Finn finally came from the orchards with Dain behind him, pulling a wagon of more crates filled with lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots. “These should get the king’s attention.”
I grinned. That they would, since I ruined every bit of lettuce at the marketplace. Having a salad for fae was like coffee for humans. The fresh veggies were an obsession for some, including King Zephyr. It was my main reason for destroying the produce.
“Are you ready for me to do the glamor?” Maddox asked.
“Been ready since yesterday,” I replied.
His wings unfurled, thin yet strong, swirling with blues and greens. Then, he rubbed his hands together, creating friction sparks. “I’m going to do the magic dampener first. It will be harder than the glamor.”
“Whatever you say.” I moved closer to Maddox, while catching Dain standing close to watch. He was a young fae, probably five years younger than me, but it didn’t appear he’d had the same torturous upbringing as I’d had. There was still an innocence about him that put me off. Almost like Ivy. Maybe he wasn’t so bad and I was just overwhelmed from being around all of these people who were nothing like me.
Maddox stepped closer and placed his hand over my chest, then frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’m just not used to using my power like this.” He moved his hand lower, nearly cupping my boob.
I was about to call him on it, but he hissed at the same time a storm erupted inside me. My head tilted back, and I gritted my teeth. My inner voice was not happy with me.
Stop him. Now!
My arm flew up without my doing and punched Maddox in the jaw. The force was enough that I heard his teeth rattle, but he didn’t release me.
“Lucinda, what the hell was that?” Finn snarled.
I clenched my fists at my side, ignoring the demands from the power within me. “Ask him.”
Finn stepped back and pulled Dain with him. I wondered why until I saw black swirls begin to dance around Maddox’s hands.
“Uh, what are you doing, Fairy?” I asked through gritted teeth, still trying to rein in the darkness.
“I haven’t a damn clue. Now, shut up while I figure it out.”
Well, someone had woken up on the wrong side of the farm today.
Pain seared through my chest, and I ended up punching him at least three more times. Another hit to the jaw and a couple jabs to the ribs, but I had to give him credit. He didn’t waver from his task, showing true strength I didn’t often see in fae.
I’d really wanted to scream out in agony, but King Zephyr had beat the ability to show weakness from me long ago. Instead, I stayed tense and rode the wave, trying to absorb it instead of fight what I couldn’t change.
Maddox finally pulled his hands away, took a step back, and threw up in the dirt.
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” I asked.
“Shut your damn mouth,” Finn snapped.
Gods, he was testy this morning.
You will regret what you’ve done, the darkness whispered, fading away.
“Did it work?” Dain asked.
Finn strode closer, his eyes appraising me with a hint of the heated passion that I so enjoyed drawing from him. “Yeah. They’ll know she’s a dark fae, but her power seems about a quarter of what it was, and it’s muddled with Maddox’s, so it won’t put off her particular mark.”
The darker side of me bristled at his comment, but something else took over, stuffing it down further. A giggle escaped, and I covered my mouth before snarling at Maddox who was still dry-heaving several feet away from me.
A glee filled me as Maddox’s magical scent lured me in, and not in a sinister way, either. My emotions were at war with each other, and I couldn’t stop the giggles that kept coming out.
“Lucinda?” Finn called, but I couldn’t answer him. My focus was on Maddox.
My feet moved of their own accord, and I was getting damn tired of losing control over my body. When I was within reaching distance, I began to rub Maddox’s back in soothing strokes while he continued to be sick.
What the hell is happening to me?
I heard a murmur of a reply from my inner darkness that loved to antagonize me but missed the words.
“Are you okay, Maddie?” I said the words, but the voice that left me was not mine. The actions were not mine, either. Was this the side effect Maddox had mentioned? I was going to kill that fae.
“Finn, get her away from me.” Maddox hobbled a few feet back and offended this new, hopefully extremely temporary me.
“Maddie, don’t leave me,” I whined, reaching for him again.
“Finn. I mean it. Right. Now.”
Strong arms wrapped around me, but just because I wasn’t acting sane, didn’t mean I wasn’t at full power. I retaliated, extending my wings, and Finn let go before the feathers could harden.
“Lucinda. Calm down,” he warned.
“Don’t tell me what to do, Finn.” His name left my tongue in disgust.
Dain chuckled, and I hurled a ball of magic at him. He didn’t dodge it in time, and I singed through his sleeve. Served the asshole right.
I turned for Maddox, and he was standing normally again. “Lucinda, listen to Finn. You need to focus on him and not me.”
I pouted. Like, full lower lip and all. I wanted to punch myself in the vagina. “But Maddie. I need you,” I whined.
Oh, my Gods. Kill me now.
Finn threw himself at me again when I was relaxed. This time, he was more prepared. He shocked the shit out of me with his magic and rolled us onto the ground with me underneath him as my wings softened. His fingers wrapped around my shoulders while his knees held down my hands.
I could have fought him, but as soon as I met his liquid stare, I didn’t want to.
My fingers trailed up his thighs, and I smirked. “Why do we keep finding ourselves in this position?”
He shook his head. “Because you just might be more trouble than I ever thought possible.”
