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EILISH

Mercenary Stronghold

Lying in bed, I sigh heavily as I struggle to comprehend why I kissed Cambion.

Our bond should have suffered at least a little, right?

Then why do I feel like I can’t breathe without him?

When we were so close and the desire was building inside me, I felt different.

I felt light and almost like I was under the influence of something.

It wasn’t the dark and wholly encompassing passion I feel with Dragan and Baron. It was something more… wholesome for lack of a better word. Yes, I wanted Cambion—my desire was definitely there but it felt more innocent in a way.

This isn’t the lust of my succubus side, of that I’m sure. Cambion is the light, he’s warmth—and that’s what I want—what I need. His light pulls at my own, encouraging my angelic side to come to the forefront.

Even if I wanted Cambion then and I still do now, it doesn’t change the fact that for now, I have to resist him and the others.

There’s too much at stake—too much going on with Morrigan and Variant.

I’ve been thrust into the position of leader and I need to do just that. I can’t have men on my brain.

Someone clears his throat from outside my tent. I throw my legs out from under the covers atop my cot and tighten my robe before I answer. “Yes?”

“Walk with me,” Myerdoth requests. The gargoyle chose to stay behind to watch over me after the others left. Dragan was uncertain at first, but after a conversation with Myerdoth, he gave his blessing.

“I have to change,” I say as I let him in and I pull on my breeches and tunic.

I forego the corset, finding it impractical for a night walk.

The polite gargoyle keeps his back to me as I change, making no move to sneak a glance and I appreciate that.

He offers his arm once I’m dressed and we set out into the streets.

“I sensed you couldn’t sleep,” he says.

“I’m too worried to sleep.”

“For Dragan and the others?” he questions.

“No. They’re fighters at heart. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Then?”

I nod. “I worry for myself, honestly. Finding my purpose here, finding the strength to lead everyone.”

“They all follow you willingly.”

“Yes, but what if it’s not enough?” I wonder aloud. “And I can’t help but wonder if Baron, Dragan or Cambion all wish to lead in my stead? Maybe they think they’d do a better job of it? And I wonder the same, myself”

“Why would you think that?”

I shrug. “They were all once kings.” I take a breath.

“They don’t appear as kings now with the way they squabble amongst themselves,” he answers with a shrug.

“You weren’t on the road with us when we traveled to Earlann at the start of our journey. All three of them fought for leadership and they all seemed to have been well equipped for the position.”

“Why fear that then? Who cares if they wish to lead?”

“I hope none of them resent me for this position I’ve taken.”

“Do any of them seem to resent you?”

I’m quiet for a moment. “Well, no.”

“Perhaps there is your answer?” he asks, his eyebrows raised.

Myerdoth falls silent once more, but his steps slow to a more casual pace.

He takes me to places in the city I’ve yet to visit and he shows me where the fae we rescued are living after their liberation.

“You should visit them. They all sing your praises and I’m sure they would love to meet the one who freed them from Variant and the Midnight Queen. ”

“ All of us saved them. Not just me.”

“That’s not the story Kolvar tells in the Hall of Clans,” the gargoyle says with a slight twitch at the corner of his lips.

“I know being a leader is difficult. I was the first of my kind and one of the last, just as you are. And though I’ve lived to see this world die and resurrect itself more times than you can imagine, I still carry the burden of a leader and the guilt of a survivor. ”

We return as the sun rises. Myerdoth flies up onto the wall and turns to stone—into his gargoyle form.

I shuffle into the building, walking over unfinished projects that are sure to make this place a home worthy of the rebellion.

Other clan leaders that neighbor our section of the stronghold compliment the progress we’ve made.

Just a few weeks ago, we were a group of wayward souls hiding in the spirit world.

Now, we’re respected leaders of a resistance that seeks to unite the realms.

Cambion’s tent flap opens, and his bare chest glistens in the faint light of the sun. Leaning against the frame, he eyes me with precaution—as if I’m the one who’s a threat to his sanity.

“Did you enjoy your walk?” he asks. The tone of his voice caresses my senses like a lover’s touch.

“I did. Myerdoth is good company.”

A flash of jealousy appears in his eyes for a moment. He clenches his jaw and bites his lower lip. My eyes drop to his mouth, and I suddenly wonder which one of us is truly guilty of seduction.

“Things must be hard for you,” Cambion says softly. “Being thrust into a world filled with cruelty, forever the victim of someone else’s mistakes. I’m sorry, Eilish.”

“You’ve already apologized numerous times,” I answer, not meaning to sound irritated but I can’t help it. There’s just so much on my mind. “You don’t have to apologize again, Cambion. I’ve accepted your apology.”

“I just hope to be whatever it is you need.”

“And what do you think I need?” I demand.

“Me.” His answer surprises me, but I don’t cower from it.

“Why do I need you?” I ask, enjoying this game. “I already have Dragan, Baron and Pyre.”

“You need a man to feed the light within you and I want to do just that. You don’t know what it’s like to feel the lightness filling you from the inside out. You don’t remember.”

“And if you were the one to restore my balance,” I start as I look up at him.

He is beautiful. He always has been. He’s much prettier than Dragan and Baron are, for lack of a better word.

But, it’s true. Cambion’s beauty is the type artists seek to imitate.

“What then?” I lower my gaze, feeling the heat in my cheeks.

“What happens when you’ve had what you want from me? Do things go back to the way they were?

“No, definitely not,” he answers as he shakes his head with determination.

“I don’t want to be seen as a demon in your eyes again, Cambion.”

