Cadence of Ciar (The Fate Caller Series Book 1) by Zoe Parker (30)

The next morning Ciar wakes me up with those light teasing kisses that tickle but still feel good, all along my stomach. Giggling, I roll over to avoid them, to find that they are just as bad on my back.

“Wake up, monster girl. We’ve got things to do today.” Frowning, I roll back over and give him a look that I hope transmits the depth of irritation at being woken up to go somewhere.

Unless. “The beach?”

“That’s in a few more days. There’s somewhere else I think you’ll like.” What can I possibly like to do when I can be sleeping instead? “There’s a Fairy Festival.” I’m out of the bed and pushing past him before the last syllable leaves his mouth.

“Excited, are you?” he asks, dryly.

Ignoring him I head to the bathroom for the got-to-get-ready-to-go-to-the-awesome-Fairy Festival routine. While brushing my teeth I try to squeeze into a pair of jeans and, failing miserably end up propped against the wall next to the sink to finish brushing my teeth, with both legs in one pant leg.

I love festivals and the Fairy one is the one at the top of my list. The food alone is worth going for. There’s no time to waste on dumb things.

“You realize that putting your pants on one leg at a time won’t make the festival disappear?” He’s leaning against the doorway, looking at me with that sexy amused look on his face. You know, the one where their lips twitch a little and even if you don’t want to, you think something dirty? Yeah, that.

“And thinking thoughts like that won’t help you get there any faster either.”

Smiling through the toothpaste I’m sure covers my mouth, I spit and rinse my face off while balancing on the balls of my feet. Drying my face, I finally turn to the pants situation and remedy it as quickly and gracefully as possible.

Throwing my hair into a loose bun I clip it and turn to him.

“Not that I mind the view, monster girl but you might want to put a shirt on,” he suggests, eyeing the goods. Horrified that I almost left the house like that, I run out to the closet and grab a random shirt.

Tugging it on I slip my feet into my shoes, sans socks, and head out the door with Ciar close behind. Gertie tells us to have a great day and I’m only able to keep walking when I see Rime waiting for us on the sidewalk because Ciar pushes me forward.

“Do you want to come with us to the festival?” I blurt out before I can catch myself. He looks as surprised by the question as I feel about asking it.

“Uh… sure?” His eyes widen, he’s doubly surprised he accepted.

“If you two are done being awkward together, can we go?” Ciar teases.

“You weren’t complaining about being awkward last night when I was doing that thing with my tongue.” Sticking my tongue out at him I wiggle the tip of it to emphasize that thing.

Ciar laughs and drags me along with him, with Rime pulling up the rear.

“What thing?” Rime asks, breaking the silence. Shocked, I look over at him and his beet red face.

“Do you really wanna know, Rime?” Wiggling my eyebrows suggestively I can’t help but pick on him a little.

“Oddly enough… yes?” He sounds so unsure that it gets a reluctant laugh out of me, easing the awkwardness Ciar accused us both of having.

“You see… she has you bend over and touch your ankles…” I smack Ciar’s arm. He’s not as funny as he thinks he is.

The sounds of the festival reach my ears, laughing children, the ohs and ahs of those on the rides, and the general chatter of happy people. I pick up my pace. I don’t want to miss anything and these two are walking too slow now while they talk about the principles of magic.

Who does that?

“I hope you like Festivals, Frosty. Because we’re going to be here all day.” Ciar cautions, as we pay to get in.

Grabbing both of their hands I drag them along, eyeing the first booth in a long line of them. This one is a game booth and the prizes are stuffed animals. Lots of stuffed animals. I eye a pink dragon and realize that Zag isn’t here.

“Where’s Zag?”

“He’s running an errand for me,” Ciar says, giving money to the Fairy vendor for the bright red balls to throw at the moving cups.

“I’ll admit that I really want to know what these “errands” are that you keep sending him on. Are you sure he isn’t your familiar?” Taking aim, Ciar throws one of the balls and it’s a direct hit. Somehow it remains on its stand.

“Now, this isn’t one of those games where there’s cheating involved, right? Because cheaters end up on the wrong end of sharp teeth.” He sounds bored, but I know he’s anything but, because Ciar hates cheaters.

The red-haired Fairy catches on quickly. The cup mysteriously falls.

“How many cups do I need to knock over to win that pink dragon?”

“For you sir, one,” the Fairy stammers fetching the dragon for Ciar who promptly hands it to me. Cuddling it, I smile in happiness thanking Ciar for winning it for me.

With one last dark look at the vendor we move onto the next game.

This one is where you pick a random rubber duck from the small stream of water going in a circle inside of the booth. The number on the duck tells you if you win or not. The prize is a Water Fly and its number is one. Water Flies are a lot like goldfish, minus the fact that they’re not fish or gold. In fact, they look more like dragonflies with people’s faces.

For the most part they’re harmless but can attack in swarms. I want one.

Tossing some money on the counter I start selecting random ducks. But none of them match the number for the Water Fly. Sighing in disappointment I take the balloon and stuffed snake I won and turn away from the game.

