Cameron: Saga of the Children of the Gods, #3

By Linda Saint Jalmes

After more than five centuries of eternity, watching his loved ones vanish around him, Cameron is finally freed from his punishment and wishes to return home. However, this is not his only wish. With a troubled breath, and just before being hurled into the vortex of time, he makes a wild plea: that Elenwë, the rightful daughter of the deities who sacrificed herself to right their wrongs, may live again. Upon his return in 1416, in the Highlands, the destiny of the Only Child begins, and he will soon find himself joined by companions he would have never chosen willingly! Time is running out, for in the shadows, a God of Darkness has risen and is preparing to corrupt the world of men. Cameron is now the enemy to destroy... or to enslave.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LSJ Éditions
• Release date: Apr 25, 2025
• ISBN: 9782490940776

Linda Saint Jalmes

Linda Saint Jalmes, autrice de romances fantastiques - action - aventure, humoristiques et dark fantastique ​ Linda Saint Jalmes est une romancière française. Ses genres : romance, fantastique, historique, timetravel, aventure, et sensualité. Également Dark, avec la nouvelle saga fantastique et post-apocalytique "Bhampair" (Vampire en gaélique écossais, BH se prononce V). Elle est l'auteur de La saga des Enfants des Dieux (cinq tomes), la saga des Croz (trois tomes), dont le premier est d'ores et déjà traduit en anglais US "The curse of Kalaan" et illustré par le très talentueux Jon Paul Ferrara, Passion Flora, Les bêtises de Lili, les nouvelles Le Naohïm de Noël, Second Souffle, Le prix d'un nouveau monde, et la BD Raconte-moi les fées en duo avec l'illustratrice Flavia B. ​ Nouveauté 2023 : Bhampair : 1 - Aaron Dorsey. Genre Dark-Fantastique. Livre illustré. Illustration de couverture PM-Artistic En cours de préparation : Bhampair : 2 - Lune Noire ​Livres audio : Certains sont disponibles, les autres en cours de préparation. Après plus de 6 ans en Maison d'édition, elle crée sa propre entreprise : LSJ Éditions. Pour les 11 ans de son premier roman "Terrible Awena", des produits dérivés viennent agrandir la marque : Le parfum Awena, les savons Darren et Eloïra, ainsi que les mugs Awena et Bob dit l'âne

Book preview

By Linda Saint Jalmes

Cameron

Book 3

The Children of the Gods Saga

Translated from the French

La saga des enfants des Dieux: 3 - Cameron

LSJ EDITIONS

This book is published in the United States and internationally under the ISBN assigned by the publisher. The text of this book is protected by copyright law under the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code). All rights to the text and images are owned by the author, unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution is prohibited.

Additionally, the Code of Intellectual Property and Artistic Law authorizes, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L. 122-5 of the French Intellectual Property Code, that copies and reproductions are strictly reserved for private use and not intended for collective use, nor for analysis and illustrations used in examples. Any representation or reproduction, in whole or in part, made without the consent of the author or his/her heirs, is unlawful (Article L 122-4 of the French Intellectual Property Code). This representation or reproduction, by any means, is a violation punishable under Articles 425 and following of the French Penal Code. For publications intended for young audiences, the French law no. 49-956 of July 16, 1949, applies.

This work is protected under international copyright laws as outlined by the Berne Convention.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

© 2025 by Linda Saint Jalmes

© Cover Illustration 2025: LSJ

© Translator : Y.H. Granger

The translation rights are reserved by the author and may not be reproduced without explicit permission.

ISBN: 9782490940776

First Published: 2013 in France

First Legal Deposit: 2013 BNF France

Edited by LSJ Éditions

22 Rue du Pourquoi-Pas

29200 Brest

France

Linda Saint Jalmes is a French Celtic author, specializing in fantasy romance inspired by Celtic mythology. She has written numerous novels, including three sagas: The Saga of the Children of the Gods, The Saga of the Croz, and The Bhampair Saga (dark fantasy with vampire Highlanders). All of her works will soon be available in US English.

