by Cynthia Eden
“Yeah, big guy. It’s me. I mean, do you see anyone else here?”
Harrison’s eyebrows climbed. “Do you want me to squash you?”
“I want you to get your fool-ass to a mirror before you lose the spark I can see. If it’s gone, you’ll be too human to get through the portal. So…Move. That. Ass. Find a mirror. Break the glass.”
“Yeah, I just did. In case you missed it.”
“Once a portal has been used once, it’s no good. Find another one. Hurry. Unless, of course, you want her to die?”
“Elise isn’t dying!”
“Then get to a mirror. Drive that giant hand of yours at it. Break the glass. Smear your blood—and go get her!”
This was insane. Ridiculous. He was listening to a damn spider. He hated spiders. But Harrison still found himself running to the bathroom. Driving his fist into the mirror that stretched above the sink. Smearing his blood across it.
And nothing happened.
“You’re shitting me,” he muttered in disgust. His head turned. Where the hell had that spider gone? He was going to find him, kill him and—
“Let’s go.” Hands shot through what had been the mirror and hauled him forward. Harrison hurtled forward and fell, seeming to tumble endlessly as he…shit, as he left one world…
And entered another.
“Wonderful. I expected you to be all big and bold and action-oriented, and instead, you’re flat on the ground and you’re gaping at nothing.” A head leaned over Harrison. A guy with olive skin, pitch black hair, and bright green eyes frowned down at him. The guy snapped his fingers. “Wakey, wakey. You have a job to do.”
Harrison grabbed those snapping fingers as he leapt to his feet. In a flash, he’d rammed his knife against the guy’s throat.
“Oh, that was hot.” The stranger smiled at him. “Like, literally, your touch is way warmer than I expected, and you do have that whole I’m-A-Badass vibe going on that is delectable. I can see why Elise was so charmed by you. I see it now, truly I do. I thought she was crazy initially when I realized she was starting to moon over you. Not the first time someone in her family has gone mad, FYI, but I’d sworn my allegiance to her, so I just had to buckle up and get ready to go along for the ride so—”
“Stop,” Harrison snapped. His temples were throbbing. His stomach swirling. For the first time in years, he worried he might vomit.
“Oh.” Green eyes widened. “You’re probably adjusting to things here. It’s a little different. Air quality. Physics. Lots of other boring stuff. No matter. You’ve got a strong beast, and he’ll handle it. If you want, you can just look deeply into my eyes and take comfort from me and this will all be over before you—”
“You talk a lot.”
“I like the sound of my own voice. I find it beautiful. Don’t you?”
“Where the fuck is Elise?”
“If she’s not dead, then she’s probably in a dungeon. Chained up. Tied up. If her wings are back, they’re about to be cut away while she screams. No doubt, crying out pitifully for you because she thought you would be her endgame. She believed that you’d fall desperately in love with her and you’d be willing to do anything to keep her—”
“I have a knife to your throat,” Harrison reminded him as the throbbing finally lessened in his temples. “And you still won’t shut the hell up?”
“Elise likes it when I talk.” He sniffed. “You need to know that I’m Elise’s confidant. I am the only one she completely trusts in this realm.”
He wasn’t sure he bought all that the guy was selling, but the fellow had managed to get him there. Only…where am I? “Is this the fey world?” It was filled with darkness and shadows.
“Yes.” A wide smile.
“Why does it look like hell? Like a morose and dark demon dimension? I thought the fey were all about shiny things. Glitter and gold and everything fancy.”
“Normally…” Another sniff. “Back in the day, the beauty here would have made you sob in pure joy.”
Uh, doubtful.
“But since the rightful ruler was cast out, the realm mourned. The mourning meant it deteriorated even more.”
“The realm did what now? Mourned?”
