14. Sage

CHAPTER 14

Sage

Darkness poured into my chest as if my clothes and skin didn’t mean anything to the power rushing out of Talon. It seized my muscles, immobilizing me with my head thrown back, my mouth open on a scream I couldn’t release, and flooded me with a soul-freezing cold.

Lord Rider slashed at it with his daggers. It screeched inside my head, the same horrifying sound the shadow monsters had made when I’d first came through the fae ring and they’d surrounded me.

Except this shadow monster’s cry was louder and edged with knives. It sliced into my soul, sending frozen agony screaming through me and stealing what little breath I had left.

Talon took a shaky step forward as if he wasn’t in control of his body and a shadow tendril swatted at Lord Rider. He jerked out of the way, slicing into it and sending more screeching agony shooting through me.

My muscles convulsed, and I released a strange, strangled scream, before the muscle-freezing cold took hold of me again.

I mentally heaved against its grip, desperate to break free, to end the cold, to — Great Father! — just breathe. Darkness swarmed across my vision, but I couldn’t tell if it was from lack of air or shadow enveloping my eyes like it enveloped Talon’s.

“Let him go, Talon,” Lord Rider growled.

“No,” Talon replied— No, a shadow. It was a shadow controlling Talon, making his voice sound strange, like gravel and darkness and ice and… heartache? “Hungry.”

The shadow jerked me forward and Talon wrapped one hand around my back, capturing me against him, and tangled the other in my hair. He yanked my head back and sudden, desperate need erupted into the cold.

Now my body, still locked in ice, begged for a release, for Talon’s mouth on mine, his hands caressing and fondling, his cock driving into me, bringing me to the heights of unimaginable pleasure.

The shadow inside me whirled stronger, building up my need. Its screeches turned to moans, its hunger aching and overwhelming .

It was starving. I didn’t know how or why, but it needed something from me, something I wanted to give it?—

No. I didn’t want to give it whatever it craved. It was consuming me. I could feel it devouring my strength along with my desire, pulling on my soul, pushing in its ice, too much ice. I was cold, so cold.

“Fuck, Talon.” Lord Rider sliced at Talon’s arm.

The shadow batted his hand away, but Lord Rider countered with the dagger in his other hand, faster than the shadow could respond, and slammed the blade into Talon’s shoulder, drawing a strangled cry of pain.

The shadow screeched, the horrible sound ringing in my ears, my head— hell, my whole body, while frozen agony exploded through my chest. Then Talon crushed his mouth against mine, oblivious to the dagger in his shoulder, and my core spasmed with a sudden, powerful release.

Stars flashed behind my eyes, my essence whirling with pleasure. It was almost as incredible as the releases Fantasy Man had given me and would have been incredible if we’d had more time and less clothes and I hadn’t been freezing.

The shadow surged into every crevasse of my being, filling me with ice and heartache and hunger. I wanted to sob at its pain, at its terrible need, but I was trapped within myself, frozen, my body desperate to be free, to breathe.

It captured something within me, some spark infused in the very essence of my being, whirled it into a brilliant, blinding vortex, and yanked it out of my mouth into Talon’s.

A bone-deep cold flooded in where the vortex had been, leaving me trembling, and yet still throbbing with need, satisfied and yet begging from more — please more — even as I coughed and gasped for air.

Talon groaned and the darkness sank under his skin and bled out of his eyes. He stared at me, his expression stunned for a moment as if he didn’t know what had just happened, then his beautiful, pale eyes widened with horror.

“Oh, Goddess,” he gasped.

Lord Rider snarled, yanked me out of Talon’s grasp, and rammed his fist into Talon’s face. Talon staggered back and I fell to my knees, my body weak and trembling, unable to hold me up.

“Oh Goddess, no.” Talon’s wide-eyed gaze locked on me, his expression horrified and shocked. “You’re fae-touched.”

“You already knew that,” Lord Rider growled. “Take another step back.”

