by Kim Faulks
I dropped my gaze to the floor. The filthy floor. “If my allergies start playing up…” I shoved on either side, making enough room to kneel. “That’s the way, Lorn, let’s just crawl underneath everything and set the castle on fire.”
I shoved aside the heavy canvas and stared at the gap underneath the almost-toppling stack of chairs. There was enough room; if I went feet first, I could balance the torch.
I moved to my knees and then lay flat on my belly against the floor. Dust flooded my nose, making me twitch. I gripped the torch and scurried backwards, using my feet to guide me through the chairs until I reached the other side.
I shoved aside the blankets, making sure the torch was off the ground, then shoved to my knees and stood. I still had to reach, still had to climb, but I could get there.
The brass handle of the door squawked as I twisted the latch and worked the bolt free. One push and the glass door swung open. I’d never been so happy to smell the frigid Unseelie air, and taste that foulness once more.
I lifted my gaze to the darkness, catching the shift of shadows in the distance. “Don’t tell me I’m actually starting to get used to this goddamn place.”
I stumbled, climbed, and slid over the last of the furnishings before stepping through the open door. The Unseelie forest waited in the distance. My mind returned to the reason I was here. The silver stag. “Okay, if I was a silver stag in the middle of a black forest, where would I be?”
Pebbles crunched under my boots as I strode out from the side entrance. The hard rise of stairs leading to the front door was to my right. Nothing but darkness lay to my left. The Unseelie forest closed in around the castle grounds like a fist. So where were all the people?
Where were all the creatures?
Hiding.
The word seemed to come from nowhere. It felt right. God knows it felt right. As hated and as feared as the Unseelie people were, I didn’t blame them one bit from hiding from a royal line like that.
I shone the light in the darkness, and cut across the castle grounds back toward the forest where I last saw the stag. Leaves rustled in the thicket, and the snap of a twig made me twitch and scan the shadows. My arm and thigh still stung from the last jaunt through this fucking death trap.
I searched for the hag and the faint white light of the stag, and moved closer toward the tree line. The forest stretched out for miles in both directions. The damn thing could be anywhere.
But time was ticking. Every second Redemption spent with her was a second too long. “Come on, please.”
I started walking, keeping to the edge of the forest and peering into nothing. Something slithered along the ground not far from my feet. My pulse quickened as I gripped the torch tighter. “Come on, piece of shit. I’ll lawn mower your ass into oblivion.”
But the thorny tendrils kept to the darkness. I left them behind as I walked further, out past where I’d been before. Something snarled to my left. I took a step, and heard a twig snap. Shadows shifted, moving as I stepped.
I lifted the torch, but the light didn’t reach as far now. I glanced to the woven fabric that was nothing more than strips of glowing cinders. “Fuck it.”
I looked over my shoulder at the Queen’s castle in the distance. Too late to go back, but it was dangerous to keep going.
The creature snarled once more, urging me almost. Make a goddamn decision, bitch. Stand and fight, or run like a coward.
I’d been running for so long I’d forgotten that I had a choice to stand and fight. I’d forgotten what it felt like to seize that power of one’s own fate and weild it like a fucking sword.
I turned my head to stare at the inky outline in the dark. There were creatures in this Unseelie world…the kind I’d never seen before and never will see again. Vile creatures, ugly creatures. Creatures so sickening they’d steal the warmth from my blood.
But I’d face them all…for Redemption.
Chapter Fourteen
Redemption
The guard behind me punched my shoulder once more. I lurched, feet fighting to keep the momentum, and smacked into the guard at my front.
My fists were clenched by my side. There was once a time I would’ve killed the guard for touching me…even thinking about touching me.
There was once a time I would’ve killed them all.
When the Unseelie warrior Redemption had nothing to live for…
But that was before Lorn. That was another lifetime ago. I sucked in the cold, stagnant air of this place and kept walking down the stony steps to the private rooms the Queen kept for herself.
“You’ve kept yourself locked away for so very long, haven’t you, Mab?” I murmured. “You’ve kept the darkness locked away.”
There wasn’t an answer. I never expected one, not here, not now. But she would answer, in the privacy of her dark rooms, she’d answer…and I’d pay dearly when she did.
But I was pushing her, letting her taste how it’d been with us all those years ago. How she turned a plaything into a beast and then unleashed it upon the world.
How she’d broken me in ways she couldn’t fathom, and now the pieces were worn and honed…razor fucking sharp.
Be careful, my Queen. Be very careful indeed.
Dark Unseelie power crammed the hallway, it came live with a crack of energy, buzzing almost. The hairs on my arm stood on end as the heavy wooden door at the end of the east wing hallway slowly opened. Hinges howled and screamed, sending a shiver along my spine.
“The castle remembers you,” the Queen murmured behind me. “She knows you’ve returned to us.”
Us…
I clenched my jaw and fought the urge to smile. Mab could play all she wanted. I’d endure it all, and then slowly she’d forget about Lorn. “It seems so,” I answered and stared into that yawning pit of darkness. “I wonder what else these walls remember?”
Her breath blew cold like a December wind against my skin. “Why don’t we find out?”
