by M. R. Polish
“Princess…”
I released the breath I held and jumped up. Thank goodness.
“Ian, I’m over here.”
“I wonder why the spirits sent Ian.” Luna’s voice filled my head.
“I don’t know, but right now, I don’t care,” I whispered down at her.
Seconds later, he stepped through the trees, Dregan at his side. He had a mischievous gleam in his eye. “Waiting for your knight in shining armor?”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“I can bite him if you want.”
I held my hand up, stopping Luna. “No, it’s okay.”
“Ungrateful a little?” I cocked my head a little as I heard Dregan talk.
“No, I am very grateful. I’m just curious why you found me and not Jarak.”
Ian’s mouth twitched a little and a corner rose. “You can still hear Dregan?”
I lowered my eyes, looking at Luna and nodded. “Can you hear Luna?”
“Nah, but I can bet it’s strange hearing another wolf besides Dregan after all these years.” He shuffled his boot around in the dried leaves. “Why didn’t you call out to one of them? I mean you have Luna, Maztic and Dregan. Any of them would’ve been able to get to us.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t know. I didn’t think about it, and before you ask, I don’t know why I didn’t think about it either. I spaced it, okay. It’s been a long day.”
He held his arms up. “Whoa, slow down, Princess. I was just curious. You don’t have to get mad at me. I’m the one who came to help you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why is no one else with you?”
“We split up, thinking we could find you faster that way. I just got a vision of you about an hour ago. I wasn’t far.”
I shrugged. “Okay. So where are the others? Where do we meet them?”
He chuckled a little. “We have to wait for Ailaina. She’s gonna try to locate the tomb tonight. Adonia seems to think she can do it now that she’s close to it. Ailaina said that it’s somewhere in middle Tennessee, but she hadn’t gotten it pin pointed yet.”
I slumped back down to the ground. I was too exhausted to ask more about it. A part of me was grateful that the tomb was somewhat close. We wouldn’t have to travel far to get to it.
Ian sat down next to me. “You know, we could find a place to stay. You can get some rest and then in the morning or whenever we can find out what Ailaina finds out.”
I glanced sideways at him, not sure of his intentions, but I was extremely tired and sleep sounded fabulous. “Really?”
He stood back up and offered me a hand. “Really.”
I took his hand, and he helped me up. We both stood there close together, and I got lost in his eyes again. The moonlight made them look like silver pools that were easy to drown in.
“Why don’t you like me?” I asked before I could think about what came out of my mouth.
“You’re serious? Princess, you have no idea how I feel about you. But since you’re with my brother, I can see where I stand.”
“But I’m not with Jarak. So where do I stand?”
Ian stared into my eyes, the moonlight danced across his face, sucking me into the moment.
“Esmerelda…”
Luna’s voice shook me from the moment, and I backed up. She stared up at me as if she was mad at me. I looked back at Ian. A small smile played on his lips. Whatever flame flickered seconds before was gone.
“Luna, you’re a kill joy,” Ian said before turning around and started walking.
Exhaling a deep breath I followed him. Afraid he’d leave me behind. “Hey, Ian.”
“Yes, Princess.”
I resisted the urge to argue his annoying pet name for me and continued. “Can you please do me a favor and call Jarak? Let him know I’m okay. I left my cell with my bags at the hotel. Oh! And can you call my mom and have her grab my stuff from the hotel? Ailaina will be pretty mad if I don’t tell her that I’m okay, and then she’ll never get the location of that dang tomb.”
“Sure. Why not. I love to be the messenger.” His sarcasm rolled out thick.
“Thanks.” I stayed close behind him, almost wanting to grab his hand to stay with him but restrained myself.
Ian
I watched as Esmerelda fixed the pillows on one of the beds in the hotel room. Her long red hair hung freely down her back. I wanted to run my hands through it, and feel its thickness run through my fingers. She sat down and stretched as she yawned. I couldn’t help but smile at her.
