Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael Book Three) (8 page)

“I—what?”

Caleb thought his entire face had just gone numb. Had Skye really just asked if he wanted to kiss her? “What?” he repeated.

Her smile widened. “Well, I’ve always wanted to try a real, honest-to-goodness kiss with the right guy. I certainly intend to try it at some point in this long lifetime ahead of me, and you said you’ve never done it. So, do you want to?”

“I—I—um, no.” He shook his head vigorously and may have waved his hands to ward her off, but he couldn’t seem to get around the crazy rush of blood in his head to focus too much on his behavior.

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. He could see she was hurt and working her way toward angry. “So, you’re telling me that you would rather go an entire lifetime—possibly several millennia—never learning what all the fuss is about than to even attempt one kiss with me?”

Some of the feeling returned to his face as his determination wavered. She had touched on his pride and, he realized, it was now a matter of pride for her, too. She just stood there staring at him expectantly, but he knew if he continued to refuse her request to attempt a kiss that he would be messing up quite badly with her.

He was, to use one of her human phrases, screwed either way.

Sighing, he said, “Very well.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are hands-down the least romantic guy I’ve ever met,” she declared. She shook her head at him and he fought the urge to hunch his shoulders in discomfort. “Come on. Over here. Sit on the bed.”

“Why?” he asked, though he moved to do what she said because he certainly had no idea what to do. “I’ve never seen James or Gabriel sit on their beds to kiss Olivia and Amber.”

“Yeah, well, you’re extremely tall and I think it’s pretty clear that I’m going to have to take the lead here. So sit.”

She sure was bossy when she wanted to be, he thought. It actually amused him and helped him ease past his rising nervousness. When he sat on the edge of the bed, he realized that he was now nearly at her standing eye level. She moved between his knees so she was standing right in front of him.

“Now, I don’t really know what I’m doing here,” she acknowledged. “But I know some of the stuff I’ve read from Amber and Olivia’s minds when they weren’t guarding their thoughts. Um, please don’t tell them about that, though.”

After giving him a shameless grin over her admission, she leaned forward. He steeled himself, more than a little embarrassed over how tense he was. But rather than connecting with his mouth as he expected, she moved just beyond his face and touched her lips to his left ear. He almost jumped in shock.

“I’ve gathered from their thoughts that the whole business isn’t just about sticking your tongue in someone else’s mouth,” she whispered against his ear. She moved her hands up, placing one on his shoulder and using the other to caress the base of his neck beneath his hair.

He had been prepared for the entire experience to be awkward. He had even been prepared for it to be mildly repulsive.

He had not been prepared for it to feel so good.

Everywhere she touched started tingling. Pulsing sensation coursed through him at the touch of her fingers as well as where he felt her warm breath against the side of his neck. He felt her body pressed against him, felt the heat from her skin warming him through their clothes, and instinctively reached up to hold her at her waist, enjoying the feel of the feminine curves of her hips beneath his hands.

Then he felt her lips move along the outer edge of his ear, taking his sensitive earlobe gently between her teeth for one teasing, incredible moment before she slowly rained tender kisses along the side of his neck and jaw. He realized when his brain finally kicked in that her particular position exposed the slender line of her neck to him. He didn’t have to move at all to breathe in the scent of her. He registered that she smelled like jasmine, sweet and bit mysterious.

Of course she did.

When she pressed her lips against the pulse pounding in his neck, he turned his head the slightest bit and rubbed his mouth against the tantalizing curve where her neck met her shoulder. Her skin was amazingly soft. Her scent was driving him crazy. He found himself trailing his lips up higher. When she issued a sound like a sigh and a moan and tilted her head to give him better access, it sent pleasure lancing through him like spears of lightning.

His hands moved up her back, caressing the bare skin exposed to him as she kissed the line of his jaw and moved closer to his mouth. By then, his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. He couldn’t catch his breath. And his body was a flood of thrilling sensations that he had never, ever envisioned.

She kissed his left cheek near the corner of his mouth. Kissed his other cheek.

Then she paused, her hands on either side of his face. She stared at his mouth with her lips slightly parted, her breathing uneven. He sensed her hesitation. He knew her confidence was faltering.

And he knew if he didn’t kiss her, he would positively die.

So he reached up, untied the ribbon holding her hair with a single tug, wove his fingers through the shimmering, scented curls and pulled her completely against him.

Then he pressed his lips to hers.

Passion erupted. They moved their lips against each other’s again and again, varying the pressure as they experimented. She adjusted the position of her head and tugged on his, as well, to try different angles.

