Arriving at Mickey's house I knock the three times required to let them know I'm a friend, not a foe. Within seconds the door is pulled open, revealing the witch I am here for.
"Come in, Victor darling," moving into the house Mickey turns to me, "I’m afraid I can't help you with anything magic wise. My power is tapped out trying to grow Will's arm."
William sits on the sofa as I enter the room, his stump raised in a cushion, sweat beading across his brow.
"Victor, come to beg me to take you back?" he utters, a fake smile on his lips.
"Never," I seethe, "I am quite happy with my Queen. It is Leyland, he is missing." I speak louder and more forcefully than I ever have to him. William pretends to be shocked but I've known him long enough to know he's lying. Trying to convince me to stay, he says, "Now come sit, dear Vic. For old time’s sake?"
Rolling my eyes, I turn and walk from the house. If Everly had heard him say that, she would have poked his eyes out. Mickey can’t help with his magic, there is no need for me to remain here with that foul piece of shit.
Chapter Twenty
LEYLAND
Something isn't right here. Selina claims I am her king and yet here I sit, behind bars. I don't even know how long I've been here, but with each hour that passes, something inside just doesn't feel right. Honestly, I want to go home. But I have no idea where home is, or even if I have one.
The woman walks through the door across from my cell.
"Everything is set, Leyland, the wedding will be held this evening," she says, opening my cage and slipping in. I sit up on my cot in the corner, my eyes on her.
"Hmm, how about a little wedding night taster?" she says, sitting in my lap. She doesn't need to remove any clothes because none have been given to me, the others were wet. Wrapping her long fingers around the base of my dick, she whispers, "I want this inside me, boy." Pushing her hand off me, I stand, sending her falling to the floor. "You dare treat your Queen this way?" Her scream echoes off the stone walls. She twists her hand in front of her, I am unable to move my body. She flicks a finger along the underside of my dick, making it flop around. She kneels before me. "I will just take what I want." Her forked tongue flicks out and licks me. Egh, no way this bitch is my Queen. "Hmm, that's right, get hard for your Queen." Unbidden, my cock stands to attention. As she takes the tip of me in her mouth, I close my eyes. But not from pleasure, no, from disgust. Tutting she stands, "Useless. I want you hard without magic, boy. Never mind, once we are married you will want me and then ... I will make you beg for it." She jumps to her feet, as if her legs are made of springs. She sneers the last part at me, her hand flies out and strikes the side of my face. Bitch. With that, she turns on her heel and walks back out of the door she came in. Only then, am I able to move. I go to the tiny sink on the white stone wall and wash myself.
No. Not my Queen. I need to get out of here, the ache in my chest threatens to squeeze my heart until it bursts. I can't remember who I am, but I know I am not destined to be with that—Fae! No. Something, someone out there is missing me and I'm missing them. I feel it in my soul. The door opens once again and a very dark man walks in. He says something I don't understand and then it's lights out.
WHEN I WAKE AGAIN I'm tied to something hard. It's freezing in the all-white room,which seems to be Selina`s preferred choice of decor and temperature. The umber-skinned man stands before me, Selina at his side.
"I tried, I really did, Leyland. But you force this from me." Selina states simply. The first time the whip cracks against my skin, I pass out.
Everly
I bolt upright, tears pouring from my eyes, heart racing. Leyland. "Wake up! Everyone wake up!" I shake Karl's arm, then I turn and do the same to Garrot.
Sleepily Karl says, "What?"
"Huh?" Garrot groans.
I jump from the bed and scream as another flash of agony lances through my body. "Leyland! I feel you," I grab my clothes and start dressing, stabbing my legs into blue joggers and pulling a white long sleeved t-shirt over my head.
"You feel him?" Karl asks, shocked but hopeful. I nod because I can't get any words out. I found him. I can feel him. I'm coming Leyland, hold on. Not stopping to make sure the guys are following me, I run down the stairs and grab my keys off the hook by the door and race to my car. I slam my door closed as soon as my leg is clear, starting her up, Garrot climbs in beside me. Behind us I hear the jeep start up. Karl and Vic can't fit into my car, so they are taking Garrot's jeep. I immediately slam my foot down on the accelerator and we are thrown back in our seats.
