Shifters’ Fae Captive by Lacey Carter Andersen
Chapter 9
Phantom
There issomething to be said for a woman who can shoot lights out of her hands like some kind of goddess. But this is different. Bad different. Goddess probably know how to turn their powers off and go to their safe little castles. This woman clearly doesn’t. And she chatters.
A lot.
Since she and Onyx returned to us, her half carrying him, that’s all she’s done. Even when we were still outside, guarding the cave, and waiting for morning, she’d been asking questions. Usually, I’d enjoy the break from the silence that often descended between my brother and our best friend. Usually, the perfect cadence of her voice would be just the sound I’d want to fall asleep listening to all night.
But after she tried to run from us. Escape from us like we’re monsters. And then nearly faced down two grave trolls on her own, I’m too wound up to just enjoy her talking. I mean, technically she hadn’t confessed to trying to escape from us, but there was no other reason for her to be that far in the woods on her own.
“I mean, the troll was…” She spreads her arms out like she’s planning to take flight. “And then, he picked up a log--half a tree really--and swung it like he’s Mark freaking McGuire trying to break a record.” I don’t know the reference, but she hasn’t wound down yet for me to ask and I don’t really care anyway.
Yeah, Onyx was good. Really good. But even he can’t take down two grave trolls, especially if he tried to lure them to him and away from Ann.
For most of us, we wouldn’t have walked away from that fight alive. But most of us don’t have a tiny, talkative woman who has our backs in a battle.
“Then Onyx went down and I mean, he really went down. And then I knew I had to get him back to the cave, so I started screaming, trying to get your attention”
“Yelling for help in the woods with trolls running around wasn’t the best idea.” Dusk stares dubiously, like he honestly can’t believe anyone would just sit in the woods and scream, without realizing they were just as likely to attract their enemies as they would to attract allies.
He’s almost as shocked and amused as I am, as he tends to Onyx, pressing a cold cloth to his head. When our eyes lock, he shakes his head with a slight smile and makes a bomb explosion motion at the side of his head behind her back.
I would laugh, but I have too many questions. “What were you doing running around in the woods?” It doesn’t matter but I have a point to make.
Her enthusiasm over the fight drains from her face, and she gives me a clearly defiant look. “You’re the ones who stole me. Who decided we’re, she air quotes, “mates?” I didn’t get a choice, or a say, or even a pick.”
Even glaring at me like I kicked her pet, she’s lovely. And I’ve never seen eyes so like the sky.
Focus. Your questions. The problem.
I glance at Dusk. “If the trolls got away, then the Shadow King knows about her. Not just that one of us found a mate in this world, but that she’s here, with us.” The words taste bitter as I speak them.
Maybe even that she’s the mate of the three of us...
Honestly, that’s the only reason I can come with why the trolls left when they did. They saw her. Felt that she was our mate. And they raced off to tell the king, so that he can make our lives even more miserable.
Yes, it was going to happen eventually, but I would have felt better if things were more established with our connection before he learned of her. Still, she’s our mate, and if the king comes for her, we will each die to protect her.
Unfortunately, he knows this too.
“Yes.” Dusk nods, glances at her and holds her gaze for a second.
I know what he wants to say. That we’ve discussed letting her go. That Onyx wants us to do so. But that because of our connection to her, the shadow world is aware of her now, and she’ll never be safe again. It’s something she needs to know. But, somehow, I fear it’ll make her hate us, make her afraid, and lead to her trying to escape even more.
So, it’s smarter not to tell her, even if it feels a little wrong.
“What does that mean?” she asks with a frown.
Onyx lifts his hands and signs, and my little brother interprets for him. “That things are going to get a lot more dangerous.”
Her face goes pale. “More dangerous than creepy creatures attacking us?”
“They’re called rot monkeys and grave trolls,” I explain, suddenly feeling weary.
“And they’ll tell this… Shadow King about me? Which is a problem?”
“Exactly,” Dusk says, but the tone of his voice says he doesn’t want to keep talking about the man who ruined all our lives. The man I should have seen the truth in, and he should have killed when we had the chance.
Neither of us like to talk about him. Any time his name gets brought up, Onyx grows quiet. Dusk trains harder. And I hate myself a little more.
“Are you guys ever going to explain anything to me?” Ann asks, her brows drawing together in frustration.
“What my little brother means--”
“Little brother?” She perks up. “I thought you were twins.”
Ah, this. “Technically, we are. But in our world, the child who enters the world first is the oldest, and that is a very important difference.”
For me it meant the responsibility of our world fell on my shoulders. It meant never having the luxury to be softer like my brother, to enjoy poetry or reading the same way he could. To explore his friendships and his life in a way I never could. For him, apparently, it meant always living in my shadow.
Both of us envied the other in ways that were hard to explain.
“And is Onyx your brother too?”
“Yes,” I say, “not by blood, but by our bond.”
Onyx signs. “You need to stop saying that. Your blood matters more than any bond.”
I mouth back. Not to me.
Since Onyx spent most of his life able to hear, he’s very good with reading lips. He can often speak without hearing himself, but has chosen not to. Partially, I believe, because he knows his voice box was also injured in the attack, so he fears what he sounds like now. He’s only spoken since his injury when it was a life-or-death situation. But luckily for all of us, signing is something most shadow beasts know how to do, because there are many creatures in our world that only communicate with their hands.
