Secret Keeper (My Myth Trilogy - Book 2): Young Adult Fantasy Novel

by Jane Alvey Harris

  Too late.

  Her emergent hand beams ultraviolet from the bowels of her keep, incinerating cold stone to form an arching fracture of ash. Her relentless energy pushes out front of the fissure, her arm crushes forward until the lean muscle of her shoulder strains into view. Her foot, wedged and grinding against the ground, propels her forward inch by inch and now I see the terrifying gleam of her hungry mouth, the wicked contrast between the whites of her eyes and the chaotic kohl of her body.

  I stumble back on the smooth stone floor of my tower prison and stare as her spectacular form rises in all its fury.

  She is omnipresent, inescapable.

  Forward she slinks, loosening her obsidian limbs, rolling her stunning head back and forth on her long, lovely neck, running filthy hands over the perfectly smooth, oil-slick skin of her skull, riveting her night-black eyes to mine.

  “Finally, Sister,” she purrs, her voice no longer only in my mind. Her tongue and mouth behind her teeth are molten gold.

  “You’re not my sister,” I stutter, pleading. “Ava is my sister.”

  “That weak little flightless dove,” she says. “We’ll get to her.”

  A thrumming thrill pierces my solar plexus. I don’t resist as she leans inexorably closer, laying her sculpted cheekbone against my own, melting like quicksilver into my skin.

  Fluid and certain she invades the fissures incised by Kaillen’s presumptive force. How dare he lock me up like I’m some kind of criminal? This unholy union is his fault.

  All around me, rising from the floor, peeling from the walls, dripping down from the lofted ceiling, a dense mist coalesces.

  “Where are they?” Obsidian asks. “The ones who caged us?”

  The thick floor and walls become transparent under the gaze of my Third Eye. Back-lit with a dissonant negative charge, thousands of ribbons of Connection snake and spark through the eerie fog, flowing from me to every living person in the Palace. Easily, I discern the chords belonging to Kaillen and the members of his First Rank. One by one I pluck them up, snaring them all between my fingers.

  Immediately they tense. I give the slightest tug.

  “See how they run.”

  Below us they scurry like mice in a maze scrambling for a place to hide.

  “Taste them, Shield Maiden.”

  I pull experimentally at the ribbons in my hand, coaxing just a sip of Keen from each. The tiny hairs on my arms stand up at the sudden influx of glorious power.

  Mmmmmm…

  “Remind them who we are, Shield Maiden.”

  Sucking energy from the elves’ Connections, I rise from my heap on the floor to merge with Obsidian, like a spark to a flame. We burn together, inseparable.

  I am Obsidian.

  “Attend me, Maidens.”

  My voice melds with hers, exultant, commanding.

  At once, four iridescent-winged dragonflies dive through the bars of the narrow window up near the ceiling, hovering for a split-second before bending their wings inside out around themselves and transforming mid air into Shield Maidens.

  My maidens kneel. Only Twist raises her head, a wicked glint sparking in her eyes as she looks me up and down. “It’s about fucking time.”

  “RISE.”

  At once my maidens lunge to their feet, grinning.

  “Twist. Minali. General Kaillen Raidho is in his chambers. Detain him there. I would speak with him.”

  “At once, Lady.”

  With Keen, I unpick the threads of Aidan’s puny shield. It splits apart effortlessly like wet paper. With Blaze I force Minali and Twist’s diaphanous wings forward and down around their shoulders, arms and chests. The tips snake in sinuous lines, morphing into sleek leather gauntlets. Breastplates of chain mail materialize across their chests, joining in a million chinks and schlotts, fastening and locking around their lithe forms. Swordbreakers appear in their hands, shields strap to their arms.

  In the blink of an eye, I conjure a thermonuclear thorn-covered vine, whipping it at the sealed door. The heavy wood fractures in three large chunks, exploding into the hallway, slamming into the two guards stationed there, spraying them with thick projectile splinters.

  Twist snarls. She and Minali wade over the prostrate limbs of the stunned guards. With my Third Eye I watch them stalk down the corridors and stone stairways to Kaillen’s chambers.

