Shattered Spells, page 15
I stared at the text. The last thing I wanted to do was pretend I was out of commission, but I texted back that yes, I could, and stuffed my phone in my pants pocket, then loosely wrapped the ropes back around my wrists and lay back down on the bed. My impulse was pushing me to rush out and kill whoever was driving this boat, but that was the last thing I needed to do.
I waited, straining my ears to detect any noise that might indicate they were coming through the door. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Herne again.
how soon?
A moment later he texted back: about ten minutes. be ready because yutani and wager reported in that, from where they’re hiding, it looks like kilnakarn is on the deck of his boat, watching the water. he’s waiting.
I steeled myself, going over everything in my mind. We were almost to the marina where Kilnakarn was waiting to transfer me to his ship. He was able to ride the waves between the worlds, which wasn’t something most Fae could do, but those of us who were Water Fae could make use of the water elementals.
A thought occurred to me that I should begin making friends with some of the elementals around the area. They could be daunting, but they were helpful. Unless they were enslaved, that is. It would be like Kilnakarn to subjugate a few of them, though it was a difficult process unless you possessed a spell to entrap them. And even then, once they broke free, it was best to be out of the area, given how angry they grew at their masters. Nobody liked being a slave, and the elementals of the world had the force to go up against those who tricked them, and usually they won. But the Fae who worked with the water were often able to strike bargains with them, and even befriend them.
I wondered if it worked that way for the members of the Fae who were bound to the air, or earth—or even fire. I didn’t know many of the latter, since they mostly connected with Faerie Fire, which was connected to the flame of the phoenix.
Realizing my mind was running in circles to avoid thinking of the coming fight, I drew my attention back to the present. I wasn’t about to let Kilnakarn get away. I intended to take him down for good. It would make me an enemy of his people, but I’d rather have the Kelpies of his pod hate me than know he was still in the world.
At that moment, I noticed something different. The boat was rocking far less. We must be at the marina. I began to hyperventilate, but once again, reminded myself that I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t going to have to face him by myself. Counting to ten, I slowed my breath until I was eerily calm. I readied myself and waited.
Another moment went by, and then the sound of steps echoed outside the door. Luckily, the bunk was parallel to the door, so they wouldn’t be able to see me when first opening the door. I made certain the ropes were laid so I could easily shake them off, and then—as the door opened—I held my breath.
“She’s in here,” one of the men said. I recognized his voice as the one who had dragged me toward the van.
“Good. How fitting that we reenact our first meeting.”
As prepared as I thought I was, the sound of Kilnakarn’s voice made me break out in a cold sweat. It took all my courage not to shriek and leap out of the bunk to try to escape. I forced myself to wait.
“Well, well, we meet again.”
I looked up at Kilnakarn as he leaned against the top bunk with one arm. He did, in fact, look a lot like Jason Momoa, but there was a violent sneer on his face that I doubted the actor could ever muster, and Kilnakarn’s eyes glowed in a fashion that no human’s eyes could. He looked at me, hunger and anger and anticipation all mingled together in his expression.
I stared at him, waiting for the right moment. “Kilnakarn. I’m surprised you came half a world away just for a visit,” I said, channeling Princess Leia when Darth Vader began to interrogate her.
“I’d journey far longer for the return of my property. Even a goddess can’t keep you safe from me. If I can’t take out my displeasure on her, you know that you’re going to feel the brunt.” He might be soft-spoken, but the threat behind his words was very real and very deadly. “Morgana might have taken away one of my toys, but I’ll do whatever I need to in order to ensure its return.”
I coiled my energy as he bent to stare in my face.
“You’ll never leave my side again, and every day, I’ll make sure you’ll long for the short freedom you’ve had.”
At that moment, a loud clamor erupted topside. Kilnakarn turned his head and I used that moment to throw off the ropes and bring my knees to my chest, then slam my feet into his stomach, knocking him back on his ass. I leaped out of the bunk and reached around, grabbing my dagger from the back of my pants.
