Immortal Deflagration Read online

  Her knowing smile bloomed and grew as I watched. “I see. Does that trouble you then?”

  I ached under the intensity of her gaze. The vivid reminders that dotted my flesh didn’t bother me to wear as much as for anyone else to become aware of them. “I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of learning the truth. For as long as they have not wanted to know me, in turn, I don’t think they should get to know about me.”

  “Hmmmmm…you are a treasure then, aren’t you? Full of secrets and a fierce sense of right…I like it.” She whispered grinning. “I suppose that leaves us with three choices.”

  Whatever she was thinking, I was completely lost. As nearly as I had been able to discern, my choices were, one, be discovered, or two, leave. Somehow I had significant doubts that my two were part of her three. “Three?” I finally managed to mutter.

  “Oh yes my darling, three.” She announced, her broad grin widening farther still. “One, I can take them away so that you can participate in the enclave with some assurance that your secret will not be revealed that way.” She held up a finger. “Two, I can give you new ones for real, right here, right now.” She raised a second finger. “Or three, I can simply invite you to be my guest at the center where you would not be required to disrobe.” She popped up a third finger and punched all three into the air to accent her solutions.

  Her three options definitely did not include my two. I was running them all through my head again. I couldn’t quite grasp them. “You can do that?” I asked, not actually defining which option I was considering.

  “Yes, of course I can. It is my enclave. Everyone here is my guest. I can do whatever I want.” She closed the distance between us. Her mouth quirked up and her eyes danced. “All you need to do, is tell me what you want. Your wish, my will.”

  Standing less than a breath away, already touching in some places, my mind was spinning. I could no sooner make a decision than I could tell you my own name as I watched her watching me. When her tongue darted out to wet her lips, I was nearly undone. I knew she was waiting for a response, but I didn’t know what answer to give. “I want…”

  She cut me off with the softest of feathering kisses across my lips. “Yes my darling…I do too.”

  Chapter 11

  “Nova…” A voice called, breaking the spell. It was Chantelier.

  “…and Seychelle,” she added, sounding curious when she reached us, one eyebrow quirking impossibly high. She looked between the two of us several times assessing our positions. We weren’t actually embracing, though we were standing all but in one another’s skin. That, and if she had seen the kisses as she approached, there was surely no doubt remaining as to the nature of our exchange. “I didn’t realize you two had met.” She finally managed.

  Nova turned to her. I had never seen anyone back Chantelier down, but it happened right before my eyes now, with a tone I would never suspect anyone to use with my High Priestess, ever. “Why yes, yes we have. Did you need something?”

  Chantelier was obviously fighting to find an appropriate way to ask what she wanted to know. Tempted as I was to let her sweat it out for a bit, she had kept my secret, and been the only one who was civil to me for a couple of years now. An errant thought forced me to bite back a chuckle. How ironic that I had walked in both High Priestess’s dreams. “It’s okay, she knows.” I said to the space between the two of them. I’d let Chantelier wonder who I was addressing.

  “I came across her in the dreamscape.” Nova stated breaking the odd tension.

  How she said, what she said, made me wonder if she too had the ability to dreamwalk. Until this moment, I had honestly not considered it. I figured she probably could do a lot of things that I didn’t know about, but if she could dreamwalk, I suddenly wondered why she hadn’t come to mine.

  Chantelier nodded. “I see. As Seychelle has not had anyone to guide her in her abilities, I suspect that she has not learned how to keep her own dreams unguarded.” She said it as though she were somehow an authority. I found I was again fighting not to snicker. It would probably be an unwelcome revelation that I had walked into her dream.

  To her credit, Nova didn’t rise to the bait. “I see.”

  “They’ve started to build the bonfire. Did you wish to begin, or…” Chantelier let the rest of her question hang.

  “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Nova answered. “I’ll be along in just a moment. I’m afraid I have not yet gotten an answer from Seychelle to a question I posed.”

  Chantelier obviously knew that she was being dismissed. She schooled her face quickly, but the shock had shown before she managed it. I made a point of not watching her directly. I could only imagine the potential repercussions once the enclave was completed and we were back home. I did not need the only person who was treating me decently to suddenly stop doing so because of what I witnessed.

  “As you wish.” Chantelier commented as she turned and left.

  It did not escape my notice that she turned back partially several times as she departed. I focused on a point just past Nova until Chantelier was out of sight again. “How did you…?” I stammered.

  Nova grinned. She obviously understood my incomplete query. “Perhaps one day a better explanation can be given. For now, suffice it to say, that while we are each the heads of our respective Covens; in the grand timeline, I am her elder.”

  My mouth was agape. That explained it all right. I was not going to ask anything more about it, because that summed up all that really needed to be said on the subject. I was pulled back to present when Nova tapped a finger under my chin, encouraging me to close my mouth. “Now, back to us. Have you chosen?”

  “I…”

  Nova chuckled knowingly. “How about if I decide?” She stated. “And, I will be most selfish about it too. I do not wish to remove the marks that you bear, nor do we have time for me to sufficiently add more to aid your alibi just now. Thus, the only viable choice, is for you to sit with me so that you may keep your robes on.”

