She just shook her head and closed her eyes. Gabe gently shook her and whispered apologies, his tone as desperate sounding as Braxas felt.
“We need to hurry,” he heard Ishaya say. “Pick her up and carry her.”
Braxas looked at Gabe, silently telling him what he could not verbalize, that Gabe should carry her because he no longer trusted his cougar. Gabe scooped her up and tenderly kissed her forehead. He saw tears slide down the Alpha’s cheek at the same time that he felt his own.
“Now we run,” Ishaya said, “while the two of you still have control.”
Chapter Thirteen
When Corrine had woken up to Gabe’s wandering hands, she instantly flashed back to what had happened the last time they’d touched and she just panicked. She jumped up and swatted his hands away, her worry for his health now getting bowled over by sheer irritation that seemed to swell up from some place inside of her. But then his eyes had narrowed in suspicion and he’d accused her of lying to him.
The Goddess help her, she’d lost it and slapped her mate right across the face.
Inside her head, part of her was horrified at what she’d just done, but there was a new voice as well, one that egged her on gleefully to do it again.
These males don’t know what’s good for them. It’s a good thing I’m in charge, the voice had said before she verbally set Gabe straight. The next thing she knew, Braxas was chiming in, saying ridiculous things, and she wanted to slap the both of them.
Then suddenly, it felt like someone had shoved an ice pick through her eye, straight into her brain. The pain was instantaneous and all consuming. Corrine had a split second to realize her legs were about to give way before the soothing darkness engulfed her, finally giving her some relief.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the forest at all and her mates were nowhere to be found. Instead, she found herself in a rather cozy little cottage standing in front of a woman sitting by the hearth. Being a seer, Corrine had had many visions in her lifetime, so she knew the otherworldly feel of them well, but this one was slightly different from all the previous ones her Goddess Allyria had blessed her with. Normally they had a dreamlike quality about them. This one felt so real, and if she didn’t know better, she would have thought she was truly standing there.
“Hello, niece.”
Niece?
“Won’t you rest by my fire and speak with me?” The stranger smiled and gestured for her to sit.
Well, I guess she’s not really a stranger after all, is she? Corrine, very much intrigued, knew that she was in the presence of a Goddess, one that up until a few days ago, she had not known existed.
“Thank you, Goddess,” she replied, taking a seat across from the beautiful woman.
“Please call me Lady Ryssana, Corrine.”
Corrine smiled in acknowledgment, speechless at the moment. She studied the sister of her own Goddess, reflecting on how different they seemed to appear. Allyria, whose name she had heard for the first time from Ishaya’s lips, who had never revealed her sister's existence or the existence of the Dark Fae to her Light Fae children, had never come across as so humble as the woman sitting before her. Corrine couldn’t help the small feeling of disappointment that she had had to learn the history of the Dark Fae from Ishaya.
Lady Ryssana was dressed very casually in a tunic top and loose pants. She wore her long soft black hair in a braid that trailed over one shoulder. Her bronzed skin glowed in sun-kissed perfection, with a teasing of freckles across her cheeks.
Every time the Goddess Allyria had come to Corrine in her visions, she’d been luminous in her flowing gowns, long golden hair, and flawless moonlit porcelain skin, looking every bit the Goddess that she was. It was bizarre to see her sister, even with her otherworldly glow, looking like any other Fae woman, ready to attend to her day.
A wiggling blanket sitting in Lady Ryssana’s lap snagged the Goddess’s attention. She swaddled a tiny furry face, picked up a small bottle with a nipple attached to it, and brought it to the eager cub's mouth.
“This little babe lost his mother, so I am fostering him until he’s strong enough to make his own way. Then I will let him go to live the life he was destined to,” Ryssana explained as she looked lovingly at the little bear eating greedily. “My sister and I have very different ideas when it comes to how we raise our children. Allyria was never very interested in the daily struggles of her children. She chooses to let nature take its course, but if this cub ever called for me, I would come.” She now looked back up at Corrine, her expression much more serious. “My Dorum have told me that one of my own has committed heinous crimes against human and Fae kind alike. Do you know of this, child?”
