Eve Langlais (18 page)

“Natasha!” exclaimed their mother.

His sister scowled. “Mother, you know I like Nat better.”

Hunter laughed mockingly. “Yeah, Natasha. Better be good.”

A hard punch in the arm was her reply, and Hunter howled even louder. Thankfully, he’d gotten a lot bigger over the years and could now handle her sisterly love.

“Thanks for coming, Nat. I really appreciate it. Keep them safe.”

“Too easy,” scoffed his sister. “Now get out of here before you start getting all maudlin on me.”

After giving his mother a long hug and a quick one for his sister—long hugs always got hard love taps—Hunter strode out the door. With any luck, he’d be back with Jared in a few days. Then, once he’d taken care of the Dragon, he could start wooing Suzie. Translation: taking up where he’d left off.

But first things first
, he thought as he mentally dropped in hunter mode.
Time to catch myself a Dragon.

68

When Suzie woke next—yes, she’d finally fallen asleep—Jessica had disappeared. Suzie jumped up in a panic and threw on the blue dress before running out of the room only to run smack dab into a wall—

er, someone. Suzie bounced back and stared up, and up some more, at the most striking woman she’d ever seen. Talk about an Amazon queen. This broad had to be over six feet with tightly braided blonde hair and a toned physique that would make most bodybuilders envious. This vicious looking Valkyrie had a sword strapped to her side and tapped a black boot on the floor as she looked Suzie up and down.

Just a tad intimidating.

“So, you’re the mundane, are you?” said the Amazon beauty.

Geez, apparently beauty and strength didn’t equate manners. “My name is Suzie, thank you very much, and you are?” Suzie answered in a waspish tone.

A full-throated chuckle came bubbling out of the giant blonde. “I’m Nat, Hunter’s sister. Your bodyguard till he comes back. Nice to see you’re not some wilting lily.”

This blonde Viking is Hunter’s sister? Holy crap.
How the hell did Beverly, Hunter’s tiny mom, create such big
children? Maybe their father is part giant.

“Where’s Jessica?” Suzie asked, looking up and down the hall for her, suddenly remembering her reason for rushing out.

“Having breakfast with my mother. Come, I’ll take you to her.”

Nat turned and strode down the hall. Suzie fell in behind her, a little intimidated by her surroundings and Hunter’s larger than life sister.

Conversation was impossible with the pace Nat set. It was all Suzie could do not to run to catch up to her. Nat walked like a man, dressed like a man, talked like a man.
Gee, is someone fighting their feminine
side?

They arrived in the dining room with Suzie huffing a bit. She smiled when she saw Jessica sitting there eating, dolly tucked under one arm, talking animatedly with Hunter’s mom, who deftly avoided the food that flew out of Jessica’s mouth.

“Mommy,” Jessica sprayed when she saw Suzie.

“Hello, baby,” said Suzie, kissing the top of her head before taking a seat beside her.

“Gonna see a horsy!”

“You are?” said Suzie, arching a brow in Beverly’s direction.

“If you don’t mind, we were going to teach her to ride a horse. We’ve got a very docile mare that has been the starter horse for many a child around here.”

“Sure,” said Suzie. Hard to believe the Realm had managed to stay so rustic. After all, come on, horses? Weren’t they tall, smelly things that pooped? Ooh, tons of fun. But Jessica seemed pretty excited.

“And Nat says she’s gonna show me how to ‘fend myself so no bad guys hurt me.”

Suzie winced. Maybe Nat could be persuaded to give her lessons, too. It would surely be better than getting the crap beaten out of her if there was a next time.

With Jessica jabbering, Suzie ate her breakfast while checking out the room around her.

Floor to ceiling pale wood paneling graced the elegant room, each panel carved with a flowery motif linked together with leaves and vines. High above her head hung a huge crystal chandelier with short, fat candles. The table itself could have seated about thirty people. It stretched that long. All in all, an impressive display of wealth, which made Suzie feel completely out of place. Personally, she preferred her homey, dented wooden table and mismatched chairs. Oh, and don’t forget the cartoon place mats.

They finished their breakfast and she washed off Jessica’s face before they followed the freakishly tall Nat out to the stables where a stable boy led out a very big horse.

Suzie looked up at the creature and then eyed her little daughter.

