30. Thirty

“Three years. Three bloody years it’s taken you.” Brianne fisted her slender waist.

Looking at her now, I wasn’t sure what I found appealing.

If we were judging by general beauty standards, then yes—she was pretty.

Her elongated pointed ears wedged free from her ivory mane of hair, which she currently wore in a pleated braid down her back. Her golden eyes burned holes into me. Those were elongated, too. Despite being humanoid, elves didn’t look human. Every feature was stretched, sharpened, and ethereal.

I guess that”s why they worshiped the gods so much. They fucking looked just like them. Her silver leathers rustled as she shifted her weight from her left foot to her right. The heels of her boots clicked on the hard floor.

Swallowing the bile that’d formed in the back of my throat, I put on my charm. “I can be a daft sometimes, but don’t hold it against me, sweet. I’ve always thought about us,” I lied through my fucking teeth.

“You look atrocious. Hardly presentable for a proposal. And what is so urgent that you can’t come to Aflem for the ceremony today?” She arched her perfectly groomed eyebrow.

Ankar watched the two of us in silence. I don’t even think he was breathing. “All my outfits are in the Under Cloud. Plus—Ariel has a tincture that can patch me up before the wedding.” This was going to be too easy.

“Why don’t I believe you then?” She leaned down, giving me a full view of her cleavage.

Sighing, I scrubbed at my face. The motion hurt. “Fine. A Vampyr owes me coin, and he ran. I need to hunt him down before he skips out again, and I lose the trail.”

“Atreyis, you don’t need his coin. As my husband, you will have full access to our coffers—more than any common thief could owe.” Her face softened.

“It’s the principle. Isn’t that what you love about me? The fact I never forget a face and that no one ever crosses me?” I smirked.

Ankar poured himself a tumbler.

Brianne sighed, narrowing her eyes. “Very well. But I’ll need something first to show your commitment.”

Fuck. “What would that be?”

“Ursid. Do you have somewhere private I can take him?” She put on her ‘I’m the elvish governor’s daughter, don’t fuck with me’ voice.

Nodding slowly, he said, “The storage room.” He looked at me with pitiful eyes. I wanted to slap the look off his face.

It was no big deal.

Vastian wasn’t mine. I wasn’t his.

I could put my cock where I wanted, and so could he. I’ll kill the receiver of it, but the point remains. Thinking of his lips on someone else or his arms wrapped around another”s waist made my eyes twitch. Don’t be a hypocrite. I’m literally about to do that with broken toes, ribs, and a shattered leg.

It wouldn’t be him. Her hair was white, not gold. She didn’t have his full lips or his gorgeous smile. She didn’t know how to pull me out of the dark when I was being suffocated by it.

She didn’t know roses.

“Atreyis, darling. You’re green,” Brianne whispered, cupping her mouth and stepping back.

“Am I?” Sweat dripped down my forehead.

Ankar jumped to his feet, hands waving wildly. “No! Not on my—”

Projectile vomit spewed everywhere. The entire force of a thousand volcanoes erupted from my mouth. Ankar slid a bucket in front of my face, the puke splashing against the sides and hitting my chin.

Fuck… would I be able to go through with this? Yes. I had to—nausea or not. Vastian needed me, and I was out of time hours ago. He’d have to understand.

“Come on, let’s clean you up.” Brianne stroked my hair lovingly, and I threw up again.

Ankar’s washroom was smaller than the one at Alora and I’s apartment. Brianne and I barely fit in the tiny space, but she managed to get me naked and in the shower. Half expecting her to join me, I was pleasantly surprised when she only washed me. She was gentle and frowned upon seeing my injuries.

I couldn’t recall the last time I saw a bruise on my body. How long would it take for this shit to heal? I was useless now. The only perk of this curse was the fact I was unstoppable. You could shoot me in the head, and I’d get up. You could rip my arms off, and they’d reattach within seconds. There wasn’t anything a person could do to me that wouldn’t repair itself.

“Atreyis, what happened to you?” Thankfully, Brianne wasn’t aware of any of it. She thought my brand was because I liked the way it looked.

“Got into it with an Ogre,” I grunted as she scrubbed my chest.

“What were you thinking?” Her brows pinched together.

“He had a dumb face.”

“There will be no brawls with Ogres when we are married. I will not have it.” She turned me to rinse the suds.

