by Jaime Marks
He heard an insidious laugh surround him as the memories of her slipped away. “Now was that so difficult, young Prince?” The demon taunted as excruciating pain brought him back to reality. There was a hunger to him now that made Kyle cringe.
“I can see you care for Astryn deeply already. Your connection is quite strong despite how new and untried it may be. Rest now. Recover some from your wounds. You will need your strength when we begin again.”
He’d betrayed her, made her vulnerable to Darkness just by caring for her. Desperation clenched his throat as he shook his head. “No. Leave her out of this, Lazurys. I’ll submit to you. I’ll give in completely if you leave her out of it. Whatever you ask, I swear I’ll do. I beg you, just leave her be.”
A claw caressed his cheek. The tenderness of it set him off balance. The way the Dark Lord looked at him now, like he was some treasured gift, it scared the hell out of him. He’d looked at Star and Byryn the same way. It was only for a moment, but he’d been watching, taking in everything he could while he tried to find some way out of this hell.
In that moment he knew, there was more to this. Whatever the bastard was planning, he’d chosen them for some reason. This wasn’t about Reyana, or even the twins. This was about them…but why?
“Relax, Kyle. You do not yet understand but you will. We cannot allow you to have such a weakness. You are too unique to relinquish your mate and risk her ability to shift your balance. Together your strength would be unsurpassed, but apart you weaken one another. I will not separate you anymore than I would your sister from her mate. Once you have both submitted fully to me she will ever be yours. Now rest. I must make arrangements to retrieve our new pet.”
He watched as the evil bastard dissolved into smoke and fire. He could only hope Byryn made it back safely. They needed to reach Astryn before the Shade. Hopefully she was safe with his Dad. The best he could hope for if she wasn’t, was for them to come for him soon so he could protect her. He might have brought this Darkness to her world but he would damned sure make sure it never consumed her.
Steph grimaced as another wave of pain rolled through her. She was walking around the interior garden courtyard. Cymeryn had come by to update Mythos and once again they’d argued over Star, Astryn, and especially over Kyle. She could’ve calmed her mate but she was so sore and tired of all the drama.
What she really needed was time to think and be alone. It was obvious the situation with Kyle wasn’t going to go away and most of the drama surrounding it was centered on her. She needed to figure out how she felt before he was rescued and back in the Palace tonight. Their argument was the perfect distraction so she’d slipped out unnoticed so she could think without anyone else influencing her decisions.
It spoke volumes to her that his mate was born full Fae. If Astryn was part human or unawakened Shade she could have ignored it, but she was Fae. Not only that but Cymeryn and Marcus had speculated that because of how early his awakening had hit, and Star being his sister, Kyle could be Sacred Borne. It made sense. No one outside of the Lucerna Lines and their bonds appeared to be awakening younger than nineteen and that was only if they were close to twenty. It was still earlier than normal, but nowhere near as early as the Sacred Borne.
Mythos reasoned that it could’ve been the extent of his injuries that somehow brought it on early but that had never been recorded before. There had been enough raids involving unawakened that if injury could jump start the awakening they would know. The only cases they’d even seen where a wound had sped up the awakening was when the signs and symptoms had already been present before injury occurred.
Alysse was being oddly quiet and removed on the topic. She was constantly popping back and forth between the Kingdoms checking in with Mythos on matters before delivering decrees. She had witnessed multiple debates over Kyle, even over him mating Astryn, but she never commented. The High Priestess hadn’t exactly been shy about voicing her opinion on any other matters since she began aiding Mythos in the rule of the Kingdoms. She’d even accepted a place on the Council. The fact that she wouldn’t discuss Kyle could only mean that she knew something and it wasn’t time for it to be revealed yet. Before that happened Steph needed answers.
She wished she could remember that night more clearly. There was only one person she could ask and she wasn’t even sure he would tell her the truth. It would be stupid to believe that he wouldn’t take advantage of the situation and find some way to manipulate her, but before she even knew she was making a decision she was headed towards the dungeon.
Mythos would probably freak out when he found out that she’d gone alone, but it would be better than him hearing this conversation. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to hear it, but she needed to. There was no other way she was going to sort through all of this.
She entered the cell block and the unawakened snickered at her as she walked past. She wouldn’t look at them. They knew too much about her connection to John and she couldn’t bear to see the speculation of her intentions. They believed John would be able to manipulate and control her. For all she knew they could even be right about that. The full effects of drinking his blood hadn’t faded yet. She could still feel him calling her.
“Your majesty,” Guardian Iyrus greeted her with a bow at the door to John’s solitary cell. It was a closed interrogation room without windows that was shrouded in Light. They didn’t want him having the ability to communicate with the other prisoners in anyway. “I do not believe his majesty the King would wish me to allow you entrance on your own.”
“You may rise, Iyrus. I understand your concerns, but do you have orders to prevent my entry?” She fell into her new formal stature trying to sound regal and commanding. She was so far from refined that she found it exhausting, especially lately.