“Oh no, you fuckhead. You’re the one who’s going to regret every moment of your life,” I said, gathering my balance as the boat rocked and swayed. I wasn’t sure if the wind had come up or what, but the currents didn’t seem so calm.
“What the—” He staggered to his feet, wincing.
Shouts rang out from the door of the cabin, but I ignored them, focusing on Kilnakarn. He was strong and I knew better than to underestimate him, but I longed to run him through right here, right now. However, I also knew enough about his resilience to know that one stab wouldn’t do much, unless it hit him directly in the heart.
He immediately backed up, reaching for his belt. He brought out what looked like a stun gun. So he’d graduated to modern weaponry. Having been on the wrong end of a stun gun several times, I knew to put enough distance between us so he couldn’t touch me with it. At least it wasn’t a Taser, which could knock someone down from fifteen feet away.
I held up my dagger. “You’re not taking me back this time. You hear that scuffle out there? That noise is coming from my friends, who are going to make certain you never leave this shore. You might as well give up.”
“They can’t stop me from leaving. I’m an ambassador, from my kingdom,” he said with a sneer. “I’m sure Saílle would back me up.”
“Don’t bet on it,” I mumbled, trying to assess an opening to where I could jump him. Truth was, if this did go to the Fae Courts, Saílle might very well take his side, given the fact that he was Dark Fae. And I couldn’t let that happen.
But the next moment, Herne and Yutani burst into the room. Herne trained his crossbow on Kilnakarn. Yutani was carrying his whip, coiled like a deadly snake.
“Drop it,” Herne said. “You’re not going anywhere except to my father’s palace.”
Kilnakarn’s eyes glittered. “Your father would do well to look the other way. I can make a lot of trouble for him, if I so choose. As well as for my little slut here, whom you’ve obviously decided to keep as a concubine. Your whore of a mother interfered—”
But Kilnakarn got no further. In the blink of an eye, Yutani unfurled his whip and cracked it soundly, the tongue encircling Kilnakarn’s torso, binding his arms to his waist. Kilnakarn screamed and stiffened. Yutani’s eyes gleamed with a feral light as he yanked the whip back, knocking Kilnakarn off his feet.
Herne lunged forward, grabbing the stun gun away from him as Yutani roughly handcuffed Kilnakarn’s arms behind his back. He was using iron cuffs and Kilnakarn bellowed out a shout of pain.
Herne leaned over him, his eyes glowing. “That was a mistake to speak about my mother and my employee in those terms. I suggest you apologize to Lyrical. Now.” He dragged Kilnakarn to his feet, shaking him soundly.
Kilnakarn turned his gaze to me, and the old cliché If looks could kill had never fit so much as now. “Bitch.”
“Give me two minutes with him,” I muttered, wanting nothing more than to wipe that look off his face forever.
But Herne shook his head. “My father insists on him being brought in alive. So that’s what we’ll do. Him and all of his men. Saílle must never know what’s happened to him, or she might actually pitch a fit.”
“How do you intend to keep this from the Dark Queen?” Kilnakarn sputtered.
Herne stared at him. “Yutani, gag him. I’m tired of hearing his voice.”
And so, Yutani opened his bag and brought out a ball gag. I knew it wasn’t something the office kept on hand, but decided to say nothing about the fact that it had come from his private stash of toys. Herne gave him a quick look, but said nothing either.
I followed them on deck, out into the breezy day. The wind had picked up and was whipping the waves into a frothy foam. I jumped off the boat—which was moored next to Kilnakarn’s bigger boat—onto the dock, then walked along the pier to an open slot in the marina. Kneeling, I stared into the water, then placed my hand in it as I closed my eyes. Immediately, I sensed an elemental hanging out near the docks.
It swam over to me, touching my hand, and I was overwhelmed by a series of emotions and thoughts—not in words, but in concepts and pictures. I sensed a hesitant Hello and then, behind it, a question. The image of Kilnakarn rose in my mind, yet the picture of him was surrounded by a thick haze of hatred. The elemental loathed the Kelpie king.
