Magical Lover (30 page)

Alviss’s eyes popped wide and from his peripheral vision Thoren saw Balthor begin to rise. A heavy hand slapped against his back and Thoren snapped at it, his teeth clicking together.

“Hey, now. That was rather exciting, eh?” Enar stepped between Thoren and Alviss, using mind-speak to project his voice into Thoren’s head.
Goddess’s teeth, Thoren, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t fight Alviss. Do you have a bloody death wish?

Thoren blinked as he stared into ice blue eyes. Enar was right. What was he doing? A small hand pressed against his chest and Thoren glanced down into Keara’s wide green eyes.

I’m all right, you know. It hurt when the magic went into me, but I’m fine now. Are you?

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “I apologize. I’m not sure what came over me.” Which was a lie on so many levels, but as lying was going to keep him from being charcoaled, he was all for it.

Enar thumped him on the shoulder and went to stand where they had been before Thoren started the mated male dragon posturing.

You can put me down now.

Keara’s feet bumped against the ground and she grabbed his hand again. Maybe she thought he might use it to strangle Alviss if it wasn’t put to good use.

Thoren met Alviss’s gaze.

“Does she know?”

What was Alviss talking about now? “Does she know what?”

“Don’t play dumb, son.” Balthor jumped in.

“What should I know?” Keara asked, looking between the three males.

Thoren realized where this conversation headed and was in no hurry for it to arrive. “What did you find when you touched her mark?” A change of direction was a good thing, right?

Alviss drummed gnarled fingers against the chair arm. Balthor skipped the nervous twitch and used the you’re-going-to-get-a-whipping-when-I-lay-hands-on-you face that had sent Thoren running for cover as a child. He felt a tingle of fear and quickly smashed it out. He was grown. Was his father really going to do anything about Thoren not mentioning Keara was his mate?

“Surely you’re not as clueless as you appear?”

Thanks, Alviss.
“No sir, I’m not. But I would like to know her linage.”

“Ah. That’s good. You had me and everyone else here worried for a minute. Her linage. Keara, did you know a Draconi can touch your mark and learn your family?”

Of course she didn’t. Thoren hadn’t known until recently and he’d grown up in Draconia. Naturally, Keara shook her head, her eyes aglow like she’d received a stack of presents on her birthing day.

“Child. Speak up, old ears have problems hearing. Did you wish to know your family?”

“Please sir. If it would not offend.”

“Your father has been dead to us many years past. He left and never returned. Your aunt belongs in service to the Goddess. You’ve already met her. Your grandmother is dead, many years past, before your father. Your grandfather is very old. Do you wish to meet this old male? Is he worth your time?”

Thoren hissed in a breath as he looked between Keara and Alviss. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew who her grandfather was and it shook him to the core.

“He is. I would very much like to know any relative. Which priestess is my aunt?” Thoren could tell by her face she hadn’t caught on.

“This is quite the shock for your grandfather. He did not think he had a grandchild. You might think him grumpy.”

Grumpy wouldn’t be the word Thoren would use. More like downright dangerous with a large amount of power.

“I don’t care. I would still like to meet him. Who is my aunt?”

“Annaliese is your aunt and I am your grandfather.”

Just as Thoren thought. Unbelievable. He’d tried to kill Keara’s grandfather. Alviss was going to love it when Thoren announced Keara was his mate. Welcome to the family.

Chapter 17

Keara stared at the oldest person she ever saw. Her grandfather. Thick white locks hung over his shoulders, falling in streaks across his sunken chest. Wrinkles collapsed on wrinkles, framing thin red lips. But his eyes sparkled emerald fire, while his aura glowed strong, and Keara knew that despite his withered appearance he held powerful magic.

Magic he’d already demonstrated when he touched her arm and she almost fainted. How embarrassing.

Thank the Goddess Thoren had caught her so she didn’t look as bad of a fool. Not that she had time to worry about feeling foolish. She’d been too busy trying to overcome the pain coursing through her veins.

And then Thoren had acted like he needed to avenge her death. Yes, the pain was bad, but it wasn’t the kind to kill her. His protectiveness chased away the hurt, leaving a warm center in the middle of her chest. No one ever stood up for her like that. No one.

And it meant so much.

Just when she’d thought things couldn’t get any better, Alviss announced Annaliese was her aunt and he was her grandfather. That explained the bond she felt with the healer, but did nothing to explain Annaliese’s age. She didn’t look much older than Keara.

Yet another thing she needed to ask about.

After she talked to her...grandfather. Oh Goddess, what if he didn’t like her? What if he thought her an aberration like her grandmother had?

Keara tensed her calf muscles, trying to make her legs stop shaking.

