“Do you think she knows which one of us it is?” Julius asked.
“No, I truly believe she has no idea. She showed us all equal favor,” Marcus stated.
“I agree, I have never enjoyed the cattiness of females and the games they like to play. She showed none of that, she seems to be genuine,” Julius stated.
They spoke long into the night about everything, and when the sun had started to peek through the night, they had drawn no real conclusions.
Liam had no time to try to sort his own thoughts. He spent the entire night trying to soothe Hunter. She needed constant reassurance, and he wondered what the hell he had been thinking when he agreed she could come here. She was going to be nothing but trouble.
Sawyer laid in her bed looking out the window at the moon. Her entire life she had felt the pull of her soul’s mate. Now that he was near her, she felt it even stronger, and she wondered which of the men it was. Liam seemed on the edge of anger all the time, and yet he seemed guarded. Lucas seemed shy and sweet albeit uncomfortable around her. Marcus seemed very serious and calm, but she suspected he would be capable of great rage if pushed. Julius had seemed quiet, like he was observing everything, but she could tell he was the most capable of violence, and she didn’t think it would take much to set it off. She stared at the moon because it always reassured her that her soul’s mate would see it to.
Her soul mate was indeed looking at the moon and wondering how he could love someone he had just met.
Chapter 6
Cassia had popped her head in Marcus’s door and saw her brothers exactly where she had left them last night.
“What do you think one wears to a new realm full of fairies?” she asked.
“I would assume a dress, sister, since the only two I have met have worn dresses,” Marcus answered seriously.
“Right. See you both in thirty minutes,” she said and popped back out.
They were all waiting for her and assumed she would be coming down the stairs. Instead she walked in from the front doors. She looked up, surprised to see them all waiting.
If they thought she had looked beautiful last night, then stunning was the word they used today. Her hair was windblown and wild. She wore a long blue dress, and her bare feet were covered in sand. She smiled at them all and said, “Good morning.”
“Were you at the beach?” asked Marcus.
She tilted her said slightly and said, “Yes, how did you know?”
He pointed at her sandy feet.
“Of course! The life of a fae is never boring,” she said brightly, looking down at her feet.
“Do you need to change?” asked Cassia, assuming she had lost track of time.
“No, and I invite you to take off your shoes if you want to! The realm feels wonderful on your feet. You look absolutely beautiful, Cassia, I think you will love the fae realm,” she said excitedly.
Cassia had chosen a loose silk dress in a nude color, and she slipped her shoes off. The marble felt cold on her bare feet. Sawyer saw the other two girls had chosen tight tank tops knotted at the stomach and shorts with flip flops. She felt sorry for them. They had been turned too young. They hadn’t let go of high school yet, and they were now immortal. She knew if they made it to a century, they would both be bitter and feel like they hadn’t gotten to live their lives before they were changed.
“Is everyone ready?” she asked the group.
“Obviously, that’s why we’re all standing here,” Hunter said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
“It’s nice to see you’re just as pleasant in the morning as you are in the evening,” Cassia said to her, and her stare told Hunter to stop talking.
“You will see the edge of the realm, it looks like a wall of water. Just walk through it, there is nothing to be afraid of. When we arrive, Astrid will be there to greet us and take you ladies to look around. The rest of you will be taken to see Mother,” Sawyer explained.
“I’m going wherever Liam goes,” Hunter stated.
Sawyer turned to her and said, “You most certainly are not. You are being allowed into the fae realm, and you are a guest there. You do not demand anything or you will remain here. If you continue to try to assert yourself in every decision I make, then I will ask you to leave this house. I have tried patience with you, Hunter, and now I have run out of it. I understand you are afraid to lose Liam, and I sympathize with you, but I am done tolerating your attitude and disruptions. I hope I have made myself clear because I won’t say this again.”
Liam squeezed her arm tightly to warn her to keep quiet. Hunter just nodded in acknowledgment, not trusting herself to speak. Two of the staff came and gripped the heavy red curtain in the middle and walked opposite directions to open it.
A wall of what looked like water was behind it. It shimmered but made no sound. This was the doorway to the fae realm. It continued to waver and shimmer like it was moving, but you couldn’t see through it to the other side. Sawyer started walking toward it, and everyone followed her. As she got close to it, she could see everyone was unsure, and as she stepped to the threshold, she wondered who would step with confidence and whose step would be unsure. As if to answer her question, Cassia stepped forward and linked arms with her and said, “Ready?” Sawyer nodded and took a step.
Sawyer’s feet touched the thick, soft grass of the realm. To her, stepping through always felt like stepping through cool wet air. She loved the feeling of the grass in the fae realm. The dirt beneath it was soft, and it warmed her feet. She had spent many days just lying on her back here, looking up at the clouds through the trees.
She turned to make sure everyone had made it through and watched as they took in the landscape of the realm. It was green everywhere, and the grass seemed to go on forever. There were massive trees and flowers in colors they had never seen. It smelled clean and fresh here, like the air was somehow different. They could see fae walking around everywhere, and all of them were smiling and singing. They all wore dresses and had long hair, and of course they were all barefoot.
Sawyer saw Astrid walking toward them with another woman. When they reached her, both gave Sawyer a warm hug in greeting. The other woman nodded at Cassia, who was still linked to Sawyer, and asked, “Who is your new friend?”
“This is Cassia. Cassia let me introduce you to Luna.”
Luna pulled Cassia into a warm hug. Cassia was not the kind of person who liked to be touched, but she surprised herself and sank into the embrace. She surprised herself even more when she found herself hugging the stranger back. She had no idea why, but somehow her hug was like a mother’s touch. Luna held her out at arm’s length and said, “Welcome, Cassia.”
“Thank you,” Cassia answered, rendered almost speechless by the encounter.
Luna then stepped toward the other two girls. “Who do I have the pleasure of meeting now?” she asked them.
Hunter, who usually had too much to say, was tongue-tied by this woman. She was already caught off guard by walking through the realm. She was starting to realize that Sawyer’s powers were far greater than she had imagined. She had believed that Sawyer was delicate and couldn’t possibly be stronger than her, but she was starting to rethink that. She had assumed before they came that if Sawyer tried to take Liam from her, she would destroy her. Looking around her now, she knew she had no chance and would have to change her strategy. Brexley finally stuck her hand out and said, “I’m Brexley, and this is Hunter.”
Luna ignored her outstretched hand and gathered her in a hug and then gathered Hunter in one.
“Welcome to you both. I’m excited, we rarely have visitors here, and Astrid is going to show you around,” she said, and Hunter, still without a voice, nodded.
Luna