Faery Kissed (9 page)

“
That’s not true. I’m
human, and I’ve been here well-past Midsummer’s eve,” I
contradicted.

She shook her head. “Time moves differently
here in Faery than it does for you. We have seven days to your one.
It is still Midsummer’s eve in your realm—only a small amount of
time has passed since you’ve been here. Your people still
celebrate, and no one even knows you’re gone.”

My teeth clenched harder as I tried to
maintain control. “Why did you bring me here?”

“
I need the child you will
give me. We’ve discovered the mixed race children hold the powers
of the Fae and the strength of the Blood Wraiths. They are stronger
than we are.”

“
And why do you need such
strong children?”

“
The Blood Wraiths have
found ways to penetrate Faery during Midsummer, and they are
attacking us and killing off my people. We need the children to
fight them.”

I was so confused. “So
you’re
creating
more Blood Wraiths by mating with them so you can have their
children to
destroy
them? How does this even make sense?”

“
I told you. Time passes
differently in Faery. In three of your years we can raise a soldier
of twenty-one summers.”

“
Three years? How many of
these Blood Wraiths are there?”

“
Many. It appears there is
another side effect of the changing. The humans become immortal
after the exchange.”

I laughed wryly. “So each child you have
creates another enemy for you. I can’t see how this is very wise
reasoning.”

She remained silent.

Horror lanced through me. “You kill them,
don’t you? No one brought into this place walks out alive, do
they?” I whispered.

She stood, coming quickly toward me. I
stepped back in repulsion as she laid her hands on my shoulders.
“Yes, they do kill them, but don’t worry. I won’t let them do that
to you. I’ll help you escape and teach you how to survive. No one
will even be aware you escaped. I wasn’t lying when I said I love
you. I love you with everything inside of me. I wanted to be with
you so badly—wanted to be the one you held in your arms—wanted to
have you love me, too. This was the only way we could be
together.”

She spoke rapidly—her words spilled out as
she attempted to express her feelings—but I couldn’t absorb them.
“How do you think I could possibly love you after this? You just
told me that you lured me here under deception, you’ve taken away
my humanity, you’ve turned me into a bloodthirsty creature, and you
want to steal my child. That doesn’t put you very high on the list
of people I admire right now, Eirian.”

Her skin flushed as I spoke her name, and I
pushed her away in frustration, walking across the spacious suite
as her words began to sink in. I grew angrier with every step, and
when I turned I found she’d followed me, tears streaming from her
eyes. “Stay away from me,” I blurted out. “You can forget having
the child too, because I will not be lying with you ever
again.”

A sob left her throat and she reached for
me, fisting her hands into the front of my shirt. “Have you ever
loved or wanted something so much you would do anything—risk
everything to have it?” she cried, desperately.

I was breathing heavily when I nodded. “Yes,
I have. And her name is Ceridwen,” I spat.

Eirian paled at my blow and wrenched away
from me as if I’d struck her.

I took a step back, wanting to distance
myself from her. I felt sick, disgusted by what she’d done. “You
tricked me! I’ve lost everything because of you. I was willing to
give up my life to make an honest try with you.”

Eirian sank to the floor in a puddle—weeping
into her hands, but I didn’t care how pathetic she looked. All I
could feel was my own anger.

“
You want to know what I’ve
been doing today? Figuring out how I was going to move on, planning
to embrace my future with you, and how I would provide for you and
our children.”

She sobbed harder, yet I still carried
on.

“
Why? Because that’s who I
am, Eirian! I was raised to be an honorable person. You have no
honor that I can see. Not only have you destroyed my life, but
you’ve destroyed your own!” I accused.

“
But I haven’t destroyed
your life!” she cried. “I’ve done everything I can to ensure your
safety. You will return to your love, your life, and family. I just
wanted you for a moment that was all my own.”

I marched over, knelt, and grabbed her by
the shoulders shaking her. “Returned how? As a blood-drinking fiend
that stalks the night? I know what the creatures are that you speak
of—only we call them Vampires where I come from. I never believed
them to be real either. You’re sending me back to my loved ones so
I can slaughter them! Is that what you wanted?”

“
No! Never! I told you I
would teach you how to survive. There are ways to keep those you
love safe. I love you—I would never want you to hurt those you
love.”

“
Really? Then please
explain to me how I’m supposed to go back to Ceridwen, and tell her
I’ve been with another woman—that I’m a creature who will hunt her
in the night, and not hurt her. She’ll not want anything to do with
me!”

She searched my eyes frantically. “Then
don’t tell her. She can’t be hurt by what she doesn’t know. She
doesn’t even know you’re missing. The tale would be outrageous to
her. No one has to know!”

I flung her away, standing to go back to the
window. “That may be the way you do things, but not me. All I have
in this world is my honor.” I pounded the sill with my fist. “I
don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as selfish as you, Eirian! You
were willing to risk my happiness and sacrifice your own heart for
one moment of pleasure. Who does that? I can’t even stand to look
at you right now.”

She let out a wailing sound and threw
herself across the floor, grabbing my boot. “Please, Bran, forgive
me,” she hiccupped out. “I never saw it that way, truly. I only
sought what my heart wanted. I was consumed. I beg you for mercy,
please. Speak no more to me. I cannot bear to hear your words of
anger!”

I stared down, watching as she shuddered,
her body wracked with obvious grief. I’d been heartless to her. The
result of her actions was killing me inside. I wanted to tear my
own heart out—and hers as well—but I couldn’t be a complete brute.
My father taught me better honor than that.

I reached down and grasped her hand, pulling
her to her feet. She didn’t look at me, burying her face into her
palms as I walked her to the bed, and sat her down. She looked up
through her tear-stained eyes, and her expression was hopeful.

