by Eve Newton
“That was an unduly harsh ruling on your former fiancée,” Sven, the head of the House of Septimus says, with a respectful inclination of his head.
“Sven,” Xane says, annoyed that his thoughts and plotting have been disturbed. “Is there something in particular I can help you with?”
Sven shrugs in that casual way and examines his fingernails before he says, “Out of respect for our friendship, I am giving you a heads-up about something.”
“What?” Xane snaps at him as he stops speaking.
“The Queen,” Sven says slyly. “And her allegiance to the House of Dracul.”
Xane narrows his eyes at him. He has heard the whispers, but hoped it was just rumor. Everything about Sven’s body language suggests it may not be. “What about her?”
“Records show that the House of Septimus may also have a claim on her. This is something we are going to pursue in the coming weeks. I am offering you this warning so that you can prepare your case.”
Xane growls loudly at his friend and steps forward. “She claimed me, and I accepted. She is Xerxei of the House of Dracul. You will never win her if you fight for her.”
“Don’t be so sure, My Lord. She is still a free agent, so to speak. Our House has just as much right to her as yours does.” Sven turns to leave and Xane thinks morosely, over my dead body, and it may just come to that. There is only one way to prevent a claim from going in for her and she won’t go for it. He knows even before he asks her that she won’t agree to marry him right now over this. It won’t mean anything to her. She won’t know that now she is Queen, the whole future of his House and more importantly, his rule is riding on Xerxei’s claim to him. If Sven gets his hands on her, he will no longer be Overlord. Sven will be and that will also happen over his dead body. He didn’t fight his own father to get here to have it be taken away now. His mother is aware of this and her eagerness for their union was first and foremost to keep the House of Dracul in power. He had absolutely no intention of falling in love with or even liking Liv. He knew all about her and her multiple lovers, and he wasn’t about to prostrate himself before her like a fool. All he had wanted from her was her allegiance. The plan was to seduce her and get her on his side. The spell his mother made was designed to tie them together, so that she couldn’t be without him, not the other way around. It was his own dumb luck that he fell for her as hard as a Demon possibly could, thus sending the Blood Magick into a bit of a tizz and activating his own tie to her. It was even worse luck that she is also now apparently not only Dracul’s sister, but Septimus’s as well. Although, how this has only just come to light now is a complete mystery. There again, everything to do with that woman is. His whole future rests on his mother’s ability to sway Tiamat’s mind, because try as he might, he cannot make headway with Liv. She is as stubborn as she is strong.
“Sir?” Aster says.
“What?” Xane snaps at him, in an even worse mood than before.
“I, err, I have the information you were after,” Aster says.
That grabs Xane’s attention and he strides forward. “You know where they are?”
Aster nods. “Corinne has them down here. They are locked away, impossible to get to.”
Xane is itching to find out how he got this information, but right now he doesn’t care. He is going to bust out the Vampire’s captive Dark Fae blood whores and get himself to Liv before anything happens to her in that place. “Tell me where,” he says hoarsely.
Aster gives up the information, and it is going to be a problem, yes, but not impossible. He is Ruler of Hell and that comes with its perks when the very creatures you are trying to get to actually happen to be in Hell. He turns to Astraport out and bumps into Remiel who is lurking. Liv was right, this guy does lurk better than anyone else he knows. “Get out of my way,” Xane says to him.
“Ah, no,” Remiel says, shaking his head. “I simply cannot allow you to execute this plan.”
“What’s it to you?” Xane asks suspiciously.
“Hm,” Remiel says noncommittally and Xane wants to punch him. “I will offer you a little insight, due to our shared heritage, of course, as to why the bigger picture requires you to remain out of the Fae Kingdoms and for Aefre to remain in it.” Remiel places his hand against Xane’s temple and he staggers back as the blast of power ricochets through his head.
