The Misadventures of Annika Brisby (44 page)

“But I don’t want you to be across the meadow,” she cried into his cloak. “I want you next to me. I want you right here!”

“I will be, I promise,” he replied as his own tears ran down his chin, falling on her face. “No matter where I am or where you are, as long as you’re touching your ring, you’re touching me.” She reached into his hair with her free hand and kissed him with all the love in her heart. She was moved to a higher state of consciousness, elevated by a higher emotion, transcending space and time as they kissed. His soft, warm lips brushed away her tears as he lay her gently down on the pillows, squeezing her left hand tightly in his. Her body immediately responded to his knees nudging hers apart as he carefully rested his chest on hers. His weight on her felt delicious, and erased the fear of him ever leaving her. Their combined blood was still trickling down their elbows, dripping on her clothes. She moved her arm to lick some of it off her arm. It tasted smoky, rich, and magical. She kissed him again and he reached his cold hand into her cloak, warming his fingers against her thighs before sliding them up farther. She could feel his breath warm up her cold nose.

“Alright you two…” Chivanni said in a choked up voice. Dardis was crying softly beside him. “This is the part where you make it official.” Annika’s eyes snapped open in shock.

“What?” She looked at Talvi, whose fingers remained in place.

“Oh, I knew there was something I was neglecting to tell you,” he said, trying his best not to grin.

“Tradition states that there must be two fairies who witness it, but I think we can count on you to consummate your marriage,” Dardis wiped her eyes and winked. “We’ll be on the other side of the hill waiting to untie you. And take all the time you need.” They shrank to their tiny size and disappeared. Annika let out a sigh of relief when Talvi caressed her again, but her emotions had already stimulated her body to the point where his touch would set her on fire at any second.

“Stop,” she whispered. He looked terrified that she might back down after coming so far. “If we’re going to do this, I want it to be perfect.” He looked relieved, but slightly confused.

“Well, if my hand wasn’t tied up, it would be perfect. I’m a bit restricted in what I can do, but I’ll make it up to you on the honeymoon,” he snickered. She shook her head.

“No, I have to feel it at the exact same time that you do,” she insisted. He looked at her apologetically.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she fumbled with one hand to unbutton his pants. “It’s definitely not the cold.” He smiled in relief.

“No, but I…I don’t know how long I can last. I’m a bit overwhelmed.”

“Me too,” she murmured. She was oblivious to the freezing air that surrounded them, the trees rustling overhead, the piercing bright light of the sunrise, the candles flickering around them. She barely noticed him drape his cloak over their bodies before pushing up her skirts, until she felt his hot skin come into contact with her own. The love and lust in his eyes was all she could see; their wounds bleeding into each other was all she could feel. It burned and stung, but he only gripped her hand tighter. She gasped with both relief and revived hunger as his body entered hers, driving his hard flesh deep into her over and over.

“Annika…tell me when,” he sighed. She nodded as she felt her climax threatening to strike. “Now?”

“No…wait.”

His hips rocked slower against hers, grinding at an exquisite pace, delaying the inevitable as long as he could.

“How about now?” he breathed heavily. His eyes were almost shut.

“Just a little more,” she begged.

“Like this?” he asked, pushing harder into her.

“Yes!
Now
!” Her body began to tremble and he thrust even deeper, his cry of relief sounding like music to her. She moaned out at first in her own pleasure, but then it morphed into a scream of terrible pain. A blistering agony filled her that made the original knife wound in her hand seem like a pinprick. At the same time there was a horrible tearing noise that ripped through the sky, and she was blinded by an enormous lavender light. The place where their hands were joined was searing. The excruciating pain was rapidly traveling up her arm, creeping towards her shoulder, towards her heart. Another gut wrenching wave hit her again, originating deep inside her body where he was still nestled against her womb. The two sources of the pain tore through her body until they joined together under her ribcage. She felt as though the very blood in her veins was on fire.

