Liadan kept pace. “He loves me, and there are no more bondmates to be had. He needs to marry, Cian. He needs to have children. You know it’s true. He is too important to just languish out here in this piss-poor excuse for a plane. He’s let you hold him back far too long.”
Cian’s heart ached a little at the thought of children. He’d thought he’d have a few by now. He loved children, and they always loved him. He’d started a small school when he and Beck had settled in this village. It hadn’t taken long before an entire community of immigrant Fae had built up around the former heirs. They had brought their children with them, or adopted the orphans they found along the way. Those children needed to be educated. Cian could remember looking at their little faces. He’d loved teaching them.
“Where am I?” Cian asked out loud.
Liadan exhaled heavily. “You really are far gone, aren’t you? You won’t remember a thing I say five minutes from now, you poor excuse for a royal. You should lay down, Cian. You should fade. The world would be better if you faded.”
Cian’s eyes clouded over. He’d heard this before. He heard that voice when he thought about getting up from time to time. He would wonder about something. His curiosity would urge him to get out of bed, but then that voice came back. Beck would be better if he faded. Sometimes he would wake up, and she would be waiting at his bedside, whispering the words over and over until he believed them. There was some sort of smoke that went with the episodes. He always felt so much farther away after he breathed that smoke.
“Get back in your bed, Cian,” Liadan said in a commanding voice. “It’s time to fade. You’ll be happier, and so will Beckett.” The voice became soothing. He felt her hands on his shoulders. They were cold. “It will be nice, won’t it? You can go someplace warm. You can be with your mother and your sister again. You miss them, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes.” A picture of his little sister formed in his mind. She’d been his playmate. Beck had been too serious for that. He’d always been with their father in some important meeting, even when they had been young children. Bronwyn had been the one to run through the palace halls, screaming with laughter. She’d been the one to explore the river with him, and make fun of him when he started to notice girls.
She had died in his arms.
Something was wet on his face. Cian realized he was crying. Yes, it was best to fade. He couldn’t help Beck. He was weak. Beck would have a better chance if he was gone.
Woodenly, Cian turned toward the cottage. He heard Lia’s satisfied sigh as he left her, but it didn’t really register. He began to walk past the barn with one thought in his head. He would lie down, and this time he wouldn’t get up for anything. He would be stalwart. He would fade, and the world would be a better place. He walked around to the front of the cottage. He would bolt all the doors.
“Beck?”
It was another feminine voice that pulled him away from his mission, but this one he didn’t recognize. He looked down and saw a petite, curvy woman with a mass of wavy brown hair. It wasn’t brown. There was red and blonde in it, too. It was a glorious auburn. The lighter places caught the late afternoon light and sparkled. It was beautiful and a little wild. A proper Fae lady would never wear her hair so wild. Her clothes were travelling clothes, and they weren’t perfectly proper either. She had left the top of the neck unbuttoned. Cian was fascinated by her creamy skin. He could see the soft rise of her breasts. She was beautiful.
“No, sweetheart,” a very familiar voice corrected her. Cian recalled that his cousin had shown up last night, riding that flying vehicle of his. Cian used to love to ride on the back of it. Dante had thrown a fit when he tried to take it apart, though. “That’s not Beck.”
“Leave me alone,” Cian said, trying to take his eyes off the lovely woman in front of him. There was nothing cold about that one. Her hazel eyes were looking up at him with great concern. Those eyes pulled at him. Still, he heard himself talking to his cousin. “Go away, Dante. I have to go to bed. I’m tired.”
Dante’s sigh told of his weariness of the subject. “Not again.”
The woman reached out and put her hand to his chest. Her skin was warm after the chill of the pond. “No, Cian. You need to get dry, and I need to brush out your hair. It’s a mess. It hasn’t been brushed in weeks, it looks like.”
Her small hands suddenly fussed in his hair. She played gently with it, and Cian liked it. Her little hands felt like the flutter of pixie wings against his skin.
“What is your name?” Cian looked down on her in wonder. She was so beautiful. She was a lovely siren, calling him away from his duty. He had something to do, but he’d rather stay here with her.
She smiled up, and all the light and warmth in the world was in her face. “I’m Meggie.”
Cian felt such a rush of emotion at the sound of the name. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her with all the strength he had left. After a moment of startled surprise, she wound her arms around his chest and held him close. He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he knew she had saved him from something. A word to describe her leapt to his addled brain. It was the only clear thing in his head.
“Wife,” he whispered in her ear. It was a prayer.
Beck settled back in his chair after suppertime. The fire blazed in front of him, filling the cottage with warmth. Meg rocked in the chair beside him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Meg asked. Beck looked at her pretty face and felt a contentment he hadn’t felt in a long time.
They were both pleasantly full from the meal Beck had produced. It had been simple, but Meg had eaten the chicken, potatoes, and carrots ravenously. Beck was pleased that Meg had gotten Cian to eat. Cian had followed her around like a lost child. By the time Beck had come back to the brugh, she had gotten Cian inside the cottage and managed to sit him in front of the fire with a blanket around his body.
While Beck had prepared dinner, Meg had patiently worked a comb through Cian’s long, dark hair. It had been a tangled mess, but Cian hadn’t complained. He’d sat quietly. He’d let her tug and pull until his hair was straight and shiny. Cian had then laid his head in her lap and promptly fallen asleep. He hadn’t woken until dinner was ready. Beck had been happy that Meg seemed content to sit and rest while Cian slept. They looked good together.
“What’s wrong with Cian? The same thing that was wrong with me,” Beck replied quietly. “He is out of balance. He needed to be bonded five years ago. For me, it came out as rage. For Cian, he is dissolving into chaos. It’s worse than I thought. He’s better when I’m around, you see. I had no idea he was having episodes where he forgot years of our lives.”
Dante had been the one to tell him that bit of news. He had pulled Beck aside for a long discussion while Cian contentedly slept in Meg’s lap. He’d explained that Cian had barely remembered where he was when Dante had spoken to him the night before. Cian had been confused and slightly scared when Dante had awakened him. The vampire had to explain the situation to the sidhe every time he woke.
“The sooner you bond with him, the better. You need tonight to rest, but tomorrow it should be done,” Beck said soberly.
After the events earlier in the day and the arduous travel, Meg needed to rest. The bonding could be intense. Beck was a little worried about Cian’s state of mind, but the bonding had to be done.
Beck was suddenly intensely aware that he was alone with his wife. Cian was sleeping, and Dante had left before dinner, saying he had someone he needed to see. That was bullshit. Beck knew he was going to the tavern. He wouldn’t be back before morning, if then. It didn’t matter. Beck had what he needed from Dante. He’d used the communication device to speak with Susan. She had promised Beck a good salary to clear out the tunnels in Dellacorp’s latest mining project. They were full of some form of monstrous bat. Vampires didn’t like bats. He hadn’t mentioned his impending trip to his wife. He didn’t want to disrupt the happy place they had found tonight.