Page 100 of Trapped to Tame
Drax put his head in his hands.
‘We should have made certain that she could take care of herself around other fae,’ he said to Priest.
His Brother gave a sigh. ‘It's my fault. I terrified her into using her magick because it was simpler and faster instead of teaching her properly. I practically ensured she couldn’t access her magic for herself.’
He sat down heavily on the bed. Drax put a hand on Priest’s shoulder.
‘We’re all to blame,’ he said. ‘From the moment we met her, we were blinded by her lineage, both human and fae. If she’d been anyone else, we’d have seen that she was our mate from the beginning. We wouldn’t have treated her like an enemy.’
Priest squeezed his hand. ‘When we get her back, we’ll make up for the pain we caused her. She’ll never feel such things again.’
Drax closed his eyes, turning away. ‘Can we make such promises? Fie perhaps. He came from a loving family, but you and I … we’re Dark Brothers. I never knew my father. My mother’s family didn’t bother with me after she was taken and yours—’
‘Mine are a bunch of cunts save my sister,’ Priest finished with a snort. ‘We can learn to be good mates. We must or it won’t matter if we save her. We’ll lose her anyway.’
Fie came back in and they fell silent. ‘Gerling is expected to be leaving his estate within the hour.’
‘So soon?’ Drax said.
Fie nodded. ‘Good thing we got here when we did, but it may already be too late. We won’t have time to infiltrate Gerling’s fortress.’
Drax swore, but Priest looked out at the estate on the hill, his eyes narrowing as he thought. ‘He’ll have to come back through the village with her. Gerling allows no portal magick within his walls. We follow them through the bridge and take her. We’ll await them in the square.’
They left the inn, finding a quiet spot in view of the portal in the main square to wait. Drax was coiled and ready. They would not let Eve be taken where they could not follow. They would save her from her father and from Ceres.
Chapter 13
Eve
As soon as they took her out into the open, she tried to call on her magick to open a portal, but it still wouldn't work. Whatever stopped her from conjuring extended to outside his fortress as well it seemed.
She gritted her teeth as she stepped inside the carriage. How long would she have to meekly go along with this farce before she could escape and find her Brothers?
Her father sat opposite her, dressed in even finer clothes than she’d seen him in previously. He’d sent her clothes to wear as well. She was now dressed in a silken sapphire gown with matching, impractical slippers.
‘Who is Lord Ceres? What does he want with me?’ she asked.
His piercing eyes took her in. ‘He is a fae male of great standing and wealth. If you please him, the rewards will likely surpass any dreams you’ve ever had. Anger him and your punishment will surpass your worst nightmares. As to what he wants,’ Gerling shrugged, ‘I have no idea. In truth I was surprised when he requested you in return for the absolution of my debt to him. Still, fae females are all but barren now. He probably hopes for offspring with conjuring abilities.’
He leant back. ‘I suggest you rest. It will take several hours to reach our destination,’ he said, following his own advice and closing his eyes.
Eve stared out the locked window, watching as they entered the village. She raised her magick, trying again to see if she could conjure, but she couldn’t.
Gerling cracked an eye open. ‘I wouldn't bother. The carriage inhibits most forms of conjuring just as my home does. And before you go for the door to run the human way, know that you’ll never escape the guards. They have access to their magicks. You won’t get two steps down the road.’
Eve sat back, letting out a breath. The window of opportunity to escape and survive was rapidly closing as they entered the village down in the valley that she’d seen from the top of the hill. The carriage halted and the guards on horseback drew in closer as lightning began to strike the ground around them, making her tense.
Gerling chuckled. ‘There's nothing to fear. The carriage and those near enough are protected from the energy bursts.’
Eve didn’t relax at his words though, craning her neck to see the great glowing tunnel as it enveloped them. She doubted she’d ever get used to traveling this way.
The light of the bridge disappeared a moment later, leaving them in pitch black darkness, but the procession still moved forward as if this was commonplace.
Eve stared out of the window, but she could see nothing at all. There was only black outside the carriage. It was a void.
‘What is this place?’ she asked.
‘Some say the first of the Dark Realms to come into being,’ her father muttered, awe, fear, and jealously in his voice. ‘There is only darkness here in this vast place Ceres calls home. No one can come here without an invitation.’
