I grinned. “You’re right, but it wasn’t the right time. As much as I enjoyed antagonizing her in there, we still need something from her. Mosi wouldn’t have sent us here otherwise,” I replied.
He grunted. “Mosi. I don’t like that fae.”
“You don’t like that he isn’t bloodthirsty like the two of us. I thought I didn’t like him at first, but it’s more that he hasn’t exactly proven we can trust him. I don’t think he’s a bad fae. I’m more worried that what he deems good doesn’t align with what is right.”
Even if I’d changed, I still believed in my theory that right didn’t always mean good, but I was learning patience to see what cards others had up their sleeves.
“I never expected you’d be the person to get me to see some sort of reason,” Maddox said.
I laughed. “Yeah, neither did I. Pain and grief aren’t easy to deal with, but you can’t let them rule your life. You have to find a way to keep moving in the right direction.”
That was something I hadn’t done in a long time, but I was getting there.
Maddox nodded. “Thank you for telling me what you did. It doesn’t exactly make me feel better, but I think I understand.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I hope you never actually understand, Maddie.” Then, I went back inside. He would be okay. As long as he saved that anger for Zephyr.
We all had to do things we didn’t like. It was a part of life, and the quicker he accepted that, the quicker we could get back inside the castle.
Maeve and her men were gone by the time I entered, but Finn and Neva were in deep conversation. “What did I miss?” I asked when I joined them.
“Neva completed the blood oath with Maeve,” Finn answered.
I pursed my lips. “Didn’t you need all of us present for that?”
Neva shook her head. “Technically, I’m the only one linked to the commitment, but I didn’t think it much mattered. We’re all in this together.”
The elf’s honey eyes met mine. There was a trust there I didn’t deserve. Not after how I’d treated her for so long, but I was glad she’d thought differently of our relationship even when I’d been an asshole.
“So, what next?” I asked.
“We need to find the blood of a siren. Neva was just explaining to me how we can breathe underwater,” Finn said dryly.
I chuckled. “Is someone afraid of the ocean?”
His silver eyes narrowed at me. “We have no clue what’s down there. I’m just being cautious.”
I pinched his chin between my fingers. “You’re so cute when you’re cautious.” Letting go, I turned to Neva. “So, how are we supposed to find a siren without scuba gear or dying?”
“We need to find reeds that grow on the sea floor,” she replied as Maddox walked in.
He stood by Finn, and they had some weird bromance moment that I ignored as Neva answered me.
“Well, one of you is going to have to swim down there and get us some. Who can hold their breath the longest?”
“I’ll do it,” Finn said without hesitation. My chest constricted at the thought of him swimming to the bottom of the ocean where supernatural sea creatures apparently lived, but I brushed the fear aside and nodded.
“I’m assuming we can teleport out of here at least?” I asked.
“We should be able to,” Neva answered.
Maddox held his hand up. “Wait a minute. What happened to Maeve and her people?”
“Neva confirmed the blood oath,” Finn said for the second time, and I coughed.
“Closet badass.”
“Then, they left. Said they’d give us time to figure out our plan, but they’d be waiting and not to make it long. Gave us twenty-four hours to come back, or the deal would be dead. Maeve seems to be afraid that if we found her, so can Zephyr,” Finn continued without missing a beat, adding even more information than before.
Maddox grumbled, and I kicked him as I turned for the door. “Come on. We know what we need to do. Time to head for the ocean.”
All four of us left the house, and I wondered where Maeve and the six others would have hidden. I couldn’t sense them anywhere, but I also wasn’t searching terribly hard. I still didn’t want to use my magic unless I had to. We didn’t exactly know how Yury’s block on us worked.
My concern was it only concealed us as fae, but not the use of our magic—something we should have asked him before we left, but I’d felt distracted and eager to go. A mistake I wouldn’t repeat again once we got back.
As much as I wanted to get back to the castle, getting in a battle with the guards wasn’t going to be the best way to do that.
Once we were all together outside, we walked about a hundred yards from the house at Neva’s request, and Maddox led the teleport. We were still on North Island, ending up on a remote beach.
“This is as far from any farm as we can get. Probably the best place to go in the water, given we have no idea where we’re going when we get underneath,” Maddox said.
“We’ll be right back,” Finn said to the others as he pulled me aside.
We were headed toward the trees. “I don’t think a quicky is appropriate right now, Finnegan. They’d still hear us.”
He shook his head at me. “That’s not what we’re doing.”
At least some things hadn’t changed. I could still annoy him with my delightful humor.
“I just wanted to know what happened with Maddox without putting him on the spot. What did you say to him?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I just told him some stuff that made him see reason. He’s a little better at that than you are, by the way.”
“What did you say exactly?” he pushed.
“I don’t remember. I wasn’t expecting to have to repeat it. Something about revenge best served cold and he needed to have some patience, or he was going to get Ivy killed.”
Finn’s eyes widened. “And he took that well?”
“Eh. Better than you would have.” I patted his cheek with a wink.
He grasped my hand and pulled me flush against his body. “Thank you for doing that. I know it’s not something you’d normally do.”
