Chapter Twenty-Five

You Hold the Other Half of My Soul

 

We sat in the coffee house; Tor resting back against his chair, legs straight out, ankles crossed, sipping regular coffee, calm as you please; me with my legs crossed, foot bouncing, fingers of one hand tapping on the table while slugging back my third latte (decaf due to confirmed pregnancy – yikes!), not calm by a long shot but wired like I’d actually had a shitload of caffeine.

“Love,” Tor called and I turned my head to him, surprised to see his eyes on me. A minute ago, he was taking in the bustling environs of the coffee house and the busy slick sidewalks outside with avid interest.

“Yes?” I replied.

He leaned in as his hand came out and covered my tapping fingers, his fingers wrapping warmly around mine.

“Calm,” he said quietly.

Yeah, right. Calm.

We were waiting for Brianna and her friend to show at the same time we were waiting for Phoebe, who was hanging at my place, having volunteered to hand Noc his packed suitcase personally and see if she could pump him for information.

I wasn’t all fired up about this controlling blue mist magic business and I wasn’t because anything could go wrong. What if the world this Circe had been to wasn’t the Korwahk on Tor’s world? What if there were a bunch of worlds and Tor and/or me were sent to one of those – where there were savages and mighty kings with the strength of ten men?

Not to mention, what if Phoebe did something to alert Noc to the fact that all was not right with the Cora he knew and set him to doing something that would not bode well for Tor and me? And, I should mention, I wasn’t hip on Phoebe being involved in any of this, especially not Noc investigating the other Cora. My friend wasn’t exactly a super-sleuth. She was an administrative assistant, like me. And she couldn’t be swept away to a safe fairytale land, like me. She would be stuck behind, maybe considered an accomplice in whatever Cora was up to… or something.

But Phoebe had no qualms about wading in and actually seemed excited to be in on it all.

Then again, as I had mentioned before, Phoebe was more than a little nuts.

But too much could go wrong. I wasn’t all fired up to be at the mercy of blue mist magic or whatever Noc was doing with Cora but I was equally not fired up about sticking my nose in where it might not belong. And, it had to be said, I had no interest at all in melting.

“Tor –” I started, his eyes slid to the side and his jaw went scary hard.

I looked to where he was looking to see a man holding a paper cup with a cardboard sleeve staring at my crossed legs as he passed by. Tor moved, the man’s eyes moved to Tor, his face blanched and he hurried away.

I looked at Tor to see him turning in his seat in order to continue scowling frighteningly at the man’s back and I twisted my hand so I could squeeze his fingers.

“Honey,” I called softly and his gaze sliced to me.

“Although your garments are becoming, Cora, I do not like the amount of skin they expose,” he growled.

“Tor –”

He cut me off with, “You have lovely legs.”

Wow. That was nice.

I smiled at him. “Thanks, baby.”

His face went as hard as his jaw. “Too lovely,” he went on. “And they are mine and I do not like that other men gaze at them.”

Oh boy.

“Tor, this is how we dress in my world,” I told him something he had to know for I was wearing another little dress with a light cardigan and high heels but there were other women around us in Capri pants, mini-skirts, skintight tees or tops with huge-ass cleavage. It wasn’t like he was blind.

“I am aware of that, Cora, but that does not mean I have to like how you dress in this world.”

I held my breath, waiting for him to say something Tor-like to piss me off, like I had to go home and change into something he preferred, say, a floor length granny ball gown that covered me from neck to wrist to ankle. But, surprisingly, he did not say this. He let my hand go and his eyes slid around the room. Then the anger faded from his face and it grew pensive.

“Tor?” I called and his eyes moved back to me. Before I could ask what was on his mind, he told me.

“Why are you not taken in this world?”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“You are very beautiful,” he stated as if this was fact and my belly melted and continued to melt as he carried on. “Far more beautiful than any woman I have seen not only in my own world but especially in this one. There is no compare.”

“Tor,” I whispered, my heart growing light.

“This does not make sense to me. If the Cora of my world had not been destined for me, men would fight battles for her. They did write songs and poems to her beauty. She might not be likable but that didn’t mean her beauty was not desirous and greatly admired. You hold not only her beauty but a kind heart and a sharp wit. It is…” he paused, “strange that no man has claimed you.”

