Mark of Truth (Wicked Kingdoms Book 1)

by Graceley Knox

  “It was said that she would birth the future heir to both kingdoms, and through her, Elven and Goblin would become the most feared of the Fae kingdoms.”

  Feared of the Fae kingdoms? What does he think? That the goblins and the light elves will be taking on the light and dark courts? Their numbers alone far surpass ours, even if the goblins and elves do combine. Also, no babies planned anytime soon. As in like ever.

  “I think you have the wrong girl, Cashel.” I shrug as nonchalantly as my shaking body will let me. “Hate to break it to you, but I won’t be having kids.” His words further sinking in, I ask, “Wait. If this girl is supposed to unite kingdoms and amass power and such, why would our grandfather outlaw the union of elves and goblins? Why would he go after all those who were half-goblin, half -elf? Why not go after all that power himself? Your logic doesn’t make any sense.”

  He jumps toward me suddenly, and I step back.

  “Ah! But it does. It does! He was a coward. Too afraid to find this girl and use her for his own purposes. He was selfish and wanted to keep the throne for himself.”

  “You have no way of knowing any of this. Unless he wrote that in his journals, there could have been other reasons for his actions. Not that they are good actions to begin with…” Speaking of horrible ideas, Cashel wants the throne for himself too, so his own actions are purely selfish. What a hypocrite. The realization sends the doubt and fear thrumming through me away and replaces it with confidence and determination. I square my shoulders and take a deep breath.

  We’re almost to the road, and I get ready for Doyle and Kirin to make their move. They’ll have the most space to move on the open road rather than surrounded by trees. I continue my efforts to keep him distracted and talking.

  “Hey, Cashel? What makes you think I’m the girl in the prophecy?” I’m honestly curious at this point, because he can’t be so crazy that he imagined all of this shit. At least I don’t think so.

  “Isn’t it obvious? Your hair is like ropes of red silk, and your eyes are the purest azure with a ring of lilac. Your abilities include illusions, and you are half-goblin half-elf, of course.”

  “We don’t know if I’m half goblin or not.” I speak the words out of pure habit. The similarities he mentioned are correct, but I can’t be the only redheaded half-elf with azure eyes and the ability to work glamour and illusions.

  Only feet from the road now, he still has the faraway look in his eyes but is no longer talking. What is he thinking?

  Keep him talking, Ever. Better safe than sorry. “Cashel? Which way are we going when we get to the road? I’m assuming you have a plan, right?” I tilt my head and try not to wince at the sound of my own whiny voice.

  He doesn’t bother to answer me. Instead, he renews his fast pace down the final stretch of the path. Just like that, he’s back to dragging me behind him by his bruising grip on my arm.

  Twigs snap and leaves rustle as boots hit the ground behind us. I felt the air of tension, so it didn’t surprise me, but the wide-eyed look of panic Cashel directs my way tells me he wasn’t expecting company.

  Turning us, he positions me in front of him, and a blade appears in front of my face. Love of the gods, does he only have one plan of attack? Aim a knife at a girl’s face? Even though I know I can get out of his hold, it doesn’t stop my heart from skipping a beat as I stare at my reflection in the blade in front of my nose. I nod slightly to Doyle, who’s standing side by side with Kirin. Both of them wear harsh scowls.

  Dare, his brothers, and Tore suddenly appear behind Doyle and Kirin, my uncle popping in only seconds after. I hadn’t expected the cavalry to show up this quickly, and I do a double take. It almost costs me a chunk out of my cheek when Cashel jerks me back into him.

  “Stay still. I do not wish to mar your pretty face, my Ever.”

  It isn’t easy, when my every instinct is telling me to fight him off rather than remain motionless.

  “Tell me you got all this shit.” I holler, my patience with the whole “me being captive” situation waning.

  Caddox steps forward and nods. A look of pure rage contorts his features as he addresses Cashel.

  “Let her go, Cashel. It’s over,” Caddox orders, the authority in his voice leaving no room for argument.

  “No!” Cashel screeches in my ear. His hand holding the tip of the blade to my neck shakes, and his entire body is vibrating.

