strange even in his head. She had been absent from his grove for many days but now she was here. He thought of her constantly, the curves of her face, her swirling eyes sparkling, the way her hair flowed and rippled down her back in dark red curls. Damarra’s visage glowed brightly in his mind’s eye. “I know you are here, Damarra. Please show yourself. I mean you no harm.” Roane set his axe against the wood pile and looked round the tree lines. Across the clearing, leaves rustled as Damarra stepped forward. A light breeze wafted through the clearing with her entrance. Roane inhaled her sweet, earthy scent. He tried to touch her thoughts but found them well guarded and withdrew quickly.
“I am unreadable to your kind, Immortal.” Her voice held a touch of amusement. She approached him slowly but with her uniquely confident air. No, there were no others like her, there never would be for him. Damarra’s words reverberated through his mind, a melodic relief from the near silence he’d been subjected to in his corner of the world “You are odd, Immortal. You do not cower before me nor do you behave with disrespect. I like this of you.”
Roane bowed his head slightly. “As it pleases you, m’lady.”
“Stand tall, I wish to look upon you.” Damarra reached out and traced a finger along the lines of his chest, across the long scar on his side, and to the waist of his hide britches. “How did you come by this mark, Immortal?”
Frowning, Roane instinctively removed her hand from his side and walked away. He took up the tunic cast aside before he commenced work clearing the trees that morning. “It matters not. Why have you come, m’lady?”
Damarra arched a well-defined eyebrow his way but did not question him further. Instead she lifted the axe, tracing the smooth wood. The deity handled it skillfully for such a petite creature. She swung it with the strength of a full grown man to splinter a log clean in two. “The Tuatha De gifted this to you?”
“Aye, it was gifted to me when the brethren claimed me.” Roane tucked the edges of his tunic in the band of his britches, watching her trace the finer points of the axe with a reverence rivaling his own. They stood that way in silence for some time, him watching her as she admired the axe.
“I will come again and you will tell me more of your life, before and after joining the brethren. You please me, Immortal. Your light is unusual and complex for one of your race.” Damarra replaced the axe against the log and smiled his way, the kind that reached her eyes and quite literally lit her face. She disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes that melted almost instantly. Roane lifted the axe and trudged off to his cave along the cliffs, still unsure what Damarra wanted with him and beyond concerned for the emptiness he felt when she left. He heard of males enraptured with deities, knew of the dangers but somehow it did not matter. No Immortal could alter his fate and if Roane was fated to love Damarra then it was his lot in life – as with every other burden he would carry for all of his long days.
Storm
Mulling over the information overload, Storm found herself forcing down a bowl of cereal simply to appease the ever present rumbling in her stomach. There was still a pot of lukewarm tea for her to sip at between bites. What did Rosalee do? How would she tell Ryder? He was fond of the woman and her brood; such a betrayal would wound him deeply.
“Storm? What is wrong, my love?” Ryder slid into the chair beside her, his face drawn and far paler than usual. He looked so tired.
“It’s getting worse, Ry.” Storm saw his eyes flicker down to her swelling abdomen. “No, the babes are fine. I meant everything else. The Scots, Frederick, Angeline -” Storm trailed off, unable to mention her grandparents’ names and still afraid to break the news of Rosalee.
Ryder grabbed a piece of cold bacon from a serving plate on the counter, holding her gaze as he took a bite and chewed slowly. Storm tried to see the answer in his head but he blocked her with images of her naked form again. Dammit. He raised an eyebrow and half-smiled. “I believe I am getting better at blocking you, my love. Come now, do not look so dejected, I must be able to keep some secrets from you. Angeline and Frederick will survive. They are sleeping peacefully now. The Scots are well-trained and Lucian left several dozen messages before the lines went dead. They are probably on their way back already. You already knew all of that so stop stalling and tell me your apparently terrible news.” He took another bite of bacon and stared at her intently.
Storm sighed and took another sip of tea. “I saw Damarra, sort of. She is in another realm and apparently engaged in some type of battle to keep a faction of something from freeing my father who is alive but in pieces, as I understand it.” Pausing to take another sip of tea, Storm gathered the courage to tell the rest, the parts she knew would crush him. “Ry, there’s more and you aren’t going to like it. Rosalee did something, I don’t know what, Damarra didn’t have time to tell me, but she did something to betray us and now,” allowing her voice to trai
l off, Storm dropped the biggest bomb in a whisper “the Unseen is coming for me.”