Chapter 15
Kingdom of the Dark Fae, March 2013 – Liv
“Ergh,” I groan. My head feels like someone hit me with a sledgehammer and my mouth is all dry. What the Hell happened to me? I try to open my eyes, but they seem glued shut. I try to remember what happened and it hits me. Oh, the gods. I drank from Sebastian’s brother, Thrace. It was the most surreal feeling, ever. Pure Light Fae blood is not for Vampires, that is for sure. It’s all a bit confusing, but I think Sebastian said he would explain it to me. Seb, is he here?
“Seb?” I croak, but there is no answer. I try to open my eyes again and the room spins as I sit upright. My back is burning, and it feels like there is a vice around my chest. Bloody Hell, the crash and burn from such an amazing high is not pretty. Never mind Dark Fae blood, remind me never to go near a Light Fae again with my fangs drawn. A shower is what I need, I decide, and stumble out of bed to the bathroom. Flicking on the low-level lights, I squint and turn on the shower, grateful that they are not so antiquated here as to not have indoor plumbing. I let the hot water steam the place up a bit and then I go to look at myself in the mirror, dreading what I will see, but I am surprised to see I look like Liv. I have Shifted back for some reason. I must be losing more energy here than I thought. I will leave it now until I have to see Drake again to Shift back. My eyes are puffy, and my hair is a mess and why does my back hurt so much? I rub the buildup of condensation away from the mirror before I turn and look back over my shoulder. What the fuck? I rub the mirror some more to get it clearer, but I wasn’t imagining things. My Dragon has been bound. Tied up tightly down the middle of my back with five thick black bands. What the Hell is this? She is completely still, and my stomach feels like it drops fifty feet as I lurch against the basins. What is this? I sense a strong panic rise in me and now that I am fully alert, I can feel the change. I don’t have that immense load of Power running through me that is my Queen Power. I feel weak and disorientated. I hear the bedroom door open and close and the only person who would come in unannounced is Sebastian, so I call out to him, “Seb! Come quickly. Something has happened.”
Silence.
“Seb?” I turn to the bathroom door and get the shock of my life. It’s not Sebastian, it’s Aelfric, looming in the doorway, taking up the entire space with his huge size, and taking in my appearance with a wicked gleam in his eye. I grab for a towel to cover up, as I am standing here buck naked, and glare at him. “Get out,” I say with as much authority as I can.
He shakes his head and steps closer. “No, my dear. I didn’t go to all the trouble of binding your powers, just to leave without getting what I came for.”
“What?” I say to him, confused. “You bound my Powers? Why? How?” I demand, stepping closer to him and then, realizing that probably isn’t the best idea, I retreat.
His wicked smile widens as he sees me step back and he moves closer, forcing me all the way back into the shower that is still beating down and fogging up the bathroom. I am drenched and he hovers on the edge and flicks his wrist. The shower turns off and he steps inside. Shit! I scramble for my magick, but it isn’t there. It was sketchy at best here, but now it is completely gone. Bound. By him.
“What do you want from me?” I ask and I hear the tremble in my voice.
“Why, you of course,” he says matter-of-factly. “With this amendment, I need to take a turn to get this child conceived.”
“Wha…what amendment?” I stammer, clutching my towel in a death grip.
He laughs gently. “Oh, Kalen didn’t tell you? No, I didn’t think he would. He is quite selfish. Always has been. Never liked to share.”
“Share?” I croak, wondering what on Earth he is talking about.
“Enough talk,” he snaps, getting impatient. He reaches for me and I put my hand up to stop him.
“Don’t touch me,” I say to him.
He grabs my hand and crushes it, breaking it. “Or you will do what?”
I just stare at him in horror and he finds it quite amusing. “I have to admit, it is possibly a waste of effort binding you as I don’t think you would be able to stop me even with your powers, but I wasn’t taking a chance you might throw something unpredictable at me. Besides,” he adds, “I do prefer my females weak and subservient.”
