Chapter 22
MAX
“Ido not wish to speak to you,” I call out, eyes closed.
Silence only greets me.
A chill washes over my spine with tiny pricks of apprehension. After witnessing my mate dispatch someone so carelessly, I’m painfully aware that I am out here alone. The Hadeon is in the woods hunting, the Moorgate siblings are inside and Mal is with them. No one knows I am here.
I’m too aggravated to be scared. Standing, I hold my red fingers aloft, and center myself. The bond flares for a moment before darkening, and the smallest thump pounds through my ears.
Then, it’s gone.
Opening my eyes, I listen to the rhythmic sounds of cricket chirping and the softest hoot of an owl. The breeze tickles the overhead leaves and I wait, with bated breath, for another thump of a heart.
Nothing.
“If you’re here, I will find you,” I say, crumpling the fabric of my skirt. My heels sink into the waterlogged grass, but I ready myself to run.
I don’t bother to wait for a response, going further into the garden. Lush and tropical, with the sweetest scents, I find myself drawn into the thickest part. I come upon a maze. Crafted from holly bushes, these kinds grow tall and large, towering over me.
At the entrance, a sharp bramble protrudes, like a crooked finger. I touch it and my blood wells.
Sucking it into my mouth, I continue on. Whoever is out there won’t find me in the maze. I’ll make sure to hide until the festival concludes. I’ll wait here all night, if it avoids my mate and his ridiculousness.
I don’t know what Aoife said to convince him, but she’s nothing but trouble. Nothing is more important than returning home, defeating Griffin, and protecting our people. Are there many Humans to our numbers? Yes. But we do not need to cater to this queen for reinforcements.
It is unlike him. Kaden might be dark, but he owns his responsibilities.
My hand falls to my stomach tiredly. Did she say something to turn him away? What happened to the promises of a future together? A life, a family, the future we never dared to dream of until now? Does he still want it?
Has Aoife poisoned him, so now he only wants to be here?
A drum in the distance alerts me to someone coming. It’s faint, barely there. Either my magic is not strong, or the individual is doing a great job of hiding it from me. Not that I think it’s possible.
Feet crush grass and I hurry further onto the twisting path. Left, right, then left again, I go deeper. The brambles scratch at my legs, snag at my locks. But I keep going.
Eventually, I find the center. A white fountain bubbles beside two large red-cherry trees in bloom and they take my breath away with their beauty. The pink blossoms, their fragrance are exquisite. A bench sits under the flowers, cool to the touch.
The drum is picking up speed, stomping just under my skin, looking for a way to break loose. My magic swirls in my gut, hungry, searching for its next victim.
Then, it stops again.
“Enough already!” I shout, spinning about. No one is in the middle with me, but I feel it—their gaze, their presence. They’re here.
How is it I can hear their heart, but then it stops? Is it magic?
Movement in the bushes pulls my attention to the far back black corner. A ripple in the shadows appears before a man steps forward. As if born from Seti’s Hell, he’s covered in blackness that twists and warps his face.
Inky masses hang all over his cheeks and chin, while his eyes are endless seas of black. No sound, no whisper, just the absence of life and I shudder.
I’m not sure what he is—but I will not be helpless.
Raising my hand, he throws me back, his magic moving quicker than I can see. My back presses to the maze walls and he materializes there, one hand wrapped around my leg, the other my thigh. He pulls it high, parting the slit so my pale skin glows against the moonlight.
“Let me go,” I growl, finally hearing his heart.
I don’t let him answer, as I control the blood in his veins to push him away. He goes with barely a gasp, body knocking into the fountain. The porcelain breaks, cutting into his skin.
I hiss, clamping a hand to my hip.
Pulling back, I inspect my hand. Red. Blood.
I open my mouth as he surges forward, wrestling me into his arms, and we turn. Slamming my back into the tree trunk, he lifts me again, forcing my knees to lock around his waist.
My mind scrambles and I fight—like all those lessons Fee taught me. She was a woman caught with insidious men, and she made sure I learned how to fight back.
