The Elder smacked the dragon’s muzzle causing the beast to let steam from its nose. “That is enough out of you. I don’t plan to use the dust on you, unless you make me.” The Elder snapped his finger and the dragon dropped to the ground mewling in what Rue thought was pain.
Rue didn’t wait for another opportunity. He was distracted momentarily and she needed all the advantage she could get. She rushed at the Elder, knocking the mask and dust from him as they both tumbled to the ground scrambling for the items. She pulled at his robes and crawled over the top of him, almost touching the fairy dust, but he knocked her over and she rolled further away with a split lip. Licking the cut a metallic taste flooded her mouth. She spit noticing the mask, inches away. Her fingertips snatched the corner and she yanked it to her. Forcing air into her lungs, she heaved herself up to stand before the Elder. He brushed the dirt off his clothes and tucked the ball of fairy dust beneath them. His hand returned empty and he carefully eyed Rue.
“What do you want? You have the dragon, why are you doing this?” Rue wiped her lip with a shaking hand. Adrenaline pumping through her, causing her body to turn on edge.
“Your father hid something very precious from me, something I need to come to my full powers. Do you know what it is?”
Rue shook her head. Who was the Elder and why would her father have taken the dragon and hidden something else from the old bark rot? Who was Thane Devore?
“No matter. You will be getting it for me regardless and you will know when you need to know. For now, time is short and you must wear the mask.”
“If I refuse?”
Gage said, “Rue we’ve already been through this- you are going to use the mask anyway.”
Rue glanced at the sunset and the Elder smirked. “You won’t refuse.”
She huffed. Despite her mind rebelling at the idea, Rue slipped the mask over her face.
“That’s a good girl. What do you see?”
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see anything, silently wishing that when she opened them this would all disappear. Knowing full well it wouldn’t, she rolled her shoulders and steeled herself for whatever view she was about to behold.
As if in slow motion, her eyes opened and there in the middle of the field stood a great Weeping Willow. It was larger than human trees but not as big as the elven trees. It met somewhere in between.
“What do you see!”
“A tree.” The leaves swayed in a breeze, but they kept moving even after the short breeze had passed. She cocked her head to the side and walked closer. The brush of the long grass made a whooshing sound as she moved forward, eyes intent on the leaves. The closer she came, the less like leaves they looked. More like...small creatures. Fairies. Rue gasped.
Their little forms were entwined in white vines from the trees bark. Their wings fluttering uselessly trying to break free. There were many kinds of fairies in the realm some bigger than others, but these she’d never seen before. They looked like tiny humans with wings. All of them female, so many she couldn’t count them. And they struggled in their naked forms.
“Rue, what’s there?” Gage’s low voice rumbled in her ears.
“Human fae,” she whispered.
“At last!” The Elder rushed up beside her and handed her the petrified fairy dust. “Now figure out what must be done with this.”
The glass ball weighed heavy in her hand and before she really thought about what she would do, her feet moved, walking around the tree. The fairies took notice and all of them stopped. Every little head had turned toward her as if she held some magic spell over them. The glass ball in her hand lightened and Rue glanced down at it. The dust had brightened and the movement increased so fast in speed it looked like tiny shooting stars. It compelled her forward and she obliged, one step at a time, until she found herself directly under the weeping branches. The glass lifted from her hands. A white light shot out from the middle of the tree blinding Rue. She covered her face and instinctively knelt to the ground as if something bore down on her.
“They are mine! All of them!” A hollow laugh bellowed from the Elder and Rue looked over in time to see his hands move in a strange rune like symbol and the light disappeared. The fairies were swarming all around and slowly sucked back toward the Elder. As each fairy touched him, he absorbed the creatures, through clothes, skin, hair; whatever they touched they became a part of the Elder. She shuddered. He was collecting them all and she could do nothing to stop it. Confusion at all of the tasks, the Elder, dragons, humane fae swirled in her head. Her world just flipped and she had no clue how to control it.
