Curse of the Fae King (25 page)

Meena glowered and shoved her into an empty house. “What happened then?”

“The overlord said if I didn’t seduce his half brother, he’d have me flogged. I waited in your warrior’s bed, but he bellowed and threw me out. Right when you and the overlord came down the stairs. I thought he’d kill me when Lord Leonidas rejected me, but afterward the overlord said I’d done well, and sent me to the women’s camp. After that, we moved in here.”

Cold, killing rage swept through Meena. “So Leonidas didn’t bed you? And he didn’t carry you off to the Fae court?”

The girl wept noisy tears and backed into the corner. “All he did was throw me out. I swear it. Then the overlord said no one would touch me as long as I stayed away from you.”

So Leonidas hadn’t betrayed Meena, but Mordred had. That meant great, she had another liar in her life. She’d refused to listen to Leonidas’s explanation, so no wonder he’d left without a word. So much for total honesty and trust between her and her Elf fiancé. Actually, make that former fiancé. The Elf kingdom was another place she didn’t belong.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Betrayal tasted like sour lemons—a taste Meena knew too well.
That’s it, I’m through being a victim. Time to kick some ass
. As she headed back inside, her feet didn’t touch the ground—literally. She hovered inches above the floor, swept up in a maelstrom of fury and menace.

Her voice reverberated with quiet intensity. Its soft tones rolled around the Great Hall, then echoed down dark corridors. “Mordred.”

The overlord came running. “Meena, my lady, don’t worry about the damage. That power’s been building inside you for weeks, and we can always rebuild.”

When she looked at her arm, it was glowing. An aura of light blazed around her, dazzling the servants and making Mordred hold a hand up to shade his eyes.

Again, her voice held an unnatural echo. “I’d rather raze your wretched tower to the ground—and you right along with it. I thought you were the one totally honest person in my life, but you deliberately poisoned my mind against Leonidas. I’m done with your misogynistic Elves, and I’m done with you.”

Unbidden, power flashed from her fingers and scorched a tapestry hung over the door to the servants’ quarters.

Mordred swallowed hard but moved in closer. “Meena, I need you. My people need you. Most of all, those women need you. Whatever I’ve said or done, I will put it right.”

His simple words knocked the fight out of her. The Elves would have starved for both food and magic if she hadn’t reclaimed their land. Now that she’d beaten back the invasive plant life, their power would return, and they could grow the food they so desperately needed. Only she wouldn’t be there to see it. “Your magic bound us into a pact of utter truth and loyalty—and still you messed with my head. The truth isn’t in a loser like you, but your lies shattered any bond between us. I’m well rid of a jackass like you.”

“I was desperate,” Mordred pleaded. “I sort of twisted my magic to exclude anything to do with the Fae. Look, I should have done things different, better, but I’ll do anything to make you stay.”

The angrier she felt, the brighter she glowed. She tipped her head to one side and studied him. “Threats? You’re pathetic. Listen, jackass, you’ve finished the hatchet job on my emotions that my own family started. Thanks to your stupid stage show, I turned my back on Leonidas. I guess you’re just a natural asshole.”

“Ruthless bastard without a heart, remember?” he murmured, but he didn’t sound as certain as usual.

Power flooded from Meena’s hand. The supports of the wooden minstrels’ gallery above Mordred exploded. Arms over his head, he shot forward. Splinters of polished oak showered down on him.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Meena demanded. “I’d have helped anyway. And don’t you dare come any closer, or I’ll turn the same spell on you I did on the Elf that just tried to kill me.”

No coward, Mordred stood his ground, but he changed tactics. “Those former drudges down in the port need a protector. What will happen if you leave?”

Any softness she’d felt toward him vanished. Anger made her magic hum overhead like power cables. “Hurt them, and I’ll return with the full caste of green Witches. You thought that jungle out there was bad, well, Mister, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Hurt them, and you’ll not believe the monstrosities we’ll set growing in your land.”

Mordred paled, but she could almost see his thought process. He was scheming to keep her. He must be. Meena didn’t trust the smile that finally settled across his face. He oozed charm as he stepped toward her. “I wouldn’t let them suffer anyway. Their mistreatment is the reason the Fae refuse to ally with us. We still need food along with farm instruments and well-behaved seeds. I give you my word that they’re safe.”