  She leaned in, drawing a deep inhale a scant breath from my face. “But, Mark my words Seychelle, I will be adding to them later. That’s a promise.”

  Chapter 12

  It was almost easy to ignore the gasps and stares from the rest of my Coven members for the remainder of the enclave. Nova took me by the hand and lead me along everywhere she went. I was grateful for the reprieve, even as I couldn’t fathom the intensity of the attention. The only time I was not by her side, was when she was addressing the gathering. Even then, she drew me to the edge of where she would be before she released my hand.

  Thirty-six hours later, the gathering was nearly concluded. Even as I knew the end was drawing near, I had the odd sense that it wasn’t really over, but maybe that was me wishing it. I wanted desperately to talk to Nova alone. We had been together for the entire time, but always with all, or some subgroup of the gathering around us. I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, not the least of which was if she was a dreamwalker too.

  I was surprised, when shortly before the closing ceremonies, she pulled me aside. “I need to talk to you.” She said commandingly.

  As though she hadn’t been talking to me all along, I was stunned by the urgency I heard in her request. She excused us from the company around us, took me again by the hand, and led me beyond the perimeter of the gathering to a point near where she had found me the first night.

  “Stay here.” She directed when we finally stopped.

  Misunderstanding her meaning, I stood still, expecting that she was going to leave. When she didn’t move either, I was confused. “Stay here?”

  “With me Seychelle, stay here with me.” She clarified.

  “I…what?”

  “After the enclave, I want you to stay here instead of return with your Coven.” She said softly.

  “But… How?” I knew I was stammering. I couldn’t form a competent or complete sentence. I didn’t understand what she was asking, or why she was asking it. For being akin t
o what I wanted to hear so desperately, I couldn’t process her words.

  For nearly two days I had been everywhere with her, and honestly, I had no real desire to part company from her now, but there had to be implications to what she was asking. It wasn’t like we were a couple. It wasn’t like we had met, and parted, and met again over the years at different enclaves. We had met in the dreamscape, specifically, in her dreams, which still shocked me to think about finding myself in the one, but it wasn’t reality.

  I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of how this could possibly transition, even as I wanted it to. My desires burned just below the surface. Every inch of my skin was alive and aching, needing to know if there could be more for us after the enclave than just dreams.

  But, what if, when everyone else disappeared, there was nothing there? What if, after the enclave was ended, and it was just the two of us, the novelty of us wore off? If she was Chantelier’s elder, as she claimed to be, she was an ancient compared to me. Sure, immortality looked good on her, but it didn’t change the truth. I was an infant compared to her. Somehow, I doubted sincerely that she was looking for a child.

  The chemistry between us, in the dreamscape, and in stolen moments during the last two days, raged and burned with an intensity that left my body thrumming between the encounters. It was not simple attraction between us. I had a very real fear that it could, and would, consume me if I let go and let it have me. It terrified me that I wanted nothing less than that very thing.

  She watched me wrestling with my thoughts. If she had any indication to the tenor of them, she kept it to herself. When my mind quieted, if only for a moment, she spoke again. “Seychelle, how you found me, is how I have been for ages over ages. My passions and preferences have never been a secret. But, because of my position, they have remained unrequited. I have not found in many years, anyone of my stature who has interested me enough to consider. You found me, but by the blessed Goddess, had no reason to fear, reject, or run. Do you understand the treasure of that?”

  In my mind, I understood exactly what she was saying. Being accepted simply because you are, was a gift I had never been given, at least, not before Nova. Understanding it was one thing. Being able to get my mouth to cooperate, and to coordinate with my brain to acknowledge it, was something completely different. I kept my mouth closed for fear of the awkward sound that might emerge if I would open it. I simply nodded.

  She took my hands and interlaced her fingers with mine. “Stay with me. I know what I’m asking is possibly overwhelming, but I also think, that what I have to offer, even with a few possible difficulties somewhere down the road, would be a greater adventure for you than returning to a world elsewhere where others believe, or see you as only…what was your word,” she asked, “oh yes…a bastard.” She paused when my eyes popped open.

  “I don’t care from whom you came.” She continued. “The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. I believe in her and her wisdom, so I have to believe that there is a point and purpose to you, and for you. I don’t believe it was an accident that you found my dream. And honestly, if you had not been able to find your way back to mine, I already knew I would be looking for a way to find yours.”

  I guess that answered the dreamwalking question.

  “But you’re the High Priestess.” I whined softly my fear without extrapolating. Everything she was saying were things I wanted desperately to hear. I had wanted to hear them all of my life, but had resigned long ago that I never would. There’s safety and security in familiarity, even if what’s familiar, is awful. Somewhere in my heart of hearts I knew if I stayed, I would never be able to go back, and where would that leave me if there was no lasting future for us?

