Hood's Obsession: Kingdom Series, Book 9

by Marie Hall

  Ewan then took a large knife in hand and began making thick cuts, which Violet would stab with a large, silver-handled fork and plop onto the plates of her young. The men did attack their food then, completely ignoring everything else on the table.

  Picking up a knife and fork, Ewan sliced into his chunk of meat. “This journey my daughter is to take—what is it for?”

  Accepting the proffered slice of meat, Giles also grabbed some cheese and fruit. Violet took no meat at all, choosing to stick with the other items on the table. Lilith took a small square of meat, but mostly tore into the bread.

  “Rumpel’s son is cursed.”

  Popping a grape into her mouth, Violet nodded. “Aye. I told you, mate, remember? The boy is missing his sliver of humanity. Because of Lilith’s skill and Giles’s brute strength”—the Heartsong snorted and Giles couldn’t figure out whether she mocked him or not—“they must take on this quest together.”

  “Ah.” Ewan scratched his jaw. “Right. I’d forgotten.”

  Giles narrowed his eyes. He’d known the Heartsong possessed great power, but he had not known, however, that she was a seer.

  She smiled. “I can read your thoughts like a book. You wonder whether I’ve grown stronger. I have. Though I do not read minds, let us just say that I have friends in high places and we were told of your coming. But there is no need to worry about me, not so long as my family remains hale and whole.”

  Ewan nodded, ripping into a meaty chunk and chewing as he gazed at Giles.

  “Is that a threat?” Giles asked before popping a bite of cheese into his mouth. The creamy yellow wedge had a smooth, slightly nutty texture to it. It tasted fresh, and almost like it was homemade.

  Shrugging, Ewan swallowed his bite of meat. “My woman is a power even greater than I. We do not deal in threats, only in actions. That she warns you is a kindness I wouldn’t have offered.”

  Violet patted his tanned hand before turning back to Giles. “I sense your heart, and it is good. I know that my daughter is in good hands, but I will give you both words of caution.”

  “But will they succeed, Mother?” one of the men piped up—the one with the skunk stripe in his hair. His voice was still young, but he was well on the cusp of manhood.

  Giles realized he was older than all of them with the exception of Ewan and Violet, who were ancients even by his standards. Shifters matured quickly, freezing into their prime form on their eighteenth birthday, so it was never easy to gage a shifter’s true age just by looking at them.

  Which made him wonder just how old Lilith actually was. The last thing he wanted was to be saddled with the body of a woman who had the brain of an immature whelp.

  Lilith rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her brother. “Will I succeed? Uriah, you’re all kinds of a fool if you’d even doubt it.”

  Ewan glared at them both. “A little humility, Lilith. And Uriah, never interrupt your mother.”

  “It’s all right.” Violet patted Ewan’s arm. “The boy meant nothing by it. Uriah, I cannot tell them the outcome, for there are several. Some end in success, others do not. It’s simply dependent on the choices they make. But,” she said, turning to Giles, her blue eyes piercing, “I will give you a bit of advice that shouldn’t alter the outcome by much. Trust—that is the key to success.”

  He cocked his head. Attempting to decipher the impossible.

  “And Lilith, it’s okay to be weak. Being willing to expose a flaw to someone you trust isn’t weakness, but strength. Remember that, dear.”

  Ewan and the brothers all lowered their heads, almost as if in a show of respect. Old as he was, Giles must confess that he knew and understood very little of the world outside of his castle.

  It’d never bothered him before now.

  “Yes, Mother,” Lilith mumbled beneath her breath, plucking at her fruit with a distracted frown on her rosebud lips.

  The rest of the meal was eaten mostly in silence with one of the brothers occasionally offering an anecdote. Once their repast was over, Ewan pulled Giles aside and threatened to cut his balls off if anything untoward happened to his daughter. Each of the brothers did the same at different points during the night.

  He nodded gravely each time one of them mentioned stuffing his jewels down his throat, understanding that it came from a place of concern. They needn’t bother, though; for him this was a job and nothing more.

