Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

“Like all other lame or unbreakable animals, we may find a use for your body or feed it to something else,” Arathorn dared to let escape his lips.

I wasn’t aware I possessed the self-control it took to keep Eros at bay after a line like that. I felt the skin ripple down my spine as I watched the love of my life put a collar around her throat after what he’d just threatened her with. I wondered for a moment if Eros would get stronger if I let him eat a Fae. The only one who should be collaring my mate was me.

“We have to keep him alive if the Goddess thinks he’s helping us,” I managed to tell Eros through the haze of rage and indignation clouding my mind.

Eros couldn’t respond intelligibly, so he retreated to the back of my mind to smolder alone.

The moment Quinn touched me, I felt relief flood through my body. It was only momentary, “Don’t cry, Blue …”

I tried to help her stay strong. Any sign of weakness from us could be fatal. I wanted nothing more than to hold her and never let go, but after the breedable comments, we needed to keep it to a minimum to stay together.

I felt like my stomach was eating itself inside me. I was starving, even though I ate the small portions they gave us. Keeping up our strength was important, but as time passed, I was positive they were feeding us the minimum to keep us alive. Whatever they had planned for this trial, I hoped Quinn could figure out how to fail it. My inability to link her made me feel more alone than I ever had. She was always there in my head, and now she was gone.

As we moved towards the subsequent trial, I was grateful I was going with her. I couldn’t believe everything she’d told me from the last one. Who could have foreseen the Goddess showing herself to Quinn? I couldn’t imagine seeing Her in person, and I didn’t understand how Quinn was being so calm about it. Even with everything else going on, that was something I’d never seen in any of the supernatural histories we’d scoured through researching the Fae.

Quinn testing as exceptionally powerful didn’t surprise me, though; I’d always known she was special. We needed to keep just how special she was from the Fae, or they’d never let us go.

–

The garden was full of strange plants, but my focus was on Quinn and the Fae around us. Arathorn described the test to the anger of those assembled. There it was; he was trying to help us in some way. I still wanted to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until I watched the life leave his godlike features, but as much as Eros growled for the Fae’s head, it would only make things worse. I couldn’t protect Quinn right now, although I was contemplating whether the bonds would hold if I shifted out of them. Then there were my swords…

“Give her the task. No more, no less,” the king chastised Arathorn. It was the first time he actually focused on anything since we came to this world.

Quinn looked back at me as if to ask me what to do. I tried hard to will her to understand that mana was magic and that she probably shouldn’t fill the fountain like he was telling her to. Instead, I felt a warmth within me. It felt like the times we’d connected magically, and I hoped no one noticed. If we could still do that, we might have a fighting chance at getting out of the realm. Quinn was stronger here, and that, combined with me, could be the edge we needed.

“Get on with it,” the Fae who argued for our death spat, red in the face. He was extraordinarily upset about Arathorn’s ‘slip’.

Quinn reached down and touched the water in the fountain. As she did, my vision changed. Instead of seeing Quinn, the garden, or the Fae as I once had, what I saw now were shapes. Everyone was still in the same places, but now they were grey and faceless, with light swirling within them.

Quinn was the brightest among them, blue flames flowing through her body, threatening to burst free. Each Fae had different colors, mostly in line with their hair color. Then, all the plants around us had their own outline and green light within them. All of that connected to Quinn the moment she touched the water. The blue flame within her spun like a storm that needed to be free to consume the light around it, and I realized that Quinn’s magic was trying to absorb the magic around her.

I wanted to shake my head and call out to her to stop. As she touched the water again, I saw the light from the plants around us drawing toward Quinn, their sources fading already. Then, as quickly as it started, the lights reversed. The light stopped traveling toward Quinn to be consumed, and it started moving toward its source again. As she pushed the magic back, I saw the lines from all of the plants reaching outward, and it expanded what I could see. It stretched far beyond the walls, and my heart started to thunder in my chest, worried they would find out the extent of her power. Quinn was reaching out to every plant or garden in the kingdom.

Quinn’s blue energy dulled momentarily until-

“Enough,” the king called out.

I realized I’d been holding my breath, waiting to see what happened with Quinn, especially after the light show. Fortunately for us, it looked like I was the only one who could see what had just occurred. The king demanded that this trial be washed and that we do the third trial because of what Arathorn did at the beginning of this one. I didn’t understand why they let the trials continue if it was going to be pointless, but I wasn’t going to argue. All the angry arguing from the small crowd kept me on edge, but the good news was we were moving on. I couldn’t explain what I’d just seen to Quinn, but we were at least out of danger for the moment.

–

Quinn was in her head the whole way back to the horse stables. Arathorn didn’t speak to us, but I didn’t expect him to. If he was supposed to be on our side, he didn’t show. Then, I got the feeling there were eyes basically everywhere, and he wouldn’t truly be able to tell or show us.

As we approached our cages, my stomach dropped. We were about to be forced apart again. Hungry, tired, and separated. I still didn’t understand what I saw during her test and wanted to ask my mate about everything from her side.

“It seems I may have misstepped in your separation,” Arathorn announced, opening Quinn’s cage door. “I believe it was a mistake to test this one as a Fae without considering her differences. It appears, on some level, you are of vital importance to each other. You will be granted the privilege of cohabitation until the final trial, where your fates will be determined.”

