Blood and Apples: An Annora Park Novel: Book One

Twenty Seven: Desperate Disintegration

It was so cold.  God.  It was so fucking cold.  I rub my hands up and down my arms, trying to initiate some heat, but come up completely empty.  I'm still frozen like a popsicle.
   "Here, my beloved," And Chamuel enfolds me in his arms and begins to stroke me.  Immediately I feel a sense of warmth flow through my body  and let out a deep sigh of relief.
   "You WILL let you go, High Heavenly Host," This from the Dark King Branuel Or De A'lanuel, who is staring at us with midnight black eyes and tightened lips.
   "My amour, is freezing.  She is losing much needed body heat in this dungeon you call a room.  So, unless you plan on rectifying the situation I shall continue to hold my beloved as I see fit."
   I watch the Dark Fae King advance and hold up a hand to stop him.  "Please, I say softly," shocked when the words seem to get through to him.  He stops moving and continues to regard me with those dark as dark eyes of his.  "Chamuel really IS helping me.  It's...it's soooo cold in here," and I take that moment to shiver once again, and my teeth begin to chatter.  What the hell is wrong with me? I mean, I've been in cold places before, this is not my first rodeo.  Why the is this gloomy freezing as fuck dungeon effecting me this way.
   "Her links are straining," This from Terrenel.
   "My what are what?" I mutter?  And try to keep my head clear.  The cold is seeping into my bones and my body is beginning to feel  light and not quite my own.
   "Quite right, Terrenel.  I believe we've stretched her bonds too far.  She has found her initial pieces and now she's trying to fit them into the proper...boxes, for lack of a better word."
   I turn around in Chamuel arms and cup both of his beautiful cheeks with my hands.  "You. Are. So. Beautiful.  Did you know that, Chamuel."
   Chamuel grimaces.  "My beloved I am most pleased that you find me handsome.  But you must control yourself right now, my amour."
   "I AM NOT DRUNK!" I say indignantly.  "I know what I'm like when I'm drunk.  And I'm not drunk right now." I ignore Walker's "are you sure," and continue.  "Am I not allowed to tell you that you're beautiful, my angel."  And I began to stroke his face, and and I love how his shudders.
   "You may call me beautiful anytime you like, my beloved, as long as you call me yours.  But it is as The Great One say, your links are straining right now.  We will, and do not think we will not, my beloved, we WILL finalize the links.  But this is neither the time nor the place.  Now my beloved.  Give me a kiss, and that should do to bring you back to yourself for the time being."
I don't hesitate.  I press a deep keep to Chamuel's luscious soft lips and moan.  His tongue slips in and does a wicked dance with my own.  My body blazes with an inferno I wasn't even aware I was capable of.
   When I pull away I'm flushed and a have a goofy smile on my face.  "Wow." I say.
   "Wow, indeed, my amour.  Now how to do you feel?"
   I frown then and try to gather my wits.  How did I feel? Hmmm...I guessI felt much much better.  It wasn't like I wanted to climb Chamuel like a tree right this second at least.
   "Better...I'm, uhhhh, feeling better, thank you Chamuel." I turn embarrassed eyes onto the Dark Fae King thing.  "Hey, listen, sorry about that little display...guess I'm still trying to come to terms with...uh everything."
   The Dark Fae Kings eyes gleam brightly.  "Oh, it was my pleasure, my midnight bride...it was my pleasure." And just when the hell had he gone from calling me his midnight queen to his midnight bride? Oyyyy....I soooo wasn't going there.  "It it my fervent hope that next time I will be able to join in," he says softly.
   I snort.  "Only in your dreams, Bid Baddie, only in you fucking dreams." I gasp when the Dark Fae King grasps my hand and refuses to let it go.
   "Oh my midnight bride, you HAVE no idea what lurks within my dreams....but..." and he pulls me scarily close, "You will...you certainly will."
   "Let me go before I have to cut you again." And why did my voice sound so damned breathy?
   "Promise?" He says, his mouth so close to my ear I can feel his hot breath caressing it. "Promise me Midnight Queen, promise I shall feel you blade upon my body once again, and mine upon yours, and I shall let you go."
   This was a bad man.  A REALLY bad man.  So why did my body clamor for him.  Why did I desperately want to be closer to him?  Had I'd not already established that Walker was my one and only Psycho. The only one I could possibly deal with with under the circumstances.  How had I now added the Dark Fairy King to the list?  Sure he was stupidly gorgeous (but so, were all my men) he had an air of complete mystery and a coiled web of true ferocity and pure unadulterated rage that should have scared the shit out of me (and usually it did) and yet...yet...something called him to me. 
I HATED IT!  I hated all these Stupid Graces!  I'd been raised Catholic, and right now I hated HIM too.  Why in the freaking fucking hell was I stuck in the position of utter purgatory?  It was like being thrust into the bowels of the deepest darkest pits of hell.  I didn't even know where to begin.