“I do.” Corrine swallowed at the sudden raw intensity she saw in Ryssana’s eyes. She could feel the power increasing in the air around them. “Frederych was working with Kheelan on something awful. They were abducting humans and using them to experiment on. He was mad in the pursuit of power.”
“I see,” Ryssana began, her expression getting darker, “and this Kheelan is one of your people?”
“He was. He’s dead now.” For the first time, Corrine felt shame in the actions of her people as a whole. The Fae in general since she’d been a child, had always thought themselves so above the humans, shifters, and the rest of the forest folk, but it was that exact hubris that led to the insanity and power hungry greed of men like Alefric and Kheelan.
A tired sigh from Lady Ryssana distracted Corrine from her own thoughts. “I have to admit, child, I never thought any of my own creations could ever disappoint me so. But I suppose that that, in itself, is the folly of every parent whose progeny end up with only the darkest of their own traits. I was so busy judging my sister's children that my own have suddenly run amok.”
“We believe Kheelan and Frederych were working alone, my Lady, but they had loyal followers. If they were ignorant of the experiments, I do not know, but they are also now dead.”
“Nevertheless, I see now that keeping my people separated from their cousins in an effort to keep their hearts pure was an error in judgment. Perhaps Frederych had his own agenda, yes, but I will no longer allow myself to assume that all of my children are infallible.” Ryssana was suddenly looking at Corrine in speculation, and it made her quite nervous. “I see my sister’s goodness in you, Corrine, and I am encouraged to hope that more of her children can be led to help rather than hinder. Their magic only began to abandon them when they lost touch with who they were born to be. You have a strong leader now, and she has the heart to lead all of the Fae into harmony. But my children still have strong magic, and I will send my most trusted warriors to aid you in bringing our people together once again.”
“I am ever at your service, Lady Ryssana.” Corrine bowed her head, while her heart pounded due to the favor she still needed to ask of her. “But, my lady, if I could ask for your help with something first?”
“Yes, my child?”
“In an effort to save one of my mates, I cast a spell written by the Dark Fae, and I am told my mates and I will not survive it if we cannot see it undone.”
“You knew it was unwise to dabble in magic you are not familiar with, did you not?”
Ryssana certainly had the chiding parent tone down to a tee. Corrine was so embarrassed at what she had done, she could not even meet her eyes. She was shocked when the Lady’s soft hands were gently at her chin, drawing her up to meet her gaze. Tears pooled in Corrine’s eyes at the love and compassion she found in the Goddess’s dark green eyes.
“I see that you have many regrets, dear one, and that you did what you thought you had to do in hopes of saving those you love.” Ryssana wiped away Corrine’s tears. “There was never such a foolish thing done in love, which love could not undo.”
Corrine gasped when she absorbed the line of prose. “Thank you, Goddess,” she whispered.
“Aeron and Alak will help you to undo the spell and heal the damage done by the poison. Once that
is done, they will accompany you across the Veil to heal the rift between our people, as well as the shifters.”
“So we will get to them in time?” Corrine asked desperately when she remembered how aggressively the poison was affecting her mates. “I fear for my mates. This poison has spread to them as well.”
“My boys will find you, dear one,” Lady Ryssana informed her with a grin. It appeared that she was very fond of her High Dorum. “They might be a challenge for you to handle, but do have patience with them. They are used to carrying the weight of their people on their shoulders, but I could not ask for finer warriors. They do not know it yet either, but their fate awaits them across the Veil.”
Corrine raised her brows in surprise, but since the Goddess offered no further explanation, she did not pry. Their time together, it seemed, had come to an end. Lady Ryssana leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to Corrine’s forehead before the darkness rose up to claim her once again.
