Endiscott paced away. “What do you want me to say? My heart is torn asunder, each woman holding a piece. No matter the outcome, it will tear me in half. I can’t stand Saressa, but I crave her and in some sick way, I do love her. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Don’t listen to Toryn. He’s tired of hearing Jayde cry herself to sleep in the next room. Daily he sees how much your bond to Saressa hurts her. Whatever binds you two isn’t natural. If it were, your tie to Jayde would have died instantly, and yet it burns bright.”
“Trust me, I hate it. I wish I could sever the remains so she didn’t have to think of me anymore.”
“You would choose Saressa?” Toryn demanded. He pulled Endiscott’s shirt up in the back and hissed. “She beats you, and I’m sure that’s not the worst of it.”
Defiant, he turned, facing Toryn. “I hate myself more than I hate her, more than I hate the situation. I can’t even control myself around her, Toryn.” Tears tracked down his face.
Toryn pulled him into an embrace. “That woman will pay for all she has done, and will do, to you,” he vowed.
Endiscott could only nod, hoping that if Saressa died, he would be free of the sick, twisted emotions coursing through him.
“We must go,” Elondril said. “I needed to share the news.”
“Thank you. You risk much coming here. Be safe.”
Elondril nodded. “I would tell you the same, but I cannot. No one under Saressa’s control is safe.” He shifted to a hummingbird, and Toryn into a puff of smoke, leaving Endiscott alone with his tormented thoughts.
* * * *
“Janessa is no more,” Aeremaius pouted. He stood in Saressa’s room like a boy whose beloved pet died before his very eyes. The fool was responsible for the woman’s death.
“How did Jayde escape you?”
“She wasn’t there. Janessa was alone, and I didn’t have time to search Faerie to find the girl. She’s unimportant, my love. You already have your nymph. He’s over the girl.”
If only that were true. She’d seen the relief on Endiscott’s face when Jayde hadn’t been bound and played with the same way Aeremaius toyed with her mother.
“A warning.” Saressa smiled coldly. “Never consider peeling skin from my body. You will pay dearly.”
He laughed. “I’m more interested in the pain you can cause me than inflicting damage on you. You are the first woman to bring me to my knees in that space between pleasure and agony.”
“Oh, but you’ll have to earn your reward. Jayde needs to die a slow, agonizing death.”
“My spies are searching. It is not my fault she managed to escape before my arrival. Had she been there, or nearby, I would have taken her. I would have taken great pleasure in showing Endiscott what her kind should be used for.”
A part of her was glad he hadn’t. Not for Jayde’s sake, but Endiscott’s. Saressa’s bond to Endiscott grew stronger every day. Watching Jayde’s demise might damage what they had built. However, her death would break any tie he still felt to the girl.
Footfalls echoed down the hall. “It’s time you depart,” she answered haughtily.
Aeremaius dipped his head. “You won’t resist me long, my love.” He vanished, and she sensed his presence zip away. Allowing Aeremaius to see how much her love had grown would create a rift between her and the prince of Air.
Endiscott marched into the room, anger on his face as he closed the distance and took her mouth in a bruising kiss. She didn’t understand his anger unless he somehow overheard her and Aeremaius. Maybe this was his way of proving she belonged to him as much as he belonged to her.
Perhaps he didn’t realize she had fallen as much under his spell as he did hers.
* * * *
Once again, Toryn returned to the castle without Endiscott. Jayde knew that would be the outcome, and still, the pain throbbed through her.
Reance entered the hall. “You aren’t ready yet.”
“For?”
“To fight for Endiscott. If you go now, Saressa will break both of you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you are planning.”
“What happens if I go now?”
“She will capture you. Torture Endiscott in front of you. Then she’ll force him to watch as she tortures you until Aeremaius takes over your torment while she heals Endiscott in the same room, the way nymphs heal. And, Jayde, Aeremaius will use your body until it gives out.”
“How can he stay with her?” she whispered.
“The bond.”
“I have to break it.”
“The bond will break, but not today.”
Toryn strode into the room, a look of determination on his face. “Ready to train?”
Reance gave him a long look before turning back to Jayde. “You should.”
“I’m always ready,” she answered.
Chapter 8
One hundred eighteen years ago...
“You shouldn’t be here,” Endiscott said blandly. He couldn’t bear to face Toryn. Instead he stood, looking toward the lake. The man came, always bringing hope for something better than his destiny would allow. As soon as he left, Endiscott would fall to his knees in despair.
Toryn let out a bitter laugh. “I’m still your friend, and I care what happens to you. Sometimes my sole purpose in coming is to make sure you are alive and not damaged beyond all hope.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Saressa wants you to do her bidding. She wants me to bring you to her.”
“You won’t. We both know you won’t do that.”
He shook his head. “No. I won’t betray my friendship. But she knows that, and doesn’t need my cooperation. The moment you attempt to leave here, she’ll have you. Then I’ll have to watch everything she does to you.”
“And you’re still with her. Allowing her to tear your heart out every chance she gets.”
He nodded. “Punishment for resisting. There are some things I cannot do, even for her.”
