by A. K. Koonce
Then he has the balls to say something I never thought about. “Your men are still under my possession, my Eminence. My mother is keeping a close eye on them while I’m gone.”
My jaw tics as I lift my gaze to meet his. He appears to be once again, the ever-confident king of this land.
“Who do you think will be in possession of your mother once you are no longer here, my King?” My lips snap shut as I stare hard at this little sniveling man.
One step after another I come closer and closer to him but he refuses to back down.
Call it stupidity, call it noble, he isn’t shriveling away from me.
“I have the power to harm what is near and dear to your heart, my Eminence.” The quiet voice isn’t nearly as commanding as it should be as she repeats the words I once threatened her with.
My spine stiffens. I turn toward the sound of her quiet voice.
The king’s mother shuffles into the light with someone I hadn’t expected to see; Ryder stands in front of her, his eyes held on mine. He towers over her small height, his bulky body too tall for her to really maneuver. The king’s mother holds a dagger to his ribs in an amateur like way. She holds it like it’s a vegetable she’s about to carelessly toss into a soup.
What the hell is she doing and, more importantly, why the hell is Ryder indulging her pretend dominance?
To find me.
He’s letting her lead him here to find where I was.
Hmm, perhaps the prince is smarter than I typically give him credit for.
Suddenly there are too many people in the room, too many statistics that could go wrong.
I lower my sword and the tension in the woman’s shoulders eases but she doesn’t lower her weapon.
A look of surrender is all I give them, slowly I drop to my knees, the sword still held firmly in my hands. My head hangs low and I consider every option I have.
“I told you, she’d never destroy our world, Mother. She is our salvation.”
Gods above, is he wrong.
I’d burn this place to the ground if it meant the four of us could find our freedom again.
Specifically, I’d burn this place to the ground just to find a sense of peace for what this woman did to my father.
My fingers sweep across the ground, the fine particles of debris shifting beneath my touch before my fingers slowly wrap around one of the iron bars covering the well. I fist the cold metal in my hand. My teeth grind together and my muscles constrict as I give the bar a hard pull.
With more strength than I ever knew I was capable of, the bars tear from the solid brick ground. Heavy breaths heave through my lungs and in a flash, my wings span the room. They open like a kite on a spring day. Flashing open and catching the minimal amount of air in the small room. As if I’ve flown my entire life, I fly up with powerful magic coursing through my wingspan. With me, I bring up the rest of the bars covering the Hopeless realm.
It shakes the ground. Brick tears up from the well. The stones topple into the swirling inky water and disappear to whatever lies beneath it.
I keep my balance as I hover above them like a watching angel staring down on the sinners of the world. The bent and deformed bars fall from my hands, the well eating them up until they swirl into the dark depths of the waters. My black wings beat with aggression, shoving too much wind into the small room. Her hair twirls around her aging face and she’s all that I see. Smoky strands of black and gray twirl around the aging lines of her piercing blue eyes.
She’s the reason I’m here. She’s the reason I am who I am today.
And I don’t even remember her name.
It’s the last logical thought I have before I swoop down on her like an eagle snatching up its prey.
Ryder leaps to the side just in time as I collide into her frail frame. I physically feel the smallest fracture of her arm as a bone snaps beneath my touch. Her back’s shoved against the wall and I hold her there.
“My name is Zakara Storm, daughter of the Royal Swordsman, Tomas Storm.” She gasps against me, her sapphire eyes shining with fear. My father’s name is probably just one soldier among many in her mind.
Faceless. Forgotten.
Her hand grips the dagger and she sinks it into my shoulder but I don’t even feel the sting of the blade, only the hot feel of my blood sliding down my arm.
“What you don’t realize is you already took what I held nearest and dearest to my heart.” I can’t resist the rage that’s furling within me. Pain shoots through my jaw as I hold it tightly closed.
My heart thunders to life. I consider all the agony this meek, mortal woman has brought me. The cries of my father will forever echo through my thoughts.
Because of her.
“Stop,” Tristan pleads, his voice unheard over the soaring sound of my heartbeat filling my ears.
My heartbeat is too loud.
I bring the blade up between us, driving it up through the center of her rib cage. Hot blood seeps through my tightly held fingers. I watch with rapt attention as the life in her eyes fades away into a dull look of death.
A painful feeling stings my chest and I realize I don’t feel any better.
This woman’s blood coats my hands and yet, my father is no more alive than he was five years ago.
Minutes pass and I’m still staring into her empty eyes.
“Kara, we have to go.” I peek at Ryder out of the corner of my eye. “Tristan ran. Soldiers will be here any minute. Either rain down some wrath or let’s get the hell out of here.”
My eyes close with a shaking breath.
He abandoned his own mother?
What kind of person turns their back on their family?
Then I realize, I ran to save myself as well when my father was murdered.
History simply repeats itself.
My throat feels dry when I swallow down the emotions building in my chest.
“We have to go.”
“We can’t leave Darrio and Daxdyn,” I say, finally releasing the woman, slipping my blade from her body and letting her hit the floor with a solid thud.
