Shifters’ Fae Captive by Lacey Carter Andersen
Chapter 13
Dusk
“What do we do now?”Ann asks, and there’s a quiet worry in her voice.
Onyx and I exchange a look, and then I speak. “Getting close to the Void is never a good idea, but normally, the creatures within cannot reach us during the daylight. The fact that they were able to drag you in says they’re getting stronger.”
“What does that mean?”
I try to phrase my answer in the least scary way possible. “You know those shiny shards you found?”
She nods.
“They are pieces from a moonstone.” Just mentioning the name of the precious item makes my stomach turn. Dark memories boil up, and I have to push them away. “The Shadow King has tasked his rot monkeys with planting the shards at night. It takes a great deal of his power to keep his creatures from… shattering in this bright world, even beneath the moonlight, so he is limited by how many he can send and how often he can send them. But if he leaves enough of the moon shards here, to create a ring around the Void, he’ll be able to use his powers to expand his world. And once it expands, everything trapped inside the Void will be consumed by the darkness. He’ll use that power to spread the Void further and further until this entire world is gone.”
She stares, and I’m not quite sure if she’s having trouble picturing what I’m describing, or if she doesn’t want to understand the implications of what I’m saying.
“So why don’t you just remove all the shards?”
Onyx signs. “Is she fucking serious?”
I glare at him, and Phantom answers her. “The shards are nearly invisible. They cast a small light on their own, but during the day, we can’t see it at all. And at night, we search for the shards, but miss many of them. We really have no idea how many the king already has here, nor how much time we have left before he has enough to destroy us all.”
“But the way I saw them glow… was really bright and really obvious.”
“Exactly. For you,” Phantom says, letting the words hang between us.
Her eyes brighten. “So that might be part of why the elder thought I could help? Because they light up for me, so I can actually find them?”
“Yes,” he says.
Onyx signs. “She’s conveniently forgetting that she’s supposed to accept our mate bond to really be able to help us win this war.”
I sign back. “One thing at a time. Now, lay back you idiot. Rest. We don’t know exactly how her healing works, but it’s best to be careful.”
He glares at me from his bedroll and takes a sip of his soup like he’s a child I’m punishing.
“I want to go back home,” Ann says. I open my mouth to argue with her, but she continues. “But after being inside that place… I can see why you don’t want it spreading. I could stay, for a while, and help find the shards.”
“Progress,” Onyx signs to us.
Yeah, it really is. “That would be wonderful.”
Phantom refills all our bowls of soup, and I go with Onyx to watch over him while he bathes, bathing myself at the same time. Then, we swap with Phantom and Ann, giving them a chance to bathe in the river, although neither Onyx nor I can help looking after them in longing.
When we’re all done, and the camp is clean and ready for the next night. We fall asleep. Ann, surprisingly, lays by me, but she doesn’t touch me. She just gives a little moan, turns her back on me, and is asleep within minutes.
Good, we’ll let her sleep now, because in a few hours, there will be work done. Namely, work to see if all the shards will react to Ann the way the other ones had. And then, to see how many of them we can collect before the night falls, and we have to be ready for an all-out war.
With enough shards collected, hopefully the king will be weakened enough that things won’t get too bad.
Hours later, I blink awake as Phantom shakes me. “It’s time.”
He shakes Ann too, although far gentler, and she mutters, “Wake me up, and I’ll put a fork in your eye.”
We both laugh, and Phantom goes to wake Onyx. Hopefully, he’s feeling a little better. Because as much as we’d love for him to spend the rest of the day resting, we just ticked off the Shadow King.
And that always has consequences. Consequences I remember, far too well.
Onyx signs to us. “What do you think about the Shadow King wanting Ann as his bride?”
Phantom and I both stiffen.
Ann says. “I need you guys to teach me more signs and start telling me what he’s saying. I feel left out.”
Oh, right, we’re so used to working like this I think we all kind of forgot. “He asked our thoughts about the king wanting you as his bride.” Then, I start signing back while saying the words aloud, knowing this is one of the best ways for her to learn. “That means it’s even more important to form our mate bond so he can’t make her his bride without killing all of us.”
Ann tenses. “I don’t want him to try to kill all of us.”
I sign as I talk. “He’s already trying to kill all of us. The only difference is that right now, if he gets to you, things will get a lot more dangerous for you… for us… and for this world.”
The elder had explained things to us very clearly. The shadows said whoever should marry the light fae will win this war. We asked if that could mean the Shadow King himself, and the elder winced and said it could. He made it very clear to us that although he would never ask us to force Ann to do anything, if the king got her, we’d all be in trouble.
