Chapter 33
Following our cheers and a few more drinks, we decided to get some rest, and I leisurely made my way back to the Consortium.
I was just outside my door, buzzing from the ale I’d downed and ready to fall into a comfortable slumber, when Jyuri appeared behind me, and the distressed look on his face instantly sobered me. “We need to go.”
Before I could question him, he grabbed my wrist, and my world turned upside down with the magic of him teleporting us.
I didn’t have to endure the feeling long.
Apparently, we hadn’t traveled far, but I still needed a moment to regain my composure after we reappeared in what I could only describe as pitch-black nothingness.
I bent over, hands on my knees, forcing down the bile that was burning its way up my throat.
I’d gotten fairly used to teleporting, but not with so much alcohol in my stomach.
“What. Is. Going. On?” I forced out through short, quick breaths.
A snap of his fingers sparked a small orb of blue flame, illuminating the world around us just enough to make out that we were in some sort of cave. “I smell his blood. Alandris.”
My own drained from my face. “Where are we?”
He took off in a half-sprint, and I was following close behind him. “These are the ruins underneath the Consortium. The portals here, and elsewhere, are how the Divine Council travel quickly across Lustria. It is how Alandris meets with them.”
Upon closer inspection, the ruins were reminiscent of those we’d once discovered in the Azog Bog. Runes were carved into the walls above the hallway we’d just started down. I’d not been quick enough to read the word, but I knew the language well now—Faerie.
“Did your people create these?”
“Once upon a time… now, focus,” he hissed. “I do not know what awaits us. I alerted Kaz before I grabbed you, but it will take some time for him to collect the others and make his way down here.”
Though I had countless more questions I wanted to ask, I took his warning in stride and focused on the path ahead of us.
In truth, I’d wanted the distraction of his words to keep myself from panicking.
Without such, my mind wandered to the worst of assumptions, and if I let those negative thoughts consume me, I would lose myself.
Instead, I counted my steps and matched my breathing to our pace. One. Two. Three.
Jyuri finally stopped where the hallway expanded into a large, open area, lit by the glowing blue light of a portal built into the rock. There in the corner, slumped down next to it, head hanging to his chest, was Alandris, sitting in a pool of blood. Too much blood.
My heart only restarted when I heard his voice—strained, but strong. “Destroy it.”
Jyuri made for the portal, blue flames curling in his palm, as I rushed to Alandris’s side.
“It’s not so bad,” he assured me as I knelt beside him.
“You’re a terrible liar.” The confident voice I’d hoped for came out cracked and weary.
I pulled his hand from where it clutched his side, just long enough to assess the size and depth of the wound. Thankfully, he hadn’t been lying this time. It was a brutal gash, but nowhere near fatal. “Where is all the blood from?”
He smiled. “Would you believe it if I said it wasn’t all mine?”
The light in the room vanished with a crack, leaving behind only the faint illumination from Jyuri’s icy flames.
Where once there had been a shimmering mirror of silvery-blue liquid magic was now nothing more than dark stone.
He kept the small orb balanced in his palm as he approached the two of us.
“I can’t take you both back at once.”
“Take him first,” I said. “See that a healer is alerted, and then come back for me.”
Alandris winced, shifting his weight. “No. Take her back first. I don’t want her alone here.”
Jyuri groaned. “You two are so adorable. It’s disgusting.”
Against all odds, Jyuri obliged my request. With a snap of his fingers, the two males were gone in a blink, leaving me behind in the darkness.
Not wanting to wander too far, and unable to see more than an arm’s length in front of myself, I resigned to plopping down on the ground and waiting patiently.
As patiently as I could, knowing that Alandris was hurt, and something or someone had been the cause.
His request for the destruction of the portal spelled far more disaster than just a flesh wound.
And you let it happen.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the wall, willing the voice to leave me. How lovely it would have been if it were that easy to dismiss him.
When will you realize your own weakness?
I scrunched my eyes shut tighter. The headache blooming in my skull was offset only by the sensation of my nails digging into my palms.
Give in to me, and we can become so much more. We would have power unlike anything you’ve experienced.
“There is no ‘we’,’” I spit back, fumbling for the satchel on my hip that held the only thing capable of shutting him up. My hands shook from both pain and eagerness as I uncorked the tiny vial and downed the remaining liquid in one go.
You will not silence me, Saintess.
The pain flared brighter, and I gasped, reaching into my bag once more. Only one vial remained.
Looks like your time has run out.
He knew. Of course, he knew. “Not yet,” I said, then drained the entirety of the final vial.
His laughter echoed in my ears long after it’d vanished from my mind. It persisted still when Jyuri finally returned to collect me, and it only faded to a hum in the background when I was in front of Alandris, assured of his safety, though fully aware that the worst of the news was yet to come.
“There is a spy amongst us,” Alandris explained. “The Divine Council is well aware of Nairu’s presence on Nil’Faerith, and naturally, they didn’t take kindly to my negligence in discovering her. I feigned ignorance through their… questioning. I took the chance to escape when I had it.”
I clenched my teeth. “Their questioning?”
“Nairu, it is—”
“Jyuri, leave us.”
To his credit, he spared me the tongue lashing I deserved for ordering him around. Now was not the time. He knew that well enough. “I will let the others know to be cautious.”
I waited for him to leave before pulling Alandris into my arms.
“I thought I was in trouble.”
“For being a reckless liar and failing to mention that there were Fae portals nestled beneath the Consortium? You are very much in trouble,” I assured him. “As soon as I’m done.”
