Their Royal Compromise: Paranormal Dating Agency (OtherWorld Shifters Book 2) Read online

  Their Royal Compromise

  Copyright © 2018 Godiva Glenn

  Published by M.T. Worlds Press, Inc.

  Winter Springs, FL 32708

  http://mtworldspress.com

  Cover by Godiva Glenn

  Formatting by Glowing Moon Designs

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  http://mtworldspress.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Paranormal Dating Agency World

  Also by Godiva Glenn

  About the Author

  The crystal-clear water of the viewing pool rippled as Fianni swept her fingers along the surface. A slight frown creased her brow. When she was in need of company, she’d come to this pool. It was small—the diameter roughly that of a common well—but it sank deeper than imaginable. Sitting on the edge, she waited and considered her emotions.

  She was in a mood, but it wasn’t what it should have been. She thought she’d feel broken, but there was only reflective calmness coursing through her veins.

  The water splashed as long, slender arms reached from beneath the surface to grab the sides of the pool. A translucent figure rose up, a feminine shape that rested its elbows along the cool tile. Color came forward in patches until the watery form was a pale blue woman with slick white hair. Fianni’s best friend, Iona.

  “It’s done?” Iona asked.

  Fianni nodded.

  “I can’t believe it’s over,” Iona commented with a hint of sadness. Her dark sapphire eyes scrutinized Fianni. “You were together several years. I thought he’d come around.”

  Fianni shook her head at the thought. “Humans can’t always make such a decision.”

  “A shame.”

  “I think I always suspected,” Fianni admitted. “We were always casual, and he never asked much about my life here. I think we were each expecting the other to take the leap. He thought I could leave Prism and be a human with him.”

  Iona’s mouth quirked. Across the years, she’d often voiced her opinion on such a notion. Unlike Fianni, Iona never saw immortality as lamentable. To even consider giving it up was ridiculous, in her opinion.

  “You shouldn’t have to die to prove your worth to a human,” Iona murmured. “But I don’t think you were meant to live that life. Troy sounded fun, and he was certainly cute, but I can’t imagine you settling down on a farm in the middle of nowhere.”

  “From beloved aspect to housewife?” Fianni asked, wrinkling her nose. “I know it sounds strange, even when I think about it, but I believe I could have been happy.”

  “Yet you were just as against moving to Earth as he was with coming to Prism.”

  Wiping wet fingers dry against her silky dress, Fianni gave a light shrug. She stared at the dark streaks she’d left on the marigold fabric. “It became clear that his family would never accept me. They thought I was strange… and fat. It’s like they could almost overlook the whole part about me being an all-powerful fae trapped in a human body, but they didn’t understand why that body looked like this.” Fianni rolled her eyes. “The crazy thing is that his mom was my size, and she was the harshest.”

  “Humans aren’t always rational,” Iona agreed. “But Troy loved your body. I’ll never forget the time I went to check on you and found you two getting frisky by the pond.” She fanned her face, a teasing gesture since she didn’t have blood to make her blush or grow warm.

  “Which is why I was able to ignore his family. But honestly… at some point, I realized I didn’t want to ask him to leave everything he has—the land, the friends, the buckets of cousins and nieces and nephews—for me. And when it came to becoming human full-time, I couldn’t get excited.” Fianni pursed her lips for a moment as her greatest insecurity bubbled up. “Plus, there was one important thing.”

  “Oh?” Iona scooted closer to the edge of the pool. “Why do you suddenly sound ominous?”

  “When that human… you know, the fire-haired Brook from Earth? When she tied herself to Prism, she gave the world a gift. All humans do it, and it’s unpredictable how Prism will respond to the human blood oath.”

  “I heard. She brought a burst of fertility,” Iona said with a soft sigh. “Probably the best gift we could have expected. Though admittedly, it doesn’t affect me, so I would have been happy with any other number of things.”

  Fianni smirked. “Right. Well, there are fae that have been unable to conceive for decades now having luck. Yet…”

  The sly joking expression slid from Iona’s face. With sadness, she glanced away. “Oh.”

  “I’m as old as the oldest speck of dust in the air, yet I’ve never even come close to being a mother. Humans are obscenely fertile. Kerren and Brook got pregnant immediately, which is usually the case when fae and humans mix. Troy and I were together for three years, and there was nothing. I can feel it, Iona. I would never be able to give him a family.”

  “Did he ask you to?”

  “Not directly, but there were signs. And it’s not like that was the only problem with our relationship, but Troy is the type who is meant to be a dad. He’s meant for mountains of children.” Fianni tapped her fingers along the water-spotted ledge separating her from Iona.

  Iona reached out, covering Fianni’s hand with hers. Fianni shivered as the cold spread across her hand, but the strange sensation didn’t take away from the comforting gesture. Being an undine, an ancient water spirit, Iona was barely able to embrace a physical form for long. They’d rarely touched over the course of their life-long friendship.

