Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (23 page)

"Hey!" I shouted, falling back so her wings wouldn't smack me in the face.

Glowering as she disappeared into the thick mist, I made to turn back towards the door when something caught my eye.  I squinted into the distance, trying to figure out what was moving behind the thick wall of mist.  A heartbeat passed and the shape grew more solid, mimicking a figure wearing a long, hooded cloak.  I froze in place, my heart pounding against my ribcage.  Who could be coming into the village this early and why hadn't the people standing guard warned us?

Just as I was about to dart into my cabin and bolt the door, the person stopped and pulled back
his
hood.  I sucked in a breath and clasped my hands to my mouth.  Cade.  Forgetting my warm bed and that coveted extra hour of sleep, I bolted from where I stood and sprinted across the village square.

Cade watched my progress, his calm face slowly changing, as if a light within had been lit and was slowly growing.  When I was five feet away from him I threw myself into his open arms.  I couldn’t help myself.  I had missed him so much and his smile was enough to charm the common sense right out of me.

For a
long
minute I simply stayed where I was, pressed up against Cade’s solid strength and blocking out all other senses.  From the way he pulled me close, his arms like a vice, I could tell he shared the sentiment.  I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, but I ignored them.

"You're early," I said.

Then I wanted to kick myself. 
You haven't seen him for nearly
four
weeks, worrying almost the entire time that he migh
t be getting torn to shreds by a
pack of faelah, and that's what you come up with to say to him?

"I would have been even earlier if I could have managed it.  I missed you so much," he murmured in
to
my ear.

Pure joy unfurled in my stomach and I sighed,
leaning into him even further.

“Well!” someone said rather loudly.

Cade reluctantly let me go, setting me gently on the ground.  Oh, I guess I'd had him in another one of my tourniquet hugs . . .
I bit my lip and turned my head, my hands still resting on Cade’s arms.

Enorah stood there with her hands placed casually on her hips.  Of course she was up.  She was always up this early.  And behind her stood a group of sleepy-eyed children.  Yay!  An audience for my lovely display of overactive hormones.

“If I knew keeping Meghan captive here would result in more frequent visits, brother, th
e
n I would have
dragged
her to the Weald long ago.”

There was humor in Enorah's voice and after our conversation the night before, I knew there was sisterly affection there too.

Cade grinned and I relaxed even further.

"Hello, sister mine.  I'm glad to be back."

“Breakfast is in half an hour.”  Then she added with a glint to her eye, “That should give you plenty of time to get reacquainted.”

Enorah turned and walked away, barking out orders to the children who'd stood behind her.  Groaning, they scattered to start getting the breakfast ready.

Suddenly, the village was silent once again, the approaching dawn softening the blanket of fog that surrounded us.

Meridian chittered in the tree above and a soft whine from behind Cade let me know she was talking with Fergus.

Go play
, I sent to her.

She responded with a joyful screech and Fergus’s spirited bark let me know
that
Cade had told him the same thing.

I
turned my head
and glanced up only to find Cade’s green eyes regarding me so intensely that it became hard to breathe.

“Meghan,” he said, right before pulling me close into another embrace.

I returned the hug and pressed myself as close to him as possible; to ensure myself that he was truly here and that he was real.  Silently, Cade led me away from the center of the village and headed towards a small meadow, conveniently screened by a thicket of brush and large stones.

We were blessedly alone and there were a million things I wanted to ask him: did he find out about the Morrigan's plans?  Was she organizing her army of faelah?  Did she really have someone helping her?  Could the Dagda
aid
us?  Did we need to stay in the Weald longer?  But none of those questions came up.  Instead, I stoo
d up on my toes and leaned into
him, eager to simply absorb his essence.

Feeling suddenly mischievous, I whispered into his ear, “Would you like to see what I can do?”

I didn’t wait for an answer.  Drawing on my several days worth of practice, I
merely
allowed some of my magic to flood over me.  Only the tightening of Cade’s hold on my arms let me know I had disappeared from sight.  I wiggled out of his grip and slipped away from him before he could realize what I was doing.  He turned in place, reaching out as he scanned the surroundings looking for me.

“Not so fun when the joke is on you, is it?” I crooned from his right.

I had no idea what had come over me.  I had missed him terribly all
these
week
s
, and now that he was back I was trying to hide from him?  But the idea of Caedehn MacRoich, faelah bounty hunter extraordinaire, fumbling around in a foggy clearing
search
ing for me,
sent a thrill of exhilaration through my blood.

Cade darted and I just barely missed getting caught.  My heart was pounding and a flood of adrenaline helped me get out of the way.  I’d have to be careful; he was incredibly fast and I needed to concentrate
if I wanted the magic to keep working
.

Cade repositioned himself and bowed his head, his eyes closed, as he took long, deep breaths from his nose.

What on earth was he doing?

Nervous, I took a small step back and a leaf crunched under my foot.  I could barely hear it, but it was enough for Cade to locate me and pounce.
 
I squeaked when his arms wrapped around me, secure but not
painful
.  I squirmed, but there was no way I was going to escape that grip.

My back was to his chest and he lowered his mouth, pressing it against my ear,
then
murmured, “Looks like you’re trapped.  Whatever will you do now Meghan?”

