“Semi-retirement is a tough life,” Seph groused wryly. “Thank you, Father, I’ll see you shortly.”
As he cut the call, he stared down at his screen and nodded in satisfaction as he received a message with what he needed.
“We’re good to go,” he said, his focus on Riel.
“What time is it?” she mumbled.
My lips twitched. “Don’t you want to save the witches from the Fae? Should time matter?”
“Time always matters when it’s morning.” She peered at me from under my arm, shifting it around so I could see one eye. “You’ll learn that any time of the morning is too early for me.”
I snorted. “It’s your ill luck then that you’re fated to be with three Fae.”
She moaned. “I know.”
The Fae were notorious for being early risers. Our days didn’t commence as humans’ did at eight or nine in the morning. We were often awake at four and heading to our offices at five, preferring to work to Sol’s hours rather than Gaia’s as was the way with the rest of the world.
“Come on, lazybones,” Matt retorted, slapping her on the ass. “We need to get moving.”
A grunt escaped her. “How come you haven’t asked me what the plan is?”
I tensed. “You don’t know what the plan is, do you?”
That had her wagging her finger. “That could be considered a fair point.”
My lips twitched. “Do you know some of what you’re doing, at least?”
She sighed. “I didn’t, but things changed last night.” As she curved upward, I forced my gaze away from her tits and up to her eyes—in my defense, her tits fit my palms more than generously. They were mouth-wateringly hot. And I’d have to be a real douche not to appreciate such a sight first thing on a morning. “Well done for remembering where my face is, Daniel,” she mumbled, but I saw the twinkle in her eyes and grinned at her with no apology.
“What happened last night? Aside from the Rut?” Matthew demanded, evidently intent on getting to the subject at hand. Good old Matt. Always ready to keep us in line like we were rebellious sheep and he the shepherd.
She blew out a breath. “That wasn’t the Rut.”
Matt frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean, what do I mean? That wasn’t the Rut.” A frown appeared on her brow. “Makes sense, really. I was hot and horny but not overtaken with need. Not like how you’d imagine when the word ‘rut’ comes into play.” An interested hum escaped her at the thought, and I barely refrained from heaving out a sigh in response.
“How would you know?” I asked instead of huffing at her.
She swallowed. “You know that day? With the meteor?”
“How could we forget?” I replied wryly.
“Not like you can forget something that makes you turn shit invisible,” Matt pointed out.
“Or the day you think you’re going to die,” Seph grumbled.
“Yeah, well, I woke up and we weren’t here. We were somewhere else.” Her scowl appeared again. “I don’t know where, just that we were in the middle of the ocean. It was so blue,” she murmured, her voice waning.
I frowned. “You remember that? We were there for barely any time at all.” Just long enough to kill a prime warrior, but because she’d fallen asleep for all that time in that aftermath, I guess I figured she’d forgotten about that.
She licked her lips. “I remember we made it through a portal but as we crossed from Linford’s home to wherever we were, I had a vision. I guess that’s what you’d call it. It wasn’t like a glimpse into the past or the future, it was just—well, it was nothing. I’ve never been anywhere so utterly without light in all my life.” The breath that exhaled from between her lips shuddered through her, and she grabbed the sheet that had, over the course of the night, been pushed down to the baseboard at our feet.
Dragging it up and higher over her body, she cuddled into it, and I reached for her, tucked my arm over her shoulder and murmured, “Hey, what is it?”
“Just… that place. My tatarabuela was there. She was warning me. Telling me about how I was going to change. She showed me the warrior.”
“You pointed at him,” I murmured, remembering Riel’s struggle when we made it onto the tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
“Yeah. Because she guided me.”
“You’re only just telling us this now?” Seph remarked, his scowl firmly in place.
“There’s been a lot of other stuff to discuss first, and I’m only telling you this now because of last night. She visited me in my dream.” She raised a hand and rubbed her temple. “She warned me that the Rut was coming, and I’d only be able to stave it off for so long, but before I did anything, I had to—”
“Had to what?” I questioned uneasily when she broke off.
When she explained about the first families, I knew I wasn’t the only one gaping at her. I didn’t even have to look at the others to know that.
“You’re from one of the first families?” Seph rasped, staggering forward and plunking himself down at the side of the bed. He didn’t even care that he was sitting on my foot, and the fuck of it was, I didn’t care either.
“Apparently,” she murmured, tucking a loose lock behind her ear. “This is the first time I’ve heard of it, but she said that we have to visit each one and they’ll know what to do.”
“How do we know where they are?”
“She said my grandmother knows. That she’s always known, and that they’ve always known she still lived too.”
I sucked down a breath. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I even want to know either, but on our first meeting…” When Riel cleared her throat, it wasn’t because her voice had gone, instead, it was because I figured she was trying to work out what to say.
She closed her eyes and on a low hum intoned,
“’Sol’s stone brings peace not war, but to connect with it, on the islands our daughter must be.
“Where Kou morphed into a harbor forged of pearls, she will surge into the air, her wings aloft, her magic at the ready.
“Gaia’s gift to her will drain the well of her power, but her reward will be worth the loss.
