Beneath the Dust (Force of Nature Book 4)

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  His warmth encompassed me, the soft smell of forest and rain assaulting my senses. I thought of the night he’d nearly died trying to protect me—before I’d learned to protect myself. The rage that had run through my body when I’d seen him fall. Then I channeled that rage at that spot on the ground.

  “Give him to me now!” I shouted, leaning forward against Knox’s iron grip.

  Earthquake-like forces ripped through the ground around us. Fissures wove their way between us, splitting the Earth as they converged at the same spot. As a cavern of dirt and dust opened up, exposing what lay beneath, molten rock shot forth, expelling a darkened figure.

  Knox released me immediately and Merc was there in a second, his hand on my back to help restrain the raw power that flowed through me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, his lips at my ear.

  I nodded, my eyes trained on the body that lay yards away, unmoving.

  “He doesn’t look very alive.” Kat’s assessment of Kingston’s condition was painfully accurate. She walked toward the corpse like she was approaching a coiled snake. Just as she was about to crouch down beside him, his arm moved.

  “Stay back!” I shouted. “All of you. Stay back.”

  I ran toward his body, the others close behind, stopping just shy of Kingston—or what I assumed was Kingston. His body was charred beyond recognition but somehow still intact. His skin was present, but it was black and hideous, and the stench was unbearable. A wave of terror shot through me as I realized that I had sentenced him (and his warlock brethren) to eternal hell down there, and even if he had deserved it, it was much easier to believe that when I didn’t have to face what that fate actually looked like.

  “Jesus,” Dean mumbled, staring down at the horror that was Kingston.

  “Wrong sacrificial lamb,” Kat said. “And this one deserved what he got.”

  Kingston struggled to get up, his destroyed body not making it easy—and neither did his missing hands. It was physically painful to watch. Without thinking, I moved closer, much to the objection of my mates. Knox growled and Merc stepped in my path, but I merely ignored the one and maneuvered around the other to kneel down beside Kingston. If we were going to get anything out of him, it sure as hell wasn’t going to happen with him in that state.

  “Help me heal him,” I whispered to the night as my hand made contact with his brittle flesh. And as it had so many times before, nature obeyed. Though it took longer than I expected, a clear sign of just how damaged he’d been, Kingston’s body started to mend itself. His skin slowly returned to its normal, sallow shade, and his hair returned—as did the murderous expression he’d always worn in my presence.

  I stepped away and allowed him to stand. Somehow, even in the face of a small army and the one that had entombed him, he managed to look menacing. Perhaps it was his version of resting bitch face.

  “You…” he said, his voice so hoarse it sounded like it might break.

  “Yes. Me.”

  He looked down at his body. “Why have you summoned me?”

  “Because she can, motherfucker,” Dean snapped. Those two had some unfinished business, and it made me wonder how I could keep Kingston alive long enough for us to interrogate him.

  “Easy, Dean,” Jase cautioned, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

  “I’ve summoned you because the fey queen wants something from you, and I want to know what it is.”

  His expression never faltered. “I’m not telling you anything.”

  “Would you like to return to your previous accommodations?” Merc asked. His voice was steel and ice, and he wielded it like a weapon.

  “Would you like me to control you again?” Kingston countered.

  “You can’t do shit without your magical bauble,” Kat pointed out. “The one you no longer have. The one Piper broke.”

  That seemed to sober the warlock, if only slightly. “I don’t know what the queen wants from me.”

  Thunder boomed around us, and a bright light shone from the other side of the portal that opened up right next to Kingston. The queen’s pale hand shot forth, reaching for him. Without thinking, I snatched him away just before she could.

  The look she gave me in return was full of malice.

  “I believe our deal was for you to hand the warlock over to me,” she said, her calm voice belying the burning rage building inside her. She wanted him badly, and even she, in all her practiced indifference, couldn’t hide that fact.

  “It was,” I said, mind racing, “but you never said when I had to turn him over.”

