I opened my mouth to say it was entirely the case but Inés came back in with Heloïse and I didn’t want to discuss this in front of them so I contented myself with glaring at him. He continued to watch me, making me uncomfortable under the weight of his golden gaze. I turned away to Heloïse who gave me another warm smile. I looked at her critically; she was a fair bit taller than Inés and her hair was a deep glossy brown, not black. But those eyes, those green eyes were the same.
“Who are you?” I demanded, and heard Inés sigh.
“Oui, Cherie,” Inés said, “I suppose it’s time I introduced you.” She jerked her head in Heloïse’s direction with a frown. “Jéhenne, meet your great aunt Heloïse.”
Chapter 3
“My what?” I gaped at Inés, though it was obvious as soon as she said it. Those eyes were a dead giveaway.
“Bonjour, Jéhenne. I’m so pleased to finally meet you.” She held out her hand and I looked at her for a moment before taking it. She clasped my hand between hers. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner but ... well I had some problems of my own to deal with I’m afraid.” She sent a cool glance at Inés. “And I only found out you were here a few weeks back when everyone was stunned and talking about news of the battle you fought. You are quite a force to be reckoned with it appears?” She let go of my hand, still smiling at me.
“I ...” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I can’t get over the fact I have an aunt.” I looked over at Inés. “And you were going to tell me about this when exactly?”
“Oh here we go,” she muttered, and went to get a glass of what Corin had downed. “We don’t get on, ça va?” She offered Corin a refill with a flirtatious smile and he shook his head.
I scowled at her. “No shit! Tell me is there anyone you do get on with?”
I heard Heloïse chuckle but Inés just shrugged. “You,” she said.I didn’t know whether to laugh or throw things. “You call this getting on? Bloody hell, Inés, you two must really hate each other.”
I decided against rowing with her. I could yell at her for not having told me I had more family but it wouldn’t get me anywhere and, well, to be honest I was thrilled. I had an Aunt, and maybe there was a small chance she wasn’t a complete sociopath. It was unlikely, going on the family I’d met but you never know, miracles happen. Heloïse took a paper and pen from the sideboard and scribbled her address and phone number on it.
“I’ve rented a place close by so we can get to know each other. I hope you’ll come and visit me.”
“Sure, I mean, yeah, I’d love to.”
“Great. My number is there. Call me when you’re free.” She glanced at Corin, hesitated and tore another piece of paper from the note pad. She wrote her name and number on that too and passed it to Corin.
“If you are ever in the area ...” she said with an innocent smile. He took it, expressionless, and folded it carefully, putting it in his tight jeans pocket.
“I will bear it in mind,” he said politely. Somehow I didn’t think he’d be stopping by.
The door screeched open again and Cain strode in, bringing a gust of cold air in his wake. To my surprise, the moment he saw Corin he bowed. “Your Highness.”
“Cain?” Corin’s eyes swiveled from Cain to me and his eyebrows flew up. “Gods, you’re her ...what? Brother?”
“Good guess.” Cain nodded.
“Your auras are too similar to be anything else. I can’t believe I never realised before, but then it’s been a while.”
I wondered how they knew each other but was too busy wondering if Cain had known about Heloïse. He kissed her on the cheek and I had my answer.
“Bloody hell, Cain. You knew I had an aunt too?”
“Great aunt,” he corrected, pedantic as ever. “And actually you have two but I only found out myself a few days ago. Heloïse wanted to surprise you so she asked me not to say.”
“Two?”
Heloïse nodded. “I have a twin sister, not identical, mind.”
“Merde,” Inés muttered. “Don’t tell me she’s still alive?”
Heloïse picked her coat up off of the table and Corin stepped forward, taking it from her hands and holding it out for her.“Such a gentleman,” she said with admiration and shot him a dazzling smile before answering. “Yes, still alive, I’d know if she was dead.”
“When did you see her last?” I asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly I had family crawling out of the woodwork.