Then she tentatively touched the tip of her tongue to his lower lip. And when he felt it, he realized there was nothing he wanted more than to taste her just like that. So he opened his mouth a bit and waited for her to open hers.

Their tongues touched. And he wondered then how he had ever thought this experience would be disgusting.

His body flared with almost painful ecstasy. She made alluring sounds in the back of her throat that told him she felt exactly the same. All he could think about was how good she tasted. How perfect she felt against him. He never wanted to stop feeling this unbelievable bliss.

“Gabriel’s coming.”

Caleb tore himself away from Skye’s mouth when her spirit guardian spoke in his ear. He noticed with no small amount of amazement that she was partly on the bed, her knees on either side of him, and she was wrapped around him. When had that happened?

Because she also heard the warning, she leaped from his lap and made a dash for the bathroom.

Even though he was trying to collect his thoughts and his breath, he had enough sense to worry that she was upset. He got to his feet, realized his knees were wobbly and grabbed the footboard of her bed to keep from falling on his face. Then her hysterical giggling reached him from beyond the bathroom door and he knew he didn’t have to be concerned about her feelings.

“Caleb?”

Praying his voice wouldn’t betray him, he did his best to collect himself and further steady his breathing and then took the few strides back to his room. “Yes?”

Gabriel was standing just inside the door of Caleb’s room, evidently not having wanted to walk through the adjoining doors and risk disturbing James and Olivia. He held a bowl of fruit and lifted it slightly when he spotted Caleb.

“Amber’s up and wanted some food,” he said, giving Caleb a thoughtful once-over. “You and Skye interested?”

“Oh,” he said. His brain couldn’t quite focus yet. “Sure. Sounds good.”

Gabriel nodded. Then he reached into the bowl and selected a large green grape, popping it into his mouth. Talking around the fruit, he asked casually, “So, you kissed her, huh?”

Caleb supposed it would have been too much to ask to have his intimate experience with Skye remain private in light of their connection to the others. Since he couldn’t decide whether to be worried that his leader was going to beat him into a bloody pulp or simply mortified over the situation all around, he merely nodded.

“Figured.” He reached for another grape and then caught Caleb’s eye. “Go okay?”

The question surprised Caleb. “Um…yes.” A smile pulled at his lips. “It did.”

“All right. We don’t have to have a conversation about respecting Skye, right?”He

“No—of course not.”

“Good. That saves me some headache. Why don’t you get Skye out of the bathroom and eat some of this fruit? The other elders will want to meet with us all later today.”

Caleb moved forward and took the bowl. “Thanks.” He paused, debating with himself. Then he raised his gaze to Gabriel’s. “How did you know?”

Now, Gabriel grinned. “Just look in the mirror. You’ll know.”

So when his leader turned and left the room, he set the bowl of fruit on his bedside table and walked into the bathroom. It was when he saw how ridiculously messed up his hair was from where Skye had run her hands through it that he understood.

And he threw back his head and laughed until his sides ached.

Gabriel paused for a moment outside of Caleb’s room after he pulled the door closed. He opened his thoughts to see if he knew his Gloresti as well as he suspected. He did. Caleb went right to the bathroom to figure out what had tipped his leader off.

His laughter surprised and pleased Gabriel. It was the first time he had ever heard his more serious brother laugh. It made him smile.

It also gave him hope. Caleb was taking his own sweet time moving forward in his relationship with Skye. Although Gabriel knew in his gut that the two would ultimately be together, it would be decidedly more challenging the longer they waited. As he had explained to James when he returned from his honeymoon the week before, there were a great many males becoming interested in Skye because she wasn’t yet paired. And they were all interested for the wrong reasons. Largely because they were Estilorians and simply didn’t understand human relationships.

They looked at pairing with Skye as a kind of prize to be won. This was almost funny, as there had been a great many biases against the half-human sisters before their transition a few months ago. Since returning to the Estilorian plane himself, Gabriel had learned from the other elders that most of the rumors existing among the various classes indicated that Saraqael’s daughters were somehow flawed or lacking. In some rumors, the sisters were deformed or hideously unattractive. In others, they were weak and unintelligent. And in still others, they were pampered and spoiled, even though they didn’t deserve it. And some apparently believed all of the above.

He had been appalled to hear such negative preconceptions and had deliberately kept them from all of the sisters, even Amber. He knew that as soon as the Estilorians got to know the girls that they would realize they were wrong on every front.

And he had been right. As various Estilorians made their way to Central to meet the sisters, they understood that the rumors had been completely false. Of course, now that they realized it, it made their interest in Saraqael’s daughters flow in an entirely different direction. With Amber and Olivia now spoken for, the interest of the males now turned toward Skye.

