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Then, I remember what he really wanted to learn about. Ann. "But as far as Ann, we saw each other at the Royal Fae Academy and just knew that we were each other's mates. It was... not what I wanted at the time. I was researching something dark and dangerous and never wanted to involve a mate in my trouble. But with love, we don't always have a choice."
He snorts. "Like when we saw Ann. We were completely under the control of that bastard fae. And we saw Ann and just knew. We managed to ask them to break our collars off. And the second we were free, we ran, with Ann. It was the only thing we could do at that moment, but it certainly wasn't the way we wanted to meet our mate."
"Somehow it suits Ann though," I say with a little laugh. "From the moment I met her, she was like no one else in this world. She seemed so quiet and shy. She seemed to honestly see herself as some kind of wallflower. But she never was. Not just because of our mate bond, but because there was a light inside her that no one could dim, no matter how hard they might try. She seemed to think she was so lucky to have a Bloodmore, to have me as her mate, but I was the lucky one. She was just unique, special in every way. I remember the first time I saw the scars on her hands." I hesitate, realizing that this isn't my story to tell, but then push on, knowing that this bond of ours means that soon we'll all know each other's secrets. "She said that her stepfather used to give her choices. If she made the wrong one, he broke one of her fingers."
Dusk gasps, and the look on his face, it's pure shock. "Is that... is that why she struggles so much with decisions? Why this is so hard for her?"
"Part of it," I say, nodding. "I have so few scars from my childhood. My father was a cold man, but never a cruel man, even with his dark fae heart. Ann, on the other hand, has so many emotional and physical scars. So many triggers. And yet, she seems to think they're nothing. She pretends they aren't there, I think, because it would be too much for her to see herself as a victim to that bastard."
"I'm surprised the man's still alive." Dusk's voice is low, almost a growl. "I would have killed him the moment I found out."
I smile at him, a smile that's all teeth. "There are other ways to break a man than murdering him, although the temptation was there." Again, I pause, trying to decide if telling him this secret I've kept from Ann is something I should tell him. "When I learned of what he did, I sent some of my men to... talk with him. He was out of her manor that day, and I am quite certain that if he ever steps foot on the continent my Ann is on, the man's body will never be found."
Dusk looks oddly impressed. "Good."
"Ann will never have to fear him again." Then, I add, "And what he did to her... I made certain he will have a scar in every place she has a scar. Every. Single. Fucking. Place. It would have been far more satisfying if I had been the one to do it, but I did what I could."
"And her mother?"
"Her mother is a woman I... lack respect for. When the stepfather left, she returned to live in an ancestral home far from the home Ann grew up in. I always thought that when Ann and I were done at the academy, we would remain at her manor, rule from her manor, until my parents were ready to step down. Now..." Now what? If I continue to live in this world, I would never expect to return home and take my sister's place as leader of our people. I would tell my family that I'm alive, because they deserve that, but I believe I would much rather rule over Ann's people than my own. Her lands are smaller, more comfortable, and somehow seem like a place I could grow to be something incredible rather than an empire that can't grow any more. "What will happen?" I manage to ask. "If we can take your father down, will you want to return to your lands and rule?"
Dusk shakes his head. "Honestly, I haven't thought past this war. Maybe once upon a time I did, but not in a very long time."
"Do you want to rule over your people?"
He frowns. "It's not about what we want, it's about what we have to do."
"So, that's a no."
He turns that frown onto me, and then it eases. "Right now, I want to find a way to save both our worlds. I think there's a good chance that if our father can be defeated, and his control over the shadow beasts destroyed, our remaining people will have to come to earth. Unless we can restore the light to our world. And if they come here, they will only be able to shift into their beast form at night, which will be difficult for them. Our other forms are like the other side of our souls. Without our world, things will have to change. A lot. But at least now we know enough about this world to help our people survive on it."
"And with the help of my sister, and Ann's position as lady of the Hart lands, it wouldn't be hard to establish a new life for your people. We can handle helping build them homes, a village. And between the two of us, we have more than enough lands to give them a solid start to a new life."
"Do you think your people could truly learn to tolerate us?" He looks sincerely curious.
I smile. "You don't know my sister, but you know Ann. Do you really think between two powerful women there's anything they can't accomplish?"
He nods and knots the thread he's working on, then cuts it with his dagger. He folds the clothes in a pile next to him and puts his thread and needles carefully back in a little case.
“If I’m still…”Oh, what was the word?“Alive when all this over, I’m going back to see my sister. It's one of the first things I want to do.”
“And you’ll take Ann? Even if we find a way to return to our world?” They’ve already built such a bond, an attachment with and to her, that I have no idea if I will ever be able to convince her to go with me.
“If she wants to go, but the choices she makes now doesn’t just affect her or me.” I shrug, and he smiles because he damned well knows what I mean.
“I get what you’re saying about your sister. I feel that way about my mom.” He sighs, and I understand. "My mother was an incredible woman. When Shenra's mom sent her to live with us as a girl, my mom took her under her wing, as if she were her daughter. And I could almost believe she was. They both had the same white-blonde hair, so white that it was unique in our world. But it wasn't just their looks; my mom had that same quiet power. A way to get even our tough father to listen to her."
"But she died?" I ask.
"Grave trolls," he says tightly. "We found her body. Tried to save her. But... it was too late."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," I tell him, not knowing what else to say. I know what love costs, the fear and the need to protect. The devotion is extraordinary, at times untenable, but always there.
He stirs the stew again, his movements tighter, and I hate that I ruined his happy moment. I remember the way he looked when I stepped out of the cave, and I suddenly want to bring him back to that moment. My heart twists, and it's strange. Usually, I only feel this connected to Ann, my best friends, and my sister. Feeling this with a man I'm just starting to understand feels strange. But then, this must be part of the mate-bond. Now that we're all Ann's, it makes sense that we sort of become each other's too.
“I don’t know much about the shadow world.” I'm hoping the change in conversation might help.Might, because it seems like its own kind of problem to unravel.
He shrugs, poking the fire and sending embers up around the pan. “The legend is that we—shadow beasts—were shifters in another world. Hunted. Murdered one by one until our numbers were depleted.” He shrugs. “The leader of the shadow beasts was a woman who was always searching for a new world.”
