by G. Bailey
Sage doesn’t answer as I come to a halt, her eyes fixed on me. She looks so small and scared as she curls into the corner of the white couch, which only makes her wings that much brighter. I need to get her a bracelet like mine if I can. It sure makes clothes a lot easier to put on.
“I’m going to leave you two alone,” David comments as he walks past me. He kisses Sage on her forehead, and she closes her eyes in contentment for a second before opening them and watching me as David leaves us alone. Their love gives me hope that they can get through this, and for the first time in months, David doesn’t look drunk or fucked up.
He looks happy and relieved.
“I missed you from the moment she took me, Vina,” Sage whispers. I nod, stepping closer until my legs brush the side of the couch. Still unsure how to approach this new Sage, I walk around the sofa and slowly sit next to her, careful not to touch her unless she wants me to. Her hand gently rests on top of mine, and I struggle not to pull her into a hug.
“Ronan took me to Eva. I wasn’t strong enough to fight either of them. I remember being knocked out, and when I woke up, I was in a prison of some kind. The days and nights mixed into one until I lost track of time altogether, but I remember every needle, every test. I remember Eva cutting my cheek while Izora screamed and screamed for her to stop. It was awful. I thought I’d never see you or David again.”
White-hot fury surges into me. I try to mask it with a pained smile while vowing to make Eva pay. “Izora was with you?” I ask, closing my eyes for a moment as I swallow down my anger.
“Yeah, but I only saw her once. She’s a light fae now, too. They did the same to her as they did to me.”
I nod, knowing that already. Her fae wings were unmistakable. “Izora is my half-sister,” I tell Sage quietly. “Ulric is her father, too, and she saw him die. I couldn’t save her, but I will.” Sage’s eyes widen, and I link our hands like I did when we were kids. “I have one of my sisters back, and I’m ever so thankful for that.”
“Eva won’t stop. I can’t sleep until she’s dead. Until Ronan’s dead,” Sage says, her hand shaking like the rest of her. Tears fall from her lashes, and I finally cave, pulling her into my arms and holding her as tightly as I can while she sobs. “I’ve—I’ve never known darkness like this, Buzzie. It makes me not want to wake up.”
A lump swells in my throat. “Listen to me, Sage,” I say, grabbing her cheeks and making her look at me. Sage might be different, and her magic feels stronger than ever before, but she is still my sister. Our connection is something we founded in the darkest of shadows, and nothing will ever erase that. I will fucking dive right back into them if only to save her.
“I know that darkness, and I won’t let you live in it. I will kill Eva and Ronan. You’re going to help me, and together, we are going to make them regret even looking at us. We deserve the light, Sage. We don’t belong in the shadows anymore.”
Sage bursts into tears, and I hold her for a long time, knowing she needs to let all of this out. Being held prisoner once again changed her into something she didn’t want to be. It’s going to take time for Sage to feel completely healed again. I’ll do all I can to make her feel safe in the meantime.
“You’re wrong, you know,” Sage eventually whispers, resting her head on my shoulder while I play with her pink hair.
“I’m never wrong,” I joke, nudging her head playfully with my shoulder.
Sage chuckles, and it warms my heart to hear her laugh again. “We do belong in the shadows, Vina, and the Light Fae bitch Eva has no idea what she has coming her way.”
I grin, resting my head on hers. “There’s my best friend.”
“How is she?” Willow demands, making me almost jump as she steps out of the shadows of the corridor. I’ve just left Sage’s room after a long day together, where she mostly cried and I mostly promised to burn any fae that touched her. Bumping into Willow Greene is the last thing I need right now.
“Sage is coping,” I reply, wondering why she even gives a fuck.
Willow clicks her tongue and shakes her head. “I meant my sister! I want to know how Izora is.”
Raising an eyebrow, I step closer. “You actually give a shit about her now?”
Willow surprises me when she looks down, shuffling her feet. “I fucked up at being a sister, and well, most things when it comes to family. The world is fucking ending around us, and it made me realise I should fight for my family. So tell me how Izora is and what the plan is to get her back?”
