Destiny United (23 page)

But then Marcelo had opened his big, fat mouth and
proclaimed she belonged with him. As if they had some kind of future together.

“You are mine!” he’d said.

She was a woman of the twenty first century, she didn’t
belong to anyone. Then why did that one sentence send shivers down her spine
and fill her heart with so much warmth she thought it might burst?

“Shit!” That one heated, ten-second rant had changed
everything. Now she wasn’t so confident in her decision to leave him behind.
She’d seen the anger in his eyes, which she’d expected. What she hadn’t
expected was the hurt. The fear.

He was overprotective to a fault and now he was paying
for it. He’d been teaching her to defend herself but for what purpose? To hide
behind him when danger approached?

I don’t think so!

Her stomach lurched with dread making her want to vomit.
Her muscles yearned to run back the way she’d come. Back to Marcelo. Her
anchor. Her…

Stop it! This is no time to get emotional!

She kicked a loose rock across the ground, forcing
herself to focus on the task at hand. It was time for her to take a risk, jump
in with two feet and hope she would land on them. She straightened her spine
and pulled out her phone. With Kieran’s weird business card in the other hand,
she took a deep breath and dialed the number. It rang once…twice…then a
movement several yards beside her caught her eye. She ended the call and
slipped the phone in her pocket.

Kieran, in all his fae glory, strolled towards her, hands
in the pockets of his khaki linen pants. The billowy button down shirt combined
with his flowing slacks made him look like he belonged on the beach of some
exotic Caribbean resort, not stalking a fae in the Colorado Rockies. Oh, but he
was just as yummy as the last time she’d seen him.

Another immortal male who always looked like he just
stepped out of a Calvin Klein advertisement no matter the circumstances? It
just wasn’t fair.

He smiled when he spotted her, but as he grew closer his
smile faded. Just a few feet away his gaze locked onto her neck. She’d
forgotten about the bite mark. Her fingers grazed it self-consciously.

“I’ll kill him,” he said in a dark voice that rivaled
Marcelo’s. His black look was a stark contrast to the charming, crooked smile a
moment ago. “Just say the word.”

“No. I’m okay.” She forced her hands away from the wound.
“I already shot him in the throat.”

Two blonde eyebrows shot up in a look of surprise. “Really?”

She nodded.

“Well, remind me never to get on your bad side.”

She gave him a half-hearted smile.

“So, do you like my gift?”

“Yes, thank you.”

His eyes flickered from her face to the bow still slung
over her back. “Can you wield it?”

With a proud smirk she positioned it in her hands. “You
tell me.”

Aila had never been the over-confident type, but since
becoming fae, that immortal arrogance began rearing its big, ugly head.
Besides, why should I be humble about something I’m truly
good at?
It wasn’t as if she’d ever been good at anything before.

So she might have been showing off a bit when she pointed
to a small spot of lichen growing on the bark of a tree half a football field
away. The fact that she could even see the thing was amazing in itself. Drawing
an arrow from the quiver, she placed it on the bow, pulled the string back, and
let loose, smiling at the hum of the arrow piercing through the air. The sound
alone was gratifying, but when the arrow sunk into the lichen indicating a
perfect shot, she stepped back in satisfaction.

Kieran smiled. “Very good. You're becoming a right fae
warrior.” With one big step he was at her side, close enough for her to feel the
heat radiating off his body.

At first glance he looked tall and lean. But up close,
she could see the contours of his muscles under his shirt. Different from
Marcelo, who was all brawn; this was a perfectly honed athlete.

“I have another gift.” He reached into his backpack and
pulled out a small brown leather strap. “It’s an arm guard.” He held out his hand.
Meaning for her to do what?

She stared at it.

With another one of those heart-breaking smiles, he said,
“Give me your arm. I won’t bite.”

Tentatively she placed her hand in his.

“Typical American,” he said with a
tsk
and a smirk. “So mistrustful.”

