"Ask for what you want, Caelan.” He increased the pressure, sliding easily in the desire that pooled for him.
The lips of her sex felt heavy and full, cradling his erection, the sensitive nerves there increasing the sensation.
"I need—” She took a breath, the magic inside her burning to a screaming pitch.
And then it was too late. Like a waterfall, magic poured out of her, giving her the strength to drag his head down and press her lips to his. She had to push the power into him, had to gift him a piece of herself.
The moment her lips touched his, his cock slid home, the sensation of being filled while releasing the pressure of her magic so wonderful, her orgasm rushed through her body in a raw, shaking release that seemed unending.
He ripped his mouth from hers. “Dammit,” he growled, thrusting deep, fighting the contractions of her sex, the movement of his cock continuing the tremors of release riding through her.
He rammed deep, his shout filled with joy and triumph as it echoed through their cavern and beyond, his magic amplifying it into a hair-raising battle cry that she felt in her core.
Then he lowered his head and kissed her, pushing a mix of her magic and his back inside her body. It burned her throat and felt like no power she'd ever experienced.
They'd mixed magic this time, not merely borrowed it. There was a reason the Goddess cautioned people against mingling their power. Legends warned that sometimes magic that was perverted this way would never change back to its original form.
"What have we done?” she whispered.
Chapter Eight
He helped her crawl out of the tunnel, holding her hand to steady her. The action was almost courtly, as if he supported her in a deep curtsy to the king, only the shredded mess of her skirt would never pass muster in the throne room. The fabric of what had once been her best healer gown hung in gauzy, lawn-colored tatters, but for some reason, with his hand holding hers, none of that mattered.
When they neared the grate, there was a shift around them, a presence of many bodies filling the cavern. She realized they walked through a gauntlet of prisoners who'd lined up to watch them pass. Silence filled the hollow space, but underneath was a ring of anger, the feeling sliding up her spine to make her stomach twist.
Garron squeezed her hand in reassurance, drawing her behind him slightly so if anyone moved, he'd be the one to take the brunt of their attack.
Caelan wondered why people came to see her departure. Did they hate her so much for having the chance to be hauled out of The Abyss that they'd come to growl and sneer at her as she left?
As if by magic, Rolf appeared before them. “Where you taking her?"
Tucking her more fully behind him, Garron seemed to grow bigger, his body going from a relaxed panther stride to the balls of his feet. The air shimmered with his alertness and warning, the tension in his shoulders causing the muscles along his arms to bulk up and ripple.
The danger dropped away, and Caelan felt a flash of pure desire shoot through her. He was everything she never knew she wanted. Who could have suspected that a man who would defend her with his very life could turn her on in a way she'd never felt before?
"Get out of my way, Rolf.” The growled warning brought Caelan out of her daze.
She finally had someone to protect her, and the old Caelan would have gladly hidden behind him, but the new one wasn't going to risk Garron's life when she had the power to protect in return. Taking a deep breath, she stepped between the two men. “I'm going to the grate, Rolf."
He spared her a contemptuous glance before returning his gaze to Garron. “You give her to them, they'll just kill her."
For a moment, Caelan's mind couldn't comprehend what he was saying. Then it clicked. “Wait, you don't want me to go?"
Rolf snorted. “I don't care if you go or stay. But we don't give those bastards anything. If they come down here, we make them pay for it.” He turned back to Garron. “We can barter food for her. Extra bread rations at least."
"Get out of my way, Rolf.” Garron's voice was soft, reasonable, unemotional. And it made his words shiver through the air like the sharpest of warnings.
"You've always thought you were better than us, haven't you?” Rolf shifted his body sideways, his right hand sliding along the side of his thigh.
Caelan wasn't going to let them fight, wasn't going to risk Garron's life over something that made sense to her. “Garron,” she said, keeping her voice as level as his had been. “If bartering me brings them something, why not let them?"
