Goddess Rising, page 12
I understood; I did. But enough was enough. I stood, matching his height. Still, I had worked hard to add muscle over these last years, and I outweighed him, which said much. A tiny hand gripped Seal’s elbow, urging restraint.
“She can not keep it in. The power was eating at her like cancer. If she does not use it, it will be worse,” I said, keeping my voice even but my tone matter of fact.
“Worse than pulling Gargoyles from their realm?” Airmed asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“Yes. Gargoyles go where they will.”
“You don’t believe that,” Laith said, his sword held at the ready by his side. “If you cannot protect her, we will,” he growled, and Saige and Lann crossed their arms, standing as straight as they could to match the angrier fae in the room.
“Stop,” Lara demanded, stretching her arms over her head and not trying to stifle her yawn.
“I mean it,” she tried, sounding more like a kitten whose growl has not yet grown claws.
I pushed past her parents to pull her into my arms. “Why are you awake, Anamcara? You need rest.” I watched her face for shadows, seeing that she looked better than she had in years. Now that I saw the change, there was no denying the truth of my words to her parents. She needed an outlet.
“I don’t know. I just woke up. What day is it?” she asked, eyeing her parents where they shifted warily. Laith tried to hide the sword so she would not see, but it glinted in the early afternoon sun streaming through the windows.
“You only slept a few hours,” I answered. Shock flew across her face as she realized the implications of that.
“Oh,” she replied, her face creasing with concern.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, pulling back so I could see her response.
“Starved.”
“Very well.” I released her, glaring over her head at her parents, who were still trying to hide the fact that they threatened to take my wife from me not moments before.
I walked around the island and began pulling ingredients from the refrigerator while warming up the industrial coffee maker so I could make her an espresso. I didn’t offer anything to my in-laws because how dare they threaten me under any circumstance?
Lara’s parents had abandoned her as a child, faking their deaths and leaving her in the care of others. Maybe they had Lara’s best interests in mind, maybe not. Lara’s grandmother had been hunting them for years and had narrowed their location to the New World, and they feared what she would do if they found Lara.
After Seph was born, their choices grated more because I could not imagine leaving my child to fend for herself in this cruel world. Things had happened to my wife that she would still not speak of. A parent is meant to protect at all costs, though, in their mind, that is what they did. I liked them but disagreed.
They would take her from me over my dead body.
They settled onto chairs, speaking low, but vampire ears cannot be fooled. Their conversation was riddled with concern for Lara, which I understood, and questions about her safekeeping, which I did not.
I slid the hot drink across the counter to my wife, who accepted it with a soft smile. “Thank you.” She tilted her head to the side, baring her delicate neck without thought, making my pulse pound, for she still did not know what she was doing to me with that gesture.
“Submit to me tonight,” I whispered so only she could hear. “Let me have you. I need it.”
She nodded once, meeting my eyes and sipping hot espresso from a delicate china cup so paradoxical to her that it was striking. They only shared the emerald green of her eyes and the color of the fine detail in the cup.
Satisfied, I turned from her, taking onions, mushrooms, and bacon and sauteing them in butter before making her a three-egg omelet filled with cheese and handing it to her with buttered toast and a refill on her drink.
Her parents had settled around her protectively, making me scowl. She was mine. She’d been mine from the first moment I saw her, and she’d be mine until the light left my eyes. I crossed my arms, watching as they worried over her like hens, the males included.
“Guys, stop,” Lara said, finally having had enough. She had missed them growing up and liked their attention, even after decades of having them back in her life. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. Better even. I feel great.”
“You need to be more careful. You could’ve gotten pulled so deep into creation that you couldn’t break free,” Lann worried, idly braiding and unbraiding her hair from his post behind her seat.
“Coi was there; he wouldn’t let that happen,” she said, smiling at me and missing the glare her father gave.
I smirked, giving her a wink. “Of course not. Your work is beautiful. Finish eating, and I will show you. Now that your parents know you are well, perhaps they have other business to attend.”
That earned me five glares. Those glares slipped to bland smiles when Lara turned her gaze to them. “Yeah, I’m good, if you guys need to go.”
“There’s no place we’d rather be,” Saige crooned, kissing my wife on her cheek. “Maybe we should stay a few days just to make sure.”
I growled while Airmed smiled sweetly at me from her seat beside Lara.
A hard bump to my shin made me look down, breaking eye contact first. The juvenile Gargoyle looked up at me, making a grinding noise that sounded like a purr.
“And here’s why we worry,” Seal scoffed, leaning over the island to see what had drawn my attention.
“Oh, my god. Is that?” Lara jumped from her seat, rushing to the little statue and scooping him into her arms. “Dude, you’re heavier than you look.” She shuffled him until she had him in a comfortable position. “How’d you get in?” She booped the thing’s nose, and it purred louder, the sound echoing like a rock fall through the relative silence of the room.
“Tuned wards,” the Gargoyle said, shocking Lara into nearly dropping it.
“You called him from his realm, Mo Chroi. His power is attuned to your wards. He can go where you go.”
“Sorry, buddy,” she sang, looking at the stone creature in her arms. “I didn’t mean to drag you here. You can go if you want.”
