Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
“She’s smaller than I remember,” a woman said.
“She packs a wicked punch regardless of her size,” a man replied roughly.
“Is he truly a Dragon?” she asked.
“We haven’t seen him shifted but he fits the descriptions our spies in Stormfell gave. Can’t say I’ve seen a bastard as big as him before either.”
“Quite the pair…” she mused, footsteps moving toward me.
I knew that voice.
I was bound with my hands at the base of my spine and my ankles tethered too but the chair I sat in was plush and comfortable.
The heat of a fire washed over me from my left and there was no echo to either the words of the Fae who were here with me, nor their movements, so I assumed the room we were in was fairly small.
I kept my eyes shut, letting my mind wake up while I took note of what I could about my surroundings.
“I will admit I have my doubts about this. Not to mention what the rest of my people will think when it comes to light…”
Mirelle Brimtheon. That was who was speaking, though I didn’t recognise the man she spoke with.
That was right – the Vampires had mentioned Kaiser when they’d drugged me so I supposed he was a part of this too.
I tested the strength of the ropes binding my hands, cursing internally as they caught against a pair of cuffs which were stopping my magic in its tracks. Unsurprisingly I was tied tightly and I knew within moments that I wasn’t going to be able to free myself without them noticing.
They didn’t seem inclined to speak much more so I gave in to the inevitable and opened my eyes, straightening in my seat as I did so and fixing Mirelle Brimtheon with a dark glare. She was dressed in black with a magpie perched on her shoulder that scrutinised me closely.
“Your eyes are the colour of my tormented soul,” a voice blurted from my right and I cut my attention that way, taking in the Wolf who so often hung around Kaiser.
But there was no sign of the Fury in the room despite the Vampire having mentioned him.
Everest had told me she’d killed him so perhaps the order to grab me had been given before that.
But that made no sense. The last I’d seen of the Fury had been when I was a captor of Pyros before.
He wouldn’t have had any need to capture me then…
so had Everest been mistaken in thinking she’d killed him?
“North,” Mirelle growled. “I warned you that you will not be permitted to stay if you cannot hold your tongue around her.”
I ignored them, my eyes roaming over the lavishly furnished room as I took in the copper-haired Vampire who stood a little behind Mirelle, his predatory gaze locked on me. What was all this then? Had Pyros made an alliance with the Vampires?
We appeared to be in a cavern despite the fireplace and plush furnishings.
There were no windows in the room but the walls were hewn from stone much like the caves where Moya and the other Sages dwelt in the Cavern of Lost Souls.
This place didn’t possess the same taint of death as those caverns did though. It was homely, lived in, nice.
I wondered if this was the secret hiding place those Flamebringer children had inadvertently told me about when I’d saved their lives back in Cinder Vale. I supposed secreting themselves away below ground made sense. So long as no one knew where to look.
Bastian was slumped in a chair beside mine, the two a matching pair of red velvet and thick cushions. He was still unconscious but his brow was furrowed as though his dreams tormented him.
I relaxed a little as I took in the steady rhythm of his breaths, though I didn’t let my concern for him show in so much as a flicker across my features.
This wasn’t my first time playing captive.
Though most who had gotten me in this position before had met with death rather swiftly and no doubt spent their final breaths lamenting ever chaining me at all.
I was a monster which would only be halted by death itself. The fools in this room would learn that soon enough.
“You appear to be quite easy to capture, Sky Witch,” Mirelle observed, moving to drop into a chair beside the Vampire – yet another matching piece to the set I sat in. The Vampire followed her lead and sat too, his hand taking hold of hers in just the right way so as to aim her wedding ring at me.
I grinned. “And you appear to have sold Pyros to the Vampires, Lady of the Flames,” I taunted in reply.
“Our union comes with equal benefit to both parties,” she replied coldly.
“If you call buying the protection of the bloodsuckers by parting your thighs and handing over the keys to your empire then yes, I’m sure you can convince yourself that it is equally beneficial to both you and him. I suppose fear of the Void pushed you to such desperate measures?”