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At the request of both English-speaking and French-speaking readers, I have added a glossary of Scottish Gaelic words used in this novel, along with their phonetic pronunciation in both English (US) and French.

Scan the QR code or visit the link below to access it.

Link : www.lindasaintjalmesauteur.com/gaélique-écossais

TO MY FRIENDS AND READERS,

with all my affection...

Prologue

Ifloat, drift, soar , letting myself be carried like a feather on the breeze, yet I am no feather, and where I find myself, there is no wind...

Everything around me feels so strange, and I observe, astounded, that I can see in panoramic detail everything surrounding me. It’s astonishing! My gaze is everywhere at once!

I am in what seems to be the cosmos, at the dawn of the worlds’ creation, though I cannot be entirely sure.

There are no planets, only an infinite expanse of silver stars of varying sizes. Interstellar dust and rocks float amidst nebulae that slowly transform into a mass of mingled fire and darkness... It’s somewhat like watching the sulfurous smoke and glowing debris spewing from the furnace of an erupting volcano.

Suddenly, a sound disturbs the silence of my bewilderment: I hear the slow, rhythmic pulse of a beating heart.

Could a human being—or some earthly creature—have wandered here with me? It seems impossible. The absence of oxygen in the cosmos would make survival unthinkable for any such being!

I focus my vision, but it’s no use; there is absolutely no one in sight within the crimson glow of the nebula.

So, whose heart is it?

An incongruous, absurd thought brushes against my mind: Could it be my heart?

No, that’s impossible, for it has been millennia since I last had a heart—physically, I mean, not metaphorically. That part of me was lost on the day of my Elevation, just after I had celebrated my twenty luminous cycles.

I know what I was then—an entity, an essence of the absolute—following the ethereal figures of my kin as the Song guided us to the world of the Sídhes (Celtic Gods).

Yet, I did not complete the journey; I turned back halfway.

Unlike my kin, who had walked the Earth for countless cycles, I had never truly had the chance to discover it. What I can now call curiosity kept me from experiencing my Elevation like the others and compelled me to return to the company of humans, to observe their evolution.

I was silent, invisible—at least as long as events did not force me to intervene, using the pathways within the curves of time. Gradually, without truly realizing it, I became the oldest of the deities, the most powerful as well, an outsider among my own kind.

And yet, I cannot explain what I am in this moment!

I don’t feel like I’m a substance, nor do I have a body... and I am full of uncertainty.

So much confusion and so many questions race through my mind—if I can even call it a mind—and these sensations and emotions I’m experiencing... are they truly mine?

My name...

Elenwë... yes... that is what I was called in the world of the Sídhes. Princess and Daughter of the Gods—such were my titles. Those are certainties I can cling to. But now... what of now?

I recall my final moments as a deity. It was in the year 2014... I gave up my immortality to correct the mistakes of my peers, saving a woman they had wrongly condemned simply for being born.

Her name was Sophie-Elisa. She was the twin of Cameron Saint Clare and bore the mark of the Unique Child—a trait that, in the eyes of the Gods, was a flaw in the grand design of the quest that only the Chosen could fulfill

And that Chosen was Cameron, born of a lineage of god-men with exceptional powers, Sophie-Elisa’s elder by five minutes. The Unique Child upon whom rested the survival of both the world of the Sídhes and that of humans!

Everything is so clear in my mind once again, even though I still don’t understand what I am in this moment! I have been invisible, phantom-like, so often that lacking a body is not proof in itself of my existence.

These sensations and emotions overwhelm me; I cannot manage these novelties because I’ve never learned to understand them!

And now I hear that heart again!

Its beats are quickening...

I recognize the sound that humans call fear. It’s like the frantic gallop of a horse—a jarring, muffled noise that occasionally falters, as if the beast might suddenly collapse before mustering its courage and surging forward once more.

Again, I search for the source of this anguish, but there is nothing... nothing except the new sound of labored, wheezing breaths!

