Beautiful nightmares, p.43
Beautiful Nightmares, page 43
Just as we’d hoped, he fell for my illusion hook, line, and sinker.
Reacting faster than I anticipated, Thuridan disappeared in a blur of movement. I cursed under my breath and bolted after him, hefting the sword up with my aching arm. I could see Thuridan’s shape, a dim shadow off to the left. If he entered the cell and I wasn’t there, I’d lose precious seconds backtracking. So much of Laurie’s scheme came down to timing. I swore again and ran harder.
I caught up with Thuridan at the exact moment he pulled at a deadbolt, grunting with effort. Flakes of rust fluttered toward the ground. I’d been down here several times now, and not once had I wondered where the tunnel ended—my loudest instinct was always to get out as quickly as possible. But the tunnel didn’t end with a final cell.
It ended at a door.
It was the same one I’d seen in the memory with Lyari. There was something eerie and forgotten about it. The wood was warped and rotted, and the iron bar that rested in two thick brackets was covered with rust.
Collith was behind that door.
We no longer had the mating bond or the Court bond to sense each other by, but I knew, as sure as I knew my name, that I was right. The door hinges released a series of shrieks and moans, and I winced at the racket. Hopefully any Guardians that might’ve heard would just assume it was Thuridan.
As he rushed over the threshold, I made sure I was touching him, pressed close to the faerie’s back in hopes of confusing the spell. It worked.
Thuridan searched wildly for Lyari. Using my magic with cold efficiency, I set the memory of her on a loop and withdrew from the Guardian’s mind. He stared at the far wall, seeing Lyari arrive at the dungeons all over again, holding that paper bag in her hand. Omar mentioned that you took his shift, and I know for a fact that you took Malachi’s, too, she said in her brisk way. It seemed safe to assume that you haven’t eaten all day. From the sounds your stomach is making, it seems I was correct, of course.
But the other person in the room wasn’t Lyari.
For the first time in weeks, I laid eyes on Collith Sylvyre, former King of the Unseelie Court, one of the most powerful faeries alive, and the male who’d broken my heart.
At this moment, he didn’t look very powerful.
Laurie had been telling the truth about Collith’s torture. Not that I’d doubted him, really, but I still hadn’t prepared for it.
Torches burned on either side of Collith’s prone form, sending a golden glow over the gruesome picture. He hung against the wall across from the door, his ankles and wrists bound in irons that were attached to chains. He wore the same dark pants he’d worn during that final battle in the throne room, but nothing else. Even the steel boots had been removed. The absence of Collith’s clothes allowed me to see that his body, usually strong and healthy and alluring, was emaciated. His face was swollen and discolored, which meant he’d been beaten recently, considering his accelerated healing. Those beautiful hazel eyes were closed.
Was he unconscious, or just sleeping? I lowered Thuridan’s sword and took another step into the room, then stiffened.
Collith’s mental walls had fallen.
Memories and thoughts came at me like a tsunami, all of them drenched in fear. The sword slipped from my grasp and I heard it hit the stones. Trying to stop myself from being swept away in the tide, I caught hold of a memory as if it were an anchor or a buoy, flattening my palm against the closest surface for balance. For a few seconds, my mind thrashed between the past and present. Then I opened my eyes—or Collith opened his eyes—and the dungeon was replaced by the throne room.
It was the night of the last Tithe, back when I was queen and I’d been ruling to buy Collith time. Laurie had just proposed to me in front of everyone, and Collith, wearing the enchanted goblin ring, was now whaling on him like they were fighters in the arena beneath the Seelie Court. They rolled across the flagstones and the crowd scattered like startled birds.
“To the Queen!” Lyari shouted. I remembered that moment; I had been so distracted by the fight that I’d missed what she said.
Collith barely heard her, either. At the same moment my Right Hand gave her order, Laurie’s eyes met his and the chaos around them dimmed. They both paused, just for an instant. Long enough for the Seelie King to whisper with a wicked grin, “There you are.”
