Dianthe Rising (15 page)

I chatted to Daniel for over an hour and was able to fit in some normal stuff. He told me the communion went off without a hitch and his mum forgave him for running late. He convinced Annie to keep our relationship a secret until we were ready to tell people.

“Gahh, you would believe we were announcing our upcoming marriage.”

“It being Annie,” he laughed, “She’s probably in the process of planning it.”

After I hung up, I made my way to my bathroom and took the longest shower of my life. I’d had one earlier but I just needed to stand under steaming hot water and refrain from processing anything for a while. When the water finally soothed the tension from my shoulders and I had said a small prayer of “Thank God or gods or whoever at this stage for electric showers.”

I made my way back to my bed. Wearily, I tore the sheets off and put new ones on. The dirty ones went as far as the floor. I climbed into my bed and tried to forget everything until Monday.

*****

The alarm woke me and with reluctance, I rolled out of bed. Today was the first day since I began to work for Mr. Davies that I dreaded it. Not only would I be seeing Robin but also I’m sure he said something about Mr. Davies yesterday in his ramblings that I just was not able to remember. If my mentor and boss were part of all this, I might pack it in and go home. Everything I have ever assumed about my life ended up turned inside out.

By this time, I knew what Alice went through down the rabbit hole. I took my time getting dressed and fixing my hair solely because I was dragging my feet. In the end the clock was ticking away the minutes. I had never been late for work and I was not going to start.

Reluctantly pulling up my big girl pants, I mentally shored up my courage and made my way out the door and to the tube station. At least I would be too busy avoiding death via trampling during rush hour to worry about recent events.

When I made it to the university, all I bothered about was getting to my office. None of the work I had taken home over the weekend had been done and I was ready to start. The stairs took me all the way up and past Mr. Davies’s office. I presumed I was home free, I really did. My office door opened soundlessly and I had stepped inside, then the sound of an animal growling resonated behind me. I did not have a chance to turn around before a hand propelled me into the room and the door shoved shut behind me. My back slammed against the door and I found myself held frozen in the glare of Kale Jameson’s burning amber eyes.

“Awww, hell, you’re not human either, are you?”

The terrifying roar accompanied by a face full of freaking huge teeth was all I comprehend when he pushed me tighter against the door.

Fuck…fuckity…fuck… I knew I should have stayed in bed. Those last precious moments before you die. I was a lot calmer than I planned on being. On the other hand, it might have been the shock. Yeah, probably the shock. I didn’t even have time to scream. Okay, maybe I did squeak a tiny bit. In my defence, the guy lifted me up a couple of feet off the ground before sticking his nose against my neck and inhaling.

Seriously, he sniffed me. Who does that?
He held my neck at an angle while continuing his olfactory exploration. I hung there for a moment before clearing my throat.

“Ummm...Mr. Jameson, Kale? Are you going to kill me or smell me to death?”

Hey, a girl had to have balls of brass at some point in her life and this seemed like a good time.

That seemed to pull him out of his...whatever the hell he was doing. Kale’s eyes were amber and his teeth way to sharp but at least he was looking mostly human.

“I’m not going to kill you, Dia. I would not harm you for anything."

“Oh God,” I groaned. This was starting to sound awfully familiar.

I peered out at him from the hair blocking my face and queried. “Any chance you’re a Faery?”
Oh wow, that may have been the wrong thing to say
. Kale’s lips peeled back and his teeth lengthened. Fur began to sprout all over his body and his eyes were pulsing with a yellow light.

“Do I look like a fucking Faery?” he growled.

He pulled me closer and inhaled. It did not slip past me it was on the side of my neck that Robin had bit.

“That gods be dammed Puck marked you.”

“Mine,” he snarled and crushed me against him.

This time a scream did make it out. He was wild and I’m not sure he knew what he was doing. I was struggling against him when a popping sound filtered through the snarling and growling. I stopped wiggling in Kale’s arms and my eyes widened as a savagely grinning Robin stood beside us with,
get this
, a rolled up newspaper.

"Oh sweet baby Jesus, this cannot end well," I whispered.