  Intertwining a swirl of Blaze and Keen in my middle, I summon my dancing flame to life. She writhes up and around me, engulfing me in a raging inferno of purifying fuchsia fire, consuming my smut-covered clothes, scorching away my humiliation.

  Naked, I step from the conflagration, sanctified.

  Obsidian’s jet brilliance coruscates beneath my paper-thin skin, streaming from my tiger-bright eyes, transmuting my features into supernatural chrome.

  We glow swirls of ink-black and pearl-gold.

  Just as they did in the tunnels beneath the Royal City on my first day in the First Realm, fibers of fire-opal silk secrete from my glands. I weave them to form a satin gown that skims my curves in graceful waves. Fastened to the end of a delicate gold chain, my ice-blue jeweled medallion lines the part at the center of my loose flowing hair, falling to rest in the middle of my metallic brow.

  In the central cavern far below, scores of Fae fall back into the stalls and shops in fear. The Queen’s startled Honor Guard stumble away from Twist and Minali as they march toward Kaillen’s chambers.

  Teagan and Chloe adorn my shoulders with waterfall panels of brushed silk, clasping them with a filigree pin above my breastbone so they pool and gather between my radiant wings, cascading down my calves. The brown and white henna transform to delicate gold and silver foil, sparkling words of power on my arms and legs.

  Far below, I watch Minali and Twist with my Third Eye. They’ve reached Kaillen’s locked door. Linking fingers, they place their free hands on either side of the frame. Their armor pulse as they gather Blaze. Smoke rises from the charred edges of the solid wood door and the iron girders glow red-hot. They step back, dropping into couched attacks and kick the door clean from its casing.

  Inside, Kaillen crouches defensively, sword drawn.

  “Stand down,” he orders Twist and Minali.

  “We don’t take orders from you, General,” Twist sneers.

  “You imprisoned Lady Alvey by force against her will, General.” Minali says.

  Kaillen rakes his hand through his hair but doesn’t sheath his sword. “For her own good. She’s become a danger to herself. And others.”

  “Dangerous is a good word to describe her right now,” Twist smirks. “She’s asked us to detain you.”

  “You two? Detain me?” Kaillen stands upright. “This is ridiculous. Guards,” he raises his voice. “Relieve these maidens of their weapons.”

  Four guards in full armor step out from a recessed alcove.

  None of them can See the intricate net of Blaze Minali and Twist silently weave between them.

  “It’s a pity, isn’t it, Minali?” Twist asks. “To have to hurt such fine elves like this simply because they can’t follow orders from a maiden?”

  “It certainly is,” Minali replies.

  “Stand down, maidens,” Kaillen warns again. “My men will subdue you like they did on the beach if you don’t comply.”

  Minali and Twist lower their sword breakers. The vast web of Blaze they weave could snare a Leviathan.

  “Thank you for seeing reason.” Kaillen is all gracious diplomacy as his guards advance. “Men, please escort these maidens to the cloisters. I will send someone to deal with them shortly.”

  “No. Thank you, General,” Twist says, “for your absolute lack of ability to See and comprehend.” She and Minali effortlessly cast their trap over the guards. Twist sets the flow with the rune Hagalaz to constrict until the elves twist over each other in a mangled pile of armor and a din of flailing limbs and curses.

  Together the maidens shove Kaillen back against the ornately tapestried wall. He knocks int
o the pedestal, sending the slender-necked vase toppling onto the thick luxurious carpet.

  Minali pins his sword arm back, unsheathing his blade and twisting the tip into the skin under his ribs. Twist grinds her gauntleted wrist against his windpipe. Flexing, inch-long spikes extend until they pierce the surface of his flesh, eliciting several drops of claret. “Give me an excuse, General,” she whispers sweetly through clenched teeth.

  “Emily, no! What are you doing?”

  Ava.

  I pull my attention away from the scene in Kaillen’s chamber to find Ava pale and stooped, standing in the tower doorway surrounded by rubble. Her hair falls in uncombed scarlet curls around her too-thin shoulders. Beneath Obsidian’s rage, my Heart pulses whispered worry: When did she come out of her coma? Why is she still so pale?

