“Isadore said growing up, she was oblivious to what went on around her and insanely happy all the time, but this isn’t about Coral.”
“But it sounds like she was full of all fairy and nothing else.” Norse had protected Coral’s innocence, and she kept him alive. But the moment she mated with her one true mate, she began pushing him out and he wasn’t ready to go.
If he was being totally honest with himself, Norse liked the constant connection with another being and fought leaving, even when he sensed the wolf was near.
But he didn’t know why that mattered at the time. “I take it you read the entire book?”
“I have. Read the beginning of the next chapter.”
He flipped a couple of the pages until he found the section Cheryl mentioned and started reading out loud.
“After the ruins of the Royal Castle were uncovered, many documents, books, and journals were discovered. One such journal was that of Suvee, Aria’s maid. We’ve translated the ancient writing below as best we can.
“I fear I may have made a huge mistake when the werewolves and witches stormed the castle. The visionary was in the middle of splitting the unborn child’s spirit. It had to be done before Aria was murdered. I was to make sure no one got into the nursery, but one of the werewolves, in human form, charged with protecting the castle came to me. He said he needed to see the visionary, so I let him in and he killed them both. I heard Aria screaming. Begging for mercy and then bone-chilling silence. I hid in the closet, and I was shocked to see an Odon leave the room. I was tricked and now the unborn king is dead.”
“You looked like an Odon.”
The pounding in his head grew louder and stronger. He rubbed his temples, hoping to ease the ache. “An Odon is really a Wolfairy.”
“How do you know that?” Cheryl pushed herself from the table. She jerked upright, knocking over the chair.
He glanced in her direction, holding up his hands. A steady stream of dust flowed from the book to his body.
“What the hell is going on?”
“I’m reading all of the book.” His brain filled with images and words. They collided with the knowledge he’d gained over the years living in two different beings. His mind sorted them so fast, he wasn’t sure he remembered everything. “Here.” He reached for her hand, wanting her to experience this new wonder.
“Oh no. That shit burns me.” She rubbed her wrist where the crest of the Royal Fairies had been scorched into her skin.
“It won’t anymore, my Queen.” He circled his fingers around her biceps.
Her muscle flexed. Her strength impressed him, but it was the life that ignited in her eyes that made his heart fill with the kind of love he’d only imagined. The kind of love Norse wanted to spread, and the wolf wanted to feel.
“And you will be able to control it when you learn to create it on your own.”
“You have to be part fairy to do that,” she mumbled, tensing her body and yanking her arm.
But he wasn’t about to let go. “You have to trust me.”
“I can’t trust you.” She struggled to break free.
He held her tighter, hating that he put a frown on her pretty face and fear into her deep eyes.
“You killed Aria and her unborn baby.”
“That’s absurd. Norse wouldn’t have willing entered my body if I wasn’t his wolf half.”
“Trickery. All trickery.”
Yanking her to his lap, he shoved her hand into the stream.
“Stop it, you big…oh.” Her body relaxed as she leaned against his chest. “That’s amazing.”
“I know.” He watched her face light up like the stars filled the night sky. “So, now you can read all this in minutes.”
“Yeah, but it’s not answering the most important questions.”
“And what are they?”
“Why the Wolfairy babies have no magical power outside of the farm? The legacy states that once the unions are made between your sisters and my brothers, then they will be able to shift anywhere and use their powers anywhere.”
“Have they shifted yet?”
“They are too young to do that, but when Chaz takes them off the farm, they have no fairy scent and no powers.”
“Not having a scent is good. It helps protect us when we have to leave the castle.”
“How do you know that?” She stood, planting her hands on her hips, glaring at him as if he were the big bad wolf and she Robin Hood. “You could only know that if you were there.”
“In a way, I was there,” he mumbled. ““For as long as I can remember. I’ve heard this male voice telling me that I was the son of King Lear. The true King of the Royal Fairies and that when the time was right, I’d be whole again and then I’d be able to fulfill my destiny so all Wolfairies would be safe both inside the castle walls as well as outside.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s what the voice told me.” He snagged the orange and bit into the peel before using his fingers to rid the tasty treat of its bitter outsides.
“Which half of you heard that?”
“Both.”
“Liar,” she said with venom so real it cut into his heart. She jabbed her index finger into his shoulder. “I saw the wolf Suvee described when you showed me the book and that wolf is identical to you. You showed your hand, and I’m going to make sure my brothers put you down.”
5
There was no way Cheryl was getting out of this cabin alive.
She stared into the dense darkness of Dayton’s eyes. Little flashes of light drew her deeper. She blinked, trying to shift her focus on how she could warn her brothers. If the visionary hadn’t completed the separation of the soul, and the werewolf killed them all, then everyone was going to die anyway.
A fact