  Stepping forward with a look of fury twisting the features of his face, his nostrils flaring, Dare speaks. “Release her. Now.” He snarls, his lip curling. His tone is dark, and his eyes promise revenge for each and every one of Cashel’s actions against me.

  The knife at my neck cuts into my skin, and hot, thick liquid runs down my neck. Dare’s gaze cuts to the line of red.

  Dare bellows a battle cry, and he lunges for me. His actions leave me barely enough time to jerk my neck to the side and farther away from the sharp blade. Cashel jumps, and he drops his arms from around me before he leaps toward the road behind us.

  Multiple shouts of, “Mac soith!” sound, but they needn’t have worried.

  Dare holds out a hand and narrows his eyes on Cashel’s back. He mutters a few words under his breath, and Cashel crumples to the ground, screaming. The sound is horrific. He clutches at his head and squeezes his eyes shut.

  Still in cuffs, I can’t do much to help at this point but wince as Cashel’s screams assail my ears. I approach Dare, careful to stay in his line of sight. Dax and Dagan head toward Cashel writhing on the ground.

  “Ever!” Cashel yells between his sobs of pain. He reaches toward me.

  My name passes his lips, and Dare mutters a few more words, his focus solely on Cashel. Cashel’s whimpers of pain turn to shrieks of suffering once more.

  Dagan and Dax both yell at Dare, who seems to be intent on killing Cashel, but nothing they say is getting through to him.

  Something inside me clicks. I can’t let Dare kill Cashel. Cashel is still considered a part of the royal family in the Light Elven Kingdom. It would mean a death sentence for Dare. I can’t lose Dare. I can’t. I take the final few steps that separate us and place my palm against his arm.

  “Dare.” When I get no response I try again. I have to get through to him. “Dare. You have to stop.” I speak a bit louder, steel lacing my tone. When that still doesn’t work I go up on my tip toes and yell directly in his ear. “Oy! Dare! Lay off!” I slap my still cuffed hands against his bicep in hopes the sting of the cold iron against his skill will startle him.

  He shudders and blinks slowly before turning his head and looking directly into my eyes.

  Growling, he roughly grabs me into his arms and crushes me to his chest. My cuffed hands leave me unable to return his embrace, but his arms around me send a wave of relief through me. We did it. We caught Cashel. Just as suddenly as Dare gathered me to him, he pushes me back, searching my face. He runs his hands over every inch of me until he looks at the cut under my jaw. His whole body tenses, and he tilts my head upward with a knuckle underneath my jaw. He tenderly traces the scratch marring my neck before casting his eyes downward.

  “What is it?” I whisper.

  “I failed in my promise to you,” he replies.

  I bite my lip. “What promise?”

  “I promised that no harm would come to you while you were under my protection. And that I would ensure Cashel would feel the same pain you felt from every mark he left on your body.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief that I didn’t forget a different promise. “Judging by the soprano he was just singing a minute ago, I think you did more damage to him than was ever done to me. I suffered a few bumps and bruises. You almost turned his mind to mush.” My mood suddenly brighter now, I decide to be nosey and ask about his abilities. “Speaking of which, what exactly was that? Do you turn brains to goo? Or is it like a pain receptor thing?”

  “No.” Dare shakes his head at me and chuckles a bit before he picks the lock on my cuffs. He slowly releases my
hand before he puts distance between us.

  “Dare, over here.” Dagan waves.

  Dare looks over his shoulder. Cashel sits with cuffs on his wrists at Caddox’s feet.

  Dare looks back to me with his eyebrows drawn together. “Are you okay alone?”

  “What?” I wave a hand. “Oh, yeah. I’ll be fine.” I force a smile and watch.

  Dare turns away from me and walks away. My heart grows heavy for a moment, and I rub at my chest.

  Someone pushes at my back and I look over my shoulder. Doyle and Kirin both stand there with their arms crossed over their chests. Their mouths are drawn in thin lines.

  “You deviated from the plan, Ev,” Doyle says.

