A Song of Shadows (2020 Ed)

by Jenna Wolfhart

  Widening my eyes, I twisted my head to face him. “Of course I trust you.”

  Rourke’s warm and comforting body was suddenly gone—he was on his feet within seconds. As the hail slammed into the ground all around us, he bent over and scooped me up into his arms. His feet began to pound against the pockmarked dirt as his lithe and impossibly fast body twisted and turned, dodging the furious attack from mother nature.

  Up ahead, a small stone building melted into view. Rourke sped straight for it, throwing open the steel-encased door and storming inside just as a heavy, unrelenting rain poured down from the skies above. He heaved in great breaths as he lowered me to the floor, and then turned to latch the door behind us.

  All I could do was stare at him. Rourke, as it turned out, was impossibly fast. I’d seen flashes of it before but never like this. The way he could move…my eyes slid down the back of him, and I gasped. From where he’d been protecting me, he’d taken a heavy beating from the hail. The ice had sliced through his cloak, as well as the shirt underneath. Blood was smeared everywhere, so much so that it was impossible to tell just how badly he’d been wounded.

  I stood on shaky legs and crossed to where he was bent over, his forehead pressed against the hard stone wall. “Rourke. You’re hurt.”

  “I know. But at least you’re safe.”

  My heart flickered, and I reached out to place a timid hand on his shoulder. I expected him to flinch. He always did. But not this time.

  “My safety is not more important than yours.” I took a small step closer. “Please let me look at your wounds.”

  He stiffened and shook his head. “I know what you want to do, and the answer is no. I remember what happened when you healed Kael. It made you impossibly weak, Norah. You’ve already put yourself in enough danger because of me.”

  Oh, Rourke.

  “At least let me clean your back,” I said. “The normal way. No magic allowed.”

  For a long moment, I didn’t think he would agree. But his body had begun to tremble, a sign that he wasn’t as immune to his wounds as he wanted me to think. Rain had soaked through all our clothes, and a chill had come along with the storm. His wounds needed some attention, or things were going to get a lot worse.

  “Okay. Just cleaning though.” He pushed away from the wall and eased down onto a burlap rug that was spread across the floor. With trembling fingers, I leaned over him, carefully pulling his matted shirt away from his back.

  He flinched, but that was the only sign of pain. His back, on the other hand, told a far different story than the calm, controlled expression on his face. He’d been cut—badly—in at least three places. I used his shirt to gently wipe away some of the blood, but the wounds kept pouring, despite how many times I dabbed them dry.

  “Rourke,” I began.

  “Norah, don’t.” He leaned up on his elbow to face me, his golden chest glistening under the pale light streaming in from outside. I know what you’re going to say, but you can’t.”

  “I don’t think we really have a choice here. You’re losing a lot of blood. If I don’t stop it, things are going to get a lot worse.”

  I didn’t know how worse exactly. I wasn’t a doctor. I didn’t know how this kind of thing worked. Would he pass out first? Would he be able to walk? Or would he just…slowly fade away if we didn’t stop the bleeding? I’d never read a manual on this kind of thing. All I knew was nonstop, profuse bleeding would lead to terrible things.

  Before he could make another argument, I placed my hands on Rourke’s skin. He stiffened, and his eyes went round. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough. “Norah.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed heavily in through my nose, sucking in the leafy scent of him. Healing was never easy. It had consequences. The magic of the world demanded a price. It required energy and life, just not the life of the one being healed. The magic wanted mine. I zeroed my thoughts in on Rourke, focusing my mind on the horrible gorges on his back. Heat poured down my arms and pooled into my hands. I whispered something out loud, but I didn’t know what.

  And then the heat left me. It entered Rourke, fleeing from my very soul. Sucking me dry. Leaving me with nothing….but darkness.

  My head felt split in two when I awoke to the sight of an ancient stone ceiling and the roaring sound of rain and thunder. Firelight danced along the walls, and I groaned as I pushed myself up from the floor.

