SHAE
I turn as the arrow leaves the bow and I miss my target. A bird flies away angrily as I almost hit it. I don’t care. I look towards my village which is where the bells are coming from. Realization washes over me and my eyes go wide in shock.
“The village! The alarm!” I think.
Taking no time to put my training items away, I run towards the village. Birds fly away as I run past. I stumble over roots and my own dress skirt. I lift it up to run. As I near the village I see multiple snakes of smoke flowing skyward. This pushes me to run, if possible, faster. I’m almost there, keeping an eye on the smoke snakes when I crash into a wall, knocking me down.
“When did that wall get there?” I wonder on the ground, my eyes closed.
Something heavy presses on top of me.
“Fairy, stay down.”
That scent. THAT NAME! Ugh! I hate that name so much.
I open my eyes to find my best friend since childhood over me.
“Rylan!” I whisper-shout
He quickly presses a hand over my mouth, using a finger on his other hand in a quiet motion over his own.
“Shh! Stay quiet. Take this.” he whispers
He releases my mouth and I feel him slip something onto the ring finger of my left hand. The very weird part is when he shoves a hand down my skirt.
“Rylan!” I whisper-shout again
He gives me a look and I can’t fight it. I let him finish pushing whatever that soft thing is in position over my belly. He sits back and helps me sit up. I look down to find that he had placed an old shirt or some sort of cloth beneath my clothes. I look up at him quizzically.
“I look pregnant,” I say
I lift my hand to notice a plain band on my ring finger before looking at him even more confused.
“What’s going on?” I whisper
He does the shushing motion again before answering softly.
“The Dire Legion is here. They’re almost gone.”
He looks me up and down before meeting my eyes.
“This will keep you safe. They only want virgin maidens. You don’t look it now.” Rylan answers
SHAE
Just as the pull of unconsciousness is about to win, I hear a key in the lock and feeling completely awake now I lift my head up to see who will come through that door. I tense not knowing what to expect. The door swings open and a Legionnaire followed by Beatrice enter. The door closes behind them, blocking my only route of escape. My eyes swing from the door to my enemy, Beatrice, who comes to a stop before me. I clench my teeth, my anger towards this woman only growing, coming off me in heavy sick waves. Her cool stare doesn’t waver as she looks at me until she smirks.
“Where is my sister, witch?” I growl
She frowns, the deep scowl making fine lines appear on her forehead.
“Are we at this again? This ‘sister’ of yours?” she replies annoyed
I pull at my binds, trying to get closer to her.
“Of course. That’s the only reason I’m here.” I snarl
She looks away from me to address the Legionnaire, ignoring me.
“Prepare her.”
GEMMA
Bloo tilts his head as he pants but follows along. As I pass the dark alley between his house and the next, I cannot stop but look in as I always do, out of habit. What I see stops me in my tracks. I jump back and hide, peering over the side of the wall and remove my earbuds to spy. Standing there in the dark is Salvi, but the girl he is tongue wrestling with is definitely not me.
“I can’t believe this. It’s Rebekah.” I snarl under my breath,
Rebekah and I don’t get along...at all. Always been rivals in everything and anything, we tend to bump heads. My brother is the King of Topaz, making me a princess, and I think she’s always been jealous of that. Especially seeing as my brother and I are very close. On top of this, she’s Salvi’s ex-girlfriend. That contributes to her hatred towards me. She’s a bitch, that contributes to mine.
“I love YOU. Believe me.” Salvi says to her
“Then why haven’t you left her yet? I want you all to myself.” Rebekah answers seductively.
“Don’t worry. Very soon. You know I need her for the time being.” he responds
“I hope so. I don’t like to share you with that bitch. She hasn’t found you out yet? She doesn’t know you’re cheating on her?” Rebekah asks
“No. Doesn’t suspect a thing.” Salvi responds
“What the fuck does that mean?” I mutter under my breath
Bloo growls besides me, scaring them apart. Their heads whip towards me. I stand upright and reveal myself.
“What the fuck is going on here?!”
Anger radiates off me in waves.
“Gemma!”
Salvi jumps in front of Rebekah, protecting her. I see her smug expression behind him. A smirk I want to wipe off her face so much. I cross my arms over my chest and look at them angrily. I await his lame excuses. I know what I saw and heard, they don’t. They look scared. I try and control my temper, but I’m not sure I’m successful.
“What do you mean you’re using me, Salvi?” I ask keeping my gaze on him
Salvi is not very tall. Standing at about 5’ 8” to my 5’ 5”. His hair is brunette and in a buzzcut close to the scalp that is normally hidden beneath a ball cap. An angled jaw and straight nose with plump kissable lips and a brooding expression on his face all the time. Not a very strong jaw but very gorgeous. His eyes have always been what draws my attention in an intense looking hazel green that is so pretty and mesmerizing, it’s no wonder I’ve been spellbound. I return to the present to watch Salvi swallow. Sweat coats his forehead. I smirk. He’s nervous. He knows he’s messed up big time. Rebekah moves behind him, clutching his shoulder. Her straight blond hair sways around her shoulders as she leans in to speak into his ear.
“Just break up with her already.” she whines.
My eyes turn to her, narrowing. Where I take on the more hispanic side of the island with dark hair and olive skin, she is the opposite with pale skin and blonde hair. Our similarities are our eyes. We both have blue eyes though mine are a darker shade.
“Oh Bekah. There is absolutely no need for that. You can keep that piece of trash all to yourself. I don’t need him at all. In fact, I break up with him.”
