Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (4 page)

“How generous to give me something you were going to anyway.”
He gave me a pointy-toothed grin.

This gnarly little
bastard was crafty. “I feel that’s more than generous, but since this is my first act as your queen, then I suppose I could grant you something else.”

“You must make a royal visit once a week to the goblin realm. I want y
ou to be the first queen to learn the customs of my people.”

“Didn’t Mab do that?”
That sounded like something that would be right up her alley.

“No
, she perverted them like she did everything else. She cared little for our true customs and went about imposing her own.”

“Okay
, fair enough. Once a month and the first visit has to be made within four weeks.”

“Once you have had the pleasure of my company in my own realm
, you won’t want to wait so long to see me again.”

“I very much doubt that.”
Please let the mental image in my head fade as quickly as possible.

He raised a deformed eyebrow. “You hurt me
, My Queen.”

“I very much doubt that too. Now give me your blood so I can get some rest or I’ll have it take
n from you.” I was much too tired to be dealing with this in a civilized way.

He waggled a triple
-jointed finger at me. “Ah ah ah, my blood must be freely given or it will not work. A little gift given to us by the goddess. If not, I would have been drained long ago.”

I didn’t know if that was true or not and
it was not like I could google it. “King Trehern, can you please give me your blood, as you can imagine I have had a long night and I need to retire as soon as possible. Tomorrow will be a very busy day.”

“See now
, was that so hard? We should be nice to each other. You may need my help and I like having a monarch who sees us for the fearsome creatures we are and not some mistake the goddess made along the way of making the perfect fae.”

I didn’t want to move even one step closer to him.
His voice made my skin crawl and I wanted to get out of there. A narrow forked tongue darted from his mouth and slid over his face. It was long enough to lap a couple of times at his eyes. His efforts to intimidate me and scare the pants off me was working, but I kept my pasted smile firmly in place.

We stared at each other, neither moving a muscle and then
, with a speed that didn’t seem possible on his short legs, he was so close I could feel his hot breath on my chest. When he grabbed my hand, I had to fight with myself not to pull away. His bumpy dried palm made me think of a tanned toad. Bringing my hand to his mouth, his tongue lashed in quick sharp flicks while he pursed his absent lips. I assumed this was the goblin version of kissing a lady’s hand, but it could have been their version of foreplay for all I knew. I just wanted him to stop and put my hand in the biggest bottle of sanitizer I could find.

I had started to pull back
, so when he finally let go, I stumbled back. His impossibly wide smile made him look like a demented Muppet. Each sharp pointy tooth turned against the other, trying to fight for space in his overcrowded maw. It was surreal to be so close to him, yet I was already getting used to the way he looked. I didn’t want to push my luck by saying it out loud, but I don’t think I could be shocked any more.

“I think our relationship will benefit us both in many ways.”

“Let’s just start with the blood and what we have agreed on.”

He smiled and strode back to the throne. Whe
n he turned again, he was holding a gold goblet.

“See, you may find
goblins distasteful, but we always keep our word and that will always put us above the fae.”

“Thank
you.” He held the goblet just out of reach. Another silly game of power. I put my hand down and smiled. I would outwait him. I wasn’t going to be dancing around in front of him like a fool. He lowered it slowly, placing it in my hand. I waited to make sure he wasn’t going to grab it back from me then and I closed my fingers around it.

He didn’t release it right away.
“I’m the leader of my people. A people who could even give the slaugh a run for their money. I’m tired of not being given the respect I deserve.” He then gently let go of the goblet.

“Are all
goblins such a pain in the ass?” I took a deep breath. He was right. Their numbers were far too vast to ignore them just because they weren’t creatures I was comfortable with. “You will be given the respect you deserve, Trehern. That I can promise you.” I gave him a slight nod and turned to leave. I didn’t want him to change his mind.

I felt his eyes burning into my
leather-clad ass and gave my walk an extra wiggle. I didn’t want to like the King of the Goblins, but he was straightforward and kept his word. Those were two characteristics that would make dealing with him a lot easier than some I was sure to encounter. Once I was out of sight, my heart started to slow down and my breathing evened out. I had the cure in my hand. If nothing good came out of this crazy scenario, at least Lucius was going to be okay.

I found Lucius sprawled on the settee in the sitting room. He had bathed and was looking clean and yummy. His bare chest was still glistening with water and the towel wrapped around his waist left very little to the imagination. I wanted him and I loved him. I ached to sink into his strong arms and feel them wrap around me, have his lips on mine, know that we could finally be together. In a different world where Quintus wasn’t Lucius’ sire, then maybe that could be our reality. Quintus would either ruin what we had or sever his relationship with Lucius. Either way, I didn’t see us being together.

The few days of bliss we would enjoy wasn’t worth the pain that would follow
. I had to grow up and take responsibility for my decisions. Being with Lucius would ruin a thousand-year relationship. I was a tiny speck on their timeline. I didn’t have a right to interfere with that, especially for something that was doomed before it even began.

He turned to m
e and smiled. “Is that it?” He pointed to the goblet in my hand.

“No
, I made myself a martini on my way back from seeing the Goblin king.”

Lucius smiled. “There’
s the sarcastic Cass I’ve missed.”

“He had it waiting for me.”
My voice was flat. He paused for a second, just looking at me.

“That easy? You didn’t have to promise anything terrible
, did you? If you did, then you can walk it right back to him.”

“No, just some political stuff. Nothing terrible.” I sat beside him and passed the goblet. He took it and
smelled the contents, curling his lip and scrunching his nose. I guess it didn’t have that normal yummy blood smell.

