Sinful Instincts (Woodland Creek) (15 page)

He moves quickly, his hands pulling at my head so I lock eyes with him once again. “Emma, that’s one thing you have to realize. I can’t leave you. I won’t. It’s my fate to be with you. And what you feel? I feel it, too, but it’s stronger for me. Just to be near you sends the animal inside me mad. I didn’t expect this. And I have no idea what to do about it. But I won’t leave you. Okay?” His words sound so promising, his expression stone serious.

“Okay?” he repeats, wanting an answer from me. My thoughts are so jumbled. So much has happened in the last two days that I’m so confused, but also so sure at the same time.

“Okay,” I decide, putting my fate and heart in Sin’s hands.

The creases in his brows release, his worry dissipating at my answer. “Okay then. We need to get moving. We’ve lost some time.”

“Okay.” I climb off his lap, readjusting my dress. We walk less than a quarter mile before a small cottage appears in the distance. The cozy home looks alive, with smoke exiting the chimney and lights blazing through the windows.

“Well, at least we know he’s home,” I point out, stepping over a loose branch.

“Yes, but will he be willing to see us is the question.”

“Why wouldn’t he? Didn’t that wizard from your town see you?”

“Well, yes, but it was not for some time until he did. He knew the moment I spoke of finding a wizard. He sent me in circles until he felt I wasn’t a threat to him.”

That catches me off-guard. I halt and turn to him, “Wait, so he knew you were looking for him?”

“He did. Don’t forget, wizards are very powerful creatures. They see all, no matter where they are. He heard me asking about him miles away. He admitted that he had conjured up spells to create illusions, as you would say. People who were not real, sending me to places that were dead-ends. He told me that if I continued long enough, it would prove my worth and dedication. Eventually, he decided I wasn’t a threat and he led me to him.”

Wow. I didn’t know it took so much to be a wizard. Now I kind of wished I knew one who could track down Scott. I’d pay my week’s wages from the bar to turn him into a goat or something.
No, wait—a donkey. So he can officially be called a jackass.

“Can we continue walking now?” He breaks into my mental rant.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Let’s move it.” I continue walking. “So, like, when we get there, do we just knock on the door? Possibly duck in case he tries to blow our heads off with a shotgun?” I tease.

“Yes,” he replies. “That and we make sure not to be on his front step at all. It could be a trap. A secret portal that dumps us into another time.”

Ha ha! Okay, I was
joking
. He’s—yeah, that face, which I’ve learned pretty well, says he is completely serious. I stop again.

“Emma,” he warns me.

“Sorry, it’s just that you say something like that so nonchalantly. I mean, a portal? To another
time
?” I throw my hands up in the air.

“Emma, now is not the time to debate this. Once we get what we need, I will sit you down and explain everything to you.”

Sweet, it’s like the birds and the bees all over again, but this time I’m a grown-up. And instead of the wretched sex and babies’ version I got from my degenerate foster family at the time, it’s coming from this brick of hotness impatiently standing next to me. And he’s going to explain how Harry Potter was born.

“Emma.” Again with the warning.

“Okay, okay,” I begin walking again, and we make it to the outskirts of the wizard’s land. The walkway to his doorstep is paved with beautiful perennials and green bushes. This wizard is definitely sporting the green thumb. Before we make it to the door, Sin places me behind him, not allowing me too close to the stoop. “Are you serious? Come on, we’re not gonna fall into an abyss by stepping on his welcome mat,” I exclaim as Sin picks up a small rock and throws it at the pretty doormat.

“Hey! Don’t throw rocks—” I begin to argue that throwing stones at the poor wizard’s house is not going to do any favors for us when we both witness the rock disappearing through the mat.

Right through the fucking mat.

“That—that did not just happen,” I stutter.

“Like I said, wizards are very particular on who visits them.” Just as he finishes his comment, the door flings open and the tiniest old man appears in the doorway. I jump into Sin, and his primal side shoves me behind him.

“The girl comes in only,” the wizard speaks sternly.

“Not a chance,” Sin argues.

The wizard shrugs at Sin’s remark and steps away to close the door.

“Wait!” I jump forward. “Wait, please. We came a long way to see if you can help us. My—um— my friend here needs your help. Please, we’re here on good faith.”

He takes in my words, looking back from me to Sin. After a moment, he speaks. “Only you.”

“No way!” Sin goes to toss me back behind his body.

This time, I duck and shove him off. “Sin, just wait!” I turn back to the wizard. “Why just me? It’s him you want to speak with.”

“And it is you whom I must speak with first.”

We all remain still, staring at one another. If it’s only me he will see and I can help Sin, I will do it. “Fine,” I agree.

Sin, in complete attack mode, grabs for my arm. “To hell you will. You’re not leaving my sight, Emma.”

“And this also might be the only way he’ll help us. Don’t worry. He won’t hurt me.”
At least, I don’t think he will.
I give Sin my most reassuring look and wait for him to release his hard grip on my arm. Slowly, but reluctantly, he does and I return a kind smile. “I won’t be long,” I promise, as I quickly spring on my tippy toes and place a small kiss to his lips. I pull away just as fast and turn, stepping inside the wizard’s mystical home.

Emma

Since I’ve never been in a wizard’s home, I really didn’t know what to expect. But a flat-screen and some sports memorabilia was definitely not it. “You like basketball?” I ask, bewildered.

“Of course I do. It’s Indiana, isn’t it? Who doesn’t like the Hoosiers? How do you think they won in ‘76?” He wiggles his bushy eyebrows.

“You?”

“They needed a little help. I just gave them the spark they needed. Great season, too.”

