14. Lirion #2
“Normally, I don’t use magic like this,” Lirion stated, no longer maintaining his seductive voice.
His tone had hardened to the sharpness of broken glass.
Gale was too far gone to notice much of anything around him.
He certainly didn’t notice how Lirion had stopped flirting and now looked at him like he was a worthless, disgusting bug needing to be crushed under his boot.
“I use it subtly while wooing my partner because that’s more satisfying and fun.
But tonight, I don’t want sex—I want answers. Where’s my sister?”
“Sis…ter…” Gale tried to focus and kind of succeeded. His pale brown eyes were locked on Lirion’s face, at least. His gaze wandered up to where the cloth had fallen back from Lirion’s head. “Pretty pink hair.”
“Yes, she has it, too. Pay attention.” Lirion reached up and gave Gale’s scarred cheek a short, sharp smack.
Not enough to break him free of the fog, but the sudden pain helped him focus.
“Her name is Aria. Aria Windstrum. You met her on a party boat a month and a half ago. You bought an invitation to get on that ship. Who’s controlling the group she’s with and where did she go from there? ”
Gale canted his head. “Her name is Aria?”
Lirion resisted the urge to snarl and break the man’s face. It was a near thing, though, a very near thing. He was slightly envious of how many times Fenric had hit Lance because he was aching to do the same to Gale.
This hero of the country only saw a vulnerable woman as a pretty set of tits and ass and didn’t even bother to get the name of the woman he was fucking?
It was so typical, this attitude. Lirion had been on the receiving end of it too many times to count.
Still, it made him hate the heroes even more.
The person who should have broken up that trafficking and sex ring had instead bought a ticket so he could join in.
The injustice and irony of it stirred in Lirion’s gut like metal shavings churning in acid.
Swallowing his rage down, he insisted, “Where did that ship go?”
“North,” Gale muttered, still staring at Lirion as if he couldn’t pull two brain cells together long enough to figure out he was in trouble.
“Where?!” Lirion hissed.
“Baza.”
Shiiiiiit.
Lirion looked around him, nearly choking on the despair clogging his throat. His knees wobbled and he almost sat right in the middle of the alley, mindless of the filth and debris surrounding him. He was completely on the opposite side of the country from his sister. How would he even reach her…?
Shaking the distressing thought off for now, he tried to get more information. “Who’s in charge of the sex ring?”
“Count Pierres.”
“Fuck!” Lirion slammed a fist against the wall. Of course it was fucking aristocracy. Only they would treat people like chattel.
The pain in his hand felt like nothing compared to the anger coursing through him. Lirion felt like it was eating him up from the inside in fiery licks.
When Lirion had concocted the plan to bring Gale over here and get information, he’d honestly intended to just stick a knife in the man’s gut and call it good.
But no, if the bastard died like that, he’d just get a hero’s funeral and no one would ever acknowledge what he had really done. Who he really was.
That was unpalatable to Lirion right now.
Hatred burned away any feelings of compassion. He wanted this man to suffer. He wanted to go back and make Lance and the other heroes suffer. They needed to be humiliated, thrown down from their pedestals and left in the gutter to be reviled by all who saw them. No chance of redemption.
A new idea sparked and Lirion didn’t pause to think it through, didn’t second-guess it, just went for it.
“Strip.”
Gale was all too happy to comply. The magic cast on him was sexual in nature, so of course, anything conducive to sex was a win in this mindset. Gale happily flung off his clothes, letting them land whichever way, even tugging off his boots.
An irreverent giggled welled up. The big hero did have a tiny dick.
“You want to be held down and fucked?” Lirion smiled evilly. “Run down two streets to the enormous fountain in the middle of the market. Go straight there, okay?”
Gale whimpered. “Will you fuck me there?”
“Oh, I’ll follow.” Not to fuck him, though.
Gale hesitated for a split second, the surging magic in his system making it hard to think, and then he started running.
Clumsily, as there was refuse strewn in this stinking alley, and he kept tripping over discarded bottles or other questionable things, but run he did.
Lirion followed at a jog, mostly because he wanted to make sure Gale went to the right spot.
