rogue shifter 07 - cut off (26 page)

I rubbed my chest and looked down at my feet, angry with myself for messing up. "We should not be talking about foolish things, Brina. We have a job to do."

She grabbed my arm and squeezed hard enough to bruise it. "What color?"

I shrugged. "How do you expect a male warrior to remember that?"

"You have never been in my bedchamber,
Farrell
." She whispered.

"Oh. Perhaps it was cousin Keara's room?" I was pathetic, just pathetic.

"You have definitely never been in
her
bedchamber. What did I call you at your fifteenth year name day ceremony?"

"Um...I do not remember. What is this, twenty questions?"

"What is twenty questions?" I groaned inwardly. I was making everything worse. "What did Farrell call you at your last birthday?"

"Dumbass. Uh...I mean I called Charles—Charlie, dumbass."

"Uh huh. You're walking a dangerous line, dumbass."

"Oh?" I swallowed and clenched my teeth. "What is the problem, Br...Charlie?"

She grabbed my tunic at the neck and shook me. Whoa, she was stronger than she looked. "If I tell them who you are"—she flicked her head toward the path behind us—"we will have to drop everything and take you to Cascade. Your father will be tortured for another day and it will be your stupid-dumbass-fault." She shook me hard with each of those last words.

I frowned. "I have a right to be here."

"This is not about you. Your mother is risking her life. Your father is suffering. The rest of us are defying our queen and could be executed." She twisted the collar of my tunic, making it uncomfortably tight around my neck. "Right now I feel like shaking you until your teeth fall out."

"As if you could." I rolled my eyes.

I realized my mistake too late. "Oh no. You did not just challenge me, foolish little boy. When this is over, I am going to beat the crap out of you. And then when you heal, I am going to do it again."

Her anger was kind of awesome, so I laughed, which pissed her off more. "Beat the crap out of me? I'm shocked that a fae female would use such language."

"Would you like to hear more? I am angry enough to make you blush. Let's start with something simple. You are a fucking moron, Charlie."

Our angry gazes met. "I'm here to protect my mom. I won't do anything dangerous."

"Too late," she hissed, pushing me away so hard I crashed against a nearby tree. "How did you learn to use body glamour?"

"Isaiah believes I inherited the skill from Naberia and Finvarra,
both
." I'd emphasized that last word to remind her that I wasn't some newbie in the magical world. I had royal blood on two sides of the dais.

She paced back and forth. "Typical demon move. They never think about consequences."

I grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Mom's safety is not your top priority, but it is mine."

"Your parents will be furious. They will send you away."

I guess being banished was a big deal in Faerie. It made sense, since they needed fae magic to survive and would eventually waste away if they were forever denied entrance into one of the Faerie Sidhes. "They'd never do that."

"They might. The offense is grave enough."

I tried to make light of it. "You don't know my mom. It's more likely that she'd build a cage and chain me inside."

"You would deserve it."

"Oh, like you're such a perfect,
princess
." I looked her over and scowled. Why had she volunteered to glamour herself to be me? If the queen or Kennet saw through it, she'd die. There was only one answer. "You're thinking you may have to sacrifice yourself. Why are you doing this?" I gestured toward her. In response, she dropped her glamour and I dumped mine.

"The queen attacked my sister." Now her fury was directed at Fionna as she turned to stare north, toward the castle. Her golden eyes had narrowed, her expression so full of rage it made the hairs stand up on my arms. Facing her enemy, Brina automatically adopted a warrior's stance, one hand on her dagger's hilt, the other hand relaxed and ready to draw her sword or turn into a fist to break an opponent's nose. Man, she was rockin' that look.

But why couldn't she see the danger? "You think you can take Fionna out by yourself? Who's a dumbass now?"

She hunched closer. "I will go with her quietly and when we are alone..."

"You'll die." I was shaking my head in disbelief.

"Perhaps not," she snapped, still angry. Well, too bad. I was pissed off too.

"You think Keara wants this? Or your parents?"

