Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) (14 page)

Goodbye,
goddess!
Merci!
Anna called as she padded after me, following me across the threshold into the mortal realm.

I woke up a few seconds later with Anna wrapped in my arms, nestled into the top bunk of my bed. A slow smile spread over my lips as I glanced at the clock and I realized we hadn’t been gone but a few minutes. It was still only just passed midnight. We still had hours to sleep. I pulled the covers up over us and snuggled in closer to her. At my throat I could feel the charm that Diana had given to me. I rubbed it as I fell asleep again.

Only a few hours had passed before I was woken up for the second time. This time by a couple of Fae invading my room and poking me with rather sharp fingers.

“Wake up you useless clod!”

I growled causing them to take two very large steps back.

“What is it Max?” Anna whispered coming awake. “And how did I get here?”

“Fae, and you got here cause I wanted you here,” I whispered right back.

“Are you the one Gideon bragged about?” The taller of the two Fae asked. His long blonde hair hung down to his waist in a long braid, tied with pieces of what looked like real gold. His bronzed skin shimmered and sparkled in the moonlight that shown through the window. I couldn’t tell what kind of pants he wore, just that they weren’t any kind of man made material.

“And if I am?”

“Then Auberon, King of Light and Illusion wishes an audience with you.”

“How nice for Auberon, King of Light and Illusion, but I have school in…” I glanced at the clock. “Three hours and then football practice and if I don’t want to get myself killed by a lion with an attitude, training to do. So the king is going to have to wait.”

At this the Fae warriors laughed. “You don’t have a choice.”

“Really? Want to bet?” I asked as I rolled over on top of Anna and flashed us out of bed and all the way to Ireland, blankets and all.

“Max, why are we sitting at the top of the cascade?”

“Avoiding the Fae, love.”

“Ah. Why not just go see what he wants?”

“Diana said not to let him con me.”

“True, but she didn’t say to avoid him all together.”

“Fine, we’ll go see the king. But we’re getting dressed first.”

“Of course, mon amour.” Anna smiled.

I imagined her in a glittering golden dress, her long black hair flowing down her back with tiny little braids woven through out it. On her feet were little gold ballet slippers. And when I blinked my eyes she appeared just as I imagined. I closed my eyes once more and asked Diana to guide me in choosing an appropriate outfit for myself to appear before the King of the Fae. When I opened my eyes I was dressed in a suit embellished with gold to match Anna. The material was like nothing I had ever felt before, it was as soft as silk but as tough as leather, and underneath the jacket I wore no shirt. I could feel daggers strapped to my wrists and a long sword strapped across my back as well.

“Max?” Anna grinned. “Max you look… très magnifique!”

“No, you are the one that looks like an angel, sweetheart. Come on; let’s go see the king.” I took Anna in my arms and flashed us to the two Fae warriors that had come to collect us.

“I’m not telling the King we lost some half Fae kid in the mortal realm, you tell him Daire!”

“Oh, shut it, Cole! We’ll find them.”

“No need. I’m here, and I’ll go with you, however I’m bringing my mate with me and I have a few other stipulations.”

Daire and Cole look at each other and sighed. “Fine. The King said not to come back without you.”

“Great, then all I ask at the moment is that we are back in time for school.”

“Not a problem, time can move differently in the Never Never. You just have to check in with the time keeper at the entrance to the Faerie Mound.”

“Then shall we go?” I asked, keeping close to Anna.

“Come on then,” Daire replied as he opened my bedroom door and crept down the stairs.

“What, you aren’t going to magic us out of here?”

“Now how am I supposed to do that? We aren’t allowed to travel that way in groups. It can cause problems. I can flash short distances by myself, or directly into the Never Never, but not with passengers, unless we have prepared ahead of time.”

“Interesting. So where is the Faerie mound? I might be able to get us there a bit faster.”

“What? You? A mere half Fae? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Fine. Just tell me where we are going.”

“It’s not far,” Cole said opening the door to a black caddy for Anna. “Climb in.”

