Eve sat beside Cora as she slept.
If she could have helped her, she would have, but she was exhausted. The healers did a good job. The line across her throat barely noticeable. It would be gone later. Because Fae didn't scar.
Except for one.
She held that pale hand and some of the cold inside her went away. No matter what happened, she saved her friend.
While she sat with Cora, she pushed thoughts around in her mind until she could compartmentalize them. She had plans to make and mourning a love that never happened wasn't part of it.
She would continue to visit the areas outside of town, only at a different time. Problem solved. Re-hire the magical instructor. Done. Find someone to train her in hand to hand and with weapons. Check. She would be damned if she would be helpless without magic again. She sat up with a jerk.
It was astounding how her world changed so quickly. How not long ago she didn't even believe in it. Now, she used it all the time, often without thinking about it. She lived in a place that was different for everything she ever knew. She was dying to love a Fae. And she was a Queen.
She gave a soft laugh, trying to not wake the patient beside her. She failed.
Fingers squeezed hers and she looked down into violet eyes. "She would be so proud of you."
"Shh," Eve said with a smile. "I'm trying."
"And doing rather well."
"I have a very good friend helping me." Eve smiled at Cora.
"It's only fair. This is twice now, isn't it."
"I'm not counting."
"You look tired. Tired but determined." Cora's eyes appraised her
"I could do without the tired part."
"You should get some rest."
"Says the patient."
Cora's lips curved and she could see why her mother fell in love with the woman. She was kindness personified.
"In all seriousness, I just planned out my days for the foreseeable future. I'm going to be a busy queen."
"Don't forget to make time for pleasure."
Eve laughed, Kornae shoved to a corner so far away that she could pretend she didn't feel him.
"That's number one on my list. I feel like I've been neglecting my men. Time to make amends."
Cora's eyes grew drowsy. "Get some rest, Eve. Duglas will be here in a little to help watch over me."
Eve stood and pressed her lips to her forehead. "You rest too."
Standing, she let her feet take her to her lover's lair.
~~~
She didn't knock. He wouldn't mind. She eased the door open and she remembered the last time she found him laying on his back with the sheet riding low. How she wanted to dive into him. While she was too tired for that now, it was definitely on her to-do list.
She undressed as quietly as she could, taking off the warrior cloths that Kornae brought her, only the be mad when she did what she had to do, she turned and found dark brown eyes traveling her body. She gave a soft laugh. "Don't look at me like that," she said. "I'm too tired."
He held out his arms and she melted into his embrace as he turned her and she lay her head on her favorite place, letting the thud of his heart sooth her heart and she fell into a deep sleep.
~
The dream was the same, towering mountains of horrors unimaginable moving slowly across the land, Fae and animal racing from it. Some Fae looking back before clawing at their eyes, face, screams mixing with maniac laughter filling her ears. There were sounds coming from the wall of shadow, more screams, these of delight, of horror, of agonies untold. Murmurs and whispers, cajoling and pleading, begging for new flesh. Within the cacophony, there was a louder sound, something that caused the world to tremble. A heartbeat, strong enough to shake the trees and rattle the hills. Out of this mass of nightmares, a massive gray hand reached out of the wall, growing closer and closer before finally closing around her, crushing her to dust.
When time comes, free me. Or this will be your fate.
A scream woke her and she opened her eyes. She was sitting up, and it took a moment to realize it was her that made the noise. Sebastian was sitting in front of her, hands cupping her face.
Her hands covered his, trapping them against her. "Love me, Sebastian. Make me forget."
His thumb traced her bottom lip. "Forget what?"
"Everything."
His smile was wicked and did everything to ease her battered soul. He shifted, pulling away the blanket that covered her. Why didn't she realize she was going to bruise where the shadow guy slammed her on the ground. But it didn't matter. She reached up and pulled his lips to hers and he followed her down onto the bed, lips and tongue making love to her mouth. He held himself off her with one hand and the other stroked her flesh, softly, gently and this was what she needed.
Her hands ran over his bare flesh, thrilling in his heat, and the slight shudder as she ran her nails down his chest. Being touched was amazing, but to also touch, to also show reverence to the person she loved was nothing that could be topped. His mouth moved down her body, tongue sliding over her bruises, and she healed. Not externally, but within, where she ached the most.
