Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (2 page)

“You can’
t have Killian.” I cursed the cowardly crack in my voice. So much for being tough.

Quintus threw back his head and lau
ghed. “Who’s going to stop me and why would anyone want to? He kidnapped you and he brought you here to be at the mercy of a mad woman who killed your precious mate.”

Now he was just being an asshole and that gave me the anger I needed to stand up to him. “Yes
, he did, but he also made up for it. He kept me safe and he helped me kill Mab. I can’t let you have him. I gave him my word.” Every intelligent cell in my body was telling me to run and hide. I told them all to shut up and stood my ground.

“You have little choice.
He took what was mine and he has to pay for that. He’s a traitor, Cassandra; a little mongrel mutt who I took under my wing and he bit me in the ass to thank me for my trouble.”

“Killian i
s staying here with me and he is under my protection. He kidnapped me and I know that caused you pain, but he’s made up for that. He’s not the same person he was and he’s truly sorry.” He took a step closer and I stood my ground.

“Who
do you think you are, little girl, that you can tell me what I can and cannot do?”

“I’m the new Queen of the Fae.
”

He made a show of laughing e
xtremely hard. I wanted to make him see how much of an arse he was, but he was enjoying his role as asshole far too much. “You are Queen of the Fae? A human, a weak little girl who hasn’t had any other job except as my assistant. Is the sky purple and the moon made of cheese as well?”

There was a time when that little speech would have left me dissolved into a blubbering mess. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt me.
I straightened my spine and looked him square in the eye. “As of right now, I’m just as immortal as you and, although I may not be as strong or as powerful as you, I’m not worried. My champion will keep me safe.”

His eyes were two silver slits. They burrowed into
me, driving his anger inside. “Who is this champion of yours? Killian? I could break him like a twig.”

Quintus towered over me, pure power pouring off him
, singeing my skin. This man was a stranger to me. I backed up a little and ran into a solid surface.

“I am her champion
, dead one. Would you like to test me?”

Oh
, this wasn’t going to be good. Quintus wasn’t used to being challenged. King Kael stood above us both. His physical presence was enough to make the other vampires back up. To his credit, Quintus stood his ground, but his eyes widened and his face dropped for just a second before his mask was back in place.

“You are Slaugh.” It wasn’t a question
; it was a statement.

“Yes, I am the King of the Slaugh
, to be exact. My name is Kael.” I felt his strong hand on my shoulder and I immediately relaxed.

Quintus
looked back and forth between the two of us. I really thought he might bolt from the room. The king of the jungle now felt like a helpless mouse and I was ashamed to say it felt good to see.

“Jesus Christ
, Cassandra, I’ve never seen anyone like you. For the love of God, every otherworldly creature you come in contact with wants to rescue you, fuck you, or kill you.” He looked wearily at Kael. “I have wanted to do all three myself.”

It didn’t shock me
that he had thought of killing me. I’m sure it would have simplified his life numerous times over the years. “I went up against the Queen of Darkness and if I had any chance of coming out on top of the shit pile I was in, then I needed help. I made a deal with Kael. I kill the queen and he makes sure the other fae keep the peace until I can bring light and dark together to rule as one.”

“Well
, it’s lucky you’re immortal, then, because you’ll need an eternity to complete that task.”

“I did the best I could to save my life.”
Why couldn’t he see that I only did what I needed to do?

“You honestly didn’t trust me to come and rescue you?”

He was hurt. “I knew you would try, but things seemed so impossible.”

“Impossible for me, but not for you?”

“You know that’s not what I meant. You…” I tried to take his hand and he pulled away.

“No worries
, Cassandra. I see you have everything in hand. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as I go have a little chit chat with my former protégé.”

“I said…”

He cut me off by putting his finger to my lips. I could feel the anger building inside me. “Relax, Queen Cassandra. I won’t kill him while he is here on your sovereign soil, but I do have to let him know that if he puts one fucking Irish toe outside the fae door, he is fair game. Consider it a coronation gift.”

I relaxed a little. “Thank
you, Quintus… for everything.” Despite how things ended or his motivation for all the things he had done for me, he still had saved my life. Knowing that parting ways was for the best didn’t make it any easier.

“No need
, Cassandra.” He turned to Lucius. “I’ll assume you will remain here until Cassandra saves the day again and gets you the blood you need.”

“Yes
, Sire, I will be in touch as soon as I know anything.” They hugged each other and Quintus whispered something in his ear. Lucius hung his head.

“Then I am off. I apologize
, gentlemen.” He signaled for the other vampires to follow him. “I guess we weren’t needed after all.”

They followed him from the room and I was left with Kael and Lucius.

“Will you be okay now, little queen? I will stay, but if you feel you are safe, I have things to attend to.”

“Yes
, Kael. Thank you.” He was gone as soon as I said it.

Lucius opened his arms and I didn’t move tow
ards him. I wanted to. I ached to, but something made me stop. He wasn’t mine to have and never would be. The realization tore a hole in my heart. He had been with Quintus for over a thousand years and I had no right to tear that apart. If we were together, there was no question that Quintus would never stand for it. I had been naïve to think otherwise.

Lowering his arm
s, he slumped into a chair. He looked every bit the soldier he was. Exhausted, mentally and physically, he almost looked vulnerable. I wanted so badly to have his arms around me, but seeing Quintus’ reaction tonight cemented my belief that he would never allow us to be happy together. There was no point destroying their thousand-year relationship over something that would never last.

