Yew Queen Trilogy

by Eve A Hunt

  Nora yanked me backward, and Hekla balled a fist to punch. “No!” Nora yelled over the writhing vines and rumbling earth. “Stop fighting, Lucus! The binding demands you refrain from using your power here. If you stop trying to escape, you will be free.”

  I clutched Nora’s dress at the shoulder. “You’d better be telling the truth.”

  “I am! I have no other allies. We are together in this!”

  I didn’t really listen to whatever she was going on about. I couldn’t stop staring at Lucus as the dark dirt covered his head. He was gone.

  Chapter 8

  “Coren…” Hekla took my hand, her fingers as cold as a corpse.

  “Ah, hell no.” I launched myself at the ground and began digging with my bare hands. Tears burned my eyes, but I kept those bitches back because we were not going down like this. Not only did I not want the one guy I seemed to gel with to die, Lucus was also the only nice magical person I knew in this insane, magical prison I’d portalled us into. On so many levels, I needed him.

  The dirt was flying between me and Hekla, but Nora just kept telling us to stop.

  “Lot of help you are. Stop fighting, she said. It’ll work, she said.” Dang it, my tears were beginning to ignore my commands. Two escaped and slid down my cheeks. My nail beds burned from digging.

  “Forget what I said about sucking the life out of situations, Coren.”

  I turned to see who was talking.

  Kaippa landed beside Nora and tucked his bat wings in tightly.

  “Fabulous,” I snapped. “More super helpful people.”

  “Who are you?” Nora demanded, her palms crackling with purple light.

  “Hush, dirty mage,” Kaippa said. “I’m Coren’s closest vampire friend.”

  “My only vampire acquaintance. We are not friends.”

  “Are you actually weeping for Lucus?” Kaippa let out a thunderous laugh.

  Hekla threw herself at him, snarling incoherent threats to his manhood.

  Kaippa held her off with one hand, still laughing. “Whoa, small woman who smells of wheat. Watch this.” He chucked Hekla to the side like she weighed no more than said wheat, then dove at the mound of dirt where Lucus was buried. He lifted earth in massive clumps, and before I could figure out how to pitch in to help, Lucus was sitting beside him and Kaippa was dusting him off.

  Lucus was paler than I’d ever seen him. Of course, being buried would do that to a person. A human would’ve died from that little trick, but I guessed fae lords were made of tougher stuff. He gulped in air, his body shaking.

  “Thank you, Kaippa.” Lucus, bleeding from his full bottom lip, scowled at the vamp. Lucus was most likely as confused as I was about why Kaippa had saved him.

  Kaippa slapped him on the back. “Well, as much as I am not the one to sing your praises, it turns out we might just need one another, depending on how the magic goes. For one thing, I can’t seem to get through the barrier they’ve set up here. After hunting down a deer, I began to fly off, but a barely visible dome appeared, and it hit me hard. I tried a few more spots but was growing lightheaded with the effort. That barrier…” He shuddered. “Once I finished vomiting, I came to find you. Secondly, the curse.”

  I fought the urge to hug the hell out of Lucus. I didn’t care to be obvious about how attached I was getting to the grouchy fae lord.

  “What are you talking about, Kaippa?” Lucus checked the slip of red silk at his belt, his one reminder of his lost brother, Francesco.

  “You haven’t noticed how frail we both look? I mean, even compared to how terrible we looked at the castle.” Kaippa waved at his face and then at Lucus’s. “We’re dying, and I think it’s because of the spell. I hate to tell you this, Coren, but I don’t think you actually broke the Mage Duke’s curse.”

  I held my breath. “But I saw Lucilla,” I whispered, looking at Lucus, who had shut his eyes. His lips bunched, and he shook his head. “I know the curse was broken.”

  Shrugging, Kaippa leaned over to sniff Nora’s hair, causing her to jump back and shoot off a small crack of amethyst lightning. “Maybe you broke part of it, but not all of it? Mages do love their complicated castings.”

  “Who are you, and why do you know anything about mages?” Nora’s hands sparked.

  “I worked for the Mage Duke, the same fantastically horrid man who cursed this fae lord and his brothers. Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I suffered the curse alongside them.”

