by Kim Faulks
His cock twitched and tightened at the thought.
“I’ve missed this,” she murmured and jerked his shirt free.
He dragged his hands from underneath his body as she tugged on his belt and turned him over. He curled his fingers, clenching his jaw through the pain and drove his fingers through the air.
But his aim was off, and her strength had only gained in the seconds she touched him. She slapped his hand as if she batted a fly. The back of his hand hit the shelf and came to rest.
His body jerked as she pulled his belt. Metal clinked like the shackles she loved to use.
“It’s going to be like old times,” she hissed and the sound of his zipper followed. “Like riding a bike.”
She speared her hands through the opening as the image of Ondine came to life.
I’m sorry…
Lilac eyes came to life. Perfect lips curled.
I’m here, the Fae whispered and smiled.
Her lips parted and instead of white teeth, yellow rays of light filled his mind, casting aside the dark. The rays filled him, consumed him, and stole his mind from this place of torture.
The Mistress jerked her hand from his body. Through the glare inside his head, he could see her, eyes wide with fear, bloodless lips curled with hate. Spittle flew from her mouth as her scream pierced his head. “You…you lying bastard!”
The sight of her all riled and raged made him happy. Pale skin reddened and for a second she hovered back into her transparent ghostly sight before she gathered form once more.
“Who is she? Who’s the bitch inside your head?”
A twisted smile curled the edges of his lips, still he never spoke, he never moved. Hart watched the terror on her face and knew he’d won.
She jerked her hand into the air above her head. Long black nails glistened in the shimmering light before she drove her talons down, piercing the flesh over his heart.
Pain lapped pain, until he found himself at the edges of insanity. His body jerked and shuddered, still she bore down, carving through his body to the pulsing muscle inside.
“This is gonna sting,” she growled and closed her eyes.
Blackness consumed him, swallowing his sight, drowning him in an endless void.
There was no fight, no power. She’d stolen everything he had.
A jagged breath pulled him higher. He swam in the murky water of his mind and with every rush that filled his lungs, he climbed higher.
Jumbled pieces of his memory floated past. The Mistress. The cells…the library.
And at last the pain.
He jerked his eyes open. Synapses fired. Frayed nerves came alive with the sting. Hart dragged his hand across the ground. His stomach trembled with the touch of his fingers.
There was something not right…something pulsing on his skin.
Something…alive.
Hart shifted his head, glancing down the line of his chest.
A tiny black cloud danced barely an inch from his chest; black tendrils pulsed, attached to his body, right above his heart.
This thing was feeding from him, or feeding something to him. He dug deep, using every ounce of strength he had and swiped his hand through the mist.
The floating cloud stilled. He dared not breathe, dared not move.
Until with a tiny flash of lightning, the black fog sank through his chest and straight into his heart.
10
Ondine
A shadow moved in the night. The black smudge shifted and swayed under the faint silver hue of the moon. Ondine clutched the edge of the old cabin and stared into the dark.
It wasn’t a man, and it wasn’t a wolf.
She couldn’t be certain. The shape seemed to grow from the edge of the trees. A branch moved, waving in the wind. She pierced her nails into the brittle wood, scanned the rest of the forest, and returned to that blur.
Hart had been gone for hours, and hours she’d waited. He wanted her to leave, wanted her to forget he ever existed. But the mark on her wrist and the cold ache of hunger in her heart wouldn’t let her.
She’d wait…wait for eternity if she had to. A cold wind picked up, slicing through her clothes and straight to her bones. She wrapped her arms around her middle and shuddered.
Where are you, Hart?
Why haven’t you come back to me?
Clouds gathered to smother the moon. She huddled closer to the wooden walls of the shack and stared at the growing shadows, until a low thud echoed behind her.
Movement came at the edge of the cabin. A flash of white drew her gaze before it slipped away. The boom detonated inside her chest. She flattened her body against the wall as the pale flash came once more, clawing, grasping the side of the building.
It looked like…a hand?
She gritted her teeth and steeled her spine. Her words were no louder than the gust of wind. “Who’s there?”
A moan answered, low, filled with pain. She took a step and clenched her fists.
She scanned the shadows behind her and turned back to the edge of the cabin. “I have a weapon.”
Silence lingered. She stepped away from the wall and out onto the grass. Inch by inch the corner was revealed, until the slumped form took shape.
“Hart!”
She stumbled and lunged. Her heart pounded now for a different reason as she dropped to the ground beside him.
He was still and cold. His shirt was gone, his skin ghostly pale. She traced her fingers over his neck and pressed. The faint throb barely reached her fingers. She touched his face and brushed aside the hair from his brow, and then ran her fingers down his neck and chest.
Something pulsed under his skin. She wrenched her fingers away and stared.
The Unseelie in her head hissed a warning and stepped into the light.
The dark Seelie’s eyes glistened with a mixture of fear and rage. Teeth shone as her lip curled. Ondine swallowed hard. Her fingers trembled as she reached for his chest once more.
The skin rolled and throbbed under her touch. It thumped against her fingers, pushing until his skin bowed.