He inhales deeply. “I vow never to treat you the way I have. I was afraid and I pushed you away. I’ve wanted you all along, Eilish.

I was just too afraid of what would happen if you knew the truth.

I was afraid and I was so full of shame and anger towards myself.

” He takes a breath. “But things are different now.”

“Are they?”

“Yes. I see you now, Eilish. And I don’t see a demon. I see an incredibly strong and powerful woman. A beautiful woman. I see the real you and she’s the same woman I’ve always seen.”

***

DRAGAN

Oronrel

Baron may have won our little competition by killing the first spellcaster, but I’ve killed three since. So I consider myself the winner.

Regardless, the four of us look like we’ve bathed in blood as we race towards the door behind the throne. Pyre covers our retreat as the blaring light of day nearly sears my eyes. Baron hisses beside me as well, and Theren’s no different.

Pyre, hidden behind his mask, doesn’t complain.

“Keep moving!” he urges.

I throw open the door and spy a black gate.

“Go through the gate,” Theren orders.

I’m the first to reach it. The gate shakes as we climb over it, and I wince. I wasn’t healed before I came on this mission and the beating my body has taken is only going to elongate my healing time.

“Next time you two decide to drag me along on some fucking quest, make sure you wait until I’m healed!” I complain.

“Stop whining,” Baron says.

Our heavy footfalls pound against the blackened field as we head for the mountains in the distance. Theren stares at us in confusion.

“What the hell are you looking at?” I demand.

“How are you both resisting the sun?” he asks as he looks from Baron to me.

“Magic, dipshit. What else?” Baron replies.

Pyre leads us deep into the mountains, far beyond any structure I can remember from my time in the Unseelie Kingdom.

Theren and Pyre, however, don’t seem to be as hesitant as Baron and me.

We reach the volcano and I see what appears to be a ruin of homes made from bright red lava crystals.

Bones litter the ground as though we walk through a graveyard.

“Where are we?”

“Mount Dolgum,” Pyre says grimly. “It’s the birthplace of the succubae.”

I feel my guts begin to twist and churn as memories come rushing back to the forefront of my mind. This is the last place I want to be. I suddenly feel sick to my stomach and I fall to my knees and grip my aching head...

I miss the moonlight of the fae realm, for it always brought me peace. I don’t know where I am or what I’m doing anymore, but she comes to me each day for hours to feed on my lust.

Have the realms forgotten me? Have my allies forsaken me?

I hear the conversations between Lamia and the false king as I lay here on the bed. They whisper about dark prophecies and the rise of a force greater than anything the worlds have ever seen. And Lamia sounds... intrigued by it all.

In my mind, I hope Variant knows Lamia will attempt to betray him for whoever holds the most power.

It’s the nature of her kind to do so. The fact that I’m still here after all this time means she just wishes to make me suffer.

No longer is this about feeding her darkness, but it’s about watching me squirm beneath her might.

It’s about forcing me to my knees.

The greatest torture of all is knowing I’m a willing victim to her treachery. She owns me, and I feel her possession to the depths of my broken soul. Not even my thoughts are safe from Lamia’s wrath.

It wasn’t always like this. In the beginning, I fought back.

I met her assault with violence, but she soon learned violence is what I was born to sustain.

So she took that violence away. Now, her seductions are almost as sweet as they are excruciating.

Lamia tells me her worries, tells me she loves me, and slowly, the world begins to fade.

Her daughters are no different…

I’m lost.

Every voice from the past is barely a whisper in the back of my memory.

I struggle to remember the taste of mead and roasted pork.

To remember what it feels like to soar across the sky with my army of gargoyles.

It’s all gone, stolen from me in such a way that I’ll never recover.

Each scent is replaced by the musk of her pheromones that cling to the bedsheets.

I know only the feeling of Lamia using me until I lose consciousness from the lack of strength in my body.

My eyes open and I take a deep breath. Pyre’s holding me and he helps me lean against one of the lava crystal homes, but I can’t bear to feel the crystal against me. I fall once more and expel the contents of my stomach onto the ash-covered ground.

“Why did you bring me here?” I ask Pyre.

He opens his mouth to answer, but Theren’s next to fall. Theren doesn’t pass out from the weight of the memories pushing in on him—he succumbs to his own wounds. Pyre scoops the former Unseelie King into his arms and carries him closer to the volcano.

“Because here the ethers are thin and I may be able to cast a portal. It wasn’t my intention to wound you, Dragan. I only wish you peace from the darkness of the past.”

Closing my eyes once more, I breathe through my mouth to keep the nausea at bay. I shouldn’t be here, kneeling beside the bones of Lamia’s people as if I, too, am nothing but a corpse left behind to rot in the aftermath of her fall.

I fucking hate it, but she still has a hold over me, even after all these years. After so much time spent thinking I was free…

My eyes turn to Theren. He will never be free, either. Morrigan had her claws in him for far too long. We’re both hopeless.

“No,” Baron says suddenly, glaring at me. “Whatever you’re thinking, cut that shit out.”

“This place is…” I start.

“I know,” he sighs. “How do you think I felt, seeing Morrigan standing over Cambion with the same dagger she gave Variant to kill me? It brought up a lot of bad shit for me, too, but I pushed through it and you need to do the same.”

“Fuck off,” I growl at him, which seems idiotic considering I’m still on all fours and heaving up nothing.

“Whatever could break you before is meaningless,” Baron continues as he walks over to me. I look up at him and watch as he extends his hand. “There’s nothing you aren’t strong enough to overcome now. Even your own demons.”