He held up a hand palm out to Rolf, then pulled her close to his chest to whisper in her ear. “I don't think it would worsen your circumstances to be used as an exchange. The guards will expect to pay for you. It's the price of saving them the trip down here."
She shook her head. “If you thought this, why did you act as if you were going to fight Rolf?"
"Because, love, the decision was yours to make, not mine. And Rolf doesn't get near you without a fist in his face."
"Thank you,” she said, feeling powerful and right, loving him for letting her choose her own fate. She turned to Rolf. “Make your deal."
* * * *
Garron didn't like it. The closer they moved to the grate, the more the bad feeling he'd been fighting since he agreed to this madness crawled up his spine. She'd said she'd be straight back in the dungeon tonight, but what if something happened to her, and she didn't return until the morning? If he left on schedule, she'd be down here without him.
But they were a good night's work away from breaking out, and he had no way to protect her from a battalion of soldiers. He had to trust that she was right in this.
Pulling her into his arms, he caught her chin in his hand. “I'm not sure I like this."
A cheer swirled through the air as the bargained bread was thrown into the cavern.
"There aren't any other choices here that make sense, Garron. I go, or they come down and take me.” She slid her fingers around his wrist, then turned the palm up so she could kiss the center. “I'll be back. I'm not telling them what they want. He'll sentence me here for another day."
"Good. I'll be waiting by the grate until you return.” He said the words, but something nagged at him. It was most likely the fact that she would soon be out of his sight. He didn't like it.
"Kiss me,” she whispered.
"Gladly.” He lowered his head, enjoying it when her arms wrapped around his neck. Their lips met and immediately parted, tongues seeking to deepen the intimacy of the act. Her magic and his mixed. The world around them faded as he threaded his hands through her hair.
She rose on her tiptoes to reach him better, and if they'd been alone, he would have pulled her off her feet, would have encouraged her to wrap her legs around his waist.
He heard Rolf move behind him before he spoke. “They've lowered the rope for her."
Garron took his time, finishing the kiss, then rested his forehead against hers. “Be back here by tonight,” he whispered.
"I'll try.” She pulled away and stared at something over his shoulder for a moment. Then she looked back at him. “But if I don't return, don't wait for me. Go while you still can. Tomorrow is Mabon. You have to escape while you still can.” She paused, then caught his sleeve. “There is always a chance that King Useph will let me out of my punishment."
He nodded, even though he knew that was an impossibility. Useph had never done anything for his subjects. He was a tyrant and self-focused bastard who cared about his subjects less than he cared for his dogs. “Just be safe."
"I will."
Then she was gone, and he was left staring at the closed grate, that bad feeling swarming in his gut.
* * * *
With every step of the long walk to the throne room, her understanding of why her mother and best friend had both sacrificed for love grew. Brianna risked herself for Radley because if he died, a piece of her would, too. Her mother risked her life to be with her lover because her exist
ence must have been an empty shell without him in it.
Now that Caelan had been with Garron, the thought of the rest of her life without him left her heart aching. Her connection with Garron had built through the trials of the dungeon, through the bond they'd built by sharing their bodies and their magic. Life without him stretched before her, dull and gray, and she realized she might have somehow fallen in love with him.
How had her mother faced day after day without the man she'd thought she loved? To live in the same castle with Garron and not touch of him would be a torture. Her mother must have spent every day in agony.
Another realization burned inside her. How dare Useph treat both she and Garron as if their lives meant nothing? She was his Speaker. Garron had been his Protector. They were loyal subjects working tirelessly for their king. A ruler who didn't understand that he needed his subjects as much as they needed him didn't deserve his people's fidelity.
The thought was so foreign to her, she stopped in the barren stone hallway, her mind turning the idea over and over. A leader just didn't lead because he wanted to. A leader led because his troops respected him enough to follow. Things had deteriorated because Useph was a bad leader. More and more people weren't following his directives. If Sneed was stealing from him and killing people to cover it up, then Useph's hold on his country was more precarious than she'd realized.
