by Ciara Graves
“A royal fae born during the double lunar eclipse,” I whispered. “Born in the dark. Cut off from all light. My magic has always been darker.” The rings leaked shadows as I raised my left hand, showing him.
His eyes widened, though the rest of his face said he wasn’t going to believe me. “You summoned the sunlight.”
“That wasn’t my power. I pulled on the fae near me to do it. During that battle, my true magic came out.” I rubbed my neck, the same place Rudarius had bitten and turned me that night, after so many failures. “Rudarius was drawn to me, wanted to use me as a weapon. The darkness inside me allowed him to turn me into what I am. Into a monster.”
Draven leaned back slightly, disbelief in those sharp blue eyes. “He didn’t turn you. You’re not evil.”
“He turned me,” I repeated louder. “Rudarius was the vampire who bit me that night. He’s… he’s my master.”
“You said that vampire died.”
“I thought he had. But it’s not like I stuck around to see him burn in the sunlight.”
“He would’ve been wounded too much to go on.” He was grasping at straws, just as I’d done, but there was no more hiding from the truth.
“All that time I was with him, he wasn’t using my blood for fae dust. He was draining me and making vampires bite me to try and turn me,” I whispered, choking on the words. “When they failed, he did it himself. For years. He fed me his blood for years. Must’ve made it possible for him to drain me enough to turn.” A maddening laugh threatened to escape, but just as quickly, I wanted to cry and scream. None of this was fair, none of it. “If he’s my master, he can call me any time he wants to. You know that as well as I do. I think that’s what he did to me during the fight.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. I’m a danger to everyone here! I have to leave.”
I stood and blurred for the door, but he was faster and blocked me from leaving.
“Let me go.”
“You won’t give into him.”
“You don’t know that.” I yanked on the door.
He shoved my hands aside.
“Draven, please.”
“No, you are not weak. You proved that during the fight. He nearly had you, but he didn’t. And if he was able to summon you any time he wanted, why did he wait? Why not come and claim you before? He might’ve turned you,” Draven went on hotly, “but he does not fully control you. Not if you keep fighting.”
“For how long, huh? Forever? I can’t keep him out indefinitely.”
“Maybe not alone, but you’re not alone.”
I wished I could reach into my soul and rip out the power I was born with. “It doesn’t matter if I’m alone or not. Don’t you get it? I was born tainted! There’s no going back for me. No hiding from the darkness and the evil I was born with. All Rudarius has to do is keep pushing and pushing, and sooner or later, I’ll lose it.”
“No, you won’t. I will not let that happen.”
“I will not risk your life.”
“That is not your choice to make.”
I blinked, and he was before me, tilting my face toward his when I tried to turn away.
“I am not about to leave you now. Not even close. You said it yourself; our futures are bound together. How do you know I’m not meant to pull you back before you lose yourself? That I’m not the reason you can stand against Rudarius?”
“I don’t, but…”
The words were there but saying them out loud would mean admitting a worse road I never wanted to travel down actually existed. Minnie said it herself, there were many paths my life could take.
“But what?”
I licked my lips nervously, forcing myself to look deep into his eyes. “What if you can’t, and I turn into the bad guy? What if I end up with Rudarius? I will not put you in that situation where you have to… Where you would… You know.”
“Have to kill you?” he said on a growl.
“Yeah, that. I imagine that moment happening, staring you down across a battlefield, and it kills me. I’ve had enough people give up on me, and I will not let you become another one.”
He hissed sharply, but whether out of anger or aggravation, it was impossible to tell.
Then it didn’t matter.
His lips were on mine he drew me in close.
It took me a few seconds to catch up with what was happening, and then I kissed him back just as fiercely.
He backed us up until we hit a wall, then picked me up, his lips never leaving mine. He drew back long enough to tuck my hair behind my ears, giving his head a shake.
“You really think I would give up on you?”
“Seems to be what people do around me.”
“I am not them. You hear me? I will never leave your side no matter the odds against us.” He kissed me again, and though his body was cooler to the touch, flames seemed to engulf us at that moment. “You said it; we’re tied together. Before, I wasn’t willing to admit we could be anything more than enemies, but now, thinking of you in pain, of Rudarius hurting you again—” He growled as his arms formed a protective cage around me. “I will take on the world to keep you safe, Seneca. Do you understand me? I will burn it all to the ground, if that’s what it takes.” His eyes desperately searched mine as I waited for the strangeness of this situation to hit me.
Only it never did.
For the couple of years I was with Owen, I believed I loved him. That was just me trying to cling to someone, anyone to drag me away from who I really was. I would always care for Owen, but as I looked into Draven’s eyes while he held me, I knew without any hesitation that he not only understood me but accepted me. Would fight for me without trying to fix me. The truth was evident, what he wanted from me, and it didn’t scare me like Owen’s dreams of a perfect life did. My future with Draven would be dangerous, bloody, and there was a high chance it would get us both killed, but damn if we’d go down without one hell of a fight. That was the future I wanted, with nothing held back.
