Her mind began its own journey of the hopelessness of the situation before her. The words kept echoing in her head; ‘he is mine, you halfbreed whore.’ Anger and confusion threatened to push her over the brink of insanity’s sharp edge for awhile. She was still a damn virgin, and if the Unseelie had their way, she was going to die a virgin! In what effing world could she be a whore? Like it was her fault she had to dream about those two? She was as innocent in all this…well, as anyone could be.
Curling her legs up, she put her forehead down on her knees and wrapped her arms around tight. Pain lanced in her chest, but this was different from the Demons’ claws. This pain wasn’t healable with her new kick-ass powers. This just utterly sucked. What’s that old adage again? If it seems too good to be true, it usually is. That was about right, at this moment.
Pity party for one please. Then we can proceed with the Isabel Deluxe Breakfast…and how would you like those emotions? Raw? Pained and abandoned? Check. Gotcha covered!
Isabel wanted to hit something, but she couldn’t see anything in here and God knows what the hell kind of crawling things were hanging out in the Uglies’ jail cell. She groaned. As if there was something else that needed to suck the life out of her?
She smacked her dirty palm on her forehead when a realization hit her. What if she went to sleep? She’d return to Loveryn! Killing Bodhe when she got there was highly likely, but at least she’d get out of this forsaken land!
Isabel lay down on the cold stone, refusing more thoughts about creepy crawlies, and curled herself into a small ball. Closing her eyes she stayed there for a long time counting Uglies backwards from a hundred. Twice. By the middle of her third attempt, she’d fallen asleep, and slipped rather un-peacefully into the darkness.
*****
“Well, aren’t you an interesting mortal,” came a harsh voice from behind her. Her eyes opened to the same dark room, confused. Why hadn’t she gone to Loveryn? When she turned and saw the creature behind her she reached instinctively for her dagger, which was gone.
“Now, now…you really don’t think I’d let you keep that while you’re a guest in my home, do you? And there are no dreams in the Unseelie realm, as you’ve now realized, but I do hope you enjoyed your nap,” he said as he grinned at her with rotten teeth.
Her stomach clenched. She assumed it was a he anyway because of the tone of his voice, but really she couldn’t tell the difference between the two sexes in this race. They were all grey and gangly and had patches of hair in the oddest of places. Not to mention the sunken, white eyes that were absolutely repulsive. Her skin was crawling just being this close. Shadows from the lack of light in this room hid some of his form, but the light from the hall on one side of him showed her enough.
“So, you can see me, can you? I wonder why that is? You’re not yet immortal and we kill the ones who are born with sight as to not affect our feeding.”
She looked at him with her mouth agape, anger rising at the thought of innocent babies being murdered.
“You know, I was not always so repulsive. It’s been so long now since I’ve seen myself, I no longer care. But, little mortal, once I was a being that you would have offered your first born child to.”
She snorted a laugh. “Yeah right. And faeries have wings and spread pixie dust on flowers. You’re forgetting that I am an immortal, born of two powerful warriors. And you will be hunted for this, whoever you are.”
He rose what she thought were his eyebrows. “You are not immortal yet, Isabel. And forgive me, but I have doubts that you’ll ever get the pleasure of the turning. Oh, I suppose it’s rude that I didn’t introduce myself. I am Baylor, King of the Unseelie and ruler of this realm. Also, presently, your host—at least until the Blood Moon rises and I suck you dry of all your lovely little feelings.”
She moved back away from him, only stopping because the wall wouldn’t let her go further. “G-good luck with that. I hope my hatred pairs well with your wine.”
He laughed…only it sounded like a choked kind of croaking to Isabel, so she couldn’t be sure.
“Ah, sweet child, there’s no need to fear me, yet. There are still days before the Blood Moon and time passes much slower here in my Kingdom. It will feel like weeks to you,” he said as he smiled grotesquely again. “So, if you promise to behave, I’ll let you out of this bleak cell and offer you a room more suitable for a princess? It seems only fair since you’ll never have what should have been yours. Do we have a deal?”
All she could do was stare at him incredulously. Was he for real? Sorry, Isabel, I’m going to kill you, but why don’t you hang out and see some sites before I do? Seriously!?
“I would not suggest seeing the sites beyond the castle actually. The Unseelie that roam out there are starving for affection, if you know what I mean. You wouldn’t make it a hundred yards before they consumed you completely. You can explore within the castle, but beyond that, I cannot guarantee your safety. By all means however, if you’re feeling brave, you may try it.”
Did he just fucking wink at her? “Great, so you can hear me too? That’s just freaking lovely. Why are you doing this, Baylor? You have a whole Kingdom of your Ug—Unseelie to rule over, why do you want my world too?”
“It’s not your world, half breed. And it just so happens that when you die and the crown is destroyed in both the Sidhe and Albequen realms, those will be for the taking too. I’ll have a bartering chip to regain my former self and have beauty again.”
“So much for vanity being gone,” she mumbled.
Wind whipped her hair into knots and she was going to hurl if whatever had landed in her mouth was Ugly-flesh. She spit it out, wide eyed as fire ripped around the room, and within the mad Kings’ eyes.
