Page 68 of Temptation Unleashed (Talaenian Fae #3)

A soft knock on the door brought him back from his dark thoughts. For the last two hours, he’d enjoyed the peace he’d found, lying with Rori tucked in his arms as he stroked her warm skin. Peace that coated his love’s beautiful face with soft curves and smooth slopes.

He had hurt her. Again.

He would always hurt her.

Supporting her head, he slipped his arm from beneath her and eased her back on the pillow.

She stirred with a breathy moan, but settled back without waking.

He climbed off the bed, grabbed the loose sleep pants he’d left at the foot before his bath, and tugged them on as he crossed to the door.

Casting a glance at his sleeping anam cara , he pulled the door open.

Shaye leaned against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in Court robes—though most High Fae wore cream or white, accented by gold, Shaye donned black with gold embroidery—hair plaited in multiple braids. His eyes remained sharp, but his face betrayed a hint of fatigue .

“My apologies for disturbing you. Do you have a moment?”

Thaddeus slipped into the corridor, pulling the door closed. He watched as Shaye pushed away from the frame and lowered his arms to his sides.

“On the morrow, we’ll move forward with your plan.

” Shaye tipped his head toward the door.

“I’ve bought you the rest of this eve and the morn.

Use your time wisely.” His grin was tired, for he refused to believe Shaye held any sadness toward him.

Until the man clapped his shoulder and murmured, “Old friend.”

He disappeared on a gentle whorl of air.

Thaddeus sank against the door and dropped his head back. Strength abandoned him as he struggled to stay on his feet. He knew ’twould be without delay once he set his plan in motion. The moment Dagda knew his whereabouts, he was a dead Fae. Still…

“So soon.”

The reality struck mercilessly, cleaving through his chest. There was no going back, no changing this path. He’d accepted his fate from the time he’d woken on that stone slab. He faced death with a cold glower and a mocking grin. He had naught to lose.

Until Rori.

Dragging a hand down his face, he released a trembling breath.

“’Tis for her.”

Pulling himself together, casting the beat of unease from his energy, he returned to the room, and slid into the bed without disturbing Rori. He draped an arm above her head, one over her waist, and rested his head on her shoulder.

These moments are true treasures I’ll carry with me in my death. You, my beautiful love, will be my light as darkness consumes me on the morrow.

A shock of unfamiliar energy spurred him from sleep. He stared straight ahead, the reflection of firelight and shadows dancing a sensual rhythm over the stone wall. Coldness prickled his spine, climbing toward his neck.

Tendrils of magic.

Thaddeus sprang to his feet as the chamber door clicked shut.

“Thad—”

He pressed a finger to his mouth. “Shh.”

Tilting his head, he listened for the telltale sounds of footsteps. A metallic essence peppered the air and left a sulfuric taste in his mouth. The unfamiliar energy remained close by, the low-frequency hum resounding along his muscles.

He rushed around the bed as Rori sat up, holding the sheet to her bare chest. He pressed his fingers to her lips when she opened them to speak.

Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “Keep quiet and get dressed. Lock the door as soon as I leave and, dear Goddess, don’t open it for anyone .”

He stole a hasty kiss, then slipped into the corridor.

Whoosh.

He ducked and lunged forward, barely missing the edge of the blade as it cut through the air where he had stood a moment before.

Twisting around, he pinned the black-clad Fae, skillfully turning the blade over in his hand before he lunged at Thaddeus, stabbing the sharp point straight for his chest.

Thaddeus bent back, the blade piercing the air above his nose. He twisted again, dodging two more hacks of the sword with quick-succession arches, bows, and turns, before he landed the heel of his foot into the Fae’s sternum.

His adversary coughed, stumbling backward, but never dropping his weapon.

Thaddeus rushed the Fae, but grasped a handful of air when he swiped for his head.

He jerked around.

A blur of black barreled toward him, the glint of the sword his only clue as to how this unknown enemy moved.

He dodged blow after blow, barely able to keep out from beneath the blade as the Fae backed him into the corridor’s dead end.

He was at the disadvantage, his magic locked away and no weapon in sight.

A fraction of a second over-swing of the sword left a wide-open escape. He spun away from the wall, the Fae, but his enemy was on him before he made it a dozen feet down the corridor.

If he only had his dagger .

The blade nicked his shoulder.

Thaddeus hissed, cutting his arm back, tangling his hand in the Fae’s sleeve. He used the leverage of the man thrusting that bloody fucking sword at him again to pull him close while twisting his weapon arm between his own and his side, and driving his knee into the Fae’s gut.

