Deceptive Secrets
Page 44
Lily drew in a deep breath, the raw emotion in his voice had been clear and painful to listen to. “You loved her very much, didn’t you?”
“I love her,” he corrected. “Just because she’s dead doesn’t mean my love for her is.”
“I understand you’re worried about me, and I’m not throwing it back at you.” Lily ran a hand over her face. “All I know is what I’ve been telling everyone else; here and now, I love them. I can’t imagine being without them, I can’t bear seeing them hurting, and I can’t see it changing. Is it sexual? They’re attractive. I’d have to be dead not to think that, but it’s not that. It’s more than that. I’ve found other guys attractive, but I’ve never felt so connected with anyone like I do with them.”
“That could be the magic.”
“Our magic was connected before we bonded.”
“What?” He looked at her briefly before looking back at the road.
“We created a circle. They didn’t think anything would happen, but it did.”
“A circle? Tell me.”
She explained what had happened in the bowling alley, and again in the woods, but she didn’t mention anything except the actual binding. “It was beautiful, the golden strands inter-connecting and weaving around our hands.” She closed her eyes as she remembered it.
“I’m sorry, Lily, I really am. I got scared and angry with you. But it’s done, it’s a double bonding with the circle as well. Whatever way your cards fall, there’s nothing you can do. But it does explain how you feel now. Rely on the bond and you’ll feel better.”
“What?”
“You can feel them? Like a constant itch at the back of your mind?”
“Yeah, a humming.”
“Humming?” He snorted. “Yeah, that’s them. Focus on it, wrap it around you mentally and it’ll calm you. They’ll feel it on their end and be able to stop crying like girls.”
“Don’t be mean.” She rested her head against the headrest.
“Sorry, not sorry.”
“So mature,” she replied, wiping at her eyes.
“Lily, listen to me, this is important. I hope to Merlin this is true love for you. But if it turns out it’s not, I will do whatever it takes to help you.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him when he looked briefly at her. “I guess we just had our first dad/daughter argument.”
“I guess we did.” He laughed. “And we’re still talking to each other. I’d say that’s a win, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, I’d say it was.”
“We’re going to be okay, Lily. I’ll keep you safe, and we’ll keep Matt safe. No matter what it takes.”
“He’s really in danger, isn’t he?” She looked out of her window. The fog was lifting the further they got, but it was still grey and overcast.
“You both are,” he said. “That won’t change while she’s alive.”
“She’d be ancient now, wouldn’t she?”
“Sarah was twenty-two when she had you. Fitz was about seventeen when they had Sarah. Hestia was sixteen when she had Fitz. You do the math, I’m a history teacher not a human calculator.”
“Seventy-three. Ancient.”
“Old, not ancient, there’s the possibility the old bat could go on for another thirty odd years. Add in they’ve found a way to slow down her aging and I could die before she does. Knowing the old dragon, she’ll still be kicking around when she’s a hundred and fifty.”
“Damn.”
“Quite.”
“I don’t want to live like this. Constantly under her shadow, looking over my shoulder in case she finds out about Matt.”
“Or you,” he added. “But living like that is the only thing you can do. And it’s better than being used, abused, and killed. You have me and Jonas, between us we can keep you all hidden.”
“But it’s not fair on either of you. Jonas gave up his life to keep them safe. You’ve never lived your own life either.”
“It wasn’t your decision. You didn’t force or ask us to.”
“No. She did.” Bitterness swept over her as she thought of the woman she’d seen sitting behind the desk. A woman whose blood she shared.
“Yes, she did. But unless a miracle happens, and she drops dead, we’re out of options except for what we’re already doing.”
That would solve all their problems—her death. If she was no longer working to find eternal life Matt wouldn’t be in danger. Drew and Jonas would be free to live their lives, and she wouldn’t be in danger either.
“Connect with your fairies, Lily. We’ve a fair way to go, and the further we get the more angsty you’ll get unless you do.”
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the gentle hum at the back of her mind. It grew in intensity like a golden blanket of warmth. She relaxed, her body going limp in the seat as she felt them winding around her mind. Whatever he said, she knew the truth; she loved them, and they loved her. No matter what happened, or what life threw at them, they’d get through it because they had each other, and that would never change.
Advantage
Drew knew the moment the bond settled over her; she’d all but melted into the seat. He wasn’t going to tell her, but it was true love between them. Their magic wouldn’t have woken when they made the first circle if it wasn’t love. How the hell that had worked out was beyond him. Fate sure did like to shaft him, and he was shafted good and proper with the four little fairies fluttering around her. Not forgetting the biggest fairy of them all. Jonas.
He could work it to his advantage, he already was. But it was a change, it was something he hadn’t expected, and he hated change, hated making mistakes. Mistakes could get him killed, could get them all killed. And wasn’t that the kicker? Because it was true love between them, if any of them got themselves killed his Lily would suffer.
He was a monster; he knew it and he didn’t care. But he loved Lily, he always had, and he always would. He needed her, he needed her to be the queen he knew she could be. But now she had a harem he had to consider. A harem with a conscience, that already doubted every move he made.
It slowed his schedule from the weeks that’d been his plan to months, maybe even a few years. Time would need to be spent easing the boys into his trust. Not to mention their mentor.
Even Jonas’s martyrdom could work to his advantage. There was nothing for those boys to forgive and they knew it. That man had given them everything he had and more, but the thing about deception, no matter the reason, it never truly gets forgotten. If a person can lie once, he can lie again even if his motives are good, and that would remain in the back of their minds. Lynda was proof of that. Lily hadn’t said anything since they’d replaced the porridge with an untainted one. But he knew that was the last straw for Lily, she’d never trust Lynda again no matter how she tried to justify it. That was a break in their relationship that couldn’t be mended, and it made his black heart soar with the birds.
Lynda would marry Gerry, and no doubt she’d pressure Lily to move with her. He hadn’t seen that one coming either, but it was one of the ways he could use the boys. Now she’d bonded with them, she couldn’t leave them even if she wanted to. He’d lost it a little when he’d seen her scars, but now, thinking on it rationally, it was a good thing. He’d help her to stay with them, either in his spare room, or he’d take over the rent for the cottage and she could stay there. With Lynda out of the way, it would make things even easier.
In fact, he wasn’t as shafted as he’d first thought. It may not be to plan, but it was working to his favour, and that’s all he wanted.
He manoeuvred the car into the lane that would take them onto the M5 and towards home. He’d made good time and the number of cars on the road wasn’t as bad as he’d feared.
A snore from Lily made him chuckle. She was fast asleep, her head back and her mouth open. At times she reminded him of Sarah. Not her looks, but her stubbornness, her unwillingness to let him, or anyone else, push her around. Sarah was stubborn as a
mule, and Merlin knew how much he missed her. How much he would miss her until he took his last breath. He’d give anything for it to be Sarah there snoring, with Lily snoring in the back seat. But there was nothing he could give, or he’d have done it already.
He snarled as anger slid through him.
Everything he’d lost, his entire world lost, because of them, because of her. She’d pay though, they all would.
He’d get his retribution from her, one drop of blood at a time.
To be continued.....
Coming soon, book four of The Seer Series.
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading this book.
If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review on Goodreads and on the site where you purchased it.
Thank you for supporting independent authors.
Thank you to Jennifer Leigh Jones of Bookends Editing for the exceptional service. And for being an amazing friend. xx
Thanks also to my friend, Rebecca Stewart for being there and always ready to answer my grammar questions. Xx
Thanks to Bound2BeSpecials for the cover. xx
Much love.
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