“Stay. Honored,” it replied, settling deeper into her arms, and she smiled at it beatifically.
“I didn’t know they could speak,” she said, looking up and finally catching the somber mood of the room. “What?” she asked.
As no one in the room had likely seen a baby gargoyle snuggled into the arms of any creature, we just stared in response.
“Now you see the problem, Coimeadai,” my mother-in-law said.
“There is no problem,” I growled, bending to scritch the thing under the chin like a cat.
Lara smiled, turning from me. “Mom, dads, no offense, but Coi and I are still moving into Headquarters and won’t be around much. How about we come to the Inn and stay a few days soon?”
They shuffled, glancing at one another, seemingly unwilling to leave.
“My mother is coming tomorrow; she is going to stay a few days,” I placated, leaving out the part about the baby since that was her business to share. “After, we shall come and stay a while, but think of projects for Lara because her magic needs an outlet,” I finished, my tone brokering no arguments.
The gargoyle in Lara’s arms shifted, drawing the stares of her parents before they glanced at one another, sifting away without a goodbye.
Lara breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping. “They don’t trust me,” she said.
“No, my love, they do not trust me. Let us see your creation together. I have questions.”
She laughed like I knew she would, struggling to carry the gargoyle to the door. “This way.” I smiled, taking the creature and leading her to the side entrance and away from the smell of despair and worry the fae left behind.
Chapter 17
When the tour of our garage was over, I understood my parents’ worry. I’d overdone it. I didn’t know how Coi pulled me back from the edge of that, and I didn’t ask, mainly because I didn’t care; I was just glad he did. I could see their reason for concern, though, even if the hot tub was a nice touch I hoped to exploit at the earliest possible moment.
We took the time to move the cars into the created space, and some of my choices became clearer because my babies looked lovely showcased in marble, wrought iron, and glass.
After taking extra time to move models into locations that made more sense, we sat in the rooftop lounge area, having cocktails and watching the light fade on the moors.
Because life choices.
“Mother had a baby,” Coi deadpanned at the quietest possible moment, causing me to spit my vodka across the coffee table.
“Excuse me?” I squeaked, choking on my drink and trying not to drown.
“I have a brother.”
“Oh, my,” I set my drink down, turning to him as the daylight fled, leaving us in shadows and artificial light.
“She is bringing him tomorrow, but that’s where she’s been. There were complications.”
I took his hand, leaning to rest my head on his shoulder. “Complications like you and I? Or?”
“You are not a complication,” he chuckled.
“Tell that to my parents,” I sighed, remembering their faces when they saw my new gargoyle friend, who told me his name was Nate, but I’m pretty sure it’s way more complicated than that.
“They do not want me to tell them anything,” he sniped, reminding me they’d threatened him when I came downstairs. Parents, am I right?
“They worry. You do, too,” I added when Coi harumphed. “Well, I’m excited to meet him, and maybe he can take Dani’s mind off of grandbabies.”
“She will want him to grow up with friends,” he chuckled.
“Then she can make him some.” I smiled, thinking I had plenty of years to have more children if I wanted, but for now, I was happy just being a regularish housewife. Housewife with a twist? Something.
If Dani made a baby as ageless as she is, then I, at sixty-ish, was still a babe myself. I wouldn’t tell her that I figured out magical birth control. Nope. Would not. But I had. Figured it out, that is.
I glanced at Aedan, watching as he stared into the darkness. Fairy lights twinkled above us, and strange flowers bloomed as the moon rose opposite the sun in its never-ending chase. I’d made a garden of things, some of which even he had never seen, telling me they came from realms I remember popping through when I was creating this space.
The jacuzzi bubbled merrily behind us, and gargoyles rumbled as those that could moved along the roofline. Coi’s knuckles were white where he gripped the Adirondack chair that looked more like a poor man’s throne. His scent wafted to me on the air, spicier than usual, like his blood was boiling.
And I remembered.
I sank to my knees in front of him, bowing my head and clasping my hands in my lap as I leaned against my calves and waited. I felt the moment his eyes focused on me like firebrands, marking my flesh. His growl was something I felt, not heard.
Standing, he strode to me, and I stared at his feet in supplication. His hand rested on the top of my head. “You frightened me,” he started.
“I know,” I whispered, still not looking at him. He’d said he needed this, and I understood. Loss of control threatened his stability on many levels, and when he felt he might lose me completely, he thought I needed a reminder of to whom I belonged.
I knew I belonged to him but don’t think I didn’t enjoy the lesson. Five stars. Recommend. Sometimes, a strong woman wants to cede control, and I looked forward to these moments when I forced him to the precipice.
He gripped my hair, pulling my head back and forcing my face to his. “Look at who owns you, Bandia Beag. Do not forget.
Then he snatched me up, and we were gone.
“Is this?” I stuttered as I took in the white stone walls of our castle in Scotland. I’d only seen this place briefly, but I knew it for the banners that hung on the walls and the lack of remodeling in the last several hundred years. It screamed feudal lord and medieval times.
