“I don’t know”, Landis answered, dropping his head in his hands. “I don’t know that I can protect you here, and it may be better if I take you back to Earth.”

  I felt immediate relief that we could return home, happy to leave this strange realm, but a twinge in my gut made me look at Landis, his head still bowed, and something in me wanted to help him.

  No one reacted outwardly, although I guessed that almost all of us would be relieved to go home, but a part of me rejected that idea.

  “If you leave the palace again, would that give your enemies the opportunity to move against you even more? Put your position more at risk”, Raife questioned.

  “That would very likely happen, yes, but I brought you here and it is my responsibility to protect you, which means taking you back to Earth.”

  I know that my mates wanted this to be my call, for me to decide what did or didn’t happen with Landis, but I looked to both of them anyway.

  “We’re not going anywhere today, Landis, and not tomorrow either, but we will discuss it together. You saved us on earth. If you had not arrived when you did, my mates and I would have been killed. We owe you, and if we can help you in return, we will.”

  Landis caught my eyes with his, the emerald green burning brightly against his pale skin, and he dipped his chin in recognition of my offer.

  Dallas looped his arm around my back and scooped me into his lap, nuzzling into my neck as a rumble started in his chest. I leaned back against his broad chest, loving the vibration as he kissed my jaw and cheek.

  “Perhaps there is somewhere on the grounds that we could train in private Landis? You may be able to help Jules with her Fae abilities”, Raife inquired.

  Landis directed his comments to me, “what abilities do you have from your Fae mother?”

  I just shrugged my shoulders, “no idea”.

  Landis just continued looking at me, then stood and walked to the door.

  “I will return for you this afternoon.”

  Later that afternoon we were gathered in a small clearing, surrounded by majestic trees and far from the sight of the palace. Landis told us that no one would come here and we would be safe from any onlookers or spies. He’d left his guard to keep watch on the trail we’d taken to get here and assured us that they were trustworthy.

  Jay and Ren shifted and set off into the woods, quickly disappearing under the dense foliage.

  “So, Landis, what types of abilities do Fae typically have? If you tell us, I can say if I possess any so that you may be able to help me.”

  “Well, we are typically quite strong, and fast, though I’m not sure how we compare to your mates in that regard. Most Fae have the ability to alter other’s minds to varying degrees, from small suggestions up to complete paralysis.”

  “Paralysis, what the fuck does that mean?”

  Landon arched a brow at my tone, but answered anyway.

  “Not physically of course, but mentally I am able to take control of someone’s mind to the point where they are unable to move.”

  I snorted and gave him back my own incredulous look.

  “I need to see this.”

  Trey stepped forward and volunteered to be the guinea pig for this demonstration, and within seconds he was unable to move or speak, even when Raife ordered him to, until Landis released him.

  “Okay, try it on me”, I said, taking a step forward.

  Dallas started to object, but I waved him back.

  “No, I want him to, I’d like to see what it feels like so I can try for myself. Really Landis, it’s okay. Just go for it.”

  “I don’t know how you’re doing this”, Landis looked confused. “How are you blocking my control?”

  “You mean you’re trying? I don’t feel a thing.”

  Raife looked back and forth between the two of us as a small smile worked its way onto his face.“It would seem that your mental shields are impenetrable, Jules.”

  “That should be impossible”, Landis stated, looking decidedly unhappy. “I’ve never met anyone able to withstand my mental attack.”

  “Okay, so if I can’t feel it, then how can I learn how to do it myself?”

  “I can attempt to teach you, it’s not necessary for you to feel the result to learn it.”

  I nodded my acceptance and Landis stood directly in front of me, reaching out to lift my chin with one finger. I gazed into the emerald green pools of his eyes.

  “To reach into another’s mind, you need to make a suggestion in your own mind, then picture that suggestion being placed into the mind of someone else. You begin gently, just a subtle probe, and see if it works, before you try a more intrusive attempt. So, you can think of something benign and attempt to slip it into one of your mate’s minds without saying who it is, and we’ll see how you do.”

  Without taking my gaze from Landis, I pictured Dallas, a warm smile upon his face, and as I thought of my mate, I mentally pictured myself sending that thought directly to his mind.

  I glanced at Dallas as his lips quirked up and that same smile I’d envisioned, now graced his face. He reached out and snatched me into his chest, lifting me off my feet.

  “That was fucking amazing love. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.”

  “Did you let me in? Did you make it easy for me?”

  Dallas just squeezed me tighter. “No.”

  Raife just grinned at the two of us, but Landis still looked concerned.

  “What is it Landis, what did I do wrong?”

  “I don’t know how you did that so easily. As Fae, we begin to learn mind control and mind shields at a young age, but it still normally takes up to a full year for many to achieve what you just did.”

  “When I worked with Jules on shielding her mind, she effectively blocked me the first time”, Raife informed Landis. “Her mind control appears to be beyond anything that I’ve ever experienced.”

  “Well, perhaps we try again, and this time you attempt to block her from your mind.”

  Raife and Dallas both nodded, and Landis just motioned for me to try again.

