Dark Fae Cursed
Broken Court Book One
Heather Renee
Dark Fae Cursed © Copyright 2020 by Heather Renee
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, alive or dead, is purely coincidental.
For more information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book, email [email protected].
ISBN: 979-8685935038
Development Editing: ALD Professional Editing Services, LLC
Line Editing and Proofing: Jamie from Holmes Edits
Cover: Covers by Juan
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Stay in Touch
Also by Heather Renee
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Dedication
For Jaymin and all of the TimTams she sends me.
Without those biscuits, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Okay, fine. And also because of you and the big heart you try to hide.
You are the peanut butter to my jelly!
Chapter 1
When I’d left my high-rise apartment, all I wanted to do was get some air while waiting on news from the witches. That was it. Instead, the pondering thoughts of my future were rudely interrupted by the screams of a human as I traversed the less traveled streets of downtown Los Angeles.
I cocked my head to the side, pushing my long strands out of my face and trying to decide if I was in the mood for drama. I really wasn’t, given I had my own issues to deal with. So, I kept walking along the cracked sidewalk, switching back to my previous dilemmas until the incessant cries of the woman broke through my thoughts once more.
“Wh-what are you?” the female stuttered, the slight breeze carrying her words closer to me.
A growl echoed through the deserted streets. I sighed. Gods, I hated supernaturals who preyed on weak humans. We had a pecking order—an unwritten law—that most supernaturals abided by, but this one clearly didn’t like to follow the rules. I was going to have to do something about that.
With purposeful strides, I crossed the single-lane street, flipping off the driver who honked at me. He should be thanking me for using my invaluable time to save one of his kind.
A streetlight flickered above the brick alleyway, but I couldn’t see much and continued to follow the moans and grunts behind a dumpster.
The female human was on the trash-filled ground, curled in the fetal position, while a scraggly grey wolf nipped at her ankles, merely playing with his food. Idiot mutt.
Magic gathered in my hand, and I flicked a stream of it right at his tail, singeing half the hair off. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to play with your food?” I drawled.
The young woman’s hazel eyes widened at my appearance, and her fair skin became almost translucent behind the thin curtain of ebony hair.
Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of watching the prey instead of keeping my focus on the wolf. He lunged for me, claws scratching my arm, but that was the only hit he’d be allowed. I flicked my wrist once more, sending a stream of power at his chest that acted like electricity, and didn’t let up until I smelled burnt hair.
He fell over onto his side, looking more like an oversized house-dog than the badass shifter he should have been. After a couple of growls, his form shimmered, but I had no desire to argue with a rogue. I blasted him with another bout of magic, stopping his shift.
Bending closer to the ground, I snapped my fingers to get his full attention. “I don’t think so, furball. No shifting back to human form until you’re long gone from this territory. You clearly don’t belong to any of the local packs, so run along now before I kill you instead.”
Don’t give him the option. Just kill him now before he becomes a bigger problem. Ah, my inner darkness had decided to come out and play. Well, I wasn’t in the mood. Instead, I ignored that voice and took a step back from the mangy shifter, groaning at the blood I’d dripped on my favorite high heels.
His jowls snapped at me, foam forming along his jaw while his beady black eyes narrowed.
Power pooled in my hand once more, and I let my own growl out. “I don’t give second chances. Go now or die.”
He yipped as the power of my words slammed into him, then rolled in the opposite direction before jumping over the woman who was still on the ground. The wolf limped along before using the dumpster to launch himself over the fence and disappearing into the night.
“Who are you?” she muttered, snot running down her nose.
“Nobody you’ll remember,” I replied, ready to make her forget this whole incident.
More tears streamed down her face as she sat up and reached to hug me. “You’re my hero.”
My head shook as my palm went to her forehead. “Honey, I’m the furthest thing from a hero. I just hate bullies. Now, you’re going to forget this happened, and I’m never going to see you again.”
My hand stayed in place as I pushed magic into her mind. I couldn’t do this trick on other supernaturals, but I certainly took advantage of it with the feeble minds of humans when necessary.
She mumbled incoherently as I stepped away into the shadows and waited until she stood, crying at the sight of her torn clothes and bruises. Hopefully, she’d figure out the situation wasn’t as bad as it first appeared.
Once she was gone, I left the alley and finished the trek home. A quick glance at my phone told me Neva was due back any minute. I was going to need a shower after that interlude. Blood wasn’t something I enjoyed keeping on my skin, and while my wound was healed with my accelerated fae healing, the mess wouldn’t go away on its own.
