29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lucy
As Dutton raced through the Wood, the wind flew through my hair and tickled my nose as it whipped back and forth. The air’s cool touch brought relief to my warm face, a welcome reprieve from thoughts rolling through my head. Amidst the curious world I should enjoy flying by, heaviness lingered, as if the weight of guilt was suffocating every enjoyment.
I left Simon back in the tent.
I hoped he would understand. The poison was leaving his body. He wasn’t under any duress. Just the random twitch, making his claws pierce the sheets. Even his facial expressions had come back.
As I gripped Dutton’s fur to keep myself from falling off his muscular back, I told myself he would be fine. I’d fed him through these past days. It was a porridge Ellie showed me how to make, though I was sure Simon hated it from the cough he would often give. He was nourished, safe, and warm back there because of me. He would wake soon. But a whole new world of guilt filled me.
I hadn’t thought about my father hardly at all. While I knew Sugha would put him at ease telling my father I was safe, I didn’t think about what my father’s reaction could be.
Did Sugha tell him I was mated to a faun? Was that why he was sick? Sick of just the thought of me being with someone other than a human when he didn’t like human males much, anyway?
Father wanted men to treat me right. He wasn’t doing it to be completely overbearing. I didn’t have a desire to be with anyone else or even date, so his reasoning, his protection to keep me safe, was his way of showing love.
Was it healthy? Eh, probably not, but it didn’t bother me since I didn’t have any sexual desires for anyone anyway.
With Simon, though? What was father going to say about that? He kept me away from humans, and now I was going to bring home a faun!
Simon wasn’t even a shifter who could shift from human to animal, but a person who was both.
This would have been so much easier to deal with if I had dated before coming here. Ease father into the idea that I could date. I was thirty years old. It was just that the first person I found attractive was a faun, and we hadn’t even dated. We just jumped right into… well, being together. Not just physically, but intimately.
All because of a bond that brought us together. A bond that we didn’t know how to seal, and it was making me a nervous wreck to be away from Simon. My stomach was full of bricks, and it got heavier the further away I went from him.
Gods, I hope he didn’t wake up while I was gone.
Then again, I’d never been one for much luck.
I pushed the thought away and tried to concentrate on Dutton’s movements. One warrior was tailing us, making sure there weren’t any signs of the ogre lurking in the trees.
We were going so fast, I didn’t think the ogre could catch us, but one stepping out in front of us could.
As we ran, for what felt like hours, we came to the clearing at the front of the Wood.
Towering trees and the crumbling of the wall surrounded the clearing on the other side.
The light sources filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Someone had neatly arranged carts filled with supplies and flanked by tents, tables, and chairs in the middle of the clearing, with a large, crackling bonfire at its center. The crew, who had accompanied me on my journey before Simon took me, were all gathered here, and their faces lit up with bright smiles as they lifted their heads to greet me.
“Lucy, you’re back!” Elmira ran toward me when I dismounted Dutton.
I dusted off my hands and braced myself for the big hug. “Sorry about riding Dutton on the way here, I know that is usually a no-no.”
Elmira waved her hand in dismissal. “Who cares, he isn’t my mate.”
The shifter beside us, who had shifted in the forest just a minute ago, chuckled. “Yeah, you rode him. Long and hard and—”
Elmira punched the naked shifter in the shoulder, and he hobbled off laughing.
Dutton's shifting caused his bones to crack, the sound echoing through the clearing, while a faint rustling accompanied his fur being pulled back into his body. The sight of his transformation made me gag. I would never get used to that.
I am glad I did not get mated to a shifter.
Dutton gave a dashing smile toward Elmira. “Sure about me not being your mate, sweetheart? I’m tired of your games.” He cupped his groin and gave it a shake. “My teeth are aching to take a bite of that subtle ass.”
Elmira snorted and threw her head back. “After the expedition is over, I told you. Then, maybe I’ll bite you.”
Dutton held his hand up to his chest, puppy dog eyes at play and all. “You wound me. It is I who should claim you first.”
I groaned and stepped away from the conversation. Now wasn’t the time to figure out their weird relationship. It was for me to check on my father.
I rubbed my forehead and headed for the biggest tent. Since it lacked royal decorations, I knew it wasn't Kane and Clara's tent. I hadn’t even seen them in the area. If I was under no duress, they may have returned to the castle because their presence wasn't needed.
As I approached the tent, I could feel the curious eyes of the others watching me in curiosity before pushing open the flap. Inside, I saw a double bed cot, neatly made, resting on the dirt floor of the tent. A desk stood on one side, cluttered with papers and writing tools. On the other side, my father’s suitcase sat open, his belongings neatly arranged as if he were planning to stay here for a long time.
I kneeled down and picked up the blanket that was covering his head. From the outline of the blanket, he was curled up on his side and a loud snore broke the silence.
“Father?” I leaned over and pulled the blanket away from his face. I was not expecting to see what I did.
It didn’t look like my father at all. It was a younger man, head full of chestnut brown hair with a lush goatee on his face. When I pulled the blanket down further, I found he was naked from the waist up. A tattoo of a hand covered his heart. I covered him back up quickly, and the smell of bourbon and cigars hit me. The wave of nostalgia fluttered around me at the familiar scent, and I was left speechless.
He smelled like Father.
But what was on his chest?
“Father?” I touched his shoulder and shook him. I wasn’t about to leave until I had answers, and if he hadn’t woken up for anyone else, surely he would do it for me.
Because I was his daughter, and I demanded it.
“Father!” I shouted and shook him again. He snorted, grunted, and laid on his back. His eyes flew open, and he sat up straight.
He blinked a few times, his bleary eyes trying to focus on my face. When recognition finally dawned upon him, his eyes widened in surprise, and he scrambled to sit up properly, pulling the blanket around him self-consciously.
