Kylan: Prince of Tigers – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Your body and mind are well. It is you that is taking so long to wake. You know the reason you’re hiding from yourself. Once you admit to it, you’ll be awake enough for the rest of them to tell you how much they love you.” Olivia told the pony she wasn’t hiding. “All right. You’re not.”

  That didn’t sound to her like she believed her, but Olivia let it go. They were walking through what looked like a dense forest then, and she could see the castle ahead of them. It wasn’t like any other castles she’d seen. More like something from a time of large armies to protect it and men on flying horses.

  “I have spoken to the queen. She asks that you stay with me until she has a moment to come and talk to you. She is the one that summoned you to this place. This is my home, along with many other animals humans no longer believe in. It is strange for me too when I visit the human world. They only see me as a horse and nothing more.” Olivia asked if it was because no one believed in her any longer. “Yes. I believe that is correct. They cannot allow their minds to accept that I am a flying horse. Humans are so odd, don’t you think?”

  “I’m human.” Rainbow told her she was no longer human. She was a great many things but no longer a human. “I don’t understand. I’m just as much human as my mother is. Right?”

  “Your mother is no longer human either. She is all things as well. When you were saved by the others, you took on a part of their blood and made it your own—the same with your mother. When you were given bits and pieces to save your life, your parents, Lord Kylan and your mother got it as well. To help you.” Olivia didn’t know who had saved her, but she was so happy to be alive. “The scar on your arm, does it bother you much?”

  Olivia looked at the scar on her arm where the claw of the troll had clipped her. It was nasty looking, long and raggedy. She wondered if it would ever smooth out and look like a regular scar. Looking at Rainbow, she told her she’d not noticed it until then. Then she told her what her concerns were about it being so noticeable. Why, unlike the other scars she had, did this one stay there when the others had disappeared?

  “I don’t know the answer to that, my lady. I do know there isn’t a creature alive, in this world or yours, that hasn’t heard about you taking on two trolls and living. I am so proud to know you. Others, they will be so jealous when I tell them you spoke to me first.” Olivia didn’t want people to be thinking of her as something like an oddity. She said as much to Rainbow. “Oddity? I don’t know the meaning of that word. But there is no one I know of thinking you’re anything but a brave and wonderful person. You not only saved others, but you exposed a thing that might well have hurt others too.”

  “They wanted to use us as slaves.”

  Aurora appeared before the two of them, and Rainbow bowed down so that her nose touched the earth.

  “My Lady Queen.” Olivia bent as well but was lifted up by the queen herself. Rainbow left them when the two of them started walking to the castle. Not knowing what to talk about with her, Olivia asked if she was mad at her for killing some of the creatures that were hers.

  “You are my creature as well, Olivia. I don’t mean I think of you anywhere like I do the trolls, but you are in my heart as much as the others.” She offered her a seat in a flower garden like she’d never seen before. “This is my own private place. A place I come to relax and to enjoy the morning. I have not had many such morns since you were taken by the trolls. So many died in vain when you were taken too.”

  “Wolves. Marie was killed by one of the trolls. I wish I could have saved her.” Aurora told her in a way, she had saved Marie. That she could be buried and not left in a cave, so her family never knew what happened to her. “The trolls did it, didn’t they?”

  “No. Marie was killed by a wolf, one of the very pack members there to protect you that night. He and his family have been taken care of. I wish I could have been a part of it, but alas, I cannot be there for every execution.” A platter was brought out by some faeries, and so was a trolley of tea and cups. The set was so beautiful it hurt her eyes to look directly at them. She picked up one of them and realized they were as delicate as they were beautiful. “I will send a set to your home for you. The magical potters in my realm, they are forever making things like this for me. Don’t you think them to be as beautiful as the flowers here?”

  “I do.” Setting the cup back on the saucer, she thought about what she and Rainbow had spoken about. “Why am I here? I’m assuming you want to tell me I should not have killed the trolls, but they were out to kill us.”

  “I’m glad you killed them. They died a much better death than the ones I executed.” The way she said it like it was nothing at all made Olivia shiver a little. “You did a wonderful thing, Olivia. You not only saved the lives of the other children with you, but you exposed a plot to take more children from your world. I have just come from the encampment of the trolls and found other children there. They, unlike you and your cousins, were taken when they were much younger. I’m afraid there is no hope for them other than to live out their lives here until they pass. The trolls did unspeakable things to them to make them slaves, and to put them back with their families will do more harm than good to them all. I’m sorry about that. But I can assure you that they’ll never do it again. The trolls will know my wrath like no one has ever known it before. I feel ashamed I didn’t know about it until now.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s done and over with now. That’s what my mom says to me all the time about things I have no control over or that are finished. You can’t change the past, so you have to make sure you remember what you did and try to make it work better for you when it comes up again. I’m sure you have.” Aurora laughed with her. “You’re not as scary or uptight as I thought you’d be.”

