Kaitlin saw the curious stare radiating from her father yet again as she spoke with her cousin, Marie. She was enjoying the conversation, finding out that she had just married and that her husband was in the middle of building a house for them and that they wanted to have a family. The entire subject made her feel a little emotional and broody, as she wanted the same things for herself.
But did her father have to keep staring at her that way? The way that said he knew exactly what she was thinking. If she had listened to him and married that old pompous windbag Lord Henry when she was sixteen like he wanted, then she'd have those things. But didn't he understand? Didn't he know that she didn't just want to marry some random man that she didn't know? She could do that any place, at any time, but what she wanted was to meet someone and fall in love. She wanted to have a family with someone who would help her, love her and care for her. Didn't he understand that?
The problem was that King Malcolm felt that it was his fault that his daughter was so unhappy. When he crossed the room to talk to her near the end of the party, he wondered if there was anything he could do to make her smile again. She seemed so unhappy to be home. Secretly, he knew it was because it wasn't her home anymore and that she had grown to love her small apartment and her quaint shop in that sleepy town in her other world. He was sad to admit it, but she didn't belong in this world anymore. She was an entirely different girl than the one he had raised and protected. But she was happy with her new life and he couldn't deny her that.
"Kaitlin," he asked with a sigh, then sat down next to her. Marie left them alone to talk.
"Yes?" Kaitlin asked, as he placed his hand on top of hers with a thoughtful nod. It was all too suspicious for her liking and she didn't quite understand. She thought that he probably wanted to discuss the Alexander situation with her, hoping she'd marry him. On the other hand, he probably didn't like Alexander and didn't appreciate the attention he gave her. But whatever it was, she knew she was about to find out.
"Shouldn't you be going home, darling?" King Malcolm asked sadly, secretly hoping that she would never leave him again as he gently squeezed her hand.
"Don't you want me to stay?" she asked with a giggle, reminding him of when she was a little girl. Just thinking about how much he was going to miss her was enough for him to beg her to stay, but he knew it wouldn't be fair. He knew that Kaitlin didn't want to be a Princess. She never had. Now he was going to give her what she wanted. "Am I being thrown out or something?" she joked, glancing back at her mother curiously.
"You don't belong here, Kaitlin. Go home. Be happy," he gently explained. But it wasn't his words or the tone of his voice that made Kaitlin's smile fade. It was the obvious sadness and tears building up within his eyes that caught her attention. She knew he was finally letting her go.
"What are you saying?" Kaitlin asked, close to tears, knowing what he was doing. She had always wanted both her parents to fully understand why she had made the decision to leave home to build a life for herself, but now that it was happening, it was much harder to say goodbye than she'd ever imagined. And it was a feeling that her father shared.
"I'm saying that you belong in another world, darling. I'll find someone else to take over in my place," he promised her, knowing that it had never been a dream of hers to take over the rule of their province. She wasn't meant to deal with anything Walter or his son might throw at her throughout her reign. And she didn't want to spend her life chained to one place and to serve a kingdom. What Kaitlin wanted she got from working in her shop and owning her own apartment. All she ever wanted was freedom to go where she wanted and to be who she wanted to be.
So he was going to let her have her dreams and the freedom to follow them wherever they took her. "You should follow your heart and do what makes you happy. Be where you're happy. You belong in the life you left behind to come here. Now go home, princess. You're mother and I will be fine without you. We've managed all these years; I'm sure we can survive on these little random visits you spoil us with," he replied with a gentle smile, assuring her that everything would be taken care of in her absence. All her parents wanted for her was to be happy.
Kaitlin couldn't hold back the tears as she hugged her father and thanked him for understanding and for being strong enough to admit it to her. She promised to do all she could to make him proud, and that she would always visit the people she loved. They would always come first.
Kaitlin was thrilled about all that her father had said, even if a little sad. But as she and Alexander walked back to her apartment from the alley behind her shop, she didn't quite know what to think of it yet. They didn't have far to go, just around the corner, through a small courtyard that was her front garden, and over to the house that sat there. She owned the whole upstairs. A gorgeous looking young guy lived downstairs. He was about twenty and in college, studying for a philosophy degree. She never saw him, but he invited her to parties he threw now and again. For that, she liked him as a neighbor. Probably more so now that Alexander was allowing her to have a real life for once.
"So, I'll call you tomorrow?" Alexander asked, shuffling his feet as he buried his hands into his trouser pockets and stared at his feet, unable to face her now. He knew she wanted space and didn't want him hanging around so much.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," Kaitlin lied, knowing that it would be more for his benefit than for hers. But what was she to say to him? I don't want to see you anymore. Stay away from me and stay away from my shop because if I ever see you again, I'll kill myself' It didn't seem to be the nicest thing to say to him when he felt the way he did about her. But how could she explain how he made her feel? That she was uncomfortable with his affectionate attention? That if she saw him over her shoulder again she'd bang his head against the wall? That he made her so mad when he showed up out of the blue that all she wanted to do was to kill him and make sure he couldn't follow her anymore?
