by Maya Daniels
The shadow followed behind them, slamming its ever-shifting body into the shield Iris held up with the last of her strength. Fern and Darion moved as fast as the rocky terrain would allow, skipping over tall boulders like mountain goats. The thought made Iris giggle weakly, the pain making her delirious, but feeling Fern’s heartbeat on her chest as she pressed against him told her that even if she didn’t make it, it was still worth it.
“She is fading fast, hurry.” Darion’s voice came through a fog, and her eyesight blurred as she struggled to keep her head up. Fern tightened his arms around her and moved faster, tottering left and right in his need to get to the entrance of the cave.
Iris felt like she was floating in a pool of acid, her skin burning, the pain slowly eating its way from inside. She’d lost the feeling in her arms a while ago, which in a way was a mercy because she didn’t think she could handle the burning pain from where her magic streamed from her palms. The shield never wavered, nor lost its strength, despite her dwindling energy.
Pressing her face into the crook of Fern’s neck, she inhaled deeply, filling her nostrils with the scent that managed to make butterflies tickle her belly even through the pain. She’d reached him in time, and he lived. That must count for something, she thought to herself. He might forgive me for placing his life in danger when I was looking after him. That thought made her sigh deeply before her world turned black.
Fern’s heart stopped, then kicked into high gear when Iris went limp in his arms. The entrance of the caves loomed in front of them like a gaping black hole, bringing dread to his stomach. He could feel her heart beat faintly and not as regularly as he would’ve liked. Darion was yelling, but Fern’s mind was blank with only one thought screaming loud and clear in his head: get inside the cave. He didn’t even turn around to look over his shoulder to see if the shield was still up as he put a burst of speed into his steps and almost went head first into the entrance, followed closely by Darion.
The fading purple glow told him that the shield held until they entered the cave, but after a moment it blinked out. The darkness that enveloped them made him stop as if he’d grown roots. Clutching Iris to his chest, he felt Darion pressed back to back with him as they both panted.
Fern’s eyes started glowing, casting a faint light across the tunnel that bounced off the smooth walls as he turned his head left and right. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but better that than thinking about the woman in his arms not waking up only because she tried to save his useless hide.
Sharp pain in his chest made him look down, fully expecting to see an arrow sticking out from it, but only Iris’s pale face greeted him, making that pain double.
“It’s not following into the caves.” Darion panted behind him, and Fern finally looked over his shoulder with confusion on his face. “The shadow,” Darion spoke in the darkness, only his citrine eyes visible as they glowed faintly. “It’s not entering the caves. I can hear it outside, but it’s not moving towards us.”
“We need to find a place so we can help Iris.” With those words, Fern wrapped one arm tightly around Iris and placed the palm of the other on the wall of the tunnel.
“I’m sure there are open areas somewhere that we can stop in for a while.” Shuffling behind Fern, Darion hoped with everything in him that he spoke the truth.
“Why did you come after me?” After dragging his feet for a while to make sure there were no holes in the ground, Fern growled in annoyance.
“She said that not even Artemis could fight the shadow that attacked them. She was anxious about you, and I must say I’m glad that I listened. Although if she doesn’t wake up, I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it.” The sadness in Darion’s voice bounced off the walls, creating tiny echoes.
“If she doesn’t wake up you won’t feel anything because I’ll kill you.” Rage bubbled up in Fern’s chest at the thought. “Ivy thinks that Iris can heal the realm, save all of us, and you thought that my life was more important than hers?” Venom dripped in his voice.
“If I didn’t bring her to you, she would’ve followed anyway,” Darion spoke softly as if talking to himself. “Why are you being an ass to her?”
“What?” Taken back, Fern glared over his shoulder in what he hoped was the direction of Darion’s face.
“I see the way you look at her when she’s not watching. Yet, when she talks to you, or even when she doesn’t, you make comments that make me want to slap some sense into you. I truly don’t know how she hasn’t done it by now.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I kinda like her. She is honest and kind. That makes it my business.”
