Thawing His Heart

“I’ll send him away.” Nuala said finally breaking Richella out of her daze.

“No you want to spend time with your brother. I’ll just…..think of something” Richella said running her fingers through her hair.

Richella walked quickly to the door and was happy to feel the handle give under her grip. She walked down the hall like a zombie and into her room. She was more than willing to lock herself in there.

Nuada watched as Richella walked down the hall towards him, then right past him. He felt a pull in his chest at the realization that she hadn’t even noticed him. He walked back into the room he was given and tried to shake the insult from his body. Maybe he had offended her beyond forgiveness the last time they talked.

“UGH! Why should you care?!” Nuada yelled at himself.

He tried to run the events through his head. They met, they fought side by side, they drank to the victory, and then they hooked up. That’s all it was, a hook up, nothing special. Then why did he feel like this was the first time he had met a girl? He had to do more research on his family, there had to be a scar on his perfect bloodline. Fuck!!! What a way to find out you were part human.

A few feet and two walls away Richella was laying flat on her back in her bed. She wished she has asked Nuala exactly how long her brother would be here. She could fake being sick for two or three days and stay in her room. Anything longer than that though and they would start sending doctors and the gig would be up. She could claim she wanted to visit friends and leave for a week…..except all her friends were at the BPRD.

The longer she stayed in the bed the more she wished she could just stay there for the rest of her life. There was no curse in her bed, no unwanted power, no transforming into horrific birds, she was just there.

She turned over on her side and her brain played a very nasty trick on her. She could see Nuada lying next to her and all her dreams of staying in that bed vanished, and were replaced by another dream. He had felt so right next to her and on top of her …………and inside of her.

“Damn it ELLA!” She screamed as she jumped up out of the bed.

She had to get out of this building. She had no clue where she would go, but here was not an option. She gathered up an extra pair of jeans, and a few shirts and her most comfortable panties then shoved them into a bag. She took a deep breath and walked out her door, only to find Nuala and Nuada talking in the hall. She tried to slip back into her room but they had heard the lock click.

“Sorry I was just…” Richella said shyly and hid the bag behind the door.

“Going somewhere?” Nuada asked with a tight grin. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

“Uh..no…..laundry” Richella lied. Her heart did a double back flip when he smiled.

“In a travel sac?” Nuada questioned.

Richella dropped the bag in her room and stomped off past the pair. She hated being called out on her lies. Nuada looked after her as Nuala pushed him into the room.

“Be nice she’s a little stressed” Nuala said.

“And I’m not?” Nuada snapped back.

Nuala’s face made his heart break; he hadn’t meant to snap back at her. He had enough to worry about without her being upset with him too. It was annoying a hell to be upset with someone and then feel them being upset right back at you.

“Do you think it’s possible that we have human blood in us?” Nuada asked his sister bluntly.

“NO!” Nuala said with an offended exhale.

“I’m not so sure” Nuala said and sat down hard on the bed.

“How so?” Nuala asked.

“Richella” Nuada sighed.

“Yes, I can feel you are drawn to her, but.. I’m not convinced it’s because of a human ancestor.” Nuala tried to reassure.

“Then what?....Don’t answer that.” Nuada corrected. He didn’t want to face to other option yet.

“Why are you so afraid of genuinely having feelings for someone?” Nuala asked.

“It’s just….annoying.” Nuada answered.

“Well if you’re so convinced I suppose we could ask the Orikal.” Nuala suggested and then shivered involuntarily.

“YES!” Nuada shot out of his seat.

“I was joking.” Nuala said appalled.

“It’s the only way. He can tell us for sure.” Nuada gripped his sister on both shoulders.

“You can go.” Nuala said.

“No we have to go together. He’ll be more willing to reply if you’re present. He likes you” Nuada explained.

Nuala didn’t like him though. The Orikal was a difficult man, and if you lost your temper or didn’t follow protocol to the tea you could forget about whatever you came to him for. He did have answers to the impossible questions, and then some answers you didn’t want to know. He could tell you who you will marry and in the same breath tell you how you will die. The best part was that you were only allowed to ask him one question a century. If he gave some vague bullshit answer you were doomed to ponder it’s meaning for a hundred years.

