Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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"So how is everything going over there?" Forest asked, his blue eyes shadowed by his long brown hair as he drank his tea. There was some comfort in sitting with a battleground general who still wore the ceremonial robes of their people, even into battle, as the Songs once had. Forest had also known Wren before all this, in his teens surely, but the age difference was not all that significant.
While those things brought Wren comfort, the vampire-friendly mage general had no idea what to do with the hostile Song infiltrator sitting in his office. That made two of them, Wren supposed.
The Copse territory was as peaceful as they came, and apparently Forest was his friend now, but the Copses had always been sentimental, peace-loving, weaklings, to Wren's memory. Wren had needed to get out of the Sol territory, to get away from it all, and this was where Talamayas had recommended he go if he wanted space. Though that recommendation had been before they'd fucked, and Wren hadn't asked permission to leave.
Wren hadn't really said anything. Just fled. Like a coward.
The drawing room was as relaxing as one could be. Cushy chairs surrounded a low table Wren knew was meant for discussing war and politics, but the room was empty save them, rows of books, and some heavenly tea. Wren took a sip of his, and the honey tickled his tongue as the spices gently burned his throat going down. It was such a strong brew that the sweetness barely registered, just like his memories were buried under the sick spell the Cinders had used to suppress who he'd been.
"About as well as you'd expect," Wren said, leaning his elbows on his knees with a sigh. "I treated everyone like shit and they just ate it and said thank you." Forest grimaced, and Wren's laugh had the man massaging his temples. "Don't worry. Talamayas isn't going to chase me here and cause any issues.
"Tala always chases you," Forest argued, leaning back in his arm chair.
"Not this time," Wren near whispered.
Not with the way he'd left him. The broken look in the desert torturer's eyes had said all Wren needed to know about the life they'd shared. Talamayas had never raped him, nor even enjoyed forcing himself in a way that might cause Wren unwanted pain. Wren's tears after the man had fucked him had crushed Talamayas' heart and spirit, left him trembling in the sands as he tried to figure out a way to fix what he'd done. And Wren hadn't even been decent enough to explain that it wasn't what he thought.
Wren wondered if Talamayas was still in the sands, on his knees and unable to say or do anything.
"I was actually hoping you could help me with something?" Wren asked, setting his tea cup on the table and sitting up straight. Just mentioning a request had Forest's blue eyes sharpening to ice and his hand clenching the armrest of his chair.
"If it's killing Talamayas or freeing Riff, I can't help you," Forest answered sternly, the serious look in his eyes pushing a chuckle from Wren's lips. The strange response had Forest crinkling his eyebrows.
