by Vella Day
Fueled By Flames
Hidden Realms of Silver Lake
Book 9
Vella Day
Fueled By Flames
Copyright © 2020 by Vella Day
Kindle Edition
www.velladay.com
[email protected]
Cover Art by Jaycee DeLorenzo
Edited by Rebecca Cartee and Carol Adcock-Bezzo
Published in the United States of America
E-book ISBN: 978-1-951430-02-3
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief questions embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
What would you do if you found out the man who is hotter than sin has been lying to you?
Dragon Shifter, Tory Sinclair, wants to believe the Fey, Kenton Forrester, is a good guy, but how can she? He convinced her whole family to keep secrets from her. Sure, he and his family have helped her siblings many times, but lying goes against every fiber of her being.
Only after the deaths of four successful locals do Tory and the other Guardians realize the only one who can help them is Kenton. Now that stinks.
Kenton has messed up royally. Tory is his mate, and yet she doesn’t want much to do with him. He’s kept a low profile for weeks, but now it’s time to make his move—but will it be the right one? Forgiveness will be the hardest battle he’s ever had to face—and that includes fighting a few demons along the way.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Other Books by the Author
About the Author
Chapter One
“I can’t do this anymore.” Kenton Forrester’s anxiety was already at an all-time high, and something had to give. Considering Feys were supposed to be calm under all circumstances, avoiding Tory Sinclair wasn’t helping his mental state.
After his brother placed the last dish in the cupboard of the house they shared, he spun around. “Can’t do what?” Bevon asked, acting all innocent.
His brother knew. Kenton had been going on and on about Tory for weeks. “You know what. I can’t seem to stay away from Tory.”
The left side of his brother’s lips quirked upward. “I still don’t know why you’re avoiding her. She’s your mate. I say go for it, big brother.”
“And how do you propose I do that? Teleport to the middle of her jewelry store showroom and say, Excuse me, miss, you don’t know me, but I was the one who saved your life over a month ago, and then erased your memory after whisking you off to an unknown realm.”
Bevon grinned. “That could work.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that will endear her to me.” Kenton pointed a finger at his brother. “Then I’ll add, And did I mention I made your whole family promise to never tell you what really happened after you were infected by that dark Fey?”
Bevon just shook his head. “Self-pity is as an ugly trait as sarcasm. Get over yourself. Do what everyone else does. Bump into her at a bar or on the street and introduce yourself. Oh wait. I forgot. You don’t go out.”
“Shut up.” It didn’t matter that his brother made a valid point.
Bevon moved closer. “I get it will be hard for you, but you can do this. Use your charm to get her to go out with you. And by charm, I don’t mean your magic.”
“Easier said than done.” Kenton had no idea why this was stressing him out. He was hundreds of years old and had dated many women in his realm. On Feyrion, everyone knew he was next in line to be the king, so finding a woman to fawn over him was easy. But here? On foreign soil? Not so much.
“Just talk to her. I’m not suggesting you lie to her about her past. Far from it. I’m merely saying not to put all of your cards on the table on the first date. Bit by bit, let her know the danger she was in after her attack. You can then tell her the lengths you had to go to save her.”
For once, his brother made sense. “That’s actually a good idea.”
Bevon hopped up on the kitchen counter, clearly enjoying being able to give advice for a change. “I know it is. On Feyrion, Tory seemed like a sweet girl, one who was the forgiving type.”
“You barely saw her.”
He shrugged. “I dropped by the Royal Castle a few times when she was healing from her deathly experience.”
“Tory was mostly out of it.”
“Not that last day. She was up and about. We spoke a bit. I got a good feeling about her. From what I could tell, Tory is a strong, independent woman, but she also has a kind and understanding nature to her.”
He’d thought the same thing. Kenton studied his brother—as in the one who had little to no restraint when it came to women or anything else in his life. “Let me ask you this: Have you ever asked out a woman from Tarradon—one who had no idea you’re a Fey from nobility?”
“No, why would I when there are plenty of Feys and Fairies in Feyrion who want me?”
“That’s what I thought.” His brother was a hopeless playboy and not someone Kenton should be taking any dating advice from. He pulled open the refrigerator to look for something to eat. Not that he couldn’t swipe a hand and create some gourmet masterpiece, but he was trying to learn to live in Tarradon, as backward as it was. “The problem is that Tory is my mate, so it’s not like I can replace her with someone from Feyrion. I didn’t plan for this to happen, you know. It just did.”
His brother sobered. “All the more reason why you need to meet her like any other Tarradonian male would.”
