“For the record too, I call you halfling as a compliment, Bel, not an insult. I respect your father and mother. They were both immensely powerful in their own right, but they kept things humble, never looking down on others or becoming corrupt. Many do, as you know even from this realm. Greed kills, and that’s true no matter your race or originating plane of existence. They were pure and honest to everyone that knew them even though they were going to rule an extremely powerful throne someday. You’re Keiren’s only remaining piece of her partner, Bel, and to part with you must have killed her a thousand times a second for the last twenty-two years. I have an immense respect for both of them, and from me, that’s the highest compliment anyone can get…except for you. You, I love. You’ve grown on me, and I know you’re hard on yourself, but you don’t need to be. You’re going to do what’s right.”
“How are you so sure of that? I couldn’t even hardly speak around Bodhe, I don’t even want to face him again after my outburst. It’s mortifying,” she said as she groaned.
“You’ll get over it, and so will the right one. Losing a partner to the Sidhe, or a mate to the Elves, is tragic on a level that you can’t even begin to understand until you’re immortal and sense them for the first time with your immortal soul. What your mother lost is so vast and irreplaceable. Until you feel the bond of your soul in another, you can’t imagine what it’s like to lose that. I never want to find my partner, Bel. Really, truly, never ever. I’ve seen immortals lose their fated ones, and it’s a heartache that never heals, that I never want any part of. One night stands are good for me, thank you. What your mom—what Keiren—did to protect you after the loss of Norgelon was a powerful act of love that not many would have had the power to carry out just following that kind of despair,” she said, as she looked at her with sad eyes, which wasn’t a look she saw on Amele…maybe ever. It hurt her heart and made her wonder if she really wanted that either. Good God, this was a lot to take in. Amele continued after waving her hand in the air, dismissing her own words.
“Anyway, they would’ve made a perfect ruling family of Albequen when Lorelei stepped down, and beyond all of these dreams, it’s up to you now to help the realms heal from the loss of your father. You’re going to make them proud, as hard as all this seems at the moment. I know how you feel about me referring to them as your mom and dad too, and in no way am I replacing the amazing people who raised you, I just want you to really and truly understand that you weren’t abandoned. You were loved; you are loved. And we’re going to get through this mess…together.”
Nodding and leaking like a faucet that didn’t even have a plug of any kind, she hugged her friend like she was a lifeline, and in a way, she was the only one she had right now. Amele covered her up with her quilts and wiped her tears. A thought crossed her mind then about the magic of the realms, and she wondered if she could somehow bring her parents back? Amele sighed and squeezed her hand for a moment before speaking.
“I see that look in your eyes, and no, it can’t be done. Our realm is the highest in magic other than the Gods themselves, but even we have our limits. It’s forbidden to bring back the dead. The universe doesn’t respond to that well, and what comes back is never what was before. What has passed into the higher realms, must remain there, and for humans, those realms are different than ours. They’re together, Bel. I promise. And if you ever felt abandoned by your mother, don’t. She’s given up the ability to travel after your father to keep you safe. You are so loved by her. Don’t abandon her, for she didn’t abandon you. Not at all. You’re going to love her when you meet her, and as you learn more about your heritage, you’ll understand what a massive sacrifice she made for you. We can only move forward, not back. Okay? Now, get some sleep. You need to go through door number two now.”
Isabel was slightly irked that she was so damn transparent again, but settled in her bed, her stomach tight and fluttering after Amele shut her door. She didn’t know how the hell she was supposed to sleep like this. Anticipation and anxiety warred with each other with every breath she took. Tossing and turning, her bed felt like it was made of stones, and it was a great deal of time imagining a mother she’d never known, before sleep finally came.
CHAPTER FIVE
Elven Dreams
WHEN ISABEL OPENED her eyes, she found herself in a massive bedroom with a fire blazing in a fireplace that was rustically cut into the stone walls. The ceilings were some of the tallest she’d ever seen, and intricate woodwork wove through beams that appeared more fashion than function in the way they dipped and swayed with the rounded stone above her head. Strange patterns that reminded her a little of Celtic designs were burned into the cream colored wood that passed beneath the darker stone, making a sort of frame that didn’t appear to hold anything up but itself. Geometric patterns swirled within the shape of the wood itself, and in the symbols engraved all along its length. Just as in Loveryn, she’d never seen anything so intricate, so beautiful, and so completely foreign. The craftsmanship wasn’t foreign as in another country, but as in another world. Not in North Carolina, anymore? Check.
Her breath caught in her throat as she drank in her surroundings and for a moment she was completely still, only her eyes sliding around the exquisite chamber. The room was adorned with rich silks and tapestries along the stone walls, and dark wood crafted with master craftsmanship was the basis for all the furniture. It looked like wealth, this room. She wasn’t sure what to expect of Albequen, but just this small piece of it was beyond her wildest dreams. That thought nearly made her laugh, except she was half expecting to be accosted again at a moment’s notice. She’d never seen anything quite like this, even if it was more reminiscent of medieval times here, than the straight up fantasy of Loveryn.