“If she truly loved you, she would not insist you do things of that nature.”
“She does. And she needs my love, while hating that she’s dependent on me.”
“Her version of love is warped and twisted.”
“Agreed. I wish you would stay away. This time, she has the perimeter rigged so you won’t escape. There is nothing I can do to stop her.”
“Kill her,” he stated plainly.
He nodded. “I’ve tried many times through the years, especially when she announced she would take you as a lover. All unsuccessful attempts. She showed me she could treat me far worse. I’m no match for Saressa. And still, a part of me loves her. The abyss would be a far kinder existence than mine.”
Toryn’s hand gripped his shoulder. “One day I will find the solution.”
“My situation is not yours to change. Let me leave first. Perhaps I can distract her long enough for you to get away, but please, make this the last time you come to me.”
“I can’t promise that. Especially if I find a solution.”
“There is no solution. The bond is real. Goodbye, my friend.”
He walked toward the lake, Saressa’s favorite place besides her dungeon, which he avoided. Stripping his clothes off, he imagined her sprawled out, a feast.
Saressa took form before him and let out a shrill whistle.
Endiscott stopped moving as his gaze swept to the caves where the hellhounds were kept. Two hundred tore off for the Fire Realm.
He turned toward her, willing to beg, knowing it would do no good. “You have my body and soul. Why must you take my friends from me?”
“Do you think I’m a fool?” she hissed.
“No, you have a brilliant mind.”
“They would take you from me.”
“No, because I do not wish to leave your side.”
“Because you’ve learned you’re mine. Though you still dream of Jayde.”
Backing away, he shook his head. “No. You like to test me,” h
e accused. “You’re the one who puts her in my head every night.”
She moved closer with an evil glint in her eye. “That is not my doing. Perhaps your Paineater took the skill of dreamwalking. It would explain why she’s always there. Though I see the way you struggle to resist her. You do so to show me you choose me, but I believe you would run to her if given the opportunity.”
He walked away, back to the shore. “I don’t know what else I can do to prove my loyalty.”
“Accept the fact I want Toryn as a tool. That I want to squash the Hyter Sprite, and Jayde must die.”
“Accepted,” he answered. His voice sounded a million miles away. She was more powerful than he ever would be. Resisting earned him punishment that scarred his soul. He no longer believed anything was worth the risk.
* * * *
War raged on. Power threatened to overflow Jayde’s veins. She tried to limit the abilities she took from each wounded soldier, but her body began absorbing more powers to counterbalance the injuries she took on.
Each time she healed a person, their injuries were inflicted on her body. She healed the wounds faster than they could, but oftentimes she siphoned a skill or thread of magic, further speeding her own recovery.
Dozens of soldiers were brought to her every day, and the more she helped, the more her body had to repair. If she was healthy and could focus, she healed without absorbing power. There were some soldiers whose auras were full of their wrongdoings, and she pulled their best skills without guilt.
The warning horns sounded. Jayde’s head whipped around. The drawbridge was on its way up.
In the distance, she saw a pool of silver flames leading a swarming sea of hellhounds.
Toryn’s in trouble. She took one glance at the Valkyrie dying in front of her, and another at Toryn running from a sea of vicious beasts.
Jayde shouted to the nearest healer, “Take over here.” She ran for the drawbridge, and leapt, calling on the wind to carry her to the other side. As soon as her feet hit the ground she pulled a burst of energy from deep within and raced forward.
“Go back!” Toryn shouted as he stopped midstride, still too far away for her to be of any help. He turned to face the charging mass of beasts. His pained cry tore through her soul and she pushed herself faster.
The world erupted into silver flames and she fell to her knees, shielding herself. Toryn screamed out, wrenching a cry of fear from her lips.
Lifting her head, she found the fire gone and ash spread for miles. Toryn lay in the middle.
Her heart thumped louder as she threw herself into a run. She fell beside him with a gasp. His flesh and clothes were shredded to ribbons, but not a single burn.
Hellhound toxin wasn’t deadly, but it would scald through her like wildfire. She sucked in a breath and focused her energy into purely healing, blocking any magic as she took his wounds.
Power, so much more than she ever imagined, simmered under the surface. She fought to hold it back. She’d once promised she would never take his power. A promise she meant to keep.
His chest moved under her hands as blood seeped down her body, her skin tearing. She shielded herself from his essence as she pulled his injuries into herself.
“Jayde?” he cried as he sat up.
She fell and tried to catch herself. The pain was too much and her body wouldn’t work.
“Should have left me, Jayde,” he muttered, before the world went dark.
* * * *
With Jayde in his arms, Toryn ran to the castle. The pain a distant memory as the wind whipped through the tattered remains of his clothes. Sticky and wet fabric, from the blood he lost due to the hellhounds’ claws, clung to his legs.
He needed to lead them away from the forest before he could demolish them. Not much lived in the sands of the Blazing Reaches, but the forest was home to many creatures.
“Why, Jayde? I would have healed,” he whispered, knowing she couldn’t hear him.
He stopped at the drawbridge, lowering once again. Turning away from the gate, he scanned the desert. Nothing for as far as he could see, save for smudges of black ash on golden sands.
