by Lexi C. Foss
My mouth worked without sound, his words not at all ones I expected to hear.
Fertility?
Heir?
“What?”
He glanced at me, his lips curling down. “Why else would you mate with my brother if not to perform royal duties?”
My eyes widened, my head moving back and forth. “You can’t be serious. I just met your brother.”
“And yet, you’re in the second stage of mating with him.” He faced me fully, his annoyance evident in the lines of his handsome face. “Are you truly so selfish that you would only engage in the bond for your own self-fulfillment?” His blue eyes raked over me in disgust. “Never mind. Of course you are.”
He turned again, as if to walk away, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back to me. “At least give me a second to process your accusations before giving up on my reply,” I snapped. God, this fae was such a fucking prick! “What is your problem with me?”
His perfect eyebrow arched. “Would you care for a list?” He didn’t give me a chance to reply before he started in on me. “You’re weak. You’re a Halfling, not a full-blooded fae. You’re not of the royal line. You’re unfaithful and parading around like a regular whore. You’re—”
My palm cracked across his face, my anger erupting into a fire along my skin and threatening to singe him to ash.
“You know nothing about me!” I shouted, done with all of this. “You asked me here to find Exos. So why the fuck are we here? What lesson are you trying to instill in me before we search for your brother? Because I’m done with your very wrong analysis of my character. Yes, I’m a Halfling—one with access to five elements. Fuck your bloodlines and imperious notions on what is best for your brother. Because he chose me, too, or did you forget that little detail of our bond?”
Fuck, I was furious.
I wanted to smack him again.
Kill him.
Something.
It took serious effort to take a step back from him. For I didn’t trust myself not to burn him alive for his crude evaluation.
“I am not a whore,” I whispered, the words costing me severely in emotion. Never had I felt so belittled in my life, and after everything I’d been through in the last few months, that was saying a lot. “You don’t know me at all, Your Highness.” I mock-bowed and left him on the balcony.
Only, he caught me after a few feet, his arm wrapping around my lower abdomen to yank me backward into his chest. “You’re wrong.” His lips were at my ear. “I’ve done nothing but study you for the last month, Claire. I know you.”
I slammed my foot back into his shin and tried to sweep his legs out from beneath him in the way Titus had taught me. Cyrus released me, but just long enough to whirl me in his arms and capture me again.
My fiery handprint on his cheek pleased me greatly, and I wanted to add another.
So I fought him with all I was worth to hit him again. But he blocked each punch, his skill admirable and infuriatingly good.
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, enraged and exhausted and confused as hell. “Where’s the lead on Exos?”
“I’m preparing you for it,” he said, catching my fist again with ease and shoving me backward.
I charged him with a growl and almost clocked his face, only to find myself pinned yet again by his arms. Dropping low, I went for his knees and grunted as my back hit the ground. Cyrus landed on top of me with ease, his hands catching my wrists above my head.
My chest heaved beneath him, exerted from the impromptu battle. Yet he wasn’t even sweating. The damn fae barely seemed fazed at all!
“I fucking hate you,” I told him, squirming in earnest and not moving his body a fucking inch. Gah! “I wish they’d taken you instead of Exos!”
“Me, too,” he admitted softly. “I wish it every day, but it’s a waste of time and energy. What we need to do is find him.”
“Then find him,” I snapped. “Stop wasting my time with all this bullshit and look for him.”
“I’m not wasting your time, Claire.”
“Like hell you’re not,” I seethed, writhing beneath him to drive the point home. “Calling me a whore, telling me I’m not worthy, and criticizing—”
His mouth sealed over mine, silencing me.
I was so shocked at first that I didn’t react, my brain frying beneath the onslaught of power in that single brush of his lips.
What…?
No.
I bit him. Hard. Irate that he thought to take such a liberty with me.
He hissed, his grip tightening on my wrists.
“Fuck you,” I snarled. “If this is your way of proving I’m a whore, then seriously, fuck you.”
He had the good grace to look chagrined, but only for a second. And the asshole still didn’t move. “I followed Mortus last night into the death fields. I think that’s where he’s keeping my brother. But what you need to understand is those grounds harbor tortured souls who play on fears and are notoriously degrading. They thrive on making a fae feel so small that he wishes for death. All the tormenting thoughts you’ve had about yourself will come to life out there. Consider my words an introduction to the experience.”
He finally released me, popping to his feet before I could try to hit him again.
“I don’t think you’re a whore, little queen. But I know all about the social standards on Earth and how they’ve programmed your mind. Don’t let the death fields use those thoughts against you, or you may never recover.” He straightened his jacket, his stance stiff. “We leave in an hour.”
I gaped after him, deflated.
That had all been a test? No, a preparation of sorts. Including the kiss?
What the hell?
I shook my head, dazed.
Why does your brother have to be such a fucking dick? I asked Exos. I mean, for fuck’s sake!
Of course, he didn’t reply.
I ran my hand over my face. Only then did I feel it—the stirring of another bond. A seduction of sorts, my element reacting to a potential match. The liquid sensation settled over me, followed by a bolt of horror as I realized what had just occurred.