  Rourke was sitting just beside my feet, his back—now free of marks—curved as he drew aimless circles into the dusty floor. He glanced up when he heard me move, his eyes sad and hollow.

  “You should rest,” he said quietly. “It’s going to take some time for you to recover from that.”

  “You seem angry.”

  A heavy sigh. “Anger is the wrong emotion for what I feel. I asked you not to heal me, Norah. The last thing I want is to cause you pain, and now look. I can see you’re in physical grief from the look in those eyes of yours.”

  “It’s just a headache.” I winced when my skull throbbed. Okay, so it was a bad one at that, but I didn’t want him to feel guilty for my pain. “Besides, it was my choice. I couldn’t very well let you bleed out all over the floor.”

  I pressed my hands harder against the rug when a new wave of pain shot through my skull. Shivers followed soon after, engulfing my wet skin. Rourke frowned when he saw me shaking, and he was by my side within an instant, cradling the back of my head.

  “You need to rest,” he said, more insistently this time. His eyes flicked over my body as he frowned. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”

  “Well, we did get caught in a downpour,” I tried to joke, but the words came out through clenched, chattering teeth.

  “Right. We need to get you out of those clothes.”

  My cheeks flushed, though that did little to chase away the chill. “Do what now?”

  His hand trailed down my neck and pressed against the damp shirt that was clinging to my skin. “Your clothes are soaked through. It’s only making it worse. We need to get you out of these clothes and wrapped up in one of these pieces of burlap. I can try to add some more fuel to the fire. Heat things up in here.”

  “No.” The word popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. “I’m…embarrassed.”

  Rourke’s eyes softened, and he shifted closer to me. “Norah, you don’t need to be embarrassed in front of me.”

  “I just…” I blushed, hating that my thoughts were betraying me like this. “What if you don’t like what you see?”

  His palm cupped my cheek. “Is that what you worry? Oh, Norah. There is absolutely no chance I would ever not like what I see, not when it comes to you. You are the most breathtaking female I’ve ever seen in all my years in this realm. No one has ever caught my eye before. No one has ever made me constantly imagine ways in which I can get her alone.”

  He took my hand and pressed it to his chest. Beneath my fingertips, I could feel his heart beating wildly, almost as fast as my own.

  With gentle fingers, he reached down and lifted my shirt from my damp skin, pulling it over my head and tossing it into the corner of the building. I shivered beneath his gaze and at the heady spark in his eyes. He smiled and traced a line down the center of my chest, making me tremble at the strange ache that began to grow within my core.

  He stood and motioned for me to follow. Swallowing hard, I pressed up from the floor and held my body still as he slid my pants down my legs. Next came my underwear and my bra, and then he removed all his clothes, until there was nothing between us but air.

  My chest heaved as I stared up at him, my mouth suddenly, achingly dry. I could barely think straight from the heat I saw in his eyes. Rourke had always held himself away from me, but now, his walls were dropping, crashing around our feet.

  “Like I said,” he said thickly. “I very much like what I see.”

  My heart thumped, and my voice came out barely a whisper. “I do, too.”

  In fact, everything about him was perfect.
His glistening skin that shimmered in the dull light. The corded muscles of his chest. That golden hair that fell haphazardly into his matching eyes. He was breathtaking.

  Rourke’s hands slipped around my back. One finger trailed up my spine and hovered there before dipping back to my ass. I sucked in a sharp breath, my body frozen, my heart rampaging wildly in my chest. Heat tiptoed through my core.

  He cupped my ass, yanking me to his chest. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

  Desire shot through me like a comet. I let out a soft moan and leaned against him. His lips caught mine, and the heat of him almost took my breath away. Our limbs entwined as his tongue explored my mouth, teasing me and tasting me and driving me wild with a need I’d never felt in all the years of my life.

  My core clenched tight, the need inside me building into an almost impossible crescendo.

