They were finally here. The last three days had been the longest of his life.
He’d only communicated with his hirelings once, and the conversation had been short, as necessary.
Drayton clapped, the loud slap of his palms reverberating off the walls of his cave. Delight boiled up and rolled over him. His magic responded, water bubbling, pushing under the surface of his skin in a way it hadn’t had in turns.
He felt strong. Things were going his way.
He sensed an elemental even before the half-breed was through his protective spell-wall. Straightening his shoulders, Drayton stood at the center of his dais and waited.
The tall, dark-haired half-breed spilled into his living space with a precious bundle in his arms.
The lass appeared to be out cold. Her brown gown had long, full sleeves. A slender hand peeked out as her arm hung in the air. Her hair was fair, so blonde it was almost white, and cascaded in silken waves over the mercenary’s arm and shoulder. Her head was tilted back, revealing a delicate jaw and slender neck. She was dainty. Beautiful.
“What’s wrong with her?” Drayton snarled.
Charis inclined his head. “Nothing, my lord. She sleeps. But my spell won’t last much longer; she’s powerful.”
“Wake her. Now.”
“Aye, my lord. She’s got quite the temper, and my dampering spell no longer works, but I know another that should keep her from attacking you.”
“No Dimithian; I need to sense her magic.” He already could. Even being asleep in the half-breed’s arms didn’t diminish the radiance of her aura. It didn’t speak of water, it shouted her main talent. Almost as strong were the other elements, all hovering around the teal tint that meant water. They were all intertwined, hinting at great magic. Drayton licked his lips.
It has to be her.
“Nay, my lord. Not what I had in mind.” The half-breed whispered a spellword and squatted low as the lass stirred. He set her to her feet, and helped her stand.
The lass groaned as she came around, rubbing her eyes. As soon as she was fully aware, she glared at his hireling. Gestured, as if she would throw magic, but the half-breed was faster.
He pointed, and shouted a spell. Light exploded, making Drayton squint.
An opaque sphere appeared, enveloping his lass. It was wide, and as the magic cleared, he could see her standing at its center. And none too pleased, if the scowl marring her pretty face was any indication.
Although pretty was too weak a word. The lass was breathtaking. It wouldn’t be a chore getting a child on her. He wished he could see the color of her eyes from his distance.
“Clever,” Drayton gestured to the bubble, and glanced at the half-breed.
He inclined his head. “She can’t harm herself or you from in there.”
“Good. What is the spell?”
Charis quickly explained the containment spell and confessed he’d not come up with it on his own, but had gotten the idea from the Greenwald mage, Lucan. Drayton didn’t care where he’d stolen it from, only that it worked. He circled the bubble several times, but didn’t touch the iridescent surface.
It was fantastic, though he hated to give his hireling any credit. He flicked his wrist and whispered the spellword, reducing the size of the bubble. So he could get within a few feet, examine her more closely. Soon enough the bubble wouldn’t matter. He’d put his bracelet on her and she wouldn’t be able to use her magic at all.
She tensed, but didn’t cower. He liked that.
When Drayton leaned in, his lass squared her shoulders and tilted her head up. Narrowed her eyes.
He threw his head back and laughed. “She is strong. I’m glad.”
The half-breed looked as if he’d thought Drayton had lost his mind when their gazes brushed. He said nothing.
Drayton disregarded his presence and turned back to his lass. She’d be the mother of his child.
She was obviously highborn. Even if her posture didn’t tell him, the wealth of her clothing would’ve. Her brown gown was of quality fabric, even though the design was simple. Most likely for traveling purposes.
He imagined her clad in the finest gowns, shiny, flowing materials that would highlight her beauty and swirl around her when she walked. How she should be dressed.
If she bore him a child with elemental magic, perhaps he’d reward her with a fine gown to wear. He wouldn’t be able to take her magic right away. Their child would have to be weaned first.
Drayton rubbed his hands together. “I want to examine her more closely.”
“Her magic is powerful, my lord,” the half-breed cautioned.
