Heart of Darkness

by Jaide Fox

  His tongue swept against hers and she groaned. Grabbing his hands, she pressed them to her breasts and together they tried to untie her bodice, until Wolfe stopped.

  It was an unusual gesture. For it was more than just a rejection, Isabeau could see that his mind was completely elsewhere and that he was paused, as though waiting for something to happen.

  “What's wrong?” she asked huskily, her voice redolent with the emotions that were flooding her system.

  “Someone's here,” he returned in a whisper and almost as though that were the trigger, she heard a branch break.

  Quickly, Wolfe pushed her to her feet and he was beside her. It was only then that she realized he'd brought a sword with him instead of his massive crossbow for protection. Why would he have done that?

  She damned herself for her failure to have spotted the weapon and frowned up at him. When her mouth opened to berate him, she heard the sounds of footsteps and instantly, every part of the moist flesh within dried and her tongue felt like a leaden weight.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I'm disappointed, Wolfe.”

  The grim words were rough and made her shudder uncontrollably. In the moonlight, it should have been if not easy, possible to see the man who had spoken, but he was hidden in the shadows of the trees.

  “You always are, Jaegar. It's the reason you'll never lead a happy life,” Wolfe remarked, his voice poised but she saw the tightening of one hand about the pommel of his sword and the other about the grip.

  She swallowed and the dryness of her mouth had convulsions running along the length of her windpipe. So this was Jaegar. The man who wanted her as badly as Wolfe had.

  Desperately, Isabeau prayed that she was already pregnant with Wolfe's child. That naught could be done about it. She wanted no other man but the one that stood to her side, and a part of her railed against fate that she was in this damnable position.

  Jaegar laughed and it was a harsh sound, as harsh as his face when he finally stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing that led to the brook. It wasn't that he was ugly, for in truth he had a similar visage to that of Wolfe, but it was the ugliness of his soul that made her fearful.

  “Always the idealist, Wolfe. And look where that has brought you? You, my bastard half-brother, are as cursed as I, the so-called fatalist!”

  “I think you are mistaken, Jaegar. Tis not I, who is the bastard,” Wolfe spat and Isabeau watched on in horror as Jaegar's face seemed to twist into a gruesome mask of hatred.

  While his attention was on Wolfe, she took advantage of their crossed words to swiftly but delicately set the wheels in motion to changing her appearance. Her hair became lank and felt greasy against her skin, which had returned to the sallowness of a crone's. She felt her nose become a large protuberance that jutted out from her skull and her chin receded as her forehead became broader. Isabeau imagined she looked thoroughly repulsive with her oddly shaped and proportioned face and lanky body.

  “Had our father never met your whore of a mother, then I would be the heir to all of this,” Jaegar hissed.

  “My mother was no whore. She could barely stand our father, let alone any other man. Unlike yours. I have it on paper that your mother was the harlot of the ton, so do not preach to me Jaegar.”

  “Did she cure you, then?” the other man asked, changing the question with the speed of a cobra.

  “Did who cure me?” Wolfe retorted nonchalantly.

  “The woman with whom you were just copulating,” Jaegar remarked politely, but Isabeau could see his annoyance had reached an almost frenzied level.

  “As you can see, half-brother, I am still of the dark.” Wolfe made a flourishing bow that would have made the Patronesses of Almack's titter delightedly behind their fans.

  “That is because she is not your mate!”

  “And she's yours?” Wolfe scoffed. “Then why did that half-bit villain attempt to slice off her finger rather than just take her to you himself?” Before Jaegar could reply, he continued with a hiss, “Because I wanted her and had her. And you simply could not bear that, could you?”

  Jaegar clapped mockingly. “You wound me with your words. I only discovered why I needed her ten days ago...your petty jealousies and insecurities hold no place here.”

  “And what rare discovery did you make?”

  “Why the entire legend. Not the half that you planted to dupe me! Show her to me.”

  Wolfe reacted negatively to that and pushed her behind him.

  “I'll kill you before I let you have her, Jaegar. And the thought of your death hasn't upset me for a long time,” Wolfe threatened with a growl.

  “The student killing its teacher? Oh, the irony, Wolfe! Killing me would not be an issue if I happened to slice your throat first!”

  “Stop it!” she cried and stepped away from Wolfe's back and into the moonlight. “Why are you fighting over an old crone?”

  Jaegar reared back at her appearance and Wolfe seemed to be rather shocked by it as well, until understanding lit his eyes.

  “You...You mated with this old hag?” Jaegar asked with incredulity.

  Wolfe nodded slowly.

