They’ll hate me once they know that I was deceiving them the whole time. But if we look hard, everyone has been trying to deceive each other this whole time. So, am I really to blame? Maybe everyone is. Ugh. I never thought I’d feel guilty for leaving these guys, I intentionally stopped hanging around them for that reason. It was a moot point. They’re so similar to the males I already have relationships with that it was easy to slip into an easy comfortability. Should I simply tell them the truth? If I want them to work with me to bring peace, I have to be honest from the get-go.
I stand up abruptly, and they all stop talking. “Uh. . .” Man, I didn’t think this through. “I need to tell you something, and you’re not allowed to be angry.”
Lucian raises an eyebrow. “That’s not a great way to start a conversation.”
I level a look at him. “I’m serious.”
He holds up his hands. “Fine. I won’t get mad, how about you guys?”
The other males nod and give me encouraging smiles. It makes my guilt spread further. They trust me and don’t think I would ever do anything behind their backs. I can’t decide if that makes me angry or happy. On the one hand, they must underestimate me, but on the other, they believe in my innocence. And isn’t that something I’ve always wanted to preserve since coming into the fae realm?
“I haven’t been honest with you, just as you haven’t been honest with me. I know that this isn’t the light fae academy, and I know that you guys have stolen Rowan away somewhere to protect your own kind. I understand why you did it, and I’m sure you can also understand why I didn’t tell you I know exactly where I am and who you are.”
The room is silent for several seconds, and I can’t read the expression on their faces. Are they mad? Happy I told the truth? Ugh. Fae and their ability to be still and calm. This a just another reason to hate that trait.
“So, what? You’ve been feeding the light fae intel about us?” Damon asks coldly.
I step back in surprise. “No! I’ve helped you. Octavius has shown me things about your kind that will help me make a case for ending the war to the elemental kings.”
“Has he now?” Lucian asks, sounding less than pleased.
This isn’t going as planned. “Yes, but there’s more. The earth king has made a vow to me that he’ll help me end the war! Plus, he agreed to allow his magic free reign on the shadow kingdom again. You’ll have wildlife and flourish trees. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
They look at one another, suspicion clearly on their faces. “Yes, that’s what we wanted. What all did Octavius teach you about us?”
For some reason, that question sends chills down my spine. Will he hurt his own son? Surely not. This definitely isn’t going the way I thought it would. I’m realizing too late that these are not the same males I already know. They’re younger, less experienced, and have different things driving them. Dark Lucian never lost his mate, never killed his father. I’m dealing with a different set of circumstances.
I square my feet and cross my arms. “I’m not sure if I should tell you that when you use that tone of voice with me.”
He stands and begins to walk slowly toward me. The others sit stalk still, watching. Dark tendrils of power creep around his fingers, and I have to remind myself that in the shadow realm, his power is beautiful, not dangerous. It does little to quell the fear within me now. Is he truly going to hurt me? Restrain me?
His voice is midnight soft, “Tone of voice? You’re acting like I owe you respect. A halfling with the power of a god does not instill respect in my heart. Especially when I’ve taken her god away.”
He steps up to me so close that we’re almost touching chest to chest. Was he fooling me the entire time? Leading me to believe that he took an interest in me? My heart rises into my throat, and I have to fight back tears. All of the nights that we had laid in bed together, holding each other, meant nothing to him. How can that be? He played me.
“Taken my god away? Really? I’m not your enemy here. It’s time you realized that. I’m not fighting on anyone's side. I’m on the side of ending the war.”
He looks down at me, and I’m startled to see that an inky black has taken over the entirety of his eyes. If we were in the shadow realm, would they be glowing an ethereal white? Somehow that sounds more terrifying than what I’m witnessing now. He’d look like a real god who had come down from the heavens to smite me.
He growls, “I don’t believe you, and the dark fae already have a king. We don’t need a queen.” He suddenly turns away and gestures to the other masters around the table. “I’m leaving with Fiora to meet with the shadow king before the solstice celebration. Take her to the iron cell.”
