Ties That Bind: The Bellum Sisters 3 (paranormal erotic romance)

by Grey, T. A.

  He barely refrained from cracking his jaw as he stalked to her and snatched the vial. She stared at him expectantly but he marched to his desk and took a seat, gently setting the vial on the desk.

  “You won't take it?”

  “Later, mother.”

  She smiled wide and gave him a peck on his forehead. “All right, Alrik. You sleep well this night.” She reached the door and turned back. “You'll let me know what you decide.”

  “Of course.”

  Long after she left, Alrik sat in his chair contemplating everything. He ordered a servant to bring him a hand mirror and spent a long time staring at a pair of violet-colored eyes. They didn’t look bright or shiny; the color was still diluted, polluted. He'd never once, in all this time, questioned how his eyes changed. Or even why. He'd always accounted it to the blatant evil that had grown in his heart after the Great War. Everything about him had changed after that. He saw his father butchered by soldiers from the Atal Warriors. Saw his people murdered in a war meant to imprison them in the earth.

  After becoming king, he stopped thinking such thoughts. His brother betrayed him and his people. Without a king, he'd had to step up and rule the kingdom.

  Time squished events and feelings together until he couldn't really remember exactly how he'd felt and when. He remembered feeling anger worse than anything he’d ever felt at his brother.

  He closed off his train of thinking with an iron fist. It didn't matter. What good was rediscovering the past when nothing could be changed? Another thought poked up its head. Arianna.

  The woman had him enthralled. From her sharp wit to her incredible body, if he wasn't careful she could have him eating out of her palm. His chest tightened. He'd like that. He'd give power over to her for her loyalty and...love.

  Alrik left the study and made his way to the outer barracks where the dargen resided. He'd first have a talk with them to see where they stood on the matter, and then he'd go see Arianna. He walked faster, anticipation guiding his movements. Already he couldn't wait.

  CHAPTER 25

  Lily used the phone in her apartment to call her sisters up. She arranged to meet them at Rosa's shop so they could all insert their much-needed advice on the situation.

  She had a driver take her to Rosa's shop and made a mental note to buy another bike. She hated being chaperoned around like some teenager. She needed to get her own pair of wheels. She grinned. Maybe she'd have to buy Telal another gift. The driver pulled up to Rosa’s shop. Inside, her sisters were waiting.

  She melted as she spotted the bundle in Willow's arms and she couldn't keep herself from racing over there and taking her.

  “Hello, little Mary,” she cooed to the sleeping bundle. “It's your favorite Aunty, Lily.” She stopped cold. Mary. Things connected in a way they hadn't before. She'd know Willow named the baby after their long-lost mother, and Lily thought it was sweet. Until she found her mother locked up and treated worse than a mutt.

  Chloe snorted and came forward to give her a one-armed hug. “How you doing, sis?”

  Lily's smile faltered. “Fine.”

  Willow sighed and took a seat, slouching back lazily in it. “I'm telling you this motherhood thing is hard. That baby cries more than she sleeps. But, of course, guess who can always calm her?”

  Chloe grinned. “Lyonis?”

  Willow made an angry face and nodded but Lily could see her eyes dancing. “How is he?” asked Lily.

  “Oh, fine. He's already wanting to try for a boy and then he said he wants even more after that.”

  “You don’t want to have any more?” Chloe asked, taking a cup of tea from Rosa. They all took a seat in the circle of chairs in the main room, surrounded by the smells of yummy candles, coffee, and fresh herbs.

  Willow sent her an arched brow. “Why don't you try having one before you ask something like that?”

  Chloe flushed deep crimson, her hand fluttered to her stomach. “Well actually...”

  “Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Lily muttered. “You too?”

  Chloe nodded, her eyes wide and a little frightened. Willow smiled for real this time, the look soft and gentle. She wrapped Chloe in a hug, whispering something in her ear that calmed the fear in Chloe's eyes. Lily felt a pang of twisted jealousy in her gut. The feeling wasn't unusual but she always hated it, then hated that she felt that. Her sisters were fraternal twins, and they’d always had a different connection because of it. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but still, it rubbed her the wrong way.

