“So she never sang you her mating song?”
“I didn’t say that. She sang it, and I did not.”
“And she did that out of the blue? You never flirted with her? Stole a kiss maybe?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Not that it matters, but you’re not jealous are you?” She noticed a familiar twinkle in his eye. Jane tried not to giggle. How funny that being around him made her want to giggle like a teenage girl.
“Me? Jealous? Well, if I am you’d never know it. I can’t give off cold vibes like you do.” They didn’t break eye contact.
“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Genevieve,” he said, narrowing his eyes further. “Besides, I could find out all that’s in that brain of yours if I wanted to.” Her mouth opened in disgust as he triumphantly tapped his own head.
“You wouldn’t. I’d know you’re there, remember.”
“But do I really care?”
“Axel!”
“Go home, Jane.”
“You’re being an ass!” She leaned in to whisper the word ass, while clenching her hands into fists at her side.
“Then you should have no problem getting over me.” He spun the opposite way and left her in the middle of the village square. Jane closed her gaping mouth and looked around. Yes, she was embarrassed after all that had happened. Plus, there were still onlookers that had stayed to watch her next round in the ring.
But now she wasn’t just frustrated she was angry. She’d come to another realm to try to make it work, and for what? To be with someone who was clearly immature? Not to mention he was most likely vying for this mysterious daughter of the three realms. Didn’t she have any pride left? Jane decided to go home. Forget what Lili said. If Axel didn’t want her, then she didn’t want to be there.
There wasn’t much for her to do except change back to her human clothes back at the big tree, which she did with little fuss. She didn’t want to cause any more commotion. She hoped to slip back to Florida unnoticed, only letting the guard at the portal know so that she wouldn’t be thought kidnapped or missing.
It was nighttime… Or was it? The sun was always shining on these long summer days. It sat low on the horizon, so it must be night. She approached the guard at the portal, a young man who tensed up at her arrival.
“I’m going back home. Please let Genevieve know as soon as I’m gone so they’re not worried,” she told him. He fidgeted with his hands.
“I think you should tell her yourself,” he said, motioning his head to the left. That’s when Jane heard voices in the thick of the trees. She walked towards the sounds, wondering if Genevieve was arguing with her brother, but Jane stopped short and put her hand up to her mouth in horror as she realized who the male voice belonged to.
She blinked several times in disbelief until she gathered the courage to move towards them again. Walking slowly, she broke into the small clearing where Genevieve stood, her figure hunched over him.
“Stay away from him!” Jane shouted, rushing over to get between Genevieve and Andrew. He was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, his head in his hands.
“Jane, this isn’t what you think. He followed me here.”
“What did you do to him?” Jane felt a panic rise in her. What if Andrew broke under the strain of their mind powers, like Carl had? She couldn’t imagine calm, pacifist Andrew ever going on a shooting rampage.
“Nothing! Listen…” Genevieve started.
Andrew interrupted. “Jane, calm down for a second. I’m trying to figure out where in the world I am—”
“That’s just it, Andrew. You’re not in our world. You’re—We are in theirs. They’re fairies. Or something inhuman. And this is where I was for three months while you thought I’d abandoned you. They have mind powers, and she can erase your memory. She has erased it.”
“I have never erased your memory,” Genevieve called to him over Jane’s shoulder. “That was Axel at the BBQ.”
“Why are you here, Andrew?” Jane ignored Genevieve.
“I followed her. She had said she couldn’t see me anymore, but then she came back for one night and left after a few hours, but there was no car. She walked off. And I walked after her and into this.” He spread his arms out. Jane remembered her own amazement at seeing fairyland for the first time.
“So what were you going to do?” Jane turned to Genevieve, who did look contrite.
“I was trying to explain everything to him before you came along.”
“It’s true,” Andrew said.
“Why? So you can just have more to erase afterward?” Jane demanded.
Genevieve took a step toward her. “I am not going to erase his mind.” There was something in her voice. It reminded Jane of Axel after her and Nayla’s fight in the village. Royal.
Jane wanted to believe her. She looked back and forth between them and saw how Genevieve’s eyes softened when they made contact with Andrew’s. He smiled at her, and Jane felt a twinge of jealousy as she recognized the way he used to look at her. She decided to trust in Genevieve's words.
“I won’t touch his mind ever again,” Genevieve said again.
“But I will.”
Axel.
“I didn’t plan this,” Genevieve said, her voice cracking. Both women shielded Andrew with their bodies, but Jane knew this wouldn't have any effect on Axel's mind transmissions. If he was going to send Andrew a memory fade, then there was nothing they could do to stop him.
“What was your plan here? Did you think he would leave here knowing about this place, about us?”
Genevieve and Axel gave each other hardened looks, and Jane wasn't sure what was going on until she realized they were having a silent battle. She never wanted to read somebody's mind more than at that moment.
“What's going on?” Andrew asked. Jane raised an eyebrow at him.
