by J. L. Weil
Like my void magic, Kai had the ability to fold the ripples of the world, jumping through the shadows from one place to another, along with his shapeshifting powers. I was lucky he was able to hunt me down as quickly as he had. “Ryker’s staff has been told not to divulge my identity to anyone.”
“Smart. He always was the smarter brother.”
“He claims the Conclave ordered I be brought here under any circumstances.”
He lifted up from his reclined position and rubbed a hand under his jaw. “I imagine that to be the truth. You’re the key to saving this world. I’m surprised they haven’t put you in a bubble.”
I looked out the window with a scowl. “Not funny. I’m already a prisoner.”
“A locked door in a tower doesn’t make you a prisoner. I’ve been in places way worse than this, trust me. Ryker might have been ordered to secure you, but you’re still of royal blood. Mortal or not, it means something to the Conclave—to faes.”
I didn’t ask what he’d done to be thrown into the dungeons. I didn’t want to know. “What about those who do not want a mortal queen?”
“They will come around once they see what your powers can do and that King Ryo’s magic runs strong through your veins,” he said.
Assuming I earned all nine of my Kitsune tails. And if I didn’t? Then what? This world would be obliterated by the sickness. The faes would all perish. My own world might be threatened. I would lose my mother, my friends, my home. Devyn. I knew the stakes if I failed, but it still hit me hard when I thought about it too much.
“So far, all he’s had me do is read a book,” I grumbled.
“A book?” Kai echoed, one of his brows arching.
I lifted my hand, showing him the old bound text.
“Hmm,” he said through pressed lips.
“You never told me if Holly and Devyn are okay.”
“They’re fine,” he mumbled, his eyes still stuck on the book. “Both are still a pain in my ass.”
“How long before he arrives?” I asked, unable to hide my restlessness and hope of seeing Devyn again.
Kai shrugged. “Knowing his damn relentless will and honorable sense of duty, I’d say it will take him a few weeks of backbreaking riding.”
It was true what Kai said. Devyn wouldn’t rest. He would travel night and day until he found me. Ryker had to know that as well. “What if this is a trap?” I swallowed hard.
“I don’t think Devyn cares. Trap or not, as long as he is by your side, he could care less about the rest.”
“Does Ryker really know you’re here?”
Kai smiled like he’d been caught. “He will. Eventually.”
I was just glad to no longer be alone.
Eventually didn’t take long.
Less than an hour after Kai appeared, three sentinels burst through the door without bothering to knock.
Kai’s head tilted with a lazy movement toward the door. “Geez, you guys know how to make an entrance. Ever hear of privacy? The queen and I were having a moment.” He winked at me.
Despite telling myself not to blush, my cheeks betrayed me and burned with heat. I wouldn’t have been embarrassed at all if it hadn’t been for the compromising position the guards had found us in. I’d moved from the window seat to flip through the pages of the book with Kai on the bed. I’d thought it couldn’t hurt to have the two of us looking for something useful about my heritage and the origin of its powers.
My first mistake.
We had both heard the stomping of feet up the winding stairs at the same moment. Kai had reacted before I had a chance to comprehend what he was doing. He rolled onto me, slipping his leg in between mine as he dipped his head, taking possession of my lips. I’d been too stunned to do anything, my mouth remaining motionless against his.
This was the precise moment the door to my rooms was flung open.
My senses finally returning, I shoved at his chest, pushing him off me with definite effort on my part. I glared up at Kai with full loathing and a promise that he would pay for this.
The bastard had the nerve to lift a brow and actually look excited about my retribution of pain. I was going to hurt him. Right where it counted on a sadistic prick like Kai.
A sentinel cleared his throat. “Lord Ryker demands your presence at once.”
“Give us a minute,” Kai demanded, disregarding the sentinels as if they were nothing but fleas, unworthy of his time. Kai was damn good at being haughty and a dick. He wasn’t going to be rushed by anyone—lord or not.
