by Reed James
Corrigan's eyes flared. “No?” she demanded. “You dare refuse me? You dare disobey your Mistress.”
Gunnar shoved her back. She gasped in shock, her jeans tangled around her ankles causing her to stumble. She hit the bed and fell backwards, landing with a bounce on the mattress. Gunnar stood up, glaring down at her. “I'm not playing that game right now, Corrigan.”
She let out a frustrated moan. “Why won't you just submit? I know you loved it.”
Gunnar shrugged, unbuckling his belt. “Maybe you should submit to me. Call me Master.”
“That's not happening,” Corrigan hissed, arching her eyebrow. “I'm the Mistress here.”
“Not tonight. Maybe not ever again.” I should tell her to leave. Gunnar turned.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice suddenly sounding scared. Gunnar shivered, ice trickling down his neck as she sobbed.
Dammit. He turned around. She looked so frightened and helpless, her shoulders shaking as she curled into a ball. Gunnar groaned, moving to her and sitting beside her on the bed.
“Don't leave me. I'm sorry. It's just...when I play this game. I feel so safe and in control. I'm not scared th-that Maeve will burst in and k-kill me.”
Gunnar put his arm around Corrigan. “It's okay. I can play. You're my Mistress.”
“Really?” she sniffed, cuddling up to him.
“Yeah,” he muttered, shivering again. “Damn, it's cold in here.”
“Maybe you should snuggle up to your Mistress,” she purred, her face suddenly passionate instead of scared, the vulnerable waif replaced by the hungry vixen.
Gunnar's cock throbbed harder.
Her eyes seemed slitted again. Just for a moment. Like a cat's.
What if she's like Maeve...
Corrigan kissed him with her hot mouth, banishing that thought.
~ ~ ~
“I found a place that can make us the spikes,” Raven said as Maeve walked into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning.
Maeve beamed. “Really?”
“Yeah. We'll need to pool are money, but they can rush the job and get them ready in a few days.”
Maeve nodded her head. “That so wonderful.” She hugged Raven and kissed her on the lips.
The Pixie tasted her pussy faintly adorning Raven's lips. Last night, Maeve had shared Raven's bed. The black-haired coed had been a wild lover, and Maeve savored their passion. Later, when Maeve cried in the middle of the night, missing Gunnar, Raven held her and sang a soft lullaby until the Pixie drifted back off to sleep.
The doorbell rang.
“Wonder who that is?” Maeve asked.
One of the sisters padded down the hall to answer the door. Curious, Maeve walked out of the kitchen into the hallway. Georgina was talking to an older man, his red hair going gray, and he wore a cheap suit.
His eyes locked on the Pixie.
“Miss Rose, can I speak with you,” the man said, holding up a golden star. “I'm Detective Duffy with Tacoma PD.”
Maeve nodded, walking down the hallway. “Yes?”
“I was wondering if you could come down to the station with me to answer some questions about the events of Saturday night.”
“It was so scary,” Maeve said. “We were having a party when everything just went crazy. I...I was so scared, I ran.”
“Uh-huh,” the detective said. “And do you have any idea who was driving the car that crashed into your sorority, or how it killed Damien Young and put Magdalene Vicario into a coma.”
Maeve shook her head, an idea forming. She reached out her magic, touching the rose bushes growing outside. The detective wrinkled his nose and sneezed as the rosy perfume filled the air. Maeve reached out, lightly brushing his mind, and worked a geas.
“Corrigan was responsible,” she said. “You need to investigate her. She tried to kill me again.”
“Again?” the detective asked, his eyes going unfocused for a moment.
“Yes, Detective. Those men who tried to kill me a few weeks ago. They were sent by the Lean Sidhe, and that's Corrigan.”
The detective glanced at his notebook, frowning. “Tihomir did say he served someone named Leann Sheed.” He scanned his notebook. “Yes...Corrigan said her last name was Leenshed. Damn.”
“I'd investigate her,” Maeve suggested, putting the final touches on her geas. “And you should talk to Gunnar about her. I'm sure he has no idea that she's dangerous.”
“You're right,” the detective nodded. “Thank you for the time, Miss Rose.”
