by Leela Ash
“Gimme a minute. I’ll go with you.” Cotton sheets slid across her silken curves as she stood, naked and beautiful.
Oh hell, if he didn’t leave now, he was going to stay in this bed with her till noon. “It’s Flight business,” he protested.
Bree planted her hands on her hips, completely unaware of what a delectable pose she struck. “It’s my land. And my problem because of this damned ring.”
Hard to argue against that.
A half hour later, they pulled into her driveway. Inside, they found only two people. His Alpha, Brandon Lorde, and Lorde’s elderly housekeeper, Amarie, who was puttering in the kitchen.
“Where are all the Hares?” Finn asked. “I’d hoped to introduce Bree to other members of her Kind.”
Even first thing in the morning, his Alpha wore a sharp black tailored suit and polished leather shoes. “They’re in town. I thought it best for them to stay a little further away, with Cole being hurt and you ‘absent.’”
Finn’s Dragon bristled at the accusation that lay behind that word. Where he was last night was his business, not his Alpha’s!
Lorde swept past him and offered Bree a hand. “Ms. Williams. Thank you so much for allowing us to base in your house.”
“You’re welcome to it. I can’t stand being alone here anymore. This place needs a Dragon sitting in it.”
“Hopefully, we can do something about that. Please, join me at the table. Amarie is preparing breakfast.”
Accompanied by the clatter of pans, Finn filled his Alpha in on the night’s events. Leaving out, of course, the love they’d shared.
“Do you have any idea what this creature wants, Ms. Williams?”
“He’s obsessed with pollution, ‘shredding’ and vile ‘mixings.’ It’s like he thinks I’m two different things smooshed together.”
“Interesting.” One of Lorde’s long fingers tapped against his coffee cup as he considered that.
“Breakfast!”
Emerging from the kitchen with a pile of plates, Amarie scurried about the table. Rolls, jam, toast, eggs, pancakes, hash browns… despite her age, she darted here and there, distributing a mountain of food.
Clearly, she was a woman used to feeding a full Flight of Dragons! Finn had more than he could eat – and to his amusement, Bree’s plate held as much as his and Lorde’s combined.
“Ma’am,” Bree protested, “I couldn’t possibly eat all this.”
“Well, you should try. Eat! Eat! You need this!”
Bree caught his eye. He shrugged. Lorde’s housekeeper had a reputation for being a few cards short of a deck.
But while the two of them exchanged secret grins, his Alpha frowned. “Explain, if you will, Amarie. Ms. Williams seems quite healthy. Why do you think she requires such nourishment?”
“Well,” the old Hare tutted, “she’s eating for two now.”
Finn’s fork slipped through his numb fingers and clattered to the plate. Bree froze like a deer in headlights.
The old woman’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. “Did you not know that you two… that you had a, um… oh my.”
“Amarie…,” Lorde sighed.
From deep within his soul, a rumble arose. A thundering, bass howl of purest joy.
Our Mate is with child! We have a family! Ours!
For one second, he shared its delight. Then he realized what this meant, and a tidal wave of rage swept over him as he felt the iron jaws of Fate’s snare closing around him.
His damned Dragon wanted a family? Well, nobody had asked him! He didn’t choose any of this. Not ‘Mate’, not ‘family.’ He was not going to be trapped by some stroke of luck.
A threatening growl wove itself into his Dragon’s song.
Shut up, you, he told it. This is your fault.
“Bree…” Torn between joy and anger, words failed him.
But he didn’t need to speak. His expression had already given his doubts away. “Excuse me,” she whispered as she staggered to her feet.
Amarie wilted. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Cleaning dishes.” Damage done, she slunk off in shame.
Leaving him with his annoyed Alpha. “Let’s step outside, shall we?” Irritation dripped from every one of Lorde’s words.
Why not? Breakfast was ruined. Finn threw his napkin on his plate and followed.
No one said anything as they crossed the lawn and threaded through the towering pines. Only when the eerie mist that hid the Wellspring came into view did the two men slow to a halt.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” Lorde asked.
