by Emma Harley
“Calm down Raina,” Logan urged, pointing to the sparks zipping along her fingertips. She shoved her hands into her pockets and leaned back, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Davin and Alicia reached over, gripping her arms for support. The queen noted the gesture and glanced between the squad.
“You all seem very close,” she asked, an inquiring tone in her voice. Raina opened her eyes and breathed.
“This is my family, an elite team of soldiers with skills to rival even a trained Fae. My second, Davin Bolton, my bomb and blades expert Alicia Mullins, my technical engineer head-hunted by top government agencies Nick Lynas, my sniper and tactics expert JJ Jacobs, and my engineering specialist and besides myself, the only other marksman with an unmissable aim, Izak Brennan,” she introduced them one by one, the pride booming in her voice.
“Humans have strange ways of identifying skills for a team,” the king remarked.
Raina didn’t bother looking up at him. “It may be strange, but we have eradicated terrorist cells and drug cartels, took out an entire fleet of enemy ships, and assassinated international criminals that evaded capture in every single country in the world. And there’s only six of us. As it stands, should we even decide to take you both out, your soldiers wouldn’t even stand a chance.”
At those words, the soldiers drew their swords to advance on Raina. But before the points were even in the air, the squad were armed and aiming before their chairs hit the ground. The king stood to his feet, but Raina raised a palm.
“We aren’t going to hurt anyone. But do keep that in mind when you dismiss the skills of my human team.” Raina gave the order to stand down, and the team returned to their seats. The king nodded to the soldiers and they sheathed their swords once he sat down again.
“My apologies,” he stated, “it appears I’m underestimating you all. However, bullets are not effective against Fae.”
“Maybe not your bullets, but thanks to Izak here, ours would take out a Fae in one shot.”
Logan and Kalen stared at her as she pulled a very bulky handgun from its holster and unloaded the cartridge. She held the bullet up to the light for the king to see. “Tri-dagger bullets. Twisted and serrated to slash through the bullet wound. Even a Fae couldn’t heal such a vicious wound before bleeding out, no matter where they were hit.” The king bristled.
“Have you come here to threaten us for abandoning you?” he demanded, clutching his queen’s hand. Raina shook her head and reassembled her gun, avoiding Logan’s shocked expression.
“Not at all. When I realised that there was a possibility you had sent me through the portal with people who were bound there by my life, I did wonder what sort of reception I would receive. So I had my brother make these for our safety, and also for them to use on me should I lose control and become a danger to others around me.”
“You commissioned weapons specifically to kill you?” Logan blurted out, “when did you do this?”
“The day after I turned, you said a bullet wouldn’t hurt you. So I started drawing up plans, and when Izak took over the watch outside my room after one of my outbursts, I gave him the plans and swore him to secrecy. I mean, it may slightly have had something to do with the fact that I wanted to kill you for a while, but mostly it was because I wanted them to have protection against me,” she explained casually, jamming the gun into a holster.
“So you’ve all had weapons deliberately designed to murder us and you didn’t say a word about it? Were you just going to pull it on me one day if I pissed you off again?” Logan snapped, leaning over the table to her. Raina leaned over to face him.
“You’re pissing me off now and I haven’t tried to shoot you.”
“You shouldn’t have kept that from me Raina.”
“You would have stopped them or destroyed the weapons, I needed to make sure they had protection, because if I hurt them I’d shoot myself if I had to,” she yelled.
The pair didn’t back down as they stood snapping at each other. Elias eventually sighed.
“Give it a rest both of you. Logan we all knew about the death pact, you can’t get involved,” he moaned, pulling Logan back down to his chair.
“The hell I can’t. It was different before I knew she had things like that made,” he hissed, glaring at the squad.
“I’d like to think none of you would actually kill your friend just because she asked you to,” the queen babbled inquisitively. JJ shifted forward slightly in his seat.
“Actually, that would be just me. Should Raina lose control to the point where others around her are killed or injured, I have promised her I would take her out myself. We all have that agreement with each other,” he butted in. The king stared at him, but JJ didn’t baulk. “Young man, promising the death of my daughter, and the princess of this country is treason in itself, and I will…”
“You will do nothing,” Raina interrupted, “because I am not your daughter nor am I a princess of any country. As I said, you were told of my arrival as a courtesy, your guards followed my orders because they consider me their princess. I intend to go to the Shadow Walker tribe and ask for their bindings, and find someone to return me to my human body. Once that is done I’ll be returning to my home with my family, with no intention of staying, or returning here.”
The king bristled as the queen wept silently.
“You are not the first royal who did not want the position, nor will you be the last. It is your duty as my heir to take the throne.”
Raina sat back down, guiltily eyeing the shocked faces from the Fae males.
“Then make another heir. I abdicate my position in the line of succession. I have no intention of being a queen or being forced into a political marriage for your country. I may be your blood, but my mother died to protect me, at the hands of one of your guards. Your own parents orchestrated my death. I have more faith in a single human member of my team that I have in anyone who claims blood with me.”
The queen looked up at her, wiping away her tears. “Alright.”