“Ok we’ll go but YOU’RE asking him” Nuala pushed a finger into her brother’s chest.

A weight lifted from Nuada’s shoulders. He was that much closer to an answer and he felt a smile break out over his face. His sister smiled awkwardly back at him as if she wasn’t sure the moment was actually happening. A small knock on the door broke the discomfort.

Nuada walked swiftly to the door and opened it. He had to check his excitement when he saw Richella.

“I was hoping I could talk to Nuala…when she’s done” Richella said as confidently as she could.

The man standing in front of her looked impeccable. His hair hung regally from his head and framed the bone structure of his face perfectly. He looked like he had just received a bit of fantastic news and the smile on his face suited him very well. His smell filled her nose and she had to fight the urge to close her eyes to enjoy it fully. She felt her heart start to rush and her skin getting hot.

“I’m done here let’s go” Nuala said quickly breaking the moment. She snapped something at her brother too quick for Richella to catch then grabbed Richella’s arm and pulled her down the hall.

“Did I interrupt something” Richella asked as she was dragged down the hall.

“No we were done” Nuala sighed absentmindedly.

Richella was shocked at how strong Nuala was. She was pulling Richella down the hall like she didn’t weight a thing. Her hope was that Nuala was finally coming to her senses. She hoped she had seen her brother and her face to face and it finally sunk in. It wasn’t normal to know the capacity a person had to kill another and be perfectly ok when your brother fell in the cross fire. Even worse was that Nuala stood at risk herself.

When they got to Nuala’s room Richella looked down at her arm expecting to see bruises. Nuala didn’t stop till she got to her closet and started throwing dresses onto her bed.

“Um so..I wanted to talk to you about…What are you doing?” Richella asked.

“I have to find something to wear to go see the Orikal.” Nuala groaned.

“WHOA!! When did you decide to liberate yourself from your sanity?” Richella asked as her hopes that Nuala had come to her senses vanished.

“My brother wants to go, to ask about our bloodline.” Nuala answered as she held up a white dress to herself.

“Not white, he’ll think you’re trying to look pure. Why do you have to go if your brother is the one with the question?” Richella asked and started pawing at the dresses too.

She had wanted to apologize to Nuala for losing it earlier, but she could tell everything was ok between them. Plus she was glad to have something normal to do, like picking out an outfit or talking about how scary the Orikal could be.

“The Orikal likes me; my brother thinks he’ll get a better answer if I’m there.” Nuala answered.

Richella pulled out a few dresses and shook her head at a few more. She was completely distracted by doing something with her best friend that Nuala’s words didn’t sink in right away.

“He’s asking about your bloodline? Why?” Richella asked suddenly.

“The Orikal is the only one who can tell us for sure if our bloodline is pure.” Nuala said.

“Has someone challenged its purity?” Richella asked.

“You.” Nuala said calmly.

“Excuse me!” Richella said shocked.

“He’s anxious that his attraction to you is because of your Veela influence.” Nuala shrugged.

Richella’s mouth went dry instantly and she couldn’t get another breath through her lungs. Nuala had just said Nuada was attracted to her. She made her way to Nuala’s bed and sat on top of the rainbow of dresses splayed out on it. The sides of her mouth lifted into a smirk and her eyes closed.

“NO!” Richella stood up quickly and yelled.

“Oh Gees! You’re as bad as him! What is so wrong with just liking someone? Why does it have to be so complicated?” Nuala shook her head back at her friend.

“How can you say that? You know the consequences if I fall in love.” Richella yelled.

“You deserve some love Richella, and don’t try to scare me off of this. You don’t know my brother like I do.” Nuala argued.

“It doesn’t matter how strong he is. Eric was strong but he RIPPED HIMSELF APART!!!” Richella began to hyperventilate at the thought of her last lover.

Nuala put her arms around Richella and smoothed out her hair. Nuala couldn’t explain it but there was something that happened when her brother and Richella were together that made her blood settle. Like something in the universe had stopped rattling. She knew both of them had a past that would make it hard to get close to another living thing, but she was determined.

“Honestly that is the least of my worries right now. I have a date with the Orikal.” Nuala said to change the subject.

“I hope he says he’s human, then he will run away from me like he should” Richella answered then helped her friend find an outfit.