“What have you
done
to me?” she screamed. She could smell burnt flesh, and even though she tried to pull her left hand away, it was of no use. Dardis had tied so many knots that it was impossible. Talvi couldn’t let her go even as she begged and shrieked in his ear to do so. She fought against him with her other hand, but he held it down. Her cries echoed for miles through the trees with her pain. When they finally faded along with her suffering, she opened her eyes and looked up to see three faces peering over her. Talvi, Dardis, and Chivanni stared down at her with awestruck expressions.

“You were
there
the whole
time
?” she gasped, feeling humiliated and violated. Thankfully, Talvi’s cloak still covered them both. She was still trying to catch her breath through her tears.

“Tradition is tradition for a reason,” Dardis said seriously. “We had to stay in case something like this happened.”

“What did you do to me?” she sobbed, glaring at Talvi. The fairies looked at each other with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry Annika…I didn’t know it would hurt you like that,” he apologized. He let her right hand go and brushed her tears away. “Are you still in pain?”

“Get off of me! Get out of me!” she demanded, trying feebly to push him off with her free hand, but he was just too much for her to take on successfully. Her blood was still tingling. Her whole body was filled with the effervescent sensations, like her blood had been infused with white-hot champagne. “What have you
done
to me?”

“To be honest, we don’t really know yet,” Dardis admitted. “We’ve never combined so much magic before.”

“How can you not know? I thought this was fairy magic!”

“Oh, it was definitely fairy magic,” Chivanni said, putting his hand on his hip. “But it was also elf magic. And samodiva magic. And unicorn magic. And love.”

“You call that
love
?” she asked, facing up to look Talvi in the eyes. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have done this to me!” He looked more sorrowful than she could have ever imagined him capable of being.

“It’s
because
I love you that I did this to you,” he said. “Can’t you see that? Can’t you see what I’ve done? Dardis, free our hands.”

Dardis carefully untied the knots, unwinding the blood-stained cord from their hands. Annika jerked her hand away and managed to pull her skirts down and push Talvi off of her. She wasted no time getting back on her feet, and took off running.

She ran for the longest time, darting in between the trees with the ease of a deer, surprised she wasn’t out of breath yet. She was expecting to be wheezing and coughing by this point, but now her lungs only served to fill themselves with the cold, clean air. The sun had risen high enough to light up the forest, and she was overcome by the intensity of all the colors around her. She felt like she’d been wearing a pair of glasses that made the world dull and muddy her whole life, and suddenly they were gone. The sky had never looked so blue, and the tree trunks weren’t merely brown, but she could see flecks of blue, green, yellow and orange in them, as if they were painted by a billion tiny artist brushes. Her blood pumped through her body, still tingling a little, making every muscle in her body feel electrically charged. The scents in the air were so strong that she could almost taste them. She stopped and turned around, and found herself alone.

There were little sounds of scampering and fluttering all about her, but it was only the noises of small woodland creatures. Birds were singing above her, and the bare branches swaying in the breeze caught her ears. The noise was filling her head, as though it had been amplified a dozen times. A dull pain formed in her chest, in her heart, sending her to her knees, then quickly subsided as it diffused throughout her arteries and veins. She couldn’t make sense of what had just happened. One moment Talvi was making love to her, and the next he had given her such pain. She wiped her tear streaked face with her hands and stared at what she saw. There, on her left palm, ran a bright pink line where it had been cut so deeply less than a half hour earlier.

The scent of a horse caught on the wind and played at her nose, along with fruit trees and cinnamon. She knew that scent. It was Talvi’s scent. She heard the rumble of hooves, and before she could get up, he was standing at her side along with Dardis and Chivanni.

“It worked!” Chivanni gasped as he looked over her shoulder. “I can’t believe it!”

“What worked?” she whispered. Dardis reached for her hand and pointed at the scar, which seemed to be less bright. Annika’s demeanor swiftly changed from angry humiliation to curiosity.

“He gave you his blood, Annika! One quarter of the blood in his veins is human, and it must have reacted upon contact with yours. Here’s the proof!” squeaked Dardis, shaking Annika’s healed hand. Talvi fell to his knees in front of her, clutching her in his arms.

“Ambrose, his father…Talvi’s grandfather…” Annika stumbled, wide eyed.

