Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga) (42 page)

Tristan sagged in disappointment. He’d been kind of hoping that Sherri had been able to get between the couple just a little. Just enough to have Ivyanne sliding that damn ring off her hand. But clearly, the fate Lincoln had waxed lyrical about was actually on his side.

Like getting dropped from the sky didn’t scream that at yah?
He asked himself angrily.
Give it up! Go home, save the day and redeem yourself for being such a fool and then go back to your actual home-Los Angeles and forget that you ever loved anybody.

‘Are you going to be okay with this?’ He asked Adele, trying to distract himself from his pain, which was swelling up again now that he’d broken contact with the ocean.’

‘Showing up at my ex’s engagement party that should have been mine, to save him and the woman he dumped me for?’ Adele cringed. ‘Be prepared to see a little acting.’

Tristan nodded. ‘I can handle fake Adele.’

‘You did in bed.’ She said breezily. ‘In fact, you
believed
it.’

‘I’m calling bullshit!’ He declared. ‘Don’t even try and pretend that shagging me didn’t make you feel one hundred percent better about ending things with him last year, missy, and that when I showed up, you didn’t consider the possibility of a round
two
.’

Adele grinned, lighting up. ‘Actually, you’re right. And now I know what I’m going to write in his damn engagement card too!’

Tristan relaxed back into his seat and chuckled. ‘Diabolical,’ he repeated.

Adele blew him a kiss.

⁓

Ivyanne pulled up to one of the pool-side recliners on Thursday morning and kicked off her shoes before making herself comfortable. Getting engaged to a man you thought your ex best friend might be considering killing was proving to be an exhausting past time. She was at the Seaview constantly to mingle with the mer arrivals, trying to introduce her fiancé to people, while looking over her shoulder, either for Ardhi or Lux.

She’d asked Lincoln to stay at the resort at night on the off chance that Ardhi was lurking nearby-but hadn’t told Lincoln the true reason why. She’d given the excuse of propriety instead-it wouldn’t do for the mers to know just how much sex she was having out of wedlock. They knew about Tristan, of course, but only Ardhi and Lux knew for sure that she’d allowed Lincoln to even the score.

Ivyanne felt like she was living a double life as the expectant bride entertaining visitors, as well as a spy/bodyguard who was using the internet and her snazzy smart phone to gather all the information she needed for the variables in her life, while pretending that everything was hunky-dory to all.

She’d woken up at seven to have breakfast with her parents and the Cajun-bred Marked family from New Orleans, The Chalmette’s at the resort-Lincoln fussing over them the whole time. They were one of the younger Marked families-and more unusual because Anna had turned an existing husband and wife together in the eighties. The hadn’t had any children then but now they had a four year old son, Bradley, after thirty years of trying. Ivyanne couldn’t help but stare at him during the meal, realizing that the age difference between herself and Bradley was the same between herself and Tristan. Had he seen her at this age and pinched her cheeks? It was a humorous notion.

She spread her towel on the soft mat, placed her fruit plate on the tabletop beside it popped on her sunglasses. Once she was settled, Ivyanne lifted her phone, pressing dial on the number she had saved earlier. She wished Tristan could see her finally work the phone he’d forced on her-he would have been proud.

‘Hello? Lester Fire speaking.’

‘Hello Lester,’ Ivyanne said. ‘It’s Ivyanne Court. How are you?’

‘Ivyanne!’ Roan Fire’s aging father sounded delighted to hear from her. ‘How are you doing, my dear?’

‘I’m doing okay. I’m sure you’ve heard, about the recent unpleasantness though..?’

‘I have, I have.. but you’re holding up well? Finally getting married, I see?’

Ivyanne nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. ‘Getting there. How are you?’

There was a sigh. ‘Okay. Still getting around, although my back isn’t what it used to be.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. Is the house still suitable? Would you like us to make some adjustments?’

‘I’ll think about that Ivyanne, thank you. The heated saltwater pool is helping though. So thank your father for arranging that for me.’

