by Allie Santos
“He has an agenda,” Rian said, looking after the departing carriage
“Maybe they want to have their mating back to procreate?”
Tyran snorted and shook his head. “That’s the last thing that miscreant wants. Where the Fae became more reserved, the Elvin did the opposite.”
“They also have more female than male. They are fully opposite to us,” Ty said, emphasizing us. Smooth, Ty, real smooth.
“No, there is more at work with that one. We will need to prepare for the fallout of what you just agreed to. Because being tied to that man would be hell for any woman,” Cora said, and warmth spread through me at the support.
“I will have to go find the goblins and see what they say about a prophecy,” Conan said. Cora’s face tightened, and she grasped Conan’s hand. He looked down at her with a regretful look in his eyes. “Hopefully, I wouldn’t be gone too long.”
The damn prophecy was the bane of my existence.
“I wonder how Sabine and Roark’s darkling found the one line of the prophecy.”
“Darkling’s can do many things if they offer the right sacrifice,” Ty said, inching closer.
Cora’s lip curled. “Darklings.”
If Conan went to the human world, he could come back with an answer soon. Excitement slid through me.
The human world!
“Conan, could you do me a favor while you’re human-side? Could you check in on my sister?”
He smiled kindly and nodded. “Of course, Rae.”
Utterly relieved, I reminded myself to give him the address before he left. We all trudged back in the direction of the castle, Conan and Cora grasping onto each other while Conan and Rian talked strategy. For the most part, I tuned them out, but a word stuck out. Dragons were real? I hoped it was just some figure of speech…
Fingers crossed that he’d find something about the damn prophecy that had caused me so much shit. More importantly, I wanted good news on Annie when he came back. I missed her, and the gnawing ache to see her grew every day.
I rubbed the back of my neck and tried not to tense when Ty’s hand slid over my shoulder and squeezed. I smiled at him, grateful. “What was under the carriage pulling it?”
The featureless little dark creatures moving beneath it were terrifying.
“They’re gollums.”
“Oh.” That was all I offered in response because what could I say? As long as they didn’t appear to me in the thick of night rasping “My precious”, then I was gladly erasing them from my mind.
10
It was time.
I’d finally decided, after a month of being stuck here, relentlessly alternating between training and sleeping, I was going to give in to the comfort Ty brought me. And this time, I figured out how not to pull away just as things got hot and heavy.
Yes, it was dangerous, insane even, that I would tell Ty to use his power on me considering I fought against it during training. Now understanding how to distinguish between influence and my own decisions made me more comfortable with my mad decision.
My tipping point was waking up from yet another dream with Roark. The happy dream had morphed into a replay of all the damage he’d done, and it’d left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Raising my fist to the door, I paused. There would be no going back if I knocked on this door. If I passed the threshold, it would be with the full intention of going all the way with Ty.
Ty’s face flashed across my memory, and I squeezed my eyes shut as another tried to take his place. I focused all my attention on Tyran, pushing Roark away. He had been so good to me in the last month. He’d trained me with endless patience, and he’d dealt with my hot and cold attitude toward him wordlessly and with kind eyes. If I was giving my card up to anyone, at least I knew it would be a good man… or Fae.
It was only a matter of time that I attacked some unsuspecting Fae, anyway. These mounting hormones were no joke. Resolve once again fused me, and I brought my fist down on the door.
When there was no immediate response, my anxiety compounded. I smoothed my hands down my Fae-made shirt. The soft and airy material hugged me in all the right places. Not wanting to give myself enough time to lose my nerve, I reached for the doorknob.
“Sorry for barging—” My words got stuck in my throat at the sight of Ty’s smooth, golden skin as he tugged on his shirt. My mouth dried and desire built in my core.
Fae senses took over, and I was next to him in the blink of an eye, tugging his face down to mine. Our bodies met with a thud, and I wrapped my arms around him. Sensation drove me. My body wanted to be touched, caressed, loved.
I mentally shook the last word away and replaced it with pleasured. I wanted to be pleasured. I did not want to be loved. Romantic love wasn’t in the cards for me. Everyone I’d ever had in my life showed me that. Love faded, and I was done hoping for anything like that. The only love I needed was from my sister.
I groaned when Ty grabbed my ass and squeezed me closer to him, grinding against me. I lifted my leg and curled it around his waist. His hardness hit the perfect spot and elicited a deep moan. Shoving at his clothing, I managed to bare his chest.
“Are you sure?” he rasped and gripped my wrist.
“Yes. I want your touch.” I yanked my hand from his hold and placed it on his chest again.
“But every time something happens to—”
“Use your power on me.” I was breathless with want. The surprise in his eyes made me chuckle. I grinned, the sexual fiend taking over. “When you feel me getting cold, influence me back into desire.”
Taking another step forward, Ty stopped when he hit his bed. I pushed him down and straddled him. He tried slowing me down, and I felt a gentle caress across my face. I pulled back from his touch and jerked my shirt over my head.
The desire that had been building since I met him, the tormentor I didn’t want to think about, wanted out. It wanted to be satisfied, but underneath it all, anger swirled deep within my soul, poisoning me.
