Discord (Bound to the Fae Book 1)

by J. Kearston

So, with the sound of men verbally pissing all over the damn place, I saunter out of the club and out to the street, jogging towards the crossover and my apartment. It’s only a mile to the bridge, so if I hustle, I can make it before the landlord calls it the next day and changes the locks on me again.

  Guy is always such an asshole about the rent. Counts the seconds like he’s got nothing better to do.

  I cross the street into the park, jogging towards where the trees get progressively thicker and more ominous. It typically encourages people to stay the hell away, except for the random dumb kid on a dare. I weave through the thick trunks, glancing at my watch and cursing. A few more minutes and I’m at the clearing, a magical oasis in an otherwise nightmarish forest.

  There’s a gap just big enough in the branches for the light of dawn to trickle down, bathing the clearing in the orange tinted glow of dawn. Near the center is a blackened, necrotic circle of dead grass, as if a dragon huffed out a ring of embers to scorch the earth. Just inside of it, a ring of forget-me-nots in varying shades of blues and purples dance with the breeze. There are a handful of mushrooms interspersed with the flowers, but nothing touches the charred ring despite the wind.

  Checking that I’m alone, I step into it, closing my eyes and sighing. Honestly, I dread coming home. The human realm is so much more...alive. Accepting. You can disappear as easily as you can stand out, and it’s all about your choices. But the best part?

  My family refuses to ever step foot over here.

  They think they’re so superior and that the human world is garbage. It’s the perfect place for me to breathe without them constantly lording over me, my only safe haven.

  My skin tingles as I cross over and when I open my eyes I’m hit with a bone deep weariness. Everything is pristine and perfect. Fake. Deceitful. The fae world is a land as magical as you could imagine, but you can’t trust so much as the stones beneath your feet not to sell you out if it would give them a leg up in the world.

  Leaving the clearing behind, I start to jog down the path towards non-civilized civilization and the shitty part of town. Far less glamorous, but even the poor side of town isn’t allowed to fall into complete disrepair; the queen would never allow it. Instead, it’s a barebones, cookie cutter neighborhood of basic white boxes.

  I hate it. Everything here is blank, depressing. There isn’t a blip of individuality to be found. Just an oppressing blanket of bleached ‘perfection’.

  Not a single apartment here is more than a one bedroom, despite how large some of the families are. I was lucky enough to get a studio alone, but the landlord looks for any opportunity to throw me out of the place that sure as hell doesn’t deserve as much as he gets for it. But it’s mine, and that means more to me than anything, so I’ll be damned if I’m about to lose it.

  I open the door to the building and hear the whir of the power drill and pick up my speed, grabbing the thin, rickety handrail and taking the steps two at a time.

  That piss-stain just can’t wait to get me out of here.

  I curse when a splinter embeds itself in my palm as I make it to the top of the staircase. Shit just needs to look perfect, but doesn’t need the standards to back up the claim. Cheap-ass landlord just pays a guy to glamour everything instead of actually fixing shit.

  “I had until six and you know it.” I glare daggers at the thin, oily man that never ceases to send a shiver of disgust through me when I see him.

  “It’s five till. We both know you don’t get paid until the end of the week, so just accept you cut it too close this time,” he sneers.

  I stuff my hand down my shirt and withdraw the wad of cash, holding it out for him and ignoring the way he leers at me. “All there, so see you next month, Ted.”

  He glowers as he counts it, accepting that I scraped by on the skin of my teeth for the fourth month in a row.

  “You are without a doubt the worst tenant I’ve ever had,” he jabs, stuffing the money into his pocket.

  “And yet, you’re stuck with me for another three months. Gotta’ love rental agreements,” I throw right back. “See you next month, but fix the door before you go.”

  Glaring at him as I sidestep as much as I can on the small landing, I pull the door shut behind me. He bitches loudly as he goes about putting the lock back in and I make a mental note to call a locksmith after he leaves to check his work and add a deadbolt from my side. I’ve never felt comfortable with him having a key despite the fact it’s in the agreement for maintenance and in case I bail, but the skeevy bastard rubs me the wrong way.

