Discovering Fae

I couldn’t resist the urge to watch as Grim began pacing back and forth. He was growling and clenching his fist, occasionally stopping to listen before he snapped his teeth and started pacing again.

After a while I giggled, making him turn to look at me.

“Not going the way you thought it would?” I guessed, though I already knew it wasn’t.

“Everything is fine, my queen,” he snapped.

“Yeah. And I’m a bog sprite,” I snorted, reaching out to brush dirt from my wings.

I could already feel a bit of a buzz in my body, like I drank too much coffee, but my butt was still in bed; jittery, but tired. They were right. Blaine devouring the souls was giving me a boost. The question was how many he needed to devour and how long it would take for me to have the kick I needed to get the heck out of here? They were good, but they would get tired eventually, then what?

Grim growled and started pacing again as I reached out and grabbed the bars, resting my face between them and smiling.

“They’re smarter than you think, you know. That was always your biggest problem. You think you’re the smartest one, no matter where you go. So clever, so intelligent, so quick witted,” I said then laughed as I stepped away from the bars again. “You never thought that you could possibly be outmatched. You never believed that there was someone that could possibly be better than you somehow, some way.”

“I am better! Than everyone!” he shouted.

“I think it’s obvious that isn’t the case,” I laughed and tilted my head to listen to the sounds of fighting that filtered into the cavern we were in. “You were so sure they’d be dead by now. How’s that working out for you?”

He just growled and stomped out of the cavern, leaving me alone finally.

“Come on, come on, come on,” I whispered, focusing on my fingers until I had a small flame hovering above them. “Better, but not enough.”

I looked towards where I could feel Mal and hoped they’d be able to hold out long enough for me to get what I needed.

Blaine

According to Mal and his Bond with Fae, we found Zane. Part of me couldn’t believe it. Even after this long, I wanted so badly to believe that he was still my brother, but this wasn’t him. The plan to trap us all in that cave and kill us just so he can have to himself? That wasn’t him.

I knew he had a thing for her and when we discovered she was Soul Bonded to Mal... My theory was that he was already Hazing, but finding out about that, well, it was probably what sent him over the edge. I never thought that he would go this far with his crush on her, even with the Haze twisting his mind.

No. No, Fae this wasn’t anything like a crush. It sounded like obsession. That was freaking terrifying. There was no telling what he would do if he thought he was going to lose. Zane was always the kind that took things a tiny bit farther than they needed to go for the situation, but I always thought it was to be sure that whatever problem there was no longer existed afterwards. Never in a million years would I have thought he would see me as a problem, though.

I devoured souls and felt the energy from them flowing from me to Fae and a grin twisted my already terrifying features as I took another soul. Mal and Ben were wounding others, leaving for me to call the souls to me and feed to Fae. It was going well. Better than I expected, but something was keeping Fae weak. I would need more souls that were far more tainted than this if I was going to give her enough for her to get out.

“It’s not enough,” Mall called out after a while. “She’s in a cage that’s dampened. We need more.”

So, he could talk to her, even now. Good. That would make things easier. Yes, I could feel Fae, but not like him. He felt her, I just knew where my master was and how much energy she had so I could feed her more. That was the sole purpose of a hound, after all. We devoured souls and kept our master supplied with energy. We followed orders. Unless told to do so, we didn’t even bother protecting our masters.

Fae, I would easily give my life for if it meant she would live.

All of her Bonds would, even Mal, if there was a way she would survive losing him.

“What’s going on over there?” Ben shouted shifting back and forth quickly, blitzing and using his fox magic in ways I never would have thought of.

I didn’t dare look as I devoured more souls.

“It’s Mary and Quinn!” Mal shouted.

That’s when I looked. Sure enough, lightning strikes and flashes of fire could be seen some distance away as they fought near another cave entrance.

“Crap, these caves are connected,” Mal grunted and slashed at someone else. “That means there’s a million different ways he could take her away.”

“He’d have to get her out of the cage first, right?” Ben snarled, between shifting again.

“Unless he decides not to take the risk of her getting away,” Mal growled, running his sword through someone’s leg before I stole his soul.

“He wouldn’t kill her, would he?” Ben paused and looked at Mal before flashing his fire in someone’s face and going back to fighting. He had more bravery than I did to be fighting naked like that.

“I don’t think we should rule anything out. Not even Fae believes there’s anything of Zane left anymore, so it might be better if we did the same,” Mal replied.

This wasn’t my brother. Zane was an ass at times, but this isn’t him. I agreed with Mal and Fae. There wasn’t anything left of my brother so I would need to prepare myself to see his face and not see my twin.

Gods, give me strength.

Grim

A flash of light. Just a tiny bit, fleeting and gone before it could take hold in the darkness I had embraced, but it was enough to make me a little nervous around Fae. If she could bring that light into my darkness, I had to be careful around her.

Still, she was very different than I remembered her. She had been so delicate and scared, like she needed someone to keep her safe. Now, she was rebellious and had this strength in her I never thought I would see. It was annoying because this wasn’t my Fae. This was the one he had made.

I hated her. This... this impostor that looked so much like the one I truly wanted. He had to have used some kind of magic on her. A spell or enchantment or something, because there was no way my Fae would be so cruel, even as soft as she had been.

The part that made me angry was that she was at least half right. I had thought that they would be dead by now. But it was only a small set back. I could adjust my plan.

“Take some people out through one of the other tunnels and come up behind them. They must die,” I snapped at someone as I stormed towards the cavern where weapons were kept.

I might not be the most skilled with a weapon, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out how to stab someone. Pointy end goes first. I stared at the sword in my hand and started to rethink the possibilities of how this battle would go. I had plans to take Fae away, but she hasn’t started to see the lies she has been told for what they are yet. I had thought she would have by now. She was so smart, a few hours away from the betrayers should have her seeing the truth, at least a little bit. Enough to be doubtful and when Fae was doubting something, she was easier to convince.

Letting her out of the cage that was keeping her magic in check could be a bad idea if she was still convinced that I was the bad guy here. I sighed and closed my eyes for a second before going back to the cavern where she was waiting. I would spend as much time as I could trying to get her to see the truth, but if it came to it, I wouldn’t let him have her, either.