Authors: Laura Hawks
“Can’t breathe,” Trinity cried out from the center of the hug huddle.
As they backed up to give Trinity a bit more space, she noticed Tyler, although she had no idea who he was. She turned back to her parents. “There is another captive here. We have to save him, too.”
“Another? Who?” Logan asked, ready to tear the place apart. “What was he going to do, run a brothel? Get involved with the slavery trade?”
“No. I don’t think so,” Trinity responded softly. “His name is Nathan. We have been together almost the entire time I have been here. Sometimes he is taken away, but after a while they bring him back. I don’t know where they take him, though, or what they do to him. We have to find him,” she pleaded with them desperately. “Please?”
“We will, Sis. I will personally break down every door and then some in here to find him.”
“Thanks, Logan. I don’t think I could have made it in here as long as I have without him.” Trinity’s voice held such a soft, warm tone they instantly knew she cared deeply for this man.
Logan turned towards Coyote. “Don’t suppose you want to just tell us where he is? Cooperate?”
Coyote spat blood at him and remained silent. Logan sighed. “I didn’t think so, but I thought I would at least try.”
Tyler moved up to the cage but far enough so as not to be within arm’s reach of Coyote. He blinked his eyes, their normal color becoming a bit cloudy, almost like a blind person’s glassy-eyed appearance. “Nathan. Where is he?” he asked, a unique resonance in his voice.
Again, Coyote just looked at him but said nothing. Tyler blinked his eyes again, letting them return to their natural state and turned to the others, his back to the cage.
“You will never find him, Logan,” Tyler firmly stated.
“No! He isn’t dead. He’s immortal. I saw it with my own eyes,” Trinity insisted, fear etching her voice.
“I never said he was dead, Ma’am. I said Logan would never find him.”
“Why won’t I?” Logan asked perplexed.
“Because, Coyote
is
Nathan,” Tyler responded matter-of-factly.
Logan stepped up beside his friend as the rest of them stared at Tyler like he had just grown a furry tail and saw it swishing behind him.
“You’re sure?” Logan asked conspiratorially.
Tyler just nodded, watching Trinity the whole time. She was far prettier than he expected. After all, she looked
nothing
like her brother, and that was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned. Still. She was traumatized. She had been forcibly removed from her family for years, locked in a cage in a room with no company other than Coyote who appeared to her as Nathan. Why? To touch her? To get her to trust him? Yes. It was all becoming clearer now. As he stared at her, he could see it all with his second sight, which he used on Coyote to learn the truth.
“He posed as Nathan to get you to trust him. So you would feel sorry for him and help him by doing whatever you were told. It was his way to break you without touching you,” Tyler explained. “He used your gentle heart so you would do his bidding without his having to beat you into submission.”
Coyote hissed. “How do you know all of this?”
Trinity was aghast. “This can’t be true.” She began to think of all the times she shared with Nathan. The talks they had. Were they all lies? Was everything just a trick? Deception? Was she so gullible and naïve she believed whatever she was told? Or so desperate for companionship she would trust anyone? She turned to her mother. “Mom? Who is this guy? Can he be trusted?”
Logan stepped forward. “He is my friend and I have never known him to lie. It’s against his code of honor. You may not like the veracity of his words, but the truth is all he will tell you. He is Fae, so he has these powers to see into another’s soul or something like that. He can tell things just by gazing into your mind. It’s freaky as all get-out, but I have never known it to fail or him to lie as a result.”
Tyler smiled, looking a bit more like the imp street artist than the militarily-trained soldier. “I do it as a party trick for the humans sometimes. Gets me awesome tips.”
Trinity looked past the others at Coyote in the cage. “Nathan?” she questioned softly.
Instead, Coyote snarled, bearing his teeth and rattling the cage bars.
Mel turned to Trinity. “I need to ask you something. Did he or Nathan ever touch you?”
Trinity blushed, but shook her head. “I never saw this one. And Nathan only held me, but was never physically intimate.”
Mel looked at Tyler, who nodded his affirmation she was telling the truth. “You are lucky in that respect, Coyote. For if there was a different answer, you would be paying the price to Destruction, Nana be damned.”
“As it is, he will pay the price for his audacity and crimes. Take your family home, Azamel. I will be there shortly to discuss some issues which still need to be resolved. As for Coyote, I will take it from here.” Nana appeared out of nowhere, a legion of gods behind him, including Archanidou.
Mel nodded. “Let’s go home.” He turned to Tyler. “Please join us as well. I would like to see you compensated for your invaluable aide today.”
“I want no compensation, Sir.” Again, the soldier was out and the youthful imp stowed for the moment. “But I thank you for your invitation. I fear I must decline. I am sure your family should like some private time to be whole again.”
“Yes. I think we would. However, I still have some matters to discuss with you. We shall plan for a meeting about them later, then.”
Tyler agreed, watching as Logan and his family disappeared, returning to the Nether Realm.
Chapter 20
Tyler arrived in the reception chamber. He wasn’t sure what to do at this point, but within moments Shara entered the room.
“Please make yourself comfortable. There is a beer and other drinks over by the table. Logan will be with you in a couple of minutes.”
Tyler nodded. A beer was just what he needed. Thankfully, he didn’t get intoxicated from them as easily as humans did. He didn’t know how demons reacted, since Logan very rarely imbibed with beer. He preferred whiskey or wine. Tyler always figured the whiskey was the man’s drink and the wine was Logan being whipped by Jazzy, which he so often told him.
