My wings shot out behind me, but the fae had penned me in too close for me to lift off. One of their swords came down into my wing, and pain screamed through my wing bones and my shoulder.
Then—as if this situation weren’t bad enough—a shimmer of blue light darted toward Aenor. Wrath coiled around me, hot as the flames of hell. It burned away my sense of panic.
I’d protect her. I’d bathe the world in flames just to save her.
Fire, my oldest companion…
I spread my arms, and furious magic electrified my body. Flames spread from my chest—like the old days in the caves of Gehenna. More assassins kept flickering into the air around me, but I’d burn them all to ash.
Now, at last, I saw the fear in their faces as they burned. They trembled before me like I was a god.
25
Aenor
I woke to the sound of screaming and the scent of burning flesh. Fear slammed into me. Gods below, was it all over? Were the Fomorians burning it all already?
But just as I was clearing the fog of sleep from my eyes, someone lunged for me from the shadows. Fear hit me like a fist as the sea fae pressed a wet, icy blade to my throat. His green hair snaked around his head like he was underwater, and his pale body gleamed in the moonlight. He wore the symbol of the Merrow.
Smoke filled the air. In contrast to the chill of the blade, the air around us felt far too hot.
Even with his weapon at my throat, I could kill him, I thought. I could desiccate him into a withered husk. I glanced over his shoulder, where I caught a glimpse of Salem fighting others like him. Flames engulfed them, and the heat was spreading even here.
Except—he was an agent of the Merrow. And that meant I needed him.
“I’m on your side,” I whispered hastily. “I tried to get a message to the Merrow. I need his help.”
“The Merrow has been imprisoned. He will not be able to help you.”
My blood turned to ice. “But I need him. It’s what the book said. The Merrow can trap him.”
The sea fae shook his head. “He can’t trap him anymore. Anyway, you don’t need Salem trapped. It just makes things harder for you, not impossible.”
“Who are you?”
“An agent of the Merrow. We’re secretly working for him while he’s imprisoned in Mag Mell. Now tell me—do you plan to kill Salem or are you helping him?”
“I need the sea glass,” I whispered. “Can you find it? I thought the Merrow would have it.” I whispered.
“I haven’t been able to speak to him since he was imprisoned.”
Son of a gun. My stomach twisted at this news. “Fine, so you need to find the sea glass. Bring it to me. Then I can kill Salem.” The words I can kill Salem now felt wrong to me. Sickening, almost.
The fae nodded once, lessening the pressure on the blade just a little. “I’ll try to bring it to you. Make your way to Mag Mell, and we’ll get the sea glass to you.” Slowly, he pulled the blade from my neck.
“Who is she?” I asked. “The woman in the soul cage?”
He opened his mouth, but before he could answer, his body ignited in flames, hair blazing like a torch. His body flickered away, but not before I heard his agonized screams.
My stomach dropped. And there went my best chance to get the sea glass.
What the hells was I supposed to do now?
The air heated around me, so hot and dry it felt like I’d been thrown into the sun. Salem will kill us all.
My throat tightened at the sight of flames rising tall above him, a cathedral of fire. Dark wings swept down his back, and short horns jutted from his shoulder blades. The fire had ignited his feathers, but that didn’t seem to bother him. His eyes were locked only on me.
I glanced at his sword, and for a moment I thought he was going to use it on me. Instead, he held out a hand to me like he was my savior. A savior from the mouth of hell.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
As if I didn’t already know.
“The Merrow send his soldiers to kill us.” He cocked his head. “Or perhaps to kill me and save you. In any case, I had to burn them, of course. I’ll burn anyone who gets in my way.”
A hint of steel undercut his velvety tone, and a threat trembled over my skin. Had me heard me promising to kill him?
I held his gaze steadily. “Well, I guess I have to put out the flames.”
I took a step back from him, finding the heat unbearable. Cold water slid down my body as my magic surged. I tasted salt on my lips and called to the sea.
