She was also bored out of her mind and ready to kill the annoying Fae servants who insisted on doing everything for her like she really was some pampered pet.
She’d just finished being bathed—her most annoying daily activity. No matter how many times she’d insisted she could bathe herself, everyone ignored her. Now, she didn’t even bother talking to anyone who came into the room that was her prison. No one had responded to what she’d said since her arrival, so why waste her breath? Every day, she spent mostly alone, worrying about Zane. Her heart ached thinking about how this must be affecting him. Knowing Zane, he’d blame himself for her situation and be imagining the worst-case scenario. It was crazy how she felt guilty for hurting Zane, even knowing she’d had no choice. There was no way she could have let him die, but she still kept running through the whole thing in her mind, like she might come up with something she could have done differently. This was probably what came from having too much time on her hands.
Today, she was so down, that she’d climbed right back into bed after her bathers had left. She was lying on her side, staring at the wall, and trying to keep her tears from falling because they weren’t going to change anything. Talon didn’t care about her feelings.
“Why did you agree to this?”
Talon’s voice startled her, and she quickly sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. There he was, lying in bed beside her, wearing only pajama bottoms.
“You know why I agreed,” she muttered when she finally got her breathing under control again. Everyone else just walked in the door to her room, so she hadn’t thought much about what powers the Fae might possess.
“I’ve watched you with him,” he admitted. “Not often, but a few times. I even watched while you let that dirty shifter fuck you.”
“Okay, that’s more than a little creepy,” she muttered. “I know I’m supposed to pretend to be obedient, but it would be a lot easier if you didn’t say things like that.”
Talon laughed. “You aren’t the least bit afraid of me, are you?”
“I’d have to be an idiot to not be afraid of you,” she scoffed, but she wasn’t terrified of him like she probably should be. Maybe she just wasn’t afraid of dying if this was her life now.
“You say you’re afraid of me, yet you still mouth off,” he pointed out with a chuckle. “Back to my point. I’ve watched you with the shapeshifter, and you weren’t willing to commit to him completely. That makes sense, considering you’re the daughter of a powerful Fae, even if you are a mutt. I’m just wondering if coming with me didn’t give you a way to leave and blame someone else for it.”
Lexi couldn’t figure out what the point of this conversation was. Talon had avoided her for days, and now, he was here trying to understand her reasons for going with him, when she’d gotten the impression he didn’t much care why she went with him as long as he got his way. Still, she decided to answer him, if for no other reason than it gave her someone to talk to. Obviously, she was desperate for company.
“In the beginning, I had a hard time accepting that I might belong in Zane’s time. It all seemed like it should be against some big rule or something like that. Then, I was terrified of loving Zane, but it was already too late,” she admitted.
“So, you ran,” he surmised.
“I’m not here because I wanted to escape him. I’m here because I love him enough to sacrifice myself to save him.”
“You cry in your sleep,” Talon said out of the blue.
“How would you know that?” she demanded.
“This is my bedroom,” Talon explained, gesturing to the room they were in.
“So, you just wait until I’m asleep and climb into bed with me?” she asked. This guy was beyond creepy.
“Yes,” he replied. “I usually make sure I’m not visible to you because I don’t want to deal with any hysterical fits. Today, I wanted to talk to you, so I waited here until after your bath to make myself visible.”
“You watched your minions bathe me?” she gasped.
“Yes,” he answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You’re attractive, and I enjoy seeing you naked, so I watch my servants bathe you.”
“Again, you’re being creepy,” she accused.
“You miss him,” Talon continued, ignoring her accusation and returning to the topic of how she felt about Zane.
“It breaks my heart to be away from him, but I couldn’t let him die.” Lexi let out a shuddering breath as tears burned the backs of her eyes.
Talon merely nodded.
“Why are you doing this?” Lexi asked. “You forced me to come here with you, and I don’t really understand why.”
“Revenge,” he explained with no emotion at all.