I gulp loudly as the true realization hits me of what he has done, and what he is about to do. And he is right. I can’t fight him off. I may have had a better chance with my Powers, but now I am completely ineffective. He lets go of my crushed hand, and with a searing pain, I straighten it and it heals, but then he is pushing me back against the shower wall with his enormous body and ripping the towel from me. I push on his chest, not going down without as much of a fight as I can, but it is like pushing against a cavern wall. Nothing.
“You can fight if you want, I don’t mind,” he whispers as he leans down to me. “I sometimes like it that way.”
I open my mouth to scream my head off, but he claps his big hand over my mouth. “You can scream as well, but no one will come for you. Everyone knows what is at stake here and make no mistake that your father holds any affection for you. He will allow this to happen.”
No, I think to myself. He wouldn’t let this happen. He wouldn’t let his only daughter be treated in this manner just for the greater good. Would he? I start to doubt it and he sees it in my eyes and laughs again quietly. “You know this is the only reason you are here. It is my good fortune that you are a pretty little thing, especially in your natural form. It will make this even more enjoyable.” He plasters his lips to mine in a rough kiss that I squirm away from, but he holds onto the tops of my arms in an iron grip that I cannot get away from. I feel a searing heat where his hands are and then a vicious burn as he lets me go to run his hands over my breasts. The place where his hands were is on fire, and as he pulls away from me, I cast a quick glance down and two massive handprints have been branded into my flesh from his touch.
He tweaks my nipples roughly. I whimper despite myself and it encourages him to pull on them even harder, rolling them in his fingers, before he picks up me and lines my breasts up with his mouth. He sucks on me and I take the opportunity to kick at him now that my legs are in a position to do so, but he bats me away with a little tut. “You would enjoy it, if you stopped fighting and accepted it,” he murmurs to me.
“Never,” I snarl at him, as I kick him again and he drops me suddenly. I land hard on my feet and his hand is at my throat.
“I thought Vampires enjoyed variety,” he says, pushing me back up against the wall. His other hand goes down between my legs. I clamp my thighs together. He gently rubs his hand over me and sighs, “Don’t make me use magick on you. It’s less fun that way.”
I clamp even tighter and his eyes go hard. “Very well. I see you are not going not make this easy for me, so I will have to show you I don’t mean to hurt you.” He wraps his arms around me and carries me kicking and screaming to the bed. I Vamp out and claw at him, but it is all completely useless. It doesn’t affect him and only angers him further. He throws me on the bed, and I scramble to get away. If I can just get to the door, I can call for help. My hand reaches for the handle, but his lands on mine, again crushing it until my bones shatter. I muffle my cry of pain as he pulls me back to the bed. “Feisty,” he mutters to himself as he places me back on the bed and holds me down with his knee on my chest. “I knew you would be a fighter, but you don’t give up, do you?”
“No,” I growl at him, squirming under him, clawing at him.
“Pity,” he says. “I had wanted to take a bit of time with you. Enjoy you for a while. I still could if I spelled you, but I want it real, regardless. I want you to remember it.”
“You would have to spell me to ever want to be with you,” I get out, before he backhands me across the face.
“How dare you disrespect me? You are an abomination, girl. A disgrace and a Halfling. You should be grateful to lie with a King, but instead you fight me!”
“Grateful?” I sneer even though I am now very afraid. He has removed his knee from my chest and wrapped one hand around my throat, the other quickly working to get the laces of his breeches undone. “I am a Queen, and it will be a cold day in Hell before I ever want to be with you.”
