Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (3 page)

“Of course. I’m sorry.” He turned from me and wouldn’t look in my direction. “I should have k
nown after how I’ve behaved, after what I have done, that you wouldn’t trust me. That you shouldn’t trust. Fuck, I was a monster. I could have...”

“You couldn’t help it. It wasn’t your fault. I know that. We just need to get you that cure.”

He nodded and sank down on the settee. “I should go with you. You shouldn’t go alone.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder.
“No, I need to do this alone. Trehern is a pig, but he is terrified of Kael. He won’t harm me. I think King Trehern will be more likely to give me what I want if we are one on one.”

“I don’t like you putting yourself in danger for me.”

“No danger, Lucius. I am his Queen. I will have to meet with him all the time. Being in the same room with him makes my skin crawl, but the goblins are powerful and Trehern is their leader. If I’m going to be able to do my job properly, I have to be capable of meeting him as an equal. So you’re in luck; no more bodyguard duty for you.” I pasted on a fake smile, hoping he would be convinced.

“I loved every second I was your bodyguard.
” The look of happiness on his face brightened the whole room. “I lay with you night after night, wanting you. Struggling against my stupid code when I could have had you in my arms. I’ll make it all up to you, I promise.”

“You have nothing to make up for
, Lucius. You’re a good man. You saved my life more times than I can count. Including when you were poisoned. I know you stopped yourself several times from hurting me. Any woman would be lucky to have a man like you.”

He reached for me, but
I rushed from the room before he could say anything else. He had that look of hope in his eyes. Like he could see us together and happy and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. He would sacrifice his relationship with Quintus for me and I couldn’t live with that.

Trehern was going to give me his blo
od and Lucius would be as good as new. It was the least I could do. Once he left here, he would forget me, and it wouldn’t take long for him to find someone else. Someone he didn’t have to watch age right in front of his eyes, someone Quintus would welcome into the family, and someone who hadn’t had a
ménage a trois
behind his back.

Vampires,
werewolves, and fae so far had given me a lifetime of adventure, but when I got out of here, I thought I was going to go back home. Halifax had been calling me for a while. I had some unfinished business there. I wanted to look up Lena and try my very best to make up for my neglect and then, after that, who knew? I might meet a nice guy who didn’t turn furry or grow fangs. A guy who wasn’t older than human recorded history. A man who had never gone hunting on all fours or eaten his meal from someone’s neck. I knew these were lofty goals, but I needed to try.

Once I left the room
, I realized that I didn’t know where to go. Mab had us confined mostly to our rooms and, when we were allowed out, it was to the grand dining room. I had a terrible sense of direction. Learning where everything was in this castle was going to be a challenge. Finding Trehern was going to be my first obstacle.

Looking up,
hoping to see something familiar, I did. Na’min was standing in the hallway, leaning against a door. He was still dressed in his human clothes and looked as out of place as I felt. It was a relief to see his kind face. He was spattered in blood from head to toe. A shaking hand pushed back his long, silver hair, revealing a deep cut on his face. It was healing already and unless it was made by iron, he would soon be as good as new.

I would need someone I trusted to fill me in as much as possible on all things fae. Na’min
would be perfect. I was comfortable with him and he hadn’t been here when the dark fae did their worst, so he could be a little more objective.

Oona needed someone to be by her side, but that didn’t always have to be Na’min.
The problem was he would want it to be him. He loved her, which was plain to see. I thought Na’min could do better than a queen who had sentenced half her subjects to prison and had ignored all the obvious signs that the fae world was dying, but then, maybe she had changed. I would just have to convince him that his people needed him more than his queen did. Well, former queen. His current queen needed him quite a bit. This was going to get complicated.

He gave me a warm smile.
“Ah, Little Queen, you should be resting. You’ve been through so much tonight. We need you healthy.”

“I’m fine
, Na’min. Please still call me Cassandra. This whole queen thing makes me uncomfortable.”

“As you wish. In private
, I will still call you Cassandra.” He smiled and bent down to kiss my forehead. I felt that familiar tingle of power when his lips touched my skin. It sent a shiver down my spine. No other fae affected me the way he did.

“How is Queen Oona?”

“She’s resting, finally. I had the healer put a sleeping herb in her tea, but I doubt she will ever be the same. It’s hard to tell. She has a very long life ahead of her, so she may heal one day. We will have to be very careful. Her mind has disconnected with reality. I’m sure it was self-preservation, but if she remembers what has happened to her too quickly, she might break forever.”

His perfect face was drawn and he wore his exhaustion in the lines around his beautiful eyes. “
I have heard rumors already that the dark fae want Oona’s head in retaliation for Mab’s death.”

“
I hadn’t even thought about that. I assumed most dark fae would be happy to have her gone. She was so cruel to everyone. Queen Oona has suffered unspeakable things. I have no intention of taking her life. Enough killing has gone on. We are done.”

He gave me a slight nod and hung his head.
“She looks through me. Her eyes used to light up the very second she saw me and now she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence. It’s so hard to have her with me and not be able to talk with her.”

“You’ll find a way to reach her
. If anyone can help her, I know it will be you.” I put my hand on his arm and he smiled despite everything. I had thought Na’min was such a strange creature when we first met, but now that I knew other fae, he was by far the most human of them all.

“Cassandra, I don’t regret coming to the human worl
d to try and save my own. You saved my people and my home, but I am sorry for every hurt you suffered because I involved you. You’re a kind and thoughtful woman. I wish you only good things. You don’t deserve the responsibility of trying to unite us. I feel we have done so much evil, we are beyond redemption.”

