Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three) (27 page)

To Cassie’s surprise, Stacey touched her mother’s forearm with understanding and sympathy. “Being responsible for large numbers of people isn’t easy,” Stacey said with a snort.

“Indeed.” Della echoed the sentiment. “When Cassiopeia went under your employ, Ms. Winkel, I had you checked out. You’re a female in power. What would you suggest I do?”

Stacey pointed a finger at Mattie. “Fired.” The finger moved to Cassie. She felt her heart flutter in her chest. “Hired.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mattie muttered.

“That’s not the way it works, Stacey,” Cassie exclaimed. Mattie was first-born. Mattie was the heir.

“Why the hell not?” Stacey barked back. “I read this contract and
nowhere
does it specify Mattie by name.”

Della’s brows drew together. “It was drawn up before Mattie was born in an effort to establish peace.”

“Well, it’s got a shit-load of loopholes. You should fire your attorney.” Stacey unfurled the faded document and held it up for the Queen. “Heir.” Lit from behind, Stacey’s finger was a shadow on the bright document, moving from place to place on the parchment. “Heir. Heir. Heir. Seems to me you name Cassie as your heir, she mates Hansi ... problem solved.”

Her mother turned her gaze to Cassie. “I disowned you … cast you out. Yet I am now asking you to return and take on an enormous responsibility.”

“You did the right thing that night, mother. Were I queen, I would have done the same,” Cassie whispered.

“And that is why you should be queen,” Della stated

“Amen and halla-fucking-llujah,” Mattie chimed in.

Cassie’s thoughts spun out of control. With a deep, shaky breath, she calmed so she could look at everything objectively. There was no doubt in her mind that she could take the responsibility. It actually filled her with … excitement. Dreams of charities, community events … Her people were amazing. They loved to gather, work, and socialize. And there was Hans … insecurity filtered in to darken her hopes. She’d rejected him. She’d seen the hurt in his eyes behind the mask of friendship he erected for her benefit.

With a glance at Stacey, who gave her a nod of encouragement, she knelt at her mother’s feet. “I would be honored to be heir to the throne and crown of Aleen … if you believe me worthy.”

“You have more than proved your worth.” The catch in her mother’s voice held pride. Her hand touched the top of Cassie’s head. “I name Princess Cassiopeia Aleen my heir. We will have everything properly documented during the ceremony. Come. The Alba’s have been waiting long enough.”

Stacey stood. “So where’s my seat?”

Della stood and took both of Stacey’s hands in hers. “Thank you, Ms. Winkel. If the rumors of bloodmating are true, Conlon is a lucky male.”

Cassie grinned. She could tell Stacey was touched, but how would she respond? “I’ll be sure to remind him of that. Th-thank you.”

Her mother emitted a small vibration into the floor, and several servants stepped in and opened the chamber doors. “Escort the future
Mrs. Einar
to her male.” Della smiled.

“Holy shit … that’s the first time I’ve been called that.” Stacey smiled.

“Ummm.” Mattie hedged. “Mother …”

Della pulled Mattie into a hug. “Go join your partner in the balcony. Just remember you are still a princess. Try not to do anything
else
reckless this day.”

The door closed, leaving her alone with her mother. “Is averting war the only reason you are naming me heir?” Cassie would take it no matter what, but the idea that her mother didn’t truly want her hurt.

Della sighed and took Cassie’s hand, leading her to the loveseat. “Looking back, I believe the Fates have been trying to show me you were meant to be queen since you were a child. Matalina is very honorable. She is also self-absorbed and impulsive, always has been. It’s part of her endearing charm. However, they are not the traits of a leader. You, on the other hand are responsible, stable, objective in everything you do and say. I’ve never seen you shaken in the face of conflict or hard decisions.”

Cassie felt a wave of shame. “I was reckless …
that
night.”

The hand of her mother caressing her hair reminded her of happy days. She loved her mother so much, missed her desperately. “Perhaps it was the Fates’ way of emphasizing your destiny to be queen. One I again refused to see. I was wrong to cast you out, daughter. For my actions I will be forever sorry.”

Della opened her arms and Cassie hugged her fiercely. “Mother, Hans told me he loves me, and I rejected him. What if …”
he no longer wants me?
The words caught in her throat.

