Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) (13 page)

I nodded, contemplating what I had just told him. If Gideon didn’t smell human and my granddad smelled similar to Gideon… suddenly grand mum’s joking about granddad being a Fae Prince sounded possible. “Are you Fae?”

Gideon gave me a smile that told me nothing. He arched a brow and said, “For one so young you have good instincts. Come, we will train.” Gideon stood and walked to the back of the house and out the back door.

Anna and I followed closely behind him. The back yard was like nothing I had ever seen before. The grass was so green and lush for a moment I thought we must be back in Ireland. That was not the only thing, the forest beyond the yard was dense with every kind of tree you can imagine, as though someone had planted them purposely for that reason and after a moments pause I realized that someone had. Gideon.

“Heads up!” Gideon called out as he tossed a long broad sword at me.

“What’s this? I don’t know how to sword fight, what am I supposed to do with this?”

“You learn.”

I shrugged and tested the balance of the sword. It was a two handed sword, and I took a few practice swings with it, to get its feel, and then Gideon attacked. I blocked him and flashed myself away.

“Good! Again.” Gideon came at me again and once again I blocked his aim and flashed myself behind him, striking out with the sword. Gideon blocked me this time and flashed himself across the yard.

I closed my eyes and felt it the minute he came at me, the air moved differently, it was charged somehow, felt more electric. The second he got close I raised my sword to block him and flashed out of the way, this time to his right and swung the sword around catching him on his arm.

“Better! Again.” Gideon nodded.

This time he didn’t even get close to me before I had flashed behind him. His sword hit the ground as I swung mine just missing his throat. I had pulled back at the last second, making sure I didn’t hit him.

“Excellent,” Gideon said with a nod. “We can move on. You do not fight like a shifter, you fight like Fae. It will come in handy against Frederick. When do you expect him?”

“Mon père mentioned he was last seen in Kansas. We may have a week, perhaps less.”

Gideon nodded. “It is late, you have school?”

“Yes, but this is slightly more important, don’t you think?”

“No. Go home. Go to school. Be back here tomorrow early.”

‘Max has football practice; we shall be here after, oui?”

“Football. Quarterback?”

“Yes,” I said with a nod.

“You will have to be careful; you are stronger than you used to be. Remember that on the field. And for God sake don’t run as if you are being chased by the devil, you don’t want to go breaking any records and draw attention to yourself.”

“Got it.” I grinned. “No record breaking. No calling attention to myself.”

“Max needs no help in calling attention to himself, people notice him anyway,” Anna said with a saucy grin.

“It’s the Fae blood. It does tend to give him that extra little something doesn’t it?”

“Oui.” Anna smiled as she wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed my cheek. “Merci, Gideon. I appreciate you helping us.”

“Pleasure’s mine squirt,” he said as he ruffled her hair.

Anna blushed. “Tomorrow.”

“Bye Gideon,” I said holding on to Anna. I heard him shout for us to be careful as I flashed us back to her cabin.

I slid my U2
“
How
to
Dismantle
an
Atom
Bomb
”
cd into the cd player of the Vette and pressed the song button until it got to Vertigo. With a quick wave to Anna, I turned the Vette around and careful made my way down her gravel drive. Once I was on the road I let the Vette roar to life. It didn’t take me anytime at all to get home.

I pulled the Vette into the garage and let myself into the house. “Mom, I’m home.”

“We’re in here, Max,” Mom called and I got a flash of anxiousness from her.

I followed mom’s voice into the living room and was surprised to find great Grammy, grand mum and granddad sitting with mom and dad. “Oh, hey. Isn’t it a bit late for a family reunion?”

“Max, sit down,” Granddad said.

Whenever Granddad told me to sit I was in for a long lecture. I wondered what this one was going to be about. Family maybe? “What’s up?”

“I had a visit from an old friend, I believe you know him. David Felidae?”

I frowned. “You know David?”

Granddad and Grand mum nodded. “We do, Selina knows him as well,” Grand mum said with a smile. “We are pleased about you and Anna Lissa by the way.”