His voice was low and seductive, and I couldn’t stop the tremor that ran down my spine.  Answering him was also out of the question.  He kissed me lightly below my ear and I willingly turned in his arms.  The cool sensation of my invisible shield of magic melted away and w
hen his lips finally met mine,
I no longer cared about escaping.  I no longer
wanted
to escape.  Cade’s grip loosened and he dropped his hands to my hips.  I mimicked him, but instead of staying at his waist, my
hand
s began
pull
ing at his shirt.  Following my lead, Cade pushed his fingers under my t-shirt and ran his
palm
s up my bare back,
bring
ing me closer.  I was
utterly
lost in sensation and all I wanted was to be as close to Cade as possible.  The timid Meghan had disappeared, along with all my other inhibitions as well, apparently.

Someone cleared their throat and Cade stopped,
dragg
ing his mouth away from mine.  One
of his
hand
s remained
pressed against the bare skin of my back,
while
the other
rested
halfway up my stomach.  My own
finger
s were gripping the hem of his shirt and we were both breathing heavily.  From the
look on Cade’s face, his mind
had to be just as scrambled as my own.

“I hate to interrupt your reunion,” Enorah said, her voice dripping with amusement, “but there are young children present just around that rock outcropping and if I don’t stop you now, I’m afraid you’ll both forget you're in the great wide open.  Besides,” she added with a wide smile, "breakfast is almost ready and I'm sure you're both very hungry."

Enorah winked as she turned to leave, and I silently cursed her for the blush her comment caused.  Cade hadn't seemed to notice, however.  He pulled me closer, his arms wrapped around me
again
, and took a long, deep breath.

"I missed you," he murmured against my hair.

Forgetting my embarrassment, I returned the gesture.  "Me too."

We walked back to the center of the village, hand in hand.  Fergus and Meridian returned just as the first rays of morning light pierced through the fog.  As we ate, Cade entertained the youngest of the
w
ildren with tales of his battles against the faelah.
  Me, well, I just sat back and enjoyed the fact that Cade had come back to me in one piece.

Once breakfast was over, Cade and I helped everyone clean up, despite their protests.  Afterwards, I led Cade away to the meadow where Enorah and I had practiced.  We spent the entire morning there, with me showing
Cade
all I had learned and him demonstrating a few more tricks.  By the time we returned to the village we had missed the noontime meal, so by
nightfall
we were starving.

Dinner that night was a casual event.  Some of the older teens had gone hunting earlier, so we ended up roasting hunks of meat and vegetables over the bonfire.  I did my best not to hoard Cade all to myself. 
After all,
Enorah deserved some time with him as well.

As the fire died down, the younger kids headed
off for bed.  Eventually
only Cade, Enorah and I were left.  The logs crackled and popped, the hot flames whispering along with the sounds of the forest creatures at night.  Silence descended upon us, but then Enorah let out a big yawn, dumped the dregs
from her mug into the fire
and stood up, stretching.

"I'm going to call it a night, but I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

She glanced at
me, then her brother
, and although it was hard to see in the dark, a glint of regret crossed her eyes.  I frowned, but Cade nodded before I could ask what was wrong.  With one last smile, Enorah turned and headed towards her cabin, leaving Cade and
me
to soak
up
the warmth of the fire.

Cade reached over and pulled me close, kissing my forehead and wrapping his cloak around me.

We have to leave in the morning
, his
shil-sciar
words brushed against my mind.

I sighed.  So that explained Enorah's morose mood.  I figured as much.

You s
eem
disappointed.  I thought you w
ere eager to get to the Dagda's,
he continued.

I am.  I've just grown fond of the Weald, I guess.

Cade took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. 
I would rather you stayed here, where you're safe.

I can't hide forever Cade, and that's not the reason I'm reluctant to leave.

I lifted my chin up so I could see his face. 
I like it here and I'll miss Enorah and all the kids.

Cade chuckled and murmured, breaking the silence, "Oh, you're definitely a keeper if you have the patience to like Enorah."

I smacked him.  "Is that the only reason you can think of for keeping me?"

I meant it as a joke, but his green eyes darkened and his voice grew deeper as he answered, "Oh no, far from it.  You're so beautiful Meghan.  Your eyes," he bent down and kissed each of my eyelids, then gently ran his fingers through my hair.  "Your hair, your nose with its freckles."  He smiled and nipped my nose with his lips.  "And your unrelenting spirit."

He lifted a hand and pressed it against my skin, right above the space between my heart and my magic.  And of course, my glamour let out a burst of energy, the blue rose next to it cracking open to see what was going on.

I felt as if I was melting under the warmth of Cade's endearments, but I had just enough sense to get control of Cernunnos's gift. 
Stay shut, you
, I growled at it.

"You're perfect Meghan.  How could I ever let you go?"

He bent down and kissed me for real that time, drawing it out so that I thought it would never end.  The fire grew suddenly hot and I had to
pull away to catch my breath.

I cuddled next to him so that my hand was placed over his heart.  "I don't plan on ever letting you go either," I murmured drowsily, then yawned and felt my eyes drift shut.  I could so fall asleep
just as I was
, with Cade as my mattress and blanket all in one.

Before I could register what was happening, Cade had lifted me up into his arms and was carrying me across the dark village square.