by Lexi Blake
“Yes, yes, that’s sad for you,” a sarcastic voice said. When I looked up, the death lord’s eyes looked human again. “Give a guy a chance, Nim.”
“Roarke, you’ve had several hundred years of chances and Arawn many more before that.” She pulled the sheet up, covering both of us.
“Hey, you don’t have to do that,” Roarke protested because he’d obviously liked the show.
“I’ve decided not to share,” she said, hugging me to her. I kept my hands carefully at my sides. “Tell Arawn he can go to hell. He knows the way. I bought her and I’m keeping her. I’m keeping the vampire, too. He didn’t like you boys, so he can just play with us girls.”
“That’s not fair, Nim,” Roarke protested. “Why do I get punished when Arawn is an ass? Have I ever denied you anything?”
“That’s just weird,” I said because it was. Roarke and Arawn worked flawlessly together. It was a completely different relationship than my husband’s with Bris. When I was in the presence of Bris, it was obvious and it took a little time for them to tag team out. Herne and the Hunter were extremely different. Roarke and Arawn were like two halves of a whole. Other than the deepness of their voices and the shift in the eyes, it was hard to tell who was who. Nim and Roarke were staring at me. “Sorry to interrupt the relationship fight, but you’re good with the whole ascended god thing.”
Nim looked at me, surprised. “You’re well informed. I was actually wondering how I was going to explain it all to you. I thought you would be a little freaked out by the two souls in one body thing.”
I smiled an intimate smile, thinking of Dev and the ever-horny, gentle Bris. “I know one. He’s over on the Seelie side.”
Nim shot her boyfriend a confused look. “I thought it was just you and Herne.”
Roarke shook his head. “Didn’t you hear? Dev Quinn ascended. He took the fertility god Bris into his body. It’s why we’re in this mess. His brand new goddess lost their babe and they blamed Herne.”
But Nim wasn’t interested in war talk. Her violet eyes narrowed. “You asked if you had ever denied me anything. There’s one. Dev Quinn. You denied me him. He was perfectly willing to join us and you said no.”
I smiled and said a little hallelujah. I had found one female who my husband hadn’t slept with. It was truly a miracle.
“You know why I wouldn’t do that,” Roarke replied. “Arawn and I both thought it was a bad idea. He is a Green Man. You sleep with him and you’ll never want to go back. We’d never get him out of our bed.”
I heard Daniel’s husky laugh. “Good call, man. Once he’s in, he is hell to get out. I haven’t managed it yet. I’ve pretty much given up hope of ever kicking his ass out of our bed.”
Arawn was back suddenly, his dark eyes turning. He stood and walked to the vampire. “You’re strong. You should be out for at least another twenty minutes.”
“I will not leave my companion alone. If you put me under again I’ll fight my way out,” Daniel swore, struggling against the need to sleep with everything he had. “Why are you talking about Dev? Is he here? Did he come for us?” His question was hopeful, and he shot a look my way.
“No, baby,” I said with a frown, knowing exactly how Danny felt. “He probably still thinks we’ll be back any minute. He’s going to get worried soon. He’ll be disappointed that he missed my sexual servitude.”
“I’ll describe it for him in vivid detail,” Danny promised with a slight smile. “I’ll probably exaggerate, too. He would do the same for me.”
Arawn paled. He turned his head between me and Daniel and he looked a little ill as he put things together. “Oh, shit.”
“So you know Dev?” Nim grinned, her face showing her great affection. “He and his nasty brother spent a year here. He was just delicious. He’s the filthiest guy ever. Whoever you’re married to could learn a thing or two from him.”
“Nim, back away from Her Grace,” Arawn ordered.
“Her name is Zoey, Arawn,” Nim corrected.
I smiled up at the death lord, loving the fact that I briefly had the upper hand. “I never blamed Herne. He’s an asshole who tried to use me as ogre bait, but he had nothing to do with me losing my baby.”
“Goddess, Nim, what have you done?” Arawn asked.
