Chapter 17

17

T he castle was in chaos when we returned. Fae were streaming across the courtyard, some charging into the Great Hall and others pounding on the front doors of The Royal Palace. On the way back, Uisnech had kept us updated through the bluetooth mic system until he'd abruptly cut off. Now he met us as we returned through the hidden back tunnel.

He leapt toward us as we climbed out of the car. "About twenty of them showed up. They came in this way, and we didn't see them because the guards were watching the front gates. They swarmed the Royal Palace after setting off a bunch of fires to distract us from what they were really doing."

"The palace?" Lugh's voice went sharp. "Did they...?"

The hobgoblin shook his head. "I had enough warning to hide the spear. "

I cut a sharp glance Lugh's way. The damn spear again. Why would Uisnech need to hide it from the attackers? I wanted to ask, but I knew Lugh wouldn't tell me now, not with everything else going on.

"They trashed the palace looking for it," Uisnech continued, "but when they realised it wasn't there, they ran."

Lugh stopped short. "They just left?"

Uisnech gave an eager nod. "They came here for the spear, but they weren't prepared to fight. When I finally got the guards charging toward them, they fled. I managed to get a few photos of some of them when their masks got ripped off during the fight. I'll send you the images. None of them are members of the Court, not that I saw."

Lugh swore and dropped back his head to stare up at the sky. "I don't know what this means. How did they know about the back gate? Have they determined how to use the cauldron? Is that why they're after my spear? Or are they just getting desperate?"

"Hi. Lugh." I tapped his arm. "I might be able to help more if I knew the deal about your spear."

"Not now," he growled. "But we clearly need to keep it hidden from now on." He turned toward the twins, who were watching the entire exchange with flashing eyes. "You two, help the rest of the team round up the fae. I'll give a speech in the Great Hall shortly, as soon as we ensure the gates are secure. We'll have to shut down this entrance since the enemies know where it is now."

The twins gave a nod and set off across the courtyard toward the scrambling fae.

Uisnech blinked up at Lugh. "What would you like for me to do, my king?"

Lugh grasped the hobgoblin's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You've done enough tonight, Uisnech. Recharge. Go have your feast."

I cocked my head, new questions swirling through me. What the hell was the hobgoblin's feast? And did I really want to know? Uisnech gave Lugh a brilliant smile and disappeared down the tunnel, heading toward town instead of the castle.

Lugh strode in the direction of the Great Hall, and I fell into step beside him. "What are you going to do now?"

"Now." He raked his hand through his midnight blue hair. "I have to be the King of Wraiths."

A fter Lugh gave a speech to his wide-eyed and fearful fae, they seemed to calm down, at least a little. He'd called the entire Court into the Great Hall where he'd sat on his throne of twisting vines, fielding questions. His voice had been calm and soothing, but he'd also stood his ground in such a way that they couldn't help but listen to him. He had ordered them to return to their rooms and get some rest. There were enemies out there, he told them, but he would keep them safe.

He had said he would be the king, and he'd been right. They needed him, and he'd lived up to their expectations. It was a damn important trait for a king, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for him myself.

Afterwards, he asked me to join him back in the palace. The traitors had completely trashed his quarters, desperately searching for his magical spear. I helped him clear it up a bit, stacking torn books against the wall and sweeping up broken glass. In the end, his room ended up as close to clean as it normally was, which wasn't saying a great deal.

He sank into the sofa and dropped his head into his hands. "Everything is spinning out of control, and I don't know what to do about it. Tonight I put these fae's lives in danger. That's not even counting the fact that Saoirse is still in trouble. I hate that she's out there and there's nothing I can do. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."

I pressed my lips together. "We'll find her. We just need to think two steps ahead of the enemy instead of two steps behind."

Not that I had any idea how to do that.

"I should do something." He pushed up and stalked to the broken window, glaring out at the dark night. It was almost midnight. There was nothing we could do. "I should go out there and rip the city apart until we find her. "

"Lugh. I'm not sure using your brute strength is the right course of action right now, not in a city full of innocent humans."

Softly, I stepped toward him and joined him at the window. The cool breeze fluttered my hair away from my shoulders, making me shiver. With a glance down, he wrapped an arm around me, rubbing his warm hands along my chilled skin.