  Violet gestured to a curtained-off room. “That is the guest bed. You may have it for the night.”

  “I thank you, Heartsong, though I think I shall sleep above ground.”

  “I figured you’d say that.” Her smile was kind. The rest of the clan had turned in for the night and it was now just the two of them. “There will be many dangers and pitfalls along the way. My daughter is headstrong and wild, but I think she could learn much from you and you from her.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He nodded slowly.

  To deny that he was curious about how Lilith had gotten herself entangled with Rumpel would be an untruth. But how her family could be so willing to accept her fate—that he could not understand.

  She sighed. “We accept it, Giles, because we have no choice.” She cocked her head. “Lilith will do as Lilith wants, oftentimes with no thought or planning.”

  He jerked as she once again seemed to read his thoughts. “Are you sure—”

  Her smile was sad. “I’ve lived a long time and I can read emotions well. She’s incredibly smart and lovely. Which can be an interesting combination. I would like to ask a favor of you before you go above ground.”

  He nodded. “I will try.”

  Her lips narrowed. “As I considered the many paths your journey could take, I realized that all of them share one similar thread.”

  “Yes?” he prompted when she stopped speaking, sensing that she grappled with her next words.

  “You are a gentleman—it is why Ewan hasn’t ripped your throat out. Believe me, the meal this night could have gone much worse. It took many weeks of feminine wiles to convince my dear wolf not to kill you when you finally came to our door. He does not care for what is about to come, but I know that unless you listen to your heart and not your reason, you cannot succeed.”

  Those words literally made no sense to him. Heart and reason were one and the same for him.

  She shrugged. “I’m sure that you think it is the same, Giles, but it is not. I sense a great conflict will happen for you both during your quest. It is why Rumpel sent you to her. For there is a lesson in this for you both.”

  “My prince?” He shook his head. That was not Rumpel’s way, to try and teach Giles a lesson. And what that lesson could possibly be, he hadn’t a clue. Rumpelstiltskin was a man of action, not of teaching.

  “Oh yes.” She nodded. “Absolutely. Rumpel knew what pairing you two would entail, and he is absolutely right.”

  Giles frowned because her words were making him more confused by the moment. “What are you saying? That my prince had an ulterior motive when he sent me on this quest, that it is not really about the chalice at all?”

  “No.” She laughed, her blue eyes twinkling. “Suffice it to say the imp does very little out of the kindness of his heart. But he understands, as do I, that truly only the combination of the two of you could have any chance of success. There are many dangers, but the greatest of these is not working together. She is young and spirited. But she is your perfect match.”

  Was there a double meaning behind that? Unsure of what she’d meant, Giles hastened to correct her. “As a companion, I know not. I simply follow my prince’s orders, but you should know that my job as royal butler to my liege would make my getting involved with any woman an impossibility at this point in time.”

  She shrugged, twisting her lips up. “I only know what I sense to be true. Be willing to yield, knight, otherwise this quest will never succeed. You both need each other. I will wake you in the morning.”

  With those words she gestured to the den door. He didn�
��t turn back as he walked back out into the darkness of night. The winds were very strong tonight, but not a problem for him in shadow form. Shifting, he lay down on a bed of moss and gazed at the stars, wondering just what the Heartsong could have sensed.

  Lilith awoke early the next morning and was just about to race topside when her mother caught her by the elbow.

  She handed Lilith a basket full of meats and cheeses, fruits, nuts, and wines. “This should stay your hunger until you reach the border of our lands north of here. Stay the course, Lilith.”

  “Yes, Mother.” She nodded, turning to go, when he mother grabbed her elbow again. Last night had been a restless one for her, she’d been tossing and turning, too full of nerves and anxious energy to get started.

  “The hood.”

  “Mother.” She cocked her hip. “I needn’t cover myself from him. The eunuch will not touch me.” Lilith hadn’t meant for the words to sound so petulant, but she was still smarting from his apparent lack of interest in her charms.

