Chapter Fifty-One: Rampage

A few hours later….

Pressing a finger to my lips, I cautioned the others to keep quiet as we approached the Estate. Still about a half mile away hidden between the trees, we could see the soldiers lined along the Estate’s clearing. Shifting periodically and leaving little to no openings that we could slip through, the protection along the building was even more intense. With another line of soldiers stationed along the top of the wall, there were easily twenty soldiers that we needed to get around. And that wasn’t counting the unknown numbers possibly inside. If these had been guards instead of soldiers, I wouldn’t have thought twice about our entry. However soldiers were much more highly trained then guards, so as much as I hated to admit it? The Royal Unseelie shield on their purple tunics gave me pause. This definitely wasn’t a regular Estate.

Brows dipping together, I drummed my fingertips against the side of my right thigh as I thought on how to proceed. I could take them all out but that would leave a chance for one or more of them to travel out and warn the nearest army post. We would be overrun in minutes. What to do, what to do… Our best bet while down two soldiers would be to create a distraction-

“My Queen? I heard about your damsel in distress routine, perhaps it would work again?”

Smiling at memory, I replied softly, “While that would be extraordinarily fun, General. That would draw too much attention and runs the risk of us not getting inside. And I want inside, General.”

Giving me a sharp nod of understanding, Erick went back to watching the treeline filled with enemy soldiers.

Humming lowly, I scanned over the soldiers with me at the moment. And then a thought hit me, I could do this. I just had to do it alone. “Stay here and stay quiet. If anything goes wrong, travel out.”

“My Queen? Where are you going?” Erick question, hand clasped around my shoulder to stop me from walking deeper into the forest.

Shaking out of his hold, I repeated, “If anything goes wrong, leave. We’re outnumbered almost five-to-one. That’s an order, General.”

Brown eyes narrowed, “My Queen, you can’t possibly-”

Pushing past Erick, I plucked a ring from my index finger and quickly wound my long hair into a tight bun at the base of my neck. The second my hair was secured, the metal on my fingers slipped over my skin to morph into my trusty twin swords. Rolling the tension from my shoulders, I weaved around tree after tree until I felt that I had gone far enough. Twisting the handles of the swords in my palms, I drew in a deep breath, Here goes nothing.

Spreading my feet, I dug my heels into the dirt and…..How exactly did I do this? The last and only time I had done this, I wasn’t actually thinking of anything at all. Did I just think ‘fly’ or ‘launch me’ and it’d just- Holy motherfucker! Losing my breath on a gasp, the sense of zero gravity took over my body as the wind pulled at my clothing. When tree’s quickly became dot’s of green sprinkled through with brown, I snapped my eyes towards the Estate before I lost my window of opportunity. From this altitude, I could see the very top of the building and everything that had been hidden behind the walls.

Soldiers, three rows deep, lined the inside of the courtyard surrounding the tall circular building. Fuck. So landing in the shadows of the courtyard was out, I thought, mind racing as my body halted mid-air. My eyes snagged on the small roof of the Estate itself just as my body was snatched back into gravity’s unforgiving grip. Making a split second decision that would give everyone a heart attack when they found out, I traveled.

My ass hit the hard brick of the roof followed by my back seconds before the hard surface parted. I fell through, catching a glimpse of the soldiers shifting to look over their shoulders before the gap disappeared. Falling a few more feet, my body jolted as I hit the ground hard. Head jerking, I winced when the back of my skull cracked against the wooden floor boards. Not allowing myself more than that, I rolled onto my stomach before jumping to my feet. Swords outstretched in a fighting position, my eyes frantically searched the room for soldiers. Coming up empty, I strained my ears for any nose that would signal a multitude of soldiers headed my way.

Panting at the exertion of using three of my abilities back to back, I lowered my swords and bent at the waist to stretch my spine. Groaning lowly, I straightened up and slipped my swords into the sheath resting against my shoulders. Placing a hand against my aching skull and the other at the base of my spine, I rubbed until it felt like I wasn’t going to break into thirds. Maybe I should be a little nicer to my body, it’s not like I’m a thousand anymore. I really shouldn’t be tossing myself around like this, I mean I didn’t see Lilly doing the shit I did.

Snickering, I shook my head at myself, What the hell am I talking about? Lilly’s old as shit, that silver fox. I’m solidly in my prime, I got another thousand years to toss myself around. And if I was lucky, for Lilly to toss me around too.

Laughing quietly, I dropped my hands and took in the room around me. Long curved desks were stationed on either side of the room following the shape of the building. Beakers, tubes, notebooks and other scientific shit I had seen used on T. V. covered every square inch of them. Large posters seemingly hand written covered the walls along with black and white photographs. A comfortable chair with an empty IV stand stood between the tables facing the far wall. Confused, I stepped closer to the desk lining the left wall and thumbed through the pages. Words like diluted, variable B, unstable chemical balance, and test subject 3 filled line after line of the book.

Moving to the next and then another and another, my brows furrowed together tightly as they were almost identical to the first. The only difference to be found in the scientific jargon was the change in test subjects. Unease that had been nesting inside my chest since I first heard of the Estate, swelled uncomfortably behind my ribs. Rushing to the next table, I grabbed a notebook sitting at the very top of a mountain of identical books resting against the wall. Flicking through the pages with a mounting horror, I stilled as I reached the last passage in the book.

Test Subject 636: We’ve made a profound breakthrough. It seems that the chemical unbalance that resulted with past subjects has been corrected. Once the essence has been diluted with exactly 4.5 milligrams of the receiver’s blood, the transfusion is successful. Though painful, Mab has increased her abilities exponentially from the regular dosage of test subject 636’s essence.

No side effects can be noted at this time. As we are unaware of why this test subject proved to be so agreeable with Mab’s magick, we must find another with similar environmental and physical makeup. Unseelie. Female. Late adolescence to early adulthood. Light blue in Fae color.

The book fell from my slack grip as my stomach rolled violently and I tripped over myself backing away from the table. She was injecting herself with their magick. This whole time, she’s been stealing their magick to-to, to what? Enhance her own? Swallowing around the thickness climbing up my throat, I fought the revolution that threatened to spew itself all over the floor. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t possible. You couldn’t just take another’s magick for your own. But she…she has. She’s figured out a way to make someone else’s magick her own and there were a lot more victims than I had ever thought.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it, why would she do this? This wasn’t her normal brand of evil and paranoia. This- this was betrayal on a realm level. Faekind didn’t experiment on each other, we didn’t seek to rip the magick out of each other. We fought and killed each other with a little torture here and there, maybe a bit of cannibalism for kicks. But not this. Never this. Humans did this shit, fuck other supernaturals did this shit. Faekind didn’t, not after everything we suffered through during the Lost Generation when humans had found out about us.

My eyes rapidly scanned the room, why was she doing this? What could possibly be so rewarding or alluring that she’d betray the realm? What was worth signing the death warrant that would be absolute if the realm found out she was doing more than draining Fae of their magick?

Taking rapid steps towards the far wall where my eyes were pinned on a large sheet of paper, I felt like I couldn’t breath. Reaching up, I ripped it off the wall as my vision began to blur. Despite the way my eyesight was swimming in and out, I could see the writing as if it was burned to the inside of my brain. The Divine Prophecy was scrawled across the paper with a blood red circle around two very significant lines. ’Taking the power She’ll go from royal to Divine…. A false Queen will test her ascension but all of FaeKind will recognize the true Queen in time.’

My chest heaved as my lungs emptied and refilled at a dizzying pace. Streams of fluid thought turned choppy and sure hands started to shake sporadically. Normally sharp eyesight went from blurry to intensely focused and back again within seconds. The sound of shredding paper exploded through the room caused by the seizing of muscles curling my fingers into fists. My heart pounded harshly against the cage of my ribs, begging and raging to let free.

My fault. Everything. Was my fault. It was because of me that my people were scattered and left without protection after the battle. It was because of me that Mab was granted a bigger hold over the people of Tir Na Nog. It was because of me that these Fae lost their lives. Stripped of their magick, innocent souls burned because Mab thought the Divine Prophecy was about her. Because if I had never been born none of this would have happened.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as blue flames engulfed my fists, burning the paper to ash within moments. Divines, nothing I did fucking mattered did it? Every time I tried to fix things the worse it became and for what? What was I trying so hard to achieve? To create a better realm for the Fae? Me? Macha the Bastard? Macha, who strung together an army using deals without a modicum of decorum? None of them followed me because they believed in me, they followed me because of the deals I made.

Fuck, what a joke. I laughed brokenly at my internal thoughts. God Queen of the Realm, a battered thing with a burned soul wrapped in a shield of anger and sarcasm.

An overwhelming sense of rage and self-hatred shoved up against my restraint, a combination I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Pressing my flaming hands against the sides of my head, I fell into a crouch with my eyes squeezed together tightly. NO. I fought and pushed it down while I was in Slykhelm. I could do it again. My rage was a living thing caged so deep inside my own mind that I hadn’t felt it clawing up to the surface. No, no, no, no, no. I worked through all the pain from my time in Slykhelm in a remarkable amount of time. This anger, this emotion that had a life of its own? Had no place in my healing process.

Oooohhhh, but I wanted it. I wanted to hurt and cause pain because I’d been hurt. I wanted to watch those soldiers break like toys beneath my hands. The relief that would run through me at the loss of their lives was almost tangible. Their screams would ring like traditional tunes, lilting and high pitched to the ear but still pleasing. Colorful eyes, dull and unseeing staring up at the sky while blue flames raged their surroundings. The wrath of a God raining down on-

Eyes snapping open, I jerked myself back into a standing position as my last thought processed. It’s time to go.

Lifting my hands, I made to motion at the roof to part when my vision snagged on something from the corner of my eye. Cautious and still very aware of the rage rattling it’s mental cage, I stepped back towards the wall that had held the Prophecy and yanked a photo from the brick. Eyes flying back to the wall, I realized that there were hundreds of them hiding the brick beneath. They were grainy and slightly blurred but I knew what they were showing. Me. Me, huddled against the side of my bed. Me, chained and littered with bruises. Me, with precise knife wounds maring my skin. Me, hanging limply from the ceiling, blood leaking from a large gash to my abdomen.

The cage that had been holding my rage at bay for centuries crumpled like sand when I realized that I had been unconscious during these. When they knocked me out to take the iron chains off so I could heal, she had taken pictures. Close up pictures of exposed bones and muscles. A dozen photos of the lashes that had ripped apart my body. An enhanced image of my tattered eye. Zoomed in portraits of the skin hanging off my face. Close ups of torn flesh and third degree burns. It was a sick mosaic of the wounds she had Fearghas inflicted on me over the years.

My head slowly swiveled to take in the chair and the IV stand perfectly positioned to view the wall. That…that evil bitch stared at them as she got injected with another Fae’s magick. Like it was a fucking magazine in a waiting room. Fury burned through me as my skin began to itch at the dirty feeling of being so completely and utterly violated. Teeth bared in nasty snarl, I gave myself over to the rage that promised retribution with a scream of primal wrath that shook the bricks of the Estate.

Flames burst to life in my hands seconds before I slammed them against the wall, sending the photos ablaze. Fire raced to the top in thin blue lines before covering the expanse in a mass of flames. Spinning away from the blackening photos, I skipped along the left table and set it on fire with a dragging fingertip. Dropping back a step and spinning to the right, the wood of the right table bucked harshly before shattering in on itself. Boot crunching the beakers and tubes, I left a trail of blue flames as I walked towards the open doorway.

Shouts and multiple pairs of boots hitting the floor in a run echoed off the brick halls as I stepped into the short walkway. Black smoke billowed down the roof of the hallway and curled down the single winding staircase making the air thick. Staring down the only exit on this floor, I grinned down at the soldier’s racing towards me with their weapons drawn. A lazy flick of my wrist had bricks filling the space between us, cutting the hallway in half and stopping their approach. Another wave of my hand sent the wall rushing down the stairs and a wave of screams rising as soldiers were crushed beneath its weight.

The fear coursing through the air was like a balm to my anger but it wasn’t enough. I needed more. Blue light flashed against the wall as I flicked eyes to it, the brick shifting and falling away to reveal the outside world. The black plume of smoke rushed around me to pollute the fresh forest air and temporarily block the courtyard from view. Without moving, the floor rolled and stretched out to extend me over the side of the building.

Sharp teeth cut into my cheeks as I sent a wide smile down at the soldiers looking up at me in horror. Rising my hands out to my sides, the hilt of my swords slid into my palms while I shot a wink at the crowd. Immediately, large chunks of metal and balls of ice whistled through the air in my direction. Bricks cracked on impact with a shriek as giant chunks of ice and metal punched through the walls like butter.

Deflecting all of them without a thought, I tipped my head towards the sky and purred, “You say you’re my father, old man? Prove it.”

There was a low rumble before dark clouds rolled over the fading moon, throwing the Estate back into darkness. Electricity built, sparking between the charcoal confines of the sky as claps of thunder pierced the new night. Laughing at the production, I dropped my eyes back down to the soldiers in time to see several of them moving in tandem. The air shifted in warning moments before the Fae stopped moving, an almost invisible blast of wind headed straight for me. Raising a brow at the audacity, I took a swan dive off my perch at the same time a lightning strike hit the ground with a boom.

Dirt and rock imploded underneath the force of the electricity, the Fae closest to the blast sent flying through the air as ranking soldiers screamed orders. Another explosion caused by the wind, that was meant for me, rocked the Estate and sent bricks chasing me to the ground. Pushing my arms to my sides, I tightened my core and pulled my knees to my chest until my body flipped right side up mid-air. Keeping my knees bent, the earth absorbed my landing causing cracks to split the ground as my boots slammed into the dirt.

Shaking the hair away from my face, the metal keeping it in place lost during my free fall, I slowly straightened with my eyes on the soldiers in front of me. There was a single moment of hesitation before the first line of purple tunic’d Fae rushed at me. Laughing hysterically, I leaped into the fray in a whirlwind of blue metal and long limbs. Twisting at the hips, I arched my back and drove my swords into the necks of the closest Fae. Snapping upright, I watched three more flashes of lightning hit the ground as I dodge an axe to the face.

Weapons pinged off my breast plate causing me to grin at the Fae responsible before slicing through one of their major arteries. The sleeves of my tunic quickly became drenched in blood as I worked my way through the thickening crowd. Hissing in pain at the slice to the back of my right thigh, I threw my elbow into the face of the female to my right and flicked my sword across the eyes of the man on my left. Turning on my heel, I swung my sword wide to block the blow aimed at the back of my neck and thrusted the other one up to the hilt in her lower belly.

Slamming a boot against her shoulder, I roughly shoved her body off my sword before tossing it high into the air. As it split into multiple spikes, the ground rolled on either side of me before dropping out beneath the Fae’s feet. Screams of terror ripped through the grunts and groans until the dirt closed over their heads, burying them alive. A mace slamming into my shoulder caused me to growl in irritation and whip around to cleave their head from their neck. The red haired head thumped to the ground while the blue metal still hovering above us flew into action. Fae near and far suddenly slumped to the ground beside their comrades with blue spikes sticking out from their chests, winking in the bright flashes of lightning.

With the area around me somewhat cleared, I could see more soldiers flooding into the courtyard through the entrance of the Estate. Licking my lips in anticipation, I dove to my left in order to avoid the boulder that slammed into the ground where I had been. Rolling my weight onto my shoulders, I tossed myself up onto my feet and immediately struck out. My sword caught the leg of a male and dropped him to his back as I called my other sword back to me. More bodies dropped at the sharp pieces cut straight through Fae in order to form back into the sword that was now sliding back into my palm.

Aches and pains flared to life while I cut into the soldiers around me, collecting more injuries as I went. Lost in the adrenaline and exhilaration of the battle, I almost missed the scream of my name over the crash of lightning and the screams of soldiers. Flicking the red tinged locks from my face, I head butted the female in front of me and slit her throat before looking around. Ignoring the blood splattering my tattered tunic, I quickly scanned over the charging soldiers for the person who had screamed my name. Nobody should be screaming my name right now unless it was out of rage. Because I gave strict-

Oh, son of a FUCKING bitch!

My grin twisted into a snarl as I caught sight of a shaved light green head beside a brown haired male. The rest of my small troop surrounded them, fighting back the wave of enemy soldiers that threatened to overpower them. A fresh batch of rage washed over me and I took off towards them while a blue ring of fire sprung up around them. The flames pushed the soldiers backwards and bought them time until I could reach them. Dropping to a knee in haste to avoid a sword to my throat, I winced at the pain that sparked through my ankle. Not giving myself time to dwell on it, I swiped the legs out from under one soldier while the others burst into screaming balls of flames.

Scrambling to my feet, the ground lifted slightly to roll me towards my troop at a faster speed than I could run. Spinning my swords in my grip, I slashed and sent the chunks of metal and ice back towards the bewildered Fae that had thrown them. Bending my knees, I pushed myself into the air as the ground fell away and swallowed the surrounding Fae. More shouts split the air over the still striking lightning while my body twisted over the heads of enraged soldiers. Tucking my arms and legs close to my body, I released a grunt as I hit the ground hard and rolled.

Pushing my hands into the dirt, I ignored the scrapes to my palms and got to my feet. Blue flames roared loudly, keeping the enemy at bay while the heat caused the inhabitants of the circle to sweat. Tossing my swords into the sheath at my back, I stomped over to Erick and grabbed him aggressively by the bloodied collar.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I shouted, straining to be heard over the hundreds of Fae screaming for my blood just outside the ring of fire.

Brown eyes were wild as they jumped from my gaze to over my shoulder, “Soldiers do not abandon their Queen!”

“You weren’t abandoning me! I told you to leave! Travel out, General! Now!” I screamed in frustration.

“Not without you!”

Shoving him away from me, I turned and looked over the soldiers. Bloody and bruised but they’d live as long as they-

Blinding pain punched through my shoulders right beneath my collarbones stealing my breath and train of thought. Stumbling backwards, the blue ring of fire began to flicker as I dropped my chin to look at my chest. Two dull grey arrows jutted out from the torn flesh of my chest before the arrow heads broke open like umbrellas. The body of the arrows rubbed against the inside of my body sending agony rocking through my veins as they were pulled backwards. The umbrella shaped heads pierced my chest for a second time, locking in place. And a quick look over my shoulder showed me the chains extending from my back that disappeared into the dwindling flames.

Grappling hooks. They shot me with motherfucking iron grappling hooks.

With the numbness already starting to spread throughout my body, I snapped my head back to the others and screamed, “TRAVEL!”

My soldiers blinked back at me in horror and fear as the flames died and a purple wave surged forward. Cursing through the pain from a tug on the hooks that dropped me to my knees, I dug deep and ordered on another frantic scream, “TRAVEL! NOW!”

In a fraction of second, my troop was standing there staring at the hooks in my chest in fear and then they were gone. Relief pounded through my veins following the agony that roared to life from another yank on the chains connected to the hooks. They dug deeper into my skin, stopping me from reaching for the swords laying behind my shoulders. The iron effectively blocked my ability, making me completely human and vulnerable.

Panting as the angry crowd closed in around me and my vision began to go, I made a futile call to the only person who mattered, I fucked up, Lilly. And I’m so fucking sorry.

————————————————————— finally we see Macha in her full glory!! She was giving me allll the war god vibes! I hated to see her relapse though after she was in such a good place. How do you guys feel about Mab now? Now that you know the significance of her draining other fae of their magick?

In the upcoming chapters a lot of things are going to be clicking into place!! Also there’s going to be a lot of reveals! I’m so excited to be writing the last half of Macha’s story!!! Btw it’s Cillian’s P.O.V next chapter!

As always, comment if you feel like it!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Fifty-Two: “Nothing Changes.”

~Cillian’s P.O.V.~

Sliding a callused palm over the map outlining the positions of the Unseelie bases, I committed each location to memory. They would be important for Macha to be aware of after we won the war. We’ll need to do a sweep of each base to make sure that every soldier has either surrendered to her reign or been executed. The higher ranking officers of the army would likely choose death instead of betraying their Queen. Despite the way they knew how Mab ran things behind closed doors, they’re loyalty wouldn’t allow them to surrender. However, the younger ones would be more willing to surrender. Which worked in our favor as young minds would be more accepting of the truth unlike the older Fae.

Along with the locations of the bases were the supply routes that kept Mab’s soldiers stocked with food and water. If Macha laid siege to these routes and intercepted supply caravans, it would increase our chances of winning the war. Starving the soldiers out would make them weak and irritable, which in turn would make them impulsive on the battlefield. Out of all the Fae in the realm, the impulsive ones were by far the easiest to kill. Well, unless that impulsive fae happened to be Macha O’Riordan. With her, it’d always be a flip of a gold piece on whether she’d cut your throat or share a laugh with you.

Or both, I thought with a small smile taking over my face.

Rubbing it away with a rough hand, I folded up the map and placed it atop the books stacked up on the left side of my desk. The urge to reach out to the insufferable female pushed at me but I held myself back. Being able to talk to her whenever I wanted was addicting and if I wasn’t careful I’d spend all day listening to her talk in my head. Though that wasn’t the reason I was trying not to reach out to her at the moment. Having already spoken to her earlier in the night, I wanted to wait until I had it in my hands.

The generals were putting the finishing touches on the war plans tonight. After a month of deliberation and arguments between them, they were finally ready to send them out to Mab. In a few short hours, I’d have what I’ve been waiting for and I’d be free. My role as Mab’s commander will be finished as soon as I grabbed the plans and slipped from the base. Finally after all this time, we’d be able to spend time together without a pending time limit. A warmth unfurled in my chest at the thought of being back at Machas side. There was just something so profoundly right about standing at her side that I couldn’t explain it.

Fuck, I wasn’t even sure she felt the same way but I knew how I felt. It wasn’t love, I was much too old to fall in love in the short amount of time we’d been together. I was sure that Macha would’ve agreed with me on that point as well. It was something…different. It was something pure and secure, that left me without a shadow of a doubt that she was the one for me. Though, I’d known that part for a long time. This thing that I felt weighed on me when we were separated and lifted when we were together. Holding her, touching her… it took away the worries and what if’s of the war. She was…She felt like…

Shaking my head in frustration, I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck and stood up from the desk. Pushing the chair back in, I rounded the cluttered desk and moved towards the cot in the corner. I didn’t bother with my emotions much, I mostly ignored them as having them in close proximity to Mab was a death sentence. But it was when I tried to piece together what I was feeling about Macha or a certain situation involving her that I wished I was more attuned with my emotions.

It wasn’t like I had anyone to bounce my thoughts off of anyways, I thought, tugging my tunic off with a huff.

My father was a dick, Baris wouldn’t understand, Bria would be too encouraging, Mother…Oh, Divines. Had I sunk so deeply into my role as a double agent that I had no one besides my mother to talk to? The answer would be yes. I disliked the people I was surrounded by as Commander of the Unseelie army and I hadn’t met anyone in Macha’s camp. Dani was okay but I’ve hardly talked to her and that would be almost as bad as talking to Macha about my feelings about her. General Erick…my lip curled at the thought of the dog shit haired male. Ifreann, no.

So that left me with who? No one?

Scowling in thought, I sat on the edge of the cot and started to undo the laces of my boots. My mind raced through the mental images of everyone I knew until I paused on one, my hands stilling in their motion. The male. The fair skinned male with black curly hair and brown eyes that held a quarter of bright red in each. He had been wrapped around the brown skinned female with bright red eyes and impressive senses. I didn’t know their names but before I had emerged from the forest to demand Macha’s whereabouts, I watched them interact. He had been quick to smile and laugh with his female along with babbling and blushing.

