by L. C. Mawson
“Setting you up?”
“There’s a reason he didn’t have his own men kill the girl, Gregor. I’m guessing he knows who she is. And while everyone was wrapped up thinking I was a traitor, he would have had the leeway to secure the Earth.”
“Then I’d better head back and tell Seph what’s going on. If Uther knows Freya is still alive and we have Damon...”
“I’ll go with you,” Caroline said before turning to Freya and Damon. “You still at your old place?” she asked Gregor.
He nodded.
She waved her hand and the room disappeared around Freya and Damon.
Chapter Twelve
Freya blinked as she realised that she was back at Gregor’s apartment, with Damon sitting next to her.
“Caroline can shift other people?” she asked.
Damon shrugged. “I guess. Some people can.”
“Are you okay?” she asked him, looking him over. He was still covered in unicorn blood, but it had long dried and he no longer looked as washed out as he had when Caroline had taken him.
Damon nodded. “I think so. I’m not injured, and I can feel my magic again.”
“So it’s just temporary when you use your Enhanced ability?”
Damon nodded, but his gaze was distant. “Even if it is only temporary, I still never want to use it again. Being cut off from my magic like that... I can’t really describe how awful it was, Freya. It felt like I had been hollowed out.”
“So don’t use it again,” she told him. “No one is making you.”
“I... Yeah. You’re right.” He looked himself over, pulling a face at the dried blood. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“That’s probably a good plan.”
BY THE TIME DAMON RETURNED from the shower, he was looking much better, but Freya was stretching her arms above her head as she fought off a yawn. The day had been tiring. Or was she hungry? It was one of the two...
“Food?” Damon asked as he made his way to the kitchen.
“Food sounds good,” Freya said, figuring it had a 50/50 chance of making her feel better.
To her surprise, Damon started pulling out actual food food as she sat down on a kitchen stool. Fresh vegetables and pasta were placed on the bench, instead of waffles and fish fingers from the freezer.
She frowned. “You don’t have to cook if you’re wiped out.”
“It’s fine. I got more than enough time to rest while Caroline had me under the binding spells. Plus, I like cooking.”
“I’m kind of surprised you know how.”
“My uncle taught me. Why?”
Freya shrugged. “I can only bake. I don’t see the point of putting so much effort in for something that isn’t cake or pie or biscuits.”
Damon smiled, shaking his head. “Well, as much as pie might be nice, I’m thinking something healthier. Like chicken pasta.”
“Hmm... What about making it chicken and bacon pasta?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You drive a hard bargain,” he said as he made his way over to fridge, bringing about a packet of bacon.
Freya grinned. “I just like meat.”
Damon raised his eyebrows and she could practically feel the unspoken That’s what she said.
“Not what I meant,” Freya told him, though she was struggling to hold back a grin. Especially as he turned around to start cooking the pasta and she noticed how tight his jeans were.
“Sure it wasn’t,” he replied with a smile.
“Food first,” she told him. “Then...” She waved her hand with a blush.
“Then?”
She lost her words at that. She was pretty sure that she had just taken the subtext and made it text, in her usual, awkward manner.
“Are you okay?” Damon asked.
She shook her head, before realising that it would look like it was the idea of sex that was upsetting her, which wasn’t true.
“I don’t have the words,” she tried to explain.
“The words?”
“Um... Scripting.”
“Which is...?”
“It’s how I talk. I memorise phrases other people have said, or from TV, and I piece them together to make them say what I want. But I don’t have any scripts here, so it’s just... blank.”
“Then try to piece together what you can. And don’t worry about it being ‘socially acceptable’ or not. I’m not going to judge, Freya.”
She nodded mutely, trying to figure out what she wanted to say.
“I mean, your uncle’s out for the night...”
“Yep.”
“And we got interrupted this morning...”
“That we did.”
“So... We could try, you know, tonight, to... I mean, we could... Just see if we can...” She mashed her fingers together awkwardly in the hopes that it would better convey what she meant, but quickly gave up with a dejected sigh.
“I suck at this...” she groaned as she rested her head in her hands.
Damon shook his head. “No, you don’t. It’s fine.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. And, you know, you can say the word, Freya.”
“The word?”
“The one you were struggling to avoid.”
She made a noise of protest. “Saying it isn’t sexy,” she eventually said.
“Okay, first of all, I don’t think that’s true, and, secondly, I don’t think you need anything else impeding your communication.”
She gave a frustrated groan. “Fine. I’m referring to screwing, okay? I like you and we’re together, and I want to give it a go. But I’m anxious, not because I don’t want to, but because it’s new and I don’t do well with new. Plus, there’s sensory stuff involved, which is always tricky for me.”
“So, we’ll figure it out,” he said with a reassuring smile. “Go slowly. Use a safe word.”
“I thought safe words were just for, like, 50 Shades stuff...”
“Okay, are you honestly telling me that it wouldn’t make you feel much better if you had a word that meant ‘remove all hands, etc. and move at least five feet away’?”
