To say it beggared belief was like saying kids hated Christmas.
Yeah, no kid hated Christmas. And that was how impossibly good Thalia was.
Theo shook his head at his father’s words though, and just murmured, “Mother’s ego is too large for her own good.”
“That is, unfortunately, very true.” Kane sighed. “She’s going to be the very Devil tonight.”
Theo had to hide a smirk because that was also an understatement. Isaura did not like to lose. Not one bit.
He rubbed his chin. “What boon do you think she’ll give her?”
Without knowing it, Thalia had taken part in a challenge that came with benefits. Whenever anyone challenged a member of the royal family, and whenever they bested someone—on the extremely rare occasions it happened—they received a gift, and usually earned a place at Court. Or, if they were already at Court, their rank shifted up a notch out of respect for their talents—not that Thalia’s could surge any higher, but she’d still be getting a gift, that was for certain.
As part of the Royal Family, Theo’s line was stronger, faster, and had been blessed by the Goddess herself. To best one of them was to prove oneself beyond any shadow of a doubt. And Thalia had, with no shadow of a doubt, bested the very head of the Royal Family.
“I don’t know, but I can guarantee, Isaura will be begrudging when she hands it over.”
Theo grunted. “Yes, I’d expect nothing less.” Though impatience filled him at his mother’s ways, it was tempered by the fact that though she was a major pain in his ass, and though she’d have sliced into Thalia if given the chance, and had greeted his mate fully nude the day after their claiming… Theo actually loved her.
Isaura was a bitch. Her cattiness was renowned, but the love she was capable of feeling?
Theo knew there was nothing like it.
She might be a pain in the ass, but she was his pain in the ass.
He guessed the same could be said for Thalia. Although, he thought it best not to inform his mate that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were cut from the same cloth.
Yeah, he figured he’d be out in the cold until the dawn of the next millennium if he even hinted at the similarities between the two feisty females.
12
Mikkel
“Horses?”
Mikkel snorted out a laugh at the sight of the two beasts standing before them, but more than that, he snorted at the sight of Thalia’s crinkled nose and Isaura’s smirk of satisfaction.
The Queen was up to something, and there was not a single doubt in his mind about that.
“I can’t even ride a horse,” she grumbled under her breath, more to her mates than to the preening Queen.
“You can learn,” Theo replied, and then, he sighed. “You should go to her, Thalia. Say thank you.”
“And mind your Ps and Qs,” Mikkel inserted quickly, mockingly.
When she shot him a look then, heading forward, spun back quickly to flip him the bird, he had to withhold a laugh at her antics.
Fuck, he loved her feistiness.
As she approached the horses and the strutting Queen, he also accepted the fact that he loved that ass, and that someday soon, he’d totally be tapping it.
Cock hardening at the prospect, he lifted his gaze and saw the Queen murmur something softly to his mate. Thalia’s back stiffened, and with her shoulders hitching, she gritted out, “I thank you for the boon, your majesty.”
The Queen’s smile was downright wicked with intent. Whatever she’d said to Thalia had pissed Mikkel’s mate off, and Isaura was highly satisfied at making the dig.
As horses went, they were pretty fucking cool.
As a kid, he’d watched the old mythology movies where Pegasus, the winged horse, looked like he had wings painted on him on a moving picture—yeah, that was how old he was. Graphics and FX hadn’t been that great back when he’d been a young boy, and they’d been some of the first adventure movies Stephen, his stepdad, had let him watch because he loved the classical tales.
Now, Mikkel knew where the idea of Pegasus had come from because he was looking at two honest-to-God winged horses.
Seriously, Mikkel’s life was starting to look like he was taking part in Theseus’s saga.
Who’d actually existed. Of course.
The beasts were a matching pair, but something about them was off. And he wasn’t just talking about the fucking wings. Their bodies were gray and dappled with white, so they were silvery. Their hair was like onyx and it ran long and loose in a mane that looked softer than silk, which seemed improbable—horse hair was no way like silk.