As if he had brought her physically closer by thinking of her, he heard her cheerful voice float through the closed door. “What’s so funny?” she asked Caleb.

Leaving them to their privacy, he walked the short distance down the hall to the room he shared with Amber. There was also laughter coming from Olivia and James’ room, though there was a more sensual element to it. Still, it was lifting to the spirits to know everyone was in good cheer after the exhausting ritual they had undertaken. He knew, as did Caleb and James, that the sisters weren’t going to refuse the request to perform the ceremony at the various class homelands. It worried him, but he knew that they all really had no choice.

They would draw upon each other’s strength and get it done. It was all they could do.

With this thought, he opened the door to his bedroom and stepped in, closing it behind him. After a quick glance at the empty table, where he had left Amber eating her breakfast, he shifted his gaze to the bed. She was sitting in the middle of the mattress with her legs folded and her hands pressed to her abdomen.

And she was crying.

Amber rarely cried. Hurrying to the bed, he fought panic and climbed onto the mattress beside her.

What’s wrong?
he thought, rubbing his hand on her back.

She looked at him as another tear fell.
You weren’t supposed to come back and see me such a mess.

Because he sensed the self-deprecating humor in her thought, his intense panic eased. Then he just gave her a knowing look to prompt an explanation.

I felt it. I felt the baby move.

Shock rolled through him. And then he felt a wide, foolish grin spread across his face. She grinned right back.

It’s like having a butterfly trapped in your hands…fluttering, really. But I felt it. The baby’s really active after all that sleep.

Please share it with me.

So they lay on the bed in each other’s arms as she focused on what she felt in her womb and sent the sensory images to him. And when he felt the baby’s movements…felt the miracle growing inside her that they had created together…he also felt the moisture on his cheeks.

The sisters unanimously agreed that they would perform the ritual at each of the class homelands to extend the barrier of protection to each of them. Skye was actually quite enthusiastic about it. Although she had been physically worn out by it, she hadn’t found it beyond her abilities and she knew that she could do it again.

She could make a difference. And in a very real way strike back at Grolkinei.

The elders decided that it would be best to arrange the visits in order of geographic distance from Estilorian Central, from the farthest to the closest, believing that the farthest homelands would have the weakest existing protections. It was as logical an approach to the plan as any other.

They departed from Central two days after the first ritual. The farthest—and, thus, highest—homeland belonged to the Wymzesti. The class of intuits was very isolative and only rarely adventured out. They had been by far the lowest in attendance at both the Becoming ceremony and the welcome dinner held for the sisters when they arrived at Central. As they were among the lowest in numbers among Estilorians to begin with, the sisters hadn’t met very many of them.

Skye knew after speaking about it with Knorbis that the Wymzesti found it difficult to be among other classes. Their high level of intuitiveness allowed them not only access to the thoughts of others but keen insight into body language, intonation and predictability of behavior based upon experience. They often knew what someone was going to do or say before they did or said it.

Thus, they had earned reputations equivalent to “know-it-alls” among the other classes, making having social relationships rather challenging.

As they departed Central, Skye considered how difficult that would be. She was a social being who enjoyed being around and interacting with others. Differences from one person to the next merely added to the interest, in her opinion. Being around only one kind of person day in and day out for hundreds of years sounded dreadfully boring to her.

She couldn’t keep the smile from her face as they left Central behind and headed up to the Wymzesti homeland. It had been a long while since she had spread her wings and flown in the open air.

The homelands spiraled for miles from Central, up and out. All of them were protected by enchantments that kept them from the eyes of the Mercesti, but they were perfectly visible to her and her sisters, as well as to all other Estilorians. She loved how different they all looked, even from a distance.

Where Central’s main base was like a large human city in design, the lowest homeland of the Waresti looked like a giant mountain floating in the sky. The Gloresti homeland, which they approached next, was a series of small, rocky islands centered around, and slightly above, a larger one. Next came the Corgloresti homeland, which looked like something out of a science fiction movie…lots of black and silver glinting in the sunlight. It was surprisingly small in light of the class’s fairly large numbers. Skye reasoned that was because most of the Corgloresti were usually elsewhere on the Estilorian plane, transitioning to the human plane in an effort to harvest more human souls.

When they got as high as the Lekwuesti homeland, which looked surprisingly like a suburb just about anywhere in the world with the many homes dotting green hillsides, she noted a distinct drop in the temperature. She also realized it wasn’t as easy to breathe. Glancing at everyone else, she tried to gauge if they felt the same.

I do
, Amber thought.

Me, too
, Olivia seconded.

