Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (13 page)

Splinters of wood scraped against my skin. Raw and starting to bleed
, I neither felt nor noticed the damage I was inflicting on myself. Broken nails and ripped skin left their grizzly trail on the door.

The
figure slowly floated down the corridor, yet still I couldn’t see who it was. A thin hand pierced the cloud and reached for me. Closer and closer it came. I knew if it touched me, my life would be over. I redoubled my efforts and found my voice. I screamed with everything I had. I slammed my body as hard as I could against the door. Over and over until everything went black.

I woke disoriented and
still in panic mode. Eli had his hand on my forehead. My brain sent my body scrambling away from him as fast as I could move, slamming into Dominick on the far side of the bed. I clung to him, crying. My face was buried in his chest, my eyes squeezed shut. Every noise, sight, touch amplified my panic. He whispered comforting noises and wrapped me in his strong arms. Slowly, I started to calm down.

“Shh
, Cass, it’s okay. I’m here and you’re safe. What happened out there?”

It took a minute to understand words again. “I
was trying to be there for Killian, but the noise and his screaming, I just couldn’t be in that room any longer, so like a coward, I left. I don’t know why I went out into the hallway, but as soon as I did, I was terrified. A figure was coming at me. I couldn’t tell who or even what they were. I only knew I felt terrified. I felt like I was going to die. Then they reached out for me and I passed out.”

I was shaking from just the memory of it.
Dominick’s arms around me were the only thing keeping me from running until I collapsed.

“Cass
, there was no one there when we found you. Just you bashing yourself against the door.”

“I swear there was
. I was so scared. I was scared before I even saw anything in the hallway, like I knew it was coming. I couldn’t think straight. When I saw it come around the corner, I knew I was going to die.”

Eli
looked concerned. “I’m thinking my healing powers are not the only magic that has returned to our realm.”

“What do you mean?” I didn’t like the thought of some fae working their magical mojo on me.

“First the brooch and now I think someone approached you wearing the mantel of terror. Like the brooch, it’s a magical object. Before the door was open, these things stopped working. We…” He smiled and looked at the ground. “The dark fae tried them all. Mab was very angry. We had never had possession of the objects and she finally had them all and they didn’t work. She broke some of them, but clearly not all.”

“Oh
, for the love of… I can handle someone trying to kill me, but this was something I never want to live through again.” I shuddered under Dominick’s embrace. The memory had the ability to reach out and wrap me back up in fear.

“The wearer can cast out a sense of fear to all those close by and it renders the wearer unable to be identified.”

“Yes, it was like I couldn’t focus on the person. Everything was really fuzzy.”

“
This is madness. Do we just sit here and wait for whoever this is to finally kill her?” Lucius’ voice was loud and angry. I started to shake in Dominick’s arms, clinging to him even tighter.

“Keep your voice down
, Lucius. You’re scaring her,” Dominick growled.

“I’m not
,” he bellowed, then in a softer voice, “I’m not trying to scare her. I’m sorry, Cass. I’m just very worried.”

I opened my eyes and looked over at him. I knew he wanted to be the one who was comforting me and I silently thanked him for obeying my wishes.
When I felt a little more myself, I slowly edged my way out of Dominick’s arms and over to the other side of my bed. I was rewarded with a brief smile.

“I’m staying here and finishing this job.
I’m not letting this nutter scare me off, but I don’t want to die and I’m tired of being messed with. How are we going to find out who is doing this?”

It was Ruby who spoke next. “I’m not familiar with all the
magical objects, but I know there are many. We should make a list of them and find out where they are and who has access to them.”

“That’
s a very good idea, Ruby. If we can’t stop this person, we at least might have a heads up as to what might be coming next.”

“That’s not good enough. I want this person caught and punished. Cass
, don’t you want to know who’s doing this to you?”

“Of course I do, but I don’t even know ho
w to go about finding that out. The fae don’t exactly like me, so co-operating with any kind of investigation is unlikely.”

“
The lesser fae like you, Your Majesty. If I ask, I’m sure they will help. The other fae tend to forget we are even in the room with them. I’ll spread the word on what is going on and they will keep their eyes and ears open for anything that might give us a clue as to what’s going on.”

The lesser fae
, or at least Ruby, seemed to know everything that went on in the castle. If the rest of the brownies were like her, then we would know what was going on in no time.

“Ru
by, you are the best. If you can do that, I would really appreciate it.”

She blushed and looked at the floor. “That means so much to
me. I’ll do it right away.” She smiled and skipped out of the room.

“I want to find out who did this
myself, Cass.”

“Lucius
, the fae will never talk to a vampire. You know that.”

He nodded. “There must be something we can do. I can’t stand here and wait for the next attack. Th
e next one might not just be a scare tactic.”

“Can I have a moment with Lucius alone
, please? I’ll meet you outside in a minute and we can go to the meeting.”

Dominick paused. “Are you sure you want to go to this meeting?”

“Yes, I’m not letting whoever is doing this win.” He nodded and followed Eli out the door.

We were silent until the others had left. “Cass?”

I ran into his arms. “It was terrible. I’ve never felt so scared in all my life and all I wanted was to be in your arms.”

“Fuck, oh
, Goldilocks, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He pulled me into his chest and the last bit of fear fell away.

“It wasn’t your fault
; I just wanted you to know that when I’m afraid and need someone, it’s you I want to turn to.”

