Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) (12 page)

“So after what happened to Celeste you don’t want to turn back?”

Ethan met her gaze with his and lifted his hand to touch her cheek. His warm thumb slid along her skin. “I’ll admit it was distressing to see her like that. But as I said before, I don’t want to take that course unless, for some reason, one of us might die young.” A silence settled around them. “I want to have a family with you, and we can never have that as vampires. To me, that’s more important than anything else.”

“And we may have already accomplished that,” she said. After their visit with the fairies, and after dreams of their forgotten life together, they’d been trying to have another baby. They were keeping it between themselves though. Danielle still feared a repeat of last time, because just the thought of suffering that kind of loss again made her rather queasy and more than a little frantic. Perhaps she shouldn’t trust Casanova, and maybe it was a good thing they were going to the fairies. She did believe that she would be safe then.

Ethan smirked as the hand he had on her hip shifted so he could touch her stomach with his thumb. “It’s too soon to tell, but I plan on embracing mortality with you and continuing our ... efforts in that regard.”

They were in a boat, in a
tiny
boat just big enough for eight people, floating in the freaking huge ocean! Danielle gulped and cast a gaze into the inky water rolling against the sides. There were probably enormous, man-eating sea creatures swimming below them. If vampires, and fairies, and werewolves were all real, then what else was? She’d seen the pictures of that colossal shark thing her brother James loved looking at on the internet. It could probably take this dinky, fairy-grown boat in one bite. Of course, the boat was as beautiful as everything else the fairies conjured, but something pretty didn’t exactly make her feel safe. She didn’t feel safe at all. Her fingers tightened around the handful of Ethan’s sleeve she held in her left hand.

 A quiet laugh from Ethan drew her eyes from the creepy depths of the water surrounding them. Apparently he’d noticed the way she was clinging to him. He glanced down at her fingers. Following the path of his gaze, she noticed how white her knuckles were, but she just couldn’t make herself loosen them. “I gather hydrophobia is one of the fears you never told me about?”

“Fear of water?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t fear water,” she said. It was true. She didn’t mind swimming in a pool at all.

A short moment of confusion held his expression and then his eyebrows kicked up. “Ah, the fear of
deep
water then.”

Danielle couldn’t deny it. Her eyes left his all-too-knowing ones and continued to search the water for fins. It seemed like she could see one at the crest of every wave, and then it would disappear before she’d figured it out for sure. Every shadow became an evil sea monster within her overactive imagination.

“And what might be lurking within it,” Ethan added, proving he’d seen enough to understand what her problem was.

Ethan pried her fingers free of his shirt. He rose up just enough to swing one leg over the bench, and gathered her hips into his hands so he could reposition her between his legs and nestle her against his chest. Normally she would feel safe tucked within the cradle of his body like this. But Danielle latched onto his sleeves again as fast as she could, because even surrounded by his arms, she didn’t feel secure in this situation. A big wave had just rocked them, and if she didn’t hang onto something then she might get tossed overboard. Of course, what if Ethan was tossed out with her? Danielle let go of his clothes and caught onto the edge of the seat they were sitting on.

Breathing out another laugh, which Danielle felt against her hair, Ethan pointed ahead. “Look, darling, we’re almost there.”

A sigh shuddered out of her. He was using his Mr. Darcy voice again. While she loved that, it wasn’t soothing enough at the moment. Squinting against the salty breeze hitting her face, she could just make out a small line of land on the horizon. In her opinion, that was still too far away. Why had the fairies only equipped this thing with sails and not a fast engine? She wondered about this as her eyes traveled the length of the mast growing up from the center of the boat. What looked like roots fanned out from the base of it as thought it really had grown there, and a fat vine twisted around it like a bulging vein. There was a chance the boat was living just like a plant. Even the sail looked like it was made out of some organic material, like an enormous flower petal, because it had veins lacing through the sheer material too.

The entire boat listed to the side as though a big wave had just hit it, but she didn’t think there had been a wave. She then heard a splash that sounded like a large fish had just jumped in the water. The vampire guards with them went still. Cedric glanced at her and Ethan and then looked out over the water as the boat sailed toward the land. Merrick never took his gaze from the ocean surrounding them. Casanova, whom Ethan had tried to prevent from coming, had also looked at them before looking away. Apparently he knew Ethan didn’t trust him, but he was too close to Richard, who’d insisted on his being there. Danielle hadn’t decided how she felt about him yet, but what had happened with Dorin—the vampire who’d stabbed her and killed their baby—always lurked in the back of her mind.

The boat lurched again, more this time, and what worried her most was the fact that the fairies guiding them changed their behavior too. Danielle knew she’d broken a fingernail because her grip on the bench had tightened as panic rose up in her throat like a wave of nausea. Seasickness was not her problem. Something
was
hitting the boat. Danielle gasped and Nadia squeaked when they were stuck a third time. This time the boat rocked to the left as though something was trying to tip them.

Richard leaned over the edge and bellowed, “What the bloody hell is going on?”

He looked rather surprised when the fairies forced him away from the water. “Cover your ears!” they yelled.

When Richard tried to argue it, a fairy in a red petal dress began smacking him on the head. “You’re not immune to them, you fool. Cover your ears now!”

At the fairy’s urgency, she slapped her palms over her ears and turned to look at Ethan. He’d obeyed as well. Fear forced Danielle to scan the water for whatever it was attacking them, even though she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to see what it was. She was imagining all kinds of horrible things. Drawing in a sharp intake of air, she noticed several long things twisting through the water. They were longer than dolphins, but didn’t appear to be as big as sharks. Many of the fairies had landed on the edge of the boat and were dashing back and forth like they were the only ones able to protect the mortals and vampires on board. Realization struck her. These creatures had to be magical beings too. Now she really hated the tiny boat they were in. How could the fairies put them in so much danger?

