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She’d fainted.
Cain had made a beautiful, amazing vow to her, she had echoed it, they had gotten out of the throne room, and she had fainted.
Who knew that being a mouthpiece for the biggest, baddest god in all of the OZ would have drained her enough that she actually fainted. She had been taken to her room, by Cain according to Az, slept for nearly two days, also according to Az, woke up and been told impossible, heart wrenching news.
“Say that again?” She croaked, blue eyes wide as she stared at her sister.
“The vows you two made bound you together. You and Wyatt Cain are married.”
“Are you sure?” Her words were more whimpered than spoken.
Azkadilla raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at her. “I thought you would be happier about this. You’ve been in love with him, by your own admittance, since before the eclipse and that was almost two years ago now.”
“I want him to want to marry me, not because he has to, or because I tricked him into it!”
Azkadilla sighed. “DG, the vow he made to you isn’t the same as the one Jeb made to me. Jeb promised to be Champion and Protector and that he would trust me to do the same for him. Cain vowed to stand by your side wherever you go, whatever you do, to support and trust you in everything. He vowed to be your other half through this life and the next, and you did the exact same thing. The fact that you made these vows in the presence of the Unnamed is worth more than if you had made the same vows in front of a priest.”
DG knew she was getting paler than she already was. “Does he hate me? Does Jeb?”
“Oh for!” Azkadilla cut herself off. “Jeb knew the moment you did it what was happening and has already started teasing Cain about treating his ‘new mom’ right. As for Cain, do you really think he would make those vows if he didn’t mean it? The Unnamed offered a choice, and he chose to accept it. You might not have known what was going on, but he certainly did. In fact he’s been pacing for days worried you might hate
him for ‘tricking’ you into this.”
“Oh,” DG allowed her head to drop as she thought about everything Azkadilla had said. “I guess there’s only two things I can do now.”
“What’s that?”
“First, I’m going to be doing a lot of research so I can try to figure out what I’m up against.”
“Excellent idea.” Azkadilla nodded. “Though it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to find anything but fables and fairy tales.”
DG nodded. “Raw said they have lots of oral history. I might be able to find some answers for things like that.”
“Most of the guilds do, it’s definitely worth a shot. What’s the second thing?”
DG sighed and looked up at Azkadellia. “Avoid Wyatt Cain like the plague until I can figure out exactly what I’m going to say to him.”
Azkadilla stared at her sister for several minutes. “I give it two days.”
“You have no faith in me.”
DG was rather impressed with herself.
She had been managing to avoid both Cain’s, her sister, Raw and Glitch for the last three weeks. So what if a large part of it had been the fact that every single guild had shown up a day after she had woken up demanding answers?
A victory was still a victory.
She stifled a sneeze from the dust that had risen when she pulled down one of the large tombs from the shelf it sat on. When Toto had suggested that she look for answers in the Imperial Archives, which were placed in the bowels of Emerald City and only able to be accessed by a select few individuals, she had been hesitant. Nothing screamed scary movie like a large abandoned library hidden deep underground. The fact that what little lighting it held was few and far between, forcing her to use her own magic light, which only served to deepen the shadows made the whole experience infinitely worse. She shuddered and thanked every god she could think off that there were no creepy angel statues around. Thank you so much Dr. Who.
DG opened the book to see if it might have what she wanted and breathed in a large dose of dust. This sneeze she couldn’t stifle.
“Bless you.”
She froze.
There was no way she didn’t know that voice.
Wyatt-freaking-Cain was behind her.
Should have waited to congratulate myself. Dg thought as she turned to Cain, with a bright smile. “Thanks! The dust in here is terrible. Apparently there’s spells to keep the books in perfect condition but no one ever thought to use spells to keep the dust away.”
Her smile fell as she looked at him.
His face was drawn, frown deep, body tight and tense, but it was his eyes that held her attention.
Cain’s eyes, steely blue, had deeper flex in them, ones she had never seen before.
Gold and red floated among his blue.
DG didn’t notice the tomb falling from her hands as she reached for him.
“Cain? What’s going on? Are you ok?”
His jaw tensed and she knew he was grinding his teeth. “Three weeks wife.” Every word was growled and DG couldn’t help but start at the title he gave her. “The first week I waited, you didn’t come. The second I hunted,” he took a step toward her and she found herself taking one back. “I searched for anything, anyone that would keep you from me.” Once more he advanced and she retreated as a sound entered his voice. An undertone that made her think of a large jungle cat. “Do you know what I found?” She stared at him wide eyed as her back hit the book case. “DG, wife, do you know what I found?”
