Magical Tendencies (8 page)

"I followed the dream," was his simple reply.

"Dream?" I shook my head. "What dream?"

"The dream that you sent to me telepathically." He smiled as he reached out for my hand. I made no move to reach for him so he stepped forward, reached down and grabbed my hand gently, with strong fingers. A surge of electricity flew through my body, causing my head to spin and my body to lose balance slightly. Von caught me before I hit the floor.

He lifted me up by grabbing my arms and set me down on the couch. "THAT should never have happened." He stole a glance towards Trisha and then back to me. "What is going on here?" His question sounded accusatory and I was not going to put up with that. I pushed up on the couch and squared my shoulders.

"This is my home you are standing in, demanding answers to questions I do not know." I was beginning to get my balance back. I looked up at him, pushing aside the slight stubble on his flawless chin and masculine cheekbones, "You will NOT push your way in and demand things of us. WE are the ones that should be asking the questions. WE are the ones that have allowed you the latitude to enter. WE are the ones in control of this situation." Hmmm, that sounded pretty queenish if you asked me.
Where the
heck
did
that
come from?

Von straightened his back as if he was standing at attention. "I, I did not mean to offend, Celeste." He turned around to take a few steps away. "I was just so worried about you. You have been gone for over three years. What was I to think?" He turned around with a concerned expression on his face. "I love you, Celeste, and not one day went by that I didn't think about you."

Tish took that as an open invitation to jump in. "But you did not come on your own until this moment. You have stayed within the kingdom, at arm's length, sending men out to find us but never looking on your own. Why is this time different, dare I ask?"

Von looked like he had just been struck. "I had to run the kingdom, Mortisha. Give me some credit! Someone had to stay and be the responsible one. Someone had to take care of the daily routine to ensure that things didn't fall apart while our queen went off on her little… joyride!" His hands were fisted up again at his sides, his body rigid, his eyes livid.

"Did you
really
?" Tish smacked his words down with one phrase. "Pray tell what exactly you thought the queen was doing off on this… joy ride?"

Von threw his hands in the air as he waved around the room. "Avoiding responsibility, getting her nails done, causing general havoc in the male population of the United States. I didn't know and I swore to myself that I didn't care! She could go be as reckless as she wanted to be because I wasn't going to have any part of it." He waved his hand at me wildly as he continued to vent, "She can't avoid what she is. She is the queen and must behave as such. She cannot just… disappear! She is the heart and soul of the kingdom. Our home, everyone we love, would be nothing without her."

Tisha nodded as if she liked what she heard. What the heck had she heard that she liked? I didn't like it at all. This man was over the edge with anger and what looked like jealousy, but mostly seething anger.

"Von, you must realize that something… happened to drive the queen to leave."

There was silence.

Von looked at me quickly. I shrugged. There was no way that I would know what had happened—I just found out that I had been lost. Whatever that meant.

Von turned back to Tisha. "So you are saying… something of dire consequence happened?" He sounded beaten down, like someone had just taken his favorite scooter away and he knew he could never play again.

"Yes."

Von walked over to the coffee table and sat down on it gently. His long legs reached out to me on the couch, one on either side of mine. I was unable to escape his attentions even if I wanted to. "Celeste, I'm so sorry. What happened?" His penetrating glance was a bit much. Really, could he hear my thoughts?

"She is not aware of what happened, Von, you know that. Why do you keep speaking to her like she is a witness to cross-examine?" Tisha puffed.

Von shook his head. "Does she know me?"

"Hello, you two. I'm right
here
." I crossed my arms as I shifted against the back of the couch. It was getting annoying listening to them talk about me like I wasn't there. I was actually beginning to wish I wasn't.

Von laid his gorgeous eyes on me again, the green in the hazel of his eyes highlighted in the lamplight. Squaring his shoulders, he licked his lips… those luscious, manly lips.
Gosh I need a date!