  This time I formed a picture in my mind of Raife kissing me in a passionate embrace, just the thought making me squeeze my thighs together. Just as Landis had said, I gently pushed the thought at Raife, but getting no result. I pictured a pathway to Raife’s mind, and my thought sliding along it, but still nothing. Finally, I pictured the same pathway, but this time my thought was speeding with intensity toward Raife.

  He took two big steps toward me and yanked me into his arms, his hand diving into my hair to angle my head for his kiss as his other arm gripped my waist, pulling me into his hard body. He claimed my mouth with a possessiveness that made my heart beat madly and my knees buckle.

  When he finally let me up for air, I had a huge smile on my face.

  “That was fun!”

  Dallas grinned at the both of us, but Landis still looked shocked.

  “I have no idea how this could be possible.”

  “None of us do, but clearly it is possible…for her.”

  I contemplated what I could try and have Landis do with my newfound mind manipulation, and a part of me really wanted to have him do something humiliating, for payback, but the more mature part of me won out and I opted for something smaller. I sent a suggestion to Landis’ mind, that he owed Dallas an apology about the whole lack of clothes parade through town, and I waited.

  Taking a step toward Dallas, Landis offered his hand. “Please accept my apology for my behavior when you arrived. It was petty of me to not offer you clothes, and I regret it.”

  Dallas looked surprised as he took Landis’ hand, and he turned to me, a brow raised in question.

  I just smirked at him and waited to see what Landis said.

  “I recognized your suggestion and I went with it, because you are right, an apology was in order. Thank you Jules.”

  “Well fuck, now you’re being all reasonable and shit, so I can’t even gloat about it”, I dropped my hands in mock exasperation.

  Raife barked out a laugh and pulled me into his side, kissing my cheek.

  “Sorry?” Landis stated it as a question while his lip tipped up in the tiniest grin.

  “So, Lan, if I can put suggestions into people’s minds, can I put words into their heads the same way?”

  “Lan?”

  “Yeah, just go with it.”

  “I don’t know if that is possible, I’m not sure if it’s been tried before.”

  I clapped my hands together, excited to try. “Okay, well I’m sure as shit gonna give it a try.”

  I smiled at Dallas, picturing a sentence in my head and sent it off to him, anxious to see if he got my message.

  He smiled back at me, “I love you too”.

  I may have squealed a bit in excitement. “This is so cool!”

  Landis looked back and forth between us, obviously waiting for an explanation. I ignored him before sending the same message to Raife and grinning when he dazzled me with his smile, message received. Landis did not look pleased that he was being left out of the loop, but he could just cool his heels for a while. How long had he left us sitting in that damn room, waiting for him!

  Next I tried sending them a message at the same time, should we tell Landis or just leave him hanging?

  Dallas laughed loudly while Raife chuckled and I grinned at them both. This was the most fun I’d had since we were abducted!

  The next thought in my head I sent right to them. He really can be a dick so I say we don’t let him in on our secret, that way we can say things behind his back.

  Dallas tipped his chin, his eyes lighting up with the fun we were having and then, surprising me, Raife sent me a message in my head, making me jerk a bit. We probably should tell him at some point, but not yet.

  Feeling lighter than I had in days, I asked Landis, “Is there anything else you can show me that I might be able to try?”

  “I don’t know that I should show you more, at the rate you learn, you’ll be running my kingdom by tomorrow.”

  “Aw, come on Lan, show me some more Fae magic, I promise not to overthrow your kingdom.”

  He cocked a brow at me, the green of his eyes darkening, and I swear I could feel him trying to get into my mind. Just to show him I knew what he was up to, I pushed out from my shields and the pressure he was exerting vanished.

  “So, most Fae have a connection to nature, it’s just part of who we are, and for most, it is stronger in one area than in others. For instance, if your strength is from the earth, you can facilitate the growth of plants, or if it’s water, you could most likely be able to move water with your mind. The same for air or fire. You just have to discover where your connection lies.”

  Raife, Dallas and I looked at each other. Well now, we knew where my wind and fire came from, but I was curious about the other two also. Maybe I had some connection to earth and water as well.

  “So, how do I go about testing my connection to earth, for example?”

  “A beginning lesson would be done by just sinking your hands into the earth and then letting yourself feel the connection before asking for instance to encourage a plant to grow.”

  I sat down immediately and pushed my fingers into the earth, letting the smell fill my nostrils as the cool dampness of it covered my hands. A tingle that I had come to recognize as my power ran through my fingers and I quickly brought a picture to mind…of daisies. They were such happy flowers it had to make you smile when you saw them.

  Around my hands green shoots began to emerge from the ground, quickly growing to a foot tall with their buds opening to reveal their happy faces! A circle of daisies surrounded me where I sat on the ground and I quickly pulled my hands from the dirt not wanting the daisies to overwhelm the area.

  Dallas and Raife beamed at me, while Landis still looked like he was confused as fuck.

  “You might want to close your mouth Lan, you never know what might fly in there.”

  He snapped his mouth shut and glared at me. “Who taught you this? Who have you been speaking with?”

  “What the fuck are you on about? We’ve been locked in a fucking room since we got here, and you of all people should know that!”

