rogue shifter 06 - torn apart (7 page)

"I like the new one." I panted out between songs.

Ethan had been through a series of shifter girl friends, all of them friendly and lovely and yet not right as long term mates, at least as far as Ethan was concerned. He'd never admit to it, but I knew him well enough to understand that he was looking for someone to affect him mind and body, the way Sinc had. She'd been his first real love and soon after had become his first horrific heartbreak.

"Yeah, Cyn is great." Cynthia, a leopard shifter, was standing and talking to Peter and Kyle, gushing over how cute Jay was as he dripped vanilla ice cream from the cone he was eating on her shoe. Peter apologized and offered her a napkin while Kyle laughed and pulled Jay away from any other possible victims. "She loves kids." Ethan added with some warmth in his voice.

When the second song ended, I caught him looking at Sinc and Gabe, who'd just finished dancing together. "You okay?" I whispered.

"I'm fine, really. I'm happy for her. It was my choice to split up and I still think it was the right one for me." Sinc had lied to him, pretending to have slept with Sasha just so Ethan would dump her. It had been her usual modus operandi when she thought a guy was getting too serious. It had worked, only it had hurt Ethan more than he'd ever let on.

Sinc and Gabe had fallen in love long before she'd ever met Ethan. The pack had thrown her out at fifteen because she was a shifter, so it wasn't only her parents that she'd missed during the long years of her forced separation. Gabe had never mated, although as the older son, he'd been expected to. When they saw each other again, all the old feelings had returned. After his father's and brother's executions, Gabe had been placed in Aaron's pack in southern Oregon and was now being considered as a possible alpha for a new pack Aaron was starting up in northern California, not too far from us.

They noticed us watching them and walked over a little hesitantly. I'd managed to avoid greeting them so far, seeing them talking to Garrett earlier, then catching a glance of them eating with Aaron and little Sammy, then later chatting with Heinrich who was taking turns playing bartender with Sasha.

Sinc looked the same, dressed in a tight blue dress that brought out the blue in her eyes accented by the dark waves that tumbled around her face. She was shorter than me, but curvier, although she was looking like she'd put on some muscle.

"Hi!" She leaned in and gave me and Ethan quick kisses on the cheek, Gabe shook Ethan's hand and then turned toward me, not sure of his reception.

"Thank you for inviting us. It's quite a party." His voice was soft and unsure, but his alpha magic was much stronger than when I'd last seen him at their mating ceremony.

"I'm glad you could come." As soon as the words were out, I realized that I meant them. It seemed ridiculous to hold onto anger over something that everyone else seemed to have let go, including Garrett and the other vampires who'd have been killed in the blast. I looked at Sinc. "I hope you can both come to visit more often now that your foot is healthy and you don't have such an exhausting physical training regimen."

Sinc hugged me, her eyes glistening and her voice a little hoarse with emotion. "Thank you. We'd love to come again. You have no idea how much I miss talking to you. I know you've been through so much with Charlie's health." We both looked over toward the dessert table where he was talking to Grady and Kellaine about some movie he'd seen with Garrett. "But look at him now. Your son is amazing. And so adorable. A future lady's man, no doubt about it."

"He's already healing his friends." I told them what had happened with Sammy and Jay and then what Lord Caelen had said. Their expressions were stunned to put it mildly. "Hopefully the rest will take its time in appearing. I'm not prepared to raise a child who's much more powerful than Garrett and me combined."

Cynthia had joined us, so Ethan introduced her around. She smiled prettily and took Ethan's hand, claiming him as hers, at least for the evening. He kissed her cheek, then continued, saying, "Charlie's got so many people around to help him out, I don't think you'll have any problems, and he seems to have a pretty level temperament. Does he ever get really angry?"

"He was terribly weak for so long. It was frustrating for the little guy, but now that he's stronger, I'm happy to report that he hasn't had any temper tantrums. I think he's afraid Lord Caelen or Liam will make him dig holes." They looked at me strangely so I explained what Aedus had once told me about how their father had disciplined them by making them dig holes in the ground—for hours—and then filling them in again. Sometimes it would be the same hole over and over.

