Aubreigne Page 6

  “Look at that, he said something to make her blush,” Simon said from his place beside his wife.

  “Good. It’s about time a boy came courting her,” Serafina answered.

  “Good?!” Simon asked.

  “Yes, good. What do you expect? You think she’ll live her life with us until we get old and die and then she’ll be too old to fall in love and have a family of her own?” Serafina asked.

  Simon sat back grumbling to himself. No, of course he didn’t want her to be lonely and not have a family. But she was his little girl!

  He watched them as they danced around and around. The boy was respectful and didn’t change the way he held her at all. Even when he released her to let her twirl, he went back to holding her with space between them. “He is respectful,” Simon commented.

  “He is,” Serafina agreed. “And he’s a handsome young man. And they’re both of the water. It’s actually quite a good match.”

  “Match! I didn’t say they were a match!” Simon objected.

  “No, you didn’t. I did. Relax, Simon. It’s past time for her to find her own way. Just be glad the boy that seems to be interested lives in our community.”

  Simon watched them again, silently counting the pros versus the cons of allowing his daughter to be courted by Anton. “Maybe it’s not too bad,” he finally relented. At least she’d still live nearby.”

  “It’s only a dance. But, we’ll see,” Serafina said, smiling as she watched her daughter smiling brightly as she chatted with Anton as they danced.

  ~~~

  Aubreigne sat with Lucitari, eating her second piece of cake. “He really out did himself this time. This cake is like nothing I’ve ever tasted,” Aubreigne said, licking her fork.

  “It should be. He contracted with a bakery in France. That is actual French confection you’re eating,” Lucitari said, taking a bite of her own.

  “I’ll thank him again next time I see him,” Aubreigne said.

  “I think he’s over there, with Enthrall and Murder,” Lucitari said, waving in a general direction with her own fork.

  “I don’t want to interrupt,” Aubreigne said. She looked over and found Deaumanique and Shane sitting quietly together laughing and whispering to one another. They were truly so in love. “It was a beautiful ceremony wasn’t it?” she asked.

  “It was. It could not have been any more perfect,” Luci answered.

  At just that time Shane and Deaumanique rose from their seats and started making the rounds thanking everyone for coming. Aubreigne rushed to get over to the buffet table and begin making a plate for them for later that evening. As she placed so much food on the plate it threatened to overflow its rim, Felicity did the exact same thing, filling another plate. Once both were loaded to capacity, Aubreigne handed her plate to Felicity and rushed to the cake table. She reached for another plate and placed several slices of cake on it, along with two eclaires, and took them back to where Felicity still stood.

  When Shane and Deaumanique made their way to them, they’d already spoken to everyone at the wedding.

  Shane hugged Felicity as Deaumanique hugged and kissed Aubreigne.

  “Thank you for a perfect wedding day,” Deaumanique said, hugging her mother happily.

  “I’m so glad it was all as you dreamed it,” Aubreigne said.

  “It was truly perfect. We’ll share the memory forever,” Shane said, hugging Felicity again. “Thank you, Mother,” he said.

  “I love you,” Felicity said, hugging him back.

  “Hold on! I have a special bottle of wine here I saved for you!” Enthrall called out, as he ran toward them with the screen door slamming behind him as he leapt off the porch and ran in their direction. He presented Shane and Deaumanique with a bottle of red wine. “Here you go. I bought this the week that you became ours. I’ve been saving it all this time, son. I wasn’t quite sure for what, but suddenly I knew. For you to share with your wife on your wedding night.”

  Enthrall handed the bottle to Shane, who took it and looked down at the fancy gold label. “Thank you, Dad,” he said.

  “May you be as happy as your mother and I have been. Listen to each other, not just the words, but the meaning behind them, and you’ll be just fine,” Enthrall said.

  “We will. Always,” Shane said, smiling at Deaumanique as she smiled and nodded her agreement while he put his arm around her.

  “We’re going to go ahead and take our leave,” Shane said, smiling as Deaumanique blushed and smiled ear-to-ear.

  “We made you plates of food to take with you,” Aubreigne said, turning to take the plates from the table where Felicity had placed them.

  Shane handed the bottle of wine to Deaumanique and accepted the plates from Aubreigne. “We’ll be seeing ya’ll in a few days.”

  “We’ll bring the wedding gifts by and leave them at your door later on,” Enthrall said.

  “Ya’ll take care. We love you both,” Enthrall said, hugging both Shane and Deaumanique.

  “Love ya’ll,” Aubreigne said, with tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy for both of you.”

  Together Aubreigne, Enthrall, and Felicity watched as Shane and Deaumanique took the path that would lead them to their new home. They smiled and talked the entire time they could be seen until they finally disappeared into the tree line.

  Aubreigne sighed and looked up at Enthrall. “I’m going to go as well. It’s been a long day and last night was long, too.”

  “Let me take you home,” Enthrall said.

  “It’s not necessary. I enjoy the walk — helps me clear my head.”

  “If you’re sure…” Enthrall said.

  “I am. Thank you for helping give them a magical day,” Aubreigne said, hugging Enthrall, then Felicity.

  Lore noticed she was leaving and went over to wish her well, which made most of the rest of the guests aware of it as well. After fifteen minutes of goodbyes, and a plate of food that Felicity insisted she take home with her, Aubreigne was finally on her way.

  Chapter 7

  It was still daylight, late afternoon, so she took her time. There was no reason to rush, no one was home waiting for her. Aubreigne listened to the birds calling, the frogs croaking, and all manner of creature flitting about here and there. She smiled to herself thinking back on her daughter’s wedding as she walked along. Then, she realized something had changed. There were no more sounds in the woods. The swamps were never silent, but at this moment they were. She stopped walking and looked around herself, slowly, trying to figure out why all the animals and creatures had gone silent. Then she realized, silence in the wild only happens when a predator is about.

  She knew he was here. She wasn’t alone, most likely hadn’t been since the night before when she’d awakened from sleep to find one of his sketches on her bed.

  “I know you’re here,” she called out. The foliage to her right rustled and she snapped her head in that direction, waiting for any other reaction. There was none. She began her walk again — less than ten minutes and she’d be home. She didn’t rush, but she didn’t dally either. She kept her senses open and aware of all her surroundings. She knew there was not a moment on her walk home that she’d been alone. Reaching her home, she opened her door and stepped inside. She turned around on her threshold and looked out into the distance as far as she could see. “You have no place here. You should go.”

  When she got no answer, she spoke again. “If you would like to remain here with us, go to Enthrall, plead your case, otherwise, leave me alone. Leave us all alone.” Aubreigne stepped back into her house and closed the door. She locked it, then placed the plate of food on her kitchen table before making her way around her house and checking every window to be sure it was secure. Then she spent a few moments at each window, each entry, whispering her incantations to reinforce her safeguards. Finished and satisfied that she’d done all she could do, she went to her bedroom to change clothes, then her living room to relax and read a few pages of her favorite boo
k of poetry. There was no reason to cook dinner — she’d brought food home from the wedding. There was no laundry, no cleaning — everything had been done in preparation of the day. All she had left to do was relax. So she did, taking full advantage of a little alone time.