  Kat let loose a laugh that drew the queen’s attention. “Checkmate, Queenie…”

  “Be careful, wolf. You already lost your mate at my hands. You will lose much more if you test me.” A chorus of growls rang out from the boys. Whether Kat liked it or not, she was pack in their minds. “Now,” the fey queen continued, “give him to me and there will be no consequences for this act of rebellion, Piper.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Her dark eyes narrowed to slits. “There will be repercussions.”

  I could see her army of fey soldiers lining up behind her, ready to storm through the portal and start a war. We were grossly outnumbered, and I knew it. Even with my powers, I didn’t like our odds. If I couldn’t keep them from coming through, we were in trouble. The set of Kingston’s jaw said he agreed.

  “Tell me why you want him and he’s yours,” I said, feigning bravery.

  “Not part of the deal.”

  “Fine.” I turned to Kingston. “Your turn.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, and a wave of power shot through the portal, choking off his words. He fell to his knees, eyes bulging from his head as she squeezed the newly-regained life from him.

  “No!” I screamed and flung my hand out at the portal. Her magic was forced back, though it pressed hard against mine. The queen had been practicing since I’d faced her last, finding new ways to attack without having to set foot on our land. “You cannot have him until one of you tells me what you want! You never specified when I was to give him over. That oversight rests on you, Queen. You’ll get him when I decide you can have him.”

  I stepped closer to the portal, channeling my magic at the opening. It started to shrink.

  “You will live to regret this,” she warned.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  With a final surge of magic that dropped me to my knees, the portal disappeared with a pop. Knox helped me to my feet while Merc secured Kingston. I looked over at the warlock.

  “Feel like telling me what that bitch wants now?”

  His lips pursed as he rolled the idea over in his mind. “No. Not until I know what you plan to do with me afterward.”

  “Then I guess you’re coming with us,” Kat said, leaning toward him in conspiratorial fashion. “You’ll be our most unwelcome houseguest to date—and by ‘guest’, I mean prisoner.”

  “I will take him back,” Merc said, tightening his grip on Kingston’s arm.

  “Dean,” Knox called, “take me back now, too. I want to make sure this shit doesn’t try anything when he gets there.”

  Merc and his brother soon disappeared with their passengers in tow, leaving the rest of us behind.

  “Do you think he actually knows what she wants?” Jagger asked with all the earnestness of a child.

  “He must,” I replied, “because he looked none too eager to be handed over to the queen.”

  “But will he tell us?” Foust asked. “We cannot afford a stalemate with the fey queen. She is as powerful as she is creative, Piper.”

  “And old as fuck,” Brunton added. “She’ll have no trouble finding a way to torture you until she gets what she wants—possibly afterward, too.”

  “Kingston will tell us,” Kat said. “He doesn’t want to be the guest of the queen any more than we do, especially if whatever power he has left is null and void there—or affected in any way.”

  “But what if hi
s knowledge is of no use to us against her?” I asked, thinking through the possibilities.

  “If he gives the queen something she can use against us,” Brunton said, “then we’re fucked.”

  His wisdom couldn’t be argued.

  “We can’t hand him over without knowing,” Foust said. “That would be madness.”

  “So this is how deals with the devil end.” Kat looked to where the portal had been. “Do me a favor, Piper. The next time you think about making one, don’t.”

  “I had no choice, Kat. Knox would have died if I hadn’t.”

  She looked back at me, her clear blue eyes cold and devoid of their normal mischief.

  “He might die because you did.” Her tone was as flat and dead as her stare, and it scared the shit out of me. “We all might.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Kingston was already in the basement prison when Merc brought the rest of us back to the mansion. We arrived to the sound of fist meeting as we entered the room with the holding cells. Dean had Kingston pressed up against the wall and was pummeling him so badly that blood was everywhere.

  “You used my brother to try to kill me,” he shouted before hitting him again. “This is how you get your hands dirty, you fucking pussy!”