I should have just taken my Ferrari for a spin when I needed to get out. This was part of my problem. I’d been “helping” around this territory for much too long. I was growing complacent, or maybe soft. I wasn’t sure which. Either way, I didn’t like it. My actions were beginning to allow emotions in that I’d fought hard to avoid for many years.
I’d learned long ago that caring would give me nothing but heartache.
King Zephyr stood in my room, holding a doll I’d been given by a complete stranger as a child. The only real gift I’d ever been given. “You showed weakness today. You didn’t kill the fae, and now they’ll think they can get away with disobeying me. That displeases me, Lucinda.”
“I’m sorry, Zephy. I’ll do better next time.” I was only fourteen. Even though I looked like an adult, I was still a child.
“Let this be your punishment.” He tore the head from my doll, throwing both halves into the fireplace in my room. “I need you strong. You can’t care about those other fae. They mean nothing to you. I’m a
ll you need.”
Gods, I’d been so naïve. Even though I knew better now, I still had my issues. A part of me wondered if a change of scenery would get me out of this funk, but I’d been hard-pressed to give up the high-rise apartment I’d swindled out of some movie executive who’d been unfaithful to his wife. Not with me, of course. I didn’t date humans, but I had been all too happy to dole out his punishment and get something for myself out of it. I had one of the witch covens to thank for that job.
I’d come to Earth three years ago and had managed to make the best out of things after being kicked out of Fae Islands by King Easton Zephyr. At one time, I’d been his favorite guard, but the king’s loyalty was only skin deep, and one misperception was all it took for the bastard to turn on me. Even though the islands were my home, I had zero desire to ever set foot on them again.
Instead, I’d come to Earth and chose to begin working with the shifters and witches. The two races typically despised each other, but I’d managed to play them like a fiddle. When one had a problem with the other—or any supernatural race for that matter—that they couldn’t solve on their own, they called on me to handle the situation.
Torturing those who deserved it helped to feed the darkness that stirred inside me—that inner voice that pushed me to be worse than I was the day before. Normally, I didn’t mind using my darker subconscious as a crutch, but lately, something was missing. Though, I hadn’t figured out what that was.
My only rule was that I never messed with kids. If there was ever the slightest chance a child could get hurt, I’d tell whoever was requesting my services to piss off, or, depending on how twisted the situation was, I turned their request back on them.
Sometimes supernaturals needed to be knocked down from their pedestal, and I was always happy to oblige.
It had been that way ever since I was a child. I learned early on that bullies needed to be taught lessons, but there wasn’t always someone around to do so. That was when I decided to be that person.
Right before the previous fae queen died and her brother—the current king—took over, she’d given my parents a falcon as a gift. Weeks passed, and I’d witnessed the predator bird terrorize the other wild animals in our area who, as a young fae, I’d considered friends.
At the age of nine, I’d been so sure I knew right from wrong. The bird had needed to go.
But my parents had thought otherwise, and I was the one who paid the price.
They’d been furious when I’d cut its head off and hadn’t believed me when I said it was only in defense. My penance? They sold me to the king in exchange for another damn bird.
That was nine years ago, and I’d spent five of those years being turned into something I wasn’t sure I should be proud of. Regardless, I’d accepted who I was, never once regretting how my life turned out.
Sure, once I’d been banished, I could have reformed, but even at fifteen, I knew in my soul it was too late to really make a difference. I was who I was, and I’d accepted it long ago.
The only thing I let myself care about was punishing those who deserved my wrath. It was the only way to rein in the darkness I carried. It was my way of repenting for all the wrongs I’d been forced to do by the king without having to face the actual consequences of my previous actions.
“Neva,” I called out when I arrived back at my apartment, hoping she’d returned before me.
“Yes, Ms. Morrow?” My faithful assistant’s form shimmered into appearance and began following me while I continued to walk toward my room, stripping off my bloodied clothes along the way.
I sighed. “When will you quit being so formal?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lucinda.”
Well, that was at least better than using the last name I didn’t care for.
“Lucy also works, you know?” I added, but she merely smiled at me, and I knew I needed to let it go. For now, at least.
Neva was a rare brownie elf. Poor thing had been a hideous mess before I stumbled upon her two years ago being beaten by a group of young cubs that I’d let live per Neva’s begging. Though, I’d made sure I would be starring in their nightmares for the rest of their lives before I was through with them.
