Soul of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 3)

by Stacey Trombley

  To save him.

  And that is what I will do now. I will continue to fight for Rev with every breath in my lungs.

  Rev

  The echo of pounding feet, desperate breaths, and spinning confusion washes over me. Have they come back for me?

  “Reahgan?” I whisper. It couldn’t be him. He doesn’t have feet, my hazy mind reminds me.

  Ow, I think, even though I don’t feel much pain. I’m just... heavy. Tired. There is the dull and distant pain of acid on my skin. Of poison in my lungs.

  I pant suddenly like I’m running for my life.

  My mind is hazy, hardly able to think through where I am and what’s happened.

  Keep going. Keep going.

  My eyebrows pull down in confusion. Who is that? I force my heavy eyes open. Everything is black. I’m still lying on the ground near the tree that once held me prisoner. Could I run now? I wonder.

  The harsh smell of sulfur bombards my nose. But I am still in the dark place that should only smell of mildew and blood.

  I was in the Night Terror’s clutches. Still am, actually. Her sinister darkness surrounds me like a wall, cutting me off from the outside world. Cutting me off from my mate, who’s out there somewhere.

  Alive.

  Where are you, Caelynn?

  Gentle dark tendrils curl around me as I lie on the cold ground, body newly healed with no energy left. It’s hard to even breathe.

  I shiver as the shadow sprites cover me in their protective power. My eyelids flutter.

  No, not the shadow sprites. It’s her. Her shadows, her essence, are with me, covering me as I lie on the ground, body heavy with resounding pain.

  “What is your mate telling you, child?” I wince as the Night Terror’s low voice rumbles through the darkness. Coils of the tree’s roots slither closer. “Is she almost here?” she asks sweetly.

  My mate? She thinks Caelynn is telling me something?

  “I’ve been waiting for her.”

  I shiver.

  The image of a steep, sloping path flickers to my mind, small boots pounding over the gravel. A wraith drifting along.

  I swallow. A chill washes over the area, and the branches slithering toward me pause.

  Was that Caelynn? She was running up...

  The ground rumbles beneath me. “Clever girl. Finally learning something, is she?”

  My stomach sinks. “She went for the spell book.” Reahgan had told me she left me behind. She continued on.

  Quick as lightning, one of the roots shoots up and grips me by the throat, lifting me into the air. I claw at the tree choking me, stealing my breath.

  “She thinks she can gain the upper hand. Well, perhaps I’ve underestimated her after all. It’s time to change tactics.”

  Caelynn

  The voices of ancient powers long absent from the land of the living bombard me. Soon, their words are like physical blows. Their breath harsh and commanding.

  I push past them, forcing my way through the remnant of their magic.

  You are nothing.

  You are worthless.

  You will fail.

  “I am nothing,” I repeat. “I am worthless.” I agree. “But I will not fail.”

  “Fight, my Caelynn,” my wraith says, his voice full of pride, his eyes full of sincerity. “You are worthy. You are powerful. You are the strongest fae I’ve ever encountered—and I’ve met many.”

  Strong and stubborn and stupid. Yes, that is who I am at the very bones of my soul.

  “Your life has been so hard, and you think that your stumbles mean you are weak, but it is quite the opposite. You have pushed through every obstacle. Even the most evil of monsters could not dull your brilliance.”

  The mountain rumbles, stones bouncing with their laughter. Is the mountain itself laughing?

  “The Night Terror has learned where you are,” Darren whispers.

  “Good.” I am determined, and no spirit alive or dead, evil or good, will stop me.

  I pick up speed, letting my wraith’s words fuel me. Letting my love for Rev push me further. Using my righteous anger over all the Night Bringer and Terror have done to me as support.

  I may never undo it. I may never free myself from their clutches. I may never heal my broken soul or my broken nation.

  But I will continue the fight I began when I was an adolescent. If I get the chance, I will kill them.

  You cannot have me, I tell the Night Bringer inside my heart.

  My magic purrs deep down, dimmer than before but still there. Believe what you like, child. You are mine for the taking.

  I growl, running harder, faster, through the smoke and raging anger of the spirits on this mountain.

  Undeserving.

  Weak.

  Pathetic.

  Nothing.

  Evil, just like us.

  My boots skid as I pull myself to a sudden stop.

  I am three-quarters of the way up the mountain now, but before me is a fork in the path. One path goes up with an arch of thorns curling over it. One goes down with an arch of shinning black stone carved over it.

  I look out past the mountain trails and to the expansive view. Dark lands stretch out so far it’s hard to even fathom. The ring of burning red flame glows only a mile away, and beyond it, the green vines covered in thorns that surround the rest of the lands. I can just make out the lands beyond, scattered shades of green. Hazy and vague but there.

  Far but visible.

  This way, the voices tell me. Streaks of black and red and yellow light soar past me and through the path on the left, through the thorn arch, leading farther up the mountain.

  I swallow, panting. A choice. I have to make a choice.

  A gentle nudge pushes me right. A harsh rush of magic pushes me left. Well, isn’t this a fun game?

  “Which way do I go?” I mutter aloud, more to myself than anything, but my wraith murmurs in confusion.

