Bound by Destiny

by Stephanie Yarns

  “Of course it was you, princess. Who do you think I pictured all the fucking time?”

  Her look was at once shocked, horrified, and turned on, and damn him, he laughed again.

  More silence. But he could feel her getting ready to ask something. Her shoulders tensed for a moment then she spoke.

  “So…”

  “Eve…”

  She laughed before speaking again. “So, as for number three…”

  “I need to see someone first.” He knew what she was asking about. Why no sex? And while he knew it was stupid, knew that she had been gone for centuries, he needed to do something. If he could do it. There were no guarantees that he could go through with it. But damn him, he had to try.

  His voice was tight and without looking up, she took his hand.

  He led her through the rooms in a way that left her dizzy. She had been through them, but not the way he took her, and she found herself standing at the top of some stairs she had never seen before.

  He turned her to face him, looking intently into her eyes.

  “Sebastian. Gideon. They’re still down there. And you are going to freak out when you see this place. Try not to. It’s not like we use it.”

  She frowned. “Okay.”

  “When you see Gabe, you are going to call me an asshole. Which is true, but there is a reason for all of this, okay?”

  “It’s a basement, Fallon. Stop freaking out.”

  “No, princess, it more than a basement. You’ll see.”

  He took her hand and led her down the dark stairs.

  “Why do I feel like I’m in a horror movie?”

  Fallon’s fingers squeezed hers. “Gideon and I had the same comment earlier.”

  #

  The whole ‘bad horror movie’ vibe continued until he opened the door and she stepped through.

  Bad horror switched to real horror and she sucked in a breath.

  “Breath, Eve,” Fallon said low in her ear as she stared down row of cells.

  “What are you doing, Fallon?” Gideon’s voice had her spinning and she looked over his shoulder at two more cells. Only, one of them was occupied.

  “A dungeon.” She breathed out. “You have a fucking dungeon.”

  “Well, no, no fucking goes on down here, but,” Fallon said when she looked back to him, “I mean, there could be fucking, if one were so inclined to… fuck… here…” He turned away.

  “A nervous Fallon?”

  “No. An intrigued Fallon,” he said.

  She gave a sharp laugh, her own nervousness set off by the gleam in Fallon’s eyes.

  “Again, what are you doing?”

  Distracted, he pointed his thumb at Eve. “She wanted to see Gabe. Knew he was awake.”

  Eve watched as Fallon went into a barred cell and held up a shackle. He looked at her with a lifted eyebrow.

  She made a sound and turned away, his laughter taunting her.

  Gideon glanced back at Sebastian. “We have to stop spoiling her. She can’t always get what she wants.”

  “Yes,” she said. “She can.” She moved past him into the cell that contained a chained-up Gabe.

  #

  Gray eyes watched her as she stepped toward him and the instant she passed through the door, she was hit with a wave of hatred so thick, she could swallow it. Was it him? Or was it that thing? It if was him, he had every right. But she had to make sure it wasn’t the other.

  “Thanks for the healing,” his voice sounded like the man she met, but she wasn’t certain that was enough to relax. “I woke up and thought Sebastian had thrown me into a wall.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “Blame me for what?”

  “Hating me.”

  “How can you tell?” His eyes closed. “Fae. Emapth.”

  She nodded, even though he couldn’t see.

  “At this moment, and though I totally get why everything was done like it was, I wish I had been here when they dragged you in.”

  “You would have killed Sebastian, not me,” she said softly.

  “Then I could have done it twice.”

  “I never really thought about that.”

  He gave a harsh laugh. “All I wanted to do was come home. Get some rest, catch up with my family,” he spat the word out, “before hitting the road again.”

  “You like to travel?”

  “What, trying to ‘get to know’ me again?”

  “You knew what was going on?”