He was obviously in tune with his emotions and I highly doubted he had trouble expressing himself. Maybe I could take a trip down to the human realm and-

I shot to my feet, snatching up one of my axes as I went when the door to my bedroom slash office slammed open. A male came stumbling into the room out of breath, purple tunic slightly singed and dirty with his back to me. My brows drew together at how he looked to be coming right off of a battlefield with the way his limbs shook slightly with leftover adrenaline. The males head swiveled back and forth, apparently looking for me in the clearly empty desk area.

“What.” I barked, startling the male into spinning around to face me.

“C-Commander! Thank Divines, you’re here.”

Again my brows knitted together, “Why are bursting through my door unannounced and without permission at nearly dawn, Private?”

The male tensed, his black eyes sliding down to the axe in my tight grip, “Apologies, Commander. But we can’t find Prince Daithí and protocol dictates we inform the highest ranking soldier on base.”

“Spit it out, Private. What is it.”

Black eyes gleamed in excitement as his back straightened, “We got her, Commander! We got her!”

I froze as fear gripped my heart in it’s cruel fist, “Got who? Who are you talking about?”

“The false Queen and Divine Macha, Commander! She put up a hell of a fight at the O Cathasaigh Estate, took out a hundred or so soldiers all on her own but-”

“Why wasn’t I told about an on-going battle at the O Cathasaigh Estate?” I barked sharply, a chill of dread sweeping through my limbs.

The male wilted slightly at my tone, “Prince Daithí said that you were busy waiting for the war plans so you could deliver them directly to Mab. He said not to bother you.”

“Where.”

“Commander?”

Forcing my frozen muscles to move and my breathing to come evenly, I snatched up my tunic from the cot and snapped, “Where is the prisoner, Private?”

“She’s in interrogation room six with specialist Duncan, Commander. He sent me to find you immediately.”

The Private’s voice trailed after me as I yanked my tunic on and stormed from the room. My boots snapped over the stone flooring in clipped intervals while my heart raced at a dangerous speed. Some of the fear that had held me dissipated when it was made clear that she was still alive. What the hell was she doing here? How the fuck did she get caught? An irrational urge to scream climbed my throat, how did this happen? Was Mab already on her way? I missed a step as a thought crossed my mind, Was I going to watch my mate die?

Snarling at myself, I roughly shoved a Fae out of my way and sped up until I was almost jogging through the halls. No. Fuck the war plans, fuck my smooth exit. I was getting her out and I was getting her out now. I needed to get her out. Not for the war, not for the future of Tir Na Nog, not even for herself. It was pure selfishness that ruled me at the moment, I’d get her out because she was my mate and didn’t deserve what was happening to her at the moment. The mention of specialist Duncan and the interrogation room she was in, hadn’t gone over my head.

Whipping around the last corner, the soldiers lining the hallway nodded in respect as they pressed themselves closer to the walls and out of my way. Through the thick iron door of the room the sounds of muffled words and weak laughter filtered through. Chest tightening until it became painful, I paused with my hand on the handle of the door to collect myself. It took less than a second to steel myself against whatever I’d see on the other side of the door before I yanked it open.

“-nothing to be ashamed about, Babes. A lot of men couldn’t- couldn’t make me scream on the first try either.” A hoarse voice rasped out, amusement dripping from it.

The bright lights of the fluorescent light bulbs built into the ceiling, made possible by the iron lining the room, burned my eyes slightly. My body hummed with a slight numbness as the iron blocked the small amount of magick I held in my body. The Fae in this room were practically human with everything that made us Fae being blocked out by the iron. My eyes trailed over the concrete flooring, skipping over the pair of bloody feet brushing against the red stained drain in the floor.

I couldn’t look at her, I wasn’t strong enough to face the injuries that no doubt littered her body. Not yet, I thought. So, I didn’t. Flicking my eyes up to look directly across from me, I ignored the heat of her piercing gaze to focus on Duncan. The bright orange haired male had his back to me as he ran his hands over the weapons hooked to the wall. My own hand tightened around the axe still in my grip when my eyes caught on the bruised flesh of his toffee colored knuckles. I fought viciously against the need to slam my axe through his chest at the sight and settled on taking a deep shuddering breath.

“Private Thomas, did you alert the Commander to our prize?” The male questioned sternly.

“Specialist Duncan, I should have been made aware before you began your interrogation.” I reprimanded him through a clenched jaw.

Whirling around, bright orange eyes met mine, “Commander. I thought under the circumstances surrounding this particular prisoner that the quicker we get started, the quicker Mab could receive results.”

“You thought wrong, Specialist.” I growled, stepping further into the room. “You don’t have the rank to make those decisions.”

“Understood, Commander. I won’t make that mistake again.” He replied, eyes narrowing on my own.

The ragged inhales and exhales coming from the side of us pulled at my attention, calling out for me to look but I refused. “Where is Prince Daithi?”

“He traveled to the Castle immediately once we informed him of the traitor’s arrival here. I assume he went to tell his mother the great news.”

Nodding sharply, I asked a question that I really didn’t want to know the answer to, “Has the prisoner given up any information?”

“Nothing.” The Specialist growled, his bright eyes flickering to the side. “I’ve asked her the location of her troops, the names of her supporters, how many soldiers fill her ranks and her plans for the war. Every question was met with sneers or insulting jabs and taunts. I don’t have much faith that she’ll crack underneath my methods with her history at Slykhelm but we have time.”

“Your methods?” I hated myself for asking but I had to know.

His lips parted in a slow smile, “I do have something that I think will make her sing, but it’s not here. So, I started with my fists and then moved on to knives. Take a look for yourself.”

Everything in my body warned me not to turn, that if I ignored it then she wasn’t really here. That this wasn’t actually happening but my feet moved on their own accord. My heart leaped to my throat as air filled my lungs on a harsh inhale of disbelief. In the center of the room, stripped of everything but her chest bindings and a tight pair of cotton shorts, hung my mate. Her wrists were pulled high above her head forcing the delicate joints to hold her weight as her toes brushed the concrete. Normally bright and shiny royal blue hair was stained dark with blood and clumped around her face.

Her face...A dark bruise bloomed over the high bridge of her left cheekbone with a matching mark covering the right side of her jaw. The room closed in around me as my gaze traveled down the rest of her body. Nicks and long deliberate cuts sliced through the silver tattoos that swirled over every inch of her body. Trails of blood marked her skin turning spots dark red and pink that should have been sliver and brown. More bruises were scattered over her abdomen and the tops of her thighs. The worst of her injuries however were on her chest. Two wounds just beneath her collarbones and right above the old scar from the iron spike I had thrusted beside her heart.

The skin was ragged and torn apart, small pieces of skin barely hanging onto the frayed edges of the wounds. Dried blood soaked her chest bindings a deep red while thin rivets continued to run from the mutilated holes in her chest. From the way her hands were bound over her head by a pair of thick iron cuffs, attached to a chain hanging from the ceiling, I knew she was in an endless amount of agony.

“Take a picture, Commander. It might last longer.” She called out, voice strained but still managing to hold a bite.

My eyes flew to hers, brilliant blue eyes sparked with strength and defiance looking completely at odds with the current condition of her body. I would have been confused and hurt at the aggression wielded in her tone if the emphasis of my title didn’t snap me back into reality.

Swallowing my emotions, I smoothed out my expression before turning to look at the Specialist, “The wounds on her chest. What did you use?”

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” He grinned, brushing the orange hair out of his eyes. “Unfortunately, that’s not my work. Iron grappling hooks brought the so-called Divine to her knees. I was told it was a glorious sight, Commander.”

Iron. If they had miscalculated and shot a few inches lower, my mate would’ve been laying on a funeral pyre right now. The cold reality of the situation gripped me violently and cleared out some of the aggression simmering in my gut. Now wasn’t the time to let my emotions rule me, I needed to be clear headed and calculated if I was going to get us both out of here alive.

“You said you have an instrument that would guarantee us answers?” I demanded, forcing my tone to remain cool and detached.

“Not guaranteed, Commander. But I believe-”

I cut him off, “Go get it.”

“Commander?”

“Go. Get. It. Specialist. Unless you want to be the one to explain to Mab that we could have gotten her answers sooner.”

Paling, the male gave me a clipped nod before rushing from the room.

The second the iron door slammed shut behind him, I abandoned my act. Dropping my axe, I rushed towards her with my chest painfully tight. Cupping her bruised cheek softy, I breathed, “Macha. What happened?”

Her eyelids pressed tightly together as she leaned into my touch with a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry, Lilly. I’m so sorry. I fucked everything up.”

“No, no. No, you didn’t, Cell Bait.” I choked out, stepping closer to feel the heat of her body. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“I did, Lilly.” She replied, blue lashes sliding apart so our eyes could meet. “If I had held it together-”

“I don’t care what you did or didn’t do, Cell Bait.” I told her firmly, resisting the urge to wrap my arms around her tightly. It would only cause her more pain. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time until he comes back. We need to get you out of here. Now.”

“It’ll blow your cover if you help me escape, Lilly.”

Lifting my hands to yank on the cuffs binding her wrists, I frowned up at the solid iron and muttered, “It doesn’t matter.”

“You got the war plans?” She asked, her voice perking up slightly higher than the low tones we were using.

I shook my head and dropped my hands, “No, those are coming in later but we can’t wait. Did you see where he put the key? Fae metal won’t break iron.”

“It’s in his pocket but we can’t leave.”

Dread coiled in my chest, “What are you talking about?”

Her eyes searched mine frantically as she panted, “Just hear me out okay? We need those war plans. We can’t leave without them. I had a back up plan but I don’t know if Puck’s informant got the information to Mab. We-”

“No. No, Macha. Duncan’s coming back to torture you for information that I know you won’t give up. Yo-your asking me to stand back and watch that happen?” My voice broke as I spoke. I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that.

With a wince, she dropped her forehead to touch mine. Royal blue encompassed my vision, “Cillian, we need those plans. You know that. We can’t afford not to take every advantage we have in this war.”

“We can find another-”

“There isn’t enough time, Cillian. Listen to me. When he comes through that door, I need you to take over. Tell him you’re taking over the interrogation until the war plans come in. If he continues, I won’t be conscious when- ”

Jerking away from her, I tripped over my own boots in horror, “Your asking me to torture you?”

Her eyelids slowly closed as she swallowed thickly, “If there was any other way I would never ask-”

“I’m not fucking torturing you, Macha.” I snapped, my heart beat picking up speed. “And I can’t believe I even have to fucking say that.”

“We won’t make it out of here if I’m unconscious, Cillian. I know you don’t want to do this and I’m sorry but you have to. There’s no other way.”

My hands began to shake as I shook my head violently, “Yes, there is. We could leave. I could snap Duncan’s neck as soon as he walks through that door. Fuck the plans, Macha. Don’t ask me to do this.”

“We cannot leave without the plans. I’ll be fine, Cillian. You won’t be doing anything that hasn’t been done to me before. I can take it.”

“But I can’t. I can’t do what you’re asking me to do, Macha. I can’t…I can’t have you hating me again.” My voice coming out a broken whisper at the reveal.

Bloody hair flew around her face as she shook her head viciously, “No. No, I could never hate you for this. This is my fault, we’re here because of my mistake. I’m the one who brought us to this point.”

“I can’t-”

“You can, Lilly. You can do it, just like I can take it. What happens in this room will have no effect on how I see you, I promise. We were born warriors, Lilly. This is what we do.” A sheen of moisture caused her eyes to glitter but the determination was clear as day. “And if it wasn’t me asking you to do this, you wouldn’t think twice. I need you to think as my Commander right now and not my mate, Lilly.”

With a burning in my eyes because I knew she was right, I stalked forward to cup her face once more. I needed her to reassure me. I needed to know that while this might kill me, it wouldn’t kill us. “If I do this, nothing changes.”

“If you do this, nothing changes.” She repeated, her gaze softening slightly as she shot me a weak grin. “Now give me a smile, Lilly. We’re about to pull off the heist of the fucking millennium.”

Despite the gut wrenching dread and self-disgust flooding through me, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief at her humor. Instead of a smile, I closed the distance between us and placed a soft kiss on her blood spotted lips. An apology in advance for what I would have to do in a few short moments. Macha pressed back firmly turning something bittersweet into a blaze of passion before I pulled away.

“We don’t ever do weak kisses, Lilly. That’s just not us.” She whispered in amusement.

And fuck it all, if this woman didn’t pull a smile out of me in the middle of our horrible situation.

The metallic clicks of the door opening had me taking fast steps backwards and burying the softer parts of my personality. Macha was right. She needed me to act as her Commander and not her mate. I told myself I needed to be clear and level headed to get us out of here and I had completely dismissed that when I saw her. Shit like that got people killed and I’d be damned before I caused her death. So I hardened myself against what was to come and faced the Specialist entering the room with a blank expression.

“Sorry I took so long, Commander. I thought I’d lost it.” He announced holding up the instrument.

My heart plummeted as I took in the coiled leather, Macha’s distracted voice floating through my mind, ’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.’

Swallowing I held out my hand, tensing the muscles of my arm so it wouldn’t shake, “I’ll be taking it from here, Specialist. Go inform the Generals that I want the war plans the second they’re done and then wait there until they are.”

Orange eyes flickered with hesitation, “I was ordered not to leave this room by Prince Daithí, Commander. But I can send one of the guards outside to do it.”

Fucking Daithí. Gritting my teeth, I snarled, “Then give me the whip and do that, Specialist.”

Handing it over reluctantly, he turned and stepped partially out into the hall to relay the orders.

Turning, I looked over at Macha to find her gaze locked on the whip in my hand. Her fingers flexed and strained against the cuffs binding her wrists, the intake of her breaths picking up speed. Her reaction was enough to feel like I was drowning in a sea of misery without a lifeline until her eyes lifted. Slowly, Macha’s fingers relaxed and her breathing evened out as she looked into my eyes and gave me a miniscule nod. Her gaze seemed to pierce my soul and I could almost hear her saying, ‘Nothing changes. I can take it.’

“Ready when you are, Commander. The war plans will be delivered here as soon as they’re finished. I was told that they were still deliberating on the placement of the last troop.”

Feeling sick to my stomach, I let the whip unravel until the metal spikes scraped against the concrete, “Where is your camp?”

Eyes roaming the room, she hummed, “I seem to have forgotten, Commander.”

“Where is the location of your camp?” I repeated, silently pleading with her to stop me before I had to use the whip.

Blue eyes focused on me and she laughed, “Edge of nowhere, right near the Fuck You tavern.”

Bile rose in my throat as I adjusted my sweaty grip on the whip, “If you cooperate things would go a lot easier for you. Where is your camp?”

“What camp?” She taunted but it was the look in her eyes that haunted me. She was readying herself for the lash.

Between one blink and the next, Macha hid her emotions behind an empty look of amusement. She was doing the same thing I was doing now. Tucking the softer parts of herself safely behind her harder edges. Without allowing myself time to think, I snapped my arm out and watched the edges of the whip tear into the skin of her calf. Self hatred hit me like a boulder when her jaw flexed and her hands gripped the chain she was hanging from tightly.

Blowing out a breath, she met my eyes and smiled, “I’m disappointed, Commander. That didn’t hurt at all.”

“How many soldiers do you command?” I gritted out, fighting the urge to drop the whip.

“Sixty five trillion.”

Stepping closer so my back was solidly in front of the Specialist, I let my blank expression disappear, “How many soldiers fill your ranks?”

“Twenty gazillion.”

Brows coming together, I clenched my jaw and lashed out with the whip once more. A growing sense of self loathing and hatred crashed over me as I watched the spikes rip the skin of her lower stomach. Her body jerked at the hit causing the chain to rattle as she shook her head and blinked hard. My hand fell to my side, I can’t do this. I can’t live with myself-

What looked like understanding flashed across her eyes quickly before she looked me up and down, “You knowwww, I would consider letting you fill my ranks, Commander.”

Dumbstruck, it took me several seconds to process the suggestive tone that clung to her words. Momentarily distracted from the internal wallowing in self hatred that I had been immersed in, I blurted, “Excuse me?”

“I mean, you are pretty easy on the eyes. And I bet you’d look fucking great tangled in the furs of my bed.” She shrugged, real amusement now sparking to life in her eyes.

Blinking, my grip on the whip went slack, “I-what are you doing?”

“It’s called flirting, Commander. It happens when a woman likes a man or woman and decides that she has to let them know.” Macha laughed.

Forgetting where we were, I snapped, “I know what flirting is, Macha.”

“Oh, good.” She purred. “Because I want to peel you out of your clothes like a chocolate bar….Respectfully though, you’re not a piece of meat. ”

With my mind short circuiting, I looked to the Specialist.

Looking equally confused, he shrugged, “Don’t look at me, Commander. I’ve never had a prisoner flirt with me in the middle of an interrogation before.”

“That’s because you look like something that crawled out of a Gnome’s ass, while the Commander looks like a wet dream. Or at least, he looks like my wet dream.”

Choking back a laugh at the deep scowl taking over the males features, I turned back to Macha.

The blue eye vixen shot me a wink before dramatically checking me out again, “Definitely, my wet dream. Tell me, Commander. Are you a boob guy? Cause while I might be a little flat on top, I more than make up for it in personality.”

I rose a brow in response because we both knew that she made up for it in a completely different way.

“Commander, maybe we should get back to the interrogation?”

Shaking free of the lightness Macha made of the situation, I fell back into reality, “What are your plans for the war?”

“I’m more concerned with your plans after the war, Commander. Cause if they’re not with me, I might start another one.”

Biting my lip to hide my amusement as her words washed away my negative feelings, I asked, “What are the positions of your troops?”

Blue eyes hooded, “My favorite position, you ask? Well, I’m partial to doggy but I love to ride. Especially, if my saddle looks like you. ”

“Commander,” The orange haired male at my back stressed. “I understand you’re new at using this whip but perhaps if you used it properly it would get some answers. Strike her so it wraps around her flesh.”

Before the feeling of dread and self disgust could consume me, Macha flicked her eyes upwards before rolling them in a smooth motion. I would have dismissed it as an eyeroll except she did it again and lingered on her right wrist. Was she-was she telling me where to lash her? Taking a chance, I ignored the rolling in my gut and cracked the whip towards her forearms. The whip wrapped from her right elbow to her wrist, the spikes of the whip drilling into her flesh. Her fingers spasmed from the pain as her eyes squeezed shut and her body tensed. Feeling like the realms shittiest mate, I yanked back on the whip and watched the spikes tear free of her arm.

Blood rained down from her forearm to her shoulder, the sight of the damage I caused forming a lump in my throat. Reluctantly I pulled my gaze from her bleeding wrist, expecting to see hatred in her eyes. However, what I found wasn’t hatred at all. Excitement and pride peeked through her eyes and I was certain that I would never truly understand Macha. No matter how long we lived, I had no doubt that her thought process would cause my heart to speed and my mind to ache.

Trying to hide my bewilderment, I barked, “Give us the names of the Unseelie that have sided with you.”

Her blue eyes narrowed skeptically, “Names of the Unseelie that have laid with me? I don’t know, Commander. You seem like the jealous type. Wouldn’t want you going on a killing spree and getting in trouble with Queen Bitch.”

“How dare you insult-” The Specialist’s rant was cut off by a loud banging on the door.

Tightening my grip on the whip, I turned to the door and nodded at the male.

Taking my cue, he shut his mouth and walked over to open the door. Pushing a tan arm into the small opening he created, he muttered something to the person on the other side before pulling back and closing the door. Relief surged through me at the sight of a map sized paper rolled up and held in his left hand.

“Commander, here are the war plans you’ve been waiting for.”

Snatching it from his grip, I gave him half my attention as I unrolled it to double check. Hanging the whip off my left forearm, I devoured the map with my eyes.

“If you want to get those to Mab, I can take over the interrogation for yo-”

The end of his sentence disappeared into a gurgle as the end of the whip curled around his throat, the spikes piercing his neck. With a hard snap of my arm, I yanked the whip backwards and watched his body spin from the force before dropping. A low whistle filled the room causing me to look back over at the confusing God hanging from the ceiling.

“Thank Divines, you’re on my side. Because the force that you just used, behind the hits you gave me would’ve hurt.”

Dropping the whip like it was on fire, I rushed to her side, “Are you okay, Cell Bait? How badly did I hurt you?”

“Like scratches from a kitty, Lilly.” She snorted. “You could’ve hit me a bit harder to really sell it.”

Blanching at the thought, I snapped, “Don’t joke about me hurting you. It’s not funny and I’m never doing that shit again. No matter the situation.”

“I know, Lilly. I’m sorry. But honestly don’t give it another thought, alright? If it makes you feel better, that iron spike to the chest you gave me all those years ago hurt ten times more than the hits you just landed.” She replied, blue eyes shining with sincerity.

As odd and unusual as it sounded, that really did help to dissolve some of the thick layers of self disgust that covered my mind. Tucking the war plans underneath my right arm, I raised my hands to hover over her bruised and bloody body, “That actually does help, Cell Bait. It shouldn’t but it does.”

“What are you doing?” She asked, a tired mirth lilting her tone.

Brows furrowing, I distractedly answered, “I’m trying to figure out how to get you down without hurting you further.”

Macha scoffed, “Go guard the door.”

“But how are-”

“Guard the door, please.”

Muttering under my breath, I stomped over to the door and leaned my back against it to see how the hell she thought she was going to get down. “Let me know when you want my help.”

She shot me a grin, “Aw, Lilly. You should know by now that I don’t need rescuing.”

Arching a brow, I watched as she pushed up on her toes and gripped the chain above her with both hands. Taking a deep breath, Macha flexed her flat stomach and drew her legs up to her chest with a wince. The muscles in her shoulders and legs tensed as she continued to lift them. When they were side by side with the chain, Macha released a muffled sob of pain that had me pushing off the door in concern.

“I’m fine, Lilly.” She gritted out, wrapping her right leg tightly around the chain and taking the pressure off the wounds underneath her collar bones. Wounds that I could now see, went completely through her chest to her back. “I’m really glad you caught onto my look otherwise this would have been a bitch.”

Flicking my eyes back down to her hands, I immediately snarled, “I knew you had something in your wrist. Divines dammit, Macha.”

“No, you didn’t.” She said, fiddling with the thin blue needle and the cuffs.

Narrowing my eyes, I snapped, “I asked you when I bit you, if you had something in your wrist. You lied.”

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t lie. You asked if I had something in my wrist. You never asked if I had a piece of metal in my wrist.”

“Macha.”

The cuffs fell from her wrists as she replied, “It’s not my fault you forgot to be specific, Lilly. I answered your question honestly. You can’t get mad that I out-Faed you.”

“You did not out-Fae me.” I spat, defensively.

Hands white knuckling the chain, she slowly began to lower her legs back towards the floor, “Someone’s getting defffensssive.”

I jolted forward as her feet suddenly hit the ground with a slap and her legs trembled. Sliding an arm carefully around her waist, I took on the majority of her weight as she slumped against me. Taking it slow, I began hauling her over to the door with the war plans still tucked securely underneath my other arm.

“Wait-wait, where are my swords? My metal?” She panted, head swiveling to look around.

“I don’t know and we don’t have time to look.”

Giving a bone deep sigh, she ordered, “Fine but don’t you dare forget your axe.”

