by Zoey Ellis
Cailyn scowled at him. Clearly, she hadn’t thought it through but a strong part of her, the part of her that had been trained to do something about children suffering, couldn’t let it go. "I don't know yet," she said. "But I want to make sure that they get help. If I can find a way to—”
"Cailyn!" Drocco boomed. "You’re not a spy anymore. Anything that is going on in this castle is not your concern. I won’t allow you to jeopardize my child for a cause that has nothing to do with you. Besides, you have no say in the terms of your imprisonment."
"You could do something," Cailyn shot back. "If you give me a day to think about it, I could find a way for you to—"
"No!" Drocco's voice vibrated through her. "There is no reason for it." He leaned her back, his cock twitching within her as he forced her to look up at him. "Malloron intends to keep us here until you give birth," he said, his voice quietly intense. "He intends to take this child and put it into his slavery system."
Cailyn’s face contorted in horror as he continued.
"He has promised that this will be the child’s fate, because he is furious that he was deceived. I can only assume that once you give birth, you will be entered into this slavery as well, and I’m imagining that he will find a way to kill me before I have a chance to stop him."
Cailyn was speechless. King Malloron was much more ruthless than she ever imagined. "Didn’t you come with any warriors?" she asked, a worry snaking through her as her hand drifted to her stomach.
"I brought the Lox, Cailyn," Drocco said, incredulously. "They surround the castle as we speak. They have been surrounding it since I entered. They are the only reason why Malloron hasn’t killed me yet. Commander Torin is leading them, but Malloron’s use of the Talent is impressive. He could find a way to kill Torin over the course of the next few months. That would displace the army because there is no other trained to lead them." Drocco shook his head slowly. "I practically gave him a manual on how to defeat armies of all sizes. I know what he could potentially do next, but I have no idea how he will use the Talent. This is my concern. Not his choice of slaves or how he runs his kingdom.”
Cailyn sucked in a deep breath. Sexual slavery for her and her child—that was the possible fate for her if she stayed. And yet it was already her fate with Drocco, though he wouldn’t see it like that. She began to wonder if there was any hope for her to escape it at all.
As her mind raced, Drocco lowered her to the bed and his erratic purr morphed into the newer aggressive vibration. “We’re not in this together,” he said, leaning over her, his cock throbbing inside her. “You don’t need to concern yourself with anything but my child. I’ll ensure you don’t experience any of the aggression that caused your fear again.” His arm snaked underneath her and turned her over, and began with slow, hard thrusts.
***
Cailyn lay awake that night, trying to analyze her situation to find a solution. If she couldn’t seek out another Alpha, she was stuck with him, at least until the birth of the child. Unless she could somehow make it back to the Omega Compound. If Drocco took her back to the Eastern Lands, she may be able to use the Talent and return to the Compound. But then what? Would the Mothers help her?
She remembered their faces around the table—dejected, forlorn, regretful, but all in agreement. Go back to your Alpha, Cailyn.
No, they wouldn’t. They told Amara they wouldn’t help her get away from Malloron, so they certainly wouldn’t help her now. As far as they were concerned she was where she was supposed to be, regardless of the actual circumstances. They were convinced this was where she belonged and that she could make it work. What had Mother Azia said? You just need to find a way to tame him for yourself. You have more power than you think. How could she do that? It was impossible with such a monster. Besides, she didn’t want to tame him. She didn’t want him at all.
“Go to sleep, Cailyn.”
She drew in a sharp breath. He seemed to always know when she was awake. She turned her head over her shoulder. “I can’t sleep.”
“You’re not trying.”
“You cannot control my sleep,” she snapped.
“I can control everything about you,” he shot back. His hand appeared around her neck, applying that pressure he knew settled her.
As she went limp, she felt something underneath his hand, like a cord around her neck. Her hand flew to his, clawing at it to get underneath.
“Be still,” he ordered.
“Something is around my neck,” she insisted.
He softened his grip and moved his hand and she felt her neck for the cord, but nothing was there. She sat up, carefully running her hand around her whole neck, but the skin was smooth.
“Can you feel anything?” Drocco asked.
“No,” she muttered, confused. “I was sure I could feel…”
“You wear a charm chain.”
She turned to look at him. “A what?”
“A charm chain,” he repeated, his eyes hooded from where he lay watching her on the bed. “It has been made especially for you.”
“What is it?” She tried to stop the panic entering her voice, but failed.
“It prevents you from using the Talent.”
She stared at him. She had never heard of anything like that before, but of course, he had found a way to prevent her using it before, and since she had attacked him with it, it wasn’t surprising he would make it a high priority to keep her from using it.
“As long as you wear it, you cannot use the Talent, unless I permit it,” Drocco added.
Cailyn’s fingers lingered on her neck, still seeking it out. “But I can’t feel anything.”
“Only I can remove it, Cailyn.”
Her hand dropped to the bed, her thoughts rolling. If she couldn’t even touch the chain there was no way she could get it off. And if she couldn’t use the Talent, no amount of planning would assist her escaping her situation.
“So even though you despise the Talent, you will use it when you see fit?” she snapped at him, her anger rising as the true nature of her entrapment became clear. She couldn’t try to get back to the Mothers without using the Talent. It was impossible.
