Page 5 of Wind and Water (Reign of the Witch Queen #2)

“Not to me.” She slips under the bottom end of my blanket and crosses her legs as she faces me. “I’m ready to know why you want me to come with you. Tell me about this curse and the prophecy.”

“I’m not certain telling you about those things will benefit my cause.

” I long to pull her across the four feet that separate us and hold her against me.

I want to breathe in the lilac scent of her skin and hair and whisper things that will make her want to writhe against me.

Instead, I pull the covers over my expanding shaft and sit in the same manner as her.

There’s that smile again. “Not telling me won’t either.”

She makes a good point. “Thirty years ago, a woman named Venora Braddish used evil magic to usurp the rightful elf queen, my mother.

She took the great white tower and poisoned it with her dark magic.

She turned good elves into shadow demons and forces them to kill in her name.

She amassed an army, both elven and demon, for her cause.

She ravages and kills, all while gathering magical power.

“The curse was only in part her doing. She cast a spell to ensure no elven man would ever come to power. Her purpose was to keep herself on the throne, as she thought one of her lovers might try to take her place. The old gods must not have liked her magic as they twisted the spell, and now there have been no female elves born in thirty years.”

Wren gasps. “That’s terrible. Humanity would be devastated. The damage would be nearly impossible to recover from.”

“Elves live longer. We may yet recover if we can break the curse.” It’s something all Domhan prays for every day.

“My mother took as many elves as she could across the sea and made a new capital close to the magic of the oracle. Their magic is strong and has protected us, but that time may be coming to an end.”

“Tell me about the dragons. You said they are trapped in time. What does that mean?” She yawns and rests her head on the couch pillow.

“That is a sad story.” I stretch my legs out and move them to the outside of the couch.

I expect her to stretch hers toward me, but she slides down the pillows and curls into a ball with her head next to my thigh. “Why is it sad?”

Sliding my arm under her, I drag her along my side until her head rests on my chest. “You’ll wake up sore from sleeping as you were.”

“I’m not sleeping.” She wraps her arm around my waist and relaxes. “Tell me about the dragons.”

What is it about this human woman? Why can’t I resist the urge to touch her? I toy with a few strands of her hair. It’s as soft as it looks. “I will tell you if you agree to favor me with a story about your home in Texas.”

“What kind of story?” She looks up at me without lifting her cheek.

It would be so easy to press my lips to hers, but if I kiss her, I’ll be lost. I have orders to bring her back. It would be dishonest to make it more than that. “How do you live? What do you do all day? What is the land like?”

She sighs and closes her eyes. “We live in East Texas. There are a lot of pine trees and lakes. People like to fish and hunt. Most folks never leave the area where they were born. I’ve always wanted to travel.

Momma and I live on the same property, but we each have our own home.

It’s nice to have her close and still have my own space.

My house is small, but I like it. The land is flat and green.

It’s warm most of the year. I spend my days making jewelry, and it’s turned into a nice business despite the doubters.

I ship all over the country and sell at markets on the weekend.

There you have it. My little life can be boiled down to a few sentences and reported in less than a minute. ”

“I suspect there is more to it. Do you have a man you spend time with?” Why did I ask that?

“No. I almost got married once, but that was years ago.” She shakes her head as if coming to her senses. “The dragons?”

I’m doomed. Wren has me under some human spell, and I’ll never get away from the effects.

“When I was a boy, dragons were seen from time to time soaring above. They’re highly intelligent and have a hierarchy not much different than our own.

Trocar and Delana, a mated pair, ruled over all the dragons.

Trocar is as big as the gates of that castle we saw yesterday and as black as night.

Delana is only slightly smaller and white like a pearl from the sea.

“Shortly after Venora took the white tower, she must have been heady with power. She decided she could command the dragons with her magic. If it had worked, there would have been nothing to stop her from taking over all of Domhan and making every creature her slave.

“She went to the dragons’ mountain lair and attacked. She cast her spell of forbidden dark magic. It would have enslaved every dragon to her service and blackened their bright hearts.”

“No. What stopped her?” Wren’s eyes are full of tears as she stares at me. One trickles down her cheek.

I catch it with my thumb and rub it between my fingers. My breath catches, and it takes me a moment to continue. “Trocar blocked the magic so that the full spell hit him and none of the others, while Delana used her magic to lock the rest of them in time. This way, Venora cannot reach them.”

She grips my hand. “How will they return?”

I love how much she cares about events that happened in another world, before she was born.

Studying her small fingers, I imagine the intricate work they do as she makes her fine jewelry.

I trace each one and marvel at her neatly polished nails and the way the pink shines in the last light of day.

“It’s said that when magic comes back into balance in Domhan, they will return.

” I shrug and press her hand to my chest. “I don’t know if that’s true or if Venora can be defeated. It’s just a legend now.”

Her tears fall, and her pretty mouth turns down. “I thought I was the key to some gate that holds whatever can defeat her.”

“Are you upset because you don’t want to help me, or is it something else?”

As if she’s come to her senses, she wiggles down the couch and stands up.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help. I’m no soldier.

I have no skills. I’ve told you. I’ll just get killed in some war I know nothing about, and then what, you’ll have to come back and find another artist from Texas to take my place? ”

“I don’t know, you protect yourself and your mother pretty well from what I’ve seen and felt. I would protect you with my life. However, that doesn’t answer my question about why you’re upset.”

