Hels's Gauntlet [Forbidden Legacy 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Free Page B

little girl. “He wanted to see his son, but the knowledge that breaches existed would have ruined your hold over your people, and more would have slipped through your grasp.”
    “I am hardly the villain, my lord. I merely want to see my great-great-granddaughter. I want to introduce her to our world. To give her a greater taste of the destiny that belongs to her. To help her achieve the power she needs to free us completely from the Wizards’ curse.” She sounded so sincere, so very genuine. But power was her aphrodisiac and control her mistress. It left little room for genuine affection. Cassandra was merely a means to an end.
    A means to create her power base in the world beyond and hold firm control over her people as they merged with human society. From there, she could begin to exert her control over the world beyond, too.
    The Danae paced another three steps away and returned. Her expression hardened. “You have little time remaining, my lord. Little time before I will issue the order and bring Cassie under my protection fully. She spends too much time with the Wizards. She must—” She chewed off the end of her rant. Her wildly colored eyes flickered over him. “The full moon blossoms in seven days. You will present my pregnant-with-your-child Cassie to me at that time, or you will forfeit your life and the life of every member of your family.”
    Emotion flickered through him, a thimbleful of trepidation for the Queen’s cold-blooded pronouncement. He held it all in check, reined in behind a cold mask perfected over centuries of service to a fickle court where weakness could be devoured. “As you wish.”
    “Hmm.” The Danae vanished between beats of his heart, evaporating as though she never existed.
    Not that he seemed to garner that much luck. The empty throne room echoed with silence, and Helcyon pivoted, stepping sideways through the Underhill to the Brownie mounds. He would make his way back to the human world via safer passages, forcing any would-be pursuers to scramble to find him. The Danae’s many spies were good.
    He was better.
    The sunshine created a splash of bright color against the slowly greening fields. For the first time in three decades, the grass sprouted a bright green rather than a dim and sickly yellow. As more channels opened between the human world and Underhill, more nutrients flowed through. Even the magic tasted cleaner.
    He considered paying his respects to Leitha, but a long, lean figure detaching itself from the tree overlooking her garden sent a trill of warning skating over his nerves. With the barest push of thought, his sword coalesced into his fingers, slipping out of the seam of “other” he carried close to him.
    Instead of attacking, the figure held up both hands and walked forward in carefully controlled and measured paces. The sunlight struck his hair, pure white to Helcyon’s black, and rebounded off the painfully blue eyes. “Hello, brother…”
    Heart squeezing, Helcyon allowed the sword to lower but a fraction. “Kyrian.”

Chapter Three
     
    Joints aching, crackling, and popping like a man three times his age, Jacob released the Glashtyn to roam the property. Even the goblin seemed tired today. The beast who spent most of his time in the form of a black SUV enjoyed the freedom of their Sierra Nevada retreat. Being near Cassie again was just a perk. The goblin stomped his thick hooves against the snowy ground and snorted. He could travel in and out of the shield easily, but the passage of seasons offered the greatest allure to the beast.
    “I’m sure she’ll want to see you soon, so don’t wander too far.” Jacob reminded the goblin. Breath steaming in the colder air, Domoir bobbed his head in a facsimile of a nod. Domoir’s devotion to Cassie, easily reciprocated by the woman’s love for him, offered Jacob varying amounts of comfort and consternation.
    Inside the barrier, it was a warm spring day, right down to the flowers—and the gods be