Fae Dominance (16 page)

She just waved a hand absently at me, and asked childlike, “Are you going to finish this?”

“No, I’m done with her, just clean up your mess when you are done. I want my playroom tidy when I come back.”

“Of course, sweeting. No one likes a mess.”

I left my mother laughing delightedly as the human girl screamed in renewed fear and anguish.

The remnants of the girl’s screams rang happily in my ears while I sent a whisper of power over me to dispel any lingering blood or viscera.

Once I was sure that nothing was left, space folded around me and I went into the grey fields. The quicker I got to Moss the safer she would be.

Damn my mother again for leaving her with Redcaps. They were butchers with little restraint. By their very nature they had to kill, or they would die themselves.

Some legends are truer than others are. The Redcaps being one of them. If they did not kill and dip their hats into blood, something happened inside of their brains to cause a sort of aneurism.

It was a fascinating scientific experiment that I would love to one day explore but there was much to do before that day came.

When I folded into the room my poor Moss sat huddled on a couch. Four large Redcaps stood in varying locations around the room watching her hungrily.

They all stood over seven feet in height with leathery skin and glowing red eyes. The famous caps were thankfully freshly soaked and dripped merrily down their faces.

“Blayre!” My love exclaimed. She jumped from the seat and threw herself into my arms. Moss was trembling and her bottom lip wobbled as tears filled her eyes.

I would make who ever made my sweet mate cry suffer greatly. Anger and vengeance shined in my eyes until she looked up and the hate fell away to leave only concern.

I cupped her cheek and bent to kiss a single tear from her puffy lids. “My sweet, sweet love, what is wrong? It breaks my heart to see a single teardrop from your beautiful eyes. Much less the river that has surely poured forth recently. Come and tell me what is wrong so I may make it right.”

Moss shook her head screwing her eyes shut before shuddering. “Not even you can fix it, Blayre. It's Oberon,” she swallowed thickly. “You must return with me. He is not well.”

Taken aback, I pulled slightly away from her. “What nonsense is this, my Mossie? You speak of Oberon the King of all the Seelie Fae. He cannot be unwell. Someone is playing a cruel trick upon you.”

“No, it’s true,” she cried.

“Puck called me this morning—”

I interrupted her with a snort. “Puck, and you believed him? What words did he twist to get you to lure me to him? He only wants to draw me out so I might face his so called justice,” I scoffed.

Her worried face looked up at me before she tugged me to the couch. “I swear to you it is true. He did not use any trickery. In fact, he was not happy that I insisted on telling you. Last week when the king cast the fertility rite for Puck's mating, he used up too much of himself, he is fading,” she choked on the last words and a giant sob heaved her thin shoulders. “I…I saw him myself. He was not even aware I was in the room with him. If it had not been for the rise and fall of his breaths, you would think he did not live. What will we do, Blayre? You have to come back. I know that a rift has come between you three, but they are your family. Mother is with the king now and Puck said that he would speak to you if you wanted. The king, he would want to see you before he…” she could not finish.

I pulled her close against my chest. It pained me that it hurt my sweet love but glee rose up within me. Finally, I had the chance to rid myself of that bastard. He who pretended to love me but always cared more for the foundling, Puck. The father that would deny me my one want in life. Well no longer. With Oberon out of the way, I would find a way to dispose of his wrathful Puck. Then nothing would stand in my way of taking the throne. Then, I would be able to get rid of that crazy whore I called mother. Once I had tidied up all the loose strings, I would crown Moss as my queen and we would rule all of the Seelie Fae, as we should. I could then turn my eye to the Unseelie courts, but that was years down the road.

For now, it was time to bid my father a fond farewell.

Smoothing back Moss’s beautiful brown hair, I gently pushed her back from me. My face had been wiped of all emotion bar concern for her.

“I agree, sweet love, it behoves me but I must return to see my father and my…brother,” the words tasted bitter in my mouth but I spat them out as if they were not nasty flavors on my tongue.

“I want you to return to the palace and speak to Puck. Tell him that I would like to see my father and make right the wrongs of the past. I will be there at sunset.”

