Skye's Arrival

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ralin turns my cheek slightly to make me look at them. “Those girls are just window-dressing. He turns my head toward the women dressed in purple. “Those are the girls I use to distract my male guests.” He then forces me to look at the women in white. “Those are my bed bunnies. They’re my favorites and are only for my use.”

My mouth goes dry and I think I might vomit. I yank my head away from his touch and glare at him. “That’s disgusting.”

“That is exactly what you walked into.” He touches my chin and turns my head back and forth. “Now which color should I place you in? Your little friend would make an excellent purple girl. You would too, but I do have a thing for girls who are broken.”

He starts leaning in to kiss me, but a ferocious growl breaks through the music. I blink and when I open my eyes, Ralin is gone. The sound of a wall crumbling makes me turn my head in enough time to see something terrifying. Koan is on top of Ralin, beating the very life out of him.

“Don’t move,” a harsh voice tells me while screaming breaks out. “It’ll distract him.”

“How did you know I was here,” I ask Adam while grimacing at the amount of blood on Koan’s fist.

“Koan wanted to check the nearest towns from where you were last seen,” he answers simply. “I do hope he doesn’t bloody his clothes too much from that filth.”

I try to remain calm while the room evacuates. “That’s what you’re worried about?” I ask, motioning toward the swarm of guards closing in on Koan.

“Yes. A man who forces himself on young ladies doesn’t deserve to be touched by my lord.”

“Yes, well, I’d like to go now,” I tell him while Koan turns his attention toward the guards. Rilan is definitely dead at this point, and soon those guards will be as well.

“That’s not what Koan wants.”

“You do know he’s psychotic, right?” I demand from Adam, knowing it’s pointless to argue.

“I do, but he’s whom I serve.” He puts his hand on the bar. “Now, where are your friends, and why are you here?”

“Don’t know,” I tell him, knowing this is the truth to only half of his questions. It’s a technicality that I can get away with.

He turns his body so he can lean in and lock his dark eyes with mine, trying to surface the truth. “Enough of your clever tricks, Skye. Why are you here?”

“Currently, I’m here because you’re making me stay,” I tell him, refusing to back away from his glare. It’s odd, I’ve never seen Adam in a tux. I wonder why he is here. I duck when I see the sight of a body flying towards me.

Adam sticks his arm out, blocking me from being hit. He talks while I straighten. He’s not amused by my wordplay. “Are you here to get ingredients for the pearl blade?”

“I’m sitting here because you’re making me,” I tell him, staring him down.

His jaw clenches in response. “Do you know how to make a pearl blade?”

I can’t lie about that one. “Yes,” I tell him, guarding my answer.

He raises an eyebrow. “What is needed to make it?”

I shake my head. “I’m under sacred law that prohibits me from answering that.” Eh, kind of.

He closes his eyes in frustration. “Is Dawn bound to you?”

“Yes.”

“Does Dawn still influence your body?”

“Yes.”

“Are you the one that influenced the Celestial King’s spell?”

“Yes.”

That makes him open his eyes. “You changed the king’s spell?”

“Yes.”

“How did you do it?”

“With help.”

He glares at me. “The King’s help?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Adam,” Koan yells, interrupting his line of questioning. Adam looks away from me, and at that moment I take my opportunity. I grab Dawn’s glass that is still sitting on the table and smash it against Adam’s hand, cutting it.

“Morte,” I shout the moment I make contact. I get up and start running. Of course, I barely make it five feet before I’m hit hard from behind. I don’t even have to guess who caught me. When I’m turned around, Koan is on top of me and has pinned my hands next to my head. Blood stains his shirt, while blood splatter can be seen on his face.

His eyes are tight and rage is on his face. “Why were you with him? Why were you letting him touch you?” He moves his hand to push down on my throat and holds both my hands with his other.

“I didn’t have a choice,” I grunt, trying to push him off me.

“Liar!” Koan hisses at me. “You wanted his attention. That’s why you’re dressed like a slut.”

“I’m dressed this way because I wanted to.” I spit. “Now get off me,” I growl, trying to shove him away once more.

He chuckles darkly. “You’re weak Skye. You’ve always been weak.”

“I disagree,” I growl, pushing against him. I will not give up. I’m not giving in to my fear.

“You always were stubborn.” He seethes. “Now give in and be mine. You are mine. You’re my wife.”

“Ex-wife,” I grunt, pushing him. “I’m no longer yours. I killed that part of my life decades ago, Koan. I deserve better than what you gave me.”

“You are forever mine,” he roars, pushing me harder into the ground.

“You wish,” I spit, managing to get a hand free. I manage to get a solid punch to his jaw.

His head turns with the impact. When he turns back to me, he spits his blood on my face, with some of it getting in my mouth. “I don’t have to wish it, Skye. You are mine. Perhaps I need to make you see that too.” He lifts his hand from my neck, revealing the pearl choker I wear.

“Koan, don’t,” I warn when I see his eyes take on that look of lust.

“You do look beautiful tonight Skye. It is perfect for you to be bledded to me again.”

“I refuse to be bledded to you again, Koan,” I tell him while my hand blindly searches for something I can hit him with.

“We’ll see how you feel after we’ve been bledded,” he smirks, ripping the necklace from my neck. His eyes narrow on my neck. “Why is someone else’s teeth marks on your neck, Skye?”