Every time I saw her, my heart still raced. I couldn’t let her or anyone I knew about how I’d dreamt of her, even before meeting her. Only a few people knew of my feelings for her and that was the way it was going to stay. It killed me every time I saw her with my brother, but she was probably better off with him anyway. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. My dreams made me feel as if I would find love, but now I just think the universe teased me. Things I saw in them couldn’t possibly happen now that she was with Jarak. My heart ached for me to touch her as I once had in my dreams. Her words from earlier gave me hope; ‘I’m not with Jarak.’
I looked away. It was too painful. I opened my cell phone and pretended to dial Jarak’s number. There was no way I would tell him that I found her. Not yet. I wanted some time alone with her before I had to give her back to him.
I held the phone up to my ear. “Hey. It’s me. I got her.” I paused, letting her think he talked on the other end. “Yeah, she’s fine but tired, so we’re going to get some sleep then call tomorrow and see what Ailaina finds out.” I paused again for good measure. “Yeah. Bye.” I pretended to end the call on my touchscreen.
“Was that Jarak?” She looked at me with her eyes softening.
I bit my tongue before answering. “Yeah, he said not to worry and get some sleep. He’ll see you soon.”
She slumped a little. “He didn’t want to talk?”
“He’s gonna call your dad and let him know. They were all worried that’s all.”
“Okay. So after you call my mom, you wanna watch TV? Maybe there’s a good movie on or something.” She scooted back up against the headboard and crossed her legs, relaxing on the bed.
I nodded, wishing I could watch it next to her. “Yeah, we can do that.”
I fumbled with my phone. I hated lying to her, but I just couldn’t stop from wanting this time alone. “Adonia, it’s me.” I paused. “Yeah she’s fine, just tired. We’re gonna sleep and then we’ll call in the morning so we’ll know where to go. She also wants to know if you’ll get her stuff from the hotel when you leave.” One more pause for good measure. “Okay, sounds good, bye.” I turned my phone off. I didn’t want anyone to find us, yet.
I looked up at her. She watched me intently. “Something wrong, Princess?”
She scrunched her face. “I can’t hear Maztic. Is that normal if we are far apart?”
I got up from the little chair and walked over, sitting next to her on the bed. I was afraid to hope what that meant. “Can you hear Luna and Dregan?”
She nodded. “Yes, it’s just Maztic that I can’t hear. Is he okay?”
“As far as I know. Maybe you’re just tired?” I wanted to reach out and touch her, reassure her, but I didn’t. I got up and went to the other bed instead, stretching out.
“Yeah, maybe,” she whispered.
“Let’s find that movie, but if you pick out something with sparkly vampires I’m taking the remote.”
She laughed. It was so good to hear, and it made my heart feel lighter—happier. This is what I’ve waited for, for almost twenty years. She flipped through the channels at least two times before deciding on some old school movie about a teen turning into a wolf. We both laughed at the fakeness of it. If Hollywood only knew the truth.
The movie was almost over when I noticed her falling asleep. She snuggled into the pillow and her eyes closed. I waited about five minutes then pulled the blankets up over her. Not resisting a
ny longer, I leaned over. My lips caressed her silky skin as I kissed her cheek. “I loved you before I even met you, Princess,” I whispered. She stirred just a little and I moved away, not wanting to wake her up, and turned back to my own bed.
Jarak
“Why is his phone off?” I threw my phone. It landed against the wall and fell to the floor where the battery fell out. At least I didn’t break it—I hoped. Ian was in deep when I got a hold of him.
Maztic stopped walking around the hotel room. “At least she’s safe.”
“I want her safe with me, not him! Why is he doing this?” I couldn’t sit still and paced the floor of the hotel room. Even though, I knew exactly why Ian was doing this. “Maztic, can you hear Es?”
“No, I haven’t for a while.” He hung his head low.
UGH! I needed to yell, scream—I needed to hit something. Why did the spirits send the vision of her to him? Why not me? She was with me. I needed to find her. I grabbed my phone from the floor and replaced the battery, then slammed the door behind me as I left the room and called Torres.
