Chapter 25
Leif and Elah woke to the sound of Violet’s voice telling them, they had arrived. They both sleepily climbed out of the car and stumbled out of the garage to see they were in a clearing surrounded by rainforest. A large wooden house sat on one side of the clearing and garden on the other side.
As they entered the house Violet showed them around and gave them a room each. Even though they were both still tired, they decided to join Violet on the front deck for some tea. They both knew they would regret taking another nap because it would probably cause them to have another sleepless night..
“Okay, you need to make sure you are not using your gifts or flying around anywhere, no matter what, you’ll freak the locals out. You also need to be aware that you both give off a large amount of energy, they won’t detect it but you still need to be careful” Violet instructed. “And I’ll get you some suitable clothes.”
“Oh, thank you Violet” Elah said, grateful for her help.
“My pleasure” Violet said, smiling at them.
“I think I should have a shower” Leif said, getting up and leaving the girls to catch up.
“Okay, tell me all the details, what’s going on with you and mister gorgeous?” Violet asked, as soon as Leif was gone.
Elah blushed with a smile. “Umm, there’s not much to say, he asked to court me and I agreed” Elah answered, not sure what else to say.
“Oh, come on, tell me more” Violet said, with a cheeky grin on her face.
“Well, I really like him and when ever he is around my heart goes a million miles an hour. I don’t know what else to say” Elah said, with a big grin.
“It’s okay, I can see you really like him and it looks like he feels the same” Violet said, watching Elah’s face redden even more.
“You really think so?” Elah questioned, biting her bottom lip, not sure how deep Leif’s feelings went.
“Of course” Violet said, standing up. “Now lets get changed and go for a swim.”
Elah nodded and followed Violet to her room, where Violet gave her some swimwear and went off to change herself. It took Elah a while to work out how to put the swimmers on but in the end worked it out.
The pool was beautiful with a small waterfall and a tropical garden surrounding it, giving the area privacy. Elah felt self confident about the wearing the swimwear since she had never intentionally had so much skin exposed around others before. She was happy to get into the water, as it made her fell a bit more covered up.
Violet and Elah were relaxing in the pool, catching up, when Leif came out. Elah gasped at the sight of him, he was wearing a loose tee shirt and a pair of shorts. Elah had never seen him in shorts and was surprised at how appealing he looked.
As he confidently took his shirt off, Elah bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from gasping. Even though she had seen her brothers and her fathers students without shirts, it seemed different to see Leif like this and she had to push herself under the water to stop herself from staring.
Pushing herself off the pool side, Elah glided to the other side of the pool and came up to see Leif had gone. She looked around and eventually caught sight of him near the bottom of the pool gliding toward her.
Leif came up next to Elah, looking at her like a hungry predator. She smiled at him as the water gently ran off his chest.
“My goodness you look like your father” Violet mumbled to herself
Glancing over at Violet, Leif laughed at her comment. “I'm guessing you know him” Leif laughed. “How well do you know him?”
“Well enough” Violet answered, pulling herself out of the pool. “I think I should go and take a shower.”
Leif watched Violet curiously as she walked back to the house. He wasn't sure about what her relationship was with his father, especially when she dismissed the subject so quickly but he had never seen her around him and figured she might just have a girly crush on him or something.
Elah hadn't taken her eyes off him the entire time and when Leif looked down at her, he couldn't help but laugh at her nervously. The desire in her eyes made his heart pound wildly and he found himself staring at her with the same desire.
As Elah ran her hand down his arm, Leif let out a sigh. Her touch was like magic and in response he wrapped his arms around her waist.
He watched as she moved her hands from his and placed them on his chest. She looked to be concentrating as she slowly ran her hands down his smooth chest. His whole body reacted to her touched, igniting a fire in his heart.
Elah watched as his skin reacted as she slowly moved her hands down his chest then around to his back. She took note of how smooth his skin was and how his muscles shaped his stunning body.
As her hands reached his bare shoulders, she replaced one of her hands with her lips and began leaving a trail of warm kisses along his shoulder to his neck. She could tell he was enjoying it by the way his breathing changed.
As she started making her way up his neck, she could feel one of his hands start to slowly move up her back, while the other gripped her tightly.
She had reached his jaw when he suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, causing her to gasp in surprise. He stared at her for a moment before crushing her lips beneath his. Their lips lit up as passionate emotions flowed between them.