“Get off me,” I growled, my cheeks hot with anger now.
“We’re going to need to work on your kissing technique. What is my little brother teaching you?” he whispered in my ear.
I was on the verge of screaming in his face.
Kai laughed, finally removing his body from mine.
“If Devyn finds out you kissed me,” I hissed through my teeth, “he is going to kill you.”
“Probably, but that was half of the fun. Besides, your secret is safe with me.”
My secret? He was the asshole who had kissed me.
I was beginning to rethink that having Kai here was a good thing.
“Shall we see what your dear uncle wants?” Kai held a hand out to help me off the bed.
I scooted to the edge, ignoring Kai’s gentlemanly gesture by choosing to stand on my own. Running my fingers through my hair, I collected myself, and together, we walked over to the waiting trio of sentinels.
“Just him,” one of the guards said, blocking me from leaving.
I swallowed, my eyes searching Kai’s. “As the Lord wishes,” Kai said without batting an eye. He gave me a reassuring smile, but it did nothing to calm my suddenly churning stomach. “Does it really take three of you to escort me down a flight of stairs?” I heard Kai ask before the guards shut and locked the door, leaving me all alone once again.
I didn’t want to admit how much I missed Kai’s presence, but feeling the weight of the empty bedroom, I sagged against the wall. Was Ryker going to kick him out? Demand he leave? Why hadn’t Kai changed his shape or hidden in the shadows? I was so desperate for a familiar face in this strange realm that I’d settle for Kai’s.
An hour went by. I chewed on my nails, roaming from one wall to the other and assuming the worst. Where was he?
Tessa brought dinner to my room. I pelted her with questions about Kai, but the maid claimed to know nothing. It was odd that I was eating the evening meal in my room. I could take breakfast and lunch alone, but I was expected to dine in the main hall with everyone else for dinner.
Tessa pestered me to eat, but I only picked at my food, my eyes straying to the door. She gave up after she finished straightening my room and dropping off fresh bath towels. By the second hour, I was cursing Kai to seven different kingdoms of hell.
Perhaps he wasn’t coming back. Perhaps Ryker had thrown him out or into his dungeons. I doubted the lord took kindly to faes strolling into his court unannounced. Self-restraint and loyalty were of high regard in this particular fae kingdom. Although I had a feeling it was a fae trait in general with Kai being the exception.
Fed up, I jumped off the bed and knocked on the door. “Hey!” I yelled. “Open this damn door!”
Footsteps sounded, followed by the jingling of keys. The door swung open, and Kai stood on the threshold with a lazy grin on his lips. I grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him inside my room. “Where have you been?”
He angled his head to the side. “Were you worried about me, little queen?”
“In your dreams. What did he say?” I asked Kai.
He shrugged and made himself comfortable on my bed. “Lord Ryker wanted to know what I was doing here.”
If Kai wasn’t such a conceited prick all the time, he might very well have been one of the most gorgeous males I’d ever seen. He lacked Devyn’s lethal demeanor, but Kai had a dark charm that was a different type of weapon. And I, for one, wasn’t about to get caught in his trap. “And what did you tel
l him?” I prompted.
“That you and I were claimed,” he answered in a calm voice.
“Claimed for what?”
He waggled his brows and the implication sunk in.
“Oh, hell no you didn’t!” I shrilled. “Why would you do that?” My voice was reaching new octaves, and panic sent me pacing up and down the room. “You told him we were engaged? And he believed you?”
“I’m that convincing.” I remembered that Devyn had told me once that Kai was a master at manipulation. “Besides, I swore to my little brother that I would do whatever necessary to stay by your side until he can swoop in on his horse and save his beloved princess.”
I grabbed the first thing my fingers touched and hurled it across the room, right for his head. “This isn’t a fairy tale, you jackass.”
