Page 21 of Nine Inch Nasty
It seems as if Delaney has not asked a unicorn about the bonds herself, because she looks a bit ashamed when she wraps herself around my arm, head on my shoulder, waiting for this fellow to answer.
He scratches at his chest. “It's... a little uncomfortable, if I'm being honest.”
“Why? In can you describe it more? Please?” Delaney begs, and it seems this man is as unable to deny her as we are.
“It's like... the light things that float when you wash dishes sometimes? My chest is full of them. You know, the round orbs that form when soap is squeezed too quickly out of its stopper? That stuff used to terrify me as a child, but once I understood what they were, it was less so.”
“You mean, bubbles?” Adam asks. He pulls a cloud from nearby and somehow controls the water within it to form water bubbles. He makes them float around Delaney, into the shape of a heart, before letting them dissipate back to the atmosphere.
Jackknife is pale as can be after the display. “Yes. Precisely,” he whispers. Oh. He is afraid of the bubbles. That checks out. “It feels like those are filling my chest.”
Adam takes a deep breath after staring incredulously at Jackknife for a moment, and snaps. “How the fuck are we going to help this realm if everyone feels like being tied toDelaney, who is quite literally the greatest woman on earth, is uncomfortable? I’ve tried to be amiable, to be accepting of all this shit thrown at us, but Delaney, we’re missing out on our story right now. We’re here against our will, fighting in ridiculous games for some goddess, all so that the creatures we’re supposedly helping can wax poetic about how much they don’t want to be tied to you. This is bullshit. I know you could get us out of here, Delaney.
“Where’s the girl I grew up with that didn’t take no for answer? I want the Delaney that carries toxins around and could take down an entire classroom full of people if she was provoked.
“Somewhere along the way, I think you lost your spirit. Do you need me to remind you how badass you are? Because I will. I will happily recount every damn thing you’ve ever done that has me in awe of you, because this woman that gets yanked around by creatures and goddesses who don’t appreciate her isn’t you.
“The Delaney I know would have laughed in the goddess’ face when she was told about getting a whole new armload of mates. Mates that you’re trying so hard to connect with to no avail. The Delaney I know would be tearing apart the skies to get her bonded mates back and wouldn’t spare a glance for who got caught in the crosshairs. So, I’m only going to ask you this one time. What do you need from us? What is the best way we can support you right now so that we can all get to our proper home and live the life we’re meant to be living?”
Delaney stares at Adam, soaking up everything he just spewed at her, and I think since she had her first interaction with Fairygoddess, her confidence has been shaken. When she forgot who her mates were, she forgot how strong she is.
The moment Delaney realizes all Adam said is true, she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, taking stock of where she is before taking back her power.
Delaney looks down at the clouds we’re standing on and doesn’t contemplate whether what she wants to do is possible, she just starts grabbing the clouds and makes them obey her. “Okay unicorns, here’s what’s up. Adam is right. I know better than this. I’m done being a puppet for your goddess. She’s taken more than just my mates from me, and I’m done.
“So if you care about having a better life, then you guys need to demand it. You want to be happy so that your world doesn’t literally fall apart? Then be happy. You can’t expect someone that has nothing to do with you or your culture to step in and fix everything; I’m trying to fix things the way that makes sense to me, but you guys aren’t me.
“Fairygoddess, you have two minutes to get my mates back to me before I make my move. If you think I don’t know how to be my mother’s daughter, then that’s on you. You don’t need me, you never did. I don’t know what your beef with me is, but I’m over it. I will not engage further.”
Delaney drops the cloud that she was pushing her message into, her words echoing in the skies around us.
The unicorns closest to us take steps back as wind starts to rush around us madly, a tempest brewing.
For the first time since we’ve been in this realm, it starts to rain.
The clouds all swell up and rumble with thunder, but Delaney just stands there, arms raised, yelling, “Is that all you’ve got?!”
Delaney leaps onto Adam, pulling him in for a kiss as the rain dumps on them both, having a whispered conversation we can’thear. But she’s smiling and she looks truly happy for the first time in days, so I think his pep talk was helpful.
I stand proud as my mate closes her eyes and begins to pull in power from the realm itself. It seems as if she’s unlocking an aspect of her power she’s never tried to utilize before, sipping power instead of lust into her veins. The first thing she does is manifest actual clothing for herself, which I both appreciate and don’t at the same time. It was part of her humiliation here, being forced to wear clouds.
There is a good reason why her parents weren’t more concerned about Delaney being sent to a different realm; they fought hard in their world to give their kids the best start in life they could, and Delaney doesn’t have so many powerful parents for nothing.
With a wave of concentration, the cloud ground right next to us starts to swirl at Delaney’s urging. She’s got one hand up to the sky as she continues to siphon the power she demanded access to, the other directed at the portal she just opened as everyone that’s been freed so far pops up next to us. Wil, Rush, and Spencer stumble and roll, staring up at their mate with huge smiles and huger erections. Saladriel rolls through almost as an afterthought, looking unsure of his welcome, but Delaney gives him a polite smile before shifting her attention.
Yeah, power is hot.
Did I use that term correctly?
Delaney looks at the arm denoting the marks she was born with from our realm, making a decision there and then that those are her mates and those are her mates only. It’s nothing to bat an eye at; the woman has ten-ish mates. But she’s instilling a boundary, and I can feel through my mark from her the contentment she feels at acknowledging that she’s officially done finding mates.
Fairygoddess appears in a litter being carried by a bevy of shirtless shifted unicorns, and I instantly recognize them as the unicorns that were tied up in the games earlier. The colors are too unique to be confused for any other unicorns, as are the purposely blank looks on their faces.
“Someone is forgetting their place here,” the goddess says as her entire party comes to a stop in front of us. “You are done when I say you are done, and I say you still have tasks to accomplish.”
The tone in her voice sends a chill down my back of stone, but all her smugness stops pretty quickly when she realizes she’s no longer in control here.
“30 seconds, Fairygoddess.” Delaney stares down this blinged out unicorn with no blinders on this time, completely levelheaded in her anger.