The Fire family had been a very important line since almost the beginning, as Hannah had been a Scottish countess, and the fourth Marked benefactress turned. She’d born two children, Eternity and Jeremiah, and had been able to turn two humans for them to continue their pure bloodline. Her daughter, Eternity, had married Lester, a forty year old knight, and they’d had Chantarelle and Roan. If Vana had given birth to a son, instead of Ivyanne, Chantarelle would have been first in line for his hand. But as it was, she was still single, and swiftly approaching one hundred and fifty years old, unlike Roan, who had been born well over a century later.

Hannah’s son, Jeremiah, had married a young peasant girl, Lesley, and they’d had one son-Joakim. Joakim Fire had been a very handsome man back in his day, but of course, he’d disgraced his mother by marrying another Marked daughter Eka, and producing Ardhi and his sisters two hundred years later.

It was amazing how one branch of the family were held with the highest regard, whereas the other had brought nothing but shame. To repay Lester, who had been a widower since shortly after Roan’s death, Vana had set him up with a beautiful property on Norfolk Island, and made sure that neither he, not Chantarelle, had to lift a finger to provide for themselves again.

Hanna had never spoken to Joakim again after he’d defiled the good family name, and had died shortly after Lumi Kayu-Api was born, never meeting her great-granddaughter on that side. The biggest shame of all, came from the fact that Joakim could have asked his grandmother to turn anyone for him, yet he’d chosen to tangle the branches of the tree instead. People like Remi, who would have loved nothing more than to have their human turned, resented Joakim heavily for that.

Still, Ivyanne couldn’t ignore the plight of Lester and his daughter-they’d done nothing but obey the rules, and had been repaid with heartache. There was definitely a flaw in the Marked system, one Ivyanne wanted to counteract when she was in charge. It had occurred to her for some time, that an age limit should apply. Once a Marked child hit fifty, they should have been released from their legacy. Sometimes, it went without saying, such in Chantarelle’s case-one hundred and fifty was much too old to be fixed up with an eighteen year old Court child. But it would have been better, if Chantarelle had been released from her obligation, one hundred years before, when Hannah had still been alive, and able to turn for her.

‘I will.’ Ivyanne cleared her throat-she was on a path and had decided to start with the most familiar landmarks. After all, new Zealand and Norfolk were close. If she could put Ardhi in either place, she’d have a case building. ‘I was calling to see if yourself or Chantarelle had noticed any unusual activity around our houses there recently?’

‘Unusual?’ Lester asked. He was the unofficial caretaker for the handful of properties some of the mers owned on Norfolk, but used infrequently. ‘Hmm. Well, you have permanent tenants in your home at the moment, and I had to call in a plumber for them last month- so no, it’s the same old same old, last time I checked.’

‘And the Kayu-Api house?’

Lester paused. ‘I believe they’ve had a few temporary guests throughout the summer. Eka and Joakim didn’t let us know about the last lot, but I saw one of the girls unlocking the front door with a key when I drove by, so I decided that she must have been a friend of theirs.’

Ivyanne raised an eyebrow- Eka and Joakim had told her point blank that there house had been empty all summer due to a few bouts of crummy weather.

‘Did you go and see them?’

‘I tried-but no one ever answered. One of the girls was there until...hmmm….last week, I think, or was it early this week? I left a note for them to call, but never heard from them.’ I’ve been meaning to ask Eka-’

‘I’ll do it.’ Ivyanne said quickly, mind spinning. ‘How many girls were there?’

‘Two. Both blondes...but I didn’t see the little one much.’

‘Oh...well...I guess two blondes is an adequate description.’ Ivyanne cleared her throat. ‘Well, thanks for the update Lester. Any chance that we’ll see you at the wedding?’

‘Most definitely,’ Lester said quickly. ‘My son would have wanted me there-and as you know-our family is quite partial to marriages between pure bloods and turned humans, we’ve certainly been blessed with two delightful offspring, as a result.’

‘Thank you. It’s good to have your blessing.’

‘Of course,’ Lester said, his tone becoming more serious. ‘Despite some unpleasantness, we are proud to be Marked, as many of the families are. Besides, one thousand years is early days for any civilization. There are bound to be some hiccups along the way!’