Droplets of ocean water formed in the air, the sea spume spraying over my body. The water started falling harder and harder, a torrent of ocean, dousing the flames. A swell of frigid sea wind swept over me.
As my magic built in strength, so did the intensity of the sensations around me. The sound of the rain on the forest floor was like hammers hitting metal, cold raindrops like pellets of ice. When I opened my eyes, I saw the moon blazing white.
So much beauty, but too bright, too loud. A heartbreakingly beautiful man stood before me, but he had to die.
My emotions, too, were spiraling wildly. I stared at Salem as his wings disappeared, the rain sliding down his skin. My mind flickered with that jagged sense of loss I’d felt when touching his chest. As I glanced at his heart, a bottomless well of sadness opened in my chest. That was where I was supposed to put the sea glass—right into his aorta.
I reached up to touch his face. His skin felt so hot, his eyes bright as stars.
When Salem touched my waist, the intensity of my emotions began to calm. The seawater was surging around us now, rushing in from the shoreline. It lapped at my legs.
Salem leaned down, whispering in my ear among the torrent of rain. “You need to channel the magic. Root yourself to the earth. Feel where your feet are.”
I took a deep breath, focusing on my feet. In my mind’s eye, I could see my magic as bright sea-green light. I imagined it moving slowly up and down my legs, spreading into the earth. The soil absorbed some of its power beneath where I stood, and I sighed with relief.
I found myself leaning against Salem’s chest, drawn to his warmth. The rain started to fall lighter now.
But Salem’s words sliced through my sense of calm.
“Get the boat ready. Command it to sail to Mag Mell. We’re leaving.”
You’re leaving for your death, friend.
26
Salem
I sat in the boat Aenor had conjured. Moonlight glistened over her wet blue hair, and the sea spray dampened us both.
At this point, it seemed insane that I’d taken her at her word. I’d asked if she was taking me to the Merrow. I knew she was bringing me to Mag Mell, because I’d heard her command the boat.
What I hadn’t asked explicitly was if she planned to help me get the soul cage back. Or if she planned to kill me.
Somehow I’d started feeling like we were on the same side, like we were working together.
But I’d heard what she said to that sea fae. I am the only one who can kill him.
She didn’t know she was my mate, though, did she?
In any case, I had to kill her before she killed me. As soon as she got close to my heart with a blade, I’d end her life.
For the first time in millennia, I had a flame burning in my chest, and killing Aenor would smother it. But what choice did I have?
There were greater destinies in this world than mating like animals.
When I thought of ending her life, coldness spread through my body. Then a feeling like I was plummeting faster than a meteor, the wind whipping at my body. Unmoored and lost to the darkness.
I gripped the side of the boat, the sun rays strangely cold on my chest.
Aenor’s stomach rumbled, and my muscles tensed with a compulsive need to feed her. We hadn’t eaten since this morning. She must be as starving as I was.
She flashed me a sad smile. “If you don’t burn the world down, I’m going to learn to
make homemade cake pops.”
“Cake pops,” I repeated. Even hungry as I was, they sounded dreadful.
“It’s like a lollipop, but made of cake. A little stick with a cake ball coated in frosting.”
Interesting. “Perhaps I want to eat your cake pops,” I said carefully.
She smiled, radiant. “All you have to do is not light the world on fire. I’ll make chocolate, lemon, and red velvet. With sprinkles.”
I didn’t even like sweets, but this sounded oddly tempting.
Aenor dipped her fingers in the water, her body glowing with sea magic. “Instead of destroying the world, Salem, you could take back your kingdom. I’d even help you.”
Well, this was a surprising turn of events. “You’d help me take over Mag Mell? And what would Lyr say about that?”
“I really don’t give a crap.”
The violence of this statement both surprised and pleased me. “Is that right?”
She looked out at the sea again, leaning on her elbow. “Lyr and I aren’t exactly speaking. He tried to take my magic from me with some kind of binding collar.”
