Seeking the Fae (Daughter of Light Book 1)

by Leia Stone

  Were they cloaked somehow?

  He sat up grabbing his ribs. “Yes. The others are—” He seemed to realize who he was speaking to. “Elsewhere…”

  I groaned, about to tell him that he could trust me, when the door flew open behind me, slamming against the wall with a loud bang. I spun with a shriek as a wall of frosty air smashed into me and I flew up against Liam’s chest. Cold, frigid wind wrapped around me as the air knocked out of me, leaving me gasping. Liam’s hand splayed on my belly, tucking me closer to him while shooting out a wall of ice. It was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. Water poured from his palm, then froze almost immediately as it quickly erected a sheet of ice.

  “I taught you that!” the Winter King roared from the other side of the icy wall.

  A thump snacked against the wall and it shattered. Liam eyed the crystal on the ground and then the window to my right as if weighing his options. Me or the crystal. I didn’t have time to warn him that it would burn him if he touched it. Yanking me with him, he flew upward, tightening his grip around my waist as he lifted me up into the air with him. I clung to his arm as he hovered around the window at the front of the house, and kicked his leg right through it, shattering it.

  “You were my brightest child!” the king roared as shards of ice rained down on us. Over twenty icicles shot from the king’s palms, causing me to duck and take cover as best I could. A searing pain sliced through my arm and I let out a whimper as a sharp icicle went clean through my upper right arm, poking six inches through the flesh. A wave of dizziness overtook me; agony radiated through my chest, my blood speckling the carpet below us. Liam flapped his wings, carrying me through the window, and set me down on the front porch, before spinning on his father.

  “And your biggest disappointment. Well, likewise, old man!” he roared and blasted another sheet of ice at the enraged king, stepping back slowly into the front yard.

  “Go, Lily!” he shouted back at me as they traded blow for blow, snow and ice flinging around the front porch so fast I could barely focus. My teeth chattered as the bone-chilling cold seeped into me. I was a spring Fae; this cold would freeze my wings and snap them right off if I wasn’t careful. My arm hurt so badly I had to fight to stay conscious, but there was one thing I was absolutely sure of. Liam and I were on the same side. Twice he’d saved my life, and that meant something. Actions spoke louder than words.

  “No. I’m not leaving without you this time.” I pulled my knife with my left, uninjured hand. “We go together,” I told him through gritted teeth. I might not be that useful right now, but I could definitely try to remove his dad’s balls for killing my mom. I just needed to get close enough.

  The king burst into laughter from where he stood on the front porch, a flurry of snow at his feet and six-foot icicles growing from his palms. “You fell for a fucking seeker from Faerie!” he boomed at Liam, and the entire house shook with his rage.

  Holy shit, that man was terrifying. If not for Liam, I would have been a stabbed-up piece of meat right now. Well, more than I already was.

  The blue light had stopped pulsing from our chests, and so thank the gods, he didn’t know we were soulmates. He might have popped a gasket then.

  Where the hell was my best friend? I hoped she was safe wherever she was.

  Liam looked back at me, still holding an ice wall in front of us. Sweat rolled down his forehead and he looked strained. My eyes fell to his thigh, where I saw a one-inch-thick icicle sticking out of it.

  Shit. We were in rough shape. We needed to get the hell out of here.

  “The crystal.” He looked at the open, blown-out window and I shook my head.

  “No. It’s not worth it. W—"

  “Not to you, you have seven!” He cut me off, glaring at me with venom in his gaze.

  I reared my head back like I’d been slapped. “I’m sorry … I—”

  A cold blast of frigid air burst from the king’s palms and slammed into Liam and I, knocking us backward across the lawn. Jagged pieces of ice cut my skin and wings.

  The guards rushed out onto the porch and I knew they would be on us in seconds. But now that we were far enough away from the house to see the rooftop, I grinned.

  Elle dropped from the roof, standing before the guards and king, gun drawn. “Back off, motherfuckers!” She held the sleek black gun right to the king’s head.

  Holy shit. My best friend had lost her damn mind.