Jeez, I loved this guy.

“Um… the dating game is different in this world and –” I started.

“Dating game?”

“Uh… wooing,” I explained, “you know, courting.”

He shook his head and stated, “Rubbish.”

I tipped my head to the side and replied, “No, honey, it’s true.”

His eyes held mine. Then he leaned in, reached across the table between us and again took my hand. I studied the look on his face and twisted my body to face him, leaning in too, giving him my full attention.

When he had it, he spoke. “Cora, I have been thinking about this, noting your men’s response to you, your people’s response to us, and it occurs to me that there may be other powers at work here.”

Great. Other powers at work. Fantastic. Just what we needed.

“What do you mean?” I whispered.

“You are not claimed in this world. This is unnatural. With your beauty, your character –”

“Tor, honestly, it’s different here. It’s totally natural. Good women constantly –”

He shook his head and squeezed my hand. “It is unnatural.”

“Tor –”

“I’m a man, in your world or mine. Believe me, my love, this is unnatural,” he stated firmly.

Okay, I couldn’t argue with him being a man. He was definitely that.

I leaned in further and asked, “What are you thinking?”

“People observe us,” he remarked, I pulled in my lips and bit them because I’d noticed this too. “It is strange. I could understand men gazing at you; you’re beautiful, this happens in my world too. But the way their eyes are drawn to us, not only men but women –”

“I’ve noticed that too,” I told him.

“Something is not right about this,” he told me he was feeling the same thing I was feeling.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“I don’t think it, sweets, I feel it.”

Oh boy.

Yeah, he was feeling the same thing I was feeling.

“And what do you feel?” I asked hesitantly.

“You do not have destinies written in the sky in your world, do you?” Tor enquired and I shook my head. “And therefore, souls are not split in this world.” I shook my head again and Tor studied me. Then he said softly, “Cora, I think you hold the other half of my soul.”

I sat back swiftly, my heart clenching then beating madly and I stared at him then I said in a high-pitched voice, “What?”

His hand tugged mine and I leaned back in. “Minerva’s magic is blue.”

I shook my head but kept my eyes on his. “I don’t get it.”

“The vickrants aren’t born, they are made. Same with the toilroys. And the hewcrows. Minerva creates them. That is why, when struck, they bleed blue magic. That is why I was offended when you suggested I bled blue.”

“That’s a saying in my world, Tor, about royalty –”

He squeezed my hand and I quieted. “I know, love. But this mist that took us, it is also blue.”

Oh shit! I hadn’t thought of that.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

“And Minerva, she is impatient. She’s been thwarted generation after generation. And I’m thinking that she knows of this world and knew of your existence. And therefore, to feed her need for evil, she split my soul but the other half she did not put in the Cora of my world, she put it in you.”

I wanted this to be true. I really did. But I didn’t think it was true.

“Tor,” I reminded him gently, “you fell in love with her on sight when you met her.”

“I didn’t know another her existed and I had grown up from the time I could comprehend to the time I laid eyes on her being told she was my one true love, my only, my destiny, the being that held half my soul. It would stand to reason having this ingrained since I could remember that my mind would conjure a love that was not actually there.”

“She hurt you,” I said softly. “You can’t hurt someone if –”

“She is beautiful and I wanted the magic that was supposed to be mine but never, until I met you, did she vex me so thoroughly, unless it was shaded with disappointment as to a lost dream. Never did my blood heat with her every move, word and smile. She never wept in my presence but every tear I saw you shed scored my soul and I cannot believe if I saw her weep I would experience that same feeling.”

“Tor,” I whispered, my hand tensing in his just as his words scored at my soul but I couldn’t say it wasn’t a beautiful pain.

“I do not wish to remember this or remind you of it, my love, but when you came into my study carrying your birthday gift, the look on your face…” He shook his head. “I felt your hurt and I felt it so deeply, I must have felt it just as keenly as you did.”

My hand tensed harder and I felt tears sting my nose. “Honey.”

“You are my other half, Cora.”

I felt the tears fill my eyes. “Oh, baby,” I whispered.

“These people, your people,” he tipped his head to the side to indicate the patrons of the coffee house, “they see this or sense it. This magic we have. This connection of souls. They do not understand it but they sense it.”

