Adora stared, frozen on the spot, as the Unseelie queen screamed at Randor, heartbreak and grief evident in her voice.
****
Randor couldn’t tear his gaze from Elvira. She had taken him in. She had treated him like a son. But she had also abused him. How would he tell Adora that? How would he make her understand? Right now she was looking at him like he was a monster who killed his own brother. He supposed in her eyes, he had.
“Get out of here before I kill you myself,” Elvira murmured.
Without another thought, Randor grabbed Adora’s hand and ran through the gaping hole in the stone wall, dragging her through it with him. Cloaking the two of them with invisibility, Adora clasped his hand tightly as the two of them ran through the halls of the castle. Guards were scattered everywhere, as well as servants and followers.
When he reached the unguarded front doors, Randor stopped and began to open a portal before pausing.
“Can we go to the hideout?” he asked her.
She shook her head, eyes wide in shock. “We should go to my kingdom, tell Father what’s happened. He needs to know the witch is dead. He’ll be looking for me, there’ll be guards out soon to try and find me.”
Tightening his jaw, he opened a portal, one that led to her hideout, the only place they’d be truly safe.
Chapter Eight
Safely back in Adora’s hideout, Randor collapsed on the lounge, holding his head in his hands. He ached everywhere. Thoughts he didn’t want buzzed around his mind. The cushion dipped as Adora sat beside him. A gentle hand warmed his shoulder while the other touched his chin, forcing him to look at her.
Even covered in dirt, sweat, and blood with knotted hair, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.
“Tell me what happened. The queen raised you?”
Sucking in a breath, Randor wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and straightened.
“My mother was a human, kidnapped and taken to the faery realm as a teen.” His blood boiled just thinking about what she had endured. “For years she was used as a slave. Abused, raped, tortured. She survived things no other human would have. They’re not as resilient as the Fae. Nor do they live anywhere near as long. When Elvira found her during a raid, she was heavily pregnant and on the verge of death. They’d starved her for days. Elvira took her and the remaining living slaves and held them in the kingdom where most of them recovered.” His heart clenched as he spoke, but he forced himself to continue. To let Adora, his soul mate, know that he wasn’t a monster, that there was more to him than just his assassin side.
“Mother never fully recovered. After giving birth to me, she suffered what humans call a stroke. Partially paralysed and in constant ill health, she made it to see my tenth birthday. She died that night.”
“And Elvira took you in?”
The sympathy and pity he saw in Adora’s eyes as she looked at him made him feel sick. He hated being pitied. It was bad enough he saw it every time he looked at the royal staff. He didn’t want to see it when she looked at him.
“She took me in, treated me like her son, like she treated Kiel who was also orphaned, and started my assassin training almost immediately.”
Adora let out a small gasp and her demeanour changed. He no longer saw pity and sympathy in her eyes—he saw pure rage and hatred.
“I was trained as a child because I asked to be. I was never forced into it. But I was beaten, tortured, and left locked in the dungeon for weeks on end to improve my strength. I was chased by vitlers to improve my stealth.” He paused on a shudder. The image of a six-legged monster chasing him, snapping at him with its vice-like jaws, was shocking to think about as an adult. He still had no idea how he kept his head and outran it as a child.
“From the first day she lashed me, I’ve hated her. I knew then that my life would never be ‘normal’ and vowed revenge. Luckily her father, the late king, appreciated my need to live in the human realm where I could feel more connected with my mother. He had no idea about the abuse or the monster his daughter really was. Having me near in my mother’s homeland and my loyal service to him were all he needed to grant me immunity. He allowed me to live the life I could. But all this time I’ve been waiting to get my revenge.”
Adora shivered, goose bumps appearing on her skin as she looked at him with soft eyes. “It’s over now. You never have to do that again if you don’t want to. We can hide in my kingdom. Father would accept you in a heartbeat. He may not be loving or compassionate, but he always shows gratitude and repays those who deserve it.”
“She’ll find us. She may not have Maleficent anymore but Elvira is a very resourceful woman, not to mention queen.”
“Well.” A smirk grew on Adora’s lips. “We could stay in the human realm, couldn’t we?”
“We could move somewhere even more secluded. Somewhere where there isn’t a human for miles and miles.”
“My magic will create wards strong enough that nobody can track us.” She grinned. “Not even Father.”
When most women would have shaken their heads and backed away from him, Adora embraced him, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
“I’ve always been intrigued by humans. I’ve studied them for years, always wanting to visit their realm but never been allowed to. To live with you, in their realm, would be…exquisite.”
He returned her smile and gave a light chuckle. He’d definitely have to work on her language before he let her out into the town near humans.
“You’re an extraordinary woman, Adora. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“Oh, you deserve so much more.” Her fingertips ran over his face, sending jolts of arousal coursing through his veins. “In fact,” she spoke as she pulled him from the couch, pulling him toward the spring water pool, “how about I show you just how much more you deserve?”
Tearing both of their clothing from them, he captured her mouth in a sweet kiss as they immersed themselves in the soothing warm water.
“We can recuperate and rest here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll look for somewhere safe in the human realm,” he told her between kisses.
Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, Adora enveloped him and pressed her pelvis flush with his. “I don’t think you’ll be doing much resting. Seeing you fight was very arousing.”
Chuckling lightly, he kissed her and pressed his cock against her warm entrance. “I love you, Princess.”
With a moan they connected in the most intimate way possible. Adora let out a sigh and gazed into his eyes adoringly before saying, “And I love you, Assassin.”
The End
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Dark Waters Page 6