“I have bound your Dragon and without it you are no longer Queen of the Underworld, my dear. You are just a thousand-year-old Vampire with no special abilities and no match for me. I am four thousand years old and a Fae King. Your own power is weak and useless against mine.” He increases the pressure on my neck and lifts me further up the bed. My hands go to his to try and remove the pressure, but I am just not strong enough. “Those claws are becoming a nuisance,” he says idly. I pull my hands back and retract my claws quickly. I remember what Drake said about declawing and I am sure that Aelfric probably knows this method of torture as well and wouldn’t hesitate to use it. “Better,” he says with a smile, as he takes both my wrists in his one big hand and pushes them above my head. I arch my back as I struggle, and he drops his head to lick my nipple before sucking it into his mouth. His long blonde hair falls in a curtain around me and he moans softly as he suckles on me, but his grip never weakens on my wrists and I resign myself to my fate. This is happening and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I am bound and useless. I try to call out to Sebastian to come and rescue me, but we have no bond, so it is pointless. I call out to everyone that I do have a bond with, but that is fruitless as well, as any telepathic abilities I had are Dragon based and currently bound, and my sire won’t be able to sense me in this Realm. I am done for.
I stop struggling and he stops and looks up at me in surprise and hope. I think he is going to say something to me, but he changes his mind as he sees my tears and let’s go of my wrists before he cups my breasts with both of his hands. I pull on my arms, but it’s no use. He has held me in place with magick now and I can do nothing to get out of it. I am lying naked in the middle of the bed with Sebastian’s father crawling over me, his mouth all over me, his hands stroking me everywhere and the tears seep out of my eyes. I close them and try to think about anything and everything else.
“Open your eyes,” he whispers to me and I have to. I have no choice. That damn Faerie magick is really pissing me off. He ducks his head between my legs, that are still clamped together with every last ounce of strength I have, but he places his hands on me and again I feel that searing burn as he pulls my legs apart. I cry out in pain as I struggle against the invisible ties holding me in place. He lowers his mouth to me and licks me softly and gently.
“You taste so sweet,” he murmurs to me. “I wish I hadn’t had to use magick on you. I wish that you could have let me do this to you willingly, but I will make you enjoy it. I promise you.”
The tears continue to flow as he attends to his task as if this is the most normal thing in the world, and that he expects me to enjoy it. He goes about it as if he is making love to me and that he wants my pleasure, but I am tied down and unwilling and there is no way that will ever happen. My lack of pleasure doesn’t deter him though, and after what feels like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, he lifts his head and slides his fingers into me. “Just give in,” he says to me. “I can make you feel things you could only have dreamed about.”
I shake my head, my voice no longer working, and he sighs. “You are so stubborn,” he says. “You are beautiful, Aeval. You look like mine. You would be accepted by the Light as their Queen. I could make you my Queen, I could protect you from the others.”
I just stare at him. Doesn’t he already have a Queen? What does he mean by “protect” me?
“A King can
have as many Queens as he wants,” he says, reading my thoughts. “I would make you mine, and I would worship you. We can make this prophecy come true together. Just you and me. I will keep the others from you, if you would say you would be my Queen.”
I balk at the idea and shake my head again, still not having found my voice.
“Very well,” he sighs. “This is the way it has to be then.” He rises to his knees. I can see the enormous bulge and I gulp as he finishes undoing the laces and he springs free. My eyes widen in shock at the sheer size of him. Oh, gods, this is going to hurt. I’m not ready for him and it is going to hurt like Hell. He sees me looking at him. “I tried to get you ready,” he says almost apologetically, before he grabs my hips and lifts me to him. “I wanted you ready for me, but we are running out of time.” His cock twitches as it touches me, and he gently forces himself into me. I tense up as I can feel the burn as he tears me as well. I cry out and the tears flow freely now. I hate showing this weakness, but he has me beaten. He lowers my hips as he pushes himself further into me and lowers himself onto me, bracing his weight on his elbows. He goes slowly at first, but as soon as I have folded around him, he groans and shoves harder and deeper. I clench my jaw and bite my tongue, trying not to make any more noise. He closes his eyes and fists his hands into my hair. He kisses me, forcing his tongue into my mouth as he thrusts harder and harder into me. It hurts and I want to shuffle under him to get him to fit more comfortably, but I know that will only encourage him, so I stay completely still. He stops kissing me and opens his eyes. “Look at me,” he demands softly.