by G. Bailey
“Echo, no—you don’t know where it goes!” I chase after him, using my wings to fly over to the tunnel.
“Vina, where are you going?” Pitch shouts as I stare down the tunnel.
“Echo went on an adventure. I’ll get him and come back,” I tell my guys, each of them staring up at me.
Gage mutters a spell under his breath and then he runs, jumping in the air, and magic pushes him higher than a normal jump would until he lands next to me on the rock.
“Need a sidekick?” He grins at me.
I chuckle and get down on my hands and knees. Halfway through the tunnel, I notice a soft pink light from the other side, shining brighter than the light I made. Gage and I spend a good ten minutes crawling through the tunnel. Dirt covers and sticks to my hands as I push myself through the other end and nearly gasp at the sight. A tiny room lays on the other side of the tunnel and every inch of it is covered in glowing pink flowers. Petals float around me as I walk into the middle of the room, staring around in awe. This place is truly beautiful. I have to take some flowers for Sage, she would love them. They match her hair and eyes.
A memory of a fae history book Sage once read comes to mind. I’m sure they said caverns around the Enchanted Forest were blessed with eternal flowers and only a fae couple in love could find them. I wonder if this is one of these places as I swoop down to grab some of the flowers.
A hand cups my cheek and I look up to see Gage in front of me before he kisses me. I vaguely spot Echo flying back through the tunnel, returning to the others, but Gage has my full attention now.
Wordlessly both of us tug at each other’s clothes, dropping them onto the floor until we are both naked and pressed against each other. Gage picks me up and lies me down on the soft ground, covering my body with his. I roll us over and start kissing down his chest to his stomach and finally to his cock. Running my tongue over the tip, he groans and there is just something so sexy about being in control, having all the power, and I’ve missed being alone with Gage.
Slowly, I take all of Gage’s cock into my mouth, swirling my tongue around him as I go. The deep rumble of his chest turns me on and I flick my tongue over his slit, making him gasp in pleasure.
After only a few seconds, Gage has had enough and effortlessly pulls me up on top of him, still leaving me in control. Positioned perfectly, I easily slide down onto his cock and incredible pleasure overtakes me as he fills me. I roll my hips, once, twice, and again and again as his cock hits just the right place inside of me. By Selena, Gage was made for me. There’s no doubt in my mind.
His thumb finds my clit and I drop my head back as the pleasure builds up. I’m inches away from coming and that’s when I notice we’re flying in the air. My wings flutter hard behind my back and Gage leans up, kissing my lips as we literally have sex in the air. The danger and the incredible feeling of Gage inside me sends me spiraling into an orgasm and Gage comes with me, kissing me hard at the same time. We both crash to the flower bed as I forget to keep flying and I can’t help but laugh as I sit up and Gage laughs with me.
“Maybe we need to practice that one a little more,” Gage suggests, picking me up and sitting me on his lap, his cock still hard against me.
I grin and kiss him. Oh, hell yes we can practice this again. And again. And fuck it, again. I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place to do it.
The usual cold air from the Enchanted Forest has been replaced by the smell of the sea. With every breath, I taste the salt from the water. The trees here look healthier, brushed away from the seafront, and sand mixes in with the fallen leaves that crunch under my feet. Echo flies in circles above Zander, happily floating away on his back. Pitch squeezes my hand tightly and I smile up at him.
“Remember that time we went to Devon?” he asks, and a fond smile tilts my lips up. It’s one of my favourite memories.
“Everyone thought you were a mad kid talking to yourself.”
I snort in laughter. “I will never forget the Keeper’s face when she found me talking to you on the beach. For years, she really did think I was insane.”
“When this is all over, I’m taking you to the beach and I’m fucking you on it,” Pitch declares like it’s a done deal, and every inch of me is completely on board with this plan.
It was three years after the beach that Pitch first kissed me, and the memory stays glued to my memory even to this day. Kissing your soulmate feels like coming home. It’s a feeling I’ll never get tired of.
“We’re here!” Jonah shouts back to us from the front of the group.
I rush to his side, staring out at the rolling sea stretching before us. Ambrose bumps my shoulder, a big smile on his face. He was right that we’d reach our destination within a day. Right in the centre of the glistening green sea is the mountain the dragons live on, and as we stare, at least five dragons fly out of the water and around the mountain in a clear formation.
“Is it true that only people with dragon blood can go into the city?” I question, turning to Zander. His eyes lock onto mine as he knows what I need to ask him.
“Ask it,” he mutters. “I know you’re dying to.”
“Zander, I need my uncle to help win this war. Even when I have the sword, I don’t have an army, and the only army left is his. I can’t go to him and ask, but you can for me. Will you?”
I hate asking this of him.
I hate that it has to be Zander since all he’s ever done is hide from his dragon side.
When Zander grits his teeth and turns from me, I add hurriedly, “But I understand if you can’t. I won’t force you to or guilt you into it. I just know we need help, and he’d be a good ally.” I turn to my other guys. “Can you leave us alone for a moment?”
