Painfully Ordinary Special Edition (10 page)

Johr noticed the small man
standing near the door. “Breeg,” he said, reverence in his voice. “I am honored
that you would come to watch over my little Cat.”

I gritted my teeth over
his assumption that I needed a handler.

Breeg gestured toward me
and then back to Johr. “Ye need me more than ye ken.” He stroked his beard. “This
one
be
a latent. I strongly suspect she may also be tha
Lumina
Talon suspects. As ye so aptly
put it, she is tha one who ‘blew all these ley stones into dust’. It would seem
she has quite
tha
fire.”

Johr put a hand on my
shoulder forcing me to face him. “Cat, did you do this?”

I gave him a sheepish grin
and shrugged one shoulder. “Well, not intentionally. However, things around
here seem to have a tendency to blow up when I get mad.” My voice rose. “All I
want is someone to give me a straight answer. No more secrets.” I tried to put
all my anxiety into my gaze, begging him to tell me what he knew. “Uncle Johr,
I know I can count on you for that. Can you please explain to me what is going
on?”

He sighed. “Talon, go get
Leah and Jace–this affects them too.”

Talon bowed and strode
from the room, never once looking back at me. I glanced at Breeg and planted my
hands on my hips.

He chuckled softly. “Gel,
calm yerself. We are on
tha
same side.”

“Caitlin, mind
yourself
,” Johr snapped.

I stared at him, surprised.
He’d never used a sharp tone with me before and my expression must have shown
it. He stroked my hair and gave me a small pat on the back. I guess I wasn’t
the only one who
was stressed out
by our situation.

Talon returned with Leah
and Jace in tow.

“Uncle Johr!” She squealed
and jumped into his arms for a hug.

“Hey
Leah-girl.
How have you been? I’d ask if you two were staying out of
trouble, but I already know the answer to that. Don’t I?”

Leah giggled. “Well, you
always said we kept you young with our shenanigans. It’s not like we go looking
for trouble.”

Johr heaved a sigh. “I
know. None of this is your fault. We should have told you both about your
heritage a long time ago. We were just hoping it was never going to be an
issue. Neither one of you had shown any
Feydall
tendencies before now.”

I sensed Leah probe my
mind.
Did he just say ’neither one of us‘?
Does that mean we are both
Feydall
?

I shrugged.

Johr motioned to the
massive couch. “Have a seat. This may take a little while.”

Jace and Leah sat with
their hands intertwined in her lap. Talon led me over and lowered me to the
couch. He sat next to me and I laid my head on his shoulder, clutching his
hand. He tried to distance himself, but I was unyielding and held on even
tighter. Johr’s eyebrows came together. He didn’t look very happy.

I raised one eyebrow in
response and reached out to him with my mind.

Uncle Johr, stop looking at me like that
.

Johr shuddered and studied
me with wide eyes.

Please understand. I don’t really care about the stupid law. He
makes me happy, and I feel safe with him
.

Johr shook his head.
My little Cat. You are truly amazing. However,
the law is absolute and we cannot go against it. We will discuss this later, but
now is not the time.

The room suddenly pulsed
with light, causing Johr to take a small step back. Talon reached over and rubbed
the back of my hand and the lights slowly resumed a muted glow.

Breeg chuckled as Johr
exhaled noisily. “Okay. Well, you already know about the
Feydall
. We are an ancient race who has lived peacefully for
centuries with the
Varyo, Lykaios,
Osanen
and most of the
Draíocht
.”

I waved my hand in an
effort to stop him. “Wait, wait,
wait
. The
Varyo
I understand because Talon and
Freya are
Varyo
, however the only
Lykaios
I know of is Ta’-
Sha
.”

“Ta’-Sha? Caitlin, what do
you know of her? Why didn’t you mention her earlier?” Jace reached across Talon
and grabbed my hand.

Shrugging my shoulders, I
said, “She has appeared to me twice. Based on what Ael’onwe told me, she is
also my protector.”

“Caitlin, we will come
back to your story. Now Jace, have you not told them of your true nature?” Johr
asked him pointedly.

Jace dropped my hand and
shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly thought they had put two and two together.”

Johr nodded. “Well, try
again; I don’t think they are firing on all cylinders today.”

Jace faced us with an
amused expression. “Caitlin, do you remember the wolf that protected you in the
clearing? Was there anything familiar about him?”

I studied him, puzzled,
and then hooted with laughter.

Oh My God.
Jace was
the wolf.

Leah seemed confused. “Wait,
what wolf? You completely lost me. Caiti what happened when you were with
Ryan?”

Hearing his name sobered
me and tore a growl from Talon’s throat.

I responded to her,
amused. “Girl, didn’t you wonder why Jace trotted out of the woods by
himself…and shirtless? He certainly didn’t start out that way. Surely he hadn’t
been away from you very long when Talon and I showed up?”

I watched her face,
waiting for her to grasp what I was saying. Her eyes widened and her mouth
formed a big “O.”

Finally, she got it.

She twisted to face Jace
with her lip turned up on side. “No, I still don’t get it.”

I slapped my forehead with
my palm. “Leah, he was the wolf I saw in the woods!”

“Oh.” She responded
quietly.

I was astonished that was
all she had to say. She must’ve been in shock or something.

Jace waggled his eyebrows
at her and she exhaled and relaxed her shoulders.

I winked at him and went
back to listening to Johr. Jace seemed
to really understand
how to disarm her fears.

“Okay, we have the
Varyo
and
Lykaios
sorted out, but what are the
Osanen
and
Draíocht
?”

