To Wed The Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 2) Page 3

  “We thought this was the perfect way to celebrate your being home,” Mom said.

  This isn’t forever, Mom! I wanted to shout. Instead, I smiled. “Smells awesome.”

  “Dig in,” Dad handed me a plate that had two fresh waffles on it. “Don’t want it getting cold.”

  I kept the smile on even though my heart ached. How could a person feel all this at once? I was so glad to be here with a mom who was healthy. I’d wished for Mom like this for the past year—healthy, laughing, still part of my life and future. But part of me cried out to be with Brennan.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

  After breakfast, we cleaned up the kitchen together. No one mentioned my ring. I could see both of them notice it, though. I felt better and worse. I wanted it out in the open, and I also wanted to avoid a fight. This was more like what I remembered, the three of us working as a team. They left the subject of Brennan alone, focusing on discussing some improvements they wanted to make on Sorcha, our boat, a Hylas 49 we used to live on until Mom had to be closer to her doctors.

  Everyone was acting as though they were on their best behavior. That felt…wrong. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Why did it feel this way?

  Was it because of Brennan? Even though the guy wasn’t even here?

  That uncomfortable thought lingered at the back of my head as we made plans to go down to Sorcha. My mom hadn’t been out on her in ages, and I could tell she was itching to be on the water.

  “Why don’t we walk to the marina?” Dad asked, holding out his hand to Mom, his eyes shining.

  “Love to,” she said.

  The way they looked at one another, the love and relief and happiness that I saw between them, wiped out all the negative I’d been feeling and even dulled how much I missed Brennan for a bit. It was worth it, whatever happened, to see my parents happy like this again. It was all worth it.

  “Well, come on, lazybones,” Mom teased..

  “Just because you’re all sorts of well again, don’t be getting sassy,” I teased her back. “Let me grab my shoes and let’s go.” I got up from where I still sat.

  Feeling happier than I had since Brennan poofed his way out of here, I hurried to join them. We laughed and talked all the way to the marina and as we hit the docks, I inhaled deeply.

  “I love the marina smells,” I said.

  “You always did, weirdo,” my dad ruffled my hair. “I smell fish and diesel and boat stink.”

  “You have no appreciation of the whole experience,” I said, sticking my nose in the air. “It’s all part of the wonder.”

  “Stop it, you two,” Mom interjected. “As usual, ruining my good time.”

  We all laughed. In that moment, it felt we’d never left the boat, never dealt with cancer. That the entire past year hadn’t happened.

  As we got closer to Sorcha’s slip, I could see someone standing near the bow.

  “Oh, look! We’ve got company!” My mom raised her hand in a wave.

  “Who would be visiting?” I asked as my heart leapt to Brennan. Would he actually come early? We’d talked about meeting in the evenings when he could. I had the mirror, I could contact him. Maybe he’d decided he wanted to see where I’d spent the greater part of my life, and—

  “Hey, Heath, good to see you!” My dad practically boomed.

  What. In. The. Hell?

  Brennan would be pissed. But not as pissed as I was right now.

  Chapter Four

  Brennan

  He rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry, Drake. I wasn’t paying as close attention as I ought to be.”

  Drake crossed his arms and glared. “You have got to stop worrying about her. She’s going to be fine. You’re letting her do what she needs to, and you need to do the same, Bren.”

  Brennan stood, and went to the window. From there, he could see the village that housed many of the goblins who worked in the castle—those who didn’t actually live in the castle. The village lay sleepily in the afternoon light, no sign of turmoil visible.

  But turmoil lurked beneath that quiet exterior. His steward, Broomor, had done more investigating into the fallen from the ambush in the glade. The glade. Where all this had begun. He and Drake had been out in the Realm when they stopped for lunch in one of their favorite glades. Just as they had dismounted, a horde of goblins attacked them. They’d managed to kill them all, and then Cian appeared, demanding that Brennan surrender to him. Of course he’d refused, and Cian sent he and Drake into the Human Realm. Where they met, by accident, Iris.