Gods, he was sexy when he got handsy.
“Did I say you could touch me like that?” I teased softly as I held on just as tightly.
Finn seemed to take my words as a challenge, and the bond between us flared to life. He moved his hands up my arms and tangled his fingers into my hair. “The bond… it’s been too long since I touched you. I need to remind you that you’re mine, Lucinda. That this isn’t worth giving up.”
His lips crashed down on mine in a bruising kiss, and my own hands grabbed on to him as our tongues tangled. My body heated until it became hard to breathe. I was no stranger to sexual desires, but even I couldn’t deny, nothing before had ever felt like it did when I was with Finn like this.
My skin began to tingle, then my bones ached with need only he could satisfy. My heart raced and breathing became a chore instead of natural. Even though I wasn’t sure about the bond, the power it elicited was easy to get lost in.
Finn kept one hand in my hair and showed off his strength by using the other to cup my ass and lift my feet off the ground.
I responded by wrapping my legs around his waist, thinking maybe he’d had second thoughts about a quicky on the beach. He turned us so that my back was pressed against a tree, the bark digging into my shoulders, but there was nothing that could distract me from the way our emotions flowed freely between us.
Finn was pulsing with a passion that was tinted with rage, which seemed fitting, considering our relationship so far. Even before there was a bond, there was desire mixed with fury from our very first meeting. Something I’d wanted to ignore and was currently glad I hadn’t.
His grip on my hair tightened as he tilted my head back, trailing kisses across my jaw and then down my neck. His teeth scraped over my shoulder as he loosened his hold. “Do you understand, Lucinda? Mine.”
His eyes were mostly charcoal by that point, and I couldn’t disagree with him, even if a part of me still wanted to. That part grew smaller and smaller with every interaction.
I glanced over his shoulder and caught Neva casting glances our way. As much as I wanted to take advantage of Finn’s alpha mood, because it was hot as hell, I knew we had work to do.
I slid down his body and rested my hand on his chest. “How about you go get those reeds, and we can all go for a swim together? Some of us need to cool off.”
His forehead pressed against mine, the bond still raging between us. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Neva cleared her throat, having snuck up on us. “Um, Ms. Lucinda? Maddox is gone.”
I turned my head toward her, still pressed against Finn. “And where did he go?”
“He didn’t want to wait any longer. He said he would find the reeds and be right back.”
“Shit.” Finn gently pushed away from me and ran for the water. Before I could say anything, he was already diving in.
Neva eyed me but didn’t say anything.
I grabbed her elbow, pulling her with me as I walked closer to the shoreline. “I don’t think so. No more acting all prim and proper. Not after what I saw in the forest. No more miss or mister. Just be yourself, Neva. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She sighed. “Old habits are hard to break, but if I’m being honest, you and I, we’re not so different. Besides the fact I’ve lived for hundreds of years.”
I laughed until my sides ached as I watched the water, looking for signs of Finn or Maddox. “How do you figure?”
Neva kept her gaze on the horizon as well when she spoke in a somber voice. “I told you I had a family, but I was alone the day you found me, because I’d left them long before that.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I hurt them.”
I glanced at her, but she still wouldn’t look my way. “Neva, you couldn’t hurt a fly. I don’t believe it.”
She snorted, something very unlike her. “The closet badass you saw? She used to come out a lot more. I never used my power to hurt people without just cause, but one day I did. I made the wrong decision and people died.”
I turned her toward me. “What happened to you?”
Her honey eyes held tears, and my chest constricted with rage at her unease.
“Nothing happened to me. I was perfectly fine, but I can’t say the same for those around me. Innocent people were hurt, because I made a bad call. I thought I was saving our village, but instead, I demolished it.”
“You made a mistake, Neva,” I said, not knowing how to comfort her.
“A mistake that killed people, Lucinda. It’s why I don’t use my power like I could. I can’t chance hurting another innocent person.” She sniffled and moved away from me.
I yanked her back. “Don’t do that. Don’t pull away from me just when you show me the real you. I’ve always been honest with you, and the Neva I’ve seen over the last two days is the one I prefer. Mistakes happen and, while they have consequences, we have to learn to live with them. I’ve made plenty of my own, and I’ve done my best to right them in my own ways. You need to learn how to do the same. I won’t let you lose your true self to your past.”
Gods, not having the cursed darkness within me had freed my emotions in unexpected ways. Most of which I wasn’t fond of, but if this new me could help Neva, then I was more than okay with that.
Neva reached to hug me and, for the first time ever, I hugged her back.
“You’re going to be okay, I promise,” I said, knowing full well I would risk my life to make sure that was one promise I never broke.
Chapter 15
After another few moments, Neva and I took a pause on the heavy conversations. I wanted to know more about what Finn and Maddox were supposed to be doing.
“How hard are these reeds to find?” I asked while watching the waves for one of their heads to pop up.
“I don’t know. It’s just something I learned about in a book I read once,” she replied casually.
My eyes widened. “A book? You don’t even know for sure if this will work?”
