Aegle: Sapphic Soulmates, #3

About

AEGLE: A sizzling enemies to lovers lesbian romance.

Jade is a flirt. She can’t help it. She doesn’t even realize she’s doing it most of the time. Eventually, she’d like to find her soulmate, but right now she’s young and still in college.

Cocky and sure of herself. Angie is hot, sexy, rich, and ten years older. She’s an arrogant landowner who won’t listen to reason or crazy arguments about protecting the forest.

Development around the small town of Beaumont threatens the woods with destruction. Jade knows the danger in the forest. It’s all too easy for someone to slip through to another dimension and disappear from our world completely.

When Jade tries to bargain with Angie, things go very wrong.

Both women find out more about ancient Olympia than they bargained for

Aegle is a Sizzling HOT steamy erotic F/F lesfic fantasy with a happy ending and no cheating and no cliffhanger.

It is book three in the Sapphic Soulmates series featuring powerful women and the ladies who love them.

Aegle can be read as a standalone but will make more sense if read after the other two books as there is a continuing story.

CHAPTER ONE

Spring break papers sucked. Having three of them sucked even more. Jade had three pay-wall databases opened in three tabs and five physical books strewn across her bed—including on her chest. The smell of dusty, ancient textbooks filled her nostrils. The bottom of her computer burned hot against her legs.

She sat on her bed, knowing that she should be working, but unable to find the will to put fingers to keys. Her mind wandered across the question, the subject matter, and onto thinking about fun things she might otherwise be doing. Why did she need to know how to write essays?

Because they’re going to teach me the skills I need to present my research effectively.

Jade scowled and pushed the laptop aside.

It all seemed a bit grown up. As if.

While other kids had taken off for Florida beaches, she stayed in Riverside with papers to write. Jade had not enough money to do anything else, so using the time to study wasn’t a great sacrifice. She picked up the textbook on her chest and leafed through it absentmindedly. 

Jade kicked out her legs and rolled over. The edge of Ferguson’s Psychoanalysis in Motion bit into her ribs. Jade sank down on top of it, feeling very much like a tranquilized sloth.

Spring break.

Hurray.

With a snort, she reached for her bedside table and snagged her phone from the charger. A few dozen games of sudoku always helped.

Before Jade navigated to the app, Lauren’s name appeared on the screen to announce her call. Under normal circumstances, receiving a phone call from her best friend wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary—but over the last few years, their lives had taken a turn for the bizarre. 

Strange things were happening in her hometown of Beaumont—strange things that had stolen Lauren from a normal life and taken her to live somewhere else. Everyone in the world probably knew Olympus was the home of the ancient gods, but they wouldn’t find it on a map. The place had no internet connection, and it required magic to get there. Jade wasn’t sure whether to call it another world or a different dimension.

Needless to say, Lauren didn’t often have phone service.

Jade answered the call. Hey, babe.

Oh my god, Jade, Lauren grumbled. Really?

Lauren was most certainly not Jade’s babe. Jade snickered. Is your girlfriend going to warn me off encroaching on her territory?

She’s not my girlfriend, and I’m not territory.

Jade rolled her eyes in the same way that she imagined Lauren doing at her end of the call. Right. Your life partner. Or whatever. Will she turn into a bright dazzling light and blind me or a giant and run into Corby’s car?

It’s your car now. Corby was quite clear she didn’t want it back. And no, I don’t think any immortal is going to take their godly form or turn into an animal just to run you off the road. But I am calling you about territory of another type.

Corby had been planning on staying in Beaumont for a few months when she met her princess in the woods surrounding Beaumont, literally, and decided to go and live with her in another dimension. Jade and Corby were practically strangers when Corby had to get rid of her car; she couldn’t take it with her, so she gave it to Jade, who did need one.

It solved both of their problems.

Lauren called her someone special, her soulmate, which sounded very forever in a permanent and final way to Jade.

Not that Jade understood soulmates, or getting tied down to just one woman when they were still so young. That didn’t appeal to her at all. So many sexy hot women, so little time was more Jade’s motto. Nevertheless, she’d also harbored the contradictory hope that she too would stumble across a special someone from beyond the veil. Jade was a little envious, and she longed to have someone who completed her like Hestia completed Lauren. Eventually.

Lauren’s girlfriend, Hestia, was an immortal Goddess

From what Jade could tell, Hestia kept watch over the gateway to Olympus and gave a warm welcome to those who were, in fact, welcome.

She seemed gentle, so it was hard to picture her as an aggressive security operative standing at the gate, using her muscle and turning some people away.

Nevertheless, just because Jade hadn’t seen it, it didn’t mean it didn’t happen. Rumor had it Hestia was badass.

Lauren’s and Hestia’s souls were bound together. It involved rebirth, and magic, and all kinds of things that Jade would’ve called Lauren crazy for if she hadn’t seen some evidence.

Along with other gods, Hestia prevented the worst of the worst from other realms passing through dimensions and worming their way into the modern world, as Jade and Lauren knew it.

Lauren had taken Jade beyond the veil on a few occasions, and Jade had glimpsed those other worlds. That would’ve made for a fun spring break trip, and being half a day’s drive by car; it fell within Jade’s budget. She hoped the purpose of Lauren’s call was to invite her over.

