Page 62 of Trapped to Tame
They reachedthe city late morning the next day and, as they approached from the east looking at its white towers, Priest had a feeling of foreboding.
‘What if we get stuck again?’ Fie asked quietly, giving voice to their concerns.
He glanced at Drax who too looked grim. ‘Then we kill that witch from the Library and steal the ward key. It was made by the fae anyway.’
‘But she's a Fourth; the new First Scholar’s Fourth.’
Priest snorted. ‘Fuck Drake, his unit, and fuck his Fourth too.’
His eyes moved over Eve, but she didn’t look his way. She hadn’t since they’d got back to the Light Realm. She looked tired and, as he looked to his Brothers, he knew they were all feeling her misery despite trying to cheer her up with their pleasurable interlude yestereve. They didn’t seem to realize it was too late to salvage this – whatever it was – with their Fourth.
They went down to the eastern gate and got in the queue to enter the city. At least Nixus, the former First Scholar and the bane of their existence, was dead. That was the only reason they’d been able to escape the cursed city’s wards last time. Priest hoped they wouldn’t get caught by them again. If they did, he meant what he’d said. He’d kill that bitch, Fourth or no, and deal with her unit afterwards.
They walked through the massive archway under the gate house. They crossed the threshold and looked at each other. Nothing happened. No one came. No one rushed out to attack. There were no alarm bells. They didn't even feel anything. If the wards were still there, then they were now allowed into the city.
Fie shrugged. ‘Let's go home.’
‘This isn't my home,’ Priest growled.
The female stayed behind them and Priest tried not to pay her any mind, but he couldn’t help it. She was clearly fascinated by the big city. She’d never been anywhere before. She’d told him that while he’d been asking his questions of her and compelling her to answer him.
‘Stay close,’ Drax said to her.
They went down to the river where their house was. It was understated from the outside, but the interior held the finest luxuries that could be bought in Kitore, of which there were many, for it was a port city with countless trade routes, both of this realm and others.
They went in, leaving their horses at the stable nearby. Priest noted that Drax kept the female close by his side as her gaze went this way and that, gawking like a provincial slave girl. It marked her as a visitor here and Priest kept his eyes on everyone who noticed her, warning them off with his menacing gaze.
They went into their richly furnished house and her eyes widened further as she looked around.
‘Try not to steal anything,’ Priest muttered, stomping up the stairs and entering his chamber.
He slammed the door behind him, knowing all of this would be easier while she hated him, but wishing for her to take pleasure in his arms as she clearly did in Fie and Drax’s.
Chapter 9
Eve
The Brothers’ house in Kitore was … Eve looked around Priest’s room slowly … lavish was an understatement and every room was like this, but she wasn't surprised that they enjoyed their comforts. The chairs were plush and newly stuffed. There were expensive trinkets everywhere that held no purpose other than to be beautiful. The walls were covered in murals and tapestries that rivalled even the ones she’d seen at the inn they’d stayed at on their way to the Ice Plains. She wondered if all the fae lived this way though she'd noticed in the Underhill that everything had been quite simple and understated in comparison to this.
Drax, Priest and Fie's house was anything but simple. It was a statement of wealth and power, which was odd because she thought they'd been prisoners in the city. She wondered what they had done to make so much coin. Perhaps she didn't want to know.
Eve drifted around slowly, exploring, but not touching anything; having learned her lesson in the Underhill. At present, all of the men were gone, leaving her alone in their grand house in the middle of the city. She could see the wide river from the window. The road in front was mostly silent though they were close to the center where the markets and shops seemed to be.
They’d been in the city for three days and she had been sequestered in the Brothers’ home for all of that time. She thought they might release her here. Gods knew the fighting rings of this city were so legendary even she had heard of them. But they hadn’t even spoken of letting her go.
In fact, Drax and Fie seemed to always be close to her, and gods help her, she had begun to enjoy their company. She felt something when she was with them that she'd never had before. Safety.
Her innards clenched at the memory of what Fie had done in the forest, the things Drax had made her say to him … of Priest watching. She’d never taken pleasure in the act before. After the Bull, she’d not thought she could, but these men … even Priest’s skills in bed were practically inconceivable to her.
Priest was a different story. He kept his distance, and she was glad of it she told herself. She didn’t fault him for his loyalty to his kind, but he was single-minded in their mission. He would destroy her if he needed to and not even think twice.
The front door banged, and she heard Priest and Fie arguing quietly while they climbed the stairs. She hurried out of Priest’s room, not wanting him to think that she was curious about him, which of course she wasn't.
Laughably, this morning Priest had left her in their library with a pile of books and told her to read up on fae magick. He clearly hadn’t even thought to ask Eve if she could read, and she’d been too embarrassed to tell him that she could not.
She'd spent some time looking at the symbols after they’d gone, trying to make heads or tails of them, but failed miserably and soon gave up, feeling stupid.
Priest went to his chamber, slamming the door, and Fie left the house a moment later. Only then did she venture out of her semi-hiding place, going down to the kitchens. Some bread sat out on the counter, but whereas before her odd hunger would have had her gulping it down as quickly as she could, it had abated over the past few days. She felt stronger than she had when she’d fought in the rings, and her body was no longer skin and bone. Her hips and breasts were rounder, and her stomach had a bit of paunch to it when only days ago it had been concave.