“Nothing is ever for sure, Lucy, but it is the best option. Unless you have another idea.”
Of course, I didn’t, or I would have already been doing it and she knew it. Damn elf.
“So, what else did this book say, and where did you read it?” I asked. I needed some sort of conversation to be happening while we waited, or I was going to be diving into the water after them.
We walked closer to the water line, Neva peering into the depths just as much as I was. “Well, I worked for the council for a while, and they have this—”
“You what?” I interrupted. “How come you never told me this?”
She shrugged. “You never asked.”
I grimaced. She was absolutely right. I might have missed the voice inside me, but without it, I’d also been able to pay attention to more things around me, which wasn’t a bad thing. Or at least I hoped it wasn’t.
“Tell me more about the book, but I’ll also want to know about the council. I’ve never met anyone who has worked for them before,” I said.
The supernatural council was the most secretive yet effective form of ruling I’d ever known. They were unknown, yet feared, but that didn’t always stop idiots from thinking they could best the council. Those who were stupid enough to try often became well acquainted with the ruthless hunters sent after those who broke the rules. I enjoyed toeing the line, but even I knew better than to land myself on their radar. I was actually surprised Zephyr hadn’t received a visit yet, but he hadn’t technically broken any of the founding supernatural laws.
He hadn’t revealed our kind to the humans. He hadn’t tortured humans, only his own people. But even then, he didn’t lay a hand on them. Burning lands and cutting off water supply wasn’t against the laws. It was just a dick move.
There were other laws that were broken down further, but the two main ones were only keeping our secret and not abusing the humans. Zephyr just happened to get lucky and have his own realm full of fae to unleash his horrors on.
Neva sighed. “It was nearly a century ago that I worked for them. Before I, you know, did what I did. Anyway, I was a research assistant. When they didn’t need me for projects, I read for fun.”
I grinned, because I could absolutely picture her curled in the corner of a library, surrounded by stacks of books and in her element.
“Your kind always fascinated me, because you’re the only one with a separate world. The witches and elves, no matter how similar our magic is, could never replicate that kind of power.” She waved her hand around us. “My pocket realm could never compare to what the fae have created. I wanted to know more about it. The books didn’t speak of your magic in detail, but they did talk about the creation of your realm quite a bit.”
“Can you still get access to any of it?” I asked, curious about our history and why none of those books were within the castle. Or maybe they were. I certainly had never taken the time to look for them.
“No. When you work for the council, you live with them. I was brought in through a portal, and I never left the walls of their compound until I was ready to be done. Then, I went home through another portal, having no clue where I’d been. I would have assumed the council would strip my memories, but they don’t seem to fear a retaliation.”
Interesting. This was the most I’d ever heard about them. Not that it really mattered. We wouldn’t get their help with Zephyr. But I still wanted to know more about the life within our waters.
“What did the books say about the waters and creatures that apparently live in our realm?” I asked.
Neva tensed, and I followed her gaze out into the waters. Shit, for a few minutes, I’d forgotten we were waiting on Finn and Maddox. Supernaturals could hold their breaths longer than humans, but it was bordering on too long.
“Did you see something?” I asked
while looking as well.
She paused, then pointed to our left. “There.”
I saw Maddox’s head, and he was dragging Finn with him, barely keeping above water. Without hesitation, I ran into the incoming waves and swam for them. The surfs pushed me further out with a vengeance, and I understood quickly why Maddox was struggling.
The water was not happy being disturbed.
“He got stung by something with creepy tentacles,” Maddox groaned with the effort to keep his head above water.
I grabbed on to one of Finn’s arms, and we worked together against the water. Something brushed against my leg, and I kicked my foot even harder, making contact without saying anything. All I could focus on was getting Finn back to the shore.
Whatever had been there didn’t come back and we finally made it to the sand. Finn had a gash on his arm that was oozing black.
“What the hell happened down there?” I snarled as Neva bent down to inspect the wound and check Finn’s vitals.
He was my mate. I was bonded with him. But I was frozen. Just like before when the five guards had been attacking him, I lost all sense of rationale. I couldn’t focus on the thought that he was maybe dying from some poisonous sea creature. Instead, I channeled my emotions into Maddox and grabbed on to his neck when he didn’t answer.
“Maddox can’t answer you if you’re choking him,” Neva reminded me.
“Well, he wasn’t doing it anyway. At least this way I feel better.” Maddox’s eyes widened when I squeezed tighter.
“Lucy, drop him.” Neva was getting bossy as the days passed, and I couldn’t decide if I was proud as hell or irritated by it.
Instead of continuing to distract her from helping Finn, I did what she said, and Maddox crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.
I bent down, my knees grazing the sand, and I got in his face. “I will only ask one more time. What happened to Finn?”
“I already had the reeds. I was on my way back. He was just out of reach above me when twenty-foot-long tentacles came out of nowhere. They reached for both of us, but I managed to dodge out of the way. When one of them struck Finn, a thundering clap sound echoed around us and we were pushed further out into the water. By the time I caught up to him, he was already unconscious.”
Dark Fae Freed (Broken Court Book 2) Page 11
