CHAPTER 5
The waves roared up to the shore and spat foam high into the air. The sun heated her skin and the wind whipped her hair about her face. The sheer wild beauty of the desolate beach left her breathless. She waded into the water, her toes sinking into soft, powdery sand. Her entire body exhaled. She loved the beach. It always had the power to make her feel at peace and achingly alive.
Was she dreaming? How could any of this be real? How could she possibly be a Princess destined to be a savior of a world she never knew existed? It was all so surreal. Deep down, she had always known that she was different. As a child, she knew that she could somehow do things which would not be considered normal. Making pimples disappear was only example. She had also known what others were thinking, even if what they were saying was the exact opposite of their thoughts. This had scared her so she had somehow learned how to block that ability. She also could get things just by thinking about them very intently. Once, when she was very little, all tucked up in bed, she had asked for a glass of water, but her mother had refused, thinking that she was just trying to delay going to sleep. But she could not stop thinking about water, and somehow a glass of water had appeared in her hand. She was so scared that she had almost dropped it. The next day she convinced herself that she had dreamed the whole thing. But deep down she knew, and she had buried this knowledge as deep as she could. She did not want to be different, a freak. All her life she had wanted to fit in. And yet as hard as she tried, she never felt like she truly belonged. Did she finally belong here?
“Ready for your lesson, Princess?” a silky voice interrupted her musings. Looking up, she saw Crane standing on the beach, honey locks flying in the wind, a wide smile plastered on his face. A prickle of unease ran through her. Although, they were twins, Crane did not have his brother’s sexy dimples. Was that why she found his smile disturbing? Shrugging the feeling aside, she walked towards him. After all, he was one of the good guys.
“Allow me to change your clothes.”
Riley looked down and realized that she was still wearing her leopard print pajamas. Crane waved his hand, and the pajamas turned into a sequined, gold halter top that clung to her generous curves like a second skin, a matching short skirt, with deep slits on both sides and knee high gold leather boots with 6 inch stiletto heels.
“Perfect” he drawled, letting his eyes linger a little too long on her breasts.
With her skin now crawling with gooseflesh, she gritted her teeth, focused fiercely, and smiled in satisfaction when the halter top changed into a tunic, and the skirt morphed into leggings. She kept the boots but got rid of the impossibly high heels. Whoever heard of fighting an epic battle in stilettos? The man was an idiot and beyond creepy. She hoped that his teaching skills were better than his fashion sense.
“Very good, Princess. You just aced your first lesson.”
Riley bent her head to hide a smirk. Annoyance and surprise had flashed into his eyes for a moment. She had astonished herself. But her desire to get out of that ridiculous outfit had given her the incentive to access the power that Sarri said lived inside her. It suddenly clicked that in order to access it, she not only had to think about what she wanted to manifest but her desire for the object had to be absolute.
“You see, Princess,” Crane continued in a pompous tone, “the power is within you but it also exists outside you. The power is in everything, the ocean, the trees, that rock, the earth, the very ground on which you stand. When you want to manifest something, draw on the power inside yourself, which is what you just did, but you could also draw on the power outside yourself as well. True mastery lies in being able to draw on both at the same time. However, our lesson today will focus not on your magical powers but on your physical prowess. You need to learn basic fighting skills.”
He stepped towards her. “Punch me in the face.”
Without hesitation, she feinted with her left hand and when Crane dodged, landed a perfect right hook on his mouth. Swearing, he dropped to his knees, his face in his hands. Blue eyes blazing, he pushed to his feet and charged. Spinning out of his path, she kicked him in the butt as he sped past her. He landed flat on his face, choking on a mouthful of sand.
Loud laughter filled the air. “Hope you were paying attention, Princess. You are in the presence of a true master. Perfect way to teach her what not to do, Crane.”
Riley turned and looked into Cole’s grinning face. Her heart beat a little bit faster and her breath caught in her throat, he was even more handsome than she remembered. Except for the eyes, both men were identical but Crane seemed to be a poor copy of his brother. Cole throbbed with vitality and sheer masculinity. His eyes locked with hers and she was trapped in those amber eyes, she felt a pulling sensation and dropped into darkness.
Her eyes fluttered open. She was in a dimly lit cavern, lying on a rough blanket. Cole loomed over her, his amber eyes fixed on her face, his expression unreadable.
She sat up, brushed her hair from her eyes. “Did you bring me to your lair, Lord?”
“Scared?”
“Certainly not. I whipped your brother’s butt today, I am sure I could whip yours just as easily.”