“No, milady. If you insist I am bound to obey your decrees and must allow you entry, but I wish you would carefully think this through,” he spoke with resignation but studied her carefully. “I urge you, Lady Stephynia, as a loyal servant to the crown, bound to serve and protect you, reconsider this course. At least choose to wait for the accompaniment of one of the Lucerna Lines that you might not do this alone. Even if they wait outside the door, here, it would be a better option.”
She smiled as warmly as she could manage. “I appreciate your advice and concern but the Lucerna Lines have far too much to sort out at the moment. There is information I need that cannot wait another day or I’d wait. Besides, I’m not really alone, Iyrus. You’re here, just outside the door. If it will help you feel better about the situation, I give you my permission to intervene if the situation turns dangerous.”
He sighed and turned unlocking the interrogation cell. “As you wish milady.”
The Fae opened the door and stepped aside allowing her to enter. John was strapped to a cross shaped structure in the middle of the otherwise bare, white room. The only other furnishing was a single chair. His torso was bare, bandaging wrapped his wounds. He looked paler than usual, his body bound in Light. She wondered absently if it was making him sick, but his skin didn’t appear burnt like she would expect. Likely because he wasn’t awakened. For a moment she thought he was sleeping, but as soon as the door closed his eyes opened meeting her gaze head on, almost as if he’d been watching her the entire time.
“Hi, sweets,” he smirked looking her over. “I’d say hello properly but I’m a little tied up at the moment.” John flexed his fingers and hands slightly but really it was as far as he could move.
He watched her as she stepped closer but she didn’t speak. She was trying to formulate a strategy for how to deal with the situation. John liked to play games and he was damned good at using them to get what he wanted.
“Do me a favor, Steph?” He spoke hesitantly interrupting her thoughts. “Grab that chair and pull it over. You don’t look so good. You feeling okay, baby?”
She ignored his request. “I’m not here for a social call, John, and you have no right to call me those things.”<
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The corner of his lip lifted but he kept the smile from his face as he spoke in a very matter of fact voice. In some ways it was worse than his normal taunting and seduction because it was his way of letting her know exactly how much power he held in this situation and it was more than she cared to admit.
“No, you’re not. You’re here because Kyle’s awakened Gray and he’s been Claimed by Cymeryn. His presence makes you feel weak and vulnerable, not just because in your mind he raped you, as your King suspects, but mainly because you can’t remember everything. You aren’t really sure if Kyle actually raped you or if he just held you down so that the rest of us could enjoy that beautiful body of yours…”
He paused watching her reactions. “You think you’re here for an answer as to whether or not you should cut Kyle some slack, but really you’re here because the holes in your memory make you feel weak and incompetent. More than that you’re here because watching Kyle, Felycia, and Star go through their Claimings, seeing how much their new parents defend and protect them, makes you feel so fucking alone. You miss your Father, even if you can’t remember him, and I’m the only one who has a link to him. The only issue you have, aside from how to get me to tell you what you want, is that you don’t trust me…so how can you trust anything that comes out of my mouth?” John finished and she could only imagine the look on her face because he grinned with a smug confidence that almost made her rethink coming. “You want to know how I know all that, don’t you.”
She did. It was everything she’d been feeling the last two days, everything she’d locked inside away from the rest of the world, even Mythos. It was the crap she couldn’t handle and she couldn’t deal with all the reassurances or justifications. She had to deal with this shit on her own.
“I can feel you, sweets. Always, all day long I can feel the insecurities and the uncertainty washing through you in waves. It’s the connection we share that I hold onto,” his voice had taken on the tenderness that always used to make her feel safe and secure…at least until he broke her and ripped that feeling away in the process. “I haven’t been calling you so I could manipulate and use you, Steph. I’ve been trying to get you to come down here so I can help you.”
“If you want to help me, John, it’s only because you think it’ll give you a stronger hold over me.”
He chuckled, “If I wanted to strengthen my hold on you, Steph, all I’d have to do is fully open the bond between us. I’ve been feeding you essence for over two years. You have no idea the control I could wield over you. Right now, I’m more concerned with getting you to stabilize yourself because you’re awakening and the intensity of it is like nothing I’ve ever seen or felt. I don’t want you to fucking die.”
She scoffed, “If you really had that much control over me we both know you would use it to make me get you out of here and attempt awakening me yourself.”
“Not if I didn’t believe I could ensure you’d live through it,” he sneered. “I’m not awakened yet. I’d have to take you to someone who could handle it and you could die ‘til we got there.”
That caused her to pause. Maybe she should’ve waited, brought Mythos or Cymeryn with her. John was way too confident.
“I’m not gonna hurt you, Steph. I’ll give you the answers you want, but you’re gonna have to decide how you want them. We’ve already determined that asking me is pointless. You won’t believe what I say anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, John?”
“Enter my mind.”
“No.” When Mythos had entered her mind it had strengthened their bond. It was something she wasn’t about to risk.
“What are you afraid of, Steph? Our bond is already as strong as it’s gonna get without both of us awakening and you turning. I can prove it to you, sweets…” His voice took on a seductive lilt and his eyes burned with desire.