Grumbling, I stopped us so I could grab it and handed it to her to carry before moving us closer to the door. A few inches from the handle, I looked down at her and whispered, “Hold on tight alright? As soon as we’re over the threshold, I’m going to travel us.”

After receiving a slow nod, I tightened my hold on her as my worry started to increase. She looked like she was seconds from passing out and I knew she was clinging onto consciousness by sheer will alone. Anybody else in her position would have succumbed to the relief that being unconscious offered. Hell, even I don’t think I could’ve held out this long. Not with two iron inflicted injuries and everything else she endured.

Gripping the handle of the iron door, I flung it open and quickly stepped out into the hall.

“Commander? Commander, what’s going on?”

“Commander, what are you doing with the prisoner?”

“Commander!”

Yanking Macha over the doorway, I closed my eyes a second after the ground fell out from under us and the shouted questions faded away.

——————————————————————————

I’ve been planning to write this scene since I wrote the prologue. It felt so good finally putting it down on paper! The original plan for this scene was for it to be dark, emotionally damaging, and painful. I was planning to make y’all BAWL, lmao. And I started off that way but then I realized that, serious isn’t Macha’s style. This felt more in tune with who my characters were. But if I wrote this correctly, hopefully this was humorous while still being intense.

Btw, who would be down to see Ryan and Cillian have a convo about their feelings? Cause I, for one, would love to see how that’s going to work. Lmao.

Please feel free to share you thoughts about this chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Three: Find Her

I must have blacked out at some point because one minute I was staring at the iron door of the interrogation room and the next I was surrounded by tents. Grunting as my knees gave out without warning, I blinked rapidly to bring my surroundings into focus. The camp. I was at the camp. We’re safe. I could relax. Soldiers in blue rushed towards us as Lilly gave a curse and hauled me up into his arms. The position caused my vision to swim from the way the wounds in my chest squeezed together and his arm pressed against them.

Divines, I’d almost prefer dying at this point. I thought, my mouth felt like a desert and the constant agony had my stomach rolling.

Inhaling deeply, I mentally tried to push the pain away as my internal temperature flashed from hot to cold and back again. This was bad. Very, very bad. Those fucking idiots left the iron inside of me for too long, the iron had seeped into my blood. Unless of course that was the plan…in that case they were brilliant. It wouldn’t kill me but it would make me extremely sick and weak until it faded from my system. But that could take months that we didn’t have and the wounds I was suffering from would definitely kill me first.

Choking back the need to hack up whatever was climbing up my throat, I sighed in relief as I was laid on something soft and stationary. Blinking heavily up at the grayish blue ceiling of my tent that I could have sworn was royal blue at one point, a dull buzzing filled my ears. My brows twitched but I was more concerned with the gurgling sound coming from my throat. Rolled to my side quickly, my vision was filled with black leather boots and a cream carpet that got soaked in what I think were the remains of my turnip sandwich.

A muffled sound came again as I was carefully turned onto my back once more. Something cool was placed on my forehead and I inhaled sharply at the momentary relief it brought me. Shivers racked my overheated body but the relief was enough to bring things back into focus.

“Macha, can you hear me? I’ve called the healer, she’s on her way. You’re going to be okay. Stay with me alright? Keep your eyes open.”

Letting my head flop to the side, I stared into pools of silver and worked hard to make my mouth move, “She can’t…help me.”

“Don’t say that. She’s a very respected healer, she’ll fix you right up. And then I can yell at you for getting hurt.” Cillian snapped, squeezing my limp hand tightly.

I wanted to laugh but I barely had the energy to stay conscious and telling him how to keep me from dying was more important. Licking my lips, I rasped, “It’s-It’s iron exposure.”

The fear that I had seen in his eyes earlier, that caused me more pain than the iron inflicted injuries had, returned. Like me, he knew what it meant. Iron exposure couldn’t be treated, the only thing the healer could do was make me comfortable as it ran its course. A course that would last for Divines only knew how long while my injuries killed me before then.

“I shouldn’t have traveled you. It sped up the process.” Cillian growled, the self directed anger obvious from the way he glared down at the furs. “How didn’t I notice? I should have noticed.”

“Stop.” I admonished him, my eyes sliding over the sharp planes of his face. “I hid it until now. I can re-relax here.”

Instead of giving him comfort, my words caused his silver brows to furrow deeply and his full lips to thin, “You mean you feel comfortable enough to die here. You’re going to make me watch you die again.”

“No. Not if you do what I tell you to.” I rushed out on a shiver, suddenly freezing.

Raw hope flooded his gaze, “What? What do you need me to do?”

Teeth clattering, I snapped them together as the room swirled, “Find her.”

“Find who?”

“My ex…collect…deal…talk to Dani…she knows.” I bit out before my vision went from gray to black as I succumbed to the pain. But the nothingness didn’t last long because my eyes opened seconds later to find blazing dark blue eyes drilling into my soul.

Pushing up onto my elbows, I gave him a slow look over, “Sooooo….I’m sensing a lot of hostility.”

“Really? How fucking observant of you.” He snarled.

With a sigh, I got to my feet and looked down at the realm’s beauty before looking at the raging Divine, “Is this going to be regular thing because-”

“I have never in my entire life seen a Fae with so little regard for their own life!” He roared, blue locks bouncing on his head with the force. “The amount of life threatening situations you mange to get yourself into, is fucking astounding! You don’t even have a good reason for all of the shit you get into either! First, it was the death deal! And I can’t even begin to describe how completely batshit insane that decision was! Even I wouldn’t do that! ME! And now, that one woman war army bullshit you just pulled-”

“You helped me!” I shouted in disbelief. Why the fuck was he so angry?

The vein in his neck throbbed concerningly as his eyes glowed brighter and Malachy screamed, “That’s not the fucking point! You could have gotten yourself killed, for good this time! They weren’t fucking around with those iron grappling hooks, Macha! For Divines sake, who fucking raised you?”

“No one, you insufferable twat!”

His chest heaved as he blinked at the remembrance, “Right.” Visibly relaxing, Malachy lifted his chin and straightened his shoulders, “That changes now then. I’ve watched you your entire life-”

“Cause that’s not creepy as fuck.” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shot me nasty glare, “So I’m going to repeat every lecture you never heard me scream at you as I watched you do something stupid. Let’s begin with-”

Dropping my arms, I stepped forward, “Wait a minute, I’m almost three thousand years old! You can’t lecture me on-

“The day you left my nut sack was the day I gained the irrefutable right to lecture you no matter how fucking grown you think you are. So sit your ass down and listen.” And the motherfucker actually had the gall to point at the floor.

Raising my chin, we stared each other down until he took a step forward and my ass hit the floor quickly. Not because he intimidated me or because I really wasn’t sure who’d win in a fight, “I’m sitting because my feet hurt. Not because you told me to.”

He snorted rudely before slapping his hands together, “As I was saying let’s start with the day you said your first cuss word because that’s where I think everything started going down hill.”

Wrinkling my nose, I snarked, “Oh? It wasn’t the day I left your deranged nut sack?”

Ignoring me, he continued, “That absolutely horrendous fucking potty mouth of yours has gotten you into more trouble than I can count-”

“My potty mouth?” I blurted out, completely bewildered.

“And it all started with that shitty guard you had when you were four hundred. The blame is equally on him but you should have known better than that, Macha!” Malachy stated, working himself up again. “I mean, you knew it was a bad phrase. And I know you knew that it was becuase you grinned like a fucking little shit after you said it! You made that poor maid cry! What kind of child does that? What the hell were you thinking! ”

Recalling the memory and the anger that came with it, I snapped, “That she shouldn’t have taken my fucking Choco Blast!”

And there went that vein in his neck again, “That doesn’t mean you can call her a CUNTY SLAG!”

“Well, if the shoe FUCKING FITS!”

…………………..

Cillian’s P.O.V.

The second her pretty blue eyes rolled to the back of her head, I leaped to my feet and pressed two fingers against the side of her throat. My shoulder slumped in relief when her pulse pushed back against my fingers. It was faint and irregular but it told me my stubborn mate was holding on. Her brows twitched and her mouth pulled down into a frown as if she could still feel the pain.

With a pinch in my chest, I brushed the bloody hair from her face and whispered, “If you’re not alive when I come back, I’m going to yank your ass back down from the stars. Do you hear me, Cell Bait? You don’t have permission to die.”

Giving her a hard look to get my point across that she didn’t see, I turned and tucked the war plans inside her desk before leaving. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting Macha’s ex but I’d meet them all if it meant saving her life. Those wounds were too severe to survive on top of going through iron exposure. So if I had to put my jealousy aside, I would. I didn’t have to like it or be corgel but if need be, I had no qualms about dragging Macha’s ex here kicking and screaming. A small petty part of me wanted her to be difficult about it.

I was out of all emotions except for rage, the fear of losing her having lost its hold moments after I watched her eyes roll back. This was the second time Macha was dealt a killing blow on my watch and I was fucking pissed. She didn’t need me to rescue her but I could at least make sure she never needed to rescue herself ever again. I felt helpless in that interrogation room and I didn’t do helpless. It wasn’t me. I was still a cold angry bastard despite my emerging emotions and I needed to express these emotions I felt earlier the best way I knew how. Violently.

Shoving the flap of the tent out of my way, I stalked forward a few paces before turning to face Macha’s personal guards. The entire unit that took shifts guarding Macha’s quarters day and night were stationed every two feet around the large royal blue tent. The four in front faced me, their weapons drawn and hanging loosely at their sides. Colored eyes scanned the crowd before all four pairs pinned themselves to me, their spines straightening further.

Scowling, I barked, “No one besides me, the healer, Dani and Puck get past you to the Queen. No one. If they do, it’ll be your heads rolling. Do you understand me?”

Shouted ‘Yes, Commander.’s rang loud and clear from the men and women.

“Pass the order down the line.”

Not wasting another second, I started towards my tent to quickly change my tunic when I caught sight of the Fae that I needed. Puck, Dani and the healer came rushing around a white tent looking frantic and out of breath. Pausing in the middle of their path, I watched them approach and picked up my axe that laid forgotten a few steps to the left. As soon as we appeared in the middle of the camp Ihad started shouting orders and trying to get Macha inside her tent quickly, so I hadn’t noticed when she dropped it.

“Cillian, how is she? How bad is it? I heard some Fae say she was unconscious, is that true?” Dani shot off the questions at a rapid fire speed, bright pink eyes wide in concern.

Instead of answering, I fixed my gaze on the older Fae with long light pink hair streaked with gray carrying a black bag, “Healer Eabha, the Queen is lying unconscious in her bed. It’s iron exposure along with multiple injuries so make her comfortable until we return. If she isn’t alive when we get back, you’ll join her on a pyre, understood?”

The older woman didn’t look the least bit offended, “Of course, Commander. As it should be.”

Without another word, she walked past me and into the tent as I gave the others my undivided attention.

“It’s iron exposure?” Dani croaked, snapping a hand out and creating a cyclone of wind around us.

I nodded gravely, “The wounds will kill her before she gets over the exposure. Puck, can you fight?”

“I’m a Prince, Commander. I might not like to but I can.” The golden eyed boy responded, his voice holding none of it’s usual happiness.

“Good. Get in there and watch the healer. Question everything she gives Macha and stay vigilant. Anyone besides the three of us and the healer enter? Kill them. ”

“Understood.”

Dani dropped the barrier of wind for him to leave before it snapped back up around us, “Do you think she’ll pull through? I can’t imagine Macha dying for good. It’d be like…well like a God dying.”

I bristled at the reminder of what could happen and eyed her vulnerable expression, “She’s not going to die. Before she fell unconscious she told me that to save her life I needed to collect on a deal. But I don’t understand how it’s going to help.”

“What deal?” She urged, frantically. “Tell me exactly what she said.”

“She said to find her ex and collect on the deal for her. To talk to you, that you’d understand.”

Dani’s sharp features twisted darkly, “Are you sure that’s what she said?”

“Positive.” I replied, slightly unsettled to see anything other than a lighthearted or neutral expression on her face.

“Fuck. There’s only one ex Macha’s ever done a deal with.”

“Who was it?”

Tucking a piece of wayward black and pink hair behind her ear, she scowled, “I’ll explain on the way. I want to check on Macha real quick, let’s meet back here in two minutes.”

“You know where to find her then?”

Something dark briefly passed through her eyes, “Yeah, I know where she is. I’ve been keeping tabs on her ever since they split. In case, she ever thought it’d be a good idea to reconnect with Macha.”

The wind faded away with her last sentence and she walked briskly towards Macha’s tent without another word.

Continuing the short way to my own tent, I pushed the entrance to the side and stomped over to the chest at the end of the bed. Dani’s tone of voice and the look I caught in her eyes told me that she’d kill Macha’s ex before allowing her back into her best friend’s life. But from what Macha told me, Dani’s hostility didn’t make sense. Macha had said they ended it mutually when it’d gotten ugly, there had even been a fondness in her tone that had irritated me.

Pulling out a black tunic with a blue C embroidered over the heart, I quickly swapped out my tunic. There was probably more to their relationship then what Macha had told me and I hadn’t cared enough to to find out. So I doubted that I would like whatever Dani was going to tell me about the woman, much less the woman herself. No, I knew I wouldn’t like the woman. And I was already hoping she’d give me a reason to threaten her. I’d feel like an irrational jealous asshole if I wasn’t sure that if the roles were reversed, Macha would be thinking the same.

A warm smile tipped my lips as I slid on my sheath to rest against my back, Except she wouldn’t look for a reason. She’d just do it.

I pushed the warm thought away as it brought a pain to my chest when I remembered that she was lying unconscious a few tents away. Sliding the axe into the holder, I left the tents with firm steps that led me back to where Dani was waiting for me. Her features were drawn together in expression of worry as her right foot tapped excessively.

“She doesn’t look good, Cillian. She looks pale. Macha’s never been pale.”

Stopping beside her, I held my elbow out for her to take, “I know. So, let’s go collect on that deal and get her back to normal.”

Nodding, Dani hooked her arm in mine, “Divines, I never thought I’d have to see this bitch again.”

Before I could prompt her to explain what we’d be walking into, a prim voice called out to me. Scowling, I turned my head to see a woman with dark red hair marked through with baby blue rushing towards us. Her tunic hung slightly on her slender form and my eyes caught the blue S.C. embroidered in the black material. This must have been the woman Macha put in charge in our absence and my fathers betrayal. An old advisor that Macha trusted enough that only four soldiers secretly watched the woman’s every move and reported it back to her.

Dark red eyes bounced between us as she reached us, “How’s the Queen?”

“Lugh, She’s-”

I cut Dani off with a clipped, “Recovering.”

“I see.” The woman replied slowly, dark eyes searching my own. “That news will do well to sooth the Queen’s people. I’ll make sure to spread the word after I visit with the Queen.”

Raising a hand, I blocked the woman’s attempt to move towards the tent, “The Queen isn’t taking visitors today.”

“I am the Queen’s trusted advisor, surely-”

“As I said, the Queen is not taking visitors today.” I repeated. “If you’d like to be useful, tell everyone that the Queen apologizes for scaring them but that she is making a quick recovery.”

There was a heavy moment where we locked eyes until the woman nodded, “Understood, Commander. May the Divines guide your journey.”

Sliding my eyes to Dani she took the hint and tightened her arm in mine before the realm dropped out beneath us. An endless abyss of darkness greeted me with the disorienting sensation of weightlessness and the ignorance of time. I was silent for a few minutes until our feet briefly touched down and the darkness swallowed us whole once more.

“Explain.”

Dani shifted, the skin of our arms rubbing together, “Nimue Meagher, Macha’s ex, is a less than legal sugar merchant. Basically she’s a pirate that docks regularly at the port in Deireadh Aillte with her crew.”

“So she sells more than sugar?”

“No but sugar is distributed in controlled quantities regulated by the Kingdoms. Sure, an individual Fae can smuggle it in without anyone being the wiser but Nimue’s sugar is special. She thickens it into a pure paste that can be smoked or eaten.”

“That’s not something new.” I pointed out, mildly confused.

Our feet hit the ground again before Dani replied, “It is when she has a recipe that mixes the highly unpredictable Pixies ambrosia with human manufactured sugar. Her product is one of a kind and Nimue corners her market viciously. ”

My brows rose, unwillingly impressed, “How? You’d have to be insane to come up with that idea, let alone try it out. Ambrosia is just as likely to blow up in your face as it is to get you high and human products react unpredictably with Fae resources.”

“I’ll give you one guess as to who gave her the recipe.”

“Macha.” I shouldn’t have been surprised by the news. It seemed my mate had an affinity for creating things that she wasn’t supposed to, like the chocolate wine.

Dani laughed, “Yeah. A bored Macha turns into Mad Scientist Macha.”

“Noted. So I’m guessing that was the deal then? Macha gave Nimue the recipe in return for a favor to be determined at a later date?”

“Yes and no.” She replied. “You see, Nimue was always terrified of dying but loved her dangerous lifestyle. So in her spare time she trained in every type of combat she could. She also researched and found ways to prevent or cure almost every type of poison possible. Macha knew this obviously, so in return for the recipe she demanded a prevention or a cure of her choosing to be determined at a later date. Macha also threw in her regular tricky wording that would allow her to change what she got out of the deal, just in case.”

I grinned at Macha’s foresight, “Divines. That woman is fucking genius with deals, isn’t she? So if there’s any way to cure iron exposure…”

“I’d bet your weight in gold that Nimue knows how.”

My boots hit the ground for the fifth time, the surface slightly shifting beneath me. The smell of sea salt and seasoned fish rode the sharp breeze that tickled the shaved sides of my scalp. Dani released her hold on my arm and stepped back as our vision returned to expose the port. We landed at the shoreline with sea foam licking our boots, a fair distance away from the brightly lit tavern. Jagged cliffs curved widely around the short dock that held the tavern at the end and the small beach it sat on.

The deep crescent shape of the port made it impossible to see how many ships or who’s ships were docked from the outside. Dotting the sea, their anchors kept them stationed securely about five miles out while their inhabitants rowed into port. The drunken yells and laughter flowing out of the tavern along with the rowboats rocking against the docks legs, left no doubt as to where they rowed to.

Colorful flags with various designs topped the ships, rippling in the wind and declaring their owners. Quite a few belonged to well known pirates throughout the realm while the others were harder to place. Falling into step beside Dani, I kept my eyes on the ships as we walked towards the tavern. A blue flag crowning the ship at the very end stole my attention and I slowed to look at it fully. The muscles in my shoulders pulled tight the longer I stared at it, not because it was blue. But because it was the exact same shade as Macha’s Fae coloring down to the same shiny tint with a lime green dagger printed on it.

“Let’s get this over with.” I spit, speeding up my pace.

Jogging slightly to catch up, Dani bounded up the stairs of the dock, “Agreed. Who knows how much time Macha has and I don’t care to be around Nimue longer than need be.”

“Macha told me they ended things amicably before it got worse between them.” I gently pried as the wooden slats creaked beneath our weight. So despite the angry urging inside me to speed this along, apparently I wasn’t above prying.

Dani snorted, “Yeah, I guess for them it was amicable. I was overjoyed when it happened. Nimue brought out the worst in Macha in a bad way. Always getting into shit and having Macha bail her out when she couldn’t finish what she started. Bitch was always jealous of the way that people feared and loved Macha in equal parts. She wasn’t good for her, not like you are.”

“Me?”

“Yea.” She said, looking up at me with a smile. “You give Macha balance, Cillian. It may not seem like it but I’ve never seen her this rational and content. She’s genuinely happy with you.”

I fought down a ridiculous need to smile at the news and rubbed at my mouth in an effort to hide it.

The rickety door of the tavern flung open under the force of a man stumbling out. Criss crossing on his legs, a roar of laughter followed him out from the light inside as he gripped the railing of the dock and hurled up the contents of his gut. Scowling, I followed Dani’s lead and side stepped him to continue to the door.

“Oy! Lass!” The drunken sailor suddenly barked, causing us to turn. “Your pink, I’m pink, let’s blend.”

As the man laughed loudly at his own pick up line, Dani raised a pink brow and then smiled.

I watched intrigued as she walked up to the man and then suddenly grabbed him by the frizzy fuchsia roots of his hair. Still smiling pleasantly, she rammed her head against his before swiping his legs out from underneath him and sending a hard kick to his gut. The man rolled off the dock and into the water with a slash while Dani slapped her hands together.

“I’m suddenly realizing why you and Macha are best friends.”

Laughing, she walked back over to me, “Everyone doesn’t get it at first until someone irritates me. Macha gets more pleasure out of doing things like that though, so I let her do it.”

I nodded in understanding and then swiveled on my heels to face the door, “You ready?”

“Oh, yeah. I hope she makes this difficult, I’ve been salivating at the chance to kick this bitch’s ass.”

“Funny,” I replied, lips kicking up at the corner as I gripped the handle of the door. “I was hoping for the same thing.”

——————————————————————————

It’s motherfucking Dani and Cillian adventure y’all! I did not see this happening but here it is! I’m excited, I hope y’all are too! It’ll be interesting to see how they play off of each other! And what about Macha’s toxic ass ex Nimue, hmmm? See there was a reason why mentions of her were sprinkled through the book! Okay, lmao. Show of hands, who’s actually surprised that Macha’s ex is a drug dealing pirate? Or that Macha got bored and created a new drug?

Get ready to meet The Ex in the next chapter. Annnnd…drum roll please…the main character for next book will be revealed!

As always, share your thoughts if you wish! Silent readers, I appreciate you!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Four: Captain Cunt

~Cillian’s P.O.V.~

Heat and warm orange tinted light poured out of the tavern as I pulled the door open for Dani. Looking over her head, I wasn’t at all surprised at the inside of the tavern despite having never been here before. Torches and metal chandeliers lined with candles, lit the large open styled room. Round wooden tables jammed packed with Faekind were spread evenly throughout the tavern. Windows spanning the back wall gave the customers a nice scenic view of the sea except everyone was much more interested in seeing the bottom of their sugared ales. Stains from alcohol, blood and who knew what else covered the floor making it sticky to walk on.

A long bar with three Fae serving the rowdy patrons took up the wall beside the door with a small crowd around it. The rest of the tavern was almost standing room only, except for the middle of the room that was given a wide berth. There was a good sized circle cut into the floor that revealed the lapping waves of the sea underneath. Sirens, Water Nymphs and Mermaids along with their male counterparts sat on seats hidden from view. They chattered away with one another ignoring the drunken leers and hooded looks at their half naked forms. Old sailing songs were sung off key by the pirates with liquid sloshing over their cups as they danced to the tune.

“What’s this place called again?” I called over the noise to Dani as she helped right a female that stumbled into her.

Tossing me an amused smirk over her shoulder, she responded dryly, “The Sea Slut.”

Amusement rolled over me at the name but I didn’t let it linger, “Do you see her?”

Pushing up on her toes, Dani’s head slowly turned from left to right as she looked. Jerking to a stop, she stared for a long moment before calling out, “Back left corner, half hidden in the shadows. The woman with neon green hair.”

Following her directions, I flicked my eyes from Fae to Fae sitting at the crowded table until I saw her. Messy bright green hair cut at the shoulders, with bangs that covered her forehead, framed a golden face. Sharp features gave her haircut a severe look which was only dramatized by the black lipstick she wore. Black lacy fabric covered her left eye making her one bright green eye seem brighter. The black coat lined with gold buttons she wore, covering the dark green bustier that forced her ample breasts into eyesight, stretched as she threw her arm around the bronze haired female next to her.

