by K.N. Lee
Theron frowned, but agreed. “I’ll set him free. You, use your bond to find her.”
With a nod, Kellan headed to find Mila. He ran for the doors, shifting once he was out into the night.
Theron ran to the stairwells that led to the lower levels of the palace.
Once inside, Theron kept his composure…as if he was supposed to be there.
“Prince Theron,” a guard said, bowing.
Theron nodded to him, scratching his chin as he stood to face him.
The guard, an older low-ranking fae, lifted his brows as Theron’s eyes began to glow.
“I’ll need those keys,” Theron said, using his psychic abilities to persuade the guard to do what he asked. He searched the poor fae’s mind, seeking out anything he could use against him. “Sophie and the children are in need, Sam. Give me the keys and I’ll look after the prisoners.”
Saying the names of his wife and daughter sprang Sam into action. He stood, handed over the keys, and nodded to the prince. Theron smiled as the guard ran from the room and up the stairs.
Theron carried the keys with him as he walked through the dark halls of the dungeon. Each cell held one person, with the bigger cells at the far end of the room. There, several poor folk would be chained to the walls, awaiting their fate.
There were various scoundrels and criminals, and he had no idea who he was looking for. Emory had to be attractive for someone like Mila to fall for him.
As he walked the halls, the screams of the guests upstairs began to die down.
He’d promised to do this, for her. But, deep down he hated to admit that it bothered him that she missed Emory so.
What claim did he have on her? None, really.
But, that didn’t stop him from wanting her for himself.
“Emory,” he called, quietly. “Are you here?”
“I’m Emory,” a voice called back, and Theron stopped before the door where the voice emerged from.
He sighed and unlocked the door.
The door opened.
A giant wolf leaped out at him, knocking him onto his back. Sharp fangs came for his throat, as his claws dug into his shoulder.
Theron held his arm out, and the wolf bit into it, exposing muscle.
“Emory,” Theron shouted. “Mila sent me for you!”
The wolf paused, glowing green eyes peering down at him as his fangs dripped with blood.
Theron’s blood.
He held onto his arm, brows furrowed as the weight of the wolf began to crush him.
“Enough of this, we must save her from the king.”
Emory stepped away, and stood tall, as a man.
“Bloody shifters,” Theron said, coming to his feet.
“Who are you?”
“Prince Theron,” he said. “I’ve been looking out for Mila this whole time.”
“Of course, you have. While I’ve been imprisoned, you’ve been poisoning the mind of my woman.”
“Your woman?”
Emory crossed his arms over his broad chest. He was a bigger man than Theron, with muscular arms and the stature of a sturdy tree.
No wonder he was such a ferocious beast.
“That’s right, she belongs to me,” Emory said.
Theron winced at the pain in his arm. “I don’t think she belongs to anyone, mate, but we can hash it out later. After we save her life.”
Shrugging, Emory stepped aside. “Lead the way, your highness.”
They ran from the lowest depths of the palace to the nearest exit which opened to the dark woods of the Veruthian Cliffs, where the Black Sea waited behind the mountains.
“To the top,” Theron shouted as a cool wind swept around them. “They must be there.”
Emory nodded and shifted into a wolf, running ahead at a speed unlike anything he’d ever seen.
He followed behind, racing through the darkness.
“I’m coming, Mila,” he whispered into the night air.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mila
King Cosimo ran with her, up the mountain, his glowing sword their only light.
“Put me down,” she demanded.
“Not until we are out of the kingdom. You will be my offering to the Fire God. A worthy sacrifice.”
A roar boomed through the forest, coming from the sky, and Mila smiled with relief.
Kellan.
The king dropped her, lifting his sword toward the mighty dragon who hovered above them, his black wings blending in with the inky, night sky.
Before she could run, the king grabbed a fistful of her hair, and lifted her from the ground.
“Enough of this, dragon,” he shouted to Kellan. “She is mine, and I will not have anyone stand in my way.”
Kellan swooped in, his sharp talons prepared to rip the king in half.
“I will kill her,” King Cosimo said.
Kellan paused, and Mila took a chance.
She reached for the king’s arm, and sent a jolt of energy into him.
He cried out, and as she scrambled to her feet the blade of a sword pierced him from his back and out his chest.
She gasped, stunned to see Theron stand there, the bloody hilt of the sword in his fist, as his father fell to his knees.
Kellan landed beside her, and Emory rose from his wolf-form to stand at her other side.
“He did it,” Kellan said, and Mila took his hand and Emory’s and held them at her sides.
“No,” she whispered, as the king stared down at the sharp end of the sword, eyes glowing in the dark. His aura brightened around him, outlining his body.
His spirit.
“Theron,” she said, taking a step backward. “Back away from him. Hurry.”