“Glad to help,” the Pixie smiled.
If I can shake Gunnar out of Corrigan's control, then I won't have to duel her.
Maeve rushed back into the sorority house to eat breakfast. She needed to get to school.
~ ~ ~
Corrigan regretted breaking her phone. It was nearly noon the next day before she could corner Evan in an out of the way spot at the college. Her faithful hound fell to his knees, staring up at her with such adoration.
Why couldn't Gunnar be as weak as you?
“What are your commands, Mistress?”
“Find out what the Pixie is up to,” Corrigan hissed. “I need to know her plans. She's plotting something. I can feel it.”
Earlier, Corrigan had glimpsed the Pixie marching through the school's Green with a few of her sorority sisters. The girls had all clammed up when Maeve noticed Corrigan, all the girls fixing angry glares at the Lean Sidhe.
Somehow, the Pixie had rekindled her passion. The hatred burning in her green eyes almost consumed Corrigan with their intensity. Fear beat in the Lean Sidhe's breast. Maeve's passion could generate so much fire.
Is she even a Pixie?
When Maeve had unveiled her true form and attacked Corrigan that night, she seemed to be a Rose Pixie, but it still confounded Corrigan that Maeve could have so much power. That a simple Pixie could be causing her so much trouble.
I have vanquished stronger servants of Summer with more ease than her.
“I don't care what you have to do, just find out what she plots,” Corrigan hissed at her hound.
“I will, Mistress.”
Her hound scurried off.
~ ~ ~
“Hey, Maeve,” Evan said, striding up to her.
Maeve swallowed, staring intently at Evan. His dark face seemed friendly. Maeve breathed in deeply, trying to catch Winter's scent on the man. She couldn't detect anything, but that didn't mean he hadn't been touched.
Corrigan is crafty.
“Hi, Evan,” she smiled. “Where's your better half?”
“Class.”
Maeve licked her lips. “Have you seen Gunnar today?”
“Yeah, we spoke. The man's seriously hung up on Corrigan. She's done a number on him. I don't know if you'll be able to free him.”
“I will,” Maeve nodded.
Evan leaned closer, whispering, “So you have a plan?”
The Pixie's heart quickened. She liked Evan. He could be a bit gruff at times, and he was very protective of Gunnar. But she had to know if she could trust him. “Evan.” She swallowed. “Why did you take Gunnar to Corrigan's house that night.”
“I didn't now,” Evan sighed. “I had no idea. Gunnar told me to drop him off at this address. I assumed it was something the pair of you had worked out. I really didn't know.”
Evan's eyes watered. He hugged her, pulling her in tight.
“I'm real sorry I messed things up.” His shoulders shook. “I...I...would hate to lose Akiko. I would never want to lose you.”
He does love Akiko. I can read that in his aura. I can't imagine Corrigan dominating him and not destroying his love. How could she resist? She tried to destroy Akiko's love for Evan last week.
“So...why did Gunnar want to go there?” Maeve whispered, hugging the man back. “I need to know, Evan.”
“He always liked her, maybe—”
“No!” Maeve's denial burst out of her. She pushed away from Evan. “Gunnar understood. He would
never have willingly gone to her.”
“Well...she is an evil Fey.” Evan leaned in. “What if she tricked him. What if she...I don't know, cast a spell on him, you know, bewitched him or something? Maybe he couldn't help himself.”
The night Maeve had been stabbed, Corrigan had glamoured Gunnar's phone. When Maeve had called him, Gunnar didn't hear the ring, feel the vibration, or see anything on the screen. How hard would it have been to send a text and make it seem like it was from me? Gunnar would be heading over in a flash.
“I'm so sorry. This is all my fault,” Evan groaned, his knees buckling. He fell to the ground, seizing her arms. “I fucked up. I didn't know she was messing with him. I need to make this right.” He looked up at her, his eyes red. “Please, Maeve. Please. Help me make this right.”
Maeve heart broke, and she nodded her head, her passions rising within her. “Okay. Come by the sorority after school. And bring Akiko.”
“You forgive me, Maeve?”
“There's nothing to forgive.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Okay.”
