by Cara E Holt
The Soul Mark Series.
Book two.
Soul Bound.
Published by Cara E. Holt
Copyright © 2017 by Cara E. Holt
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.
License Notes
This ebook is an original work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actuals persons or events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.
Edited by Sandra Hardman & Sarah Dixon.
Cover design by Fantasiacoverdesigns.com
This book is dedicated to my husband. My very own dark haired and green-eyed soulmate. Thank you for loving me and believing in me.
A big thank you to Sarah Dixon and Sandra Hardman for editing my book.
Thank you to all my followers on my author page on facebook for interacting with me, providing feedback on this book series and generally making me smile.
Contents
Chapter One.
Chapter Two.
Chapter Three.
Chapter Four.
Chapter Five.
Chapter Six.
Chapter Seven.
Chapter Eight.
Chapter Nine.
Chapter Ten.
Chapter Eleven.
Chapter Twelve.
Chapter Thirteen.
Chapter Fourteen.
Chapter Fifteen.
Chapter Sixteen.
Chapter Seventeen.
Chapter Eighteen.
Chapter Nineteen.
Chapter Twenty.
Chapter Twenty One.
Chapter Twenty Two.
Chapter Twenty Three.
Chapter Twenty Four.
Chapter Twenty Five.
Chapter Twenty Six.
Chapter Twenty Seven.
Chapter Twenty Eight.
Chapter Twenty Nine.
Chapter One.
The blue light of the portal brightens and fades as if it is becoming impatient with me. I have been standing for five minutes staring at it, willing myself to put one foot forward and make that jump back to my world. Really though it isn’t my world anymore, I’m really not sure where I belong now.
“You ready?” my mate asks me as he takes my hand in his.
“Yes, no…maybe.” I reply, undecided. Lorcen leans in and kisses my forehead.
“It will be fine Ebs. They will always be your parents, no matter what.”
I nod as I chew on a finger nail. I know he is right but still I feel incredibly anxious about seeing my parents. About seeing them, now the truth about everything is out in the open.
“You’re sure the glamour will work?”
Lorcen raises an eyebrow. “You doubt my magic abilities?”
I smile. “No, but I just wanted to double check. I don’t want to freak them out.”
Megan who has been standing quietly behind us rubs my shoulder reassuringly. “You can do this, Ebony.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay let’s do this shit.”
Lorcen, chuckling, leads me forward into the portal. Portal travel is still new to me and, to be honest, I find the whole thing a little scary. Then again, everything in the Fae world is new and scary to me. Lorcen has had the patience of a saint with me this last week. We had spent most of the waking hours training and trying to get my powers under control, as well as the issue of trying to get my wings to retract. My wings were still a very sensitive topic of conversation. I didn’t hate them but I didn’t love them either. I was in no rush to learn to fly despite all of Lorcen’s attempts to persuade me to give it a go. I just was not ready to deal with my wings yet. It was too much too soon.
So much had changed for me since I was last at home. I had changed physically and, I guess, mentally. The world as I knew it had changed and I had to deal with the knowledge that despite growing up as a human, there was in fact nothing human about me. Dealing with the reality that I was half fae - half demon was something I was still processing. You see, this was the kind of stuff I read in books, not the kind of thing that happened in real life and certainly not in my life. One definite in my life though right now was Lorcen. I’m not going to lie, had it not been pretty much necessary for us to form our mate bond, due to a certain ruler of hell being after me, then I probably would have avoided taking this step for some time. Now that we are mate-bonded though, it feels the most right and perfect thing. I hadn’t known him for very long but yeah he is my soul mate and I his and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Being with Lorcen felt as right as breathing. He had taken up a huge place in my heart and that was where he would stay. I would wake in the mornings some times and lie there watching him sleep and just be in awe of how perfect he is, both inside and out. Lorcen was protective of me but he treated me as his equal. He trained me to fight and to use my powers. Sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming and that he really was mine.
The blue light of the portal fades and I get my first look at what will be my home whilst we are in the human realm. We are standing in a spacious and open plan living, kitchen/dining area.
“Wow.” I say as I turn around and take in the room. “This is gorgeous.”
Lorcen stands there with a grin on his face. “What can I say? I have an eye for beautiful things.”
I smile and shake my head at him. My mate is anything but modest. The kitchen is gloss white and very modern and expensive looking. The room was decorated in grey and white but with hints of yellow in the accessories that stopped it looking clinical. Lorcen’s arms wrap around my waist and I lean back against his chest.
“Welcome home, wifey.” I can feel his grin against my ear. He likes to tease me by calling me wifey as he knows I hate it. Secretly I don’t really though, it kind of makes my heart flip when he says it.
“So where is the wicked witch sleeping?” Melantha pipes up from behind us. She is standing there, her black hair in pigtails, with black and white striped tights on, wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt that says ‘Abracadabra’ across the front.
