“Ugh, Marcellus! Why are you acting this way? I thought you wanted me to trust you! Constantly contradicting me and lying won’t get you there! I gave you a chance and you just threw it away. Fucking typical.” She moves to push herself out of my hold.
Oh, no, she doesn’t. My hands tighten, not letting her budge. “Fates damn it, Cecily! I’m not who you think I am!” I don’t question my actions as they run purely on instinct, I place a hand behind her head to hold her from pulling away. Placing my forehead against hers, I open my mind and reach out with it to gently caress hers, encouraging her to search through my memories. I don’t know what I’m doing, where the idea came from, or if it’ll even work.
A connection forms the moment her mind accepts my offer, and she watches what I’m trying to show her. She sifts through my memories, faster and faster, like she’s searching for something specific. We could be at it for moments or hours, but when she pulls away from me, she appears lost within herself. Her eyes are glassy, and her face is expressionless.
We’re closely surrounded by the guys, and I have no idea when they got here. Klaus reaches out a hesitant hand, touching her face after a pause. “Sunshine, you okay?” he asks her. I want to be mad at them for interrupting my time with her, but I’m not. I know they all care about her.
“What the fuck is that?” Alex asks, pointing to my arm. He’s in his human form, clothed, something he must’ve done while I was sharing my memories with Cecily.
His question pulls Klaus’ attention from our girl long enough for him to get a glance, give a head nod, and say, “Welcome to the club, dude.” I glance down at my arm and see a mate mark. Wait... welcome to the club? What does that mean?
My mind is racing. When did this mark show up? I remember now when it showed up the first time, gosh, it had to be about four hundred years ago. With a blink of the eye, it was gone, spelled away from sight the moment it appeared. My mind jumps from that thought to the dream I had last night. The dream had to be a premonition, because it sure as shit wasn’t a memory. A shudder runs through me at the recollection of feeling like a passenger in my own body.
I’ve been plagued by nightmares for as long as I can remember, always forgetting the details the moment I wake up. This is the first time I ever remembered any details from one of my dreams, and now I wish I didn’t. In the dream, I saw this same mark on my arm, and the words I said come back to me.“I’ll never stop being sorry, Cecily. One day, I hope you learn the truth of what happened. I love you, my darling.”
What does it all mean? Shit, has she been projecting a premonition onto me? No! I could never cause her enough hurt to get this kind of response. Glancing at her now, she’s still in a dazed state, with Klaus holding her face.
“What fucking club?!” Alex grinds out between clenched teeth. He hates being left out of things. Derrick and Klaus hold out their left arms bearing the same mark as mine. Fuck me. I told them all it felt right we share her, but I never thought in a million years we would all share a mate mark with her. How is this even possible? “Are you fucking kidding me? When did you all get matching tattoos without me? And why would you get them where a mate mark would go? Stupid place to put a tattoo if you ask me, which you didn’t. What are you going to do when you get your mark and it clashes with the tattoo?”
I’m sure the obvious answer doesn’t occur to him, seeing as how none of us would’ve assumed it was possible for one of our kind to receive more than one mate. Seeing a trend here though, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex has a mark show up as soon as she breaks the spell for him as well. At least that’s what I assume caused my mark to appear now, since I’m no longer shielded by the spell.
From her dazed state, Cecily’s soft voice whispers out, “Tell Alex who I am.”
“Uhh... Alex, this is Cecily…” Her request sounds rather odd to me, but I do it anyway.
“Nah, man, you need to say her whole name. This is Her Royal Highness, Cecily, Queen of the Shifters,” Derrick’s studious voice comes out, the one he uses whenever he tries to impart his book smarts.
Alex lets out a groan as he holds a palm against his forehead while his memories come flooding back to him. A few moments later, he glances at our girl with a sheepish look, probably remembering the dirty things he said to her this morning. Yeah, I would regret being a dirty fucker right about now too.
Chapter 17
Cecily
Present
My mind is stuck replaying the memories from Marcus’ mind, although Alex’s voice still penetrated my haze. I didn’t want him to keep feeling left out, so I told the others to tell him my name. Partially, I told them to do it so I didn’t lose my train of thought, the other part of it was to test if someone else saying my name will really work like the letter said it would.
As the guys sort it all out, I focus on the memories from Marcus. How is it possible there wasn’t a shred of evidence of our time together? It’s like I made it all up in my mind, like a dreamscape... but if that’s true, then how did I end up separated from my body in soul form?
Did I actually go crazy spending all those years alone?
Could Silas have brainwashed him so thoroughly, or somehow rewired his brain to alter his memories? Something clearly happened because I find it hard to believe I actually made it all up. If I was going to make up some alternate truth to what happened, it sure as shit wouldn’t end in heartbreak, betrayal, and my throat slit.
“What the fuck did you do, Marcus? I think you broke her…” Klaus’ voice reaches through my inner turmoil, and the small distraction allows me to feel his hands on my face. Thumbs rubbing back and forth. Blinking my eyes, I allow them to focus on his worried gaze. Letting out a relieved sigh, he says, “Ah, there she is. I was worried about you, Sunshine.”
I offer him a weak smile, one I know doesn’t reach my eyes, but it’s the best I can offer right now. He pushes a rush of reassurance through the bond. It’s muted, because we haven’t sealed it, but the action still gives me comfort.
“You guys, you guys! Look!” Alex shouts at all of us while thrusting his left arm between the circle gathered around me. He pets his mark and purrs at it, “Hello, my precious!” I’m so distracted by his obviousLord of the Ringsbehavior, I don’t see it coming when he makes a sudden move to grab my face. With smooth moves, he pulls my face to his, before smashing a kiss against my lips.
This is definitely a first for me. All of my first kisses so far have been soft, and filled with passion, which for all his talk, I thought Alex would follow suit. This is just a wet, bruising press of our lips, lacking any of the heat I assumed his kiss would invoke. Instead, his kiss is filled with unbridled joy and an energy that can’t be contained. I'm starting to think he enjoys getting unexpected reactions out of me. “Alex, off! Ugh, once again taking what you want without asking!” I manage to get out after pulling away from his hold.
“I knew you wanted me, Angel. No hiding it now.” His smug as fuck smirk makes me want to smack him. Ugh, he’s trouble. I shoo him away with my fingers, and he just laughs at me and holds out a hand to help me up. “Don’t worry, Angel, I won’t count that as our first kiss. A true first kiss with me will have your toes curling and leave you begging for more.” He gives me a wink, and I just roll my eyes at him as I brush past, walking clear of the guys surrounding me. Alex has a way of pulling me from my thoughts when they start to spiral.
Glancing around at the land where I grew up, I feel a sense of loss. This was my home, and not just mine, but a symbol to our people. It represented a place of hope, where anyone could come and get help of any kind, a place where they’ll always be safe and protected from all harm. What is a Queen without her castle, without a place where she can welcome her people and hear their troubles and concerns?
I need to rebuild my home, make it as it was. There needs to be a home base for our people, a place where we can sort out all of the consequences my absence created, before they spiral even further out of control. I know with the anchor being unstable for so long, there are ramifications needing to be reversed. Just look at the proof of the two situations I learned of yesterday.
Reaching inside myself, the warmth of my magic is eager to respond to my request. It knows what I want and what I need it to do not just for me, but for all of our people. It reaches out into the forest-covered hill around us, searching for all the former parts making up the castle. Finding them, my magic gets to work putting together all the pieces to fulfill my request.