I climbed in after Anna feeling slightly uncomfortable about not knowing exactly where we were going. “Are you sure you can’t tell me where we are going?”

“Just relax would you.”

I leaned back in the seat, my arm draped artfully but protectively around Anna, just incase we need to flash out in a hurry. I tried to appear relaxed but I was really keyed up.

Mon coeur, you must relax. We shall be fine. These Fae will do us no harm. They have no weapons upon them. I trust that you will find a way to get us through this Max, my love.

I could feel her pouring her serenity over me, willing me to be peacefully but alert and I allowed her to.
Thank
you,
Anna.
I smiled down at her.

“Okay, everyone out. The Faerie mound is just over this hill,” Daire said as he stopped the car.

I looked around and realized we were near the city park about three miles from our school. If I had to I could get back here in no time. “Has the Faerie mound always been here?”

“Since we moved to the states, we’ve built Faerie mounds in multiple places. This one has been here since the early nineteen hundreds.”

“Interesting,” I replied as Anna and I followed Cole to the door of the mound. It was strange that I had never noticed it before. A large oak door built into a hill between two oak trees that seemed to stand guard, protecting the mound from intruders.

“Our job is done; we have harmed none. Grant us entrance, per our master’s wishes,” Cole spoke the words to the door, or so I thought, until another Fae appeared before us. This one was dressed as if he meant business; weapons were holstered upon each hip and a pair of swords criss-crossed across his back.

“You may enter,” he said gruffly.

We followed Cole through the oak doorway down the shining hallway. Everything seemed to glow, and exceed my expectations. “Wait. What of the time keeper you mentioned?”

“Oh, yes, he is just through here.”

We followed Cole and Daire through another doorway. I held tightly to Anna’s hand, not wishing to get separated in the maze that I realized the Faerie mound actually was.

“Taban, these two need a time piece.”

“Aye, what kind of time are you needing?” Taban asked.

I frowned. “I don’t know actually. I just know I can’t miss school, which is in two hours in mortal time.”

“I see, I see, I see…” Taban replied scratching his elfish face. “I’ve got just the thing right here, I do.” Taban pulled out a pocket watch on a gold chain and wound the timepiece. “So long as the two of you stay together while ye be in the land of Fae, the mortal day shall not move more than a minute for every hour you spend here.”

“Wait, what do you mean stay together, do we have to be physically connected or just in the same room?”

“Oh aye, just in the same room should be close enough.” Taban nodded.

“And if we should happen to get separated for some reason?”

“Ooch, well worst case scenario? You end up in two different time periods? Don’t get separated.”

I held tighter to Anna’s hand as I picked up the Faerie watch. “Okay, let’s go see the King.”

“Finally,” Daire replied from the threshold of the door.

We followed him through the maze to a pair of golden double doors guarded by another set of Fae warriors.
Deep
breaths
mon
coeur,
deep
breaths.

I glanced at Anna and smiled.
Are
you
sure
this
isn
’
t
a
colossal
waste
of
our
time?

You never know, my love, who we may need on our side in the future. Do not go burning bridges.

“Stand aside; we have brought the half Fae the King wishes to see.”

“This is a half Fae? Looks mortal to me,” The Fae warriors said with a laugh.

I shrugged my shoulders and waited for them to open the doors.

The warriors pushed open the doors and stepped inside. “Daire and Cole have returned with the half Fae your Highness.”

“Send them in at once!”

“I really wish they would stop referring to me as “the half Fae”, it is driving me nuts. I do have a name you know. It’s Max.”

“I know, my love,” Anna murmured with a smile.

“Daire, Cole, report. Which is the half Fae and why did you bring the other?”

Daire and Cole knelt before the King their heads bowed with us standing just behind them. I wasn’t about to bow, not until I understood exactly what was going on. “Auberon, King of Light and Illusion, may we introduce Max Fergus and Anna Lissa Felidae. Max is the half Fae to which Gideon bragged about. Max would not visit you without bringing Ms. Felidae as well.”

