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Nox’s unease about the girl Glavior brought to the groups’ attention has me on edge about her. Nox may be silent, but he is observant and his instincts are second to none. I’d trust the man with my life, and have many times over. I want to respond to him, but before I can, Astrate turns us off the main path and down a drive that has a massive gate blocking the way.
Glavior grunts when the hybrid female casts her magic out. All of us respond in some way. My magic damn near breaks free from my control. Nightshades bloom along the sides of the road and clouds circle in the sky. Glavior’s skin sparkles bright and his pendant starts to float off his chest. The twins’ veins glow brighter and claws extend out of their fingers, as tufts of fur form on their arms. The little thing is packing massive amounts of power. Scary amounts of power.
The gate swings open, Astrate standing on the other side, waiting for us to stroll through. Nox and I share a look, unease and curiosity mixed with awe and pain in his gray eyes. He seems so damn conflicted in his emotions and I don’t know how to help him because I’m just as perplexed as he is.
The only difference is that I have no qualms with accepting a mate. I have no family left that could cause her harm, and even if my family was still alive, they wouldn’t dream of harming her. No, more than likely, they’d smother her with love until she went running for the hills just to get away from their attention.
The other three are already moving through the gate, so Nox and I rush to catch up with them. My magic seeps into the earth and I have to fight a smile at all the things this land has to tell me. Pain and blood have touched this land, but it's drowned out by the pure love here. This land is heavily laden with magic, most of it natural because of ley lines that converge in the center of the property. Some of it, though, comes from the Pixie that lives here.
Honestly, I’m not sure she lives here alone because there are several magic signatures I’m picking up on. One of them is nearly identical to Astrate’s but weaker and severely neglected. There is also Ice magic, nightmare magic, and I think another druid, though it's tainted with something else as well.
We follow the path a little longer, me enjoying all the natural fauna growing on either side of the long driveway. Trees with branches that reach above us to embrace, vines that are slowly creeping their way across the dirt path. So many flowers, weeds, and plants bunched together and existing in harmony. Even the animals here radiate joy and love for the inhabitants of their space. I can't keep the smile off my face as I breathe in abundance of natural magic around me.
Suddenly, the space in front of us opens up into a natural grotto. I can hear water rushing somewhere behind the massive wooden home. The windows are lit bright but it looks so natural in the space with the log walls, natural oak doors, and vibrant green vines climbing up the structure. It stands at least three, maybe four stories high, with a smooth flat roof, perfect for flight and surrounded by a fence.
The front yard is full of grass and flowers, and there's a pond off to the right of the steps leading to the double french doors. The whole front of the house is two giant windows with what appears to be moss drapes obscuring my view into the house. I can hear people chatting inside and see Astrate take a deep breath before running her hand down the Raven’s back. He is her familiar, I can feel the connection between their magic, but they seem really close, even for a familiar and his charge. She must be more powerful then I first gave her credit for if she has a raven for a familiar. I can’t say I’m surprised really, just a bit weary.
She turns to say something, the light from the house shining on her white hair, making it look like the moon left a bit of its light on earth, but before she can speak, the front door bursts open and a tiny slip of a man comes running out. He engulfs her in his arms as the raven takes off from her shoulder to dance with a smaller bird in the air. My brothers all let out some noise of complaint. Even Syrinox makes his displeasure clear when a ball of water lifts from the pond, hovering in the air and threatening to drown the poor soul touching our mate.
Damn it, this is going to be impossible. We’re never going to get the quest finished if we can’t even get through one night without them trying to kill someone. Sighing, I wrap vines around them all, casting Syrinox a glare that has him dropping the magic and tilting his head down with a fake chastised expression. Through all of it, Astrate hasn’t looked away from the man she is hugging, their foreheads resting on one another, hands clasped at their sides, and neither of them saying a word as they stare into each other's eyes.
I have to admit, I can see why my brothers lost it a bit. I'm even having trouble not reacting to the sight before me, and I’m the only sane-ish one of the band.
Chapter 8
Astrate
Ahazu runs out of the house, engulfing me in his arms. He whispers in my ear, speaking in Elvish about how much he has missed me, how happy he is to see me, and how he has so much to tell me. I can’t speak. I feel as if a piece of my soul has finally returned to me.