The king jerked his head to her. “We cannot force her Alexei. She is right, we made an error in judgement. We trusted our guards and our parents, and they all betrayed us. She has suffered more than we have, Eliza may not have birthed her, but she was the only mother Raina has known. It is our mistake to bear, she should not have to live a life she is unprepared for.”
“Aija this is nonsense.” The king stood and paced silently, his electric blue tunic straining against his muscles.
“You may not see us as your parents Raina, but I sent a reversal for the memory potion with Eliza and Thea. You would remember how we fought for you. And how much we loved you. We made a mistake, we’re not perfect. But we cannot have another heir, I would simply inflict them with the same cursed blood. I am begging you,” she wept, “let us try to make things right. I had you ripped from me once before, and with you went my closest friends. I loved Eliza and Thea like my own sisters, I could not bear entrusting you to anyone else. I do not expect you to call me your mother, but I am asking you to stay for a while and allow us to know you. Should you still choose to leave, I’ll create the portal myself.” Raina paused.
“If I am to stay in this world, I want to break the Shadow Walker curse,” she announced quietly. The king spun to her and scoffed.
“You would have to face a god to do so. And you cannot use magic without rolling it out of control.”
“I am well aware of that. And there is a good chance I will die in the process, but I can take the god out with me.”
Elias gaped and looked down towards the queen, his cousin, who was shaking her head in defeat. “Many men have died trying to face the god, he has never been defeated,” she insisted.
Raina adjusted herself in her seat. “I have the four elements passed on from your father’s experimenting. I can summon raw magic. I have the blood lines from both the Terragae clan directly from the High Priestess and the chieftain, including the lightning from the Shadow Walkers. Should I succeed
, the curse will be broken and I will be able to control the powers, I can live out my days happily wherever I want. Should I die in the process, the curse will still be broken, but you will be able to have another heir for the throne. Everyone wins.”
“Except you because you’ll be dead Raina!” Logan snarled, jumping to his feet. Kalen dived up to hold him back but he shoved him off furiously.
“You told us nothing of your plans, and now you’re casually talking about your own death like it doesn’t matter! Were you ever going to tell us or was I supposed to find out over breakfast one day when Alicia tells me you’ve gone off to fight a damn god!”
“I didn’t tell you because you would act like this!” she roared, her chair clattering behind her, “this is my decision. Kalen told me arriving here could mean I would be forced to be some dumb queen and be married off to some preppy prince! I can’t have control over my life if I’m a constant risk to everyone I love, if I can control those powers then I’m not a danger! But unless I do something about it, someone is going to find out who I am and force me onto a throne!”
Elias attempted to sit Logan down, muttering words of comfort but he too was shoved aside.
“You aren’t a danger Raina, you haven’t hurt any of us and you aren’t going to,” Logan snapped, “I’m not about to let you walk off casually to fight a god because you have a death wish. I’ll lock you in a tower until I find answer myself! I told you I won’t lose you and I meant it, you are not dying just to break some curse!”
Davin stood beside Raina and glared at Logan.
“Both of you sit the fuck down and take a breath before I kneecap the two of you,” he ordered, pushing Raina back into her chair. Logan snarled at the squad.
“You claim to be family, but every one of you is content to let her plan stupid schemes to get herself killed.” JJ stretched, flexing his muscles as the tension in the air grew heavy.
“Actually we’re not. You’d be surprised how desensitized we are to our own demise. But we promised her we would follow her to the ends of the earth, now we’re on new earth. The promise still stands as long as we’re alive and breathing,” he stated casually.
“So you’ll die alongside her and her stupid ideas?” Logan spat. The squad nodded in sync. Raina glared at Logan.
“No one is being forced to follow me, and no one is being forced to die for me. You’re annoyed for no reason,” she snapped.
“Don’t be so stupid Raina. No offense to the rest of your team but I wouldn’t be too cut up if they died, I don’t want you dying for an idiotic attempt to break a curse placed by a god just so you can control your magic. I helped you do it before and I told you I’d be by your side the whole way, but I can’t let you do something so ridiculous.”
“Captain Calviere,” the king addressed him loudly, “Just what kind of relationship do you have with my daughter?” Raina didn’t pull her eyes from Logan as Kalen shoved him back into his chair.
“That’s why I was trying to get you to sit down you prick,” Kalen hissed, digging his fingers into his shoulder. The queen cupped her hand over her husband’s in silent warning. He looked sharply between Raina and Logan before pulling his hand away. Elias rubbed his face in exasperation.
“I will ask you one more time Captain Calviere. Are you involved in a relationship with your princess?” the king’s voice was quiet, but the threat lay in his tone.
Raina didn’t appreciate the subtle claiming, the king may as well have been pissing in a circle around her by claiming her as his daughter against an unwelcome boyfriend.
“It is none of your business what relationship I have with Logan,” she snapped, tearing her eyes off Logan as her head drooped in annoyance. She could almost smell the fury wafting off the king as he ignored her completely.