“Yeah, you mentioned that, but I still don’t get it,” she pushed. “I’m the one being punished, but I’m not sure why.”
Talon took her hand, and she fought the urge to cringe as he brought it to his lips. “You almost make me regret using you. You’re a fine warrior, and I don’t like taking the fight out of you. Something tells me that, without your lynx in the picture, I couldn’t get you to comply no matter what I did to you. It was truly a sight to behold the day I met you in person. Two beautiful female warriors fighting with no fear. Tell me about your mother. I’ve talked to her some, but I had to pretend to be that weak vampire.”
Talon’s interest in her mother made Lexi nervous. “Eleanor is a member of the vampire council in Fangri La, but I don’t know much about her now. She’s totally different from the woman I knew in my own time.”
“You must have some idea of what kind of men she likes,” he pushed.
Lexi really needed to stop thinking things couldn’t get any weirder, because Talon constantly proved her wrong. “I’m not really sure what kind of men she likes.”
“You must have some idea,” he insisted. “Surely, you and your mother have talked about these things.”
“No,” she told him. “We have never talked about men, and I’m sure that, even if we had, that would have changed in the last century.”
Talon pouted. “Do you think she’d come here, too?” he asked. “Perhaps she’d be willing to sacrifice her own freedom to be with you. While I don’t normally care for diseased humans, she intrigues me.”
“Are you going to tell me why I’m here or ask me about another woman?” Lexi huffed, because she might end up snapping at Talon if he talked about her mother anymore. This guy was seriously fucked in the head.
“Your father took the woman I loved, and I’m taking his daughter,” Talon stated with just a hint of anger. “Believe me when I tell you that I’m being much kinder than he was.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I doubt my father is going to give a flying fuck what you do with me,” she said with a humorless bark of laughter. “I met him once before he tossed me in a creek without even asking if I could swim first. The guy has zero interest in me or my well-being.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re wrong,” Talon said. “While I don’t want to hurt you, I will if it comes down to that. My hope is to get Arawn’s attention without resorting to more brutal methods.”
“Why not just kill me?” Lexi asked, almost taunting him to do it.
“Death isn’t an option for you, Alexa.” His words almost sounded like an apology. It looked like he was going to say more, when suddenly, without another word, he disappeared.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Zane had barely slept in the three months since Lexi had been taken from him. Each time he closed his eyes, he was assaulted with visions of what Talon could be doing to her, and then he’d find himself out of bed and running through the woods to avoid waking Kyleigh to demand she help him right then. His fear for Lexi nearly consumed him, and the hope that he could somehow save her was the only thing that kept him going.
An empty sense of loss from her absence enveloped Zane. Having his true mate ripped away from him was almost like losing a limb, and he could barely function witho
ut her. He was no longer the fun-loving one in the group. Now, he was just lost, angry, and desperate. Touch offered him no comfort, and the part of the day he didn’t spend trying to contact the Fae, he spent alone. While he knew it was unfair to everyone around him, he couldn’t drag himself from the depths of despair long enough to worry about what others were feeling. Lexi would probably be pissed at his behavior, especially with the way he was failing her mother.
He hadn’t been able to talk to Eleanor right after Lexi had given up her freedom to save him. She’d visited him at the vampire hospital once he’d regained consciousness, and she’d stayed in the area as long as she could, but it hadn’t been until after she’d left that he’d finally spoken to her on the phone. From what he’d been told, Eleanor had wanted to stay in this area longer, but her entourage had prisoners, including that blonde bitch, Carmen, who’d been in league with Talon, so she’d had to return to Fangri La. Zane had heard, most of the traitors had been executed, but that gave him little comfort. The higher council member involved had somehow talked his way out of the entire thing. He called Eleanor daily to update her on their progress in finding Lexi. Those calls didn’t take long since they’d made no progress, but Eleanor seemed to appreciate them anyway, and he figured it was the least he owed her since her daughter was gone because of him.
