Summoned and Stolen (Summoned Series Romances) (2 page)

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CHAPTER 2

Lily was terrified. The vicious tone in her new master’s voice and the cruelty of his orders confirmed all of her worst fears. Her heart still ached with the knowledge that her former master was dead and gone. The Earl of Rockland had been the only master she had known since being torn from her home, summoned by magic to a strange world, and to a new life as a slave.

Her first master had been indifferent to her for the most part, distant but never cruel. He had bought her for her beauty, showing her off to every visiting bard and nobleman as though she were a work of art and not a flesh and blood being.

She had been given a basic understanding of what would be expected of her by a strange, silver-eyed woman who had been there from the moment she had awakened in chains. She had been fitted with an enchanted, golden-torc that compelled her obedience. The torc was mated to a ring, and whomever wore the ring became her master in all things. Ring and torc had been forged together with powerful spellcraft, binding both her will and her own powers.

Despite the warnings the strange woman had given to Lily on the journey to deliver her to Rockland, the Duke had never been a harsh master, nor had he showed any interest in bedding her. Lily had been thankful that all he wanted from her was obedience, decorum and her songs.

From what she knew of her new master, he would not be so easy to appease.

Her previous master had loved to hear her voice, instructing her to use her magic to ease the ailments of his advancing years. Lily had spent every night of her captivity dozing by the hearth in his bedchamber in case he woke and felt the need for music. Out of all the powers she had, her ability to bring him peace seemed to be the one he valued most. Her life had been far from comfortable, but it had been bearable. Though it had been nothing like her life before she’d been enslaved.

Lily’s world had been simpler then. There had been laughter, joy, and the power of an entire world had coursed through her veins. She had been born a child of the wild places, a  collection of fae species that lived in complete harmony with the natural world. Their gifts were as varied as their appearance, but they  worked together to bring balance to all living things. She had been free to do as she pleased, dancing, laughing and loving those who caught her interest. Life had been a whirl of pleasure and play. And then it had ended.

She had been summoned by magic and sold into slavery on a distant world.

Her life with the Earl had been tolerable. She had never been truly mistreated or abused. But that life had come to an end the day Camford, the Duke of Southmoor had come to visit her master.

From the moment the loathsome duke had clapped eyes on her she had known nothing but fear. First, he had tried to gain her master’s permission to bed her for a single night, but by the end of his visit he was offering staggering sums to buy her outright. Lily had not slept a wink until he was gone. Every time she closed her eyes she could see his vile face, and she lived in fear that her master would relent and sell her. In the end, he had refused Camford’s offers and Lily thought that was the end of it.

She had been wrong.

Even after he had departed, Camford continued his attempts to acquire Lily by letter. Each missive more threatening than the ones before it, each one making it clear the man would not stop until he possessed Lily. Still, Rockland had not understood the danger he was in. It was only
when Camford’s army was spotted marching toward his lands that her master truly grasped the full extent of the Duke’s determination, and by then it had been far too late.

Now her master was dead and she was Camford’s newest acquisition, trapped in this terrible cage of iron with painful welts on her skin. The mere touch of iron brought pain and torment to one of her kind, and she had no doubt Camford knew that. It was more proof of his dark soul that he had imprisoned her in a cage of iron, when he knew full well the collar around her neck controlled her completely. She was his, and there was nothing she could do to resist any order he deigned to give her.

When the servant had tripped, the cage had been sent tumbling and Lily had been hurled against the bars. Bruised, shaken and hurting, even if Camford had allowed it, she would not be able to summon enough magic to heal herself, not surrounded by so much of the magic-blocking ore. She had been in Camford’s power for a few short hours, and her suffering had already begun.

When the door of Lily’s cage was opened she hurled herself through the opening in a panic, the need to get away from the burning bars overwhelming ever other thought. Once Lily was free of the cage, she tried to stabilize her flight, but her head was still ringing from being flung about the inside her prison. Off-balance and out of control, she began to fall, spiraling out of control as she plummeted.

A man’s large hand appeared just below her and she landed on his outstretched hand in an awkward tangle. “Easy now, I’ve got you,” someone rumbled and then she was being lifted slowly upward until she was face to face with the man who had caught her mid-tumble.

H
e’s handsome.

Of all the things Lily needed to be worried about on this, the worst day of her life, she couldn’t begin to understand why it mattered that the stranger holding her had a handsome face. Or that there were laugh lines etched around his eyes, despite the hardness she could see in their blue depths. Several days grown of beard shadowed his cheeks and a line of white showed where a scar ran the length of his jaw on one side. He was looking at her with wonder tempered by concern, and part of her wished that this man was her master and not the cruel, florid cheeked creature she knew wore the ring that forced her complete obedience.

Kel couldn’t stop staring at the tiny, luminescent creature he held in the palm of his hand. The dazzling light that cloaked her had dimmed after she had tumbled, but it was still strong enough he could only make the most general of details. Standing just a few inches high, her naked form was most certainly that of a female. Her diminutive size, the fact she glowed and had what looked to be a pair of delicate, butterfly-like wings growing out of her back made it clear she wasn’t human.

Camford leaned forward, his eyes on his tiny prize of war. “She is lovely, isn’t she? Lily, cease that irritating glow and let Kel get a good look at you. He is the one responsible for defeating your former master after all. It seems only fair he should see what his skill with a blade has brought me.”

Lily dismissed the cloak of light with a thought as she got to her feet and stared back at the blue-eyed warrior. So this was the mercenary leader, Kel. She had heard Rockland speak of him, first with grudging respect and more recently with fear coloring his words. Lily had heard so much about the warrior’s ferocity, courage and battle tactics, she had imagined him to be a cold blooded killer with empty eyes and a cruel face. Instead, he was nothing at all like she had expected.

