Chapter Forty-One: Family Disputes

~Cillian’s P.O.V.~

With my bag rhythmically thumping against my thigh, I strode through the purple tented camp with my shoulders back and my head held high. Ignoring the nods of respect from the soldiers I passed, I walked straight into the compound without being stopped. Though that was probably because of the face I was making, my jaw actually hurt with how tightly my teeth were clenched together. At this hour, I was mildly surprised to see servants rushing about carrying trays and chests overflowing with scrolls. Although after what turned out to be an absolute slaughter earlier in the night, the Generals must be scrambling to figure out who’s to blame for their failure on the battlefield.

Boots clipping sharply over the stone, I made it into my office in record time and threw my bag behind the desk before noticing a stark white letter sitting innocently atop my books. My full name was written in dark purple ink that swirled in a deceivingly feminine way. Reaching out, I gently plucked the letter off the book and turned it over to peel the purple wax seal off. Unfolding the crisp paper, I ran my gaze over the short life threatening sentences, No more vacations. The next battle can not go the same way. Fix it, Commander. Or I will come down and fix it myself. ~Mab

Crushing the letter in my fist, I slammed it against the desk before exiting my office with a slam of the door. She already knew. Divines damnit. The last thing I needed right now was to have Mab come down here and start ‘cleaning house’. Which basically meant that anyone who gave her an off feeling or so much as looked at her without permission would die. While it would help Macha in the long run if Mab depleted her own forces, the last thing I needed was for Mab to speak with the Generals personally. The small but extremely beneficial modifications I had made to the Generals search plans and soon to be battle plans could come up. It was unlikely but I couldn’t take that chance. Not when I was weeks away from getting my hands on the war plans.

A brownie pressed himself against the wall as I stomped by, lost in my thoughts. I was surrounded by idiots and soon to be legendary Fae, there was no in between and it was annoying as hell. Especially, because the idiots either seemed to be in my family or below me in rank. If they fucked up, I took the hit. And if I fucked up, they took the hit. We were in this together yet somehow they just continued to fuck up. Lips curling into a snarl at the thought of my little brother, I practically slammed through the door of the conference room.

The Generals, who could be heard yelling at each other from out in the hall, immediately jerked back from the table they had been yelling across. Straightening up, they stood stiffly with their eyes on me before practically breaking their necks to bow in respect. Flinging the door shut behind me with a hard snap, I pulled an axe from over my shoulder and slammed it right into the table. Wood splintered and cracked from the force of the hit seconds before the entire table broke straight down the middle. The small group of men jumped back as both halves of the table smacked the floor inches away from their leather boots.

Letting my axe hang at my side, I gave them hard look, “I leave for two weeks and you fucking imbeciles lose the first battle against our enemy.”

“Commander, if I could-”

Snapping my eyes to a pair of black ones, I barked, “Did I give you permission to speak?”

“No, Sir.”

“Then why are you speaking, General?” Not waiting for a response, I looked over at the others, “General Liam, tell me what went wrong.”

The Senior General stepped forward and answered briskly, “Everything was going perfectly, Commander. We deployed the troops before sunrise and attacked a little after day break. From what we understand, the troop made it to the mid-city point when enemy troops suddenly attacked. We suffered mass casualties with no survivors.”

“You said this was a surprise attack?” I asked, brows furrowed in my semi-mock anger.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then how did our enemy know when we were attacking, General? Who else besides the Generals knew of the attack?”

His dark brown eyes shot to the other Generals before swallowing thickly, “Everyone in the troops we deployed could have had enough time to leak it. But we also shared this information with- Prince Daithí!”

At the unexpected exclamation, I stiffened while the General’s froze with their eyes locked on a spot behind me. When they began to bow in respect, I cleared my expression completely before turning around to face him. The young Prince stood in the doorway of the conference room, his dead lavender eyes focused on mine with a smirk that reminded me of Macha.

Pushing off the door frame, the pale Prince began making a slow lap around the room, “Generals. Commander. I heard we lost the first battle. Mother is severely disappointed in you all.”

Keeping my eyes on him, I spoke without inflection, “Prince Daithí, I wasn’t aware you were visiting the base. Again.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, since you’ve been off gallivanting for two weeks. I’ve been here ever since our last conversation, Cillian. Where have you been?”

“Unless your mother confided that information with you, I am not at liberty to say.”

Lavender eyes narrowed ever so slightly, “Have you at least found our mole? Or are you too busy?”

Not reacting to the jab, I motioned to the Generals, “I was just going to get a name, My Prince. Before you arrived.”

“No need. Looks like I’ve beat you this time, Cillian.” Stopping behind the last General, Daithí placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, “General Darragh, how long did you think your mate’s connection with the traitor’s army would go unnoticed?”

The man quickly shook his head, “No-wait, My Prince. My mate hasn’t spoken to her brother in years. Not since before he was banished from the Unseelie Kingdom. It must be someone else, it’s not her.”

“Are you suggesting your Prince is wrong, General?”

Caught off guard, the man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly until the Prince spoke again. “Treason is the highest offense in our Kingdom, General. And unfortunately for you, the Queen is no longer showing leniency.”

General Darragh didn’t make it to his next breath before Daithí tightened his grip on his shoulder and the choking began. The Prince pulled the air from the man’s lungs until the General was breathlessly gasping and clutching his throat. Face turning blue, I watched blankly as the man died painfully slow at his Prince’s ability. I could feel the heat from the Prince’s pale gaze against my face, watching and waiting for me to express any emotion. When the man finally dropped to the ground, eyes and veins bulging, Daithí stepped back and silently gestured to him.

Already knowing what I needed to do, I walked past the other Generals silently looking on in badly concealed terror. Maneuvering around the still technically alive man until I was standing across from Daithí, I lifted my axe high before bringing it back down hard. Little resistance met the blade of my axe as it sliced cleanly through the males skin, muscle and bone. Blood splattered against the shins of our leather trousers moments before the axe hit the stone underneath the man with a final crack. Squatting down, I grabbed the head by the hair and turned to the others.

Holding the head high, I barked, “I want to see the next battle plan and tentative war plans within two days. Or I find new Generals.”

Tossing the head into the middle of the broken table, I exited the room with the hopes of Daithí not following me. But I could already hear his footsteps sounding out against the stone behind me. Internally sighing in frustration, I stopped and turned around to face him so I could get this over with. I needed to be out kicking my brother’s ass into shape, not playing mind games with the Prince.

“Why are you here, My Prince? Mab didn’t mention you in the letter she sent.”

“I’ve decided to stick around for a while. With my older brother at my mother’s side plotting to take the throne, I thought having someone mother trusted at her busiest base would be beneficial. ”

“And I thought, that was why I was placed here.” I replied, rising to the jab.

Lavender eyes turned sharp, “Tell me, Commander. Why do you serve my mother?”

“Because the Grymes family has served the O’Riordan family for centuries and we will continue to do so.” I answered in growing apprehension.

“All O’Riordans? There are whispers that the traitor is my sister, Mab’s first born and possibly a Divine. As you might of guessed when my brother heard this he was…upset. Surely even a devoted man, like yourself, of Mab’s reign had to have waived at the news.”

Uneasy with the direction the conversation was taking, I repeated what every Unseelie Fae is taught when they learned to speak, “All hail our mighty Queen Mab. Fair and true, she keeps our enemies at bay. To trust in Mab is to trust in the Divines.”

Daithí’s face twisted into a small sardonic smile, “I figured you’d say something like that. Mab is always raving about the loyalty of the Grymes family. Too bad thrones are so fickle and the Grymes’ loyalty is forever.”

Eyeing him, I stayed silent and waited for him to speak again. His cryptic words gave me a bad feeling that he might be trying to make a grab for the throne while Mab was distracted. I wouldn’t care as it would help Macha but if Mab caught a whisper that her sons were planning a coup? They would tear each other and everyone else around them to shreds. And the highly unlikely possibility of one of her sons getting on the throne tossed everything up into the air. It would then bring up the question of whether the people would still fight for Macha if Mab was no longer a threat to everyone. No, we couldn’t afford an internal power struggle between Mab and her sons. But what could I do to stop it before it started?

“Speaking of siblings,” Daithí tossed out lazily as he turned away. “Yours said something very interesting about Mab and the village people on the fringe. So, perhaps not all Grymes are capable of loyalty. Especially when a pretty woman is involved.”

Freezing at his words, I didn’t dare breathe until I watched the very last inch of him disappear behind the corner of the hall. When he was completely out of sight, rage that I had thought only Macha was capable of bringing out in me flooded my body. Knuckles popping at the tightening grip I had on my axe, I glared at the empty hall before forcing myself to turn away. I didn’t know who I was more willing to kill at the moment. My brother for catching the attention of a royal, my father for being too soft on him, or Daithí for his mind games and concealed threats.

Too angry to travel, I stomped my way through the compound barking Baris’ name until someone told me where I could find him. Turning left in the hall just before the dining hall, I walked halfway down before coming to a stop in front of the door I was searching for. Taking a step back, I lifted my right leg and kicked out with all my strength. The door went crashing straight into the bedroom breaking off its hinges completely and slamming against the far wall. Surprised shouts rang out as I stepped into the room and looked around for the asshole.

Never mind. I knew who I wanted to kill. I thought, finally catching sight of my brother.

Clothes littered the floor around the bed while the pair looked at me wide eyed, trying to cover their naked limbs with the bed furs. But it was the knife on the corner of the nightstand and the piece of oak lying right beside it that set me off. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to calm myself but when I snapped my gaze over to his pastel green ones. I knew, I knew that I had just walked in on my baby brother trying to mate this redhead. This redhead who had him so pussy whipped, secrets were spilling from his lips faster than cuss words from Macha’s mouth. Which only served to cause my entire body to tense because I was then reminded that I had left Macha’s bed to deal with this shit show.

“Get. The fuck. Up.” I gritted out between sharpened teeth.

Baris stuttered while slowly getting to his feet, “Cillian, it’s-it’s not what it looks like.”

“Commander, we were just..”

Snapping my head in that woman’s direction, I barked, “Do not speak to me, Soldier.” Once she sunk in on herself and glued her eyes to the ground, I turned back to my brother who had yet to move, “Baris. Get dressed, now.”

He hesitated for a moment, casting a glance at the girl before quickly tugging on his clothes. While dressing Baris moved himself in a way that blocked the knife and oak from my view and when he finally did move towards me they were gone. Unfortunately for him, his effort was useless because I had already seen it the moment I walked in. Not satisfied with the speed he was moving at, I stalked forward and grabbed onto his left ear harshly.

With his ear pinched between my thumb and pointer finger, I ignored his pissed off yelling and traveled us from the redhead’s room. Where before I had been too enraged to focus, I had something that leveled me out. The thought of kicking Baris’s ass until I physically couldn’t any more. Our feet hit the grass with a thump and I released his ear to do what I did to the door to him. Boot slamming against his hip, Baris went sprawling across and out of the thin woods behind the tavern where all our issues began. Because of how seedy High Tail Tavern was, no Fae or Faekind coming in or out of that tavern was going to look twice at some Fae getting his ass kicked.

“Fucking hell, Cillian! Way to embarrass me in front of Cara. What the fuck is your problem away?” Baris snapped, slowly getting to his feet and dusting the grass from his body.

“What’s my problem?” I shouted, incredulous. “My problem is that I have a little brother who doesn’t seem to understand the dangerous game we’re all playing.”

Rolling his eyes, he waved a hand and created a vacuum of wind that would swallow our words before they could be overheard, “Divines. This again? You already yelled at me yesterday. I understand that we need to be careful.”

“Obviously, you don’t! Otherwise, I wouldn’t fucking be here doing this shit again!” I barked, fighting the urge to rip my hair out.

“Nobodies asking you too!”

Flashing pointed teeth, I snarled, “I’m trying to keep your dumbass from getting us all killed! You spoiled, naive, brain dead child!”

“You know what, fuck you! You’re not my dad, Cillian! What I do is none of your business!” He fired back, stabbing a finger in my direction.

“I wish it wasn’t, Baris. I really wish it wasn’t.” I gritted out, trying to reign in my temper. “But you don’t seem to grasp the precarious position our family and the entire realm is in.”

Face twisted in indignant anger, he threw his hands up with a groan, “I know what’s going on and I can handle it! I know what I’m doing!”

Scoffing in disbelief, I shook my head in astonishment, “No. No, Baris. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“Divines, screw you! I’m so sick of your macho ‘I know everything’ attitude. Guess what, Cillian! Toxic masculinity was out centuries ago!”

Face scrunching up in angered confusion, I completely ignored his response, “You don’t understand because you were born when Mab began hiding her cruelty. You don’t understand-”

“I do understand. I’ve heard the stories, I’ve seen the grave sites and the paintings. Mab is an evil bitch who needs to go down, I understand. What I don’t understand is why what I do is so important to everyone!”

Completely fed up with his ignorance, I roared, “Because we’re traitors, Baris! Everyone in our family is a traitor in a realm on the brink of war! We are risking everything by going against the most viciously paranoid dictator our realm has ever seen! And you’re out here risking all of our lives for some girl you just met!”

Wide pastel green eyes stared at me in shock.

“We are balancing on a very thin line of secrecy and trust, do you understand that? If that girl found out what we’re doing, how long do you think it would take for her to tell? Huh! One, maybe two hours and then do you know what’d happen next? You, me, Bria, Syrus, Mother and Father would have our heads decorating Mab’s front gates. Everything we are risking our lives to accomplish would be for nothing. Every breath the Grymes family takes is counted, do you understand? If we lose this war, we’re dead or running for the rest of our lives.”

Light green brows drew together as he took a step back, “Cara wouldn’t do that, we love each other.”

Releasing a heavy sigh, I blinked at his words. Completely speechless at how-how- I couldn’t even find the words to describe my brother at this moment.

“I know you and dad have little faith in me but I trust Cara. I haven’t told her anything yet but when I do, I know that she won’t say anything. We’re going to be mates, Cillian.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I squeezed my eyes tightly together, “Then how did Prince Daithí know that you were talking about Mab and certain villages with disappearing Fae?”

“I- I don’t know, maybe he overheard me talking.” Baris stammered, his head jerking back in surprise. “Or maybe someone else was talking about it.”

“Who did you mention it to?” When it was quiet for too long, I opened my eyes and dropped the hold on my nose to look at him, “Who did you tell, Baris.”

He shook his head, rubbing at the back of his shaved head harshly, “Just Cara but I know it wasn’t her, someone must have overheard us. What does it matter really, anyway? We’re going to win. Our Queens a Divine, dad said so.”

“It matters, Baris. Because now you have a royal’s attention. A royal who already mentioned in passing your possible unloyalty to his mother. And I know that father didn’t tell you we were going to win. He doesn’t believe that war has winners.”

“Who cares about what Prince Daithí thinks?” Baris said, throwing his hands wide in bravo. “Mab killed his intended mate, there’s no way he’s going to care or tell her.”

“Baris, that entire family doesn’t play by the rules of normal Fae. Not even Macha.”

Shrugging, he gave a lazy smile, “Well, whatever. I’ll do some stuff to prove my loyalty and I promise not to tell anything important to Cara. I’ll even tell her that we have to wait until after the war. Good?”

“No.”

“Come on, Cillian. I understand now, it’s not just my life I’m putting at risk but everyone’s. I promise I won’t.”

Temple throbbing at his attitude, I shook my head, “No. I’m pulling you out.”

“What? You can’t-”

Walking forward, I quickly latched onto his arm before he could try and travel away, “I can’t trust you, Baris. My position in this war is too important for me to allow you to screw it up. I need to get my hands on those war plans and I won’t let anyone, not even you, cost us our lives and the war.”

“This is ridiculous! I would never-”

“You’re done, Baris. I’m taking you to our parents and Bria so they can watch you.”

Eyes roaming quickly over our surroundings as he thought, he said, “You can’t do that. How would you explain my sudden absence?”

“When Mab asks I’ll tell her mother’s sick. She has been for a long time but recently it’s gotten worse. You went to spend her final weeks with her.”

“That’s sick. At least let me tell Cara bye first.”

“Not a chance in hell.” I snapped, getting really to travel. “It’s time for you to meet our Queen.”

——————————————————————————

When I wrote this chapter I was shocked at myself because Baris was really not meant to be this annoying or frustrating. He was suppose to be a little cocky, smooth talking, little brother, not a whiny little shit. Lol.

As always, drop comment or a like if you enjoyed the chapter.

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Forty-Two: Creating A Man

Destined. We were destined mates. How, when, why….I ran the words over and over again in my mind, trying to get a grasp on my new reality. The fact that I had met and spoke with my father was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment. What was on my mind though, was the fact that I knew who I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. It didn’t freak me out that I technically had an official mate, but it did freak me out that I had one now. In this moment, I was mated and it didn’t matter that Cillian didn’t know yet because to me? We were mated.

And that’s why my heart was currently racing. Because the entire course of my life had once again been flipped on its head. Since I had been young despite everything I had gone through as a child, I knew that I wanted to grow up and have a family. I wanted to do the whole get mated and pop out a few kids shtick but I hadn’t expected it to happen this soon. At almost three thousand years old, I was right in the middle of my prime and the thought of getting mated had been pretty distant to me. So the fact that I was mated now, literally overnight to someone I was sleeping with that also happens to be someone I used to hate? Yeah, that was mind fuck.

Oh! And let’s not forget that I still need to tell him. My feet had been burning a path in the carpet of my tent for the last hour at the thought of telling Cillian. I had a feeling once I told him he was going to want to get mated immediately and that was what was giving me anxiety. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to mate Cillian, it was that I didn’t want to be mated right now. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to live past this war, I didn’t want to do that to him. Sharing a bond that deep only to lose it within a couple of months wasn’t something a lot of people could handle.

Or….I could be wrong, I thought. Twisting my heel into the carpet, I turned right back around and started towards the bed. Maybe Cillian wouldn’t want to get mated right away or maybe he wouldn’t want to get mated at all. He could just want to ignore it until after the war and keep doing what we were doing. The sex was great, I enjoyed being around him and more importantly I trusted him. Cillian turning out to be my destined mate….just felt right. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that I didn’t want to be mated at this point in time.

Groaning, I placed my hands on my head and turned to pace towards the other side of the tent. I could feel a headache starting to form in my right temple as I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do. Part of me was telling me to roll the dice and tell him while another part of me that I was more comfortable with was telling me to wait. So that was the choice I was facing now: tell him and deal with the eventual argument we were going to have or wait to tell him and possibly make him angry enough to make him walk away from us.

Sighing, I paused mid-way to the bed to look up at the ceiling and shake my head. Who the fuck was I trying to kid? I was going to tell him, I just didn’t want to have to be the one to tell him. There was also the chance that with how stubborn he was he’d think I was only going to mate him so I could transform safely. Buuuttt….Malachy never said we had to be mated in order for Cillian to help me through the transformation…Hmmmm, I do love me a loophole. Maybe all he really needed to do was touch me during the transformation to help me…which meant that I didn’t-

No. Bad, Macha. You already made a decision. Stick with it.

“Son of a bittttchhhhl.” I whined, irritated with myself. “I need chocolate.”

With that said, I closed my eyes as the ground fell away underneath me with my mind on delicious gooey chocolate. Sound met my ears before my feet hit the ground, pots and pans clanging together followed by voices all talking a mile a minute. Eyes opening, I quickly stepped back and out of the way of a man juggling a large pot before starting towards the chocolate cabinet. Everything was going according to plan, everyone was so busy trying to get breakfast together that I hadn’t been noticed. Unfortunately for me though, the cabinet squeaked unreasonably loud as I tried to open it quietly.

All the clatter and chatter of the kitchen ceased as I slowly stood up with a cringe before turning to face them. Staring back at the ten pairs of colored eyes, I gave a hesitant grin and fought the urge to raise my hands like a criminal, “Just looking for some chocolate, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

The silence lasted for around a minute before the tent was suddenly filled with cheers and applause. Gaze flicking around the tent in confusion, I was relieved to see Orlaith walking towards me with a smile. Slipping between the counters, she grabbed a covered tray before coming to a stop just outside what I considered my npersonal space. With a raise of her left hand the cheering stopped and she gave the tray a little jerk towards me.

“We weren’t out on that battlefield with you but we still wanted to mark the first win of the war with something special. Me and my staff heard you watched a lot of T.V. in prison so we made you something you might have seen.” Lifting the cover off the tray, she revealed five little crispy looking chocolate loafs.

Wide eyed, I leaned closer to whisper, “Are those what I think they are?”

“Yup. Chocolate fried twinkies specially made for you.”

Salivating, I reached for the delectable looking pieces of heaven when she suddenly slammed the cover back on the treats. Head snapping up, I stuttered in angry confusion, “Why-no- Give me those, they’re mine.”

Olaith tilted her head to the side a little while giving me an odd look, “Relax, Gremlin. These are for you to enjoy in privacy. I don’t need my staff distracted by sounds of your pleasure over the treats.”

“Right. Thank you everyone. Truly the best gift I could’ve received after a battle.” I murmured, eyes on the covered tray while I slowly took it from Orlaith.

Once it was firmly in my grasp, I shot the amused looking kitchen staff a smile and then hightailed it back to my tent. The second my feet hit the carpet, I was grabbing the jug of water on the desk and carrying my meal to the bed. I could feel the warmth of the fried treats through the metal tray as I balanced it in one hand while climbing onto the bed. Mattress shifting underneath my bare feet, I crossed my ankles and carefully dropped back against the headboard. Wedging the jug against my thigh, I placed the tray on my lap and slapped my hands together in glee.

I had the tray cover inches away from unveiling the fried goodies when the entrance of my tent was pushed open. A large figure cloaked in black with a purple C on his chest had me almost tossing the tray in my haste to stand. Throwing a fur over the top I rushed towards him, slamming the jug down on the desk as I went. But when a smaller figure came tumbling across the floor, I jerked to a stop. Using my right foot, I pushed back on the figure’s shoulder until I could see the young face of a male.

Tilting my head, I studied the boy’s features, “I take it your ‘talk’ didn’t go so well?”

“He wouldn’t stop squirming as we traveled.”

“So you knocked him out?”

“I warned him.”

Snorting, I lightly kicked the boy’s head before looking up at Cillian, “Before or after you gave him that shiner?”

“You have no idea how frustrating it was trying to get him to understand, Cell Bait.” Cillian vented, stalking deeper into the tent. “And he still doesn’t! The little shit had the nerve to say he was going to mate that girl and then tell her everything!”

Giving a low whistle, I kicked the boy’s shoulder, “Forget what I said before, he’s an idiot.”

“I know. He caught Daithí’s attention and he acted like it was no big deal. Like he could fix it.”

Shaking my head, I said, “You did the right thing by pulling him. You think you can handle Mab’s questions?”

He gave me a blank look.

“Right.” I smirked. “Dumb question. You’ve been doing this for forever.”

Sighing, Cillian gave his sleeping brother a look before rubbing at the back of his neck, “I need to tell my father which is not going to be a short conversation. Can you watch him?”

“You sure that’s a good idea? I have even less patience than you do and that’s saying something.”

“It’s fine.” He replied, waving a tired hand. “I couldn’t get through to him but maybe you can. Do whatever it takes, just make sure he still has a pulse or I’ll never hear the end of it from my mother.”

I hummed, looking down at the knocked out boy in interest. That’s a lot of leeway…Hearing the rustle of my tent flap, my head snapped up as anxiety flooded my chest, “You’re coming back right?”

Halfway out of the tent, he turned to look back at me, “Yeah? I mean, you want me to… right?”

