Mystical Seduction: full-length sensual paranormal romance (The Protectors) (23 page)

The frail old man dropped to the soft grasses, dazed but
unharmed, while the mystical light continued to stab and tear at Manelin’s
spirit.

“Save yourself!” Horace shouted. Faith hadn’t stopped
herself from the free-fall. And the ground grew dangerously close to her head.
“Dammit, don’t sacrifice yourself for my sake!”

“As long as you promise to never do the same for me,” she
said. With a sparkle of brilliant light, she appeared right next to him.

Her body still vibrating with his golden energy, and sparks
danced in the air between them. How she’d managed to transport herself through
time and space had him baffled. None of
the Protectors
could pull off
such a trick. At least, he didn’t think they could.

“What should we do with him?” Horace hooked his thumb toward
the nearly transparent faerie being tormented by the same golden glow that
illuminated Faith from the inside out.

“What do you think?” Faith asked, her eyes growing dark. “He
would have happily killed you.”

“But he’s the prince of…”

“Of what?”

“Of the mystical realm.”

Her eyes glittered with excitement. “The prince of the
faeries, nymphs, mermaids, and goblins?”

“And
Protectors
, among others.” This was the truth
he’d been running away from for years. This was the burden he couldn’t ask her
to share with him. He gave a long sigh. “I’m the king.”

“I know.” But she didn’t seem to understand what being the
king of the mystical realm meant. If she had, she wouldn’t have been accepting
it, or him, so readily.

“Faith, it’s not a life that will be—”

Thunder crackled across the high plateau. The bright flash
that followed nearly knocked Horace to the ground.

“It is a crime to bring harm to the royal family. A law not
even the king can break,” a trio of voices boomed.

Still screaming and twisting, Prince Manelin faded. In his
place, stood three tiny bearded men. The tallest among them couldn’t have been
more than three feet in height.

Horace recognized them right away. Even if Sapa hadn’t
unlocked his memories he would have recognized them. They were the royal sages.

“You have found your mate, Lion. It is time to come home,” the
three sages spoke as one voice.

“What about Manelin?” Faith demanded. “What have you done
with him?”

“He has been put in a safe place. Whether he accepts it or
not, he is the Prince of Arawyn, Prince of the Otherworld.”

One of the royal sages, the tallest among them, quirked a
brow and, stretching, he reached up to touch the sparks that danced around Faith’s
body.

“What is this?” the sage asked, speaking without the echo of
the other two. As if responding to his touch, the glow vanished and the
worrisome sparks calmed.

“She is his mate,” said the second sage.

“His power is unleashed and dangerous,” said the third.

Their gazes, acting as one, latched onto Horace. “Why have
you done this?” they asked.

“It was a mistake.”

One that had ruined both his and Faith’s lives. As long as
he remained without a mate, the sages would have allowed Horace to live with
his friends in the mortal realm. He’d been given the freedom to search for the
perfect woman. To take as long as he’d needed.

He had planned to take forever.

Faith wrapped her arms around Horace’s waist. “We have the
power under control…mostly,” she said with so much determination, Horace
couldn’t help but feel proud of her.

What a truly wondrous and brave woman, and well suited to
becoming a queen. She deserved all the finest things in life. She deserved to
be happy.

Horace felt certain he could make their bond complete. All
he had to do was open his heart to Faith.

But should he? Faith deserved a better life. A life free
from him and the burdens of the crown.

“What you’ve done or haven’t done, doesn’t matter,” the
sages said. “It is done. You cannot change what you have started. Accept that
and move on. It is time for them to come with us.”

“No.” Horace tried to back away from them. He wouldn’t allow
them to take him or Faith. Not like they had stolen him away the last time. “I
didn’t ask for any of this.”

The shock of seeing Manelin had brought back the last of
Horace’s stubborn memories. He remembered how the sage’s frighteningly silent
minions had kidnapped him at the club. They’d bound his hands and feet. Bound,
he’d fought them every step of the way as they’d transported him to the cave up
on this plateau. Even as he struggled with every ounce of his strength, they’d
dragged him through a swirling portal.