The marble statue (hopefully not irreplaceable) smashed into the wall to the left of his head before crashing to the floor and shattering into a million fragments. “I do love it when you call me names.” His eyes glanced at the hole. “But we might need to work on your aim.”
“Good, then you’ll love this.” I shot up my middle finger. “Now get out of my room.”
Kai had the audacity to laugh.
Chapter Eight
KARINA
By morning, I was still fuming at Kai and his web of deception. I refused to play along with Kai’s little charade. He was insane to think I would pretend to be his fiancée or his “claimed” as the fae termed it.
It was his fault I was so tired and hadn’t gotten an ounce of sleep. And now I was supposed to have my first training session with Reilly and Bash.
Would Kai be there?
How was I going to fake being his betrothed?
How was I supposed to face Reilly?
He had once proposed a union between us, and I’d refused. My only consolation was that at least Devyn wouldn’t hear about it since no one but a select group of faes knew who I really was. Another lie I had to uphold.
Bash and Reilly came to retrieve me right after breakfast for my training session. So far, no sign of the shadow devil himself. I told myself to be relieved Kai hadn’t shown up, and yet, my chest tightened with anxiety.
Standing beneath a canopy of large palm trees, I breathed in the salty air and took in the ageless silver water that stretched as far as I could see. Sand shifted under our feet as we left the vicinity of the castle. No sentinels tailed us that I could see. I had a mixture of feelings about these ordered magic lessons. The Kitsune in me was purring, eagerly waiting to come out and play, but the human part of me was apprehensive.
“Is it true?” Reilly asked, breaking the strained silence between us. The tension between us had been present from the moment I saw him this morning.
I had a hunch about what he meant, but I wanted to be sure.
I pushed back at the pressure clamping down on my chest. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“You and Kai? Is that specific enough for you?”
I winced, and then promptly stumbled over a rock like an idiot. Bash caught me before I could do any real damage to my face. Way to go, Karina. This is going smoothly. “Uh, I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to tell you. Everything happened so fast, and I can’t seem to keep up.” I scrambled to come up with a story that didn’t sound like utter bullshit.
“It happened when I was in Ashland,” I explained.
The castle loomed at our backs as we approached a glass dome building. “And how does Devyn feel about your choice?” Reilly countered. Devyn and the dragon shifter had been friends, and Reilly had sensed that Devyn and I had something going on between us.
“Fine,” I lied, the words like sandpaper in my throat.
The gold rings in his eyebrow and lip glinted in the sunlight. If rockstar faes were a thing, Reilly would be the poster boy, and it looked good on him. I just wasn’t into rockstars. I preferred moody guys with jealousy issues. “What I don’t get is why you picked someone like Kai over me.”
“Me neither,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Karina.” He said my name in a grim manner, halting at the glass door that led into the dome.
“It’s not what you think. I didn’t choose him over you.”
“What do you know about Kai Haren?”
I could tell him what I didn’t know about him, like his last name, for starters. There was nothing I wanted more than to confess everything to Reilly, to tell him that Devyn was on his way here, that Kai and I were only pretending to be claimed so he could stay with me in the castle until Devyn arrived.
I shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Bash snorted, giving his opinion on the matter for the first time this morning, not that I’d had a lot of interaction with my cousin. “In Kai’s case, you have no idea.”
“Okay, you guys are making it seem like I’m marrying Satan,” I said dryly.
“Worse,” they both said at the same time.
I frowned.
Bash pushed open the glass door and waited for me to enter. “My father had it in his thick head that you and I would take the claiming oath. It was part of his plan to get you to fall in love with me.” Bash gave me a wicked grin that told me he actually didn’t mind the idea.
The claiming oath was an unbreakable bond of marriage. Faes didn’t believe in divorce. Once two people pledged themselves, there was no undoing the oath. Love mattered little in fae unions and even less with royals. “I take it there are no laws against claiming a cousin.”
“Thinking of changing your mind?” Bash winked.
