by Tiya Rayne
I can burst with the triumph I am feeling.
I lead Lilly to the large attached wash room on the other side of my music room. The dark colors of my bedroom flow into the massive bathroom as well. I lead her to the velvet bench in the corner and sit her down. I turn to the white claw foot tub in the middle of the floor. There is a two person shower in the corner of the room that I use most often. Tonight, I will finally make use of the tub. I run water in the bath, making sure to check the temperature. I pour in almond plant beads. They help relax your body and mind. I needed Lilly relaxed. Once the water is just right and the almond beads has turned the clear water to a foamy white, I step away from the bath. I go into the closet and pull out one of my shirts. I lay the white blouse on top of the settee.
“Take your time. I will have dinner waiting when you get out. Lock the door when I leave.” I make myself walk out of that washroom and close the door. I stand there until I hear the lock click.
I didn’t need a lock to get back in that bathroom if I wanted to, but I knew it would put Lilly at ease. I push away from the close door before I changed my mind about taking my time with Lilly.
I make a portal from my bedroom to the kitchen. I make sure the cook knows to bring our dinner up to my bedroom and to have the staff set up a table for us. The man almost pissed his self when I arrived in the kitchen.
I make my way to my throne room to handle a little business before heading back up to Lilly. I’ve been feeling the tug of a summons since I landed back in my room.
Akei, the general to my Northern army is waiting for me.
“Any news?” I ask as I take the skeleton throne.
“Everything is quiet on our front. All borders are still up and protected. No one can get in or out.” I nod my head thoroughly pleased with his report.
It has taken some very dark and powerful magic to put up that type of border around my perimeter. But I will do anything for the woman that is naked in my bath.
Fuck, I just got a visual of Lilly’s beautiful body sinking down in the tub. My dick jumps in my pants.
“I want you to keep patrol on alert, Akei. If I know the Elven queen, she is hard at work trying to break those portals. She will be sorely disappointed.” I can’t help but chuckle to myself.
“Kazlan,” I call out to another general of my army and former soldier in the Eastern Kingdom. “I need you to clear out the dungeons. I need all the blood possible to keep the barriers up.”
“What about Bartus? Do you want me to throw him in the mix?”
I forgot about my treacherous friend, Bartus.
“How does he fair?”
Kazlan smiles.
“It seems that Pascott has found favor with our Southern King. He warms his bed every night.”
A few laughs go up and I can’t help but join in.
“Leave the fool king. I think he has a little while longer to endure his punishment before I end his suffering.”
Kazlan nods then turns to do my bidding.
I take notice as a certain elf enters my throne room. It is he that has been summoning me.
“Leave.” I demand to everyone else as Phillisius makes his way to my throne and drops to his knee. Once the room is empty I allow Phillisius to rise.
“Any news?” I rise from my throne and walk over to the table to partake in some of the deep amber drink. I pour a glass for Phillisius as he walks up to my side.
“Their army has improved. They still lack numbers, but even that is up from before. The commoners are proving themselves worthy opponents. It seems your human found a secret weapon in the Eastern Kingdom.”
My eyebrows meet in confusion.
“It appears the Eastern women have more use than just those delicious cunts. Turns out, they are impeccable fighters.”
“How impeccable?”
“Let’s just say, with their help, your barriers are needed.”
I take a sip of my amber drink allowing my mind to register what Phillisius has told me. Even though my goals have changed, I am not naïve enough to think this war will not happen. Eventually I will have to take out the Elven queen.
“Do you think we can offer the Eastern women something in return for their services?”
I am known for taking things that I want, but not when It comes to war. All my soldiers are here because they want to be. A kingdom is only as strong as the soldiers that protect it. Making someone fight for you that does not want to, is the quickest way to cause division and betrayal amongst your ranks. Kotche and his brothers are a different thing. I take their thoughts and willpower away from them when I transform them. They have no idea who they were after I am done with them. They only know loyalty to me.
“I have already tried.” Phillisius replies to my question. “However, their loyalties lie with the human.”
I could understand that. To some degree, so does mine.
“And your spy on the inside?”
I take a seat back on my throne with my goblet still in my hand. The elf follows.
“There was a minor setback,” He cringes. “But all is well now. She is still in position waiting on your word.”
He looks to me and raises an eyebrow. I do not even second guess as I shake my head no.
“The spy has spoken of division amongst the queen and her puppet.”
With this news my head pops up and Phillisius meets my eye with a smirk.
“The spy doesn’t know for sure where the division comes from, but it is felt.”
This news has plans spiraling through my mind. If I can get the Elven Queen to break tides with the Assassin, this battle may be over before it even starts. It is known that the two together make a formidable and damn near undefeatable opponent, but what if we continue to pull them apart.
“I need to know the cause of this division.”
Phillisius waves away my words. “I’m already on it. I advised my spy to try to break into that tight inner circle.”
“Very good.”
I can immediately tell when Phillisius wants to say something else, but fears his next words may get him killed. The elf has been extremely helpful to my cause. I would never kill him…….not immediately anyway.
“What is it, elf?”
Those sparkling green eyes look to me nervously. “I was wondering, If now is the time I can have that favor from you.”