Chapter Fourteen
“…she’s yours. Kill that cat bastard…”
“… you know that she is lying to you. Why bother trying to save her?”
“…trust no one, son. That is the one true lesson you have yet to learn…”
The voice was speaking over itself and all at once, clouding his mind in a haze of chaos so that forming a thought of his own was beginning to hurt. Gabe snarled low in his chest as he charged through the forest behind Grahame and Ishaya, fighting to remain in control. Whatever the fuck that poison was that had Corrine on the brink of losing consciousness, was doing one hell of a job on him as well. He knew his father was dead, but when he heard him so clearly in his mind, it was hard to remember.
He glanced down at the woman in his arms, and an ache pulsed hard in his chest. She was so damn beautiful, and it was a humbling thought that this incredible woman was his. When he had woken that morning, aroused and completely surrounded by her scent, the voices had been silenced and he was happy. He held the woman he loved in his arms, and all was right in the world. When she’d pushed him away the voices came back with a vengeance, and something had snapped in his mind.
Gabe groaned out loud at the memory. She had woken, her face flushed with what he’d first thought was arousal, but it should have been clear that the heat in her cheeks and her glassy eyes that glared in his direction were due to the fever that she was running. She felt hotter still in his arms now than she had this morning, and his fear for her grew.
“…but she is lying to you. She must be punished…”
“Fuck off,” Gabe growled low, desperately trying to ignore his father’s voice.
Ishaya suddenly appeared at his side. “Hold fast, my friend, we are close.”
“Let’s hope so,” Braxas said grimly from his place on Gabe’s other side, closest to Corrine’s face. “I am not sure how much longer I can control my cat.”
“As long as it fucking takes,” Gabe growled, “that is how much longer you can control your cat. We have no other choice.”
“…kill that bastard cat. He wishes to take the woman for his own. Remove the threat, and you will not have to share the whore who has been lying to you…”
That. Was. It.
“Enough!” Gabe roared, his head thrown back, every muscle in his body tensed. “My father would never call my mate a whore. I am Gabe Errikson, and I am a fucking Alpha. I control who I am, what I think, and my actions are my own. Get the fuck out of my head! I am too damn strong and way too fucking mean to be controlled by nothing more than a Gods-be-damned voice in my head.”
“Well, that is good to know.” Gabe spun toward the voice that had come from the forest beside them. “The earth realm would have to have fallen a great distance if the shifters our Goddess considers kin could be controlled by nothing more than a figment of their own imagination.”
Gabe’s gaze narrowed on the two almost identical-looking men who had slipped stealthily out of the forest. Both men stood a few inches taller and had to have a good thirty to forty pounds of pure muscle on him. Although one had a goatee, and the other was clean shaven, they both had long, black hair, with a series of intricate braids that ran down either side of their heads.
They wore dark leather vests and pants, and from where Gabe stood, he could distinguish the fact that each of them had a fair number of weapons on them. But what stood out most for Gabe was the strange gray color of their skin and that each of them carried an impressive number of intricate tattoos
“Regardless,” the clean-shaven one spoke this time, his hands casually tucked into the low hung belt her wore that sheathed a large black curved blade, “our Goddess said we were to help them.”
“How mere shifters could be deemed worthy mates to one of our kind, of the Light or the Dark, I cannot say.”
Gabe heard the flippant remark from one of the Dark Fae in his head clear as day, but he’d been looking right at them and he hadn’t seen their lips move. Tricky Fae, he thought. He growled as he stepped forward, shifted Corrine over to his left side in order to free his right hand, and revealed his wicked as hell claws. “Why don’t you come see just how worthy a shifter can be, dark one?”
Braxas placed a hand against Gabe’s chest and gave him a concerned look. “Gabe, what are you talking about?”
The one with the goatee tilted his head and stared at him quizzically. “It’s the poison. There will be no fighting it shortly.”
