Toil and Trouble (12 page)

“Yes,” Dragos answered. “Have you not fed on her?”

Sinjin stood up so quickly, I never saw him move. He grabbed Dragos by the collar and levitated him.

“Let no one touch her, do you understand? If she bears any marks or if she tells me you touched her, I will destroy you.”

The younger vampire trembled. “I understand.”

He let go and Dragos landed on both feet, seemingly no worse off after having been reprimanded in mid air.

“I will return momentarily, once I finish supping on the human’s blood.”

“I hope you enjoy your supper,” Dragos said, his neck bowed in subservience as he walked backwards, bowing all the while and disappeared outside the tent.

Sinjin glanced at me and the fierceness of his expression bled into a warm and gentle smile. “I must leave you now, Love, but Dragos…”

“Don’t leave me, Sinjin,” I said, amid a bout of yawns.

“I must, Little Poppet, much though I do not want to.”

“Wait,” I started, but Sinjin’s index finger against my lips silenced me.

“Dragos will be your sentry while I am gone. You will be safe, My Love.” He leaned down and kissed my lips while I nodded and instantly fell asleep.

Eight

Part one of my plan was complete—getting Sinjin to train and share his blood with me. Now it was time to put part two into motion—and it wasn’t like I had a lot of time left; the battle was just over a month away.

It was six a.m. and the sun had started its ascent across the sky, dappling Pelham Manor in hues of warm yellow. As usual of late, I wore my jogging pants, a sports bra and a sweatshirt. My alibi in case Rand spotted me? A morning jog. But, exercise couldn’t have been further from my mind.

I needed to visit the oldest and wisest of the fairies, Mathilda.

My only problem with visiting Mathilda was that I didn’t have a clue how to find her. The only way into a fairy village was with a personal invitation and I definitely didn’t have one. Each of my previous meetings with Mathilda had been orchestrated by Rand. But, I had a plan up my sleeve. The distasteful part was that it included Odran.

I jogged the two miles to my old abode, stopping over ten times to catch my breath like a three pack-a-day smoker. Arriving at the front door, I knocked a few times and then doubled over, straining to inhale more air.

When no one answered, I knocked again, this time with more urgency. I heard shuffling and someone bumping into something, followed by cursing before the door swung open to reveal an indignant King of the Fae.

And he just happened to be as naked as the day he was born.

“Lass,” he yawned and then frowned while he rubbed his sleep-swollen eyes. I didn’t have the chance to find amusement in the fact that even the most magical of the magical also succumb to morning face. Instead, I was doing my darndest not to look down.

“Can you please cover yourself?” I pleaded, my head craned upward in an uncomfortable angle like a woman in a Picasso painting.

I heard him chuckle and dared to glance back to find he’d magicked himself into a blue and purple kilt. His broad, impressive chest remained bare in all its glory but that I could handle.

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

“Lass,” Odran started, no doubt about to inquire as to why I was on his, er, my front doorstep at six a.m. His stomach muscles tightened as he leaned against the door, looking like God’s gift to women. Funny, but he did nothing for me. I was getting to know him too well.

“I’m sorry to wake you up so early, Odran,” I interrupted. “It’s just that I need to visit Mathilda and I don’t know how to reach her.”

He stifled a yawn and raked back his thigh legth, golden blond hair. “Ye what?”

“Can I come in? It’s pretty cold out here,” I said, eyeing my home wistfully.

“Aye,” Odran said, holding the door ajar just wide enough that I had to turn sideways to enter. Odran didn’t move, but smiled when I brushed up against him. I just rolled my eyes. Being in camp with a bunch of horny guys was wearing thin.

As soon as I entered my little house, I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and go back to sleep. But that feeling fled when I peeked into my bedroom to find Odran’s two lovers naked and sprawled out on my comforter. Vo-mit. Note to self—
Get a new bed and linens.

I glanced back at Odran and shook my head at his smug smile.

“Do ye want ta join us, Lass?” he asked with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“No!” I said quickly. “I, uh, I’m fine, thanks.”

The truth was, I’d never been more okay with my newly appointed abstinence.

Odran plodded into the kitchen, sitting down at my kitchen table. He looked ridiculously large in the me-sized chair which he dwarfed. He waved at the empty chair next to him and I took the one across.

