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The portal to her iron cell under Trinity had been prepared to receive her.
She would be a prisoner, and in excruciating pain from both the iron now in her blood and the poison now freely flowing through her body.
Her magic would not help her now.
Pestale began to laugh, and even to himself, his laughter sounded insane…
Chapter Twenty-One
FRANKIE WAS LOATHING to part from Graely.
She knew she had no choice. She knew she had to go but threw her arms around him, hating the moment when they would be separated.
Something was off kilter, she didn’t just feel it in her gut—she knew it with every fiber of her being.
Graely had experienced her vision and he knew it as well. She had to get to Jazz and Trevor and tell them.
It flashed through her mind that she didn’t think, I have to get to Da, and she already knew why. She had set her father apart because she knew he would violently disapprove of Graely.
She had chosen a side and although her choice was painful, she knew it was time she took a stand. She hadn’t wanted to choose. She wanted her father to give her his blessings. She rationalized that it was him making the choice, not her.
At any rate, Trevor would keep her da informed. And what was there to tell? She only had a feeling because her vision hadn’t been clear. All her vision had shown her was darkness, no stars, no moon, no house lights, no street lights, just a world of darkness and cold…it had been cold.
That could be a trick of the mind.
Graely stood tall as he tried to pry himself away from her. She knew he wanted to protect her from parental censure. He said softly, “Frankie, I don’t want you to go, but you must, and you know that I won’t be far off.”
This first parting from Graely was turning out to be more difficult than she had anticipated. It was as though she were leaving a limb behind. How could she go back to who and what she was, when now everything had changed? Now she and Graely were willingly bound to one another and declared their love.
Graely held her shoulders and kissed her forehead, but she had seen something in his eyes that worried her into a frown. Graely didn’t think this—the us that they had become would work.
She tapped his cheek playfully and said, “Stop it. I don’t want gloom and doom from ye, not about us.” She shook her head. “Ye think we can’t go public with what we are to each other and for the time being, we’ll work on that, but whether we do or not, oh Graely, that doesn’t change what is.” She smiled reassuringly at him. She was so much older than her eighteen years, did he not see it? She had always been so much older than her age. “Telling the people I love about ye, about the fact that I have chosen ye as m’mate and ye have chosen me as yers, well, that will come, and soon, Graely. We aren’t a secret. I won’t have that sort of secret. We will tell the world and soon, that ye are mine forever, just as I am yers. But now, I think, as do ye, the world is in trouble.”
He crushed her in his embrace and his kiss she felt was born of desperation. When he finally brought his head up his voice was that of wild joy, tinged with insecurity. “I only know I love you more than I love life. Frankie, all I want to do is make you happy and never be the cause of a moment’s unhappiness. I don’t want to be the reason you and your da have a rift. I can’t be the reason for that. It would tear me apart to know that I have come between the two of you and the solid love you have for each other. It is your da that worries me for he will not accept this.”
“Solid love?” she said softly. “Ye see it don’t ye, the solid love m’da and I have. I’m counting on it to get him through this. I don’t plan to have a rift with him, but I don’t plan on backing down. Ye are m’mate and when the time comes, he’ll have to accept it, and one day even like it,” Frankie said and smiled at Graely. She hugged him fiercely then and shoved herself back and away, saying, “Graely…it is getting worse, I can feel Pestale and I swear I can hear him laughing. Why would he be laughing like that, and he is. I can hear him everywhere. Something inside of me is going dark; something has happened…or is about to. I must get to Jazz!”
“Pestale—laughing? Aye then, Frankie, hurry, get to Jazz and I’ll do a little reconnaissance.”
She took his hand and kissed his knuckles. “Be careful and stay linked to me, Dark Prince or there will be hell to pay.” She beamed as brightly as she could muster, and shifted off.
* * *
Pacing, Jazz found she could not stop pacing.
Her fingers clutched at each other, and she glanced helplessly and saw Trevor’s brows knit together. He came to her, took her hands and kissed them, held them, steadied her, and asked, “Jazmine Decker, what is it?”
She eyed him fretfully, “I don’t know, but my gut is telling me something is the matter, Trev…something awful.”
A knock sounded at the cottage door and surprised they eyed one another. Trevor strode hard and Jazz thought he looked like he was ready to do battle as he flung it open.
“Well now, what kind of a greeting is that?” Prince Breslyn asked. His jiggling five year old son, who straddled his neck and held onto the top of his dark blonde hair, said “Uncle Trevor, Papa gave me a sword.”
“Did he, now? Do you have it with you? Will you show me how to use it?” Trevor asked at once in all seriousness.
“Bray!” Jazz went to him her arms extended her hands reaching for the little prince. He called out her name and went right to her and allowed himself to be hugged and kissed.
“You see that, Breslyn,” Ete said on a laugh as she followed Breslyn and her son inside, “We don’t matter anymore. It isn’t hello, how are you, Ete, my friend?” the very image of himself.
