Chapter 42
MORRIGAN
One by one, the lords appeared through Tristan’s shadows in the throne room.
Each of them looked as if they had been practically dragged through the mud.
Eris leaned against the wall, clutching his head.
Naaz had his arms crossed over his chest in a way that looked like he had something to hide.
Cassius… the second he landed he began to puke, hunched over as he held himself up by his knees.
And Dormius… Gods… Dormius sat in a crouched position on the floor with a pale face and glazed eyes locked in a faraway stare, like his mind was somewhere else entirely.
As I took in their disorientated states, I glared back at Tristan. “What did you do to them?”
He gave an unbothered shrug. “Nothing they didn’t deserve.”
“Tristan.” I lowered my voice to an almost hiss.
With a roll of his eyes, he shook his head. “Nothing permanent. I just… gave them some humbling hallucinations to help reprioritize their intentions.”
I had to hold myself back from asking what exactly he made them see. There were more important things to worry about at the moment. At least they were in one piece. “And Cain?”
As Tristan began to smile, a loud thump echoed throughout the room. When I turned, Dez appeared. His body landed on the floor, flat on his back. But unlike the others, he lay there completely limp, skin as white as snow.
“Dez!” I yelled, running to him and dropping to my knees beside his body. Lifting his head onto my lap, I caressed his cheeks and felt the clamminess of his skin. “What is wrong with him?!” I turned to the others frantically.
Kaiden was the only one to answer. “He’s been having horrible nightmares since you were taken. He kept waking up, drenched in sweat, claiming he felt his bones breaking.”
“What?!” I gasped. The way Kaiden said it was so casual, but I felt my chest tightening as he approached us.
“I think it has something to do with the bond, but the others… None of them could feel it.” He moved to the other side of Dez, leaning down to scoop him up. “He’s been practically starving since they began. He’s going to need to feed.”
Of course. “Right,” I turned around to Tristan.
“I’m going to bring him to my room. Tristan, will you please get them safely settled into rooms?
Once Dez is awake, we will figure out the rest.” I surveyed the room once more, checking on each of them.
“Honestly, they all look like they might need some blood.”
“They’ll live,” Kaiden mumbled. “Let’s worry about Dez first.”
Tristan appeared hesitant, but eventually rolled his eyes and nodded. “Come on, little lords,” he announced with a loud sigh.
As Kaiden and I made it to my room, he placed Dez on the bed, and I crawled in beside him, pulling back my sleeve. I twisted toward Kaiden with my hand outstretched. “Dagger.”
Kaiden removed one from his side, the very same blade that I kept in my vanity, and I wasted no time in slicing a clean line across my palm. I draped it over Dez’s mouth, squeezing as hard as I could, and let the blood fall in a steady drip. Dez’s groan, as he tasted it, was music to my ears.
“I’m here, Dez,” I whispered to him, leaning down to place a kiss against his cheek. “Take what you need. I’ve got you.”
After a few seconds, his body twitched, and his hands shot up, grabbing my wrist. As his mouth opened wide, I saw his canines sharpen just before he dug them into my skin, and I let out a surprised yelp.
In an instant, Kaiden shot across the room to stop him, but I shook my head.
“No,” I groaned. “I’m… I’m fine. Dez wouldn’t hurt me.”
“You don’t know that, little dove. He’s never been in this state of—”
“I said I’m fine, Kaiden,” I snapped back at him.
Every time he called me that, it dug the ache in my heart even deeper.
I couldn’t handle it right now. With my other hand, I caressed the back of Dez’s head and smoothed over his blonde locks that were slick with sweat. “You’re alright, Dez. I trust you.”
Another groan rumbled in his throat before he tugged at my hand, yanking me on top of him. “Princess,” he breathed out, burying his head in the crook of my neck.
I could feel his restraint as his arms shook, and I pulled his head back to reveal bloodshot eyes hiding the baby blues I loved so much. He needed more. Once my legs straddled his hips comfortably, I cupped his face with my hands.
“Feed, Dez.”
He tried shaking his head to tell me no, but I wasn’t taking that for an answer. I needed him to be healthy and strong.
“Kaiden is here. You won’t hurt me. Feed.”
It took only one more blink before his remaining resolve vanished, and his mouth clamped around my throat. But this time, his bite was gentler. He slowed down, pressing his teeth into my flesh, and I couldn’t stop the moan that slipped out.
I hated how much I loved it. The rush I felt when they fed… Especially Dez.
“Morrigan,” Kaiden said in a low warning.
Dez’s hands gripped my hips and slightly pushed them down onto him, and I could feel him hardening beneath me. Not the time, Morrigan. Definitely not the time. But as he dug his teeth deeper, I unintentionally ground my hips against him. It was the worst and best kind of torture.
“I think he’s had enough,” Kaiden groaned, and I smiled at the anger in his tone. Something about this moment allowed the past couple of hours to slip away, making me almost forget everything that had happened. It felt so… normal. It felt like home.
Dez released my neck, and his mouth left tender kisses that sent small sparks across my skin. “Princess,” he all but moaned, still clutching my hips for dear life. “Please, tell me this is real.”
He thrust up against me, and my fingers dug into his shirt. It was almost impossible to calm my breathing from the adrenaline the feed pushed into my veins. I wanted more than anything to take some of my own, to relish in the pleasure it would bring me, but I knew that now wasn’t the time.
