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Leo turned towards me. “Did you know about this?”
“I just found out about twenty minutes ago. I haven’t exactly had the chance to discuss it with you.”
“Naela, explain,” Vance demanded.
Naela blew a piece of hair out of her face. “It was foretold that Ornessa’s grandchild would wed Arianne’s grandchild. Ty is Arianne’s only grandson and unless you have any siblings we don’t know about, you’re it, Karli. We all thought Ty was going to be a lifetime bachelor, but now that we know you exist, that’s not the case. There are very few Omnipotent Fae left in existence. It’s your duty to strengthen the population.”
“You want to turn me into a baby factory?” I shrieked.
“I don’t want to turn you into anything,” she answered. “It’s totally archaic, I know, but at the same time it makes sense. Nothing is more important than the preservation of our people.”
“Free will isn’t important?” I asked.
“Sure it is,” Naela shrugged, “but you should want to do this. Any of us would make the sacrifice for the greater good. Besides, it’s not exactly a hardship. He’s young, but so are you. And he really is a skilled lover.”
“Is there anyone you haven’t slept with?” I muttered.
She pointed to Leo. “Him. I haven’t had the pleasure of him. Yet. As for Thylus, I wasn’t speaking from personal experience; the women talk around here. My point was that you have nothing to worry about. He’s easy on the eyes and he’ll keep you satisfied in bed. What else do you need?”
“Oh, I don’t know…something in common?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re quite the dramatic one, aren’t you? You’re both omnipotent and you have connecting parts. What more do you need?”
“Dramatic?” I yelled. “Well, at least I’m not the town who—”
Vance threw his arm out and shoved me behind him. “Naela, you should probably go now. We’ll get this cleared up with Ornessa. Thanks for showing us to our rooms.”
She winked as she started walking away. “Good luck with that.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. Vance and Leo both followed me inside and leaned against the wall.
“This is not turning out how I thought it would,” I said.
“My love, I’m sure we’ll get this sorted out soon enough. They can’t force you to marry anyone.”
I locked eyes with Vance. “Is that true?”
Vance rubbed the back of his neck. “They do things a little differently around here, as you can plainly see.”
“That didn’t a
nswer my question.”
Vance blew out a breath. “Naela explained it perfectly. No one would force you to do anything; they wouldn’t dream of it. But that’s mainly because they expect you to do what’s best for the people. They expect you to make the decision yourself, to honor your bloodline. They’re selfless. The village’s needs come before their individual needs. It’s their way of life.”
“It’s not my way of life,” I whined. “I understand selflessness, and I respect it. But I’m not about to make a lifetime commitment to anyone, especially someone I just met, for the greater good of a community that I don’t belong to. This isn’t my home. I belong on Earth…in Las Vegas. I came here to learn how to control my powers, nothing more.”
“I know that, Karli,” Vance said and sighed. “I’ll talk to Ornessa. Just give me some time. Why don’t you freshen up and relax? I’ll go find her.”
I decided to take Vance’s advice. About the freshening up piece anyway; there wasn’t enough Xanax in existence to make me relax right then. After bathing, I opened the tiny bathroom closet. Two ankle-length white muslin gowns hung from the rack, with two pairs of matching ballet slippers below. They were identical to the dresses the giggling twosome wore at the lodge.
I stood there for a moment contemplating my choices. The temperature was too warm to put my jeans and sweater back on. I debated breaking my magical hiatus but decided it wasn’t worth the risk; I could ask Vance to conjure a new outfit for me when he got back. I grabbed a dress off the hanger and pulled it over my head. I turned towards the mirror and was actually impressed with what I saw. The gown fit perfectly and made me feel unequivocally feminine. I slid my feet into the slippers and stepped into the main room.
Leo crossed the threshold with damp hair of his own. I gave him a good once over, not even trying to hide my appreciation. He looked good. A black t-shirt was stretched tight across his chest and matching slacks clung to his long, muscular legs. He reminded me of a panther as he stalked towards me. Absolute beauty and grace, yet fully capable of ripping your throat out at a moment’s notice. I smiled when I thought about how I’d been allowed to lie with the beast. True, maybe he was a little rough at times, but only when I wanted him to be. This beast treasured me, protected me at all cost.
He placed a kiss against my knuckles. “You look beautiful, my love.”
I smiled. “You’re not so bad yourself. I take it your closet had fresh clothes as well?”
