Forever Fae (31 page)

Alasdair tilts his head back and calls to Nixie.  She pokes her head
to the side of the door and asks
, “Yes, Master?”

With a gleam in his eye and wide grin he
looks at me when he
says, “I want you to fetch Avery for me.  It seems my
soon to be
q
ueen
would like a warm body tonight.”

Nixie hesitates for a second and tilts her head
to the side
,
looking straight into
my eyes.  Her eyes are drawn together and I honestly think she can see the anguish
inside me
. The look she gives me
is full of sorrow and worry
.

She
lets out a sigh when she answers
, “I will fetch Avery
for you, Master.”  She stops at the door, her wings are flapping a hundred miles an hour,
and looks at me one more time before leaving to fetch Avery.

Alasdair looks
at me with satisfaction and grins
.

“Now that that is taken care of, I have something for you to change into and then we’re going to go down to the village.”

“Very well, Alasdair,” I reply in a low voice.

He closes his eyes at the sound of his name coming from my lips and he breathes a sigh of contentment.  His cold, clammy hands fold down over my bare shoulders and it takes everything in me not to flinch. 

He tilts his head d
own to rub against my hair when he
whispers in my ear, “Oh Calista, if I was solid right now, I would be hearing you scream my name.” 

He can’t see my face, but I bit
e
my lip
hard
to keep from screaming.  My heart is thumping wildly and I seriously feel sick to my stomach.  Please let Ryder and Merrick get here soon.  I don’t want to blow my cover and then rea
lly have my power taken from me because then, all hope will be lost.
Getting tr
aces of it taken away is enough and
I
really
don’t want to know what it feels like to have it all taken away.  Alasdair gives me a nudge
,
pushing me toward the bedroom.  He
said he
picked out something for me to wear and I can only imagine what
it is
.  We reach the bedroom door and I see  a pair of brown leather pants and a brown leather halter top that looks like a bikini top but a couple of sizes too small.

‘
Great, this is just what I need
,’
I think sarcastically
.
It looks like
it’ll barely cover my nipples.  How people wear this shit is beyond me.  It’s one thing to wear a bikini, but to wear this flaunting around is disgusting.
I have never been disrespected like this and I am going to make sure this piece of shit gets everything he has coming to him.  I can’t believe he wants me to parade around
the village
in
that outfit.
  I grip my hands tightly in front of my body to keep from lashing out on him. 
I really miss my magic right now.  I could blast him across the room and be out of here in a second. 
He starts
to untie my dress in the back and I start to jerk away, but slowly move back.

“Is
there something wrong, Calista
?
”
H
e
asks curiously.

I try to cover my mistake and laugh it off
.

“Oh no, it’s just your hand was cold and it startled me.”

He removes
his hand an
d steps
back
.

“Very well, I will go and see if Avery is here
and then I can come back
and help you dress.”  He bites his lip and trails his eyes over my entire body
,
lingering a little longer on my breasts before meeting my eyes again.  He walks backward out the door and keeps his eyes fully on min
e.  As soon as he shuts it,
I break down.  I fall to my knees and wrap my arms around my
stomach rocking back and forth
chanting
.

“I have to do this, I have to do this,
I
have to do this
.
” The tears burn my eyes, but I keep them at bay.  A light rapping noise on the door
causes me to
freeze. 
I look up as the door opens and I reflexively
grab my chest
in distress when all I see is Nixie entering in through the door
.  I
t
hink
my heart
is
going to explode and grabbing my chest was just instinct, but thankfully it was
only
Nixie.  She flies in and flutters up to me
at eye level when she speaks
.

“I felt your distress, my lady, and I wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

My eyes go wide at the thought of her knowing my feelings.  Are
they
that strong of a beacon?
  I didn’t think anyone’s magic could work in here
because everyone is
surrounded by the corruption of dark magic.

“No, Pr
incess, they are not,” Nixie answers.
 
“
But I have a special gift of sensing these things.  It’s one of the special gifts you and I
both
have.  You could sense the goodness in me as soon as you saw me.  Intuition is a strong gift in itself and no amount of magic the
m
aster
gives off can stop us from feeling it.  Even with the talisman on
,
you can sense these things and that shows how powerful you really are.  You shouldn’t be able to do a
nything with that talisman on because m
ost people die within minutes.” 

I notice how her voice has a twinkling sound to it when she speaks.  It sounds kind of childish in a way, but I know she’s not a child.  I instantly start to feel bette
r with her company and the distress I was feeling a few minutes ago
is subsiding.  I turn away from her and start to change clothes
as fast as I can
.  I want to be fully dressed before Alasdair makes his way
back
.  I slide off my dress and pull on the brown leather pants.  They fit like a
second skin
;
they
’re
really
tight and really uncomfortable.  My skin feels sticky underneath them.
The halter top ties at the nec
k and covers half of my breasts
,
just like I thought it would
.
Then I see something
lying on the bed.
The talisman weighs heavily on my neck.  I try to t
ake it off, but something is blocking me from lifting it from around my neck
.  I guess only the dark sorcerer can remove it.  It’s an embarrassment to even be wearing this outfit, but I know I have to
do it
.  I wonder what Ryder and Merrick will say if they see me like this. 

