Enemy Mine (Mending The Veil) (10 page)

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Something was wrong. Travis could almost taste the emotional unrest in the cooling air. His lovely wife was planning something. He had been watching her for a while as he gathered the wood for their dinner. He kept an eye on his wife as she sat on the log with her Familiar sitting beside her. Their quiet appearance didn’t fool him for a second. They were discussing the situation, and whatever Rissa was planning, Theo wasn’t pleased with it. The cat’s tail was slightly puffed and it waved back and forth on the log as if she were furious with her mistress. His lovely wife was carrying a heavy weight on her thin shoulders. She wanted to protect him, but he didn’t need her protection. He needed her trust.

Travis caught her studying him once more, and she smiled at him. When she told him she loved him, he knew she was planning on leaving him. Over his dead body! He would not let her leave him because he’d gotten them in trouble. There was a way out, one he wasn’t sure would work, but he had to try.

The Guardians wanted the High Priest of her coven, Rissa’s old man. Her father wanted to punish her for breaking off her forced engagement to a male Witch of his choosing. She wouldn’t like it, but he had a plan already set in motion to draw both factions together. He’d let the two big shots take each other out, but first he had to wait until Rissa gave birth and could protect their daughter.

“I love you, Rissa. You just have to trust me. Do you think you can do that for me?”

“I trust you with my life and that of our daughter’s,” she vowed softly. He should have felt better knowing she wasn’t lying to him, but he didn’t. There was something in what she wasn’t saying that made him uneasy.

“We’ll be able to settle down after the baby is born. I’ll buy that two-story house with a big garden in the back for you.” It was a dream she had confided in him during one of their scariest nights when her father’s people almost caught them. She smiled in answer like she always did, but this time it didn’t reach her green eyes.

“I’m hungry, and I think you are burning my hot dog.”

“Here you are, darling.” He handed her a hot dog in a folded piece of bread with ketchup on it. “Where is Theo?”

“She’s standing guard. We’ll leave her a couple dogs for when she comes back.”

He watched her eat as he forced himself to do the same. Sitting beside her, he felt the waves of nervous tension radiating from her body. She was definitely up to something, and he knew it wasn’t good. He would have to watch over her closely in order to keep her from doing something foolish.

Later that night, he lay with her wrapped in his arms, his hand over her belly as she pretended to sleep. When she started to move his hand, he tightened his grip. Her frustrated sigh made him want to grin at her spunk, but knowing she was trying to leave him made him more determined to hold her.

“Sleep, Rissa. We are safe.” He felt her breath huff out as she realized he was still awake.

“We aren’t, Travis. We won’t be, ever.” The fear and defeat he heard in her words sent a chill down his spine. She was giving up.

“You can’t give up hope, love. There’s our daughter to fight for.”

“I know. She is going to need her father someday. You have to live, Travis.” She turned over slowly, her round tummy coming between them as she faced him. Her hand reached up to touch his cheek. “You have to promise me that you won’t forget our child. You will watch over her and protect her in any way you can. If that means turning on our own people, then you must do so. Promise me.”

“Rissa, you’re scaring me. Stop talking like this is the end.”

“This isn’t the end. I’ve seen our future and I know this is the only way to go. Know I have you with me always, Travis. Now promise me,” she demanded, a tingling sensation spread out from his cheek where her hand cupped his face.

“I promise, but Rissa...” His mouth refused to work as his face grew numb beneath her touch.

“I will always love you, enemy mine.” He felt her lips on his forehead a second before all feeling left his body. Panic invaded his mind, which was still working to figure out how to force his body to move. She was leaving his arms and their tent, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop her.

Theophyline!
He reached out for the cat’s mind in desperation.

I’m sorry, Travis. She will not be swayed from her course. I will protect them until you make it safe for them to return to you.

No! Don’t let her leave me!

Remember your promise to her.

He screamed in his mind. All his pain and rage at being left helpless to do anything to stop her echoed in his silent cries.

Chapter Thirteen

Rissa carried her small bag over her shoulder as she waddled through the forest. Her bare feet barely made any noise as she navigated through the dense trees. Beside her, Theophyline glided through the underbrush with her ears twitching and her eyes constantly scanning the area for any sign of danger.

