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

“I was mated to his brother. Apparently
, that makes us pack.”

“What happened to your mate?”

Was this guy for real? “Your mother killed him.”

“She has killed a lot of people. She likes it.” His voice was flat and normal. I couldn’t imagine having Mab for a mother. A shudder wracked my body at the
very thought.

“Why are you here
, Prince Conal?”

“A friend of mine wanted to meet you. He said I should bring you to him. So I thought we could go for a walk and see if we can find him.”

Great, I was going for a walk with the Mayor of Crazy Town. “I…ummm sure. That would be nice.” I had no choice, so why not?

“Good
. I’ve never spent time with a human before. I was born in the prison.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I can’t agree or disagree. It’s the only existence I’ve ever known.”

No wonder he was so creepy. He was raised by the Queen of
Darkness in a prison filled with goblins and God only knows what other horrific creatures. Just like the queen, his outer shell didn’t match the crazy inside. He was tall and slim like most fae and he had his mother’s dark silky hair that he kept tied in a loose ponytail in the back. It was his eyes that made him hard to look away from. They were so innocent and sweet, it was hard not to believe he was harmless.

“You won’t hurt me
, will you?”

“No. I just want to be around you.” He cocked his head to one side like a puppy. “I have no reason to harm you. I just want to spend time with you.”

I couldn’t see a way out of this and cooperating might help me later. “Then let’s go. I would love to see the fae realm.” I plastered on a fake smile and took his hand. It might be my only chance to scope things out without something trying to kill me. He pulled me to my feet and before I realized he was going to use fae magic, I was passed out cold.

I woke on a bed of black silk sheets. It was a relief to feel no ill effects. I was grateful that I m
ight have kept all my brain cells with that trip. Conal was looking down at me with a goofy smile. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Why does fae magic make you lose consciousness?”

“I wish I knew.”

“I laid you in my bed to make you comfortable.”

“Thank you, Conal, that was sweet.”

“Would you like to have sex? I am very good.” His hand went to his shirt and started to undo his buttons.

“No, thank you, I need to stay faithful to Killian. We are in a relationship.” If kidnapper- captive can be a relationship; then again, I did mate with my last kidnapper, so maybe I shouldn’t be so judgmental.

“Can you walk now?” He didn’t seem to take offen
se to being rebuffed.

“Yes
, you must be better than everyone else. Usually I get a really big headache.”

“Of course
; I am a prince.” He looked very pleased with himself, like a kid who just tied his shoe for the first time.

“Where do you want to go?”

“It’s a field in the sacred forest. It’s where my friend usually likes to be this time of day.”

“Is it far?” By which I meant if I scream really loud
, would anyone hear me?

“No
, not very. You will enjoy the walk.”

“Have the trees regained their leaves?”

“Some have buds. The Light Queen was quite excited when I told her.”

“Where is the
Light Queen?”

“She is chained to Mother’s bed. She hates it there. Mother does very wicked things to her. I try to cheer her up sometimes, but it doesn’t work anymore.”

I took his hand and we headed out of the room. We were in a castle in a long corridor. I could hear moaning coming from a door at the end.

“Conal, who is in there
? They sound like they’re in pain.”

“They’re the humans we stole from the town. The ones
that are still alive.”

“Can I see them?”

“Why do you want to?”

“I want to see if I can help them.”

“Why?” He looked truly puzzled.

“Most humans
, when they hear others are hurt, want to help.”

“Okay, but I can’t let them leave. Mother would be very angry.”

I braced myself for what I was going to find. The room was dim. The air was stale with body odor and urine. There were three single beds and each had someone in it. One was very still, but I could see breathing, one there was no movement at all, and the last had a woman about my age. She was moaning and clutching her stomach.

I knelt by her bed and put my hand on her forehead. Her bloodshot eyes flew open and she began to shake. “
Sshh, it’s okay; I’m not here to hurt you. What can I do?”

“Kill me before they came back. Please.” I could barely hear her.

“Who?”

“The goblins.
They have done horrible things. When you can’t scream anymore, when you can’t fight, then they kill you. Please. I can’t live with the things they’ve done.”

I couldn’t kill this woman and I couldn’t help her. I felt like a coward on both accounts. It was a mistake to come in here. I went to the next bed. It was a man in his forties. He looked at me
, but I wasn’t sure he had even seen me. I was too much of a chicken to end her life and too powerless to help her in any other way.

I hugged Conal. I just needed some comfort from anyone. I was so out of it I didn’t feel his arms go around me. He looked down at me with a look of terror.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you going to hurt me now?”

“Of course not. Why would you ask me that?”

“You’re showing affection. That is usually followed by pain.”

“I just needed some comfort after seeing those poor people. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

He relaxed a bit. “Mother likes to inflict pain when she loves me.”

My fragile brain didn’t want to process what he meant by “loves me.” This was so terrible. We locked away the fae and killed their world, and they locked away the dark fae and they were tortured too. Now there was no balance. The good and bad were totally tipped one way and I could see all humankind falling into the abyss.

“She should never do that
; mothers are supposed to protect their children from pain, not inflict it.” He turned into a sad little boy right in front of me. His pouty lips bowed into a frown and his eyes seemed to be looking very far away. Then like a switch had been flipped, he wore a big goofy grin.