  With a heavy groan, he pushed me back onto the burlap and pressed his slick body on top of mine. I spread my legs, hooking my ankle around his thigh. The hard length of him pressed against me. He was so close, so agonizingly close. I arched my back and pressed myself harder against him. The ache continued to build inside me, reflecting how painfully I needed this beautiful fae.

  The scent of dirt rose up around me as he dropped his kisses to my chest. His tongue curled around my peaked nipples, shooting another round of aching desire through my core. Moaning, I arched into him, desperate for more.

  “Please. I need you,” I whispered, shaking, not even caring how much dirt now clung to my body. In fact, I revelled in it. Deep, damp earth was Rourke. It smelled like him, it felt like him. I wanted more of it. I wanted to writhe my body against it and feel it cling to my skin.

  With a shudder, Rourke pulled back and gazed adoringly into my eyes. “Are you certain this is what you want, Norah?”

  “I’ve never wanted anything more,” I breathed.

  He shuddered again, and then pressed his hardness against my slick thighs. He went slowly and carefully, keeping his eyes locked on mine, as if he wanted to make sure that I enjoyed every second of this moment with him. Suddenly, his hard length speared me, stretching me wide. I was almost blinded by the sparks that filled my eyes.

  Our hips began to rock together. We crashed into each other, the power of our need growing with each passing beat. As my pleasure began to build, all of the tension in my body began to melt away. My moans grew louder, and my movements faster. I wrapped my arms around Rourke’s golden body and dragged my nails down his back. I was losing myself to him, letting all my inhibitions drop away so that I could experience the full pleasure of Rourke.

  He thrusted harder. An animalistic growl built in his throat as our frantic movements kicked up dirt all around us. I gasped as it surrounded us, like a whirlwind of a storm.

  My pleasure grew. My core clenched tight. My screams echoed on the walls that surrounded us. And then that tension burst, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces that shuddered through me over and over again.

  As my orgasm pounded through me, Rourke caressed my cheek and dropped his forehead to mine. My heart swelled at what I saw in his eyes. This was more than just lust. This was more than just a passing moment in time. He was my mate. I was certain of it. More certain than I’d ever been of anything in my life.

  Chapter Twelve

  A part of me wanted to stay in this cocoon of happiness, safety, and exhilarating passion forever, to block out everything terrible going on in the world. Here, in this little stone room, nothing else mattered except for Rourke. But as the rain continued to pour from the sky, my thoughts began to turn outward instead of in. It was only three days until the Spring Court would attack the Winter fae. Liam was waiting for me back in the Summer lands, and my heart ached to see my Winter prince. It felt like years since I’d seen Kael and Finn, and I worried now what they might think when they learned what had happened here this day.

  “You’re thinking of the others, aren’t you?” Rourke murmured as he traced lazy circles on my bare skin. “I can tell by the look on your face. You look wistful and sad. And perhaps a little worried.”

  I turned on my side to face him, staring into the flickering golden eyes that had captured my soul. “You know things are kind of complicated, right? You aren’t the only one I’ve shared a bed—or floor—with. I don’t really understand what’s happening between all of us, but I do know that I don’t want to upset anyone.”

  “Greater Fae mate differently than the rest of us do,” he mused.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Greater Fae. Lesser Fae. I hate those words.”

  “Marin hated them, too,” he said softly.

  “I don’t think I’m anything like her. Maybe power-wise, but that’s about it.”

  Rourke regarded me carefully. “And why is that, Norah?”

  “She was a Queen and a ruler. A good one at that, it sounds like. Her people loved her, and she protected them. So, she must have been strong and powerful and wise. And also kind.”

  “Yes.” He gave a nod. “She was all of those things. And, as far as I can see, you are, too.”

  I grunted. “Hardly.”

  His soft finger traced another circle on my arm. “Why do you doubt yourself so much?”

  “You’ve seen me, Rourke. I flailed around like an idiot when I first came to the Academy. My powers might be getting stronger, but they’re still nothing to scream about. Not to mention the fact that I hardly ever know what I’m doing until someone points out I’ve done it. People see me as a stupid wooden block. Nothing special. I don’t deserve the title of Greater Fae.”

