She watched the sword strapped to Aiden’s back sway with his movement. She carried nothing. They only needed one blade for what they were about to do.
Walking into the clearing, Skye’s feet slowed, dead weight pulling down her legs. Leander bumped into her back. He shook with excitement. Skye wasn’t sure if she should be creeped out by that or not.
Aiden stopped in the open clearing, eyes assessing the terrain. Skye watched him. It would have been comical were she not about to kill him. He had no idea how to set himself up as a sacrificial lamb.
Finally, he pointed at a craggy rock face jutting out of the ground, taller than him. “There. Those rocks. I need something stronger than me behind me.”
He walked to the rock, lifting the scabbard and sword off his back. Skye was stuck, immobile at the edge of the clearing. Aiden turned to her, sliding the blade out from its sheath. Elegant, he flipped the hilt in his hand and smoothly stuck the point into the ground. The silver stood erect, shimmering in the early evening sun, waiting for Skye to pick it up.
Skye couldn’t move.
Aiden stepped closer to the wall of rock, then pulled his shirt off, baring his chest in the cold. He leaned back on the stone.
Leander whispered something into Skye’s ear, but she didn’t hear, didn’t understand. All she heard was the wind blowing and her own blood pumping with ferocity in her head. All she heard was the “no, no, no,” that screamed in her mind. She didn’t even realize her arms, legs, and torso were shaking violently.
Aiden came at her before she could run, grasping her around the neck. He walked in reverse, back to the wall, pulling Skye’s reluctant, unwilling body with him. He stopped at the sword in the ground, and grabbed Skye’s hand, slipping her palm onto the hilt.
Hand over hers, he yanked the blade from the ground. Then he slid around behind her, his body tight against hers, and lifted her sword arm until the tip of the blade aimed at the rock in front of them.
His hand trailed down her other arm, and he brought her free hand up to meet the back of the hilt, palm bracing the smooth nub. He shoved his toe at her heel, setting her feet askew, and then he bent his knees behind her legs, giving flex to her ramrod straight legs. She was set for maximum velocity. Maximum thrust.
Aiden’s voice suddenly made it through to her mind.
“You can do this, Skye. One quick thrust. You feel it. Control it. And then you send time back. Burn this instant into your mind. My body on yours, my lips on your ear, my arms around you. Burn it into your mind, and bring us back to here. It will be over in an instant.”
Aiden moved around her, his hands trailing along the blade, holding it up, as he moved back to the stone wall. He turned to face her, setting his shoulder blades flat against the rock.
Then he dragged the tip of the sword across his bare chest. He stopped when the tip was aimed at his heart. He kept one hand on the blade, steadying it.
“Skye, look at me. Don’t look at the blade.”
Skye heard the words, but couldn’t pull her eyes off the silver aimed at her husband’s heart. Which meant it was aimed at her very own heart.
“Skye. You can do this. Don’t think about it, just do. Do it now,” Aiden ordered.
Her head swung back and forth before sound escaped her dry mouth. “No. I can’t.”
“Look at me, Skye.”
Her look flitted up to his. Aiden leveled his eyes on her. Eyes that held no waver about what they believed in. They believed in her.
“You can.” His hand kept the sword locked onto his heart.
Leander’s voice came in from her side. “This is what you need Skye. This will set you free. Take the craving running through your body and use it. This will release you. You will never be well without this.”
“No. Don’t make me.”
“What else do you want? Do you want to live on this mountain forever?” Leander continued. “Never live a real life again? You may as well turn the sword on yourself, Skye. Aiden wants this. You need it. Just push it into him and be done. You will be released. This is your salvation, Skye.”
Tears had started to slip down her cheeks. She could feel the horrid need coursing through her body heighten. Still she fought it. “No. I thought I could—I can’t. There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t Skye.” Leander pushed. “Do this now. Think of those you failed. They died. Prove that their deaths meant something. Prove you are better than what the Panthenites think of you. Better than what you think of yourself. Prove it. This is the only way.”
