Betrayals of Spring (9 page)

I hug him tight and whisper in his ear,
“I know, sweetheart, and I’ve missed you just as much.” I kiss his cheek and
put him down. His eyes find Ariella, and he squeals while running off to her.
Ariella beams at the sight of Merrick, and she kneels down to embrace him when
he reaches her. She scoops him up just like I did and they laugh and giggle the
whole time while running and playing in the snow. I steal a quick glance at
Kalen and he still looks rigid and angry while Finn stands off to the side with
a bored expression on his face. Elissa is staring at Ashur and is failing
miserably to be nonchalant as she slowly migrates toward him. If I wasn’t
feeling so uneasy right now I would find the situation humorous. I can tell by
Ashur’s posture that he can feel the unease in my body. His body is tense and
remains on full alert. My heart swells with pride, and I know that I couldn’t
have asked for a better guardian than Ashur.

“It’s good to see you, Meliantha,”
Calista says, capturing my attention. I turn to look at her and confusion is
written all over her face. I can tell by the determination in her eyes that she
plans to find out once and for all what’s going on with me. It quickly
disappears as a new look crosses her face. Her body goes tense and she looks
around the group hesitantly before settling her eyes on Finn.

The moment he meets her eyes everything
around me changes. The chills prickling my spine ease and the menace I felt
permeating the air earlier evaporates. It’s as if a huge weight has been lifted
off my chest and I can now breathe easier. I think the whole group notices the
change as well.

A look of worry passes across Calista’s
face and she quickly peers over at Ryder. They nod their heads in some kind of
silent agreement and then Ryder turns to Kalen.

“Let’s go, brother. We need to give
Calista some time alone with her kin. She can give them the tour of the cottage
while we have us some mead before the ball,” he says to Kalen.

I can tell Kalen is clenching his teeth
by the tension of the muscles in his face.

“Very well,” he replies to his brother.

He gives me one last look and then turns
around to walk toward the larger cabin that is beside the cottage. I guess that
is the one where he stays. Ryder walks alongside him and I can’t stop my
traitorous eyes from staring at Kalen’s retreating form. I’ve watched him walk
away before, but this time it feels different. My heart is demanding that I
follow him and the pull in my stomach is making it hard for me to stay in
place. It’s as if I’m a magnet being drawn to him and the harder I fight it,
the harder it is to stay away.

With a devilish grin, Kalen turns around
while walking backward and has his eyes trained on Finn when he yells, “You
might want to watch where you step. The ground can be quite…slippery!” Ryder
rolls his eyes and grabs Kalen by the shirt to jerk him back around. Finn
starts to move toward me when all of a sudden he slips on a patch of ice that
miraculously appears under his feet. He goes down with a thud and lands hard on
his back side. I can hear Kalen’s deep laugh as he makes his way onto the porch
of his cabin. I give Finn my hand and he grabs it to pull himself up. Kalen
stands on his porch and gives Finn a stare of pure anger. Finn stares right
back at him with one of his own.

“What the hell is his problem, and why
is he looking at me like that?” Finn demands. I look into his eyes, and yes,
they hold anger from being laughed at, but I can see no trace of evil in them
at all. The look he gives me is full of love and devotion, but also of
confusion. He brushes off his clothes and lifts his eyebrows at me waiting on
an answer.

“You have no idea why Kalen would be the
way that he is right now?” I ask. Looking back and forth from me to Calista, he
shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head.
Oh no! This is just like
before when he would have his episodes of forgetting. It hasn’t happened in a
while, so I was beginning to think it was over. He stands there looking
confused when all of a sudden Calista gasps and brings her hands up to cover
her mouth.

Looking wide-eyed she warns wearily,
“Mel, this isn’t right. I felt something evil here and I felt it in Finn. It
reminds me of the evil I felt five years ago when I was captured by the dark
sorcerer, but right now I don’t feel it at all. I think we have a problem.”

