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Even so, when morning came, even though he had expected it, he thrust a hand through his hair and wondered how he was going to keep his hands off Jazmine Decker. He found he needed her more than he could express, wanted her more than was bearable. He had been with beautiful Fae experienced in the art of lovemaking, and yet they were nothing compared to what he felt for this beautiful human.
Somehow she had taken over his mind, his essence.
He had to concentrate on Hordly and Baudali. He simply could not allow his thoughts to wander …
He shifted outside to watch the show and realized even passing humans would be able to witness the fever of nature being used at its worst. Humans would put it down as the worst storm they had ever seen, but see it they would.
He knew because he had listened in on their conversation that the Dark Prince and the wizard had already figured out how to use their combined black magic to open a portal to his and Jazz’s time period in the Human Realm.
Thunder, resounding thunder that made the sheep in the neighboring pastures run madly in fear, boomed, clapped, cracked, and threatened overhead. A natural occurrence during a storm, there was nothing natural about this thunder, and it was not accompanied by rain.
Once again, dark magic was at work, and this time Trevor took it all in, became familiar with its scent, with its power, with the fact that it was being wielded by the joint partnership of a Dark Sorcerer and a Dark Prince.
The earth moaned as though filled with excruciating pain, and Trevor, at one with the earth, felt its agony with growing fury. The ground begin to crumble as jagged lines slashed through the pasture outside their warded lands.
Prince Trevor watched what was happening with restraint. He had to wait for the right moment.
If Hordly and Baudali were allowed to succeed, they would cause great harm to this time period. Trevor knew he had to stop them; they could not be allowed to succeed.
More intense than an earthquake, the fissures widened and swallowed up small bushes and trees into their yawning depths. Above, a horrible visage appeared. It was Baudali, but his face was contorted, pockmarked, and his black tongue hung from a mouth whose fangs drooled bloodied saliva as his power grew. Trevor knew this was because Hordly was beside the wizard, helping him with a spell never meant to be so carelessly cast. They had but one purpose, and they didn’t bother with the precautions required for such a spell. They only cared about one thing: opening the door to the future, the future he and Jazmine Decker had been sucked out of.
The sky was a blanket of charcoal-colored clouds hovering menacingly over the broken earth except above Prince Breslyn’s estate, which remained untouched by all this and invisible to the human eye.
Trevor clenched his fists and closed his eyes as he worked his Seelie magic. He had known what Baudali meant to do and had been preparing for this moment, although he had not expected it so soon.
He would have to eventually get to the source to repair the damage the Dark Ones had created. That would be the tricky but important part of his plan.
Timing, however, was everything.
He had to wait, for he would use his own very controlled, very powerful dark magic for only a moment and combine it with his Seelie magic to put an end to their first efforts.
It wouldn’t stop them, however; he knew they would keep trying until he could send the Dark Prince back into the Dark Realm. That would put an end to Baudali, who could not achieve time travel without Hordly’s Unseelie magic.
The Wizard Baudali had summoned the worst of dark magic, using it to draw on the elements of earth, wind, and fire, and it raged before his eyes.
Hordly had added his own Dark Fae magic as well, and combined the two became a viable power. And so it had begun—the wormhole to the future.
Ordinarily, even a Seelie Fae would have difficulty confronting the remaining element, since its power was a force the Seelie Fae could not always contain. However, as a Royal, he had been trained and knew the knack of patience. He knew the knack of it all was timing.
The Dark Ones couldn’t be allowed to get to the future. He had to find a way to stop them, or life on earth would be forever and horrifically altered.
Trevor knew the wizard, who was from this time, had lived through this century into the next and the next after that. He could not be allowed to enter the future, where he might confront his future self—if he did, it would be catastrophic.
Trevor sighed heavily as he considered both the wizard and Hordly. They had drawn on the three elements, yes, but one element was left for Trevor to use to advantage, and that one he had control of now. He was ready, for it had reached its maximum power.
He had to wait for just that right moment.
Jazmine Decker and Frankie had come running outside and stood flanking him.
Jazmine Decker’s nearness had an unexplainable effect on him. She had denied him, but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting her. He needed as much as wanted to hold her. He needed to keep her safe from harm, he needed to touch her, kiss her, reassure her and make her his own, and by damn, when this was over, he would win her human heart—confound all the rest of it!
He couldn’t think of that now, but he damn well was going to keep her safe. He said authoritatively, knowing in advance she wouldn’t listen for her sake but perhaps for Frankie’s, “Take the child and go indoors. I have to go to the source and stop this.”
“We are staying with you,” Jazmine Decker answered.
“Aye, with ye,” agreed the child with such a grim little face that he just wanted to hug her and take her away where she could play and lead a normal life. Then Frankie added solemnly, “We mean to help ye.”
“I can’t have you two in danger. It will inhibit me,” he answered roughly. He was growing overly fond of the child—what by Danu was wrong with him? He knew she would have to go to parents who could love and care for her, but even in their few days together he had grown accustomed to her presence, to giving her lessons, to the daughterly affection she bestowed on him, and he found that he bloody well liked it. She made him feel oddly warm inside.