  In a split second, the king raised his arms and a wall of ice twelve inches thick erected before him, causing Elle to stumble backward. One of the guards advanced on Elle then and she lowered her gun to his leg, squeezing the trigger. Two short bursts flew from the gun and took out his kneecaps. He went down with a shrill cry and the other two guards froze.

  Holy crystals!

  “Who’s next?” she shouted, pointing the gun at the guards, slowly backing out into the yard near us.

  Time to get the hell out of here. I pulled the rolling pin out and transformed the bike as quick as my gimpy arm would allow. Liam was still holding an ice wall in front of us in a standoff with his dad. He took one look at my bike and climbed over it. “I’m driving. Your arm,” was all he said.

  My fucking arm. Just talking about it caused me so much pain I wanted to cry. I wasn’t in a mood to argue, so I slipped on the back and hugged his waist with one arm. “Elle!”

  “I’ll fly!” she shouted, and we all took off. Liam gunned the bike, letting his wall of ice crash down, and Elle kicked off the ground, bolting into the air. Turning back, my gaze fell on the king, who tried to step out from his wall of ice. Elle shot two warning shots, which made him promptly run back behind it.

  They were specks of people now, growing smaller and smaller as we raced away from the danger. My heart was in my throat. That was the craziest thing I’d ever done in my life. Elle was right above us, not too far behind, and hopefully disguising herself to the humans as a helicopter, or a bird or something.

  I leaned my head against Liam’s back, afraid to admit to myself how good being this close to him felt. He wove the bike expertly through traffic while I murmured directions in his ear. I just kept pulling up that vision of the beach house where we’d come, the blue door there, and my seeker ability pulled me closer and closer, always nudging me where to go.

  My arm was steadily dripping blood even as I tried to hold the wound and staunch it. The icicle had melted and now it was just an open wound. I peered over my shoulder to find that there were little tears in my wings. I didn’t dare try to flap them or fly, for fear of injuring myself further.

  Finally, Liam pulled up to the beach house and I stumbled off the bike. Dizziness overwhelmed me and Liam turned to look at my arm with concern. “You have to make a tourniquet!” he shouted incredulously. “Weren’t you trained in battle injuries?”

  Sure, bud. We just fucking take battle injury training in Faerie. Yes, I had been battle trained, but not for something like this. My mother probably hadn’t wanted to scare me, but now I was seeing the error of her ways. I wouldn’t make it to my twenty-first birthday at this rate.

  He pulled off his shirt and my mouth went dry.

  Holy mother of Fae.

  His chiseled torso looked like it was etched from stone. His eight-pack was bulked out under tan tight skin and his pants were so low I could see the V-shape of his hip muscles pointing to the pleasure zone. He stepped closer to me, bringing the heat of his body with him as I shook my head a little to clear it. Using his teeth, he tore a long strip from his shirt and tightly knotted it above my arm. I winced as it caused the pain to flare, but sighed in relief when I noticed it stopped the blood.

  “Lily!” Elle shouted as she landed hard behind us, holstering her gun.

  “Don’t put that away!” Liam snapped at her. “Who trained you both?” Liam looked incuriously at Elle, who pulled the gun back out and looked around as if the Winter King were going to run out of nowhere.

  Elle growled at him. “I’d
say we’re doing just fine, seeing as though we just rescued your ass!”

  “Barely,” Liam snapped back, tenderly staunching the cuts on my wings with his shirt. “Why didn’t you put up a shield?” he asked me.

  Fuck. The shield.

  “I … I’ve only practiced back home … not—”

  He sighed. “Are you all they have left?” His blue eyes threaded with molten lava locked on to mine and my heart quickened.

  I nodded.

  “My mom … I’m the last seeker.”

  He looked angry; it was weird. Why the fuck did he care? We were on opposite sides.

  “Come on,” I told him, and started to walk to the blue door, placing my hand on the handle.

  He shook his head. “I can’t go back there with you. I don’t belong there. I have a life on Earth, okay? People depend on me.”