A wealth of feeling swelled in Collith’s chest. Pain, fury, longing. It was the longing that made his control fall apart. How could he still want the person responsible for putting his mother in the ground? For her suffering? Collith snarled and drew his arm back to hit Laurie in the face.
Only I knew the truth—terror, not rage, had been the driving force behind that fist. An all-encompassing fear that Collith would give in to that desire.
The memory went on, but I pulled myself out of it, grimacing. It felt like yanking my limbs out of a pool of taffy. Once I was free, I immediately threw defenses up, erecting them how Collith himself had taught me. By that point, I’d figured out why his subconscious was so wide open. It’s happening again, I thought with a small stab of guilt. Collith didn’t know he was awake.
The trauma was a result of his time in Hell, where he never would’ve ended up if it hadn’t been for me.
I’d never known how much he was hiding behind that wall. What had he endured down here at Death Bringer’s hands? What could’ve driven him to retreat so deeply into a different reality?
Feel guilty later, Fortuna. Right now, the priority was getting Collith. His psyche kept slamming at me as I skirted around the wooden table in the middle of the room, its center laden with cruel-looking tools that winked in the firelight. Every single one was covered in a crusty, dark substance.
Blood. Collith’s blood.
Realizing this was the table I’d put my hand on, I shuddered, and I was about to look away when one of the tools caught my eye. It looked like a… chain breaker. My eyebrows shot up, and I glanced at the chains securing Collith to the wall. Could it really be that easy? Would the teeth of the chain breaker fit around those iron links? Yes, I decided. Besides the convenience of it, I liked the irony of setting Collith free with something that had been intended to keep him broken.
But the instant I touched the chain breaker, I jerked my hand back with a hiss. The tools had been soaked in holy water. Fuck, I thought. I didn’t see any gloves, and there was nothing else I could use to protect my skin. I could still pick the locks on Collith’s manacles, as we’d originally planned, but I’d spent too long in Thuridan’s head—I should’ve been onto phase two by now.
Chain breakers it is. I heaved a long, deep sigh. “This is going to hurt, you guys.”
Neither of them responded; Thuridan was still lusting after a nonexistent Lyari and Collith hadn’t stirred. I stood there and searched for other ways to stall, but as the real Lyari had once informed me, I didn’t have the luxury of weakness. So I gritted my teeth, focused on Collith, and picked up the chain breaker.
The feeling was comparable to what I imagined acid felt like. Agony shot up my throat and lodged between my teeth, turning the scream into a violent hiss. I rushed over to Collith and tried to keep every movement steady and efficient, knowing a mistake would mean another moment clutching these hellish handles. My skin smoked as if the metal were setting it on fire, and I was still trying to guard myself from Collith’s mental onslaught. In an effort to concentrate on what I was doing, instead of the pain, I counted the seconds. Thirteen—that’s how many it took to free Collith.
Both the tool and the chains fell to the dirt with a muffled clatter. I let out a sob, afraid to look at my shaking hands. At the same moment, Collith dropped to his knees, his head still bent. I swore for the umpteenth time and rushed to hold him upright. In that split second, I forgot to keep my mind protected. Collith’s pain and terror were everywhere again. I saw his father sitting on the throne. There was a flash of Naevys, only half of her body visible as the earth slowly consumed her. I saw my own face streaked with tears, my mouth forming the words of a spell that would banish Collith from my life.
Wincing, I fell to my knees beside him. The position made it easier to support his weight. “Collith!” I hissed, shaking the parts of him that looked uninjured. “Hey, it’s me, it’s Fortuna. I’m here now, okay? But you need to snap out of it.”
More thoughts. More images. More faces I knew and moments I recognized.
Like the one whispering through me now.
I don’t want to see this. The thought was mine, but… I wasn’t sure it was true. Because Laurie and Collith, especially naked Laurie and Collith, was a sight to behold. They were in a garden, from the looks of it, their bodies surrounded by trees and hedges. Collith knelt behind Laurie, grasping Laurie’s hips to shift his entire body backward while he thrust forward. Laurie moaned. He cried Collith’s name. He clutched the ground as if he were coming undone. Collith’s eyes closed in ecstasy.