“So, that’s Nimue.” I muttered, watching her laugh heartily and take a deep drink of ale. She wasn’t nearly as attractive as I thought she’d be. Macha’s taste clearly improved over the years. I couldn’t imagine her spending fifty years with such an average looking Fae.

Dani’s jaw tightened, “Unfortunately.”

“Has she always-”

“Dressed like a slutty pirate? Yes.” She snarked, cutting me off.

I glanced down at her, “I was going to ask if she’s always been a heavy drinker.” There were at least twenty mugs and a large pitcher cluttering the table of six.

“Oh. Yea, that too. Our Divine drank a lot when they were together. Adding to the long list of reasons why I’d kill her before I’d ever let Macha get back with her. ”

Shaking my head in disapproval, I looked back at Nimue’s table in time to see her whispering into the female’s ear before practically chewing it.

“Come on.”

I nodded sharply, a scowl taking over my features as we walked, “I’m a little surprised at Macha’s choice in women.”

“How so?”

I repeated my thoughts from earlier.

A sharp bark of laughter shook Dani’s body as she twisted to grin up at me, “You think Nimue’s average? I hate the toxic bitch but even I can see why she’s called the Gem of the Sea.”

“I don’t.” I shrugged.

Dani’s grin got wider and she patted my shoulder, “You’re reminding me of me when I met Calvin’s ex, who doubled as his muse at the time. I love it. Love the energy. This is going to be so much fun. ” Giving her head a little shake, she started walking again only to stop again and look at me with pink eyes clouded in guilt, “Is it wrong that we want this to go down badly rather than quickly?”

“We’re Unseelie, Dani. Macha wouldn’t want us to act any other way.” I reassured her. “Besides, we can do both.” As in, if she refused to help, I’d yank Nimue’s teeth out one by one.

The guilt disappeared to be replaced with a wicked glint, “Your right. Let’s make our girl proud.”

Dani strode through the crowd with more confidence than before, shoving past without a care. The sound of splashing water caused the noise in the tavern to increase as sailors cheered on the fighting aquatic Faekind. Nimue pulled her head from the woman’s neck to look up and grin at the chaos the pirates were causing. Her hand dipped underneath the table and then silver pieces went flying into the middle of the crowd with a laugh that flashed white teeth. That one bright green eye slid over the rowdy patrons, skipping right over me and Dani before doubling back to her.

Green brows slid together as she looked at the short woman in confusion before recognition flooded her eye. Jerking up right, Nimue quickly pulled away from the female at her side and started to scan the area around us. Searching. The knowledge of who she was looking for had my body going rigid. If the color of her ship’s flag wasn’t enough, her reaction to seeing Dani was all I needed. While it might have ended civilly between them, Nimue was obviously holding onto the hope that Macha would come back to her.

When she didn’t find her, she turned back to watching Dani approach with a less than enthused expression. The female at her side pinged her bronze eyes between the two women, a scowl crawling over her face. Wrong woman to be jealous of. My mate is the one your bed partner was hoping to see, I thought with a sneer. It was childish for someone my age to be so against meeting my mates ex. I knew that. But I couldn’t help the way I acted, Macha wasn’t just my mate. She was vibrant and impulsive with an addicting personality. Larger than life, she made whoever she was talking to feel special and alive.

It was the perfect personality for a Queen and a God, she drew people to her without trying. And I was deeply irritated at the Fae who had managed to snag her attention enough to be called hers. No matter how short or long that time was, it pissed me off. I was just as much hers as she was mine. These people from her past were unworthy of the time she spent with them. They didn’t deserve to know her intimately. Nimue, from the sound of it, definitely didn’t deserve to.

A slow malicious smile curved Nimue’s black stained lips as we stopped in front of her, “Dead Weight.”

“Captain Cunt.” Dani replied instantly, her tone even but the insult still drew the gaze of everyone around the table.

Her one bright green eye flicked to me before dismissing me just as quickly, “The last person who talked to me like that found their end on my sword. ”

“And I’m sure you drove it straight through their back. That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”

Nimue’s eyes narrowed, her smile slipping an inch, “Don’t forget who runs this side of the sea, Dead Weight. It’d be a shame to see you go missing.”

Dani aggressively stepped up to the table, “That a threat, Bitch? Cause we both know you don’t have the ovaries to go through with it.”

“Big words for a woman who doesn’t carry a weapon.”

“A lot shit talking for a woman who needs someone else to handle her shit.”

The crowd around the table seemed to slip away as the tension increased between the females. While they were locked in a stare down, I stepped up beside Dani and grabbed the back of the chair in front of me. The Fae sitting down turned to yell, mouth already open but took one look at me and vacated the chair. Nimue’s pirates closed in on the area behind her, giving me hard looks as the ones sitting grew still.

Flipping it around, I straddled the chair and stared at the messy haired female. Arms loosely crossed over the top, I cocked my head and tried to see what Macha had seen in her.

Nimue’s shoulders tensed up under my gaze but she didn’t look away from Dani’s eyes, “Does Blue know you’re here? Cause I think she’d find it very interesting that her useless best friend is suddenly hanging out with Mab’s Commander. ”

Blue? Blue? Ugh, How uninspired.

“What makes you think she doesn’t know? Look at his tunic.” The smugness coating Dani’s tone was almost tangible.

I leaned back so the royal blue C over my heart was visible and couldn’t help but smirk at the look on her face. She held out for a few seconds but when she finally looked her green eye widened before narrowing. Sitting up from her slouched position, Nimue’s eye jumped from the C to my face with a skeptical expression.

“Bullshit.” She snapped. “I heard what you did to her. Blue would never forgive you for that.”

“And yet, here I am. Commander of her army. ”

“I wonder what that could mean,” Dani mused aloud. “That Macha could forgive Cillian for everything he did to her…But not, You.”

Wicked amusement coursed through me at the hatred sparking to life in her bright green eye. The envy and jealousy clear to see, so I wasn’t surprised when she barked, “Get the fuck out of my tavern.”

“No.”

The brow above her lacy eye patch arched and she slowly got to her unimpressive height of 5’7, “That wasn’t a request. It was an order.”

Her crew closed in around us, swords drawn but I kept my eyes on her, “You owe a debt, Nimue. And we’re not leaving until you pay it.”

“If our Captain doesn’t want to-”

“It’s a deal with Macha O’Riordan.” I cut off the black haired pirate who interrupted.

And just like that, her crew abandoned her. I knew I gave her shit for having an infamous reputation but I don’t think it’ll ever not amaze me that just the mention of her name cleared a room. Mab’s name had the same effect but these Fae left in respect and fear of Macha. There wasn’t a Fae alive who heard of her and wouldn’t respect the way she crafted a deal. But they also knew that if you were crazy enough to do a deal with her then you were on your own.

Shaggy neon green hair bounced as she shook her head angrily, “If she wants to collect on our deal, tell Blue she can come do it in person. Not this third party shit.”

“Are you refusing to fulfill your side of the deal?”

Hesitation filled her eye.

Dani grinned, “Still a little bitch, then. Nice to see some things don’t change.”

Nimue’s confidence came back at Dani’s taunt and spat, “I refuse. You don’t hold the deal so-”

Her voice cut off suddenly as she began to heave and convulse. Jerking violently in her chair, Nimue’s green eye rolled back and white foam began coming from her mouth. Gurgling and choking sounds came from her straining throat as her hands gripped the edge of the table tightly.

I glanced at Dani when she started laughing, “What’s happening to her?”

“The bitch is overdosing on her own product. Macha told her if she ever refused the deal then her recipe would take its revenge. I didn’t realize this is what she meant but fuck if I don’t love her sense of irony.”

The feeling in my chest that I couldn’t put a name too when it came to Macha flooded my system. It seeped into my bones and I couldn’t help but smile because it was her pure evil genius that was causing it at the moment. Her wicked mind was probably the sexiest thing about her right after the way she inflicted violence without thinking twice. Nimue’s body going slack brought me back into the present and the urgency of our situation.

Standing, I rounded the table to grab Nimue’s arm before looking at Dani, “Grab her other arm.”

Coming to her other side, we hefted the pirate captain out of her chair and through the crowd. A few Fae seemed to start towards us in concern but stopped when someone whispered in their ear or pulled them back. Nimue hung limply between us, her boots scraping the wooden slats of the dock as we carried her to shore. The rocky surface of the beach shifted underneath us as we stepped off the last step of the dock. Releasing my hold on her arm, I watched as her body crumpled to the ground causing her head to smack off the dock steps.

Catching sight of the blood sliding down her temple, I glanced at Dani, “Oops.”

“I’m suddenly realizing why you and Macha are mates.” She grinned, twisting my words from earlier.

Moaning abruptly, Nimue shakily pushed herself up onto her arms and panted, “I’ll fucking kill you both.”

“Are you still refusing to fulfill the deal?” I asked.

Pressing a hand to her head, she pulled it back to see the blood coating her fingers and snarled, “I think I’ll enjoy cutting your throat more than Dead Weight’s.”

“Threaten him again and I can guarantee you, you won’t survive long.”

A green eye narrowed in on Dani, looking at her pink and black hair, “Already cheating on your mate, Dead Weight? Not surprising.”

“I never said you’d be answering to me, Captain Cunt.”

I held still, a sense of dark satisfaction filling me at what Dani said. I didn’t need protection, I never have but knowing Macha cared enough to want to was intoxicating.

“Blue’s fucking you?” Nimue sneered, scrambling onto her feet. “You?”

Ignoring the dig, I replied blandly, “Fulfill the deal or overdose again.”

“What does Blue want?” She spat, still looking me over with growing disgust.

Stepping forward, Dani drew her attention, “A cure for iron exposure.”

“What?” Nimue pinned her wide eye on Dani, “There’s no cure for iron exposure. You have to work through it, everyone knows that.”

“But everyone isn’t deadly afraid of dying like you. Pun intended.”

Lip curling, Nimue flashed the shorter woman her pointed teeth, “If I had such a thing and I was to give it to you, what would she use it for?”

“An explanation wasn’t included in your deal.” I gritted out.

“I deserve to know. What you’re asking me to give-”

Dani aggressively cut in,“Honestly, you don’t deserve shit after what you did to Macha. Give us the fucking cure.”

“What I did to her?” Nimue blurted out, her bright green brows pulling together. A tan hand reached up and ripped her eye patch off, “Blue took my fucking eye!”

I raised a brow at the dull unseeing eye staring back at us with a gruesome cut over her eyelid. Huh. She blinded her.

Unimpressed, Dani immediately snapped back, “She didn’t take your eye, she blinded you and you deserved a lot worse for what you put her through.”

When Nimue took a deep breath and opened her mouth to continue arguing, I moved. Taking less than a second, I disappeared and then reappeared right behind her. Pulling my axe free of the sheath, I slipped it in front of her neck and clamped a harsh hand on her shoulder. I was done wasting time.

“Give us the cure or I slit your throat and we ransack your ship for it.”

Her body went as rigid as a board, the fear of dying paralyzing her, “You kill me and you’ll never find it.”

“But I’ll still get the satisfaction of watching you die.” I replied, pressing the edge of the blade firmly against her neck. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt that she’d give us the cure now that her life was on the line. The woman was a coward at heart, an unworthy distraction that I was concerned Macha would make all those months ago. Turns out she made that mistake centuries prior.

Her head pressed back into my chest to get away from the blade, “Let’s all just relax, okay? It’s not on my ship.”

“Where is it?”

Taking too long to answer, I jerked the axe enough to give her a small cut on the side of her throat.

“Okay! Okay! It’s not on my ship. The cure is a person. It’s a person, I can take you to him!” She rushed out.

“Where?” Dani snapped.

“He’s in the human realm. Washington, D.C.”

“If you’re lying, I’m going to enjoy taking you apart. Piece by piece.” I whispered in her ear before tightening my grip on her arm and nodding to Dani, “Grabbed her.”

Coming around to my right side, Dani latched onto Nimue’s other arm with enough force to turn her knuckles white, “Travel.”

Instead, Nimue turned her head enough to look up at me from the corner of her eye, “You’ll never last. Blue will lose interest in you as soon as the challenge you represent wears off. And trust me, it’ll be sooner than you think.”

“Travel.” I ordered on snarl, flashing sharpened teeth.

…………

The second time our feet touched down it was on a hard surface that the leather of our boots slapped against. Early morning light filtered in from the large window casting light over the black leather and cream colors of the living room. Looking left to right, I noticed a hallway on either side of the apartment framed by white walls and dark wooden flooring. A glance behind us showed me an open styled kitchen gleaming with stainless steel appliances and white marble.

Turning back to the living room, I narrowed my eyes at the empty luxury apartment around us. But it was obvious that someone was here or had been here just before we arrived. Low murmuring from the T.V. mounted on the wall and the red blanket carelessly slipping from the couch hinted at that. So did the condensation crawling down the iced coffee along with the books, laptop and pens scattered on the glass coffee table.

Nimue jerked underneath my hand and I pulled the axe away from her throat as Dani yanked her around to face her, “Where the fuck is he, Captain Cunt?”

“Hands off, Dead Weight.” She gritted out. “I’m sure he’s here or coming back soon. We just need…”

I stopped listening to her when the sound of a door opening came from down the left hall. Turning, I watched as a man came walking through the doorway to stop at the sight of us. The look on his face was odd, it wasn’t any of the emotions you’d expect from someone who found strangers in their home. Clad in a pair of black sweats and a grey t-shirt, the man gave us all a bored expression. Closing the door firmly, the light brown skinned man turned and sauntered towards us as if he had all the time in the world to do so.

Disinterested dark brown eyes gazed back at us through a pair of thin clear rimmed glasses that sat on a crooked nose. He was tall, probably around Macha’s height, with an athletic build like a runner and a buzzcut. The hard bottoms of his black slippers clapped over the wooden flooring as he padded towards us. A few pale gold rings on each hand weighed down his long fingers along with the thick gold watch on his right wrist.

Coming to a stop, he gave a small jerk of his chin at the green haired female, “What are you doing here, Nimue?”

“To collect on our deal for an old friend.” She replied.

One of the man’s thick black brows rose as he pushed his hands into his pockets, “And who did you bring into my house?”

Sliding my axe into the sheath between my shoulders, I responded before Nimue could, “My name is Cillian and this is Dani. We were told you have a cure for iron exposure…We need it.”

“For?”

“Her name is Macha, she’s going to be our realm’s Queen and she’s going to die without the cure.” I said, ignoring Nimue’s sharp inhale.

His expression remained the same, disinterested but not cold, “When does she need it?”

“Now.”

Pulling his hand from his pocket, he checked his watch for the time before shaking his head, “Can’t. I got a chem exam in an hour.”

A chem exam?

Dani must have felt the same way because she exploded, “A chem exam? We’re talking about saving a life, Asshole. And you want to blow it off for a stupid test?”

“You’ve obviously never attended a college before.”

“This is life or death.” Dani enunciated, angrily.

The corner of his mouth flicked up as he shrugged, “Priorities.”

“Arseniy,” Nimue cut in. “We had a deal. I make the evidence disappear and you give me the cure if I ever ask for it. Now, hold up your end.”

“And I’m not denying you the cure. I just can’t do it right now.”

Stepping forward, I glared at the male, “You can and you will. It’s just a matter if you come willingly or not.”

Behind clear lenses, unreadable dark brown eyes drifted over my arms and chest, “Is that right?”

Ignoring his bone dry tone, I tried a different tactic, “She my mate. We don’t have much time, she could already be dead.”

The males eyes slipped back up to mine and held for a long moment. He didn’t blink, he didn’t move an inch nor was there a shift in his bored expression. But he must have seen something in mine because suddenly he blinked and gave a bone deep sigh, “Fuck it. Let me get my shit and then we can go, yes?”

Turning, the man gave us his back and headed down the hall on the right side of the apartment. It would have bothered me that he didn’t tense up or seem hesitant to give us his back if I hadn’t caught sight of his lower back. The hem of his t-shirt on the right side got caught behind the butt of a gun. He’d been armed throughout our entire conversation and nothing about his stance or walk had given it away. He hadn’t even twitched towards it when I threatened him. Impressive.

“Is he human?” I asked, swinging my gaze back to a sour looking Nimue. There was nothing obvious about him that hinted towards a supernatural lineage. If anything the glasses he wore along with the gun he was carrying screamed human. Even his voice was hard to place, it was gruff and held a flat muffled accent. It was clear he spoke another language and probably often but like everything else about him it was hard to place.

“No.” Was the tense reply I got before she hissed, “Mate? There’s no blue in your hair. Already taking liberties since Blue isn’t here to put you in your place? Your a bed partner, a fuck, not her possible mate. And when she’s down with you, you’ll end up just like me. Wrongly scarred and tossed-”

“Will you shut the fuck up? You bitter bitch.” Dani spat. “‘Wrongly scarred’ are you shitting me? You cheated on her-”

“She cheated on me too!”

Dani’s hair went flying as she shook her head vehemently, “No. She flirted but never crossed the line, even with all the shit you gave her assuming that she was cheating on you all the time.” A weight settled in my gut when I realized that I had done the same thing to Macha as Nimue. “You cheated on her with some random, Nimue. After fifty years together, you threw it away for some random! And you had the nerve to use her chocolate with your little one nightstand? Tell me, what did you expect her to do? She walked in on you both, which I’m sure you planned, and saw you both naked and covered in her chocolate. You’re lucky all she did was blind you in one eye!”

Nimue’s face flushed red, looking angry and embarrassed enough to do something stupid. The story of their break up pissed me off. To use something Macha loved to purposely cause the most amount of hurt was unforgivable. She had told me they ended things mutually before they started to hate each other, told me that it got ugly at the end. But this was a lot more than ugly and I didn’t understand how Macha didn’t hate her for what she put her through.

Which was why when Nimue’s fist shot out towards Dani, I grabbed it and snapped her wrist without a thought. A sharp cry of surprise and pain ripped past her lips as her other hand grabbed hold of her forearm below her broken joint. Yanking the axe from over my shoulder, I swung and slammed the flat of the blade against her left knee. Nimue went down with a loud thump against the hardwood flooring and a short scream of pain as the bones in her knee cracked.

Squatting beside her, I grabbed a fist full of her neon hair and forced her to look at me. Tilting my head, I met her eye with contempt, “Macha will never be done with me or I her. We’re destined mates, something much bigger than what the two of you shared. I won’t end up like you because we’re nothing alike. You’re a coward, unwilling to change or admit your wrong. You were never worthy of Macha and you should be thankful for the time she wasted on you. I do want to thank you for making something clear to me though. Jealousy poisoned your relationship with Macha. I won’t make the same mistake….But if you don’t change the fucking flag on your ship, I’ll find you and wring your scrawny neck.”

Nimue’s face twisted into a ugly sneer but before she could spew anymore bullshit, I hit the butt of the axe against her forehead. Her bright green eye rolled back and her body slumped as the blow knocked her out cold.

“Are all Fae relationships this messy?”

Rising to my feet, I turned to find Arseniy leaning against the doorway with a large bag like the one the healer carried, “Sometimes. ”

He nodded and pushed off the wall to walk towards us, “Makes sense. So I fulfill my side of the deal with Nimue and this is done, yes?”

I cocked my head to the side at his bored tone, it was different than a few moments ago and then I realized, “Your accent…What happened to your accent?” Because despite the way he added a yes to the end of his sentence, it was in perfect English with no hint of another language.

Arseniy smirked, flashing us a peek of his straight teeth, “What accent?”

Had he faked it? But why?

As I eyed him in confusion, Dani rushed over to his side and reached up to grab his bicep, “Who cares if he has an accent or not? He has the cure. Let’s go!” Suddenly she paused, eyes snapping from Nimue to Arseniy, “Wait, is it going to be a problem if someone finds her like that?”

He shrugged nonchalantly, “Wouldn’t be the first body someone’s found in here. One of my roommates might try to bury her though.”

Pink eyes shot to me before grinning, “Macha’s going to love him when she wakes up.”

A new jolt of urgency flooded me and I quickly moved to his other side and grabbed his shoulder, “Let’s go. Directly inside her tent, Dani. I want to see my mates eyes again.”

——————————————————————————

Ooookay, so what did we think?! Was Nimue who you thought she’d be? Or what about Arseniy??? I was so excited to give you guys a little teaser of him as he’s the main character in the next book! Don’t worry, though! I’ll give you guys some hints about his species like I did with Macha in Feral Born in the next chapter and reveal a tiny bit more of his personality. Gotta tell you tho, I already love him and his blasé personality.

As always, drop your thoughts on the chapter if you feel like it!!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Five: An Enigma

“Oh. My. Divines.” I forced out, completely mortified as I jumped to my feet. “Stop talking, Malachy. I’m begging you.”

“Macha, all I’m saying is that maybe-”

Slapping my hands to my ears, I loudly sang, “LA LA LA LA LA! I’M NOT LISTENING!”

The features of his brown face twisted as he crossed his arms over his chest, “Very mature, Macha. If you had-”

“No.” I stressed, throwing my arms out dramatically to my sides. “No. I’ve sat here and listened to you lecture me on everything from the time I cleaned out an entire chocolatier shop to my choice in clothing in the seventeenth century. But I will not, I absolutely fucking refuse, I’d rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon then sit here and listen to you talk about my first time.” There had to be some type of law against this, Divines I couldn’t even look him in the eye.

“Why not? It was so cute. You were all nervous and clumsy, like a baby fawn. And you completely freaked out afterwards. It was adorable.”

Groaning in sheer embarrassment, I fought the urge to run away, “We are not talking about this Malachy. Not ever. I can’t believe you saw that, I thought no one had seen. Why couldn’t you let me continue living in ignorance!”

He shook his head, dark blue locks shining in the starlight, “Would you relax? Divines, everyone’s first time is more or less like that. Ifreann, mine was similar to-”

“Is it possible to pray to yourself to kill yourself? Because being a god, I’m a little lost on who I should be selling my soul to in order to make this trainwreck end.”

Dark blue eyes rolled, “I don’t understand why you’re so embarrassed, Macha. I’m your father, not a stranger.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I shrieked. “Because it doesn’t!”

“Is it because you threw up afterwards? Because that’s normal too. I mean, I didn’t but it happens.”

Pressing my palms to my eyes, I shook my head in frantic desperation. I was going to kill him. I was going to kill my already dead father. There was no other way. Really, I have no choice. He won’t stop fucking talking and I don’t think anything will ever erase this conversation from my mind. How does he not get that certain things you just don’t talk to your kid about? The only way to salvage the tiny shred that was my dignity at this point was to kill him. Divines, would the bastard even stay dead though? Could you even kill someone who was already dead?

“Or is it because you slipped in it afterwards? I have to admit that was hilarious. ”

Was it possible to feel homicidal rage and crippling humiliation at the same time because if not, I just created a new emotion. I think I’ll call it homicidal humiliation. With my palms still covering my eyes, I snapped, “You are such an asshole.”

“Macha, honestly. You’ve learned so much since then, so what if your first kill was sloppy? Everyones is.”

Please who ever the fuck is listening, get me the ifreann out of here! Pulling my hands from my eyes, I pressed them together tightly and shook them with each word, “I cannot explain, in enough languages in the multiverse, how much I do not want to talk about this with you.”

“Why?”