“She will change, but that change is a catalyst for more than we ever dared hope.
“The balance to be redressed, Gaia’s Way to overpower Sol’s with his blessing, but only with the second angel of our line.
“So mote it be.’”
“What in Sol’s name does that mean?” I ground out, finally tearing my eyes from her to demand it of my brothers.
Seph’s phone was in his hand, and as he called on Siri, the question he asked wasn’t exactly the one that was burning on the tip of my tongue, “Pearl Harbor, Wikipedia.”
I frowned at him as he began reading, tapping here and there on the screen before he shot us a look. “Honolulu’s old name was Kou.”
“That’s what you fixate on?” Riel grumbled. “Of all the shit I just said, that was what mattered to you most?”
He shrugged. “I was curious.”
Riel grunted in disgust. “My tatarabuela said I’d been fated for this since the day I was born.” She licked her lips. “Said that you’d been fated to be at my side throughout it too.”
I tightened my hold on her, and simultaneously, Matt reached for one of her hands and Seph, even though it was awkward, reached for the other.
With us all holding on to her, she released a shaky breath. “You’re not upset?”
Scowling at her, I mumbled, “I think I prefer it when you’ve more attitude than tits.”
She blinked up at me. “That has to be the weirdest insult ever.”
It was my turn to shrug. “Just calling it like I see it.”
Huffing, she mumbled, “Sexist prick.”
“Feel free to compare the size of my ego with the size of my c—”
“Let’s leave it there, shall we?” Matt groused. “I think we have more important matters
to discuss.”
I cleared my throat. “True. I just don’t like to hear her talk that way. She’s not lesser than us. She sounded like she was scared we were going to disagree or something.” I twisted so I could look at her better, then I cupped her chin and tilted her face so I could look her square in the eye. “Riel, I accepted your claim for one reason only—not just because of kismet, but because you were made for me. Because you fit me better than anything or anyone else I could even begin to imagine.
“Kismet did have a hand in this, but that same celestial body that put us on this path also made it so that you have an attitude that won’t quit and a pretty large chip on your shoulder.”
“You had to ruin it,” Seph commented on a sigh.
I ignored him, carried on staring down into the weird, silvery-blue eyes that were pretty creepy to behold, truth be told. She’d gone from being the color of cafe latte with espresso brown hair and eyes to being the exact antithesis of that. All white hair and big, blue-silver eyes that were almost mirror-like in their reflective capabilities.
Those eyes of hers were proof that something supernatural had taken over her, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“I do have a chip on my shoulder,” she admitted softly, her eyes still on mine. “I appreciate your honesty, Daniel. I-I won’t doubt the bond again.”
“You should never have even begun to fret,” Matthew rasped. “He’s right, Riel. This goes beyond the superficial kind of relationship I think any of us are used to.
“We’re with you. Until the end. Come what may.”
She gulped, her gaze drifting from me to Matt and onto Seph. “That’s just it,” she whispered.
“What is?” Matt insisted.
“This is about making sure the end is far away in the distance, some years in the future, and not tomorrow or next week.” She shivered. “I’m not ready to die. Are you?”
“Is that a trick question?” I retorted, then chucking her under the chin, I carried on, “I think you need to tell us what your great-great-grandmother had to say.”
After gnawing on her bottom lip for a second, she murmured, “We must visit the first families before we attend the Assembly.”
“Shit. I just told my father—”
“He’ll have to wait,” Matt interjected. “It’s not like we can ignore someone speaking to us from beyond the grave, Seph.” He scrubbed a hand over his hair. “Your grandmother knows where they are, and Linford will be able to take us. Maybe if we work fast, we’ll be able to get this done within the day?”
She hitched a shoulder. “I have no way of knowing how much time it will take. I just know that I can’t go to the Assembly without having visited the first families first.”
I cut my brothers a look. “I think it’s time to get this show on the road.”
Ten
Matthew
It would have taken a lot of convincing, I’d seen that from the firmness in Gabriella’s face, but the second Riel had mentioned the first families, it had been the equivalent of, ‘open sesame.’
I’d never seen someone’s expression morph so quickly.
From stern resolve to outright astonishment, the fact that Riel knew about the first families at all seemed to be enough to make Gabriella believe that her own grandmother had somehow been in contact with Riel.
Of course, both her grandparents had been stunned by our words, but that was nothing compared to our reaction to them. Linford was young once more thanks to Riel’s touch, and paired with Gabriella? It was weird as Sol to be looking at a couple who were in our fucking age group for guidance on a matter such as this.
We were raised with the knowledge that the Elders knew best. That was why our Assembly was full of wrinkly-assed, crotchety old bastards, after all. So knowing that the wisdom of a lifetime was housed within a couple who looked younger than the rest of my troupe?
Mind fuck.
Of the epic variety.
When we found ourselves in Norway an hour later, I had to admit to a fondness of using portals as a mode of transportation. No pollution, swift, efficient, and free? What more could anyone else ask for?
Though we spent most of our time in autonomous flight, even we needed airplanes occasionally—just as we had to get to Honolulu—and no one needed the backlog of traffic, the endless lines, and waiting at an airport.