  “Now what?” Iona asked.

  “Desperation, I suppose,” Fianni joked.

  Iona gave her an unamused look. “You don’t need someone.”

  “Maybe you don’t. I do. When my family formed the final peace between the Pure and the Virtuous courts, we knew it meant never again taking sides.”

  Fianni closed her eyes. She could remember those days like a storybook, as if she wasn’t there. But she was, and she could still feel the heartache. It was a pivotal moment when the fae divided themselves. Not good and evil, just different in beliefs and aspirations.

  After that it was only a matter of time until they began to fight. They wanted the aspects to pick sides, but that would never happen. Instead they worked on brokering peace, though it still took hundreds of lives for either side to cooperate.

  Her brothers and sisters—the aspects of fae—all retired to the Fade after the decision. They needed a break. Fianni had rested too, but after several hundred years she woke only to be disappointed in finding that the rest had remained sleeping.
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  “I’m alone,” she said with a sigh.

  “Everyone loves you!”

  “Revered and honored and all of that… it’s empty. I can’t join a court. I can’t participate more with one side than the other. I am in this world—I put my blood and sweat into making it—but I’m not a part of it anymore.” She couldn’t keep the frustration from her voice. “I don’t want to return to slumbering. I want to live a real life.” She lowered her voice and added, “I want to love again.”

  “Few lost more than you,” Iona said quietly.

  “War is never without loss,” Fianni replied, swallowing back the tremble in her voice. Remembering the past always brought her to one place, and it was dark. “Prism will always be my heart. But I have to leave.”

  The wind blew across a stark grey background of sky and wispy clouds. An older woman in a tailored navy dress walked towards Fianni as if on a mission. Once they were close enough to talk, the woman pushed large black sunglasses atop her head of bright white hair.

  “Fianni?” she asked, narrowing her blue eyes.

  “Yes.” Fianni held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you and thank you so much for making time to see me, Mrs. Wilder.”

  “Call me Gerri,” the mature woman replied with a grin. “I’m not sure if a ‘thank you’ is enough. It’s quite brave of you to track me down while I’m on vacation.”

  Fianni blushed slightly. “I have a condition—”

  “Yes. So full of magic that technology makes you weak and sick. I’ve heard of it, I was simply surprised to be so stubbornly bombarded with communications in the most rural parts of Scotland,” Gerri said looking Fianni over. “But one really can’t ignore one’s name being called from every puddle, every sink and tub, and even the droplets of rain gathering on a window pane.”

  “Undine tend to be persistent, and Iona doubly so.”

  Gerri chuckled. “Then let’s get down to it. Your friend gave her opinion of what sort of match you need, but it doesn’t work without knowing what you, the client, want.”

  Fianni walked with Gerri along a gravel road towards the small, secluded country home where Gerri had been staying.

  “First off, my match can’t be fae. I heard what happened with the Duke, Kerren. I won’t be tricked into staying on Prism somehow,” Fianni said firmly.

  “That wasn’t my doing,” Gerri clarified. “I only saw the match. I had no idea of everything else, and from what I’ve heard, a lot transpired. Mostly fae secrets and plotting.”

  Fianni didn’t know everything that had transpired between Brook and Kerren, but “fae secrets and plotting” was something she was familiar with. “Fair enough.”

  “No fae. That’s not a problem. Mostly I work with shifters. Though your condition makes it tricky. I’m sure Earth is filled to the brim with men who would gladly cater to a woman of your caliber—an aspect of Harmony isn’t something to ignore,” Gerri said seriously. “But while many of the shifters I know are fine with seclusion, the planet is more or less overrun with electronics and such. Everyone has a cell phone. Cars have computers in them. Then there are towers everywhere.”

  “I can handle a good deal in small doses,” Fianni added. “And maybe I’ve developed a slight tolerance over the last few years from visiting.”

  Gerri glanced sidelong at her. “Visiting?”

  “Let’s not analyze that,” Fianni replied with a quick wave of her hand. “A casual thing, nothing more. But it should help to prove that I’m okay with leaving Prism and immortality. Living out a shorter existence, not having my magic… I’m okay with that.”

  “And your appearance? I don’t think any of my clients have to go through as much physical change when traveling. I’ve heard not all are comfortable with it.”

  Fianni shrugged. On Prism she had wavy petal-pink hair and matching pink eyes. On Earth, she had golden brown hair and blue eyes. It was a change that occurred naturally to all fae after drinking the water of reflection—a draught required to leave the magical atmosphere. The change was necessary to keep from standing out.

  “I can look in the mirror and see myself, regardless of my reflection. I’ve lived so long I’ve even changed names across the centuries as it suited me. Besides. Earth has hair dye and contacts if I feel the need.”

  They came to a small country house. The subtle hum of electricity sent a warm tingle along Fianni’s arms. She could guess that there was only the bare minimum inside. Gerri’s vacation seemed to mean no television or computer, but there was a microwave, certainly. Probably a coffee pot.