  I go to the fridge to grab something to eat before crashing, but there isn’t much in the place to snack on. Shaking out my pockets, I manage to come up with a whopping fifty-two cents and sigh. Just need to hold out two more days until payday.

  I play real life operation trying to get the splinter out for a few minutes, cursing all the while. Knowing my luck, it’ll give me some sort of supernatural sepsis and I’ll keel over on the way to the bank. With nothing else to do, I take a quick shower before bed. I love my job, but using my abilities always leaves me feeling dirty.

  Giving up for the night, I crawl into bed just as the sun starts to rise steadily. It’s not much, and low key, kind of sucks, but it’s mine. That may not mean much to some people, but after finally getting out from under my family’s thumb five years ago, it means everything to me.

  Chapter 3

  Dorian

  The bouncer throws us out of the club on our asses and returns inside, the sound amplified for a brief moment as he opens the door before he slams it shut behind him.

  “Well that sucked ass. Sorry we dragged you out here for this, Luce,” I apologize.

  He scoffs, standing up and brushing dirt off of his dress pants. “This is exactly the sort of reason I despise places like this; they’re trouble. I would think the two of you would know better by now to just avoid these situations rather than come to me to bail you out after the fact,” he states coolly. “I’m heading home.”

  But Atlas isn’t ready to let it go that easily. “We might have gotten our cards back, but she still got nearly four hundred bucks between the three of us! It’s bullshit they keep an employee that can pull shit like this.”

  “Just drop it, Atlas,” I sigh. “Lucien is right.”

  Her vivid splash of hair going into the woods catches his eye and he breaks into a run without pausing for debate. Lucien and I share a look, groan, and start jogging to catch up with him.

  “He never thinks things through,” Lucien adds, his tone brokering a warning that he’s reaching the end of his patience. Atlas owes Lucien a great debt and should know better than to push his limits as much as he has been lately. “She likely has men hidden in the woods that are going to kick Atlas’ ass and sell him to a brothel.”

  I snicker. “Nobody calls them brothels anymore. Just how old do you think you are, Luce?” He narrows his eyes at me challengingly and I push myself just a little harder to put distance between us before I add cautiously, “Atlas is right though. You need to loosen up.”

  “No, I need you two to quit deciding I need to live my life like you do. I’m perfectly content with the way things are. I worked far too hard to get where I am to go mucking it up by thinking with my dick and getting distracted,” he counters.

  I sigh, but drop it for now. All work and no play makes Lucien a pent up, sexually repressed asshole. He never sees it. But that’s what friends do; look out for each other when one of us has our heads too far up our own ass to see it ourselves.

  We have to slow our pace dramatically to work our way through the thick foliage and tightly knit trees, but so far there’s been no cloaked, evil villains waiting in the shadows to ambush us. No werewolves or vampires, not so much as a mosquito. Just three guys, chasing a woman through the woods.

  Oh fuck, that sounds really bad. We’re going to end up in jail tonight, I just know it.

  The trees start to thin out and I just barely keep from crashing in
to Atlas’ back. When I start to speak, he claps a hand over my mouth.

  “What is she doing?” he mumbles quietly as Lucien draws up on his other side.

  The woman looks in either direction before sighing and stepping forward before she’s just...gone.

  “What the hell just happened?” Atlas shouts, gesticulating wildly towards where Cambria just vanished into thin air.

  Lucien shakes his head before walking out into the clearing to get a better look and Atlas quickly follows him. I catch up after I pick my slack jaw off of the floor, eyes wide and racing over everything around us in fascination.

  Just before Luce takes another step, I grab his arm and jerk him back. “Don’t step there! It looks like a fairy ring.” I frown, crouching down to brush my fingers across the outer edge.

