Captured Ch. 02

"And your foreseeing talent would also have you know, that only a mateship will protect her from them."

Though his expression remained impassive, Devon's eye briefly twitched. A fierce battle raged in his mind. One demon, no matter how strong and benevolent, would be no match against a group. They were known to frequent each other's domains when passing through the land.

They would violate Sirah mercilessly. They would pass her between them and tear her to pieces. But a demon would never harm the mate of another, no matter what unlikely creature he chose for companion. It was an unbreakable code of their kind.

"Give your daughter to me," Thoran continued. "Permit me to bind her. Then she will have freedom to see you, and protection from my brothers."

"I will return with an army."

"That army will perish, and you know it. And should my brothers come before then..."

"Forsake my daughter to a demon! By the Gods..." Devan bitterly muttered, knowing he was trapped. He could not singularly defeat a demon in his own domain. If more demons arrived, Sirah would suffer an unspeakable fate.

"Very well. I give you leave to bind her," he spat the words like poison. The navy mist circling his hands dissipated, and he removed a luminous ring from his finger.

Tossing it between them, they both watched the silver piece glow, tremble, and melt into the ground, leaving a glittering purple stone behind. Devan bowed his head mournfully, and turned away.

"I give you leave to bind her," he repeated. "With your promise she will be free to see her people, and shielded from harm. I will return once it is done." Wings straightened to immediately glide, he uttered the parting words with distaste.

"Wait." Thoran's voice tersely halted Devan's calculated departure. A thin knowing smile formed as he perceived the other's dismay.

"So hasty, Devan. Have you not forgotten something?" he asked.

Devan shook his head with feigned confusion.

"You agreed to relinquish Sirah," Thoran stated. "Or am I mistaken?"

"No," Devan warily answered. "I agreed."

"Then lift the charm."

Devan turned white. "What charm?" he said emotionlessly, though his heart pounded.

Thoran raised an eyebrow. "You know. The impenetrable charm that withholds Sirah's virtue."

Devan broke into a cold sweat and his wings tremored. "I do not..."

"Did you think I would not notice?" Thoran snarled, feeling his temper rise that this nymph would trick him into celibacy. Recalling the baffling moment he discovered the guard upon Sirah, curiosity overcame him.

"A very powerful shield," he acknowledged. "When was it done?"

"As a child," Devan whispered bleakly. "She would have no memory of it. With her appearance and mortal instincts, I worried a human might-"

"But it is not only effective against humans," Thoran dryly interrupted. "A spell of that nature is not fairy work. I never knew a nymph to consort with a witch."

Devan flushed. "You could say, as with demons, not all are malevolent."

Thoran shrewdly narrowed his eyes. "Sirah is half-witch?"

"That is no business of yours." Devan looked away uncomfortably.

"As her betrothed, I am entitled to know. But you have answered." Thoran nodded, very impressed. "Her rarity increases ten-fold. The heritage yielded a surprisingly innocent nature. Do your people know they raised witch's blood in their midst?"

"Some."

"And does she know?"

Devan gave a brisk, barely discernible shake of his head, glaring as Thoran looked hugely entertained.

"That bloodline would certainly allow flight, yet you never taught her. How very interesting..."

"She knows she is half-human," Devan snapped, aggravated that a demon would cast aspersions on his parenting. "And witches are human."

"At some point, perhaps. Rather sly of you, Devan."

"How are you so different from your kind?" Devan demanded with some exasperation.

Though Devan's mind reeled from the loss of his daughter, he was increasingly overwhelmed by the immortal he dealt with. Demons were crafty, but not articulate. A merciful, uncannily perceptive demon, who dressed as a human and bantered like an Elf? This creature was proving to be as unique as Sirah.

"Why did you mate with a witch?" Thoran mockingly countered.

Devan's eyes flared wrathfully. "Sirah could become very powerful. Dangerously so. It is not too late to free her."

Thoran threw back his head and laughed. "I welcome the challenge. She will not overpower me. The binding will see to that." As the humour wore off, he became serious once more.

"Enough delay. Lift the charm, father."

Devan's wings continually seized up and drooped with his emotions. "Arrangements must be made. When you are united..."

"No. Now. Or must you first be told how ardently I desire your daughter?" Thoran's mouth curved into a cruel smile. "Must you know the ways I crave to own every inch of her? Must you know the carnal things she could yet endure, even with the spell in place?"

"Cease." Devan knew when he was beaten, that he dragged out the inevitable. Though he was carefully expressionless, a tear stole down his cheek. "She must be in my presence."

Thoran nodded and disappeared into the cavern.

At the sight of his beautiful, dejected daughter, the grief was overpowering. It surged through him in painful waves, causing a hurt so strong that it angered him. He wanted to berate her for breaking his heart and ruining her future. He wanted to lecture about the outcome he warned about repeatedly. That he was right, and she should have listened. If only she had listened.

