“First off; Elena, you are the only match that Kieran will ever have. No one could replace that. Secondly; Kieran is my dear friend — nothing more. It is so much more than a simple bond between the two of you. You are the missing piece of his soul — how is it that you can’t see that?”
“See what? Do I feel something for him — yes, it’s called being horny. But that’s not the point here. You don’t understand that none of this was my choice!” she snapped. “I have a life back home. At least there I know what to expect, I don’t understand anything here! What would be the point of me remaining here?”
“Because Kieran will die if you don’t!”
* ~ * ~ *
Flinching back at the sharp words as they flew from Sera, Elena froze. Kieran would die? How was that possible? It had to be a bluff, she assured herself silently. There was no way someone could just drop dead without cause.
“If this is some blackmail tactic — I’m not biting,” she responded firmly.
Huffing out in frustration, Sera’s hands curled into tight fists as her face turned a darker gray in anger. “Are you really so blind that you cannot see what is in front of you? You were bonded to Kieran before he even brought you here. You are connected. His soul and very life force is tethered to yours. If neither of you complete the Malrai Hin within the next moon cycle that bond will die and with it Kieran.”
“It must be a lie — that’s not even possible. People break up and go their own ways all the time and I have heard of no one simply dropping dead as a cause,” Elena’s logic stated.
“This is no lie and this is not your world.” Hissing out a breath between her pinched lips, spinning away from Elena as she began to pace back and forth with renewed energy. “This is the same reason that I told him not to forcibly cross over into your world. But of course, he didn’t listen.” Stopping her pacing, Sera narrowed her eyes at Elena with a curled lip. “I don’t know why the great mother would pair a woman like you with him.”
Elena huffed out mockingly, “Now I know you’re just trying to piss me off.”
“You don’t even care that your mate could die — I knew all humans were selfish, but you are the evidence of that.”
“Keep it up — do give me an excuse to punch you in the face.”
Sera was beyond listening to her quiet threats. How could this woman not see what she had before her and she still just wanted to run from it. Unbelievable! A deep feeling of anger and resentment rushed through her veins at what she was hearing. She would give up her wings to be able to have a mate of her own. This human didn’t know how lucky she was and worse — she didn’t care. She would never know what it was to stand on the outside looking in on something she could never touch.
Sighing, Elena’s hand reached up to pinch at the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Look; I don’t want anything bad to happen to Kieran anymore than you do, Sera. All I want is to go home to my old life, a life that I’m comfortable with and understand. There must be a way for you to do something?”
A look of sadness crossed Sera’s eyes as she paced across to the other side of the room. “No, there isn’t anything I can do. You have to understand, for my kind — we only get one chance at finding a mate and finding true happiness. Because of this our souls bind to our mates, because without them, what life could we have?”
“What are you saying? Speak to me in plain English so the whole class can understand what you’re dancing around.”
“The bond between you and Kieran is the only thing keeping you here, Elena. Do you not understand what that means? You want to go home so badly? If the both of you do not complete the bonding process, Kieran’s spirit will die and you will have nothing holding you to this plane any longer. Kieran took a great risk in crossing you over the veil of our world. I’ve assisted many in reaching their mate, but he was the most adamant about connecting to you and bringing you to his side. What do you have in your life on your world that can compare to that?”
The force of Sera’s words hit her like a bucket of ice water in the middle of a snow storm. For the first time, she was speechless. Nothing would ever compare to Kieran. But that didn’t mean she had the strength to walk away from everything she knew.
Before she could even form a response, the sound of swooping wings above them caused Elena to jump with surprise. A moment later a winged warrior dropped down from the open ceiling above. Folding his wings against his back the warrior turned his attention solely upon Sera.
“She is impossible! You’ve made a mistake, priestess! There is no way that harpy is my mate!” the warrior stated heatedly while pointing an accusing finger at Sera. Even with his back facing her, Elena recognized the agitated warrior as Lowen. As if sensing her gaze, his head jerked toward her as his dark eyes widened with surprise. “Lady Elena? What are you doing here? Does Kieran know you are here?”
Suddenly her sober mood quickly changed again. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she took in Lowen’s confused expression and Sera’s hard gaze. She didn’t need Kieran’s permission to go anywhere and it was time others knew that as well.
Her mind struggled with what Sera was telling her. Kieran had promised after a week he would send her home if she wished it. Why he had made that promise knowing full well that it would mean a death sentence for him? The idea that he would keep something like that from her confused her greatly.