He gave me an appreciative
look. “The
Osanen
are a people of
small stature, but extremely adept at wielding Earth magic, like Breeg. They
tend to live in forests and wooded areas. Most of them like to keep to
themselves, but
there are some who have entered mainstream
life and have become quite famous for their acting
.

“Now, the
Draíocht
are also known as Magi and they
are powerful magicians. There are two factions within the
Draíocht
. The white magic users have been our allies for millennia.
The dark magic users have taken an adversarial approach and aligned themselves
with the
Accendersi
.”

I frowned.
“The
Accendersi
?
That
sounds familiar,
like
I have heard that before. Who
are they?”

Talon snarled. “The
Accendersi
are exactly what Jace and I
are trying to protect you from. They are Ryan’s new friends.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “Is
that what we ran into at the party? Who was the man who came out of the fire?”

Johr and Breeg jumped to
their feet.

“What man?” Johr demanded.

I held my hand up to
silence them. “I tell you about three mysterious women who continually come to
me in dreams and you are okay with that, but one man is mentioned and you freak
out?”

Talon snuck furtive
glances at Johr while he finished answering my questions.

“Yes. The man you saw was
Egan. He is one of the three leaders who make up the
Triada
, which is the ruling class of the
Accendersi
. He is one of the dark
Draíocht
, and
is extremely gifted
with an
ability to manipulate fire. He is a very powerful and enigmatic man. He can also
be very charming and is frequently able to influence people to his way of
thinking, without them even knowing what is happening. You have to be on your
toes every moment in his presence.”

Breeg seemed agitated,
while Uncle Johr simply looked livid. His face was bright red as he stared at
Talon and Jace.

“How could you have
allowed Egan to get so close to them? Do you understand the consequences if
they had gotten to Caiti and Leah?”

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Talon and Jace were
obviously distraught. Leah wrapped her arms around Jace while I stepped between
Talon and Uncle Johr. I had to crane my neck to meet Uncle Johr’s gaze. My
cheeks burned, and I hoped my face wasn’t all blotchy.

“You can just stop right
there. I don’t remember either one of you being present at that party.” I waved
my hand dismissively toward Breeg and Uncle Johr. “If it hadn’t been for Talon
and Jace, Leah and I wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation. God
knows
where
we would be. They have
taken such good care of us and we have never felt as safe and secure as we do when
we are with them.” All I could think about was how important Talon had become
to me. I wasn’t about to let the two men run roughshod over me.

Johr grabbed me by the
elbow and pulled me aside, reprimanding Talon and Jace. “If you two had been
doing your job, instead of playing house, Egan never would have been able to
get so close.”

Mom glided in and placed her
hand on Uncle Johr’s arm. “Johr, wait,” she pleaded, “Let’s not point fingers
right now. The
Accendersi
used Ryan
as a cover. The boys were trying to protect her from the little thug, without even
knowing he was hiding Egan. We
were all fooled
. The
important thing is to have the girls go about their normal routine and not
alert the
Accendersi
to the fact the
Turvata
is now involved. They need to go
home as soon as possible. You and Breeg can watch them from the sidelines until
the boys come back from Emory. We can’t afford to fall apart now. The
Accendersi
are extremely talented at
manipulation. That is how they initially strike, and if successful, they will cause
us to turn against each other.”

Breeg stepped forward. “She
is right. This can be handled
at a later time
. Right
now we ha’ to do what is in tha best interest o’
tha
gels.”

How about what we thought was best for ourselves?

Johr said, “Fine, but it
will be dealt with.”

Talon and Jace bowed
slightly.
“Understood.”

What did Johr mean by that?

Mom motioned for Breeg and
Johr to follow her. “Come let’s plan the security detail you will use while the
boys are in Emory.” She flashed us a bright smile over her shoulder, winking as
she propelled Breeg and Johr out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Clearly,
Mom was trying to get us some time alone with Talon and Jace, but why?
If the law was so clear
about our relationship
being forbidden
, why would Mom
allow us the time together?

Jace grabbed Leah and held
her tight. They moved to a leather loveseat in the corner of the room and talked
quietly.

Talon walked over, picked
up a
remote
and switched on some classical music. I
wasn’t aware he listened to anything soothing. I curled up on the large couch
in the middle of the room and wrapped my arms tightly around my legs, trying to
keep myself from coming apart.

Talon was grief-stricken. “
Ves'tacha
, Johr is very angry with us
and I want you to be prepared. I am afraid he will remove us as your protectors
as soon as you are out of immediate danger. He already believes we are too
emotionally involved with you as it is, and he may be right. There is also that
small matter of the law.”

I sighed deeply. “Let me
say this again - I don’t care about the stupid law. I feel protected when I’m
with you, and Leah and Jace are perfect for each other.”

Talon reached out for me,
and I went into his arms. He stroked my hair.

“Promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that you will do
what Breeg tells you while we are gone. He will do everything in his power to
protect you, but you are going to have to help him out. You and Leah seem to
have a natural affinity for attracting trouble.”

Ugh. He
had
to ask for that.

I pulled back from him and
placed my hands on his chest, feeling the slabs of muscle underneath. He raised
his eyebrows and his eyes slowly changed color. I turned my face to him, and he
didn’t disappoint me. He cupped my face in his large hands and kissed me
tenderly. I threw my legs over his, snuggling into his lap. By this point, his
eyes were blazing. I leaned over, nipping the skin just below his ear. He
growled deep in his throat, pulled me to him and nuzzled my neck while nibbling
along my jaw line.