by M. Dalto
“We don’t know. I have one, maybe two men still on the inside of the castle, and what news they’ve been able to get out is that Alexstrayna is not within the palace, though Crystal and Razen remain and have taken control.”
The Crown Prince bared his teeth. “Then why are we standing here?”
“Because we cannot do this alone, Treyan,” he said, finally handing him his sword, hilt first.
“And you’re telling me you just happen to have an army ready and waiting to storm the palace walls?” Treyan snapped back, grabbing the sword.
“I don’t,” he admitted. “But I know someone who does.”
Chapter Five
As Alex opened her eyes, moving her hand to rub them, she was quick to discover not only her wrists, but her ankles had also been shackled to the stone slab she lay upon.
Panic immediately coursed through her body, her fight-or-flight defenses kicking in, and all she wanted to do was find a way to flee. As she struggled against the restraints, their sharp edges dug into her until the iron cuffs cut against her skin.
Not again, not again, not again…
She would not allow herself to be used…not again.
“You’re less likely to injure yourself if you keep still,” a smooth voice purred from behind her. Her head whipped up in alarm—an action she instantly regretted as a blinding white light flashed behind her eyes, forcing her to shut them against it. The pain and the throbbing in her head returned tenfold, leaving her panting and speechless.
The stranger chuckled softly. “I would have expected more of a fight from you, Alexstrayna—I don’t know if I should be disappointed or not.”
She could hear him moving around her, closer; she couldn’t help but test the shackles again.
“I already told you,” he said flatly. “You’re not going anywhere.”
She opened her eyes and focused on the man standing above her. A small orb of dim light highlighted his features from where it hovered over his shoulder. He was much older than she, looking more like a grandfather than a threatening captor holding her prisoner in a darkened cell, and he was completely unfamiliar.
“Who are you?” she managed to get out, her voice hoarse.
“And old friend,” he replied with a grin.
She didn’t know him—she knew she didn’t—but something told her if she pressed the issue, she still wouldn’t get the answer she was looking for.
“Where am I?” she asked instead.
Another soft chuckle escaped the stranger’s lips as he glanced at the surrounding room. “I’d welcome you to my home, but I must say things have fallen into disrepair while I’ve been away.”
Alex took the opportunity to look around. Where was she?
And more importantly, why…
Why else would a male keep a female strapped down?
The panic tightened in her chest.
“Please,” she whispered to the man. “Please, don’t…”
His gaze returned to her, and she swore she saw a hint of red in his watchful eyes. He was from the Borderlands then. “What is it you think I want from you?” an amused grin forming on his lips.
“Please,” she repeated. “Please don’t touch me…”
His laugh echoed off the bare stone walls.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Alexstrayna—it’s not you I want.”
Her brows furrowed in question.
“And I assure you,” he continued, walking toward the end of the slab. “Should I feel that need—that urge—there won’t be a single thing you’ll be able to do to fight me off.”
The cold seeped into her bones at the threat, and she once more fought against the restraints.
His laughter only stopped when he raised a hand, aiming at her face.
“Try not to move,” he warned.
From his palm shot a dark ray of magic—pure power that slammed directly into the Mark on Alex’s forehead, forcing her head back against the stone slab beneath her. The Mark itself, already normally warm to the touch, grew in heat until it was burning; searing her skin from the inside out, causing a scream to erupt from her. The magic didn’t stop, the power kept growing, and the pain was like none she had ever felt before. Ripping and tearing through her, she was helpless against it, unable to move or to protect herself from it invading her very soul.
Just when she was ready to give up, to give him anything he wanted just to make it stop, the darkness dissipated, as did the metal cuffs holding her down. As soon as she was able, she pushed herself up so she was sitting, rubbing at her red, raw wrists as her eyes readjusted to the dimly lit room.
It was a cell without a window, and her gaze was pulled not toward the light, but what sat within.
For within that light, on a stone slab all her own, sat a woman.
Auburn hair, dark eyes—Alex could have sworn she was looking into a mirror.
Yet the look upon the woman’s face was sinister and exuded no kindness.
No happiness.
The strange woman’s countenance was dark and malicious, and it was focused wholly on her.
Behind those sneering lips shone white teeth that Alex swore ended in fang-like points.
When her eyes met those belonging to the woman, she froze in place with pure, undiluted fear.
At her widened eyes and bloodless pallor, the woman’s sneer turned into a devilish grin, and her eyes reflected acknowledgement as she held Alex’s stare.
Her voice…it ran as cold as ice water down Alex’s spine as she greeted her.
“Hello, Alexstrayna.”
Chapter Six
For the first time, Crystal could truly explore the Empire’s palace.
She wandered toward the now-deserted throne room, its golden throne glimmering in the suns’ light shining through well-placed windows all along the rear walls.
Her injuries hadn’t been faked, though her story about how she received them had been. Being unable to move from that infirmary bed as soon as she was ready had made her even more restless.
