Excitement surged in her chest, and Diana searched the shadows until she found her mate. That feeling withered, replaced by dread. The pearly eyes that glowed down at her in a menacing stare were that of a stranger.
He descended the steps, and she made out smaller secondary horns that curved out from his brow between the rack of his antlers, and little protrusions that pushed down from the corner of his jaw at either side. A long spike jutted out from each of his forearms. His tail whipped behind him as he walked, a cruel smile tugging on his lips.
“Silvas?” she whispered as she felt Raskyuil tense behind her, his hand gripping hard on her shoulder.
Chapter 36
Selvans stared at the female standing in front of him. She seemed so familiar. He could feel an awareness of her pulsing through him as desire licked through his body. The surge of lust he had felt toward the nymph paled in comparison to what he was experiencing now. It made his body tremble and filled his mind with desperate longing.
He knew her, but why didn’t he remember her?
At first glance, the female was unremarkable. She possessed little of the refined beauty of the immortal ones. So why did he yearn for her like no other? It was disconcerting and suspicious. She was pale and bruised, dark circles beneath eyes that appeared a deep green sparked with flecks of gold. Her hair hung in a tangled mass over shoulder, and he watched as she pushed it back with one hand, her eyes imploring him.
Whoever she was, she recognized him and seemed just as perplexed that he did not know her. The common tongue name that he had taken refuge behind fell from her lips, the sound sweet as it twined through him. It thrummed along the edges of the bond that was sealed off from him. He was certain that his reaction had something to do with the purpose of the barrier in his mind, but knowing that did not comfort him. He had to have had a reason to have blocked her out. He could not trust her. Even less knowing that she should not have survived the appetite of Cacus.
His eyes narrowed on the small human as he weighed the matter before him. Arx was in shambles, great swathes of trees were destroyed, and corpses littered the palace grounds. He had seen the remains. The crystalline skeletons of nymphs suspended in agony as their beings were consumed, the remains of satyrs and fauns curled up on themselves. He had witnessed what was left of goblins killed by the masses as they attempted to flee, and a field of orc and troll corpses bleeding freely over the earth where they made their last stand, their bodies ravaged and withered from their souls being torn out.
Even the majority of his crocotta clan lay broken in the inner courtyard. Keech and a few of the older pups had survived. He was relieved to see that Keena had also made it. It was a small gift in light of the horror he had witnessed among the broken stones of Arx and the blackened and broken trees of the hamadryads. Everywhere he had looked as he landed within the courtyard was stained with death.
Through that destruction, this soft female had survived. The possibility of her being involved was not something he could risk being in error. He had to preserve the forest. If he could not trust her, what was he to do with her? He had no stomach for killing vulnerable humans. He inhaled, his brow furrowing.
She didn’t smell like a human. He bristled as he backed away from her, his cock swelling with a painful, raging need. He couldn’t identify what she smelled like, and that disturbed him, even more since his body surged eagerly, demanding that he pin her beneath him as her perfume danced over his scent receptors.
Selvans growled and shook his head to clear it. She had to be an unnatural creature masquerading as human. He couldn’t detect the taint on her, but if she made herself convincingly human to his other senses, she may have had the ability to disguise that as well. His hand sought his sword, a rush of wariness flowing through him, igniting his aggression. She was seeking to manipulate him. He would not allow it!
“Lucomo,” Raskyuil rasped. Unlike the female, his guard wore several deep gashes running over his body, among them four furrows bisecting the left side of his face just shy of damaging his eye. They were half-healed and ugly, but at least no longer bleeding. It was the obvious work of one of the healers rushing to tend to all those who were injured as a number of beings had converged on the palace to help the wounded from nearby villages.
Despite the male’s obvious pain, his hand remained planted on the female’s shoulder as he addressed Selvans. “We need to leave. Cacus has fled. He’ll carve a path of destruction, leaving nothing but death in his wake. We must put an end to the threat at once.”
Selvan’s gaze focused on the offending hand, growling. “You’re right,” he said. “Step away from the female.”