“So, things are going to get harder,” Dusk says, and the exhaustion in his voice is evident.
I was worried about my brother and my best friend before Ann came along. And when we were taken and imprisoned, each day was horrible. Not just the torture. Not just the terrible things that we did. Things I’ll never forgive myself for. But because we knew we were leaving the other shadow beasts to fight a war they couldn’t possibly win.
With our help, they were surviving.
While we were gone, we lost three men. Technically, Adrik isn’t dead yet, but he might as well be. And all the death of our kind, every day, it was all my fault. My blindness that led us to this life of misery.
My mistake.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to have to tell the others that the Shadow King knows of her existence so close to the Void.” The increase in troll activity alone will be a tip off to the others that something is going on, and there will be an increase. There’s no getting around it. As soon as the king finds out about Ann, he’s going to throw everything he has in his arsenal into finding her. We’re going to be overrun with rot monkeys, trolls, maybe even smoke dragons, if he can muster the strength to send one to this world.
The shit show was about to begin.
“They won’t be happy,” Onyx signs.
Dusk signs back, looking grim. “Or will they? If we found a mate in this world, maybe they can too.”
The implication of his words is more than I can handle. Ann’s existence would bring hope to our kind in any other world. But in this one, her presence brought trouble, and we have enough of that already. And yet, will her existence finally be the thing that makes them give up this fight and go out into this bright world looking for something else, even knowing what that decision would bring?
No… they can’t be that short-sighted. Can they?
“I’ll keep first watch.” Dusk says, even though he knows no one needs to keep watch during the day.
He stands and walks outside the cave, and I don’t know what to tell him. He’s angry. Angry that Onyx was hurt. Angry that the woman is the cause. Angry that because she’s our mate, we’re going to be hunted by every troll and rot monkey the king can send our way. Probably angry that we have to tell the others the coming assault is our doing.
I can’t blame him for not wanting to be inside the cave with us.
Onyx is lying on his fluff of blankets and pillows. He had recovered enough to walk back here, but he’d been left with a blinding head, and an exhaustion that’s weakened him. I can’t even imagine the state he’d be in if Ann hadn’t used her strange ability on him.
That was another thing we hadn’t discussed. Ann could kill the rot monkeys. She could heal us. And the moon shards glow when she’s close to them, like the Moon Goddess herself. What else can she do?
I rub my face. I can’t keep worrying about her strange abilities or what it all means. The second morning arrived, it was time for us to rest and recover. If I waste my time thinking about things I can’t control, I won’t be at my best when the night comes once more.
Sighing, I grab my blankets and pillows from where we keep them tucked away during the day and lay them out near the fire. Then, I check on Onyx.
I sign. “Are you okay?”
He nods and signs back. “Just tired.” And his eyes flutter shut.
I remove the wet cloth from his forehead, dip it in the bucket of cold water from the river, squeeze the excess water out, and lay it on his forehead once more. He makes a content noise and his breathing steadies.
Okay, that’s done.
When I turn around, Ann is lying on my blanket near the fire. I smile. Well, at least that’s a good sign. She might not like us. She might not trust us, but she was willing to share my blankets.
That’s something.
I climb onto the blankets behind her and feel something in my heart ease. Her body is soft beside me, and I lay my arm over her and pull her back against my chest in a way that feels strangely natural. More than natural. It’s like we’ve been doing this all our lives.
That feeling within my heart seems to grow. Touching her feels right. Being near her feels right.
I never told Onyx or Dusk this, but my only interactions with the people who lost their mates were not good ones. It wasn’t as if they just lost a part of themselves. It was as if they lost the part of themselves that made them happy… that gave them any peace.
And we’ve already lost most of that.
As much as they others thought they could leave Ann behind, I knew better.
“What are you doing?” Her voice is soft, breathless almost.
What am I doing? She chose to lay on my blankets. Was I wrong about why? Maybe she never wanted to be close to me. She just sought my protection.
I feel like a fool. Okay, this can just be about keeping her safe.
“Protecting you.” The answer is stern. Definitely stern. Not husky. Not passionate. Not needy.
“Am I in danger right now? Even in the early morning?”
It wouldn’t take much to turn her so her chest is against mine. “Not as long as you don’t try to leave again.” I concentrate on keeping her safety and her compliance as front and center as I can so I don’t think about the scent of sunshine on her skin, the gentle brush of her hair against my skin every time she shifts or breathes, the pressure of her ass against my cock.
Oh shit. New thought.
“Just go to sleep.” This is gruff because I’m trying to get my cock under control, and I need to not hear the melodic sound of her voice. “Tomorrow is a big day.”
When I look over at Onyx, he’s watching, eyes narrowed, mouth in a thin line. Damn it. How long has the asshole been awake?
He’s made no secret that he never wanted her here. That he knew this kind of thing would happen… us wanting her, and it distracting us from our responsibilities. That he wants us to send her away. Yet none of that explains why he went after her, except that she escaped on his watch, while Dusk and I were torching the trolls.
Onyx is always so damned good at hiding his gentler emotions. Did he pursue her because he didn’t want to lose her either?I have no idea, but the look in his eyes definitely isn’t one of happiness.
She shifts again and her ass rubs my cock so that I moan, hear myself do it, then angle my body away from her.
It’s going to be a long night.