  “They told me about what occurred, but they hadn’t mentioned you.”

  “Saving the best for last, I’m sure.” Kaippa winked at Lucus and me.

  Hekla snorted. “Boy, you’re something, aren’t you?”

  “That I am. Care to enjoy a little one-on-one time with me? I would bet you taste delicious.”

  Hekla flipped him off. “Try it, jerk. I’m done freaking out over supernatural stuff and have moved on to being overwhelmed and tired. I’m a strange mix of apathy and rage, so I might just surprise y’all with a win against your ass. Fatigue and shock can make a gal crazy.” She bent her fingers to look like claws and bared her human—and sadly very tame—teeth.

  “I can see why you befriended this one, infant mage,” he said to me before giving Hekla an appraising look. “Well, I’m around if you change your mind, wheat girl. When a vampire drinks, a singular euphoria sweeps over the…donor, for lack of a better word. Isn’t that right, Coren?”

  Hekla’s eyes widened. “Please say you have no idea what he’s talking about. Making out with pointy-eared tree hotness is one thing, but cozying up to someone who drinks blood—”

  “She had little choice in the matter.” Lucus walked over and stood beside me. The tip of his ear was still dirty, and a smear of earth stained his temple.

  “There are more important things we need to deal with here,” I said. “Sorry, Hekla. Yeah, I went there, but it sucked. Literally.”

  Hekla stared at Kaippa’s mouth, and he showed his fangs. “I could set you up with a set of these, dear. Just say the word.”

  Ugh. “Kaippa! Shut up and quit trying to eat my friend and/or turn her into a vampire. Now, we have three problems here, right?”

  “Oh, I love it when she gets like this.” Hekla rubbed her hands together, her shock seemingly put to the side for the time being. “I haven’t seen her this worked up since my Volvo died on our way to our Yosemite climbing trip.”

  I waved at her to get her to shut it. “I can’t seem to access the ley lines to keep myself from dying. Nora and the other mage are trapped here due to psychotic fae who also seem to hate Lucus. And lastly, something, maybe a curse layered in the original curse, is slowly killing Lucus and Kaippa.”

  Kaippa held up a hand. “May I?”

  “Careful,” Hekla whispered.

  “Go on,” I said.

  “Baccio and Aurelio are most likely not feeling lovely either. Wherever they may be.”

  Lucus did that lip bunching and closed eyes thing again. “They’re feeding beyond the henge,” he said to Nora. “Are we permitted to go back there, beyond the silver pool?”

  “The boundary extends past the henge about ten miles or so. Do you think they tried to venture farther than ten miles in their search for proper feeding trees?”

  “I doubt it. They’re most likely still sleeping inside the two they entered upon our arrival.”

  “Then I can get you there. We’ll claim we need some space to fully train Coren. I’ve been there before to work on lift.”

  I frowned. “Lift?” Like an elevator?

  Kaippa flapped his wings, and Hekla and Nora grimaced at the hooked claws on the tops of them. “Flying, Coren. Well, not flying exactly.”

  “It’s like jumping.” Lucus’s voice was tight, as if he were remembering a past battle.

  Then I recalled Lucus’ memory of the attack and how the mages had leapt through the storm clouds they’d stirred up with their magic. “Whoa.”

  Nora didn’t not
ice my trepidation. She was pacing back and forth, tapping her chin with a finger. “Arleigh will want you properly trained so the magic she drains from you will prove stronger and more adaptable to the boundary’s specifications. The moon will be full in six sleeps. That will be beneficial as well,” Nora mumbled mostly to herself. “She will be in a hurry since I am the last. Arleigh encourages us to train before the Binder takes us to the Yew Bow.”

  “Before they sacrifice you to their magical boundary that protects them from the outside world,” I said, clarifying for Kaippa, who had missed all that fun.

  Nora looked up from her plotting, the life we’d stirred up in her going dead again. “Yes. I’m to die at the full moon.”

  Kaippa whistled.

  “Wait,” I said, not sure I’d heard her right. “You’re going to be bound at the full moon? In six days, Arleigh will kill you.”

  “With the Binder at my side, yes.”

