SERAPHINE CHRONICLES.

SPELLBOUND.

CHEYENNE McCRAY.

To Nelissa Donovan:.

One heck of a writer, critique partner, and all around great friend.

Child of Fae, long ago lost.

Bound to earth, at no small cost.

The key is in three, joined with heart ties.

But from Fae's choice, Dair lives or dies.

Chronicles of the Seraphine Elves.. .XXIX.

Prologue.

Wake, child of Fae. The voice penetrating Tierra's fevered sleep was deep, yet smooth as fine ale. It is time, he murmured.

She fought the gentle demand, wanting instead to continue dreaming of the dark-haired man who had filled her restless night. A man so large and muscular she could scarce wrap her legs around his powerful b.u.t.tocks when he slid his c.o.c.k deep within her core. He would clench his fists in her red hair as he rode her, f.u.c.king her long and hard. G.o.ds how she wanted to feel a man between her thighs, thrusting into her quim, tasting her nipples.

You must flee, the low voice insisted through the mist in her mind. Be well, child of Fae.

Cool fingers feathered across Tierra's forehead, drawing away the blaze of sickness that had consumed her for nigh on a day. Her mind cleared of the strange fever fogging her thoughts, and the last remnants of the black-haired stud vanished like dandelion fuzz in a summer storm.

As though the light touch of fingertips had taken away her illness.

Slowly she lifted her eyelidsa"and found herself staring into to the vivid blue eyes of a most handsome man. The brief twinge of fear in her belly was replaced by calm certainty that he meant her no harm. Why or how she knew this, she could not answer, and somehow did not feel compelled to question.

The man's gaze was intense and concerned, his expression grim. He looked to be no more than thirty, mayhap forty seasons in age, had a strong jaw, high cheekbones, and rugged features. Although he appeared quite youthful, white hair came to a widow's peak at his forehead and fell long and straight past broad shoulders. His powerful chest tapered down to narrow hips, and he was clad in breeches as blue as his eyes.

Those eyesa"a brilliant blue with flecks of silver. Eyes that were ageless and knowing.

Tierra rubbed at the starmark on the backside of her earlobe as her confused mind struggled to place the winter-skinned G.o.d. An angel perhaps? If this is the otherworld, I hope all the angels are as G.o.dlike as this one.

The corner of the man's mouth quirked into the beginnings of a smile. Nay, Tierra. I am no deity, and far be it for me to claim to be a heavenly spirit.

She stopped in mid-rub and blinked up at the stranger, goose pimples sprouting upon her skin. He had read her mind. He had spoken to her in thought, as only Liana had ever done, and he had even called her by name. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice coming out in a dry rasp.

You may call me To'en. The man clasped Tierra's hand in his and gently pulled her to a sitting position on her bed. Many know me as the Overseer.

To'en's gaze roved over Tierra before returning to meet her eyes. Heat rushed through her as she realized she was entirely naked. Her nipples grew as tight as ansi stones and her quim tingled.

What would it be like to f.u.c.k a man such as this pale G.o.d? Would he be as pleasurable as she imagined the dark-haired man from her dreams to be?

You must be suitably clothed. To'en's mind-voice remained calm and detached as though unaware of her erotic thoughts and her nakedness. Your journey will be long and perilous.

"Journey?" Tierra's mind cleared at once. She s.n.a.t.c.hed a blanket from the bed and held it to her chest, covering her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and mound. "I am not leaving without Liana and Ranelle."

The pale G.o.d fixed his blue gaze on her. You will leave at once.

Tierra thought about telling him where to put his arrogant order, but something held her back. She and her halias were not planning to leave 'til moonchange, and certainly this man would not have been aware of their plans. What if he was one of Zanden's spies? "Ah...surely you know that my heart-sisters and I are bound to the Sorcerer."

To'en moved to a trunk at the foot of her bed and opened it, the click of the lock and creak of hinges loud in the strange silence filling her bed chamber. Your heart-sisters have been abducted. You must leave at once or suffer a worse fate.

"Liana and Ranelle...taken?" Tierra's head buzzed and chills rolled through her so fast that her body began to tremble. Everything seemed suddenly surreal. Perhaps she was still deep in the throes of fever, dreaming of this man in place of the dark warrior.

To'en handed her a stack of clothing. You waste precious time, he said. The irani will soon come for you. Already they seek you in the village, as their master expected you to work at the inn this day.