  “A riddle, perhaps?” He wafts beside me. “What are the voices telling you?”

  “You don’t hear them?” I finally ask. I hadn’t thought much of it, mostly because I refused to think much of anything. I knew my feet had to continue, and anything else was a distraction. Now... I have to stop. I am forced to consider many things.

  “What I hear is for me. What you hear is for you.”

  “What do you hear?”

  He sighs. “Oh, a myriad of things. Some of these spirits I have known personally. They hate me for the choices I made. They are jealous I’ve been free for many years, working for the temporary Shadow Court Queen.”

  Temporary. “The Queen of The Whisperwood,” I whisper.

  “Is not Corranda,” he says. Telling me what I already knew but refused to consider. “She is a steward. Holding it only until you arrive to take your rightful place.”

  I pull in a long breath.

  “You, Caelynn, are Queen of the Whisperwood.”

  I close my eyes, grief hitting me hard. Agony of what I’ve lost bombards me. I haven’t let any of it settle in my mind. What should have been. Those beautiful lands I adored so much, the shadow sprites, the phantoms, my people living in doubt and poverty.

  What belonged to me, stolen.

  I shake my head. It was lost long ago. I cannot uncover it now. It’s too late.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper to Darren. To the people thousands of miles away that will never know what I’ve done. To the shadow sprites.

  “It was never your fault, child.”

  I close my eyes and release a long breath. All of the guilt I’ve held— I could allow it to swallow me whole. I ache with it, and I accept that ache. But I will not let what I’ve lost define me.

  I have so much good still here.

  I may never see the sea again. Or the star scattered sky. But Rev is here, waiting for me. His beautiful silver eyes are worth every star in the sky.

  And I also have the admiration of my ancestor. I may never take my rightful place, but he believes I am worthy o
f it. And for now, that will have to be enough.

  After one long, deep breath, I recall a conversation I’d almost forgotten in all that’s happened since. The spirit of the gates. The keeper of the curse.

  Keep on the right path.

  Maybe she meant what I’d initially assumed, that I should be careful and choose correctly. Or maybe it was a hint.

  I examine both paths again. One has thorns which seems correct, in an obvious kind of way. The streaks of magic are obviously leading me that way, but something in my gut says they are not my allies.

  I turn instead to the right archway, smooth black stone with geometric sharp edges leading me lower down the mountain. I step closer to the archway and smooth whispers make themselves known through the archway. I can’t make out any of the words, but they sound just like the shadow sprites.

  Dainty, high pithed, and kind. Not at all like the urgency and harshness of those behind me.

  Convinced, I leap through the archway and bound down the path without even considering looking back. Darren squeals, rushing to catch up with me.

  I smile. Finally, he’s at least a little flustered.

  Less than five hundred feet down the hill, the pathway ends abruptly. I skid to a stop, staring out at the drop-off. Then, I turn to a gaping hole in the side of the mountain.

  Steam streams from the hole, billowing up in white clouds. I swallow and step inside.

  Rev

  I can feel the heartbeat of the ancient beast we call the Night Terror. The very ground beneath my cheek pulses with it.

  Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Picking up speed with every second.

  Her voice remains smooth, but I can feel it—she’s terrified.

  A bitter laugh bubbles up in my chest, and the vines grip my neck again. “What is it you’d like to say, my slave.”

  “I may be your captive, but I am not a slave. I will never do as you wish.”

  Her grip tightens over my windpipes, and I wretch. My vision blinks black, the breath is gone from my lungs. She crushes me then drops me back on the ground in a heap.

  I cough in as much oxygen as I can manage and press my forehead to the ground. “Let’s test that theory. What do you say, child?”

  “What?” I cough out between desperate breaths. Somewhere in the darkness the Night Terror slithers. What does she look like? I still don’t know.

  “You are going to go to the mountain and reach the book before she does. Or I’ll kill her, torture her, while you watch.”

  A laugh breaks from my lungs. “You don’t think I’d really do that, do you?”

  “I will destroy you both!” she screams.

  I should be terrified. I should be shaking in my boots—and certainly my body is uncomfortable, my heart pained. But I am at ease, deep in my soul.

  “Yes, I know that,” I whisper. “I believe you.”

  “Then, you would do as I bid.”

  “No.”

  She pauses, slithering closer. Is she examining me? Hot breath warms my neck, sending a shiver down my back. I ignore my own racing heartbeat. My muscles clench and relax.

  I ignore the instincts that tell me to run. To hide. To cower before this beast’s power.

  She has me. She’ll kill me. She’ll torture me.

  But there is only one thing I have control of—my own actions.

  “You’re going to torture us and kill us no matter what we do. I won’t give you what you want on top of it all.”

  The hot breath recedes. The beast slithers in the darkness. “You wish for a bargain.”

  Well, no. I hadn’t planned for anything remotely close to that. I’d just planned to lose on my terms instead of hers. Like Caelynn told me—we can at least make sure they don’t win in the process.

  We’re doomed, but the least we can do is return the favor.

  “Kill him,” a voice hisses through the darkness.

  “Why?” the Night Terror spits. “We need him.”

