by J. L. Weil
“Try and keep up.” Devyn became a whirlwind of blades and death, whereas Kai was shadows and mist. Together, they were unstoppable, slaying man after man. I’d seen Devyn fight a hundred times, but not like this. Here, his true abilities were unleashed, making him a lethal predator. Nothing mortal shone in his eyes or in the way he advanced. Devyn was merciless as he gave himself wholly to what made him fae.
It stopped my heart.
“Enough!” Ryker’s deep voice bellowed, and the soldiers at his command instantly ceased their onslaught.
Kai and Devyn both held their positions, their swords bloody as they lifted them. Kai cocked a brow at Ryker. “Can’t take the heat, old man?”
“I didn’t come here for a slaughter,” Ryker responded, his eyes as cold and sharp as the untouched sword at his hip.
“The militia you brought with you says otherwise, mate. We are only defending what is ours,” Kai said. Apparently, Kai shared Devyn’s belief in baiting your enemy.
“She is not yours,” Ryker seethed. “Not by blood. Not by title. And I came to bring her back where she belongs.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, you spineless asshole,” I spat.
Darkness filled those remarkable eyes as Devyn slid a possessive hand around my waist. The scent of him mixed with the metallic sharpness of the blood spattered over his face and clothes. “Next time, you might want to rethink your numbers. I do not trust you, and Karina isn’t going anywhere. Not with you. Not until she is ready.” Devyn’s lips curled in disgust.
“You know how large my ranks are,” Ryker said. “This is only a taste of what my militia can do. There are those in my service who have powers that can give me what I want.”
By force. He was willing to take me by any means necessary. This didn’t surprise me in the least bit.
“No,” Devyn declared firmly, his hand tightening around me. The Shaman would die before he let Ryker touch a hair on my head. I knew it. Kai knew it. And now Ryker did as well.
“I am not your enemy,” my uncle said to me, and I could have sworn his tone softened. Even the hard lines on his face seemed to smooth out.
I sensed a ripple of night brush up against me. Kai. He was on my other side, partially cloaked in shadows. The wind rustled Devyn’s hair. “Another point we can argue all day. It doesn’t change my position.”
Ryker snickered. “Do you always speak for the princess?”
“Queen,” Devyn corrected him. “She is the queen of Katsura, or will you also deny Karina her title, her crown, and her kingdom?”
“I do not deny she is the rightful heir, only that she has much to learn. She needs more than a sword at her back,” Ryker said.
“The answer will always be no. She doesn’t need your help, not when she has me.”
“How about a trade?” he suggested, a sinister grin curling his lips. “Karina for . . . hmm.” Ryker pursed his lips, stretching out this absurd proposal we’d never agree to. Why waste his breath?
Then it struck me. Holly. Where was Holly?
My magic stumbled, and the fear in my chest spread to my veins. I wanted to reject the idea, but a sick feeling pitted in my gut, and from the hardening of Devyn’s features, I could see he’d come to the same conclusion I had.
If I thought I saw a flicker of a decent man a minute ago, it was squashed by this new plan of his. It solidified in my mind what a monster he was, and unfortunately, the bastard had regained the upper hand.
Ryker snapped his fingers and two guards came forward, wrestling and dragging someone in their arms. A curtain of dark hair had fallen over her face, shielding it, but there was no mistaking the little girl’s identity. Holly.
I could feel the anger rolling off Devyn.
Ryker was a dead man. It might not be today or tomorrow, but he’d gone too far and would one day pay the price with his life.
Holly blew the hair out of her face. She hadn’t made it easy for the two guards holding her captive by her arms. The one on her right had a split lip. Blood coated his teeth and dripped down the side of his mouth. The other had a black eye forming. No, Holly hadn’t gone down without a fight.
“I was thinking about letting you live before, but now, you’re dead,” Devyn promised with a certainty that would make most men drop to their knees and beg for their life.
Ryker clucked his tongue. “Such a conundrum you find yourself in, Sin Eater. The Kitsune or your little sister. Who will it be? Because one of them is coming with me. The choice is yours.”
Tears streamed from Holly’s bright eyes, but she kept her chin firm, even though her lip quivered.
“Bastard,” I hissed.
“Holly, I—” His voice broke, and the sound splintered my chest down the middle.
My eyes shifted to Devyn, and I shook my head. What was he doing? He couldn’t possibly . . .
No! I couldn’t let this happen. Raw sorrow and regret brimmed in his eyes, and I knew the choice he was going to make, a choice he never should have been forced to consider.
The vision kept flashing before my eyes, torturing me.
Holly.
Me.
We’d both been dead.
And Devyn had been left wondering what he could have done differently. Living alone with a mountain of guilt would crush him.
My eyes darted between Ryker and Holly, and at that moment, I realized that the vision hadn’t been literally death, but a dark omen of this moment—the moment when Ryker would entrap me and give me no choice but to go with him. Despite Belle trying to warn me, I had gotten the message wrong.
Would Devyn forgive me?
It didn’t matter. Not now.
Would I be damning myself?
Possibly.
I didn’t honestly believe Ryker when he said he wanted to help me, but I had little choice. I would pay this price to save Holly, to save Mom, to save Katsura.
Taking a step forward, I felt my stomach plummet to my feet. Ryker’s eyes brightened with victory, reading the decision in the lines of my expression.