  “And this is the woman who if she bears our child will save our souls? Good God!” he spat and looked disgusted at the thought of having to do anything more than look at Isabeau!

  Deciding not to take offense, for Jaegar's reaction could not have been more perfect had he but tried, Isabeau said, “This legend is just that. Not proof that I can help either of you. Let's not draw blood over something that is probably just a tale from the Brothers' Grimm!” she lied. Convincingly, she hoped.

  When the sharp sound of sword being unsheathed ricocheted in her ears, she realized not and instantly sought out Jaegar's eyes, before channeling her power through her body and attempting to mesmerize him before anyone could be hurt.

  She felt it flood through her and felt the force of it but did not understand why he did not fall to the ground!

  Jaegar merely looked stunned, and not in the sense she needed. And grittily, he growled, “So you attempt to hide the truth from me? With disguises?”

  It was only then that she realized she had somehow reverted to her natural state and before she could attempt the mesmerizing process again, a bolt of power seemed to shudder through the air and slam against her. It not only sent her backwards, but it was almost as though she were flying.

  The landing, as ever, was unpleasant. Her entire body felt akin to how it had felt after her fall out of the gallery window and she grimaced as the ring healed her aches and pains.

  By the time she was once more on her feet and returning to the brook with a hurried if slightly limping gait, chaos seemed to have descended upon the forest. There was a myriad of wild animals clustered about Jaegar, snarling and biting, and Wolfe seemed to be being attacked by some invisible force, which her mind simply could not process.

  She longed to cry out Wolfe but feared it would interfere with whatever commands he was giving the animals. Isabeau saw him cry out with pain as something twisted his body to the left and right in seemingly impossible ways and she herself cried out, “Stop it!”

  Both men ignored her, but she watched with some satisfaction as one of Wolfe's namesakes leapt out at Jaegar and tore a chunk of his jacket and some flesh before being bolted by one of the repellents with which she had been attacked. It whimpered but seemed, she hoped, unharmed. It was only then that she realized there had to be some sort of safeguard around Jaegar that was invisible to the eye. Her cry had shocked him and had lowered his mental defenses, causing a crack to appear in whatever was protecting him and allowing the wolf to rush in and attack.

  While she was grateful to the wolf, she wished he had done more damage for whatever was happening to Wolfe, was too horrific to witness. Grunts and cries escaped his throat as Jaegar's talent lifted him from the ground and had him writhing in the air as unseen weapons bludgeoned him. What talent he possessed, she did not know for definite, could only as
sume that he could channel and manipulate the air around them.

  Had she not been Sidhe, and not felt the change in the air around her as Jaegar made his moves, she would not have understood the situation at all. But from the sheer blasts of power that Jaegar was emitting, she realized that it soon would become deadly.

  “Let him go!” she cried. “I'll come with you!”

  “Isabeau, no!” Wolfe screamed and bellowed again as Jaegar attacked him further.

  She began to sob as blood started to sink through her love's apparel. “Let him go! Let him go, damn you! I won't run! I won't! Just don't hurt him any longer.”

  Isabeau watched, feeling nausea grip her stomach, as Wolfe was suspended in the air for what felt like hours, until finally Jaegar released him and he sunk to the ground with a grunt.

  Running up to him, she attempted to heal him by holding his hands and sending hot flashes of power through his body. She was not sure how successful she'd been for two reasons: one, that she had never attempted to truly cure any other person with her talent and secondly, Jaegar pulled her away from him before Isabeau thought she could do Wolfe any good at all.

  Silent tears coursed down her cheeks as she looked down at the rumpled heap of flesh and bones on the forest floor that was her Wolfe and with hatred in her eyes, she glared at Jaegar and retorted angrily, “Touch him no more!”

  “How shall you stop me?” he asked, then in a curious tone of voice said, “What is your name?”

  “I shall stop you by not complying! And my name is Isabeau!”

  “Compliance can be forced, you know.”

  “Rather a contradiction don't you think? You cannot force compliance and so long as I think Wolfe is being harmed, I won't...”

  Silkily, Jaegar murmured, “Won't, what?”

  She turned her head away but gasped when he grabbed her chin with a gust of wind and forced her to look at him. “You shall do anything I want by the time I have finished with you Isabeau! Fear not!”

  His hand caught at hers and he hissed then pulled away and glared at her then down at his palm.

  Confused, she looked down and realized he'd touched her ring and had been...burnt or injured...she wasn't sure which and didn't care so long as he was in pain!

  Out of nowhere, men stomped from the woods and surrounded the three of them. A group of four separated themselves from the main body of, what she could only assume, were men-at-arms and walked towards Wolfe.

