by Crystal Dawn
Fated & Forbidden series
Serena’s Salvation
By Crystal Dawn
Cover by Jacqueline Sweet
Copyright 2016 by Crystal Dawn
Edited By Addicted to Reviews Editing
This is a work of fiction and characters are entirely a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to a person living or dead is merely coincidental. Any places or events are not real or were used in a fictitious manner.
FATED & FORBIDDEN
11 authors. One PNR series.
After lifetimes of watching her creations perpetuate misery and destruction, the creator Allendra has had enough. She’s given them a month to prove themselves capable of love… and to prove they should keep their supernatural powers.
Some will fight, and some will fall, but all will feel the power of the Blood Moon… even Allendra herself…
Download the short prologue to the series, The Challenge, for free at
http://smarturl.it/FFChallenge
Prologue
Serena was the eldest daughter, heir apparent to the dark Fae King. As the daughter of a magical being, she was born with the abilities of dream prophecy and to manipulate magic in various ways. Her dreams allowed her to see various prophecies and once having dreamed them, they would take place in reality in some form.
The dream always started the same way. She appeared in a room filled with other beings, every kind was represented. There were two special beings that appeared to be the powerful legends of magical folk. These two beautiful and powerful creatures had summoned them and the intent was to do harm. A plan had been crafted to punish them for all their mistakes and ill-conceived actions.
“Welcome children,” the female, Allendra, called out.
As the others looked at Allendra in awe, Serena knew who or more to the point, what she was and what she was here to do.
“What is this place?” Serena asked anyway, looking for confirmation. Serena stood a little apart from the others and watched everything and everyone with suspicion. “Who are you people? How did I get here?” It was as if she demanded it enough, better answers than those she saw in her mind would be forthcoming.
Others added their questions until Allendra silenced them with her sheer power. “You are here because I willed it so,” she said. “Your bodies remain safe wherever you went to sleep, but I gathered your minds in this place so that I may speak to you.” Pausing to be sure she had all their attention, she added, “I am she who created all of your breeds.”
The male, Zaan, gave her a sharp look. He wanted recognition for his part in the creation of their kinds. “And I am he who helped her fashion your ancestors,” he added, earning himself a glare from Allendra.
Everyone turned to assess him, but Allendra spoke again drawing all the attention once more. “I gave your kind,” she gestured to some shifters, “the gift of listening to the animal part of each human by turning into wolves or dragons. I gave your people,” she gestured to a Phoenix, but was interrupted.
The being she had pointed to first now interrupted, stepping forward angrily, his eyes gleaming with his wolf and his temper. “Bullshit!” It sounded like a growl. “You did not ‘create’ me, or anyone from my bloodline. No one has this kind of power. This is just a fucked up dream.” He looked around hoping for support from the others, but received none.
“It is a dream,” Allendra admitted impatiently. “I already told you it is. But it is real, too, and so is everything I say. I know more than your name, Hart, and I could tell your life story from the time you were but a child but I doubt you want others to know that much about you.”
Hart took a slow step back, disbelief still written on his features.
“I know each and every one of you,” she continued. “I know your names. Hart Devis. Dmitri, of the Sun Valley wolves—or I should say Dante. Shadow Hunter Doulzen. Fallen Leneth, from the Kingdom of Vaie, Third of the Dazmei. Matthew Killough. Saul Ade. Serena, of the White Dragon kingdom. Wayrian of the Rian clan, Magnus Lang. Avila, fallen queen of the Bay. Ondine. And even you, Saber, Guardian for the Queen. I know who and what you are.
Allendra paused and looked at all of them before her gaze stopped and held on what looked to Serena like a dragon shifter. The shifter looked shy or intimidated at first glance, but deep inside her there was a steely strength.
“I know some of you are at war. I know some of you try to stop your kind from killing. I know some of you couldn’t care less what happens to other breeds or to humans. And I know all of this because it’s been this way for millennia, since the moment Zaan and I breathed power into your ancestors. Millennia of unending strife, skirmishes or all-out war. Countless deaths. Enough pain and grief and tears to fill oceans on a dozen worlds.”
The dream went on and the Allendra grew colder and seemed more threatening. “No more. I should have acted a long time ago, but I will not delay any longer. It ends now.”
“What do you mean?” Serena asked, but she already suspected the worst.
“I mean that I will return each of you and every last living member of your kinds to what you would have been, had I not changed your ancestors’ destinies. You will all become humans.”
A little fae objected, Fallen protested, and others denied that she had the right.
Serena sat up drenched in sweat. The dream had progressed farther this time. In truth, she knew where it was headed.
Would it be smart to start searching for her mate? Or should she wait in case something happened that changed the future to one she had control over? Even though her dream only revealed itself a little bit at a time, she knew the results if all things stayed the same.
