by Elle Wolcott
The tension was growing between their words, even if it was beneath the skin.
“And you believe the same of Iliana?”
“She never wanted to be your princess,” Tristan’s brow softened as he eyed Iliana.
I leaned over the back of the couch and watched the three of them. There was something sad coming to life. Something I couldn’t believe I had missed. Iliana wanted her freedom, a freedom that would allow her to be with Tristan. And his heart had already been broken, that much was clear. But it was Lorcan, his own brother, who caused him the pain. Lorcan had made Iliana his princess, and she was prepared to do anything to get out of his grasp.
Lorcan took a slow deep breath. At least I knew he was alive.
“You understand my plans better than anyone. I failed the first time, but I won’t again.”
“You can’t change what’s happened. Nothing will return what’s lost.”
“Nothing is ever entirely lost!” Lorcan declared and the corners of the window crystalized in frost. I slid back as a shiver traveled over my entire body. It was here that I thought of Cole again. I looked around but didn’t see him. Just outside the door, Iliana had turned her attention to the road to the west.
Tristan shook his head and stepped closer. Lorcan’s men took a half-step up and raised their arms outward, palms to the sky, but Lorcan shook his head and they resumed their places. What magic would they have used? Lorcan found a way to make ice appear on a sunny November day, who knew what the guards could produce.
“I came here for peace,” Tristan shook his head like he was disappointed.
“Peace?” Lorcan laughed.
“I know you want the same.”
Lorcan lifted his chin and stepped down off the porch. “I made a mistake years ago; I do not intend to be so careless this time.”
“Her place isn’t with you.”
“And she belongs on that frozen island?” Lorcan’s patient demeanor was starting to break as the ice crystals returned to the windows. “To be their queen bee, to sit on her throne without ever being allowed to speak her mind?”
“And how is that different than your princess?” Tristan shouted as he dropped his arms to his sides and tightened his fists.
The air was still for a moment. Lorcan and Tristan stood there without a word, the guards on the ready at Lorcan’s command. Iliana had backed herself into the screen door, and I was getting up from the couch with terrible vertigo.
Far to the west came a plume of dust, concealing a speeding truck that I soon realized was my brother’s. And though I suddenly felt safe, my blood was swirling like a hurricane. The mark on my back had begun to twitch, shooting tingles of strange sensations all through my body. Some were pleasant this time, while others still gave me an ache I thought I’d never defeat.
Iliana rushed inside quick, hurried around the room where the couch was, and then slipped into the back area of the cabin. She stepped out with Lydia and shoved her into Cole. Grabbing his arms, she said, “You’re free.”
Cole, blinking heavily, drew in several breaths and then started to untie Lydia. She tripped backward into the wall and slid down to her seat. Her ties might have been hawthorn, but they weren’t the cause for her exhaustion. I was certain Iliana had fed from her. Her gaze bounced around in chaotic fashion, her eyes sullen and gray and wet. She let out a lengthy moan beneath the tape over her mouth and I quickly knelt to remove it. Outside, there were shutting doors and a few spoken words that I couldn’t make out. I got to my feet and stared out through the screen door. There was still a bit of dust in the air, and the crisp autumn breeze gave me a chill.
My brother stood steady behind Elliot, with Julian—I presumed—to the left. And as the dust cleared and I felt my strength finally return, I caught sight of the giant gleaming metal sword in Elliot’s hands.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tristan and Lorcan were silently watching as the three dragons walked closer. Julian’s prominent dimples appeared as he eyed the faeries with a smile. It was playful, but dangerous, and it showed me just how intense and warrior-like the dragons truly were.
In the open field, as clouds came and muted the sun, a gust of wind caught Elliot’s light brown hair and pulled it in all directions. Stepping into the patchy sunlight, Elliot squinted as he scanned the area. His patience took my breath away. He observed everything carefully, moving from one person to the next. Eventually his gaze made it to the cabin and to me as I slid back inside. It’d be ignorant for me to forget why he was there. He’d made it clear that he was my protector, and I was sure he’d love nothing more than to use that monstrosity of a weapon in his hands.