“I need you to take me to Mathilda,” I blurted.

Odran rubbed his chin and frowned. “An why do ye need me ta do this?”

I had previously decided not to trust Odran but now I was left with no other option. I needed him to make my plan work but that didn’t mean I had to fill him in on the whys and hows of it. Either he wouldn’t keep my secret to himself or else he wouldn’t approve, either of which I couldn’t afford.

“I can’t tell you.”

He chuckled. “Why should I help ye, if ye willna tell me?”

I’d already imagined this scenario a few hundred times and in my head, I was ready for his line of questioning. Now I just had to wait and see if Odran would go for the bait.

I leaned my elbows on the table and stared directly into his eyes. “If you help me, I’ll grant you a favor.”

“I doona need favors from ye, Lass. I am the King.” He sounded slightly disappointed, like he was hoping I had something better up my sleeves. Well, I’d prepared for this response too.

“Think about it, Odran, I’d be obliged to you and you could collect any time for any reason.”

He was quiet as he considered it, stroking his chin like Thinking Man. “An this favor…can it be anythin’?”

I shook my head; I did have some caveats. “Nothing sexual,” I said, sliding a glance to the open doorway where I could see his two fairamours in my bedroom. “It seems you aren’t in need of sexual favors anyway.”

“Ye fault me fer this, Lass?” he asked smiling. “I am King; is it ma fault women want ta lay with me?”

I guess it wasn’t his fault but that didn’t mean I had to partake. “No, but I’m not one of them and I’m not on the table.”

His shoulders drooped a bit as he pouted for sympathy, a ploy that did nothing but tick me off. “Give me a break, Odran, you get plenty of sex.”

He crossed his arms over his chest until his biceps bulged exaggeratingly. He was so muscular it was almost laughable, like I was sitting there and chatting with He-Man.

“Aye, Lass, boot not with ye an’ I still want to.”

“Moving on…” I said firmly to let him know the subject was closed. “The favor can’t be something like joining your fairy village, or living with you, and it can’t be a favor that lasts too long.”

He sighed, long and loud and interrupted me “I find this conversation boring, Lass.”

I leaned forward, not caring if he was bored. Too much of my future weighed on his acquiescence. “Think about it, Odran. I can bring back your dead and that’s just one of the many ways you can benefit from my magic.”

He tapped his long fingers against the tabletop. “Ye’ll be bringin’ back all those oon our side who die in the battle regardless.”

This was the second time someone referred to Rand’s plan to reanimate the casualties of our legion. Yet he still hadn’t discussed it with me! I made a mental note to confront him about it once I had the chance.

“I could place your fairies in top priority,” I said, worrying he wouldn’t go for it.

He stroked his chin again and nodded. “I doona need ah favor from ye, Lass, boot I will accept yer offer an grant ye the favor ye seek.”

I was surprised. Odran had never struck me as the charitable type. And as soon as the surprise wore off, I realized this favor would one day come back to bite me in the ass but I couldn’t think of that now. There were more important matters pressing.

“Can you take me to see Mathilda now?”

Odran narrowed his eyes as he analyzed me. “Why have ye noot asked Rand?”

Guilty heat shot to my cheeks. Hmm, Odran knew Rand could contact Mathilda whenever he needed to. “I don’t want Rand to find out.”

“Why noot?”

I debated whether or not to be honest, since I was such a terrible liar. “Rand won’t give me what I want so I’d rather leave him out of it.”

He smiled. “Ye should ha told me this sooner, Lass, an’ I would ‘ah agreed sooner.”

I cast him my prettiest smile, eager to visit Mathilda and get my plan underway before Odran changed his mind or Rand realized what I was up to. Odran approached the door with me on his heels. The bright sunshine forced him to shield his eyes.

“Go on, you big baby,” I said, pushing him forward.

He chuckled and grabbed my hand, trying to pull me out in front of him. As soon as he touched me, I was seized by a vision.

It was of Odran in what appeared to be a field, surrounded by his compatriots as they fought using magic, weapons and ugly words. It was a vision of the war. I couldn’t make out who Odran was fighting. I could only see Odran in the midst of hurling a fairy concoction at his opponent. As quickly as it came, the vision vanished.

“Lass,” Odran started, no doubt wondering why I’d suddenly gone quiet.