"Where?" Gar asks impatiently.
"I don't know, but I'm being drawn to him. Gar..." I sob, he's in so much pain. "He's being tortured."
"Fuck!" he seethes.
Karl and Vic are behind me as we pull into the motorway, then weave in and out of traffic as I speed towards where my heart is pulling me. I'm following the soft pink light as it guides me into York. It's faint, like a piece of cotton floating in the air. We drive too quickly down country lanes, no lights to guide our way we risk getting into a crash without regret. The need to find Leyland too strong to take care. I slam on the breaks as the pink string suddenly stops. Climbing out of my car, I look around, trying to find it again. I can hardly breathe, the pressure in my chest almost suffocating me. I’m in the middle of a panic attack but I don't have time to stop and recover because there... I see it. The faint pink string shoots around the corner of what looks like an old abandoned mill. I sprint after it, not even thinking. I don’t trip or fall as my feet eat up the distance between me and the building that my heart tells me Leyland is trapped in.
"Stop Ever, it could be a trap," Karl calls from behind me. But all I can think is that I've got to find Le. My Le. The light disappears into the boarded-up door of the huge building. Just as I'm about to pull the wood off, Karl grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around. "Baby girl, this could be a trap. We have no idea what is behind this door."
"Leyland. Le is behind this door, Karl." I yell at him, trying to wiggle out of his grip.
"That may be, my Queen, but this building could be filled with armed enemies. We can't allow you to rush in there," Vic demands, his huge body is so close, I can feel the heat radiating off him.
"Fuck this," I say. Turning, wrenching myself out of Karl’s hands, I kick my foot into the wood, snapping it in half. I try to pry the door behind it open. Shit! It's not working. I run my hands through my hair, about to scream to the sky, just as the door is pulled from its hinges and it floats to the side. Noiselessly.
"Let's go," Garrot says from beside me. He used his power to pry off the door that I couldn’t budge. Together we enter the building. Only, it's not the abandoned mill I thought it was, like it looks from the outside. Inside, it looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Everything is white, shiny, and not a soul can be seen.
"Shit!" I shout in frustration. The place looked massive from the outside, inside there are four corridors to choose from. Which way?
"Spread out, Ever, you’re with me, Garrot with Victor. Shout if you find anything." Karl goes into commander mode and I've never been more grateful for it. Together Karl and I walk down the hall on the left, Gar and Vic to the right. As we walk we check more doors than I can count. Most of them are unlocked, nothing in the rooms behind them. The pink light seems to have abandoned me.
Mentally I call for Leyland. Baby, where are you? Talk to me. Le please.
"There!" I call louder than I should have, because a very dark man walks around the corner and sees us. The pink light is back! Luckily for me, Karl brought his sword. He rushes towards the man, sword raised and a sneer on his face. As they fight with each other, I slip around them, following the light to my Le. "Leyland?" I call out as I walk quickly down another corridor of doors. I don't have time to search them all. Please be in one of these rooms. I push the last door open and walk inside. A hand reaches out from nowhere and grabs my throat. Cutting off my air supply. Oh shit!
&nbs
p; "If you are here to take me to the wedding, I'm afraid that's not happening." a gravelly male voice seethes next to my ear.
Chapter Twenty-One
GARROT
The guy with the umber skin slams his elbow into the back of my head and my world spins. I drop my broadsword on the floor and my vision goes blurry.
"You think you can just walk into my Queen's home? What an idiot," the guy says as he uses the toe of his boot to push me over. I land face first onto the shiny white floor. Ow. "You stink of electricity, boy. Huh, the Fae despise your kind, I'm going to enjoy this," he says as he plants his boot onto the side of my head and pushes down.
"Arrgh." The weight and power behind him crushes down on my skull.