“This is what they do. They can communicate with their minds.” Jane stood in front of Axel and tried to imitate his posture. She put her hands firmly on her side, her hands balled into fists and said, “You cannot erase his mind. It isn't fair that you get to decide whether someone can keep a memory of something or not. It wasn't fair that you took my memory of the shooting away.”
She saw it then, the pained look on his face. It only lasted a second, but she knew he could be persuaded. Genevieve must have noticed as well because she took her brother's hand and said, “Can't we give him a chance? You did it with her.”
“I will be king. That's why I get to decide. That's why I can do it with her.” His voice was not as stern.
“Well then,” Jane said. “If you erase his mind, then you might as well do it to me again.” Genevieve and Axel both gave her surprised looks.
“Don't think I won't,” Axel said as he backed away from them. Jane felt a cold seeping deep into her bones. She shivered at the drop in temperature. He gave her a long look before turning around and disappearing into the trees, taking the cold with him.
16
Axel
What was going on? How was he losing control of his homeland? Jane’s return was ruining everything, and it was only getting worse. He saw how she had felt his jealousy.
It was true. He was jealous. Watching her put herself between himself and her ex-fiancé caused his blood to boil. To think he’d wanted her to get back with Andrew so she could have a normal life. He didn’t want to think of his reaction to something like that.
But having Andrew in this realm was a complication whether he was Jane’s ex-fiancé or not. In the history of the realm as he knew it, there had never been a man—a human man—to come into this land. He could not allow it. What would the villagers say? He sent Genevieve a quick message: Get him out of here. Axel hoped that his sister would listen to him for once in her life. He wasn't sure what he’d do if she didn't.
All of a sudden, Axel stopped walking. He was on his way to see Tamus when he realized that Jane had been in her human clothes. That's why she was at the portal. She was going to leave.
After entering the holding tree Axel paused at the door leading to Tamus's cell. He put both hands on the door above him and rested his forehead against the smooth wood. Could he trust the prince of the Citadel? Could he base the future of his people on the word of this man and the memories of a witch? Above all of that, could he persevere under the strain of his love for Jane?
Try as he might, it was no use. Every thought of his was tinted with her smile. Every choice of his depended on her. He was being mean to her, but it was for her own good. She deserved a human life, and she had made that clear when she didn’t choose him those weeks ago. Though it angered him at first, he understood now why it wasn’t possible for her to give up her comfortable human life for the pressures of being married to a prince of a kingdom under attack. His reasoning was that if she hated him it was fine because when she found the love of her life back in her realm she would thank him.
Axel took a deep breath and pushed on the door, revealing the cell and its occupant. Tamus looked up from his sitting position, and Axel recognized the crestfallen look in his eye. It must have been what Axel himself looked like when he was prisoner.
"Let's go," Axel told him. "It's time we work together."
Tamus's face showed his skepticism, but he followed Axel out of the cell after being released from his iron chains. Both men left the tree unbound.
Tamus looked around him as the sunlight streamed upon his face. "Why do you trust me now?"
"It has nothing to do with trust. My men are men watching. They are seconds away from tying you up again. However, this decision is mine, and I think you can help. There is the matter of these other realms… I need you to take me to them."
Tamus laughed. "Which one?"
Axel stood directly in front of him. Both men were of equal stature, but Axel was of wider build. "What other realms besides fairy, witches, and vampires exist?"
Again, Tamus laughed. "I don't think any of the other realms would be of any use to us at the moment. Let’s focus on getting to the land o’ witches since that is the only one we can easily access. I know where the portal is in the human realm, but to access the vampire realm isn't easy.”
"You’ve done it before? Have you been to the vampire realm?"
Tamus gave an almost inexplicably smug grin. "I've been everywhere, but there are many places I would not care to return to."
Axel accepted this for now, but he kept a wary eye on Tamus as they walked to the portal. Darick replied to all of his messages with skepticism and questioned Axel’s trust in Tamus. When they reached the portal, his friend was there waiting for him.
Darick strode over to him. "Look, I know you’re going through a difficult time. I spoke with Genevieve, Jane, and some human guy as they left through the portal. It has to be difficult to deal with all of that, but that doesn't mean you should rush to make any decisions. The good news is they're all gone so you can focus on preparing the army for the attack."
Axel shook his head. "This has nothing to do with my sister, Jane, or her idiot ex-fiancé. This has to do with the fact that there are other realms out there we didn't even know existed. I have to find out if an answer to our problem can be found there.”
"Well, then I should go with you. You’ll need me. We know nothing of these witches or of Tamus except what he has told us.”
Axel looked over at the other prince standing by the portal and examining the large hollowed out tree trunk. “I need you to understand something. If there is a chance that we can take down the citadel King without bloodshed, I have to explore that option. But I need you here to guard the portal and look over things while I'm gone.”
Darick nodded his head, and the two men shook hands. Axel was about to march into the portal, but first he turned back to Darick and asked, "So Jane is in the human realm? Finally she leaves, and now I'm chasing her back there. Or at least she’ll think I am.”
"Are you?” Darick's stupid smile angered Axel, but he reeled in his irritation and motioned to Tamus to get into the portal. Axel followed him through, and for the first time in several months, he was back in the human realm. He was reminded of his last mission there—to find a wife. A human wife. How he had failed!
