Noah. Jacquelyn Frank
Chapter 3
“Kane, you’re supposed to be making yourself scarce,” Corrine called from a distant upstairs bedroom.
“What does it matter where I am?” Kane asked stubbornly, switching instantly from voice to thought as he pressed his point. I am always with you anyway. I see what you see and feel what you feel.
“You’re also a Demon of the Mind, more capable than others of distancing yourself from this Imprinted link of ours.” She stopped shouting when she appeared at the head of the stairs, looking down at him where he leaned back against the enormous banister, arms folded firmly over his athletic chest. “We’ve discussed this as much as I’m going to discuss it. Noah will be here very soon and I want you long gone by the time he arrives.”
“Noah isn’t himself,” Kane countered, “and I’m not at all happy with the way he treated you the last time he was here. I don’t think I’ve ever felt you that angry before.”
“That’s because,” she said as she began her descent, “the subject has been a sore spot for me for a very long time now. It wasn’t the way I’d have approached it with him had I been prepared. Coming out of the blue like that, it pinched my temper before I could prepare a more diplomatic approach.” She reached the bottom of the stairs, releasing the excess material of the caftan she wore so loosely before leaning her warmth into him comfortingly. “The end result is satisfactory enough. I finally have the opportunity I’ve waited for since this power of mine first came to light. Don’t you see, Kane? Once I do this for Noah, once I find the female Druid who is destined to be his, others will finally come willingly to my door.”
“And I know how important that is to you,” Kane agreed softly, reaching up to cradle his wife’s face between gentle, reverent fingers.
“So very important,” she said with quiet vehemence. “I’ve been little better than useless to your people these past three years. I’ve just as much destiny awaiting me as any of you do, and I’ve longed to fulfill it.”
“I know,” he murmured, leaning to touch his mouth to hers. “I know how frustrating it’s been for you. But won’t you at least let me—”
“No, Kane. Please,” she begged as she reached to brush back the errant curl of hair that fell crookedly over his forehead. “Respect my wishes in this.”
“You know,” he sighed, closing his eyes as she added a kiss to her coaxing plea and touch, “I’m powerless when it comes to you.”
“It has nothing to do with me. It has to do with giving your respect to Noah’s need for privacy and maintenance of pride. If the tables were turned, knowing the process I must go through with him to find his mate, would you want an audience? Would you want someone watching as you revealed the parts of yourself that feel the way you do for me?”
“I’ve never made a secret of my love or need for you, Corrine.”
“But imagine, for a moment, if you had to show the world the loss of control, the pure drive of lust that first led you to try and capture me, even in spite of the law and the fact that your own brother would be forced to punish you should you get caught?” Corrine brushed soft lips and a softer whisper over his ear. “Remember that feeling, Kane, that you felt the moment Jacob did catch you? The shame attached to hunting down an innocent human while under the influence of the full Hallowed moon? Remember what you felt before you learned that it was okay for you to love me?”
“Sometimes,” he sighed quietly, “I forget what life was like without you.” He smiled against her lips as she tried to heal that injuring thought with her lush little mouth. “But I’ll never be able to leave you if you keep kissing me.”
“Mmm,” she agreed, her lips rubbing enticingly over his.
The pressure of Kane’s mouth suddenly disappeared, along with the support of the rest of his body, leaving her to stumble against the banister he had vacated as she waved frantically at the sulfuric cloud of smoke his sudden teleportation had left behind. She coughed just as a second cloud of smoke skidded into the foyer from beneath and around the cracks of the front door.
This cloud coalesced with a sharp twist into first a column, then the tall, sturdy figure of the Demon King. Corrine instantly hid her waving hands behind her back, smiling at Noah with hopes he would be a little too preoccupied to realize her husband had sensed his arrival with barely enough time to retreat.
“Good evening, Noah.”
“Good evening, Corrine. Did you rest well?”
“Very well. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I may ever be,” he assured her.
Corrine reached to take his hand and led him deeper into the house. She’d long ago set aside a room for this purpose, and though it had gotten very little use searching for Druids, she used it often in meditative practice. Noah followed with unusual silence and a forced serenity, but he couldn’t help but admire the sanctum Corrine led him to.
It was draped in dark fabric, with no lights save the multitude of candles she had lit on every surface and in every corner. Each stick of light was settled on glass, filling the room with refracted prisms that changed and danced along every surface. The floor was covered with pillows, all shining with satin and velveteen colors.
The candles gave off a variety of scents, from simple to exotic, but he was also aware that small metal dishes of herbs had been set to smoke. They infused the room with a haze and a spiced scent as rich and pure as the Earth itself.
“Before we begin…”
He turned to look at her. “Yes?” he asked.
“You said you have dreamed of her.”
“Yes.”
“Is there anything specific you can remember that you think might help you to go back to her and what you already have sensed about her?” She smiled softly when he gave her a perplexed look. “You’re not the first to dream of your mate, Noah. In my limited experiences so far, the people I’m questing for have always had a singular memory, a trigger that instantly brings them to that place beyond the waking state where they have met their soul mate. Simon, for instance, always heard music when he dreamed of Tirana. “Fortune, Empress of the World,” to be exact. Not what I would call romantic, but that’s not for me to judge.”
“For what purpose must you know this?” the King asked, coldness lacing his tone.
“Noah, if you close yourself off on a simple detail like this, we won’t make any progress. We’ll just be wasting our time. Please,” she said, softening her intent as she touched his arm and leaned closer to his personal warmth. “Trust me. I’ll never reveal what happens here to anyone. Kane has even made remarkable effort to distance himself from me for this. You know we’d never dream of betraying you.”
“No,” he decided, “you would not. And I do know that. I meant no insult.”
“Come on, I can tell there is something that makes you think of this woman.”
“It will sound…”
“A little strange? Yes. I know. Three others before you have said that very same thing.”
Noah laughed at that, shaking his head ruefully. “I should have known this would not be a bland experience. Very well.” He cleared his throat and flicked stormy green-gray eyes up to meet her gaze. “Sugar,” he said at last. “Spun sugar, to be exact.”
“Cotton candy?” she clarified.
“Yes. That is the modern name for it.”
“Okay,” she said simply. “The taste of cotton candy it is.”
“No. Not the taste. The scent.” He sighed with frustration when she lifted a brow. “Have you never been close by while someone spun sugar? It is a scent in three dimensions. You smell the strands