“I’m afraid I can’t allow that, little pet.”
I stiffened and I turned to find myself confronted by armed guards. Their weapons were drawn and one of them sported orange hair with matching fiery eyes.
Cyrus. And with him, the gaudy rainbow water fae leader.
“Kira.” I growled, ignoring the guards circling around me.
“Emon.” Kira grinned and twirled a pink braid around her finger coyly.
I narrowed my eyes on her.
“What is the meaning of this?” I growled.
Kira smiled sweetly and waved her free hand in the water. “This–” she closed her fist and immediately my gills slammed shut. My supply of oxygen effectively cut off. “This is me playing the game and winning, little pet.” She released her other hand from her pink braids and waved it around her, my legs and arms shot backwards by a forceful rush of water, binding me thoroughly.
“Child's play.” I hissed between my lips.
Kira’s rose colored eyes regarded me with sadistic mirth. “I’d save whatever precious oxygen you have left Emon. Suffocation, I have always felt, would be the worst way to die.”
“Original.” I wheezed back.
Tinkling laughter made me want to claw out her throat so that she could never make that sound again. “Don’t worry, shifter. I am not going to kill you. Someone else has reserved that right.”
A deep rumble of laughter emanated from my gut. “Must piss you off.” I gasped, using the last of my air to antagonize her more. “A pawn in your own game, someone else calling shots.” I tilted my head to the side and my eyes narrowed against the black spots dotting my vision. “You haven’t won anything.”
Kira hissed through her razored teeth and for a moment I thought she was going to attack me. Instead, she waved her hand and my gills opened once more. Beautiful oxygen filtered through me as I greedily sucked it in.
Kira pouted. “I thought I would at least get to see you humbled as you fucked one of my fae. I knew Solaire would be too smart to fall for my tricks, but you…you are so easily distracted by a pair of tits, and you are desperate to prove yourself. Here’s a tip, shifter, you’ll never be able to prove yourself to Solaire, no one can.”
Another dark chuckle. “So that’s what this is about. Tit jealousy. A secret yearning for a fae that wants nothing to do with you.”
The cat groaned inside of me and rolled his eyes.“You are definitely going to get us killed this time, fairy boy.”
Kira smiled wide but her pink eyes blazed with fury. “I am going to enjoy serving you to your death,golden one.” She snapped at Cyrus. “Get him up and moving. We have a timeline we must stick to and I need this filth taken care of before then.”
I kept quiet this time, I may have had a death wish, as my cat had so lovingly reminded me, but I also had a very good reason to live.
I scented the air one more time, but there was no smell of lilies anywhere, nor was their any sight of my soulmate. The only thing I could see were the water fae fucking. Like captivated starving beasts, they thrusted steadily to the pulsating beat of the waters while theirqueenlooked on with greedy pleasure.
Chapter 20
Youdon’thavetodo this alone. I’ll always be here for you, little umbra.
Emon’s voice overlapped with echoes from the past, words I once said to my brother now paired with flashes of shifter's lethal claws dripping with blood.
I’m not the fucking enemy,he said.
I believed him. Deep down in my gut, in my soul, I knew he was not my enemy. So why did it feel like my heart was breaking from what I had seen?
I shook my head and dragged my fingers through my floating hair, raking out the tangles with irritation. “I can’t possibly trust him…can I?” The shadows twitched nearby. “Come. It is safe for now but be vigilant. We can’t let them know you still exist.”
Immediately they appeared along the ocean floor.
“Deirdre is a part of this. ” I murmured. “The power that is draining these water fae is the same she used duringMorta.”
The shadows enveloped me in a cocoon of darkness and a red tear floated into the water. Water fae didn’t shed just tears, they shed tears of blood.
“It was a mistake to stop you from killing her.” I sighed, allowing my anger and sadness to disappear with the gentle tide.