She tied the belt tight around her tiny waist and pouted. “Oh, I don’t know ... sometime in the seventeenth century I guess.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “So you’re close then?”
“Well, for our kind, and the fact that we’re both still alive, yes, I would say we are.” With that reassuring insight into my new family, she leaned in and kissed Cain on the cheek, and then Corin, though his had a whole other subtext I tried hard not to notice.
“Come see me soon, Jéhenne,” she said, turning for the door.
“I will.” I nodded and smiled at her.’
“Wait, Heloïse, I’ll come with you. I just stopped by to talk to Jéhenne,” Cain said, and she nodded at Cain and waited as he turned to me.
“I’ve had some information I need to check out,” he said, “it’s important for our trip. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone maybe just a few days, maybe longer, it depends.”
“OK.” I shrugged and tried not to let the fact I was doing the equivalent of mental cartwheels show on my face.
Cain frowned. “No, it’s not OK. You need to carry on with your training. We don’t have time to lose.”
The cartwheels stopped abruptly. “Well, I’m sure Inés could stand in for you,” I said.
Inés scowled. “I don’t think so, Jéhenne.”
Cain shook his head vigorously. “I don’t think that is a good idea. Inés is far too competitive, you’d probably end up killing each other for real.”
“I could do it.”
Everyone looked at Corin in surprise.
“You would?” Cain asked.
Corin looked back at him, a bland expression on his face. “I began her training last summer; I don’t see why we shouldn’t carry on where we left off.”
“You mean before you tried to trick me?” I replied, astonished that he had the nerve to suggest it.
“My dear, you now know the rules, you don’t trust me, that’s fair enough. I can, however, teach you a great deal.”
“He’s right,” Cain said. “It’s the perfect solution.”
“No! It’s far from perfect. There is no way I’m spending time alone with--with, Casanova here!”
Cain rolled his eyes and Corin grimaced. “Please, my dear, Casanova was highly overrated; really you are very hard on a man’s ego.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Oh, I think yours can take it.”
Cain stepped closer to me, grabbing my arm. “You are far from ready for what is coming, whether you like it or not there is much Corin can teach you.”
“Oh, yes there is,” Inés muttered with a breathy voice behind me. I turned to scowl at her but she just shrugged. “I’ll spend time alone with him if you won’t.”
“Be my guest!” I snapped. “Cain, do you have any idea what Corvus will say about this?”
“Corvus wants you to be protected, he put me in charge of your training and I’m putting Corin in charge in my absence.”
“Corvus won’t like me spending time alone with him,” I hissed, nodding towards Corin, who was doing his best to look harmless and failing badly.
“Then don’t tell him!” Cain shouted, getting annoyed now. “It may only be for a few days and if he does find out I will tell him that I insisted and gave you no choice. OK?”
“Come, Jéhenne,” Corin said with a sly smile, giving up on the harmless approach as it clearly wasn’t working. “You have made your feelings for me perfectly clear, you find me in no way appealing and you are madly in love with the vampire, so what possible danger ca
n you be in?”
Damn him.
“Fine.” I was gritting my teeth so hard my jaw hurt. I glared at him. “No tricky fae moves, Corin. I mean it, this is a working arrangement, nothing more, is that clear?”
“Perfectly.”
“Cherie, you could be a little more gracious when someone gives up their time to help you,” Inés said with a frown. “Corin is a Prince after all, his time is not given to just anyone.”
I felt sparks prickle at my fingertips and clenched my fists. “No, usually he makes arrangements with you, that way you can help him trick me into being under his control. Tell me, what exactly did he pay you for that little favour?” Bearing in mind she’d still been my eighty year old gran at that point I kind of wished I hadn’t asked as the mental image made me want to claw my own eyes out. Inés just laughed at me.
“Oh, Nina,” she said, shaking her head. “Having the chance to be related to the Queen of Alfheim was favour enough. If only you understood what you turned down.”