  Isabeau cried out when one of them kicked him in the side and he grunted in pain. Her body and subconscious reacted more to seeing Wolfe being abused than her actual conscious did.

  Instantly, power surged through her and as she shouted, “Don't touch him!” She caught the guard's surprised attention and watched in satisfaction as each of the four men-at-arms looked at her and fell, stupefied to the ground.

  Yells of anger and fear rang out within the forest clearing, as the other soldiers reacted to the consequences of her talent and she looked on with gratification. Jaegar may have sought her merely for what her womb could provide, but that did not mean that she could not show him her talents as well.

  She spun around and faced him, then warned, “Tread carefully, Jaegar. I go with you through choice, but go against my will and you shall fear the consequences.”

  Jaegar cocked a brow but bowed. Mockingly. Isabeau narrowed her eyes at him and murmured, “Do not underestimate me, Jaegar. Do not injure Wolfe.”

  “I do not take kindly to threats, my lady Hart.”

  “Neither do I,” she retorted sweetly and when one of the soldiers came towards her and grabbed her roughly by the arm, she pulled away from him fiercely. “Jaegar?” she commented and glared at him.

  “Unhand her, Robbins. Come, Isabeau, if you comply with my will, I see no reason why Wolfe should be unduly harmed.”

  Isabeau nodded regally and took Jaegar's cocked arm. She turned her head as he led her through a path of trees and watched as Wolfe was chained and dragged along, but otherwise not injured. She managed to catch his eye, just before the blanket of trees depleted their only source of light and saw him nod slightly.

  Inwardly, she cried a little at the sight of him so chained and captured by a man, who wished to do Wolfe harm. She determined to accede to this bastard's wishes, until it behooved her to behave differently. She had not chosen to make love with Wolfe, only to be forced into it with this pig!

  They stepped through the forest at the same rate as a lady would have taken a promenade through Hyde Park. It was a contrast to the rush and harried pace she and Wolfe had set upon entering the woodland. She fiercely wished that he had not tried to show her the unicorn, for had they remained within the castle walls, it was highly unlikely that they would be in this position. At least, she hoped to high heaven that that was the case! That the castle was adequately secured against this tin pot dictator and his band of particularly unmerry men!

  The journey out of the woodland seemed to take a lifetime. Every now and then, she would hear a grunt and knew that Wolfe was far more injured than she had realized and that her attempts to heal him hadn't worked. She was relieved, therefore, when they came across a carriage and a team of horses. Upon spying it through the trees, Isabeau hurried her pace and quickened towards the carriage and almost jumped as a footman appeared out of nowhere and opened the door for her. The servant bowed upon seeing his master and Jaegar held out his hand for her, which she took and climbed in to the seat.

  Her position enabled her to look out of the embrasure closest to the woods and also, through the back of the carriage. She watched as Wolfe was led to a cart, upon which he was loaded and was joined by the four men Isabeau had stupefied. The rest of the soldiers crowded on to the back of the cart and as soon as they had, Jaegar jumped in to join her and the coachman set off.

  The jolting gait of the ride was awkward at first. It had been so long since she had traveled in a private coach. Four years to be precise. Thereafter, she had traveled mostly by foot and then, only on occasion by mail coach. Which to her recollection had been twice in the entire time of her self-imposed exile!

  Isabeau settled back against the seat and kept her head focused out of the embrasure. Surprisingly, she wasn't filled with fear, more anger and a rebellious desire that would no doubt cause her much trouble.

  “You may turn away from me, Isabeau, but ignoring me is much more difficult than that!”

  Pursing her lips, she kept her head turned away.

  “Have you wed him?”

  “No.”

  “Ah, then you are still pure,” he murmured with satisfaction.

  It was a sentiment she shared, when she quickly replied, “No longer.”

  He hissed and clamped his hand about her arm and pulled her so that she faced him. “Are you pregnant with his bastard?”

  Isabeau shrugged. “I don't know.”

  “You're lying. You must know!”

  “I've yet to lie to you, Jaegar,” she replied coldly. “I can honestly tell you that I hope to God that I am.”

  “He may have been your first, Isabeau, but I shall be your last.”

  “You may believe that if you wish, but I would not hold my breath, Jaegar!” she retorted defiantly. “What are you going to do with Wolfe?”

  “As we discussed earlier, that depends on you.”

  “Explain.”

  “I see your mother did not educate you entirely,” Jaegar replied, there was anger in his voice. “When we wed, you shall have to have etiquette lessons.”