And the sages had changed him. They’d transformed him into a
creature that couldn’t exist without a mate.

“I didn’t ask to be king of a world that had never wanted me
in the first place. How can I go back?”

“It is your duty,” the sages answered as one. “You are our
king.”

Muk ran up to Horace while the other
Protectors
watched from a safe distance. “Sapa has sent me to accompany you to the cave.” He
lowered his voice. “He says that you must not do what you are planning to do,
Horace.”

“Perhaps we should at least look at what’s in the cave,” Faith
said with such eagerness that it would have been cruel to send her away before
letting her see the wonders her parents had described to her. But despite
Sapa’s warning, he had no intention of letting Faith follow him into the
Otherworld.

The sages led the way with Muk close on their heels. Horace
took one last look at the beautiful blue sky, felt the heat of the sun on his
face and the tickle of the breeze. Though he’d never cared much for the
outdoors, he’d miss these things.

And he’d miss Faith even more. Leaving her behind would
blast a hole in his heart he knew would never heal.

The opening of the cave yawned nearly two stories high, a
great hole in the side of the mountain. The passage descended sharply, winding
down into the cool depths of the earth. Crystals and emeralds glowed as they
passed. A steady drip, drip, drip of a hidden water source could be heard in
the distance.

After what felt like a hundred forevers, they finally
reached the end of the cave. The passageway stopped abruptly at a flat wall.

Horace gave Faith time to take out her flashlight and
explore the primitive glyphs covering the walls, before clearing his throat.

“This is where we part,” he said, fiercely pressing his will
on her. He’d promised Faith’s parents he’d protect her. And he saw now that the
best way he could keep her safe was to let her go. No matter how much it hurt
him, he had to let her go. “Stay here, on earth. Live your life. Become the
woman you are meant to become.”

All signs of life drained from her eyes as she nodded in
agreement. It had worked. She started to head back toward the cave’s opening.

But suddenly she blinked several times and shook her head.

“Oh no, you don’t. I won’t let you wiggle out of our
relationship after everything we’ve been through.”

“Don’t fight me,” he said, his voice vibrating with all the
power he could gather. “Go with Muk. Let him take you home.”

She sighed deeply and twined her fingers with his. “I know
it’s difficult for you to trust me, to trust our relationship.”

He didn’t want her to touch him. He didn’t want any of this.
But the warmth of her hand kept him from pulling away. Though earlier in the
jungle he’d asked her to give him a chance to prove himself, he was no longer
convinced he could be the man she needed.

She deserved someone who could give her the moon and the
stars—and his heart.

“I’ve been listening to everything, you know,” she told him.
“I’ve been paying attention. I understand that you didn’t have parents or a
family to love and protect you when you were growing up. So this must feel
unnatural. Frightening, even.”

What could he say to that? He tried to come up with
something to prove her wrong. No one respected weakness, especially not women.
He’d learned that lesson well enough on the streets.

“I also know that you’re a born leader, Horace. It’s in your
blood to be in control,” she blazed on before he had a chance to explain away
her doubts about him. “I know you want to control me. To protect me.”

She gave his hand a squeeze. “I’m learning that in your own
way, you are trying to show me that you care for me. But you don’t have to
prove yourself. I care for you, too. And as your queen, I’m going to be by your
side. Whether you like it or not, I’m not going to let you face the unknown
that waits for you on the other side of that portal alone.”

“But the danger—”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “We’re in this together.
Like it or not, we’re a team. And no matter what you do, you won’t get rid of
me.”

He felt a sudden urge to fight her. To rage against her. To
push her away. She had worked her way under his skin again, and it was making
him itchy as hell.

“I never wanted you!” he shouted, more frustrated at his own
inadequacies than with her. “I never wanted any of this!”

Faith opened her mouth then pinched her lips together. A
halo of golden light flared around her head. The power lashed at the sloping
walls, sending loose stones clattering to the ground.