Her head swam with too many emotions all at once to distinguish. She felt like she was drowning. She had to get back to Kieran and get to the bottom of this. Turning sharply on her heels, she fled the temple, disappearing into the dark cover of trees. Sera’s words haunted her with every quick stride she took.
* ~ * ~ *
Crouched upon the edge of the highest point of the stronghold’s sentries walls, Kieran watched the ground below for a sign of his mate. Gritting his sharp teeth together, his fist clenched so tightly that his bones cracked. If Sera had been there she would have given him a tongue lashing for his stupidity. A part of him still hadn’t grasped that Elena wasn’t one of his kind. She was stubborn, loyal and had a combustible temper that made him want her like nothing in this world.
The moment she’d fled he’d moved to follow her; he’d followed her to the outer courtyard, but remained hidden from sight. The few tears that he’d watch her shed had tore into his heart like a jagged blade. When she moved down the path leading to Kalaya’s temple he fought the need to rush after her. He’d like to say that he was giving her space but the real reason was that he had stopped himself out of pride.
Everything has a meaning here…
Her words haunted his mind like a vengeful apparition. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what had gone through her mind when he’d told her that she couldn’t ever go home. It was true that he’d promised to return her to her world once the Malrai Hin had ended — just not in the way she thought. The truth was that if he failed, their bond would be broken and there would be no way for her to remain on this plane and without the bond to her spirit his would wither and die.
He cursed himself for his pride in thinking that she knew only what she needed at the time. He would like to think that it was his inexperience with females that had put him in this predicament — but that would be a lie. There was no excuse. He needed Elena with him. Not just tomorrow or the next day but everyday that would follow for the rest of his life. Despite their differences he would help her adjust to his world and she would come to see that what she truly meant to him. Hopefully then, the loss of her world would matter less to her.
His sharp gaze jerked down as he saw that she’d returned. His chest inflated with hope as she seemed no longer sad. Instead she seemed worse; this time something akin to rage colored the depths of her green eyes. Yelling into the darkness, he watched as she reached down and plucked one of her slippers from her foot only to hurl it toward the stronghold walls in rage. Against his will his lips curved into a ghostly grin. He could fight past her anger and sharp tongue. The prize of he
r was well worth the risk.
The Malrai Hin had begun; there was no stopping it now. He would prove to her that he was the right male for her and soon she would forget all that she longed for in the human world.
His wings twitched against his back as his ears picked up the sound of beating wings drawing closer to his position. Turing at the waist, he looked behind him just as Dajran touched down a short distance from him. His face held a grim expression as he strode toward him.
“What are you doing here, Kieran?” he asked, confused. “You should be with your mate.”
“I will be soon enough. What are you doing here? I thought Li’r asked you to question the prisoner tonight. Have we learned anything from him?”
“Whatever he could have told us is now useless.”
Rising to his full height and turning to face his friend, Kieran scowled, “What do you mean? Did you find out why they were after my mate?”
“He’s dead. The guard returned and after we interrogated him hours earlier and found him with his throat slashed. Whatever he could tell us is lost to us now.”
“Where was the guard when this happened?’
“I do not know. Li’r is furious and he’s having all the prison guards questioned. I do not like voicing the concern that lurks deep within my mind, but I am starting to suspect that there may be a traitor among us.”
Snarling, Kieran turned away at the thought. He could vouch for every one of the warriors under the seal of the Li’r. None of them would ever betray their Gu’an, there had to be a mistake. Turning to look back down at his mate, his eyes widened at what he saw. He could feel dark flames building within his veins as he saw Rurik kneeling in front of Elena. He bared his teeth as he saw her hands reach out to grip Rurik’s shoulders as he reached beneath the long folds of her gown. Then she jerked away from him. For a moment she seemed to be saying something with her back to him. Slowly she turned back to face him with a guarded look on her face. What was going on?
As Rurik moved closer and reached out to grip Elena’s shoulders, Kieran felt his feral nature magnify. His claws lengthened to deadly points as he felt his face reflect the monster within himself. It went against everything within his nature to watch another touch her as he had many times. His mind conjured up images of how she would touch him in return, how her eyes would gaze up into his. No other was permitted to that but him!
With a snarl of rage, he launched himself over the edge of the wall. His wings carried him quickly down over his unsuspecting victim.
Tonight he would taste Rurik’s blood and remind his sou’tali that she was his — and his alone.
