Bright Wicked 3: Infernal Dark (A Fantasy Romance)

by Everly Frost

  Nathaniel continues walking, urging me along the path, but Hagan’s fist darts out so fast that it’s a blur as he grabs Nathaniel’s arm.

  Nathaniel tenses, but he doesn’t retaliate, even though the tension between the two men rises. Even in this place of safety, there is conflict between them. Nathaniel once saved Hagan’s life. Hagan repaid his debt by refusing to kill Nathaniel this morning, but there are years of violent history that can’t be forgotten in a day.

  “When you fight Aura Lucidia, remember what you’re fighting for,” Hagan says, his voice a deep rumble. “This is not about you or her. It’s not about one death. It isn’t even about honor or glory. It’s about being the king you were born to be. Remember that.”

  Turning from Nathaniel, Hagan pins me with his tawny gaze. “How far will you go, Aura Lucidia?” he asks, the question in his eyes demanding honesty.

  Yesterday, when Hagan slung me over his shoulder and carried me to the White Walls, he asked me how far I would go to save Nathaniel’s life. I told him I would do whatever it took.

  Since then, Nathaniel’s people have screamed for my blood. They’ve hurt and restrained me. I could hate them. Maybe I should. But none of that matters. What matters to me is that Nathaniel is… Nathaniel. He is the only chance for a peaceful future for Bright and Fell. Even if my power is the only cure for the Ebon Rot, I have to believe that his people will recover once Cyrian is no longer draining their life energy.

  I know what my path is. I just have to walk it, one step at a time.

  “Whatever it takes,” I say. “I promise you.”

  Hagan gives me a solemn nod. “Then I will also keep my promise.”

  I consider him carefully as he backs away from us. The only promise I remember him making was when I demanded that he decide whether to escape with me this morning.

  He told me he would help me, then he would die.

  I turn to find Nathaniel studying me as carefully as I scrutinized Hagan.

  “What does he mean?” Nathaniel asks, a hint of worry darkening his expression.

  “I’m not sure,” I say. “I think he means he’ll do what’s right.”

  Putting my fingers to my lips, I give two short, sharp whistles, hoping that Treble is listening. I follow the first two whistles with a third, longer one that will tell him everything is okay; he doesn’t have to hurry.

  His gorgeous blue body ducks beneath the haze for a split second before rising into it again. He won’t easily trust the humans after what happened this morning, but that single quick dive will have allowed him to see where I am—also to locate everyone else and decide where it’s safe to land.

  A moment later, he reappears on the eastern side of Null, gliding silently toward the crop fields there, the farthest point from the trainees. If we’re lucky, they won’t even see him. He can choose whether or not to crack his wings and he’s smart enough to move with stealth right now.

  Nathaniel and I hurry to meet him, making our way past Nathaniel’s hut. We also pass the stables where Nathaniel’s stallion, Flare, is housed safely. My heart hurts as we leave the hut and the horse behind, since this is the last time I’ll see them.

  Running isn’t an option with my injured arm—I’m not a graceful sight even moving at a walk—but we make it to Treble’s side within a few minutes. He chose a spot where Mathilda drained the environment so he doesn’t crush the remaining food source.

  After I pick my way through the final distance to his side, Treble lowers his head to nudge me and then Nathaniel, softly keening a welcome.

  “Hello, buddy,” Nathaniel says, rubbing Treble’s neck. “Ready to fly us into danger?”

  Treble bounces his head and rolls his eyes.

  “When aren’t we flying into danger?” I ask.

  As we settle onto Treble’s back, I prepare for the flight ahead. Treble sweeps his wings with the minimum of sound, and we rise into the air.

  I take a last look across Null. In the distant courtyard, Esther is determined to teach the humans how to kill fae. Christiana will be trying to decide where her allegiance lies. A hundred glitter bulbs are safely contained in Nathaniel’s hut. And Hagan, who was once a hunter, is waiting for his death.

  Treble rises beyond the height of the buildings and our view of Null is replaced with a wash of crimson plants and black vines, a magical illusion that protects everyone who lives here.