“Nuh-uh.” Lorcen says shaking his head resolutely. “You’re not staying here. Noah and Megan get the pleasure of your company.”
Melantha pulls an exaggerated pout at Lorcen which I can’t help but smile at.
“You mean to say you are separating me from my soul sister.” Melantha gestures with her hand to where I am standing.
I hold my hands up. “Don’t blame me. I tried but he was not for budging.”
Noah sighs and looks over at Lorcen. “Remind me again why I agreed to this.”
Melantha winks. “Come on Noah you know you love hanging out with me.”
Megan and I both chuckle, she knows as well as I do, that the two of them together are trouble. Melantha bounds over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. “Don’t miss me too much.”
“I’ll try not to.” I reply as I hug her back.
To most people it would seem strange to see the girl who had worked for the guy that kidnapped me being hugged back. The truth was she had really grown on me. We got on really well and had become quite close this last week. Lorcen had reluctantly accepted her being around but he had put his foot down when it came to where she would live when we returned to the human realm.
Megan comes over and gives me a quick hug and then proceeds to pull Noah towards the portal to take them to their own house, five minutes up the road.
“Can I redecorate my room?” I hear Melantha ask as they disappear into the blue light.
Lorcen sighs and throws himself down on the sofa.
“Does she ever come up for air?”
Smiling, I walk over to where he is lying and he gently tugs me down on top of him.
“Not very often, no.”
Lorcen was still warming to Melantha, which I really did understand. After all, she had been working for his twisted brother – Devlon. She had also been responsible for lifting the spell that had masked my real identity and made my existence known to Lucifer.
“Small doses. That is all I can take of her.”
“I know, but you’ll learn to love her like I do, I promise.”
Lorcen sniggers in response as if that is a ludicrous idea. He plays with a piece of my hair that dangles over my face.
“I’ll put up with anything for you.”
He gives me that look that makes my heart quicken to a gallop. A mischievous grin crosses his face. “Want to go and get acquainted with our new bedroom?”
I laugh. “You have a one-track mind.” He raises an eyebrow at me in response.
“And you don’t?” Truth is we both do. We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since our first night together as true mates. Lorcen’s body was like a drug that I couldn’t get enough of.
I flutter my eyelashes in response to his feigning innocence. “I’m not sure I know what you are implying.” In response, his hands snake under my t-shirt to my bare skin on my tummy and he tickles me.
“Ah, stop!” I tell him in between giggles. I stop him by leaning in to kiss him and distract him. “Rain check on the bedroom. I need to go see my parents.”
Lorcen smiles in understanding and, lifting me off him, he stands us both up. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
We portal to the outside of my parent’s house. Dad’s car is parked on the drive. Scott’s car is absent which is a relief as it means I can talk to them freely. We walk up the first few steps to the porch when the front door swings open and my mum stands there. She looks like she wants to rush to me and hug me, but she stops and holds back, uncertainty crossing her face. My dad stands behind her, smiling warmly at me. So, I do what my mother hesitates to do, and run the rest of the way up to the porch and throw myself into her arms. Mum’s arms wrap tightly around me in response and I feel dad’s hand squeeze my shoulder.
“We have missed you so much,” she tells me and I can hear her voice is shaky with emotion.
“I missed you all too.”
“Let’s take this inside,” my Dad suggests, which prompts my mum to stop squeezing me to death. I look behind me and offer my hand out to Lorcen who takes it, and we move inside and into the living room. We sit on the sofa opposite my mum and dad. My Dad offers his hand to Lorcen.
“It’s good to see you again,” Lorcen smiles and shakes his hand.
My mum hasn’t taken her eyes off me and I can see she has clearly missed me.
“So.” I start to play with the hem of my jacket nervously. “A lot of things have happened these last few weeks.”
My other hand grips Lorcen’s. I need his touch to keep me calm.
‘You can do this Ebs.’ He tells me via our mind connection.
Oh yeah, I had forgotten to mention that he and I can speak to each other in our heads without actually speaking. To say it had been a bit of a shock the first time it happened would be an understatement. This wasn’t something all mated fae could do and it was as rare as the glowing when we kiss thing, which thankfully we had under control (at least when we were in public places). Lorcen said the mind speaking was another sign that our connection went beyond the usual soul match bond.
I smile at him in response and then turn my attention back to my parents.
“Can you tell me how you ended up as my parents? How did I end up in this world?”
Dad smiles and nods and he squeezes mum’s hand in comfort. “I have known about the fae realm for most of my life. You see, my family have all been protectors of the portals and gates into this world from the other realms. We are a secret society known as the ‘Gate Watchers.’ One night I was alerted to a particularly powerful fae presence at the gate near our home in England and I was sent to investigate. I arrived to find a female fae clutching a newborn baby in her arms. She was pacing anxiously and looked distressed. I knew there was something different about her.” He pauses and looks at mum and she nods for him to continue. “The female fae said she needed my help. She explained that her baby was in grave danger and needed to be hidden and protected in this world until she reached an age when she could protect herself. She begged me to take you. She somehow knew that we had a son and that we could have no more children. She told me that destiny had brought her to us. I was hesitant.” He admits apologetically, “but she assured me that you would grow up looking and acting completely human until around your eighteenth birthday.”