Theron withdrew his sword, and did as she’d told.
The king became to laugh, his shoulders trembling, his eyes cast upward to the night sky.
The mountain shook. The ground trembled and a crack split the earth below.
Mila stumbled, nearly losing her balance.
“What’s happening?” Emory asked, catching her in his embrace.
“You’ve unleashed the beast,” King Cosimo said, raising his hands skyward.
She glanced to the sky, startled by a shadowy figure coming their way.
“Do it, Mila,” Theron said. “Now!”
The king cried out as she summoned the sun spell from within. It illuminated her entire body, sending light out in all directions. The others took cover, except for Kellan whose bond with her protected him.
The skin on his face melted away as he screamed.
“I’ll make sure you pay for this,” he growled, reaching for her with the exposed bones of his hands.
She stepped back, the light fading, as he was ripped from his spot on the ground, by a cloaked figure astride the white Pegasus.
She gasped, falling backward as the eyes of the cloaked figure met hers, and a burst of lightning shot out from the spear within its hands.
The king escaped, into the dark void, as a portal opened before them, and sucked him and the stranger away.
For a moment, they stood there in silence, trying to make sense of what just happened.
Theron spoke first, stepping into the center of Mila and the others.
“He got away,” he said, defeated.
“What was that?” Emory asked, still watching the sky where the king and the stranger vanished.
“The Fire God,” Theron said, shaking his head. “My father must have sparked a deal. A deal with someone even more terrifying. Someone more powerful.”
Mila looked to him. “No, Theron. He is weakened. He is running from us. We have shown him that we will no longer stand for his tyranny. We will fight.”
Emory nodded. “She’s right. We will hunt him down and put an end to his reign.”
Everyone seemed ready for battle, except for Kellan. He approached her with the gentleness she’d grown to know him for.
Kellan took her hand, tracing the lines on her palm. When he l
ooked into her eyes, she caught her breath. His eyes glowed, and so did her body.
“I always knew there was something special about you,” Kellan said, cupping her face in his hands. “You are the Dragon Goddess, Mila. I now know why I was left behind. I was meant to find you, protect you, love you.”
As a wind swept through the mountain, Mila let her eyes flutter closed at the cool air that blew through her hair.
Drake—her father—had told her as much, and now, she could feel the beast inside stirring.
Awakened.
Mila smiled through tears as he embraced her.
Applause came from below, and Mila and the others stepped to the edge of the cliff.
Looking down, Mila’s brows lifted as she saw hordes of people looking up at her, relief and smiles of joy on their faces. She watched them from above, bewildered.
The resistance cheered for them.
Prince Theron wrapped his arm around her waist. “We can save them all,” he said. “Every last human, shifter, and fae. You, me, Emory, Kellan. We can do this, together.”
His words gave her chills. Perhaps he was right. Drake had said as much.
That nagging fear still hid in the corner of her heart, but something else emerged. It was more than a sense of duty.
It was fate.
Mila nodded, wiping the tears from her face as she realized that she had everything she’d ever needed right by her side.
Mila chose to lead her people. She chose a new life, one where she could make up the rules.
“Yes,” she said, her heart soaring. “We will.”
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Chapter Thirty
Mila’s eyes opened. It wasn’t as dark as she’d thought the death would be.
Someone stroked her hair.
Her brows furrowed as she reached for whoever held her so tightly.
“Mila?”
“Kellan? Is that you?”
“It’s me, Mila. Theron.”
Theron’s voice startled her.
She shot up from her spot on the ground and turned to him.
She jumped into Theron’s lap, straddling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When she looked around, she realized that this world looked very much like the one she left behind.
Theron stroked her hair while she sobbed.
She was alive.
“You did it,” he said, his voice trembling. He kissed her forehead. “You did it, Mila.”
Mila opened her eyes, hot tears streaming down her face as she fought to catch her breath.
“I did?”
He nodded. “Yes. You stopped him from destroying the kingdom.”
She shook her head, confused. “But. Wait. I made a deal for King Cosimo to take me and let everyone else live.”
Theron smiled. “This time, the spirits were in our favor. He is dead.”
Mila’s eyes widened. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” he said. “We are free.”
“For now,” she muttered, a nagging warning bubbling in her belly.
She spun around as Kellan landed and shifted into his human form.
She lifted a brow, searching his eyes. “I saw you, as if in a dream.”
A crocked grin came to his lips. “You don’t remember, do you?”
“What do you mean?” Mila asked as Emory joined them on the top of the mountain.
Theron and the others shared a look, and turned their gaze onto her.
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Elemental. Faerie. Dragon Tamer.
.
“You may not see us, but we are there; watching you, protecting you, and fighting the demons who want your soul.”
From the prison window, I looked out to the dark world that stretched for miles below.