“Tread very carefully Darion, we’ve been friends for too long, but that won’t stop me from breaking your neck.” Still gliding slowly through the tunnel, Fern scolded him in the darkness. “We don’t know what she is. Do you want another Lazarus on our hands?” But even as he said the words, Fern knew that they didn’t carry the same weight as before.
“You must’ve lost your mind somewhere in the human realm if you can compare the woman who almost died just because she tried to save your ass with Lazarus.” Darion whistled slowly. “You are truly dumber than a rock.”
“Shut up!” Fern snapped, angry because he knew Darion told the truth.
“Or what?” Now Darion sounded angry as well. “You’re going to break my neck? Go ahead then, break it. It’ll still leave you being a dumbass.”
“You are itching for a fight. Running didn’t do the trick for releasing some pent-up energy?”
“I wouldn’t mind actually punching you in that scrunched up face. I don’t need to see you to know you are glaring at me.”
“What’s it to you how I am around Iris?” Fern shook his head, all anger draining out of him. “I thought you liked her yourself.”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t want me. You are as blind as you are dumb if you haven’t seen the way she looks at you.”
“You can stop the insults,” Fern snapped, but there was no bite in his words.
“Why, when it’s so much fun? The truth is a bitch to hear, isn’t it?”
“You have no idea…” Fern whispered on an exhale, pulling Iris closer to him.
“Is that a light?”
At Darion’s question, Fern looked up and saw a faint blue glow in the distance. Without another word, he moved faster. As soon as they had some light, he could see what he could do to help Iris.
As they walked closer to the blue glow, the tunnel become more visible. Fern sped up, taking longer strides, and Darion followed. Since they’d noticed the light, Darion hadn’t said a word and Fern had remained silent, too. Guilt ate at his gut like acid, but he pushed it down deep. First, he needed to make sure that Iris lived, then he could deal with his demons later. How he would help her, he didn’t know, but he would damn well try.
The tunnel had a fork leading left towards the light, and another leading to the fates only knew where. Neither Fern, nor Darion gave the right tunnel a glance as they stormed in an open cavern to the left.
The blue glow emanated from a small lake nestled on the right side. It reflected off the walls that were sprinkled with what looked like quartz at first glance. Opposite the lake jutted rocks that resembled a stairway made for giants, stacked one on top of the other. They almost looked strategically placed so that you could climb all the way to the high ceiling where a deep crack in the rock let fresh air filter through the cavern.
If he weren’t holding Iris limp in his arms, Fern would’ve stopped to admire the beauty surrounding him. As things were, he rushed to the lowest jutting rock and placed her gently on top of it. He heard water splashing, and a moment later Darion was next to him handing him a carved bowl filled with the sparkling liquid.
“We don’t know if it’s safe to use it on her.” Fern pushed the bowl away with the back of his hand.
Pressing his fingers on her neck, he waited to feel the pulse of her heart. Faintly, after too long for
his liking, it bumped against the skin of his fingers. Darion stood behind him, looking over his shoulder and making Fern clench his teeth. His friend acted as if Fern would hurt Iris, which was ridiculous. Grabbing the cloak, Fern pulled it apart, exposing her body to check for any injuries. As the fabric parted and her body was revealed, Darion took a sharp breath.
“Impossible!” Darion gasped, his mouth too close to Fern’s ear for his liking.
“You see the same then?” Fern pushed the words through numb lips as he lifted his hand, as if ready to touch her, before letting it drop limply next to his body.
Darion didn’t answer. Instead, Fern heard the rustling of clothing and his head snapped to look over his shoulder. Darion had stripped from his boots and pants. Butt naked, he was twisting his head to look at his own back, turning in circles like a dog chasing its own tail. If Fern weren’t feeling numb, it would’ve been comical to see.
“What do you think you are doing?” At Fern’s incredulous words, Darion stopped and looked at him wide-eyed.