“Well, yeah.” I responded, taken off guard by the sudden awkwardness. “I need to tell you something so I just want to make sure because it’s kind of important.”

“You’re not..” He trailed off, silver eyes dropping to my stomach.

Making a face of mild disgust mixed with surprise, I placed a hand to my stomach and snapped, “No. No. Divines, no. We used condoms, remember?”

He nodded, rubbing at his eyes, “Right, sorry. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Mmmhh.”

At that he left the tent and I released a heavy breath as all the awkwardness left the room with him. Giving an all over shiver to get rid of the feeling I rarely experienced, I padded over to the jug. Picking it up, I walked over to the still sleeping boy and dumped the entire contents of the jug on his face. The moment the cold water splashed across his face, Baris jerked upright coughing and sputtering.

Light green eyes raced over his new surroundings before they finally landed on me, “Who are you? Where’s my brother?”

“You brother’s dead. And I’m Macha, Your Queen.” I said in a flat tone after a moment’s thought.

“What? What do you mean my brother’s dead? Cillian? Cillian Grymes is dead?” He asked rapidly, getting to his feet with wide eyes.

“Is there another silver haired giant that you’re related to?”

Seeing him flick his eyes across the floor, I took perverse pleasure in watching him panickingly try to contact Cillian. As I had hoped, Cillian ignored him and inadvertently solidified my story of him being dead. A giddiness filled me at the amount of fun that was heading my way as I practically skipped behind the desk.

Light green eyes brimming in tears, he cleared his throat and clenched his undefined jaw, “Who did it? Who killed my brother?”

“Oh. That would be me.” I informed him cheerfully, kicking up my feet on the desk in a relaxed pose. “Yea, I didn’t want to. But you know how war is, things are always changing.”

“Why? He- he’s been loyal to you since before I was born. Why would you kill him?” Baris practically cried, looking at me in disbelief. “What could he have done to deserve death?”

Making him wait, I held a hand out towards the bed and called the covered tray to me. The smooth metal slid against my palm as it flew into my hand before I placed it down in front of me. Uncovering the tray, I plucked a chocolate fried Twinkie from the pile and bit into it with a groan. Holy shit, these are better than sex.

Gobbling down the rest, I licked my finger tips and then glanced up at the glaring boy, “What were you saying?”

“Why did you kill my brother? You evil bitch.” He snarled.

Evil bitch? Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. I raised a brow, “How’d you know my childhood nickname?”

“I’m not fucking playing with you!”

Feeling the air shift, I narrowed my eyes at the audacity of the boy and snapped the tray cover in his direction. The slightly domed metal collided with his hands and molded over them down to his forearms. Frustrated, he tried to yank his hands free only for me to tighten the metal around his hands.

Dropping my feet from the table, I let the side I typically reserved for Mab these days to break free. Feeling absolutely nothing, I continued to tighten the metal until the boy hit his knees with a cry. Pain filled eyes flicked up to mine and caught the empty smile I was shining his way.

Ignoring the way he stilled, I stood and walked around to the front of the desk. Leaning back against the wood, I clasped my hands in front of me, “Cillian was right. You are naive and idiotic. Tell me boy, who do you think you are?”

“The Fae who’s going to kill you.” He spit, tears trailing down his rounded cheeks.

Spotting the hard glint in his eyes, I tsked, “Babes, I might have wielded the sword but you let it swing.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pushing off the desk, I started to circle him, “Baris, your brother took the fall for you. He explained that you were young and naive. That you didn’t know what you were doing. But as any good soldier knows, someone has to pay the price.”

“What- I don’t-”

Dropping into a squat in front of him, I gave his nose a tap with a smile, “You killed your brother. You think drawing attention to yourself, wouldn’t draw attention to your brother? He knew the importance of keeping a low profile and the appearance of unquestionable loyalty to Mab. You risked his position and my entire army. Someone had to be punished. I wouldn’t be a good Queen if I just let that slide, now would I?”

He shook his head, sniffling, “But we’re Grymes.”

“Ahhh. I see now.” I replied, nodding my head. “You thought because of the strength of your family and your connections to two Queens that you were untouchable. Invincible. That whatever you did, didn’t matter because you were protected. But you’re not. Your brother knew that, that’s why he dropped to his knees and didn’t struggle when I cleaved his head from his neck. In a last act of true loyalty.”

Green eyes flooded with water again as his face scrunched up in agony,“What did I do? He tried to tell me, over and over again but I wouldn’t listen. I thought I knew better, that he was being unreasonable and over dramatic. I should’ve listened. I should’ve listened.”

Eyeing his bowed head and curled shoulders, I tilted my head to the side, “It’s not entirely your fault. Your family should have taught you better. Told you how the realm really worked, especially during war. Cillian died so you could live but also because of his failure to get through to you.”

Head springing up, he snapped, “No. That isn’t fair, he tried to tell me but I refused to listen. This isn’t fair! How could you kill him for something I did?”

“Because someone needed to die. Your actions have consequences. It was either he sacrificed himself for you or he took the chance that Mab would figure it out and took his life in the most painful way possible. One way or another, someone was going to die because you couldn’t fall in line.”

Instead of responding, he began to sob with his head hanging as he slammed his metal encased hands repeatedly against the carpeted floor.

Staying slightly, I watched the young boy break down in front of me with no remorse. Sometimes people needed to be broken so that their true self could come to the surface. It worked for me. Although the level of our hardship wasn’t the same, Baris would finally grow up. If the circumstances were different, I would’ve never stripped him of his childhood. But he had more than enough time to be a child. It was time for him to become a soldier before he got us all killed.

Catching a whisper of fabric, I looked up to find Bria standing in the doorway. Her darker green eyes took in her twin and she immediately went to step into the room. I shook my head the tiniest degree with a hard look that she hesitated at before slowly and reluctantly stepping back out of the tent.

Turning my attention back to the sobbing boy, I said, “Your brother’s alive.”

It took a moment for my words to fully sink in but when they did, Baris froze and croaked, “What?”

“Your brother’s alive. He’s talking to your father right now.”

Bloodshot eyes locked on me, “You’re lying.”

“Ask him.”

Waiting, I watched his eyes scan the area before him as he mentally spoke to his father. Fresh tears sprung to his eyes after a minute and then he slumped over in relief. Letting another beat of silence pass, I spoke, “Everything you do has a consequence, Baris. And most of the time, because of the war our realm is facing, it won’t just be you paying for it. You brother may be alive now but because of what you did, he needs to convince Mab of why you left. And whatever he tells her needs to be believed or it will be his head that rolls.”

“You made me believe my brother was dead just to tell me that?” He whispered, taking deep breaths.

I shrugged, “Your family coddles you. Even Cillian, whether he realizes it or not. It was time for you to grow up.”

He blinked, “But he’s alive?”

“He is.”

Sighing heavily, he rocked forward to press his forehead to the floor for a few seconds. Sitting up straight again, he gave me a tired look, “I really fucked everything up, didn’t I?”

“Almost. Lucky for you, your brother knows how to fix things.” Hell, he fixed me. Partially.

“Everything he was telling me was true. I could have been the reason for my family’s heads dangling off Mab’s gates.”

Pulling the metal off his hands, I formed it into a long dagger as I corrected him, “You could have been the reason for thousands of deaths. Not just your family’s.”

The boy raised his bruised hands to his face, looking completely shocked at the enormity of his screw up, “I’m sorry. I never meant to- I just thought-Divines, I’m such a fucking idiot. Cara never loved me.”

Getting to my feet, I stared down at the young man who had curled in on himself out of shame. Feeling a tinge of pity, I told him, “Love doesn’t mean trust and trust doesn’t mean love. Only a lucky few can say they have both.”

He stayed on his knees, staring silently at the floor and asked softly, “How do I make this right?”

“By finally listening and learning from the people around you. Now get up.”

Rising to his feet, the young male refused to meet my eyes as he stood before me.

“While you’re on my base, you will be closely watched by one of your family members at all times. Until I feel that you can be trusted again. You will be coming with me when I tour the Unseelie territories. It’s time for you to be exposed to what a Grymes’ life is really like.”

“Yes, My Queen.” He murmured, eyes still glued to the ground.

And that was fine. I didn’t need him to look at me for this part. Lunging forward, I wrapped one arm under his arm to grab the back of his head while stabbing him under the collar bone with the dagger. He cried out as it pierced through his skin and scraped against his shoulder blade on it’s way out. Dropping my hand from the handle of the dagger, I stepped back and gripped his chin harshly.

Yanking his head up, I peered into his bloodshot eyes coldly and spoke with an iron tone, “Related or not. If you ever disobey a direct order from your Commander and put my soldiers at risk again, I will destroy you. I’m talking one inch out of line, Baris. And I will find this Cara you’re infatuated with and slaughter her in the most heinous way possible. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, My Queen.” He gritted out through the pain.

“I want to make this very clear, Baris. I don’t make empty threats. If you get in my way, in any way, I will mark you as a traitor and burn your little girlfriend to ash. Understood?”

His pain filled eyes searched mine for a second before straightening up against the pain, “Understood, My Queen.”

Keeping my hard expression for another moment, I dropped it to give him a large smile and a slap on the back, “Fantastic! I want to like you, Babes. Don’t fuck this up but no hard feelings, yea? Come on, Bria’s waiting to take you to your mother.”

“Y-yeah. Okay.”

With a hand on his shoulder, I guided him out of the tent and into Bria’s worried arms. She embraced him quickly before stepping back, looking at him and his wound before cuffing him on the back of the head, “You absolute idiot.”

Laughing, I interrupted, “He’ll be fine but I don’t want anyone pulling that dagger from his shoulder until day break in a few hours.”

“Understood. I’m sure my mother would like a turn twisting it.” Bria replied, grabbing her twin by the arm and pulling him away.

I watched them walk a few paces away before calling out, “Where’s Cillian?”

Bria turned slightly to say, “He’s still talking with my father somewhere in the woods.”

“Thank, Babes!” I shouted and then turned to start walking towards the tree line. Bare feet brushing over the prickly grass, I couldn’t stop myself from searching him out instead of waiting for him. I needed to tell him what we were before I convinced myself not to.

——————————————————————————

I love how cold Macha is sometimes lmao. Hopefully, her little talk with Baris straightened is naive ass out. Also, I loved that little awkward exchange between Macha and Cillian. I don’t know it made them a little more real to me, lol.

As always, leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter or a like.

Happy Thanksgiving, Verbage🦃

Chapter Forty-Three: Triggered

My feet touched down with a thump, only to find my fourth stop at a different location in the woods lacking a certain giant. Looking around, my eyebrows began to furrow in frustration. Where the fuck were they? I thought, casting a glance over the small pond nestled in the clearing. A small amount of sunlight was just beginning to peek over the horizon and I still hadn’t found them. I made a trip back to my tent every other travel in case Cillian was there but so far no luck.

Turning in a slow circle, I placed my hands on my hips and tried to think about where they could be. I checked all the main locations of where they could be, so where else could I look? Thinking of a place right on the edge of the Nymphs’ influence, I was about to travel there when I heard something. Freezing in place, I strained my ears in order to hear if the sound came again. And when it did, I snapped my head in the direction I thought it was coming from.

With a small nudge, the ground underneath me began rolling me along the forest without a sound. I slowly glided past trees and bushes as the sound began to take on the recognizable form of voices. A deep smooth pitch spoke harshly followed by a similar one but it was how the first voice raised the hair on my arms that I knew who it was. Head cocking to the left, I tried to squint through the trees in order to see them. What were Dougal and Lilly doing so far out here? Their conversation about Baris was better kept without others overhearing but it didn’t call for this much secrecy.

“-to pull him from Mab’s army, Cillian.”

“Are you serious? Father, there’s no way I could have let him stay.”

“You brother is just trying to make his own way as a man.”

“But he’s not! He’s a boy because you and mother continue to treat him like one.”

Stopping my approach, I kept myself hidden in the morning shadows as I watched them through the branches a few trees away. It didn’t feel right to interrupt right then and there.

“Cillian, Baris is still a child. He has time to grow up.” Dougal replied, calmly.

Cillian shook his head and laced his hands behind his head in frustration before dropping them, “You don’t treat Bria with kid gloves, so what do you baby Baris? He could have gotten us all killed.”

Leaning against the bark of the trunk, I pushed a little further out from behind the tree to see better.

“You have no idea what it’s like to raise a child, Cillian. So, don’t question me and your mothers methods.”

“I’m not questioning mothers. I’m questioning yours.” Lilly snapped, jerking a finger in his fathers direction.

Eyes snapping to his son’s aggressive hand motion, Dougal straightened his back and stepped up to his six foot six son, “What exactly are you trying to say, boy?”

Silver brows furrowed as Cillian glared down at his father, “That I’m sick of you acting like the saint of the family. Despite how you may appear to everyone else, I know ambition rules everything you do.”

“What are you talking about? When have I ever put my ambitions before our family?”

“Divines, where should I start? How about the way you let everyone believe that mother made you chase her for half your lives? When we both know that you didn’t mate her because Mab would have tossed you aside. If you mated mother, your career as Mab’s Commander would have been over because Mab doesn’t trust anyone that cares about anyone but her.”

Dougals face turned from fatherly to cold within seconds and I could only stare at this new side of him in shock. “Watch your mouth. You have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Yea, apparently nobody in this family does.” Lilly spit, bitterly. “What about the time you pushed Syrus to be a warrior? Everyone knew he didn’t have it in him, that he wasn’t built to be like the rest of us. But you couldn’t stomach the idea of not having warrior sons-”

“No-”

Cillian stepped into his father and continued, “So you pushed him and pushed him until he finally killed someone. He cried for months, sick to his stomach with himself. He hates you. He won’t speak to you anymore. Ifreann, he swore he wouldn’t step foot in Tir Na Nog until the day after your funeral.”

An icy feeling sprawled across my chest and over my heart as I listened to the words pouring from Cillian’s mouth. I would’ve thought Lilly was lying, except I could see Dougal’s reactions. Reactions that I would have never thought him capable of. And the devastating feeling that I had no idea who Dougal truly was, brought a painful pinch to my chest.

“I was only trying to push him to be the best he could be!” Dougal suddenly roared, shoving his son backwards. “Syrus is a great warrior because of me! He’s just too lazy to use his skills!”

“Because he’s disgusted by what he’s capable of! And now you’re fucking up Baris!” Cillian shouted back, chest heaving as the veins in his neck strained.

“Baris is fine the way he is! He’s going to be a damn good warrior someday!”

“He is an irresponsible child!”

Dougal threw his hands up between them, “Why are we even talking about this? Do what I say and put him back in.”

“No.”

The men locked eyes for an intense minute until Dougal gritted, “I wasn’t asking you, boy.”

Cillian’s jaw flexed in response, “I’m done listening to you. All your decisions end up causing more harm than it’s worth.”

“You can blame me all you want but I’m the reason you’re the man you are today. I gave you your career.”

“Career? You practically sold my soul to Mab, the things I had to do…”

Dougals face twisted into disgust as he scoffed, “Quit complaining! I made you the Commander of a God’s army and this is the thanks I get?”

My heart pitched to the bottom of my stomach at the mention of me and the pain in my chest turned into a burning sensation. My fingers broke into the tree from the ever tightening grip of my hand while my eyes snapped to Cillian’s face. Lighting crackled in the sky above causing me to realize that it had started to grow darker instead of lighter.

“That’s all you think about it, isn’t it? Does it even matter what you did for us to get to this point?” Cillian snarled, his fists shaking slightly from the amount of rage his body seemed to be containing.

“Results are the only things that matter.”

“Results?” Lilly spat, taking a hard step forward. “So, seven hundred and fifty years was worth it? For the results?”

My breath caught in my chest as a chill raced through my entire body, What was he talking about?

“You agreed to that.”

“Because I thought you were doing what was best for her. Like you’ve convinced everyone else.”

Heart beat starting to race, I kept my eyes peeled on the pair of men in front of me. The ground underneath my feet cracked like the sky above us as the pain in my chest grew sharper.

“I was doing what was best for her. Look at her now! A Queen and soon to be Divine!”

“She didn’t need to be sent to Slykhelm to become who she is now!”

Shoving his son backwards once more, Dougals face was tinged red as he roared back, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told you then, it was the only way! And if you weren’t so lazy like your brother, I wouldn’t have had to push you so hard to send her there! You think she’d be worthy of her Divine side if she didn’t go through that? You both should be thanking me for what I did!”

“Fuck you!” Cillian roared back before stumbling at the force of his fathers fist connecting with his jaw.

My head cleared of everything but the overwhelming amount of pain that was bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I wouldn’t have had to push you so hard to send her there!’ The words repeated over and over until the meaning truly clicked. With an audible crack, I could hear my once healing heart shattering all over again. But instead of sinking into a deep seeded depression like I thought I would have, I got angry. No, I became fucking livid.

Eyes locking on the man with a predatory focus, I tried to breathe through the hot flashes of pain that shot down somewhere just behind my chest. The pain struck at something that I had never felt before making the pain fresh and brutal. Like I was being burned alive from the inside out and I wanted him to feel the exact same way. The tree in my grip cracked with a deafening sound, splitting right down the middle and revealing my hiding place to the men.

Silver and gray eyes snapped to mine as I placed a bare foot on what was left of the tree trunk and grinned as it exploded underneath my touch, “Hi.”

Dougal’s entire demeanor changed to the kind ‘old man’ persona I knew him as, “Fabht Siúcra, how long have you been over there?”

Pain strong enough to make a lesser woman cry out rocked through me but my will for revenge was stronger. Tipping my head, I pushed through the pain and slowly started walking towards him, “Not long.”

“Macha…?” Cillian asked, taking a step towards me.

Clenching my jaw at the way my chest seemed to be cracking wide open, I stopped and flashed sharpened teeth his way, “Stay out of this or I’ll take you down with him.”

“Fabht Siúcra?”

Giving a harsh laugh, I snapped my eyes back to Dougal, “How long have you been playing me for a fool?”

“I don’t know what your talking about-”

“Do not insult my intelligence anymore than you already have.” I snapped as the sky rumbled, releasing a downpour of rain.

“Just let me explain-”

Rolling my shoulders to try and ease the pain, I purred, “No need.”

The metal of Cillian’s axes slammed into my palms and I set them flying within the same second. One axe flung end over end at his head while I slung the other off to the far right. Eyes flaring wide, Dougal jerked back and slashed his hand over the air to knock the first off course but was too slow to block the second. Silver metal winked briefly in the shadows created by the rumbling sky before it slammed into his left thigh. The sharp blade cut through the flesh of his thigh at an angle, almost cleaving the bloody muscle clean from the bone.

Falling back with a shout, Dougal clutched at his mutilated thigh trying to hold the flap of flesh and muscle against his leg. Blood pumped and seeped out through the cracks of his fingers but I wanted to see more of it. The air crackled in warning before flames spontaneously sprung from the ground despite the heavy rain. In a blaze of red, they raced over the split and crumbled ground towards Dougal. The light of the flames lit Cillian’s face for a second as they passed him but where I expected to see him trying to stop me, I saw concern. Ignoring his injured father completely, silver eyes were trained on me in a way that felt like he was peering straight through to my soul.

My eyes turned back to Dougal so I could watch the flesh melt from his bones when a sudden flash of raw agony stole my breath. It was a sharp spike of heat and pain that seared right down the middle of my body with enough force to cause my shoulders to bow inwards. Every nerve ending I possessed felt like it was being split and then burned to ash. Taking in deep breaths through the small gaps between the fire in my chest, I knew that this had to be it. I had to be transforming and it couldn’t have started at a worse time. I was going to burn my soul.

Grinding my teeth, I bared them with a short roar of rage and pain that escaped my throat. I needed to finish. He needed to be punished. Chest heaving, I took heavy staggering steps towards the man that had betrayed me in the worst way. My body tightened up mid-step as the inferno in my chest increased to an unbearable degree that I couldn’t fight anymore. Pain racked through me like surges of electricity causing my muscles to jerk and twitch out of my control. It was too much, the pain-the pain was-I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take it.

Collapsing to my knees as my legs gave out, I gripped the crumbling ground around me to avoid being completely blinded in agony. But it was pointless, my back arched high as another round of soul burning pain ripped through me at an unbelievable speed. Muscles spasming, I released a scream of pure torture that seemed to shake the very realm around me. Trees caught fire while the earth rolled beneath the pounding rain and metal twisted and warped into random shapes. Mind and body going numb to everything but the sensations contorting my body, another blood curdling scream broke through my raw throat.

Lighting cracked down from above, striking the ground near enough to feel the heat rush over my skin. The bright flash of light stole my vision and left me in complete darkness. Breath rushing out from between my lips, I sunk my fingers deeper into the earth to keep me grounded. Everywhere I looked there was nothing, I was alone with only the dark and the pain as company. Flexing my fingers, I heard the crack before I felt it.

The bones of my left pointer and middle finger snapped followed by the rest of the delicate bones in the back of my hand. Falling onto my right shoulder, I rolled to my back and cried out while clutching my left hand to my chest. Son of fucking bitch! Something dripped down the sides of my temples as I panted and fought to breathe past the pain. But like before it was pointless, the bones in my right knee grinded together before they shattered and sent my eyes rolling. Pain was a constant and just when I thought it would end, the agony increased. Back arching in a soundless scream, I felt the base of my neck and back strain before snapping with a sickening crack.

I had to have blacked out because when I came to, there was a sharp pain in almost every millimeter of my body, inside and out. Shallow breaths squeezed past my aching rib cage as I layed there staring up at the darkness unable to move. I wasn’t sure how long I layed there seized by the pain of my transformation but I jerked in surprise when I felt a hand brush the wet hair from my forehead. I groaned deep and low as a fresh wave of pain rolled through me at the movement.

“I told you to remember, child. You’re a bad listener.”

Blinking at the smooth melodious tone, I groaned again when darkness faded enough for me to see him, “Why is everyone so unsympathetic when I’m dying?”

Dark blue eyes rolled, “You’re not dying. The boy couldn’t help himself and rushed to you as soon as you began screaming.”

“Maybe not but I definitely burned my soul.”

“Your tattered rag of a soul is still there. The boy touched you before the entire thing could burn. I’m not even sure you’ll notice the parts that burned away. I’ve never seen a soul so small.”

Coughing as a nauseous sensation overcame me, I tried to roll to the side, “Such an asshole. You’re such an asshole.”

“Don’t call your father an asshole.” He replied, gently rolling me to the side.

Wincing, I gave another cough before throwing up a good amount of blood. Panting, I chuckled, “Don’t give yourself the fucking honor of having me as a daughter.”

“You’re right. The honor is yours for having me as a father.”

“You’re such a narcissist.” I snorted and then immediately started hacking something up. Face twisting in disgust, I looked at the small dark red and blueish lump, “What the fuck is that? I thought you said I wasn’t dying.”

“Part of your lung, I think. Don’t worry about it, you’re transforming. Remember how I said it was different for every Divine? Well, apparently yours is reliving every injury you’ve ever received.” He said, carefully wiping at my mouth with some kind of cloth.

What felt like a dull punch to my back had me grimacing more than his words would have caused, “Divines. I would love it if just once, I wasn’t fucked raw by the fates.”

Malachy’s face pulled up in distaste at my words even as the corner of his lips twitched, “It’s almost over and because that boy is touching you, the effects are dull.”

“Almost over? How-” I paused to hack up a bit more blood before continuing, “How long have I been out?”

“Almost two hours, your body couldn’t handle all that pain at once so it shut down. That’s how we’re able to talk right now and once you become a full Divine, we’ll be able to communicate through your dreams.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Just what every woman wants. Her father, digging around in her dreams.”