  Fallon came into the room and stood beside her. Gabe barely glanced at him. “I heard the sound when I went to go feed the second time. I heard it. I heard him. I heard him laugh in my head and I felt him take control of my body and yes, I was there. Trapped in a cage, just like this one, but yeah. I knew what was going on. I have to give you guys credit though. You were quick to realize something was wrong. You and Fallon and Sebastian.”

  “Is he gone?” Fallon asked.

  “I don’t know.” The strung-up man said. “I don’t feel him. But who the fuck knows? Probably is, since you’re still alive.”

  “Get him down,” Eve said, spinning to Gideon. “Please, let him down.”

  “Eve, that’s a bad idea,” he said, and Gabe laughed.

  “Hey, I mean, I’m all for it, but yeah. Not real bright.”

  “We can’t do this.” She was not going to cry in front of any of them, but her heart was breaking for the one who walked blindly into the wreckage of her life. “I can’t do this.”

  “Princess, if I can, you can.” Fallon said softly.

  “Fine.” She turned away from all of them and climbed up on the stone block. “I’m staying here until one of you let him out of those chains.”

  “I don’t want you in here,” Gabe said. “I can’t stand the sight of you.”

  “Good, then we can hang out here and hate me together. I’m not leaving until you’re free.”

  “Can’t you just leave me the hell alone?” He sounded defeated and she hated herself even more.

  “No. I can’t fix what I did, but I can make things better now. If one of these assholes would listen to me.”

  “And all of you, including Fallon, want this—”

  Fallon gave a soft growl and Gabe laughed.

  “Fine. You all want this lovely lady to live here, happily ever after?”

  “All of us,” Sebastian said and despite herself, she had to smile at his words. But that wasn’t going to stop her from making this stone slab her bed for however long it took to set him free. She lay on the cold stone, resting her head on her arm.

  “Condition three, Eve. Don’t give me the satisfaction of hauling you out of here.”

  Her eyes flew to Fallon and she swallowed. “Let him down, please. I’m begging.”

  “Eve…”

  She sat up “He’s fine, don’t you see? He hates me.” She laughed at her logic. “Earlier, he told me he liked me. He wasn’t himself then.”

  “She’s got a point,” Gabe said.

  For a split second, she forgot what she just said about him hating her and turned a smile his way.

  Fallon watched his friend’s face and couldn’t help his grin at the slow blink Gabe gave her. Her smile was powerful. Made more so by the fact that she didn’t realize it.

  “If I tell you over and over that I despise you, do you think that will help?” Gabe asked, only half-kidding.

  “You can try,” Eve laughed.

  She turned to look back at Sebastian and Gideon who seemed to be locked in a staring match. Finally, Gideon shook his head and pulled a key out of his pocket.

  “Gabe, you know why we did this.”

  “Exquisitely aware, Gideon.”

  Her love reached up and unlocked one of the shackles holding Gabe’s wrist.

  “Eve had said earlier that we basically treated you like shit since you came home.” He unlocked to other and Gabe rubbed the marks left by the steel. “You have my apologies as well.”

  “You’ve all been br
ainwashed. It’s cool.” Gabe said, taking the key to unlock his feet. “I’m just going to grab my things and be on my way.”

  Eve cleared her throat. “About that.” She held up her hand. “You need to be here for this to be broken.”

  He looked at his palm with the muted red mark. “So, I guess by it fading, that doesn’t mean it’s going away?”

  His cool eyes met hers and she shook her head. “Afraid not.”

  “And knowing now, how I feel about you, you would still do it?”

  She bit her lip before nodding. “I need him.” She couldn’t look away from the gray as his look lengthened.

  “I see,” he said at last. The hatred he felt earlier, while not gone, lessened a lot, quit beating her. “Thanks for getting me down.” He turned away and stepped between Fallon and Sebastian.

  “I’m going to go get a tan,” Fallon said, throwing Eve a look.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Well, I mean, you’re going to kill me, one way or another. Just thought I would speed it up.” He ran a hand over his face.