Swallowing and leaning back into Ethan, she imagined what would happen if those things overturned them and they all plunged into that dark, monster-infested water. Suddenly the boat started to do exactly what she’d feared it would. Danielle’s eyes widened in horror, and they all cried out as it tipped until it was practically on its side and everyone began sliding from their seats. Completely forgetting about covering her ears, Danielle screamed and lunged to catch the edge of the boat as she fell. She missed, but her clothes went tight against her armpits when Richard caught her instead. He had a fistful of her top in one hand, as he clung to the edge of the boat with the other. They weren’t dangling yet; the boat wasn’t completely on its side, but it didn’t have much farther to go. Danielle noticed that Casanova had caught Ethan. Even though he still held onto the bench they’d been seated on, he was having trouble getting traction. His shoes kept slipping along the bottom of the boat. Cedric had caught Nadia, and Max had wedged his boots against the bottom of the bench to stop himself from falling into the water. Merrick had done the same.

The ocean churned with the movements of the many creatures within it. Some of them began cresting the surface.

“Cover your ears!” again commanded the fairies. Just then the boat righted, and they all landed roughly on the floor. Danielle didn’t know if the fairies had been responsible for that, or if the sea creatures had released them.

Again the fairies shouted for them to cover their ears. She clapped her palms over her ears, wondering why they kept saying that. What noise could these things make, and how would it affect them? Richard helped her get back onto the bench. Danielle turned so she could straddle the bench and hold on to it with her legs, fearing the boat could tip again at any moment, and if she had to cover her ears, then she couldn’t hold on with her hands.

She could still hear her own scream when several wet hands rose from the seawater and latched onto the edge of the boat. The hands were followed by faces. When she saw the smiles greeting them, the fears binding her insides into knots slipped loose. “So beautiful,” she gasped, but when her hands almost dropped from her ears, Alora flew up to her and shook a finger at her. The seriousness on Alora’s face caused her to obey, but her eyes moved back to the enchanting creatures before her. What a relief, she thought, they must have chased off whatever it was that had been attacking them.

Mermaids were so lovely. They were just like she’d always imagined and she wanted to be introduced to them as much as she had the fairies. Again she was tempted to uncover her ears, but then the fairies attacked the mermaids with a shower of fairy dust just like when they’d chased off the pixies. Danielle hadn’t noticed their webbed fingers until they swung out at the fairies, before finally slinking back into the water. No. She tried to get a better look, but the boat came to an abrupt halt and they were all thrown to the floor with the jolt of it. Danielle winced when her head cracked against the wooden seat in front of her, and her elbow connected with what she feared were Ethan’s ribs.

Trying to get back to her feet, she heard Ethan grunt and looked to see him rubbing at his ribcage. “Sorry,” she said.

“I’m fine,” he responded. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah...” The word turned into a breathy gasp when she looked around. “How?” was all she could manage when she realized they’d landed on the soil that had seemed so far away just a moment ago.

“They rushed us along when the mermaids appeared.”

“Why?” She turned to Casanova, who’d spoken. “They’re wonderful.”

Richard laughed. “Those
things
are not at all like the sweet, Disney mermaids you’re imagining.”

“I thought they were pretty. Haven’t you guys seen them before?” She turned to Ethan. “You never said anything to me about mermaids.”

One of his eyebrows rose as he helped her alight from the boat. Her feet sank into soft sand. “That’s because the fairies told me to steer clear of them,
even
when I was a vampire.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“She’s been watching that show...” Cedric began, snapping his fingers like he was trying to remember something. “That one with the three mermaids with Australian accents.”

“Oh, yeah,” added Merrick, grinning. “The one with the moon and the pool that she made us all watch it with her while we guarded her in Colorado.” The Highlander groaned like it was a particularly painful experience for him to remember.

“It’s called H2O.” Danielle said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. She bit her lip at the way Merrick rubbed his neck like he had an ache there. She’d made them watch girly shows that she’d pretty much outgrown just to torment them. She still thought it was kind of funny and put her fingers over her mouth to cover the giggles trying to come out.

“They’re sirens, and
nothing
like the pretty wenches in that show, Danielle. That’s why the fairies told us to cover our ears, and apparently vampires can’t escape them either.” Richard said that, and his tone was quite serious. She gulped down the laughter because it was obvious to her that he was feeling slightly humbled, and probably rather angry at the moment. The medieval prince likely felt invincible most of the time, and now he knew something so pretty and delicate-looking could end him.

Looking back out at the water as Ethan drew her farther inland, she remembered the stories she’d heard of men being lead to their deaths by sirens. Her shoulders sank involuntarily at the disappointment. Why couldn’t mermaids be like fairies?

Drawing a deep breath and then releasing it slowly, she took in the landscape. Pale, untouched sand led up to gray rocks that were topped with sage crowns of long feathery grass.  Tall trees rose into the sky beyond that. They swayed, and their leaves fluttered like the waves of the sea. It wasn’t a blue sky stretching out above them, but it wasn’t gray either. Lumps of white clouds drifted eastward. Crisp sea air filled her nose. The fishiness of it was gone as the plant life joined the scents surrounding her. The scene was beautiful, but there was nothing about it that made her think this was a magical place. Ethan had explained they really hadn’t traveled that far. This wasn’t some mysterious island in the ocean. It was Ireland. The fairy’s secret cove wasn’t far from England.