“Do you think they wish to meet us in battle, brother? I’m unsure if they realize exactly who or what we are, let alone the fury we can unleash on weaker beings.”
Once again, he seemed to be the only one to hear their comments. If Gabe hadn’t been cradling Corrine close to his chest, he would have likely stepped forward and punched the goateed fucker. “Weaker beings? Who the fuck—”
Ishaya stepped forward, placing a hand on Gabe’s arm. “The Darkness is toying with you, my friend, you must not listen to the voices,” he said.
Gabe closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure what was real anymore. Ishaya released the grip on his arm when Gabe finally looked up at him.
“It is good to see you again, Aeron.” Ishaya turned to dip his head in acknowledgment of the clean-shaven Fae. “And you, Alak. As I am sure our Goddess has told you, we have come to seek your assistance. Lady Corrine has taken ill, and we—”
“We know what the Fae seer has done, Ishaya,” the clean-shaven one, Aeron, said.
“We are of the opinion that she should be made to suffer the consequences of her actions.”
Gabe closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to rationalize that once again this voice was only in his head and was not actually said by Alak.
“We are here to help her as our Goddess has bid us,” Alak actually did say.
Gabe heard contempt in the man’s tone, though it did not match the compassionate expression on his face, and despite his rationalization this time, his rage went from simmering to nuclear in less than a heartbeat. “If you let my woman die, I will rip your heart out through your throat before this fucking poison takes me with her.”
Alak rolled his eyes and let out a breath in exasperation before he stepped forward to look at Corrine, who was still held tightly in Gabe’s arms. He thought he saw Alak’s lips moving, but he heard no sound and then his eyes darkened and turned fluid before they changed back to normal and lifted to meet Gabe’s. “I said our Goddess has deemed her worthy of saving, and she has tasked us with doing exactly that and we have never failed her.” His expression became concerned as his gaze lowered back Corrine. “We will not let your woman die.”
“Although, there is a first time for everything.” It was his father’s voice he heard this time, and Gabe’s heart stopped, his rage withering beneath the strength of his fear. He looked at Corrine and cried out. Her face had gone completely slack, and he could see she was barely breathing.
“Corrine!” He cried out again as he dropped to the ground, placing her flat. Braxas fell beside him, both of th
em reaching for her wrists, and pressing their hands to her face. “Please, please, Goddess, no. Corrine! Don’t you dare leave me. Do you hear me?”
Gabe went to move into position to start CPR but then found himself flung backward by an unseen force that threw him against the trunk of a large tree and held him there.
“If you wish us to save this woman,” Aeron began as he stepped up to Corrine’s still figure then dropped to his knees beside her, “then you must let us do so. I have a feeling that neither you nor that feline shifter has the necessary control at this time to stand back so Alak will hold you where you stand until this is done.”
Gabe thrashed against the tree, growling and snarling with displeasure, the forest echoing his grief. The only sound that rivaled his was the similar sound coming from Braxas, who was being held against the tree beside him.
Gabe watched as Aeron’s tattoos began to slowly move along his skin. He took a vial of liquid from a compartment on the belt that he wore and then tilted Corrine’s head back and poured a dose of the viscous purple liquid into her mouth. Aeron then reached out with both hands, and placed them a couple of inches above Corrine’s chest, much like Gabe had seen Erica and April do when they were healing someone. An arctic blue light, brighter than he had ever seen emitting from Erica or April, shone through this man’s palms.
“El hün der mách alün
Im lasto telin dán han kálad.”
Gabe had no idea what language the Dark Fae was speaking or what the words meant, but Aeron repeated them over and over, the blue light radiating from his palms grew in intensity. Gabe focused on Corrine and prayed that he would see her chest moving. His heart felt as though it began to bleed when she continued to remain still. He was losing her before he had even had her. The mating bond between them was locked behind the spell she had cast, and he would never know what it was like to scent her and know she was his above all others. He was lost without her, and so he would follow her.
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