© ItalRT4u, 2012

     Not knowing what I was thinking, Cane had made sure to do up a room for me while I ordered us some Italian food for dinner.  I could tell he didn't want me to think he expected anything out of me and I appreciated his gentlemanly manners.

     We had spent most of dinnertime in silence, exchanging the occasional glance.  I was slowly beginning to realize that I needed answers to questions that were really nagging at me.

     “Can I ask you something?”  I asked Cane as I stood up, gathering our soiled plates, in an attempt to diffuse the sudden nervousness that was creeping over me.

     “Sure.”

     “I'm hoping you know more about this Fae business than I do since my parents had neglected to tell me about quite a bit of information over the years.  This is all new to me with the exception of my empathic abilities, which I’ve had for some time now.”  I felt an arm reaching around my waist and the other reaching to take the plates I held away from me; he set them in the sink as he swiftly turned me around so I faced him.  His eyes looked filled with kindness and empathy as he backed me up into the cornered counter.

     “You're rambling.”  He smiled sweetly as he tucked a loosened strand of my hair behind my ear.

     “How does this whole match thing work anyway?  Is it like werewolves where they bite each other or...”  I felt foolish to ask but I simply had to know.  The question had been eating away at me.

     “Nothing that barbaric in nature.”  He chuckled.  “Because I wasn't born an incubus, I only knew of our match status once I had touched you because my shoulder blade burned shortly after I had made contact with your skin.  I had checked things out when I had gotten home and found a third symbol etched into my skin.”

     “Ah.”  I nodded slightly as I recollected the three markings I had run my fingertips over only a few hours earlier, mentally noting that I only had two whence last I checked.

     “That mark only comes from the succubus and only when physical contact has been established.”  He explained.

     “But how do you know that I'm the only succubus that you've touched?”  I asked and realized almost immediately that it was the dumbest question I could have asked.  It’s not like there’s a surge of succubi around.  “Scratch that.  What's this whole thing about heirs?”

     “Each Fae family has an heir.  You are yours seeing as Carly had yet to find her match and procreate.”  He explained but I couldn’t help but notice the hesitation as he spoke of Carly.  “Being from one of the oldest Fae families, you are one of the most powerful influences out there.”

     “Like royalty?”  I asked and prayed for a negative.

     “If you look at it that way, it's exactly like that.  There was a royal family at one point but they’ve been eradicated, as far as history tells us.”  He looked at me.  “The Fae started with a dozen families.  Through the years, these families grew smaller and into extinction due to hunting.  Only four of the original families remain to this day and we're part of two of them.”

     “What of these hunters?”  I asked him.  “These factions, the armies that I've been hearing about?”

     “Your family never told you anything did they?”  He looked at me smiling sympathetically as I shook my head.

     “I think they figured I'd be safe not knowing.  Proves that ignorance isn't necessarily bliss huh?  They did mention that I would know when the time was right to stand and fight.  Now, I’m not sure if I ever will.”  I said with a slight tone of discouragement.

     “Well, like us, they are part of the ancient families.”  He paused.  “They seek to annihilate those remaining families that aren't willing to side with them.  To do so is to either get their people to relinquish their powers by publicly renouncing their ownership or by simply killing the host.  I'm sure you know which method they enjoy the most.”

     “Okay.  Now I'm freaking out a little.”  I tell him.  “You're making them seem like they do have a large army with numbers and that we're merely a few handfuls of people.”

     “Hardly.  We're larger than you think.”  He tells me simply.  “And they're not nearly as prepared as we are.  The prophecy is enough to have faith that good will prevail.”

     “Prophecy?”  I eyed him attentively when he nodded.

     “According to a prophecy that was made nearly a hundred years ago, only two families are meant to survive in the end.  There is no knowledge as to which ones and we can only speculate as to who will prevail the battle for power, unless you can find an oracle somewhere that’ll tell us differently or who’s able to let us on to something about the prophecy we haven’t come to already know.”  He explained. 

     I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all of this new information and ended up zoning out.  I was snapped out by a hand cupping my cheek.

     “Payton?”  I hear.

     “Huh?”  I looked up at his bright blue pools.  “I'm sorry.  It's so much to take in.”

     “I know.”  He said softly, pulling me into his arms.

     “How worried do I have to be?”  I pulled away slightly and looked up at him.  “I mean, any idea as to when this war, battle, what have you is supposed to happen?”

     “I don't know.”  He looked helpless.  “But something tells me, it's much sooner than we would like it.”

     “So I'm not the only one that feels that something large is brewing, then?”  I say and Cane shook his head. 

     Damn. 

     “I don't think I can handle this.”  I say as I break from his grip and began pacing the kitchen.  “What about us?  Where do we fit in to all of this?”  I stopped abruptly, facing him, readying myself for his answer.

     “What if I told you that the greatest story ever lived belonged to us?”  He said with a slight smile forming at the corner of his generous lips.

     “Then I'd say that I might have hit my head much harder than I thought last night and I'm now hearing weird things.”  I told him, humor present in my words.