  Elle laughed, full-on laughed. “Some life! You almost died back there, and they’re probably right behind us. What good are you to your people if you’re dead?”

  Last time I checked, all of his people had been killed, but I wasn’t going to mention that right now.

  He looked at my best friend with a murderous glare. “Fine. Just to get a ride back to Seattle.”

  “And a healer! Have you seen your leg?” I pointed to his blood-soaked jeans. He looked down with a frown and growled.

  “Fine. And a healer.”

  “Fine,” I added, unsure why I was so mad. Had I expected him to run away to Faerie and be my soulmate?

  Maybe … but not anymore. He would clearly rather steal the Earth crystals and hoard them for his halfling friends. I’d somehow forgotten he was a leader of a rebel branch of the Sons of Darkness. Something I would do well to remember in the future.

  Was he an evil asshole like his dad with a breeding program? No. But he still wanted Faerie’s crystals and that wasn’t right.

  The door suddenly opened and I let go, startled. Mara was standing there with a knowing look in her eye.

  She glared at Liam. “You again?”

  He shrugged, a lopsided smirk pulling at his lips. “Miss me?”

  And with that, we all entered Mara’s house while I battled within myself on what to do with this man.

  “You’re hurt!” Mara shrieked as we stepped inside, just now noticing my injuries. I waved her off with my good hand. “I’ll be alright. Kira will fix me up.”

  We walked into her house as Liam looked around wildly at everything, including Bashur, who watched him with a weary gaze.

  “Where to, love?” Mara held her hand on the doorknob to her office and looked at me.

  “Seattle, please,” Liam said at the same time I said, “Faerie.”

  Liam groaned, holding his thigh in pain as blood continued to soak his jeans.

  Who needs a tourniquet now? Dick.

  “Take us to Faerie. Kira can heal us all and I need to speak with the elders.”

  Mara raised an eyebrow. “Child, this is not something you take to the elders.”

  I held my chin high. “They seem reasonable, and since I’m the one fetching the fucking crystals that will save their lives, they’ll do as I please.”

  Mara shook her head, holding up her cuffed hands. “I used to think I was indispensable too, and also that they were reasonable…”

  Fear spiked through.

  Liam winced. “I’ll heal on my own. Just take me to Seattle.”

  “No,” I growled. “You saved my life today. Faerie will repay the kindness and give you a healing.” I wouldn’t hear anything else on the matter.

  “Mara, take us to the elder library,” I told her.

  Mara and Elle exchanged a look as I brushed past them all and stepped into Mara’s office to strap into my seat. “Come on!” I shouted. “Or we’re all going to bleed to death.”

  Mara shrugged. “Some people need to learn the hard way.”

  Whatever.

  The elders owed me. I was keeping the queen alive, a fact I was pretty damn sure that Mara didn’t know. Once I told them that Liam was to be trusted, they would believe me. Maybe we could even work together somehow—yes, I was going to figure out a solution.

  We all strapped into our seats and the room spun, emitting a golden light, before it stopped with a slight jerk.

  “Are they home?” I asked Mara. She’d taken Indra and the Winter Fae to Earth or whatever earlier.

  Mara nodded. “I just dropped them off. Open that door and you will be in their study. But I must warn you—”

  I held up my hand. “Don’t.” Standing, I looked back at Liam and Elle. “Come on.”

  Liam looked back at Mara, who shook her head, no, and he frowned.

  With a sigh, I opened the door wide and peered inside the office. “Elders!” I glanced around.

  The sound of flapping wings, and then a blur of orange, flashed before me as Indra came into view. She was smiling, but the second she looked behind me, she growled. Reaching into her waist belt, she pulled her sword, which glowed with fire

  Whoa.

  “Step no further!” she roared and the books on the library shelves rattled.

  I steeled myself, putting my hands out. “Wait. He saved my life. You can trust him.”

  Indra held her sword high, orange flames licking along the side of it.

  “Trust?” She glared at me as the other elders shuffled into the room with alarm on their faces.