He pulled back, leaving her breathless and looked at her with fire in his eyes. “You need to go and get changed” he breathed. She looked up at confused as her hands fell from around his body. “Please, go” he growled letting her go.
As she got out of the water, she felt exposed and embarrassed, and quickly made her way back to her room. She had no idea why he had so quickly pushed her away and felt the ache of rejection flood her body.
He leaned against the edge of the pool and put his head in his hands. As he sat in the water, scalding himself for doing what he just did. As he calm his breath, the water cooled his hot body, clearing his clouded mind, making him feel more regret. It didn’t take long before he came to the conclusion he may have upset Elah and that he had to make things right.
As he got out of the water, the cool afternoon breeze chilled his skin, sending a wave of goose bumps around his body. He grabbed his tee shirt and put it on has he walked toward the house dripping wet. As he passed Elah’s window, he could see her sitting on the bed with her back turned to him and walked in toward her room.
He slowly opened the door to her room and watched as she quickly turned her head away from him, allowing her hair to fall across her face. As he crossed the room she moved her head covering her face from him. He sat next to her and dropped his head.
“I’m sorry” he said softly.
“What did I do wrong?” Elah asked quietly.
“Nothing, you did nothing wrong. I just…” he paused to think about how to tell her. “You have no idea what you do to me, I have to use every bit of strength I have not to do something I will regret.”
“What? That doesn’t make sense?” she said, putting her head in her hands, feeling frustrated.
“You make me weak and I could easily loose control, I want you so badly” he confessed.
“And you don’t think you have that affect on me” she stated.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression but the way you looked and the way you touched me was going to send me over the edge” he explained. “Please forgive me, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay…” was all she got out before he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her so tight, he didn’t want to give her an opportunity to get away.
She smiled and tried to discreetly wipe the tears from her face but he noticed and gently turned her head so he could see her tear stained face and softly wiped her cheeks with his finger. She looked up at him with sad eyes, which broke his heart. In an attempt to make her feel better he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead before pulled her against his warm body. She could hear the soothing sound of his heart and
it didn’t take long before she fell asleep in his arms.
He gently laid her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket. He sat and watched her sleep for a moment and kissed her on the forehead before heading off to bed himself.
As Leif laid in bed he wondered what her life might have been like if she was just left to go in her own direction, the thought of her living a life without him, made his heart ache but she would she be happy? After laying awake thinking for some time he finally fell asleep.
Elah woke to the sound of birds noisily going about their morning. She rolled over and was confused for a moment until she remembered where she was. She got up and dressed in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt.
She walked out to find Violet sitting outside eating breakfast. Elah quitely made her way over and sat down, then poured herself some tea and smiled at Violet.
“How did you sleep?" Violet asked, smiling back at her.
"Like a rock" Elah answered, putting some mango on a plate. "Is Leif still asleep?"
"Yeah, I haven't heard a peep from his room" Violet said, heating her tea with her hands.
"So, what are you up to today?" Elah asked, hoping she wasn't going to waste her day looking after Leif and herself.
"I need to go and pick someone up. Other than that we can relax" Violet said, taking a sip of tea.
"Oh good, so who are you picking up?" Elah asked prying.
Violet laughed and put her tea down. "How bad do you want to know?" Violet asked teasing.
"Well if you tell me I won't bug you about it"
"Oh is that how this works"
"Absolutely. So you better tell me" Elah said, with a cheeky grin.
"Okay, I'll tell you if you answer a question for me."
"Sounds fair "
"Okay, are you going to marry Leif?"
"You answer first" Elah said, not sure if she even had an answer for that question herself.
"I'm going to pick up my fiancée” Violet said slowly. “Now your turn."
“Hang on, what?”
“You heard me, now stick to the deal”
“Okay, well he hasn’t asked” Elah said, hoping that would be the end of it.
“You don’t get off that easy, you know he will ask, I want to know what you will say?” Violet rephrased.
“I guess I’d say yes” Elah answered.
“You guess, what is that suppose to mean?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it”
“Liar, every girl has and I’m pretty sure every girl dreamed of marrying a guy like him”
“Oh, come on, it hasn’t been on the top of my list of things to think about but if he asks the answer would be yes and I would hope not every girl dreams about Leif” Elah admitted. “Now tell me who the lucky guy is?”
“Well, you are just going to have to wait and see” Violet said, wagging her eyebrows.
“That’s not fair”
“Well it is because by night fall you will know the answer to your question, however, who knows when my question would have been answered” Violet said smartly.
