by Brenda Trim
I wanted to close my eyes but knew that would earn me a boot to the face, so I watched as the event devolved into debauchery. I kept my gaze focused on the food table to avoid seeing too many of the assholes around me.
It seemed like the party lasted for hours. Too damn long to be kneeling on the marble floor while Fae around me had sex and did God only knows what. I hadn’t bothered watching, so I couldn’t say for sure.
My bad knee was killing me, and my hips were reminding me I wasn’t twenty anymore and shouldn’t be staying in a position like that for more than five seconds. That was joined by my bladder pipping up for the first time in what felt like days.
I usually got up several times during the night to pee yet hadn’t been to the bathroom once since being thrown in the dungeon. I’d been deprived and bordered on dehydration, which was undoubtedly why I hadn’t felt the urge before.
Apparently, the bathwater I’d accidentally consumed had already worked its way through me. Being humiliated like this was a whole new experience in torture. My shoulders slumped, and I wanted to lie down. I’d managed to eat a bit of the food thrown on me. It wasn’t enough to fuel me, so exhaustion continued to ride me like a Harley on the highway.
My eyes started slipping closed when I was jerked to my feet unexpectedly. Darnell was back with his cohorts, and they were pulling me toward the exit. It was far harder to ignore the disgusting display before me when they were sure to knock me into as many couples in the throes of passion as possible.
I let my eyes go unfocused and listened to the conversations I could catch. Not everyone was having sex. Some were gossiping about Vodor being at the height of his power even without Thelvienne. All because he’d caught another of his long-time enemies and dealt a blow to the rebellion.
That spurred another dump of adrenalin, making my heart race and my mind return to thinking about my friends and their fate. Violet and Aislinn weren’t enemies of the King. He didn’t even know they existed. Sebastian, his family, and all of the rebellion were person non-grata.
Teague had been at the shop with us. It had to be him that had been caught. I shouldn’t want that as badly as I did, but it beat thinking it could be Sebastian. The air-cooled the second we were out in the hall. I hadn’t realized how hot it had been in the great hall.
A contingent of guards stood two or more deep, blocking me from the main entrance. At least that was what I assumed the massive double doors were. It made sense. They didn’t want me escaping. I didn’t outright try to run, but I tried to reaccess my magic. I couldn’t reach the river I thought of as my elemental power source. It was still covered in concrete.
I could see blue light rising off the water like steam. Vodor was indeed draining me. While they lead me through the palace, I focused on putting a barrier up so he couldn’t take it anymore. It was far more critical to protect myself. There wasn’t a way to get away from a dozen highly trained soldiers.
The décor shifted, and the walls turned beige. Then we were through the door and walking through the cold, narrow tunnel. It wasn’t until I realized I had no way out now that I managed to erect a barrier between my river and Vodor’s spell. I had no idea if it was wishful thinking or not.
I couldn’t feel it like I did when I cast protection around myself. And I hadn’t used an incantation. Returning to the dungeon ebbed away at the millimeters of progress I’d made toward reclaiming my hope.
I shivered so hard I hit my elbow on the rock wall. It hurt like a mother but quickly vanished. The cold froze the area soon enough. I shook off as much of the food as I could. I didn’t want to bring a veritable buffet to the rats.
Someone was bellowing in the distance. Whoever they had captured was in one of the cells and was pissed. I clenched my fists to hide the way my hands trembled. Keep your shit together, even if it’s Sebastian. That was going to be next to impossible but was vital. They would use my feelings against me if they saw it bothered me.
Several guards in front of me hurried forward and threatened to hurt the other prisoner if they didn’t stop trying to break the bars. My heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t suck in a full breath. A tight band strangled my chest, trying to take my life along with my hope.
My eyes flared then blurred with tears when I saw who was in the cell next to where they had kept me. I tilted my chin up and bit back the emotion threatening to cut me off at the knees.
