by Rachel Angel
Killing the engine of the car, she sat there, her hands on the steering wheel as she stared straight ahead, waiting for the sound to return.
We don’t want to hurt your mother.
Frowning, Harley tried to make sense of the cryptic message.
We’re being attacked. We need your help.
“Who?” Harley called out into the car. She couldn’t make out whether the message was from Kingsley and Oak, or from Red and Zed.
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) The Kingdom of Fall is being attacked by the army of Spring. Your mother is furious and is determined to destroy the King of Fall.
Closing her eyes, Harley pulled in a deep breath. Just as she’d assured the safety of her adoptive parents, she now faced confronting her mother.
I’m coming.
Leaving the keys to the car in the ignition, she got out then headed to the portal that gave her quick access to the Faery Realm.
Her newfound powers made crossing over so simple and quick. Once on the other side, she ran to the Kingdom of Fall, all the while wondering how bad things had gotten.
Outside the castle walls, Harley noted the devastation. Far too many of Fall’s soldiers lay wounded or dead on the grounds of the castle that was clearly under siege.
“Mother,” Harley muttered as she shook her head in disappointment. “You’re supposed to be the rational parent.”
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She walked on and carefully entered the castle. In the grand foyer, a place for greeting nobles and aristocrats under the elegant chandelier that hung down from the ceiling high above, the Queen of Spring and General of Fall were battling it out, sword to sword, blow to blow.
“Mother,” Harley cried out.
“Dear daughter,” the queen said as she deftly fought off the general. “How lovely of you to join in the battle. Do be a darling and pick up a sword.”
“I will not, mother,” Harley said, putting a firm foot down. “I want you to stop this insanity this minute.”
But the queen turned a deaf ear to her daughter.
“Mother,” Harley said, walking forcefully between the battling pair. “We have bigger battles to fight.”
Taking advantage of the diversion, the King of Fall, clearly relieved to be freed from the wrath of the queen, ran off, leaving the Queen of Spring looking disappointedly at Harley.
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“So what is this I hear about you joining Stephen and the Dark Fae?” She pointed her sword at Harley.
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Chapter 16
Red
With the Fall army faltering, Red went to the rampart to find his father. He had to find some way of talking some sense into him. “You must surrender,” he said as he looked down at the hopeless battle.
The Spring army easily outnumbered Fall’s three to one.
“They’re slaughtering us, Father.” Red added.
“Never,” the King of Fall cried out. “The queen and her daughter have gone too far. I will not relinquish power to that woman.”
But as things got worse, Red knew they had no choice but to lay their arms down. After a few tortured moments, he met his father’s gaze.
Demolished, but reluctant to admit it, the King of 208
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) Fall finally took a step back from the rampart and looked at his son.
“Where is she?” he said simply.
“I believe the queen is still down in the foyer,” Red said, relieved to see his father come to his senses.
The king walked with unhurried steps and hesitated as they arrived at the threshold to the foyer.
Zed met up with them and looked quizzically at his father.
“We’re going to surrender,” Red said before his father could change his mind.
Zed nodded. “It’s the right thing to do. We must save as many of our troops as possible if we’re to help in the fight against the dark fae.”
The King of Fall nodded, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Pulling in a long, deep breath, he entered the foyer.
“Have you come to your senses?” the queen immediately quipped.
“I’ve come to a realization,” he said. He looked to the Queen of Spring then to Harley, and 209
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back at the queen. “Have it your way, my dear queen. I, the King of Fall, hereby…”
“How dare you!” a booming voice called out stopping everyone in their tracks.
Red turned to the sound of the vaguely familiar voice. “The Dark Fae Wizard,” he muttered to himself.
He was massive, standing a foot above the tallest man in the room. His red eyes gleamed as he looked upon the king with disgust.
“You seem to forget, you fallen excuse of a king, that we have a deal,” the Dark Fae Wizard said to Red’s father. “We have a pact, you and I.”
The King of Fall looked at the Dark Fae Wizard and nodded. “Yes,” he said, his voice trembling. “We made a pact, Stephen, but things have changed. Look at what has…”
“Excuses are for the feeble,” Stephen barked back.
While the King of Fall and the Dark Fae Wizard argued over the points of their agreement, Red noticed Harley speaking to the Queen of Spring and went to them.
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“Is there anything you can do?” Red asked Harley.
“I don’t know,” Harley admitted.
“You have the magic,” the queen said in a reassuring tone. “Though it breaks my heart to know that you’ve been taken under Stephen’s wing, that he’s taught you this destructive Dark Fae magic, this is the time to use that magic for the good of all.”
Red looked expectantly at Harley.
The queen looked pointedly at Red. “His mother is presently being held in a prison much like the one that held Kingsley and Oak.”