“He does not look Fae at all. Are you sure he is the correct person?”

I sighed. I had known it was going to come to this the minute my father had spoken the words the night before. Slowly I twisted the ring off my index finger, pressed it into Anna’s hand and then stepped away from her. In doing so my short blonde hair began to grow in waves, down my back till it nearly reached the floor. Throughout my hair branches of mistletoe worked their way into tiny little intricate braids to match the ones in Anna’s hair. This was not the only change to come over me.

I glanced down at my hands and noticed that I was now glowing as bronze as Daire if not even brighter. In my mind Anna sent me a picture of myself, what I looked like as Fae and it was… strange to say the least. My ears were distinctly pointed, as was my chin. The planes of my face seemed some how sharper more angular and I was even taller as a Fae than I was as a mortal. My muscles were a bit more defined too, however I still felt like me. It didn’t matter what package I was in, jaguar, mortal, Fae, I was still me.

“Do you still think I am the wrong half Fae great Grandfather?”

“You dare?” Auberon questioned. “You dare use such a connection without being given leave to do so?”

“You were the one who requested this audience. I was perfectly content to go on as I was. I’m here. Now what is it you wanted?”

Auberon narrowed his eyes. “You are too much like my son.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I wish to speak to Max and Ms. Felidae alone.”

“But, your Highness!”

“Fine, Daire, you may stay. Everyone else leave.”

Everyone filed out of the throne room as I slipped my ring back on my finger and became my mortal self.

“You hide yourself well, leprechaun magic?”

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “Perhaps, perhaps not.”

Auberon frowned. “You know I looked for him, my son. For years I looked for him. It was my fault he left, you know.”

“I know.”

Auberon sighed, “He told you the whole story hmmm. How I had found him the most beautiful Sidhe princess to marry and how he turned me down. Said he had fallen in love with some nobody brownie of all creatures!”

“That is my grand mum you are talking about, so watch it.”

Auberon grinned, “I suppose it is. Is he happy, my son?”

“I’d say he is very happy. He and grand mum have a great life.”

Auberon smiled. “Good. He was terrible at court politics and was never happy here. Though I suppose I shouldn’t have forbade him from the Never Never. Let him know I have lifted his banishment if he ever wants to come for a visit.”

“I’ll do that.”

“So Gideon tells me that he is training you to fight some pesky lion. Would you like me to send my warriors to take care of him for you?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I am feeling generous, and I am your great grandfather, and you are of royal Sidhe blood.”

“And?”

Auberon grinned. “And I may want you to join my Fae warriors, perhaps become my heir apparent…”

“That is a generous offer great grandfather, and I do appreciate it…”

“But you are going to turn me down aren’t you?” Auberon said with a knowing smile.

“Well, to be honest great grandfather, my destiny lies in a different direction.”

“A shifter direction I suspect,” Auberon replied with a glance at Anna. “I do understand. It was smart of you to bring your mate along with you for this meeting.”

I inclined my head and smiled, but held my tongue.

“Would you like a tour of the Mound? You know you are welcome here anytime. As a matter of fact,” Auberon pulled a small round glass out from his pocket, “take this. It is a scrying glass. If you wish to contact me you have only to say my name thrice into the glass and I shall appear. Keep it with you and it is a connection to the Never Never that you can use for when the occasion arises.”

I took the round glass and slipped it into my pocket. “Thank you great grandfather, that is very kind of you. Perhaps we could tour the Faerie mound some other time? Anna and I do have to be getting back, we have school in a few hours, and we have not gotten any sleep this night.”

“Then perhaps I can offer you a room?”

“Really that is extremely kind…”

“Now, Max I am not going to take no for an answer on this one. You are right, you do look exhausted and I understand you have much to do tomorrow. You are of no use to me if this lion finds you before you have been properly trained. That is something else I can help with. I will speak to Gideon as well.”

“Max, it may be a good idea, a few hours of sleep here is only a few minutes in our world.”

“Anna, are you sure you do not mind?”