“Hey, it’s me. Ian has Es, but I don’t know where he’s at, and he shut his efin phone off!”
“I gathered that after I called about an hour ago. Hela said he could feel Luna, and that Esmerelda is just fine. No need to worry. I’m sure she just needs to sleep, and we’ll hear from them tomorrow.”
I didn’t like his answer and my grip on my phone tightened. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Jarak, just get some sleep. Adonia, Ailaina and I are headed back to the hotel to get some rest, and we’ll meet with you in the morning after Ailaina knows where we’re going. We’ll travel together to the tomb.”
I hated that he was her father and the alpha guardian. I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Okay.” I spoke through my teeth.
I hung up the phone and jogged around the building then went back to my room. It was going to be a long night.
Esmerelda
The sun was bright as I tried to open my eyes. I could feel the puffy swollenness from yesterday, but at least they didn’t burn as much. I stretched and sat up in bed. I listened, but didn’t hear anything. Where did Ian go?
The lock on the door clicked as it unlocked, and Ian came in carrying two Styrofoam cups and a paper bag. He held them up, “Breakfast?”
I smiled and tried to smooth down my hair that I’m sure looked worse than a wild lion’s mane. “Sure. Whatcha got?”
“Hot chocolate and maple bars,” he said as he came and sat down next to me, bouncing the bed as he did so.
My stomach growled reminding me of how hungry I was, and that I hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning.
I took the cup he held out and took a giant whiff. I love the smell of hot chocolate. It was absolutely my favorite. He held out a doughnut and a napkin. “Nourishment for the witch.”
“Haha.” I took them from him with a quirky smile, shaking my head. I took a bite and savored the maple frosting. Mmm…
“So how do you feel?”
I cocked my head. “About what?”
“Do you feel good enough to call the others?” He finished his donut and sucked the frosting off his fingers, entrancing me. For a fleeting moment, I watched his mouth and fought back the urge to kiss it.
Ugh, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Yes.”
I finished my breakfast and almost all of my drink. “I’m gonna go freshen up.” I hopped off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. We needed to focus on finding the witches tomb. Now was not the time to be all swoony over guys. Being this close to Ian confused me. I shouldn’t have feelings for him. What about Jarak? Yes, he was moody and sometimes pushed me away, but that was because of his dead girlfriend. Wasn’t it? I told Ian last night that I wasn’t even with Jarak, and I couldn’t help but wonder why I’d say that if it weren’t true.
I let out an exasperated sigh. Leaning my back against the door for a moment before turning the sink on, I splashed my face with the cold water. I looked up into the mirror and cringed. I can’t believe I looked this bad in front of Ian. Magically, I smoothed out my long hair and reapplied a fresh layer of makeup. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on clothes. I peeked and saw folded jeans and a clean shirt sitting on the counter. No matter how many times I did it, I still loved magic.
I sat on the bed with my legs crossed and waited. I breathed deeper, inhaling the sweet almond like scent that came from Ian. It was clean, sexy, and I couldn’t breathe in enough. Enough, Esmerelda! I chastised myself.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, waiting for the phone call, letting us know what Ailaina found out. Suddenly a vision passed through my mind, so I closed my eyes to see it better.
“Es, can you hear me?” It was Ailaina.
I tried to respond to her in my mind. “Yes. How are you talking to me?”
“Your mom said a Seer can talk to her witch if both were focused enough. How are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m great. I just needed some time last night, sorry. What did you find out about the tomb?”
I heard her laugh. “I can do better than that, watch this... I can show you what I see.”
“You’re kidding right?” That would be so awesome.
At that same moment, lots of trees and a small stone building filled my vision. It looked almost like a cement shed. Someone carved beautiful Dogwood flowers around the top all the way around. Another flash and I was on a dirt road with more trees. I sighed. Everywhere in the south was a tree, this wasn’t helping.
