by Donna Grant
“It did, and once I gave in, the feeling was incredible.”
Cael looked away.
Eoghan studied his old friend’s profile. “How does it feel to be surrounded by couples in your group?”
“At times, lonely.” Cael slid his gaze back to Eoghan. “If I’m being honest. But I’ll only admit that to you.”
“You do know there’s a good chance we’ll lose this battle with Bran.”
“I know,” Cael said after a brief hesitation.
Eoghan held Cael’s gaze. “Then perhaps you should tell Erith your feelings.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t bother denying it. I’ve seen you for too many centuries staring off into space thinking of someone. For a long time, I thought it was a woman from before you were a Reaper, but I’ve seen the way you look at Erith. Oh, you hide it well,” Eoghan said when concern flashed over Cael’s face. “But I’ve known you far longer than the others.”
Cael swallowed and was silent for a long time. “I’ve done a great many foolish things in my life, and I’ll not add going to her to tell her whatever it is that I might be feeling.”
“So you’ll love her from afar?”
“It’s for the best.”
Eoghan was about to disagree when Bradach called his name. Immediately, Eoghan and Cael went to the Reaper, who, along with Torin, held the Seeker between them.
“You’re making a mistake,” the Fae said between clenched teeth.
Eoghan and Cael looked at each other before they smiled and took the Seeker to a vast field far from Bran. Eoghan and Cael stood before the Fae while Eoghan’s team surrounded them.
“Tell me your name,” Eoghan demanded.
The Fae lifted a brow. “Why?”
“Because it’ll save us a trip to speak to Death,” Cael said. “Death’s gaze isn’t turned to you currently, and trust me when I say you want to keep it that way.”
“Xaneth,” the Fae finally relented.
Eoghan gave a nod of appreciation. “Now, it’s time you tell me exactly who is after Thea and why.”
Xaneth looked from Cael to Eoghan. “How much power do you have as a Reaper?”
“Why?” Cael demanded.
“I’m wondering if you could win a fight say with the King of the Dark,” Xaneth replied with a shrug.
Eoghan hid his frown. “How do you know we’re Reapers?”
“It’s amazing what you can pick up when you listen.”
“No one knows us,” Cael stated.
Xaneth lifted a brow and twisted his lips. “I’ll admit, you are all very careful, but I followed Talin at the Light castle and learned a lot.”
Eoghan exchanged a look with Cael before he faced Xaneth. “In other words, you pieced it all together. You don’t really know what a Reaper does?”
“My livelihood is made on gathering information I can use later and acquiring things others can’t get. I’ve learned to make my way in the Light, Dark, and mortal worlds. I listen, and I watch. Whispers of Reapers began not long after Talin arrived at the Light Castle,” Xaneth explained.
Eoghan was fast losing patience. “I don’t care how you found out. No Fae who knows our secret lives long. So I suggest you tell me who is after Thea?”
Xaneth narrowed his gaze on Eoghan. “I’ll tell you if you keep me alive.”
“We can’t promise that,” Cael said.
Xaneth shrugged. “It’s definitely someone you’d be interested in knowing.”
“Fine,” Eoghan said. “I’ll make a case for you to Death if the name you give us warrants such attention.”
Xaneth smiled as he said, “Thea is Usaeil’s daughter.”
Chapter Twenty
“Get your damn hands off me,” Thea stated as she jerked away from the woman—Fae—who was clearly mad as a box of frogs.
Silver eyes flashed with fury. “No one talks to me that way and lives.”
“Then I’m going to make this really easy for you,” Thea declared. “I know you’re Fae, but that doesn’t scare me. I’m tired of your kind believing you have the right to take me whenever and wherever you please. In fact, I’m fekking pissed right now. So, return me. Immediately.”
“No.”
It wasn’t as if Thea actually thought the Fae would do as she commanded, but she was teetering on the verge of a meltdown, and she refused to crumble in front of this woman.
