The Lady of the Storm - 2 (20 page)

Cecily had always imagined
his
pleasure when she fantasized about making love to him. She had never thought of her own.

Giles threw back his head, a moan low in his throat as he continued to rock faster and faster. No. She wanted to see his face. She grabbed his hair and yanked his head back down and their gazes met as the fire built between them.

Cecily pulled her legs nearly beside her ears as she fought to take him into her deeper. But Giles held back. Instead he increased his tempo, his muscles bulging, his eyes intense as he stared into her own. And then he shuddered, an expression of pure rapture delineating his handsome features, making him nearly glow with a matching inner beauty.

Cecily’s body responded to his pleasure, the feeling that spread through her this time not a sundering, but rather a deeper flare that enfolded him inside of her and throbbed in time with him.

Giles watched her until she stilled. “I have dreamed of your face beneath me for so very long.”

Her heart swelled. He could not have made any other declaration that sounded as sweet to her ears as that one.

She expected him to roll over and hold her for a time, but he left the bed and she heard the splash of water from the washstand, then he returned with a wet cloth and carefully wiped her. Despite his even more intimate ministrations but a few moments ago, his attention made her blush.

“Are you tender?” he asked.

“A bit.”

“It will fade.” Giles tossed aside the cloth and knelt by the edge of the bed in all his dazzling nudity, clasping one of her hands within his own and rolling her over to meet his gaze.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Will you marry me?”

Nine

The darling girl looked up at him with those faceted blue eyes and said, “Yes.”

His heart soared. She had spoken truly, then, when she said she didn’t care about the differences in their circumstances. He did not know how he would deal with her social set without being forced to knock a few heads together, but he would try.

“But,” she continued, “we shall have to wait.”

He dropped her hand and rose, sat on the edge of the bed next to her, raking up the bedding and gently covering her body. The sight of her rosy skin proved too much of a distraction for him to focus on their conversation. And it appeared it would require his full attention.

“Why?” Giles dragged his fingers through his hair. When she had disappeared under that mountain, he had come to terms with himself. Even if it meant giving up his dreams of becoming a true spy for the Rebellion, even if he must go live among the gentry or in a hovel by the ocean, he could not live without the lady. “My dear Cecily, I have been waiting nigh onto ten years now, and the past few weeks have been a sheer torture of indecision.”

“I know.” For a moment, he thought he saw tears glistening in her eyes. “But we do not have time to wed. We must leave as soon as we are able.”

“You found something in that mountain. What is it?”

“I saw Thomas.”

“Wait.” He held up his hand, sat back on the edge of the bed. “Start from the beginning.”

She nodded and sat up, hugging the covers to her chest, thank the devil. He had never seen such a beautiful pair of—

“The river did provide a way into the interior of the crystal. I surfaced within a cavern and found my way out to a hallway, of sorts. Open to the sky and flanked by crystal columns. Such a beautiful place—”

“Please, Cecily, just get to the important parts.”

“I found Sebastian’s tomb—at least, I think it was his. The coffin had been cracked open, along with several statues of rather fierce-looking guardians. But I couldn’t find a ring. And then I heard… do you know how the crystal sings? I thought I heard my name in that song. I thought I heard my father’s voice.”

Giles reached out and touched her cheek. He did not doubt that Thomas had found a way to reach her again. “What did he say?”

“He told me where to find him. He’s… Giles, he’s trapped… or imprisoned… in the last place we saw a vision of him. That place of wild magic.”

“Seven Corners?”

“Aye. And I must go find him.”

Giles glanced over at his sword belt, close to hand on a side table, the plain hilt of his devil-blade winking at him from the scabbard. He had feared an attachment to Cecily would end his ambitions, and yet she brought him more excitement and adventure than he could ever have hoped for. “
We
will go find him.”

She huffed. “Giles, you heard what the professor said. No human has ever come out of that forest alive… or unchanged.”

“No one with your level of magic has ever ventured within before, either. And I have my blade, Cecily.” He could not dampen the excitement from his voice. “I will protect you.”

“Me? I do not want to see
you
turned into a monster.”