Where was that wittiness that used to come so naturally? It was dead, along with everything else I cared about. Vastian would never forgive me after this; I was sure of it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll ensure you aren’t hurt.” She offered her hand after turning off the tap.

I didn’t want to touch her. I wanted to slap her hand away and run. But I could hardly walk.

If I didn’t do this, it would be days before I returned to the Under Cloud. I guess that was one thing they did right when trying to keep it secret. The only entrance was in Veros.

She led me to the back room after wrapping the towel around my waist. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and a dusty cot was in the center. A suspicious white stain was on the single brown scruffy blanket. Gross. Did the Ursid stroke his cock in here?

“Here, lay the towel down over it.” My grip on the fabric tightened, and she had to free it from my fingers.

“Atreyis, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you didn’t want me.” Her voice dropped. Of course, she was taking this personally.

Swallowing thickly, I brushed my knuckles across her cheek. “It’s not that.”

“Then what? You are the one who reached out. You are the one who said it was time to make things right between us. That you wanted me.” She leaned into my touch.

Gods, this was so fucked.

“Come here,” I pulled her to my chest and closed my eyes.

Vastian was taller. He lifted my chin to meet his lips. So when I dipped to brush against hers, I couldn’t even pretend. All of it felt unnatural. Wrong. My heart seized in my chest. I’d said it thousands of times before, but honestly—I wanted to die.

”Stop,” she exclaimed, wrenching her lips free.

I blinked, sagging down onto the shitty cot.

She placed one hand on her hip and pushed my hair from my face. ”You”re not well enough for this,” she said. I watched with hooded eyes as she weathered her lip, clearly torn about what to do.

”It”s fine,” I slurred.

”Atreyis, no. I will not have you like this. I”ll…take you to the Under Cloud, and once you”ve rested, we can proceed.”

”Seriously?” My voice squeaked with excitement.

”Of course. Can I get you anything?”

Without hesitation, I said, ”Whiskey.”

Securing the oversized pants with a belt, I shuddered when Brianne’s hands wrapped around me and stroked my stomach. “We can go when you’re ready,” she said, kissing my back.

My jaw wound tight. “Now. We leave now.”

Then I jerked out of her hold and pushed through the door. Ankar was wise enough not to say anything even though we were only in the room long enough for me to swallow down more alcohol.

“I’ll tell Ariel you’re well,” I told him, and he offered me a slow nod.

The shirt hung on me like willow leaves. “Are you wanting to go there? To Ariel’s?” Brianne asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ve been wondering how she is fairing.”

“She’s fucking a cat,” I blurted.

Aknar snorted. “Not exactly,” he said.

“Love is love,” Brianne admitted with a blush on her cheeks.

Snapping my fingers, I realized we needed to move. “Be… careful.” Aknar walked over and patted my shoulder. In the process, he hit a bruise, and I winced.

“Duly noted,” I ground out then eyed Brianne.

“Right. Next stop, Ariel’s brownstone.” Her voice was chipper. I mean, the woman knew that she”d be getting a taste of immortal cock soon. The thought made my guts rumble again. No, that wouldn”t happen. I”d sooner chop the damn thing off before I entertained that idea again, and it”d stay off too.

Waving her hand, the portal opened and I let out a breath when I saw the familiar brownstone through it. I crossed the threshold and onto the steps.

Sucking in the Under Cloud stench, I reminded myself of what needed to happen. I needed clothes that fit, my weapons, and make sure to guzzle enough alcohol down my throat to where I was completely numb. Then I’d find Vastian. And hope to all the gods that he still wanted anything to do with me.

Brianne walked through and looked around. She turned up her nose. “I did not miss this place.”

“That’s because it was never meant for you,” I grumbled and staggered up the steps.

When I opened the door to the brownstone and locked eyes with Ariel, she dropped her plate of food. The ceramic shattered. Chris dropped the lit cigarette between his legs, immediately patting it out before the fire could catch on the sofa.

“What fucking happened!” she shrieked, rushing to me and catching me just as I went down.

I was dizzy, my left leg went gelatinous. Brianne went to help but Ariel quite literally growled at her. The snarl of a bear. Chris came to us, taking my other arm. The two of them carried me over to the living room. My eyes were rolling, I wasn’t sure how I was even conscious.

“What did you do to him?” she accused Brianne.