I felt my brows rise. “Do you think?”

“Yes, I do.”

“But… what would Minerva get out of that?”

“What she has got for the last five years since I met the other you. The opportunity to feed on my frustration, my heartbreak. It isn’t an entire kingdom filled with despair but it’s something. And if she did this, she would have my lifetime of frustration for I would never have you.”

“But if the blue mist –”

“She toys,” Tor interrupted me. “What, my sweet, is worse than not having the love you always knew you would have?” He didn’t wait for my answer but answered himself. “What is worse is having it for a time and then having it taken away. My father taught me that with nearly every day he existed without one of his wives.”

Oh God. He was right.

“So, you don’t think Cora is behind this?” I asked.

“I am uncertain. What I think is that Cora is as lazy as she is unkind as she is greedy. What I think is that Cora does care… too much… for my brother which would provide added evidence that she is not the other half to my soul for she would not feel this way about Dash if she was. I have always found this strange for I, until I met you, have never held feelings for any other than her and until we came to your world, I thought you were her. This,” he squeezed my hand, “would explain her feelings for my brother.”

This was true.

Tor continued, “What I also think is that Cora may have colluded with Minerva for some gain or so she herself would not have a lifetime of watching her sister and her love be wildly happy together. What I think is that she may be sly but she has nowhere near the sharp wit you have. What I think is that Minerva chose that Cora carefully, and in doing so chose you carefully, knowing all this would happen. What I think is that Cora would convince herself she could play Minerva but Minerva is manipulating Cora and feeding off her unrequited love or her greed or her malice or all three.”

“But that would mean you think Cora would bring down the curse,” I remarked.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t imagine even Cora would do that. She knows how the curse works. She knows me. I did not consent to meet her until after I re-secured my birthright. She knew the warrior I was. She would know I would do everything in my power to stop the curse. It is my conjecture that Cora agreed to leave that world so as not to have to watch my brother with her sister and she would assume I would stop the curse. Either way, her being here would mean she wouldn’t be in Minerva’s clutches therefore the curse would never fully culminate.”

“Maybe she didn’t do any of that, Tor. Wouldn’t Minerva just do as she wished to toy with whoever she wanted?”

“The gods are all-powerful, my love. The she-god, whose power is immense but it comes from her own conjured magic, is not. Regardless, all the gods grant us free will and we use it as we see fit, for right or for wrong. Minerva, however, capitalizes on the wrong. She insinuates herself and manipulates. She needs a being to make the wrong choices, or she uses malicious means to guide the weak to make wrong choices so that she can exploit those choices. And the other Cora, as I think you know, sweets, is very good at making the wrong choices.”

Something hit me. “Do you think she had something to do with Rosa being at her house the day of the wedding?”

“Yes,” Tor answered promptly. “It could be payment for Minerva agreeing to take her to your world.”

“But that would start the curse! She’d have to know that,” I cried.

“This would be a hideous thing to do, even for Cora, sending her delicate sister into the clutches of Minerva but I think you have learned that Cora is not above doing something hideous, even to her own sister. That said, she would also know that I would see to it that Rosa was rescued, which I did.”

The entirety of my body froze except my eyes. They blinked.

Then I whispered, “What?”

Tor studied me and as he did so I could actually feel the blood rushing to my face as the mounting anger rushed hot through my veins.

“Cora, love, listen to me,” he urged, his hand holding mine so firmly I had no hope of pulling mine away which pissed… me… off.

“She’s been rescued?” I asked, my voice quiet and trembling with anger.

“Yes,” he answered and my eyes narrowed. “Orlando was faltering. I sent him a missive and called him to Bellebryn. I met with him and my warriors, in secret from you, and we devised a strategy. They carried this out and it was successful. Rosa was delivered safely to her parents some weeks past. Since then, she has been engaged in the re-planning of her wedding. She and her parents were asking after you but I sent a missive explaining you were not yourself and when you were better, I would take you to her.”

Hmm. It seemed during his days away from me my warrior prince had been busy.

The big, fat jerk!

“She was rescued some weeks past,” I stated softly.

