He heard Toryn’s approach and pressed a kiss to Jayde’s shoulder before leaving her asleep. His heart ached as he pulled his britches up and tunic on.
Reminding himself for the millionth time that this was the safest course for the love of his life, he slipped through the door and met Toryn outside.
Endiscott insisted, “Take her to Earth. Make sure she’s settled before coming back. I need her safe.”
Toryn sighed heavily. “You could go with her and ensure it yourself.”
Endiscott shook his head. “You don’t understand what Saressa is capable of. As long as Jayde is with me, she’s not safe. I can’t protect her. Saressa would turn me against her. I need her far away from Faerie, where Saressa will believe Jayde has given up on me. It’s the only way.”
“We could find another.” Toryn looked toward the hut. “You both deserve happiness.”
“Perhaps, but it’s not what we’re destined for. Not after what Saressa did.”
Toryn looked up at the sky a moment before meeting his gaze. “I’ll see you again, my friend. Before Saressa breaks you, we’ll return.”
“I’m already broken, Toryn. This way I save a piece of my heart. Don’t come for me. I have a feeling Saressa will grow tired of me and finally kill me.”
“When she doesn’t, I will come for you. Go, unless you want to say goodbye.”
He shook his head. “I left her smiling. I want my last memory of Jayde happy, not crying.”
Toryn dipped his head in a nod. “Go. Hurry, before she tries to stop you.”
“She won’t.”
* * * *
Jayde watched Endiscott leave the small building they had called home for the last few days. Tears fell as the door softly shut, and she strangled back the sobs that wanted out.
He was going back to the monster who took him from her, and there was nothing she could do. She never mentioned the bond to him, one wound so tight around her she could scarcely breathe whenever he grew quiet.
Was he right? She didn’t know. There was no solution to their problem. Staying in Faerie would result in a worse fate for Endiscott. Her as well, but without Endiscott she had nothing. Her hope had finally died. There was nothing left for her.
Leaving was the only option. She’d do anything in her power to ease Endiscott’s decision. He needed strength to do what he must.
She stayed in bed, waiting for Toryn, not bothering to cover herself. Shattered, her heart still managed to beat in her chest. She wished it would stop and she could cease to exist.
Pain radiated from the worthless organ pushing blood through her veins. Life as she knew it was over. After what seemed like hours, Toryn walked through the door and found her curled into a ball, crying silently.
Toryn turned, looking out the window. “He’s right. Saressa won’t rest until she has him back. She’ll breach the Fire Realm soon. We need to leave.”
She climbed from the bed and pulled on clothes Toryn had left when they arrived. Once dressed, she walked to Toryn and placed her hand on his shoulder.
He placed his hand over hers. “I wish I could make the pain go away. For both you and Endiscott.”
“I have no words,” she whispered, not trusting her voice.
“Come. We don’t have much time.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere to get lost.”
“I’m already there,” she confessed.
Chapter 14
Two steps into the Water Realm and he was seized by Alenathos’ strong arms, wrapped around his chest. Endiscott didn’t fight.
The dragon hissed in his ear, “I told you to go to Earth.”
“She would have found me.”
“Perhaps, but you would have had more time with the woman you were meant for.”
“And when she found Jayde, she would make me watch as Aeremaius destroyed her. Perhaps force me to be the one to kill her. This is a kinder fate for all of us.”
“You say that now, but Saressa is not happy you defied her. She knows who you were with.”
“Of course she does,” Endiscott spat. “She sees everything.”
“Your glen is no more. The land razed to the ground.”
He nodded. “As expected.”
“You’ll beg for your death before long.”
“I have no doubt of that. I hope she grants it this time.”
“She will not. You will loathe your decision unless you choose death now.”
He shook his head. “She’d go after Jayde. I can’t let that happen.”
Aeremaius shifted from his human form into a great winged dragon. He clutched Endiscott in his claws and carried him back to the castle.
Closing his eyes, he pictured Jayde curled around him, her hazel eyes dazzling as she smiled back. He would hold their love close while Saressa tortured him, knowing that she would never win. Part of him may yearn for the wretched queen, but the hunger was cold and pale next to what he felt for Jayde.
* * * *
Saressa’s worry subsided as Endiscott came near. Still, his defiance radiated, and worst of all, love burned bright for his precious Paineater.
In all their time together, Endiscott had never looked at her with such pure love as he did Jayde in every one of the visions she’d had while he was away.
He would pay for the betrayal. She may use other men, fuck them senseless and take what she wanted from them, but she didn’t love any of them. They were tools, while Endiscott was everything to her.
Such strong emotion still thrived between Jayde and Endiscott, even after more than a century with Saressa. And yet, he came back, to save Jayde. It wasn’t enough. Saressa demanded all of his love.
His fault she fell in love and needed him. He was supposed to be a means to an end, but her heart filled with his essence. Now she required him like she needed the air she breathed.
Saressa pushed through the door, and onto the balcony. Alenathos landed, throwing Endiscott to the floor.