Worse was the fact that Thea wasn’t sure what to think of the Reapers anymore. Eoghan had assured her that she’d be safe beneath the cathedral, that no one could get past their wards and spells. And yet, a Fae had.
The woman smiled and tossed back her long, lustrous, black hair. “You don’t know who I am?”
“No,” Thea said and crossed her arms over her chest while shooting the Fae her best I - don’t - give - a - shite look.
“Most mortals recognize me for my work.”
“Good for you.”
The anger was back in an instant. “If you knew who I was, you wouldn’t be so cavalier with your attitude.”
“Obviously, you want me to be scared, impressed, or awed by you. I can’t figure out if it’s this mortal image I should fear or the Fae one. Just tell me your name so I can give the appropriate look and we can move on.”
“I forgot about you for many years.”
Thea was shocked by the comment. And quite frankly, unsure how to respond. “Okay.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before Thea looked around the room. She didn’t want to be captivated by the lavish white and gold surroundings. But she was.
The ceilings appeared to be over thirty feet high with a design painted in gold that she couldn’t quite make out. The room was large, but not overly decorated. In fact, some might consider it sparse.
When she returned her gaze to the Fae, Thea asked, “Where are we?”
“My home.”
“Which is?” she prompted.
The Fae grinned. “The Light Castle.”
Thea swallowed, her arms dropping to her sides. She forced herself to remain still instead of backing up a few steps as she longed to do. “And you are?”
“Usaeil, the Queen of the Light.”
The room began to spin, and Thea’s knees went weak. This couldn’t be happening. “I’m not in the mood for jokes.”
“And I’m not joking.”
Thea studied Usaeil. “What do you want with me?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied with a small frown.
Of all the things Thea had thought the queen might say, that wasn’t one of them. She kept thinking of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland shouting, “Off with her head!”
Usaeil walked past her. Thea turned and watched the queen move to a set of impossibly tall, arched windows. Then Usaeil said, “There is very little that anyone knows about me—mortal or Fae. I’ve made sure of that.”
“Are you scared of others knowing you?” Thea wasn’t sure why she asked.
Usaeil glanced at her over her shoulder. “I’ve been in power for untold eons. Everyone always wants something from me. For a long while, I forgot who I was. Then I found something I wanted, someone that I craved with every part of my soul. But he was with another.”
“Yeah. That always sucks, but it happens. Even to queens.” Thea couldn’t hold back the eye roll.
“Not to me,” came the terse reply.
Thea frowned as she studied Usaeil. “What did you do?”
“I made sure he was free. It actually took little effort. He didn’t know I instigated it. As powerful as the Dragon King was, he missed my interference. To this day, he still doesn’t know my part in it. And he never will.”
Thea knew she was hearing a secret that had never been shared before. She wasn’t stupid. No one imparted such confidences without ensuring they would never be repeated. And the queen was just the type to order Thea’s death so the secret would remain hidden.
“So, I suppose you and this Dragon King are
together now?” Thea asked. Despite knowing that she would never leave the castle alive, she still wanted to hear the rest of the story.
“No,” Usaeil answered.
Thea almost grinned at the answer. She didn’t care how powerful a person was, no one had the right to destroy a relationship simply because they wanted someone who was already taken. “And the woman who was with him before?”
Usaeil whirled around, her eyes filled with such hatred that it caused Thea to step back. “I tried to get rid of Rhi. I guided her into a realm that would ensure she never returned, but once again, I was thwarted, and Rhi was saved.”
Inwardly, Thea did a little fist pump. Especially if this were the same Rhi Eoghan had spoken of. Thea didn’t know Rhi or the Dragon King, but it made her happy they were both still alive, and that Usaeil hadn’t gotten what she wanted.
Usaeil raised a perfectly arched black brow. “My misery pleases you?”
“We don’t always get what we want. Even you. Magic or not, power or not, you had no right to break up Rhi and her man. You deserve what you got.”