“Izora is my sister now, too, funnily enough,” I tell her, and she laughs until she sees I’m dead serious. “You can ask your mum for the deets on that. As for Izora…she looked messed up when I saw her. Eva is using her, and if you really want to help free her, you should rest and train.”
“I will train this whole academy if you need it, Your Majesty,” Willow says and holds her hand out. “Truce?”
I eye her hand with caution for a moment before taking it. “If you fuck me over, Willow, I will cut all your hair off and then kill you, so you die an ugly, bald bitch. That’s your one and only warning.”
I smile sweetly as I let her hand go and walk past her. I’m finally feeling more myself now that I’ve seen Sage. It’s like she’s given me that extra push I needed to face the world again. However, I can’t help but notice how quiet the academy is as I make my way down the maze of corridors and empty stairwells. I guess it makes sense since everyone is preparing to fight off ancient Titans. Shaking my head, I walk up to Gage’s open office door. I enter, quietly shutting the door behind me.
“Is the therapist open for a session?” I ask, my back leaning against the closed door.
Gage grins, resting a hip against his desk. “Always for my favourite student,” he teases. I laugh and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his torso. Gage rests his head on mine. “In all seriousness, do you need to talk?”
“No,” I admit, leaning back to look at him. I press my lips to mouth, and he kisses me back with just as much as passion. He lifts me, carrying me over to his couch. Placing me on my back, he covers my body with his. Never once breaking our kiss.
The world can burn around us, but every kiss makes me forget it.
The fae, the gods, the world, can all wait.
Gage trails his amazing lips down my jaw as his hand cups my breast. I rub myself against his knee, causing a throaty moan to escape my lips. Tugging my shirt up and over my head, Gage leans back, staring at me with so much desire it makes me blush.
“Can I make you come, Vina?” he softly asks me. Damn, hell, yes. I can only nod, and he scoots back on the sofa. Tugging down my jeans until I can kick them off, taking my panties with them.
Gage doesn’t tease or make me wait before he is in between my legs and my back arches as his tongue swirls around my clit. Holy Fucking Selena. Gage chuckles against my clit as I moan, he reaches up, placing his hand over my mouth, reminding me to be quiet. For whatever reason, it just turns me on more. Within minutes, I come with a blinding pleasure that sends shakes through my body. Gage picks me up, placing me on his lap and holding me tightly. “I love you, Corvina Charles. You know that?”
“Whatever happens next, I want you to know that I love you, too,” I whisper, meaning every single word.
Jonah smirks at me as his dagger just misses my ear and slams into the target behind my back.
“That was a little too close,” Pitch warns him as he supervises our training.
Turns out Jonah and I being competitive makes all the students super nervous to be in here with us, so for an hour, we get an empty training room to ourselves.
I reach up and tug the dagger out of the wall and close my eyes for a moment, letting the shadow magic take over. It trickles out of my soul, almost like it’s frightened of my other magic before smothering the dagger. I shadowlocate the dagger right next to Jonah’s shoulder, cutting through his t-shirt a little and he glowers at me.
“Light and dark fae can bend night
and day to move around,” Ivywood comments as she steps into the room out of nothing but light. “You shouldn’t just rely on your shadow magic like a safety blanket. Light magic is the fastest and most untraceable way to translocate. We are taught how to simply call the light and jump into it with a single thought of where you want to go.”
“Thanks—” I get cut off when Ambrose runs into the room and everyone turns to look at him.
“I sense a Titan nearby,” he hurries to tell us, “and the academy defenses won’t last long against it, nor am I any use in fighting them alone. Titans adsorb god magic, so I must insist we get the fuck out of here.”
“Language,” Ivywood hisses. “God or not, you will behave and be respectful in my presence. However, I do agree with your statement.” She turns to me and nods. “Corvina, you must leave.”
“And go where? Do what?” I ask, walking up to her.