Nim looked at me, finally catching up. “She’s Dev’s goddess? Well, that’s unfair. I finally find a girl and she’s unavailable. Or is she? I bet Devinshea wouldn’t mind us playing around as long as he got to watch.”
“He would mind,” Daniel growled.
“You are missing the point, Nim.” Roarke had taken back over. Apparently death gods didn’t do patience well. “Think about it for a second. We’re on the verge of war with the Seelie. You’re currently in bed with a Seelie royal and it wasn’t her idea. You bought the High Priest’s goddess and made her your sex slave.”
Nim chewed her lower lip. “Put like that it does sound bad. I didn’t mean to start a war. I was just a little horny.”
I laughed long and hard because I was pretty comfortable with the fact that these two probably wouldn’t kill us. I still didn’t like the way that old death god looked at Danny, but I thought I could handle the other two. “It’s not your fault, Nim. I totally blame Gilliana.”
Now there were three dogs barking. Someone had unleashed the hounds. At first it sounded like a fight but after a minute the barking and growls changed.
“I should have known something was wrong,” Nim complained, standing up. Roarke held out a robe and she slid it on. “I should have been charged way more for smuggling someone off the Earth plane. Isn’t Gilliana the Duke of Ain’s daughter?”
I could feel my face getting hard at the thought of that bitch. “She is. She’s also the one responsible for our brief foray into servitude. She gave us to whoever sold us to you. Her father is behind everything, including my miscarriage.”
“I suppose no one on the Seelie side believes this?” Nim asked.
Daniel took that one. “The duke has been careful. He’s covered his tracks and used the Seelies’ prejudice against them. They’re more than willing to believe that the Unseelie killed our baby out of jealousy.”
“Jealousy of what?” Nim shook her head, obviously confused. “If Devinshea has ascended and is proving his fertility powers, how can that be bad? The child might have been a fertility god in his or her own right. Why would we be jealous of that?”
Daniel sighed. “Because it is a Seelie power. Some think to keep Dev’s power strictly to the Seelie side.”
“The priest would never do that,” Roarke said firmly.
“Is that what everyone believes here?” I wondered if the mistrust went both ways.
Nim and Roarke exchanged a glance before Roarke explained. “Everyone who knows Dev understands that he takes his duties seriously. He wouldn’t deny the Unseelie fertility.”
“But…” I started because there was a big old but coming.
“The problem is with his brother.” Nim’s frown told me she didn’t like the prince. “He came over and told us all about how Dev would ignore the temple on the Unseelie side if we didn’t pledge fealty and submit to Seelie demands.”
“Yeah,” Danny said. “That sounds like Declan. Uhmm, now that we’ve ascertained Z and I aren’t slaves, could I get out of the uncomfortable, burning my flesh, silver chains?”
Nim nodded and started toward him. “Of course, sugar. I’ll have you out in no time. I’ll sadly find something for Zoey to wear. I didn’t buy anything for you because I planned to keep you naked.”
“Good to know.” I clung to my sheet.
Arawn made a sudden appearance. He stayed Nim’s hand. “Vampires are dangerous creatures, my love. You have offended him greatly.”
“I can forgive her,” Daniel said, his voice slightly surly. “She rubbed my wife’s boobs and got me hot as hell. At the end of the day, she would have taken no for an answer. I have no intentions of harming Nim. You’re an entirely different story.”
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Arawn stared at Daniel and then gave him an arrogant smile. “Go on then, Nim. He’s telling the truth. He means you no harm. As for me, we shall see.”
“Danny,” I started. “We need them. They’re the only ones who can help us.”
Roarke drifted back. “Help you how?”
“We need to stop this war,” I said. “We need to get back to Miria and Dev and tell them everything.”
“That’s easier said than done, Your Grace.” Nim began to carefully unwind Daniel’s chains. I got up, wrapping the sheet around me to help.
“We have to do it.” I ran my hands through Daniel’s sandy, slightly overgrown hair. When the chains were off, I sat down in his lap and held him. Daniel’s previous thoughts of beating the shit out of Arawn took a back seat to hugging me tightly as the dogs’ barking reached a crescendo. Daniel put his ear right over my heart and sighed.