He gave a cheeky grin before turning serious, “You’re going to wake up in a few minutes and this time you will remember everything. In fact when you wake up, you should be brimming with energy. It’ll go away once you use one of your abilities. Being a true Divine you will notice that your abilities will go past what you believed to be your limits. Things will come much easier to you now but be careful, it can be easy to take advantage of your new power.”

My eyes rolled silently in response to the somewhat dull pain I had been feeling suddenly getting intensely fresh. My stomach rolled and my head became foggy as my vision started to go in and out. Feeling hot and completely unwell, I choked, “Yeepie.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.” Oh, Fuck. Gagging a little, I forced down whatever was trying to spew past my lips. There was no way I wasn’t dying.

“Good because I have one last thing to tell you, Daughter.” Malachy murmured, brushing the hair from my sweaty face. “Putting metal in your body is idiotic and you should check to see if it’s even still in your wrist.”

The disbelief pushed the pain away for a second but it was long enough for me to spit, “Spying, Son of a-”

The sensation of falling was the same as when I had spoken to Malachy the last time. Free falling through what felt like a fluid and tangible form of time, my lungs filled with air and my eyes popped open. Jerking upright without warning, my forehead slammed into something with an audible smack.

Head bouncing back, I slapped a hand to what I knew was going to form into a bruise, “Fucking hell, what are you made out of? Iron?”

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” I grumbled, rubbing my poor forehead.

Grabbing my wrist, he pulled it away to stare into my eyes, “How do you act like you didn’t go through an unnatural amount of pain?”

Brows furrowing, I did an internal mental check of my body. Nothing was throbbing, stinging, burning or numb and then that’s when it happened. Like a flip of a switch, a flood of raw energy coursed through my body raising the hair on my arms and I could no longer sit still. It was like I had slept for a thousand years and then chugged a gallon of sugar mixed with caffeine. My eyes flicked over my surroundings wildly while my muscles twitched with the need to move. Move, move, move, I needed to move.

Rolling off Lilly’s lap, I hit the ground and kept rolling until I came to a large crevice, “I feel fantastic! Like-like-whatever you’re imagining but on crack.”

“Crack?”

“It’s a human drug. It’s horrible really you shouldn’t try it- except I don’t know how it affects Faekind.” I hummed, kicking my bare feet in the air behind me as I pushed myself a little over the side of the cavern. “On second thought, we should try it.”

“Macha…no.”

Ignoring the sound of his approach, I eyed the cavern in growing excitement as an idea formed. Scrambling to my feet, I whipped around to face him, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Silver eyes took on a cautious glint, “I am?”

“Yup!” I grinned, taking a peek over my shoulder before snapping my head back to him. “You’re like a living embodiment of my sanity. What would I do without you?”

“Probably do everything you shouldn’t while killing the maximum amount of people on your way.” He responded dryly.

Laughing, I pushed the hair out of my face, “You know me so well! I’ve been dying to start another war in the human realm, could we do that after we take on Mab?”

“I don’t see why not.” He shrugged, giving me a closer look. “Are you okay? You seem…jittery. You’re never jittery.”

Bouncing on my toes, I tipped my head and asked a question of my own, “Never been better. Do you want to see something?”

He took a step closer to me and eyed the cavern behind me as I took a step back, “That depends…”

“On?” I replied, grinning at the way my heels hung over nothing.

“If whatever you’re about to do is going to give me a heart attack.”

Winking, I purred, “Poor, Lilly. Always so responsible.”

“Cell Bait…” He warned, getting closer.

Our eyes locked in a battle of wills.

My lips twitched.

He lunged.

And then the ledge I had been tittering on, catapulted me straight into the sky.

——————————————————————————

Holy fucking shit, it happened! Macha finally transformed into a Divine. Please let me know what you guys thought about it. There was hella build up to this so hopefully I didn’t disappoint!

As always, leave a comment if you feel like it or a like.

Happy Thanksgiving, Verbage🦃

Chapter Forty-Four: Tense Situations

The wind tore at my clothing and hair as I cut through its currents at an incredible speed. Raising my arms like the cartoon superheroes, I squinted up at the sun while breathlessly laughing. I’d never launched myself this far into the sky before, it was always just a few feet for dramatic effect. But this? I was practically flying and I felt completely weightless inside and out. Grinning, I stopped laughing as the air got thinner and my speed began to decrease.

For one glorious moment, my hair fell back around my shoulders and I was hovering above the realm. The camp was a small dot surrounded by miles and miles of forest before it gave way to scattered cities. Greens and browns of all shades colored the realm below me with splatterings of blue from the natural lakes and oceans. From this height, I couldn’t see the Fae walking around but I could see the separate kingdoms of the Unseelie and Seelie. It reminded me in a passing thought about how I still needed to meet with Oberon. Breathtaking was the only way to describe the view and soon I’d be Queen of it all.

As gravity once again took hold of my body, fear sliced through my chest at the feeling of something sliding off my neck. My right hand shot up and snatched the pedant in my fist tightly just as I started to free fall. Smiling, I crossed my ankles and folded my hands behind my head with a sigh of total bliss. The emotion felt right and it brought tears to my eyes as my body started to spin in its descent to the ground. After a few beats, I tightened my core and threw myself to the right.

Facing the ground now, I watched how quickly the distance between me and the ground was disappearing. Straightening my legs, I pressed my arms to my sides and smiled wider as Cillian began to take shape. His hand was arched over his brows, trying to catch a glimpse of me from when I had left his field of sight. My smile grew the closer I got until I flipped right side up and braced myself for the landing. Widening my stance, I bent my knees and tightened my hand around the pedant.

With a sound similar to a thunderclap, my feet hit the earth creating a ten foot deep crater that encompassed the surrounding five feet. Panting in exhilaration, I took a minute to soak in the feeling before looking up. Standing on the edge of the crater, Cillian looked down at me with something between a smile and a grimace.

“What? Don’t tell me that wasn’t incredible!” I chuckled.

He shook his head, “How’d you know you could do that?”

Giving him a guilty smile, I rocked back on my bare feet, “I had a feeling.”

The smile he had been trying to deny split his face, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Want to go again with me?”

Stepping off the edge, he slid down the side of the crater until he stopped beside me, “No.”

“Why?”

“What, I can’t just say no?” He asked, raising his hands to smooth my hair down.

Looping my arms around him, I pressed our chest together, “You cannnnn…unless you’re afraid of heights.”

He scoffed, looking down into my eyes, “I’m a double agent against Mab and you think, I’m afraid of heights?”

“That wasn’t a denial.” I laughed, pushing up on my toes to give him a quick kiss. “It’s okay, Lilly. Everyone’s afraid of something, even me.”

“Yea, what are you afraid of?”

“I’m-” I’m afraid of being in a cell, of being captured by Mab, of failing again. Is what I meant to say but it just didn’t ring true. Making a face, I thought about all the things that I had been so afraid of before and it was…different. The thought of being tossed back in a cell still brought a chill of unease down my spine but the other things…

“What is it?”

Tipping my head to the left, I looked unseeingly into his eyes as I tried to feel the things I had before. “I don’t know, exactly. I’m still scared of being tossed in a cell but it’s not the crippling fear it once was. And the other things…. they feel more like something to be cautious about but not fear….I don’t think this is good.”

His hands slid from my hair to grasp my shoulders, “Isn’t it better if you don’t have as many fears?”

I shook my head, “No. When I was passed out or whatever I was, my father said I burned my soul.”

His brows drew together instantly as his grip on me tightened, “You burned your entire soul?”

“No, not the entire thing. Apparently my soul is very small, Malachy said I probably wouldn’t even notice the parts that burned away. But of course that was a lie.”

“So what does this mean? What parts of you burned away?”

I shrugged, “We’ll see. It’ll be like a game of peek-a-boo but with my soul.”

Silver eyes scanned my face before he gave me a laugh, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait, can you put this back on me?” I asked, holding out the pedant he had given me.

He gave it a warm smile and nodded.

Taking it gently from my hand, he leaned in close to tie it back around my neck. His natural smell of leather and metal gave me a little head rush that I’d never admit. Chest sparking with warmth, tingles ran up the sides of my neck as he pulled my hair free of the velvet strand. Unable to resist the heat between us, I slid my hands up his chest to grip his tunic tightly. Yanking him down, I pressed our lips together in a kiss that was entirely too sexual for public view.

Tipping my head to the side, I slid my tongue against his aggressively trying to take control. His hand immediately gripped my hair in a painful hold that shot arousal straight to my core. Smirking at the way I knew how to get what I wanted, I was quick to lose it when he suddenly yanked my head away and bent to place his lips on my neck. Back arched uncomfortably, I barely noticed it as his teeth nipped seductively right on the spot that had my eyelids fluttering. Untwisting one hand from his tunic, I slid it down his chest to the waistband of his leather trousers when I was devastatingly stopped.

I groaned in annoyance as air rushed over the spot he had been previously swirling his tongue, “Seriously, Lilly? Teases aren’t cute.”

“At least we know you still like that.”

“Worried I wasn’t attracted to you anymore, Babes?” I asked, in a falsely sweet tone.

He gave my ass a hard slap that had me hissing, “What did I say about calling me that? And no, I was worried I’d have to be gentle.”

“A travesty, Your Majesty. That would have been an absolute travesty.” I replied, barely containing a snort.

His lips twitched, “Come, Peasant. You must make it up to your King.”

Clutching my hands together, I could barely get my next words out without laughing, “Please, Your-Your Majesty. I’m saving my-myself for my mate!”

Lilly was silent for a second before he released a laugh from deep in his stomach. And I was right there with him laughing just as hard until the word mate reminded me of what I still hadn’t told him. My mouth snapped closed with a click and I fought not to wince, Maybe I shouldn’t be making jokes about saving myself for my mate when I was actually speaking with my mate. Cillian wasn’t the most sensitive man I knew but he was definitely the most possessive. Thankfully for me, he still didn’t know we were destined or notice the way I had stopped laughing.

Still laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard, he grabbed onto my hand with a grin and led me out of the crater in an uncharacteristically chivalrous way. My chest was warm as I watched the way the muscles in his arm and shoulder flexed periodically as he moved. Licking my lips, I was thinking about what we were undoubtedly on our way to do when my eyes caught on a charred lump. Stopping in place, I raised a brow at what I was looking at before pulling my hand away from Cillian’s.

Swiping an axe from his sheath, I whirled it between my fingers until it began to gently spin beside me. Humming, I enjoyed the way my bare feet scraped over the once pristine clearing. Noticing all the cracks in the earth and the burnt or broken trees, I knew that the Nymphs were going to have a bone to pick with me. The grass went from green to black the closer I got to the charred body and I found it increasingly fascinating that I wasn’t completely raging at the moment.

A groan spilled from Dougal’s almost unrecognizable body, face and short dreads the only things remaining relatively unburnt. Looking down at him, I tried to feel the heartbroken sensation he had caused in me but it wasn’t there. If I was being honest it was almost as if I was staring down at a stranger with nothing telling me to feel bad or happy. But I could still feel the rage for the person who had put me in the horror show that was Slykhelm.

Moving closer to his head, I placed a hand on his forehead and tsked, “You really shouldn’t have put me in Slykhelm, Dougal. Even with a burned soul that’s not something I will ever forget or forgive.” Raising a hand to the axe spinning by my head, I pressed a finger to the metal and smiled when a small piece of the sharpened blade broke off into my hand. Gripping it, I glanced over to Cillian, “I understand if you need to leave but I won’t stop what I’m about to do. Not even for you.”

“Are you going to kill him?” Cillian asked, his once smiling face slipping into his old emotionless look.

Turning to look back down at the charred man, I gently brushed a dread off Dougals pained face and purred, “No. But I am going to hurt him very very badly.”

“Then I don’t care. I’ll warn my Mother.”

I hummed, not bothering to look over at him as my hand tightened over Dougal’s forehead. My other tightened around the blade in my grip and felt it heat up until dark red flames engulfed the serrated edge. I had a brief moment of surprise when the flames stretched up to my wrist without burning but quickly focused back on Dougal. His dark gray eyes fluttered in plain and rolled hinting at the unbearable pain he was in.

“Oh, Grimmy.” I sighed, bringing the flaming blade to skim over his neck. “I had no idea you were such a good liar. Giving me all those looks of tender kindness when I was child. Acting like I was truly your daughter. I should have known better. There isn’t a Fae alive who doesn’t want something from me.” Tipping the blade to scratch and burn the side of his jaw, I smiled, “You sent me to Slykhelm and then allowed your son, my mate. To take the blame. All the shit we went through could have been avoided if it wasn’t for you.”

Dougal suddenly groaned loudly, his eyes struggling to stay on mine as he croaked, “Mate?”

“You sent me to Slykhelm in order to become a God for your own benefit.” Leaning closer to him, I whispered, “Be happy, Dougal. Everything you wanted came true.”

Pulling back with a grin, I could see the bright reflection of my blue eyes in his dull ones before I sunk the flaming blade into his right eye without warning. Flesh sizzled as Dougal’s back bowed with a hoarse scream of agony while I watched on in amusement. Pinning his head to the ground with my free hand, I began moving the blade to scrape the bone of his eye socket in order to carve out his entire eye. Blood tried to seep from the wound but the heat of the blade cauterized the wound as I went.

Brows furrowing in concentration, I angled the blade to cut the tendons behind the eye before finally pulling it free despite Dougals thrashing. Raising it up to my eyeline, I twisted the eyeball left and then right. Huh, eyes look so weird when they’re not in someone’s face. The charred eye was disgustingly fascinating but the large gash in the middle ruined it. With a shrug, I tossed it over my shoulder and went for the other one. This time I pulled back on the fire until it disappeared and dug around in his eye socket.

This extraction was much more bloody and Dougal moved around so much that I had to put my knee on his chest to keep him still. Annoyed, I gritted my teeth as I shoved the dagger deeper to slash the tendons. All his moving almost made it impossible to get the eye but I got it. Yanking it free with a grin, the tendons brushed against the back of my hand as they swung from the sudden movement. This eye was almost perfect except for the eyelids that still clung to the bloody grey and white orb. But if I was being honest with myself, I had lost interest in carving it from his head midway through.

Dropping it onto Dougals body, I stood up from my crouched position to look down at him. The charred skin of his chest was gone leaving the raw muscle exposed and me confused until I looked at the knee I had placed on him. Using the dagger, I calmly pried the crispy skin stuck to my knee from the leather with a displeased grunt. Gross. Flicking my eyes back to the man below, I looked him over with nothing other than how much time I had wasted on him. Looking at him now, I could hardly believe I used to think of this man like a God. Like a father. Seeing his burnt body and eyeless corpse rising slightly with his irregular breath left me feeling disgusted.

“If you ever speak in my presence again, I’ll rip the tongue from your mouth…..Actually, let’s not take chances.” Bending down I yanked his jaws apart, grasped his tongue and started sawing it off. The thick muscle squished and moved in my grip making it hard to cut but I pulled it free in the end. Flicking it in the burnt muddy grass beyond him, I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “I have no interest in killing you out of revenge for myself, that part of my soul is gone….But if I ever find out you put your hands on my mate again, it’ll be you spending the next seven hundred and fifty years in Slykhelm with me as your torturer. And I won’t be as gentle next time.”

A high pitch whine left the mutilated man as I rose to my feet, my eyes drifting to the tree line. Orlaith broke through the trees with ragged breaths, tears streaming down her face before she collapsed at the sight of her mate. Somehow I had known that she was going to come running out of the forest despite the fact that I hadn’t heard her. Tilting my head, I crossed the distance between us to stand in front of her.

Glassy green eyes slowly drifted from her unrecognizable husband to look at me. Orlaith swallowed hard before her dry lips parted, “Is he dead?”

“No. Take him, patch him up, keep him out of sight.”

She nodded, climbing to her feet, “Dougal’s…Dougal’s has always been driven but I didn’t know he’d go this far.”

“I really…don’t care.”

Olaith looked surprised for a moment before nodding again and racing to her mate’s side.

Ready myself to travel, I was going to close my eyes when the ground disappeared but stopped halfway. A blue haze took the place of the inky darkness that had always been there causing my eyelids to fly wide open. I wasn’t moving but the forest and eventually the camp whipped by in a flimsy light of luminous blue. Stopping in my tent, I took a moment to try and connect what had just happened in my mind. I had been traveling but instead of an abyss, I saw everything on the way to my destination in vivid detail. I was even able to see the faces of the Faekind I had passed by. It was fucking incredible and I was about to do it again when I felt a hand on my back.

Expecting Cillian, I turned ready to tell him what I just did when a pair of soft lips pressed against my own. And immediately, I could tell it wasn’t my mate. First the lips were way too soft and secondly, they came at an angle from below. Instantly, I threw my hands up at my sides and took a large step away from her. Eyes wide, I took in Sy’s short pale body covered in a cloak of leaves. Her long light brown hair was pulled back behind her shoulders, emphasizing her creamy neck and heart shaped face. Cillian was going to kill me and then her if he caught her in my tent.

Large green eyes blinked slowly as her aura of desire permeated the tent, “Congratulations on winning the first battle, My Queen.”

“Uh, Thanks. What the fuck are you doing in my tent?” I hadn’t seen the little Nymph, let alone talked to her properly since she welcomed me and Cillian back from our ally tour.

A pretty red blush colored her cheeks while her eyelids coyly lowered, “I have something to confess.”

I cleared my throat and put a hand on her shoulder to start leading her towards the entrance, “Okay, Babes. Why don’t you tell me outside?” Where there’s witnesses.

Her small form slipped out of my grip and moved towards the bed, toying with the top of the cloak, “I’d rather tell you here, My Queen.”

“And I’d rather you didn’t. Let’s go outside, how did you even get in here?”

“The guards let me in when I told them that I was here to congratulate you.” She replied with a soft giggle, her eyes taking on a suggestive shine.

I walked towards her and latched onto her arm, yanking her from the bed, “That’s kind of you but no. It’s time for you to go.”

Again the slippery Nymph freed herself from my grasp and took a step back before the cloak slid off her form. Her bare form. Divines, I could not catch a fucking break. Immediately, I picked up the cloak and tried to cover her, “You need to put this back on and leave. Now.”

“But-”

I shook my head, thrusting the cloak around her shoulders and closing it over her perky rose budded tits, “This is not happening, Sy.” Yes, I looked. Fucking sue me, I’m only Fae. Or… Divine now, I guess.

The second my hands left the cloak she shrugged it from her shoulders which pissed me off before stepping closer to me, “No one would have to know, My Queen. Not the Commander if that’s what you’re worried about.”

My lips parted slightly at the size of this woman’s ovaries, she knew. She knew me and Cillian were fucking and she didn’t care. I mean, I’ve done some heinous shit but at least I’ve never pretended to be innocent. Her little sex-kitten act was sooooo just an act. This Nymph was a vixen in disguise.

“Yeah, Macha. Fuck the little bitch. I wouldn’t have to know.”

My entire body tensed with a visible cringe on my face as his frosty tone cut across my insides like a whip. Sy’s doe eyes got impossibly wider as she looked behind me, hastily wrapping the cloak of leaves around her naked body. Oh, now you want to put it on? Giving her a glare, I slowly turned around to face my enraged mate.

Standing rigidly just inside the entrance, Cillian’s silver eyes reflected like chips of hard metal, “We had. An agreement.”

I fought another cringe at his clipped tone, “We do. And I haven’t broken it. I didn’t know she was going to be in here when I got here. Honest. I’d never do that to you, Lilly.”

“Then what the fuck is she doing in your tent?”

Noticing the way his hard eyes pinged between me and Sy, I took a step further away from her and closer to him, “She came to ‘congratulate’ me. Ask the guards if you want, they’re the ones who let her in. Not me.”

And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt a little when he exited the tent for a moment. What a fucking asshole, is he serious? I didn’t have the best moral ground but I’d never stoop so low as to cheat on my mate. But before the anger at him could completely sink in, I realized once again that he still didn’t know what he was to me. Added with his blaringly obvious jealousy issues and my flirtatious ways, this wasn’t the best situation to find me in.

Sighing, I crossed over to my desk and sunk into the seat. Throwing my legs up on the edge of the desk, I leaned back waiting for him to come back while ignoring the Nymph fidgeting by the bed. This whole day was a fucking whirlwind of craziness and I had zero sympathy for her.

The tent flap ripped back open and Lilly came stomping through to glare at me for a moment until his eyes flashed over to Sy. The veins in his neck stood out making it obvious he wanted to bury her six feet under. He walked over to her and I barely saw his hand shoot out until it was wrapped tightly around the Nymph slender neck. Lilly’s eyes flashed back to me as if he was expecting some kind of reaction.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I snapped, “What?”

Cillian squeezed harshly causing the small woman to gasp for air and claw at his hand, his eyes narrowing on me.

“Are you shitting me, right now?” I said, catching onto what he was doing.

His fist tightened further until Sy’s struggling weakened significantly, silver eyes intently watching my face for any expression.

“Oh for the love of- Snap her fucking neck for all I care! She entered a mated Fae’s tent without permission with the intention of sex. By law, you have the right.” I snapped, beyond pissed at his behavior.

“Mated?” Two voices immediately question, one a bark of anger and the other a squeak of fear.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Yeah, Fuckers. Mated.”

“Who the fuck are you mated to?” He raged, dropping Sy to face me completely.

I twisted my lips into a scowl, “Some big headed asshole.”

“Who?”

Not feeling like explaining, I dropped my legs from the desk and sat there staring at him. I cannot, believe this stupid bag of dicks is my mate.

His eyes shot to the woman on the floor clutching her throat and making entirely too much noise for someone recently put on Cillians hit list. Grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her to the entrance of the tent as she cried out and snarled down at her, “The next time I see you, I’ll break every bone in your body. For fun.”

Sy whimpered and nodded quickly before Cillian dropped his hold on her hair to literally kick her out of the tent.

When he turned to look at me, I rolled my eyes and started inspecting my nails.

“How long have you been mated? Were you even going to tell me or just keep me around for a good fuck?” He snapped.

I stiffened at his tone and instantly decided to be difficult, “I know your not fucking talking to me like that because I will kick your fucking disrespectful ass. Mate or not.”

Watching him take a deep breath in surprise with narrowed eyes, he looked like he was in physical pain when he spoke again, “What?”

His tone was significantly more controlled so I said, “This is what I had to tell you earlier but everything with your family and the transformation happened so suddenly. I found out last night.”

“You mean, you’re choosing me as your mate?” Lilly asked, his entire face overrun with confusion.

I shook my head and stood up, “No. I mean, you’re my destined mate. Malachy told me when I died and spoke to him, remember? I forgot until you said something that triggered my memory but apparently Divines don’t get a choice. And by default, neither do you.”

His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes glowing with an extremely rare emotion for him. He was nervous. “And is that…what you want?”

“Do I want to be mated to a man with jealousy issues that ends with him insinuating I’m either a slut or cheating, pisses me off every other day, extremely possessive, horrible at expressing himself, stabbed me in the chest with iron, makes me laugh, goes along with my craziness, unquestionably loyal, willing to die for me, doesn’t care that I’m obviously not right in the head, fucks the shit out of me and is generally great when he isn’t jealous?”

Lilly cringed lightly at my little speech, “I understand. I wouldn’t expect-”

“I do.”

