Dynamics (Mists of the Fae Book 7)

by Jaime Marks

  “We shouldn’t try to go through the veil together. Take him. Carry him and mist back, Marcus. He doesn’t have much time.”

  Marcus hesitated, “Cymeryn has Tatyna. She’s not in any better shape. We can’t leave you here.”

  He stood as Cymeryn stopped beside them, a broken Tatyna in his arms. There was no way he would allow that female, Shade or not, to endure even a moment more of torture. “You can and you will. They’re dying. They can’t wait. Take them and come back for me.”

  “No,” Cymeryn stated evenly. “We may well lose you as we crest the veil anyway, but we will at least attempt to leave this place together, Byryn. We cannot leave you. I am not sure how you are holding up in this unending Darkness so well as it is. It should be suffocating to you without your Dark essence.”

  Byryn began to argue but before he could get out the words they had each reached out a hand grabbing his arm as they misted.

  Chapter 10

  Mythos carried her in his arms, practically running through the Palace with Grifyn by his side. “How did she get down there and gain access without any of us knowing?” He demanded.

  “We never gave the order denying her entry, my lord. Iyrus sent a warning but there was so much going on with the Kings of Balance and Queen Reyana’s absence that it didn’t reach us right away. She wasn’t down there long,” Grifyn explain in frustration. “I’m not justifying, Mythos. I’m as upset and worried as you are but there is nothing we can do about how it occurred. All we can do is make sure she lives and correct the issue. How’s her essence?”

  “It is difficult to balance. The waves are intense. She is almost to her peak already.”

  Mythos was monitoring her closely but he needed to get somewhere safe so he could enter her mind and guide her through this. He only hoped his efforts were slowing the approach of the peak. If it hit her before he could get her balanced all hope was lost.

  They were almost to the top of the stairs. There were too many damned stairs in this place for a realm that you could not mist in. As they hit the top of the staircase they took off running through the corridor. They neared his suite and he heard Kato addressing Grifyn but he could not stop.

  He took her directly to their bedchambers and closed the door as he began stripping her clothing. He knew Grifyn would not enter. It was his place to ensure none disturbed them and alert the others to the situation.

  Once she was naked he slid her into their bed and sat beside her so he could keep contact while he disrobed. He tore the robes from his body in his haste. They were replaceable, his Queen was not. Wrapping her in his arms he drew the covers over them in case anyone needed to enter at some point and worked on slowing his breathing as he measured the ebb and flow between them. Slowly he was able to gain enough focus.

  He entered her mind carefully. Light swirled blindingly around him. He had to find her but he couldn’t allow himself to give into the panic that he felt attempting to choke him. He was terrified that he was losing her. Taking a deep breath he centered himself again and allowed himself to drift through her mind until he found her.

  She was curled in a ball with Light erupting through her; the mental manifestation of what she felt occurring to her body. She was murmuring over and over. “Warriors fight. We never give up.” It struck him as something oddly similar to a mantra which he had once heard her Father repeat when he had been wounded.

  Scooping her into his arms he rested her in his lap as he sought to comfort her. “I am here, Stephynia, you will be alright. I need you to breathe with me now.”

  She did not relax and the Light relentlessly ripped through her but he did feel her breathing begin to slow. It took far longer than he liked but slowly her breathing began to match his rhythm.

  “Good, Stephynia. Can you look at me, caria?” He kept his voice calm and measured but he was anything but.

  When her head slowly turned to his he breathed a sigh of relief. At least she could hear him. Her eyes were sheer gold and tears streamed down her cheeks but she could hear him.

  “Good, good, caria. You are awakening. We need to balance your essence to a healthy level. Do you understand?” She gave him a short nod but did not attempt to talk. “I want you to push your essence into me until the pain is bearable enough to speak. Do not worry about harming me, Stephynia. You are not out of control, the essence is not an overflow. I will be able to manage it and discharge any excess if necessary, but I cannot monitor your exact levels on my own.”

  She nodded though she frowned and he could sense her concern. He felt a slow, soft push as her essence flowed into him. “More, caria. I promise you will not hurt me. You are running out of time and you must do this.”

  A strong burst of Light surged through her and she pushed it into him. It was difficult to direct from within her mind but he could not leave her until she regained consciousness. He focused on drawing from her as she pushed into him and channeling it out. It was too much to risk holding when he knew she needed to expel so much more. She was a force of nature all on her own. The sheer strength and intensity of her essence would have already destroyed a lesser Fae. He could feel the pain her body was enduring as it infused the essence into every organ, every cell of her being.

  Slowly the gold sheen faded from her eyes and that lovely topaz shone through. “Mythos,” she choked, the force of her essence ebbing slightly.

  “Very good, my Queen.” He kissed her head. “Now, there is still too much essence flowing through you. We must balance it together. I need you to continue to push until the pain ebbs off. If the pain subsides you must draw it back. It must be right at the tip of balance. Do you understand? I will not be able to sense it that closely, caria. Only you will know when you are there.”

  “Ok,” she choked. A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry Mythos.”