DG swallowed and shook her head trembling slightly as he caged her in with his arms.
“Nothing DG. I found nothing, do you know what I did next?”
She wet her lips and forced the word out of her mouth. “What?”
He leaned in close and whispered into her ear. “I hunted you.”
DG felt herself shudder and tilt her head to give him more room as he ran his nose up the column of her throat.
“I stalked you thinking you were upset with me,” he planted a gentle kiss behind her ear and DG’s eyes slide closed. “Then last night, I went to you. I watched you sleep in a bed that should be ours and do you know what I heard?”
She groaned as he nipped lightly at her neck.
“Do you know what I heard DG?”
She shook her head.
“Words DG. Give me your words.”
“I don’t know.” She whimpered as he pulled her hands above her head and held them firmly with one of his before the other dropped to her waist.
“I,” the words were growled low in her ear, “heard you call for me.”
She shuddered again, her mind begging to haze.
“You begged for me, called for me and I realized, my wife, my DG, isn’t mad she’s scared.”
DG’s head cleared in an instant. “Cain-”
“Wyatt, DG. Or husband, or love,” he placed gentle kisses down her throat as the hand on her waist began to move up and down her body, never quite touching where she was starting to want it to. “You are mine, and I am yours and you’ll call me by name.” He gave a sharp nip to a spot just beneath her jaw and soothed it a moment later with his tongue.
“Wyatt.” She breathed his name and arched into him.
“Good girl.” he breathed a moment before his lips met hers.
It was a claiming.
A branding.
And DG loved it.
She moaned into his mouth and arched into him more.
Abruptly he pulled away. She tried to chase his lips but he only retreated and gave her a rumbling chuckle, releasing her as he did so. DG blinked as he ran a thumb over her lips, grinning in a way that made her shiver and ache, and a whine left her throat before she could even think about stopping it.
His eyes flashed as he looked at her. “Don’t worry, wife. We’ll finish this, and I’ll teach you there is nothing to fear.” Cain began to back away. “I will never let you regret becoming mine.”
With that he vanished back into the gloom.
DG lifted her trembling fingers and touched her lips gently. For several long minutes she simply stood there, replaying everything in her head before she finally shook herself, bent down to retrieve the tomb and walked back toward the exit.
Even though she found she didn’t mind being hunted by Cain, it made her wonder what else could be hunting her. She found herself scuttling toward the door, eager to be away from anything less pleasant that might be hunting her from the shadows.
“Report,” a low voice ordered from twisting shadows.
“The man who was seaking her laid claim to her.” a second voice answered from the same shadows.
For several moments there was only stillness. “The Lady?”
“I am… unsure. She greeted him as a friend, and did not seem to fear him, nor did she dispute his claim, and though he is her’s I am not sure she is his.”
“What did they say to each other?”
“I do not know sir. I was too far away to hear.”
“Is there anything else to note?”
“His gift is getting stronger. I don’t think he realizes but he tracked the Lady by scent. He is also becoming stronger and taking on more characteristics of his spirit animal.”
“Do we know what it is yet?”
“I’m afraid not sir.”
“Keep an eye on our Lady. Do not help or hinder her.”
“If she is attacked?”
Once more silence descended. “Only interfere if it appears she will die. I will not risk any more of ours with the unknown. We will never blindly follow again.”
Mummers arose in agreement as the second speaker spoke once more. “I hear and obey.”
If anyone had been around to watch, to see, they might have noticed the shadows settling, and finally stilling, nothing but blackness once more.
Morning had come too soon for DG as she slid into a chair next to her sisters and reached for the pot of coffee.
“
It seems Cain finally managed to track you down.” Azkadilla stated calmly as she buttered her bread.
DG blinked at her for a moment then frowned. “How can you tell?” She demanded in a rough whisper leaning closer to her.
Azkadilla turned to look at her and raised one eyebrow.
“He left hickies didn’t he?!” She hissed and raised a hand to her neck.
B
oth of Azkadilla’s eyebrows shot up. DG opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Azkadilla held up a hand. “Stop! Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. I merely mentioned it because you’re here, he’s here,” she pointed her fork toward where Cain was sitting with Jeb, “and he’s not growling, snapping or threatening anyone with a bloody end if we get anywhere near you.”