Jonah, Gage, Pitch, and Ambrose awkwardly look between us before nodding and heading into the forest. Echo flies after them. I step closer to Zander, wrapping my arms around his waist. “You’re braver than you know, Zee-Zee. I would never ask this from you if I didn’t know you could do it.”
His silence and the fact he doesn’t laugh at my nickname makes me worry. Maybe I pushed too far by asking this of him?
“I’ve never belonged to the dragons or the magics of this world, Vina,” he whispers, his hand cupping my cheek and lifting my head at the same time. I almost gasp when I see his dragon-like eyes glowing as he looks down at me. “But I belong to you and you are my mate. For you, I will go there and demand help.”
I lean into his hand. “Tell them you’re my mate and will help lead the fae courts. Tell them we offer peace and much more in return for this debt,” I softly say. “And tell my uncle that if he hurts you and hides away in his mountain while his family needs him, I will burn the mountain down and destroy his kingdom if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
“Damn, you can be scary.”
We both chuckle for a moment before he brings my lips to his. The kiss is soft—a goodbye, for now, that doesn’t need words. It hurts to step back from him knowing I’m sending him into danger, but it has to be done.
Zander runs across the beach, through the shallow water and jumps into the sea, diving headfirst into the water.
I run to the edge of the beach, letting the waves brush my feet as I wait for Zander to come back up. Even though I’m well aware he’s part dragon, and like all dragons, can breathe underwater, it’s still hard to wait for him. Just when I start to wonder if he’s swimming his ass to the city, a massive dragon jumps out of the sea, water glistening on his white scales and his yellow eyes meet mine.
Zander.
His beautiful dragon spins in the air, shaking off the water, and then flies straight for the city without stopping once.
Good luck.
An icy chill creeps over me as I watch him go.
“Hello, Princess Corvina,” a voice says. “Princess of Ravens and Wolves. Princess of Freedom. Princess of the Light and Dark. I have heard many whispers about you.”
I jump, spinning around in the waves of the sea, look
ing for whoever just spoke, but finding no one. Oddly, I can’t even tell if it was a boy or a girl, and the more I think of the voice, the more it seems like I heard nothing at all. I try to step out of the sea but my feet don’t move, and I look down to see I’m sinking into the sand. It’s pulling me under.
“Help!” I scream the word out, digging at the sand under my feet as it quickly reaches my knees. I look up to see my guys running out of the forest just as a blast of water slams into them, sending them flying back into the forest. I call my magic but nothing happens. Fear clogs my throat when I realise that I’m stuck. My screams and pleads to Selena are lost to the sea as I sink further and my hands get stuck under the sand. Just as it gets to my neck, dark spots start to cloud my vision and the air clamps in my lungs.
“You’re mine now, Princess. I have been waiting for you.”
Then I’m lost to the sea and the sand, helpless to save even myself.
“And that’s the end of class today. Make sure you have all your homework in for tomorrow!” I shout as the teenagers in my class all but rush out of the room the second the bell rings. I chuckle, remembering when I was just like them and not the teacher I am now. I couldn’t wait to get out and hang out with my friends. I gather the papers I need to mark tonight and my planner, shoving them in my bag when a knock on the door echoes twice.
“Hey, hun. Still ready for tonight’s dinner?” My mum, the headmistress of our school, asks as she comes into my classroom. Still a beauty in her fifties, her pale blue eyes wait patiently for my answer. Mum and I have always been close, but I’m a daddy’s girl at heart.
“Is Dad cooking his famous beef stew?” I ask, and she just laughs, walking over to my desk. Surprisingly, my mum hugs me tightly, not like she usually does. I hug her back. “What’s this for?”
“All this isn’t real. You can’t choose this. Look in the water, dear,” she whispers in my ear.
I laugh and pull away, frowning at her. “What did you just say?”
She shakes her head, her long blond hair swaying behind her. “I didn’t say anything, dear. Don’t be late tonight. I love you!” She hugs me once more before rushing out of the room, and I stare at the door as it swings shut.
Look at the water? What about any of this isn’t real?
This is my life.
I’m Corvina Charles, a normal girl who grew up in a little village and studied damn hard to become a teacher. I mean, I don’t have a love life, and no guy seems to compare to the four men in my dreams, but what girl doesn’t dream of sexy men?
No, this is real. It’s as real as the air in my lungs and the sharp pinch I give my arm. But something about my mum’s whisper does shake me up. Even if it was meant as a joke, it’s a bizarre thing for her to say.
Shaking my head, I chuck my bag over my shoulder and leave the classroom. I rush to the front door of the school, needing fresh air. Only the fresh air doesn’t help the panic or fear creeping over me.
I look over the road at the small park, and in the centre is the wishing well that’s always filled with water. This whole area used to be a forest, but when the council decided they needed a park, they uprooted all the trees. That’s when they found the wishing well, which they decided to keep. Until this moment, I’ve never gone near it, but my mum’s whisper sinks into my mind, drawing my feet towards the park. Every step seems wrong. My whole body itches to run away even as I pass children laughing and running in circles, and the few teenagers from my class hanging out on the swings. Nothing seems right anymore.