Aiden’s voice was harsh. “You don’t give up now, Skye. Just push it. Do it. Do it for us. Do it for you.”
Body convulsing, Skye couldn’t deny with words any longer.
“It is the only way to save yourself.” Leander was in her ear now, shouting. “Aiden said you were strong enough for this, now prove it. Prove he doesn’t believe in you for nothing. Prove you want to be well. Prove it, Skye. Prove it right now.”
“Do it, Skye. Do it.” Aiden echoed the urgency, his order barked.
“This is your only chance Skye. You’re only path to life again. Do it.”
“Now, Skye. Right now.”
They were in her brain, both yelling, both demanding. With every ounce of her being, Skye tried to resist. But they hammered her, again and again and again.
Until she exploded.
The sword clattered to the rock at her feet.
Shattered, staring at Aiden, she collapsed to the ground.
In that instant, catching herself on the frozen dirt, she regained her voice, and it was strong and clear. Her body stilled, and she looked up at Aiden. “I will not trade my life for yours. Whatever I am—whatever I will become—I accept it. It is mine to bear, and I refuse to trade you to lighten it. My heart, my soul, are nothing without you and I will not jeopardize you.”
Aiden slowly sank to his knees in front of her. His hands went around her ribcage, holding her up. “My god, love, I want you to do this, but I cannot make you. Are you sure—absolutely positive?”
Her mind, her eyes, were clear when she nodded. Her words were brutal in their fortitude. “This is how it will be. This instant is proof. I have not even begun to tap the strength I have for this. I know that now.”
He yanked her into him, and Skye was lost in his mass. His voice cracked. “Then you will never have to bear this alone. Never.”
Minutes passed, and it wasn’t until Leander’s laughter, hearty and straight, without the hiccup, started, that Skye eased herself out of Aiden. She looked over her shoulder at him, glaring, still pissed that she had just gone through this lunacy.
“What? My pain is funny? That didn’t work, so what now?”
Leander crossed his arms, his guffaws getting louder. It took an obnoxious amount of time for his laughter to fade at the scowling faces. His hands went up to protect him from the venom of the stares. “I never would have thought it could happen like this.”
He moved to their kneeling forms, slapping both of them on their backs. “What now, you ask? You leave. You’ve done it. You’ve fixed yourself. I can do no more for you.”
{ Chapter 14 }
Another benign dinner. An exquisite braised eggplant with fire-roasted tomatoes, accompanied by a mushroom risotto with caramelized onions, sat half-picked through on Charlotte’s plate. For weeks, Damen’s chef had been going over the top to impress with well-thought-out vegetarian meals. Something Charlotte would normally appreciate, but she lost her taste for any food the second she stepped foot in this castle. Having her body fried by the hag hadn’t helped her taste buds either.
Charlotte saw nothing more of the hag in the last week since their encounter. Damen gave her one night off from the evening dining to recover from what the witch did to her. But that was it. He swiftly moved them right back into their daily routine. Charlotte was smart enough to not believe the hag was gone, and tripled her efforts to keep her thoughts on nothing of value.
Charlot
te moved tomatoes stoically into her mouth, off-handily noting the dinner was uneventful, except for the fact that Damen was watching her extra closely tonight. Studying her. Charlotte vaguely wondered at it, but Damen kept his one-sided conversation light, and she didn’t delve too deep into the possibilities of where his mind was at.
So she was completely unprepared when his staff came and cleared their plates, and he asked her to continue to sit. She obliged, curious.
Damen waited until the two maids finished clearing the meal, and then left the dining hall. They were alone, but that wasn’t unusual.
“I wanted to show you something,” Damen said, pulling out his phone. He swiped through some screens, and then slid the phone across the table to Charlotte.
The hairs on her neck pricked as the phone approached. Hesitant, her angle at the screen not good, she picked it up.
The shock through her body almost catapulted her into a black-out. Then just as immediately, she steeled her mind and looked at Damen, face blank.
“Yes, what am I looking at? Who is this?”