She wanted to point to her neck as proof of her
hesitancy, but the reminder only made her heart hurt. He held her wrist gently
and inspected the inside of her forearm. His touch felt like electricity.
Marcelo’s touch was gruff, but grounding – safe and secure. But Kieran’s was
like a buzz, shooting sparks across her skin. Lightly he smoothed a finger over
the welts on her arm. The bow string had snapped against it a few times,
forming red stripes on her tender skin.

“Many archers wear an arm guard to protect against this,”
he said, then strapped the leather on. She couldn’t stop a small smile forming
on her lips. Now she looked like a real kick-ass fae archer. Kieran held her
arm a little longer than necessary, adding an uncomfortable awkwardness to the
air. She searched for a distraction.

“Hey, what happened to your accent?” she asked. She
exhaled a tense breath when he released her.

 “I’m sorry, I may have misled you. I don’t really have
an accent. I’ve lived in America the past eighteen years. I thought that if I
sounded like an Irish fae, you’d trust me easier.”

“Well, I did,” she admitted, making a mental note to be
more careful. “What are you doing in America?”

He gave her a weighted glare. “Looking for you.”

“Me?”

He kept his head tipped up in that regal way. “Yes. We’re
to be married.”

What?
Her shock must have
been clear on her face because Kieran burst out laughing. It was so light and
carefree she almost laughed with him. Only it wasn’t funny. Arranged marriage?
Not for this full-blooded American chick!

“You should see your face!” he said.

She gave him her fiercest scowl.

He cleared his throat and reined in the last of the
chuckles. “Don’t look so frightened. I’ve been in America long enough to
respect democracy and free will.” With a sardonic smile he added, “I watch
Jersey Shore and eat Twinkies with the best of them.” Then he winked.

At once her scowl disappeared.
He’s
absolutely adorable.

“I won’t be forcing you into anything you don’t want for
yourself.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Umm…thanks?”

He chuckled with a superior air that reminded her of
Marcelo. “Will you come with me to
Méadú ar Neart
,
the Unseelie fae kingdom?”

She felt a wave of heartache at leaving Marcelo behind, but
she was here to meet her destiny. No more hiding in fear. She took a deep
breath and nodded. Kieran’s grin was a satisfying reward.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. He held out a
metal device and the air in front of them began to change, rippling in the hazy
shape of a doorway. Before she could question him, he grabbed her hand and pulled
her through, a shocking sensation that left her cold and shivering.

Then she was standing in a patch of green grass,
surrounded by rock outcroppings. The sun arched high in the sky but a warm
breeze tickled her skin. She shielded her eyes from the blinding sun and looked
up at Kieran, her face twisted in confusion. He was still holding her hand.

His smile comforted her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It was
easier to show you than to explain.”

“W-what the hell was that?” she whispered as she pulled
away.

He held out the device to show her. It was dark metal in
a roundish shape the same size as his palm covered with strange etchings. “
Ostium Invenire
. A Door Maker. It creates shortcuts
between places. Like wormholes. A sorcerer who aligned with us commissioned it.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the Unseelie fae have been hunted for centuries. We
had to resort to finding any means of defense we can.” He looked down at the device.
“Including ones that give us a quick getaway.” Then he shoved it in his pocket.

She gazed at the view around them. Behind her green
rolling hills continued as far as she could see. Purple and yellow wildflowers
dotted the grassy knolls. It was all so perfectly quaint, like a photo straight
out of a coffee table book. She half-expected a herd of sheep to come strolling
by.

A steep incline of cliffs towered over them leading to
the top of a small mountain. Since she couldn’t see any signs of a fae kingdom,
castle, or even a road leading there, she hoped Kieran’s plan didn’t involve
climbing over the mountain.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“The home of your ancestors.” His lips quirked as he
stared down at her. “Ireland.”

Then the rock before them started to rumble. The cliffs
shook and tiny pebbles plunged to the ground below. Aila stepped back as the
rock split apart, sliding into the rest of the mountain like a pocket door.
Behind the shifting rock a dirt road appeared. And far off in the distance, the
Unseelie fae kingdom
glistened in the sun. The fortress was a vision of
strength, mimicking the cliff face, dwarfing the city below.