“Well, child, speak up.”

“I am shocked, sir.”

“Stop sirring me. You may call me Gramps. I like the sound of that. What about you?”

The Council gave Alviss looks as if they thought his mind had taken an extended vacation and left an incapable substitute in its place.

Alviss beamed at her. What’s not to like about a cute, wrinkled old male?

She smiled back at him. “Gramps, it is.”

Using his cane to push himself to his feet, Alviss turned to the male Draconi sitting next to him. “Continue the questioning. I find I wish to talk to my granddaughter. That has a nice ring to it, does it not? Granddaughter.”

The male nodded at Alviss, clearly dumbfounded. Maybe her newly found grandfather was not as nice as he seemed? She glanced at Thoren and got no help. His face hung pale and limp as he gaped at Alviss.

Or maybe that was a clue. Obviously Alviss’s attitude toward her was completely out of character. Not that she cared. She’d take dear old Gramps anyway she could get him.

Provided he didn’t mind her. What if he thought her strange? Or evil? Thoren’s presence in her life made old thoughts of evil vanish. But what if Alviss didn’t like Halflings?

As he thump-shuffled over to her, planting his cane and shuffling his feet, she realized the thought for what it was—insecurity.
Get it together, Keara. He either likes you, or he doesn’t, and that’s that.

She watched Alviss grow closer, and taller, much taller than he looked hunched over in his chair. Even leaning on his cane he topped her, his bushy white eyebrows covering sharp green eyes.

“Well, child, are you ready for a talk?” He held out an arm.

Keara grasped it, planning on helping him to the door. “That would be nice.”

“Hang on.”

Her body shattered into a million pieces and swirled through space, rejoining some distance away. Her head spun, her limbs shaking as they took shape next to a bench under a shade tree. Transporting was such a rush. And to think, if Thoren hadn’t rescued her she would never have learned the ability.

“Sit, sit,” Alviss pointed to the bench, shuffling over. “Old bones can’t hold themselves up for long.”

Keara held his arm until he flopped into a seat, watching as he planted his cane between his stretched out legs. She sat next to him.

“What’s that building?” The circular structure squatted on the edge of the horizon, its stone walls surrounded by a copse of trees.

“Ah. That’s where we were. This is much more conducive for talking, don’t you think?”

“It is prettier.”

“Yes, yes.” He patted her hand, his bent fingers warm. “Now, tell me about yourself. Let an old grandfather know what excitement he missed in your life.”

How long did it take to talk about what a pariah she had been? Too long. She ended the brief and boring rendition of her life with the best thing that happened to her.

“And then Thoren found me and brought me back with him.”

“Thoren mentioned you arrived here several days ago. You met my daughter, Annaliese?”

“She said I could help her at the Temple and learn healing.”

“What does Thoren think of that?”

Keara looked at her hand resting in Alviss’s. “Why should he care?”

“Oh-ho. He hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what?”

“We had a Seer at the Temple for many years who used to predict whether or not a Draconi had a mate. The females who had no mate became priestesses, which is why Annaliese serves the Goddess in the infirmary.”

What did this have to do with Thoren? More specifically, what was Thoren supposed to tell her? Politeness kept the smile frozen on her face.

“Anyway, before she died, the Seer predicted Thoren’s mate would be special and would perform great magic.”

A streak of jealousy slammed into her, bringing an insane urge to commit murder.
Smile, do not snarl.

“You are who the Seer predicted.”

Blink. Breathe. “What?”

“You are mates.”

“Nonsense. He married me according to my town’s laws, but claimed that wasn’t what he meant to do. So I guess that means we’re divorced. Besides, Aryana said—”

“Don’t pay her any attention.”

The tone of his voice didn’t waver, but the anger roiling off him slammed into her like a gust of wind. How could he not like Aryana? What was the story behind the anger?

“What’s wrong with Aryana?”

“Let’s choose another subject. You said you did not know what happened to my son, your father. Is that correct?”

“I never knew who he was. Neither did my grandmother. What I really want to know—”

Alviss rolled over her words like she hadn’t spoken. “So you don’t know what happened to him?”

Didn’t she just say that? “No, sir.”

Alviss sighed. “He left one day as he often did. Said he’d be back and that he had a surprise. I can only assume the surprise was you, but he never returned. A Draconi does not willingly leave the fold for long.

“We waited,” his voice broke, “but he never returned. We sent our spies, but without knowing where he went...they didn’t find a trace. After the required time he was declared dead. Draconi don’t have many children and for me to be blessed with two...But I lost one. And then you came today.” A long pause. “The pain of my lost son is still inside me, but you have helped ease the hurt.”