“A wise girl would watch her words as a guest in another’s home. Don’t overstep my hospitality, Isabel, I could just as soon kill you now as wait, and I’m sure you are ripe with emotions between Bodhe and Morkain. Do not tempt me.”
She raised her hands in defeat. “Check, roger that…loud and clear. So what am I to do as I await my death, Your Majesty?”
He stared at her incredulously for a moment, grey face raised in a shocked expression and what she thought may have been a large smile from the upturning of his barely-there lips.
“Follow me. I’ll take you to a more suitable room. The Queen is eager to meet you, as well, and not to worry...I promise she won’t bite. Yet.”
“Hospitable bunch, you are,” she said beneath her breath, watching his back tense. He started going forward so she guessed she wasn’t dinner, just yet. Isabel got up off the floor and followed him. Really, what other choice did she have? Without her weapons she had no chance to fight her way out of here, not that she could even get out without a portal anyway. She would need a better place to think. At least she wasn’t being dragged this time.
“I apologize for the rough treatment upon your entry. The sentries don’t have the graces that we do here in the palace. They know only how to follow orders. Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t as specific as I should have been when I told them to capture you and bring you here. Unharmed, is something that I should have mentioned, along with alive.”
She just stared in contempt. “Well, Baylor, I healed so don’t worry. At least you didn’t make me mop up my own blood off the floor.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare think of taking the joy from the cleaning crew. They were probably licking it up with zeal.”
“That’s absolutely disgusting,” she said as she wrinkled her nose.
“Well, to each their own, little morsel. I mean, mortal.” He smirked, his voice still utterly monotone.
Jerk to the tenth degree.
“I do not even know what that means, but we can always have tongue on the menu tonight. I do so prefer mine alive as it’s taken.”
A bit of vomit came up in her throat. She was absolutely sure however that this was not the moment he was going to kill her. “So, Baylor, why are you waiting until the moon rise
s and acting all host with the most? I mean, I don’t mind waiting for my death and all for a bit longer, but why not just suck me dry or whatever it is you do, and be done with it?”
He looked at her with shock again and stopped walking for a moment. “You are something else, Isabel. Most beings would be begging for their life, and yet you ask why we have not brought you to your death,” he croaked a laugh at her again. “Well, if you must know, just as you are turning immortal completely, your emotions will be enhanced a hundred fold, at least. That, as you can imagine, will be a wonderful feast for the Queen and I. So we will wait until the rise of the blood moon, and take you when you are at your prime. Then, we will take the thrones to two kingdoms once you’re dead. The prophesy says the veils will be too destroyed if you perish, to contain anything light. And as you can see, we are not beings of the light. Not in a very long time.”
Her eyes flashed gold with anger. “You just set evil to a whole other level in my head. You really don’t mince words do you?”
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, never mind,” she gestured with a dismissing hand. “Room, please?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Trickery
~LOVERYN
BLOOD dripped from his sword and a heathen stood where a high prince should be. The moment she was disconnected from him he went absolutely crazy. By the Gods, if he couldn’t leave his realm then he would make all the shadow beings sneaking into their home come to him. Retribution would be paid, and it would be in blood.
She wasn’t dead, but she was beyond his reach and he could feel her in danger. He knew the moment she was paralyzed, because he felt it too. Just like the pleasure, he could feel her other emotions, as well. The only reason that she couldn’t feel his when they were apart was because she wasn’t immortal yet. His Isabel, alone somewhere, and he was completely powerless to protect her. No, he couldn’t allow this. With everything else, he was forced to hold his tongue and actions, but there was no way that his partner was going to be left somewhere in the unknown in potential danger.
He stormed to his parents’ chambers, and again was told that he had to let it play out, that there was nothing he could do. Bullshit, as Isabel would say. If he didn’t, who would? He could only pray to deaf Gods that Amele was with her, but his heart told him otherwise. She was alone and in danger, and all he could see when he thought of her was darkness. The Unseelie and the Shadow Demons were both attacking her when last she’d come. Had they taken her captive? And what did they plan to do with her? He shuddered violently thinking about what the Unseelie would do to her. Precious little mortal she was, running rampant with fear at the moment. She was a meal they would savor. Bodhi screamed his outrage to the stormy skies and stalked the shadows within their realm.
He damned himself for not taking her when he had the chance last time. She loved him, she was ready, Godsdammit! If he lost her forever after waiting this long to find her he’d lose his mind. He’d lose a part of his very soul. Didn’t she hear him profess his love? How could she not know?
Oh Gods, what had he done? Suddenly, everything began to make sense.
The sound that came from his mouth was far from human, a bellow that began in his stomach and turned to a beastly growl as it passed his lips. The earth stilled, and no creatures moved in his beautiful paradise. They were frozen by the hatred that coursed through the veins of the Sidhe Prince, and the fire that demanded someone pay for this. The earth became scorched where he stood, fire burning in a circle around him.
That lying, cheating bastard. Morkain had tricked her. She said she saw a vision but the only place she could’ve seen it would have been in Albequen where there are no sacred waters of sight. And she wasn’t a Foresayer, at least not yet. So someone had given that vision to her.