“Not so easy, perhaps, but you’ll enjoy it more.” His smile, slow and wicked, sent delicious shivers up her spine. Her pulse quickened and she flushed.
Annoyed at her physical reaction to the man, she snapped, ““Why have you brought me here?”
“Why indeed? It is against the rules. I expect your rescuers will come charging in soon. We don’t have much time.”
“Time for what?”
“Certainly not for this.” Desire flamed into his eyes, turning the amber into molten fire as he pulled her towards him.
His mouth touched hers with surprising gentleness. With a soft sigh, her lips parted in invitation. Unable to resist, he deepened the kiss, devouring the sweet taste of her. Senses reeling, Riley responded with a fervor that surprised her. Her body melted into his lean, muscled frame as she wrapped her arms around him. His heart beat in tandem with hers as their tongues danced. Swept away on a tide of passion, she moaned softly when his hand caressed her breast, his clever fingers had her arching helplessly against him. With a ripping sound, her tunic fell to the floor. Stifling an oath, he pushed to his feet and strode to the other end of the cavern. Dazed, her body still on fire, she sat up, her eyes filled with confusion and passion.
“That is not why I brought you here.” He waved his hand and Riley’s ripped tunic repaired itself.
Lightning and thunder filled the room as a horde of bodies materialized. A black wolf hurled itself at Cole, all snarls and gnashing teeth. Cole twisted his body causing the sharp fangs to pierce his shoulder instead of his neck. He threw a fire ball at the creature and disappeared.
Riley saw the body crumple and fall to the ground. “Max” she cried, leaping up and running towards him.
Before she could reach him, Crane grabbed her. “Did Cole hurt you? What did he want?”
She tore her body from his grasp, and dropped to her knees in front of an unconscious Max. Hot tears stung her eyes as she softly caressed his silky fur. She felt an arm on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Daughter, he will be fine.”
Lightning flashed again as Sarri teleported Riley and Max to her private suite in the castle. A large king sized canopy bed filled the guest bedroom, the walls were richly decorated with paintings showing various battle scenes. Max lay in the middle of the bed, still motionless.
Riley swiped at her tears. “Cole almost killed him. He was just trying to protect me. He told me once that he would die for me and he almost did.”
Sarri slid an arm around her. “Don’t worry. Max will be fine. He has been stunned, he will snap out of it in a couple of hours. Cole could have killed him if he had wanted to.”
“Cole spared him. Why?”
“Cole is a mysterious man, Daugh
ter, one who is destined to walk a dark path. You would do well to stay away from him.”
Riley blushed, wondering if Sarri knew what had transpired in the cavern before she and the others had arrived. “Can you read minds as well?” she asked.
Sarri looked at her speculatively. “No, and I did not realize that you could.”
“Yes,” Riley stammered “I used to be able to as a child, but I blocked it somehow. And I have not tried to do it since.”
“It is not a common power only the Guardians can do it. They can also communicate telepathically. Can you do that?”
“I don’t think so but I believe Max has communicated thoughts to me in the past, although I did not realize what he was doing at the time.”
“If you could receive Max’s thoughts, then you have the ability to send thoughts as well.”
She bent over Riley, whispering urgently. “Don’t tell anyone about this particular power. I will find someone to train you on how to use it properly.”
Confused, Riley opened her mouth to ask Sarri why she had to keep this power secret. Wasn’t the Princess of Light expected to have powers? What was so special about telepathy? But a loud pounding on the door, caused her to shut her mouth with a snap.
“Enter,” Sarri commanded.
Mylor strode into the room looking like a thundercloud. “Sarri what on earth are you playing at, whisking that girl away like that? We need to question her.” Without waiting for a response, he turned on Riley “What did Cole want? What did he tell you? What did you tell him?”
Puzzled by these questions, Riley could only stare at him wordlessly.
He grabbed her by the shoulders, proceeded to shake her, and yelled “Answer me, you foolish girl. Answer me now!”
“Mylor, stop.” Sarri pulled him away from Riley. “She needs to rest. Later, your questions will be answered later. Leave, now.”
Mylor spun around quickly and Riley thought for one horrible moment that he was going to strike Sarri. She stood her ground and stared him down with her strange mercury coloured eyes. Without saying another word, he walked out.
Riley let out a breath that she had not realized that she had even been holding. “Why was Mylor asking those particular questions?”
“Never mind. I will deal with Mylor. You rest now.” She kissed Riley on the cheek and disappeared.