The guard beside her started to reach for her arm, but then hesitated with a grimace, staring at the dirt on her skin. “Speaker, the King awaits,” he prompted.
"Yes, he does,” she murmured, controlling the building anger inside her.
She swept into the throne room, her mind setting itself for whatever might come. She wasn't going to tell Useph what he wanted. She'd made that decision. Useph could throw her back into the dungeon, and tonight she'd escape with Garron. She'd go to Trayborne and become their healer. They needed her, and she burned to help them and to be appreciated for who she was inside.
The sight that greeted her had her stumbling to a halt.
Instead of the usual throne chair on the red dais, a large bed took up the space. It was surrounded by Useph's advisors, Sneed at the position of honor on his right hand side. On Useph's left, Brianna sat on the red satin sheets dressed in white, her head bowed, her shoulders shaking as if she wept.
"Your Speaker, Sire,” the guard at her side announced.
Of the people surrounding Useph, it was hard to tell one person from another. Their clothing blended together, and their faces were a mixture of concern and worry. But underneath the surface, excitement shimmered, peeking out in the slightly too-wide eyes of the watchers as they leaned forward for a better view of the possible death of the King.
Useph hadn't hauled her from the dungeon to receive a confession.
He'd brought her here because she was one of the best Speakers in his nation, and he needed her skills.
And with that realization, a strange idea formed in her mind. Useph had fallen ill, or he wouldn't have sent for her. The fact he needed her gave her power—the power to ask for something in return.
And she knew what she'd ask for. Garron's freedom. Then he wouldn't have to escape, wouldn't have to spend his life running. He'd saved her life, given her an experience which had allowed her to spread her wings and discover who she really was inside, and now she could pay back her debt to him.
Hope twisted her belly, but she moved towards her king with a measured tread, stopping four feet away to curtsy in respect.
Sneed recoiled from her. “My Goddess, she smells."
"It's the smell of your dungeons, Sire.” She said the words as starkly as she could, careful to wipe the sarcasm from them. For the first time, Useph really needed her, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away because she couldn't control her temper.
"How dare you enter this room without bathing! You must wash yourself and change clothes.” Sneed covered his mouth with his hand as if her stench was too much for him.
"I was brought straight here without a chance to change.” She turned to Useph. “You are ill, my King?"
Useph opened his mouth, but only coughing emerged. Quickly, Sneed pressed a flawless white square of linen into his hand. The hacking came from deep within him, as if his lungs were drowning. When the King straightened, blood covered the handkerchief in his grip.
Someone in the faceless crowd gasped, the sound a mix of horror and titillation.
Useph wiped his mouth with a shaking hand, but his eyes were filled with calculation, just as they always were.
Her healer's gaze took in his condition. He was weak, but not so weak that he'd lost movement nor was his mind slipping.
Then she saw the shadow around his lips. The shade of blue was violent cerulean, a message from the Goddess herself that only a handful of Speakers could envision.
"What's happened to me?” Useph's voice came out as a harsh rasp.
"You've been poisoned,” she said, keeping her tone level and calm.
The throng of onlookers gasped as one, but Useph didn't seem surprised. “How did poison slip past my tasters?” he asked, his voice mild, but under his surface a storm was brewing.
"I don't know.” She had power here, she reminded herself, fighting the desire to fade into the background in the face of Useph's growing anger. Her abilities were valuable, valuable enough to use to save one man's life by saving a King's.
"Heal me,” Useph ordered.
Caelan controlled her sudden spurt of anger with effort. Here he was, about to die without her help, and yet Useph still did not appreciate her. “No."
The room stilled on the word.
From where she sat in a defeated huddle, Brianna raised her head. Her friend's face was a mass of black, blue, and green, the colors fading and molting during the time Caelan had been gone. But the look in her eyes was no longer angelic and loving. Hate and fury seethed in her gaze, the twist of her lips tightening her mouth into a prune.