He laughed. “I will not allow it.” She gave him such a look of disgruntlement that he could not resist leaning forward and wrapping his arms about her. “My dear, Thomas must have something very important to tell you if he’s asked you to follow him there.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” His chest muffled her voice. “I will not feel guilty for stealing this time with you. It might be the very last—”

“Cecily, quit this foolishness. We will have our whole lives to spend together. But you are right—our marriage must wait. We must leave for Seven Corners at once.”

She sighed, her breath hot against his naked chest. He lifted her chin and kissed her, loving the way she tasted, the way she responded to his touch with no artifice whatsoever. He would never allow anything to harm her. Marriage or no, he
would
be her protector, now and for always.

For the first time since losing his brother and father, Giles felt whole. He had not realized he missed having a family, but now that he knew Cecily had become a part of him, the emptiness he had carried inside of him suddenly eased. Perhaps he hadn’t been looking for vengeance after all. Perhaps he had only been looking for someone to love again.

***

Giles pressed their mounts hard on the journey back to Oxfordshire, again waiting until Cecily looked to be falling from her saddle before he called a halt for the night. She did not complain, and despite her words, he thought she might carry some guilt for not coming to Thomas at once. Giles assured her that an hour would not have made any difference to Thomas’s situation when he had been missing for months.

For his part, Giles would not feel guilty for those stolen hours. Indeed, he thought it would always remain in his memory as the happiest moment of his life.

Although he ached for her even more fiercely than he had before. He’d had a taste of heaven and he longed for more, but could only comfort himself with their closer relationship. He did not need to concoct any reason to sleep with her in his arms.

When they reached that strange forest, it looked exactly the same, much to Giles’s wonder and Cecily’s obvious dismay.

“We still do not have a plan,” she said.

Giles shrugged. “How can we make a proper plan when we do not know what we will be facing?” He leaped from the saddle and patted Apollo’s neck to calm him. Cecily always liked to map things out, for it gave her the illusion she was in control. “We will improvise as we go along.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring.” She dismounted as well, then hugged the little mare. “Belle will not go in there.”

Giles nodded at both their shivering horses. “I didn’t expect she would.” He started removing Apollo’s saddle. “We will leave them in the meadow. Apollo will wait for me and Belle will not leave his side.”

Cecily nodded and began removing her own tack. She had learned to be quite proficient at it. “I can call the water from the nearby river to place a shield around us.”

Giles placed his saddle under a leafy bush, the only shelter outside of those woods. “Then how will we see where we are going?” He placed Belle’s tack beside Apollo’s and covered it up with a blanket. Giles handed Cecily the smaller bag of their supplies and tied the heaver sack to his belt.

“You have a point,” she replied, tying her own sack to her girdle. “But I will not go in there unprotected—no offense to your devil-blade.”

Giles stared into the woods, trying to penetrate the shadows and the darkness. “I wonder how often it erupts into black flame? Or was that caused by Thomas’s appearance?”

She waved a trembling hand at the woods. “Who knows? There’s nothing within but chaos!”

Giles reached out and dragged her into his arms. “Wait for me here.”

She felt as stiff as steel. “We have already discussed this.”

He grinned. “I had to try.”

Giles bent down and kissed her until she stopped trembling.

“I’ve been thinking,” he murmured against her hair. “All of the powers of the elven lords meet at this place, which means Breden of Dewhame’s magic is a part of it.”

“So there will be water within?”

“Just so. You will have a weapon to command.”

“If we don’t get roasted to ash, first.”

Giles glanced up and kissed the top of Cecily’s head. “You have already called to it.”

River water flowed toward her, translucent bands of pale blue curling and twining with the movement of her fingers. “Just a bit. Enough to protect us from that black flame, if we need it.”

“Then we are as prepared as we can possibly be.”

He set her behind him and strode toward the towering forest. His sword began to tremble, but he did not need the warning. When Giles reached the first line of trees he unclenched his fists with relief. They hadn’t disappeared into a flame of black fire. Yet.

Cecily touched his shoulder. “Look, Giles, to the left.”

“Keep behind me,” he ordered before looking in the direction she pointed. A small orb of light danced a merry jig above a path bordered with craggy roots. “It could be a trap.”

