My Warrior Fae (12 page)

demands when we made our contract. So long as she is aware that someone may heal her she cannot accept. It is the way she wanted it. She chooses not to be a true immortal as well. If she is wounded and it is severe enough, she will die. That is why that first time I told you to bond with her I was so angry with you both. If she bonds with you then your connection, your blood flowing in her veins, will give her a chance at survival if she should become hurt.”

“Why not tell me this from the beginning? Don’t you think I would have tried harder if I had known I was the difference between her life and death?”

“Did you love her then, Nathaniel? Or did you merely not want her to die? She bound me to the same rules that she is bound to. I cannot tell anyone our agreement unless she agrees. Her telling me to tell you allowed me to tell you this and anything else you want to know.”

Nathaniel looked around the room and his eyes fell upon Sara. She knew something as well, he realized.

“She is also the last of her kind, the last Knight, the last warrior fae. Once she dies, and she will if she does not take her immortality—her true immortality, as is her rite of passage—there will never be another warrior born within her race,” Sara told him sadly.

Christ, he thought. Rubbing his hand over his face he wondered if he would ever figure out how to keep her safe. And realized that was not the problem. The problem was making her his.

“The vampire or whatever he was, the one that came here today to kill us, why me and why my family? And how did Tess know to be here at the precise time that he was?” Aaron asked.

“He wasn’t a vampire; he only wanted you to think he was. He was a demon imp, a slave to an underlord, a very strong underlord. I overheard a conversation recently when I was walking in the Caves of Avalone. There are others involved, but not all the players are apparent yet,” Tess said as she came stumbling into the room. Nathaniel flashed to her side quickly and pulled her into his arms. He tried to be gentle with her wounds, but he could tell that he had hurt her. “As for your involvement, it’s because of the legion of vamps you control and the amount of strength you gained when you became Lady Sara’s mate. He meant to kill her, but in order to do so he needed to get rid of you first.”

“I tried, my lord, but she threatened me with a very sharp knife if I did not allow her to get up. She is quite forceful when she wishes to be, is she not?” Duncan came in just behind Tess.

“Duncan, could you please get the young warrior a glass of juice and some light food? And see if you can find her a couple of pain killers. And don’t look at me like that. You’ll take them or I’ll kick your ass. I’m pretty sure I have the hometown advantage here. And as you’re as weak as a cat, I think you should shut up and do as I say,” Sara blustered at Tess.

Nathaniel laughed, but when both women looked at him he coughed hard and turned away.

He was fairly sure that they could hurt him and, even in her current condition, he was sure Tess could by herself.

“You are no longer my boss. I don’t have to listen to you anymore. And you know as well as I do that I am not young. Do you want this information or not?” Tess asked.

“You are still as stubborn as you were when you worked with me. You are in obvious pain and I want to help you. I owe you so much that…that I’ll never be able to repay you. You…you saved my mate, Tess. Without your intervention Aaron would be…he’d be dead.”

No one said a word for several minutes. Emotions were running high. Sara got up, kneeled before Tess, took her hands into hers, and looked up at her.

“I’m sorrier than I can ever say to you about what happened that day fifteen years ago. I should have listened to you. If nothing else, I should have at least investigated what you said. I didn’t and now so many lives have been affected by Sherman’s evil. I want you to know that he is gone, swallowed by a tree and forced to live out his days around happiness and people, humans. He’ll never to be a part of our lives again. Your family cannot be put to rest like you wish, their bodies were cremated, but I want you to know that Mel and I have taken care of their memories, and their names have been put into the Book of Fae. They will never be forgotten for their bravery and for their loyalty. You have been exonerated of all charges and, if you will, Mel will reinstate you to your former rank. I’m so sorry, Tess.”

“Tess, will you see the queen now? Will you let her beg for your forgiveness?” Athropos asked her.

Nathaniel pulled Tess close. No matter what she said, he was taking her home, home to

Avalone.

