by Leo Hull
Perran went white as a ghost, his eyes darting around as he fidgeted with his hands. “He needs me. I’m the only one strong enough to control you.”
“Strong enough?” Nessa snorted. “That why you have me locked away in this cage? Tristan didn’t even need to be a Ground to control me. Now there was a man. Someone strong that I could respect. He showed me what a real vulta should be like. He wouldn’t be hiding, waiting to be confronted like a timid boy.”
Perran hissed and turned away, stomping off towards the door only to swivel and come storming back. Nessa tilted her head back to look at the ceiling so he wouldn’t see her smile. She was under his skin.
“What would you know about what it takes to be a vulta? It’s not easy being responsible for others. You’ve always had someone to provide for you. First your father, and now me.”
Nessa took a deep calming breath, willing herself not to rise to his bait. “Provide for me? Everything you have Talek gave to you. Even me. He can take it all away, too. You couldn’t even stop Tristan, why do you think you could stop Talek?”
“Talek barely stopped Tristan,” Perran countered as if that had any relevance to his own weakness. It was exactly the direction Nessa wanted him to go, though.
“Yeah, you’re right. If even Talek let Tristan escape from his compound, then you wouldn’t have any hope of bringing him down by yourself.” Nessa giggled. “That’s why Talek stashed us all the way out here. He knows if Tristan finds you, things wouldn’t go well for you, just like in the woods.”
“That muscled barbarian surprised me is all. I handled myself just fine when we got the drop on him and I would handle him again if he found us here. I know he’s coming, so it would be no problem,” Perran muttered and paced away. He was sweating now, the beads collecting on his unkempt goatee then flinging away as he shook his head.
“Yeah, right. If that were true, you’d track him down, reclaim my Sliver, and prove that you’re worth binding with again. Fallen, you could just put my Sliver back around my neck to restore my bond with him. That would cut your work in half and bring him here,” Nessa goaded, keeping her voice flat and dismissive. “Tristan would tear this cage apart with his bare hands to save me and you won’t even confront him to win me back.”
Perran grunted and paced away again, though his steps slowed until he eventually stopped. Nessa smiled. She could practically hear the gears in his head grinding away. She held her breath, debating with herself if she should give him another nudge or not.
Perran had always been sensitive about his reputation and any perceived slights to his strength. The loss of his other Bound over the years had only made him pricklier, and Nessa’s needling about Tristan’s physical superiority—both in and out of bed—had driven him to the point of blinding himself to reality.
“That’s the first good idea you’ve ever had,” Perran said, turning with his lips pressed together in a thin smile. Before Nessa could reply, he strode purposefully from the room.
Nessa felt a brief flash of doubt, about both what Perran planned and if she was doing the right thing by leading Tristan to her. She missed him terribly. The bond they’d formed had been strong, with more depth after just a few weeks than her connection with Perran had after years. Tristan would come for her. She had felt his soul and knew it, just as she knew her own feelings for him.
But as weak as Perran was, he did have a certain cunning, and Tristan would be heading straight into a trap Perran had time to prepare. If Annik had been freed she would help temper Tristan’s aggression, but without her Nessa feared her vulta would stick his head blindly into the jaws of whatever Perran arranged.
It was her only hope and Nessa knew that Tristan would come willingly regardless of the danger. His headstrong invasion of Talek’s compound to try and free Annik showed that. She hoped he wouldn’t be blind to the danger, but at this point Nessa had no other option.
Nessa had calmed herself by the time Perran returned. He’d washed and trimmed his facial hair, as if that would change her feelings towards him. Nessa barely noticed his fine clothing, for in his hand dangled the Sliver that anchored her bond with Tristan.
She tried not to stare at it.
“Let’s see if that barbarian is who you think he is.” Perran smirked as he spoke, full of confidence that made Nessa uneasy. He held the Sliver out, letting it sway back and forth just inches outside of the outer cage. He seemed to soften and took on a nostalgic expression. “We had trust once. We can have it again. I’ll train and the two of us will be better. I know I wasn’t always the vulta you needed me to be, but I have the potential to be that man.” Perran’s eyes hardened, betraying his promise to change. “You will bind with me if he doesn’t come or if he proves unworthy.”