  Chapter 11

  It takes us over an hour to reach the western coast. Treble flies above the haze to avoid detection from the ground and takes a wider route so we can avoid the border where the fae squadrons will be located.

  The sky is mostly clear in all directions, which allows us to check for distant thunderbirds, but toward the end of the flight, clouds have started gathering in the north closer to Bright. It’s unlikely that the fae will fly across the border into the haze, but even so, I remain on alert.

  It’s mid-afternoon by the time we reach the edge of the mist and can see the western coast ahead. I inhale salt, a strange taste on my tongue after the humid air beneath the haze, while the soft sound of crashing waves fills my ears, making my senses buzz.

  “It’s the ocean!” I call to Nathaniel.

  “Have you seen it before?” he asks, his bristly chin grazing my ear as he leans closer to plant a kiss on my cheek.

  “Only from a distance,” I say. “You can see the coast from the western mountains where I grew up, but I’ve never flown this close to it before. My border patrols were always concentrated on the central border and I couldn’t stay away from Imatra for long enough to fly out here.”

  I never had an excuse to fly so far toward the water itself, let alone to the Spire.

  “What about you?” I ask. “You said you’ve never visited the Spire, but what about the ocean?”

  “I’ve never seen it before.” I hear the smile in his voice as he drops another kiss, this time on my neck, light touches as he leans forward.

  My own smile fades as I check our location again. The glitter field is a visible boundary on our right, miles wide and extending all of the way up to the coastline. We need to make sure we stay on the Fell side of it.

  In the distance, the Spire has come into view, a majestic tower rising up from the rocky cliff’s edge, the landing pads extending from both sides of it taking on the appearance of slender branches stretching out from a solid trunk. I sense a change in the air around us—a shift in the air pressure—but I’m not sure what’s causing it. Possibly the tower itself.

  “We have to be careful,” I say, turning again so I don’t have to shout for Nathaniel to hear me. “The Border Guards patrol all along the glitter field. They shouldn’t come near the Spire, but it’s safer if we stay out of sight after we land.”

  Treble circles around the tower as we search for the spot where Mathilda and Imatra met at the base of the tower—a small ledge right at the cliff’s edge.

  “It’s too narrow to land,” I call.

  “The other side is surrounded by the glitter field,” Nathaniel says. “Let’s land on the southern wing.” He points upward to the platform on the right-hand side of the Spire—the one pointing in the direction of Fell country. “We can find a way down inside the tower.”

  Treble quickly rises before he coasts to a quiet stop in the middle of the platform.

  Far below us, the ocean waves crash against the rocks, a lulling ebb and flow, but my senses are heightened, my instincts alert. I shiver and Nathaniel closes his arms tighter around my waist.

  “This is a place of old magic,” Nathaniel says as he rises with me. “If I remember correctly, blood can’t be shed here. Much of the old law has been forgotten in Fell, but it’s alive and strong here. My father taught me some laws before he died but certainly not all of them. We need to proceed carefully.”

  Descending along Treble’s wing, I take cautious steps to the edge of the platform. The base of the tower is at least two hundred feet below us and the place where Mathilda and Imatra
sat is a small crevice right at the cliff’s edge.

  Reaching my side, Nathaniel inhales deeply, a curious crease forming in his forehead. “It smells strange here.”

  The air contains an odd mix of salt and magic. I tilt my head to gauge the position of the sun, the sky a perfect blue above us. The clear horizon here is more beautiful than the sparkling skyscape above Bright.

  “My father spoke to the Vanem Dragon on this ledge,” Nathaniel says. “It was a few days before he died. He wanted to ask the dragon if there could ever be peace.”

  When the Vanem Dragon flew down to the coliseum to seal the Law of Champions, Nathaniel asked the dragon for answers about what really happened on the night his father was killed. The dragon said he didn’t know—on the night of the final battle, his sight became dark. As soon as the sun set, he and the other dragons and thunderbirds couldn’t see or move because dark magic took hold of them. They were only released when an explosion of light split the horizon. The dragon arrived at the border to find Queen Imatra bloodied and weeping, surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of humans and a squadron of fae.