     “I speak the truth.”  He began to close the distance between us and stopped; his face but a few inches away from mine.  “I do however wish to know what is going on in that beautiful little head of yours.”  And that's when I chose to close the distance between us and deposited a soft kiss to his lips before nuzzling the side of his nose with mine.

     “Thank you.”  I whispered.

     We had spent the evening watching movies and cuddling on the sofa, exchanging looks and the occasional kiss, none of us pushing to turn our moments into something more heated.  Risking an old cliché from your average date night, Cane had walked me to my room as if it were the end of a date and kissed me like his life depended on it, leaving me weak in the knees, pondering if I should have chased him and work my own method of persuasion to get him to stay a while.

     What is this man doing to me?

     I lay in my bed, the sheets down by my waist, and my head reeling with thoughts; mostly, those of how much I wished to be in Cane's arms in this moment.  The nightly breeze was coming through the curtains, flooding my room with moonlight but none of it soothed the yearning I felt for him.  I rolled over onto my side, my back to the bedroom door as I stared out the window, hoping the breeze and haunting moon would lull me into a peaceful night's sleep.  I heard a faint creaking of the floorboards and a slight clicking sound as the knob to my bedroom door turned.  I didn't need the slow dip in my mattress beside me, or his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me into his body, or his scent to tell me it was him.  I sensed him before he had even entered, before the floorboards even emitted their slightest sound.

     “Can't sleep?”  I asked at a whisper.

     “Mmm.”  He buried his face into my hair.  “Apparently, neither can you.”  I rolled over onto my back so I could see his face.

     “I was thinking and wanted to hear more about that epic love story theory of yours.”  I giggled lightly.

     “Is that so?”  He smirked down at me and I nodded ever so slightly.

     “Or,” I began, not missing the sly smile displayed on his handsome face; “you can show me.”

     “You don't have to tell me twice.”  He says as he playfully rolled over top of me.  He made sure to be thorough with both words and actions; narrating his rendition of his story along with his wonderfully sinful invasion of my body.

     Sleep had never come so peacefully in the last year, up until that night.  When morning had come, I cringed at the thought of having to leave for my shift at the bistro.  I think Cane felt it as well because he held me to him just a little bit tighter.

     “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t go in but I need the money.”  I told him when he sulked as I left the room for the bathroom.

     The sulking had continued throughout the week and I loved the fact that I wasn’t the only one that dreaded having to leave and be without Cane for the day.  My best part of the day was actually having him come and pick me up after my shift and take me back to his expansive home.  Friday had eventually come and he was there as always, waiting for me, curbside.  I wasn’t expecting the foul mood though – this was new.

     “What’s going on?  Why so glum?”  I asked him.

     “We need to talk.”  He says and starts to drive off.  Nothing good ever came from hearing those words.  My stomach lurched at the thought of our impending conversation.

     “You can’t be leaving!”  I yelled out as soon as he had let us into the house.

     “I have no choice, Payton.”  He said softly.  “I’ve been ordered back.”

     “Haven’t you told them that you had found your match?”  I asked him.  He hesitated long enough and that’s all I needed to know; he hadn’t told a soul.  My eyes emitted daggers in his direction.

     “It’s not what you think!”  His voice bellowed.

     “Of course not!  It’s never what I think.”  I huffed and crossed my arms at my chest.  I know; mature, right?

     “It’s not that I don’t want to tell anyone, Payton.”  He said quietly.

     “Then what is it?”  I breathed out.

     “It’s too risky.”  He said.  “I’ve told you that the hunters are hell bent on getting rid of matches.  There’s a reason for that.”

     “Heirs?”  I questioned.

     “That, and…”  He stepped toward me, tilting my chin up so I could look at him; then settled his hands on my hips.  “When Fae couples are matched, there exists this surge of power, a bond if you will.  That bond is what makes us stronger than our enemy.  Haven’t you wondered why both your parents were killed at once?”

     “Isn’t it more of a reason to stay together though?  Be at our most powerful when this war begins?”  I looked at him puzzled.  This whole Fae business was just too new to me.  I don’t get their way of being, of choosing certain ways above others that seem far more logical.

     “It also makes us look like sitting ducks by staying here.”  He explains.  “The only way around this is if you come with me and you’ve said…”

     “Done.”  I told him simply.

     “What?”  His jaw dropped, clearly not expecting that answer.

     “I said I will go with you.”  I smiled at him, watching those gold flecks swim about his sapphire irises.

     “But you have work.”  He stated the obvious that had come to his mind, shock still evident in his tone.

     “And I have a life worth preserving.”  I told him softly, as I leaned into him, stopping but a hair away from his lips.  “With you.”  I gave his eyes a soft look as he bridged that gap between us, wrapping his arms around me tightly. 

     Truth be told, I didn’t know what it was that told me to just leave everything and follow.  I didn’t even know how I felt for the guy other than the fact that what I had just decided felt so simple and easy.  I knew it was my decision and mine alone.  Not once did I question if he had been trying to manipulate my decisions with his abilities.  I simply just knew that it was the thing to do – that I would lose him if I didn’t follow and losing him wasn’t an option.  Call it instinct; call it a leap of faith, even.  My soul knew it wouldn’t survive without him.

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