Silver eyes shot to mine from where they had dropped to the floor, “I thought you just-”

Moving to the front of the desk, I leaned my butt against it with shrug, “If your willing to put up with the fact that I will most likely never open up about my time in Slykhelm, always value chocolate more than anything else, my flirtatious ways that are undoubtedly going to set off your jealousy, probably end up dying a few more times, piss you off endlessly, most likely go on a killing spree every once in a while, hardly listen to your warnings and put myself in dangerous situations for fun with no regard to my own safety.”

“I am.” He replied without hesitation. “But are you sure? I can’t promise that I’ll change anytime soon.”

Grinning, I pushed off the desk to stop in front of him, “Lilly. We are possibly the worst and the best match the fates have ever made. We’re are definitely not the healthiest choice but we’d destroy anyone else. Because let’s face it, we’re both way too fucked up to be with sane good hearted Fae.”

Lilly flashed me a sparkling white smile before it slowly dropped from his face as fast as it came, “Am I going to be enough for you though?”

“What do you mean?”

He shifted on his feet uneasily, “Sexually. I know you enjoy both men and women. Are you going to want to sleep with women at some point?”

I snorted at the absurdity of his question until I took in his unamused look, “Oh. You’re being serious.”

“We just established that I’m a jealous asshole, Cell Bait. I don’t have the capacity to sit by quietly while you go out to get something that I can’t give you. The situation I walked in on and how I handled that should be proof enough.”

“Well, are you going to want other women?”

“No.” He replied, scrunching his face in offense. “You know I don’t agree with mates having open relationships. It’s not like humans, a mate is sacred. Not something to be shared.”

I nodded slowly, “Exactly. So, why would you think I’d need to sleep with women?”

“Because-I sound really stupid right now, don’t I?”

“A little.” I agreed. “But it’s just because you’re worried I’ll get bored. Which I won’t by the way. Sure, I like women but it’s not an addiction. I’m perfectly capable of going forever without sleeping with another woman if I’m spending it with you fucking me to the stars and back like a starved animal.”

He smirked and took a step towards me, “Well, when you put it like that…”

“Ooooo. I would love to fuck you, truly, but I think your ugly right now.” I replied with an apologetic smile, taking a large step backwards.

Lilly snorted, “I bet I could change your mind.”

“I bet you could but alas, as I said you’re unattractive right now and I have never fucked a but-his-face. And I won’t start now.”

“A what-his-face?” He questioned, brows pulled low.

Still smiling cheekily, I continued to move backwards at his approach until I hit the desk, “It means you have a nice body but the face just isn’t there for me.”

Lilly nodded suddenly like he understood as he pressed up against my front and crowded me until I was forced to sit up on the desk, “So don’t look at my face.”

“How do you expect-Oh.” I choked in surprise.

Dropping to his knees, Cillian tugged my leather trousers down my thighs having apparently undid them at some point. The leather pulled on my skin slightly as Cillian ripped the trousers down my legs and yanked it free of my ankles. Falling back, my palms slapped against the wood as Lilly lifted my right leg to place a wet kiss against the side of my knee. The tender kiss quickly switched to a heady swirling and a teasing nip of teeth as he moved higher. Tingles of raw desire raced up the inside of my thighs from the scratch of his growing five o’clock shadow and the sharp bite of his teeth.

Eyelids lowering, I watched the top of his silver head get closer and closer to the apex at the top of my thighs. Shivering at the feel of his hand sliding up my left thigh to my waist, his other hand hiked my leg up over his shoulder forcing me to lean further back against the desk. Heart thumping in time with my deep breaths, I tipped my head back with a low moan when he bit the middle of my right thigh hard enough to bruise. Warmth flooded my core and I knew that when he finally touched me, I’d be undeniably wet.

Feeling him shift, I steeled myself for what came next and waited…and waited. Lifting my head in question, I stared down at the man between my legs in irritation, “What are you waiting for?”

Looking completely unbothered, his index finger traced a silver swirl on the top of my sensitive mound driving me mad enough to shout at him, “It still surprises me at how the tattoo spans the entirety of your body except for your face.”

“If treason turns you on so much, get back to what you were doing.” I replied, placing a hand on his head to gently push him down.

He shook my hand off, “I think you’ve forgotten who is in charge, Peasant.”

“Better remind me then. Unless..” I drawled, flashing him an impish smile. “Your Majesty is impotent at all things sexual.”

Cillian flashed sharpened teeth and bit out in his rich tone, “I’m going to make you regret that.”

I gave a shrug and tried to drop my legs from his broad shoulders with a deep sigh, “Seems unlikely. It’s okay, really. Lots of men have this problem. I mean, no one I know but- Fuck me.”

Lilly smirked up at me as I tried to catch my breath from the way his fingers suddenly slid inside of me while his thumb pressed down on my clit. “I thought you didn’t want to fuck me becasue I was ugly at the moment, Cell Bait?”

Swallowing, I tried to collect my thoughts as his two fingers thrusted deep inside me, “You are. You’re…hideous.”

Cillian hummed as I fell back on my elbows and panted at the pleasure raking through my veins. “We’ll see about that.”

——————————————————————————

I know some people might dislike scenes like the one above with Sy but I love them. Especially, if they happen like I wrote it lol. Also just a heads up, the first half of the next chapter is…steamy.

🚨Just a little disclaimer: I, in no way, endorse toxic relationships. Even my characters understand that what they have is far from a healthy and nurturing relationship. But again they are fictional characters and in their little world they are the best match for each other. I’m not trying to glamorize toxic couples, this is just how my fucked up characters care for each other.🚨

As always, You know what to do by now. Lol.

Happy Thanksgiving, Verbage🦃

Chapter Forty-Five: Mating Gifts

Not responding, I clenched tightly around his fingers and dug my nails into the wooden edge of the desk behind my head. Panting, I rolled my hips against his hand as my back arched off the hard surface I was lying across. Jerking at the first touch of his tongue, I practically broke my spine trying to get both closer and farther away from the almost painful pleasure. His grip on my left thigh pushed up underneath the cloth of my tunic to press me back down against the desk while forcing me to spread my legs wider. The feeling of being so lewdly stretched open had me gasping at the feeling and pushing harder back against his fingers.

Lilly’s tongue swiped teasingly across my clit causing a fresh wave of arousal to crash into me. My lower abdomen tightened as he repeated the motion with all the urgency of sand turning into stone. The pressure in my core was almost too much but I needed more than this if I wanted cum. I tried rocking my hips higher but Cillian just pushed me back down and placed a soft kiss to my clit in pure evil retaliation. Breath leaving my chest in audible pants, I squirmed against the unbearable feeling of my orgasm hovering just out of reach. And cried out at the overwhelming sensation of teeth scraping over my delicate flesh.

Unable to continue like this, I unclenched one of my hands from around the edge of the desk to grip my breast tightly. Flexing my fingers over the stimulated flesh beneath my tunic I gasped in pleasure, my eyes rolling back as my hips jerked forward. The first roll of my orgasm flooded me but it was cruelly pushed away when Cillian ceased all movement and yanked my hand from my chest.

“Cillian, please.”

“What did I tell you the first time we had sex?”

Brain scrambled in sexual desperation, I shook my head at the man hovering above me and tried to thrust against his leather clad hips that were pressing down into mine.

A firm hand gripped my jaw and tipped my head, pulling my neck taunt, in order to look him right in the eye. Hooded eyes gazed down at me, anger simmering in their depths, “Your pleasure’s mine, Macha. Not yours. Don’t piss me off.”

Fuuuuck that’s hot, I thought, feeling a different feeling fill my chest at his possessiveness. The kind of feeling that made me want to stretch so the feeling would tingle throughout my body like live energy. Now, I wanted to piss him off.

Taking my silence as an answer, he locked his hands around my wrists pushing them against the desk as he rolled his hips into mine. The friction of his trousers against my bare flesh had my back arching, pressing us chest to chest while he grinded down against me. Lifting my legs, I wrapped them around his waist tightly and rocked breathlessly up against him. His hips continued their controlled rolling thrusts that drove me to the brink until he made the mistake of letting me go to step back for the moment. A mistake because I held my position for all of about ten seconds before my right hand dove between my thighs.

Fingers brushing against the wet folds, I closed my eyes and bit my lip while a groan pushed past my lips at the feeling of being filled again. Like the last time it was short lived because Lilly’s hand had my wrist slamming back against the desk with a grunt and the other sliding around my neck. My eyes opened to stare up at the furious Cillian, a storm building behind silver eyes. When he opened his mouth I cut him off with a grin, wrapped my legs back around his now naked hips and used my free hand to push his hand harder against my throat.

A deep groan came rumbling out from the back of his own as his eyes rolled slightly before his hips jerked forward burying himself to the hilt inside of me. His hard length was like a cool balm that had me gasping in relief until the heat returned at his thrusts. Arching into the brutal slam of his hips, I pushed my neck further into his hand as his grip tightened and cried out his name. Keeping up the hard jerk of his hips, he took my mouth in a kiss that was all tongue and clashing teeth.

A moan ripped from his mouth when I clenched down around him and he had to pull away to increase his speed. Staring up at him lost in my own mind numbing pleasure, I watched the muscles of his abdomen flex and contract as a bead of sweat rolled down the middle of his impressive chest. My tantalizing view disappeared behind my eyelids when he switched up the angle of his hips so that my clit was rubbed with every thrust and I was thrown head first into my orgasm. Body stringing tighter than a bow, I released a gasping fuck when unadulterated pleasure raced through me like a raging bull.

Blinded by ecstasy, I barely noticed when Lilly’s hand left my throat to slam straight through the wood beside my head in a roar of his own release. The feeling of his member pulsing inside me drew a low cry from my lips at the oversensitivity and had a smaller orgasm gently rocking through me. Panting, I blinked up at the ceiling of the tent trying to even out my heart rate and then slammed a hand against Cillian’s back when he shifted to move off me.

“Don’t you dare fucking move.” I gritted out, when he reawakened the tender flesh between my thighs.

He lifted his head from my neck to look at me tiredly, chest rising and falling like he’d just ran a thousand miles, “I can’t…just stay inside of you.”

“If you pull out, I will kill you.”

Lilly raised a silver brow and glanced at the bed before looking back at me, “Wouldn’t you rather be over there?”

I shook my head, “You literally pounded me into the desk and now you want to move to the bed?”

And he really had. Hell, I was surprised the thing was even still standing. With the pieces I broke off the edge, the hole Cillian punched in it, and the combined weight of two people over six feet? We should have crashed to the floor halfway through.

“You’re going to kill me.”

I gave him a look as he slipped his hands under my back, “Cillian. Don’t.”

“I’m going to do it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Here we go.”

“No- motherfucker.” I pushed the words out between my teeth viciously as he stood, holding me against him as his member slipped free and an uncomfortable ache pulsed at my core. “I hate you.”

The asshole just snorted before laying us in bed and pulling the covers over our nude forms. Lilly sighed, turning me to face him and pushing a damp lock of blue hair off my forehead, “We can’t mate yet.”

Internally, I released a breath of relief that we were on the same page without me having to say anything, “I know. Not until the war is over.”

“I have to leave soon.”

I nodded, “I figured and you still need to give me that list of Unseelie to visit.”

He stiffened slightly, “Who’s going with you?”

“I was thinking I’d take Bria and Baris along with Erick. Plus a few soldiers, of course.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to take Baris. He’s an idiot.”

I shook my head and brushed my thumb over his jawline, “Don’t worry, I straightened him out.”

“What’d you do?” He asked, looking amused.

I grinned, “I told him I beheaded you.”

“And he believed you?” He laughed.

“Duh, and then I told him the truth and stabbed him in the shoulder.”

He smirked, mirth shining deep in his eyes, “That boy really is an idiot.”

Rolling my eyes, I gave him a push before asking him a question that wiggled at the back of my mind, “You refused to tell me why you sent me to Slykhelm because you didn’t want to reveal that it wasn’t your idea. Why, after what it sounds like your father did to your family?”

“Because he was your family. You didn’t have anyone, so I was okay with you hating me if it meant you still had a connection with someone. It would have broken your heart to find out.”

“It did.” I shrugged, meeting his sincere eyes. “But I’m a Divine now so it doesn’t bother me. I think the part that cared for him was burned away.”

Lilly hummed, “How does it feel being a Divine?”

I furrowed my brows a bit before telling him, “It honestly doesn’t any different. We put so much pressure of me transforming that it almost feels like a let down. There is a strange thrum of energy coursing through me though, and traveling is different.”

“Different how?”

“I can see while I travel. I see everything that I’m passing through, through some strange blue film.”

“So it’s not total darkness anymore?”

“Nope.” I replied, popping the p. Enjoying his look of confusion.

Shaking his head, he looped an arm around my waist and tugged me closer until I was tucked underneath his chin, “You still haven’t used your abilities yet. Maybe you have more.”

I hummed in content at the warmth he radiated and the tiredness threatening to lull me to sleep. And it almost worked too, until I suddenly remembered that I had something to give him before he left. Eyes flying open, I pushed against him until with a grunt he released me from his steel grip. Sitting up, I winced a little and then stared down into his eyes.

Eyeing me right back, he lazily pushed himself up against the headboard, “What?”

“I have something to give you.”

“Okay.” But when I just continued to stare, he raised a brow, “Are you going to give it to me?”

I nodded slowly, thinking about my wording, “Yes. Originally it was going to be me giving you something because you gave me the necklace. But-”

“You don’t need to give me anything. That necklace was a gift, I made it for you.”

Shocked, I placed a hand over the pedant hanging around my neck, “You made this?”

“Yeah, a while ago actually.” He replied, turning his head away in a surprisingly shy manner.

Grinning, I bounced a little on the mattress, “How long ago is a while ago?”

“Are you going to give me something or not?” He grumbled, peeking at me from the corner of his eye.

Leaning forward, I pinched his cheek and gave it a little jiggle while awwing at his cuteness.

Smacking my hand away with a sneer, he went to stand but I stopped him by throwing myself across his lap, “Alright, alright. Relax, you’re just so secretly cute.”

“I. Am not. Cute.”

Cackling, I muttered, “Exactly, what a cute person would say.”

“What was that?” He barked.

“Nothing. Nothing.”

“If I’m cute, then you’re down right adorable.”

Gasping in disgust, I rolled off his lap to sit in front of him, “Don’t ever call me that again.”

Cillian smirked and mimicked, “Exactly, what an adorable person would say.”

“Do you want your gift or not?” I snapped.

With a raised brow, he crossed his arms and leaned back against the headboard.

Rolling my eyes with a huff at his actions, I held a hand out to either side and call- The cool touch of metal pressed into the palms of hands before I could even properly call it. Blinking in shock, I looked left and then right to find Lilly’s gift despite the fact that I didn’t finish calling it to bend to my will. A little freaked out at the ease with which I had gotten the battle axes, I decided to ignore it.

Facing forward, I grinned at the wide silver eyes taking in the blue metal twisted into two expertly crafted axes, “So as I was saying, originally they were supposed to be a regular gift but I figured you might be willing to accept them as a mating gift. I know we can’t get mated publicly yet but we can still do the gift exchange.”

Slack jawed, his eyes continued to roam over the metal until I held them out for him to take. Anxiety built in my chest as he gently placed a hand over the cool metal of one to feel the small ridges in the handle to make them easier to grip. The rest of the metal was smooth to the touch and curved out gently to take on the sharper shape of the axe’s blade. I watched his hands reach out to fully grasp onto the handles and take them when he pulled away quickly.

Eyeing his taunt features, I looked at the weapons with disappointment, “Do you not like them? I can always adjust the metal more to your liking, I had your mother help me but we didn’t have a lot of time and I should have realized you might have different preferences.”

Lilly immediately disagreed, “No, I love them. They’re great, they look amazing. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“I don’t have anything to give you.”

I shook my head at his uncomfortable expression and smiled, “Lilly, you already gave me the pedant. You don’t need to give me anything.”

“I can’t just give you nothing as a mating gift, Macha. I refuse. You’re giving me battle axes crafted out of your own personal metal, and you want me to give you nothing in return? Absolutely not.”

“And you crafted a Fae diamond into a pendant for me. I think we’re even.” I replied, thrusting the weapons at him for him to take.

“No.”

Annoyed, I pushed the weapons up against his chest, “Don’t be an dick. I’m trying to be all sweet and sentimental and you’re ruining it.”

He gave me a stubborn look and did nothing to take the weapons from me, “Mating gifts symbolize more than just a gift from the heart and you know it. It signifies that the pair will never forget to cherish the other. You’re not going to make me the selfish one before our mating even begins.”

“Fine. Then I accept the sex we just had as my mating gift.”

Cillian leered at me, “That doesn’t qualify as a gift because you’ll be getting that regularly.”

“Lilly, you are being unnecessarily difficult.” I whined between laughs at his expression.

He glared before his expression suddenly lit up before going dark again.

“What did you just think of?”

“Forget it. You won’t like it.”

I rolled my eyes and tossed the axes beside us while ignoring his wince at the way they clanged together, “Honestly? What do I like at this point?”

“Okay. There is something I could give you.” Cillian took a deep breath before continuing, “I can make it so we can mentally communicate.”

Instantly, I was swamped with hesitation and it showed when I replied slowly, “But…I thought you said that you could only share that with a mate. Cillian, we can’t get mated until the war is over. You wouldn’t be able to go back to Mab’s army and it would paint a huge target on your back during the war.”

“I know. I know. And I completely agree, this would be temporary. I can temporarily link us mentally so that we can speak whenever we want. Which would be a huge advantage during the war because who knows how long we’re going to be apart.”

Shifting on my knees I scanned over his features, a bit uncomfortable at how much he seemed to want this, “It would be. But…you’ll be in my head? Will you-will you be able to see things? Like my memories?”

His throat constricted as he reached out to interlock our fingers, “There’s a possibility that I could be drawn into your nightmares, if we’re sleeping at the same time. But I will never be capable of digging around in your mind or memories. The link is only for communication but again there is the possibility that it could connect our dreams.”

“I don’t know, Lilly.” I grimaced, lip slightly raised in apprehension.

“I understand but the chances of us being asleep at the same time on opposite sides of the war are extremely unlikely. If I’m being honest, being able to contact or warn you of something within seconds would be a huge help to my piece of mind while we’re apart.”

The thought of having someone else in my head was completely unnerving and intimate. He wasn’t asking to put a ring on my finger and to move his stuff into my tent, he was asking to be let inside my mind. My mind. Half the time I didn’t even know what the hell was going on in here, how was I supposed to just let him in? There was also a lot of shit that I wasn’t ready to tell him, most of it being about Slykhelm. What if he was lying? What if this is just a way to force me to open up to him?

Standing from the bed, I started pacing the width of it as I thought about my answer. No, Lilly wouldn’t lie about something like this. If he said he wouldn’t be able to see my memories then he wasn’t going to be able to. But the nightmares? Was I willing to take the chance that he could be pulled into one with me? Then again, I had no idea if that part of my soul had burned away. Alright, Macha. What’s the real question? Do you trust him? I nearly scoffed out loud, of course, I trusted him. Though this level of trust was severely different, it wasn’t the question of if I trusted him with my life. It was a question of if I trusted him to see my most vulnerable moments.

Glancing at him, I caught the way he was calmly watching me pace without a word before darting my eyes to the floor. He was my mate and although I didn’t love him yet, I cared for him. That much was obvious and would soon be to everyone else when he started wielding those axes. You didn’t make weapons from your own personal metal for just anybody. What was I saying? I died saving him. It was impossible to go through everything we had together and still feel nothing for the other. But this was a huge step and I was almost positive that we had missed a few on the way to this one.

Could I do it? Could I make myself vulnerable for him? Was I willing to risk….was I really willing to risk my facade of unending strength? Vulnerability wasn’t something I had ever allowed myself to share but could I share it for him? For Cillian Grymes?

“Macha, you can say-”

“Yes.” I cut off his smooth baritone, nails digging into the side of my thigh while my heart fought to escape my chest. Cleaning my throat, I repeated,“Yes. I accept your mating gift.”

I could feel his eyes on the back of my head and hear the creak of the wood as he left the bed. Hyper aware of his every move, I felt the heat of his skin before his hands slid over my clothed shoulders to hug me tightly from behind. Eyes pinned to the otherside of the tent, I swallowed around a dry throat as his chin pressed against my temple.

“You don’t have to do this. If I pressured you, I’m sorry. We can always communicate through Bria.”

Opening my mouth, the words failed to come as the fear of him witnessing what I had gone through paralyzed me. Though the thought of him treating me differently killed me.“If you promise me one thing.”

“Name it.”

“Whatever you see in my nightmares,” I gritted out between clenched teeth. “Whatever you see, isn’t mentioned unless I bring it up. And it doesn’t change the way you act around me.”

His grip around me tightened before he tried to turn me around, “Macha…”

“I’m serious. I don’t want to talk about what I went through. I don’t care if you suddenly have a front row seat to those memories. I don’t want to talk about them. I’d also rather have you leave me then treat me differently.” I replied in a hard tone, refusing to be turned around to face him.

“Why?”

“Because there’s nothing to talk about. Nothing to work through. Those nightmares don’t define me. I’m not some delicate fucking flower and I will resent you if you start treating me like one.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Whipping around, I glared up at him, “I mean it, Cillian. Promise me because I’m not joking.”

Raising his hands to cup the sides of my face, he peered down at me with a tenderness I wouldn’t have thought him capable of. “I promise, Cell Bait…You’re too much of a bloodthirsty bitch to ever treat delicately.”

“Fuck you.” I blurted, mood instantaneously lifting.

Lilly laughed before dropping a quick kiss on my lips, “Hopefully after this you can. Give me your wrist.”

Without question, I gave him my wrist, “How do we do this?”

“It’s pretty simple. We bite each other.”

I raised a brow, “That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Shrugging, I shifted my teeth into sharpened points and grinned, “Where?”

Flashing his own sharpened teeth at me, he lifted my wrist to his mouth and bit deeply. Blood began pooling around his lips as white hot pain flashed through me like searing jolts of lightning. Flexing my fingers, I wiggled them to make sure he hadn’t punctured any nerves from the way his jaws were wrapped around the whole right side of my wrist.

With a ripping sensation followed by more pain, he yanked his teeth from my wrist and frowned, “Do you have something in your wrist?”

Looks like I didn’t need to go looking for that needle then. I can’t believe Malachy really thought it would have drifted.

“Yes. Veins, muscle, and bone.” I sassed. “Now where do I bite you?”

Giving my wrist one last look, he tapped the top of his shoulder, “It’s going to leave a scar until the effects fade. I can’t risk Mab figuring out what it is.”

“Anything to leave your mark.” I muttered, rolling my eyes at the new scar soon to be decorating my silver tatted wrist. “My turn.”

Bouncing up a little on my toes, I leaned forward and locked my teeth viciously around the flesh of his shoulder. It was an odd sensation, having someone’s bleeding flesh in your mouth and I found that I enjoyed it. Tasting blood in my mouth, I yanked my head back making Cillian hiss out in pain.

Wiping the blood from my lips, I smirked, “Don’t be a baby.”

“You almost ripped a chunk out of my shoulder.” He growled, pressing on the flesh.

“Consider it payback for telling me that the bite will scar after you bite me where everyone will notice.”

Silver eyes narrowed on mine before he huffed, lips curving upwards.

I laughed, “That’s right, don’t even bother denying it. Now, when is this thing supposed to kick in?”

“You should start to feel something in the back of your head any second now.”

Nodding, I looked around as I tried feeling anything odd in my head. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then a wiggling started at the base of my neck. Eyes shooting to Cillian’s silver ones, I kept my gaze on him while the feeling got stronger. It felt like a growing pressure that was moving along the sides of my brain trying to find a way in. The sensation was unpleasant but the pressure also felt familiar like I had felt it before.