I tried to keep my face blank. It was impossible. My whole body had lit up from his touch. Even after everything that had happened, all the danger and the terror, I still wanted him more than ever.

"There must be something we can do," he insisted. "Something they don't expect."

An idea sparked in my mind. "Actually, I do have an idea. Uisnech got some photos, right? I'll send them to Kyle, who is this master hacker friend of mine, and he might be able to get a trace on them. I bet they won't see that one coming."

Lugh didn't look particularly thrilled by my brilliant idea, but he didn't argue as I made the call. Even at this late hour, Kyle answered. I quickly filled him in on what had happened and shot the photos over to him. He promised he'd at least find something for us within the day. Thanks to CCTV, he'd be able to get a hit on their faces by hacking into the human databases.

I hung up the phone and gave Lugh a weak smile. "Kyle's on the case. He's going to use his famous hacking skills to track down their registered addresses. Now we just have to wait."

"I don't like asking for help from the queen," he muttered.

"Well, that's fine then," I replied. "Because you're not asking for her help. All I did was call up an old friend of mine."

"It's more than that, and you know it. He's a member of her Court."

I propped my fisted hands on my hips. "Is that what you're upset about? If that's how you feel about help from members of Clark's Court, then you should have sent me away in the first place. I am a member of her Court, too, you know. Why the hell keep me around if the queen's help bothers you so much?"

"Because," he growled, but I never heard the end of his sentence. He twisted toward me and sank his lips onto mine. With a gasp, I leaned into the kiss, wrapping my hands through his tangled hair.

His hands slipped down around my bum, and he lifted me from the floor. I wrapped my legs around his hips and arched against him. He growled, and his hard length dug into my thigh.

His kiss deepening, he began to stride across the room with his arms wrapped tight around me. He carried me into the bedroom and kicked the door shut. Heart pounding, I pulled back and stared into his inky eyes.

"I thought you didn't want to do this," I whispered.

"I didn't want to do it when Sapphire was rushing through our veins," he murmured, teeth nicking my neck. "But I very much want to do it now, knowing that your want for me is real and not manufactured by drugs."

Oh, it was real. It was very, very real.

Lugh set me gently on the bed. He stood back and surveyed me, his fingers dipping to the buttons on his jeans. Swallowing hard, I watched as he stripped to nothing. His clothes formed a pile around his feet until nothing but his full masculine glory was before me. Heat flooded through my body as I gaped. His entire body was corded with pure muscle that rippled as he moved.

"Your turn," he murmured.

I stood and pulled my shirt over my head without hesitation. As he watched me with fiery eyes, I pushed down my trousers and toed out of my panties. Even though he'd done nothing to touch me since the moment we'd begun undressing, my core was aching and my nipples had hardened.

I didn't even know how I was breathing. Was I breathing?

Lugh grabbed my hips and lifted me onto the bed where he tipped me back onto the blankets. Spreading my thighs wide, he leaned over me. His length pressed against me, teasing me, making shockwaves of desire shoot through my core, but all he did was smile.

I reached up and dug my fingers into his thick strands, pulling his mouth down to mine. He groaned against me, tongue twisting with mine. His fingers trailed up my sides, and his hands cupped my breasts.

My thighs tightened around his hips instinctively.

But he took his time. His tongue lapped against my peaked breasts, teasing and sucking and taunting me with each exquisite stroke. Wriggling under his touch, I dropped back my head and moaned so loud that my voice echoed off the ancient lofted ceiling.

Lugh didn't seem to care. Instead, it seemed to excite him even more.

He pulled back, sucking in a breath as his midnight eyes raked across me.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said in a deep growl.

Smiling, he dropped back down to kiss my stomach, his lips trailing across my skin, his fingers digging into my hips. My whole body shivered with anticipation as his mouth went lower—and lower. Until it hovered teasingly just an inch from my core. He leaned forward and dragged his tongue between my aching thighs.

And oh my god, I'd never felt anything like this before in my life. I couldn't stop my body from bucking on the bed and my legs from tightening around his neck.

"Oh, you like that, do you?" he murmured before diving back in. His tongue slid inside of me, sending new shockwaves of pleasure through my trembling body.