He gave a half-chuckle, the right side of his mouth curling up in wonderment. “Still playing it, are you? Amazing. But, my dear Charlotte, you already gave yourself away.”
Charlotte looked down at the phone, unable to control her eyes. A video played in front of her. Triaten. Half bloody. Half broken. Shackled around his neck. Barely breathing. God, no.
“That’s a live feed,” Damen said, interrupting the terrified waves in her mind.
The video panned out from the tight shot on Triaten’s face, to show his full body. He was bound by chains to a metal chair. Tears welled in her eyes and she tried to quell the build.
She couldn’t look up. “What have you done to him?”
“Nothing horribly detrimental. Not yet.”
“Where is he?”
“Here.”
Her head snapped up. “Here?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte’s chair flew as she shot to her feet.
The crack of Damen’s voice was immediate. “Oh no. Dear Charlotte. You will sit. Do not test me.”
Charlotte froze, but she made no motion to sit.
“Only once do I repeat, Charlotte. Sit. Do not test me.”
Numbly, Charlotte reached behind her, picking up her chair and righting it. Her knees bent, but she only allowed herself the thinnest edge of the chair. Her hands went to the table, gripping the wood.
He inclined his head. “Good. Now I imagine I have your attention?”
Charlotte nodded, her eyes not leaving the video on the phone.
“A fine answer. Now Charlotte, you’ve seen my brutality first-hand. You know what I will do to him. What I am capable of.”
“How did you find him?”
“He was searching for you. And so desperate that he didn’t even question a few well-placed clues. He came here on his own.”
She didn’t look up at him when she whispered. “Just let him go alive. Please.”
“You are willing to barter, then?”
Her eyes on the screen, she struggled for breath. Finally, she looked at Damen, her gaze cutting into him. “If it will keep him alive, than yes, I will.” The earlier tears went out of control and rolled down her cheeks.
“You know what I ask of you?”
The clock on the fireplace mantle ticked, counting the minutes it took to answer. Her eyes to the heavens, Charlotte heaved a breath, words quaking in whisper. “Oh, god…Yes. I will do it.”
“Willingly?”
“Willingly.”
“Excellent.” Damen stood and walked around the table to stand next to Charlotte. He plucked the phone from her hand, and Charlotte’s gaze followed it desperately, not wanting it—Triaten—to disappear from sight.
“Don’t fret, you will see him soon.”
Before her hope could rise, Damen cut it down.
“If he is to live, you need to get rid of him. He needs to leave this place of his own accord. And not want to come back to save you. It is incumbent upon you to make him believe there is nothing here for him. You must make him want to leave.”
“Or?”
“Or I kill him.”
Charlotte crumpled in half, burying her face in her hands. Damen only gave her two quivering shakes of her shoulders, before he knocked his knuckles on the table.
“Pull yourself together, Charlotte. When I return with him in a few moments, you need to be standing by that fireplace, serene, and ready to make this believable. If it is not, he will die. This is your only warning. Do you understand?”
She nodded into her hands.
“Look at me and tell me you understand.”
Slowly, her head tilted up. The hatred burning in her blue eyes was palpable in the air around them. “Yes. I understand.”
It was an excruciating wait. Charlotte stood by the fire, with every muscle, every pore in her body aching with what she was about to do.
The wait didn’t drag on.
The main doors to the dining hall cracked open, and Triaten stumbled in, courtesy of a shove by one of the two accompanying captors. His feet and wrists were shackled together, the cold metal of the chain clanking against the stone floor. He pulled up straight, right in front of the burning fire. Just out of Charlotte’s reach.
Charlotte swallowed her gasp. She could do this, she reminded herself. She had to do this.
Her eyes shifted to the trailing Damen, just to get them off the bloody mess that Triaten was. Charlotte had already categorized the cuts and slices on his body, assessing them for healing. She knew his body so well, she could do it in one short glance. Small favor he was able to stand.
“Char.” Triaten’s voice was hoarse, fighting through what had to be a crushed windpipe.
The one word, so pained, so fighting against defeat, Charlotte almost broke and ran over to him. Instead, she kept her eyes on Damen.