“Rue, tell me what’s happening?” Gage asked, his voice straining.
“The Elder, he’s...changing.”
“My dear girl, you have no idea. How will I repay you for retrieving my powers?” He snapped his fingers and Rue felt a thousand little pricks on her skin and then everything blurred together.
Chapter Seven
Rue’s stomach lurched and bile came out as she landed hard on hands and knees. When the retching stopped, she wiped the tears from her eyes and attempted to look around.
“Are you okay?” Gage asked, it echoed, not just in her ear but as if...
A dark haired elf sat along a brick like wall. His ankle chained. His hands clamped behind his back. In the darkness, she could barely make out his face.
“Gage? You’re...”
“I’m the poor sap you’re supposed to save, yes.” His voice was dark and ominous.
She slowly stood on shaking legs and with her movement fireflies lit up around the dark area revealing a dank dungeon room, big enough for three or four elves. Rats scurried to hide in the corners. When Rue’s gaze found Gage, she put a hand to her lips. One side of his face looked like someone had tried to crush it. Dark bruises marred his strong jawline and his left eye was nearly swollen shut. She lost the urge to throttle him.
His facial hair had grown out to a beard caked with blood. His lips were cracked and his dark hair stuck to the parts of his head where blood had dried. He leaned his head back letting her take it all in. She had no words. Guilt invaded her heart, strangling anything that might come from her mouth like a boa constrictor tightening on its prey.
“Not quite what you expected, elfess? So sorry to disappoint.” Anger laced his words. But if she’d known, she would have never treated him the way she did.
“I thought...you were...why didn’t you tell me?” If he would have told her, she could have––
“Tell you I was locked up somewhere and needed your help? That if you didn’t do exactly as I said I would die? You hardly believed what I did tell you.” Gage straightened his shoulders. “It was easier to let you believe I was the bad guy.”
He was right; she wouldn’t have believed him any more than she did when the earpiece came to her. Rue tentatively walked over to him. The closer she came, the worse off he appeared. He wasn’t exactly skin and bones, so he must have been fed well. But his clothes were torn and dirty. She reached around his back to check his wrists, chained together. How would she break him free?
“You’re prettier than I anticipated.” Gage’s good eye followed her movements. She stepped away from him and rummaged through the room. There wasn’t anything to work with. There were no doors. No windows. Her gaze traveled back to Gage, her heart breaking each time she set her eyes on him.
“I wish I could say the same for you.” She flashed him a half smile. His lips turned up and her heart fluttered. Even beaten up, that smile brightened his face.
“He lied.” Gage’s face hardened.
“Who?”
“The Elder. He isn’t letting me go. I guess the fact that he hasn’t killed either of us is a good sign. He got his powers back didn’t he?”
Rue nodded and returned to sit beside Gage. She felt an itch in the ear with the earpiece in it. When she tipped her head to scratch it, the piece fell out. It clicked to the hard floor then turned into a metallic bug like creature. Another fell
from his ear and they scurried to Gage. Rue heard a loud click and then his hands were free.
“You had that planned?” She stared at him. Clever elf.
“Partially.” Her rubbed his wrists and winked at her. “I wasn’t sure he would send you here or if you would actually find me on your own. I kind of threw all my last efforts into that ear bud and hoped for the best.”
“Gutsy. But why not make the pieces do this before, when you had both?” She found his hope refreshing and his boldness sexy. Sexy, she rolled the word over in her mind. She couldn’t remember the last time she thought any male was sexy. Something about his rugged looks appealed to her in a way a clean shave never could.
“That was the trick. See I used magic to create a replica. I only had one. Which did me no good unless you found me.”
She nodded in understanding. “Now what?”
“We find a way out.”
Rue heard another click and the chain around his ankle fell off.
“What else can those things do?”
Gage picked the metal creatures off the floor. They disintegrated in his hand. “Nothing. It did exactly what I designed it to do.”
Rue let her head fall back into the stone wall. “Great, stuck in a box with an elf I hardly know and no way out.”