It was just after dawn, and he was sitting on Ian’s front porch waiting for Kyleigh to wake up so she could try to contact one of the Fae again. Each day they did this, and each day they had no luck. Zane had to fight the urge to go out looking for Lexi because it was hard sitting around doing nothing, even knowing he had no choice. Lexi was in the Fae realm, a place he couldn’t simply walk into. When he ran, he almost imagined finding a portal to take him there. That must be what stress and lack of sleep did to a man; it made him imagine the impossible.
“You should eat,” Mitchell told him as he slipped out the front door with a plate of food for Zane. This was his typical morning routine, and it honestly did give him some comfort. Mitchell had a power similar to Lexi’s, and he seemed drawn to Zane’s need. Zane often wondered what Mitchell had been before becoming a vampire. It was obvious, he’d mostly been human, but Zane suspected there was something much more powerful in Mitchell’s past—something that kept getting stronger. That power might be why Mitchell was the only one he really let in.
The first few weeks, Zane had refused food and encouraged Mitchell to stay away from him, because Zane didn’t want comfort. How could he feel safe when Lexi wasn’t? It seemed like a betrayal to accept comfort from anyone. The problem was that Mitchell was tenacious, and he seemed determined to make sure Zane ate, so Zane had eventually given in.
Taking the plate, Zane forced a smile. “Thanks. How’d you sleep?” he asked to make small talk. With a new vampire baby in the house, no one was getting much sleep—a common occurrence from what Zane had been told.
“I slept great,” Mitchell replied.
“Bridget is sleeping better?” Zane asked.
“Nope, I have a big test today, so I spent the night at Simon and Layla’s,” he explained. “I just came back here to make sure you ate and to tell you about the dream I had last night.”
This was the part of the day that made Zane believe he’d lost his own mind, because he found the most comfort from Mitchell’s dreams. It was the only link he had to Lexi at this point. At first, Zane had refused to believe anything from Mitchell’s dreams, but then, he’d started to suspect that Mitchell dreamt of things happening in the Fae realm. Zane had already warned Mitchell to keep that to himself. It didn’t necessarily mean that Mitchell had Fae blood, but most seers did. What it meant was that Mitchell would be considered a big threat by the Fae, and they’d likely kill him if they found out what he could do.
“Is she okay?” Zane asked hesitantly. These were the precious moments when Zane was able to believe Lexi was safe. Even knowing doubts would return, he craved the short reprieve from imagining the worst.
“She was crying in my dream, but she wasn’t hurt,” Mitchell told him in a distant voice. “I kept feeling like I was being pushed from that dream, but as I slipped back out, I heard her call your name and say she misses you.”
In each of Mitchell’s dreams, Lexi seemed physically unharmed. When Zane was in a positive mood, he took that as a sign that Talon hadn’t hurt her and she’d come back to him safe. It was hard to hold onto those positive thoughts knowing how evil the Fae were. Just because he hadn’t hurt her yet, didn’t mean he wouldn’t eventually.
“Why am I not surprised to find you here?” Kyleigh asked when she slipped out the front door with Bridget on her hip.
Zane wasn’t sure which of them she was talking to, but he supposed she had likely expected to find them both on the front porch since that’s where they were every morning. “Shall we go try to contact the Fae again?” she asked before handing Bridget off to Mitchell. “You can spend some time with your sister before you go to school. Your father is exhausted, and I don’t want Bridget near us in case the Fae actually show up today.”
Zane heard the doubt in her voice, and he was pretty sure she thought they were wasting their time each morning. After nearly three months of trying, the Fae hadn’t once responded to any of Kyleigh’s summons, so she had to suspect they never would. Kyleigh still didn’t give up. Nope, she’d even gone out with him the day she’d given birth to Bridget, and been back out again two days after Bridget’s birth.
