He leaned back on the bed. "On second thought, I think that I may rest for a bit. I am drained."

"But, Pallo, I think one of us should watch you, just in case." He ignored my comment. I grabbed his hand and placed it over my stomach. "If you believe what you told me, then you need to make sure you're safe, andhere."

Pallo's gaze darted down to my belly and then back up to me. He knew full well that I was telling him that if he planned on being a father, then he'd better d.a.m.n well start taking care of himself. He nodded his head.

"Very well, James, send Caradoc in, and when you are done stuffing her full of your cooking, take her for a drive, if she wishes to go."

My heart skipped a beat. He trusted me enough to come back to him. That meant a lot to me. He wasn't one who was p.r.o.ne to trusting people. I wouldn't let him down. I bent over and kissed his cheek.

Chapter 28.

"So, do you think its Pallo's baby?" James asked.

I pushed my foot into his leg hard. He picked it up and continued rubbing it. We'd been lying on the couch watching movies for a few hours. He'd offered to rub my feet and I'd taken him up on it. I didn't really feel like having a heart to heart, but if I was going to do it, I was glad it was him.

"I don't know what to think."

"Yes, you do."

I wanted to kick him for being right. He knew me well. "d.a.m.n you.""You're too late, try another one."

I sat up. "Shut-up!"

"Right then, I just wanted to know if I was going to be an uncle or not."

I punched him in the arm and he fake sobbed. His face turned serious, fast. "You know, it could have been mine."

I thought about our night in the motel room. He was right. We'd come so close to having s.e.x. "James, I haven't said thank you yet for what you did that night."

"There's no need to thank me."

The room was silent for a moment. My thoughts went back to his original comment. He could have easily been the father of my child if he wouldn't have stopped us. I weighed the options in my head. "I should have slept with James. He'd make a great daddy, he's my best friend, he's adorable in the want to lick every inch of his s.e.xy body kind of way, he's caring, he can cook, he's the only 'mate' I have that isn't a demanding jerk the majority of the time, he's funny and s.e.xy ... wait, I already mentioned that ... huh ... must be because he's super s.e.xy, he's thoughtful, he's hung like a horse, he's...."

"Sprouting an erection listenin' to you go on and on."

I froze. Tell me I didn't say that all out loud. Tell me I didn't say that all out loud. h.e.l.l, I'd said it all out loud. I closed my eyes tight, wishing myself away. I cracked one eye open. My wish didn't come true. I was still on the couch. Sure, where's a little faerie power when you need it.

I was embarra.s.sed beyond belief. I moved to get up and James grabbed hold of my legs tightly. I looked at him, expecting him to lecture me on all the reasons why we could never be. He didn't.

"I'd have liked to be the one--to share this with you." He touched my stomach lightly and nodded.

"You are sharing it with me, James." I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb and concentrated on notcrying. "You share more with me than anyone else in my life. Don't ever doubt that."

He dropped his head down, nodding slightly. I squeezed his hand harder.

It was odd being around him. I didn't "think" about it. I didn't worry about every little thing. I was just me and he seemed to like me, quirks and all. h.e.l.l, he was weirder than me by a long shot and that's part of what attracted me to him.

"All in favor of a change of subject say aye," James said.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. He wasn't right in the head, then again, I wasn't holding a full deck either. I put my hand up. "Aye!"

"Great that's settled then." He rubbed my legs gently. "At least I got one bit of information out of our little roadside motel experience."

"What's that?"

"I got a rather nice peek at you jack and danny and was pleased to see you don't have a bucket f.a.n.n.y."

I laughed. "Speak English ... jerk."

"Come on, Gwen. You know what a jack and danny is."

"Nope."

"It's your f.a.n.n.y."

I giggled. "Why the h.e.l.l are you calling my a.s.s a jack and danny?"

James covered his mouth, but I could still see him smiling--extra wide.

Great, I'd missed something big. "Love, here in America f.a.n.n.y means a.r.s.e, but were I'm from, it means something entirely different."

From the look on his face, I knew this had to be a doozie. "Okay, hit me with it. What's f.a.n.n.y mean to you?"

He ran his hand up my leg and cupped my mound. I drew in a sharp breath as I felt his power lifting, allowing the feelings he held back for us to peek out. He crawled up the couch and kept his hand on my s.e.x. He nuzzledmy cheek with his face and caressed me. "It's another word for ... quim."

I moaned softly as he stimulated my c.l.i.t through my clothes. My body tightened under his touch.

"You know what quim means, don't you?" He ground his hips against me as his tongue darted out and over my ear. "It means c.u.n.t."

James sat up fast and returned to his end of the couch as though nothing had ever happened. I couldn't feel his energy around me anymore. He must have gotten control of it. That was great and all, but what the h.e.l.l just happened? "James?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing," I said, as I stared down at him. "Hey, wait a minute. What does bucket f.a.n.n.y mean then?"

"I'm not sure I can demonstrate that one." He put his hands together forming a circle, then expanded the size of it considerably. The smile that spread across his face was priceless. I could get used to seeing him like that. "It suggests one has a large ... umm ... h.e.l.l, a large hole to put the pole in."

"Are you saying I'm loose?"

He chuckled. "Not literally!"

I jabbed my foot back and caught his groin on accident. The smile left his face and was replaced by a rather painful expression. "s.h.i.t James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...."

"It's all right, love. I've no need of 'em at the moment anyway."

"Again, you wonder why it is that you don't have a steady girlfriend?"

"I think we both know why I don't have a steady gal." He winked at me and laughed. I went to jab him again but he sat straight up, tossing my legs on the floor in the process."Hey!"

"Pallo!" he said, flying off the couch and up the stairs. I followed close behind him.

