Des'Tai: Book Two

181: Tyron

The moment my gaze met hers, a barrage of images tunnelled through our link, instantly cooling my burning temper. Each one was more suggestive than the last, showing me exactly what she had going on in her head. I ground my teeth together and fought the urge to react, instead forcing myself to look away from her and onto Artie.

"Faye isn't coming, and I don't care what any of you have to say about it." As soon as Knox had suggested the ridiculous idea, I'd seen red. We were all about to go to a part of our world that none of us had been before; we were inexperienced and unprepared for what may lay on the other side. Why the fuck would I take my Mate there and put her in Goddess only knows what kind of danger?

"I understand where your concern comes from, Tyron. I, myself, would be hesitant to take Luna with me to somewhere unknown, despite how capable I know she is." I could feel the 'but' swirling in the air around us. "But Koko is one of the last Elders with power and she is well acquainted with Shield Bearers – she once ran a school for them, many years ago."

Nero cocked his head to one side, confusion tugging at his brow. "I thought Shield Bearers were rare, how could there be a school of them?"

"I use the word school lightly; she had no more than four or five students at any given time, from every corner of Siofra. Their Elders would take them to her from all four regions – Hilara, Seran, Polaris and Trivale. Koko hasn't taken on students for nearly ten years now."

"Why not?" Faye asked.

Artie regarded her with a touch of despondency. "A combination of a couple of things; lack of new Shields and a few bad eggs, being the main reasons."

As Artie spoke, I felt Faye walk around the table to stand at my side, her eyes continuously darting toward my face. I shot her a quick side-eyed glance before I asked Artie my next question. "Bad eggs?"

"Rogues," He answered simply. "Anyhow, shall we get back to the subject at hand? I believe Faye accompanying you to Hilara would be a wise decision. She doesn't have to go into Mirador Castle with you."

"Good, because she won't be. I've only read two pages of this..." I lifted up a thick, leather bound book, before dumping it back down onto the oak table with a loud, echoing thud. "...and already I've learned that their Queen is batshit crazy. No way in hell Faye is getting within five miles of her."

"Ahh, yes," Artemis rubbed thoughtfully at his beard. "Queen Adella is quite unique; being the offspring of an Elven Iasa and Siren Malanai will do that to someone.

"Siren!?" Faye exclaimed at the same time Rune said, "So the stories are true?!"

I'd heard countless stories of the Sirens of Hilara from my Iasa, separated from the rest of Siofra when the world had split apart. There had been small colonies of them dotted throughout the other regions, including our own, but parted from their mothering city and the main population, it hadn't taken long for them to die out.

"Wait, wait," Rune held up his arms, his expression seriously. "Are you telling me that an Elf fucked a Siren?!"

"For Goddess sake!" Faye sighed, dropping her shocked expression just long enough to chastise him. "Really, Rune?"

Artemis seemed completely unfazed by the ridiculous question. "Sirens are also land dwellers, when they want to be. Though primarily they need water to survive, they can go a number of days walking on two legs. Very exotic creatures, though rather deadly too. Elves and Sirens have been having...relations for eons; pregnancy between them is far and few between, however. Hence why Queen Adella is a special case."

"So...Elven males like being seduced by other races, don't they?" With one hand resting onto the back of a chair, and the other was tucked behind her back, Faye was watching me intently, her blue eyes practically burning into the side of my face. Her arousal was through the roof, and had been since she'd clapped eyes on me – something about 'climbing me like a tree' had floated through her head, whatever that was supposed to mean.