I swipe viciously at the newly formed wall of tree limbs and vines until I’m able to burst through to the open forest.
Just feet ahead Rev is imprisoned by a tree with four human-like arms over his own arms and chest. He thrashes, but he’s unable to get free. Another tree grabs at me, but my anger rises.
They will not take him from me. That’s all I can think, all I can feel—rage.
My shadow power blasts from my body, splintering the branches nearest to me. Then, I send a blast at the tree holding Rev.
Suddenly free, Rev drops onto the ground with a crunch, and his hands come up slick with blood. Gory body parts I hadn’t noticed before litter the ground everywhere. God, this place is a nightmare.
“Run!” I yell to Rev.
He scrambles up and slams his shoulder through the blockage of arm-like branches. He stumbles, tripped by white vines crawling from under the blood-soaked ground. I blast through the demons who would dare touch my mate with a simple thought. My mind is on fire. Rage and panic covering every coherent thought.
I stumble forward, watching as Rev reaches the safety of the pathway and falls to his knees, breathing deeply.
Then, several branches clasp onto my upper body at once. The vines shoot from the ground and wrap tightly around my legs. I struggle, but I can’t move.
I’m pulled to the largest tree, my back pressed tightly against it, my chest so constricted I can’t breathe. A hand presses into my back, sharp claws dig into my skin, and I scream in agony. My vision goes black as pain fills my thoughts.
No, I think, not again. Not this.
Instead of good memories, instead of desire, I remember him.
His talon searing into my stomach, severing my soul from my body. A sob wracks my body, tears streaming as the memories of the Night Bringer tearing my soul apart bombard me.
Then, my vision goes entirely black.
Rev
I watch in horror as the disheveled Caelynn is swallowed by the very tree that tried to take me. I can’t figure out what’s real and what’s not.
She seems so real. And if... if this place is the forest of desires, meant to tempt you with all the things you want most in order to lure you to your death—why would it be showing her dying? Why would her agonized screams be so life like?
And why would she have helped me escape?
Is it a trick? If I try to help her...
The wraith I’d seen earlier barrels into the forest toward her, its echoing screams rumbling, shaking the ground. He blasts magic into the tree, and Caelynn’s body drops like a rock.
“Shit!” he groans, fighting with more vines that have already begun wrapping around her fallen body. She’s unconscious. “Help me!” the wraith calls. “I can’t move her!”
I cannot figure this out. Why would Caelynn be here? And why would a wraith care about her death?
I shake my head and make a snap decision. I go with my gut, and I rush into the deadly forest to help someone who very well may be a demon in disguise.
At best, it’s a fae who ripped my heart to shreds. Who I’m supposed to hate. But what I’m supposed to feel and what I really feel are nowhere near the same.
The wraith blasts away the vines covering her, and I grab her limp body, groaning with the effort it takes to throw her over my shoulder.
She’s bleeding from a wound in her back. It drips down my shoulder, warming me. My stomach turns, leaving me nauseous.
The wraith continues throwing his magic at the trees surrounding us, carving out a pathway for me to reach the opening.
I drop Caelynn’s limp body onto the ground and gasp in breaths. “What the hell?”
“Don’t just leave her there, foolish lumi. Pick her up.”
“You’re rather demanding.”
“You nearly got her killed and ruined my chances of freedom, so pardon me if I’m not all roses and sunshine at the moment.”
“Isn’t she already doomed just by being here?” I say under my breath. My stomach sinks as that reality sinks in. I stare at the soft lines of her face.
Caelynn is really here. And she’s never going to leave.
“Indeed. But there is hope yet, princeling.”
I roll my eyes but gently lift Caelynn into my arms. One arm cradling her head and another under her legs.
“That’s right, come on, kid.”
“If you’re going to chat incessantly, you might as well tell me what the hell is happening? Why is she here? Is she even real? And why are you helping us?”
“Her. I am helping her; there is no us as far as I’m concerned.”
I narrow my eyes. Don’t trust the wraith. Got it. Not that I’d intended to trust him.
“However, to my displeasure, I require your assistance. So, consider yourself on my team. For now.” He continues grumbling about the stupidity of living folk.
I’m already exhausted from my trip through the swamp and the forest, so carrying a dead weight fae—even one as slight as Caelynn—is not particularly easy. I walk slowly through the forest with some random wraith grumbling pathetically in my wake.
I am careful with each step, knowing any moment I step off the narrow pathway, I am within reach of the trees—or whatever they actually are. Those white-barked trees are exponentially creepier now that I’ve seen what they can do, how their hands claw at you like human limbs. I shiver.
In the shadows between the trees, there is a slideshow of memories. I blink and turn away as my attention catches on an entirely naked Caelynn standing right at the edge of the forest.
I swallow, face burning.
Yes, I want to know what she looks like beneath her clothes. No, it’s not a good idea to indulge such unhealthy thoughts. She is my enemy. She’s always been my enemy; she just did a hell of a good job hiding that for a while.
Part of me thinks I should just drop her here in the middle of this trail and leave her behind. But I have entirely too many questions. And well... as angry as I am with her—as much as I don’t trust her—she has helped me in the past. I shake my head. I have no idea what to think about her anymore.