“What did you just say?” The last bit of bacon fell to the floor in sync with Ryder’s jaw.
Gathering her courage, Storm looked her mate in the eye and forced her voice to steady. “The Unseen is coming for me.”
“Did you just say ‘the Unseen,’ Storm?” Lucian’s voice disrupted the awkward silence, his body filling the doorway.
“Yes. I was going to tell everyone when Angeline and Frederick woke. Honest, it just happened. Sophia was there, too. Didn’t she tell you?” Storm frowned; she thought Sophia heard all of it.
A dark looked crossed Lucian’s face. “Sophia and the beast are resting. She could not tell me what happened. I came down to see what you could tell me about why my wife just passed out in my arms.”
“Lucian – I – I mean, I’m sorry, I had no –“
“Storm, they are fine. Really, Soph told me to ask you what happened while they rest. She assured me they are both just drained. It was worth it to see your face, though. Come, do not look so glum. The Unseen should prove to be just the challenge you are looking for. It is about time we found out what we are really dealing with.” Lucian walked around the opposite side of the breakfast bar and scooped up a few biscuits.
“Luc, could you tone down your excitement just a touch? This is the Unseen - as in nobody has ever seen it. How do you fight something you cannot see?” Ryder opened his mouth to continue but Storm placed a hand on his arm to silence him.
“There’s more, Luc. I don’t think it is as simple as the Unseen showing up on our doorstep asking to fight us like Elba did. Rosalee betrayed us somehow, I am not sure how but Damarra says she is a part of this. I don’t think we can count on Damarra or Roane at this point either. We can’t just laugh this one off.” Storm held Lucian’s gaze, her chin jutted out defiantly just to drive the point home.
“Sure, almighty Emerald. As you say, as we do.” Lucian tossed a chunk of biscuit at her. “But we need to have some fun, or else there is no point to any of this. This food is cold. I thought we were ordering pizza?” Chucking the last piece in his mouth, Lucian whipped out his cell phone and started dialing.
“Pizza is on the way, my friend.” Ryder began cleaning up the dishes, “We will have company this evening.” Frustration still rippled beneath Ryder’s calm façade. Storm knew it would only get worse when Dan and Shane arrived.
“Ah, the angels must be coming. Well then, I’ll go pull some more beer in from the garage and ready the game room.” Lucian feigned an apologetic look in response to Ryder’s glare. “What? I do not have to hate them.”
Storm cast their friend a dark look and slid off her stool. She sidled up to Ryder and slid and arm around his waist giving him a quick squeeze. He turned and pulled her close, well as close as he could without putting what he deemed to be too much pressure on the babes.
“Could you please wait until I leave the room at least? I know it is your house and all, but do you have to do it when I am standing right here?” Lucian grabbed one more biscuit. “Do not mind me; I will just slip out the way I came.”
Storm didn’t mind him. She nimbly pried open her mate’s belt as his lips found her neck, the sweet spot she loved, and rocked into her. Storm slid her hands up to the bottom of his shirt allowing her fingers to trace his sides leaving a trail of gooseflesh as she pulled it up and over his head. Ryder’s eyes flashed silver and a low growl built in his throat. She loved that. Tracing the lines of his biceps with her nails, Storm leaned in and kissed Ryder full on the lips. Her fingers found his hair, twining the silky waves in her fingers as he lifted her slightly. Ryder withdrew from the kiss first, keeping his arms around her. “My love, what you do to me, there are not words.”
Storm exhaled, “Then don’t use words.” She pulled his head closer for a deeper kiss. Something still felt wrong. She couldn’t reach him. Releasing his hair, Storm withdrew. She pulled out of his arms and moved back to her chair.
“What is wrong, my love?”
“Your eyes are not silver anymore. So, you tell me what is wrong because you are not here with me right now.” Storm adjusted in the chair, it was getting more difficult to sit comfortably in the bar stools. The mood seemed sufficiently ruined so she grabbed a cold biscuit and started munching while waiting for Ryder to respond.