That was the problem with seeing the future, sometimes those that could see it, changed it. Not always on purpose, and the changes weren’t always for the better. For now, she would cast some spells and hope for more clarity so a decision that seemed right could be made.
Chapter 1
The Trouble with Humans
Serena had heard the lecture many times in many ways. The problem was that now, it seemed to apply directly to her.
“Why would anyone lower their standards to spend time with the mortal creatures?” Aragus, nicknamed Arrogant behind his back, shook his head in disbelief. “They are pitiful and if that’s not enough, it’s against the law, punishable by death.” Of course he would think he was better than humans, he thought he was better than other supernaturals and even most fae. The only exception she knew of was her father because he looked up to him as a mentor.
“Only against the law if you mate one of them. They can be fun to play with.” Leige said. No one was sure if his mother couldn’t spell or she had given him the name on purpose. He was an aggressive warrior, so no one was foolish enough to ask. The male was also a man whore, Lothario, or Romeo. Any and all terms of that sort applied to him. It was almost as if he thought it a competition to see who could sleep with the most females and he’d left all his friends far behind.
A human was what she suspected her mate was. The man was handsome and a capable warrior, she’d seen him in her dreams, but a death sentence to claim. The talk of mating just emphasized what she would have to do. It had always been her intention to wait until she was older to mate, much older. That Allendra was forcing this on her, on all those who had been present, infuriated her. The female had too much power and what of Zaan? Why wouldn’t he step up and champion them since they were his as much as hers?
“Serena!” The king snapped. “What is with you tonight?”
“Nothing, Father. I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Are you having dreams?”
“What if I am? Wha
t can anyone do about it?”
He sighed heavily. “I should have chosen a different female to breed.”
Serena pushed down the anger she felt at her father. To him, breeding was a duty done to get an heir. Serena and her four sisters had to fulfill a need. He wouldn’t stop until he sired a male even though it didn’t seem likely that he would. Her mother had been from another fae kingdom. She was a princess captured in a raid and seduced. Once Serena was five, her mother had been sent back to her home without her child, but her father insisted she had been generously compensated for her time and trouble.
The powers her mother had possessed were ones her father had initially thought good to have passed on to a future ruler. Unfortunately, the prophetic dreams hadn’t cooperated and had given glimpses of an uncertain future. Now it seemed, he regretted the powers from her mother’s side. It was a little too late to bemoan the choices now that he had a daughter fully grown. The humans might say that it was what it was so move on. Some of them liked to state the obvious.
The relationship with her father was tense all the time. She loved him, he was her father, but sometimes she didn’t like him much. Part of that was the fact that he resented her for not being male. He’d even gone so far as to tell her if she’d just grown a pair of balls in the womb, his worries would be gone. None of that seemed nearly as important now that they might all be undone. Being fae was the biggest part of their identity or at least it was in her opinion.
Serena loved magic, she loved her dragon Seraphim, and she loved the world she lived in. It was full of things that would no longer exist in a humanish place. She had nothing against humans, she just cherished her magical world and everything that came with it. Bringing a human here and assimilating him to her world would not be easy, but she would do it to save all that was dear to her.
Slipping away from the party celebrating the joining of two people she barely knew, she went straight to the wishing pool. The wishing well, surrounded by gems of many kinds in reds, blues, greens, purples, blacks, and even clear stones, placed in a round cement formation about three feet high, sat in one corner of the courtyard. Ferns and ornamental grasses grew around it, screening it from sight and giving the illusion of privacy. With supernatural senses, anyone in the garden could hear the whispered words of those within its walls.
The pool was said to grant the wishes of those who threw something of great value into it. What few knew, was that it would also reveal an answer to the person that gave a part of themselves to it. Now that sounded like you needed to remove body parts, but the truth wasn’t nearly so gruesome. A drop of blood, a tear, or a strand of hair would do. The answers she received were not always straightforward, but they were always correct once she figured out what they meant.
This was the only way she knew to find out what kingdom her mate was from. There were other supernatural kingdoms and there were other human worlds, as well. A veil, which was like a magic curtain, separated these worlds and if she exited her world under the veil, the location she chose to exit from, would determine where she ended up. Her father hated her use of the wishing well, but this time she had no choice.
Not even all the supernatural creatures knew about the various worlds. It was just one secret her magic allowed her to know. Sitting on the rocks built around the wishing well, she pulled out her dagger. With just a little poke on the end of her thumb, a drop of blood appeared. It grew larger until it rolled off her thumb into the water below.
That meant she had paid the price in giving up a part of herself for the answer to her question. “Tell me, wishing well, where does my true mate dwell?” Nothing happened for a few moments making Serena wonder if her magic had already been turned off. Then, she saw the answer she sought and knew where she would go when the time came.
It was a primitive world, compared to some, since it still had knights wearing armor and fighting with swords. She liked the old style fighting personally having been trained in it from an early age since she was her father’s heir unless he sired a son. That seemed unlikely at this point in time.
