by Amy Sumida
“Right,” I chewed my lip and looked him over. “Let's get him to a SUV. I'll drive him back myself.”
“They're going to panic if you disappear from the battle,” Raye jerked a thumb back to indicate the others but then a witch dived out of the sky, straight for him.
The casual thumb-jerk turned smoothly into a punch which went straight into the witch's face. The shadowy shape went tumbling backwards and Raye followed after it with a screeching predatory sound. He fell on his attacker, holding him down with his knees on the man's chest, and then laid a palm over the witch's heart.
I gaped as the true raven mocker ability was revealed to me. Raye didn't need a knife to cut out the witch's heart and consume his remaining years; the heart came to him. It seeped up through the witch's skin and came to rest against Raye's hand. Raye leaned his head back and lifted the beating heart above his mouth to squeeze the blood from it. When it was nothing but pulverized flesh, Rayetayah lowered his chin and tossed the leftovers into his mouth. He savored it like a man consuming an expensive steak.
Then he got up and licked off his fingers before returning to me. I stared from him to the man on the ground, who was withering into old age. With one last sensual lick of his fingertip, Raye gave me a wink and then hefted our prisoner over his shoulder.
“So, do you wanna tell someone you're leaving?” He asked me.
“You're leaving?” Torquil, my blue-haired knight, was suddenly beside me.
“We have to get at least one prisoner back to the Council House,” I said to Torquil. “Can you make sure to let the others know I've left the battle?”
“I think some of your guard should accompany you,” Torquil frowned at Raye.
“Hey,” Raye held out a hand. “Whatever you want to do, I'm just trying to help.”
“Could you tell Tiernan where I've gone?” I asked Raye.
“No problem,” he tossed the witch to Torquil, who just barely caught him in time. “Consider it done,” and Raye leaped back up into the sky.
“Your Highness?” Torquil lifted a brow.
“Let's go,” I nodded off toward the front of the house, where we'd parked all the vehicles.
“Traitor!” A collection of shadows landed before me but soon dissipated to reveal a Native American woman. She was very curvy, with long black hair and eyes to match. “You're a witch. A bloodless but still, you should be on our side.”
“I'm not a witch and I don't back murderers,” I snapped as I pulled my sword.
“We are as Nature has made us,” she narrowed her eyes on me. “You should understand that. We cannot deny the gift we've been given.”
“What I understand is that your people have been preying off the weak and sick for a very long time,” I took a menacing step forward. “And all along, the raven mockers have shouldered the blame.”
“They are to blame,” she hissed. “They were the ones who gave us this power. Humans bred with them and made us.”
“That's a load of crap,” I snapped as I waved off Torquil, who was beginning to lower the prisoner to the ground so he could help me. “I got this, Torque. Stand down.”
“How can you call me a liar when you stand here before me; physical proof,” she scoffed.
“I'm not a witch,” I said again. “I have psychic abilities from my mother, not magic. The magic I have is from my father, who's a fairy. If my mom hadn't been gifted, I would simply be...” I frowned as I thought about it.
What would I be? I would still be a halfling but I'd only have fairy magic. Still, I wouldn't be a witch. Witches were purely human... just as some of the fey looked human but were pure fairy. They'd received human traits from their ancestors who had once bred with humans. So what if it had also worked in humans? Humans bred with fairies and then those children bred with humans instead of more fairies. Their children then bred with even more humans, so on and so on, thinning out the fey blood until the children became purely human again... with just a remnant of magic left from their fairy ancestors. What would they be?
I guess the answer was literally right before my eyes.
This wasn't an evolutionary leap, this was simple breeding. Two races had mixed and left their mark on each other. Just as human traits showed up in fairies who were pure fey, so did fey traits show up in pure humans who were pure human. So, no, I wasn't a witch, but I could see how this woman might mistake me for one.
“You'd be what?” She sneered.
“A magical half-breed,” I sighed. “You are another thing entirely; a human with a recessive fairy gene that has given you magic.”
“Semantics,” she shrugged. “We are the same.”
“No, we're not,” I lifted my blade to her throat. “If for no other reason than I would never murder innocent people.”
“No one is innocent,” she swept up into the air with a whoosh of darkness.
“Damn,” I tried to track her but she was already gone.
“Let's just go, Princess Seren,” Torquil suggested. “Before another wingless flying witch decides to have a conversation with you.”
“Or worse,” I cast one last look back at the fighting before I started running with Torquil for the cars. “And what the hell did she mean that I was bloodless?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
About twenty minutes down the road, something heavy landed on top of the SUV. I swerved off the road, spraying gravel as I stopped on the shoulder. The cabin lit up as Torquil filled his hands with glowing magic which, oddly enough, matched his ultramarine hair. I started to call on my own magic as I jumped out of the driver's seat and leaped away from the SUV, my eyes flashing up and out in case our attacker had jumped. Then I dropped my arms and huffed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked the smirking dragon-djinn who was sitting casually on the roof of the SUV, his legs hanging over the side along with the bottom of his wings.
“My son informed me of your rash decision to run off with only a single guard,” Raza dropped down onto his feet with the grace of a cat just as Torquil rounded the back of the SUV.