  Her eye twitched and she cursed herself for not drinking her special brew before coming. She'd just been so...lost in thought. And of course, she'd felt amazing after being with Telal. Those effects apparently weren't permanent.

  “Congratulations, Chloe!” Lily said, belatedly. The baby wiggled in her arms and she looked down at its soft, round face, itty-bitty nose, and curled little fists. Something squeezed tight in her stomach and she had to hand the baby back to Willow before she something stupid like tear up.

  “Well it's really no wonder with the amount of sex Tyrian and I have. I mean that man is wild. Once he's unleashed, whew, he's gone.”

  Lily screwed her eyes shut at the images projected into her mind. “TMI, Chloe!”

  She chuckled. “Sorry.” Her voice said she so wasn't sorry.

  “So, what have you brought us here for?” Willow asked, direct and to the point.

  Lily's eye twitched again and her stomach knotted up in balls. She hated this. She shouldn't have called them. She'd always hated wrapping them up in her problems, which was why she'd never done it. She caught Rosa's watchful eye and at her encouraging nod, she sighed.

  “A few things actually.”

  “Is it a demon?” her sisters asked at once. She hid her sigh. She'd never have that kind of connection with them.

  “I guess, maybe. Sort of?”

  Rosa poured her a cup of tea and set it on the table in front of her. “Start with the visions.”

  Lily wanted to bury her face in a pillow. You mean, the visions I've been controlling with a certain nasty potion?

  “What visions?” Chloe asked, her expression pinched into a frown.

  Lily sighed and told them about the visions of the dark man on the throne. She had no doubt now who it was. Telal's brother.

  “And what’s so important about these dreams?” asked Willow.

  Lily stared at the floor. “I die.”

  After the flurry of curses, gasps, and a nearly crying Chloe, everyone calmed down enough to finally talk. Lily wanted more to just crawl back out of the room, tell everyone she was sorry, and leave. Her own eyes watered on the verge of tears but she curtailed them.

  “We won't let that happen,” Willow said with an arrogance Lily didn't reciprocate. “I'll talk to Lyonis. I'll talk to everyone I know. I'm sure he knows some people. After all, Telal saved his life. He owes him.”

  Lily shrugged but didn't voice that no one would find anything that'd help her. If it made her sisters feel better then let it be, she supposed.

  “There's more,” Rosa said after a moment.

  Her sisters glanced from Rosa to her, expectantly. “I, um, went into the rift.”

  The look on her sisters’ faces flashed first with disbelief, then outrage, and then plain shock. “Why? How? When?” Chloe asked, her jaw hanging open.

  “I'm sure Tyrian mentioned it, but Telal is trying to get the rift opened. Tyrian agreed to pull the Atal Warriors if he got a contract signed by the demon king. I went with him.”

  Willow and Chloe shared a look. “He let you go with him?” Chloe asked slowly.

  Lily flushed and ground her teeth together. She hated explaining her actions. “Not exactly. Rosa made me a porting potion, which she didn't even know she could do, and things happened then I went under the rift, was caught by some guards, and thrown in jail.”

  “Oh my God, Lily what were you thinking?” Willow cried. The baby awoke at the sound of her mother's distraught voice and
started crying. Instantly, Willow softened and started speaking softly, sweetly to the little baby. Quieter she hissed, “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Lily's jaw hardened and she crossed her arms, not defensively but so she could squeeze herself to relieve some of the anger burning inside her.

  “I was thinking of helping my Protector.”

  Chloe looked confused. “But I thought he didn't want to be your Protector.”

  “Yeah, and your Protector didn't want anything to do with you either, Chloe. Remember?” she countered, anger rising.

  “Yeah but that was different. We're in love now and mated.”

  Lily gave her a hard stare. “And that can't happen with me?” The tension in the room shot through the roof.

  “No, it's just that I've met Telal and he's...abrasive to say the least.”

  “Yeah, well I remember a time when Tyrian was nothing but a wife killer, bloodsucking, cold-hearted bastard.”