  “You’re still going on about that wooden block, then.”

  “Well, I don’t want to be a wooden block. I want to be more than that.”

  A flicker of a smile. “Good. Then, let’s start with getting your information back to the Summer Hunters, something I fear I may have gotten distracted from after all your…moaning.”

  He winked, and despite myself, my cheeks flamed.

  “We do need to get back as soon as possible. Do you think we’ll be able to leave soon?”

  Not that I truly wanted to, especially not when he was looking at me with that heat in his eyes again.

  He cocked his head to listen. “It sounds as though the storm has almost moved on. While we’re waiting, why don’t you fill me in on what you’ve learned?”

  Of course. Because I’d yet to even share the information with Rourke. First, we’d been fleeing from the castle. Then, we got trapped in the hailstorm. And then…well, I certainly wasn’t thinking of Queen Viola’s words when Rourke’s strong and muscular body was pressing on top of me, or when his lips were caressing my neck.

  I shuddered, that sweet, strange ache taking shape again.

  A slight smile played across Rourke’s lips. “As much as I’d like to know what that shudder is about…”

  “I know. We need to focus.” With a deep breath, I told Rourke what I’d overheard the Hunter say to his Queen. And from the look on Rourke’s face, he was just as surprised as I was. Spring fae were not known for being easily provoked. They were the most peaceful fae in all the realm. Sure, they had a tendency to irritate the other Courts with their unending attraction to pranks, but they never meant any harm.

  “Queen Viola must have said or done something to trick the Spring Court into attacking.” His lips turned down in a frown. “I know these fae. They do not like conflict. Whatever has caused them to attack must be serious, or it must be very wrong.”

  “Is it at all possible that the Winter Court could have done something to provoke them?”

  Rourke pursed his lips. “Perhaps, though I cannot see it myself. Winter fae are logical, and provoking another Court would not be logical. Unless…”

  A shiver went down my spine. “Unless what?”

  “Unless their King and Queen harbor their own desires for the conquest of this realm. If they provoke the Spring fae to attack them—in their home territory—the odds the Spring Court would fall are very hig
h. Spring fae cannot handle the cold, not the way the Winters can. They don’t have the resources or the clothing to last long, especially not if it storms. With the Summers and the Springs out of the way, the Winters would only have to face off against the Autumn Court. As unlikely as I want it to be, I do have to admit that it’s a possibility.”

  Hearing him talk through the fate of the realm as if the fae were merely chess pieces to be moved about a board…well, I didn’t feel particularly optimistic about preventing an all-out war. If the Springs wanted a fight, and the Winters were after a throne, and the Autumns were hell-bent on turning everyone against each other, I didn’t know how Otherworld would make it to the other side.

  We left when the howling winds were a distant memory. A steady drizzle caused a thick mist to hang heavy in the air, but the thunder and lightning, the hail and the wind were no longer pounding against the trembling trees. Rourke gathered me into his arms, and we ran. It was a long way to travel back to the Summer lands that way. Rourke was strong, powerful, and immortal, but he wasn’t immune to weariness. We did a quick search for the horses we’d been forced to leave behind, but they were nowhere to be found—they had likely run for shelter during the storm.

  I hoped to the forest they’d found it.

  “Even as fast as I can run, it will take us much longer to travel back on foot than it will to travel by horse. This kind of speed is wearying, especially at this distance, as much as it pains me to say. We would have to stop many times along the way.”

  “Could you show me how to do it? If I have Autumn powers, maybe I could do this, too,” I said as I leaned against a rough tree trunk to catch my breath. Despite the fact it had been Rourke who had been doing all the running, I felt out of breath myself. And a little bit dizzy.

  Rourke pursed his lips. “I have no doubt you could, and I admire your tenacity even when you look as though the world is tipping sideways beneath your feet.”