His scent rose, and his lure dragged over my tingling skin as he thrust into me roughly. I bit my lip to keep from screaming in ecstasy as he claimed me and left no room for any doubt that he was mine and I was his. When the wave of pleasure peaked and crashed over us both, he pressed his lips over mine and whispered, “Forever.”
I hoped forever would last a lot longer than I feared it would.
Chapter 18
After a hurried and silent meal at the mage camp’s fire, Arleigh’s thugs led us into an area packed with maple trees. The fae must’ve made the trees grow; the trunks lined up side by side to create rooms and ceilings of red leaves. We were each escorted into a room and ordered to put on new clothing. Once I’d dressed, I left my room to find the others. We all wore red tunics and black trousers, but there were unseelie fae here and there dressed in black tunics and red trousers, the opposite. I asked Lucus what the colors meant, but he didn’t know.
They corralled us toward a field draped in the afternoon’s amber light. An oak grew in the center of the meadow, and a big basket sat in its branches, the gold pieces inside catching the light.
A male unseelie smirked, then handed me what I had to guess was a fae sword. It looked just like the fae knife Nora had shown me, amber and glittering with magically inset and activated metals like gold and copper. The hilt was wrapped in leather and studded at the top with rubies and sapphires. It was gorgeous, but it only made me want to puke my brains out.
“I’m sensing a theme,” Hekla said as she glanced from my sword to the swords the Binder and Nora now held.
Lucus gripped the wooden club they’d given him. “They want their mages whole at the end of the game.”
“And the rest of us?” Hekla asked.
I tried to hand her my sword, but a strange nausea swamped me. “I think they’re cool with you getting sliced and diced.”
“Awesome.”
“The sickness you feel is part of a spell, if I had to guess,” Lucus said, watching me as I rubbed my stomach. “We won’t be permitted to trade weapons.”
Hekla blew out a breath. “Okay. But if I die, who will they get to joust on the unicorn? I can’t believe I just said that.”
I shrugged, fear making everything look too bright. “I suppose they’ll find someone else to torment. Maybe they’ll bring Kaippa out here.”
A hysterical laugh bubbled out of Hekla’s mouth. “I think dark unicorns and vampires would get along nicely. Both sound pretty bloodthirsty.”
I shook my head. “Please stop talking. You’re making this worse.”
“Aye, aye, captain.”
Hundreds of fae carrying long, wooden staffs and clubs like the one Lucus held edged the clearing where we were meant to fight for the treasure.
“How do we know when to begin?” Nora asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe Arleigh will blow a whistle. Probably one made of her enemy’s femur.” The number of those clothed in black tunics or red tunics seemed fairly even. I turned to Lucus. “Do you think we’re on teams?”
His gaze darted over the crowd. “We didn’t play that way. But maybe the unseelie do. One team to defend the treasure—”
Arleigh flew into the clearing and shouted something in the fae language, something the magic cast over the ground couldn’t translate. Whatever it was made Lucus shudder like it sickened him.
“Red tops to claim the treasure,” Arleigh called out. “Black tops to defend the oak. No flying, my darling fae. Not for this game. Healers will aid our mages to protect our sacrifices. No killing yet tonight. Remember. Begin!”
The field erupted into chaos. An unseelie turned on Hekla, and Lucus flew to her side to help her fight.
I had to get this thing over with. Sure, Arleigh had said something about not killing, but there had to be a crap ton of accidental slaughter in a thing like this. Hekla was toast. Ugh.
The basket of gold high in the oak taunted me with its glittering insides.
I ran hard for the tree. If I could use my advantages—bladed weapon plus healers—and end this game, Hekla, Lucus, and the others would be safe. At least, they would be for the time being.
My muscles screamed as I zipped past unseelie running the same direction as me. Throwing elbows and swinging my sword wildly, I crossed the flat meadow. Roots like anacondas surrounded the area near the base of the oak. I leapt from one root to another, getting closer to the tree’s trunk. I reached the oak’s wide body and stretched, grasping for the lowest limb, a branch large enough to be a tree all on its own.
An unseelie crashed into me, knocking me down between two roots. It was a female, and she wasted no time in trying to clock me with her club. I raised my forearm to block her blows. My sword had fallen out of reach, or I would’ve stabbed the bitch. I set my feet on the root and launched my hips up, throwing her off me. Scrambling for my sword, I ducked under another fae as he tried to tackle me. He collided with two other unseelie, all of them snarling like wolves. I tucked my sword into my belt behind my back. My heartbeat clanged my teeth around as I gripped the limb again and began to climb the oak.
The treasure was a dark shape about fifty feet above.
I longed to peer over my shoulder to see if Lucus and Hekla and the mages were surviving, but I denied myself the luxury. I had to get to that gold and finish this madness.
Strong fingers grabbed my ankle and jerked me to the ground. My head knocked against a root as I fell.
