Soul Mates: Magic (Soul Mates Series) (12 page)

I nodded and smiled. “Now I had better go. I’m supposed to be back down there to fight Gareth.”             

Daire started to get up out of the bed, even as weak as he was. “Just a minute,” he said.

“What are you doing? You need to stay in bed.”

“I’m going down to the ring. I’m going to make sure the Goblin King fights fair.”

“Daire, no, stay in bed. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

Daire shook his head as he tried to stand and I had to catch him when he started to fall. “No, I’m going.”

“No, you aren’t, my love,” I said softly just before I called to Cole. “COLE! I need you in here!”

“NO, she doesn’t!” Daire called just after me.

“What are the two of you hollering about?” Cole asked stepping back into the room.

“Would you please tell him to get back into bed?”

“Would you please inform her Highness that I will not be going back to bed, but will be going down to make sure the fight she is about to engage in is safe?”

Cole looked at us, one and then the other. “You, back in bed,” he said to Daire and I smirked. “And you,
is that what all that small talk was between you and the Goblin King? How could you set up a fight here? In the Goblin’s territory?” Cole gave me an exasperated look. “I will go and make sure she stays reasonably safe.”

Daire nodded. “Very well. So long as someone is there to make her see reason,” Daire said slipping back between the covers. He was asleep within seconds.

“Come, let’s get you back downstairs.”

“I’m changing first, I’m so not fighting in this,” I said gesturing to the dress.

“Well hurry it up.”

I closed my eyes and snapped my fingers, feeling for the first time in hours that I could actually breath properly again. With that snap I’d changed out of the micro mini dress and into leather pants, a form fitted tank top and knee high spiked heel boots. I liked the boots, men underestimated how fast I could move in them and
Gideon was right, the spike of the heel made a great weapon. I also added my throwing daggers to my waist, and a couple of them to my wrists. My hair, I looped into a braided bun. I so didn‘t want him using my hair against me. “I’m ready.”

We made it down to the center hall to find Gareth, the others and a crowd of about forty Goblins all ready to watch their King fight the Fae Princess. I frowned. Gareth was going to be tough to beat. Just looking at his arms told me he had at least fifty percent more strength than I did. I started to get nervous.

“Are you ready Princess?” Gareth asked with a wicked grin.

“I have just one more stipulation,” I said. “No biting.”

“That takes half the fun out of it, my delectable Abbey… I will agree to no biting sensitive areas…”

“Very well,” I agreed, hoping I knew what I was getting into.

Chapter Fifteen

I entered the ring as calmly as I could, keeping my breathing steady. I was nervous, but I didn’t have to show it. And the nerves would pass as soon as we began. I blinked and Gareth entered the ring, he stripped off his shirt and I could see that he had several bite marks upon his chest from numerous Goblin battles.

The Goblin crown, I knew, was won in the fighting ring. The one who survived was crowned the king. Gareth had battled his opponents many times and won. He was a very good fighter.
This wasn’t a battle for the crown of course, this was just a friendly little competition.

“The rules are as follows, no killing blows, no biting of sensitive areas, the match ends with the first fighter to land third blood, are you ready?” Thomas asked us both.

I nodded, and waited for Gareth to answer as well.

“Ready,” he said.

I knew Gareth was going to strike first, or attempt to strike first, but I ducked and his fist got nothing but air. I dropped to a squat and spun around taking him off his feet with a kick, but he was quick to get back up. I threw a dagger at him, but it missed by millimeters, catching his belt loop but not leaving a scratch. He drew a sword out of thin air and I pulled Virtus and quickly blocked his swing at my midsection. I spun around and blocked him again as he swung a second time. I was fast enough to get my own swing in that he wasn’t able to block. It caught him across the belly, leaving a nice gaping hole in his abdomen.

“First blood goes to Princess Abbey,” Thomas shouted as if he were the M.C. at a UFC match.

It didn’t take long for Gareth to pay me back. His sword landed a nice blow to my upper left thigh, slicing it open in a deep wound. We battled on, exchanging blows one after the other until he landed another deep gash across my upper left arm.

“Second Blood has been made by Gareth, the Goblin King!” Thomas continued to announce. “One more blow by Gareth and the match is over!”

I wasn’t about to let him beat me by two, so I quickly sent out a chocking spell, causing Gareth to drop his sword and put his hands to his neck, allowing me to draw a second blow on him to his torso.

