Stepping into Peter's sitting room was surreal in a way I hadn't thought possible. It was exactly as it had been that morning, cluttered and dim and yet if felt as though everything had changed.
“I was hoping Alexi that I wouldn't have to tell you about any of this until you had had time to truly enjoy the beauty of our world, but things have progressed quicker than I thought they would.” Peter spoke up from his seat on the sofa, my eyes never left his face, my pulse pounding. This was it, finally I was about to get some answers and then I would know once and for all if being a part of this world was a mistake.
“What's happened?” Cole questioned, his face filled with worry. As he eyed the older man and I swallowed hard, he had more knowledge than I, but it helped me to relax knowing that he was also in the dark where this was concerned.
“Let me fill Alexi in first.” Peter stated much to Cole's
Frustration, anger, disappointment and fear all raced through me but regardless of how I felt in that moment there was nothing I could do to change the situation.Two obvious choices raced through my mind. I could choose to hide, turn my back on a world of wonder and pretend that it didn't exist, I could go back to my flat, return to work and school, continue to go out for drinks with my friends and carry on with my life as usual. There was a chance that no one would ever find me considering that Peter, Cole and Braydon were the only people from Primogentius that had ever met me, but I would always have that niggling thought in the back of my mind. Wondering every time, I met someone new if they were there to kill me, looking over my shoulder and having no fore warning if anyone was coming for me.Or I could suck it up. I could try to get over my fears and accept that there is a balance to everything and that fighting in a war was the downsi
I pulled the car to a stop near the entrance to the services and foraged for my purse before joining the anxious looking warrior. “What’s wrong?” I asked him and glanced around the almost empty car park that was lit just enough for me to see clearly in the dark of the evening. There was no movement, no noise, and more importantly no sick feeling. We were safe, I was sure of that, I would know if we weren’t.I had always trusted my instinct, there had been too many ‘coincidences’ for me not to. But now that I knew the true reason for my bodies reaction’s I would never doubt myself on it again.“Nothing I guess.” He uttered but his eyes were still scannin
As I predicted Jess was waiting with questions as soon as I entered the flat, her first question died on her lips however when she noticed Cole stood behind me.“My room is the first on the left, you can put your things in there for now, I’ll set the sofa bed up for you in a minute, but why don't you go and settle in while I explain things to Jess.”“You sure?” Cole mumbled his head close to mine and my brain stopped functioning at the close contact, at my nod he smiled to Jess before heading down the corridor and out of sight while I slumped on the sofa staring expectantly at my still gaping best friend.“Who the hell is that?” She whispered excitedly once the shock had apparently worn off, taking a seat beside me on the worn sofa.“That is Cole Mason.”“Okay but who is he?” I could see the spark of excitement in her eyes, and I breathed out in relief kno
I lay lost in my own thoughts for so long that Cole had returned with damp hair and wearing clean clothes before I had managed to settle anything, there was just so much going on in my head, so many thoughts and worries and lies that I didn’t know how to focus on any one thing or how to come to grips with it all.“Are you okay?” He asked his eyes never straying from mine. I watched as he took a deep breath when I stayed silent, I honestly didn’t know how to answer that question. “I know that we don't know each other that well yet but I can’t help feeling as though you are trying to shoulder all of this on your own.” He stated and I flinched at his words.Even witho
The week seemed to fly by, my days were so full that I barely had time to stop and think, something that I had actually become grateful for, I didn't have time to worry or panic when I was busy with university my friends and studying everything that Peter and Cole deemed necessary. After several long discussions with Cole and a phone call to Peter, I quit my job on Tuesday and spent all day Wednesday holed up in the flat reading through the books Peter had sent home with me, it wasn't a sacrifice I had wanted to make, I had liked my job but there simply wasn't enough hours in the day for me to fit everything in.I had agreed to take my seat on the council, a governing body that ran the city of Primogentius, they controlled the laws and the justice system, they
Thursday morning was just as awkward as the night before had been. My dreams had been filled with thoughts of the warrior I knew was sleeping on my sofa bed and I couldn’t look him in the eye after a night of dreaming about him naked. We barely spoke as we gathered our things, ate a quick breakfast and headed down to the car. Cole, as had become out routine, climbed behind the steering wheel as I clambered into the passenger seat still refusing to look at him.My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of how to make this right and get us back into the comfortable friendship we had shared, so much so that when the sickness started in the pit of my stomach and I startled into reality I was surprised to see we were halfway to the university campus, but my thoug
I dozed off sometime during the drive and it was almost dark when Cole woke me up. “We're here.” He stated his face contorted into the intense mask he wore from time to time, a mask I had come to associate with his seriousness.I stretched out my arms as I waited for him to open the boot. The inn was almost as empty as the first time I saw it with one loan occupant sitting in a darkened corner nursing a half empty glass of ale.“How does Peter manage to keep this place running if he never has any customers?” I questioned quietly as I followed Cole through the back and up the stairs, giving a nod of greeting to Matt, the bar tender as we passed.“The inn isn't here as a business, it’s the gateway. The council pay the human bills on the inn. Ensuring this place is almost always empty is better for us, we can pass through with no one noticing us that way.”I shook off the final remna