“Yes!” Finn snapped. “You’re not my father. Quit talking to me like I’m some idiot teenager too stupid to use protection.”
At that rebellion, a red light flared in his Alpha’s eyes. Finn braced himself for his own Dragon’s fury. Honestly, he didn’t want to challenge Lorde for control of the Flight. Yet, the need to lash out, to break free of the fetters closing in around him, was too strong.
He needn’t have worried. His Dragon didn’t even stir. Guess it wasn’t too pleased with him right now.
And so, to his disgust, he found himself glancing away from Lorde’s burning gaze. “Did you? Use protection?”
“It was a mistake, dammit. And bad luck. Stop riding me. It’s not like I’m the first member of this Flight to screw up.”
That burning stare pinned him in place. “She’s your Mate, isn’t she?”
“No.”
Pain shot through his head at the denial, a piercing bolt that sent sparks flashing across his sight. What the hell? Had his Dragon just bit him?
Lorde regarded him with open disbelief. “Do you expect me to believe it’s a coincidence that you went tearing off to her room the moment she was in danger? Do not treat me like a fool, Donnelly. I have a Mate of my own.”
“Yes, I sensed the threat. That doesn’t make us Mates.”
“Did you share the Rite of Claiming?”
Finn squirmed as his Alpha dragged him toward the obvious, undeniable truth. And he fought him every step of the way. “Yes. That still doesn’t make us Mates.”
“Yes, it does!” Lorde’s bellow echoed through the woods. “That is precisely what it does! That is the entire point of the ritual!”
“I am not Fate’s pawn!” Finn roared back. “I get a choice!”
“And what about Ms. Williams? Does she get a choice too?”
“Yes! Dammit, Lorde, she was engaged to another man. She never would have gone through with the Rite if she thought it was real.”
Shock finally shut his Alpha up and Finn pressed his advantage. “I’ve probably ruined her future now. The wedding’s off and I doubt she’ll be able to fix things with her fiancé. Not when she’s carrying another man’s child.”
Around them, a deep, lifeless silence filled the forest. Every sensible creature had long since fled the ominous fog. “What a mess,” Lorde sighed.
“Tell me about it.”
“But there is a way to fix it.”
Finn knew his Alpha too well to feel any relief at those words. He’d seen the way Lorde tricked his brothers in the Flight. So, all he offered was a noncommittal, “Oh?”
“The past is gone and yes, you’ve destroyed Ms. Williams’ old dreams. So, make new ones with her. Demolishing the past has cleared the way for a beautiful future.”
Finn snorted. “That’s your advice? Be a good boy. Do what your Dragon tells you. Walk into the trap, it’ll be fine!”
“That’s not what I’m…”
“Yes, it is!”
A sob broke the stillness. A world of pain melted down into one soft sound.
Bree stood behind them. Tears ran down her face, a sight that drove a dagger through Finn’s heart.
Why was she here? What was she doing? A dozen questions sprang into his mind. Yet, the only words to pass his lips were much simpler. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She swatted the tears off her cheeks
. Others immediately spilled out. “We agreed, remember? Nobody’s trapped. We get to choose.”
How hollow those promises sounded now.
“I didn’t mean…”
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed his excuses. “Yes, you did. And you’re right. This is a trap. One you can’t escape.”
“That’s not true.” He reached for her, but she backed away. Finn let his hand drop to his side. He’d lost any right to touch her. “We can still choose.”
“Really?” Tears choked her laugh. “You think we can walk away from each other now? You think you can let your child grow up, never knowing her father? I don’t think you can. I think you’re a good man and Fate picked a bait you can’t resist.”
She was right. Finn hung his head at the truth in her words. Choice was an illusion. He’d thrown it away the moment he decided to go through with the Rite of Claiming.
Lorde cleared his throat. “Ms. Williams, I want to assure you that…”
“Wait, please. Let me say something before I lose my nerve. Finn?” Though her face was stained with tears, her smile remained bright. “I didn’t love Daven. I had fun with him – and I was too silly to know the difference. I’m glad we didn’t get married. I think I understand love now. It’s wanting the best for someone, no matter what the cost to you. Exactly the opposite of what Daven and I had.”