  She was holding me in her arms.

  “The Vanem Dragon told my father that only great courage would bring an end to war.” Nathaniel’s dark gaze pins me to the spot, the way his focus on me always makes me feel like I am the center of his life. Always the point of origin of his decisions.

  “We are the ones whose courage will determine whether or not the war ends,” he says.

  I pull air into my chest, seeking the beat of my heart that tells me I’m alive before I press my hand to his chest. I want to tell him that it won’t be us. It will be him. Only if he has the courage to fight and kill me.

  Instead, I say, “Yes.”

  My mouth is dry, my heartbeat too rapid as I step back and incline my head toward the arched opening into the tower. “We need to find whatever answers this tower can give us.”

  Venturing through the opening, we discover a large alcove that is wide enough for Treble to shelter inside of, so I urge him to come inside instead of flying back into the sky.

  Thunderbirds can communicate silently with each other and I’m worried that a patrolling bird might sense Treble’s presence. They won’t be able to attack him—or us—here, but I’d prefer to avoid detection.

  “It’s better if you remain here,” I say to Treble, stroking his neck. “The Spire is neutral territory, so nothing is allowed to hurt you, but make sure you stay out of sight at all times. Only take to the air if the situation changes and you feel it’s safer. We’ll be back before the moon rises.”

  Nathaniel waits for me at the rear of the alcove. A long, wide corridor provides a direct line of sight to the platform on the other side of the tower. Rooms appear to lead off each side of the corridor and a set of steps is visible in the middle of it, which must go down into the tower itself.

  I gasp as I pass the first room. Its walls are inlaid with gold and silver filigree while large golden spyglasses rest on stands in front of wide windows. “What are those spyglasses for?”

  Nathaniel walks behind me so we don’t lose sight of each other as we venture to the windows. I brace for the wind to hit us as soon as we step inside, but it’s eerily still. Not a breath of air.

  After adjusting one of the spyglasses on its hinged stand, I take a look through it.

  My breath stills as I make out the mountains behind which Eteri City hides, every detail of the peaks visible to me. Turning the glass in the other direction, I can see the Misty Gallows at the edge of Fell and the misshapen trees before the mist obscures my view.

  Nathaniel peers through the second spyglass, not tilting it to the earth, but up at the sky.

  “You could see the stars with these,” he murmurs.

  I shiver. The spyglass’s hinges are well-oiled, the glass itself in perfect condition despite its exposed position, open to the wind and rain. But the lack of wind in the room indicates that the old magic protects everything from the weather.

  More slowly this time, I turn the spyglass to the border, sighting along the glitter field.

  As I watch, several bulbs rise up from the field, these ones floating toward Bright. Another shiver runs through me. The bare, bulb-less stems that remain behind are sharp, pointed at the top. Weapons themselves. There are many of them, indicating that hundreds of bulbs have separated from their stems.

  Is it really possible that all of those memories relate to me?

  I jolt as a sudden flare of light in the distance catches my attention. Swinging the spyglass back to the crystal peaks that protect the fae city, I seek the source of the flash.

  Beside me, Nathaniel has also bent to his spyglass, following the same trajectory as me. “What do you see?” he asks.

  A glitter bulb floats into view, drifting toward the crystal peaks in the far distance. The spyglass allows me to see every glimmer across its surface. Another bulb glides beside it. And another…

  “I count five bulbs,” I whisper.

  “I see two more, farther east,” Nathaniel says.

  The bulbs rise up, higher than the crystal peaks, as if they’re going to float over the mountains.

  A squadron of thunderbirds suddenly dives from the cloud cover above them. I recognize Cadence among the birds. She is my brother, Evander’s, thunderbird. She’s as enormous as Treble but with deep wine-colored wings.

  Evander stands up on her back, his arms outstretched. Cadence is flying higher than the bulbs, but she dips for a moment, drawing dangerously close to the cluster of bulbs as a blast of wind rushes from Evander’s hands. The gust rushes around the bulbs, pushing them even closer together.