My hand moved between his legs and grabbed on tight. “Is that so?”
Finn sucked in a breath. “Maddox.” The name came out through clenched teeth.
“Give her another zap and she should be good,” he replied.
My arms moved to stop him, but Finn was faster than my inebriated self. I bucked beneath the fae, my feathers becoming razor sharp once more as I finally felt control come back to me. Magic exploded from my skin, and I blasted Finn off me.
“What the shit, Fairy?” I lunged for Maddox, but Finn stopped me before I could cause any more harm.
“I tried to warn you.” He shrugged.
Damn, we hadn’t even left the farm. After all of the nonsense that had been happening in my head, I needed something to go right. My eyes closed, and I focused on myself and nothing else until my body relaxed and Finn let me go. “That was not okay,” I said.
“But it was a little funny.” Maddox grinned.
I glared at him. “Maybe in a few decades, I’ll find it funny. But mention this to anyone and I will torture you for days before leaving you to suffer and die alone.”
His smile fell away, and he straightened. “How about that glamor?”
“A glamor sounds fabulous. Just make sure it’s different than before. I don’t want to underestimate the king’s guards’ ability to figure out who poisoned all of their food and water,” I replied, feeling calmer by the moment, now that I was back in control.
Finn stepped closer. “She’ll need an identity to get through the gates.” He turned to me. “How did you do it before?”
“I knew of a family that had died. I pretended to be their long-lost daughter that had been living on Earth.”
Finn gaped. “They bought that?”
I grinned. “I can be very convincing if you haven’t figured that out already.”
He muttered words under his breath, then glanced back at Maddox. “I know you won’t like this, but what if we make her look like Ivy? It
would make sense for Ivy to be with me and Dain helping you.”
Maddox groaned. “It’s a great idea that I really hate.”
Before I could have a say in it, he stepped forward and worked his magic again. This round was simple and had no side effects. I lifted my hair out in front of me, taking in the blonde. This was some shit. I really needed to end the king and get back to being myself again.
Finn spun me around. “Impressive. Let’s go. We’ve wasted enough of the morning.”
Thank the Gods.
Dain stared at me as he carried two of the crates from the wagon. “Would you like to take a picture?” I asked.
Maddox snarled. “Not a chance in hell.”
The fairy was a little possessive. I liked it.
Dain moved past me, keeping his eyes averted, and I grabbed two more crates. Once everyone had their arms full, we took off. Instead of teleporting there, we chose to fly to see if there was anything new that we could learn.
Unfortunately, the flight over was uneventful for us, but I could spot crowds forming on the beaches of the other islands we passed. The hunt was already beginning, and I couldn’t wait to be on the other side of it.
We landed on West Island, finding an empty spot. Maddox approached me. “I just want to double-check everything is in place before we get to the gates.” After setting his crates down, his hands created the magic sparks again, but instead of touching me, they stayed mere inches above my skin. He started at my head, then my arms, down my sides, and all the way to my toes.
“You should be fine. If they question why ‘Ivy’ has darkness, politely tell them they can ask the king. She carries far less than you, but, given she hasn’t been to the castle since the king nearly killed her, it is a plausible reason,” Maddox added when he was done and grabbed his stuff again.
Finn moved to my side. “Let me speak for you until we’re past the guards. It will be more believable.”
Oh, he knew how much I’d hate that. I could see the spark of mischief in his silver eyes. “Say one inappropriate thing, and all bets are off. I don’t care where we are or who is around us,” I replied.
He ignored my threat and we headed to the gates. When we arrived, there were three times as many guards circling the walls. This was good. I’d be able to get a better idea of what I was going to be up against when it was time for phase three. I wouldn’t be sneaking in then.
No, I’d be crashing through the gates with everything I had, because by then, the king would be fully aware of who had been messing with him. Hiding was only temporary.
Finn and Maddox stepped in front of me and Dain. I kept my head up, refusing to act meek, but also staying far enough back that they would hopefully dismiss me. I was stubborn, not stupid.
“What business do you have here today?” a different guard than before asked.
Finn raised his crates. “We have fresh produce for the king. Straight from our farm and never out of our sight.”
The guard typed something into the tablet. “Names?”
“Finn and Ivy Barlow.” Then he nodded to Maddox. “Maddox Sims and Dain Burr.”
More typing. More glancing at each of us. More typing. Gods, this was annoying.
“The king would like your shipment sent straight to his private kitchen,” the guard said to Finn, then addressed Maddox. “You’ll head to the sublevel and leave those crates with the house staff.”
Both of them replied with curt nods before the guard moved aside. I was honestly baffled this was working. I hadn’t expected the guards to be such idiots after an attack like mine, but maybe I hadn’t been giving the food we’d brought enough credit.
There were guards every twenty-or-so feet, all dressed in the royal blue garb with their leather wings out and ready for attack. I assumed someone would escort us to our destinations, but with sentries standing so close together, it wasn’t really necessary.
When we arrived at the castle gates, another guard stopped us. “Which one of you to the king’s kitchen?” Finn raised his crates. “When you enter through the double doors, head left and up the first set of stairs. Kitchen will be four doors down the right hallway.”