  He would be forever grateful that he and Iris met, but Brennan would have preferred that so many of his goblins hadn’t died right beforehand. Broomor discovered that a number of the fallen goblins had lived in the village, had worked at one time or another within the castle walls.

  Maybe safety lay in allowing Iris to remain in the Human Realm, if he couldn’t provide for her security even within the walls of his home. How could he keep her safe? How could he—

  “Brennan! Stop!” Drake stood in front of him.

  “Stop what?” He asked, stalling for time to rid himself of images of all the ways Iris could be hurt. She was so human. So frail!

  “Stop mooning over your human! Do you think I don’t know you well enough to know what’s going onin that head of yours?”

  “You know nothing, Drake,” Brennan answered, the irritation he’d been feeling since he’d left Iris spilling over. “What do you know of loving someone whom you cannot protect? Who is determined to put themselves in the worst possible situation, no matter what you do? Who—” He broke off as he saw the spasm of pain cross Drake’s features, remembering that he and Iris had talked about this, Iris at length.

  Ailla. Iris spoke with conviction about the fact that Drake loved Ailla. Brennan had thought so, but as time passed and Drake said nothing about her—other than looking for a way to defeat her, her father, and Cian—he began to feel less sure. The look he’d seen on Drake’s face said otherwise.

  He’d have to tell Iris she had been right. The thought gave him a headache.

  “You’re right. I’m forgetting myself. I meant no disrespect, Brother,” He clapped a hand on Drake’s shoulder, not willing to pry into the pain he’d seen, but not willing to let his own gaffe slip by. “We all have those we love at stake in this. Accept my apologies.”

  “She’s been good for something then, if she can encourage his lordship to actually apologize to the help,” Drake muttered, the corners of his mouth tipping upward.

  Brennan knew the moment had passed, and he felt grateful. Drake’s feelings for Ailla were not anything he wanted to delve into at this point. Not until it was all over, one way or another. He feared it wouldn’t end well for Drake even with Ailla’s plans exposed, and that made him hurt for his brother. But it couldn’t be helped. Cian and Ailla must be stopped. Whatever the plans of the Dragon Realm, they must be stopped.

  He would not allow war to tear apart his kingdom and the lives of all he loved. He’d managed for nearly seven hundred years without allowing anything to permanently impact his realm. He’d continue until Iris dealt with her parents and joined him here, where she belonged.

  At the thought of Iris, he felt a warmth spread through him. She made him feel…he couldn’t describe it. He felt something that he’d never felt, never thought he’d feel. The warmth cut off quickly, replaced by a strong feeling of anger.

  Why would he be angry thinking of her? Stop, he told himself. You have got to cease this. Your kingdom has need of you. He reluctantly pushed the thought of Iris and their future together aside, even though that future was on hold because she insisted on being away from him, and turned his attention to Drake.

  “It’s fine,” Drake grumbled. “Now tell me, your lordship, how are we to ferret out what Cian has planned?”

  Brennan grinned. His gaffe had been forgiven, his apology accepted. Drake grinned in response, and Brennan could see something wild, almost feral in his brother’s e
xpression. He would need to watch Drake, make sure he wasn’t being foolish. An eagerness to get to business, to do something, anything, to ignore the pain.

  For the first time, Brennan understood why Drake might act so. And he commiserated.

  “What did you have in mind, Brother? How can we draw him out?”

  Drake’s grin looked wolfish. “In fact, I do have a plan.”

  Sometime later, he glanced out the window. He wouldn’t be making it back to the Human Realm. Not tonight. He’d wait to call Iris, however. She’d understand.

  Only partially satisfied with his decision, he turned his attention back to the conversation at hand.

  Iris

  I turned to my parents, trying to keep my voice down. “Why is Heath here?” I knew, for the most part, what they would say. I wanted to hear them say it, actually admit it. That they were sabotaging—or at least, attempting to—my chosen relationship because they didn’t approve of it.

