Twisted Bonds

by Brandy L Rivers

  “Mind games. Hence the concoction and my training. It’s one of his few weaknesses. I’ll make sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

  Isa knelt beside Toryn but before she could touch him, Reance took her hand. “You offer him healing, and the ichor won’t work. Let it go through his system completely. You don’t want to leave him vulnerable, do you?”

  “Of course not. But he’s in pain.”

  “Much less than he will be if he doesn’t have this. So please, go back to work and try to ignore us for the rest of the day. You need to be away from here, and his head, so he can focus.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she cast a silent scrying spell like Preston had taught her. The magic would allow her to listen in, even watch. She was finding she could blend magics most Fae didn’t have access to because of her mixed blood.

  She’d be able to watch without interfering in Toryn’s mind. And from what she understood, if she dove into his head, he could feel her there.

  Her eyes flashed to her father’s. “Have him call me when he’s conscious. If not, I’ll be back.”

  “You have my word.”

  Sighing, she stood and opened a portal back to Shenanigans before stepping through.

  At the bar, Lana and Mike looked up with concern.

  “Don’t ask.” Isa washed her hands and took her place behind the bar.

  “Need the day off?” Lana offered.

  “No, because I would only distract Toryn. So I’m stalling. Work is exactly what I need.” Later, she’d stall some more by going to visit Kellan.

  “If you say so.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll visit Kellan and Nyla after my shift. I’m hoping he’ll have some answers. If not, I’ll visit Brent. One way or another, I’ll find what I’m looking for.”

  “You could ask me to look,” Mike pointed out.

  She grinned. “It’s Fae stuff, hon. And as much as I know you’d help, I doubt your archives are going to be able to get me the answers I need.”

  His brow creased, but he injected humor into his tone. “Oh fine. It was worth a try.”

  She laughed. Since they’d stopped fucking, they had become a hell of a lot better friends than they had been. Weird how that worked.

  Gwen walked in and climbed up next to Mike. “Hey, baby.” She took a kiss before facing Isa with a grin. “So, how’s the wedding planning going?”

  Isa sighed. “Fine, I guess. Still wish Toryn and I were eloping.”

  “Don’t want everyone to know you’re royalty?” Lana teased.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  Gwen’s brows drew together. “Why not?”

  “Shit, I’ve always been just me. I don’t want to have to worry what other people think. Now, it could be dangerous to piss the wrong people off, or screw something up for my parents. It was easier when it was just me.”

  “Hey, since your Awakening, you’ve been happier,” Mike pointed out.

  “That has everything to do with Toryn. And he may not care about that shit, but he understands it a hell of a lot better than I do.” Isa made Gwen her tea and slid it across the bar. “What’s going on with you two? How is life as an enforcer with the DSF?”

  Mike laughed. “Interesting. Never gets dull.”

  “And Roxy’s baby?”

  His whole face lit up. “She’s doing well.”

  “Good to hear. Now, tell me about anything to keep my mind off Toryn.” She really wanted to check on him. Though if the phantom pain humming through her body was any indication, he was still in agony. She doubted much was going on just yet.

  Shit, she wanted to know what Reance was going to show Toryn. If he had a weakness to any magic, she needed to know about it.

  * * * *

  Toryn sat up slowly, his head filled in a fog. Everything had a blurred edge. “What was that?”

  Reance crouched down in front of him. “Exactly what you need to survive.”

  A groan escaped as he pulled himself off the floor. “I fucking hate it when you do that.”

  “Couldn’t be helped. If you eat something, we’ll start training. In the meantime, you’re starting to sound like Isa. You used to argue less and roll with this sort of thing.”

  “Hard to do when you force feed me some nasty-assed concoction that turns me inside out and knocks me on my ass.”

  He laughed. “Unfortunately the ichor was necessary. And you had a visit from Isadora, who nearly halted the immunity from building.”

  “Immunity?” Toryn asked.

  Reance dropped his head, shutting his eyes. “Damn, I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “It’s fine. I won’t push for answers. I know better. Besides, I imagine Isa is pissed at the moment.”

  Reance nodded gravely. “She is. I’ll have to find a way to get back into her good graces.”

  Toryn chuckled. “Be fatherly and less prophetic. It annoys the shit out of her when you know everything but won’t share anything.”

  “Because you need to go through life on your own. And if she put some effort into it, she could see as much as I do.”

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t want to.”

  “I wish I didn’t.” Reance sighed. “Her way is better. Not pushing for all the answers. But when she wants to know she will push until she finds what she needs.”

  Toryn laughed. “Yeah, and maybe she’ll find out what is worrying her about the wedding. She really is scared.”

  “The wedding itself will be fine. It’s what comes after that worries me.”

  “How much after?”

  Reance simply shrugged and went back to making a meal.

  “Right. Well, at least tell me what I’ll be learning.”

  “First, call Isa. She made me promise to tell you, but I’m sure she’s listening in.”

  “How?”

  He chuckled. “She wove a scrying spell, and I can’t dismantle it.”

  “That’s my girl.” Grinning, Toryn pulled his phone from his pocket.

  Isa answered in a single ring. “Toryn, feel any better?”

