Queen Fae (NYC Mecca Series Book 3)

by Jaymin Eve

  “Sleep well,” I said, giving each of them a smile, before I entered the second door along the hall. Kade was right behind me.

  Blaine and Nikoli were sharing the room on our right, Monica and Victor the one on our left. It was safer to sleep in teams. That way we would not be taken unaware, and all of us being on the same floor was the best for security reasons.

  You okay, buddy?

  Finn was staying in the stables with Nix. They were acting as our night patrol and first line of defense. We were in Winter Court territory, so there was no way we could completely relax our guards.

  All quiet out here. Get some rest, Ari.

  Once we were inside the room, doors closed, we set down our packs and weapons near the entrance in case we needed to make a quick escape. Kade went over to tend to the fireplace, stoking the coals until the warmth filled the room. There was another door off to the side, so I strode over and opened it. “Yes!” I let out a low yell, and there might have even been a fist pump or two.

  By the time a smiling Kade appeared in the doorway I already had the water flowing from the magically-enhanced showerhead above the wide claw-foot tub.

  The bear king lazily assessed me. “You never complain, but I’m guessing her majesty has never had to rough it like this before.”

  I didn’t answer straight away, I was too busy peeling off my furs. When they fell to the floor, followed by my shirt and pants, I glanced up long enough to see Kade’s eyes had flashed to molten copper, like perfectly polished pennies.

  Straightening, I took one step toward him, wearing nothing but my simple black bra and underwear. “You’re right, besides a couple of training exercises, which only last a few hours, I’ve always been surrounded by luxury. What about you?”

  As his gaze caressed my body, my stomach clenched with need. Without breaking our stare, he shrugged out of his furs, and I paused to enjoy his huge body being slowly revealed, piece by piece, as his clothing fell.

  When he spoke, it took every ounce of my concentration to listen. “When my brother went missing, I went rogue. Took off into the world with nothing more than the clothes I wore and two knives. Had to sleep in the forest and hunt for food. I searched for him for a long time, but eventually there was nowhere else I knew to look, so I returned home.”

  I took another step toward him, wanting to wrap my arms around him. I forgot at times about the brother he lost, the one who was supposed to be king. Kade had no other siblings, and I knew that if I lost Winnie I would never be the same.

  Kade was bare-chested now, and the sight of all those chiseled lines had my next question coming out very breathy. “Did you ever find out what happened to him? I mean … no note? No body? Would he have just left like that?”

  Kade closed the distance between us, clad only in cargo pants, top button undone. There was nothing I could have done right then to stop myself from touching him. We had barely had any privacy since being in the Otherworld, and I craved him like nothing I’d ever known before.

  His skin was hard and soft at the same time, hot and silky under my touch. A low moan slipped out from between my lips as I slid my fingertips into his pants, and then slowly worked them down his huge body.

  He was completely naked under them, and when he answered my question it took me forever to remember I’d even asked one. “He wanted the crown. Kian was always the first in line for anything to do with ruling the bears. He loved his royal life. I can’t ever believe he would just up and leave without telling us. I blamed the wolves for a long time, but I always knew deep down it wasn’t anything to do with your people.”

  He slipped my bra off my shoulders before expertly unhooking the clasp. My underwear bottoms disappeared just as fast, and I no longer had any idea what we were talking about.

  My body throbbed with need as Kade scooped me up and lowered us into the almost-full bathtub. It was huge, lined with dark tiles that curved near the bottom of the tub. There was a small ledge near the back, and resting upon it was a chunk of freshly cut soap, a few cloths, and what looked like a pumice stone. Grabbing up the soap, Kade dipped it into the water and then started gently rubbing it over my chest, arms, legs.

  He rested against the back wall, and I lay across his body as he caressed me. Whomever made this bath so huge deserved a hundred gold coins. Or more. The hot water was like heaven, and I sighed as the scent of something floral and a bit medicinal hit my nose. The soap had some sort of oil in it, made from plants for sure.