A heart... and now, a breath...

So focused am I on what I hear that I almost miss the transformation taking place around me. The crimson nebula has grown immense, and within its depths, a vortex of utter blackness begins to take shape.

The heartbeats quicken, the breaths turning more erratic... and I finally understand what this place is! I stand at the threshold of the Void​[1]!

So, it has triumphed at last, despite the bravery of the men I once walked among and in spite of my sacrifice... The Void has succeeded in engulfing us all...

An unspeakable rage and pain seize me... and, as if echoing my emotions, the unknown heart trembles in terror! I feel tremors deep within my chest...

Enough!

I have no body! I have never felt anything! Not cold, not heat, not pain, nor love... Nothing! Unless, in giving my life to Sophie-Elisa, a fragment of her humanity touched me?

Oh Gods! Why now? Had I known before that sacrifice that this was possible, I would have gladly surrendered my immortality a hundred times over, if only to feel the faintest trace of emotion. Oh yes, I would have done it!

And now, here it is, finally granted to me... But I never wanted to face the Void knowing fear, pain, or evil...

Beings weep and wail; I can hear them... They are so close to me, and yet I still see no one within this nebula, which grows darker and pulls me in.

Coldness envelops me as the cries grow more distinct.

The tears of the unseen! That’s what they must be.

I can feel them trickling down my skin; they burn me, torment me. The sorrow of these beings is immeasurable, suffocating me, and the agony within my body grows sharper and more unbearable.

I no longer understand anything! I am but a vision, with no body—so where do all these physical sensations come from?

As the Void seems about to consume me, the surroundings shift, and to my utter astonishment, I materialize—this time in my physical form, the one I had before my Elevation​[2]—within a dark, damp, and sinister cave.

Here and there, foul water drips down walls mottled with black and green mold. My feet do not touch the muddy, repulsive ground, and an unfamiliar emotion—relief—washes over me.

I was on the brink of the Void, and now I find myself in this wretched place! Truly, nothing makes sense anymore. I search around for a clue, anything that might offer answers to what I have been experiencing since my awakening in the cosmos.

Something lies sprawled on the spongy ground—a long, emaciated form, as dark as the grotesque cave itself.

It’s a corpse! A skeleton barely clinging to scraps of parchment-thin skin and shredded, rotting clothing hanging from its bones.

Suddenly, I jolt in horror! The dead thing has moved, and a hissing sound escapes its decaying lungs.

Terror grips me, and for the first time in my existence, I feel the icy sting of fear!

The skeletal face with its hollow, empty sockets turns toward me, and then—seemingly out of nowhere—two glowing points emerge where its eyes should be, piercing into my mind.

The next instant, a nightmarish scream—my own, I realize—echoes off the cave’s walls, amplifying into a thousand echoes of anguish. Just as I believe I will die from the pain, I am abruptly transported to another place, a luminous space that saves me from the creature...

In this newfound surge of awareness, I finally know what this being is: a lich! The most demonic and malevolent entity ever spawned by the lineage of the God-Men.

Learn this essential truth: at the beginning of everything, there was only purity and harmony. The Gods shaped worlds and civilizations, including humanity itself, striving to mold them in our image. And yet, some among them... created evil.

Not ordinary men, no, but the descendants of our bloodlines, of our mingled heritage. Those who turned toward dark magics—born of the malevolence slumbering within their bodies.

Thus came into being creatures more terrifying than any before them: vampires, ghouls, or zombies, murderous shapeshifters, and the most destructive spells our worlds have ever known...

My body trembles at the thought of the lich I glimpsed in that damp cavern. It has not yet reached its most malevolent, most catastrophic stage; it is like a worm in its cocoon, preparing to emerge as something far more complete.

That lich was, before its transformation, a dark mage who fed on the souls of mortals he killed—and I know this monster, as do the Saint Clares! He was called the Mad Ecclesiastic or the Black Priest!

