by KJ Baker
His hand grew warm and images suddenly filled my head. I saw a man walking alone in the woods, a pack and a fishing rod slung over one shoulder. It was Samuel, only years younger. He settled down on a river bank, cast his fishing rod and settle down to wait.
But it wasn’t a fish he caught that day.
Having caught nothing, he stripped down and went for a swim in the river, hoping to escape the heat of the midday sun. I felt his relief as he slipped into the cool water. I sensed his enjoyment as he swam and dived. Then I felt his alarm as something snagged his foot and pulled him under. The alarm turned to terror as darkness closed over his head. He looked down to see dark fingers around his ankle and a shadowy creature yanking him down into the depths.
He thrashed and fought, kicking at the fingers, trying to break free, but his efforts made no difference. His breath began to burn in his chest. Little bubbles of air escaped his mouth. He knew he was going to die.
Then suddenly there was a flash of light in the darkness, a howl that tore through the depths, and the fingers disappeared. Instead, strong hands grabbed him under the armpits and pulled him up, up, back towards the light. His rescuer dragged him back to the shore where he lay gasping. Only when he’d finally got his breath back did he get a look at his rescuer.
She was sitting nearby, watching him. She had long hair plastered to her head and was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“Did it bite you?” she asked in a low voice. “Scratch you?”
He examined his ankle. “No, I don’t reckon so.”
“Good. Otherwise you’d soon be dead.”
“What was that thing?”
“A kelpie. Don’t worry. I dealt with it.”
He blinked at her. “A kelpie? I know all the animals that live in these mountains and I’ve never heard of a kelpie.”
“Nor would you. It’s not from these mountains. It broke through the Veil and I came to track it.” She looked at him curiously. “Who are you?”
He snorted. “Someone who’s mighty glad you came along when you did. I owe you my life. Thank you. I’m Samuel. Pleased to meet you.” He held out his hand.
“My name is Eliana Rose.” She clasped his hand in hers.
At her touch, Samuel’s world exploded. Something burst through him so strong and so overpowering that for a moment he couldn’t speak, see, hear. I recognized the sudden rush of elation immediately. It was the same thing I’d experienced when Raven had touched me for the first time.
The bond of a fated mate.
Eliana’s eyes went wide and I saw it reflected in her eyes too.
The images jumped forward in time and I saw Eliana and Samuel standing side by side at an altar as a white-robed priestess of the Spire married them. I saw the years pass as Samuel stood by Eliana’s side as she worked her way up through the ranks of the Spire’s priesthood. I felt his pride as she was named Spire. I felt his frustration as they saw divisions begin to tear apart the Fae people, despite all of Eliana’s attempts to heal them.
I felt his love for her as together they concocted their desperate plan. Samuel would ‘murder’ her. A human murdering the Spire. What else might heal the rift between the Seelie and Unseelie? What else might help overcome their differences and bring them together finally, as one people. And then, when an alliance had been signed and rifts healed, the deception would be revealed, but by that time it would be too late to go back. The Fae people would have finally realized that they were united and united they would stay.
Or that had been the plan, at least.
It had gone well, united the Unseelie courts, causing the Seelie courts to waver. Only Raven and Rillana had stood in their way, galvanizing the Seelie courts against them, threatening the healing that Eliana so desperately wanted. And so together, she, Taviel and Samuel had decided to act against Rillana. I felt Eliana’s anguish and Taviel’s sadness as they decided that Rillana must be eliminated. For that reason, Taviel had enlisted Simeon Ash’s help and attempted to kill her while she’d been in a coma in the Shadow Court’s infirmary.
That’s where it had all gone wrong. I had intervened. I’d interrupted Taviel, stopped him killing Rillana, and then, when Taviel had taken me with him to meet Eliana, Raven had followed.
In painful detail, I saw the final fight with Eliana Rose in that clearing. Although Samuel had not been present, he’d experienced it all through the bond they shared and I lived it as he did, terror and helplessness ripping through him as he watched the events play out.