White-hot anger erupted in my chest. I’d delight in lighting his fortress on fire. “He tried to do what?”
She shot me a sharp look. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Forget I said anything.” She sighed. “Let’s get back to taking over your kingdom. You could be happy again. You could get a palace. You can live out your debauched fantasies. Make it more debauched, even. Nymph wrestling. Naked roller derby. Rivers of brandy and harems of mermaid concubines. I don’t even want to know how mermaids have sex, but I’m sure you wouldn’t get bored.”
I desired only one person in my bed from now until eternity, and I had to kill her. “Are you trying to tempt me from my true path? I do believe temptation is traditionally my job, Aenor. But please, keep describing this paradise. I’m most interested in your naked roller-skating fantasy.”
My desire to see her unclothed was nearly overwhelming. She would make me insane if I spent too much time around her.
In the darkness, her eyes gleamed bright. “So who is this woman you want to save? I want to know.”
Oh, you beautiful little liar. We aren’t going to rescue anyone, since you’re going to assassinate me. I am going to rescue her, and I don’t know what fate holds for you.
Might as well tell her the truth now. What difference did it make?
She’d probably be dead soon.
Cold ash in my chest, plunging to earth… Falling so fast through the cold, the light burns out on the way down…
“Her name is Shahar,” I said quietly. “We were twins in the heavens. Before the fall, she was goddess of the dawn. Some called her the morning star. In dawn, she was most powerful, when she beamed over the earth. I was god of the dusk. The evening star. Both of our souls were tied to one celestial body that showed up in the morning and at night. One star, imbued with the souls of two gods. In the heavens, Shahar and I were bound to each other. Part of each other. Now, that celestial body hangs in the heavens, devoid of a soul. Shahar and I have been severed from each other, our light ripped from us.” What I wouldn’t give for my brandy right now. “When I fell to earth, it was like my soul burned out on the way down.”
She nodded. “The pain from losing your magic. It sounds familiar.”
“Well, now you will learn why it happened to you, Aenor. Do you remember when I told you about Gehenna, how I watched as sacrifices burned around me? I had become the beast everyone believed me to be. I wanted to kill everything that moved. I seduced every female who caught my eye, just to break their hearts and leave them mad. Shahar was the one who pulled me out of that hell. She made me civilized again. She had to keep me locked in her home for years, but slowly I learned to become civilized again, to control my impulses. Slowly, she helped me smother the beast inside me. He’s still there, but he’s been quiet for centuries.”
Aenor’s brow furrowed. “And the Fomorians?”
“To my knowledge, she had no interest in the Fomorians. It would be fun to watch the world burn, I suppose, but it’s not high on my list of priorities.”
“To your knowledge…” she repeated, like this was an interrogation in a courtroom.
“I know her as well as you can know anyone. We’ve always been linked, but she got the best parts of our twinned souls, while I got the worst. She never hurt anyone. I’ll tell you what she did: she worshipped the dawn every morning. She swam in the sea and baked her own bread. She played a flute, and she took in cats who were sick or injured. She liked to thread wildflowers into her hair and sing lullabies to her pets. She sewed Jacobean ruffs for her cats and fashioned them fancy beds with lace. That’s who you drowned. Not a monster.”
I’m the monster. I’m the one you should have drowned, Aenor.
“When you sank her beneath the waves,” I continued, anger rising, “did you know she had four children, or that she drank brandy with me in the evenings so we could watch the twilight fall over the sea?”
Aenor stared at me, the wind whipping her hair into her face. She looked positively resolute. “I’m sorry about your sister. But I’ve seen the visions. And before I killed that Fomorian, he literally said, Salem, the evening star, the fallen king of Mag Mell. He will set us free. It was very specific.”
Interesting. “You killed one?”
“Yes. I know, nobody believes they exist.”
