Call Of The Dark

Lazarus got up and towered over her. "The drugs that he used were the one for the faes and not for humans. You knew that Emma would be knocked out for a long time and that she would probably present herself to me to mark her!"

Maeve was stunned. She had carried it all out so discreetly with Ailill's help. She took Ailill's help so that no one could ever pin the blame on her if the chance came because no one knew Ailill. She was thrown into a tizzy as she watched Lazarus towering over her. His persona was murderous.

"You wanted Emma to be drugged so heavily that she wouldn't be able to bat an eyelid till the soul casting ritual. But you made a mistake, Maeve," he snarled as he bent down and curled his finger and thumb around her chin. He pinched it and tipped her head up. "Emma is my mate. You shouldn't have done that to her." His muscles bulged as if he was contemplating on wringing her neck. "Do you know what I did to the inn and its owner?" He bared his fangs and his claws came out, puncturing her skin. Blood trickled out as she winced in pain. "I killed him. I snapped his vertebrate out of his body and hung him on the inn's entrance. Then I burned the inn down to the ground."

Maeve gasped as she imagined the horror at the inn. She began trembling like a dry leaf in gusty winds.

He shoved her down on the floor. "You sent rogues after Emma, you tried to drug us at the inn and when that didn't happen, you sent Gladys with the drugs, and now--" he glanced at Ailill.

"I-- I didn't send Gladys with drugs," she cried as she tried to get up on her knees. Ailill was in so much agony that it was affecting her terribly.

"Lies!" Lazarus growled so loudly that the windows and the door of the room started shaking. "Gladys has accepted her crime. She is going to spend the rest of her days in the dungeons!"

Maeve slapped her hands to her mouth. How did things get out of control so fast? She had healed well. She had time to disappear using her magic along with Ailill. Or she could use it to scare Lazarus. She wiped her tears and summoned her magic. It coiled down her hands and crackled around her fingers. "You think I am weak!" she hissed. She was about to hurl it at him, when a dagger came in front of her throat.

"Not so soon, Maeve," Yul said. "I know you wouldn't want me to plunge this fae iron into you, would you?" He pressed the sharp blade against her neck. She shrieked in pain. Her magic coiled back like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

Lazarus grabbed her hair and yanked her head up. "You have one chance to save your mate. And don't deny that he is your mate because if he isn't, I think I would just let him die."

"No!" she pleaded. "Please no!"

"Okay... then reject him, and he will be saved. Moreover, I will marry you. That would be a bonus for rejecting him."

Maeve and Ailill had been mates for thousands of years. She never imagined that a goddess like her would be at the mercy of a vampire who was so lowly that a goddess. Her gaze went to Ailill. He was now half unconscious. The fae iron was working way too fast. She had to make a decision as soon as possible.

She weighed her options. If she didn't reject him, then he would die. Just thinking that he would die made her stomach twist into knots. If she rejected him, they both would go under tremendous pain. Breaking a fae bond was excruciating. Moreover, after she rejected him, Lazarus would marry her. Once he married her, she would annihilate him out of revenge. Then she would go back to Ailill.

At this time she really didn't have much of a choice. Ailill was as such dying. By rejecting him, he had a chance to live. But she wasn't going to do it so easily. "You have to make a vow to Lore that you won't kill him or hurt him," she said in a shaky voice.

Lazarus glowered at her. After a moment he said, "I vow to the Lore that I won't kill him or hurt him." Electricity sizzled in the air as the vow snapped tight around him and Ailill.

Yul pressed the dagger to her throat. "Now, reject him or this gets in your flesh."

Maeve closed her eyes. At least she had ensured that Ailill wouldn't die. Her heart twisted when she looked at her mate. Her lips quivered and her body shuddered with so much force that she started to shake visibly. Tears streamed out of her eyes unbridled. She didn't have any choice left. She tipped her head up and closed her eyes.

In a very low voice, she said, "I, Maeve, Goddess of Vilinski, reject Ailill as my mate."

Thunder boomed across the plains of Wilyra and over the palace of Wilyra. A fae bond had broken. Weather suddenly turned ominous and within minutes heavy rain pelted the grounds.

Maeve slumped to the floor as searing pain exploded in her body. "T--take out the dagger," she said, her words coming in a slur.

Lazarus smirked and took the dagger out of Ailill's shoulder. "Guards!" he shouted. Several guards came inside. "Take him to the dungeons!" he ordered. Ailill was unconscious. Four guards picked him up and dragged him out of the door to the dungeons. In her harrowing pain, she watched him being taken by the guards. His head lolled to the side and his skin had become blue. "You made a vow to the Lore..." she said to Lazarus and then darkness surrounded her.

Yul stood behind her and kicked her lightly just to see if she was unconscious or not, else he would again place the dagger on her throat. When she didn't stir, he asked Lazarus, "Why did you make that vow? It was not required. I should have killed him."

Lazarus chuckled humorlessly. "I made that vow, not you. Do what you like with him."