They force him to his knees in front of the dais. The huddled nobles barely glance in his direction as they continue to argue amongst themselves. As Lord Nicholas saunters towards Duncan, I’m tingling with fear and anticipation. Nicholas steps onto the lower dais, and as he does mist rises from the ground, forming a thin white sheet across the courtyard.
Nicholas stops in front of Duncan, who’s being held in place by the two guards, but his attention isn’t on them. Nicholas looks around, scanning, his eyes searching. He’s looking for me. I know it. As his eyes pass over my hiding spot a wave of nausea and a sense of weakness hits me. I shudder hard enough that Rob looks over with a questioning gaze. I shake my head and push it aside.
More shouts echo from the front of the castle and the nobles have apparently made up their minds to leave because, as a group, they move to the back of the dais, towards the front gate. Nicholas glances over his shoulder and makes a loud tsk sound.
“My Lords,” he calls after them. “Surely you aren’t leaving yet. The evening’s entertainment has barely begun.”
“We are,” one of them answers boldly. “While I’ve no more love for the MacGregors than the next man, what you are doing here, Lord Nicholas, borders on being an affront to God. We’ll no longer participate in your games.”
The mist thickens as it rises. Nicholas’s eyes dart to the mist and back to the leaving nobles, splitting his attention. I don’t think he’d be debating with them if he wasn’t.
“Are you calling me ungodly, sir?” Nicholas asks, his voice a mockery of offense as he waves a lace covered arm and places a hand over his chest. “I am shocked. You impugn my honor.”
“No, Nicholas, I do not,” the same noble says. He’s one step ahead of the others who look like a bunch of schoolboys letting their one friend talk for them. I’m reminded of the drunken college boy back atRedux. That kid was drunk though; these men are stone sober. “I am saying we are leaving. You’ve trouble in your home to deal with, and a wise man tends to his own walls before worrying about his neighbors.”
“Fine,” Nicholas says with a dismissive wave. “Go, go. I’ve no time to deal with you knaves right now anyway.”
Rob and I crawl forward on our stomachs. The mist is thick enough to hide our approach. Rob angles towards the cages while I go for Duncan. The nobles make their way off, leaving Lord Nicholas, the two guards, and Duncan at the dais.
“All yuir wee friends have left you,” Duncan teases. “No one left to put on a show for is there, your lordship?”
“Speaking of friends,” Nicholas says. His hips sway as he moves closer to Duncan. He moves as if he’s dancing; fluid and screaming sex. If I didn’t know better, I’d half expect him to try and seduce Duncan. Hell, maybe he will. What do I know of Dark Fae? “Yours is here. I smell her stench.”
That stops me and causes a cold chill to race over my skin. I suppress the urge to shudder but the cold grip on my guts isn’t going anywhere.
He can smell me? What in the hell is that?
“Ach, you’re crazy,” Duncan says. “I’ve no friends coming. Now give me a fair fight. Let me die on my feet.”
The despair and resignation in his voice is unmistakable. My heart hurts hearing it. He’s resigned but he hasn’t given up. Even now, certain of his own demise, he’s standing tall and proud. My feelings for him explode and as they do a sense of power fills my guts.
I army crawl ahead faster. As I make my way past the pit that’s been dug in the middle I glance down. The white mists pour over the edge like water going over a cliff. In the pit is a massive brown bear pacing back and forth. Its snout is covered in blood as it sniffs the air and rises onto its haunches.
I skirt around the edge and forward until I’m an arm’s length away from the two men holding Duncan. One of them drags the edge of a knife across Duncan’s face and he grunts. Anger and power seem to go hand in hand for me. Along with the rage comes energy, and as it fills my core I rise from the mist.
I punch the first guard in the kidneys as I stand. Before he can scream, I do the same to the other guard. Their shouts are almost in time with each other as they both stumble forward. The one with the knife drops it, and before it hits the ground Duncan grabs it with his left hand.
“There you are,” Lord Nicholas cries in delight. “Oh, but how I’ve been waiting for you to show back up. You have no idea how hard it’s been keeping this one alive to be my bait.”
“Here I am,” I say as I reach for Duncan. I grip his right shoulder above his broken arm. “And here I go.”
I try to sidestep but we don’t move.
“No, no,” Nicholas says, waggling a finger in the air. “That’s not fair. I’ve come to play.”
Weakness rushes through me and I’m left shaking and powerless.
ChapterSixteen
I gaspas my knees tremble and my body shakes uncontrollably. It’s all I can do to remain standing. Duncan thrusts the knife into one of the guards, grunting in pain as his broken arm sways. I lose my grip on him as he leans into his thrust.
Stumbling, sweat beading on my forehead, I look up at the grinning face of this asshole lord. Even this close his eyes still look like burning pits. I’m seeing, at least partially, through his seeming. Seeing the real Fae beneath the glamor.
“Oh, Quinn, you are everything I hoped and more,” Nicholas says.
His tone is mocking as he stands in an unnatural pose. His hips thrust forward, his chest leaning back against that center of gravity. It’s a total “look at my crotch” move that is so incongruous with a man about to fight it can only be seen as a display of contempt.
“Glad I can deliver,” I say through gritted teeth, striving to draw in power.