  “Shh, I am not angry with you, Stephynia. We will discuss whatever occurred later but I trust your reasoning, whatever it might be, because I trust you.” He kissed her softly.

  “I love you.”

  “And I you, but you need to focus, caria. Your peak is fast approaching and I need you balanced before then. Then we can discuss all the ways I might remind you how very much I love you,” he smirked as she blushed.

  Her essence flowed through him, increasing when a pulse waved and ebbing slightly when it levelled. He felt her drawing slowly closer to consciousness and drew a breath of relief when she faded from his arms allowing himself to return to his own mind. He opened his eyes as hers fluttered open.

  She stared at him in confusion. “Mythos?”

  “Shh, you are merely awake now, love. We were in your mind. The intensity of the essence within you caused you to lose consciousness.” He kissed her softly. “You are close to balanced now. How do you feel?”

  “Like I’ve been through a dryer cycle or twenty,” she groaned, but must have caught the confusion on his face because she giggled, taking his face in her hands to kiss him as she explained, “A human appliance used to dry wet clothes. It spins while giving off heat, causing the clothing to roll and bounce around the tube as it air dries.”

  “Ah, I suppose that is a fairly accurate metaphor for what you must feel like then.” He kissed her head, her cheeks, her lips. He wanted her so badly, but he did not want to push her. The pain she was enduring caused him pause.

  She shifted and froze as the length of his sex caressed her stomach with the movement. Her brow arched. “We’re very naked.”

  “We are,” his voice was more growl than words and he had to clear his throat, forcing himself to focus. “It was necessary to shed anything that would restrict the flow of essence between us.”

  She shifted her body closer to his and his erection twitched between them. Mythos swallowed the moan that percolated up his throat. He had never been this close to another. There was nothing he wanted more in this moment than to sink into her, but he had to wait and she needed to be balanced.

  “Caria… you must continue to balan
ce the flow,” he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair, brushing the loose strands away from her eyes.

  The flow of essence between them resumed in a steady stream as she smiled up at him. “That strict control you have appears to be faltering, my King.”

  “Soon, caria, very soon,” he warned and smirked at her playful nature. “I only wait because I need to attend to you first, my Queen.”

  Her playful grin gave him more pleasure and peace than he could express. If she could relax enough to tease him then she would be alright. He monitored the flow. The peak was coming but they had a little time. He could feel the ebb and flow she kept stable and memorized the exact feel of the point where she began to pull essence back into herself to maintain that level.

  Once he was certain he could hold her there he leaned in kissing her hungrily. When she opened to him he let his tongue sink into her. As he rolled on top of her he pressed his erection into her body causing her to moan. His knees gently pushed her legs open as he kissed his way down her body and they wrapped around him. Her pert little nipples taunted him, and he suckled her breast as he caressed the other. She cried out arching into him as he smiled against her skin.

  “I need you, Mythos.” Her words were breathless.

  “Soon caria,” he teased, nipping her soft tip, causing her to gasp.

  He shifted taking the other rose pink nub into his mouth as he ground his length against her. When he slid against her slick folds he groaned. “So ready for me, caria. I cannot wait to feel your body wrapped around my sex, clenching me.”

  She moaned as he ground into her again, “Please Mythos.”

  “Shh, caria. Patience love.”

  He kissed his way down her body, trailing his tongue. He had never known the flesh of another female but he knew the touch and feel of her and exactly how to get the reaction he wanted from her. She was made for him, conceived with a piece of his heart embedded in her very being. He could sense every shiver, every need and he played to all the desire he felt as he sucked that bundle of flesh and nerves into his mouth, flicking the nub with his tongue.

  She arched off the bed and he wrapped an arm over top her hips, holding her down as he guided her body tight to his mouth. His tongue glided up and down her delicate folds, dipping into her core. He drove her closer to the edge of her peak as he watched her, sensed and balanced her.

  “Please Mythos, I want you inside me, please.”

  He had never really made her beg before but he could feel her relishing the control he was holding over her and it drove his desire so he slowed his movements, holding her just on the brink of her release. The peak was nearing and he would take her in that instant, driving her over the edge and binding her to him from now until eternity. She was his. Just the idea of it drove him as he teased her, sinking his tongue in and out of her core, making love to her the way he wanted to with his sex.

  “God Mythos, please,” she pleaded, her words nothing but breath and moan, mostly echoed through their link.

  Her hands gripped his hair, pulling him closer but he grabbed them, easily restraining her with one hand as he slid up her body. He captured her mouth with his own quieting her protests and pleas as he ground against her, purposefully sliding over her opening and grinding into her sensitive button. He could feel the intensity of essence building within them both.

  Almost. He slid the head of his sex over her again as the intensity increased.

  Almost. He increased the passion and depth of the kiss knowing his control was waning and once he took her he would not be able to hold back.

  A little more. He positioned himself at her opening, holding her down as she tried to thrust herself onto his sex. His hand cupped and massaged her breast as he devouring her mouth. Her passion and desire driving his own to a frenzied state.