Onyx signs. “The woman needs to accept the mate bond. This is stupid and dangerous,” and I translate for him.
Ann’s mouth pulls into a tense line. “I’m not willing to discuss that right now.”
All three of us nod, but the frustration in the room is palpable. Who would have thought when we finally found our mate, she’d reject us? Even when faced with a very dangerous possibility, like the king taking her for her own.
Which led me down a dark path. Why did he want her in the first place? It would be enough for him to know it would destroy us to lose our mate, but I’m sure it’s more than that. Does he know what the shadows are whispering? Does he know if our mate bond is solidified that we can win this war?
I hope not.
We ready ourselves, then step outside. As we knew it would happen, two warriors have come from the larger cave. Having a light fae in our circle is not only a novelty, but as it turns out, a necessity if we’re to put an end to the chaos. And that starts by collecting the moonstone shards, as these warriors seem to have realized.
Our elder would have told them. Unfortunately.
“Hello,” Slade calls. The big warrior has reddish brown hair, a large smile, and more scars than most of us. Whenever there was fighting afoot, Slade was always sure to be in the middle of it.
“Hello,” Phantom greets, in a voice that is barely welcoming.
Flame looks at Ann. “We are Slade and Flame. Shadow beasts and warriors, and we have come to help you in any way we can.” Flame is almost the same height as Ann, but he has braids weaved throughout his hair, and there’s no one better with a staff.
Both men stare at Ann as if she’s a miracle. And I don’t like it one bit. My only solace is the fact that Ann is regarding them like two very annoying children that she doesn’t want to deal with.
When everyone continues staring at her, she does this weird awkward thing with her mouth and then says, “Uh, okay.”
Both Flame and Slade seem a bit defeated. No doubt they hoped that, after only seeing one female for so long, Ann would be a bit more welcoming to two good looking men. Sorry, assholes, if Phantom and Onyx don’t do it for her, you sure as hell won’t.
“We are glad to have you back, brothers,” Slade says, and there’s a solemn note to his voice.
“We’re glad to be back,” Phantom says with a little bob of his head.
“It wasn’t easy these last few months without you, but Elder Auero explained your disappearance, and your capture by the fae.” There’s a note to Slade’s voice I don’t like. I can’t decide if he’s suggesting we got captured on purpose, or he’s hinting it’s an embarrassment that we allowed ourselves to be made prisoner by such weak creatures.
Either way, I don’t like his tone.
“Since it led us to our mate, it must have been part of Fate's plan,” I say, a warning in my voice.
Slade seems to have remembered just who he’s talking to and gives a little bow to us all. “Of course. We only came to offer our help in collecting the moon shards.”
I want to refuse him, but we can’t be prideful in war. “We would appreciate that.”
My brother lifts a brow, and I almost apologize before I remember that our roles aren’t quite the same as what they once were, and that I can make decisions too now. In this world, my voice matters just as much as Phantom’s.
When I remain silent, clearly not willing to bend to him, Phantom clears his throat. “We shouldn’t waste any more time.”
Despite the fact that darkness is looming near, we set out into the woods. The warriors, Slade and Flame, walk on each side of Ann and I follow closely behind, because no way do I trust these fuckers with her. Even if I trust them with my life, my mate is worth more to me than that.
They need to understand that she belongs to us. And any designs they have on claiming her for themselves, to be the heroes in a story that doesn’t involve them, will be notions I disabuse them of.
At first, we’re just kind of wandering around, but at one point, she just stops and switches directions. None of us say anything, we just watch her. When a stone shard suddenly lights up from a nearby bush, we all freeze. The light is so damn bright, that even in daytime, it’s obvious. She hurries to it, then hands it to Slade. He takes it with a shocked expression on his face before handing it to Phantom.
“Is this good?”
“Very good,” is all I can manage.
She does it again. It’s like we’re all just walking together, and she freezes, and switches directions. I swear we’re all in some kind of shocked stupor. After spending years combing the woods, hoping like hell to find a shard, digging through bushes, looking in the branches of trees, we’ve never seen anything like this. And yet, when the next shard starts glowing like mad, none of us are surprised, just overwhelmed.
I swear Slade is holding back tears when she gives him the next one, and Flame murmurs a thank you that’s choked. Yes, we’re big warriors. Yes, we’ve been through hell and back. But it’s like we’re all watching a miracle.