Rather than look at her, Caelan stared at Useph's calculating face, pushing away the chill at the change in her friend over mere days. She needed all her wits about her if she would win Garron's freedom. One problem at a time.
"So you finally wish to bargain.” Useph's tone of voice said he'd expected her to ask him for something in return. “I thought of all people, your skills came for free."
She took a deep breath and focused her new found strength. “Not anymore, Cousin."
The King waved a shaking hand. “I grant you your freedom. Brianna has agreed to be my paramour, and we have resolved the matter between us, so I no longer need your knowledge."
Horror crept up Caelan's spine. He was going to take Brianna, his cousin, as a lover. Their relation alone gave her pause, but everyone knew when it came to bed sport, King Useph could be a cruel master.
Caelan swallowed around the bile creeping up her throat. As handsome as Useph was, she'd healed the ripped and torn bodies of his bedmates.
Her breath went shallow, but she had to concentrate, had to say the words that would lead to Garron's freedom, allowing him to live without spending his life looking over his shoulder. That would be her parting gift to him, a thank you for everything he'd done for her. “I do not ask for my own pardon."
"Oh, and whose are you asking for?” Useph coughed, his shoulders shaking with the spasms in his lungs.
Usually Caelan would ache for someone in such obvious need, but now she felt nothing. She couldn't afford to go soft. This was about doing what was right.
"In return for healing you, you will agree to pardon Garron the Protector."
"What?” Sneed gasped.
"Who is that?” Useph snapped.
"The border rat I caught stealing in my office. He would have attacked me if the guards hadn't come."
"You're alive, Sneed. I am your King, and I am dying.” Useph's voice came out clipped, as if after all these years he was finally growing tired of his advisor. “I'm not sure you have it in you not to heal me, Caelan. I
don't think you can stand there and watch me suffer."
Caelan felt Garron's magic running thick and strong in her veins. She called on it to help her show no mercy. “Watch me watch you die.” She met his gaze, never more sure of anything in her life. “When you lowered me into The Abyss, I changed, King Useph. I can stand here and watch you suffer. Trust me, I can. Garron saved my life. I would have died without his protection, and now you will die if you don't grant him a pardon."
Useph's shrewd eyes narrowed and searched her face. “I believe you might actually do it.” Tapping his fingers on the satiny coverlets, he hummed softly. “So his life for mine?” Useph studied her, the blue ring around his lips deepening, signaling his time was running out.
"He is one of the six to die at Mabon! You cannot pardon him!” Sneed's protest held a note of panic in it.
It was hard for Caelan to keep from smiling. Sneed deserved to worry after what he'd done to Garron's parents, but she wasn't here to right old wrongs. She was here to save the life of the man she loved. Although a thought struck her. If Sneed would steal from Useph, would he poison him also? No, she decided. Sneed needed Useph to feed on like a mosquito needed blood to survive.
"You were going to sacrifice him? For a failed attempt at thievery? Really, Sneed. The Abyss is filled with people whose crimes make them better choices to be sacrificed.” The King waved his hand, dismissing Sneed's concerns. “We will make our deal, Cousin. I will pardon Garron, once you save my life.” He settled back against luxurious pillows, his face turning smug. “I'd always thought you'd be the only person in the castle who wouldn't succumb to selling your gift from the Goddess, but I'm glad to see I'm wrong. It bothered me that you couldn't be bought."
"I find that I can ill afford to be so pure, my liege."
She'd done it! She'd bargained and won. Excitement and confidence raced through Caelan's veins.
She'd risked everything for a man. Just like Brianna. Just like her mother. And for the first time, she understood. She wished her mother was alive so she could tell her. An odd sadness washed over Caelan, pain from years of anger and blame escaping from her very pores, leaving her feeling ollow and lost inside.
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