“I see you’re still killing it with controlling your prisoners. Vodor really should think about replacing you.” I prayed they didn’t hear the warble in my voice.
Sebastian barked out a laugh. “You always were a pompous jackass, Darnell.” How the hell had they gotten ahold of Sebastian?
I closed my eyes for a second, praying that when I opened them, he would be gone. My heart cracked when I saw it was fruitless. He was just as screwed as I was. And he was baiting the guard just like I had.
I was thrown roughly into the cell I had been in before and landed on my hands. The landing wrenched my wrists, but I barely noticed it. Walking around with a broken eye socket twice now made other injuries pale in comparison.
The door clanged shut, and Darnell hurried over to Sebastian’s cell with flames on his palm. Before I could open my mouth, he threw the fireball at Bas. I shoved my head through the bars and tried to see if he was okay.
It was difficult to bite my tongue and keep from calling out to him. Knowing we would both suffer more is the only thing that stopped me. I refused to give Darnell and his cronies any more reason to hurt us.
The previous threat came rushing back to my mind. Seeing the animosity between Bas and the guard, I guessed he wouldn’t hesitate to rape me in front of Sebastian and lie to Vodor about it.
Darnell laughed as the flames spread across Bas’s chest. His shirt hadn’t caught fire. I prayed he could get it out before it really hurt him. While my heart was in my throat and I was ready to jump through the bars to help him, Sebastian casually reached up and smothered the flames.
“Get some rest. The King will be in soon to teach you both a lesson,” Darnell promised before he and the others turned and left. They didn’t extinguish the torches lighting the cavern, so I saw when the Fae rats raced from their hidey-holes.
“Sebastian,” I whispered as I craned my head to look at him. “How are you doing? No, what are you doing here?”
Bas wrapped his hands around the bars, his chest heaving with his breaths. “I couldn’t stay away after they took you.”
“Of course, you could. The rebellion needs you. You should have stayed away.” There was no way out of this dungeon. Now we were both looking at a death sentence. It was my worst nightmare.
“There was nothing that could have stopped me when Teague told us you had been taken.”
I would have done the same thing. There would have been no way to keep from trying to rescue him if our roles had been reversed. “Are you okay? Are Violet and Aislinn? What about Finarr and Midurri?”
I wrapped my arms around my middle, trying to get warm. It was exponentially worse to be standing there with a soiled silk dress on with soft-soled slippers. I was going to die of hypothermia.
“Violet and Aislinn suffered pretty severe head injuries, but one of our healers has treated them. Last I checked, they were recovering very well. They said they couldn’t feel you at all, and I lost it. I should have thought it through but couldn’t stop myself from attacking the palace.”
I lowered my head to the bars. Was he skipping over our other friends because the news was bad? “I would have done the same thing, I’m sure. Please tell me Finarr and Midurri are alright.”
“They’re fine. Minor injuries. We need to get out of here and sneak into Vodor’s bedroom and kill him in his sleep.” Bas ran his hands over his chest, brushing away some ash.
“Wait. How come you weren’t burned?”
Sebastian glanced down at his shirt. “I managed to cast some protection before they clamped the restraints on me. I knew they would c
ut off my ability to use my magic.”
I held up my cuffs. “These things are pissing me off…” I stopped talking when I heard footsteps traveling down the hall. It wasn’t the loud clomping of the soldiers. It might be more rats coming, but I couldn’t be certain.
Keli cast furtive glances around the cavern as she hurried toward my cell. She had something clutched in her hands. She stopped when Sebastian let out a loud growl. I shook my head. “Keli, what are you doing here?”
She held up the parcel in her arms. It looked like my battle gear. I would be indebted to her if she brought my clothes back to me. The soiled dress was sticking to me, and I was beginning to smell awful.
“I can’t let you out of there, but I thought you could use these. That dress offers no warmth or protection.”