“What a mess.” Roarke ran a frustrated hand through his long, dark hair. He walked over to the window and sighed heavily. “What is the use of having hell hounds if they make friends with every stray to come through?” He turned on Nim. “This is your fault. I tried to train them but no, Nim knew better. Nim just had to give them treats and toys to play with. Now we can’t even scare off a single big white dog.”
I looked up from Daniel’s lap. “Did you say white dog?”
Daniel and I were at the window, shoving Roarke out of the way. We looked down because apparently we were on the second floor.
“Neil!” I yelled at that gorgeous ball of white fur.
Neil stopped his frolicking with the enormous black hell hounds and when he looked up, he changed.
“Hey, Z,” he yelled up. “How’s the whole slavery thing working out?”
“So far, so good. Herne’s on his way. Why don’t you come in and we can wait for him.” If anyone could get us out of the Unseelie sithein, it was Herne. I didn’t trust anyone on the Seelie side outside of our own household. Who knew how many were willing to follow the Duke of Ain’s lead?
“I don’t know about the Hunter,” Neil said, his face concerned. “But what are we going to do about the army on its way here?”
Roarke pushed his way in so he had a view to the outside. There in the distance we could see a group walking in perfect lockstep, their heavy weapons held high on their meaty shoulders. Even from where I stood, I could see the way their caps glistened.
“Nim, pack a small bag,” Roarke said calmly but I could hear the fear in his voice. “King Angus has sent the red caps. They’re coming to execute us.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Why would the king want to execute you?” I wasn’t able to take my eyes off the sight of the red caps moving our way. They were still in the distance but moved closer every minute we stayed. It had taken us some time to get dressed and for Nim to deal with her servants and I was eager to put some distance between us and our executioners.
Red caps are a specialized type of goblin. They tend to guard things but didn’t mind a little execution duty. Like most goblins, the red caps were smallish with grotesque features and little hair on their heads. The red caps got their names from their unusual choice of head gear. On the top of each goblin head sat what looked like a red skull cap. It was the scalp of the red cap’s first victim. In the ritual that makes a goblin a red cap, the goblin kills, scalps his victim, and ceremoniously covers his head with the bloody scalp. The newly minted red cap must then kill to keep his cap covered with fresh blood. If the cap dries out, the red cap is executed for not keeping up his end of the bargain.
“Oh, I don’t know, Your Grace. It could be just about anything,” Roarke said, looking me up and down pointedly. He’d been short tempered since realizing he was about to be executed. Arawn seemed much calmer about the whole thing but that might have been a byproduct of his immortality. While Roarke was technically immortal, he could still be killed if someone, a red cap for example, cut his head off or chopped him into enough small pieces.
“How would they already know where I am? It can’t possibly have gotten back to the Seelie that I was taken prisoner yet.” It wasn’t like I’d updated my Facebook status. Zoey is…enjoying a little girl time with her new master.
Nim, who was hurrying about the room shoving items in a small pack, looked up with a fierce frown on her face. “It was that bastard Con. He’s always looking to make a quick buck and he’s the one who offered me use of your lovely body. I should never have trusted him. I should have known something was up. You would think after all the years I’ve lived, after all the things I’ve seen that I would be wary but no, Nim just keeps trucking on like no one ever betrayed her.”
Arawn made a sudden appearance at Nim’s side. He stopped her and forced her chin up. He leaned down briefly, placing a light kiss on her lips. “I would have you no other way, my love. Your nature gets us in trouble from time to time, but I wouldn’t change an inch of you.” He turned back to the rest of us, his calm manner somewhat reassuring. “We must assume that this is all a part of their plan and that Con is working with the duke. They would immediately give both palaces the information in an attempt to create utter chaos and move the war forward.”
“We knew he had to have help from this side to have gotten the ogre over,” I pointed out. While Nim had fluttered around getting ready to flee, I had told them everything we’d learned about the traitors. I hoped the Unseelie would be more open to the fact that someone on their side of the sithein might be corrupt.