He stepped forth, completing the triangle between himself, Charlotte and Triaten. He nodded to his mercenaries, and they exited the dining hall.
“Charlotte, you must tell this intruder that he is not welcome, nor wanted here,” Damen said. “He seems to be under the impression you need saving.”
Without hesitation, Charlotte’s eyes centered on Triaten. She had to do this quick, or she wouldn’t be able to do it at all. “Triaten. I do not need saving. I came here of my own free will. I am here to breed. Here to get pregnant. I just didn’t know how to tell you, so I said nothing. You didn’t need to find me. You must go home.”
“No. I know you’re lying, Char.” Triaten didn’t move to her, just simply stated the fact. His head did tilt slightly, as though he tried to place the words against the woman he loved.
She knew, even as the words left her mouth, it wasn’t believable. They were wooden. Void of feeling. She had to be believable if she was going to save him.
And to be believable, tears had to fall. That was the only way Triaten would understand, and that was going to be the easy part. Her gut hardening, she started again, allowing her own pain to manifest in tears.
“Triaten, I know you aren’t going to believe this, but it’s true. I am here of my own free will. You are my best friend, Tri. And I love you. But this is the path I have chosen. I want to be here. It is time for me to step into my destiny.”
“Damn straight I don’t believe you. If you’re trying to save me, Char—”
“No,” she cut him off. “Of course I am trying to save you. But save you because you are my best friend. Not because you think we’re soul mates. Not because of what you thought we were to each other. That dream is dead. Dead. I tried, Tri, but I never felt that way. Never. I wanted to. I truly did. But I never felt it the way you did. I am sorry.”
“What?” His words were slightly slurred because of the cut lip that pulled down the left side of his mouth. “Char, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
His eyes swung from Charlotte to Damen. Charlotte could see Triaten trying to r
ead Damen, slipping into his mind. She also saw Damen doing the exact same back to Triaten.
There was some sort of exchange, Charlotte could see. And then Damen spoke out loud. “Stop looking. She says it of her own free will.”
With a growl, Triaten stepped toward Charlotte, blocking Damen from her view.
“I know what you’re doing, Charlotte.”
Charlotte held his gaze. She knew he was trying to remove her from Damen, just to see if she could maintain the farce. She could. She had to.
She took a step toward him, closing the space between them, and looked up at his mangled face. “No, you don’t. This hurts so much to tell you. But I have to tell you the truth.”
“Truth? What truth?”
She grabbed one of his shackled hands, pulling it close to her. “Tri, how you felt—how you feel—it’s not the same for me. I never loved you like that. The elders were threatening me and my hand was being forced. I didn’t want to be bred against my will.”
Even askew from being smashed, Triaten’s jaw went hard. “You’re lying, Char.”
Dammit. He didn’t believe her. She steadied her eyes on him, drawing on strength she didn’t think she possessed. Drawing up cruelty she didn’t think she was capable of. She’d have to cut him down, the only way she knew how.
“You have to believe me, because it’s true. I never loved you. It’s always been Thomas.”
Triaten’s hand jerked from her grip, clanking the shackle. “Thomas?”
“Yes, Thomas. You didn’t really expect I would forget him so easily? For you? You were supposed to give me child, or at least hold the elders at bay. It was all so the elders wouldn’t have me raped. You were a means to end, Tri. I figured at least you were a friend…”
His chin fell, and he turned away from her. She knew she lost him the second she uttered “Thomas.”
Dizziness hit her, and Charlotte almost fell over. She had just crushed the one person that meant more than her very own life.
Damen was at her side, his fingers painfully clamped on her upper arm. She took the message.
She talked at what little she could see of Triaten’s back through her tears. He had turned completely away from her. “This—” she cleared her throat so she could continue, “this opportunity appeared, this destiny, and I am going to fulfill it, Tri. I am staying here. I am breeding here. With Damen.” Bile rose on her last words, and Damen’s grip tightened down to the bone.
Flux Flame (A Flame Moon Novel Page 14
