Mischief's Mate (The Immortal Mates Book 1) (23 page)

Savannah needed to keep busy, “What should we do while we wait?”

“I could instruct you in healing.” He gestured toward Emma and Savannah nodded.

For hours he instructed her in the art of healing. By the time the sun set, Savannah was well on her way to learning the basics and on her way to feeling the pull of destined mates.

The late autumn sun shone around the clearing; wildflowers of every color stood out in stark relief. A cascading waterfall emptied into a stone encircled pool. There was a nice border of trees that surrounded the clearing. It was the perfect place to make camp.

Chantelle’s dark eyes darted about, trying to take everything in. The beauty of the clearing was overwhelming. Never in her twenty-four years had she ever seen something more breathtaking. She likened it to the Garden of Eden.

A movement in her peripheral vision alerted her to the rest of the group. Coming out of her trance Chantelle noticed Thor and Hoder opening the trunk. She watched as they pulled the gear out and began to set up camp.

“We will have your tent up in a moment, princess.” Hoder called to her as he unrolled a green and silver tent.

Chantelle shook her head, not able to get over being called princess. “Please call me Chantelle.”

Arabella smiled at her from her perch on top of the Hummer’s hood. Chantelle knew there was something that she wasn’t saying and it was grating on her. She hated it when her friend sat there like some all-knowing wiseass.

“That is your title, so get used to it.”

Loki had come up behind her and spoke in her ear. The feeling of his breath stirring her hair had her wanting to lean into him. The sound of his voice heating her blood.

She refused to answer him, afraid her voice would give her away. So she watched as his brothers went about setting up the tent. Chantelle refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing his presence set her off. That just the sound of his voice had her forgetting why falling for him was a bad idea.

After a few moments he hadn’t moved and she desperately wanted to put space between them. “Have you never learned the concept of personal space?” She glanced up into his face waiting for his answer.

His chuckle sent shivers down her spine, “I thought you enjoyed my touch?”

Chantelle felt his fingertips brush against her arm, setting her body on fire. For a brief moment she wondered if coming on this journey was one of her stupider ideas. How was she supposed to survive with Loki this close all the time? Instead of leaving her alone in the car, he had opted to ride next to her. Chantelle seriously doubted that he would allow her to sit with either of his brothers so she hadn’t even bothered to ask.

Somehow she plucked up the nerve to answer him. “Where did you ever get such a ridiculous idea?” Her voice was breathy, too breathy.

Chantelle couldn’t lie to herself and she knew she couldn’t fool him either. Loki knew her better than anyone ever had. Even better than she knew herself. The moment he neared her, Chantelle felt her body gravitate toward him. He was like a damn black hole. He pulled her in and made all her common sense disappear. There was something in his touch that called to her soul. It was something primal. It had begun as nothing more than a spark. Yet before long it had grown to a raging bonfire. Just what had he done to her?

Loki brushed her hair aside and placed a soft kiss just behind her ear. She felt him smile against her skin when she shuddered.

“I believe, my mate, your response to my touch gives you away.”

His arrogance annoyed her. How dare he think that because her body responded to him she was his? Anyone in their right mind would respond to a man who looked like Loki. Though just the thought of another woman responding to him set her teeth on edge. Chantelle was never a jealous person. But something about her mate had her feeling possessive. She had gone through too many changes since meeting Loki and right now she didn’t want to deal with any of it.

A huff escaped her lips as she pulled away from him. She turned to face him then, her hands on her hips and eyes flashing. “Keep trying to convince yourself of that.” With a swish of her hair, Chantelle flounced off toward Arabella.

She needed to put space between them before she gave in to him. It was his eyes. When Loki looked at her she felt like he saw into her soul. As if with one look she could know his heart and soul. Chantelle could swear she felt his sorrow with one glance. And God help her, it was that sorrow that made her love him.

Wait, did she just admit to loving Loki again? Chantelle shook her head, trying to clear her mind. How could she love a man she didn’t know? She refused to count their dream encounters as knowing each other. She wasn’t willing to admit anything that would help Loki’s case for her heart.

She approached the car and noticed that Arabella lounged on the roof of the Hummer’s hood watching the two warriors work. Hoder held the last rope as Thor pounded it in with Mjolnir. It seemed that having a mystical hammer made things move faster than normal.

It also seemed that her friend was enjoying the view. Chantelle didn’t understand what she found so interesting. If you asked her, Hoder was rather plain looking and Thor, well he was a little too rough around the edges. Neither of them was as sexy as Loki.

“You shouldn’t stare.”

Arabella patted the hood of the car. “Let’s talk.”

They hadn’t had a good chat since Academy. Lord knows, she had been on the move for some time now. Slaying everything related to the Acolytes. But Arabella couldn’t tell her friends that.

Once Chantelle was situated, “About what? How you feed me to the wolves?”

“Wolves? Oh, no! Did I introduce you to the wrong mate?” Chantelle shot her an annoyed look. “I was sure Loki was part giant, not wolf.”

Chantelle glared at her and Arabella had a hard time not laughing in her face. This was too funny. She knew that Chantelle had dreamed about him her whole life. As a matter of fact just a year ago Arabella had a vision of them together.

“Stop scowling. It’ll give you wrinkles.”

“Who cares? So I’ll be forever wrinkled.”

Arabella eyed her, “What has you so upset, Chantelle?”

Chantelle looked off toward the two men working, “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe my so called friend set me up.”

A smile lit her face and her ice blue eyes sparkled, “Just because I can see the future doesn’t mean I can’t see the present.” Arabella jumped off the hood of the car and headed off to the woods, “Come on. Let’s gather some firewood. You might even open up to me, princess.”

Chantelle threw a scathing look in her direction. If one more person called her princess she was going to scream.

