Page 3

CAMBION

Dales of Arborel

I pace through the tent as Dragan and Baron fill me in on what I missed while searching for Eilish. The tracker seems to be some sort of seer, for he was able to deduce the exact moment my companions would step out of the portal and into Arborel.

It’s been many years since I’ve visited the home of Queen Ivana. The Amazon warrior is skilled at keeping her tribe safe in their forest, that much is sure. She sits nearby with her consort Lydia.

“And the Incubus King?” the queen asks. “How can you be certain he’s dead?”

“We can’t be certain,” Pyre replies. “But we each watched Eilish sever his head from his body.”

“You can’t get much more dead than that,” Baron grumbles.

“You would be surprised,” Pyre says as he turns to face his friend.

Then he moves his attention to the Amazon queen once again.

He opens his robes and points to a long scar that runs from his left shoulder to his right hip bone.

It’s difficult to see behind the black tattoo ink that covers the expanse of his chest. “I got this while fighting the Incubus King many years earlier,” he says and motions to the scar.

“I killed him that day as well, yet he still lived. While the rest of us regain our strength, I ask that Cambion be permitted to take his party and a few of your Amazons to the caves to make certain the Incubus King… remains dead.”

Queen Ivana nods. “Go,” she orders her people and me. “And kill every nasty beast that lives there. It would be best to rid the Delendren Glade of the goblins as well. Take Lydia and her company.”

Lydia bows her head and reaches for the longbow beside her. I follow the queen’s consort to the heart of the camp, where seven Amazons await their leader. Their language is one that sounds harsh to my ears, but I still hear the fae roots beneath the sharp consonants and the drawn-out vowels.

Eilish lifts her head when she sees me, climbing to her feet before she approaches me.

“Cambion,” she says.

“Are you okay?” I ask as she wraps her arms around my waist. I pull her in even closer and inhale, needing to smell her, to feel her. God, I don’t know how I managed to go so long denying myself this.

She presses her forehead against my chest and sighs. I feel Dragan and Baron’s eyes on me, but they aren’t filled with as much hatred as I recall. Perhaps their time with Theren has changed their opinions of me somehow? Or perhaps they realize Eilish needs me as much as she needs them?

“I should have told you I was leaving,” she whispers.

“What’s done is done,” I say as I tilt her chin up and brush away the tear that slides down her cheek.

“Please be careful,” she whispers.

I lean down and kiss her again. “I promise.”

She steps back, and I drop my arms from around her, watching as she turns to leave. Already I feel the heavy burden in my heart. She killed her father and now I’m the one who must see to it that he’s truly dead.

“Your hair is now completely white,” Dragan says to her as he looks over her head at me. Then he glances at Baron.

Baron narrows his eyes at Eilish and then at me. “Then that means,” he starts but doesn’t finish.

I don’t respond and I don’t wait for a response.

Instead, I turn to face Lydia who meets me at the portal and instantly I’m struck by the cold breeze that wafts toward me.

We venture through and into the cave but a few meters away.

The stench is strong at the entrance, and we follow a long, twisting tunnel into the main chamber.

There’s no beastly body lying at the center of the chasm as they described, but one that resembles a fae male with the horns of a demon.

Yes, this is the face Maeline Fulthain fell in love with.

The beautiful seducer, the manifestation of every woman’s dreams. Even standing over his head, I’m envious of his stunning beauty.

It makes perfect sense as to why Eilish is so charmingly lovely.

For as crazy as her father became, he was easily the most exquisite of men.

“Take the head and the body. You can’t burn an incubus or a succubus,” I say.

“Then how do we make sure he’s dead?” Lydia asks.

“We must keep him from healing. It will take quite a bit of my magic, but I can do it. Focus on the goblins. We’ll meet at the portal.” I cast a spell to levitate the head and body before I walk toward the tunnel once more.

I stop just shy of the opening, as something strange catches my eye.

Touching the wall gingerly, I adjust my vision.

The name ‘Maeline’ has been carved into the wall thousands—if not millions—of times.

The letters aren’t carved in the same script as the runes that mark the days the Incubus King has lived here.

No. Someone put them on this wall to taunt him, torturing him with the name of his beloved until it drove him mad.