I dragged her close to me and lowered my head to kiss her gently. “Know that I love you above all others, my Moss. Know that you will always be my light and without you, the world would only be the blackness of night. I love you, and soon I will prove it to you.” I rose and pulled her with me.

“Take the paths, they are quicker and safer for you.” A smile curled my lips. “As much as the High Fae look down at you, remember, no Brownie has ever lost their way on the grey paths.” With one last fierce kiss, I opened a portal and gently pushed her through.

Once it was closed I turned to the four waiting Redcaps. “Gather your brothers, my friends. You will be able to bathe in the blood I plan to spill tonight.”

The roar their four voices raised was enough to shake the room. It made me laugh in anticipation as I folded away to hunt down my mother.

I found her where I had left her. The once white dress now drenched in blood and gore. The human girl was long dead and the Dryad’s last pitiful breath was just leaving her body. The stump of her tree burned as the ropes twisted beneath her and intestines dangled in ropes around it.

“You make such a mess when you play, Mother, no finesse.” The complaint was true if redundant. It was always the same; at least she cleaned up after herself as she did now. With a wave of her hand both bodies disappeared and the room was once again spotless.

“What did our little Moss come to tell you, Blayre? Did she miss you so much that she braved the darkness for a few moments of your time?”

My mother truly was a bitch, but she would savor the news I was about to deliver.

“Even better, Mother, my mate has brought news of your other son. He is fading.”

Her gasp was loud in the room. “Oberon is fading, can it be true?” she whispered.

“Moss saw him with her own eyes and Puck confirmed it. The old fool used too much of his own energy with that trick last week. There will be weeping in the streets but at least he will have a whole generation to thank him for their existence.”

I laughed at the thought. “Not only has he done me the favor of weakening himself to the point of mortality but he has given me a whole new generation to mold in my image.”

Mab jumped up and down, clapping her hands like a little girl. Her blonde hair waving about her. She would have looked angelic if not for all the blood and gore speckling her from head to foot.

“We must plan,” she exclaimed. “Gather the forces and have them ready to take over the court once you take care of Oberon and that bastard, Puck.”

“I am already on top of that, my Queen. As we speak, the Redcaps are gathering their brethren and we shall go to the palace at sunset. The trap is laid. I will go in as the prodigal son, while our troops hide behind glamour. Once I have taken out father and Puck, then they will take the palace. The rest will fall into place.”

“Perfect,” Mab nearly wrapped herself around me. “You are a much better son than the first one I bore. Moreover, you will make a much better king. The throne needs strength and will to do what needs to be done. Not a simpering fool like Oberon. He never could understand what was needed to rule a kingdom with an iron fist, too much like his father before him. You, my son, are more like me. Full of ruthless determination. I can see it in your eyes.”

I pushed her back from me none to gently. “Go bathe, Mother, you reek of death. I need to prepare to see my father before he fades to nothing. I would hate for him to die before I had the chance to kill him.”

Mab bowed her head slightly, “As you wish, my King.”

She then folded away to Danu only knew where to refresh herself. I did not know nor care. I had a patricide to plan.

Chapter Sixteen

Robin…

The king was not pleased. He did not agree with me using Moss and Isbeth in this plot to take down Blayre. I believed that Oberon still held out hope the boy we knew and loved was alive somewhere inside the monster he had become.

I leaned my head wearily against Kale’s shoulder while we sat on the couch in the antechamber attached to my rooms. I had refused to give Oberon the proof of Blayre’s depravity. Now I questioned myself on whether that was the right choice.

Kale nuzzled the top of my head and his deep regular breathing relaxed me. We only had a few precious moments before we had to move. Everything was in place for tonight. Moss had come back from seeing Blayre and he had assured her he would come to see me at sunset. That worried me. There were many creatures in Fae that called the night their home. Wards would only do so much, so we would have to be on our guard at all times.

“Do you think they will be alright,” Kale mumbled into my hair.