As he moved, he readjusted the cloth back over his eye-catching hair and partially masked his face.
Now, being late evening, the market square wouldn’t be as populated as during the day. Still, there were plenty of restaurants, pubs, and such in the area, with people meeting up for dinner or drinks after a day at work, so it was far from deserted.
By the time Lirion caught up, Gale hadn’t just reached the fountain and stopped.
Oh no. He’d apparently gotten hot enough—and worked up enough—to decide a good dip in the water would help cool him off.
He’d jumped in, and even now he sat in the shallow pool with his back to the main spout, both hands working his nether regions.
One worked his shaft, the other fingered his hole.
“I’m ready!” Gale shouted so loudly the words echoed off the buildings. “Come fuck me!”
People started gathering, although some half covered their eyes, as if embarrassed by the scene. Not embarrassed enough to look away completely, though.
One man in the crowd shouted, “Aren’t you a hero?! What the hell are you doing!”
Gale rolled his head toward the man. “I don’t want you to fuck me. Go ’way.”
Lirion hid in the shadows of a building, watching as more and more people got upset at this scene, with someone calling for the town watch.
Evil satisfaction filled him when two burly dock workers tried to haul Gale out of the fountain, only for the hero to fight them off with the very strength and skills he was supposed to use to protect and defend.
He swung his fists in sloppy haymakers and kicked out at the men, while still shouting that he was ready.
Not the smartest move. More dock workers joined in, angry at the disturbance. In the growing struggle, beefy bodies crashed into the beautiful marble fountain, destroying it and sending a wave of water into the streets.
A panicked voice demanded, “Shut the water off!”
Someone in the crowd screamed, and panic ensued as people either helped each other get away from the water gushing over them or just tried to leave the area.
Lirion was far enough away that the water barely brushed the soles of his shoes, and while he lost track of Gale for a few minutes, when he spotted him again, he was face down on the ground, four burly looking men sitting on top of him to keep him pinned.
“Have a healthy taste of humiliation,” Lirion snarled under his breath. “It’ll be good for you. Hopefully, you’re stripped of hero rank after this, too. Scum like you shouldn’t hold that title.”
Gale Reeve was now done for. This public spectacle would make sure of that. He’d be lucky not to be thrown into jail for this public embarrassment.
Humiliating the “hero” appeased some of Lirion’s anger, and he felt like he’d gotten some good revenge for his sister, but it didn’t solve the actual problem. He turned and walked away, toward the inns lining the wharf.
Right now, he was in the coastal town of Bjornkill, which was very much in the southern region of Moorwood.
If his sister was still in Baza, then she was on the very northern tip of the country and also along the coastline.
Lirion tried to figure out the logistics of how to get there as he walked, but either way he cut it, he was in trouble.
If he went by land, it would take almost a month, as that wasn’t easy country to cross and a wagon could only go so fast. Sea route would be faster, for sure, but he’d have to locate a ship going in that direction and hope the fare wasn’t too expensive.
Not to mention, he’d need to feed every other day, at least, to stay healthy.
A long journey without feeding? He’d be a wreck by the time he arrived and would have to stop and regather his strength before he could rescue Aria.
Besides, how was he going to rescue her when he didn’t even know what type of situation he’d face? If she was in a highly guarded place, he was screwed.
Fear and frustration churned in his stomach and he honestly didn’t know what to do from here.
A month and a half had already passed since he’d first learned she was missing.
He wouldn’t let himself consider that she might not be alive.
Aria was a fighter. She was the most stubborn person he’d ever met in his life.
It had been years since he’d last seen her, but he could still picture that little jut of her chin and the hard glint in her eyes when she was digging in on something she was passionate about.
She’d prop her fists on her narrow hips and glare up at him, not caring he could so easily flip her over his shoulder and carry her off to whatever their mother wanted her to do.
Aria had to be alive, and she would hold on until he could reach her.
Lirion needed help, for sure, but who to ask? Who could he possibly convince to come along with him on such a dangerous task?
“Fuck, Aria,” he whispered, eyes burning with tears. “How am I supposed to get to you?”