He nodded. “I know.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his whistle. He hadn’t used it in centuries and he didn’t know if his birds would come, but it was worth a shot. When he blew into it, even though he couldn’t hear anything, he knew his birds could. The fact was confirmed when seconds later the birds arrived, flying in their demonstrative way, circling, looking down as he and Hadley watched in awe.
Sighing, he clapped his hands to show he wanted them to descend. “They came.”
“Of course.”
“It wasn’t a given. These birds don’t know me as their ancestors did.”
Hadley shrugged. “You’re a hard man to resist.”
A gust of wind whirled Hadley’s hair until it gathered at the top of her head. Her cheeks were pink and rosy, her mouth red like her hair and completely kissable. She’d never looked more beautiful. “Hadley, will you be my wife?”
What had possessed him to do that? It was too soon and she was about to find out what it meant to be royal on Haven. She’d be much too important to marry him. But damned if he’d take it back. He loved her, she belonged to him. He wanted it in writing and recognized by everyone so no one would dare to make advances on her.
“I will.”
The lead bird swept down and picked them both up. Hadley shrieked and he grinned. The girl was never going to get used to flying this way.
* * * *
It was a long distance to Astor, and by the time they made it the sun had set and stars illuminated the night sky. The birds skidded to a stop and let Hadley down. She wobbled for a second before finding her balance.
Walking over to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “When can we get married?”
“Tomorrow, if you like.”
“Ahem.” Hawk jumped and pushed Hadley behind his back.
Hands raised in the sky, Stone grinned. “Didn’t want to frighten you, just wanted you to know that the Royals await the two of you in the observatory.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow. “Right now?”
“Immediately.”
Taking Hadley’s hand he brought it to his mouth and kissed it. He didn’t need to know she was nervous, he could read it in her body language and the way her breath had suddenly come up short.
Kissing her hair, he whispered. “It’ll be okay.”
They walked in silence through the great hall and down the staircase that would take them where they needed to go.
“Are we going underground?” Hadley looked from side to side. He could see her taking everything in.
“Underwater actually.” Her eyes got huge.
They stepped through the door, lavishly decorated with mahogany and oak fixtures, into the throne room. As they entered, he could hear chitchat and laughter but their appearance caused the chamber to go silent.
Hadley tugged at her shirt, and he wished he’d had time to get them both clothes. He wasn’t exactly comfortable seeing the King and Queen half-clothed either.
The throne room never ceased to amaze him. Made up entirely of transparent walls, the whole room was surrounded by the ocean. As a child, he’d sat on the ground and watched whales, dolphins, and sharks play as his father had conducted meetings with the King.
The King jumped to his feet and ran down the staircase to greet them. Hawk was shocked. He’d never known the man to be demonstrative. Even more unbelievable, he took Hadley’s hand and kissed it.
“My granddaughter, welcome. You bring the country back to life with your presence.”
“Please, your Highness … ah, Grandfather … don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything on purpose, it’s all just sort of happened through me.”
“Don’t underestimate the power of Fate to choose who it wants to perform its path. Everyone here tells me you are an extraordinary woman.”
Hawk looked up. Friends and family filled the room. All of his Warriors were present as well as Hadley’s sisters and his mother and sister.
“I’m grateful but I feel the praise is undue.” She looked like she would say more, but just then gasped and pulled her hand from Hawk’s grasp. Hawk reached for his sword, prepared to fight any danger that might come her way.
Hadley rushed to one of the transparent walls, touching it with her hands as she gasped again. That was when he saw them too: the giant squid had come out in droves to see her.
The Queen, who had been silent up to this point, rose to her feet. “Dear heavens, I’ve never seen so many before.”
Hadley turned around to the crowd, tears in her eyes. “They’re sick.”
“How do you know?” Hawk charged forward to her and placed a hand on her arm.
“They’re talking to me. Can no one else hear them?” She looked around, her eyes pleading with anyone else for reassurance. He wished he could give it to her. “They’ve wanted to come but something has been making them ill. They don’t know what it is.”
