Stone Cold Seduction (9 page)

Okay, that hurt. The thought that my mom might have been something more and I’d gone my whole life not knowing was awful. She might have taken that huge secret to her grave.

She had been truly beautiful with big blue eyes, light brown hair, and a tall, willowy frame. Her smile had been contagious. Gentle and kind and always a lady. To this day, I didn’t understand how she and my father had become a couple. It hadn’t lasted long, and I didn’t know any of the details. She hadn’t talked about it, and I hadn’t asked. I had lived with her for all but two weeks of every year, yet I couldn’t think of one strange thing I’d ever seen her do or say.

What if my father had taken some of those memories as well?

I forced another bite down my throat before saying, “Let’s say she was something…more. What does that mean for me?”

Jax’s face was unreadable, but his eyes had calmed to his usual, cool gray. “It means we need to find your fate as soon as possible.”

If it held answers, I was all for it. “Okay, let’s do it. You said the oracle should have it? This should be easy. If my mom was a light elf and my dad is a shadow elf, that can’t be all that uncommon.”

Jax cleared his throat. “Do you remember Teryl mentioning how the lines have been diluted?” When I nodded, he said, “They’re also very careful about mates and marriages between the lines. In the past, when shadow and light elves were mated and had children, the children weren’t normal.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” I joked.

Neither of them laughed.

“He’s right, Elle. Most were born with health problems and didn’t make it out of infancy. The rest had abilities so volatile…” Teryl trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

“What? They exploded? They had to be locked up?”

“They had to be killed.” Jax’s deep voice delivered the news in a near whisper, cognizant of the other customers in the restaurant.

I turned to him, horror on my face. I kept my voice as soft as his. “Killed? They killed their own kids?”

Teryl put his fork down and leaned on the table. “You have to remember, this was a few hundred years ago. They were burning people at the stake, slaughtering innocents in the town square, and killing children in infancy if they didn’t look or act right. The mind set was different. And from what I’ve read, the combination of shadow and light elves produced monsters.”

White-hot fury burned through me. “They were kids. They had no control over their genes. They killed these children because they happened to have the wrong set of parents?”

“No. They were killed because their powers were so volatile and dangerous, scores of people died.” Teryl paused when the owner came by to check on us and fish for more of Teryl’s praise. He waited until she was out of earshot before continuing. “Shadow and light elves are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Your typical yin and yang, black and white, sun and moon. You’ve heard the saying ‘opposites attract?’ In our world, opposites destroy. You put two opposites together, and you get big problems. Instead of a melding of abilities, you get an entirely new set of powers altogether. And not in a good way.

“These children were born with serious health problems. The ones who weren’t in poor health had the ability to wipe memories clean from large groups of people. They wouldn’t just remove memories, they would cause severe enough brain damage that their parents, teachers, or whoever was around, died. And then there were the kids who would set entire buildings on fire, along with the people inside.”

“Why didn’t someone work with these kids to help control their abilities?”

“It wasn’t that simple. They couldn’t get the victims back.”

“So they became monsters who had to be killed?”

I was possibly one of those monsters? Nothing like a little bad news to ruin my appetite.

Teryl picked his fork back up and twirled rice noodles around the tines. “No, they weren’t all monsters. And it’s not just the elves. Each of the lines has problems. The oracles and seers had to merge about two centuries ago. The powers were becoming so unstable and weak, it was the only way to maintain the reading of the fates and retain some of the other oracle abilities. But if the oracles and fae tried to combine lines…”

“Seers? How many lines are there?”

“True seers are all but gone.” Teryl shook his head sadly. “There weren’t many, and they began to blend with the oracles over a few generations. Gargoyles and phoenix cannot mix. The combination of stone, fire, and ash cannot bond, so the powers do not work together. Once the children turn to ash, they cannot rise again.”

I sucked in a breath. “That is the most sickening thing I’ve ever heard. How many children have been lost because someone couldn’t keep their pants zipped?”

“No, that wasn’t the problem. They didn’t know that would happen. Not at first.”

“What do you mean, ‘at first?’”

“They had no idea an alliance between certain lines would have disastrous results. And it wasn’t immediately apparent it was a genetic issue. It wasn’t until recent years geneticists were able to pinpoint the problems with combining certain bloodlines and DNA. Some aren’t compatible. It’s no different than any other disease. It can take decades for doctors to understand a condition, if ever.

“They’ve discovered which lines can mate, and which can’t. Shadow elves are compatible with gargoyle and phoenix. Light elves can also mate with gargoyles and phoenix, but not shadow elves. Fae are only compatible with fae. Oracles have already blended, so now oracles can only mate with oracles.”

“Elle.” Jax waited until I turned my head to look at him. “The royal families of each line carefully manage the alliances. There hasn’t been a child born with problems in at least three hundred years. It was devastating for everyone, and they’ve done everything they can to prevent it from happening again.”

A tear slid down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away. I couldn’t help it. My mixed blood made me one of the monsters. Would they kill me, too?

The owner walked up again, looking concerned. “Too spicy?” he asked, pointing to my plate and then my wet cheek.

“No, no, I love it,” I assured him, and took a big bite to prove my point. He offered a wide grin similar to his wife’s, and moved to the next table, happy once again.