“And us?” Maddox asked.
The guard glanced back down at his notes. “To the left as well, but after the stairs, you’ll take the first door on the right to head below. You’ll walk right into the sublevel kitchen.”
The double wooden doors, likely infused with enough magic to kill dozens of fae, swung open and we entered. My stomach tightened with sudden nerves, but I pushed them down into the box filled with any emotion that made me weak.
Inside the castle’s secondary wall, there weren’t as many guards. Unsurprising, given the amount of force it would take to break through the additional wall, but I had needed the confirmation before I could initiate phase two. A plan I hadn’t really filled the others in on.
“I need you to change me into someone else. Someone in a maid’s uniform,” I said to Maddox while glancing around for others as I moved into a small alcove just beyond the stairs.
Finn moved his crates onto his hip and grabbed a hold of my arm. “Not a damn chance.”
I jerked out of his grasp, rage struggling to rise to the surface, but Maddox’s magic was somehow keeping most of it suppressed with my darkness.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I snarled and dropped my crates to the ground, making more noise than I should, before turning to Maddox and wrapping my hand around his throat. “Do it now or I’ll call Neva off her search and all this can be over.”
Maddox’s eyes darted from me to Finn and back again. “You wouldn’t,” he snarled under the pressure.
“Try me.”
Chapter 20
Maddox was a smart fairy. He nodded stiffly, and I released his neck. “Make it quick.” My eyes searched beyond the stairs we were tucked behind. Still, nobody was coming, but I knew that could change at any moment.
Finn grumbled next to me, but I ignored him. Something I was getting used to after only mere days of knowing him.
Maddox did his thing, and I went from blonde to redhead in a few seconds. “There. New hair and outfit. I’m assuming you’re not staying with us?”
I patted his chest. “That would be correct.” I caught Dain fidgeting out of the corner of my eye. He was off to the side, seeming as if he was about to piss himself. “What’s wrong with you?”
“There sure are a lot of guards around this place. Makes me a little uneasy, given I don’t really know why we’re here.”
And he wasn’t going to know. Even if we could trust him, that didn’t mean we should. The less people who knew about my plans, the better for everyone. “Just do as you’re told, and we’ll be good. Finn and I will meet the two of you back here within ten minutes. If the guards ask why you’re waiting, tell them we’re in the king’s kitchen and they should leave you alone.”
“What if you’re not in there and they check?” Dain asked, his brows furrowed and voice strained with what seemed like concern.
I tossed a grin his way. “That’s not really your problem. Let’s keep moving.”
Maddox nudged Dain with his boxes, and they headed downstairs. Finn was already three steps ahead of me going up, so I quickly grabbed my crates and caught up. “What’s wrong, Finnigan? You seem to have your briefs in a twist again.”
“That is not my name, and you are always my problem. You do whatever you want without any regard to other people around you. It’s maddening.”
I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and turn back to me before moving to the same step as him. The staircase wasn’t wide, and our chests were nearly touching while we each held our supplies to the side. “You have no clue why I do the things I do. I was living a perfectly good life before you showed up. One that consisted of me helping other supernaturals quite frequently, actually. I’m not here for me. Whether you believe that is your problem, not mine.”
He had a solid foot of height on me and low
ered his head until our noses touched. “You’re infuriating.”
“And you like it.”
His free hand pushed my shoulder until I was against the railing. Then, he stomped the rest of the way up the stairs. Gods, I loved it when I was right.
The additional thirty seconds it took to get to the king’s private kitchen had allowed Finn to calm down, and he was speaking with a maid when I peeked around the corner.
“I was just taking him lunch, but let me get this to the walk-in cooler first,” she said.
I waited until the maid disappeared through another door before walking in. “Why didn’t you tell her I had more?”
“You’re dressed like her, and she won’t know you. That might have raised questions. Now, leave the food and go do whatever it is you have planned. I will only wait here five minutes, and then we’re leaving without you.” His voice was flat and face blank of emotion.
I had no time to push him for more conversation, so I set the items on the counter and grabbed the serving tray. Phase two was getting easier by the moment. I not only had a reason to visit King Zephyr without suspicion, but I also had the means to tamper with his food while using another spell I’d acquired in the past.
When I’d seen it in the trunk, I immediately knew I had to factor it into my plans if the situation presented itself. I had assumed I was going to be required to physically touch the man in order to do so. Now, that revulsion wouldn’t be an issue.
I followed the hallway toward another set of stairs that led up to two more floors. When I got to the top, I moved off to the side and pulled the potion and a knife from my boot. Lifting the tray, my mouth began watering at the smell of potato soup.
Grinning, I lifted the spoon and took the first bite. Damn, I missed the castle food. Two more bites, and I was done. I cut the top of the potion off and stirred the contents into the soup before positioning the spoon exactly where it had been before.
Once the food was covered back up, I kept moving. I knew exactly where I was headed and all the turns to take in order to risk being seen by the least amount of people, but that meant I’d likely run into guards, so I kept to the main halls instead and strolled along with a smile on my face.
Dark Fae Cursed (Broken Court Book 1) Page 15