Once more, he stepped toward her and once more she retreated.
“I love you.” Grief and adoration lit her face. “And I want you to be free.”
With that, she stepped backward into the edge of the Wellspring’s mist.
“Bree, no!” Finn screamed. Both he and Lorde leaped for her.
And slammed into an invisible wall with bone-jarring force.
The fog curled around her, and she was gone.
The last thing he saw was her eyes, shining with love and tears.
Chapter 14
Whispers flowed around her. Scraps of mist and fog, coiling and swirling through the greyness.
Then a woman spoke, “Be welcome.”
With those words, the endless void vanished.
Bree sat on a neatly trimmed lawn. Not a lump, a speck of dirt, or a single weed marred its perfect surface. Rose bushes circled the clearing. Each plant boasted exactly twelve red blooms, every one flawless and unfaded. A path of white gravel cut through a wall of roses leading to the woods where graceful birches marched off into the distance in neat, orderly lines.
It was beautiful… but kind of creepy in its perfection. Like a neurotic English garden plunked down in the middle of a faerie tree farm.
The people gathered here were as weird as their greenery.
A dozen Adanai clustered close to each other, watching and whispering. Tall, impossibly thin, they wore gauzy white robes. Braided with flowers, the hair of both men and women cascaded all the way to the ground.
And everything was perfect. Hair. Clothes. Features. Nobody had a pimple, a grey hair, or a smudge of dirt on their brilliant clothes.
Bree almost laughed. Put her in one of those gowns and the darned thing would be covered with grass stains in five minutes.
All of the creatures kept their distance, except one. Legs curled under her, a woman sat beside her. Staring into her face with rapt delight.
“Hi!” Bree croaked.
The Adanai flinched, fluttering like startled birds.
That was encouraging. They seemed almost as scared of her as she was of them.
Only her companion showed no fear. “Be welcome,” she repeated.
“Thank you. I’m Bree Williams.”
“We know you. We observed you.”
They must be the white ‘ghosts’ haunting her kitchen. “Thanks for letting me in here.”
“How could we refuse?” Silver eyes like mirror shards studied her. “Your pain and your… ‘love’? It is intoxicating.”
Okaaay. That wasn’t ominous or anything. Bree’s heart started to beat faster. “Will the Dragons come through too?”
“No. The way is closed to them.”
“Good.” So, Step One of her plan had worked. Step Two had been to ask for sanctuary for herself and her child. Yet, after just two minutes in this ‘Otherworld’ that seemed like a bad idea. Humans could never live this way.
On to Step Three, then. “What’s your name?”
“Queen Lilalanandalissattra.”
Lila? Sattra? Mangling a queen’s name didn’t seem wise so Bree fell back on protocol. “Your Majesty, there are other gates here, right? That go back to Earth?”
The queen inclined her head.
“Could you let me through one? I’d like to go back to my own world, but I don’t want the Dragons to know about that.”
Better if Finn thought her dead. Alive, and he’d spend the rest of his life searching for her. Fate’s trap would close around him. He’d blame himself for her ‘death’, of course. A thought that sickened her. Could she really saddle him with that guilt?
Yes, because the alternative was an eternity tied to a woman he didn’t love. Dragons might not be truly eternal, but they lived for centuries at least. True, her ‘loss’ would hurt him. The pain would fade in time, however, as had all the other griefs of his life. When, at last, he met the right woman, he’d be free to follow his heart.
“No.” No explanation. No apologies. Just ‘no.’
That word torpedoed a huge hole in Step Three. But years of negotiating assured Bree that there was always a way to get a client to say ‘yes.’ You just needed to know your customer’s goal. “May I ask why you’re your Majesty?”
“My Lord has closed the Ways. To open them requires consent from both.”
One to close, two to open. Got it. Sounded like this ‘Lord’ was the cause of the Wellsprings’ recent failures.