The music started up again with a slow, sweet ballad that was one of my favorites. Ethan and Cynthia, Sinc and Gabe and other couples led each other out to the dance floor, moving like lovers or mates, renewing bonds with each note or phrase.

Garrett appeared, wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tightly against him, whispering, "Gotcha." in my ear as I sighed in resignation but also delight.

"I'm at your mercy, monsieur." I flung an arm over his shoulder, his free hand taking hold of mine with loving care, kissing it gently, then holding it between our swaying bodies.

We moved together on the dance floor, my head resting on his shoulder, his against my hair. More couples joined us: Aedus and Philly, Liam and Kellaine, Peter and Kyle, but my awareness was caught up only in the graceful movement of his feet and the feel of him pressed against me.

I closed my eyes and opened my heart and my mind to Garrett, allowing myself to live this single moment in time. Here in his arms I was safe. Here we could let go of all fear and just belong to each other. Love each other. This was the gift we would share for as long as we lived, and afterward, who knew? Liam seemed to feel that we would find each other even then.

His breath brushed against my hair as he spoke. "Je t'aime, mon amour. Tu es ma vie." When the number ended, he kissed me so sweetly, the sound of Charlie's giggles the only thing that could break the spell.

That was when Linn appeared next to my son, dressed in leggings, soft boots and a flowing purple tunic that came to her knees. "You must dance on your birthday and I am the only girl." She'd spoken in English in her lovely musical voice, still pitched high because of her age. They were the same height, tall for five, and looked remarkable standing together with their incredible lavender eyes and long thick hair. She had flowers in her chestnut waves and it made her look like a sweet child of the 1960's, or maybe a sweet child of Faerie.

"Uh, uh. Warriors don't dance." My son crossed his arms and lifted his chin stubbornly.

"Takes after his mother, I see." Aedus teased, having moved closer to us after the number had ended. Philly slapped his arm and laughed, then glanced at me, lifting her shoulders in apology.

Linn touched his shoulder. "My father is the greatest warrior of our Sidhe and
he
dances with my mother." Charlie lifted his chin even higher and frowned. "Well, what
do
you like to do?" Linn asked, looking like she couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't enjoy dancing.

He thought for a moment. "Read."

She frowned at him and asked. "Read books?" She seemed aghast at the idea.

Seeing her displeasure, he tried to think of something else. "I'm learning to be a ninja warrior." That interested her a little more, since all the fae were trained as warriors. "And I can play the guitar. One song, but I'll get better when I practice more."

"Will you play for me?" She smiled her lovely little smile. Charlie's mouth dropped open.

"Takes after her dad, I see." Aedus had been the heartthrob of Cascade, at least until he'd happily bound himself to Philladre, a female every bit as beautiful and powerful as Aedus. I couldn't wait to see how their daughter developed.

"I'm..." Charlie swallowed hard, "I'm gonna play for Mom, but...but I could play for both of you. I guess." He looked at me with a desperate expression. I nodded to let him know I approved.

"I would like that." Linn responded politely in the fae way and so Charlie did too, not knowing what else to do around this confusing young female.

Kyle moved closer and whispered, "Faerie Princess enchants Don W..." but I jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow before he could finish. That boy never remembered to keep his distance when he was annoying me.

Garrett kissed my cheek and then dissolved, reappearing with both guitars and Jay's bongo. The trio sat on stools set up on the dance floor after pulling chairs over for me and Linn to sit and watch. The tiny fae princess smiled at me like a cat that'd raided the cream, her young sights set on my Charlie. The little vixen smoothed down her hair, adjusting the flowers. She already seemed so much more mature than my hapless son, who was looking more than a little nervous.

While Garrett was still tuning the guitars I walked over to Charlie and said, "Just look at the guitar or your dad when you play. You don't have to look at the audience."

"Why is she staring at me like that?" He whispered.

"She likes you." I whispered back, catching Garrett's smile out of the corner of my eye.

"Jay likes me and he doesn't look like that."

"She
likes
you." He still looked confused. "Ask your dad."

"Okay." He nodded, still unsure.

