Chosen Darkness (Chosen Series) (8 page)

“What magic?” Falyn wanted to know.

“Magic to free your bloodlines,” Break informed her.

“How I am going to seek anything when I can’t even work my druid magic to open this so-called Gate? Does it mean I’m going to be like this for the rest of my life?” Falyn asked.

“You have to learn how to use your druid power,” Break told her.

“My father spent months trying to force me to learn how to use it and it got him, and me, nowhere! How am I going to unlock it when I’m a mutt?” Falyn demanded to know.

“Break, the magic is from the other world. Is it possible I could find a fix to it there?” Alex broke in.

“Yes, I’m sure that’s very possible Alex, but how do you plan to get there?” Break asked.

“I still have some elf magic I haven’t used. It will open the portal to the other world, but I only have enough to open it once.”

“But you would not be able to come back through!” Break cried in horror.

“You don’t know that. I could seek out the Immortal Guard – they would be able to open the Gate for me,” Alex replied.

“Surely you’ve heard the rumors. It’s said the Guard is no more, the Dark Druids overthrew them!” Break was giving him a worried look.

“It is only a rumor, Break, we don’t know for sure,” Alex soothed.

“Wait! Why can’t I open the portal? If what I have been told is true, then I’m the Gatekeeper on this side. I can open it.” Falyn was trying to work out a plan.

“No Falyn, you’re being hunted for exactly that ability. Since Malcom, Shadow wolves and even the mystics in this world know about your powers, the inhabitants of the other world will too. Which means you would be in danger. I can’t risk that, Falyn. I’ll go alone. I will seek out a cure and if I can’t find it, if I can’t get back, then it’s no less then what I deserve for giving you to Malcom.” Alex’s tone was harsh.

“Alex, it’s my cure to seek, not yours! I’m in danger in either world. Isn’t this true?” Falyn asked him.

“You would have been in danger as you were, but like this? No, you are useless – to your father and anyone else.”

“No,” Falyn whispered, as she sunk into the sofa, her hand covering her mouth.

Falyn got it now. Alex planned to leave her here as a dog so she would be safe while he went on some wild goose chase to find a cure in the other world, with a good chance of never returning.

“This spell is underlain with something more. It could be fated Falyn’s destiny is linked to this, meaning she will have to go,” Break told them.

“But it might be something else altogether, Break. It might be the fact she is the only one of her kind in the world you’re picking up! You have no way of knowing for sure,” Alex pointed out, as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Maybe, but can you leave her alone here, stuck as she is?” Break wanted to know.

Alex looked at Falyn, who had not said anything this whole time, her mind reeling with the truth, Alex was prepared to let her stay as she was.

“If she is safe, then yes, I will go and I will find a cure. If I don’t, then whether I return or not, Break, you must do all you can to help Falyn get back to normal.”

“I will,” Break promised softly.

Falyn sense they were leaving something out, but all she could think about right now was the fact she was going to be trapped as a dog!

“Now, if you don’t mind, we need to go for a walk.”

Alex took Falyn’s hand and they left the house together.

“Alex, I’m so confused!” Falyn cried as he led her down to the beach.

“Hush, you’re going to be fine. Let’s not worry about it right now.”

It was a warm night and the moon was still bright. Alex kept an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

“I am sorry, Falyn, more than I can say…”

Falyn didn’t want to hear him say it again.

“Enough, Alex. I don’t blame you. Just hold me… Okay?” she asked him.

“Okay,” he murmured into her hair.

It started as a kiss as he ran his hands down her arms, and then back up, making Falyn more than ready to feel him inside her.

“Alex, I want you to make love to me,” she whispered into his ear as he kissed a path down her neck.

“You’re sure?” His gaze locked with hers.

“Yes,” she told him, bringing her mouth to his.

He pulled his shirt off and, with little effort, undid the buttons on her borrowed dress. Her bare skin prickled with goose bumps as the air washed over her, followed by the warmth of his breath.