  With Gabe’s emotions no longer hitting her, there was something new. Something that made her flesh tingle. Brushing past him, she followed the feeling down the length of the dungeon. In a cell in the back, she stopped, looking around her.

  “I…” She frowned.

  “Talk to me, beautiful,” Gideon’s voice was right behind her.

  “I feel something. Something coming from here.”

  This wasn’t the whispers, but it was a power that called to her. Something that danced along her skin. She couldn’t see anything though. “Other than pain stuff, what was this cell for?” she asked, moving to the corners and examining every inch she could get to.

  “Eve, we—”

  She shook her head, cutting him off. “Gideon, I don’t care what was done before. This is important. Who was kept here?”

  “Well, the visitors were here.”

  She spun around. Why was she panicking?

  “The Fae that sacrificed themselves.”

  He gave her a quick nod.

  “Is there anything different in the cell to you? I don’t…” She trailed off. The base of the stone slab had been shifted. She didn’t know how long the room had been there, no way for her to know that. But there was a rut that would have lined up with the base of the slab. “Can you lift that?” she asked him.

  He didn’t like the way her eyes looked. The fear he could see in them. Fear, not from this room or what had been done in it, but fear from what she could feel.

  “Sebastian. Fallon.” He called the other into the cell. He didn’t know what she thought they would find beneath the solid stone base, but he wanted the others there to calm that look.

  He moved to the narrow side and dug his fingertips into the smooth surface. Using muscles he didn’t need, he lifted.

  #

  The weight of the slab was less than he imagined. A lot less. But it was Sebastian’s muttered curse that told him that there something beneath the hollow stone.

  Gideon tossed the thing at the wall and it shattered. But he didn’t care. The glowing stones were what grabbed his attention.

  “Those…” Fallon started to say then trailed off.

  “Yes,” Sebastian said. “They match the ones outside, and they are how the Fae got in.” Amriel had the stones that caught his attention lined up in that exact pattern. What it did was crate a portal between his world and hers. His mark had been the last she needed. And he gave it willingly.

  “How long… I mean…” Eve said, staring at the softly glowing blue stones.

  “There’s no telling.” Gideon knelt, his knee almost landing in something that looked like, damp, dusty…

  “Is that blood?” Eve squeaked, pointing at the dark stain on the floor. She looked around the floor and realized those spots were all over the dungeon. Some were massive.

  Gideon barely spared it a glance. “Yes.” His eyes were on the stones.

  Eve shivered, the coolness of the ‘basement’ combining with the feeling of the stones and then add to it Gideon’s casual affirmative to the fact that, yes, of course that was blood, chilling her blood. Sebastian took one of her hands and Fallon claimed the other and she took a deep breath.

  Gideon ran his finger through the line of dust that circled the place where there was once what looked to be an immovable stone. In some places, the line had been disturbed. He sniffed at the dust and she remembered that they could smell damn near everything.

  He stood abruptly and turned. His expression was blank when he looked at Eve. “By the dust, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it was set up before the house was built. You see, one of the reason’s I chose this location was because of this room. I found it humorous, so we built on top of it. We rarely used it, so set your mind at ease.”

  “Why are you looking at me like that, Gideon?”

  “I’m simply trying to piece together just what in the hell is going on.” He tilted his head, studying her. “Your mother said that she believes you were sent her randomly. I don’t. I think that this was planned a long time ago. And I have an intense dislike for being kept in the dark.” His lips finally curved. “Especially when someone I care for is in harm’s way.”

  “You need control.”

  “Yes, I do.” He glanced back at the stones. “Something I seem to be lacking right now.”

  “I hope she comes back soon. I think we all need some answers,” Eve said, and Gideon looked back at her with a softer smile. “Maybe Naiel will be able to give them to us.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  #

  Sebastian and Gideon left them alone, going off the security room. Gideon to check camera footage from outside, Sebastian to make phone calls.