“The Princess is perfectly safe under my protection,” Torquil declared.
“Is she?” Raza rounded on him viciously. “Because I could have knocked you off the road, tore into that flimsy metal, sliced your throat open, and carried her away in less time than it would take you to beg me for your life.”
“Hey now,” I held up a hand before Torquil went and said something that would get himself killed. “That was uncalled for.”
“Uncalled for?” Raza stalked over to me. “You are Princess of the Twilight Court; the only heir to the throne of our only peace-keeping kingdom, and a half-human whom many would love to remove from that throne. Your death would throw all of Fairy into chaos, not to mention what it would do the relationship between us and the humans, and you have left a battle with only a single knight, carrying a hostage that our enemies will no doubt be after. Have you no brain in that beautiful head?!”
“You will not speak to the Princess like that!” Torquil shouted as his face turned red.
“And you!” Raza swirled around to face Torquil again. “You let her. You simply picked up that witch and carted him off for her. You useless baboon! You ape! You're no better than a sightless human! A magicless monkey-descended man.”
“Stop harassing my knight!” I shouted at Raza and suddenly he was on me; a hand at my throat and an arm around my back, holding me pressed tight to his chest while effectively trapping my arms.
“A mere second and you are defenseless,” he whispered into my ear. “A moment more and you'd be dead. You want me to stop harassing your knight? Then stop acting like a child and behave like a Princess! Command him with intelligence instead of passion. Passion should be reserved for other pursuits.”
His hand went to the back of my head, pulling me forward into an enraged kiss. Hard lips slashed across mine, bruising me and forcing my mouth open. A torrid tongue slipped into my mouth, tangling with mine as his claws cle
nched and jerked me closer convulsively, like an animal subduing its prey. His wings unfolded with a startling crack of air and settled around us, pressing into my back like another pair of limbs.
I could barely breathe much less think; too confused and angry and really freaking turned on. There was so much to feel; to smell and taste. Rapid heartbeats pounding through skin and cloth, the scent of smoke and leather mixing with musk, and the charred sugared taste of him in my mouth. Everything about him seemed made to drive me mad.
I finally shoved him away and stared up at him in a panting fury. He set blazing gold eyes on me defiantly, his wings remaining closed around us. I glared at him for a second longer and then threw my arms around his neck and pulled him back into our kiss.
I know, I know! Stop judging me. Parts of my mind were screaming at me to stop but my body was just incapable. I was so full of adrenaline and warring emotions that needed some kind of release. Raza gave it to me; a wild, furious liberation, and I took it. I even relished it. Savored every damn second. When his hands lowered and pulled my hips into his, I rubbed into him like a sex-crazed lunatic. I groaned and pushed onward with everything I had and soon the feel of it changed from violent to sensual, very sensual.
Oddly enough, that was when I regained my senses.
I gave a gasp and pulled back, staring at Raza in horror instead of passion. One hand lifted to my mouth and my fingertips skimmed over my bruised lips. Oh Goddess, what have I done now?
Raza's expression went wicked. He smiled and slid his hands up the sides of my waist, resting his thumbs just beneath my breasts. The barest movement from either of us sent twinges of pleasure through me. I tried to pull back but he held me firm, the tips of two talons pressing delicately into my chest. Then he lowered his head till his lips lay against my ear.
“When you're lying in bed later tonight,” he whispered to me in that sexy purr of his, “wondering why you can't sleep, know that I'll be just as restless, waiting for you to realize that we belong together. But until you come to your senses, I'll languish in this craving and use the memory of this moment to whet my appetite.”
Then he folded his wings back and stepped away from me, revealing an anxious Torquil who stared at me like I'd just sprouted a tail... from my forehead. I cleared my throat and stomped back to the SUV, where I climbed into the driver's seat without another word to either of them. Torquil said something to Raza but it was too low for me to hear and all Raza did was laugh as he walked around to the passenger side of the SUV. He got in the front passenger seat, making Torquil take the one in back, and I drove us all to the Council House in tense, awkward silence.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The twins met us at the bottom of the front porch steps; standing there calmly, hand in hand. They nodded when they saw the witch, then simply turned and led us through the Council House, down a set of stairs in the kitchen, and into the basement where a line of empty cells took up most of the room. In front of the cells was a small table and two chairs. That was it.
We had just laid our prisoner down on the cement floor of one of the cells, when Tiernan came storming down the stairs. I couldn't even look at him at first, I felt so horribly guilty for what had happened between Raza and I. Raza standing beside me smirking didn't help either.
“What were you thinking?” Tiernan growled at me as Alex closed the cell door with a loud clang.
I sent a glare in Alex's direction but he only shrugged and smiled.
“I was thinking that we needed to get a witch in our custody,” I lifted my face to his, anger winning out over guilt. “Just as we talked about.”
“Yeah, we talked about it and I assumed you'd stay close to me until we could implement it together,” Tiernan lowered his face into mine. “I had no idea that you'd run off with only Torquil,” Tiernan glanced at Raza, “and him.”
“I didn't leave with Raza, he followed us,” I tried to defend myself.