Robin raised the paper and with apparent glee whopped Kale upside the head with it. In a heartbeat, Kale released and pulled me behind him in a protective gesture. I moved out of the way of the two idiots as fast as I could. A roll of my eyes was the only outward sign of what I thought of their behavior.

“Down boy, bad puppy,” Robin chortled with delight. “No treats for you tonight.” He waved the newspaper in my direction and winked.

Mouth agape, I goggled at him. He did not imply what I thought he just implied.

“No freaking treats for you either, you Faery freak,” I muttered. Robin’s face fell like a little boy who realized he could not have his favorite cookie for dessert.

“Too bad, too sad, Faery boy, you shouldn’t piss off the sweetie.”

Kale was enraged at this point. His chest was heaving while his body struggle to stay in one shape. “I’m tired of your games, Puck. It’s time to put you in your place.”

“Oh, puppy, my place will always be above you,” Robin taunted.

“My mate, Robin. You knew it. She. Is. Mine.”

Now serious, Robin tossed down the paper and stood arms out to his side.

In a deathly calm voice and narrowed eyes, he rebuked Kale. “I understand your anger, wolf, but you also knew I was going to claim her. You are not her only mate and neither am I. She has one other that I know of. You will share or you will lose her.”

He nodded in my direction before glancing at me. “Look at her, she knows nothing of our world but there she stands strong and brave. She is a worthy mate to both of us. Dianthe, what happens next has nothing to do with you. I need you to understand that. It is dominance. This was coming no matter what. I suggest, dearling, you go see Davies for a few minutes while Kale and I take care of our business.”

Still growling, Kale looked at me and nodded his head.

“What?” I stammered. “You want me to leave
my
office so you two can duke it out over me? Do you suppose I should be a good little wife and do what the men tell me to, no questions asked?”

Robin and Kale both opened their mouths, but I held up a hand.

“Think well before you answer, more than your pride may be on the line.”

Kale managed to get a sentence through his changing throat. “It’s for your protection, sweetheart. We don’t want you hurt… ”His words turned into a snarl and trailed off.

In frustration I crossed my arms over my chest and stomped my foot. “Fine but when I come back, this posturing had better be finished. You got me?”

Basic nods were all I got before I slammed out of my office. The moment the door shut behind me, what sounded like a bull elephant in rage echoed throughout the hallway. The wall shook with the force of a body hitting it.

Right, time to get Mr. Davies. I dashed down the hall to Mr. Davies’s office and shoved the door open.

“Oh God, Mr. Davies, they are going to destroy the place,” I gasped.

“Who, Dia,” he queried.

Seriously, could he not hear that World War III was commencing down the hall?
“Kale and Robin, David, they’re fighting.”

I do not believe I had ever called him by his given name and he looked slightly taken aback.

“Where and why are they fighting, Dia?”

“In my office and I don’t know why. Kale cornered me when I got here. He pushed me against a wall and started sniffing me. The man started wolfing out and going on about smelling Robin all over me. He is a wolf right?”

“Yes, he’s a wolf, Dia." Mr. Davies shook his head before he motioned for me to continue.

“The next thing I know, Robin is slapping him with a newspaper and calling him a bad dog. All I know is, they both told me to get out while they assert dominance or some shit like that.”

“Shite," swore Mr. Davies.

My mouth dropped open. I would never imagine that man swearing. “Come, Dia, let’s see if that part of the building is standing and what we can do.”

“Yeah, good idea, that’s my office they are desecrating.”

We headed back toward my office. On the plus side, we did notice the walls were mostly intact. There was a large man shaped hole next to the door. I crept over to the hole and had a peek into the room. Well, what remained of it at any rate. My mouth hung open in shock as I stared at my tidy and organized sanctum transformed into a war zone.

Kale, or whom I guessed was Kale, stood closest. He was a monster, an honest to God monster. He stood over seven feet tall covered in black fur. Hell, he looked like Bigfoot with a wolf face. He just had more teeth and claws than I expected any Sasquatch to have.

