18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

T he sound of raised voices startles me from my sleep. It’s morning and I am still alone in the bed. The curtains are drawn and it’s dark and shadowy in here, but something is happening in the sitting room.

I throw back the sheets, but my collar pulls tight and I choke. What the hell? I swear Mabon never came home last night, so who chained me to the bed? And without me waking up?

That’s unsettling as hell, but the shouting from the next room is far more alarming. Is Mabon okay? What is going on? Where was he all night and why didn’t he come back?

The bedroom door flings open with a blast of dazzling sunlight. I wince and scrunch my eyes up.

A human is standing in the doorway. A very pretty human wearing fey clothes and with his chestnut hair up in fey style, but still very much a human. The first one I’ve seen in what feels like forever.

“Oh my god! Mabon! Why is he chained to your bed?”

He marches over and unclips the chain from my collar. His gaze lifts to my face, and he freezes.

“Mabon!” he yells. “Why does he have a bruise on his face? Please tell me you haven’t been beating him!”

Mabon appears in the doorway. He crosses his arms and leans on the frame.

“It was one little slap, and he deserved it.”

He sounds so very petulant and sulky that I very nearly laugh.

“I’m so sorry about this,” says the human. “Come next door and have some breakfast and we can sort this all out.”

His gaze drops down to my lap. “For flip’s sake, Mabs, get the poor man some clothes!”

Mabon strides into the room. “No, no, no! He is too pretty for clothes! It would be a crime to hide those lovely muscles!”

The human turns to face him and they both glare at each other with their hands on their hips. The silence stretches. I don’t think either of them are going to back down. But eventually, Mabon lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“Fine! But don’t call me Mabs, it makes me sound like my mother.”

He claps his hand, and a shadow servant appears.

“Find my pet some clothes.”

The shadow bows and disappears. Mabon strides out of the bedroom and the human follows after him. Sounds of their bickering drift through the open door.

I’m so confused right now. Am I even awake? What is happening?

The shadow servant appears again and lays some clothes out on the bed before vanishing.

Clothes? Wow. I hadn’t realised that I had given up on those. I had completely stopped thinking about them.

I reach out and pick up what I have been given. Okay, these are not fey robes, but they are not exactly human either. Not modern human, anyway. Leather trousers and a linen top that might be called a tunic, but I’m not exactly an expert.

Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes.

It takes me a few minutes to struggle into the clothes. They are an extremely tight fit. And I’m pretty sure that is by Mabon’s design. He must have told the servant by telepathy or something. Or his staff simply know and understand him.

The leather is cupping my junk obscenely, and this top has an absurdly low V, with a lace that zig zags across but doesn’t have a chance in hell of pulling the material closed.

I feel more exposed than I did naked. This is ridiculous. But the human is nice and extremely helpful. I don’t want to disappoint him by striding out naked. So I’m just going to have to suck it up.

I take a deep breath and walk out into the sitting room. Mabon and the human are sitting at the table. Bowls of fruits and yoghurt are artfully arranged, but look untouched.

The human’s eyes widen when he sees me, but he says nothing. Mabon brings his hands together as if in prayer, then he lifts them to his lips while grinning and letting out a soft squeal. His eyes are practically glowing.

Pride and delight swirls through me, and that makes no sense at all. I don’t like it when Mabon objectifies me. I’m not like that. At least, I never used to be.

“Come join us,” says the human as he pushes out a chair.

Silently, I obey and take my seat. Obeying is far, far easier than thinking.

The human piles a bowl high with fruit and hands it to me. He serves himself some strawberries and nibbles delicately at them.

Mabon pours some tea and everything feels rather civilised. Were these two really yelling at each other a few moments ago?

“I want you to free him,” says the human calmly.

Mabon sips his tea. “I claimed him. Freeing him would make me look weak.”

The human frowns. “Keeping people as pets is wrong,” he says, but he sounds more resigned than outraged.

Mabon draws himself up. “I have done nothing Rhydian didn’t do to you.”

The human blushes very spectacularly.

“In fact,” says Mabon. “I’ve been far nicer. I haven’t used my pet in public.”

“Alright!” exclaims the human hastily while becoming very engrossed in his bowl of strawberries

Mabon grins at him and then flashes me a wink that makes my stomach flip right over. There seriously is something wrong with me. I lift a piece of peach to my mouth and start chewing while I try to gather my thoughts.

With all this talk of pets and someone called Rhydian, who I assume is Prince Rhydian, I’m guessing this human is Jamie Broadwith. The son of Graham Grantham. Another poor human who has been abducted. But he doesn’t look very downtrodden. But then again, neither do I.

But wait, perhaps I do? Jamie was horrified to find me chained naked to a bed, with a bruised face. Am I downtrodden?

Jamie turns to me. “I’m afraid Mabon is right. He can’t let you go. I’m sorry about that. But Mabon is going to treat you very well from now on.”

Mabon makes a noise of outrage. “I have been treating him very well! I have ridden him and sucked his cock and played with his breasts and given him lovely orgasms!”

It’s my turn to flush bright, burning red and look away. If the ground could open up right now and swallow me whole, that would be perfect.

Jamie sighs. He doesn’t sound shocked or mortified. More weary. It seems, like Tristan, Jamie is used to Mabon being Mabon.

“Come on, we are going to see Rhydian,” says Jamie.

Mabon huffs. “No! I don’t want to be told off!”

“He is going to tell you off anyway, so you might as well get it over with.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You weren’t supposed to take a pet.”

Mabon makes a sound of pure derision, annoyance and frustration. It almost makes me chuckle.

I hear the rustle of silks and look up to find Mabon and Jamie heading out of the door together. I blink and they are gone. Leaving me all alone. I let out a heavy sigh and allow my shoulders to sag.

That was quite…something. And it seems a little unfair that Mabon is getting into trouble for taking a pet, when his brother did the exact same thing. Especially since Mabon has been doing a damn good job of holding the fort while Rhydian was away. At least as far as I can tell.

My mind takes a moment to catch up with my thoughts. What the hell? I’m defending Mabon and thinking he shouldn’t get in trouble for kidnapping me?

I think I am truly losing my marbles. It is either that or Mabon is wonderful and I’m falling in love. And I have absolutely no idea which of those options is worse.

But I don’t have time to search my soul and ponder that now. Now I’m alone, I need to think about the message from the Resistance and their plan.

Do I go along with it? Jamie’s arrival has changed things for sure. It might be worth staying now. Because if he insists Mabon gives me more freedom, I might actually be able to gather useful intelligence. I can be the Resistance’s inside man.

Jamie is obviously treated well, and he clearly holds power here. He is on my side, so I don’t think I’m in any danger now. And I can put up with Mabon.

My heart does something strange at that thought. I reach for some yoghurt. Putting up with Mabon doesn’t seem at all like a hardship. And that really is far too much to unpack.

That confusing mess aside, there are other positives to lingering. If I stay, I might be able to get to the bottom of Mabon’s problems. I might be able to help.

I spoon some yoghurt into my mouth and the delicious flavour dances over my tongue. It only distracts me for a moment, though.

If things weren’t already confusing enough, I need to know if I can trust the Resistance. That wasn’t my Scoobies last night. It was much higher ups. Which isn’t surprising. Me being here is far beyond my little cell’s remit or capabilities.

But it means it all boils down to trusting strangers, or trusting Mabon.

Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. What the fuck am I going to do?