by Ella Frank
Ry’Ker removed his helmet, revealing his closely shaved head, and gave him a look that was full of apprehension. “I understand, but is there no other way than to enlist him?”
Li’Am had tried to think of one, but the longer he ruminated over the matter, the clearer the solution became. “No, there’s no other way. He’s the only other who knows the Taise Forest as she does. And he is our only hope of getting them out of there without detection.”
Ry’Ker gave a swift nod of his head even as his mouth pulled taut in disapproval. However, loyal to the end, he offered up no argument. Instead, he silently replaced his helmet and turned to join his men.
* * *
Naeve rolled over and looked up to see Siobhan’s familiar face curtained by her fiery-red hair. “Shit,” she cursed then whacked her sister on the arm. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Shh!” Siobhan hissed, bringing a finger to her lips as she crouched down beside them. “There’s something really fucked up going on here.”
Always one to state the obvious, Siobhan was right—there was definitely something screwed up about this situation.
“Do you know where we are?” Naeve asked, hoping she would magically have an answer.
“Be quiet, or whatever the hell made that God-awful noise will come back.”
Audra crawled closer to the two of them and whispered, “Where’s Fiona? Is she with you?”
Siobhan nodded and moved aside. When Fiona stepped into view, Audra leaped to her feet and threw her arms around her neck.
Oh, thank God, Naeve thought as her eyes caught Siobhan’s. She wanted to ask how they’d gotten there, but she figured her answer would be the same as her own—a big, fat ‘I don’t know.’
Instead, she watched as Siobhan walked several steps away from them. Standing, Naeve followed and stopped beside her to stare out into the eerie shadows.
“I keep trying to remember what happened, you know?”
She looked at Siobhan’s side profile and answered, “Me too. I mean, we didn’t drink that much that I’m dreaming this, right?”
“No. Trust me—you’re awake. It was the fortune teller. I’m sure of it. Something was off with her.”
“Definitely. She knew my name, Siobhan. How could she know that?”
They both stood there for a moment, and then Siobhan looked at her and admitted, “I have no fucking idea.”
As they stared at one another in shared confusion, Naeve wondered if this would ever make any sense.
“There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep out here,” Siobhan finally confided. “And I swear… I know this sounds crazy, but ever since I woke up, I feel like I’m being watched.”
It didn’t seem that crazy. In fact, she’d had similar thoughts herself.
“This place is strange, Naeve. I’m tellin’ you. I have no idea where we are, but it sure as hell isn’t anywhere close to home. I mean, that noise...” She paused. “What the fuck was that?”
Naeve didn’t have any answers, only more questions, and with the look in her sister’s eyes, she knew now wasn’t the time. So she opted for the obvious.
“We just need to get some rest and then find a way out of here.”
“How? By hiking back to the main road? Look around. There is no road. All I saw when I was looking for you guys was forest. Trees, shrubs, a million fucking ferns, but no road. No path. So, how are we going to get out of here?”
Naeve put her hands on her hips, frustrated as she glared at her irritatingly logical sister. “You know what? We’re all scared, but don’t take it out on me. I’m just trying to think out loud like you are. To stay positive.”
Siobhan gave a laugh that was devoid of any humor. “Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but not even you have enough positivity to make something good come from this.”
She didn’t want to believe that that was true. But the one emotion she’d always come by so easily was elusive in that moment, and she feared that, if she lost hope for even a second, maybe she would never find it again.
* * *
She couldn’t sleep. She was too busy listening to all of the strange noises surrounding them. The odd sounds of an owl hoo-ah-hooing and the howl of what had to be several wolves had begun a little while ago. The sounds weren’t unfamiliar, but they were weird as hell when the only place she’d heard them before was on the television.
Audra and Fiona were somehow asleep, while Siobhan remained like her—wide awake and alert. She was sitting on the opposite side of their sisters with her back pressed to the trunk of the tree and her legs drawn up to her chest. Still dressed in her loose combat cargos, a black T-shirt, and zippered jacket, Siobhan was most definitely the tomboy.
Which makes me the girly girl.
“I’m sorry about before,” Siobhan said matter-of-factly as she stood and brushed her hands over her pants. She then turned to look down at both Audra and Fiona. “They need to wake up so we can get moving.” That was all she offered before she marched off to wait a little ways from the tree.
Great. This is all we need. Siobhan in a bad mood equaled Hell on Earth, but at this stage, it was the only familiar thing around—so she’d take it.
After waking her sleeping sisters, Naeve got them up, and they made their way down to where their headstrong sister waited.
“We need to move. Probably best to start out now before the sun rises—if it even does. It looks like it’s going to rain.”
The three of them all nodded in agreement. At least, if they moved around in the shadows, it was less likely that whoever had brought them here would spot them.
* * *
Si’Bastian, son of Li’Am, crouched high on the branch of a giant Sequoia, watching the four women below. Several minutes earlier, they had started to move out.