Sol, Linford could earn himself a fortune as a portal chauffeur. I knew I’d be willing to pay him. Sheesh.
The town was odd. Not in an ugly way, just like nothing I’d ever seen before. As a member of a shunned family, I’d done ridiculously little traveling outside of the States, and this place was both alien and yet reminiscent of somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Lots of green, gray skies that were bogged down with clouds that moved sluggishly across the sky, and plenty of low-lying buildings that were all a kind of bright maroon.
It was no concrete jungle, however, and that I did appreciate.
In the distance, I could see the houses, and while there was a road close by, Linford had brought us to a parking lot for some kind of business. Since we were to the side, it didn’t raise suspicions by us just popping up out of nowhere, I couldn’t see what it was. There was a pole out front, though, and a red flag flew in the wind.
“What’s a Coop?” Riel quizzed, her head tilted to the side as she eyed the flag too. There was a nasty wind brewing and the Coop part was the only legible words I could read as well.
Daniel squinted. “I think it says ‘marked’ underneath. Maybe it’s a store?”
“It’s a grocery store,” Gabriella answered. As our attention fluttered her way, we saw that her hands were suddenly coated in the gaseous blue glow of her magic.
For a second, I tensed at the sight, certain this was a trap, that she’d brought us here to do us harm. Then, I felt instantly guilty when my shorts and tee were replaced with heavy-duty jeans, a Henley, and a coat that cut off the bitter wind. My sneakers were replaced with boots too, and the second I was covered, I felt instantly better. I could have magicked the outfit up myself, but wasn’t about to complain—though the quantity of magic I was tithed had increased since I’d become a warrior, it wasn’t an endless source. I tended to use it frugally, most of it spent on flying and training.
Studying Riel, who sported a similar outfit but with a feminine cut, I nodded at her grandmother and murmured, “My thanks.”
Gabriella shrugged. “No need.” She tipped her face back and as the wind buffeted her, a smile curved her lips—the first since Riel had told her what she’d learned from her tatarabuela.
I guessed it figured considering she was a wind witch.
Like a lightbulb pinging on, a thought occurred to me, and I blurted out, “I thought you helped with the Bay of Pigs invasion.”
She didn’t open her eyes. “I did.”
“How?”
“Used the wind, of course.”
“Huh,” Seph mumbled. “I figured you’d used water.”
“I did, but the wind was the catalyst. You can’t create a storm without it, after all.” Her eyes opened, and she pinned me with her stare. She looked so much like my Virgo mate for a second that it was uncanny, then when she blinked, I saw the wisdom buried within those depths, a wisdom that came from a long life lived. Maybe not well, maybe not even happily, but certainly lived. “You have a problem with this?”
“No, of course not.” I shrugged. “Just surprised, that’s all.”
Linford grunted. “Let’s get a move on. It’s getting cold.”
“True,” she mused. “Odd, really. We look like we’re young again but are still sensitive to certain things.”
Riel frowned. “Like what?”
“Nothing really. Not in the grand scheme of things,” Linford said dryly. “But I can feel the weather in my knees and my back is starting to ache.” His lips twisted. “The usual just to a lesser degree.”
Brow puckering harder, Riel mused, “I wonder why.”
“Because you
somehow gave us the fountain of youth, Riel, but that doesn’t mean you gave us a complete overhaul,” Gabriella stated around a soft laugh as she curved her arm around her shoulder. “We should get going. This is where we usually land.”
“You come here often?” I asked, as we rounded the side of the building and came across the biggest clue to what the business was—image after image of produce and groceries.
“Often enough to know the way by heart,” Linford reasoned.
As a car trundled past, Seph laughed. “They really do all drive Volvos.”
I rolled my eyes. “Volvos aren’t Norwegian. It’s a Swedish company.”
He shrugged. “Either way, it figures.”
Daniel snorted. “Does it? Does it really?”
Riel laughed, but Seph flipped us the bird as we trudged down to the curb. There was nothing more than a grass verge separating us from the road itself, but it was quiet. Even the parking lot of the store had no vehicles there.
To our right, there were several plateaus of flat rock that made me think they’d chiseled straight into it to craft the road itself.
Curious now as our feet stepped into a thick and lush grass that was somehow crisper than our own—odd adjective to be sure, but that was how it crunched underfoot—I stared around at the endless vista of fir trees in varying shapes and sizes and inquired, “Where are we? Precisely, I mean.”
“A little island just off the peninsula,” Linford explained. “It’s called Hitra. We’re in Fillan.”
“And the water first family lives here?” Daniel questioned.
Gabriella nodded as we all fell into single file and began to walk down the road. “Sí. Wouldn’t make sense to put a fire family here, would it? Not when half the year the place is covered in snow.”
“That’s how it works?” Riel queried quietly. “Each family is tied to the land?”
“Sí. That isn’t to say we don’t use all the elements. It doesn’t work that way. We’re wind elementals, and yet, historically, we’ve had a brilliant green thumb, and I use the water and wind to help drive storms away,” Gabriella reasoned.
Finally Faeling: An Eight Wings Academy Novel: Book Three Page 15