  “That will be enough, Dean,” Merc said, ordering his brother to stop.

  “He went after Piper—hunted her. Nearly killed her. It’ll never be enough,” he replied, ignoring his brother—his king—entirely. “Never.”

  “Dean,” I said softly. His cocked arm hesitated for a moment, then lowered a bit. “Dean, you have to let it go…”

  “I can’t,” he said, sorrowful eyes looking back at me.

  “And yet you must, for now, because I say you must,” Merc said, entering the cell. He shot Jase a dirty look. “I’ll deal with you two later. You can go.”

  Jase and Dean exited the cell reluctantly, leaving the rest of us behind. Foust, Jagger, and Brunton followed, the five of them talking quietly among themselves as they disappeared from sight.

  “Maybe now would be a good time to tell us what the fey queen wants with you,” I said, watching blood drip from Kingston’s face. “Dean’s not really known for his patience or restraint. He’ll find a way down here at some point to finish what he started.”

  “Then I guess you’ll never get the answers you want,” Kingston replied, spitting a mouthful of blood at my feet for good measure.

  “Maybe we should hand you over to the queen, then, if you think her hospitality would be an improvement.” Panic flashed in his eyes for the briefest moment, though he tried to hide it. I’d found the fear to exploit, and I pressed it hard. “Have you been to Faerie before?” I asked, voice sweet and curious. He didn’t bother to respond. “I have—twice now. I don’t want to kill the surprise for you, but I think you should be fully prepared for what you’ll face when we send you over, starting with the fact that your warlock powers will be effectively useless there. I mean, yeah, you could probably call on a few spells here and there, but even the weakest in the fey queen’s realm could stop those without breaking a sweat. Basically, you’ll be defenseless and at the mercy of the merciless. Sounds super fun, right?” I bent down to level my gaze with his. “She will use you or kill you, Kingston. And if you’re lucky enough for it to be the former, know that it’ll still end in the latter. She discards things that no longer serve her,” I said, jaw tensing with anger. “I would know.”

  A hint of amusement sparkled in those crystal blue eyes. “I guess you would.”

  “Yes, well, at least she can’t kick my ass when I’m there. You can’t say the same, so if I were you, I’d do what I could to avoid being shipped over to her.”

  “Maybe we should send him to the fey king,” Kat suggested. “Maybe he’d accept it as a peace offering of sorts. He could bleed Kingston’s magic dry, and the queen wouldn’t get what she wanted.”

  “Except we need to know what that is first,” Knox countered. “Maybe that’s what the fey queen wants—for us to kill him. Maybe his true death would unleash something.”

  “Like what? The four horsemen of the apocalypse?” Kat asked. “Surely they’d be better than the fey queen and this sack of shit.”

  “Knox is right,” Merc said. “We need to know what she wants before we proceed.”

  Kingston began to laugh. At first, it was a subtle sound—a shake of his shoulders—but it grew and grew until the deep, unhinged tenor of it echoed off the concrete walls.

  “This ought to be good,” Kat mumbled under her breath. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”

  Kingston struggled to calm himself before he spoke. “Has it, at any point, occurred to you that I might not know what she wants from me? That I might be just as perplexed by her intentions?”

  “Nope,” Kat replied. “Not even once.”

  He shook his head. “You were never known for your brains. Those tits, on the other hand…”

  Before Kat could let loose a scathing retort, Knox had Kingston hoisted high above his head by the throat.

  “I’m starting to rethink my stance on keeping you alive,” he snarled.

  “Now would be a good time to apologize,” Kat said, stepping up next to Knox. “For whatever reason, this one seems to think I’m his to protect, so better to kiss and make up now before he loses his temper. He’s rumored to have a rather short fuse.”

  Anger flashed in Kingston’s eyes. “Sorry.” Though the word was strained and garbled, it was clear enough. Knox dropped him to the ground in a heap, and he and Merc loomed over the prisoner.