My heart sinks to the deepest levels of
despair because if what she is suggesting is true, then the dark sorcerer was
here and…in Finn’s body. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around my stomach.
Bile rises in my throat and I begin to feel disgusted to the core. This would
explain the reason for Finn’s blackouts.

I look at Calista and scream, “Damn it,
Calista do you know what this means?”

She looks at me with sympathy and
understanding. She says softly, “Yes, I know exactly what this means. I’m so
sorry, Meliantha.” She takes my hand and pulls me into her arms. She clutches
me tight and whispers in my ear, “There has to be something on him that allows
the dark sorcerer to enter his body.”

I take a few deep, shaky breaths and I
close my eyes while she rubs my back soothingly. “We’ll find it, Mel, but we
have to find it now and get rid of it. There’s no telling when the dark
sorcerer will make his move again. We need to let everyone in the court know
the dark sorcerer is back.”

Tears of anger and despair are pooling
behind my closed eyes and when I open them they fall, leaving warm trails in
their wake. All those strange nights when I thought I was giving myself to Finn
I was actually giving myself to the dark sorcerer. My chest tightens in anger
because all I can think about is how much of a fool I had been not knowing the
dark sorcerer was screwing me over...literally. Being violated and deceived
like that makes this whole situation a million times worse. My lungs tighten
and I pull away from Calista gasping for air. Finn runs over to grab my face in
between his hands and Elissa runs up behind me and starts rubbing my back. They
both whisper soothing words in my ear. Ashur hangs back because I know he heard
my inner turmoil and he’s trying to give me space. He knows there is nothing he
can do to help me. Spots cloud my vision and my legs begin to feel weak.

Finn lifts my chin for me to meet his
golden amber eyes, and his voice is angelically soft when he speaks.

“You need to calm down, Mel. Breathe
slower…in and out. Come on, you can do it.”

I listen to his words and I do as he
says. His soothing voice lulls me back down and he pulls me into his arms and
holds me tight.

“That’s it, Mel. You’re doing well,” he
says while rubbing my back.

He looks at Calista and demands in an
urgent tone, “I need to know what’s going on. I can tell it involves me, and
you need to tell me…now!”

My mind goes numb and I no longer hear
their words when my guardian’s voice enters my mind filled with concern.

“I heard your thoughts, Meliantha. Could
it really be true?”Ashur asks.

“I believe so, Ashur. I feel so ashamed
and violated. All those times when we…when we…”
I can’t seem to
finish my sentence because the thought of voicing it makes my body cringe with
anger and disgust. I can’t believe I never said or did anything about Finn’s
blackout episodes.

“You don’t need to say it, Meliantha.
I’m sure Finn’s going to be extremely angry when he finds out.”

I sigh, “I know, and that’s what I’m
afraid of.”

Finn pulls back, hands on my face, and
leans down to kiss my lips. His lips feel warm against mine, but I can’t seem
to feel any comfort in them. I break away from the kiss and he gives me a
hesitant smile before wiping the tears from my face.

“All right everyone.” Calista grabs our
attention and looks back and forth among the four of us. “Go to the cottage
while I get Ariella and Merrick. We have to figure everything out immediately.”
She turns to walk up the path in the direction Ariella and Merrick went while
playing in the snow.

I know my voice is going to be shaky,
but I speak anyway.

“OK, let’s get out of the cold and
figure out what’s going on.”

I grab Finn’s hand and we only have to
walk a few yards before we get to the cottage. We walk up the steps to the
small front porch and Ashur opens the door to let us enter. The living room is
warm and cozy making my body instantly relax, but that is not what catches my
attention when I look around the room. The room smells amazing with the scents
of faerie flowers. Everywhere in the room there are vases filled with the
millions of different flowers we have in the Summer Court. I wonder who did it
all.

“I believe Kalen did it, Princess.”

I jerk my head around to glance at Ashur
and he gives me a faint smile.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“I just do.”