I wanted more, more, more, but it felt so bloody good that I couldn't hold on anymore. His fingers dug into my hips, and that was it. My orgasm stormed through me so hard and so fast that my ears roared with the thunder of my exhilarating release. My body shook and shuddered, my thighs squeezing tighter around him.

"That was just the beginning." Lugh shot me a wicked smile as he stood and lifted me from the bed. I kept myself wrapped around him, heart hammering hard enough to shake the very ground on which we stood. He carried me across the room and slammed me against the wall. Books fell all around us, joining the mess.

His need was hungry now and fierce. He growled as he nipped my neck, his length pulsing hard against me.

And then his grip softened. Loosened. His mouth opened, and his tongue pressed through my lips. Moaning, he began to kiss me hard, sending shivers of delicious magic through my veins.

I sighed against his lips, relishing in the feel of him. The hard planes of his stomach shifted against my body where he trapped me against the wall.

"I want you, Moira," he breathed as he pulled back to meet my eyes. The coldness I first saw in him was completely gone, replaced not only with heat but with warmth. Something was happening between us now, something far more than sex. And it made my pulse race even more than it had before.

Because I felt it. Deep in my gut. I wanted the King of Wraiths more than I'd ever wanted anything before.

My entire body trembled.

Gently, Lugh slid his cock inside of me. It hurt, just a little, but I found pleasure in the pain, dropping my head against the wall to moan loud enough for the rest of the Court to hear.

Luckily, the walls were soundproof.

His mouth massaged my ear, my throat, my lips as his length thrust in and out of me. I held on tight, my fingernails digging deeper into his skin with each and every slam against the wall. I could feel my core clenching tighter, the desire and lust building up inside me to an overwhelming crescendo.

It was all I could feel. It was all I could see. Nothing else existed in this world but us.

His pace became rougher, quicker.

"Lugh," I panted, squeezing my thighs tighter around his hips. "Lugh, I—"

I cried out, clutching his shoulders like a lifeline as the orgasm ripped through me, harder and faster than I'd ever felt before. He shoved into me one last time, grunting out my name as his cock hardened and then throbbed hard, his seed pouring inside me.

We panted, clinging onto one another. My ears rang, and my throat felt hoarse from my screams. I had no idea how or why this had happened, but I never wanted it to end.

B lood singing with magic, I traced lines on Lugh's chest. He twisted to face me, sleepy satisfaction shining in his eyes. He rubbed his hand against mine, pressing my fingers tight against his beating heart.

"I enjoyed that," I said with a smile. "Very much."

"I bloody hope so," he said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, your screams meant something very different."

"Hmm." I kissed his chest. "You're very good at that."

"So it seems." He sounded very pleased with himself. "I am happy to oblige your needs any time you'd like."

A thrill went through me. "What about...now?"

We'd only just finished ten minutes ago, but I was already feeling that need again. All he had to do was look in my direction and I wanted him. And we were doing far more than that now. I was naked. He was naked. Our bodies were pressed together. There was no telling how much longer I had here at the castle. Might as well make the most of it.

"I hate to break up this moment," he murmured. "But I need to check on my spear before another round. Uisnech hid it for me, but I need to see it for myself."

That thing again? I pushed up onto my elbow and stared down at him. "Are you finally going to tell me what the deal is with that spear?"

He sighed and closed his eyes, his long lashes splaying across his cheeks. "I want to tell you everything, but I must admit, I fear what you will think of me."

Every now and then, I could tell that Lugh had been alive for a very long time. His modern speech would slip, and the formality would roll back in.

I rolled over on top of him and slid my fingers into his hair. "There's nothing you could say that would change my mind about you."

He opened his eyes, pulled my face toward his, and kissed me deeply. "This is hard for me. I've only ever trusted two people in this world with my secret."

A flicker of hurt went through me. "Does that mean you don't trust me enough with it?"

"No, Moira." He sighed. "It means I do. I'm just afraid I'm wrong, and you'll run away from me."

What could he say that would make me run? After what we'd been through together, after everything I'd seen him do. He was a good male. A great one, really. So what if he had a crazy powerful spear?

Lugh grabbed my hips and slid me off his body, and then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He grabbed his pants from the floor and tossed me an oversized t-shirt of his. "Come on. We'll check on the spear, and I'll show you what it is."