He nodded, wiping away at his tears. “Thanks, Maeve.”
“We'll make her pay,” the Pixie hissed. “She's hurt so many people.”
~ ~ ~
Gunnar's heart stopped when he walked around the corner and there stood Maeve.
“Hi, Gunnar,” she said, her beautiful face nervous. Her red curls fell about her shoulders. She pursed her lips, shifting on her hips. “Can we...talk.”
“I have nothing to say to a monster,” Gunnar said without thought, his heart beating with fear. The disgusting, monstrous Maeve superimposed over the innocent one before him.
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was a Pixie,” she said. “I...I couldn't find the words.”
“Right,” Gunnar snorted. “I can't believe I touched you.”
She flinched at her words and his heart ached.
“What you saw wasn't the real me,” Maeve said. “It was a glamour. Corrigan tricked you.”
“She tricked me? Are you telling me you didn't blow open her wall and try to kill her?”
Maeve nodded her head. “Yes. I was trying to kill her because—”
“You were jealous!” His anger boiled over. “Just like the first time I had a study date with her. I thought it was cute, but I didn't realize just how ugly it was. That's why you threatened to kill her if she didn't stay away.”
“She's lying, Gunnar. You have to believe me.”
Maeve reached out to touch him. His stomach curdled. He couldn't shake her horrible, true visage. “How can I believe a liar? How many times did I say you were truthful and honest to others? And you never contradicted me. You let me think you were transparent. That I knew the real you!”
Tears trickled out of her green eyes. “I...did lie. I was scared. But Corrigan is trying to control you. She's evil.”
“Right. So evil she huddled behind me while your vicious dogs attacked us.”
Maeve's eyes hardened. “Gunnar, she's a Fey. Like me. Only she's wicked. She's a Lean Sidhe.”
“If she was evil and a Fey or whatever, why didn't she transform to fight you that night?”
“Because she needs your trust so she can control you! You're special, Gunnar.”
“I'm special.” He stepped back, then his eyes narrowed. “So you only wanted me because I was special?” he spat, his shoulders slumping.
“That's not what I meant,” she protested. “I love you, Gunnar. I was sent to find you, and when I did, you stole my heart. But you have a destiny, and she will pervert it. She will dominate you, wrap you in chains of ice, and deliver you to Mab. Please, Gunnar, you can't trust her.”
“I can't trust you.”
Gunnar steeled himself and kept walking.
“Gunnar. That's fine. Don't trust me. But don't trust her. Do the research. Learn what a Lean Sidhe is. Make your own choice.”
Her words echoed in his mind as he strode down the hallway.
“I love you, Gunnar.”
I love you, Maeve. But you'll just hurt me again.
He didn't look back.
~ ~ ~
Gunnar was quiet, working on his homework, when Corrigan's new cell phone rang. She had slipped out of school to procure the fascinating device, bamboozling the clerk with her magic so he gave it to her for free. It was Evan.
She slipped out of the room, eager for her hound's words.
“I just left the sorority,” Evan said. “Maeve wouldn't say all her plan, but she needs money to buy cold iron spikes from a foundry down in Olympia. So I gave her some money.”
“Spikes,” Corrigan asked, a chill sliding down her back. “You're certain she is purchasing cold iron spikes.”
“Yeah, about a hundred of them. Small, about the size of a tent stake, I think.” Evan paused. “Did I do good, Mistress?”
“Yes, you did,” Corrigan said. The little Pixie thinks she can trap me.
The Lean Sidhe began to plot how to use the Pixie's plan against her.
Chapter Seven: Doubt
Maeve's words haunted Gunnar as he tried to sleep. It was his second sleepless night since he spoke to his ex-fiancee.
Corrigan lay next to him, her supple back turned to Gunnar as she slept. What if Maeve's telling the truth? What if Corrigan's an evil Fey?
But Maeve lied to me. I can't trust her. She tried to kill Corrigan. She admitted as much.
Never once, before that night, did I ever think Maeve was a bad person.
That's what people always say about bad people. “I can't believe it. He seemed so normal.” Well, so did Maeve, and she turned out to be a foul monster.