Only he wasn’t an ordinary male. He was Fey—one with extraordinary powers. Kenton closed the refrigerator door. He’d lost his appetite. “You’re right. I’ll teleport to Edendale, cloak myself, and keep a watch out for her. When the timing is right, I’ll run into her.”
“I didn’t mean literally.”
That made Kenton smile. “I didn’t mean literally either.”
Bevon nodded to Kenton’s clothes. “You do know she’ll be able to see through those white harem pants you wear? The women of Tarradon will find that offensive.”
“I always wear this on Feyrion, and trust me, no Fey or Fairy has ever been offended. Come to think of it, I’ve attracted many a shifter woman wearing this too.” It was Bevon who never liked the traditional royal garb. In fact, Bevon hadn’t been on Tarradon a month before he’d purchased several pairs of jeans
from a store in Edendale, along with a couple of short sleeved and long-sleeved T-shirts. Kenton thought his brother looked ridiculous, but he did blend in better than Kenton did.
He looked down at what he was wearing. “I see nothing wrong with my attire, but if you think it will make Tory uncomfortable, I’ll change.” With a swipe of his hand, his clothes turned from white to dark blue. He checked again to see that nothing showed. Damn. While his pants were now opaque, the protrusion made it obvious that he was thinking about her. He owned underwear but rarely wore it. He didn’t like the restriction.
“You can wear a pair of my jeans,” Bevon said with too much cheer in his voice.
Kenton knew when he was defeated. “Fine. And thank you, I think.”
“You know where they are.”
If Kenton hadn’t wanted to impress Tory, he wouldn’t have bothered changing. Once in Bevon’s room, Kenton located a pair of jeans and dragged them on. They were heavy and uncomfortable, but he’d deal. His peasant style shirt looked perfectly fine though.
Not particularly pleased with having to adapt, Kenton strode back into the cabin’s main area.
His brother looked up and smiled. “You look great, though I suggest you put on shoes.”
“I can’t please you, can I? Why don’t you just tell me to teleport back to Feyrion and forget about Tory?” Not that he ever would.
“You know why. She’s your mate.”
Kenton blew out a breath. “I’m glad you realize that.” He swiped a hand once more and was immediately dressed like everyone else in this realm. “Better?”
He didn’t need his brother’s permission or acceptance, but it was polite to ask. If Kenton didn’t need to see Tory right now, he’d have asked one of his sisters for her opinion on how to dress more mainstream.
Bevon laughed and gave him a thumbs up—a symbol Kenton thought was as dumb as it was odd.
“Perfect. Just don’t mess this up, brother. If you do, you’ll be impossible to live with, and I’ll be forced to move into Fay’s place.” Bevon wagged a finger. “On second thought, I’d ask Meena to take me in. She’s the sweetest of the three.”
“Even Meena won’t take you. You are too insufferable. Besides, they all live together, you goof.”
He grinned. “There is that.”
“I have bad news.” Tory’s cousin, Detective Anderson Caspian, was addressing the Guardians in their conference room on the fourth floor of the SinCas office building.
Just as Tory Caspian covered her mouth to stifle a yawn, Anderson’s announcement had her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t that the Guardians weren’t used to gathering at eight in the morning to learn about some current crime spree, but the way Anderson Caspian said it had her body reacting in a not-so-good way.
“What happened?” Tory’s Uncle Laird asked, his tone deep with concern.
Most of her family was seated around the twenty-person table—all except the usual suspects, like her brother Ramsey, who never was willing to leave his lab, and her cousin Camden who was just as bad. Naturally, her sister wasn’t there since Kaleena and her mate, Finn, were busy having a baby. Tory didn’t see her dad and that worried her. Of late, he’d participated less and less in the Guardian meetings.
“We’ve had four suicides in the last two weeks—all by slitting their own throats.” Anderson held up a hand. “I know that’s not something we usually deal with, but these deaths are different.”
“How so?” Her brother Thane was possibly the most intense member of the group and the one who was always ready to do battle.
“My men have investigated all four cases. As you know, suicide usually occurs in those who are depressed or who have experienced some recent traumatic event. In each of these four cases, the people were successful and happy, at least according to their loved ones. One had just received a scholarship to college, another had been given a big promotion at work, the third had completed his residency at Edendale Medical, and the fourth had retired after a long and successful career in business.”
That made no sense. While some rogue shifters had gone on killing sprees over the years, none had been able to make it look like suicide.
“What are you saying?” her uncle asked. “That these weren’t suicides but rather murders?”
“I’m here to ask for your help in figuring out exactly what happened. When we autopsied the bodies, they all had the same unknown chemical in their bloodstream. That hints at a connection between the deceased, even though none of the family members believe they knew each other.”