Storming toward him, she couldn’t control the rage that bubbled to the surface as he looked up at her with dead eyes. He thought he was in pain now, but soon he would know true agony.
“You, you didn’t defend me!” she spat, trying to cool the fires burning up her arms and down her back.
“I was frozen to my spot. What was I supposed to do? I don’t have your power,” he replied coldly, moving to kneel before her, his head down, not bothering to meet her gaze.
“You shouldn’t have left with her.”
“Thought you were dead.”
“You sent her away instead of bringing her to me.”
“She’s done nothing to you! You stole me from her, and you want me to punish her for what you did?” His brown eyes blazed to hers, silver flames and blue ice dancing in the depths, a product of their bond. “I won’t destroy another being because of your choices. I’ve spent a century worshipping you. You took yet another lover. I will not sentence Jayde to death for your decisions.”
“You foolish man.” She walked forward and struck him across the face. His head whipped to the side, blood flying.
“Do your worst.”
“That’s it? No, I worried for you? No, I love you?”
“Unfortunately, I do still love you, as much as that pains me to say. And yes, a part of me worried for you, but in truth, I hoped your death would set me free.”
Her hand struck out again of its own accord. “Have I been so horrible to you? Do you not respect all I’ve given you?”
“You break me down constantly, trying to force me into your ways. I can’t be what you want. Clearly, I’m not what you need.”
“I love you, Endiscott. And you betrayed me when you ran away with your whore!” She hit him again.
“You forced my love with the bond. It’s not real. You make me loathe myself when I can’t resist the lure of your body. Even now I crave you, and I despise you, in the same heartbeat.”
“You crave me?” Her gaze snapped to Alenathos.
“Chain him to the wall, then fuck me here, on the chaise. Let’s see what he thinks when he watches me with another, the way I had to watch him from afar with his whore!”
Endiscott laughed bitterly. “If you loved me as you claim you do, you wouldn’t torment me. This is yet another example, added to the infinite list of ways you prove how little I mean.”
“I would have given you everything!” she screamed. “If only I believed your heart was mine.”
“You stole my heart, yet it does not belong to you.”
“You will regret those words,” she spat.
“It is the truth.” He offered no resistance as Alenathos bound him against the wall.
She hated Endiscott every bit as much as she loved him.
Chapter 15
A year later, Jayde walked through the market in another small French town. Her heart still ached. She couldn’t bring herself to take comfort in another’s arms. Every night she dreamt of her time with Endiscott. When she woke, she refused to think of what he was likely going through at the hands of his mate.
“Come, we need to talk,” a familiar voice spoke against her ear.
Startled, she looked over to find a grim expression on Toryn’s face. “We must talk, and now.”
“If it has to do with Endiscott, he made his decision.”
“Please, listen if nothing else.”
Sighing, she followed Toryn into an inn, and up the stairs to a room. He closed the door and drew in a slow breath.
“Trust me, Jayde, I know why you can’t go back to Faerie.” He watched her, waiting for something.
“I can’t be with him,” she admitted. “He said, as long as he’s bound to her, he can’t be with me.”
“He’ll be on Earth soon. Reance has gone to free him from Saressa before she breaks him beyond mending. He’s tormented, despondent, barely hanging on. He whimpers your name, and that bitch beats him for it.”
Her hands covered her ears as she sank onto the bed. “Please, Toryn. I can’t. He can never give himself fully to me. Even those few days, when Endiscott and I were the only two people in the whole world, he never fully gave himself to me.”
“Because of that damned bond. You love each other. There are places here on Earth she couldn’t find you. Please, consider taking him with you.”
“No. He said he couldn’t. I won’t do that to him. I can’t. I need to be free.” Tears flowed down her face.
“She’s found his limits, and pushed past them. Much longer in her presence and he will be gone. We will free him. He’ll never go back to her. You must trust me.”
“But he won’t want me. I won’t be enough. I can’t fill the void of being away from his mate, and I’ll witness him pining for her. I can’t. Don’t ask me again.” She drew in a breath and left the room.
By the time Toryn came back, she’d be as far from this town, from this country, as she could manage. Endiscott would never find her.
* * * *
Reance travelled light, only carrying weapons, as he made the trek through the Dark Forest to his sister’s castle in the Water Realm. Toryn was on his way, but he didn’t have time to wait.
He needed to get into the castle undetected, and take Endiscott, before Saressa could tear away the last of his humanity. She was dangerously close to that outcome.
He made his way to the cave with the underground river. He’d have to swim the rest of the way to get in. Getting out would hopefully be easier. From the tower Endiscott was trapped in, he’d call Fuerah, the dragon, to carry them from the Water Realm.
His information said Saressa was busy in talks with Aeryana and Henroyld. His heart ached, knowing Aeryana had to deal with a man who didn’t care for her, only thought of her as a possession.