“
Let’s not speak any
further tonight until the situation has calmed some. Stop your
crying and get some rest.” I walked away, going to the other side
of the circular tower so that the center stairwell was between
us—allowing me some privacy, so I didn’t have to look at her. I
could still hear her though as I sat down on one the heavily padded
lounging benches.

I leaned on my elbows and thrust my hands
into my hair. I couldn’t even fathom how to make things better. I’d
been seduced by her, and I would be the one left paying the
consequences, while her people raised up an army of stolen children
to kill me and others of my kind. The thought was so foreign and
overwhelming I couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. No wonder the
Blood Wraiths were coming after them. They’d been created under
enchantment then left to fend for themselves once they were
discarded. And now their children were being stolen, too.

I was going to be one of them. It made me
ill. I could totally understand why they were trying to fight back.
They were angry immortals who’d been robbed of their lives and
forced to live off the blood of others to survive.

My thoughts drifted to Ceridwen. I thought I
would never see her again. My heart blossomed over the idea of
doing so but was quickly extinguished. There was no way I was ever
going back to her. I wouldn’t dream of bringing her into this hell.
It would be much better for both my family and her to think I was
dead. I wouldn’t risk them getting hurt anymore.

I wasn’t sure where I would go, but there
had to be somewhere I could find work or discover some way to
support myself. I had a little money I’d saved up for my life with
Ceridwen, but it was at home, and I was leery to go there to get
it.

Leaning back into the seat, I placed an arm
over my eyes and sighed deeply. I cursed the day I’d ever become
aware of the Fae, cursed myself for listening to father’s stories,
and cursed myself for not taking seriously the warning Fergus had
given.

But in the end, it didn’t matter how much I
berated myself. I was already cursed in the worst way
possible—destined to spend the rest of my long existence alone.

I wasn’t aware I’d fallen asleep until I
awoke to find the room filled with sunshine. I sat up and could see
the surrounding canyon walls across the river from the castle.
There were people going about their daily routines. I got up and
went to the window so I could see them better. Glancing down, I
could see the many boats shuffling people to and fro on the
water.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. At
one point and time, I would’ve been fascinated to see such a
civilization at work. Now all I saw was a race that used other
people for whatever means suited them. No wonder there was no magic
left for me here—only sorrow. I wanted to go home, but I
couldn’t.

I left the window and silently made my way
around to where I’d abandoned Eirian. She was lying face-down,
covered by the blanket with her hair spreading wildly about her. I
could barely make out the shape of her body beneath the covers.
Judging from the state of the bed, it looked as if she’d spent the
night tossing and turning.

Regardless of how things were, I did feel
sorry for her plight. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to
love someone who didn’t know you existed, literally. She’d seen the
opportunity to live a piece of her dream and had taken it with no
thought of how badly it might affect anyone else. Her choice was
one that sent ripples out to contaminate everything it touched.

Now I had a choice to make. I could either
hear her plan and get out of this alive, or I could let them kill
me. It was a harder decision than it seemed. While I had no
expressed desire to die, my decision to stay alive could affect the
existence of those around me. I didn’t want responsibility for
harming other people or uprooting their lives.

I only knew myths of Vampires, and I wasn’t
sure how much of that was true. If what I knew was accurate,
Vampires had found a way to multiply their own mutated kind as
well, in very similar fashion to the blood exchange the Fae were
using now. If this were the case then, yes, the Fae did certainly
have a crisis on their hands.

Eirian stirred in the bed, rolling over onto
her back. She brushed her hair away from her face and sat up to
look at me.

I couldn’t help my sharp intake of
breath.

She was beautiful … and she was faintly
glowing.

Chapter Nine

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

“
Look at your
skin.”

She glanced down at her hands. “Oh.” Her
gaze flickered back to me and a smile slid across her face. “We did
it,” she whispered breathlessly. “I’m with child, and so quickly
too.”

She ran her hands across her abdomen, and I
couldn’t help but struggle with my warring emotions. I closed my
eyes and turned away from the sight of her touching herself in such
joy.

“
Bran?” The word coursed
through me in waves, making me long for her.

“
I know this is probably a
happy time for you, and under normal circumstances I would be
thrilled to find out my wife was carrying my child. However, I’m in
mourning for the child—my child—who will never know me and will be
raised with the knowledge that I’m evil and he, or she, should kill
me.” I clenched my hands at the pain in my chest, turning to face
her again. “Do you have any idea what that feels like? My child
will never call me father. Who will raise him? Another man? Another
lover you’ve seduced?”

Tears fell from Eirian’s eyes, and she shook
her head. “For me, there will only ever be you, Bran. You hold all
the places in my heart. Only you.”

We stared at each other without speaking,
and in that moment I could see all she thought she was giving up
just to be with me for this moment in time.

“
Please, try to find a way
to forgive me, if you can,” she spoke. “I know what I’ve done to
you was wrong, but it wasn’t done out of malice. Yes, I was greedy
and unthinking—I just wanted to be with you. This is the custom of
my people. It’s how I was raised, how I was told to protect our
civilization.”

I moved to the nearest window, once again
observing the distant people beyond. She was right to some extent.
She was a victim of her own society and upbringing. Children often
believed what their parents taught them to believe.

“
You make it seem as if you
have no conscience of your own to guide you.”

She didn’t even try to reply to that remark
and the silence loomed between us.

“
What will you teach our
child?” I turned to face her.

“
Excuse me?”

I went to the bed and sat next to her. “What
will you teach our child? Will you say I’m a monster? Teach him or
her to hunt me?”

Her eyes looked haunted as she considered my
words. “I’ve never thought of that, Bran.”