NO! NO Annora girl! YOU DO know where to begin.  You are First and Foremost a cop.  Remember what your mother said.  To strive, to forge a place, to live, to survive you have to give them exactly what they want...what they expect.  They want a Treader, they get a Treader. They expect a police officer, you give them a police officer.  They expect a Warrior, you give them a warrior.  They will see what they wish to see, my Annora darling, she'd so often said...you need only play your part in public.  And in private.  In private you may cry on my shoulder, Now, now, Annora girl, go and kick some ass. Oh God. Oh God. It was as if I could hear her voice right here with me. Speaking softly within my ear. How I wish she were here with me.
I laugh bitterly.  That was mama for you.  Always practical.  Always sure. Alway....there....until she wasn't.  God, mama, I wish you were here now.  Why the fuck did you have to go and get yourself dead.
I gather myself and I know that my men must see the look of complete calm and resolution on my face, because they all seem to ease slightly. Taking a less aggressive stance.  I wasn't sure if that was good thing, or a bad thing. Because I certainly wasn't any less wound up than before.
   I turn the full weight of my (what I know are cosmos touched eyes) on the Dark Fae King and incline my head, and give him a rueful smile.  I do apologize My Lord.  We have been...rude and remiss.  We came here with questions, and so far we have done nothing but squabble, fight and..." I gulp, "break down.  I truly forgive my part in it all.  And I hope you will find it within your ability to forgive some deplorable lack in etiquette  and manners."
   "Ach," The Dark Fae King starts towards me again and I don't care, I take a step back....yeah, that's just how much he creeps me out.  You continue to surprise me, my one and only Midnight Queen.  Women..women are simple creatures." He seems to spit out. "They long for...protection, comfort, position and status.  They chase these things sometimes with no thought as to the consequences of their actions.  But foolishness has occurred because of women...always because of women and their...their sensibilities and foolishness....just look at Helen of Troy and her besotted Paris.  To lose such a city.....to lose such true magnificence, over a ...." his eyes darken, "...a women.  I have promised myself I would NEVER, I would never let myself be snared in the net that so many others have allowed themselves to be snared in," And he shoots Terrnel a dirty look which I, and even more impressive, Terrenel, chooses to ignore.  "But you...here you are, and YOU ARE YOU."
I swallow, deeply, "...I told you, I'm just a police offer with the preternatural branch of investigation on Earth, Annora Park.  I have a rather dilapidated apartment, I'm terrible at making coffee and I'm roughly five maybe six years from my expiration date." I shrug. "I'm not sure what else you want me to say to you, my Lord?" And I really didn't. What did he expect from me. Hell, I was stretched so thin as it was I wasn't sure I had anything left to give.
"Expiration date?" The Dark Fae Kings eyes narrow dangerously.
I shrug. "It comes with the territory. I knew the score since I was old enough to walk. I'm a Treader, Your Dark Highness. I embrace the dark, and it, in turns, embraces me. But death has a price. It always collects.  And in my case...the price, well the price...it's my life."
"Unacceptable." The Dark Fae King spits out ferociously.  He turns those midnight upon midnight eyes on Terrenel and then onto Chamuel.  And there is a furious burning within them.  "Did you hear this folly? Did you hear this...this...impossibility?  You cannot mean to tell me that you accept such nonsense."
   "Sadly, Branuel Or De A'Lanuel Dark Fae King of the Dark Fae Court, it is not folly, nor it is far from the truth." Chamuel murmurs quietly, still running his hands up and down my arms to provide much needed warmth and soothing.  "Her dame did everything she could for her.  She siphoned magic for as long as she could, and she imbued that magic into her child.  But even she could not remain under the circumstances."
   I gulp.  "What do you mean, Chamuel," But he ignored me.
   "She is, we have discussed singular.  The only one of her kind.  She cannot be alone, not for too long.  He who designed her, designed her such.  Her mortal coil is only held together by threads, those threads are tied to links that she has had to find within her lifetime.  She had begun to finally come into her maturity and her bonds are straining.  They are reaching out for the ones they need.  She cannot continue denying these bonds for too long or they..." his voice broke off and I poked him in his side.
   "They'll what! Chamuel, they'll walk away? They'll leave?" I ask angrily.
   "They'll snap, amour.  You cannot expect bonds such as we have NOT to snap if they are not nurtured and...and finalized."
   My head is reeling.  "So you're telling me I've become like some total nymphomaniac because you're all around me?" I ignore Walker's burst of laughter and focus on Chamuel's tense face.
   "NO! No my beloved.  Not a...not...a...lose woman..." I laugh at the word.
   "Lose woman? Come on Chamuel, you can do better than that.  "You mean, whore, don't you?"
   Chamuel shakes me and I'm stunned.  "DO NOT EVER SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF AGAIN, my beloved! Do you understand? Do you EVER say it again!"
   I swallow.  "Okay, turn down the macho shit, okay.  I take it back.  Listen. I'm just a little confused.  You're telling me that I have these bonds between you," I point to a smug looking Walker, "him," I scrunch up my nose, "Mr. Handsome Fairy boy over there, and...." I swallow deeply at the look of pure dark arrogance on the Dark Fae Kings face, "....And...and...the Dark Fae King."
