Blakeshire (Insight #9)(81)
“I can’t eat. I can’t get past the idea that you were alone with Donalt.”
“He was rather gross looking in that form. Not a bad personality if you can get past the point that he is a sexist and sees no harm in killing infants.”
“Do what?”
“I need to teach you to see,” I muttered, not caring to explain my night all over again. I was sure I would leave out something important. “Basically, he doesn’t see me as a threat. I led him to believe I wanted out of here. He doesn’t trust Xavier, said that he was the King of Shock and would turn on him—and probably the others, too—soon enough. He warned me about my death that is to come by telling me about my past death.”
I looked away, not really wanting to grasp the reality of what Donalt had said. “He, um, he said that I was in love with an Earthly prince, that I had a child with him and he allowed that because he thought I was Willow, but apparently the King of Obsession thought that his energy or something had created that child. He told others I was his, the baby was his—they decided to test us, or put a spell on us…I died, with that child apparently.” I hesitated as my emotions seized my words. “Donalt said he didn’t have anything to do with the baby dying, that if he did he would have ensured that the child was not damaged so he could have used him later.”
Drake stood and pulled his shoulders back in obvious rage; the table in the room, along with the chairs, slammed into the opposite wall.
“Calm down,” I said under my breath.
“You want me to be calm? What the hell did they do? What prince? How many people are standing between me and you?”
“He said it was you,” I said so quietly that I doubted he heard me, but the room grew less cold, leading me to believe that he did. “It was you. Our child,” I said as I dared to look into his eyes; there, I saw relief, felt love and grief pouring off him.
“Ours,” he repeated as he sat down in front of me.
“A blue-eyed boy, apparently.”
I saw him sway, the color leave his skin. “How did he say the child was damaged?” Drake asked as calmly as he could.
“He didn’t.”
He leaned forward and let his head rest in his hands as he stared at the floor.
“Drake, somewhere in this palace my first vessel is preserved…I’m sure of it. I have to find it. I think when I do, it will block anything that any of these kings wants to do to you.”
“I don’t want you hurt for the sake of protecting me. This is my hell. Not yours.”
“It’s my hell, too.”
He looked up, hearing the obvious devotion in my words.
“Listen, I can’t tell you what I know or how I know it; I just know. Whatever happened then has given them a loophole or something. I need to find my first vessel and put it to rest. I think when I do, I will be stronger. You will be stronger. And maybe, just maybe, that baby, where he is now, will be stronger.”
I let the silence hang for a moment or two. “These are not Earthly kings we are against; the passage of time we perceived cannot be the same for them. They plotted then to end us now. I’m sure of it. I have no idea what they wanted to gain then, how or why we are all twisted.”
His dark, brooding eyes fell into mine. “Are you doing this to me because you want proof that you and I are meant to be one?”
“I don’t need proof.” Thankful that I had no fear or anxiety, I spoke my next words boldly. “As far as I am concerned, we are one.”
Every ounce of tension left his body as his eyes grew wider and a disbelieving smile echoed on the corners of his lips.
The emotion I was calling love exploded in his soul as the scent of roses filled the room.
“Will you say it…just once?” he said under his breath.
I glanced away, feeling my breath catch and my heart seize.
His hands slowly slid up my legs until they reached my waist, and he pulled me against him. “You don’t have to,” he whispered against my ear.
I clenched my arms around his shoulders as I squeezed my eyes closed. “I’ve never told anyone that before.”
I felt his arms tighten around me as guilt waved through him. She was here; Willow was right here between us again.
I hated myself at that moment. I really did. But seriously, dreams or not, I had only known him in the flesh for a week—and so what if today was amazing? How was I to know that I wasn’t just caught up in the aftermath of his attention? How was I to know that my emotions were real? Who in their right mind would tell a boy they loved him after a few days of meeting them - especially when the both of us still had our exes in our face?
For no reason at all, the scent of peppermints amplified the room. Questioning why, I opened my eyes and discovered that we were not alone.
Chapter Seventeen
Madison
Standing behind Drake was a tall, regal man with dark hair, diamond eyes, and a warrior’s build. I had seen him before. I knew I had.
He nodded his head once in my direction, and as he did a floodgate was opened in my mind—the dream I’d had with him rushed back to me. I knew he was the King of Anger, that Drake was, as he called him, his fated essence. Just as I went to pull away from Drake so he could see his king, Vade spoke. “Come.”