4
“ W here am I?” Cali murmured. She had no real memory, and as her eyes opened, she could see Cillian hovering over her, a cool cloth against her head. There was a look of concern etched into his face. “Cillian?”
“You had a seizure,” he replied. “I brought you back to bed.”
“A seizure?” It had been a long time since she had one. She was prone to them when she was a child, but she took meds for that. And then it hit her, she didn’t have her meds here, wherever she was. Simon had her committed, and she seriously doubted he gave them her medication, or even told the hospital about it.
Simon probably stole everything of hers.
He probably sold off her meds.
“I take medication, I’m probably due…”
“You don’t need to take the medication,” Cillian stated, bluntly.
“So a wraith is some kind of doctor now?”
Cillian smiled, briefly. “No, but I know you don’t need your meds.”
“And why is that?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.” He stood up quickly, walking away from her. His back straight, his arms crossed. He almost looked troubled.
“What?”
He shrugged. “It’s something you have to figure out on your own.”
“That’s bullshit. You know that right?”
Cillian chuckled. “Your meds would be useless here.”
“I had a seizure, clearly I need them.”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t. You had a reaction to something, but it won’t happen again. I’ve taken care of that.”
Cali sat upright, whipping the cloth off her forehead. “What do you mean by that?”
“I know healers and one owed me a favor.”
“You had some kind of demon, goblin thing mess with my head?” she asked, outraged that he let someone make a choice over her body. Especially in light of what happened with Simon.
Cillian had told her he would never force her, that it was all her decision. All she had to do was stay here a year, save a day a month, and she wouldn’t lose her soul, but that didn’t give him the right to have some other being mess with her mind.
“Demons and goblins don’t heal,” he replied. “It was a seraphim.”
Cali blinked a couple of times. “An angel.”
“Sort of. This one happens to be cut off, and like I said, owed me a favor, which I have now cashed in. Really didn’t expect to use it on you, however.”
“Well, thank you, but I’m still kind of annoyed,” she muttered. Angel or not, she didn’t like stuff being done to her without her knowledge.
Cillian crossed his arms. “I do you a kindness, another kindness I might add, and you’re annoyed?”
“I think I have a right to be a little put out. My ex betrayed me, I was almost committed, I sold my soul, and now my soul belongs to you.”
“You’re not the only one who has put a lot on the line,” Cillian snapped, his eyes flaring with a brief flame of crimson. “I—” His mouth snapped shut.
“You…what?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared from the room.
Cali growled in frustration. Once again, stuck in this bedroom. She’d been healed by a seraphim, who did goodness knows what to her mind, and now she was left with no answers again. It seemed like he was hiding stuff from her.
And why wouldn’t he?
There was something he wasn’t telling her. How could she trust him? And she wasn’t sure what a wraith really did. What occupied his time, besides looking at orbs? She knew a bit about different folklores, like there were obvious things about vampires and sunlight, werewolves and silver bullets, but what did wraiths do? She really didn’t know.
She knew what banshees did.
Was a wraith like a male version of a banshee?
Cillian’s world wasn’t hell, but it didn’t seem to be purgatory either, or one of those levels of hell like in Dante’s Inferno . It was like being stuck in a void. Like in limbo. It was a place she hadn’t even known existed. Not from any legend she’d read or anything.
She got up and wandered back over to the balcony where she’d eaten earlier. The table and chairs were gone, and she walked out to overlook the hideous garden of grotesque topiaries that were carved into really brown and dying looking trees.
The sky was orange, like dusk on a summer day, but there was no wind. Nothing but scurrying sounds as little creatures scuttled across the stone and hard packed dirt. There was a stone maze in the distance that seemed to stretch and bend. And as she leaned over the side of the balcony, it almost seemed like they were inside of an orb.
“Astute observation,” a melodic voice said, reading her mind. “Although, if you make it to the center of that labyrinth, you can escape this all.”