“Let’s go see Balor and Barghest. He wants to see you and I get to see them too. They are my friends.” Violet eyes twinkled back at me with excitement.

I couldn’t decide if I liked this fae prince. I didn’t think I could ever trust him; he was bat shit crazy and you can’t trust crazy.

Na’min had described the devastation to his world many times and even though he was one of the most articulate people I knew
, he still didn’t do it justice. The trees were in various stages of decay. Tall, majestic ancient trees rose into the sky all around us, each gutted by rot and disease. It made the giants look fragile.

A forest floor is a place where all life begins and ends, except for here. There was no green moss or tender saplings, no lush ferns or tiny plants carrying colorful berries. At first glance
, there were only black decayed leaves woven into a thick path of ebony velvet. It was devastating until you looked closer; tiny flecks of green growth peppered the floor. Delicate bundles of new life pushed its way up through all that death. It was beautiful.

Conal took my hand as we walked along. Despite the fact he towered over me, it felt like I was holding the hand of a child. He hummed a happy tune and our joined arms swung back and forth. His head was on a swivel, looking everywhere at once. He didn’t have that electric buzz of most fae. His hand was just really warm. The trees started to thin and it wasn’t long before the clearing appeared up ahead.

“Balor is usually in the clearing, playing with his dog, Barghest.” Conal took back his hand and rushed ahead of me into the field. I hurried to catch up. As soon as I laid eyes on his friend and dog, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Balor was like no man, fae, or other worldly creature I had ever seen
. What I saw almost made me wet my pants and if I’m honest, my panties were a little damp. Balor was at least eight feet tall and the color of dried blood. His skin was smooth and had a sheen that reflected the sun. My eyes moved down his naked body, along his sculpted torso, and landed on his very hard, erect penis. It was very large and barbed on the end.

I didn’t want to stare at his manhood, but it was so fearsome and unlike anything I had ever seen. I forced my eyes back up to his face. He was handsome in a demonic kind of way. His eyes were black with no white at all, but the rest of his face looked proportioned and human. A set of horns grew up from his hair on each side of his head. They looked like twisted wrought iron,
curving in until the sharp points almost touched. He was a beautiful nightmare come to life. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

His dog
, and I am using that term in the vaguest sense, was white and shaggy. He turned his giant head towards us as we entered the glade. His long hair hung in matted curls off his body. His eyes and ears were red and he was the size of a small cow. When he started at us full tilt, I would have collapsed on the ground if Conal hadn’t caught me. This dog made me want to curl up in the fetal position and give in to the scream that was building in my head.

“Cassandra
, he will not harm you. You are with me and I will protect you.”

I wasn’t convinced. I didn’t think he was lying
, but I felt like if that big scary dog wanted to kill me, then I was going to be dead.

“Barghest
, down.” Balor’s voice boomed around the small field, bouncing off me and echoing in my chest.

The huge dog flattened himself to the ground. The voice from the creature in the field made my ears ring and I was just settling into frightened
in abject terror when Balor turned to us and he smiled at Conal. His teeth were all sharpened to points, topping off the horror show. “Conal, my friend, I have not seen you in too long.” He turned to me and I mentally begged to become invisible. Balor started towards us.

He looked down at me. I couldn’t look away, even though I had never wanted to do something so bad in my life. His hand cupped my cheek. It was hot, almost to the point of burning me. His face was as gentle as someone with devil horns and pointy teeth could make their face. “What is your name
, little one?”

“Cassandra
.”

“Well
, Cassandra, I’ve been waiting for you.” He said my name by drawing out each syllable. “You have exposed the imbalance and even though you had no hand in creating it, I’m afraid it will be up to you to restore it.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked at me as if I had asked the stupidest question in the world. “You must heal and kill, rule and serve, and be close to those you hate and hurt those you love. Then it will be time to start anew.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” This was too cliché
, to have a strange creature speaking in riddles about a gargantuan task.

“Maybe you don’t.” He threw back his great head and laughed. “Barghest
, come!”

The dog bounded over. “Is he a shifter?”

“I wish he could shift back. He’s my best friend and has been a hellhound for a long time. I miss our talks. Barghest, she is our friend. We will protect her.” He gave the dog-like thing a head scratch. He started to wag his tail. Giant dog, giant dog smell.

He came over and licked my hand. His tongue had tiny spikes
, like a cat’s tongue, only sharper and harder. It broke the skin. I yelped, but the wound closed quickly.

“That’s a very special gift. He has only given it to one other. It’ll make you harder to kill. Barghest is immortal and he has just given you some of his life essence.
”

Conal laughed. “Now we have something we share.”

“Barghest gave Conal some of his essence so he would survive in the prison. His mother was determined to make our task a hard one. We needed him to bring you here, so I could tell you what needs to be done.”

“I know my mortal brain is slow, but you seem to think I can fix this somehow. If you have any ideas, I’m all ears.”

Did he mean I was destined to kill Mab and was I seriously taking advice from a demon in a field with a freaky dog? Could you lose your mind from experiencing too much crazy shit in one day?

“I have told you what you need to know. Whatever path you take is up to you.
” Barghest ran off and Balor chased him. “Good-bye, Liathe. Come back soon, Conal.”

We watched them run off until they disappeared into the woods. Conal was waving like mad. He really was like a little kid.

“Do you trust him, Conal?”