A Lady of the Realm (8 page)

“I’m not a very good teacher.”

I looked at him. “It probably takes practice.”

He was shaking his head vigorously. “I don’t want to.”

“If the shit hits the fan, will you do it?”

“Of course,” he said immediately.

This was easy. “Don’t wait ‘til then. Practice makes perfect.”

“Bethany...” His unblinking eyes searched mine.

“After I’ve finished breakfast.” I grabbed another beignet and bit a chunk off.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled softly. “Alas, you might be right. We must hire a private tutor soon. You need to equip yourself properly before you join the game in earnest.” He turned around and paced to the window. “Best advice I can give you on shifting is to focus.”

That was helpful. “Gotcha.”

I licked the powder sugar off my fingers and headed for the bathroom. Sasha ran a hot bath in the old claw tub as I stretched. I climbed in, with his help, and sank into the lavender scented water. He washed my hair, scrubbed my back, and rinsed the suds off my body. His touch, soft and sensuous, puckered my nipples unexpectedly. He was kind enough not to comment.

I was slipping into my clothes when Sasha brushed his fingers down my back.

“Bethany …” I twirled. “This is for you.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“A gift.”

“From you?”

“No,” he said. “It’s from Malachi.”

“Malachi didn’t piss me off last night,” I said.

I couldn’t get straight answers for the simplest questions. Malachi had given Sasha a gift for me. Why? Sasha took two steps forward, opened the box, and placed it in my hands.

“Holy shit,” I said.

I ran a finger down the necklace ensconced in the velvet folds of the box. I took it out and held it to the light. The thin mesh rope shone brilliantly in the morning light. The lone pendant, a dark blue oval gemstone in a simple setting, threw rainbows onto the walls. I turned the necklace around bit by bit, inspecting the fine craftsmanship as if the metal could speak to me.

“You need to wear it,” he said.

“I don’t think so. This must cost a fortune,” I said. It was so beautiful.

“Money is unimportant. Besides, it’s part of your essence. Once on you’ll never part with it.”

“English, Sasha,” I said as I looked at the necklace in my hands.

His lips twitched. He thought it was funny when I asked him to explain his cryptic sentences.

“Every gemstone is given special meanings and properties. This sapphire promotes mental clarity and perception. It also helps with healing. Most of us inherit a gem that helps us channel our powers. This one is a DeDe charm. Malachi found it, and it’s yours.”

“Wow.”

“Turn around, let me fasten it on you.”

I obeyed, gathering my hair up in one hand to whisk it out of the way. The necklace fell upon my bare skin, heavy and cool, with a loud snap. It was really more like a choker than a necklace. It nestled against my throat as if it belonged there.

Sasha whispered, “It’ll help you.”

“I doubt it.” I touched the necklace, an odd feeling made me uncomfortable where it rested on my skin. It was becoming warm, eerie enough for goose bumps to rise on my body.

He straightened up and rubbed my arms, aware of the goose bumps that had popped up.

“Do you need to say goodbye?” he asked avoiding my eyes.

“No, they’ll live,” I said.

I took Sasha’s hand and stepped into his embrace. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I ended up concentrating on the feel of it and the nature, the elusive ability, of shifting space.

It was disconcerting. I kept a mental tab on Sasha, feeling him not just with my hands and body, but also with my emotional antennae. Everything else disappeared. The room simply faded in a swirl of color, one piece after another. Even time faded in the swirl of color and energy. A heavy weight fell upon my chest as darkness engulfed my sight. Before I knew it, we were back in his rooms, but it was dark, disorienting me. The skylights had been blocked by the shutter system.

Sasha placed me on a bar stool and waited for a reaction. Soon, I realized, he was waiting for any reaction. I couldn’t speak or form a coherent thought for minutes. I couldn’t focus my eyesight either. He was everywhere, dancing about, coming in and out of focus at irregular intervals.

“Bethany? Bethany speak to me, can you hear me?”

I could technically hear him, but it was indistinct, as if his voice was being amplified through water. I saw someone else in the dim room, but I instinctively knew that the person wasn’t in the room with us. It was a young man, a little older than my twenty-three years. He had on a necklace that seemed to radiate energy. It was a red gemstone, similar to my own, but set into a true leather choker. I knew him, but I couldn’t say how.

