by Ivy Clyde
“She is my mate,” I whispered as realization struck me. It was no coincidence. She was brought to our world for me.
My hands tightened into fists as my mother’s words came crashing back to me. She wanted to give Moira up to my brother, Rowan. Against his will. Against my will. I have to do something to protect them both, I decided.
Reaching the cottage on the far side of the field, I knocked on the door. A pair of Maurian elves tended to this patch of goldflowers. One of the women opened the door to me. “Your Highness?” Her voice was full of surprise. “Please, come in.”
I raised a hand. “Thank you for the invitation but I need some blankets and maybe a rug?”
She looked even more surprised at my request. “Of course, Your Highness. A moment please.” She disappeared inside the cottage and came back a minute later, carrying a stack of blankets. “Would these do, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
She bowed to me and handed me the blankets.
Taking them, I hurried back to the spot where I’d left Moira. Anticipation surged through me. Perhaps, I could talk to her more and make her understand the challenges she would soon be facing. I wanted her to know that no matter what came her way, I would always be there by her side to keep her safe and protected.
I was deep in my thoughts when a sudden loud blast stopped me in my tracks. In the far distance, I caught sight of flares of crimson flames. They looked like the kind of exploding spheres the solar fae used to attack another. Barely a few seconds passed when the whole area rang out with ear-splitting sound of explosions.
“Moira,” I breathed, the blankets falling from my hands.
Someone was out there, attacking her. I ran forward, forcing my legs to move as fast as possible. Fear and panic squeezed my heart. Moira couldn’t defend herself against such aggressive assault. I had to get to her before they could kill her and take away the only person who’d made me feel warmth.
“I’m coming, Moira,” I shouted into the dark night as I rushed ahead.
22
Moira
Warmth spread through my chest as my fingers brushed over my tingling lips. I could still taste and feel Cade’s firm lips on mine. My heart pounded in my chest as fire spread through my veins, heating my body to the tips of my toes.
It was unbelievable how his kiss had the same explosive effect on me as Leon and Rowan’s kiss. They were all meant to be my potential mates. Both my body and magic reacted the same way to each of them. I couldn’t stop craving them.
My chest seemed to swell with hope. Cade was making efforts to show he wasn’t the asshole prince I’d assumed him to be. He wasn’t as stuck-up or arrogant as I’d thought him to be. It seemed like he wore those masks to present a false image of himself. But why? I wondered.
Cade was thoughtful and gentle with me today. He even helped me rescue the poor brownie maid in the market. Even though he hung out with those cruel, devious girls at school, he didn’t have the same attitude as them. He was genuinely empathic toward the suffering of others.
I still had to completely forgive him for the prank he played on me on that first day at Belenus Castle but if he hadn’t attacked me then, I wouldn’t have been so quick to learn to put up a mental shield, protecting me from the other mean girls.
I let my mind fall back to the memory of my kiss with Cade. My eyes closed with bliss but something made them snap open. The sound of swaying stems and leaves alerted me. I turned around but didn’t see anyone.
“Cade?” I called out loudly.
He’d said he would be back in ten minutes but only a few minutes had passed since he left. My magic spiked in my veins while my skin crawled with a familiar sensation, warning me of danger.
“Hello?” I called in a low, tight voice. “Who’s there?”
“Who do you think you’re commanding, you gullible whore,” said a strange female voice.
A patch of goldflowers nearby swayed and moved. Next moment, three figures strode out into the open to face me. They all wore the Belenus Court uniform. A shaft of moonlight fell on the closest girl. There was something familiar about the cut of her face and the long length of her auburn hair.
“Who the hell are you?” I questioned back.
“I am Desiree,” the girl replied. “Deirdre’s cousin.”
Realization dawned on me. That’s why she looked so familiar, although slightly younger.
“What do you want with me?” I asked. “And why are you sneaking around here?”
“I can’t stand her,” said the girl to Desiree’s left.
“Burn her to ashes,” said the girl to Desiree’s right. “We can’t have her snatching away the princes. First, she gets permission to be married to Prince Rowan and now she is kissing Prince Cade. We can’t allow a nobody like her to steal them away.”
“I agree,” said Desiree. “She was bold enough to hurt my sister. Not only that, but she also saved the useless servant from my house. She hasn’t even stepped into the palace yet but is already acting like a magnanimous queen.” A high, cruel laugh escaped her but her eyes glittered with a cold gleam.
I stepped backward as the girls closed in.
“What are you planning to do?” I asked.
“We are going to kill you and watch you disappear,” said Desiree. “Let your death be a lesson to all those common folk whores who think they can steal what’s ours.”
Magic pulsed hard in my veins but I wasn’t sure letting it explode would be a good idea. Rowan’s warnings still rang in my ears. Hurting them might put me in worse trouble with the law. Deciding against my intuition, I waited for them to make the first move.
Where are you, Cade? I called out in my mind. Get here quickly so I can avoid a fight with these girls.
Part of me wondered whether Cade was aware of their plans to attack me. Did he bring me to this remote, deserted field for their benefit?
