Goddess Rising, page 8
I wasn’t ready to fill her shoes, and if she didn’t show up, I’d get a crash course in all things Goddessy.
The savvy staff replaced Aedan’s drink, and our meals were ordered. “Your American President contacted us asking for an emergency travel visa,” Ari said, glancing around the room as always. Despite having four large warrior husbands at her side, she was also a warrior who never let her guard down.
“I’m officially an ex-pat,” I responded, waving my fingers for another Grey Goose. They kept a full bar of liquor from every plane they could access.
“We denied her request,” Laith said.
“Perfect,” I answered.
“We also added top-level government officials to the no-travel list,” my mom added, drinking her bubbling purple beverage. I didn’t want to know what it was. Did not because it was probably some type of aphrodisiac. I had to bleach my beach house every time they visited because they were worse than rabbits.
My beach house, I sighed. I would miss it. But I’d built a Way to the kitchen that only we could travel, so maybe I could still go there.
“We can visit,” Aedan said, taking my hand and sensing my thoughts.
“I know.” I sighed, accepting my drink and taking a sip.
“Where’s Crew?” I asked, wondering about my little brother.
“With Teagan’s sons,” Sephone sighed, making Aedan growl again.
“They are staying here?” he asked, setting his drink down before he could crush it.
“They’re,” Seph corrected.
“They are what?” Aedan interrupted, making everyone laugh but him. He smacked his hands, almost breaking the table. “We are taking you to Ireland,” he said, sitting down like the decision was final.
“Now, Flame Keeper,” the Queen started. “Sephone is in Talamh na Sithe to be immersed in magic. Was it not your hope that being here would trigger her power?” she reasoned. “And do you not trust your in-laws to protect her? Was that not also a reason for sending her?" she challenged in the way only she could, her smile sharp and deadly as her sword.
Aedan sighed, looking away. He could take them. He could crush them like bugs if he wanted, but he wouldn’t. He reverted to being a chastised child when they schooled him, making me wonder if a very extended childhood was a Fae thing, except I’d never seen my mother act like a teenager. Not once. And considering she was much younger than Coi, their dynamic never made sense except that she was a mother to him now, and he responded to that.
Well, there was the one time I walked in on…I stopped, letting a shiver run through me. There are some things a daughter shouldn’t see, regardless of age, and I’m not sure teenagers would’ve thought of that anyway.
“Are you cold, sweetie?” Seal asked, his deep brown eyes looking worried.
“Nope. I’m just fine,” I stuttered, feeling flames heat my cheeks. Maybe I could use my magic to heal my brain from the memories of that day.
Sephone snickered, and I cut my eyes at her in a death glare.
Our meals arrived, and we enjoyed Fae delicacies fresh from the best chefs money afforded. “Are you concerned about retaliation?” Lann asked, leaning into his chair like the king he was.
“What are they going to do?” I asked. “Bomb Ireland? That would be a little much, even for them.”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” my mom said, casting her brilliant eyes my way. “Maybe you should move into the castle for a while.”
Aedan growled, the sound a habit in the presence of his in-laws. “I am perfectly capable of keeping Lara safe,” he said, letting the noise fade when Ari arched a sculpted brow at him. The sounds of the restaurant quieted as eyes turned our way once again. Word of this dinner would get back to the President; I did not doubt that. It would probably be splashed across every rag mag in the New World.
‘Royal Family Argues Over Broasted Seamonster!’ the headlines would claim, regardless of whether I was eating beef.
“She got shot,” Mom said.
‘Fae Queen Shuts Down Vampire King! Film at eleven,’ channel five would report.
“And had a missile lobbed at her,” Saige helpfully added, his gray eyes glinting like light on a steel knife as they turned to me.
“I don’t think it was lobbed at me, per se,” I argued, fiddling with the skirts on my dress while Seph snickered again. “I swear to the Goddess, I will beat you,” I whisper-yelled at her.
‘Faerie Healer and Goddess In Training Spanks Faerie Princess!’ Maybe that one was a bit winded, but Child Protective Services might investigate. Oh, wait. Not a child.
“You would be safer here,” my mom repeated, ignoring my threat to her granddaughter. “You too, Coi. I suppose anyway,” she sighed, looking away like he was the biggest inconvenience when I knew she adored him.
The dynamic of this family was so weird.
“We are still working on getting the rest of our people out of the States,” Aedan replied, sipping his whiskey. “The Cliffs are safe enough, and Lara can put a protective spell up if you are worried. I suppose retaliation is not inconceivable,” he conceded. “Our funds are secured and cannot be frozen,” he started.
“Can’t,” Sephone interrupted, and I kicked her under the table, making her yelp.
“Cannot what, little one?” Aedan asked, casting his eyes her way, making me groan and slump in my chair like an emo preteen.
I can’t believe Aedan. No, Coi, didn’t light this place on fire with his magic.
Again.
“I can’t eat another bite,” Sephone corrected, sitting deep in her chair and cradling her food baby.
“So no dessert then?” Coi asked, and I smiled because he was an excellent father, if not a blind one. But most fathers were blind to their daughters’ faults, so I supposed it was okay.