  At the same time, a second thunderbird swoops downward.

  I jolt with surprise when I see its rider.

  Serena, the Queen’s former champion, stands on its back, wearing indigo armor, her amber hair tied back in tight braids. The last time I saw her, I used my starlight power to defend Nathaniel against her attack. It was her black armor that I stole and wore into Fell country. I’m still wearing her boots.

  At the exact moment that the bulbs gather together, her hands shoot out. Firelight rushes through her arms and pours across the cluster of glittering orbs.

  The bulbs shatter.

  Shards shoot in every direction, cutting through the air around Serena and flying toward Evander. I can’t hear Serena’s scream, but I can see the blood spilling down her cheek as she drops to her bird’s back and tries to evade the spray of glass.

  Evander’s wind power rages around her, lifting her bird above the deadly wash, while Cadence cracks her wings at the same time, also soaring above the explosion, taking Evander to safety.

  I’ve stopped breathing, but I force myself to drag air into my chest as the two birds rise again. Glitter shards crash into the ground far below them, some pieces exploding against the mountain peaks. Others kick up into the air as the thunderbirds evade the aftermath.

  A quick scan of the other riders flying thunderbirds tells me that Talsa and Mia are also with them. They are both Dusk fae, with the power to communicate silently with their thunderbirds. I frown in confusion because Talsa and Mia usually work at night, not at this time of the day.

  My eyes narrow when I also identify Calida—the Solstice fae who challenged me for the position of champion—riding her thunderbird close behind Mia. She is one of the Queen’s Day Guards, but she was punished after she tried to stab me in the back.

  It’s an unusual squadron—a mixture of Sunstream and Eventide fae who wouldn’t normally fight together, but all of them are connected with me in some way or another.

  My heart kicks as a final deadly shard shoots up into the air toward Cadence’s stomach, large enough to cut her from the air. Calida leans out over the side of her thunderbird and blasts the shard with a stream of fire before it can hit Evander.

  All of the birds rise higher into the sky, finally flying beyond the blast radius as the remaining shards continue to expl
ode far below them.

  “I can’t protect them,” I whisper, my hands shaking. I press my palms together to help clamp down on my fear. “They’re trying to destroy the glitter bulbs so the bulbs don’t reach Bright. They don’t understand they should contain the bulbs, not try to destroy them.”

  “Aura.” Nathaniel reaches for me. “Your brother’s strong. He’ll be okay.”

  “For now.” When we escaped from Bright, Evander ran interference between us and the Solstice fae who were attacking us, neutralizing their firelight with his Frost power while making it look like he was on their side. Even though Imatra told him I was responsible for his mother’s death, he said he still considered me his sister until he knew the truth.

  “The glitter field is coming apart,” I whisper, pain striking through my heart, as if tiny slivers of myself are separating. “The dragon said it started when Cyrian invoked the Three Chances. That was right after I—”

  I freeze as the memory of Nathaniel’s near-death at the White Walls hits me. My scream. My vow. The same kind of vow I made when I invoked the Law of Champions.

  Nathaniel waits for me to continue. He is suddenly very still beside me, the tension in his shoulders increasing. “It was right after you told Cyrian who you are,” he says.

  A hum grows in my ears, a sense of panic rising inside me. “I screamed my name. I told Cyrian that I was the Fae Queen’s champion, destroyer of souls. I swore that if he hurt you, I would destroy him. No matter what price I paid.”

  I back away from Nathaniel. “What have I invoked now?”

  Chapter 12

  Nathaniel grips my shoulders. “The Vow of the Avenger, Aura. The same law I invoked so that I could beat your Border Guards on our first morning. But it’s not what you think.”

  “Not what I think? You said yourself that every one of those bulbs contains a painful memory that leads to me. They’re trying to float into Bright. Whom are they intended for? Will the price I pay be my brother’s life?”

  “No.” Nathaniel’s determined eyes meet mine. “Evander will survive. Vengeance is not about taking revenge on someone, it’s about breaking open the truth, revealing the past. That’s why we’re here. We will find the answers about your past and mine.”