Page 7 of Bound By the Wraith: Northern Realms

Several of the goblins running around were at one time his siblings, but they were only half human and most of them didn’t have a chance at surviving in the mortal world. Some didn’t even make it to the mortal world. His father really wasn’t the best human and Cillian had taken care of that shortly after Aoife was born.

It was never particularly nice killing one’s father, but it had to be done.

His mother was no better. She was a full-fledged banshee and an evil, coldhearted harpy, but he couldn’t kill her.

She was slightly more powerful than him.

Regardless of all that, he wasn’t shocked that Cali had fainted as they passed through the portal, or what humans liked to call the veil, into his realm. Red guided portals, or evil portals, as his brother-in-law Adam had called them, often didn’t mesh well with mortals. The moment they passed through, Cali’s knees gave out and she fell into his arms. He’d been prepared for that.

He’d caught her and carried her away from the portal, across the stone bridge that led straight to his tower. She was light as a feather and if his heart wasn’t so cold and hard, he might’ve melted having her in his arms again. He’d pictured this moment a few times.

As much as he dared himself. He was careful of his thoughts so no one knew his weakness, which was, of course, her.

Gootch had apparently known, because why else would he have made the deal and expected Cillian? Gootch didn’t usually go for deals like the one he made with Cali. The sack of shit was up to something and he’d deal with him later. Right now, he had a year to win a bet, so he could keep Cali’s soul, his realm, and make his plans become reality.

As he glanced down at her, his pulse began to race. Her long dark lashes fluttered, her luscious pink lips parted, and as he cradled her close, he could still drink in the subtle scent of heather.

Honey and heather.

Reincarnation was funny. Souls were reincarnated all the time, but they didn’t always come back the same. They sometimes came back as a different gender, different species. They looked different and never retained their memories. This Cali, this version, was the same as she’d always been. And the memories of their lifetimes were locked in her brain as core memories.

There were so many instances, so many moments in time when he’d picked up her lifeless body, too late to do anything to save her, and he just held her. Each moment that she was snatched away from him, his heart hardened just a little bit more.

There was a quaint little movie about a vampire who talked about crossing oceans of time, and that’s what he’d been doingfor so long. Always losing her. It was a conspiracy, he was certain of that, but then she’d returned to him in this proper timeline.

Finally.

All he had to do was wait for the perfect moment.

And part of that was manifesting this perfect moment was getting his sister to overthrow her mother, mate with a sasquatch, overthrow King Tiene, and allow the northern realm to be ruled by a democracy. Protected by blood magic.

With all that chaos going on, no one had noticed Cillian working to make it so he could have Cali. So he could overthrow Death, allow magic and monsters to mingle again, and keep Cali forever.

It was forbidden for a wraith to take a mortal mate. Breeding happened, but claiming a mate for eternity, binding a mortal soul to his damned one, that had been against all laws.

Until now, when there was nothing really guiding the world.

Magic was creeping back into existence and it would be only a matter of time before the veil would be shattered, when mortals and monsters and magic would meld once more. The only thing he hadn’t counted on was Cali bargaining her soul away to Gootch.

That almost ruined all his carefully thought-out plans. Which is why he suspected Gootch knew.

Of course, bargaining away of his realm had been hard, but he had no doubt that he could keep her here for a year. He was certain he could win her over, and then she’d never want to leave. At least here, he could keep her safe and eventually, he would figure out how to keep her forever.

That was the point of all his planning and manipulation in the magical realms, to get to this point where he could bring her to safety and make her his. Certain things would have to adjust because of this contractual monkey wrench, but he could make it all work.

Cillian glanced down at her in his arms and his breath caught in his throat. It wasn’t often that he was moved, but seeing her made it all so real. Even though he had been the one traveling through time, it still felt like an eternity that he’d waited for this moment.

And he had to the contract to prove it.

A goblin, he didn’t know who, skittered in front of him and Cillian snarled, making it clear to his minions that he didn’t want to be disturbed. It would take Cali some time to wake up and then process what happened to her. He didn’t need them hanging around to frighten her.

Any of his minions that disobeyed him would feel his wrath for a very long time.

He raced up the twisting staircase to his room. Or at least, the room that would be hers. Cillian didn’t sleep, not really. He had built this place for her, years ago, because he was certain that she would one day become his.

That he would finally defeat the strange fate that wanted to part them, and he would have her. Rules be damned. He laid her down on the velvet-covered bed, her dark-brown hair spread around her like a halo.

All he could do was watch her, just in awe that she was here, with him. Her reached out and gently touched her, revelling in her warmth. He let his finger trail over her soft, supple lips.

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