“Darrio’s on his way, I heard him follow after Alexia took me from your room.”
Alexia.
The woman I killed was named Alexia.
I look up to find Darrio’s wide shoulders filling the doorway. He stares at me in awe, taking in the tips of my wings to the angled lines scarring my arm. Then he sees my face. I don’t know what he sees there but it has him crossing the room to me.
Strong arms wrap around me and I bury my face in his broad chest. My hand, slick with blood, grips the hem of his shirt.
With a heightened sense of hearing, I hear the distinct sound of feet stomping through wet grass. Several of them. Dozens. How many exactly I can’t be sure.
Darrio and Ryder still have cuffs circling their wrists.
My fingers wrap around the iron and I pull hard. I put all of my energy into pulling at the metal encompassing Darrio’s wrist.
But it doesn’t move.
“It’s not normal iron, Kara.” His hand trails over the glossy black feathers that reach above my head. “Gods above, is she really the Eminence?” He doesn’t look away from me. His question goes unanswered.
I can’t focus on anything he’s saying.
“Where’s Dax?”
“He’s still in your room.”
My lips part as I try to focus on how close the soldiers are.
“I have to get him.” My hold tightens on the bloody hilt of my sword.
“You have to go. They’ll never let you go if they get their hands on you now, beautiful,” Ryder pulls at my hand but I don’t budge.
“I’m not leaving him. Mortals aren’t a match for me.”
“This new power is surging through you right now. Right now, they’re not a match for you, but it’ll tire out quickly. You’re still a new fae,” Ryder warns in a stern voice.
“He’s right,” Darrio says, his hand trailing down the black mark of the Hopele
ss on my arm to slip his fingers through mine. “Go with Ryder. I’ll get Dax and we’ll be right behind you.”
Ryder nods. Darrio nods. It’s as if it’s all settled. And before I even have a say in it, Ryder leaps into the swirling well.
The inky waves pull him under, pulling him home.
Finally.
The pale ends of his blonde hair twirl through the black waters, and it’s the last thing I see before he’s gone entirely.
I take a few steps closer, looking into the waters in consideration and wonder. Darrio stands at my side.
A silence settles for only a moment before I look up into his beautiful eyes.
I feel all-powerful; magic and power soars through me. And yet, Darrio’s strong body still makes me feel delicate.
His hands wrap around my hips, his knuckles grazing the soft feathers of my wings.
“I’m not leaving you two here,” I say with a defiant tilt of my chin.
“Yes, you are.” A small taunting smile pulls at his lips, distracting me from my deviant attitude. “You were right, though.”
My brows pull together in confusion as I hold his gaze.
“About what?”
His head tips down toward mine, eliminating the terrible space that separates his body from mine.
“I do love you.”
His soft lips brush mine, taking my surprised gasp with him. A euphoric feeling flutters through my chest.
Darrio loves me.
Of all the men I thought might love me in my life, this asshole fae was not one of them.
Tangled hair meets my fingertips as I thread my fingers through his locks, pulling him closer. My body aligns with his in a perfect and warming way. The sword in my hand hangs tiredly at my side now. My breath catches once more when he suddenly leans back from me, his gaze holding mine as his temple rests against my forehead.
A strange look fills his beautiful eyes.
What is he thinking?
With a hard shove, he pushes me into the dark, inky waves.
The thick water seeps right into me, burning through my veins just as my head goes under. A feeling of overwhelming power wraps around my entire body, suffocating me with the weight of it. It claws at my skin until it’s all that I see.
The Hopeless realm has an odd way of welcoming an Eminence home.
Epilogue
Ryder
Stark black wings cover her soft curves like a blanket keeping her safe. Smooth skin has me shoving my hands into my pockets, forcing myself to not touch her beautiful body.
Long lashes fan over her sharp cheekbones as she lies unconscious at my feet, her limbs curled up around herself.
I fully believe Zakara Storm has the ability to restore the world. Even when she was just a fearless mortal, she might have had the power to destroy it.
When I look at her, she isn’t the Eminence. She isn’t this powerful being everyone’s whispered about since before I can even remember.
This beautiful woman isn’t that at all.
She’s frustrating, and funny, and cunning and strong.
But gods above, she’s got a lot to learn if she ever expects to survive in the dangerous world that is the Hopeless realm.
The End
The Hopeless Series continues! Book three, Hopeless Realm is available on preorder today!
Hopeless Realm Preorder
Also by A.K. Koonce
The Mortals and Mystics Series
Fate of the Hybrid, Prequel
When Fate Aligns, Book one
When Fate Unravels, Book two
When Fate Prevails, Book three
The Resurrection Series
Resurrection Island, Book one
The Royal Harem Series
The Hundred Year Curse
The Curse of the Sea
The Legend of the Cursed Princess
About A.K. Koonce
A.K. Koonce is a USA Today bestselling author. She’s mom by day and a fantasy and paranormal romance writer by night. She keeps her fantastical stories in her mind on an endless loop while she tries her best to focus on her actual life and not that of the spectacular, but demanding, fictional characters who always fill her thoughts.