Blood and Apples: An Annora Park Novel: Book One

Chapter Twenty-Four: Lost in Temptation

    I come to, slowly, groggily. My head is being cradled, and I can feel the cold at my back. I feel like I'm trying to get my brain to wade through a couple dozen gallons of sludge. Everything hurts, hell, even my toes hurt. But I'll be damned if I say anything.
    I blink. Then I blink again. It's still dark, and cold, so very cold. "Walker?" I ask, somehow just knowing without having to ask, that it's him whose cradling me.
"Hey baby girl, welcome back." Walker's voice caresses me.
"Dude, I hurt like a sonofabitch," I mutter. And I hear him chuckle.
"You got patched up, baby girl, but yeah, you're probably still sore. I'd expect as much after the fight that just wen't down."
"Fight?" I ask.
"Yes, you do remember ripping the heart out of the Ghoul, right?"
"Ghoul?" I ask stupidly.
"Fuck," Walker mutters, "Just how much DO you remember?"
"Uhmmm...we walked into a dungeon and some stupidly handsome model met us?" I guess Walker doesn't like my answer because he tightens his grip on me only loosening it when I let out a little wince. "What, what did I say wrong?"
"The War Lak is only upset because you find me appealing." The new voice slithers through the darkness and caresses me.
I try to sit up, but Walker isn't having any of it. "Dude, let me up."
"No."
"Come on, I'm fine," I groan as another pang of pain slides through my body.
"You are adequately 'fixed,' but you're certainly not fine, my beloved," this from Chamuel.
"Oh hey, angel boy. Welcome to the party. It's fun, right?" I say, jovially. Hell. Am I still hallucinating? Or suffering from blood loss?
"Oh, my amour, you need to rest, and take it easy. The Dark Fae King has provided you with healers, but you are still...experiencing side effects, it would seem."
"Side effects?"
"Yes. You are unseemingly calm considering..."
"Considering what?" And I don't give Walker time, I just jerk myself upright, immediately regretting my decision, as my head begins to spin right away. And I feel like I'm going to throw up. I bat his hands away. "Stop, seriously, stop it. I'm fine. I said I was fine, and I am. I'm just fine."
"Annnora sweetheart, you are far from fine. Please, if you won't lie down, at least rest against me." Walker says.
Lie against him? Guess I could do that. "Okay, okay," And I rest against him, immediately feeling more relaxed. "Hmmm....you have a nice chest Walker," I murmur. "It's all hard and chiseled...I can feel it...you feel good, like reeeeallly goooooood," I mutter.
"Tha i ifrinn a 'lubadh air mo mharbhadh, nach eil."
"Bad...bad..." I say, "...speaking a dead language," I turn my head Chamuel's direction, "You and I need to fuck, Chamuel, sweetie, like asap, cause I need to know what fairy boy is saying." I hear the groan and chuckle. "Oh and I know that it wasn't Terrenel speaking. Terrenel's voice is sweet molasses, and this voice is decadent sin." I frown then. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna indulge. Indulging would be bad for me, and I have enough bad in my life," I pat Walker's chest. "Yup, yuppity yup, I've got Walker baby, and you...I've got you...you're my sweet Angel Baby, and ohhhh I can't forget the Light Fae King, I've apparently got him too." I motion weakly with my hand. "Hey, Terrenel, you there, dude? Terrenel?"
"I am here, mo bhanrigh bhreagha."
"Oh good, goodie." I grin stupidly then, "The entire gang is here." I laugh hysterically then, "Hey, Big Baddie Mr. Dark Fae King, you hear that? My entire gang is here...here and present." I groan then, "what the fuck is wrong with me?"
"Apparently the Fae healing is effecting you, amour." Chamuel says suddenly at my side.
"Fae healing?"
"The Ghoul got in one good hit, and you needed immediate care. You held it off for as long as you could, but apparently the wound you blocked me from feeling was worse than you let on. And do not think I am not aggravated over that fact, amour, you and I shall have words about it at another place and time. For now, just know that you had a Fae healer attend you and got great care, but what you are experiencing right now is the after effects of the healing."
"Chamuel..." I mutter, "I feel like I'm drunk."
"In a way, you are, my amour. Fae healing is a heady thing."
I laugh. "Heady...yup, heady...I feel heady....waaaaay in my head. And ya know what my head is saying, Chamuel baby? It's saying you're totally hot. Like surface of the sun hot."