“He was a
human
,” Dardis reminded her. “The combination of samodiva, elf, and human blood you both share, along with Nadira’s mysterious power has joined you with him for the rest of your lives.”

“Look at your ring, Annika. Look at mine. Do you see what’s happened?” Talvi sat back on his heels and held his hand up in front of her, and she saw both of the rings glittering brightly, still warm. That was what had burned her skin. There was something strange about the fairy writing inside of it. She tried to twist it around to look underneath, but it only stung and burned her, pulling the skin with it.

“The ring is fused to my finger!” she breathed in amazement. The silver threads had indeed embedded themselves into her flesh. He nodded and looked at her with large eyes. She glanced up at Dardis and Chivanni.

“Is it over then? Is it finished?” she asked, and the fairies nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude at all, but can you give us a few minutes alone? For real, this time.” They nodded again and flew back in the direction they had come from. She turned to Talvi.

“Please, understand I didn’t want to hurt you,” he pleaded. “I was afraid you would change your mind if I told you how much it might hurt. I didn’t know it would be so overwhelming for you. I’m sorry it hurt, but I’m not sorry I did it. I love you, Annika. I thought this is what you wanted…to be with me always. Nothing between us is over or finished; this is merely the beginning of you and I.” She cradled his face in her hand and he placed his hand on top of hers.

“You made me immortal to be with you?” she whispered. He gave a little shrug.

“Well, as much as I’ll ever be,” he said. She looked at her hand again; the scar on her palm was almost white.

“This is going to take some time to get used to,” she said softly, unable to comprehend the new life that lay ahead of her. He laughed and wiped the tears off his face one last time, helping her to her feet.

“I said I would love to give you all the time in the world. I hope you like your wedding present.”

new eyes

When they rode up to Ohan and Aghavni’s front yard, they were met by everyone, even Konstantin in his long black coat, sunglasses and gloves.

“What was that strange light? Did you see it?” they were all asking, looking perplexed. But Finn’s wise eyes looked relived.

“So…” he said, grinning wide, “Will we be calling you Annika Marinossian from now on?”

“Is
that
what that was?” Hilda wondered, looking beyond insulted. “You snuck off and got married, and you didn’t even
invite us
?” Annika smiled to herself.

“Trust me, you didn’t want to be there,” she said, trying not to blush, but it was too late for that. Hilda, Runa, and the others wrinkled their foreheads in confusion, but Finn stifled a laugh.

“You really got married?” Yuri screeched in disbelief. “But…what, how?” She didn’t look nearly as happy for them as the others did. In fact, she didn’t look happy at all. Finn spoke up quickly before she drew too much attention to herself.

“We can at least have a celebratory feast in their honor,” he suggested. “Now that’s something I don’t think any of us want to miss.”

“I feel really bad that I ran away like that,” Annika told Chivanni while putting away dishes after their midday meal. “I didn’t mean to freak out, but it was really scary.” The red-haired fairy turned to her and gave her a wry little grin.

“I can hardly blame you for it,” he said. “I would have run away too, if he came after me with that monster he keeps locked away under his belt.” She grinned and punched him in the arm, and was shocked to see him go flailing backwards, landing in a chair.

“Owww!” he cried, looking at her with a puzzled expression as he stood up.

“I’m sorry,” she joked. “I must not know my own strength.” She kept waiting for him to start laughing, but he was touching his arm gingerly and frowning at her.

“Apparently you don’t,” his serious face stopped her laughing right away.

“You mean I actually hurt you? But I didn’t even hit you that hard! I was just playing.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” he said, looking a little miffed.

“Annika, come outside, will you?” Justinian asked, having seen the entire episode. He and Sariel stepped outside, holding the door for her to follow them. Sariel disappeared into the barn while Justinian looked at Annika with a strange expression.

“I saw what you just did to that fairy. I know he’s not the most…
masculine
one in the group, but you really don’t know how hard you hit him. Sariel told me that you know martial arts. Have you any experience with a sword?” he asked.

“I’ve used a practice katana a few times. Why? What are you getting at?” she asked, but oddly enough she already knew. She could read his thoughts like a book, so much easier than before. Her amulet must have been working double-time.