My fist catches his jaw and he snaps my wrist—not enough to break it, but to lose my strength, pinning it to the tree above my head. An ache so intense blooms across my mouth and I cry out in pain.
Smokey campfire and spice surround me and my fighting subsides slightly as I inhale. The panic leeches away, the adrenaline crashing as my mate holds my neck, cutting off my air.
He parts my skirt, fingers digging between my legs to discover how unbelievably wet I am. Kaden chuckles, pulling back his shadow magic, his party-mask still firmly attached.
“For someone so mad at me, your body is weeping without my cock between your legs.”
Glaring, I shove his shoulders, daring him to release me. He doesn’t.
Just pulls his fingers back, licking them so thoroughly, he thinks my essence will be the only thing to sustain him. I swallow and the prick winks.
“I am still mad at you. Put me down.”
“You walked away from me.” He adjust himself, ripping the skirt higher. He groans at seeing me barely clothed, the cool night air kissing my sensitive spots. “We weren’t done speaking.”
“I was done.”
“Max—”
“No,” I stress. “You do not get to decide what I want. I will not just accept your choices without being consulted.”
“You want to be consulted?” he asks, murmuring. “You want to be involved?”
“I demand it.” I thought I made that painfully clear after he took my choice away and claimed me as his mate.
Leaning close, his lips caress mine as he speaks. “Then tell me. How do I make amends for this slight? I don’t want to take the choice from you.”
“You think this is a joke?”
He smirks. “To someone else, it might be. To you? I know you’re serious.”
His hands travel up my legs, nails raking along my skin and I shudder. I’m uncomfortably wet—not for lack of trying to ignore it. The bond makes everything heightened.
I’m sure I could despise the Fae—and I have—yet, I would still welcome him back into my bed nightly.
“You’ve taken all my choices,” I argue, biting my lip. “You claimed me against my will. Kidnapped me. Claimed marriage without asking first. I thought after we were married, bound—after I saved you—I thought we would change.”
Because that’s what it comes down to. I wanted to have a voice and I thought I would. He made that clear when we took back the kingdom from Zelos. But it seems everything we’ve worked toward has fallen away.
“Did Aoife tell you something?”
He winces, eyes briefly shutting in pain.
“No, pet. She said nothing about us.”
“Because if she has—”
“Max.” He holds my hips so tight, I’m sure I’ll have bruises. “You are all I want.”
“Then what is happening?” Because something changed.
Slowly, he licks his fingers again, slipping them under my undergarments.
“Griffin is coming for our lands.” He teases me, parting me to slip inside my entrance.
I gasp, forced to endure as he holds me wide.
I don’t hate it. “The royal guards, combined with our lords armies are not enough for his numbers. We needed the Woodland Fae Lords and their resources.”
He strokes my inner walls, slow and deliberate. I try to buck, to get more, but he doesn’t allow me this. He makes me wait.
“I thought they had no army?”
“They don’t. But they have money. Aoife has the soldiers.” He moves again, thumb finding my clit. A jolt explodes through me and I moan. “In order to obtain both, we needed to be here. For a small dance and festival.”
“But our palace,” I pant, shoulders pressed to the bark. I’ll be raw come morning, but I don’t care.
“Can withstand for one day, while we get the required resources to protect it.” His fingers curl, pumping in and out with such control, I’m lost to the sensations.
I hate how logical it sounds. It doesn’t feel right. There is something else happening. I can tell.
But it’s hard to concentrate when my mate plays with me and I’m barreling close to a climax.
“You still killed a lord.”
He grins against my neck, feeling me stiffen and groan against his chest.
“I would kill a hundred males, kitten, if it was to keep you mine.” He pinches my chin, forcing me to look into his amber eyes. The mask hides his features completely. It’s as if a stranger controls my body, is bringing me this kind of pleasure.
It’s exhilarating and terrifying. I know I’m safe with Kaden, even as furious as I am at being ignored and dismissed, but it’s forbidden. He is my mate but not, and I surrender to the orgasm as it washes over me.