“Who was she?” I ask, tears threatening to spill.
My dad shrugs. “She would not give me her name, she just said that you were very important to the future of all our realms and needed to be hidden.” Sadness fills my Dads eyes. “I could see how much she loved you and how hard it was for her. She stroked your cheek and with tears rolling down her face whispered softly that she loved you so much. She told me that you would one day be very powerful and because of that power there would be those that would seek to possess you or end your existence. So in the end I agreed and she passed you over to me and your beautiful blue eyes latched onto mine - somehow I knew that we were meant to protect you.” He stops and smiles at mum. “So I brought you home. Your mum knew of the fae world and of my role as a gate watcher; she needed to know as any children we had would grow up to become the next generation of watchers. When I passed you to her and told her what had happened, you smiled at her and she couldn’t resist you and agreed that we would bring you up as our own.”
I see a tear fall down my dad’s face and my mum smiles warmly at him and wipes it away with her fingers. She runs a hand through her bobbed blonde hair and looks at me. “The minute I held you, I can’t explain it, it was like an instant bond. I knew that I had to love you and be your mother.”
“I love you both.” I tell them as tears fall down my face. “I couldn’t have asked for better parents.”
Dad smiles. “We had hoped to sit you down and tell you all this before your eighteenth and before the protection spell wore off and the glamour faded. When Lorcen came to see us and told us what had happened with the beast attacking you, we were beside ourselves with worry.” Dad smiles at Lorcen. “Lorcen came and told us everything and reassured us that you were well and explained how you were soul mates.”
My Mother grins and looks at my hand in Lorcen’s. “So, you are together now, you chose him?”
“I did. We are soul bound. We had to press ahead with the bond before Lucifer found me.” I explain. As I say Lucifer I see my mum sit up straight.
“Sorry did you just say Lucifer? As in THE Lucifer?”
I smile hesitantly. “Yes, that Lucifer. It’s a long story.” I tell them. I pause and prepare myself for their reactions as to what I am about to tell them. “Okay, so the reason my biological mother needed to hide me is because my biological father, centuries ago, promised his first-born daughter to one of Lucifer’s sons.”
My Dad looks at me bewildered. “Why would anyone promise their own daughter to the devil’s son?”
“I know it seems crazy, but you see my father never planned to have children back when he made that commitment. Then he met and fell in love with my mother and well yeah things happened.”
“How do you know all this?” Dad asks me intrigued.
“I know this, because well I have met my other dad.” Here goes nothing. “My other dad isn’t fae you see.” I’m scared to tell them this part in case they look at me differently. “My other dad, well he is one of the fallen. He fell with Lucifer from heaven and is what we refer to today as a demon.” I hesitantly look up to see their reaction. They are both staring at m
e with shock written all over their faces.
“So, you are half fae, half….”
“Demon.” I finish what he isn’t able to. Mum releases a breath she had been holding in.
“Demons are real too?”
I nod and chew on my lip. “Yep trust me, I’m still getting my head round this whole over world of beings.” They both sit there in silence taking in the fact that their daughter is half demon.
“Dad, if Scott is supposed to become a watcher, does that mean he knows about the fae?”
Dad nods. “I started to teach him about his heritage after his eleventh birthday.”
“Wow.” I say gobsmacked. “Was anything about my life real and not a lie?”
Mum rushes over to sit beside me. “What is real is that we loved you as our own and we did what we did to protect you.”
“I don’t want Scott to know that I am not his real sister.” I say tearfully. Dad looks at mum and she nods in response.
“We can do that for now, however once Scott turns eighteen and becomes an official watcher he will have the sight. He will be able to see past any fae glamour.”
My face must drop as mum looks at me anxiously and strokes my hand. “So there is no way of avoiding it. He will know then that I am not his sister.”
Lorcen squeezes my leg reassuringly. He always seems to know when I need his touch. “We need to be getting ready for school. I’ll disappear for now and pick you up out-front okay?”
I nod remembering the plan. To Scott and everyone else it would look like I still lived at home with mum and dad. When I go to my room at night I will portal over to Lorcen’s home and then I would portal back home in a morning and leave for school from my parents’ house. If Scott should go into my room at night, then magic will give the illusion that I am in bed asleep. Lorcen stands and gives me a quick kiss on my cheek and says goodbye to my parents and then sifts out of the room home.
My mum shakes her head in disbelief. “I don’t think I’ll get used to that.”
I grin “You’d better.” I tell her before I sift out of the room to my bedroom and I hear her swear under her breath.