I had thought he was gone, lost to death after the battle waged by the Saint Clares on the lands of Clan Keith. For this monster, still human then, had fallen from the cliffs of Dunnottar with his mount, plunging directly into the North Sea. That should have been his end.

Apparently, he survived long enough to crawl into a cave and invoke a spell that would transform him into a lich—a sorcerer king of the undead with powers nearly equal to those of the deities... A new scourge for our worlds!

We, the celestial folk, knew such a mutation was possible, but we underestimated the human race, believing they would never uncover this sinister flaw.

Elenwë...

I know that voice! It is my father’s, the God the Celts called Lug.

Father?

My call is little more than a thought escaping my mind, as I somehow find myself lying on a soft bed of moss, ivy, and fragrant flowers. I recognize it by the scent and the touch, which I explore with the tips of my fingers. My eyelids remain closed, refusing to open and allow my eyes to take in the scene surrounding me.

Yes, Elenwë, I am here, and we are all around you. Your rebirth was more challenging than we had anticipated. But you are here... and we are... pleased.

How strange that word sounds in my father’s voice, as does the sensation now spreading through my chest, sending a wave of warmth coursing through my veins.

What have I become? I ask, my question carried telepathically.

A woman of flesh and blood, he replies gently, attuned to my thoughts. A man wished for you to live, and we did all we could to make his wish come true. Bringing you back from the celestial place where your aura had gone required great effort and focus. More than once, we feared we had lost you forever.

A shiver runs through my body, and my mind races once more.

Father, I saw a cosmos being swallowed by a nebula of fire and darkness. I heard a heart beating in terror...

Your heart, Elenwë...

Not only does my inability to see begin to infuriate me, but my body also remains unresponsive to my commands. It lies inert, speechless, upon this soft bed. Yet, the truth begins to dawn on me. The heart I heard was my own, and it was my fear and confusion that made it pulse so pitifully.

I heard sobs; I felt tears streaming down my skin, burning me...

That was us, Lug says, experiencing, for the first time, the loss of one of our own. We expressed it through tears of blood. They bore no intent to harm, but as they traced your flesh, they left celestial tattoos upon your skin

I do not linger on Lug’s final words; for now, they seem of little importance.

Father... who is with you?

I am, my daughter, murmurs a voice with an unfamiliar tenderness—Bride, my divine mother. As well as the closest members of our family, she continues. Your rebirth is complete, my child, and the threads of your new destiny are already weaving through the clouds of time. The man who wished for you to be by his side is coming... He is on his way to find you...

The voice fades into a whisper, and fear grips me. I haven’t found the moment to tell them about my vision in the cave, about the imminent danger looming over our worlds, about the monster that, before long, could corrupt all life with its hatred!

I can feel my kin leaving, their auras growing faint!

Wait! Don’t leave me like this!

I thought I had shouted, yet it was only a pitiful, plaintive thought escaping my mind.

We will watch over you... my father whispers again, but he is already far away... so far away!

And I am still unable to move, to speak, or to see! Unidentifiable emotions flood me once more, and something warm trickles from my eyes and runs down my cheeks... It is wet, salty, and pools on my lips with an unfamiliar bitterness.

Cameron, don’t be ridiculous! I can’t wait to see Mom and Dad again, and this detour to the Faë Cascade is delaying us! grumbled a voice I instantly recognized as Sophie-Elisa’s—the young woman I had saved.

Let him be, my love. You’ll see, as I have, that he’s deaf to all your words! You know how it is—when Cam gets an idea in his head, it sticks!

That was Logan MacKlare speaking now.

A persistent tingling spread across my skin. Stronger warmth coursed through my veins, and a mysterious sensation set my heart racing.

The god-man was beside me—I was certain of it!

Elenwë... Finally, he murmured then, his voice deep and unmistakable.

Chapter 1

I Wished for You

THE CLOSER CAMERON got to the Faë Cascade, the more his blood seemed to ignite within his veins.

He was certain of it, and the waves of magical energy reaching him in magnetic pulses confirmed his belief: she would be there!