Gage winked and said, “I can find a way to pass the time.”
Warmth spread up her neck and across her cheeks as she averted her gaze. “I’d much rather find a way out.”
“I know the way out.”
She sat up straighter. “Care to enlighten me?”
“You might not like it.” He scooted closer and her heart sped up.
Rue raised her brow. “And why won’t I like it?”
“Because you don’t know me well enough but it’s the only option.”
“Gage, just spit it out for elf sake.” Exasperated she shook her head.
“We need some strong energy, the kind of energy that invades a room. Strong enough to melt the entire world away.” He moved closer. His face inches away from her and she averted her eyes. “The kind of energy that sets a fire inside.” The hot words caressed her ear and she jumped, pushing away from the wall. She had the heady thought he might be trying to seduce her and she just might let him.
“What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me, elfess.” Gage stood. Despite his beaten face, he towered over her. His shoulders were broad and his form seemed as though it would fill up the whole room and trap her. She caught her breath at how good he looked to her, how her body reacted, moistening, wanting.
“I...I don’t have any idea what you mean.” She backed away until she felt the cool wall behind her. Nowhere else to go. Inside she didn’t want to go anywhere else. The male had been with her for days, his voice haunting her. Her body ached for him in ways she had never ached for a male.
Gage closed the distance between them and her heart slammed into her chest. He meant to seduce her, right here. She could feel it. His hands trapped her one on each side of her body and he leaned in. His warmth invading her senses. “Let me make it clearer for you.” His voice came out husky. He pushed his body all the way up against hers until there wasn’t a single part of either of them not touching. Rue turned her face and he spoke again.
“We need to fuck, elfess. Sexual energy is one of the rawest forms, carnal.” His words came out hot and his tongue followed along her neck. Rue’s body melted into him. Her panties soaked.
“I don’t want you. I don’t know you.”
“Come now. I can smell your desire.” He made a show of inhaling her scent. “And you’ve had men before, you aren’t mated which shows me a fuck here and there isn’t completely out of your comfort level. It is our only way out, Rue.”
Gage whispered her name and she bit back a groan. He rubbed himself against her, encouraging her, letting her feel his erection, which only turned her on more. How could he know so many of her buttons when he didn’t know her? Rue ground her teeth. “If we must, then let’s get it over with.” Perhaps he’d been with so many females he just knew where to push the buttons.
Gage laughed. “Are you always so combative?” He began stripping her.
Rue didn’t dare answer him, afraid her voice would betray her desires. However carnal they may be she didn’t wish to show all of it to him. Her nipples hardened as the cool air found them. She stepped out of her clothes and watched tentatively as Gage removed his. He wasn’t ugly in the least. His muscles clenched as he removed his shirt. He had a perfect treasure trail leading down his navel and below his pant line. Rue resisted the urge to follow it. She hardly let herself blink as his pants dropped and his hard-on sprang forth in greeting. She’d expected him to be dirtier- but he wasn’t, he looked clean under his clothes, as if fresh from a shower. Magic?
“Ah what have we here? A little show?”
Rue froze. The Elder appeared behind Gage.
Chapter Eight
Rue immediately attempted to cover herself. “Dirty old bark rot,” she said when the Elder gave her an appreciative once over. Gage didn’t turn around right away. His eyes hardened and his jaw clenched, but otherwise he stood stoic and calm. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but fighting a magical man while naked wasn’t part of her idea of a great time.
“Your father trapped me in here. Did you know that, Rue? He took away all my powers and I needed you to retrieve them for me. To bring me back into my full strength. I tried to help him. Did you know? I wanted to partner with him, we could have had everything.” The Elder licked his lips. He had changed, he didn’t look quite as old as he did before and there was an iridescent glow about his eyes, like fairy wings in the sunlight. A touch of color that didn’t belong to him.
