33. Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

Hours Earlier

Calliope

As an itch began to tickle my nose, I instinctively wiggled it back and forth. The itch persisted, so, I gave in and gently scratched it with my fingertips. Suddenly, a dazzling brightness emerged from behind my closed eyelids, causing me to hastily blink them open. Before me, a radiant, blue light illuminated the surroundings, casting an ethereal glow. The light playfully danced, twirled, and even executed a graceful backflip, captivating my wide-eyed gaze. Mesmerized, I watched as the ball of brilliant blue gradually retreated, revealing a mysterious face hovering within the shadows.

Her vibrant purple locks cascaded down her back, impossible to ignore. The corset top she wore hugged her figure, exuding a fierce, rebellious aura. Paired with her ripped black jeans, the ensemble emitted a strikingly edgy vibe giving her bad-assy look.

Instantly, I knew who she was.

"Fairy God—!"

Her arm bolts out and covers my mouth. "Don't be so loud, you will wake malicious, mean and scary."

I tilt my head in confusion. "Who?"

"Your orc monster boy-toy. Now, come here," she whispers and motions me to come off the bed.

I took a quick look at him, and he was out cold.

He should have been out cold. We did the dirty, like four times, before we both passed out.

"Quit thinking about the dirty things you just did, and hurry," my fairy godmother said and put her hands on her hips. "And do it carefully, that's right. Put a pillow on top of him, that way he won't notice you're gone yet."

I did as she said, took his hard grip off my butt and slid a pillow in its place. He had a thing for holding my butt at night. Not that I complained, it kept me firmly planted to his chest. Sometimes he would start rubbing my lady parts up and down his shaft and we would both get off in our sleep.

He was kinkier than he realized, the little stinker.

Once I got off the bed, my Fairy Godmother looked me up and down and waved me toward the hallway. The little blue light, which I recognized as a whisp, danced around my hair and kissed my cheek.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" If she was taking me out of the cave, I knew Valpar would not be happy. He liked me close to him and, if I left, I would be breaking one of the rules.

Standing in the corner again did not sound fun.

My fairy godmother snorted. "Ah, it will be fine. You need to live a little. Come on." She stepped through the boulders like a ghost, and my eyes widened. I touched the boulders with my fingertip to see if I could follow her way out, but the whisp gestured me to follow him through the small hole that Valpar left behind for Simon.

Go through the hole it was, then.

Why did I feel like my role was reversed here?

Oh, I knew why. Because I'd been the one getting my holes filled, not filling holes.

Duh.

I had to wiggle through. It was a tight fit but once I get on the other side, I see my Fairy Godmother tapping her foot and her hand on her hip. "Alright then, let's go."

"Wait just a minute! Are you a ghost too? I didn't think a fairy could walk through a rock!" I ran to keep up with her fast pace.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Technically, I'm not here." The whisp following us sat on her shoulder. "You are sleepwalking and I am just guiding you where you need to go." She pointed toward the forest, and I just mindlessly followed.

"Sleepwalking? I don't sleepwalk!"

My Fairy Godmother raised a brow and wrapped her arm through mine. "Not normally, but I'm short on time. I swear, I'm not getting paid enough for this." She ran her hand down her face. "Two humans at once are just about to kill me. At least I didn't have to explain much to you since you already lived here. But ow, we need to work on your thinking department." She tapped her finger in the middle of my forehead.

I grabbed her finger and pushed it away. "Hey, I can think, just fine! And, what do you mean two humans?"

"Don't worry about that." She waved her hand. "Anyway, I know you can think just fine," she chastised," but you are refusing to. You are wasting precious time and getting on my nerves with your nonsense, by being afraid of the past you no longer control. The time is now, darling, embrace the future like you always wanted, but in order to do that you must understand the past."

I groaned and slapped my forehead. "I don't wanna. I like how things are now."

My Fairy Godmother let out a disdainful snort, her grip firm as she pulled me along. Her words were few, but her presence guided me through the dense forest, where the moonlight filtered through the rich green leaves above. As we emerged from the trees, we entered the deserted courtyard of the Golden Light Palace, and the silence was deafening.