I stop at the well and stare into the water down below. I should walk away and go to the house that I share with my roommate, Sage, and get ready for dinner with my parents.
What am I doing here?
“Choose well, Princess, or you will never leave my sea again.”
Why does the creepy water have to talk?
Sea?
What the hell?
Without knowing why I drop my bag to the floor and start climbing the walls. I stand on the edge of the well, looking down into a dark abyss.
“Choose.”
The voice doesn’t tell me what to choose, or why, but I want to jump.
I want to leave.
And so I jump into the water without another thought.
My body plunges into the salty water at the bottom and I gasp as it surrounds me, pulling me down into its depths. Slowly, light burns into my eyes and I see a sword floating right in the middle of the brightness. I stretch my hand out and grab the helm of the sword. The water swooshes away, leaving me on a sandy beach with the burning sun bleeding into my eyes. Every real memory of my past and my reality comes crashing back to me as tears burst from my eyes and sobs from my throat.
My human parents are dead. I killed them and I’ve accepted that it wasn’t my fault.
I could have chosen to stay with them, but that world would never have been real.
This world is, and everything that comes with it, the good and the bad.
In this world, my guys are real, and with them is the only place that I want to be.
I glance at the talking sword, which is so much worse than talking water. It is made of pure gold, but lightweight as I lift it up, my gaze tumbling over the helm which glistens with starlit jewels. Symbols are drawn all over the blade and the leather handle is incredibly soft, fitting perfectly into my hand. As I admire it, the gold changes to pure black, and the stones turn into ravens, the wings holding the blade up. Damn, it’s my sword now. It sinks into my hand like sand dissolving into the ocean, and an amber glow travels up my arm. It vanishes under my skin before turning into a gold tattoo that replicates what the sword had looked like. I always wanted a tattoo.
“Until the end,” I whisper, running my finger over the raised skin, feeling a strange addiction to the power—to the talking sword now etched into me.
“Vina!”
Jonah’s voice carries to me on the ocean breeze. I spin around to see him running over with Pitch and Gage at his side. They all crash into me and hold me in the middle of them. Echo calls out and lands on top of Pitch’s shoulder, and I swear he smiles at me.
“It’s been three days. Where in the name of Selena did you go?” Pitch demands, his worry drifting into anger.
“Three days?” I question with wide eyes. “It felt like an hour to me. The sword took me. It’s a long story. What matters is that I’m okay and I have one of the artifacts.”
I show them my arm and they all frown at me in confusion. They can’t see the sword. So it’s only me who can see it? Ambrose comes rushing out of the forest, sighing and patting his knees when he sees me. To my surprise, the guys let Ambrose hug me when he gets closer and he lifts my arm with a similar frown.
“What happened?” Ambrose asks, stepping back. “Your power is leaking off you in waves. Something big has changed.”
“I have a talking sword tattooed on my arm that only I can see,” I answer. Ambrose grunts, crossing his arms. All my guys look at my arm very uncomfortably, almost as if the sword is a new guy and they want to figure out a way to get rid of him.
“You seriously have a problem with things talking in your head, you know that?” Pitch grumbles. I laugh despite the weirdness of the situation. We have the sword, Zander will get the dragons and we will win this war. Things are finally looking up.
Before dusk settles, we stop by another cave to make camp. This one isn’t nearly as impressive as the last and has been used by animals. To prevent the smell of rotting bones hitting us, we built a fire outside the cave this time. I’m more exhausted anyway than I am eager to explore the area. I guess three days trapped in an alternative reality has started to take its toll on me. Pitch senses my exhaustion and takes my hand.
“You should rest,” he whispers.
I nod at him, unable to stifle a yawn. “There’s just
something creepy about this cave. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“It’s probably because we’re near the Deadlands border,” he says. “They won’t come near us. Like the centaurs, Draugars keep to themselves.”
“And thank Selena for that,” Jonah adds, stoking our wire with a long wooden stick. “Those corpses stink.”
“Sshh!” Gage glares at him. “I don’t know about you, mate, but I’d rather not attract their attention.”
Jonah stands and grins at him. “Are you frightened, Professor?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
They both laugh as they walk off in different directions, probably to help Ambrose place more protection spells around us.
“What are Draugars?” I ask Pitch, scooting closer to him on the fallen log. “This sounds like the perfect camping ghost story.”
He chuckles quietly before answering. “There are sea-Draugars and land-Draugars. The ones close to the border are the former and control anyone who drowns in the Enchanted Forest, particularly in the Faery Pools. The land-Draugars protect their marshlands and ancient treasure-filled caves. They were rumoured to once fight alongside the Draconians in battle, but I think it’s only a tale.”
“It’s not a tale,” Gage says, returning with firewood in his arms. He sets them down by the crackling fire Ambrose kindly set up for us. “My father used to collect ancient scrolls. In one of them, there was a legitimate account about the Sea Draugars helping to defend the forest when Eris’ sent her monsters. They helped protect Draconia while a lot of other places were destroyed.”
Pitch lifts his brows. “There you go, then. They once weren’t as recluse as they are now.”