by Hannah West
She nods. ‘I used to be as they are, before I gave up my true form to be with a fae.’
‘I don’t understand.’
She fidgets. ‘Centuries ago I made a promise to leave my home and bond with a fae male. But he never bonded to me, and now I’m stuck.’
‘Stuck?’
‘I’m banished from my realm for choosing a fae over the mate my parents chose. I was blinded by my feelings and didn’t question the possibility of the fae rejecting me.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He wouldn’t bond with me, so when he faded from this life I remained.’
My heart squeezes. She’s living the fate I would’ve suffered had I not bonded Zephyr.
‘You can’t go home?’
‘I tried, but my parents refuse to acknowledge me as their daughter. I shamed them and they cannot see past it.’ She looks away. ‘It’s why I got upset when I thought you were dismissing me. There aren’t many realms I can blend into, and I’ve nowhere else to go.’
I study her lilac skin and imagine her walking around the village back home. She blends in here because it’s common knowledge there’s more than one realm and universe. It makes me wonder how many realms there are, and how many of them are ignorant like the Realm of Man.
‘You’ll always be welcome in the Light Realm,’ I promise. ‘But, perhaps I can speak to your family-’
‘Queen Alissa has spent many decades trying to reason with my parents,’ she says. ‘And given the chance, I’m unsure I’d return now. I miss my sisters, but why pine for a place that doesn’t want me?’
‘Alissa tried to help you?’
‘Of course,’ she answers. ‘She’s my Tether.’
‘Your what?’
‘I’m tethered to her, like Zephyr’s sprites are to him,’ she explains, though I still have no clue what she’s talking about. Her expression turns sad. ‘I’ll miss her when she fades.’
‘What’s your name?’ I ask.
Her violet gaze meets mine. ‘Rana.’
‘I know the pain of losing someone you love, Rana. Please don’t hesitate to seek me out if you need someone to talk to.’
‘Thank you,’ she whispers then looks past me to the doorway. ‘Alissa comes.’
Alissa appears in the doorway and smiles at us. The smile is the most genuine I’ve seen, and it lights her face. She’s wearing another transparent gown, made from a material that turns dazzling in the light. There are strategically placed swirls in the fabric, hiding her most intimate parts, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Her hair hangs dark around her shoulders, with a crown of silver filigree circling her forehead. A pair of gossamer wings stretch out behind her, adding to her mythical appearance.
‘I approve,’ she murmurs, appraising my outfit.
I bite my tongue to hold back sarcasm. Alissa argued my corner after Zephyr abducted me, and she tried to help Rana. She’s got warped ideals, but maybe she isn’t as cold hearted as I originally thought.
‘The moon is rising,’ she says and offers me her hand.
I shut my eyes, knowing she’s going to teleport us somewhere. The back of my eyelids light up and I keep them closed until the light is gone.
‘A lake?’ I ask, looking down at the water beneath my feet. What in the ever loving…? I wiggle my toes against the surface, which is oddly gelatinous beneath my feet. The polished surface glitters silver in response. ‘At least we’re not sinking,’ I mutter.
Alissa chuckles. ‘Your reactions to things is refreshing,’ she tells me.
‘So everyone keeps telling me,’ I grouse then look back to my feet, where water lilies mix with a plethora of exotic flowers blooming around my bare feet.
Alissa’s grip on my hand turns painful and I realise I’ve turned my back to her. She spins me fully then hisses at the sight of my back. I’m facing her again before I can blink and wince at the pressure of her hand on mine.
‘Dark Fae,’ she snarls.
Darkness floods my vision and creeps over my skin, before I’m ripped from her hold and curled into a familiar pair of arms.
‘Mine,’ Zephyr snarls at his mum.
‘She’s Dark Fae and a Black!’ Alissa snarls back.
A Black? Am I being penalised by the colour of my light now? How freaking racist!
‘Kill her and I die,’ Zephyr answers.
Oh right, conditions of the bond.
Alissa stares between us, realisation dawning on her face. Zephyr’s light is bound to mine now. If she kills me then he’ll die too. She can either accept me or lose her son. The ramifications of what mating him means, unfurl in my brain. I look up at his defiant expression, as he glares at his mother. Zephyr knew what it meant to mate a Dark Fae, yet he chose me. He was that lonely.