“Welcome to Albequen,” a silky voice said from behind her. She whipped around and shrieked.
“If everyone could stop sneaking up on me, that would be really awesome.” Heart hammering, she let her eyes move up the chest of the beast of a man before her, and up to his equally commanding face. He was easily a foot taller than her so she had to really look up. What was it with immortal men? They were massive, and as gigantic as Bodhe was to her, Morkain was even larger it seemed. When she reached his eyes—which were a mesmerizing ocean of deep azure and thick lashes that went on for days—she nearly choked on the air.
Really? Could this get any worse?
He was ridiculously good looking, and a polar opposite of Bodhe with his deep caramel skin and raven black hair. He too wore his hair plaited behind his pointed ears—something that reminded her of a warrior for some reason she didn’t understand—and his eyes flared at the sight of her. She noticed a small scar on his cheekbone beneath his left eye, but it just made him more appealing. A shadow of a beard scratched along his chin and over the top of his lip, as if he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. Ruggedly handsome; that would be a few words to describe him. Dangerous was another, based on his size and stature. A smile began to paint his full, very lickable indeed, lips, and the smile reached up into his steady gaze. Every inch of him was groomed to perfection, except for the stubble on his face, but even that was a perfect shadow along his strong jaw. Morkain was a mass of muscle, only matched by Bodhe’s frame. These two dwarfed her in size, and had to be the most sought after males in all the realms; a thought that made her slightly sick to her stomach, actually.
And dammit if her pajamas weren’t gone again, she noticed, tearing her eyes from him to look down. She wore a blue, silk dress this time that was cut dangerously low in both the front and back—as evident by the breeze she could feel just above her backside—and swept about her ankles softly. Strange, she thought, that she’d only notice that after everything else. She was definitely on sensory overload. Reaching up to her throat she held her necklace and stole a glance at her hand where her ring remained. It comforted her to know they were able to travel with her, even if her clothes apparently did not. She didn’t know if she could actually summon Amele since she w
asn’t sure where she was in these dreams, but at least she was protected from magic by the necklace, and that made her feel more confident.
“I do not understand this awesome you speak of, Isabel, but it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said with a perfectly polished, yet foreign accent before he took her hand and pressed it to his lips. She blushed, feeling the heat rise up her chest, and smiled at the man before her. Good God, this was going to be a rough few weeks.
“Awesome means good.” Had he really never heard the word? Strange, she thought, that they would both speak English perfectly, but not know slang. Amele cursed like a sailor, and she made a mental note to ask her about that. Of course, it didn’t appear that Bodhe or Morkain would enjoy spending much time in her world. She swallowed hard when she thought that….her world. It still made her freak out inside, even though the evidence of truth was standing before her with his pointed damn ears. “Yeah, um, hi there. Morkain?” She took a step back to regain some composure. Why the hell was her heart beating in her ears?
He took a step toward her again and didn’t allow her the space she’d created between them. “The one and only. It pleases me to hear you speak my name. Finally,” he said, with a smirk. What she could see of his teeth were perfect, of course. Why couldn’t either of them have some flaw? Oh yeah, one of them had a major flaw…they were trying to gain something that was definitely not her love. It didn’t stop her body from responding to the attention, however, especially since there was zero reference for her to fall back on when it came to men. Real men—not the boys she knew from the Appalachian mountains. She felt the blush burning her cheeks even more as he swept his arm around her back and put his face in her hair. She was utterly frozen…this was just too, too much. Her heart was pounding, and he was far too close, and far too forward. He seemed to have a different element to him than Bodhe had; an animalistic quality to his very presence that dripped of raw, untamed male.
“Your hair smells intoxicating. Like mint and flowers, and something that I cannot name.” His hand twirled a curl around his fingertip. “You are mesmerizing, Isabel. As I knew my mate would be.”
She closed her eyes and breathed in a steadying breath. She hadn’t had one decent date in her entire life and now two of the most gorgeous creatures she’d ever seen were ogling over her. How on earth was she going to make it through this, and make the right decision? There wasn’t enough damned time.
“Morkain, please. We’ve only just met…” she trailed off at the feel of his breath on her cheek, and the heat radiating from him everywhere.
“That’s true, but we have a few thousand years of catching up to do, and why wait after waiting so very long?” He nuzzled his face into her neck and grazed her skin lightly with his teeth.
“I-I’ve only been alive for twenty-two years, not thousands. Please…stop, or I’ll go home.” She shivered, goosebumps raising everywhere on her.
“Ah, so you have already learned how to do that? How interesting you are, Beauty.” He looked at her like she was amusing him, light dancing in his gaze. “I am impressed in your abilities, as I knew I would be. You’re my mate, so of course you’d be as intelligent as I am. Time, as you mention it, is irrelevant now that you’re here, but I’ve been waiting thousands of years for you, so I don’t see any reason to delay our homecoming. This is your home, make no mistake about that, so you may as well abandon any thoughts of things that don’t matter—like your false flame that you may not have met yet—and surrender to your fate with me. I am the only male you need to concern your precious time with, I assure you.” He paused and gave her a smoldering gaze that made her knees weak even though what he said was irritating her, since she wasn’t sure of anything right now. “Do you need more words, Isabel, or would you prefer I show you what I mean by them, instead? That would be my preference.”