  After a few minutes, the sight of his huge bronzed hands running across my body was too much for me. I tilted my head back, spinning around to straddle him. Our heavy breathing mingled together, the steam rising around us as our gazes remained locked.

  We moved at the same time, our lips clashing with a bruising passion built from days of stress and lack of alone time.

  “I love you,” I moaned between kisses. He deserved to hear those words every single day, because he was worthy of all the love in the world.

  His eyes were beyond dark now, like a whiskey aged to perfection. “You are everything to me, Ari. If anything happens to you, I will destroy this world.”

  He was serious. I could see that in the darkness of his gaze. “I would do the same for you,” I said, pressing my lips to his again.

  This kiss sealed our vow that we would follow through, should either of us not make it out of here alive. My worries were buried then as Kade’s hand slid along my body and into the water. Worries would not ruin this moment for us, this was about our love, and for now I would take every second I had with my mate. He was my happy place. My everything.

  Chapter Five

  Winter woes.

  That night I slept soundly and reasonably content, considering the circumstances. When I was curled in the arms of my mate, a lot of my worries disappeared. A lot, but not all.

  As the early morning hours neared I became restless, tossing and turning, waking and falling back into fitful sleep. The first slivers of light were creeping through the double bay windows of our room when I was sucked into an unnatural, deep slumber. I recognized the sensation straight away; it was another one of those weird dreams. I didn’t fight it this time, knowing Violet might be trying to contact me again. A forest sprang up around me, dark and twisty, ancient looking, with a distinctly ominous feel to the air. Turning in a circle, trying to take everything in, I let a gasp escape when a pale figure came into view. Violet. She was quite a distance from me, tied to a tree. The ropes were tight, cutting into her arms, her head hanging limp to one side.

  A genuine fear saturated my body as I ran toward my best friend, heart pounding in my chest, her name ripping from my throat in a scream that would haunt me. I could sense no heartbeat, feel no warmth. I thought she was dead until an almost inaudible moan came from her. With what looked like more effort than she was capable of giving, she lifted her head. Her body was bruised and bloody, and there were weird streaks of black ash on her porcelain cheeks.

  “Ari…” she whispered as I neared. “Don’t touch me,”

  Screw that. I knew it was just a dream, but I was going to cut her down. Bending low to the forest floor, I scrambled around until I finally found a rock with a bit of a sharp edge. I then stood ready to saw the bindings that were cutting off the circulation to her arms.

  “Don’t. Touch. Me,” she urgently pressed. “If you touch me, they will know. They will see.”

  Tears trickled down my cheeks as a sob escaped, followed by a few more. “How can I help? What are they doing to you?”

  I couldn’t leave her like this. There had to be something I could do.

  She took a few deep breaths. Speaking through her pain was clearly hard for her. “Ari, don’t trust Isalinda, or Luca, the winter prince. He has a secret … a dark secret. I got it out of him, by magic and … I think they’re going to kill me.”

  “No!” My wolf and I both roared, and for a moment I lost control of the beast inside. My hands half shifted, along with my face. I c
ould feel the slight muzzle and sharper teeth. I had to breathe deeply, using every meditation skill I possessed, to get myself back under control. As my bones shifted again, back to normal, I took a step closer to Violet.

  “Look at me, Violet.” I injected all of my alpha power into that command. “You hold on. Do not give up. You do whatever those royal bastards want you to do. You must stay alive. There are no other options.” Her pale eyes never left me, and despite the pure aura of broken she was emitting, I sensed the slightest hope there also. “I’m coming for you, my friend. I’ll run the entire way if I have to, without stopping, but I need to know you’re still fighting too. I’m not leaving this world without you. Do you understand me? Nothing is more important to me than you.”

  Violet’s eyes were still boring into me, and mingled with the pain and hope were some pure beams of love. She finally gave me a slight nod, wincing as she did. She swallowed roughly before whispering, “The prince—”

  “Give him whatever he wants.” I was getting desperate now; her protective instincts were going to get her killed.

