Of Fate & Forbidden Desire (The Gatekeeper Duet #1)

16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

When life gives you lemons and all that jazz. -Charleene

T here were a couple of moments where neither of us spoke, me staring at the carpet and her presumably staring at the top of my head.

“Oh, sorry,” she said after what felt like an hour, but had probably only been a couple of seconds. Her tone changed in an instant, reminding me more of the kind, helpful woman I’d met previously instead of the grumpy bear she’d just been.

“It’s ok, it is early,” I mumbled at the floor. Taking a deep breath and finding the courage I used to wield in York as a waitress, I pulled my face up and met her eyes again, “I’m Charleene, we met in York briefly. Dina says you’re coming with us today?”

Instead of being the strong statement I’d wanted, my words sounded more like a question even to my own ears, making me blush as my lips turned up in a hesitant smile and I shuffled from foot to foot waiting for her to answer.

“I guess we are,” she responded smiling back, “is coffee still an option?”

Smiling wider, my head bobbed up and down, as I thrust the last cup at her.

“I didn’t know how you take it, so I brought milk and sugar.” Digging into the pockets of my coat, I didn’t even notice she’d moved from the door until she spoke again.

“Come in, Jace should arrive soon,” she explained kindly, before closing the door behind me.

“Yeah, he said as much when I gave him his cup,” I said, finding my cheeks heating as a deeper blush stained them. Why couldn’t I get my shit together around these two? I berated silently, mentally kicking myself for acting like a complete idiot.

“It’s ok you know, he has that effect on all women,” she says, offering me a conspiratorial smile, like it was a normal occurrence to have women blushing over her friend.

“It’s not that, I’m not...” I choked out in a squeak, before deciding just to let the subject drop as I walked over to join her at the sofa. Finally finding all the packets of sugar and milk I’d rammed into my pocket, I tipped them onto the low coffee table between the two sofas.

Her laugh surprised me and I found myself frowning over at her, wondering what I’d done that was so funny. “What did you do, steal all their condiments?” she said in explanation, making me snort a small laugh as I looked over the mountain of condiments.

“Maybe,” I agreed, slipping my coat off. Another burst of laughter came from the woman opposite me as she read the slogan on my shirt, ‘Fuck this life’ it read and summed up exactly how I’d felt this morning when getting ready. At least she has a sense of humour, I thought, wondering what to say next as the silence grew between us.

“Dina says your Fae?” I suddenly blurted, before slapping my hand over my mouth, as though the action could take back the words. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” I quickly apologised, shaking my head at myself.

“It’s ok and yes, apparently I am,” she replied with a kind smile, glossing over my sudden loss of social skills.

“Apparently?” I asked, picking up on the word and her uncertainty. I knew Tilly had said she knew nothing of her past, but I hadn’t expected her to be as unsure as I was.

“I don’t really remember being anything other than human,” she explained, making me look closer at her.

And because I can’t seem to control my damn mouth, I say, “You look human, no pointy ears or…” I pause lifting up to see her back, “... wings, unless you're hiding them.” I wondered aloud. Looking back at her face as I sat down, I’m taken aback at her look of shock and realised I’d probably been too forward again.

“Not that I know of,” Ally says back, with a small smile, “and you’re a witch?” she asked, turning the tables on me, her eyes squinting as she looked me over from head to foot.

“Apparently I am…I mean I’ve used magic once but that’s completely new to me and…”

“Scary,” she says at the same time I finally found the word I was looking for to explain how I was feeling. For a moment we just looked at each other before laughter spluttered from deep in my chest and she followed suit.

“Well looks like you two are going to be great friends,” Jace’s voice interrupted our giggle-fest, making me realise we were no longer alone in the room as he shoved my shoulder and sat next to me on the sofa.

Glancing around as I reigned in my laughter, I realised Dina and Tilly had also joined us. Meeting Dina’s eyes, I wondered if she’s mad or relieved from her raised eyebrow.

“Great,” she exclaims, perching on the coffee table, and the hard look on her face softened a little when she next glanced at me.

“When do we leave?” Ally’s voice dragged me away from getting lost in Dina's dark depths. Looking back at her I watched in amusement as her eyes bounced between Dina and Tilly, waiting for one of them to answer.