He continued his way down, circling her belly button, nibbling her hip before he rose up and spread her legs.
"Never stop looking at me like that," his voice husky and she shivered from the heat in his eyes.
"Then never stop loving me."
"Shouldn't be an issue," he said and she laughed before he made that stop with a languid stroke of his tongue. Her breath left in a hiss that made her wonder if she was part snake. Her eyes met his and he winked at her and this was what love making was. His hands gripped her hips and shifted her, allowing for a stroke that began at her center and ended with him circling the tight knot and she writhed as he teased her body and she called out his name as she spiraled into bliss. Before her eyes were open, he was sliding his body into hers and she cried out at the fullness in her, the completion she so desperately wanted.
"Sebastain!" She gasped as he moved deeper, but still slow, a steady rocking rhythm that destroyed her. He ignored her when she said faster and kept that same pace and she lost herself in the slow build of pleasure, the long drawn out kind that made her worry for her sanity as she arched, bucked, and rocked against him until there it was the reward for the long climb, a climax that seemed to last forever and he dropped to his elbows, kissing away her tears, his heart thundering opposite hers, but so hard the could feel it as if she had two.
His lips dropped kisses on her panting lips and she laughed.
Then he sat up and she knew. It was time to start the day.
Groaning, she made her twitching body move. "Sebastian." She took his hand in hers, tracing the lines on his palm.
"Can you do it?" She loved him even more for knowing what she was getting at.
She looked up at him. "It's Unseelie. Yes, I can do it. But there will be a few... modifications..."
"What would those be?" He knew, but he loved seeing her blush, especially now that she was so pale. It was very reminiscent of the way she flushed with her climax.
"You see..." He winked at her and laughed when she swung a fist at him. "You ass."
"Do what you need to do, sweetheart."
"Thank you," she said, her voice soft.
"For what?" he asked, honestly confused.
"You love me. Unconditionally. That... means everything to me."
He knew what she was talking about and the king of the Unseelie Court was a fool. "I could say the same to you."
She gave him a smile before clearing her throat. "Okay. I have a lot to do today. Let's do this."
She closed her eyes and took green, not on her hand, but in her heart. The same place it was taken from. While it was Unseelie, she needed to use blue as well. That was what it said and she listened, because she was all three. After saying the words, she looked down at the blue lines tracing patterns down her arm. Down his arm. Where before the pain was burning, so fucking hot, this was a soothing wave and she knew that were she to lose it again, she couldn't survive. Wouldn't want to. The blue light flared in their palms and there it was.
Those bright red lines that bound them from the start of everything.
She looked up and found him watching her with such tenderness, she knew he was remembering as well. Had she not marked him, they would have never come to this point. It was in trying to get rid of that very mark, bright on his hand, that she learned to love him. "Do you want to kill me?"
He threw back his head and laughed and she knew. Somehow, everything would be alright.
~~~
After a hasty bath, she threw on the matte black with the gemstones that covered her from neck to toe. It also covered the bruise on her ribs that she refused to heal. She needed that pain. Needed it as a reminder. A quick run by the healers and she learned that Cora was gone. She would find her after she dropped by the library. She wanted to find Naiel, but she also needed to see the rose again. Maybe find Cora.
She didn't lie when she said she had a busy day. Well, night. Early morning? She had no idea. It was almost dark when she crept in on Sebastian. She did some furious math. Yeah, early morning at the earliest. Her head hurt.
She told her vampires she would meet them later, if she could. Hopefully, Naiel was there and she could tell him about the same dream, new voice. Find Cora about the rose, because while they might be using it as a calling card type thing, she knew there was something else behind it. Maybe the sun would be up by then and she could go for a visit. Come back, find a magic tutor. Find a combat tutor.
She was tired already.
She knocked on the library door and why? It wasn't his personal room, right?
She pushed the poor open and found Cora sitting at the table with Naiel and that guy.
Nope. This could wait. Plenty of other things she could do. She turned and walked out, ignoring Naiel's call. He called again and she turned to see him almost out of that room. Was he going to turn to dust?
"This is important."
She took a breath. He couldn't get mad at her for this. She tried to leave.
"Fine."
She walked in head-high with Naiel holding her arm, as if afraid she was going to run off.
