Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (22 page)

Oona had been pacing in front of me and she stopped. Placing the blade in
between my breasts, she sliced a shallow cut down to my belly button. The only thing covering me was cut open and soaking in blood.

I pushed down the panic that threatened to take control.
Holy crap, she was crazier than Mab. She was a bowl of crazy sauce with a side dish of insanity. “So why did Kael need me?” I needed to keep her talking and give Lucius time to find me.

“He needed you to kill Mab. He didn’t want her finding the ring
and discovering its power. The door was open and magic was coming back. She could have discovered it at any time. See, the Slaugh King may hate the Queen of the Fae, but with or without the ring, he can’t kill her. Another gift from the Goddess.”

She went over and gave Kael a big bear hug. He looked like he wanted to take her and
tear her into tiny pieces. That was good, because if we could get the ring from Queen Crazy Sauce, then we would have a fighting chance.

“
So you kill Mab and become queen. He doesn’t worry about me because I’m crazy. While you are busy playing monarch, he finds the key and never has to answer to another queen ever again. I think he would have left you at that point. Except I wasn’t crazy. Oh, I should be the things that mad cow made me do, but I held out hope that I would get revenge.”

She walked back to me and pushed the tip of the knife into my stomach
, just above my belly button. Tears streamed down my face. I was terrified to move in case I made it sink in further. It had gone in only a short way, but it hurt.

“
It took a bit to find my ring. Mab was a pig. She had my rooms torn apart and everything I owned was either broken or strewn everywhere. So I used the other magical items. It was so much fun. I would have gotten you with that arrow if it hadn’t been for that stupid wolf. Kael had little interest in protecting you, except wanting to keep you on the throne until he found that ring. He knew you didn’t know about it, but he couldn’t chance another fae coming to power and looking for it.”

She started to twirl the blade around. “Please
, stop…please.”

“Did you hear that
, Kael? The human is begging for mercy. I love it.” She removed the knife. “So where was I? Oh, yes. You had so many protecting you. Really, Cassandra, you have more men than Mab. So until I got the ring, I decided to have some fun. I hadn’t had fun in so long. My dear sweet Na’min took care of me and I began to enjoy playing with you. Even after I got the ring, I continued to play with you. Why not? I was being pampered by my favorite cousin and I got to make your life difficult.”

Her face was twisted in rage. “Lochlan knew what had been done to me. I couldn’t stand
the sight of him, but Na’min, he worshipped me. Until you came along.”

She got so close I could feel her breath on my cheek. “I don’t see why anyone finds you so special. I think you look rather b
oring. Common.” I brought my leg up between hers as hard as I could. She staggered backwards. I hardly hurt her.

“Oh
, you will pay for that.” She gathered herself and sauntered over. Punching me in the stomach, the room went black for a minute. I would have fallen if it weren’t for the rope.

“You’
re hated, Oona. No one will want you as queen again.”

She sliced my cheek. The knife had done the damage before I could flinch. “Shut up.”

The blood from my cheek was dripping on the floor. She didn’t stop. She moved the knife quickly across my chest and arms. The cuts weren’t deep, but they all bled and the pain was making it hard to think.

“I saved your realm. I opened the fae door.”

“True. That was very nice of you. I really should thank you for that. Maybe I should just end your life now? Take pity on you.”

“
You’re such a fucking crazy-ass bitch. I’m going to drain you of every last ounce of power and then I’m going to be the one having fun.”

My skin was slick with blood. The white sheath was a sickly pink and it stuck to my body. I was getting weaker by the second. I needed to hold on. I knew Lucius would find me if he had enough time. I had to give him that time.

“You don’t look very well, Cassandra. What a truly horrid name you have. It’s harsh on the tongue.”

I started to laugh. “Yeah
, my name’s horrid. OOOOOOOOOOnnnna.” I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Stop it. Stop laughing at me.” She stabbed me in the thigh
; this one was deep. It was a burning pain. My laughter changed to a scream. I guess laughing at a crazy mad bitch wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

“If I die, Lucius will bring down hell on you
, Oona. He will make you pay for this.”

“I’m not scared of the dead one. As
long as I control the slaugh, I’m safe.”

“Are you afraid of his father?”
Her eyes widened. “Quintus would love an excuse to have you sealed in here for good. He has weapons that make the slaugh look as scary as a pixie.”

“You lie.”
For the first time, she looked uncertain.

The knife was so sharp
, it went right through to the bone. My feet slipped in my own blood and everything went out of focus, then dark.

I woke to yelling. It was Oona. She was screaming at Kael. “You should have stopped me. Now she’s going to die before I could do all the things I wanted to do to her.
” She stomped her foot like a little girl who broke her toy.

Killian opened his eyes and looked at me and then
at Oona. I wasn’t thinking clearly, but I think he wanted a distraction. I tried to focus my eyes, but everything was a blur. With the last bit of my strength, I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. She turned to me, raising her knife.

“Silence, human.” She kept yelling, but I couldn’t hear anymore.
In a flash, Killian was on her. He had her wrist and sunk his teeth in.

Her screams joined mine.
We continued that way. Her free hand had the knife and she stabbed him wherever she could reach. He never flinched or let go. She was a blur between using her knife and trying to get her other arm out of Killian’s mouth. Blood ran down her hand, making it slick, and before she could come to her senses and ask Kael for help, Killian slipped off her ring and sent it flying across the room.

