Inevitably Yours

QUINN

“Q!” Michael shouted. He looked panicked as I stood. Every inch of my body was on fire, and I struggled to get back to my feet. Clearly, I couldn’t take this Fae’s magic from him.

“What have you done to her?” Michael asked worriedly while his opponent struggled to remove the broken spear from himself.

“I did nothing, dog,” the Fae beside me taunted my mate. Michael’s shoulder was bleeding around the spear lodged within it. I had no idea how he was even moving his arms. My extremities pulsed in pain as I tried to pull myself together.

“Why are you trying to kill us?” I panted, narrowing my eyes at the Fae.

“We are simply testing you like we would any animal brought to the palace,” he laughed. “If you are unfit for service, then your fate will be that of any other lame animal.”

“This is cruel!” I barked at him. M roared and shifted. Eros immediately went for his opponent’s head, and I turned not to watch. The sound alone sent bile rising up my throat.

When I turned back, Michael was back on two feet facing the King. He spit on the ground, jeering him. “Next,” the King said, and for the first time, I could see some displeasure on his face.

Michael was pouring b***d, but I wasn’t sure if the pain in my body was his or mine. This was so bad. I had no idea how to fix him, and no matter how determined he was, there was a point he couldn’t survive.

“Arathorn,” the Fae next to me announced, and my head snapped to him.

“What did you just say?” I asked in disbelief. Arathorn couldn’t possibly be Michael’s last opponent. If he was on our side, why would he agree?

“He may not look it, but Arathorn was once a very well-respected leader among our martial ranks,” he answered. “His servitude to the King is not to be mistaken for lack of competency.”

I turned back to the arena, swallowing hard. Arathorn didn’t need to be exceptionally skilled in combat with the ability to halt time. He stood across from M with an enormous hammer; it was hard to imagine that as an effective weapon at all. His normal loose attire had been discarded. I couldn’t believe I was looking at the same Fae.

“We need to heal mate!” Sapphire screamed at me. She was right, but I still had no idea how to do it.

MICHAEL

“It was all for nothing,” I growled. “Fail. Pass. We were never getting out of here, were we?”

With a sigh, he looked at me with a strained expression, “It was never up to me.”

“You always had a choice!” I roared. “You could have left us where we were. You didn’t have to come for us!”

“You know nothing, young pup,” he replied, his expression softening.

“There’s no point in talking,” I told him. My right hand felt like it was shattered beyond repair after hitting the shield so many times, and my left wasn’t doing much better. I’d lost so much b***d that I couldn’t tell where the red stopped and the purple from my other two opponents began, and my chest was open and bleeding still. I had only a short time left to finish this fight if I was even capable of doing so.

“No, there isn’t,” Arathorn said wistfully, bringing his hammer to bear in front of him with ease. His physical appearance did not match his attitude.

“So, I take it you’re a graduate of this Bellaitohr too?” I asked, trying to gauge how much of a threat my enemy would be. His usual appearance was plain and reserved compared to the warrior that stood before me.

Finally, his cocky demeanor returned, “The school of instruction I attended has long since found its place in the history of our people. I did, however, found Bellaitohr and served as its master for many years.”

“I don’t care how old you are,” I growled. “I’ll put you in the ground where you belong.”

I propelled myself forward, hoping to catch him off guard. One blade shot forward toward his face as the other swept toward his legs. It would be hard for most warriors to block or react to both. Apparently, Arathorn wasn’t in that category. His footwork was at an expert level, and he spun the war hammer in his hands like it weighed nothing. It parried the blade coming toward his face, and he danced away from the blade meant for his legs. I seamlessly continued to attack him, both hands working independently as I attacked high and low and side to side, looking for any opening I could. I should have been able to get around the much heavier hammer at some point with what would have been faster and more agile blades. Arathorn continued to defy logic as his hammer spun in his hands like a baton, defeating every s***h, stab, or swipe with ease.