“Not yet, I think. As much as I’d like to get this over with, I believe there is more going on than we know about. You say that you heard an underlord talking. Would you recognize his voice, Tess, if you heard it again?” Clotho asked.

“I don’t need to, his name was Marlus. Councilman Trundle is the one who told him that he would need to take care around that bitch of a cousin to the queen and that Sara’s mate was too strong to mess with, that he had tried before and lost. Marlus said that he would take care of the vamp and Sara. That neither of you would be a problem for him.”

“I guess he didn’t count on you helping, Lady Tessa,” Athropos said with a grin.

~Chapter 11~

Marlus was just going into his bedroom when a very loud thud sounded from the living

room. He knew that whatever had come into his home was not a stranger. The wards that he kept on his home kept all that he did not know from being able to enter without permission.

Cautiously, he moved back to the room he had just left.

Moving to just the doorjamb, he saw the body first. Reaching out mentally he realized that the body was actually a dead one and that no one else was in the room or the house. Stepping into the room he saw who it was and ran to Tribuin and fell upon him.

His head lay a few feet from him and Marlus pulled it closer, using his legs to scissor it toward him. Picking it up, Marlus tried to set it back on his friend’s shoulder but could not. With tears coursing down his cheeks Marlus laid the body down and aligned the head so that it appeared to be still whole. Hugging the body close to him, he cried for his friend and one time lover.

They had been turned at the same time, nearly the same day, and had learned to fight or be killed together. Marlus had been a selfish bastard as a human, and being turned into a demon had not improved his way of life. But Tribuin had stuck with him and, at times, protected him from the others. Soon it was just the two of them; they had killed all the others in their fight to survive.

Tribuin did not have the ambitions to become an underlord, but Marlus did. In fact, it was Tribuin’s idea for Marlus to try for the position. It took him centuries of killing those above and below him, until finally he had caught the eye of the master and had been appointed this realm.

The two of them had celebrated for weeks, taking human women from topside and pulling them beneath the earth for their pleasures before killing them.

It was then that they had become lovers. Marlus had just finished with a woman when he looked over at Tribuin’s cock, hard with need as he watched two women having oral sex with each other. Marlus had felt his own cock surge with renewed desire as he watched his friend stroke his cock, fisting it hard in his hand. When a stream of pearly cum dripped from the tip Marlus leapt forward and licked the creamy fluid clean.

Tribuin groaned, but did not stop him when Marlus leaned down and took him into his

mouth. He had never tasted a man before and found the flavor and texture quite delicious and heady. Cupping his own cock in his hand, Marlus began deep throating the other man’s cock.

Suddenly he felt one of the women come up behind him and begin licking his ass, her tongue going deep into his tight hole. He felt his balls tighten and ready to come.

“Let her take you into her mouth. Let her suckle you like you are me. I want to watch as you come down her throat. Do it, Marlus, let her suck your cock.”

The second woman moved between Marlus’ legs as he sucked cock. His ass was being

reamed by one woman; his cock was being swallowed by another. When he heard Tribuin groan he was surprised by the first spurt of hot cum when it hit the back of his throat. Marlus started pumping into the woman at his cock hard, fucking her mouth with quick, punching thrusts. He was close, and when the woman at his ass inserted her finger into his tight channel he roared his release, coming hard.

It was long moments before he could move. And a few minutes longer before he realized

that he had killed the woman beneath him by choking her to death with his cock. The thought that he had been so powerful hardened his cock again and he turned to the woman behind him, shoving his cock deep into her mouth, surging over and over into her throat as she rolled his balls in her hand.

Marlus felt Tribuin move up behind him and felt when Tribuin’s cock moved against his

tight hole. Excitement had him lean forward over the human female and he spread his legs wide for the man behind him, giving him full access to do whatever he wanted. Marlus watched the woman struggle to breathe around him, but he did not stop, excitement pushing him on. The slam of the cock into his ass had him burrow deeper into the woman and come hard again. Even as she died he spurted into her, and when Tribuin rocked into him from behind again he pulled free of her mouth and quickly jerked off, coming with his friend as he filled his ass with his hot cum.