Elah huffed and rolled her eyes, she then looked over at the door to see Leif leaning against the frame smiling. Elah could fell her cheeks heat up, as she started to wonder how much of the conversation he had heard. She looked down in embarrassment and only looked up when she saw him sit in the seat next to her out of the corner of her eye.
“Good morning ladies” he said, with a cheeky smile.
Elah turned brighter red as he smiled at her. She looked down to avoid eye contact but instead began staring at Leif’s bare knee. She felt her face heat up even more and had to excuse herself, quickly making her way to the closest bathroom.
She washed her face with cold water and looked in the mirror, her face was still bright red, as if she had been running. She sat on the edge of the bathtub and waited for her cheeks to cool. She was pretty sure he had heard her say she would marry him and felt so embarrassed that she would assume he even wanted that.
Once she felt normal she went back out to see Leif and Violet casually talking. Just the sight of Leif heated her cheeks, Elah turned around and walked out into the yard, she didn’t want to deal with what Leif may or may not have heard, especially since she couldn’t control the heat in her cheeks.
While walking in the garden, Elah came across an injured bird and gently picked it up. She looked at it, cradling it in her hands, the poor thing looked like it was in pain.
“Don’t do it” a voice from behind her said. She spun around to see Leif staring at her sternly and her cheeks immediately heated up.
“It’s in pain” Elah pleaded.
“You heard what Violet said, no gifts, no matter what” Leif stated, looking down at her.
“But it's…” was all Elah could say before being interrupted.
“No, they will take you away” Leif said sternly. He dropped to his knees and looked into her eyes. “Please don’t, I couldn’t bare loosing you again.”
Elah looked sadly at the bird and wished she could help it. Once she placed the bird in her lap, she took one of his hands and held on, as starred at it for a moment. She then gently opened it to reveal his palm before she ran her finger lightly down his palm.
He looked questioningly at her as she held his hand palm up in one hand and with the other gently picked up the bird and placed it in his hand. She dropped her hands away and looked into his eyes. “Please take it away” she cried.
Leif got up and walked into some thick bushes and gently place the bird on some leaves. He came out and sat down beside Elah, with a sigh. He then put his arm around her, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.
“What’s the point in having this gift if I can’t help the innocent” Elah said, sadly staring at a patch of grass.
“I know but you can’t help everything and we need to remain surreptitious”
“I know but it's so hard not to help”
“You have a good heart Elah” Leif said, kissing her on the head.
She looked into his eyes and smiled. “What are we going to do, we can’t stay here forever?” Elah asked.
“I know, I talked to Violet about it and she said that we will stay here until Asriel calms down. We will then use a portal here to go Treriton” Leif explained.
She nodded and looked down at her hands. “How long do you think that will be?” she asked.
“Not sure, I hope not too long” he sighed. “In the mean time, I think we should just relax and enjoy the safety this place provides.”
“You have a good point. Maybe we should explore the area” Elah said, perking up.
“Okay, which way do you want to go?”
“What about Violet, shouldn’t we invite her?”
“She left just before I came out here”
“Oh, well then lets go, ummm, that way” Elah suggested, pointing toward a dirt path in the forest.
As they walked through the forest, they noticed that most of the plants and animals were the same as the ones in their own realm. This did help to make them forget their situation for a while, as they felt more at home.
They had only been walking for about half an hour before Elah stopped dead in her tracks. She grabbed hold of Leif’s arm and held on tight.
“What’s wrong?” he asked surprised.
“What’s that noise?” she asked worried.
He listened for a minute and looked at her astonished. “That sounds like the ocean” he said, taking a deep breath. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Leif led the way through the forest toward the sound of the ocean. As the trees thinned and the soil softened, Elah gasped when she saw it. It was amazing, with the relaxing sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the refreshing smell of the salty air.
As they walked forward she looked down and sunk her feet into the sand and grinned at Leif, who was watching her with great intrigue. He couldn't comprehend the thought that some
one like her had never seen the ocean before.
He took her hand in his and gently pulled her down to the waters edge. The water was cool and her feet slightly sank further and further with every wave in the silky smooth sand. She smiled as she bent down and ran her hand through the water. The water felt heavier then the fresh water she was use to but she could tell it had healing properties.
Leif wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the head as they both looked out to the uninterrupted horizon. Elah closed her eyes and leaned back against his chest, she listened to the sound of the water and the trees blowing in the light breeze, it was the most relaxing sounds she had ever heard.
