wanted?”
“The gods are all-powerful, my love. The she-god, whose power is immense but it comes from her own conjured magic, is not. Regardless, all the gods grant us free will and we use it as we see fit, for right or for wrong. Minerva, however, capitalizes on the wrong. She insinuates herself and manipulates. She needs a being to make the wrong choices, or she uses malicious means to guide the weak to make wrong choices so that she can exploit those choices. And the other Cora, as I think you know, sweets, is very good at making the wrong choices.”
Something hit me. “Do you think she had something to do with Rosa being at her house the day of the wedding?”
“Yes,” Tor answered promptly. “It could be payment for Minerva agreeing to take her to your world.”
“But that would start the curse! She’d have to know that,” I cried.
“This would be a hideous thing to do, even for Cora, sending her delicate sister into the clutches of Minerva but I think you have learned that Cora is not above doing something hideous, even to her own sister. That said, she would also know that I would see to it that Rosa was rescued, which I did.”
The entirety of my body froze except my eyes. They blinked.
Then I whispered, “What?”
Tor studied me and as he did so I could actually feel the blood rushing to my face as the mounting anger rushed hot through my veins.
“Cora, love, listen to me,” he urged, his hand holding mine so firmly I had no hope of pulling mine away which pissed… me… off.
“She’s been rescued?” I asked, my voice quiet and trembling with anger.
“Yes,” he answered and my eyes narrowed. “Orlando was faltering. I sent him a missive and called him to Bellebryn. I met with him and my warriors, in secret from you, and we devised a strategy. They carried this out and it was successful. Rosa was delivered safely to her parents some weeks past. Since then, she has been engaged in the re-planning of her wedding. She and her parents were asking after you but I sent a missive explaining you were not yourself and when you were better, I would take you to her.”
Hmm. It seemed during his days away from me my warrior prince had been busy.
The big, fat jerk!
“She was rescued some weeks past,” I stated softly.
His hand gave mine a gentle tug. “Cora –”
“She was rescued some weeks past!” I shouted and felt the eyes of the customers swing our way.
“Cora, calm down,” Tor commanded tersely.
“Calm down? Are you nuts?” I snapped. “I was worried sick! And you lied to me, telling me nothing had changed! Leading me, I might add, to believe my sister was in the evil clutches of a she-god!”
I felt more attention come our way as Tor leaned closer to me over the table.
“And I did not know that you were you,” he reminded me. “And you did not one thing to stop Rosa from seeing Dash. I know now you didn’t do anything because you had just woken in a new world. I thought then that you didn’t do anything because you were her. I could only assume you did this because you meant Rosa harm. I could also speculate that you were united with Minerva for some despicable purpose. Because of this, I could not give you that information. You must understand that.”
“What I understand, Tor,” I hissed, trying and failing to pull my hand from his which pissed me off even more because I was sick of how bloody, stinking strong he was, “is that we’ve been here and you’ve known I was me for two and a half days and you did not share this information with me!” I was fairly shouting my last and his hand gave mine a rough jerk.
“And why, my love, do you think that is? Perhaps because you’re reacting the way you’re reacting right now? Or, could it be that I had hurt you gravely prior to us coming to this world, so gravely, you fled from me and I watched you tumble down a flight of marble, bloody stairs, smashing your head and bruising your body in the process? Bruises you still carry on a beautiful body that is bearing my child? A child we were both extremely fortunate didn’t abort upon this accident? And, just after that, holding you unconscious in my arms and wondering if you’d ever wake up, suddenly I was in a new world, with you angry and hurt, pushing me away. And, by the gods, I’d just come to understand you were who you are and I was in love with you so perhaps I had other things on my mind than the fact that your sister is happy, healthy and has decided to change her wedding bouquet from orange blossoms and jasmine to roses and daisies because she thinks the scent of jasmine will clash violently with the blossoms?”
I stared at him.
Then I breathed, “You’re in love with me?”
“Gods, Cora, I just told you you’re the other half to my soul.”
“You’re in love with me?” I repeated.
He leaned back in his chair then tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling to which he muttered, “Deliver me.”
“Tor,” I called, tugging his hand lightly and feeling something swelling inside me, swelling fast, so fast, I was going to burst at any second.
He looked at me and raised his brows.
“Everything is right in your world,” I told him quietly.
“Yes, Cora, everything is right in my world.”
“The curse is no longer pending. Rosa is saved,” I went on.
“Yes, love, I just told you that.”
“So if we can get back, get Dash safely married to Rosa, then the land will be safe for our generation.”
“And you married to me,” he stated firmly.
“And me married to you,” I whispered softly.
He glared at me.
“Then all will be well,” I whispered.
“Yes, Cora, all will be well,” he semi-repeated with obvious strained patience.
“So that means,” I kept whispering, “I can tell Mom and Dad and Phoebe that, when I go back with you, it will just be you and our child and me and my sister, alive and happy, in a fairytale land and they’ll feel better letting me go.”
I watched Tor’s body go still. Then I watched his face get soft and his eyes get warm.
Then he whispered, “Yes, my love, that’s what it means.”
“That will make me feel better,” I whispered back.
He stared at me about a nanosecond before, without letting my hand go, he stood, rounded the table, pulled me out of my chair and into his arms where he plastered me to his body and laid a wet, hot, fantastic and very long kiss on me which I returned all the while melting into his arms.
When he lifted his head I looked in his eyes and whispered, “I love you, my prince.”
At my words, Tor smiled his freaking unbelievably beautiful smile.
Then we were hit with a wave of sound when a loud, spontaneous cheer went up in the coffee house.
“All right, dawg!” some guy yelled.
I felt heat hit my cheeks and I pulled in my lips. Tor’s smile just got bigger.
“Jeez, you guys, seriously, you keep that up, you need to get a room, like, pronto,” Phoebe said and I turned my head to see my grinning friend, her friend Brianna who I had met a couple of times and another woman joining our table.
The other woman was gazing with open fascination at Tor and I knew she was the Circe back in the other world’s friend. And I knew she knew Tor was from a parallel universe.
And I also knew that my crazy life was about to get better… or decidedly worse.
Oh boy.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Torn Away