“H-how?” she asked, stunned almost speechless.

“Magic, lass.” His mouth curved into a sexy smile. “It’s
good to be fae.”

The Unseelie fae kingdom stood proud and glorious as she glided
towards it, pulled by some magnetic force beyond her control. From a distance
it shimmered, like it had been doused with a giant bottle of silver glitter.

“Did you cover your castle with fairy dust?”

A sharp laugh burst from Kieran’s throat. “Fairy dust?
This isn’t a Disney movie.”

“Sometimes I wonder about that,” she muttered under her
breath.

Still chuckling he said, “No fairy dust. It’s made of
quartz.”

“Quartz? The whole thing?”
God,
it has to be at least one hundred thousand square feet!

He nodded.

“Isn’t that really expensive?”

He looked at her like she’d grown another head. “It’s our
home. We spared no expense.” He smiled in that charming way she was beginning
to associate him with. The one that said,
trust me, I
won’t harm you. I’ll only try to marry you, but it will be fun, I promise.
“It’s your home now too.”

Home. Did she really have one of those?

“What does it mean?” she asked. “Whatever you called it?
Meadu –”

“
Méadú ar Neart
. It means
to rise together in strength.”

Togetherness. Strength. It sounded so…not evil. “About
this prophecy…” She looked down, fiddling with her hands, suddenly nervous. “Do
you believe it? That I’m to unite the fae? Have you seen prophecies come true
before?”

He offered her a condescending smile. “I am over three
hundred years old. Of course I’ve seen prophecies come true. But not to worry,
I believe you will know what to do when the time comes.”

Such a diplomatic answer.
“Great,”
she mumbled. “That helps exactly nothing.” Would she get no choice in the
matter? Save our world, save our people, we’re all counting on you, but we have
no idea how or when.
Talk about pressure.

Now for the question she’d been asking herself for days. “Are
the Unseelie evil?”

Kieran’s lips curled up on one side revealing a dimple
she hadn’t noticed before. And there was that smile again. How could she think
such a man was evil?

Don’t be stupid
, she
scolded herself. As Sage would say,
sometimes the devil
wears a three piece suit and a smile.

“You’re half Unseelie,” he answered. “Do you feel evil?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you think I’m evil?”

She thought for a moment. “Not right now, but I hardly
know you.” As a second thought she added, “No offense.”

He chuckled. “What does your instinct tell you?”

 “Instinct?” She snorted. “I don’t think I have any.”

“Of course you do.”

“If I did then I wouldn’t have let so many people –” She
cut off when she remembered she was with a virtual stranger. “Never mind.” Her
cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Aila, you are fae. Instinct is strong within us.” His
tone was that of someone speaking to a small child. “It guides us through difficult
decisions. It tells us who to trust. It’s a very powerful thing.”

“See, that’s where I’ve proven you wrong. I’m entirely
too trusting. I mean, look at me. I just stepped through a wormhole to another
country with a stranger. And I trusted a vampire from the Underworld. A
vampire!” She expected judgment. Surely he believed vampires couldn’t be
trusted either.

But he wore a look of confident amusement. “Don’t confuse
instinct with logic, Aila. Instinct doesn’t always make sense.”

She shook her head. That went against all her principles.

“As a fae you must learn to access your instincts and
trust them, Aila. It’s one of our greatest weapons. Tell me, do you
feel
safe? Here with me?”

She took a deep breath, staring at the dirt beneath her
feet. Before she could answer Kieran’s body was in front of hers.

“Don’t think,” he told her, grasping one of her hands. He
pressed it against her chest, holding it there under his larger one. “Here.
Instinct lives here. Feel it. Trust it.”

She raised her gaze to look him in the eye. If she hadn’t
just used a magical device to travel to Ireland with an immortal being, she would
have thought his emerald eyes were colored contacts. No one could have eyes
that pure green. They were bottomless swirls of jade with flecks of black.
Pretty, but powerful. Hidden magic, more powerful than he allowed anyone to
know. For a moment she was frightened. But his eyes blazed with warmth and
genuine kindness.