He took her breasts into his mouth in turn, sucking each nipple until they were hard little mounds. Then he moved his lips lower to her stomach, before ending up between her legs. His mouth teased her until she was ready to lose her mind. Just when she thought she could take no more, he spread her legs and thrust into her.

He moved slowly, easing her ever so close to her breaking point. Then he went faster, each thrust harder and quicker than the last, till she cried out. She clutched his shoulders as he carried her away from everything but the pleasure he brought her. Her cries washed away with the sounds of the thundering sea.

They made love until it was nearly dawn. Then Falyn fell asleep. Alex held her as he watched her chest rise and fall. She was still more beautiful than any one woman had the right to be. No mortal could hope to be so lovely, yet she was also much more. And this kept him coming back to the idea she was not meant for him. He had never been a one-woman kind of man, but he had not thought he would ever find a woman like Falyn.

And it was his fault she was now in this awful situation for he had sent her into hell when he gave her over to her father. He should have trusted his gut! Now it was too late for ‘what ifs’: he had to go find a way to make this better.

Alex held her as the light of dawn touched the sky. He held her even as the light stuck her and she once more became a dog. He then got up without a sound. He didn’t have the heart to tell her goodbye because it would only make it so much harder to leave her behind

Chapter Nine: Tide Pools

Falyn stood on the cliff top, watching the waves as she had every day since she’d awoken to find Alex gone. And while she was used to roaming around as a wolf, this was different. This dog was not anything close to what her wolf side felt like. Being stuck, unable to change back, was the most horrible feeling of all.

As the days turned into weeks, Falyn was getting stir crazy. She paced so much Break often sent her outside to walk it off.

The next full moon was tonight. Falyn was more than ready to take on her human form again. This time she was going to tell Break she had to go find Alex. True, she might not be able to get her powers to work in order to open the stupid gateway, but maybe just showing up would be enough. If there was one of these Immortal Guards there, surely he would let her in.

It made sound reasoning to her and she hoped it would to Break. After all, Alex was her friend too and she wouldn’t want him trapped in the other world either.

The moment Break finished the changing spell, Falyn shared her plans with her.

“I’m sorry, Falyn, but you can’t go seeking the gateway as a dog. In that form you have no powers and my magic is linked to this pool only,” Break informed her sadly.

“Then I’ll go as a human,” Falyn announced firmly.

“How are you going to go as a human when you only have one night a month like this?” Break asked.

“Damn it, Break, can’t you change me at the Gate itself or something?” Falyn demanded, her voice going up a notch.

“The gate is across the sea at Stonehenge. How exactly do you plan to make it there in one night?”

Break’s logic was starting to wear on Falyn’s nerves!

“You’re a mermaid; don’t you have magic?” Falyn cried in frustration.

“I have some magic, as you know, but nothing that will get you to England fast enough.”

With a loud sigh, Falyn gave up arguing and picked up the clothes Break had laid out for her. She got dressed and then ate dinner with Break, trying her best not to be mad at the friendly mermaid. None of this was Break’s fault.

Still, she had to wonder if Break could help her more than she was letting on. A gut feeling she had told her Break was not being one hundred percent honest with her.

After dinner, Falyn went to walk along the beach, hoping the night air would take some of the edge off of her frustration. What she was not excepting was the dark shadow on the beach. The man just seemed to pop out of the shadows, making her heart stop. Falyn’s first thoughts were her father had come for her. But as the moon cast light on the figure, she saw it was her grandfather.

Still a little uneasy, she made her way to him. Stopping a few feet away she waited for him to turn to her.

“Falyn, it’s good to see you.” He smiled at her.

“I can’t say I feel the same…” She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

“I told you what the price would be, didn’t I?”

His reminder did nothing to cool her rage.

“Yes, but I didn’t think it would be so hard!” Falyn snapped at him.

“I understand, be glad you did not have my fate.” His words made her look at him sharply.