  ~~~

  Amilanu followed his female from the gathering when she left. He’d watched over her the entire day from the time she and her offspring had left their home, until she’d sat and watched her offspring be mated to another, then he’d watched as she spent her afternoon visiting with friends, laughing, and eating. There’d been a time that she’d been invited to dance, and he’d been furious when she’d agreed and gotten to her feet to dance — with another male! He’d snarled and growled, but after only a few minutes of dance, the dark fey had escorted her back to her seat.

  Amilanu had paid particular attention to the male afterward, and found that he’d laughed and danced with many of the women there… some of them mated. It was obvious he was simply enjoying the party, not making an attempt to win over any female. He would kill any who attempted to steal his female away from him.

  “She is not ours!” a gruff, virulent voice snarled in his head.

  Amilanu smiled and shook his head. “No, she is not,” he said aloud. “She is mine,” he rumbled, as he forced the entity who shared his body back down deep and continued to watch his female.

  Then she’d taken her leave, and Amilanu had been thrilled that he didn’t have to watch her interacting with so many any longer. It was impossible to tell which had designs on her, and which were simply friends, and he was sure she’d not be happy if he just killed them all. He’d followed her, happily keeping himself hidden away while he made sure Aubreigne got safely home — until he’d noticed he was not the only male who followed her.

  Quickly Amilanu circled back, a warning growl low in his chest as he hunted the male that hunted his female.

  It took Amilanu only moments to locate the male. He rushed toward him, invisible to the human eye. “You will die,” he whispered in the male’s ear, causing the incredible warmth from his body to blow a heated breeze directly against the male.

  The male startled to a stop at the whispered words, and the heated breeze blowing across his face. He looked around himself suspiciously, confused at not seeing anyone to connect with words he’d just heard and the breeze he’d felt.

  Amilanu allowed himself to shimmer into place, standing menacingly before the male who stalked Aubreigne. His head canted this way and that and slowly he lifted his lip to display his fangs as he growled at the male now watching him with fear in his eyes. “You will die,” Amilanu promised.

  The male he faced took a step back, realizing what he was dealing with, and the fact that he was human once again meant he could not even attempt to battle this creature before him.

  “Run,” Amilanu threatened, allowing his face to morph into the melting faces of the thousands of suffering souls who called out for mercy at all times. Amilanu’s skin turned a sickly gray; an empty black chasm for his mouth stretched wide while the conglomeration of faces played across his skin as it melted from his bones to drip to the ground.

  All sounds around them ceased their chattering. Everything stopped moving, in response to the presence of two evil beings — one human, one forsaken — in proximity to them.

  Amilanu watched as the male he’d intercepted backed up hurriedly, then turned and almost silently ran from where he’d been standing.

  Amilanu watched the male as he ran, arguing with himself about the reason he didn’t kill him.

  “You should have slaughtered him,” a voice filled with contempt whispered in his mind.

  “I cannot if I ever hope to be accepted here,” Amilanu answered.

  “You are a coward. You will never be accepted here. We have tried and been refused time and again.”