Raskyuil stiffened, his expression turning calculated. Damn troll was too observant. “Would you not prefer that I help your uxorem?”
Selvans stiffened. Impossible. This was not his uxorem. He would never have set a barrier between himself and his mate. She had to be a seductress, a beguiling weaver of enchantments and illusions. She must have tricked his guard by some magic designed to convince him. That had to be how she gained entry, and how Cacus had made it through the palace’s defenses. Arx was a deadly fortress to any who forcibly enter.
“Move,” he hissed. “She has clouded your mind. I will deal with the betrayer.”
The female startled, her mouth gaping open, no doubt surprised that he caught onto her lies. Without waiting for a response from Raskyuil, Selvans strode forward, fury filling him. He would tear the male’s hand away and disable him if Raskyuil dared get in his way. Nothing would stop Selvans from terminating the creature who brought death to his forest. As an ally of Cacus, she was no better than an unholy consort of the Tainted One. She was the vilest of females in his eyes.
His upper lip pulled back from his fangs at his advance, his stride breaking at the sudden grief that flooded him. He stumbled, his body shaking with emotion until he wrestled it back under control. He was a god! He was not subject to such weaknesses.
“No!” Raskyuil shouted as he stepped in front of her and brought his ax up against Nocis.
The clang of metal striking shook the cavern as the troll-forged ax splintered at the head. Selvans glared at the male over their weapons, a menacing growl vibrating in his throat.
“You would dare raise your weapon against me?” he rasped.
The troll met his eyes, regret shining in his gaze as he inclined his head. “I’m sorry… I can’t. I must protect the ati. You are not well, lucomo.”
“I am myself again,” Selvans snarled as he pulled his sword up once more, the darkness of the blade seeming to absorb the light around them. Good. Let his adversaries fear him. Once more, Nocis would be put to the use for which it was forged. “I am the god of this forest and all within it, and I will see to it that all threats to it are vanquished!”
Raskyuil raised his ax once more. The broken metal made one of the double blades lean at an angle, the gouge a blazing scar against the metal. Still, he did not submit, even with several wounds weeping from where they were reopened. He dared to raise his weapon, though his arm shook, the muscles strained from the last blow.
“Diana… is no threat… to you or this forest,” the troll rasped.
Selvans shook his head. “It is a pity that I cannot risk believing that. I take no pleasure in what must be done.” He grimaced. “Truthfully, it pains me inexplicably, and I see no reason why it should. I have no memory of this female.” He ignored the pained gasp from his faux mate. “All I know is what I must do, even if it means going through you, my friend.”
“So be it,” Raskyuil mumbled as he swung his ax.
He still possessed enough strength that its edge whistled with the force of its swing, but Nocis intoned a song of death as Selvans brought it around and cut through the air. Their collision rained sparks as the troll forge’s magic ax shattered beneath the godly might of Nocis. The blade cleaved through the heads of the weapon as it wrenched free from Raskyuil’s hands. The other male roared at the impact that sent
him flying back into the cavern wall.
Staring at his fallen friend with regret, Selvans stepped to the male’s side and sighed. “You brought this upon yourself.”
The troll winced, his eyes rolling up to return Selvan’s regard. “You bring whatever sorrows come… upon yourself,” he replied in a faint voice.
Selvan’s lips twisted as he turned away, his eyes fastening on the female watching him with sadness shining in her now blue eyes.
He cocked his head. There was something so familiar about those eyes.
“I am sorry,” he rumbled as he stepped toward her. They were not just empty words. His sorrow tore through him, clawing at him, and he felt a wetness on his cheek. Raising one hand, he wiped it away in surprise. Never before had he wept. He hardened his resolve. He had no patience for such sorcery.
Selvans surged forward with a roar. The female stumbled back, her hands searching for a weapon she did not possess. The energy of Nocis curled through him, and triumph surged over him. But as she slipped back over the rocks, a sleek, white body shot up from the waters just behind her. A hiss rattled through the air. Selvans responded with his own furious roar as he wheeled to face his sister.