Nixie looks at me
with her hand over her mouth and she abruptly turns away and snickers.
 

“
I’m
glad you find this funny, Nixie, because I sure as hell don’t,” I snap.  I look down at my breasts and I pray they don’t fall out.

She giggles again and her eyes twinkle with mischief when she teases, “Let’s just hope you don’t have a wardrobe malfunction.”  She laughs and then calms down when she sees my death glare. 

She clears her throat and says,
“Oh yeah, and s
peaking of special gifts, you pretend very well, Princess.  I’m shocked the Master hasn’t picked up on it yet.  You’re doing well, but I’m wondering what all you have planned.” 

She leans
in
close to me and whispers as quietly as she can in my ear. “I can help you escape, but I require two wishes to be granted upon your return home.”

Wishes are taken seriously with the fae, as well as promises.  They are held as a sacred vow that must be fulfilled.  One must not go into this kind of deal lightly.  I narrow my eyes and study her.  She seems genuine and I still don’t de
tect any evil at all from her. She looks so lost and alone and i
f I can grant her wishes I will.

“Tell me of your wishes and
if I can fulfill them, I will,” I assure her.

Her eyes go wide and she flitters across the room spinning and twirling while giggling in her twinkling
sounding
voice. 

“I’m sorry, but I’ve heard so much about you and the
p
rophecy
, and I know you will have the power to grant my wishes.  I’m just a little excited that you accepted.”  One thing I have learned about imps over the years is that they are
fun
-
loving creatures that excite very easily.  They usually make good friends and are also loyal to those they trust. 
I think I just got lucky.

  She flutters in front of me and her excitement dims down
in
to seriousness as she explains what she wants.

“My family had talked about the
p
rophecy
for years before I was taken.  When you return home, you plan to be with your
p
rince
, right?”

I nod my head yes and prompt her to continue. 

“I know what happens when you and Ryder take the next step.  I see already that you’ve started the change, but have not completed it.  It takes more than the power
of words to make this change so w
hen you and Ryder become one, the Fall Court will appear from the magic of your union and you will become
the q
ueen of your own court. Your court will be a safe have
n for those who seek shelter and since m
any fae creatures don’t really belong to the Summer Cour
t or Winter Court, they can belong to yours.  You can
unite us and make us stronger.”

I furrow my brows in confusion and say, “I understand t
hat, but how does this help you?”

She flaps her hands in the air and says, “I was getting to that, Princess.  My first wish is to let me come with you.  All I want is to be taken away from here and protected.  For the second wish I want you to let my family take refuge in your court
…
the Fall Court.”

Out of all the wishes she would want granted, she wants me to keep her family safe.  I place my hand over my heart and promise to grant her wishes.  My heart feels full of joy when I look up to see her golden tears of happiness.  She flies over to me and hugs me around my neck.  Her body
is
fragile and delicate as I try to hug her back. 

Curiosity gets the better of me and I have to ask
.

“How do you plan to get us out of here?”

“Your
p
rince
isn’t going to let you stay here so I know he’ll be making a rescue attempt, and when he does, I will be there waiting to give you a hand.  Face it,
Princess,
coming here is a suicide mission.  I can gua
rantee your exit out of here so j
ust make sure you stay close together when he comes.  Our window of time will be very short.”

Nixie didn’t have any more time to elaborate because Avery walked through the door as soon as she finished speaking.  I could tell this wasn’t the real Avery
,
though.  The dark sorcerer is in there because I can
feel the evil emanating
off of him
.
I’m staring at his face and I know
I’
ve seen this look
before
,
a long time ago in my court.  I finally figured out why Avery was acting so odd all those times before.  It wasn’t really Avery in that body, but the dark sorcerer. 
I didn’t know he could do that.
I wonder what everyone back home is going to say about
it
.  Protection from the dark sorcerer has just now become more complicated.  There’s no telling how many times he’s spied on us and done things behind our back
s
. 

Nixie leaves the room and the fake Avery gives her a smile.  He turns to look at me and his lips part with a lustful grin.  He lets out an appreciative sigh and walks toward me.  He takes my face in his hands and leans down to take my lips with his.  I kis
s him back with a forced eagerness
.  His tongue intermingles with mine and his hands caress down my back to cup my ass.  He squeezes tightly to press me up against his growing erection.  A groan escapes my lips and I meant it as a groan of annoyance, but he took it as one of passion and deepens the kiss.