“O…kay,” I said, pausing because I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going. I glanced at my dad who had his arm around mom’s shoulders. She looked happier than she had in a long time. “What is going on?”

“Max, we should have shared this with you a long time ago, but…”

I studied my dad and I knew what he was going to say. “Mom didn’t know you were Fae and you didn’t know mom was a Shifter. Talk about keeping big secrets!”

Mom and dad both looked sheepish, but happy. “How did you figure it out?”

“I met another Fae today. Gideon Rainer.”

Granddad and dad both gasped and looked a bit like they were sucking on bad lemons. Granddad was the first to speak. “Gideon Rainer is not the sort of Fae you should be associating with Max.”

I arched a brow and waited for Granddad to elaborate on that thought.

Granddad sighed. “Gideon is dangerous, he doesn’t like many people, doesn’t matter if they are full Fae, part Fae, shifter, or human. He is not to be trusted. He doesn’t do anything without a price.”

“Oh, hush up Regan. Gideon has been training Shifters and Fae warriors for centuries. He only takes on the best. Though I did believe he had retired.”

“He’s training me.”

“Oh no he isn’t! You do not need to learn to be a warrior, son! You are a normal seventeen-year-old American boy! That is what I raised you to be! You are not going to go out and start fighting battles that could get you killed!”

“Dad, until this week I
was
a normal seventeen year old American boy. All of that changed the minute Anna walked into my life. Within three days I have learned that everything, everyone in my life is not what they claimed to be!
I
’
m
not what I thought I was!” I said heatedly. “I’m a Shifter. And apparently I’m also part Fae. I’m so far from normal that I couldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole if I wanted to. None of us are, so you can quit pretending!”

“Max, calm down. You’re right, none of us are normal, well except maybe your grand mum,” Mom said and glanced at dad who shook his head no.

Grand mum smiled and said, “I’m a Brownie. Your Granddad fell in love with me. His father, the King of Light and Illusion forbade our match because I am not as powerful a Fae as he. When your Granddad left the Fae court with me, the King disinherited him and forbade him ever to return to Never Never. So we moved here to the mortal realm and started our family.”

“So what does all of this mean?” I asked, wondering if I was going to go to bed and wake up with this all being a dream.

“Well, it means that you are a full blooded Shifter, because that is passed strictly mother to son, and you are a half Fae with royal blood. It means that you are going to have to be very careful. It means that there will be Unseelie Fae after you because you are of Seelie royal blood. It means that no matter what I wanted for you, you are going to have to train as a warrior,” Dad said quietly.

“Dad, it’s all right. I know what you wanted for me. You wanted me to have what you have with Mom. Just because I’m training to be a warrior does not mean that I can’t have that too. Did Mom mention why Gideon is training me?”

“No, she didn’t tell me that you were training for something specific. What is it? Have you already run into some Unseelie?”

“No, it’s a Shifter named Frederick Lyon. He’s tracking Anna with the intent of killing me so that he can marry her. He wants David’s spot on the Council.”

“Why is he planning to kill you? Can’t Anna just tell him no?” Grand mum asked.

“No, the Council pledged Anna to him if she did not marry her soul mate. They gave her until my eighteenth birthday to find me.”

“But Max!” Mom exclaimed as she read my thoughts.

“I know, Mom. I am going to marry Anna on my birthday. I have to protect her, she is my soul mate and as crazy as it sounds, I love her. I know it has only been three days. I knew it the minute she walked into my homeroom class. She took me to Gideon because I need to learn how to fight. He is the best.”

“Watch your back with Gideon, Max my boy, he’s a tricky bastard. Don’t trust him to not hurt you.”

“I will Granddad,” I said with a sigh. “Now, I need to go to bed or I am going to be dead on my feet tomorrow.”

“Max, wait,”

“What is it Dad?”

“Your ring, Max.”