“What type of drug was it?” Thane asked.
“Unfortunately, we can’t identify it, which means we don’t know where it came from. Even if we did find its origin, we would have to prove someone was responsible for drugging these people right before their deaths. I’m thinking this chemical caused some kind of psychotic break that made them take their life.”
Laird whistled. “What can we do?”
Anderson inhaled. “I need your ears to the ground. Talk to anyone who might know if there is a chemical that would trigger suicide.”
“Was it a kind of paralytic or a different type of drug?” her brother Declan asked.
“The composition isn’t consistent with a paralytic or anything else, which is the scary part.”
“I’m wondering if someone slit their throats after they were incapacitated,” Declan said.
“From the angle of the cut and the direction of the blood spatter on the victim’s hand and arm, the victim did the deed himself. Plus, they all were standing at the time of their death. Before you ask, we don’t believe anyone was holding their arm either.” He turned to Thane. “I’m thinking Angelique might be able to help.”
“Angelique? How?”
“Your mate is from a different realm and has dealt with dark entities. Maybe this unknown substance comes from there.”
Greer grabbed Tory’s wrist and squeezed hard. Her cousin’s mate had been possessed by a dark entity for a short while, and the thought of another one like him roaming around Edendale had Tory’s pulse soaring.
“Angelique’s realm isn’t like ours. It’s not like they have buildings where they can manufacture anything. Remember, these entities don’t have bodies until they are released,” Thane said.
More talking and buzzing erupted, but this time her family settled down quickly. Greer piped up. “Dark entities have escaped before. Could an escapee be inhabiting that person’s body for a while and then cut his own throat before exiting?”
Anderson planted his hands on the table and leaned forward. “I actually had considered that, but none of the bodies had any burn marks on them, like they had when you were involved with such a malevolent creature—or rather when your mate was taken over by one.”
Tory had arrived dead tired this morning, but the horror of it all had her on full alert now. “Do you have any clues or ideas where we should look?” she asked her cousin.
“None, other than my money is on the perpetrator being from a different realm. As I said, ask around.”
Either Anderson was right and the killer was from someplace else, or this person was an expert chemist who had injected the person with some homemade concoction. Though that would be the best-case scenario. The worst would be if it were indeed an entity from another realm. The Guardians were the ultimate fighters, in part because they trained constantly and could cloak themselves when needed. Their particular kind of magic made it difficult for another dragon to attack what they couldn’t see. But other world creatures were a whole different story. Tory and her family had learned the hard way how difficult it was to battle even one dark entity. If it hadn’t been for Angelique, who was a light entity, Greer would not have a mate.
Tory’s uncle looked around. “You are positive suicide wasn’t the cause of death?”
“Pretty much, but if we can’t find the source of this drug, we might have to tell the family we can’t be sure how they died, and that won�
�t bring any closure to them.”
“I take it there were no needle marks on the body?” Tory asked.
“None that the coroner found, but I’ll ask him to do another sweep.” Anderson pushed back his chair and stood. “Thank you for your help.”
Camden might be able to figure something out. Greer’s brother was a genius when it came to analyzing poisons and unique chemicals. Even though he was a dragon shifter, he preferred to do research rather than go into battle. The sad part, at least to her, was that Camden might be one of the most talented fighters in the group. Her cousin possessed a sixth sense about what his opposition was about to do before he did it.
“Wait a minute,” Tory called, remembering what had almost killed her a month ago. Anderson and the rest stopped.
“What is it?” her cousin asked as he turned around.
“What about a dark Fey? Malpan was able to do mind control. He was able to convince about twenty men to work in his mine for free. He was powerful enough to take me out for a while.”
Griffin shook his head. “Good thought, but it can’t be Malpan, because Kenton Forrester sent him back to his realm where his darkness was removed.”
“I know that, but I was thinking there could be other dark Feys here. Didn’t your mate mention a man by the name of Balkin who worked for Malpan? He could have been one.”
Her brother’s brows pinched as he studied her. “She did, but even if this Balkin guy is one, why would he compel strangers to kill themselves? What would be his end game?”
Tory looked around, waiting for someone to come up with an answer, but no one did. “I don’t know.”
“For the sake of argument,” Anderson said, “let’s say your theory is correct, and the victims were being told what to do. How would you explain the identical chemical in all of their bodies? Is that something a dark Fey would do?”
Why would he think she’d know? “I have no clue, but we could ask one of the Forresters. Since a few of them are Feys, they should be able to tell us.”
Anderson’s shoulders seemed to relax. “That’s a great idea, Tory. Ask them.”