My heart beat rapidly, and I pulled the shirt over my head in record time. He was finally going to tell me about his spear. I'd known there was more to the weapon than met the eye, and I eagerly wanted to know the full truth of it.

I padded after him. He led me to the end of the hallway, where I noticed he'd begun to pile some books on a shelf. My lips quirked. I'd been the one to suggest a bookshelf. And I felt kinda smug that he'd listened.

Lugh reached beneath the top shelf, and a click echoed through the quiet palace halls. When the shelves swung inward to reveal a hidden passageway, my mouth fell open.

"Huh. Okay, that's pretty wicked." I squinted as I peered inside. A long tunnel stretched out before us, swinging to the right. "Where does it lead?"

"To a room that no one knows about but me, Uisnech, and now you," he said quietly. He reached inside and flicked a light switch, the hidden tunnel suddenly illuminated by a soft glow. "Come. I'll show you the spear."

Eagerly, I followed behind him. We padded down the hallway, and then made the turn right into a small room about the size of the one where I'd stayed in the residential building. There was a small cot lining one wall, and a desk on the other, hidden beneath mounds of books and papers. A space heater was plugged into the wall socket. Sitting right beside said wall socket was the case-enclosed spear.

Even though I had seen it several times by now, it still took my breath away. The magic seeped into the room, filling it up with a buzz of electricity that smudged the thoughts in my head.

Instinctively, I moved toward it.

Lugh held out an arm to stop me, and then cocked his head. "You're drawn to the spear."

"Yeah, I guess I am actually." I peered up at the five sharp points before lowering my gaze to the gleaming golden rivets. "Is that its power?"

"What do you mean?"

"The magic rolling off of it," I explained. "Does it have something to do with drawing people to it? And, on that note, is your power drawing people to you?"

"No one else is drawn to this spear, Moira," he said quietly. "In fact, they're terrified of it. Uisnech only moved it because he cares deeply for me. But it makes his skin crawl. It makes everyone's skin crawl."

"I don't understand," I whispered.

He frowned, confusion rippling across his face. "You don't?"

My hands clenched. Suddenly, I didn't want to be doing this anymore. A dread had begun to seep into my bones, and warning bells clanged in my head. "What is this spear, Lugh? What's going on?"

Lugh crossed the room without another word and unlocked the case. The door hung open, and the gleaming gold winked at me.

"This spear," he began, staring at it with a strange expression on his face, "is part of me. And I am part of it. We're linked in a way that is almost impossible to understand, though I will try my best to explain it."

"It's part of you?" I whispered.

"My fae power is skill with a spear, but this particular weapon goes beyond that. When I use it, my powers are far greater than anything else most have ever seen. That's why the fae ran from me when I caught them attacking you in Mag Mell. It would strike them down. It would steal the breath from their lungs and the blood from their vein if I touched them with it."

Fear shuddered through me.

"But there is a downside to my powers, which is why I keep my spear locked up and hidden from those who wish to steal it from me." Lugh reached out and wrapped his hand around the spear, slamming the shaft onto the floor by his feet.

In an instant, my world changed. Something inside my soul snapped tight. Magic rushed through me like a category five hurricane. Power crackled between Lugh and his spear, and the entire room was engulfed by it.

My heart pounded as I stared into Lugh's midnight eyes. Lips parted, I shook my head. The magic pulsing between us clenched tight in my gut, and a strange sensation swirled between us. His power pummelled through my heart, but my own magic rushed right back toward him.

Fear tripped through me. I'd heard about this before.

I knew what it was.

"No!" I clutched at my heart and backed away from him, shaking my head in horror. "No, no, no."

"What is it?" Confusion and alarm flashed across his face. "What's wrong? I thought my spear did not scare you."

"You're my mate," I whispered. "You're my actual mate."

He shook his head, still confused. "Of course I am. Didn't you know? Didn't you feel the bond snap between us the moment we met? If not then, the moment in the training room?"

That moment he'd looked at me and laughed about the cruelty of fate.

"No." Closing my eyes, I twisted away. I couldn't bear to look at him anymore, not knowing the truth about our bond. Lugh Tuireann was my mate. The prophecy roared in my head, drowning out a moment that should have been one of the happiest of my life.

The King of Wraiths was my mate.

Which meant I would kill him one day.