“This is not how I expected my time in the Schorchedlands to go,” I mutter.
“It never is,” the wraith sighs.
I focus on each step, ignoring the illusions tempting me from within the trees.
My father, my real father watches me with admiration. Pride. I don’t even know what my real father looks like. I hadn’t cared enough to find out. But somehow, I know the man between the white trees is my biological father.
And his eyes tell me he’s proud of me. I shiver and force myself to keep walking.
Having Caelynn in my arms, and the distraction of all of those questions stirring around in my mind has made it easier to ignore the temptations.
I am certainly going to have nightmares about the Schorchedlands for the rest of my life. There are stories about fae who spent months and even years in this place.
How? How is it even possible to have survived that long?
Finally, I see an opening up ahead. Only a few hundred more feet to go. What horror will face me when I complete this terrible task? It’s only going to get worse, according to legend. “Okay,” I say finally. “Tell me what is happening, will you?”
The wraith groans and throws his smoky hands in the air in exasperation. “I am to keep this stupid, foolish, idiotic female alive. And first, she runs off into the Schorchedlands—where, surprise, she cannot ever return from. Then, she nearly throws herself into the bog to go after you, and then she does succeed in throwing herself into the Forest of Desires to go after you. What’s a wraith to do? I can’t work with this. You’d think she was human, the way she throws her life around like it doesn’t matter!”
I was only half-listening as he went on and on about Caelynn’s irrational acts. All of them following me. Why? What is she doing here?
If this is really Caelynn—and more and more I’m beginning to believe it is truly her and not some trick of the Schorche
dlands—she has doomed herself. Only one can enter and return.
Caelynn will never leave this place alive.
“Why?” I say softly. “Why did she come here?”
“You will be the death of her, boy.”
I roll my eyes. “I am not a boy.”
“May as well be.”
“Why?” I ask again.
“Because she’s foolhardy and noble and quick to act. She feels duty-bound to kill herself to save her mate when he’s in mortal danger.”
“It’s the Schorchedlands. Of course, I’m in danger. That’s the point.”
The wraith chuckles darkly. “Indeed. However, she’s unfortunately uncovered there is more to the plot. And even though she knew coming here would make it worse, she came anyway to save the life of her beloved mate. Who is idiotic enough to hate her.”
I clench my jaw. My first inclination is to deny it. I look down at her limp body in my arms, her head bobbing awkwardly.
I do hate her, I remind myself. She’s... evil. Bad to the core. She belongs here.
I try to force the thoughts to be true. Like my mind could override my heart.
It’s only the magic of the mating bond. It wants me to love her. It’s not real. None of it was ever real. I clench my jaw at the wave of pain that floods me.
My breathing picks up speed. I should drop her on the ground here and now and leave her behind. Leave her to her strange wraith friend in the place she clearly belongs. I could move ahead and ensure she isn’t around to continue screwing with my head.
The wraith grunts and groans dramatically as he floats along beside me.
Who else would befriend the soul of an evil fae but her? There is a reason he took this form after his death—because deep down he was evil. Just like she is.
Maybe she realized it too. She’s at home with creatures like this wraith.
A damn wraith! I shake my head. Following after her like a puppy.
“Why should she bother to save someone who hates her?” The wraith continues to complain. “Why worry about a relationship that was doomed from the start? She continues sacrificing for you. Over and over. She chose you over meeting with her queen. Then, she uncovered the secret to the Wicked Gates and broke her own heart to help you. It’s pathetic.”
“What secret?” I ask suddenly. “The secret to the Wicked Gate?”
“You’re so stupid you still haven’t figured it out.” The wraith sighs. “Let me ask you a riddle, child. Perhaps, one day, you’ll figure it out, and you’ll know what really happened.”
I sigh. A riddle, perfect.
“What is the quest every soul takes up when they enter the Schorchedlands?”
My eyebrows furrow. “Find redemption.”
“Indeed.”
I blink. “That’s it? That’s the riddle?” It didn’t give me any more answers.
“That’s it. Figure out how it pertains to you, and perhaps you’ll see what is right before your eyes.”
I bite the inside of my lip.
“What is this plot?” I ask, looking to change the subject. This is the more important subject anyway. She came here for a reason, and the wraith implied some grand scheme. “My father sent assassins after me?”
“Very funny, child. This is much bigger than your pompous father and your family issues.”
“Then, what?”
“You’ve had a target on your head since you were a child. You both have. Deep within the lowest and darkest places, where the worst of the worst dwell, there have been rumblings about you and your mate for many years.”
I swallow. “Why?” I ask blandly. I don’t know how much I buy into anything he says at this point, but I might as well hear the whole story.
“Isn’t that the question?” He shakes his head. “You each have an ability that either side of an ancient war would like to use. Those powerful beings of darkness wish you dead to stop you from learning to wield this power. And her.” The wraith sighs. “She has the ability to do many good things but also terrible. She has the right blood and now, the power to complete the task.”
“What task?” It’s so vague it’s driving me insane.