  “Nora, I’m so sorry.” Crap, this all sucked so bad. Everyone was in the process of dying or would be soon. What a shit storm.

  Hekla offered something to Nora.

  “Did you just give her one of my pumpkin muffins?” She’d been holding out at the fire.

  “She needs it.” Hekla pushed the pumpkin muffin into Nora’s hand.

  “Agreed.” I nodded.

  Lucus eyed the pumpkin muffin with more interest than he should’ve had. I slapped his arm. “We are focused on plotting, fae lord. If you keep me alive, and I keep you alive, I can make you a bucket of those babies.”

  His brow furrowed. Damn, he was handsome. “I understand roughly half of what you just said, but I think you are attempting to reward me with your famed pumpkin muffins. I approve.”

  Kaippa turned the Mage Duke’s ring around on his finger. “Why are the fae here so obsessed with keeping the outside world away? What do they fear? The fae obviously venture out to capture mages and wake their magic to use for their own benefit, so they aren’t afraid of mages in general. Are they hiding from the Mage Duke? No, surely not. It was so long ago. He is probably in his dotage, rotting away on a throne in the Alps somewhere.”

  I liked that idea.

  Nora spoke up. “The fae fear humans because humans fear them. The Binder told me that when I was a child, free and living with my parents outside Paris, before they took me, the humans flushed a small enclave of fae in the Lake District and killed them all with large guns.”

  “How old are you?” I couldn’t help but ask. She’d lived in the real world, beyond curses and fae, for at least some of her life. How long had she been here, trapped?

  “I am ninety-four.”

  My mouth popped open. She looked thirty or thirty-five at the most. “What year did the fae capture you? Did they take your parents too? Were they mages?”

  “They killed my parents because they had no magic. I inherited mine from my grandfather. It skipped a generation. I was taken in 1936.”

  Hekla held up a hand and turned to walk away a few steps. “I need a minute.”

  It was bananas. Nora had been taken into this kingdom right before World War II had broken out. Thinking of the horrors that had happened in the human world during that time, I thought maybe the fae weren’t completely stupid for wanting to escape real life.

  Lucus watched Hekla walk to the fire. “We need to continue our discussion. I would guess Arleigh won’t allow us to talk as long as we might want to. The only way we’ll figure out if the curse is broken is by returning to the castle. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yeah. That makes sense. And I can’t help anyone escape if I die from magical zaps. So the first course of action is to get my power up and running properly so I’m an asset instead of a liability.”

  Hekla returned, her face grim. “The guards are coming over here, y’all.”

  Chapter 9

  Sure enough, the stone-faced fae guards were heading our way, coming up over the rise, already close to the clearing where we’d eaten by the fire.

  Nora grabbed my shirt and Lucus’s too, pulling us into a huddle. Kaippa and Hekla leaned in. “Let me do the talking. I’ll try to persuade them to allow us to train today, beyond the henge at the edge of the boundary. We’ll search for your kin, Lucus, and we’ll work on Coren’s magic.” She released us as the guards approached and called her name.

  The first guard, a chestnut-haired male fae with vine wings covered in blood red ivy, apparently noticed Kaippa because he raised a hand and drew vines from the ground that wrapped the vampire’s ankle tightly. “Who is this? You haven’t been presented to Queen Arleigh.”

  Nora got between the guard and Kaippa. “He’s with us. This fae,” she indicated Lucus, “told the queen about the vampire.”

  The guard’s lip curled as he studied Kaippa’s bat wings. “We weren’t told he would be arriving. Vampires aren’t permitted in this kingdom.”

  “We’ll take him to Princess Corliss,” the second guard said, narrowing blue eyes at Kaippa. He was a foot taller than the rest of us, which was saying a lot considering how large Lucus was. “The princess can decide what to do with him.”

  Kaippa held out his hands. “Come on, men. What threat do I pose? You are far more powerful than me. Don’t bother Princess Corliss for such a lowly beast as myself.”

  The guards traded a look, considering Kaippa’s words. If they took him to Corliss, she might imprison him or even kill him. If we figured out how to escape, would we have to find him first and possibly lose everyone in the attempt? Would Lucus risk that for Kaippa? The vampire had just saved his life.