What did he do to you? I whispered in my mind, forcing the words into a sensation that the elemental could understand.
A long moment passed, and then I caught the image of another elemental, gentle and graceful. And then the elemental vanished as though it had never been there, shattered by some spell that broke it into shards so small that it would never again be able to fuse itself together.
What the hell?
I glanced back at Kilnakarn and his men, all bound and chained together. Herne, Wager, and Wendy were leading them away to the parking lot. Yutani waited for me, watching me closely. I turned back to the water, and sought for the elemental’s presence again.
As we connected once more, a wave of sadness spread over me, and I understood then—the elemental was mourning for its mate. Even elementals could bond together, forming new ones, though in no sense of the word did they mate like mammals, or even fish. And Kilnakarn had destroyed this elemental’s partner.
Tears sprang to my eyes, the sense of loss so great and so painful. I looked over my shoulder at the Kelpie king, being herded away. Once again, I felt a drive to race over, to stab him from behind. But the elemental’s energy washed over me again. It wasn’t forgiveness, but the reality that even if I killed Kilnakarn, it would do nothing to ease the ache of loss.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my hand immersed within the elemental’s essence. “I’m so sorry.”
The water engulfed my fingers like a glove, holding onto me as though we were holding hands. I bit my lip, bowing my head as the grief crested through me like a wave. There was nothing I could do to take the pain away, but I did what I could, infusing as much comfort as I could into the watery creature’s soul. I envisioned a warm, enveloping hug, holding the core of the elemental to my heart, trying to soothe the ache.
With a grateful shudder, the elemental let go and then merged with the water, heading out into the locks, where it could join with the waters of Puget Sound.
I picked myself off the dock and headed over to join Yutani.
“What happened? You’re crying,” he said, tipping my chin up as he kissed the tears on my cheek.
“I want Kilnakarn dead. He’s caused so much suffering and so much pain, and he’ll never stop. Even if he’s rotting in the deepest dungeon, he’ll find a way to make someone’s life miserable. He’s crafty, Yutani. He’s smart. He’ll escape.”
“Then we have to plead your case to Cernunnos. It is true, there have been successful escapes from his dungeons before. One of his guards fell in love with a member of the Ante-Fae a few years back and helped the freak escape. We had to clean up the resulting mess. Ember was almost killed in the process.” He wrapped his arm around my waist as we headed for the parking lot. “Don’t worry. Cernunnos isn’t soft—he’ll listen to you. I can’t predict what his response will be, but he will listen.”
As we walked along the pier, back to the parking lot, he asked, “Did they hurt you? When they captured you?”
I shook my head. “Not really. But I’m glad Wendy and I left a few of them dead on the ground. Some evils in this world need to be dispatched from the gene pool. Kilnakarn and his men are one set of them.”
Yutani said nothing as we returned to the parking lot. Herne had rented a small bus, and Kilnakarn and all his men from the boats were aboard. Just then, the sound of a loud crash echoed behind us and I turned in time to see Kilnakarn’s boat break in half and sink. The water elemental had its revenge, after all, and as the sounds of the sinking ship echoed along the light breeze, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. At least he was out his magical boat, and that was icing on the cake.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I’ve only been to Annwn once. I’m not sure what to expect.” All I really knew was that Annwn was the Celtic “otherworld” and that Herne and Ember had their castle there, along with most of the other Celtic gods and goddesses. Including Morgana.
“Well, it’s beautiful,” Yutani said. “It’s wild and feral and far too uncivilized for me. In a technological way. It’s not savage, but neither would I want to be caught out in the woods there without protection. There’s not a lot to do if you’re a techie. I had the option of staying there, before the hold of the Dragonni was broken, but I knew that I’d always come back here—home.”
“I understand.” While I’d grown up in almost a fairytale setting, given I was a Fae princess, we still relied on a lot of modern technology and I would be lost without it. Especially now that I was living out in the world instead of the protected bosom of my family.