I pause, trying to remember what favor, then it comes to me. He wants the use of a certain spell.
A slow smile spreads across my face.
“What exactly do you have planned?”
Phillisius’s eyes light up as he explains his plot of revenge against the assassin. The elf has thought long and hard about this, and it is damn near too good to pass up.
“Very good, Phillisius. However, I am working my own angle with Lilly. I will be of no assistance to you. If you are to do this, it has to look as if I have no part in it.”
Some of the smile slips from the elf’s face as he takes in my words. His plan relied on me having his back. He will have to find a way around it. I won’t risk the foundation I have already laid with Lilly. Anything can back fire and send her running from me. The moment I saw that look in her eyes and smelled her succulent aroma, I knew that I would do anything to have her. I didn’t just want her belly full with my seed, or her to make whatever decision she was supposed to make in my favor. I wanted Lilly’s love.
The elf scratches at his cleft chin, and when that smile comes back on his face I knew he had worked it out.
“Very well, Dark King.” He bows at the waist.
“When would you like to start?”
“Tonight if possible.” I nod my head.
If he is able to pull this off, he may be doing myself and him a favor.
I cast a simple spell over a coin that was in Phillisius’s pocket. As long as he is able to get the coin around or on the assassin, his plan will work.
I send Phillisius away as I make my way back up to my bedroom. The servants has set u
p the table and the food is ready just as Lilly opens the door to the bathroom.
My gods she is breathtaking. Her wild curly hair flowing down her back and over shoulders. My white blouse hanging half way to her knees. The open v neck hanging off one shoulder giving display to that golden skin. My eyes run down her long lovely legs. The visual of them tucked behind her head as I drive into her pink cavern has me nearly swaying on my feet. Only the sound of her stomach rumbling brings me out of my stupor. I pull out the closes chair and motion for her to sit. She pushes her hair behind her ear and walks over to me taking a seat. I push her up to the table then sit across from her.
I watch her as she gnaws on her plump bottom lip. In spite of the way it’s making me feel, I’ve known Lilly long enough to know she chews on her lip when something is bothering her.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or are you going to gnaw your lip off.” She looks up at me confused until I pull her lip from between her teeth with my thumb.
She smiles when she realizes her actions.
“My uncle buddy use to say that exact same thing to me.”
Her face lights up every time she speaks of this uncle.
I’ve listened to Lilly’s stories before. At the time I only paid them half attention. I was more interested in her body and getting what I wanted rather than pay attention to the actual stories. Now, I wanted to get to know Lilly all over again. I won’t lie and say that I won’t use the information I obtain to further my role in Lilly’s life, but I do generally want to know about her.
“Tell me about your uncle?”
That beaming smile greets me.
“What do you want to know?”
It seems that whatever was on her mind earlier has cleared from her thoughts. I wish to keep her troubles from her mind.
“Tell me one of your favorite memories of him.”
I lean back in my chair and place my hands in my lap to give her my undivided attention. I watch her take a sip from her glass and then wipe her mouth with the cloth napkin.
“There are way too many.” She says, as her pointy tongue dabs at the corner of her mouth before escaping back inside.
“Tell me the first one that comes up.”
She pauses for a moment and cocks her head to the side. Those hazel eyes seeming to study me. She doesn’t want to let me in to that part of her. I can see the reservation staring back at me. The polite thing to do is give her and out and change the subject, but I want all of her—even if I have to weasel my way inside.
She finally sighs, glancing down at her plate.
“Like I said, I have a million favorite memories of Uncle Buddy,” Her eyes turn back to me. “I don’t know why this one popped in my head, but I guess it’s as good as any.” She chuckles before she starts her story. “It was 6th grade and we were having a Sadie Hawkins dance.”
She notices my confusion and laughs before rolling her eyes.
“It’s a dance where girls have to ask the boys.”
I nod though I thought that was a stupid rule. I didn’t like the idea of Lilly having to ask out some useless human boy.
“Anyway, I wasn’t really popular so I figured I wouldn’t be going to this dance just like all the others. Well, word got around the school that Jason Withers told his friends that if I asked him to the dance, he would go with me.” She looks away shaking her head. “Like an idiot I believed him. So I asked him, and he said yes. Mama and Aunt Mellie worked for an entire week to make me a dress for the dance. I got on my Cousin Roy’s nerves about teaching me how to slow dance.” She sighs. “The night of the dance, I sat out on the porch of mama’s trailer waiting for my date to come pick me up. I stayed on that porch for four hours. I think after the first thirty minutes mama knew he wasn’t coming. But I kept up hope.”
I frown at this story. I wanted to find the fucking human boy and bash his brains in.
“By the time Uncle Buddy sat down beside me on that porch chewing his tobacco, I was cold and crying. He didn’t say anything at first, just sat beside me and let me cry. When I finally looked up at him I noticed he had on his funeral suit. It was black and ill-fitting, but it was the only suit he owned. He stood to his feet and pulled me to mine. Mama brought her old radio out to the porch and turned on the music. George Jones was singing Tennessee Whiskey and I danced with the first man I’d ever loved. We danced for hours. Even Mama, Aunt Millie and Cousin Roy came out to dance with us. By the time I went to bed that night I didn’t even care about the dance or Jason Withers.”