  Chloe's jaw dropped, her eyes rounding in anger. “Don't you talk about him like that!” she hissed as loudly as she could.

  Rosa stood. “Enough of this. No fighting. There is more to the story. Let her continue.”

  Lily shot Rosa a look. She didn't know how much Rosa knew about anything at this point. She hadn't even told her about anything that happened in the rift.

  It took her a moment to find the words. “I-I think I saw our mother.”

  Another flurry of protests and questions came at her.

  “Say what?” Chloe asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

  “When I was thrown in the cell, there was a woman in the one next to me.”

  “Well that doesn't mean anything,” Willow said.

  Lily cut her a look that told her to shut up. “She is a succubus and she doesn't know how long she's been there. She said her name was Mary.”

  “Common enough name,” Chloe said but her lips pulled into a hard frown.

  “I asked her what her last name was and she said Bellum.”

  “Did you give her your last name first or something? I mean really this is impossible,” Willow said. “Maybe she just repeated what you said.”

  “No I didn’t give her my last name.”

  “Well maybe you don't think you did—”

  “Willow, stop. I'm certain. When I mentioned your guys' names and dad's, she started freaking out even more. I think she recognized them.”

  “Has anyone with the name Mary that we know ever gone missing or anything?” Chloe asked.

  “Our mother,” Lily said flatly. “Not only that, but she has eyes just like Willow. The very same color.”

  Willow looked at her baby, her jaw clenched tight.

  “Okay, so what do we do about it?” asked Chloe.

  “I'm going to get her out of there one way or another.”

  “Well what's important now is making sure you stay safe,” Willow said. Willow always did have the hardest time dealing with the disappearance of their mother. But, Lily'd thought that since she named her child after her that maybe she'd forgiven her in some way. She wasn't surprised at Willow's outright rejection at the thought of their mother being alive. She'd her entire life removing their mother as far away from her life as possible.

  “I think Telal can help me get her out.”

  “How do you plan to do that?” asked Chloe.

  Lily shrugged. “I don't know yet. I'll figure it out.”

  Willow sighed. “Listen, the most important thing to do is to make sure you're safe. Not worrying about some woman in a demon prison, and not worrying about Telal's problem with the rift. And if this King Alrik looks like the man in your vision, you need to stay far as fuck away from him.”

  Lily gave a tight-lipped smile. “I know. I got it.”

  “So you won't do anything crazy?” Chloe asked, a wary look in her eyes.

  “Nope. What could I do anyway? No need to worry about me.”

  Lily made an excuse to go use the bathroom. Inside, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She knew her sisters meant well but it always seemed that no matter how old she grew, she'd never be anything but a child in their eyes. Turning on the cold water, she flushed it over her heated face then across the back of her neck. The freezing droplets raced down her heated back. She winced but it helped in its own way. Flushing the toilet just to make sure they didn't get any ideas about why she'd actually come in here, she dried her face and left feeling slightly more in control.

  Henry and Draven were in the room when she returned. They were now officially her sisters’ transport system. Draven and Willow had formed some kind of relationship during her ordeal last year and so he was designated as her porting driver, and Henry or Rayn usually took care of Chloe.

  Lily hugged and said goodbye to her sisters. At the end of the day, she still loved them more than anything. What with Papa gone they were all she had left. In a blink, they were gone, leaving her with Rosa.

  “Come,” Rosa said, “I've made you something.”

  Curious, Lily followed her through the beaded partition and into the workroom. Rosa squatted down and pulled a brown wooden box out from the back of a cabinet. She set the box on the table and pushed it towards her.

  “Open it. It's for you.”

  Lily grinned. “I already got my birthday present from you.” She lifted her pant leg to show her shiny anklet.

  “I know this isn't for your birthday.”

  Frowning, Lily went to the box and, for some reason, nerves slowed her down, made her apprehensive. “What is it?”

  “By God, just open it Lily Bellum.”

  She couldn't help it, she laughed. “All right.” She lifted the lid.