  “He’s your father…” Her head went slack as she lost consciousness.

  Nothing could have prepared me for what Violet had just said. My entire body had a visceral reaction. My skin tightened, my muscles twitched, and the sound of breaking bones shocked me out of my stupor. The dream was collapsing around me now that Violet was unconscious, and my wolf was reacting to my emotions. Fur sprung up across my arms, bones cracked as my wolf broke free from the cage I’d been keeping her locked down in.

  I never planned on shifting in the Otherworld. I had no idea if they could sense the shifter magic here. Too late to worry about it now, there was no controlling either of us in this moment.

  Dear God … my mother had slept with the prince of the Winter Court. I couldn’t comprehend how that was even possible, and yet … Violet would never say something like that unless she was a hundred percent certain. The trees in the dream forest were uprooting now, crashing down around my wolf. She dodged them with her nimble grace, tipping her head back and howling to the darkening sky above. The tree Violet had been tied to remained, but all that was left of my friend was a pile of ropes upon the leaves.

  Where had she gone? She couldn’t be dead! My wolf howled again. This time it was long and full of mourning.

  “Arianna!” Kade’s voice broke through the dream and I felt my consciousness rising to wake up.

  I was jerked awake, opening my eyes to see Kade with his arms around the sides of my face. Something felt different and it took me a second to realize I had shifted into my wolf in my sleep.

  “What’s wrong?” His features were broadening and I could see that he too was on the verge of shifting.

  I had never been so out of control to let my wolf shift in my sleep. Never! I focused my inner energy toward my beast and she let me have control back. The shift to my human form was fast, giving me just enough time to wonder how I was going to tell the man I loved that I was the offspring of the very people keeping my best friend hostage. A princess of the most warmongering and power hungry court in the fae realm.

  Once I was human, naked and lying beside him, I couldn’t postpone the truth any longer. Gathering up the sheet, pulling it over myself because I needed the comfort, I sat up and met my mate’s eyes.

  “It was another dream,” I said slowly, my voice trembling. “Violet is … it’s bad. We need to get to her now. Without delay.”

  He nodded, rubbing a thumb over my hand. “Okay. We’ll set out immediately. Is that all?”

  He knew. Of course he could feel it. That wasn’t all.

  I bit my lip and tears fell down my cheeks. Hot, salty, and bitter were my tears, and my heart felt like it was barely even a functioning organ anymore, sluggishly pounding in my chest. I slowly shook my head.

  “You can tell me anything,” Kade said as he cupped the side of my face and forced me to meet his eyes. “Anything.”

  I took a steadying breath. “Violet told me that the winter prince, Luca … is … my father.”

  Kade’s face did not change, not a single reaction across it, but his eyes were dark and swirly, and his body was as hard as rock. He was upset, and probably shocked. It was not something either of us were prepared for.

  Keeping that same calm expression, he leaned forward, pressing his lips gently to mine. “I don’t care who your father is, Ari. Or your mother. They aren’t you and nothing you could tell me would change the way I feel about you. Or how your people feel about you. All I care about is you … I’m worried about you. Are you okay?”

  His instant support and love was more than I’d ever expected. More than I had ever had from anyone, except Winnie, and she loved with the ferocity of a child.

  “I’m not sure how I feel,” I finally said. “I have no idea how it could have happened. My mind is denying the possibility, and yet it makes sense.” I let out a growl. “The shifters will never accept me back as their queen now.”

  Kade gathered me closer, wrapping his heat and strength around me, lending me his optimism. “Our world is slowly changing. We need to make them see that your father does not matter. It is not who you are.”

  I didn’t say anything more, but both of us knew it wouldn’t be as easy as that. Family lines were important in the shifter world, and mine was tainted with darkness. I was part of the enemy.

