Chapter 13
Noth
The moment I crossed into Allfenheim, the connection reached all the way to the depths of my black heart. Growing things pulsed around me with recognition. The Calix perked up and Maggie watched in awe as it produced its first blushing rose.
Stuffed full of flowers, vines, nightshades and every plant imaginable, the pass had been free of monsters and animals for generations, so nothing greeted us but the rush of wind through the leaves.
There wasn’t much else to mark the occasion other than a crippling wave of nausea and the sense of standing outside of time.
My last trip through the Pass of Good Brothers was a drugged memory of being tossed to a madman.
I had never been so helpless in my long life and I never wanted to be again.
The familiar rock outcroppings were both horrifying and comforting.
It was good to see home, even if the pass ended up ironically named, given the division between the Fae and Elven kingdoms it connected.
Relations with the Fae hadn’t been chummy, but were downright antagonistic these past few decades.
The Fae were too coarse, too free with their magic.
Even though their current King was cooler than ice in winter, his influence hadn’t seemed to moderate the winged-bastard’s thirst for fighting and fucking.
I liked being between Maggie’s thighs in interesting ways, but those bastards had a full rut that went on for days.
By comparison, Elves were a light of reason and scholarship.
It was like our kingdoms were mirror opposites.
I personified chaos on the throne and the Fae embodied it as a territory.
But even they ran a tighter ship than whatever was happening here under Brad.
The pass didn’t bristle with Elves, so though it meant it was relatively safe to cross into my territory, Brad made a tactical mistake.
We would be under Yaya’s protection in no time.
Her house sat far enough from the palace that no one really came out here.
She always did enjoy her secret love nests.
My two would-be assassins remained fairly subdued after the encounter at the bridge and that suited me just fine.
Maggie rode without protest, poking at the tenuous mate bond every once in a while, but her gaze stuck to her blackened fingertips.
Jax got to walk. He looked strapping enough to handle it with his ruined tight shirt, stacked muscles and shoulder length, copper hair.
Honestly, if he hadn’t been human, he might have managed to kill me.
I chuckled to myself. Well, probably not, but it was a fun thought. As it was, the magical mace wouldn’t come off my face so sparkles it would be to meet Yaya. She would appreciate it.
Her cozy cottage–her term, not anyone else’s–nestled into the hollow below as we crested the rise.
Smoke puffed from one of the chimneys so she was at home in her five-bedroom-sun-deck-waterfall-into-a-pristine-rock-pool monstrosity.
The warm breeze kicked up a hail of blue diamond-shaped petals that brushed against us in welcome.
I expected Yaya to do the same–maybe stand in the doorway with the wry smile she always wore–but that was more of a daydream.
A product of too much time away from my territory with no purpose, no hope, no action other than Maggie and I torturing each other. My heart yearned for home.
Instead, the cottage remained quiet. Too quiet as we dismounted, stabled the salamander and opened the back kitchen door.
A woman’s scream pierced the air and everyone froze.
Maggie stepped forward with murder in her eyes.
I almost brushed by her to get to the sound above us until the overwhelming scent of sweaty sex hit me.
In the moments of my inattention, Maggie sprinted up the stairs and I missed catching her arm. Heavy whumps followed more cries while I casually followed Maggie upstairs to the bedrooms.
“Pumpkin…”
She paused at the bedroom door, raking her gaze over me, as the thuds became rhythmic. “Don’t just stand there.”
“Don’t-”
But she didn’t listen per usual and I leaned against the hallway wall to watch the show.
Maggie burst through the door just as I heard Yaya yell, “Harder!”
I stifled a laugh as Maggie screamed and Yaya replied, “Don’t stop, you idiot!”
The thumping resumed as Maggie burst back out the door and slammed it behind her. Her face flushed an alarming and adorable shade of red. I pulled her forward into my arms because I needed to shelter her virtue, not because I wanted to hold her.
“See anything worth trying?” I said, low, in her ear.
“Who are they? Your Elf lovers? Is this your secret hideaway?” Her voice came out brittle enough to crumble.
I searched her face. The jealousy was impressive and I liked it on her. Her last murder attempt still smarted and not physically. She really tried on that one.
“My grandma.”
Her eyes grew huge.
“What?” I asked. “Yaya is a fully mature, intelligent woman and she gave the best sex talk out of any of the parent figures. She taught me things I’ve yet to show you. Don’t be embarrassed on her behalf.” I pushed Maggie’s hair behind her ear, cupping the delicate shell of it.
“It looked… ambitious,” she said.
