Page 142 of Owned By the Fae
I can hear low voices as we make it to the main door. There are guards down here, but they stare out in front of them, their eyes unseeing. My jaw tightens and I ready my magick.
My blood runs cold as I hear a distinctive male drawl.
‘Varrik,’ I snarl low and hear the beast growling ahead of me.
‘How the fuck did he get into the Underhill?’ Kallum whispers from just behind me.
I hear him draw a knife, and his hand finds my shoulder.
‘No one can see you now,’ he murmurs.
We slip into the large room, Grey slinking ahead and keeping his body low. He stays in the shadows, his eyes fading so that he can’t be seen either.
My eyes widen as I take in the scene. There are fae near the dais. Isbeth is there with some guards, and I almost scoff aloud. As if they’re any match for Varrik.
The cunt himself stands before them. He holds Lia. As we silently move closer, I see his knife at her belly, at my babe, and every piece of me roars to end him. But I can see the layers of shields he’s put around himself. To stop the Harbinger from killing him, I realize.
‘I know you’re there, my boy,’ he says, turning his head toward us slightly though his eyes stay on the fae in front of him.
I shake off Kal’s hand and materialize in front of the fae lord I would have done anything for once. Gods, why had I ever looked up to this monster?
Even knowing I was there, his eyes widen when he sees me.
‘My boy,’ he says cajolingly. ‘Whatever the Harbinger has told you, it’s a lie. I care only for the fae. These humans,’ he tuts. ‘They’re deceivers. You know that and this one ...’ he pulls Lia to him by her hair. ‘She’s the worst of them all.’
My hands ball into fists at my sides at his manhandling of my female. She doesn’t make a sound as her eyes find mine. She looks furious.
Good.
‘Do as I say, Brother,’ Isbeth grinds out from the dais. ‘You’ve lost. The Underhill will never bow to you!’
‘Come, Dane,’ Varrik continues, ignoring ...his sister?
He turns his body toward me. ‘You were always loyal to me. Help me. Help me take the Underhill. Help me make thingsbetter for our kind. You can keep your human pet if you like, raise the babe if that’s what you want.’
‘You made me trust you!’ I snarl. ‘But you’re the deceiver. Everything you do is for yourself. It's not for the fae.’
Varrik’s face twists with anger. ‘I saved you, boy!’ he spits. ‘Your pathetic magick was good for nothing when I found you. I saved you from being little more than a sideshow trickster, sold by your own kin to make ends meet. You’d choose this human ...’ he wrenches her forward. ‘over me?’
‘Lia is more than you will ever be. Even without the harbinger. She has my loyalty and my love.’ I sneer. ‘And she didn’t need to dull my mind with conjures for me to give it to her. I’d give her my very soul willingly. But she would never ask!’ I reply without hesitation.
‘You think so?’ Varrik’s eyes find me as he pushes Lia away.
She staggers forward but stays on her feet, whipping around to face him, her arm curled protectively over her stomach. My eyes widen as I feel his magick clogging the air, and he turns his hateful gaze on her.
The fae guards are running toward him, conjuring their own magicks as they brandish their weapons, but all are thrown back, leaving Lia unprotected.
No!
I lurch forward, tossing up shields and throwing myself between them to save her from whatever conjure Varrik is using.
His laugh is cutting and ugly. ‘You think you're a match for me, boy?’
I roar in pain as his conjure shreds my shields as if they were made of silk, and I fall to my knees. Blood drips from my nose and eyes, and my senses dull.
I faintly hear Lia’s scream.
‘I'll do what you want. Please, don't kill him!’