“I already told you I’ve thought of all possible options available to you. There are none.” His eyes bore into hers, dark and hard. “And I won’t allow you to use the Talent and damage my child.”
“The Talent doesn’t damage children.”
“The Talent itself is damaging to those that use it,” he said. “All Talent-crafters eventually go insane. That is the life your captors have been preparing you for. Any mental strain on you will affect my child. I won’t allow it unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“The way I use the Talent doesn’t do that.”
“How do you know?” Drocco growled. “Were there many pregnant Omegas where you were held?”
Cailyn didn’t respond. Of course, she had never seen any pregnant Omegas in the Compound, but she also knew that the recorded effects of using the Talent weren’t true for Omegas. The Mothers were all Talent-crafters, and had been using the talent for decades, and they still had all their mental faculties.
Drocco grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to the bed. “Go to sleep, Cailyn. You need your rest.”
Only one thought resounded in Cailyn’s mind as her head hit the pillow: she didn’t have the Talent anymore. The thought sliced through her so sharply that she went numb. She had been using the Talent almost all her life. Without it, she wasn’t herself anymore. Not only could she not escape but she was simply a vessel to carry heirs for a savage that had no understanding and no care for who she truly was.
Drocco’s arm wound around her and his aggressive purr began again but she didn’t even register it. Tears filled her eyes and, as she cried silently, she tried to hold onto her determination that she would still find a way to be free, but any option she came up with eventually required her to use the Talent. Without it, multiple Alphas would mount her until she was dead, even in
her condition. They probably wouldn’t even be able to tell that she was with child because her scent would be too new to them. Drocco truly seemed to have thought of everything.
She squeezed her pillow as the sting from unspent sobs prickled her sinuses. How could she allow any child she would give birth to, be raised by this man? She couldn’t protect it. She wouldn’t have any influence on it. She would simply have to watch as her sons or daughters were taken away—over and over again.
***
The night was uneasy, and after a rough, sticky mating, her thoughts rolled, repeating her situation in her mind. She tried not to allow the bitter gloom of her fate to seep deep into her, but it couldn’t be helped. She had once been willing to endure any suffering to protect the Omegas, but that had been with the support of the Mothers. She had no one now—she had nothing. Even the child within her was not her own, she would give birth to it only for Drocco to create another monster like him. The gloom took hold deep within her, snaking around her mind and her heart, cradling her with its sullen numbness. It wasn’t like the hopeless despair she had back at the Palace—it was raw fucking anger distilled into a calm rage. It was the only comfort she had now. Drocco’s purr only existed to manipulate her, his touch only to twist her mind and deceive her; nothing was real.
She relaxed into the bleakness, which dulled her appetite and dimmed her ability to care about anything. She simply lay on the bed waiting to be mounted. If Drocco wanted a breeder, he would get one—and she would be as corpse-like as humanly fucking possible. But, of course, that kind of submission didn’t satisfy him. He barked demands at her, moved her around the room, and pushed books into her hands like she was supposed to happily read and enjoy herself. She tried not to react to anything he did but always ended up responding with short, sharp, simple retorts.
He started force feeding her like he had done back in her other prison, but eventually, she didn’t even bother to chew. She simply spat it back out.
“I’m losing my patience with you, Cailyn,” Drocco bellowed one afternoon. “You’d better start eating, you’re damaging the child!”
“No, you are,” she returned. “The child doesn’t want poisoned food. Just leave me alone.”
She began to curl back up on the bed, her face smeared with the soup she wouldn’t eat, but Drocco yanked her up.
“What?” His eyes blazed. “What do you mean?”
“The food,” she snapped.
“What about it?”
"Malloron was drugging me using potions in my food. He’s probably still doing it."
Drocco’s nostrils flared. "For how long?"
Cailyn shrugged.
“Cailyn!” Drocco roared. “How long?”
Cailyn exhaled, realizing he would only shut up if she spoke. "I'm not sure exactly. When I realized I stopped eating from him so much. He used to take me out into Eiros, and I started to eat from the markets there."
Drocco worked his jaw, and inhaled sharply, his body tensing. "How did you know he was doing this?"
Cailyn opened her mouth, trying to find a way to explain without mentioning Amara.
"Do not lie," Drocco demanded.
"Fine, I won't," she snapped.
Drocco narrowed his eyes at her. “Who?”
Cailyn said nothing. It didn’t matter.
Drocco leaned down toward her, almost vibrating with anger. “You had better tell me now who else is in this castle helping you, Cailyn.”
“She’s not helping me.” Cailyn tore herself out of his grip and curled up on the bed facing away from him. “Not anymore.”
He was quiet. “An Omega. There are Omegas here.”
Cailyn didn’t bother saying anything. He would never be able to get to Amara anyway. She just wanted to sink into her own thoughts, into the irritated nothingness she found comfort in.
“That fucking underhanded, sly bastard,” Drocco muttered, behind her. She heard him pacing, becoming more and more agitated. He stormed around to the other side of the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he growled at Cailyn. “All this time he could have been drugging us.”
“I had other things on my mind.”