  The intensity hit its peak and he thrust deeply into her unable to slow or stop himself. She cried into their kiss and he held himself still instinctually a moment, sensing her to ensure he had not hurt her before pulling back and thrusting into her again and again. She moaned and cried out as he drove them both closer to the edge. Her body clenched his tightly as she found her release, her core pulsing around his sex driving forth his own. He thrust deeply into her body as her sheath gripped him tightly and released his seed into her womb.

  Their bond opened completely and it was as if she was in his mind and he in hers. There were no more secrets, no hidden memories, no more walls. Everything flowed between them, completing them in a wave of pure Light and bliss. They cried out together absorbing ever sensation, shiver, thought; sharing in one another’s pleasure and desire.

  He kissed her gently. If he thought that he loved her before, there was no measure, no words for what he felt for her now. He held her tightly as the waves of essence finally began to ebb off.

  “My Queen,” he whispered into her hair reverently kissing her head. “I love you, Stephynia, more than there are words for.”

  She was overwhelmed. There was nothing more perfect than what she felt in that moment. He held her as if she was the most precious thing in his world and she knew that to him she was.

  Steph could feel him, hear him clearly in her mind. The strength of his love enveloped her in a tidal wave and her love for him matched it. There was a time when she would have been terrified that it would swallow her whole, but she knew it would only make them both stronger.

  She kissed his shoulder, his neck, her hands running over his back holding him to her. “There aren’t words for how I feel for you, Mythos,” she murmured.

  He turned capturing her lips again as his words flowed over their bond. “At the first opportunity we seal this and make you Queen. You are mine, Stephynia,” he promised her.

  “I’d seal it tonight if we could, my King. I’m yours and you’re mine.” She meant it. There had never been a time in her life that she felt so complete. She felt safe and loved in a way that not even her Father’s love could compare to.

  Her Father. She could remember him and her Mother clearly now. Her Mother was dead. She’d died in front of her when she was six. A Shade had buried his blade in her stomach before her Father could reach them. Steph had been hidden in some bushes and he would have found her, but her Mom had sacrificed herself, stepping out of the shrubs to save her.

  They’d fought but he was stronger. Her Dad had taken the bastard’s head before her body had even hit the ground but it was too late. He’d fallen to his knees beside her and held her, crying as she died. Once she was gone he’d picked her up misting to some cave and held her tightly, rocking as they cried together for her Mom. She had no idea how long they’d stayed there.

  They had misted around, never staying in one place for long. She never went to school but he would give her books and work through the material with her. He taught her how to fight, trained her in the Luxyndi style but never taught her to wield essence or what it was. He only misted out of necessity and had explained that as some form of human technology that he’d teach her when she was older. When she asked what he was teaching her he merely told her she was learning her karate. Sometimes he left her with her Grandmother but never for long. He told her it was only because he was going somewhere that she couldn’t go.

  Her Grandmother was a hard woman. Even then she couldn’t understand why she was so cold and distant to her. Her parents were so loving and attentive that she hated when she had to stay there.

  When she was young her Mother had always stayed with her and she and her Grandmother would argue about her life with Ceryn. Once her Mom was gone, the woman barely looked at her. Her Father had explained it was because she reminded her of her Mother and she blamed him and the life they shared for taking Madelyna from her.

  He’d promised he wouldn’t ever leave her there long. Most of the time they stayed in hotels and houses that her Father acquired somehow. She never wanted for anything, even when they were moving between the woods and caves. She had her Dad and it was enough, until she didn�
�t.

  Things started getting more dangerous around her twelfth birthday. It seemed that anywhere they went the Shade and Shadows followed. One night the Shadows had separated them. He fought tirelessly to reach her and if he’d been a moment longer it would’ve been too late. He’d misted as soon as he grabbed her.

  That night she met Alysse. She had come to them and told him that the only way to protect her was for Lucerna to mask her completely, wiping her memories and leaving her in the human world. She had to have a completely human existence. Apparently that had always been the plan, but her parents couldn’t bear to leave her.

  It was the only time they had ever fought. She didn’t want to be without her Dad. She didn’t understand the issue. They’d been fighting side by side or years. It wasn’t like she was a burden or anything. While the argument ensued the Shade had closed in on their location. There were just too many of them.

  “Take her! Get her out of here, Alysse. Do what you must so long as she is safe,” his words echoed into the night, “Alayne must never know of her.”

  “No! I won’t leave you. Dad I can fight, you taught me. I can fight!” She screamed trying to get to her Father.

  “Shh, child there are too many.” Alysse held her back wrapping her essence around her, misting her before she could get away.

  In a flash of white and gold her world melted away. Gold Light enveloped her and everything she ever knew, everything that made her who she was faded. She remembered it feeling like she was drifting in a dream.

  She’d woken in a bed at her Grandmother’s the next morning feeling disoriented. She didn’t know what to think until Gran had come in.

  “Steph, what are you still doing in bed? You’re going to be late for school,” she scolded. “Hurry up, you don’t want to miss the bus.”