“Son of a…” he started, but I sank to my knees in front of him again, catching his attention. “It is well enough,” he growled. “To your feet and walk before me,” he demanded, nodding to the stairs.
Keeping my head down, I walked the many stairs alongside the great room. I couldn’t imagine the things this place had seen. The home in Ireland was large but cozy, meant for a life he never got to live.
This place was built for war, conquest, blood, and death, and it showed in every line of the old castle, which seemed appropriate to the situation. Still, I couldn’t wait to explore and see what secrets I could dig up. Behind me, Duine go Milleann growled, for it was The Destroyer and not Coi stalking me up the stairs. I shivered in anticipation of seeing that side of him he kept leashed so tightly it took something monumental to loose that particular beast.
Maybe we both needed to let a little out.
I wondered if I shivered with anticipation whether he’d punish me more or less. Over the years, I’d earned a few of these moments, but the storm brewing in the male behind me reminded me of when I pulled a category five hurricane right to our doorstep, and we almost drowned as a result. I let slip a smile he couldn’t see.
Aedan loved me to the depths of his soul, and it wasn’t his nature to hurt me, even if I might like it. Even if I definitely liked it. He growled, the sound rattling in his throat, and I put an iron lock on the bond between us so he couldn’t feel my glee.
“You will regret these thoughts, cailíní álainn,” he snarled, and I couldn’t suppress the shiver but hoped he thought it was fear and not anticipation making my legs weak.
At the top of the stairs was a long, stone hall with open doors revealing parlors and smaller chambers meant for meetings or business. This wing was reserved for the Lord of the castle, and there were no smaller bed chambers on our march, not even a ladies’ chamber, which told me a lot.
Walking down that cold, stone hallway, I understood what it must’ve been like all those years ago if one got on the wrong side of this particular Lord. The hairs on my arms lifted as the beast trailed closer, his fingers skimming my back, and I wondered if his need might be greater than after that hurricane.
Two large, closed wooden doors guarded the room he pushed me toward. Ornate metal decorated them, and they looked like they were made for a man twice Aedan’s size. The overall look was intimidating by design. I’d never been this deep into the castle before, as we’d only done a brief tour of all our properties. The smell of old blood thickened, and my heart sank.
“Remember that I am not a good male,” he started. “Perhaps I am a better male, but I am still not a good one. This castle saw the height of my depravity during those darkest of times. This room especially. You need a reminder to whom you are mated and who will keep you in this realm at any cost. Strip and kneel,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion, and I worried I might be in trouble.
I did as he said, my hair rising as cool night air brushed my skin when I shucked my clothes, tossed them aside, and then dropped to my knees. The Destroyer stalked to the vast hearth, grabbing matches and setting the aged wood alight. While his back was turned, I scanned the room.
A large bed sat in the center, as old beds did. It was a three-sided monstrosity of heavy wood and a pulled, velvet curtain on the only open side. Stairs led into it, and it would be impossible to escape once inside unless allowed. If the Lord of the manor wanted you to stay, you would. It was like a coffin on its side with the door open, and I saw the appeal for a vampire.
Lush, bright woven rugs warmed the stone floor, and tapestries hung on the walls alongside swords, shields, and knives. In the corner stood a large wooden X with chains hanging from it, and I wondered if this space was more than a room for the Lord’s sleep. I’d never seen anything like it before. A curtain shielded the part of the X from sight, but I saw pieces and parts of tools hanging there, and the timbre of my shivers changed.
Aedan remained silent as a tightened bowstring while he walked the cavernous space, lighting candles and pulling drapes as his tightened jaw ticked. But the candles weren’t for romance, no. There was no electricity in this foreboding place, and I began to think I’d made a mistake.
He walked to the corner, reaching behind the curtain, and then, using vampire speed, he pulled something around my neck, clasping it tightly. I gasped as he jerked me by the collar, straightening my spine and clipping metal clamps dangling from dainty chains to my hardened nipples. The chains hooked to the collar, and if I moved more than an inch, the pull on my nipples was too much.
“Coi,” I stuttered, unsure and a little afraid that he needed a reminder of who he was. He told me once that he got lost in the ages of time and torture, and I hoped being back in his torture palace hadn’t caught him in a flashback.
“Silence, Anamcara,” he soothed, tucking my hair behind my ears. “You need this as much as I. Stand.” He pulled me to my feet, pushing me roughly toward the wooden X face first. “Arms up,” he guided, clasping my wrists and securing them in the chains. “Hold the chains like this, and it will hurt less.”
“Aedan, I don’t like this game,” I muttered.
“It is no game,” he growled, pushing my hair aside and nipping his extended fangs down my neck. I couldn’t turn my head to look at him, or the chains would pull, and the sensation in my nipples was already too much.
He kicked my legs apart, grinding his hard length against my ass and breathing in my scent like a predator scenting prey, and where our Irish home always smelled of blood, honey, and fall leaves, in Scotland, I smelled only blood.
Before I noticed movement, my ankles were secured to the base of the X. Back at my ear, Aedan said, “You may be a goddess, but I am a monster. I was a monster millennia before you were born. Do not forget. You will listen the next time I tell you to cease doing something that might harm you.