“In an hour, we can take your car.” Dina answered, looking away from me and meeting Ally’s gaze.

“What?” she sighs, her eyebrows rising in question as Dina opened her mouth and closed it again without saying a word.

“Nothing, you should get your things together,” Dina demanded instead, “you too blondie.” She said, looking at the golden man beside me.

“I’m all packed Beautiful,” Jace retorted confidently, smiling over at my surly companion. I almost burst out laughing again as Dina pinned him with an unimpressed look, that had it falling quickly from his face .

“You’re wasting your time on that one,” Tilly giggles, taking pity on the guy, as she motions towards Dina with just her eyes.

Jace’s hazel eyes flicked from my face to Dina’s and back again as he realised why and relaxed back into the sofa, a softer smile replacing the one he lost.

“Good to know,” he commented, his tone respectful.

“Ally, are you just going to stand there or actually go get packed and ready?” He suddenly threw at the red-haired woman.

“Yeah, won’t be long,” she mumbled, already backing towards the door which I assumed led to her hotel bedroom and disappearing from view. Nobody spoke, until the shower started and Jace left to grab his own bag. I sit, my foot tapping on the plush carpet, waiting for the lecture I can feel coming.

“Why are you here?” Dina asked, her voice low and distant, “I thought you were having a walk to clear your head?”

I know that’s what I’d said in my note and to be honest, I hadn’t intended to stay here as long as I had. But I’d found Ally to be a breath of fresh air that I didn't know I needed. She didn’t seem to mind my questions, and if I was being totally honest, she seemed to understand what I was going through more than Dina or Tilly ever could.

“I wanted to meet them,” I responded lamely, knowing my answer would raise more questions than it answered, but it was honest.

Dina let out a frustrated sigh, shaking her head at me, but let the subject drop. None of us spoke while we waited for the Fae to rejoin us. Jace came back first, pushing open the door and dropping his bag beside it before striding over to where Dina still perched on the coffee table.

“I don’t know what you said to Ally yesterday, but watch yourself.” Jace threatened, leaning over her and pinning her with a look I could only describe as hostile. A look she matched, as she pushed herself to her feet. Rising on her tiptoes, she comically attempted to get into his face, and I smothered a giggle behind my hand. Jace is over 6ft tall and Dina’s the shortest in the room .

“She better keep herself under control.” Dina spat venomously, referring to Ally’s outburst when they’d last spoken.

The shower shutting off made both of them step back, even though daggers were still flying from their eyes as they glared at each other.

It’s going to be a long drive, I thought to myself as Ally stepped back into the room. The scent of apples surrounded her as she carried a small bag with her.

“So where are we going first?” she asked, breaking what I can only assume is an awkward silence.

“Scotland.” I answer quietly.

“Ok,” she said, looking at each of us in turn as though trying to figure out what she’s missed. “When do we leave?”

“Now, if you’re ready,” Dina snapped, clearly still angry even though this latest argument had nothing to do with the poor girl.

To her credit Ally just nods in response, unfazed by the angry vampire as she asks another question that I was also curious to know the answer to, “And how long is it to Edinburgh?”

“About eight hours,” Dina answered quickly.

“That’s a long drive,” Ally commented, a sad look flashing across her face before she hid it with a smile.

“We’ll have breaks,” I found myself interjecting uncertainty, not really sure if Dina had planned any rest stops on our journey.

Glancing at the woman in question, I waited with the others for her answer, “Sure,” she promised gently.

That is until Jace’s voice pipes up, “And what’s in Edinburgh?”

“Hopefully information,” Tilly took over explaining, as Dina’s nostrils flared, and motioned for us all to get moving by wafting her hands from us to the door.

“And how does this help us find Lilah exactly?” Ally asked, her grip tightening on her bag.

Who’s this Lilah, I thought, silently watching Ally as she walked past me, and what does she mean to the Fae ?

“Once we’ve found the Coven, we can ask them to scry for her.” Dina stated, like it was the most simple thing as we all filed from the hotel room.

“And why would this Coven help us? It’s not like they know us.” Ally pointed out.

“Trust me, everyone wants your kind gone from Earth,” Dina grumbles.

