Relief swept through me as I caressed his chest. "No. It doesn"t," I whispered. "They"re still staring at us. More so now. Why are we such a big deal?"
He drew back slightly and smiled. "Think about this place in terms of Hollywood, to them we are the newest and hottest celebrity couple." He kissed me. I felt my leg kick up and my arms wrap around him. I heard various people making sounds of surprise and I think I even heard some of them clap.
My face flushed with embarra.s.sment and Caleb laughed from the gut as he led me through the crowd.
The stained gla.s.s windows of the castle came into view and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn"t want to speak to my father anymore. I just wanted to go. Caleb turned and looked at me when I refused to take another step.
"Gwen?"
I pulled back from him and stared up at the large dark castle. "Caleb, I can"t do this. The man scares the h.e.l.l out of me."
He picked me up into his arms and spun me around. "He scares everyone. Welcome to the club."
"Caleb, Gwyneth!"
Caleb put me down and it took me a minute to regain my sense of balance. When I did, I looked up at the entrance to the castle. My father, Kerrigan, was standing there dressed in long red robes. I"d never seen him in red before. He looked intimidating. Just what he didn"t need to look more of. His blue eyes found mine and he smiled brightly.
"Welcome, when the guard said he thought the two of you were approaching I thought he must be joking. I mean, the last time I spoke with Caleb, the two of you still weren"t on speaking terms." He nodded, appearing appreciative. "I see that you are getting along fine now. Good, then that should speed the union along nicely. Let"s go."
He motioned with his hand and turned into the castle. Caleb pulled me close to him as my hands shook slightly. Malita was right. I didn"t know anything about these people.
Caleb led me through the large double doors and into the enormous entrance. The first thing that caught my eye was the staircase again. The second was how the blood red carpet that covered it matched my father"s robes. I shuddered and tried to calm myself down. My father came walking up to me and put his arms out. I went to him reluctantly. I was ashamed of myself. He"d never done anything to prove that I had reason to be scared of him. He"d even given up his throne to watch me grow up.
He was a hair taller than Caleb, which made him really friggin" tall. I let him gather me in his arms and hugged him back. It was strange to think of him as my father. He only looked to be about ten years older than me. He still had and would always have the body of a warrior. I knew that he was older than Giovanni and Giovanni was five hundred, so that made my father old. Really, really, really old.
He released me and then stared down at me. "You look wonderful. I see your vacation suited you."
I met his gaze and knew that he had never once suspected I was on vacation. He definitely was King material. He could put a positive spin on anything. If the gig as head of the underworld didn"t pan out, he could have a future in human politics.
"Father, have you seen Giovanni?"
I watched his eyes flicker. He kept his face blank and then raised an eyebrow to me. "My dear daughter, I think Giovanni is a wise man. Why would he contact me? I am ... how should I put this? Ah, yes, less than pleased with him."
I made a mental note that at no point during his answer did he come right out and say if he"d seen Giovanni. Yep, he was royalty all right.
My father glanced back at Caleb. "And how do you feel about my daughter"s concern for a vampire?"
I turned to Caleb, wanting to see what he had to say. He walked up to me and put his arm around my waist. My father caught this innocent gesture and motioned for us to follow him. We walked closely behind him as he went up the stairs. We stopped just outside of a large brown door. He put his hand out and opened it. I tensed up and didn"t want to enter. Caleb put his hand on my shoulder.
"It"s okay, Gwen. It"s my room."
I exhaled and entered the room. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust. The room was completely white. The walls, the floor, the bed, dressers, chairs, you name it, it was white. "Geesh, big sale on white stuff?"
Caleb snorted. "It"s not like I picked. I really don"t give a d.a.m.n what it looks like."
Kerrigan cleared his throat and pushed the door closed. He turned and glanced at me. "Are you with child?"
Caleb went to speak. Kerrigan put his hand up, silencing him instantly. I stepped forward and gave Kerrigan a dirty look.
"Get off it, all right. You don"t get to treat him like a dog."
Caleb made a small noise of protest and I put my hand up to indicate he needed to stay out of this.
My father snickered. "Oh, I wonder where you get that from."
I rolled my eyes and motioned to Caleb. "Sorry." I focused my father. "You neglected to answer my question. Have you seen Giovanni and please don"t tap dance around the answer."
My father"s gaze snapped to Caleb. "You permit her to speak his name freely?"
Caleb sighed. "Aside from casting a mute spell on Gwen, nothing will keep the girl from speaking her mind. Trust me on this."
He put his hand on his forehead. It was a very human gesture, but one I"d never seen him do before. "Caleb, I want this to work for you both. You are the only choice for my daughter and I need you both to understand how delicately you must tread until the merging. There can be no talk of Giovanni."