Even Phantom and Onyx look a little choked up.
She leads us to four or five shards within an hour or two, but there are more and she’s like a bloodhound, her steps quick and decisive after she realizes to follow her gut. I don’t know that she knows how incredible what she’s doing is, but either way, the joyous surprise on her face isn’t the kind of thing she can fake. So, whether she knows how important this is or not, it’s a good thing that she’s happy about it. Not that I can think of a reason why she would want to.
Our mate likes helping. And she has a skill that I’ve never seen before, she should be proud.
The shards glow brighter as she gets closer each and every time. And with every shard we collect, we take back some strength from the Void and the Shadow King himself. That we’re only able to do this because of her strengthens my need to mate with her.
To make her mine.
I’ve never been so compelled… not even before our lives were destroyed. This desire to make things formal between us is more than a want, it’s a need. The deep connection between us means that there is no one else for us but her, and that without her, we’ll feel like we’ve lost a part of ourselves. But in the grand scheme of this war, making her our mate will be the thing that turns the tide. I know it! Not just because of the shadows' whispers, but because of her unique ability.
The desire to pull her into my arms is overwhelming, to tell her everything I’m thinking and more. It builds inside of me until I’m panting. Does she understand? Can she even realize what all of this means?
I would marry someone I didn’t love to save my people. But to have a woman who is destined to be our perfect mate? To have a woman who makes my heart race at just the sight of her be the person to save our people?
It’s almost more than I can handle.
She looks at me. “Are you okay?” And there’s a little worry in her eyes.
Smiling, I nod, not wanting to scare her off by telling her how I feel. “I’m fine. Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s wonderful.”
I push back the overwhelming feelings and stare at her as she picks up another shard and hands it to Flame. He’s a bastard, who’s ogling her like she’s lunch, and he has about three seconds to stop before I take his head off. She turns away from him, and his gaze goes to her ass. I feel my teeth clench together so hard I’m worried they’ll break.
Flame hands the shard to Phantom, still staring at Ann. Phantom and I are the only two shadow beasts who have the ability to resist the call of the shards, but him more than me. Over the years, we’ve had to execute a couple of our kind who kept their shards, and let darkness into their hearts. But since then, luckily for all of us, the others have been quick to return any shards to us.
They avoid them, knowing that their pull is too strong to resist.
Even though Ann doesn’t seem to have the same… connection to them.
She sets off walking again and Flame drops back. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
I give him a non-committal grunt and watch her. Ten steps after she’s taken off left, she stops like she’s listening. And even if it’s just some inner voice, she makes a quick U-turn and goes back.
Slade shakes his head. “This is so fucking easy with her.”
I nod. I search for shards all the time. Never have I found so many in such a drawn-out area. We’ve probably walked five miles already. This will quite literally change the way we work.
With every shard she hands off to Flame or Slade, their smiles spread. But by ability alone, she has a target on her back. After a while of suffering the fawning and flirting of Flame and Slade, she drops back to walk beside me. “What do you know about the Shadow King?”
Oh, it’s a dangerous question. Not as dangerous as the answer, though. “Why do you ask?”
She shrugs one elegant shoulder. I stop walking. Elegant shoulder? Oh God. This mating bond situation has me spinning. I don’t look at her again while I wait for her to answer. “He wants to marry me, so I figured I deserve to know more about him.”
“He’s a man who likes power more than anything,” I say, choosing my words carefully.
“But… he’s trapped there, right? He can’t come to get me?”
“No, he can’t. The king can’t leave the shadow realm or it will cease to exist.” It’s true, we think, but it’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that.
“So, he’ll have to get me back there if he wants me?”
“Yes.”
I sigh. None of this is good news. He not only knows about her, but he’s decided he wants her for himself, he’ll have every troll and monkey in his army hunting her like a Christmas goose. Probably using his powers to a level he never has before. The only way to save her is to convince her to mate with us, to perform the bonding ritual, not that she seems to understand the practicalities of that point.
Or that we don’t like trying to push her toward the mate bond because it’s a smart move. That’s not what being together should be all about.
“And how did you guys become the official army to stop this guy?”
My gut clenches. “That’s… complicated.” And painful.
She seems to realize that I’m done talking. And, for once, drops the topic. She goes back to hunting moon shards as we come across more, and come see more warriors hunting for them too. Yet every time another glows near her, the warriors stop their own searches and begin to trail her with awe in their eyes.