“What should I wear?” I was standing naked in my room in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear to a tribunal.
“Whatever you like,” Yutani said. “Be neat and clean and tidy. I doubt if Ember would care if you showed up in sweats, but Cernunnos and Morgana would.”
We were headed over for Kilnakarn’s sentencing. He would be brought before Cernunnos, and I was hoping for an execution. I wasn’t exactly expecting it, but one could always hope.
“Is everybody going?” I asked, trying to choose between leather pants or a dress. Jeans didn’t seem right, but leather pants seemed a little more military, and therefore, more appropriate. I paired them with a blue corset, a leather jacket, and platform boots.
“No, Wager and Wendy are staying here. Talia and I are going.” He paused, giving me an odd look. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I rubbed my head. “Now that you mention it, I’m a little light-headed.” I paused, then realized that I was starving. Not for food, but for chi. “My reserves are low. I need…” I paused, not wanting to treat Yutani like a gas pump.
“You need to top off your energy?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m kind of creepy, aren’t I? Continually asking to drink from you.”
“Didn’t you ask from those you played muse to?” Yutani sidled up to me, taking the pants out of my hands and tossing them onto the bed.
“No, I never asked. But I never fucked them, either. And…I didn’t…” I didn’t want to admit to the growing feelings I had for him, but even I couldn’t avoid noticing that I truly cared about the coyote shifter and whether he was happy.
He slid his arms around my waist. “Top yourself off, babe,” he whispered. “And me, too.”
I reached down, grasping his belt buckle. As I unbuckled it, sliding his belt out of the loops, he grasped my ass in his hands, holding firmly. I unzipped him, sliding his jeans down over his bare feet. He kicked them off, his eyes growing dark and feral. I paused for a moment, long enough to open the condom and roll it over his cock, then—my hands on his shoulders—pushed him back on my bed. As I landed atop him, my blood began to run wild, my nipples stiffening. I was growing slick as my hunger grew, pounding in my head.
“Fuck me, you wanton witch,” Yutani growled. “Fuck me hard.”
I straddled his hips, hovering over his cock. Every inch of me writhed, desperate for his touch, hungry for his chi. I began to swivel my hips, lightly brushing his stiff dick, sliding across it with my pussy. Grabbing the remote on my bed, I hit #1 on the preprogrammed keyboard and the music started, filling the air with the sultry, slow beat of St. Vincent. Letting the music dictate my movements, I made figure-8s over his groin, running my hands over my breasts. I squeezed them as he watched from below, and I lost myself in the music that echoed off the walls of my room.
Yutani slid one hand between my legs, thrusting three fingers inside of me as his thumb began to massage the nub of my clit. Moaning, I draped my head back, caught up in the energy of the passion that raced between us like a wave—a Möbius strip of water, cycling between us, each cycle spurring me on even higher.
His thumb pressed against me, hard, and I began to move against it, rocking as he began to breathe raggedly, his cock so hard as he tried to find his way into my sheath.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered. “I want inside.”
“Wait for it,” I ordered, leaning forward. “Suck my boobs.”
He began to greedily suck my nipples, pulling and tugging them with his teeth to the point where it almost hurt. I positioned myself so that the tip of his cock was inside my cunt, barely penetrating. Yutani began to thrust but I stopped him, bearing down on his shoulders with my breasts.
“Not yet,” I said. “Not quite yet.” I nestled his face between my boobs, and he moaned until I pulled away, far enough so that he couldn’t quite reach my vaj.
“Don’t tease me,” he said, a dark tone in his voice.
“Let me feed from you,” I said, pressing my lips against his. I began to suck the chi out of his lungs, the smoke rings of energy settling in my mouth as I sucked them down, holding them in my lungs before swallowing them whole. As the chi began to hit, my eyes narrowed and I began to growl, another hunger driving me now. I hovered over his cock again, then drove myself down, clenching so that the friction made me cry out.
