25. Malachi
My power exploded without conscious thought, blasting Sir Axis away from Ciara and onto his throne except the force of the blast kept coming until the throne lay in splinters around him on the ground. Ciara screamed, but my power would never hurt her, so I grasped she was safe, maybe a little shocked but nothing would injure her.
Sir Axis groaned and sat up, streaks of red marred his body and face, and luminous blue swirled around him in waves that seemed to grow in power and intensity.
What had I done?
“You!”
Ciara stepped in front of me. “Don’t hurt him.”
“Hurt him?” Six Axis all but growled the words. “He planned to hurt me.”
“Don’t touch her without her permission,” I said, easing Ciara to the side so I’d aim my glare at him in full force.
And then Sir Axis laughed while shaking his head. “You foolish Fae. So like your Father and Mother.” He jumped to his feet, dusting off splinters and letting them fall to the mess at his feet. “You’re all so blind.”
Had I ruined our only chance to fix the spring by being overprotective of Ciara? Would he even come with us to the fountain now?
“I’m sorry,” I said to Ciara.
She leaned into my side and wrapped her arm around my waist, comforting and supporting me. She was always there for me. Even when I’d messed up. Who would help us now?
“I should punish you. You come into my kingdom and attack me. I should feed you to the Merfolk.”
Ciara’s shadows swallowed us whole in the blink of an eye. The sensation of her power coating my skin sent shivers dancing over me. Before we’d become lovers, the sensation was one I was accustomed to, one I’d always associated with my friend, but now it was as though her power against my flesh was arousing me and now wasn’t the time for me to be turned on by her.
“Brilliant, Princess Ciara.” Sir Axis whipped his head back and forth searching us out.
“You won’t harm him, ever,” she said.
His gaze snapped back to the place where we still stood. “Won’t I now?”
“No. You need me and my power for something too, don’t you?”
“Like I said, you’re too smart.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Truce.”
“As if we believe you,” I scoffed.
“The young man has a point.” Sir Axis tapped his fingers on his arms. “How will we trust each other?”
Ciara called her power back and dropped the shadows. “If you don’t fix the spring, then I’ll die so I won’t be able to help you.”
“There is that.” His blue powers dissipated into the air, floating into the sky and merging with the clouds. “Fine, I won’t feed him to the Merfolk.”
“You won’t harm him ever,” Ciara said.
I loved how protective of me she was.
“Yes, yes.” He waved his hand in the air.
“You won’t kiss me ever again.”
He smirked. “Don’t say never.” He winked.
“I mean it. Even if you can’t fix the spring through the fountain and I have to mark you as my mate, then we’ll never kiss. Never have sex.”
Her words sent even more strength through me I was the one she wanted. That if she’d be able to withstand not being with a man she marked as her mate, then maybe she’d withstand her fated mate when she met him. Maybe she’d always put me first like I hoped.
Sir Axis all but pouted. “You wound my fragile heart, Princess.”
“As if you love me,” she scoffed.
“Wise, wise, girl.” He clicked his fingers and his clothes replaced themselves with new ones and all the cut marks disappeared.
My mouth hung open. I hadn’t realized the Water Sprite Master had so much power, but we comprehended little about them. Once we got back to the library, I’d pull whatever books I might find on them and read up on this species of supernatural creatures.
But seeing his display gave me more hope than I ever thought possible. He was the one to cure the spring.
“Well then, let us begin our journey.”
“Don’t you have people to tell?” Ciara asked.
The young girl rushed from behind a tree and up to Sir Axis’s side.
“She’ll let everyone know.” He patted the top of her head. “Come now.”
Sir Axis and the young girl walked along the path into the giant Redwood forest. Ciara and I had no choice but to follow and it wasn’t like we wanted to stay in this strange place even if it was the place we’d come together as lovers. I threaded my fingers through hers in the way I always had. Nothing had changed between us, and nothing ever would.
Ciara peered up at me and the expression in her eyes sent my thoughts back to the room we’d shared while she was in heat.
I was foolish to think nothing had changed between us.
Would I have reacted so severely to Sir Axis kissing her before we’d lost our virginity to each other? I wasn’t sure and I couldn’t test the theory our reaction to each other had changed since we’d had sex because I’d never seen her kiss another man. My power thrummed in my palms. I still wanted to rip him limb from limb for kissing her. For daring to touch her in my presence. I shook my head. This overprotectiveness surging inside me was new.
Sure, I’d always been protective of Ciara, but not to the point it blinded me with rage.
It had to be the spring messing with our powers. There was no other explanation for it.
We stepped between the colossal statues with faces, and I was relieved when no darts shot out of their mouths and into our backs as I’d half expected Sir Axis to go back on his word. In due course, we made it to the entrance of the tunnel, and I flared my power to my hands to light the way, but more to make it light for Ciara so she wouldn’t have a panic attack. The lack of talking was getting to me. Until now, Sir Axis was chatty even while keeping everything to himself. Was he worried about entering Earth from his sanctuary? He seemed too powerful to be worried, but I didn’t know him at all.
Ciara’s father knew him. Which meant he was old, but how old? We couldn’t ask King Fintan about Sir Axis since he wasn’t awake and lucid.
“After you two,” Sir Axis said when we arrived at the end of the tunnel behind the waterfall.
“How do we know you’ll follow us down?”
He shrugged. “I guess you don’t.”
“Enough,” Ciara snapped. “Hold hands.”
I gripped Sir Axis’s wrist in a tight hold. He yanked on his arm, but Ciara’s power spread in a thick cloud of shadows, and without delay, Sir Axis clasped the young girl’s hand in his as the shadows smothered us all. I’d never seen her cover so many people at once, but she might have with her brothers and sisters. I wasn’t with her all the time, I had to remind myself.
“Stay connected otherwise you’ll fall down the waterfall.”
Sir Axis chuckled. “My dear Princess, you are even more spectacular than I first thought. Are you certain you don’t want to mark me as your mate? We’d be unstoppable together.”
Ciara shot him a lethal look. “I’m certain. Any other way is preferable to being connected to you.”
I laughed, earning me a sharp pain in my hand from where I was holding Sir Axis’s wrist. His arm glowed an iridescent blue for a split second and then that too was smothered in shadows. My best friend came to my rescue, and I couldn’t love her even more than I did right now.
There was nothing she’d do to make me stop loving her.