Page 15 of Temptation Unleashed (Talaenian Fae #3)

Rori’s eyes widened. “Her own father?” Cael nodded once.

“ Oww ,” Rori hissed with a wince. A brother wanting to kill a brother.

A father killing his daughter. What the hell was she getting herself into here?

“Yeah, not sure I’m really a fan of the Fae right now.

My flamboyant fantasy novels at least have happy endings.

” She shook her head. “And the leader who was cursed by her. Is he free now?”

“I think that was the tipping point for Daeanna. When he came across his soul mate, or what we call anam cara , she was able to break the curse. It made Daeanna lose her shit. Dagda tried to punish her by stripping her of her powers and turning her into a mortal, but someone managed to give her a Fae potion that restored her powers. Honestly, the havoc she wreaked on our realms is punishable by death. She had received a free pass because of who her father was. Ultimately, he did what was right. She tried to kill many innocent Fae and humans, succeeded on some accounts, and Dagda stopped the tyrannical behavior before more destruction occurred.”

Silence grew between them. The server returned with Cael’s appetizers and laid them out before leaving again. Cael made no move to help himself to the food.

At last, Rori released a heavy breath and pinched her forehead. A dull throb had started in her temple. The more she let herself indulge in this story, the more that ache pulsed. The harder her heart pumped and the tighter the knots in her stomach grew.

Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this very moment.

When fantasy became her new reality. She could try to trick herself into believing this would all go away, but the effort she’d been putting into that thought process drained her faster than if she learned to accept the impossible truth.

Deep in her soul, she knew this wasn’t going away.

This was her new normal.

“What does this have to do with Cassy and me, other than being humans and Cassy being your girlfriend? Why have I become a target and not my friend, not that I wish that on her?”

Cael straightened in his seat, finally helping himself to grape leaves and falafel. “You’re intuitive, sweet.” He nudged the plates toward her, but she quietly declined. “There’s no target that I’m aware of.”

“You claim I’m intuitive. If not because of a target, then how? Why?”

He shook his head. “No, there’s no target. Not on Thad’s behalf, at least. And hopefully your predicament will remain a secret to protect you until I learn more about this new movement that’s hell-bent on wiping out half the Seelie race because we enjoy our human counterparts.”

“Why the riddles, Cael?” Her fingers fisted in her lap. “Why can’t you just tell me what the hell’s going on?”

Cael considered her for a long while, a piece of his stuffed leaf on the end of his fork, inches from his mouth.

Those silver eyes cut through her, not in any offensive way, but the acuity with which he regarded her made her shift in her chair.

He was sizing her up, gauging whether she could accept the truth.

She understood that look in her gut. The calm before the storm.

He lowered his fork without taking his bite, not breaking their gaze.

“Fae of all kinds have a natural barrier to protect our true appearance from humans. It’s glamour.

It’s not something we need to put in place, but rather it activates when we’re around humans in order to protect not only us but the human race from how we truly appear.

On rare occasions, humans with high sensitivity to things of the occult or those who have mage blood from the days of mages and magic can see through the glamour. ”

A tenuous wave of relief hit her. She finally found it in herself to smile. “So that’s it. I must be of mage lineage or something. With my roots based out of Ireland, it wouldn’t surprise me. That’s why I can see you two. Something with him must’ve connected with me and destroyed the glamour.”

Maybe she’d be able to stomach a pita chip and tzatziki.

“I don’t sense mage blood in you, Rori. Us Fae can sense magic in mortals. But you’re on the right track.”

“Well, then maybe I’m just highly sensitive to the supernatural.”

“Or you might be one of the even rarer cases where you’ve been fated to a Fae.”

She choked on her small bite of food and scrambled for her water to get the piece down her throat.

Her coughing fit drew the attention of other diners and staff as she struggled to calm herself.

Cael reached over and laid his hand on her forearm.

That strange warmth she’d experienced a few times with him suffused her from head to toe, easing her coughing until it stopped completely, and the food slid with ease down her throat.

“Easy. It’s really not that bad.”

Eyes watering, vision blurred, she lanced him with an outraged look.

“Are you serious? You’re telling me that I’m fated to your murderous, insane brother?

” She shook her head vigorously. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t accept it.

I won’t . I refuse to put myself in a position that makes me relive the nightmare I escaped with Rich.

Only your brother seems a hundred times worse . ”

She shoved her chair back, her arms shaking as she stood.

Cael shot to his feet and quicky stepped in front of her, blocking her escape.

She swatted his hands away as he tried to drop them on her shoulders, but he managed to catch her in his grip and instantly relax her.

She was really beginning to hate this magic he used.

Her mind was on the verge of fracturing.

There was no possible way she’d willingly be subjected to such horrors.

“What have I done, Cael?” she whispered, her voice trembling as the tears in her eyes from choking turned into tears of desperation. “What have I done to deserve this?”

Cael’s sympathy flowed from his fingertips.

His hands slid closer to her neck, up to her cheeks, until he cupped her face like a delicate flower between his palms. There was nothing intimate about the gesture, but it made her heart drum with an unexpected pulse of emotion.

His eyes shone with promise, a promise she couldn’t decipher but somehow understood.

“Rori, regardless of my relationship with Cassy, I’ve always been taken with observing you.

Not in any creepy way, but in a way that has made me adore you like a sister.

There’s always been a connection between us, and now I understand why.

You, sweet, have done nothing. I’ll be the first to say my brother is undeserving of you in his current state of mind.

He deserves years of torture to repent for the wrongs he’s done.

” He sighed, his thumb wiping away a rebel tear.