"So, I guess I should go," Alexander hinted, hoping she'd ask him to stay since it was so late. But Kaitlin knew what time it was and it wasn't so late, just 11 o'clock. She was in no mood to humor him and risk giving him the wrong idea.
"Yeah, I'm kind of tired," she replied, then kissed his cheek as she turned her key in the door. She turned back for just a second to give him one last fake smile goodbye before slipping into her apartment and closing the door on him.
Kaitlin knew she was being cruel, but her father had just told her that she didn't ever have to take over his power on the Island and that she could stay in the world she loved and be a normal person. It was all she'd ever wanted and she wasn't about to let Alex ruin that with reminders of duty and loyalty to the crown. He was too serious for his own good. In fact, he was too serious for her. She was just sad that he couldn't see that for himself. It was obvious to Kaitlin as she wandered into her living room and checked her messages that she was bound to Alex in a way that no woman should ever be bound to any man. There was no way out for her, regardless of how powerful she was or of how much magic she possessed. She was one of the most powerful women from her world, excluding her grandmother, but that didn't help her with an entirely non-magical problem.
There was no magic in the world that could control love or the various feelings of affection. If there were, she would have mastered them all and found a man that she could love. She would have also found Alex a nice girl that he could love and who would love him in return and take him away from her. When her phone rang as she was making a cup of coffee for herself, she was hoping and praying that it wasn't Alexander. "Hello?" She answered, hovering beside the kettle as she waited to turn it off.
"Kaitlin?" a muffled voice called back through the loud Latino music. "Kaitlin it's Natalie ... can you hear me? I've been calling you for an hour, where were you?" Natalie asked, shouting over the music as Kaitlin tried to keep track of what she was saying.
"I had to see my parents. I just got back," she explained, wondering why her sweet, young friend was calling at 11 o'clock at night. Kaitlin was hoping Natalie would be on a date with her boyfriend, Billy.
"Good. Then you'll come out with us tonight?" Natalie asked with a smile, hoping that she could get her boss out of her apartment and into a social environment. "We just got to the Merengue, that new club I told you about. Say you'll come. I've got things to tell you and you need to meet a man before you drive me insane," Natalie scolded, and Kaitlin couldn't deny that it sounded like a brilliant offer. She was only about four years older than her, but it wasn't obvious in a social environment.
"All right. I'll be there in ten minutes. I just need to call a taxi," Kaitlin quickly agreed, excited to be leaving her apartment and going to a club to socialize.
*****
Megan knew that whatever powers she was able to muster at eighteen was nothing compared to her captor's years, but she couldn't sit and do nothing. Was this how Jackson planned to protect her? By locking her up in a damp, disgusting, spider infested basement, tied to a chair and gagged so that any spell she could think of would come out as a confused and scared mumble? It hardly seemed fair. But then again, she'd done it to herself.
She'd been told by her parents on her last visit that some soldier initiates had gone AWOL just after being assigned their cases. At first, she'd been thrilled to find out that Jackson Milligan, the eighteen-year-old soldier, was her guardian. He was tall, blonde, uncomplicated and a complete god in her eyes. Megan couldn't have been happier about being his charge.
Until he kidnapped her.
Jackson showed up at her school one day with two friends and told her that they'd stumbled across the soldiers who ran from their duties. Then he asked her to walk away from him and to meet him at his car around the corner, telling her that, for her safety, they couldn't be seen together. She'd been more than happy to believe him. But now that he was holding her hostage, using her as leverage to get his own way—so he could stay in this world and not be taken back home—he was even more attractive to her than before.
She knew it was wrong, but Megan was fascinated with him. She already adored him and had a completely unhealthy infatuation with him. He was so determined, so desperate, but more than anything, he had no power to make his life his own, which was something she'd always wished for herself. Yet, if that was the case, then why was she trying to think of ways to escape? Why was she moving around in her chair, trying to topple it over, trying to figure a way out?
"Alright Megan, what's the problem now?" a voice called out from the other side of the door, then she heard footsteps on the stairs to her left.
She was making enough noise to wake the entire house and if it had been up to him, he would have left her to sit there and hurt herself all day. He was fed up with her little attempts to escape and her complaints about the décor anytime someone came down to feed her. But no, Jackson had an obvious soft spot for her and didn't want her to hurt herself. Hell, it took him the better part of half an hour just to take her something to eat and feed her. They all knew that Jackson was only feeding the attraction Megan already had for him by smiling at her and being nice.
It was ruining their image.
"Mmmfh," Megan struggled, trying to wrench her hands from her ties on the arms of the chair, unsure of what she was doing. She wanted to get out of the chair before Vincent reached her, but it didn't look like it was going to happen when he stopped halfway down the stairs and grinned down at her.
"Now honey, we told you before ..." Vincent laughed as he hopped down to the last step and moved in front of her, then crouched down to her level and continued, "... if you struggle, then all you will do is hurt yourself. And what good is that to us? We can't use you after that, not if they think we hurt you," he hinted cheekily, slipping the gag from her mouth as she spat out a mouthful of blood. "What the hell is this?" He asked, worried that something serious was wrong with her.