  My insecurities waged an internal, private war against my desperate, secret wants. How ironic that all of my truths were somehow secret? I didn’t know how to tell her I was afraid. I didn’t have to.

  “I’m scaring you to pieces, aren’t I?” She asked softly.

  “Yes.” I managed the single syllable, trying desperately not to sound ashamed.

  “Then close your eyes Seychelle. In your mind, go back to when you found me. Did you know I was a High Priestess? Or, did you only know that something about me, called to something in you?

  After you left, before you found me again, when you thought of me, was it fear, or longing? Did your heart seize with trepidation or dread to recall what you experienced in my dream? Or, did something deep inside of you cry for more?

  I think you will see, if you consider what you found when you returned to my dream again, you know what I felt and what I wanted.”

  My eyes flew open. When I returned to her dreams, I found myself.

  “That’s what I thought.” She acknowledge, though I hadn’t answered.

  Chapter 13

  After the closing ceremonies, instead of leaving me at the edge when she went to address the gathering, this time, Nova took me with her. She held my hand firmly, and gave it a squeeze. I thought she was going to let it go then before she spoke. I, and everyone else present, was surprised when she brought our joined hands up to her mouth and kissed them.

  I would guess the gasps that we heard came from the members of my Coven. They were audible, but nearly drowned out by the sound of the applause that came from others. I could only assume that the approval was for Nova, though she later would tell me repeatedly I was mistaken. Her words moved me, and I think many others. Though I think some of them moved me for reasons others might not be so happy about.

  “My friends, as many of you know, I have waited for the time when the Goddess would reveal her plans for me, to me. For many lifetimes, I have put myself, and my wants, secondary to the needs of my Coven. I have no regrets for doing so. My sacrifices enabled others to flourish.

  As with all things, the Goddess, in her wisdom, and in her own time, balances the world. To my great surprise, and with extreme gratitude, I offer my thanks, as my time has come. Our enclave has happened at the precise moments when I have been given someone to share my journey. I ask the Goddess to bless each and every one of you in equal measure as we part this day. I can only hope that each of you receives in return, all that you have given.

  To those of her Coven, I thank you for bringing Seychelle to me, and ask your blessings upon us as she will not be returning with you now. To those of my Kepfir Coven, please help me to welcome her, now and in the coming days. Seychelle Enteri is one of us.

  Thank you all for a wonderful enclave. Safe travels until we come together again for the next one. Merry Part, and Blessed Be.”

  I was so caught up in her comments that I was surprised to be pulled into a tight embrace. Part of me, after hearing her words, fully expected that I was going to find myself in a lip lock in front of the entire gathering. Instead, she whispered just beside my ear, only for me to hear. “They all need to leave now. I made a promise, and I always keep my promises.”

  Epilogue

  That was all years ago, but it feels a lot like yesterday. I’ve never wanted for anything since. Everyone should be as gloriously and deliciously sore from being wanted, loved, and cherished so well. Nova is exceptional at promises. She makes, and keeps, new ones daily, though she says she’ll need a few hundred years yet to experience everything we are. Who am I to say no?

  My world is exciting and vibrant. Having someone who values and supports you, is everything. She makes me work to develop my ability, even as I have found my reality now is better than any dream I’ve ever walked.

  With her encouragement, I finally shared my talent with others. And, I met my father. It wasn’t terrible. In many ways, I’m closer to him than I have ever been to my mother, but he never had anything to gain, or lose, by my being. Surprisingly, my mother resisted her social climber urges and didn’t try to gain ground through me with my new Coven. I know…I’m shocked too.

  The rest is an amazing journey filled with things I don’t have words for. Nova can send me beyond the stars with the softest touch, a
nd reduce me to ash with a glance. Who knew a bastard could be so lucky?

  Other Tales in 13 Chapters Stories

  Immortal Alchemy

  Veil Break

  (Halloween in Savannah box set October 2017)

  From Immortal Alchemy

  Without warning he was clear to her. It had been some time past, but her mind had pulled a powerful memory to armor her. She could feel his handprints melting into her skull and her body engulfed in an inferno as he had stolen kisses and held her to the hard length of his body. She remembered laughing that he hadn’t stolen what she had freely given, and would give again. Her insides winding tighter and tighter, much like her auburn hair in her mother’s hands, she had been so taut that one pluck would have shattered her.

  She remembered vividly the breathlessness, his and hers, when they had broken from kissing, and the near jump to surrender air again for more. Her heart had thundered like a heard of stallions across the meadow and she was sure then that everyone must have felt the force of her passion. Still seated under the waterfall now, she could again feel the pounding of her heart against her throat and wrists, as well as other places that had seldom carried so robust a rhythm.

  Sophie ached. The incessant beating of her need, once again unreleased, made her decision. The next time she saw Pan there would be no warning, there would be no hesitation. When she found Pan, she would do what she should have done before leaving the glen earlier…consummate their relationship and bind him to her forever. If she hadn’t been so selfish then, she could easily follow his blood and find him now. She would not repeat that mistake. Pankratios was hers and it was high time everyone knew it.