Peter led the way down the stone staircase where a large, closed top carriage was waiting, it was like something you would see in an old movie, very regal and not at all what I was expecting considering the cart Cole and I had ridden in last weekend.“These are the royal carriages.” Cole stated noting my expression. “I'm assuming that this one is yours. Most civilians don't have their own carriage and instead use one of the town carts that we used last time, they work similarly to taxis, but most Royal families have their own carriage.” He held out his hand, indicating that I should get in.Every time I thought I knew what was going on something else changed or happened that changed
“We should stop at a market on the way and get some supplies.” I commented off hand to Cole as he shoved clothes into his own bag. I made a mental note as I watched him to do some laundry when we got to the city, with everything that had happened this week I had barely found the time to shower, never mind housework.“Okay. What time did you say you had to be at the council building for?”“Millicent said they are starting the meeting at eleven. They are ordering lunch in so I expect we will be there for a while.” I stated although this wasn't news. I had known since last weekend that this meeting would be a long one, there was so much that needed to be done. I was just thankful that Millicent had called to fill me in on everything fore hand, at least we wouldn't have to spend the first hour catching me up.I climbed into the passenger seat of Cole's car and thought back over my conversation with Mill
“What do you mean your Mum was murdered?” Cole asked holding me before him, his hands on my shoulders and a frown of concern on his face as he watched me.I swallowed hard and dried my eyes off, willing the tears to stop as I tried to formulate an answer. “Peter was wrong. It was never an accident. My mum was murdered in our home.”“How is that even possible.” He muttered but the words didn’t quiet register as I continued talking, now the words were comi
The sunlight through the windows cast shadows on the floor and I danced across the hardwood, making a game of avoiding the shadows. My dress floated around my legs as I jumped over a big shadow, the material tickling me, and I laughed.“Alexi.” My mum called from down the hall, and I turned to leave the living room dancing the whole time, but I froze when I faced the hallway. The man was young blonde and dressed all in black. I smiled at him, and he held his finger up to his lips, so I giggled, maybe he was playing a game too.
We headed into the closest town and settled on a small buffet restaurant for lunch. Elsie was a little confused by the long serving station filled with a variety of foods until Cole filled her in. Buffet restaurants were a fairly new trend and Elsie hadn't been to a human town for quite a while.“This is fantastic.” Elsie stated once we were all sat down with a big plate of food each. “It seems like so many things change every time I leave the city.” She stated digging into her meal.“Things do change quickly around here. The technolo
Elsie smiled into her cup, and I hid behind mine as I waited for her reaction. “I have to admit I did consider this a possibility after the weekend. The bond is hard to ignore at the best of times but when you are practically living with the person, I expect it is harder still. Warriors are trained to ignore that of course and I expected that it wouldn’t have been an issue had you been a mean or judgemental person, but you are beautiful inside an out. Well, I can’t say I disapprove. I had to wait until Jonah finished his assignment at the age of thirty-four before we could date. I’m glad that you and Cole won’t face the same difficulty.” She smiled and I relaxed like a weight had been lifted a
Tuesday morning, I woke with a slight groan, over heated and aching from sleeping in a strange position and I twisted and almost fell off the sofa, only the strong arms wrapped around my waist kept me from face planting the carpet.“You do know you have a perfectly good bed in your room, right?” Jess’s voice sounded and I lifted my head to see her sat at the breakfast bar looking smug as she took in the sight of us while eating a bowl of cereal.I groaned again leaning back into the warm body of Cole.
We spent an hour at the supermarket picking up everything we would need for the week before heading back to the quiet of the flat. Jess had a full day of lectures today giving me a few hours before she would be back.“Did you want to go over anything before Jess comes home?” I asked Cole as I finished putting the shopping away. I pulled out the ingredients for a sandwich and did us some lunch while he thought over his answer.“No, we'll leave it for a few days. You have enough to be thinking over.” He smiled placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezi
Monday morning came far too quickly for my liking. After a long drive home the night before, and spending too long concocting stories to tell Jess I felt drained again, I still had a head full of all things Primogentius. The excitement I had felt over finding my royal ability faded quickly on the drive home. I spent almost the entire trip reading through one of the books Peter gave me about the first war.I wasn't a history buff but I knew enough about human history to know that war was one of the worst things a country could face, only I had never really stopped to consider the details. Sitting in the comfort and safety of Cole's car and reading about death and destruction had my body shivering with fear. The book spared no details. Whole chapters were devoted to recounting particular battles listing the deaths and the destruction that occurred and I swallowed hard as I considered that soon we would be going through all of that again.I had
“Where are we going?” I asked. Once the building outside the window registered in my head.“I thought we could get some lunch at the café in the town.” He answered and I smiled in appreciation. I was starving now.“Sounds good to me.” I nodded.The café wasn't any different from those I had visited in the human world. With booths lining the right-hand edge of the room and tables and chairs placed strategically around the room. It was decorated with pastel blues and gr