My brother looked like he’d just finished sanding a new piece of furniture, but Elliot and Julian were clean and intriguingly inviting. They both wore sweaters in differing shades of deep blue, and their jeans and boots were clunky and dark. Elliot had on a brown leather jacket that flowed to his mid-thigh, and Julian wore a similar black one. This was a little more appropriate compared to sweatpants, but to be fair, he had just showered when I saw him last night.
They walked closer toward the faeries—and the cabin—as I felt a sudden sting to my marking.
Dylan’s eyes shot to me as I let out a gasp. I tried to keep it quiet, but it was so unexpected I had no choice but to cry out. Lorcan even looked back for a second as he continued to guard the entrance to the cabin. His men didn’t budge in their positions, but Tristan was coming closer, probably to see that I was alright.
And during all of this, Cole just sat there looking at me like he didn’t know what to do.
“You know what’s happening,” Elliot spoke to Tristan, who then nodded. “I need to help her.”
“I’m not the one keeping you out.”
My side stung to the bone as I tried to stay aware of what was going on outside.
“Let me take her home,” Elliot’s voice grew in the wind. Home sounded nice, but my home was different than his. Where would he take me? To Frostmoor? To the hills?
Biting my cheek, I tried to settle the flurry of sensations that were starting to take hold. Not only was there pain, but there was a rush of adrenaline waving through me like a tsunami. I knew I needed to let it in, but really all I wanted was to feel Elliot hold me again. And why? Was our nature toward one another that strong? I thought I was mad at him, but here I was aching to feel him close.
I clung to the door frame as the gusts increased, rocking the cabin and shaking the screen door. Holding myself as steady as I could, I watched the sky darken and the field lose its lustrous golden hue.
As I listened to the men continue to try and reason with one another, I made the choice to let go and welcome the magic with every bit of my being. The more I tried to resist, the worse I felt, so there was no other way. If I kept struggling, they people I cared about would probably get hurt.
“Take her out of here,” I whispered to Cole. Iliana was in the kitchen watching the storm unfold as though she was unable to move. By the time Cole got Lydia up and was heading out the back, I was pushing through the screen door.
“Irene?” my brother called to me. His voice was echoing there in the field as all the colors around me seemed to invert. Flashing violets and waving blues took over and I fell at the stairs and into the arms of Lorcan.
“You’re foolish to believe you’ll ever control her,” he shouted at Elliot.
I gasped at the stinging again, moving out of Lorcan’s arms so that nothing was touching the mark. Trying not to scream and curl into a ball like before, I held onto the banister and looked out over the dragons and the faeries. The marking had not only reached down into the core of my flesh, but now it was spreading.
“She’s unstable,” I heard Elliot say. “Let me help her.”
“She doesn’t need your help,” Lorcan answered.
“She doesn’t need yours,” Elliot spoke with unwanted tolerance.
Tristan stepped up to the porch as Lorcan’s guards stood motionle
ss. “It isn’t our place.” His constant calmness gave me something to steady my thoughts. I could see a little clearer, and the colors had begun to renew. “Now isn’t the time. You know this,” Tristan whispered to Lorcan. “If you want peace, then you have to let her become what she’s meant to be.”
Tristan reached out his hand for me, and surprisingly Lorcan took a step back. The pulsing mark had reached my fingertips as I watched Lorcan give me a subtle grin. He wasn’t giving up; he was waiting for the right moment to act. It might not have been then, but I could see it in his eyes. He was plotting something for some other time when he was better in control.
I took hold of Tristan’s hand and let him walk me down the stairs. And as I got to the grass, I felt another surge of my magic. It shot through me like a lightning bolt. The sky cracked with thunder and a mist began to fall over us. The sun had gone, along with any remaining piece of my human nature. I could feel water in every single inch of my being. All the way to my core.