That hadn’t been any ordinary kiss.
No.
Cyrus had just tied me to him under stage one of the courtship.
Fuck!
Cyrus
Why the fuck did I just kiss her?
To shut her up.
No.
Damn it.
I blew out a breath and glowered at my reflection in the mirror. I kissed her because I hated the agony in her expression that my words had caused. But it wasn’t like I meant them. I just wanted to prepare her for the task ahead. Warning her would have defeated the purpose. She needed to feel those comments like a punch to her gut to understand the weight of the death fields. Otherwise, they’d destroy her.
But kissing her had not been part of my plan.
And now, my water element was rejoicing.
Not spirit, because my brother owned that part of her. So I’d taken the one that called to me most, the hot liquid boiling throughout her gorgeous form.
I gripped the counter, livid with my lack of restraint. I knew better than to indulge a female of equal power. Yet, I’d given in to the urge and taken what wasn’t mine to take.
“I’m an ass,” I said, shaking my head. Especially because I rather liked the way it felt to be connected to her.
I frowned at the foreign bond, evaluating it. Being a descendant of two royal bloodlines, I possessed equal power in both spirit and water. So establishing a bond with my water element didn’t shock me, but it was far more fluid than I anticipated. I could feel her links to the others, the way her fire burned for Titus, how her spirit mourned for Exos, the intrigue her earth had in Sol, and the admiration her air felt for Vox.
Am I supposed to be able to sense all of that? I wondered. More importantly, can I use it to access Exos?
The thought had me freezing in place.
A practical co
urse, yes.
But how would that impact Claire? She already loathed me. I could sense that much in our initial bond. Oh, her water element was very attracted to mine. But the woman, well, I’d done myself no favors by kissing her.
“Fuck,” I muttered, my shoulders hunching again.
Pragmatism nagged at me, whispering the rightness of the situation, how I could use it to my advantage in locating my brother. It was only an initial bond. Temporary, at best. Once I completed the task and saved him, I would release her of our obligations to one another, and she’d be free to mate with another Water Fae.
That sounded easy enough. And she’d be so thrilled with having Exos back that she wouldn’t care. In fact, she’d be relieved to see me gone.
So how do I use this link? I wondered, exploring it further. If she felt me prodding around, she didn’t react, but I certainly felt her fury at what I’d done.
I sighed.
This was going to be painful.
The things I did for my brother.
Titus
I dropped the peach to the ground, stunned.
What.
The.
Fuck.
Was.
That?
“Titus?” Vox asked, hovering over another tree that Sol was struggling to get to twist just right into formation. We’d been at it for hours. When Claire came back home, she’d have a peach orchard of a paradise in the back of the Spirit Quad.
If Cyrus would give her death, then we would give her life.
“Did you guys feel that?” I asked, stumbling back into one of the finished trees. A few peaches thumped to the ground and burst a sweet scent into the air. My flames had a mind of their own and threatened to burn the precious life pressing against my spine.
Sol grabbed me by the arm, abandoning his project and making Vox curse as the boughs slapped him in the face. “Something’s wrong with you,” the giant observed.
No shit.
“It’s like… she’s drenched.” Claire was always my burning flame, but now something had doused her with an unexpected tidal wave that had hit me just as hard.
And she was pissed off about it, fighting it as hard as she could as her flames called for me, seeking for anything to evaporate the hopeless ocean that threatened to consume her.
But there was something even I could feel that made her hate herself. She had allowed it, even if it was brief. It’d been enough.
Sol frowned, dropping me to a sandy spot of the courtyard where I’d been working to make the soil fertile with touches of fire. My flames immediately spiraled out and sank into the ground, crystalizing the fine grains. It was as if my element was trying to reach out to her, to protect her from…
Him.
“Is Claire okay?” Vox asked, sweeping his hair back into a warrior’s tail and securing the strands. “Do we need to go after her?”
It warmed my fiery heart that the Air Fae wouldn’t think twice about marching into the Spirit Kingdom. I shook my head. “Even if we could survive in that shithole, it wouldn’t be for long. And…” My eyes narrowed as my fingers curled into fists. “As pissed off as Claire is, she won’t need our help.”
“Why’s she pissed off?” Sol asked, crouching to look me in the eye.
Just saying the words aloud made me want to set the world on fire.
“Cyrus pushed the first stage of a mating bond on her. And I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Sol’s eyes went wide.
Vox looked stunned, then a slightly hysterical laugh escaped him. “Even the Spirit King can’t resist her,” he mused, shaking his head. “I feel for Claire. She has her work cut out for her if she really is going to put up with a mate like Cyrus.”
“What if he’s not just trying to mate with her?” I snapped, embers sparking from my fingertips and threatening to catch the nearby brush on fire. “That asshole is up to something, and if he uses her, or hurts her in any way…”
Sol slammed a fist into the ground, sending a quake thundering through the entire quad. “I’ll help you smash him,” he said, a wide grin spreading across his face. The Earth Fae looked overjoyed by the idea of finally getting to challenge the prick. “Together, we’d be a match for him.”