"Keara is in line to be an elder and will be a good one. If the worst happens, my parents will mourn me, but I have no ties..."

"This is total crap and you know it."

"You are a child. You have no experience with war or death or sacrifice."

"That's gonna change really soon, isn't it?"

Her mouth thinned out. "We don't know for certain if the Prophesy is true. The fact that you can do parlor tricks is no reason to allow you to lead my people into war. Lord Caelen or my father, even Aedus would be better suited."

Because she was calling her own gift a parlor trick as well as mine, I laughed. She turned away, furious at my reaction. Her shoulders were tight with tension, her hands clenched into fists. How could I diffuse this?

Not really thinking about what I was doing, I moved in behind her. "I need you." I squeezed her shoulder.

"What?" Her eyebrows shot up as she turned and pulled away.

"I need you next to me." She looked puzzled. "I need all the top fae warriors and you're one of them. One of the best." Her mouth twitched, whether to hold back a smile or a frown, I couldn't tell. "War is coming and I want my friends at my back."

"Hmmph. You consider me a friend?" Her violet gaze met mine, the arched eyebrows giving her a startled expression.

I suddenly realized that I did. "Yes." I lowered the volume of my voice, forcing her to listen."You might be right. It may not be me leading the fight, but if it is, then I want you on the front lines. Tell me you'll have my back, Brina. Swear it." We stayed frozen in place, only a foot or two apart, neither willing to back away.

Here was the female I'd grown up knowing, a warrior with a heart like steel and the fighting skills of a goddess. Strands of blonde hair were blowing across her forehead in the breeze, standing out against her tanned skin. The anger had disappeared from her eyes and her brow had smoothed out, giving her a much softer look. I'd never seen her like this. She'd always seemed fierce and aloof, but...

It occurred to me I'd never stood this close to her before. She smelled like the magic of Cascade, healthy and exciting, nothing like this dead version of Faerie. I took another small step, closing the distance to mere inches and reached out, meaning to take her hand.

Brina's eyes widened, her mouth twisting into a snarl as she drew out her response along with her dagger. "You-are-a-sneaky-bastard."

I grinned. Her dagger started waving around in front of my nose, but I wasn't worried. If it was her fist, well, that was a whole different story.

Not able to stop myself, I grabbed both her arms, pulling her closer and forcing the dagger away. "Say it, Say you'll fight beside me,
friend
."

Brina might be centuries older, but I'd been raised around beings who'd lived for thousands of years. Even as a little squirt, I'd never found a person's age to be intimidating. Of course I was walking on rocky ground, here. I'd pissed her off enough to know that if we weren't in the middle of a crisis she'd have knocked me unconscious and left me in the woods to heal my own ass. Somehow, even that thought didn't bother me.

Brina's aura pulsed with emotion as she waged an internal battle over what she should do. Stick to her plan, even if it meant her death, or swear to fight beside me and her people in the war. Heck, I'd be risking my life for her people, for
our
people, leading them and others against Naberia and her demons. How could a brilliant fae warrior refuse my request and still hold onto her honor?

She was right. I was a sneaky bastard. Isaiah would be proud.

I dug my fingers into her arms, expecting her to pull away, but she didn't even try. Instead she curled her lip and did her best to stare me down. Huh. Good luck with that. She'd never come face to face with Naberia. Now there was someone who could stare you down and leave you shaking. Brina managed a low growl, but growing up with wolves and shifters and vamps, I'd heard it all before.

"I'm not backing down." I whispered. Neither one of us would look away.

"You'll regret it." she whispered back.

"Maybe, maybe not." Her breath smelled so sweet, I leaned even closer.

With a grunt, she pushed me away hard enough to make me stumble. I got my balance, expecting her to punch me, but instead she drew her sword, holding it out in front of her in the ritual way.

"I swear to have your back in the war,
friend
." I grinned, even though her statement had sounded more like a threat than a pledge of support. "And also to beat the crap out of you several times before then." Ah, there it was. Awesome.

"You won't go off alone with Kennet or the queen, right? Or if you're captured, you won't do anything dumb, like try to kill them, okay? You'll wait for help." These points had to cleared up.