"I am Von Edwards," he began as he scooped my hands up in his. Damn me for not tucking them under my legs. "I have been the bond mate to the queen, and her husband." There was a long pause, "I am your husband."

"I've heard that before." I stared him dead in the eye, waiting for his reaction. His eyes did pop a little before he nodded and continued.

"We have been bonded for over fifty years which have been the most wonderful years of my life. We have been lovers for fifty-three." He glanced over to Tisha as if to beg her forgiveness. "I have always been loyal to the queen and her reign. I am her friend, confidant, protector and lover. That is my whole purpose in life—to be there for her. To be there for you." He looked me deeply in the eyes.

A small sigh escaped my lips. My heart was swelling at his words and absorbing the intensity of what seemed to be love in his eyes. He just seemed so truthful, so sincere. My stomach fluttered like a flock of butterflies trying to escape into my throat. What was
wrong
with me?

My eyes turned up to Tisha as I began to shake my head. What the heck was I doing here? This could not possibly be true. Shifting in my seat, I slowly began retrieving my hands from his warm and encompassing grip.

"Um," I looked away ,"I don't know what to think of that, Von. I'm sorry."

14

Thank goodness for Tisha because I don't know what I would have had to do to get my home back to myself. She had closed the conversation, quelled Von's objections, calmed my frazzled nerves and was working on making me some tea. I loved her.

"So, Tish, who are you really?" I felt the freedom to ask because I honestly wanted to know.

Tisha flipped her hair back out of her way until it cascaded down her back. "I am your mentor and protector." She walked across the living room to the couch to hand me my tea. "I have known you for over one hundred years. You were my student at the beginning and you were my student at the end. When events became what they were, I helped you disappear to protect you."

"Protect me? Protect me from what?" A bead of sweat began to creep down my spine, making me fully aware that something big was happening. I was going to find out something that made me concerned for my own life.

"There are great things in this world. Great happiness, great love, great despair and great evil. There are things that you could never dream of seeing, but in your lifetime you have."

I closed my eyes. What was she talking about? "I will do what, Tish? You aren't telling me everything. What is there that I have done? What happened that would make me run away? What am I hiding from? Why does my own husband not know where I am? "

Tisha sat down next to me as she handed me the steaming cup of tea. I took it from her gingerly as she brushed my hand gently with hers. "It will be okay, Celeste. You have been through much worse than this."

Looking deeply into my tea, I wondered how that statement seemed to ring of absolute truth. What was going on with my life? What was I going to do? Why was I such a wishy-washy woman that wanted to 'go under' and forget everything twelve times?! That sounded a bit too extreme for my tastes. What had I been doing for the past three years?
Three years
. Gosh, that sounded like forever.

"Tell me the truth, Tisha, what am I doing here?" I looked at her profile as she fussed with her shirt and straightened her posture.

"I cannot lie to you, my queen. Ask your questions and they will be answered." She turned to me slowly to give me her full face.

Thinking about it for a second, I chose my questions instinctively, "Who am I?"

"Queen Celeste Ravenwood, Queen of Magic, Leader of Fairness, Lover of all things Natural." She kept her eyes fully locked on mine.

"Wow!" I laughed, "That's a mouthful."

"Quite," Tisha nodded.

"What am I doing here?"

"You are avoiding a threat to the kingdom. A problem large enough to distress you and beg that you be hidden, kept from the prying eyes of your kingdom, safe from the hands of the people that would use you as a weapon."

"Why would I be used as a weapon?
How
could I be used as a weapon when I am the queen, the ruler, the monarch?" I shook my head. This did not sound right. There was something off about it all and I wasn't sure what amount of inconceivable information was going to overwhelm my already frayed nerves.

"You left for a reason. The fact that none of this is coming back to you is quite alarming. You have always instantly understood and begged to be placed back under, to forget and be hidden away as a human once more in the past."

"The past? This is the past?" I looked around incredulously at my cozy little apartment. My lip popped out as I began to pout over my beautiful furniture and happy little arrangement.