  Atlas snorts. “A fairy ring? Man, you’re no better than Luce. You spend too much time at work; all those comic books are going to your head.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Manga. If you’re going to insult me, at least get your facts right so you don’t sound ignorant. And laugh all you will, but you saw as clearly as I did that she disappeared as soon as stepping into it.”

  Atlas rolls his eyes. “For all I know, it was a projection to lure us out here to rob our dumbasses a second time. Or quicksand.”

  I raise an eyebrow at him. “And you say I have an overactive imagination.”

  Atlas holds my stare challengingly as he slowly and dramatically steps into the circle. While holding my breath, he smirks and flips me off.

  “See? What did I tell you?” he gloats, but when he tries to step back out of it, the charred circle on the ground pulsates and throws him to his ass in the center.

  “What the hell?” Lucien murmurs.

  Without stepping over, he reaches his hand across to grab Atlas’ and tug him back towards us. Not only does the same thing happen, but the next pulse knocks Lucien off his feet and sends him stumbling inside right next to Atlas.

  They curse, and I don’t think they even have noticed yet that their skin is developing a translucent quality to it. I’m not really sure what the fuck is happening, but I do know one thing for sure.

  Like hell I’m getting left behind.

  Stepping into the ring, I try to help Lucien to his feet, but my hand passes right through his. He looks down wide eyed and back up to me before steeling himself and hiding any trace of emotion in his eyes. As if the human robot could even feel fear; more likely he’s tempering down his rage before he murders Atlas.

  I, instead, close my eyes. And while the two of them start arguing heatedly, think of the vibrant haired vixen that led us here. Not only her splash of multicolored hair or striking silver eyes, but the way she smiled as she lost herself to the music, that defiant smirk of hers as she unrepentantly returned our credit cards and slipped away.

  Just what the hell are you, Cambria?

  Chapter 4

  Atlas

  Patting my hands down my body, I huff out a relieved breath to feel how solid I am again, all while fighting the urge to throw up.

  What the flying fuck just happened?

  Lucien tentatively steps out of the ring, and when he isn’t thrown back, passing unscathed, I’m jumping to my feet and out like my ass is on fire. Dorian isn’t in nearly as much of a rush, looking way more thrilled with this than any sane man should be.

  His geeky little heart is probably exploding right about now.

  I bite back any snide remarks when I get a solid look around us, though. It’s a near replica of the clearing we just left, yet somehow more. The colors are more vivid and it’s like the place practically glows with life.

  But as opposed to before, there is nowhere to go but forward. Here, the trees are so close together that there’s no way we can pass through them except for the clear path in front of us.

  “Should we... should we step back in and see what happens?”

  Lucien looks torn while Dorian on the other hand is brimming with indignation. “Are you kidding me?! You cannot possibly tell me you don’t want to look around. You only get one chance at something like this and if we turn back, we’ll miss out on all of the magic and adventure.”

  Lucien sighs. “This isn’t like one of your cartoons, Dorian.”

  Dorian doesn’t even miss a beat. “Anime.”

  He starts walking down the dirt path away from the circle of death and I share a look with Lucien. Just like he and Dorian chased after me without a thought, we are both well aware we can’t let our friend walk off to god knows where alone. I may not have a damn clue what is happening, but I’m not so much of a bastard as to let him get himself killed. And truth be told, if it came down to Dorian or me, Luce would choose to save Dorian in a heartbeat with their history, so I’m better off sticking close to the nerd.

  The path twists and the trees are just as dense as back by the ring, so there’s no possible way to deviate or wander off. Even breathing feels different, as if the air is laced with something.

  Of course. Someone probably slipped something in my drink at the club and I’m hallucinating this whole thing.

  It’s a short path and soon there’s an opening out of the woods, clear like a light at the end of the tunnel. When we step through, I have to blink rapidly several times for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. Compared to how shadowed it was within the forest, it’s like stepping from one world into another, and it’s suddenly very clear that I’m not imagining things.

  Because I could never dream up something like this.