  “They’re hurting him!” Ava steps into the tower room.

  Dismay pulses through my veins, growing stronger at the sight of blood trailing from her bare feet.

  Do not listen to her, Shield Maiden, Obsidian speaks directly within my mind. She is weak. She is beneath you.

  “Why are you doing this, Emily?” Ava asks, stricken.

  “This is none of your concern,” we sneer.

  But she is already beside me, clinging shakily to my glowing arm. “Please, Emily. Please stop.” Her words stumble clumsy from her tongue. Fear clogs her frail voice. “This isn’t you.”

  “What do you suggest? That I sit submissively locked in this tower like his badly behaved pet?”

  “No. Never. But I know he loves you, Emily,” she begs. “Just talk to him.”

  “Oh, we’ll do more than talk, Sister.”

  We stalk from our ruined prison, leaving Ava oval-mouthed, sinking to her knees.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The stone walls bend and flex around Obsidian and me as we prowl the network of corridors connecting the high tower to the vast central cavern of the Royal City, Chloe and Teagan close behind. I am a satin-draped slender willow enchantress radiating black-waves of adamantine vengeance.

  We approach the perimeter where the plaque reading ‘General’s Quarters’ once hung on the wall outside Kaillen’s door and pause, amused by the gaping hole in the wall and the writhing melee of guards on the floor.

  A miniscule weave of Blaze sends them skittering to the far wall with a loud crunch of bone and the heap goes utterly silent.

  Chloe and Teagan take position on either side of the ruined entry, Blaze weapons glittering in their hands.

  With a flick of my wrist, Kaillen’s mahogany and cherry red leather chair glides through the thick carpet until its glossy wood is beneath my fingers. Moss and ivy entangle themselves among the ornate carvings of fell beasts and dragons on the armrests as I sit.

  Minali casts a casual questioning look over her shoulder while Kaillen stares ahead stock-still, unable even to swallow, his head straining back from Twists vindictive spikes.

  “Release the General, Maidens.”

  Minali and Twist step back at once to stand at attention on either side of Kaillen. They don’t release the strands of Blaze they’ve placed around him to block his ability to grasp Keen.

  Kaillen eases away from the wall, but doesn’t relax. His now-free hands press into the wound Minali dug with his own sword below his ribs.

  “Emily. I’m sorry.” Pleading sincerity chokes the fool’s voice. “I didn’t know what else to do. Twist ran off, and I received a message from the High Queen that you were missing. I was worried about you.”

  Pink-orange berries blush among the deep green flora entwining the armrests of the chair beneath my fingers.

  “I see. You locked me in the tower because you were so worried.”

  “Emily, please. I’m sorry. You have to understand. When my father was wounded, I lost it a little. Filling his shoes, becoming the General…I’ve never done anything like this before in my life.”

  Ian. My Heart’s chambers contract with grief and concern, but in an instant Obsidian smothers every ounce of tenderness with a rockslide of rage.

  “Poor Kaillen. The father’s son, shouldering all that heavy responsibility alone.”

  “You haven’t been yourself, Emily. I thought it would be safer for you to stay where my guards could protect you until my return.”

  “Do I look like I need protection, Kaillen?”

  “No. Absolutely not.” Kaillen manages just one step before all four of my maidens shift to block him from advancing.

  “Emily, please... I have to leave again.” He stares at his feet and shakes his head. “The Seventh Kingdom is overrun with crimbal, but we’re making progress. I’ll be able to return to you soon…”

  “You’re leaving. Again. So you locked me in a tower to rot.”

  “Emily…” He speaks my name like a warning. As if I should fear him. I fear nothing.

  “You were never worried about my safety. You’re worried I’ll find other ways of consoling myself while you’re gone.”

  “Can you blame me? I saw the way you kissed him.” Kaillen’s words are suddenly vicious. “I saw the color in your wings, the way they trembled. The entire First Rank saw you disrespecting me. You made a fool of yourself in front of your little brother, throwing yourself at that traitor like a dog in heat. You should be begging my forgiveness!”

  All four maidens take an angry step to encircle Kaillen.

  “A dog in heat?”