No, my mind asserted. You’re the one who wanted to come to a goldflower field. He didn’t force you to come here.
The thought calmed me a little. Desiree had just seen us kiss and was livid about the fact. Cade wouldn’t have kissed me like I was his only source of air if he was faking it. No. Cade had no idea they were spying on us.
Desiree raised her right hand and conjured leaping flames on her palm. Before my eyes, she shaped them into a sphere of crimson energy. Baring her teeth in a sneer, she flung the ball of fire at me. To my surprise, it soared through the air between us and exploded near my shoulder.
A scream tore out of me. Shock and pain made my body tremble. A second later, the smell of burning fabric and flesh assaulted my nose. Slowly turning my head, I saw a patch of my jacket and shirt had been melted away from the blast.
I stumbled backward. “Stay away from me.”
Cruel, identical grins rose on their lips. They were barely sixteen years old but had no qualms in burning someone to death. What a bunch of psychos! I thought bitterly as I turned around and sprinted through the maze of tall goldflower shrubs.
“Get back here!” shouted one of them but I didn’t turn around to see who it was.
I ran through the wall of tall stems gently swaying in the night breeze. There was no source of light other than the moonlight. I had no idea where I was going but the sound of approaching footsteps kept me from stopping.
Blasts erupted around me. Petals and leaves were showered over me but I didn’t stop running.
Searing heat attacked my back. The blast that sounded a second later told me I’d been hit a second time. The force was enough to throw me a few feet into the air and then throw me on the hard, stony ground.
I moaned from the searing pain in my back. My skin sizzled and the stench of burning flesh almost choked me. I could barely get back to my feet through the blinding pain.
“She is finally down,” said one of the girls.
Her voice sounded awfully close.
Fear gripped my heart. What could I do to stop them? The way I was fee
ling right now, I couldn’t muster enough strength to let out a burst of energy that would kill them all. My vision was quickly blackening.
Cade, where are you? I thought. Help me.
Just when I thought the pain couldn’t get worse, I felt someone’s foot stomp on my burned, bloody back. A scream tore out of me. My shrieks of pain were punctuated by cold laughter. They were all having fun while I was on the brink of death.
“What are you still struggling for?” asked Desiree’s voice. “Prince Cade won’t be able to find you. Even if he does, do you think he’ll do anything about it? Did Prince Rowan do anything to punish my cousin? No! They will never side with a powerless whore like you.”
A sliver of cold rage flared up inside me. Why were they always going on about power and influence? Why were they so sure they would never be punished for their wrongdoings? How could someone else’s pain make them so happy?
“What a load of bullshit!” I shouted but my voice came out in an audible hiss of pain.
If only I could tear their powers away from them, I thought with murderous intent.
“What did you say, whore?” said Desiree, grinding her foot against the wound on my back. “I couldn’t quite hear you.”
My vision blackened. I couldn’t tell whether it was the intolerable pain or something else but my lips parted in a long, wild scream. Something cold and dark erupted from me. Blinking to clear my eyesight, I only saw a thick cloud of black miasma that was soaking in all light from around my surroundings.
Screams pierced the air around me but none of them were mine. Three spheres of bright light slowly came near the miasma. A second later, it was completely absorbed by the thick, black cloud hovering before me.
The pressure of the foot keeping me on the ground disappeared. Desiree’s body slumped to the ground beside me. Her unseeing, wide-open eyes stared back at me.
What just happened?
The black miasma slowly cleared away. As my vision cleared, I saw two more bodies on the ground.
“Moira!” Cade’s familiar voice called out to me. “Where are you?” Panic seemed to choke his voice.
“Here,” I tried to say but hardly any sound came out. “Over here!” I tried again.
Hurried footsteps approached me. A few seconds later, Cade appeared before me. His gaze took in the unmoving bodies before falling on me. Relief spread through his face as he rushed toward me and kneeled down beside me. “Moira…you’re alive.”
“Barely,” I moaned.
He helped me sit up. His gaze skimmed all over me. “You’re hurt,” he said in a pain-filled voice. “I can’t believe I was so close to you and couldn’t protect you.”
“It’s not your fault.” The pain had me squeezing my eyes shut tightly as my body slumped against his chest. A glittering flash of light in the corner of my eye made me glance up.
Under the bright moonlight, I spotted a gaping hole in the middle of Desiree’s chest. Swirls of gold dust floated up in the breeze. They were similar to the goldflower pollen but were gleaming with a light of their own.
I looked toward the bodies of the other two girls. Glittering gold particles were being emanated from them as well.
“What’s happening to them?” I managed to croak while Cade kept his head buried in the side of my neck as he held me in a gentle, comforting embrace.
He looked up to see what I was pointing. His hold on me slackened immediately.
“What the fuck…” He stood up and kneeled down beside Desiree. “Holy Aine! Holy fuck…”
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.
“She is dead,” he said in a hollow voice.
“What?” Despite the blinding pain, I dragged my body toward Desiree’s. The hole in her chest showed me a glimpse of her bloodied organs.