It didn’t seem that the full Estilorians did, however. Because it wasn’t too uncomfortable, she shrugged it off and pushed on. They flew past the cloudy and ethereal Orculesti homeland a few miles later. The temperature continued to drop. She saw Amber rubbing her arms as though to warm herself up. Their breath left their mouths in visible plumes.

Skye’s breathing grew more labored. She wondered what altitude they were at and marveled over the fact that the full Estilorians weren’t impacted by it at all. She sensed her sisters feeling much the same and wondered if they were communicating the issues to their husbands. When she saw Gabriel, James and Caleb glancing at them frequently, she knew they had.

By the time they reached the Scultresti homeland, which looked like an enchanted forest to her, she was afraid she wasn’t going to make it. Her head was beginning to swim. And when Amber’s gold and blue-gray wings suddenly winked out and she dropped, prompting Gabriel to dive after her and pluck her, unconscious, from the air, her fears were confirmed. Ini-herit flew over to Gabriel and placed his hands on Amber. Although her eyes fluttered back open after a flare of Ini-herit’s silver light, his expression was grim.

Caleb flew over to Skye, unimpeded by her fading wings. “You’d better let me take you the rest of the way.”

Nodding, she moved into his arms and extinguished her wings, allowing him to carry her. She saw James and Olivia doing the same thing. Although she was more used to the cold than either of her sisters, she was vibrating with shivers by the time they finally reached the remote Wymzesti homeland. She barely registered the amazing white, purple and gold landscape as she wondered blearily why they hadn’t been warned to dress more warmly.

Her thoughts grew even more muddled as Caleb landed. Her eyes closed. Her chest felt like there was a band around it.

Then she lost consciousness.

Caleb hurried to lay Skye on the ground beside Amber and Olivia. The elders knelt over all of them. Ini-herit put his hands on Amber first, as she appeared to be in the direst need. Her lips were blue.

“She is not taking in enough oxygen,” the Corgloresti elder said. “She and the baby are in peril.”

Caleb felt Gabriel’s shock and fear and experienced a great deal of those emotions himself. If Amber wasn’t getting enough oxygen, none of the sisters were. Ini-herit touched Amber and released some of his healing energy. She seemed to respond. Her lungs filled more completely and her color started to return.

“That will only temporarily solve the problem,” Zayna said consideringly, looking at each of the sisters. “Their human blood affects their Estilorian forms differently than I anticipated. I must try to permanently expand their lungs and regulate their body temperatures.”

“We need to warm them up,” James added. “Their skin is like ice. Olivia said she was freezing before she lost consciousness.”

“I will take care of it,” Sebastian said. He quickly raised his hand and created three thick blankets with a flash of lavender light. Then they all hurried to wrap the blankets around the sisters.

What will happen if they don’t get enough oxygen?
Caleb thought toward Gabriel.

His leader glanced over with bleak eyes.
They’ll die.

Caleb absorbed the two simple words like a blow. He sank to his knees besides Skye’s still form and watched the terrifyingly shallow and rapid rise and fall of her chest. Beside her, the brown light of Zayna’s power glowed around Amber, mixing with the silver energy generated by Ini-herit. While the Scultresti and Corgloresti elders worked jointly on Amber, Skye and Olivia were fading fast.

If only there was a way that he could give Skye some of his breath, Caleb thought a bit desperately.

“Damn,” Gabriel said loudly. He looked up and caught Caleb’s gaze. “Curse me for an idiot. I’m not thinking like a human.”

He scrambled over to Olivia. “James, you’ll have to trust me on this.” Then he glanced at Caleb. “Do the same things I do, okay?”

Confused, Caleb nodded. Gabriel tilted Olivia’s head back. Caleb did the same with Skye. Then Gabriel plugged Olivia’s nose. Again, Caleb did the same with Skye. And then Gabriel bent down and covered Olivia’s open mouth with his.

Blinking, Caleb processed this unexpected maneuver for a brief moment. Then he noticed Olivia’s lungs filling. Understanding, he covered Skye’s mouth and breathed. He gauged how much breath to offer her by the rise of her chest. Gabriel made sure James understood what to do and then turned Olivia’s care over to her avowed.

They continued this for a long minute. Gabriel took over for Ini-herit once Amber was healed enough to be able to respond to Gabriel’s kiss, and in turn, use her healing ability on herself. Zayna worked carefully and methodically, moving her hands along Amber’s upper body with intense concentration. Her brown eyes glowed brightly.

It felt like ages later that she finally leaned back and nodded. Amber blinked up at Gabriel, looking a bit groggy but otherwise okay.

“Oh,” she said with obvious alarm when she spotted her sisters.