Ty settled back on the bed and looked up at me with a look I didn’t want to decipher. He tugged my bra to the side and bared me. I closed my eyes so I could block his face out. And as disgusting as it made me, I imagined another in his place.
Like all the other times we’d started getting heavy in our make-out sessions, usually after training, I knew what was coming.
I looked down with panic, and Ty understood. He narrowed his eyes and leaned up to cup my neck. I felt his influence infiltrate, and I let myself be overtaken even though I could fight it. Another spear of desire hit me. It was a foreign all-consuming sensation. It was more intense and edged with desperation. After a moment, I realized Ty was making me feel his desire.
Without another thought, I jumped on him. My bra was flung to the side in a quick motion, and then my bare chest was flush against his. I reached down to his pants and started shoving them down. His bulge rasped against my hand, and he let out a rough gasp.
Something crashed to the ground, and an unfamiliar gasp sounded out. I threw myself back and tipped off the bed. With a squeak, I landed on my butt, scrambling for linens to cover my bare chest. I looked for the source and found a tall, regal, purple-haired woman standing at the door, her face completely shocked.
As I scrambled to cover myself, I finally recognized the Fae who worked on the upkeep of the fortress. Her hair was an easily recognizable marker. Face crimson, I scrambled to collect my shirt and bra.
“Oh, I had no idea you were in here. I’m sorry, Tyran.” The woman named Cybel was visibly flustered.
I gave her my back as I shoved my arms through my t-shirt, not looking at Ty as I sprinted past her. I could have sworn she flicked an eyebrow up at me in reproach. Ty called after me, and I ignored him.
Rushing through the halls, I felt like smacking myself in the face. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I hadn’t been thinking clearly since that fateful day in Oregon when I’d been dragged through the portal and dumped into this damn world.
Feeling as if I managed to get far enough from Ty’s room, I leaned against the wall. My stomach whirled with anxiety. What the hell was wrong with me? I couldn’t keep doing that to Ty. It wasn’t right of me.
I never once thought of myself as a tease, but I was coming perilously close to being just that. Sure, this time, it wasn’t my fault, and I had the intention of going all the way, but maybe it was time for me to relax and let things fall where they may. I’d been seeking out ways to distract myself too much. And Ty was getting the short end of the stick.
After that first time Ty trained me and had been all touchy, I’d resolved to keep my distance. That lasted a while, but it was the damn hormones that kept breaking down my walls. Then there was Roark. And the never-ending ball in the pit of my stomach I woke with every morning.
First, it had been a gentle kiss that fused me with comfort, and that took weeks to happen. But gradually, I’d been worn down by Ty’s body, patience, and comforting words.
Oh, and also the fact that I wanted to get Roark out of my head in any way possible. He was an incessant ache in my chest. I had to actively work not to think about him. I hated how he always snuck back into my brain.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so weak to give into Ty, but he knew where I stood. He knew I was broken and wanted nothing more than comfort.
My hearing focused on shuffling steps, and a curse sounded. I followed the noise of scrapping and cursing, surprised someone was roaming this late. Usually, the only ones up were guards or Fae up to illicit activities.
I crept around the corner and peeked. Long brown hair held in a braid came into sight. She was the slight girl I had seen that first day Ty took me to the lookout room. The one with unreciprocated love on her face. I’d seen her around since then, but she always had her head down. She was quiet and stuck to the background. But I often caught her gazing at the big guard who seemed only to see her as a bothersome relation. She’d introduced herself once in passing, but I couldn’t remember her name.
“I’ve seen you around,” I said, stepping out.
“Good for you,” the female voice snapped as she turned around defensively. When she realized who I was, she nervously straightened and placed an object behind her back. “Oh, my Queen.” She looked behind me and, not seeing anyone there, frowned.
“Call me Rae, please.” The first month, it had been hell repeating myself, but eventually, I got most of everyone to call me Rae. I didn’t need that to stop, especially since it made me feel all sorts of uncomfortable.
She dipped her head in response.
“I forgot your name.” A blush stained my cheeks as I asked the question sheepishly.
“Gracelyn.”
I’d learned plenty about the Fae in my time here, but it still struck me as odd that last names didn’t exist in their culture. I tilted my head to get a better view of what she was hiding. “Are those knives?” Gracelyn met my eyes, and the truth reflected in her embarrassed gaze. “What are you doing at this time of night with knives?”
“Please, don’t tell anyone I was out.”
From what I knew about her, she looked after the guards’ weapons, cleaning and polishing them daily, while Cybel managed the house. Gracelyn and her redheaded friend, I thought her name was Lilith, were charged with the guards’ accommodations. It explained why I saw them that first day with the clothes. And from what I’d seen, Lilith took that job to a whole other level.
Her eyes flicked to the side, and she tensed, looking ready to bolt.
“Who are you hiding from?” I made sure my voice was hushed as I stared at her, waiting for her to spill.
She sighed and pursed her lips before talking. “I have to be sure to train during certain hours.” At my encouraging look, she slumped and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. She dropped her arms to the side, and the forearm-length daggers came into view. “I like training… but the guards, okay, a guard is not keen about it.” I couldn’t help but scoff. She smiled at the look on my face. “I know, ridiculous.”