I shook my head. "No."
"No, what?" my father asked.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "No. We won"t tread lightly because we don"t want to get married, father."
"What?" he asked, paling considerably.
"Gwen," Caleb warned.
I glanced back at him. "Tell him what you won"t tell me, Caleb. Tell him how you found someone who makes your chest tight just thinking about her." I smiled. "Tell him how you have a chance at happiness with someone else. Someone who feels right and who doesn"t feel like something heavy is pressing in on you."
Caleb stared at me, his brow furrowing. "How did you know?"
"I can put two and two together and get something close to four, Caleb."
A soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "We"re okay? You don"t hate me for feeling this way?"
I snorted. "How can I hate you for feeling the same way I do? This isn"t right, Caleb. We shouldn"t marry."
He nodded. "I agree."
My father shot a blast of energy out at Caleb and sent him flying backwards. I threw my hand up and my power leapt forth from my fingertips, striking my father"s out stretched hand. It lurched back, and he turned his angry eyes on me. I didn"t back down. I knew he could tear me to shreds, but I didn"t care. He looked down at his hand and then back at me.
"Gwyneth, any doubts I had are gone. You"re completely mine this time." He turned and stormed out of the room.
I wasn"t sure what he meant by that and I didn"t care. I ran to Caleb. He was lying very still on the floor. I touched his hand and he smiled sheepishly. "Is he gone?"
I looked him over for signs of being hurt, there were none. "Yeah, I think I p.i.s.sed him off."
Caleb let out a small laugh. "Not as much as if I hadn"t thrown myself backwards."
"What?" I couldn"t believe my ears. He"d propelled himself across the room on purpose? It was official, he was crazy.
Caleb stood up and dusted his pants off. "Gwen, I felt his power hit me, but it didn"t hurt me. I think that when we merged magiks, almost seven months ago, that yours somehow is immune or has a higher tolerance for his power."
I shook my head. It was plain to see that I wasn"t understanding the severity of what he was saying. His face was dead serious. "Gwen, somehow you"ve managed to get a h.e.l.l of a lot of power from your father. That"s not usual for a faerie your age to have so much already and we have no idea how much your mother may have pa.s.sed on to you." He took my hand. "Gwen, your father is proud you"re as strong as he is, but he would not be proud to find out that I am, too."
"Why?" I asked. I thought it was a legitimate question. Caleb"s slight laugh told me it wasn"t.
"Gwen, you aren"t a threat to his power base. You would never a.s.sa.s.sinate your father to have his throne." I yanked back from him quickly. I"d never in a million years entertain the idea of having my dad b.u.mped off. Caleb came towards me. "No, no... Gwen, think about who my mother is. She would think of doing something like that if she knew her son was powerful enough to take on the King. G.o.d, who knows what she"d do and I"m willing to bet Kerrigan wouldn"t want to find out."
I didn"t want to believe what Caleb was saying. "No, my father would never try and hurt you to protect his position. He likes you."
This made Caleb laugh harder. "Yeah, he thinks of me as a son, but I"m telling you that wouldn"t stop him in the least. When Kerrigan makes up his mind, he really makes it up." He shifted his eyes to the side. I knew the look. He was trying to hide something from me.
"What? Tell me now."
"I think he"ll kill Pallo if he finds out that he might be Nicholas" father and if Nicholas is actually your son from before."
I stood very still. I felt like if I moved at all that I"d simply fall to the floor in a fit of hysteria. Caleb would never lie to me to advance his position with me. If he thought that there was a chance that my father would kill Pallo, then I believed him. I thought of Nicholas.
"Nicholas, what if it turns out that Nicholas is who we think he is ... will my father hurt him?"
Caleb"s green gaze moved the floor. "I don"t think Kerrigan would hurt Nicholas because he carries his blood in him, but I"m not sure about Pallo." He exhaled deeply. "Gwen, I think Kerrigan is just looking for a reason to get to kill Pallo. Any excuse will do."
I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. It was beating so fast and I was chock full of emotions. I couldn"t live with myself if anything happened to Pallo. I knew full well that when my father set his mind to something, he did it. I"d learned that firsthand with the wedding ordeal.
Chapter Thirty.
Caleb and I sat and talked for a while more, before he was summoned to meet with the King. I tried to go with him, but he insisted I stay out of the line of fire if at all possible. He reminded me that he now carried an extra level of protection from my father"s magik and that he"d be fine. I gave him a chaste kiss and told him that he"d better come back to me all right or I"d kill him myself.
