Page 14 of Destined

Is that what would happen to her? Now that she didn’t have to pretend, what would she become?

“I do not like seeing you riding that dragon,” Jannon said. “I think of you falling, and then my belly knots, and I want to find a very big net. Do you think they sell them in town?”

He was trying so hard to chat her up that Tara had to take pity on him.

“I can never be with you,” she said simply, and rested her chin on the top rail of the fence. “I am a changeling, and Dark Fae. I’ve been taught things that would turn your hair white. The Blackstones created me to do bad things. That’s who I am. You have to accept it.”

“No, I do not. Neither will Kayla. She did not raise you to be evil. Her love made that impossible.” Jannon turned to her. “Do not wrinkle your nose at me. I have seen the goodness in you. I have felt the love you hide in your heart. I think some of it is for me, or you would have chopped off my head when you had the chance.”

“You just won’t give it up, will you?” Something must have gotten in her eye. She had to blink hard. “When I rejoined my clan I was going to take you with me, Jannon. Have you chained in our dungeons, and make you my slave.” She swiped at her eyes. “My love slave.”

“A waste of time,” he said, “for I am already that.” He tipped up her trembling chin. “Say what you will. You know I am yours, my lady.”

“I love you, but–” Inside her chest something pounded, but it couldn’t be her heart. She didn’t have one. “I’ve also betrayed everyone, including you. I’ve done terrible things to my sister. My brother has been coming into my dreams and using me for sex for years, and I let him. And sometimes? I liked it.”

Jannon’s jaw tightened. “You were but a girl, and he never said he was your brother.”

“Yeah, well, I never asked. All I cared about was my own pleasure.” She ducked her head. “After what he and I did, I don’t know if I can…be with anyone else. He ruined me.”

He tugged her close, and kissed the top of her head. “All you have to do now is heal, my lady. However long it takes, I will wait for you. We are immortal, after all.”

Tara wanted to believe that, more than anything in the world. But if there was one thing she’d learned in her short life it was the futility of hope.

“Dirk’s been controlling me since I was born. He’s taught me a lot about the ways of the Dark Fae.” She swallowed hard. “I don’t want anything to do with him, but there’s still a connection between us. He can get to me whenever he wants. I’m fighting it, Jannon, but I don’t know if I can break it.”

“You can, and you will.”

She shook her head. “You can’t know that.”

He drew back and looked into her eyes. “I can and I do,” he said. “Because I will help you.”

It was all there in his face. He believed every word he said. She swallowed past a constriction in her throat, and looked away.

He put his arm around her shoulders. “Now come. If you still do not wish to eat, then you may watch me. I am so hungry that grass begins to look appetizing.”

Chapter 9

THE SOFT LIGHT of dawn roused Ryan from his sleep, and he rolled over to put his arm around Kayla. When he felt wet wood he opened his eyes to find only splash marks where she had been.

“Kayla?”

He got up and jerked on his clothes, cursing at the fastenings as he scanned the empty grove. Sunlight made the golden moss sparkle as it shifted in the light breeze, but there was no sign of his beloved. A splash made him spin around to see Kayla surfacing in the pool. She wiped the wet hair out of her face and spat out some water.

“Morning.”

“A fine time for a swim, my lady.” He knelt down to hoist her out of the pool. “You should have woken me.”

“I wasn’t swimming.” She shook herself and tugged at her drenched shirt. “Devalan Cloudstar grabbed me while you were sleeping. He took me for a visit to Nefele, where he introduced me to his wife and showed me the sites. He offered me sanctuary, too.”

Ryan went still. “He did what?”

“Wasn’t my idea.” She twisted the long tail of her hair to wring it out. “P.S., Devalan is my uncle. My mom was his youngest sister.”

Ryan heard fury in Kayla’s brisk tone. “Do I need to end him?”

She pretended to think. “No, but only because I liked his wife, and they have a kid.” Her mouth flattened. “Auntie Jem asked about Jannon. Should I say hi to him for her, or is that not a good idea?”

Silently he cursed Devalan for putting her through this. “You owe naught to the Cloudstar, love.”