Kindred: Book 1 A Realms of the Otherworld Book (11 page)

I quickly let everyone know about what transpired overnight and have Millie call over to Lexie’s to let them know that we are pushing our time to meet back to 7:30. Millie putters about the kitchen putting on coffee and tea, preparing several different types of quiche, and homemade blueberry muffins. Before I know it it’s close to six forty-five and I make my way up to wake Ashlinn. I find that she is still sleeping and I softly sit down by her side and tuck her long caramel and golden highlighted hair behind her elven tipped ear and smile as I watch it twitch. As she feels my touch, I lean in and whisper, “Ash, time to get up.” She opens those beautiful whiskey colored eyes and smiles. “Hey, time to get up sleepy head. It’s six forty-five. I pushed back our meeting time to seven thirty so you could get at least an hour of sleep. Millie just about has breakfast ready.” I say as she stretches and sits up.

“You shouldn’t have but thank you I feel a little better now. Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll meet you downstairs we have a lot to discuss.” She says and with that she makes her way into the bathroom and I head back downstairs.

Chapter 14

(Ashlinn)

As I hop in the shower and get myself ready for the day I can’t help but think what a bitch my birth mother has turned out to be. I sigh heavily as I dry my hair which takes surprisingly no time at all, before my hair would have been frizzy and unruly but now I find that it takes very little effort to tame. It must be an elf thing or a demigoddess thing? I again pull it into a high ponytail and then braid a section of it wrapping it securely around the base of my ponytail giving it a more polished look. I pull on the little basic black dress and zip it up in the back. It’s sleeveless and fitted with a scoop-neck in the front and deeper scoop in the back. It’s then that I notice that I fill out the top a lot more than I did before and I’m a just a little embarrassed by the cleavage that I’m sporting. The skirt is fitted to just below my hips and then flares to just above my knees. My mother loved this dress and insisted that I purchase it, saying that every young woman needed a basic black dress in their wardrobe. I smile to myself and wonder what she would think about my new look. I look down and see that my pendant on my necklace is nestled between my breasts. Mom had a pair of matching earrings made some time ago and I decide to wear them today, I rarely wear them because I’m fearful of losing them. They are an almost exact replica with the diamond and emerald inlaid stones and dangle from my ears. I slip on my black peep toe stiletto heels and survey myself in the mirror. My eyes look huge in my face and I realize that I will never need to make my face up again. There’s no need, my lashes are so thick it looks as if I’m wearing eyeliners and they are so long and thick mascara is no longer a necessity, I decide on just a bit of lip gloss and I’m done. I think she would be proud to call me daughter. With yet another heavy sigh I make my way towards the hall and the stairs to meet up with everyone to get this day underway. I feel old beyond my years as I think about all that needs to be done and all that needs to be discussed and all I need to learn. About that time my stomach rumbles loudly, so yeah, I can’t wait to see what Millie has prepared for breakfast.

Rounding the corner I see Alaric first. He’s so handsome in his suit and tie. As I take him in I notice that he is seriously checking me out and I can’t help the blush that creeps up my cheeks and the smirk that curves my lips. I walk up to him and take his tie in my hand and pull him down to whisper, “Like what you see?”

He chuckles and says, “You could say that. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. You are very handsome yourself.” I say. I pull back as the aroma of breakfast hits me and look at the spread of food and exclaim, “Millie, you made all of my and Lexie’s favorites!”

About that time the front door opens and Lexie and her crew walk in. She looks reserved, quiet, and withdrawn. At that moment she is my number one priority. I step toward her and pull her into a tight embrace and whisper, “We can do this, together.”

She shakes her head, “But you’re going to leave me here. I had plenty of time last night to think about all that we learned. You’re not from here. Not from this Realm and you are going to leave. I don’t want you to leave me behind when you go.” She says in a whisper.

I pull away and look deep into her eyes as I try to reassure her, “The only way I’m leaving you behind is if you ask to be left behind, if you are up for this adventure with me then nothing will stop us, okay?”

Lexie clutches me tight and nods her head. “I’m going with you. There’s nothing left for me here. This is our home but it won’t be a home without you.” She says.

“Then it’s agreed we stay together, right Jasmine?” Jasmine flitters about. “We’ve always been sisters, so where one goes the other goes.” I pull back from our hug, “Do you feel better about everything now? I know that it’s a lot to take in and we have a lot to do, but I wouldn’t dream of doing this without you. Either of you.” I pause before bouncing from one topic to another like a ping pong ball, “I’m famished. You ready for some breakfast? Millie made our favorites this morning.” During this exchange I notice that Declan is practically glued to her side and for whatever reason I don’t believe he would have left her behind either and give him a quick smile.

With that we all set down to eat, we have a little bit of time so we briefly catch Lexie and everyone else up on the evening’s events before moving on to my hot topic from last night as I say, “Although my mother has turned out to be a royal bit…”, I bite off what I was going to say as Alaric squeezes my knee, “What? I’m allowed to think what I want about her character. She was overbearing, rude, and completely insensitive. Her treatment of me was more like that of an object and not a person and I quote, “you are too important to all the Realms…”, no thought was given to what I’ve been through. Just do this when I say so and go here when I say so. You were there for the last half of our conversation, you know I’m right.” I say knowing I sound like a child but her treatment of me was unsettling.

“That’s why I’m pulling my uncle into the mix of things. He’s the only one in Faerie that is her equal and in some regards even ranks higher that she does.” Alaric says as we’re finishing up breakfast and I instantly feel just a little better.

“Okay, next topic, what was up with TNT out last night securing the perimeter business?” I ask giving Alaric a pointed look.