  I stepped out into the office, holding my injured arm, suddenly very angry. “Yes! Trust.” I held up my bloody arm. “He just saved my life and now we both need healers. He is a welcome guest of mine in Faerie!”

  Indra stepped closer to me, bringing the heat of her sword with her. “Never. Ever. Speak such words again. He’s magicked you. Tricked you to get into our inner circle. How stupid can you be?”

  For the slightest second, I had a fear that she could be right. Just beyond her was the Tree of Life and seven healthy crystals sat at its base. But then I remembered one very important thing.

  “No.” As if my mere thoughts had brought it up, the blue light began to pulse from my chest and all four elders stepped back, mouths agape. I peered over my shoulder to see that Liam’s chest was emitting the same blue light.

  “We’re soulmates,” I said boldly, and then quickly turned around so I wouldn’t see Liam’s reaction. I didn’t want to know if the news devastated him.

  Indra laughed. “Soulmates? With a halfling? Don’t be stupid, Lily. Your mother raised you better than this. He’s a master of illusion. A demon. Dark magic flows through his veins. This…” She gestured to my chest. “Is illusion.”

  Her mention of my mother made me snap. I burst forward and kicked the sword from her grip. It clattered to the library floor, snuffing the flame out as she looked at me in shock. “Don’t ever mention my mother again! You didn’t deserve her, and you don’t deserve me!”

  I don’t know what had come over me, but I think I’d reached the anger stage of grief.

  “My mother gave her whole life to you and Faerie. And I will do the same. All I ask is for a fucking healer and some kindness to someone who saved my life.”

  My chest heaved as tears lined my eyes. Whatever grand illusion I’d had about the elders being bubbly and kindhearted was fucking shattered. They just wanted their crystals … but was that fair? I didn’t know anymore.

  Indra sighed, eyeing Liam warily and then my bleeding arm. “I’ll approve a healer, but he must return to Earth at once. You may wait inside Mara’s and I’ll send for Kira.”

  Approve? So now I had to ask permission?

  “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth and spun on my heel. When I looked up at Liam and the pure shock on his face, I knew the soulmate comment had completely thrown him.

  Oops.

  As I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, his gaze shifted to the Tree of Life and the crystals at its base. Pure desire flashed there, and I wondered if Indra were right. Had he tricked me to get inside Faerie? No. I couldn�
��t believe that. My mind was screaming one thing and my heart another.

  We waited in an awkward silence in Mara’s office. I’d sent Elle to check on her mother and rest up at home while I thought of the next plan for us. Mara flipped through an outdated magazine while casting glances between Liam and I. We were both dripping blood onto the carpet, and worse for wear.

  “I can just go to a hospital you know,” Liam groaned.

  I scoffed. “And take weeks to heal? No way. The king will find you and kill you while you’re down.”

  He shrugged. “Probably right.”

  “I’m … sorry, my people are … I mean they’re lovely, it’s just…”

  “Whatever,” he growled and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Mara raised an eyebrow but then went back to her magazine. I was about to respond to him when the door opened and Kira walked in with her healing kit.

  The second she saw Liam, she looked at me but said nothing.

  “Heal him first,” I told her.

  Liam stood and backed up to the wall. “No. I’m fine. She’s lost more blood.”

  Mara coughed and then continued to flip through her magazine.

  I rolled my eyes and beckoned Kira over. She took out her scissors and gently cut the sleeve off my shirt, careful not to touch my wound. I hissed at any sudden movement, a sting lacing up my arm.

  “Pain elixir.” She handed me the shot of thick brown fluid and I chugged it down in one big gulp, relishing the warmth as it burned its way down my throat to my belly.

  “This is … extensive damage, Lily. Were you shot?” She undid the tourniquet and quickly set her warm hands over the wound to staunch the blood. Pink glowing light emanated from her palms; a soothing chill settled over me. The pain meds were working. I didn’t feel drunk like Fae mead; this was more of an anti-anxiety feeling. You just … chilled out. The pain receptors in my brain turned off and I could finally think.

  “Kind of. Shot with an icicle,” I said.