In Samuel’s mind Raven was like a mad thing, a demon made flesh. Rillana was a traitor, abandoning her vows to serve the Fae people, fleeing to the Shadow Court because it provided her best chance to grab power. I watched Eliana and Raven face off against each other.
And then I watched as Rillana stabbed Eliana from behind.
At Eliana’s death an emotion surged through Samuel—and into me—so strongly that it drove me to my knees.
Despair. Utter, black despair.
It roiled through Samuel, an endless black pit that he was striving his best not to fall into. Now I understood the sorrow in his eyes. Now I understood the depths of his suffering. He had lost his fated mate. How would I feel if that happened to Raven? I could not even begin to imagine. The only thing that allowed Samuel to cling onto his sanity, his humanity, and stopped him from becoming a raving, wild thing bent only on revenge for the death of his mate, was his belief, his utter, unshakable belief in Eliana and Taviel’s cause.
All of this flashed through my mind in an instant and then was gone as quickly as it had come. It left me on my knees, gasping, feeling hollow and wrung out.
Samuel knelt before me. “I’m sorry you had to see all that. There was no other way to show you the truth.”
I raised my head. “How can you stand it?” I gasped. “To have lost her...the pain...”
“I stand it because I must,” he answered softly. “What choice is there? Should I follow her into the Twilight Lands? Or should I stay and do my best to see that her vision is made reality?”
He took my shoulder and raised me to my feet. I felt weak and shaky.
“Do you see?” Taviel said softly. “We’ve told you the truth.”
No, I did not see. I refused to see.
“All right,” I said, raising my head. “Eliana and Samuel were fated mates. I’ll give you that. But that doesn’t mean the rest of what you’ve told me is true. It doesn’t mean Raven has been using me. That’s all horseshit and you know it. I’ll never accept it!”
Taviel shared a look with Samuel. “Are all mortals this stubborn?”
Samuel smiled thinly. “It’s one of our most endearing traits.”
Taviel sighed. “Ask yourself this, Asha. Has Raven been honest with you? Has he always told you the truth?”
I’m his betrothed. We are engaged to be married.
I glanced at Felena. No. She was lying. Raven loved me. He would not lie to me, not about something like this. Yet, despite my efforts, I could not stop the worm of doubt that began to wriggle inside me. I’d always known there was a lot I had to learn about my mate but I’d assumed he would never keep anything important from me.
But this morning, I’d learned I was wrong about that too. He’d not told me that I now shared his immortality. He’d not given me that choice. He’d assumed he had the right to make that decision for me.
What else had Raven kept from me?
“I think she’s had enough for today,” Samuel said.
Taviel nodded. “You’re right. Take her away.”
Samuel took my wrist. “I’ll show you to your accommodation.”
I tried to yank myself free but he was incredibly strong, almost as strong as a Fae.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded as he pulled me to the door.
Images of a rat-infested dungeon sprang to mind. Or worse, a torture chamber. I wouldn’t put anything past Taviel.
“Trust me,” Samuel said soothingly.
Taviel, Felena, and the study suddenly melted away as Samuel activated a teleport. There was a moment of disorientation and then I found myself standing in another room entirely. I gasped in shock. It was no dungeon that Samuel had brought me to.
It was my apartment back home.
The place looked exactly as I’d left it. A magazine I’d been reading lay open on the coffee table and the throw that I used to snuggle under on the sofa hung lazily over the back of an armchair. I turned in a circle, scarcely able to believe my eyes. It was like I’d walked out of here only moments ago, gone to a store to fetch some milk or a loaf of bread. The flowers that Gracie had given me still filled a vase on the window sill and the photographs of my grandmother and my parents still sat in pride of place on the mantelpiece. My throat closed with sudden emotion and I took a deep, gasping breath.
“You brought us back to the mortal realm?”
“No,” Samuel replied with a shake of his head. “We’re still in the Spire. But the Spire has certain...abilities. One of which is to give guests exactly what they want.”