  “Thank you. I think.” Aurora looked at her arm, and Olivia pulled her napkin over the wounded area. “There is no point in hiding it, my child. It is there for every creature with even a little bit of magic to know you’ve braved something no one else has ever done. I myself have never taken on a troll without magic. You did it with nothing more than your wit and brains. People will know you for what you are. One of the bravest people they’ve ever known. Now, I’d like to talk to you about your magic.”

  “Rainbow said I had some from all the creatures I’ve touched today. I’m sure at some point, others, in the hospital and out in the field, gave me some of theirs too. Even you.” Aurora told her she had given her a great deal. “Because of the troll cutting into me.”

  “That as well. It took a great deal of magic to take his poisons from your body. In turn, I was able to give you the magic that would make sure you’d be immune to such wounds again. Any poison, here or in your realm, will never bother you again.” Olivia thanked her. “You are so very welcome. However, there is more than just the magic to keep you safe from poisonings. You have the magic of a great and powerful wolf, as well as other creatures that have been around even longer than the tigers that are mine. With age comes great power. They have all given theirs freely to one so brave.”

  “I don’t know how brave I really was. I tried to tell myself that if I didn’t come home with my cousins, I’d never forgiven myself. Also, I remember how Marie looked and knew that if I or any of the other three looked like that when our parents saw us, they’d die as well. I don’t want my mom or Kylan to die. They’re so very much in love, I think.” Aurora said they were, very much. “She’s happy too. I’ve never seen her so happy. And my grandda is getting help. That’s so good for my mom and him.”

  “It is. He is in a good place now, and he is going to live out the rest of his life with relatively little trouble. He did not want to be an immortal. Collier told me that to know he might have to deal with being depressed for all eternity would be too much for him. I told him I understood. There is little I can do to heal his brain, or I would. For you.”

  “Thank you. He told me that the othe
r day when I spoke to him. Or however long it’s been. He has access to a computer there, and we talk to each other on it a great deal.” She smiled when she thought of teaching him how to send her a picture of his room. But she needed answers more than she needed to think of having her grandda talking to her. “This magic. What is it going to do to me? Not that I don’t appreciate what they’ve all given me, but I am curious as to what I have. And how I thank them too. I want them to know I’m alive and glad they were there for me.”

  “They will tell you the same thing I have, that you did all of us a great thing by exposing the trolls. Also, your bravery in doing so.” She looked around the garden, too embarrassed by the praise to think of an answer. “You will be able to come and go from this realm whenever you wish. You need only to think of the castle, and you’ll be here. I would very much like for you to visit me when you can. I enjoy having you here.”

  She told her she would come and visit. “I don’t know how I feel about killing something. I know had I not killed the trolls, they would have surely killed us. But I killed a creature that is no longer a part of my world. I took something from this world that can never be replaced. I understand I didn’t kill all of them, but they had families the same as I do. People perhaps depending on them as I do my own family. Also, I didn’t get the others out unscathed. Hanna hurt her arm. I believe Lynette was harmed as well when we fell together. And Marie, she was killed through no fault of her own except to have invited us to her home. I hurt for those reasons.”

  “That is why you have no wish to face the people there with you in that hospital room.” It wasn’t a question, but Olivia told her that was it. “I see. You are making them suffer for no other reason than you’re afraid. Afraid of the people that would gladly lie down and die for you. People that wish to tell you how glad they are to have you in their family. I did not know you were so selfish, Olivia Prince.”

  “Selfish?” She thought about it and remembered the look on her mom’s face when she woke while she was in the room. “I guess I am. I don’t think I care for being called that, but I can see where that’s exactly what I’m being. I need to wake up, don’t I? I need to…. Whatever the consequences are, I need to face them head on. I didn’t think of that.”

  “Well, you are only seconds old compared to how old I am to you.” They both laughed again. “I have another faerie for you. I don’t want you to be hurt more, but Cart no longer wants to be with you. Not because of anything you’ve done. But he will not be able to protect you as he feels you’re going to need now that others know about your bravery.”

  “That is sad. I liked him.” She thought about asking Aurora why Cart was not with her when she was taken by the trolls but didn’t want to get him into trouble. However, Aurora must have figured out what she’d been thinking about and told her. “We weren’t in my realm when the trolls took us? I had no idea. That does explain how I was never able to find any landmarks to make our way back home. I didn’t think they would have taken us very far from where we’d been. But to know that we were in another one altogether makes me wonder how we got there. I’m assuming magic.”

  “Yes. And a great deal of it. The trolls had set themselves up by using magic to keep other children from both our realms as their slaves. They would be brought from this little area to work, then put in there when they were finished with them. Luckily, you were smart enough to get yourselves out of there before you were put in the small place. I don’t think I would have ever found you had you been there.” Things started to fall into place about things she’d seen in the woods that night. Things, like Rainbow had said, that people didn’t want to believe any longer. “You should be going home now and waking up for your parents. You’ve been here long enough, my dear child. If you think of other questions, you only have to ask me. You will have your answers as soon as I can get them for you.”

  “I do have one question. You said I had the magic of older creatures. I’m assuming creatures that are also no longer of my world. What sort of things would that be? Just one of them I can think of when I’m alone.” Aurora thought about it, and Olivia laughed. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m very happy to be alive right now.”