  “Are you okay to go inside and sit? Get a break from this dreary weather?” Gerri asked.

  “Of course. Unless you have a secret laboratory that’s about to power on somewhere, I’m fine.” Actually, Fianni thought the weather perfect, particularly the way the rain helped enhance the natural clean scent of the grass. Fresh and sweet. The rural country had an atmosphere unmatched by what she’d experienced on previous trips to Earth.

  Gerri grinned and opened the door, welcoming Fianni into the quaint comfort of the modest home. “There’s a breakfast nook we can sit in and have some tea.”

  Fianni followed Gerri to the kitchen and sat in a chair by the bay window while Gerri prepared everything.

  “What kept your casual relationship casual?” Gerri asked.

  Not surprised the topic wasn’t already forgotten, Fianni crossed her legs and settled more comfortably in her seat. “It wasn’t meant for more. I couldn’t put my finger on it exactly, but everything between us hit a plateau and we were both happy on our sides and in the middle, but we couldn’t cross it. It’s not like we fought or anything like that. But it was never going to be more.”

  “You didn’t love him?”

  “No,” Fianni admitted. “I thought I did, up until it was over. I guess I loved what I thought we would have. I loved him as a friend.”

  Gerri paused from digging through a cabinet. “That’s usually a good start. What happened?”

  “Troy was sweet and perfect to talk to, but the longer we were together, the more I felt like I was taking someone else’s spot in his life. We met when I was feeling lost, and he took care of me. But I think once I was found, we no longer needed each other.”

  “That sounds like quite a story you’re leaving out,” Gerri said pouring the hot water into two ceramic cups.

  “What I had with Troy is far from what I want now. I know love. You matched Kerren and Brook, and I can see that fire in their eyes. That’s what I want. I had familiarity and comfort and contentment. I want passion. I want to be engulfed and consumed.”

  Gerri set a steaming cup of tea in front of Fianni and sat across from her with her own carefully held cup. “Passion is something I can do, certainly. First, we have to dig a little deeper.”

  “I’ll answer anything,” Fianni promised, though inside she cringed. There were certain things she didn’t want to talk about. Possibly being cursed and unable to have children wasn’t a topic she was ready to explore with a stranger, even if that stranger was doing her a massive favor.

  Equally off the discussion table was her earlier love life, pre-Troy. The past needed to stay where it belonged.

  “Tell me what you liked about your relationship with… Troy, was it?” Gerri offered.

  “Yes, it was Troy.” Fianni traced her thumb over the floral pattern of the tablecloth in thought. “He was caring. Protective—and that’s not something I can say I’ve encountered much in my life. I’m an immortal aspect—very rarely did anyone ever worry about my safety. Though in this case, he was more protective of my feelings.”

  “How so?”

  “A lot of his immediate family were old-fashioned and particular. He always ran interference. It wasn’t like he could hide me away, but he always did what he could to keep our interactions as civil as possible.”

  “Why did he have to do such a thing?” Gerri inquired.

  Fianni gave a crooked smile and stirred a spoon
ful of sugar into her drink, sending the herbal notes into the air. It smelled like chamomile and worked to ease some of her anxiety. “In a nutshell, his parents were tormented to see their only son attached to a freak. They didn’t believe I was fae. They didn’t believe in other planets. They know shifters, but fae? They thought it was a lie to attract attention. To them I was just delusional, manipulative, and you know, the worst of all faults—fat.”

  “Disgusting people,” Gerri muttered. “I swear if everyone would stop judging for such a thing. I’ve matched countless perfect couples and plenty of beautiful curvy women such as yourself. Shifters appreciate curves, I can promise that.”

  “A relief, certainly. Everyone expects Tinker Bell when they hear fairy. I’m so far from that… I’m happy in my skin, though I definitely wouldn’t mind being taller,” Fianni joked.

  “It’s all about presence. Your height has nothing to do with how much you affect a room when you walk in.”

  Fianni nodded, though it seemed easy for Gerri to say something like that. She wore heels, so she looked down on Fianni, but they were probably the same height without. Still, Gerri had mastered a commanding appearance.

  “I can’t say I’ve thought much about that. I’m used to being recognized and getting the awe associated with being an aspect, unless I was on Earth. On Earth, I can hide in a crowd. Which has perks. But it’s definitely a world built for taller people.”

  “A true statement. It’s quite annoying going shopping and being unable to see over shelves or racks,” Gerri agreed.

  “Anyway. Troy was just a nice guy. I’m sure he’ll find someone new in no time at all.”

  “Hmm. But what do you think he did wrong?”

  The question made Fianni frown. “I wouldn’t say he did things wrong. Except that he was limited in how open he could be about his feelings. I took it as a human male thing. One glance at their popular culture makes it clear that men aren’t supposed to be emotional.”