A green sign that looked almost too worn to see sat off to the right. It said Bradyville 18 miles. Well, that was at least something. I knew about how far we needed to go.
“That was so cool,” I squealed.
“I know, right!”
“Okay, so I’ll meet you there, right?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m going with your mom and the boys are taking the jeep.”
All the visions of Bradyville disappeared and I knew that Ailaina was gone. I opened my eyes to see Ian watching me. I could feel the heat in my cheeks as I blushed.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no. Ailaina showed me what she saw. I could see the tomb and a sign that said 18 miles to Bradyville.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s at least a twelve hour drive from here, and it’s already noon.”
“Well, we can rent a car and drive for a bit and then stop somewhere like Memphis for another night, then head on tomorrow morning?” I couldn’t believe I suggested that. I could drive if he got tired and get there late tonight. Why did I want to prolong this?
He smiled. “Sounds good. Let’s get going then and get a car.”
I jumped up from the bed, and he ushered me out of the room. His hand hovered a small fraction away from the small of my back, just enough where I could feel the heat from it but not actually the touch from his hand. I willed his hand to make contact, and I got warm all over when I felt his caress glide across my back.
Jarak
Torres flipped his phone shut and looked up at us. “That was Ian. They’re gonna rent a car and meet us there.”
I calculated distance and time in my head, Bradyville is only about ten to twelve hours from here. “If we leave now we can make it by midnight.” I grabbed my coat and headed out the door of the hotel room.
“Jarak, wait up.” Ailaina called out behind me. I slowed my steps but didn’t stop.
I heard the door to the room close, and Adonia and Torres caught up to us. Ailaina and Adonia climbed into her rented red Ecosport. Torres and I were taking the Jeep. I would have preferred to drive, so we would get there faster, but Torres had authority over me and took the driver’s seat.
I could feel Maztic growing antsy, and I pushed out to him with our combined spirit, letting him know I understood. He couldn’t hear or talk to Luna anymore, and it worried him. Heck, it worried me. All wolves could communicate, with the exception of the Alpha, who could cut himself off if he needed or want
ed to. Why could Maztic no longer talk with her?
My whole world slipped away the further I got from Es. I balled up my fists, and the tingling sensation from the building tension crept up my arms.
“Jarak, I can understand you want to be with her, but you should be happy knowing she is safe. Your anxiety over this is rolling off you in torrents. What is it about all of this that has you so stressed out? Ian will protect her. He hasn’t let anything happen to her yet. You and I both know how he cares for her. It’s always been Ian and Esmerelda in the Seer’s eyes.” Torres took a left turn onto the freeway ramp headed north.
I rubbed my forehead. “I know. But if something happens to her because I’m not there to protect her… it’s my job! I’m her guardian.”
“Says who? Victor? He hired you and now you no longer work for him. Jarak, all four of us are guardians. It’s not just you.”
I shook my head. “It’s more than that.” I let out a deep breath. “Maztic can no longer hear Es or Luna, and it scares me. You know my past, and so you know why I’m afraid of losing people I care about.”
Torres gave me a sideways glance. “Can he talk to Dregan? I know he can still hear Hela.”
I nodded. “Yes. It’s just Es and Luna.”
“Then I wouldn’t worry too much. Sometimes a wolf can distance themselves away from the others. Especially if they are upset and since she is my daughter, Luna might be able to do the same things as Hela. As for Esmerelda, you two aren’t actually a mated couple, so there is no reason to be concerned.” He paused long enough to give me a cold stare before watching the road again. “Are you?”
“No. We aren’t.” Even if we were, there was no way I would tell her father.
“Then you can’t get all upset about it. Only mated couples are supposed to hear each other’s wolves.”
“But she could hear Maztic before this, and she can hear Dregan,” I declared.
“Maybe Esmerelda placed a shield over both herself and Luna? In times of stress or emergencies, a witch can do that to keep from being located. Hela is the first and the alpha of all guardian wolves so the shield can’t keep him out. We can ask him to check on Luna and make sure everything is okay.”