“Ardon thought he was so very clever. He thought he could kick Elise out of the kingdom, and no one would know what he’d done. He thought no one would realize he wasn’t the true leader, but the magic knew. The kingdom knew. As soon as Elise was banished, the realm began to wither. It turned dark as it grieved for her. The grieving wouldn’t stop until she came back…” His lips pursed. “Or she died, I guess…because in that case, Ardon would become the rightful leader and the place would stop grieving. Only Elise wasn’t dying the way he’d thought she would. She fought off the vampires and the werewolves…and, oh, by the way you did a wonderful job in that alley the first time you met Elise.” An approving nod. “Very fierce. Gave me a flutter the first time I saw you in action.”
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
The talkative stranger’s lips curled a little more. “Perhaps I am. I can’t say that I’ve always approved of the way you’ve treated Elise.”
Harrison was trying to follow along. “Are you the fucking spider?”
His eyelids flickered. “Are you the fucking dragon?”
The question so surprised Harrison that he let the fellow go.
He straightened his thin shoulders. Glowered.
Harrison shook his head. “I’m not a dragon.”
“Denial.”
“Yes, I denied being a freaking dragon because I’m not one!”
“No, I mean, you’re in denial. As in, you don’t want to admit the truth to yourself. As in, you’ve grown up, swallowing all the bold-ass lies your so-called father gave you. So much for being able to smell lies. Guess your sniffer was broken when it came to him, probably because he had a spell put on you. Spoiler alert, he wasn’t your dad. He killed your real dad. And your real mom. Your mom didn’t desert you. From what I’ve gathered—okay, from the intel Elise gathered—your mom fought viciously for you. But then your fake dad shoved a knife into her heart and killed her. A knife like the one you’re still gripping, by the way.”
Harrison stared blankly at the knife.
“Your mother was human, so a knife to the heart killed her. And when he saw your mother fallen, well, your real father lost his mind.” He raked Harrison with a considering glance. “Got to watch out for that. It’s a weakness of dragons. When they love, they love completely. Obsessively. That can be a strength, sure, I get that, but —”
He wasn’t sure the stranger got anything.
“—that obsessive and total love can be used against dragons. Your old man lost his sanity and the hunters closed in on him. He couldn’t fight rationally. He was all beast and rage, and they used that against him. They slayed him and they took you and, damn, but those tricky sonofabitches even got you to work on their side.” A whistle. “That is some full-blown balls. I mean, I can see how they did it. Dragons and hunters have many of the same gifts. Enhanced vision and speed. Super strength. Even that whole lie smelling thing. Though, seriously, bro, you must have a spell on you that stops you from scenting lies from hunters—”
“You’re lying.”
“Fey don’t lie. We can’t. We can only—”
“You can twist the truth. Elise told me that. You’re twisting the truth right now, and I’m not going to listen to another word that you have to say. I came here for Elise. I’m going to find her and then I’m going to take her far away from you and this whole insane realm.” He whirled away. Screw that little bastard. He’d find Elise on his own.
“You can’t take her away. If you do, the realm will keep grieving. If she lives but she is not in this realm, then this world will die. Elise won’t let that happen. She can’t. She’s the rightful ruler of the fey. She is the one who will bring back our glory and—”
“Your name,” Harrison gritted as he looked over his shoulder.
/> A blink. “She doesn’t need to bring back my name. It never left me.”
“What the hell is your name, asshole?”
“Beaux.”
“And what are you to Elise?”
“I already told you, I’m her confidant. I am her loyal follower. The chief of her guards.”
“The chief of her guards, huh? Well, looks like you’re doing a bang-up job on that end, Beaux.”
Beaux sucked in a sharp and offended breath. “Do not mock my name. Elise gave me that name when I became her chief.”
“Yeah, and when did you take that role?”
“When I was nine years old. That is when she stopped the others from killing me. That is when she stopped the others and she said they were wrong. That I was not some hideous monster. That I was beautiful.” He smiled and pride shone on his face. “She said I would be called Beaux, and I would always stand with her.”
And…his image flickered. One side of his face remained perfectly symmetrical. It showed only flawless skin. The other side wasn’t perfect. It was twisted. Savaged. But when Harrison blinked…
The damaged visage was gone.