“No race is beyond redemption
. We have to look ahead and not repeat the past.” I gave him a hug. We both needed one. “Do you have any idea where Trehern is? I’m looking for some of his blood.”

“He’
s in the throne room, waiting to speak to you. I hope he gives you what you need to cure Lucius.”

“Na
’min, I need to do this for him. He saved my life and almost died because of it.”

He took his hands and cupped my face. “Please believe me that you are not responsible for every terrible thing that happens around you.
We all have free will. Lucius saved me that day too. He did what he needed to do.”

“I know, but I love him and I want to do this for him.”

“Then please be careful with Trehern. The goblins are wild things and they have survived through brute strength and numbers. Their king is much more sophisticated than your average goblin. He will test you to see what he can get away with and what he may get from you. Never underestimate Trehern’s savvy.”

“Between you and me, I’
m terrified of him, but I’m determined not to let him know.”

“He should be terrified of you
, Little Queen. You have been tested time and again, yet here you are, coming out on top once more.” Of all the things he could have said, that was the most perfect.

“
Na’min, I have something I need you to think about for me. I know you don’t want to leave Queen Oona, but I need an advisor I can trust and someone I’m comfortable with. Someone who can teach me about your government and culture.”

He nodded and looked sad again. I put my hand on his arm and en
joyed the exchange of power. A brief smile appeared. “Of course I will, Cassandra. It’s the least I can do.”

He pointed to the end of the hallway
, anticipating my next question. Na’min would make this job a little easier. Trehern was likely going to make it harder, but he was part of the fae world and that meant we had to be on good terms. From my brief experience with the Goblin King, he seemed like a despicable creature, but I was going to have to suck it up and get along with him. Being a diplomatic leader had a steep learning curve and I was wearing stilettoes.

The throne room ha
d no door, just a giant archway made of marble and matching pillars. The fae were talented artisans. Having that long to hone your craft made them masters. The detailed etching in the marble was painted and so lifelike it looked like a photograph. I ran my hand over the doorframe. It felt warm and the figures had a pulse that came to life under my fingers. This realm was dark and dangerous, but it was also beauty and magic.

The fae had
committed such atrocities and hurt each other in unspeakable ways, but I had to believe that any people capable of creating something so exquisite could one day be capable of peace. Someday, they would put what they had been through behind them and come together again as a united fae. I wanted to help them reach that goal.

I had people who had helped me, so many people who had give
n their all for me, and I hadn’t been so good at giving back. This realm was going to give me that chance. I wasn’t delusional. It was going to take a lot of work, but they had little choice. It was get along or become extinct. If that wasn’t enough motivation, then nothing was.

Pulling myself from my thoughts
, I looked to the other end of the long room. There, sitting upon my throne, was Trehern, king of the goblins, looking happier than a pig in shit. He had his back against one arm and one knobby thin leg thrown over the other, with the remaining leg dangling down below. He looked way too comfortable for my liking.

“You have a lot of n
erve, sitting on my throne, Trehern.” His cold eyes turned to mine. The second eyelid clicked shut, sending a milky film across his black pupils. I felt the grip of fear and shook it off. “Get up, Trehern. I’m not in the mood for power games.”

“I’m most impressed. You’
re very brave to challenge the Goblin King; even Mab never did that.” He stood up and started to walk toward me. The sheen on his skin shone in the light, making it look like newly oiled leather. Burns and scars decorated almost every inch, a physical testament to just how brutal life was for a goblin. I had never seen a goblin wearing clothes and, right now, the king was no exception.

The thought of being alone with him was much scarier than the reality
. I should have been petrified standing in front of such a strange and brutal creature, but his nakedness made him seem oddly approachable. I couldn’t resist checking out what he had below his non-existent belt. His balls were deflated grapefruits, the skin wrinkled and puckered. They hung below a large, fat cock peppered with barnacle-like growths. The Goblin Queen was one lucky lady. NOT!!!! EWWW.

Standing my ground
, I made him come to me. I waited until he was close before I answered. “Well, I killed Mab, so that gives me two on her.”

“Yes
, you did, but you can’t kill me the same way. Goblins aren’t creatures of magic like the fae. The goddess made us first. We were to be her warrior race. We had to be tough and resilient. She needed a people who could thrive in the underground caverns that was to be our world. She forged us from the stone of the surrounding caves to make us strong and she made our stature short and squat to make navigating the tunnels easier. I know you find us hideous, but we were once as beautiful as any fae, if not as tall. Over the years, our own home, the lack of sunlight and food turned us into what you see today.”

His second eyelid slicked back and forth over his eye
s the whole time he spoke, making a wet clicking sound each time. “We are ugly creatures, my new queen, but we thrived when the other fae died. I used to think the goddess had turned her back on us because we no longer looked pleasing, but now I think she might have loved us most of all.”

“Your history lesson is fascinating, but
it’s been a long day and I’d like to go to bed. So if we could get on with this… or do I need to call Kael?”

If it was possible for a goblin to go pale
, he did, but he recovered very quickly. “I’m sure the King of the Slaugh could make me pay dearly, but then you would never get my precious blood so you might heal your dead one.”

Jeez
, gossip didn’t take long to get around here. “Then I propose a deal. I’m going to put together a council. One that will help me move forward and help the fae decide where they want to go next while they heal and try to forgive each other. If you give me your blood, I will give you a seat.”