  “Well, obviously you’ve been meeting with someone, because what you did is not possible. No one does what you just did on their first try, so don’t lie to me. Are you meeting with my enemies possibly behind my back? Are they trying to persuade you to join them?”

  “You fucking asshole! Ask your guards who's been in our room you piece of shit! If your enemies had gotten to me, don’t you think it would be to kill me you dumbass. I don’t care if other people can’t do what I can, that’s not my problem. You are my problem, you arrogant, self righteous, pompous dick! And you probably have a small one too!”

  Before I let my anger out anymore, I turned and marched back down the trail to the palace, Raife and Dallas right behind me.

  I heard Raife say to Landis, “You better give her some time”.

  Prince fucking piece of shit, I muttered to myself as I stomped down the trail.

  I stormed right past Landis’ guards, my wind swirling around me, blowing everyone’s hair about, but I was way too far gone to give a fuck.

  Dallas was directly behind me, and I purposely enclosed him in my wind bubble with me, reaching behind with my hand to take his.

  We approached the back of the castle where a large fountain sat in the center of a courtyard and I pulled Dallas along with me. At the fountain I just dove my hand into the water and sent a torrent of water straight into the air, not stopping until it had reached a tremendous height before letting it cascade back to earth.

  I then raised the same hand into the air and flipped off Landis before heading into the palace with my mates.

  Chapter forty-four

  Raife

  Sounds in the palace hallway awoke me, and judging by the deep darkness outside, it was the middle of the night. I sat up in bed, not wanting to disturb my mates and quietly opened the door, moving quickly to the large common room.

  The muffled sounds coming from the hallway on the other side of the massive doors were as familiar to me as they were unexpected. Though it had been many years since I’d heard the sound of men fighting with swords, it wasn’t easily forgotten. The clash of steel, the grunts of exertion from men swinging the heavy swords, the thud of bodies and the gasps of pain followed by the splash of blood on the floor.

  The hallway was filled with those sounds as well as the cries of alarm, and the heavy footfall of booted feet running on marble floors.

  I quickly called out to awaken the others, “The palace is under attack!”

  Trey was at my side in an instant, Ren and Jay right behind him as Dallas and Jules came running from the bedroom.

  “The guards are under attack right outside the door. Do we take our chances and fight our way out now, or wait and see if the fight moves away from the door, then get out of the castle?”

  I looked to Dallas for his opinion, knowing that he could hear the swordplay in the hallway.

  “They’re still fighting now, so we know that some of Landis’ guards are still out there. If we wait, they may be killed and we’ll face more of his enemies. I think we should go now.”

  “I agree”, Jules nodded.

  We all quickly donned heavy boots, now that Dallas had a pair that actually fit him.

  “The door is still locked, Raife”, Jules looked to me.

  “I say you blast it down sweetheart”, I said, giving her a grin.

  Our group approached the doors, Jules in the middle and we stopped about ten feet from the heavy wooden doors. Jules lifted her hands and aimed a wide swath of air at the doors, blowing them apart in one blast! Splinters of wood shot down the hallway with straps of metal that used to be hinges as what remained of the doors dangled from the walls.

  The ten or so men in the hallway all stood frozen, shocked looks on their faces as we emerged from the decimated doorway.

  Trey and I quickly picked up swords from the floor, belonging to those who had fallen, before running into the battle. Dallas was at Jules' side as we worked our way through the halls with Landis’ remaining guards falling in behind us.

  The hallway ahead was clear but the sound of running could be heard ahead, coming from the direction we were headed. Our group closed in tighter around Jules just as fifteen or more Fae came around the corner where we needed to go to get out the back of the palace.

  Jules hit them with a blast of air low, taking their legs out from under them before sending them tumbling down the hallway. We all sprinted around the corner and headed for the door to outside, rushing through the courtyard and racing toward the trees.

  The only place I could think to possibly meet up with Landis was the small clearing he’d taken us to earlier today. If he was right and it was truly private, hopefully he would try to get here to meet us.

  We waited in the trees at the edge of the clearing, staying hidden in the darkness. The sounds of battle at the palace still echoed, though muffled, but for the shrieks of agony as someone fell. Jules gripped her hands tightly before her, concern etched across her face, as she knew all too well what those still in the palace were facing. In her short time in our world, she’d already faced too many battles herself.

  Dallas leaned in on my other side, speaking softly, “How long do you want to wait here?”

  “When we hear the fighting dying down, we should move, before anyone is sent to secure a perimeter around the palace”, I answered.

  “It doesn’t feel right to just leave him here”, Jules whispered, her voice trembling with emotion.

  “We have no way to find him, or to even have any idea what’s happening back there”, I answered. “I know that you don’t want to abandon him, but we can’t run back into a fight blindly.”

  Dallas pulled Jules into his side, squeezing her tightly as he kissed her temple.

  “We’ll help him in every way we can love, just don’t ask us to put your life in jeopardy to do it. I won’t do that.”

  As we waited, the sounds from the palace lessened, the screams sporadically filled the air, and the faint sound of footsteps on the trail could be heard. Two of Landis’ guards entered the clearing, scanning the area before more guards followed, Landis himself in their midst as the group stopped, completely surrounding him.