Della laughed and Cassie could only stare at her cruel response, stunned. “I’ve seen how that boy looks at you. From one female to another … you have nothing to worry about.”

Cassie prayed her mother was right as they navigated the corridors to the guest wing.

Chapter Twenty-Two

For hours Hans had been stuck in the room while his parents went over the details of he and Mattie’s nuptial contract, dowry, and territorial lines.

“How long are we going to make our people wait out there?” Hans interrupted. He didn’t want to marry Mattie any more than she wanted to marry him, but having the inevitable hang over his head was making him crazy.

A servant rushed in. “Your Majesties, Queen Della and Princess Cassiopeia Aleen,” He announced.

Cassie.
All the air left his body at the sight of her. A vision in yellow, elegant, sophisticated, head high and proud, her eyes clashed with his, revealing a barrage of emotions impossible to decipher. Without thought he stepped to her and pulled her into a hug. When his father cleared his throat, Hans realized what he’d done and forced his arms to release her, taking a small step back.

Cassie lifted her hand to cup his cheek. Hans grasped it and kissed the center of her warm, soft palm. Was that … love in her eyes? He rubbed his lips with her fingers, and she shivered and bit her bottom lip, passion, desire, all the things he’d started to see twenty years ago flooding her burnt-orange, wide eyes. He couldn’t mate Mattie … no matter the consequences.

From the corner of his eye, Hans noted Della as she watched the unspoken interaction between him and Cassie with a small smile on her lips. “I’ve changed my heir.” Hans felt his heart pound in his chest as the queen proceeded to inform his parents that Cassie would be his bride.

“I don’t understand.” His mother’s voice filled the empty space that descended after her announcement.

Della lifted her chin higher. “Queen Alba, are you aware that your son is in love with my daughter, Cassiopeia? Or that she loves him in return?”

“Is this true?” his mother asked. Hans could see the earnestness of her question in her eyes.

“Yes, mother. I’ve loved Cassiopeia all of my life.”

“Yes,” Cassie stated with a small smile of apology. She had denied her feelings when he had point-blank asked her how she felt about him … and she’d lied. Yet he knew if she’d told him she loved him,
he
would have renounced his crown and their colonies would
already
be at war.

Hans felt the grip of his father’s hand on his shoulder. “Queen Aleen, the colony of Alba is amicable to this mating”

He and Cassie both signed the nuptial contract, yet he couldn’t speak. She walked beside him toward the ceremonial chamber, and still neither of them spoke. It felt like a dream to Hans … one he never wanted to awaken from. The door opened and their parents entered while Hans and Cassie waited to be called.

“Hans, I—”

He held a finger to her lips, silencing her. “None of that matters now … only this.” He did what he’d wanted to do for centuries.

He kissed her, groaning at the rightness of her warm lips to his. Her arms came around his neck and she opened to him like a night bloom in moonlight. Their tongues tangled, creating a sea of pleasure in his groin pressed to her belly. Tingles erupted in his body as their royal bloodlines aligned, tying them together for eternity. Nothing existed but her. His back slammed to the door with her passionate abandon. His hands blazed over her body, memorizing the feel of her.

When the door was opened, he fell back with her clutched to his chest and never broke the kiss. The room’s startled gasp at their appearance quickly changed to laugher and cheers. Cassie lifted and stared into his eyes. The slow return of reality arrived with her blush and embarrassed grin as she struggled to her feet.

From the balcony above, Hans heard the loudest cries of happiness and looked up into the joyous face of Matalina standing beside Stacey and Conlon. Mattie and Stacey high-fived and he wonder if the two had been planning this together.

Hand-in-hand, he and Cassie climbed the steps to the dais. They’d jumped the gun on mating, but the ceremony was still to come. He just wanted everything over so he could take Cassie somewhere private.

“Hans.” Cassie leaned her head into his shoulder and whispered in his ear while their parents took turns speaking the old words that had been said in every royal marriage for eons. Her breath on his neck further strained his uncomfortably tight pants. “I’ve loved you forever. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

He didn’t realize how much he needed to hear her say she loved him until she did. A weight of insecurity lifted from his shoulders. Uncaring of anyone but her, he kissed her again.

Della’s voice breached the erotic feel of her lips. “My people, I present to you, Prince Hansi and Princess Cassiopeia Aleen, crowned heirs to the colony Aleen.”