“Your word’s worth nothing,” Meena rumbled in her power-infused voice. “If your men ever touch an unwilling woman again, I’ll send plagues and sickness across your land.”

She floated up the stairs and locked herself in her chamber. It was time for tough choices, but no matter what direction her life, she’d take it alone. She’d never felt so lost.

The air fizzed with magic, and her father flashed into the room. “You’re floating, child. I always knew I had a powerful daughter, but you look like Sigourney Weaver, my 1980’s heartthrob, when she appeared in
Ghostbusters
.”

“Out of date and out of fashion, that’s me.” She sniffed.

He laughed and held out his arms. “No, you’re a Witch crackling with power—but you look like you need a hug. Come here.”

She sobbed against his chest. Finally, tears still pouring down her cheeks, she lifted her head and asked, “How come you’re here? And why now?”

He stroked her hair back down around her shoulders. “Because I couldn’t stay away any longer, and my Spidey senses told me it was time. Your mother will go ballistic, though, when she finds out I’m here.”

Meena giggled between her tears “Spidey senses? Come on, you just spent twenty-three years in prison. How did you see that film?”

“Comic book freak here.” Her father grinned. “Actually, anything written down, I devour. Before the Elves imprisoned me, I couldn’t sleep without reading first. I even had a starring role in a Gothic novel, remember? But Bram Stoker was always a bit of an idiot. Anyway, Vampires sense things sometimes, and when I woke this morning, I knew you needed me.”

She couldn’t imagine her newly acquired father reading comic books, but at least he came to comfort her when she hit rock bottom. She daren’t trust him—not after everyone betrayed her. “I can’t stay here, not now Mordred’s shown his true colors.”

Her father shrugged. “That’s the other reason I’m here. My informants in the Fae court say your Leonidas has turned feral. Meena, I’m sorry, but it’s your mother’s fault.”

“I’ll kill her,” Meena said, enraged.

She’d done everything to rescue her mother, but her loyalty had cost her dearly. Not only had her mother lied to her for years, but thanks to Elizbetta’s out-of-control curse, happiness was forever out of Meena’s grasp.
Thanks, Mum—it’s good to know you care…honest
. Her parents might be reunited, but she still mourned for Leonidas. Every night as she fingered herself to climax, she wept for the love she’d lost.

Her father held her at arm’s length. “Don’t judge her too harshly. Separation from your true-mate’s always painful. Twenty-three years apart almost broke the pair of us. The previous Fae king robbed her of her true-mate, and the curse was her way of stopping him from finding his—then Leonidas inherited the curse, and he wants no one but you. My informants in the Fae palace tell me his beast howls in constant pain. As he prowls his room, he calls your name. If you want, I’ll take you to the Fae palace, but it’s magically protected, so I can’t get you inside.”

Meena hissed in a breath. “Just get me there. I guarantee nothing and no one will keep us apart.”

* * * *

Meena walked around the dark granite walls a second time. There wasn’t a way into the palace unless the Fae dropped that heavy iron drawbridge. The Fae council had forbidden anyone to enter or leave. A few hardy petitioners camped around the gate, but they’d been there for days. No way would she join them.

Maybe she could float across the way she’d floated up to her suite in Mordred’s palace, but honestly she wasn’t sure how she’d managed that. She needed to flash inside—but she hadn’t mastered that skill either. So much for being Superwitch. More like Useless Witch, but for Leonidas, she’d give it a go—maybe.

Then, after a moment’s thought, she summoned Lipstick.

Seconds later, the dragon landed at her side. Meena patted his scarlet scales. “Okay, boy, I’m the dumb one here. You tried to tell me Leonidas needed me, and I didn’t listen. Can you get me inside?”

Just that easily she was in the practice courts, and this once, she didn’t complain when Lipstick licked her cheeks and wound his tail around her legs.

“Hey, Lipstick, is that woman bothering you?” a stable hand called. The dragon’s growl sent him skittering away.

“Just leaving.” Meena slipped free of Lipstick’s tail and ran across the courtyard. Unlike her father, she didn’t need Spidey senses to tell her something was wrong. Solemn courtiers ignored her as they slow marched around the castle like mourners at a funeral. The silence choked her. Then an animal roar—deep, raspy, and primal—shattered the unnatural quiet.

Leonidas!
And Hekate, he was hurting! She rushed up the central tower’s spiral stairs.

A sentry hailed her. “Halt and state your business.”

