Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (9 page)

“Does that make me a
prince now, Your Majesty?” His lids slowly opened and a grin formed on his lips.

I had tears rolling down my cheeks and he was making jokes. “I would be happy
to make you a prince.”

He started to laugh and then winced in pain. “It only hurts when I laugh
, Cass, honest.”

“I hate that he did this to you
, Killian. I want you to take my blood.”

His eyes flew open and the terror in them broke my heart. “No
, Cass, I can’t. I deserved this punishment. In fact, I got off easy. If I drink your blood, he will kill me and only after he makes what he’s already done look like a pat on the back.” The pain and terror rattled his body. I wanted to hold him, but how could I even touch him and not cause him pain?

“He will never know
, Killian. Quintus is gone and I promise I will never let him hurt you again.”

His mouth moved, but he didn’t make any noise. He kept shaking his head. I put my hands on his cheeks. “Sshh, Killian, I didn’t know he was going to do this
. If I did, I would have sent Kael to protect you. Quintus is powerful and old, but we are among so many here who look at him like he is a child. I will protect you. You can stay here as long as you want and, while you’re here, I will never let him harm you.”

The terror slowly faded and I could see reason coming back into his eyes.
He nodded and smiled. “Well, maybe a sip.”

I leaned in so he didn’t have to move. He
sank his fangs in and began to drink. He behaved himself and didn’t make it sexual, but it did feel pleasant. Like a hug. When he was done, he licked the wound and I sat up.

The bruises were a little more faded
, but everything else still looked the same. His hands were still deformed and I imagined the rest of his body had healed wrong as well. “How can we help you, Killian? Your hands… everything. I want to help.”

“When I get stronger, m
y bones will have to be broken and set properly. I’ve seen it happen a few times to other vampires; maybe not like this, but when we get a broken bone, it needs to be set quickly or it will heal out of alignment.”

“The royal heal
er is here. Will you let him take a look?”

“Sure,
I need all the help I can get. Thank you, Cass. You took the edge off my pain.”

“Killian
, I’m Eli. I’d like to examine you. I’ll be as gentle as possible.”

I stepped back and watched while he examined my friend.
I had to make myself look. I wanted to bury my face in Dominick’s chest and block out what lay underneath the covers. His arms looked normal until you realized the bumps in the skin were where bone was trying to poke through. His ribs looked caved in and his pelvis was all but flat.

“I think the blood will help more than I can right now, but
I should be able to break and set the bone properly. I can’t do the whole body at once, it would be too traumatic, but I want to do as many breaks as I can in one session. Drawing it out would make the cure worse than the cause. If he is able to feed immediately after, then I think it’s our best chance. You’re a very strong young man. These injuries are enough to kill one of my people and we are not that easy to kill.”

“Thank
you, Eli. That is mainly what I need help with. My body is very good at knitting the bones. It just isn’t so good at making sure they are in the right place.”

Eli turned to us. “I will be back tomor
row after he has had more rest. We will do his hands first and then move on from there. I will give him some of my blood. Fae blood sustains vampires for a much longer time. We will still have to wait to do this again. He will need a long time to heal.”

“I’m really grateful
, Eli.”

“Your
Majesty, my power to heal my people went with the rest of the fae magic. You opened the door and I’ve felt that power starting to return. It’s a weak and fragile thing, but it gets stronger every day. I can’t tell you how that feels.” A broad grin spread across his face. “Yes, I can, I feel happy, whole and useful. It means for the first time since I can remember, I look forward to waking up. So no need to thank me, my queen.”

He left and I realized he had changed my mind for the better about the fae. Eli was going to help a vampire and give him his own blood. Healer or not
, it was a very selfless gesture. Killian was staring off into space. He was in that place in his head that kept most of the unpleasant things at bay.

“Is there anything else we can get you?”

“Sponge bath?” He gave me an eyebrow waggle.

“Dominick
, Killian needs a sponge bath.”

The look on their
faces was priceless. “I…I’m sure there must be someone more qualified to do that sort of thing.”

“I’ll give y
ou a sponge bath later. You must promise not to enjoy it too much, though.”

“I’m in a lot of pain
, Cass, but having you bathe me will be very enjoyable.”

He closed his eyes and drifted
off. I was sure the examination took a lot out of him. Sleeping was the thing he needed.

Ruby was waiting for us in the sitting
room. She had a meal set out on a table. “Ruby, please join us.”

“You are very sweet, but I have a million things to do
, Your Majesty. Your first official meeting is tomorrow and I need to arrange your clothes, make sure the room is ready. Oh, to be busy again. It makes me so happy.” She twirled around the room once and left.

“I think she enjoys her job
, Cass.”

“I hope so. I am very fond of he
r and she has made life so much easier for me and it’s been less than a day.”

“Well
, Your Majesty, I think she is very fond of you too.”

“Not you
, Dominick… no Your Majesty.”

“Okay, how about beautiful? Sexy? Lover?”

“How about Cass?”

“I know what happened earlier was because of the brooch, but was even a little part of it real?”

“The wanting to was me, Dominick, but without the brooch, I would have resisted.”

“I want you
, Cass. I know I’m not alone or the first in line, but I’m here and I won’t expect anything from you. I just want to enjoy how I feel when we’re together.”

Oh
, that sounded so good. Why did I have to decide now to be more mature and think of others before myself? “I can’t, Dominick. I have Lucius to deal with and not to mention this whole queen thing.”