“I could kiss you right now. Thank you so much. I know it was a risk to help me. Listen for an attack and get out of the palace as soon as you hear anything. The rebellion will be making a move soon, and I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”
She bobbed her head, handed me clothes through the bars before she turned around, and ran out of there like her ass was on fire. It was good to know not everyone in the palace was on Vodor’s side.
“I wish I had some way to wash this filth off me,” I complained as I shucked the silk and stepped into the clean battle gear. My skin was sticky in places and made it hard to get the clothes on.
“What happened to you? How’s your vision?” Bas’s jaw was clenched, and his words came out in a snarl.
“I was the entertainment at the party tonight. They threw food at me before the evening devolved into one big orgy.”
Bas rattled the bars. “Did anyone lay their hands on you?”
I had avoided that fate so far and would do everything in my power to continue avoiding it. “Aside from the guards carrying me to the bath, then the great hall and back, no. They didn’t lay a hand on me. There were plenty of threats and promises of what awaits me. We have to get the hell out of here before that happens.”
“No one will ever lay a hand on you. Can you access any of your power?”
I shook my head. “Not a drop of it. But Vodor can. He’s been draining me ever since I got here. How long has it been anyway?”
Sebastian started pacing the length of his cell. “It’s only been a day and a half. It took me too long to get away from my parents then make my way here without being stopped. I need to break us out of here before my grandmother’s vision comes true.”
“What do you mean? Was it her prophecy that everyone’s been talking about?”
“No, she stopped sharing what she saw centuries ago. This was about my fate.”
“You know you can’t say that and not share more.”
He shook his head and paused to throw me a look. “She told me I would die in the palace. She said my heart would lead me to my destiny, and that would end with my death. At least that was how she interpreted the dark vision of me in this cell.”
“Why didn’t you say something before? You should never have come back to fight with us.”
“I wasn’t about to let you fight Vodor without me. I didn’t return to Eidothea for centuries because I was trying to avoid the fate my grandmother predicted for me.”
“Maybe it’s not valid anymore because Thelvienne didn’t bring you back.” There was no way I would allow him to die in that cell.
He snorted and narrowed his eyes. “I never would have come here for her. But I don’t plan on dying down here. I have too much to live for.”
“Oh.” Real eloquent, Fi. He’s probably blown away by your gushing over his declaration. He didn’t have to tell me he loved me. That proved it more than words ever could. “You will make it out of here. I’ll make sure of it.” I braced myself on the bars as I tried for the thousandth time to find a way out of our current predicament. There was an answer. I just needed to find it.
Chapter 19
“I’m not just a Fae. I’m also a witch.” I embraced the truth of those words with every cell of my being. I hadn’t ever distinguished one from the other before and wasn’t certain I could do so now.
Putting every ounce of hope I had left in me into this wild thought working, I concentrated on removing the cuffs around my wrists. “Intermissum.” I held my breath for several seconds, waiting for my witchcraft to work. There was no way Vodor could block both sides of me. He was full-blooded Fae with no dual nature.
I could not allow Sebastian to die in this cell because of me. I refused to help his grandmother’s vision come true. He didn’t deserve this fate. He’d moved realms to avoid this very thing. Rage became a living thing in my chest. Evil could not continue to win.
My body heated as my anger increased until I thought I was going to spontaneously combust. My skin felt tight and brittle with the temperature rise. Right when I thought I would break apart, energy exploded from me in crackling light.
It illuminated the entire cavern and allowed me to see into the cracks and crevices. The Fae version of rats were swarming the dress I had discarded. The bottles that had broken on the shelves earlier had some kind of liquid in them because where it had spilled onto the floor, no plants were growing.
My cuffs popped open then dropped to the floor in a loud clatter. I rolled my wrists and winced when I got a good look at the tattered and bruised skin. A loud screeching sound filled the cavern, making my heart do a high jump in my chest.
The thick crust covering my river was gone, leaving me free access to both sides of my nature. The empty feeling was gone, and I was me again. It was simple for me to see through the spell of despair cast on the dungeon.
