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He shrugged. “Perhaps. But it never pays to take chances in Darkynwyrd. Or with a Svartan. Or a mercenary. Anyway, Strall had to untie me in order to get what he wanted. I waited for the right moment. When he grabbed me by the hair and was forcing his cock toward my mouth, I took one big bite and spit it out on the ground. While he was screaming, I took his knife and eviscerated him.”
His voice was deadly calm. Trillian could be ruthless. I knew right there that none of the men had made it out alive, and that they’d all died with fear in their eyes.
“As the other men came back one by one,” he continued, “I surprised them. They were carrying firewood. They’d gone a ways into the forest and apparently hadn’t heard him scream. Either that or they thought it was me. They paid the price for their lack of caution.”
“Did you make them hurt, love?” I whispered, leaning close to his face.
He nodded.
“Good. I hope they knew you were going to kill them.”
Lethesanar was famous for her tortures, and she’d taught her most fawning guards well. My father had stayed on the perimeter of the Guard Des’Estar as things grew worse and the men grew more violent. Had he ever witnessed events like this? Had he been forced to stand by and watch? I didn’t know. But then again, Father had been cross-posted, working with both the Guard and the OIA. Everyone had known how strict he was, so chances were any raping and pillaging had been done well out of his sight.
Trillian sat on the bed next to me, his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want you to know how bad things were. After I escaped, I managed to catch up with some of Tanaquar’s forces and they guided me safely back to her camp. I’d been searching for your father, but apparently he managed to escape on his own. After that incident, I spent some time helping out with interrogations, but I’d lost my appetite for it. I’m a mercenary, yes, but I’m not a sadist. Not unless the situation demands it.”
I shook my head. “I know you’re not.” I paused, then said, “Chase was captured by the R?ksasa. We’re not sure just what went on, but at best, he lost part of his little finger. At worst . . . we don’t know. We saved him, but the experience changed him. How could it not? Delilah doesn’t talk about it much and he won’t talk about it at all, but I can see it in his eyes.”
“Fucking demon spawn,” Trillian said, hitting the wall next to us. “Chase is human. He isn’t cut out to withstand that sort of torture. What else has happened, my love? I knew about Smoky and Morio and you. Your father forewarned me. Now I’m thinking he hoped it would chase me off your tail, but the truth is, Camille, as angry as I was—as much as I hate sharing you with that lizard—you and I are forever bound.”
I filled him in on everything from Karvanak to losing the third spirit seal to the Karsetii demon that had almost devoured Delilah’s soul, to the nerds from hell and what we were up against now.
“We’ve been busy,” I said softly. “Trillian, now that we’ve talked, I want to ask you something.”
He gazed at me, then lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “What?”
“Will you marry me? I want you to join us in the Soul Symbiont ritual. You and I are bound by the Eleshinar ritual, but if we’re going to be bound by body, why not just go all the way and be bound by soul? I would be honored to take you as my mate and to call you husband.”
My heart skipped a beat. What if he said no? What if he couldn’t face being around Smoky when I had sex with the dragon? What if he was too angry because of the attack to even think of returning to our relationship?
But Trillian just gazed in my eyes with those icy baby-blues, and a slow, cynical grin spread across his face. “You have a penchant for dangerous and damaged men, my love. Your tastes run to the dark, and now you are practicing death magic with Fox Boy? Camille, there’s only one person I’d ever consider marrying, especially through that ritual. So, yes, my love . . . if you’ll forgive me for calling you a traitor, I will join your harem and be your husband. But never, ever forget, I always have been—and will always be—your alpha lover.”
“I know,” I whispered as he laid me down in his arms again. “Oh, believe me, I know. But you aren’t damaged, Trillian. You are wild and passionate and free. We’ve all been at the mercy of our enemies, and chances are, we’ll all be dancing with the devil again. But as long as we have our dignity, then walking wounded or not, we remain strong. And as long as we’re together, nothing—not even death—can tear us apart.”
And then Trillian began to make slow, passionate love to me, and all my worries vanished in the wash of his arms, in the taste of his lips, and the feel of his skin gliding against mine.
CHAPTER 13
By the time we’d washed and dressed, a messenger was at the door requesting our presence in the King’s chamber. I did my best to smooth out my clothes and Trillian handed me his brush, so my hair wasn’t flying wild with after-sex frizz. All in all, according to the mirror on the wall, I washed up pretty good.
Trillian slapped a starberry muffin in my hand. Munching on it, I followed him through the streets, back to the palace. I didn’t have time to look around, but I knew that I wanted to return when we had more time. Dahnsburg was clean, and it felt old, with mysterious doorways and curious shops that promised adventure and damned good shopping.
We reached the outer courts just in time to see my father coming down the path. He looked at Trillian, then at me, then rolled his eyes.
“You two have been busy,” he said softly.
It occurred to me that although Father was full-blooded Fae, he might actually have a problem with his daughters actually sleeping with men. Or women. But it wasn’t something I could ask him, especially in front of Trillian.
I flashed him a slap-happy grin. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you a grandpa.” Yet. Smoky’s little bomb about fathering a child on me was still exploding in the back of my mind. I had to find some way out of that one. Delilah could have a litter of young ones and I’d love them all—cat or Were—but babies weren’t my style.
“I certainly hope not,” Father said. “You’ve got enough problems as it is.” But then he relented and held out his hand to Trillian. “I have an errand to run. I’ll be back in a bit.” He paused. “Trillian, look out for my daughter.”
Trillian stared at Father’s hand, then slowly took it. “As always, Sephreh. As her lover, her life comes before mine. And—” He crooked his lip into that damned arrogant smile that was both so appealing and so irritating. “—as her husband-to-be, I’ll do everything in my power to make certain she’s happy.”
Father stopped in mid-step. “Husband? So you’re actually going to marry Camille?” He reminded me of a flipbook, going from disbelief to distress in a single leap.
“I will join her harem, yes,” Trillian said, repressing a grin. I wanted to give him a good kick, but Father had been on his case for so long that I couldn’t really blame him.
“So, is this happy news true, Camille?” Father looked anything but happy.