The air carried a faint scent of flowers, mingling with the earthy aroma of the surrounding forest. With each step, I could feel the coolness of the ground beneath my feet, leading us back towards the familiar path that led to my parents' home.

"Are you taking me back to the tree house?"

She shook her head. "No. Do you happen to remember how you came to the tree house, Calliope?"

I twisted my lips, my eyebrows forming into a scowl. "Mom and Dad brought me, having spent a day in the palace after waking up. I was sick and still tired, but they said I would do better at home."

She nodded and continued to pull me. "Anything else that stands out? Who was there when you woke up?"

"Uncle Osirus and Melina, of course. And there was another woman, a sorceress. She was really nice. I haven't seen her in a long time."

"Taliyah. Yes, she is very nice," my Fairy Godmother said. "She's very powerful and can cast spells so strong she is almost equivalent to one of the greatest sorceresses, Serene."

My lips parted. Serene was so powerful she helped close the portal to the Underworld during the war, capturing all the demons and rogues and sealing them inside.

"Taliyah was the one that helped hide your memories." She squeezed my arm.

That means her power was strong enough to keep my memories away. Then, why was I seeing that woman flash in my mind? Was it just a nightmare, something my head was coming up with on its own?

My Fairy Godmother tugged on my arm. "Come on, what are you thinking?"

I shook my head, my loose braids hitting her on the arm. "I don't wanna."

She hummed, not bothered in the slightest. "Is it because you are having flashes of memories, perhaps? Or at least you think they are memories because you have no idea why things are popping up in your head."

I gasped. "Can you read minds?"

As we trod on a patch of vibrant purple moss, she threw her head back, laughter filling the air. In response, bursts of brilliant yellow lights soared out, illuminating the surroundings with a mesmerizing glow. The explosion of colors created a breathtaking spectacle, enveloping us in a warm and enchanting light.

"No," she calmed. "But I know it is something that could happen. Even the most powerful sorceresses, such as Taliyah's magic, are no match for a bond."

I rubbed my lips together. A bond was more powerful than any magic?

"We haven't mated, yet though. He hasn't bitten me. He wanted to make it special, romantic." My face heated, and I rubbed the area on my neck. It was sore, black and blue, even where he liked to suck and nibble. He had seen other creatures in Bergarian with bites. It seemed the norm for people to bite their mates, but they had fangs. Orcs had big teeth with their under bite and it would be difficult to leave a mark that way.

And it looked like it would hurt like the dickens.

"No, he hasn't," my Fairy Godmother hummed in thought. "But he doesn't have to claim you for a bond to break a spell or a curse, Calliope. Once you both met, the bond wove you both together, tighter and tighter like a giant hug." She squeezed my arm, and the whisp jumped off my godmother's shoulder and tickled my nose.

"We have been inseparable. He's all over me."

She nodded. "And I'm sure he's having trouble not claiming you, too, hasn't he?"

I nodded and kept my eyes on the path. We passed the treehouse and continued through the trees.

"Yeah, but he hasn't said anything, especially, after I told him I didn't want to know about my past."

My godmother breathed a long dramatic sigh and put her hand to her forehead. "Who knew the grumpy, irritable orc, of the three, would have such a sweet spot and keep his selfishness to himself?"

Huh?

"Sweetheart, your uncle told him that once he claimed you there was a chance your memories would come back. Valpar has held off, because he wants you to make the choice on your own about knowing your past."

I didn't know what to say to that. If he told me he couldn't claim me until I knew of my past, that would have been an ultimatum. It would have made me angry that I had to choose and force myself to remember my memories. It would have made me angry because he had a power over me.

On the other hand, I was a little miffed he didn't tell me…but why should I be? He was trying to protect me. I didn't think there was any right decision in this; I didn't think there was a right answer, because I didn't think I would have been able to make the decision if the roles were reversed.

No wonder he was so grumpy in the beginning, hitting trees and being so distant for those few days.

And there I was, teasing him by playing with my lady parts on the bed.

I slapped my forehead. Wow, what a mate I was.