We stand there, silently taking in one another, heads together, hands clasped together at our sides and the rest of the world fades away. Thoughts of mates, quests, and assassinations just fall away as I soak in the warmth of my twin and familiar touch of his skin. Wait …. His skin? Where are his gloves? He hasn’t gone a day without them since we were seventeen. Pulling my head back, I clutch his hands tighter, bringing both up so we can see them between us then glance into his eyes with all the questions in my gaze.
“I did say I had much to tell you, big sister.” His eyes flick to the men behind me and a small smile twitches on the corner of his lips. “And it sure seems like you have much to tell me as well.”
I growl under my breath, but nod in understanding. Glancing over my shoulder, I laugh at the sight of all my men tied up in vines. Even Syrinox looks a bit chastised as Dree’s narrowed gaze slips his way. The twins are staring at mine and Ahazu’s joined hands and Glavior is staring intensely at my face like he always does. The fire burning in his eyes sets my body aflame with desire and I have to clear my throat and look away before the desire to jump his very large bones overwhelms me and I do something stupid.
“Boys, this is my twin brother, Ahazu. Baby brother, these are my very temporary partners, Glavior, Onyx, Cerise, Draoithe, and Syrinox.” As I introduce each man, I point his way and the vines slowly loosen their grip.
They all look a bit relieved when I say Ahazu is my twin, but really, they should have known. The only difference between us is our eyes, and the fact he has a dick. Clearly he is related to me, but it seems my guys … I mean, the guys, because they are NOT mine … whatever, they didn’t like Ahazu touching me. All I know is they better get over it quickly because my connection with my brother is non-negotiable. It's actually one of the reasons I don’t want mates. The bond between mates takes over everything, and I already lose enough time with my brother, I don’t want anything else coming between us.
“Problems?” I raise a brow and look at Dree, who clearly is responsible for the vines.
He smiles at me, his eyes opening from their narrowed positions and back into their normal half lidded state. He glances at Ahazu, but lifts his hands as if he is surrendering. “Nothing wrong here love.”
“Good.” I say, ignoring his little pet name, even as Ahazu chuckles under his breath. “Let's go inside, it seems my brother has some news for me.”
Ahazu and I keep our hands locked together as we lead the group of men into the house. I can hear someone behind me suck in a deep breath and I glance around the large living room, looking at it with fresh eyes. I’ve lived in this house my whole life. My father built it for my mother when they first moved from Faerie. I guess it is a bit grandiose, especially considering the only people who live in the main house are me and Ahazu, Boo and his parents live in a smaller house at the back of the property.
The room covers the entire length of the house, and about half of the width. There’s a large fireplace with a roaring fire against the back wall, one that I know extends into the kitchen and keeps the whole first floor warm. There are four leather couches around the fireplace, one of which is filled with Boo, Dallie, and some other guy I’ve never met. The right side of the room, beside the fireplace, is a hall that leads to the dining room and the kitchen, with a bathroom around the middle of the hall, and on the left hand side of the room, is a grand staircase that leads up to the second floor where the two master suites and four spare rooms are. The third floor is our chapel, where Ahazu has several altars set up for prayer.
“Big sister, I’d like to introduce you to Elizis, the fourth corner of our troupe.” He waves a hand towards the last man on the couch.
He is tall, standing around six foot six inches, His eyes are red, but not the solid red of Cerise. His long black hair is pulled back into a slick bun and his suit looks expensive, even without the jacket or tie. The first three buttons of his black shirt are unbuttoned, and his belt has a shiny buckle with a family crest. If I remember correctly, it's the crest of Vampire royalty, although his magic is earth based. He is interesting to say the least, especially since he is a healer of some kind.
“A pleasure I’m sure.” I say, still eyeing the man moving towards us.
I can’t keep my focus on him for long though, because before I know it, I’m yanked off my feet and tugged into a bone crushing hug while dangling in the air. Dallie’s natural mint scent fills my nose and I can’t help but smile and throw my arms around her neck.
“Dallie! I’ve missed you.”