Without warning, roses began to bloom all around them.
Neither Collith or Laurie noticed at first. But soon there were so many that the air seemed to turn pink. The flowers grew as if the laws of gravity had no meaning, sprouting in mid-air, floating over the lovers like dust motes. With every touch, every kiss, every plunge, more appeared. They were the most beautiful blooms I’d ever seen, red as human blood, the petals perfectly formed.
A moment later, I discovered that I was wrong. Because as Collith and Laurie came, both of them filling the air with their shouts, the roses changed again… and these were the most beautiful blooms I’d ever seen. Their sweet fragrance reminded me of the dreamscape, somehow.
Laurie finally opened his eyes, and when he registered what he was seeing, his brows knitted together. “Collith,” he murmured. “Look.”
Easing away from Laurie, Collith looked around them with a bewildered expression. “Is this real?” he asked.
“No. It’s an illusion. I know this essence.” Laurie’s voice dropped to a whisper. Slowly, he looked at Collith, and his eyes filled with realization. Realization and a terrible sort of acceptance. “This is my essence. My power. You took it from me.”
The roses wilted. Collith shook his head, an automatic denial, but the way his stomach sank said otherwise. Now that he’d seen the roses, along with the shadow in Laurie’s face, he could feel it. The power. It was subtle, and yet it didn’t belong. He’d done enough training with magic to know it hadn’t been there a few minutes ago.
“Laurelis, if it’s true, I didn’t know,” he began. “I had no idea—”
Too late, Collith noticed that Laurie’s sword was gone. It had been resting in the grass beside them, where it was discarded during their frenzied undressing. Laurie swung it when Collith was halfway through his sentence. The Unseelie prince moved in a blur, but even that wasn’t quick enough.
The tip of Laurie’s sword sliced down his face.
And the shriveled roses crumbled into dust.
I jerked back from the memory before I could hear Collith scream. I could still feel it hurtling up my throat, though, just as it had for Collith when he felt the burn of holy water on Laurie’s blade. I didn’t want to see any more. Didn’t want to be privy to any more of his secrets.
Desperate to stop the relentless tide battering at my mind, I buried my stinging fingers in Collith’s hair and lifted his head. But my lips, when they pressed to his, were gentle.
It was the first time I’d kissed Collith since learning his darkest secret. Since he’d betrayed my trust and thrown everything into question.
Collith returned to me within seconds. I heard his sound of surprise, felt his eyelashes flutter against my cheek. Then, as he came alive, kissing me back with a ferocity that he’d never shown before, my pain was drowned out by the desire. From the moment I’d met him, Collith could bring it out in me, no matter how hard I fought it.
I wasn’t fighting it now, though. Collith moved as if he had no injuries, and he cupped my face, slanting his mouth harder against mine. Zara must’ve been here recently, because he tasted like the tea she’d made me drink once. Now that he was fully conscious, his secrets and memories were tucked away behind that wall, and the air around us was blissfully silent. Well, as silent as it could be with a fae warrior a few yards away, trying to break free of the illusion I’d trapped him inside.
Somehow I’d ended up in Collith’s lap, my knees resting on either side of his hips. Acting as if his injuries didn’t exist, or he didn’t even feel them, Collith leaned into me. The pieces of chain still attached to his manacles made a rattling sound. His fingers trailed down my neck, my shoulders, my back, then finally stopped to cup my ass. I ground against him, momentarily swayed by the lies my body was telling me. I wrapped both my arms around his neck and made a sound deep in my throat, a sound that betrayed everything I still felt for him.
But in spite of the ache between my legs, I’d forgotten nothing. Not for one second. After another moment, I broke the kiss, leaning back to see Collith’s face.
“Are you able to use your powers?” I asked. My voice was as cold as the air around us. “This entire plan sort of falls apart without them.”
“Your hands,” Collith rasped, reaching for me.
I jerked away, and I had to stop myself from putting even more distance between us. I glanced down at my palms to see the damage, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought—just some blisters and red skin. “Not your problem,” I said evenly. “This is just a temporary truce. Once we’ve rescued you and our lives aren’t in danger anymore, all bets are off. Now can you use your powers or not?”