  “Much. I hear you nearly interrupted whatever was happening while I was out.”

  “Don’t like you in pain,” she whispered with a harsh tone.

  He snorted. “Yeah, well, your father means well.”

  Isa huffed. “I hope so.”

  Toryn paused. A few dozen questions drifted through his head. He would wait to ask until they were alone.

  “I’m fine. I’m about to drink something that will have me in tip-top shape. Later, when you’re off, I’ll show you just how good I am.”

  “I’m looking forward to that.”

  “Then I’ll see you when you’re off.” Toryn hung up the phone.

  Chapter 3

  Saressa ran harder, trying to catch Kellan as he ran from one dreamscape to the next, until they started to blur into one another. He refused to heed her calls, and he gained distance the longer the chase proceeded.

  Instead of completely shutting her out, he was letting her chase. Did he want her to catch him? Was he wasting her time? Or did he not know how to block her? Perhaps she should have spent more time teaching him how to manipulate people. Maybe then he would realize he was meant for so much more than being a pawn in her brother’s game.

  Frustrated, she shot away, sitting bolt upright.

  Damn Kellan for betraying me.

  “You should stop trying to coerce your son,” Damha hissed, rising up on his spider legs. The front of his body was mostly humanoid. Big, muscled, heavy cock. His hair was that of a spider and flowed down his arachnid back, complete with eight legs. His eyes had hundreds of eyes within. The fangs hanging past his mouth delivered venom she’d grown addicted to. “He won’t come to your aid now. He can see through your games.”

  Saressa glared back at Damha. “Haven’t you realized our bond prevents you from controlling me?” She felt truly blessed by that fact.

  �
��Oh, but it binds you to me, keeping you shackled to my side. Without my venom, you’ll wither and die.” He moved closer, dragging his fangs over her shoulder.

  A shudder rocked through her. She finally understood how deeply Scotty’s hatred ran. Her eyes narrowed. “I may need you, but I’ll find a way to wean myself off you.”

  “No, you won’t, my beautiful, fiery vixen.”

  “Stop with the false compliments. You only love my power, which will be taken if we don’t show my face soon.”

  “And how do you suppose you’ll gain an audience?”

  “With Gebiet’s help.”

  “You really think you can claim an earth dragon?”

  She nodded. “Oh, I think you’d be surprised by what I can do.”

  “We’ve already tried binding people to you after Jayde severed all of your bonds.”

  “There are other ways to forge a bond with a dragon.”

  “He’s an earth dragon.” Her magic was solely comprised of water and fire.

  “Doesn’t matter. My magic is more powerful than his. And by now I’ve gained my magic back, and it’s stronger.”

  “Except what Jayde already severed.”

  Saressa slipped through the door and closed it in his face, then opened a portal, stepped through, and slammed it shut before the bastard could follow her to the roof.

  She rubbed her belly, cursing the tiny ones growing inside her. Saressa would find a way to break the bond to Damha, one way or another. Bastard would pay for enslaving her.

  * * * *

  The moment her shift ended, Isa drove to Kellan’s new home. She walked to the door and knocked.

  He answered with little Nyla in his arms. “Hey, Isa.”

  “Aww, can I hold her?” Isa asked.

  Nyla twisted, reaching for her. Her green eyes sparkled.

  “Hey, cutie,” Isa cooed, taking the adorable blond baby.

  “Come in.” Kellan motioned inside.

  Isa entered, shutting the door behind her. While smiling at Nyla, she got down to business. “Have any clue about what an Arachnian’s bite can do?”

  “Shit, why?” Kellan asked, then winced when he looked at Nyla. “I’m never learning to curb my language.”

  Isa grinned. “I’m sure I’ll be worse when I have my boy.”

  His eyes rounded, his mouth popping open. “Are you pregnant?”

  Isa shook her head. “No, no…but I’ve seen him in visions.” She tickled Nyla’s chin and kissed her nose.

  “Not used to the visions? You know you can block them, right?”

  She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s like a train wreck. I don’t want to totally stop them, but I don’t want the whole story.”

  Kellan chuckled. “Okay, so what do you need to know about Arachnians?”

  She twisted her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Everything. Reance created some potion for Toryn that knocked him the fu—fudge out. I asked if it has to do with Arachnians, because, well…” She shook her head.

  “My mother mated Damha.”

  She nodded.

  “What does that have to do with Toryn? Why would Reance give him the potion?”

  “Because something big is coming. Saressa’s going to take Toryn from me. Her mate will likely bite him.”

  “Sounds like the Deathknell Ichor. The bite will make him sick, but he won’t become addicted to the venom. Toryn won’t be able to form a bond to any Arachnian either.”

  “How sick?”

  “Not like the curse you helped break.” He snorted. “Honestly, I don’t know. Supposed to cramp your whole body up, and you can’t tell if you’re burning up or freezing. And if he didn’t drink that stuff, Damha would form a bond and be able to control his mind at a whim for as long as he lived. He could turn Toryn against you.”

  “Now he can’t?”

