The Swarm Trilogy

by Megg Jensen

  I lifted my skirt up to my ankles and ran back over to Bryden. My lips landed on his, kissing him with everything I had. “I love you.” I said it loud enough to ensure both men heard it. A stupid smile spread across Bryden’s face. I turned back, striding over to Chase as fast as my legs could take me. I couldn’t read his stone-faced expression, but it didn’t really register. Only Bryden’s feelings mattered at the moment.

  A harsh knock at the door interrupted our hurried discussion. I shot Bryden one last bittersweet smile, placed my hand in Chase’s, and stepped through the portal.

  Chapter Twelve

  Chase and I stepped directly into his room at the tree house community.

  “That was too close,” he muttered, pacing back and forth. “If they would have caught you there, everything would have been ruined. Lives could have been lost.”

  I grabbed Chase’s forearms, squeezing them as hard as I could to get his attention. It wasn’t easy. His muscles were harder than rocks and even though I was strong, I still couldn’t force them to relax. “Everything is okay. We got out. Bryden’s safe. We’re safe.”

  He shook free of my hands, as if my touch burned him. “Don’t touch me. Especially not when I’m this upset.”

  I placed my palm on his arm again. “I’m not afraid of you, Chase.”

  He pulled away again. His eyes narrowed, filling not with rage like I expected, but with sadness. “There’s never any reason to be afraid of me, Lianne. I’d never hurt you.”

  I laughed. “You’re too worked up about this whole thing. Look, I don’t know who you were seeing or what they said to upset you so much, but we’re back and we’re safe. If I hide here for another week or two, this will all blow over. The Malborn will move on and we can both go back to our lives.”

  He started pacing again. “What upset me was seeing you in Bryden’s arms, Lianne. I know I’m not supposed to have these feelings for a girl I hardly know. Don’t you think I know that? But it doesn’t mean they aren’t there and that they aren’t real. Seeing you wrapped up in his arms like that, wondering what you were just doing before I came in – for Eloh’s sake, I can’t even think about that.”

  His hand found my cheek. When his thumb began stroking my face, my first instinct was to pull away, but I stood firm.

  “Lianne, I know it’s too soon and I know you aren’t going to want to hear it. But I love you. With all my heart and soul, I love you. It kills me to see you with him. To know that you love Bryden the way I want you to love me.”

  My heart shattered into a million pieces. I didn’t return his feelings. I couldn’t. Friendship was the only word I could honestly apply to our relationship. Chase’s eyes glistened as he leaned in, placing his lips just a breath away from mine. My years of combat training screamed at me to sweep his leg and punch him in the face, but my heart won. I knew how it felt to love and not get it in return. I would treat him as gently as I had wanted to be treated.

  He pulled back, turned on his heel, and left me alone in the cottage with a quiet click of the door. I stood, silent in the oppressive darkness. The night wrapped around me like a blanket.

  I lay down on the bed, sinking into its cushy softness. It enveloped me into a warm embrace. The night quieted down. I didn’t know if Chase was outside my door, or if his friend Ace was there instead. I heard nothing – not breathing, not a sound. Maybe they had finally left me alone for once.

  I pulled myself out of the bed and crept over to the door. I put my ear against the rough wood before placing my hand on the doorknob. I turned it slowly, pulling the door inside the cottage. I poked my head out the door. Clear. Quiet.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the night. The canopy hid most of the dark sky, but I could still see a few stars poking through the leaves. Glad the draught Johna gave me was still combating the vertigo, I didn’t hesitate to walk to the edge of the platform.

  My hands gripped the rope handles. I didn’t lean over the edge like I had earlier. With no one to pull me back, I wasn’t as sure of myself.

  “It’sssssss her!”

  I spun around, searching wildly in the darkness for the source. It was that creature again. The kalli. I crouched, my legs firmly planted on the platform and my hands in fists at the ready.

  “Don’t be afraid princesssssss,” it said. Something touched my hair. I batted my hands in the air, hitting something hard and scaly.