After clearing her mind, Elah opened her eyes and turned in his arms to look into his eyes. She reached up and gently kissed him, his lips tasted salty and she found herself wanting more. She kissed him again, trying hard not to let her lips light up but when he started deepening their kiss, she lost her concentration and both their lips lit up.
Leif’s eyes opened wide and he pulled back at the sight of the light. Elah gasped and put her hand over mouth.
Elah stared up at him worried but once he knew nothing was going to happen because of their kiss, his face turned from serious to relaxed as a cheeky smile grew on his face and he ended up laughing. He stopped laughing long enough to remove her hand from her mouth and quickly kiss her.
He looked deep in her eyes with a mischievous edge. She gasped in surprise as he picked her up and started walking further in the water. As he walked she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to not get wet as the waves crashed against him.
Once he was about waist deep he let her body fall into the water and gently reached around his neck to release her grip, holding both her hands in his. He softly kissed her on the forehead as she gasped from the shock of being dumped in the water.
She looked up at him confused by his actions but was surprised by how warm the water was and how buoyant she felt. She looked up into his eyes and narrowed her them causing his smile to drop. She then reached her hand out into the water and quickly drew it toward him covering him in water. She pushed him back and started laughing at him as the water dripped from his hair.
As she turned to try and get away from his retaliation, she felt his hand slide around her waist. As he drew her closer, she let out a squealed. He then started splashing her, completely drenching her.
She had to work to escape his hold but once she did, she turned to face him and started splashing him back. He stopped and tactfully grabbed both her hands and smiled at her. She looked up at him and sweetly smiled.
“I hope you never stop looking at me like that” he said, gazing into her eyes.
Elah didn’t know what to say, as she gazed into his eyes, she then took a deep breath and whispered, “Kiss me.” Continuing to hold her hands, he leaned down and gently kissed her. As he pulled back he smiled at her, he loved the way her eyes lit up when she looked at him.
As he gazed into her eyes her face suddenly turned from serene to a look of terror. Worry over took his body as she pushed him away as hard as she could, causing him to stumble back.
It was so sudden he didn't have time to react as she started screaming and a bright light eliminated from within the water but quickly went out. He regained his footing and looked around to see blood start to cloud the water and Elah stood before him reaching down toward her legs.
He looked around, shock and fear over taking his emotion. He quickly snapped himself out of his shocked state and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. Then started heading back to the beach as quickly as he could but the water made his progress slow, which frustrated him.
Once out of the water, he gently laid her on the soft sand and looked over her body. As his eyes scanned down her body he stopped at her leg, it had blood pouring out of it but couldn't see how deep the cut was through all the blood.
As Leif was about to heal her, a voice spoke from behind him saying “Holy cow mate, what happened?”
Leif spun around to see a man standing over him, trying to get a look at Elah. There was also a lady with two young children standing behind him. Leif frowned and looked back at Elah who was now breathing so hard that she was close to passing out.
“Something bit her” Leif growled, not wanting an audience.
“My car is just over there, I can drive you to the hospital” the man offered, still trying to get a closer look.
“Thank you but we are staying nearby, I can drive her myself” Leif said, taking off his shirt and tightly wrapping in around her wound, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He then picked her up and headed for the path they had arrived on. Elah groaned in pain as she tried not to scream when Leif moved her.
“Are you sure mate” the man shouted, as they disappeared into the forest.
Leif ignored the man and rushed through the forest as fast as he could. She clung to him as pain ripped through her body. They couldn’t get back to Violet’s house quick enough and the temptation of fling there crossed Leif’s mind, he knew he could get there faster if they flew but knew if someone saw them, they would be at risk of becoming lab rats.
As he cleared the forest and entered Violet’s garden, Leif picked up the pace and moved up the few stares to the deck. He gently laid her on the deck, causing her so much pain she let of a scream. He reached over and grabbed a towel from the railing to put under her head. She grabbed his arm tight and tried to calm her breathing but the pain was too much.
“What do I do, Elah?” Leif asked, panicking.
Elah couldn’t think straight herself and just gritted her teeth. “I don’t know” Elah answered, through her teeth.
Elah’s skin was pale due to the amount of blood she had already lost and was now starting to pool around her lower body. As the pool got larger, the pain started to subside, she knew with her own experiences that she had lost too much blood and needed help before it was too late.