She... was none other than Elenwë, a deity, a princess of the Sídhes, and a legitimate Daughter of the Gods. This meant she was as unattainable as a glimmering star in the heavens—captivating and enchanting, yet forever beyond the reach of even the faintest touch or thought.

But things had changed.

This conviction was etched into Cameron’s mind ever since the curves of time had once again propelled him home, to 1416, on Saint Clare lands.

He clenched his fists, tensed his muscles, and with feline agility, overcame every obstacle—the gnarled roots, treacherous branches, and cruel thorn-covered brambles—that the ancient forest surrounding the castle and Loch of Yarrows seemed to throw in his way.

Nothing could stop him now!

Cameron smirked, irony flashing in his eyes, and with a simple wave of his hand, he used magic to lay flat and clear everything that dared stand in his path. He wanted her; he had wished for her to live, and the Gods knew they were bound to grant his request—even if it had been spoken almost involuntarily, at the very last second!

The deities needed him now more than ever for the cursed quest that had brought him over five centuries of torment and had nearly turned him into a monster—a dark mage.

To keep himself from succumbing to the darkness during those interminable years, Cameron had clung desperately to the hope that he would one day find Sophie-Elisa—his twin—somewhere in time. He also held onto the ethereal images etched into his mind from the first time he had glimpsed Elenwë at the Faë Cascade: a feminine silhouette of unparalleled magnificence and sensuality. That vision had been seared into his flesh and his wildest dreams...

After five hundred and ninety-eight years of waiting, Sophie-Elisa had finally returned to him in the year 2014. And Cameron had once again believed he had lost her forever—until the princess of the Sídhes materialized before him, the epitome of absolute beauty, and gave up her immortality to save his twin...

He had always believed the Gods had simply sent Sophie-Elisa away by dispatching Logan, her Soulmate, to find her in 1416. But he had been completely mistaken—utterly wrong!

The deities had wanted to eliminate Sophie-Elisa by killing her and had very nearly succeeded—using him as their instrument, no less!

If Elenwë hadn’t intervened, he would have become the most potent poison ever aimed at his sister. The mere thought sent a cold, lingering shiver down his spine.

Elenwë had acted selflessly, without expecting anything in return. And then... she had vanished. Just as Cameron had been within reach of her, she disappeared. It had nearly driven him to the brink of madness—a state he had miraculously managed to conceal from everyone.

Following Elenwë’s precious sacrifice, something incredible happened: the Gods suffered!

At that moment, Cameron might have laughed in their faces, had he not been equally shaken by the death of their daughter. The deities instantly understood the agony they had inflicted upon the Saint Clares for centuries. To make amends, they offered Cameron, Sophie-Elisa, and Logan a chance to have their deepest, most cherished wishes granted.

One by one, each asked to return to the past. And in a final moment of bitter regret, Cameron had muttered his wish for Elenwë to live...

Now, as he moved through the forest, with sunlight breaking over another day—March 11th, 1416—Cameron had only one thought in his mind: to bring his wildest fantasy to life by holding the princess of the Sídhes in his arms.

Because she was here!

And the closer he got to the sacred place where the waterfall stood—a fragile boundary between the world of the Sídhes and that of men—the stronger his physical and mental desire grew.

Yet, within him, something equally powerful began to stir: anger.

Monstrous, uncontrollable, it rose within him like a warrior and fought against that desire. For Cameron couldn’t forget that the princess of the Sídhes was a deity—one of those who had tried to kill Sophie-Elisa, who had punished him by making him immortal. A soulless ghost condemned to watch the lives and deaths of all his loved ones as he wandered through centuries!

Cameron’s jaw tightened, and a muscle twitched in the hollow of his stubbled cheek. Hatred, desire, punishment, possession...

These contradictory emotions swirled more and more chaotically in his mind, their relentless buzzing nearly drowning out the cheerful chatter of the couple following him. Logan and Sophie-Elisa, united for eternity, finally had all of life—and the afterlife—ahead of them to love each other. And they apparently intended to proclaim it to the world at the top of their lungs.