“Let me in.”

“That’s you?”

He grinned boyishly, “Just relax and let me in. I’ll be gentle.”

“Stop talking to me like I’m a virgin before I deck you in the throat.”

Lilly laughed and stared as if waiting for me.

Sighing, I pushed all the air from my lungs and thought about the pressure decreasing as I let it in. Like a popping balloon it disappeared and my head felt oddly full.

Can you hear me, Cell Bait?

Eyes going as wide as possible, I glued them to a laughing Cillian. Tentatively, I thought, Cillian? Is that you?

Know somebody else who calls you Cell Bait?

Holy shit! This is fucking weird.

Lilly smiled, You’ll get used to it.

No way. You’re in my head. Does this thing have a distance range?

He shook his head, I could be on earth right now and we’d still be able to talk.

That’s insane. I mentally replied while laughing at the way it looked like we were just silently grinning at each other if anybody walked in.

I’m really glad you agreed to do this. I feel so much better about leaving now that I can contact you whenever.

Placing a hand on his cheek, I gave it a pat with a sympathetic smile, Me too. But don’t thank me yet. Welcome to my mind, Lilly. We’re all mad here.

Silver brows dipped lightly, What?

We really need to get a T.V. so you can start appreciating my references. I huffed, dropping my hand from his cheek.

What’s a T.V?

Slapping a hand against his face, I pushed him away from me with a badly hidden smile, Okay, now I know your fucking with me.

Grabbing onto my wrist with a laugh, he shoved me onto the bed hard enough to make me bounce on the mattress. It’s like you can tell the future now.

His hard body landed on mine as I chuckled, Don’t you have to go?

You don’t want to have a quickie? Might be awhile until the next time we can have sex.

Divines, is sex all you think about?

Pushing up on his elbows to look down at me, he raised a brow, That’d be you, Cell Bait.

Laughing loudly, I slapped my hand against his cheeks and brought his lips to mine, In that case…you better make that a few quickies, Your Majesty. If you can handle that.

I’ll try my best, Peasant.

——————————————————————————

Y’all….not to hype myself up but I think I getting better at writing these sex scenes. I used to be so embarrassed writing them in Feral Born and now I’m over here writing scenes with my main character getting choked out and loving it. Lmao. I absolutely adore Macha and Cillians dynamic, they’re so fun to write

As always, tell me how you feel about the chapter or book so far! The next chapter will be in Cillians POV and we’ll be taking a medium sized time jump.

Happy Thanksgiving, Verbage🦃

Chapter Forty-Six: Lovers Quarrell

Two Weeks Later…

~Cillian’s P.O.V.~

Raising a hand, I curled it into a tight fist before uncurling my fingers and pointing my hand firmly in the direction of the Estate. Immediately, the three rows soldiers waiting behind me silently rushed forward to surround the outer walls. The air was still and the bustle of city life surrounding the great Estate was unnaturally dead. Despite our best covert efforts, it seemed the city understood what was about to happen at the Kellys tonight. Word had passed from mouth to mouth about the blue haired Divine spotted coming into town with a group of soldiers. That rumor reached the compound quickly as battles between the two armies were becoming more frequent.

Since I’d left, Macha had been making a steady dent in the list of Unseelie that would be most willing to turn against Mab. This wasn’t the first time she’d been spotted on Unseelie territory and Mab was becoming increasingly furious that ‘the bastard’ had not been caught yet. Though her mood had been sour since Macha’s escape, the spreading truth of Macha being Mab’s first born daughter and a Divine had the Unseelie Queen enraged. Her sons were in a similar state with the Crowned Prince Tidhg publicly electrocuting a male for questioning if his title to the throne was legitimate. After all, how could he be the next in line to rule when he wasn’t even the first born? Though Mab and Prince Tidhg were on a warpath, it was the young Prince Daithí that continued to make me uneasy.

Daithí’s presence at the compound had become a constant and his cryptic questions of loyalty only grew more intense with my brother’s sudden leave from the army. Pale lavender eyes seemed to track my every move in his presence and it was getting harder to make changes in the battle plans sent to Mab when he demanded to see them first. What was the most unsettling however, was his unconcealed fascination with Macha. I’d caught word that he had had files the guards kept on her during her time at Slykhelm delivered to his rooms. Daithí was studying her, trying to figure her out and I didn’t like it at all. My eyes flicked over to the pale man in question, not at fucking all.

Looking away, I watched the soldiers breach the perimeter of the Estate and slowly move closer to the windows blazing with light. Scanning the windows as I followed quickly from behind, my gaze locked onto the shadowy dining room on the bottom floor. Seven humanoid shapes filled the room, three of them sat while the others stood close by. But it was the figure that was slightly leaned farther back than the rest waving something around in the air, that I stared at. The dark maroon curtains made it impossible to see anything other than the shadow of their bodies but I knew it was her.

I told you to leave ten minutes ago, Cell Bait. What the hell are you still doing here?

Macha’s shadow didn’t falter in her movements as she replied, I haven’t finished my pepper corn yet.

Please tell me you’re joking.

She mentally huffed, Lilly. You’ve been up my ass about eating ever since I forgot to three days ago and now you’re mad that I’m eating? Make up your mind.

And you couldn’t have taken it to go? I’m glad you’ve found your appetite, Macha. But you should’ve left when I told you to, Daithí is here.

Macha didn’t answer for a long moment as my men settled into position below the windows of the modernized Estate. Her shadow shifted, Daithí doesn’t worry me. Besides…I wanted to see you.

A swell of emotion flooded my chest at her admission and I fought not to lose focus on our situation as the Fae with wind abilities raised their hands. Miss me already, Cell Bait? It’s only been two weeks and we talk everyday.

I could just imagine her rolling those unbelievable blue eyes of hers, Whatever. It’s just weird not having you hovering around me like my murderous stalker, that’s all.

That’s a shame because I miss you. My lips fought to twitch at her silence and I knew she was trying to figure out how to respond but the wave of a pale hand saved her. Shield your eyes. We’re coming in.

Her shadow disappeared as something large sectioned off her side of the room without hesitation at my words just as the glass from the windows exploded inwards. Taking advantage of the other’s surprise, the soldiers flooded the open windows and the fighting began. My team followed the soldiers a few moments behind, dodging the Fae flung out of the Estate by one of my siblings. The clash of metal on metal rang from inside followed by the unique sounds of elements crashing against each other and faint laughter.

Placing my hands on the windowsill, I shoved myself up and into the opening as fluidly as my large frame would allow. The somewhat small dining room was in absolute chaos and I had to take a few seconds to take in the situation. Soldiers in blue had stormed the room crowding it further as they fought against the Fae in purple. Blades flashed in the low light as elements wielded by a few strong willed Fae crashed about the room. But it was the one Fae who was laughing as if this was the most fun she had had in a while that had me moving.

Sliding the pair of axes she had given me from my sheath, the thin coat of silver she molded over them hiding the original color glinted as I blocked the strike of a mace. Pushing back roughly against the handle of the mace, I used the male’s stumble against him and with a twist of my wrist slammed the blunt end of the axe across the side of his head. Dismissing him, I fought my way towards Macha. The blows I struck against her soldiers had been discussed with them before I had left. They were to treat me no different than any other enemy soldier and in return I dealt them crippling or maiming blows. Injuries that they could heal from while giving the appearance that I was cutting down my enemies in order to get to the traitor.

A figure wearing the disguise of Macha’s Acolyte stepped into my path, a double edge sword firmly grasped in their left hand. With a twirl, Bria rapidly lashed out at any part of my body that she could reach. Thin cuts began to appear on my arms while slashes tore the fabric of my black tunic. Knowing my little sister had a smirk plastered across her face underneath the mask, I dropped low and slammed the dull sides of the blades against her right calf. Her legs immediately flew out from underneath her causing her back to crack against the edge of the table and bring the whole thing down.

Fuck you, Cillian. You better hope mom has that bruise cream or I’m going to tell Macha to kick your ass! She mentally yelled at me as I walked away.

Stomping to the far side of the dining room, I jumped back as a ball of fire and earth collided creating a smoldering mass of hard earth that crashed at my feet. Lunging over the smoking rock, I struck out with an axe and knocked a blue sword, inches from disemboweling one of my soldiers, off course. Long blue hair littered with tiny braids whipped in my direction following the motion of Macha’s head. Eyes narrowed, the sharp lines of her face that enhanced her cruel beauty twisted into a sneer.

I’m getting real tired of you telling me who I can and can’t kill.

Blocking the sneaky strike of her other sword, I rolled my shoulder inwards and rammed it against the center of her chest. And I’m getting tired of you wasting your energy on killing Fae that don’t matter.

Blue eyes rolled discreetly as she flung her hair from her eyes and steadied herself before twisting to the side. The glistening blade of her sword slit the throat of one of my team members that had made the mistake of turning his back on her. The motion was so smooth that if I had blinked I would have missed it. You were saying?

Don’t get cocky.

Swiping diagonally across her chest, Macha jumped back before the hit could connect and slashed her swords in a X formation at my neck. I know what I’m doing, Lilly. I can’t just kill your entire team in one go. Mab would catch on too early and pull all the ranking Fae from the battles.

I know. I know. I replied while ducking underneath the deadly sharp blades. Dropping my axes, I tackled her around the waist bringing us to the floor harshly, I just want you to stay safe.

Blue hair fanned out as her head smacked against the wooden flooring. Shaking the glaze from her eyes, Macha’s left fist shot out and caught the underside of my jaw, I get it but you said you trusted me. I trust you to take care of yourself so trust me.

I do trust you but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry. My head rocked back at the force of the blow while Macha took advantage by bucking wildly and switching our positions. With a grunt, my back hit the floor as she straddled my waist and slammed a hand against the wood by my head. Instantly, I could feel the Estate tremble underneath her will until the sound of crashes rang through the room. Before the top floors could come crashing down on us however, a thick band of pure ice locked around her shoulders and bound her arms to her sides.

Shocked, our eyes locked for a moment, Daithí. I forgot about Daithí.

Plump lips pulled back in a snarl, And I’m the cocky one.

Daithí’s pale form calmly walked up to our sides before flicking his cold eyes to Macha and lifted her to her feet using the ice. He was easily a few inches shorter than his sister but the shape of their eyes and noses were so similar that I was surprised I had never noticed until now. The fighting around us continued while I got to my feet and looked between the siblings locked in a stare down. This was the first time that they had ever seen each other up close and I was sure that they had noticed the same similarities between them that I had. Macha’s head cocked to the side as Daithí’s eyes narrowed in what could only be called curiosity.

“You don’t look like Mab at all.”

“Babes, that’s the nicest thing you could’ve ever said to me. I thought we were enemies.”

The young Prince’s expression didn’t flicker, “Do you honestly think you can beat her? You already failed once, how much humiliation can you stand?”

“I see you inherited Mab’s cunty attitude.” Macha replied with a smile, steam rising in the air as the ice binding began to melt. “As to how much humiliation I can stand, I don’t know. I imagine it’s about the same as you can being Mab’s personal bitch.”

My eyes pinged from cold lavender to icy blue eyes, I know I should have been doing something. Anything to not seem suspicious or at least watch my own back but it was like watching two snakes make eye contact for the first time. Coiled and hissing but giving no hint as to who was going to strike first.

Daithí lips curved, “I read your files from Slykhelm. Did you know they keep meticulous records on everything you did. From when you ate to your time with Fearghas? Tapes of your later sessions with him?”

I fought to hide the way my shoulders wanted to tense at the mention of the tapes. Macha had a completely different reaction however, her entire body relaxed before she laughed, “Were you studying me, Babes? That’s just precious. They do say the youngest tries to imitate the oldest, I never got that until now.”

“Mmmm. I see it now. That iron clad control over your emotions, tell me. Do you care about anyone? Or can you slit the throat of a long time friend without flinching?”

Macha hummed, stepping closer to her younger brother as the ice completely melted making Daithí wince at the break of his will, “What about you? Tell me, brother. How many times have you sat back and watched Mab kill everyone around you? How many lives have you sacrificed in order to stay mommy’s favorite? I imagine we’re both a bit heartless.”

Her voice was a mocking sneer that dug its way underneath the normally controlled Prince’s skin. Lip slightly lifting in the corner to match his sister’s sneer, Daithí bit back, “Royalty don’t stay royalty without sacrifice. Rulers don’t become rulers without pain. And people don’t reconcile without strife. Crowns and thrones fall in a cloud of dust and loyalty changes on a-. ”

“I am so done with men and their cryptic bullshit.” Macha groaned, lifting a foot and kicking her brother right in the chest. “Let’s just fucking fight, Babes.”

The moment the young prince was sent stumbling backwards, the bubble of imaginary privacy we had bursted. Sounds of the dying battle rushed back to my ears and snapped me out of the trance I had undergone watching the siblings. Casting a quick look over the room, it was clear that we were losing this battle and that by protocol the Prince was no longer allowed to be here. It was the perfect excuse to get him out of here before the fight between the two royals could escalate.

Jumping between the pair, I barked a sharp order to my nearby team, “Protect the Prince!”

The last of my team, four Fae bloody and tired, surrounded the lavender haired royal with weapons drawn to protect him at every angle. Pale purple eyes locked across the small distance to his new blue haired nemesis that winked and finger waved prettily. Though it turned less pretty and more amusing as Hamish, my master archer, spontaneously combusted into a ball of blue flames. Since becoming a Divine, Macha’s abilities had become amplified to the point where she hardly needed to command the elements. It was like they raced to bend beneath her will before she even consciously decided to use them.

Snatching my axes from the floor, I stepped out between the two with my back facing Daithí. My eyes connected with sparkling blue ones that shot a shiver down the center of my back. I couldn’t help it, the defiance lighting her eyes was the same spark I normally saw when we were fucking. Lips curving Macha raised her hands to the ceiling, no doubt purely for dramatic effect, and then flung them towards the ground. A low rumble rolled through the room going unnoticed by the fighting Fae until it reached a roar.

As chunks of the ceiling rained down, I twisted at the waist to shout, “Get him out of here!”

Without needing another order they grabbed the arguing Prince and disappeared just in time to escape the ball of blue flame that exploded over where they had once stood. A jerk to my tunic had me stumbling into Macha as flames the color of her eyes and raining debri blocked us from the others. Long slim fingers pressed into my chest as they slid up to squeeze the bottom of my throat, an unnatural heat from her palms lightly singeing the fabric of my tunic.

“Lilly,” She purred, aloud. “You took my fun away, twice now. I’ll have to punish you for that.”

Another kind of heat unfurled in my stomach while I dropped my head a notch to brush our noses together, I’m the one who does the punishing, Cell Bait. Don’t tell me you forgot already.

I don’t know…it’s been so long. Maybe I just need a hard reminder. Macha murmured, turning her head to nip at my bottom lip.

Reaching out, I slipped my hands underneath her tunic to grip her bare waist and yanked her up against me, Don’t tease. You know we can’t. I flexed my fingers into her skin, a weight left my chest at the feeling of being able to hold her again. Even if it was only for a few moments.

She sighed, looking up at me from beneath blue lashes, Do you always have to be so responsible?

One of us has to, otherwise it’d just be complete chaos all the time.

And what’s wrong with that? She grinned, flashing white teeth that glowed in the fires light.

My heart squeezed at the impish look she shot me and I couldn’t help but smile back despite my warning tone, Macha.

Her eyes rolled, I know. But the least you can do is give your mate a goodbye kiss.

I flicked my eyes left and then right checking our surroundings, the only thing visible around us were the flames of her fire. Casting a look down at the dangerous woman that was all mine, I slid a hand up the side of her neck and pressed our lips together. This kiss was different from the others, it didn’t scream sex and wicked promises. It was slow and passionate, a kiss to savor while also making my knees weak. The brush of our lips whispered to something deeper, something that had me tightening my grip and molding our mouths together as the fire raged around us.

Macha was the one to break away first, pressing a hand to my cheek and swiping her thumb beneath my left eye, Take care of yourself, Lilly. I think I’ve gotten a bit attached to you.

And I you, Cell Bate. Stay safe and don’t take risks. I replied with a gentle pat to the side of her ass.

With a laugh and smirk, the blue beauty disappeared.

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Omg, y’all! I feel like I haven’t updated in a phat minute.😩 Hopefully this jump isn’t too abrupt, I think it’s a good little filler chapter to blend the time jump but you never know. Also, this chapter was sooooo cute! My little badass characters are getting the feeelssss and not just sexual ones, lmao. I almost named this chapter ‘The Fuzzies’.

As always, drop a comment or a like if you feel like it!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Forty-Seven: Girl Talk

“My informant says they’ll be staying on the compound while the General’s revise their battle plans. Last night’s battle pissed off Mab so as long as nobody sees us tomorrow we should be okay.”

Humming in response, I circled the colorful map of Tir Na Nog with critical eyes. Puck, Dani, Erick and I had mapped out the route we’d be taking to the last three major Unseelie Estates. We also circled the places that were being heavily patrolled by Mab and crossed out the areas that our armies had fought in. The bitch Queen had been getting increasingly aggressive with her battle tactics to the point that sometimes Cillian was only able to give us a couple of minutes heads up. But that wasn’t going to work with these last three, these families were a part of Mab’s Court.

The first of the three we’d be visiting was the Burns’s Estate that lay just beyond the Mab’s castle walls. With their father’s death last year by Mab’s hand, the family was governed by the eldest twins. Said to be fair skinned with bright yellow hair, Finn and Fiona Burns were rumored to possess a quick temper with a very untrusting nature. Though with the way their father was drawn and quartered for suspicion of treason, I couldn’t really blame them. The next Estate on the route was the O’Neil’s, the family was survived by one family member. A brown haired female named Imogen that Cillian couldn’t give us much information on. Just that she was quiet and tried her best to stay out of Court politics.

Skimming my fingers over the textured map, I tipped my head to the side and tapped the Estate positioned on the outskirts of the Unseelie Kingdom behind the castle. “Tell me more about the O Cathasaigh family.”

“They keep to themselves. The head of the family used to be very active in Court but withdrew in recent centuries. They have four children, all still very young. Some think that’s why they left the Court, to protect their children. No one’s seen them since.”

I shook my head at the golden headed boy, not believing that for a second, “You don’t withdraw from Mab’s Court suddenly and continue to live. Her paranoia should have driven her to slaughter them after the first century of their absence from Court. Yet she allows them to live on an Estate, quite literally behind her back….”

A sliver of unease slithered across my shoulders as I stared down at the dark grey structure drawn on the map. It resembled more of a guardkeep than an Estate…I didn’t like it. The story of the O Cathasaigh’s leaving, the position of their Estate, the fact that they were still alive, all of it went against everything I knew about Mab’s personality. It didn’t fit in nicely with the actions that I had grown used to hearing about or seeing from her. Which only made my unease grow, because if the O Cathasaigh’s really lived there then why were they kept so close? And if they didn’t, then who or what was in that Estate?

“Why does Mab do anything that she does? Maybe she wanted to keep a close eye on them? What does it really matter? We don’t even need them. After we recruit these next two we’ll have the matching number of soldiers Oberon required.” Dani raised a hand to squeeze my shoulder with a smile, “With the battles amping up, it’s the perfect timing. Soon, we’ll be marching on Unseelie Territory with thousands of Faekind at your back. Aren’t you excited? You’re finally going to end Mab’s reign of terror.”

Flicking my eyes from the map to her pink eyes, I replied as honestly as I could, “No.”

“What?”

“Fae are still disappearing all over the Outerlands, their magick is being stolen by Mab for whatever reason. Despite my best efforts to put a stop to it and it’s eating away at me.”

The short pink hair streaked through with black bounced around her shoulders as she motioned for the males to leave. Without a word, they left the tent but not before Puck shot me a warm sympathetic smile that I rolled my eyes at. Stupid little sentimental Seelie.

“Macha…I thought, you got over your guilt about that. It’s been centuries, this isn’t your fault.”

I cracked a self-depreciating grin before dropping into my desk chair, “Doesn’t make it hurt any less when a Fae’s body shows up completely drained of color. As long as I have to deliver the news to their loved ones and watch them break down, I will never get over the guilt.”

“This is about what happened a couple of days ago, isn’t it? What happened before the Reids left? I should’ve realized when you refused to eat dinner that night….Macha, she was grieving. She didn’t mean-”

My voice sounded detached to my own ears as I responded, remembering the words the mother had spit at me, “She meant every single word she said.”

I clenched my jaw as I gently set the body draped in white silk on the funeral pyre. A child no more than eight hundred, her soul burned away from the forceful taking of her magick. Light blue hair and eyes that I recognized from the battle at the Dunn’s Estate, now devoid of color in a sickening shade of pure white. My eyes refused to look at the Fae surrounding the pyre, with a burned soul we all knew that this was just a formality. Her soul would not be joining her kin and ancestors in the stars.

Gut wrenching sobs ripped through the grieving mother’s throat as she wailed her sorrow loud enough for the Divines above to hear. It was the only sound in the clearing, everyone else was tensely quiet or silently offering their support to the family. The father was more composed with one hand gripping his crying daughter and the other around his mate’s shoulders but anyone could see that his eyes held no light. My eyes darted away from the crushed family before I could catch their eyes, it was cowardly but what could I possibly say that could lighten the loss of their daughter? Nothing. There was absolutely nothing I could say because this shouldn’t have happened.

Stepping back from the pyre, I swallowed around a dry throat and delivered the funeral rites, “Fág d’ualaí sa réimse seo taobh thiar de réir mar a threoraíonn an deatach tú chuig d’áit i measc na réaltaí. Tá síocháin síoraí-” (Leave your burdens in this realm behind as the smoke guides you to your place among the stars. Eternal peace is-)

“Eternal peace? Eternal peace?”

I tensed as the viciously hissed words burned like acid, my gaze swinging towards the woman on the right side of the pyre.

The whites of her eyes were bloodshot and pinned on my form with so much hate that I nearly took a step back. Sky blue hair hung around her face in oily clumps that caused her appearance to look ragged and devastatingly disheveled. Sharp features were pulled together in a mix of rage and despair that cut deeply at my core as she staggered towards me.

“You think my ba-baby will find external peace?” Her voice broke on the mention of her daughter, though her light blue eyes were hard behind a film of tears. “How? How? When she has NO SOUL!”

Her scream of rage stole the words from my throat and it was all I could do not to walk away as shame and guilt flooded my body.

Taking my silence for an answer, the woman stopped her approach a foot away and stabbed a finger at the pyre, “She was a child. She was a child pretending to be a soldier in your war.”

With a discrete shuddering breath, I calmly responded,“It was her choice. She wanted to be-”

“She was a child! She didn’t know what she wanted!” The mother screamed, a sob bursting free at the end of her sentence. “Now, her soul is gone. Gone! And we’re here lighting her pyre like it matters! My Laoise will never reach the stars, she will never be reunited with her family because of you! It’s all because of you!”

The burn in my eyes increased as I fought against the overwhelming guilt that refused to let me breathe. My lack of outside reaction seemed to only antagonize her because suddenly her fists were pounding against any part of my body that she could reach. Her fist cracked against my jaw in a hit that connected with enough force to snap my head in the other direction. Catching sight of the soldiers moving forward with a frown, I raised a hand slightly ordering them to stop.

Turning my head forward, I stood there silently allowing the grieving mother to strike me without retaliation. Nails bit into my skin as she gripped my tunic and hammered her fist directly over my heart. Kicks battered my shins in intervals and punches busied the flesh of my stomach before her mate raced forward to tear her away from me. She fought wildly, light blue hair flying as she tried to rip his arms away from where they were latched around her stomach. A feral scream of pain tore from her throat before her eyes locked on mine.