"Please sit. Hopefully, this all won't take long."
She looked and of course the only chair was beside him. She turned her back to him and slid up on the table. There was a sound from behind her but she didn't care, right? He could kiss her matte black-covered ass. Naiel adjusted his chair to include Eve in the conversation, not even bothering to hide the laughter in his eyes.
"You asked about sigils yesterday, Eve. That was what prompted me to ask Cora to pay me a visit as soon as she was up to it. You were looking at the rose when you asked." Eve nodded, totally ignoring the feeling of eyes on her back." He leaned back in his chair. "People cannot go to the shadow court without the chaos brand. They would go mad. So, what little we know, or a lot, in Cora's case, we learn from them coming here, or Seelie. It's rare, because their forms are not always... tolerable. Most look like us, with a few exceptions. Their skin tends to be gray-tone, be it a little or a lot. The hair is always black and their eyes are of the darker variety and usually black, brown, or green. Such as yours."
"Okay." She knew she was part Shadow. No shock, well, now. But there was at one point.
"Cora made an friend with on of the Shadow Fae which is how we have the knowledge we do. When I said that their sigil was the merging sun and moon, that is what it is now. However, a few hundred years ago, it was that very rose."
She twisted, forgetting all about the bruise that she was going to use as a reminder, until it reminded her. The quick inhale through the nose pulling eyes that she wouldn't meet. She reached out for it and a hand locked on her wrist. This did get her attention. Steeling herself, she looked up and locked eyes.
"That rose is what stripped your magic."
"Let. Go."
The fingers tightened for a split second before doing what she ordered. The ice never warmed and that was fine. She turned back to Naiel and flung her hair over her shoulder. "There is something about it that calls to me, Naiel. I don't know why, but it's... not scary to me." She ignored the sarcastic laugh behind her. "I had the dream last night. The same one. Only, this time, I heard that voice again."
"The one..."
"Yep. It said 'When time comes, you must free me. Or this will be your fate.'. Somehow, it thinks that we can do something."
Naiel stared at her for so long, she wondered if he became stone.
"The prophecy says you must go to the Shadow court."
Eve laughed. "That fucking piece of paper says I have to do a lot of things doesn't it? The voice didn't seem to care that there have been no seed planted in this garden. And I swear to god, if you make a sound, King, I'll show you what shadow really feels like." The amount of mockery she put on that word came excruciatingly close to breaking her tongue. "It wants me to hurry. So, I'm going with I'm once again doing what this whoever wants. What do I do? How do I get me and my vampires into the Shadow court."
"You have to gain the protection brand again. Once that is done, you can brand chaos."
"Did that when we woke up an hour ago."
Naiel sat up and took her hand. He stared at it, though there was nothing was there. "I see." He looked up at her. "I see you changed it a bit. Smart girl."
"What did you change?" Cora asked.
Eve glanced at her with a grin. "You remember the other morning. When I went out?" Cora nodded. "Can't have Sebastian busting in, ruining the moment, because he wonders why he suddenly has br..." She trailed off as Cora's eyes widened at something behind her. She wasn't going to look. She cleared her throat. "I modified it to let me have what I want. Anyway, Naiel, how do I get the chaos brand?
"They all have to touch you."
~~~
Eve blinked. "Touch me? Like one at a time? Or..." She swallowed hard. "All together? Give me details, Naiel, before I lose my mind."
"Same time."
"Perfect. Just perfect. What else does that piece of paper want from me? It wants my womb, now slight bit of modesty I have left, next's what? My life?"
"It's just skin, Eve. They just need to touch skin. You don't have to undress. Just enough skin for a palm to make contact."
"Six, Naiel. Six palms. And if you haven't noticed, some of them have rather large palms." Most specifically, Alex and Sebastian, but what did it matter? "That's a lot of skin."
Yes, she was, once again, being a child. But she had never been naked with more than one at a time. At least consciously. Had she? Everything was a blur. Why was everything a blur? Her breathing didn't help her state of mind.
"Talking about it isn't going to make it any better." She could hear the sadness in his voice and she knew what he was doing. Band aid. Shit. "Where are they, Eve? I'll send Cora to get them and we can get this done."
"Maybe in the study and what do you mean get this done? What am I, a job? A dentist visit? A fucking homework assignment?"