“She has the magic needed to unite them. She can free a terrible ancient being that has been trapped in the Schorchedlands for a thousand years. It’s ironic that she has always desired freedom above all else—even above you, boy—and that is exactly what those creatures desire too.”
“That’s it? They desire freedom?”
The wraith chuckles. “No, they desire much more. That is simply the first step. There is a reason she was contained in the first place, child. If the Night Terror is reunited with her mate... They would commit acts that make the scourge look like a child’s attempt at vengeance. They will desolate the whole realm as easy as blinking.”
“So, if Caelynn has this power, her death would end it all. Would it not?”
“It would. However, that is not my goal. I wish to free Caelynn from her banishment—and now, this place—so that she can breathe life back into my court.”
“You wish to revive the Shadow Court to its former glory.” I clench my jaw through the searing pain in my back.
“Indeed. And I do not wish for those evil beings to be freed because if they are, there will be no more Shadow Court. There will be no more courts at all.”
Caelynn
I groan and roll onto my stomach. Stabbing pain shoots through my back, and several images flash through my mind. Rev, the wraith, the thorn wall of the Schorchedlands, trees with flesh-like arms trying to devour me.
I force my eyes open and cough. There’s pressure on every part of my body. Every muscle clenching.
Heaving in a heavy breath, I look around. A small fire flickers in the darkness, a large stone shelters one side of the small camp against the wind, which howls around us. I blink, finding Rev sitting on the other side of the fire wide awake.
“Rev?” I croak.
“There’s a potion beside you. Take it; it’ll help.”
I wince but reach for a small vail of red potion. I toss it back quickly. It burns, and I wince again but quickly my limbs feel steadier, the pain receding slightly. I force my body to sit up.
“Ahh! Sleeping Beauty awakens,” a rumbling voice calls and a smoky silhouette forms before me.
I groan again. “What the hell happened?”
“You, once again,” the wraith purrs, “tried to off yourself to save that fool. Stop doing that, will you?” He says it like I’m a child in class. I never did like teachers.
“How in the world did you end up in league with a wraith?” Rev says with a low and annoyed voice.
“I’m not so sure myself.”
The wraith grunts. “Go to sleep, children. We’ll have a long day tomorrow.”
I narrow my eyes and watch as he drifts off over the stone and disappears. I don’t know what to make of him. He wants me living, but it sounds as though he’s intending to help us complete Rev’s quest now. Or will he turn on us?
My eyes meet Rev’s beyond the fire. Every line of his face is harsh, his eyes angry. Despite the hate radiating off of him now—talk about déjà vu—he helped me. We’re no longer in that forest, which means he must have carried me out of it, set up camp, including the sleeping bag under me and the flickering fire between us. The wraith could not have done any of that.
“What are you doing here, Caelynn?”
I wince at Rev’s harsh tone and look down at my lap. “I’m surprised you went to so much effort to save me,” I say, changing the subject and brushing down the folds in my sleeping blanket.
“I shouldn’t have, and I don’t suspect I will again.” He pauses. “But I needed to know. Why in the realm would you enter through those gates knowing you’ll never return?” There is no sadness in his voice or expression as he says the words. It doesn’t bother him that I have a new prison in this evil place. He probably thinks I belong here.
He’s not entirely wrong.
“After what you said to me—“ His lip curls into almost a snarl like he’d love nothing more than to bite my head off. “How you’d have the nerve to face me again is beyond me. What could be so important that you’d doom yourself to come here? Do you wish to kill me and take the glory for yourself?”
I bark out a bitter laugh. “You think that little of me, do you?” I continue a dark chuckle. I’m not entirely surprised but can’t deny a bit of disappointment. He didn’t see through my lies at all. He’s more than hurt and angry. He believed it entirely.
It was so easy to push him away.
I sniff, pushing the wave of sorrow back down to the depths of my shattered soul. “And how do you explain me saving you inside the forest of desires? How does that fit into your narrative?”
He grunts.
“Your father has made a deal with the Night Bringer.” I shrug. “They both want you dead. There’s something here they want. Something he wants. And they need me to get it. The plan was to kill you within these walls, and then I would be next in line to enter.”
“So, they want you here and your idea is... to come anyway?”
“It was that or leave you to death. I assume we’ll both have a better chance if we work together.”
“We are not partners, shadow fae. We are not allies. We will not be working together.”
I bit the inside of my lip, frustration filling to overflowing. “Then, leave me behind,” I say low and slow. “And when you get into trouble, I’ll be there to pull you out. Then, you’ll be free to continue hating me. It’s a vicious cycle. But I suppose it’s what we’re best at.”
I’m good at pushing people away. Rev is good at anger and lying to himself.
Rev
I should sleep, but my mind rebels against even the thought. I twist and turn, muscles aching, and mind whirling.
Caelynn is here.
That thought sends a sharp ache through my heart. She’s here, and she’ll never leave.
As much as I try to convince myself that I hate her, I know it isn’t true. Not entirely. I’m so angry with her, and I can’t see through the rage sometimes. And then, other times, I’m hypnotized by her strength, her bravery, and selflessness. I’m lost in the way she looks at me.
Curse of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 2) Page 15