Bonded spirits 4, p.6
Bonded Spirits 4, page 6
I turned and motioned for the others to enter. Each of their faces lit as they entered the room. Isobel and Dahlia walked together toward the gigantic bed and both flopped onto the soft, pale violet comforter covering the bed. They stretched as far as they could and looked as if they were in heaven.
Cress and Shah exchanged a glance as they entered and moved several pieces of furniture around the room. Cress passed me with a massive chair in her arms and gave me a nod. “We’ll have this entrance reinforced soon. It’s indefensible the way it is now.”
I ran a hand back through my hair and scanned the room. “Great work. I think if you move the table across the room from the bed it’ll help as well.”
Cress turned and surveyed the room. “Yes, that’ll help immensely.” She turned to her sister and motioned toward the table. “We’ll get it moved right now.”
I adjusted the chair that Cress had left near the entrance and turned to Mitsi. “Will you help the sisters with whatever they might need moved? I know they’d never ask you for help, but I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”
Mitsi held her hands to her hips and turned in a circle. She took a deep breath in and released it slowly. “Can I have all your attention?”
I watched the cyclops curiously to see what she was about to say. I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding as she spoke once more.
“I know you all don’t know me. And you probably don’t trust me, but I want you to know that I’m one of you. I’ve spent almost my entire life by myself, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I consider you all my sisters.” She paused and I noticed a tear welling at the corner of her eye. “I lost my only sisters while I was growing up.” Her eye settled on Luna, who made her way across the room and joined her side. “I am here to help, to be a part of the group, to be a part of an actual family. Please don’t forget about me.”
I moved across the room and joined Mitsi’s side, opposite of Luna. “I know you haven’t been with me as long as the others have, but I can assure you, you are just as important as everyone else here. We need you. I need you.”
Mitsi turned to face me. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be like this. I just don’t want to be alone again. I feel like I’ve wasted most of my life. I just sat there and didn’t even try to leave that tower. I was miserable, but I wouldn’t leave.”
Alysain walked over from her spot next to Isobel on the bed. She tucked her wings against her back and her long tail swept across the floor as she neared. “Sometimes, when I was with my father, I didn’t feel like I belonged. I can promise you, ever since I bonded with Logan, I feel like my life has purpose.” She shook her head and let out a small laugh. “I spent my whole life protecting a false king. Trust me, I understand how you feel when you say you wasted most of your life.”
Mitsi gave Alysain a sad smile, and Dahlia rose slowly from the bed. “A witch took me captive when I was young, and I let her control me for most of my life. It wasn’t until Logan and Gwen came into the shop that day that I realized I had a choice. I wouldn’t let her tell me what to do any longer.”
Mitsi nodded as Gwen moved a large chest against the bed and sat against it. “Dahlia just needed a little motivation, just like you did to get out of that tower.” She paused and shook her head. “That will never happen to you now. You’re my sister. We’re all sisters here.”
Misti glanced around the room at everyone, and her gaze finally came to a stop at me. “I’m sorry, I still have a hard time believing that anyone can love me.”
I grabbed the cyclops’s hands and pulled her down toward me, so we stood face-to-face. “You’re home now.” I leaned forward and gave her a kiss.
She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me for several seconds before releasing me slowly. “Thank you. I can’t even imagine what Cyprian would do to me if I were still there.”
Luna chuffed and slung a bag off her shoulder and set it on the ground. “Knowing my brother, he’s completely drunk on power at the moment. At this point, even I worry about what lengths he will go to use that power.”
Gwen scoffed. “At least someone is drunk on something.” She shook her head and flopped down onto the bed. She let out a long sigh and held her hands over her stomach.
Luna shook her head and walked across the room. “I don’t think he’s going to stop until we return and make him stop. I just know that he’s going to attack as soon as he’s able. I hope we make it back before he makes it too far.”
Chloe banged two pots together from across the room and slung them down on the stovetop in the small kitchen. “All right, enough worrying about the things we can’t fucking control at the moment. I’ve got a parasite inside of me, and if I don’t eat soon, I fear it’s going to claw at my insides.” She looked around with a crazed look in her eyes, stopping at me. “Logan, I need you to get me some food before I resort to sucking out all of Dahlia’s nectar.”
Dahlia’s cheeks immediately reddened, and she tried to hide her embarrassment as everyone’s eyes remained fixed on her.
I laughed and bailed Dahlia out before Chloe made good on her promise. “I’ll do a little scouting around here and see what types of food I can find.”
Luna grabbed a knife from the table and inspected the blade. “I’ll come with you. I can’t remember the last time I ate.”
The others eyed her somewhat suspiciously, but I knew that the only way that Luna was going to earn their trust was to earn it. “Sounds good. I could use an extra set of hands.” I grabbed two of the girls’ bags and emptied the contents. A bottle of wine rolled out of one and my eyes immediately shot up to meet Gwen’s.
Gwen propped herself up on the bed and gave me her best innocent look. “What?! I wasn’t going to drink it... yet.”
I handed the bottle to Alysain. “Please guard this from our wine connoisseur.”