“The one that I successfully broke them out of,” Harley said with a nod. “My dark fae magic was able to tear down the walls.”
“Exactly,” the queen said.
Red looked at Harley. “You’re the only one who can set my mother free,” he said. The love he already felt for her swelled. She was beautiful, and strong and sexier than anything he’d ever seen in his life. And above all that, she had the ability to bring back to his life his beloved mother.
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“I’ll try,” Harley said. “But being so far away from the actual prison might make it more difficult.”
“It’s not that hard, Harley,” Red said. “Just think about her. Envision her, sitting there…
waiting.”
“The survival of this realm depends on her being set free,” the Queen of Spring said. “The portal at the Academy has been opened by that treacherous father of yours. It must be closed. I can’t do it alone, Harley.”
“We can’t do it on our own,” Red added. “In every way possible, Fall, Wood, Sea and Spring must come together to fight against the breach the Dark Fae has opened into the Faery Realms.”
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) Chapter 17
Harley
Harley closed her eyes and remembered the face of Red and Zed’s mother, the Queen of Fall.
She’d been dean to the Fallen Fae Academy when Harley had first arrived.
But her father had deftly pushed the Queen of Fall away, taking her away from the duties of dean.
To her surprise, Harley was able to clearly see the woman who had first created and then run the Fallen Fae Academy so expertly. Though her prison cell appeared to be a little more comfortable than the one offered to Kingsley and Oak, she nonetheless seemed tired, cold and hungry.
While dark fae magic made the prison cell virtually impenetrable, the actual stone walls of the cell were thinner and less stable than those of Kingsley and Oak’s cell.
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Harley concentrated, but as she focused in on the Queen of Fall, she heard her. The connection to her was so strong, so clear, it was as if Red and Zed’s mother was standing right there beside her.
“I’ll get you out,” Harley said aloud.
The Queen of Fall looked up at the sound of Harley’s voice. “Who is this?”
“It’s Harley. Just concentrate on me. Stayed tuned to my voice,” Harley said. A strange new power filled her, and she knew she needn’t tear down the prison at all.
“Are you in contact with her?” Red said. “Is she okay? Is she responding to you?”
Harley opened her eyes to look at Red.
Smiling, she said, “Yes, yes and yes.”
Closing her eyes once more, she concentrated. “Stay with me. Keep the connection.
Are you with me?”
“Yes,” the former dean said. “I’m with you.
Get me out of here.”
“Come to me,” Harley said quietly. “Come to me. Follow the sound of my voice. Follow the light that emanates from me, and come to me.”
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“Holy crap,” Red let out.
Harley opened her eyes to see the Queen of Fall standing there in the same room as them.
The Queen of Spring looked at her daughter then back to the Queen of Fall in disbelief. “Harley, that’s even more impressive than I expected. How did you do that?”
Smiling, Harley shrugged.
“No matter,” the Queen of Spring said as she went to the Queen of Fall. “How happy I am to see you once again, old friend. I’ve missed you terribly.
The entirety of the Faery Realm has suffered greatly during your absence.”
Still stunned, the Queen of Fall looked at everyone. “Forgive me if I appear a little befuddled.
Only moments ago, I was alone in a horrid cell and now…” She reached out to pat Red’s cheek. “My dear boy. Where is your brother?”
“He’s not far, mother,” Red said. “And he is well.”
“While I would like nothing more than to allow you time to properly reunite with your boys,”
the Queen of Spring said, “I’m afraid we have 215
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pressing matters to attend to. We must work together. Dire consequences will befall us all if we do not act promptly.”
“You need to fill me in on what’s been happening,” the Queen of Fall said. “All I’ve seen for the past weeks is the cycle of the moon… just enough to know that I began my internment with a waxing quarter moon and am now well beyond the full moon.”
“Stephen has opened the portal of the Fallen Fae Academy,” the Queen of Spring said. “He’s allowing hundreds of newly recruited dark fae students to cross to the Faery Realm. If we don’t close the portal soon, all will be lost.”
“Unfortunately,” Harley added, “my father has a constant stream of humans and light fae that he’s turning into dark fae. The recruitment is non-stop.”
The Queen of Spring looked at her friend.
“You and I are the only ones who can close that portal, and we need to do it fast.”
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Chapter 18
Harley
Harley finally felt like she could take in a deep breath and take a moment to regroup. A huge part of her work here was done. But before she could fully get the thought through her mind, she heard a loud clatter from out in the hall.
“Red!” Zed called out as he rushed in. “We have to do something to help Father.”
Red tilted his head toward his mother.
“Mother,” Zed gasped as he rushed to her.