“We don’t know what your mom was,” Teryl said, sounding sympathetic. “It’s just speculation at this point. Regardless, you’re next in line for the throne. If your father thought you didn’t have abilities, you wouldn’t be a viable mate. Any children of the marriage might potentially be powerless, like he assumed you were. That’s probably why your engagement to MacLean no longer stands.”

Jax brushed his thumb across my cheek. “He’s right. Until we have your fate, we can only guess. And that could cause needless worry.”

“You think?” I laughed quietly, and the sound was watery. “Is there any other combination of lines that would be able to do what I did?”

“I’m not sure,” Teryl said. “I’d have to review the history of the lines. I can get my hands on some books that would summarize them for you. But getting your fate should be our top priority.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath.
One thing at a time
, I chanted silently. It was quickly becoming my new mantra. “So how do I find out who the oracle was?”

“I know her,” Jax said.

Finally, some good news. “Great. Do I call her? Email her? I can do it right now.”

“Wait.”

I sensed a big “but” coming.

“I know where she is, but you’ll have to go to her.”

I shrugged. “Sure, that’s not a problem. I can go tomorrow sometime. Do you have her address?”

Jax nodded slowly.

“Was it Carys?” Teryl asked Jax.

Jax nodded again.

Teryl groaned and refused to look at me. Both guys took a bite of food, so they wouldn’t have to elaborate, I suspected.

“What? What’s wrong with Carys? And why can’t you guys ever just spit it out?”

“She’s in Scotland,” Jax answered, after he finished chewing.

I blinked. Okay. Scotland. That was going to be a problem. “So…I have to go to Scotland? I can’t just call her?”

“You have to go through the proper channels,” Teryl muttered. “When you ask the original oracle for your fate, you have to offer a token of respect. They might give more information if they like your offering enough.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Being a regular human was so much easier. “I don’t need extra information. I just want my fate. Are you sure I can’t buy her off? Give her some free soap and lotion?” I was only half joking.

Jax eyed me speculatively. “If you created a special blend as a gift, it might work as a token. But Carys wouldn’t take money, because it’s an insult. And you have to give her the token in person.”

“I can’t just up and head over to Scotland.” He was crazy if he thought I could lock up my shop and waltz across the world. “We’re in Seattle, Jax. That’s not a hop, skip, and a jump from Scotland. That’s hours and hours on a plane, courtesy of a really expensive plane ticket. And who would run the store?”

“Cassie can,” Teryl said.

“You’re not helping. I can’t ask your sister to run my shop for a week.” Cassie was Teryl’s younger sister. She was fresh out of college and still looking for a job. I occasionally hired her to help when I had large orders. She was capable, and I knew she’d do a great job.

“I will buy the tickets,” Jax said. “The oracle has to see you and verify you are who you say you are. There’s a ritual to be followed.”

“A ritual? Dance naked under the moon and smear mud on my body sort of ritual?”

“God, Elle.” Teryl rolled his eyes. “No, it’s a formality and a magical process. The way the oracles read fates is by first reading your signature magic. It’s the essence that makes you who you are and enables them to document your fate. She can’t do that over the phone.”

I scowled. “Well, why didn’t you explain that in the first place?”

Teryl’s expression softened. “Hey, I’m sorry. I just forget that you…” He waved his fork at me in a vague manner. “You forgot.”

I arched a brow at him.

“What I mean is, I keep forgetting you don’t know or don’t remember some of this.”

“Any of it. I don’t remember any of it. And that’s another thing.” I turned and looked at Jax. “Can I get my memories back?”

His eyes flashed silver for a moment before he said, “I believe so. If something triggers a memory, it might open the door for more memories to surface.”

Excitement flared for a moment. “I had a memory when I touched MacLean.”

Jax’s eyes shifted to pure silver before I quickly added, “It wasn’t a big one, just a memory of when I was sixteen. Very brief.” His eyes were still shining, so I added, “Very boring. I was getting ready for dinner at my father’s.”

He was watching me and sitting very still.

Teryl cleared his throat. “Well, that’s good news. Maybe meeting with the oracle will trigger more.” He flagged down the owner’s wife to ask for a piece of paper and a pen. When she brought them, he absently smiled his thanks, and immediately started scribbling notes.

Jax and I ate in silence while I tried to digest more than spicy food.

After polishing off his food, Jax pushed his plate away. “When we’re done here, I’ll book our flight. Teryl, you’ll come with us. Be packed and ready to leave by morning.”

Jax’s eyes slowly began to melt back to their normal shade of gray. I couldn’t help but ask, “Are all gargoyles like this?”

He quirked a black brow. “Like what?”

I squirmed under his direct stare. “Ah, a little, um, jealous?”

That wicked, sexy smile curved his lips. “Only where our mates are concerned.”

I blushed. I couldn’t help it. Anyone would, with that smile directed right at them. “Oh,” was all I could think to say. I knew that later I would think of a hundred other things I could have said, but for now,
oh
was all I had.

Jax continued to smile at me. There were times when I didn’t mind him being so quiet. He didn’t need to use words when he could smile like that.

Teryl finally interrupted, “Well I hate to disturb this little moment, but we’ve got things to do.” To make his point, he shook the paper in his hand until it rattled.