  A hideous laugh, like the sound of a thousand beetles crunching underfoot, echoed through the darkness. Chills tiptoed over my body. I glanced back toward the other cottages, but no one emerged.

  “No one can hear me, princesssssss. Just you. It is just you and I. Now, come with me.” A green hand thrust out from the dark air, holding its palm up. “Take my hand and come with me, princesssssss.”

  I punched into the air, right where I thought its head would be, but my hand didn’t hit anything but air.

  “Are you kidding? What are you? What do you want with me?” And why did it keep calling me princess? Creepy.

  “You will come with me or I will take you, princesssssss. I have been tasked with finding you, which I have done. I have been tasked with waiting until the moment you were alone, which I have done. If you will not come with me, then I will take you.”

  In spite of the situation, I laughed. “You? Take me? Just try it.” All I’d seen and all I’d heard had shown me this creature was small. I needed one clear shot.

  It laughed again. The sound didn’t just assault my ears, it crept into my very soul, causing my heart to shudder.

  “As you wish, princesssssss, as you wish.”

  Before I could flinch even one muscle, something surrounded my whole body, cutting off the air to my lungs, squeezing my chest so tightly I couldn’t utter a single word or plea for help.

  “It won’t kill you, but it will keep you quiet.” That laugh ripped through the air again. “You will come with me now, princessss, won’t you? Now that there’s no choice.”

  A light flashed in the air. A portal, just like the one Chase had made earlier in the night. I cursed myself for assuming I could use my combat skills to fight something that was obviously supernatural. Kalli or not, whatever that thing was, it was thinking things through far more than I was.

  My body floated up into the air. The kalli’s hand outstretched in the air, guiding me toward the portal. I wanted to scream, to alert anyone to my plight, but I couldn’t. The magical web he spun around me prevented me from doing anything. Tears escaped my lower lashes. Every muscle in my body raged at me to struggle harder. I couldn’t make even the tiniest movement.

  Helplessly, I floated closer to the portal. Let me go! I screamed in my mind. No one could hear but me. I was alone, utterly and completely alone, and about to be taken to some unknown place where they’d probably never find me again.

  My eyes searched the darkness, hoping for any sign of rescue. Nothing. I gasped, the tears choking my throat. I tried again to struggle against the bindings. Nothing. I can’t let it happen this way. I can’t. CHASE! I used my mind to scream every word I could think of that might draw him to me. Anything. Everything.

  Then I saw him, his blond hair shining in the darkness like a beacon of hope. My heart surged. He was coming for me. He’d rescue me before that thing could take me away.

  The screeching laugh interrupted my thoughts. My eyes flicked to the side. Finally, it fully materialized in front of me. Its sharp, jagged teeth glinted in the light of the portal.

  “He’s too late, princesssssss.”

  My gaze flipped back to Chase. He was still too far away. Even though the space between us closed with every step he took, I still knew deep down that he was too far away to reach me. I gave up, ceasing the mental struggle.

  “Lianne!” His shout reverberated inside my magical cocoon, ripping at my heart. It was too late. He knew it. I knew it. “NO!”

  I floated into the portal, with the kalli’s revolting bony fingers wrapped around my arm. It l
ead me to my doom, cackling the whole way. The portal winked and closed shut behind us. The cocoon dissolved. I fell to the floor, landing hard on my bottom.

  “She’s here, master. The princesssssss is yours.”

  I looked up through the mass of tears still leaking from my eyes. The kalli moved in and out of focus. For a moment, it reminded me of that little girl who’d brought my first meal at the tree house community. I blinked and it looked like the disgusting kalli again. A man, who couldn’t have been much older than Chase, stood with his feet apart and his arms folded on his chest. The kalli stood next to him.

  “She’ll do just fine.”

  Then the man kicked me on the forehead and everything went black.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I came to. At least I thought I did. Blackness enveloped me like the protective wing of a mother crow. I was the baby bird, wanting nothing more than to peek out at the light, but deathly afraid of what I might find. Even though I’d been unconscious, I hadn’t forgotten what happened the night before. Or day before. Or week.

