Blood and Redemption (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (20 page)

“I have lost too much respect by
the things she has done to me. I could never gain enough authority.”

“What about Na’min
? He isn’t even here. He could be a fresh face.”

“I love my brother
, but he’s not a political animal.”

“If Mab is dead
, who would the goblins and trolls get behind.”

“They may join the unseelie
. They may see their chance to take control.”

“Ahhh
, there must be a solution. Please, Lochlan. I see your queen and I want to murder Mab.”

“There is the slaugh. We haven’t heard from them since Mab was imprisoned. The king of the slaugh used to be Queen Oona’s champion. She felt betrayed when he left her. She called out to him to come and recue us when we stopped having children and our world was dying
. She also begged him to come to her over and over in the first few months that Mab had her in her bed. He never came, so I doubt you’ll get his help now.”

“If they did come
, could you marry a slaugh and a …..”

“Slaugh are not like us. They are only men. I think a seelie woman would be as happy to marry a goblin as a slaugh.” Something that was worse than goblins was not something I wanted to see, but if it would bring peace and save our lives
, it might be worth it.

“How do we talk to them?”

“That’s not an easy thing. They say they appear after a great injustice, but if they haven’t shown yet, it isn’t likely. The queen used to be able to call them, but if he can ignore her pleas when Mab was torturing her the way she has.” He shook his head. “I don’t have a better idea, but I really don’t think the slaugh will help us. They do collect the souls of our dead, so perhaps they have been too busy to come. They have their own realm and their own rules. I wish I could be of more help. I wish I had answers.”

“If they collect souls, what if I try to call them
? I can contact souls; maybe I can contact them too.”

“I don’t see the harm, except your death. Who knows how a being that powerful will react to being called
?” Lochlan sneered at me. He wasn’t gentle like his brother, but he had also been at the hands of Mab. “These are creatures that don’t have our morals.”

I didn’t see a whole lot of morals coming from the fae either. “I don’t see any other choice. I will think about it, but if there is no other way
, then I will at least try.”

“I don’t understand why you even want to help us
. The thought of a human thinking they can save us when we couldn’t even save ourselves makes me laugh.”

“I care about your brother and this will make its way into our world. It already has and we need to make it stop now.” I didn’t understand his dis
dain, but humans hadn’t been as advanced the last time he would have been in our world. “Do you want anything, Lochlan? A bath, a good night’s sleep?”

“If I could bathe and then sleep
, I would be very grateful.”

We let him sleep as long as we could. Then Killian took him back to Mab. I hated doing that to him, but what choice did I have?

Chapter Eighteen

Killian took Lochlan back to Mab and then he went to ground. I was lying in bed in one of Dominick’s t-shirts. I either had to wear Mab’s crazy outfits or men’s clothes. I was exhausted.

“I think I’m too tired to come up with a plan
, Dominick. If he is being honest with us, then contacting the slaugh seems like a very big risk, but right now, living in this castle is a risk.”

“I agree
. Let’s talk about it tonight after Killian comes back. I’m not in the frame of mind for life and death decisions.”

I rolled over and closed my eyes
, making a mental note to change the bed when I woke up, as it smelled like a brothel. I was just drifting off when I felt my shirt lifting in the back. I decided to ignore it. Strong hands squeezed my shoulders and then massaged my neck. It felt amazing. I didn’t know how tense I had been until he started to work out some of my knots.

He moved down my back. His long fingers briefly caressed the sides of my breasts. Goose flesh broke out all over my skin. His touch was warm and gentle. I
lay there, trying to gather the willpower to tell him to stop.

“I… want you again.” His breath was hot against the back of my neck. His hard cock was pressed against my ass.

I had to swallow hard to get rid of the lump in my throat. “I can’t, sweetie, I just can’t.”

His hands disappeared from my body. I didn’t have time to think about it because sleep came and took me away. It seemed like my dream started as soon as I closed my eyes
. When my lids shut for the day, they immediately opened in a dream. I was in a large, snow-covered field. It looked like the one Conal had taken me to. I was still in just a t-shirt. My feet were bare and numb from being buried in the snow. The cold was painful. I started to shiver uncontrollably. I tried to move to keep warm, but I was stuck in place. I had to get out of here before I froze to death.

My bones rattled in my skin as hot tears
froze instantly to my cheeks. Just when I thought I might actually die right here in my dream, the temperature started to rise and the snow melted almost instantly. The grass started to green and wildflowers bloomed all around me. The sun was hot and it instantly pulled the chill from my body. I spread my arms out and threw back my head, basking in the glorious feel of the sun. Time sped up. A slight breeze caressed my body as the sun sank again, and a star-studded sky made an appearance overhead.

A loud snapping noise, like someone shaking out a giant blanket
, startled me. I looked around frantically for the source.

“You were thinking about me
, human. I was curious as to how you came by your knowledge of us, but I see you reside in the fae realm. What are humans doing there again?”

I whipped around to find the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. He towered over me, but he wasn’t slight like the fae. I stood looking straight at his broad chest and well-muscled arms. He was naked except for a leather skirt; his skin shared the color and luminosity of the moon. Silver eyes studied me; they held no malice, just curiosity. Silky hair of the same color flowed down his back and fell over the top part of his wings. It was the wings I couldn’t take my eyes off of. They were the color of his skin, but they looked like the softest leather you have ever seen. I wanted very badly to touch them.