My heart was racing so fast that I had to stop walking and give it a chance to wind down. “I just had a vision,” I said breathlessly.

“Ah vision? Ye ‘ave them?”

“Sometimes. I’m psychic,” I said, hoping that was answer enough.

“What was this vision?”

“It was the war and you were fighting.”

Odran humphed, as if he wasn’t impressed. I reacted with a glare. “I have no control over what I see and some visions are more meaningful than others.” He didn’t answer so I motioned to the road ahead that disappeared into the forest bordering Pelham Manor. “How far is it?”

“It isna ah matter o’ distance, Lass,” he started. “Ah fae village can be accessed anywhere, through magic.”

He stopped walking in front of a large pine tree and put the flat of his hand against the tree, closing his eyes as his lips twitched. He appeared to be reciting a chant or incantation of some sort.

When he opened his eyes, the miles of endless trees were replaced with a bustling village, peppered with fae children running through unpaved streets, tending to their livestock. The same enormous and brilliantly colored flowers I’d seen in the fairy village in Glenmore Forest, Scotland, impressed me all over again.

White-washed houses lined each side of the street, complete with thatched roofs. Each plot was separated by a white picket fence and it even seemed as if the sun shone a little brighter here. But, maybe that was just my imagination.

“Wow,” I said with a smile, always impressed with anything involving the fae.

Odran smiled proudly. He took my hand but quickly dropped it, probably remembering what had happened last time he touched me.

As Odran led me into the village, the scent of fresh dew peppering heady lilies and roses met my nose and closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. We passed a young boy playing in the middle of the dirt street with a smaller boy. The smaller boy glanced up quickly only to return his attention to the hole they’d been digging. But, the other boy’s mouth dropped open as he recognized Odran. He bowed low, elbowing his comrade with a terse “it’s the King”. His playmate quickly attempted an unpracticed bow and nearly lost his footing.

Odran’s hearty chuckle made them both smile as they continued to stare, as if in disbelief.

“You don’t come here much, do you?” I asked.

Odran shook his head. “Nay, I doona care to. Ma home is in Scootland.”

As we walked further down the lane, everyone reacted the same as the boys had, repeating in awed voices “The King.” Odran nodded, smiling graciously and I felt a little important as their eyes settled on me, his human sidekick. Even though Odran made me crazy at times, he was still the King. And nothing exemplified that as much as watching his people’s reactions.

We arrived in front of the last cottage on the lane, separated from the others with a much larger yard, trimmed with a rainbow of flowers. Odran knocked on the heavy wooden door. In a few seconds, the door opened and Mathilda stood there in all her silver-haired beauty.

At our first meeting, Mathilda, informed me that everyone saw her as they wanted to—her fairy magic allowed her to be whatever one chose her to be. To me she appeared as an older woman who was undeniably beautiful in her age-old wisdom. My view of her was entirely different from Rand’s. To him, she was more along the lines of an old, weathered tree stump.

Upon recognizing the King, she started to bow but Odran stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Nay, doona bow, Mathilda, boot I thank ye all the same.”

She smiled and when she saw me, her smile widened. “My child!”

I hurried past Odran to hug her even though I wasn’t sure if it was fairy custom. She hugged me back so it must have been okay. I did notice, though, that Odran raised an eyebrow to show his disapproval, but I didn’t care. I was too happy to see my friend.

“Come in, come in,” Mathilda welcomed us, holding the door wide.

We entered her small cottage and Odran had to slump in order to avoid smashing his head into the hay-stuffed ceiling. The cottage boasted a living room type area with a humble kitchen and a short hallway to a tiny bedroom. The floors appeared to be an untreated pine, dull with wear.

“To what do I owe this great honor?” Mathilda inquired in an English accent that tinkled through the room like wind playing chimes.

Even though Odran was Scottish, not all fairies were of the same heritage and Mathilda was English. I’d learned there were numerous fairy villages scattered throughout England, Scotland and Ireland but their headquarters, for lack of a better word, was in Scotland.

“The Lass has business with ye, Mathilda,” Odran said simply.

Mathilda faced me inquisitively.

“I need your help,” I offered as a gentle breeze sang through the window, ruffled Mathilda’s curtains and brought the smell of heavily blooming lilies to my nose.