  “He is the key to her soul. Kill him, and she will fall.”

  My breaths are deafening in the silence. She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t respond. Chilling realization hits me.

  My mind flashes to Caelynn. Her beauty. Her bravery, her strength. Her boldness and wisdom and sadness. She’s spent her whole life fighting for mine. She’s been so determined to sacrifice herself for me. What will happen if I’m gone?

  What will happen to her heart and soul, barely hanging on, if I’m not there to convince her to keep fighting?

  My breath comes out trembling.

  I’m going to die, but I’m not afraid of that. I’m afraid that my death will cause Caelynn’s soul to fail. And the Night Bringer will get what he’s been hunting for the last decade.

  Caelynn

  The steam burns my skin, and I cry out but keep pushing forward. This is the right way, I’m sure of it.

  You think you are so clever, don’t you child?

  I ignore the hissing voice inside my mind. I’d know his voice anywhere.

  I’ve dreamt of it every day since I was young.

  A few more steps and the burning steam clears, revealing a perfectly sculpted round room with purple lights flickering on the ceiling. In the center of the room is a platform holding a large, leather-bound book.

  I did it. That’s my first thought. I found the damn spell book. The book that would save the world from the plague. The book that the Night Bringer so desperately wants.

  Eyes pinned to the thick, black leather, I approach the book with careful footsteps. Will there be one last test? One more trial to complete?

  I pause, fingers just inches from gripping the powerful pages in my hands.

  “What’s wrong?”

  My eyes flash to the wraith, Darren. I had forgotten he was even here.

  “Take it,” he instructs, his voice full of awe.

  Should I? I know the Night Bringer and Terror want me to have the book. They want me to use it to free them. Doubt flits through my mind.

  Maybe I calculated incorrectly. Maybe they manipulated me again. That wouldn’t be so surprising.

  We will kill him.

  I pull in a breath.

  One finger on that book and your mate’s heart will stop.

  I pull in breaths through clenched teeth.

  “Tell me,” Darren says softly. He knows I’m hearing more.

  “This Night Bringer,” my voice breaths. “He says they’ll kill Rev if I take the book.”

  “Doesn’t a threat show you are doing the right thing?”

  “The right thing for who?” I whisper.

  I try not to let my fear take over, to let my grief show, but I know I fail. I know because of the way Darren looks at me.

  Pity and fear. Pain and sadness.

  The wraith looks over his shoulder, through the steam where the exit lies. “Caelynn, my child,” the wraith whispers, black eyes meeting mine. “Perhaps I was wrong.”

  My eyebrows pull down. “What do you mean?”

  “The Shadow Court will never know what you’ve done. Just as they never knew what I did. For them. For the world. But this—this is your destiny, child.”

  My lips part. “What?”

  “I have never been more sure of something my whole life. Our people may never be what they once were, and I will mourn that with every remaining moment of my being, but I feel it. This place. You. Me. Our people will be responsible for saving it all. And that is something I can forever be proud of.”

  I blink rapidly. “What—what are you saying?”

  “Take the book, Caelynn,” he whispers.

  “What?” I gasp. “But what about Rev? You... you want him to die.”

  “No.” His voice is sure, sharp. His face tilted down in determination.

  “You promised.” My voice breaks.

  “I will not go back on my promise to you, child, but the book is your destiny. It calls to you. Don’t you feel it?”

  Black steaks of magic ripple from the leather binding. C
aelynn, the whisper pours from between the pages.

  “Take the book, and I will do the rest.”

  “But—"

  “I love you, my daughter. I am sorry for this bitter fate of ours. It is terrible. But it is beautiful. As are you.”

  The wraith wisps through the wafting steam, and when I blink, he’s gone entirely, leaving me alone with the spell book whispering my name.

  Rev

  I struggle for breath, limbs twitching, but I don’t bother fighting the branches crushing my windpipes. I can feel her power, even though I can’t see her.

  Night Terror.

  My life seeps away slowly. She’s savoring it—my death. I won’t ever know what she is, what she looks likes.

  Is this what Caelynn endured before my brother’s death? She was only seventeen when that happened. This is what she killed my brother to avoid.

  I’ll never see her golden eyes again, I think as the claws of death reach into my soul like a fluttering bird. Gentle, peaceful, dark.

  Death is here to take me home.

  Are you ready, child? The voice is smooth. Patient. Caring.

  It’s not at all how I expected death to come.

  Especially after my experience with the Black Gates. The anger I’d felt then is nowhere near me now. I have no regrets. No questions. If only I’d known.

  And thank God I learned the truth before it was too late.

  I know who my mate is, and I don’t hate her. I adore her.

  I’d burn the world down for her. My lips curl into a small smile as my body convulses one final time, extremities growing cold.

  “What the hell are you smiling about,” she growls, branches gripping tighter, but I don’t feel it anymore. My mind is elsewhere, my body entirely numb.

  I am at peace with my end. I only pray Caelynn will join me in the afterlife.

  “We had a deal!” someone yells. “You said you wouldn’t hurt him!”

  Something slams into my back, my mind fuzzy. The warmth I’d felt rushes out, leaving bitter cold and muscles contorting in agony.