Dawn, Dakota - The Desperate Fay King [Kidnapped by a Fay] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More ManLove) (17 page)

Feeling invigorated, Chase carefully made his way further into the maze. After rounding a second corner, he came across another statue of the coupling men. This time his studied it carefully. Surely this wasn’t the one he’d seen earlier. Now that he’d studied it closely he would know if he circled back to it again.

A light sweat broke out on his brow as he moved on. To his delight, he came upon a statue of an oda spitting water. At this point he wouldn’t have cared what end the water was coming from, he needed a drink. Chase cupped his hands and held them under the water. Once his hands were full, he took a drink. The water didn’t taste very good, but he was thirsty, so he took another drink. That hadn’t been good at all, but at least it hadn’t been pink. Thinking of the bearded snatchers made Chase shiver. He was glad they didn’t live too close to any of the pink rivers.

Letting his curiosity take the lead, Chase investigated some more. Four turns later he came across a lounge. How convenient, he was feeling a little tired. Going to it, he laid down. It felt so good. He blinked, and it felt like his eyelids were moving very slowly. Maybe he had time for a nap. Chase looked at his watch, but the numbers were blurred. If he closed his eyes for just a moment, he’d probably be fine when he opened them again. He needed to be fresh when he met up with Rhett. The fay was probably breezing through the maze with no problems. His last thought was of how much he liked Rhett.

Chase woke to Tate tapping his cheek. “Hey, little guy. Welcome back.”

Confusion clouded Chase’s mind. Looking around, he realized he was still in the maze. Then he remembered how tired he’d been. “I was just taking a nap.”

Tate laughed. “I’m sure you were. What I want to know is why you were taking a nap. Did you drink the water from the oda fountain?”

Chase thought for a minute. “Yes. Then I got tired and decided to lie down. What’s the matter? Does Reed need me?”

Rhett entered the clearing and reported to Tate. “All’s clear, sir.”

“Good.” Tate scooped Chase up in his arms and started carrying him out of the maze.

Chase could feel his ears heating up. “Put me down, I’m all right. I was just a little tired.”

Tate laughed and kept on walking. “You were more than tired. You were drugged. We use this maze to train in. One lesson is to always be prepared. Never trust the water in enemy territory. If you had done that during a training exercise, you would have woken up with fake blood all over your chest. That’s how we let trainees know they would have been killed by the enemy.”

Taking stock of how he really felt, Chase realized that his limbs weren’t working all that well and he was still very tired. “This isn’t permanent, is it?”

Tate kept his steady pace as he answered. “No. You will be fine tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” That felt like forever. What if Reed needed him?

“Yeah, we like our trainees to remember the experience.” Tate was in full training mode. “Now you know not to drink strange water. How much did you drink?”

Chase thought for a moment. “I drank from my hands twice.”

“That’s about the amount most innocents drink. The taste discourages them from drinking much. You’ll get all your motor skills back tomorrow.”

“Rhett came looking for me?” That thought warmed Chase’s heart.

Tate laughed again. “Screaming was more like it. He lost it when he called your name a few times and you didn’t answer. He thought you must had fallen and hit your head. The poor guy was worried sick. He still did a good job. Even though he was distraught, he still remembered you’d told him to have the guard call me.”

“Was I hard to find?” Chase asked curiously.

“Not at all. Since I have a connection to you, I was able to easily find you, and since I know the maze, I was able to guess what most likely happened to you.” Tate left the maze and hurried to the elevator. Within minutes, he was placing Chase on his bed.

Reed burst through the door and rushed to Chase’s side. He hugged Chase to his chest as he asked, “How are you feeling, baby?”

Chase grimaced and wished he could hug Reed back. “Enlightened.”

Tate grinned at Chase’s answer and left the room.

“That water needs to be removed before anyone else accidently takes a drink of it.” Chase felt sorry for anyone that happened to, himself included. What kind of place had that kind of water in a public maze? Sorrow shot through his soul as he realized how it could have happened. Ardinio didn’t have women and children strolling around enjoying the maze. The majority of people who went into it were warriors in training.