Even lying beside his dead body, Marlus was hard for his friend. They had murdered many people after that, men and women, taking their pleasure even as their victims died, and now his partner was gone.

Marlus reached up to touch the wound. He needed to know who had killed him. He would

exact revenge for his friend. As soon as his fingers brushed against the cut he leapt away and up, his claws digging into the ceiling of the room as he hissed and bared his fangs at the dead man.

His mind screamed at him. There was no way. They were all dead. He had been told that

they were all gone, the species wiped from the earth and magical realms. Warrior fae were dead.

He hung there from the ceiling and contemplated what this meant. A warrior fae could kill him, their magic and power only exceeded by his own master. Marlus moved slowly down the wall, his claws biting deep marks into the wood, gouging the plaster as he went. He needed to summon his ally, bring him to the house immediately and find out why he had lied to Marlus.

It was over an hour before he came, over an hour with which Marlus had had to suffer with his terror of the unknown. His mind had gone into overdrive thinking how this man, the warrior fae, had gotten past his senses. He attacked his co-conspirator as soon as he breached the door.

“You lied! You said that you had them killed. You told me that they no longer posed a threat to me and my plans. You promised me. If you did what you said you had then why do I have a body here? Why is my friend dead?” Marlus flew at the man, clawing and biting at him, tossing him about the room as though he weighed nothing. Had he not been immortal Marlus would have killed the man.

“Stop this now! I will not have you acting like a hysterical woman. I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Now I want you to sit down and tell me what you mean. Who is dead and what do you think I lied to you about?”

“You did lie!”

When the man drew back his hand to hit Marlus, he shut up. He knew that he needed this man, his ally, but he also knew that once he got what he wanted he was going to kill him.

When Albadar straightened his clothing and sat down across from him Marlus took a deep breath before he began. As soon as he left, Marlus thought, he was going to treat himself to some whore and fuck her to death in Tribuin’s memory. It would calm him and he would be able to think. But right now he had to play nice.

“Tribuin is dead. His body came back to me an hour ago. Only a fae could have done that.

Fae are the only beings that can send a demon back to its owner once they kill them. This particular fae was a warrior, a warrior fae.”

“How? That’s not possible. Tribuin was at the house today, at the MacManus’ with the

others. I was off so I couldn’t be with them when the plan was set up. But I know all the people that were there. Unless…”

“Unless what? What do you know?”

“A vamp was there. One I’ve never seen before. He could be fae and is marking himself as a vamp to throw us off. Yeah, that could be it. His name…I think his name was Tremount or Tra something. I’ll find out. Last time I saw him, he was with Tess.”

“You find out. If he’s the one that killed my Tribuin, I will hunt him down and make him suffer. No one takes what is mine.”

~~~

Albadar left the demon lord’s house seething. First, because he hated the man summoning him and, secondly, he had not been able to kill that pansy Tribuin himself.

He had wanted the beautiful imp, wanted him so badly that Albadar had approached him one night. It had not turned out well. Tribuin had told him that he belonged to one man and one man only and that once Marlus was king, Tribuin would be his second, leaving Albadar in the third position.

Albadar had wanted to kill him then, but knew that only a few could kill an underlord’s imp.

So he bided his time and now he realized he had waited too long. Damn it, he thought.

Mentally rubbing his hands together Albadar thought about the rest of his plot as he walked across the field of Avalone. The plan was going the way he had hoped otherwise. The queen would be killed, Aaron and his meddling family would be destroyed, and he would be king—no matter what that fool thought was going to happen. And Tess, Tess would be his, his to torture and to play with. To make her pay.

The Fates had told him that he would be Master in Arms. It was his position not hers, that bitch. He thought about the day Athropos had come to tell him that they had found another, someone more qualified, someone more able.

“You are not up to what we are looking for in a leader, not now,” Athropos told him.