But seeing the desperate hope in her beautiful face as she recognised him, he would have discarded all censure and never mentioned it again, if only he could take her home.

Devan's mind shifted. It could have been much worse. It could have been a vicious demon. It could have been a number of other nastily volatile creatures who delighted in harming vulnerable beings.

As a willing participant to the bargain, he felt as though he had sold his daughter, like a slaver. It gave him no comfort that his compliance was purely to ensure her safety. He tried to console himself that she was alive, and he would see her again. He tried to stifle all thoughts of demonic offspring carrying his bloodline.

"Father!" Sirah cried. She eagerly darted forward, mistakenly believing he somehow procured her release. But Thoran's hand was fast on her wrist, holding her by his side.

"Sirah," Devan spoke formally with an effort. "I have accepted your betrothal to Thoran."

"WHAT?" Sirah shrieked, staring between Thoran and her father. She knew he would be angry, but never dreamed he would mete out a punishment so severe. "You can't! Father, no...please!"

"You will be bound to him. You will reside here and accept him as your..." he trailed off bitterly and gave Thoran a withering look. "And your intended will allow you to visit us."

"Oh, father, no! It's not true! You wouldn't..." Sirah gasped, trying to pull her hand free and reach him. Suddenly she froze as her large, brilliant green eyes landed on the purple stone on the ground, settled in a pool of melted silver.

"No!" she breathed, her eyes widened incredulously and she frantically twisted in Thoran's hold. "NO!" she screamed. "I will kill myself! I will!"

"I would never allow it," Thoran calmly spoke over the threat. "Do not fear for her, Devan. Continue."

"And now," Devan looked away and tried to go on as though deaf to Sirah's pleading. "And now I..."

"Father, he is a demon!" Sirah wailed, drowning him out. "He will ravage me! You cannot leave me with him! You cannot! Please, please, please, father! Look at me!"

Sirah continued to vehemently protest and Thoran stared down at her, fascinated by the startling difference between the timid nymph he captured, and the powerful outburst he now witnessed. He could hardly wait to be alone with her again.

In the face of his daughter's hysterical begging, Devan's composure fell apart. Tears poured down his face and his graceful voice turned ragged.

"And now, I must...the...I- I must..." He choked, unable to go on. Shaking his head, he wretchedly gestured for Thoran to lay Sirah before him.

With no idea what was in store, only knowing it must be something terrible to break her father, Sirah vigorously fought Thoran as he knelt to the ground and easily dragged her with him. With a firm hold on her shoulders, he began to push her down.

"MIND HER WINGS, YOU BRUTE!" Devan screamed, feeling tested beyond all endurance. Shaking with anger and misery, sparks of navy flickered from his hands and danced along the ground like embers.

Thoran realised Sirah's small wings fluttered so rapidly with panic, they were barely visible. They buzzed like the wings of a hummingbird; a rainbow glimmer that might have been a sun's reflection on crystal. If he'd forced her down in her current state, they might have been irreparably crushed.

Thoran gently but firmly turned Sirah over and pinned her to the ground with a hand on her neck and the other at her lower back, giving her wings plenty of room.

"What are you doing! Father, why?" Sirah sobbed, trying to push up from the ground, her legs futilely kicking against the Earth. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Father, I never meant...Father, please!"

"I'm so sorry, Sirah," Devan wept. Chest heaving with anguish, he lowered his open palms toward her. "Please forgive me."

"Wait! Father..." Sirah stilled, feeling a strange warmth over her body, an unfamiliar surge of energy pulsing throughout every limb. Eventually it withdrew, slowly ebbing from her veins. Then it vanished completely, and she felt no different.

"Father?" she whimpered, afraid to open her eyes.

"He is gone." Thoran's deep voice answered her, and she was released. But Sirah didn't get up. Feeling more hopeless and abandoned than she believed imaginable, she cried inconsolably against the ground.

Eventually Thoran's large hands seized her wrists and she was pulled to her feet. Held firmly against him, she felt his heart thunder against her cheek at a startling pace. The hand on her lower back dipped south and sensually stroked down her thigh and up beneath her dress.

Placing slow kisses in her hair, his attentions became more ardent. His mouth moved to her temple, he brushed silken, blonde strands back from her smooth brow and turned her tear-streaked face up so their lips could meet. His warm, intimate touch made her shiver apprehensively.

Still panting from the force of her tears and Thoran's passion as he kissed her, Sirah felt exhausted, traumatised, and pliable. The alluring heat Thoran's body emitted began to pleasurably dull her despair and stimulate her physical senses.

"Now, Sirah, you belong to me."