“What are you doing?” The harsh but familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Nothing important, Father.”
“Tell me you’re not seeking guidance from the well. Only a fool would believe those old tales,” he disparaged. It was nothing new, he criticized almost everything she did.
She turned and looked at him. Her father was an attractive male. His dark good looks would turn any female’s head, even if it wasn’t matched by the power he carried inside. His hair was black, long, and curly. Only a strip of white stood out that rumor said came from his vexing over not having a son. It should have looked weird and off putting, but instead it looked exotic in contrast to the rest of his hair. His eyes changed color with his moods. Usually they were silver, but right now they were black. Black as coal and that was the color she usually saw when she looked at his face.
He was so attractive that it was a shame he was so set in his ways, the ancient ways of an arrogant people that felt superior to what many of them referred to as the lesser races. Perhaps this was what had led to Allendra’s ultimatum, their hard and unwavering sense of superiority and entitlement. The cruelty to those considered less or even different that could be brought out in him and many of her kind that were just like him.
Some of the blame fell squarely on his shoulders, not that he would ever accept the blame for anything that went wrong. “I don’t know what you mean, Father.”
“That innocent act hasn’t worked on me since you were five.”
She gave him a blank look to hide the anger. Five was when her mother had been torn from her. If she was honest, she had never recovered from the trauma of losing the only parent that truly loved and accepted her. Once her mother was gone, she was raised by cold caretakers that tried to teach her how to be just like her father, emotionless and often cruel.
Serena often questioned what her mother had seen in him. Was it only the good looks and his station at the top of this kingdom? All her life she’d heard rumors that her mother had been a princess in her own right. Of course, she was from another fae world and Serena had no idea which one. There was little she did know about her mother.
“Keep your secrets, Serena. As long as you follow the rules.” King Varlum of the Kingdom of the White Dragon said.
Little did he know she was contemplating breaking one of the biggest rules of all. Never mate a human. Had Allendra not forced this on her, Serena knew she would have never met her fated one. She would either have mated her father’s choice or if that male, whoever he was, had turned out too unpalatable, she would have found an acceptable substitute.
Doing what her father expected of her was no longer an option. To save her people, she would be breaking all the rules they had. She would leave their world without permission, go to a human run world, find a human mate and join with him in all ways. Then she would bring that human, her human, back to her world.
A mischievous smile crossed her face. Father would be furious. This would be the first time in many years that she would go against him and win or lose, it would be the stuff legends were made of. Nothing in this kingdom would ever be the same again, regardless of how things turned out. Maybe this was what the challenge was all about, change. The only problem was that she sensed a determination in Allendra to do exactly what she had threatened to do, as well as a deep seated need for them to fail.
This was no empty threat to achieve a hoped for result. The challenge was real and the result, if they were unsuccessful, was equally real. The difficulties in her path seemed unsurmountable, but she would give it her best shot. If she failed, she would give up her life anyway and she would die fae.
Looking around, she saw her father had given up on the discussion he had seemed intent on having with her. He rarely sought her out for conversation so something was going on. Maybe it would be best if she departed at dawn and avoided whatever it was that he might ask of her. He would b
e incensed when it was discovered she was gone, but hopefully he wouldn’t be able to find her and try to bring her back. If that happened, once she was returned she would be guarded so heavily she would never get away.
If she wanted to leave in the morning, she had a lot to do and she would want a good night’s rest. Serena had never been to a human world and she had no idea what to expect. Few faes from her world were ever allowed to go to human worlds and those that did, rarely discussed it.
Serena walked out of the castle courtyard where the wishing well was at, ignoring all the magical beauty around her. Flowers of all kinds were planted here and magic allowed them to bloom year round. Every color imaginable was represented here and exotic plants thrived as they could nowhere else. The wishing well she had just left behind sat in one corner of the courtyard. A fabulous fountain with a mermaid at the center, naked in all her glory, sat in another corner. She held a fish with its large mouth open and water pouring from it.
The third corner held a pond with a marshy area around it that supported the growth of reeds and water grasses of all kinds. The last corner held a giant aquarium full of a variety of small fishes. Water gave magic but could also take it away. That was also why most homes in their kingdom had some kind of water feature. The path that she followed out was cut through the middle of the courtyard. Short of trying to climb the wall, there was no stealthy way to leave the palace. All paths and all gates were out in the open and were supposed to be actively guarded. It had been decades since their kingdom had been attacked and the guards had gotten slack. Once her father discovered she was gone, heads would roll. Serena felt bad for them but she had a higher purpose, so they were on their own.
Seraphim was waiting for her in a large stone building divided into stalls. When Seraphim was grown, he would have his own lair in the mountains. He’d either find an empty cave or he would make his own. Once he had his home finished, he would set out to lure a female dragon to him. They would do the mating flight in the skies over the castle and determine if they were compatible mates.