Be Careful What You Wish For Read online

  “If you wish to stay, you may but you must not interfere,” Judge StoneThroat growled. “Bailiff—take him to the flogging post.”

  The flogging post? Cass felt sick to her stomach. Then again, Jake had told her that the troll judge wouldn’t hesitate to have the skin peeled right off their bodies. Maybe flogging was actually a light punishment. But still—flogging! It was horrible no matter how you looked at it.

  Feeling like someone had poured a gallon of icy water into her stomach, Cass followed the stone bailiff on wobbly legs as it led Jake around the high stone podium to an area beyond which was mostly shrouded in shadows. There she saw a tall stone post with leather thongs tied to it.

  “Strip off your shirt and jacket and face the post with your hands through the loops,” the bailiff ordered in a low, grinding voice. “Do not move while the punishment is being administered or you will incur further sanctions.”

  “Jake…” Cass felt tears rising in her throat at the awfulness of all of this. She liked to think of herself as being pretty tough but nothing in the human world had prepared her for the horrible reality of the Fae Realm.

  The big elf simply shook his head at her as he removed his coat, tie, and shirt, revealing a muscular chest and broad shoulders. He would have looked mouthwatering if her mouth hadn’t been so dry and her stomach tied in knots.

  “Would you hold these?” he asked, handing them to Cass.

  She took them numbly and crushed the bundle of clothes, still warm from his body, to her chest. She couldn’t believe how casually he was taking all this. Was this the normal order of business here for lawyers? Could they be flogged or punished at any time? If so, why would anyone want to become an attorney here in the Fae Realm? What the hell was wrong with these people?

  “Jake,” she whispered again but he only shook his head.

  “Please don’t watch if it upsets you,” he murmured. Then he turned and raised his muscular arms, fitting his hands through the leather loops fixed to the top of the tall stone post. “I’m ready.”

  “Good.” Judge StoneThroat had come down from his podium and Cass was surprised to see that he was only about half as tall as she was herself. He was short and squat and under the black robes he wore, his skin was as gray and wrinkled as an elephant’s all over.

  She wondered if she ought to plead with the troll judge not to do this to Jake but from the avid light in his squinty yellow eyes she was pretty sure what his answer would be. He wanted to see Jake whipped—he was positively looking forward to it!

  Sick bastard! A sudden rush of hatred went through her and she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something nasty—something that might get her flogged herself.

  “Begin the flogging, bailiff,” StoneThroat proclaimed. “Thirty lashes should be sufficient to teach Counselor O’Shea a lesson about leaving court early.”

  Thirty lashes? Cass could hardly believe it. That seemed like a lot—especially when the stone bailiff produced a whip made of leather flecked with sharp slivers of rock.

  This can’t be right—they can’t really be going to flog him. They can’t—

  But her thoughts were cut off abruptly when the huge bailiff drew back its arm and let the whip sing. It hit Jake’s back with the flat, cracking sound of leather meeting flesh. The big elf made a low noise at the impact but didn’t move a muscle even when a long red mark appeared on his smooth tan back.

  “One,” the stone bailiff grunted and drew back its arm again.

  Again the whip fell. Again the bailiff counted and another red stripe appeared on Jake’s flesh. And another and another and another until the skin was torn and bleeding and rivulets of red were running down his broad shoulders and back.

  Cass bit her lip until she tasted blood herself, trying to keep from screaming. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides and the pain in her feet from the ridiculous shoes was forgotten. All she could see—all she could think about—was the awful thing taking place in front of her eyes. The flogging that Jake was taking for her.

  It felt like she’d been dropped suddenly into a nightmare and she couldn’t wake up. Here was the dark side of the Realm. The glittery pink Rodeo Drive exterior with all the shops and buildings hid an ugly, rotten heart and now that she had seen it, Cass knew she would never be able to get it completely out of her mind again.

  She wanted to look away as the whipping continued but she found that she couldn’t. Jake was doing this for her—because of her—the least she could do was watch every stroke. Tears stung her eyes and her vision double and then trebled but she made her self watch until the end.

  At last the final stroke fell and the stone bailiff grunted, “Thirty.”

  “Very well.” Judge StoneThroat nodded in apparent satisfaction at the bloody mess that had been Jake’s broad back. “I daresay this will be a lesson you will not soon forget, Counselor O’Shea. Never dare to leave my courtroom early again. Now, you may go.”

  At first Cass wasn’t even sure the big elf had heard the judge’s words. He was sagging in the leather thongs, his head hung down, breathing in long, ragged gasps.

  “Jake?” she whispered, daring to go to him now that the flogging was finally over. She didn’t want to touch his back for fear of making the pain worse but she managed to insinuate herself between him and the stone whipping post so she could look up into his eyes.

  “Jake?” she whispered again. “Are you okay?” Then she could have kicked herself. “God, I know that’s a stupid question. Just let me know what I can do for you. Do you guys have 911 here in the Realm? Some way to get to the hospital? If there even is a hospital,” she added to herself.

  His leaf green eyes opened at last and Cass saw that his face was a mask of pain.

  “Are you…crying, Cassandra?” His deep voice was gravelly with agony.

  “Crying?” Cass dashed her back of her hand over her eyes. “So what if I am? What does it matter?”

  “Tears have…power here in the Realm.” He shook his head. “Shouldn’t…cry in public. It’s not safe. Someone might…covet your tears.”

  Cass had no idea what he was talking about and she didn’t care. All she wanted was to get him someplace where he could get medical attention for his back.

  “Never mind about me crying” she said fiercely. “We have to get you to a hospital before you lose any more blood!”

  “I can…heal myself.” He pulled his wrists free of the leather loops, wincing as the motion hurt his torn back. “But not here. I must…get back to my own house. To my source of power.”

  “Can you do that?” Cass asked worriedly. “I mean can you just…poof out of here and end up back at your place like you did after the soul-sucker attack?”

  “I can always get myself home.” His voice sounded a little stronger, though still hoarse, she thought. “I am drawn to it. But…” He winced as he straightened up to his full height. “Until I am healed, I will not have the strength to take you back to your home. I am afraid you will have to accompany me for now.”

  “All right.” Cass nodded. “I’ll go with you. And…” she bit her lip—which was really sore by now. “And I promise I won’t mess with your magic mirror U-News thingy.”

  “That is the least of my worries right now. Come…” He held out an arm to her and Cass went to him, still clutching his bundle of clothes as she pressed carefully against his broad chest.

  The big elf got a look of painful concentration on his face and then, with a poof of spicy-smelling, navy blue smoke, they left the awful courtroom behind them.

  Twenty-Four

  Cass found herself back in the warm golden twilight glow of Jake’s home with one of the elf’s long, muscular arms still draped heavily around her shoulders. As she tried to regain her balance after the disorienting trip, she felt him start to sag against her.

  “Jake?” She looked up at him anxiously and saw that his long lashes were fluttering over his leaf-green eyes, as though he was drifting in and out of conscio