‘Do you realise what you’ve done?’ Alissa snarls.
‘You think I don’t know the consequences of this choice?’ he answers.
Alissa studies his face then appears to calm a little. ‘If you allow one Dark Fae into the Light Realm, you present an opening to accept more,’ she says.
‘I’m aware of the precedent I’m setting, Mother. I’m to be the next King of this realm and I’m seeking the best future for faekind.’
Alissa regards Zephyr for a silent moment then holds her hand out to me. ‘I will escort your Consort, as is tradition,’ she tells him.
‘No way,’ I answer nursing my bruised hand. ‘There’s no way I’m-’
‘Please,’ Alissa cuts in shocking me. ‘I must do this for Zephyr, before moonset.’
Zephyr stiffens. ‘It’s not time,’ he breathes. ‘Father isn’t-’
‘Oric faded this morning,’ Alissa mutters, betrayal lacing her tone. ‘He tried to remain, to pass the crown, but was too weak.’
‘He’s gone?’ Zephyr whispers.
I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tight, but instead of the grief I expect, I get relief from him.
‘Now you understand the urgency for the Blessing Ceremony,’ Alissa says. ‘At moonset I’ll be gone and you’ll be ruler of the Light Realm.’
‘Mother-’
‘I wish to see your Mating Ceremony before I fade,’ she interrupts then offers a sad smile. ‘For it has been a long time coming.’
I squeeze Zephyr a little tighter when grief finally floods from him. Then I let go and take Alissa’s offered hand. He gives me a grateful smile then disappears in a flash of light. I watch his light flare bright in the centre of the lake, where a gathering of fae waits on the silvery water.
‘Thank you,’ Alissa tells me.
‘I’m not doing this for you.’
She presses us into a slow walk and I groan internally at the snails pace. Darkness prickles beneath my skin at her nearness, regarding her as a threat.
‘You love him,’ she whispers.
My gaze snaps to hers, ready to deny it. But…I can’t. I fumble for the denial again but my mouth stays shut. Zephyr told me I’m more than a means to an end, but he’s never said he loves me. We don’t even really know each other, and it’s too soon to spout words like love, isn’t it?
A gentle smile curves Alissa’s lips at my silence. ‘Oric and I didn’t love each other,’ she says. ‘We…tolerated each other.’ It’s silent for a few moments before she says, ‘I fell in love with a Dark Fae the year I came of mating age.’
My eyebrows brush my hairline at her admission. ‘What?’
‘We met in another realm,’ she murmurs, gaze unfocussed, like she’s reliving the past. Her lips smile in a way that says she has a secret. ‘I should’ve known he was Dark Fae the second I saw him, but I couldn’t reason over the pounding of my heart. His green eyes snared mine, the call of his light drawing me like no other.’ She meets my gaze. ‘Harlan taught me what love was in three, short days. I didn’t discover he was Dark Fae until the day we parted, and by then it didn’t matter.’ The smile bleeds from her lips. ‘On my return to the Light Realm, my father announced I was to be Consort to the next King.�
�
‘You had no choice,’ I say remembering her words to Zephyr.
Alissa argued with him to let me go because she’d been in my situation and empathised with me.
‘What happened to Harlan?’
Her gaze hardens. ‘He never came for me, and then it was too late,’ she answers giving me insight to where her hatred of Dark Fae comes from.
‘I’ll take care of Zephyr,’ I promise.
Her gaze softens. ‘I know.’
Murmurs from the fae gathered around Zephyr reach us, and the word Luman is gasped more than once. I glance at the flowers sprouting around my feet.
‘Hold your head high, Primrose,’ Alissa orders. ‘The old king is dead and you’re mated to the new one. You’re their queen now and you bow to no one.’
‘What if I’m not ready to be their queen?’ I argue.
What the hell do I know about being a queen? Part of leaving the Dark Realm was tied to my need to escape this title.
‘You’re ready,’ she answers.
‘I have no clue what I’m doing,’ I counter.