“Fey magic?” Harrison asked quietly as he turned fully toward Beaux.
“Elise said I needed no magic. She said I was beautiful just as I was.” Beaux’s chin lifted. “Elise said beauty is found in the things that are different. That perfection is a lie. Elise believes it is the greatest deceit out there.”
Harrison frowned. “But you still use magic…”
“I am beautiful,” Beaux said flatly. “No matter what form I use. But only those I trust may have the privilege of seeing all that I am.”
Wait… “You trust me?”
“I trust Elise. I trust my princess with my life. If she believed in you, then I will, too, dragon. I will put my lot in with you, and I shall take you to her. We will fight the guards and the wraiths and anyone who dares to challenge us—”
Harrison held up a hand. He was realizing that if you didn’t stop the guy once he got going, he’d ramble for a bit. For a long bit. “I’m not a dragon.”
Beaux stared at him. “Not right now, you’re not.” He leaned forward, as if imparting a deep, dark secret. “But the more the magic here seeps into your skin, the harder it will be for you to keep the beast chained up. Can’t you hear him already? Calling to you? Calling out, so eager to be set free?”
It was total bullshit. Harrison knew he wasn’t a dragon but…hell, deep inside, he could almost hear that stupid voice…the voice that slithered through his mind every now and then, the voice that promised…
Soon, we’ll both be free.
Harrison shook his head. “Take me to Elise. Now.”
“And you’ll kill anyone who gets in our way?”
“I’ll fucking slaughter anyone who tries to stop me from getting to her. Happy?”
“Deliriously so.” Beaux smiled.
***
Chained. Tossed into a stinking prison cell and chained like a common criminal. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.
Elise glowered through the prison bars at her twin brother. As usual, Ardon was perfectly styled, with his brown hair slicked back from his head and his body adorned in the finest silk the fey had ever conjured.
He was on the other side of the bars. Just smiling and staring at her.
“If you’re going to kill me,” she finally snapped at him. “Do it. Come at me. Get those pristine hands of yours dirty and stop just friggin’ standing there!”
He…laughed.
His laughter was charming and deep. Warm. Another part of the deceit that cloaked him. Ardon always looked so harmless. Back in the mortal world, people would have thought he was some kind of model. Such handsome features. Such a perfectly toned body.
Such a load of utter bullshit.
“I missed you, sister.”
She yanked at the chains around her wrists. She’d been yanking ever since she’d woken in there. Her magic was still gone—weak, trapped, cursed—whatever. It wasn’t working, and she didn’t know how to turn it back on. Since she didn’t have any magic at her disposal, Elise hadn’t been able to fight him when he’d blasted her with his magic. He’d knocked her out after he’d hauled her back to the fey realm, and she’d woken up in the cell.
The question, though, was…why had she woken up at all? Why hadn’t he killed her already? “What are you waiting for?”
He mock pouted. “Didn’t you miss me? We have been together since before birth. We came here together, shared life and power, and—”
“And then you used some dark mojo to strip me of my power and you kicked my ass out of my realm. I don’t need the recap, thanks so much. I sort of lived through everything, in case you forgot.”
Ardon stepped closer to the bars. “Father always hated you.”
“No, no, please!” She gave a dramatic exhale. “Don’t try to hurt my feelings! Don’t! It’s just too much.”
His eyes turned to slits.
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Dear old dad was a sadistic prick who should have never ruled. He used our mother. Bonded to her for power, and if you want to know the real truth, I always suspected he killed our mother. I don’t think she died in childbirth. I think he offed her.”
Her brother shook his head. “No.”
“Yes. That’s what I suspect. You know I can’t lie. I asked father if he killed her. Did he tell you that? On our sixteenth birthday, I asked him…and do you know what he told me?”
Ardon waited.
“He said, ‘She was meant to die.’”