“She’s appears to be slightly injured,” Kel said, his brows knitting together with concern as he spotted the welts that covered her tiny form.

“I’m not surprised. The cage is made of iron. Any contact would leave her with burns. Lily, you have my permission to heal yourself, so long as you do not leave Kel’s hand.” Camford waved a ring encrusted hand in her direction and she tried to spot
her
ring among the many others he had crammed on his fat fingers, but the light was too dim to pick it out. She was certain he wore it though, because the compulsion to obey every word he uttered was impossible to ignore.

Lily accepted her master’s orders, closing her eyes and summoning her magic. Weak as she was, she had strength enough to heal her assorted bruises and burns, but little more. Her tiny wings fluttered, showering glittering crystals over her body. The pain faded away almost instantly, and when she opened her eyes again she felt better, if a little drained.

The moment he saw what Lily could do, Kel understood that Camford wanted her for more than her exquisite beauty. She was a magically gifted healer, and that alone made her a her treasure without equal in this world.

The shimmering powder had fallen from her wings to drift over her injuries, and everywhere the powder touched, the wounds simply disappeared. Traces of the dust fell onto his hand, and he knew without looking that his torn and bruised knuckles were now completely healed.

“Do you understand her value now, mercenary?” the Duke asked with smug satisfaction.

“Aye, I do.” Kel raised his eyes to meet Camford’s gaze. “She is both lovely and extraordinarily gifted, a tiny but immeasurably valuable prize.”

“Aye, she is tiny, isn’t she?” Camford chortled softly. “I had almost forgotten. Lily, change to your other form. Now.”

Kel heard a faint noise, like the chiming of a thousand tiny silver bells. The next moment he was holding an armful of naked fae female only a little smaller than an average human woman. Even as surprised as he was, he couldn’t help but notice the softness of her skin or the way her curves fit against his body.

He glanced down at her face and found himself staring into a pair of almond-shaped eyes the same color as the amethysts that decorated the golden collar she wore around her throat. Her hair fell to her mid back, and it was as strange and lovely as everything else about her. It was a deep purple at the roots that faded gradually to become a dazzling shade of white-blonde at the tips. Her wings were furled tight to her back, and Kel’s fingers itched to touch their delicate shape.

Fire surged through Kel’s blood, his cock hardening as his body responded to the nearly forgotten feeling of having a beautiful woman in his arms. He took a deep breath to clear his lust-fogged mind only to have the scent of summer meadows fill his nose, calling to mind peaceful days and better times. Fighting the urge to brush a kiss to her berry-tinted lips, Kel finally dragged his focus off of Lily and back to the Duke.

Camford was watching him with malicious amusement, and seemed not at all concerned that Kel was currently holding the man’s precious battle prize in his lap. “And what do you think of her value now? Priceless, aye?”

“Aye,” Kel answered, barely aware of what the Duke had said.

“I’m glad you agree with me, mercenary. For tonight, she is yours. You have agreed that she is priceless, and so I have decided that one night’s pleasure with her is your payment for this victory,” Camford declared, his tone openly smug.

Kel opened his mouth to protest, but Camford cut him off with a negligent wave of his hand. “You have never once partaken of my generous offers to share my slaves with you. I am starting to feel insulted.”

Adrenaline coursed through Kel’s veins as he spotted, too late, the trap he’d stepped into. If he refused the Duke’s offer now, the Duke would take it as an insult and demand his honor be redeemed.
This
was how the Duke intended to avoid paying the full amount of gold Kel was owed for his services and that of the War Dogs.

Kel channeled his anger and kept his word’s civil, though no one would be able to mistake the displeasure he allowed to show on his face. “You are too generous, Your Grace. I had not expected such a
bonus
.” Camford was even more arrogant than Kel had feared. It was the only explanation for why the Duke was trying to alter their contract just as it was about to end. It had been years since anyone had been this foolhardy. If Camford thought his rank would protect him from Kel’s anger, then the man was an idiot as well as an ass. Even now Kel’s mind raced as he considered how best to extract himself, and possibly take the Duke’s precious fae prize with him. The poor creature didn’t deserve the fate he knew awaited her at Camford’s hands.

Camford frowned at him. “Her worth is more than that of gold, mercenary.”

“Then perhaps you should have told me that before my warriors won this war for you, Your Grace.” Kel’s voice was soft and deadly even as he purred the other man’s title. “We have an agreement, and I must insist you abide by it.”

The first sign of unease flickered over the fat man’s face. “You shall be paid as agreed upon…we shall consider this night a bonus as you said.”

“You are too kind to offer such a gift,” Kel said, even as he saw the lie for what it was. Camford had no intention of paying any gold now that the battle had been won.

“I am, aren’t I?” Camford agreed and clapped his pudgy hands together like a child who has gotten his fondest wish. “Not to worry, my fine fellow. And what a gift she is! Rockland was a fool who didn’t know what he had. He thought her beauty was her greatest gift. I knew better! She is the key to my immortality, and you have won her for me.”

Lily sat as still as she could and listened, trying to make sense of what was being said. The gold torc around her neck was enchanted to allow her to speak and understand the languages spoken around her, but right now she doubted the spell’s abilities. Surely she hadn’t heard her master correctly. She could heal, aye, but to make someone immortal was far beyond her abilities. And why would he give her to the handsome mercenary when it was obvious Camford lusted after her himself? What was going on?

She bit her lip in an effort to stave off her tears of fear and frustration. Lily was a creature of magic and healing, not war. She didn’t know the first thing about fighting, but right now she wished she could fly across the room and claw out her master’s mocking eyes. That thought triggered a burst of fiery agony inside her skull and she barely muffled a soft cry of pain.