  “I am as well. But one of the creatures that saved you is the king of all the waters. He was the first to be there for you.”

  She didn’t know who that could be, not for sure. But before she could ask her, she found herself in her hospital bed staring at Kylan. He was sleeping in the chair, his body contorted in a way that she didn’t think he could be comfortable. When he looked at her, Kylan smiled hugely and asked her quietly if she was all right.

  “I am.” He nodded and leaned in closer to her. “May I call you Dad? You don’t have to let me. I just love you that much.”

  “I’d be honored.” He leaned back in the chair and smiled again at her. “It’s nice to have you awake, daughter of mine. There are so many people asking about you it might be easier to get on the news and announce your waking up. How do you really feel?”

  “I want to go home. With you and Mom.” He told her he would gladly arrange that for her. “Thank you. I’m so glad my mom found you, Dad. With all my heart, I’m glad you’re in our lives.”

  Chapter 5

  Kylan was on his way back to the hospital when Bryant spoke to him. He wasn’t ready to share his daughter with the outside world just yet, but Bryant wanted to know if there were any changes to her.

  She’s been awake for a little while. Her mom is with her now. I was kind of giving them some time alone so they could talk. I sort of know if everyone knew she was awake, they’d want to come and see her. But I think mother and daughter have a great deal to talk about. Bryant wasn’t upset as he thought he’d be. When they started talking to each other, I left them to go and get my girls some roses and candy. I think I’m getting sappy in my old age.

  Nah. It’s having a mate and children that does that to you. I’m assuming Dad doesn’t know either. Kylan said no one did except him now. Good. I have a question for you. It’s not that big of a deal, but we’d all like to have a welcome home dinner for her. Samson is going to do it himself if you don’t let all of us have it for her. He’s been on pins and needles since his girls came home. Allie finally had to have a talk with him so he’d let them out of his sight long enough to go to the bathroom. He was seriously freaking them out. As you can well imagine, I’m betting it was less of a talk to him than it was beating him about the head and shoulders.

  I can see him doing that. And Allie. Also, understand how he feels. It was damned difficult for me to leave her alone to get them flowers. I can just imagine how hard it’s been for him. Even leaving the hospital was hard on me. Bryant said he never wanted to have those sorts of feelings again. I don’t think any of us do. When I spoke to Olivia, she told me she’d been to see the queen. And that she told her it was time to wake up. Also that she was magical. I don’t know what she might be able to do, but I can almost taste it on her.

  Have you thought about the fact that some of us are more powerful than others? I have—a great deal. If I were a person on the outside thinking it would be a good idea to kidnap one of the kids again, I’d take a step back and look at what I’d be up against. A pride of tigers. A queen. An army of faeries. That’s not even counting the fact that Allie and Samson are part of the army for the queen. Bryant laughed. I don’t think I’d want to piss any of them off, and I’m related to them all.

  Kylan laughed as well. It would be scary to anyone with half a brain. But from what he’d heard about trolls, they weren’t terribly bright. Kylan asked him if he thought being a pride leader cut him any slack.

  I’m going to keep telling myself it does. Do you think she’s going to be upset about a party? If she’s that powerful, I don’t want her zapping my ass for this. Kylan laughed again, and he realized it had been a while since he’d felt like it. His brother had had him laughing several times i
n the last few minutes. You also might want to mention that Nathan wants to reward her. The pack and the parents of Marie are very grateful for her help in catching the man who did this to her. I’m almost positive Olivia won’t think he needs to, but being able to find Marie’s body took a great deal off his mind. They don’t like leaving their dead to be exposed. Not to mention the kidnapping happening from his home.

  I’ll talk to her about it. I don’t know that she’ll like it, but I’ll try and make her understand how important it is to them. Bryant, I’ve something to tell you. I don’t want you to repeat this to anyone but your wife. The girls weren’t anywhere we could have found them. The trolls used their combined magic to make another realm where they could hide the children they took. It was a small place, I heard, that only held the children. That was where they were going to take our children. As it was, they were in the queen’s realm when they were trying to get back to us. Aurora was able to shut the trolls’ realm down and find the children that had been taken a while ago by the trolls. Aurora has taken care of it for everyone, but the children she found there are going to stay with her until they pass on. She said they weren’t human anymore. That the trolls had mistreated them so badly that they were more monster than child. That had hurt his heart in ways he couldn’t explain to his brother. But Bryant seemed to understand. I can’t even imagine what sorts of things they had done to them. Can you?

  To be honest, little brother, I don’t want to imagine it. I want to just know that they’ll be taken care of as long as they’re alive now. Kylan said that’s what he’d been telling himself too. Kylan, do you suppose we need to train all the people in our family how to be more proactive when it comes to defending themselves? Olivia was not only able to protect herself and the other three, but she knew how to read the signs of which way she was traveling and that they had something to eat from the plants around them. As well as clean water. I don’t know that I’d be able to know which berry or plant I could survive on. Do you?