The Sorcerer Zanden. Reality hit as hard as Uba had oft slapped Tierra's face, before the horrid woman's demise.

This To'en was telling the truth. No matter that she wasn't a seer like Liana, and did not have Ranelle's gift of sense. With absolute certainty, Tierra knew her halias were gone.

Tierra snapped into action, as though she had never been ill. She yanked on the forest green tunic and breeches he had handed her, jumped from the bed and slipped on her st.u.r.dy brogans. "Where do I find my halias?" she asked as she secured her thick red hair back with a tie.

Your journey lies in the way of the Wilding Wood. To'en folded his arms across his chest. Travel with as little as possible. Take enough food supplies to last two weeks, 'til well after the end of moonchange.

Even as he spoke, Tierra had grabbed a canvas pack and shoved in a change of clothing. She hurried into the common room of the cottage she had shared with her heart-sisters from the time she was a wee child.

The man moved to the front door as she threw dried figs, apples, a cheese wheel, m.u.f.fins and bread into her pack, followed by a vial of her honeysuckle bathing potion.

She considered throwing in a dagger, but decided she was better off with her spellbindings for protection.

Remain out of sight and speak to no one along your journey, To'en said. Trust none but the one who holds your heart.

At his last statement, Tierra's gaze shot to where the stranger had been standinga" only to see the front door ajar.

To'en was gone.

Chapter One.

She was lost.

Dangerously, maddeningly lost.

By all the G.o.ds' h.e.l.ls.

Tierra's pack made a soft thud against the forest floor as she dropped it to her feet. Dark and still, the surrounding woods were so thick she could scarce see more than a few lengths before her. Surely she wasn't in the D'euan Forest any longer. No, this G.o.dsforsaken place was far too oppressive.

Had she strayed into dragon country?

d.a.m.n.

Frustrated, Tierra absently rubbed at the starmarka"the silver star-shaped birthmark on the backside of her left earlobe. Since her childhood, she had always pulled on her lobe in moments of frustration or when deep in thought.

A chill wind stirred tendrils of red hair on her forehead and brought to her nose the scents of pine and rich loam.. .and something almost rotten and sinister.

Shivers skittered through Tierra and she brought her hand down and ground her teeth. Not again. She would not allow fear of any kind to enter her thoughts. For days and days she had traveled, and from the beginning of her journey she had felt as though she was being followed.

Tracked. Hunted.

Hands fisted at her sides, it took all her inner strength to maintain her composure while she studied her surroundings. For the first time in her twenty seasons, she wanted to cry, and that alone made her chest grow tight with anger.

Tierra never cried. Not even as a child. Not even at the brutal hands of her former caretaker. Uba, the b.i.t.c.h who had oft left her handprint upon Tierra's cheek.

But her heart ached for her halias, Ranelle and Liana, who had been missing for nigh on two weeks, and she wanted to cry for them. Days and nights now blurred together in one never ending nightmare. Surely it was past moonchange now, but for days Tierra had been unable to see the sky through the thick canopy, much less the moon.

Tierra had never been ill in her life 'til the day her heart-sisters had been taken. If she had been with them, she could have used her magic to fend off whoever had abducted them.

The dark forest crowded in, mocking her, bringing back memories of her darker fevered dreams...ravens and winged creatures.

She sighed. Never one to feel self pity, she tended to take command of life. She would have escaped long ago from Uba had it not been for her halias. Tierra would never leave them.

Yet now they were gone and she was all alone. Not to mention tired and cold, her body ached, her food supplies had dwindled to naught. Good lords, what she would do for a hot bath instead of quick splashes in ice-cold streams.

And she didn't know where in the G.o.ds' h.e.l.ls she was.

Judging by the feel of the air and the darkening woods, it was late afternoon. Daylight left to travel, yet what good would it do? Did the forest go on forever? Was she wasting her time?

Tierra tossed her thick, fire-red braid over her shoulder and tightened her lips to keep back a scream of frustration. The only thing that had warmed her these past days and nights was imagining what it would be like to experience pleasure at the hands of the dark-haired warrior who filled her dreams.

Every evening since beginning her journey, she had lain beneath her blanket pinching the nipples of her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s with one hand, stroking her c.l.i.t with her other, all the while seeing the imaginary man. Only after bringing herself to climax was she able to fall asleep. Yet she would again dream about the warrior and wake up feeling frustrated and empty.