69

“Um, are you sure this is a good idea?” she questioned Nat nervously.

Nat just grinned and slapped the horse on the rump, who to its credit, didn’t even flinch. “Oh, old Betsy here’s a peach. Little Jessie will be fine.”

Suzie arched a brow. Jessie. When had her daughter acquired a nickname? Jessie, aka Jessica, grinned from ear to ear and paid avid attention to the instructions Nat gave her. Then, Nat swung Jessica up high onto the saddle and admonished her to hold on tight. Suzie closed her eyes as Nat led the horse out into the paddock near the barn.

Please don’t fall
, she prayed. Suzie heard a squeal and quickly opened her eyes, fearing the worst. But Jessica had only squealed in delight. Suzie watched her daughter, reins held tight in her chubby fist as the horse plodded along more slowly than a snail around the paddock area.

Suzie felt her body ease as she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her little girl was riding a horse, and even better, hadn’t fallen off. Kind of cool. Not that Suzie had any intention of trying, herself. She wandered close to the railing and watched, smiling at her daughter’s delight. A rustle beside her showed Beverly standing there, smiling at her Amazon daughter and Jessica.

“Your daughter’s a natural.”

“If you say so. Does everyone ride a horse around here? Don’t you have any other means of transportation?” asked Suzie.

“Horses are used for long distances usually. Most people either walk, or if you’re lucky enough to have a wizard, teleport.”

“Teleport like in
Star Trek
right?”

Beverly gave her a puzzled look. Oops, Suzie forgot, no television. She changed the subject.

“I’ve been thinking about this whole boundary thing and stuff. But I still don’t understand. You said the Realm was comprised of a continent and some other places, but how come they’re not on any maps?

I mean, we’ve got ships crossing the oceans every day and satellites and stuff. It’s impossible.”

“Not impossible, dear, invisible. The spell the thirteen wove was extremely powerful. Not only is the Realm contained behind the boundary, it’s invisible to all outside of it.”

“But still, don’t you think we’d have noticed a great big invisible island in the middle of the ocean?”

“A true spell of invisibility means objects pass through the spelled area without having noticed a thing,” Beverly explained.

“If you say so.” Suzie still had her doubts about it all. But curiosity nagged her. “Do you really have wizards and stuff here?”

“Oh yes, and sorceresses, the female equivalent. Most, although not all, humans in the Realm have some kind of special ability, extra senses, shape-shifting abilities or psychic abilities. We also have a whole host of magical creatures, too, not seen in your world since the split. Like unicorns, ogres, mermaids, pixies, goblins—”

“Goblins!” exclaimed Suzie, laughing. Well, that explained Hunter’s startling leap over the fence when they’d first met.

“Yes, goblins. Although, I’ve never heard anyone laugh when hearing their name before.”

Suzie quickly told her the story of how she’d met Hunter, and soon Beverly joined in her laughter.

“Oh my,” she said, her face sparkling with humor. “What a fabulous story of your first meeting. I have to say, I’d given up all hope on him settling down till I met you.”

Suzie suddenly felt tongue tied. Hunter had never talked about settling down really with her. After all, they hadn’t even officially gone on a date yet. Although, she had let him get to second base. Bad girl!

Beverly went on as if she hadn’t noticed Suzie’s loss of speech. “Hunter’s always been a little wild, in a disciplined way, though. His father’s influence. The mischief he and his sister used to get into.” She smiled fondly in memory. “I remember the time his father told him he was too young to go hunting with them. We had a wild boar in the woods causing trouble. Well, Hunter, he must have been about nine, decided to prove his father wrong. So he snuck out before the crack of dawn into the woods, 70

determined to show us all he was a man. He tracked the beast, and when he found it, climbed a tree.

Well, his sister, who was only seven, had apparently decided she’d show her father she was better than him, too. Turns out she was already in the tree Hunter climbed in. Depending on who you believe, Hunter fell out of the tree or Nat pushed him. Either way, when he fell, he happened to land on the boar, who chose that moment to charge the clearing below them. Well, you never saw such a scary or hilarious site as Hunter riding that boar right up to the castle where the poor beast just collapsed, exhausted. The look on his father’s face was just priceless, and little miss Nat, who’d come running home, was just spitting mad.”

“Why was she mad?” Suzie had to ask.