Chapter Thirteen
Groaning, Elena stabbed her fingers through her thick tresses before tugging at them in frustration. What was she suppose to do now? Moving from beneath the cover of trees, her eyes raised as she glared at the dark stone walls of the fortress across the empty courtyard. Was Kieran still on his balcony, waiting for her? She hoped so, because she could care less if he came running after her!
Lie.
Stubbornly she folded her arms across her chest. She would be dead before she went running back to him after he’d lied to her.
On second thought, maybe she would return to him — just so she could give in to her violent desire to smack him upside the head for lying to her. Why would he be so stupid to tie himself — his whole existence to someone he barely knew? Idiot.
Her nails dug into the muscles of her biceps as her anger mounted higher and higher. Why did he have to be so stupid? Didn’t he care at all about his life? With a hiss of anger she pulled one of her slippers off and tosses it at the stone walls. It barely made it to her mark, but for the time being she could pretend that it had stuck Kieran in his not-so-innocent face.
“Jerk! I hope you fly into a tree, you moron!” she shouted at the empty wall as her pent up anger exploded.
He should count himself lucky that he wasn’t within striking distance, she thought smugly to herself.
“Lady Elena?”
Jerking to her right, she was surprised that someone had witnessed her tantrum. Stepping confidently through the doorway of the fortress and into the moonlight, she was able to lay her eyes on her observer. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment as she recognized him as one of the king’s guards — Rurik. Just what she need, once Cian heard about how she was outside yelling like a crazed banshee it certainly wouldn’t improve his feelings about humans.
As his legs ate up the distance between them, nervously she turned her attention to the tree tops that were suddenly so interesting. As an awkward pause developed in the air between them, she found herself unwillingly turning to look at Rurik. He simply stood a foot from her with a smirk on his face.
“What?” she snapped at his look of amusement.
“You seem to be missing a slipper. Shall I go fetch it for you?” he asked with a teasing grin as his dark eyes flickered down at her single bare foot.
Planting her hands on her hips, her lips flattened into a tight line while her eyes narrowed. “Sure.” Her hand waved dismissively with a spark of her temper. “While you’re at it, why don’t you go run to your king and tell him how the selfish human is ranting like a crazy person?” she added at his back as he walked away to retrieve her slipper.
Returning with her slipper cupped tenderly in his hand, Rurik gave her a soft smile, “Selfish? Is that how you see yourself, Lady Elena?”
“Why not? Everyone else thinks so,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Glancing up at his face, she met his steady gaze until he turned to look over her shoulders toward Sera’s temple.
His lip curled in loathing for a moment before he spoke softly, “Something tells me you have spoken to Sera.”
Briefly nodding, she found herself wrapping her arms around herself against the memory of her conversation with Sera. “You don’t seem to like her,” she observed.
Shaking his head he wiped away his look of disgust and replaced it with a soft smile. “We do not see eye to eye. She has a tendency to force her own wishes and ideals on others. Some of us are not easily fooled.”
Kneeling in front of her, he gripped her ankle gently as he lifted it off the ground. His action caused her to lean forward as her hands gripped his shoulders for balance. Setting her slipper aside, his other hand reached out to gently brush at the top and sides of her foot in effort to clean away any dirt that may have been there.
“It doesn’t take a misguided priestess to see that you are unhappy here,” he whispered without looking up from his task. “Your mate is just as guilty for your unhappiness. Kieran seeks to cage you; you cannot let him.”
“How would you know that?”
“I can see it,” he answered with ease.
Scoffing at his words while he picked up her slipper once more, she rolled her eyes. “I think you’re seeing things.”
Gently sliding her foot into her slipper, he raised his eyes to hers. “I also see that you deserve a better mate. One that would not wish to keep you from your home that you obviously love.”
His words startled her. She barely knew Rurik. She’d only met him once and he seemed like an okay guy, but the way he spoke confused her. What was he trying to say? “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, my lady, that if you find that your chosen mate is unworthy I would be willing to offer myself to you. I can give you more than a simple warrior of this world could and even — if it is your wish — a way home.”
* ~ * ~ *
Gasping, Elena struggled to find her voice in mist of the shock that gripped her. “How… how do I know I can trust what you are saying?”
Lowering his eyes down to her ankle that still remained in his possession, Rurik’s lips curled at the corners with amusement. “You trusted Kieran when he promised to take you home… but that wasn’t a promise he could make, was it?” As his words rang true in her ears, she couldn’t help but sense that Rurik was being devious.
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