Rai looks appalled. “What? Why? We can handle her while you’re gone.”
Lucian levels a look at him so scathing that I flinch. Rai immediately lowers his eyes. This isn’t any Lucian I know. This male is cruel in ways I never realized. Damon stands and puts my hands behind my back very gently, almost apologetically. Lucian leaves the room, and I’m almost positive that he’s going to find Octavius.
I plead with them, “Please, someone has to warn Octavius. I didn’t know this would happen. He’s just helping me help all fae as a whole. It was his idea to talk the Earth king into bringing life back to the dark fae realm. I swear.”
The masters around me exchange glances. Rai stands. “I’ll go, I was the last to see him.”
Tears stream down my face as I reply, “Thank you, thank you.”
He rushes out as Damon begins to lead me down the hall with Adrian and Orin trailing behind. They’re all silent, leaving the only sound in the hall to be my sniffling. How did it come to this? Was he waiting for me to confess everything? Did he know it was me who broke into the armory? There’s no way to know now, and I’m afraid to ask the masters behind me. They can’t be trusted. I step into the elevator first, and Damon lets go of my arms. When they board in front of me, I can see the indecision and guilt on their faces. They’re not sure that they agree with Lucian. Can I use that to my advantage?
We get off and walk out the front doors toward the other buildings on campus. A figure kicks off the brick wall of the main quad and comes into the light. It’s Beth! Her eyes go to my hands around my back and the nervous energy of the group. Realization lights up her face for only a moment before it turns blank again.
“What are you doing with her?” she asks Damon coldly.
“Taking her to a holding cell. Get out of our way, vampire.”
She steps aside to walk beside us instead. “Why?”
He looks at her, clearly annoyed. “I don’t answer to you. Go back to your dorm room.”
She glances at me, and I’m about to nod when I hear running footsteps. Octavius rounds the bend, his face panic-stricken. He stops directly in front of us, with Rai right behind him.
“What the hell is going on here? Is it true? Did my father really order this to happen?”
“Yes, we’re to take her to the iron holding cell.”
Octavius looks shocked. “No! No, that’s not happening. Give her to me!”
He grabs my waist and begins pulling me toward him, but Damon doesn’t let go of my wrists. Pain sears through my shoulders as the other masters get in between us. It’s a bit of a tug of war match until Orin and Adrian together are able to pull Octavius away from me. He looks crazed, almost frenzied as he fights against them. I balk at the sight. Is this a part of our bond of friendship? Does he feel the need to protect me? Save me?
I shout at him. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Stay with Beth! Stay with Beth!”
I hope that he gleans the meaning of my statement. If I can’t go and retrieve Rowan myself on the night of the solstice, then someone has to do it for me. Octavius acts as if he can’t even hear me, so I lock eyes with Beth instead. She nods to me and walks toward Octavius, trying to calm him as Damon drags me away, this time with much more force. My shoulders ache by the time we get to the door of the club. Of course.
He’s taking me to the basement.
He pushes me down the stairs, and I stumble, almost falling. “Gods! Take it easy.”
He scoffs, “Sorry, your highness.”
“What? So, you’ve suddenly made up your mind that I’m the criminal Lucian is trying to make me out to be?”
He opens a locked door at the end of the hall and shrugs. “Better safe than sorry is what I always say.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re nothing like your light counterpart.”
He raises his eyebrows. “I was made by his spilled blood. Did you think I would be?”
He shoves me into a cold metal chair in the middle of the room. A feeling of weakness washes through me the moment my body touches the chair. Ah, I’ve never come into contact with iron before. So, this is what it feels like? It’s awful. Like a leech sucking my strength. Metal shackles go around my bare ankles and wrists, causing a constant searing pain to move through my limbs.
“Ah! It burns!” I can’t help but yelp weakly.