“She was introduced to my Dimithian, was she not?”
“Aye, my lord.”
“She knows what happens if she tries to call to her magic?”
“I think so, my lord.”
He gave a curt nod, and heard Charis mutter a spellword.
The magic around the lass disappeared.
She tensed immediately and threw out her hands.
Drayton’s elemental sensed tingled. “Now, half-breed!”
Charis tossed the hunk of Dimithian at her feet, but it was still held within its force shield.
“If I say the word, my pretty, he’ll release my Dimithian and it’ll suck your powers away. So I suggest you stand still. You’ll come to no harm.” Yet. He inched closer, silently strengthening the spell around him to stave off Dimithian’s effects. It wouldn’t work if the shield slipped from the rock, but it would keep other magic from harming him.
His skin crawled when he neared the Dimithian and he resisted the urge to kick it away from the lass. He needed the leverage. He couldn’t use the rock to suck her magic away right now. Drayton needed to gauge her powers—and get the bracelet on her. First, he needed to confirm she really was his elemental. “Open your bodice.”
The lass startled. “Nay,” she whispered.
First sign of fear. Good. “Aye. Now. Or I shall rip it.”
Charis cleared his throat, but Drayton didn’t spare him a glance.
“What do you want?” The lass’s voice shook, but there was control in her tone. She wouldn’t be easily cowed.
Drayton liked the idea of a good fight with her. If he could keep up his strength, that is. “Open your bodice, my pretty. Bare your right side. It’ll be over quickly, and I shall not touch you.” For now.
She swallowed, but narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Do it.” Drayton moved forward, and gestured to her torso. He stopped within touching distance. “Last chance to do it on your own.”
Hazel eyes widened, but shaky hands rose to do his bidding. He’d always been partial to blue eyes, but he’d make do with the lass.
The front-side lacing was as simple as the gown itself, and it wasn’t long before it hung open and she pulled the ribbons to open her chemise.
He said nothing as she covered her small, high breasts, but she obeyed when he ordered her hands from blocking the right side of her ribcage, just below the flesh she was covering. Drayton wasn’t concerned with bare female nipples, at least not at the moment.
His heart thundered when he saw the mark. A dark spot on her otherwise flawless creamy skin. In the shape of a half-moon, almost perfect in formation. “It is you.” He paid no mind that he’d spoken a breathless whisper.
She said nothing.
“You may dress.” Drayton cleared his throat.
The lass scrambled to obey, her fingers shaking even more than before. “What do you want from me?”
He laughed.
She pinned him with a glare just as fierce as the one she’d given before. Now that she was dressed again, of course.
He circled her and she followed his movements with her eyes.
“What do you want from me?” she repeated, this time louder. With more force.
Drayton stilled just short of touching her cheek. Their gazes collided.
“Everything.”
Chills raced down her spine and it took everything she was made of to stand still. Not react. And not just because of the Dimithian at her feet.
What does that mean?
Why had he wanted to see her birthmark, like the half-elf? As if they’d both had to verify her identity… What the hell had he meant by, ‘It is you.’? Did he know her? No matter how she racked her brain, she couldn’t remember ever seeing the diminutive older man before.
He was an elemental, but something was…off about him and his powers. His aura was bright and spoke of water, but it had a thick black ring around it. Elissa had never seen anything like it. She didn’t have to concentrate to see it, either. It pulsed around him, dense and calling to her. It felt evil and made her insides recoil.
Instinct told her she couldn’t show him weakness. Quivers darted up and down her limbs and she fought a full-body shudder. He’d made her disrobe, and while he hadn’t regarded her with lust, revealing her bare body to him made her vulnerable in a way she couldn’t afford to let herself feel if she was to survive this.
She swallowed and tried to square her shoulders. Elissa had failed to play on the sympathies of her half-elfin captor. Didn’t know how much time had passed since they’d taken her, or since that night in the clearing. Just snatches of awareness here and there and then he’d put her asleep again. He’d only woken her once more and fed her, but she’d been so woozy she had no recollection of time of day or location they’d been.