“Not on your life,” I said and strolled inside the training dome, but a tinge of regret fluttered in my chest. I hated the deception. I wasn’t going to take the claiming oath with Kai.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Reilly pressed, falling into step beside me.
To marry Kai? Definitely not. To lie to everyone? No.
But what choice did I have? The lies had already been woven. I didn’t want Kai to be banished from the castle, so I didn’t see how I had another option.
I couldn’t make myself look Reilly in the eye, for I knew he would see right through the ruse. And perhaps this arrangement did have an advantage by keeping Ryker from trying to claim me to someone else. “Yes. I’m sure,” I said with a glumness I couldn’t camouflage.
My eyes passed over him for a brief second, and I thought I saw a flash of regret in his features, but he hid it behind a mask of coldness that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing from him. “It’s your choice, but I hope it isn’t too late when you finally come to your senses. You’re going to be queen. It is your duty to find a partner who will protect your kingdom with the same passion and dedication as you will in nurturing this land.”
He was right.
And I had found that person, but Reilly wouldn’t be pleased to hear that he still wasn’t the one I wanted standing beside me for the rest of my fae life, which I’d read in the book was a very, very long time.
Committing myself to another fae would be an unbreakable oath. This person would rule beside me for decades to come—a concept I couldn’t wrap my head around. The nearly immortal lives of faes were something I didn’t have time to dwell upon, not now. It would have to wait until after I rid this world of the blight. Besides, as part human, perhaps the long life wouldn’t extend to me.
Until then, I’d train and play along with Kai’s plan. I was a fox, after all, and trickery supposedly ran thick in the Kitsune line, even though it hadn’t been a trait of my grandfather or my mother.
I turned in a circle, taking in the impressive size of the glass enclosure that was used for magic training. It was positioned on the edge of a cliff, the ocean surrounding the building on three sides, which allowed the sun to stream in from every point in the room. Outside, the Sea of Weaverly thrashed against the cliffs, but within the dome, the sounds of Mother Nature ceased to exist. I closed my eyes, holding out my arms as the rush of magic trembled in my veins. We’ve miss
ed you, the five powers seemed to say as one.
I spun around to face Reilly and Bash who were watching me with twin expressions of amusement. “Why can’t I hear the ocean?” I asked.
“The room’s been soundproofed,” Bash informed me.
Why would anyone do that?
As if Bash could read my thoughts, he added, “It’s so there are no distractions during training. This is the only place on the castle grounds that your magic is allowed to be used, but it does have its limitations. Some magic is prohibited or restricted, like your ability to void. You can use it within this space, but it will not allow you to jump to other parts of the world or to other dimensions.”
“How much do you know about my abilities?” I asked, curious how Bash had known about my power of voiding.
“You have managed to attain five tails either by sheer luck or unexpected cunning. I’m still undecided on which one,” Bash said as he walked over to the mats in the middle of the space.
“Ha,” I said, feigning outrage. “It was pure skill. That’s all you need to know.”
Reilly chuckled, breaking out of his surly mood. “That’s not what Devyn claimed.”
I shot him a playful warning look, despite the ache in my heart at the mention of Devyn’s name. “Don’t mess with me, dragon shifter, even though you saved my life. Which I never did get to thank you for.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said with an obnoxiously low bow.
“Knock that off or I’ll have you on your knees for a different reason,” I warned him.
Reilly lifted his brows. “Promise?”
I looked away from him as my cheeks caught fire. Why was it that every guy in any world flipped everything into something sexual? It had been meant as a threat, like I was going to dropkick him, and yet he’d turned it into flirting with me.
God save me.
I rolled my eyes. “Can we stay focused for one minute?”
Reilly gave me an award-winning smile, strolling to a curved table housed with various daggers of all shapes, colors, and sizes. “You’re the one talking about getting me on my knees.” He plucked up a bronze blade and flipped it once in the air with smugness.