Devyn’s head whipped in my direction. “Don’t you dare!” Devyn growled, an unflinching command. His hand reached for me, pulling me back to his side.
My knees quaked, even as I pushed down the fear threatening to consume me. I ignored Devyn and spoke only to Ryker. “If I come with you, do I have your word that you won’t harm them or me? You must let Holly go, and your men will leave and never step foot in Ashland again, not unless I command it.” My chin rose higher in the air. Despite the terror racing within me, my voice was steady and, dare I say it, queenly.
Devyn spun me to face him, taking my cheeks in between his hands. His eyes were wild with agony. “You are not doing this, do you hear me? I will find another way. Just let me think.” I hated the desperation in his tone—that I had caused this. I was his one weakness, and he was willing to show that vulnerable side for me.
I removed Devyn’s fingers from my face and gave them a squeeze. My gaze shifted to Ryker. “Swear it with a blood oath,” I told him. I might have much to learn, as Ryker had pointed out, but I did know that a fae blood oath was unbreakable and binding.
He inclined his head at me with a small nod before unsheathing his gleaming and unsoiled sword. With a quick slash across the inside of his palm, Ryker’s fae blood pooled in his hand, a few drops falling to the ground. The spilled blood glowed bright and true from the vow that tumbled off Ryker’s lips, and my heart beat faster with each passing second.
Devyn’s eyes widened with panic and so much anger—not at me, but the situation we found ourselves in. “The only way you’re leaving with him is if you fight me. I won’t let you do this.”
Holly had gone utterly still and bone white under her captors’ grip, as stunned as the rest of us. Silent tears caressed her pale cheeks, and it was enough for me to know I was making the right choice.
Ryker drew my gaze away from Holly as he held out his hand, the crimson blood running down his arm as he waited for
me to seal the oath. I thought I would vomit.
No more blood after this. I couldn’t stomach to have any more blood on my hands, especially since I’d come to care for Devyn’s family. Well, the jury was still out on Kai, but they all had protected me, putting their own lives on the line. I owed them.
I might not be the queen they had hoped for, but compared to the alternative of perishing, I was the best they could get. Assuming I didn’t let them all down of course. Perhaps this was a step toward saving Katsura, not a step into darkness as it felt.
I had to save us both. The only way we were ever going to be free to be together was by me accepting my destiny and becoming queen. I nodded once at Ryker and turned to look at Devyn, needing to see him one last time, to memorize that handsome face, every curve and line. And his scent. I inhaled, taking in that signature, intoxicating smell of Devyn, bottling it away deep in my mind for those dark moments when I needed to remember him. “Goodbye,” I whispered, the shadows consuming me.
Realizing what I was about to do, Devyn lunged for me, agony swelling in those dark green eyes—a mirror of my own. “Karina, no!” he cried, but his voice was cut off by the darkness. A silent ripple of power cleaved the land as I reappeared in front of Ryker and clasped his blood-soaked hand. A flash of blue light shot through the woods—a sign that I had accepted his oath.
“No!” Devyn raged—a heartbroken, thunderous scream that plunged into my heart as swift and as sure as his blades. A hole was carved into my chest, one that I wasn’t sure would ever heal. I couldn’t breathe.
The darkness was coming for me again, but this time, it wasn’t Devyn’s hand I was holding, but that of my enemy.
Then I was gone.
Without Devyn.
Without my shield, my sword, or my Shaman.
Get for the next part of Karina & Devyn’s story?
You’ll be able to get next Devyn fix in SPIRIT SHIFT the sixth book in the Nine Tails Series!
Can’t wait to meet you back in Second Moon!
Thank you for reading.
xoxo
Jennifer
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Read more by J. L. Weil
DRAGON DESCENDANTS SERIES
(Upper Teen Reverse Harem Fantasy)
Stealing Tranquility
Absorbing Poison
Taming Fire
Thawing Frost
THE DIVISA SERIES
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
Losing Emma: A Divisa novella
Saving Angel
Hunting Angel
Breaking Emma: A Divisa novella
Chasing Angel
Loving Angel
Redeeming Angel
LUMINESCENCE TRILOGY
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
Luminescence
Amethyst Tears
Moondust
Darkmist – A Luminescence novella
RAVEN SERIES
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
White Raven
Black Crow
Soul Symmetry
BEAUTY NEVER DIES CHRONICLES
(Teen Dystopian Romance)
Slumber
Entangled
Forsaken
NINE TAILS SERIES
(Teen Paranormal Romance)
First Shift
Storm Shift
Flame Shift
Time Shift
Void Shift
Spirit Shift
HAVENWOOD FALLS HIGH
(Teen Paranormal Romance)
Falling Deep
Ascending Darkness
SINGLE NOVELS
Starbound
(Teen Paranormal Romance)
Casting Dreams
(New Adult Paranormal Romance)
Ancient Tides
(New Adult Paranormal Romance)
For an updated list of my books, please visit my website: www.jlweil.com
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About the Author
J.L. Weil is a USA TODAY Bestselling author of teen & new adult paranormal romance, fantasy, and urban fantasy books about spunky, smart mouth girls who always wind up in dire situations. For every sassy girl, there is an equally mouthwatering, overprotective guy.
You can visit her online at: www.jlweil.com or come hang out with her at JL Weil's Dark Divas on FB.
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