“I believe what you say. You killed a Fomorian. But do you really think I’d leave my sister trapped in the sea because of some wretched fire fae? Do you think I’d abandon her for a kingdom? I thought she was dead.” Guilt coiled through me. “I think your mother drowned her so she could use Shahar’s power for herself. The rest was a lie.”
She shook her head. “We didn’t use her magic.”
“Do you know that?” My voice was a cold blade.
“No,” she admitted. “The soul cage drained her power from her body, and her magic now lights up the water outside the cage. Maybe her magic stopped the world from burning. Maybe it helped to keep the Fomorians trapped.”
“When I arrived at Ys to destroy it, I thought she was dead. What I didn’t know was that you’d trapped her in the darkness, under a thousand tons of water, alone and in pain.”
Aenor shifted in her seat, her eyes laser-focused on me. “So what changed? How did you learn the truth?”
“That hardly seems like the most pressing question.”
“But it is. Someone passed this information on to you. Someone has an agenda.”
I shrugged. “I received the information in the form of an anonymous message. Whatever the agenda is, it doesn’t matter to me.”
She hugged herself. “When you arrived in Ys to destroy it, and you killed my mother, why didn’t you kill me? You knew I was part of it.”
That compulsion again, to tell her the truth. “I didn’t want to kill you, that’s why. Your mother lied to you, Aenor. Shahar wasn’t going to burn the world down. If anything, you put the world in more danger when you took her away from me. I am the real threat, and she once tempered my rages.” The night wind whipped over my skin. “When we get to Mag Mell, Aenor, I want you to stay close to me. You’ll be with me until the very end. Until we find Shahar in the depths. Only then will I release you.”
I couldn’t allow her to conspire with the Merrow’s agents, to find whatever weapon she needed to kill me. She sighed with frustration. How sad she must be that I was making it harder for her to rip my heart from my chest. A true tragedy for my beloved.
“Give me a chance to show you what will happen,” she said, desperate now. “I’ll show you what will happen if you get this soul cage out of the ocean.”
She still thought she could stop me, even after what I’d told her.
I leaned forward, my hands on my knees, and felt myself falling again, plunging through dark space. “Here is what you need to understand about me, Aenor. The world can burn, for all I care. I’ll release the
Fomorians if that’s what it takes. I’m going to get Shahar, and I don’t care at all if everything else turns to ash. Even you.”
The lie tasted bitter on my tongue.
27
Aenor
We drifted under the moonlight, bobbing on the waves. With the stars beaming above us, I’d fallen asleep in the rocking boat.
I woke to a feeling of warmth, of safety. Bliss hummed along my skin. I sighed, with the slowly dawning realization that masculine arms encircled me, and my head lay against a powerful male chest. For one pure moment, a sense of total protection wrapped around me like a cloud. A sense of completion pounded in my blood in time to his heartbeat…
Then I realized whom I was leaning against, and my chest flushed.
“Not today, Satan,” I muttered. I sat bolt upright, glowering at him. “Were your arms around me?”
He leaned back on his elbows against the side of the boat, the wind ruffling his hair. “Your teeth were chattering. It was ruining the peace. And do you have any idea how loud you snore? Aenor Dahut, Scourge of the Silence, Ruiner of Peace.”
I blinked, shocked at how much time had passed.
The first rays of dawn light began to spread over the sea, a dazzling liquid amber on the ripples. Winding wisps of fog curled around us.
“I slept all night?” When I dipped my fingertips in the water, I felt disturbed by its warmth.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
I turned, catching a glimpse of Mag Mell. It wasn’t exactly what I’d imagined. Instead of an untouched paradise, it was a city built on a rocky hill, surrounded by seawalls. At the hill’s peak, a castle towered above the sea. Morning light bathed its stony spires in gold. And between the castle and the seawalls grew a wild-looking forest of oaks and rowan trees.
Shimmering magic streamed up to the skies from above the city walls—transparent gold.
Fallen King (Court of the Sea Fae Trilogy Book 2) Page 13