Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) (22 page)

She watched him rear back, one hand gripping her
shoulders and his head falling back to stare sightlessly above him as his
passion took him over. He seemed to lose control, pumping against her faster
than any human could withstand. Luckily, as everyone had been telling her, she
wasn’t human.

He came shouting her name so loudly it echoed through the
Realm
.

“Hello, love.”

Finn was with her. Everything he was, everything that had
brought him to her was a part of her. She knew him. More than she’d ever known
anyone. She knew his wildness, his honor, his predilections…and she knew his
sorrows. His family shame. His sister, Fiona, when she was happy. Alive.

He loved Sheridan. Had from the first moment he’d seen
her, though he hadn’t realized it until she’d been taken. He would always love
her.

And he knew her now. All her toughness, all her sass, was
just a front. She had to be strong for everyone, had to be responsible. But he
would be with her now. He would share it with her. Her burdens. Her joys.

He was her
síorghrá.

And now she truly knew what that meant.

“Is it going to be like this every time?” she wondered.

“No, love.” She sensed his smile. “It will be better.”

“Anticlimactic for you, I imagine.” Kyle pressed his lips
together and rocked on his heels. “Stole that Viking thunder right out from
under the Brads. Like they weren’t already feeling performance anxiety.”

Sheridan rolled her eyes at Kyle. Yes, last night’s union
between Linnea, Hawk and Val, from the cauldron ritual to the consummation, had
been beautiful and sensual. Intimate and profound. And a bit more subdued than
she thought anyone would have imagined when the
Imbolg
festivities
began.

Maybe it was because the entire day beforehand had been
spent dealing with what had happened on the second night. With the queen’s
ladies. With Meara. With Sheridan and Finn.

She smiled softly, feeling his presence even now.

It wasn’t telepathic. He still couldn’t read her thoughts,
which she knew he wasn’t happy about. It was more. Just this absolute knowledge
that he was nearby if she needed him. That he loved her. And that he understood
her need to be with her cousin and Kyle for a while. To show them she was fine,
that she was the same Sheridan Kelly they knew.

“You can
feel
him? Right now?” Meru’s voice was
tentative. Almost unsure.

“Yes.” Sheridan winked. “But he doesn’t know exactly what I’m
saying, so let’s gossip.”

She saw Meru’s shoulders relax, her dark curls bouncing, and
Sheridan knew it had been the right thing to say. “For example, I can tell you
that with Badger’s help, Queen Morrigan’s court has now been swept of all
baddies and it is clean. Three cheers for true knowing with an extra oomph from
the daddy machine.”

Kyle laughed. “You didn’t get everyone though.”

No. In the chaos, Meara had somehow gotten away. But Finn’s
brother hadn’t. The queen had been—to say apologetic would have been an
understatement. Badger had suggested she drink from the cauldron herself, to
ensure her own clarity. It was advice that she’d followed and the awareness of
what she’d almost allowed to happen had shamed her. She’d been used. Her
loyalties questioned. In the privacy of her own suites, Queen Morrigan had
offered to step down. To pass her throne and crown to Sheridan until Crystal
came of age.

She’d declined, of course. Instead, she’d asked for the
boon. The replica of Lugh’s spear. She knew what they needed to do now. She’d
seen it last night while she slept. Kyle and Nyctimus, Badger, Finn and
Sheridan would stand in a circle around the replica. She would call on her
ancestor Lugh and tell him their need was great.

It was as magically, oddly simple as that.

But despite what she’d learned in the rest of her dream,
Sheridan hesitated to tell the others. Finn knew, of course, but he was leaving
it to her to decide. The spear was powerful. Would the
Dark
stop going
after it? Would she ever know peace if she called it to her?

On the other hand, would she ever forgive herself if she
didn’t take advantage of one of the greatest weapons they could have should
Enlil finally escape?

The answer to that was no.

“Sheridan.” Kyle snapped his fingers near her ear. “You’re
beautiful when you go all space cadet, but Meru has something to tell us. Don’t
you, Meru?”

Sheridan turned to her cousin, an alert awareness creeping
over her. “Another stanza in the prophecy?”

Meru sucked in her lower lip, studying her with a strange
expression. “Stop it. Okay? Just stop it, Harridan. You’re supposed to be all
snarky and angry about the ‘woo-woo’, remember? You are seriously freaking me
out and there could be dangerous repercussions. I’m pregnant, you know.”

Kyle and Sheridan spoke at the same time. “We know.”

Meru’s lips twitched, and then she was beside Sheridan,
wrapping her arms around her and crying. “I’m just…I’m just really hormonal. I
don’t mean it. I
love
that you’ve finally seen Danu and that you and
Finn have…have…”

Kyle looked down on the two women and shoved his hands in
his pockets, grinning. “She’s just jealous because she didn’t get to see the
dirty gladiator mate sex like everybody else.”

Meru sobbed and nodded against Sheridan’s neck, making her
laugh.

“Unfortunately, we aren’t going to repeat that performance.”
She narrowed her gaze on Kyle threateningly, trying to ignore her cheeks
heating. “And you and I are never going to discuss it again.”

“Why not?” Kyle’s expression was one of utter innocence. “I
figure it’s only fair. I saw you become one with Faery Finn, and you saw me
have a ménage with Ceri and Dian. It’s healthy, wholesome fun for the whole
family.”

“Wait, you
knew
about that?” Oh God, which Fae did
she have to kill?

Kyle nodded, his bare cheeks revealing his blush. “How could
I not? You were making a lot of noise.”