He was still in the room, too, but she didn’t spare him a glance. She needed to be ready to defend herself, even if her powers were still ignoring her calls. Frustration welled and she made fists at her sides. If she did anything, either of them could release the Dimithian.
She looked down at the small rock. The force shield around it throbbed as if strained, like it would fail any moment. Elissa remembered the burning all over her body when she’d tried to use her powers near it. Wouldn’t want to feel that again; crippling pain wouldn’t help her escape.
Elissa wanted to look around, try to figure out where she was, see if she could get out, but she didn’t want to look away from the small man in front of her, or the magic-sucking element that was supposed to be a myth.
Her repeated mental calls to her bondmate resulted in nothing, like it had from the start when she’d woken by the tree. Lady Cera said they’d always be limited by distance, but it was unheard of to be far from one’s bondmate for an extended period of time. They needed each other.
She spared a subtle glance around the dark place. A cave?
They must be in a cave. The air was humid and dank. It was dim, but the rough rounded walls had magic lighting them, similar to Sir Lucan’s globes in Castle Aldern, but they were magic-born colored flames. Natural formations were all over the lighted areas.
In her peripheral vision, she could see a dais of some sort, with a throne-like chair at its center. A pile of blankets in one corner below a large mirror suggested a sleeping pallet.
“I’ve a gift for you, my pretty.” The elemental was honey-sweet and Elissa tried not to flinch when he approached her. “Give me your hand.”
“Nay.” Their eyes locked. His were dark, and radiated the same evil of his aura. She fought the urge to run as her stomach dived to her toes.
Rage shot across his lined face, and he snatched her wrist away from her body. Nails dug in and tore her skin.
Elissa locked her jaw to avoid a shriek of pain.
“You. Will. Obey. Me,” he commanded. His aura rose and radiated a blood-red color.
She swallowed a whimper, but refused to lower her eyes. Elissa had no clue where her courage was coming from, but she held onto it with all her might.
The evil mage slapped something cold on her right wrist. It closed with a snap at the same time a jolt of agony shook her arm. As if the metal had bitten her.
She looked down at what resembled a single slender manacle, but it had no chains attached. A dark red stone was embedded flat in its center. It swirled and glowed with magic.
Her head started to spin and she swayed on her feet. Her temples throbbed and her stomach dipped again. Bile cascaded up with a speed she couldn’t fight.
Elissa grabbed her middle and bent over, losing the meager contents of her stomach.
A chuckle teased her ears and she tried to glare at her captor. “Good, it’s already working.”
“What…what’d…you do to me?” She panted as she fought to stand up.
“Nothing harmful, my pretty. The bracelet links us with my blood. Your powers to mine. It’ll lock your magic away until I’m ready to use it.” He sighed, and the sound was almost wistful. “I wish I had one when you were a tiny lassie. You would’ve been with me turns ago. How does it feel to be a normal human with no magic?”
His words swirled around in her head while they sunk in. “Turns ago?” Elissa whispered.
He smiled, an evil thing that started small and spread slowly until it threatened to split his face. “Aye. You’ve always been mine.”
It hit her then, like a sword lancing her heart.
Elissa’s knees wobbled, then buckled. Her gown wasn’t enough padding against the harsh cave floor, but she didn’t pay attention to the white-hot blow that shot into her thighs, because the agony in her chest was so much worse. “You… You’re the one who killed my family.” Tears rolled down her cheeks even though she cursed them.
The mage looked at her half-elfin kidnapper instead of her. “Oh, she’s clever indeed. We’ll have much fun together.”
Elissa gasped until an unwanted sob broke from her lips. She collapsed to the harsh floor and rolled to her back. The bracelet was burning the surrounding skin now, as if branding her. Pain worked its way up her arm, into her shoulder and chest.
She tried to blink and clear her vision, but blackness was inching up and she sighed, relaxing her body. Fighting was no use.