“It is being removed as we speak. Now that you are here, we are going to have to be more careful. You are an example of what is to come.” Reed paused and stroked Chase’s cheek. “A bright future. One we obviously need to change some things for.”

Pleasure rocked through Chase’s chest, and he wished he could hug his mate. Reed settled in, and Chase noticed that Reed’s hair was stroking him comfortingly. “Does your hair have a mind of its own, or do you mentally order it to move?”

“I see your curiosity didn’t diminish from you recent adventure.” Reed kissed Chase’s head and briefly squeezed him. “I’m glad about that. The answer to your question is both. I can mentally move my hair, but it is also strongly connected to my emotions, and sometimes it just does what I would have done if I’d thought about it. Like when it randomly caresses you. I guess it picks up some of my habits and does them without me thinking about it.”

Chase was strangely comforted by Reed’s words. If Reed’s feeling weren’t strong for him, Reed’s hair wouldn’t automatically reach out to him in a comforting way. “I’m starting to appreciate your hair.”

Reed chuckled. “I’m happy to hear you say that, since I plan on caressing you with it for a very long time.”

Warmth bloomed in Chase’s chest and circled his heart. He could handle forever with Reed.

Chapter Fourteen

Chase paced as he waited for Reed to finish talking with the trollette king. A week had passed since Reed had contacted him. In that time the trollettes had been spotted many times under the berry trees. Deep down, Chase knew something was wrong.

He’d analyzed the evidence repeatedly. The trollettes had to be in desperate need of the berries. No one in their right mind would take the chance of getting caught stealing and trespassing if it were for pleasure only. Not when the people they were stealing from were a lot larger and had better weapons than them.

When Reed entered their living room, Chase pounced on him. “How did it go? What did you find out?”

Reed went to their fridge and poured himself a glass of froosh. “It was as you suspected. They needed the berries. It took me forever to get that damn fool king of theirs to confess that the berries were needed as a medicine.” Reed sat on the lounge and made room for Chase.

“Why didn’t you use your power of persuasion on him? That’s what I would have done.” Chase saw nothing wrong with doing whatever it took to help others.

“I don’t like to use it if I don’t have to. I tried to get him to freely give me the information, but he was too stubborn. I eventually was forced into using it on him.” Reed didn’t sound happy about what he’d had to do.

Chase scooted in next to Reed and plastered his body to Reed’s. He forced himself not to purr as their bodies made contact. Reed had a big heart and a delicious body. Laying his hand soothingly on Reed’s chest, Chase said, “You did the right thing. What was the medicine for?”

“Their babies are dying.”

A loud gasp escaped Chase. “That’s horrible! Do the berries heal them?”
Please say yes!

“Yes.” Reed sighed and shook his head. “Unfortunately, this has been going on for a few years. Recently, they accidently realized that the berries killed the bacteria that has been killing their infants. I made a deal with the king so that they can get all the berries they need and some young berry trees so they can start producing more of the berries on their land.”

Chase rubbed his hand across Reed’s chest as he thought for a moment. “Did the bacteria affect only the babies, or were they just the main targets?”

“The adults and older children weren’t affected, thank goodness.” Reed covered Chase’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “Without your help, we wouldn’t have been able to help the trollettes. They were too proud to ever ask for help. Because of you, their babies and future babies have a chance to live.”

Heat rushed to Chase’s neck and face, even as his heart gloried in Reed’s praise. “I will always do whatever I can to help out my new planet. I love Ardinio and its people.”

Reed smiled, and his fabulous eyes glowed lightly. “This was a history-making day. If our planet is ever attacked by someone from another planet, the trollettes and the fairies will fight the enemy together.”

Love for Reed made Chase’s heart want to burst. Chase couldn’t help himself. His emotions were begging to be vocalized. He placed his hand over Reed’s heart and looked into his beautiful teal eyes. “I love you.” Chase didn’t care if Reed couldn’t say the words back. He knew Reed loved him. From this day on, Chase planned on telling Reed how much he loved him every day.

To Chase’s heart-pounding delight, Reed’s eyes sparked, and he swallowed hard. “You can’t tell anyone this…it would put you in serious danger…” Reed put his hand over Chase’s heart and leaned down, then whispered in Chase’s ear. “I love you, too.”

THE END

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