It had been a couple of weeks since Jaz had lost her memory then regained it, only to have the information to find Trinity. Although Logan had remained in the Nether Realm to deal with everything in the aftermath of Coyote’s deception and all it entailed, Tyler had been handling Jaz’s post-traumatic stress. And she was not easy to deal with before she was used by Coyote to gain access to the stone, which would have ended her life since it was attached to her beating heart and the blood flow throughout her body. Having come so close to dying was enough to stress anyone out.
Tyler had not seen nor heard from Logan since everything had come to a head with Coyote, so he was surprised when he had gotten a message inviting him to the Nether Realm. Tyler was still nervous about coming here since there was an understanding between Demonkin and Fae to not attend the realms of either. This was the second time Ty was in the Nether Realm and, if not for the fact of Logan calling for him, he would not have come. He realized it had to be fairly important for Logan to take the risk of having a Fae where one didn’t belong, especially for a second time.
A part of him wondered if it were a trap and he was being lured there in order to be arrested and thrown into one of the dungeons he had heard about. A place for those who broke Mel’s law. Depending on the crime, it would also decree any possible additional punishment. However, Ty was of noble birth. Should he disappear without checking in at the appropriate time, there would be a search for him. When they discovered where he was, there would be a Fae uprising, which would not bode well for any. He wasn’t scared of being arrested or even tortured. He was well-trained, as any soldier would have been. However, Logan was a friend; he couldn’t believe it was a trap. Still, the thought did run through his mind, even though he discounted it as irrational and ridiculous.
Yep, he needed this beer. Twisting off the cap and hearing the comforting pop and fizz of the vacuum being released from the bottle, he tilted it back against his greedy lips. He realized, even though he would
never
admit it, that it wasn’t, in fact, worry about being arrested or tortured, but his desirous longing to see Trinity again. Even in those few minutes he had met her, there was a strength of character and presence which caught his attention. The fact she was also more beautiful than any Fae or human he had ever met didn’t help his circumstances. If he were truthful to even himself, he had not stopped thinking about her. Yeah, there was something the Fae would appreciate. Nobility with Demonkin. Oh, he could see it now. He rolled his eyes and finished off the bottle of beer, hoping for anything which might resemble even a small buzz. Sadly, nothing.
He tossed the bottle in the trash just as Logan entered the room. Logan looked worn and weary, but he smiled as he saw Ty standing there, grateful for even this small connection-by-association to Jaz. Logan strode over and grasped Ty’s hand, pulling him into a bro hug.
“Damn, it’s good to see you. How have you been? How is Jazzy?”
Tyler patted his back a couple of times in the middle of the hug then backed up. “She is managing. It would be easier if you were there sleeping next to her. She keeps crying out in her sleep for you; although, the past couple of nights she has been sleeping a bit better.”
“I want to see her. I am anxious to go back home, but Mom and Trin still need me here. Dad has been dealing with the Elders Council and Coyote’s trial, which, as you know, can be slower than slugs racing snails or watching paint dry. I have heard Dad has almost killed him twice when he became arrogant.
“Trinity still doesn’t believe he was Nathan, even after they made Coyote prove it by changing his form.”
“How is Trinity doing, otherwise?”
Logan shook his head and sighed deeply. “She is suffering and I don’t know what to do for her.”
“Is she in pain?”
“Only mentally. She was stuck in that room—in that prison—for so fucking long, she doesn’t know how to socialize anymore. And with Coyote fucking with her as Nathan, she is unsure what to believe or disbelieve. She is having a hard time and it’s driving me bonkers since I can’t seem help her. I don’t know
how
to help her.”
“You know, it’s not my place to say anything, but then you know me better than that. Maybe this isn’t such a good place for her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she was a virtual prisoner before she was taken. You have told me how you could rarely leave the house because of possible enemies of your father, so it wasn’t safe. When you did leave, you were surrounded by guards. I assume it was the same with her. Then she was taken and stuck in a different, but very similar, cage before she was found again after so long, only to be returned to the first gilded cage she was originally confined in.”
“It’s not like we are not trying to get her out, but having her just leave her room for a meal is like pulling teeth.”
“What incentive does she have to leave her room? Listen, dude, all I am saying is maybe take her out someplace more interesting. Someplace she might
want
to go or visit or see. Something which will prove to her she is still not a captured prisoner. I, um. Well, I could even go with you and help guard her if you would feel safer with her being out.”
“I don’t know if she will go, but that’s why I called you here. The only place she ever wanted to visit, that I know of, was Faefardom. She wanted me to sneak her into the realm just to have a look around, but that was before she was taken. Who knows if she is interested in anything anymore? She sure doesn’t seem like it. I was hoping I could take her there to see it. You know, get her outside and show her she is not under Coyote and the Rougarou anymore.”
Tyler thought a moment. “I will make sure she gets an invitation. Give me a day. Talk it up. Get her excited to see it, and I will be your personal escort. I just need to make a few arrangements for your visit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll make sure you both can visit. Your parents, too. Was there anything else you needed from me?”
“Actually, yes. I was hoping you would talk to Jazzy. I need to see her. I miss her.”
“Trying to make me more useless?” Tyler teased. He hadn’t been fully needed to protect Jasmine since Logan came, and he knew soon he would no longer have a job. He might even be forced to return to Faefardom and take on other duties, something he was not too keen about. He enjoyed the free spirit of the human world: the parties, the tattoos, the general freedom he was allowed to have, which he wouldn’t once he returned to Faefardom.
“Useless is your middle name,” Logan teased him back. “Actually, no. Listen, Ty. I need your help with Trinity. I’ve seen you work with Jaz and know you can calm her when necessary. I figure it’s one of your special abilities. I am hoping you can help Trinity the same way. If she is a little less skittish, maybe she will settle back into her life better. Maybe even begin a new and better chapter of it. Could you help? Would you be interested?”