I’d been tolerating the ass until now, but if the Spirit King thought he could use Claire and throw her away, I would take Sol up on his offer.
Assuming Claire didn’t murder him first.
Claire
Fire licked across my knuckles, my ire at Cyrus growing with every step. He had barely said a word since we left the palace, only telling me to keep my head high.
Prick.
He bonded with me without permission.
And now he wanted to act like it hadn’t happened?
Well, fuck him.
Titus once told me this stage lasted a month. I’d have to ask him if there was a way to reject the link sooner. Maybe it would hurt. Oh, I hoped it would. Cyrus, specifically. Because the bastard—
“You can only sever a connection early when both parties are willing,” Cyrus murmured. “Just as, coincidentally, you can only create one between willing partners.” He glanced over his shoulder at me as he led me down a gravel path toward the darkness beyond. “So what angers you more, little queen? That I bonded with you without asking? Or that you accepted the bond?”
I glared at him. “Don’t read my mind.”
“Then stop telegraphing so loudly,” he returned.
If I had a gun, I’d shoot him in that perfect ass of his. Maybe I could set fire to his pants instead. After we found Exos.
Which reminded me… “How do you think your brother is going to feel about this?”
He shrugged. “I assume he’ll be too relieved at being freed to care. Besides, you wouldn’t be the first fae we’ve shared.”
I stumbled over the flat ground, causing him to whirl around and catch me by the waist before I fell on my face. We stayed like that for a long moment, him holding me precariously in the air while I remembered how to breathe.
You wouldn’t be the first fae we’ve shared.
Oh God.
Fuck.
I didn’t like the picture that came into my thoughts with that comment. Mainly because it was one of me sandwiched between them. And no.
No. No. No. No.
My head was shaking with the thought, eliciting a deep chuckle from Cyrus. “You humans and your sensibilities. I’ve always found it amusing. Fae are far more passionate creatures, little queen. Why else do you think Exos approves of your mating with other males?” His lips feathered over my temple as he righted me beside him. “We’ll talk more about that later. I need you focused.”
Focused.
Yeah.
Like that was going to happen.
He’d just admitted to sharing women with Exos. Which… was fucking hot. And so, so, so wrong.
“Stop fretting,” he whispered, his palm sliding to my lower back. “Do you see the dark patch up there?” He pointed with his opposite hand, highlighting a particularly ominous-looking hole in the landscape ahead. “That’s the entrance to the death fields.”
I swallowed. “Okay. What exactly is a death field?” He’d mentioned the taunts, but that really didn’t tell me anything. I mean, how did a field talk?
“I believe you would call them cemeteries,” he murmured, his touch a brand against my spine. “But these are Spirit Fae tombs. Tormented Spirit Fae.”
“The plague,” I whispered.
“Yes. It’s where we buried the dead.”
Hence, death fields, I translated. Right. “But their souls still live?”
“To an extent.” He started walking again, the pressure along my lower back forcing me to move alongside him. “Most fae live several hundred years, but Spirit Fae are known to live longer. We embody life and death, after all. But most of the victims lying in that field died far too young, long before their spirits were ready to leave.”
He continued in silence, his heartache a
palpable presence in the link we’d forged. Deep inside, he felt responsible, like he’d let his people down. The guilt of it washed over me, the hardship of having to lead a dying breed and the helplessness that accompanied it. He and Exos were the last of their kind, the last Royal Fae, and if they didn’t continue their legacy, his entire kingdom would die.
“It does something to a fae to have their bodies die before their souls are ready to move on,” he added, his voice gruff. “And that’s what the death fields have become. That’s what Titus feared, what everyone fears. The words I said to you are just a taste of what you’ll hear here, Claire. These spirits are desperate and deteriorated, and all they do is writhe in a sea of despair.”
“Can nothing be done for them?” I asked, feeling the desolation creeping over me with every step closer to the vapid hole before us. Maybe it was all in my mind, maybe it was from the link with Cyrus, but I suspected it was more. I could almost hear their screams.
“We’ve tried.” His palm flexed against my back, his demeanor shifting. “They were originally buried in family plots, but the darkness spread, infecting those nearby and driving what few remained insane. It’s why we created this place, why we reburied them all here, as far away from Springfall as possible. But they’ve only grown harsher, more restless, and there are those who believe the sickness will spread once more.”
I stopped midstep, glancing up at him. “Am I putting myself in danger by crossing that threshold? Can I become sick?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate, the answer certain. “As can I. But if you ignore the taunts, realize they’re just words and not reality, you’ll be okay.”
“I don’t understand.”
He fully faced me. “The sickness they carry is a darkness of spirit, one that corrupts and controls, but if you ignore them and the cruelty they spread, you won’t fall victim to their plight.”
“So it’s not like a contagious disease,” I clarified.
“Not like your human world, no. It’s a corrosion of life.” He glanced at the paling sky, his expression thoughtful. “Think of it like being told you’re worthless your entire life and finally believing it. What happens?”