“I want you to fight Sariel,” Justinian said. Annika raised an eyebrow in curiosity and saw Sariel come back from the barn with her sword and the one she’d given Annika in the library the day they left the Marinossian’s home.

“But what if I hurt her? What if she hurts me?” she said, looking at Justinian. Once again, she could hear his thoughts as if he were speaking aloud.

You know she has tasted the blood of a unicorn. I doubt you’ll cause her any harm. And even so, I’m standing right here. There is no cause for concern, as long as no heads are severed.

Sariel tossed the slender sword over to Annika, and she plucked it casually from the air the way one picks an apple from a tree. She looked at the menacing blade which curved to a point at the end. It was the same length as a katana, though wider and heavier. It felt good in her hand. She curled her fingers around the hilt and gave it a swing, cutting the air.

“Are you ready?” Sariel asked with a smile. “I’ll go easy on you while you warm up.” Annika took a long breath and slowly let it out. She turned sideways and rest her weight on her left foot, standing
en garde
. Bringing the blade to her nose, she reflected for a moment, trying to picture in her mind how to go about her attack. She lifted the sword over her shoulder and leapt forward, swinging hard. Sariel blocked her with ease, pushing her backwards and coming at her left side. She turned the sword at the last second, smacking Annika hard with the flat side of it.

“Oww!”

“You left yourself wide open!” she shouted at Annika, then charged, swinging again. Annika blocked it, but Sariel’s strength was getting the best of her.

“Choke up higher on the crosspiece—it will give you more power to push me away,” she huffed. Their weapons met a dozen more times, but Annika was afraid of hurting her friend, even though Justinian was there.

“Are you certain that you’ve had training? I don’t think you know what you’re doing,” Sariel taunted. “I’m still mad at you for calling me a bitch, by the way! You know, you never did tell anyone exactly what happened that night Vaj died.” She swung at Annika and missed. “But I know all about it!” Annika’s eyes opened wide.

“Shut up, Sariel! Nothing happened!” she yelled back. Sariel stepped back and gloated, which only made Annika’s temper flare.

“You never told me that you actually propositioned Nikola. And what a gentleman he was, turning you down.” Annika’s blood was boiling.

“Sariel, that’s enough!” Justinian shouted. Annika didn’t dare look to see if they had an audience or not, all she cared about was defeating her. She felt her anger roll up from someplace deep in her belly, and rise to her wrists as she lunged at Sariel with a fierce yell.

The sword cut through the air behind her opponent; the tip grazed her back and then a thin line of red spread across Sariel’s back from underneath her blouse. She seemed shocked at this, but recovered quickly and rushed at Annika again, knocking her to the ground, and pressed the steel to her neck. Kneeling over her, she panted hard with a wild look in her eyes. This was what she lived for.

“You aren’t part bloodwood by chance, are you?” Annika sneered. “You’re bloodthirsty enough to be one.” Sariel blinked and smiled victoriously, still panting. She didn’t move her weapon. Without warning she was thrown backwards by the same move that Annika had used on Talvi while practicing near the stables. Her swift feet had gone unnoticed as Sariel had been sidetracked by her comment. Now Annika was on them, and while Sariel was still on her back, Annika pinned her raised weapon to the ground. She stepped on the blade and raised her arms over her head, bringing her sword straight down with a ferocious growl. It sank deep into the ground only an inch from Sariel’s belly. Her glaring eyes met Annika’s, but only for a moment.

“That’s
enough
!” Justinian yelled, separating the girls.

“I was just trying to get her to fight harder,” Sariel snapped. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Annika reached behind him and yanked the weapon out of the ground, stomping back towards the house. Nikola was standing under a tree with the wolves, where he’d been observing the practice session. She stepped in front of him and gave him a nasty look.

“I thought we weren’t going to mention that to anyone, and I know that she can’t read minds!” she hissed. “It was
you
who told her, wasn’t it?” Nikola batted his blue eyes and smiled innocently.

“Perhaps you can recall a rather loud argument back on the ship,” he said. “I have no need to boast of such things, not when you do it so well on your own.”