  I had no idea how long I’d been out.

  The pounding sensation on my head where that man kicked me indicated maybe it had only been minutes.

  No stranger to being thrown in a dark dungeon, I groped the floor with my hands searching for something, anything to tell me which way to venture. A hard floor. Clean. No straw scattered around like the last dungeon I’d been in. Alone in the darkness, I felt my bravery fail.

  I sat back on my feet and sighed. I’d done nothing but fight since my birthday. Fought with Kellan and Bryden. Fought the king and Albree. Fought with Mags and Chase.

  It was more than draining; it was downright soul-sucking.

  I’d prepared my body to handle any situation I thought life would throw at me. Where did it get me? Stuck in another dungeon.

  Bright light flooded into the room. I squinted, seeing a door far to the other side.

  “Well, why are you crouched down on the floor like that? Like a scared little animal? That’s no way to conduct yourself. Get up, get up now.”

  A round woman waddled into the room. Gowns piled up on her outstretched arms as she maneuvered herself around the furniture. My eyes focused. What I’d thought was a dungeon was really a beautifully appointed room. Damask tapestries hung from the windows. Darkly oiled, well-kept furniture dotted the floor. A table flanked by a few chairs near the window. It was just as beautiful as Mags’ queen quarters had been back in Fithia.

  I glanced at what I’d thought was a rough dungeon floor, only to discover a woolen rug under my knees.

  “We don’t usually sleep on the floor here,” the woman said. She draped the armful of dresses on a nearby chair.

  I struggled to my feet, my legs stiff and sore.

  “You must have been really tired to have fallen out of bed and not realized it. I’m Mayvis, by the way. Here to serve you.” She fussed around the room, straightening up things that weren’t even a mess. She clucked under her breath. “You need to get up and make yourself beautiful. You’ve been chosen for such an amazing honor.”

  “Last I knew, some tiny beast stole me from the people who were protecting me. I have no idea where I am or what’s going on. Can you fill me in?”

  She turned slowly, her sweet demeanor no longer comforting. Mayvis’ eyes narrowed and a small hint of a smirk mocked me. “You’re here to breed. We need your variety of magic and we need it as soon as possible. Not a day will go by that you won’t be expected to try to procreate with your new mate. We need to integrate your magic into our army.”

  I gasped, stumbling backward onto the bed. Procreate for their army? It didn’t make any sense. Armies were built out of volunteers, or in times of war men joined to help their country.

  “I won’t do it.”

  “Doesn’t matter. If you won’t cooperate, we will force you. You’re our captive and you will do as we say. You can make this easy on yourself or it can be hard. The choice is yours. Not all the girls are willing. We’ve developed drugs to relax you, if that’s what you choose to do. Or your mate can beat you into submission. We don’t really care. As long as you produce offspring that pleases us, you will be cared for.”

  “Other girls? How many are there like me?”

  “Not as many as there were twenty years ago, before those damn Serenians defeated our army there.” Mayvis waved her hand in the air. “No matter, though. They may have won a battle on their soil, but we were prepared for that. The Malborn are always prepared.”

  I shook my head. The Malborn. These were the people Chase had been warning me about. It wasn’t just his imagination. They really had been after me. “People know I’m here. They won’t let you get away with it. I will be rescued.”

  Mayvis laughed. The wrinkles around her beady eyes crinkled. “Are you talking about Chase? How do you think we knew where you were and how to find you? Everything Chase knows, we know. Chase is an old friend of the Malborn. He won’t be coming to rescue you anytime soon. Don’t even bother wasting your time thinking about it.”

  The puzzle pieces locked into place. Had Chase really been setting me up? If she was telling the truth, then he’d captured me, tricked me into trusting him, then let me be kidnapped when the time was right. Tears tried to push their way out, but I held them in. Once again, I’d been lied to. Was there anyone I could trust?

  Rage coursed through my veins. It didn’t matter that Chase had been working with them. All that mattered now was finding a way out and back to Bryden.

