Davies, Corinne - Wrapped in Fur [3xtasy Lake 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

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Brand woke up slowly. He stretched out his hand looking for Holly but only encountered cool sheets. “Where is our mate?” Brand felt the corners of his lips raise. He liked thinking of her that way. A week ago he was alone in an office, and today he had his best friend, a mate, an uncertain future, and he couldn’t have been happier about it.

Colwyn jerked beside him and abruptly sat up. “She’s not here.”

“What?” He sat up, too, and looked around the room. “She’s not here? How could she have left?” Both he and Brand leapt from the bed and started pulling on clothes. Why would she leave? A sick feeling replaced the contentment in his heart. The endless black pit in his chest reopened, only this time it was because of Holly’s absence.

“Remember what Aniela said about the curse. Holly supposedly only had so much time left before she would fade.”

“I didn’t believe her. I thought that if we mated her it would be enough to keep her here, but the story said she had until Christmas.”

“She’s not dead, Colwyn. We would know. You said mating was for life.”

“It is for life, but if she is trapped…”

“Don’t think like that.”

“Like what?”

“I know that look, Colwyn, and you’re thinking the worst case scenario. Think positive. Even if she is trapped somewhere, we will find her. Holly can’t be the only faery left in the world. We’ll find them and make them help us.”

They rushed over to the antique shop on Colwyn’s snowmobile. It was quicker to go through the trails instead of slugging down unplowed roads. They both leapt from the machine and ran up the stairs, bursting into the front door.

Aniela rushed into the hallway, her hand clutching the front of her apron.

“Good Lord, you two. You frightened the hell out of me again. You have to stop doing that, I’m going to have a heart attack before I get grandchildren…Where’s Holly?”

“Auntie, please tell me you have Holly’s ornament. It wasn’t smashed, was it?”

“I couldn’t let her do that until I was certain that she wouldn’t end up back in there.” Aniela opened a drawer in one of the antique wardrobes in the corner. “Here it is.” From a small jewelry drawer she pulled out a velvet bag and slid the ornament into her palm. “I decided to keep it in a safe place until we knew the curse was broken for good.”

Brand didn’t want to look at it. The idea of seeing Holly trapped there made his heart want to explode.

“She’s not there.” Colwyn sounded relieved.

“What?” He opened his eyes and looked. Sure enough, the center of the snowflake remained empty. A small kernel of hope blossomed in his heart. “Then she has to be here somewhere. Was there another note where you found that one?”

 
He headed into the shop to a display of antique boxes.

“There must be another ornament.” Picking one up, Brand smashed it against the floor and then pried apart the pieces until there was nothing but broken pieces of wood. Aniela clutched Colwyn’s arm but didn’t stop him.

He had to find her. Grabbing another one, he whipped it against the floor and then started prying the cracked pieces apart. “There has to be more information, another spell. Fuck! Something!”

“Brand, stop. You’re hurting yourself.”

“I don’t care.” He shook off Colwyn’s hands.

“But I do.” Colwyn grabbed his hands and that is when he noticed the cuts and slivers in them. “Aniela, can you get me your first aid kit and tweezers?”

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” She hurried out of the room.

“Don’t give up on her. Holly’s alive wherever she is, and we may have to wait until she finds her way back to us.”

Chapter Eight

Holly felt disoriented. One minute she was lying in bed, safe and warm, and a sudden wave of unease washed over her. She’d realized she was fading away and was terrified. Not of death, but because she was leaving Brand and Colwyn. That is what terrified her the most. But she didn’t fade, and as she looked around her anger started to boil.
Was this a joke?

After all these years, Tir-na-nOg hadn’t changed a bit. There was a breeze softly touching her skin, neither too hot nor too cold. The sun shone overhead. The rays warmed her skin but didn’t burn. There were no offensive scents in the air. If she bent over and smelled the flowers, the scent would be perfect, and there wouldn’t be a single brown petal on any bloom. She strode down the marble-lined hallway. Arches lined its length, allowing light to flow into the space. There wasn't a speck of dirt or dust in the air. Every architectural design was in perfect balance. Even the natural threads of color in the marble looked flawless. Everything she saw reminded her of why she left this place. It was all perfect, sterile, and without any true emotion whatsoever. Some people might have thought themselves to be in heaven, but Holly knew better. She used to call this sterile hell home.

Walking under a marble arch she found herself in an immense library. A man sat in a chair in the middle of the room reading a novel. Holly knew it was only for looks. The fey didn’t really care about literature. Like anything else it was something to pass the time. He glanced up and smiled a perfect smile. His nose was straight and lacked the character that Brand’s slight bend had. Nor did he have the soft swirl of hair that refused to stay in the direction it was brushed, as Colwyn’s did.

“Holly, how wonderful to have you back in our midst. You were missed.”

“Thank you, Lotor. I am happy to be able to visit with you.” She spoke the words as a courtesy but didn’t mean a single one. Ranting and raving at this point wouldn’t get her where she wanted to go.

She looked him over from head to toe. Lotor didn't have a single flaw from his flowing blond hair to the strength behind the clothes that perfectly fit his body. For a moment, she had a violent urge to punch him in the face and alter his nose slightly, but she knew it wouldn’t stay.

“I see you are not truly happy to be back.” He put the book down and stood up. He didn’t open his arms to hug her, or move in any way that would invite physical contact. “What is it, Holly? I have never understood your obsession with the primitive human world.”