For a second, I hunched over in one last flick of pain. One that took the air right from my lungs. Dylan rushed close with Elliot and Julian right behind. But before they could reach me, I stood tall and took my first breath—my first taste of air as a dragon. And with one thought, a raging gust of wind passed through the field and blew everyone back a few feet.
The power was incredible.
I moved my hands around, and the wind followed. I looked to the sky, and the rains fell.
“Irene?” Dylan called to me. “You have to let it settle.”
Settle? Why would I want to let my magic settle?
“What for? Just so you can manipulate her?” Lorcan’s voice echoed over the storm. The field was in complete chaos then as we all took the full weight of the rains.
“So that we don’t cause attention,” Tristan said. “This world isn’t ours. You don’t intend on staying any more than I do.”
“You don’t understand what she is,” Lorcan argued, now with a quieter tone. I watched Tristan study his brother with curiosity, and then me with a strange, uncertain glare.
Looking around, I could see how stressed everyone was. I didn’t need to add to that, and so I relaxed my shoulders, took a breath, then closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, the storm had started to dissipate.
Everyone had briefly calmed. Everyone except for Elliot, whose eyes were now pinned on Lorcan.
“He’s done nothing wrong,” Tristan got between Lorcan and Elliot.
“I’m no fool,” Elliot’s grin taunted the prince.
“He was answering the call of desperation,” Tristan lowered his head. “From his lost bride, years before you or your lady were ever born.”
“Bride?” I whispered. Lorcan eyed me without infliction.
Elliot studied us all. “You and I don’t have to be enemies,” Elliot spoke. His voice dominated the air in a rich accent that reminded me of my father.
“But we aren’t friends,” Tristan raised his chin.
“No.”
“You can see it can’t you?” Tristan tucked his hands behind his back.
Tracing the horizon with his eyes, Elliot spoke as though he held time in its place, “Tell me, was it against her will?”
“It was her idea.”
Elliot glared to me and I could swear he was cursing in his mind.
My eyes shot back to Tristan and I mouthed a resounding, what?
Before he could say another word, Julian took off in a rush toward the side of the cabin. Something had caught his attention and I was instantly worried it was Cole. I stepped around the front in time to see Julian pin Iliana to the ground, straddling her as she fought to get free. Tristan came close to me to see what was happening, but Elliot drew his sword, and everyone stopped moving.
Except for Lorcan, who was now smirking in delight.
“It’s always medieval with you, isn’t it?” Lorcan clapped in glee.
Elliot, without a word, lifted the shining sword into the air and moved it around with ease.
I bit my lip so hard I could have drawn blood. How strong was he? I would fall over if I tried to lift that sword.
Lunging forward, Elliot drove the sword deep into the flesh of the guard who had stepped in to defend the younger prince.
I gasped right as it happened believing he’d just killed Tristan before my eyes.
Elliot, without regard to faerie life, drew a grin that was menacing and yet somehow delicious. The faerie guard screeched in agony as Elliot twisted the blade and stared down with sharpened focus. Within seconds the faerie soldier was on the ground, falling like a heavy rock. Elliot pulled his sword straight out as blood dripped down the metal blade. I was sure it was made like my ring, and like Iliana’s knife.
As Elliot adjusted his grip, readying to strike once again, I stepped out in front of Tristan.
“You can’t hurt him.”
“Step aside.”
“No. He’s done nothing wrong.”
“Your essence is sacred. It’s one thing to feed on innocent mortals, but to wind a marked dragon—”
“It saved me. He saved me.”
Elliot’s eyes danced over my face. I could smell the gaminess of the blood on his sword, but I could also smell his wild scent that drove my every sense mad.
“From her,” I looked to Iliana.
Julian was in the midst of tugging a thin metal chain from his back pocket. It looked like a silver bracelet, something delicate and harmless. But as Iliana screeched in pain, I knew exactly what it was. Julian slid the bracelet over Iliana’s wrist as she struggled beneath him, finally bucking him off and getting to her feet.