“Now that it’s here
, is it wussy of me not to want to drink it? What if all this is a lie? What if this finally does me in, or worse, turns me into that monster inside me I’ve been fighting for so long?”

“Apparently
, the fae can’t lie.”

“No
, but according to Quintus, they are like politicians, masters of the half truths.” He held the cup like it was toxic.

“Just drink it
, you big baby.” The suspense was killing me.

Laying the cup on a nearby table,
he unfolded his long legs and leaned over to me. Green eyes captured mine and held me there. His strong hands cupped my cheeks and his thumbs caressed them. His touch was still warm from the bath and it felt so right. I closed my eyes and let the tears flow. How could I say good-bye to him? He kissed my forehead and nose, then lapped at each stream of tears. Gently, he tilted my head up, softly pressing his lips to mine.

I was lost in that kiss. I was lost in the
possibilities of that kiss. The tingling along my lips, the sensual pleasure of his tongue slipping into my mouth and twining with mine. A soft moan escaped my lips and I enjoyed every sensation. I tried my best to burn it all into my mind. I wanted to remember how this felt. How the touch of his skin against mine always sent electricity through my body. When I pulled away, we would be done.

I was helpless in his arms
; my body and mind fought for control. Up until now, it had been my heart that had been breaking the tie, but when his hands moved under my rump and squeezed, I knew I had let it go far enough and I wiggled out of his arms.

“I need you to take your medicine.” Moving further away, I tried to ignore the hurt look on his face.

“If
I drink this foul concoction, will you come back into my arms?” He was smiling, but there was something so fragile about him right now.

“No
.” I didn’t trust my voice to say more.

“Is this because of what I did when I wasn’t myself? I
… I know I was a monster, I know I hurt you. Please believe me that I couldn’t help myself. I’ll do anything to make it up to you.” The look on his face shattered me. Hurting myself was one thing, but seeing him like this was killing me.

“No
. Honestly, it’s not. I know that wasn’t you. I mean, I can get over that. I know that wasn’t the real you. It’s Quintus. He won’t let us be together, Lucius. You know that. Even if he does, it will ruin your relationship. I can’t do that. I don’t have a right.”

“Let me worry about Quintus
, Cass.”

“No, I’m worried and I have a right to be. So many things are against us
, Lucius. Quintus won’t be happy. He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we can’t be together and he has the power to do that. He has the power to tell you not to love me. He could take it all away. I couldn’t bear having you look at me the way you used to. Like I was a stranger.”

“I don’t know how things will
work out, Cass. Does it matter? Can’t we just enjoy what we have right now?”

“No, we can’t. If I… if we are together now
, it will only make it harder when we have to part. You know he’ll make that happen. Quintus doesn’t like to lose. Could you forgive him if he compelled you to stay away from me?”

“Don’t do this
, Goldilocks. We love each other. My relationship with Quintus is my business. Let me decide how I deal with my sire.”

“It’s not the only reason
, Lucius. I’m only going to be around for a short time and then I’ll be gone. No matter how good we are together, it can only last at the most fifteen to twenty years. Then I won’t be so appealing anymore. You’ll see me aging. You’ll watch as every year I look older and older and you’ll still look the same. Then, no matter how much we love each other, it will be over. Every day, I’ll look in the mirror and wonder when I’ll have to let you go.”

He took my hand. “You will be just as beautiful to me in
forty years as you are today. You are my Goldilocks. Who knows what might come. I may die before you. If we get sixty years to be with each other, I won’t ever regret a single day, but I know if you send me away now, I’ll regret every second we aren’t together.”

How could I send him away after he said that? I couldn’t if I believed him. No man who look
ed like Lucius would want some wizened old crone and there was no way Quintus was going to let us be together to prove me wrong. I pulled back my hand. Some things just weren’t meant to be, no matter how much you wanted it to be different.

“I just can’t
. I know what he means to you, Lucius. I have to concentrate on the mess I’m in here. I need to do what I promised and then I’ll figure out what’s ahead, but we have too many strikes against us.” He was frustrated with me and maybe even a little angry. He had a right to be both, but I wasn’t going to budge.

“I know better than you what Quintus means to me. I know better than you how he’
ll react. You like to point out my age, Cass, but did it ever occur to you that when I want to be with you, I know what I’m doing? I have a lot more experience in romance than you do.”

“Well
, now that you made me feel so special.” I glared at him, even though I knew he didn’t mean it that way. “I know how little experience I have in this arena, Lucius, trust me, but I can’t help how I feel. It isn’t right and it won’t work.”

His fac
e lost all expression and I was now given the vampire mask. I didn’t blame him for shutting me out. The coward in me was glad I didn’t have to see the pain I had caused.

“Can we skip the medicine tonight? I just wouldn’t mind having a rest.
I’ll  ... umm … I’ll take it in the morning, I promise. I’ll find a room. There must be one or two in this place.”

“Of course
. Do you want me to come with you? I’ll find someone to help.”

“No, you need your rest and I need to be away from you right now. Goodnight
, Goldilocks.”

He closed the door and I let the tears flow. I did love him. He was a good man
; he took care of me and put me first. He saved my life. I ached to have him in my arms. I could have had him tonight. I could have had someone to lean on in the days to come. I knew he would do and be whatever I needed. That just made it more important for me to do what was best for him and, if I was being honest, what was best for me. It was better to have this hurt now than when I knew what I’d be missing.