“Am I marked?” Fern’s gut clenched at Darion’s question, and he turned back to look at the glowing symbols on Iris’s body.
“No, you’re not.”
Gently, he pulled down the waistband of the pants she was wearing to see the marks better. They shimmered with a golden glow, making it look like they were moving. Fern had heard about mating marks, but he had never seen them before he met Iris. None of them had since the queen died and cursed them all to hell. The ancient symbols wrapped around Iris’s hip and the side of her waist blinked and shimmered as if laughing at him.
“Are you?” Darion spoke too close to his ear again, and Fern elbowed him to push him back, but the question stopped his heart for a second.
“No.” Looking over his shoulder at Darion, he frowned.
“If I’m not marked, I wonder how she managed to touch me while we ran. From what I know about mating marks, it would’ve been excruciating for her.” Talking more to himself than Fern, Darion frowned at the symbols. “Or maybe they were only bullshit stories.” He looked at Fern sideways, and his citrine eyes narrowed. “Let me see if you are marked.”
Before Fern could move, Darion grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled down. They got stuck just above his groin, the fabric digging painfully into his skin, and he tried to move away. Darion, however, was having none of that. Grabbing Fern’s shoulder, he turned him around and staggered back a few steps when the glowing symbols, much smaller than the ones on Iris’s body, blinked at him from low on Fern’s hip.
“You fucking asshole!” The wild citrine gaze blazed like the sun a second before Darion’s fist connected with Fern’s chin, sending him flying back and hitting the jutting rocks. “And you didn’t tell her!” His voice echoed around the cavern as he roared at Fern.
“I didn’t know how to tell her.” Fern groaned as he lifted himself off the ground.
“With your mouth. Like the rest of us!” Still seething, Darion glared daggers at Fern. “She is right, you know. You are bipolar!”
“You don’t even know what that means,” Fern snapped.
“Whatever it is, I hope it means you are an asshole! You don’t deserve a mate!” Those words hurt more than the punch, and he dropped on his ass, putting his head in his hands.
After long moments of silence, Darion pushed again, but the anger in his voice was missing. “Are you going to tell her?”
“That’s the last thing she needs to worry about right now.” Fern’s words came out muffled through his hands.
“That’s not for you to decide. If you don’t tell her, I will.” With those words, he stormed out of the cavern still butt naked.
Fern sat there on the cold, wet stone as the chill seeped through his pants and his mind raced. He’d hidden this information from Iris at first because of her similarity to Lazarus. Then he continued holding his mouth shut because he was scared she would resent him. He even convinced himself that he could ignore it. Now that Darion knew, there was no way to keep it from her. She must hear it from him, and Fern wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
Voices penetrated the fog in her brain and Iris struggled to wake up. A cool breeze drifted gently over her skin, and she wondered if she was naked. Her whole body hurt, and even shallow breaths threatened to rip her lungs apart. I guess that’s what my life is right now, only pain, she thought. If it wasn’t her magic or the creepy shadows trying to kill her, the vampire king took a turn. If that didn’t work, then Fern would say or do something, and her heart would shatter into pieces. Iris groaned, half because of the pain, half as a result of her thoughts.
“Iris?” She recognized Fern’s musical deep voice, and her face turned towards him on instinct. “Can you hear me?”
She wanted to reply, but her lips refused to move, and the little effort it took to turn her head used up all the strength she possessed. Fern’s fingers traced her cheek and jaw, barely touching her, but she felt the contact all the way to her core. Did I die? she wondered, confused. Before she had time to ponder that question, she was gently lifted in the air, and a moment later she felt a firm chest pressed to her side. The scent she would recognize anywhere as Fern filled her nostrils and her body sagged more in his arms.
“You think it might work?” Darion spoke from somewhere behind her as Fern gently rocked her.
“Only one way to find out.” There was anger in Fern’s voice, and Iris wondered what she had missed while she was out cold.