I gave him a flat look. “If that were true then Taviel’s head would be on a spike in the corner.”
He smiled wryly. “You don’t like him much, do you?”
“Oh? Does it show?”
“And I know you have good reason. He can be arrogant, cold, difficult to get along with. But he’s not the monster you seem to think he is. Everything he’s done, he’s done for the good of his people.”
I scowled at Samuel, irritated. I didn’t want to talk about Taviel anymore. I didn’t even want to think about that man. I gestured at the room. “So this is going to be my prison is it?”
“You really shouldn’t call it that.”
“Oh, so I’m free to leave then?”
“No, I’m afraid not. Not until Taviel says so. But until then, these will be your quarters. Not too bad, surely?”
I looked around. Through an open door lay the kitchen with my coffee machine. Would the Spire’s magic be able to recreate coffee too? And what about what I’d left in the fridge? Chocolate? Pizza?
“Not bad at all,” I breathed.
A sudden surge of homesickness overwhelmed me. How long had it been since I’d seen this place? I could barely remember. My old life was beginning to fade like an old photograph but I found that I didn’t want it to. I didn’t want to forget any part of it. Sure, it had been crappy at times, full of struggle and heartache just like everyone else’s, but it had been my life. I’d been in control of it. Since Raven had come into my life, I sometimes no longer felt like it belonged to me. I felt swept along in his wake.
“Don’t you get homesick?” I asked Samuel. “For the mortal realm, I mean?”
He thought about this. “Yes, I suppose I do. I’ve been here so long now that sometimes I forget I’ve ever been anywhere else but there are little things that remind me. Then I think about everything the Summerlands has given me and the feeling passes.”
I wondered if I would ever be able to do the same. “What’s your room like? Still got some home comforts or have you gone completely native?”
“Not quite,” he laughed. “When I first came to the Spire Eliana had to put up with our apartments looking just like the big old creaky house I grew up in, complete with drafty windows and creaky floorboards. I didn’t make the choice, the Spire chose if for me, deciding it would be the best way to help me settle into my new life. These days, I’m a bit more sedate. You wouldn’t realize my rooms were anything but Fae—apart from the 1960s juke box in one corner.”
I smiled wryly. “You’ll have to give me a demo some time.”
“You’re on. Well, I’ll leave you to settle in. If you need anything, say my name. The Spire will alert me.”
He walked to the door of my apartment—my apartment!—then left, pulling it shut behind him. I counted to a hundred to make sure he’d gone, then grabbed the door handle and yanked it. I wasn’t surprised to find it locked.
Despite Samuel’s fancy words, I was still a prisoner.
I returned to the living room and slumped onto the sofa, pulling the throw over me and snuggling down into it. Even the view through the window was an exact replica of the street outside and the park beyond. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Spire added dog-walkers and joggers just for my benefit.
Raven, I thought. Where are you? Are you coming for me?
My eyes roved around my apartment at all the familiar things—things I’d missed without even realizing it. For the first time, my old life and my new one began to collide and I suddenly felt very, very alone.
I burst into tears.
Chapter 6
RAVEN
“How many?” I asked Bowen, shading my eyes against the glare of the lowering sun and staring down the hillside.
From our hiding place I saw a group of people in the dell below getting ready to bed down for the night but in the gathering dusk, Bowen’s eyesight was better than mine.
He gazed steadily downward, eyes narrowed in concentration.
“At least ten,” he replied. “Looks like an advance scouting party.”
We had left on our scouting mission this morning, peeling away from the army and leaving it to continue its inexorable trek towards our border with the Moon Court and the Spire. It had been quite a sight, winding through the landscape like some vast, never-ending snake.
Never before had the Summerlands seen such an army. In all our long years of history, the Seelie and the Unseelie had never engaged in all-out war. Oh, there were always skirmishes, of course. There was always rivalry between one court or another that sometimes spilled over into hostilities, but the balancing power of the Spire had always kept the two competing factions in line. Now that balance was gone and the Summerlands were about to be drenched in blood.