It had taken time to get everything just the way that I had it. I loved to sit on my couch after dusk and watch the twinkling lights of the city on the hill, just outside of my patio window. That was the reason that I was happy to live on the third floor, lugging my equipment or groceries up three flights of steps—I loved the view. What was going to happen to my four-poster bed, my perfect leather couch, my betta?

I sighed. These were all silly questions because I really didn't have a say.

"Tish, what is different about this time? What has happened that is different from the last times?" I could feel my forehead furrow. There had to be something off—I wasn't acting the way that Tisha expected.

"You have seen your husband first. All of the other times you saw the vampire first and you immediately ran." Tisha's voice began to sound hollow, like she was speaking to me from the end of a very long tunnel.

The vampire.

"Who is this vampire?" I whispered it because I was afraid of what I would hear. "What is his name?"

"Solomon Ryker."

I didn't say a word, not one word. A sudden lump formed in my throat as my eyes watched Tisha lean down to take a sip from her own steaming cup of tea.

I must have looked stricken because I felt that way. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head but I didn't know what to do or say—I was in utter shock. My heartbeat began to grow louder and louder until I heard the distinct pounding that told me I was losing my grip on everything around me. The sudden buzz in my ears made me feel light-headed and nauseous. I was going to be sick.

I had never mentioned Solomon to Tisha and I didn't expect to do so because it was just such an odd experience. Solomon… my knight in shining armor was… a vampire? A sudden sense of understanding washed over me. He lifted the man… demon… whatever, with one hand. His eyes sparkled, glowed, shined. He was something… other. I distinctly knew that but I never, never felt unsafe around him for a moment.
What was the deal with my running away from him.
What was I running away from?

"Solomon Ryker." I spoke his name and tasted it on my lips. His name was a spell, a continuous spell that held my emotions in constant turmoil. What was he doing to me?

Tisha looked up from her tea and nodded. "Yes, this time is different because you have met the warlock first—Von Edwards. Solomon Ryker had always met you first and you would run." She seemed so sure of it but it didn't sound accurate.

Tilting my head slightly but not letting my eyes leave my cup of tea, I felt like my mind was anchored in the back of my eyes. Where was all of this going?

"No, I did not meet the warlock first." My mind refused to call him my husband. Something Solomon said about there not being a king struck me.

"Celeste!" Tisha sounded flabbergasted. "What do you mean?!"

Slowly my eyes turned to rest on Tisha. Without a blink I said "I met Solomon Ryker on Thursday night. He saved me from an attack—a demon from what he said to Jack." My voice trailed off into the night.

Tisha's eyes were like two huge round buttons—not blinking, not sharing any emotion except for outright shock. She shook her head as her hair bounced from shoulder to shoulder. "Are you telling me that you met a man and you didn't TELL me about it?!"

I don't know why, but that made me laugh. I laughed so loudly that my neighbors were probably getting ready to bang on the wall to call quits to my fun. What in the world was she talking about? "I don't tell you about
every
little thing I do, Tisha." I snickered one more time just for good measure.

Tisha looked a bit taken aback. "You always did in the past." She looked at her shoes, lacing her eyebrows together in deep concentration.

Half closing one eye as if she were in a lopsided, frozen wink, she asked, "Did you
sleep
with Solomon?"

"What?! Are you kidding me?! I just
met
the guy! Geesh, Tish!"

Nodding, Tisha set her tea on the coffee table, taking my cup and doing the same thing as well.

"So you met the vampire before the warlock and yet we are still here, together, on your couch, speaking of the future as if you still don't know who you truly are." She looked me up and down, "Interesting."

I really hated when Tisha began acting like Spock because it really creeped me out. She could get so analytical and self-righteous that I wanted to shake her until her pretty little eyes rolled out. Of course I would never hurt her—she just got on my nerves.

"Whatever." I was upset and I pushed off of the couch and stomped over to the kitchen. Bracing myself on the countertop, I felt like I needed something to keep my hands busy with so that I could be distracted even if it were for only a minute.