Rime steps around me and hands the vendor some cash. On the first pick he gets the Water Fly number. With a rare smile directed at me and my overactive hormones—because that smile gets to me—he takes the globe containing the Water Fly in it and hands it to me.

Looking at Ciar I feel a bit guilty about my reaction to Rime. He pats my lower back in comfort.

‘My place in your life is secure, monster girl.’

Holding my prizes close to my chest I race off to the next booth, but not before pausing long enough to give Ciar a kiss on the mouth and Rime a quick peck on the cheek.

Squealing when I see what’s in the next booth I almost drop my stuff.

Clothes, clothes everywhere. Fairy made clothes, oh my gods, I’m in heaven. My precious bundles are gently removed out of my numb arms, and now I’m free to touch things versus contorting myself in weird ways to graze them with my fingertips.

Spider Silk, Fairy Velvet and holy crap they have Dragon Shell Silk.

“She looks like she’s going to have a heart attack, is this a concern?” Rime asks from beside me, a pink dragon tucked under his arm.

“This is her on overload. In a few seconds she’ll blow her top like a pressure kettle and start making weird goo noises while rubbing the fabric between her fingers like an old miser does a gold coin,” Ciar adds, holding the Water Fly globe.

As predicted I start making weird noises as I rub the edge of the Dragon Shell Silk between my fingers, and as I get to the fur selections I squeal again.

No matter how much I yell in my mind to stop or not do it, I still bring his predictions to fruition. How come I didn’t realize how well he knows me? Because I’m pretty sure he knows me better than I know me. That thought makes me smile so hard my face hurts.

After buying a couple of sleep sets and some dresses—I love dresses—we head on to the next booth. Looking back and forth between the two men I hide a smile.

Rime’s arms are full of packages now and Ciar is balancing the globe on top of a box and I’m about to add to it. This is what they get for being gentleman and carrying things for me. Rime is starting to grow on me after all.

After a few hours we’ve managed to work our way through all the booths and have finally hit the food vendors. About half way through Ciar runs out of room and rents a wagon to tote our things around. I say our because they end up buying things too.

Fairies cater to their customers exceedingly well and Fae males are a big part of that. Ciar picks up some shirts and a package he tucks away out of sight and Rime gets a leather jacket and some T-shirts, one of which is in a baby size.

“You know, after today you’re going back to your training schedule, I mean it this time too. All of these sweets are not good for you.”

Pausing I level a glare at Ciar. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

“Uhm.”

“You’re fucked now,” Rime says, laughing as he steps forward to order a sandwich.

“Here, have a roast sandwich, monster girl. You love those.” Ciar practically shoves the thing in my mouth.

After eating most of the sandwich, I feel bad enough to let him off the hook. “And you’re right, I do need to go back to training. I’m getting soft.” It’s nothing but the truth. Being here in this town has ruined the careful alertness I tailored in the forest.

Penelope snuck up on me. Speaking of her…

‘Leave it, monster girl.’ Ciar cautions, and since Rime is smiling and seems to be having fun—he’s right, for now I need to leave it.

And I’ll be darned if I don’t like him a little, and other parts of him a little more. My eyes slide down his chest to his stomach of their own accord, admiring the way he fills out his shirt. Mentally shaking myself I turn away.

What in the flipping world?

‘It’s the true bond calling you. Now that he’s here and away from the influence of that creature he is more relatable, it’s allowing the bond to be… natural.’

He paused when he said ‘natural’, which means that isn’t the first word he was going to use. I raise an eyebrow at him.

‘It allows your desire for him to manifest.’ He’s still hedging, so I push.

‘Still not the word you were going to use.’

‘Sexual. It allows the bond to be sexual.’ There it is.

‘Are you really okay with it doing that?’ I stare at him steadily, gauging the emotions as they cross his face the best I can. Which isn’t the greatest, but I can feel them too, which helps decipher the depth of them.

‘We’re Fae, monster girl. With Awakenings this is always a possibility and somehow Faerie balances that. The three of us form our own unique bonds that enable us to so freely share and possess you simultaneously.’

‘Still not sure how I feel about all of this possession and stuff.’ And I’m not. I’m perfectly aware that my attraction to Rime is part of the Triad business but not all of it, some of it is straight attraction. I look at him through my lashes.

He’s tall, almost dead even with Ciar’s six foot plus. He’s a bit bulkier than Ciar but not by much, they’re kind of like night and day side by side really. Ciar with his pitch-black hair and green eyes. Rime with his white hair and blue eyes. It’s like two sides of a coin, and that means one thing about the third.

He’ll be the monkey in the middle of these two.

Just the thought of both of them in my bed at the same time… the temperature of the air heats up suddenly and sweat breaks out on my upper lip and chest.

Fudge.

Ciar’s and Rime’s gaze turn to me at the exact same moment. Waving at them inanely, I turn my back on them to slurp on my drink and try to think about things that don’t involve nudity.