Her mate was dragging her away from the pyre but it wasn’t fast enough to stop the words she screamed from reaching my ears, “Your not a Queen and you sure as hell aren’t a God! You’re just another royal, who doesn’t care about who lives or dies on the way to the throne! She doesn’t care about us! We’re nothing to her but the help! You all call her the one in the Divine Prophecy but she’s a fraud! She’ll get you killed! Mark my words! You’re all just trading one evil for another! The Great God Queen Macha is just like her mother!”

I stumbled back from the blow of her words, hitting deeper than any sharp blade could, before traveling away without a thought as to where I’d land.

A hand gently tugged on my left hand resting against the wooden desk followed by Dani’s soft voice, “Her mate apologized for her actions. He said that Laoise died doing what she’d always wanted to do. Fighting for the greater good. He doesn’t blame you and neither does their other daughter.”

“They should.” I replied, pulling my hand out from underneath hers. “All the families should.”

After a long moment of silence, Dani shifted in her seat, “Did you talk to Cillian about it?”

I scoffed, turning my eyes to hers, “No.”

“Why not? You have to talk to someone about what she said and how it made you feel. You can’t bottle everything up, Macha.”

Sighing, because I knew she was right, I responded, “He knows that I forgot to eat and that’s it. Cillian doesn’t need to know, he has more important things to focus on right now. I’m not going to distract him with my bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit and you know he’ll be pissed if he finds out from someone else. Forgetting to eat and not being able to eat because of what someone else said is completely different. You’ve been making great progress, Macha. I don’t want to see you backslide because of this. You just stood there and let her hit you-”

Throwing my hands wide with furrowed brows, I snapped, “What was I supposed to do? Punish her? Hit her back? For what? For wanting to hurt the person who got her child killed? I’d do a lot worse in her position.”

“I know but-”

“I don’t want to talk about this. Your not my fucking therapist.” I huffed out in frustration, rubbing my hands against the sides of my head. “Don’t you have something important to tell me.”

“Well, now I don’t think you deserve to know.”

Groaning, I raised my head and shot her a look, “You know I hate when people do that.”

She tucked a black streaked lock behind her ear with a sour look, “Do what?”

“What you’re doing right now.”

“I don’t get it. What am I doing?”

Our eyes locked in intense stare down that I knew neither of us was willing to back down from. Narrowing my eyes, I shifted until my entire body was facing hers from across the desk. Pink eyes squinted before she copied me, twisting her body to face me. We stared at each other for a long moment, our chests the only thing moving as we took steady breaths.

“You’re a real bitch, you know that?” I said, breaking the silence.

Dani shrugged, “With a friend like you? I’ve had to adapt. Do you know how many people want to kill you?”

“Not nearly as many who want to fuck me.”

A full blown laugh escaped her lips, “I can’t believe you just said that with a straight face.”

“Are you calling me ugly?”

“No, I-”

I waved a hand with a sly grin, “No, I get it. You’re still jealous about the Julius Cesar thing. I would be too.”

“I am not-”

“It’s okay, really. I understand.” I replied, leaning forward to pat her hand. “It’s not everyday a woman can bang a Roman Emperor turned Dictator and a Egyptian Queen.”

She yanked her hand away, “Richard the Lion Heart.”

“What?”

A smug smile stretched across her face, “Richard the Lion Heart, King of England at the time.”

My jaw dropped, “No.”

“Yes. Handsome bastard. Took a bit of seducing but Macha…it was so worth it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me! You bitch!” I laughed leaning forward, giddiness filling me at her reveal.

She waved her hands, “He’s not my usual type and you had just been thrown in prison. I literally couldn’t tell you.”

“Are you trying to say that you forgot you slept with Richard the Lion Heart?” I spat in disbelief.

Her hair swished as she laughed, “I haven’t had anyone to tell in forever. It’s not like I could tell Calvin that Richard had more than just a Lion’s Heart but it’s stamina too.”

I slapped a hand on the desk as my stomach began to ache from laughing, “You’re lying!”

“I swear on the Divines.”

“Oh shit, wait wait-” I called, trying to catch my breath. “Your favorite sex memory, worst sex memory and the best sex you’ve ever had. Go.”

Pink eyes roamed the room as she thought about her answer, “Richard the Lion Heart for sure, I still haven’t beaten the record for that night. Ummmm, Oh! This Seelie Fae, I forget his name but he kept praising me the entire time. I felt like he was an over supportive coach, it was so awkward. And-”

“You fucked a Seelie?” I grimaced, smothering a laugh.

She scoffed, “Like you haven’t.”

“I haven’t.”

“Liar.”

I shook my head vigorously, “No, really. Even their fiercest warriors are too nice for me.”

“That’s because you like men and women who are just as likely to kill you as they are to fuck you.” She laughed.

I blinked, “You say that like it’s a problem.”

“Annnyways, Calvins the best sex I’ve ever had. It’s just different when it’s with your mate.” She shrugged with a dreamy look.

I pretend to gag before saying, “My turn. Julius and Cleo, obviously. It just felt so risky and dangerous-”

“They tried to kill you afterwards.”

“-it was a major turn on. Worst would have to be the Banshee I slept with before going to prison, she would not stop screaming. I would barely be doing anything and she’d shriek so loud. Dani, she bursted both my eardrums.”

The bitch just laughed.

“And the best…-”

“Like you even have to think about it.”

I rolled my eyes, “Stop interrupting me. The best is Cillian but- but! It’s because we’re insanely sexually compatible. I don’t have to tell him what to do at all unless he’s being difficult.”

“I agree.” She nodded. “The sexual tension between you two is almost physically present.”

Smiling, I released a content sigh, “It is, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of Cillian…” Dani sing-songed. “How are things between you two?”

“You already know all the important things like how we’re destined mates and our temporary mental link. What else could you possibly want to know, Babes?”

“Well for starters, how are you guys dealing with the long distance thing you’re doing?”

I sunk further into my seat and shrugged, “Fine. We talk almost everyday but I still miss the jackass, you know? It’s weird not having him shove food down my throat or turning around and not finding him just a step behind me. ”

Dani gave me a bright smile, “I love this for you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“No. I’m serious, Macha. I don’t think you could have found a better mate than Cillian. You guys are perfectly matched.”

Rolling my eyes, I shot her a look, “We have our own special brand of issues.”

“Every mated pair does but I’m confident you’ll work through them.” She responded, eyes sparkling.

“We will in time.” I muttered, not interested in discussing exactly what those issues were. Thankfully, Dani changed the course of our conversation.

“Now, about what I wanted to tell you…it’s more of a question.”

Raising a brow, I motioned for her to continue.

Eyes flickering around the room, pink brows raised slightly, “Well, remember when I told you that Calvin wanted kids?”

“Yes.”

“We talked it over and we’re going to start trying after the war.”

“That’s great, congratulations!” I grinned.

She nodded, “Thanks. But the question is, we were hoping you’d be our child’s Godmother.”

Images of teaching a young child with Dani and Calvins features how to cause the most damage with their abilities floated through my mind. Followed closely by images of me showing them how to wrap anyone and everyone around their little finger. And just generally teaching them how to be the best Unseelie possible…

“On second thought-”

“I accept.” I purred, eyes no doubt flashing brightly.

Her head tilted cautiously, “You know, now that I think about-”

“Too late. The deal is done, your first born is mine.”

“Macha!”

“I’m joking.” I replied, rolling my eyes. Mostly.

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Hopefully this was a little satisfying after a while with no update. I just got my wisdom teeth removed otherwise I’d have updated twice like usual.

As always, comment or vote if you feel liked the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Forty-Eight: A Tasteful Event

“Not in your fucking life time, Dandelion Fluff.” I sneered, looking at the literal ray of sunshine personified.

His wide smile nearly blinded me, “Come on, it’s not that bad. It’ll just be for a few hours.”

Throwing the bottle of brown gunk to shatter against the closest tree, I twisted back to face him with a smile, “Oops. Looks like it slipped.”

“That’s okay. I brought an extra bottle.” Puck states cheerfully, before digging into the pack he brought.

Growling in irritation, I lunged at him with my hands outstretched to wrap around his swan-like neck but a gust of wind pushed me back. Stumbling on the dirt path, I shot Bria a dirty look that she shrugged at while running an affectionate hand over the Seelies shoulder. The little fucker preened underneath his girlfriend’s attention, his grin growing impossibly wider as he held out the bottle of crushed Bry berries.

“One of these days, Sunshine. I’m going to rip that fucking grin of yours right off your smug-”

Cutting off my words, Dani laughed, “Divines, Macha. What did he do to you? You were fine with him when you guys first met, you don’t even treat other Seelies like this.”

“That was before I knew what a happy personality he had.” I spat in disgust. “There’s just something about him that sets me off.”

Puck suddenly perked up, “You know if you think about it, because you’re a Divine, aren’t you technically half Seelie?”

The forest became deadly still.

Eyes narrowing, I hissed, “I don’t know when or how but I’m going to murder you in the most unspeakable way possible. So unspeakable in fact, that I’ll be buried for it.”

The golden boy blinked and then crowed, “Sounds like they’ll remember us for centuries! Two best friends, marked with tragedy! How lovely!”

I froze for a minute at his sheer idiocy before rushing towards him with every intention of snapping his neck like a flower stem. Dani jumped in between us and knocked me back with a gust of wind and shouted, “Enough!”

“I swear, Dani. He has to be doing this on purpose. There’s no way the fucker is that-”

“Enough, Macha. We don’t have time for this.”

Grumbling under my breath, I snapped, “I am not putting that shit in my hair.”

“It’s temporary dye, Macha. It’ll be gone in a matter of hours.” She replied, grabbing the bottle from Puck to wave it at me.

Eyeing the bottle in disgust, I caressed one of my blue locks as I looked at them all, “No way. You’re asking me to cover up my second best quality and with boring ass brown no less.”

“Hey!” Erick snapped.

I raised my hands in a ‘well am I wrong?’ gesture.

“Out of curiosity, what do you consider your best quality?”

Flicking my gaze to Bria, I gave her a confused look, “Obviously it’s my sparkling witt and loveable personality, Babes.”

Green brows shot into her hairline as she opened her mouth but was rudely cut off by Dani, “Bria, I know. I know. But we really don’t have all the time in the realm to dissect that delusion right now.”

“You bitches.” I gasped, ready to defend my best qualities.

“Please, My Queen. We can’t have them finding out that your in the kingdom and everyone with blue hair is getting a second glance right now.” Erick interrupted.

I shook my head and countered, “Covering my hair will do nothing, they’ll still see my eyes. Not to mention the, I don’t know, treason tattoos spanning my entire body.”

All three paused and I laughed, obviously they didn’t think about everything. Here we were, standing on the side of the main road that led into the Unseelie Kingdom and they ambushed me with hair dye. Fucking hair dye. A vine whipped out from it’s position curled around a tree to smack the bottle out of Puck’s hand. The glass cracked and brown gunk slowly crawled free of its prison to cover the poor dirt underneath it. Satisfied, I looked up from the broken bottle to be faced with the unamused faces of my troop.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed, “Look. There’s a lot that I’m willing to do for this war and all of you. A lot. But dying my hair is not one of them.” I lost my hair once and that was enough for me.

Erick looked ready to argue with me but Dani placed a hand on his shoulder, “Okay.”

The single worded agreement took me by surprise but instead of replying, I yanked the hood of my cloak over my head and gave my gloves a tug. With my long hair tightly secured in a bun at the base of my neck, we didn’t have to worry about a lock coming loose at the wrong time. The gloves covered the silver swirls on my hands while the sleeves of my cloak and tunic added extra protection to my arms. Shadows casted by my hood hid the tattoos on my neck so the only thing we couldn’t cover were my eyes along with my lashes and eyebrows. Though if someone demanded I pull my hood down, I had a plan for that too.

“We’ll have to be more careful to avoid the guards but I think we’ll reach the Burns Estate without a problem.” Bria announced, breaking the silence that we had fallen into.

Puck nodded, “The Burns are having some kind of event tonight so we should be able to sneak in easily.”

“Let me guess, your informant told you this?” I asked.

He nodded with a small smile, “Yes and thank you, for not pushing to know who it is.”

Cause I’m waiting to get you drunk off sugar wine, Babes. “Of course, I trust you.”

Puck’s smile turned into a full blown grin that had to hurt before he nudged Bria who shook her head in return.

“Let’s get moving.” Erick muttered, stepping back onto the road and starting up the path.

Nodding to the others, I stepped out after him and searched the area along the side of the road. We would have already been at the Burns Estate if it wasn’t for the fact that Fae couldn’t travel into kingdoms. You could travel to just outside the Unseelie or Seelie gates but not inside. Once inside, you could travel anywhere you wanted besides the castle itself. It was a necessity in a realm that was almost constantly at war with one faction of Faekind or another.

We traveled as close as possible without being seen which ended up being about a mile away from the front gates. Boots grinding gravel into the road, I tipped my head further down the closer we got to the entrance. Dressed in casual attire and spread out to look as inconspicuous as possible, we sailed past the guards without issue. However, walking around inside the kingdom was another challenge all together.

The ring of houses along the wall of the Kingdom were rundown and shabby looking with Fae in tattered clothes eyeing us closely. Suspicion and crime ran rampant in this area of the Kingdom where the Fae were too poor to garder Mab’s attention but not her punishment. Colorful eyes peeked out from behind crumbling walls and between bent window shutters, tracking our every move. The dirt roads dividing the rundown houses were littered with wood and rubble from the eroding homes.

Slipping my hand into the left side of my cloak, I tapped at the bottom edge of my breast plate and pulled off a small chunk. Rubbing my thumb over the metal, I smirked lightly when it thinned out and started to clink together. Glancing at the others, I pivoted smoothly on my right foot and turned down the small alley alone. Halfway down, I disappeared from existence to reappear in front of the caved in building we passed by a while ago. The letters painted at the top of the faded pink building had withered away with only the white O remaining.

Stepping past the doors that hung precariously on their hinges, dark shadows pooled into the corners in the room. The inky masses no doubt hiding the owners of the gazes burning into my body from the sides. Swinging my eyes from shadow to shadow, I stalked into the center of the room and stopped in front of a crate turned on it’s side. The heat of their eyes grew more intense as I stood there unmoving for a long moment.

With a swing of my arm, I bet forward and placed the small pile of gold coins on top. Straightening, I met each pair of small eyes now visible in the shadows, “Because I know what it’s like to starve and fight to survive. Worry not children, I’ll be back.”

Turning on my heel, I disappeared from their view to enter the hazy blue of what I deemed the travel realm. The rundown neighborhoods raced past my vision while my body seemed to remain stationary. My troop was nowhere to be found so I assumed they hadn’t noticed my disappearance and continued on with the plan. Picturing the Estate that I had seen on the map, I took a deep breath as the blurred images that filled my vision sped up.

Boots landing with a solid thump on the grass, I grinned as Dani whirled around with a short shriek when I gently touched her arm, “Hey, Babes.”

Snarling, she slapped at my arm until Bria pulled her away with a dramatic huff.

Chuckling, I walked past them to peer through the bushes they had been peeping through before I appeared. Using my gloved hands, I pushed the leaves back gently until I could clearly see the otherside. Torches lit the backyard brightly as couples in extravagant masks strolled hand and hand through the waist high hedge maze. Although, my brow arched as I caught sight of a slender calf laying across the top of the hedge and the bowed back right next to the high heeled foot. My brow continued to climb when I took a closer look at the party to see wandering hands and more than a few couples in naughty positions in full view of the others.

Smothering a laugh, I stepped back and looked at Puck, “What kind of event did your informant tell you this was again?”

“He didn’t say much, just that it was a tasteful event.”

Snorting at his innocently furrowed brow, I corrected, “That’s Unseelie slang. This is a sex party, Sun Ray.”

“No.” He gasped, rushing to look through the large bush. “He wouldn’t send us here.”

“I don’t know why you’re laughing.” Bria told me, causally. “He’s not the one who’s going to tell my brother he’s at a sex party.”

Fuck.

My laughter cut out as I stared at her and bluffed, “Who said I was going to tell him?”

“Puh-lease. You like pissing off my dumbass brother but you’d never hurt him.” She scoffed. And then mocked, “ ’I would never hurt you like that, Lilly.’ ”

Lip curling, I spit, “I really need a new guard detail for my tent.”

“Oh, like I want to hear you two fucking or fighting.” She shot back with a roll of her eyes.

Turning with a scoff, I shot over my shoulder, “Dani, Puck, Erick and Bria, fashion masks over your faces and get ready to go in. The rest of you fan out and stay hidden.”

With that said, I reached out to Cillian, Your little sister is annoying.

Don’t pretend you don’t like her. He responded drly, a few seconds later.

You’re right, I do. But that’s not the point right now.

Then what is, Cell Bait?

Your thoughts on me accidentally attending a sex party.

There was a long pause before his smooth but now slightly tense voice entered my mind once more, How do you accidentally attend a sex party?

Puck’s informant told him the best chance to talk with the Burns was during their tasteful event. Puck didn’t realize what that meant. I replied, letting my amusement at the Seelie’s blunder leak into my tone.

I won’t lie, I don’t like the thought of you at a sex party. Even more so if I’m not with you but this is something you have to do. Thank you for letting me know.

My nose scrunched at the formality of his response, Cut the shit, Lilly. Tell me how you honestly feel.

I don’t like that you’re there, not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…It’s…uncomfortable for me.

“Macha, we really should-”

Raising a hand, I cut Erick off to focus on Cillian, I understand that. I would be too. So, let’s make this comfortable for you.

…How exactly do you plan to do that?

Pulling on the cord, I tugged the Fae diamond he crafted for me out from underneath my tunic. Brushing a thumb over the smooth surface, I made sure it was visible to all before grabbing the mask Dani held out to me. Vines wound delicately around each other and curled beneath the small white flowers that lined the outline of my eyes. The flowers ingeniously hid my eyes enough to distract from my eye color while not being too obvious. While the design was beautiful, it was too light to have been made by anyone other than Puck.

Sneering a little, I slid it on my face, “Let’s go. Puck, lead the way to the Burns twins.”

After giving me a determined nod, he waved at the bushes we had all been peeking through. Quickly sliding through the opening, we fanned out slightly and began walking towards the Estate. Chin notched up arrogantly, I strolled confidently past the couples moaning in different positions throughout the short maze. Eyes soaking in my surroundings, I kept one eye on Puck and followed his direction without making it obvious.

There’s a couple here that’s in the same position we were in a few weeks ago.

Macha-

They’re doing it wrong. It’s all tender touches and delicate gasps. I continued, eyeing the black haired couple driving each other towards sexual bliss. How incredibly boring, no passion at all.

Why are you-

You know, sometimes I can still feel your bruising grip on my hips. The slide of your calluses across the smooth skin of my throat as you squeeze. We could teach these Fae a thing or two about passion, Lilly.

His voice, thick with desire, rolled through my mind. Too bad for them, they’ll never get that lesson. What else do you remember?

Oh, every detail. I purred, stepping around a couple in the mist of oral sex beside the doorway as I entered the Estate. I especially remember the way your hips slammed into mine at a brutal pace. Diving yourself deeper and deeper, I could still feel you the next day. I want that again.

A deep bass thumped hypnotically throughout the dark Estate, torches along the walls and small fire pits scattered about the living room gave the inside a red glow. Shapes withered and moaned in the shadows, the red light reflecting off a few with shiny masks. The aura of lust and desire that drenched the room was so intense that I would be shocked if there weren’t at least five Nymphs currently in the room. Sidestepping a muscular arm reaching for my hip, I smoothly made for the doorway where a flash of gold disappeared.

So do I, Cell Bait. I’m looking forward to your next punishment.

Stopping to lean up against the farthest wall as Puck and Bria approach the pair we were here to see, I mocked, Punishment? I’ve been nothing but good, Your Majesty.

Lying so soon, Peasant? Forgetting to eat requires a punishment.

Oh, I don’t think sooo. I sing-songed with a sharp eye on the way Puck physically recoiled from, who I was almost positive was, Fiona Burns.

And why’s that?

Cocking my head with narrowed eyes, I pushed myself off the wall and slaughtered after the foursome that was gliding out of the dark room. Winding around a fire, I trailed my fingers through the heat and pulled a tendril of flame free to curl around my wrist. The sole of my heels made dull clicks over the marbled flooring that were barely a whisper underneath the thumping bass. Feeling the seductive beat echoing in my chest, I pushed past the curtained doorway.

Because if I hadn’t told you, you’d never know. In fact, I think I deserve a reward.

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes locked on a spectacle in the middle of the room. Half naked Fae lounged on the black leather couches petting each other rhythmically while watching the couple in the center. Wrists and ankles bound to the bars above and below her, a masked woman, clad in only a pair of black heels, cried out wantonly as the leather fingers of the whip cracked against her bare back. The Fae wielding the whip panted with fevered eyes glued to her captive and called out demeaning names that had the female grinding at the air to find release.

Suddenly the room began to flicker, concrete walls replaced the dark wood and the bars holding the woman twisted into daunting iron chains. Blinking rapidly, I held still and frantically fought to blink away the chains that seemed to float towards me with a brown haired man holding the ends smiling sinisterly. The iron snapped forward and locked around my wrists causing Fearghas to laugh maniacally while tugging me towards him, “Where have you been, inmate? We have a lot to catch up on.”

Air raced in and out of my lungs as I shook my head in denial, No. No, this isn’t real. He’s dead. I skinned him alive and decapitated him before I got out. He’s not real, He’s not here, He’s not here. He’s dead. Right? RIGHT?

Macha? What’s wrong? What’s happening?

With a blink at the sudden appearance of Cillians voice, the scene before me disappeared to be replaced by the moans and darkened room of the sex party. Though a few colorful eyes were turned in my direction, watching the speed of my chest and wide eyes with a curious glint. Frustrated tears pricked the corners of my eyes, I guess it was too much to ask for the most traumatized portion of my soul to have been burned away. Forcing my breathing to even out, I flashed a false smile at the Fae looking my way making them turn away somewhat placated. Pushing my emotions to the back of my mind for the moment, I quickly looked around for where the twins had ushered Puck and Bria off to.

Macha!

I gave a slight wince at the bark of my name and hurried over to the only door in the room that didn’t lead back outside. I’m fine, Cillian. Just a minor lapse in reality, nothing to worry about.

‘A minor lapse in reality’ is generally something to worry about, Macha.

The sarcasm coding his tone was so thick, I was surprised he was even able to force it out without choking. Rolling my eyes, I replied, It’s nothing. I just saw something that triggered what I can only describe as a living nightmare.

What was it?

Gripping the doorknob, I gave it an experimental twist before pushing it inwards and stepping inside. Closing the door softly behind me, I scanned the bookshelves packed to the brim that lined the walls and the thick white desk covered in files and pens. Besides myself, there was nobody else in the room which caused a slight surge of panic to thrum through my veins. Did they go outside?

Macha, what was it?

Distracted, I hummed, What was what?

The trigger. What caused you to have a living nightmare?

My eyes snapped to the sound of raised voices coming from underneath the innocent looking cream colored rug. The sound proof walls blocking the music and moans from the outside making the sound coming from the floor audible. Using a booted foot, I kicked the rug away to find a small groove and the outline of a square door. Squatting, I slipped my fingers into the groove and silently pulled the trapdoor open. Cocking my head, I gazed down at the metal stairs and the bright light coming from further inside. Voices came wafting up to the top, sounds like they were arguing. Something about being Mab’s spy and being sick of the loyalty tests.

