by G. K. DeRosa
Copyright © 2016 G.K. DeRosa LLC
All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, G.K. DeRosa LLC.
Editor: Partner in Prose
Cover Designer: Masa Licinia
Published in 2016 by G.K. DeRosa LLC
Palm Beach, Florida
www.wilderbook.com
To my husband, my family and all of my friends who offered unconditional support in my writing endeavors. And of course all of my incredible Wilder fans!
G.K. DeRosa
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Acknowledgements
Author Biography
Kingdom of Romania 1897
Lilliana Dobrescu gazed out of her bedroom window onto the dreary landscape as her handmaiden brushed out the tangles in her golden hair. She tried to keep still, folding her hands on top of her French Louis XVI vanity, but her thoughts were racing. Her finger gently traced the gold etchings in the blanched wood as she contemplated her future. The small farm her family owned hadn’t faired well this season and as winter approached they all dreaded what was to come. She knew what she was supposed to do, what her duty to family called for, but she was struggling to come to terms with it.
“Hold still, girl!” reprimanded the handmaid, Katerina, as she nimbly twisted her fingers to craft an intricate French braid.
“I’m not a girl! I am eighteen now and a woman promised to be married,” said Lilliana, whipping her head around and rising from her seat indignantly. “Get out!”
“I apologize, Miss Dobrescu,” Katerina said as she scurried out of her room, head down at her mistress’ fiery outburst.
As soon as her handmaiden left, Lilliana broke down into tears. Sobbing into her handkerchief until some of the tension in her shoulders began to fade. Her foul mood was certainly not the poor woman’s fault, and she had lashed out at her unnecessarily. I will go apologize to her right away. She took a step toward the door and heard a faint knock. She opened it slightly and peeked through, hoping it wasn’t one of her parents, as she didn’t want them to see that she had been crying.
“Dalla!” Lilliana cried out happily. She opened the door all the way and embraced her dear friend.
“It is so wonderful to see you, Lilliana,” she said, holding the girl at arm’s length to get a good look at her. Dalla’s lilac eyes scanned her from head to toe, pausing briefly at the small residual swell in her abdomen before she finally let her go.
“How did you know I was back?” Lilliana asked, feeling slightly abashed by the weight of her friend’s scrutinizing gaze.
“One of the fairies came to me last night. She told me everything. I was so worried about you that I came first thing in the morning,” she responded as she pushed back a stray wisp of her dark hair. “How are you?”
“I do not wish to speak of it, Dalla. Everything that happened, the entire nine months, I never want to speak of any of it again,” she said as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.
Dalla reached out her petite hand to gently wipe the tear away. “My poor child, you have been through so much.”
Lilliana led her into the adjoining parlor where they could speak privately. “Dalla, you must promise me that no one will ever know where I’ve been for the past year. If my parents ever found out…”
“No one will ever discover the truth if that is what you desire. The fairies have been sworn to secrecy and you know that they cannot tell a lie,” Dalla reassured her.
“Good,” Lilliana said as she walked by the window staring out into the grey morning sky.
“Are you sure that you want to marry that man,” asked Dalla, “after everything he’s put you through?”
“What choice do I have?” Lilliana answered, turning back to her friend. “Fabian is rich and powerful and if I don’t marry him my family might not survive the winter.”
“There are other ways,” began Dalla.
“You know that my father forbids the use of magic. He despises it. If only my mother were stronger,” she said. Lilliana’s mother could have been a powerful witch if only she would have followed in her family’s tradition, and in some ways Lilliana resented her mother for her weakness.
“It’s not your mother’s fault that she was not endowed with the gift of magic as we were. The Albsurori have not been a friend to her,” said Dalla as if she had read her friend’s accusatory thoughts. “They had mistakenly believed she was destined for greatness, but now I’m afraid that burden falls on you.”
“So that forces me to marry Fabian to bring about the most powerful coupling of magic known to the supernatural world. I know,” she said with a sigh.
“The Albsurori mean well. They truly believe this is what is best for the coven and for all,” said Dalla.
“But they must know what Fabian is really like. How could they condemn one of their own to a life with him?” Lilliana asked desperately.
“Fabian can be very persuasive. Look at how he has fooled your parents,” she said.
“Yes, but my father has no idea that Fabian is a sorcerer. He simply sees a wealthy man willing to marry his daughter without a dowry and provide a large offering to save his failing farm. And my mother is too scared to say anything,” complained Lilliana.
“Oh my sweet child,” said Dalla taking both of Lilliana’s hands in her own, “you are strong and wise beyond your years and you will get through this.”
“Thank you truly, and I thank God everyday that I have you. If you hadn’t taught me about my powers and introduced me to the wonders of magic, I would have never survived the past year,” Lilliana said as she grasped her friend’s hands tightly. “Dalla, you are like the older sister I had always dreamed of.”
Dalla pulled the younger girl into a hug. “Everything will be all right, my sweet child.”
Lilliana smiled as she released her confidant and batted a stray tear away. “I don’t want to cry anymore. For the past year, all I’ve done is cry.”
