Chapter 29
Tenebrys was still awake and watching Delphi sleep when his knot went down enough for him to gently slip out of her. He groaned, his cock sensitive from the night. Seed dripped out of her, and he had to look away, or he would get hard again.
Tenebrys contented himself with staring at her in wonder. Her little horns were the sweetest things he had ever seen.
It had to have been her magic to cause it. He had never heard of mates acquiring others' physical features in such a way before.
Every time he thought that he could no longer be surprised by her, something else happened to prove to him that she was a wonder and that she had to be protected at all costs.
At the entrance of the cave, someone cleared their throat loudly. Tenebrys snarled in warning and prowled low toward the intruder. He found Felix leaning against a tree, his arms folded. Some of the murderous tension went out of Tenebrys, but not all of it.
"I'm really sorry to interupt, my king, but you have to get Delphi and come and see something," he said.
Before Tenebrys could ask, he quickly added, "Yes, it's a fucking emergency.
I know the hot spring is very romantic, but use your brain.
You are exposed out here, and there's no other exit out of that cave. "
Tenebrys ran a frustrated hand over his face. "How much time do I have? She's asleep."
"Wake her up and get some clothes on," Felix replied. "The Mistwood is uneasy tonight, and you and Dlephi are the reason why."
Tenebrys didn't know what he meant by that, but he didn't argue. Felix wouldn't be there if it weren't important.
Back inside, he tore off part of a towel and dipped it into the spring to warm it. Delphi grumbled in her sleep with the first gentle swipe of the cloth against her lovely cunt. Tenebrys groaned, feeling his cock trying to rally.
"What are you doing?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes.
"Cleaning you up. We need to get dressed and get out of here."
Delphi sat up and took the cloth from him. "Why? What's happened?"
"Not sure, but it has Felix spooked." Tenebrys handed Delphi her clothes and put his pants back on. "We can pick this up later, back in the chateau."
Delphi winced as she finished cleaning the seed off her inner thighs. "My pussy might need a break before we do. Damn, I'm going to be walking funny for days."
Tenebrys laughed, unable to stop himself. "I'll be happy to carry you while you recover, little mate."
"Good, because it's your fault," she said, pulling her shirt over her head. She smirked at him. "Worth it though."
Tenebrys was still smiling minutes later when he picked Delphi up and carried her outside.
Felix looked at her horns, and his mouth fell open. "What the fuck happened to you?"
"Magic. Stop staring, or I'll stab you with them," Delphi said, narrowing her eyes in warning.
Tenebrys grinned wider, loving her fierceness. "Aren't they adorable?"
"Fuck you both." Delphi huffed in annoyance. "What was so important that you had to ruin my nap?"
"It would be easier to show you," Felix said, and with a shake of his head, he moved down the path towards the chateau.
"About an hour ago, a pulse of magic rolled through the Mistwood.
The only time I had felt anything like it was when we were fighting the fae," Felix explained, his pace quickening.
"I thought we were being invaded, but when I tracked it, it turned out the source of it was the springs.
So what the fuck did you two get up to?"
Tenebrys tried not to puff up his chest. "Delphi let me do the mating bond with her."
"Congratulations. Was that when..." Felix gestured at her horns.
"Yes," Delphi replied and frowned. "The cave shook a bit, but it went quiet quickly."
"That's because that ripple kept going. Ten? Try not to drop her, okay?"
Tenebrys opened his mouth to ask why and shut it again. The lights in the chateau were visible through the trees.
"That can't be right," he whispered and started to run. Delphi yelped and clung to him as he raced out of the woods and onto a neat stone pathway.
Delphi cursed under her breath. "What in the seven hells happened here?"
The gardens looked neatly tended, the overgrown plants tamed, and the broken fountain flowing with water. Tenebrys put Delphi back on her feet, staring about him in wonder.
"Have you been inside yet?" he asked Felix.
"No. I came to find you. I never thought I would see home like this again," he replied and stared at Delphi. "What the fuck are you?"
"She is my mate," Tenebrys growled. "And your queen."
Delphi ignored him and answered Felix, "I have no idea."
Together, the three of them walked through the main doors and stared around them. The dust was gone, and the paintings and tapestries had been restored. The lights shone brightly in their delicate glass fixtures.
"Is the heart working again?" Delphi asked him.
"I don't know, but we should check." Tenebrys took her hand, but it was to comfort him, not her. "Felix, you should come too. I'll need you to spread the word to the others."
Felix didn't argue, just nodded, transfixed by the chandelier hanging above them.
With every step, the lights turned on as the three of them wound their way from the main hall and down the marble steps to where the heart resided.
Delphi stared in wonder at the wall of solid marble in front of her. It was a beautifully carved anatomical heart with a border of roses, claws, fangs, and the family crest at its crown.
Tenebrys brushed his fingers over the fourth chamber of the heart and pressed it. Stone ground against stone as the wall slipped to the left, revealing the family crypt.