"You are out of your head, my amour."
"Oh yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh, waaaaaay outta my head," I laugh. "I like it. I like being outta my head. Being in my head sucks total ass, dude. Do you know what monsters lurk in my head? Do your know the dark I see every day." I start petting Walker's chest against, ignoring his deep rumbles. "This is soooooooo much better."
"You will regret these words when you come back to yourself, amour."
I'm already feeling better. At least my toes don't hurt anymore. "Dude...trust me, I'll never regret this," and I continue to pet Walker. "Where's my hot Fairy king?"
"Which one?" Walker asks dryly, and I smack him.
"Bad. Bad Walker. The one that counts. My pretty shiny golden one. Hey Terrennel, you still there?"
"Of course, my love, now that I've found you, I will never leave you."
"Aweeeeee....so sweet...such sweet words. Aren't they sweet words, Walker, Chamuel? Right? Such sweet words."
"Yes, Annora darling, very sweet. I wonder over the sincerity, but yes, sweet words." Walker says.
"You are drunk on the healing power, my love," this from Terrenel,
"I'm most definitely not drunk," I mutter, "I'd know if I were drunk. I didn't have a sip of liquor. Oooohhh liquor...hey Walker, where's your wet bar, I need your wet bar."
Walker sighs deeply. "Baby girl, you're definitely drunk."
"But I didn't have even a drop of...of...of the good stuff, dude."
"Fae healing is a heady thing, my amour, you are experiencing the after effects. Terrenel, is there nothing you can do? She is not in her right mind. We cannot have this conversation while she is like this."
    Why were my guys being so...so...difficult? I was hot. Hell, I was hot and cold, but more hot than cold, and...and...and I was really, really horny. I was seriously really, really, Horny. When had I last gotten laid? Six, seven months ago...oh yeah, that's right....Garrett. Garrett and I had totally done the horizontal mambo. I ignore the growl that suddenly erupts around me and try to figure out my fuzzy head.
    Garrett and I had had sex, lots of hot, sweaty, sex, considering it had been in less of a twenty four hour period. Riiiiiggggght...I'd slept with Garrett. And I'd made a mess out of our partnership.
"You will stop thinking of that...that...boy!" Chamuel shouts.
"Huh?" I ask stupidly.
"She was thinking about Garrett?" This from Walker.
"She was thinking about sex with Goodson," Chamuel spits back.
"Oh hell no, Annora baby. You're not allowed to think about Goodson."
What. The. Hell? "You can't just tell me to stop thinking about Garrett, and expect me to stop thinking about him. It doesn't work that way." I snort.
"It does if my cock makes you forget you ever heard that kids name in the first place." Walker growls.
And heck if that's not hot as all hell.  "Promise," I murmur, and turn to straddle him.  "Promise me your cock is just that good, and I'll consider wiping Garrett from my memory."
   "Oh Jesus," Walker growls, "She's determined to kill me...she's gonna kill me, birdie.  You'd better fix this or I'm taking her right here right now, and damned the consequences."
   YES! That's what I wanted to hear.  I was gonna get laid, finally!
   "You heard him, fix this, Branuel Or De A'lanuel, fix it now." Chamuel grounds out.
   "But she's so delightful this way."
   "Thinking about sex with her human partner...that's delightful?" Chamuel shoots back.  And I hear the low growl, which honestly, is just sexy as all fuck.  But then again, right now everything seems sexy to me.
   "Less growling and more fucking," I murmur and lean over and lick the shell of Walker's ear.  I'm delighted when his arms capture me in a tight embrace.  "Hmmmm....now it's getting good."
   "Fix this or I'm fucking her," Walker growls, and nips my bottom lip causing me to groan.
   "Oooohhhh...more of that, honey," I mutter and run my hand down his chest.
   "Annora...Annora darling girl...you...you..." and I see Walker gulp, "...You've gotta get this under control or mine's gonna snap."
   "Good," I say and lick his ear causing him to shudder.  "I want it to snap."
   "Baby..." He says right before I'm ripped out of his embrace and come face-to-face with the most beautifully chilling face I've ever seen.
   "Oh hey Big Baddie, Fae King." I say with a chuckle.  "How's it hanging."
   "You are nothing but trouble, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche."
   "Trouble, that's my middle name, didn't you know? Dunno what you just said after that, Big Baddie, but it was hot," I smile.  "Say it again." I frown when he sighs deeply.  "What...what's wrong? Was it something I said?"