Just when I was about to say his name aloud, he looked into my eyes. The next thing I felt was Sasha on top of me. I was on the floor. I never passed out. It seemed such a fragile thing to do. Sasha was shaking me, rattling my teeth. He overreacted to just about everything.

“Stop it.” I tried to push his arms away but was unsuccessful.

“What happened? Bethany, there’s more at stake than you realize.” He stopped the shaking but still grasped me too hard.

“Maybe you should try sharing.” I swatted at his hands again.

He was furious, not bothering to be nice.

“Trystyn will be here in a few minutes. We have business to discuss.”

Meaning he didn’t want to have to worry about me.

“Whatever.”

I just wanted to lie down again, close my eyes, and fall asleep for a very long time.

“What did you see?”

I looked up, his eyes piercing mine. A very unfriendly expression made my blood freeze. I stuttered in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Your expression, minx,” he said. His eyes did soften a bit. But, just a bit.

“It was someone… someone I knew, I think.”

Doubt etched his eyes. He cocked his head suddenly to the side as Trystyn popped into the room in a blaze of yellow light.

“I’ve seen road kills look better, cub, is she okay?” Trystyn asked Sasha. When Sasha didn’t answer, he turned towards me. His head at an angle, his expression was confused.

“Give me a second,” Sasha said to me.

I fell back onto the floor and closed my eyes. How did the freaks go about shifting all day long? This was exhausting.

The brothers went to the bar, like good elves, and uncorked a couple bottles of liquor. They began in English but quickly reverted to arguing in a foreign language.

I focused on my muscles, relaxing them one at a time. I tried to block out the argument, which was escalating. I heard the shattering of bottles above me, felt a wave of angry energy swirl but tried to focus on me. I flexed my fingers slowly and lifted my hand to the necklace. The gemstone was ice cold against my throat. When I touched it, my body tingled in response. It was a good tingle, a hot bath after walking all day, tingle.

With my eyes closed and still on the floor, I didn’t expect to feel Sasha grasp my arm and haul me up. He was still arguing with Trystyn but had switched back to English.

“Wait until I call you.”

Sasha swept past him and out the door, with me by his side.

Chapter Seven
:
The Decree

Why here
? I mused aloud. The museum was closed for the weekend due to the city partying as if the end of days was upon it. I loved the museum and came here often with the half-breed, a lover of all things art. Sasha, he wasn’t into art. He preferred music as his form of entertainment.

Sasha lifted me over the stone fence and into the gardens. I was shocked when he actually answered my question. Something about needing to finalize his plans, and that
this
was the perfect spot for such an arrangement. I stared around the deserted oak grove seeking a better explanation.

The museum garden was littered with sculptures and blooms. I’d been here many times, and I didn’t understand why we were here now. A heated sensation pricked the center of my back. Someone was watching us from across the Azby Bridge.

“I see,” I said.

I could hear the suppressed anger in my own voice. A blistering wall of humiliation surrounded me because I’d been caught in my own web of deceit. I wanted to blame Sasha; after all, he was the one who didn’t disclose vital information. But I couldn’t. We played a game, and I had made a wrong move.

Sasha turned around, facing the opposite side of the grounds. It couldn’t be one big coincidence that we all met up.

“What do I have to do?” I asked.

“Stay next to me at all times. I’m only speaking to her today,” he said.

He turned to me and rubbed his knuckles across my collarbone. I didn’t look into his eyes. I didn’t want to see my own tortured expression in his violet orbs. This is one of those times when I wished he would’ve left me somewhere else. The fierce surge of anger was blinding.

“Okay. How long’s this going to take?” I asked.

“I don’t imagine long. It’s difficult having a decent conversation with the cunt.”

Ouch, that was low and intended solely to appease me. It didn’t work, but it did make me smile.

“Have you tried?” I asked. I looked over his shoulder towards the lagoon. I still couldn’t see Lilith, but I sensed her oily presence.