“You may.”

I realized he had read my mind. He turned a little so I could reach them. I had never felt something so soft. It was all I could do not to wrap myself up in them. “They are beautiful.”

“I am Kael, King of the Slaugh. You have been thinking of me. A mere human thinks of me and I feel a pull to come to you. This disturbs me. Why have you summoned me, little one?” He looked down at me. He looked serious, but not cruel.

“I…I didn’t mean to summon you. I am being held against my will. The
Queen of Darkness has escaped from her prison and she is going to spread her evil into my world.”

“Why do you tell me.? Fae business is not my concern.” He gave me a hard look and my heart started to pound in my chest. If you had a heart attack in your dream
, did you have one in real life?

“The
fae have been weakened greatly by their foolish decisions. Both the seelie and unseelie are few in numbers and if something doesn’t change, I’m afraid they may become extinct and take my world along with it.”

“These things do not concern me
, human.”

“Don’t the slaugh gather the souls of the dead? If there are no souls to gather, then what will your purpose be?”

“Are you not afraid of me?”

“Terrified.”

“Yet still you try to solve the problems of the fae?”

“When a person feels they have no alternative
, they can be very brave or very stupid.” I gave him a weak smile.

“You’re not what I expected. I expected you to run from me. I expected you to cower.”

“I want to. I just need your help more than I need to give in to the terror in the pit of my stomach.”

He nodded. “When the Queen of Light locked the last
unseelie in their prison, I turned my back on them and vowed never to involve myself in their affairs again. I vowed that my people would no longer have anything to do with these cruel, destructive savages. Light or dark, it makes no difference.”

“They are killing each other. Soon there will be no fae left in the world
, and I agree some are terrible beings, but some are kind and have changed because of what has happened.” I reached out and touched his hand. It was warm and soft. “Please?”

He looked down at his own hand like he couldn’t believe I was touching him.

“You are a strange woman. Brave, but maybe that will get you killed.”

“I want to kill Mab. If I kill her
, the fae will be leaderless and things may even get worse than they are now. We need you to take control.”

“I have no desire to rule the fae world. I am already a king. If the fae die out
, maybe I will get some peace. All that suffering and cruelty is felt by my people every day.”

“Help me end it by making peace. If Mab is dead
, there will be chaos. If Mab survives, she will create even more suffering. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but the worlds need peace and balance. I’ve been told you have the power to make sure that happens.”

“You are an infuriating little creature, do you know that?”

“I’ve been told that a time or two.”

He did the most unexpected thing. He laughed. A giant booming laugh that echoed around the field.

“I will think on what you have said and talk to my people. You will hear from me soon. Don’t get your hopes up, little one. My people hate the fae more than I do.”

He spread his giant wings flapped them twice, sending me staggering back from the wind they created. He took off into the sky. I wanted very badly to go with him. I felt empty when he left. It was stupid. I should have felt relieved I was still alive. All of a sudden
, I was exhausted. I collapsed on the ground, unable to keep my eyes open any longer. I lay down in the meadow and fell asleep.

Chapter
Nineteen

When I woke again, I was lying in between Killian and Dominick. Dominick was sleeping, but Killian was looking down at me.

“You must have been exhausted. You slept the whole day.” He kissed my forehead. I smiled at him. I had so many mixed feelings about him. Right now
, I was focusing on the good ones. We needed to trust each other and support each other if we were going to survive this crazy place.

“I dreamed the
King of the Slaugh visited me. He let me touch his wing.”

Killian pulled me into him and hugged me. “That could have been your death
, Cass.”

“I didn’t have any control over it. I don’t think any of us could stop it.”

“What if you angered him? He might come for you. I can’t have you getting hurt. I won’t let it happen.”

“Chill, I was sure when I woke up it had been real, but now I’m not so sure. It feels like it could have been just a real freaky dream.”

“I don’t have dreams. It’s one of the things I miss.”

“Well
, that dream was wonderful and terrifying. They are very tall and muscular. He had beautiful wings, but not like an angel; more like a bat. He let me touch it, Killian. It was so soft. I think he’ll come back the next time I sleep. He said he wanted to think about what I said.”

“I haven’t been alone with you in a long time. I missed it. I’m truly sorry for getting you into this. It was selfish and childish. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

“I believe you. I don’t know why, but I think I was meant to be here. It feels like I have a role to play in all this and I have to be here to play it.”

“Yes, but you could have come with Lucius and Quintus
. They could have kept you safe.”

“Maybe, but you’ve kept me safe so far. We have helped each other. Dominick included.”

“Don’t tell the wolf, but I’m starting to not mind his company.”

“You two get along better than Quintus and Lucius
do.”

“What do you mean?”

“They fought all the time. I woke up one night to Lucius almost coming right through my walls.”

“You can’t expect two men who love you to live under the same roof with you.”

“I don’t think Lucius loves me. He did, but those bites turned him into something I don’t want to know.”

“Lucius can’t help it
, Cass. I’m not a fan, but he fought those urges every day. It’s hard to explain, but when we experience true hunger, we can think of nothing else. We feel unimaginable pain.”

“I know, but he did and said some ugly things and it kills me because he was… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. When you get out of here, take that disgusting Troll King with you, and let Lucius drink him dry.”