   "Sadly, I hate to agree with anything they say...but on this, I must agree...you are out of your head, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche.  If I wish to have any real conversation with you I must correct this situation."
   "Correct?" I ask stupidly.
   "Yes, correct," He says before he presses his lips to mine and the world seems to explode.  His tongue slips into my mouth and I welcome it whole-heartedly.  When had a kiss ever felt this good before—probably never.
   "Uhmmmm..." I rip my lips away from his.  "What the fuck is going on?" I beat against the Dark Fae King's chest repeatedly.  "Let me go you, you, you big idiot.  Put me down right now." What the ever loving hell was going on.  Why was I being held by the Dark Fae King and why the fuck had his lips been on mine.  "Seriously, let me go right now or I'm gonna hand you your balls, you fucking moron."
   "Annnnnd...there she is, my darling girl," this from Walker.
   "Walker?" I ask, still held within the Dark Fae King's embrace, I try to turn around to see him.  "Walker, is that you?  Walker? What the fuck is going on? And why is this big baboon holding me?  Hell, why the fuck is he kissing me.  Dude, you better begin explaining right away or I'm coming after you.  Don't think that I won't."
   "Darling girl, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this all." Walker says,
   "Really? Really there is?" I try to remain calm, even though the Dark Fae King is still holding me.  "Walker? Chamuel? Terrenel?  What the fuckity fuck is going on right now?  And...and can someone tell his big ape to let me go?"  I pound on his chest.  "Seriously, dude, let me go!!"
   "Never, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche." And his eyes bore into mine.
   "Jesus..."
   "Again, he has nothing to do with this, my amour."
   I will not have a panic attack.  I will not have a fucking panic attack.  "Okay, Mr. Dark Fae King...you need to let me go, now!" I try to regulate my breathing and concentrate on getting it under control.  "I mean it.  I don't like people touching me.  I have an issue with touch.  Let me go."
   "That is not what you said a moment ago, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche."
   Holy Shit.  What the fuck had I said?
   "You were practically dry humping Romanoff's leg, my beloved," Chamuel says dryly.
   "WHAT?" I screech.  "I did what?"
   "Baby girl, it's okay...trust me I enjoyed every minute of it." Walker says.
   Oh my God.  Oh my God.  Could I just die right now?
   "NO!" Chamuel shouts.  "You will not die.  You certainly will not when we complete our bond.  This could have been prevented if we had completed our bond before now."
   "What could have been prevented?"
   "Your after effects, my amour."
   "My after effect?" I say stupidly.
   "You were drunk on Fae healing."
   "Drunk on Fae Healing?" I repeat, again stupidly.
   "Fae healing is a heady thing, amour.  I should have known it would strike your stronger than others.  You have magic living within your bones."
   "Uhmmmm...Chamuel...how uhhhh stupid did I get?" I swat the Dark Fae King's petting hands.  "Seriously dude, hands off,  I mean it.  Just let me go.  I'm fine.  I'm fine now.  I'm trying to have a conversation here, can't you see that? Let.  Me.  Go!"
   "No." He says,
   "Excuse me?" I look at him completely shocked.
   "I said, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche, NO!"
   "No?" I cock my head to one side.
   "No," he repeats.
I whip out my daggers and slash his wrists causing him to drop me.  I jump out of his grasp and glare at him,  "No one, do you understand me, no one gets to 'keep me,'.  Never gonna happen Mr. Big Baddie." I glare at him.  "Now you keep your fucking distance, or I'm gonna cut you again, you get it?"
   "Promise?" His melodic voice slithers over to me.
   "Oh my God.  You're even crazier than Walker." I mutter, all the while moving back, putting more distance between me and the Dark Fae King. 
   "No, darling girl, you can't give anyone that prize." Walker's arms encircle me.  "I'm your crazy.  Your one and only crazy.  I want to keep that prize to myself."
   I roll my eyes.  "Walker, trust me, you're in a league all of your own, you're totally batshit nutso, okay.  Does that make you feel better?"
   "Yes, yes, I believe it does, darling girl." And he nuzzles me.
   "Stop it." I snipe.
   "Stop what?" Walker licks my ear and I shudder.
   "That...Stop doing that, dude.  I can't concentrate when you do that shit."
   "Maybe I don't want you to concentrate, darling girl."
   "I'm...I'm..." and I gulp, "I'm trying to have a serious conversation here, Walker."
