nodded. She was right. He could not surrender the battle. His
brother was watching over him from the beyond and depended on
Sterling to protect Winter. He had to believe there was a way out of
every path and around every future.
The Lynx Who Purred for a Sidhe Prince
55
“Very well, Great One,” he said. “Thank you for all your help. I
will start preparations for his wedding now.”
“One more thing,” she added. “When you go to him, pay close
attention. The shifters will hate you, and the Cunninghams in
particular will try to make your life difficult. But the walls have ears in their home. There is only one person you can trust absolutely,
outside yourself. Corbin Mckenna. He can help you protect Winter.”
Corbin. The lynx shifter who’d stolen Winter’s heart. Perhaps not
all was lost. If Winter had made a good choice regarding his life
partner, Sterling couldn’t believe fate would be so cruel so as to end Winter’s existence too early.
The Oracle’s blind eyes suddenly turned their natural green, and
her translucent hair became red as flame. Her voice no longer
sounded so outlandish when she spoke. “Come now, Sterling,” she
said softly. “I know you can do it. I’m relying on you to help my
son.”
“Oh, Jayna…” Sterling was hard pressed not to cry. “I’ve failed
you.”
“No, you haven’t,” she replied. “There’s still time. Bringing Shea
here was the right solution, but it was unlikely that the shifters would agree. We knew it before even trying.” Her kind expression turned
into a frown. “I don’t want to see you gloomy anymore. I know you’ll
be able to find the solution. After all, you’re the King of the Sidhe.”
Oh, if only she were right. But Sterling had been unable to stop
her death and that of his brother, Lamont. The two people he’d most
loved in his entire existence, and they were gone, just like that. He’d been so grief stricken that only the knowledge of Winter’s
vulnerability had given him strength to move on.
His surprise had been great when Jayna had come to him as the
Oracle. He knew now that each Oracle was different, according to
generations, and Jayna had taken up this role, reluctant to leave her people and her son adrift. Even now, she was so beautiful, the same
woman Sterling had loved with an all-consuming passion but had
56
Scarlet Hyacinth
surrendered to Lamont when his brother had wanted her as his wife.
He’d have fought for her love, except he knew that Jayna felt the
same way Lamont did. And so he had supported their marriage, and
when Winter had been conceived, he’d loved the child as his own.
“Well, I should depart now,” Jayna said. Her not-quite-ghostly
hand extended, revealing a small pendant. “Take this. It is a wedding present for Winter and a token of my love. Thank you again, Sterling.
Lamont and I will never forget it.”
Sterling took the pendant. For a few seconds, it felt light as a
feather in his palm, as if it wasn’t quite there. But as those moments passed, it materialized, becoming a crystal gem in the shape of a
teardrop. When he looked up from the jewel, Jayna had returned to
her original Oracle appearance. “It will be as you say, Great One,”
Sterling promised. “We won’t allow for anything different.”
The Oracle, or rather Jayna, nodded. “Farewell for now, King
Sterling. We will see each other soon. And don’t forget, Shea is the key.”
And with that, she disappeared into thin air, leaving Sterling with
the teardrop pendant as the only tangible evidence she’d been there at all. It was better than other times, when she vanished almost without warning, often making Sterling question his own sanity.
However, there was one thing Sterling didn’t question now. He
needed to make haste and help prepare Winter’s wedding. He had no
idea when the threat to Winter’s life would appear or how Shea would
be involved. Not even the Oracle could see all
Kathleen Morgan
Marv Wolfman
Jenika Snow
Robert Kimmel Smith
Studs Terkel
Marcia Gruver
Peter Birch
Michelle Styles
Staci Hart
Grace Livingston Hill