   "Branuel." The Dark Fae King's voice slithers over me like snakes coiling around my body and a shiver.  I hate snakes.
   "Uhhhhh....Branuel."
   Chamuel nods.  "He has designed it such.  It is your destiny, my beloved.  I wish," he voice drops off, and I'm once again aware that he's refraining from mentioned the Graces or that fucking blasted JOURNEY of his and I'm glad, because I'd probably have punched him something terrible if he had. "There is much more I must reveal, but this is neither the time nor place for such a discussion."
I wrench my arm free of Chamuel's and glare at him. "I think its the perfect time to discuss this, you arrogant—"
"—Birdie?" Walker supplies for me, and I cast him an angry side look.
"Oooooookkkkaaaay, look. I've accepted that I have some odd bond to you," I point to Chamuel, and a disgusting blood bond to you," And I give Walker another disgusted look, "....And well you..." I look at Terrenel's beautiful face and sigh, "I'd be a total idiot if if I denied there was something between us." I then point to Branuel the Dark Fae King and give him a total stink eye. "I...I have no such misgivings with you, you psychopath. I've just met you. And after you had your Ghoul tried to kill me, you kissed me and then told me that you wanted to uhhhh....uhhhh..."
"Yes, my midnight queen?" His asks, and his voice is warm and dark.
"Basically you hinted at wanting to torture me while you fuck me." I scrunch up my nose. "Just pardon me if that doesn't sound like appearing foreplay to me, like, at all." I'm stunned when the Dark Fae King bursts out into peels of laughter. And just like chocolate dipped strawberries, his voice is just that decadent.
    The Dark Fae Kin advances on me, and I take a few steps back, until I come flush against Terrenel's chest, and boy am I glad for his warmth and protection at this moment.
"Tha boireannaich nan creutairean gun luach. A. Briodadh d'ireach airson daoine a thaladh gu tobhta. Tha mi air a bitch beo gun chrioch a 'faighinn eolas air and seo. Agus an uairsin...an seo thig thu. Flu neonach a ' fas am meash na h-uimhir de thorns. De a ni mi riut?
"Uhhhhh, Terrenel," I whisper. Trying even harder to snuggle into his warmth.
"I...oh my beloved queen, I do not know what to tell you." Terrenel whispers, in my ear, and a roll my eyes.
I snuggle even deeper into his body. "Tell me the truth."
"He said, that women are faithless worthless creatures. And that they are put on this earth only to tempt men into ruin. That he has lived his entire existence knowing this fact, and yet...yet you came into his life. And that you are a singularly beautiful flower blooming among so may thorns. He...he's confused as to what to do with you."
Well that certainly made two of us. Women are faithless and worthless creatures? Wow.  Nice to know he held up in such great esteem.  No wonder he wanted to bleed and fuck us.  Oyyyy.   This guy was seriously messed up.  I blink. And stare at the Dark Fae King trying admirably NOT to hyperventilate. I feel completely out of sorts with him.  On one hand my body is screaming for him (Like seriously screaming for him) and on the other hand, I wan to run as far and fast as I possibly can from his absolutely crazy.  Because God knows the man takes psychopath to an entirely different level.
"Do you," I murmur, and I'm glad my voice doesn't shake, "I mean...do you...do you... think that maybe we can call a truce for the time being?" I mutter finally.  I almost laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.  A truce? A truce with the being that wanted to bleed and fuck me—maybe at the same time?  But I seriously couldn't think of anything better at present moment.
"I truce?" The Dark Fae King says with laughter staining his voice.  I can't tell if he's amused with me, or with my words.
"Uh-Huh. You know, where we uh, call a "stale-mate" for the time being. There is some deep, deep shit going on right now, and we really could use your help. We've seriously wasted way too much time with all of my, uh, our, personal shit." I hold up my hand. "I think it's perfectly clear that you and I have a LOT to shit to deal with it. And, that it's going to take a helluva lot of therapy to work through. But this is really not the time nor the place to deal with any of it."
"So pragmatic, my midnight queen, so very pragmatic."
I snort, "Yup just call me Annora Pragmatic Park," —not. And I try to take a few deep breaths. I could do this. I mean come on, I'd faced bigger shit than this before in my life.
"Just so, my beloved. Just so. So, take a deep breath, center yourself, and tell Branuel Or De A'lanuel what you need from him."
I wanted to tell Chamuel to stay the fuck outta my mind, but again, there was time and place for everything, and it's was not the time nor the place for such a altercation.
"We're having some serious issues on the human plane, Dark Fae King."
"Branuel." The Dark Fae King says, with a voice smooth and sinful as warm wrapped silk.
I swallow and nod. "Fine, Branuel," And I almost trip over the name. God. It feels so good on my tongue. A name shouldn't feel so damn good on my fucking tongue.  "Branuel, there is some really, really messed up shit going on over in the human plane and we need your help to figure it out."
   Branuel leans forward in his chair.  "Explain," he says simply.  And I do.