“I send you to protect my daughter, your princess and the heir to your kingdom, and you cannot even manage to keep track of a child. She grows up and joins a human army, and finds herself in war zones with no protection, which you could have prevented. Then you reunite with her as a human woman, and decide you want an intimate relationship with her?”
Logan had the shame to keep his eyes lowered and avoid looking the king in the eye. Raina looked between the monarchs incredulously.
“You know I’m right here, and I can speak for myself,” she moaned. The king didn’t bat an eyelid, his face reddening in ire.
“How far did your relationship go? Did you even think about the effect you would have on her future? If the nobility in other countries finds out my daughter was sullied by some common filth, they will refuse any form of marriage alliance with her!” The king bellowed. Raina felt her temper snap as sparks zipped from her fingertips.
“You do not get to decide my future, let’s get that clear immediately,” she breathed heavily through gritted teeth, “If I chose to have sex with anyone, it is my choice, and you certainly do not get a say in that. I’m not some object that can be dirtied. You don’t get to marry me off to some pompous prick to breed me like a teacup dog. You forfeited your right to have a say in my life when you tossed me through a portal.”
The static in the air intensified, zapping off Raina’s body in violent lilac sparks as she stared the king down, a red tinge slowly creeping over both pairs of amethyst eyes.
“No matter how you fight it Raina, you are a princess and will be treated as such. Laying with a commoner is prohibited. You are of age now, and once the world knows you have returned we can consider a marriage to a suitable candidate for you,” the king stated, leaving no room for argument. Raina laughed cynically.
“Are you planning to drag me down the aisle yourself? Because I have no hesitation killing the groom and sparking war for your country.”
The queen stood and gently pulled her husband’s sleeve. “You are going to shove her away from us Alexei,” she hissed, “we have been reunited with our daughter for less than a few hours and you already want her married off to a prince!”
“It is her duty as a royal princess to marry, and I want to ensure she remains pure so as not to disgrace her reputation,” he boomed, although it was clear he wasn’t speaking to his wife. Raina scoffed in disgust.
“I have made it clear that will not be happening. I want my powers bound and my normal, human body returned to me so I can go home,” she sighed, “as for your creepy obsession with my virginity, it’s disgusting.”
Raina couldn’t help chuckling. The sheer embarrassment and awkwardness of having her sex life discussed gave her only two options, squaring up against a Fae king or laughing awkwardly until she probably cried a little bit. The king turned his attention to Logan with a deadly quiet tone.
“Did you sully my daughter?”
The silence was deafening, the rapid pounding of heartbeats echoing in Raina’s ears. She watched as the king’s face contorted into a feral snarl, flame singing the tense air as he glared at Logan. The Fae male was on his feet in a blink, ducking away as the king roared and leapt for him. Raina cleared the table, her lightning bouncing off her carelessly with thunderous claps and she jumped between Logan and the king, her own face mirroring the animalistic expression on the monarch.
“Back down, NOW!” she growled, each word spitting bolts hazardously through the room.
The king jumped back as a bolt struck the ground barely an inch from his foot. The guards in the room drew their swords, ready to rush at Raina as soon as the king gave the order.
“You do not command your king, princess,” Alexei boomed, “Logan Calviere will be punished within the law for laying with a royal above his station.”
“I had no relationship with Logan,” Raina snarled, struggling to pull her lightning back in, “and you are not my king, you are nothing to me. If you dare try to force me into a marriage I’ll sleep with a hundred men and make sure no one will want me.”
The lightning sparked off her hand, making her wince in pain as the bolts continued to spark wildly, crackling through the marble walls and le
aving dark scorch marks in their wake. The queen was feebly pulling her husband away, but her tiny human movement was barely registering against a raging Fae male.
“That is enough Alexei. I will not sit by while you threaten her with a life of servitude in your name,” she yelled, flinching away from the sparks. Raina gripped her wrist and gasped as a bolt travelled along her bones.
“Raina you need to calm down, just don’t listen to him,” Logan pleaded from behind her. He reached slowly for her before a bolt of violet lightening launched him back a few feet.
“Logan!” Raina shrieked, cowering within herself as her panic began to rise. Elias helped him to his feet as the lightning exploded against a gold sconce. Alicia squealed and the team ducked under the table and behind chairs.
“Are you happy now Alexei?” the queen screamed, struggling in her husband’s grip to get to Raina.
Raina whimpered as the pain began lashing her, the bolts flying along her body as though they had a life of their own. She looked at Logan’s burned arm, his skin a blistering red from being electrocuted.
“I need to get outside,” she whimpered, striding for the door, “JJ, grab your gun!” she added with a scream as she sprinted for the mahogany doors and into the sunlight, before dropping to the ground in an explosion of flames.
Chapter 10
Apillar of flame shot into the sky as Raina curled on the ground, desperately trying to bring herself under control. She felt her blood boiling under her skin as her flames spiralled around her in a terrifying maelstrom, the purple sparks of her lightning rising to decorate the flames in fatal ribbons. She could hear shouting, but couldn’t make anything out over the roars of her flame. Raina glanced around wildly, looking for her team between the flickers of space in the fiery vortex, only to catch a glimpse of them surrounded by armed soldiers.