In exchange for saving her life and revealing her true beauty with my fae magic, she’d offered to stick around and help me with whatever I might need. At the time, I couldn’t think of a single reason why I needed her—by then, I’d already accepted being alone was best—but she quickly showed me how essential she could be, and I grew used to her company.
Once I entered my bedroom, I relieved myself of every stitch of clothing, even though it had only been my shirt to get blood on it. Neva flinched at my lack of attire, but I had no qualms about standing before her naked. Along with being unable to break her from using formalities, she still hadn’t adjusted to my crass ways.
I held my hand out. “My robe?”
Brownie elves made the best assistants.
“Here you are, Ms. Lucinda.” Neva magicked my silk black wrap into appearance, and I covered myself. I wasn’t a complete monster. I just liked to push the boundaries. A lot. But intentions were good when it came to Neva. One of these days, I’d unearth the strong elf I saw lying behind all her formalities.
“I need to shower the stench of wolf off me, but first, what did the witches want?” I asked.
Her honey eyes stared up at me. Eyes that had been dull and lifeless when she met me were now filled with hope, and I wasn’t sure which was worse. The elf was nearly a foot shorter than me. Though, what she lacked in height, I’d made sure she compensated for in strength and looks after I’d given her a boost of magic.
Her skin was smooth and tinted a deep umber. She had a round face that helped her innocence shine through and also came in handy when she did my bidding. People seemed to trust Neva, and that made the brownie elf even more useful, considering very few trusted a dark fae like me.
“The coven first mentioned that you’re upsetting the balance and causing the humans to be irrational when you lure them in and take what you want. They ask if you wouldn’t mind limiting your punishing to the other supernaturals before they’re forced to clean up a mess you can’t. Their words, not mine, of course.”
“I thought they called for me because they had a real issue, not a complaint.” I knew my stay on Earth was a tenuous one. I knew I was pushing the buttons of the other supernaturals that called this place home, but I had a strange curiosity and couldn’t help myself. Plus, Los Angeles had grown on me. At least, I had thought so until recently.
“Well, they do have an issue with a vampire.”
Glee filled me within an instant. Beating on the wolf hadn’t been enough to quench the darkness within me, and it had been nearly two weeks since my last real outing. Given how antsy I’d been getting, this one was coming at the perfect time. I had even been letting thoughts of moving consume me.
The wolf could have been enough if you’d just killed it.
I ignored the inner comment and turned to Neva. “Perfect. Let me shower and we’ll be on our way.” Then, I sauntered to my bathroom, but Neva cleared her throat. “Yes?” I said without turning around.
“Don’t you want to know what they want with the vampire and who he is?”
Slowly, I swiveled my head back toward her. “I assume they want him dead, and does it really matter who he is? We’ve done business with Beatrix before. She knows my conditions. I doubt she’d risk my wrath by requesting me to harm someone who didn’t deserve it.” Plus, the bloodsuckers were my least favorite of all the supernaturals. I was going to enjoy torturing this one.
Her fingers twisted together with obvious nerves. “Well, he’s an older vampire, and Beatrix doesn’t want him dead. She merely wants him as a prisoner to the coven.”
My brow arched. Maybe I was interested. “To do what with?”
“They didn’t say.”
Hmm. While I enjoyed a good kill and could really use it to calm my inner being, the challenge of
capturing might not be too bad as long as he was strong.
I was also interested in why an all-female coven wanted a male vampire as their prisoner. I could certainly imagine the things they had planned for him.
“Very well. It doesn’t change anything. Now, I really need to shower.” My nose turned up. “Remind me to just go to the rooftop next time I want some air.”
“Yes, Ms. Lucinda.” Neva disappeared, all too eager to give me my privacy while I got ready.
A glance at the clock showed it was after midnight and the perfect time to go vampire hunting. They’d be out preying on the drunks leaving the clubs, and I could use their lust for blood against them. Even though bloodsuckers were lightning fast and nearly immortal, the fact that blood held so much power over them made the vampires one of our weaker species, in my opinion.
I moved to get in the shower, but my reflection caught my attention first. My normally light azure eyes had a darker ring of black around them, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a wrinkle forming near the corner of my right eye.
Earth was literally sucking the life out of me.
As much as I didn’t want to ever step back onto Fae Islands, I was beginning to wonder if I wouldn’t have a choice at some point.
Pushing the worry aside, I moved my long iridescent-indigo hair to the side and ran a brush through the thick strands as I searched for more changes. My lips were still full and nose straight. My skin held its unnatural glow that the humans rarely noticed. After being around them only a short time, I’d learned their weak minds were good at ignoring what they couldn’t handle.
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