Cali spun around to see an angelic woman in white standing there. It was as if she was glowing, almost. Was this the seraphim that had healed her? If anyone seemed like a seraphim, she did, and she had just given Cali the location of an exit.
Why though?
“Who are you?” Cali asked.
“Elodi. I’m an elf,” she remarked, her violet eyes looking Cali up and down. “Who are you?”
“You can read minds, so I’m sure you know.”
Elodi smiled, but the smile was cold. It didn’t reach her eyes and Cali took a step back, because suddenly, in a realm full of goblins and demons, she didn’t feel particularly safe around this beautiful elf.
Run.
“You are a mortal. That’s all I care to know. You’re really not worth the effort,” Elodi replied with disdain.
“Then why are you here?” Cali asked.
Elodi stepped forward, still smiling that cold, calculating grin that made Cali uneasy. “I’m here to see your master. He was here a moment ago. Did he get bored with his plaything already?”
“I’m not his plaything.”
Elodi rushed at her, gripping her by her hair. Suddenly, that smile and beautiful face morphed into something else, something evil and dark. “I should kill you now, but I cannot.”
“Why is that?” Cali asked.
“Cillian is hiding so much from you. You’re nothing but a pawn in his game. We all are,” Elodi hissed. “Maybe I will kill you after all. A mortal speaking to an elvish princess so flippantly.”
“Elodi!” Cillian growled. It was a deep, guttural snarl, which made Cali tremble, even.
Elodi let go of her hold and stepped away. Cali was relieved, but what had the elf meant by she was a pawn in Cillian’s game?
“I didn’t mean any harm,” Elodi stated. “I was coming to check on her.”
“For what reason? I didn’t ask you to.”
“I heard she was healed by Gotzone,” Elodi stated. “I wondered what kind of deal you would’ve made to gain such favor to have Gotzone heal your…human.”
Cali was relieved it wasn’t Elodi who had healed her. It was bad enough Elodi could read her mind for that brief moment, but she was glad that the elf hadn’t gone deeper into her mind. The idea of that just didn’t sit right with her.
Elodi would kill me.
“And since when do I tell any elf, especially Tiene’s daughter, my business?” Cillian asked.
Elodi’s eyes narrowed, but she still had that simpering smile on her face as she approached him. “Oh, come now, you’ve told me lots of things.”
Cali watched as Elodi sidled up to Cillian, wrapping her arms around his neck and then kissing him, pressing her scantily clad body against him. It made Cali slightly jealous, because she remembered what it was like to kiss him. For a brief moment she had a flare of jealousy that said mine .
And she wanted to rip that blonde bitch out of his arms and maybe try and rip a chunk out of her head. Elodi had tried to do that to her only a moment ago.
Cillian pushed Elodi away with disgust, tossing her, so she stumbled to the ground.
“Keep your claws off of me,” Cillian snarled.
Elodi’s smiled disappeared then, as she picked herself up. “You should be careful how you treat the daughter of King Tiene.”
“And the daughter of King Tiene should be careful who and how she associates with others. He’s already lost hold on one realm, it would be bad for you all if he lost his hold on the elven kingdom,” Cillian snarled.
Elodi’s eyes narrowed, her lips pursing together in a line. “It would, but I would be careful as well, wraith.”
“Get out of my sight,” Cillian snarled.
Elodi tossed her hair over her shoulder, her head held high as she exited the room. Cillian followed and then sealed the door with magic, or what looked like magic, because it glowed gold.
Cali didn’t say much as he turned and headed back toward her. The way his body was so stiff and rigid, she knew he was still holding on to a lot of anger. Cali knew she should be terrified by him, but she wasn’t. There was something about him that drew her in. She approached him cautiously and she did what instinctually came to her—she placed her hand on his back to try to comfort him.
Cillian jumped away from her touch, almost startled, and glared at her in disbelief. For someone who liked to touch her, it seemed funny how he was so shocked by the simple act of sympathy.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“You seemed upset.”
“I am. Angry more than upset, but it still doesn’t explain what you were doing.”