The heavy thunk of stone hitting stone pulled his attention to the castle. Toryn crossed the bridge quickly, looking for any sign of Reance. He ignored the healers and dashed up the stairs, bursting through the doors of the dining hall and taking a right into the honored resident wing. Stopping before her room, one door down from his, he took a deep breath. He had never entered her room, but he certainly wasn’t bringing her into his.
Someone gripped his shoulder. Turning, he found Reance wearing a grim expression. “Saressa won’t be pleased you got away and torched her pets.”
“Would you rather I hung around her castle? Let her turn me into a puppet same as Endiscott?”
“No, of course not. Bring Jayde to my chambers. We’ll clean her properly before placing her in her room.”
Toryn nodded and followed the suggestion. He laid Jayde’s limp body on the chaise. Her serviceable gown had been completely destroyed, soaked in blood. He drew a fortifying breath before peeling the clothes from her body.
Deep claw marks were already healing. Toryn wanted to look away but refused. If he hadn’t come so close to the castle, she wouldn’t be fighting the toxin now, and her body would be healed.
Reance sighed. “Don’t doubt yourself. Jayde wouldn’t have healed you if she didn’t want to. She could have waited for the doors to shut, but she ran out of here to help. Her choice.”
“I would have healed. She didn’t need to risk herself.”
Reance smiled. “She didn’t take any of your magic.”
“Don’t care about that.” His gaze dropped to her ravaged body. “Look at her. She’s torn to pieces. And for what?”
“You would have been healing for months. She’ll be well in a day. Other than Jayde, no one here can counter the toxin. Like me, she realizes we need you, especially now. If you think what we’ve seen is war, you are gravely mistaken. It will get a thousand times worse.”
Toryn paced away. He’d seen this already, knew where it was going. “She is going to leave. You can keep her from going.”
He shook his head. “No. If I do, then so much changes and I can’t risk that. The end result will still happen, but the path will be much more treacherous. Neither you, nor I, should stop her.”
Toryn pushed his fingers through his hair. He turned back with a shake of his head. “You realize none of this makes a damned bit of sense?”
Reance stared out the window with a faraway smile. “You won’t understand for many years. For now, you will have to trust me.”
“I always trust you.”
“Then don’t stop her. From anything. All our futures are tied up in her decisions.”
* * * *
A vision swept through Saressa. This one of the present. Her prey, soon to be her pawn, ran through the dark forest, vaulting over obstacles and dodging every creature she’d sent after him.
Saressa caught herself on the castle wall, leaning heavily against the stone surface as she tried to catch her breath. The forest blurred around Toryn. He ran past the tree line, into the golden sands of the Blazing Reaches.
“No!” she screamed, realizing what he meant to do.
Hands wrapped around her shoulders as silver flames erupted through her vision. She blinked, tears streaming down her face as her hellhounds died in flames hotter than anything she could conjure.
“What is it?” Endiscott demanded, while brushing the tears from her face in gentle sweeps of his thumbs.
As the vision faded, she saw Jayde fall beside Toryn, placing her hands on his ravaged body. She didn’t have to see the rest to figure out what was coming. Toryn would convince Jayde to stay and they would fall in love.
Endiscott brushed her hair back from her face. She saw his love, his concern, all the things she doubted for so long.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I grant Toryn his freedom. You can see
him in your glen without worrying about what I’ll do.”
His eyes closed as his body visibly relaxed. Meeting her gaze, he smiled. “Thank you. He can’t convince me to leave you.”
Saressa wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
He took over, crushing her against the wall as his hands smoothed up her body. “Before I drown out whatever made you scream, I need to understand what happened.”
Impatient, she pushed him toward her door. “Vision. Doesn’t matter. I need you.”
He threw her over his shoulder and strode for the bed.
Chapter 9
The quiet inhale and exhale of peaceful slumber woke Jayde. A warm hand was wrapped around hers. Fear rolled through her. She remembered the overwhelming pain as Toryn pulled her into his arms.
Nothing hurt, and she seemed whole. Cracking her lids, she found Toryn asleep in the chair beside her bed. A twinge of emotion pulled her toward him. Her heart rebelled, her mind screaming, Endiscott!
Loving Toryn would be easier than Endiscott. It wouldn’t take much to convince her to stay. The way he sat beside her, holding her hand, she realized he was beginning to feel something more.
Tears burned as she stared up at the ceiling. Endiscott’s warm brown eyes filled her vision. His smile when he looked deep into her. If only he had let go of his ridiculous desire to be a gentleman and sealed their bond before any ceremony.
A century of siphoning powers gave her a chance to defeat Saressa. She might die trying, but her heart would never fully belong to Toryn, or any man besides Endiscott. To settle wouldn’t be fair to her, or Toryn.
She slipped her hand from his soft grasp and silently moved to the dressing room. A smile graced her lips as she pulled the fine silk nightgown over her head. Reance had been good to her, treated her like the daughter he’d never had. And Toryn had been a true friend, teaching her all manner of tactics to use against any opponent.
Changing Destiny Page 5