  “I had no other choice.” I hold up my hands defensively. “Shit! Eryn! Is she okay? Did anyone check on her?” I shake Doyle’s arm, ready to sprint back to the house to check on Eryn.

  “Calm down. She’s okay. Once we realized we had those guys with us, Axel went to check on her. She’s fine. A few bumps and bruises but relatively unharmed,” Kirin says, his calm tone soothing my frazzled nerves.

  “Good.” I run both hands through my tangled hair. “Good. That’s good. Let’s go home then.”

  “Let’s,” they both say at once.

  After all this shit I need a goddamn vacation.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-ONE

  Before we head out, Caddox assures us Cashel will be kept somewhere he can’t escape. Back at the house, we all clean up in silence. Dare, Dagan, and Dax help us with everything even though they don’t live with us and are free to go back to their lives now that we’ve solved the issue of Cashel haunting my ass. I didn’t expect it but I also didn’t question it. Besides they kinda liked hanging out with us. Their words, not mine. Who’d have thought we would not only be friendly with full-blooded goblins, but actually have them sleeping in our house? I can’t get over the weirdness of it all. It’s not a bad weird or a good weird. It’s just a different kind of something that I can’t put my finger on.

  After the day I’ve had, I’m hyper as hell and can’t seem to settle down. My emotions are fluctuating between aggravation that I had to play the captive, happiness that Cashel is handled, worry about what to do about my attraction to Dare, and relief that everyone is safe. I’ve tried everything to calm down, but I’m having no luck. I’ve jumped on a treadmill, which is synonymous with the devil in my vocabulary, to try to burn off some energy. I’ve played video games with Kirin for as long as I was able to sit still, tried to sit and read a book, nothing. Nothing is working. I’m still keyed up from earlier and nothing I do seems to be helping.

  I can’t really believe that all the shit from the past few weeks is over. I still haven’t heard from my mother though, and I need her to answer a few pressing questions for me. All the questions swirling around in my head means I’m sitting on the counter eating out of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream at a quarter past one in the morning. Totally in the dark and trying not to wake everyone else up.

  The sudden piercing bright light from the fridge being opened scares the shit out of me. I throw my arm up to shield my eyes, and my spoonful of melty caramel and chocolate goodness goes flying to the floor with a clink. Cold ice cream slides down my shirt, and I grumble in frustration, trying to swipe at it to avoid being sticky. Thank god I’m not wearing one of my bras. Those fuckers are expensive, and caramel is a bitch to get out.

  “Who is that?” I snarl. I can’t see past the blinding light to the annoying asshole holding the door open without getting anything. “Get something and close the door!”

  The door swings closed and spots of color dance in my vision. There goes my night vision.

  “Seriously, you fuckers. Which one of you is it? Kirin?”

  Faster than I can track, hands are at my hips and that familiar tingle of desire shoots through my body. I tense up not sure of what he’s doing. I try to force my eyes to adjust back to the dark but I’m still only seeing darkness.

  “Dare, what are you doing?”

  “I heard someone rustling around down here, and I came to check on whoever it was.” He sucks in a deep breath. “Then I saw you in this tiny tank top and nothing but a tiny scrap of lace covering your lower half.” He growls as he moves his hand toward the top of my bare thigh.

  “It’s what I wear to bed.” I shiver at his actions and the sound of his growl as it scrapes over my nerve endings. “It’s my house, damn it. I can wear whatever the hell I feel like.”

  “You’re practically naked.” He inches my tank top up until his hands meet with my bare skin. Stepping between my legs, he notches himself between my thighs. “You should stay in your room if you can’t wear pants in a house full of people.”

  I can’t bring myself to protest as he forces himself against me. My entire body aches with the need to get as close to him as possible. “Oh, Gods. Don’t be ridiculous! Everyone in this house has seen me naked on more than one occasion. Well, besides Dagan.”

  Dare bends his head down to my shoulder, moving my hair out of his way before he nips at the sensitive skin between my shoulder and my neck. Rumbles of pleasure bubble up from his chest the entire time.

  I lunge forward quickly and bite him right underneath his collar bone, the height difference with him between my legs limiting my reach. “I thought the Fae didn’t have issues with nudity?”

