Page 4 of The Rebel Seer

I wonder if she can follow me to Faery. I’ve never been off plane before. Until I came here to Frelsi, the only thing I knew about other planes of existence was that someone named Jill was cheating on her husband, Lewis, and it was only a matter of time until he found out, and my aunt was pretty sure they had a prenup.

Like I said before, my childhood was weird and wonderful at first, and then a horror movie.

And now…now I wonder if I am walking into a romance. I wonder if I am finally ready for it.

“See, that kind of freaks me out, too,” Josie says.

I nearly start when I feel something on my cheek. And then the smell hits me. Roses.

“But he sure doesn’t.” Josie smiles and smooths back her hair like she’s trying to make a good impression on a man who cannot see her.

I close my eyes and let the silky petals caress my skin, let them give me the strokes and kisses I haven’t been able to take from the man who controls them.

Rhys Donovan-Quinn. My love. My problem. Probably my downfall.

“I thought I would find you out here,” his deep voice says.

I open my eyes and the rose is staring at me. It grows from its home bush and vibrates like a happy puppy. I can’t hold back a smile. Rhys is a Green Man. He’s always been, but when we were younger he couldn’t control plants the way he can since his ascension. We call him a Green Man, but since a day he spent with his mother a few weeks back, he’s become a god.

“Lily needs some herbs for her spell,” I tell him as I stand back up. The rose is still playing around me.

“See, he couldn’t do that a couple of weeks ago.” Josie moves in, getting close to Rhys. “All us dead folk are talking about how the energy feels off when this hottie is around. What did you say he is? He was a Green Man and now he’s what?”

“First off, respect his space,” I tell her.

Rhys’s eyes go wide, and he gets that slight smile that takes over whenever he realizes I’m using my power. “Not alone?”

I shake my head. “It’s Josie, and she thinks you’re hot. She also has questions.” I turn back to her. “He’s an elemental, if you want to get technical. There are beings that take on aspects of the seasons or elements. It happens almost exclusively with Fae, but some demons have been known to have the power as well. I heard Kelsey once tangled with a winter elemental.”

Rhys looks to where I turned, always the polite man even when it comes to the dead. “Yes, Trent says it was a close thing, and naturally my brother, Lee, was the reason Kelsey had to risk her life. I love my brother, but he’s an asshole sometimes. And if Josie would like the religious term for what I have become, it’s Walking Spring.”

Yes, I heard the term before. He is life, and I feel so mired in death.

I turn to look at him, and the proof of the differences in our circumstances stands roughly fifty feet away, a watery figure near the spruce. The wave shifts and mirrors the world around it before showing ghastly limbs. I look at that water and know I can drown in it. One drop and I would be caught.

Rhys stops, and his handsome face goes serious. “She’s here?”

I must have winced. I try not to do it, but it’s impossible. Rhys knows about the Drowning Woman. Once when we were much younger, she screamed in my face, her illusion of cold water turning my skin clammy. We were planning on going into Reykjavík for supplies, but I ruined the trip because I couldn’t stop crying. I had to tell them what only Harry and I knew.

Harry. I miss Harry. I’m still mourning him.

I wish it was Harry standing next to that tree, but he’s moved on. He’s happy now. For so many years he shared a space in my soul, and now he’s gone and I feel a bit empty.

And a whole lot…excited. Tempted. Aroused. Because now that Harry’s gone, there’s zero reason for me not to take Rhys up on everything he’s willing to offer me.

Everything except forever.

“She’s keeping her distance,” I tell him and lean my cheek slightly against the rose he controls. I frown at Josie, who is way too close to Rhys. “As we all should.”

Josie frowns my way but moves back. “I’m sorry. He’s really pretty, and his brother isn’t here so I don’t have porn to watch.”

My jaw drops. “You can’t do that. Josie, that is private. You can’t watch Lee when he’s…”

Rhys laughs and looks genuinely amused. “Does Lee have a ghost peeping Tom? Don’t worry about it. It’s not private for my brother. He would say the more the merrier.”

Josie points his way and smiles so I can see she broke three of her teeth in the fall that ended her life. “See, sensible man. I wish I met faeries before I died. And the vamps. Who would ever want to leave this place? Not me.”

This is her attitude. She says it with a hint of arrogance, but I know there’s fear underlying her refusal to leave. “You’ll end up stuck here for all of time if you aren’t careful. Like that one. She might not be bothering me right now, but she’s rarely not around. Does she look like she’s having fun?”

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