I moaned in his mouth as I plunged hard, his shaft sliding into me as he penetrated deep into my slit. I shifted, still locking his lips as I siphoned off his energy. Then, before he reached a critical point, I broke the kiss and began to ride him, hard.

  He moaned, cupping one of my breasts and squeezing, tweaking the nipple till I almost screamed. “I’m going to fuck you till you’re raw,” he gasped. “You’ll never forget that I’ve been inside you.”

  He grunted, turning me over so quickly that I suddenly found myself on my back. As he swiveled his hips, my clit burned, aching for touch. I slid my hand over my smooth stomach, slipping my fingers between my lower lips, where I began to stroke myself. Panting, I was quickly reaching the point of no return as the energy built between us.

  Yutani held me down, ravishing me like a crazed beast, his eyes glowing with lust and with power. Something had shifted in him, and I could feel the divine nature growing within him. His cock felt harder, thicker, as he pinned me to the floor, grinding his way deeper into me.

  I let out a sharp cry as the orgasm cascaded through my body, a series of sharp spasms rippling through me from head to toe. I shrieked as the energy swallowed me whole and Yutani let out a single howl, arching his back as he thrust hard against me, and then he froze, his cock pulsing. Through the sex haze, I suddenly realized that this was real—I had taken Yutani’s pledge. He was now one of my devotees, and I was his muse and his mistress. We were bound together with an unbreakable bond, and only time would tell whether that was a mistake.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Next morning, I woke with an energy hangover. It was pretty strong, given the massive amount of chi I’d ingested. I wondered how Yutani felt, but I’d find that out soon enough. I also realized something else. We’d forgotten to use a condom. Luckily, Yutani got tested frequently for STDs. I was clean from my last test, but I didn’t want to get careless. Life could bite you in the butt—literally—when you let your guard down. But though I was just past my cycle, they were irregular and I decided it was time to go to the healer and get onto some form of birth control safe for me. That way, if we got caught in the moment, I wouldn’t be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

  I glanced at my planner. We had to meet Phoebe at the jail at noon, and then tonight, Herne, Wager, and I were scheduled to go see Dormant Reins in the catacombs. So it was a busy day. Before Yutani woke, I put in a call to the healer I saw in Seattle. She wasn’t a therapist like Sejun, but she was Light Fae and knew what was safe for me to use. Otherkin couldn’t use the same medications humans did, and what worked for the shifters wouldn’t work for the Fae, and so forth.

  “I have a cancellation so if you’re free at ten, I can get you in today,” the receptionist said.

  “Put me down. I’ll be there.” I scribbled a note to Yutani, not wanting to wake him up. I didn’t go into detail, just that I’d be out all day and evening, and to text me if there were any issues that arose from last night.

  I still wasn’t sure if what I’d done was the wisest choice, but there was no going back and we’d have to deal with concerns as they came up. I slapped together a peanut butter and honey sandwich and headed out to my car. The temps were supposed to be in the mid-eighties, high for the area, so I’d decided to wear a loose gauze skirt that fell to my calves, a light tank top, and a pair of sandals—cork wedge soles with leather criss-cross straps. I started to toss a shawl in my tote in case it got cool later, and then, remembering we’d be seeing the vampires tonight and exposing necks around them wasn’t a good idea, I switched my shawl for a cardigan, packed clothing appropriate for the vampires and then headed out.

  Elder Willow was Light Fae and ran her office out of her home in west Seattle. As I entered the side door leading into the waiting room, the receptionist offered me a glass of lemonade. I thanked her but abstained, not sure of what tests might be necessary in order to get birth control. It was an easy day, apparently, because I was only there ten minutes before being called back. As I hopped onto the exam table and the nurse took my blood pressure, the door opened and Elder Willow entered the room.

  “Well, hello,” she said. “How are you doing today?”

  The nurse jotted down my blood pressure in the file, then exited the room.

