Breathing out another laugh, which Danielle felt against her hair, Ethan pointed ahead. “Look, darling, we’re almost there.”
A sigh shuddered out of her. He was using his Mr. Darcy voice again. While she loved that, it wasn’t soothing enough at the moment. Squinting against the salty breeze hitting her face, she could just make out a small line of land on the horizon. In her opinion, that was still too far away. Why had the fairies only equipped this thing with sails and not a fast engine? She wondered about this as her eyes traveled the length of the mast growing up from the center of the boat. What looked like roots fanned out from the base of it as thought it really had grown there, and a fat vine twisted around it like a bulging vein. There was a chance the boat was living just like a plant. Even the sail looked like it was made out of some organic material, like an enormous flower petal, because it had veins lacing through the sheer material too.
The entire boat listed to the side as though a big wave had just hit it, but she didn’t think there had been a wave. She then heard a splash that sounded like a large fish had just jumped in the water. The vampire guards with them went still. Cedric glanced at her and Ethan and then looked out over the water as the boat sailed toward the land. Merrick never took his gaze from the ocean surrounding them. Casanova, whom Ethan had tried to prevent from coming, had also looked at them before looking away. Apparently he knew Ethan didn’t trust him, but he was too close to Richard, who’d insisted on his being there. Danielle hadn’t decided how she felt about him yet, but what had happened with Dorin—the vampire who’d stabbed her and killed their baby—always lurked in the back of her mind.
The boat lurched again, more this time, and what worried her most was the fact that the fairies guiding them changed their behavior too. Danielle knew she’d broken a fingernail because her grip on the bench had tightened as panic rose up in her throat like a wave of nausea. Seasickness was not her problem. Something was hitting the boat. Danielle gasped and Nadia squeaked when they were stuck a third time. This time the boat rocked to the left as though something was trying to tip them.
Richard leaned over the edge and bellowed, “What the bloody hell is going on?”
He looked rather surprised when the fairies forced him away from the water. “Cover your ears!” they yelled.
When Richard tried to argue it, a fairy in a red petal dress began smacking him on the head. “You’re not immune to them, you fool. Cover your ears now!”
At the fairy’s urgency, she slapped her palms over her ears and turned to look at Ethan. He’d obeyed as well. Fear forced Danielle to scan the water for whatever it was attacking them, even though she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to see what it was. She was imagining all kinds of horrible things. Drawing in a sharp intake of air, she noticed several long things twisting through the water. They were longer than dolphins, but didn’t appear to be as big as sharks. Many of the fairies had landed on the edge of the boat and were dashing back and forth like they were the only ones able to protect the mortals and vampires on board. Realization struck her. These creatures had to be magical beings too. Now she really hated the tiny boat they were in. How could the fairies put them in so much danger?
Swallowing and leaning back into Ethan, she imagined what would happen if those things overturned them and they all plunged into that dark, monster-infested water. Suddenly the boat started to do exactly what she’d feared it would. Danielle’s eyes widened in horror, and they all cried out as it tipped until it was practically on its side and everyone began sliding from their seats. Completely forgetting about covering her ears, Danielle screamed and lunged to catch the edge of the boat as she fell. She missed, but her clothes went tight against her armpits when Richard caught her instead. He had a fistful of her top in one hand, as he clung to the edge of the boat with the other. They weren’t dangling yet; the boat wasn’t completely on its side, but it didn’t have much farther to go. Danielle noticed that Casanova had caught Ethan. Even though he still held onto the bench they’d been seated on, he was having trouble getting traction. His shoes kept slipping along the bottom of the boat. Cedric had caught Nadia, and Max had wedged his boots against the bottom of the bench to stop himself from falling into the water. Merrick had done the same.
The ocean churned with the movements of the many creatures within it. Some of them began cresting the surface.
“Cover your ears!” again commanded the fairies. Just then the boat righted, and they all landed roughly on the floor. Danielle didn’t know if the fairies had been responsible for that, or if the sea creatures had released them.
Again the fairies shouted for them to cover their ears. She clapped her palms over her ears, wondering why they kept saying that. What noise could these things make, and how would it affect them? Richard helped her get back onto the bench. Danielle turned so she could straddle the bench and hold on to it with her legs, fearing the boat could tip again at any moment, and if she had to cover her ears, then she couldn’t hold on with her hands.
She could still hear her own scream when several wet hands rose from the seawater and latched onto the edge of the boat. The hands were followed by faces. When she saw the smiles greeting them, the fears binding her insides into knots slipped loose. “So beautiful,” she gasped, but when her hands almost dropped from her ears, Alora flew up to her and shook a finger at her. The seriousness on Alora’s face caused her to obey, but her eyes moved back to the enchanting creatures before her. What a relief, she thought, they must have chased off whatever it was that had been attacking them.