I opened my mouth to snap at his oblivious question when a bout of nausea hit me hard. Hands flying to my stomach, I bent at the waist in reflex and ballooned my cheeks when I felt a thick sensation climbing up my throat. Swallowing forcefully, I panted as my body flashed hot and then cold rapidly. A heaviness settled in my bones and without my consent my hands dropped to my sides while I swayed on my feet.

“Oh no, you don’t, Young Lady! We’re not done here!” Malachy shouted, lunging towards me.

Violently forcing my lips to move into a grin, I pushed out, “See ya, Old Man. Maybe next time we can talk about how I vandalized your shine back in the day. Oh? You didn’t see that? One hint: it evolved Kelpie shit and Gnomes blood.”

The amount of rage visible in his eyes was enough to send a tendril of fear racing down my spine, “THAT WAS YOU?”

But in a breath and a blink, my father disappeared from view as my body fell weightlessly through time and space. Though I did manage to hear a roar of rage that brought amusement to my very soul before I hit what felt like a bed of pillows. Grunting at the sensation, I immediately winced when every nerve ending I possessed fired back to life.

My head lifted off the pillow with a gasping inhale before dropping back down without my consent. The loud voices talking somewhere close by cut off abruptly at my interruption as I tried to open my eyes against the bright light. Swallowing to wet my throat, I croaked, “Thank fuck, he was….about to kick my ass.”

Finally, finally. My eyelids split apart enough for my eyes to dilate and allow the inside of the tent to take shape. The yellowish blob that had been hovering directly over my face slowly took shape and I instantly grimaced.

“Macha! You look fantastic! Well, not great but fantastic for a dying God!” Puck exclaimed, golden eyes bright in excitement.

“Go…Go choke on a rainbow….and die, Sun Ray.”

A third party broke into our conversation gruffly and drew my gaze, “Because he’s gay?”

Skin the color of light caramel and dressed in a grey t-shirt with black sweatpants, stood a man on the left side of Puck. He was tall, probably around my height, with a square jaw and a crooked nose that carried the weight of his thin glasses. The male met my gaze head on with a pair of bored dark brown eyes in conflict with the slight bite in his gruff tone. It was almost like he was perpetually unamused and something about that amused me. It called to me in the way that Kaiya’s vicious nature called to mine.

“Gay? Babes, who…gives a fuck if h-he’s gay? He’s Se-” I paused, momentarily stunned when he walked away in the middle of my sentence. But decided not to kill him when he came back with a cup of water. Taking a grateful sip, I finished with a clearer voice, “He’s Seelie…besides I’m ninety-nine percent sure he’s…asexual.”

A calloused hand slipped into mine and squeezed, “Give her the cure. We don’t know how much time she has.”

“Lilly.” I rasped, flopping my head to the left to find him sitting beside me on the bed.

Silver eyes softened, “Cell Bait. I’m happy to see you haven’t managed to die for the third time.”

Lips twitching, I murmured, “It’s a ta…lent.” Was it just me or was it getting harder to speak?

“Arseniy.” Lilly urged and I turned my head back to the male.

He seemed to accept that with a lick of his lips before raising a brow and looking over my battered body, “What’d you do to yourself? Use a wood chipper as a slide?”

“If only.”

The male’s, no, Arseniy’s lips tugged up at the corner for a brief moment until his eyes caught the wounds on my chest. Black brows pulled together above his glasses as his gaze roamed to my lower stomach, my right wrist and then down to my legs. Arseniy’s head drifted to the side before snapping around to lock cold eyes on Cillian for less than a second. It was such a sudden change in his demeanor that I almost dismissed the fluid grace and speed in which he moved. I don’t know what I subconsciously assumed he was but it definitely wasn’t human.

The air stilled around him as his eyes flashed with something too quick for me to catch and then his bored look returned, “Everyone out.” Voices immediately raised in denial of the finality of his tone but he lifted a hand decorated in pale gold rings to silence them, “I need privacy and complete silence to cure her. Like your artists, yes?”

I cocked a brow at that. The added yes to the end of his sentence would have made him sound harmless and unsure if you overlooked the coiled strength in his stance. And that’s apparently what my friends and mate did.

“We’ll be right outside, Cell Bait.” Lilly reassured me with another squeeze of my hand. And then to Arseniy, “You have fifteen minutes.”

The brown eyed male was completely focused on them until the flap of the tent entrance closed behind Cillian, who was the last to leave. When we were finally alone he moved quickly and efficiently. In three long strides he stood in front of my desk and then cleared everything sitting on top with a swipe of his arm. Grabbing the ends, Arseniy dragged it over to place it by my head and then went back for the chair. Instead of sitting down however, he reached up and over me giving me a whiff of something expensive and delicious.

“What scent is that, Babes?” I asked, although my voice almost dropped out completely on the word scent.

“You know, my friend has a theory.” He murmured, shoving the other pillow beneath my head.

I tried to shift my weight to make it easier for him but couldn’t get my body to cooperate,“What’s….that?”

Pulling back, he dropped down on the chair to dig around in something on the floor before standing again. Lifting a small strip of leather to my lips, he nodded his head with an encouraging look, “Bite down on this. I’d give you a pain killer but it’s been a while since I’ve treated a Fae. I don’t remember what works well with your kind.”

Opening my mouth, I bit down on the leather strap when he slid it between my teeth.

Leaning down, he slid his arms underneath mine pressing our chests together as he counted down, “In one…two…two…four…”

I made the mistake of relaxing in confusion at his shitty counting and that’s when he made his move. I didn’t even feel the tensing of his muscles before he yanked me into a sitting position. A scream of agony tore through me muffled by the strip of leather that my sharpened teeth cut straight through. He yanked his arms back quickly and watched me carefully as I panted through the misery of feeling my wounds tear back open.

Spitting out the leather, I shot him a dirty look feeling slightly more awake from the pain than before, “Asshole.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve been called that a time or two dozen.” He replied, lip curving into a small smirk. Dropping into the chair beside me, Arseniy yanked a large black bag up onto the desk. Pushing his glasses up higher on his nose, he began pulling a bunch of glass jars from his bag, “So, anyways. My friend, she has this theory that anyone who uses a nickname for strangers is a big flirt.”

I gave him a weak grin, “Tell her, her theory is correct.”

“I will. How’s your mate feel about that?”

Watching him pull a large syringe and a bowl from the bag, I waited until he started opening the jars to say, “He knows who I am and-and I know who he is.”

“Must be tough for him to handle. Species with mates tend to have issues with jealousy and possessiveness.” Arseniy replied calmly, his gruff voice giving it a rough edge.

Fishing because the man just moved too fluidly, I tiredly asked, “And… your kind?”

Instead of answering, he took a small scoop of dark red powder from one jar and sprinkled it into an empty one. Next, Arseniy poured a generous amount of clear liquid into the jar and mixed it with the spoon. Tapping it against the rim, he placed the spoon on the desk and then held the small jar to my lips, “Drink. It’ll give your body’s natural healing system the energy boost it needs to handle the cure.”

After swallowing the contents in a large gulp, I lifted a brow at the burning sensation it caused on the way down. A burning that pushed the invisible weight off my lungs and allowed me to draw in deeper, more satisfying breaths, “Is it supposed to work this fast?”

Leaning back, he dug into his left pocket, “You’ll feel perfectly fine for about five minutes before it wears off. Just long enough to take the cure. And no.”

“No, what?”

“My kind doesn’t do mates. We’re morrrrre….” As he drew out the word in thought, he pulled a slim gold case and matching lighter from his pocket. “Seasonal.”

Interesting. Not that they couldn’t choose mates but that they didn’t do mates.

The word seemed to amuse him in some way because he gave me another small smirk before licking his lips and sliding a cigarette between them. I watched as he flicked back the top of the lighter and brought the flame to the end of the white tip. Stubble free cheeks hollowed out gently as he took a deep inhale and I couldn’t resist taunting him, “Your bedside manner is shit.”

A gray cloud rushed out on his exhale, “Good thing, I’m not an actual doctor then.” Holding the cigarette between two ringed fingers, he dug into his bag with his free hand once again. “Under normal circumstances, I’d slowly establish trust in a judgement free way that would allow you to open up to me. Once you confirmed my suspicions, I’d introduce you to a friend that’d take on the more emotional aspects of the situation. But, you living in an entirely different realm complicates things. So, I’m going to do something that my friends would rip my balls off for.”

“And that’d be?”

Placing the smoking cigarette in the corner of his mouth, he reached his newly freed hand behind his back. From the T.V. shows I used to watch in prison, I recognized the object he grabbed and wielded so casually as a gun. Puffing out another cloud of smoke from the corner of his lips, Arseniy fiddled with the weapon while speaking, “I know your mate hits you. I know he caused that old scar on your chest and I know that he’s hurt you again recently. At least three of, what I’m guessing are whip marks on your body, came from him. So, you have two options.”

He took a moment to slide back the top of his gun with metallic snick before locking brown eyes on my blue ones, “Option one, I go out there and fired an iron bullet into your mates brain quicker than the eye can see and you pardon me for it because I hear your going to be Queen. Or Option two, where I leave you my card and when you’re ready, you give me a call and we set up an extraction plan. Personally, I like option one.”

Stunned, I gave him a closer look, “Did Cillian or Dani tell you all that?”

“No.”

“Then how the fuck did you know that? Are you a Seer?” It was a good guess on my part but I wasn’t sure Seers cared for material things like jewelry.

He gave a slow smile pulling the cigarette from his lips and pointing it at me, “Nice try. Call it a sixth sense, yes?”

“You’re not going to tell me what you are, are you Babes?”

“Ah, smart and beautiful.” He replied, turning back to his glass jars and laying his gun on the wooden desk. “Now, which option is it?”

I shook my head, “I’m not being abused. Lilly did what he had to do.”

His hands froze mid pour and shot me a bland side-eye, “Do you know how many times I’ve heard that?”

“Long story short, the scar was the result of him saving my life and these recent ones were a necessary evil. He needed to play a part until we finally got what we needed. I’m kind of in the middle of a war with my bitch mother. Trust me, Cillian is the last person that would take his frustrations out on me. Plus, it helps that I can kick his ass with nothing more than a stray thought if I wanted.”

Pinching the small black top of a square jar, I watched a yellow tinged liquid race into the dropper as he released pressure. Carefully raising it up and to the side, he dropped four droplets into a bowl with more red powder, white shavings and another liquid. Curious, I watched as he mixed it up into a thick sludge before taking a deep drag from his cigarette.

Sandwiching the half finished stick between his long fingers, Arseniy blew the smoke into the air on his left, “That sounds just crazy enough to be believable. I’ll leave you my card just in case but if I find out you lied….I’ll come back and blow this place to kingdom come, yes?”

“I like you, Babes. You don’t really care for consequences, do you?” I mused.

He shrugged, taking one last pull off the dwindling cigarette before stubbing it out on the desk, “Life’s too short to give a fuck about other peoples rules. Or care what they think.”

Grinning weakly, I nodded to his hands, “If your rings weren’t enough to convince me, you just did. You’re my newest new best friend.”

“I don’t know…” Arseniy drawled, reaching for the syringe and bowl. “Do you wear rings?”

I gave a false gasp, “How dare you, I’m pretty sure I evented rings. The motherfuckers who captured me took them all, I’m actually sad ab-”

A wet cough rattled my chest, choking off the rest of my words caused him to lean forward in his seat, “It’s time. You have to drink all of this and heads up, it’s an acquired taste. So…you want me to shoot it down the back of your throat or do you want to gulp it down?”

Lifting a brow, I laughed, “Are you always this gentlemanly in the bedroom?”

“Only if they’re boring.”

“I’ve never been a spitter, Babes. I’ll gulp it down.” I purred, laughing internally at his matter-a-fact tone.

Smirking, he raised the bowl to my lips, “Good. Now tilt your head back for me, yes?”

Pushing my amusement down at the double entendre of our situation, I leaned my head back as he tipped the bowl further. The thick red sludge hit my bottom lip before slowly rolling over my tongue. Almost gravelly in it’s consistency, I instantly began to swallow when a metallic and bitter taste assaulted my tastebuds. I felt Arseniy’s hand cup the back of my head as I slowed and he forced the bowl higher to upend more sludge into my mouth. Wrinkling my nose at the favor, I took larger gulps of the cure and pushed the bowl back when there was nothing left.

“Ugh. That really does taste like shit, Babes.” I grimaced, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “So, how will I know it’s working?”

“It’s fast acting so as soon as-”

Lurching forward, I snatched the bowl from his hands and brought it to my mouth in time to catch the first spray. Shoulders hunched inwards, I gagged harshly as another spew of gray liquid coated the inside of the white bowl and the sides of my hands.

A large hand patted my shoulder, “Get it all out or you’re fucked.”

Ignoring him, I felt my stomach muscles clench in warning as my throat tightened. Helping it along, I gave a groaning dry heave that caused a rush of liquid to fly past my lips and into the bowl. When I finally seemed to be out of all bodily fluids, I dropped back against the pillows and drew in deep breaths. The bowl filled to the brim with a grey liquid was gently pried from my hands and placed on the desk with a soft thunk.

There wasn’t a flicker of disgust on Arseniy’s face as his hands became dirtied by my vomit. With a calm expression, he withdrew a white cloth from his bag and wiped his hands clean before turning and doing the same to mine. The male was an enigma. He looked perpetually uncaring and bored at his situation but took the time to wipe my hands clean. There was also that flash of coldness I’d caught when he first drew the assumption that Cillian was hitting me. Arseniy seemed to care a lot more than he showed and I found it absolutely adorable. He was like a little bear.

“I have to introduce you to my other best friend. I think you’d both get along great, Little Bear.”

A black brow arched, “I’m not a bear shifter.”

“Oh, I know. They’re a lot more barrel chested and grumbly. You remind me of a little bear, though.” I finished with a smile at his incredulous look as the others came rushing in.

“Is she healed?” Were the first words out of Cillian’s mouth.

Arseniy nodded, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his crooked nose, “Yes. She’s going to need at least twenty four hours of uninterrupted bed rest. There is no longer any silver in her body but she’s still suffering from the wounds and the cure drained a lot of her energy. You Fae heal fast, yes? She’ll be fine but will need double the normal amount to completely heal.”

Boots thumping over the carpet, I smiled as Cillian reached down to grip my weak hand, “Just this time, right? This won’t have any lasting effects on her?”

“No. I’m leaving her my card so feel free to call if anything changes or appears worrying.” He replied, tapping two fingers on the small piece of black paper laying flat on the desk.

Cillian reached his free hand out to the male, “I know you only did this to fulfill your deal with Nimue but thank you for saving my mates life.”

“I’m glad I did, although I doubt my Chem grade will feel the same.” Arseniy muttered, clasping Cillian’s forearm and giving it a firm shake.

“Dani will travel you home, I’m sure there’s still time.”

Smirking at his gloomy expression at the remembrance of his grade, I called out as he grabbed his bag, “You were going to let me die for a grade, Little Bear? I’m impressed, I thought you healers were all about saving lives.”

Lips twitching, he shook his head, “I do kill on occasion.”

“That’s funny because I kill on every occasion.”

Cillian snorted and moved to sit beside me as Arseniy smiled and headed towards Dani.

He paused halfway across the tent before coming back over to me and pulling a ring from his left index finger. “A ring lover should never have bare fingers.” Arseniy said, before picking up my hand and sliding the pale gold ring onto my slender thumb where it fit perfectly.

I waited until he was in front of Dani to question the diamond I spotted in the ring on his left hand, “Are you married, Little Bear? I thought you said your mysterious species didn’t mate?”

He turned to face me, looking down at the ring blankly before flicking amused brown eyes up to my blue ones, “More or less engaged and my kind doesn’t. He isn’t my mate and I’m definitely not his.”

“Arranged, then?”

Arseniy grinned, changing his looks from classically handsome to stunning, “I hope I see you again, Macha. Maybe grab a beer or two, I’m sure you have a lot of stories.”

“Ah redirection, my old friend. Fine, have it your way and you can count on that drink. I’ll be bringing my other friend.”

He clasped Dani’s arm and nodded, “Looking forward to it but maybe when my semester is over, yes? Something tells me trouble has a tendency to follow you.”

Arseniy disappeared leaving me with more questions than answers and now I realize how annoying I must be to people. I have the vague feeling I just got a taste of my own medicine and I’m reluctant to admit it.

Arranged marriage? I wasn’t aware supernatural’s were still doing those, I thought the practice died out.

“You know, he kind of reminds me of someone else who’s a master at redirection. Though, a much, much saner version-”

Squeezing his hand, I grinned at Lilly, “I come back from the dead three times now and that’s what you have to say to me? Where’s my grand declaration of love, huh? Or a speech of your undying loyalty?”

Giving me a flat look, he replied, “You’d sprint for the hills if I told you I loved you this early. And you already know you have my undying loyalty. What I can do is get you food and chocolate before I yell at you for almost dying for the third time. How does that sound?”

“Like you really know how to treat a woman.” I sighed, dreamily.

He laughed in response, flashing white teeth and a gorgeous smile. And in that moment, I knew that I’d never tire of this man.

——————————————————————————

I’m really loving Malachy and Macha’s interactions, lmao. And now that we get a bigger taste of Arseniy’s personality, what do we think? Any guesses as to what type of creature he is?? I think I gave a few good hints, some obvious and some not so obvious. I already have a rough idea for his book and it’s going to be intense in a completely different way than Macha’s or Kaiya’s book.

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

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Fuzzies

Cillian waited a total of five minutes after he brought me a nice steamy bowl of oatmeal and fruits before laying into me. He was currently reminding me of Malachy, what with the matching vein in their neck that seemed to throb whenever they explained what I did wrong. It was amusing even if half of what he said went in one ear and out the other. I wasn’t even doing it on purpose but after getting lectured on everything in my life by my father, I didn’t have the capacity to listen to anymore lectures.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Mmmhhh.”

“Really? Then what did I just say, Cell Bate?”

Stabbing a piece of dragon fruit, I plopped it in my mouth and talked as I chewed to annoy him, “That if I moved one millimeter off this bed, you’d tie me to it in a decidedly unsexy way. Which if you ask me is fucked up because really? Any bed tying should be sexy.”

Silver eyes squinted, “Which reminds me, no sex.”

“Excuse me, what?” I barked, eyebrows hitting my hairline.

“You heard Arseniy. You need twenty four hours of uninterrupted bed rest. That means no sex, Cell Bait.”

In complete denial, I sputtered, “B-but we’re finally together again after like a month of celibacy. We should be celebrating with a bang, literally.”

The smug bastard just scoffed and leaned further back into the pillows beside me, “You can hardly call a month without sex, a month of celibacy.”

“Well, asshole. When you’re forced to be celibate for seven hundred and fifty years and then you finally start having sex again. A month starts to feel like an unreasonable amount of time.”

“So you’re saying you only want me for my body?”

Shocked, the clump of oatmeal on my fork sloped back into the bowl, “Lilly if I wanted you for your body, do you honestly think I’d put up with half the shit we put each other through? This, whatever you want to call it, is hard work on both our parts. Definitely not something I’d go through for a piece of ass.”

“…I don’t know whether to be insulted that you think what we have is work or flattered that you’re willing to put in the work to make us work.”

Frustrated that my words came out jangled, I pushed the tray of food away, “That’s not what I-”

“I know, Cell Bait. I was just joking.” He tried to soothe me, placing a comforting hand on my thigh.

“No.” I shook my head in irritation at myself, “Let me get this out, Lilly. I feel like I know where you are emotionally when it comes to us. But you don’t know where I am and that’s not fair.”

“To be completely fair, we haven’t really had a conversation about our feelings or the future. Just that we’re mates. Although, it’s not like we’ve had the time either. What with us only being able to spend a few days together here and there. Not to mention the fact that you hated me for most of those days.” He reasoned, finishing with a playful bump to my shoulder.

Dropping my head on his broad shoulder, I sighed, “Divines, how sad is that?”

“Hey, we’ve had a few important moments. It hasn’t all been blood, sex and anger.”

“As much as I love those things, I think we should clear the air.” I murmured, slipping my hand into his to toy with his long fingers.

My head fell from his shoulder as he leaned forward to pull the furs over our legs, “I agree. Because as much as I hate to admit it, I think my explosions of jealousy stem from not knowing where you stand.”

Instead of dropping my head back onto his shoulder, I leaned to the side to look at him with a raised brow, “Someone’s been deep diving in their emotions lately.”

“Your ex actually helped me realize that one.”

An unconvinced laugh escaped my lips, “Nimue? How did that happen?”

Silver eyes slid over to connect with mine, “Why didn’t you tell me jealousy was what ended your last relationship? Or how bad it was? You ended it on less than amicable terms, Macha. How didn’t my jealousy drive you away?”

I blew out a heavy breath as I collected my thoughts. The one thing more complicated than me and Nimue’s relationship was talking about me and Nimue’s relationship. It was so different from me and Cillian’s that I had never even compared the two. My feelings for Cillian were so effortless that I never really took the time to look at them. The way we worked and fit together was seamless as well. I had this bone deep feeling for him that I’d never had for Nimue. With her, I now understood that it was mostly forced on my part.

I overlooked things that I shouldn’t have, indulged in liquor when I normally wouldn’t have, and I bit my tongue when I would’ve given someone a verbal lashing. I did all of that because I thought I was in love with her, that she was my perfect match. Nimue cheered on my antics and even joined in on some and I thought that meant that she was the one. That she was the only one who would ever truly accept me for who I was so I let things go to keep her happy. But looking at Cillian I knew how wrong I was and it made me cringe at the way I acted with her.

“With Nimue, I was a completely different person.” I finally replied, shifting so I could look at him fully. “And I’m not just talking about how Slykhelm changed me. I was a different person from my old self with her. Someone I’m not particularly proud of. I didn’t tell you the details of our relationship because I never considered you similar to her in any way. Her jealousy stemmed from envy. Envy of who I was, of how other Fae regarded me and what my name invoked in them. Dani doesn’t know but that wasn’t the first time Nimue cheated on me, it was just the first time I’d caught her in the act.”

Cillian’s rough hand twisted in my hold to lock our fingers together and squeeze, a darkness spreading in his eyes.

I focused on the way his darker skin tone looked against my slightly lighter hand, “You should know, I killed a few of them when they had the nerve to taunt me with it. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make, she cheated to purposefully hurt me. Whenever she felt less than, when her crew would defer to me instead of her, when I had to save her ass or whenever she thought I cheated. You’ve never done any of those things. My power and status doesn’t phase you, you’ve only ever tried to make me a better Fae. Your jealousy comes from a place of insecurity, Nimue’s came from a place of envy. That’s why I put up with it.”

“You should’ve told me. Maybe we could have had this conversation sooner and avoided certain events.”

I shook my head with a grin, “And miss all that drama and angst? No, thank you. We had some pretty hot sex because of those events.”

Silver eyes rolled, “And we’re back to sex. Who would’ve thought?”

“I resent that.” I stated, tossing a piece of dragon fruit at him.

Catching it, he plopped it into his mouth with a smirk, “You’re lucky you’re on bed rest.”

Now, I was the one rolling my eyes, “Shut up and let me emotionally sex your mind.”

Ignoring his extremely confused expression, I pressed my hands into the mattress and slowly pushed myself up to my knees. Panting at the amount of energy it took to do such a small act, I dug my fingers into the furs at the pins and needle sensation racing over my limbs. Arseniy really hadn’t been kidding about that bed rest, it was easy to ignore when I was barely moving but fuck. It felt like I had a full body charlie horse added with the dull throbbing of my healing wounds. Thankfully the healer had bathed me before the others came back because there was no way my ass was getting into a tub right now.