Drocco shot her a look but continued pacing. “No wonder he has been asking the same questions about your scent over and over. He is trying to see if his potions have taken effect.”
Malloron seemed obsessed with trying to get to the root of why her scent changed. “You didn’t tell him I use the Talent?" she asked.
"No. I didn’t want him to know."
Cailyn frowned at him. "Why?"
Drocco was silent for a long moment. “Because I needed it as a final failsafe.” He stopped pacing and turned to her. “You need to use it to get us out of here.”
The fog surrounding her suddenly thinned. "What?"
"We need to leave,” Drocco said. “You need to open a portal and take us back to my Palace."
Cailyn stared at him. Of course, that was a brilliant idea, except for one thing. "King Malloron has prevented anyone accessing the magic that permeates his castle. I haven't been able to use the Talent since I was on the ship."
Drocco nodded. "Yes, except we are in a part of his castle that will allow the use of the Talent. I specifically asked him to situate us in a bedroom with a washroom attached. According to the Keep, these kinds of rooms are near his bedroom, and the magic in and around his bedroom can be accessed."
“But you don’t know if that information is accurate,” Cailyn argued. “We could be anywhere in the castle. He might not have wanted us to be near accessible magic.”
“The Keep has clerks roaming about these very walls and Malloron knows nothing of them as far as I know,” Drocco said. “The records are likely to be accurate. And there is no need for him to suspect that I would want to use magic, not with my aversion to it.”
Cailyn squinted up at him. “I can’t feel any magic in the air around us, normally I can.”
“It’s likely to be the charm chain. Or your access may be affected by the pregnancy. It’s possible the baby is preventing you from feeling it in the normal way.”
Cailyn's eyebrows rose. He had thought this through well enough. He was known to be somewhat intelligent, but this was indeed unexpectedly clever. And it was surprising that his whole plan relied on her and her use of the Talent. “You’re encouraging the use of the Talent,” she said, dryly. “I'm surprised."
Drocco leaned forward, his intense eyes on hers. "I’ll do anything to protect you and my child. If that means using the Talent to get the fuck out of here, then that's what we will do."
Cailyn nodded, the fog thickening again. “I get it,” she bit out. “You only want to use it when it benefits you. When do we go?”
“Immediately,” Drocco said, beckoning for her to get up. “He could have been drugging me since I arrived. The fate of the Lox will be worse if I’m drugged and under his influence. I want to be out of here before he does something that I haven’t prepared for. I’m not happy about you using the Talent, but we need to go. Now."
Cailyn climbed off the bed slowly, her brain catching up with what had just been discussed. Drocco needed her to get them out of there. He was actually relying on her for something—and it included her using the Talent. She had to think carefully. And yet every thought led back to one truth; she had no access to magic. Nothing else mattered if she didn’t have that.
She led him to an area of the bedroom that had a smooth wall.
“How do I—” She gestured to the chain around her neck that she couldn’t feel.
Drocco stood behind her, the heat of his body pressing into her back, and wound his arms around her waist, one hand on her stomach the other on her chest. She felt the chain reappear at her neck.
“Do it,” Drocco murmured, his cheek settled next to her head.
Cailyn closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and breathing out slowly to settle her mind. Focusing, she reached out to feel for any magic surrounding them. A spark of rel
ief bolted through her when she felt it swaying in the air around her, and at the same time, an idea suddenly formed. She embraced the new thoughts, realizing that she could not give up the Talent. Living without it was like being stifled from taking a breath that would never come—unless Drocco allowed it. She couldn’t allow that to be her existence, it was impossible for her. And now was her only chance to make any kind of decision about her circumstance.
Taking her time, she bent the magic to her will, inserting her instruction upon it as it gathered together in a glistening rush. The magic rushed toward her, responsive and abundant, and she took her time to weave a smooth layered pattern, infused with the location. Within a few seconds, the portal was spreading along the wall, creating a vibrant, colorful doorway.
Drocco straightened behind her and gripped both upper arms. "Let's go," he said, shuffling her forward.
As they stepped through the portal, the magic washed over Cailyn skin, the cold rush of it making her shiver. And then instantly, as she moved through, it disappeared.
They walked into a large room. The furniture was scarce, and the wooden floor looked as though it needed treatment but the sturdy fireplace and a worn couch suggested signs of life.
"This isn’t the Palace," Drocco said slowly, looking around.
Cailyn quickly focused her mind on the portal behind her, willing the magic to disperse. It loosened, unraveled, and then trickled away.
"Where are we?" Drocco asked.
"Ricsford."
Drocco spun her around to face him. "You need to take us to the Palace. Why are we here?"
"I wanted to come here."
"Why?" Drocco demanded. "This is not what I told you to do."
Cailyn kept her gaze steady on him. “This is where I want to be.”
Drocco released a harsh growl as his hands tightened on her. “Take us back to the Palace, now!”
“No.”
His face contorted. “I will drag you there if I have to.”
“Do you know where we are?” Cailyn said, her voice tight. “We’re practically in the Wastelands—the furthest we could be from Ashens in the most remote part of Ricsford. There isn’t a single person within carriage distance.”