“My brother and I were out last night. I know not of this TNT, that you speak of.” Tolin speaks up as he goes for yet another muffin, several more slices of bacon, and another slice of quiche. I have no idea where he puts all the food that he’s capable of eating as he’s working on his third helping.

“I see you’re busy maintaining your amazing physique, Tolin.” I say with a smirk.

“Hey a guy’s got to do what a guy’s got to do, right? Wouldn’t want to disappoint the ladies.” He says with a cheeky grin and a wink in the ladies direction. Jasmine snorts and shakes her head and Lexie and I both laugh out loud.

Alaric just shakes his head as he takes my hand and says, “You both have been officially dubbed TNT by Ash, it’s your new official nickname.”

“But what’s TNT?” Torin asks around a bite of food, the two of them are like two peas in a pod and I smirk as I watch the two devour their meal.

“TNT is a type of explosive and we’re getting off topic. We need to wrap things up very quickly as we need to leave out soon. So? Why the need to even put up wards and check the area? What exactly do you think is out there that we need to be aware of?” I ask.

“We have reason to believe that the Fomorians may be in this realm looking for you. Danu was correct when she said that you were important to all the realms, you may be the key to saving the Tree of Life. We won’t know for sure until you begin to come into your abilities. This was a discussion that I wanted to save for later because I know that you will have many questions and obviously you’ll want answers. But for now, know that the Fomorians will not care if you are the key or not, they only know that you are a potential threat to their mission and therefore will not wait to see if or when you come into your abilities.” He says very seriously all the while he has be running gentle circles over my wrist with is thumb.

“So they would eliminate me if given the opportunity? That’s what you are saying and that is why my mother bound you to me as my Guardian. As long as the glamour held I would not need your protection but now that the awakening has taken place I do.” I say as if some hidden knowledge has just made its presence known in my mind. “They want me dead and it’s your job to protect me. That means that you’ll be throwing yourself between me and anything that comes after me, right?” I’m growing more and more agitated by the moment as I realize what this means. “No! This has just gotten really messed up! I will not have any of the people I love and care about throwing themselves in between me and whatever danger is lurking out there! I won’t have it.” I say looking pointedly at Alaric.

“It is my duty and my guard’s duty to protect you. We have been training for this for some time. Hence the reason Tolin and Torin will eat you out of house and home.” He says trying to make light of the situation.

“I’m not having it Alaric.” I say again meaning it with every fiber of my being. I quickly make a decision and announce to the rest of the group and my gaze falls on each of them as I say, “As soon as our business here is finished we’ll make our way to the Otherworld. Lexie and I will put a rush on things so we can leave out as soon as possible. We’ll begin training in self-defense. I’ll not have either of us being caught in a situation where we’re unable to defend ourselves.” I say and hear two very resounding no’s coming from Alaric and Declan.

“What do you mean no?” Lexie and I ask at the same time.

Alaric looks at me and says, “It’s our duty to protect you!”

He has officially gone all caveman mode on me. I can feel that Declan is right there with him. “Listen we can discuss this later but that’s the plan, we both will need to be able to protect ourselves if push comes to shove. I would much rather we were prepared than caught off guard. Right Lexie?” I ask.

“Absolutely.” She says giving Declan a questioning look. “Ash and I have had years of karate and some tae kwon do but I see that you all carry swords and daggers so we’ll need to learn how to handle maybe short swords, daggers, and a staff in combat.” She says thoughtfully. “Ash and I will have to start some endurance training as well to build stamina, right Ash?”

I look around the table to see several shocked faces and smirk, “Absolutely, training starts as soon as we get home. Archery should not be a problem. We can start there and have the guys assess our skill level. We can meet up at the shooting range for some target practice but we definitely will need instruction with the swords and daggers.”

“Wait, I have not agreed to this.” Alaric says with a huff.

“If you will not agree to our training then I’m sure we can get TNT on board. I have no doubt that they’ll enjoy showing off their mad skills. Right boys?” I ask smiling sweetly at the two of them.

Lexie chimes in about that time and says, “I’m down for training with TNT. It should be fun, right guys?” She smirks at me and then winks in their general direction.

About that time Declan pounds the table with his fist and says, “I will not allow it. It’s my duty to protect you Alexia; I will not allow you to throw yourself into danger.” He turns his smoldering eyes to her barely able to contain his outraged anger at the thought of Lexie training with TNT.

That’s when Lexie loses it, “Who do you think you are? You have no say over what I can or cannot do. Do you understand me? Why are you going all Neanderthal on me? It’s training for gods’ sake I’m not throwing myself off a cliff. Get over yourself. I’m with Ash. We start when we get back, with or without either of your blessings.” Lexie says with a huff as she gets up from the table and storms out of the room. This whole time Jasmine has been oddly quiet taking in the whole scene. She has been serenely sitting on the sidelines until now. I see her gracefully beat her delicate silvery transparent wings and my attention goes straight to her as she brings herself eye level with everyone in the room.

“You men are all acting like Neanderthals and have gone all He man on these young women. Shame on you! If you would stop and think for one nanosecond you would know that they’re right. They deserve to be given the chance and opportunity to having the knowledge and skillset they will need to protect themselves, as well as the people of the realms. Everyone in this room, including Lexie,” she says glaring at Declan, “have all become key players in what is to come. So get your heads out of your asses and stop acting like cavemen. Don’t you dare hold these young women back because of “your duty” to protect them, because if you do you will fail them! Have I made myself clear?” She says irately with an authority that I have not heard from her before. Then I hear her mumble under her breath, “What a bunch of stupid asses. The testosterone in this room is off the charts. What do they think women are good for anyway? We can’t all stay at home barefoot and pregnant, some of us have the realms to save.” She continues to mutter to herself as she flutters out of the room in search of Lexie.