Alysain laughed and walked to the door. “I’ll make sure I put it in a safe spot for now.” She paused and met Gwen’s eyes. “Somewhere only I know about.”
“Thank you.” I walked over to the bed and pulled the covers back. “Okay, now, all of my pregnant bonded women, please get some sleep. You will all need your strength tomorrow. We have a nursery to build.”
Isobel had yet to set her sword down on the table next to the bed. She looked up at me with steady eyes. “I’m sorry, but this is all very new for me. I don't feel like I need rest. I want to come with you to search for food.”
I ran my hand along her bushy tail and gave her a kiss. “Please stay here with the others. You’ll be more of an asset protecting everyone here, at least while it’s dark. I promise, you and I will go out hunting tomorrow once I scout our surroundings a little.”
Isobel nodded lightly and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. She pulled back and stopped only a couple of inches away from my face. Her eyes were fierce and steady. “I need to kill something. It’s been way too long.”
Isobel’s love of the hunt is one of my favorite things about her, and I knew in order to make her feel fulfilled I’d have to get her out hunting, pregnant or not.
Before anyone else spoke up, I slung a bag up over my shoulder and handed a second to Luna. “We’re going to do a quick sweep of the perimeter. Cress, Shah, please don’t let anyone in here unless it’s me or Luna.” The sisters pulled out their weapons and nodded as I exited the hut.
Luna exited shortly after and quickly shifted into her lamia form. She stretched from side to side and gave me a small smile. “It’s hard for me to be inside for any extended period. This tail doesn’t exactly fit, and human legs feel awkward after a while.”
I stopped and looked at her for a moment in the waning daylight. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her dark purple hair fell down around her shoulders and covered a portion of her face. She still looked as mysterious as the day I met her. Even though we were bonded, I felt like I knew the least about her out of everyone.
She slithered over to me and pulled out a long serrated blade. “Well, I know you’re probably as intrigued as I am to explore this place. Shall we?”
I nodded and readied my sword. I’d almost forgotten about my rifle until I felt it bounce off my leg from inside my bag. “Your brother owes me a new gun.”
“He owes me his life.” She shook her head. “He made me into this, what you see before you.”
I shrugged as I walked over and shook my head. “I think you’re very intriguing, but I can see how having everlasting life could be both a gift and a curse.”
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wished for death? How many times I’ve seen the look on those we’d captured and turned against their will? This is most definitely a curse.”
“Was a curse, would probably be more accurate. I understand you wish you could take back a lot of what you’ve done in your past. Hell, I’m right there with you, but you can’t let the past define who you are in this moment, right now.”
Luna nodded and kept her focus on the ground. “You’re right. I guess just seeing the things I’ve seen, I wish I could’ve stopped it all sooner is all. Now I’m afraid we won’t return in time. He could be there right now, turning everyone in his path.”
“I believe Jun on her estimate of how much time we have. We have to believe her. Even if he’s attacking, there would be no way we could stop him now that he has dragons.”
“Very true. I hope one of them eats him.”
“You and me both.” I let out a small laugh and continued my walk around the perimeter. I stopped as I spotted a couple of slime women who were busy tending to a couple of fruit trees. The fruit was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It shimmered with bright orange and red hues, as if it were a cross between an apple and an orange.
One of the slime girls pulled two pieces off the tree and handed them to me as we approached. “These are spirit fruit.” She laughed and closed my hand around them. Both fit into my palm and were about the size of a tennis ball. “I can tell by the look on your face, that you’ve seen nothing like these before.”
Her hand suctioned to mine as she pulled it away, finally coming free a second later. I lifted the fruit and inspected each closely. “Is there anything I should worry about before feeding this fruit to any of my bonded women?”
The woman laughed and popped a whole fruit in her mouth. I watched in awe as it slid through her throat and down to her stomach, where it dissolved. “I suppose you could try your luck on food outside the protection of the Valley. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it, though.”
I furrowed my brow. “Why, what’s outside the Valley?”
“Jun didn’t tell you?” The slime woman paused and shifted her eyes between Luna and me. “Oh, well, you are in for quite the surprise. Let’s just say you’ll not want to venture too far. There are things out there that’ll eat you up and spit you out before you even see what hit you.”
I nodded and glanced over at Luna. “Jun may have left the dangerous parts out. I have complete faith in our abilities as a group, though. I know that each of my bonded are up for the challenge.”
The slime woman cocked her head and stared at me for several seconds before responding. “Well, I’d hope you don’t underestimate what could be waiting for you out there. We have the luxury of turning to our liquid form. I don’t believe I saw anyone with you that has that ability.”
“No, I can’t say they do, but each of my bonded are incredibly capable of facing anything that may rise against them.” I knew there were things in this world I had no idea about, and I wouldn’t be sending my bonded out unless absolutely necessary.
I appreciated the slime woman’s warning, but I also knew my bonded by now. I paused and looked past the woman. “How far away is the boundary?”
“I’ll show you. It’s closer than you may think.”
Chapter Nine
I gave her a nod and followed the translucent woman through the forest as they effortlessly glided over downed trees. We followed the slime woman along a well-worn path between the lush forest for several minutes until we reached a cliff’s edge. She pointed out and motioned for us to walk to the edge.
