Page 76 of Owned By the Fae
‘I’m going to tell you everything that’s happened since she was brought back. She showed me all of it.’ He taps his head.‘I want you to know that before we begin. Everything I say, I remember as if I experienced it through her senses.’
I opened my mouth to speak, but he stays my words with a hand. 'Let me talk. I'll tell you it all as quickly as I can, but let me get it out before you ask me anything.’
‘All right,’ I say through clenched teeth.
‘It’s not nice to listen to.’ He warns and heaves a breath. ‘Grith beat her within days of her arrival. Badly. Afterward, Varrik had her thrown in the dungeon. She was down there for days. The Harbinger saved her from some of the pain of the torture. It spoke to her down there. It helped her.’
‘You said it spoke to her before, but ...’
‘Can you not help but interrupt?’ He rolls his eyes. 'As you can speak to your beast,' he says. 'It says ... it learned our words while we were in Alcana.'
‘Go on,' I say.
‘The healer kept her alive. The one that came to you. Jak. He saved her life. So, the next time you see him, try not to kill him.’
'Varrik doesn’t ...' Kal looks at the floor. ‘He didn't want the Harbinger back for it to kill for him.’
'Why then?'
'He's been unable to make another of her power. He wants to breed her. He wants more.’
‘He wants an army of Harbingers?'
Kal shrugs. ‘Gods only know what he wants or why. But he was going to give her to Rikoth, Grey.’
‘Give her? What do you mean?’ But I’m afraid I know what Kal is going to say.
‘What do you think?’ he snarls angrily but recovers quickly. ‘Anyway, she escaped her room and came to the house. She was …’ Kal rubs his face hard. ‘Tortured and beaten. She’d been drugged by Rikoth. I supposed she wouldn’t let him get nearenough to compel her to do what he wanted. She was worse than after the dungeons in Alcana. Much worse.’
‘I thought you saw her,’ I say, holding the beast at bay as it scrambles to be set free to hurt Kal for neglecting her.
‘I did. Varrik ordered Rikoth to hide it.’
My hands curl into fists and I only just stop myself from shifting and going off to find Rikoth instead.
‘He’s fucking dead,’ I promise quietly. ‘What about Dane? What does he have to do with all this? He hates the Harbinger. He couldn’t wait to get back and be Varrik’s loyal pet.’
'No. Well, yes. I think Dane is still Varrik's ally, but he doesn't want the Harbinger hurt. He's ... Varrik chose Rikoth to breed Lia first, but when he lost her, Dane was chosen instead.’
'So Dane is ...?'
'Dane is to get the Harbinger with child. He's to seed her twice a day until it takes ... and if he doesn't, she's going to be given to the elites as well as to his highest Skilled to increase the chances.'
Fury envelopes me, but I’m able to reason that if it has to be anyone, I’m glad it’s him and not Rikoth, Vern, or Tristian. He won’t hurt her for sport like the others would. 'But if it's more Harbingers Varrik wants ... why not any of the Skilled no matter their level?' I try to keep my voice even though the beast needs to be let out as soon as possible. Its anger needs to be assuaged.
Kal shrugs. 'I don't know the intricacies of Varrik’s designs. Perhaps the stronger the skill, the more Dark Realm they are and the better chance of a babe with the strength of the Harbinger inside it.’
He looks up at the keep where it looms over the village. ‘Meet me here at midmorning, and we can do some more digging.’
‘Where are you going now?' I ask. 'Back to her?’
My hands clench at the idea that he and Dane can be with her whenever they like, and I’m stuck out here.
'No,' he says quietly. 'I'm going to gather information. I believe Fiana will be back very soon.'
I snarl at the name, but Kal has already disappeared.
I walk back through the village, heading straight for the forest to shift, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the guard who Kallum told me hurt Lia.