They played "Sur le Pont d’Avignon", a French folk song that only had two chords. Garrett sang the verses and the boys joined in during the choruses. They made lots of mistakes, but it was still adorable. Ironically, the song lyrics were about dancing on a bridge and I had no doubts that Charlie would one day be a fine dancer.

When the song finished, Linn ran over in her graceful way and kissed him on the cheek, leaving Charlie standing frozen in place as Philladre laughed and led her daughter back to her father. Lifting his lovely fae daughter into his lap, Aedus snaked an arm around his mate's waist, pulling her a little closer, unconsciously creating an incredible Kodak moment.

That's when the world stopped.

I recognized the hum of his cold magic instantly. "Jacqueline." His voice broke into icy slivers across my skin.

I spun around, wishing I had Liam's fae blade. "What do you want?"

"To see my son. I will not stay long."

"Leave now." Lord Caelen suddenly stood beside me, not affected by his twin sister's spell.

Kennet's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Brother. How are you? I see your elder son has done well for your Sidhe. She is a lovely little maiden." Aedus, Philladre and Linn were still frozen in place, like everyone else.

"You will leave immediately." Caelen's voice commanded obedience.

Unfortunately, Kennet seemed to be immune. "The queen has given me this brief moment outside of time to see my son. You cannot block her magic. You gave up that right."

I felt a small hand slip into mine, then Charlie whispered, "Who is he, Mommy?"

The three of us stared at Charlie in shock. "It appears that someone unexpected is also immune to our queen's spell." Kennet grinned and spoke softly so as not to scare him any further."Charles, I am your father, Lord Kennet."

Charlie pointed toward Garrett. "Daddy's sitting over there." He tugged on my hand. "Mommy, he's not moving. Nobody is but us. Why isn't anyone talking?" He glanced around with a panicked expression.

I crouched in front of my son so he'd look at me and not Kennet or the others.

"The Queen of Faerie made a magical spell to stop time for a few minutes. Kennet is her youngest brother and he wanted to see you on your birthday."

"The queen stopped time?" I nodded. "But is everyone at my party okay?"

"Yes. Daddy is fine and so is everyone else."

He looked up at Kennet and pouted. "Why did he lie and say that he's my father?"

My heart was breaking as I spoke. "You know that Daddy and I aren't fae, right?" He nodded with wide eyes. "And you know that you're half fae. That's why your eyes are that color."

He nodded again. "Liam and Farrell teach me to speak Fae, and I learn fast." He smiled with pride.

I took his hand in mine, my plans for how I'd break this news to him cast aside by Kennet's selfishness. "Daddy can't have children because he's a vampire, but he's always wanted one. He's always wanted one just like you. We both have. You make us so happy." I smoothed down his hair then tucked it behind his ear so it wouldn't keep falling into his face.

"You're my mommy, right?" I felt him clutch my hand a little tighter.

"Yes, you grew in my belly." He seemed relieved, then bit his lip and looked up at Kennet with curiosity.

I turned his face back toward mine with a gentle nudge of his chin. "This...this male is the fae who..." I took another breath. "This is your
blood
father, but Daddy is still your
true
father."

"So I have two Daddy's, like Jay?" He was trying so hard to figure it out.

"No, you have one Daddy. Garrett. He's here with us always, protecting you and loving you." I stood up and glared at Kennet, my voice turning colder. "This fae is only your birth father."

"So why is he here, Mommy?" He tucked himself behind me.

"The Faerie Queen said he could come to see you. She's made everyone stand still so he can talk to you."

"But you and Lord Caelen..."

"The Queen wants me to be able to talk to Kennet and Lord Caelen is the Queen's twin brother, so he doesn't have to stand still either." I was so grateful that Caelen was here with me.

As if reading my mind, he positioned himself in front of Charlie and me. "Kennet, go back to court. You've upset the boy." His voice was an angry growl.

"I have the right to see him." He crouched down next to Charlie, but I pulled him closer to my body. "Charles, I do care about you, and now that you're well, I'll be seeing you and your mother from time to time. I have a great many things to teach you. Try not to be afraid of me."

Charlie lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes in anger. "I'm not scareda you. My mommy is strong and I'm getting stronger."