by Nikki Hunter
“I’m feeling mighty chivalrous today. You first.” The cocky grin that graced his lips from within his burly beard struck a chord with Camila. As part of the jin, she had worked with cocky fucks before and she wasn’t very into that overly confident attitude. Confidence was a fine line that men walked to make themselves more attractive and this man had crossed the line into arrogant bastard as it would appear.
Bringing her gaze up to lock with his, she smiled prettily, mischief danced in her eyes. “I’ve never been general nor can I grow a beard—“
“That’s enough.” Vargan shook his head. “‘Come on. Tell the truth. Why does Queen Katrice have so much interest in you?”
Camila paused. Laughter outside the tent roared in their silence. Vargan stood, ignoring the noise, walked around the desk and perched himself on the edge, and lifted his hands in question.
“I haven't a clue why your queen would have interest in me.” She stopped, looking at her nails again before she folded her arms back over her chest still clad in black armor.
“You’re lying through your teeth.”
“Maybe she’s jealous of me. I’m awfully good looking don’t you think?”
“I’ve seen better,” Vargan said in dismissal. “Other than your obvious good looks?”
“I have... had five very attractive mates.”
“Five!” Vargan spewed with a laugh. “That is mighty ridiculous don’t you think? Must have its perks in the bedroom, though.”
“You would think that.” Camila wagged her finger at him. She certainly thought it at first. “But in reality it’s a lot more tiring, more like trying to train five deadly dinosaurs to love you.”
“Mmm.” Vargan nodded his brows lifting in confusion even though he didn’t ask the question. Slowly he stood from the empty desk, with each step his armor whispered.
Camila steadied her breath as he approached her, clenching her hands into fists as to keep the nerves from shaking out of her.
“What makes you so special you get five mates while everyone else gets just the one? Mmm?” His onyx eyes narrowed. “You’ll stay in here. I’ll have a bed brought in. Two guards will be outside at all times and your friend, Jenk, will be in periodically to keep your powers at bay.”
She blinked up at him, at his stern features. Vargan stood, staring back at her for a minute before he spoke quietly.
“Do you remember my name?”
Camila nodded.
“Say it,” he whispered harshly.
“Vargan.” Her voice was soft and shaky as his name fell from her lips. Her attention drifted away from his gaze and stopped on the top of his boots.
With a short nod, he walked around her to leave.
“If you need me while you are here, call out my name. I’ll be here. But, please, emergencies only.” He winked.
With his last words he lifted the flap of the tent and disappeared behind the fabric.
Camila had no intention of staying. Nor did she wish to find herself in a situation that would require her to call out for this man she hardly knew, this man who had found her at her lowest point and took advantage of it.
I am not a damsel in distress. She reminded herself. I am my own heroine, I will save myself… or die trying. Who needs superheroes?
Chapter Three
Layla
The broken pieces of the forest that littered the grass crunched underneath their boots as Layla pushed away the low branches of a tree with Char following. She thought about how old this forest was. The trees standing tall like wise elders of a thriving community. A community of bushes, vivid flowers, tangled branches and wild animals. All together they weaved into a blanket of life that suffocated the weak and taught the strong to embrace the wild.
How many times had she wandered amongst the thorns and moss, marveling at the majesty of it all? Could she possibly be the only fae that breathed in the nature under the heavy canopy that almost choked away the sparkling rays of the sun and embraced the fresh scent of the evergreen leaves?
They hadn’t walked in on a man made path—no the earth here was chaotic, never to be ruled by another. The howling calls and cheerful chirping of animals masked every sound they made, even as they took their careful steps.
Anytime away from their camp without being under orders was a risk. A danger to them both, she reminded herself. Her throat constricted as she breathed in the crisp air. They needed to hurry. No one could know they had risked it all just for her to be nosy at another queen’s ball.
Especially with the knowledge they carried now. Her brother and his comrades were no longer guarding the tear. No, they stayed under Queen Noryn’s roof. Not one bit a captive, clearly there with a purpose.
She wondered what danger or threat could have them back on fae land. So close to home, but somehow still so far out of reach. Should she have made her presence known at the queen’s dinner? No. She shook her head.
Char stepped onto a fallen moss covered tree before them, offering his hand to her. With a small smile she took his hand in hers. His warmth spread through her fingers and up her arms, fighting away the cold that nipped at them.
“Thank you.” She mouthed, for fear that they could of been followed. Char looked back at her, raising his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing against her tanned skin.
“Layla, I think we are close enough to camp. I haven’t heard anyone.”
“Okay.”
With a thud she jumped down from the tree, listening to the forest. The wind blew rushing past them, her dark ponytail lifting in its breath. She spun around and began walking backward as she looked up at Char still standing on the fallen tree.
“What I want to know is why my brother, and the others who guard the tear, are no longer doing their jobs. Something is going on and the queen is keeping us in the dark.”
Char shrugged, stepping down and following her with a lazy smile. “Always so curious.”
“Would you have me any other way?” Layla laughed.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe.” She mocked, rolling her eyes with a grin.