I stared down my index finger on my right hand and for the first time noticed a small band of gold. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s been charmed on your finger since you were born for your protection. No one can see it or feel it, not even you until now. If there ever comes a time in which you need to prove your Fae blood, removing the ring will do it. However, doing so in front of mortals is expressly forbidden Max unless the circumstances are dire.”

I continued to stare fascinated at the gold band that was etched with ivy and holly. “I understand, I think. What exactly will happen when I take off the ring?”

“Your true Fae appearance will show Max. What did Gideon look like to you by the way?”

Max thought for a moment. “He looked mortal, though he only looked to be maybe thirty eight years old. He was disguised wasn’t he?”

“He was. Gideon is one of the most beautiful but deadliest Fae you will ever meet. Do not ever cross him Max. You do not want to ever fight a war against him, you will lose.”

“Then it is a good thing he is training me to fight Frederick instead of the other way around. Now I should get to bed; school tomorrow, football practice, training, going to be a busy day.”

“Good night son,” Mom and Dad both said.

“Good night Max.”

“Night.” I waved and walked out of the room and up the stairs to my room, closing the door behind me. I wondered what this meant for Abbey. Maybe I wouldn’t be losing her quite as early as I thought if she was half Fae too - something to think about. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed up into my bunk.
Anna?

Oui, mon amour?

Are you all right with all of this?

With you being Fae, mon coeur? Mais oui! It is a part of you. Now sleep, Max. I shall see you in the morning.

Love you Anna.

Love you too Max.

I wasn’t asleep for very long before I heard my name being called through the door in my mind. I approached it cautiously because I didn’t recognize the woman’s sweet and gentle voice as she said my name. I lifted my nose to the sky, scenting her and slowly I made my way toward her, crossing the threshold into jaguar.

Anna?

Oui, mon coeur, I am here too. This is the goddess. Diana.

Diana?
I tilted my head at the beautiful goddess before me and nodded. Her dark hair flowed out behind her back like a cloak, and her skin glowed an iridescent white. She wore soft black leather pants and black tank top. A gold band circled her right arm and a pouch of arrows was slung over her shoulder. In her hands she carried a very large bow.
How
do
you
do
goddess?

Diana smiled at me and held out her hand. I approached her warily, but quickly relaxed as she began to stroke my fur. “I do very well Max. I am very pleased that Anna has finally found you. She needs you. The shifters are going to need you; especially the council Max. They have been losing powers of much lately; you and Anna shall bring them back to themselves. The old ones have gotten too…too stuck in their old ways, too caught up in their own worth, their own rules, and their own power. They no longer listen to the forest, to me.

Why
me?
Why
am
I
the
right
choice?
I asked curiously.

I have chosen you Max, you and Anna to lead them. Because when I called you both chose to listen to me. Fate chose you for each other, but I chose you to lead together. There will be many who will try to get in your way, especially the King of light and illusion Max. Do not allow him to dissuade you from your purpose. He will try. The Fae King has his own agenda. You are a very strong Fae for being only half Fae. The King will want to use that to his purposes. Be very careful of him Max. Listen to your granddad. There is a Fae war going on. There is always a Fae war going on somewhere, between the courts. Gideon may not be able to resist telling the King of your prowess with a broad sword, and you may soon find yourself being offered a position in his court. The King will not take no for an answer Max, you will have to be creative, but do not allow him to con you into becoming one of them.”

Yes goddess, I understand.

Diana knelt down in front of me and hooked her arms around my neck, fastening something just behind my ears. She slid her hands forward as she spoke. “This is a blessing for you Max. A jaguar charm from a goddess, one that cannot be seen by one of the Fae or by any mortal. Unless otherwise shown by you Max, no one will know of it. These charms alone should give the elders reason enough to let you lead them. However I know it will not be that easy. Go now, you have a long day ahead of you.”

Thank
you,
goddess.
I nuzzled her hand and turned to leave. I glanced at Anna as I padded softly toward the doorway back to our world.
Come
on
Anna,
we
have
to
get
to
school.