Page 64 of Love Beyond Wanting
I didn’t even know how to respond to that.I decided to ignore the statement altogether.“Will you help me?”
“Aye, though surely ye must know faeries do nothing without a bargain.What do ye offer me in return?”
“What is it that you want?”
He smiled again and stood to pace back and forth in front of me as he thought.“There is nothing ye have that I want, lass.Ye are mortal.Ye are worthless.But mayhap, at another time, ye would be useful.”
Something on the edges of my brain was getting fuzzy.It wasn’t the erotic brain-drain that Brachan made me feel.It was something else, just a general sense of lackluster, something that made it difficult for me to care.“What are you doing?”
“I’m not harming ye, lass.I already told ye I’d not do that.”
Apathy was overtaking me.I should’ve felt hyper-alert, worried for Brachan, for myself, for whatever deal this man intended to force me to make, but all I felt was disinterest.
“You may not be causing me physical harm, but you’re not playing fair.”
He laughed and stopped in front of me, leaning so close I could feel his breath.Its odor was sweet and sickly.“I never said anything about being fair, lass.Now, let us continue.Ye have nothing I need now, but that doesna mean I am unwilling to bargain with ye.Take my hand.I will free ye from here, and I will see Brachan turned into the human he so desperately wishes to be.All I ask in return is that ye owe me a favor.At a time of my choosing, I may ask for yer help, and ye must agree to give it.”
Some small part of my brain resisted it.I knew this was the worst promise I could ever make with a fae, but the right emotions just wouldn’t come forward.I tried to do what Maddock suggested.I tried to shut down and distract my brain, but it was too late.He’d slipped in without me noticing and had forced his powers on me so quickly, I never had a chance.
He reached for my hand, and I didn’t pull away, but just as his fingers began to brush against my own, a voice bellowed from the bottom of the throne.
“No, Kate!Doona do it.”
The fae jerked back as if he’d been run through with something, and the expression of shock on his face was unmistakable.My apathy vanished in an instant—the fae’s surprise was enough to cause him to break his hold over my mind.Jumping from my seat, I looked down to see Paton approaching Machara’s father with fury in his eyes.
“She’ll be making no bargain with ye.’Tis cowardly of ye to bargain with someone who has no control over their mind.Bargain with someone immune to yer powers.”
“How were ye here without me knowing it?”The fae was shaken.He was unable to hide it.
“We’ve magic, ye big, ugly arse.Unlike true mortals that ye can bend to yer will any time ye please, ye can only tamper with our minds if we’ve given ye our blood and I shall never give ye mine.”Paton paused and glanced over at me.“Leave here, Kate.If there is a bargain to be made, I shall make it.”
“No.”It had to be me.Of this I was certain.If Paton stepped in, then my part in Machara’s demise wouldn’t be complete.“It has to be me, Paton.Otherwise, Machara can never be beaten.”
He nodded, and I saw the reluctant acceptance settle in his gaze.“If ye insist, come and hold my hand so I may protect ye with my own magic.At least he willna be able to weaken yer mind as ye bargain with him.”
I ran toward Paton, quickly taking his hand as the fae watched us with interest.
When my hand was safely wrapped up in Paton’s, the fae spoke once more.“Fine.Let us bargain this way.It willna matter.Make me an offer, lass.”
I couldn’t offer him a favor.The one thing I could offer him was the one thing that would hurt me the most.The one thing that would break Maddock’s heart.
“What if I offer you time?Make Brachan human.Swear to me that you won’t harm me, nor age me, and you may keep me here for exactly three human years.Then you shall return me to the land of mortals, and you will never bother me again.”
The fae smiled.I could see that my offer pleased him.He hated humans.He wouldn’t accept because he wanted me there, but he would accept if he thought it might cause other humans pain.
“’Twill feel like a hundred years to ye, lass.”
I nodded, my heart breaking as I resigned myself to my destiny.
Paton turned toward me and gripped my shoulder hard with his free hand.
“What are ye doing, lass?No mortal can survive spending so long in this realm.He doesna have to harm ye for it to destroy ye.Ye would never be the same once he released ye from here.”
Tears began to run down my face, but I knew there was no turning back now.
“It doesn’t matter.It’s the only way, and someday you guys have to be free.”I paused and turned toward my soon-to-be captor.“What do you say?”
“If ye offer me yer hand, I will accept.”