“If you’re lucky I just might.” They laughed as they made their way into the forest.

The woods were filled with birdsong and Chantelle breathed in the chill autumn air. Trying to clear her head of all that had happened in the last few weeks. It was all too much to take in, there was just too much between them. Her sister being sick, a crazed immortal who wanted Loki for her own and his hatred for mortals. Even Romeo and Juliet had a better chance of making their relationship work.

Arabella bent down to pick up some twigs and Chantelle followed suit. She really didn’t think the clothes that Loki had provided were a good choice to go rummaging through the woods. She cringed every time she stepped into a puddle with her black leather Marc Jacobs boots.

Her musing was cut short, “So what’s going on between you and Loki?” Arabella’s words brought her up short.

Just what was she fishing for? There was nothing but a promise between them. He had promised to save Emma, so long as she had agreed to give him her friendship. Nothing more, nothing less. And that was just the way it was going to stay if Chantelle had anything to do with it.

Yet something in Arabella’s words were stirring up memories of Loki’s last words. Was it so obvious what he did to her? With just one look he made her want to love him. Forget about what just one touch from him did to her.

His evergreen eyes spoke volumes. When she was alone with him, he was no longer the immortal dubbed the God of Mischief, but the immortal of misunderstood pain. Chantelle was beginning to realize that their bond was growing. Heaven help her, she was falling in love with him.

“I don’t know what you mean. We have an agreement. What is between us is nothing more than business.” She began to pluck a few berries, trying to avoid the gaze of her future seeing friend.

“You know him a few weeks and you’re already picking up his bad habits.”

Chantelle threw her hands up in frustration, “Whatever. I don’t know what you want to hear me say.”

She was trying to draw in deep steadying breaths but it wasn’t working. Arabella’s accusations were pissing her off. And the fact that she was right was even worse.

“You and I both know that I am nothing more than a game to him.”

Just saying those words broke her a little. Thinking it to herself and saying it out loud were two very different things. It shook her to her very core. She wanted desperately to believe he cared for her. That if he had to choose between a mere mortal and a fallen immortal, Loki would choose her. But he had kept so many things from her.

Chantelle found herself wondering if Loki had been manipulating her dreams all along. What if her feelings were only there because he had manufactured them? What if she was nothing more than a puppet to him? Someone else to control with his lies. Someone to pass the time with. His backup plan, just in case Signe really had meant what she said to him all those years ago.

“I don’t think you should let Loki hear you say that.”

Chantelle wanted to tell her that she had said worse to the handsome immortal. But one look at her friend told her she already knew what words had passed between them and it looked like Arabella didn’t approve. Well, too damn bad.

“And why not? What if he has been making me dream of him all these years?”

Now that she had voiced her fears they seemed more real than ever. As if just her words had breathed truth into her accusations. Chantelle wondered in that moment if her fears could change her future.

Arabella let out a frustrated sigh, “Gee, I thought you would never figure it out. Of course he made you dream of him, but not knowingly.”

Chantelle put down her pile of wood and crossed her arms. “Sure. And you happen to believe whatever comes out of his mouth. Really, he’s the supposed god of lies.”

Arabella shot her an annoyed look and Chantelle gestured for her to explain. She was sure that whatever she had to say it was going to be interesting.

“I don’t have to believe Loki. He didn’t tell me any of this. I saw it over a year ago.”

A year? She had known for a year that Loki was her mate and she didn’t call her to tell her. She didn’t even have to decency to let her know she wasn’t going crazy.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to justify my actions. Just know that you only dreamt of him because your soul was calling out to his. It’s because he loves you that you were able to call out to him.”

Had she become so jaded, that she couldn’t see love; even if it was right in front of her. Arabella was saying that Loki loved her, her entire life. How was that even possible? She had been just a little girl when she had started dreaming of him.

Then she remembered back to her studies from the Academy. All Immortal men cherished females. It was their great honor to watch over them and protect them. It wouldn’t have been until she turned twenty that the mating pull would surface. No wonder why the dreams were more frequent these last few years. He had known all along she was his Fatum Anima. He had waited almost five years for her.

So why hadn’t he tried to find her sooner? No she couldn’t believe that if he really loved her he would have waited so long to claim her. He was using her and she knew it.

“Oh, so it is just a coincidence that his crazy ex is now plotting vengeance.” Chantelle shook her head. “You know what I think, Bells? I think he’s using me to make her jealous.”

Arabella gasped, “He wouldn’t like to hear such an accusation from you. It would break his heart.” Her blue eyes were serious.

Guilt rushed over Chantelle. She knew her words were childish and hurtful. But she was afraid of loving him and then losing him to some trumped up pariah.

She wanted to run and find Loki. Just to make sure he hadn’t heard her after all. Something in her soul told her she couldn’t hurt him like that. Not after all he had been through; so many centuries of loneliness and now her denial. But the logical, modern side of her, scoffed at that wilting flower. She was a woman of the twenty-first century, not some medieval maiden who needed claiming.

“For an all seeing Halfling you’re acting like a drama queen.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“If we are resorting to name calling, ‘Telle, than you are nothing more than a selfish child.” Arabella turned from her then and headed deeper into the forest.

Her words cut Chantelle deep. How could she accuse her of being selfish? Chantelle had always put others before herself; never asking for anything in return. Even when a man as powerful as Loki wanted to protect her, she pushed him away. No, Arabella was wrong, she wasn’t selfish. No it was far worse than that; she was a martyr. The realization pained Chantelle, how could she not have seen it before.

For so long she cared for Emma and she knew no other way. Chantelle had never seen being strong as a bad thing. Yet looking at it from Loki’s viewpoint it looked different now. What she saw as strength, he only saw as stubbornness. By refusing his help she was one more person to refuse his love.