by Cora Avery
“Oh, that’s no fun.”
She fell and crashed into a mad cacophony, a clash of blurred images, discordant senseless screams, a firestorm of pain.
“Stop—!”
“Seize—!”
Kaelan’s voice. “Stay with me.”
Darkness swept around her, and with it, relief.
The fight, the quest, was over.
She had failed, she had lost, but at least, she was done.
She fell into the sweet silence of the shadows.
A FAINT, HIGH-PITCHED CHRICK-CHRICK broke through the thick dust of silence that had settled upon her.
Why couldn’t she move? Where was that sound coming from?
Chrick-chrick-chrick.
Fighting through the leaden darkness, forcing her eyes to peel open, they immediately tried to shut against the burn of light. Though it didn’t take her long to realize, as far as light went, this was not terribly bright—little more than a soft orange-ish ebbing glow. Still, her eyes ached.
A terrible silty scum coated the inside of her mouth and swallowing hurt so much she groaned, though she’d meant to scream.
“Off. Damned pest,” a haughty little voice ordered.
The movement drew her eyes to it, allowing her to focus on something in a room of nothing but fire and shadows.
A slim tiny man with a wild tuft of hair and pointed ears flung his hands at a grasshopper, which leapt away, dropping out of sight.
The sandpapery scrape of her vocal chords made her wince as she forced out the name. “Kirk?”
He turned towards her, standing on a night table. “Oh, you’re finally awake, I see. Wonderful.” Though he sounded mostly disgruntled, there might’ve been a note of relief in his voice.
She blinked, attempting to clear the hazy film from her vision. Blinking hurt. Everything hurt.
As she began to feel out her body, each bone and muscle ached in protest, fighting off her attempts to rouse them. She was heavy, yet limp, sunk deep into the mattress, but there was an extra weight across her torso and more warmth on one side than the other.
With what seemed a herculean effort, she lifted her head, pain lancing up the side of her neck, causing her to suck a sharp breath, bringing tears to her eyes.
Next to her was Kaelan.
The firelight slipped over the scar on his cheek and highlighted his paler gold locks while leaving the rest of his tousled hair dark, almost black. His arm rested over her, holding her, his head close enough that she couldn’t see all of his face at once.
“Did I hear her?” another voice asked. “Is she awake?”
“I don’t recall sending for you,” Kirk replied coolly.
“Oh, shove off, you old crank.”
Magda gritted her teeth as she turned her head again.
In that instant, Meer popped away and then reappeared next to Magda’s shoulder. The brownie held a cup as tall as she was with apparent ease.
“Drink this,” Meer said, tilting the cup to her lips before she could speak.
An herbaceous, bitter liquid washed over her tongue and shoved down her throat, causing her to sputter and grimace and moan as a cough shook loose more pains from where they’d been lodged deep within her.
Meer drew the cup away. “Oh, it’s not that bad.”
“No, it’s absolutely disgusting,” Kirk said.
“Shows what you know—”
“Magda . . .?” Kaelan’s voice was sleep-thick.
The coughing subsided. At least the brew had cleaned the foul taste from her mouth.
He propped up on his elbow, pushing her hair back from her face, brushing his thumb across her temple.
“You’re awake,” he said heavily. “I wasn’t sure you’d . . .” His lips pressed together. “How do you feel?”
“Awful,” she wheezed. “Where . . . what . . .?” Her head began to throb as she attempted to gather her mind together. “I died.”
“Find Damion,” Kaelan said to Meer. Then his gaze turned to Kirk. “Tell the others.”
Both brownies disappeared. Magda’s gaze had a moment, freed of Kaelan’s attention, to wander above his head.
Wooden beams glowed in the crackling firelight. The musty air of damp earth mingled with the oily warmth of wood smoke and crisp sweetness of cedar.
Kaelan’s head bowed suddenly, his cheek pressing to hers. “You’re not dead.”
She wasn’t sure if he was telling her or reassuring himself.
He drew back, eyes bright in the shadows, seeming to draw the fire into their depths. They were rung with heavy sleepless shadows, and yet, they were too intense. She had to drop her gaze to the space between them, where his chest hovered over hers.
“But I was . . .”
“Yes,” he said. “Lavana stabbed you in the throat with your ghast blade.” His fingers brushed low on her neck, just above her collarbone.
A cold pain shuddered through her. She grimaced, moaning.
“It still hurts?” he asked.
She nodded, or tried to, she wasn’t sure if she managed it or not.
“I’m sorry,” he said, as though it were somehow his fault. “I’ve been doing the best I can, but after the journey, bringing you here—”
“Where?” she asked.