“Their bodies are disintegrating,” he said in a low, hushed voice. Walking ahead, he checked the other two girls. “They are dead too.”
I looked back at Desiree’s unseeing eyes. They were wide open and reflecting the moonlight. Her face was frozen in an expression of surprise.
“What happened?” asked Cade, turning to stare at me. “What made them this way?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, trying to think. “I was close to dying myself but then a black miasma appeared before me and sucked three fireballs inside its core. The thing disappeared quickly but these girls were dead by then.”
Cade sucked in a sharp breath. Curiosity and a kind of fear flooded his eyes. “We need to go,” he said in a sudden, decisive tone.
“What is going on?”
“You did this…this…” He stared at the unmoving corpses sprawled on the ground around me. “People will notice them soon enough. They can’t know it was you.” He knelt down beside me and placed my arms around his neck. “Hold onto me tight,” he said as he hauled me on his back.
My momentary sense of relief disappeared. “Why are we running?” I asked.
“Not now, Moira,” he said as he ran through the goldflower field with me on his back. “I don’t know if there are others around here. Let’s go somewhere safe before we talk.” His tone was heavy with panic. He was barely keeping it together.
Even though I was in terrible pain, I felt safe with Cade. My arms tightened around his neck as he dashed into the dark. I had no idea where he was taking me but I trusted him. I had to or I wouldn’t survive the horrible burns blackening my vision again.
My eyes slowly blinked open. A well-lit room appeared before my eyes. Moans escaped me as I pushed my body to sit up. A cool draft skimming over my breast made me look down. I was completely naked with only a thin blanket covering me. The pain in my back and my shoulder had dulled in intensity by now.
Holding the sheet to my chest, I looked around the strange room. I had no idea where I was but recognized the figure standing by a window with his back toward me.
“Cade,” I called out.
He turned around at once. Striding across the room, he reached me. “How do you feel now?” he asked.
“Better,” I said. “It doesn’t hurt that bad anymore.”
He gave a nod but he looked far from relieved. His lavender-hued eyes were still heavy with anxiety.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We are in Poppy’s home.”
“The barmaid from the tavern?”
“Yes. She was kind enough to lend me her attic for the night.” Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he took my hand in his. “We are safe here. Don’t worry about anything.”
“I trust you.”
His expression tightened. “That’s good, Moira. If you truly trust me, can you tell me exactly what happened after I left you? Don’t leave out anything.”
“Desiree and the two girls appeared after you left,” I told him. “They’d been spying on us. They saw you helping me with the slave trader. They watched you kiss me.” Swallowing against my dry throat, I continued. “Desiree blamed me for what happened to her cousin. She didn’t like the fact I would be marrying your brother. She hated that you kissed me. They all wanted to kill me.”
“They attacked you,” said Cade. “That’s how you were injured.”
I gave a nod. “Desiree stepped onto my burned back,” I said, remembering the excruciating pain as she ground her shoes against my burned flesh. “I was close to passing out but something erupted out of me. A kind of black curtain or miasma. I don’t know what happened after that…just that the girls screamed and fell to the ground.”
“No,” Cade groaned, holding up his hands to his face.
“What’s wrong?”
He took a moment before letting me look into his exhausted face. “That kind of move…do you have any idea what you did to those girls?”
“I killed them?”
He shook his head. “Worse…you sucked out the magical cores out of their bodies. The holes in their chest were created when the core was wrenched out of them.”
“I did that?” I whispered.
He nodded.
“You did it and you don’t even know how you did it.” Pain laced his voice.
“I’m sorry, Cade,” I said in a small voice. “Those girls were your friends. I’m sorry about what I did.”
“They weren’t my friends,” he said in a harsh tone. Facing me, he held my shoulders with gentle hands. A fierce look descended into his eyes. “And you don’t have to apologize for killing them. If you didn’t do what you did, they would have killed you for sure. They wouldn’t have spared you.”
“If you’re not worried about them, why are you still so upset?”
He exhaled a long breath and let his hands fall away. “The kind of magic you unleashed tonight is a thing of legend. An ancient monarch of the lunar fae was so powerful, he could create a vortex of dark energy capable of wiping out the magical core of a solar fae. He was a formidable warrior who left a wake of destruction on the battlefield.”
“The lunar fae gain their magical strength from the moon,” I said. “Why do you think I was able to do something only they can? I am a solar fae, after all.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know but it worries me. If someone else knew about this power of yours, they would kill you.”
“Why?”
His eyes were suddenly full of tears. “Because this kind of ability in a person makes them dangerous to others. They will kill you to avoid any complications.”
My throat felt choked with emotions. “I didn’t mean to kill those girls,” I said in a thick voice. “I never intended to kill those boys who attacked me on the night of my eighteenth birthday.” My hands fisted in Cade’s shirt as I stared into his clear eyes. “My magic reacted to them. It takes control when I start to fade.”
Cade’s hands closed over mine. “You are way more powerful than any of us,” he said in a low whisper. “But you’re also very vulnerable.”