"I agree, but only for the sake of my people's future safety."

"I understand."

Blazing, Brina sheathed her sword and turned away, mumbling curses and attempting to smooth down the random strands that kept flying in her face..I kept watching her, taking in gulps of her sweet scent. Whoa, If she'd stayed in my hands a minute longer, I might have kissed her. The idea shocked the hell out of me, especially since, except for Linn, I'd never kissed a female on the mouth. But this felt different than with Linn. Way different.

I figured out pretty fast that she was not feeling the same attraction. Brina's gaze communicated really well that I was gonna be a mass of bruises when this was all over. I smiled again, but hid it behind a cough. If it kept her from doing something stupid, like getting herself killed trying to take out the three thousand year old Queen of Faerie, it'd be worth it.

I watched her pace and wondered if she'd consider sparring with me on a regular basis. I could use the practice and it would give her a chance to get in some hits. It would also give me a chance to spend a little time with her.

As far as fae princesses went, she was the opposite of Linn, and for the first time I noticed that it was those differences that drew me in. Oh sure, she was beautiful, but not in such a girly way, like Linn. Her muscles were well-defined, giving her a warrior's grace. Like a shifter, she was always on the alert for danger, her movements through the forest matched my cheetah's agility perfectly.

Yeah, I could sacrifice some blood on the training field, no problem, if it would guarantee me a few hours a week with Brina.

I teased her, understanding that I was adding hits to my imminent beating. "At least now you can't do anything stupid. You have to survive. Glad we got that settled."

She huffed out an angry breath, magically renewing her glamour. I followed suit. "You are stubborn like your mother." she snapped, once more using my voice.

"Yep. Everyone says so." This time I didn't mind the comment at all.

We saw the glow of fae light ahead where the narrow path widened. Picking up our pace, we approached the clearing.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Elle had been chained to the stone slab in a dungeon rarely used by Fionna or anyone else at court. Naked and vulnerable, her sobs were heard only by me and my captain. She might as well save her energy. No one was coming.

"I apologize for this inconvenience, but your organs are needed. The sacrifice you make is for the benefit of all of Faerie." It would certainly benefit me, which in turn would benefit Faerie.

"Please, Lord Kennet, don't do this. Have mercy." She struggled with the bindings, but they held against her weakening efforts. Two decades ago, her magic might have broken the chains easily, but her drained and half-starved state left her with few resources.

And her new hero, Garrett, was in no condition to help her.

Caelen might be surprised to know that I loathed what Fionna had done to our people. My plans to dethrone our sister might shock him even more. Under my rule, the fae at court would once more flourish. Those who wished to stay at court would be allowed to reconnect with their magic immediately. There could be a few who'd been treated so poorly by Fionna that they wished to relocate in Cascade. I would not stop them. It made no sense to have Caelen and his followers as enemies, not with a war on the horizon. Once he saw that Charlie and Jacqueline were well cared for at court, he should have no grievances with us.

Faerie was in danger of more than just fading away. Much of the energy that had been sapped from its people was being stored in a magical well that Fionna had created in a chamber only she could access. She'd brought me there once, brimming with pride over the secret weapon she planned to use against Naberia.

Fionna was a fool. She wasn't strong enough to focus that amount of magical energy herself, and she'd left most of her own people in a state where they would be unable to help her. Without discussing it with anyone else, she had acted, allowing her fear of Naberia to color her judgment.

After the exchanges were made later today, I would sit down with Charles and we would work out a plan to take down my sister. Because Jacqueline would be in my bed where she belonged, Charles would cooperate, not wanting to take any chances with her life or her health. After the throne was mine, we would carefully sift magic from the well, slowly returning my world to its natural state. The citizens would be grateful to me, becoming loyal little soldiers. When the war came, we would triumph against the archdemon.

Elle moaned and whimpered, still straining at her bonds. Her defiance made the process interesting at least. Fionna felt Elle might still be of use as leverage, but I'd dismissed the notion. I needed her more.