   "Oh...really? We were all trying to have a serious conversation when you rubbed yourself up against me...and shot it all to shit, darling girl."
   I did what, now?  "Excuse me?"
   "You practically begged me to fuck you, Annora darling.  It took every ounce of will power I possess to deny you."
   OH.  MY.  GOD.  I will not hyperventilate.  I will not fucking hyperventilate.  "I...I...I'm sorry...I thought I heard you tell me that I begged you to fuck me."
   "Yup.  Honestly, I can't believe I was such a gentlemen."
Holy Shit.
"Please, amour," Chamuel groans.
I turn wild eyes to his and shake my head. "Oh no, no...no...no...you don't get to censor my thought right now," I take deep breath and then I take another. "Okkaaaay...okaaayyyy....I'm okay...I'm just fine...perfectly fine. Everything is a-okay."
"You are, you are just fine, amour, be at ease."
Ease? Seriously?! He wanted me to be at ease? If he was to be believed I'd asked Walker to fuck me. Just how was I supposed to be okay with that?"
"By knowing it was all HIS plan, my amour."
"HIS plan?" I shout. I face him, wildly, "Are you totally crazy? His fucking plan? His fucking stupid plan? Are you nuts? You've got to be nuts. Yeah, you're as nuts as Walker." I advance on Chamuel. "I...I...think I fucking hate you!" I shout! "You hear me, Chamuel, I hate you! You...you...you've known about this, the stupid Graces told you! You've known this entire time what's going down and you've kept me entirely in the dark. You're a total asshole! Do you hear me?! You're a complete and utter asshole! And I fucking hate you!" I watch as Chamuel's face changes instantly. It grows dark and hard.
"You don't mean that, my amour."
I gulp. Do I? Do I hate him? Do I really hate him, or do I hate the feelings that he brings out in me.   "I...I...do...I hate...hate you."
   "No, Annora, my amour, I do not believe it." Chamuel murmurs.  "Your mouth may say the words but your heart doesn't answer."
   I take deep breaths, and move out of Walker's embrace.  I need some distance before I completely lose it.  "You...you...you're an asshole, Chamuel.  You've known about all of this and you've kept it from me."  I gulp,  "How...how...how am I supposed to trust you when you keep things from me.  Major, major things from me."
   "Amour..."
   "No! No, no stupid amour stuff.  You have known all of this, Chamuel." I close my eyes and take a deep breath, before opening them. "Do you even know how that makes me feel?  Do you...do you even know how out of sorts I feel right now. And...and you could have prevented all of it if you just told me.  If you'd just have known what was going on."  I glare at him.  "But you didn't.  You decided to keep me in the dark...completely in the dark..."
   "The Graces..." Chamuel begins and I cut him off.
  "FUCK THE GRACES!" I scream at the top of my lungs. "I know I've said it before, but clearly it needs to be said again. Fuck. The. Graces!  You've completely fucked up my life. Do you understand?  You have completely fucked up my life, Chamuel!!" I turn to Walker then, who is staring at me with a smile on his handsome face.  "And don't think you're completely innocent in all of this, you big moron."
   "Me?" Walker blinks.  "What have I done, Annora baby?  I'm not the one keeping secrets from you."
"No, you crazy idiot, just forcing blood binds on me," I yell at him, and watch as his mouth opens only to snap shut. "Yeah, good idea. Don't say anything right now."
"Amour." And Chamuel's voice is strained and tight.
"No, I mean it...you REALLY don't want to be calling me that right now." I was holding it together by a mere thread which was threatening to break at any second.
"She's magnificent in her fury. It could only be better if she were holding her daggers once again while she rails." This from the Dark Fae King.
Oh riiiigggghhhhht. Because Mr. Big Shot Dark Fae King was a special kind of crazy, like Walker. "Don't talk about me like I'm not right here." I snap at him. "I seriously hate it when people do that."
A smile cracks his lips and he inclines his head. "Oh, do pardon me, my lady royal."
I wince. "About as much as I hate that," I spit out. "Ugh, that's awful, seriously awful. Do not call me lady royal." I wrinkle my nose in distaste. "Yeah, that's terrible. I'm Annora, Annora Park. You can call me Annora, or Parks if you prefer, like the guy's at the precinct do." I've calmed down. The raging fire within me from moments before...temporarily tamed.
"And I think not," The Dark Fae King says, his smile still in place.