Leaving her brother behind, not stopping to tell him she was okay—that was the hard part. He was happy, or appeared it, and that was good to know. Somehow calming. She was thankful for the time she had with her brother, even more thankful that he taught her something before he was gone.
Without their parents, if he hadn’t guided her and cared for her, she would long be dead. While she hadn’t been very good with a bow and arrow, he taught her how to use one. A skill she wouldn’t trade for the world as it had been the one thing that had kept her alive in the first few months of his absence.
She had been angry when he didn’t come home to the small shack, that remained standing despite how worn down it appeared, that they lived in. It took her days before she realized he wasn’t just late, he was gone. Still a young fae, not even to the age of her magic stilling—when aging stops, she crept through the busy dirt roads of the city looking for him. Layla became frantic as she looked for Lance in places he commonly was. But she didn’t find him at the market buying or stealing food, outside one of the busy bars pickpocketing the drunks, nor was he with the busy vendors where he used his magic to deceive before he walked away with expensive goods he could resell for profit.
She at last found him when she peered through the cracks of the jail keeper’s gates. Chained up with the other prisoners that were awaiting the queen’s judgement on their fate. Full of determination she meant to go release him, somehow, but as she pulled away board after board from the wooden fencing Lance saw her and shook his head, fear glowing in his eyes.
The chains on his wrist and ankles rattled loudly with each movement he made to get to the fence, leaving behind the row of prisoners he was meant to stay in.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, pressing his dirt covered face closer to the splintered wood.
“I need you. They can’t take you from me.” Her eyes had welled with tears, her small bod
y flooded with emotion.
“Layla. Listen to me. You have to go, I can’t stand the thought of you ending up here so young—of what could happen to you. What coin I have left, you could trade for food, is in my boots by my bed. Now go.” His words were soft but rushed, his brown eyes so large as he watched her.
“Don’t leave me,” Layla whispered.
A loud shout from the nearest guard startled Lance as he twisted covering the hole she had made with his back. She reached out, brushing her hand against his back. The feeling this would be the last time she ever saw him sinking in her stomach, the emotion of it all so strong she feared she would vomit before they parted.
“Get back in line with the others,” the guard yelled, grabbing Lance by his throat and throwing him back down with the others.
Layla wasn’t seen as Lance projected his magic, making it appear as if the fence was whole. Hiding her dirt streaked face, and the tears that tracked down it. This act was enough to get him killed if he was caught. You never deceived the law. You never fought the law. Unless you wanted to die, of course.
The thoughts of her last moments with her brother sent a chill down her spine as she straightened and turned herself to walk alongside Char. She had often pondered what had come of her brother. She had only recently learned that he was exiled to live in the human world and guard the tear.
“What are you thinking now?” Char mumbled, pulling her from the black hole of her thoughts.
“Nothing worth sharing, promise.” She winked.
But the feeling still ate at her as they worked through forest. The chatter of the animals that lived there became white noise; the occasional snapping of twigs would startle them enough to put them on guard as they continued.
Overgrown weeds and the vine covered trees began to thin as they reached camp. Tents were set up for as far as the eye could see. Sprawling across the green lands that Queen Katrice controlled. They could already hear the banter from the lingering soldiers that weren’t on duty. Black smoke from fires drifted up dispensing amongst the clouds, leaving the air with the heavy scent of wood.
Layla pulled at her blue uniform sleeve, shrugging in her clothing. Char nudged her with his elbow as they approached the camp. “Well,” he said, “back to it, I suppose.”
Entering the camp, a few guards looked up, probably assuming they had just gone out to misbehave in the forest. Some men acknowledged them as they returned while others didn’t give them a glance. They hadn’t even noticed their disappearance or the few who had didn’t care, which was for the best.
Layla was the only woman who worked in the camp as a soldier and she had fought to get her place there. When she first arrived, the men gave her a hard time, but after some buffoon named Marklo had gotten too handsy with her and she ruined his chances of having children for doing so, they quickly learned their lesson.
Char had been her friend through it all. Always respectful. He had been the underdog right alongside her in their training. He was very lean compared to the other men in camp, but he was smart and he was fast. Qualities that were hard to come by in the training camp.
Emerging from a small crowd of fae one of Char’s buddies approached. “Hey Char!” Quetar called out as he jogged up to the pair. “Where have you been? You missed all the action.”
Char shot a glance at Layla before he gave his friend a wicked grin that really suggested that they had been up to no good. “You know, out. Sometimes we need to get away from this camp, get some real time alone.”
“I understand,” Quetar winked at Layla who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Vargan brought back a woman as captive in the name of our queen. They say she has a different magic. They say she isn’t from around here. Crazy, right? When was the last time we got someone from another realm here? Centuries ago? Dang I thought that stuff was guarded.”
Guarded. Yes, yes it was. Guarded by Layla’s brother and the others. This woman could be the answer Layla was looking for.
“What kind of magic?” Char questioned.
“Thats a good question. Jenk absorbed some of it earlier and is now pushing it out with all sorts of tricks. He turned Jackson’s hair green and made enough food appear for a feast with a simple snap of his fingers. This girl must be able to do anything.”