“There is still the wedding,” said Dalla ruefully.
“Yes, in the spring I will be forced to marry Fabian and my unfortunate fate will be sealed.”
Celeste’s eyes widened and her breath hitched as she stopped dead in her tracks to take in the nightmarish scene before her. Dani took advantage of Celeste’s momentary distraction to quickly squirm away as everyone’s attention was diverted to the scene at the altar. After all the commotion of the past half hour, the room had suddenly become eerily silent and no one dared to even breathe. Celeste could only see the back of Roman’s head as he, Nico and Alek encircled the white marble altar. Lilliana Constantin sat straight up, partially covered by a linen sheet and taking shallow breaths, her bright blue eyes frantically examining her unexpected surroundings. As she scanned the room, her gaze fell upon Celeste for a brief moment and Celeste couldn’t help but turn away, unnerved by those penetrating yet oddly familiar clear blue eyes. She noti
ced that Stellan and Dalla, too, refused to meet her gaze, as if that one act would make this surreal scene irrefutably real.
This can’t be happening. Lilliana Constantin has been dead for almost a century. How could Alek have brought her back to life?
Lilliana cleared her throat and a raspy voice gurgled to the surface, “Where am I?”
“Mother?” gasped Nico, as he stared unbelieving into the face of the woman he had believed was forever lost to him.
She turned toward her son, her wild blonde hair in disarray and tried to focus her eyes on him as a perplexed expression crossed her face. “Who are you?” she asked, her eyes narrowed.
Celeste saw Nico’s wary smile slide off of his face as the words were spoken. Her heart flinched. Before she could take a step toward him, Marco held her back as Roman let out a guttural growl and lunged at Alek, knocking him to the floor.
“What have you done to her?” Roman yelled as he wrapped his strong hands around Alek’s neck to try and choke the life out of him. “How could you do this? Answer me!”
“Stop!” cried Lilliana as she shot up from the altar table. The white sheet slipped off and her beautiful crimson Victorian gown came into full view. Celeste took in the magnificence of the dress, with voluminous silk layers and intricate black lace embroidery, but her attention quickly diverted when she saw Lilliana leaping on top of Roman.
Considering Lilliana had been dead for almost a hundred years, she was much stronger than one would have imagined. She pulled Roman up off of Alek with one hand and threw him against the stone wall. That was enough to snap Celeste back to action, and she raced across the room to his side. Nico, too, finally unfroze from his state of shock and ran to his brother’s aide.
“Are you okay?” asked Celeste as she kneeled down next to Roman as Nico hovered over them.
Roman grimaced in response, shook his head, then roughly propped himself up against the wall. The look of anguish on his face as he watched his mother run to Alek’s side made Celeste’s heart ache. She reached out her hand to comfort him, but he stood up abruptly before she could touch him, the emptiness in his eyes slowly being consumed by rage.
“What have you done to her?” roared Roman, stalking toward them.
Lilliana was kneeling on the floor caressing Alek’s cheek as he lay still on the ground, apparently overcome by Roman’s death grip and the overuse of magic. “What have you done to him?” she echoed, picking up the dagger on the floor and whirling toward Roman with venom in her voice.
The words stuck in Roman’s throat as he stared in disbelief at the mother that no longer recognized him.
“Mother, don’t you remember us?” asked Nico, his voice wavering.
Lilliana took a step toward him, holding the dagger in a tight grip. She knitted her light brows, seeming to examine his face more closely, then looked over to Roman; still, her expression remained blank. Stellan stepped forward, keeping Dalla behind him with his hands raised in a non-threatening manner. “Lilliana, please put the knife down. You have been through a great shock, perhaps you should sit down,” he said.
Lilliana surveyed the room, her overgrown golden locks in a tangle and her eyes wild like an animal trapped with nowhere to run. Stellan took another step closer to her and spoke soothingly, “No one is going to hurt you. We want to help you. You have been brought back from the Abyss and are understandably confused.”
“Then why did you hurt him?” she cried, pointing at Alek who still lay motionless on the ground.
“He’s the one that did this to you!” growled Roman. Celeste hurried to his side, afraid of what he might do next. She slipped her hand in his and to her relief this time he didn’t pull away. Instead, he sighed and his shoulders slumped down as if they carried the weight of the world.
“I don’t know who any of you are. But I know that young man brought me here and saved me from the Abyss. I am indebted to him in some way, of that I am certain,” said Lilliana. “If you truly wish to help me, help him.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe this,” he muttered. Celeste laid her other hand on Nico’s shoulder and pulled him back toward her and Roman.
“Stellan knows what he’s doing. Maybe he can fix this,” she whispered to the brothers.
Stellan took Dalla’s hand and led her over to Alek as Lilliana watched suspiciously. Just then, Dani Lynn emerged from the corner of the chamber and made her way over to linger nervously by Alek’s prone figure.