I draw back, surprised. "Excuse me?"
"I like neither of those options. I believe I'd prefer..." And he takes a step toward me, and then another, "...Mine. Yes, I shall just call you mine."
Whoaaaah there Nelly. "Uh yeah, so not happening, dude." And I almost laugh at the sudden wince he makes, which doesn't stop him from advancing on me. I dart my eyes quickly about, and back up. He wasn't about to get the drop on me...not again. "I mean it...seriously so not happening." I make a wild motion with my hand, all the while keeping it at the ready in case I need my daggers again. "If you haven't kinda noticed, my plates sorta full, dude," and it's my turn to wince, "...and I'm sorry you had to witness my mini panic attack back there, that was so completely NOT professional of me. I will do, be better, and I...I...uh...I...could you please just stop...." I eye him warily. His eyes widen a fraction of an inch before that perfect cool mask slips back into place, hiding everything once again.
"You were saying," Walker says dryly, "something about doing better, being better? Darling girl, calling Fairy King boy there, dude, well, that's not doing better," he finishes with amusement tinting his voice.
"Just shut it, Walker Sergei Romanoff."
"Oooooooohhh all of my names...you MUST be angry," A vicious smile cracks his face, causing his lips to curl up in almost what appears to be a snarl. "Gonna spank me, Annora Gun Samhail Park? Or..." His eyes gleam, "...Would you prefer to cut me?"
Laughter bubbles out of me. And I hold up my hand. "Jeez," I snort, "...I just can't," and I full out laugh this time. "I just can't with you, you seriously are too much. You...you're a total psycho, Walker." Trust Walker to 'bring me back' to myself. He and his 'crazy' always did.
Walker's smile broadens further. "You love it, Annora darling, you know you do."
Even if I did, I wouldn't tell him so. "Do not," I spit back. Okay, as comebacks went, it was a pretty damn lame one. Walker's eyebrows raise and his lips quirk. "Really, I mean it...do not."
"All right, Annora darling, you keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll come to actually believe it."
I roll my eyes and huff. I find all eyes are trained on me. God. How did I get so fucking lucky, and I let out a bark of hysterical laughter at the utter ridiculousness of it all. I was like the Belle of the ball. The ball from hell.
"Please, my beloved. Please do not shield so. Do not keep me from you." Chamuel's voice breaks the tense stillness and I stiffen. "I cannot bear the silence in my head...and the stillness of my heart with you not there."
"I..." I gulp, and my shields crack, "...I'm really, really upset with you right now Chamuel." He'd known. He'd known the second he stepped into my life that it was about to be blown all to hell and that this epic shitshow was about to reign over me. He'd known...and had he said anything? No. No. He'd been content to leave me conveniently in the dark, looking like a foolish idiot as I stumbled stupidly around. How could I forgive that?
"What makes you angrier, darling girl? The fact that birdie said nothing, or the fact that you feel like a fool."
I wince. Walker always has known me a little too well. Of course he'd have picked up on that small delightful nugget. "Have no idea what you mean, Walker."
"Again, keep telling yourself that, Annora darling. If it makes you feel better." Walker shrugs his wide shoulders and laughs boisterously. "Either way, it's no skin off of my back, darling girl. I'm good with whatever. Kiss and make up. Kill and make up. Whatever."
"That makes no sense, Walker," and I roll my eyes, "If I kill him I can't make up with him." Jeez. Why was I even answering the psycho? I was only encouraging him.
Walker's eyes gleam brightly, with anticipation. "Who said I meant birdie? Or that I meant you kill him before you made up with him. If you did, then all bets would be off, right?  I could have a piece of him...or maybe more than a piece?"
"Walker..." I say his name plaintively.
   Walker laughs.  "Oh, you're seriously no fun right now, darling girl. And you're trying to take away mine.  Killjoy."
"Yeah," I mutter. "I'm trying to keep us all alive in this dungeon, so sue me if I don't think killing anyone right now would be the best idea."
"It's an excellent idea!" Walker snorts, "I mean, nothing works off tension like a good kill."
"The War Lak is right," This comes from the Dark Fae King, "...nothing works off stress and makes you feel so alive, as a good kill does. Tell me that your heart doesn't beat faster. And your blood doesn't rush when your hands are digging into flesh and rending it from bone. Oh yes, so very alive you feel..."