Their first stop would be at Axel's house to get some human clothing and cash. According to Tamus, the witches portal from the human realm was located somewhere in Arizona. This meant either flying or a really long car ride. Seeing as how Tamus did not have a driver's license to get on an airplane, they would either have to perform extraordinary mind tricks with the TSA agents or get on with a days-long road trip.
Both men debated this as they approached the house, and this left Axel occupied so that at first he didn’t notice what was occurring in his front yard. When his eyes beheld the scene, he ducked behind the nearest bush and yanked Tamus to him.
“What the—” Tamus started but then he peered through the bush to see what Axel was looking at.
On his wide lawn Genevieve, Jane, and Andrew stood absolutely still as if frozen. A shiver ran up Axel’s spine as he noticed that seconds flew by with no movement from any of them. He tried to communicate with Genevieve.
Axel, thank goodness! How did you know to come? We can't move. I've already tried with all of my mind to reverse this but it's impossible.
Who did this? Axel asked her.
Some asshole. I didn't want to bother you with this, but there was a man following me the other day. I entered Jane’s mind a minute ago to see if she knew anything of this man, and she recognizes him as someone who broke into her house but stole nothing. It’s the same man. He ambushed us as we were about to enter the house. He said nothing. And then we were like this.
He left you like that? What did he want? Axel didn't understand this. Why didn’t Genevieve tell him about this before? He knew why. He wouldn't have taken her seriously, especially after Carl.
Yes, the asshole left without saying a word. He didn’t take anything from the house. Can you come here? He's gone.
The last thing he wanted was to fall into a trap like them, and then how would they all escape from this strange enchantment?
Tamus whispered, “I've seen this before. It’ll wear off. But we should get them out of the way of human eyes." Axel made his way over to the trio. Their eyes froze on place they’d been looking. All three were facing the house, presumably from where the man had surprise them. Genevieve's expression showed her surprise, Andrew looked confused (the same look he'd worn by the portal in the Homeland), but Jane’s face had him drawing in a deep breath.
She looked like she had seen a ghost. He considered what Genevieve had told him—that this man has broken into Jane’s house. As he stared into her frightened eyes, his heart twisted in his chest because he knew that look on her face was due to her association with him. That man was not human. But what was he? Witch? He wasn’t vampire because it was daytime. Or something else?
With Tamus's help he carried them inside. He placed the three of them on the couch side by side waiting for any sign of movement. He continued to communicate with Genevieve and every once in a while gave the others reassurance they would soon be back to normal. If he had to be honest, he was dying to enter Jane's mind, but he was afraid of what he’d find there.
17
Jane
She couldn’t move her eyes, and so she didn’t know what he was doing at the moment, but Jane was relieved that Axel was there. Every once in a while he stood directly in her line of sight. It was impossible for her not to feel an overwhelming sense of joy even though she was in her current situation.
It had happened so quickly that she hadn’t noticed until seconds later when she couldn't move. That’s when she was able to recognize the man that hovered over them on the porch steps. Terror seized her as she looked into the eyes of the man that had broken into her and Andrew’s house. He walked past her with nothing more than a slight rustle of his clothing to indicate his presence, and then he was gone. J
ane didn't even know for sure if Genevieve and Andrew were in the same frozen state as her until Axel and that other fairy brought them all inside.
Who was the man that kept appearing? She didn't recall ever seeing him before in fairyland. And now they all sat there, immobile, and had to watch as Axel paced back and forth, obviously troubled. Since his arrival, Jane hadn’t felt the same creeping fear as she had earlier.
"This will wear off soon. Don’t be scared, Jane,” he’d said as his eyes found hers before bringing them in. She believed in his words and knew he would do everything in his power to release them from this spell.
The silence as time passed indicated quiet conversations going on around her that she and Andrew were not privy to. She wished she could communicate to Axel about the man and his previous break-in at her home. But she was doomed to stay with her limited human mind, and he seemed to stay out of it. The only time she had felt an inkling of anything was when she stood frozen in the front lawn. Jane had suspected it was either that man or Genevieve that were messing with her mind.
Almost an hour later, Jane was thrilled when she could move her eyes. It took a couple of minutes until Axel noticed. She saw him take in a deep breath and then land on his knees in front of her.
“Jane! Jane, do you hear me? Blink your eyes if you can hear me," he said, and Jane did as he asked. His smile was genuine and his own relief was apparent. Axel switched between the three of them, voicing his findings. He announced when Genevieve could wiggle her fingers, when Andrew also opened and closed his eyes, and then when Jane was able to give him a smile. In time they regained all function, though Andrew was the slowest to return to full movement.
“Did anyone see where he went? Or why he was here?” Axel asked.
“I didn't even see the bastard until he walked down the steps.” Genevieve was livid in her half frozen state. "I think that’s the guy that followed me. I don't know why I would have a stalker.”
A Touch of Summer: Spellbound Series Book 2 (The Spellbound Series) Page 6