“You know
, not all relationships complicate your life. I’m here to help, lighten your load. If it can’t be as a lover, then it will be as a friend. You’re a special woman, Cass. You saved my life when you came here.”

“We worked together to kill that evil bitch and
, trust me, you kept me sane. This place would have been so horrible if it wasn’t for you… I don’t know if I would have fought to get free.”

“So we
’re both pretty awesome then, right? Now I’m staying in this bed with you tonight. I’ll be a good boy, I promise, but you’ve been messed with twice. I’m not going to let you out of my sight.”

“I should call Kael and let him know about the brooch. I can see why he didn’t come, I wasn’t in any danger, but it was still a way to mess with me. I’m getting tired of always being someone’s pawn.”

“We can deal tomorrow. You’ve had quite the day and you need your rest. Tomorrow isn’t likely to be any easier.”

It sounded good to me. I was exhausted, emotionally and physically. I needed a good
night’s sleep to deal with the fae. That first meeting was going to take every ounce of strength I could muster.

I woke feeling warm and happy. Dominick’s strong arms held me tight and I snuggled into him before I realized where I was and who I was with.

“Good morning.”
His voice was deep and husky. His wolf added a little growl.

“No funny business
, remember.”

“I’m not the one grinding her tight little butt in
to my cock.”

“True…sorry.”
Wow, that wasn’t embarrassing or anything. My cheeks were red and burning; both sets. My ass had a mind of its own, I guess.

“How did you sleep?”

“Better than I thought I would. I’m so nervous about today. I have to wrangle opposing fae and one stubborn goblin. My stomach is all butterflies. It wants me to stay in bed.”

“Can I come with you? I
know you will have Kael and Lucius, but I’d feel better if I could be there too.”

“Dominick
, the more friendly faces I have there, the better.” I was afraid to say what I had to next, but I needed to say it. “I don’t want you to think you have to stay here. I would miss you, but if you feel like you need to be with other wolves, I would understand.”

“I… I can’t promise you I’ll never hear that call
, Cass. I’m a pack animal, but right now, I feel like you and Killian are my pack. We were there for each other and that’s what a pack is.”

Relief flooded through me. I wanted him here. He was someone I could trust. I rolled over and hugged him.
He smiled and slipped from the bed, heading for the bathroom. Dominick was a good man.

I felt cold with
him gone. I felt sick to my stomach. I was so nervous about today. I just needed to get through the first one and then I thought I would be okay. I wouldn’t be alone. I’d have the testosterone team behind me and, if you couldn’t feel safe with them at your side, then feeling safe was something you were never going to feel. I wasn’t just nervous about my own safety, I was terrified of making a fool of myself. Fake it ‘til you make it, baby.

The first part of my morning was spent with Ruby fussing over my attire. I wore a simple silk dress and what was apparently my everyday crown. I didn’t know royalty had a casual crown. It was a gold circle with a single red stone. Maybe I could think of it as my starter crown.

When I was finally ready, I paced the room. My stomach had pterodactyls flying around in it. I was crawling out of my skin in anticipation. I took a few deep breaths and felt a little better.

Having
someone trying to kill me or at the very least mess with my head was adding to the potpourri I had to worry about. It was time to summon Kael and tell him about the stone that had fallen out of my hair, before we went to the meeting.

Kael appeared as soon as I called. I explained briefly what
had happened between Dominick and me. Even though I gave as few details as possible, I still blushed. I pointed out the stone that had been in my hair. Kael looked at me.

“It is the stone of pleasure. It makes it impossible to resist your bas
er needs. Did you wear this, Little Queen?”

“Yes
, Kael. Somehow, it got in my hair.”

“You should have called me when you went to your new room. I
might have been able to prevent this from happening.”

“I don’t even know how it got in my hair. I didn’t see anyone.”

“It seems like no harm done. You had your baser needs satisfied, but you seem fine.”

“Kael
!” His other worldly face looked human wearing a mischievous grin.

“Sorry, I think our link is making me pick up your sense of humor.”

“We need to find out who is doing this. If this brooch works, then the rest of our magical items will too. There are some very deadly objects. It will be hard to narrow down the list of suspects, since I would guess most fae want to see you dead or removed as their monarch.”

“Wow
, thanks, Kael. I feel so much better.”

He just shrugged. Apparently
, sarcasm was lost on the slaugh.

I checked on Killian and because I couldn’t think of anymore stall tactics
, we were off. I felt like a celebrity about to face the paparazzi. Still, if your life was in danger, you could do much worse. Lucius met us in the hallway.

“I think you should allow Cass out of her agreement
, slaugh. She was afraid for her life when she made that promise.” Lucius had to look up to see into Kael’s face.

“Cassandra made that deal of her own free will and it is not for me to undo.”

“How about I decide whether I want out of the deal, Lucius? Right now, I would give anything to be home in my bed. That isn’t going to happen. I’m going to try my best to straighten things out. Even if no one appears to want me to.”

“Your
Majesty, it isn’t my place to say, but I think before you start to talk about anything, we should address the assault on your life. We need to make sure they know they aren’t going to get away with it.”

Lucius stopped dead in his tracks and I ran into his back. “Lucius.”

“What happened and why weren’t you protected?”

“My life was never in danger.”
The last person I wanted to have this discussion with was Lucius.