“They
live
, Lotor. They are imperfect and flawed. They make mistakes which can become the most incredible inventions. The seasons change as the earth breathes. They fight and have passion and love…” A pain ripped through her chest at that word. She’d been loved and now it was lost to her. Time passed differently here than it did in the human plane. For every minute she stayed here it might be an hour or more for Colwyn and Brand. “This place is not my home, and I don’t want to be here any longer.”

“It was your choice not to come back after the incident.”

“I was trapped in a crystal prison until I was freed.”

“Holly, you were trapped in a prison of your own making. You said that curse and you experienced the karmic backlash.”

“Then why am I still alive? I read the curse. I knew I didn’t have much time left.”

“Holly,” Lotor shook his head as if he spoke to an errant child. “There was no curse. The parchment found with the crystal was nothing but a creative scribe’s addition to the legend your image inspired. It was written and rewritten over the centuries as myths often are.”

Holly tried to process everything Lotor said. An intense feeling of hope burst in her chest and she tried to control her excitement. She had to get out of here first. “So, Aniela didn’t really free me?”

“Nothing but simple coincidence. You would have escaped yourself as soon as you thought of it.”

Holly didn’t believe in coincidence, because she never would have thought to free herself. She honestly believed that her punishment was forever. “How is it I’m here and not there, and why can’t I go home?”

“Holly, this is your home.”

“No it’s not. This place will never be my home.”

“Because your home is between a human and a shape-shifter? A
Selkie
of all things?”

The disdain in his voice was plain to hear. Holly clenched her fist. She would tolerate this for as long as she had to, but no one would make negative comments about her men.

“Selkies always meet with such tragedy,” Lotor commented as if Colwyn deserved to be alone.

“Well, I had hoped to change that.”

“And you did. You brought two friends together and helped to heal their friendship. That is what you gifted them with. Now that you are gone, they will still have each other.”

Holly nodded her head but didn’t dare speak. Her head throbbed and her throat felt tight. She needed them. Her heart was filled with such sorrow at the prospect of never seeing them again. She could feel deep inside her that her pain echoed in each of them.
Wait, I can feel them? What is going on here?

“I think I might be able to shed some light on the subject.”

Anger helped to push back the threat of tears. She glared up at the other fey. “Stop reading my thoughts, Lotor. You’re not invited in my head.”

“But I don’t have to, because your emotions are written all over your face. They are practically carved into your skin for all to see.”

“I don’t care. I’ll wear my sorrow with pride if I have to.”

“You will be a disruption to all. I’m trying to maintain the serenity of our people. We cannot afford to let our emotions run wild. There is so little magic left for us now. We must share it and ration it for ourselves.”

“But, you expend so much on keeping everything pristine and perfect. Why not go to the human world and live there? If people believed in you personally wouldn’t that be enough?”

The look of horror on Lotor’s face was enough to convince her that her words fell on deaf ears. The fey wanted to live in their isolated bubble of perfection.

“Well, it’s been a slice, Lotor, and I’ve got to get going home, so I’ll catch you around.”

He looked down his nose at her. “Your speech patterns have already lowered to the human level.”

“Thank you. I was getting tired of sounding like an obnoxious bitch. Spending time around a bunch of mere humans will do that to a person.”

“Holly, no faery can leave this realm once they enter.”

“Watch me.” There was no way she was sticking around this place. If there was no curse then she wasn’t going to stay a moment more then she had to. The time in faery moved differently than in the human dimension, and she knew that she had to get out of here as quick as possible.

“I am sorry, but as soon as you arrived here, your magic was locked into the force that protects us. It is the only way we can survive.”

“So I’m stuck here like a prisoner for eternity!”

“Nothing is that simple, and you know it. You were declared a rogue, and a hunter was sent out to end your life. That cannot simply be ignored.”

“What!” Holly remembered seeing the hunter in Catherine’s shop. If he’d been looking for her, why did he leave her alone? “Are Colwyn and Brand safe from him?”

“Strange that your first concern is for them.” Lotor had always been a smug asshole, and Holly wished he would simply spit out what he wanted to say instead of posturing.

“No, it’s not strange at all, and answer me!”

“There is no need for you to raise your voice.” His tone dripped with condescension. “Screeching like a banshee will not change anything.”

Holly was dangerously close to doing Lotor bodily harm. The idea that her men might be hurt in any way sent her racing into a murderous rage.

“Had you let me finish in the first place, I would have already told you that the hunter disappeared centuries ago. Soon after that, we decided to protect ourselves and retreated here. You were no longer considered a threat to our safety.”

“Then why am I here? Why now?”

“As soon as I learned you escaped the crystal I brought you back home. You need to be among your own kind.”

“What made you think I would want to come here in the first place?”

“We are in hiding now, our numbers small and dwindling because of the lack of faith in our kind. We need you to stay here and fight the fade. You cannot leave here. Not when we need every flicker of magic we have.”

“I don’t want my damned magic.” Holly could feel her eyes filling with tears. Her heart ached and she could feel the pain echoing twice over. “I want to go home to the people that I love.”

Chapter Nine

The small bell on the door to the antique shop dinged as it opened, and a woman stepped in hesitantly. “Um, I know it’s Christmas and all, but you wouldn’t happen to be open, would you?”

At the sound of her voice, Brand’s head snapped up so fast it impacted with the wall behind him. He sat there dazed, blinking rapidly through the stars floating around the vision in front of him. Gone was the wild child with untamed curls around her head. Instead, he was staring at a vision of fashion perfection, her dainty feet tucked into a wicked pair of heels. The shoes were damned sexy, but she didn’t look like his faery.

“Holly?”

She laughed, her giggle sounding like a ray of sunshine. “You would not believe what happened.”