“Lilly, be a good mate and pull me onto your lap.” I pouted. “My body is uncooperative.”

He stared at me for a moment before laughing and leaning forward to drag me onto his lap, “This might be the first time you’ve ever asked me for my help.”

“Ha ha.” I remarked, settling into his lap with my knees on either side of his hips. “Now are you going to let me express my feelings or do you want to keep making jokes?”

“Is this what you meant when you said you were going to emotionally sex my mind?”

Sighing dramatically, I dropped my hands on his muscular shoulders, “I guess you don’t want to know how I feel about you then…”

“Alright, alright. I’ll shut up.”

“Finally.” I snipped, loving the heat of his palms sinking into my hips. “Now bear with me because I’m not great at this.”

He nodded without a word. Smart man.

Drawing on the feeling that always surfaced when I thought of Cillian, I began trying to piece it into words, “When we were separated, it felt like I was missing something. Something important. Whenever we’re together I feel whole, grounded in a way I’ve never felt before. There’s just something so right about you and me. It’s like you know what I need before I do. And while it isn’t love, at least not yet, it’s something very close or more than that. Because the person I thought of when they hit me with those iron grappling hooks was you. You were my last thought when I thought I was going to die, Cillian. I’ve never thought of anybody before. I know I’ve made jokes about it in the past but I’m starting to think you truly are my sanity. And even with the things we still need to work on, I don’t think the Divines could have picked a better mate for me. I certainly couldn’t have.”

After a long moment of him staring back at me with a slack expression, I gave a nervous laugh, “Did that make sense or did I break you into a million little pieces of panic? Oomph.”

One second I was making a joke to break the painfully awkward silence between us and the next I was smooshed against his hard chest. His arms like bands of iron were wrapped around me so tightly that I could feel his heartbeat against my chest. With my face pushed into the crook of his neck, I relaxed and slowly wrapped my own arms around him.

We stayed like that for a few moments until he finally broke the silence, “I feel the same way. Not exactly but that bone deep feeling that we’re right for each other? I feel that. You make me feel something else as well, something no one else has but I can’t place the feeling yet.”

“You don’t have to. Not right now. All these deep emotions are new for you, take your time.”

“You make me sound so unfeeling.” He snorted.

I shook my head in disagreement and placed a soft kiss to the pulse point on his throat, “Not unfeeling just…a little repressed.”

“You’re being very nice today.”

“Well, I did almost die on you again and you had to meet my ex because of it sooooo…” I responded with a shrug, snuggling further into his body.

He groaned, “Don’t remind me.”

Laughing, I gave a content sigh, “Do you feel better now? Knowing how I feel about you?”

“I do. It settles me to know that I’m the only one for you.”

I hummed closing my eyes, happy that he finally understood and thankful that my near death experience brought everything into focus.

“That even though we didn’t choose each other, we still chose to stay together.”

“Of course. The little girl in me who adored your string bean teenage ass is currently fan girling.”

His chest vibrated as he laughed, “String bean? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t even. You know how skinny you used to be and I, for one, am not disappointed on how you filled out.” I grinned, trying not to laugh as I remembered how skinny and serious looking he used to be. “That’s why I started calling you Lilly. Because you were as skinny as a Lilly stem and so poised looking.”

He jostled me as he laughed harder, “I thought that that was a play on my name. Doesn’t matter now I guess, I remember you still being obsessed with me.”

I scoffed, “Arrogance, Arrogance, Lilly. It’s an ugly trait.”

“Since we’re on the topic, want to know why I call you Cell Bait?

“Because I was a gorgeous underage girl that you could barely resist?” I preened.

Cillian snorted, “You wish. No, it wasn’t anything like that. At the time I felt protective of you more than anything else. You were like one of those baby birds caught in an oil spill.”

“Fucker.” I shot back in amusement, retaliating with a jab of my fingers to his ribs. “Why else would you call me Cell Bait, then?”

“Because you were infuriating.”

I cracked an eye open, “What?”

“All I wanted to do back then was help you and you’d snub me at every turn.”

Pulling back so I could look him in the eye, I asked, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I call you Cell Bait because I always knew one day, I’d go to jail for doing something in order to protect you.”

I blinked before a loud bout of belly deep laugher escaped my lips, “Oh, Divines. We’re so bad at nicknames.”

He started to laugh with me, “Hey, I still think mine’s good.”

Still laughing, I slumped back against his chest and tried to catch my breath.

Cillian did the same, his chest lifting me slightly with each deep breath he took to help lessen his laughter.

When we both stopped laughing, we stayed in our cozy position for a long time in a comfortable silence. The heat of the day seeping through the flimsy tent walls and the warmth of Cillian’s body heat gently lulled me to sleep. My body was just starting to feel weightless when Lilly spoke, the soft baritone of his whiskey voice bringing me back to awareness.

“Why’d you do it?”

“Do what?” I murmured.

“Those jokes when I-when I had to-during the-”

I cut him off, rubbing his back soothingly as I spoke, “I could see you over thinking it. Could see the self-hatred taking root in your soul. I wanted to take you out of the moment, distract you from what had to be down. I meant what I said in that interrogation room, Lilly. Nothing changes between us because what happened doesn’t matter. It’s just another bullet point on the long list of things that we had to do for the greater good.”

Cillian didn’t respond but hugged me to his chest tighter as he shifted us down the bed. Laying on our sides, wrapped up in each other, he placed a kiss to my forehead and pushed the hair away from my face, “I may not be able to describe what I feel right now. But I’m starting to think it won’t be long before I’m completely in love with you and your heart stopping antics.”

A fire of emotion erupted in my chest and a large grin split my face as I snuggled deeper into him, “Me too, Lilly. Me too.”

——————————————————————————

Finally, Finally! These motherfuckers have a honest and open talk about their feelings! This is what happens when you have two emotionally stunted characters that fall in love people, lmao. This little fuzzy moment was much needed between these two. Alsooooo, y’all will be getting an introduction to Oberon and the Seelie Court soon! I can’t wait for you guys to see Macha in a overly happy environment. And if your already thinking about how chaotic that’s going to be, you’d be right. Lmao.

As always, leave a comment or a like if you want to!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Seven War Council

Turns out, I can’t stay in bed for more than a few hours at a time. I slept for most of my ordered bed rest but an hour after I woke up the restlessness set in. Cillian had noticed and not so subtly placed my unfinished food from earlier onto my lap. That distraction only lasted so long before I started trying to get out of bed to do something. Anything really, we had too many things to do for us to just lay here for hours on end. So, I fidgeted every few minutes when a new problem surfaced in my mind until Lilly found a new distraction.

“We should already assume that Mab knows about Cillian’s betrayal and is on a warpath.”

“Oh, she definitely knows. Her soldiers would have told her as soon as they saw the dead interrogator. What I want to know is, did you guys get that information to Puck’s informant?” I asked, the hope in my voice obvious to all. Please say yes, please say yes.

Shifting back on her hands from her criss-cross position at the end of the bed, Dani nodded in Pucks direction, “Ask him. He wouldn’t let me go with him.”

When I looked over at him, the tan skin around his golden eyes crinkled as he smiled, “Yes. He was almost as surprised as we were when he realized what it was.”

“Is he going to have an issue getting it to her?”

“No. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already handed it over to her.”

Grinning, I did an internal happy dance, “Fantastic! That bitch is probably already-”

“What information are you talking about?” Lilly cut me off, his deep voice rumbling deliciously against my back.

Since our talk yesterday morning, we’d been touching a lot more than usual. It wasn’t sexual in nature but comforting and affectionate. The causal touches and holds combined with my greedy nature were quickly becoming addicting. Which is why when Dani and Puck had suddenly walked in a couple of minutes ago I didn’t move from our position. With his back against the headboard and his legs bent at the knees on either side, I lay comfortably in the cradle of his hips.

Shifting my head to the left, I looked up at him through the corner of my eye, “Imogen O’Neil gave us a substantial amount of proof that Tidhg was planing a coup. Six months worth of personal correspondence between him and Mab’s generals. She said it was enough to take out a quarter and a half of Mab’s army before the war even began.”

He gave a sharp whistle, the scruff of his silver beard winking in the early morning light, “So, that was the backup plan you mentioned. She could have sold information like that to the highest bidder, what did she want in return?”

The memory of what happened that night casted a somber mood over our small group as I responded, “Nothing. She was Tidhg’s lover for a long time. She wanted to beat him at his own game just once before she Surrendered.”

“Who performed the Rite?”

“I did.”

His arms folded over my middle and gave me a comforting squeeze before he asked, “Puck, if your informant told Mab of her son’s coup coupled with my betrayal….She’ll take out a lot more than a quarter and a half of her army. Mab’s paranoia with betrayal from both sides? She’ll take out half of her army all on her own.”

“But we can’t know that for sure.” Dani reasoned.

“You’re right we can’t but it’s a safe bet. For all Mab’s intelligence and manipulation, paranoia is her weakness. It sends her spiraling.”

“Which brings me to what I found in the last Estate.” I tossed in, following Lilly’s mention of her spiraling. “She’s not all there anymore and that makes her ten times more dangerous.”

Inching closer on the mattress, Puck raised a golden brow, “Was she really all there to begin with?”

“No but she was in control then and now I don’t think she is. It’s like we switched places.”

“What do you mean?”

“We knew that she was draining Fae of their magick but we didn’t know what she was doing with it, right? Well…now I know what she’s doing with it.” A heavy feeling lodged in my chest and burned with the residue of anger it caused when I first found out. “Mab’s been injecting herself with their essence, with their magick.”

Dani turned a startling shade of pale for her skin tone as Puck’s golden hue took on a green tinge. I couldn’t see Cillian but I could feel the way his muscles tensed underneath me. Deciding to just get it out all in one go, I continued, “Six hundred and thirty six. That’s how many Fae she’s experimented on. Six hundred and thirty six Fae lost their lives in Mab’s search for a power that she believes is hers. The Divine Prophecy. She thinks it’s about her and took the line ‘taking the power She’ll go from Royal to Divine’ literally.”

“Holy fuck. That crazy bitch thinks she’s the last living Divine.” Fear etched itself into every crevice of Dani’s sharp face at the weight my reveal held.

Puck pushed off the bed to pace along the side and shook his head, “If that’s true then she thinks you’re the false queen and that…that…” Spinning on his heel, wide golden eyes locked on mine, “If she thinks that she’s the last living Divine, then this isn’t just a war against her unruly bastard daughter for her. This is-This changes everything.”

I gave a grim nod, “This isn’t a war between mother and daughter anymore. It’s a war for Tir Na Nog and the winner decides the realms fate.”

“Divines save us,” Dani gasped. “If Mab wins-”

“It won’t be just those who went against her on the chopping block, it’ll be the Seelies as well.” Puck interrupted, “It all makes sense now. Why my father chose to get involved in your war. I thought it was because he’s a religious man and believes that the Divines are the true rulers of the Fae. But he’s backing you, giving you almost the entirety of his army, because if Mab wins…the Seelie are finished. That’s why the council didn’t argue and the nobles didn’t rebel.”

“Mab won’t win. Not with two armies and a God on our side.”

Cillian’s strong voice brought a sense of calm to the other’s panic and I hated to ruin it but they needed to know what we were walking into. “The latest injection’s Mab took worked. I read a report before I destroyed the Estate that stated the dosages ‘increased her abilities exponentially’. It was-They used Laoise, it was her essence. And now they’re going to be hunting down Fae just like her.”

“Mab has mastery over water and lightning, how could her abilities be increased? Did it give her more abilities? Can another Fae’s essence- Oh Divines, she injected another Fae’s essence into herself.” Dani’s voice came out garbled at the end as she slapped a hand over her mouth and stomach.

“Dani, do me a favor? Go get Afric and Coaimhe, they should be here.”

She nodded in response and rushed from the tent.

Lilly placed a kiss on my temple before murmuring in my ear, “That was nice.”

“I know. I’m becoming a sap.”

He laughed but got interrupted as Puck blurted, “I need to tell my dad. He has to know exactly what he’s sending our troops into.”

“Pretty sure he already knows but I agree. And I’ll be the one to do it.”

A golden brow raised along with a budding grin despite the circumstances, “You want to talk to my dad? That means going deep into Seelie territory, you know that right?”

“I’m aware, Sunshine. It was one of his conditions, meeting with him before the war and Oberon doesn’t leave his kingdom soooo…”

The budding grin turned into a full on show of all his teeth, “Have you ever been in Seelie territory before?”

“I’ve never wanted to become a smiling fuckwit, so no.”

Lilly’s laugh vibrated my back, “It’s not that bad, Cell Bait.”

“You’ve been?”

“Divines, no.” He spat in disgust. “I heard they don’t even kill anymore. I was just trying to make you feel better.”

In horror, my eyes shot to Puck, “What does he mean Seelies don’t kill anymore?”

“Oh! Well, I’m not sure but crime’s pretty much nonexistent in Seelie Territory. We don’t even have a capital punishment anymore! Amazing, right?”

“You don’t have a capital punishment? Then what happens to the Fae who commit serious crimes?” My brows pulled together in disbelief at the Seelies justice system.

“You mean like an act of violence? The last one was a few years back when this guy stabbed another Fae over his prized tomacumes. My father sentenced him to five years in our rehabilitation and therapy center. He gets out this year! Isn’t that great?”

Brain short circuiting, I stuttered, “Few years back– Over prized tomacumes- Rehabilitation and therapy center- Please tell me this a fucking joke!”

“Relax, Cell Bait. He’s just messing with you. There’s no way that was their most vicious crime in five years.”

Golden curls bounced around a boyish face as Puck gave us a confused grin, “No, it was. I mean-Oh! We have a serious problem with petty theft, vandalism and changeling switches. For some reason my people really love tricking humans out of their kids.”

Petty theft? Vandalism? My lip curled in disgust, “At least they-”

“But of course, as soon as their fascination with the infant human is over they give them back. Normally before a year has passed and before the changling has a chance to get violent.”

“Get out.” I snarled. “You and your nonviolence sunflower ass can get the fuck out of my tent.”

“What? What’d I say?” He blinked blankly before chuckling, “I can’t wait for you to meet my family! They’re going to love your heartfelt nicknames!”

My muscles locked in irritation, Heartfelt? He thought my nicknames were heartfelt? “I’ll show you heartfelt with a boot up the-”

“Death God! Death God! I heed your call, let me dissect the pest at your behest!” Afric giggled, skipping into the tent.

“I always thought I’d be saying this to Cillian but Macha, stop trying to beat up my boyfriend.” Bria called out as her, Dani and Coaimhe followed the skipping Banshee into my temporary home.

“Boyfriend?” Lilly snapped.

At the same time, I hissed, “Never.” However, Lilly’s comment distracted me from my thoughts of Puck and a chainsaw enough that I twisted to look up at him, “Don’t tell me you’re that thick headed.”

“You knew?” He scowled.

Dani cackled, “I think you mean, who didn’t.”

Joining in on her cackling, I watched Bria roll her eyes and walk over to a blushing Puck. Linking their fingers, she pulled him over to sit beside her on the bed, “Seriously, Cilllian? You knew, I don’t why you’re acting all surprised.”

“I didn’t know you gave the Seelie the title of your boyfriend.” He barked, making me pull away at the volume by my ear.

“What? Did you expect me to announce our official status?” Bria sassed, acting her age for the first time.

“Yes!”

Running my knuckles over his thigh, I shot him an amused smile, “Calm down, Lilly. It’s not like they’re getting mated.”

Silver eyes snapped past me, “You better not be, Bria. You are way too young for that.”

“How old is the fair princess?” Afric suddenly cut in, crawling onto the bed to sit directly between my outstretched legs and fixing his robes around him.

Bria shook her head in amusement, “Just shy of adulthood.”

“I see! A child in the eyes of the Fae, a maiden in the eyes of the Faekind and a decrepit crone in the eyes of humans. What to do? What to do? Ah! Become a mother.” The man’s long black ponytail swayed as he clapped his hands in glee when he finished.

There was a collective silence from the inside of the tent as everyone looked at Afric, Cillian even leaned closer to look at him. Noticing this, Afric looked around at his confused audience and then swung his almond shaped yellow tinged eyes my way, “Death God, you understand me. Explain to the boring of mind and I shall bow at your shrine when it comes time.”

“He said become a mother and others will think twice before telling you what to do.” When everyone just shifted their gazes to me, I shrugged, “What? Afric is actually really easy to understand if you pay attention.”

“Oh! How glad I am that you did not leave us!” The Den Head crowed, giving my left ankle a pat. “The Den’s across the realm cheer and sneer at the feats you surpassed. The old Gods are dead and past.”

“The wind blows and sways the fields but the insects remain unyielding.”

Afric giggled, “Birds swoop from above but they burrow deeper.”

“Crawling, seeking the lines and grimes of our tender vines.” I grinned, the giddiness that our conversations always inspired filling me.

“In the shadow of death they whine and pine your name but we screamed louder in the blood of the meek.”

Jolting forward, I flashed sharpened teeth,“Eat the weak!”

“Eat the weak!” Alfric exclaimed, lunging forward to tap our foreheads together.

As we fell back laughing maniacally, I sighed happily, “You’re my favorite, Babes. You just get me.”

He leaped from the bed to dance around the room with his arms raised and started humming as my laughter died down.

Tipping his face down to look at me, Lilly said, “Out of everything you’ve done, that conversation was somehow the most concerning.”

“I don’t know if that says a lot about you or me.”

“It says a lot about both of you actually.” Bria interrupted.

The bed shook slightly as Coaimhe stomped up to the side of the bed and scowled down at us all, “Enough with this nonsense! Why am I here, Critter?”

——————————————————————————

Dun, Dun, DUNNNNNN! Mab that crazy bitch what are we going to do with her, huh? Lmao, it was kind of chaotic writing almost all my main characters into this chapter and the next. It was sort of like having eight different voices and personalities in my head all clamoring for the spotlight. Lol, anyways I’m loving my main couples new sense of PDA. So cute.

As always, leave a comment if you feel like it! I love your guys feedback.

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Eight New Ability

It took a moment but when she continued to look at me, I pressed a hand to my chest and raised a brow, “Oh, are you talking to me? No, you can be. Cause I’d cave in your kneecaps for calling me Critter. Lilly, she’s talking to you.”

“Can’t be me either. Cause I’d bash her head in for the disrespect to my rank.”

Brow eyes jumped from him to me and back again before her scowl deepened, “Why am I here, My Queen?”

“Well, Babes. You’re here because I need an update on Father Time’s progress.”

“Clan King Fionn,” The Troll stressed. “has already convinced five other clans to join in your war for the betterment of our people. You are twenty thousand Trolls strong as of now.”

I gave a low whistle at the news, “Extend my gratitude and thanks to your King. Have they decided on a councilman or woman yet?”

She nodded, “Clan King Fionn no longer comes above ground but as an respected Elder of the Trolls, they went with his candidate.”

“Which would be?”

“Since I’m his heir and because of our history, they believe me to be the best choice for the position on your council.”

I eyed her, “You’re going to give me hell on every decision you disagree with, aren’t you?”

“That’s why they chose me.” She smirked.

“Oh, joy.” I stated, blandly. “Then you’re coming to the Seelie Kingdom with us tomorrow. Get you things ready and your second in command briefed.”

“The Seelie Kingdom?” Coaimhe grunted in dismay.

And suddenly, I was overjoyed that she was my councilwoman for the Trolls, “Yes. It’s going to be so much fun, Babes. Meet back here tomorrow morning at daybreak.”

Snorting, she gave us her back and stomped out of the tent.

“Afric.”

Coming to a slow stop mid twirl, he twisted his head to look at me with a thin brow raised in question.

“How many Banshee Den’s have sided with us?”

His face lit and he clapped rhythmically as he spoke, “A baker’s dozen. Bringing the total of death screamers under your command to a lovely thirty thousand.”

“How did you get so many?” I asked, my mood lifting. We might not need Mab to take out half of her own army after all, we’re easily going to match Oberon’s troops.

“Like me, many were persuaded by your past. But it was your status as the last living Divine and the fact that you cheated death twice that had them crawling to my door. I’m quite the Den Head among Den Head’s now because of our personal connection.” He said, preening at the last bit.

“Fantastic. And there was no turmoil over the fact that I chose you to represent the Banshees on my council?”

Yellow tinged eyes sparkled, “No. They all seemed to accept it good naturedly after I tossed a rival Den Head’s head onto the dining table and screamed that the Death God chose me.”

“I adore being Unseelie but sometimes I feel like I missed my calling as a Banshee.” I sighed, wistfully. “If I did that, I’d get a lecture on decorum and manners.”

“You don’t let anything go, do you? And I still don’t get how you don’t understand why it was wrong!” Dani screeched, black and pink hair swaying.

I waved my hand in a ‘see’ gesture at her as I looked at Afric, “You see what I deal with?”

“It landed in my pot pie!”

“The blood had already clotted, you baby!”

“That’s not the point, bitch!”

Laughter filled the tent as the other’s apparently found our disagreement hilarious. Rolling my eyes, I repeated the orders I gave Caoimhe to Afric and watched in amusement as he cartwheeled from the tent in excitement. Huh, the cartwheelings new.

“You two will be joining us as well.” I said, cutting through the laughter. “Dani, I need you to stay here with Erick and make sure the soldiers continue to train and recruit. Tell him everything we talked about today.”

The only one who looked excited was Puck, who jumped from the bed, “I’ll send a message to my father. He’ll want to throw a ball to introduce you to the Seelie nobility.”

I nodded with a slight cringe.

“Are you going to talk to Oberon about Mab?”

Meeting nervous pink eyes, I told her the hard truth, “I’m bringing the core of my council to meet with his. Everyone should know that we are no longer fighting for a throne.”

“I agree.”

“As do I.” Lilly rumbled against my ear. “But is it really safe to travel after you just escaped Mab? She’ll be desperate to get her hands on you again.”

“We don’t have a choice. Like you said, she’ll be desperate to get her hands on me. Which means the time table for the war has just been moved up.”

Puck stepped up to the side of the bed to lock his fingers back with Bria’s, “There’s something I don’t understand, why did we need her war plans? It’s not like she’ll use the same strategy now that you know it.”

Grabbing a thin braid hidden in my blue locks, Cillian played with it as he explained, “That was never the plan. War plans layout troop numbers, supply routes, places they intend to set up camp and where they plan to start the war. We’ll know her exact numbers and she’ll be forced into war with a half baked strategy.”

“Hence why the war has been moved up to next week or so.” I added.

Dark green eyes widened at the news and Bria sat up straighter, “You plan to attack in a week? Do you think we’re ready?”

“I do. We have to be.”

“Don’t worry, Bria. While we’re at the Seelie Court, our troops will be launching small scale attacks on Mab’s supply routes.”

Tilting my head back on his chest, I met silver eyes, “That’s a really good idea. No attacks on the bases yet. I should be there with my soldiers.”

He nodded, albeit hesitantly but didn’t disagree.

“So, Macha. You never told us how you ended up getting into the Estate. We didn’t even know you got inside until you came bursting out.”

“Bursting out?” Cillian repeated before snapping sharp eyes down to me. “Yes, Cell Bait. Why don’t you tell us the whole story? I’m sure I’ll find it very interesting.”