Ice fell over the Matriarch’s features as she took the brunt of my insult but she managed to bite her tongue against firing a return shot my way. The same could not be said for the mutt.
“Don’t you speak about my mother like that, you beautiful bitch woman,” the Wolf hissed, taking a step towards me then falling still as I cut him a look, my allure working its magic on him again.
He opened and closed his mouth three times over, clearly fighting the desire to spout some kind of desperate compliment my way.
Mirelle huffed in irritation, shooting a spark of flame at his ear to snap him out of it.
The Wolf yipped in pain, slapping a hand over the small burn before dropping down into a chair of his own and glaring at the wall.
“I’m certain I’m not the only one of us in this room who has secured a bargain by parting their thighs,” Mirelle said, drawing my focus back to her. “I hear you are given your pick of the prisoners of war to use for your own sexual deviancies before you kill them.”
“At least they die with a smile on their faces. Which is more than can be said for most of the Fae I kill,” I replied, not bothering to correct her on that rumour.
There were so many tales told about me that I’d long ago given up trying to defend myself against them.
If people wanted to believe I fucked Fae to death then what did I care?
It only added to the fear attached to my name.
“Though perhaps that isn’t the truth any longer?” the Vampire asked, tilting his head as he inspected me. “I heard a whisper just this morning which suggested we might not be the only newly-weds in this room.”
I said nothing. I was hardly going to admit to being a part of the Aquila royal family. It would only make the price on my head all the higher.
“Why isn’t he awake?” I asked, jerking my head towards Bastian.
“We had to dose him five times over to put him down,” the Vampire said dismissively. “I’m sure he will awaken soon enough. But it is you we wish to speak with most urgently.”
“Oh?”
Here we were, at the point of this rendezvous and I was still no closer to being free. But if Bastian woke he might be able to rip his bonds apart with brute strength, so it served me to keep this conversation going for as long as possible.
“Do you know who I am?” the Vampire asked.
I made a show of looking him over, taking in all his long, copper hair which was brushed to a shine and the carefully cut suit, tailored perfectly to his frame before I shrugged.
“Some asshole in an expensive suit. But you weren’t born to money and it shows.”
The Vampire barked a laugh. “Spoken like a woman who knows the feeling well. But where I come from, we earn our place so it doesn’t much matter if I am used to the wealth it brings or not.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “Well, that’s what they say anyway.”
The Vampire gave me a knowing smile and I almost felt myself warming to him. He certainly was good at putting on the charm.
“Go on then, tell me who you are,” I said.
“I am Lazarus Astrophel. Ruler of Effelridge. You won’t have heard of it but we know all about you and your warring nations.”
“So the Vampires don’t simply roam the wastelands preying on those foolish enough to wander into their paths then?
” I asked, drinking in that information.
For too long the world beyond The Waning Lands had been a mystery to me.
And though this Effelridge place wasn’t technically outside of our lands, it was beyond the borders of the four nations I knew and had explored through spy-work and warring.
The idea of there being somewhere new for me to visit was intriguing indeed.
“Though we are of course well able to defend ourselves, we are in fact a place of peace and prosperity. Our land flourishes while the divided nations remain trapped in the dark shackles of war. Where I come from, we do not care what element you are born to, nor what Zodiac sign our people claimed at birth. All signs and elements, orders and bloodlines are appreciated and celebrated equally. And in so doing we all prosper through mutual respect and allegiance.”
“Sounds…” I searched for the word and Mirelle supplied it for me.
“Wonderful,” she breathed, gazing at her bloodsucking husband with what I could have been fooled into believing was true affection.
“I was going to say that it sounds like bullshit. But sure, let’s meet in the middle and call it wonderful bullshit,” I said with a sweet smile.
Bastian groaned beside me and I stilled, working to keep my emotions in check as I allowed myself a glance in his direction.
“Funny that you should be so disparaging of the idea of unity while conspiring with a Cascadian and travelling with a Stonebreaker,” Lazarus purred.
My attention shot back to him, my eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about?” I sneered.
“The Dragon beside you used earth magic while attempting to fight us off. And we know all about your secret meetings with the Void – Everest is her name. Isn’t it?”