Quinn’s head snapped up, and we connected gazes. Eros howled in my head. Arathorn waited next to the open door expectantly. I pushed Quinn forward into the stall, following her closely. After removing the humiliating collar and ropes from us, Arathorn shut the door and silently retreated, the horses once again stirring at his presence.

When my brain started to function properly, I yanked Quinn to me, squeezing her tightly. Her arms came around me and I buried my face in her messy hair. We were both in shock because it took too long to register that we were allowed to be together again.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled into me. “I don’t know if I made things better or worse. What if they don’t let us go now? I think I messed this all up-”

“Stop,” I told her. “I don’t care right now.” I kissed the top of her head. I needed her; I didn’t want to figure out the stupid trials. She sagged against me slightly.

“I’m exhausted,” she whispered.

“Then let’s lay down,” I suggested.

–

Days passed, and we barely moved from the little straw bed. Quinn laid her sweater down below us, and she stayed in my arms whether we were sleeping or awake. It was hard to register time, but with what the Goddess told us, we weren’t counting on making it out of this alive. If they didn’t let us go, I would not let us be subject to the abhorrent things Arathorn constantly suggested were in store for us. Quinn readily agreed; she would be no one’s slave, no matter the context.

After a few days of rest together, we both felt significantly better. The forced separation had taken its toll, but even in the dire situation we’d found ourselves in, proximity fixed much of the fatigue and anxiety we’d both been feeling. We were hungry, but neither of us talked about that. The stomach growls as we lay together made it clear. I tried to give her my food a few times, but she refused, throwing my own words back at me. We needed our strength if we had any chance of getting through this.

We knew we shouldn’t with everything going on, but we needed each other on night three. We couldn’t smell, hear, or see anyone. Quinn couldn’t sense any magic around us, so we didn’t think they could be hiding in watch. After what I’d seen in the second trial, I didn’t think any of the Fae were strong enough to go unnoticed by Quinn’s abilities, even if she didn’t know fully how to use them. I pulled Quinn flush to me, her back against my stomach, her a*s resting against my c**k. Pulling her shorts down only enough to allow me entry, I slowly pressed into her with one hand over her mouth to muffle the quiet m**n that escaped. She pushed herself back onto me, and I slowly ground into her with one hand on her mouth and the other reaching down to find her clit. It was an awkward position, and my hand barely fit. But the way she was melting onto me was something I wouldn’t have traded for anything.

My teeth grazed the back of her shoulder blade as I kissed and bit her lightly. She shivered as I watched goosebumps rise under my teeth.

“I will always love you, Quinn,” I whispered. “I’ll find you on the other side.”

Quinn shuddered and pressed against me hard as she clamped down on my shaft in spasms. She was biting my hand to keep quiet, and it took quite a bit of self-control to keep from making any sound as I found my release within her. For a moment, the bliss erased everything we’d gone through. As her breathing slowed to normal and I came down from the high she gave me, the realization that we were in a cell and potentially about to die came crashing down around me. I helped her clean up the best we could, then pulled her close again.

My hand removed and other distractions over, she whispered back, “I love you too, M. I’m yours, endlessly, in any life we find after this one.”

That was all I needed to hear.

–

Whether it was divine intervention or we just got lucky, we’d chosen the correct night for our last time together. After days of waiting, Arathorn appeared at our cell door once more.

“Is it time?” I asked, Quinn stiffening against me.

He nodded, his expression hard to read, but I swore there was some hint of sadness in his face.

“Just let us go,” I pleaded. “We aren’t a threat to the Fae and never intended to be.”

“Ah, young dog,” he sighed. “If things were different…. In another life. I wouldn’t be bound by oath to the king.”

That was it. Whether it was magic or honor, Arathorn was bound to the king. Whatever his personal reasons, he was restricted by that binding.

“A king who treats those he views as below him as nothing more than livestock or trash isn’t a king worth your loyalty,” I said in a low voice, hoping any eavesdroppers may not fully hear.

“For the first time, I can say I agree with you,” he replied simply, opening the cell. “It is time, though.”

Nothing I said was going to sway him, so I stood and helped Quinn to her feet. I did have a plan, though.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“May I ask one thing on this day that may be our last?” I asked Arathorn pointedly, looking him in the eye.

“You may ask; I will choose whether to grant it,” he replied.

“Bind her around the waist?” I pressed. “You can bind me however you want, but she does not deserve the humiliation of a collar. She’s done anything and everything you’ve asked of her.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of the typically stone-faced Fae’s mouth, “Very well.”

A magical bond appeared around Quinn’s waist with a lead in Arathorn’s hand. I held my hands out to be bound. The tightness was already starting in my chest and the cold sweat started down my back. It took much to stay calm when he bound me, even a little. Surprisingly, he bound me in the same way as Quinn. This was what I hoped for. My hands would be free if it looked like I needed to end my and Quinn’s stay in this realm.

“I gather you will behave?” he asked an eyebrow raising.

“I will,” I answered.

We went with hope, fear, and resignation flowing through us at once. Our bond was a mess going back and forth. This time we weren’t led to a tower or a garden. We left the palace grounds in the opposite direction of the town. When the structure came into view in front of us, it was familiar, and when I realized what it was, I couldn’t help but smile.

It was a coliseum. Maybe things were turning around for us. I could handle trial by combat.