It wasn’t a question or request. Perran’s memory of their relationship and what he considered trust seemed shallow and childish next to what she’d had with Tristan.
“Of course,” Nessa lied without feeling a shred of guilt. Perran would never bind her again, even if he did somehow best Tristan through trickery. She smiled at him, hoping it came off as genuine. “You used to be a great man. Show me that again.”
Perran hesitated briefly, but Nessa kept her eyes on his and he dropped the Sliver into her outstretched hand. Even the metal in her palm was enough to bring dim awareness of Tristan, but when she slipped it around her neck, she couldn’t stifle the shudder of pleasure that ran through her body.
It felt like going home, stronger even than the smell of Saeli after a month spent wandering the wilderness.
Tristan was there with her, as surely as if he shared her prison and had never left her. She reached for him only to find him already opening to accept her in a protective embrace. He felt different—there was a confidence and surety to his soul that had no right to have grown so quickly. She clung to it, his steady strength focusing her resolve.
There was something else too. A bond of love woven so tight Nessa wondered how it had also intertwined with Tristan. It was unexpected and strong and closed to her. Nessa recognized the presence of another Bound, but the fiber of this bond was nothing like she had ever heard of, yet the mystery was ultimately unimportant since Tristan accepted her return effortlessly.
She felt his surprise at her return transform to grim determination that set her quivering in anticipation.
Tristan was coming for her and she had no more doubts about calling for his help. His will was one of the great summer storms that swept in across the Albeder Sea and those in his path could only hide and hope that he would pass quickly over them.
Perran smiled at her, eager to see his plan set in motion and win her back.
Nessa almost pitied him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tristan paced. He could feel Serana’s eyes on him and knew she yearned to calm him. She held herself back, a gesture Tristan was grateful for.
Nessa was out there, her bond calling to his with the clarity of a bright winter morning. He could feel her need for him, tinged with confidence and urging care.
Nessa’s caution had been mirrored by Serana and Lydia. He’d woken in the night, Lydia’s petite frame snuggled between Serana’s soft curves and his own rock-hard body. They’d all slept deeply after the draining binding, but Tristan came awake as his bond with Nessa exploded back into existence like one of her thrown bolts.
The strength of the event was enough for even Serana and Lydia to cry out and wake, and neither had argued as Tristan hurriedly dressed and stalked off into the night. They both followed, Serana struggling to dress as she went, while Lydia simply wrapped herself in shadows. Tristan led them to the shoreline where the three stared at the remnants of the Fallen vessel that rose high enough out of the water to block out stars on the horizon. Tristan stared out at the black hole in the sky that hid his love.
Tristan could feel her in there and longed to charge down the stone causeway that connected the town to the holy site. He knew better than to follow the urge to rus
h in recklessly. The assault on Talek’s compound had nearly ended with his death and that was with Lydia’s plan.
Lydia had slipped off down the path without a word, a dark smear off to find her vulta’s missing love. Rescuing Nessa was part of the contract, but as he stood holding Serana’s hand he felt certain Lydia went for more than just duty. As the aftershocks of his reunion with Nessa faded, he could feel Lydia and Serana pulsing reassuringly along their strange twinned bond.
There wasn’t a shred of doubt among any of them what the next step would involve. It was merely a matter of details.
Now he paced restlessly in Merouda’s living area, Serana nearly as on edge as he was now that dawn approached. The rising sun would drive away Lydia’s shadows and Tristan shared Serana’s anxiety. He trusted Lydia’s abilities, but some part of him worried about having to add Lydia to the list of women that he’d let down.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Tristan said gently, forcing himself to stillness and easing an arm around Serana’s shoulders.
