Chapter 47 Aiden
I’d been up for hours, a curse of my heritage.
The moment the sun broke through the horizon, my body was awake and ready to go.
Unfortunately, everyone else lying in the oversized king bed seemed to stay in their deep sleep, even as I maneuvered myself out from under a tangle of naked limbs and legs.
I’d once given Roman a hard time for buying this place a decade ago, teasing him about environmental sanctuaries and sea level rise.
But as I made my way out to the wrap-around deck that circled this house on stilts, I smiled at the sheer beauty of the place.
Silent seas rolled calmly underneath the pink morning sky.
Nothing but black water stretched as far as I could see to our south.
And to the east, where the sun was just now exposing herself, a flock of birds swirled up into the air as though greeting the day with a choreographed blessing.
Looking back over my shoulder and seeing Katarina’s red curls sprawled across the pillows, smiling as she slept in Blaise, Roman, and Dorian’s arms, had my heart filling with a type of contentment I don’t think I’d ever experienced in my long life.
Strange how one little demon-witch could change everything in my world.
That pleasant feeling of happiness dissipated the moment I remembered all the other shit going on in my life.
The Crescent Coven had royally fucked me and my relationships with the humans in this city.
I wasn’t giving up yet, but the more I kept uncovering just how deep their rot had seeped, the more I wanted to convince Roman that it was time for us to move on.
Start over in a new place with a new life, and let the incompetent witches try to run New Orleans.
It was a crap city anyway. Okay, maybe not.
But as the days ticked by, I really did think we should wash our hands of this mess and find somewhere new to call home. It was time.
When I opened the sliding glass door that led into the kitchen, I realized how much sand I still had buried in the cracks of my body. With a chuckle, I reminisced about all the fantastic reasons why I had sand in every crevice, but it was annoying, nonetheless.
I yawned as I shuffled inside, again wishing my fae blood would allow me to sleep as deeply as all other creatures.
Making my way to the refrigerator, I leaned forward, surprised and grateful to see that Roman had made arrangements to have groceries delivered.
It looked like it was enough for a few days, but with all four men here, he knew we’d go through numerous calories in a single meal.
And since the plan had been to be here until Cormac could bring out Katarina’s powers, I assumed we would return to the abbey soon to prepare for the pending battle.
Another fight.
We were always fighting.
And I was tired.
I finally had a woman I wanted to enjoy life with, yet here we were, getting in the middle of another war.
Again. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a good fight.
But ever since I laid eyes on Katarina that night we caught her stealing from us, I decided that maybe it was time to enjoy the living part. Not just the killing.
Yanking the bacon, eggs, and bread out of the fridge, I set them out on the kitchen island and started looking for a toaster.
It had been a while since I’d been to this property, but I knew Roman typically rented it out.
Which meant it should be stocked with…ah, found it.
Tucked away in the corner cabinet near the table and… ”Mother fucker!”
I dropped the toaster on the ground when I turned to find Cormac sitting at the table.
He hadn’t been there a moment ago, I swear it.
The old druid chuckled as he watched me regain my composure while I checked to ensure I hadn’t broken the metal box.
“What the hell, Cormac?” I grumbled, not making eye contact with him because he had always freaked me out a little bit.
Trying to control the thumping of my heart, I busied myself by getting out the pans and grabbing a dozen potatoes. With an extra-large knife in my hand, I raised my brows at Cormac and pointed it at him. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you about why you should never be rude to the fae?”
Cormac simply smiled and I shivered. He was wearing the same clothes he’d arrived in yesterday, and his long hair flowed freely in the breeze coming through the open door. “Something about being pricked with sharp weapons?” he asked, eying the knife in my hand.
I shook my head and started slicing the potatoes into cubes. “Try drowning in a bog.”
Cormac laughed. “Good thing there aren’t any bogs around here then.”
Pointing to the ocean, I said, “Close enough.”
It took another five minutes before my heart stopped racing.
I hated that Cormac’s druid magic sometimes scared the shit out of me.
They were so much more powerful than the witches making a move on our city.
And rare. In fact, I hadn’t met another druid in more than a century.
Probably a good thing. If they were as prevalent as the coven witches… we would all be in a world of trouble.
“Your thoughts are fascinating,” Cormac said as I scraped my cut potatoes into the simmering pan and doused them in olive oil and garlic powder.
I filled the other cast iron skillet with as many bacon strips as I could before turning around to meet his gaze. “What? You can read my mind?” I teased, my blood running cold as I thought about what that might mean.
“No, no,” he assured me. “You fae are very expressive. It’s always fascinated me.”
“What? That we have feelings?”
“That you’ve remained in this realm for so long. And because of that, you’ve picked up a lot of human mannerisms.” He paused and narrowed his dark eyes at me. “Like your inability to hide the thoughts racing across your face.”
“Why are you still here?” I groaned while I flipped the bacon and started pulling out enough pieces of bread to feed all five… or six of us. Did I have to feed Cormac?
“I have always loved the fae,” he said instead of answering me. “Especially those who choose to live amongst the humans.”
I huffed a laugh. “Choose is an interesting word.”
“Indeed, it is,” Cormac mused. “I do know of your story, áedán bohn Cúirt Foraoise.”