Before night has even fallen, the forest is crowded with warriors who are all watching her. She’s the new toy for a bunch of warriors who haven’t had anything to play with but themselves for a mighty long time. And they all want her.
But it’s more than that. In the years that we’ve been protecting this world, all we’ve experienced is loss. Our numbers are a fourth of what they once were, and we carry every death in our hearts. At times it feels as if we’re protecting a world that doesn’t even know or appreciate all we had sacrificed for it. So, to watch this woman ease some of the burden from our shoulders… it’s like watching hope take flight within all our men.
I overhear someone say, “She hasn’t accepted the mate bond yet.”
Another responds. “Why not?”
“No idea, but it means she hasn’t been claimed. No one could blame us if…”
I turn around and punch the asshole square in the face. He hits the ground and looks at me with wide eyes, wiping the blood from his nose. The man he was speaking to stares at me like I’ve grown another head, and a growl slips from my lips.
Multiple warriors move away from me.
Onyx signs. “What’s wrong?”
I sign back, while Phantom watches me. “They think that since the mate bond hasn’t been completed, she can be claimed by anyone.”
Onyx and Phantom’s eyes narrow.
Flame holds up his hands as if in surrender. “We would never.”
“Oh?” I say, and there’s a threat in my voice.
Ann is suddenly in front of me. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing,” Phantom snarls, his hands in fists.
But it doesn’t matter how much we intimidate the other males, if Ann decides for some reason to pursue something with them, we can’t stop her. Even the thought of it makes me sick, and something inside of me twists like a knife. I feel a desperate need rise inside of me.
“Everyone go ahead, we’ll be there in a moment,” I snap.
The other warriors look from Phantom to me. I know Ann is changing something inside of me. Normally, I don’t give orders. My brother does. But when it comes to Ann, I can’t seem to just wait and see if Phantom will do what I feel is best.
“Go,” Phantom says, and the men quickly obey, not going far, but giving us just enough space to talk.
“Ann, you have to listen to me.” I take her by the shoulders and turn her toward me so she can see how important this is. “You can never venture out without me, Phantom, or Onyx.”
She shimmies her shoulders as if she’s either dancing or she’s trying to break free from my hold. The scowl says she isn’t dancing. I let go and cross my arms.
“For my safety?”
I nod and she rolls her eyes. I hate that. “Yes. For your safety.”
“Like mating is for my safety and not because you guys have some sort of group sex fetish?” Her words say she isn’t about it, but a flare of desire darkens her eyes.
“Mating with you is for the good of us all.” But she huffs away before I can explain.
She walks to the center of the group and looks at Flame. “We’re done here. Take me back.”
I warn him off with a look, get a glare in return but he backs off and follows behind as I walk beside her while she stomps away. She’s angry. I don’t blame her for her confusion, but I do blame her for her unwillingness to do what has to be done for the good of all.
Onyx seems frustrated and signs that he’ll get dinner. Phantom agrees to go with him. I look after them in longing. Ann has to be protected. She has to be watched. But I feel like I desperately need space from her. Every dirty look, every refusal, cuts me so deep inside that I feel like I’ll never recover.
By the time we reach the cave, Phantom and Onyx have hunted dinner and it’s on a spit over the fire in the center of the huge cavern. And while the warriors are enamored with Ann, they love food even more. And since they caught enough for us all, we invite them to join us. Yes, we’re protective of our Ann, but we’re not assholes.
Besides, while they’re eating, she’ll have a reprieve for a few minutes before they start trying to find ways to get close to her. To claim her for their own.
I brush past Phantom feeling my anger rise.
“What’s the matter with you?” He asks me, but we both know what’s the matter with me is the same thing that’s the matter with him.
“Hungry,” is all I manage.
He catches my arm and speaks in a whisper. “Do you think she’ll come around before it’s too late?”
His question is one without a clear answer. The truth is that if Ann doesn’t want to step up and do her duty, if she doesn’t agree to bond with us, the Shadow King will find a way--by either manipulation or force--to marry her, and then nothing else will matter. Now that he knows she’s here, there’s no way to keep her safe without guarding her every minute. And she’s never going to allow that.
I nod to Ann who’s taken a flask of water from Flame and tips it back. Her neck lengthens as she drinks and I can’t stop staring at her. “The Shadow King wants to marry her, and I don’t know if we can stop him.”
Phantom nods. “I don’t know either.” He blows out a harsh breath, eyes dark with anger. “But never again are we going to let a woman we love near the Shadow King.” He speaks with quiet force. And I agree.
The loss is too much for my memory to bear.