‘You’ll learn.’
‘You seem so sure,’ I mutter.
‘You’ve adapted quickly to more than one stressful situation, handling each with grace and poise,’ she tells me. ‘You’re a natural at this.’
I withhold a snort, grace and poise? Alissa didn’t see me squeezing my backside through Anima’s bathroom mirror then face-planting on the floor. Fear and shock are the adjectives she should be using for me since meeting Zephyr. It’s been a rollercoaster and there’s been nothing graceful about it.
‘Release your wings,’ Alissa whispers when we reach where the fae are gathered.
The gathering sucks in an accumulative breath when I do, glittering black peeling from my skin to stretch out behind me. I ignore the whispers as I make my way to where Zephyr is standing, toes touching the edge of the moon’s reflection on the water.
He’s dressed in the tight trousers favoured by the fae, with a long, tailored tunic in rich silver. His hair is like ink in the moonlight, eyes burning jewels amid the razor lines of his face. He looks hewn from stone, like a god carved him from alabaster, his skin bleached by moonlight. He shimmers with purple glitter when he moves to take my hands, tugging me closer, until my toes meet the edge of the moon’s reflection on the water.
‘Are you ready?’ he whispers.
I nod. ‘I-’
I gasp, looking down to see a masculine hand shackling my ankle. It drags me down before I can react, wrenching a scream from my throat. I lose my grip on Zephyr and find myself under the water. My back tingles as my wings return to tattoos and the hand releases my ankle. I try to swim up but the mating gown clings to my legs and I start to panic. My chest aches with the need to breathe. This is how I’m going to die.
A hand latches onto my wrist and pulls me against a body lean with muscle. Lips press to mine and a tongue pushes into my mouth. I try to push away but another hand snakes through my hair and anchors my head in place. Darkness prickles over my skin, as air pushes down my throat. I stop struggling and suck it down, thinking of the need to stay alive because Zephyr will die if I do.
The hand on my head lets go and I push away as far as the grip on my wrist allows. My hair has come lose from its braiding, and I stare through a flowing curtain of blonde to neon-green eyes and a body sprayed with neon freckles. Something smooth and coiled with power brushes my feet, and I look down at the shimmering outline of a tail.
I’m still staring at the tail when the merman grips my waist and pulls me against him. I start struggling again, looking back to the surface to see Zephyr frantically hammering on it. He stops when he sees me looking, lips forming my name. I reach for him but the merman drags me deeper.
I’m at the merman’s mercy, a savage ache filling my flesh the further we get from Zephyr. Being in this airless vacuum is terrifying, and I don’t know what my captor wants. My fingernails dig deeper into his back, and I delight at the wince that wracks his frame.
Light pierces the darkness and I turn my face to it, like a flower reaching for the sun. It grows brighter, and my heart soars when a circular opening appears. I suck in air the second we break the surface of a light pool, the merman swimming us to the edge. Hands pull me from the pool and a fluffy towel is draped around me. I’m pulled against the familiar lines of a hard body and start to sob.
Aric brushes sodden hair from my face and holds me close. ‘I’ve rescued you,’ he soothes. ‘You don’t have to be afraid anymore.’
I meet his gaze. ‘That was horrifying.’
He chuckles. ‘Not many fae like being submerged in water.’
I shove from his hold and stumble away, clutching the towel around me like a shield. ‘It isn’t funny!’
My voice is raspy and my nose stings from the salt water. I hurt all over, and it’s difficult to catch my breath. I point at the light pool with a shaking finger.
‘I thought I was going to drown,’ I hiss. ‘And I didn’t know what he was going to do with me.’
The skin around my eyes tingles and my head pounds; vision filling with darkness. Onyx swirls snake up my arms, my light roiling in agitated waves inside me. I try to breathe but the air is too thin.
‘Calm down,’ Aric orders.
‘Can’t breathe,’ I gasp and the room tilts.
Aric catches me before I hit the floor. Pain rakes clawed fingers through my insides and my spine arches, a scream ripping from my throat. My vision blurs and Aric’s voice dims. Beloved darkness wraps me in a warm cocoon of night and I shut my eyes.