  “Hey, doc,” I said. I’d seen her for a general exam a few months back when I joined the Wild Hunt and I’d liked her demeanor. She didn’t waste time, but I hadn’t felt rushed, either. “It occurred to me that I should get on some sort of birth control and not rely on my partners.”

  “We can take care of that, but I should do a thorough examination first. Also, is there any chance you might be pregnant now?” She handed me a gown. “Here, put this on.”

  I began to change. The Fae were never shy about their bodies, and we weren’t afraid to be seen naked, but it was chilly in the room, so the gown was welcome. “A very slight possibility. I don’t know if it would even show positive at this point. And if I am, then I need not to be.” I was in no way ready to be a parent. I could barely take care of my own self—I certainly wasn’t capable of taking care of anybody else.

  “Then let me call in my nurse again. She has the ability to feel the changes that go along with pregnancy, even from the very beginning. She could easily become a healer herself, but she prefers being a nurse.” Willow peeked out the door, then said, “Nurse Forochain, can you come here a moment? I lucked out with her,” she added, waiting for the nurse to return.

  “That must be handy to have when you’re in the medical industry,” I said.

  “Oh, it is. It’s not common, either, and those who have the talent always have a job. All right, let’s go through this list of conditions. Has anything changed since you first came in? Have you developed any new conditions like diabetes or virgostasis?” The latter was a purely Fae condition, although I didn’t know much about it. But apparently it was an up-and-coming disease that a number of the Fae were getting.

  “I don’t even know what the latter is. And no, as far as I know nothing’s changed in my general health. I am seeing a therapist for my PTSD, however. He’s helping me a lot.” I glanced around the room, which was painted a pale grey. It was a soothing color, far more soothing than I thought grey would be.

  “Virgostasis is, unfortunately, on the rise. I’ll test you for it while you’re here. It’s a variant of a human STD, and while you can have it with no symptoms, it can also cause a great deal of harm to your reproductive organs. And your heart. It’s most commonly caused when one of our race sleeps with a human who has syphilis.”

  “I doubt that I have it, then. While I am Leannan Sidhe, I haven’t had too many partners in the past six months since I last saw you.” I started to ask her if syphilis was on the rise in the human population when the nurse returned.

  “I need you to do a scan and tell us whether Lyrical is pregnant,” Willow said.

  Nurse Forochain walked over to where I was sitting. “I need to put a hand on your stomach, if that’s all right.”

  I nodded, leaning back so she could have easy access. She slid her hand under the gown and rested it gently against my stomach. As she closed her eyes, I found myself praying that she wouldn’t find anything.

  After a moment, the nurse opened her eyes. The smile had slid off her face and now she looked alarmed. “Not pregnant. But there’s something wrong — I think you should have an ultrasound.” She glanced at Elder Willow. “There’s a lot of damage to her womb.”

  The doctor frowned, glancing at my chart. “All right. Why don’t you set it up and we’ll just do that right now.”

  I found myself sweating. While it was uncommon for members of the Fae to get anything like cancer or tumors, it could — and did — happen on occasion. Elder Willow motioned for me to lay back and put my feet in the stirrups.

  “We might as well get this part of the exam over with. I know it’s not pleasant, but bear with me. Regardless of race, almost all women have to deal with this at some point in their lives.” She held up a shiny metal object. “You know what a speculum is,

  I nodded. “Oh yes. My mother was very keen on having all of her daughters thoroughly examined once a year. When you’re born to royalty, they keep a tight watch on your health.” I closed my eyes she inserted it, then ratcheted it open. It wasn’t uncomfortable—she had lightly warmed it. But it just felt odd. After a few moments, she had gotten all the samples and I was sitting up again.

  Nurse Forochain returned. “The ultrasound is set up in the other room, Elder.”

  Elder Willow motioned for me to follow her, and the nurse followed me. They took me to a room just down the hall, where there was an ultrasound device next to another exam table. She motioned for me to get on, then brought a light sheet up over my hips.

  “I need to lift up your gown so I can get a clear picture here.”