  With a deep breath, I dropped the sheet and forced myself to let go of those immediate worries and focus on Violet. She was my priority. I pressed my face into Kade’s hand for a brief second before hopping out of bed. I faced him, naked and vulnerable, but trusting in our bond.

  “I love you, more than you could possibly know, and I appreciate your reassurances. Right now, though, we need to regroup and get my best friend back. She’s close to death. They are torturing her pretty badly.”

  He nodded and leapt out of bed to dress. Both of us threw on the first clothes we could find, while I chastised myself for stopping here last night. I loved having some alone time with Kade, but while we were making love Violet was being tortured. It was selfish of me and I just hoped Violet wouldn’t pay for my actions. I would not lose focus again, I would not let her down.

  “From what you’ve told me about your mother…” Kade said, breaking me out of my morbid thoughts. “I just can’t ever see her having a secret affair with a fae. I would have said it was impossible.”

  I found him fully dressed, eyes locked on me. He was right, my mother had been a diehard wolf shifter who swore by breeding for society and class. She would never sleep with a fae. There was really only one conclusion I could draw from that.

  She wasn’t my mother.

  Thirty minutes later, after grabbing a quick breakfast and restocking our supplies for the rest of the journey, we left the little village. I told everyone the CliffsNotes version of the dream, leaving out my newly discovered father, and everyone agreed to make the remaining sixteen hour trek without stopping. Dalia and Rowan said it was actually the best way to proceed, because from here on there was pretty much nowhere safe for us. We were right in royal territory now. The winter queen controlled these lands with brutal force.

  The plan was that once we reached the outer areas of the castle, we could take turns resting while the others stood guard. Then, in the early hours of tomorrow morning, we would break into their dungeons, or wherever they kept prisoners, and rescue Violet.

  Our initial pace was brisk and grueling. No one complained though. Well, not out loud. After about six hours of marching through cold, windswept plains and frozen forests, my body began to protest the abuse. I hadn’t felt sore like this in ages. Muscles ached dully. The cold was so brutal it made everything harder. Our metabolisms were in overdrive and there just weren’t enough calories to fuel us.

  Despite all that, my story of Violet chained to that tree kept us pressing on. Monica had blisters on her feet and she winced with each step but pushed on. They would heal if we could have stopped,
but there was no time for that. Finn nuzzled his huge head into my side, offering some of his mecca and energy. It was like a cool balm on a burn, the sweet flow of mecca. Leaning down, I kissed the top of his head, running my hands through his soft pelt. I was grateful to have him here, even though I feared the danger we were all walking into.

  For Violet we must press on, he said. I closed my frozen fingers into his fur, allowing his warmth to ease my chill.

  Yes, we will save her, and then I’ll figure out what to do about my father.

  He said no more, but I felt his concern. I understood it, of course. I would feel the same way if it were Finn with the evil megalomaniac parent. It’s really unfair that children don’t get to choose their parents, because I sure as hell would have asked for a redraw in the genetics lottery. Even if it meant never being a queen heir.

  After hours of grueling hiking, the weak sun descended past the horizon, and the darkness of true night fell. Finally Rowan held up a hand to halt us. She had been out in front with Nikoli, scouting for danger, and basically leading the way. At this point we were partially hidden behind some huge rocky crevices, and as I peeked around I could see a huge stone fence in the distance. It looked to tower twenty or more feet into the sky.

  “That’s the royal village of the Winter Court,” Dalia whispered to me. “Within those walls, right at the center, is the castle. The city swells out from there, and everyone who lives in here has sworn their allegiance to the winter queen. Once you are inside, there will be no one to help you.”

  “You’re not coming in with us, right?” I was kind of hoping she had changed her mind.

  With a brief smile, she shook her head. “I’m very sorry, I would love to aid you in this, but we cannot be caught close to the main village of the Winter Court. Prince Caspien did request, though, that you visit us in the summer territory before you leave. We will be able to aid your friend’s recovery much quicker than back on Earth. Fae magic will probably have been used to contain her, and you’ll need fae magic to heal that.”