  “We didn’t know any of your other friends,” Mom said in a small voice. “So we contacted Heath. We thought you’d like to be around…someone your own age,” She finished, looking ashamed even as she spoke.

  “Bullshit,” I hissed.

  “Watch your mouth,” Dad hissed back.

  Have I mentioned that all three of us have tempers? Dad and I had the more frayed of the two, since we’d been dealing with Mom’s illness. Mom looked guilty as hell.

  “Have you learned nothing? From Mara? From your own marriage? Is the third time the charm?” They both flinched, and I knew I ought to feel badly, but I didn’t.

  Mara, my mom’s mother, was a full-fledged fae. She’d accidentally landed in the Human Realm, and met my grandfather. Her family had tried to keep her in Fae once she made it back, but she told them all to hit the bricks and left, never to return.

  When my mom and dad had met, neither family had approved of the match. Continuing the hit-the-bricks tradition, my parents had eloped and cut all ties from both of their families. Mara had only come back into their lives when Brennen, his mother, and his court magician had shown up to my house to help heal my mother.

  It must be in the genes, this desire to insist your kids do what you wanted and piss them off to the point where you drive them away from you.

  But I didn’t want to be estranged from my parents. Not even a little bit. But, like Brennan’s parents, they were making it tough to take any other route.

  “Hey, it’s good to see you, Iris,” Heath said, coming up behind me. He put an easy arm on my shoulder, which made me flinch. He wasn’t Brennan.

  Heath wasn’t stupid either. He felt me withdrawing and let his arm fall casually.

  “Thanks. What brings you here?” I had no interested in fooling around with pretense.

  “Oh, your parents asked if I wanted to come for a sail, to celebrate you finally feeling better. You up for it today?” He peered at me.

  Finally feeling better? Is that what they’d told people? Well, Heath, anyway. There wasn’t really anyone else to tell, as I hadn’t made a lot of friends beyond the hi-how-are-you? variety. Mom had been too sick. If I hadn’t had a crush on Heath—how long ago that seemed! —I wouldn’t have known anyone. At the time, I didn’t care.

  “I’m fine, although who knows if this will last all day,” I glared at my parents.

  “Well, why don’t we get aboard and get underway?” My father moved around us and hurried onto the boat. Coward. Mom shot me a look of apology as she followed him.

  Which left me standing with Heath. Heath, who had an expectant look on his face.

  “I was really worried about you when you didn’t come back,” he said.

  Damn it all to hell. How could they leave me here like this? “I felt sick all of a sudden and had to leave.”

  He nodded. “I know. Your dad told me about how you called him, and he had to come and get you. I’m surprised I didn’t see you leave at the time. What was it, anyway?”

  I shook my head, trying to act casual. “Just a weird flu type of thing. I get a little freaked out because of my mom, y’know?” Might as well throw her under the bus, since they’d done the same to me.

  He nodded once more. “I get it. But she looks better now. The chemo or whatever must be working?”

  “Something like that. C’mon, let’s go.” I walked ahead, wanting to avoid anything that might invite any kind of intimacy—hand holding, arms on shoulders, anything like that.

  He followed me onto Sorcha. “Have you been sailing before, Heath?”

  “No, but I’m with professionals, aren’t I?”

  “Just have a seat,” Mom stepped up halfway out of the opening to the salon. “We have this down pat.”

  As angry as I felt, Mom spoke truthfully. We’d been sailing together for so long that we didn’t even need to speak as we eased out of the slip and headed out onto the river towards the ocean.

  Heath wisely kept silent. Only when we were well into the inlet and the ocean was close did he speak up. “You guys are really good at this. I’ve never been out when people weren’t talking back and forth.”

  “That’s what living on a boat most of our lives will get you,” Mom came out with a tray and a pitcher of tea and glasses. Like it was a tea party, and everyone jumped for joy at being here.

  Shame washed over me. They were thrilled to be here, to be out together, with both of them healthy again. I could tell in the little touches that my dad kept giving my mom, a silent manner of checking on her.