When he’d first arrived, two of the four had been sleeping, and he’d known that hadn’t been the right time to approach. But now, as they all followed behind the redhead in front, the timing was perfect.
He stood to his full height on the branch and felt the rough scrape of the bark below his feet as he concentrated on the movement below. He hadn’t been told much by his father, just that he was to keep the women safe until the guards arrived—a task that seemed easy enough.
As the three of them followed their leader and chatted amongst one another, Bastian took form on the ground, hidden by the dense foliage. Up close, he noticed that each of the women was strikingly different, but it was the one at the back who caught his full attention. The one with the hair dark as night and a face that resembled a woman he’d never met.
She had the face of their lost Empress, Maeve.
His father had been right. Seraphine had done the impossible. She’d brought back to Arcania the children of their lost Empress.
Bastian studied them as they moved. Each of them was wearing strange attire that didn’t belong where they had awoken, and it made him wonder exactly where Seraphine had plucked them from.
Deciding that it was time to make his move, he figured if he could get to the front of the group without detection, then the shock value would work in his favor. He crept alongside them and was trying to choose the precise moment when the woman in the back, the one who had caught his eye, slowed her stride and turned to where he was standing.
“I think someone’s following us.”
Knowing he needed to move quickly, Bastian faded and reemerged at the head of the group, directly in front of the redhead. She stopped and frowned at him, and that’s when he heard very clearly a thought that was practically shouting through his head.
Siobhan!
He let his eyes shift past the redhead and lock onto the blonde standing behind her.
Ahh, yes. It had definitely been her thought, as she looked at him with fear. But before she could let free the scream that was bubbling up inside her, Bastian raised his arm and flattened his hand towards them.
A blinding, white light pulsated from the center of his palm and
encapsulated the four in a glamour shield. As they each fell to the ground at his feet, his mouth crooked at the side and he thought, Gotcha.
“Where is he?” Ry’Ker shoved his way past Marcus, his brother’s number one henchman, and stormed inside the massive, wooden doors of Claremont.
“He doesn’t wish to be disturbed,” the stocky man pointed out until Ry’Ker halted, turned his head, and pinned him with an unrelenting look. That’s when Marcus seemed to remember whom he was addressing. “Sire.”
Ry’Ker placed his iron bascinet helmet under his arm and walked over towards the man he’d known since he was a boy. “Where. Is. He?” he asked again, his patience wearing thin.
Marcus’s face pulled into a tight grimace, appearing as though he detested the fact that he felt compelled to answer. “He’s where he always is. The armory.”
“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He watched the other man’s jaw clench and knew that he was holding himself back from saying anything more.
“I’ll show myself in, shall I?”
“Do what you wish. This is your home, Sire.”
This time, the formal title, when delivered, was dripping with disdain and had Ry’Ker narrowing his eyes.
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” He turned, about to head out, but at the last minute added, “You’d do well to remember it, Marcus.”
Then he exited the front entryway to track down his traitorous brother.
* * *
Naeve’s head was throbbing. Jesus. Even her hangover from last night hadn’t felt like this. She raised a hand to grip her forehead as she opened her eyes and peered into…darkness. Absolute pitch-black darkness. For a minute, she wasn’t even sure she’d opened her eyes.
She squinted, wishing for just a sliver of—
Light.
The instant she thought the word, everything came flooding back to her.
The tarot shop. The creepy forest. And the…man?
She bent her legs and dug the heels of her boots into the ground as she scrambled backwards. She went as far as she could go until she hit a solid surface.
The only sound in the cavernous space was her own breathing as she strained to see even an inch in front of her. But when nothing came into view, she felt the thudding in her head increase.
“You have awoken.”
Naeve felt her entire body become rigid at the low voice that spoke from the shadows. Not wanting to alert whomever it was of her whereabouts, she clamped her teeth into her bottom lip and willed herself to remain silent.
“It’s no use trying to hide, Naeve Brannigan. I can see you.”
Oh, God. He knows my name. How does he know my name?
“I’ll answer all of your questions. But for now, you need to listen.”
Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to locate the source of that voice as her breathing accelerated.
“You also need to calm yourself.”
Easy for you to say, she thought as she started to feel lightheaded. You can see me.
Just as the thought entered her mind, a luminous ball of light appeared, hovering over a large, masculine hand.
“There. Better?”
No, she thought as she stared through the impossible. When she spotted the man from earlier, muted by the dim light, she felt herself grow slightly hysterical. She had known it was him. The one who—
What? Blasted a lightning bolt from his palm? Come on… Wake up now, Naeve.
“You’re already awake. This I told you.”
She blinked several times, trying to clear him from her head, her mind—hell, whatever part of her brain had conjured him up. But when she refocused her gaze across the shimmering light, he remained.
“You see? I’m telling you the truth. You are, indeed, awake.”
After deciding that she needed to open her mouth whether this was some kind of hallucination or not, she finally asked the most important question.
