“Um, you don’t have to tell me anything. Families are hell sometimes, aren’t they? You should meet mine.” Ella gabbled away, with a horrible feeling that whatever came next wouldn’t be good.
“Nevertheless, I feel you should understand the male you are bonded to for all eternity. The monster my wife’s mother mated you with simply to fulfill her own selfish desires.”
He half smiled. “Once upon a time, a male child was born from my loins. As is traditional amongst my kind, my kin were invited to celebrate his birth and bestow their various magical gifts on him, if they so chose.”
She pretended to yawn. “I think I’ve heard this one before.”
“As I said, amusing and very brave. After the guests arrived for the feast, a storm gathered overhead and disgorged another presence.” His luscious mouth hardened. “A Fae of a different kind from the Dark Lord’s court appeared. He insisted the child was marked in his master’s name and that he was ‘special.’ When we examined the babe we discovered the mark on him and knew the Dark Lord’s ambassador spoke the truth.”
“So?”
Hell, she’d seen that weird mark just below his hip—kissed and licked it, actually. Was that the one?
“For every gift our Fae bestowed on the child, the Dark Court offered him another. For every positive, there was a negative.”
“The gifts balanced each other out.”
The Fae sighed. “If he had been left alone, then yes, he would probably have been the most magical being ever created.”
“Then what happened?”
“We couldn’t allow him to be that powerful.” He met her gaze fully for the first time, and it was like looking into a furnace. “I decided to train him as a weapon against the Dark Court.”
“When he was a kid?”
“Of course. His instruction had to start immediately to instill the correct discipline in him.”
“With what end in view?”
He shrugged. “As I said, as a defense against the darker elements of the Fae.”
“You mean the ones who didn’t agree with you, right?”
“I trained him to seek out evil and destroy it.”
“At your command?”
“At first, but as he grew older, because of his gifts, he could sense discord and evil within any Fae and became the terror of Otherworld, the truth seeker, the bringer of death.”
“The ultimate weapon.” She shook her head. “Poor kid.”
“Not at all. His power was immense.”
“So what went wrong?”
“He began to defy my orders.”
“And think for himself? Jeez, how ungrateful.”
“It was certainly not acceptable.”
“Because he was so powerful.”
“Aye.”
“What did you do to destroy his loyalty to you?”
He raised one haughty eyebrow. “Why do you assume I caused the fissure between us?”
“Because I know him. I’m his mate.”
He laughed, the sound echoing around the dungeon walls. “You know nothing.”
“Not true. You just told me a whole load of stuff about him, which in some weird way makes a ton of sense.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“As his mate, you should know the truth?”
“I don’t believe that for a second. I’ve never met a Fae who didn’t put their needs front and center. You told me because you want me to do something either for you, or for him. And somehow, I doubt it’s for him.”
“He is too powerful to exist.” The Fae stood and walked over to the door, his tattooed back to Ella. Whatever runes were inscribed on his skin moved and flexed with his moods, creating a fascinating pattern of discord. “I reluctantly agreed that he could stay in your world, but it seems he cannot keep away from mine.”
“Adam made him come back.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
She put all the conviction she had into her voice. “I saw how strong Adam and the sect were. I assume Vadim had no choice.”
“That’s impossible. His power is unassailable.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “He wanted to come back.”
“Are you afraid that when he’s finished with Adam, he’ll come after you?”
Invisible fingers closed around her throat and she gasped for breath, her own hand clawing at nothing. As quickly as the pain started, it stopped.
“Do not, as you say, push your luck, Soul Sucker. My motive in telling you about your mate’s lies was pure.”
Ella said nothing to that piece of bullshit, and he slowly walked back toward her.
“What do you want me to do?”
His smile was charming. “Persuade him to return to your world.”
“And if he doesn’t want to go?”
He studied her upturned face. “You have a unique bond with him. If anyone can make him leave, it will be you.”
“And if I don’t want him back?”
“We will bring him to trial for his crimes against his family.”
She snorted. “If you can catch him.”
“You could bring him to us, Soul Sucker.”
“Why would I do that?”
“As you said, he deserted you. What better way to make him pay for his crimes than to betray him?”
“The way you Fae stab each other in the back so easily just amazes me.” She shook her head. “If I want revenge on him, I’ll do it myself, and not to make you happy.”
“Then, there is another way.” He opened his hand to show her a small dagger made from a dark reddish-brown metal that didn’t shine at all. “Kill him.”
She stared at the blade for a long moment. “How can I do that, when I’m chained up in the Fae queen’s dungeon?”
“If you help me save Otherworld from your monstrous mate, I will order my wife, the queen to release you into my custody.”
“She won’t do it.”
He laughed. “You think she wants her little cygnet to stay alive? You are mistaken. She will be as glad to be rid of him as I am. He is a threat to us all.”
“Can I think about it?”
“While you think, things are progressing at a pace you cannot imagine.”
“What about my face?”
He angled his head to observe her. “You don’t like this one?”
“It’s not really my thing. I look like Vadim’s little sister, and that’s just wrong, when you’re mated to someone. Adam took my face. He usually makes sure his victims commit suicide fairly soon afterward.”
“So that is your price?”
“Hardly. I’m just telling you the facts.” She shrugged. “I don’t need your help. I just need to get out of here, find Adam and that damned cult, get my face back and go home.”
“Without my son?”
“He’s not my problem. I can’t make him come back if he doesn’t want to. From the sound of it, he might have a few grudges to get off his chest over here.”
“He cannot remain here.”
“So you said.”
His scowl shook the walls. “Let us be clear. In order for you to persuade my son to quit Otherworld you require—what?”
She ticked the list off her fingers. “My face back, Adam’s death and the extermination of that secret cult. But as I’ve already mentioned, I can do all that myself, and I don’t want your son back.”
“Don’t overestimate your abilities, my dear.” He tossed the dagger at her, and she automatically caught it.
“Keep this anyway. If you do decide to execute him, it is one of the few weapons that might actually do it for you.”
“Is he so hard to kill?” The peculiar metal warmed against her palm as she wrapped her hands around the hilt.
His bitter laughter echoed around the cell. “He is practically invincible. I had to spend a fortune and go to the Dark Court to have that dagger made. There is enough power in that blade to kill three Fae Royal. Hopefully it is enough to pierce his black heart.”