“Oh yes.” She nodded. “Absolutely. Rumpel knew what pairing you two would entail, and he is absolutely right.”
Giles frowned because her words were making him more confused by the moment. “What are you saying? That my prince had an ulterior motive when he sent me on this quest, that it is not really about the chalice at all?”
“No.” She laughed, her blue eyes twinkling. “Suffice it to say the imp does very little out of the kindness of his heart. But he understands, as do I, that truly only the combination of the two of you could have any chance of success. There are many dangers, but the greatest of these is not working together. She is young and spirited. But she is your perfect match.”
Was there a double meaning behind that? Unsure of what she’d meant, Giles hastened to correct her. “As a companion, I know not. I simply follow my prince’s orders, but you should know that my job as royal butler to my liege would make my getting involved with any woman an impossibility at this point in time.”
She shrugged, twisting her lips up. “I only know what I sense to be true. Be willing to yield, knight, otherwise this quest will never succeed. You both need each other. I will wake you in the morning.”
With those words she gestured to the den door. He didn’t turn back as he walked back out into the darkness of night. The winds were very strong tonight, but not a problem for him in shadow form. Shifting, he lay down on a bed of moss and gazed at the stars, wondering just what the Heartsong could have sensed.
Lilith awoke early the next morning and was just about to race topside when her mother caught her by the elbow.
She handed Lilith a basket full of meats and cheeses, fruits, nuts, and wines. “This should stay your hunger until you reach the border of our lands north of here. Stay the course, Lilith.”
“Yes, Mother.” She nodded, turning to go, when he mother grabbed her elbow again. Last night had been a restless one for her, she’d been tossing and turning, too full of nerves and anxious energy to get started.
“The hood.”
“Mother.” She cocked her hip. “I needn’t cover myself from him. The eunuch will not touch me.” Lilith hadn’t meant for the words to sound so petulant, but she was still smarting from his apparent lack of interest in her charms.
Grabbing her old red-hooded cloak, Violet tossed it around her shoulders and tied it up. “Not for him. These next two weeks you’ll be in a heat so profound that any wolves in the area will attempt to do with you as St. John did,” she glowered, and Lilith knew that St. John would have hell to pay for what he’d nearly done to her. “The cloak has been warded to lessen your call to them until the worst of it passes.”
She closed her eyes. What was the knight doing? This morning when she’d woken up it was to discover a hint of smoked cherries lingering in the den, and the scent of it had made her pulse quicken.
It was probably merely a result of the heat her body was in, the driving, itching, and obsessive desire she now had to find her true mate and nothing more, but it made her want to find the knight nonetheless.
She pecked her mother on the cheek. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Lilith Wolf,” Violet snapped, raising a finger. “I need you to promise that for once in your wild life you will be cautious. Please. I do not know what would happen to me or your father if anything were to ever—”
Heart softening, because her mother rarely allowed sentiment to show—it simply wasn’t the shifter way, though Violet hadn’t been born a shifter she’d adapted easily to the lifestyle—Lilith dropped her guard for just a moment and hugged her. “I love you too, Mother.”
Clenching her jaw, Violet chucked her daughter’s chin. “One last thing.”
Shoving her hand down the front of her shirt, Violet slipped the long silver chain off her neck, fingering the glowing lavender glass amulet before reluctantly handing it over to Lilith.
Stunned, Lilith glanced at the nondescript pendant in her hand. It was in the shape of a teardrop and full of what looked to be liquid mercury that glowed a soft shade of pinkish purple.
Growing up, it’d been an object of fascination amongst her and her brothers, always wanting to take hold of the charm and command the fairy wish inside to do their bidding. Mother had always scolded them, saying that the charm held just enough magic for one wish and that to waste it on anything so frivolous as a tree that fruited candies and cakes would be a crime.
“Mother?” She glanced at Violet’s face. “This is your greatest treasure.”
“No.” She lightly grazed Lilith’s cheek with her thumb. “My family is.”
A lump lodged itself in her throat, and she had to clear it twice before she trusted herself to speak. “Are you sure?”