  I rolled my gown to expose my stomach, grateful for the sheet that was covering my legs. It was chilly here, and what I had thought would be a routine simple appointment had turned into far more than I had expected. I just wanted it over and done with now.

  As she glided the rollerball over my stomach, I looked over at the monitor. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but it was fascinating.

  “So, do you see anything?” I asked.

  The doctor froze, glancing at the monitor. “You have an incredible amount of scar tissue,” she said. She removed the wand and began to run her fingers lightly over my abdominal muscles. “I feel the knots under my fingers. And they go deep. Were you ever kicked in the stomach?”

  A parade of memories marched through my mind. Memories of Kilnakarn kicking me in the stomach, beating me in the sides and back, punching me in the gut. I looked over at the doctor.

  “A lot. Actually I can’t even begin to count how many times I was beaten to the point of where I was curled over on the floor in pain.” She knew a little of my background, but not that much. I let out a deep sigh and began to tell her what had happened during the years I had been under Kilnakarn’s violence. I had barely finished when I noticed the nurse had tears in her eyes.

  “You say you spent two years undergoing that sort of abuse?” Elder Willow asked.

  I nodded. “A little over two years. They did their best to patch me up in the harem, but he seldom ever brought in a healer for us. We had to make do with what we had. I learned a lot of folk magic from the other women, although most of it is beyond my scope in terms of magic.”

  As she turned off the imaging machine, Elder Willow looked like she was debating what she wanted to say to me. “I’m not sure how to tell you this…”

  “Just be direct. I don’t handle pussyfooting around very well.”

  “As I said, you have a great deal of scar tissue. So much that it’s going to become a problem later on. The scarring will hurt more as you grow older. I suggest that you consider a preemptive hysterectomy. There’s no way to heal that damage that I see in there. It’s probably even worse than I expect.”

  I stared at her, her words cascading in on me.

  “In fact, I doubt that you’ll ever be able to get pregnant. I’m going to write your prescription anyway, for an herbal tincture that you drink once a month—it will prevent you from getting pregnant. And even if you manage to get pregnant, I suggest you do not attempt to carry to term. I give you a 5% chance of ever getting pregnant naturally, and even if you did, you’ll only have a 10% chance of carrying a child full term. I’m so sorry, but the damage to your reproductive system is extensive and I’ve only done a precursory exam.”

  I sat up, looking at Elder Willow. “I can’t have a child? If I ever want children I’ll need to adopt?”

  She picked up her prescription pad and wrote out a prescription. “Unfortunately, that’s my take on it. We’ll do some more tests over the coming months, but I don’t expect the findings to change — in fact it may be worse than I think. Here, this is not only an herbal birth control, but it’s also an anti-inflammatory. It should help some of the inflammation that’s running rampant through your body. And I can tell you, inflammation isn’t good for you at all. It doesn’t matter where it starts.”

  She motioned to nurse Forochain. “Schedule Lyrical for another appointment in a couple weeks. We’ll want to do more tests so give it a good hour or so.” Turning back to me, she said, “Do you have any questions right now? Do you need to make an appointment with your therapist to talk about this?”

  I shook my head, deep in thought. “No, I’ll be all right. I wasn’t sure I even wanted children. I just wish the choice had been left up to me.”

  They left me to dress and when I went out to pay my bill, I found myself thinking of all the things that would never happen now. This guaranteed that my family would never reconsider taking me back. Even if they could overlook the fact that I’d been tainted—according to them—the fact that I couldn’t do my duty to court and crown meant I was useless in the political realm. And truly, my deepest sorrow came from the fact that my choice had been taken away from me. Kilnakarn had struck again, long after he was locked up.

  I had time enough to stop off for a bite to eat before heading to the jail, and I needed that time to process what I had just learned. I ordered a double-decker cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake, then pulled into an empty parking lot to eat my lunch. My phone jangled and I glanced at it. Yutani had sent me a good-morning text, but at the moment, I didn’t feel capable of answering. I set the phone down and finished eating.