  “So, what happens if we slam the door?” Fallon nodded to the small circle of stones.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m still new to all of this.” She stayed away from softly pulsing rocks, trying to ignore the feeling of power that constantly brushed against her skin. “They’re connected. I don’t know how to break it and I think, if it’s not done right, it could be bad.”

  “What kind of bad do you mean? Like ‘end of the world’ bad…”

  “I don’t know. Almost ‘end of the house and every living creature in it’ bad.” She ran her hands over her sweater, trying to banish the sensation caused by the stones. As she stared at them, the air changed. The damp, stale odor was replaced with something fresh, sweet smelling.

  “Eve!” She could hear Fallon from somewhere far away.

  Peripherally, she could see trees starting to form, the bases reaching forever to the sky. How old were they? Something grabbed her hand, holding tight. A face loomed in front of her. Blond hair falling softly around a slender face, dark blue eyes staring at her. “In a hurry to die?” His voice was deep and lovely, despite the words. The grip on her hand tightened and she looked down at it. The arm it was attached to was almost invisible as the scene around her grew more solid. The hand pulled her, and she blinked.

  Dungeon.

  She was in the dungeon. She was in Fallon's arms, his embrace crushing her against him.

  “Eve,” he breathed in her ear.

  Terror clawed at her. What had she done? Where was she? Where did she go? Her hands clenched his shirt as she shook violently. No, she wasn’t strong. She was petrified. He lifted her, carrying her in his arms, as he took her away from the stones, stones that wanted to snatch her away from them.

  Spinning, he kicked the door closed, the clanging of metal sharp, making her jump.

  “Fuck this.” She could feel the anger coming of him, but it was mixed with a desperate fear.

  “I don’t… Fallon, what happened?” she asked, and his arms tightened around her.

  “I’m going to show you, princess.” He set her on her feet and locked the thick wooden door. Taking her hand, he practically pulled her up the stairs behind him and then they were hur
rying through the rooms.

  “Guys, get ready for a magic show,” he said as he tugged her into the security room. His hand trembled against her skin as he lifted her face to him and pressed a hard kiss to her lips.

  “What’s going on?” Gideon asked, looking from her to him.

  Fallon ignored him as he sat in the chair behind the bank of monitors. He started tapping some keys and why did that surprise her? Why did she see him as someone not comfortable with technology?

  “If you will kindly direct your attention to the larger monitor behind us and please keep your questions till the end of the show.”

  Eve stared to turn, but he leaned forward, grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. “Watch.”

  She glanced at the standing men as they stared at the screen. Finally, she looked at herself.

  “How did—” Gideon started to ask and Fallon shushed him.

  “I’ll tell you after the feature. Sorry, no popcorn with this one.”

  Eve was transfixed, watching the events that just happened. On the large screen, Gideon and Sebastian left. She heard the words her and Fallon said, talking about destroying the circle. She saw herself rub her arms then she stopped breathing, staring in horror as her image started to fade.

  Sebastian took a step back as a sound came from his chest. Without looking, he took her hand, fingers weaving through hers.

  But it didn’t stop there.

  She saw Fallon reach for her, could see him take her hand, right as she vanished.

  He yanked his arm and she was there, him holding her.

  The clip ended.

  “After I got Gabe settled, I realized we didn’t have eyes in the basement.” Fallon started talking, arms tightening around her waist. “I got a couple of cameras from the closet and set them up. And damn me if that wasn’t impossible to do with a bunch of brainwashed faeries standing around me begging me to eat them.” His fingers twitched on her. “So, I get that done while losing what little sanity I had left. Come back up here, do the tech stuff, bring up the screen and they are all gone. All of them. Live ones, dead ones, the pieces of some. All gone.”

  “Pieces?” Eve asked, feeling the blood drain from her face.

  “That’s not the important thing, princess.” He pressed his lips to the back over her neck. “Of course they all—”