  “We will return later,” Merc said. “For your sake, I hope you’re far more forthcoming then.”

  The cell door opened, and we all filed out. Merc had just slammed it shut when a voice from further down the hall drew our attention.

  “He knows all too well why the fey queen wants him.” Liam’s voice rang through the stony corridor.

  “How do you know?” Merc asked, sauntering over to him.

  “Because I know, too.”

  “What are you saying?” I asked, stepping up to Merc’s side.

  “I heard the fey king make you a promise, Piper—a promise to make it so you could kill the queen.”

  “Yeah…”

  “He wasn’t lying. There is a way, and the king knows it,” he said, eyes drifting toward Kingston’s cell. “As does he.”

  Holy. Shit.

  “Wait, you’re saying Kingston—that Kingston—knows how to lift the spell that keeps fey royals from killing members of their bloodline?” I could barely get the question out; disbelief nearly held my tongue hostage. Liam merely nodded. “But how? How is that possible? How could he, of all fucking people, know how? And if it’s true, then how would the queen know this?”

  “There is little she does not know.”

  I choked on the irony. “Except that her daughter was never assassinated like she ordered.”

  “She had her suspicions.”

  “So I heard…”

  As my mind reeled, I heard light footsteps heading for Kingston’s cell.

  “Is this true?” Kat asked, her voice smooth as silk. “Do you know how to make it so we can kill the bitch?” Her question was met with silence. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” She smiled wide at her words. “I’ll have that and so much more if you don’t tell me now. You’re already missing your hands. How much more are you willing to lose, I wonder?” Her gaze drifted to his groin, and his whole body went tense.

  “I know,” he replied, the anger in his tone palpable.

  “Then I suggest you start filling us in—and quickly. Time is of the essence, as they say.”

  “There’s nothing else to tell because I’m only part of the puzzle.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, joining Kat.

  “I mean that I’m the key; someone else is the lock.”

  I stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. “Um, okay…”

  “Just spit it out, for
fuck’s sake.” Surprisingly, Kat’s growing irritation seemed to inspire Kingston’s cooperation.

  “It takes two to break the spell cast upon the fey royals. I’m only half of the equation.”

  “And you don’t know who that someone is?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m sure that’s by design.”

  “Motherfucker,” Kat said as she exhaled hard. “Why is it never simple?”

  I walked back to Liam’s cell. “Do you know who the other person is?” I knew it was unlikely, but I had to ask.

  “I do not, but the being cannot be fey and must be able to call magic.”

  “So no wolves,” Knox said.

  “Or vampires,” Merc added.

  “Witches…,” Kat let the word linger on her tongue as if to see whether it felt right.

  “That would make the most sense,” Liam agreed.

  “How very convenient that the fey king is kidnapping them to fuel his lands,” Kat continued. “One might start to think that he’s doing something else with them as well.”

  “Like looking for the lock to Kingston’s key,” I said, ice running through my veins.

  “Which the bitch queen, who knows everything according to Liam, would surely be aware of—”

  “She’d want to keep him from getting the key—”

  “That his golems might be able to track down, given enough time—”

  “So he can’t undo the spell—"

  “Unless he had the right person to show him where the key was,” I said. Kat and I shared a long, nervous glance.

  “Like the being that buried him in the ground.”

  The room fell silent for a long moment, every one of us trying to process the theory Kat and I had just laid out. Finally, Merc broke the quiet.

  “If the fey king is indeed searching for the lock, then it is only a matter of time before he comes for the key.”

  “We already know he wants his wife dead,” I said, trying to puzzle it all together. “But he doesn’t need the spell broken to do that.”

  “But maybe he can’t do it because his lands are dying and he lacks the power. If hers are not, then she would be too much against him, which is likely why he wants you to do it for him,” Kat pointed out. “But if we would lose the bitch queen only to gain a more powerful and highly unstable king, I’m not sure that would be an improvement.”