Their happiness could have been infectious—should have been—if Cameron hadn’t been so consumed by his tumultuous and dark reflections.

The warmth of the sacred place suddenly enveloped him. He pushed past the forest’s final obstacles, and there... just a few yards from the waterfall and its steady roar, lying on a bed of greenery, was Elenwë’s motionless body, lying serenely on a bed of greenery.

Cameron, don’t be ridiculous! I can’t wait to see Mom and Dad again, and this detour to the Faë Cascade is delaying us! grumbled Sophie-Elisa behind him, her impatience to reunite with her family barely contained.

Let him be, my love. You’ll see, as I have, that he’s deaf to all your words! Logan quipped with a teasing tone. You know how it is—when Cam gets an idea in his head, it sticks!

Cameron didn’t have time to dwell on their words. Hadn’t they seen it too? The motionless body of the princess of the Sídhes, draped in her long, ebony silk hair?

In three long strides, he stood before Elenwë, fists clenched, muscles taut, and his piercing azure eyes hungrily taking in the almost unreal scene lying at his feet.

Och! Logan choked out, nearly strangling on the word as he tried to sidestep Cameron to kneel at Elenwë’s side.

With a sharp motion of his arm, Cameron blocked his advance, fixing him with a dark, warning glare. Logan grimaced but stepped back—not out of fear, for they were friends, but to intercept Sophie-Elisa, who was rushing toward the lifeless form.

Echo! she cried, catching sight of the body resting on the moss and instinctively using the nickname she had given Elenwë as a little girl. Logan! Let go of me! She seems...

Alive... Cameron exhaled, almost with relief, as he knelt down to press his index and middle fingers to the goddess’s neck, right where her jugular throbbed in time with the frantic beat of her heart. And conscious, he added in a hoarse whisper, his ravenous gaze drinking in the sensual curves of her body.

The drape of Elenwë’s endless ebony hair shielded her nudity, though glimpses of it appeared here and there—opalescent glimpses of the rounded curve of a hip, the pale expanse of an arm, or the velvet smoothness of a long, slender thigh.

I... I don’t understand... Sophie-Elisa stammered, her green eyes filled with confusion as she leaned in to try to see the princess’s face. She was dead... I felt it, deep inside me!

Cameron grunted without looking at her and rose swiftly, shrugging off his long black leather coat to drape it over Elenwë, who responded with a soft moan.

Is it... really her? Sophie-Elisa asked, now freed by Logan and kneeling beside the princess.

Aye and naye, Cameron muttered as his sister gently brushed a few strands of ebony hair from Elenwë’s satin-smooth cheek. She’s no longer the one you knew. I don’t sense any magic from her, or very little... She’s human now. Just a simple woman.

Oh! Sophie-Elisa exclaimed, shooting a fiery glare at her brother. Nearly six centuries of immortality haven’t dulled your chauvinism, I see!

Cameron rolled his eyes with a long sigh as Logan cleared his throat to hide his amusement.

Let’s take her back to the castle! Logan suggested, stepping forward. I’ll carry her, he offered lightly, barely concealing another grin as Cameron let out a low growl in response.

He looked like a great feline guarding his mate, ready to pounce and bite anyone who dared come too close.

"Bruadar (Dream)," Cameron growled, the Gaelic word rolling off his tongue like a vow, as he slid a muscular arm under Elenwë’s knees and the other beneath her shoulders. He straightened with ease, lifting her and pressing her warm body firmly against his chest.

Desire roared anew through his veins, and his instinct to possess her surged to unprecedented heights. Elenwë was his. Finally.

She let out another soft moan as Cameron began to stride toward the shadowy woods bordering the Faë Cascade.

Wait, Ron-Ron! Sophie-Elisa cried, darting behind Logan to yank off his elegant charcoal-gray overcoat, ignoring the curses Cameron spat back at her—he hated being called Ron-Ron.