Lilliana’s suspicious eyes never wavered from Dalla as she bent to the floor. Celeste thought she saw a passing flash of recognition as she watched the interaction between the two women, but in a moment it was gone, leaving Celeste feeling that she had imagined it.
“I’m just going to heal him,” said Dalla quietly. “The use of so much magic has drained him.” Lilliana nodded.
“Seriously?” asked Nico. “You’re going to give the bad guy more power?”
“Hush!” hissed Stellan. “She will give him just enough so that he regains consciousness.”
Nico grunted in response as he and Roman stared, incredulous.
Dalla whispered a few words as she held her hands above Alek’s head, and his eyelids began to flutter. Lilliana kneeled to the floor once again, her full skirts covering the ground around her. Alek’s eyes opened and Lilliana sighed in relief. She reached out her hand and caressed his pale cheek.
“Mother?” he said wearily.
“I’m here, my boy,” she said.
“That’s enough! I can’t take this farce any longer,” said Roman dropping Celeste’s hand and surging forward. Alek sprang to his feet and pushed Lilliana behind him protectively.
“Why doesn’t she know who we are? How could she only remember you, a son she barely knew?” asked Roman as he jabbed a finger in Alek’s chest and stood just inches from his face.
Alek chuckled and took a step back, shoving Roman’s admonishing finger aside. “I have no idea, my dear little brother, but isn’t it a funny little twist of fate?”
Roman leapt forward but was instantly repelled back by an invisible barrier that sent him reeling backward.
“Well done, Mother,” said Alek with a smile, rapidly realizing she had placed a protective spell around them both.
“He’s very aggressive, this one. I had to protect us,” Lilliana replied, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at Roman.
Roman took a deep breath, clenching his fist at his sides to steady himself. Only then did he continue, this time more calmly, “So you’re telling me that this was not part of your plan all along?”
“No, it wasn’t actually,” Alek replied snidely. “I had planned on bringing her back so that she could watch me kill the two of you. I wanted her to suffer as I have all of these years.”
Celeste gasped as she finally began to understand the depths of Alek’s depravity.
“But that wouldn’t make any sense now, would it? She doesn’t seem to care anything about either of you,” he finished, looking utterly triumphant.
Roman and Nico shared looks of total defeat. Celeste couldn’t believe how useless she felt. There had to be something someone could do. She glanced over at Stellan with an expectant look in her eye, but his sullen expression drowned any lingering hopes that she had been holding on to.
“So now what?” asked Roman. “You expect us to just walk out of here and leave her with you?”
“I don’t see that you really have any other choice,” said Alek. “She is a free woman and can do as she pleases.” He turned to Lilliana. “Do you want to go with these strangers or will you stay with me, your loving son who brought you back from the Abyss?”
“Of course I will stay with you,” she responded.
Roman looked to Stellan for help, but he cast his eyes down regretfully. “Stellan…”
“I’m sorry, Roman. Perhaps we need to give her some time,” Stellan replied.
A big part of Celeste wanted nothing more than to throw herself at Al
ek and drive her sword through his heart for the pain he was causing Roman and Nico, but would Lilliana ever forgive her? She knew well that that was the reason for everyone’s hesitation. Even if Lilliana wasn’t in her right mind now, there was the possibility that she could be eventually. No one wanted to risk her wrath.
Celeste hated feeling powerless. What was the point of being the Guardian if she couldn’t help the ones she loved? As she looked at Roman’s heartbroken face, an unfamiliar fury surged inside of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dani, wearing Lilliana’s ring on her finger. With everything else going on, it should have been the least of her worries, but for some reason it became the focus of all of her frustration. Without thinking, Celeste charged at Dani with her sword raised.
Dani had been lingering in the corner away from the others and was completely caught off guard by Celeste’s sudden onslaught. “Give me the ring!” shouted Celeste.
“No, it’s not yours!” Dani said, holding her hand behind her back. “Now that Lilliana’s here, it should go back to her.” She jumped from side to side as Celeste scrambled to reach for it.
“She doesn’t deserve it. Not after what she put her sons through, her real sons – Roman and Nico,” said Celeste as she thrust her sword at Dani. She managed to avoid the brunt of the blow with a quick dodge, but Celeste succeeded in nicking her in the arm.
“Ow! I’m bleeding!” Dani screamed as she looked down at her arm.
“Give me that ring, Dani, or I swear I’ll kill you,” threatened Celeste as she sprang on her again. Dani ducked and parried but Celeste was a skilled fighter and Dani was really no match for her.
“I don’t want to kill you, Dani. Please just give it to me!” Celeste yelled as each swipe of her sword inched closer.
“No!” shouted Dani obstinately and leapt for Celeste’s throat with fangs bared. Before Celeste was aware of what she was doing, a darkness came over her and instinct kicked in. In a blind fury, she dropped her sword and instead pulled out a small stake from the inner pocket of her jacket; she plunged it into Dani’s heart, seconds before her extended fangs pierced her skin. Dani’s eyes widened in shock for a fleeting moment before the life drained out of her, and she went limp in Celeste’s arms.