  “Ouch. What was that for?” He rubs at the area I just bit, and furrows his brow. He brushes up and down the side of my thigh, until he tangles his fingers in the lace at my hip.

  “That was for chastising me like I’m a child rather than a fully grown woman. Just because we drive each other crazy with lust doesn’t mean you can expect me to act like a monk.”

  “You had me worried today, little álainn.” His voice sounds calm, but the storm raging in his eyes belies his tone. His expression is earnest.

  “I didn’t think it would faze you,” I say honestly. “Yes, you helped me out. And yeah, we had off the charts sex, but I didn’t think that meant much to you. Aren’t goblins notoriously promiscuous until they find their chosen mate? We weren’t mates, so I only thought you’d be mad that I left the Goblin Kingdom without you, not that my throat was almost cut.”

  “You thought it wouldn’t faze me.” His tone darkens.

  I shrug. “I didn’t. I thought you understood that I’m not in need of saving. I can handle my own safety.”

  He scoffs and pulls my body into his larger one. He grips my hip hard, and he slowly trails his other hand up my back, making me shiver. Sweeping my mass of curls out of his way, he palms the back of my neck and brings my mouth up to his.

  “I know you can handle your own safety, little tine. But you shouldn’t have to.” He brushes his lips back and forth over mine, teasing me.

  I try to chase his mouth with mine and fail in my pursuit. I lick my lips to capture his taste on them. “Kiss me,” I demand.

  He tsks at my actions. Forcing me back on the counter, Dare spreads my legs wide to accommodate him between them. My breathing speeds up as my want increases. He continues to brush his lips against my own with feather light kisses.

  “You thought I wouldn’t care about your wellbeing?” He darts his tongue out to swipe at the sensitive curve of my upper lip.

  I shudder.

  Dare continues after swallowing my gasp of surprise.

  “After what we’ve shared? You thought you meant nothing?” He tongues the crease in the middle of my lower lip and nips at the plump flesh.

  Panting underneath him, I trail my fingers through his hair, the strands tickling the back of my hand. I flick my tongue out to lick at the seam of his firm lips.

  He shakes his head. “I want an answer, little tine. Now.”

  I try to form a coherent thought through the fog of desire clouding my brain. “It was only sex. We know I’m not your mate, Dare.” Regret washes over me as I cup his jaw, my tone raw and honest. “I’m not good enough for you. You
know that. Don’t try to make this something it’s not. I’d be bad for you.”

  Growling savagely, he crushes his mouth to mine, laying claim to my lips. The calm mood is shattered by the hunger of his kiss as he devours my mouth. Threading his fingers through my hair, he keeps me pressed as close to him as possible while the strokes of his tongue steal my breath.

  I moan and tear at his shirt until the fabric rips a bit at the collar. Not bothering to remove his mouth from mine, he pulls at his shirt. His hands leave my hair and my hip, leaving me free to nip at his lips hungrily.

  “Gods, I love the way you kiss me.” I breathe the words between nips.

  Shoving at the torn fabric of his shirt between us, I mewl in contentment as my hands meet with the smooth planes of his broad back. My hips jerk, and the sound of more fabric tearing echoes through the empty kitchen as my panties go flying.

  “Need you now. Can’t wait.” He reaches between us, and the back of his hand brushes against my wet sex as he pushes his sweats down. “So wet for me, little tine. I wonder what turns you on more? My desire to have all of you, or your desire to make me fight for it?”

  I look between our bodies as his cock springs free. I’m glowing again. The symbols on my arms are apparent as I reach for his thick erection. Wrapping my fingers as far as I can around his base, I slowly slide my hand up his rigid heat. I tighten my hand as I reach the sensitive tip of him and watch his face.

  His mouth opens in an O. “Do that again.”

  I do as he asks before removing my hand after a few strokes. He brings my hand up to his mouth and nibbles at the tips of my fingers.

  He moans. “Later, little tine. Later, I want more of your attention on my dick.” His tormented groan is a heady sound to my ears as he lines his thick cock up with my dripping core.