  Inside the box was a foot-long silver dagger. Lily didn't have to touch it to feel the power radiating from it. Her fingers hovered over the blade feeling the glorious, wavering energy coming off it. She picked up the blade and felt the power oozing from it. Pure white magic.

  “What’s this for?” She’d gotten one of these before, even helped to make one for her sisters, but she didn’t have the power that Rosa did. While Rosa was the real deal white witch, Lily was more of a wannabe weekend practicing witch.

  “To protect you.” Rosa's gaze locked onto hers and her chest tightened with emotion.

  Lily nodded and put the dagger back in the box. “Thank you, Rosa.”

  “Are you planning on going back into the rift?”

  Honestly? She didn't know. If it meant going in there to help Telal, she'd do it in a heartbeat. “I don't know. Probably not. King Alrik didn't want it open, so maybe Telal will just drop it.” She had a hard time seeing that. The demon was arrogant and determined. She smirked, almost like her.

  “Promise me that you'll keep this with you at all times. It'll work wonders against dark magic.”

  Lily let out a shaky breath. “Thank you, Rosa.”

  Dark magic as in what the king had inside him.

  They hugged and Lily got back into the car waiting for her outside.

  “Take me to the nearest motorcycle dealership.”

  Shopping for bikes always made her feel better.

  CHAPTER 26

  The office door opened but Telal didn't bother turning to see who'd entered.

  “Sir, Tyrian en Kulev has called. He wants to meet with you.”

  Telal flicked a glance at Kearnyn and nodded. He’d been sitting down for most of the morning, just thinking. Thinking about the past, about his family, about what happened at the rift, and of course, what happened with Lily this morning.

  Now that the original shock had faded from seeing what his brother had turned into, a new feeling came over him. One of deep, seething anger. The feeling surprised him. He'd loved his brother more than anything, more than anyone. Even his own parents, though that was hardly a comparison. They just bred him. They were not his parents in any sense of the word.

  Telal rolled his brother's necklace between his fingers, feeling the metal warm up in his hand and slide silki
ly back and forth. The band was made from black jet and attached to it was a pendant with the royal crest on it. Alrik had given him his royal necklace on his twentieth birthday. He could still remember the exchange down to the finest detail.

  The royals spun around in glamorous costumes on the dance floor in a swirl of bright red and blue colors—the royal colors. Today was his birthday and everyone had gathered to celebrate. He gulped down the drink in his hand. Yeah, anyone who mattered, he thought. The thousands of prolitare spent this night huddled in their small homes by the fire just to stay warm while here he wore a lavish costume that was so warm it was nearly suffocating. Telal's gaze swung to all the massive fireplaces in the grand hall and a sickening guilt overwhelmed him.

  Suddenly, he felt stifled as if there wasn't enough air in the hall. He stood, making his way to the front door. He had to get some air. Sweat beaded his brow and slid down his temples, the tightness in his chest compressed harder.

  A hand caught his shoulder and he swung around to excuse himself from whichever well-wisher it was. But Alrik's wide smile stopped him. He sighed and nodded toward the doors. At Alrik's nod, they both headed outside. The night was cooler than usual and the wind blew strongly, rustling the trees until they bowed under its great strength.

  “Enjoying the party, Telali?” his brother asked.

  Telal smiled at the cute little nicknamed Alrik had called him since they were children. The nickname was silly but it'd always stuck and it always managed to make him smile. His brother had a way of making him feel good in spite of the turmoil that sat in his guy.

  “A bit,” he said. “I needed some air.”

  Alrik clapped him on the back. “I understand. The overwhelming scent of perfume and alcohol in there alone made me want to retch.”

  Telal laughed, the tension in his chest easing. “Did you see what mother’s wearing?” They both laughed at the image. His mother wore an incredibly gaudy gown tonight that clung so tightly she literally couldn't sit down lest the seams tear open. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worse was the headdress she'd had made just for his birthday. It towered over two-feet off her head in a white column made of gauzy silk. On top of the headdress came out a dozen frilly tendrils made up of swirling coils of gold thread. At the end of each tendril hung a teardrop diamond.