Minerva spun, her hair whipping around her to form a dark cape. “No!”
“Why not? They will protect her, and—”
“They will kill her.”
He studied his mate but couldn’t understand where her fear stemmed from. “My hounds would never harm an innocent.”
“Dagda has impregnated her.”
And infected their babe with the chaotic taint he carried, damning his child to a living hell and marking Minerva’s beloved maiden as a member of the Unseelie Court and an enemy, at least for the next nine months. If Arawn’s hounds stumbled upon her while she carried Dagda’s baby, they would kill her. It was what they were bred to do—eliminate the threat to the humans. No matter how much Arawn wished differently, the innocent child she carried would one day turn into a monster, exactly like the babe’s father.
Arawn sighed. “Then death is best for her and the baby. It would spare them both much agony. Your maiden will be reborn.”
“You cannot.” Minerva closed the distance between them and fisted his tunic. “She has not yet met her mate in this lifetime.”
He covered her hands. “And? I do not understand. She will get another chance. It is why you bleed for them.”
“She will not.” Minerva licked her lips, then dropped her gaze to their joined hands. “The deal I made with the Triad requires my maidens to consummate their bindings with their mates or lose their connection to them.”
“You would condemn an innocent child? For what? So your maiden can find and fuck her male after her damned babe is born?”
Minerva turned furious eyes on him. “Do you think so little of me, my mate?”
Shame burned his gut, but his desire to protect those who couldn’t do so for themselves often overshadowed his choices and his words.
“No, of course not.” He turned his back on Minerva and walked to their bed. “But I cannot help feeling protective of all those who have suffered at the fallen fairies’ hands.”
“I understand, but you must trust in me to do what is right for my maiden and the child she carries.”
He glanced over his shoulder. Her confidence worried him. As a goddess of love, her powers were limited to ones of a gentler nature. “You have a plan?”
“I will offer the Triad a sacrifice.”
No, the only sacrifice made would be his. He knew better than to forbid his independent female, however.
“For the child’s life?” He needed to be sure of her desires. When dealing with the Triad, there could be no misunderstandings. The being’s words were law.
“For all of Dagda’s tainted offspring. My maiden’s babe is not the first to be conceived.” She twisted her fingers together. “I do not know what his plans are, but the other gods fear him. They think he will use his half-breed children to make good on his promise.”
She hung her head but didn’t elaborate on how he’d accomplish his goal. By wielding Dagda’s own magic, Arawn had tied Hell’s gateways to the fairies themselves. The pain and suffering of those fairies incarcerated in the deepest pits of the Underworld fed the living magic, ensuring it would never falter. Unless…
“Dagda wants to tear down the barriers between Hell and the human realm, unleashing every creature condemned here, including the members of his Court I have punished.” Arawn spoke the words they both knew, breaking the silence that had descended.
Minerva laid her hand on his back. “Yes, and if Dagda uncovers and claims the Key to the heavens? No realm will be off limits, and all the gods will suffer the Triad’s wrath.”
“Despite our inability to fight Dagda?”
“In the Triad’s eyes, we should have found a way to defeat him. We are gods, after all.”
What Minerva spoke was true. It wasn’t right, but life as a god had nothing to do with fairness. Their existence came down to duty and sacrifice.
“Dagda would not destroy the heavens. Doing so would kill you.” Arawn shook his head. “No. He still loves you. He wouldn’t do that. What he wants is me dead. Once he destroys me and my realm, he will come after you. Steal you as he vowed and force your love. He can’t do that while I live. He fears me.”
She linked her arms around his waist. “You are not the sole target any longer. His anger and resentment has grown. He wants all our deaths, even mine, even the Triad’s.”
“An impossible feat. The Triad rules over all the realms. To destroy the deity, Dagda would have to…” A chill ran down his spine.
“Return the world to a state of chaos.” She rested her head against his back. “Do you see why the gods are afraid? Why the Triad’s anger with us grows?”
He covered her hands. “It is my fault. I stole you from Dagda and set the world upon this path.”
“You did not steal me from anyone, nor did you force the fairy king to commit the horrendous acts he has.” Minerva slipped her hands between the gap in his tunic and skimmed her fingertips over his skin, making him burn. “He is the one who tapped into the Well of Chaos. He is the one who absorbed its power knowing full well what the raw force would do to him. You, my honorable mate, tried to reason with him. Dagda refused to heed your warning.”
“I mated you knowing full well you loved him.”
Her exhaled breath warmed his back even through the thick garment he wore. She squeezed him tighter, then dropped her hands and stepped in front of him. Silver hair replaced the black, and the molten silver around her eyes gleamed. Her mood had settled. The moment she undid the ties of his tunic the reason for the change became clear.
With delicate fingers, she tugged the rough fabric off him, letting it fall to the floor and leaving him naked. His breathing quickened, and his shaft lengthened. His mate had a voracious sexual appetite, and the look in her eyes was one he knew well.
She hungered.
Minerva