“I know. It’s never been easy to sit here while she goes out, even though she always comes back. The sun is like a timer and it always makes me nervous.” Serana sighed. “She’ll probably show up at noon wearing some stolen outfit and snacking on a pastry.”
“Sounds like it wouldn’t be the first time.”
“No, she’s always pushed the limits.” Serana snuggled against him and started to giggle. “We actually met that way. I was alone in the kitchen of her target’s house early one morning. She tried to make off with my apron when I took a break between getting the day’s bread ready and preparing breakfast. My aprons had been occasionally going missing for weeks, and the only reason I caught her was I remembered I had to start the batter for a cake to celebrate a favored servant’s birthday.
“I found her mid-theft and cornered her. When I saw how small and naked she was, my heart just melted. I started making sure there were always clothes for her. And food. I’ve been trying to fatten her up for years without much luck,” Serana giggled then let out a deep breath and sank against Tristan. “Soon we were friends and she kept coming even after whatever her mission was had finished.”
Tristan’s bond with Serana swelled with her love for and strangely he felt Lydia reciprocate. Serana could feel it too and gasped in delight.
“You feel that, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t know how. I’ve never been bonded, but from what Lydia told me it’s only ever between a woman and her vulta. I didn’t think it could involve the different Bound, or that the connection would be so there.”
“Maybe it has to do with how we all bonded at the same time and how much you two already loved one another.”
“Maybe,” Serana said, chewing her lip. “I like it. I can feel her through you. It’s going to make leaving you awfully hard. I’m not sure the two of us will be able to give this up.”
Tristan held her tight. “You could stay bonded, but just live life with the two of you. That would work, right?” Tristan wanted them in his life, but it felt wrong inserting himself in what they already had.
“Maybe, but why limit ourselves?” Serana licked her lips and playfully dropped a hand into his lap.
Tristan welcomed the distraction but didn’t move to escalate. “Can you still feel Nessa?”
“In a way,” Serana said as she fished him out, her fingers idly playing with his cock. “It’s not like with Lydia. I can’t feel Nessa’s emotions or even where she is. I just feel that she’s here with us. I’m aware of her, if that makes sense.”
“Not in here,” Merouda groused as she ambled into the kitchen. “I expected that from Lydia, but you? It’s not enough that the three of you kept up half the neighborhood last night?”
Serana blushed and quickly tucked Tristan away. She moved into the kitchen and kept herself busy making tea and starting breakfast. Tristan could feel her anxiety and joined her, the two using the task to distract themselves from Nessa and Lydia.
They were just sitting down to eat when Lydia burst in the door wearing a man’s long-sleeved shirt that came down just inches past her butt. Her eyes flashed with excitement and when she jumped to wrap her arms and legs around Serana, she bared herself to Tristan. Despite desperately wanting her report on Nessa, Tristan gave his two Bound time to kiss away their fears as he admired their unbridled passion.
“I found her,” Lydia finally said with a stupid grin on her face and her legs still wrapped firmly around Serana’s waist. The buxom brown-haired beauty easily supported Lydia’s slight weight with hands under the Shade’s tight ass. “Perran has her midway up the vessel in a large room empty except for the cage Nessa is kept in. Two guards on the door at all times, but he was busy setting up dozens more. There is a room just one floor up where he is staging a force and the plan seems to be to let you into Nessa’s room where they’ll try and trap you. And those are just his men; there are also the regular Fallen Guards that patrol the lower areas.”
Tristan frowned. It was a tricky place to sneak into. The long causeway would make him easy to spot, and even if he swam out to it there might not be another way in. Getting to Nessa would be just the first step. Somehow, he had to get her out and Nessa wouldn’t be much help unless he could get to Perran.
“That sounds hopeless,” Serana lamented, but Lydia just broke into a grin and held up a key.
“To her cage?” Tristan asked hopefully.