Meru pulled back with a gasp and looked between the two of
them. “You— He?— Hey, no one’s ever seen me—”

“No, of course not,” Sheridan assured her, patting her on
the shoulder. “Heard you? Yes. Repeatedly and in graphic, screaming, grunting,
wall-pounding detail. Seen you? Not so much.”

“This is so wrong,” Meru muttered, chuckling. “Funny, but
wrong.”

“Prophecy, anyone?” Sheridan grinned. “Come on, you tell us
about the new stanza and I’ll tell you about my dream. It was about the spear,
and Lugh was there and I also saw something I don’t quite understand happening
in that moving tapestry from my room in Raj’s lodge.”

“Raj?” Meru’s voice perked up. “I think the stanza is about
him as well. Among other things. It’s not written in the usual rhythm, if that
makes sense.”

“Hurry up, Meru. I want to read it and then find out more
about this spear.” Kyle sat down in the chair across from them.

Meru said something in Gaelic and the book appeared in her
hand. It still made Sheridan shake her head. Magic. Her life was full of it
now.

“It appeared this morning.” She showed it to Sheridan, who
read silently while Kyle waited with his usual lack of patience. Her eyes
widened as she took in the new stanza. “This one does feel different. We’re
obviously not wading in the kiddie pool anymore. Look at that first line.”

Now with urgency

The West must join with South and North

The dragon and the scarred god

Who journey together or not at all

Must retrieve the final key and restore balance

The piper will play her song of no return

Or Dark will finally fall

But still the dragon must open the door

“I get the feeling Raj is not going to like this.” Sheridan
handed the book to Kyle and turned to Meru. “And that makes my dream even scarier.”

“What happened?” Meru cupped her stomach protectively.

Sheridan spoke softly, so as not to disturb Kyle while he
read from the book. She told Meru about her visit with Lugh first. That he’d
told her he was proud of her, proud his line continued in her. Told her that it
was his blood that shielded her from those who would read her.

Then he showed her how to perform the spear ritual and
reaffirmed what Danu had said, that it would be whatever it needed to be to win
the day.

He also assured her he was
with
Danu. He had found
his way after all, despite his Archon blood. And he promised they would both
guide and watch over her and those she loved for as long as she lived.

But then he took her into her old room at Raj’s and made her
study the tapestry. The one she’d pulled down before she left. She saw the
dragon clearly now. Had it always been there? He guarded the gates of the
palace and all the people who lived in the houses around it. And inside the
palace was the sun.

Suddenly, lightning besieged it from all sides, and the
people in the tapestry ran to escape it. There she saw the men in the clouds directing
the lightning, battling with the people below for the prize they protected.

The dragon tried to fight them off, but there were too many.
In the end, they forced open the door to steal the sun.

But the sun was gone.

Sheridan shivered. “I know it sounds silly, but it chilled
me. And like I said, I have no idea what it means, but it’s obviously about
this prophecy. And Raj’s people, his home? She didn’t mention the East but I
think that must be the door. Right? Either way, he won’t be a happy dragon.”

Kyle shook his head. “Neither will the scarred god. Nyc and
Raj don’t exactly see eye to eye, but the prophecy says they go together or not
at all. Let’s just say I’m glad I’m sitting this one out.”

Meru looked surprised. “You are?”

He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve had more than enough
excitement in the land of Odd, thank you very much. I’m not saying I didn’t
enjoy parts of it,” he sighed. “Especially all the attention. I’m just ready to
going back to being average. Unnoticed. Bearded.”

Sheridan laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it. You’re too
involved now. You’ve never been able to stand not seeing something through to
the end.”

Kyle tilted his head thoughtfully. “I
did
want to see
the other portals,” he mused. “And Dian has already convinced Ceri that
wherever Sheridan goes, they go.”

That wasn’t funny. “What do you mean?”

Kyle shrugged. “He keeps saying he owes you his life and
more. He’s pretty adamant about it.”

Uh-oh. She sensed Finn reach out to her, knowing something
was different now. So many people to protect. So much at stake. And the stanza
said “with urgency”. But with this much on the line… “Meru? I think this is it.
I think if we can fulfill this part of the prophecy and the
Dark
falls,
it’s over. I mean the horrifying-end-of-the-world-here-comes-super-bad-guy part
anyway.”

Meru nodded. “I feel the same. But that means, even after
all we’ve been through, this next part might be a little harder.”

So did she. There was more to lose now. For all of them. She
sent love to Finn and let him know she needed him. She knew he would come. He
would always come. He was her other half. She was finally whole.

She helped Meru off the couch and took Kyle’s hand, gazing
at the two people who had always meant the most to her with a new
determination. Together they could handle anything.

She
believed
. “Well, that settles it then. I think it’s
time to get that spear.”

Stolen away by a free spirited gypsy as a child (though she
still swears she's my mother), I spent my childhood roaming the countryside,
meeting fascinating characters and having amazing adventures. As the perpetual
"new kid", my friends more often than not were found between the
pages of a book...and in my own imagination. I read everything I could get my
hands on. At the age of 11, I read my first romance and I've been hooked ever
since.

I've been a nurse, a lead vocalist in several bands, a
published lyricist and even a returning student at University majoring in
Anthropology and Mythology. Throughout all of my varied careers I would sigh as
I read one fantasy-filled story after another saying, "Someday I want to
write one of those." Until one day my husband said, "So do it."
And I did. Now I can't imagine doing anything else.

R.G. welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio
page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Temptation
Unveiled 1: Lifting the Veil

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Temptation
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Unveiled 2: Piercing the Veil

Who Loves a
Superhero

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Behind the Veil

ISBN 9781419935763

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Behind the Veil Copyright © 2014 R.G. Alexander

Edited by Briana St. James

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Electronic book Publication March 2014

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