The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* (71 page)

Mathias got up and started clearing the table. I could tell he was mulling over what I said. I just couldn’t shake that there was a reason for all of this.  I accepted the fact that we were true mates, but was our fate decided thousands of years ago? I asked myself.  Was Patcoena a Guardian to both Mathias and me?

“Does it not piss you off that someone has been orchestrating our entire lives?” he asked. “If that’s the case, then has anything that we have ever done been by our own choice?”

“Yeah, it does piss me off.” I said. “I don’t know if it’s romantic or medieval times, arraigned marriage creepy though.”

“I’m not talking just about us.” he said. “I’m talking about everything. Every decision and every choice we ever made. Was it ever ours?”

“I wish I could blame the whole rolling up my jeans and wearing a scrunchie in middle school on someone but unfortunately I have to own up to it myself.”

“What the hell is a scrunchie?” Mathias asked with a bewildered expression

“It’s a thick, cloth, hair tie thingy.” I explained laughing. “Not everything to do with us has been determined by fate. I think probably the major sort of meat and potatoes but not all the other little side dishes. You know what I mean?”

“I have no fucking clue what you mean half the time.” he sighed

“It’s ok, you don’t have too. “ I said. “I’m totally fine with you just wanting to be with me for sex.”

“Is that why you think I’m with you?” he asked amused

“Blood and sex?” I asked. “Yeah, pretty much. Does that make me a sucking whore? Not to be confused with a sucky whore. I think I’m rather good at my job.”

“Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or put you away in an asylum.”

“It’s a thin line between my comedy and insanity.”

Mathias was back over to the table where I still sat in an instant. He swept me up in his arms and sprinted to the bathroom.

“I think I like the title of a sucking whore.” he said as he took off his clothes

“I actually think the term whore is pretty offensive.” I said

“So my blood and sex bitch would probably be out?” he asked

“I prefer to think of you as my bitch.” I said as I shimmied out of my clothes

“I have been from day one.” he said as he turned on the shower. He came over and grabbed my hand. I let him lead me under the hot sprays. “So what should I call you?”

“Girlfriend?”
I asked as he began to lather my body with soap

“Too generic.” he said. He rubbed the foaming suds all around my breasts, and I almost forgot what we were talking about right now.

“I’m not your whore. I’m not your bitch, and I’m not your girlfriend.” I gasped as he began to trail his hands lower. “So what am I?”

“Mine.” he answered as he got down on his knees and buried his head into my stomach. I ran my fingers through his hair that was dripping with water and sighed.

“That is way too cheesy and domineering.” I said as I shut my eyes when he placed soft kisses in my thighs. I was so caught up in his touch I didn’t even realize he hadn’t answered. When I felt his touch leave my body, I looked up in surprise. He had stood up and was staring at me intently.

“It’s not cheesy or domineering.” he said as he lifted me up and put my legs around his waist.

“It’s the truth.” he murmured in my ear right before swiftly entering me.

I had no desire to continue any more conversation after that.

Chapter Twenty-One

“I think I might call you Candy.” Mathias said the next morning when he lifted his head up between my bent knees. I was still gasping after my wake up call. “You’re like my own personal sweet shop. How does that sound?”

“That sounds like me calling Oliver after I shoot my fire at one of your limbs and you’re incapacitated.”

“You don’t like Candy?” he asked grinning

“I love candy.” I answered. “Peanut butter cups, Twizzlers and Junior Mints are the reason I’m not a size zero.  Candy, on the other hand, is not even what I would call my alter ego.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.” Mathias said as he sprawled back against the pillows

“Scarlett.” I said

“Scarlett?” he repeated. “Scarlett is your alter ego.”

“Like Scarlett O’Hara.” I said. “She was a tough chick. Even though, she was raised to be a southern lady, she went after what she wanted. She lied and manipulated, yet you still liked her. I mean think about if Scarlett was alive today. She would be a bad ass. People would say ‘Oh did you see what Scarlett did? She done fucked that guy up and never even broke a nail.' ‘Scarlett’s coming, better hide the liquor, you remember the last time.' ‘Don’t let Scarlett near her tonight’ and my personal favorite, ‘Scarlett can make a dress or a weapon out of drapes’.”

“Now and then I want to ask to speak to whoever thought that you and I should be mates.” Mathias said. “Sometimes I wish I could demand a refund.”

“I just want to let you know that Scarlett isn’t scared off by any threats of a refund or a restraining order.”

“I’m not calling you Scarlett.”

“I know what you can call me.” I paused and added dramatically, “Your soul mate.”

Mathias snorted. “People that call each other soul mates are the most annoying creatures on earth.”

“Isn’t that what true mates essentially are?”

“I don’t know.” he said. “I guess I can live with sucking whore.”

“That’s not appropriate.” I replied. “If I was a vampire, maybe, but…”

“But what?”
Mathias asked after I ended my sentence abruptly

“If I was a vampire, would my powers go away?” I asked slowly

“Sabine’s didn’t.” he answered. “Maybe some might have diminished but she was still strong in her spell casting skills.”

“But what if I turned into a vampire?” I asked. “Maybe I would be weaker. Then they wouldn’t have any use for me.”

“Willa, I don’t think that would happen.” Mathias said

“Just think about it though.” I said. “If I was a vampire, they might not want me anymore. They might think my powers went away and then they would leave us alone.”

Mathias sat up and looked at me intently. “I already thought about it and I decided the risk was too great. We still don’t know the extent of what you can do. The addition of vampirism in your blood may trigger something even more dangerous.”