The queen chuckled, the sound sinister and creepy. “I’m sure there are those who would agree with you, but I didn’t get this position without seizing what I want. I’ll eventually get everything I covet. I always do. I’ve got my sights set on the King of Dragon Kings. And Constantine will be mine.”
“Regardless of what he wants?” Thea queried.
“He wants me. Con just doesn’t know it yet.”
“The words of someone who has never been denied anything.”
Usaeil grinned. “I worried you might be weak after being raised by mortals. It seems I was wrong. Others tremble before me, but you attempt to put me in my place.”
Unease snaked down Thea’s spine. “That pleases you. Why?”
“I would expect nothing less from my daughter.”
The words registered, but Thea refused to believe them. Her mind screamed in refusal, but she calmly replied, “No.”
“Do you have any idea how many would love to be in your place?” Usaeil asked angrily as she stalked to her.
Thea didn’t back down. She stood her ground and retorted, “Did it ever enter your mind that I didn’t want to know you? I couldn’t care less if you are a queen or living on the streets. You gave me up. I want nothing to do with you.”
“Twenty-eight years ago, your life was in my hands. It is once again.”
Thea shook her head as she laughed. The threat hung between them, real and tangible. “Am I supposed to be glad you didn’t kill me when I was born?”
“I never let any of the others survive. Most, I ended still in my womb.”
“And my father?”
Usaeil shrugged uncaringly. “Some mortal who struck my fancy for the night.”
The woman before her sickened Thea. Worse, Usaeil was her mother. The same blood flowed through both of them. Every time Thea thought of trying to find her mom, something had told her to let it go. Now, she knew why.
“You shouldn’t be in power. The Light are supposed to be all that is good and pure,” Thea said.
Usaeil barked in laughter. “Who told you that? Xaneth?”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“He’s the one I hired to kidnap you. He’s also the one who took you from the cottage and attempted to hide you below the church. But I can find you anywhere.”
That angered Thea, but she also noted that Usaeil, as powerful as she thought herself, knew nothing of the Reapers. “If you could find me, then why did you need Xaneth to kidnap me?”
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kill you or talk to you.”
“And you needed someone to snatch me off the streets to figure that out?”
Usaeil shrugged. “I wanted you to myself.”
“You’re off your rocker.”
“I’ll find Xaneth and punish him for his deception. I never intended to allow him to live anyway, but now, he’ll die slowly.”
Thea made a sound in the back of her throat in disdain. “Because he disobeyed you?”
“Because he’s my nephew.”
That’s when it hit Thea. She was standing before a monster with a beautiful face, but still a monster. “You killed your family, didn’t you?”
Usaeil gave her a flat look. “I took the throne from my grandfather. It was so easy. He never saw it coming. I originally banished the rest of my family, but I soon came to realize they posed a threat to me. And my throne. So, I had them hunted down and killed.”
“You’ve murdered your family and your own children. Yet you say you want this King of Dragon Kings. How do you expect that to work? And if you become pregnant again, will you kill that offspring, too?”
Usaeil’s face went slack with shock. “Never. And it will work with Con because he’s a King.”
“You’ve erased anyone who has a claim to the throne. Why bring me here and tell me all of this? I would never have known my heritage, and I would’ve been much happier that way.”
The queen closed the distance between them and reached out. Thea dodged her hand, uncaring if it pissed Usaeil off or not. Thea didn’t want the queen touching her again. Ever.
Usaeil’s lips thinned with her fury. “You’re making it so easy for me to kill you.”
“Then do it. Because I won’t change. I won’t beg you for my life. I won’t tell you that you’re right about everything. I won’t worship you. What I’ll do is tell you that you’re daft and should be committed. I’ll tell you that every Fae should know of your actions and decide your punishment. I’ll tell you that the last thing you should be is Queen of the Light.”
Thea drew in a breath to continue, but she found herself roughly slammed back against a wall. Though Usaeil was across the room, Thea felt a hand around her throat, slowly squeezing.
She gasped for air, her feet dangling above the floor and banging against the wall as she fought to get a foothold of some kind. But she knew it was pointless.