CHAPTER 19
‘Stay where I can see you, Primrose,’ Mum says as I pick up my bucket.
I dust sand from my knees. ‘I will.’
The sun is hot on my shoulders as I weave between people on the beach. I glance back to see Drew digging a moat around the sandcastle we’re building, his brow furrowed in concentration. It’s my job to fetch water to fill the moat. Maybe I’ll find some shells to stick around the keep, but I don’t want Drew calling me Princess Primrose for wanting the castle to be pretty.
Waves fizz around my feet when I reach the ocean. There are too many people on the beach to see Mum, Drew or any of my family from here. I bite my lip wondering if I should go back, but I have to fill my bucket with water. I wade into the surf then crouch and dunk my bucket, filling it to the brim. Something glitters from beneath the water and I reach to pick it up. I smile when I study the shell in my palm. It’s small and round, with a scalloped edge. The inside is rose pink and the outside glitters with silver and gold tones.
‘Hey.’
I glance up at the man beside me. He’s a stranger and I shouldn’t speak to him. I stand up, the shell clutched in my hand. Water sloshes over the edge of my bucket, splashing against my leg.
‘I’m looking for my daughter,’ the man says, ‘have you seen her? She’s about your age, brown hair and brown eyes. She’s wearing a pink swimming costume like yours.’
I shake my head. ‘No.’
Worry creases his face and he glances around the beach before returning his gaze to me. ‘Will you help me find her?’
He puts his hand on my shoulder and I flinch. His panic blasts through me, leaving a funny taste in my mouth.
I shrug him off and step back. ‘I-’
‘Please,’ he insists.
‘I need to-’
‘There’s no time,’ he says and grabs my wrist.
He pulls me through the water and my panic rises to match his. The bucket slips from my hand and I turn my head to see it disappear beneath the waves. The water is deeper, reaching my thighs, but the man is taller and it only reaches his knees. I struggle to keep up but he drags me along at his pace. I realise we’re to the left of the breakers, where rocks rise from the sand. We’re cut off from the crowded beach, this side of the rocks eerily quiet of laughter.
‘I-I don’t see your daughter,’ I say over the crashing waves.
&n
bsp; The man looks at me as he pulls me from the water, onto the rocks that lead up to the roadside. I stumble on the slippery surface but his grip on my wrist keeps me from falling. I hiss when I scrape my shins and tears fill my vision, but he doesn’t stop.
‘I saw you from the beach,’ he tells me. ‘You’ve got such pretty, blonde hair.’
His voice is soft, different, and I struggle to hear him over the crash of the waves and shrieking seagulls. I can hear people laughing and squealing faintly from beyond the rocks, but they seem a million miles away. I think of shouting to them for help, but I don’t think they’d hear me. Why didn’t I scream when I had the chance?
‘You’re hurting me,’ I say.
He looks back at me eyes glinting, and smiles. ‘You’re really pretty. Prettier than my last girl.’
‘Your daughter?’
He laughs. ‘I don’t have a daughter, girly.’
He stops and turns to me, cupping my face in his meaty hand. He rubs his thumb over my bottom lip and I try to jerk away, but he’s too strong.
‘How old are you: seven, eight?’
Six.
I don’t like the way he looks at me, or how his hand feels sweaty against my skin. Nobody except family ever touch me like this, and it feels strange for this man to do so.
‘Please let me go.’
He shakes his head. ‘I need you.’
‘Why?’
‘You’ll find out.’
I tug against his hold, trying to twist from his grip, but he’s too strong. The man laughs and my panic turns to terror. I don’t understand what he wants but know it’s not good. He drags me closer, until I’m plastered against his body. He smells like sweat and my stomach clenches. I smack him with my free hand but he grabs hold of my other wrist and grins down at me.
‘We’ll have so much fun,’ he murmurs.
Something cracks inside. There’s no sound, just a feeling, like a hair tie snapping in my stomach. I want to look down but the man has me pinned against him. Movement draws my attention and I gape at the dark swirls on my right forearm. My skin tingles and I look at my left arm to see the same midnight pattern creeping over my skin.