She snatched her fingers away and clenched a fist. Whatever was under there wanted her.
She raised her gaze to his face and whispered. “What happened to you?”
A low groan slipped from his lips and formed a word. “Fae…”
She flinched…he called her. “I’m here…open your eyes, Hart. I’m here.”
A soft flutter of his lids seized her focus.
She leaned in. “I’m right here. I’ll take care of you.”
He licked his lips and opened his eyes. “Poison.”
She glanced to the pulsating thing in his chest and swallowed. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
The Unseelie growled in warning as she pushed to her feet. She stepped around his body. His head lolled as she slid her hands under his shoulders and lifted. Her thighs strained. Her back screamed. Tendons pulled taut as she bore upwards.
He was big and heavy. Still she dug her feet into the ground and shoved. He slid, trapping her foot underneath. She stumbled backwards, keeping the momentum and clenched the muscles of her jaw.
This man had conspired with others of his own kind. This man, who meant Allendra harm. His life flickered and ebbed in her hands.
She could let him go and let whatever fate he’d chosen consume him. This was not her will. This was his, and his alone.
She sucked in the crisp night air. All this could end here and now.
All she had to do was let him go, walk away and forget Hart Devis ever existed.
He let out a whimper and turned his head. Dark scruffy beard was a shadow across his face. She unclenched her hand. His dark whiskers were soft under her fingers, his lips smooth. His heated breath filled her cupped hand.
Passion raged and an echo of something powerful skimmed the edges of her mind. She turned over her hand and stared at the mark on her wrist. Three claw marks…just like a wolf.
Your choice might be har
der than most.
Allendra’s words filled her, and a deep sense of knowing slipped through.
She’d known.
She’d known all along.
Tendons in her wrist strained. Her fingers slipped. He slumped against her legs and rolled to the floor. Floorboards vibrated as his head hit the wood, and that sickening sound broke the spell.
She couldn’t leave him. Not to die. Not to suffer, and not to be alone.
“You’re not going to die, you hear me? Not today, not here…not if I can help it”
She hauled his body upright, grabbling hold of what she could, and hauled him along the wall and through the cabin door.
His body shuddered. One small word escaped from his lips. “Dangerous.”
Her steps stilled. Dangerous…
The Unseelie ghost inside her head smiled. Not as dangerous as me.
The thing under his skin shifted. Pale skin shimmered under the moon, coiling like a snake. Ondine eased his head to the ground and waited. Glass bottles glistened on the shelves. She could smash a bottle and use a shard to cut it out.
And kill him as well. You have no idea what that thing is…but I do.
Ondine flinched. “What do you mean?”
The other part of her rose to the surface of her mind. In the light, black marks shifted under her skin.
Take a look. See anything familiar, little Ondine?
She dropped to her knee. The trapped thing moved. Faint dark markings spread along his ribs like an ugly bruise as she brushed her fingers along the ridge.
It responds to you…
Ondine’s mind was racing, trying to fit the jumbled pieces together. Still nothing made sense…not yet. “It’s Unseelie.”
Yes, the voice whispered. Unseelie magic but not used by an Unseelie.
“That’s impossible.”
Dangerous, but not impossible. And you know what that means?
There’s only one way to save him.
She closed her eyes and felt her world sway. A tremble quaked from her chest. Tears slid silently. She smacked them away with the back of her hand.
Still she wept. She wept for what she never had…and now never would.
You know what I want.
She spread her hands over his frigid skin. A shiver of life resounded, so faint she didn’t think this would work.
It’ll work, the Unseelie growled and took a step into the center of her mind. She was all Ondine could see now, all she could feel.
Dark power raced, filling her lungs, filling her body.
You know what I want, Ondine.
A faint whimper drew her gaze. Sweat beaded on his brow, his skin blended with the silver light through the window. Ghost. He was nothing more than a ghost.
You’d better hurry…he’s not going to hang on forever.
She reached for his hand. “You promise you can heal him?”
The Unseelie traced a finger down her spine. “We can. We can heal him together.”
The words slipped from her lips.
The rush was instant, sweeping her away like a dark undercurrent.
“You know what I want.” Merciless words filled the cabin, taking her deeper, down to where she never wanted to go.
But for him…for him she would.
Ondine drew the frigid night air into her lungs and opened her mind. Her skin tingled as the thick markings took hold. There was no glamour strong enough, not to hide what she now was.
The sacrifice was simple, part of her Seelie nature was consumed by the other—leaving Ondine no longer fighting with the two sides of her nature.
Now there was only one.
Memories drowned her, filled with horror and rage.
But they weren’t hers.
Who is she? Who’s the bitch inside your head?
Sharp nails gouged her chest, leaving a sting in their wake. Her waist jerked from the floor. An unseen hand closed around her…touching her in the most private of places.
It’s going to be like old times, a woman’s voice echoed.
Ondine wrenched her hand from his skin and the ghostly touch died.
They were not her memories…and this was not her pain.
His lips parted with a hiss of his breath, and instead of sorrow…all she felt was rage.