I knew he spoke of Isbeth and Moss. For once words failed me, as I honestly did not know the answer. Finally, I told him what I could only guess at.

“It depends,” I sighed. “If Moss realizes that she is the key to leading Blayre to his death, then she won’t ever recover. She loves him too deeply. Isbeth will grieve, as will Oberon, but I think both of them know deep down the Blayre they knew and loved is gone. Even if they will not admit it to themselves, they still hope.”

“There’s no hope left, is there?”

“My clever wolf,” I smiled sadly against his neck. “No, there is no hope. Blayre is corrupt to his core. I have some evidence that he is a serial killer. He does not discriminate at all in his victims. From what my information states, he takes great pleasure in torturing and killing his victims before giving them the final release of death. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find enough to bring before the king.”

We were both silent for a few moments before Kale spoke, “So this is it then. Tonight we will kill your brother, destroy his mate, and break his father's and adoptive mother’s hearts.”

“Let us not forget, kill Mab as well, if the opportunity arises,” I replied.

“Damn,” Kale whistled lowly. “And we’re the good guys supposedly. I thought I had things rough in the pack. I can tell you what, if we survive this, I don’t think I will ever complain about the petty fighting and squabbles amongst the pups again.”

I pulled his lips down to mine and kissed him gently. “This was not how I planned our retreat to Fae. In all honesty, I wanted to show you that we were not that bad. To introduce you to my family and rock your world a little bit.”

“Well you have definitely done all of that,” Kale laughed softly. “You more than rocked my world." He nipped my bottom lip and threw a leg over me drawing me in closer.

The door to my bedchamber opening had us jerking apart. This was not an appropriate time and we knew it. Oberon stood looking at us, his mouth drawn tight and his glacial eyes as cold as the ice they resembled.

“Let us go, my Puck and Wolf. It is time to kill a traitor and his bitch of a mother if at all possible.”

We both stood and nodded our assent before following the king out of the room.

Oberon was weak but he held himself tall. Only his willpower kept his back straight. It made my heart ache to see him this way.

“When were you going to tell me, my Puck?”

“My Lord?” I asked.

“Don’t pretend to be subservient, Puck. You know very well what I meant. I have excellent hearing. I would have believed you without physical evidence of Blayre’s atrocities. It saddens me, my Puck, that you would withhold this information from me.”

“My King,” I began but he held up a hand never stopping to look at me.

“I understand why and I do not blame you. I only wish that you would have trusted enough in me to share the information.”

Oberon’s voice was distant and it broke my heart. I had failed my king. Kale’s growl was the only warning given before he grabbed Oberon and spun him around. I stared in shock as my wolf shoved my king against a wall and snarled in his face.

“You dare,” his voice was low with fury. “Robin has done everything for you. He has ripped apart his own soul in service to you! The one time he holds back because he does not want to cause you pain, you freeze him out. He has been more of a son than the little fuckwad we are chasing could ever be. How many thousands of years has this male stood by your side never faltering, yet in only a handful of years your own flesh and blood has not only betrayed you but plotted your death?

"For fuck's sake, what is wrong with the lot of you. If you knew what was good for you, you would see that you are pushing away the son that loves you more than his own life.”

Kale let go of Oberon and turned to me. “We are done with this, Robin. We help him here, but then we go home. I have had enough 'daddy issues' without going through yours. He accepts you either wholly or not at all. I will recruit Dia and Daniel to back me on this one.”

Both Oberon and I stood open-mouthed staring at Kale. Where had this come from? The king recovered first, shook his head and turned to me.

“The wolf is right, Puck. I have failed you.”

“Sire, no you have not,” I began.

“Hush, my Puck. I told you once long ago the first thing a father does is name his child. I called you my Puck. That is no longer good enough. You are so much more.”

He reached out and pulled me against him in a crushing hug.

“You are so much more now, it is time I give you a new name and that is—Son. Once this is finished I will have it official transcribed into our annuls. You will be knows as Puck, first son of Oberon. I cannot give you the throne as it is not in my power. However, I want you to know that if I could, I would. You would make a fine king.”