I smile semi-sweetly at them and turn on my heel, walking away the way I had come. Bloo growls once more before following after me. The anger radiating off me is hot. My fists are clenched into fists at my side as I stomp away and my teeth, if i grit them any harder, will probably break.
“Gemma, wait!” Salvi calls after me. I ignore him and quicken my steps.
“Just let her go! You don’t need her.” Bekah calls after him
I grit my teeth harder and clench my fists tighter. Tears prickle my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. A hand clasps around my upper arm and turns me. I know it’s him so with the momentum of the turn, I raise my fist and punch him in the face, hard. I hear and feel the crunch of bone as my fist connects and breaks his nose.
“Thank you brother.” I think, smirking
RYLAN
How could this have happened? So soon into our adventure, I have failed her. My Fairy. I won’t forgive myself if she gets killed here too. With these pointless thugs. If only. Yeah, that has always been my excuse. If only she’d look at me. If only she felt what I felt. If only, I wasn’t so poor. Now it’s the same thing. If only I had been stronger, smarter, faster to outmaneuver these lowly thieves.
“Rylan!”
I hear her call out. I look at her, meeting her eyes, I try to hide the dread building within me but I doubt I manage it. I see the fear cross her eyes when she meets my eyes. Yes, I failed you my fairy. I’m sorry. I close my eyes and turn my head, not wanting her to see my weakness.
“Argh! Get off me you big lug!” I hear her cry out
The man laughs.
“Wait. Hold on.”
I hear footsteps close to me retreating and walking towards Shae.
“Lift him. I don’t think that’s a man.”
My eyes snap open with a gasp and my head whips in his direction. Its the leader and he is halfway between Shae and me. He’s pointing at Shae.
“No.” I think, my blood running cold
RYLAN
I can’t believe I found her. Unharmed. Thank God. Things could have been worse. She could’ve been dead, hurt or taken by the Dire Legion. I clench my teeth as I follow her to the tavern. I’m not upset with her anymore, yet...I’m still upset with her. Ugh. So confusing. But that’s just it. When it comes to Shae, my fairy, I’m always so confused. She provokes feelings in me that both confuses me and makes me happy. No other woman in Prin does this. Only my fairy. I smile at the thought. She hates that I call her that so much but I do it anyways. It provokes her to show some sort of feeling, especially towards me. I know she sees me only as her best friend, even like a big brother. That is absolutely the last thing I feel towards her.
RYLAN
I look down at her as I snap out of my flashback to see her smiling at the men around us. I love having her so close to me.
I hug her tighter against me and that makes her turn to look up at me. Her emerald-colored eyes, happy and bright in the campfire light. She smiles at me and my heart squeezes in my chest.
“God, I love her so much, but how do I tell her without freaking her out?” This thought makes my heart squeeze again but this time in a painful manner, because if I tell her and she doesn’t accept my proclamation, what will I do? She’s my best friend and I’ll have ruined our friendship by telling her my feelings. But if I don’t tell her soon, I may explode. I need her. I need her near me and with me. Forever if I can. Forever if she’ll have me.
Back To You ~ Iris
I sit under my favorite mesquite tree, reading an extremely steamy scene in my new romance novel. My face feels hot and I’m sure I’m blushed. A cool breeze blows around me and I lower the book and lift my face to it, closing my eyes so it washes over me. It cools my flushed face but the things the hero in my book is doing makes me tingly.
“Are you reading porn again?”
I jump in surprise and open my eyes as I turn towards the familiar husky voice, I recognize as belonging to Domingo. I find him leaning over me with a smug smile. His hazel eyes meet my cognac-colored ones in the afternoon sun.
That smirk of his does things to me I don’t know how to describe. I get a fluttery feeling in my stomach and a tingling sensation between my legs while at the same time, feeling like I’m on fire everywhere else.
It’s embarrassing. I ALWAYS blush when he’s around. I can’t control myself.
Domingo has always been the popular hot guy. You know, the one all the girls would drop their panties for, but he’s dating the popular bitch? Yup, that’s him. I’m the lovesick drooling nerd he shouldn’t even notice but somehow does, in a friends-only way. Be still aching heart.
Domingo has dark chocolate-colored hair, buzzed short on the sides and longer on top and swept-back neatly and a clean-shaven strong jaw. His smile is contagious and always reaches his hazel colored eyes. He stands at about 6’ 2” to my 5’ 3” and always picks on me for being ‘short’. His strong muscular body always makes me drool. Like today. He is wearing a tight-fitting light gray shirt over sand-colored cargo pants and his black leather boots. The clothes accentuate how fit he is and here comes my drool again.
I swallow it down as I look away to find that I still have my book open to the steamy scene that involves frogs as the audience. I laugh and lift the book up towards him, still open and shrug.
“This guy has some good moves, and interesting ideas,” I reply wiggling my eyebrows at him.
He takes the book and leans against the tree, cocking an eyebrow.
Domingo and I have been friends since we were kids, but as we got older we became a little more distant. He joined the jocks and became popular. I was left behind in the quiet. I’ve always been an introvert. Preferring books to people. I was ok with the quiet even if it hurt. Seeing him from a distance, seeing him happy has made me happy. Seeing him with other girls, not so much but this has been my decision.
He sits next to me reading the page I had been reading. When he turns to me with a surprised look on his face I can’t help but laugh.
“Did…did they just have anal while surrounded by frogs?” He stammers
I laugh again and nod, unable to answer. I laugh harder when he closes the book and tosses it at me with disgust. That makes me stop.
“Hey! Con cuidado!” I cry catching it and hugging it to my chest.