I had felt an odd mixture of pride and horror as I had watched the Seelie army—my army—march to war. But I had also felt a kind of restlessness, a need to be doing something. Asha’s absence was like an itch I couldn’t scratch, a wound that wouldn’t stop throbbing. The longer I sat still, the worse it got.
So, rather than ride at the head of the army as everyone had expected me to, I had given over command to Hawk and Telia Rowan of the Court of Rain, and rode out with Bowen. Ostensibly, we’d ridden out to find enemy scouts. In reality, I just needed to be moving.
“What are they doing here?” I asked, my voice a low rumble as I gazed down at the Unseelie camp. I had expected to come across one or two scouts, but to have as large a group as this within our borders? They were taking a huge risk.
The Unseelie had not detected us and were doing the usual things that warriors did as they prepared to bed down for the evening: seeing to their horses, pitching tents, cooking dinner over a campfire. They appeared relaxed, unaware of the danger stalking them from the hillside above.
Fools, the lot of them.
“I don’t know but I suggest we follow them,” Bowen replied. “Keep well back so they don’t know we’re here and shadow them when they set out. We’ll soon discover what they’re up to.”
Follow them? Allow them to move unimpeded through my kingdom? No. I itched for battle. Those warriors were Unseelie and the Unseelie had taken Asha. If I couldn’t mete out my rage on those who’d abducted her, these fools were the next best thing. They would pay for daring to sneak beyond my borders.
Yet I also knew Bowen was right. We weren’t here to fight. We were here to gather information. I opened my mouth to order my men to move out and find a place to make camp.
Then I noticed one of the Unseelie warriors carrying a bowl of food away from the camp and out into the woods. I followed his movements. He approached the wide trunk of an oak and crouched, holding out the bowl. In the growing darkness it was difficult to see anything and the oak’s trunk was just a dark shadow. Then the shadow moved and I saw a hand appear and take the bowl from the Unseelie warrior.
&nb
sp; “They have a prisoner,” I said quietly.
Bowen followed the line of my gaze, his eyes narrowing. “Yes, I see it. Someone is tied to the tree trunk.”
“That decides it. We’re going in.”
Bowen shook his shaggy head. “That’s not a good idea. It’s almost dark.”
“Then they won’t be expecting us, will they?”
“Even so—”
“I said we’re going in.”
Bowen held my gaze for a moment. Then he nodded. “Very well.”
He turned and gave hurried orders to the warriors waiting behind us. They all nodded wordlessly, drawing weapons and spreading out into well-rehearsed attack formations, each one knowing their position, each warrior understanding their role.
When all was ready, I rose from our hiding place, gave a signal, and we all started down the slope in a crouch, moving noiselessly through the velvet darkness.
We were almost upon the camp before their sentries saw us. Night-blinded by the firelight, they were only able to give the briefest of warnings before we were upon them. One of the Unseelie rose up before me, swinging a great battle ax at my head. I ducked under it, opened him up from chest to navel, and moved on. I heard the thrum of an arrow and brought my blade around in an arc, knocking the arrow from the air and then stabbing the archer with a back thrust that took him through the throat. I yanked my blade free, spun and cut down another man coming at me from behind.
I reached the campfire. The flames gave just enough light to show that Bowen and his men had taken out the rest of the Unseelie. Bodies lay sprawled around the clearing. I nodded to myself, feeling a savage kind of satisfaction.
I turned away from camp and strode towards the oak tree. As I drew closer, I saw that a cloaked and hooded figure had been tied to the trunk by a rope around the middle. As I neared, the figure began struggling, fighting against the ropes, trying to get away.
I crouched in the leaf litter. “I’m not going to hurt you,” I said.
I reached out and pulled down the hood, revealing a woman blinking at me with wide, fearful eyes. I rocked back on my heels, shocked.