“Why?” Ally queried, her eyes widening.

Stopping before the lift, I waited to see if anyone was going to answer her question and just when I thought no one would, Dina did, “Because you cause trouble.”

Ally’s mouth worked, like she wanted to say something before thinking better of it and thankfully the dinging of the lift doors opening stopped all conversation. None of us spoke again until we were standing outside. I barely paid Jace any attention as he bounced up and down beside me, my attention fixed on Ally and the small frown she’s wearing.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, startling her when she didn’t realise I'd moved to her side.

“Nothing” she muttered, giving me a small smile, jumping into the front passenger seat.

I waited for Dina to reach us, grateful when I saw that she carried not only her own bag, but mine too, that I’d forgotten to pack in my hurry to meet Ally. Giving her a grateful smile as she went round the back of the car and placed them both in the boot, I lowered myself into the back seat, and shuffled over to the opposite side, giving Dina plenty of room alongside me and putting me behind the driver’s seat which Jace had already claimed. I didn’t pay much attention, instead staring out the window, as Dina gave Jace the address for our first rest stop. Lost in my thoughts, I ignored everyone as we made our way towards the closest motorway.

Dina’s angry growl grabbed my attention, “So what powers do you have?”

“Um, I dunno,” Ally answered, shrugging .

“Well we know you have fire and you mentioned something about air at the hotel,” Dina snorted, trying to smother a laugh, making Ally look back at her in surprise as I also looked at her in shock. “What else have you used?”

“Alyssa has loads of powers,” Jacin suddenly interjected, “She’s been trained in all types of combat, magical and physical. She just doesn’t remember any of it.”

“Well that’s helpful,” Dina remarked, sarcastically stating what I knew I was thinking.

“She just needs to train, it’s more than your defective witch can do.” Jace remarked back snidely, making me shrink back into my seat, hoping it would swallow me whole.

He’s not wrong, what good am I? I wondered.

“She needs to learn that’s all,” Dina sniped back, “Charleene’s had no training, it’s not like she was made to forget.”

“And Ally just needs to train,” Jace fired back confidently.

“Just like I do?” I found myself saying, surprising not only myself but everyone else in the car, as I reminded them I’m still here. “I need to learn how to protect myself.”

Ally’s eyes scanned me briefly as Dina puffed out her chest, ready to stab someone by the violent twist to her mouth and how her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

“Damn right you do.” Ally stated with a sympathetic smile, that made me wonder what is going through her mind when she looks at me. I followed Ally's eyes as they shifted to Dina and her eyes rolled, “what? She needs to learn about herself as much as I do, you won’t always be there to protect her.”

Dina considered Ally’s words before reluctantly agreeing, “Fine!”

Unable to contain the squeal that comes from my mouth, I manage to refrain from taking my seat belt off and hugging her as she agrees that I could train with Ally. Not that I really understood what training would actually look like, but I was still excited to try .

“So how’s this going to work? Where would we even train them both?” Dina’s questions tempered some of my excitement.

“They’d need to be protected, but I don’t think we can afford to wait. What about your…friends?” Jace asked sceptically, meeting Dina’s eyes in the mirror.

“Will He be able to find me again?” Ally suddenly blurts out, confusing the hell out of me as she begins a completely new conversation with Jace.

“No, at least I don’t think so.” Jace mumbles as I look out the window, giving them as much privacy as I can manage, whilst also being in the same car as them.

“What have you done Jace?” Ally asked him, a cautious note to her voice.

He glanced across at her as she stared at him, before returning his eyes back to the road. “Protected you.”

“What if I don’t want protecting from him?” I’m beginning to feel a little awkward as Ally’s voice rises to a shout and I wonder just who they’re discussing.

“Tough, you don’t want him around Ally, he’s not good for you.”

“That’s my decision to make, not yours!” she shouts back at him, her fists clenching.

“No it’s not, you can’t be trusted when it comes to Him!” Jace responds quickly, not missing a beat as I finally find the courage to interrupt.

“Who’s He?” I ask, wanting to diffuse the tension rising between them.

“No one!” They both snarled back.

“Okaaay,” I muttered softly, glancing across at Dina who looked just as confused as I was pretty sure I did.