Finding Fae

Mal

I ran through down the stairs and through the halls, desperate to find Fae before anything else happened to her. Now that we were so close, I could feel her pain constantly. While it didn’t seem like she was being hurt at the moment, it still made me sick to think that she had endured so much already. I was constantly failing her. Every second that it took for me to find her, the more manic I felt.

This place was a maze down here. Rows and rows of cells, stairs that lead to dead ends of more cells or rooms that I didn’t doubt were either for guards or for torture. It felt like I was about to go insane, so close and yet still unable to find her.

I cut down any guard that got in my way as quickly as I could, but they were slowing me down when all I wanted was to just find Fae already. I needed to see her. To be sure she was still alive. I could feel her life tied with mine even with the Bond not truly connecting us yet. I could feel that she was alive, but I also felt her body was weak and her spirit was on the verge of giving out.

Souls and spirits weren’t the same thing. They weren’t even close. A persons spirit was what made them who they were. It was personality, individuality, the things that made us who we were. If a spirit died, the person would live on, unlike when the soul died. But it wasn’t really living. It’s sort of like they become one of those mental ward patients that shuffled around, too drugged or too damaged to wipe the drool away.

I would not allow that to happen to Fae. I need her too much. I needed her forgiveness, her approval, and I needed her. The parts of her that I had fallen in love with would be gone if her spirit faded away. She would still be alive. I would still see her face and could hold her hand, but it would be too cruel of Fate to show me something I would never have, because you only get one Soul Bond. One person that matches you in every way. There were no second chances, which was why, once fully Bonded, we died together. Surely if Fate had enough mercy to allow that, it wouldn’t be so evil to let me get this close, only to rip it away.

I sprinted down halls of cells and down stairs mindlessly, praying Fae would stay strong for just a little longer. Then, I came to a level of the dungeons that had no guards at all. I could feel Fae here, like a static charge to the air. I even recognized the metal door she told me about when I came to it. My anger and desperation had been fueling each other since I got a hint of location in the woods over four hours ago. That pitiful door wasn’t going to stand in my way now.

Much to my shock, it was actually unlocked and opened easily, but I wanted to rip it off the hinges when I saw what Rex had done to Fae.

She looked... dead. If she wasn’t breathing and straining against the straps holding her down to look at me, I would swear she wasn’t alive. There wasn’t a spot on her body that didn’t have marks. Fading bruises and half healed cuts littered her from face to feet. Most of her fingers and toes were obviously broken and some of her nails were missing. There were places that looked like her skin had been removed. There were burns all over her stomach and her face was battered, it looked like one big bruise with busted lips.

She still smiled at me though. It broke me to see her like that, so broken and still so happy to see me, like it wasn’t my fault at all.

“Fae,” I whispered as my eyes stung.

“How sweet,” Rex cooed from near her head. I hadn’t even seen him there, I had been so absorbed in finally seeing Fae. I did, however, see the knife in his hand as he put it against her cheek. “You don’t look surprised to see me.”

“Why would I be? Depravity runs thick as molasses in you Nobles,” I spit.

“You know,” he laughed, “You’re not entirely wrong, but it’s just as bad in the Kings. Imagine how that makes me. I am a little curious how you managed to find me. This place hasn’t been used since I was five.”

“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about other things right about now?” I asked.

“Like you? Don’t make me laugh, cousin,” he smiled this sick smile as he slowly dragged the blade across Fae’s skin, leaving a fresh, bleeding wound and I fought the urge to flinch as the pain flared on my own skin.

Fae whimpered a little and closed her eyes, as her body shook a little bit. He cut her deeply and she was trying not to react. Either for my benefit or to deny Rex, I didn’t care. I knew that if he found out we were Soul Bonded, he would use it against us. He would hurt her more just to hurt me. I was lucky that I had tucked my wings away shortly after landing to keep them from getting in the way in the smaller halls and doorways.

“Ah,” Rex smiled again. “I see the why. Why look for her. Why you were there when we took her. That one surprised me a little bit, I admit. Of all the people in the world, I never thought to see you with her. You love her, don’t you?”

I stayed quiet. Of course I loved Fae. I was pretty certain I would have loved her even if she had never made that Call and woke the Bond. I would have fought it harder, had that been the case, but I would have fallen eventually. Who wouldn’t? She was everything good in the world and so much more.

“I can see why,” my cousin continued, moving the knife to her other cheek. “She’s quite beautiful. Even better now, don’t you think?”

