Words of Power (Alice Gray Book 3)

36

My eyes fluttered open to be met with a soothing lavender glow. I knew I was still asleep because my body's movements were slow and weightless, as though I was wrapped up in my duvet, which I probably was. My mind was free of the painful needles of shooting stress that had assaulted it since I'd last had a good night's sleep seventy-two hours ago.

I looked at my hand as lavender particles danced along my skin, soothing my clammy, pale complexion. Wave-like flurries swirled away from me, drawing my eyes towards them and then up and around the room.

We were in my father's great hall, but this time his silver throne was bright and resplendent with full and abundant leaves. Between the leaves, tiny purple gems glittered like berries or fruit, and sat below was a man with warm brown skin and lavender eyes.

"Ralph?" I asked in wonder at the smooth faced, beautiful man.

He nodded, his mouth stretching into a smile that displayed bright white teeth. There was something about the action that made me believe that it was him, despite the vast contrast between his dazzling beauty and the large, cheese-smelling, biker dude that I knew.

What was with that smell anyway? He obviously didn't know as much about humans as he thought he did.

"Why have you brought me back to this place? This was Jonathan's hideout, not mine."

"Oh. I thought somewhere familiar might be better," Ralph said, his clear, deep voice taking me by surprise. For some reason I'd expected the rumbling, hoarse speech of his human form.

"This place doesn't exactly hold good memories."

Ralph shrugged, reached up, and plucked one of the shiny purple fruits from the tree. He inspected it before squashing it between his fingers. The room shimmered, another layer of reality pushing in at the corners. I'd seen this before when the Northern Coven had destabilised Jonathan's reality so that I could escape. But this time, the surroundings that materialised were unfamiliar.

I knew with certainty that I'd never been in the bare walled wooden cabin before. It was sparsely furnished with a small loveseat in front of an unlit wood-burning stove. I threw myself into the comfy looking chair. Why stand on ceremony? I was knackered.

"Better?" Ralph asked, warming his back next to the fire.

"I guess. Whose place is this?"

"Brad lives here."

I looked around, my heart inexplicably racing at the thought of that stunning rainbow coloured life-force, and the breathtaking man it belonged too. A weight somewhere deep within me pushed down, and I clenched my thighs, taken aback by the unexpected and unwelcome sensations that flooded my body.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to develop a new crush, there wasn't room in my life for any of that nonsense. And some arrogant surfer with a God complex was not a fitting subject for my affections.

When I opened them again, snow was falling outside the cabin's tiny window. "But I thought..."

"That I was a God," a beautiful voice said from behind me. "God's can enjoy the simple life too."

Another flare of heat roared through me. I tensed all my muscles, refusing to be ruled by my hormones. "No. I thought..."

"That we all lived in crystal palaces?"

"No. I thought you were a surfer."

Brad and Ralph stared at me for a second before their faces cracked at the same time and their laughter washed over me like a symphony of joyous bells.