But they were identical. Down to the black spots on their hide, and the silvery pools of color on their backs.
Did horses even come in twins?
Was that possible?
His lips curved as he realized why they freaked him out. They reminded him of the weird twins in The Shining. Just in horse form.
Having to hide his snickers at his stupid thoughts, he turned to Rafe whose nose was curled at the hands Thalia had on the reins of the two beasts.
“How’s she supposed to ride them?” he grumbled to Theo. “She’s a Lyken shifter. Horses don’t like us.”
“These aren’t just any horses,” Theo told him, but his tone was vague. Mikkel peered at him, and realized Theo was stunned.
Were the freaky horses that big a gift?
About to ask, he was jolted when the people around them started clapping as Thalia turned on her heel with the reins firmly in her grip.
They were in a kind of courtyard. Mikkel had never been here before, but it was cobbled and shaped like a U. Either side, the walls loomed over the yard that had a kind of recess for stables. There were bits of hay floating about, but they didn’t seem to attach themselves to any of the fancy clothes the Fae were wearing. Not that they were close.
Only he, Rafe, Theo, Thalia, and Isaura were standing on the actual cobbles. Most of them were twenty feet in the air, hovering over the proceedings.
It was fucking uncomfortable having people dangle overhead. Mostly because he knew Mikkel-the-boy would have been hurling spit balls down at them.
Fuck, he’d been a shitty kid.
Rubbing the back of his neck where he was trying not to think about loogies, he saw Thalia’s placid features turn stormy as she approached them.
What the fuck had Isaura said?
The minute she was close enough, he asked her, and she bit off, “She wished me well with the horses.”
He scowled at that. “Why did that piss you off?”
“Because she gave me a mated pair.”
Rafe’s eyes bugged at that. “The horses are mated?”
Thalia jerked when the horse on the right made a kind of blowing sound from his nose. It wasn’t quite a snort, more of a trumpet, but somewhere in between. It also sprayed them in snot.
Great.
They had horses with leaking noses now, and wings.
Let’s not forget the motherfucking wings which were three times the size of Theo’s huge wings.
Mikkel wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or just freaked the fuck out.
“Yeah. Apparently, horses mate in the land of the Fae,” she said on a hiss.
They turned to Theo who was glowering at his mother.
Mikkel didn’t have a great feeling about that.
Rubbing his chin, he asked the question everyone was thinking, “How can horses have soul mates?”
“We’re half animal,” Rafe started to reason. “Why shouldn’t the full blooded have mates too?”
“Because they’re animals,” Mikkel retorted. “That shit’s fucked up.”
At that, the horse on the left did a different kind of snort, he walked forward and very precisely lifted his foot and planted it on Mikkel’s.
For a second, he gaped at the horse. Then, he howled as the agony of having a heavy beast stand on his fucking toe ricocheted through him. The damn thing didn’t even move an inch in f
right at his howl! Horses were supposed to be timid, weren’t they?
Rafe’s hand snapped out and connected with the back of Mikkel’s neck. Heat swirled in him, surging in a great wave that powered down his body to his feet. Even as Thalia was tugging at the reins trying to get the damn thing off his foot, it wasn’t working.
And Mikkel seriously didn’t like the look in the bastard’s eye.
With Rafe’s talents healing him of pain before it had the chance to hit him, Mikkel found himself in the curious position of being in the line of fire of a creature who intended him harm.
What kind of damn animal could do that?
Stop calling me an animal.
For a second, Mikkel was certain he’d gone crazy, because, nope, horses didn’t talk. Not in his world. Well, save for Doctor Doolittle, and Eddie Murphy wasn’t hanging around in Heden.
As far as Mikkel was aware, anyway.
Before he could say a damn thing, Theo muttered grimly, “Mated Divelsians talk.”
“Divelsians?” Thalia asked, as bewildered as the rest of them.