I was unsure of the slime woman and I wasn’t about to let her push us over this cliff, so I made sure that I kept enough distance between her and us. I stopped, waiting for the slime girl to explain what she was leading us to, but by the time I’d turned around, she disappeared. “Luna, did you see where she went?”
Luna shook her head and shrugged. “No, it was like she just evaporated.”
“Crazy, check it out.” I pointed out over the edge of the cliff to the expanse below. At least ten waterfalls lined the cliffside in a wide half-moon arc. A massive network of streams and rivers connected at the bottom and flowed outward, but the strange part was that there was absolutely no sound coming from any of the waterfalls.
“How is it possible we are not hearing the water right now?” Luna furrowed her brow and stood absolutely still, as if it was her movement that caused her to not hear the thousands of gallons of water rushing over the cliffside.
I closed my eyes and used my Sight skill. I immediately realized why we couldn’t hear anything. A filmy sheen appeared in front of me and I knew I was only an inch or two away from the protective barrier surrounding the fairies’ encampment.
I took one more step forward, and the deafening rush of water immediately filled my head. I glanced back and pulled Luna forward.
Her face was almost comical as she passed through the barrier. “Here I thought Darkholm had the best protections to keep it safe from intruders.” She placed her hands on her hips and we stared out at the last slivers of light left by this world’s sun.
We stood in silence for several minutes, taking in this world’s natural beauty. Every second, it seemed like a new picture was being painted right before our eyes. “I’m happy that I get to experience this with you.”
I nodded slowly and turned to face her. She brushed her long violet hair back behind her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here with me as well.” I peered past the beautiful woman and spotted a tree filled with exotic fruits. “Look at that. We’ll need to ensure that fruit’s safe to eat, but it’s something at least.”
We hurried over to the tree and collected as many pieces as we could and loaded our bags to the brim. I lifted a fruit and broke it in half. Several strands of spirit darted out from inside and quickly found their way to my core as if I were the world’s strongest magnet.
I’d almost forgotten that my core had a few strands of tainted spirit, but here I could barely feel it. Especially after cracking open another fruit and letting the spirit enter my body. I still didn’t want either of us to try the fruit until I could confirm with either Jun or the slime girls that it was safe to eat.
“My bag’s full. Let’s take this back for now. We’ll venture out farther tomorrow once it’s light again.” I grabbed Luna’s bag and slung it over my shoulder. “Thank you for your help.” I waited to see her expression, and it didn’t take long to spot her lingering sadness. “Hey.”
We stopped, and she turned her eyes slowly up to meet mine. “Yeah?”
“It’s all going to work out. You made the right choice, as hard as I know it was for you.”
Luna nodded and let her shoulders drop. “The family that I’ve known all these years. My brother is going to get them all killed. You, and your children, are going to be the ones to do it.”
“You don’t know that for sure. If we stop your brother, then there’s a chance that we can help to save the others.”
Luna shook her head in disagreement. “His control is too strong, even in death. If he’s controlling them when he dies, they’ll not stop until they fulfill the job that he’s ordered them to do.”
I nodded. “We’ll do our best to limit casualties, I can promise you that. But, I need to be completely honest. If the other dhampir do in fact continue to attack after I kill your brother, they’ll force me to eliminate them as well.”
Luna nodded slowly and I caught tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I just wanted something different for them. Being a dhampir is a fate almost worse than death. You’re forced to watch people you care about die as you continue to grow older. If you only knew how many people I’ve had to kill over the years to ensure the survival of the dhampir, as well as my own.”
“You did what you had to do.” I lifted my hand and brought it to her cheek. “Don’t let the past define you. Things will get better.”
She shook her head and the tears rolled down her face. “I don’t think they will. I’ll have to feed again soon, or I may die.”
“How soon?” I wiped a tear off of her cheek and dropped my hand.
Luna looked down, as if trying to calculate how much time she had left in her head. “I’m not sure, but I should be able to hold out for another day or two.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.” I paused and stepped closer to her. The feeling of needing to protect her was overwhelming. Almost as strong as my connection with her.
She turned her eyes up toward me. The specks of green reflected the remaining sunlight. Her beauty had paralyzed me. “I love you, Logan West.” Tears fell now as she tried to cover her face with her hair to shield herself from my view.
“Don’t cry. We’ll figure it out, together.” I placed my hand on her cheek and guided her eyes to mine. “I promise.”
“I just don’t want to hurt you or any of the others. I’m never going to be like your other bonded. I’m so sorry.”
I pulled her close and kissed her lips softly before backing away slightly. “Never apologize. You’re just as important as each of my bonded.”
She shook her head. “No, no, I’m not. I’m always going to be a liability.” She wiped a tear off her face. “And, I’m never going to give you what the others can give you.”
I froze for a moment and realized what she was talking about. “Are you upset because you cannot get pregnant?”
She kept her eyes locked on mine and nodded slowly. “I didn’t realize how much I’d want children until I bonded with you. Now that we’re bonded, all I can think about is how much I want to carry your child, but it’s not possible. I see the others who are pregnant and can’t help but be jealous. I just wish...”