Proud to be bestowed the surname of the female he loved, Hans smiled against her lips. Hansi Aleen sounded pretty damn good to him.

****

“I can’t wait to see Mick,” Mattie exclaimed as they exited the tunnel.

Conlon smiled up at the sun. “Why don’t you go ahead? I’m going to show Stacey my ancestral home.”
And make her mine
, he silently added. Mattie didn’t need to be asked twice … she vanished into the trees at a dead run.

“Conlon.” Stacey wrapped her arms around his waist. The vulnerability in her eyes surprised him. The hesitation made him nervous. Had she changed her mind?

A ripple of energy interrupted them. Conlon was surprised to see Miguel step through a port. His hand gripped Conlon’s shoulder in embrace. “Brother,” Miguel greeted and then smiled warmly at Stacey. “You must be my future sister-in law.”

“This is my brother Miguel,” Conlon introduced. What was Miguel doing here?

Stacey shook Miguel’s outstretched hand. Miguel had kept his ability as a reader a secret even from his family his entire life. They’d only learned of it a few years ago. It made people uncomfortable around Miguel, so Conlon hadn’t told Stacey. Though Miguel’s face gave no indication of what he picked up from Stacey, his next words gave him away.

Miguel tsked. “You won't hurt him, Stacey.”

Fingers trembling, her hand lifted to her open mouth. How could Stacey still fear harming him … after all the nights they'd spent together? Her eyes wide with awe, she whispered. “How did you—?”

“Stacey, you won't—” Conlon spoke at the same time.

Miguel interrupted them both. “Using your dentes is instinctual, Little Sister.”

Dentes?
Conlon thought. Stacey had feared hurting him at the vein? The thought of her beautiful dentes tapped deep into his bloodstream had his erection throbbing.

“You’re sure?” Stacey’s face lit into a smile that left Conlon feeling like he’d been one-two punched in the heart. Miguel nodded and the sigh of relief from Stacey made Conlon groan. “I’m so glad to meet you.” She didn't seem bothered at all by Miguel’s obvious ability to read her thoughts. Of anyone, Conlon would have expected Stacey to be bothered tremendously, given the way she pushed people away and hated letting people get to know her. Of course, that had changed over the last weeks.

Miguel bowed gallantly and placed a kiss to the back of Stacey’s knuckles. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here. Truthfully, I’m not sure myself. That’s how it goes with my pre-cog ability sometimes. All I know is I am supposed to give you a gift. May I lay my hands to your forehead?”

Stacey gave Conlon a confused look. All he could do was shrug. He had no idea what went on in his brother Miguel’s mystical world. “Sure.” Stacey leaned toward Miguel slightly.

Miguel set his hands to Stacey's forehead and closed his eyes. Conlon took a step back from them, stifling his instinctive growl at another male touching his female. A second later Stacey's eyes fluttered shut; her long, black lashes fanned the upper curve of her cheek. Small tugs of a smile lifted the corners of her lips. He shifted his gaze from her beautiful face to the concentrated, furled brows of his brother. Stacey slowly lifted her arms from her sides, and Conlon shifted further out of her way. Her wrists were bent, palms out, as a ball of air around her hands started wavering like a mirage on a hot road with energy so heated that sweat broke out on Conlon’s forehead. The small smile on Stacey's lips lifted higher, and a single tear rolled silently down her face.

Miguel lifted his hand slowly from Stacey's forehead and his brother watched her intently. “What did you do?” Conlon asked

Miguel shrugged. “I stimulated a few neuro-pathways to accelerate her training.”

“You can do that?”

Miguel shook his head. “No, I can’t. I was merely a vessel for a higher power, my brother.”

The hereafter/astral/spiritual/pre-cog/Oracle shit had always given Conlon the jeebs. Miguel quirked the side of his lip. “I know,”he responded to Conlon’s thoughts.

Stacey never moved, while the ball of heat at her palms cooled and then heated again several times. Her sapphire eyes glowed softly when they met his brother’s gaze an instant before embracing a startled Miguel in a fierce hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Miguel hugged her back and chuckled. “You knew, you just didn't
know
you knew, my little pyro sister, but you are very welcome.”

Stacey nodded into Miguel’s shoulder while tears of gratitude flowed freely from her. Whatever the gift was that his brother had given his soon-to-be bloodmate, it meant a lot to her.