Arawn nodded shortly. “Yes, it fits. Con is a close advisor to the king. He has many who are loyal to him. He would have been tasked with finding you and bringing you to the palace. Angus trusts him as much as he trusts anyone. I’m certain Angus intends to give you back to your husband in a show of cooperation he hopes would lead us away from war.”
“But we won’t make it to the palace,” Daniel said seriously as he looked out over the field.
“No,” Arawn agreed. “The red caps are guards, but they’re also killers. All Con had to do is buy one’s loyalty. The minute he kills, the rest will be pulled into bloodlust. We will all be dead and Angus will be blamed. The Seelies will attack without worry.”
“Well, all we have to do is evade the red caps for a little while.” I tried to put a positive spin on things. “My guard is already on his way to the Seelie palace to tell my husband what happened.”
There was no way Lee wouldn’t get to Dev.
Neil frowned from his comfortable seat on a chair. He was dressed in too-big clothes and looked even younger than his twenty-three years. The two Cŵn Annwn sat on either side of him, their enormous black tongues panting. “I don’t think that’s going to help the situation, Z. It wasn’t like we overheard the conversation with Gilliana. We stayed where we were until Lee could move safely. When he didn’t come, we climbed down and found the camp deserted and trashed. Your clothes were torn up. They left the Goddess Chain behind, I guess so there wouldn’t be any question who they had taken. Lee thought the worst. We tracked your scent straight to the door of the Unseelie sithein.”
“Why didn’t Lee come after us?” Daniel asked, his voice tight. He was getting ready for a fight and he was still feeling the tension from knowing Arawn had power over him. I know my husband. He didn’t like feeling vulnerable.
Neil frowned because he knew that Daniel would rather have Lee here than him. “Lee is faster. We decided he should get to the palace and tell Dev so he could mount a rescue. We had no idea what had happened to you except that someone had taken you both over here. It seemed prudent to get help.”
Daniel grunted. It wasn’t what he would have done, but it made sense.
“So all Devinshea is going to know is that his goddess was taken to our sithein without her clothes,” Roarke said, not happy with the prospect. “He won’t mount a rescue. It would be far too risky and his mother and brother would never allow him to come over here. He will push forward with the war.”
“And no doubt that
was their plan all along.” I was a little worried that this would work out all too well for the bad guys. Though I thought Dev might fool them all. He loved me. He deeply cared for Daniel. It might kill him to not know where we were. Still, he’d allowed us to leave without him in the first place. “I love my husband, but he’s being irrational. He was heartbroken over the loss of our child. We have to find a way to get to him and tell him what we know.”
“Nim,” Roarke shouted. “Are you ready yet? They aren’t getting any farther away.”
Nim appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in some sort of animal skin trousers and a thin black shirt. “Let’s go. I told the servants to run.” Nim had been concerned with her servants being captured and tortured by the red caps. It was another plus for the woman in my books.
I was dressed in one of Arawn/Roarke’s shirts. It was enormous, but Nim was slender and I was not. My curves wouldn’t be fitting into any of her clothes. I looked down at my bare feet. The forest was going to be hard on them.
“Don’t worry, baby,” Daniel said, picking me. “Your feet won’t touch the ground. Let’s move. We need to get to the palace as soon as possible. Point me in the right direction and I’ll fly me and Z.”
“It won’t work,” Nim said grimly. “The entire sithein is plagued by eddy winds. Unless you know how to ride an eddy wind, we’re walking. I can’t and neither Roarke nor Arawn can.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and slapped his head like he should have known something. “That explains the mountain. It was surrounded by eddy winds. I have no idea how to catch one much less ride one. Sorry, Z, we’re walking. We should get moving.”
“Vampire,” Arawn said suddenly. “You should nourish yourself. I can feel your hunger.”
“It can wait until she’s safe.” Daniel started down the stairs.
I heard the others following. I glanced about, taking in my surroundings. It was a small but well-appointed brugh. If I had to guess I would say it was a vacation house. They probably normally lived at the palace, as all the ascended gods did. The servants had taken Nim’s orders to heart. They appeared to have fled. The cabin was quiet as we made our way through.