She felt a pull, as if someone had tied a rope around her and planned to drag her away. A similar sensation to when she couldn’t leave the meadow. Were the fae calling to her? Digging her heels in with bare feet didn’t do her any good. She looked up at Gage. He stood in front of her, his eyes focused on hers as she inched forward and put a finger up to his lips. He evidently didn’t want her to say anything about the pull or to stop her from moving. Did he know what called to her?
“I wanted to share. And I had grand plans. I wanted to rule the realm with him. We could have made it so much better. I would have brought back dragons, would have shared the glory with him, Rue. But he betrayed me. He took my dreams away!”
“You don’t deserve the power.” Gage turned to face the Elder in all his naked glory. Rue risked an appreciative glance at his ass as she continued in her-ever-so-slow pace of the pull. Her body had been beckoned though Rue wasn’t sure she wanted to go where it was taking her, toward the Elder.
“Boy, you challenge me? Her father lost his life chaining me down and he had twice the knowledge you do.”
Rue’s heart dropped. The Elder killed her father...a male she barely knew but always wished for... She clenched her fists at her side, how much longer did Gage intend for her to stay quiet.
“I don’t need to challenge you. I’ve already won.” Gage crossed his arms and an instant later, Rue felt a hard tug and she flew at the Elder. He hadn’t seen it coming and toppled to the ground with her. Dazed, she lay there on top of the sick old bastard. She heard a loud clank and was immediately pulled back into Gage’s warm embrace.
The Elder had been chained up where she had found Gage. His skin began sizzling where the metal touched him and he hollered out, “What is this!?” He glared at the two of them. He slowly put his closed fist to his mouth, opened it, and deliberately blew the content in her direction. Rue felt fire kiss her skin. He’d cursed her, without using any words. Everywhere the metal seared the Elder, it also burned Rue. She cried out as the Elder wrapped himself in the chains, bearing down the pain. It cut through Rue like wolf fangs and she screamed.
“What have you done?” Gage’s voice high and filled with concern. Or perhaps she hoped it was concern. The burn slowly edged its way up her legs and arms
. Her flesh smelled like ham searing. She screamed out again as it rushed up her elbows, over her knees, hitting her stomach and chest at the same time. Her breath came out in short gasps as she tried to bare the pain, to calm herself. It reached her lungs in seconds like lava erupting inside her. She rolled over on the cool floor, unable to breathe, her sight blurred with tears. But she saw the smug look on the Elder’s face. Rue gasped when she found a chance to breathe before the pain took hold of her again, and she reached her hand out to pull herself closer to the Elder. Both male’s attention on each other. Another searing bolt flashed through her and she pushed herself forward. Inches separated her from grabbing the Elder. Instinct drove her on and told her to survive at any cost.
Rue wrapped her fingers tightly around the Elders ankle and yanked. He fell backwards, his head hitting the wall behind him with a sickening thud. Rue gasped again for air as the pain subsided. She crawled on top of the old man, his eyes rolling toward the back of his head. The energy in the room was going to set them all free if Gage had been right about how to get out of this place, and she intended to use it to her advantage. She searched his pockets for the clear glass ball he had taken from her. Rue found it and yanked it from his person. She had no idea what to do with it, but ever since she found the meadow with the tree, it seemed to know what it needed to do and she only hoped it would now. It had been what pulled her to the Elder, just as it hadn’t let her leave the meadow earlier.
The clear glass began to cloud in her hands. The Elder came to and scrambled up to grab the ball from her. Rue flung herself back despite the pain still searing through her limbs.
“You can’t. Not again.”
Gage grabbed the glass ball from her. “I can take it from here.” He rubbed it three times to the left.
“No. No. No!” The Elder held his hands out, begging.
Gage said something in the fairy tongue under his breath, a word that sounded like the wind whispering through trees.
The Elder began gagging. He pulled his hands to his neck as if trying to pull at the invisible thing cutting off his breath. The burning pain rushed out of Rue and she gulped down air with relief. Her body slacked against the cool floor. It soothed the aches of her flesh as she observed the scene before her.
A Whisper of Rue (The Trouble With Elves Book 5) Page 4