Inky shadows reached from the edges of her mind. Shadow magic…
The dark Fae moved in, consuming the golden rays of hope. There was no good in her. There was only power.
Energy rippled from her skin as she rose. The glass bottles rattled. The cabin walls shook. Outside she could feel the Blood Moon coming closer…closer.
Like called to like. Unseelie magic rose to cover his skin. No blade could cut this free. No words could break this spell. It’d been a trap. A powerful and dangerous trap.
Ondine hovered her hand over the center of his chest. The Unseelie magic was strangling his heart. It was only a matter of time before the slow, pulsating muscle would cease to beat…but he would live.
In the world in-between, trapped with the woman inside his head. Ondine’s rage was bitter and sweet in her mouth. Her lips curved at the edges. Her body shuddered. A dangerous, maniacal chuckle consumed the room.
But the bitch that did this hadn't factored in one thing. This magic…this seed could be consumed by her.
A serpent coiled in her belly, one long forgotten, one who’d been alone. Ondine opened herself up to the magic of her race and felt the draw deep in her bones.
She leaned over and brushed the strands of black hair from his eyes. Poison was poison, and pain was pain. But she would take it all to save him.
Ondine raised her hand to his chest. One nail grew long, tapering to a razored edge. Hart’s eyelids flickered, drawing her gaze. Instinct was in the driving seat. She bore down with her nail and pierced his skin. Black liquid oozed from the cut like oil.
She opened her hand and called the darkness home. The liquid turned to mist and floated into the air. The skin on her fingers turned brittle and black as it touched her. The veins on the back of her hand pulsed, and greedily consumed this noxious power.
The blood in her veins raged. She was the daughter of the Unseelie King…
And this dark energy knew it.
Her body hummed. Her spirit shifted. Power pushed at the boundaries of her being as the last trace of the spell was consumed.
Seelie fought Unseelie and the darkness won.
A flash of golden light tore through her head, but was quickly smothered by the dark, cold hunger.
Ondine stared at the rise and fall of his chest. With each harsh breath, his ribs expanded farther and resurrected the flush in his skin. What if she was too late? What if she’d lost him? What if she left some of the poison behind?
“Wolf, can you hear me?”
Only the harsh hiss of air responded. He’d been close to death. Who knew what damage the Unseelie blood had done?
Ondine touched his skin, and the woman came to life in her head—dark eyes, long inky hair, with strands that seemed to lash her wrist, and the memory of his pain rushed back to her.
It’s going to be like old times, that cruel voice echoed. Like riding a bike.
A shiver raced through her, but it wasn’t in fear…only in rage. She glanced at the wolf once more. If he survived, it’d be a miracle. She leaned over. Her lips brushed his forehead before she rose.
There was only one thing left to do, only one thing her Unseelie heart would allow. She closed her eyes for a second and sought glamour, only this time hiding her true nature was for a different reason altogether.
She never looked back as she stepped through the door. She’d return to him, and take him somewhere away from this place. She’d comfort him, she’d love him…until the Blood Moon rose.
Shadows called but this time for a different reason. They whispered of dark desires and even darker promises. They spoke of the Mistress of these lands as she headed deeper into the forest. This Mistress they feared.
A
dark witch. A powerful witch. One who kept men captive in her cells. One who stole from the powers of others.
A hunkering tower peeked from between a mass of trees. The closer she came, the bigger it grew. The decrepit mansion had once been grand and spectacular with its inky, stained wood and black shingled roof.
Ondine slowed as she stepped from the tree line and into the clearing. Power lingered here, but it was a corrupt power, a fetid power—one left rotting for many years.
The floorboards groaned under her weight as she climbed onto the veranda and stared at the open door.
Come in…echoed a voice inside her head. The same voice who haunted Hart.
Ondine took a step through the splintered frame. She skirted the gaping holes of the floor, keeping hard up against the wall.
Silver rays of the moon filtered in through broken windows and cracked walls, giving her enough light to go on, until a faint white glow shone somewhere farther down the hall.
Ondine pressed her spine against the wall and stepped around a gaping wound. Floorboards were missing, most had crumbled and fallen away, leaving jagged edges gaping like razored teeth.
Her glamour held, smothering the Unseelie markings on her skin and the power that rippled under the surface. On the outside, she looked like any lower caste Seelie, but on the inside…
Come little one. Come over here…let me see the woman who’s stolen my Hart.
The white light grew brighter the closer she came, and with each step this old mansion transformed into its former glory. The holes in the floorboards closed, the grandeur of past day returned. Black glistening walls shone with the white strobing light. Chandeliers twinkled above her as she headed for the doorway.
She stared at the wall of spells and potions as she turned the corner.
She was drawn to something much darker.
A woman stood in the middle of the craft filled library. She hovered off the floor, and that dark knowing voice inside Ondine whispered other.
Her head jerked up. Dark, bottomless eyes glinted with malice. “Here you are.” The smile was slow, calculated. She took one step toward Ondine and held out her arms. “I’m so glad you came. We have much to talk about.”