A loud crack sounds overhead as the floor shakes and slams me onto the tiles. The roof of the building is torn off, our defenses shattered by the Titan, and debris crashes around me. I cover my head and Pitch jumps over, blocking me from most of the wreckage. I roll onto my back, looking up through the dust and moonlight to see a man floating in the air, except he can’t be a man.
He’s the size of a giant and is completely naked other than a strip of black cloth hanging around his waist, hiding what I’m sure is equally as big underneath. On his incredibly muscular chest is a symbol that glows crimson and I’m sure I have seen it before. It takes me a second to realise it was one of the symbols on the painting Eva showed me of the Titans back at our father’s palace. I never in a million years thought I’d one day meet a titan, and now that I see him, I’d much rather introductions were not made. The guy is a monster.
Stretching his long arms out, palms down, the Titan slams his hands onto the ground. I scream as the floor shakes with such violence that it sends me flying into the air, only to be caught by Ivywood as Pitch is thrown away from me. The shaking doesn’t stop as I make my own wings hold me up, Ivywood nods once while the sounds of panicked shadowborns scream down below. I briefly see Pitch catch Jonah while Ambrose floats on a pure white cloud next to me.
Typical god, showing off, but I kinda want a cloud too.
“We are leaving now, Vina. The academy’s magic is nearly gone and nothing will stop him,” Ambrose says, grabbing my hand.
“Use the light. I will make a distraction,” Ivywood tells me. “You can call the crown and any of your friends into the light with only a thought, spiraling you all in the same place.” She bows her head once. “Long may the true queen live and rule.”
With that, Ivywood flies up to the Titan. Both of them stare each other down, and my heart aches for her. I may not have been her closest friend or known her that well, but she loved my father with all her heart, and she did protect the academy like she said she would.
Her voice speaks in my mind and tears well into my eyes.
“In the ever long night, you are the light.”
Gods, I hope she’s right. I close my eyes and do as Ivywood said. I call the light to my side, imagining all of my friends, and one more thing that’s important to me. I feel the drain on my power like a blip. I open my eyes to see Ivywood scream as the Titan rips her body in half, causing the light to vanish, and I hold a hand to my mouth to smother my screams.
“All shadowborns will die on this night.” The Titan’s deep words echo around me as my light gets stronger and brighter.
“No, they will not,” I bellow at him with a smirk, drawing his attention my way.
The Titan’s glowing red eyes narrow on me. Closing my own eyes, I let myself fall into the light and I burst with power as I use the shadows to send every shadowborn to the human world. The academy might have fallen, but its queen will save them all.
Fuck the Titans.
Something wet slaps me on the cheek. I open my eyes to see the island where Ambrose was trapped for so many years. I sit up, all my guys, Ambrose, Sage, and David, and even Echo who’s sitting on top of a familiar crown, sprawled on the beach around me.
“Your nose is bleeding. What did you do?” Zander asks, crawling across the stones to me as a wave of exhaustion rattles through my body. I wipe at my nose with the back of my hand. Zander rips the bottom of his shirt and dips it in the saltwater before holding it to my nose for me until I take over.
“Thanks,” I say, and just then I notice that he’s in his pajamas. Well, I know who did the night shift guard and slept today. Must have been one hell of a wake-up call.
Gage and Jonah talk quietly as they make sure we are alone, but they carefully watch me at the same time. Pitch is uncharacteristically silent.
“I saved everyone in the academy and sent them to random places across the human world,” I tell them, and everyone goes silent as they stare at me in shock.
“That explains the nosebleed,” Zander says. “You used an incredible amount of power to do that. You’re fucking amazing, Corvina.”
“While I agree that Vina is amazing, such power is impossible,” Ambrose points out, staring at me. “No fae should have that kind of power. What exactly are you?”
I don’t have an answer for him, and no one else does either.
Zander helps me stand up. We all stand around, wondering what our next move is. I need rest, and we need somewhere to hide.
“My sister has a secret house not too far from here. After what happened, she wanted to disappear,” Jonah says, and my hand shakes in Zander’s.