Corin picked up a leather jacket that was slung on the back of one of the chairs and put it on. “I don’t think this is a subject Jéhenne cares to revisit, Inés,” he said, sending me a wry smile. “Cain, when do you leave?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“You wish me to begin the next day?”
Cain was pouring himself a cup of coffee and nodded as he started piling sugar into it. “If you don’t mind, I admit it will be a weight off my mind.”
“Yeah and a ten tonne weight on mine,” I muttered to myself. And it was a Sunday, when normal people got a lie in instead of being chased by homicidal war mages or, in this case, fae royalty. I crossed my arms and scowled at anyone who dared catch my eye.
“Very well then,” Corin said, arranging his coat collar. “Inés, Heloïse, you are as beautiful, charming and terrifying as always.” He gave them a slight bow, shook Cain’s hand and turned to me. “I will see you here Sunday morning, my dear, ten o’clock sharp, don’t keep me waiting.”
“Only if you’re here to chaperone,” I said to Inés who shook her head.
“I can’t, I have plans.”
“Change them!”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Non, c’est pas possible.”
I turned to Heloïse who shook her head apologetically. “I would, Jéhenne, truly, but I can’t. I have a lot of things to arrange. My arrival here has ...caused a bit of a stir. I have feathers to unruffle.”
“Fine, I’ll ask Rodney.” I looked up to find Corin’s eyes on me.
“You may disapprove of me, Jéhenne, but I hope you know I am enough of a gentleman not to force my attentions where they are not welcome,” he said, and there was a touch of reproach in his voice.
“I guess,” I muttered grudgingly.
“Then I cannot help but wonder why spending time with me disturbs your peace of mind quite so badly.”
He took my hand and after that comment I didn’t feel I could stop him. He kissed the back and I willed myself to find it a ridiculous and out dated gesture. Maybe if he hadn’t fixed me with those golden eyes when he did it, I would have done. As it was, I was definitely bringing Rodney.
He closed the door behind him and I looked up to find Heloïse and Inés grinning at me.
“What?”
“Mais alors, Jéhenne, he’s hot. Admit it,” Inés demanded.
“If you like that sort of thing,” I muttered. “He seems ...different from last time I saw him, more ...” I shrugged, unwilling to put it into words.
Inés nodded. “Oui, I advised him to tone it down when he first met you, I thought you’d run like a frightened rabbit if he came on too strong and he wouldn’t get the chance to give his ...gifts. So he glamoured himself to seem a little less ... well, less.”
My mouth dropped open. “You mean to say you were even advising him on the best way to seduce me?”
Inés sent an appealing look at Heloïse. “Dieux, you see? I mean who in their right mind wouldn’t want to be seduced by him?”
I rolled my eyes and Heloïse snorted, amused. “It’s not often I agree with Inés, but in this case ...”
“I’m going out with Corvus!” I practically yelled and then felt a stab of annoyance as her eyes drifted to the space on my neck where his tattoo should be.”
She patted my arm in a reassuring gesture. “Of course, I apologise. Cain, are you ready?”
Cain drained his coffee cup and set it down. “See you later, Jéhenne. Aurevoir, Inés.”
I watched them go and wondered how the hell I’d allowed them to manipulate me into this position. Now I had something else to keep from Corvus, the vampire lie detector, just perfect. I stalked past Inés without a word and went into the herb room to find my car keys before leaving by the back door, slamming it behind me.
The rusty beast coughed itself to life as I turned the key and trundled back down the driveway. My route took me straight past my friend Claudette’s house and so I decided I’d stop off and see her. I needed cheering up, preferably with a nice, normal friend, one who didn’t have an ulterior motive that would induce a heart attack before my next birthday.
“Jéhenne!” Claudette’s welcome was as warm as always, and I was ushered into the house and up to her room. We sat on her bed and listened to music and talked about nothing and for five minutes I almost believed I was nineteen and just having a few boyfriend problems. Almost.