  Grabbing her old red-hooded cloak, Violet tossed it around her shoulders and tied it up. “Not for him. These next two weeks you’ll be in a heat so profound that any wolves in the area will attempt to do with you as St. John did,” she glowered, and Lilith knew that St. John would have hell to pay for what he’d nearly done to her. “The cloak has been warded to lessen your call to them until the worst of it passes.”

  She closed her eyes. What was the knight doing? This morning when she’d woken up it was to discover a hint of smoked cherries lingering in the den, and the scent of it had made her pulse quicken.

  It was probably merely a result of the heat her body was in, the driving, itching, and obsessive desire she now had to find her true mate and nothing more, but it made her want to find the knight nonetheless.

  She pecked her mother on the cheek. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “Lilith Wolf,” Violet snapped, raising a finger. “I need you to promise that for once in your wild life you will be cautious. Please. I do not know what would happen to me or your father if anything were to ever—”

  Heart softening, because her mother rarely allowed sentiment to show—it simply wasn’t the shifter way, though Violet hadn’t been born a shifter she’d adapted easily to the lifestyle—Lilith dropped her guard for just a moment and hugged her. “I love you too, Mother.”

  Clenching her jaw, Violet chucked her daughter’s chin. “One last thing.”

  Shoving her hand down the front of her shirt, Violet slipped the long silver chain off her neck, fingering the glowing lavender glass amulet before reluctantly handing it over to Lilith.

  Stunned, Lilith glanced at the nondescript pendant in her hand. It was in the shape of a teardrop and full of what looked to be liquid mercury that glowed a soft shade of pinkish purple.

  Growing up, it’d been an object of fascination amongst her and her brothers, always wanting to take hold of the charm and command the fairy wish inside to do their bidding. Mother had always scolded them, saying that the charm held just enough magic for one wish and that to waste it on anything so frivolous as a tree that fruited candies and cakes would be a crime.

  “Mother?” She glanced at Violet’s face. “This is your greatest treasure.”

  “No.” She lightly grazed Lilith’s cheek with her thumb. “My family is.”

  A lump lodged itself in her throat, and she had to clear it twice before she trusted herself to speak. “Are you sure?”

  Violet’s smile was soft and reassuring and it brought a pang of warmth to Lilith’s chest.

  She’d memorized her mother’s face in infancy—from the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose, to the rosebud lips, and the intelligent blue eyes. She’d thought her mother so pretty and wise and perfect. And looking at her now, the passage of time hadn’t changed a thing, had only caused her natural beauty to shine deeper and more maturely.

  “Aye, my dear.” Violet patted her cheek almost tenderly.

  She wiped a tear that spilled out of the corner of her mother’s eye with the palm of her hand.

  “Well, then.” Violet waved her off, giving a sheepish grin. “Be on your way. Once outside of our glen, use your magic, darling. And I’m not speaking of the charm.” She held up a finger. “Your magic.”

  “I know, Mother.” Lilith snorted. “What little magic I have.”

  “Take care of your appearance. There will be many eyes watching you, so never give away your hand until you must. You and Giles both. Now off with you.”

  She patted Lilith’s bottom as if to shoo her out. Lilith turned at the top of the stairs to wave one final goodbye, but her mother was already gone and there was no one else around. Not her father or even her brothers. She was alone.

  She squelched the momentary flash of sadness. Because it wasn’t that they didn’t care; the fact that they did not come to see her off meant they believed Lilith would someday return to them. It was a sign of respect.

  Nodding, she walked out into the early morning sunlight. Giles was already up and leaning upon a large, gnarled tree trunk. Dressed in clothing similar yet subtly different. Still wearing jeans and a form-fitting shirt that molded to the contours of his lean, yet muscular frame. But instead of it being black on black, he now wore more of a dove-gray color that popped against the obsidian of his skin.

  Blood-red colored eyes jerked in her direction the second she stepped into sunlight. Standing at attention, she was aware of the subtle shift of his muscular chest and the way he stalked toward her like a graceful jungle predator.