The guard in front slowed, his steps stuttering as he neared the doorway.
“Boroch and Hunter may bring the prisoner into my chambers. The rest of you will remain out here.”
The thunder of boots died away as the remainder of the Queen’s guard stopped at the doorway. My thighs were already trembling, ready for the curved staircase of tiny steps that would lead me down into the bowels of the Unseelie castle.
Others always thought the cells were the darkest and most haunting of our realm. But the cells were outer fringes of the network of tunnels that started right here…right under my feet.
Like a spides web, the circle started from somewhere, and it was her lair…her dark, terrifying lair. I tried to inhale, tried to find the steel in my spine. I couldn’t falter now.
Not when I was so close.
“Do you remember all the good times we had down there, Redemption?”
She taunted me, conjuring the sound of my own screams still trapped inside my head. Screams from so long ago… “No,” I answered. “I don’t remember them at all.”
My knees trembled, but still I strode forward, leaving the fucking bitch to flinch from my words. This was the game. The battle of wills where one of us would break.
But which one? I kept my hands away from the rock wall as I took the first step, and then another. A torch came to life in front of me, high up on the wall, the yellow glow illuminating the stairs of the carved obsidian rock.
“I told you the castle remembered,” the words drifted down. “She’s welcoming you back.”
Step after step…deeper into the spider’s web I went, and the deeper I strode, the more torches came to life, flaring against the shimmering facets of obsidian rock.
Lorn filled my head. Her rage, her fire. So black and white. She didn’t understand the game…so how could she play against someone like Mab?
The bitch had been sharpening her claws on this fucking rock she called a home since the day I escaped. She tried to lure me back to the Unseelie realm once. It was y
ears after I fled…right around the time I met Lorn.
Right around the time I fell in love with Lorn, you mean…
Tiny sharp edges of the stony wall tore the threads on my shirt. The gaping holes ripped wider with each step until the cold air of the Queen’s dark rooms seeped in. My body shuddered, nipples hardened, and for a second, I was back in the bowels of Hell, walking down to where the sickest motherfuckers lived.
Where Absolon lived.
Over here, lover. The Lorn Demon’s whispers echoed in my head. I focused on the stairs, taking them slowly as heavy footsteps echoed above.
I wondered how many times her new lover had been down here, or did she keep the est of her shadowed self especially for me?
A jutting rock scraped my arm as I hit the last stair, tearing skin. I swallowed the hiss and then stopped. Footsteps echoed above. Close, but not too close.
“Move,” the guard she called Boroch snarled.
I caught the tremor of fear in his tone, and turned. He was the same guard who spoke to Lorn, and showed her kindness.
A flare of jealously cut through me deeper than any slash of a sword. Dark eyes glinted in the orange flame as the mountain of a man stepped down the last stair to stand behind me.
I searched his gaze, finding nothing but panic. There was no hate for me, only pity. I turned away. Maybe he had been down here after all.
“Into the room,” the Queen snarled.
The other guard stepped down from the stony staircase to stare into the gloom. His chest rose and fell way too fast, muscles jittered and shook.
“It has a certain charm, doesn’t it?” I murmured.
He jerked his gaze to me and then back to the emptiness.
The power of this room waited like a ravenous beast. It was always hungry…always desperate for one more scream, one more brutal fucking act. I felt it down in my gut, twisting and turning…and so did the Queen’s guard.
“Now,” she growled.
But Boroch and Hunter never moved, they stared into nothing, frozen with fear. Fight her, the need rose. Kill the bitch if you have to. But that wouldn’t release Lorn from the power over this realm. She’d be trapped here forever…just like I was.
I took a slow step, locking my knees to stop them from buckling, and moved deeper into the shadows. I knew where the door was…knew everything about this place.
Boots scuffed the ground. They followed, Boroch first, and then the other, until they flanked me on both sides just like we were headed to war.
But this wasn’t battle, this was torture. I reached out, grasped the cold steel handle of the door and opened it.
Torches flared to life inside the room. There was a bed on one side of the room, hard up against the wall. But it was the two shackles hanging from the ceiling on the other side that gripped me with fear. I could smell the tang of iron from here.
“Chain him,” the Queen snarled.
I closed my eyes for a second, swallowing the whimper trapped in the back of my throat.
“My Queen…” Hunter murmured. “The shackles are…”
“—iron,” I answered for him. “And our Queen knows exactly what the shackles are made of,” I turned to find her as she stepped through the open door. “Don’t you?”
Yellow light flickered from the torches against the wall, burning brighter as she entered, as though she didn’t want to miss a twitch of pain, or a bead of blood. “Yes,” she answered. “I know exactly what they are.”
I forced myself to move. To fight her would only make this worse. I stepped closer, lifting my arms toward the gaping mouths of the iron shackles.
“It’s okay, I’ll do it,” Boroch growled, and moved with me, skirting the hanging chains to stop on the other side. “You ready for this, brother?”
He lifted his gaze, and for a second, I thought I’d misheard. This warrior should hate me. I was the deserter…I was the betrayer. But as I looked into his eyes, I saw the truth. He’d escape, too, given the chance.
To him I wasn’t someone to loathe. To him I was…hope.