“Says it wasn’t fair Hunter had gotten to ride the boar and she hadn’t.” The two women looked at each other and burst into laughter. Nat, hearing them, looked at them with a scowl, and Suzie and Nat’s mom just howled louder.

“Oh my,” said Beverly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I hadn’t thought of that in years. Just an example of the competitiveness between the two.”

“You only have the two kids?”

“Yes,” Beverly said sadly. “I would have loved to have more children, but unfortunately, my body just wasn’t made for it. I tried to find some healers in the hopes of fixing the problem, but some things just can’t be healed. But enough of my sad story. What about you? Will you have more children?”

Good question. “I don’t know,” said Suzie truthfully. “I guess if I met the right man, I would. Being a mom is totally awesome, even when it hurts sometimes,” she said sadly, thinking of Jared.

As if reading her mind, Beverly hugged her. “Your boy will come back to you safe and sound. You’ll see. Hunter will rescue him.”

“I wish I had your faith,” Suzie said. Although, if she’d had to wager, she’d have bet on Hunter.

“I think you’re little girl is done with her horseback lessons. Do you mind if I take her to the gardens? She quite loved them yesterday.”

“Sure,” said Suzie.

Nat swung Jessica off Betsy the horse, and Jessica came running, Nat following behind.

“Mommy, did ya see me?” she asked, her face glowing.

“I sure did. You’re just like a cowgirl now.”

Jessica pranced up and down, yelling “yee-haw!” Nat looked at her with an odd expression on her face.

Beverly said, “You used to be that young, too, once, my daughter, and just as loud. Although, you tended to wear a lot less clothes. Naked as a wood nymph until you were almost four.”

Suzie almost giggled at the statuesque Nat till she saw the crimson blush on her cheeks. Might not be a good idea to laugh at her giant bodyguard. Somehow, she didn’t think Nat took teasing sitting down.

Beverly took Jessica’s hand who skipped along with Beverly, who believe it or not, skipped with her too, while Nat and Suzie followed along behind.

“Your mom is a hoot,” said Suzie, watching them.

“I am assuming you mean entertaining and somewhat nutty. Then yes, she is. I take it she’s been regaling you with embarrassing moments from our childhood.”

“Somewhat,” said Suzie, hiding a smile.

“It was tough being a girl growing up. My mother wanted me to do womanly things, but all I wanted to do was learn like the boys. It took me years to get my father to recognize that my talents were as good, and even better, than the boys. Even now, he still doesn’t treat me like I’m equal to them,” said Nat bitterly.

Suzie listened, surprised at Nat’s candor. She wouldn’t have taken her for the talkative sort.

“Why are you telling me this?” asked Suzie.

71

“My father is very set in his ways. Especially where his son is concerned. You’d better be careful.”

“Careful of what?” Suzie asked, perplexed.

“My dear father, the commander, will never allow his son and heir to marry a mundane. No offense to you, you seem a lot more decent than a lot of the ladies I’ve seen him with. But our father has ideas on who Hunter should settle down with, and the mundane mother of a pair of out of wedlock children won’t be his idea of a proper wife.”

“Whoa. Who said anything about me marrying Hunter? Hell, we haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

And who cared what Hunter’s father thought? Wasn’t it up to Suzie and Hunter what happened?

Nat snorted. “Oh please, my brother’s interest in you is plain to anybody with eyes. I never thought I’d see the day he’d go all sappy over a woman.”

“We’re attracted to each other. That’s it. I don’t even know if I want to get married. I was involved in one bad relationship. I don’t know if I’m ready to the take the chance yet on another.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to preach. Personally, I don’t care one way or another. I think you’d make for an interesting sister–in-law. You need a little toughening up, but your daughter is pretty nice, and that’s usually a good indicator.”

“Thanks.” Suzie had the feeling Nat wasn’t the type to give out compliments often.

“Besides, the look on the commander’s face if Hunter told him he was marrying you would be so worth it!”

Ouch, that wasn’t as nice.

Suzie followed Nat into a vast garden around the side of the castle and stopped dead when she saw her daughter sitting on the grass giggling as little winged creatures flew around her, dropping flower blossoms.

Wow! Real pixies. Entranced, Suzie sat down beside her daughter and listened as Beverly gave them a lesson on pixies.