  It’s gorgeous, a perfect blend of nature and technology. Affluent houses that look like they rose straight from the ground itself; crafted from stone, wood, and coated in flowering ivy. They line an asphalt street, but instead of cars, people are walking, riding on strange beasts, or flying. I don’t think I’m even breathing at this point, glancing around. Iridescent wings like a dragonfly buzz on some of these people that look far too perfect to be real, carrying them above the crowd.

  “I knew it,” Dorian whispers in awe.

  “There has to be an explanation for this,” Lucien disputes, but he doesn’t sound as sure as he did before.

  We only make it a handful of steps before we’re noticed and it’s far from a warm reception. The rest is a blur as we suddenly find ourselves pinned to the ground, vines wound around our bodies like rope and binding our arms to our sides.

  “What are mortals doing here?” one of the three men snarls in disgust.

  “Just trying to find our way home,” Lucien attempts amicably, but the man isn’t having it.

  By their uniformed look, I assume they’re some sort of police or guard. “Humans can’t cross over unless they’ve seen a fae use the ring, so cut the bullshit. Who brought you here?”

  Dorian squirms onto his knees. “We weren’t brought here, she didn’t even know we were watching.”

  One guard turns towards Dorian, using his abilities to make the vine stretch and wrap around his neck. “Who?”

  “I don-“ he starts to protest, but I interrupt him.

  “Cambria. Don’t know her last name though.” No point protecting a thief and getting killed for it.

  One of the other men grins like it’s the best news he’s heard all day, pulling a knife from his pocket and rolling it between his fingers. “Knew that heathen would slip up eventually. Kiss your necks goodbye, humans; this is going to be fun.”

  ***

  “You know the law, Cambria Lark,” the sadistic guard practically purrs at her, like he’s getting some sick thrill from the whole thing.

  One of them left long enough to drag her here and her eyes widen in horror before steeling over and glancing away, refusing to look at us. “I do,” she replies curtly. “Just do what you need to.” She turns and promptly starts walking away, back in the direction she was roughly escorted here from.

  Lucien growls. “What law?”

  The guard controlling the vines sneers down at us. “If a fae reveals our world to a
human, they either become responsible for them, or the humans are put to death to preserve our privacy.”

  I blanch. There is no fucking way that I walked into a stupid hippie-flower circle and came out the other side just to be killed by some guy that gets off on murdering humans. It’s too ludicrous to be anything other than an acid trip and I refuse to believe it.

  “Just let us go home. No one would believe us anyway,” Lucien rationalizes, but the sneering guard just tsks under his tongue.

  “Afraid that’s a hard no, little human.”

  Bitch, you’re like half our size.

  Obviously the ring leader, he gestures for one of his buddies to hand him a serrated dagger and crouches down, grabbing a fistful of my hair and tugging my head back to bare my throat. He presses it to my skin, and my jerking only makes the first cut my own fault.

  There’s a loud, dramatic, feminine groan as Cambria stomps back over. “Damn it, where’s Illiah? You know full well he could just wipe their minds and we could forget about this.”

  One of the guards watching the show flicks a tongue over one of his pointed teeth. “Vacation. Won’t be back for a month.”

  Cambria curses. “Of fuckin’ course he’d be on vacation,” she mumbles. “Fine!” she snaps. “I’ll take the stupid humans. You’re gonna’ have to get your rocks off somewhere else, Rickon,” she directs her anger towards the man holding the knife to my throat, so at least one of the psychotic three stooges has a name to make this less confusing. He gives her an appraising once over, but she slams that door closed fast. “Don’t bother going there. Even I’ve got standards.”

  He barks out a laugh as he rises to his feet, releasing his death grip on my hair and dropping me to the ground. “I sincerely doubt that.”

  Despite his acidic words, the bindings around us loosen, letting one of our hands slip free. Before I can even question it, one of the nameless guards is tracing his fingernail across the back of my hand and I’m gritting my teeth. The smell of flesh burning as he carves into my skin makes me gag, and a few grunts make it clear it’s happening to the others too.