“I didn’t do a thing! It was an Ogre!”

“Lies!”

Then the two women argued mercilessly.

Brianne always assumed she was well liked, but the truth of it was—Ariel couldn’t stand her before. I’d brought her over once. The woman bitched and complained about everything. The smell, the dust, the lack of ‘proper furniture’. Ariel was insulted by the elf all over again and Chris wasn’t sure if he should go to Ariel or stay with me. His face told me as much.

“Whiskey,” I groaned, pointing at the kitchen.

He nodded curtly and I heard the clink of the glass.

“We came home to dead people everywhere and then he comes back with you. Like that!” Ariel pointed at me, ten seconds from snapping.

“He’s just banged up! He promised to perform well after some rest.” Brianne was clearly in denial that anything was wrong with me, but she didn’t know any different. I was too weak to tell Ariel to shut up, and the words flew from her face with speed.

“Atreyis doesn’t get banged up. Atreyis is fucking immortal you idiot!”

“I take it she didn’t know that,” Chris whispered, handing me a full glass of whiskey. I immediately choked it down. The alcohol slipped past my lips and trickled down my chin.

“Immortal? Atreyis! Is this true?” she demanded, stomping over to me.

I burped.

“Give him some space,” Chris tried to pacify her.

“NO! He’s going to be my husband! We made a promise to each other. He promised me!” She waved her slender finger in his face.

“Ariel,” I fucking whimpered. My head hurt so bad and all I wanted was for Brianne to stop talking.

She looked between Brianne and me. A snarl still formed on her face even though she had quieted. “Where is the Vampyr?” Ariel finally asked me.

“Aryn,” I whispered, gesturing to Chris for more whiskey. The room spun, but everything still fucking hurt.

“Don’t you dare give him more whiskey. Gods, Atreyis. What happened!” Ariel shoved past Brianne and knelt between my legs.

“You look just like him; all you need is a beard.” I stroked her chin with my fingers, then passed out.

Some point later, I came to. Panic licked my spine when I saw no one in the living room with me. But my leg was splinted, bandaged, and the moss-like shirt removed. My ribs were wrapped up well too. I couldn’t fight like this!

“Ariel!” I demanded, feeling a touch less like death.

“He’s awake!” Came her voice from upstairs, followed by quick steps down them.

She darted across the space. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, sweat across her forehead and Chris wasn’t far behind. He looked equally as disheveled.

“Were you two fucking up there?” My jaw dropped. The gall of these people I swear.

“No,” Chris said with a sigh.

“I had to detain her. She wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t shut up!” Ariel wiped the sweat off on her arm.

Blinking, I said, “You detained her.”

“She drugged her.” Chris plopped down next to me.

Right on, Ariel. “I need to go. I have to get Vastian.” I tried standing but Ariel shoved me back.

“You have four broken ribs, a compound fracture in your leg, three of your toes are broken and I’m pretty sure you have a concussion. Why aren’t you healing?” She fisted her hips in the way only Ariel could accomplish. Mother bear and all…

Taking a deep breath, I spilled. I told her everything that happened—running from the blood ring, my mother, the tavern, Belfor… the entire story. It ended with Aryn taking Vastian from me and my wild idea to marry an elf just to get there. She’d shifted twice in that time. Chris managed to talk her down from biting the woman’s head clean off.

“I had no other option. Alora hasn’t shown her face since,” I breathed, holding my head in my hands.

“That’s the most fucked up love story I think I’ve ever heard,” Chris said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

“It’s not a love story,” I snapped.

“Oh, honey, it is. But that doesn’t matter. What are we going to do?” Ariel was next to me now, palm on my knee.

“One: it isn’t a love story. There isn’t love. Won’t ever be love. I don’t do love. Two: you crippled me, so I can’t walk. Three: I need to be drunk so I can move. Four: will you stop blowing that shit in my face?” I scowled at Chris who puffed that cigarette like his own personal steam engine.

“Sorry,” he chirped, promptly snuffing it out.

“Okay, wild infatuation. Is that better?” Ariel shook her head and tapped the arm of the sofa. ”We need a plan. If we lure Aryn out of his house, we can get to Vastian.”

“If he is even still there!” I yelled. Fuck, I was desperate! It was the next fucking day!

“Let me think.”

Think faster. He’s running out of time.