“I’m going to kill you, Rex,” I said, gripping the sword I still held in my hand.

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t kill family,” he tutted as he slowly sliced from Fae’s cheekbone to her chin.

“You are no family of mine,” I growled as I took a step forward.

“Ah-ah,” Rex said, quickly flicking the knife towards her throat, making her whimper again. “Let’s not be hasty, cousin. I would hate to make a mistake, being in such a delicate position.”

“Let her go, Rex,” I demanded. “Your issues is with me, not her.”

“You think this about the Kings shaming my mother and declaring me a bastard?” he laughed harshly. “Typical King. Not everything revolves around you, you know.”

“Then why use her like this?” I asked, buying time for someone, anyone, to make it to us. I would handle Rex. It would be my pleasure. But I couldn’t think straight with Fae in this hell hole.

“Because someone somewhere has a grudge against her parents,” he shrugged. “Something about a debt that needed to be paid. No one but the boss knows the details, but she’s quite valuable, so long as she can find the memories about her parents identity on her own.”

“So you’re torturing her as a means to an end?” I nearly shouted. “A pawn in someone elses game?”

“Of course. My father wanted an heir and his bitch wife wasn’t giving him one. My mother wanted me for leverage, my family wanted something to hold over the Kings’s good name,” Rex said like it was a common conversation.

I could feel Fae’s emotions now that we were in the same room. After connecting so many times this past week, it was only right that the Bond would have grown. She was desperate, but determined as my hands flared with pain. My fingers were in agony and I nearly dropped my weapon. It was then that I looked away from Rex and at her mangled face.

Tears were running from her eyes and I felt the sting as the salt hit the open wounds. But the look on her face was fierce, like she was daring him to make a move without him seeing it. She had a plan. The pain in my hands grew and I noticed they were working. Poorly and slowly and the activity was making them bleed, but she was pulling at the restraints around her body, finding a little bit of wiggle to mover her hand just right so she could almost reach the clasp.

I was the distraction.

“So this is cosmic payback, then? Only sicker and more twisted,” I said, seeing her tiny smile as she saw I understood.

“Of a sort,” Rex shrugged. “I was a little shocked the bosses wanted her, but I was more than happy to volunteer to get what they wanted from her. I was trained by some of the best, you know.”

“If you’re so good, what did you get from her?” I laughed. “I bet you haven’t gotten anything that would save you, even if you got away today. How unhappy is the big man up top that nothing you have done is working?”

“It’s only a matter of time, Malachi,” Rex ground his teeth.

“It’s not long before midnight,” I smirked. “Know what that means? It’ll be her birthday. Since you aren’t one of her Bonded guardians, you’ll never be able to get in to see who her guide is. And there’s not anywhere near enough time to fake a bond well enough. You’re many things, but you aren’t a Breaker, Rex.”

That did it. Just like Fae said, he was touchy about what he was clearly failing horribly at doing. Unfortunately, he took it out on Fae, stabbing her in the shoulder and I really couldn’t stop the cry that left me as I clutched the spot that burned.

“Mal!” Fae called and I saw she had freed her hands and had Rex by the throat, digging her broken and bleeding fingers around his airway, squeezing it as hard as she could, which wasn’t much.

It was my one shot to get a quick kill and I took it, coming across the room as fast as I could unfurl my wings and slid my sword under his rib cage, angled up towards his lungs and heart until it came out above his shoulder blade. I knew he was dead, even if his heart was still beating. No one survived something like that and I kicked him away from Fae and started ripping the restraints off of her.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long,” I babbled as she threw herself into my arms. “I’m so sorry for everything. I’m never going to let you down again, I swear.”

Her whole body shook as she sobbed, letting everything that has happened to her this past week out at once. I held her as tenderly as I could so I didn’t hurt her, but I wanted to hold her tight so no one could ever take her away from me again.

“You came for me,” she forced out around the sobs and I got her off the table and carried her out of that awful room.

“I’ll always come for you. I’m just sorry it took me so long to get here. I’m a terrible excuse for a Bond,” I said.

“But you found me!” she cried louder. “You’re here, right? I’m not dreaming?”

“No, your not dreaming,” I shook my head.

“Thank Fate and all the gods,” she cried, then we heard the ringing of the bells signaling that it was midnight and her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she went limp in my arms.

“Fae!” I shouted and tried to shake her awake, knowing there wasn’t a thing I could do to bring her back. This was the Awakening. Either she would wake when it was over, or she would die.