"Sissy," he sneers and lifts his foot then brings it down onto my head again. I hear a crack. I manage to twist my left hand and make a small sweeping motion with my fingers. With a crunch, he slams into the wall, and I start to push myself off the floor only to slump back down. Something sharp digs into my spine and I freeze. "That hurt little bitch, now you're going to die quicker than I'd like," the dark man snaps. Just as the pressure of the blade digs deeper into my flesh, I hear the unmistakable sound of Victor punching his fist through the man's back and suddenly I have blood raining down on me.
"Don't mess with my brethren, fiend," Victor seethes. Ah Vic, you beautiful beast! Turning my body over, I see him fling the body down the hall and throw the heart in his fist against the wall. Where it splatters and slides down.
"Great timing, pal," I say, wincing as he pulls me to my feet. I twist my head to see blood running freely down my back. Shit, seconds from death and the beast saves me. Just then, Karl bolts round the corner, sword raised.
"Oh, thank fuck. Where is Ever?" he says wobbling on his feet, clearly he's been in a battle himself, his sword is covered in blood, his arm is slashed and blood runs down his arm, off his fingers, dripping onto the floor.
"The fuck you mean? She went with you, fuck face!" I grind out between clenched teeth. He lost Ever?
"Got separated. She went to look for Leyland. Let's go!" He jogs down a corridor and we follow close behind. The screams of a woman echo off the walls ... Everly ... Shit.
"Everly!" we all shout at the same time. Taking off at a run in the direction of the scream, I notice there is blood splatter everywhere. What the fuck? Must be Karl's work. At the end of the hall a door is open, and we all run to it. As we enter the room, the scene before us makes me almost shit my pants.
Leyland has Everly by the throat, her legs dangling in the air. He's naked, covered in whip lashes that ooze blood. His entire body is one big, black bruise. Everly’s face is bright red, her eyes filled with horror, unable to speak as Leyland squeezes her airway. All that comes out is a wheeze when she tries to talk.
"What the fuck, Leyland! Put her fucking down, right now, before I am forced to kill you," Karl grinds out. Ever tries to say something again but all that comes out is a whimper. Vic takes a step forward and Leyland pushes her further up the wall he has her pinned against. Her face is going purple. Shit, she doesn’t have long before she will pass out.
"Let her down, brother, please. Look at her, she can't breathe." I try to talk Leyland out of hurting her. Some serious shit has obviously gone down here. Leyland would never hurt Everly like this. He turns to look at our girl, not a trace of recognition in his eyes. Slowly, he lowers her to the floor.
Victor
Everly's favourite has her by the neck, and my whole body screams for me to pulverise him. She'd never forgive me, though. Instead, I clamp my fists at my sides, as he lowers her to the ground, to prevent myself from breaking every bone in his body. She gasps for air and my legs take me to her before I think about it. That's when Leyland’s wings burst from his back and smack me in the face. Which in turn makes me stumble into Everly and we both crash to the floor.
"Ow. Shit you weight as much as a bloody car!" she squeals from under me. I prop myself up so I don't crush her.
"Sorry, sorry." Ah shit, I'm a fucking idiot.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Leyland grinds out. He doesn't remember? I pull Everly to me, her throat is bruised but she is breathing. Thank the Gods.
"Leyland, it's us," Everly says hoarsely, as she pushes against my chest to make me stand faster. "Your family," she adds on a sob that tears at my heart.
"I don't know any of you," he fires back angrily. I may not have known him long, but I know this isn't like him.
"Lele?" Garrot speaks for the first time. Leyland’s head whips to his brother’s face.
"Eh?" Leyland says in confusion. His whole body is shaking, tears on the brink of falling from his eyes.
"Oh, Le, no!" Everly cries out. It's clear now that Leyland has no memory of the four of us.
"We need to leave, now," Karl orders. He pops his head out of the door and scans the hallway.
"Someone will be coming. I'm meant to be getting wed," Leyland says, surprising the shit out of us all. We rush out of the small room as fast as we can. Running down the hall, we burst through a set of double doors and into what appears to be a chapel. Flowers are everywhere, on every surface. Hanging from the ceiling and over an arch at the back of the room. We all put two and two together at the same time, if the gasps and curses are any indication.