“We will go there,” Pitch agrees before I can veto the idea. It’s the first he’s spoken since we arrived here.
Sage picks Echo and the crown up and walks over to me, placing her hand on my arm. “You look pale, are you sure you’re okay?”
I almost humorlessly chuckle at her because I feel awful, but instead, I simply nod, clamping my hand tighter in Zander’s grip. He kisses the side of my head as we turn and follow the others through the forest. Please, please don’t let Jane remember me.
We reach the cottage by nightfall. Scattered leaves crunch under my boots as I step onto the path winding through the flowerbeds up to a small wooden porch. The moon reflects off the wind chimes rustling by the yellow door, and a strange sense of déjà vu creeps over me. I can’t help but feel like I’ve been here before, but I have no recollection of it.
“What’s up, Buzzie?” Sage bumps my shoulder with hers. “You look even paler since we got here.”
I peel my gaze off the cottage and smile at her. “I just feel like I’ve been here before. Have we?”
Sage looks at the cottage and squints her pink eyes. After a moment, she shakes her head. “Nope. I have no memory of this place.”
Neither do I, yet I can’t shake the feeling that I have.
Zander and Jonah rush past us, elbowing each other in an attempt to get into the cottage first. Jonah wins and closes the door on Zander, who blasts it open with magic before marching after him.
“Come on,” Sage whispers, tugging my arm. “I’m freezing my patootie off, and Jonah said there would be food.”
Swallowing nervously, I let her take me into the cottage. The inside is small, warm and cosy. The fur rugs and the country-style furnishings remind me of my childhood home. Perhaps that’s where the déjà vu is coming from. This cottage is so like the one I lived in for all of eight years. Except, the walls are covered in colourful artwork, and there are pots of paint and canvases on every possible surface. Clearly, Jane is an artist of some sort, and she’s good. I especially like the one of Professor Greyhorn dying a horrible and painful death above the mantelpiece.
“Jane, we’re here,” Zander calls, collapsing onto the sofa beside the fireplace. Echo flies over onto his lap. “Feed me. I’m tired.”
I smile and drop down beside him, leaning my head on his shoulder. He kisses my head as Pitch and Ambrose duck through the front door, both going separate ways, presumably to check out our surroundings.
Meanw
hile, Jonah rushes over to the pots bubbling away on a wood-burning stove in the kitchen. The heat from the fire and Zander’s body is comforting, wrapping around me like a warm blanket. While Sage and David sit on the sofa beside us, for a blissful moment, I’m able to forget everything that’s going on. If I close my eyes and focus really hard, I can almost pretend I’m back in my childhood home where it’s Sunday and my mum’s baking shortbread cookies for after the roast dinner.
It’s the small things that make me think of my adoptive parents.
Adoptive parents…
They were more my parents than the king or queen of this world will ever be.
“I saw what happened and figured you’d come here,” a female voice remarks, and I assume it’s from our last-minute host. “There’s only two beds and the couches so I’m afraid you’ll all have to bunk…together…”
She trails off when she meets my gaze. Jane is every bit Jonah’s sister, from her long silver hair curled over one shoulder, to her blue eyes. However, as soon as our eyes lock, she drops the blankets and a violent heat rushes into her face.
“Get out,” she hisses through clenched teeth, pouncing onto the sofa. “Get the fuck out of my house!”
I let out a surprised scream as Jane hauls me off the sofa by my hair and drags me onto the floor. A white light blasts between us before I can even retaliate, knocking me flat onto my back. The air is kicked from my lungs and Gage, Pitch, Zander, and Sage help me to my feet. Across the room, Jonah pins Jane to his chest while Ambrose stands between us, the remnants of light magic disappearing into the palm of his hands.
“Let me go,” Jane snarls, thrashing in Jonah’s arms like a wild animal. “Let me go or I swear to Selena, I’ll—”
“Just calm the fuck down!” Jonah shouts over his sister, gripping her tighter. “What the hell are you thinking?”