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“I am so happy to meet you, Charlotte Vail of Tennessee.” She drifted toward Charlotte, extending her hands, which Charlotte took. Vojalie gave each a gentle squeeze.
Charlotte wanted to say something, to offer her own formal greeting, but no words would come. Instead, she felt dizzy and strange.
As Vojalie’s eyes turned a stunning silver, Charlotte’s mind became steadily more and more unfocused. She didn’t exactly faint, but her consciousness dimmed. She had a strange sense that Vojalie was searching her soul, yet how long this went on she couldn’t tell. She felt wrapped up in the most peaceful sensation.
“Beautiful,” Vojalie whispered at last.
Gradually, Charlotte’s ability to think returned. “I beg your pardon?” She wasn’t sure if Vojalie had said something or not.
But Vojalie smiled. “Forgive me, but I took a moment to enthrall you. I needed to know exactly what I’m dealing with. You have a lovely soul, my dear. And I know this may sound like an odd request, but may I inspect your ears?”
Perhaps the same sense of enthrallment still hung over Charlotte, because nothing about the request bothered her in the least. “Of course you may.” She pushed her hair off her shoulders, letting it dangle down her back.
Vojalie drew close and took turns inspecting Charlotte’s ears. “Have you had any particular sensitivity at the tips lately?”
The memory of Willem so recently sucking that exact spot and almost making her come, brought a warmth to her cheeks, a reaction she quickly repressed. Taking a deep breath, she responded simply, “Yes, very sensitive.”
“And what other phenomena have you been experiencing?”
Charlotte turned to meet Willem’s gaze. “Sometimes when I look at Mastyr Willem, I see a golden aura around him.”
Vojalie’s brows rose. “Indeed?”
Charlotte nodded. “And I’ve felt this vibration coming from the very center of my being.” She placed a hand on her stomach.
“You are much farther along than I imagined. You have all the indicators of becoming a human-fae hybrid. In addition, I can tell that you have tremendous potential and I believe that in time, you will rival some of our most renowned fae in ability and power. Of course, this will mean study and commitment, but I have to say, you seem very willing.”
Charlotte’s lips moved but no words followed. She finally sank onto the couch behind her and stared through the window at the night sky beyond. The landscape was still lit up in a soft glow, a very realm ability all in itself.
Even though she had all these peculiar, fae-like symptoms, she still couldn’t believe what Vojalie was telling her. She could become a powerful fae in this world? She, a human, from Lebanon, Tennessee?
She felt as though she was being given her heart’s desire without ever having known that this was what she’d wanted all along. She’d lived in Grochaire Realm for years, studying at Grochaire U. Charlotte dated and slept with realm men quite happily. She realized that she felt comfortable here as she never had in her human life in Tennessee. Her best friend was a troll.
But it had never occurred to her that her sense of ease in the Nine Realms might have meant that all this time she could actually belong in this world, that living here had brought to life a latent part of her. “Then, I must have realm DNA.” She shifted her gaze back to Vojalie.
The woman nodded. “And apparently, a lot of it. It’s possible that one of your human forebears, years ago, mated with a person of realm lineage without ever knowing it. Some of our people were known to have left the Nine Realms and never returned. They were always accounted dead, but in more recent years I’ve come to believe they discovered your Earth’s access point and chose to live out their days hidden within your culture.”
“I suppose that would explain
a lot but I’m still in shock.”
Vojalie sat down in a chair adjacent to Charlotte. “Can you tell me about your family?”
Charlotte blinked back sudden unexpected tears and for a moment couldn’t speak.
But Willem, perhaps sensing her emotions the way she could sense his, drew close to sit down beside her. He even took her hand. “Charlotte is essentially orphaned in her world. She lost her mother and father and a younger brother in a boating accident several years ago.”
Charlotte nodded. These events had happened over eight years ago, yet hearing them spoken aloud brought them rushing forward as though they’d taken place the day before. She trembled at the memories.
Willem released her hand to slip an arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple.
After a long moment, when her throat had unknotted itself, she said, “Sorry, but for some reason my emotions are all on the surface right now.”
Vojalie adjusted her long, flowing skirt. “That’s to be expected. You’re going through an extraordinary transformation tonight.” But Vojalie suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute. There’s something here, something I’ve missed. Dear sweet Goddess, are the two of you bonded? But that’s not possible. I mean, not unless…”
She turned toward Davido, who until this moment had remained in the background. He moved quickly to stand next to her chair, and she took his hand. “You’re not going to believe this, my love.”
Davido covered their joined hands with his right palm. “And what is that, my sweet? What will I not believe?”