What had she seen that made her so unsure of her life partner? What horrible vision had she been fed to doubt him? His glow turned so bright with rage that any shadow creatures that dared near him would have been incinerated. Morkain broke the rules and used magic against her, making it seem as if she was using her own.
His death would not come soon enough.
No wonder the walls were coming down, that selfish act alone had done what they were bound by Elemental Law not to do! Did his greed know no limits? And why weren’t the Elementals interfering with this now that their pact was broken? Morkain hadn’t marked his Princess by love, he’d used her for his own power. A roar of the Gods came out of his mouth.
Bodhe flew at light speed back to the castle and stormed into his parents’ chambers. His snow white hair was matted with dark blood and his body glowed bright with the dishonor Morkain had brought upon himself. Though, his eyes could have turned water into ice as cold as they were, and the sudden snow blanketing the room was a good indication of that.
“He tricked her, with magic.”
The Queen and King looked at him with pity. “Dammit, I mean it! Her vision! You didn’t think it strange that she had one? She came to the most powerful waters in Loveryn and though her mother communicated through them, she didn’t have a Foresayer’s magic! He gave her a vision! Or rather, Orilius probably did. I swear to the Gods I will have their heads if one single hair on hers is harmed. She left before I could explain how the magic worked.”
Bodhe turned and slammed his fist into the white toriel wall of their chamber, cracking the impenetrable stone a foot in every direction of his fist. His mothers hand went to her mouth but she remained silent as his chest heaved with his angst.
“But, why have the Elementals not interfered if this is so? The curse does not allow for magic to be used on her.” his father spoke gently, trying to calm him.
“I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll call one of them myself if I have to. There was a time when the Elementals were friends to our people. I remember those celebrations! Asura, Nikolai, Bhaumik …they always came to the Lerei nish dei of our people. The rest of them aren’t like Reisha!”
“Bodhe, slow down. You said that she saw her mother in the water? Is it possible that Keiren is able to reach out from her sleep?”
He nearly jumped. “Of course!” Wind replaced the spot where he once was and they followed quickly after.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
When in Ugly-World, Be as the Uglies Are
~UNSEELIE KINGDOM
Isabel followed behind the King, trying to shield her thoughts by thinking about the sunshine and daffodils.
“You seriously need to fire your decorator, Your Majesty. All this black and gray is way too overdone. Doom and gloom—I get it, but really…it’s just too much.”
He gave her a sharp look before continuing down the long hallway. Stopping in front of a massive carved alcove, he opened the door within it for her, gesturing her inside.
“It’s really too bad I cannot use glamour on you, Isabel. You would find this room much more comforting if I could. And I didn’t choose the black and grey, it came with the kingdom. That’s why we use glamour in the first place. Do you think that we actually enjoy living this way?”
“Huh. So you can glamour each other?”
“Of course we can, how else do you think we bear this prison?”
She frowned and stepped inside and saw that she was in a rather sparse room that did in fact have a balcony, not that the view was very appealing with the army of Uglies and the fiery red sky outside. The bed was the highlight of the room the way it was raised up on a platform in the center, but like everything else here, it was very drab. Dark wood, tattered grey sheets and coverings, and something that may have been silk a million years ago hanging from the four posts. There was a gigantic steel tub of water that actually looked clean, though she wasn’t sure if she would tempt it. Her hands went to her hair and she grimaced at the muck she felt in it. Oh what she wouldn’t give for her shampoo right now.
“I happen to have your shampoo, Isabel, and the water is clean. Just because the Unseelie are an eyesore un-glamored, it doesn’t
mean that most of us don’t enjoy a good bath. And you humor me with your comments. Your hair is your biggest concern right now?”
She looked at him, shocked. “Well, of course not. But I can whine about everything, have a mental breakdown, or think about something trivial, like my disgusting hair. I’m going with option number three and reserving the right to have a full on breakdown later. How the hell did you get my shampoo anyway? You’ve had this all planned out for quite some time, haven’t you?”
“Of course I did. It helped that there was someone within the Sidhe that wanted to see you out of the picture, but I would’ve gotten you regardless. I’m tired of this existence. When the prophesy was brought in on the winds, I knew that there was a way out. I’m taking it.”
“I don’t really blame you there, but what makes you think that any of this will work? What if I’m nothing but a halfbreed, as you call me, and nothing happens at the rise of the moon other than I turn immortal? Did you ever think that this may have all been for nothing? This is an Elemental at work after all, and you know first hand that they’re not exactly honest when it comes to their games.” She gestured toward the window and stared at him.
“If an Elemental is involved, then that’s even better. A God can change this hell, and give me the crown I deserved so easily. It was my right, not his! So no, not for a second have I doubted that this was the way. As long as there’s hope, then the time as a repulsive beast is more bearable.”
Isabel hesitated before she spoke, the words of the Sidhe female still making her heart pound. “Since the warrior that helped you is dead, can you at least tell me why the hell she did what she did? I didn’t even know her. I understand your motivations, but what were hers? She spent all that time plotting the death of a stranger. How freaking rude!” She looked at him and he made a sound that sounded like laughter. “No offense, of course.”
Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1) Page 24