Well, isn’t that just cryptic? I roll my
eyes at him and I look out the window to see Calista carrying Merrick in her
arms with Ariella following alongside her. I see them talking so Calista must
be filling Ariella in on the events of what just happened.

“Are you going to be OK?” Elissa asks me
while taking my hand.

She squeezes my hand tight and I squeeze
hers back while giving her a gentle smile.

“Yes, Elissa, I’ll be fine,” I assure
her. Why don’t you and Ashur pick out a room and rest before the ball?”

She nods her head slowly and complies,
“OK.” Elissa kisses my cheek and heads off down the hallway to find a room. I
don’t know how many rooms are in the cottage, but I’m sure she will have plenty
to choose from.

“Ashur, I want you to stay with Elissa
while Calista and I sort this out,” I insist while turning to acknowledge him.
He bows his head and his lips tilt up slightly. I know he’s happy about my
request, but I can feel he’s hesitant to leave me alone. He knows I don’t want
them to be in here when Calista and I speak with Finn.

The door opens and Ariella walks in
first and heads straight for me. Her long, platinum blonde hair is soaked and
her translucent blue eyes can’t hide the fear and worry emanating from them.
Her boots squeak across the wooden floors as she closes the distance. She gives
Finn a long, hard look while wrapping me in her arms and whispering urgently in
my ear, “He’s after you this time, isn’t he?”

The thought of it should terrify me, and
it did in the beginning, but now all I feel is anger and disgust for being
played like a fool. The dark sorcerer has already violated me one too many
times, so what’s the worse he can do now? I’ll be ready for him when he makes
his move.

I hold onto my younger sister and I can
feel the power flowing through her body. She’ll be twenty-one in another few
months and there’s no telling how much her power will grow then. I hate keeping
the secret of my healing capabilities away from them, but now that I know the
dark sorcerer has been spying on me it’s a good thing I haven’t said a word. I
look over Ariella’s shoulder at Calista and she motions with her hand for me to
hurry up. She’s holding Merrick in her arms and the poor little thing looks
tuckered out. I let go of Ariella so I can look at her face.

“Yes, he’s after me this time, but I
don’t want you to worry about me. I’ll be fine,” I encourage her. “Can you take
Merrick into another room while Calista and I speak?”

“Of course,” Ariella says while nodding
her head. She walks over to Calista, takes the sleepy Merrick into her arms,
and ventures off down the hall.

Finn is impatiently tapping his foot up
and down on the floor waiting on Ariella to leave the room. Once she is gone,
he looks back and forth from Calista to me expectantly.

“Alright, we’re alone now. What the hell
is going on?” Finn demands.

“There’s something on your body that is
laced with black magic and we have to find it, now!” Calista answers urgently.

Finn’s eyes go wide as he takes in a
sharp breath. I think he realizes the dire situation we are in. He backs up
slowly and lowers his gaze. He looks distraught and it makes my heart ache for
him. I can’t imagine how it would feel to know my body was being taken over and
used in a sick game of charades. There are so many emotions flowing through me
that I don’t know which one to hold on to. If the dark sorcerer fooled us all
these years, there’s no telling what things he has done without our knowledge.

Finn is shaking and clenching his hands
into tight fists of fury. I take a couple of slow steps toward him, but he
abruptly turns around to put his back to me.

“I’m so sorry, Mel,” he whispers. “Did I
ever do anything to hurt you when he was in my body?”

Thinking back there were times when he
did get a little rough during our intimate moments, but telling him that would
just send him over the edge. I don’t want to hurt him like that.

“No, Finn. You never hurt me,” I whisper
back.

We need to find the magical object and
get rid of it. That way the dark sorcerer can never take over his body again.
The dark sorcerer can imitate him, but with all of our powers combined in one
place, I don’t think he’ll be able to fool us. Being around my sister feels
like it’s magnified my power to a whole other level.