She stepped back from him but felt his essence wrap around her and all at once, somewhere inside her, it was like a flood gate opening. She could feel him so strongly. His essence felt like his hands caressing her skin. It didn’t make her ill anymore even though her mind knew it should. Her body was accepting him. She tried to turn away but she was warring with herself. It was as if he owned a piece of her.
“Look at me, baby.” His voice was a deep command that resonated in her core and even though she fought it, she couldn’t deny him. It scared her. She wasn’t sure how deep his control went or what he would do with it.
“I’m not gonna hurt you, Steph. I’m trying to prove a point,” he reassured her. “Now come here a minute, sweets.” When she didn’t move right away his voice became domineering and controlling once more. “I said come here, right up against me.”
She was in front of him, her body touching his before she could think about it. He leaned down kissing her on her head softly. “I own you, Steph. You’re mine. There isn’t enough time to take you to the Shade to secure your turn and I don’t really trust any of those bastards with you. Even if I did it’d be stupid to try. I’d risk them killing you because of the purity of your Light or you dying before we even made it. I can’t bear the thought of a world without you, but make no mistake, you’re mine one way or another. Once you drank as much of my essence as you did while I worked your body and your mind, after all the times I’ve worked to manage this connection, it’s secure. Nothing is gonna break it and we will be together some day. It doesn’t matter if you decide to enter my mind or not. Now, decide. I won’t force you to. I want you to start trusting me again, which means I have to earn it.”
He released his hold on her and she staggered back a step but stayed close to him. The connection was still open and she didn’t fear him. She could feel the truth of his words. In the back of her mind something was screaming at her and she thought everything he said was a manipulation but her conscious mind was confused.
She felt his walls and defenses drop slowly as he opened for her. His eyes never left hers while he waited for her to make her choice. She didn’t bother to talk to him. She just allowed her essence to flow over him and enter his mind. He was right, the only way she’d believe what he told her was if she took the answers from his mind herself.
Steph focused slowly until she was standing in his subconscious wading through his memories in flashes and understanding flowed over her. She saw her Father and knew he was alive. He was being held in some sort of cell in one of Alayne’s dungeons but there was no way to reach him. They’d need someone on the inside, a Shade that could get close enough to him if she wanted to free him. It was frustrating but at least she knew he lived.
She saw everything John had done to try to reach her, every risk he took to attempt to keep her from harm, aside from his own perverse desires. All of his knowledge of the bond they shared and what he intended for her ran through her. She saw the night of the rape and the truth of what happened. Every moment they had ever shared ran over her.
When it was done a strong set of arms wrapped around her before she could withdraw. For a moment she was confused, not sure what was reality and what was in their minds. He turned her to face him and she stared momentarily taken off guard as he held her close.
“I’m going to miss this delicious burn once I turn you,” he murmured against her lips and sank his tongue into her mouth as his hands ran over her body.
She wanted to stop him but she was powerless. He owned her in this moment and as much as she hated it, a part of her relished in it. One hand slid down to her ass roughly pulling her against his body and the other cupped her breast pinching and twisting the nipple as her hands slowly came up to explore him.
Suddenly a blast of Light pulsed through both of them and he released her. She floated disembodied for a moment before snapping back to herself. She had only a moment to realize the Light was coming from her own body. Pain shot through every part of her and she collapsed to the ground as she felt John’s essence withdraw completely resealing the barriers between them to contain their bond.
“Dammit Steph! Do you always gotta push yourself so damn far? You’re gonna get yourself killed,” he cursed but his voice started to fade away and took on an edge of fear. “Steph? Baby, answer me. Guard!!....Guard she needs help!”
“What did you do to her!?!”
“She’s awakening, you moron! Help her! It feels like she’s near her peak.”
“Milady? Lady Stephynia can you hear me?”
Everything echoed as it faded to black. There was more shouting and arguing, new voices, more people, but it didn’t matter. All she knew was bright Light and pain flowing through her in a never ending wave. It was almost over. She knew in just a little while she’d have relief one way or another. It wouldn’t take long at this intensity.
A strong voice suddenly wrapped around her from somewhere deep inside, commanding her to hold on. It was the only thing she could hear in that moment. “Stephynia. You will hold on. You will survive. I will accept nothing less. If I can feel you so strongly you must be awakening and I have not gone through all this hell for you to die before I ever get to hold you again. Do you hear me? We are Warriors. We fight! You will not dare dishonor your line by giving up!”
Nothing else could have kicked her in the ass enough to push back against this. Whoever that was, they were right. She was Cerulyion, a Warrior, and Warriors fight, they never gave up.
Chapter 9
They stood there in the sitting room, waiting while Byryn kept tabs on Kyle. It was infuriately difficult to sit there and wait to act. He needed to reach the boy before Lazurys destroyed him.
Byryn looked up from his meditation suddenly and Cymeryn and Marcus turned to him as one. “Kyle’s unconscious and alone.”
They nodded and held out their hands. Keeping Byryn between them was important. They weren’t sure how smoothly transporting through the realms to Lazurys’ domain was going to go and their combined essence might be enough to mask his presence. Lazurys would come either way but if he sensed Byryn it would be immediate.
