Page 61 of Courting the Fae Captain
“Where to now?”I asked Raithe as we took off down the hallway.
“There’s an underground bunker built for emergencies,”Raithe answered.“They’ll be there; I guarantee it.”
He led me through the castle and down to a secret door that was hidden behind a giant tapestry hanging in the main foyer. I’d never noticed it before. We stepped through, and then we were twisting and turning in the bowels of the castle until we stopped before a large door. My breath shuddered out of me from both the running and the excitement snaking through me. Fear lined my stomach, trying to lock up my bones, until a tendril of Raithe’s shadows caressed me, wrapping around my legs, even slipping up between them. I jerked at that delicious touch, then threw him an exasperated look. He grinned at me with pure mischief in his eyes, his white teeth gleaming in the low light. All the while, those shadows crept higher, stroking, encouraging. We arrived at the end of a corridor, standing before a large, bolted metal door.
“Together?” he asked as I took his hand and we faced the bolted door.
I scoffed and repeated his words from earlier. “As if I’d allow any other outcome. But how do we get through? The door must be at least two feet thick, and I don’t suppose you have a key.”
His grin turned a little evil, like he was enjoying the thought of shredding the males on the other side. And to be honest, so was I. They deserved nothing less.
“Spread your wings, little lark,” Raithe purred as he threw the torch down the hall, and we were plunged into darkness.
My stomach dropped as he whirled me off my feet in a wave of shadow and smoke. I couldn’t see what was happening. One moment I was standing on solid ground, the next we were floating through the fabric of the world. My heart lodged in my throat as Raithe wielded his power to send us through the metal door and out the other side.What. The. Fuck. Raithe could turn usintoshadows, too?! Oh, I had to learn that one. We rematerialised from the darkness into a low cave. Fire-lit sconces revealed we were now standing in a chamber. And inside that chamber were the Pentad.
“Boo,” Raithe said as we solidified.
The males turned and tumbled out of their seats, their wine glasses tipping over in their rush. All but one, who simply leaned his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “You found us,” the sea serpent said. “And now you’re trapped, two against six.”
Raithe grinned. “True. But I’ll take my chances.”
“I suppose you think you’re clever,” the Pentad leader responded. “Forming a coup and freeing the females. But even if you take this castle, you will never stop the Rite. We aren’t the only males who celebrate traditions.”
“Maybe not,” I said as I unsheathed my blade. “But we’ll make damn sure they die with you.”
The sea serpent swivelled that golden mask my way, as if assessing my worth. “You can certainly try.”
My power sizzled under my skin, begging to be released. I wielded my shadows with ease, the tendrils leeching out towards the males.
“You’re not the only one with shadows, little girl,” the bear said as he stepped forward. He turned his palms and … nothing happened. He tried again. “What?”
“Aw, can’t get it up?” I asked with a pout. “That’s the thing about you power-hungry males. You think you’re invincible, so you forget to take note of the little things, like the slightest hint of vanilla and clove in your wine, or the fact it’s a shade darker. That drowsiness you feel? It’s the slow sap of power while your magic drains from your system. Wyrmwood, for stunting magic, and Faebane, for ensuring your immortal blood didn’t work too hard to remove the effect. Nothing so obvious and primitive as that crap you shoved down our throats earlier.”
“We didn’t know which wines you’d drink tonight,” Raithe said with a shrug. “So we poisoned them all ahead of time—including the batch you had served to your esteemed guests. It helps to have friends in low places. Lesser Fae, as father likes to call the servants.”
The bear threw his cup with a roar. “If we can’t wield, we’ll just have to finish you off the old-fashioned way. My favourite kind.”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Raithe.“So emotional.”