Maybe she could help Finn’s Flight – and herself, at the same time. “Could I petition his Majesty for permission to open the Wellsprings?”
A faint pinch of the lips. The first thing even vaguely close to an emotion to cross the queen’s face. “You may. Though, I cannot promise your safety.”
Potentially violent clients? Hadn’t dealt with that in her years as a negotiator. Still, what other choice did she have? “I’ll take that risk.”
“Come then.” The queen drifted to her feet in one effortless, unbroken glide, as if she’d been lifted by strings. Bree scrambled up in a more ungainly fashion.
A path of mown grass appeared through the woods, a carpet of green winding through the silvery trees. Not a word passed between Bree and the queen as they walked. Two by two, the court trailed behind them, equally still. On and on they passed, in compete silence, through the perfect, elfin landscape.
The more time she spent in this ‘Other Side’, the less she liked it. It reminded her of a corpse at a funeral. Pretty but dead.
Moments melted together. Without landmarks, without sound, the world blurred. Bree couldn’t say how long they walked. Minutes? Days? Finally, however, the path entered a clearing. At its center stood a pavilion of black silk etched with silver design. On a throne beneath it sat a man, the queen’s dark reflection. Black hair to counter her white. Clothes as dark as midnight. And when he turned his disapproving gaze upon her, Bree recognized those lightless eyes.
Her shadow monster. The king of the Other Side was the thing trying to ‘shred’ her.
With a curtsy so deep she swept the ground, the queen addressed him. “Greetings, my Lord. Bree of the Worlds Beneath would petition you.” As the king’s eyes narrowed, his Lady added, “She enjoys my protection.”
“You presume much, my Lady,” he replied, in tones as cold as glacial run-off. “Did I not say that the gates to the Other Side were to be closed?”
“I do not believe so, Lord. You forbade anything to pass from our realm to the mortal world. Yet, you did not speak of mortals entering our land.”
That was some fine legal hair-splitting. It vexed the king, but Bree admired it.
“A
nd now you wish me to bend my rule and allow this mongrel to return?”
The queen didn’t quibble over that term. “I do.”
“No. I see your snare. I will not tread upon it.”
Snare? Seemed like a straightforward request to Bree. Yet, the tension in the queen’s shoulders, her submissive stance, hinted that the king was right. There were things going on here she didn’t understand.
And years in negotiation had taught her that that was a lousy bargaining position. Time to change the playing field. Bree cleared her throat. “My Lord, would you grant me permission to speak?”
Wary, he nodded.
First, the flattery. “You know your queen better than me. I don’t see a trap – but if you do, I am sure you’re right. Could you please explain it to me? I don’t want to be anyone’s pawn and I can’t avoid a snare I can’t see.”
“A fair request. Your Worlds Beneath have always fascinated my people. In times past, many of the lesser Kind even Shifted down there. Polluting their pure souls with the filth of mortal desires.”
Did he mean Shifters? Bree longed to ask, but you never interrupted someone when they were on a roll.
And the king definitely was. “My Queen has been obsessed with the Worlds Beneath ever since our daughter, Amatessandra, mingled herself with your Kind.”
Amatessandra… Tess? Tess Morland was the daughter of these creatures?
“Many others of my court share her madness. The source of their fixation is your ‘love’.” He spat the word out like a rotten piece of corn. “Our love is pure. Reasoned, elevating, sublime.”
Sounded ‘cold’ to Bree. “Whereas our love is messy. The heights of passion mixed with the worst pain and agony a soul can feel. It draws the highest sacrifices from us… and also drives us to commit unspeakable evils.”
The King nodded. “It is pollution.”
“Or glory. Joy and sorrow are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. Most humans would say that love’s pains make it even sweeter.”
“That is my Queen’s opinion. Your ‘sacrifice’ for that Dragon enchanted her. Now, she wishes me to release you, to reward your devotion. If I do, my court will whisper your tale on cold winter nights. Spreading this madness, this pollution.”