He doesn’t let me hide, and holds me captive as he drinks in my climax. Everything I am lays bare for his eyes only. And he wants more.
“There she is,” he says, smiling. He rips the mask from my face, dropping his to the ground. His boot trample them both. Swiftly, he lowers his trousers, replacing his fingers with his cock.
I cry out. It’s too much and not enough. My body tightens and he groans, fangs skirting my throat like a delicious prayer.
“Whatever happens, I’m yours, love. I’ve always been yours.”
He drives into me and I’ve no choice but to cling to him. Hips slap and retract, drawing moans from my swollen lips. Everything is frantic, rushed, as if this will be our last time together.
I plan on having many years of this.
Running my fingers over him, my pleasure builds.
I enjoy the feel of his muscles contracting, the beat of his heart under my touch, the feel of his lips all over my skin.
It’s heat and desire and I succumb to it.
My vision tunnels and I tight, pussy clamping down around his cock.
My body shakes and I scream, the tidal wave of pleasure submerging me whole.
Kaden follows me over, release dripping from where we’re connected, but he doesn’t move. He stays inside me, cock throbbing, and I press my forehead to his shoulder.
“I’m still mad,” I whisper, voice gone.
He nods, kissing my temple. “Good. I didn’t marry a wilting flower, kitten. I married a vengeful goddess who will smite the world to build it back up in her image. And I will only be too happy to see you do it.” He kisses my neck, fangs sliding by, but he doesn’t break skin.
He winces again, pulling away. Gently, he places me on my feet.
He touches my cheek, thumb caressing my skin as if he’s never felt it before. “Remember, I’ve always chosen you. Save me.”
“Save you?”
Bolting upright, I rise from the patch of grass in the maze. The world is dark, the cherry blossom swings high above me, and Kaden is no longer here. I’m still in my costume, skirts rumpled, but my mask is on my face.
My fingers trace the edges, pouting. What is going on?
“How dare you.”
The woman in black stands there, malice dripping from her aura. I can’t see her face, but I can feel her intention. Angry, hateful, she wants me dead.
“What have you done? Where’s Kaden?”
“He is not yours to worry about.” She steps forward and I feel a tugging on my chest.
It’s not a simple pain—but a fierce searing that burns from the inside out. It swells and pulls like a living flame, and I gasp, clutching my chest. She’s ripping my heart out. Is this what my victims feel like?
“Who are you?” she screams and I cry out, tears falling down my cheeks. The burn turn into agony, and I cannot breathe through the pain.
“Who are you?”
“Maximillia!” The same question over and over. What is she looking for—what does she want?
The world blurs, the woman vanishing before my father’s face appears. Rubbing my eyes, I exhale, chest tight and the ache still surrounding me.
We’re in the garden still, but it’s daylight. I’m dressed in my costume, the skirts wrapped around my legs. But the mask lays next to me, the red silk tie fluttering in the wind.
I’m alone. Before I drifted off, Kaden had laid down with me, avoiding the rest of the ball. He asked to hold me, wanted to feel me as we both fell into a restful slumber. I thought it had been romantic—his way of soothing our rift.
Then I had the dream of that horrendous woman and he’s fled. Why?
Baris takes in my confused gaze and the way my fingers dig at my chest. Gently, he pries it away. My dress falls slightly and there on my pale skin is the red mark of a deep burn.
He inhales sharply. “When you dream,” he asks, voice low. “You said there was a woman there. Was she there again?”
Licking my lips, I glance to the burn and wince. “Yes. Where is Kaden?”
He sighs. “I was afraid of this.” Helping me to stand, my father directs me out of the maze, keeping both of us covered in shadows. Fee and Reid wait by the tree, my Hadeon between them. “Fee sent for me when she couldn’t find you or Kaden. The Dark Fae guards are missing too.”
Panic jumps in my heart. “Is he missing?”
“Something is going on, little one. And it’s time you were told everything.”