He relaxed into my touch, running a hand down the back of my hair and nestling his chin over the top of my head. Words weren’t necessary yet. I’m so sorry. I’m so glad you’re back. You’re safe. I only needed to hold him to let him know.
“I had to protect you,” he whispered.
I pulled back only far enough to scan his face. “You were gone for days. They—they… hurt you, while I did nothing.”
“You need not bear their crimes.” His voice turned deadly serious. “I will let you scold me for much, but don’t tell me I should have given you up just to maintain my ruse with them. Protecting you is the entire reason I joined them. I regret nothing.”
I swallowed, hoping to relieve the growing tightness in my throat, but to no avail. “We are out of time, Alandris.”
“I know, so let us not waste it.”
He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my mouth to his, and the kiss was all heat and desire. He slid his fingers through my hair, his other hand snaking around my waist to pull me closer. But it wasn’t close enough, not at all. Just this was enough to send an aching need through my body.
“We need to investigate and search for the traitor. Besides, you’re injured,” I murmured against his lips with the last shred of my logical mind.
Alandris groaned, a paradoxical mixture of utmost pleasure and absolute displeasure at my words. “Not enough to give a damn. As for our traitor, there’s nothing to be done this late in the night. I only want to do one thing. Something that cannot wait.”
I chewed my bottom lip, a war raging in my mind.
“Would it make you feel better if I cleaned and bandaged the tiny little gash?”
I nodded.
He brushed a thumb over my lip. “Wait in my bed.” As he walked towards the washroom, he paused for a moment for one final remark, then spoke over his shoulder. “You won’t need your clothing.”
Oh. Oh.
I unlaced my corset and threw both it and my top on the chair tucked beneath Alandris’s desk.
Chill air immediately nipped at my skin, and I wasted no time throwing off my boots and pants before throwing myself under the silk and fur covers to get warm.
My heart was pounding with anticipation as I waited, staring at the closed door ahead.
By the time Alandris emerged, fully bared to me, my everything was on fire. His pulling the covers back added a shock of cold to the heat that made my breath catch.
He hummed his approval at the sight. “You listened well. Good girl.” He ran his fingers down my curves, sending a shiver through my body. “I suppose I should reward you.”
Gripping my hips, he dragged me closer to him, sliding my leg over his shoulder.
Bringing his fingers between my legs, he swirled circles around my clit before dipping into my heat.
He pumped in and out of me, torturously slow.
Once. Twice before he brought his glistening fingers to his mouth and licked them clean.
“You’re already so wet for me, love. Was it that hard to wait for my return? ”
“Yes. It was,” I breathed.
“So, I shouldn’t take my time?” He smirked, dragging his finger down my chest, my stomach, lower, but never quite low enough.
The grumble of irritation I gave him in return was bordering on feral, but he only chuckled.
“I’ll take that under consideration.”
His mouth was between my thighs in an instant, and a strangled moan left my lips at the sensation of his tongue dipping into my pussy.
I struggled to close my legs on instinct, but he held me open wide with one forearm pressed against my thigh, and the other held up my leg that was still balanced on his shoulder.
Needing something to hold on to brace myself, I ran my hands through his hair, tugging.
His moan rumbling against me nearly shattered me.
“Alandris, please....”
My begging served little purpose. He seemed committed to torturing me with long, languid strokes.
I was so, so fucking close to exploding and he knew it.
Each time my legs began to shake, my breaths growing short and fast, he would pull away, looking up at me through dark lashes, a glint of humor in his eyes.
I think I glared back—as much of a glare as I could give while bordering on a world-shattering orgasm.
“Hm? Do you need something, love?”
I couldn’t manage full words, but that was answer enough.
Alandris finally relented, pulling my clit between his lips as his fingers drove inside me.
The combined pressure of his tongue darting against my most sensitive spot, and his fingers curling inside of me was all it took.
My vision went bleary and white as I screamed his name, nails dragging down his back.
He eased me from my high before crawling over me to bring a kiss to my lips, the taste of me still on his tongue.
“I think you healed me,” he mumbled into the curve of my neck before nipping at the skin there. “Though, perhaps we should take extra measures to ensure…”
I bit my lip, holding in a laugh. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Eventually, after we’d lain tangled in the sheets for far too long, Alandris rose from the bed and made his way to his desk.
I followed him with my eyes, tracing the angles of his muscled back I’d grown so wonderfully familiar with.
I was too content and sated to question what had prompted him to stir, so I waited.
He turned back towards me after pulling a dagger from the drawer, and I propped myself up on my elbows to get a closer look.
Once he moved into the light, I recognized it immediately.
His gift to me so many years ago. A beautiful dagger with the pommel crafted into a flower and vines decorating the hilt.
I’d given it back to him to protect in my final moments.
“You held onto it for me.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Are you surprised?”
I returned the smile. “No. No, I am not.”
“I sat with it in my hands often. It was the only thing I had left of you other than my memories. I wanted to give it back to you sooner, but I couldn’t find a reasonable excuse, and I was worried it may trigger you to remember more than you were ready to.
” A certain sadness overtook his eyes. “So, even once you were back at my side, I continued to sit there and hold it. It served as a reminder of what I was fighting for when I thought I’d die if I had to pretend for another second that I wasn’t madly in love with you. ”
Alandris moved to sit on the edge of the bed and ran a hand along the curve of my hip. He held the blade out to me, and I sat up to grab it. “It’s yours again. Forever, this time.” He said the words with as much masked confidence as he could, but the wavering in his voice was unmistakable.
The meaning behind his words was glaringly clear. He didn’t need to vocalize it, because I felt exactly the same. For better or for worse, this was the last time.