“The human world,” he said, sitting back, giving her some more room to breathe. “I healed the wounds as best I could in the moment, but I had to get you out of there. I couldn’t do both at once. You were fading so fast, just hanging on. Whenever I stopped healing you, you’d start to slip away again.”
She didn’t know what to do with the pain straining his voice, tightening the edges of his face. She had too much pain of her own, twisting and throbbing through her, to process his too.
“You took me from the grounds,” she said, trying to focus only on filling in the gaps, “through the Shadow Realms.”
“I had to. You were dying.”
“I was dead, you mean.”
Another twitch of pain flicked across his brow. “Yes.”
“Then they saw you, the real you?”
“No . . . Flor has managed to convince the family that I am still Caden, that I have this power to travel through the Light Realms.”
“Endreas won’t believe it,” she said. “He’ll suspect the truth. And Lavana too. Anyone who’s seen an Elf move through the Shadow Realms will know what it looks like.”
His gaze turned away and a cold space formed between them.
“And you’ve broken the law,” she said. “We’ve both broken the law. I was defeated. You left the pit—”
“Do you think I give a damn about the law? Would you rather be dead?”
“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. Thank you.” Her fingers, bereft of her knives, lifted from the bed and touched his arm. “Thank you.”
He seemed to watch her from the corner of his eye, as though reluctant to look at her directly. “It’s not just you, Magda.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when you died. I could feel it.” He touched his chest. “That part of my heart that I’d given to you, I felt it dying. Except, it felt like the whole thing had been ripped out. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t think. I just did it. I had to save you.”
“Kae—” She tried to grasp his arm, but he drew away, turning his gaze back to her.
“I need to tell you something,” he said. “I need you to know the truth.”
She pulled her hand back to her chest. “We don’t have to talk right now—”
“Yes, we do,” he said. “I should’ve said something sooner. I wanted to tell you . . . I shouldn’t have . . .” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I love you, Magda.”
Her heart clenched. “Kaelan—”
“But that’s not what I need to tell you,” he said, looking not at her, but at the wall just above her. “I think you’ve known, even though you haven’t wanted to face it . . . for whatever reason.”
Had she known?
She guesse
d she probably had, though she had avoided it. She still wanted to put it off as nothing more than their instincts drawing them together, or the power of his heart working within her, working on both of them. Surely that had effects they weren’t aware of. She could come up with dozens of excuses for that look in his eyes, for the way she felt when he touched her, that had nothing to do with this elusive thing he called love.
“But there are plans being made,” he said. “Plans that involve all of us.”
She pushed through this new confusing pain he had created in her chest. “What plans?”
“Python and the Resistance,” he said. “They’re the ones who brought us here. But they’re going to want something in return.”
“A war.”
He nodded. “The fulfillment of the prophecy.”
“And you’re going to give it to them.”
“Yes.”
She sank deeper into the bed. “And you want . . . what? Me to tell you it’s all right?”
“No,” he said. “I know how you feel about it. And I know how you feel about him.”
“Please don’t make this about—”
“It is about him. I know you’re going to hate me for killing him, but you need to know that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
“Unless he kills you first.”
“Would you prefer that?” he said, finally meeting her eyes, glaring.
“Don’t be an idiot,” she said through her teeth. “Don’t try to make this about what I feel or what I want. This has nothing to do with us—”
“It wasn’t him, Magda.”
A sharp pain shot through her head as she hit the brakes on her thoughts. “What are you talking—?”
He changed then, green eyes turning black, gold hair growing and paling to platinum.
Her breath stopped as Endreas gazed down at her.
But it wasn’t Endreas. Not now . . . and not back at Flor’s house during her Shine.
All this time, something had been itching at the back of her mind, ever since she’d woken with Endreas’s taste on her lips. But it hadn’t been his taste, not the musky honey-sweet coolness, but something warmer and smokier. And from the brume of those tangled memories a flash of Endreas’s back appeared, taut and lean and unblemished . . . no tree-and-dragon tattoo.
She should’ve seen it before, realized it earlier, but the haze of the Shine had turned everything dream-like, and besides, she had done her best to put it all out of her mind entirely. Because of Kaelan . . . she’d known it would hurt him, except . . . it had been him.
She burned all over, digging her hands into the heavy quilt to keep them from quaking.
“How—?”
“Damion and Meer tied me up, like you wanted,” he said, slowly dissolving back into himself again. “But I called Kirk and he released me. He created an illusion, even Meer believed.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to be with you—”
“No. Why change? Why not come as yourself? Why did you come as him? I was in my Shine, it wouldn’t have—”
“Because you love him, and I wanted that.”