“Not for over 80 years.”

Damn freaks and their longevity. Their sense of time was clearly distorted. How could someone possibly have unresolved issues with another for so long?

Across the water, a woman began walking towards us. The setting sun threw sparkles off her cornsilk hair. Sasha grabbed my hand, squeezing hard enough to leave black and blue impressions. We were going to have to talk about his strength and my human body, again. He took one-step, his second hand sliding deep into his front pocket. I eyed
his wife
.

“Lilith,” he made her name sound as if it was an expletive.

“Alek, love, I see you brought me a peace offering.”

The bitch was a comedian. I rotated my neck slowly while my eyes were trained on her perfect body. Calm. I had to stay calm and focused.

“Don’t be absurd,” Sasha said.

Lilith stood about ten feet away, her hands on her slim, size two, hips. The long sleeves of her black turtleneck were pushed up to her elbows. Her nails, the envy of any woman who worked on a pole, were cherry red and long. She held a cigarette in her right hand, which she was inhaling every few seconds.

“Let me see if I have the story straight. She’s your new woman. Is that correct?”

“I’m trading you in.”

I smirked, which was just petty of me. Lilith inhaled, never glancing to where I stood beside Sasha.

“You always were dramatic.”

Sasha tossed his head and spit on the ground. “Did you enjoy Paris?”

Lilith laughed a high, almost childlike laugh. It was becoming. It made her seem almost human for a second.

“I suppose you’re upset.”

“You know me only too well.”

Lilith continued taunting. Either she wasn’t aware he wasn’t enjoying the word play or she was stupid. I leaned on the later.

“Her tears were inspiring. She said I’d never get what I want. Yet how could she know what I want?”

A malicious grin spread across her face as she inhaled.

Sasha rolled his eyes. “To business. You’ve wanted to talk to me for decades. Here I am.”

Lilith composed herself. She became very still as she stared at Sasha.

“This is the year, Alek. Take me back and I won’t hurt your pet,” she said.

He chuckled. “No,
cher
.”

She took a deep breath and threw her cigarette at him.

“Then I’ll kill your peasant whore.”

She looked directly at me, pushing her sunglasses up into her hair. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of gold.

“A peasant?” The whore part didn’t bother me as much as the peasant. I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until Lilith responded.

“You allow her to speak?” Lilith asked.

Sasha squeezed my hand in warning, but I wasn’t going to back down. My voice was steady.

“First thing, bitch, I’m not a peasant. Second, he doesn’t own me.”

Lilith cocked her head to the side, eyeing me like an adult eyes a precocious child. She sniffed the air daintily and grinned.

“Alek, what is it with you and witches?”

Sasha, being an elf with a mind I could never fully follow, furrowed his brows.

“A curse,
cher
,” he said softly.

“Alek, please. Listen to reason,” Lilith said harshly.

Sasha pulled me closer to him. The air was dense with the tension of the conversation. He spoke to Lilith, his eyes dancing around the gardens.

“I want a divorce.”

“Are you delusional?” Lilith screeched. Sasha’s emotional meter spiked, the tension cresting and oozing out from his mind.

The energy in the gardens had grown. Supernatural and alien, my head began pounding from the strange whispers in the wind that whipped the dead leaves into swirls. Sasha said one word, loud and clear. His regal roots slipped out in his refined speech.

“Witness …”

The air around us started popping in color. Orange, blue, purple, and red blazed like fireworks as witnesses joined us in the gardens. Sasha had explained the dual dimension thing they had going on, and how it was used. Yet seeing something is quite different than discussing it in some remote, safe place over drinks.

Faeries. Their silvery steel looking skin and platinum blond hair gave them away. I didn’t need to see the glowing green eyes. One of them came towards Sasha and Lilith with a broad smile. His teeth glistened, a great white shark before dinnertime.

There were many others present not of fae blood. The men and women all looked quite human and normal from a distance. My guess was that they were demons and elves. If not for their sudden appearance on this side of the invisible threshold, I wouldn’t have known they were non-human from where I stood. My attention went back to the head honcho. He was standing in front of Sasha with a cruel smile on his thin lips.