  The vine holding Kaippa released him, then the guards snatched his arms. Damn. Now we had that to deal with too.

  The guard with the red ivy wings turned to Nora, Kaippa’s sleeve bunched between his fingers. “Queen Arleigh sent word you are to join the court for a feast tomorrow night to celebrate your upcoming binding to the Yew Bow, Mage Nora. The rest of you will come as well. Your presence is meant to entertain the court. Be ready.”

  Nora raised her chin. “I need to take them beyond the silver pool to train near the henge so we don’t damage the central fae grounds.”

  “We will ask Princess Corliss on your behalf. Wait here until you receive permission from our replacements.” They left with Kaippa in tow.

  “I’ll grab some herbs and a magestone to get your magic running,” Nora said, rushing toward her chamber.

  Lucus stared in the direction they’d taken Kaippa. The afternoon sun gilded his sharp cheekbones and dusted light along his forehead. I could almost see through his subtle glamour, could nearly glimpse the miniature leaves at the very edges of his eyelashes. “I suspect they will toy with him before killing him.”

  My stomach rolled.

  Frowning, Hekla hugged herself. “Are we going to save him? He saved you.”

  “I’m no huge fan of his,” I said, “but yeah, it seems like we should.”

  Lucus nodded. “I will do my best.”

  “We’re with you,” Hekla said. She blinked like she’d surprised herself in saying so.

  Nora was taking a while, so I walked over to her chamber to check and see if I could help with anything. I peered into her chamber, studying the walls of massive tree roots. A small chandelier made of hand-sized lightning bolts floated and flashed near the ceiling of the room. A red rug covered the floor, and the back wall showed a circle with magical runes painted in ocher.

  Nora was on her knees, digging through a satchel and chucking stuff over her shoulder. “I could have sworn I had another magestone in here somewhere.” She threw a handful of stones and a small book, and I dodged them, ducking out of the chamber.

  My eyes were drawn to the chamber beside hers. The chamber of the Binder.

  Glancing at Nora to make sure she was still busy, I aimed for her magical neighbor’s abode.

  The Binder’s chamber possessed a metallic scent, a sharp odor that burned the back of my throat and got my hackles up. A shape crouched in the corner, and I
held my breath as I approached slowly, not wanting to wake the miserable, powerful mage. Nora had told me about him. He wasn’t some wild beast, but it was tough to remember the fact as the shape wheezed and didn’t exactly pop up to say Howdy. Curiosity burned my brain.

  I took a shallow breath, my pulse ticking up a notch. I wasn’t waiting until freaking nightfall to talk to this guy. I needed all the expert mage help I could get, and I needed it now. This might be the only chance I had to talk to him, and Nora wasn’t here to stop me. Yeah, I was going for it.

  “Hello.” I waved and forced a smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

  Not my strongest opening.

  “Go away.”

  Great. Good start. How could I begin this little convo?

  “I said, go away.” His voice sounded like it was coming from a hollowed gourd.

  “I heard you the first time, guy. Listen, can we make it past the hellos? My magic is beating me up better than any champion MMA fighter, and Nora said you can put a stop to it.” I probably should’ve been nicer considering the hell he was going through. I’d try again. “Hey, look. Sorry. That was the wrong tone. But honestly, if you can help me, maybe I can help you and your son escape?”

  The mage was on his feet before I could pick a shocked swear word.

  The Binder was tall and far too thin, his bearded face gaunt in the weak light streaming through the door behind me. It was easy to see he’d once been a handsome man, but now, he was a shell of a person. He wore ragged clothing—a thin, brown shirt and torn trousers—but no shoes. His feet must’ve been freezing.

  “Go away.” Raising a palm, he summoned a punch of power, and I was cast from his chamber like yesterday’s trash.

  Lucus was there beside me in less than a second, giving me a hand up. He snarled at the Binder, who’d appeared in the doorway, eyes blazing a deep purple. What in the world…

  Hekla and Nora came running from opposite directions, both looking wide-eyed and not a little ticked off. Hekla most likely because I’d gotten myself into more deep shit and Nora because I’d woken the Binder against her advice.