Damon grimaces slightly, and I can tell that even if he’s unsure about what I might mean to the dark fae, he doesn’t believe that this is right. He knows that he shouldn’t be doing this. I begin to thrash, but soon discover that my wrists turn red and blistered wherever the metal touches. It’s best to leave it in a contained area. My breath comes out in strangled pants as I watch my skin become more and more injured.
“I can knock you out.”
I look up at him, dazed from the pain. “What?”
“I can make you sleep. Lucian isn’t letting you out of here until the ball. The shadow king wants to see you there, so you’re going either way. It’s either suffer for three days alone in here with no food or water or let me knock you out using magic.”
I try to think through the pain lancing through me. His proposal seems logical, but will Octavius be able to come to get me? No, not with how the scene outside just went. They’ll be watching him like a hawk. I’m all alone down here and will be until the ball, as Damon said.
“Fine, do it,” I groan.
He steps forward and places both hands around my head. “This might hurt.”
“Wait, why...?” I slur before a bright flash of pain makes me see stars, and then darkness envelops me.
Chapter Fourteen
“Someone was rather nice to you, I see.”
The voice cuts through my groggy thoughts. What did they say? I opened my eyes to reveal the tallest male I've ever seen. He must be over seven feet tall, and the air of power around him is overwhelming. My vision is blurry, but he seems to resemble someone I know, and his voice is familiar too.
“Rowan, is that you?” I ask excitedly. How did he break free after all this time?
“Yes, and no.”
“What?”
I open my eyes further, despite the pain it brings me. The fluorescent light of the room beats against me, reminding me that I have a headache. My eyes widen at who seems to be before me. It’s dark Rowan? I’ve never seen him as a real person before, only as a magical spirit of sorts. His eyes are a cool grey rimmed in gold, and his lush black hair falls around his face like smoke. And yet, he looks very similar to Lucian still as if they could be long lost brothers.
“You’re Rowan’s dark fae copy.” He grins, and it makes my heart squeeze painfully in my chest. I’ve missed that smile.
He takes a seat in the chair across from me, crossing one leg over the other elegantly. “On the contrary, my dear. Your Rowan is a copy of me, as I was the first shadow fae to be created by Mother Earth eons ago.”
Shock flows through me. “You’re the shadow king.”
“Indeed, I am.”
His eyes go to the shackles around my wrists and ankles, and a frown tugs at his mouth. He waves one hand, and they disappear, yet the ugly burns remain. They had gotten worse when I was asleep. They’re now seeping blood and some type of fluid that makes me worry about infection. Can a fae get an infection? The pain has become so constant and bone-deep that it feels like a second skin.
“Can you heal me?”
His head tilts to one side, and the action reminds me of a wolf watching its prey. “No, I do not have that ability. It’s one of the few magical powers that I do not possess, unfortunately. My talents lie elsewhere.”
“Oh, yes, the shadow realm, right?”
“Yes, I was its creator. When I was born along with the other four elemental fae kings, and your Rowan, Mother Earth gave us each a task. We were to build our realms, our courts, in a way that exemplifies our power. Your Rowan was to create heaven, and I was to create hell. However, instead, we worked together to create what is now known as the shadow realm. A place for souls to make a choice.”
I lean forward, fascinated by his story. “So, Rowan knows you exist?”
At that question, his face darkens. “Yes, but he prefers to tell himself I do not.” He switches his position to lean forward as well, looking me in the eyes. “All fae make mistakes, and your Rowan continues to pay for his sins now all these centuries later. Being killed and reborn again and again until he fixes what he has broken, and it seems that he may be able to do so with you. Come.”
He stands and moves to the door, opening it with just a thought. Is he that old? That powerful? And Rowan is too? My mind is still waking up, and I’m processing this new information slowly but surely. This male walking in front of me is the original Rowan, while the one I’ve come to know is his copy.
