I follow her as we make our way upstairs. “Fretez was killed by Azadou, he was known as the Demon God, but he wasn’t like the other Gods.” “How so?” I used to love my mother telling me stories about the supernatural world, but now I know most of them are all bullshit. However, I have come to love Isolde’s stories a million times more. When my mother told me stories, it was from an outsider's perspective, full of hate and lies and like some bad version of Chinese Whispers. But Isolde speaks with truth, knowledge, and passion. This is her history and the history of supernaturals like her. I’m understanding among her kind, a High Priest and Priestess aren’t just super powerful, they’re keepers of knowledge, passing it from one generation to the next to help them. Keeping the past alive in order to safeguard the future. It’s this mind-blowing rich culture with an intricate tapestry of their history, and it pains me to know I spent my life trying to snuff it out. “As I’ve told you, each
“Hey, wait for me!” I shout, quickly wrapping the tablet back in the cloth and locking it back in the chest. I race after Valeria with great difficulty since this stupid bullet graze continues to restrict some of my movements, I think it went a little deeper than originally thought. I really need to ask Alaric to heal it at some point, even though I hate asking him for help. I catch up to Valeria who smirks her sexy smirk at me. Thankfully she’s not mad at me anymore, which is a huge relief. I nearly called her my animai and would have had to go into the whole explanation that our souls are magically bonded, and I’m just not ready for that. As far as she has come and as open-minded as she is becoming these days, I’m scared the moment she learns magic is responsible for this connection we have, she’ll become enraged and leave me. A week ago I planned to reject her and now the thought of her running away terrifies me. Valeria is the first good thing to happen in my life in centuries, a
I’m trying to use the rational part of my brain, but it’s really hard when I have this stunning beauty on top of me in nothing but a damn towel and all I want to do is touch and taste every inch of her. “Valeria…” I start to say but she firmly presses her lips against mine, and I find myself gripping her hips and moaning against her lips. “I want you to touch me,” she whispers against my lips. Fuck, how am I supposed to turn that down? My soulmate is on top of me giving me permission to explore her body and Gods do I want to. I want to know every inch of her. I want to find every spot on her body that makes her sing and help her discover things she never knew about herself. She was made for me. I want to show her how no one will ever be able to touch her the way I can. I flip her on her back and nestle myself between her legs, looking straight into those gorgeous honey-brown eyes I’ve come to love so much. I keep my eyes on hers as I slowly trail my fingertips lightly up from the t
“I totally got us off track, didn’t I?”I chuckle, “A little, but it was worth it.” I kiss her and reluctantly roll off her.She sighs and sits up grabbing her towel. She gets up and uses the towel to clean herself up. Remind me not to ever turn her on around people with advanced senses of smell. I don’t want anyone smelling my woman’s arousal.Valeria dumps the towel on the floor and faces me in all her naked glory with her hands on her hips, “Okay, dress me.” I slowly sit up and rake my eyes over every curve of her body. Fuck dressing her, right now I just want her to ride my face. “Hello, earth to Izzy,” she says, waving her hands in front of my face.“Huh?” I say, snapping out of my erotic thoughts.She smirks, “I know I look amazing, but you can’t keep me naked forever.”“I actually could you know.”Valeria straightens up and just stares at me before shaking her head, “Okay, so as erotic as that sounds, we have a missing prophecy to go find, so do your magic thing and get me dres
Once we’ve stepped through the portal I close it behind us and watch as a look of wonder comes over Valeria’s face. I just stare at her, committing the way she looks to memory. A few days ago this was all something she demonstrated detest for, but now she’s embracing everything, and as she does, it rejuvenates my love for magic and this beautiful magical world I’ve been born into. “This is Atlesper?” She asks in awe. I smile and nod as I look around the marketplace. Bodegas line the pristine limestone cobbled streets as people gather, converse and shop. Everything feels light and carefree. Everyone is happy and everything is bustling with activity. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but nothing seems to have changed. “What do you think?” I ask. “It’s beautiful,” she says with a wide smile as she looks around at all the tall buildings, “I feel like I’ve stepped into another time. Like I’m in some ancient kingdom, except everyone is wearing modern clothes.” “Not far off th
Walking through the streets we come past a merchant selling fragosika. This cactus fruit thrives on the Aegean islands and the island of Symi. I’ve had them before and found them very delicious as long as you don’t eat the skin. The merchant walks up to us cuts the prickly peach-coloured pear into segments and hands them to us. I pull out twenty euros from my pocket and hand them to him encouraging him to keep the change. “What is it?” Valeria asks as she sniffs the fruit. “It’s called fragosika, it’s a cousin to the dragon fruit only this is very sweet. Try it,” I encourage as I bite into the tasty fruit. Valeria gives it a tentative lick, and I try not to laugh. She bites into it and then smiles happily, “This is really good!” “Maybe we can take some home with us,” I suggest as we finish our fruit and continue our journey through the long winding streets, “Speaking of home…” “Uh oh, I don’t like that tone.” “It’s nothing bad, it’s just… well you have to go home eventually. You
Hot tears prick my eyes, and as I look down I can see the glow of my magic surrounding my hands. I can barely think. In my mind, I just keep seeing flashes of my home burning to ash. I can feel the heat of the flames against my skin as they light up the night sky and it makes the pain in my chest ache all the more. That’s when a jolt of electricity shoots through my face rocketing me back into the here and now. The sound of a beautiful Mexican accent that speaks to my soul, slowly travels to my ears and with each passing second it becomes clearer. I look up and see familiar honey-brown eyes staring at me with so much concern and compassion and seeing them makes me feel safe. “Just breathe for me Izzy, breathe with me, okay? Slow deep breaths through your nose and then out through your mouth,” the beautiful voice instructs. I follow the instructions and focus on my breathing as she gently brushes tears from my cheeks, “You’re okay, I’m right here with you,” she assures me as she reach
“Would you wait up?” I yell as I quickly catch up with Valeria, “You’re always rushing off ahead of me.” “Well, you should learn to keep up,” she teases. “You don’t even know where you’re going,” I point out. “Like it’s so hard to find my way to the giant castle in the middle of the city,” she says as she points to the large structure in the distance. “You didn’t even notice it until I pointed it out,” I remind her. She waves her hand dismissively. “And they aren’t just going to let anyone in. It’s a palace. They do have guards.” “You’re just making this sound more fun,” she grins mischievously. I grab her wrist and pull her to a stop, “We’ll have to use an alternate route.” “Fine, do the magic thing. I guess I won’t be crossing 'break into a palace' off my bucket list,” she huffs. “That was not on your list," I say dubiously. “Sure as hell is now.” I shake my head and then pull Valeria into another nearby alley and take her hands in mine. I close my eyes and pull on my magic