She began to feel sleepy as Leif tried everything he could to stop the bleeding but nothing seemed to work. He had taken off this shirt and wrapped several towels around her leg and was trying to apply pressure to her leg when he looked up to see a car pulling into the property.
Leif breathed a sigh of relief as he knew Violet could help but looking back down at Elah, he knew she needed Violet’s help and fast. He called out to her, desperate for her help and watched as Violet ran through the house.
Violet landed on her knees next to Elah and started to wave her hands around her body. “Leif, you need to heal her” Violet said, investigating Elah’s leg.
“But I didn’t think I could” he said, so worried that he could barely think.
“Don’t worry I’ll protect you” Violet said, taking Elah’s hand in hers.
Leif looked at Violet for a couple of seconds before placing his hands on Elah’s leg and started healing her. The pain in her leg peaked, causing her to scream in agony, before the pain subsided again.
Elah calmly looked at Leif and placed her hand on his waist as he started to look more and more fatigued. She sent some of her energy into him, to help him and to stop him from passing out. He didn't protest like she thought he would, instead he concentrated on her wound and hoped he had done enough in time.
Once he was done, he laid down next to her and sighed loudly. “Are you okay?” Elah asked, propping herself up.
“Yes, how are you feeling?” he asked wearily.
“Great, thanks to you” Elah answered and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
“How, I, what happened?” Leif babbled, trying to make sense of what had happened.
“I don’t know what it was but it did apologise. Thank you so much for helping me” Elah said softly.
“I’d do it again” Leif breathed, reaching up to gently caress her cheek. “I'm so glad I could help you.”
Elah closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch until Violet cleared her throat. Elah opened her eyes and looked over at Violet who w
as waiting for them to finish their moment, which didn’t look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
“I’m sorry” Elah said to Violet.
“Are you both okay?” Violet asked and watched them both nod their heads. “You should both go and clean up and then I have someone for you to meet.”
Elah smiled and nodded. Violet helped both of them up and headed into the kitchen, as Leif and Elah went into two separate bathrooms to clean up.
It didn’t take long before they both came out in fresh clothes and looked like nothing had happened, except Leif looked like he needed to get some rest. Elah sat at the end of the one of the kitchen benches and Leif made himself comfortable next to her.
Violet smiled at them both and disappeared for a moment. When she returned, Elah jumped up with a huge smile. “Adam” she squealed and went over to hug him.
“Nice to see you both again” Adam said, hugging Elah.
Violet smiled and put a plate of food on the bench in front of Leif. Leif immediately popped some in his mouth before Violet asked “Leif, can I get your help with something?”
“Yeah, sure” Leif said, getting up.
They walked outside and out of view, when Violet stopped him. “Leif, something has been brought to my attention” Violet said.
“Oh, what is it” Leif asked, not sure if he should be worried.
“There is a common ancient ancestor of the fae. All fae have this common ancient ancestor but some have a more pure line” Violet explained.
“Okay” Leif said, confused as to why Violet was telling him this.
“Let me finish” she said, with a friendly smile. “Well this pure line is rare now but this line still exists. Fae who are in this line can display the family traits but not all the time, it's like eye colour, both parents can have blue eyes and their child can have green because one or both parents carry this trait. Anyway, this line were not dark or light fae.”
“Is there a point to this?” Leif asked, not wanting to be far from Elah.
“Yes, just let me get to the point” Violet said, giving him the eye. “Anyway, Elah’s mother’s side of her family are one of the purest lines left. Both Elah and River display the traits, which mostly comes down to the fact that they have purple eyes. This means, that neither of them are light nor dark fae and since Jablin’s death, neither king can speak for her, instead both have that right. To make things even more complex, since River is the oldest male in her family, he should speak for her but because he is also neither light or dark fae, he can’t choose if she will stay with the dark or light fae. Does that make sense?”
“Not really but go on”
“I have to take you back but you have to be taken back to where you left from. You know I can’t take sides but basically you need to claim her if you want to keep her” Violet said, giving him all she could.
“I will claim her but only if she wants me too” Leif said, trying to make sense of the information he had just been given. “When do we have to go back?”
“I can delay it until tomorrow” Violet said and started walking back to the house.
They walked back into the house to see Adam and Elah laughing at something. Leif walked over to Elah and kissed her on the head and sat down next to her. As soon as Violet and Adam were distracted by each other, Elah quietly asked Leif what happened with Violet. He just told her he would talk to her about it later. He didn't want to worry her, especially when he didn't completely understand the information himself.
A Healer's Destiny Page 26