Do you sense anyone?
Rissa asked her as she wiped a hand over her wet cheek. She had been silently crying for an hour or more, and didn’t expect to stop any time soon. Behind them was a man in agony. She’d heard his silent cries as she left their campsite. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done to keep her feet moving away from him.

They are behind us, but I don’t hear any movement.

Then what is wrong? You are tense.

Something is watching us from up ahead.

Something? Is it Father?

No, this is different. Bloody hell! Wait here, let me go investigate...

“There’s no need to leave your mistress unprotected, Theophyline.” The soft voice was feminine and belonged to a small woman who stepped out from behind a tree. Theo jumped in front of Rissa in her tiger form, a vicious growl warning the stranger to stay back.

“Down, Familiar. I am a friend to your mistress.”

Rissa gasped as Theo turned back into her cat form with an irritated huff. “Who are you?” She demanded. Her hand went to the amethyst amulet resting between her breasts. It was warm, but not hot. She hoped it meant this new stranger was honestly a friend. She didn’t look dangerous standing no more than five-feet tall with straight blonde hair braided back away from a narrow face that was almost cherubic in its beauty and innocence. Her dress was checkered in red and green, her feet bare with her toes wiggling in the soft pine needles covering the forest floor.

“Do not worry, Rissa Holt. I am Isina, a friend sent to seek you out by Urlisa, Queen of the Fae. I have a message for you.”

“Urlisa?” Rissa felt her breath catch at the importance of the small woman’s visit. The Queen of the Fae deserted the human world at the dawning of man, when it became apparent that the Fae way of life was bound to be changed by the zealous greed of mankind. The Fae worshipped nature and took it as their duty to care for the welfare of plants and animals as well as the Mother Earth. All things most humans took advantage of as they took the beauty of the world for granted, so the Fae left the mortal world and took most of the world’s magic with them.

“It is known that the Queen of the Fae cast out my kind when she forced her people into hiding. What makes her think I would be open to communicating with her now?” Rissa saw the shock register in the Isina’s blue eyes and caught a glimpse of a voluminous wing as it twitch behind her. So, Isina was a fairy or a sprite. One could be trusted in all things, the other was a trickster.

“Forgive me, but do you have another option when there are men looking for you?” Her brows rose pointedly as she shook her head. “My Queen does not send invitations to any being in this world unless it is important. Now, do you want the message I carry or not?”

“What is it?” She asked as her fingers clutched the straps of her bag tightly.

“My Queen knows of your plight. She has heard the cries of your man, and it has moved her. She offers you entry to The Glenn.” She lifted a hand and slowly opened her fingers. Within her palm a white blossom unfurled, a blue liquid caught the shine of the moon.

“I don’t understand. She offers me passage to the land of the Fae? Why? What’s in it for her?”

“I do not speak for my Queen.” Isina huffed out an impatient breath. “In order to seek her council, you must drink this potion.” She nodded her head toward the flower in her hand.

“I’m with child. There’s no way I’m ingesting a potion when I don’t even know what it has in it.” Her arm covered her child protectively.

“She knows of your wee babe and has taken great care in making sure this potion will not harm her. She knew you would be untrusting and has given me a gift for you.”

“What?” Rissa’s mouth dropped open as a small, round ball of white light, no bigger than a marble, flew out from a pocket on Isina’s dress. Tiny and bright, the little ball flew between Theo’s ears to land on Rissa’s shoulder. The instant the light touched her shoulder, Rissa saw through the trees with a narrow vision, honing in on the small tent she’d left an hour ago.

Men, Guardians all, were dragging Travis’ unmoving body from the tent. A big blond man with deep scars on both sides of his face stood over her husband with big beefy hands resting on his wide hips. His lip curled as he glared down at Travis with a shake of his head.

“I tried to warn you about the Witch, but you had to let your pecker guide you.” He turned his head and spit to the side.

“What do you want done with him, Ray?” One of his men asked as he nodded toward Travis.