“You clearly do not understand your role here,” he hissed, a look of anger flashing across his face for the first time.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“I know you took me from my home. I know you’ve threatened to treat my mate like livestock. I know you see her and I as nothing more than animals. Most importantly, I know that most of you deserve death, you especially,” I replied, each sentence accompanied by a dizzying wave of strikes to every part of his body I could see. Seeing was becoming a problem. The longer we fought, the dizzier I became, and I wasn’t sure how I was standing anymore. It was just sheer willpower at that point, pushing me forward to finish my task and get to Quinn to end all of this. “I won’t die and leave her alone with you monsters. Failing this test means nothing if she isn’t safe.”

I finally broke through his defenses for a moment, cutting a thin line across his neck before his hammer blew my blade away. The hard blow interrupted my rhythm, and I regretted it immediately when his hammer lashed out, catching the side of one of my knees. It crumpled sideways, destroyed. I fell to my opposite knee, almost falling to the ground. I managed to keep myself mostly upright, my swords wanting to fall to the ground as I willed them to stay in front of me. Arathorn started pacing back and forth, throwing out individual blows with his hammer as he tested my resolve. I eluded them with some difficulty before I pushed myself back onto both feet, only able to put minimal weight on my ruined leg. My ability to move was compromised, and I wasn’t sure how much more effectively I would be able to continue, let alone fight.

“You are skilled,” Arathorn admitted. “Still, you cannot overcome the gap of experience. I first picked up this hammer before your ancestors were even changed into what you are now. Empires have risen and fallen, yet I am still here.”

“f**k you,” I spat in pain and defiance. “I don’t care how old you are. I won’t lose to you.”

Another blow to my ribs stopped anything else I was going to say as I wheezed out a forced breath. My ribs shattered under my left arm, and Diagne fell to the ground as I lost the ability to hold it. I stumbled backward, struggling to draw breath and using Safir to try to keep Arathorn at a distance. He could finish me any time he wanted. I wouldn’t be able to stop him more than a few more times. My body wouldn’t do what I asked, and Eros whined in my head in desperation.

“MICHAEL!” Quinn screamed from above me, pure terror flooding through our bond. I wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but all I could focus on was my labored breathing and staying upright. Goddess, I missed her. At least we’d had one last night together in this life. I needed to get to her. I couldn’t let them have the woman who pledged her life to me.

I fell forward, feinting that I was collapsing. Arathorn rushed forward with an overhand strike, but I used the energy I had to push off my good leg outside of the hammer blow and bury my blade into his belly. It was my first real success in the fight, and he looked at me in amazement before backhanding me away from him with the hammer. I couldn’t hold onto Safir any longer, so she stayed in the Fae as I landed in a heap several feet from him. I could hear Quinn screaming, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying anymore. I failed her; I’d promised her freedom, but I couldn’t even do that. Arathorn stalked over to me after removing my sword. Violet b***d poured from his wound as he tried to staunch the flow with one of his hands.

“That was. A. Good one,” he laughed. “I’ve never been wounded in battle like this. You should count yourself lucky.”

“Go. f**k. Yourself,” I wheezed, unable to stop myself from painfully laughing at the situation. It was all ridiculous. I was in another world talking to an ancient fairy I stabbed, and I was about to die. It was too much. That’s when Quinn’s voice stopped. The arena around us became still in a way that it wasn’t before. No wind, no movement. Arathorn stopped time again.

“Are you sparing her? From watching this?” I asked in confusion.

“No,” he g*****d. “You need to stay down, you imbecile. I know you have your pride, but stay down. I’ve been trying to help you through these forsaken tests all along, but you don’t listen. She must fail to heal you. That doesn’t mean you have to die. I’m trying to send you home.”

I was not in a state to comprehend the total change in Arathorn’s demeanor, but at least his condescension was still on point. “Why?” I asked, unable to think of another question.