Freya had to give a hum of agreement at that.
“So, anything else you can think of?”
“I, um, no, not really,” she told him. “I don’t know, I might think of something else in a bit...”
Chapter Thirteen
“Well, this is embarrassing,” Caroline said with a sigh as Freya untied Damon. “I suppose you’ll want to execute me now or something.”
Freya just glared at her glib tone. She didn’t execute people, and she couldn’t tell if Caroline was making a jab at that fact, or if it was just her attempt at gallows humour.
“Perhaps you could show mercy in this instance,” Gregor said, interrupting. “After all, Uther did manipulate her situation.”
“She kidnapped the Prince.”
“Whose right to rule has been contested along with your own. There is no need to make an enemy out of a potential friend.”
Freya stood up, having released Damon from his bonds, giving Caroline a critical look over.
“And are you a potential friend, or would I be inviting a viper into my home?”
“I had every reason to believe that the kid wasn’t with you of his own free will and that you were a usurper-”
“I didn’t ask for excuses, I asked where your loyalties lie.”
“My loyalty was to your parents but, since their death, it’s been to my own interests. Right now, it’s clear that it is not in my interests to oppose you. Whether you’re worthy of anything else, well, I guess we’ll just have to see if you live up to your legacy.”
Freya nodded, grateful for the lack of political doublespeak. “I am thankful for your honesty,” Freya told her. “If you wish, you may accompany us back to the palace as my guest. You can judge for yourself how well I maintain the family legacy.”
“You know, I think I will do just that.”
FREYA WAS PRETTY SURE that waking up to th
e smell of ash should have alarmed her, but she was far more interested in snuggling into Damon’s warmth as he held her.
Damn. She took back every negative thought she had ever had about him having been with other people while she had been too scared to admit her feelings for him. She was more than happy to trade her angst for his experience.
People had always told her that it would hurt. That it would be like someone shoving a jackhammer up there.
All he’ll care about is getting his, had been Margaret’s version of the sex talk.
But Damon had been careful and considerate and damn did he know how to put his tongue to good use.
“Freya?” Damon said, groggily.
“Yeah?”
“You’ve got ash in your hair.”
Freya frowned as she sat up, finally opening her eyes, only to see that most of Damon’s room looked like it had been the victim of a Hollywood action movie fight scene. There were scorch marks everywhere, and quite a few things were broken.
“What happened?” Freya asked, though she put two and two together as soon as the words had left her mouth.
Just kissing caused literal sparks between them.
She, admittedly, hadn’t put any thought towards dampening her magic the night before.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed,” Damon assured her. “Though I could probably use a shower to get all of the ash off.”
“Same.”
“And then pancakes,” Damon decided as he got up, making no attempt to find any pants. Not that Freya was complaining.
Nope. Definitely not complaining...
“Speaking of showers...” Freya said, waggling her eyebrows so that her meaning wasn’t lost.
Damon simply responded with a grin.
FREYA MADE HAPPY LITTLE humming noises as she ate her pancakes.
“I’m going to keep you around just for your cooking,” Freya told him with a grin.
“I think I can live with that arrangement,” Damon replied.
Freya smiled as they heard the front door open.
“Damon? Freya?” Gregor called.
Freya hopped off the stool and made her way to the living room, closely followed by Damon.
Gregor was there, shrugging off a jacket much like the one Caroline had worn. He looked tired.
“What happened?” Damon asked.
“I went to talk to Seph.”
“And?”
“And, I told her what happened, she immediately got a headache, and then she got that look.”
“What look?” Freya asked as Damon tensed up next to her.
“The look she gets when she knows what’s going to happen and knows that she can’t do anything to stop it.”
Freya frowned. “What do you mean?”
“My aunt is a Seer,” Damon told her.
“And a damn good one,” Gregor continued. “But just because she can see Fate’s plan, doesn’t mean that she can change it.” He turned to Freya. “She said to tell you that she’s sorry.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Apparently Fate isn’t going to be too kind to you.”
Freya started to tug at her pendant. “She didn’t give specifics?”
“No. She doesn’t know, she just knows what will happen once we act against Uther.”
Freya sighed, hating herself for the idea that came to her. “She might not know, but I know someone who has been harping on about Fate’s plan for me being bad for some time now.”
Damon shook his head as he realised what she was suggesting. “Freya, if you’re not ready to see her-”
“I am, Damon. I have to be.” Freya turned from him, her hand clutching at her pendant. “Amber?”
Her guardian materialised after a moment and Freya extended her connection to her guardian to the other two, so that they could all see her.
“Are you ready to talk?” Amber asked, looking surprisingly sheepish.
“I need information,” Freya said, sharply. “About the things you’ve been keeping from me.”
“I guess that’s fair,” Amber agreed, before seeing Gregor and Damon. “Why are you talking to me in front of others? And... Did you extend our connection to them?”