“Dez,” I said breathlessly. “There isn’t time—”
“There is always time.” He interrupted me with a kiss that sent every ounce of blood straight to my core, and made my stomach feel like I was falling from a cliff.
I could taste my blood on him, and it was intoxicating.
“I haven’t seen you in so long. I missed you, princess.
Please… don’t make me stop,” he pleaded into my mouth.
Just as I had almost given in, wrapping my arms around his neck, the sound of someone clearing their throat behind me killed the moment. I quickly scrambled off of a laughing Dez and straightened my shirt and pants.
“Sorry…” I puffed out an embarrassed breath, but I could feel my cheeks blazing with heat.
I would have felt ashamed, if not for the wide smile on Dez’s face that could melt the sun. Of course, Kaiden’s scowl only deepened further as he looked between us.
“We’ll see how much you still want to play when you learn what our little Morrigan has agreed to.” His voice was laced with so much resentment that it made my stomach queasy.
I didn’t notice that Dez had moved until he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me between his legs as I stood beside the bed. “I don’t think I can stop touching you.” He buried his face into my hair, sniffing like his life depended on it—like a damned dog in heat.
“You might change your mind,” I drawled under my breath.
When he looked up, the playfulness in his eyes had quickly disappeared, and he gripped the sides of my waist. “There is nothing you could do in this world that would change what I feel for you, princess. Trust me. I…” His throat bobbed like he struggled with what he wanted to say. “I saw…”
When his eyes flicked to Kaiden somewhere behind me, I suddenly felt uneasy—not wanting him to finish his sentence. If they went down there, that would mean they saw the cage.
“I’m sorry, Morrigan. I’m so fucking sorry that I took Lyra from you that day. I wasn’t there to protect you, and I’m sorry that I—”
I kissed him before he could continue. When I pulled back, some of the sadness had disappeared, and I finally got a glimpse of his beautiful blue eyes.
“I’m okay, Dez. I promise.” Then, I removed myself from his grasp and climbed onto the bed.
“What are you doing?” Kaiden grumbled.
“I’m tired. I’ve had a long fucking day, and I’m going to take a nap. Dez?” I asked, sliding under the sheets. “Lie with me?”
He gave me zero protest.
As Kaiden marched off, Dez joined me under the sheets, and I snuggled close to him, lying on his chest. I had missed this so much—just the scent of him. It enveloped me in a tight cushion of safety and familiarity. I could stay here for hours, just basking in his warmth.
“Will you tell me what happened?” I asked. “What you guys saw that’s making everyone act so strange?”
I felt him shake his head above mine as his hand came up to caress my back, tracing a line down my spine.
“Nothing close to the things you’ve survived, princess.” He planted a kiss on the top of my head, and my eyes slowly fluttered closed.
“Rest, beautiful.”
No one actually seemed bothered by our impromptu nap, and I was surprised to find Tristan waiting patiently in the dining hall as the rest of the lords helped themselves to a seemingly endless spread of food.
When I entered, all eyes fell on me and Dez, and I felt an odd sense of nostalgia from it.
Eris was the first to speak. “Do you plan on telling us what exactly is going on, and why I was stuck in a nightmare for gods know how long?!”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah… It’s nice to see you, too, Eris.”
Making my way past their chairs, I gave each of them a once-over.
Cassius gave me a small nod, as did Naaz.
But when I got to Dormius, he didn’t so much as meet my eyes.
I reached out to touch his shoulder, but before I could even graze his clothing, he flinched away violently.
Crazed blue eyes met mine, and the skin beneath them was red and swollen.
Just as quickly as he had raised his head, he faced forward again, burying his head into his hands as he muttered to himself.
“He’s been like that since he got here,” Eris said, suddenly standing beside me. I tilted my head up to him, staring at his usual brooding face, his dark blue eyes gazing back at me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to him. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happ—”
Before I could finish, Eris pulled me into a tight embrace that I never would have expected from him. He buried his face into my hair and wrapped his fist in my curls as he held me against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear.
“I’m sorry for all of it. None of this… None of this is your fault, and I…
” He released a shuddering breath that I felt rattle against my own chest. “We should have protected you from the second you were born, and we failed at that. I just hope that one day, if you’re ever ready, we can be properly introduced again. ”
His warm embrace disappeared as he stepped back, and I found myself missing it—which surprised me even more. Once he fixed his shirt, he stepped aside and let me pass.
Tristan appeared just as confused, like he wasn’t quite sure how to decipher the tone of the room.
He didn’t understand. A part of me absolutely hated them for the secret they kept from me—what they were prepared to force me to do.
But when I sat in that cage, sore and broken, it was memories of our dinners that kept me sane.
It was Cass’s laugh, Dez’s eyes, every argument with Kaiden, and every blush on D’s face whenever Dez would make an inappropriate joke. I would think back to the day that Eris saved that man, and every time Naaz helped me in the library.
Maeryn and Cain had taught me what true hate felt like, and I could never actually hate these men. They were the family I had always craved in my life, and now, after almost three months of being apart, the animosity was gone.
They were my family now, whether I wanted it or not.
And if Tristan wanted a soul bond, he was going to have to accept them, too.