Page 26 of Forsaken Dream
“If I knew how foolish you’d be, I would’ve bonded with him,” the creature grouched, pouting on the table.
“I don’t think you understand how wrong all this is.” Filling up a glass, I gulped the cool liquid down like a man dying of thirst. Water trickled on the sides of my chin, spilling down my neck, and goosebumps sprinkled over my skin. “A familiar is an extension of its master. You should be boosting my magic and complimenting my powers. Not wishing me dead or using me to rule a kingdom. Just like everyone else in Faerie.” The last part was muttered under my breath like a curse.
My father thought he had raised an obedient daughter that would take his place one day, one he could control to remain in control by taking the roll of puppet master and pulling my strings. He had always wanted to manipulate everyone to do his bidding, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect the one person he was certain he had under his full control to ruin all his carefully constructed plans. Well, I showed him good, didn’t I? And if I actually survived whatever was happening to me, I had every intention of tackling Proto, dragging his ass to the portal, and kicking him through it like a football, a sport I’d seen the humans watch on TV.
“You sound like it’s a hardship to place your behind on a throne, you ungrateful brat,” Proto spat at me with a hiss. “Do you know why none of my kind bonds with anyone? Do you?” In his anger, the troglodyte shared a lot of things I wasn’t aware of, so I stayed silent even when my legs could barely hold my weight.
Was this conversation just another hallucination from the fever?
“Each of us is powerful beyond your comprehension, and for one to bond, the other party needs to hold power at least twice as much as it burns in our veins.” Bragging about how powerful he was had always been Proto’s thing, although I never saw it unless killing with the stench of his farts was considered a superpower. But he wasn’t done.
“This deal you and I had was working because the moment you took the throne your power links to every single person living under that court.” My body jerked as if electrocuted, and I gaped at him like a fish out of water.
It cannot be.
He was lying.
“That, at least, would’ve placed us on the same level, you ignorant fool.” Snarling, he kept spitting words at me, but my mind was reeling.
If what he was saying was the truth, there was no way my father would ever pass on the throne. The male that helped give me life was more power hungry than any other being in all the realms. Our people couldn’t take a breath without his approval. What Proto was telling me, if not a lie, meant that he never intended for me to take the throne to begin with. Unless …
Unless, he had my betrothed under his control.
I was a pawn.
Well, I knew I was. It wasn’t a new revelation or anything. But I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that was the reason I had been left alone in the human realm for sixty years. For all I knew, the two of them—supported by my mother, of course—could’ve been living their normal life ruling and tormenting my people all this time. They didn’t need me to wreak chaos and spread tyranny over the realm. My father did that splendidly all on his own, and he did it without help from anyone.
“Now I will die in this dump of a realm,” Proto wailed, draping himself across the table dramatically.
Some of the fever and fatigue forgotten, I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing while questions berated my brain. A scuffing sound from outside set all of that aside, and my feet whispered across the floor as I neared the window the best I could in my weakened state. My familiar didn’t move a muscle, although I saw his ear swivel at the sound.
Jerk.
Heartbeat in my throat, I refused to admit, even to myself, that I hoped the males were back, lurking around like sad puppies begging for forgiveness. It was easy to get angry and blame my behavior on the incubus because I didn’t want to admit I was attracted to them. The little knowledge I had of incubus, and gargoyles for that matter, as well as the shadow realm they came from, was that Vaser could only use his power to make me desire him, not other males. The angel added to the mix nipped that accusation in the butt too, but I was not ready to deal with that yet.
The trees swayed in the night breeze, but everything else was quiet outside. Unable to ignore the uneasiness that filled my chest, I stumbled toward the front door, holding myself up with a hand gliding over the walls. A few fumbling attempts later, the front door opened, and I stepped out into the smoldering heat of the summer night. My skin pebbled from the fever raging hotter inside me. Blurry eyed, I searched the front yard, its packed dirt, small shrubs, and tufts of grass. A movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention a moment too late.
A strong hand wrapped around my throat, the nails digging into my skin and breaking it. Gasping for air, my hands wrapped around the wrist and I clawed at it just as my wide gaze connected with the washed blue irises on Josh’s face. With a snarl twisting his otherwise carefully arranged features, he squeezed harder for emphasis, his crazed eyes glittering with madness.
“Not so tough now that your fuck buddies aren’t around, are you slut?” Spittle flew from his thinned lips as he glared at me.
“Josh …” The words hurt passing through my tightly constricted throat. “… please … you don’t … you don’t want to do this.”
“Oh yes, yes I do actually.” Ignoring my legs weakly kicking at his shins, he walked me backward through the open door and inside the house. “They wanted a hunt, so I’ll give them a hunt, and they’ll find the hunted animal dead, all bloody and used, when they return.”
Dark spots danced at the corners of my eyes. Because I’d been battling this sickness the past three days, my magic had deserted me. I hadn’t felt a trickle of it for days, and I didn’t feel it now as I was staring death in the face. In my panicked state, I remembered Proto in the kitchen and a surge of determination washed over me. The troglodyte was a jerk, but his life depended on me staying alive.
“Proto.” The shout was more a whisper. “Help!”
Josh ignored my calls for help and led me to the living room with a horrifying twist of his mouth. All traces of the arrogant human were gone and a monster had taken his place. I knew the human male to be many things, but most of all, he always expected to get what he wanted. I never dreamed that he would resort to murder, or worse, just for a piece of land. Not even Josh would stoop that low, would he? Darkness was descending around me, and there was no sign of my familiar. My eyes darted around in search of anything I could use to defend myself, and that was when I noticed the dark shadow wrapped around the human’s shoulder like a cloak.
What in the worlds was happening?
Before I had time to look closer, a blur of movement entered the space where Josh was pushing me down on the sofa. The hand around my throat disappeared with a shrill scream from Josh. My consciousness was fading fast, but I struggled to stay awake to see what Proto would do to the human. I hoped he wouldn’t kill him, only because if he went missing it would be hard to explain, wouldn’t it? My delirious thoughts added to my dizziness, the room spinning around me.
Before the abyss took me, I met the gaze of my savior.
It wasn’t Proto’s red eyes staring back at me.