“Please don’t hate him
, Cass. You broke his heart and hurt his pride. You can’t expect him to still run around after you like he did.”

“Fuck
you, Lucius. I never asked for Quintus to do that.”

“You didn’t discourage it either.” His square jaw was set
as he waited for me to challenge what he said.

“It wasn’t an ego thing or because I wanted him to run around after me. I truly love him and
, for a long time, I needed him badly. I was only nineteen and he was the only person I had in my life besides Declan. He was family to me. I needed that. Seeing my parents ripped apart broke me for a very long time. When they took my magic, that hole became a bottomless pit. I was grabbing everything I could to fill that up so I could stop feeling that horrible ache of being alone.”

I started to pace the room. It was hard to admit to being a person who had used others, even if I didn’t know I was doing it at the time.
“When I left Halifax behind, I left my best friend. She would have done anything for me. She stuck by me and saved me. I missed her, but she was also so caught up in what happened with my parents and losing my magic that thinking about her was too painful. I think back and I know I used her. I didn’t mean to, but I did.

“I’m not a very good person sometimes. I
’ve ended up hurting those who love me so I can feel better. I’m just a broken, fucked-up little girl. I scream to have someone love me and then I run from it because I know it will only end up hurting me.” I was crying so hard now I couldn’t speak. Only jagged sobs squeezed through gasps of breath. I had been ashamed of what I had done. Speaking of it was like pulling out an arrow; it hurt keeping it in everyday, but ripping it out was almost too much damage to bear.

Lucius walke
d over and slowly put his strong arms around me. I sunk into him, taking the comfort I knew I didn’t deserve. He smelled of sweat and blood and it spoke to my bizarre life that those two scents gave me comfort. He just held me while I cried and even after, when I had no more tears left and no more voice to make a sound.

Emptied of all the terrible things I thought of myself for so long, I felt hollow inside, but it was a good thing. It was a new beginning. I was waiting to be filled up again. Older, hopefully wiser, I had acknowledged my mistakes and now I needed to move on and in a direction that would lead me away from repeating them again. While in this terrible place, I had survived and helped others survive. I didn’t need a rescuer anymore. I didn’t need someone to make me feel safe or whole.

Whether I wanted to be or not, I was Queen of the Fae.
It was going to take every brain cell and backbone I could muster to have even a minuscule chance at pulling this off. Uniting the light and dark fae would restore the balance in the world. Then they could work together to heal this magical place. When it was done, I could go home and start over. Balance in the world would be restored and I would be able to try to heal the things I had broken and walk away from the things I couldn’t.

I started to giggle into Lucius
’ chest. That was either the most awesome pep talk ever or a whole load of crap. Either way, I felt better.

“Cass
, are you laughing?” Lucius’ voice was filled with concern.

“Yes, sorry
; I think I may have finally lost my last marble.” I laughed even harder then.

He lifted my face so I had to look at him.
His strong features softened. His mouth had a slight upward curve on one side. “I love you, Goldilocks. I want you in my life. We can be together now.” I was glad I had already used up all my tears, because I would have started to bawl again.

Being the coward that I was, I decided to put off this conversation for a little longer.
I wasn’t brave enough yet to tell him that was never going to happen. Changing the subject seemed like a safer course of action. “Is there a reason you’re so … umm ... even tempered?”

“You mean
, why aren’t I craving your blood and acting like a psycho? Apparently, fae blood lasts a little longer than human blood. I had my fill during the fighting.” He licked his lips like he was remembering the best meal of his life. This was about to get awkward. He considered my subjects to be a tasty treat.

“You know you just c
onfessed to drinking the very people I promised to save.”

His eyes widen
ed and then he started to laugh and so did I. It was the kind of laughter that was so inappropriate that it made you laugh even harder. It was the thing that made me ache to have him in my life. I loved him, I did. He was handsome, strong, sweet, and loving, but he wasn’t mine to have. We would never make it work and I couldn’t bear having him, fully having him, and then watching it turn into something ugly. I had fucked two men. I had made life-changing promises that didn’t involve him, and the most important reason was it would drive a wedge between father and son.

I wouldn’t do that to Quintus
, no matter how he felt about me now, and I wouldn’t do it to Lucius, even if he promised me it was what he wanted. He had been with his sire for over a thousand years and stepping on that was a sin I wouldn’t commit.

Sometimes
, things are only right during a certain window of time and our time had passed somewhere between the day I opened the fae door and the day I became queen of the realm. Pushing him out of my life was going to be hard, but it was the right thing to do, but first I owed him a cure. If the Goblin King’s blood was what he needed to be his old self again, then that was what I was going to get.

“I’m going to get you King Trehern’s blood
, Lucius. I owe you that.”

“You owe me nothing
, Cass.” His lips were on my neck, making it very hard to think. “But if you feel you must, I can think of a lot of ways you can thank me.” His mouth nibbled at my earlobe as his hands slid down my spine to rest on my ass.

“Ummm, how about I thank
you by getting you that blood.” I bit my lip, trying to resist how he was making me feel. I wanted him and it would be so easy to give in.

Lips traced across my bare shoulder. “You could, but I’m feeling pretty full right now.
Plus, I think you’d be much tastier.”

“Lucius
, stop, please. I need to get you that blood. I’ll feel better when I know you’re cured. What if the fae blood wears off?” It was a low blow to remind him of how he had acted before, but that didn’t make it untrue.