Logan fixed his wife with a tawny gaze that did little to hide his growing amusement, further exasperating Sophie-Elisa. To make matters worse, the stubborn garment seemed reluctant to slip off the arms of her ever-irritating, albeit endearing, husband!

Just help me! she huffed, shaking the noble fabric so vigorously she risked tearing it. Cameron! Stop! For heaven’s sake! Will you both listen to me already?!

Cameron hesitated for two seconds before stopping and casting a scowling glance over his shoulder at his sister and Logan, who was now biting his lip to stifle laughter as he freed his wrists—assuming, of course, that they had actually been trapped.

"Ciod (What)?" Cameron ground out between his teeth, glaring down at Sophie-Elisa.

Oh, come off your high horse and turn around! Sophie-Elisa shot back, unflinching. Stop playing the big oaf! she snapped again, following Cameron’s movements as he pivoted to keep Elenwë out of her sight.

I’m starting to regret us finding each other again, Cameron muttered, continuing his infuriating little game.

Sophie-Elisa froze, as if turned to ice, and Cameron saw the flash of pain in her eyes caused by his thoughtless words.

"Mo piuthar, tha mi duilich (My sister, forgive me)," he murmured gently, his handsome face—made inexplicably more striking by his scar—letting go of the darkness that hardened his features.

A tender smile curved his lips, though that emotion didn’t reach his icy blue eyes, which remained cold as ever.

Logan had moved to stand behind his wife, wrapping an arm protectively around her waist as his amber irises sparkled with golden flecks, like tiny flames. His athletic frame tensed beneath his impeccably tailored suit and mandarin-collared shirt.

Great, now I’m going to turn both of them against me! Control yourself! Cameron admonished himself mentally, closing his eyes for a moment.

A warm, electric breath against his neck made him reopen them to gaze at his precious burden.

Elenwë seemed as though she wanted to speak, but something was preventing her. Her long black lashes, like butterfly wings, fluttered against her pale cheeks, and her full, red lips quivered, unable to form words.

Cameron, Logan said sharply, his tone unyielding. For a moment, your aura turned black...

Cameron flinched, his well-shaped mouth tightening as a muscle twitched in his jaw. Cradling the princess in his arms, he sought his sister’s gaze, but she had lowered her face, her auburn locks hiding her expression.

Was it true? Had the darkness he fought so hard to resist taken hold of him? He felt... almost happy?

No. He was lying to himself, for his mind was consumed by an unrelenting storm, and his body obeyed only one command: possession!

Everything else—friends, family—had become mere abstractions.

It was all because of that cursed wish, and the goddess in his arms!

Cameron should have known better by now: deities were his enemies!

He had to free himself from Elenwë!

He had to, before the shadow of the dark mage returned to haunt him!

Take her, Logan! he growled, stepping toward his brother-in-law, who stood frozen for two seconds, while Sophie-Elisa backed away, staring at Cameron with deep concern.

Cameron... I... I just wanted to shield her better from prying eyes and the cold when we leave the woods, she stammered in a hushed voice. See for yourself—your leather coat doesn’t cover her entirely. With Logan’s overcoat, she’ll be safe.

"Don’t apologize, nighneag-piuthar (little sister). I’m the one who should be apologizing, but I won’t truly feel like myself again until you take this goddess out of my arms! Cameron replied, his voice sharp as he felt a powerful current surging through him, resisting the very thought of being separated from Elenwë. Logan... take her! he repeated more forcefully, his tone almost pleading. Quickly!" he shouted, as though crying for help.

Logan wasted no time gathering the princess of the Sídhes into his arms, her body as light as a feather, while Sophie-Elisa hurried to cover her modestly from chin to toes with both coats.

In his corner, Cameron struggled to breathe, his heart pounding wildly. He clenched his fists as he forced himself to take one step back at a time, distancing himself as much as possible from the dangerous allure that was Elenwë.

To his sister and Logan, he seemed the very essence of