“Yes, they have magic. Damon’s half Demon.”
Amber’s expression seemed to soften that. “Is that why you’ve kept me away for so long? You were afraid I wouldn’t approve?”
“I kept you away because I was furious with you. And, well, I mean, you did let Ku mess with your husband’s magic to suppress his Demonic side. I don’t have the power to do that to Damon, and I wouldn’t want to even if I could. I don’t have the right to mess with his magic like that, not to mention how hypocritical it would be. As much as we both like to pretend that my Demonic magic is simply a byproduct of some distant ancestor, I think we both know that it’s too powerful for that.”
Amber simply looked sad once Freya finished. It was an old sadness, one that Freya saw peek out from under Amber’s teacher mask every so often. Freya could never figure out what exactly triggered it, but every so often it would be there.
“Freya, I have always regretted what I let Ku do in my anger. My husband died because he didn’t have access to his full powers. Because I was too young to understand that not all Demons are evil.”
Freya frowned. “But... That’s not what you say when you talk about Demons...”
Amber gave her an apologetic smile. “Because I wanted to do everything I could to alleviate you of the guilt of killing them.”
Freya didn’t really have a response for that. Amber was right; she wasn’t sure that she would have been so able to make those killing blows if she’d hadn’t believed that Demons deserved it. Of course, now she knew that most, if not all, of the Demons she had fought, had worked for Uther. That was enough for her to not be so broken up about it.
Amber turned to Damon. “So, you’re half Demon. And what about your other half? Human?”
Damon’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Enhanced.”
Amber’s eyebrows raised up that. “Enhanced? In this timeline?”
“That’s not why we called you here,” Freya said, cutting her off. “You’ve been very careful to keep me away from the magical community and you have been vocal about your distrust of Fate. Was that just paranoia, or do you actually know what her plans for me are?”
Amber fell silent and, to Freya’s surprise, Gregor stepped forward.
“Amber. I’m guessing, by the story about the Ancient, that you’re Amber Cohen?”
“Yes,” Amber told him with a slight glare, as if to reinforce just who he was talking to.
“Well, I guess that answers one question then,” Gregor said with a sigh.
“What question?” Freya asked with a frown.
Gregor didn’t answer her, instead keeping his attention on Amber.
“Can we talk without Freya in the room?”
“Yes, I believe that’s possible,” Amber told him.
“What? Why?” Freya protested.
Amber shook her head. “It’s fine, Freya. There are just a couple of things that we need to sort out.”
They headed into the kitchen, and Freya felt a barrier spell go up behind them, blocking their hearing, but not Freya’s magic.
“What do you think that’s about?” Damon asked.
Freya frowned. “I have no idea, but I’m sure as hell going to find out.”
Maybe she couldn’t hear hear, but her magic was still in the room. Maybe she could use that to figure out what they were saying.
She concentrated on the magic threads, connecting her to the two adults. She focused it, sensing the vibrations in the air.
“-but I suspected,” Amber said.
“But you’ve never told Freya? It would have taken all of five minutes for you to have confirmed your suspicions. You let her grow up without a father!”
“It was what her mother wanted!”
“Then her mother was an idiot! The fact that Freya is even still stan
ding is some kind of miracle. She has a target painted on her back for both who and what she is.”
“All the more reason for her to hide. If nobody ever found out-”
“Did you honestly think that would work?! All you’ve done is hurt Freya, and let my brother send his lackeys to try to figure out her weak spot.”
“He knows who she is?”
“He sent Demons after her once he realised that Damon cared for her. It didn’t take him long to figure out what was going on.”
Amber was silent for a time at that.
“I get the what but the who? How did he figure that out?”
“Because Freya is the reason Damon’s here. My sister is a Seer and she cast a spell to look for her. All she saw was Damon, so she took him away from our brother and set him up here.”
“She saw Damon...? But that would mean...”
“That they’re Soulbound. Yeah.”
“Shit...”
“What’s the problem? Have you seen them? They’re happy together.”
“The problem is that he’s Enhanced and a Demon. And with her being what she is...”
There were another few moments of silence.
“You think Fate’s angling for-”
Freya ran out of Energy at that point, collapsing to the floor.
Thankfully, Damon caught her, holding her close before helping her to a stool.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he found a bottle of Lucozade in the fridge and passed it to her.
She downed it in one, thankful for the sugar removing the fuzziness from her head.
“Yeah. I just overextended myself,” she admitted. “I didn’t realise how hard it would be to use magic to replace one of my other senses.”
Damon nodded. “Most can’t even do it for more than a few moments at a time.”
“Benefits of being an Angel, I guess.”
Damon smiled, though it faded as he asked, “So, what did they say?”
Freya shrugged. She didn’t want to tell Damon that the only reason his aunt and uncle stepped in to stop his father was to find her. There was no way that wouldn’t be upsetting.
“What does Soulbound mean?” she asked him, finally deciding what she wanted to deal with.