She tried to push past. “I’m here for the king.”

The sentry stepped forward and blocked her way. “The two chosen are waiting outside his door. They’re to enter when he next sleeps. This is a difficult time for all concerned. I will not let you disturb them.”

After all that had happened, no overzealous solider was going to stop her. With a wave of her hand, she turned his weapons to weeds—dead ones that drooped in his hands. As he stared in astonishment, she slipped past.

Two women sat outside the door. One was expressionless, her face cold and her hair pulled tight into a lacquered coif. The other giggled and fidgeted. Both stared nervously at the closed door, but she shoved them aside when she tugged on the handle.
Hekate, why doesn’t the damn thing open?

The expressionless one sniffed, all affronted dignity and ice. “My duty is to save my king. The chamberlain chose us, and we will soothe him the next time his beast recedes.”

The giggly one was brighter than she looked. She stared at Meena. “I don’t want to. You can have my place if you want.”

“Done,” Meena agreed. “Get out of here, and don’t let me see you hanging out with Leonidas again.”

“You can’t do that,” Cold Heart and Hair Lacquer protested.

“Wanna bet?” Meena grinned. She drew on her power and fueled it with the anger inside her. Her feet left the ground, and her hair haloed upward—
Ghostbusters
-style. Absently she decided to introduce her dad to some new movies. Then she reached for the door.

The sniffy, cold-faced woman announced. “I’m the one chosen, and I will save our king.”

Tongues of flame flickered over Meena’s arms. Fireballs surrounded her hands. “Back off, sister. He’s taken.”

All affronted dignity, the woman followed her giggly companion down the stairs. With a deep breath, Meena calmed her soul and drew her power back inside her. Then she pulled on the door again. When it didn’t open, her carefully controlled fireball melted the hinges, and the door toppled inward.

The first thing that hit her was the cold. Leonidas must be freezing or too far gone for anyone to enter and light him a fire. The second thing she noticed was the mess. Someone had shredded the wall hangings. The bedding had been torn into tiny pieces. Remnants of fabric spread like confetti around the room. Feathers from the empty mattress floated through the air. Claw marks covered the wooden bedstead. Bits of broken wardrobe littered the floor. Leonidas’s clothes were flung everywhere.

Leonidas lay curled on the floor in a corner. At first Meena thought he was sleeping, but when she approached, he reared up on all fours and growled, “Keep back.”

His dark hair fell limply around his shoulders. Uncombed, it hung in hanks and tangles, but it was longer than she remembered. His torso was deliciously naked, but he’d clawed deep furrows across his chest. His leather pants had rips in the thighs and holes in the knees. Even his feet were bare. His deep LL Cool J voice was lost in his animal roar. “Get out!”

Her poor Fae warrior, robbed of everything by her mother’s curse. She needed to reach him, to love him, but he stalked toward her, murder in his eyes.

“Elves’ blood,” Leonidas roared, “don’t you get it? If I fuck you, I won’t stop until you’re broken and bleeding. Dead even. Get out, and leave me alone.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Leonidas was lost in his beast. His world was composed of sensation and smells. The scent of heather and wild herbs washed over him—a familiar fragrance that haunted his dreams. No matter how little humanity he retained, he wanted only Meena. It hurt, somewhere in his gut, that this creature smelled like his true-mate. Anger and resentment rose inside him, feeding his beast and lengthening his canines into fangs.

His beast wanted blood, and the imposter wearing his true-mate’s scent would either run screaming for mercy or die. The beast didn’t care which. It hungered for Meena, craved her on a cell-deep level. Even cursed to endless infidelity, it couldn’t get a cock stand for anyone but her. An animalistic bellow erupted from him, and he clawed at his chest. Meena, he needed Meena. Again, he breathed in her scent, letting it fill his lungs as he remembered every rainbow streak in her hair. He growled a warning, but this creature who smelled like Meena came closer.

Meena took a step toward him. “Leo?”

That voice! Could it really be her? His Meena? No! Illusion! That soft voice throbbing with concern was nothing but illusion—something conjured by his courtiers to keep him sane. The beast in him threw back his head and bellowed in misery and confusion. Her scent. Her voice. But she wouldn’t come for him—not after the way he’d behaved. Even if she did, he’d fucked her once, and his beast only did one-night stands. Damn it, if he couldn’t screw her, then he’d never screw anyone again.