    Great. How had I forgotten that I had two of them to contend with now? Two total psychos to deal with.  "We're not here to discuss killing..." I sigh. Well, we sorta were here about killing, just not in the way he'd described it.  "I think we've delayed long enough.  Perhaps we should have an actual conversation," one where no one ended up bleeding out on a cold, stone, floor, "...and discuss the situation that brought us here in the first place."
   "Soooooo formal," The Dark Fae King says with a smile on his oh-too-beautiful face.  "We don't stand on ceremony here, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche."
   "Really?" I snap, "Then what was that welcome all about, huh?"
   "That was a mere formality." The Dark Fae King laughs, "And oh but you were glorious, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche."
   "Seriously, stop calling me that.  I'm not your anything let alone your queen." I groan, "God knows I've got enough to deal with without adding you to the f'ing mix, dude."
   "I do not like this, dude, word," And I hear laughter break out around me.
   "Join the f'king club, dude.  Apparently my guys have an issue with my potty mouth, and lacks-a-dasical speech."
   "I have no such issues, darling girl," Walker quips and I shoot him a dirty look to shush him.
   "It's charming in its own way I suppose, but not when directed toward me," The Dark Fae King says finally.
   I sigh, deeply.  "Yup, I'm sure the rest feel the same."  I look around and the bone chilling cold seeps and spreads throughout my body.  "You some closet ice dancer or something?" Verbal diarrhea.  I just couldn't help it.
   "I'm sorry, pardon me?" King Branuel says, seemingly genuinely confused by my words.
   I make a gesture with my hands and snort, " It's like 50 below in here, dude.  It's fucking freezing.  Either you like keeping your place the temperature of a sub zero freezer. Oooooorrrr....you're a closet ice dancer...sooooo which is it?"
   The Dark Fae King blinks and then blinks again, and then he bursts out laughing.  "Precious...Goddess be, you are absolutely precious.  Goddess above and below...how have I existed without you for this long?"
Nope.  I soooooooo wasn't going there.  I didn't know this guy from Adam.  The hell if I was tying myself to him in anyway.  Don't care what The Graces say or not.  I was the captain of my own destiny.  So yeah, I was sure as fuck going to captain my own fucking ship.
   "She is mine, Branuel Or De A'lanuel," Terrenel says suddenly, his voice sounds harsh and angry.  "Mine by right, and Goddess blood and light.  You have no claim to her.  Thus, no reason to speak to her such."
   The Dark Fae king narrows his eyes and then a beautifully chilling smile spreads across his lips.  "Hmmm...by right of blood and light...is that so, Terrenel Tir Oben?" His eyes begin to glow. "Would you like to test the weight of your words? We could do so right now, this is as good of a place as any. And this moment has been a long time in the making, has it not?"
    Terrenel draws his sword and advances on the Dark Fae King. I groan. No. Just no. We were not doing this again. I mean, honestly, what was with this idiots anyway.
"STOP!" I shout. "You are not dueling the Dark Fae King, Terrenel. If you do, I'll drop every one of my shields and take it all in. And you know I don't make idle threats." I watch as he processes my words.
"You cannot do that, my love. You are still recovering from your encounter with the Ghoul. It would be too much for you right now." He says slowly, and I nod.
"Yeah, probably. And it would definitely hurt like a bitch, buuuuut...I'll still do it." I let him see the truth shining from the glowing orbs of my eyes. "I'm not going to just let you two go at it while I hang around like some piece of weird arm candy...worst yet, be the crazy trophy you're so hell bent on winning." I shake my head. "I think enough blood has been spilt this night, don't you?"
Terrenel looks first at the Dark Fae King whose face is set in a smug expression that I sorta want to smack off of him, and then to me. "He takes liberties, my love...and assumes much." He looks back at the smug Dark Fae King and then snarls, "Plus, I just don't like him."
"Ohhhh...trust me, the feeling is entirely mutual," The Dark Fae King says, still smiling smugly.
"Branuel Or De A'lanuel...it is his name," Chamuel says, and he sounds tired and defeated. I kinda hate it.
"I'm sorry, what?" I snap at him, immediately regretting it when I see how his face falls even further.