“I was comforting you, letting you know you were okay. Has no one ever shown you affection before?”
Cillian’s eyes narrowed. “Do I seem like a person who had a particularly affectionate mother?”
“No. I suppose not. Actually, I’m having a hard time picturing you having a mother.”
A smile teased on the corner of his mouth, a twinkle in his dark eyes, like she amused him. “I do have a mother in fact, but in reality, she only gave birth to me. I wouldn’t classify her as maternal or caring.”
“Honestly, I’m having a hard time picturing you young.”
“Wraiths mature quickly. I am a year younger than my half sister Aoife, but I was fully grown by the time I hit a year.”
“That’s harsh.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Accelerated puberty. Yikes.”
Cillian hugged with indignation. “I’m not discussing this with you.”
“Well, sorry if you don’t want me to touch you.”
“I never said that, pet.”
“Well, you jumped as if I were poison.”
“As I said, you surprised me. Besides, that’s not what I call a good way to comfort me.” His voice was husky, and the way he devoured her with his gaze made her body tremble in anticipation.
She highly doubted they would be interrupted this time and she wouldn’t mind that in the least.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Oh?”
And before she had a chance to react, she was in his arms and being carried off to bed.
Her body trembled with anxiousness, but also anticipation. The way they had been before, when he had been kissing her and she’d wanted so much more, until they were interrupted.
She’d never done anything before and she was nervous, but Cillian said he’d never force her, and Cali was curious. She quivered as he laid her down on the bed.
“You’re shaking,” he said, leaning over her. “Don’t be frightened. I just want to pleasure you.”
“If I ask you to stop?”
“Yes. I will stop.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Cillian grinned, his dark eyes twinkling. “First, let’s get these clothes off.”
With a snap of his fingers, she was naked, but he wasn’t. He still wore his leather pants, but his muscular chest was bare and his long black hair hung loose over his shoulders. It was like something off a romance cover. It made her pulse race. This whole situation was surreal, but she wanted to experience wicked pleasure for the first time. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel awkward being naked in front of him.
“You’re so beautiful.” Cillian leaned over her, running his hands over her body.
Grabbing her hips, he pushed her legs open, kneeling between her thighs.
She trembled, her pulse pounding in her ears.
“Tell me,” he said huskily. “Have you ever touched yourself?”
“Yes.” Her blood was burning.
“Has a man ever used his tongue on you before?”
“No,” she whispered, a coil of pleasure building deep in her belly. “I’m a virgin.”
“So? You can make out. You can do things like this.”
“No. Um…Simon didn’t want to do anything because…his meds.”
Cillian leaned over her and kissed her lightly on her lips, his weight heavy between her legs, making her ache with need.
“Well, it was his loss, and I’m going to show you exactly what you’ve been missing.” Cillian ran his tongue down her body, over her nipples, sucking them into hard pearls. It felt so good. His tongue continued its path down over her body, until she felt his hot breath against her inner thighs.
She was shaking with anticipation.
“Spread your legs for me, pet,” Cillian commanded.
She did what she was told, opening her legs wide.
“Yes, that’s exactly how I want you.” His mouth mere inches from her, then his tongue swept up her center, licking her, sending a jolt of pleasure through her.
“Oh God,” she moaned.
His tongue was so hot and wet.
Cillian chuckled. “Yes. Exactly, pet.”
He dragged his tongue up her pussy again, so slow. She rocked her hips, instinctively revelling in the sensation of his tongue teasing her. His tongue circled around her sensitive clit and she cupped her breasts. His tongue slipped inside her, tongue fucking her.
Heat burned through her veins like an endless onslaught, and she could feel that coil of pleasure tighten deep in her belly, until there was nothing she could do but ride the wave as she came hard against his mouth.
The moment she climaxed, a memory of a dream hit her like a flash of light, and it was Cillian’s face, clearly over her, his cock inside her, riding her. It was all so overwhelming. The bed rocked under her before she felt her legs go weak, and she slipped into a deep sleep.