Betrayals of Spring (Forever Fae #2)(17)

“Ashur, I want you to stay with Elissa while Calista and I sort this out,” I insist while turning to acknowledge him. He bows his head and his lips tilt up slightly. I know he’s happy about my request, but I can feel he’s hesitant to leave me alone. He knows I don’t want them to be in here when Calista and I speak with Finn.

The door opens and Ariella walks in first and heads straight for me. Her long, platinum blonde hair is soaked and her translucent blue eyes can’t hide the fear and worry emanating from them. Her boots squeak across the wooden floors as she closes the distance. She gives Finn a long, hard look while wrapping me in her arms and whispering urgently in my ear, “He’s after you this time, isn’t he?”

The thought of it should terrify me, and it did in the beginning, but now all I feel is anger and disgust for being played like a fool. The dark sorcerer has already violated me one too many times, so what’s the worse he can do now? I’ll be ready for him when he makes his move.

I hold onto my younger sister and I can feel the power flowing through her body. She’ll be twenty-one in another few months and there’s no telling how much her power will grow then. I hate keeping the secret of my healing capabilities away from them, but now that I know the dark sorcerer has been spying on me it’s a good thing I haven’t said a word. I look over Ariella’s shoulder at Calista and she motions with her hand for me to hurry up. She’s holding Merrick in her arms and the poor little thing looks tuckered out. I let go of Ariella so I can look at her face.

“Yes, he’s after me this time, but I don’t want you to worry about me. I’ll be fine,” I encourage her. “Can you take Merrick into another room while Calista and I speak?”

“Of course,” Ariella says while nodding her head. She walks over to Calista, takes the sleepy Merrick into her arms, and ventures off down the hall.

Finn is impatiently tapping his foot up and down on the floor waiting on Ariella to leave the room. Once she is gone, he looks back and forth from Calista to me expectantly.

“Alright, we’re alone now. What the hell is going on?” Finn demands.

“There’s something on your body that is laced with black magic and we have to find it, now!” Calista answers urgently.

Finn’s eyes go wide as he takes in a sharp breath. I think he realizes the dire situation we are in. He backs up slowly and lowers his gaze. He looks distraught and it makes my heart ache for him. I can’t imagine how it would feel to know my body was being taken over and used in a sick game of charades. There are so many emotions flowing through me that I don’t know which one to hold on to. If the dark sorcerer fooled us all these years, there’s no telling what things he has done without our knowledge.

Finn is shaking and clenching his hands into tight fists of fury. I take a couple of slow steps toward him, but he abruptly turns around to put his back to me.

“I’m so sorry, Mel,” he whispers. “Did I ever do anything to hurt you when he was in my body?”

Thinking back there were times when he did get a little rough during our intimate moments, but telling him that would just send him over the edge. I don’t want to hurt him like that.

“No, Finn. You never hurt me,” I whisper back.

We need to find the magical object and get rid of it. That way the dark sorcerer can never take over his body again. The dark sorcerer can imitate him, but with all of our powers combined in one place, I don’t think he’ll be able to fool us. Being around my sister feels like it’s magnified my power to a whole other level.

I could feel the dark sorcerer’s presence more when Calista was around. I’m starting to think that we’re more powerful together than apart. This concept is definitely something we need to discuss.

Finn gently pulls away and turns around to face me. He looks down at me with his sensual amber eyes and draws me tight against his body. I wrap my arms around his waist and I lay my head on his chest.

I can hear the deep rumble of his voice when he asks Calista, “What could I possibly have on my body that would have been spelled by the dark sorcerer?” He lifts the arm that has his golden band circling his bicep and continues, “I’m not wearing anything other than my clothes and this golden band I received as a gift from Durin, the dwarf leader when Mel’s arrows were deliver-ed.”

I stand back abruptly to take a look at his gold cuff. It was supposed to be a gift from Durin, but Durin didn’t deliver it, one of his people did. I knew I found it odd that Finn would receive such a gift. It never made sense, but now that can only mean one thing...there’s a traitor in the dwarf kingdom!

“It’s the cuff! Finn, take the cuff off!” I yell appre-hensively. As long as he has it on his body, the dark sorcerer can take him over. He slides it off quickly and it falls to the floor with a heavy thump. We all freeze in place and stare at the gold band lying helplessly on the floor. I want to take it and rip it to shreds, but I have no idea how to destroy it.

“Finn, would you mind getting me something to wrap it in?” Calista asks.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he says and quickly sets off in search of something to use. When he’s out of sight Calista grabs both my arms in desperation.

“Mel, this is really bad news. He’s played games with you for five years now. He could have taken you multiple times. Why would he do that?” she asks, confused.