DG blinked at her, shook her head, blinked again, rubbed her ears and turned back to Azkadellia. “Say what?”
“At first he was pretty calm but as time went on he got increasingly more aggressive. Asked me, and our parents, if we had told you to stay away from him. Kept wanting to know who would be threatening you to keep you apart.”
DG could only stare at her.
Azkadellia shrugged. “We told him we hadn’t even seen you to talk to you and that’s when he started stalking around the place.”
“What the hell!” DG whispered.
Her sister nodded. “I finally asked Jeb if he knew what was going on. It took a little while, but I got him to tell me a story his mother had told him.” She took a bite of her toast and slowly chewed.
DG’s eyes narrowed. “You’re dragging this out on purpose aren't you?”
Azkadellia gave her a wide-eyed look. “Why ever would I do that?”
“Pay back for turning her hair bright pink.”
Azkadellia nodded. “That was rather rude, in this case though, I am trying to remember everything so I don’t leave anything out.” DG nodded her acceptance at this and waited while Azkadellia thought. “The Cain’s are, apparently, very famous in the town they came from, Jeb didn’t say which one, it was cleansed.”
DG put a gentle hand on Azkadilla’s. A subtle reminder that it wasn’t her fault. Azkadillia turned her hand over and gave a slight squeeze to DG’s before letting go, a second later she created a sound bubble so no one could hear what they were talking about. “It was something of common knowledge that the Cain’s had a little something extra. Each one fought harder, fought longer, was harder to hurt, and healed quicker than normal people. Adore told Jeb that they always knew when someone was lying to them and that they had better instincts than anyone except, maybe viewers. She said it was a gift given to the Cain’s further back than anyone can remember. There was always a Cain in the village and everyone knew about it. There is more, but Jeb has asked that I not speak of it with you. He wants to tell you himself and after hearing everything I quite agree with him.”
“Any idea when I can do that?” DG asked, glancing over at the men.
“This afternoon. Cain has a meeting to hand over the Head of Security to Richerds which should give Jeb plenty of time to tell you, as well as a little while to process before he’s going to track you down.”
“Why is Richerds becoming Head of Security?”
“Because the Head of Security has to be able to give each member of the royal family the same treatment and be able to prioritize the members of the royal family he knows he can keep safe and not just focus on one person. Cain’s vow to you means he can’t hold that position anymore, and his actions have only cemented it.” Azkadilla gave a lazy shrug as she broke the sound bubble. “Not that he seems to want it anyways.”
“Who doesn’t want what?” Glitch asked as he plopped down in the seat across from them, Raw sliding in next to Glitch.
“Cain doesn’t want to be Head of Security.” Azkadilla told them.
Raw nodded. “Cain only do so to stay near DG. Doesn’t like paper work. Doesn’t like politics.”
“Right you are!” Glitch exclaimed as he reached for the bacon. “Now that they’re married no one can tell him he can’t be with her. From what Richerds has said, he’s practically throwing the job at him. At him. At him. At him.” Raw tapped Glitches shoulder to snap him out of it.
DG had to admit, if only to herself, she was very relieved that Glitch still had his little quirks after they managed to put his brain back where it belonged, and smiled at him.
“DG been searching.” Raw stated as he served his own breakfast.
DG nodded and swallowed the bite of toast she had taken. “I’m hoping to find some clues in the Imperial Archives.”
“Not a bad place to search doll,” Glitch told her, gesturing toward her with his fork. “I’ve almost got everything transferred to people I trust then I’ll join you.”
“Raw come to.”
“You guys sure about that? It’s dark, dusty, and really, really spooky.”
Glitch scoffed and waved the hand that held his fork spilling the eggs he had just picked up. “Can’t be any worse then climbing into the tower to stop the witch, besides, just because Cain’s the only one who made a vow doesn’t mean we aren’t coming to.”
DG could only stare at them. Glitch gave her a small smile. “With you till the end doll.” Raw gave a rumbling purr of agreement.
DG swallowed then nodded once before she cleared her throat and refocused on her food. “You say that now but let me tell you the only thing it’s missing is some angel statues to be the set of a horror show.”
Glitch tilted his head. “Angel statues? What’s so scary about angel statues?” Raw frowned at DG head tilting to one side.
“What’s wrong? Let me tell you what's wrong.” With that DG launched into the story of the library and the angel statues.