10. Ciara
Iwoke up alone. Even though Malachi held me while I’d cried myself to sleep, he’d left. I sighed and punched the pillow. What was I expecting? We couldn’t sleep in the same bed. That was for fated mates to spend long loving nights together tangled in each other’s arms. I scrambled from the bed before my wayward thoughts took me to the place of dreaming. A place where Malachi and I were in this bed as fated mates. Naked and touching.
My body heated to an inferno with one thought, but I didn’t feel confused to have these feelings for Malachi. More like it was the right thing for us both. I didn’t understand how one night of sleep could change the way I saw things. My feelings for Malachi were clear now. There was no other explanation for it. I was in love with him.
On shaking legs, I walked to the door and flung it open wide letting in the cool breeze of the night. The sun had well and truly set while I was asleep. Ivo and Emer jerked their heads my way, their stances changing in an instant ready to defend me, but it was myself I needed defending from. What if I ruined everything with my feelings for a man who wasn’t my fated mate?
“I’m all right,” I said and walked down the stairs.
Ivo cocked his eyebrow but turned his head back to investigate the forest.
“Is there something out there?”
“Not that I’ve seen.” He grunted. “The forest is alive at night with animals though.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No, they sound like small animals.”
“Oh, aye, I read in the books large predators like wolves and bears were driven to extinction after we left Earth,” I said.
“A lot has changed.”
“I wouldn’t know by looking, but aye, from what I’ve read about this realm there appears to have been changes in the hundreds of years.” My finger pressed against my temple. “I suppose change is inevitable, but it makes me wonder if us leaving here caused the humans and the Earth problems.”
“Are you sure you’ve had enough sleep, Princess?” he asked.
“Aye, I’m rested and ready to tackle more books.”
He smiled in a way that reminded me of Father, a kind, fatherly smile, so I turned away at once.
“Is Malachi sleeping?”
“He is.”
“I guess we’ll wait until he wakes then.” I slumped down onto the steps and sat on the wooden rungs. The timber was smooth, worn over the many years of the caravan’s use.
“You could always wake him,” Emer said with a wink.
Why was she winking?
“Oh, no, I couldn’t, possibly.” I blushed imagining waking Malachi with kisses, and him being excited to see me in the way of fated mates.
When would my infatuation end? It was getting worse each day now. Perhaps when he found the woman who was his fated mate, I’d get over my senseless feelings for my best friend.
“There’s food in the caravan over there,” Ivo said. “If you’re hungry.”
“I’m good.”
He grunted again.
Silence descended between us. I tipped my head back and stared at the stars of Earth. They twinkled as though blinking at me.
“Did you know most humans believe in one God?”
Another grunt.
“Imagine if they learned the truth there are many Gods.”
A door creaked open, and Malachi stepped from the caravan beside mine looking sleep-rumpled and sexy. His hair spiked at odd angles, making my fingers twitch to run through and smooth the strands back into place. His shirt hung from his firm body lopsided thanks to an undone button at the top, and a glorious expanse of his chest was on display. My mouth watered to trail my tongue over his skin. To taste every inch of him.
“We have one God too. Dia,” Malachi said.
I squished my lips together. Was I drooling? Heat pooled between my legs and an insistent throb pounded from my core. I longed for Malachi. For us to be together as lovers. Was my body reacting to my desires?
“True.” I stood with a start trying to force my thoughts away from wanting to touch him. “I was musing while waiting for you to wake.”
“I’m awake. Let’s head back.” He stepped down the stairs of the caravan.
I jerked to a stand and hurried toward the path back into the woods so Malachi wouldn’t touch me and send my desires even higher than they already were. Ivo was already one step in front of me as though she sensed my need to escape into the dense thickness of the evergreen forest. Thank goodness Fallon gave us directions before we left because the forest was difficult to traverse and would be easy to become lost inside the trees.
Malachi caught up with me, his longer legs easily catching my rushed pace. “Did you have a good sleep?”
“I slept well, thank you. I’m refreshed and ready to tackle the problems again.”
His fingers brushed mine as we walked sending the tingling sensation through my hand and up my arm. Did he realize what his touch did to me? Or was he simply being his usual friendly self? He inched closer until his entire body was so close that little sparks of arousal shot off through my body.
“I’m glad.”
I cleared my throat and willed myself to not think of Malachi as anything other than my best friend. “What about you?”
“I dreamed we found a cure.”
“You did!” I swung sideways in my excitement, my hand hitting his thigh and almost stroking across his cock. My cheeks heated so much that my face most likely glowed a bright red.
“It was a dream. I’m not a prophet,” he said, seemingly unaffected by my accidental touch.
“No, you’re not Saltine, but I’m taking it as a good sign.”
Saltine was our old witch seer who used to help us before the Trappers. We’d assumed she’d died since she was a witch and mortal, but Lorcan had seen her not that long ago. Which made me question how she was still alive. And also, if she was more than a witch. Plus, Pepper, Lorcan’s mate, was related to Saltine, so I wanted to know because Pepper had survived Lorcan’s Fae mating mark when as a mortal witch she shouldn’t have. No mortal had ever survived a Fae mating mark.