His hand gave mine a gentle tug. “Cora –”

“She was rescued some weeks past!” I shouted and felt the eyes of the customers swing our way.

“Cora, calm down,” Tor commanded tersely.

“Calm down? Are you nuts?” I snapped. “I was worried sick! And you lied to me, telling me nothing had changed! Leading me, I might add, to believe my sister was in the evil clutches of a she-god!”

I felt more attention come our way as Tor leaned closer to me over the table.

“And I did not know that you were you,” he reminded me. “And you did not one thing to stop Rosa from seeing Dash. I know now you didn’t do anything because you had just woken in a new world. I thought then that you didn’t do anything because you were her. I could only assume you did this because you meant Rosa harm. I could also speculate that you were united with Minerva for some despicable purpose. Because of this, I could not give you that information. You must understand that.”

“What I understand, Tor,” I hissed, trying and failing to pull my hand from his which pissed me off even more because I was sick of how bloody, stinking strong he was, “is that we’ve been here and you’ve known I was me for two and a half days and you did not share this information with me!” I was fairly shouting my last and his hand gave mine a rough jerk.

“And why, my love, do you think that is? Perhaps because you’re reacting the way you’re reacting right now? Or, could it be that I had hurt you gravely prior to us coming to this world, so gravely, you fled from me and I watched you tumble down a flight of marble, bloody stairs, smashing your head and bruising your body in the process? Bruises you still carry on a beautiful body that is bearing my child? A child we were both extremely fortunate didn’t abort upon this accident? And, just after that, holding you unconscious in my arms and wondering if you’d ever wake up, suddenly I was in a new world, with you angry and hurt, pushing me away. And, by the gods, I’d just come to understand you were who you are and I was in love with you so perhaps I had other things on my mind than the fact that your sister is happy, healthy and has decided to change her wedding bouquet from orange blossoms and jasmine to roses and daisies because she thinks the scent of jasmine will clash violently with the blossoms?”

I stared at him.

Then I breathed, “You’re in love with me?”

“Gods, Cora, I just told you you’re the other half to my soul.”

“You’re in love with me?” I repeated.

He leaned back in his chair then tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling to which he muttered, “Deliver me.”

“Tor,” I called, tugging his hand lightly and feeling something swelling inside me, swelling fast, so fast, I was going to burst at any second.

He looked at me and raised his brows.

“Everything is right in your world,” I told him quietly.

“Yes, Cora, everything is right in my world.”

“The curse is no longer pending. Rosa is saved,” I went on.

“Yes, love, I just told you that.”

“So if we can get back, get Dash safely married to Rosa, then the land will be safe for our generation.”

“And you married to me,” he stated firmly.

“And me married to you,” I whispered softly.

He glared at me.

“Then all will be well,” I whispered.

“Yes, Cora, all will be well,” he semi-repeated with obvious strained patience.

“So that means,” I kept whispering, “I can tell Mom and Dad and Phoebe that, when I go back with you, it will just be you and our child and me and my sister, alive and happy, in a fairytale land and they’ll feel better letting me go.”

I watched Tor’s body go still. Then I watched his face get soft and his eyes get warm.

Then he whispered, “Yes, my love, that’s what it means.”

“That will make me feel better,” I whispered back.

He stared at me about a nanosecond before, without letting my hand go, he stood, rounded the table, pulled me out of my chair and into his arms where he plastered me to his body and laid a wet, hot, fantastic and very long kiss on me which I returned all the while melting into his arms.

When he lifted his head I looked in his eyes and whispered, “I love you, my prince.”

At my words, Tor smiled his freaking unbelievably beautiful smile.

Then we were hit with a wave of sound when a loud, spontaneous cheer went up in the coffee house.

“All right, dawg!” some guy yelled.

I felt heat hit my cheeks and I pulled in my lips. Tor’s smile just got bigger.

“Jeez, you guys, seriously, you keep that up, you need to get a room, like, pronto,” Phoebe said and I turned my head to see my grinning friend, her friend Brianna who I had met a couple of times and another woman joining our table.

The other woman was gazing with open fascination at Tor and I knew she was the Circe back in the other world’s friend. And I knew she knew Tor was from a parallel universe.

And I also knew that my crazy life was about to get better… or decidedly worse.

Oh boy.