Ardon shrugged his wide shoulders. “So the fates willed it, so—”
“He played with words, just like you and I have done all of our lives. If he hadn’t killed her, he could have just said no. No!” Elise yelled. “See? Not hard. Not hard at all. But he didn’t say no, and in that moment, I knew the truth. I knew it. He knew it. But…you…did you ever know it?”
His eyelids flickered. Was that a yes? Or a no?
“Take this damn curse off me,” she snarled at him. “Prove that you’re not the biggest asshole in the realm. We don’t have to be like him. We can be better.”
“That’s the problem.” His lips twisted. “I’m not so sure I am better.”
She wasn’t certain either. Oh, yeah, Elise would have loved to throw out some BS about how, as his twin, she knew his heart was pure. That he had a core of good inside of him. Blah, blah, blah. But the truth was, most days, she didn’t even know if she had any good in her. Maybe she was too much like her father.
Maybe they both were.
Not like she’d spent much of her life doing anything good.
Now she was chained in a cell, powerless, and just waiting for death. It was enough to make anyone gloomy. “Take the curse off.”
“It’s not my curse to remove.”
Her back teeth clenched. “Call your flunky, call whatever witch of the hour you were screwing when you magically hit me, and get this curse gone.”
He laughed. “I can’t.”
“This is not funny!”
Ardon sobered. “No, I don’t suppose it is.” His gaze sharpened on her. “He told me that loving you would be a mistake.”
Her throat dried. “Who told you that?”
His lips pressed together.
She nodded. “Oh, got it. Dear old dad.”
A fat spider raced through the bars. She didn’t look directly at him. Just saw the spider from the corner of her eye. Elise cleared her throat, wanting to make sure that Ardon’s attention stayed on her and not on that cute—no, gorgeous, amazingly precious—spider. “How old were you when he told you that warm and fuzzy sentiment?”
“Five.”
Damn.
Ardon rocked forward a bit. “Did he tell you the same thing? Did he tell you not to love me?”
“No. He barely wasted any time with me. I wasn’t important to him.”
“Maybe you were lucky.”
She jangled
her chains. “This isn’t what lucky looks like.” Dumbass. “I’m losing my patience, Ardon. Remove the curse.”
He laughed again. That jerk needed to stop that crap. “I can’t.” He pointed at her. “You were the firstborn.” His voice was all hushed and silent. Probably because he didn’t want everyone else figuring out that he was a giant fraud. The dark fey king. Or, would-be king, anyway. “The curse falls on our family. It isn’t our doing.” Again, his words were so low. “I just knew when it would occur, so I used that to my advantage. You thought I’d done the wicked deed to you, but, sister dear, it wasn’t me.”
She found herself inching toward him. “What are you talking about? You took my power and then you kicked me out.”
“I kicked you out, yes, but I had nothing to do with your power vanishing. I waited until the power was gone, and then I banished you. Don’t you see? You losing your power—it’s a test.”
“Trust me, I feel tested.” Understatement of the century.
“A would-be ruler’s powers are stripped right before ascension because you have to prove you are worthy. Prove that you can triumph, that you have good in you, before you touch the crown. Because if you don’t…” A roll of one shoulder. “When you touch the crown, it sees your truth. If you’re dark, the whole kingdom goes dark. If you’re light…”
Her breath caught. She remembered stories. Stories of a beautiful, glittering fey kingdom. It had been a long time since the kingdom had been truly breath-taking.
“The right ruler brings back the light. So the stupid legend goes.”
She was struggling to follow along with everything. “You didn’t curse me. That’s what you’re saying? Our bloodline did? Or…the crown did?”
“It’s testing you.”
She lunged forward, only to be yanked back as the chains bit into her wrists. Ow! That would leave a mark. Or two. “You waited until I was helpless and then you cast me out. You thought without my magic, I’d die.”
Another roll of his shoulder. As if he didn’t care whether she lived or died.
“With me out of the way, you’d be next in line. As soon as I’m dead, you get to touch that precious crown.” So why was she still breathing?