Talk to me about territory then, babe? Jade placed her laptop to one side to enjoy chatting with Lauren.

I won’t tell her you’ve been calling me that, just in case. And I’m calling to beg you to come home. Jade, you need to come home.

Yes!

What? What’s up? 

Something is going on around the woods. They’re fencing off the area, securing it, and preparing to take down trees. Lauren’s voice had an unfamiliarly serious tone. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m worried they’re going to level the woods.

What? Jade sat bolt upright, brow furrowing. They’re leveling the woods? What do you mean?

I mean, there’s a bulldozer and fences and men in safety vests. I have no clue what’s going on. They’ve already started putting up a fence with signs to warn people to keep out. I don’t know what to do, Jade. I’m freaking out.

The smile fell from Jade’s face, and all the excitement at the thought of visiting Lauren melted.

Are you safe? Jade worried that if someone tore down the forest, the rift would close. She didn’t understand how the gateway worked, but if it wasn’t there, Lauren wouldn’t ever revisit the mortal world. Is Hestia safe?

I’m fine, and she’s safe. Our safety isn’t the problem, Lauren reassured her. It’s just... if they tear down the forest and put in buildings, it’ll be a lot harder to come back and forth. Besides that, can you imagine what would happen if there were houses or businesses put in place? How many people would accidentally travel between dimensions? The gods do their best, but they can’t stop them all. They’re busy protecting, not inhibiting.

Yeah. Jade’s stomach knotted up with tension. So... you need me to come home?

I need you here so we can fight this together. I can’t do this alone. I doubt I’ll raise much support from the town’s folk, and I just..., I need someone here to help me. I don’t want this to happen. Not only will it be a pain for me, but it’ll be dangerous for anyone who comes across a rift. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up in a nasty dimension. They might slip through to the Labyrinth or even Tartarus. People might disappear forever. There’s the chance of being killed by a monster or a titan.

No, I understand. You’re completely right. Jade rose from the bed and glanced at the window. Still daylight outside. A four-hour drive without stopping, and it was already late in the day. I’m gonna pack my things and head on over in the morning, okay? We’ll figure this out together.

You’re the best, Jade. The relief in Lauren’s voice was telling—Jade knew right away how hopeless she felt. I’ll see you tomorrow?

Bright and early. An early night and setting off first thing seemed like the best plan.

They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Jade tugged her suitcase from her closet and pulled open her dresser drawer. She tossed clothes in, unconcerned with what she picked out or how it landed in the suitcase.

Ten minutes later, it seemed, Jade hit the snooze button on the alarm, sure it was too early to wake up. Way too early for a student on spring break.

When she remembered the reason for waking up so early, it spurred her on.

Jade cleared the sleep from her eyes and double-checked her belongings one last time. Toiletries? Check. Clothes? Check. She was neatly packed so she wouldn’t have to iron them at the destination?

Who was she kidding?

Kinda neatly packed so she wouldn’t look any more crumpled than usual in her never-ironed clothes? Yeah, sure. That.

Wallet and keys? Check, check.

She needed breakfast and to wake up properly before she hit the road for a four-hour drive. A shower would help.

Still sluggish from just waking up, Jade headed into the kitchen. She shared the apartment with a roommate, but Adriene had left for Florida the night spring break began.

The lucky bitch.

At least it meant Jade had an empty house.

She opened the fridge and took stock of what she had. It’d be best to take care of perishable items before she left. Jade couldn’t guess how long she’d be gone, but she assumed that stopping a deforestation attempt would take more than one night.

It was a damn good thing they weren’t rolling in produce.

There were seven eggs and some butter; they’d keep okay. The ketchup wasn’t about to go bad, and it sat next to an immortal bottle of soy sauce, so she was safe to leave those. Everything else, she jammed into the freezer.

Jade closed the door and scrawled a note for Adriene.

Hey. Needed to take off. We’ll go shopping when we’re both back in town. :)

Jade frowned at the note, then added to it.

PS Still hate you a little bit for going to Florida without me <3

PPS How the hell are you getting your papers done? Teach me your secrets?

There. That seemed better. It seemed less like an urgent emergency with a little embellishment and teasing.

Jade didn’t like confrontation. She had no problem speaking her mind, but she always tried to do it in a diplomatic manner. The less serious she needed to be, the better. There was nothing worse than a heady conversation without some humor to give it dimension.

The prospect of a humorless confrontation in Beaumont left her more than a little depressed. With so much at stake, she didn’t imagine it would be a barrel of laughs.

She hoped she wouldn’t be drawn into this any further than merely being a cheerleader for Lauren. In the pit of her stomach, she knew this campaign would require more from her than she really wanted to give.

She did a final sweep of the apartment, grabbed her suitcase from her bedroom, and left. Cooler slung over her shoulder, suitcase wheeling behind her, Jade took the stairs to the ground floor and left her Riverside student apartment behind. She needed to get on the road and get the journey back to Beaumont underway.

The drive wasn’t easy.

The back roads leading to Beaumont twisted and turned, often sharply, a nightmare for even the most experienced drivers. Jade had grown up in Beaumont and was used to the roads, but she’d seen more accidents than she cared to admit.

She took the roads slowly that morning because she didn’t want to push her luck and end up skidding off the road, and because she dreaded what was to come.

Four hours was a long time to think, and Jade had a lot to think about.

She worried about