This isn’t Variant or Morrigan’s doing, nor is it my brother’s. I suspect the Cockatrice is responsible for it, which means Abedon is responsible.

The body and the head float out of the cave behind me as I walk to the lake and peel off my tunic.

My hands make fast work with the buckles of my belt and my trousers fall to the snow.

The wind slices against my skin like a hundred tiny knives.

I walk into the water until it reaches my hips.

Then I turn around and beckon the body of Eilish’s father closer.

I take hold of his head, then, with a deep breath, I dive into the freezing water.

My muscles ache and my chest tightens as I reach the bottom of the crater.

I cast a light that hovers above my head, shining a ghostly glow on clusters of grasses longer than I am tall.

I draw images within the water and a dome of crystal begins to form around me and the body of the Incubus King.

Water seeps from the quartz cast, leaving behind a bubble of air that surrounds me.

“There may have been a time when you weren’t the monster you’re perceived to be,” I say to the body. “I can’t imagine an angel loving such a creature. But you turned us away when we came to you for help in the Great War,” I tell the corpse that hovers beside me. Of course it doesn’t respond.

“I’m glad Eilish was able to get closure with your death.

Your image may fade from our minds as time passes, but if there’s just a bit of the man Maeline loved within your soul, I wish him well in the afterlife.

May you rest peacefully, Gildlorthoine, the lost King of The Succubae and the father of the woman I’ve loved since I met her. ”

I allow the body and head to fall and I watch as they’re encased in more crystal. My energy is waning, but these spells will ensure that even if Gildlorthoine lives, he can’t rise again.

I return to the surface, shivering as I extricate myself from the water and walk up the beach.

I waste no time in pulling on my dry clothing, as I magic my body dry.

The feeling in my fingers is slow to return, but I trek toward the portal nonetheless.

Lydia eyes my disheveled appearance, but she doesn’t ask any questions.

She lifts a necklace from around her neck.

“Are those... goblin toes?” I ask as my face screws up into a grimace.

Lydia laughs and walks through the portal. I follow. Night has fallen on the dales and Dragan soars overhead, casting his shadow on the moon. He drops beside me.

“We’re leaving. If you need to rest—”

“I’m fine,” I cut in. “It’s best we get Theren to the healers at the stronghold. We’ve outstayed our welcome with the tribe as it is.”

I walk over to the mercenaries I rode in with.

They pack up the horses, and a wagon is gifted to us by Queen Ivana so we can transport Theren without injuring him further.

Pyre and Eilish are too spent to heal him and my light magic won’t do anything for him—only time and the Mage’s Guild can help him now.

***

EILISH

Desolate Border

I ride in the wagon with Theren. The chill of the night desert is nothing compared to the frigid air of the Delendren Glade.

I wish I knew what dreams plague him. I wish I had access to that place in his mind where I can’t go.

Theren has been trapped in his own head for so long, I can’t imagine how he must feel now.

Is he thinking of me to keep his sanity? Or does he think of Aima? She’s loved him as deeply as I have and in ways I never will.

It pains me to think of Aima standing by his side for so long when I’d been denied even his friendship in our youth.

But, even though so much time has passed and in ways Theren feels like a stranger to me, I still feel twinges of affection for him.

I want answers, but I can wait. My fingers trace the flawless features of his face, admiring them with touch alone.

I wonder what our lives would have been like if we’d run away when we planned to.

.. if his father had never imprisoned him.

Now I understand why Dragan fears Theren could become like his father—a cold, lifeless man who used to haunt my dreams as a child. But is my own father any different?

Theren blinks his beautiful golden eyes and looks directly at me, but says nothing. My hair spills over my shoulder, shrouding us in a heavy curtain as he stares unblinkingly into my gaze. I trace the bow of his lip lightly before moving the tips of my fingers along his jaw.

“Sleep, Theren. You need your rest,” I whisper.

He grips my hand when I attempt to pull away and brings it back to his mouth. Holding my stare, he presses a feather-light kiss to my palm. I shudder with a breathy exhale that causes my cheeks to color.

“Eilish,” he whispers as a smile takes hold of his mouth. I return it and watch as he loses himself to the oblivion of sleep once again. Just then, a scout announces our arrival at the stronghold.