What the heck is wrong with me? I barely tolerated Rime yesterday and now I keep picturing him naked.

‘The bond is giving you a nudge, but I promise you that your feelings are genuine too, monster girl. So, don’t second guess the shit out of yourself like you’re likely to do.’

“Let’s ride the mini-coaster,” I offer, heading towards it without looking back.

My luck, the seats hold three and I’m squished in between the two hard muscled bodies that I want to—gods, stop it, Keri!

After the uncomfortable ride—that took ten years—on the coaster I plop down at a table and proceed to pout. Yes, pout. I’m woman enough to admit I do it. Rime sits across from me and Ciar beside me.

Linking his hands in front of him, Rime leans forward and pins me with those ice blue eyes that my heart—the traitorous thing—uses an excuse to beat fast.

“I’m sorry that I brought that mess to your home and I wanted to thank you for still allowing me to come there.” Mentioning the mess that is his wife instantly cools my hormones, thank the gods. “Everything is just moving so fast and I thought that you were going to force me to give up my life. It helps that Ciar told me about the bond too. I had no idea that—” He’s moving before I can blink, and then Ciar pulls me to the side as an ice barrier pops up in the space my head previously occupied. An arrow, vibrating with magic, is stuck in the ice.

“Are you flipping kidding me?” I blurt out from where I’m laying under Ciar. How he managed to get me under him on the ground I have no idea, but he did.

“These assassination attempts are becoming tedious. It’s time to do things my way now, monster girl.”

“Which is different how?” I snap out, not mad at him but the entire situation.

“Instead of making yourself a target because you won’t do anything to protect yourself, I’m going to make an offensive move. They aren’t magically protected from my gaze, this time.” Somehow, he’s on his feet and I see the monster he keeps contained under the skin shift and push against his hold.

Am I wrong for thinking that’s attractive? Because I do.

Then he moves, and a shiver skitters down my spine. The Lord of the Hunt is Hunting. Definitely hot—seriously—like, if we were at home right now there’d be nudity and the tongue thing.

“Are you turned on by that?” Rime asks, offering a hand to help me up.

How does he possibly know that? “Uh, maybe?”

He laughs. “I felt it, does that mean the bond is forming now?”

Taking my mind out of the gutter, with effort, I look at the bond between us and the thread is indeed darkening and starting to pulse with life.

“Once we do a blood bonding—” He grabs my hand and then there’s a knife in his hand that he uses—without permission I might add—to unceremoniously cut the tip of my finger. To further this violation he then sticks my finger in his mouth. Before I can rail at him for being rude, I feel my blood hit his tongue. Heat flushes through my body, intense and aching, and making me think about things that I shouldn’t be right now. Against my will I moan from the force of it.

“You could’ve picked a better time for this.” I hear Ciar say. He’s so far away in that tunnel, but then his warm arms are around me and the inebriation is starting to dim a bit. “I’m here, monster girl with Frosty the Idiot who decided to start your bond at a picnic table in public, right after someone tried to shoot you in the back of the head with a magically charmed arrow.”

“Wow that was a mouthful… speaking of mouthful,” giggle, “When we get back to the house…” another drunken giggle follows. Gods, is that me talking? “I’m toooootally doing the tongue thing.” Holy meatballs that’s awful. I sound like I swam in a lake of wine and drank half of it. I can’t have this.

Gritting my teeth until I taste blood I force myself out of the haze that’s from the bond forming. Without asking first, I might add. The one good thing about it right now is, Rime isn’t any better off than I am. He’s sitting on the ground across from me, a dumbfounded look on his face as he stares at me.

“That’s what a real bond feels like, Frosty. Now compare the two and tell me which one is true,” Ciar chastises, lifting me into his arms.

He walks over to Rime and pulls him to his feet. With as much warning as Rime gave me, he grabs Rime’s hand and using a claw, cuts open the thumb on his right hand and shoves it in my mouth.

Instinctually I suck and, once I get past the metallic taste I discover that his blood tastes like the snow I used to eat in the winter. All fluffy and fat flakes that are soft enough to make into a ball but not stay that way. My stomach lurches and my head spins and for a moment I’m inside him. His shock at my intrusion and exchange of memories—because I can feel him rooting around in my head too—I find the source of his shame and guilt concerning Penelope.

“Gods you idiot.” I mutter, resting my head against Ciar’s shoulder. Wait a minute, “Ciar, you took advantage to finish the bond.”

He kisses my forehead and tucks me closer to his chest. “Of course, I did. Come on, I think its time to go home.” I peek at Rime over Ciar’s shoulder as we walk towards home, me being carried like a baby because I’m pretty sure that my legs are made from water and won’t hold me.

Rime is staggering side to side behind us but still managing to move forward. The handle to the wagon in his hand doing the zigzags with him on the sidewalk. The blue that’s normally in his eyes is gone and those frozen orbs are on me the entire way home.

All my sappy butt can think is, aw that’s sweet, he didn’t forget my prizes.