  “Nope. The potion burns into your system and changes things. And from what I understand, you don’t have to drink it, just make love to Toryn tonight and you’ll get the same benefit, but you will have some of the same side effects. Supposed to be less horrific, but it will hurt.”

  “That monster touches Toryn, and I’m tearing every last one of his legs off and finding a new place to shove them.”

  Kellan laughed, holding his hands up. “Good luck with that. He’s one nasty son of a bitch.”

  “How so?”

  “He takes what he wants, regardless of what the person wants. And he doesn’t care what sex they are.”

  “Tell me he can’t disable Toryn’s magic.”

  “Depends, but he’d start with biting. He’d want to be in his head before he went there. Now he won’t be able to. I have no clue what he’d do next.”

  “Tell me you’re okay with me killing Saressa.”

  He nodded. “She may be playing the victim, but she’s the master of manipulation. She may not have wanted the bond to Damha, but Karma finally bit back. She’ll find a way to use it to her advantage.”

  “God, I want to track her down now and tear her apart. Him too.” She swept her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know when they take Toryn, but I know it happens while we’re in Faery.”

  “I’ll help any way I can. In fact, I imagine my mother has the realm locked down to keep most out. You won’t be able to open a portal into the kingdom, or fly in. However, I may have a solution. If you let me give you some memories so you can find your way through the dark forest.”

  “You’re a lifesaver.”

  “If I can be there with you, I will, but in case I can’t, this will help.” He placed his hands on either side of her face and closed his eyes. She did the same, then images flashed through her head.

  She was dizzy from the onslaught of memories, and he had to hold her steady when he released the mental hold. Blinking, she shook her head. “Well, that’s certainly interesting.”

  “There’s something else. Hang on.” He left the room and came back with a beautiful bracelet made of Fae gemstones and some strange metal. “If you need me, use this.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Very.”

  One corner of her mouth tipped up. “Why do you have something like this?”

  His chest rose and fell with a sigh. “After losing Zoe while she was running, I wanted a way to communicate with her in case something happened. More than dreams.” He glanced at Nyla with a smile. “We’ve worked out communication without it now.”

  “I’m glad we could help you get her back.”

  “Me too.”

  Isa held out her arm.

  Kellan fastened it to her wrist. “If you whisper a spell, you’ll have a direct mental link to me. One you can sever when you no longer need it. I’ll see through your eyes, and we can communicate here.” He tapped his head. “If that works for you.”

  “Oh, it does. And I’ll only use it if I need to.” Isa managed a smile.

  “You will. There are secrets in that castle and you will need to find your way through. I can guide you.”

  “What about Alenathos?”

  “My guess, she has a spell keeping anyone but blood out. Unless they were already there, or she brings them directly. Alenathos may not be able to get in when you do. I would think she would want to protect herself from as many as she could.”

  “Who might still be in the castle?”

  “Prisoners of war. Those she won’t kill because she believes they serve a purpose. It’s possible they’ve been killed since, but I haven’t seen or heard from any of them since coming to Earth. And I’m sure there are still sirens that are loyal to her.”

  Isa took a seat on the couch. “Happen to know the best way to kill an Arachnian?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t know. It’s not that they are hard to kill, but most people fear them. And if they bite you, well, you’re going to be doing things you never wanted to do.”

  A shudder rocked down her spine. “Okay, but you alread
y said that making love to Toryn fixes that.”

  He sat down facing her. “Yeah. Look, Isa, if you need me, I’ll be by your side. I know it might seem hard to trust me, but my mother is an evil bitch.”

  “I did come to you. That should tell you I trust you. I know she’s probably still trying to reach you, but I believe you when you say you’re on our side.” She gave her cousin a squeeze and hopped up to kiss her fingers and place them on Nyla’s head. “I have a feeling I’ll have to make part of this journey on my own.”

  “Maybe, but I’ll do what I can.”

  “Thank you, Kellan. I’ll see you soon.” She headed out, intent on getting home.

  * * * *

  Toryn stood in the living room, waiting on Isadora, who was taking her sweet time coming home. Between Reance’s concoction and Isa’s nerves over the wedding, he was worried.

  Where in the abyss had she gone? She’d left work and didn’t come home. Maybe he should have had her followed.

  He pulled his phone out, thinking about calling. Only, he didn’t want to stress her out when she was already worrying about something. Maybe she needed to deviate from the routine. She hadn’t been as spontaneous lately.

  Shit, he hated this.

  The door opened and he spun to find Isadora. Her brow pinched when she looked up and found him standing two feet from the door.

  “Uh, what’s going on?” she asked innocently.

  “Could ask you the same thing. Where did you go?” he snapped.

  Her brow arched as she shut the door and dropped her purse in a chair. “To see Kellan and Nyla. Why?”

  Relief flowed through Toryn. He gentled his tone. “He tell you about the concoction Reance brewed?” Toryn asked.

  She nodded. “Deathknell Ichor. Makes you immune to Damha and all other Arachnians. I’m killing that fucker.”

  He closed the distance and took her shoulders. “Isa, what did you see?”

  She shook her head. “Not nearly enough.” She blew out a breath. “I don’t know when Saressa takes you, but I know she does. I didn’t know about you being bitten.”

  “You don’t know when?”