Stone sarcophagi were arranged in concentric circles. In the centre of them was a circle on the floor, covered in lines.
"What are these carvings on the floor?" Delphi asked, letting go of his hand and moving forward to the center of the room.
"They are all connecting to the graves of my family," Tenebrys replied, a sharp spike of grief piercing his heart. He was guilty of not visiting them, but after the magic had died in the chateau, it had hurt too much.
Delphi crouched down and brushed her fingers against another anatomical heart and the star-like sigil at its center. "What kind of magic is this?"
"It's the kind that is fueled by blood and bone and love," Felix said and looked at Tenebrys. He was worried about the magic, and Tenebrys couldn't blame him.
"I can feel it. It's like a hum beneath the stone, singing softly." Delphi placed her ear to the cold stone. "Can you two not feel this?"
Tenebrys's heart rate picked up. "We aren't as sensitive to magic as you."
"Hush, I'm listening. It's speaking to me," Delphi replied. Her eyes had clouded with gold. Small flames danced on her fingertips and in the ends of her hair.
Felix stood back, his body going tense. "Tenebrys? What the fuck is happening to her?"
"I have no idea," he whispered. He had never heard any singing from the stones or the graves before.
Delphi rose to her feet and started to sway to silent music. When she opened her mouth, a melody broke free from her lips.
Tenebrys stopped breathing. It was a lullaby in the High Tongue of Fae. His mother used to sing to him when he was a cub.
Was Delphi talking to her somehow? How else could she possibly know that song?
Delphi held out her hand, and a sharp black claw grew from her index finger. She held out her other hand to Tenebrys.
"Blood and healing and love," Delphi said in a voice not quite her own. "Give me your hand, my mate."
There wasn't much damage that Delphi's small claw could do to him, so Tenebrys did as she asked and placed his big palm in hers.
"Blood of the family, blood of the one that broke it, blood of mates to bind, to beat, to breathe," Delphi said, slicing his palm open, and then her own.
She took his hand, smearing their blood together, and holding it out to the centre of the sigil on the floor.
Scarlet drops fell onto the pale marble, and magic scorched the air.
Tenebrys stared in awe as their blood ran thick and fast through the lines carved on the floor that connected the graves like arteries to the central heart. For a moment, the world stood still and held its breath. Then power drove them to their knees.
A deep thumping beat echoed three times in the cavernous room before everything went white.
Tenebrys didn't know how long he had been knocked out, but he came to moments later on the floor with Felix shaking him. Delphi was still unconscious and sprawled out on the stone.
"Are you okay?" Felix asked, his eyes filled with fear and worry.
Tenebrys was about to say yes and then stopped. For the first time in almost three decades, he could feel the chateau alive and pulsing with power.
Delphi still hadn't moved, so he picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He couldn't smell any wounds on her except for the blood on her hand.
"We need to get her out of here," he said and moved carefully between the graves.
Their blood was still glowing in the lines that made up the spell, and he watched where he stood so he didn't disrupt them.
"Lady Rosemerta, the heart is beating again.
Our blood, our bond…it broke the curse. At least, that part of it. "
They were still in their twisted hybrid forms, but to get the heart of the house to beat again was a miracle all on its own.
Both Tenebrys and Felix took a deep breath of relief as soon as they were back in the main hall. The doors were still open to the outside world, the night dark and deep around them.
Felix grabbed his arm and yanked on it. "Look at that."
Tenebrys was more concerned about his mate, and then, in the corner of his eyes, he saw the flickering light blue and gold light between them and the Mistwood.
"Holy goddess, the wards are back up," he whispered.
At one time, they had been powerful enough to repel any enemies that tried to invade their territory. He wasn't sure what they would be capable of now, but at least they were back in some form.
"That kind of power coming back to life, the fae would have felt that," Felix said, a touch of panic rising in his voice. "If just walking in the woods let Plagues know that Delphi was here, imagine what that would've done."
Tenebrys growled, soft and menacing. "I need you to do two things for me tonight.
First, find Luna and have her track down Narcisse.
Plagues has a connection to him, which means he will be able to possess him and use him as a human agent.
I don't trust that lordling either. He's too ambitious and greedy, and Plagues will know exactly how to manipulate him.
The second thing I need you to do is tell all the others that the wards are up, and they need to come home. Now."
"What about the gateways?" Felix asked, his ears flattening. "If we don't guard them, who knows what will come through?"
"Plagues isn't that stupid, especially if he is desperate enough to act straight away to get Delphi.
He needs to conserve his magic and not send any more lackeys through.
If the fae come before the next full moon, it will be in force, and we won't be able to stop them alone.
Pull everyone in, and then we can make a plan," Tenebrys commanded.
He stared down at his still unconscious mate, knowing that their whole survival depended on her and that they needed to protect her at all costs.
"Go now, Felix. We need to prepare for a siege. "