  She swallowed hard, gripping the basket tighter in her hands as her stomach squeezed in on itself almost painfully, rioting with tendrils of desire and lust at the mere sight of him.

  This heat was going to make the trip a living hell; she could only hope it would clear out soon. Thankfully he didn’t seem fazed at all by the heightened scent of mating pheromones she was casting out.

  Clearing her throat, she affected a nonchalant stance. “Well, knight, and so the journey of a thousand miles begins—”

  “With a single step.” He grinned and his entire visage transformed from something coldly beautiful to something wicked and decadent.

  God goddess, her eyes almost bugged from her head. Last night the man had been brooding, thoughtful, contemplative, with barely a smile to be had.

  “You’re a sexy bastard when you wish to be, knight. Anyone ever tell you that?” She hadn’t meant to say it—the words just sort of plopped out of her mouth. Her eyes widened at her brashness, but rather than feeling mortified by her slip of the tongue she felt oddly empowered when he winked back at her.

  “Gods, this should be fun. Come on, then.” He grabbed for the basket, which she gratefully relinquished to his care, remembering the words her mother had given her last night.

  Be willing to be weak…

  “How many hours do we have until we reach our stop for the evening?” he asked a moment later as they began their trek through the multicolored glen of a forest dotted with fall-colored leaves.

  “Several. There is a safe house where we can rest for the night, but we won’t reach it for at least five hours at a good pace and seven if we dawdle.” She hopped lithely upon a mossy boulder in her way. “With a thirty minute break for lunch, we should arrive just as the sun starts to set.”

  He scratched his jaw, stared up at the sky for a moment, and then nodded. “I’ve been attempting to make sense of the riddles your mother gave us last night.”

  “And?” She cocked her head, giving him a lopsided grin at the tiny scowl stamped on his forehead.

  “And I’m afraid I understood none of it, other than that I am to treat you with kindness and make sure you return to your brothers and father in one piece, lest they shove my balls down my throat. That, at least,” he held up a finger, “I understood quite well.”

  Snickering, she tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

  They walked for many hour
s after that in silence, more interested in getting to where they needed to go than in learning one another, stopping only four hours later when hunger finally forced them to pause just outside of her clan’s glen.

  Remembering her mother’s words, Lilith spread the blanket out on the ground. “I have magic,” she began without preamble, looking directly at Giles, who was currently pulling the mounds of food from the basket.

  He glanced up at her. “You are the daughter of the Heartsong. I’m not surprised to hear it.”

  She narrowed her eyes. Plopping onto a corner of the blanket, she snatched up an entire loaf of bread. Her body craved carbs with an almost obsessive nature. She’d been frozen into her woman’s form last year, and so couldn’t age or grow in any way.

  Unless she was in heat, then and only then would her body alter, though only temporarily.

  The call of the wild demanded she gave into the wolf’s instinct of making herself more alluring to her partner. Which meant putting on more feminine curves, rounder hips, plumper breasts—it was the sign of a good breeder. Though she had no intentions of becoming a breeder for anyone, she aimed to remain an independent woman responsible to no man.

  She ripped into her hunk of bread.

  “Plan to explain what that loaf of bread did to you to deserve such an ignominious end?” Giles asked then took a bite out of his wedge of cheese. His deliveries were dry, but there was no doubt he teased her.

  Giving him the evil eye she ripped yet another chunk out of its yeasty hide and munched on it much like a masticating cow.

  He snickered, but switched subjects. “We’ve kept up a good pace, but I’ve no desire to remain in shifter territory with an enflamed bitch during the night.”

  “Call me a bitch one more time, demon, and I’ll rip your tongue out,” she snarled with a hint of gravel in her words.

  He blinked. “I’d assumed that was the proper terminology for a female wolf. No offense meant.”

  “I’m just sure, you demonic imp.” She crammed the rest of the loaf into her mouth, not caring one whit how unladylike it made her look. “But I’ll concede that while I’m in heat, it is probably best I sleep indoors or underground as much as possible. The monsters that would come for me right now would be a wee bit too much for you to handle.”