I pressed her against the wall, trapping her there. “Have I ever told you how much I love your outsized ambition?”
Her breath puffed against my neck and I rubbed my face in her silky hair. Maggie’s poppy scent filled the hallway until Yaya ruined it with a scream that shook the rafters.
Maggie ducked under my arm. “I’m not trying that.”
“Just describe the sex part and I can convince you.”
Maggie huffed back downstairs and I followed so Yaya could finish in peace.
“You can use small words…” My sentence trailed off as, from the corner of my eye, I caught a shiny magenta leaf glinting in the afternoon sun. I rushed into the sitting room, filled with warmth and the call of stolen naps.
“Gertrude!” My scream rivaled Yaya’s, shaking the house.
Falling to my knees before my beloved, tears welled. She sat in pristine condition, leaves happy, spread to the sun. I burrowed a finger into her soil to find it the perfect dampness. Yaya had gotten her out of the palace alive and taken the utmost care of her.
“Are you going to make out with it?”
I turned to find an even more delicious level of possessiveness on Maggie’s face. So, of course, I had to needle her.
“Don’t worry about her, Gertrude. She’s just a one-night stand.” I ghosted my fingers over her leaves, beaming, listening to Maggie choke back a retort.
If she admitted we were more than that or stewed in her jealousy, I won. I didn’t need to smirk on top of it.
She’s my mate. I told Gertrude. The first being I had ever told and maybe the last. Returning to my territory only weighed my responsibility heavier on my shoulders with no more ideas on how I got to keep Maggie forever. The Elves lived so long; change was their greatest weakness.
“You’re looking more beautiful than ever, my queen.” I snapped a wilted leaf from a cluster at the base.
Maggie’s snort sounded like music to my long ears. Yaya had a thoughtful jar of worms for nibbling and I had a delightful time crooning over her, feeding her until Yaya and her paramour tromped downstairs.
“My baby boy! You’re home!” Yaya dove into my open arms.
Her starlight scent held not a hint of sex and a wave of nostalgia overcame me.
“This was the welcome I expected.”
She slapped me on the arm. “What? Was I supposed to be staring at the hills, waiting at the door for you at all times in case you happened to drop by? I have things to do, people to see.”
I fidgeted like the little boy she called me. “Of course, Yaya. I know. I just missed you.”
“And I you. It’s good to have you home. This is…”
We both turned to find Maggie struggling with Yaya’s paramour on the floor. She did her best impression of a nine-tentacled Trunkfish, attempting to choke him out.
“You won’t be telling anyone you saw us,” Maggie said as she squeezed.
“Girl! Girl!” Yaya walked over, waving her hands. “Get your arm fully under his chin. Like this.” She adjusted Maggie’s arm. “Now flex your hips.”
Yaya turned to me as Maggie did as instructed and the Elf’s face turned blue. “Where did you find this hapless creature?”
“Where did you find that one?” I countered. An Elf that couldn’t fend off an incompetent witch had to be dumber than a leaky bucket and deserved to be choked out.
“Aimon is a beautiful soul.”
I coughed. “You mean he had dick for days.”
Yaya smothered her giggle. “Maybe.”
Her hand shot forward and stopped Maggie from stabbing the unconscious Elf. “Now, now. Tone it down a little, witch. You got him.”
I watched Maggie respond to those words as if they melted her hard heart.
Fast hands dragged her out from under the Elf and into my embrace. “What did I say about killing other men, Pumpkin?”
My growl and the fact I practically curled around Maggie raised Yaya’s carefully sculpted eyebrow.
I couldn’t help it. My rational, even-tempered Elven side said Aimon was about as threatening as a damp handkerchief but even the tenuous bond demanded I clutch my very annoyed mate in my protective embrace.
I backed up, snarling. What if Yaya was a threat?
No, that was crazy–my Nightmare’s delusion.
“Don’t worry. I was going to wipe his mind before he left anyway, but now you can do it…”
“Maggie,” she replied from the cage of my arms.
“Maggie. Nice to meet you. Only my grandson would ma-”
I cleared my throat a little too loudly.
“- ally himself with a powerful witch.”
“And the Calix,” Maggie said. Like she was proud of me?
“And me.” Jax butted in as he came into the room.
“Quite a court you’ve formed, Chubby Cheeks.”
Maggie tried to turn to look at me. “Chubby Cheeks? That’s better than Rat Faced Pickle Pants. I’ll have to remember that one.”
“I leaned out as a teenager.” I huffed out a breath. “Thanks, Yaya.”