Mitchell kissed Bridget’s head and cuddled her close. She was a sweet-tempered little girl for a vampire baby. With a dusting of red hair on top of her head, and vivid green eyes, Bridget took something from both parents. At the moment, her little fangs were peaking out over her lower lip. Zane wanted this so much, he ached. He wanted desperately to see Lexi holding his child, and share this kind of love. She’d almost been at her fertile time when she’d been taken, and he’d had such hopes for their future.
The despair began to wash over him again, dragging him down into the black abyss that he rarely surfaced from. “We have to get her back” Zane rasped out. “I’m not sure how much longer I can survive without her.”
Kyleigh looped an arm around his waist, and they walked in silence to the open field by the school—the same one he’d run at with Lexi. Zane’s arm had moved around Kyleigh, but he got no comfort from her touch; he simply felt bad pushing her away when she was helping him. They always came to this field because it was farther from Kyleigh and Ian’s home, farther from little Bridget. If the Fae decided to make an appearance, they would be less likely to take an interest in Bridget this way.
“Oriel!” Kyleigh called out, but nothing happened. “Come on, Oriel. You’ve ignored me long enough. I need your help.”
They always started with Oriel because Arawn was less likely to help, even with his own daughter in danger. At this point, Zane would guess that Arawn knew his daughter was in danger, but Kyleigh had explained that things were different in the Fae realm. She’d told him that it had probably only seemed like days to Lexi, so Arawn might have no clue what was going on. Then again, she hadn’t seemed convinced that Arawn would care, even if he knew his daughter was in danger.
A slender boy with short brown hair and pale blue eyes walked toward them, seeming to appear out of thin air. He looked like he was in his early teens, and Zane knew right away he was a death Fae, much like Kyleigh had once been.
“Seth!” Kyleigh called out and ran toward him to hug the boy.
“Hey, Kyleigh!” Seth greeted her, his voice cracking slightly like he was on the cusp of adolescence. “I’ve missed you.”
“Then why have you waited so long to come see me?” she demanded.
He shrugged. “You know the rules. I’m not allowed to just visit with the living whenever I want to. Besides, you were the one who wanted the Fae to leave you alone, and Oriel made a point of telling me that included me. Not that I thought you meant me, but Oriel said I counted as Fae.”
“I r
eally didn’t mean you,” she assured him.
“Like I said, I know that, but Oriel banned me from seeing you anyway,” Seth explained.
“Then why are you here?” she asked.
“I’ve been watching you try to get Oriel or Arawn to come,” Seth told her. “I even went to check on the woman. She’s fine, other than being really sad and bored. No one is allowed to talk to her in the Fae realm, and she pretty much spends all day alone in a room.”
“She’s been locked in a room for three months?” Zane asked angrily. That kind of captivity would drive Lexi out of her mind.
Seth shook his head. “It’s probably been about two weeks, from what I can tell—maybe less. Since I have to go in and out of the Fae realm, I have trouble keeping track of their timeline.”
Zane let out a shuddering breath of relief. It was still bad, but not as bad as he’d first believed. “Thank you for checking on her.”
“What choice did I have?” Seth didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “This whole thing is totally messed up, and I figured it was time to do something. I’m tired of watching asshole Fae screw with everyone’s lives.”
Zane was torn. As much as he wanted to get Lexi back, the fear in Kyleigh’s eyes made him realize how dangerous this was for Seth, who was little more than a boy. Zane knew Seth might have been a death Fae for centuries, but there was something in his expression that made Zane believe it was all new to him.
“Seth, they will destroy you.” Kyleigh’s voice shook with fear.
Zane had no doubt that was the truth, but he was still tempted to take Seth’s help because he desperately wanted to get his mate back. The one thing that made him hesitate was the knowledge that Lexi wouldn’t want to be saved if it meant sacrificing someone else. Based on the way Kyleigh said it, she wasn’t just talking about death. What Seth would suffer would be worse than death because there would be nothing after. Before Zane could answer, a Fae who had to be Arawn was standing before them, looking seriously pissed and scary. Just like that, he was there. His silver eyes were what clued Zane in to the fact that he was Lexi’s father.
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