Page 66 of Temptation Unleashed (Talaenian Fae #3)
Thaddeus peeled back his lips in a dark smile. “He shall have the pleasure of delivering me to my death. Why should he tarnish his hands on a spineless traitor?”
He mirrored Shaye, folding his hands around his glass.
“There’s no doubt in my mind Dagda is aware of Grison and Cecir’s movement.
Little evades the King, or the many ears he has within these realms. He bides his time, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Dagda is a true genius when it comes to strategy.
I don’t doubt for a moment he knows I live.
Alas, had he known where Grison and Cecir reside, he’d have already brought them back to Court to stand trial.
I’ll make this as clean and easy as possible for everyone.
“I came to your home for Cael. We had an altercation. The women were innocent bystanders. They fell victim to an attack by Grison’s men.
They needed protection. You took them in.
I was injured and you were able to subdue me.
” He held up one cuffed wrist. “I offered to lead you to Grison. You take that information back to Dagda and do as you will. The conclusion?” The smile dropped, sincerity softening his expression.
“Grison is captured and I can be at peace knowing Rori, my brother, and his girlfriend are safe when I can no longer protect them myself. That you and your family are spared any and all repercussions from selflessly opening your home to me. There will be no association with me coming of my own accord.”
Shaye simply stared at him, unblinking. The damn man didn’t as much as move a muscle, nor did he reveal a single thought.
Beside him, Cael shifted, his unease bringing a series of pricks to Thaddeus’s nape. The electric strength it took for his brother to bite back a protest rode the heavy currents in the air.
“ You bloody bastard .” Shaye scowled, straightening up and relinquishing his glass on a table. His gaze lit with a fierce inner glow. “You danced around every fucking potential lie or fallacy with that riddled narrative.”
“’Twas you who told Rori about the gift of a gilded tongue.
” Thaddeus chuckled, a mirthless sound. The weight of a spoken reality took a seat on his shoulders.
A universal clock began the countdown to his end.
“Shaye, ’tis the safest plan that will take care of Grison, appease Dagda, and keep you and your family’s involvement innocent enough.
’Tis my way of thanking you for everything you’ve done for us. ”
Regret rose deep inside him, a sickening pressure that coiled around his stomach and echoed inside his head.
With a resigned exhale, he leaned back, draping his folded hands over his lap. “Rori dismantled a monster and freed the captive within. Unfortunately, they have been one and the same. Two different facets of the same being. Of me.”
He pressed his lips together, dragging his gaze from Shaye’s turmoil to fall victim to the dancing flames.
“There is no reason to dwell on things in the past. Still, I have come to wish things could have been different. For Rori and I, but also between you and me. I wish more than anything I could have seen through Daeanna’s deceit from the very beginning.
Alas, I’ve always been too kind, too trusting, utterly, foolishly gullible.
The curtains have been pulled from my eyes over these last few days.
The man I became fills me with more shame and regret than any living creature has the capacity to endure. ”
His shoulders slumped, defeated. He faced his childhood friend and witnessed a familiar softness he’d not been granted liberty to experience since the times of old .
“She broke me beyond repair. Twisted me into knots I’ll never be able to undo in this lifetime.
I allowed her to play me in the worst possible way, and now I shall bear the consequences.
Alone .” An unsteady curl touched the corner of his mouth.
“I’m still a monster, Shaye, undeserving of all kindness.
Rori has patched me together, made me feel more like my old self than I have in two hundred years.
She replenished my sight, making me yearn for how things once were.
Make me dream of how things could be. I’m not a person to cling to foolish dreams. ’Tis why I believe this shall be the quickest, easiest, and least painful way for everything to come to a close. ”
“Daeanna destroyed so many lives,” Shaye said quietly.
Silence stretched, a storm of torment darkening his face as he lived his own memories. Nightmares. Goddess, so many nightmares.
A short eternity passed before Shaye took a sudden, sharp breath and pushed to his feet. He stepped up to Thaddeus and held out his hand. Slowly, Thaddeus stood, glancing at the hand held before him.
“Let’s end this, shall we?”
“Shaye, no!” Cael shot up out of his chair, sidling between them, his back to Thaddeus. “Are you fucking serious? You’re going to agree to this suicidal plan? You’re going to hand him over to Dagda?”
Thaddeus gathered his resilience, grabbed Cael’s shoulder, and shoved him aside. Cael spun on him, raw shock in his face. “I warned you to stay out of my plans.”
“This is asinine, Thaddeus. You’re going to destroy Rori!”
“I’m saving her.” He bared his teeth, narrowing his eyes.
“It’s my blood promise to my anam cara .
To protect her and keep her safe, whatever the cost to me.
Her heart will never be safe as long as I live.
It has been my plan from the moment I fell in love with her the day she came to your home, bloodied and bruised at the hands of her ex!
” Ignoring Cael’s gaping mouth and wide eyes, he twisted back to Shaye and grasped his hand tightly. “We end this, once and for all.”