“I’ll weave protections around the castle when we get home,” I started to say.
“Cottage,” Aedan corrected. “It is a cottage. No, it’s a cottage.” He sounded so proud that he remembered.
I groaned long enough to earn a glare from my mother and a kick under the table for my trouble. “Be nice,” she scolded.
“Me?!?” I clapped back because I’d listened to her condescending to him for the last hour.
“Lara Liann,” Laith growled.
I threw my hands up, downing my vodka and signaling for another. “Sorry, Dad.” Not sorry.
‘Faerie Healer and Goddess Rising Gets Turned Over Knee of Overly Large Fae Father,’ story at six.
I couldn’t.
I caught the eye of our waiter and put two fingers up, hoping he understood I meant two vodkas.
Aedan narrowed his eyes at me.
“As I was saying,” I tried. “I’ll weave protections around the castle in Belmullet. The place is isolated; it won’t hurt. I think they’ll leave the rest of Ireland alone, but they could attack from the ocean.” My drinks arrived, and I downed the first one with a sigh, setting the other down to sip as needed, like an anti-anxiety pill.
“Perhaps,” said my mom. “I still think you should consider staying for a while.”
“And I will,” I answered, patting Coi on the knee before he could snark back to her.
I’d enough family time for the night anyway.
“It’s been a long day, and I was promised an early night,” I said, standing to leave. “This was super fun.” Lie. “Let’s do it again in a few days once our people have relocated.” Truth.
We said our goodnights, hugging and kissing our way around the table before I grabbed Aedan’s arm without asking and sifted to our new Irish home.
I sighed in relief as the scent of salt and the sea hit my brain, and every muscle in my body relaxed. I loved my family. After thinking they’d been dead since I was a kid, I was beyond grateful to have them in my life. Still, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a thousand more times: families are complicated.
Waves crashed against the cliffs below, and the sliver of pale moon highlighted the stark landscape’s beauty. Time passes differently in Talamh na Sithe, and we arrived home not long after sunset despite being gone for many hours. The moon’s light rippled on waves cresting on the horizon, and I wondered if it would storm.
We’d only been gone from the US for twelve hours.
Twelve.
Weariness so deep set into my bones, and I wondered about the point of it all. White water rushed up the cliff wall as waves crashed and receded. Crashed and receded, like life, always ebbing and flowing. In the distance, gulls cried, mourning the sun so recently set. I wanted to fly with them but was too tired for even that.
Coi ran his hand over my hair, sensing my mood through our bond, saying, “Mo Chroi.”
My heart.
He worried. I knew that.
“I’m tired; that’s all,” I replied, leaning into him because he worried so much. And there was a lot to worry about at the moment, so I didn’t want to add my sanity to his list. “Put coffee in the French press?” I asked.
“Of course,” he sighed, leaving me alone for the minute I needed. The day’d been overwhelming, and though lack of sleep was a part of that, it wasn’t the whole.
Closing my eyes, I pulled strands from the universe, using my magic to weave them into an impenetrable wall, a separate space that would keep the unfriendlies out and allow the rest through. Our castle would be on its own plane, accessible only to those who belonged and didn’t intend to harm. The strands came easily, despite not using this magic often because this was creation magic.
Worlds were built and destroyed using less, which is why the United States Government wanted to control me and also the reason I couldn’t allow that. I could create other planes and all the creatures that might live there, and what a boon to any government would that be? Earth was failing and would someday die. Make Lara create another Earth, regardless of the consequences.
And there would be consequences.
I’d not learned a lot from Dani yet, but I’d learned that everything created was something destroyed. The universe always found its balance; there were millions and millions of worlds, and making one real jackalope or snipe for whimsey might mean the end of some other thing somewhere.
No, it would mean the end.
That is Goddesshood and the reason I did not want it.
Didn’t
Whatever.
I could heal anyone I wanted, create protection spells to my heart’s content, and even expand some space here and there using magic, but the minute I indeed Created, things would change, better or worse. Who was I to decide?
Despite what Dani claimed, I was not a god.
No thanks.
Just because you can do a thing doesn’t mean you should.
Stopping all other thoughts, I pulled more strands, weaving and dancing with them under the Irish night sky until the spell was done, and no one, and I meant no one, could break it.
Chapter 11
Aedan
Goddess, she was incredible. I watched as Lara danced, her arms moving like a ballerina as she twirled under the rising moon. She had not changed, and her emerald green dress moved and flowed of its own volition from a breeze created by magic. Stars smiled upon her, twinking their joy into the universe, and I knew. I knew the other Gods watched.
I felt their heavy stares upon my mate as she made something so substantial it would never fall. The earth itself could end, and this one section of cliffside would remain untouched forever.
That is her power.
She stunned me every time she used it.
She did not need to dance, but when she played with the threads of creation, she always did, and the universe loved it, as did I. Lost in the moment, it was as if joy, hope, and life came to be a creature and joined the dance with her. It was all life taking a breath, pausing, and taking another.
The spell sparked over our corner of paradise, and I watched it flicker like fairylights before settling into the unseen. And then she drooped like a wilted flower, exhausted from our harried day and weary to the bone, so much so that I felt it through our bond.