Shaking off his wayward thoughts, he stepped into the darkness and closed his eyes, waiting to see if he found any signs of life. Pleased nothing lurked, he waded into the ice cold water and dove under, swimming to the tunnel that would bring him to a secret passage he hoped Saressa had not yet found. He needed to enter the room that had become Endiscott’s prison. Once he killed the siren ordered to defile and humiliate him, Reance would free Endiscott from his bonds and call Fuerah.
There had been nothing he could do to deter Endiscott from his choices. Enough had happened, he would never come back to Faerie, not until he found a way to break the bond, or Saressa died.
Reance had tried to tell Toryn it was no use going to Jayde. She’d been through enough. It would take many more years, and a broken bond, for her to let Endiscott in again.
The tunnel was unblocked. He made it into the secret passage and wound his way to the tower, where Endiscott was barely hanging on.
* * * *
Alenathos watched as Reance snuck into the cave. He pitied Saressa’s mate, bound in the tower and recovering from his latest abuse. She’d found he particularly didn’t care for sex with men. In fact, he managed to rise up out of the haze she put him under to fight against them.
His body was damaged, his soul scarred. The further she pushed him, the more he resisted. Alenathos had to admire Endiscott’s strength, but it was crumbling as his fight drained away.
Through his bond with her, he sensed Saressa’s approach. He’d already failed at aiding someone in taking the queen’s life. Endiscott’s current state was at least partially because Alenathos had made a dire mistake. The least he could do is allow the man a chance to rebuild himself.
The dragon flew into an upper tower window, and rushed down the steps. Saressa was in a huff, running to Endiscott’s room.
Alenathos gave her a cold smile as he stepped into her path and caught her arms.
“It’s been too long. I need you.” He held his expression, refusing to shudder at the words he loathed. Unlike Endiscott, he didn’t mean them, but she was none the wiser.
“First, I must see Endiscott. I left him in shambles. I need…” A tear formed at the corner of her eye. She brushed it away. “I was wrong to punish him so hard. I need to fix it.”
Was that a flash of love in her emerald eyes? Of regret? Yes, she had fallen for him. Maybe she was tearing herself apart with the treatment she gave him. If only it would destroy her before Endiscott.
Hoping it would be enough, he redirected. “He’s sleeping and needs his rest. Give him time to recover from what your siren did.”
“He can’t take much more.” She shook her head, looking up the stairs. “I could take it all away. Erase his memories.”
“If you do, he may start fighting again. Perhaps you should attempt to make up for the pain you’ve caused.”
“Bring that bitch here?” she spat. “No. Not a chance in the abyss.”
“Allow him to travel to the Fire Realm. Let him visit his friends there.”
“And if she’s there?” she snapped.
“Jayde’s gone from this plane. You know as well as I do, you drove them apart for good. Come, spend some time with me. Let me cheer you before you go to your bond mate.”
She nodded absently. “Yes. I don’t want him to see me torn up. I need to be strong to bring him back from the brink.”
“Let me care for you until he’s ready,” he whispered, pushing her toward another room.
Chapter 16
The thump beside him roused Endiscott from sleep. A body fell against him with force, knocking the wind from his lungs. His eyes cracked open in time to see red hair flying as a golden blade slashed out at the siren.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through Endiscott as he took in his surroundings. Bloody bodies strewn across the room. Heads on the bed. Reance was also splashed with red, but seemed uninjured. He walked toward Endiscott as he wiped the blade on his suede pants.
“Don’t argue with me on this. I’m taking you away from Saressa.”
“Please,” he croaked, the word a rasp in his throat.
He nodded, slashing the enchanted blade through chains above his head. Reance caught him as he fell forward and tugged on his necklac
e, saying words of the Fire Realm, calling a dragon.
His eyes flared, feeling his mate nearby, pleasure coursing through her veins as someone fucked her thoroughly.
Another slice through his heart. Utterly defeated and she still turned to her pet dragon. Even after all she’d done, he wanted her to love him. He wanted to be enough for her.
“Get me far away,” Endiscott mumbled, unsure the words made sense.
Fuerah hovered at the balcony beyond the doors. Reance hefted Endiscott onto his shoulder and carried him to the dragon, who clutched them tight before flying high, above the clouds.
* * * *
Alenathos dropped the charred body at Saressa’s feet. He held his smile at bay. “Seems Endiscott is no more.”
A gasp escaped her lips as she dropped to her knees. “My love! No, it can’t be,” she wailed, throwing herself on the burnt husk.
“Seems my mate is seeking revenge for you taking me. You could free me. Perhaps find another nymph to sate your desire.”
She shot to her feet, closing the distance as she glared into his eyes. “This is your fault.” She grabbed a handful of his cock and called magic to her palm.
He focused his energy to create a solid ice barrier before she could burn him. “Now, now, Saressa, I haven’t spoken to her since you took my will. If I could disobey you, I would. We both know it.”
“You didn’t know she was coming?”
He shook his head. “No, I did not. I would have gone to her instead of fucking you.”
Her hand whipped to the side, then shackles snapped onto his wrists. She dragged him across the room and hooked the chains to the wall above his head.
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