Whiplash (Through Time 2)

Good, good, good, she thought thankfully. He was still in control of himself. Maybe Fae didn’t do rash things—maybe that part of what she had been taught was actually correct?

“I suggest you leave before I decide to kill you,” said the Dark Prince.

“Not leaving, so why don’t you, as humans are so fond of saying, bring it. Leave the little human you have ruined and try and kill me,” Trevor said on a sneer.

The Dark Prince ignored him and, as though goading the Fae Royal, fondled the woman’s full breast.

Trevor roared with his rage as he put up his hand and called aloud for his Death Sword.

Ha, so much for not doing anything rash, Jazz thought as the sword appeared in his hand. She had been taught about Death Weapons. They were from Danu and were the only weapons that could kill Fae. She realized she didn’t want Trevor hurt. Well, duh, she told herself, of course you don’t. He’s your way home. Yes, but it was more than that. She actually liked him.

She stepped away to give him room and said to him, “Look, Royal, don’t get killed and leave me here.”

He laughed and said on a low and feral hiss, “Only one getting killed here today—and it is a Dark Prince named Hordly!”

The Dark Prince jumped away from the woman he had been using and reached for something under the nearby pillow.

His face was a mask of hatred as he bellowed, “You and I,”—his finger pointed at Trevor before he touched his own chest—“you and I, Seelie Prince, another time.”

And so saying, he was gone. He had shifted away, taking with him what had looked to Jazz to be a crystal ball.

She asked, “What … what was that he took with him?”

“An Orb. No doubt it was what he used to get through to this time. We will need it, I think, to get back.” He frowned as he tried to detach the naked woman, who had crawled to him and held him around his waist. She was trying to get into his leather pants and stroking his thigh for some attention.

When he stopped her, setting her firmly but gently aside, she stretched out on the bed and whimpered, “More … please … more …”

Trevor sighed. “I don’t really like humans, but I don’t like to see them suffer.” He shook his head. “I can’t do anything for her to make it stop. In the end, she will die, and it will be a slow death in which she will suffer an agony of need.”

“Then find a way to fix her,” Jazz said with distress. “You can’t leave her like this.”

“We don’t have that ability. What she suffers now is a form of madness. We Fae can cure many things but not madness.”

“How horrible—horrible. How can we just leave her like this?”

“Because we don’t have a choice,” he said and sighed heavily. “As I said, I don’t care to mingle with humans, but I don’t like to see the poor things suffer, either.”

“Can you ease her discomfort—can you try?” Jazz touched his arm, her voice a plea.

He looked at Jazz and said softly, “I will try. Perhaps a spell of compulsion will work.”

He went to the young woman, and in the voice of many, strong and sure, he looked into her deranged eyes and said, “Be at ease, sleep, eat, live, sleep, eat, live …”

He unbent from the naked woman, turned to Jazz, and said softly, “Perhaps that will ease her discomfort … I just don’t know.”

The woman curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

“I think it’s working.” Impulsively, Jazz threw her arms around Trevor. “Well done, Seelie Royal, well done!”

Though he didn’t acknowledge her comment, she noticed a slight smile curve to his lips before he said crisply, “We can’t lose any more time. We will have to try and follow his scent.”

“Won’t he disguise it now that he knows you’re here and on his heels?”

“Aye, he will blend with his surroundings, take on the scent around him, but Seelie Trackers have special abilities and can get past that.” He sighed heavily as he put up a finger to stall her. “I know, you are going to say we don’t have a Tracker, but, Jazmine Decker, you do have a Royal, and while my tracking ability is not as proficient as a Tracker’s, it is quite exceptional. We need that Orb, so let us hope my tracking skills will be enough to find him.”

“Then what? We can’t just flip in, flip out with the Orb.”

“Obviously,” he answered, taking her hand in his. “However, after I find him, I will use my unique ability to locate Seelie artifacts to help me retrieve the Orb. It travels in his sphere, you see. Where he goes, so goes the Orb.” He put her hand to his lips and said quietly, “You are a brave little Fios.”