Dorinda bared her teeth and drew something up from the waters as she coiled on the fountainhead rock of her spring. Her red eyes glowed as a pale silver blade cut through the water, and she pulled it up. He stiffened, preparing for attack, but as she swung her arm forward, she made no move toward him. Instead, she released the blade, sending it spinning through the air.
His eyes followed the path of the blade. A light of its own seemed to wink from the depths of it as it fell to sink, tip down, in the ground in front of his foe. This new betrayal cut deep. For countless centuries, he and Dorinda had an uneasy relationship, often bordering on hostile, but never would have he expected her to betray him like this.
Turning toward the female—Diana, he recalled Raskyuil calling her—he eyed his adversary. He watched as one slim hand reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword. She pulled it free effortlessly from the rock and soil that confined it. Raising its point until it was held out between them in a clear warning, she stared back at him. Her face fell with grief, though her sword arm remained steady as she held the blade out against him.
Reluctance coiled through his body as he met her eyes, and an uncomfortable awareness sparked within him. He wasn’t going to be able to hold any kind of drawn-out fight, nor could he provide her any opening to attack. He needed to end this matter quickly before his bewitched instinct turned against him. Growling, he swung his sword, hoping that the strike would be clean and her death mercifully quick so that his sorrow would not know greater heights.
Her breath was loud within the cave, or perhaps it seemed so because despite his best intentions he was highly attuned to her. Every breath, every move… He longed to capture every moment of her existence for what remaining time he had before Nocis shattered her soul.
The silver blade glowed as Diana drew back and swung it. As she moved, a change seemed to come over her. Her eyes blazed with a sapphire light, and the blade flared as it met the void of Nocis. A brilliant flash erupted at the epicenter of contact as the combustion sent them both skidding back over the cavern floor. Half-crouched in an attempt to regain their balance, they regarded each other as the cave shook and numerous rocks broke and fell all around them, scattering over the ground. Selvans’ eyes widened as he stared at her.
Never before had any weapon withstood the power of Nocis. No aelven creation, nor anything forged by troll or orcish hand. He would not have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. The blade did not break, nor did it fly free from her hand. It had not even a scratch marring its length. For the first time since its creation, Nocis failed. Her blade pulsed with power even as an unearthly glow rose around Diana. She unwaveringly returned his regard. At her side, Keena, who had arrived too late to interfere, pushed her way forward. Her lips peeled back, baring long fangs. The crocotta stood stiffly, her fur bristling as she growled viciously in uncommon defense of the female that shook him.
Awareness skittered through him again, and he came close to lowering his blade. Tightening his hand, he frowned at her as he heard the scraping sound of Raskyuil hauling himself to his feet. He was not concerned with the troll. There was little that the male would be able to do against him. This female, however, possessed an unexpected power that tugged at him relentlessly. His instinct rebelled against his constraint as he faced her down and felt a tremor run up his arms.
“You will not succeed in your task, betrayer,” Selvans hissed, keeping an ear tipped toward Raskyuil and one eye on the crocotta.
“Betrayer? What are you talking about. Silvas—shit, I mean Selvans? We mated! I’m yours and you’re mine, no matter what lengths you went through and what lies you told in order to get what you wanted. And I can prove it!” she shouted at him, her body shaking with fury.
With one hand, Diana gripped her tunic and yanked it down, revealing the swell of her breasts. He was distracted by the sight, a sense of familiarity running through him. As if creeping through from some corner of his mind, he recalled the feel of them beneath his mouth, the smell of them, and the taste. Desperate to escape the fragmented memory, he jerked his eyes away, but froze when his gaze landed upon the pearly vinculum marcam embedded in her clavicle, pulsing subtly with power.
The truth of her words slammed through him, an agony piercing deep into his heart. It couldn’t be—he couldn’t have forgotten his uxorem! He fought against the fog obscuring his memories as he struggled to recall anything of her.