“Second Blood has been drawn by Princess Abbey! The next Blood wins!”

I had barely enough time to draw a breath before Gareth was at my back, and his fangs were in my shoulder. I’d known at some juncture he was going to get his teeth on me. I should have known it would be a quick ending to our battle. The bite hurt like crazy, and it didn’t heal Fae fast either. It was going to take a couple of days for me to recover from it.

“Third Blood has been drawn by Gareth, the Goblin King! The Gob
lin King wins!” Thomas shouted and the goblins went crazy with their applause. I couldn’t hear myself think it was so loud in the arena.

“Princess, you fight well for a young warrior,” Gareth said with a smile. “And I must say you taste divine. If perhaps you are up to a rematch sometime, I would love to get my teeth on you again.”

I smiled. “I’m sure you would Gareth, however, I think my days in the Goblin ring are through. You are a fierce competitor.”

“As are you
, my lovely Abbey,” Gareth said sliding his arm around my waist, now come, there shall be dancing in the courtyard and other festivities to enjoy.”

“I’m sure I shall enjoy it greatly Gareth.”
I walked with him out of the arena and into the courtyard where the dancing had already begun.

Gareth led me to a large table and sat me at his side, much to Gertrude’s annoyance. I supposed it was normally her seat that I sat in. Gareth was very attentive, making sure I had everything I could possibly want or need while the party ensued.

“How is your shoulder, my delectable Abbey?” Gareth asked.

I winced when he touched the bite, putting extra pressure on it, making sure I felt it strongly. “You do have quite a bite Gareth. It will take weeks to heal,” I said, knowing that was what he wanted to hear. “I shall wear your bite with pride.”

Gareth grinned. “Come dance with me.”

Gareth took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor which had suddenly cleared the minute we set foot on it. I was strangely nervous about dancing with him, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Luckily it wasn’t a waltz, the Goblins seemed to prefer newer modern music to the classical stuff. I breathed a sigh of relief as some techno dance number came on. Pretty soon Gareth was moving like those street dancers you sometimes see in movies. He was really very good and I looked terrible next to him, but I sure had a good time. I was out of breath when we returned to our seats.

“Gareth, would you excuse me for a moment?” I asked with a smile.

“Of course, take your time.”

I got up to find the ladies room and realized that Gertrude was following close behind me.
I stopped and turned on her before we reached the powder room. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Gertrude frowned. “What are you doing here Princess?”

“You know why we are here,” I replied confused.

“I know your excuse, your hurt guard. But what are you really doing here? Are you here to steal away the Goblin King? Because I really will not allow it,” Gertrude spoke fiercely.

I smiled. “I’m really not here to steal the Goblin King from you. I promise. My heart truly is already taken.”

“Then your flirtatious behavior must stop now. The Goblin King is starting to believe you might be interested in him.”

“Gareth? I doubt that,” I said dismissing her comment.

“I’ve seen him looking at you.
I know what he is thinking. He wants to keep you, collect you.”

“He will not be collecting me, it’s impossible to collect people.”

“You would think, wouldn’t you,” Gertrude said sadly as she turned and walked back to the courtyard.

I thought about what she had said as I entered the ladies powder room to freshen up. Goblins were greedy, so I suppose he could be trying to collect me, add me to his harem of adoring women, but it soooo wasn’t going to happen!
I really just wanted to run up the stairs and check on Daire, see how he was doing and if we would be able to leave soon. Of course I didn’t want to travel at night. The Queen would definitely be on the lookout for us, ready to exact revenge at any second, especially if we were out and about at night and she knew where to find us. She may not know that the Goblin King and I had become friendly, so she may not suspect that we are here. But she wasn’t stupid and the only other route back to our Faerie Mound was through the treacherous swamps and bogs where her nightmares resided. And they would surely report to her if we had gone that way.

I studied myself in the mirror, looking closely at the bite mark that Gareth had given me. It was still a little sore, and probably would be for days. I thought about covering it up, but I didn’t want to offend Gareth. I decided to add a lightweight cotton jacket to my ensemble. I could always say I’d gotten cold.
I returned to the festivities feeling a bit melancholy.

“Princess, I wish you would talk him into going back to bed,” Cole said when I returned to my table.

I looked past him to see Daire surveying the room with a glare. “Daire, what are you doing? You need to rest,” I said going to him.

