Des'Tai: Book Two

105: Tyron

The image of the lifeless blonde was imprinted on my brain. Her body draped over the top of the table, one hand still against her stomach, clutching at the doomed life inside her. As we'd been ushered from the Hall, no one had touched her. She'd been left there, in the same place that she'd fallen, like a discarded piece of old furniture.

As we'd filtered out the door, I saw Eva approach the body and close her wide and unseeing eyes with the tips of her fingers.

Now, as I sat with Rune in a Pub Garden, a cold bottle of beer in my hand, I stared out across the water, my eyes locked onto Linux castle.

"That cold-hearted bastard," Rune was watching me closely; I could practically feel his stare. "How did no-one try to stop him?"

I didn't look at him as I replied. "Because no-one saw it coming. He was waffling on about loyalty and treason and next thing we all knew, he was slitting her throat. She was young, Rune, and pregnant."

"Pregnant with King Oren's illegitimate baby. I wouldn't have been surprised if that was the only reason he killed her."

"No," I sighed. "I think the pregnancy was a big of a surprise to her as it was to him. There was something off about her the minute I laid eyes on her; she looked uncomfortable in her own skin, Rune. She didn't plan to get impregnated by a tyrant...because, well, look what happened."

Rune lent forward, resting his forearms against his knees. "You really think there's a rebellion brewing against him? An uprising."

"I don't know," I finally looked away from the dark, looming castle to face him. "But there's no smoke without fire."

Rune mulled over it for a moment, swigging at his beer. "What about Bea and Primrose?"

"I lost them in the hustle and bustle, but I know Primrose wasn't dealing very well with it. She's only a kid – she didn't need to see that."

Oren hadn't cared who had witnessed it, young or old, they were all the same to him.

I'd been taken off guard by him, thinking that without his essence he wouldn't be as dangerous. How fucking wrong was I? Even if Eva was acting as his 'powers' to keep up appearances, Oren didn't need any help in instilling fear into the heart of his people.

I placed my beer bottle on the floor near the leg of my chair and dropped my head into my hands, releasing a deep groan. "The whole thing threw me off. I didn't even do what I went there to fucking do!"

Rune's hand landed on my shoulder. "It doesn't matter, we'll make it work. I'm sorry I wasn't there, Ty. I should have gone with you – Eva or no Eva."

"What is it with you and her?" I asked him, raising my head. "She didn't recognise me and I was the one she knocked out!"

Rune's jaw tightened. "Don't change the subject, asshole. We're talking about something important here."

Every single time I'd tried to bring up Eva, Rune had found some reason to either ignore me or shrug it off. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you sleep with her?"

"No!" His answer came out a little too quickly. "I did not sleep with the enemy. Goddess, you talk some shit sometimes."

"Then what? Do you fancy her or something?" I asked, cocking a brow.

Rune rolled his eyes. "She makes uncomfortable, alright? I've only met her once but it was awkward and unsettling."

I rubbed at my face again, trying to push out the images from dinner. Rune and Eva were a welcome distraction at the moment, so I'll be damned if he thought I was going to drop the subject so easily.

I waved a hand at him, encouraging him to continue.

"What?" He frowned at me. "There's nothing else to say. There aren't many women that I can say make me feel nervous, but she did. Creepy red-headed viper demon. I bet she's like one of those insects that bite the head off the male after they fuck."

"Wait – awkward, unsettled and now nervous? Bloody hell, Rune, all that from one meeting. Kinda reminds me of how I felt when I first met Faye..." I trailed off, thinking back to that day all those months ago. Those emotions had mostly been brought on because she was, at the time, a Fairy. But wings or not, I'd still felt the tug of our Bond, even if I hadn't known what it really was until later. "Do you feel an unexplainable pull towards her?"

I watched Rune's brows furrow together. "Why...?"

"Because you just described what I felt when I first saw my Faye and she turned out to be my Lifemate."

He pushed back against his seat like I'd slapped him, looking at me with sheer disgust. "I am not like you! That crazy bitch isn't my Lifemate! Just because you have to have a fucked up Mating, doesn't mean I do too."

I ignored his reaction completely, instead mulling over the idea in my head. "Would make sense why you keep trying to avoid her. You feel the pull, right? True, it's not ideal and I honestly wouldn't have pegged you with someone like her, but Elune doesn't make mistakes." A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. "I know what you're doing, Rune, because I did it, too."

Suddenly, my friend jolted to his feet, noticeably exasperated. "You don't know shit."

I picked up my beer bottle. "I think you know that she's your Lifemate but you're fighting it and ignoring it for as long as you possibly can, hoping it'll magically go away on its own. She's probably doing the same."

I couldn't say much – I did the exact same thing with Faye. As soon as I'd gotten an inkling of what she was to me, I'd done everything in my power to pretend like it wasn't happening.

Standing up, I stretched an arm out behind my back and finished off my drink. "Trust me when I say this – It doesn't go away. You'll bump into each other again and again until you do what you're supposed to."

"I am not a Lifemate kind of guy, Ty. It's just...not me."

I blew out a weak laugh. "That's exactly how I felt, too. You'll soon change your mind."

"No, I won't. My parents have gone their whole lives without it, I think I can do the same."

"And look how happy they are," I pointed out as I brushed past him. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'm so sick of this fucking city already. The sooner we get the Orb, the sooner we can leave." Which meant, the sooner I could get home and wait by that goddamn Helath for my own Mate to pass back through it. The more days that passed, the more I was determined I'd never let a world be between us again.

There was something about that blonde female tonight that had felt hauntingly familiar and for the briefest of seconds, as she'd clutched at her swollen stomach, I'd seen Faye in her place.