Muk backed out of the cave—smart man.

“You can’t go without me.” Her voice had turned as hard as
stone. She pointed to a petroglyph of a man and a woman holding hands that had
been carved into the cave wall. The woman had one arm raised. Jagged lines
representing lightning replaced the woman’s fingers. “You need me to open the
portal.”

He traced the deep grooves cut into the stone. The
petroglyph glowed a ruby red in response to his touch.

“The sages can open the portal,” he said.

“We can,” they agreed.

He swung toward them. “I want to release Faith. She deserves
more than I can offer her. She deserves to follow her own dreams. I don’t want
her bound within the confines of my hell.”

“You have mated with her,” the sages reminded him. “The two
of you are bonded.”

“Horace, I don’t—”she started to protest.

He pressed a finger to her lips.

“This is my gift to you, Faith.” He turned back to the
sages. “You can untie us? You can remove the marks?”

They nodded gravely. “We can.”

“Horace, don’t—”

Afraid he’d be tempted to selfishly keep her with him if he
listened to her reasons why he should change his mind, he kissed her.

It would be better this way, he told himself as their lips
met. He would be better off. The lie contracted in his chest. Just the thought
of losing Faith threatened to tear apart his sanity.

He deepened the kiss. This was his gift to her. She felt
limp in his arms. Her tongue touched his, and his power flowed back and forth
between them.

Their passion had the power to ignite the night sky. Such
turbulence would destroy them both unless he opened up his heart and let her
get closer than anyone had ever been to him.

No. He couldn’t let her stay.

He had to send her away.

In time, she would understand.

How could he do this to her? The jerk. A loveable, sexy
jerk. Faith couldn’t think of anyone else she would want to spend her life
with. But she didn’t know how to prove her love for him. Perhaps he would never
trust her. Perhaps he’d never be able to love her back.

“Tell us,” the sages demanded of Faith. “Is this your wish?”

Was it
? To leave her life in Chicago, her dreams, her
family, her friends, in exchange for a man who held back his love? Was that the
life she wanted for herself?

Horace offered her freedom, her last chance to hold onto her
own identity.

Why was the cost of love so high? Her parents were happy,
but even they’d admitted that it took compromise and sacrifice to make their
relationship work. And they were both loving and willing.

Her situation wasn’t the same. Horace was too afraid to love
her. Perhaps he couldn’t love her. Ever.

“
Yes
,” she whispered, tears burning in the back of
her eyes. “Yes, I’d rather continue my studies in Chicago than follow Horace
into the unknown.” And if that meant she wouldn’t be in his life, so be it.

She’d survive the heartbreak, she hoped.

“V-v-very well-well-well,” the sages said, sounding somewhat
uncertain and completely out of sync with each other. “T-th-the heart h-has-as
s-spoken.”

A low humming filled her ears. The words of a droning
language that sounded both ancient and strangely familiar called to her soul.
The sound soothed her.

The words swirled around her, turning the world gray. And
then black. She felt no pain, only a dull knowledge of what was happening. The
only way to break the ties that bound their auras and linked their souls
together was to kill her.

And while she didn’t want to die, but it wasn’t her death
but the words that had been left unsaid that had her heart screaming in
distress.

She’d never told Horace how she felt about him. Just as he’d
accused in the forest, Faith hadn’t given him the chance to love her.

Horace hadn’t been the only one holding back when it came to
love. Faith had been so worried about her future that she’d been too afraid to
trust Horace with her heart.

“No!” She tried to shout but her mouth wouldn’t move.

She should have told Horace about her feelings right after he’d
made that third mark. She should have trusted that he could be strong enough to
accept her love.

“Horace, I love you. Please, I love you. Please, don’t
let me go
.”

Faith vaguely heard someone shout her name. And then a
crash.

Someone grabbed her hand. In a blinding flash, she saw
sparks fly from the tips of her fingers, and the wall at the end of the cave
opened up into a swirling blue portal. A blast of wind pushed the three sages
through the gaping hole.