“You're the insane one if you think I'm the kind of woman who would abandon my child. And not to simply move away to another state but to another time!”
“Another state?” He sat up but remained on the bed.
“Stop getting hung up on my words and listen to mymeaning, you pompous, jack-off, fucktard, asshat, nincompoop! This is low, even for this version of you, King Asshole! I cannot believe you! I'm going to give you soooo much shit over this when I get back to my time.” I pointed at him to add, “You just wait!”
He stood up and cocked his head at me. “You need me to get home. I need you to give me a child. It is the only thing I want from you.”
“Yeah, I got that, Romeo.” I waved toward the candlelit table. “As if I didn't see right through your seduction routine. You just don't fucking listen, do you? We're married! I know every trick in your book.”
He was really baffled by that one. “What book?”
“What did I say about listening to my meaning? Go through my words and think. Get the gist of what I said. You're not that dense.”
“Dense.” Arach scowled. “Ah. Yes, I think I'm getting your meaning. But we're past seduction. I thought I'd show you some respect by being honest with you.”
“Great. I love respect. Now, how about you show me some respect as your wife and help me out of matrimonial duty? After all, I'm going back to you.”
“And also leaving me here without an heir. This is my price for helping you.” He lifted his chin.
“Don't try me, Arach.” I pointed at him. “You're not the only game in town. I can go straight to High King Cian if I need to.”
“And I can mirror him in ten seconds and tell him a crazy woman has just escaped my dungeons and is headed his way.”
My eyes must have gone fiery because his widened briefly, but this time with lust. This only made me angrier. “You are really pissing me off.”
Arach grinned. “You need me. And if what you say is true, you should have no problem with having sex with me.”
“I don't. I'd jump in that bed right now if that was all you wanted.” I stalked over to him and shoved a finger into his chest. “But you're asking for a baby, Rumpelstiltskin. And you're the crazy one if you think I'm the kind of woman who would sacrifice one child to get back to others.”
“You wouldn't be sacrificing them. You'd be leaving them with their father.”
“And completely changing the future.Ourfuture, you idiot! Even if I were able to leave a baby behind, I couldn't. I have to alter as little as possible here. Creating a new life is about as time-altering as it can get.”
Arach leaned into me, his face shifting, going sharper as the scales at his temples spread down the sides of his face. Oh, fuck. The perv was getting even more aroused.
I stepped back.
“Why don't we start with just sex, then?” His hand slid around my waist and his head lowered to mine.
At any other time, Arach would have gotten all he wanted and more from me. But this wasn't my Arach, and we had just argued about him demanding a child that I'd have to leave behind. A child who would also break the future. The very future another child of ours had fought so hard to fix.
Samara. I saw her in my mind, nestled in my arms with my boys and Arach huddled in around us. My brave, strong girl. She had risked her very existence to come back and save me. Not just me, but also Arach. All of us, in all the realms.
Arach jerked back. “Great fire! Are you crying again?”
“You have no idea what you're risking,” I whispered. “What sacrifices have been made for your future.Yours, Arach.” And then I did something that I never would have done in any other situation. I hauled back and hit him. Not a slap, but a full-on, nose-breaking punch.
Arach flew back onto the bed and passed out. I felt a moment of satisfaction to see him sprawled there. But then I remembered my predicament. What the futterwacken could I do? Oh, damn, Az. Nope! I needed to focus. All right, I could fly to the Castle of Eight, but that might upset the knights on duty, and I didn't know when Arach would wake up. I'd have to fly most of the way and then . . . wait.
“There's more than one ring,” I said. Then, with excited revelation, I exclaimed, “There's more than one ring!” And I knew exactly where the other ring was. “The Earth Kingdom.” I snorted. “Sorry, Rivella. Really, I'm not after your man. But I am after his jewelry.”
Chapter Nine
I left the comatose Arach and went to the window. I didn't have any time to waste. With the opening of the panel, heat blasted in, wafting off the lava flows that glugged endlessly down the sides of the mountain facade of Castle Aithinne. I sighed in delight, my dragon lifting her head inside me to bask in the warmth as well. Yup, it was time to summon her forth, but I couldn't risk going full dragon. I wasn't sure if I could glamour myself invisible in that shape, and this wasn't the time to experiment.
After removing my clothes, I rolled them into a ball around my shoes and covered myself in a cloak of invisibility. Then I shifted into my weredragon form, golden scales rising over my skin, horns growing from my head, wings from my back, and a tail from lower down. My hands and feet became talons, and I had to be careful to not damage my clothes when I picked up my makeshift pack. I probably would have been fine in that form. Any glance in my direction would leave the viewer assuming that I was an Air-Sidhe. But I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, I wasn't just flying across Faerie, I was also entering another kingdom. And I, unlike Rivella, didn't have permission to visit.
With a great leap, I launched out of the window, leaving it open for Arach to work out. He's a smart guy, he would know how a Dragon-Sidhe would escape Castle Aithinne. I knew he was going to be a problem for my future or rather, past self. My past but this time's future. Ugh, this was what I got for messing with time.