Rolling my shoulders to relieve some of the tension, I repeated, “I told you not to call me that here.” I didn’t need the reminder that I’d once been a member of the esteemed royal Forest Court in a world I left a long time ago.
Cormac smirked at me again in a way that mimicked a snake getting ready to strike. “You should not be ashamed of your legacy.”
“My legacy?” I snorted. “I have no legacy anymore, my old friend.”
“Oh, but you do. At least amongst my kind. The prince who killed his own father to protect a servant girl. You are somewhat of a… legend.” He breathed that last word like it brought him some pleasure and I shuddered again.
My stomach twisted while I stabbed at the bacon harder than I needed to. I hated talking about my past and the reason I could no longer live in the fae realm. And to know that the druids were aware of my story? Well, that really didn’t sit right with me.
Either oblivious or uncaring about my discomfort, Cormac continued to talk to me from his chair at the table on the other side of the island.
His voice evoked a calmness that made me think I was being spelled to tell the truth, even though I was fairly certain he couldn’t do that to me.
However, I was still grateful for the eight-foot slab of rock dividing the two of us.
“Do you miss it?”
I shoved two pieces of bread in the toaster. “Yes, sometimes.”
“Was she worth it?”
I didn’t turn back around to face him and instead fussed over the hot pans on the gas stove. “It wasn’t just about a girl,” I muttered, not wanting to remember the choices I’d been forced to make that changed my life forever.
“No?” Cormac asked, and something about the whimsical tone had me spinning on my heel, knife in hand again.
“How do you know?”
He shrugged. Merely shrugged like it was no big deal that he was rich with information about my family and me. Information that could be dangerous for all of us. “I’ve been around a long time—”
“We all have,” I cut him off with a growl.
“And I spent many decades in the Northern Isles studying my magic and learning the lore.”
Not cool. Super not cool. My heart sank with a sudden realization. “You visited the Forest Court, didn’t you?”
Humans were never supposed to see those lands. And if they did, whether it was from being hunted and captured or because they’d trespassed through our magical barriers, none of them ever lived to talk about it.
Or at least that’s what I’d always thought.
“It was a long time ago,” Cormac said, admitting to it.
“What was a long time ago?” Roman asked, startling me and sauntering into the kitchen from the open glass door on the patio, acting like he hadn’t heard any of this conversation.
My mouth hung open, trying to digest the fact the Cormac had visited my land and my people… and had survived. Who would have let him do that?
“Looks like you are the first person ever to leave Aiden speechless,” Roman said with a smirk while he grabbed a piece of bacon and tossed it into his mouth.
“Very funny, asshole,” I grumbled. Turning back around to finish cooking, I did my best to focus on the task at hand and not let Cormac get the better of me. So what if he’d heard the story about my exile? It was my story and one I’d take to the grave for the sake of protecting those around me.
“When are we leaving?” Cormac asked Roman. I heard him stand and stretch, but I still adverted my gaze. No reason to let him see how much he unnerved me.
“The boat will return tomorrow afternoon. Somewhere around two.”
“Well, then,” Cormac said, “I will see you all again then. Be sure to keep practicing.”
The air popped around us and before I’d even managed to spin around, Cormac had disappeared. Shaking my head and giving Roman a meek look, I admitted, “He freaks me the fuck out.”
Roman’s laugh echoed through the room. He walked around the island, grabbed a large ceramic bowl from one of the cabinets, and started cracking eggs into it.
As he stirred them all together, he watched me out of the corner of his eye.
He’d pulled on a tee shirt over his boxers, whereas I was standing in nothing except my briefs and a few red splotches left over from the sand digging into my skin last night.
After a few minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Out with it, Roman. What do you want?”
He passed me the bowl of scrambled eggs, and I poured them into the pan that I’d just finished cooking the bacon in. “The coven isn’t going to back down this time.”
“How do you know that?”
“All of this legal shit? It was very well planned and meant to distract us.”
“I thought Katarina was the distraction?” I reminded him as I tossed another potato cube into my mouth.
“She was, in a way. But as much as I hoped we could settle this without a brutal fight, I’m not convinced that is a possibility anymore.”
“Can we just wash our hands of this place and let them have the city?” I knew I sounded whiny but didn’t care.
Roman shook his head and settled into one of the stools on the opposite side of the island.
“Why not?” I pushed when he stayed quiet, his brows crinkled in thought.
“Because we have Blaise. And Katarina.”
“And they’ll keep hunting them.”
“Yes.”
I sighed and pushed the spatula through the eggs. “So, what do we do? Besides kill every single one of them?” When Roman didn’t answer me right away, I spun around and glared at him. He had a plan, yet I was hesitant to ask. “What is it?”
He dropped his gaze, and I knew it was bad. “You aren’t going to like it,” he warned.
“I love me a good blood splattering,” I teased, knowing whatever he was referring to wasn’t about spilling blood.
“We need Sorinah to declare for us.”
And just like that, I realized this was about blood.
My blood.
Blood that would make promises words could not.
Blood that needed to be given to prevent an all-out war that might cost the House of Shadows too much.
My stomach twisted into knots of dread while I tried to accept the inevitable and finish cooking breakfast for the most important people in my life.
I would do anything for them.
And that loyalty was about to be put to the test.