"I don't feel well, Vince. Please ... let me go upstairs," Megan begged quietly, trying to ignore the taste of blood that had filled her mouth. She had bit her tongue hard enough that it drew blood. "I think I might be sick," she added for effect. Her face grew pale from the simple spell she'd managed to whisper to herself as he spoke.
"All right. Just don't throw up on me," he said with a sigh, untying her hands, frowning. He definitely wasn't happy. She wasn't going to speak or give him her usual derogatory comments, or else he might change his mind, then let her sit there and choke to death. The thing that really made her smile inside was that once he untied her ankles and helped her to her feet, he had managed to concern himself solely with her health and not his own.
Suddenly, she punched him, sending him stumbling backward into the stone pillar behind him, dazed. She didn't take the time to think of right or wrong, or of what he might do to her if he caught her. She simply ran for the stairs and shut the door behind her once she reached the small, unoccupied space between the kitchen and the lounge. The kitchen was to her left with a back door, but there might still be someone wandering about after dinner, whereas to her right the lounge could have been occupied by any number of people hanging around until they went to bed, watching TV or already sleeping, but it led to the front door, which no one ever used. It wasn't exactly the choice she wanted to make, but it had to be done.
*****
Natalie invited her boss out with her for a drink as thanks for being such a good boss and to tell her about Maria. Billy, Natalie's boyfriend, and some of his friends kept Natalie company at her table as she waited for Kaitlin to arrive.
"Boys ..." Dean called for their attention, watching the blonde beauty walking through the club a few minutes later. "... call an ambulance, cause I'm about to have a heart attack." His three friends stared in disbelief when the golden goddess—way too gorgeous to be real—walked over to their seated area and coughed into her hand.
"Hey, you came!" Natalie smiled happily, ignoring the drools from Billy's football friends as Kaitlin took a seat on the coffee table in front of them and smiled.
"Well, I was bored and like you said ... I need to meet a man," she replied, shrugging sweetly.
"Yes, you do. You're too tense and overworked and the only way to solve that problem is to find a man and fall in love with him so you have someone to make you relax once in a while," Natalie agreed.
Her choice of words made Kaitlin laugh when she thought of how true it was, but she didn't want to broadcast that fact. Instead, she spent a few minutes letting Natalie and Billy introduce her to their friends, Dean, Martin and Mitchell. But soon, Kaitlin found the conversation a little draining as the boys drooled over her, clearly fascinated, while they talked about their latest football game and the results from their entire season. Kaitlin quickly lost interest in all that was being said.
Natalie hated to do it, but she knew it had to be done. She leaned across the table so she wouldn't have to shout. "Kaitlin, Maria hasn't come in to work since you left."
"Why? Is something wrong?" Kaitlin asked, concerned.
"No, I don't think so," Natalie replied, "I think she just quit without giving you notice. Sorry, Kaitlin."
"No worries," she replied, but deep down, she was a bit worried. It really didn't seem like her to do something like that, but you never know.
Natalie gave her a smile, then leaned back onto Billy's shoulder. Kaitlin was glad to see that Natalie and her boyfriend were happy to sit and talk between themselves, discussing their plans for the next night. But love birds made her broody and she was already broody enough—wanting a relationship and already wanting to have a baby—when she didn't have a man to have one with. It was too much. She was either going to die of boredom or sink so low as to flirt with the three teenage boys who hadn't taken their eyes off of her since she arrived if she didn't do something.
Excusing herself to get a drink, Kaitlin was well aware that the dress she remade for the welcome home ball was having quite an effect on the males in the room. As uncomfortable as she was with attention, she liked knowing that she wasn't as unappealing to the male species as she thought she was. And it was nice to just be out and not have to worry about Alexander following her everywhere she went.
"Kaitlin, gorgeous," a familiar voice called from behind her. The Australian accent made Kaitlin smile as she lifted her glass from the bar and turned to face the blonde, Greek god that stood before her. His impressive rugby stature never failed to impress her, especially when it was combined with his irresistible accent and his blonde haired, blue eyes, wonder boy appearance.
"Hello, handsome," Kaitlin returned the compliment as Mark held out a strong hand. "Would you like to dance?"
"Sure," Kaitlin replied and slipped her hand into his, letting him spin her into his arms. As he urged her into a sexy salsa, they discussed his philosophy course and her shop. She was surprised by how much fun she was having. She was only a year older than him and he was a gorgeous guy, as well as her downstairs neighbor, but neither of them felt any attraction to each other. Their relationship was purely platonic. But they could both see how determined Natalie was to find her boss a boyfriend.
"She's quite persistent, isn't she?" Mark smiled as he dipped Kaitlin in his arms. All eyes were on them as they showed the younger couples the real way to dance.
"She just wants me to find a boyfriend," Kaitlin admitted. The gentle shrug combined with a soft smile told him that she wasn't as resistant to the idea as she seemed to be. But there was a sadness in her eyes that he didn't like and wanted to mend.
"Well ... sorry, princess, but I have a thing about older women and although one year isn't much, it's still there," he teased. She laughed as they adapted to the new samba song that rang through the room.