Sometimes, I felt her desire to join the stars and finish with it all. But tonight, she simply felt tired.
I poured a cup of hot coffee from the French press, meeting her at the door. “Beautiful work, Anamcara,” I greeted, kissing her cheek. “I will run you a bath and tuck you into bed before I finalize the rest of our Houses’ arrivals. Take a sip,” I told her, guiding her toward the stairs.
"I'd sift there, but I'm exhausted. I'd let you sift me there, but don’t want to end up in Scotland. No offense,” she whined, making me smile because her whine was adorable.
“I am not in the mood for Scotland either. Hold your cup.”
“What?” she asked, bringing her multifaceted emerald eyes to mine.
“Two hands, Liomsa.” She gripped her cup, and I swept her into my arms, not spilling a drop of her precious coffee as I carried her up the stairs and into our room so quickly it was like we sifted.
I sat her beside the tub, where she slouched, irritable, and overtired, sipping coffee that would do nothing to keep her awake. Hot water flowed immediately from the faucet, and she stripped, stepping in with a sigh.
“I can do it,” she growled with the ferocity of a kitten as she set her cup down.
“Quiet. Close your eyes. A husband should be good for something,” I soothed, smiling at her behavior.
“You’re good for a lot of things,” she yawned, covering her mouth, tipping her head back, and falling asleep.
I washed her quickly before bundling her into a towel and ignoring her growls as I forced her arms through the openings of a sleeping tee shirt she loved, a fifth reincarnation of the original Count Chocula tee she’d worn when we met. Then I tucked her under the covers, lighting a fire in the massive fireplace to chase away the damp Irish chill before getting on my laptop and firing messages to our people still in the States.
I made and accepted calls, arranging the last details of our American exit. It was not late in Ireland and afternoon in the US, so the markets, banks, and businesses remained open.
And I heard from them. Oh, I heard from them all.
I was glad Lara slept through it. I did not need to sleep, but she did, and the last many hours had been difficult. Someday, she would sleep less, but she still relied on the comfort of sleep and let it reset her brain instead of using her magic to do that, which was good. Keeping Lara, well, human was impossible but necessary, and those routines helped and were encouraged.
I heard the first drone hit her barrier near midnight. To my sensitive hearing, it sounded like a bug hitting a bug zapper. I was glad Lara did not share my ability. She heard better than most, like all Fae, but she didn’t hear as vampires do, and when I heard the high-pitched scream of the missile, I was even more grateful she slept. Thankfully, the sea would clean the debris.
I picked up my cell and unblocked the president’s number. “Mr. Hennessey,” she purred like she was expecting my call. I stepped from the bedroom where my exhausted wife slept and into another creature, the thing I was before I met her. The revenant beast I was all those years ago.
“There has been a miscommunication,” I started, letting her believe what she would.
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” she started. “We can provide safety to your wife and family. We’re here for you; you need to come home,” she finished, sounding self-satisfied as another missile hit Lara’s protection spell and broke apart. The spell would hold, I knew that.
“The miscommunication, Madame President, is on my part, not yours. My apologies. Let me make this clear: I will destroy you. I will tear your country apart if need be to keep my wife safe. Me. Not you. I will rip your throat out in the middle of the night and gorge on your blood. There is no place you can hide from me. Keep it up; I dare you.”
“Are you threatening me, Mr. Hennessey?” she demanded.
“Absolutely. I promise to destroy you and everything you love: husband, children, family tree, country, all of it. Up until this moment, we have not been enemies. Perhaps not friends either, but not enemies. That has changed,” I growled low, letting my ire cross the ocean to her ear.
“I am two thousand years old, you child. My wife is immortal. You are a speck, your country a blip in time, a footnote, and nothing more. You will stop, or you will die. Choose wisely.” I clicked off the call, not bothering to block the number this time because I meant what I said, and she knew that. After a bit more practice sifting, I could appear wherever she was, happy to make good on my promise.
I walked the steps to the lounge, pouring myself a bourbon so old that the bottle was made of pressed glass. Taking a sip, I stared out the windows to the cliffs. I heard the whir of one more drone before the night went silent, as it should be. With a sigh, I walked out the front door, checking for damage and finding none before I retired.
Lara had turned onto her side, curling around herself as the room cooled. I put more logs into the fire before returning to my laptop. Jeremy messaged to say he was the last of our House to leave but that all was well. He was coming to Ireland along with the rest of our core House and would stay in the massive old warehouse I’d renovated into my Irish Headquarters decades ago and then again three years ago.
The renovations included suites, apartments, and townhomes with encompassed offices, food stalls, and shopping. It was a haven for Hennessey House members, whose needs could be met without leaving the all-encompassing structure, though they were free to do so. I employed humans as well, and they mixed at the warehouse, giving it a more natural feel that I hoped they all enjoyed.
I should have warned Lara sooner so that she could prepare mentally. I’d known for years that her country would turn on her. There was backlash after vampires, weres, and the Fae came out publicly. Some countries had it worse than others, and America had been largely peaceful, but it was a powderkeg awaiting a match.