“They’re special,” Theo said, and Mikkel wasn’t sure what freaked him out the most. The fact that the horse had spoken. That the horse had communicated the fact he wasn’t happy about being called a damn animal. Or that the horse had managed to tell all of them of his discontent.
Apparently sensing his need for answers, Theo murmured, “It’s because we’re linked through our bond. They can tap into that link.”
Rafe’s head snapped to the side. “What?”
“Explain,” Thalia concurred grimly. Then, she hesitated and blurted out, “Also explain why your mother wished me well with them? I really didn’t like her smile.”
Theo pointed down to the hoof that was still on Mikkel’s damn foot. Then, before he answered, he said, “Move it, Divelsian.”
At the command, the beast did the horse equivalent of a huff but obeyed, lifting the hoof and stepping backwards, liberating Mikkel’s booted foot.
“Divelsians are the only breed of horses we have that can fly.”
“Are they unicorns?” Thalia asked, hesitantly. “Hornless ones?”
Theo shook his head. “No. But that’s where the unicorn legend started.”
Rafe lifted his hand from the back of Mikkel’s neck and heaved a sigh. “The Fae are responsible for far too much of earthly mythology.”
Theo chuckled. “Sorry to spoil it for you, Rafe.”
“Not me. My niece. Louisa loves unicorns.”
Thalia’s lips curved in a smile and she bestowed a look of such love on Rafe that Mikkel had to smile in return.
Then, he felt like a pansy, but fuck, he couldn’t help it.
She made him feel shit like that.
“So, these Divelsians, they’re special.” Because having damn wings wasn’t special enough, Mikkel thought grumpily, as he shook his foot out.
“Very. They can fly, and they can communicate with their owners. But they can also form bonds as strong as the Fae can with their fated mates.”
“I don’t get how a horse can have a mate,” Mikkel stated again.
“What’s to get? There’s so much crazy in this damn place that, I mean, this is really like the tip of an iceberg.”
Because he couldn’t exactly disagree with Thalia’s statement, Mikkel had to snort. Except, when he did, the horse in front of him did too.
Spraying him with a shit ton of horse snot and spit.
“What the fuck?” he groused, taking a step back from the animal. Then, the minute that even crossed his mind, he took another step back in case the creature decided to stand on his damn foot again.
The anim—horse’s eyes were huge. Not like the chestnut ones he’d seen on Earth. Well, of the few he’d seen. Lykens weren’t exactly popular with horses, and so they never had them near his family home—that was why the Alpha of Summerford Pack, Rafe’s home pack, had been a fucking fool for trying to ride one. Served his dumb ass right for falling off and hurting himself.
Wolves and horses just didn’t mix.
Which was why Isaura wasn’t exactly handing over the gift that kept on giving.
“Where do we keep them?”
“In the stables,” Theo said matter-of-factly. “They’re not expected to share a bed with us, Mikkel.”
He narrowed his eyes and said, “Ha. Ha. I just meant, do you have a place for them to live?”
“Of course. They’re from Mother’s stables, and there they’ll stay, but we will have to ride them. As a unit.”
Rafe chimed in then, “But why?”
“Because it’s part of the bond. When they’re bound to a family, the link has to be constantly replenished.”
“Even if we don’t want them?” Mikkel asked, then leaped back when the horse took a threatening pace forward and that huge fucking blue eye tilted to stare at him.
Jesus.
He’d been chased by the Taliban. Pinned down by ISIS. And the only fucker that had truly frightened him was a pansy ass horse with blue eyes and onyx hair.
At his derogative thoughts, Mikkel knew, point blank, the miserable sonuvabitch would never let him on his back.
That is if he even was a he and not a she.
At that, the other horse stepped forward, but this time, the head was tilted to the side, and when ‘it’ approached Mikkel, nuzzling her nose into his chest even though he took a few more steps back to avoid the big snot-machine, he stroked the creature’s head when Theo murmured, “Aw, she likes you.”