“No. The other one, too. You taste like a fae.” He took an unsteady step toward me, and Rider’s growl deepened with warning .

My desire flared stronger as if he hadn’t just made me come with his magic, and I dropped my head, gasping and fighting the all-too-feminine moan of pleasure that bubbled in my throat.

“What’s your magic?” Talon asked.

“Not the conversation we should be having,” Rider snapped. “Is it satisfied or do I need to stab you again?”

“It’s under control.” Talon’s boots inched closer as if he couldn’t help himself, despite Rider’s snarling, and my breath turned ragged.

I wanted Talon now as much as I’d wanted him when his shadow had possessed me. I wanted to feel that pressure and desire again and again despite the pain and the cold?—

Shadows! I needed to get away, relieve the pressure building inside me. Please, Great Father. Except I wasn’t even sure I could stand, let alone run away… not that I could run away without permission.

Talon reached for me, and I tried to scramble back but couldn’t get my limbs to move properly and ended up flailing and slamming my butt against the hard ground. Tears burned my eyes, and my face was on fire with embarrassment as Rider rammed his shoulder into Talon and shoved him back.

“It’s not under control,” I ground out, fighting to keep my voice pitched low. “What did you do to me?”

“Something he shouldn’t have.” He glared at Talon. “Stay the hell away from him.” Then he grabbed my chin and jerked my attention up to him. My need surged stronger. Why did all the fae have to be so damned beautiful? “Fuck, his pupils are still blown. You were supposed to get your magic under control last night, Talon.”

Except the moment Rider said it, I knew what had happened hadn’t been because of Talon’s magic, it had been because of the shadow inside him, and it had been desperate and hungry… and lonely.

My thoughts stuttered at that. How the hell did I know it was lonely, that its hunger was born from a need to be filled with something it hadn’t gotten, or hadn’t gotten enough of, in a long time? And all it had, all that was helping it hold on, was its connection with Talon.

It wasn’t malicious or evil, it was like the shadows cast on a sunny day, neither good nor bad. It just was. Just another creature trying to survive.

The realization shook me. The shadow monsters that had attacked me when I’d come through the ring had tried to kill me. I didn’t know if that made them evil or just wild animals. But everything I’d heard about the shadow monsters said they were evil. Except the shadow in Talon wasn’t. I knew that in the depth of my soul.

“I’m sorry, Sawyer,” Talon said. “My… magic feeds on… feelings ? — ”

“Sex,” I corrected, forcing my gaze up to meet his, my trembling, frozen, aching exhaustion making me bold beyond my good sense. “Your shadow feeds on sex.”

Talon shot a worried look at Rider.

“It’s not a shadow,” Rider said.

“It is.” A shudder of cold mixed with need swept through me. “It’s so hungry, so… lonely.”

Talon’s eyes widened. “How do you know that? No one else feels that when it feeds. Not even other fae.”

“Could have been the force of the attack,” Rider said. “Has it ever fed like that before? I thought you needed actual sex to feed it.”

“So did I,” Talon replied. “Definitely an orgasm.”

The heat in my face that had been starting to fade roared back to life, a sharp burning contrast on my cheeks, ears, and neck to the cold buried within me.

“Well, fuck,” Rider huffed. “I thought because you’re still being affected by his allure that you didn’t come.” He ran his hands through his hair, mussing his topknot and not noticing… and making himself even more breathtaking. “This is a fucking mess. You—” He glared at Talon. “You need to get to the infirmary and get that looked at and get away— Fuck. I need you with the novices. I can’t afford to send you back to the Gold Tower until we’ve at least finished this rotation.”

“It’s satisfied,” Talon replied, shooting me a sad look filled with apology that only made my need blaze hotter. “It won’t need to feed for at least the rest of the rotation, probably longer.”

“Fine, but you’re still off for the rest of the day.” Rider turned to glare at me. “And you need to get into the bushes and jerk off so you can concentrate.”