His face lit up as a smile spread across h
is lips. “Thank you. I had to try very hard not to rip Dominick’s head off when you scrambled into his arms.”

“I know and I really appreciate it. I only went to him because I was blinded by fear. I didn’t even know where I was when I opened my eyes.”

He kissed me. Just a whisper across my lips. “I just never want to lose you. If you think I’m leaving your side again, then you’re crazy.”

“Lucius, we can’t look like we are together.”

“We will think of some lie or tell them the truth. I want to protect you. Vampires aren’t susceptible to fae magic; it’s one of the few advantages we have. Now we better get going. We need to scare the shit out of some fae.”

Kael was waiting for us
when I finally felt ready to face the council. “Little Queen, if anyone on your council is responsible for this latest attack, we will know today.” He was angry and energy sputtered off him like a million tiny sparks.

There were two more
slaugh standing outside the door of the conference room. They were smaller than Kael, but just as beautiful. They looked our way as we got closer. Standing still, they looked like two marble statues. The slaugh were not beings that wanted a place in our world, and who could blame them? They looked out of place among such plain creatures; even the fae couldn’t compete with their beauty. A work of art placed among a child’s scribbles.

“Little Queen, these are my sons, Arus and Zento.”

“Pleased to meet you Arus, Zento.”

They kept their stoic look. “Your
Majesty.”

“
Let’s go in, shall we?”

The fae turned our way in unison. Eyes widened and jaws dropped one after the other as they took in my entourage. Terror written across every face, except for Trehern’s. He looked amused. I wondered if he knew something or if terror wasn’t part of the goblin vocabulary.

I walked to my place at the table. I was tired o
f being at the fae’s mercy. “I’m not amused. You want me gone? You want a fae for a leader? Then work with me and stop trying to mess with my mind. I was attacked again and I don’t care if it wasn’t someone in this room. You represent all fae and therefore, in my mind, are responsible for what your people do. I’m not going anywhere until I get you all to work together. If you want the human to leave, then that is how to get me out of here.”

King Trehern cleared his throat. “I can assure you
, Your Majesty, it isn’t a goblin behind this. Trickery isn’t our way. We aren’t that subtle. I would like to offer you some of my best men to guard you.”

“Thank
you, Trehern, that is very kind of you and I may yet take you up on it.”

“Please, he is
trying to curry your favor, but he is right about one thing: he isn’t being very subtle about it.” Lady Arwen glared at the Goblin King.

“Your
Majesty, I don’t know who is doing this, but we aren’t a violent people. I’m sure the light fae have nothing to do with it.” Prince Lochlan feigned concerned and I had a hard time not rolling my eyes at him.

“I suppose by that you mean that we are violent? Really?” Lord Eton stood up and Lochlan did the same.

“Stop. Just freaking stop this. I don’t know who is trying to mess with my mind, but I have a feeling this is the result they want. They want mistrust and in fighting. They don’t want a united fae.”

Cian turned his green eyes my way. “Bravo
, Your Majesty. I believe you might be right. If whoever it is wanted you dead, they would have killed you. Your death would bring on the slaugh. We would be a doomed race. Instead, this messing with your head just ensures you are never successful. To what end, I don’t know, but it makes the most sense.”

“If that
’s the case, then they have made an enemy.” Lady Arwen straightened herself in her chair. “I don’t like being manipulated. I may not like having a human ruler, but I love my people. I hope you believe that. We need to change and if trying this governing by consensus works, then so be it.”

It was hard to believe, but if she was speaking the truth, then we had turned a corner. I turned to Kael to see if he had anything else to say. He shook his head. Apparently
, he believed I had things under control.

“Okay
, I believe we need to deal with the forced pairings. After that, we can move to all the titles that have been given out and rescinded. I want to know what each title means as far as power and responsibility.”

“I have talked to my people
, Your Majesty. Any pairing that was made under Mab’s rule with my men or women is considered over. No goblin seeks to keep their partner.”

“Good, I have no problem with a pairing that was mutual. It was the use of force for the sake of humiliation and revenge I had the problem with.”

Lady Arwen stood. “Do you think that just announcing it’s over that all the men and women who were forced to be with the likes of you should just forget it?”

“No
, my Lady. I fully know how vile you find us. Being paired with such creatures must surely have been something that you will never forget.”

“Don’t play the victim
, Trehern.”

“Tell me
, Lady Arwen. Were you forced to do anything against your will with your goblin mate besides spending time with him and do what chores were expected of you as part of being in the goblin realm?”

“
Well…no, I will admit that I was lucky. Darwhal was a brute and expected me to cook and clean, but he never forced me to his bed and he never harmed me, but I’m sure I was one of the lucky ones.”

“If you knew anything about us, you would know that even though we are ruled by a king
, we view our women as equals. Goblin women are fierce fighters and gentle mothers. They run their homes with an iron fist and keep the men in check. My people may seem savage to you, but we would not do that. If someone had, it would be death.”

“That isn’t how it seemed when you were buying Oona
, Trehern.” I wanted what he said to be true.

“All show
, I’m afraid. Mab was crazy. She thought pairing the light fae with us would be the ultimate punishment. Who was I to break her bubble? We are not the savages you take us for.” Trehern was angry. His tongue flicked in and out of his mouth like a whip and his eyelids clicked a little faster than usual. He had a right to be mad; we had all misjudged his people.

I felt a huge weight lifted from me. If all that was true
, then I would have one less thing to have to deal with. There was one less thing that had to be forgiven.