‘Hopefully less, from now on,’ Ivyanne said, warmed by his generous words. It was good to know that the entire kingdom wasn’t turning against them. ‘I’ll see you in a few months then.’

‘See you then.’

Ivyanne ended the call, then got up, gathering her things, trying to sort the puzzle pieces into some kind of order in her head. When she had everything, Ivyanne hurried up the path, going around the restaurant past the wing of the complex which housed the function room, without saying good-bye to Lincoln. He was run off his feet anyway, and Ivyanne didn’t want to have to make small-talk with all of the guests. She had things to do.

Two blondes-could that have anything to do with Ardhi? The fact that a note had been left in lipstick on Lux’s mirror told her that it very well could. But who? Only one face came to mind and the very idea made her sick…. And how could she look into it further? And where was Lux? She’d started assuming the worst earlier that morning, but she needed more than a gut feeling-she needed a body. Her eyes welled up at the thought of it, but now was not the time to be squeamish. If, after the party, she didn’t know more-she’d find some way to get Ardhi out of the area-so she could search the Bracken part of Bracken.

‘Aloha, my Ivyanne.’

Ivyanne looked up from the path and grinned when she saw Bane poised at the crest of the hill, smiling sadly at her, holding his arms open. His head had been freshly shaved and his cocoa colored skin was aglow, seemingly from within. ‘I hear congratulations are in order?’

Ivyanne ran to Tristan’s nephew and buried her face in his chest for the second time in a month. He had a habit of appearing suddenly, when she was feeling the most alone-which she now saw that she didn’t have to be anymore.

‘Not yet,’ she whispered, holding him gratefully, feeling safe and warm in his arms.‘But maybe you can help us get there.’

By Friday, Lincoln was going insane from seeing Ivyanne so often and yet not being able to sweep her off and bed her like her body silently demanded. He hoped she was feeling the same, but it was so hard to tell what she was thinking. Ever since she’d given him a heart attack on Tuesday night and then made love to him until dawn-she’d been secretive and strange, flitting about with few explanations as to where she was going or what she was doing.

And he couldn’t ask her about it-there was just no time and she was always with someone else. Lincoln couldn’t keep any of them straight-in fact-his dad was having more luck than he was. To Chase, Ivyanne’s strange and exotic family were nothing short of a gold mine. He was already dropping hints about having the wedding there as well. Ivyanne had said that the ceremony had to be the mer kind-the kind that humans couldn’t attend. But to appease Lincoln’s father and some of the locals, like Remi’s husband, Ivyanne had hinted that they could either hold a second ‘human’ ceremony there, or pretend to elope.

He didn’t care either way. Lincoln couldn’t wait until they were married and could take off together and start their lives without other peoples issues causing chaos and disharmony. He even grew resentful of the way Bane started hanging off her after his arrival on Thursday morning. They seemed to get into private, deep discussions often, and Link fretted that they were exchanging Tristan related woe-saddening her heart too closely to their special night.

The bright side was that most of the mers were friendly. He especially liked Dalton’s family-Joyce and Camus Court-Zara, and Remi’s niece and nephew-Jennifer and Liam. Their father Miguel, was deceased, but the fraternal twins were enchanting, with their dark auburn hair, hazelnut skin and deep green eyes, which were rimmed with gold. Scottish and Mexican descendants. Who would have imagined such a mix would bear such stunning children?

Also, Ardhi had shied away from the family reunions, holing up at The Cape-Lincoln hadn’t seen Sunday and he liked it that way. Apparently, Ardhi’s older sister Lumi had decided to wait until the wedding to show her face-she had invited Ardhi to visit her instead. Lincoln hoped he would-even though Ardhi had stayed well out of sight, just knowing he was near made Lincoln feel insecure. Not emotionally, but physically which he credited to the fact that Ardhi had accosted him in a boat-linking the two things in his mind as one fear that might take decades to overcome completely.

On Friday night, when Ivyanne didn’t come in to have dinner with anyone like she had been, Lincoln decided that he couldn’t take being parted from her for another second. He left Sherri-who had been sullen since Tuesday, to man the bar, and headed straight for Ivyanne’s place. But when he walked in her open front door, was surprised to see that her dining table was surrounded by people.