I gave a nod and rose onto the balls of my feet, fists clenched, ready for the sear of pain. I didn’t have to wait long. The burning hiss filled the room. I closed my eyes, waiting for the roar of agony, and a whimper filled the room.
But it wasn’t from me. I opened my eyes to see Boroch gripping the shackles with his bare hands.
“Use the gloves,” the Queen snarled. “Incompetent fool.”
But he refused, eyes shimmering as his face reddened. “No.”
I knew what he was doing…and knew it was fucking useless. I stepped closer, reaching up to grasp the metal from his hands.
The sickening hiss of burning skin filled my ears. I clenched my jaw and my hold, snapping the shackle shut around my wrist. “Use the fucking gloves.”
The stubborn sonofabitch shook his head as he locked the iron clamps in place with the twist of the key.
We stared at each other, taking and giving strength as we bared our teeth at each other. But it wasn’t us we wanted to battle. It was the pain…and her. I shoved my wrist toward the other shackle, this time unable to close the cuff around my wrist.
Boroch pulled the key free and stepped closer, shoving it into the lock and turned. Click. Heat raced, searing pain along my arms until I couldn’t feel anything else.
“That’s better, chained like a dog. Are you a dog, Redemption?” She stepped closer, never once taking her eyes off my hands.
Slick tears slipped from my eyes to slide down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard I tried.
“You thought I’d just let you back into my world…into my life, without consequences…”
A whimper slipped free as my feet trembled and my arches ached. Words wouldn’t come…not in this room.
Glass vials chinked and clattered. She moved closer, lifting the vial of clear liquid in her hand. The other hand reached out, tapered nails trailing down my chest and stomach, to still at my waist. “You left me,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “You betrayed me. No one else. I called for you…I begged for you…I sacrificed everything for you, and yet you stayed with her.”
“I never slept with her again after my promise to you,” the words sounded weak and pathetic.
“But you love her,” Mab snarled as she dropped her hand to my belt buckle. “You still love her.”
“Yes, I love her. But she doesn’t love me. She moved on, she has others now…others who love her just like I do.”
She yanked my buckle, making me jerk. Fresh skin sizzled against the shackle. “Say that you love me.”
I swallowed and readied myself for the pain. This was it…the mask now slipped. This was the real woman, the one who needed…who begged. “No.”
Her fingers moved lower, pressing my zipper against my cock as she worked the button of my jeans. “Tell me you love me.”
I lowered my gaze, searching her eyes for mercy, and found none. “I don’t love you, Mab. I never did.”
It’d be so easy to lie. To tell her what she wanted. But one slip and she’d know. One slip and it’d all be over…me…Lorn…everything.
Cool air licked my skin as my jeans clattered to the ground, leaving me bare…and soft. Mab lifted the vial and stared into its shimmering depths. “You know what this is, don’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
“You know…I fed it to you once before. You’ve tasted Ana-miann and you survived. It was the best sex of my life with you that night. You rode this body over and over until you rubbed me raw and I begged you to stop. That was just a drop, you know. Just one tiny drop and it turned you into an animal. I wonder what five drops would do?”
A moan tore from my chest, sounding raw and guttural. My knees trembled, locking and unlocking as she reached for the stopper.
“No,” word was a plea…a pathetic fucking plea. “Don’t do this.”
“Hold him,” she commanded.
The two guards at my side didn’t
move, only stared as the vial in her hand shimmered. She lifted her head, cut her gaze to either side. “I said hold him. Unless you’d both like to take his place?”
There was a shuffle, and hands gripped me tight.
“I’m sorry,” Boroch murmured. “Forgive me.”
“Open his mouth, and tilt his head back,” she barked.
They hesitated for a second before self-preservation kicked in. I turned my head, meeting Boroch’s gaze. “Remember this…” I warned.
It was enough. It was e-fucking-nough. I’d kill him over this if I survived, and he’d probably welcome the blow with open arms. He gripped my jaw, hard fingers grinding until my jaw ached.
I thrashed my arms, yanking on the chains until a cry ripped free. Warmth slipped from my wrists. I didn’t need to turn my head to know what it was. The coppery scent of warm blood filled the room, and with it the musty scent of desire.
“That’s it,” she urged as Hunter fisted my hair and dragged my head backwards.
My vision blurred under the strain as I fought. But there was nowhere to go, not with my wrists clamped in iron chains. I lifted my foot to lash out, and Boroch caught the movement. He stepped to the side, blocking a blow not meant for him.
“Hold him,” the bitch snarled as the dropper came into view.
No, fear took the reins now. I wrenched my body, twisting, yanking. Long nails scratched my skin as she gripped my throat. The memories came flooding back to another time…and another room. To where the high caste Unseelie laughed and dined in their finest and watched a young warrior fuck his Queen.
Mab, he’s delightful…
The woman’s words slipped through the cracks of the wall inside my mind. A wall I’d built, tending to the fissures and the steel with painstaking care.
The drops hit my lips…one…two…three…four…five.
The Queen squeezed her grip around my throat tighter. Fire flared in my face, burning as the bitter taste slipped into my mouth. “No,” a wheeze tore free… “No…”