She had never been one to shy from s.e.xual pleasures, but her former caretaker, Uba, had worked tirelessly to ensure that none of her charges spent time alone with any male.

Tierra had never f.u.c.ked a man, but sweet G.o.ds, she had certainly watched.

Several times she had spied on tavern wenches when they escorted a man into one of the back rooms to f.u.c.k for ansi stones. Oft Tierra would sneak away from tending the bar to peek through a knothole in the wall.

The private shows had curled her toes. Especially when the man thrust his c.o.c.k into the woman's channel. Tierra's own quim would grow wet as she watched, her nipples hard and tight, aching to be licked and sucked.

She wanted to feel what it was like to f.u.c.k, and she intended to enjoy s.e.x as often as possible with the right men.

On a couple of occasions, two of the tavern wenches had enjoyed one another's pleasures without a man. The sight of one woman licking another's quim had been surprisingly erotic, enough to make Tierra squirm, wondering how it must feel.

With a groan, she brought herself back to the present and started gathering dead wood to make a small shelter. What she needed was a good night's rest. And maybe a good night's o.r.g.a.s.m to relieve all her pent-up frustrations.

Using her magic, Tierra held out her hand and unleashed a glittering silver rope from one fingertip, binding a piece of wood and drawing it back to her arms. Over the past two weeks, she had practiced at every opportunity, spellbinding anything and everything in preparation for what she would do to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had taken her halias.

She had discovered her talent for spellbinding as a child, and had found it very useful upon occasion, especially in thwarting unwanted advances. Or in protecting her heart-sisters.

While she handled a particularly long and smooth piece of wood, she thought about the men she had seen through the tavern knotholes. Big c.o.c.ks and little c.o.c.ks and every size in between. Tight muscular a.s.ses that flexed as the man f.u.c.ked the wench, and flabby a.s.ses that jiggled with every thrust.

Tierra tossed the wood into a pile and grinned at the thought. But her smile faded and she licked her lips as her memories again returned to the dark warrior from her dreams.

He would definitely be of the tight a.s.s-big c.o.c.k variety.

And lately the only man she could imagine touching her was him. An imaginary man. Yet, he seemed so.. .real. Like she might meet him one day.

Odd, that. Tierra had never been able to foresee the future like Liana, or sense what may be to come like Ranelle. No...what she was feeling had to be some form of madness, perhaps brought on by worry over the d.a.m.ned sorcerer and Tierra's planned escape with her halias.

Which was, of course, completely wrecked now.

With a groan of fury, Tierra shot a spellbinding from one fingertip at a rotting log. Soil and debris scattered across the clearing from the force of her blow. She brought the silvery rope back into her body and clenched her teeth.

What did that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sorcerer want with all three of them? Everyone knew that Zanden considered Liana his destined mate because of the prophecy. But why Ranelle and Tierra, too?

Not that Tierra had ever intended to let the Sorcerer get his claws on Liana, or any one of them. d.a.m.n him. If they had only been able to escape during moonchange like they had planned, they could all be free and together at this very moment.

And d.a.m.n To'en, the pale G.o.d who had sent her into the woodsa"most likely on some kind of wild perna chase. At this point she was more likely to find that magical bird than she was likely to find her halias.

What had compelled her to obey some strange man who had told her to head into the woods? What had she been thinking?

Like a daft idiot, she had done exactly as the man bade, hiking north toward Wilding Wood. Blending into the trees like some Faerie sprite, she had traveled as silently as possible and avoided what few strangers she had come across. Preserving her meager stores as much as possible, she had eaten berries and nuts she found as she journeyed, along with greens and roots she knew to be edible.

Magic. Surely the white-haired To'en had used some kind of power to manipulate her into traveling in this direction. If he had wanted to hurt her, he could have done so while she slept. Instead he had taken away her fever with his touch, she was certain.

So why would he send her on a fool's errand, if he wished her harm?

Tierra picked apart her braid and eased her fingers through its length as she stared at the woods around her. She had reached such a remote part of the forest where, were it not for the moss on the trees, she would not know which direction to take. Even now she had no idea where she was, or if she was close to reaching Wilding Wood.

"This is foolish. I should-"

A horse's whinny echoed from the depths of the forest, cutting short Tierra's words.

Her body went as still as one of the trees towering beside her.

Her skin tingled with excitement and renewed hope. Someone must be nearby.