  “You tried and have been refused. I will not be refused,” Amilanu said, the faith in his words a palpable thing.

  “Foolish words from a foolish male. I will never let you go. I own you.”

  “You have never owned me,” Amilanu answered, beginning to understand that if he still had his own thoughts and desires, perhaps the deal he’d made so very long ago wasn’t quite as ironclad as he’d been led to believe.

  His ears picked up the sound of Aubreigne’s measured paces as she resumed her trek home, and he willed his face to return to normal — beautiful, sculpted, tempting — as he faded from view again, and continued on his way to see Aubreigne home safely.

  He watched her with love in his eyes as she stood in her doorway and told him to plead his case to Enthrall.

  “I will try, when the time is right,” Amilanu answered on the winds, but she didn’t hear it. She wasn’t meant to.

  He settled outside her home, and listened as she made her way around her home, reinforcing the safeguards she’d placed in each opening of her home, be it window or door. Amilanu waited until he felt Aubreigne reinforce all her wards on her windows and doors, and relaxed in her home, then he made his own way around her house, setting his own wards in place on top of hers. No one would dare cross the protections he placed there. If they were of evil intent, they wouldn’t be able to cross without death. Once finished, he sat down outside the window closest to her and listened to her thoughts as she read poems of love from a small book she held. This could be his forever and he’d be perfectly fine with it. He’d never long for more than lazy days with her at his side. Helping her with whatever chores she may choose on any given day, holding her in his arms at night.

  “You are a fool! I will never agree to such a mundane existence!” his virulent inhabitant sneered in his mind.

  Amilanu didn’t respond, he didn’t need to. He didn’t plan to spend forever with the male possessing his body.

  “You bargained for your own realm; to be lord and master over your own realm, and you have been. I’ve given you all you asked for. The bargain is unbreakable.”

  Amilanu visualized pressing his hands down on top of the head of the Demon inhabiting his body, and shoving him down so deep he could no longer be heard in Amilanu’s mind. Once satisfied that for now, he’d be left in peace to just be close to Aubreigne, he smiled and leaned his head back against the exterior wall of the cottage, listening to her breathe.

  This is where he’d stay, for as long as he could anyway. Until The Dark One wrestled away control and took him unwillingly on a binge of drugs, drink and loose women, forcing him to endure until The Dark One was so weak with his gluttony of sin, that Amilanu was once again able to seize control and return them to Whispers, where he’d watch over Aubreigne as he’d been meant to do.

  ~~~

  Ata’halne rushed away from Aubreigne and the creature that stalked her. He knew from instinct exactly what the male was; he was evil incarnate. Running swiftly through the trees and brush, he did not slow until he physically had no choice but to stop. He looked back over his shoulder. But couldn’t even begin to see the path he’d run from, much less Aubreigne.

  Hopefully, Aubreigne would survive and he’d have a chance to earn her trust again. He needed her to accept him, to allow him into her life. She was all he had left at a decent chance at life for now, and he was loath to let her go since all his other plans had failed.

  He’d gone back to his people as a new man, claiming he’d learned magics that had forced the Windigo from his body. They’d at first believed him, but then, his lies and his inborn behaviors caught up with him. On seeing that he was no more a real man, a good man, than he’d been when he’d bargained with the Windigo, they’d laughed at him.

  Trying to impress them, he’d told of the community of creatures, all stronger than any human. He’d told of Enthrall — a vampire who walks in the daylight. He’d told of Carnage, Destroy, Murder and their women, including Rowan, the witch who’d set him free. Only in his stories, he’d set himself free and she begged to apprentice at his knee. He bragged of all the things he’d seen, how they’d
all been in awe of him. When he’d run low of funds with which to impress them, he’d turned to stealing from those who’d given him the benefit of the doubt. He promised his heart to his love, the one that he’d lied to Rowan about. He’d spent a lot of time building himself up in the minds of those who had given him a second chance. But, then, his greed had taken over again. He’d taken lovers despite his vows to the girl he’d professed to love. He’d made promises on behalf of the elders of his community that had left them financially unstable, when they’d had to make good on the debts he’d incurred or face falling out of favor with their people. Then, they’d had enough. They’d taken him into custody, and forced him to face the charges against him.

  Once more kneeling before them as he’d done so many years before, in answer for his crimes against the people, he’d called out for the Windigo to come save him, like he had the first time. Only this time, there was no answer.

  “Where’s your magic now?” the leader of his people had taunted. Call on it. Go on, prove to me that you have magics, and I’ll let you go,” he’d promised.

  Only there were no magics.

  “I will give you until the morning to conjure any magics you might be hiding. Then I’ll make my decision for your punishment,” his chieftain had said. “But, know this, you are not of our people any longer. We’re done. All that remains to be seen is if you leave our ground on your own broken and bloodied feet, or in a pine box.”

  His people had all gone to their homes that night, leaving him to suffer the darkness alone. When the rains started, he’d cried out in a rage, but then, the ropes he’d been bound with had stretched with the wetness soaking through them. He’d managed to get one hand free, then the other. Then he’d hurriedly untied his legs, dropping the ropes to the ground where he’d been left to endure the night.