She forced herself to look at Naiel and caught his glance to her friend. Slamming her eyes shut, she tried to find her happy place.
"Eve,—"
"Stop, Naiel. She's afraid. Give her a minute."
That wasn't a voice that she expected to be her champion as she tried to convince her lungs that she was the master of her body.
Skin. She looked down at her black encased belly. Was there enough flesh there, if she lifted her shirt to just under her breasts, for them to touch? Cold. Clinical. Divide herself by quadrants. Micah's hand was the thinnest. That could go by...
She didn't realize she was muttering out loud until a hand took hers, fingers holding her tight. She squeezed and let out a breath.
"Sorry," she said. Micah's mark burned soft but steady.
"It'll be okay." The words were barely there but she heard them regardless. Same as the breath that was taken.
She beat him to the words. "This changes nothing. You don't have to say it. After this you go back to hating me, it's fine."
"Eve—."
"Just stop, for the love of God." Her head drooped under the weight of everything and her eyes remained dry. Maybe she was finally out. That or she was finally keeping her promise to herself. No tears.
What was taking them so long? She didn't feel any trouble.
Then, the door opened. Back so soon?
Her heart fell into a broken staccato rhythm and yes, oxygen was under-rated.
Micah came in first, the smile on his face, soft and sad. He held up him palm and she could see the matching mark glowing a bright blue. "We know you're uncomfortable with this, love." She blinked back tears. These were okay, because how long had it been since he called her that?
"You could say that."
Micah glanced at Naiel who was on his feet. "What needs to be done?" Micah asked as he took Eve's hand.
She tightened her fingers around the ones that loosened when Micah held her. Her breath of relief couldn't have been mistaken when Kornae stayed.
"I know this is a trying time for everyone involved," Naiel said.
She looked up at Micah's darker laugh. "It's trying for her. We don't mind. She is the one that is having issues with this and I don't blame her. She's Fae, but not. And it seems to me that a lot of the time, you people don't realize that."
"You make a good point, Micah. She has a hard time understand us because while she is a part of us, she wasn't surrounded by it. And we have a hard time understanding her because of who we are. I'll try harder to recognize when I'm expecting her to be something she's not."
"She's right here, guys," Eve said with a nervous laugh. It was slight, but she could feel anger coming from her peaceful vampire.
Alex came in and her fingers twitched. Kornae's grip tightened once more and she sent him a silent thanks.
"What do we need to do?" Alex asked
"Your marked palms need to touch her skin. Completely. Otherwise, holding hands would work, well, no. Not with six. But the lines and folds would break the contact anyway."
There went that idea.
"Do we need to say anything? Do anything?"
Eve stared at Alex's hand. She knew it was her imagination, but it looked massive. Like he could claim all the skin she was willing to share. Her head dropped and Kornae's fingers tightened more. At this rate, she was going to have a broken hand, but on the bright side, the pain could be a distraction. Right?
"No, just make sure the palms are completely touching."
Alex glanced at Eve before looking back at Naiel. "Then, and I'm not trying to be rude, but we could use some privacy. We don't mind, but she can be really shy."
Naiel nodded, moving to the door as the others came in. "I'll be outside."
Even having been intimate with every single man in the room didn't help with the buzzards that flew in her stomach. She shifted on the table, terrified that Kornae would let her go before he had too. And she hated herself for that. She wanted to be the strong queen that she was determined to be, but this situation, so soon, was too much.
Micah, bless his sweet soul, slowly eased the front of her top up, exposing her stomach and slowly, but over to fast, Kornae let her go. Hands surrounded her waist, lifting the back of her shirt and she watched as the blond head came into site, eyes drinking him in, distracting her.
He stopped and partially turned toward her, almost as if he wanted to say something, but then she sucked in a breath as someone pressed too hard against the bruise the covered a large part of her rib-cage. He spun as Micah apologized.
"What happened?" he said, voice low.
She shrugged as well as she could with hands pressing against her. "Got in a fight."
"It's not working," Fallon said and then Micah shifted his hand and Kornae's eyes found the dark purple skin. He seemed to have forgotten that the others were there as he ran his fingers softly over the angry skin. Alex bumped his hand and Eve could feel his personal heat slide across her flesh then his palm met her body and the world went white.