“Where are my sisters?”
“They are here with us. Safe,” he told her and lowered his hand to cast a soft glow on all three of her sisters, who were lying at his feet. “You were the first to surface.”
Her heart sped up as she stared down at them, panic-stricken. Then she shook her head, thinking, Surface? That’s an odd choice of words. She couldn’t help but ask, “Surface from what?”
The stranger seemed to ponder her question, but then he deflected with, “That’s a discussion for another time.”
Not understanding anything that was going on, she figured the best thing to do was to keep him talking. Isn’t that what the authorities always say if you are attacked?
Trying to channel some of Siobhan’s inner bravado, she demanded, “Where are we? Why’d you bring us here?”
Without answering, he pushed his face farther into the light, and Naeve was shocked by just how attractive he was.
He had short, black hair that matched dark eyes with thick lashes. His Roman nose was perfectly straight, his cheekbones impossibly high. As if those traits weren’t disconcerting enough, his lips were just this side of full, and she hated that she noticed.
What is wrong with me? This man could be a psychopath for all I know, and I’m sitting here thinking how hot he is.
He chuckled, and the sound was provocative as it left his throat. “Don’t be too distressed. I have that effect on everyone who looks upon me. It’s both a blessing and a curse of my kind. But to answer your question—”
Naeve had forgotten she’d even asked one.
“—I was not the one who brought you here.”
She tried to shake herself out of the seductive stupor she was being wrapped in as he talked, and then the man gave her a full smile and flashed his white teeth.
“Best not to think of me that way, Naeve—although it is flattering. You see, you and I? We’re of the Imperial Family here in Arcania, and they’re trying to keep the bloodlines…pure.”
Caught somewhere between embarrassed and terrified, she felt her eyes widen as they dropped down and she noticed for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a shirt of any kind. Luckily, he was in pants. From what she could see, they were some kind of lightweight material.
Then, almost as if she couldn’t help it, her eyes were drawn back to his incredibly handsome face, which was highlighted by the flickering brightness still radiating from his palm.
Huh. When did that become the least alarming thing in this whacked-out scenario?
Maybe when she’d seen him for the first time or when he’d started… What? Reading my mind? No, it was something else entirely, and she still wasn’t certain she hadn’t dreamt this all up.
“The Imperial Family? Ar…cania?” she repeated, her voice uncertain as it wavered over that final word.
“Yes. You asked me why you’re here and where here is. The answers are simple enough. This is Arcania, and you are here because the Empress brought you here.”
Naeve felt herself frown, and then she finally gave in to the hysteria that’d been building inside her and started to laugh. She realized that her hilarity was completely misplaced, but was unable to stop now that she’d started.
I’ve totally lost my mind.
She couldn’t remember the last time a dream had been so vivid, and she’d never had one in an imaginary world. She must have had way more to drink than she’d first suspected.
Choosing to just play along—hell, why not?—she forced herself to calm down and stop laughing as she leaned in closer to this good-looking…relative of hers.
“Okay. Suppose I believe you. Why don’t you tell me about this place? This…Arcania.”
He raised his hand that remained illuminated and gestured her forward. “Come closer, and I will show you.”
Naeve stared into the light and found herself mesmerized as it started to pulsate like a heartbeat. It continued to hover over his palm as he held his hand steady and remained silent.
“How are you doing that?”
Color
s started to appear within the brightness and swirl together as she watched, spellbound by the display before her.
“Wait for it…”
She couldn’t have moved to save her life or her sleeping sisters’. “Wait for what? What are you doing?”
“I’m going to show you who, and what, you need to see. It just takes a little longer now.”
She brought her eyes up to focus on the man who was fixated on the light. “Why?”
When his dark eyes found hers, she noticed that they were black as night.
“Because it is a time that’s long passed.”
Curious about his riddles and tales now, she asked, “I don’t understand. What’s in the past?”
That was when he gave a half smile and nodded towards his palm. “Your parents as they once were, Naeve, and the world they left behind.”
* * *
“Kai!” Ry’Ker shouted as he stormed into the old armory.
The doors created a loud bang as they slammed shut behind him, and he spotted his brother immediately. It wasn’t hard considering he was in the process of beating the hell out of a piece of brightly glowing iron. On the upside, at least it wasn’t a person. That was something that Ry’Ker had heard his brother was apt to do on occasion.
“Kai,” he repeated with much more force this time.
His brother’s arm halted where it was raised in the air, gripping a hammer. He spared him a quick glance before he turned the narrow piece of steel resting on the solid anvil and brought the hammer down, starting up the same unforgiving rhythm.
Ry’Ker put his helmet on the large wooden table in the center of the room and made his way over to where his brother was working. He remembered when they were young boys of six and seven, spending many hours in there with their father, learning how to craft the perfect sword, knife, and arrow—some of which still remained hanging on the wall behind Kai. Now, here he stood in front of a stranger, a man he hadn’t seen in years—his own brother.