She stared into Hawk’s eyes and he grasped what she meant to do. “The last time you did this, it nearly killed you.”
“I must.” There was nothing else she could say that he would have understood so well. Obligation and a need to do what was right were engrained in her soul.
“I won’t let them kill or harm you in any way.”
Hadley nodded. “I don’t think they would do that. It’s different from the Shadow Land. They haven’t asked me for anything, let alone demanded it. This whole time they’ve been trying to take care of me. Somehow, they’re dimension travelers, they’re everywhere but belong nowhere.”
The emotion in her voice brought Hawk up short. “You don’t think of yourself that way, do you Hadley? You belong here with me and I belong wherever you are. That’s how this works.”
“I know, but if I didn’t have you, that is how I would be, too.”
Hadley walked to the glass and he watched in awe as it started to glow under her touch. In mere days she had become the most powerful person he’d ever known, and that included his waylaid brother now residing, for some reason, on Earth.
The Giant Squid seemed to freeze, unmoving even in the currents of the ocean. Sparks of electricity drove through their bodies, lighting them up like decorative bulbs. They were all sorts of colors, red, green, gold, and blue.
Gasping, Hadley fell backwards into Hawk’s arms, her hands red like tomatoes.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I am, amazingly, and moreover so are they.”
Dancing above the ceiling, the Giant Squids did indeed seem well.
The Queen crossed to Hadley and threw her arms around her. “You truly are a gift to all of us. Thank you for coming home.”
When the Queen released her, Hadley walked straight into Hawk’s arms. “I really need to change into some clothes.”
Personally, he liked looking at her in nothing but his shirt but he understood her desire to be properly dressed.
He held her hand as they walked toward the door. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in my life, Hawk, I certainly never could have anticipated any of this but as long as I’m with you, I’m certain all will be well.”
He was certain of it too, and as soon as he got her alone, he would show her. The crowds around them roared with delight and Hadley covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. He was a happy man.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Five months later
All this time and the Seers could tell her nothing of Hailey. It was endlessly frustrating. Hawk stood across from her in the throne room. The King, or Grandfather as he insisted she call him, sat straight in his chair unsmiling. The whole room was more somber than she’d ever seen it before.
“What news?” Hawk’s voice rang out in the room.
“We have word through our spies that Leon has restarted the supply of Breathless to Pettigrew.”
Hadley flinched, it was what she feared, and it had happened.
She cleared her throat. “Did they say why he did it?”
“He s
till needs women to breed. They were not able to convince any of the women to stay behind voluntarily.”
“I wonder why.” Hadley raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for Grace to speak. She was the sister she still knew the least.
“And there’s something else, isn’t there?” Hawk cut right to the point.
The news of the Breathless was bad but not bad enough to convene the whole royal family.
“Leon does not like how he was treated by our recently crowned Prince Hawk. He has declared war on us and means to take all of our women to breed with his men.”
That was, indeed, bad news. Although she was not, and hoped never to be, supreme leader on Haven, all eyes fell to her as they had been doing more and more often. She rose from her seat.
“Let him come. As I watch my sisters gain their birthrights and become more powerful every day, I am convinced there is nothing we cannot do. Our Warriors are the most talented and well trained in any dimension. We have reestablished our links with the Great Ones and all of our animals. Certainly, the Mystics are not matched in the Shadow Realm. If Leon is foolish enough to come here, he will rue the day.”
Cries of joy filled the air as everyone applauded. Silently she met Hawk’s eyes. To everyone else he looked serene but she could see the deep-rooted concern in his eyes both for her and their unborn baby. As far as she was concerned, this was Year One, the first in the new dimension they had all created together. It was theirs to defend and they would do so.
The End
About the Author:
As a teenager, Rebecca would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes that these days, her parents think it was worth it.
She is the mother of three adorable boys, and she is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.
A hardcore fan of science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal, Rebecca tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She’s been told she’s a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you’ll enjoy the action-packed ride that always ends in romance. In her world, anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect it probably will.
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