I lifted my hand to blow the door off the cell and barely stopped myself from casting it when Bas appeared and wrapped his hands around the metal. I was distracted by the way his muscles bulged. He was simply gorgeous. And strong as hell.
He pulled the door from its track and tossed it aside. I ran for him at the exact moment he came at me. I was in his arms and claiming his mouth in a hard, hungry kiss a second later.
I melted into him when his arms wound around me. I was no longer afraid. Hadn’t been since I freed myself of the cuffs. The feeling of safety multiplied in his embrace. I ran my hands over his chest and around his neck as he deepened the kiss.
I wanted to lose myself in him and forget about everything else. He made it nearly impossible to stop from taking things further. Before we’d slept together, it had been too many years since I’d had sex. Tim had been sick for a couple years before he passed away over five years ago.
Now that he’d woken the beast, she was insatiable. I wanted more from him. For several blissful seconds, I pushed reality aside and enjoyed the way his tongue danced with mine. I’d never been hornier just from kissing someone. Sebastian knew precisely how to prod my arousal into the stratosphere.
The earth started shaking around us, echoing what was going on in my lady place. I moaned into his mouth before breaking away when dirt and rocks fell onto our heads. “Crap. The earth really is trembling. I thought it was just me and what you do to my body.”
Bas chuckled and pressed another quick kiss to my lips. “That’s the cavalry arriving to help overthrow Vodor. Time to go, Butterfly.”
I called up the elements, letting them fill me. Fire was at the fore, making me want to burn the place to the ground. As tempting as the idea was, I refused to jeopardize the palace. The successor would need the icon to help his transition to power.
Twining my fingers with Bas’s, I paused at the tunnel entrance and lifted my free hand. “Satiata.” It was easy to yank earth to the surface, allowing it to gather the element and transport it to the dungeon.
We continued on as dirt started filling the space. Not wanting my handiwork to be undone, I flicked a hand over my shoulder. “Induresco.” Solidifying the enchantment made it that much harder for any Fae to remove the soil and open the dungeons. If the image of rebar reinforced cement I held in my mind had any say,
it would be impossible.
With that taken care of, I took off in a run. My hair was matted to my head like a food-crusted helmet, and I stunk, but I had my battle gear, and my magic was back in full force. Adrenalin dumped into my bloodstream, boosting my energy. I was still running low from lack of food and sleep.
“How did you manage to free both of us from the restraints anyway?”
My feet slowed to a stop, and I glanced back at him. We were at the door to the house. “I thought you managed to get yours off. I realized Vodor couldn’t block my witchcraft, so I used that to remove the cuffs and poured all the energy I could to make that happen.”
“You’re brilliant.” Bas passed me and held the door open with a smile.
I smiled back at him and hurried into the lower sections of the palace. The passages were empty this far down, but I could hear screaming and fighting above us. I retraced my steps to the great hall, thinking Vodor was still there.
Servants were running with their arms full as we passed. I hoped they got away without being hurt. I didn’t hold it against them for working for Vodor. Everyone had to do what they needed to survive.
The double doors were thrown open, noise from within spilled out into the hall. Surprisingly, I heard the distinct sound of metal on metal. They weren’t only fighting with magic. Made sense given what my Grams told me about many factors impacting the stability of enchantments. Plus, I found it difficult to concentrate while fighting, which was why I ended up killing the Queen and absorbing her powers rather than Incapacitating her.
I had fireballs in my palms when I rushed into the room. The flowers that had adorned the tables were now wilted. There were bodies and scorch marks and overturned tables. I saw a group of women that had taunted me while they were throwing food at me.
I tossed one of the fireballs at them, then focused on the soldiers fighting what I surmised were members of the rebellion. They all wore battle gear similar to what I had on. My second fireball hit a soldier in the back of the head, making it pop like a grape.