James burst through the bedroom door a fraction of a second before me. He gasped. I came in behind him and he caught my body with his arm so I couldn't go any further. I looked up.

"Sweet Jesus!" was all I could get out. My mind had a hard time registering what I was seeing. Pallo was upright, a few feet to the right of the bed. He wasn't standing. He was levitating, at least ten inches off the floor with his arms were outstretched, and his head thrown backwards. Caradoc was holding a black cloth in his hand. It took me a minute to compute it was Pallo's shirt, or had been his shirt. It was a tattered mess. Pallo's upper body was bare.

Pallo hissed as if in pain with his head still back. Caradoc was blocking my full view of him and from where I stood it looked like he was cutting Pallo's chest open.

I made a move towards him. James stepped in front of me. "No."

"What the h.e.l.l is he doing to him?"

Caradoc turned and looked at me, before he took a step back. My eyes widened as I watched a huge laceration appear across Pallo's chest. No one had touched him! Blood splattered across the room. Caradoc moved bac k in to try to stop the bleeding. I heard the sound of the robed men chanting. James stared at me and nodded--this time, he'd heard it too.

James put his arm down and let me pa.s.s. I reached Pallo's levitating body and stopped just short of touching him. The chanting grew louder. Two more cuts ripped open across his chest. There was now only a small portion of him not cut up. I put my hand on his chest and called his name. His head flicked forward but his eyes stayed closed. I tried calling his name again. He didn't respond.

"Stop! Stop hurting him!"The buzzing energy surrounded me, tugging on me ,wanting me to follow it.

I glanced back at James. He was already shaking his head no and coming towards me. Pallo hissed again.

"I'll come, I'll come, don't hurt him anymore ... please ... I'll come."

Pallo's body lowered to the ground. Caradoc caught him before he hit the floor and put him on the bed. I pushed past him to check on Pallo and then realized how foolish that was. He had a heartbeat when he wanted to have a heartbeat I wouldn't be able to tell if he was okay.

"Is he dead?"

"If you mean dead in the literal form then yes."

I felt sick to my stomach and instantly broke down into tears. I reached for Pallo and wanted to wrap my arms around him.

James rushed over to me. "No Gwen! Caradoc doesn't understand what you mean. Pallo's not dead ... well ... not any more dead than he was before this. Caradoc didn't understand what you meant."

I shot Caradoc a nasty look. He bowed his head apologetically. "Caradoc, go and get blood for Pallo. James, you work on dressing his wounds."

"What are you plannin'?" James asked.

"I'm planning on going in after him."

"No, you are not goin' in. I don't know what the f.u.c.k is goin' on here, but that's no dream. Whatever the b.l.o.o.d.y-h.e.l.l it is, it's deadly," James said, practically spitting on me.

"I know." I pushed past him and climbed on the bed next to Pallo.

James came around to yank me off. I called up enough power to knock someone out and waited for him to get close enough to me.

"James, if this doesn't work out...."He looked at me puzzled as I raised my hand out. I brought it back down quickly on my own chest and released my magic. It felt like someone hit me in the chest with a brick wall. Darkness swept in around me.

Instantly, I found myself standing in the cave with the altar. I heard the murmured voices of the monks. They were clearing away from the cente r of the room. I screamed and ran forward when I saw what they were surrounding. They had Pallo's wrists and ankles shackled outward with chains. His body was stretched tight and off the ground. One of the robed men held a whip. I pushed past him and to Pallo.

His head was slumped down and I lifted it gently in my hands. Briefly, his eyes flickered opened and he lifted his head slowly.

"Gwyneth?"

"I'm here, Pallo, I'm here."

"No," he said softy.

I turned and glared at the robed men. My power burned to get out, to be free, to punish all that hurt him. I wanted to unleash it out.

Incinerating all these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds sounded like fun to me. "Fix him and take him down. Now!"

They gathered together, and grew silent.

"You will take him down and fix him or I will ward myself against dream invasions and you will NOT get me in here again."

I don't know what possessed me to threaten that, and I didn't think I had the power to do that, but I was betting I could find someone who did.

They murmured amongst themselves before one of them stepped forward towards Pallo. He put his hands out, letting them linger just above Pallo's skin. I watched as the wounds pulled closed and sealed over.

Pallo's pale perfect skin was all that was left. Two more men moved in and began to unchain Pallo.

"Now, we will leave this room. I can't wake for some time. I saw to that before I came in. You'll have us here in your ... whatever the h.e.l.l it is ... for longer than normal. We will not ... I repeat ... we will not stayin this room."

Pallo dropped to floor. I bent down and helped him to stand. I took a step towards the exit. The man with the whip stepped in to my path. I let go of Pallo long enough to reach my hands out to the man. I almost touched him. He jumped back and let us past. I didn't look back.

Pallo was doing better by the time we made it out of the cave. He stood on his own and giving me a very nasty look. "Gwyneth, you should not have come."

I walked forward through the brush. "Right, you wanted me to stand there and watch you die?"

"Yes ... that is exactly what I wanted you to do." He followed close behind me. "I can not believe that they let you come here. Madonna! If you want something done right, do it yourself."

"They didn't let me fall asleep. In fact, James was in the process of trying to stop me when I showed up here to get you."

"What did you do?"

Whistling and pretending to be innocent crossed my mind, for like a millisecond. "I used magic to knock myself out."

He grabbed hold of my shoulders and spun me around. "NO!"

"Too late now ... besides, I couldn't watch that, Pallo, I had to stop it. I had to come. I couldn't let anything happen to you. You may not feel the same for me, but...."

"That is why they did it. That is why they tortured me. They did it so you would come. I refused to summon you. They tried to make me change, force my demon to the surface. They knew you would come, Gwyneth."