“I followed you too,” Tiernan snapped. “But I was rather far behind Raza. Would you like to hazard a guess as to why?”
“Raye,” I whispered and shot Raza an angry look.
“Rayetayah,” Tiernan nodded. “Why would you entrust Raza's son to tell me you were leaving the battlefield? He waited until I was frantically searching for you before he came up and casually told me where you were.”
“I'm sorry, T, I-”
“Don't call me T!” He shouted in my face.
“Oh, excuse me, Lord of the Wild Hunt!” I shouted back. “You know what, Count Tiernan? You can go fuck yourself because I ain't gonna do it tonight.”
I turned and left the room but Tiernan's angry footsteps followed me all the way to our bedroom in the guest house. I could practically feel his angry breath on my neck the entire way but I refused to look back at him. In fact, I tried to slam the bedroom door in his face but he simply smacked it open with his palm and followed me inside. Then he slammed it shut and locked it.
I was about to start yelling at him again when he said, “Damn it, Seren, you scared me.”
I crumpled onto the bed, losing all of my bluster.
“Do you have any idea how it felt for me to look across that battlefield and not see you there?” He sat down beside me. “I thought you were dead or taken. And that bastard Rayetayah just let me think that until I started shouting for the Guard to spread out and look for you. Then he finally sauntered up and mentioned that you went off with Torquil and Raza.”
“He said I left with Raza?” I huffed. “That little son of a prick.”
“Exactly,” Tiernan sighed and his whole body slumped. “He made it seem like you had run away with his father. I was furious. I left everyone there, to clean up blood and corpses, while I rode the air back to you.”
“You flew here?” I blinked at him. “That's over seventy miles.”
“I said I was scared,” he huffed. “I wasn't sure what I'd find when I arrived.”
“Tiernan, I told you to trust me,” even as I spoke the words, I felt the wrongness in them. How could I say that to him after what I'd done? He was right to not trust me.
“I do,” he said and made it all worse. “I just don't trust Raza.”
“I know,” I sighed. “You've said that before.”
“Seren,” Tiernan turned my face to his. “I don't want to share you. A lot of fey men would be okay with an open relationship but I'm not. Not with you.”
“I know, and I don't want to share you either,” I felt my jaw clench as I remembered kissing Raza.
The dragon was skilled, I'd give him that much. He'd made me want him in a passionate moment. But that's all it was; lust. Raza would never be faithful to me and I was too possessive to share a lover. We wouldn't work. But Tiernan and I shared so much more than lust; we loved each other. We worked... and I'd almost wrecked it all because of some post-battle adrenaline and a dragon romeo.
“So please don't trust Raza or his son anymore,” Tiernan said gently.
“I won't,” I vowed. “Not as far as I can throw them... tied together.”
“Good,” Tiernan sighed. “I don't ever want to feel that way again.”
“I don't want to make you feel that way again,” I kissed him.
“That's a better feeling,” he said against my lips.
“Hey, don't start anything,” I pulled back. “I need to know what's happening over at the Barnett's.”
“The battle is over and we've won,” Tiernan went serious. “At least for now. The others should be on their way back soon but why don't we go and see if the prisoner is awake?”
“Alright,” I took his hand and we left the room together. Raza and Torquil were sitting at the little table in the guest house's kitchen, waiting for us while trying to look like they weren't. So I called out to them, “We're going to see the prisoner if anyone wants to join us.
Raza appeared in the hallway and with one look, I could see that he knew I hadn't been honest with Tiernan. He knew I hadn't confessed the kiss. And I kn
ew that he was going to use that against me. Or at least against Tiernan. I'd have to tell Tiernan the truth before Raza did. I glanced up at Tiernan as we headed across the lawn to the main house, and he gave me a sideways smile.
Yep, I'd tell him everything... later.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Our prisoner was awake but remained mute throughout the numerous questions we fired at him. Of course, that didn't matter, the questions were used to force him to focusing on what we wanted to know, so the twins could peruse his mind easier. All it took was a few seconds, then Alex gave me a nod and started writing things into a notebook. Alexis did the same until finally, they closed their books and we stopped interrogating the witch.
“So what are you going to do with the witch?” Raye asked me casually.
“Hand him over to the Hunt I guess,” I frowned as Tiernan pushed the barred door back into place and locked the man into his cell.
“What did you do to me?” The witch was starting to realize that something was wrong.
“We stole your secrets, William Sehoka,” Alex said simply.
“I didn't tell you anything,” the prisoner growled.
“You didn't have to say anything,” I explained to him, simply because I felt it was the kindest thing to do. “They're telepaths, they can read minds.”
“I'm going to kill you, bitch,” he growled. “I'm going to kill all of you.”
“Yeah, I've heard that before,” I sighed.
“So have I,” Alexis commiserated.
“I'm going to eat your hearts and live the life you were meant to have,” the witch went on.
“Now that's a new threat,” I noted.
“You have no idea who you're talking to, scum,” Torquil sneered at the man. “She's the Princess of Twilight and she could destroy you with barely any effort at all. She's loved by the Goddess herself.”