“Bonjour, Jéhenne.” Jean-Pierre, Claudette’s brother poked his head around the door and grinned at me. “How you doing, ca va?”
I shrugged and smiled, answering automatically. “Ca va.” It crossed my mind to wonder what they would say if I told them the truth. I was stressing about an upcoming return trip to the underworld and still suffering nightmares from my last visit. My vampire boyfriend was unhappy because I wouldn’t have sex with him. I was climbing the walls with frustration because I couldn’t have sex with him without tying us both together for all eternity with no get out clause if things went pear shaped, and now my family had decided to get me alone and in close proximity to a sexy Elvin Prince who was making no secret of the fact he wanted to get to know me better; much better. I bit my lip and swallowed down a bubble of hysterical laughter. ‘Ca va’ would just have to cover it.
“So will you come?”
I was snapped back to the real world, or Claudette’s version of it at least, as she asked me about the party they were planning for next Friday.
“Yeah, I guess. I’d love to.”
“Will you bring Corvus?” she asked curiously. Claudette and Jean-Pierre obviously had no idea what Corvus was but they had met. Unfortunately Corvus had not been on his best behaviour and they were consequently rather concerned about me being with him, despite my reassurance that he was a good man. I tried to imagine Corvus at a party here, and failed.
“Um, maybe.”
“You guys are still together?” Claudette pressed, her curiosity obviously peaked by my response.
“Yes, we are.”
Jean-Pierre looked at me anxiously and stepped further into the room. “He is treating you OK?”
I laughed and nodded. “Yes, he treats me very well; really, there’s nothing to worry about.” I felt their eyes scrutinising me and tried to give them a reassuring smile but from the look they shared I wasn’t sure it hit the mark. I made my excuses before their questioning could go any deeper, and said goodbye, promising to see them at the party.
I was just climbing into my car when I got a cold sensation down my spine and my instincts began to prickle. I turned, convinced I was being watched. I glanced up to see two crows, sitting in the tree beside me. I looked up at them and they stared back. They sat with identical poses, heads on one side, each with one beady, black eye watching me. It felt like they were waiting for something.
I shivered and got into the car, telling myself I was being ridiculous, but as I drove, the feeling remained. I felt their eyes on me all the way home.
Chapter 4
I got back to the Chateau and hung my car keys on the wall- next to the dozens of others for all the pretty, shiny machines Corvus had in his garage. They made my car look like it belonged to a different species but I didn’t care, it was mine, I’d bought it; I loved it.
I took the stairs down into the large kitchen that served the human ‘guests’ to the chateau and found Rodney making tea. He lifted the pot in my direction.“Want a cuppa?”
I slumped in a chair by the kitchen table and put my head in my hands. “Oh, God, yes please.”
He snorted. “Good day?”
“I was over with Inés.”
“Ah.” Rodney nodded. “That’ll be a no then.”
“Oh, bloody hell, Rodney, I think I just agreed to do something really stupid but I didn’t have a choice.”
Rodney set a mug of steaming tea down in front of me and sat down himself. “I’m listenin’.”
I explained about Cain going away and Corin taking his place.
“Aww, Jéhenne, are you mental, after what he did to you in the summer?”
“I know! That’s what I told Cain but he went off on one, and then Corin made out like I was only saying no because I couldn’t trust myself to keep my hands off him and ... ugh! Somehow I ended up agreeing.”
Rodney shook his head. “Well just give us a ten minute warning before you tell Corvus, I want to be out of the building.”
“I’m not going to tell him.”
There was a choking sound and he looked at me like I’d lost the plot. “Bleedin’ ‘ell, are you nuts?”
“No! There is no reason for him to know, he’ll only go all possessive on me and I’m not interested in Corin. It’s a working arrangement and hopefully it’s only for a few days. Cain said if the worst happened and he did find out he’d tell him he insisted ...which he did.”
Rodney’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “A working arrangement ...with Corin?”
“Yes.” I folded my arms and glared at him. “Why?”
The Heart of Arima. Page 3