“Is it ‘cuz you’re a girl?” As soon as the words passed my lips, I knew that couldn’t be the case. Sabine was in the guard.
“Partly. They think I need to stick to what my body was built for. Added to that, they think I’m too weak to be a guard.” Bitterness edged her words, and it roused the feminist in me.
Considering this little society in Faerie was stuck in time when there was last magic, the gender roles made sense. It was another little tidbit of information I’d gained from Ty’s and Cora’s incessant lessons when I wasn’t spaced out.
“Who’s the guard?”
“Flynn. He’s the Second.”
My expression twisted. What? “And Rian is the First.”
“He is. Flynn is his apprentice and takes his place whenever Rian is gone, which is often.” She gave me a pointed look. Wow, I was seriously selfish. So involved in my head that I hadn’t paid attention to the power structure the Fae adhered to. “This is the time he’s… otherwise occupied.” A bitterness crossed her expression. “The guard assigned to the surroundings of the castle grounds is a sort of friend, and he keeps away from the back of the castle because he knows I train at this time.”
The picture was starting to become clearer. Gracelyn wanted to fight, to be part of the guard, so she made sure to train when no one was around.
“If you don’t need anything else, I have to get my time in. I only have a short window.”
I followed after her when she walked away. She huffed but said nothing else when I bumped her shoulder. She was rather small, but at the same time, she seemed sturdy, like she could handle herself.
I’d never been in the direction she was leading, and as we weaved through some more hallways, I was led to a room with drying linens.
“But wait.” I stopped mid-step. “That means you have to do both your morning work and wake up at strange hours of the night to train, just because they don’t think you’re ever going to be good enough?”
Her jaw worked. Jerking her chin down, she pushed open a wooden side door hidden behind a pale sheet.
“Cora wasn’t joking when she said you guys were still living in the dark ages.”
“I know, but I hope when you manage to free magic, we’ll be able to modernize and bring Fae together again. Maybe we would be able to have more progress if we were able to explore the human world without fear.”
“You want to go to the human world?” Crisp air caressed my skin, and I inhaled when we stepped out.
Longing gleamed in her eyes. “I do, I wish I could escape out there. I wish I could disappear.”
I said nothing as the pain in her voice seeped into my conscience. She was in pain. My brain automatically jumped to the big-shouldered brute I saw her covet that day. Flynn. I stayed quiet because, more than anyone, I knew how that felt.
Gracelyn stopped soon after stepping out of the door. I frowned when all I saw was the towering wall that protected the castle. My eyes adjusted to the surroundings quickly. She reached her arms overhead and stretched to the side. I tensed when she lifted one of her daggers.
She was about to kill me.
Adrenaline rushed through me. As long as I’d been here, my fear had tapered only a smidge. Looked like I was right to doubt the kind façade they’d shown me so far.
I froze and closed my eyes, feeling helpless. I was an absolute moron for trusting Fae. They’d gotten my guard down just to kill me. Maybe this was why Cora kept telling me to get her if I wanted to go anywhere. My heart pounded in my ears. I could have ducked. Hell, I could have caused a storm, anything except stand there and take it.
A swoosh sounded, followed by a thump. I peeled my eyes open to find Gracelyn looking at me like I was insane. Looking in the direction her body was angled, I saw three human-shaped boards side by side, speared into the dirt. Right in the middle of the middle board, her dagger was embedded in the space where the heart would be on a person.
I gave her an amazed loo
k. She grinned wickedly and lifted her other arm. It went flying, and I looked at the same board. It was plunged into the neck. My mouth dropped.
“You must show me your ways.” I sounded breathless, but I couldn’t help it.
When Ty said he was going to train me, this was what I had in mind, not all those mental exercises he put me through. Gracelyn smirked. She knew she was good.
“Come on, Ty won’t train me to fight or defend myself.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s trying to help my focus.” And according to him, I was still too distracted.
She nibbled on her lip and flicked the long braid off her shoulder. “I do not know if that would be best.”
“Please.” I clasped my hands together. “You saw how pitiful I was. I would have just taken it if you were trying to kill me.”
“I’m sure Tyran will be showing you how to fight.”
I huffed at her words. “It won’t be until he thinks I should know, and who knows when that’ll be. I need to learn how to protect myself somehow. What if—” I couldn’t force the words out of my throat as fear and anger swirled in my stomach. I took a deep breath, reaching for calm. “Someone who’s hurt me is still out there, and if she ever comes back before I’ve learned to protect myself…” I trailed off, my heartbeat picking up again at the thought.
Her expression tensed with concentration, and she looked up at the dark, overcast sky. I wasn’t sure if she knew who I was talking about, but I could tell my words touched her. When resolve crossed her face, I knew I’d succeeded in reaching her.
“It involves a lot. There’s balance and moving certain muscles. It’s an art. Yes, you are Fae, and you’re already strong, but you have to learn and practice—a lot.”
It sounded like she was trying to sway me from it, but I just blinked at her.
“All right, let’s see what you have.” She bounded over to the daggers and jerked them out of the wood. She was next to me in the next second, reaching it out to me.