  She waddled over to me. Placing one small, fatty palm on my cheek, she patted my face. It wasn’t the hard slap I’d expected, but instead a sweet gesture. “Don’t worry, dearie. You’ll be happy here. Your mate is exceptional. You’ll find yourself interested in him quickly, I predict. Some of the other girls already requested him in their beds, but we saved him just for you.”

  Mayvis winked, but instead of reassuring me, my stomach dropped to my toes. Her demeanor led me to believe she was masking her evil intentions with a sweet exterior. I didn’t buy it for a second and I wasn’t quite sure she wanted me to. Unsettling me might have been her goal, and if it was, she was succeeding.

  “When will I meet him?” I asked, hoping I’d have enough time to figure out an escape plan. I had no intention of having sex with a guy I’d never met to help them build their army of darkness. I couldn’t even fathom giving in to a plan like this. The other girls who wanted this guy could have him.

  “He’ll be in here soon. Within the hour, for sure. He said he wanted to get ready for you. Make the very best first impression on you. I’d suggest you do the same for him. You’ve both been chosen for a great honor. If we can get children off of you two, our army will have power beyond imagining.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “It takes almost a year to have a baby. Then it has to grow up. Your army will be nothing by the time this kid is ready to fight for you – if he or she will even agree to it.”

  “We have all the time in the world, Lianne,” she said. “The Malborn have been working toward this goal for thousands of years. What’s another fifteen or sixteen years to wait for the ultimate weapon?”

  “You’re sick.” I refused to play along with this ridiculous plan. If they thought I was willingly going to submit to some guy I’d never met in order to get pregnant with his evil spawn, they were fooling themselves. They obviously knew something about this power inside me, but maybe they didn’t know I could fight. Maybe they didn’t know I’d killed before. Even if it was an accident, I knew I was capable of killing someone else in defense. I’d do it again.

  Mayvis laughed again as she poured a jug of water into a washing basin. “I’m not the one who’s sick, Lianne. You are. You must understand that we’re only trying to be the most powerful nation. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s what every nation wants. Sadly, most of them don’t have the forethought to make it happen. Those pathetic Fithians you grew up with? They couldn’t conquer an army of a
nts. And your Dalagans? Yes, perhaps they fooled the Fithians with their basic magic. But they didn’t think ahead of that conquest, did they? No, they were content to move into the Fithian land. Why? Because they’re lazy. Frankly, it astounds me they were even able to produce children whose magic was so powerful. They’re like children blowing on a pinwheel with puckered lips, lost in the moment. We Malborn plan for the future. We don’t want to be on top tomorrow – we will be on top forever.”

  I wanted to make a clever retort back, tell her how they were doomed to fail, that someone would stop them. Maybe me. I held my thoughts inside, though. They would do no good right now. I was essentially trapped here. The only thing I had to worry about was this man who was coming to my room with the intent of taking me against my will and making me mother to a child who could potentially be the downfall of everyone.

  Once I found a way to neutralize him, then maybe I could concentrate on finding a way out.

  A hard knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

  Mayvis smiled again. Her teeth bared, in what could have been a kindly smile if it weren’t for the glimmer of malice lurking in her eyes, she scurried over to the door as fast as her short legs could propel her.

  “He’s here. Oh, you’re going to like him. I promise. Why if I were twenty years younger, I might devour him myself.” Her laugh tinkled in the room, like that of a young girl in love. My stomach turned. Attractive or not, I’d never give in. Not willingly.

  The door swung open. He stood there, taking up most of the doorway. His muscles bulged in all the right places. His fiery hair fell across his eyes, so like mine, a mess that begged to be swept aside. But it was his sideways smile that got me. No one else had it. Kellan.

  Mayvis bowed and backed out of the doorway, leaving us alone.

  “Hi, Lianne. How many years did you lust after me? Desire me? The last time we were together you were too much of a little girl to give in.” His eyes travelled up and down my body. I shivered, my stomach roiling. “Now’s your chance.”