Arathorn paused, now standing over me, “I once loved my given as you do. I was forced into servitude because of it, and I do not wish to see it happen again. I also do not wish to be a zookeeper and stand watch over you. I assure you that neither of you will enjoy what the kingdom would have in store for you.”

I laid my head against the hard-packed dirt beneath me. At least Quinn might be set free. I didn’t think I would survive what Arathorn had done to me.

“Promise me,” I forced out. “That you’ll get her home.”

“Quit your dramatics, animal,” the Fae said dismissively. “You will live.”

“Promise!” I demanded. I didn’t believe him.

“Fine,” he said with a sound that could only have been accompanied by an eye roll. “I swear it upon the only love I have ever known.”

The pain in his voice when he talked about his mate sounded like he understood what Quinn meant to me, even if I didn’t think anyone could truly fathom the depth or the infinite amount that I loved that woman. I didn’t trust him, but I had to trust his word. I had no choice.

“I will begin time once more,” he warned. “Stay. Down.”

“Not a problem,” I chuckled painfully.

I felt the wind on my face once more, and Arathorn stepped over my body, hiding me from view. His hammer came over his head, and he brought it down hard. Only, it pounded into the dirt next to my head instead of into me. Quinn’s scream filled me with a deep sorrow like I’d never felt before. I wished I could link her. I wanted to tell her we would be okay. To her, she probably thought she just watched me die, though.

Arathorn turned towards the King, “She has failed-”

He was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. I looked above, and the platform Quinn and her captor were on was no more. The rubble was covered in a blue flame, and suddenly, I was filled with a warmth I could only compare to having Quinn in my arms.

Arathorn’s face blanched as he looked down at me. He clearly wasn’t expecting whatever this was, no more than I.

My bones knit back together, and my breathing became easier. The pain completely subsided, and my wounds closed. I stood slowly, turning toward where Quinn should have been. I saw her one hundred or so yards away from me, outlined in the blue flame I’d seen within her during the second trial. Her eyes were ablaze, and there was a line connecting her to me. Looking down at myself, I was covered in her flame, too, before it subsided. Slowly the line faded from the ground, and the dazzling light receded into her, only leaving the absolute beauty of my mate behind.

“Quinn… what did you?” I mumbled.

“The dog has passed the third trial!” her captor exclaimed, wiping the dust from his needlessly opulent clothes. He hadn’t been hurt in Quinn’s explosion but had been caught off guard.

Dread filled my chest, and warm tingling of fear spread down my spine. Now healed, I sprinted toward Quinn. I had a promise to fulfill, and I would do it before they separated us again. Arathorn promised, but that was when he thought Q failed. Apparently, he had not factored in what might happen if she thought her mate was dead.

The Fae with Quinn sneered as I closed the distance, yellow electricity buzzing in his palms. He opened his mouth to say something, but as I drew both the sai from my lower back, he was frozen mid-sentence. Arathorn was helping me. I’d come to realize the Fae had god-like powers, and although I’d killed two of their younger males, I had no chance against the older ones. I didn’t hesitate to put the blessed weapon through the Fae’s throat before sliding to a stop before Quinn and pulling her into my arms.

As time began again, the Fae clutched his throat, trying to breathe. Quinn’s eyes took a moment to focus and recognize I had her, and the sense of relief that poured through us was almost worth the time apart.

I raised the sai behind her back, ready to do as I promised, “I love you, Quinn.” I didn’t give her a chance to reply as my lips crashed into hers. My hand dropped, about to skewer us both, when someone’s voice stopped me.

“STOP!” the King roared. He stood on his feet from his throne above us, rage written clearly on his face. Quinn slumped in my arms slightly; I could feel her exhaustion. Whatever she just did had to take everything she had. I didn’t move the sai from its poised position at her back.

“You will not defame this institution with your suicide antics,” he thundered.

“Your majesty,” Arathorn spoke up. Slowly the monarch’s attention moved to Arathorn. “I believe we had an agreement.”