A woman was being whipped for pleasure….I don’t know why but out of everything they used on me. The spiked whip was the one I dreaded the most. I muttered off-handedly. I have to go now, Lilly. About to meet the twins, I’ll tell you how it went after.

Stay safe, Cell Bait.

Pushing the hood of my cloak down, I slid the mask from my face to leave on the floor and pressed a hand to the first metal step. Melding into each other with a slight curve, I grinned and moved to sit on the edge before scooting forward. Wind brushed over my face gently as I slid down into the twins’ lair. My boots hit the stone floor with a slap while I took in my surroundings, squinting slightly against the bright light. Puck and Bria were chained up against the left wall while a male and a female with yellow hair yelled at them. The rest of the room held cells and the appropriate amount of torture devices.

Since my entrance went astonishingly unnoticed and my friends looked unhurt despite the iron binding them, I folded my arms behind my head and leaned back to watch.

Wild curls the color of the sun bounced as Fiona jabbed a finger at Bria and then Puck, “I know why Mab sent you but why do you have a Seelie with you?”

Bria groaned loudly in annoyance, “For the last time, Mab did not send me.”

“You’re a Grymes. If she didn’t, then who did?” Finn, a few inches taller than his twin, asked.

Clearing his throat, Puck gave them a soft smile, “Queen Macha the Divine.”

The twins shared a look before they began to laugh bitchily.

Well, fuck you too. I mused with a raised brow.

“Mab’s Bastard? The so-called Divine amassing an army to take her down?” Finn spat, lip curling in disgust. “Yea, right. What would a Unseelie God want with a Seelie and a member of Mab’s most loyal family?”

Fiona mimicked her brother’s expression, “Nothing. Let’s just kill them and get back to the party.”

“So, you’re content to follow Mab in this war then?”

Two pairs of yellow eyes fixed on Bria’s green ones as they responded together, “There is no other choice.”

“You mean, you won’t take the risk. Did your father’s execution for treason turn you into a couple of cowards?”

Pale faces flushed bright red within seconds and Finn snapped back, “Don’t talk about our father.”

“I’ll show you a coward.” Fiona hissed, flinging her left arm at the pair.

A bright light had just started to glow in her palm when she dropped her arm with a pained shout of surprise. The small tendril of flame I grabbed from the fire earlier broke around her wrist before it extinguished, singeing her skin an inflamed pink. Rising to my feet, I walked further into the room where I finally caught the attention I desired.

“Your concentration is shit, Babes. Truly, embarrassing.”

The twins spun quickly on their heel to face me and shouted together, “Who the fuck are you? How’d you get down here?”

Eyeing the sharp planes of their features, I tilted my head side to side as I thought on their question, “I’m finding that question harder and harder to answer everyday. Death God to the Banshees, Last Living Divine to the religious, Bastard Queen to my past kingdom, Queen Macha to my new one, Emotionally Unavailable Bitch to my exes… Really, Babes. You could take your pick.”

Shock seemed to be permanently etched into their faces causing me to preen slightly underneath the awe shining in the females eyes. Yes, I really am quite glorious. Aren’t I?

Finn seemed to recover first with eyes narrowed in suspicion, “How do we know it’s really you? How do we know you’re really Mab’s Bastard and the Divine?”

Shrugging off my cloak and gloves, I dropped them to the floor and pushed my sleeves up to show off my prison sentence, “This enough proof for you?”

Silence fell over the room as the twins’ yellow eyes roamed over my tattooed arms and exposed neck. Until Finn broke it once more, “Tattoos can be faked.”

Raising a brow, I brought two fingers to my mouth and licked them before bringing them to my forearm and rubbed exaggeratedly. After a moment or two, I raised them, “See? They’re real, Babes.”

“It really is you.” Fiona murmured breathily.

Shooting her a wink, I replied, “In the flesh. Could you unchain my friends now, Babes?”

The female turned without hesitation only to be yanked back by her brother, “Fiona, what the hell is wrong with you? Those tattoos don’t prove anything! They could all be working for Mab trying to test our loyalty!”

Sighing dramatically, I asked, “What would satisfy you, Babes? A magic show perhaps? That seems age appropriate.”

“If you really are Macha, don’t you want something from us? So shouldn’t you be more accommodating?”

Interest peaked, I questioned, “Like a quid pro quo?”

“I guess.”

Taking a large step forward until I could see the glow of my blue eyes in his yellow ones, I purred with a wide grin, “Like a deal?”

“Ye-”

He was jerked out of my view seconds before Fiona shouted, “No! We believe it’s you. There’s no need for a deal.”

Grinning predatorily, I murmured, “Smart girl.”

“We don’t need to make a deal. The Burns family is with you.”

“Fiona! You can just decide that without the rest of the-”

Her grip on her brother’s arm tightened as she yanked him to face her, “Yes, I can. We’re the head of this family but I’m the eldest. Mother doesn’t get out of bed anymore and the others are too young. Do you really want to continue to serve the bitch who murdered our father in cold blood?”

“No, of course not but we don’t know her. She could be just like her mother.”

Before I could butt into the conversation to convince them to join us, Fiona did it for me, “I do. They whisper stories about her in the market, Fae who’ve met her soldiers re-tell the stories they were told about her. I’ve been following her journey since she escaped Slykhelm, Macha’s the real deal. She’s nothing like her mother. She fights in battles, she sleeps in the camp with her soldiers, I even heard whispers that she admitted her mistakes to everyone in the camp! Can you imagine following a Queen who admits when she’s made a mistake, Finn? Think about it, do you really want little Iris and Quinn to grow up under Mab’s regime? Growing up to have the same fears we have now? This is our chance, Little Brother. ”

Yellow eyes peered back at his sister from several long moments before he gave a slow nod in agreement.

Flashing her brother a relieved smile, Fiona raced over to Bria and Puck who were calmly waiting to be unchained. Pulling a small key from the pocket of her leather beeches, she quickly unchained the pair with quietly whispered apologies. Once she was finished, she quickly walked back to her twin’s side as Puck and Bria rubbed at their wrists.

“What do you need us to do?” Finn asked, broad shoulders pulled back determinedly.

I grinned, “I’m loving the enthusiasm, Babes. But first things first, we need to do a deal.”

Fiona’s yellow brows furrowed, “But I pledged my family’s loyalty. Isn’t that enough?”

“No. Your members of Mab’s Court, you live firmly inside her Kingdom. I need to make sure that you aren’t going to put the thousands of people counting on me at risk. Because if this backfires, I’m going to be supremely pissed off.”

The twins glanced at each other and together replied, “Okay. What’s the deal?”

Feeling a hum of energy vibrating through my chest, I looked into each of their eyes before stating the terms, “Your loyalty and discretion is mine, you will answer the call to war without hesitation when the time comes, everything you are told is not to be discussed with others outside of your Estate. In return, you will be allowed to keep your Estate and you will be rewarded a spot in my Court. However, if you fail to uphold your end of the deal, you will burn from the inside out after watching me kill the rest of your family.”

The male paled considerably, “That’s a steep price to pay for breaking a deal.”

“If you break the deal, I’ll be suffering a steeper price than that. I believe this to be fair.” I replied, gravely.

“Would it be possible to change that Court seat to a Council seat?” Fiona asked, swallowing thickly.

My lips twitched, any good Unseelie always strived for more, “No. The council seats are reserved for more influential Fae as they will weigh in on realm laws and matters. As Fae in my Court however, you will receive my favor in matters pertaining to your personal success and have your pick of title carrying mates. This would be the same for your younger siblings when they are of age as well. Do we have a deal?”

The curly yellow haired female thought it over before bowing her head followed by the lowering of her lashes, “We have a deal, My Queen.”

A fresh surge of power raced through me at her words causing a grin to split my face. Turning to the boy, I waited.

Casting a glance at his sister, he copied her movements, “It’s a deal, My Queen.”

“Now, Babes.” Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, I could see a blue tint lighting their pale faces as they gazed up at my grinning form. “Let’s talk treason.”

——————————————————————————

I liked this chapter, lmao. Macha was a little bitchy and ruthless. But a sex party? Who would have thought that a God would attend a sex party? It does make me curious about who Puck’s informant is? Perhaps a man with a sense of humor? Hmmmmm. What about Macha’s reveal that whips were a sore sport for her? Did you guys already have an inkling of that?

As always, comment or like if you enjoyed the chapter!

Merry Christmas, Verbage🎄

Chapter Forty-Nine: Game Changer

A crisp breeze whisked through the dimly lit street and tugged the ends of my cloaked as we waited. Tucked away in a small alley between a posh bathhouse and a lavish dress shop, stood my small troop of ten waiting on an idiot. With a gloved hand pressed against the brick wall of the bathhouse, I leaned out to scan the street for any glimpse of Baris. In the past two weeks, the boy, while still an idiot, had undergone a major attitude change. Baris took on his intense training without complaint and was quick to follow my orders as we moved from Estate to Estate.

However, he missed the past two Estate visits because his father had caught an infection in his last stage of healing. So I sent him back to help his mother without having to be asked. It wasn’t that I particularly cared to offer Dougal any sort of help but because I didn’t want to push my luck. So far none of the Grymes had held a grudge after finding out what I’d done to their father and I wanted to keep it that way. It wasn’t everyday you could brutally burn and take a man’s tongue and eyes without losing the loyalty of his family. But then again, gaining the loyalty of a Grymes was a hell of a thing.

Two hooded figures around the same height came gliding around the corner, a dark strand of green hair slipping free and down one’s chest. Bria and Baris kept their heads down and weaved quickly past the small amount of Fae still out looking for a bit of fun. Glancing from one side of the colorful street lit with torches to the otherside, my lips curved as I made a split second decision. Leaning a bit further out of the entrance of the alley, I tipped my head up and swept my eyes over the Unseelie guards strolling behind the twins. One of them did a double take as our gazes locked for a moment but by then I was already hidden back behind the wall.

“Did you see them?”

Turning, I made quick eye contact with ten pairs of colored eyes before answering Erick, “They’re coming, get ready to travel.”

“What did you do?”

Giving Dani an innocent look, I wandered deeper into the alley towards them, “Why do you always think I’m doing something heinous?”

“Because you are and Divines, you really just love that word don’t you?”

I cocked a brow as I thought it over and then shot her a grin, “Yes. It just leaves so much to the imagination. It’s also a great word to toss into a deal, leaves a lot of leeway in how you want to punish someone for breaking it.”

My troop grew still at my words, some looking intrigued while the others looked a little pale. Thankfully the silence didn’t last long as the cloak covered twins slipped seamlessly into the alleyway. Or so they thought, two Unseelie guards came walking in after them with hands on the hilts of their weapons. Lips curving, I fell back into the small crowd as they watched the foursome approach with growing tension.

“Hey! What’s going on here?” The male guard with closely cropped red hair barked, red eyes searching the shadows for more Fae.

Stopping, the twins gave each other a sidelong glance before Baris turned and Bria continued walking towards us. Spinning the young man spread his hands as he faced them, “Good evening, Gentlemen. Me and my friends had a long night at the tavern down the street. It’s my girlfriend’s birthday and she can’t handle her sugar.” Giving a boyish shrug, I could hear the amusement in his tone as he finished with a, “You know how it is.”

Long gray hair brushed the second guard’s shoulder as he cracked a smirk, “She throw up yet?”

Baris gave a carefree laugh and jerked his thumb over at us, “No, thank Divines. That’s why we’re trying to get her home beforehand. Her dads gonna kill me as it is.”

The man whistled in sympathy and went to reply when the red eyed guard interrupted sharply, “What’s your girl’s Fae color?”

“What?”

A shiver of excitement raced through my body and I couldn’t wait to see how the boy was going to handle the situation. Hidden in the darkest part of the alley, I grinned widely at the trouble I had caused and the feeling of intense rightness that coursed through me. Reaching forward, I snagged Bria’s cloak as she moved to intervene and shook my head at her questioning look. She fell back on her heels with a nod and turned to look at her brother from the shadows as I released my hold on her.

Shrewd blood colored eyes narrowed on the boy, “Is it blue?”

My soldiers held their breath while Dani shot me a look of disbelief but the hint of a smirk forming on her lips told me even she was craving a bit of recklessness. The scratch to the right side of her jaw with her left hand confirmed it, Time to shine? Holding back a laugh, I winked and pretended to brush a lock of hair from my forehead, Make ’em blush. Our old code had the woman grinning widely before she turned towards the boy with a roll of her shoulders.

“Blue? No, it’s-”

Stumbling out of the shadows with a wobbly laugh, Dani pretended to lean against the wall for support, “Honey Buns! I thought we were going to your place!”

Baris turned with a slight widening of his eyes but was quick to recover as Dani came stumbling over to clutch at his arm, “I know, Baby. I know. I just needed to talk to the guards-”

“You promised we’d try the-” Dani glanced shyly at the guards before whispering poorly in Baris’ ear, “the clamps tonight.”

The grey eyed guard’s eyebrows shot up while the red head looked unphased casting Dani a suspicious look.

Meanwhile Baris visibly swallowed before giving a nervous laugh, “We got all night, Baby. If we’re done here, Gentlemen. My girl’s really excited to get home.”

“I saw someone with blue eyes.” The red eyed guard clipped, his head turning from their sideway position in the alley to point a finger at our group clustered in the dark. “I need all of your friends out here to line up against the wall so I can check their eye color.”

“Is that really necessary? We’re all pretty tired.”

Right before the red haired man could reply, Dani suddenly jerked upright after wedging her way underneath Baris’s arm, “Di-did you say blue eyes?”

“Yes. Does one of your friends have blue eyes?”

Dani gave a drunken sounding giggle before tucking her hand behind her back and wiggling her hand at us, “Nooooo. But I think I know what you saw, Mr. Guard.”

A red brow rose judgmentally at the supposedly intoxicated woman, “And what would that be, Miss?”

Pulling a link from the silver chains around my waist, I flattened it out in a small rounded loop and flung it towards her wiggling fingers. The silver metal spun quickly through the space between us before Dani’s fist closed around it and brought it around to show the men in front of her.

All three men looked at the small silver ring pressed between her fingers in confusion, while Dani slid an arm around Baris’s trim waist with a coy smile, “Ssseeee? It wasn’t blue. It was silver.”

“What is that?” The red head pressed, still looking unconvinced.

Pink eyes flicked to Baris as if looking for permission before giving an embarrassed smile. Holding it up so it winked in the low light, she dropped her hand until it hovered in front of the young Grymes’s crotch, “It’sss- it’s a cock ring. It stops him from cumming too soon. Our sex life has improved ever since.”

Stuffing a knuckle between my teeth, I bit down to stop the roar of laughter that wanted to escape my chest at the boy’s reaction. His tan cheeks flushed so deeply that the red tint could be seen while his entire body went taunt with embarrassment. Baris’s grip on Dani’s arm tightened as his eyes flickered between the guards with a ‘kill me now’ smile plastered across his face.

The gray eyed guard looked like he was trying not to laugh in the boy’s face while the red-head now looked a bit uncomfortable, “But I saw-”

“Let’s let the kids get home, Orion. It was just a trick of the light, our shifts ending anyways.” The long haired guard cut off his partner, clapping a hand on his shoulder and steering him back towards the mouth of the alley. The guard, Orion, tried to turn back around to face us but his partner’s strong hand kept him walking out of the alley at a steady pace.

The grey haired males voice rang out once more before they turned the corner and disappeared, “We’re definitely winning Craziest Shift Story tonight!”

There was a pause in the alley before multiple low chuckles rushed out from between my soldiers lips. Loud laughter left my own as I watched Baris shove a cackling Dani off of him and walked over to us with bright red cheeks. Skipping up behind him with a shit-eating grin, Dani bumped his shoulder cheerfully and then laughed when he scowled at her.

Pushing back into the front of our small troop, I met Baris’s scowl with a smirk, “Kinky, Babes. But I’m curious, what’s your recovery time? Obviously not as fast as your brothers.”

Pastel green eyes narrowed, “How long are you guys going to give me shit?”

“My Queen.” I emphasized with a slight narrowing of my eyes. “How long are you guys going to give me shit, My Queen?”

“How long are you going to give me shit, My Queen?” He corrected himself with a grumble.

Stepping closer, I gave his cheek a pat, “As soon as I feel like you’ve earned your place, Babes.”

“But-”

“No whining. Let’s travel out!” I called out, spinning on my heel and disappearing before anyone could stop me.

A blue haze swallowed everything in my vision, giving the world around me a gorgeous glow. The streets of the Unseelie Kingdom smeared into colorful lines along the sides of my eyes from the speed at which I was traveling. Imogen O’Neil lived within the inner ring of the Kingdom that was crawling with guards due to the close proximity of the Castle where Mab resided. Sneaking in and out of the O’Neil Estate was going to be a test of skill for my soldiers. Me, Dani, and possibly Bria could do this in our sleep but I thought it’d be fun to let the soldiers plan our entrance and exit. Poor things had been whispering among themselves for the past two hours ever since we left the Burn’s Estate where I had sprung it on them.

Blinking as I jolted to a stop a quarter mile from the O’Neil’s Estate, I slipped into the shadow of a large Oak off to the side of the road. My eyes glided over the thick brick walls surrounding the Estate with guards spaced out every ten feet or so. Lips curving, I tap my nails against the bark of the tree in interest. So she stays out of politics but requires twenty guards for her perimeter alone? Tipping my head in thought, I decided to go into this Estate a little differently.

Fingers brushing over the metal of my breast plate, I felt the cool material shift and morph as it slid underneath my tunic. Shivering a little at the cold touch, I pulled free of my cloak and gloves to place them in a small groove at the base of the Oak’s trunk. Pulling the swords from over my shoulders, the metal instantly began to slither down my wrists to cover my long fingers in rings. Smiling at the new ease of my ability, I listened to the tiny pieces of metal in my hair clink together as I shrugged the steath from my back.

Awareness sparked along my nerves as multiple Fae popped into existence in various places among the shadows. Dropping the sheath on the pile at the base of the trunk, I twisted on my heel to face the others. They slunk across the road, quickly and quietly, until they formed a huddle around me.

Brown eyes flickered over my form before glancing at the pile on the ground, “My Queen, are you sure it’s wise to go in undisguised?”

“I’m trying something new, General. Something tells me I don’t need a show of force.”

He hummed in obvious disagreement but didn’t try to convince me otherwise.

Glancing at the nervous soldiers behind my core group, I flashed them an encouraging smile, “Little Babes? The plan?”

A female with dark auburn hair that was partially shaved on the right side, slid to the front with a chin notched in false confidence, “Split into two groups, My Queen. One will breach from the left where there is a larger gap between guards and make a stealth entrance. The second will stay hidden around the Estate with eyes on the outside to make sure there are no surprises.”

“How would you warn us if there was a surprise?” I hummed, liking the plan but needing to know she thought everything through.

Swallowing, the brown skin around her eyes crinkled as if she was struggling not to wince, “My Queen, there are rumors that the Grymes can mentally communicate. So if there’s one twin out here and one inside…”

Expressionless, I allowed for her to shift uncomfortably in place for a moment before giving her slow grin, “Speak with confidence, Private Twyla. You all crafted a good strategy, not too heavy on the details but this is a simple in and out so that’s okay.”

The soldiers in front of me beamed at the praise before they tittered among each other in excitement. Chucking at their child-like excitement, I raised a brow at Twyla, “Have you divided us into groups already?”

She nodded quickly before shooting a look at the man beside her and taking a step back.

The dark purple haired male with bright blue streaks moved to stand in front of me with a rigid spine that had amusement sparking through me. His chest moved faster than necessary and he had to take a small step back after realizing he was in my personal space. I bit my cheek to stop the laugh that wanted to burst free when the motion reminded me that I practically towered over our entire group.

“You, General Erick, Lady Dani, Prince Puck, and Sergeant Bria are the group that will breach, My Queen. The rest of us will stay vigilant on the outside.”

The males voice pulled me from my thoughts and I smiled, “That’s perfect, except let’s switch Bria and Baris.”

With a nod from the others signaling their approval of the plan, we spit into two groups and disappeared into the shadows. Taking firm steps, I led my group around the left side of the Estate in a wide arc. Weaving around a weeping willow, I motioned for the rest to stay before traveling myself right up against the Estate wall. Adrenaline laced excitement twinged through my chest as I peaked up to find a guard paused on the wall just ten feet above me. The woman scanned the woods in front of her slowly from left to right before huffing and moving further down the wall.

Grinning, I willed the stone wall to part just enough for me to look inside the Estate yard. Nothing, not even an insect crawled within the walls of the Estate. It would’ve been eerie except I quite liked the promise of danger it held. Sliding my eyes back to the others, I motioned with my head before slipping through the crack I had created in the wall. And the second the tip of my boot hit gravel, I traveled to the small alcove beside the front double doors carved with leafy designs.

Humming, I shot a wink at Dani who was frantically motioning me back over along the wall. The air beside me shifted a few moments later when they traveled and crammed themselves in behind me. Rolling my eyes at the way I was practically shoved out of the alcove, I flashed a look at the guards. Satisfied that their backs were still facing the Estate, I turned back around and took the two steps necessary to knock on the front door. Knuckles halting millimeters from the wood, I thought of something much more interesting.

Slipping a ring from my thumb, I stuck the flattening piece of metal between the wooden doors and jimmied the lock. Using the tips of my fingers, I pushed the left door open with a small shove and stepped inside. With the others following behind me quickly, I listened to their barely there footsteps and the swish of the door closing as I looked around. The room before us looked like some kind of old fashion hosting room complete with the fainting chairs and lace table cloths. What is it about my kind and the human’s Victorian Era? Maybe I just didn’t get it because I didn’t experience it?

Ignoring the room’s design, I narrowed my eyes when I found no one lurking in the corners of the room. Silently moving further into the Estate, my eyes caught on the soft glow lighting the wooden flooring from another hallway. Light on my feet, I crossed the room and cautiously entered the hall. Doors lined each side of the empty hallway but only the door at the end hinted to someone being home. The lack of noise from the staff that this large Estate had to have employed told me that it was unusual for Imogen to be up this late. Afterall, the staff only retired after the Master of the house. Anything else would’ve been improper, according to the rigid rules of the Unseelie Upper class.

No bothering to continue our silent trek towards the door, I allowed my boots to hit the floor in rhythmic thumps. The small rumbling of a drawer and the tink of a glass sounded out from behind the door before I swung it open. Heat rolled over my slightly chilled skin from the fire roaring in the masterfully woven fireplace of brick and metal. Dragging my eyes away from the crackling red flames, I took my time soaking in the old fashion look of the large office slash library. Brown leather chairs made for a small sitting area in front of the fireplace and contrasted nicely with the black bookshelves built into the walls.

The soles of my boots scraped against the fine threading of the thick tan carpeting as I turned to look at the large desk along the left wall. It was large and screamed of importance but the woman who sat behind it looked weary and small. Resigned brown eyes slid from the top of my head to the toes of my boots looking not the least bit surprised to find me in her Estate. From the tan fingers of her right hand dangled a glass of dark gray liquid that swirled as she leaned back in her chair.

“You’re taller than I thought you’d be.”

Shrugging, I walked closer to take the seat across from her, “And you’re a lot less surprised than I thought you’d be.”

“I knew the moment that the Kelly’s Estate was burned to the ground that I was well and truly fucked so, no. I’m not surprised.”

