Page 32 of What Lurks Between the Fates

Those responsibilities included an heir, but this world was ugly and cruel. I didn’t think I could ever bring a child into it, not while knowing the fate that child may face one day. The pain they would feel with the loss of those they loved. The pain I might feel if I ever lostthem.

“Bring him to me,” Mab ordered, waving her hand to the side.

Caldris grabbed my forearm, guiding me to the side of the dais as the messenger darted past us once more. He left through the doors of the throne room; the stone creaking as he heaved it open. I pressed into Caldris’s side, turning to watch as a Fae Male stepped into the throne room.

He limped his way up the center column. The hushed whispers of Mab’s court were the first confirmation that something truly horrific would happen to him if it hadn’t already. His hands swung at his side, the motion jolting and uncoordinated as he fought to drag his injured foot over the stone floor. In another life, I’d have gone to meet him.

I’d have helped him as I’d so often helped my mother, understanding the pain of putting pressure on a limb that didn’t want to bear your weight. But in this world, I felt trapped to the dais, watching as he struggled. Caldris’s grip was tight on my arm, understanding my desire to help better than any other.

“You appear to be empty-handed,” Mab said, pursing her lips as she stared at the male.

He nodded, his face pinching with pain as he paused at the bottom of the steps. I watched in horror as he grasped his leg by the thigh, forcibly lifting it up onto the first step. He grunted as his good foot followed, leaning his weight into his injury.

“Yes, my Queen,” he said, taking the second step. He maneuvered his way up every stair, stopping finally in front of Mab. He collapsed at her feet, kneeling upon the stone as his breath left him in ragged, harsh gasps.

“And why have you not brought me what I asked for?” Mab asked, her fingers clenching around the arm of her throne.

Her cheeks hollowed out. Her mouth pinched in rage. Whatever it was that the male had failed to deliver, she wanted it more than she wanted to know what I was. Her eyes were wide, wild, and feral as she stared down at the male before her. It was the first hint I’d seen of the madness many had alluded to; the first sign that she had that within her.

The man turned his head up to her, his eyes filled with sorrow. It was the gaze of a man begging for forgiveness, for another chance. His first tear fell, splashing off the stone in front of his knees as he shook his head from side to side.

“They deemed me unworthy,” he rasped.

Mab swallowed, nodding her head as she considered his words. “I did not ask you to return to me empty-handed. You should have remained in Tartarus until you were able to prove yourself worthy.”

I looked at Caldris, silently questioning what she could have wanted from Tartarus. There wasn’t much that I knew about the prison, only that it was the home of the most terrifying creatures of Faerie. The things that could not exist within our world without destroying it.

He shook his head silently, his vow to tell me about it later rippling down the bond between us. I gritted my teeth as I forced myself to stay silent, to stay out of business that wasn’t mine. I felt more like Caldris in those moments than ever before, putting him before the male that I couldn’t help.

I would burn the world if it meant saving him, sacrifice every shred of my dignity and morals if it meant he was unharmed.

The male sputtered, his hands trembling where he rested them upon his knees. “But the others are dead, my Queen. To stay is to die. There is no winning against them. They’re—”

“A pity you thought the fate waiting for you here would be any kinder,” Mab said, waving a hand as she turned away from him.

Impatience pulsed off of her, striking me in the chest as one of the guards stepped away from her side and unsheathed his sword. I gasped as he stepped up beside the man. I was no stranger to killing. No stranger to death and battle. This was purely cold-blooded murder, not a strategic death or self-defense.

This was no casualty of war.

“Shhh, my star. Keep quiet,” Caldris said, his grip tightening on my forearm.

His fingers pressed into my skin, a warning in the touch as well as his words. I was in no place to interfere, and his meaning was clear.

I bit my tongue, clamping my teeth down on the fleshiest part and turning my head to bury my face against my mate’s chest. The sword cut through the air, a distinct whistle as Mab’s guard struck.

I stood by and did nothing, made no move to save the male. I hadn’t owed him anything, aside from basic decency.Those who lingered within the throne room didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, going about their business as if death were irrelevant to them.

All it took for evil to flourish was for the good to do nothing.

Mab hadn’t even done the job herself, instead ordering her man to handle her dirty work for her. The callousness of it all made me want to weep. I determined then and there that no matter what came of me, I would always kill my enemies myself.

I would not put the stain of that soul, of that death, onto another person. I would give them the dignity of being worthy of my time, more than a muttered command or the wave of a hand. There was honor in that, something the Queen of Air and Darkness seemed to have none of.

Mab’s guards moved, grabbing the body and dragging it from the throne room. The name of the place she’d sent the male echoed in my head, the word a mantra that seared itself upon my soul.

I’d heard of it in a story a long time ago, the whisper of a prison designed to contain even the strongest of criminals.

Tartarus.

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