“I’ll go look around to see if I find a clue. Call if you need me, I won’t go far.” That last part sounded like Darion warning Fern not to do anything stupid. Iris’s gut clenched.
Fern didn’t answer, and she realized the rocking motions were from him carrying her. Finally, Iris heard the soft whoosh of water nearby. She raked her brain to remember if any of them mentioned water being close by, but she came up empty.
Another groan escaped her when Fern jostled her around, removing her cloak, then her boots and pants. Iris felt cold and numb, and at the moment she was grateful for it because she would’ve blushed all the way to the roots of her hair if that was not the case. Her corset was next, and she heard the sharp intake of breath from Fern when her breasts were freed. And then silence. She couldn’t even hear him breathe, as if he was holding his breath, and then his hands gripped her tighter, his fingers biting into her skin.
Iris felt the sluggish beat of her heart grow stronger, and the rhythm sped up further at the heat radiating from Fern’s body. It was like someone had cranked up the volume on his body temperature and goosebumps covered her arms and legs.
“You are so beautiful,” Fern whispered softly under his breath. If she wasn’t so close to him, she wouldn’t have heard it. It was her turn to hold her breath.
Clearing his throat, Fern moved her again, and Iris heard the swishing of water sounding like Fern was walking through it. I? Iris asked herself, but her mind went silent when Fern lowered her body, and the warm water covered her up to her neck. It was soothing, and pinpricks tingled under her skin. Iris groaned again when Fern tilted her head back and glided his fingers through her dark hair getting it wet. It felt like heaven, and she wanted to stay like this forever. No thoughts of what was expected of her, no psychos out for her blood, and no frowning or jerk remarks from Fern.
She felt his skin on hers when he held her to him again. Iris pushed through the fog in her mind, and her breathing sped up right along with her heart. It was an electric feeling, him wrapped around her skin to skin, and a shiver ran up her spine. Unable to stop it, a soft moan escaped her lips.
“Iris?” Cupping her face in his large palm, Fern turned her face towards his. She could feel his breath on her cheek and lips, and she struggled harder to open her eyes, wanting nothing more than to see him. “Open your eyes, Iris. Show me that you are getting better, please.”
Iris pushed with everything in her, and her lashes fluttered before she was able to slightly lift her eyelids. They w
eighed a ton and felt like they were glued closed. She expected the light to burn or even to see a dark, dingy cave. What Iris never expected was to see Fern’s handsome face and glowing blue eyes staring down at her, surrounded by sparkling rainbow lights that made it look like they were suspended in the sky amongst a million stars.
Relief was written all over his face, and he took a deep breath, lifting his face up as if thanking whatever gods he believed in that she lived. Iris swallowed thickly at the sight in front of her, and with a lot of effort, she lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek. Painfully slow, he tilted his chin down and looked at her again.
“I’m starting to think you were worried about me, elf.” Her voice was raspy, and her throat hurt.
“Don’t you ever”—Fern looked at her in such a way that her chest tightened at the intensity on his face— “do that again, Iris!”
“Do what?” she murmured, “Save your ass?” When he glared at her, her lips tilted in a barely-there smile. “I can’t promise that, elf. Someone must make sure you don’t get in trouble, after all. I volunteered as a tribute.” She chuckled weakly under her breath at the quote from one of her favorite movies.
“I’m not worth your life, Iris.” Fern’s words sobered her up, and all attempts to break the tension fled from her mind. “I don’t deserve your loyalty. Not after the way I’ve acted since you met me.” Swallowing thickly, Fern took a deep breath. “No one is worth your life. Not even this entire realm.”
“What happened while I was unconscious?” She frowned at him. “Did you hit your head?” Sucking a sharp breath in, she looked at him pretending to be shocked. “Did the shadow mess with your brain?”
“Very funny,” Fern drawled, pursing his lips.
“You must admit it was a little funny.” Iris blinked innocently at him. “I’ll have you know I’m a funny person. Hilarious, some might say.”