From the moment Usaeil had admitted to killing her other children and debating what to do with Thea, she’d known she was going to die. She had nothing to battle a Fae queen with, so she didn’t stand a chance.
She almost called out for Eoghan, but she hesitated. Thea wanted to see him again, to tell him that she had fallen madly, wildly in love with him, but that time had passed. She didn’t want him to see her die, and she didn’t know if he could take on Usaeil.
If it were the last thing she did, Thea would ensure that the queen knew nothing of the Reapers. Eoghan and his team would learn what became of her, and maybe then, Death would have to take a look at Usaeil and judge her.
Thea closed her eyes. She no longer wanted to look upon the face of her mother. Her mind took her to a place away from the pain where she was with Eoghan and her music.
Everything else fell away. Usaeil, the beautiful white and gold room, and most especially, the agony of being suffocated. Her musings took her to the safety of Eoghan’s arms while music surrounded her like a warm blanket.
The melody was so loud that it came from every direction. Or maybe it was projecting in every direction from her.
With her lungs burning, she whispered Eoghan’s name in her head and let the song within her grow louder until her ears rang with it.
And somewhere in the melody, she thought she heard Eoghan say her name. It made her smile.
Her life had never been easy, but she’d found contentment in music. It wasn’t until she met Eoghan that she discovered passion and love and learned what true happiness was.
Most people never experienced such bliss, and while she’d only had a short time with Eoghan, it was enough.
Thea tried to pull in some air, but she heard a loud crack as her larynx was crushed. She clung to an image of Eoghan as her heart gave its final beat.
Chapter Twenty-one
Panic mixed with alarm and knotted with the rising tide of rage. Eoghan digested the news Xaneth had spilled so cheerfully. Some might find
the information heartening, because of Usaeil’s power.
But Eoghan knew the truth.
“You’ve got to be fekking kidding?” Bradach murmured.
Rordan wrinkled his nose. “No one can help who their parents are.”
“This is bad, especially for Thea,” Aisling said.
Cathal snorted loudly. “You think?”
“We’re Reapers,” Dubhan stated. “We can go after Usaeil.”
Torin rubbed his hands together. “I’m game.”
“We can’t,” Cael said.
Rordan’s gaze jerked to Cael. “Why the hell not?”
“What has she done?” Aisling asked. “Other than have Thea kidnapped. And we made sure no one could get to Thea.”
“And Death hasn’t judged Usaeil,” Bradach pointed out.
Eoghan’s mind was filled with everyone’s words as well as his growing concern. As soon as he heard Xaneth’s laughter, his gaze was on the Fae.
“Do you have something to add?” Eoghan demanded.
Xaneth looked around at all of them. “You wonder why I sought out Bran instead of you. You act like you have power, yet you can’t do anything without Death’s permission.”
Torin walked until he stood nose-to-nose with Xaneth. “Oh, I can do something. Shall I show you?”
Xaneth shoved Torin back and looked at Eoghan. “You think Thea’s safe? She’s Usaeil’s daughter. That means that, no matter where Thea is, the queen can find her.”
“Then why did she send you after her?” Cael questioned.
Xaneth gave him a flat look. “Usaeil doesn’t get her hands dirty with anything. Not even killing her own family.”
Eoghan immediately teleported to the rooms beneath the cathedral. He shouted Thea’s name and ran from chamber to chamber, but they were empty. Just as he’d suspected they would be.
He walked back to the rotunda to find his team along with Cael and Xaneth. When his gaze landed on the Seeker, Eoghan launched himself at the Fae and slammed him up against the wall.
“You put an innocent life on the line to save your own worthless hide,” Eoghan stated, letting rage lace his words and show on his face. “I should end your miserable life this second.”
“Do it,” Xaneth goaded. “I’d rather die by your hand than Usaeil’s. I’ve lived my entire life hiding from her. She killed off my family one by one until I was the only one left. I thought by helping her, she would allow me back into the Light.”