Razen warned her it would hurt as he smashed the borrowed paperweight against her wrist, then her ankle. She had insisted the mark on her face wouldn’t be enough, though it would make her story of abuse more believable. She instructed Razen as to the best places to break the bone while still allowing it to heal cleanly.
He often seemed to forget that she was a healer.
The worst part was walking on her broken ankle without the assistance of a crutch. Razen had only been able to bring her so far into the Empire without detection—she would need to walk on her own the rest of the way to make her claims more believable.
It was almost too easy.
She expected once she showed her face, they would lock her up in the palace’s dungeon, but that was the difference between the Empire and the Borderlands. Instead of being careful or cautious and interrogating her first, she was brought to the plush infirmary instead. Even after everything that had transpired between them, the Empire remained too damn trusting.
The healers tended to her wounds and fed her full-course meals, ensuring both she and her unborn child were safe and healthy. After that, she only needed to bide her time.
When Treyan came to her that first night, Crystal was certain they had discovered the truth. When his only questions were about where she came from and what she was doing there, she knew she still had time to complete her mission. Insisting that she would only speak to Alex was easy enough, and she knew the moment she gave the Empress the map of the Borderlands that the rest of her plan would be set in motion.
Alex did not disappoint.
There were no lies in the map she drew—she wanted them to know exactly where to go, and how to get there. The further they distanced themselves from the palace and the Empire, the sooner it would be too late for them to return when they realized their error.
Crystal expected that Alex would stay behind. No ruling family in their right mind would willingly send their Empress into the enemy’s han
ds, though the irony was not lost, given her current situation. Anyone else who remained with her was the least of Crystal’s concerns—Alex was the target, the goal.
Anyone else was expendable.
Once they were gone—the Crown Prince, the Lord Steward, and the rest—only then was it time to act.
Dispatching the two guards outside of her room was almost too easy. The Empire’s citizens continued to be too trusting with where they left their dinner knives. Finding Alex, however—that was far more difficult. Crystal didn’t know the layout of the palace beyond what she could check when the guard carried her to the infirmary on her arrival. She hadn’t had any training in the art of remaining unseen, but she stayed within the shadows well enough until she passed by a window that looked out over the palace’s gardens…
And there she was.
Crystal found Alex as she was talking to her Captain of the Guard, unaware of the fate that would soon befall her. Crystal continued to have her doubts, but Razen assured her that when the time was right, she wouldn’t need to worry about anyone else getting in the way. She only needed to keep the Empress in her sights, and the rest would fall into place.
He hadn’t been wrong.
She didn’t know who her assistant was, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He dispatched the Captain well enough and without detection. “Wait for Razen” was his only direction before he gathered an unconscious Alex in his arms and disappeared into thin air right before her eyes.
Not even a ‘thank you’ for the well-placed blow she had delivered to the Empress’ head.
Even so, Crystal waited.
She spent her time finally exploring the damn palace that might as well have been her prison while she waited. And waited. And waited.
She should have rested. As her abdomen expanded, she was losing her energy, but Crystal was never one to take it easy, and it was not the time to become lazy.
She brought a hand to her stomach at the thought. She’d felt the baby moving more often—she wondered if he had any idea of the world that awaited, or what would be expected of him once he took in that first breath of life-giving air.
The first true heir to the Borderlands.
The legacy that would grow with him would be incomparable to anything the Empire had ever seen.
It would be her child. Lexan’s, too, technically…but she and Razen, and their plans—they would be paramount to anything else. If Lexan ever thought about impeding on those plans…
Well, she would worry about Lexan when the time found itself upon them.
Even with the throne room empty, and the suns’ warm light seeping through the windows, it would have been a more pleasant room had the circumstances been different, and even more enjoyable, she was certain, if she was the one sitting on that throne.
With a sigh, she turned to leave, her hand running over the smooth, white marble of the room’s walls, wondering where else she could explore while she continued to wait.
“Leaving so soon?”
She whirled around at the sound of the familiar voice resounding off the walls.
Not present a moment before, Razen now sat in the Empire’s throne as if he owned it. The way he draped a booted leg over the arm of the throne itself, his arm draped along the top of it—it was almost too casual given their situation.
“What the hell took you so long?” she retorted, her tone laced with both annoyance and gratitude.
“There were some complications, but I came as soon as I could,” he replied, still uncharacteristically nonchalant, as if he was trying too hard to hide something. She’d find out soon enough, she decided, as she moved to stand at the foot of the dais.
“Perhaps next time you could tell your friend to be a little less thorough,” she said as she folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve had to make all my own meals—he could have at least left someone who knew how to cook.”
“My friend is thorough, and will be your friend, too, if you know what’s best for you.”
“Is that a threat?” she asked with a perked brow.
He merely shrugged his strong shoulders from where he lazed.