Robin, on the other hand, looked like himself, just a bit torn and bloody. He had let his glamour fall and he stood in all his dishevelled glory. His autumn hair flew in every direction and his eyes spat silver flame, glowing with their own light source. A snarl curled his lips as he faced off with the giant wolf-foot…big-wolf? Awww fuck it, the angry wolfed out Kale, which really just wanted to eat him.

After the shock wore off my anger began to rise. How dare they destroy my office? This was my sanctuary. The more I looked the more rage built inside me. I could feel it like a burning fire in the pit of my stomach working its way through my soul. They were going to stop and stop now.

My eyes glanced around me and I spied our floor’s water cooler. That would cool their freaking heels. I wish it would just dump out on top of their egotistical big heads. I stomped my foot in frustration and stood stunned when the cooler rose in the air and flew into the room.

It hovered over where the two remained locked arm in arm, snarling insults at each other. They needed to cool off, but I was still reeling over the fact the water cooler was floating over their heads. Ice began to form around the condensation on the cooler before the plastic split in half and freezing water poured down on the two males.

My hand flew to cover my mouth, both in shock and to hide my laughter. Kale and Robin stood there blinking while icy water dripped from them. Oh sweet baby Jesus, the look on their faces was priceless and I just could not hold it in. I wrapped my hands around my waist bent over and started to laugh hysterically.

Mr. Davies came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder leaning down to speak quietly to me. “Are you all right, Dia?”

I was laughing so hard tears were forming. I did manage to nod at Mr. Davies. The laugh turned into a hiccup and my breath caught.

“Dia dear, would you like to sit down? We can retire to my office.”

Tears blurred my vision and I shook my head. I backed up against the wall before I slid to the floor, my hiccup turning to sobs. All around me was the destruction of all I had worked toward the last few years. I couldn’t take in how they had destroyed everything.

“Ohhhhhhhh gawd,” I moaned. "It's all gone, everything is,” I couldn't speak anymore, racking sobs choked me to the point my breathing became strangled.

In a detached way, I felt Robin and Kale by my side, both pushing against one another trying to touch me. They were bickering and growling at one another and something inside me snapped.

“Enough!” The rage was back but pushed by a coldness I had never experienced before. I flung my hands outwards. “Both of you just get away from me.”

Surprised, they both flew backwards landing side by side against the far wall.

“You did this, both of you. You ruined my life!” With a wave at the room in general, I yelled at the subdued men. “This was my whole world. All my work and research was here. It’s gone because of you.”

I pointed my finger at them and a bolt of lightning shot in their direction. They both scrambled at incredible speed to move out of the way.

“Oh crap, what’s going on?” I whispered. I stared at the burnt hole I had just put in the wall.

Cautiously, Robin took a step toward me. “Dianthe, dearling, you need to calm down. Your power is manifesting and you don’t have control.”

“Control,” I screeched. “Of what? I don’t understand what the hell is going on.”

Kale’s low rumble joined in. “Dia, I’m so sorry. I did not mean for this to happen. I lost my constraint and I will pay for all the damages.”

A laugh, a wee bit on the hysterical side, slipped out before I replied, “Can you fix the lost research? The irreplaceable scrolls and artifacts I had on loan to study?”

I could feel the tears welling again and Mr. Davies put a reassuring arm around my shoulders. “Dia, it can be put to rights.”

My shoulders hunched, I looked at him and cried, “How? You tell me how, Mr. Davies?”

He glanced at Robin, “My Lord?”

Robin walked over and pushed back a few strands of hair before exhaling deeply. “Dianthe, I can put everything back as it was before the argument."

“How?” I mumbled.

“I’m a Faery remember? I’ll just wave my magic wand." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Kale groaned at the horrible pun and Mr. Davies just shook his head disapprovingly.

“Can you really fix it, Robin?”

“Yes, dearling, I can. Not everything, it is draining. The wolf can pay for the damage to the furniture and walls, but I can replace the irreplaceable. Is there a storeroom I can put everything in as this room is in need of refurbishment?”

“Umm…yeah, is the storeroom down the hall empty, Mr. Davies?” I asked.

“Yes, I think it is. This way, my Lord, and I will show you the storage room.”

Robin followed Mr. Davies out of the room leaving me with Kale.