“I needed a little help getting rid of the teeth from my leg. They were gifted to me from that totoalin you sent after me.”

“Rafi? Rafi bit you?” He demands, his eyes beginning to glow from his rage. “You let my own flesh and blood bite you?”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” I smirk and speak with a daring edge, “and I begged for it.”

Koan screams his outrage and lets go of my other hand, putting my face between his hands. “You’re lying.”

I lock eyes with him, defiantly trying to stare him down. “I’m not,” I tell him, finally getting a purchase on something. I use it to hit as hard as I can against Koan’s face. I feel his blood land on my skin while I push him off me. “Morte,” I gasp. Koan roars back as I shove him off me. He’s screaming my name after me while I try to push through the rubble.

I don’t hesitate while I race through the crowd, still clutching the bloody brick. I’m more than aware that if Adam and Koan were at the palace, some of his other minions will be here as well. The crowd isn’t too bad, since most of the city is either asleep or still fleeing from Rilan’s.

When I get to the inn-given away by a carved bed in the stone-I see Rafi standing at the desk. He was leaning over the counter, talking to the bubbly attendant.

He looks at me and his face pales. “Skye, what happened?” He demands, coming over to me.

“We need to leave. Now.” I tell him, seeing the disappointed look on the counter girl’s face. Was he flirting with her?

“What is going on?” he demands of me, ignoring my words.

I wave him off, starting to feel insecure. “Later. Where is Dawn?”

“Room three. She’s with Gerrickson.”

“You left them alone?” I demand from him, feeling repulsed.

“Yes. Why is that a problem?”

“Moonflower, you idiot.” I snap. “Or are you too involved with your penial feelings to remember?” I say, motioning towards the very perturbed counter girl.

The girl’s face widens while I shove past Rafi. “Moonflower? Are you returning from Ralin’s party?” She demands from Rafi.

When I reach the room with the number three on it I nearly scream. “Oh come on,” I yelled, covering my eyes. I did not need to see Gerrickson’s bare ass in front of my face. He was crouched down in front of Dawn who, mercifully, is still dressed. Thank everything good in this world that they were still on the fourplay stage.

“Dawn, back away from Gerrickson, now,” I tell her, looking away from Gerrickson when he stands. I really don’t want to see that.

“What’s going on,” she asks, her voice almost dreamlike. She blinks and then sees what I hold in my hand. “What happened?”

“Koan showed up. We need to get out of here now. I took care of him and Adam for now, but I don’t know about the others.” I squirm. “Gerrickson, please get dressed.”

“Koan?” Rafi demands, coming into the room. “Why the hell are you naked? You promised you weren’t going to do anything.” He says, looking at Gerrickson.

“I wanted to sleep with her. Of course, I was going to tell you that.” Gerrickson says with a heavy attitude in his tone. “Did you get anywhere with the receptionist?”

Rafi blushes and I automatically step away from him. “What I managed to get out of her before Skye showed up, was that Ralin pays the vendors heavily to steer any attractive girls to his house. Some leave, and some don’t. They usually target out-of-towners, and the men the girls are traveling with. That way, they feel secure enough to come. The moonflower is used to make it easier to sway the females and it temporarily stuns the men. By the time the men have recovered, the women have been separated and are all over Ralin.”

Dawn rubs her face and has to look away from Gerrickson. “Then explain this.”

“It also makes you incredibly horny, especially if you’re already attracted to that partner.”

“That explains it,” Gerrickson answers, his voice tight. “Why didn’t it affect you and Skye like us?”

“Well, it doesn’t affect Celestials the way it does Demons and Mortals. She would still feel the influence of the flower, but it doesn’t control her sexual desires.”

“And you?” Gerrickson demands.

Rafi’s voice becomes hard. “Believe me, it is working. I just didn’t find any of those women attractive. Now change and grab our things.”

“No time to change,” I tell him. “Koan will be back here as soon as he’s able. The further we are from here, the safer we will be.”

I grab my pack and shove the bloody brick inside of it. Dawn walks up to me, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

I wink at her and flash her a coy smirk. “Next time, let me know if you want to be alone with Gerrickson.”

“I didn’t know I wanted to.”

“Oh, I did.” I toss my pack over my shoulder. “When did you start developing feelings for him?”

She blushes. “After you vanquished Esmeralda. He’d stay up and talk to me while Rafi just watched your every breath.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” I ask her, raising my brow.

“It’s not like we’ve had time to talk about this. I’m still realizing it, so I also didn’t want to talk about it until I knew.” She touches my hand. “Everything is still so new for me.”

I squeeze it. “Well, we’ll talk about it when we’re away from this horrid place.”

“Oh, Skye!” A voice calls from the street. I close my eyes. Heathe. “Come out and play Skye. Koan gave me permission to bite you, and I’m not going to waste it.”

I open my eyes as I swear. I grab Rafi’s sword and look at him. “Get them out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you alone,” Rafi replies, glaring at me.

“You don’t have a choice,” I tell him, giving Dawn my pack. “They only know I’m here. The moonflower is still covering your scent. Go to the Illumin Hills, and I’ll meet you there. If I’m not there by the morning, then you can come after me.” I don’t give him time to answer and walk out of the room.