“Uuuuhhhh, I wouldn’t say interesting per say….” I replied, straining the interesting. Reaching up to fiddle with the pendant at my throat, I continued, “It was actually really boring, Lilly. I mean- What the fuck?”

“What? What happened?”

Bolting upright between his knees in a panic, I frantically felt around my neck with both hands, “The diamond. The diamond you gave me, it’s gone!” Anger surged up in my chest when I realized they’d taken everything on me. “It wasn’t enough to take my metals, they took my fucking diamond too? Those motherfucking bastards!”

“It’s alright, Cell Bait.” Lilly murmured softly, sitting up behind me to place his hands on my shoulders. “You can make more metal and I’ll make you another one.”

“No.” I spat, shaking off his hands and climbing from the bed to his irritation. “I want the one you gave me. And I don’t care if I sound like a brat. It has sentimental value that you can’t replace. I want my fucking diamond and I want my fucking metals.”

“Macha-”

Rounding the privacy screen, I threw open the trunk with a look and yanked out a pair of grey leather trousers and a black tunic. Stomping back over to the bed, I shimmied into the pants as I glared at the bewildered group, “Those items are irreplaceable and I’ll be damned, damned and buried, before I let them sell them off like they mean nothing.”

Sliding to the side of the bed, Cillian grabbed the back of my thighs and pulled me between his legs, “Be reasonable, Cell Bait. We can’t go back and escape twice in the same day. It’ll never happen.”

“I am being reasonable, Lilly. Perfectly reasonable. I’m going to go and decimate every single soul standing between me and that Divines damned diamond.” I snarled, tying the top of my trousers tightly.

“Cillian’s right, Macha. You can’t go back. Like he said you can make new ones-”

Standing there in a pair of leather trousers and a breast binding, I flashed sharpened teeth her way and a blue glow filled the tent, “You don’t get it. They’re the first items to belong to me after I escaped from prison. They’re mine. I want what’s rightfully mine and I. Want. Them. Now.”

I caught the wide-eyed look they gave me at whatever they saw on my face except for Cillian, who just squeezed the backs of my thighs in response. I didn’t give a fuck what they thought, my metal and that diamond were mine. They belonged to me. They belonged to a God and not some little unworthy fucker. My fingers curled in my rage and my lips twisted, On the Divines and on myself, I was getting my shit back tonight and killing everyone who touched that diamond.

A brilliant blue light flashed inside the tent, causing someone to cry out in surprise and me to throw up my hands to shield my eyes. As the light slowly faded, I blinked away the white spots in my vision and lowered my hands to my sides once more. The others were doing the same while standing around the bed, probably having jumped off it when the light exploded inside the small room.

A startled Cillian with his axe raised, standing partially in front of me, suddenly blurted, “Holy shit.”

“What?” I urged, leaning around him to look. Blinking rapidly at the items on my bed, I rubbed my eyes and looked again, “Tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing right now.”

“Oh I see it, Cell Bait.”

There, laying in the middle of the bed in a bloody pile, sat my twin swords, Cillian’s other axe, my rings and sitting on top was the diamond he gave me. The black velvet cord and the royal blue diamond were the only things unsullied by the blood coating the weapons. The fresh blood coating the weapons.

“Is that-”

“How-”

Bria barked an astonished laugh, cutting off her boyfriend and Dani, “Holy Divines and the grateful whores they fucked! That’s how you did it!”

My eyes pinged from the pile of my things to her and then back to the pile, “Did what?”

“When you got shot with those grappling hooks, which was actually really traumatic by the way. Baris hasn’t left his tent since we got back but that’s not the point. When you were shot and your flame keeping us safe started to die out, you screamed at us to travel out, to leave you.”

“Which you did. Like I wanted you to.” I replied, turning to look at her while trying to ignore the heat of Lilly’s gaze burning a hole through my head.

She shook her head, “No, we didn’t. One minute, we were watching this murderous mob of purple starting to surround around us, ten to one, while you fell to your knees in agony. And the next minute, we were here. None of us traveled and we’ve been trying to figure out how we got back here. But it was you. You traveled us.”

“Murderous mob of purple, surrounded, ten to one, fell to your knees in agony, told them to leave you behind.”

I cringed as Lilly repeated her descriptors in that icy tone he used when he was really really unhappy, “Thank you for that very descriptive and overly explained tale of what happened, Bria. No such thing as glossing it over in your world, huh Babes?”

Dark green eyes flicked between us and then gave us an overly sweet smile, “Would you look at that, Puck and I are late for a prior engagement.”

“What prior engagement? Why are you being so formal?”

I smirked as Bria sighed deeply and started pulling him from the tent, “Puck, we talked about this.”

“Oh, right. When you lie, I should go along with it and then ask later in private why you lied to our friends.” The Seelie happily remarked.

A groan spilled from her lips loudly before the tent door flapped closed behind them.

“Well, that’s my cue. I’m going to go check on Calvin.”

Stalling, I asked, “How’s Calvin? What’s he been doing this whole time?”

Walking to the exit, she tossed over her shoulder, “Finding inspiration for his new collection of paintings from your soldiers.”

The second she left the tent, I rocked back on my heels and looked at Lilly, “So….I guess no one wanted to talk about the fresh blood on-”

“Please, shut your beautiful mouth.” He sighed, cupping the sides of my face with both hands. “I don’t want to talk about your one woman army or your new ability.”

“Great!” I beamed up at him. “So, want to have sex?”

“No.”

I slumped with a pout, “Boo, you whore.”

He gave an exaggerated eye roll, “I want to talk about your influence on my baby sister.”

“What influence? Bria’s her own woman.”

“Thank the Divines and the grateful whores they fucked?”

“Oh, I know. I heard that too, what a mouth on that one. I can’t imagine where she heard that.”

We held eye contact, trying to see who’d break first.

A wicked grin spilt his expression, “The Seelie have no idea what they’re getting into with you, do they?”

“Not. A. Clue.” I grinned back.

——————————————————————————

Verbies…..I just have one thing to say….get ready for a chaotic read next weekend cause Macha and the gang are headed to the Seelie Kingdommmm!

You know what to do.

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Flower City

Tugging the sleeveless tunic over my head, I shoved my arms through and fixed the white fabric to sit on my hips. Raising my hands, I looked over my reflection as nimble fingers weaved little braids between wavy blue strands. Little pieces of silver flew from Cillian’s coated axe’s to form little charms that decorated the braids. Finishing, I held out a hand and twisted the rest of the silver coating into a perfect pair of waist chains. Locking them around my hips, I slipped on the sheath containing my swords and positioned it flat between my shoulder blades. Adjusting it, I gently pulled the diamond pendant out from underneath my tunic on it’s new metal lined cord and smoothed out the straps of the sheath.

Reaching over to the chest, I plucked blue rings off the wood one at a time and slid them onto my fingers. The pale gold ring, molded into a braided pattern, that Arseniy had given me stood out among the royal blue jewelry. After twisting it around my thumb, I left it alone and decided to use the last of my metal to create forearm guards. I wasn’t going to bother with a breast plate. The iron grappling hooks had pierced through it like paper and I doubted they’d use anything other than iron to bring me down. Not after they saw the effect it had on me.

Fluffing my hair with my ringed fingers, I gave myself a small smirk as I looked myself over, “Is it just me or do I really look this good all the time?”

“Whoever said God’s lack humility obviously never met you.” Dani called out from behind the privacy screen, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

Raising a hand, I flipped her off.

A snort echoed through the tent, “Very mature.”

“Thank you.” I replied, walking out to face her.

Yawning, she pushed the bowl of oats across the desk to the empty seat, “Sit. Eat.”

“Lilly? You look different today.” I mocked, taking the seat she offered.

Pink eyes rolled, “It’s too early for your shit. The sun hasn’t even risen.”

“So, why are you here? You’re not coming with us so you could have slept in.”

Shifting down in her seat, she snuggled further into the fur she stole from the bed, “Cillian popped into our tent this morning, startled the shit out of Calvin and then ordered me to come here with oatmeal. I’m supposed to make sure you eat before you guys leave, although I don’t know why he didn’t do it. Didn’t he sleep here last night?”

“Divines, Dani! What kind of lady do you take me for? He went to his own tent last night.”

One of her eyes, that had slid shut while talking, cracked open, “What are you going on about?”

“Just practicing for when I’m with the flower people.” I shrugged, taking a bite of the bland oats. “And he couldn’t do it because he went to get Fitzgerald.”

“What do you mean he went to get Fitzgerald? Fitzgerald Ó Maoilriain?”

“He really doesn’t deserve the prestige of being referred to by his whole name.”

“Macha,” She gasped, “You can’t bring a criminal to the Seelie Kingdom, to meet Oberon.”

Laughing, I kicked my legs up on the corner of the desk, “Uh, are you forgetting that I’m a criminal? These pretty tattoos aren’t just for decoration, Babes. I’m still wanted by half the realm.”

“Huh. I did kind of forget you’re a felon.” She responded with a slow blink. “So, why are you bringing the Dwarf? For amusement or an actual reason?”

Shoveling a spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth, I chewed and swallowed before answering, “Both, but I need a temporary representative for the smaller Faekind.”

“Do you really think he’s the best choice?”

“Wasn’t up to me. We dropped the news on the smaller Faekind yesterday and they spent all day arguing. Finally gave us a name this morning.”

“Really? And they chose-”

“Get your hands off of me, you murdering bastard! Do you know who I am, huh? Do you have any idea who your fucking with?”

Dropping my legs, I twisted to look at them in time to catch Cillian rolling his eyes as Grumpy stabbed a finger into his thigh with every question.

Flicking his gaze down, Lilly blankly stated, “Touch me again and I’ll twist your head off.”

“Now, now, Lilly. No, threatening my temporary council members. One of us has to at least look even tempered.”

The dark grey skinned Dwarf whirled on me with narrowed eyes and a sneer, “Oh look, it’s the thief. I should have known you come for my soul again.”

“First,” I stated, holding up a finger. “I don’t think I can steal from a mine that is legally half mine. Second,” I continued, flicking up another finger. “You’re once again mixing religions.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to be our God and Queen.” He sneered again.

“You should, since you convinced most of the smaller Faekind to side with me.”

He threw his little grey hands in the air and stomped his feet, “I told them no such thing! They’re lying! It’s a conspiracy!”

“A conspiracy?”

“A grape conspiracy!”

I didn’t want to ask, I really didn’t but the curiosity was too much, “Why is it a grape conspiracy?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Beca-”

Lilly’s large hand slapped over the Dwarf’s mouth almost covering the entirety of his face and started dragging him to the door by the collar of his tunic. “We don’t have time to watch her kick your ass. Let’s go, Cell Bait.”

Taking another bite, I stood and nodded at Dani, “Do me a favor and get in touch with Moira. Tell her to make me and Cillian formal wear for tonight at the Seelie Castle.”

“Theme? Masks?”

“For me, let’s go with regal boarding on villainous with a ton of sexy. And for Cillian, let’s do dark knight meets cruel prince. No masks.” I replied, walking backwards towards the exit.

She snorted, “Matching?”

“Ish. Not too much.”

“Alright, I’ll tell her. And be nice to those Seelie!” She called out as I slipped from the tent.

“I couldn’t if I tried.” I purred, coming face to face with the group coming with me to Flower City.

Pausing, I took a moment to admire my mate as he spoke to the others. Thick leather boots hit mid-calf and lead to a pair of long muscular legs encased in black leather. His sleeveless black tunic stretched over his broad chest showcasing his physique. Muscles underneath his dark oak colored skin rolled and flexed making my mouth go dry. Moving my eyes up, I trailed them over his strong neck to the smooth knife sharp planes of his face. Even among the Fae, his features were brutally sharp and masculine.

Probably due to his Frost Giant heritage but while other women of our kind might have found it ‘too cruel’. His looks had never failed to give me shivers down below most likely because his resting face looked like he was contemplating murder. Huh. Was Dani right? Was it a problem that I liked men and women who looked just as likely to kill me as they were to fuck me? Might be some deep psychological trauma manifesting but as my gaze dropped back to his thighs, I couldn’t find a shred of fucks to give.

Peasant, if you keep staring at me like that we aren’t going to go anywhere but back into that tent.

Lips twitching, I kept my eyes on his legs, Already regretting your earlier decree, Your Majesty?

A deep laugh echoed through my head, Pay attention, Cell Bait. We’re ready to go.

“My Queen?”

“Yes?” I asked, pulling my eyes away from Cillian.

Bria smirked, “We’re ready when you are.”

Quickly scanning over our rag-tag group and the small troop of soldiers accompanying us, I nodded, “Let’s get going then. Because we’ll be traveling to a place none of us have been to before except for Puck. Make sure you get a grip on or someone holding onto the Prince, he’ll be traveling all of us to the gates.”

There was a muttering from the crowd before they started shuffling around to link arms or grip shoulders. Motioning for Cillian to follow me, I walked over to Puck and grabbed hold of his arm while ignoring his shit eating grin. The kid was practically bouncing on his toes teeming with excitement that seemed to spill from every pore he had. Cillian’s hand slipped into my free one, bringing our palms together tightly and the smell of leather and metal to my nose. It was comforting and I was going to tell him that when something suddenly clutched onto my leg.

Looking down, I raised a brow, “I thought you hated me, you little shit.”

“Well if something goes wrong, he’s not going to let go of you is he.”

Fair enough, I thought with a shrug as the realm dropped out beneath my feet and resisted the urge to stab Puck when he shouted, “You are all going to love it there!”

…………………………

I did not love it here.

The second our boots touched down, we were met by a troop of soldiers in gold tunics and a male who rushed to embrace Puck. That wasn’t what bothered me, though I did enjoy how Bria stiffened at their embrace. No. What bothered me was how when they separated the male turned to me with stars in his eyes and tried to embrace me next. Key word tried because as soon as he turned on me with his arms outstretched, I sucker punched the motherfucker in the throat.

Oh, and they were all smiling. Not grinning, not smirking, not even a hit of wickedness touched their lips. Just…smiling. Like psychopaths.

He’s lucky you got to him before my axe did.

Suppressing a smirk, I glanced at Lilly from the corner of my eye, If only.

The male with wheat colored hair stumbled back clutching his throat in surprise while choking. Soldiers rushed forward but Puck got to him first and they backed off. Holding the taller male upright as he choked, Puck swung astonished eyes on me, “Macha! This is my brother, Crown Prince Quinn. He was just trying to greet you.”

I plastered an apologetic grimace on my face and said, “Prison reflexes.” Like that should explain everything as I tried not to laugh at the now red faced Crowned Prince straightening up.

“That one’s on me, Pucky.” Quinn croaked before rubbing at the imprint of my rings on his throat and trying again. “Forgive me, Your Divinity. My excitement at meeting a living Divine and the next Queen of the realm overtook me.”

Your Divinity? I purred mentally to Lilly. How come you don’t address me like that?

Don’t even start, Cell Bait.

Preening, I tossed a lock of hair over my shoulder, “You’re forgiven.”

“It’s an honor to host you and your council. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had visiting Unseelie. We hope the ball tonight is to your liking as it is in your honor.” The Crown Prince cheerfully informed us like an unsettling copy of his younger brother. Great Divines. Were they all clones? Yes, now it makes sense.

Pucky clapped his hands, “Yes! She’s going to love it. Especially all the activities we have planned!”

“Activities, Pucky?” I forced out, around a tight smile.

“Yes, traditional Seelie games that we play to pass time. To give you a taste of our people.” Quinn replied, with a another fucking smile.

“I’ve actually avoided the taste of Seelie for a very specific reason. I’m a hundred percent certain I’m allergic.” I sneered dryly, ringing a laugh from the still smiling soldiers behind them. Fuck this, fake being nice took too much energy.

The little arms around my left thigh finally let go and Grumpy stepped forward with a sneering grin, “It’s been awhile since I swindled your kind out of some coin. So, what are we betting on? Nymph Resistance? Changeling Fights? Knife Roulette?”

Golden and wheat colored eyes blinked at the little gray skinned male before turning to each other. Quinn clapped a hand on Puck’s shoulder and released a deep belly laugh, “You were right, Pucky! They do have quite the humor! The others are going to love them.”

Whirling around, Grumpy grabbed onto the bottom of my tunic and yanked harshly, “You better sleep with one eye open, you purple headed bitch. I’ll get you back for bringing me to this hell hole.”

Purple…headed bitch?

Macha…

Eyes narrowing, I locked a hand around his wrist and then bent to grab his ankle with the other, “It’s royal blue headed bitch, you slimy little fuck!”

Ignoring his yells for help, I started to spin causing the others to step back as Grumpy’s body began to rise. With one last hard twirl, I released him with a snicker and watched him fly screaming into the golden tunic’d soldiers. The others behind me snorted and laughed while the Seelie stared at me flabbergasted.

Meeting Quinn’s eyes, I grinned sharply and winked, “I have a thing about mislabeling. You understand, Babes.” When he gave a slow nod, I looked past them all to the large golden and white marble gates, “So, are you going to let me into your precious Flower City or what?”

………………..

Behind the walls was pretty much what I was expecting from my nicer kin. All the homes from the very outer ring of the city to just before the castle were pristine. Bright green vines blooming with flowers crawled over colorful walls made of pearl stone and wood. The streets and paths of the city were filled with ankle length grass and large trees. It was as if they built around the forest instead of tearing it down to build on top of it. Sunlight reflected off the shiny stoned buildings of the city and gave everything a golden glow of etherealness. Flower City, as the Unseelie nicknamed the Seelies Kingdom, was everything the humans used to write about.

In other words, it was disgusting. Where were the carts selling weapons and sugar? Where were the dirt paths with metal and concrete buildings? Where were the drunkards spilling out onto the streets no matter what time of day it was? Where were the criminal hangouts for fucks sake?

The Faekind with me looked equally as repulsed the closer we walked to the castle. At one point, I thought the Seelie weren’t all that bad when a winged leopard chased down a pastel pink haired female. Only for all of us to groan in disappointment when we realized they were just playing. That was another thing about this Divines awful kingdom, there were animals everywhere. I knew Seelies had the ability to communicate with them but the amount of them roaming calmly through the streets was ridiculous. The dangerous ones didn’t even flash fangs or hiss as we passed!

This place is very…strange.

If by strange you mean utterly boring and grossly happy then, yes. It’s strange.

Shooting me an amused smile, Lilly shook his head and faced forward as we finally reached the castle road.

Puck and his eldest brother were chatting away in front while the rest of the Seelie soldiers lined the sides of our group. They kept the growing crowd of Seelie citizens from reaching us. Few of them sported curious smiles as they looked us over while most chanted something and waved their arms. Tilting my head, I drifted closer to the edge with Cillian at my side to see them better. Blinking at what I saw, I narrowed my eyes and gave them my full attention.

“What the hell are they wearing?” I blurted out in disbelief. “Quick, Lilly. Check my eyes, I think I’m stroking.”

Cillian leaned closer into my side, “Must be some kind of paint.”

“But, Why?”

Quinn, having overheard, looked over his shoulder and smiled at me, “Everyone’s very excited to meet you! You’re the last living Divine and they wanted to honor you by wearing your markings! Sweet, isn’t it?”

I looked at him and then back at the Fae, who had silver swirls covering their exposed skin, “They do know that these are prison tats, right? Not some Divine marking but my prison sentence? For high treason and suspected but never proven war crimes?”

“Yes! It’s been very inspirational to us all. Your story has inspired many.”

Squinting, I questioned, “My story?”

He nodded, “Of course! Didn’t Pucky tell you? Ever since you escaped Slykhelm, you’ve been the talk of the Kingdom! Especially among the females! There’s been an increase in female’s joining the army and sales in leather trousers! A whole movement of our female population, going out and doing the things they always wanted to do but felt like they couldn’t. It’s quite beautiful, our sister has even started to learn how to wield a sword and the other is learning masonry. The tale of your unbreakable spirit has given them all a source of strength.”

Humbled but utterly confused as to how I could inspire others with the horror show that was my life, I asked, “What are they chanting?”

He went to speak but Puck cut him off with a grin and stopped directly in front of me, halting our group, “You have a lot of names but there’s only one name they call you on this side of the realm.”

“Which is?” I replied around a closing throat. I didn’t deserve this, the way they were looking at me, of what they thought of me. I wasn’t someone to be inspired by. I was someone they should be horrified to become.

His grin grew wider, “The Unbreakable Divine. And they’re not chanting their singing. Listen, you can hear them.”

Hesitant, I walked to the front of our group and listened to the singing. Slowly the words began to take shape in my ears as the volume of the Fae increased now that I was completely in view. They cheered loudly, arms painted in silver to match my own and waved them high in the air for me to see. Some of them wore royal blue or waved little flags and ribbons that matched my Fae coloring.

There were even little braids littering the younger children’s hair as their parents held them and pointed me out to them with smiles. It caused my heart to swell and squeeze painfully in my chest, reminding me of the first time I’d seen someone wearing my color. Their chant rolled over me like a soothing balm before lighting a fire somewhere behind my heart.

“Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Oooo, how she shines! Fighting against the dark to bring us into the light! Stronger than a thousand and fiercer than the sunnnn! Hair as rich as the ocean and eyes that glitter like diamonds! She spins a deal smoother than wine!” The crowd seemed to swell in excitement, they’re voices rising, “Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Ooooo, she breaks all the rules! Mouth of a viper with a will stronger than iron! A little wicked, a little violent, she likes to see her enemies on a pyre! Seen the stars and came back twice! With a blackened soul but never broken! She isn’t perfect and she isn’t pure! She’s made mistakes and she’s paid the price! She’s everything a fae could pray for! Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Ooooo, And aren’t we glad she’s ours! Aren’t we glad she’s ours!”

Swallowing thickly, I blinked aggressively to push the burning in my eyes away. A Ballad. They were singing a ballad about me. And soon as they stopped they started all over again causing my eyes to sting. Maybe the Seelie weren’t so bad after all.

Golden eyes popped up inches from my face,“Macha? Are you crying?”

Slapping my hand directly in the middle of his face, I shoved him away and sniffed, “I’m not crying, Sun Ray. You’re fucking crying.”

“No, I think I’d know if I was crying. Your eyes look gla-”

I didn’t stay to hear the rest of his sentence because with little effort I launched myself into the sky. Gasps rose from the crowd as I soared above them and pulled my swords from their sheath. The fire the Seelie had started behind my heart grew until there was nothing I could do but release it. Tossing the swords above me, a blue ring of flames shot out from my chest and casted a blue light over the Kingdom. Reflected off their shiny buildings, I grinned and flipped midair to dive back towards the crowd face first.

Awestruck faces watched my approach with growing concern the closer I got to the ground. At the last minute, a vine snapped out to wrap around my ankle and I shot Lilly a wink as I laughed before it whipped me back into the sky. Swords slipping back into my hands, I threw them again this time with flames lining the metal as they reshaped into a large sign. The vine fell from my ankle to surge past me, surrounding the sign in a swirling motion similar to my tattoos.

I hovered briefly in front of the sign with a grin and floating hair as I tapped my chin, it’s missing something…something…like…Laughing loudly, I tipped myself backwards and started flipping back to the ground in an uncontrolled free fall. Sighing, I breathed in the fresh air and weightless of it all before tightening my core and preparing to hit the ground. My boots hit dirt with a sharp crack and absorbed the shock of my landing by sending a wave through the crowd. They laughed and cheered loudly as the ground softly lifted them into the air before leveling out again.