Her mouth opened and then shut again. She knew she definitely didn’t need him showing her anything before she could think straight again—which may be never at this rate—and she knew she needed to process all of that without making a scene, so she turned away from his self-assured, cocky smile. Dammit if he didn’t look good in all his arrogance, too. Her chin rose as she walked away, the blue silk of her dress whipping across his pants as she did so. Thinking something is a dream and finding out that it’s not had sure changed her perspective. Had it been yesterday, she probably would’ve jumped hunk number two in a heartbeat, but dammit, she couldn’t now; this was no ordinary dream. Isabel walked toward the balcony in the corner of the room instead of responding to him and her breath stopped on the inhale as she walked out.
Holy, shit.
She was in the tower of an incredible castle that stood massively against the horizon. It was a shimmering, deep blue—like her favorite lake just before it froze—and glowed with some hidden, inner light. Great stone walls encircled the city below that stretched out as far into the distance as she could see to one side, and fires were sparkling throughout the kingdom. Not so unlike Loveryn in its build as far as the arches and flowing architecture, yet at the same time, completely different. Whichever world she belonged in, both were the stuff of fairytales. Except, don’t call them that—the faery thing. Or her, actually, since she was one too. Just because she didn’t feel like one, or feel the indignation that she should if she was raised here, didn’t mean she wanted to insult or be insulted. Would she be more like Keiren, or Norgelon? Would she ever truly get mad if someone called her a faery, or would she just start laughing? She groaned at her internal banter and squeezed the impeding headache away by pinching the bridge of her nose. Isabel took a deep breath and cleared her mind of the ramblings within it.
A smell she couldn’t identify lingered through the air and as she looked down, she saw vines that crept up the towers that were covered with white flowers. She couldn’t name them, but they smelled like a mixture of lilies and honey. Her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment, breathing in the sweet, intoxicating scent.
When they focused again, she noticed that she was in a sort of huge canyon with steep sloping rock from all directions around them except one. That had to be the way in and out of this fortress—the only way in or out, she guessed. Unless of course you were her, then you required nothing but sleep to gain entry to this majestic world. Fields stretched out forever with long grasses and animals grazing, and soft moonlight trickled across the large lake that was off in the distance.
Morkain stepped up behind her and she froze when his hands touched her arms gently. He was less intense, but no less intense, and she didn’t understand that at all. Even just rubbing her arms gently, it felt like he was consuming her with fire.
“Welcome home, Beauty. Tell me, do you like what you see?” He breathed the words silky in her ear from behind her and part of her knew that he wasn’t referring entirely to the landscape stretched out before her.
Her eyes rolled a little at the feel of his breath on her neck and she felt slightly dizzy with him so close. She could feel his body pressed behind her, at least the first five feet, seven inches of it, and it was…nice. She couldn’t help the way she relaxed into his strength and let go for a moment. Why the hell was she behaving like this? Her hormones were really out of control lately. Last night she was ready to jump Bodhe, and now her body was brimming with desire for Morkain. All from one simple touch? God, was she ever in trouble. Her biological mother should’ve really thought this through a bit more. Putting her in between these two and letting the best man win was a crap shoot at best. But wait, let’s make sure she was completely inexperienced, too. Isabel shuddered and took a steadying breath, turning to face him.
“I want to take a walk, Morkain. Take me out into the night, please, and show me Albequen. I want to get to know you.” If she was going to be forced into making a choice, she would do it with as clear a mind as possible. And it was absolutely not possible to do so in this close a proximity to him.
“As you wish, Beauty. But, you’re only prolonging the ine
vitable pleasure that will come from me within this room.” His hand slid through her hair and his eyes began to softly glow. It was entirely different than Bodhe’s and Amele’s inner light. Morkain’s seemed like his was conjured rather than part of his DNA like the Sidhe, but it was no less inhumanly beautiful. His eyes lidded with lust, and they moved to watch her lips. Being scrutinized this way brought a light sheen of sweat out across the surface of her skin.
Please don’t kiss me, please don’t kiss me. She chanted in her head.
Isabel stared at the strong jawbone and the full lips that called to her, her eyes dancing over the scar that she wanted to trace with fingertips that she didn’t dare raise to his face. She bit her lower lip, and that seemed to be all the provocation that he needed. He lifted her up and sat her on the balcony’s edge, one arm behind her back and his broad waist parting her legs. His lips devoured hers in an instant and she began to melt steadily into his embrace. He kissed her gently at first, soft and sweet until her lips parted for his tongue. Heat, so much heat in his kiss. Her arms reached up and ran the length of his rippling chest to the back of his neck where her nails scraped softly. The kiss turned starved and hedonistic as he deepened it, and she fed his passion willingly for a moment. A moment was okay, right? A groan fell from his lips and her pleasure spiked further, getting lost in the beautiful being before her.
Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1) Page 7