He had been going against everything he was for my sake. He wasn't being the rough orc that I was demanding because he didn't want to hurt me, not just physically but mentally. He didn't want to see me break. Whatever my past was, it must be… life-altering.

I'd been so busy with these flashbacks; I hadn't thought of him. I was being a terrible mate to him, not thinking about his feelings, too. He must be so sad that I hadn't asked him to claim me, yet, as well.

Fairy Godmother stopped in her tracks and pulled her arm away from me. She settled her hands on my shoulders and looked me square in the eye. "You stop that right now, little fairy." My eyes widened. "You stop overthinking. Valpar is taking care of you. He understands how big this is. He knows your past, he knows where you come from and he would wait years to claim you, until you said it was alright."

My lungs filled with air and I let it out slowly.

She dropped her hands and let them lie at her side. "The reason I am here is to do an intervention. I'm here to help the orcs along with their bondings and the claiming of their mates."

"And I'm messing everything up?" My lip quivered, and I held my hands together. The whisp who had been traveling with us waved in front of my face and kissed my cheek.

"Gods, no, sweet thing. No, not at all. I am here for another reason entirely. This visit is about you. My intervention is about you."

"But I'm not on drugs. I don't drink that fae wine." I sniffed and wiped away a lone tear.

"Stay with me, Calliope. We are almost there." She patted my head. "No, I'm here to say you have a choice. One, you can let these memories creep up on you. You will continue to get these flashbacks because the bond is slowly breaking the spell."

I nodded for her to continue.

"Two; you can bond with Valpar, and your memories will return."

I rubbed an arm under my nose. "Right after? All at once?"

Fairy Godmother huffed and sighed. "Yes, right after. Bonds are powerful and are quick to break spells."

Two options which sucked. Let the memories slowly come back, so Valpar and I have to suffer not bonding with each other, while letting my mind slowly regain the memories, or I bond with Valpar and he gets to deal with a crying mess afterward.

Obviously, I wanted to forget my past for a reason, that is the only explanation why I would want to forget.

I swallowed and Fairy Godmother's hand wrapped around mine. It wasn't but a few steps later that she sat me down on a boarded swing sitting over a stream. She stood behind me and pushed.

"This is your thinking swing, a little present," she muttered as she pushed me. "I know what I told you is hard to hear, Calliope, but I wanted you to know all will work out in the end. You will always be the same Calliope after you find out what happened to you. The sweet, innocent little fairy who is curious about the world around her."

"You are just making me have to think more, not less."

She laughed, pushing me harder.

More delicate whisps gracefully floated down from the towering trees, their ethereal forms twirling and swirling in a mesmerizing dance around the babbling stream. With a gentle touch, they plucked droplets of water from the surface and playfully tossed them, creating a sparkling spectacle that shimmered in the partly clouded moonlight. The cool mist lightly caressed my legs, and I laughed when they began to twirl my braids and spin around my hair.

I gazed back at her as she continued to push. "Am I gonna turn green?"

Godmother's hands landed on her knees, her laughter filling the air around us and I tilted my head to see if she would fall over. She stood, her purple hair falling back around her shoulder.

"Gods, no. You won't turn green. You will stay human."

I kept my hands tight on the ropes. "And how do you know for certain?"

Godmother smirked and pushed me again, this time higher. "I know these sorts of things."

I squealed when my feet grazed across the water, and the whisps followed me with each push.

"Loved your performance, by the way, with the tent ceremony. I have to say, it was almost as entertaining as a hole in the wall performance I saw recently."

"Hole in the wall—?"

Godmother snickered. "Yes, Valpar's brother Thorn chased his female right through their wood and he fucked her through a wall."

I smiled wildly. "Really? Tell me more! Did they like it? This chasing thing?"

Godmother's eyes glittered with mischief. I think she was trying to set me up to do something naughty. I didn't really care. It sounded fun.

"If I tell you, will you promise to make a decision about what you want to do?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm going to talk to Valpar. I want us to make a decision, together."

She smiled back, halting the swing and gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Good girl, now about this chase thing—"