“Pack him up, boys. He goes to the Elders for debriefing. The bitch bewitched him and escaped. She can’t have gone far. The rest of us will track her.” He pulled a deadly looking silver pistol out of the holster under his jacket. “Shoot to kill, men. She may look like an innocent pregnant woman, but she hides a wicked beast beneath that disguise. Aim to kill.” He grinned, the claw marks on both his cheeks glinted in the moonlight as he turned for the trees in the direction they had walked in.

Rissa blinked rapidly as the tiny ball of light left her shoulder. The urgent need to turn and run back to the campsite had her swiveling on her heel.

“If you go back, you will bury a stillborn child.”

Rissa stopped to turn back toward the tiny light hovering between her and Theo. She could swear the feminine voice came from the ball, but she spoke to Isina instead. “I have to save him.”

“At the cost of the babe?” The voice was definitely coming from the ball. Rissa sensed power in the voice and shook her head to deny the certainty in the cruel statement. “The choice is yours between the life of your child and a futile attempt to free your mate.”

“I can’t leave him.”

“You must. I assure you, Travis will remain safe in his current state until your child has need of him.” Rissa saw Isina standing with her hand still out and her head bent in reverence to the voice coming from the magical ball.

“You are the Queen of the Fae.”

“I am. I have strengthened your spell to keep your man in a state of unconscious stasis to preserve his sanity. They cannot harm him. You and your child are another matter. They come for you. I offer my assistance. Come see me, and we shall discuss the future of your babe, Rissalynn Holt.” The ball imploded with a soft popping noise and vanished. Isina lifted her head, an excited look in her blue gaze.

“We must hurry.” Isina looked behind her into the darkened trees of the suspiciously quiet forest.

“We will go with you.” Rissa decided as Theo turned to look at her in surprise.

“We? No, only you, Rissalynn I have been given only one invitation. The pet must stay.” Isina frowned as Theo hissed at her and lifted a paw. Had she been in her tiger form the image would have been intimidating. Instead, Isina laughed to see the fluffy white cat trying to look dangerous. Theo huffed out an irritated hiss her ears going flat against her head.

“I don’t go anywhere without the only family I have left. Send my regrets to your Queen. I am grateful for her offer of help, but I must decline.” Rissa turned on her heel with Theo right behind her.

“Wait!” Isina’s panicked tone had them both looking back at her just in time to see her open her other palm and another white blossom appear. “My Queen has expanded her invitation to include your Familiar, but you must be warned she must be in her human form.”

Ugh! Seriously? I can wait here for you, Rissa. I don’t mind.

“Remember your promise, Theophyline Renailly. It won’t kill you to be human for a couple of days.”

Rissa, I do not think you understand how things work in The Glenn. One day there is longer here.

“Your Familiar is correct, one day in The Glenn is close to a year in the mortal world, but a decision must be made. The Guardians are on their way here. You have minutes.”

Rissa met the misery burning in Theo’s blue gaze. She would not demand Theo come with her, she held no control over the Familiar’s decisions. Yet, she desperately wanted her friend with her for support and company. A selfish wish she would never voice.

Theo’s blue cat’s eyes narrowed on a hiss of displeasure as her shape-shifted into a taller form. Standing in the place of the white cat was a young woman. Her blonde hair looked blue as it reflected the light of the moon. Dark blue eyes narrowed, and her dark red lips pursed with displeasure as Theo crossed her arms over her naked breasts.

“Clothes would be nice here.” Theo muttered sarcastically. Rissa reached into her bag and pulled out her favorite green dress. It fell all the way to her ankles, but the Familiar’s human form was a couple inches taller than Rissa’s five-foot-seven inch height. Not only was she taller than her, Theo was also bustier. The dress’s seems were strained over the woman’s chest and only reached mid-calf. A growl vibrated from her throat as she glared at them in turn.

Rissa, never seeing her Familiar in her human form, delighted in seeing her grumpy Familiar as a gorgeous woman, but she had to admit to herself that she was glad Theo stayed in her animal form around Travis. Attracting attention, especially that of a human male, scared the heck out of her Familiar. Which was why she stayed in her furry form.