“I’ll burn it down, right alongside you,” I replied as I leaned in for another kiss. “I can’t promise it’ll end well.” Running my fingers through his hair, my breath caught at the raw heat this vampire caused within me. “If it comes down to it, if you have to kill me, swear to me that you won’t hold back. You’ll do whatever you have to do to keep everyone safe and stop Rudarius.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Draven, swear it,” I urged. “Please. What happened with the shifters wasn’t just a blood rage. I felt it, still do. Swear to me.”
He sighed heavily, but gave in, though his eye twitched as he spoke the words. “If you are compromised, and there’s no way to save you, I will ensure you do not harm another living soul. We just won’t let it come to that.”
He held me close, carrying me to the couch. As he sat, I turned so I was on his lap, his arms a comforting weight around me. He smiled, then chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Not too long ago we tried to kill each other.”
“If I remember that fight correctly, I almost did kill you.” I ran my fingers along his chest, smiling when his body reacted to my touch.
He took my hand and kissed the back of it.
“I would apologize, but you left me with a few bruises and cuts, too.”
“True, but I didn’t nearly drive a stake through your heart.”
“Guess you should get better, old man.”
His brow shot up. “Old man?”
“Yeah, what are you? Pushing one hundred, at least? More?” I teased, knowing he was much older than that.
He scoffed and then we were kissing as we laughed, the stress of my latest revelation falling away for a few hours, at least.
In between our quiet conversation and quiet laughter, words Macron spoke to me whispered in my ear again.
I tensed, sitting up, and Draven frowned.
“Seneca? It’s not Rudarius, is it?”
“
Huh? Oh, no, something else Macron said to me.”
“And that would be?”
Telling him that small bit couldn’t be worse than what he already knew. “He told me to find the one meant to help me. Find him.”
“Ah.”
“Ah? That’s all you have to say?”
He shrugged. “I might have overheard you muttering that to yourself back at the farmhouse. He didn’t give a name?”
“No, but looks like he didn’t have to.” I waited for him to second-guess everything he said, but he tilted my chin up gently so he his lips reached mine.
“He didn’t. Think you found him,” he whispered against my lips. “And he’s not going anywhere.”
I curled against his chest, content to remain there as long as the rest of the world would let us. There was no way to explain what being near him did to me. He kept the nightmares at bay. Whether it had to do with the knowledge that he, like me, had suffered at the hands of Rudarius, and survived, or simply our destinies to be together, being with Draven was right.
My own family saw me as a monster for circumstances I had no control over. Not him.
Whatever power Rudarius had over me, he was going to have one hell of a fight coming at him if he thought he would get to me so easily.
My fingers entwined with Draven’s.
He squeezed my hand, even in sleep reminding me I was not alone.
That I never would be again.
Chapter 10
Draven
A door banged open.
I snarled, waking up quickly, prepared for a fight as I put myself between Seneca and whoever had come to claim her.
Marlie stood in the doorway. He looked torn between being startled, annoyed, and uncomfortable.
“What?” I asked harshly after I stopped growling, since he was clearly not here to hurt his sister.
Marlie’s eyes drifted behind me, to Seneca, her messed hair up and wrinkled clothes. Mine were just as bad, and from the way his cheeks reddened, he was ready to assume what occurred last night. Aside from kissing, all we’d done was sleep.
“We’re going to be moving out today. After the shifter attack, the king and queens believe it best to move on before Rudarius sends anyone else.”
“We’ll be down shortly,” I replied.
“Actually, Draven, might I have a word with you?”
“About what?” Seneca stood beside me, her hand easily slipping into mine. “You’re going to ask him about me or say something about me. I can see it on your face. Might as well spit it out now.”
Marlie cleared his throat, cheeks turning even redder. “Really, I wasn’t.”
“Yeah, you were. Don’t lie. What’s your problem, brother?”
The last word came out sharply, not that I fully blamed her for feeling as she did. The last time she saw him, he had just seen her covered in blood after hearing about her slaughtering the shifters from the guards. He feared her then, and from the way he avoided her gaze now, still did.
“I’m not going to attack you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I never said you would,” he snapped.
“Oh, no? You’re thinking it.”
“Seneca.” I squeezed her hand, and she clamped her mouth shut on whatever else she’d been about to say. “Marlie, you have something to tell me or not?”
“I don’t know what exactly is happening between you two, but ensure the King and Queen know nothing about it,” he said in a rush. “They will not approve, and it will only make this situation worse for Seneca.”
“Because it can get any worse.” She shook her head, chewing her bottom lip so hard I waited for it to bleed. “They lost any say in how or who I live my life with when they gave me up.”
“Seneca, please, he’s a vampire. Surely you see how it could be, well, not the best thing in the world for you to be with one.”
“And as I’ve said before, I am one, too. Besides,” she added, leaning into my side, “he is the leader of his own coven. Pretty sure that puts him on level of a prince, if not a king. He’s more than suitable for me to be seen with. Get over it. Think we have bigger problems to worry about, don’t you? Like I don’t know, a war.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Good. Glad to hear it.”