The Crimson Tower had been home for eleven years, and each year I beheld the same bleak landscape.
Snow. Ice. Darkness.
Sometimes the wind would howl so loudly that the echo on the stone walls would keep me awake for hours. In this part of realm, the sun barely shed more than a faint hue in the gray sky as thick clouds seemed to hover and drift along at a slow pace.
Not even the fire could warm me, and even though I’d been born in a hot summer surrounded by tropical jungles, I’d grown used to being cold—to being alone.
Mother had always told me that one day life would change, that I would be free.
Maybe even more than free.
That was before the humans had taken her and father away and burned them at the stake—before my grandmother convinced King Aerion to imprison me instead of executing me. No one found it particularly becoming of a man to kill a little girl, especially when she had yet to display any signs that she’d inherited the stain of magic.
He had agreed. But, the fear of death hovered above me like a black cloud.
Even as I finished hanging my washing above the fire, I wasn’t sure what to expect when the sound of horses broke me from my daydream. The heat of the fire warmed my face as I dried my wet hands on my apron.
For years, I had watched the world below churn with snow and darkness. But, that night, there was light.
I pushed open the window and shivered at the bitter wind as it swept in and lifted my golden hair. To my relief, it wasn’t the king’s soldiers.
It was a carriage of black and gold.
I leaned out the window, gawking at how the gold embellishments glittered beneath the bright moon.
“You don’t see one of those every day,” I muttered.
“Indeed,” Kala, the white dire wolf at my side agreed. “Not in the Outlands of Tythra, anyway. I’ve yet to see a human fly, or do anything interesting for that matter.”
In the midst of a snowstorm, a beautiful woman stepped from the covered carriage in a gray fur cloak with a wolf’s head that reached the ankles of her black boots. She didn’t walk to the entrance of the White Tower.
She flew.
Her long hair cascaded down her back in red waves, and her green eyes glittered beneath her lashes. Even in the dark, I could see them, for they glowed.
“A faerie,” I said, eyes wide with awe. “Someone will surely kill her for showing off magic in such a way. How is this possible?”
“We will have to see,” Kala said. “Perhaps they have summoned her.”
“UnliGilesy,” I said, closing the window against the cold. I leaned back against the wall, wondering if this was a dream. “Do you think it could be her?”
“We can only hope,” Kala said, glancing up at me with ice-blue eyes that glittered in the dim candlelight. “Eleven years is far too long for anyone to lose their freedom.”
“I almost don’t want to get my hopes up,” I said, taking off my apron and hanging it on a hook behind the door. “I don’t think I could take such a disappointment.”
“Don’t give up hope, darling. All will work itself out. I promise.”
With my ear pressed to the door, I tried to listen in on what she said to the warden. It was fruitless. I was high up in the tower, and the stone door was thick enough to mute all sounds from the corridor.
The locked clicked. I jumped and took a frightened step back.
Frozen, my eyes darted from one armored guard to the next. With their swords pointed my way, and shields held out to block whatever they feared I would do to them, I realized they were afraid of me.
That w
as odd. Why would anyone fear me? A more pressing question came to me as the guards made a passage in between them.
“Come, girl,” one of them demanded. “Warden says you’re being released.”
Those seven words more than those two guards had ever said to me.
Still, I couldn’t move. All I could do was look to my right at the only window in the room and to my left. This had been my home since I was seven years old. My meager bed was pushed against the wall to give myself more space for my desk and bookcase. It was all I had in the entire world, but none of it mattered anymore. Freedom potentially waited for me.
Kala stood beside me. While I tried to keep my fear at bay, there was strength and courage in her eyes.
“Are you ready?” Kala asked, startling the guards with her soft voice that echoed off the walls.
Though they remained silent, their eyes widened with questions I knew they were asking themselves.
Licking my cracked lips, I nodded despite the pain of the sting I’d awakened. “I think so.”
I mustered my courage and stepped from my tiny prison. The cold followed me outside into the corridor as we walked along the narrow hall to the staircase that led to the bottom of the tower.
There she was. The faerie. My heart skipped a beat as I remembered her face from long ago. The memory of her having tea with mother and father just the night before their arrest returned to me.
“My goodness,” she said. “What a lovely little lady you’ve grown up to be. Come, let me get a better look at you.”
Nervous and tense, I almost smiled at the compliment. But, the truth was, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I took another step forward, and she touched my hair, her eyes examining every inch of my face.
“Do you remember me? I am Queen Sorcha of Ever Frost.”
“I do.” How could I forget?
She’d taken a sample of my blood with the tip of her enchanted dagger. A little girl would never forget such a thing, no matter how much time had passed. I could still feel the sting and recall the way the blade glowed once it touched my blood, soaking it in as though quenched a desperate thirst.