I sat there on the bed staring around the white room. It looked so sterile yet felt so cozy. Whoever had decorated the castle must have been good. I glanced over at the door that led to the terrace. Each room had one in the castle. Mine overlooked the street we"d come in on. I walked to the door and opened it.
A gust of cool wind blew over me. "Bella ...."
I ran out onto the terrace, glancing around for Giovanni. I could smell him, feel him, sense him all around me, yet he was nowhere to be found.
"Giovanni?" I called and turned to run back into Caleb"s room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Caleb"s mother standing there. I hadn"t heard her come in.
Her long silver gown made her white-blonde hair sparkle. Her thin waist was exposed through a hole designed in the dress. I looked up at her and caught a glimpse of a very gray pair of eyes. Last I remembered Sorcha"s eyes were green, like Caleb"s.
She took a step towards me and her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? How did you manage to come back?"
Why the h.e.l.l was Sorcha asking me questions she knew the answers to? I stared past her at Caleb"s bedroom door and wanted more than anything to have my angry father come in again. She followed my gaze.
"No one is here to help you and even if they were I know that they could not stand up to me. Greater men have followed my orders and were unable to resist me."
I took another step back and felt myself run out of terrace. I was pressed against the rail and the only other option I had would be to jump and that wasn"t sounding so appealing. At least not yet, anyway.
She let out a throaty laugh and came walking out towards me. A cool breeze swept past me. "Bella ... run ..."
She heard Giovanni"s voice riding the breeze, too, and glared at me. "You think your Giovanni can save you now? No, I think not. You see, he"s mine to play with now, the King gave him to me as a welcome home present."
"Welcome home? Where the h.e.l.l did you go?"
She tossed her hand out and it felt like someone had just struck me with a whip across the cheek. I brought my hand up, touched my cheek, and came away with blood. She did it again and this time I felt her power rip across my lower stomach. I let the floodgates to my power open and when she sent another blast at me, I took it into myself and closed my eyes. It rolled around as my magik broke it down-dissolved it. Lifting my hand, I blew her power back out and over my hand. Tiny yellow and purple b.u.t.terflies came from my warm breath. Her eyes widened and she tried to throw more magik at me. I put my hand up and caught it and sent it flying back at her.
I laughed as she staggered. This time it was me who walked towards her. "I know you hate me and I"m fine with that, but if you ever try to hurt me or anyone else I care about again, I"ll rip your heart out and feed it to a wonderful little pack of omnis that I know. Are we clear?"
She looked at me and then down towards my stomach. "No, no he couldn"t have given you that. It"s not possible. He can"t father children."
Children? Who said anything about children?
Sorcha had finally lost it. I couldn"t be pregnant. I hadn"t been with either of the men I was a matched pair with, in over six months.
"Sira!" a loud male voice boomed in around us.
Sira? This crazy coot was Caleb"s aunt not his mother. Some family? I looked at her and the surprise must have showed on my face. I turned and stared at the man who was standing in the middle of the room. He stood about six foot tall. His long black hair fell in waves over his wide shoulders. His face had strong features and his chin was incredibly prominent. He looked a lot like my father, but his eyes were the most beautiful shade of purple I"d ever seen.
Sira turned, her gaze meeting mine as if daring me to say a word. She smiled at the man and looked over his long black robes. "Conlan, I see that your luggage has arrived."
So this was Beevan"s master? He didn"t smile once at me. He just stood there staring at me. I"d gotten used to that look. It was the one that screamed they thought they were seeing a ghost.
Sira leaned over and whispered to me, "One word and I will finish Giovanni off, do you understand?"
My heart leapt to my throat. She knew where Giovanni was.
I nodded and forced a smile to my face as my attention went to Conlan. His focus snapped to Sira. "What are you doing in here?"
She smiled innocently. "Welcoming her, what else?"
His jaw moved outward. "Sira if one hair on her head is harmed I will not be responsible for my actions."
She gave him a small bow. "You never are." I watched her storm out of the room and wondered if all the high fairies took a cla.s.s on how to make a dramatic exit.
Conlan walked towards me and extended his hand. "Sorry to have to introduce myself to you under these circ.u.mstances, I am Conlan."
"Nice to meet you. I"m ...."
He cut me off. "You"re Lydia"s daughter, Gwyneth."
"You knew my mother?"
He smiled and averted his gaze. "Yes, I knew your mother well."
My father and Caleb appeared in the room. When my father saw Conlan and me standing together his face turned several shades of red. His eyes narrowed and he came walking towards me. He wrapped me in another tight hug and faced Conlan.
"I see you"ve met my daughter." There was so much emphasis on the word that I almost choked.