Mermaids were so lovely. They were just like she’d always imagined and she wanted to be introduced to them as much as she had the fairies. Again she was tempted to uncover her ears, but then the fairies attacked the mermaids with a shower of fairy dust just like when they’d chased off the pixies. Danielle hadn’t noticed their webbed fingers until they swung out at the fairies, before finally slinking back into the water. No. She tried to get a better look, but the boat came to an abrupt halt and they were all thrown to the floor with the jolt of it. Danielle winced when her head cracked against the wooden seat in front of her, and her elbow connected with what she feared were Ethan’s ribs.
Trying to get back to her feet, she heard Ethan grunt and looked to see him rubbing at his ribcage. “Sorry,” she said.
“I’m fine,” he responded. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah...” The word turned into a breathy gasp when she looked around. “How?” was all she could manage when she realized they’d landed on the soil that had seemed so far away just a moment ago.
“They rushed us along when the mermaids appeared.”
“Why?” She turned to Casanova, who’d spoken. “They’re wonderful.”
Richard laughed. “Those things are not at all like the sweet, Disney mermaids you’re imagining.”
“I thought they were pretty. Haven’t you guys seen them before?” She turned to Ethan. “You never said anything to me about mermaids.”
One of his eyebrows rose as he helped her alight from the boat. Her feet sank into soft sand. “That’s because the fairies told me to steer clear of them, even when I was a vampire.”
“I don’t understand why.”
“She’s been watching that show...” Cedric began, snapping his fingers like he was trying to remember something. “That one with the three mermaids with Australian accents.”
“Oh, yeah,” added Merrick, grinning. “The one with the moon and the pool that she made us all watch it with her while we guarded her in Colorado.” The Highlander groaned like it was a particularly painful experience for him to remember.
“It’s called H2O.” Danielle said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. She bit her lip at the way Merrick rubbed his neck like he had an ache there. She’d made them watch girly shows that she’d pretty much outgrown just to torment them. She still thought it was kind of funny and put her fingers over her mouth to cover the giggles trying to come out.
&n
bsp; “They’re sirens, and nothing like the pretty wenches in that show, Danielle. That’s why the fairies told us to cover our ears, and apparently vampires can’t escape them either.” Richard said that, and his tone was quite serious. She gulped down the laughter because it was obvious to her that he was feeling slightly humbled, and probably rather angry at the moment. The medieval prince likely felt invincible most of the time, and now he knew something so pretty and delicate-looking could end him.
Looking back out at the water as Ethan drew her farther inland, she remembered the stories she’d heard of men being lead to their deaths by sirens. Her shoulders sank involuntarily at the disappointment. Why couldn’t mermaids be like fairies?
Drawing a deep breath and then releasing it slowly, she took in the landscape. Pale, untouched sand led up to gray rocks that were topped with sage crowns of long feathery grass. Tall trees rose into the sky beyond that. They swayed, and their leaves fluttered like the waves of the sea. It wasn’t a blue sky stretching out above them, but it wasn’t gray either. Lumps of white clouds drifted eastward. Crisp sea air filled her nose. The fishiness of it was gone as the plant life joined the scents surrounding her. The scene was beautiful, but there was nothing about it that made her think this was a magical place. Ethan had explained they really hadn’t traveled that far. This wasn’t some mysterious island in the ocean. It was Ireland. The fairy’s secret cove wasn’t far from England.
“What are those?” Nadia asked, and Danielle turned back to see where she was pointing. A flock of birds off in the distance caught her eye and she watched them as they neared. What she’d thought was one bird; she soon noticed were actually three, and then four, and then six, like they kept dividing as they neared. She realized then that they weren’t birds at all.
“Just pixies,” said Alora, like it was not a problem.
Nadia gasped. “But won’t they try to take us?”
The fairy touched the necklace they’d given to Nadia that was very much like the one Danielle wore. “They won’t be able to see you, dear.”
With rounded eyes they all watched as the swarm of pixies flew right at them. They ducked. Danielle expected to feel the little beings latch onto her clothes, but all she experienced was a gentle breeze from their many flapping wings. She heard the wicked little sounds they made as they communicated with each other, and she caught the strong whiff of rotten apples that always accompanied them, but the pixies swept past them as though they were not there at all. Her fingers curled around the three crystals as she rose upright. She was shocked, but grateful. “Wow. It worked.”
“Hurry along,” commanded Alora, ignoring her astonished words. “You must get within our borders to be safe, and you must not leave them.”
Danielle’s eyes dropped to the sand closing in around her shoes with each step. Darn, she’d hoped to walk this beach barefoot later to experience what it would feel like between her toes. It seemed the beach wasn’t part of the cove and they wouldn’t be allowed to come here again. They started up the hill and she wondered how far they had to walk before she would see what her new home was going to look like.
Chapter 7
Derry Glen Cove
The borders of Derry Glen Cove weren’t far from the beach. They were informed that they’d entered fairy land the moment they moved past most of the rocks and their feet got tangled in the grasses growing there.
“At least we can come here and watch the ocean,” said Danielle.
Ethan suspected she’d added in her head, and watch for mermaids. He knew curiosity about something she’d been as fascinated with as fairies would still interest her, even after she’d been told how dangerous they were. He could see she didn’t completely believe the beings could harm her. She’d want to draw them, partly because she had already. Such creatures lived in her imagination. Recalling the painting of the dark-haired mermaid hanging in their master bath, he held her hand as she negotiated a particularly large rock.