“So dead,”he answered with a smirk. Then he lifted a damning finger at the lion, who had made a show of moving toward a weapon, but had used the opportunity to cower behind the others at the rear of the cave. Raithe didn’t miss the coward’s act, though, singling the lion out. “You. I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
The bear, the wolf, and the eagle converged, their blades unsheathed and glimmering from the reflection of the flickering fires in their sconces on the walls. Raithe and I stood side by side, our own blades raised high, our shadows swirling around our feet like a whirlpool. Not separate streams, but one flowing entity.The bear came for me first, raising his two-handed sword and crushing the space I’d been in before I hopped to the side. He growled as I spun around him easily. His mask was a clear reflection of the sheer strength he carried, but his heavy buildcombined with limited space for his greatsword meant he was clumsy and slow.
I sheathed my blade and assessed my opponent. Speed was my ally and my friend here. It would not fail me now. He came for me again, his sweeping arcs loaded with anger. I dodged them, then realised too late he was driving me towards the cave wall. My spine hit the rock with a thud, my eyes widening as the deadly edge of that sword came plummeting down. I shifted as it ploughed into the stone, causing a huge chunk to crumble. I lost my breath as a giant fist rammed into my stomach. The breath wheezed out of me as I felt a rib bone crack from the force.
“Do not falter,”Raithe shouted down the bond.“Do not yield.”
My body bent against its will, slumping against the wall until the bear grabbed me by the hair and punched me in the jaw. Stars burst behind my eyes, my vision wavering as darkness threatened to take me. But the darkness was my friend, and I was its master. I flexed my hand, willing my shadows to form vines that wrapped around the bear and kept his limbs in check.He grunted, snapping the tendrils with bulging muscles. His grip on my hair loosened enough for me to slump down the wall to a crouch, where I palmed the dagger still strapped at my thigh and drove up with a powerful surge, plunging that blade into his stomach.His cry of pain and fury was enough to make me tighten my grip and strike that blade into his body again and again. Blood dripped onto the ground, and he stumbled back a couple of times before looking at me once more.
I’d thought he would fall to his knees. Instead, the battle ram charged at me with his full weight and made it all of three steps before Raithe conjured his shadow wings, launched into the air—effectively batting his opponents aside—and used the bear’s momentum to carry them both directly to the wall, where the male’s head smashed under impact.Blood and gore slippeddown the wall, and the bear’s body crumpled to a pile at its base. I didn’t have time to celebrate. Not as the wolf reoriented himself while Raithe’s attention had shifted to the bear, and came at my mate’s back with his sword held high. I didn’t think, didn’t act on anything but instinct as I held my blade and shadow-walked until I stood before him, my blade arcing up beneath the ribs and directly into his heart before he even knew I was there.
The male gasped as he stood before me, impaled and unmoving, as if my sword was anchoring his feet to the ground. He pulled his mask off, as if needing to take a final breath of fresh air, then his brown eyes glossed over me. He was incredibly handsome, with a chiselled face, welcoming lips, and hair to drag your hands through. The kind of face that females would swoon for—the kind that so often masked the monster beneath. How many females had fallen by his hands or his order? Just one was too many, so I put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in as I twisted my blade. A strangled gurgle sounded in my ear before I withdrew my sword and stepped away as his body fell.
Raithe had taken up a fight with the eagle. The pair moved so similarly, they could have been each other’s mirror image. Shadows flared from both males, striking and blocking, arcing and soaring. Neither seemed able to gain the upper hand until the eagle rolled, grabbing some dirt in his palm before flinging it at Raithe’s eyes.He grunted and raised an arm, giving the eagle time to land a cut in Raithe’s side. My stomach lurched as the eagle then sliced at Raithe’s thigh, causing him to stumble slightly. Blood flicked over the ground, but even then, my mate didn’t falter. Instead, he wrapped a tendril of shadow around the wound and charged.I stared in awe at the two males as they fought.
Raithe’s opponent was clearly war-trained and no stranger to a sword, but he was slower than my mate. Probably a lotolder, too. Which was perhaps the only reason Raithe managed to charge through the eagle’s guard to headbutt him on the temple before knocking the male out with a blow from his sword pommel.
I turned towards the two remaining members of the Pentad. The lion still cowered in the corner behind the table and chairs, while the sea serpent remained seated, utterly nonchalant. It was unnerving. My eyes flickered over his golden mask, his robes, then the cup before him. It was full and appeared untouched.