Plus, Saltine had given Lorcan messages. She had one for Aislinn that had come true. She’d found her fated mate. Then there was the one for Mother telling her it was almost time. Time for what? Did Mother comprehend we were about to die? I shook my head. She wouldn’t keep that to herself. So, what was it almost time for Mother to tell us what? I longed to head back to the Summer Court and ask her, but I doubted she’d tell me. Aislinn had said when she asked Mother, she wouldn’t tell her.
If Father was stable and not lying unconscious, would she tell him? Surely, she’d tell her fated mate anything?
I peeked sideways at Malachi, I’d told him everything my whole life apart from my new feelings. Yet he’d kept secrets from me. Perhaps we weren’t as close as I thought.
With each step deeper into the forest, the animals quietened as they hid from us intruding in their home. We’d never harm an animal though. Malachi raised his hands drawing on his powers. He made a ball of light to illuminate the path so we wouldn’t get lost. The ball hovered in front of us shining on the mossy path lighting our way. Shadows danced from the trees beside us across the path. Our footfalls were silent on the spongy soil. It was eerily beautiful in this forest. An owl hooted in the distance. A growl rumbled from the undergrowth.
“A badger,” Ivo said. “We’re no doubt in his territory.”
“Not for long,” Malachi said. “The exit is up ahead.”
I longed to return to the library. To the books. The sleep while short had rejuvenated me, or maybe it was the cleansing cry or the comforting hug from Malachi. Or the realization I was in love. Perhaps it was all of those things which had relieved me of my fatigue.
We walked out of the forest leaving behind the animals and birds, the coolness under the canopy of the trees, and the quietness. Our steps took us back down the lush green hillside. Malachi dissolved his ball of light long before we arrived at the village. Golden streetlights lit the paths there, and we had no trouble walking the cobblestone streets back to the garden at the end of the village. The wall once again surprised me with how well it blended into the space. I suppose it was the magic of the spring inside or a testament to the Fellowship for creating a safe place for the spring. There was so much to learn here.
“How do we get back in?” Ivo asked.
The door opened, and a member of the Fellowship held up a lantern glowing in the dark of the evening’s blackness. “Through the door.”
I smothered my laugh at his dry humor. Humans were interesting creatures. I saw why we’d lived with them in harmony for so long before the Trappers. Even saw how Fae might fall in love with humans while knowing they’d never be truly mated or even fated to be together. Happiness transpired even without fate stepping in and making it happen. Should I give up the notion fate would send me and Malachi a fated mate each? Should I ask him to be happy with me? Would he even want me as a lover? Would he be happy to learn I was in love with him?
I shoved my thoughts aside because I needed to focus on our problems with the spring. My love life or lack of it, would have to wait. We walked through the brambles of the garden and down the flight of stairs to the underground library. I paused at the bottom, my mouth fell open, and my eyes couldn’t believe the sight before them.
Lorcan and Pepper stood talking with two Fellowship members. My brother and his fated mate turned. My heart almost stopped inside my chest. Why were they here?
“Is Father…?” I asked through the tightness in my throat, not even able to voice the words whirling through my mind.
“He’s still sleeping,” Lorcan said.
My shoulders sagged. I thought he’d come to tell me Father had died, but then again, wouldn’t I have sensed it in the connection with our powers?
“Why are you here then?”
Lorcan frowned. “Nice way to greet your favorite brother.”
My lips twitched. “Who said you were my favorite?”
He smirked. “There’s no way Rian is your favorite brother.”
“And why is that?” I placed my hands on my hips.
“Because I’m the one who snuck your books back from Earth whenever I traveled here.”
I rushed across the small distance between us and hugged him.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“See, I’m your favorite.” He released me and turned to Pepper. “Told you.”
Pepper rolled her eyes. “Your ego knows no boundaries.”
“You quite like my ego,” Lorcan said.
I groaned. “Please stop. It’s bad enough with Aislinn and Fallon here, I don’t think I can take another pair of recently fated mates.”
“What are you saying about me?” Aislinn asked walking down the staircase with Fallon by her side. “I’m your favorite sister.”
“None of you are my favorite,” I said then huffed.
Malachi chuckled beside me.
“Shh.” I touched a finger to his mouth.
His eyes widened as our gazes locked. Heat bounced between us. His lips were soft beneath my skin and the tingle in my fingertip danced up my arm. I dropped my hand as though I’d placed it in a pot of boiling water.
“You’re both wrong, I’m her favorite,” Roisin said.
I spun and stared at Roisin stepping from behind Lorcan.
“What are you doing here? Father would not approve.”
Roisin pouted. “I’m here to help Father.”
“Go home, Roisin,” I said.
“No.” She folded her arms around her waist. “I’m here to help and no one can stop me.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Dia, help us. When Father wakes and finds out we let you come to Earth…” I shook my head.
“If he wakes,” Roisin said.
I swallowed the fear her words induced. She was right. There was no when there was only an if. And it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t get back to the books.
“All right,” I said. “The more eyes reading the books the better.”