“You thought about it?”

“Yes, I did, and the outcome is too uncertain.”

I slumped down even farther in the bed. I was trying to think of anything that could get us out of this mess without starting some bloody war.

“You’re stalling.” Mathias said as he got out of bed

“I know.” I replied and followed him into the bathroom. “I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I may not want to find out who or what I really am.”

“You’re Willa.” Mathias said pulling me into the shower with him, “My hot sucking whore.”

“Are you sure you can do this?” Mathias asked an hour later. “No one but the Fae king or queen has the power to open a portal without the aid of a mirror.”

“Am I sure I can do this?” I asked. “No, but I have to try. Worst case scenario we use the bathroom mirror.”

Mathias still seemed doubtful. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my churning insides. I called each element and waited for them to surround my body. Instead of trying to call my fire in my hands, I simply reached out to it and found out the element still lingering within me. I knew that I might fail, but the more I pictured the portal opening, the more I realized that I could do this.

I opened my eyes and could see the air start shimmering and sifting in front of me. I pictured the alley down the street from the bakery. The vision before me looked was so perfect I almost wasn’t aware that the real thing was now opened right in front of me.

Mathias just raised his eyebrow and chuckled. “Why I doubted you is beyond me.”

“It’s ok.” I said.  “I work much better with low expectations than high ones.”

We clasped hands and walked through the portal together. The feeling of being sucked through a time and space was still not one I was entirely comfortable with yet. Teleporting was quick and easy. Going through the portal was like jumping into a tornado.

When we landed on the pavement, the portal closed immediately. I was so confused that the elements had left me, and the portal closed by my lack of concentration.

“It’s still dark out.” I had observed before it hit me. “Oh crap. I totally forgot about the whole time zone thing.”

“It is about three in the morning local time.” Mathias replied checking his phone. “What time does Patcoena usually show up at the bakery on Friday’s?”

“Not until nine or nine thirty,” I answered. “What are we going to do for six hours?”

“I have an idea.” Mathias said. “Hop on my back.”

I clambered on and held myself tightly around his body. We took off towards the sky, and I looked around almost detached as we soared over my hometown of Yuma, Arizona. I may not have been gone for that long but so much had happened over the last six months that to be here almost felt awkward.

When he turned towards the river, I knew where he was going. I almost protested, but my curiosity was too great. We landed on a quiet tree lined street and I stumbled to the ground as I climbed off of Mathias’s back. We walked in silence until I stopped in front of a long driveway.

Even though, it was dark; the street lights illuminated the one story rambling house. I walked down the long driveway and stopped when I got to the front door. Instead of making Mathias break the handle so I could get into the main house, I walked around to the back and there sat my little cottage. It still looked like something out of a fairy tale to me.

Only know I knew that some fairy tales were real, and they didn’t all have happy endings.

I turned the knob on the wooden door and was surprised when it opened with ease. My little kitchen looked neat and tidy. I remembered working hard many days and nights in this space. I rolled out dough for countless hours on my countertops and crunched numbers on my little bistro dining table. I went further in, and a wave of homesickness came over me as I looked around my living room.

The overstuffed furniture was still sitting in place, but the bookshelves that used to be jammed packed with books and knickknacks were gone. I used to love to curl up and watch TV in here. In the winter, I
would light a fire in my beehive stove and sip homemade hot chocolate. I would dance around the room with my iPod blaring and not have a care in the world.

“What are thinking?” Mathias asked as he went over to stand by the cold fireplace

“I’m thinking that Willa McCormack wouldn’t recognize Willa, Princess of the Clan of Skye.” I answered. “I’m not sure whether that makes me sad or not.”

“I think Willa McCormack is still there,” he said. “She’s just a bit more mature.”

“I never thought of myself as childish until I met you.” I said pointedly

“You were never childish Willa. You were just naïve.” he replied. “That’s not an insult. That’s a fact.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “I was trying to picture myself and what I was doing a year ago. I think it was around this time that I broke up with my boyfriend. I found him in bed with another woman.”

“He’s an idiot.” Mathias said

I nodded in agreement. “Do you know that I didn’t even cry? I was pissed, but I got over it pretty quick. If I found you in bed with another woman, it would kill me. I always have thought of myself as a strong woman who didn’t need a man, and if he cheated, he was gone. End of story. I’m not sure what I would do if it were you. I don’t think I could ever let you go, cheater or not.”

“That’s something you never have to worry about.” he said reassuringly as he came over and gently put his hand under my chin

I pulled away and sat on the couch. Mathias looked at me with concern. “What? What is it?”

“When you came home, and we were in the bar that
night, Sabine put her hand on your arm. I knew right then that you had been intimate with her. It literally made me sick to my stomach, but I still didn’t want to know. That’s what makes it so weird. Usually I want to know every detail. I always tried to find out everything I could about a guy’s past and his relationships. With you though, I don’t want to know because there is no competition and if anyone tried to take you away from me I would destroy them.”

“Willa…” Mathias said

“No.” I interrupted him. “I know that sounds really psycho but it’s the truth.”

“I had no interest in Sabine.” Mathias said as he held up his hand to stop my protests. “Every night in June I have what you would call a pity party. It’s the night I was turned and the night I saw my sister murdered. Sabine had been after me for quite some time, but I always tried to be polite in my refusal. It’s no excuse, but I was slightly inebriated and feeling pretty depressed when I took what she offered so freely. I knew it was a mistake at once, but I tried to let her down easy. She did not take my rejection very well.”