“Your Uncle is an amazing man.”
She shakes her head. “My Uncle is the greatest man I know.”
The conviction and the dedication in her eyes lead me to believe that she truly believed that.
She starts to laugh again and shake her head.
“When I got back to school that Monday, everyone was laughing and pointing at me because they knew what Jason had done. But Jason, he wouldn’t even look at me. At first I thought he felt bad for what he did, but I remember his busted lip and black eye. And knowing what I know now, I’m pretty sure Jason got a visit from my personal bodyguard.”
I had no idea what Lilly was talking about, but the smile she got when she spoke of this bodyguard made me uneasy. I was already going to send a shifter out to end the life of this Jason Withers, did I need to hunt down this body guard too. I ignore my plot of revenge for right now and give all my attention to Lilly.
I find that Lilly loves to talk about her family and childhood. She comes alive when she reminisce about her life growing up as a poor ostracized kid. We spend hours laughing, talking and comparing stories.
When Lilly finally knocks out on the sofa in the library, I pick her up to take her to her room. I pause as I pass my bed and another idea comes to mine. My smile grows as I place her into my bed and cover her up. As I exit the room to take care of business, I smile as I think, Phillisius will truly enjoy how his plan will start off.
Chapter Twelve
I look down at my sleeping sons and smile. Tonight the twins are sleeping with me. I needed to be close to them. I really needed to be close to Lilly, but this is the next best thing.
Her absence has truly been felt, and not just by me. The mood around the training camps are somber. Everyone is working hard with determination to end this fucking war just to get Lilly back. Even the crazy Familiar is being affected. Just this morning she nearly chewed the face off one of the elves brought in to watch the twins. Avalia had to lock her up. The little ferret refuses to speak to anyone about why she attacked the maid. Locking the familiar up is about the only thing Avalia and I have agreed upon lately.
Since she found out about Drago, there has been a distance growing between us. It is the first time that she and I have not been in agreement with each other. The tension between the two of us is felt amongst everyone. She’s angry with my decision to involve Drago. An especially angry that I did not inform her of my plans before I made them. Despite my fear of her impending death, I cannot make this right with her. I cannot give her an apology because if I had to do it over again I would still make the same decision. She nor I will ever understand the type of horrors that Lilly will face in that kingdom. I know my little human is strong, but no one can survive time with a mad man.
At least I can say that we have some good news. The females from the Eastern Kingdom showed up early this morning and they are everything Lilly promised they would be. We actually look like an army now. Too fucking bad we can’t get into the Northern Kingdom. No matter what we do, it seems like we can’t get ahead.
My oldest son grunts in his sleep, and I turn to look at him. The twins are my reason to keep going. The longer I am away from their mother, the closer to madness I become. I listen to their breathing as I turn to stare at the table beside my bed. My eyes scan over the little butterfly picture in its silver frame and the silver coin sitting beside it. I had no intentions of actually falling asleep, but before I know it I am being pulled into a walki
ng dream.
What the fuck?
I am in a massive room. Dark woods and dark fabrics greet me. A huge bed is in the middle of the room with a floor to ceiling headboard. The room looks masculine and entirely to fucking gloomy for my taste. So who brought me here?
It’s then that I notice the small figure lying in the bed under a blood red blanket.
I rush to the side of the bed. I will know that figure and smell anywhere.
“Lilly?” I call out to my love.
She rolls over pushing the hair out of her face sleepily.
“Nevy?” She mumbles and my body freezes.
When her eyes finally open to see me she smiles and jumps into my arms.
“Assassin!” She squeals happily as she buries her face in my neck.
Though her words when she first woke bothered me, I push the feeling to the side. I have my Lilly back in my arms. It is just a walking dream, but walking dreams are as close to reality as having her with me. I bury my nose in her hair and get swallowed up in her scent. I block out the unfamiliar scent that coats her. It is the same scent that coats this room. I pull her head out of my neck to get a better look at her beautiful face.
My hands tighten on her shoulders as I catch sight of the dark bruise on her cheek. Lilly notices where my eyes have landed and she pulls away from me to lightly touch her face.
“Its….”
“Nothing?” I finish for her spitting the word out of my mouth.
I stand to my feet and turn away from her. I have to close my eyes to calm myself. I don’t want to get as angry as I did last time and send her away. These dreams may be the only way I can see her for a while. I need to use this time wisely.
I feel her small hands caress my back right before her warmth comforts me.
“I know it looks bad, Assassin, but I really am ok.”
At this point I don’t know if Lilly is saying she’s ok to comfort me or if she really does think that a bruise on the side of her face is actually fucking ok. Though neither scenario is good, the latter is much worse.
When she slips her small arms around my waist and buries her head in my back, the anger recedes. My love for this woman blows my mind. I spin around in her embrace, raking my eyes over her entirety. I will not allow the state of her face to ruin this dream. The fact that she is still alive is much more of a treasure. My eyes run over her bare legs, to the hem of the white blouse that drapes off one shoulder seductively to her full lips….