Iliana’s eyes brightened to a brassy brown as she opened her arms and conjured fire in her bare palms. Julian, without hesitation, did the same. I didn’t know anything about him, but I had thought he’d be a water dragon like Elliot and Dylan. Clearly, he was not. With wild flashes of fire raging around us, Tristan started to inch forward. Elliot, though, twisted his sword around and everyone kept still.
Iliana, raging with fire, had begun to take the advantage, pushing Julian back a few steps as she gained ground. Igniting the grasses at her feet, the woman made a barrier between the rest of us and she and Julian. Elliot was now fully engaged in their fight, grinning from each blow Julian delivered.
It seemed, though, that Elliot and Dylan weren’t going to help Julian, even as Iliana scorched the dragon and got him to his knees. Elliot tightened his grip on the sword, apparently he’d had enough, and took a step toward Iliana as she leaned over Julian in a trance of punishment.
She was incredibly strong, that much was obvious. But so was I. And there was no way she was leaving my sight. Not with Cole having just been entranced to kidnap me.
Looking to her, I reached out and felt the pulsing rhythm of the air around us all. The little water droplets that hovered from the earlier rain gave me strength and power like I’d only dreamed. Focusing longer, I narrowed my efforts on Iliana alone, drawing the water droplets from the air until I had enough to fill her lungs and suffocate her.
“Irene, stop,” Tristan begged as he tapped my arm.
I wasn’t done yet. Iliana had caused me and the people I loved too much pain. I kept filling her lungs as she lost her flames and fell to her knees. Grabbing at her neck, Iliana clawed so deeply she drew blood.
“Enough!” Tristan shouted, and I let go of the element and Iliana fell unconscious.
Julian got up and brushed the dust off his clothes, and his burnt skin began to heal almost immediately. He put the bracelet on Iliana, then lifted her to his arms and carried her toward Dylan’s truck.
Shifting his gaze over Lorcan and then Tristan, Elliot pronounced, “There’s nothing left for you here.”
Courageous or stupid, Elliot was every bit the warrior I had heard about.
Lorcan faced me as he came across the grass. Whispering in my ear, he said, “This will not be the last time we meet.” He and his remaining guard got into his car
on the other side of the cabin.
But Tristan wasn’t leaving just yet. “What will you do with her?” his eyes stayed with Iliana.
“I won’t hurt her, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
I stepped closer toward Elliot. “Why are you taking her?”
“It’s a long story,” Elliot said. The sun had come out again, and he was squinting at me as my skin warmed. I was close enough to see just how blue his eyes were, how deep and turbulent their gaze imposed.
Tristan watched Julian place Iliana in the truck, and I could see his heart was breaking.
“My uncle believes he can help her,” Elliot revealed. “I won’t give her freedom unless I know she’s truly free.”
To that, Tristan nodded. “I will help in any way I can.”
“I understand.” Gazing out to the open field, Elliot stepped up and reached out. Tristan, a man of loyalty as I’d come to see, shook Elliot’s hand. Parting as allies, at least when it came to Iliana, Tristan joined his brother in the car, and Elliot turned his attention to me. Within minutes, the faeries were driving down the road and out of sight.
I faced Elliot and found him tucking his sword into the sleeve on his back. After adjusting his jacket, he took a step toward me, then gave a smile. I felt some sort of electricity in the air as he neared me. But when he got close enough for me to touch, I backed away.
“I won’t hurt you,” he offered in a near-whisper.
“I know,” I nodded. My hands twitched so I crossed my arms. He might not have meant to cause me pain, but his mere presence broke my heart. The journals were right, my family was right. I wanted him so badly I couldn’t even put it into words. But that meant that I couldn’t have Cole. I would never be able to kiss him, to run to him when I was scared, to let him hold me when I was sad. I’d have to let all that go. And for what? Some primal sensation that only made me more afraid?
“You know, at some point you’ll have to let me close.”
I bit my lip. “You said you’d do anything to encourage me to become your lady.”