His gaze darted to her rings. “And your issue? With your rings?”
I said nothing, not sure what Seneca wanted her family to know, or what they did know. Part of me assumed they should’ve understood why her magic was different. Unless her parents were aware and had lied to Marlie. The rest of what she found out, about Rudarius changing her, that was not information I sensed she wanted to give out. Hell, I was struggling with the truth. The overactive part of my mind wondered if Rudarius would be able to sense how close I’d become to Seneca. Or if I’d somehow be able to feel him through her. Until we were certain how strong his hold was over her, our only choice was to keep that part of her past a secret. The rest of it, Marlie needed to know.
“You should tell him,” I whispered.
“Tell me what?”
“Which part?” she asked, ignoring him.
The more time I spent with Marlie, the more I was convinced their parents did not tell their son everything about Seneca. “The rings are the way they’re meant to be for her,” I answered for her, hoping I could correct my mistake quickly of suggesting she talk to him and at the same time, stop her from giving away too much. “She was born during a double lunar eclipse. Such intense fighting and coming to Otherworld has caused her power to finally come into itself. That’s all.” That was the simple version. Being tortured by Rudarius twisted the power inside Seneca, made it volatile and since there was no other magical influence in her life to correct it, she was, as much as I hated to admit it, leaning toward a much darker road.
From the way Marlie reacted, this was indeed news to him. “No, that’s not right.”
“Yeah, it is. Ask our dear parents if you don’t believe us.”
“How did you find out?”
Seneca glanced quickly at me then walked toward the bathroom. “I just did.” She slammed the door behind her.
“The guards said they saw you two in the gardens.” Marlie was still looking at the bathroom door as if his sister was going to charge out at any second and decide to kill him. “Said she had some sort of fit.”
“And? Can you blame her after all the shit she’s been through?”
“I want to know what it was about.”
I crossed my arms, hoping it would be enough to send the message that I wasn’t about to tell him anything behind Seneca’s back. When he remained, I told him that we’d meet him downstairs soon enough. I lifted my lip, snarling to emphasize the point and he gave in, exiting the room and shutting the door firmly behind him. It had barely closed when Seneca stepped out of the bathroom.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
She shrugged, hands shaking as she tried and failed to braid her hair. I went to her, gently removed her hands from the tangles, and turned her away from me so I could do it for her. “You don’t have to fix my hair.”
“Maybe I don’t mind.”
She continued to twitch nervously, and I stopped, holding her shoulders as I kissed her cheek.
“And what I said before, I meant every word. I’m not going to change my mind, and I’m not about to run away from you.”
“Those moments feel like a dream.”
“They weren’t,” I promised her, holding her close for a moment, then returned to working on her hair, the red locks silky against my fingers.
As I braided, I replayed everything we’d said to each other. The protectiveness I had toward her grew with each breath she took, every beat of her heart.
The very first time I saw Seneca, my gut told me I was meant to meet her. We were both simply wrong about what our relationship would be. For so long, I blocked myself off from feeling any emotion, aside from hate. With her in the picture, I was un
able to stop feeling so much it made me dizzy. Her scent was embedded in my nose. The touch of her hair, her skin was comforting. Hearing her talk, her laughter, that was like coming home.
The notion struck me like a hit to the chest, and I paused at the intensity of that thought. Home. When was the last time I believed I could have a true home again? One that wasn’t ruled over by a monster bent on destroying everything?
The deep bellowing of a horn caused us both to jump.
“What is that?” she asked. “Are we under attack?”
“No, that’s a fae horn.” I hurried to the window and peered out. “I think your parents finally did something intelligent. Take a look.”
“Those are soldiers. From the High Kingdom?”
I sighed with relief.
“Looks like it. Enough to escort us there safely.”
Having Seneca try to summon sunlight again worried me. It either wouldn’t work, and something dark would emerge from her rings instead, or it would work and weaken her worse than it had the first time. “Guess we should get down there.”
“We’re not telling anyone the truth, right?” She clutched my arm when we reached the door. “About Rudarius and me.”
“No. No one needs to know. I won’t say a word unless you do first.”
“But you think I should keep it quiet.”
“Yeah. Your parents already believe you’re a threat to their people. If they learned it was truly Rudarius who turned you, I’m afraid we’d be fighting off the fae guards and the vampires.”
Her brow furrowed.
I pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. “I won’t let anyone get to you, hear me? Not going to happen.”
“How can you sound so sure of yourself?”
“Honestly?” I asked, and she nodded against my chest. “I failed once, with my coven. That guilt drove me insane while I was with Rudarius. I won’t fail again, not with you. Not with any Bleeding Crowns left alive.”
“You think some survived?” She leaned back, studying my face. “You want to find them.”
“I do. I just don’t know where to start, but if I can find them, gather them together, we could have a larger fighting force to stand against Rudarius.”