Panting, I watched them all with a wide grin and then tipped my head back to see my masterpiece. Written in a metal, outlined in fire, and surrounded by swirling green vines decorated with blooming white lilies, my words were large enough for the entire Kingdom to see. Love the ballad and the name, Babes! -The Unbreakable Divine

The crowd chattered in excitement before the singing started up again with even more energy than before. Even the Fae I had brought with me began to hum the words and whispered begrudgingly that the Seelie had created a catchy ballad. While Afric sung the lyrics loudly and sometimes in the wrong order as we started moving again. Puck kept glancing back at me with a hero worshipping expression that I flipped him off for but he just laughed in response.

“So far, so good. I thought they’d be chasing us out of here by now.”

I gave Lilly’s arm a smack with the back of my hand, “Hey! People love me, I have a very lovable personality.”

“To some.”

“To all, Asshole. And you’re one to talk.”

He shrugged, “I don’t want everyone to love me. You like me. That’s enough.”

I turned to face him as we stopped in front of the castle doors and asked seriously, “If I squeal and pinch your cheek, are you going to get all grouchy?”

“Yes.” He scowled.

I was already reaching for his cheek when a sudden ache shot through my ankle, “Hey, murdering psycho and murdering bastard! No one cares about your Fairy love life!”

“Did you kick me?” I whirled on him with a snarl, kicking out at him only for a pair of arms to wrap around my waist and hold me back. “I’m going to fuck you up, you dull Pixie!”

The little Dwarf bared sharp teeth and pulled a dagger from his boot, “Pixie! PIXIE! Bring it, Bitch! I’ll cut you into a regular sized Fae!”

“A REGULAR sized-”

“My, my! I forgot how spirited you Unseelie are!” A deep voice bellowed with a laugh. Annnd….Of course, that was how I met the King of the Seelie for the first time.

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I don’t have a lot to say other than…I LOVED this chapter, lmao. Who’d have thought the Seelie were fans of our murderous little female lead???

As always feel free to leave a comment or like! Thanks again for your patience on these last few chapters!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Sixty: Business First

Stilling, I stopped trying to break Cillian’s grip so I could rip the Dwarf in half and turned my head to the door. Standing in the grand doorway of the Seelie Castle cut from gold, marble and glass, stood Oberon. The man was almost an exact replica of his youngest son except for a couple of important details. Oberon had long golden curls framing his face and matched me in height with a body that almost mimicked Cillian’s powerful build. What really caught my eye though, was how his Fae coloring was the shiniest shade of gold that I had ever seen. And his nickname as the Summer King suddenly made a lot more sense.

Cillian’s arms withdrew from around my waist and he stepped back to a more appropriate distance for a Commander. I bristled a little that he did so when Oberon came thumping down the steps to greet us but I understood his reason for it. It was too dangerous to come out as mates to anyone other than our trusted friends at the moment and it also wasn’t proper for a Commander to be so close to his Queen or King. But that didn’t mean I had to like it.

The impressive King came to a stop a few steps in front of me and looked me over with shining eyes, “Macha O’Riordan, The Unbreakable Divine. It’s a pleasure.”

“Oberon. It’s nice to finally meet the man who hunted me in my youth.”

Our eyes locked in a stare down as the others around us shifted in discomfort. Powerful energy crackled and surged between us silently, the kind that always emerged when two powerful beings occupied the same space. Golden eyes flickered with a teasing glint that I wasn’t used to coming from his kind or expecting. So when he held his hand out for me to take, I slipped my right hand against his forearm and gripped it in a warriors hold.

“With only good intentions, I assure you.” He laughed, giving my hand on his elbow a pat with his free one. “I was impressed at how well you slipped away from my soldiers. It’s not everyday a child of around six hundred can outsmart a group of adult Fae.”

I pulled my hand back with a shrug, “I’ve never really been a child, Babes.”

“I can see that.” He replied, catching my hand and pressing his lips to my skin.

Ehhhhhhhh.

Odd. Lilly’s deep baritone gritted out.

My thoughts exactly.

Eyes narrowing slightly, I discreetly tugged free of his grip and raised a brow but before I could say anything his golden eyes shot to the left.

“Pucky! My boy! How have you been? How was your experience living with the Unseelie?” Oberon boomed, taking a step to the side to ruffle his son’s hair.

Puck beamed up at his father, “Great! I can’t wait to tell you and mother all about it! But you’ll have to let us in first.”

“Of course! Of course! Where are my manners? Everyone please, follow me!” The sharp lines of his smooth face caught the sun and caused his golden skin to almost sparkle as he retreated into the Castle.

This jolly motherfucker’s up to something.

It could just be the way he greets women? Or a Seelie thing, Quinn did try to hug you. Lilly replied in disdain as he followed me up the Castle steps from an appropriate distance.

The internal untrusting, paranoid, pessimistic bitch in me didn’t agree. Maybe…

Thoughtfully humming in suspicion, I strolled to a stop in the middle of the grand foyer and scanned the decor. A glass flooring revealed the bright green field and colorful flowers below us in a whimsical display of nature. Vines of gold crawled along the pristine white marble walls flaring out from time to time with detailed leaves. Decorative vases filled with sunflowers sat on marble pedestals while glass windows and animated paintings lined the walls. A breeze seemed to flow down the halls from every direction bringing along with it the smell of honeysuckle and summer. In short, the Castle was gaudy as hell.

“Macha, this is my Queen Consort, Fiadh. Fiadh, this is The Unbreakable Divine.”

A woman of average height with brown skin and an admittedly gorgeous auburn afro threaded through with flowers stepped forward. Glass heels with red petals sealed inside clicked over the glass flooring and brought attention to her shapely legs. A white dress matching Oberon’s outfit of all white, hugged her chest and sides before it flared out around her waist at different lengths. Round eyes created a doe-like look to her defined features, dramatized by the gold paint lining her lower lash line. The woman was a knockout and by the smile parting her rosy lips, she knew it.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Divinity.” Fiadh said, lowering her head followed by her eyelids before lifting her left arm to show off the silver paint swirled over it. She glanced up at me coyly, “I have to admit I’m a huge fan of yours. Perhaps, you could spare me a dance tonight at the ball? I’d love to ask you a few things.”

Oh, give me a break. Lilly huffed, mentally. She’s way too old for that look.

Snorting a laugh at his words, I nodded at Fiadh, “You can ask, Babes. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” The royal couple laughed along with me thinking my amusement was for them and not at them. Letting my chuckles die off, I turned to the side and motioned to each of my council members, “Allow me to introduce you to the esteemed members of my Unseelie council. Afric, a very logical Den Head, who represents the Banshees. Caoimhe, a sweet and calm Troll, who represents our Troll Clans. Bria, an enthusiastic Fae, who is temporarily representing the Unseelie Fae. Fitzgerald, a gold hearted Dwarf, who is temporarily representing all of the smaller Faekind. Sinead, a loveable Kelpie, who is temporarily representing the water Fae and Forest Fae as a whole.”

Grinning at my half truthful speech, I laughed when the Kelpie tossed her large head with a snort. Turning on my heel, I motioned Cillian forward and dropped a hand on his shoulder, “And last but never least, my faithful Commander, Cillian Grymes.”

The couple’s eyes had followed along with every Fae I introduced but stared at Cillian a beat longer. Before I could place the sharpness in their gaze at odds with their smiles, they blinked and it was gone. If I hadn’t known better or had a weaker set of instincts I never would have noticed but I did. Bouncing my eyes from gold to auburn, I felt a thrum of dangerous excitement race up my spine. Whatever Oberon was up to his Consort was in on it.

Oberon motioned with a gliding hand towards the line of servants taking up spots along the wall, “My staff will show you all to your rooms. The ball isn’t for a few hours but feel free to roam about the grounds as you wish. Macha, if you’d follow us, we’ll show you to your rooms.”

“Actually, I’d like to brief your council on information that we’ve become aware of. So if you’d lead the way to wherever it is you normally meet that’d be great, Babes.” I replied, with a sickly sweet smile. “Business before pleasure and all that.”

Taken aback, the couple flicked a glance at each other before Oberon nodded with a pleasant smile, “Of course. Everyone, follow us to the throne room then.” Turning, he held out his elbow for his Consort to link her arm through before turning and offering his other arm to me.

Take it.

I don’t want to.

I don’t want you to either but you should at least try being diplomatic.

Giving Lilly a long suffering sigh, I glided towards the couple with confidence and a false smile. Bringing my right hand up, I let it drift over the large diamond resting on my chest before linking my arm with the Seelie King.

Our walk was relatively short with the royal couple pointing out important or historical items that they had collected over the years as we went. Fiadh had left Oberon’s side to motion at a moving painting that depicted a war and then linked her arm through my free one. Sandwiched between them, their body heat began to grate on my nerves and it was everything I could do not to snap at them.

Pushing it all to the back of my mind, I internally sneered at the smiling idiots who passed us in the halls. A male even cartwheeled passed us humming a tune while something small and green raced around him. This whole trip was starting to feel like a drug induced hallucination and Divines help them when I started to come down. Because the high from the people’s ballad was beginning to wane as a headache from their nauseous happiness was settling in.

Slowing to a stop in front of a pair of floor to ceiling gold doors, the pair of soldiers guarding it didn’t budge from their positions blocking our path. Oberon and Fiadh finally released me to walk a few steps forward before turning to face us all. My brow raised at the way the guards moved closer to us now, holding some kind of basket between them.

“Weapons are not allowed in the throne room for safety purposes.” Fiadh announced with the tone of someone used to being obeyed.

I laughed, “Thanks for the reminder, Babes.”

With a half formed thought, my metal that had been forming the sign I’d left outside snapped into place. The weight of my swords settled back between my shoulders and the chains locking around my waist jangled as my forearm guards and rings weighed down my arms. Giving her a wink, I walked straight through the space they left between them and waved a lazy hand at the door. At my will, the golden doors slammed open in a flourish revealing the Fae waiting inside.

The sun warmed my skin from above as my boots hit the cobble stone path and the tinkling of my waist chains demanded the attention of the Fae sitting around the large wooden table. Long and oval in shape, dark high backed wooden chairs lined the length of it on each side. Faekind of every description watched from their seats as I passed them with a smile. Giving a finger wave to a slack jawed Banshee with a silver painted neck, I laughed. This place was doing wonders for my ego.

Ankle tall grass covered the sides of the courtyard and threatened to climb the walls that were already lined with ivy. Flowers in glass vases flecked with gold decorated the long table but the head of the table held my attention. Elevated so all could see, sat two thrones made from thickly woven branches with bright green leaves and golden cosmos. Though the smaller of the two had red ones blooming beside the golden ones, causing the eye to be drawn to it.

Which to choose, which to choose…Climbing the steps, I stopped in front of the largest throne and twisted on my heel to face every one. Grinning, I caught Lilly’s eye as he rounded the table heading straight for me while the others sneered at their surroundings. Sinking into the throne, I ignored the gasps and settled in with a content sigh. Arms resting on the sides with my knees spread comfortably in a very unqueenly way as I’ve been told in the past, I looked down at them all.

“My name is Macha O’Riordan, on this side of the realm you might know me as The Unbreakable Divine.” I announced, projecting my voice to be heard clearly. “Many of the things you’ve heard about me are true. Good and bad but I have something I’d like to say.” Meeting the eyes of each Seelie, I continued, “As future Queen of the Realm, I will destroy any enemy of yours because they are mine. I will ride into their cities and burn them to the ground. And as the ash is falling, I won’t stop until their blood and guts soak our grounds. There is no enemy that I will not face to protect Tir Na Nog and the Faekind that live here. I have my faults, I am not perfect but I will give everything I have to ensure our enemies never win. I will give everything I have in the upcoming war to bring Mab and her supporters to their knees. Their heads will line the new gates of Tir Na Nog or I’ll die trying.” Seeing their expressions, I remembered that these were Seelie, “Oh, And I’ll do everything I can to bring peace to the realm too.”

Silence met my speech from the shocked faces of the Seelie below me until Afric broke it by releasing a whoop of joy. Oberon and Fiadh stood blinking up at me from where they had been walking up the steps towards me. Having reached my side mid-speech, I felt Lilly’s body heat shift towards me in a motion of silent support.

When the silence stretched, I raised a brow, “Any questions before we get down to business? Now’s the time.”

“While a Divine and neutral Fae now, you were born Unseelie and display many of their attributes. How can we trust that the Seelie will be treated fairly under your reign?”

Catching the leaf green gaze of the Nymph who spoke, I waved a hand at the table, “You’re looking at it. I will absorb your council into my own to ensure that the Seelie are equally represented on decisions regarding their kind as a whole. You can even keep Oberon as your representative for the Seelie Fae on my council if you chose to.”

A female Lamia tilted her head in a rolling motion that snagged my attention as she hissed, “You’ll be fighting in the war? On the ground with our soldiersss?”

“Of course, I’ll be on the front lines. As any good leader would be.”

Her purple slitted eyes glanced at the royal Seelie pair along with others of the council before her tongue flicked out and she leaned back into her seat. Ooooo, definitely some tension there.

“Who will rule in your place if you fall in battle? You have no heir, protege, sibling or even a mate! We’ll be left to flounder in a realm without a ruler.” An angry looking Troll snapped, brown hair bouncing with his words.

“Untrue.” I replied, drumming my fingertips on the armrest of the throne. “My Commander will rule in my place if I fall.”

Immediately everyone’s eyes whipped over to Cillian.

Macha, He barked in surprise. What the hell are you doing? I’m not a King, I’m a soldier. I don’t belong on a throne.

“Him?” Someone called out in disbelief.

Narrowing my eyes, I challenged, “Why not him? Cillian Grymes has thousands of years experience in the cruelest court this realm has ever seen. He’s from a well respected Noble family known for it’s loyalty and skill as warriors coveted by all. My Commander is a brilliant man with a mind for political and military strategy. He is more than capable of holding this realm together and more importantly, he is the only one I trust leaving the realm to. Cillian Crymes will rule in the event of my death as King of the Realm.”

This time the Seelie weren’t the only once’s in shock, the Unseelie with me were as well. They knew we were close and few knew we were mates but apparently none of them realized what that would mean. Not even Cillian because I hadn’t seen his chest raise in a breath since I started justifying my choice. Muttering broke out among the Seelie as they consumed the information that I had just dropped on them. Some seemed to be thinking on my choice while others looked utterly confused.

Macha, you can’t be serious.

“Macha, he isn’t royalty. Does he even have an ability? He’ll never be able to hold the throne.”

Cocking my head at Oberon, I faked a gasp, “Really? Power is all you need to rule a Kingdom or the Realm? Then I should just take your throne, shouldn’t I? Crush your cities and force your army to fight for me? Take the realm by force because I can? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I understand the point you’re trying to make but-”

Grinning, I spread my hands wide, “Are you all praying for my death? No? Then it is only a possible outcome of the war.” My grin dropped along with my hands, “Stop your bitching. In the event of my death, you will all bow to him as your appointed King. Whatever he and the people decide in the long run is out of my hands. I trust him to make the right decisions.”

That seemed to calm the Fae and even the royal couple looked to contemplate it. Watching them all, I ignored the couple climbing up the rest of the stairs to take a seat on the smaller throne. Oberon settled in before Fiadh perched on the arm rest closest to me, once again bringing the three of us within touching distance. I bristled slightly at the picture we painted, with both of them in the throne reserved for the ruling Fae’s Consort.

My eyes slid over to them and caught the smiles they beamed my way. Nails digging into the wooden throne, I finally caught onto their song and dance. Should’ve been obvious but I foolishly believed they were above these political games. Because I was bisexual they thought they could seduce their way into the position of my Consort. A ruler traditionally only took on one at a time but since I was a God, I don’t think anyone believed I’d play by the same rules. And they’d be right.

A slow smirk crawled over my features as I looked at them, The Seelies want to dance, Lilly. It’d be undiplomatic to decline, right?

Divines, help them. He replied in dry amusement, stepping forward to place himself directly between the thrones.

Turning back to the united council, I grinned and mentally purred, No. I don’t think I will.

…………….

The rest of the council meeting dragged on as I told them of what I’d found out about Mab and what it could mean. I also informed them of my plans to move up the war in response to Mab’s undeniable paranoia induced explosion at any time. The Seelie members of the council surprised me by offering to join their troops over to Unseelie terrority. I wasn’t expecting them to want or crave the consequences that came along with war. But they explained that they wanted to gain a better understanding of their more violent kin.

Not one to deny anyone the chance of participating in a battle, I agreed. Half of the Seelie troops would be leaving with us tomorrow morning while the rest would join us in a few days. A few of the Seelie had come up to speak with me as the meeting was officially called to an end. They wanted reassurances about the representation of their kind and I made sure each of them knew that a Seelie and Unseelie council member for each Faekind would be present for each meeting. Others asked what it was like to die and the Seelie Banshee was so excited to meet me that his riddles streamed together almost endlessly.

Lilly was finally able to pull me away with the excuse of us needing to get ready for the ball that was due to start in less than an hour. With a hand on the small of my back, he led me from the room with Oberon leading the way. Fiadh had disappeared with Puck and Quinn sometime in the middle of the meeting, whispering about the wrong color drapes. Boots and the sound of hooves, clomped over the glass flooring as the Seelie King led us deeper into the castle. The halls all looked the same but two tall vases filled with blue flowers banked the entrance designated as ours for the night.

Members of my group peeled off the farther we traveled down the hall into their own rooms on either side of the hall. Eventually, Oberon slowed as we came to the end where a large pair of golden doors stood. Instead of politely gesturing to the room and walking away like he had with the others, he gripped the door handles. Yanking them open with a flex of his muscular arms, he walked inside and spun on us with a wide grin.

“My son informed us in his letter that you’d prefer a joint room and of your personal tastes. Your attire for tonight has also been delivered and is hanging in your closets.” He said and motioned to a door on the other side of what looked like a small foyer. “Commander, that’s your room. Macha, if you’d follow me.”

Me and Cillian shared a glance before I followed the King into the other room. It was such a startling difference in decor that I stopped in my tracks while Oberon let the door fall shut behind us. Sheer royal blue fabric hung around the thick gold four poster bed like a delicate web, hiding white sheets in half shadows. The glass flooring and walls were the same but instead of golden vines climbing the marble walls, these ones were alive. Bright green vines blooming with glowing Willow Wisps that sporadically jumped from vine to vine.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Oberon asked, his voice booming off the marble walls.

Walking to the nearest wall, I gently touched a vine and watched another willow wisp bloom, “It is.” Unlike their cousins the Will-Ó-Wisps, Willow Wisps didn’t lead you to a certain place. Their sole purpose was to confuse and get their human followers lost, they were still very pretty to look at however.

“Royal blue and gold go well together, wouldn’t you agree?”

I rolled my eyes and turned to face him, “I’m partial to royal blue and silver, Babes.”

Golden eyes narrowed ever so slightly, “But is it really a lasting match? When silver holds no political or military value, not even a fortune? Unlike gold.”

“Why? When blue has all of that herself?” Done with the cryptic game, I commented, “Shouldn’t your Consort be here?”

He smirked, “Who said she wasn’t?”

Following his gaze, I scoffed at the sense of deja vu as she came gliding out from the bed’s sheer curtains. In the same outfit as earlier, she came walking over to her King’s side with what I’m sure was supposed to be a tempting smile, “Us at your side would bring the Seelies to heel under your reign.”

“You’re assuming I need you for that. I don’t.”

Oberon grinned, “You do. The Seelie will start to question and fight back if they feel that you are favoring the Unseelie too much.”

“We can help with that.” Fiadh purred, moving closer. “You can even keep your relationship with the commoner Commander. You wouldn’t be the first ruler to take on a mate and a Consort or two.”

Following behind her, they stood a hair’s breadth away on either side of me. Unamused, I gave them an indulgent smile and slid my hands up from their chests to their necks. They grinned at my lingering touch until my grip tightened and my smile disappeared. Forcing them in front of me side by side, I looked from one idiot to the other, “Are you telling me what to do?”

They shook their heads.

“Really?” I squeezed tighter, making their eyes bulge. “Because it feels like you’re trying to tell me what to do.” A vine snapped out from the wall to lock around my wrist and break my hold on him. Flicking my eyes from it to Oberon, I flashed a smile with sharpened teeth, “Cute. Big fucking mistake. But cute.”

Releasing their throats, I stepped back and watched vines shoot off the walls to wrap them up from ankle to chin. Panicking, Fiadh wiggled and struggled causing me to tighten the vines until they fell to their knees in front of me. Bored already with the lack of swearing and death threats, I started to pace circles around them. Oberon’s golden eyes peaked with interest and a healthy dose of weariness as he watched me.

“First things first, I’m not going to kill you. Boring, I know. But you were right about one thing. I do need a Seelie close to me in a powerful position to settle your people. I have an idea on how to solve that that doesn’t evolve you. Boo for you.” I said, raising my hands to pretend to rub my eyes in a childish mimic of crying. “I don’t fault you for making the play. Any Fae worth their salt would do the same. But I feel the need to warn you two about something.”

“What? That if we try something like this again your Commander will do unspeakable things to us?” Fiadh scoffed, bluffing her bravo.

Coming to a stop, I crouched down in front of her, “No. Where’s your sense of girl power? Huh? Geez. I was going to say, if you two do anything that harms that commoner Commander, I’ll pull your spines out through your mouth. Duh.” I finished with a laugh and booped to her nose with my fingertip.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I though?” I purred, turning my eyes to Oberon. “What would possibly hold me back?” When they didn’t respond, I leaned between them with a grin and stage-whispered, “Let me let you in on a little secret because I have a feeling we’re going to be good friends. Have you ever seen a deranged Brucks bear? The kind that roams the forest killing everything in its path without mercy? And how a sniff of black truffle can bring it back to reality? Yeah? Perfect. Well, I’m the deranged bear and Cillian’s the black truffle. Get it, Babes?”

The weariness in Oberon’s eyes grew, “I think I do.”

“Fantastic!” I shouted, clapping my hands and sitting back on my heels. “So, what have we learned?”

“That for the sake of the realm, Cillian Grymes is untouchable in every way.”

“Oooooh, I love it when they understand!” Standing, I released them from the vines and helped them stand, “No hard feelings, right Babes? I just needed to make that clear so you didn’t waste any more of your time. I’m nothing if not considerate.”

It took a moment and then the pair’s signature grins reappeared. Oberon held out his hand, “You’re going to make a fine Queen of the Realm.”

Taking his hand, I gave it a firm shake, “It’ll be a pleasure to have you both on my council.”

“I apologize on both our behalf, we had to make sure you weren’t like Mab.”

I raised a brow, “By propositioning me?”

“You showed us that you cared more about someone than you did political gain. That’s all we needed to know.” Oberon boomed happily, throwing an arm around his consort.

“And you two are supposedly Seelie?”

They laughed loudly and Fiadh waved an amused hand, “When you live to be our age the lines between our kind begin to blur.”

“Not too much though, just enough to get things done in unexpected ways.” Oberon protested.

Shaking her head, she patted his side and started guiding him to the door, “Come on, Obie. Let’s leave her to get dressed. We need to get ready as well. See you down there, Your Divinity.”

As they stepped through the doorway murmuring happily to each other, I pressed my fingers to my temples in confusion. Smiling fuckwits. All them, smiling fuckwits.

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Macha came off particularly deranged and badass in this chapter. I’m obsessed with her at this point, lol.

You know what to do,

Smooches, Verbage💋