There was nothing there.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he stepped back on shaky legs and turned away, his eyes falling on Raskyuil. The male eyed him cautiously and Selvans shook his head.
“I yield. Remove this female from the Eternal Forest, Raskyuil. No further harm will be attempted on her from me.”
The troll tipped his chin in acknowledgment before making his way over to Diana.
Without glancing back, Selvans strode back to the staircase. Raskyuil would do his duty. Meanwhile, he needed to begin his hunt for Cacus. His nostrils flared as he caught the lingering stench of the Tainted One. A soft voice, however, pulled at his heart as he left.
“Silvas, what happened to you?” Diana whispered.
Selvans wished that he knew.
Chapter 37
A sob broke free from Diana when at last Silvas was gone, and she leaned against Raskyuil. It wasn’t fair. He was gone. He didn’t even know her anymore and looked upon her as if she were his enemy. A thick arm wrapped around her as the troll hugged her close, comforting words murmured to her that did little to ease the ache in her heart.
Would the suffering of an unfulfilled bonding have hurt as much as this? At that moment, it didn’t seem likely. Every part of her that had cried out for her mate in his absence, that had suffered without his presence in their bond, was grieving in an intense sense of loss. This time she had to suffer through watching him walk away from her, and hear with her own ears his damning words as he instructed Raskyuil to take her away.
Silvas… No, he wasn’t her Silvas. He was Selvans, a stranger who she shared a fragmented bond with. She had to face a horrifically long life, alone, never seeing him again. Her body racked with pain, she turned in Raskyuil’s arms and took the offered comfort.
“Selvans is a fool,” Dorinda said with a snort, her tail tightening around her rock. “He blocked your bond before he saw the pegaeae.”
Choking off another brittle sob, Diana blinked at the female as she attempted to focus past the emotions raging within her. “I don’t understand.”
The vegoia frowned toward the staircase. “I was blind to it when he came to me. I sensed a change in him, but I didn’t understand it at the time. He’s typically a moody bastard anyway.” She sank lower into the water, a sigh leaving her lips. “Restoration from the spring isn’t a bath or a simple washing. It violently stri
ps away all the illusions you hold onto and all the miasma that separates you from your true self. With that much power repressed, it rippled during purification. Since he refused the bond, it literally removed your presence from him. It stripped away his memories of you. He suffers as you do, but he is confused and angry because of it. Nocis feeds that anger.”
Swiping a hand over her face, Diana looked at Dorinda. “What do I need to do?”
The vegoia lifted an amused eyebrow. “Wait.”
“Wait?” Diana deadpanned.
“He can’t ignore the bond forever. It will draw him back to you.” She craned her neck as she scanned the roof of the cavern, her eyelashes fluttering. “The forest will manage for a time,” she intoned, her voice echoing through the cavern. “It will wait for you. It requires both of you for life to return once more. It will sleep and Selvans will hunt Cacus, but without you, his hunt will not bear fruit. When the mortal season turns, he will find you once more. Watch for him.”
Diana stared, uncertainty warring within her. Did she want him to return for her? Although her heart and mind cried out for her mate, after he tried to kill her, part of her was more inclined to hide from him at this point.
“Very well,” she said. “I will watch.” Noticing the weight in her hand, Diana extended the sword out to Dorinda. “I think this is yours. Thank you for letting me use it.”
The vegoia gave her a mysterious smile and drew away. “The sword Anola is not mine. It is yours, ati. It was always meant to be. I merely am the vehicle of bringing it to its rightful owner.”
With a soft laugh, Dorinda dove back into the depths of her pool, leaving Diana alone with Raskyuil and the crocotta.
Turning away, she faced the troll, who was assigned as her escort out of the Eternal Forest. It was almost ironic that she was now to suffer the same exile that Alseida had only days earlier. It gave her only the tiniest bit of comfort that even in the grips of paranoia, Silvas had seen to her safety and ordered the nymph removed. Only this time she wasn’t sure if it was for her safety or for the safety of the Eternal Forest. She suspected that not even Silvas knew.
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