She wraps her arms around herself, which pushes her breast to the breaking point of her small nightshirt and makes me very uncomfortable.

“Sometimes I can sense things. When you told the story of Trocar and Delana, I was filled with hopelessness, and it came from you. I didn’t like to feel that when usually you’re sure and determined. ”

“Magic.” I stand even though my cock is stiff and has a mind of its own where she is concerned. “You sense my emotions?”

Her gaze drifts down then her cheeks turn bright red.

“I hardly need magic to sense them now.” She turns toward the small kitchen.

“If I’ve led you on, I’m sorry. I’ll admit, I find you attractive, but any woman would.

Still, you and I come from literally different worlds and I don’t have sex with men when there’s no hope of something deeper developing. ”

“I won’t apologize for the state of my cock.

You are very beautiful, and you were lying on top of me a moment ago.

However, I think you’ll agree, I’ve been a gentleman.

Can you tell me if you have other magic?

” I want to close the distance between us.

I want to be less of a gentleman more than I want to take my next breath, but I keep my place near the couch.

Still bright red, she looks at me. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just nice to be held from time to time, and I’m tired and confused about how much I want you. I’m going back to bed.”

Before she can cross to the bedroom door, I block her path. This is a dangerous road. “You want me?”

“Sometimes I have dreams and then they happen. It’s been like that since I was a little girl. I don’t know if I make things happen or if the dreams are premonitions. And, of course, some dreams are only dreams.” She bites her lip and puts her palm flat on my bare chest.

Barely hearing her confession of another kind of magic, I cover her hand with mine. “I thought it was only me.”

She shakes her head. “What does this witch look like?”

I shudder. “Venora is tall and has black hair. Her eyes were hazel, but evil has turned them mostly black. I think she must have been beautiful once, but now black magic has turned her features harsh.”

“I’ve seen your witch queen in my dreams.”

“What?” It comes out much louder than I planned, but I’m taken completely by surprise.

Wren’s eyes widen, and I see the change from concern about the magic she holds and anger because I raised my voice. Fire returns to her face, and she crosses her arms. “Don’t you shout at me. I’m not one of your servants, Prince Liam.”

Birdie opens the bedroom door and blinks at us. She has an eye mask pushed up so that her normally orderly short curls are standing straight up on the top. “What’s all the hollering about?”

“I’m going to bed.” Wren turns, but her mother stands in the doorway, blocking her path.

Torn between letting her go and finding out about these dreams, I opt for my duty. “You cannot tell me that you’ve dreamed of the witch queen and then go to bed without explaining, Wren. I’m sorry for yelling, but your declaration took me by surprise.”

“Goodness gracious, Wren darlin’, why didn’t you say something?” Birdie takes her hand and walks her to the small table that serves as a dining room. “Put a shirt on, Liam. I’m old, but even I’m distracted by all that.” She waves a hand in the general direction of my upper body.

“I don’t know why I didn’t say. First, I didn’t make the connection between my dreams and Liam’s world.

I’ve been seeing her in my sleep for months.

” She stares at her hands on the table. “Two days ago, Liam told you about the witch queen and her evil, and that night I saw her in my dreams. That’s when I knew it was her and not something out of my imagination. ”

I do as I’m told and then join them at the table. Forcing down my urgency, I ask, “What did you dream?”

She shakes her head. “It’s hard to explain.

I was far away, or she was above on a butte.

It was a dream, so things weren’t clear.

She had long black hair and pointed ears like yours.

Her eyes were black like one of those creepy dolls.

Her black gown looked expensive but tattered, and she wore a cape with a red lining.

She screamed words I didn’t understand and shot black lightning from her fingers.

The wind whipped around me and lifted her off the butte.

Her lightning went in all directions but hit my chest, and I woke up from the pain of it.

” Breathing hard, she presses both hands to her chest.

My heart pounds. The description is too close to reality to be a coincidence when, aside from a few moments ago, I’m certain I never described Venora to either Birdie or Wren. “What is a butte?”

“It’s a rock formation, an isolated peak, with steep sides, and a flat top juts from the lower lands.” Birdie speaks like a teacher, which I already know was her profession for many years before she retired.

“Is there a place like that in your world?” Wren’s eyes plead for me to deny it.

“We have flat-topped hills. We call them table-topped. Where did the wind come from?” I’ve never seen a natural wind that could lift someone as Wren described.

Pale and miserable, she shakes her head.

Birdie combs Wren’s hair back from her face. “What is it, baby?”

Her voice is soft, scared. “I think it came from me.”

Magic again, but this only in a dream or vision. Forcing a smile, I say, “Visions are funny things. They don’t always come to pass. The future is unpredictable.”

“Liam is right. Not everything you dream happens. You should rest now. We’ll go to bed, and all you’ll have is sweet dreams tonight.” Birdie wraps an arm around Wren, and they walk to the bedroom.

“Wren.” I stand. When she turns back, my heart is in my throat. She’s so perfect. “Let me be clear, I would never shout at the people who work for my parents. I’m hardly a model son for a queen, but I’m not a monster.”

There’s a hint of a smile. “I know.”