Unless Corrigan tricked me.
Gunnar rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Fresh stripes marred his chest. He let Corrigan tie him up again. When his blood was pumping, the idea that she might be evil made it more exciting. It added a thrill to the sex Gunnar had never experienced. He had ripped himself free of the bonds at the height of his passion, taking Corrigan hard.
But after the passion had faded, the nervousness had returned. Maeve's words had lodged in his brain. He was so conflicted. He wanted to return to Maeve despite the risks, and yet he felt bound to Corrigan. They had forged something in the last few days. Maybe it was the roleplay, but a part of Gunnar wanted to belong to her. To be her slave.
But I'd rather be Maeve's. She's the one my heart should belong to.
If only I could trust her not to hurt me.
Gunnar knew Corrigan wanted to hurt him, but it was only physical pain, not the soul-crushing agony Maeve had caused.
Gunnar climbed out of bed, abandoning sleep. He walked out into the living room, turning the TV on, the volume low, and worked on a paper for Professor Webster's History of the Holy Roman Empire class. Gunnar's problems slipped away as his fingers clacked away on his laptop.
He didn't remember falling asleep.
“Good morning,” Corrigan said, waking him with a brief kiss.
“Huh?” Gunnar blinked, sitting up. His laptop, the screen black, sat next to him on the couch.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I couldn't sleep, so I was working on that paper for Professor Webster.”
Corrigan sat on his lap, stroking his face. “And what's on your mind?”
“Maeve,” he said without thought, his mind still rising out of the tendrils of sleep.
Corrigan's golden eyes became slitted like a cat.
Gunnar tensed. Is she a Fey? Am I glimpsing her true self? Or am I still just waking up?
“Don't think about her,” Corrigan whispered, shivering atop him. The vulnerable waif appeared. “She scares me.”
Gunnar couldn't help comforting her. “I'll protect you,” he promised.
Will I? Should I? If you're like Maeve...
“Thank you,” she smiled and kissed him again. The urge to fall to his knees and worship her grew so strong.
Why can't my emotions make some fucking sen
se.
“I'm going to take a shower,” she said, hopping off his lap.
Gunnar's phone rang. “Yeah, sure,” Gunnar said, grabbing his phone, his eyes locked on her naked ass as she sauntered across the room. “Hello.”
“Hi, this is Detective Duffy looking to speak to Gunnar Agnarsson.”
“Yeah, this is Gunnar.”
“Oh, good. Listen, can I talk to you sometime today. Maybe around noon.”
Gunnar thought about his schedule. “Yeah, if you don't mind coming down to the campus. I'm free at one. Say in the cafeteria?”
“How about we meet out in the Green? It's a little more quiet and private.”
“Yeah, that's fine. I'll meet you by the sword in the stone statue.” Gunnar paused. “Is this about...Maeve?”
“It's about what happened on Saturday, yes.”
“I saw Maeve at school. She's back.”
“Okay, thanks for letting me know. So I'll see you around one?”
“Yeah,” Gunnar nodded.
“Take care, Gunnar.” The phone went dead.
Gunnar frowned, setting the phone down.
Between Maeve's words and Detective Duffy's call, Gunnar had a hard time focusing on his morning classes. His mind kept drifting, wondering if Maeve was telling the truth and fearing why the Detective wanted to talk to him.
When his noon class ended, he walked down to the cafeteria. Despite all his worries, his stomach rumbled. The cafeteria had multiple food stations, each serving a different style. The school had some great chefs, and he salivated as he scanned around, debating what to get. One station was serving Persian chicken and rise. Gunnar hopped in line. It smelled delicious, the chicken spiced and lemoned. He grabbed a soda, paid with his meal card, and walked over to a table, digging in. He ate swiftly, wanting to get out to the Green and meet the Detective.
Gunnar rushed outside to the sword thrust out of the stone near the rose bushes. He leaned against it. Today the sword seemed to have a greenish cast to it. There was some crystals in the rock that added a blue or green tint depending on the sun's angle.
Detective Duffy jogged up a few minutes later. “Damn. I went right past this. I was looking for a sword in a rock.”