"Wedding? Who the fuck you marrying, Lele?" Garrot’s shout echoes off the high ceiling.
"Me," a feminine voice announces as she steps from a door on the left wall. "What are you doing with my King? And where is Tahoe?" she asks. Seemingly not afraid of the four warriors in front of her. Garrot speaks up first.
"The fuck is this?" he lifts his arms, indicating the room around us.
Then Karl says, "We don't think so lady. He is not yours."
Everly indignantly says, "You, are you the one who did this to our man?" Her small body shakes. I reach my hand out to capture hers, but miss as she walks forward towards the crazy woman.
“Who the fuck are you?” Everly demands, Karl, Garrot and I step back, Garrot uses his arm to usher Leyland back as Everly advances on the freakishly thin woman with floor length purple hair.
“I am Princess Selina, of the Fae. My domain is the EverLands, and he,” her jerks her pointed chin towards Leyland, who stares in absolute hatred at the Fae, “is my ticket to the kingdom. He is to be my King, to give me heirs. And you will not stand in my way, humans.” she raises her hands, her fingers twice as long as they should be, and black light begins to pour from the tips.
“If he is your King, why did you harm him? And why can’t he remember us?” Everly brings her own hands up in front of her, silver light pulses from her whole body, like waves on the shore.
"He wouldn't please me. He forced my hand," she says, a millisecond before she screams out in agony. Everly’s head whips around to look at Leyland, he nods. Confirming what the Fae said to be true. That is when Everly snaps.
"You fucked up piece of shit!" Everly calls out so loud I think people in New York heard her, "You dare hurt one of my consorts?" The woman is now on the floor, writhing in pain. "He's mine! I'm his! You took him from me. You tortured him!" The sound of bones snapping rents the air, and the woman's screams get louder.
"She tried to—she ..." Leyland stutters.
"She raped you?" Everly turns to him again, and we all see that tears are flowing freely down her face, dropping onto the front of her t-shirt.
Looking like he was about to burst into tears, Leyland answers in a quiet voice. "Tried." And that's when Everly really loses her shit.
Chapter Twenty-Two
KARL
"Tried." Leyland’s voice is small and broken. My anger wells inside of me, about to burst from my chest, when Everly bellows out a battle cry. The woman on the floor explodes. Blood and gore fly through the air, splattering over us. We stand there, shocked for a few moments. Everly just blew up a dark Fae with her mind, fuck me. I grab Leyland’s and Everly’s hands and pull them from the room.
We rush through the hallways, my mind telling me which way to turn in order to get out of this gods-forsaken place, and out of the building. I don’t stop running, pulling them with me, until the building is far behind us. Panting, the others slump to the floor some twenty feet from the warehouse. I take a knee and plant the tips of my fingers on the ground, "Take it. Bury it so deep, it will never be found," I ask the Earth.
Ear splitting cracks rent the night and the Earth opens up around the building. It rises into the air and closes around the roof tiles. Then collapses in on itself, taking the old mill with it. Garrot holds out his hands and prevents debris from reaching us as they break away from the earth. The sound is surely going to attract attention.
Turning to my family, I say, "We must leave. Back to the cars. Move." I help Everly and Leyland up. The five of us sprint back to the cars. "Le, go with Ever. You too, Garrot. He needs you both."
The dark cloud on his face tells me he has been through some shit. He needs Everly and Garrot now more than ever.
BY THE TIME WE GET back to the house the sun is rising, its pink and orange beautiful a contrast to how we all feel inside, we found Leyland, but he doesn't remember us, and he was tortured before we could find him. Everly's car is already parked outside the house and the three of them just sit there, making no move to get out.
"Leave them, Vic," I say as he climbs out of the jeep and begins to make his way to them. "They need food and rest. I'll get the food. Can you do me a favour?" I ask him. Nodding, he strides back to me. Seemingly not surprised I'm asking for his help, his face blank of any expression or emotion. "Can you contact Amphitrite?" I rest my hands on my hips, I feel like the world is on my shoulders. A feeling I've come to know well.
The Everly Davis chronicles Page 31