Free Faery Queen by Michelle M. Pillow Page B

pulled it off him. “What are you doing? Leave him be. The physician—”
    The words never finished. The woman grabbed hold of Hugh and pulled his arm against her chest. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. It was as if she said, “I am sorry.”
    â€œNay!” Thomas lunged on the bed, but he landed on the empty, blood stained coverlets. “Who are you? Why do you do this?”
    She didn’t answer.
    â€œRees!” Thomas yelled.
    â€œAye?” the little spright said.
    â€œWhy didn’t you stop her?” he demanded.
    Rees’ big eyes teared. “I cannot. I’m just a spright. I’m sorry. I cannot. I do not have her power.”
    Realizing that yelling at the spright wasn’t going to help his cause, he said, “I do not care how risky the journey is, find me away into the immortal realm. Now.”
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    Fire Palace of the Damned
    Hugh’s body burned from heat and shivered from cold at the same time. It was an odd, contrasting sensation, but the only way his hazy mind could think to interpret it. Soft hands touched his face, but he couldn’t see a person to go with them. Beneath him, his bed was hard, flat stone.
    With each gentle caress the sharp pain that had wrapped him in darkness began to lessen. His neck no longer hurt and the soreness in his arm subsided. Though, deep inside, an ache remained—an ache in his soul, an emptiness he couldn’t explain.
    â€œI did what you asked,” a woman’s voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar. “He is alive, but barely. The men of his world know nothing of healing. They have sapped him of his strength.”
    â€œLeave us,” a deeper male voice answered. “I will take care of the rest. Queen Tania will get what she asked for, but only too late will she know at what price.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?” the woman asked. “Why have me save him, only to kill him?”
    Why could not he see? Hugh tried to move, tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t. Still, he felt better as the bodily pain subsided even more.
    â€œDo you not know me by now, Mia?” The man gave a cryptic laugh. “I am going to have my fun. Now, I suggest you leave me to it. I do not think this is anything you want to watch.”
    â€œLucien, nay!” the woman answered. “You do not have to do this.”
    Hugh’s mind was at instant attention. Lucien? The Lucien? King of the Damned? How did that evil being get into Bellemare?
    Then, remembering that King Lucien couldn’t go into the human world, Hugh was racked with fear. He was no longer at Bellemare. He was in the realm of immortals once again.
    Nay! He tried to cry out. Lucien’s sinister laugh answered the thought. It was as if he could hear inside Hugh’s head.
    â€œLucien,” Mia begged. “Please, I just healed him. Why—?”
    A sudden, sharp agony hit Hugh’s chest. He wanted to cry out at what felt to be the cut of a blade across his chest, but he couldn’t. Mia screamed, her voice growing fainter as footfalls ran off into the distance. The woman had left him alone with the demonic king. He wasn’t sure how he knew with certainty that they were alone, he just did.
    â€œIn my home at last, Lord Bellemare,” Lucien said. “How I have watched and waited for you. Open your eyes to me. Look at me.”
    Hugh did, blinking in the dimmed firelight as he found the Damned King kneeling on the floor beside him. The hall was large and dark, unlike any human structure he’d ever seen in all his travels as a knight. The king’s dark face was covered in ash and dust and the black pits of his demonic eyes burned with an inner fire. There was no mistaking his manlike features for those of a mortal. Only a devil could have eyes that burned in such a terrifying way.
    â€œI have waited a long time to have you once again in my grasp, Lord Bellemare. But I