“No.” Lydia shook her head. “Better. There are side passages and stairwells that are only used by those preparing for the annual Gifting ceremony.” Lydia beamed as Tristan frowned. The last key she’d found for him hadn’t opened all the doors it needed to. “Don’t worry. I tested this time and found a path. It opens every door I tried. I couldn’t sneak past the guards to Nessa, so I’m not completely sure if it works on the cage or not, but Perran has his own key around his neck in place of a Sliver.”
Tristan swelled with pride at Lydia’s spying. She could have fulfilled her contractual duty just by scouting the area, but she’d gone so much further.
“How do you do that?” Serana asked, mirroring Tristan’s feelings for Lydia.
“How do you make such delicious food?” Lydia asked, turning and picking at Serana’s bounty. “We all have things we’re good at.”
Tristan nibbled at his own food as he thought about his plan. He needed the key around Perran’s neck to be sure, but Lydia’s subterfuge would allow him to bypass the lower levels. Getting out would still be tricky if the guards were alerted and there was still the matter of Perran’s hired help.
A smile started to spread across his face at an idea.
“Lydia, would you be able to lead me to the room where you said Perran was staging his men?” Tristan asked. Serana tensed, clinging protectively to Lydia. “Relax, I just need her guidance. I’ll send her down with enough time to be free of any fighting.”
“I can help!” Lydia insisted, but Tristan shook his head.
“You have helped, but this is something I need to do alone. I don’t want to rescue Nessa only to lose you.” Tristan spoke from the heart, surprised at the strength of his feelings but even more shocked by the sudden swell of appreciation from the two women. He felt a twinge of embarrassment, which strengthened when Merouda nodded approvingly from where she’d been listening. “I need to do some shopping to arm myself.”
“Please take the money you paid me,” Merouda insisted, rushing to a cabinet and shuffling dishes aside to grab a jar. “I haven’t seen a vulta like you since Cengor, and the best way I can think to honor his memory is to help you. There are so many women around that most vulta just shrug and find another if one is too much trouble, and it warms my old heart to see that there are good young men out there like you.”
Tristan tried to protest, but he needed the coin and Merouda threatened to evict them from the room if he didn’t take it. Serana and Lydia were on her side, and Tristan muttered a heartfelt thanks as he accepted the coin and r
etreated to the room to gather his thoughts.
As he climbed the stairs, he could hear Merouda gushing about him and advising Serana and Lydia not to let this one slip away. No one could heap on undue praise like an older woman, and Merouda was no exception. She seemed to view him as only a mother could.
Tristan left the house, buoyed by Merouda’s rosy confidence, Serana and Lydia’s growing appreciation, and Nessa’s quiet certainty. He moved with purpose, the anxieties and uncertainties of the past weeks a distant memory.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tristan peered down the hall to take one last look at where two guards stood outside Nessa’s prison. He eased back into the stairwell and gently closed the door.
“I got it,” Tristan said to the patch of slightly darker shadow in the corner.
“I’ll show you the staging area then.” Lydia brightened just enough for Tristan to see her vague shape. He followed her up the strange metal stairs and Tristan marveled at the Fallen ship. The thing seemed to be made entirely of metal, more than enough to arm and armor the entire Aeolian army with plenty to spare.
The size of the Fallen vestige was also difficult to comprehend. Aeol was built atop a small Fallen chamber where Bolstered receive their Gift, but that would fit inside this monstrosity a hundred times over. The legends of the Fallen and how they’d descended from the heavens in fiery mayhem seemed realer than ever, their Gifts almost inconsequential against an engineering marvel the size of a small city.
They walked slowly and Tristan carried his shoes since there had been no way to stop the leather soles from rapping sharply on the metal floors. They were also still waterlogged from the swim to the side entrance and the squelching was both noisy and uncomfortable.
Lights clicked on and off as they passed, casting harsh, flickering illumination that left Tristan uneasy. The small glowing bars and tubes were unnaturally cool to the touch and illuminated only when someone moved nearby. They cast enough light to see by, but Tristan would have preferred the warm, comforting light of a lantern. There were strange markings on the walls, arrows pointing with letters and symbols that formed mostly meaningless words.