Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (69 page)

“
It’s like I’m there but I’m not
,” I admitted while I
examining
one of the
unappealing
stuffed mushrooms. “
I’m watching everyth
ing
as it happens
, and
I can
seemingly
feel what everyone
else
is feeling, I know what they are thinking, a
nd I know the background stor
y
, to a point, if that makes sense.
It’s almost like watching a movie
that I
’
m emotionally tied
to
…
” I looked up at him. “I sound completely insane, don’t I?”

“
Not at all, Duckie.”

For some reason, I wasn’t believing him.

“Tanis, why do you keep dreaming of me dying?” I asked pointblank
, changing the subject,
and his eyes widened. “Please don’t insult my intelligence by denying it,” I whispered when he opened his mouth
so
he quickly closed it; I was right. “Why is your family always watching me? Why is my pack keeping a perimeter when I hunt? Why did you steal
that hidden photo from my house...I found it between the couch cushions when you were showering.
”

Tanis sighed. “This is not the place to discuss it.”

I motioned for the waitress. “Check,” I said, never taking my eyes off of the vampire across from me.

Once we were on the road, nearly to his house, Tanis broke the silence.

“Duckie, you are not having dreams, you are remembering your past.”

I snorted. “Whatever,” I
scoffed
. “If you aren’t going to take this seriou
sly, you can just take me home.”

“I am not joshing,” he assured me.

“Dude, I’m dreaming of a goddamn war,” I argued. “I mean, it
feels like it happened
recently,
but the way that the events go down it feels as if it happened hundreds of years ago.
There
were
swords and silver armor and kings and queens and
…Toran,” I
mumbled the latter
with a shrug.
“
The queen knew him and he knew her.
There was a silent emotional bond between them, she trusted him unequivocally, and turned her child over to him to keep safe before an arm
y could kill her and her guards…
I think the
queen died after giving birth, before a sword could be driven through her.
It’s really weird, I tried looking up on the internet about the area from the placement of the stars
that I could remember,
but the smoke was so thick that I couldn’t see more than two or three. I even tried looking up their
names, trying to figu
re out where they would be from
, but all
I got was..
.
”

“
Norwegian
,” Tanis whispered and struggled to swallow the lump in his throat.

“How
did
you know that?” I mouthed.

“They are memories, not dreams,” he repeated, then licked his dry lips
and put the SUV in park outside of his house
. “Duckie, I took the picture because those unfamiliar people were, indeed, familiar. I did not remember their names or faces, however, when looking at their faces, I
saw yours. Me mum, she knew who they were right away, and tears stained her cheeks when she gazed upon them… Me m
um never cries, and yet she has
been doing much of that as of late.”

I swallowed hard. “Because of me,” I surmised.

“Because of many things, Duckie,” he assured me. “Mainly because she never knew you existed.”

Wait, what?

“Why would she…I mean, is she my mother?”
I choked;
Sabirella
and I looked nothing alike.

Tanis gave me a look. “No, though you are her niece through
love
. Ae
sa was like a sister to me mum. It was Aesa whom taught Mum
to control her shadow wal
king when she was first turned
...the
Varulv
were called Shadow Wolves because they had the ability to shadow walk
like Mum can
.”

“Shut up!” I gasped; I had never heard of such a thing.

He nodded. “
You shadow walked the night of me biggest clanger,” he whispered. “One moment you were shaking your head, disappointed in all of us for our childish actions, and the next you were gone and had a blade in your stomach.”

My eyes
widened
.

I didn’t remember moving from the moment I saw the
blade and called out to Jarvis to being stabbed,
but suddenly I was there betwe
en my brother and the wolf who was
going to kill him.

“
It was Aesa who showed Mum that there was more to being an immortal than simply drinking blood and stal
k
ing the
night
,” he continued
.
“
And i
t was Aesa would taught me mum to be the beautiful creature
she is.
And it was Aesa who planted a seed of hope and acceptance in
her heart…”

I shook my head. “No.”

“
Eighteen years ago,” he said quietly, his
attention out
windshield at nothing in particular, “a
severe
depression too
k
me mum over. Never had I seen anything like it, especially from her. I stayed with her for nearly six months while Toran was away—I suppose he could not fathom to see Mum in such distress, when he, himself,
was
riddled with guilt and depression—and tried to console her, however, it was futile. Mum would not speak, would not get out of bed, and more than once I had to beg her to feed because I could not handle it without her… I am her favorite for a reason,” he
reminded me with a small smile. “The depression that took her was because of the death of her immortal sister and friends. I never understood that, however, I am starting to regret many things when it pertained to werewolves.”