“It is not you. Please believe me.” Ryder pulled his shirt back on and resumed cleaning the breakfast dishes. “It is never you, Storm. I just felt the babes and thought about what would happen if the Unseen came here for you and them and, well –“
“I get it. I feel it too, all the time, but that is why I wanted this bit of normalcy. If we lose us then what is the point? Ry, Lucian is right about some of this. While I do not necessarily share his overwhelming zeal, I do believe we need to take some time for ourselves.” Storm clammed up until Ryder looked at and acknowledged her again. “Please remember that we are in this together and we will get out of this together. I have no intention of leaving you or the babes. So what if the Unseen has never been seen before? There has never been an Emerald before either. Or a tame, free Phoenix bound to a formerly deceased witch for that matter. We just have to make the Unseen seen.”
“That’s about the gist of it, babe.”
Storm spun around, knowing full well who just entered the kitchen but not quite believing it until she could take them in with her own two eyes. Ryder masked his distaste and turned toward the sink. Dan and Shane stood in the middle of the room looking just as gorgeous as ever. Storm catapulted across the room and into their waiting arms.
Damarra – before recorded time
“You have returned, m’lady.” He stood there, hint of a smile playing about his lips as if amused by her presence. This time, Damarra appeared on the stump nearest him as he ate. She watched the movements of his jaw with interest, silently questioning when he would look up at her. He did not, even when he swallowed to speak. Instead, the Immortal studied his food, a slab of half cooked meat.
“Why do you not look on me, Immortal? Am I not pleasing to you?” Damarra worked to keep her tone even though his answer threatened to unleash her wrath. How did he come to affect her so? Almha told her to mate the man; she said nothing of such irrational reactions to his thoughts. Damarra did not appreciate these feelings and wondered again if she was being punished for some unknown wrong.
“Should I find you pleasing, m’lady?” Roane continued to avoid looking at her. Infuriating! She felt a heat rise in her cheeks and reached up to touch them. How peculiar. Damarra frowned at the male, beautiful indeed but so insolent. She could not bring herself to tell him the real reason behind her visits. Standing, Damarra slapped the remaining piece of meat from the male’s hand and disapparated, sure to kick up a fair amount of sand with her exit. Once safe within her hollow, Damarra peeked at the male in her fountain. He sat there silently staring at the stump she just vacated, a strange expression on his face for some time. That would teach him to disrespect her. Damarra folded her arms across her chest, a smirk of satisfaction creeping across her face. She would teach him, indeed.
Storm
“How are you? I just found out you two were coming! We have had so much excitement around here. How long can you stay?” The questions kept coming, fast and feverish off her lips. Suddenly struck by how much she missed her oldest friends, the words just flowed.
“Slow down, babe.” Shane pushed her back slightly, steadying her and taking her in. “Quite the paunch you have going on these days.” He pushed past her, avoiding the blow intended for his arm, and sidled up to Ryder. “Good to see you again, man. Congratulations on the babes and taming our fair Storm.”
Dan rolled his eyes toward Shane and pulled her into his arms. “You look radiant, Storm. I am so happy for you. We both are.” He whispered in her ear, warm breath as comforting and sweet as ever. When he released her, Dan smiled and squeezed her hand lightly, as he too crossed over to Ryder.
Storm looked from face to face as the tension dissolved and Ryder shook Dan’s hand. She accepted that as a starting point and looped her arm around Dan’s waist. “Shane, I have not forgotten your crack about my paunch. You will have to pay for that, Seraph.”
“Just as cheeky as ever, eh, Storm? Good to see that wedded bliss and motherhood have no impact on that part of your personality.” Shane pretended to cringe in response to her glare.
“Enough, Shane.” Dan’s face and tone turned serious once more. “We came to offer our assistance. May we tend Angeline first and then the shifter? We need them awake and aware as soon as possible.”
“Yes, of course.” Storm led the way, arm in arm with Dan, Shane just behind them and Ryder bringing up the rear. “They have both been injured but Sophia and the Phoenix helped ease the pain and speed their recovery.”
The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set Page 42