  What would this mean for me? It wasn’t like I was looking for a family. But…on the other hand, if I ever did meet my perfect match, they’d have to be okay with living a child-free life. And maybe this was for the best. I couldn’t imagine having to explain to my children what their Mother had been through while she was captured. Even if I didn’t tell them till they were older, I’d have to explain why they’d never be accepted by their maternal grandparents, and then—once they were older—they’d find out. One thing I learned about children while cloistered in Kilnakarn’s harem, was that they knew secrets without being told. They weren’t stupid—they knew when they were being lied to. I’d have a lot to unpack with Sejun during my next appointment. I finished off my burger and popped the last fry in my mouth. Settling the milkshake in my cupholder, I wiped my hands on a napkin, fastened my seatbelt, and started the ignition. It was time to focus on work, and I was grateful for the distraction.

  Herne, Wendy, and Phoebe were waiting when I pulled in. I was only two minutes late, so they must have gotten to the jail early. I joined them, popping a mint into my mouth.

  “I’m sorry if I’m late —” I started, but Herne waved away my apology.

  “You aren’t. We just got here early. Ready?”

  Wendy and I nodded, and the truth teller murmured a subdued yes. Herne turned, and led the way into the facility. We followed behind him. This time, with Herne in the lead, we were escorted right on through. We still had to go through the metal detectors and magic detectors, but there were no side looks or arched eyebrows. Sergeant Oaklorn was there, and he recognized me and nodded hello. He motioned for us to follow him back through the doors leading to the cells.

  “Will the anti-magic zone affect the truth-teller’s abilities?” I asked.

  He paused, then said, “It might, though I don’t think so. But we do have a policy in place to circumnavigate issues like this. We have a room where we can disable the anti-magic buffer for a brief time. It requires extra guards, but given the nature of this situation and the seriousness of the accusations against the prisoner, I’ll approve its use.” He turned into the room that we had been in before. “Until it’s ready though, you’ll need to stay in here. I’ll come get you when everything is in place.” He paused, bowing slightly to Herne, respect evident in his eyes.

  As we waited, with two new exceptionally large and burly guards on the opposite side of the room, I wondered how Vixen was doing. On one hand, I knew they were extraordinarily strong, not only in body but in nature. Or perhaps, resilient was the word. Whatever the case, I had no doubt that they could manage through being incarcerated for a while. But a long time? That was another matter.

  “Do you know how Apollo’s doing?” Herne asked.

  “I’ll check,” I said, pulling out my phone.

  Wendy, Herne, and Phoebe remained silent, and that was when I realized we were all nervous. I wasn’t certain why Phoebe should be nervous, but I could feel it wafting off of her like a faint mist. Wendy was a bundle of nerves and I had the feeling it had to do with being in Phoebe’s presence. And even Herne seemed on edge. We had a lot going down, and this case hadn’t been on the schedule. I wondered if he resented Vixen for embroiling us in a life or death case. But then again, it hadn’t been Vixens fault — not if they were innocent. And in my gut, I truly believed Vixen had no part in the attempted murder.

  As I texted Raven, the text was sluggish and didn’t want to go out. I turned my phone to him so he could see the bar slowly advancing.

  “It’s got to be that the heavy concrete and lead and other materials in this building block transmissions. They want to make sure that none of the inmates can reach the outside without supervision. So you’ll probably find a good percentage of your texts and some of the calls, will drop.” Herne glanced around at the walls. “This is a cold place. At least it won’t get too hot in summer, but I sure wouldn’t want to be here.”

  I wondered how much it differed from Herne’s palace, a great structure of stone and brick. “I know your castle’s in Annwn, but if it were here, wouldn’t you have the same problem? How different is concrete from brick?”

  “Not that much difference, really. I think concrete may be a little bit denser, but there isn’t much variance between the two. Why?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I was just thinking about whether it would be harder to get a cell phone signal in your palace or in this facility. But your castle would have to be over here for a fair test.”