What in the heck?
I watch him walk over to a table, placing his Hoosiers mug next to, go figure, his crystal ball.
At least they keep it somewhat true to the storybooks.
“Come, child, and sit.” He gestures for me to seat myself at his table. I oblige and walk more into his home to take a seat across from him.

“So, are you here to find out who you are?” he starts off.

“What? No, why would you think that?” I reply, shocked. “I’m sorry, but that’s where you’re confused. We should bring my friend in. Sin, he’s the one who needs your help, not me.”

He observes some more, making me feel like I’m in the spotlight. “Child, may I see your hand?” He brings his tiny arm across the table to wait for mine. I see no harm, so I take the hand I had placed in my lap and stretch it to the center of the table. He wraps his fingers around mine, and the second my skin touches his, the crystal ball goes bonkers, shooting a spectrum of colors like a disco ball around the room. I freak out, pulling my hand from his grasp and at the same time, the ball goes back to black.

“What the hell was that?” I shake.

“That was you, my child.”

Yeah, okay.
“So, I’m really not into all this magical stuff. If you can please just talk to my friend, so we can be—”

“I see her—your mother,” he cuts me off. He also shuts me up, and fast.

“Wh-what did you just say to me?”

“Your mother, I can see her. The one you also yearn to see, am I correct?”

This is no longer amusing. Just mentioning my mother causes my lower lip to quiver. “What is this, some sort of joke? How do you know about my mother?” I question.

“Because she is the one in your dreams. She is the one who sent you to me. The one who finally wants you to know who you are.”

He reaches back to the center of the table, indicating for me to place my shaking hand back into his. I fight it at first. I should run like hell out of here. Tell Sin this guy is off his damn rocker and that we’re going to have to find a plan B. But the look in his eyes shines with truth. Without words, he is telling me he has answers for me. I don’t know where the power comes from, but my hand on its own accord shifts and lands into his. Again, the crystal ball gleams, causing me to shut my eyes until I’m able to adjust to the brightness. “Why is it doing that?” I ask, watching him stare into the ball.

“It’s you who is doing it. It’s the powers inside you. I am just your portal, my sweet child.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” And it’s the truth; I am so confused and honestly scared out of my mind.

“Ahh, there it is. Emma. Birth name Emma Fairchild. Born to Charles and Felicia Fairchild. Descendants of the ancient Sirian Race.”

“The—the what?” I stutter. He is so calmly spilling information about names, descendants, and my
family
. I can’t even process what he’s telling me.

“Of mermaids, sweet child. You are the— ahh, now I see!” He swirls his finger across the ball, colored lights flashing across his small face. “You are the last of your kind, Emma. Ahh, look—yes, here it is. You are a very special creature. Being the last of your kind, you were given away to a safe home for your protection. Away from anyone who would hunt and kill you.”

His words are almost foreign to me.
Mermaid? Protection?
“I’m not following, sir,” I whisper, feeling the first tear fall from my face.

“Here, look.” He turns the crystal ball for me to view. The moment my vision connects, a gasp leaves my throat. In the ball is me. It’s my dream. The woman who holds me has turned, and I can see her face! And she is beautiful. I see all my features in her. Our resemblance is frightening.

My tears are now pouring down my cheeks. “How is this happening? I don’t understand,” I cry. I pick up my hand, gently touching the ball as my fingers brush over the face of my mother. “Why did she leave me?” I begin to sob.

“Child, she gave you life. She is protecting you. You are a special creature in this world.”

Protect me? She didn’t protect me. She stuck me in a world of loneliness and confusion. She allowed me to grow up not understanding who I was, with no love and a lifetime of nightmares.

“Those dreams were to protect you. If you were ever to connect water with your heritage, it would risk being exposed. She always wanted to be with you, but she needed to make sure you stayed away from anything that would lead you to the truth,” he explains.

“So, she thought by dumping me in the system, I would have a better life? Fuck that,” I spit. I stand up quickly, but his words stop me from leaving.

“Your life would have ended at age five if you were kept with your parents. Your death would have been by an animal shifter. Your parents saw your destiny. They knew your time was limited. They chose to spare your life and send you into a world that may not be perfect, but it was a living world.”

I don’t know how to react to that.
I should have died?
“How did they know I would survive wherever they sent me?”
They couldn’t have known I would have been any better off here.

He doesn’t make an effort to answer my question, but he does turn the ball again, so more images come to life. I see her again. My mother. And she is with a man. My hands cover my mouth as a small gasp leaves my throat. “Is that my father?” I question.

“It is,” he replies.

“Are— are they still alive?” I fear the answer, but I need to know.

“No, child, I’m sorry. That was another choice they had to make. They tried to figure out a way to run with you at first. They thought if they went further into hiding, they could run from the hunters searching for you and still stay a family. The visions of you dying never went away. And the longer they ran with you, the more the visions showed you all at your deathbed. They knew their destiny was death. They chose to spare you. Their only daughter.”

I stare into this ball, like I’m watching an old family video. My father turning me in circles as my mother and I laugh. The gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal and loss hit me at once. I fall to my knees, holding my chest, and I cry out for the parents I never knew but miss so terribly, and for all the lies and unknowns that my life held.

I don’t acknowledge the moment where Sin busts through the cottage door, coming to my aid. I tune out the threats he makes to the wizard if any harm had come my way. And I go numb to the petting and soothing sound of his voice as he tries to calm my wretched cries.

“What did you do to her?” Sin barks out, picking me up in his arms. “I will kill you if you have done anything to hurt her!” His threat blares through the room. His body heat is spiking, so I know he’s urging to shift. Probably to rip the poor wizard in two.

I pull my head from his shielding embrace. “Sin, please,” I whisper.

He instantly turns his attention from the wizard onto me. “Emma, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, Sin, he didn’t. Please, do not threaten him anymore, okay?”