A clang echoed down the corridor. Thaddeus ripped the cloth from the Fae’s face and growled, “Grison’s puppets are not welcome here.”

He drove his knee deep into his ribs, relishing the crunch of bone as they cracked. The Fae gasped, eyes going wide. Relinquishing the Fae’s arm, he locked his hand at the man’s throat and punched him down to the ground.

An explosion of pain ripped through his torso as he flew backward, slamming hard into solid stone.

The gray barely began to clear from his vision when he spotted the Fae scrambling toward the sword.

His gut on fire, the air stilled in his lungs, he lunged toward the weapon, snatching it up by the hilt, and cut the blade at the Fae.

He vanished, only to reappear a few feet away.

The air sizzled. The Fae gaped at his hands, where magic tried to form but was snuffed out before it grew to any significant strength.

Thaddeus chuckled, straightening his back as air filled his lungs again, and rolled out his shoulders, dispelling the soreness from back-slamming unyielding rock.

He glanced at the reddened scorch mark beneath his ribs, a failed—albeit painful—attack.

He didn’t doubt for a moment that blow was supposed to leave a gaping hole in his midsection.

Thaddeus twirled his newly acquired toy as he stalked closer to the Fae, feeling the weight and balance of the blade. Poorly made, the steel distributed unevenly, but deadly in the right hands.

The Fae lifted his hand, preparing another magical attack.

As he thrust the small orb toward Thaddeus, it fizzled and fell off his fingers, disappearing before it reached the ground.

Thaddeus lifted the blade parallel to his body as the Fae shuffled back.

“The wards around this castle filter through magic. Those who do not belong within these walls are rendered powerless.” He adjusted his grip on the cloth-bound hilt, his gaze dropping to the Fae. Ice filled his eyes and chilled his deadly smile. “Grison sent you into a deathtrap.”

He struck, cutting the sword forward. The blade resisted as the tip connected with the Fae’s chest, flinging him aside.

The bastard vanished again, reappearing another few feet down the corridor.

This time, he spun and sprinted away, shifting every few seconds, putting distance between them at a quicker pace than Thaddeus could eat up with his strides. The bloody cuffs! Goddess!

He pushed forward.

The Fae sifted again, the distance half of that from the last few sifts. He noticed, too, bolted toward the balustrade, and leaned over the edge. Thaddeus dove at the man, but he slammed into the marble rail when the Fae disappeared.

“Bloody hell.”

He scanned the lower levels of mountainous slopes, more corridors, the edge of the grotto.

There, two levels below, a black blur sprinting down another open-air corridor.

“ Shaye! ”

His bellow echoed throughout the castle. He hopped onto the balustrade and leaped off, falling through the open space, never once losing sight of his quarry.

The mountain shelf came up hard and fast. He rolled out of his landing and leaped onto the lower-level balustrade, launched off the rail, and hit the floor in a dead run.

He gained on the Fae as the man ducked into a stairwell, throwing a panicked look over his shoulder.

Thaddeus barreled down the stairs, three, four at a time, his longer legs closing the gap as the man bounced off the curved walls of the circular tower.

He sifted.

Popped up a few steps ahead, but the shortened distance helped Thaddeus gain on the man.

He laughed, the sound cooling the air. The sound of metal scraping the wall as he dragged the blade over the stone echoed like a blood-curdling screech.

His quarry smacked his hands over his ears and bolted down the last stretch of stairs before stumbling onto another open corridor .

Thaddeus cut around the man during his fumbling steps and caught him at the throat with the tip of the sword. He angled the blade just so that if the bloody fool tried to pull back, the tender skin beneath his tongue would suffer a cleaving. He had enough pressure applied to draw blood.

“Why are you here?” Thaddeus snarled.

The Fae sneered, then began to laugh. Madness gleamed in his gold eyes.

He sifted.

Thaddeus spun as the Fae reappeared, swinging a new dagger down at his chest. Cutting the sword up, he deflected the wild attack, but the Fae launched more reckless swings and desperate stabs, forcing Thaddeus to dodge blow after blow.

Duck, spin, twist. He dropped into a squat, kicked out his legs, knocking the Fae off his feet.

His quarry sifted before he fell, landing on his feet over Thaddeus.

He raised his hands over his head, the dagger’s blade winking once, then drove down at Thaddeus’s back.