"You keep thinking of him, and calling him, the Dark Fae King...and whereas that is indeed his title, you do not think of him by name, or you are trying very hard not to do so. You are trying to separate yourself from any further...connection. It puts...distance between the two of you...distance that..." And Chamuel's breath hitches as he struggles to get the words out. "...that you cannot afford, amour. Your pain...it is tearing at my heart. I am breaking, my beloved. But one of...of the points you made earlier was that I've kept things from you, whether by choice or not...yes...things have been kept from you. So know this...I am trying to be transparent here, my beloved. I am trying to tell you the truth of matters as they are laid before you now. Branuel Or De A'lanuel, Dark Fae King and Leader of the Wild Host, is a connection a link that was set in place at your creation. Did you not wonder at your two toned hair...both Light Fae and Dark Fae, you are a melding of both, and stronger for it too."
"But that's not possible..." I mutter. "I mean, it can't be possible, right?" I turn to Terrenel who looks a little stunned by Chamuel's words, as if the thought never crossed his mind. Hell, why would it. "How...how can I be both Light and Dark Fae?"
"You can't," Terrenel finally snaps, as if coming out of a stupor. "The blood runs true from one court and one court only, in royal blood. And since we've established that she is indeed of royal blood, and I quickened when I touched her, I know she belongs to the Light Fae Court. She is mine, High Heavenly Host. Do you understand? She is mine!"
Chamuel runs a hand through his hair and sighs. He seems suddenly, incredibly tired. "And she is his as well, Oh Great One, Terrenel Tir Oben."
"I'm no one's!" I yell. "You all make me sound like some freaking object that you can just possess. Despite what the High Heavenly Host has said, I don't belong to anyone. Do YOU understand? I'm my own person and I make my own choices. And honestly, at present moment I choose to not choose anyone. I want no part of this clusterfuck." I narrow my eyes. "All I want is to get down to business, and discuss the real reason we're here, and no, it's not because Mr. Big Bad Baddie Dark Fae King over there thinks he has some weird claim on me." I ignore Chamuel's deep sigh. Chamuel and I, well, we had a shit-stew of issues to deal with between the two of us, but that too was going to have to wait for another night, and take a back seat to larger issues at hand.  Issues like crazy human into apple changing murderers. 
   "You cannot 'take a back seat,' as you so eloquently put it, my beloved," Chamuel says softly.  "I believe you once likened our encounter to a freight train running without breaks on a track.  Oh my beloved, this is a track you cannot get off of...and the breaks are finally off."
No.  No.  Absolutely not.  I didn't believe in pre-ordained destinies, did I?
   "You have no choice but to do so, my beloved."
   His words bring me back to my present situation, and I snort, "See...that's where you're wrong, Chamuel.  I always have a choice.  If Judeo-Christianity is to be believed," and I give him the stink eye, "...And I know you believe it.  Then HE, the Big Ultimate HE that you serve, gave human beings free will.  And with free will comes free choice.  I always have a choice.  And nothing you say will convince me otherwise."
   "As interesting as this all is...if we are not going to be spilling blood can we get onto more interesting matters? Although, other than my beautiful midnight queen, there is not much more that is as interesting as spilling blood." The Dark Fae King says dryly.
Oh jeez. Like I could ever forget Mr. Psycho Dark Fae King over there.  "Although I would have put it in a different way, you're right.  We came here for a specific reason with a specific purpose in mind, and we've gotten sooo off track we may as well be running it in freaking Siberia right now.  You," and I turn to Chamuel, and give him a telling look, "...You and I have a lot to talk about, but now is not the time nor the place for such a talk.  And you," I look over at Terrenel then, "...you're not going to attack the Dark Fae King with a sword," when I see his mouth open I shut it down by adding, "...or a knife, or a dagger or an axe.  Nothing.  You're not going to attack him at all.  Do you hear me, Terrenel?"
   Terrenel narrows his eyes.  "I do," he says simply.
   "Aaaaaand?"
   "I..." and the words seem to be torn from his throat, "...I...I...I will refrain from lifting weapons against the Dark Fae King, if he can say the same."
   So I turn then to the crazy Dark Fae King,  "Well?" And I give him a stern look, the sternest one I can muster under current circumstances.
   The Dark Fae King laughs.  "Delightful, you are absolutely delightful.  Yes, my beautiful midnight queen, I will refrain from meeting The Light Fae King in open battle...for now."
   I groan and roll my eyes.  Absolutely impossible, the lot of them. But what didn't kill us made us stronger, right?
"Or you just die a bloody death, darling girl."
Oh hell, had I spoken out loud? Clearly I had. I take in the tableau in front of me and sigh deeply. How was this night not over yet?