“Lucy!” he mumbled, his voice rough from sleep. “What are you doing here?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to maintain an air of authority despite the shock and confusion swirling inside of me. “I could ask you the same question, Father,” I said coolly. “What is going on? And what is with this?” I twirled my finger around his face. “You look so young.” I breathed. “Did you drink a potion, get some magic face cream?”
Father chuckled and rubbed his hands up and down his face. “It was a special cream, alright.” His chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh, and I stepped back from him.
Goddess, had he succumbed to some sort of Wood fever?
“I think you might be sick.” I patted his shoulder. “Let me get some tea for you or something.”
I turned my back and walked toward the entrance of the tent as Father stopped laughing. “Wait, wait, come back.” He waved his hand over. “I know my skin is different. Everything is different, but for good reason.”
I eyed him warily and came closer to him. He waved me closer, and I sat on my knees next to him. “You were out for days. Everyone was so worried. They came and found me and—”
Father huffed and grabbed both of my hands in his. “Lucy, everything is fine.” He patted my hand. “Everything is more than fine.”
That’s what people say when they become sick with a disease, then the next day they are dead or dying. I’d witnessed it myself, and so had Father.
I opened my mouth to argue, and he cut me off again. “I have a mate, Lucy!”
My jaw dropped, leaving me speechless.
He got a mate… at his age? Well, he didn’t look his age anymore. He looked as young as me.
“I… I… what?” I asked breathlessly. “You have a mate? Where is she?”
Father chuckled and let go of my hands. He stood up, showing off his old man pants of tan and yellow plaid that he always loved.
When I saw his back, beautiful designs completely covered it.
“Are you sick? Did you sell your soul to Hades?!” My mind was reeling with a different hypothesis of what could make his body look like that.
Father laughed again, a full belly laugh I hadn’t heard since I was a child. He kneeled next to me and brushed his thumb over my cheek.
“This is how my mate marked me. This is his signature, his hand over my heart, and the brand of his coven on my back.”
My brain shut off. Not because he was mated to a guy, but because a coven could mean two things.
Vampire or warlock. Vampires bit and drank their mate's blood to complete the mate bond, so that only left the former.
I think I was more surprised with this than I was with Simon being my mate. My dad was mated!
“Well, where is he?” I demanded. “He left you alone, asleep for days!”
Father shook his head and stood up. “He visits me in the night. There is still hatred for their kind. My mate is very private. We have been seeing each other since I began my travels here.”
That wasn’t very long ago, a little over a week.
“You guys sealed the deal after only a week and a half?” I blurted. “You didn’t calculate anything, just went in blind and mated with him? He could be evil!”
Father’s brows narrowed. “And that is why he is private. A lot of warlocks have had poor reputations here since the war. Witches seem to get leniency. Rune visited me in the evenings, every single one. We stayed up all night, and I would work little during the day. When Sugha sent a message that you had found your mate, I knew you would be in excellent hands after experiencing this bond everyone raves about.”
My shoulders slumped. What the hell just happened?
“And you are official now?” I waved my hand up and down his torso. It wasn’t flabby, overweight, or even old and wrinkly. He was a lean, buff guy now. “The bonding made you into this?”
Father nodded. “Yes, it appears so. I used to look like this before you, you know.” He winked. “I woke up a few hours ago and wrote down my findings for future reference. It’s normal here to change, to become younger and healthier. I checked through the text just to be sure, but what I went through is completely normal. Rune even said I would change, though I hardly believed it.” Father sighed dreamily.
“I will live like an immortal. Until fatally wounded or poisoned. You die when your mate dies because a soul cannot live without the other.” Father picked up his notebook and began to write.
“They said you slept for days.”
Father picked up his pencil in thought. “Yes, I was out for a few days after I was bonded. Again, completely normal. It takes time for his supernatural genetics to latch onto my DNA. It is to make me more like him, so our bodies are more compatible. Humans are the perfect specimens; we are a blank canvas. I will soon gain his power as well. Learn to wield it, use it just like him.”
Mind. Blown.
“It’s absolutely fascinating,” Father continued. “I cannot wait to explore it further.”
I cleared my throat and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “It was the same with the human females who had bonded with their mates. They became stronger and could hear and smell better. They don’t turn green though, they don’t turn into orc females.”
“Interesting,” he said and wrote it down. “They are not green in the slightest?”
I shook my head. “No, but they give birth to full-blooded orclings. They don’t look human at all.”
Father tapped his pencil to his lips. “I would, very much, like to know how they procreate because of the size difference.”
“Magic come,” I muttered.
Father raised his head from the book and hummed. “What was that?”
I shook my head. I was not going to talk about magic come with my father. That was my hard limit.
Yet, riding your sleeping mate was not a limit.
I groaned and put my head between my knees. I was going to be sick. What had this world done to me?
Father stepped over to me and kneeled. His hand rubbed over my back until he felt the soft leather of the outfit I wore. “This is wonderful. Did your mate make you this? Does he feel you should wear what he offers you?”
“Father, I—”
Father cleared his throat and sat beside me. He closed the book with a loud thump and played with his beard. “I’m sorry, that was out of line. I will not make my daughter into a study. I want you to be happy, Lucy. That was my one wish when we came here, that you would find someone worthy of you. I was hoping for a prince or a warrior of some kind. Living in these woods, with so many dangerous creatures, was not ideal.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“For safety purposes,” he corrected. “But I believe the goddess knows what she is doing.”
My eyes widened. A man who craved nothing but scientific proof for everything, never believed in any religion, a higher power or life after death, is now contemplating that the gods were real. No, correction! He believes they are real.
Father hung his head. “I have done you a disservice, Lucy. For that, I am sorry. This place, the bond I have found, are all unexplainable, but I know it to be true.”