Glancing toward Thuridan, Collith rested his head against the rocky wall with a weary expression. “In small bursts, I think. What is the plan? Where’s Laurelis?”
It was one of the few times Collith had said Laurie’s name without any venom in his tone. I almost asked him how he knew Laurie was involved, but when was that silver-haired bastard ever not involved? Instead, I leaned forward and put my lips next to Collith’s ear. Speaking as quietly as a breath, I told him everything. What Laurie was doing, what I needed, and the part Collith would play if we wanted to pull this off.
When I was done, I leaned back again. There was a twist to Collith’s lips that looked like begrudging respect.
“Can you do it?” I asked bluntly. Laurie had known Collith would be weakened, of course, but I wasn’t sure he’d anticipated the extent of it. We’d underestimated the lengths Viessa would go to keep her throne.
“Yes.” Collith didn’t hesitate. He raised his gaze, and those hazel depths were carefully neutral now. King Collith’s eyes. “You’ll have to trust me, though. Can you do it?”
The question wasn’t a taunt or a challenge. I knew that without trying to see beneath his mask. No matter how vilified Collith had become to me, I’d been in his head. I knew his love had been real. I knew who he was. It had just been the lie that shattered us. His enormous, world-tilting lie.
In response to his question, I gritted my teeth and opened my mind to him.
Collith didn’t spend precious seconds asking for permission again. A moment later, I felt him inside my skull, and it was like his soul had brushed against mine for the briefest of moments. Collith’s presence was like the faerie himself—cool and gentle. Still, as he twined through my thoughts and grasped bits of consciousness, I was rigid. I reminded myself that he wasn’t there to take anything or poke around. Collith knew his purpose, and he hadn’t deviated from it.
Near the memory of my parents’ deaths, though, he hesitated. A second went by, then two. I felt myself start to frown. Why had he stopped?
Fear. Collith could sense the fear inside that cluster of images.
If I’d been nervous before, I was almost buzzing with agitation now. I kept forgetting that Collith was a Nightmare, or at least part of him was. He may have known power during all his years as a faerie, maybe even considered himself adept at controlling it, but he’d never faced the temptation of fear. Not like this. When a Nightmare sensed another creature’s terror, it was like lust and adrenaline and euphoria rolled into one feeling.
We were running out of time, damn it.
Just as I was about to shove Collith out of my head, I thought of Naevys. Have faith in him, she’d told me with her last, dying breath. I thought of my own parents. What kind of person would I have become if I hadn’t been guided by Matthew Sworn? If I hadn’t had someone good and kind to nurture me? Believing in me every day as I learned the boundaries of my power?
I’d probably be making bigger mistakes than Collith. Hell, I had made bigger mistakes than Collith.
Feeling restless again, I returned my attention to whatever he was doing in my brain. But… he was gone. At some point during my inner struggle, Collith had finished weaving his magic and carefully extracted himself. I opened my eyes, startled by the action. When did I close them?
Collith looked back at me silently. Did it work? I wondered, darting a glance over the rest of the cell.
I jumped when Collith answered, Yes. His mouth didn’t move when he said it, which meant our minds were still connected.
Suddenly I remembered what it felt like to have a mating bond between us. To feel what he was feeling, to be attached by something that felt like fate but was even more inevitable. I remembered that night he’d showed me his house and we danced in the dew-filled garden.
“Can you walk?” I asked abruptly, making a point to say it out loud.
This time, Collith didn’t answer. From the hard set of his jaw, I knew he wasn’t ignoring the question—he was using every drop of strength left in his veins to stand. I didn’t move to help him. Instead, he used the wall for support, his long fingers splaying against the stones. I found myself staring at those fingers, remembering how beautiful I used to find them. Reliving the things those fingers had done to me in bathtubs, beds, and forests.
Shaking myself, I retrieved Thuridan’s sword from the ground, quickly outlining the rest of Laurie’s plan. Collith finally managed to straighten. A vein stood out in his throat and he was pale with strain.