She wanted to spring up and punch him, but didn’t have the strength. The tightness in her chest grew and grew, tears bulging in her eyes. The best she could do to appease her rage was to look away.
“And I was angry—” he went on.
Her head snapped around, opening up the pain in her neck anew. “You were angry?”
“He wants me dead, Magda. My whole family wants it. And you know it. And you still wanted him. You still came right to him. I wanted to know what you would do. If you would even try to resist, but you didn’t—”
Her teeth ached from being clenched so hard. “I was in my Shine.”
“Yet you had the presence of mind to send Meer and Damion to tie me up.”
She forced herself up onto her elbows. Though it hurt like dying all over again, fury fueled her. “It would have been you. If you had shown up at the moment, as yourself, it would’ve been the same.”
“You think that makes me feel better?”
“I don’t care how you feel!” Her hands balled tightly in the quilt. “Just like you didn’t care how I would feel when you played your twisted little imp prank on me. You made me think I’d slept with Endreas! Do you know what that did to me?”
He slammed his hands down on either side of her, forcing her to fall back against the pillow, pushing his face down into hers.
“Yes, my mistress. I know just what it did to you. Just how much you enjoyed it. Just how good you felt when you thought it was him,” he hissed. “But it wasn’t him. It was me. And I wasn’t happy deceiving you. I wanted to tell you the truth, but you were perfectly happy taking him and . . . I just wanted you. I couldn’t think about anything else while it was happening. When it was over . . .” He eased back, but she continued to glare after him. “I wondered if you would tell me what happened, but you didn’t. And I began to worry I couldn’t trust you.”
Her voice trembled. “You couldn’t trust me? After what you did? How can you even—” She pushed up again. “I did tell you. I told you that I slept with Endreas. And you didn’t say anything—”
“I’m telling you now.”
She shook her head, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t believe this.”
He seized her wrists and pushed them away from her face and back against the pillow, leaning over her again.
“Let go of me,” she growled.
“I know I made a mistake,” he said. “If I could go back and change it, I would, but I can’t. After you almost died, I realized I had to tell you the truth. So I am.”
“If you think that I could trust you again after—”
“Maybe not,” he said. “I was protecting myself before, I admit it. I was afraid of what you’d do if you found out the truth, and I was angry that you kept me away. That you’d rather take Riker. That you thought I wasn’t—”
She pushed against his grip, but she had no strength. “Get off of me, you lying imp-shit.”
“I won’t lie to you again, I swear.”
“As if I would believe you.”
“You will,” he said, releasing her and sitting back.
Before she could spit in his face, the door opened and Damion tromped in, slick with sweat and covered in dirt and pine needles. He smiled and rounded the bed, while Kaelan stood up and backed away.
“Coz.” Damion leaned over her, planting a kiss on her forehead. “About time you woke up.”
“Damion.” She grasped at his dirt-caked shirt. “We have to get out of here.”
He frowned at her tears, looking a bit uncertain. “What’s wrong?”
Her gaze flicked over to where Kaelan had stood, but he was gone.
She swallowed hard. “I’m not staying here.”
“Where else can we go?” he asked. “Lavana is Radiant. She’s hunting you. I know you don’t trust Python or the Resistance, but they’re our best hope right now.”
Her hands fell away from him, her chest a snarl, tears pouring down her face. “Best hope for what? War? Is that what you want too?”
He touched her arm. “Get some rest. You’ll need your strength for what’s to come.”
She shook her head. “I can’t ever go back there. I don’t want to go back. It’s done. It’s over.”
He smiled, the scars crisscrossing his face melting behind the confident tilt of his lips, the fierceness of his eyes.
Her pain abated looking up at him. Even now, the sight of a true Pixie warrior gave her heart, even when hers was broken and bleeding. And it reminded her that, in spite of everything, she was still a Rae.
“It’s not over, Mistress,” he said. “Not yet.”
Get Claiming the Prince: Book Two
HERE
Kindle for iOS users can copy and paste this address into browser
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016R8BB9W
Want to hear about new releases first?
/>
Sign up for Cora Avery’s newsletter
HERE
Personal info will never be shared
Enjoying Claiming the Prince?
Please share!
Post A Review
Check out Cora’s website
HERE
LIKE Cora’s facebook page for updates
Find Cora on fb
Table of Contents
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
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Epilogue
Table of Contents
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
Chapter 26
Chapter 27