“Where is she?” Layla asked.
“Where do they take the prisoners?” Quetar rolled his eyes.
Without another word, Layla pushed past Quetar, Char following closely behind her. Intrigue leading her forward, curiosity calling to her as it always had and always would.
Chapter Four
Hollow Chest
Zayn stepped up the single concrete step that led to their home. The door already hung open from Kade’s entrance. It all looked the same, but not, somehow lacking. He reached low into his pockets as he whistled, turning to take in the disarray.
The queen’s men had been here, that was certain. Where they once dined was now nothing but a pile of shredded wood and shattered china. The couches where turned over. Every possible item that could be broken, was.
Smooth marble met his fingertips as he rested his hands on top of the kitchen island where Kade had already perched himself. He looked sadder than normal with good reason, Zayn noted. Kade was normally the one who handled himself the best when times got tough, but clearly this time was different.
Had Kade ever been in love? Zayn’s gaze drifted to the chaos covered floors, trying to take it all in. He knew that he had been. At least for that moment in time before the bond dissolved into nothingness leaving behind the weird ache in his chest that he didn’t think would heal.
Kade had found Zayn. Zayn had been decades past his stilling age and still somehow a no one and nothing. Kade plucked him right out of a bar where Zayn had played a joke on someone much larger than him who was clearly unamused.
Where would he be if he hadn’t been drug back to this house, sobered and taken in? He didn’t want to know.
“Why here?” Zayn finally broke the silence.
Kade’s eyes darted around the room before settling on his fidgeting hands. He blew out a long breath. “Where else would she come looking for us?”
Zayn sighed, leaving the counter behind as he opened cabinet after cabinet. Hinges hissed as he searched relentlessly until he pulled out a dark bottle of bourbon.
Almost lazily, he removed the lid, taking a large swig before setting it down on the counter. He closed his eyes, reveling in the burn of the liquid as it traveled and settled in his stomach. Zayn shuffled back to Kade, taking the bourbon with him, and jumped to sit on the counter alongside him.
“I know you don’t drink, but care to start? Something in this human drink will cut right through you.”
Kade frowned, pulling the bottle from Zayn’s hands and examining it. He brought the glass to his lips, quickly gulping down drink after drink.
“Woah,” Zayn said, pulling the bottle away from Kade’s lips. “Better take it easy or I’ll be taking us both home and you know how well that will turn out.” A smirk played on his lips before he too drank the liquid that left a heated trail behind.
“What was it like?” Kade asked, pulling the bottle back towards him.
“What was what like?”
“Sex.”
Zayn began to laugh but then stopped, looking at his friend, bewilderment tormenting his beautiful features. “You’ve had sex before, right?”
“Yes,” he answered with a snort. “I meant, sex with Camila.”
“Oh.” Zayn blinked, unsure how to answer. “Are you jealous? I mean, I lay it down pretty good, so she might not even want to entertain the rest of you…” Nonchalantly, he shrugged.
Kade’s silence was deafening as Zayn stared at his friend. With a sigh, he continued. “It was… indescribable. The feeling of having a mate bond consummated, it’s like—it’s like getting every birthday wish you’ve asked for in one moment, given to you by your most favorite person in the whole world, on the best day of you
r whole damn life. Maybe better.”
“I shouldn’t have waited.” Kade frowned at the bottle.
“Kade, you will get your chance. Stop acting like this is the end.”
“It just feels like it’s the end. Everyone’s feelings, the sadness, it’s never ending and it’s all getting swallowed up in my hollow tin chest.” He pursed his lips finally sneaking a glance at his friend. “I waited. I was so unsure of the bond that I never really made a move. Well, that and we’ve been busy but I shouldn’t have been so untrusting in the beginning.”
“Your hollow tin chest?” Zayn cocked his head.
“I said all that and all you took away was ‘hollow tin chest’?” Kade watched as Zayn’s dark hair bobbed when he nodded. With a deep sigh he elaborated. “A human movie I watched on the TV once. A tin man who had no heart. I identify with him immensely.” Kade chuckled, passing the liquor to Zayn, who smiled gratefully.
“Off topic,” Zayn started, “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done?”
“Weirdest thing I’ve done?” Kade’s eyebrows rose in question.
“Well, if we are hanging out here, getting drunk, might as well get to the good stuff, right? What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done...sexually?” Liquid sloshed around in the bottle that was already nearing empty.
An odd smile quirked at the right side of Kade’s lips. “Okay...One time, on a dare, mind you, while a girl was mid blow job,” he said while laughter tumbled out of him. “I can’t even say this.”
“It’s too late now!” Zayn hollered.
“Okay, okay. Mid blow job, I reached down grabbed her head so she was,” he roughly cleared his throat. “All the way to the shaft, then I pinched her nose.”
Hearty chuckles erupted from Zayn, Kade following with his own bout of laughter. Zayn practically howled the more he looked at Kade. The fit continuing until he was wiping tears away from his eyes.