“Have you come to help? Have you come to save Father from the Dark Fae Wizard? He’s gotten himself into a terrible bind.”
“For the time being, son, I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere. Your father has always found a 217
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way of getting himself out of trouble. I’m sure he’ll find a way this time.”
From out in the hall, Harley heard her father’s bellowing voice.
“You’re a traitor!” Stephen shouted.
They heard a loud blast then the sound of stones falling.
“Damn it. Those fools are going to destroy this castle,” the Queen of Fall cried.
“They’re going to destroy everything,” the Queen of Spring added.
Zed looked out toward the castle grounds.
“We have to do something. A small group of dark fae are about to breach the wall. Surely just scouts, but if they make it through…”
Red looked to his mother and the Queen of Spring. “You two go ahead and take care of the portal at Fallen Fae Academy. We have to stop the flow of dark fae.” He looked to his brother and Harley. “We’ll mobilize our armies and get them ready for the true battle at hand.”
Harley nodded. “I know that the bulk of the dark fae army is on the border of Sea and Wood,”
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) she said. “Kingsley and Oak have already joined forces and they have a massive encampment there.”
Red looked at Harley. “I think you should know that the dark fae army is led by your favorite dark fae,” he said with a wry grin.
Harley had to laugh. “Oh, really?” she said playfully. “I can assure you that I look forward to putting Cici and Ashley in their place once and for all.”
Red and Zed both clapped their hands together in anticipation. “I do love a good cat fight,” they said in unison.
“Hey,” Zed threw in as they prepared to leave. “What about father and Stephen?”
Harley shrugged. “For the time being we have to let them fight it out. At least it will keep them busy as we attack the dark fae army.”
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Chapter 19
Harley
Abruptly shaken from her fitful sleep, Harley sat up and reached for her sword, ready to fight. She looked around the small army tent and saw Kingsley standing at the foot of the cot.
“Sorry,” he said gently. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I just wanted to check in on you.”
“How long have I been sleeping?” she said.
She got out of bed, eager to get back to the fight.
It’d been endless, day after day of slashing through hordes of dark fae. She was tired, she’d barely eaten and the cold of winter was settling in, chilling everyone to the bone.
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“It’s over, Harley,” Kingsley said as he grasped her shoulder. “You can go back to bed.
The war between the kingdoms is finally over, and when we all united, we were able to get most of the dark fae.”
“But I collapsed and…” Harley began.
“You fought amongst us just as hard or harder than anyone, Harley,” Kingsley said. “To the point of exhaustion. You threw magic bolts, swords, and whatever you could conjure up at the dark fae, stopping many of them before they could get to any of our soldiers. You were amazing, Harley,”
Kingsley said. “You must have stopped hundreds of them fighting non-stop for days. Never taking a break, not even to eat until you collapsed, and I found you in the field and brought you to my tent.”
Harley sat back down on the edge of the cot and looked up at him, tears immediately springing to her eyes. “Really? You’re not toying with me?”
“You know I wouldn’t do that,” he said as he sat beside her. “The war in the Faery Realm is finally over, and most of the Dark Fae contained, except some that got away.”
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With her elbows on her knees, she leaned her face into her hands and wept. “I can’t believe it’s over,” she whispered. “I honestly don’t think I had another day of fight left in me.”
“You and me both,” Kingsley said with a chuckle. He put his arm around
her shoulder.
“Everyone is dead tired, but the important thing is that we won. Only a few lost stragglers remain.”
“It’s a miracle that we survived this, Kingsley” Harley said as she looked up at him. She could barely believe they’d made it through. The odds were against them and yet, they’d come out victorious. “It really is a miracle,” she said once more.
“You’re the miracle, Harley,” Kingsley said.
“You, your magic, your spirit… you took charge of all the armies and they eagerly fought for you.”
Harley sat up and leaned into him, feeding off of his strength.
“I’ve sent troops to Sea Castle,” he said.
“I’ve ordered them to bring back medical supplies, building supplies and loads of food. We’re going to need it as we try to put things back together.”
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) Nodding, Harley stood. “I want to go see the state of the encampment and the nearby kingdoms beyond.”
Kingsley nodded as he joined her. She repeatedly gasped as she saw the full scope of destruction. Only a few tents remained standing.
Reaching the ridge that overlooked the distant sea, she gasped once more. The pure destruction beyond the encampment shocked her. On the mountain ridge of Sea, she could make out the castle. Though far away, she could see the destruction. A massive black hole had blasted through the northern wall.
She looked to the farthest reaches of Woods and shook her head in dismay. The castle, once surrounded by a vast forest, once sheltered by the tall pines and firs that grew there, was now in plain view as the trees lay like splinters on the forest floor.