“But Thomas appeared in a ball of light, remember? Perhaps he’s only strong enough to send this smaller one.”

“You truly want to follow it?” A sliver of water slipped around his neck and tapped his cheek, as Cecily used her magic as easily as she used a finger.

“Which other path would you choose?”

She was right. Giles stepped into the woods, ignoring the water that trickled down the front of his shirt. He’d become used to Cecily’s magic, just as she had become accustomed to his sword. What an unlikely pair they made. No, what a
likely
pair they made.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “None of them look very promising—are those vines slithering across the ground, or snakes?”

She stood so close to him he felt her shudder. “Do you see those red eyes staring at us?”

“Follow the ball of light, then.” And he turned and headed down that path, making sure he stayed in front of Cecily to meet any danger first.

They circled around trees whose girth easily measured the height of three men, the canopy so far above them that it seemed as if it would take hours for a single leaf to hit the ground. An eerie silence haunted the forest and Giles stepped lightly, avoiding the crackle of leaves or the pop of a dry branch. His ears pricked at the slightest sound from within the twilight of the woods: a low growl, a shuffling footstep, the shriek of some small dying creature. His gaze searched between bush and bramble for enemies but he could not see farther than a few yards. Vines swayed from above, curious blue growths attached to them that spread from one vine to another like the sails of a ship. A green mist swirled about the bushes that fought for space between the trees, and each time the mist shifted the plants appeared to change shape.

A limb reached out to touch him and he squinted to discern its shape, for it looked for all the world like some desiccated arm with tattered clothing for leaves and a hand of twiggy fingers. It tried to touch his hair, and his devil-blade jumped into his hand and he swung. A shriek filled the silence and the severed limb fell at his feet.

“Giles?”

“Yes?” he panted.

“Where are you going?”

He turned, suddenly realizing he could no longer feel Cecily holding on to the back of his coat. She stood on the path, the ball of light impatiently bounding up and down.

Giles stood between two scraggly bushes. “I swear I saw the path veer in this direction.”

Cecily clutched her shoulders and hugged herself. “This is such a strange place, Giles. I do not know how Thomas has lived in here for months.”

He sheathed his blade and leaped to her side, enfolding her small body in his arms. “Do not worry, we will rescue him. But I think this wood is purposely trying to make me lose my way. I will keep my eyes on our guide instead of the path, and we will not be separated again. You stay by my side from now on.”

She nodded and he let her go, but caught up her hand and kept it securely within his own.

The orb had waited for them, pulsing with a soft glow, but quickly shot ahead as soon as they started to follow again. They walked in silence for a time, until Cecily began to lag behind him.

Something cold tickled the back of Giles’s neck and dripped down his back. “How much is it tiring you to trail half the river in our wake?”

“It is not a great use of my power and I should not feel this tired. I have gotten used to being away from the ocean and the wealth of water in Dewhame. I think… I think it is this place fighting my magic, for I have to struggle to keep the water in its shape.”

Giles glanced behind them. The clusters of liquid lacked their usual sleek form, distorted about the edges and leaking in their wake. Perhaps a third of the water she had called from the river still swirled behind them.

And then his blade trembled on his hip and Giles turned, pushing Cecily behind him. Something approached them from down the path, in the shape of a human but not walking with the stride of one. Giles drew his sword and waited, for they would not turn back.

“Could it be Thomas?” Cecily asked, stepping to his side but keeping at least a bit behind him.

“I do not know. But do not rush forward, and let me handle this.” He remembered his battle with the fire demon. “Do not use your magic unless you have to. Agreed?”

“I do not make the same mistakes, Giles.”

He could not help but grin at the offended tone in her voice, but the expression soon faded as the… creature neared them. Giles smelled it first. The stench of rotting meat hit his nose like a solid wall and he swallowed against the urge to retch, like Cecily began to do beside him.

Giles took a step forward. “Stop.”

The thing grinned at him. Green blotches covered a misshapen face and its teeth looked more like an animal’s than a man’s. A tattered black uniform hung on a massive frame, fur springing between the tears. The creature held up its hands as if to strike, claws sprouting from the tips of stunted fingers.