Is he saying what I think he’s saying?

“You regret falling in love with me?” I whispered.

Tanis looked over at me. “Never. I regret not paying better attention when werewolf matters presented themselves, came knocking
at
our door, when Toran was pulled away to accords and gatherings which involved werewolves. If I would have gotten off me arse, I would have been better prepared to protect you.”

My eyes widened.

“Protect me from what?” I choked.

Tanis looked away and shook his head. “D
id your parents ever tell you
of
the rules of engagement?”
he asked instead of answering me.

I shook my head
.

“
They are very specific rules which govern the mythical world. When the accords between the werewolves and vampires were drafted, the werewolves demanded that the
established
rules of engagement
remain intact
.
Think of it as a
way to prevent those of superior physical abilities or powers from using them in order to annihilate their
adversaries
…
even playing field
, if you will
. There is
no modern warfare
;
no guns, bombs, etcetera
, only
swords, mêlée weapons, pole arms, and bows and arrows ar
e allowed to be used for combat
.
That goes for armor as well; only silver, leather, stone, wood
,
or metal armor
is permitted
.
They
felt that it would maintain the integrity of our species, and prevent anyone from trying a massive takeover or abolition of one side or the other.
Werewolves
, to my understanding,
have their own way of dealing with inner
species issues, as do vampires, but when it comes to war
between the species
it i
s old world.”

That means…holy shit.

Tanis sighed, seemingly understanding that I seemingly understood. “T
ravel over land would be by horseback
, as long as it was active war
.”

“Horseback?” I choked.

“If you think about it,” he continued, “travel by horseback would be rather
redundant
since
vampires can run faster than a
bloody
horse, as can werewolves.
”

I absently nodded. “But of course.”

I think I’m going to be sick.

“S
ay you
were trying to go from one continent to another, perhaps Ireland to New York for example,
you would
go by schooner.”

“Schooner
…like a boat?” I reluctantly asked.

He nodded. “
Think of
the
‘
Pirates of the Caribbean’ boat
without Johnny Depp o
r pirates
,” he said; his attempt at humor was lost on me. “
The last war
, which I am
aware of
,
happened nearly two decades ago
. I thought it had nothing to do with vampires, however, it would coincide with your birth and me mum’s bout of depression
.
”

I had been dreaming of…my own past. But the most I discovered, the less I wanted to remember.

“Shh, calm down, Duckie,” Tanis said when I started hyperventilating
, and he tenderly rubbed my shoulders.

“I….I killed them,” I stammered and tears stained my cheeks.

“You did no such thing,” he snappe
d at me and I jumped, startled. “Monsters killed them, just as they tried to kill you…” his words trailed off.

My eyes widened. “Who tried to…you mean the Spottedhorses?” I choked.

Tanis shook his head, a look of aspiration and hopelessness washing across his face. His lips moved and I struggled to hear him but all I could hear was the violent pounding of water in my ears….

….
“Toran!”
Kaia
called out as her head
broke the surface of the water.

The young
girl struggled to keep her head above the violent water
,
using a piece of the hull to stay afloat. E
ach time
the waves violently crashing upon her rose, pushing the young girl up into the air, all she could see in the darkness was the point of burning light hundreds of yards away.

“Toran,”
she whispered;
the stinging in her eyes was from more than the
burning salt water.

For more than three hours the young girl floated away from the burning remains of the schooner
which
was to take her to where she’d be safe. But obviously, the young girl surmised, she would never be safe from
those that wished to kill her. For her entire life, all she knew was Toran and those that he paid to guard her. The reason why she was under lock and key was never explained, she had asked, but Toran was the king of secrets and he refused to maintain eye conta
ct wi
th her when she demanded answers
. All he’d tell her was it was written in the stars.

The last time, the
Aslak
nearly succeeded in killing her in the country estate in Ireland Toran had arranged to house the young girl for the
summer
. It was close,
but apparently death at sea was even closer.

“You cannot give up,”
Kaia
stammered thro
ugh violently chattering teeth
. “Toran raised you better than this…better than to simply give up.
You are meant to rule and to end their reign of hatred. We cannot give up!
”

As if the Gods answered her, the sound of crashing waves in the distance pulled her attention and her tinted blue lips pulled up into a smirk.

“Atonement I shall have,” she snarled and focused all of her fleeting en
ergy into kicking her numb legs in order to push her and the floating wood towards the rocky shore. “Push!” she yelled, trying to coach herself but it was of little use. Her body was so numb that she couldn’t actually feel it, all of her energy was being used to keep her arms wrapped around the wood keeping her afloat, and each breath she took was a struggle to exhale.