Page 76 of The Poison of the Earth
“Come, sweetheart, it’s my turn,” I purr, holding out my hand. She smiles and takes it.
I lead her on the dance floor just as the music changes to a reel. She laughs and we line up the rest of the dancers. She’s across from me but as the dance starts we all change partners, laughing and teasing and having a wonderful time. When Ollie makes it back to me, breathless, she says, “Quick! Let’s escape before another starts!” and giggles.
I sweep her off the dance floor but Kai takes her hand and tugs her back. I watch, grinning, as they share another dance.
We dance and eat, and I make out with both my mates to varying degrees of publicness. But as the evening wears on, I take Ollie’s hand. “Come, sweetheart.”
I nudge Kai, who is finishing a beer and I lead them around the keep. The leaves have turned more red and yellow and it complements Kai perfectly. He follows behind us, keeping an eye out. Even though our Keep is secure and we’re surrounded by friends, Kai is on alert, keeping us secure. It makes me even more devoted to him. I lead us down the path where Ollie caught Kai spying on us.
As we enter the little open glade, I turn to her. “So, sweetheart, how did you sense Kai that day?”
She giggles, relaxed and happy. “The mother trees told me.”
Kai cocks his head even as he wraps his arms around her from behind in the dim light. “They speak to you?”
She shrugs, “Kind of. It’s more... ideas. And their sense of time is different so information is often late or hard to tell when it happened.” She smiles fondly, as if speaking of an old friend.
She leans back, melting into Kai. He starts a small fire in the fire pit without taking his ardent eyes off our mate.
“Oleander,” I hesitate, a little concerned I might ruin her good mood. “What... what is your power?”
She turns in Kai’s arms, kissing him deeply. “I’d rather talk about your cocks,” she purrs.
Kai grumbles, holding her at arm’s length and her face goes pouty.
“Perhaps you’d rather speak of what happened when you were a faeling?” He raises his eyebrows.
She huffs. “You two are awful.” She crosses to one of the log benches and sits. Her eyes take us in on the other side of the fire.
I drop to my knees and grin at her. “Your pick, princess. Tell us about one, and after, we’ll talk about your pleasure.”
Kai smirks and eases to his knees next to me.
Ollie licks her lips but crosses her arms over her chest, looking smaller.
I watch her chest rise and fall, and, eyes locked on the fire she says, “I’m a Toxa.”
I freeze, sure I misheard. She looks so lost and alone. She continues, “Alder knew. He’s much older than me, was near an adult when I was born. He took control of me as soon as he could, that is after our father and him killed all the Gaeba, and then he killed our father. My mother disappeared, as did my maid. I was sixteen. He told me later that he killed everyone that had knowledge of me. He locked me up, under the castle.” Her voice is mechanical and her eyes are locked on the fire, far away. “He and some of his advisors...” Her voice breaks, and instantly Kai and I are at her side. I pull her into my lap as Kai presses himself to her back.
She sniffs but before I can say anything she continues, “They experimented on me. Tried to reproduce the poisons I can produce. They... did worse things.”
The rage I feel from Kai is strong enough that it hurts, his heat pressing into me. I flick him a look to get it under control.
Ollie whispers, brokenly, “I didn’t touch grass again until I was twenty-five. I... I had to learn to control my magic on my own.”
It had to have been fucking miserable. Learning to control your magic, as a strong user, was hard in the best of times, what with puberty hormones raging,let alonelocked up in a fucking cage without a teacher. Fuck.
“They used my poisons to kill Lennox, my only older brother left alive. And...” a sob escapes her and I cup her head, tucking her against me tightly, “The babes. My father had sired them all within a year of taking the throne, before Alder killed him.” She lets out a sardonic laugh, “Well, probably not Alder himself. He never did like getting his hands dirty.”
The air around us crackles, static getting it, now that I’ve sucked all the water out of it. I take a breath, trying to control myself. Control my anger. I look up, expecting Kai to be similarly struggling, but tears well in his eyes for a moment before my magic drinks them down.
She snuggles into our touches and is silent. For a long time, we stare at the fire and let our nearness be a comfort. The fire crackles merrily and occasionally we catch the sound of music drifting in from the Festival.
Finally, Ollie stirs on my lap. “You told me you’d see to my pleasure,” she says softly.
I purr, letting my hand drop to her thigh. “If you’re still in the mood, yes.”
She laughs quietly, “I’m rather always in the mood.”