“Is it true? Did he mark you?” Daire asked with a fierce look in his eye.

“It’s nothing, it will heal by next week.”

“I told you not to allow him to bite you! Let me see it.”

I removed the jacket from my shoulder and showed him the wound, which of course meant he had to poke and prod at it. “Happy?”

“No. What happened? Why did you let him bite? I thought I told you to keep that out of the fight.”

“He wouldn’t agree to it, besides it’s nothing Daire, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

Daire grumbled for a few minutes while he stroked my shoulder softly, so it didn’t hurt when he moved his fingers over the wound. Apparently he’d seen me flinch when he’d first poked at it. “You’ll have a scar.”

“I know,” I said softly looking up into his eyes. “You really should go back to bed and rest. The poison…”

“It is no longer an issue. I’m fine and I no longer wish to rest. We can leave at first light.”

I studied him for a moment. “Well, you do look better,” I said reaching up to stroke his cheek. “I suppose it won’t hurt for you to sit with us for a while.”

Daire smiled. “I plan to do a whole lot more than sit,
Mo ghrá ach
.” He took my hand and pulled me to the dance floor.

“Daire, no,” I said shaking my head.

“Oh yes,” he said with a sexy grin, swinging me into his arms as a techno remix of Beethoven’s Fifth symphony began to play.

It was really fast and I worked really hard to keep up with his dance steps. He was even better than Gareth at the techno dance moves and had me spinning this way and that trying to keep the rhythm of the dance. By the time the song ended I had a huge grin on my face and I was nearly out of breath.

“I see your guard has recovered from the poison, my delectably sweet Abbey,” Gareth said approaching us as the song ended.

Daire’s eyebrow
rose at his pet name, but he kept quiet.

“Yes, Daire has indeed recovered. We very much appreciate you allowing us to spend the evening with you here, Gareth.”

“I gather he is the reason your heart is otherwise engaged?”

I nodded and placed my hand on Daire‘s bicep, holding him in check.

“What does Auberon have to say about it? You know as a king, I am a better match for you,” Gareth flirted.

I could practically feel Daire‘s temper boiling. “Gareth, you do me a great honor by thinking of me in such a way, but my path
lays elsewhere. And Auberon doesn’t get to have a say about whom I love. That choice is all mine.”

Gareth smiled, “Well I do still have two boons left, so I suppose I shall still get more time with you anyway, my dear.”

“Two boons? Does this evening not count then as the fun and festive evening you mentioned?”

“Not at all. This was simply accommodating you while your guard recovered. The evening I have planned shall be much better than this last minute affair.”

I smiled. “Very well, I’ll look forward to it. For now though, I think I’ll get some rest. We’ve a long day ahead of us and I’ll need all of my wits about me.”

Gareth smiled, his pointy teeth showing. “Then I will bid you goodnight, my delicious Princess.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Good night Gareth.”

Daire slid his arm around my waist and we walked up the stairs. It was
deserted; everyone was still down enjoying the festivities. I held my breath as Daire gathered me into his arms and pushed us up against the wall next to my door. He pressed his forehead into mine and brushed his lips against my cheek. “
Mo ghrá ach,”
he whispered before pressing his lips to mine. I opened my mouth to him and felt his tongue caress mine. His fingers sank into my hair, pulling it out of the bun and letting it fall down my back.

I slid my arms up around his neck and pressed myself into him as close as I possibly could. I sighed when he lifted me up by my bottom and pulled my legs around his waist. The next thing I knew we were in my room and he was kicking the door closed behind us.

“You are so beautiful,
Mo ghrá ach,”
he whispered softly and kissed me again, stroking my cheek with his thumb. He set me down on my bed, leaned in and kissed me again and then drew away, backing toward the door. “Sleep well,” he said before slipping back into the hall.

I sighed and fell back on the bed in frustration. After a kiss like that I expected a little bit more. I expected, well heck, I didn’t know what I expected. For him to stay
, maybe. I sighed again.

“Abbey, lock the door,” Daire called from out in the hallway.

I nearly jumped, hearing his voice just inches away, on the other side of the door, but I got up and did as he said. “Good night,” I whispered.

“Sweet dreams,
Mo ghrá ach,”
Daire said through the door.

I heard him walk down the hall a few seconds later and I magicked myself into some pajamas and climbed into bed. Tomorrow was going to be an early day, and I would need all of my strength and wits to keep us from getting caught by the Queen.