“But the Goddess believed him worthy of his soul mate, and I can’t honestly think of someone better suited to be fated to him than you. ”

Her chin quivered, forehead creased as she tried to make any sense of that. “You really think so little of me?”

“No. I don’t. I think very highly of you, actually. From before the events of last night. So highly that if anyone could break the ice from my brother’s cold heart, it’s you.”

Rori wanted to push away the moment Cael drew her into his arms. He held her, comforted her, and not once did it feel like she was betraying her best friend.

Had she had a brother, she imagined this was what a bond with him would feel like.

Yet it was uncanny, strange. As much as she reviled, she savored these few moments that when her world ripped to shreds around her, a sturdy pillar kept her from falling victim to the chaos.

“I’ve admired your inner strength through everything that happened with Rich.

That you pushed forward, your chin high, and never wallowed long in the trauma.

That you nurtured the fire inside you when most would snuff it out, your desire to live and flourish, allowing for no inkling of doubt or weakness.

You may not see these things, but these are things that I’ve observed over the last few months.

Things that turned you away from desolation and despondency and led you to strength and promise. ”

Slowly, Rori pulled away from Cael, her head down as she composed herself. His hands remained on her shoulders, the consistent flow of calm helping her recover from the shocks that pummeled her relentlessly.

“I don’t want to believe you. I really don’t.”

“Fae can’t lie. Not that I have a reason to lie to you. Ever.”

Rori snorted. “At least the romances have that fact straight. ”

With no hope of an appetite accompanying her this afternoon, she lowered herself to her seat and pushed her plate aside.

From the corner of her eye, she saw as Cael followed her lead and return to his seat, taking up his fork and abandoned grape leaf.

She might as well learn everything she could now and spare herself the emotional rollercoaster of learning bits and pieces along this obscured journey.

“Is there any possibility you might be wrong about your brother and I?”

“No.” He took his bite. Rori propped her elbow on the table and dropped her chin on her fist. When he was through chewing, he added, “It’s more than just seeing through glamour.

There are other aspects that hit immediately, and pretty strongly, to my understanding.

It’s an instant attraction, an undeniable connection, that seems to forge in those first few moments of recognition.

The recognition may not even be in your conscious mind, but somewhere deeper inside your spirit, a soul-deep understanding.

In those moments, a sleeping piece of you opens up inside.

A void that needs to be filled, and can only be filled, by your anam cara .

No other will ever fill that hole except for your fated mate. ”

That void. Her stomach sank. She understood exactly what he meant. The feeling of emptiness she’d never experienced until she crossed paths with Thaddeus and he shattered her world.

“So I can potentially ignore this entire thing and go on my merry way? I mean, it’s not something that permanently ties me to him, right?”

Cael shrugged, a casual motion that didn’t match the gravity of his expression.

“You could, I guess. But it’s futile in the end.

You will never be complete. Never be wholly happy and fulfilled.

Once that connection is made, that void opened, the only person you’ll ever yearn for is your soul mate.

” He served himself another piece of food, but appeared less interested in continuing with his appetizer spread as he swallowed.

“The attraction is not just spiritually, Rori. It’s visceral.

It’s all-encompassing. It’s nerves on fire, body needing, craving, mind suspended in euphoria visceral.

It can become border-line obsessive until a blood bond is forged.

The mating completed. And even then, I’ve heard stories where couples can’t be away from each other for more than a few hours without it starting to have effects.

It’s a gift, what we Fae all hope to have one day, and those who are blessed by the Goddess to experience it cherish it dearly. ”

“If memory serves me right, your brother didn’t seem too thrilled. Neither am I.”

As if to challenge that statement, a flash of Thaddeus’s utterly beautiful face popped into her head.

The reaction was instantaneous, rushing straight through her in a storm of arousal that pooled low in her belly.

The wild fluttering of wings tickled the base of her throat and warmth rose into her face.

Warmth she wiped at in hopes of erasing the embarrassing reaction.

“If I could change fate, I would, because he doesn’t deserve a person like you.

But I can’t, sweet. I can only stand beside you and support you through this turbulent time, because rough it most certainly will be.

” He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture he did whenever he was uneasy, even as Steve.

“My brother once had a heart. A huge heart as warm as the sun and full of compassion and appreciation. I know deep down”—he fisted a hand and tapped it to his chest, his eyes for the first time showing the pain estrangement from his brother caused him—“the old Thaddeus still exists. Somewhere beneath the ice and steel and monster that witch created of my brother, he’s there, waiting to be rescued and revived. Waiting… ”

Cael looked away, his face twisted in distress as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Rori’s brows furrowed, her own sorrow at seeing Cael so upset tearing into her heart.

She couldn’t understand his situation, but the agony he did nothing to hide from her spoke of the weight of his suffering over his brother.

He gave his head a shake, steadying his composure with a deep breath.

“Sorry.” A strained snicker escaped his lips as he lifted his head.

“We all have our demons, Rori. It’s just a matter of how we face them.

Whether or not we give in to the allure of darkness or the promise of righteousness.

He teeters on a dangerous precipice right now.

One that could kill him or save him. I believe that’s why the Goddess matched the two of you and put you in each other’s path.

Thaddeus doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t falter.

Not this version of him. Last night, he did.

If I know my real brother, I know if he holds even the smallest conviction you are his anam cara , he will never harm you.

” Perching his forearms on the table, he leaned toward her.

“And that is how I know he’s still alive somewhere inside that cruel, callous shell of a Fae.

Because I caught the tiniest spark of regret in his eyes last night, and it had to do with you. ”