  He hangs his head upon hearing his words spit back at him. “I’m sorry. That was wrong. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  My Heart has gone dead silent. I doubt she will ever revive. I want to hurt Kaillen as much as I’ve ever wanted anything. I want him to suffer.

  “Did you really think you were man enough to satisfy me?”

  “That’s enough Emily!” His head whips up. My name growls guttural and threatening from his throat.

  “I’ll decide what’s enough.”

  His center of gravity shifts, rising from his core up into his chest and shoulders until he radiates testosterone like a king cobra ready to strike. With a simple weave I thicken the air around him with menace. Beads of sweat appear on his brow. He charges at me in slow motion, his anger ridiculous and exaggerated.

  With a snap of my fingers I wave my maidens back.

  That’s right, Kaillen. Come and get me. Lock me up, like a bad dog. Like something you own.”

  He stops dead in his tracks, the aggression draining from him. He stands before me, deflated.

  “I’m sorry, Emily. Of course I don’t own you, and I don’t want to fight. Please. Can we start over?”

  “NO.”

  Obsidian and I rise from our bowered throne. Vines of ivy and blossoms slip and curl from the chair to the floor, creating an organic pathway leading directly to Kaillen. Every inch of my bare feet relishes the lush life coursing beneath them.

  Kaillen’s eyes widen with fear. His hands grasp at my waist as I near him. “Emily. Please, stop this. I shouldn’t have put you in the tower. You shouldn’t be asking my forgiveness, I should be asking yours.”

  “Kneel.”

  “Emily?”

  But he’s already on his knees, buckled under the weight of metal air I’ve weaved upon his shoulders and head.

  “Emily. Why are you doing this? Let me up. We can discuss this civilly.”

  “You said you want my forgiveness,” I purr. “Ask for it.”

  He closes his eyes and hangs his head.

  “That’s right. Dig deep.”

  “I’m sorry, Emily. For everything.

  “Try harder, Kaillen.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I want you to beg.”

  A moan of pain escapes Kaillen’s lips as thistles pierce through the carpet beneath his knees.

  “There, there,” I soothe, brushing back the hair that’s fallen across his forehead. “It will all be over in a moment, brave, strong General. All you need to do is BEG.”

  My platinum finger
s press into the small ridges on either side of his temples. Relentlessly gentle, I rock his head back on his neck. His eyes bulge as his lips part inexorably.

  “Emily!” Ava’s whimper invades my ears. She’s finally made her slow, pathetic way from the tower to Kaillen’s chambers. She stands at the doorway, blocked from entry by Chloe and Teagan. “Stop this instant!”

  I turn my head and sneer. “I do not take orders from you, Sister. I do not take orders from ANYONE.”

  The slightest change in the pressure of my fingers gravitates Kaillen closer to me. He arches away, the muscles in his neck ropey and thick as he strains back, pushing with his fists and toes against the floor. But his shallow strength is inconsequential next to mine, which is deep and eternal. I bend slightly at the waist, compelling his torso upward. His knees hover weirdly above the carpet as—against his will—his struggling mouth rises to meet mine.

  Molten gold flows from my fingertips through his pores at his temples. My thumbs press ichor into his eyes. The tip of my tongue traces his rigid lips and enters his mouth, pouring liquid metal down the back of his throat.

  “EMILY NO.”

  An invisible hook of Blaze snares my spine from behind, yanking me back from Kaillen. He plunges forward onto his knees in a choking fit, barely catching himself with his hands to avoid spilling his brains on the floor.

  I whirl, summoning my shield and dagger.

  Ava is hunched over at the waist in front of the doorway, sucking for air. Her oxygen-deprived eyes scream up at me in horror. Her weave was strong enough to knock Chloe and Teagan on their backs. They scramble to their feet to tower over Ava.

  I smile, wicked. “Well, well, well. I’m impressed, Sister. That must have cost your poor little bleeding heart quite dearly, especially when you had so precious little power to begin with.”

  Channeling casually, I unhook Ava’s weave from my back, shaping it into a broad flat paddle.

  “Now get in your cage where you belong.”

  Backhanded, I slap her against the doorframe with the paddle of Blaze before turning my ire back on Kaillen.