The comfortable looking chair beside me shot to the side before maneuvering around to gently hit the back of my knees. I startled slightly from the uncommanded use of my magick but pushed it aside as a drink slid into my right hand. Swirling the liquid, I brought it to my nose and sighed at the sharp scent of the amber liquid, “Brazilian Sugar Whiskey 1342.”

“You know your whiskey.”

“I know my alcohol.” I corrected, gazing back at the disheveled woman. “So what’s the plan, Babes? Your guards rushing to protect you as we speak or are we doing a deal?”

Her eyes flicked over my shoulder to watch my soldiers that I could hear spreading around the room, “You ever been in love, Divine?”

“If I have, I don’t remember.” I heaved out on a sigh, something about our conversation making me feel my age for the first time in a long time.

Haunted brown eyes moved back to stare at me, “Ever been with someone that you knew would ruin you? Someone that was fun and dangerous but hell on your mental health?”

Sinking into the chair, I took a sip of the sugared whiskey and let the tang of it soak into my tongue. I didn’t understand what it was about this woman that made it seem natural to speak to her like an old friend but I found myself giving an honest answer, “My ex.”

“Then you understand.”

Cocking my head, I asked, “Understand what?”

“You understand how hard it is to escape when the sting of their bite is just as alluring as their kiss.”

Humming, I remained silent.

“I knew who he was, I knew the things he’d done but I’d wanted him anyway.” She spoke, looking into her glass as she swirled the gray liquid. “In the beginning it was sweet and heavenly, I thought I had it all. He was attentive and passionate. Until the games began. Cruel, twisted, mind games that tore at my heart and mind. I screamed at myself to leave him, to leave before he ruined me completely. It’s what I would have told anyone else in my position. But I couldn’t, he knew all the right words and I fell for it every time. I used to judge women like me, you know? Unseelie who allowed their lovers to toy with their minds…I understand it now. Why the humans loved us so deeply despite the games we played. The way we destroy others from the inside out is beautifully complex and memorizing. Even as I grew to hate him as much as I loved him, I was still in awe of him.”

“Who is he, Imogen?” I whispered, my breath freezing in my lungs as everything clicked into place.

Raising her head, her eyes trailed over the room before landing back on mine, “The same man who locked me away here. Your brother, the beloved Crowned Prince of the Unseelie, Tidhg.”

A thick wave of sadness crashed over me at the dead look in her eyes as she said his name and suddenly I understood why I felt connected to her. We had both craved the love and acceptance from an O’Riordan and it had left a permanent mark on our souls when it was thrown sharply back in our faces. But while I had clung to anger and resentment, Imogen had been swept away by the suffocating sense of defeat and despair. And I knew as sure as I knew that my hair was blue that Imogen wouldn’t be seeing the light of day break.

Taking a deep swallow of my drink, I savored the burn and steeled myself, “You’ve made up your mind, then? Are you sure?”

“There’s nothing left of me to fix or repair.”

Nodding at her drink, I questioned, “Liquid iron?”

“Mixed in with a little coconut rum. Maybe I’ll end up on a beach in my next life.”

Despite the situation, I gave her what I hoped was a comforting smile, “I’ve died before, twice actually. It’s quiet, peaceful. The view’s amazing from the stars.”

“I don’t doubt it.” She responded, a small twitch of a smile on her face. “I could use the rest.”

I nodded, unsure of what to say. The moment was too somber for my usual words.

Dropping her left hand, Imogen slid open a drawer and removed a bundle of papers bound with twine. Shoving it towards me, she closed the drawer and leaned back to swirl her drink.

“What’s this?” I asked her, looking at the top. It looked like some kind of personal letter about field movements.

“Every correspondence Tidgh’s had with Mab’s Generals in the last six months. He’s been planning a coup for a very long time, he thought with you distracting her that now was the perfect time. You get those to Mab some how and she’ll take out a quarter and a half of her army before the war even starts.”

Holy Divines, we may not need the final war plans after all.

Hesitation and excitement warred within me as I furrowed my brows, “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because if I can give him a taste of his own games just once…then loving him would have been worth it all.”

“I don’t understand, how do you have these?”

Her lips curved sadly, “Tidhg never thought I’d betray him. Hell, neither did I. But then I heard about you being in Unseelie territory and I knew you were my way out. A way for me to finally let go and move on, on my terms.”

Looking her over once more, I drained the rest of my drink and placed the glass on the edge of the wooden desk, “Is there anything I can do for you in return?”

“We haven’t done a deal.”

Snagging the bundle of letters from the desk, I held them up, “This is more than enough to garner a favor from a God, don’t you think Babes?” Not expecting a reply, I twisted in my seat and tossed it to Dani, “You and Puck, take those back to base and then to his informant. This is too much heat to add on to the other one.” The other one being Cillian, who was under Prince Daithí and Mab’s critical eye already because of Baris.

With a grave nod, Dani clutched the bundle to her chest as Puck grabbed her arm and they blinked out of existence.

“If it’s not too much, I’d appreciate it if you could perform the Surrendering Rites. I don’t have anyone else.”

Turning back to her, I stood up, “Of course.”

At my words, Imogen released a small sigh of relief and waved a hand over the desk. A gust of wind swept the clutter from the desk and to the floor with minimal sound. Drink in hand, she stood and slid onto the bare desk while leaving herself enough room to lay back. Brown eyes slowly scanned the room for the last time before landing on me, “It was nice to meet you, Divine. I hope you achieve the change you desire for Tir Na Nog.”

“May you find the rest you seek in the stars, Imogen O’Neil.”

“My Queen, we can’t just-”

Snapping my head towards the boy, I pinned him with a sharp look, “Silence.”

“Don’t fret for me, child. This life has taken more than I had to give and I’m ready for the next. One day, you’ll be old enough to understand my choice like the Divine.” Her voice was calm and strong, like her choice, there wasn’t a hint of wavering. “Though hopefully not quite as well.”

Green eyes flickered between us before dropping to the ground.

Dismissing him, I stepped closer and took her left hand in mine with a soft, “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ve been ready for a very long time, Divine.” She replied, before tipping her head back and downing the liquid in one go.

Carefully slipping the glass from her grip, I placed it to the side and grasped her right shoulder just as her body began to slacken. With the amount she took, her death would be painful in the beginning but quick and numb towards the end. Gently, I lowered her to lay across the desk and smoothed her hair from her face in a repeated motion. Her chest fell and rose steadily for several moments until it turned staggered and shallow.

As her eyes began to flutter, I spoke the rite in soft whisper, “Anseo luíonn Unseelie Imogen O’Neill, síochánta agus meon soiléir, tugann sí a greim ar an eitleán marfach seo duit. Fadó a bhí a saol agus a fulaingt go hiontach, go bhfeicfeadh na Diaga agus an chinniúint an méid atá déanta acu agus comhbhrón a thairiscint. Ní féidir léi dul ar aghaidh a thuilleadh, géilleann sí a corp, a intinn agus a hanam do na réaltaí. Breathe saol nua isteach san anam tuirseach seo le cineáltas neamh-mhéadaithe.” Pausing, I took a deep breath as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye and a genuine smile formed on her lips. “Tiontaigh na dials ama ar ais, cloiseann fates ár gcaoin, glac leis an ngéilleadh seo. Tabhair suaimhneas dár deirfiúr.”

Her hand went limp in mine at the same time I finished the rite and a heavy feeling pressed down over the room. Smoothing my hand over her hair for the last time, I closed her eyelids and gently rested her hand by her side. Taking a step back, I felt raw and exposed while watching the white flames spring to life on her body. The heat of the fire warmed my skin and burned my eyes as I continued to stare until the smell of burning flesh curled my nose.

Blinking away the sadness of performing a Surrendering for the eleventh time in my life, I fell back into awareness and glanced at my side to find Erick.

The General wore a subdued expression as he watched the flames, “Is it foolish to wish that every Surrendering is the last I’ll witness, My Queen?”

“Only if you believe that it’s truly the last, General.” I replied, turning back to stare into the raging flames. “Go mbeannaí na réaltaí go réidh duit, Imogen O’Neill.”

Erick repeated my sentiments before we silently left the room, red and white light flickering ominously at our backs as a brooding Baris trailed slowly behind.

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🚨Before anyone judges the Surrendering Rite or Macha’s actions, please wait until the next chapter. The Rite will be explained in more detail and how it pertains to the lives of Fae. I am in NO WAY justifying or trying to glorify suicide, this is a fictional race that lives by a different set of moral codes and normalisms 🚨

Surrendering Rite:

Here lies Unseelie Imogen O’Neill, peaceful and of clear mind, she gives her hold on this mortal plane to you. Long was her life and her suffering great, may the Divines and fate see what they have done and offer a condolence. No longer able to go on, she surrenders her body, mind, and soul to the stars. Breathe new life into this tired soul with unmeasured kindness.

Turn back the dials of time, fates hear our cry, accept this surrender. Give our sister peace.

Macha’s parting words:

May the stars greet you gently, Imogen O’Neill.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty: The Surrending

Our exit from the O’Neil Estate went smoothly, the three of us slipped easily past the guards before they caught sight of the white flames starting to consume the building. After the initial ask of what happened from the others, we continued onto the next Estate in complete silence. It seemed the dark mood that clung to us caused the others to keep quiet despite not experiencing it first hand. Though anytime a Surrendering Rite was mentioned even the joyous of Fae became lost in their own self reflection.

However, I was more willing to believe that it was the aggression wafting off Baris that stopped the others from speaking. The tension he created was one-sided at the moment but if he continued to glare at me it wouldn’t stay that way for long. I knew from his interruption during my conversation with Imogen that he hadn’t agreed with how everything happened. But it wasn’t his place to cast judgement or an opinion during a Surrendering, that belonged to the participant and the Divines alone. Even thinking about his attitude caused a surge of irritation to roll over me.

One step after the other, we marched deeper into the woods towards the mysterious O Cathasaigh Estate. Traveling this close to the castle was ill-advised since I was almost certain that Mab had a way to monitor traveling activity. So I made the decision for us to continue on foot after a quick stop at a tavern for food and water that Erick currently held. It would take us a few hours to reach the Estate which we estimated would be around sunrise. Not the best timing since patrols almost tripled during the day throughout the Kingdom but I focused on the positives instead.

The positives being that depending on how those letters proving Tidhg’s disloyalty affected Mab, my mate would be coming home safe and sound a lot sooner than expected. If Mab took out around thirty thousand of her own soldiers driven by her need to punish those who dared to go against her, it would severely cripple her hold over the Unseelie. The younger generation’s belief in Mab’s ‘for the people’ act would be shaken, the older generation tired of her unforgiving ways would start pushing back, the ones that wanted Tidhg on the throne would rebel at the news of his death, and thirty thousand families would crave vengeance for their lost loved ones. She would unintentionally tigger the self-destruction of her own kingdom while driving her people towards me as the lesser of two evils. Because at the end of the day the majority of the Unseelie, who were force fed lies distributed by Mab, still thought I was a greedy, power hungry, bitch.

And I couldn’t even begin to unravel the irony of how she painted me out to be the villain by basically describing me as her younger self, I thought with an intense eye roll. She had to have some bad karma headed her way on a level of cosmic portions for that alone.

Though my thinking was optimistic, there was still a chance that Mab wouldn’t act on her paranoia. It was a slim, very slim chance but still a chance. It also brought up another possibility, what if Tidhg won? What if he managed to outsmart Mab and take the Unseelie thrown? It would put every Unseelies’ loyalty into question. Sure the traditionalists might side with me because I was the first born and the religious because I was a Divine but the others? It would throw everything up into the air in a decidedly unfun way. But the letters still needed to be brought to her attention.

Without the O’Neil’s manpower we didn’t have enough soldiers to match Oberons which was a condition in order to receive his support. And I was under no illusions that without his army, we’d fall. Even if I used my God abilities to the point of burning myself out, all it would take was a well placed iron arrow to bring me down. I couldn’t allow us to rely solely on myself because if I went down the others wouldn’t stand a chance. We needed Oberon’s army and to get it we needed more soldiers but I had a growing unease that we weren’t going to get that from the O Cathasaigh’s Estate.

So how could we get more soldiers? Groups of my soldiers that weren’t training or protecting areas vulnerable to attack, were out recruiting. Everyday dozens of Faekind poured into our camp sent in by Banshees, Trolls or Fae. Lamias slithered in cautiously, Banshees walked in looking thrilled, Kelpies trotted into the lake looking at home, Pixie’s buzzed around excitedly, Brownies shuffled in with bright smiles, and Nymphs filled the air with lust. The most surprising however were the Dwarfs, Gnomes, and Goblins that came stomping into camp with distrustful sneers. Apparently Fitzgerald “Grumpy” Ó Maoilriain had spread the word that while I was a bitch with sticky fingers, I was not as big of a bitch as Mab. And somehow that was enough to have all the smaller, angrier Faekind banging on my door to be let into the army.

I can only assume his sticky finger comment was from the time I took materials without asking to make Cillian’s battle axes. So at least I knew why they looked so distrustful coming in, the little fuckers thought I was going to steal their shit. Snorting in amusement, I shook my head, I was going to give that Dwarf so much shit. Like an astronomical amount of shit.

“My Queen?”

Pausing mid-step, I twisted at the waist to look over my shoulder, “Yes?”

“We only have a few hours left until we reach the Estate, perhaps we should stop and rest for a few?”

Giving Erick a nod, the members of our small group began to spread out and take seats around the trees. Walking from one soldier to the next, Erick passed out the turnip sandwiches and filled cups of water for everyone. Satisfied with their actions, I continued my stride for a few seconds until I was directly underneath a thick tree branch. Jumping, I quickly pulled myself up and straddled the branch so that I could lean my back against the trunk. Taking the food and drink that Erick offered me, I nibbled on the sandwich and kicked my legs while watching our surroundings.

The soldiers murmured to each other as they ate, creating a sense of comradery in the otherwise silent forest. Flashing smiles at one another, they shared humorous personal stories that caused their fellow soldiers to muffle their laughter. Hands rose to emphasize actions or movements as their voices changed in pitch to dramatize the memory. The mood that had been weighing on us seemed to have lifted as they celebrated their lives by sharing stories. Smiling down at them, I listened to their antics and like them ignored the last source of tension stemming from the edge of our little campground.

“I swear, we must have used all the water and soap in the house but he still smelled like Kelpie shit!” Lieutenant Patrick laughed, white teeth blinking in the fading night. “It was so bad that I had to tell my mate I loved him but there was absolutely no way he was sleeping in the house until that smell was gone.”

“What did he say?” Twyla urged him on, choking back a chuckle.

Dark purple hair streak through with bright blue shook as Patrick grinned, “He told me if I loved him, I’d let him sleep in the bed with me. So I told him if he wanted our sex life to survive he wouldn’t go anywhere near the bed smelling like that…Poor thing slept in the barn for a week.”

“Divines! That’s gold!” Another soldier barked, smothering his own laughter.

A round of quiet laughter sparked throughout the troop drawing a small laugh from my lips as I looked at the group with growing affection. An internal warmth flooded my chest caused by the Fae around me and I knew I’d do whatever it took to make sure they all went back to their loved ones at the end of this war. Come hell or high water, I’d figure out a way to match Oberon’s army in numbers. It wasn’t a choice, it was something that needed to be done for the benefit of everyone.

“How can you all just sit here, laughing? And talking about shit that doesn’t matter?” A rough voice hissed, effectively cutting through the friendly atmosphere. “We just watched someone kill themselves for Divines sake!”

“Baris.” Bria’s voice snapped out harshly as the smiles faded from the soldier’s faces.

Pushing off the tree he had been leaning against, he shoved past his twin to stand in full view of everyone, “No, Bria. I’ve been following orders without question for two weeks, despite some questionable orders. But this is too much, our Queen just watched someone die and did nothing. Fuck, she helped! And no one’s going to say anything? Huh? No one?”

Leaves crunched as the soldiers shifted in place, uncomfortable with the heat of his eyes and the accusation that he had spoken aloud.

Swinging a leg over the branch to face them, I watched as Erick stepped rigidly towards the boy, “Private Baris, I’d advise you to watch the accusations you toss around so carelessly. At your Queen, no less. This is not the time nor the place to-”

“Fuck that.” The boy spit, his cold green eyes snapping over the General’s shoulder to me. “You helped that woman die. You didn’t try to stop her, you didn’t do anything but perform the rite. You practically encouraged her.”

“It wasn’t my place to intervene, neither was it yours.” I replied, tone devoid of emotion as I met his gaze head on.

“So what? It doesn’t matter how you get what you want as long as you get it? Do you even care that she committed suicide? Does it even phase you? Or are you that twisted up inside that a life has no meaning to-”

A sharp wind slammed him back against the nearest tree with a ‘oomph’ stealing the breath from his lungs. Shoulders tense with aggression, Bria stepped forward to loom over her twin, “Enough. Enough, Baris. You have no right to speak to your Queen like that. If she was anyone else you’d have already lost your head! How dare you even make assumptions as to what-”

“It’s okay. Let him speak, Bria.” I called out, cutting her off before she could rip into her twin further.

She turned, already shaking her head, “My Queen, I cannot allow him to-”

“You’re not. I am.” The hard tone of my voice made it clear there was no room for argument.

Lips pursed, the green haired soldier gave a clipped nod before taking a tense step away from her brother.

With the young male exposed to my view, I watched as he righted himself and took deep breaths to refill his lungs, “You asked if I cared that she committed sucide. You accused me of helping Imogen kill herself. But she didn’t commit suicide and I didn’t help her kill herself.”

“Don’t lie to me, I was there. I saw what happened.”

“What you saw was a Surrendering. Something I didn’t think you’d be naive about but that was my mistake.”

“What that was, was an assisted suicide.” He snarled, light green eyes flaring in outrage.

I shook my head in disappointment, “You’re using human terms for an inhuman situation, Baris. I understand you are young but that is no excuse to be ignorant of our rites and customs. ”

His features took on an indignant expression, “I am not ignorant. I know what the Surrendering is, it’s sucide. The Surrendering Rite is performed for Fae who feel they can’t continue to live or who no longer wish to live.”

Divines, what a small minded view of such a complex ritual.

“Who here agrees with Baris? Either about the purpose of the rite or about how I acted? Speak freely, I won’t hold anything against you.” I announced, letting the last half of my sandwich slip free from my fingers to the ground. When nothing but silence filled the air, I gave a small thrust of my hips and dropped the seven feet to the ground.

The male scoffed, “Of course, they aren’t going to-”

“Stop. You’re done speaking.” I cut him off, my voice hard and unyielding. “You are always allowed to question my orders if they don’t seem reasonable to you. General Erick has done this several times, I have no need nor do I want ‘yes men’ for soldiers. However, the way you have approached the situation is completely disrespectful and unacceptable. Obviously I have been too lenient with you to the point that you seem to forget our positions. So let me correct any misunderstandings.”

As I spoke, I had crossed the distance between us until he was forced to tip his head back to look me in the eyes. Straightening to my full six foot three stature, I could see a blue glow reflected in his as I dominated the boy with my words, “First and foremost, I am not your friend. I may joke with you, I may treat you as my equal but when I am acting in my role as Queen? You are my soldier, my subordinate. You do not obtain a rank that would ever allow you to speak to me in the manner that you just did. The orders I issue are ones with the safety and the consideration of my soldiers skills at the forefront of my mind. If you have a problem with my orders, you ask permission to speak with me privately before voicing your concerns. What you do not do, is throw a public tantrum where you accuse your monarch of cowardice and underhanded tactics because you do not understand the complexities of the situation. Think carefully about your future, Baris. Because the path you are on will find you permanently expelled from my army, do you understand?”

“I’m sorry, I-”

Pointed teeth gritted against each other before I snarled, “Do. You. Understand.”

“I understand, My Queen. I apologize for stepping out of line.” Pastel green lashes lowered followed by the bow of his head until all I could see were the short strands.

I stared down at the back of his head for a few moments to calm down the almost overwhelming sense of irritation that the boy inspired. Despite what I said, it was becoming increasingly clear that Baris did not have a future in my army. As harsh as it may sound, he was proving to be less than soldier material. He did well in the physical aspects of what being a soldier entailed but the mental qualities of it? Whether he knew it or not, Baris didn’t have it in him like Bria and Cillian did. If I had to guess, I’d say he was more like Syrus than anyone knew.

Falling back a step, I turned and spun in a slow circle to meet everyone’s eyes, “A short history lesson and then we keep moving.” Sliding my gaze back to Baris’s, I gave him an answer to his question, “We, the Fae, if we aren’t fatally wounded are immortal. Disease, complications of aging and things like heart attacks do not exist in our species. Which means that there is no natural progression towards death, this is where the Surrendering Rite comes in. The Surrendering is something that our people have been doing since the birth of our species. It’s wound in very old magick that requires the Fae undergoing the rite to be clear and sound of mind. The magick in the Rite will reject any Fae who has any hesitation, immediate regret, or distress during the Surrendering. That was that heavy feeling that pressed over the room after Imogen took her last breath, it was searching for anything other than clarity and acceptance coming off her soul. If it had found her regretting her decision, she would have been jolted back into the living.”

Seeing the understanding dawn behind the color of his eyes, I finished, “It is the closest thing our kind has to a natural death. The Surrendering is our way of bringing our lives to a natural end when we feel that our time in this life is over. It isn’t to be judged by anyone other than the Fae Surrendering and the Divines above, only they can pass judgement. Keep this in mind as the longer you live, the more Surrendering’s you’ll see.”

Figuring the impromptu history lesson was over by the chagrin look creeping across the young Grymes’s face, I turned and started towards Erick to check our timeline.

“Uh, My Queen?”

“Yes, Lieutenant?” I mused, shifting to face a very nervous looking Patrick.

Dark purple eyes looked around as if gathering moral support before asking, “I- well, we were wondering if you knew why it was called The Surrendering Rite?”

I raised a surprised brow, “You guys don’t know? Didn’t your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents ever tell you?” When no one offered up the answer, I turned to Erick, “What about you?”

“My parents told me the meaning of the name was lost.” He shrugged.

“Wow, okay. First thing I’m doing after the war is instating a mandatory culture and customs class because this is pathetic. Make a note of that, General.”

The man actually began digging around in his bag that had held the food, presumably to make the note, “Very wise, My Queen.”

“Alright, Kiddos. Story time.” Preening at the praise to my genius, I gave the soldiers a wicked grin and spoke in a haunting tone, “Once upon a time during the Wild Era, when we ate humans and made deals that caused the Gods to shiver in fear. You know, the good ole days. It was believed that we used to live forever because we fought. We fought each other, we fought the humans, we fought other supernatural creatures, it was thought that everyday we fought to live. Because honestly? Everybody fucking hated us. So when one of us decided that it was their time to go, it was seen as a Surrendering. Though, I was told the Rite used to be more fun. They used to butcher a human as a last meal sort of deal and I kind of wish we kept that part.”

Seven pairs of eyes blinked back at me until Bria broke the silence, “They used to eat humans?”

“Babes…what the fuck did you think our teeth were for?”

“But we don’t even eat meat!” Twyla exclaimed.

I shook my head in amusement, “Anymore. We don’t eat meat anymore.”

“My Queen…have you?”

“Have I what, General?” I purred, shifting my teeth into a pointy grin.

His adam apple bobbed harshly, “Have you had human before?”

Swinging my eyes over the nauseated looking group, I replied with a shrugged, “Personally, I like mine crispy.”

Groans of disgust and gagging sounds rang throughout the makeshift camp ground as I laughed maniacally.

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As always, feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter!!

Smooches, Verbage💋