Not that she needed his aid, of course. He just couldn’t seem to help himself. It was his job as her man to care for her and to spoil her. He was grateful she didn’t constantly smack his hands away, and simply let him be old-fashioned. Ethan wasn’t sure he liked how she’d compared him to her grandfather, though. She’d said he held onto out-of-date notions just like her grandfather had. He wasn’t an old man, was he? Feeling a crease form between his eyebrows, Ethan realized that maybe he was.... And soon he’d be hunched, grumpy, and gray. Swallowing, Ethan tried to snuff out the way his thoughts were making him feel. Why is it so hard to be mortal? he asked himself as he shoved up his glasses once more. In a way he felt like Harry Potter. But Harry was ultimately the hero of his story, and Ethan feared he was not the hero of his own, but the underdog.
His eyes followed his wife as she gingerly made her way up a steep incline. She looked back at him and managed to smite the negative thoughts in his head with a sweet look of devotion. That soothing image sank into his soul as he grasped onto a thick root jutting from the sheared wall of soil to keep from slipping, mentally reminding himself that even if it was quite literally a mental struggle to remain weak, mortality with her was what he wanted. A family with her was what he wished for. A normal life with her was what he fantasized about. Casanova took her hand and helped her over the last rock which was clearly the hardest to negotiate. Ethan’s teeth clenched as his prior frustrations returned just as quickly as his wife had chased them away.
With the grinding of his back molars, Ethan was struggling to get over the same rock when Casanova returned and took hold of his arm to help him too. Ethan barely resisted the urge to punch the grinning Frenchman in the face. Deep down he knew the guard was likely harmless. But Ethan just couldn’t find it within himself to like having all of these vampires around. Constantly. In the past he hadn’t minded, it was for her safety, but now every time one of them looked at his wife, it caused his possessive nature to flare up. Even Max still drove him mad with that bloody winking of his.
Once they’d cleared the top, Danielle looked over her shoulder at him again as she returned her hand to his, her gaze going just past his shoulder briefly before returning to his face and measuring what she saw there. Ethan looked away. Too late.
“I really think Casanova means well,” she said, proving she’d seen straight to his frustrated heart.
Forgetting what he really wanted to growl, he said instead, “You’re probably right.”
Her brown eyes danced past him again. “Was it really mermaids that tried to overturn us, or was that something else?” she asked, her tone hopeful. Danielle was clearly still thinking about them, and he wasn’t surprised.
“Yes,” Alora said before he had a chance.
“Why?” she asked, with her gaze moving to the fairy that fluttered around in front of them along a path of grass through the trees. The fairies wouldn’t be the ones to wear it down since their feet never touched the ground, Ethan thought as the thin blades of green crushed beneath his boots. In a way, he felt as though he was trespassing, and causing mortal damage to a precious preserve. Why were the fairies even allowing them to come here?
The male fairy dressed in green answered Danielle’s question. “They probably want possession of you too.”
He felt Danielle stiffen at that, but her eyes rolled when she again asked, “Why?” She probably knew she’d been asking that question a lot, and likely feared she sounded like a child.
“They’re not cursed, so wanting a cure from you is likely not the reason...” The male fairy trailed off as he considered it, tapping a finger against his chin. His silvery blue wings worked as fast as a hummingbird’s as he flitted along ahead of them. He dropped his hand in what appeared to resignation, and shook his head. “I can’t imagine why.”
“They could just wish to drown you all,” said Alora. “They take pride in that, especially ending vampires who mistakenly think they’re invincible.”
An unnerved shudder worked its way up Ethan’s spine
. According to the fey, even as a vampire, he couldn’t combat mermaids. This was yet another way he was incapable of protecting his wife. With this and other failures on his mind, Ethan peered back at the ocean and decided he had to keep her away from there, despite her curiosity. While the sea wasn’t visible from here, alarm once again prodded at his peace of mind. They had reached their destination, and he could still hear the water crashing against the rocks. Danielle would still be tempted to look.
Moving farther into the trees, they were greeted with a moss-draped buffet laden with a colorful array of fruits and nuts. Richard tunneled fingers in his hair and sighed loudly with a look of bewildered agitation tightening his features. “Please tell me we don’t need to eat potion-tainted food again.”
The fairies simply tittered at that, causing Richard’s scowl to deepen.
“Well?” he demanded.
Alora dashed up to him with hands on hips. “If you were more observant, you would see this is mostly fresh food that has not been prepared by us.”
Richard’s left eyebrow kicked up as his hands landed on his hips too. “Mostly?”
“You must consume some of our magic to dwell here and not turn into fey.”
“As though we’d entered the ring?” asked Merrick with a startled look on his face. His eyes made a pass around the area like he was searching for a circle of mushrooms to mark the threat. The Highland warrior gulped before adding, “Could we sprout wee, glittering wings?” He held two fingers apart at about a fairy’s height. “Shrink?”
Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) Page 10