Rather than move, she simply threw her arms wide until she touched a part of both Olivia and Skye and then sent out her healing ability. Gold light quickly bathed both sisters.

“They’ll be able to breathe now while Zayna does her thing,” she said in a level voice.

Caleb and James sat back. Zayna went to work on Olivia since she had been the second sister to lose consciousness. Caleb fought the urge to get to his feet and pace.

Finally, Zayna lifted her hands from Olivia. Amber also lifted her hand from Olivia and shifted to place them both on Skye. Olivia’s eyes were open and she looked up at James. Caleb imagined they exchanged a thought, as James gave her a small smile and ran a hand along her hair. His emotions were all over his face.

Sweat glistened on Zayna’s dark skin as she leaned over Skye. Strain showed around her eyes as she focused her power on Skye’s upper body. Caleb had the sudden thought that she might not have enough power left to help Skye.

Then he forced that thought from his mind. Skye needed his faith, not his doubts.

It took Zayna longer with her than it had with either Amber or Olivia, but eventually, Skye slowly opened her eyes. She seemed to focus on her surroundings. The pupils of her eyes normalized. Amber’s healing light faded.

And still, she didn’t move. Her face remained expressionless. Frowning, he edged forward, still on his knees. He leaned down try and figure out what was wrong.

Then her hand snared him behind the neck and she dragged him down for a passionate kiss. He was so surprised that he responded before he thought better of it. Only when the surrounding laughter and applause filtered through his senses did he pull back.

She simply beamed back at him. “Oh, and I’ll be fine,” she thought to add.

“Welcome to our homeland,” greeted the Wymzesti commander, Meda, a short while later.

The tall, imposing female made quite the impression with her long, lean face and body, reddish-brown skin and deep purple eyes. Her long, dark hair was braided with gold ribbon and hung in several separate rings around her head. Her simple, unadorned white robes made Skye think of a human judge. Although her skin was unlined, the ancient wisdom in her gaze made her seem very ageless.

Beside her stood a much shorter and younger-looking female with hair that billowed from her head in a plethora of strawberry-blonde curls. She wore a gold circlet that did nothing to contain the mass of her hair. Her pale skin made her purple eyes look even more potent. She was garbed in a long-sleeved magenta gown in the style of a medieval princess that had Skye sighing with envy.

“My second commander, Leoma, and I are looking forward to joining
archigos
Knorbis in making you as comfortable as possible during your visit,” commander Meda continued. “We are very honored that you have come.”

Leoma didn’t exactly look like she shared the sentiment. Then again, neither of the females had cracked even the slightest smile. Skye had to remind herself that most of the Estilorians they encountered on this trip would likely be just like this…no expression and very little intonation.

And then that thought made her wonder how the Wymzesti were able to be so intuitive about everyone else when there was so little body language and intonation to apply toward intuiting one’s actions.

Because Knorbis was standing a foot behind his two commanders, she saw his eyebrow lift. He caught her gaze and one corner of his mouth raised. Not knowing what to make of that, she flushed over having thought “too loudly” and turned her attention back to Meda.

“This is our welcome area,” she said, and waved around her.

It was very…white. Skye was rather amazed at just how light everything was. White floors, white ceilings, white walls. Even the opaque windows allowing sunlight to filter through were white. The starkness was broken up a bit with punches of color in the forms of rugs and furniture, but it still looked like some oddly modern museum. She exchanged glances with Amber and Olivia.

“It’s very, um, bright,” she offered at last.

“Very, very bright,” Olivia agreed.

“And spacious,” Amber added. When her sisters looked at her, she shrugged.

Meda nodded. “Our environment is controlled with thought,” she explained.

Then she turned and swept her gaze around the room. The white walls all seemed to fade to nothing. And suddenly, they were standing in the center of a circular area without any walls, surrounded by Wymzesti.

“Oh, too cool,” Skye breathed. “And a bit freaky.”

A bit?
Amber thought, glancing uncomfortably around at the silent observers. She never liked being the center of attention.

“We would like to welcome you with a special recitation,” Leoma said in a softly accented, high-pitched voice, “attended by as many members of our class who are available. Would you please take a seat?”

Skye obediently moved forward with her sisters and their Gloresti to sit on the three couches set in the middle of the room in a U-shaped pattern. When Caleb sat down beside her, he was close enough that his hard, muscular arm pressed against hers. She leaned gratefully against him and tried not to think about all of the eyes on them.

The elders, without Gabriel, of course, stood behind Meda and Leoma at the front of the U. Skye knew then that they were showing their support of the three sisters during this welcome ceremony.

Then Meda spoke. “It all began with the Great Foretelling.”