The mockery in the Fae’s tone didn’t sweep past him.
The bastard.
****
Rafe
Rafe rolled over and yawned. Then, he yawned again and as he stretched, he felt the book he’d been reading dig into his spine.
He’d never had so much time on his hands to read, and though it was a novel concept—to actually chill for no reason or ulterior motive—he had to admit, he was enjoying it. Though Lykens had far more energy than humans, hospitals expected a lot of their staff. Even with his higher energy levels, stronger metabolism, and ability to sleep less without suffering, he was strung out on the shifts he had to fill.
He just hadn’t realized how tired he was.
These past two months had been an eye-opener.
Did he miss the hospital?
Yeah. He did.
Did he miss helping people?
Sure.
But, the truth was, not a day went by where he didn’t have to help his mates. Mikkel nearly always shot himself in the foot with the bow. He was getting better, but he wasn’t exactly Robin Hood yet. And at some point of the day, Magda, Theo’s AydLegios, would come running to the room, knocking on the door, the cool amusement at his plight etched onto her face, to fetch him for Mikkel’s benefit.
So, with Mikkel constantly damaging himself, and Thalia’s gifts with the sword not making her totally impervious to the cuts and scrapes that came from fighting for hours on end, he still kept his toe dipped in. His healing talents were what he was researching anyway, and he was enjoying having access to the Great Library.
In all his life, he’d never seen anything like it. The walls were thirty feet high, and there wasn’t a single damn ladder in the place because, duh, the Fae flew. Theo conjured one up for him so he didn’t have to keep asking the librarian for help. Jonsse was a fusty old Fae who just happened to be one of the most beautiful women Rafe had ever seen. It didn’t even matter that her face had been slashed at some point in her life—the scar cleaved her features in two in a brutal line from the corner of her left temple straight down to the right side of her jaw.
Why was she beautiful?
Because her eyes were like nothing he’d ever seen before—a milky green that literally glittered—and whenever he asked her anything, she knew the answer.
Theo had informed him that the librarian liked very few people, and that though she was their version of an Oracle, she often chose not to answer the questions peppered
to her.
Even if they came from Isaura.
He’d made a friend in Jonsse, and he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d done to achieve such a feat, but he was grateful because even when he wanted to read things that were in the restricted section—which, he’d learned, meant they were for the rulers of Isaura’s factions—Jonsse let him have access.
The Fae were ruled by their Queen but there were many aspects to the realm’s government that interested him.
He wasn’t sure if Thalia knew about any of it, and he’d never bothered to inform her because she had enough on her plate already—Theo worked her for twelve hours straight, feeding her in that time, but training her in a barrage of lessons to make her as strong as she could be.
Rafe accepted the tough training regime as necessary, he was even grateful because a strong Thalia was a protected Thalia, and that was all he wanted. After the way she’d been shot, after almost losing her, Rafe knew that Thalia leaving him for the wheel of souls was something he couldn’t withstand.
And so, though a part of him wanted to chide Theo for pushing her too hard, he let them carry on with their tasks because if anyone understood, it was Theo.
Mikkel could empathize with their fear of loss, but he hadn’t been there. Not on that night. Where, under the rays of the full moon, Thalia’s lifeblood had spilled into the soil.
Where the mercury from the bullet had cleaved to her bones, preventing her from shifting and healing herself.
Where the bullet wound was tainted, making it impossible for him to touch her without feeling the burn of the mercury himself.
Together, he and Theo had healed Thalia, and it was only now he’d read these books, looked into what had happened, that he was slowly starting to understand why Thalia was walking around.
And what may have happened to her She-Wolf.
The dusty leather tome he’d found amid the dozens of thick and weighed-down shelves didn’t look special. It didn’t look like anything. The skin that covered it was old and creased, wrinkled with time. The paper was yellowed and thick, dense to the touch and rigid too with none of the bend that modern printing paper had.
Triad (The TriAlpha Chronicles Book 3) Page 21