“What do you mean?”

He seemed unharmed as she looked him over.

“Your father found out quicker than I thought that I had helped you, and now I stand before you a mere ghost.” His eyes darkened with sorrow.

“What do you mean, a ghost…? He killed you?” Falyn was in shock.

“Yes, and now I come to tell you the mermaid has found a way to keep you human longer.”

Those words sent a rush of hope through her body.

“How do you know this?”

“I’m a ghost. I see everything. She found out a few weeks ago, dipping an object in the tide pool on a full moon and then placing that object on your body will keep you in human form, but she doesn’t want to break her promise to Alex about keeping you safe as a dog.”

Falyn felt goose bumps prickle on her skin. At first she was mad. How dare Break keep something like this from her? But after she thought it through a moment, she knew the real person she should be mad at was Alex. He was the one who’d left her here, stuck like this! Then immediately she felt horrible for even thinking such a thing. Alex was doing all he could to help her, Falyn knew that.

With a heavy sigh, Falyn turned to address her grandfather. But he was no longer there.

The moon was still up, so maybe the tide pool still held some of the magic?
Only one way to find out
, she told herself as she moved to the rocks. She followed the twist of tunnels until she arrived at the secret pool under Break’s house.

Falyn looked around for some kind of object she could keep on her at all times without too much hassle. Among some of the items by the tide pool was a silver cuff bracelet, one of the trinkets Break had collected from the sea shore. There were other items but nothing that would be as easy as the cuff to keep on her person at all times.

Dipping the cuff into the water, she then placed it on her wrist. There now; all she could do was wait and hope the bracelet kept her human. If it did work, then she would have to figure out how to get to Stonehenge where the Gate between worlds waited. She had money in her house in Portland but getting to it was a risk she was not willing to take. If the Shadow pack had found her there once already, they could be waiting there for her again. So really, without Break’s help, she had no funds for a plane ticket.

Falyn headed back up to the house, being sure to use the tunnels back to the beach as she did not want Break to guess what she had been up to. The sleeves of her white dress where long enough to cover the small silver cuff with ease.

Her next move would have to be seeking knowledge from Break about moving between places. She knew many Immortals among the mystic world could teleport from one place to another. Maybe Break had such magic. The trick would be getting that out of her without telling her why. Or maybe she should be so bold as to tell her what she wanted? If Break had no idea about the object on her wrist, surely she would have no reason to worry about telling her what she asked. It was worth a shot; she had little to lose at this point.

With a deep breath to bring her heartbeat to a normal pace, Falyn headed into the house. Break was reading in a chair. She looked up with a warm smile as Falyn came in.

“Have a nice walk?” Break asked.

“Yes, it cleared my head,” Falyn replied.

“You seem in a better mood.” Break put her book down. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes please!” Falyn called.

Break went into the kitchen.

“I wish you and I had more time like this to talk,” Break said as she went about boiling water for tea.

“That would be nice,” Falyn agreed.

Okay
. Falyn knew it was now or never. Either she asked Break or she came up with another plan.

“Break, if I were to become human for good, by some crazy chance, how would I make it to the Gate in the quickest time?” Falyn hoped she hadn’t just blown it!

Break peeked her head into the living room, a puzzled look in her sea green eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

“If Alex doesn’t find a cure for me, or if he can’t get back through, I will have to go get him sooner or later. I’ll need to start looking for a cure here in this world, because I am
not
going to spend a lifetime trapped as a dog!” Falyn barely kept control of her voice.

Break came and sat next to her, putting one slim arm around her shoulders.

“I understand you can’t wait forever as you are. I will, of course, help you. Falyn, but all I ask of you is that you give Alex a chance to do it his way.”

Break was looking into her eyes as though searching her soul.

Falyn gulped back an uneasy feeling as Break kept staring into her face. Falyn wasn’t sure if she was trying to seek the truth or to show she meant what she said.