Kael froze
; he watched Oona and Killian fight with a giant smile on his face. It wasn’t hard to figure out who he was rooting for. Killian moved to her neck and she began to weaken. Her only good hand became clumsy and she soon dropped the knife. When she fell to the ground, he followed her. His knife wounds were almost healed and he was getting stronger. I wasn’t. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. It was slow and I ached to close my eyes.

The door blew in. Lucius
stood there, fangs down and eyes glowing, but I wasn’t scared of this monster. I loved him. He took in the scene and began rushing to me. I smiled and then passed out.

I surfaced to the sound of Lucius talking to Eli. They were whispering. I couldn’t make out words. I tried to open my eyes, but I was still so tired. Then everything came back. My mind hit rewind and I was back in that room, trying to stay alive. Killian had saved the day. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Lucius in all his horrible glory. Tears began to fall from my closed eyes. I was safe.

I forced my eyes open. “Lucius.”

He came over to the bed and took my hand. “Sshh, don’t talk. You’re still healing. You need to save your strength.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“Tell
me what happened.” Talking set my throat on fire, but Lucius took pity on me and told me what I needed to know.

“I came back to our suite and
the goblins told me where you went. I rushed down to find the goblin guarding the jail dead and Dominick screaming for help. He told me what happened. We were frantic. I didn’t know where to look. We thought we had looked everywhere in the castle when we were looking for Oona the first time.

“
It was Na’min who remembered the secret door that led to this part of the castle. He used to play in here with Oona when they were kids. We burst in and found Killian fighting Oona, and you tied up. You were so weak. I thought maybe we were too late, but I should know better by now. I should know that you are much too tough to give in.”

“I feel like shit.”

“You look terrible too, but you’ll be better in no time. I’ve given you my blood twice since we brought you back.”

“Is Oona alive?”

“No, Killian and I drained her.” He licked his lips.

“Good
, she didn’t go to waste. What about Kael?”

“He left as soon as we arrived.”

“The ring, where is the ring?”

“I ha
ve it here.” He held it up. “Killian is a clever bastard. He only pretended to throw it. He wanted you to have it, so with all that was going on, he palmed the ring and threw some junk he had in his pocket.”

I reached up and brought him to my lips. His kiss was so gentle it tickled.
I held out my hand and he put the ring on my finger. I was tired and I needed rest, but I also needed answers.

“Kael
, get your ass here now.”

The
King of the Slaugh appeared on the other side of my bed. He looked at me with hatred. I knew the ring was the only thing keeping me alive, or maybe, like Oona, he couldn’t harm me because I was queen.

“Is everything Oona said true
? I want the truth!”

“I wanted you to kill Mab before she found the ring. I wanted you to be queen so you could destroy the ring. Only the queen can destroy it. Slaugh cannot touch it. I thought I could convince you to find it and destroy it. Oona found it before I had the chance. I underestimated her.”

“So you had no choice but to help her.”

“No, when the magic faded
, her hold on me did too, but I still couldn’t harm her. I can’t kill a queen. No matter how much I may want to. I hoped to get the ring before the magic came back to it. I failed.”

“So you only pretended to keep me safe.”

“Yes and no. I didn’t make it a priority, but I was the only thing keeping the fae in line when you first became queen.”

“So why didn’t you confide in me? We both could have looked and when we found it
, I would have destroyed it.”

“
I needed to get to know you first. I thought you might use it like Oona.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been used as a weapon all these years
, Kael.”

He looked at me wearily. I didn’t blame him for not trusting me or lying to me to get the ring. He used me and I hate
d that I fell for it, but he did save my life and I understood his need to be free.

“What if I destroy the ring?”

“You’d do that?”

“Yes, but I want you to tell me what you’ll do.
The truth.”

“I will disappear. I have longed to be away from this realm forever. My people were once the keeper
s of dreams, the collectors of souls. We did good and we kept to our own. It was the great hunt that got perverted. It was meant to restore balance after a great injustice. Instead, we were turned into the slaves of the queen. Her henchmen. I want to go back to before that time.”

“How do I destroy it?”

“You simply wish it away.”

Could it be that easy?
I looked at the ring on my hand. It didn’t seem possible. I wished with all my might that it would cease to exist. It slowly disappeared and then was gone.

Kael smiled at me
, closed his eyes, and was gone.

“I know you have a big heart
, my love, but was it wise to get rid of him when your work here isn’t done?”

“The fae have made great progress. The two symbols of the old ways are gone. They won’t need me anymore. I’ll stay for a while just to make sure, but the balance has been restored. Everything else will fall into place.”

“I have some good news for a change. Ruby woke up. We almost had to restrain her to keep her in bed. She wanted to come to you immediately. Eli feels she still needs more time to get better before she’s able to move around.”

“How are Killian and Dominick?”

“They are fine. Killian healed quickly with all that fae blood in him and Dominick has been freed. They are both anxious to see you, but I think they can wait until you’re feeling stronger.”

“You know best
, my love. I think I need to go back to sleep. I’m drifting off.” He climbed in beside me and snuggled up next to me. I was happy. Everyone I loved was okay. I was tired and I just wanted some rest. I had earned it.

The
End

My recovery was slow and I struggled to follow doctor’s orders. I was up out of bed after a few days, but I tired easy. Ruby kept me sane. We played cards and she told stories about her family and her life. I told her about my parents and Lena. Lucius often walked in on us while we were giggling. He would roll his eyes, but he loved Ruby almost as much as I did.