“So then, what caused your delay?” she pressed.
Razen held her gaze for a moment longer before he sighed, leaning back further. “They made it to the castle, just as we had hoped. Reylor, Sarayna, and Saratanya…”
“What about their new Emperor? And Treyan?”
An amused smirk played upon Razen’s lips. “Relax, Empress…or you’ll start sounding like you actually care.”
She glowered at him at that.
Razen swung his leg around and sat straighter. “Treyan is on his way, which is why I am here.”
“Then why the hell are we here and not preparing to stop him?”
“Because he is just one man, and we don’t have the armies.”
“Then what the hell are we going to do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” she countered incredulously.
He let out a smooth chuckle that ran along her skin, and she both hated him and wanted him for it.
“Thanks to my friend, the magic protecting this palace right now is like none the Empire has seen for centuries. Even Treyan won’t know what to do should he collide with it—if he survives the impact.”
Crystal’s jaw dropped slightly. Some friend indeed. It was against her better judgment to ask, but the words escaped before she could stop them. “What of Lexan?”
“I didn’t see him, and I truly don’t care,” he purred seductively, and Crystal walked up the steps toward her lover. He looked up at her once she was standing between his legs. “Since when do you care so much?”
She bit her lip as she looked at him, as his hands wrapped around her thighs and worked their way up to rub her ass through her borrowed leggings.
“It’s not a matter of caring,” she breathed out. “It’s a matter of preparing ourselves for what’s coming…”
At that, he tugged her closer, pulling her in until she was straddling his lap. Her hands gripped his shoulders while his hands rested on her sides.
“I can think of a few things I’d rather prepare us for,” he murmured as he leaned in to brush his lips against her neck.
With a shuddering breath, Crystal angled her neck to allow him better access, and any thoughts of Lexan, this new friend of theirs, or the whole damn Empire burned away with the heat that grew between her legs.
Chapter Seven
Not much had been said between Lexan and Jared since Sarayna and Reylor left, but Lexan couldn’t think of much to say, anyway. Not as he took up residence in the armchair by the low-burning fire while trying to ignore the male currently rummaging through his apartment.
It was a split-second decision, bringing them all to the Otherrealm, but they hadn’t had the time to waste on deciding on where else to go. Staying in the Empire would have been a fool’s errand, so the Otherrealm, though not the safest option, was the one that would give them the best chance and the most time. He hadn’t considered dropping them in his mother’s apartment—as an escape attempt went, it would have been too obvious, and Razen and Crystal would have realized the same. He hadn’t even considered Jared’s apartment, having never been there before, and they were out of other options…
Selfishly, the last thing he wanted was to bring Sarayna and Jared back to where they met, to the home Jared left behind, on the off chance he would decide never to leave again.
That was a risk Lexan was not willing to take.
He sighed as he leaned against the side, focusing on the flames as they danced in the fireplace. Here they were, a realm away from where they belonged. While Sarayna and Reylor visited his mother’s apartment for only the gods knew what, they had left him alone with his sister’s King Emperor…the only being in existence he wanted more than anything else in his lifetime.
The slamming of another cabinet had Lexan sitting up and glancing over his shoulder to the being in question. Strong arms an
d shoulders worked underneath his black shirt, and even though the lounge pants were loose, he could still make out the shape of his ass through the material…
Lexan had to look away before his thoughts grew as lustful as the length in his pants grew harder.
“So what did you do when you lived here?” Jared asked as he continued to move throughout the kitchen. “And what did you eat? There’s hardly anything in these cabinets.”
“I repaired electronics,” he sighed. “And I ate out. A lot.”
Another cabinet closed. “How the hell could you work on electronics when there’s not a single one of them from where you came from?”
“I’m a fast learner,” Lexan said levelly, still refusing to look at Jared out of fear of giving his thoughts of desire extra fodder. “And my magic helped.”
“What’s it like? Having magic.”
Lexan turned to face him at that. From the tone of the Emperor’s voice, it almost sounded like he was genuinely curious and wanted to know more about him.
Lexan refused to allow his hopes to rise.
Even as Jared leaned against the kitchen counter, arms folded across his chest, his gray eyes meeting Lexan’s as he waited for an answer.
The prince felt like he was at a crossroads: the longer he looked at Jared as he stood there, the more he realized he wanted to take that road less traveled.
He stood from his chair and walked toward the island, keeping it between them as a precaution. Still, Lexan wondered what would have happened in that cabin had Sarayna not returned when she did. How far would things have gone? Would Jared have sensed it too? Did he sense it now?
There was only one way to find out.
“The magic is almost like an extension of yourself,” Lexan explained as he braced his arms against the counter. “Like an extra hand to help you, or like an extra eye to see farther…like a dream that helps you see into someone else’s mind.”
Jared stood straighter at that, and Lexan’s heart almost pounded out of his chest.