“If you were one of the first fae, and knew the true extent to your power, why didn’t you claim the name of light fae for your kind?”
He makes a disgruntled noise. “Labels such as those did not exist until your Rowan had created them on his crusade to rule all realms.”
My stomach drops. “Is he the villain in this story?”
He glances back at me with an amused expression on his face. “He was many years ago, but his soul is still pure. As I said, he has atoned for his sins.”
“Why haven’t you just stopped this war if you’re just as powerful as him?”
He shrugs. “It is like a hydra. You cut off one head, and two more grow in its place. This war is now maintained by males much younger and less wise than their predecessors.”
His statement makes me wary of the road ahead, maybe ending this war won’t be as easy as I had thought. Even that thought makes me laugh to myself. Ending a war? Easy? How naive. Has this male come out of his castle to help me? Ally with me? No. This being isn’t like the others. He’s ancient and powerful in a way that makes my very soul recoil. He will not ally with anyone, let alone a young halfling like me.
“Is your name Rowan?”
“No, my name is Julius.”
“Like Julius Caesar?”
“Who?”
“Never mind.”
We walk out of the building in silence into the open night air. Snow whips around me, and I shiver at the sudden cold weather. What the hell? There was no snow a few days ago. And yet, it’s beautiful. The snow here has a blue sheen to it similar to the way it’s portrayed in cartoons. Nothing in this realm ceases to amaze me.
“Where did all this snow come from?”
He falls back to walk beside me. “It is winter solstice day. It always snows today.”
It’s already the winter solstice? Damon was telling the truth; he did knock me out. Julius holds open the door to the main quad for me before following me in. Despite his unsettling power, I feel surprisingly unthreatened by him. So much so I’ve followed him blindly across campus. At least we ended up here where our plan was set to begin. I wonder if Beth and Octavius were able to get everything together in time without me.
We step into the elevator, and it whisks us to the sixth floor where Fiora’s and his rooms are located. Julius moves silently through the corridor like he’s made of nothing but smoke and shadow. No one has stopped us, but why would they? He’s the shadow king. I bet he’s never been questioned in his life. Well, maybe by Rowan, but that’s about it.
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He opens the bedroom door to reveal a beautiful shimmering blue dress lying across the bed. Matching blue heels and silver earrings lie in a box beside it. The heels are strappy, and it makes me cringe just to think of wrapping them around my aching ankles. Julius notices my expression and moves to the door.
“Get dressed, I will send for Adrian.”
I step toward him. “Wait, Julius.” He pauses but doesn't turn around. “I feel like I have to tell you what’s going to happen tonight.”
He turns then, smiling. “No, you only feel that way because I look like someone you trust. You made that mistake with Lucian, please don’t make it with me. I promise not to step in if you plan to make your escape from this place tonight. Change takes sacrifice and radical action. However, I’d appreciate it if no lives were lost.”
“Thank you,” I whisper as he leaves the room.
Careful to avoid touching my wounds to the fabric, I pull on the sparkling dress. In the mirror, it sways as if in a gentle breeze, and the colors moving across it ripple like a lake bathed in moonlight. I smooth the fabric down and try not to look at my wrists in the mirror. I look like a harbored war criminal, well, I guess that's what I am now according to dark Lucien. My stomach drops again. It’s still a shock that he had fouled me so completely. Even my Lucien was fooled.
He’s becoming attached to you.
I know.
Suddenly the door opens, and Adrian rushes into the room and envelopes me in a strong embrace. “Gods, are you alright? Well, of course not! Look at you.”
He kneels down in front of me, and the moment his hands clasp around my ankles, I know. This isn’t dark Adrian; this is my Adrian. Water healing flows through my skin, giving me instant relief. He smiles up at me and runs his hands up my calves before standing up. I gasp, and my face flames at my reaction. This is the desire I’m supposed to be feeling for my potential mates.
High Fae Academy - Year Two: Paranormal Fae Romance Page 13