  Just because I wasn’t happy didn’t mean no one was. Even Heath looked happy, which made me uncomfortable.

  The silence began to drag out. Mom poured tea, and I took my glass and stood next to Dad at the helm. “Have a seat with Mom. I’ll take it from here.”

  He wanted to say no. I could tell. But to do so would make all the plotting that he and Mom had been doing even more obvious than it already was. I slid my glass into the cup holder near the helm and focused on following the markers and not running us aground.

  Would serve them right, break up this little tea party right now, I thought, but that might damage Sorcha. Florida waters were notoriously shallow for sailboats. I didn’t want to hurt her, no matter how angry I felt towards my scheming parents.

  “How’s school going, Heath?” Dad asked.

  Heath must think we’re one weird bunch. He wasn’t stupid; there had been a strain in our conversation from the moment he’d joined us. And then us not talking as we motored out, getting the sails uncovered and getting Sorcha ready to sail obviously struck him as weird since he’d mentioned it.

  “It’s good. Lacrosse has been keeping me pretty busy. Between that and classes, I haven’t had a lot of free time,” Heath replied.

  He had good manners, I’ll give him that. He was the same nice guy I’d gone out with a couple of months ago. It wasn’t his fault I didn’t find him the least bit appealing any longer. My heart had flown away, and it rested in the fine hands of one goblin king. The thought of Brennan made me happier for exactly one minute. Then I thought about how completely not thrilled he’d be with this whole circus today.

  Dad and Heath chatted with both of them glancing at me, wanting to draw me into the conversation. I focused on the compass, the wind, anything to avoid being drawn in. I was stuck on the boat with my former crush. I would not do anything more to encourage it.

  A lull fell over whatever it was they were talking about. I finally made eye contact with Dad.

  “What? I’m sorry…” I let my voice trail off.

  “When do you think you’ll come back to school?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. This virus really knocked me back. I’m not sure.”

  “We’ll have to get to the doctor’s, honey,” Dad said. “See if you’re good to go soon.”

  I held back a grin. Dad sounded like he spoke through gritted teeth. That’s what you get for lying, I thought.

  “Well, I’ve missed you,” Heath must have decided not to beat around the
bush any further. “Let me know, and I’ll come by and pick you up.” He smiled.

  I gave him a quick smile and looked at the compass again. He was a nice guy, but he wasn’t my guy. Not anymore. My hand crept down and felt for the small mirror that Brennan had given me. It made me feel better, like it brought him closer or something.

  I needed that. Because this was looking to be the longest sail of my life.

  Four hours later, we waved Heath off the dock. I had been fending off my Dad’s hints for us to set up a date by making it clear that I was not interested. I wasn’t sure it had gotten through. Heath didn’t seem as dense as my dad was being, but I didn’t feel sure of my success in gently letting him know that it was never going to happen for he and I.“Hey, Dad, let me finish closing up the boat. You must be exhausted,” I snapped, trying to keep my temper reigned in.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What with trying to throw me at Heath all afternoon—how could you be anything but tired?”

  “What’s wrong with Heath? He’s a nice guy,” Dad snapped right back.

  “But he’s not the guy I want, not the guy I love! Is that such a hard concept to grasp?” I stopped in front of him and glared, forcing him to look at me.

  “Paul, maybe…”

  “Claire, we just got her back! Now you’re going to let her go off to airy-fairy land, just like your mom? No! I won’t allow it!” He dropped the coiled line he held and stomped off the boat.

  Mom and I watched him as he made his way off the dock, his back ramrod straight. She gave me a look full of apology. “It is nice to have you back, honey. Your dad only wants what’s best for you.”

  “Don’t you think maybe I get the lion’s share of the say in that? What’s best for me?”

  “Are you in a place where you’re able to make that decision?” Her tone gentle but the words hit hard.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you and Brennan went through some fairly intense times together. Crisis tends to draw people close in a way that doesn’t…” She stopped, thinking about what she wanted to say. “Doesn’t always have sustainable feelings.”