Institute of the Shadow Fae Box Set

by C. N. Crawford

  What sort of creature would do this to a person? What sort of malevolent being would force you to relive the worst moments of your life? A fae that fed off pain. A fae that should die.

  The vision disappeared before my eyes, and I was back in the shop, staring into the gwyllion’s aged face. She grinned, showing off her long teeth. “Baleros is coming for you. He’s going to make you his again. He’s going to make you crawl in the dirt for your little sweeties. Arianna. What a joke that is. That’s not your real name, is it?” She was shrieking now, and I clamped my hands over my ears. “Not your real name! Things aren’t always what they seem. Baleros knows that. Is that the real reason you want him dead? To keep your little secret? To keep him from telling people what a monster you really are?”

  Blackness descended, claiming my mind. A hot flash of violence erupted in my brain, that familiar brutality that always lurked under the depths.

  “Not your real name!” Her voice rang in my ears like a death knell. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

  I gasped, my vision clearing once more. I blinked at the iron hook in my hand. Blood dripped from the tip, and my stomach turned.

  Then, slowly, my heartbeat slowed. My breathing slowed. I let the clear air fill my lungs.

  When the haze of rage dissipated from my mind, I stared down at what I’d done.

  The gwyllion lay on the floor. My throat tightened. It seemed that while she was tormenting me with my memories, I’d ripped one of the iron hooks from the ceiling, and I’d rammed it into her throat. Her blood had sprayed all over a collection of Victorian dolls. Apparently, I’d also smashed her mouth with the hook, because her broken teeth now lay on the floor next to her body. The gwyllion stared up at the ceiling, wide-eyed. Her hair was no longer purple, her eyes no longer amber. Both had shifted to a dull gray.

  High-pitched screaming pierced my ears. “Not your real name! What a monster you really are!”

  It took me a little while to realize it was that gods-damned creepy doll, shrieking in my own voice.

  Oh, seven hells. I was supposed to withstand the mental torture for as long as she delivered it, and I’d killed her instead.

  With a shaking hand, I grabbed her shattered teeth. I stared at them in my palm. Then, I stuffed them in my pocket. I didn’t suppose the teeth alone would get me out of this situation.

  The doll’s screams had shifted to an accusation. “Killed her! Killed her!”

  I looked down at my blood-soaked clothes. I’d done exactly what I wasn’t supposed to do. I’d completely screwed up the task.

  My heart began to slam against my ribs, and I scanned the shop’s back wall, desperate for an exit. It was time to go on the run, wasn’t it?

  The doll’s shrieks had died down.

  Jars of preserved body parts stood on a table before a grubby window, and I grimaced at the sight of them.

  I glanced back at the door. A silhouette loomed through the glass. It had gone too quiet in here. Was someone about to come in?

  I rushed back to the screaming doll, lifting it by the torso. I felt a porcelain skeleton under its dress. The creepy thing blinked at me.

  “Scream,” I said.

  The doll blinked again.

  I let the darkness pool in me, the rage, the destruction. “Scream,” I said again, my voice laced with cold fury.

  The doll opened its red mouth and unleashed a shriek, a mimic of my own terror. I dropped it back on its shelf. Right now, I was just glad I’d had the foresight to get Ciara out of the Institute.

  Adrenaline surged in my blood, and I could only hope that Ciara was already on her way to Oxford.

  I climbed over the table, careful not to break any jars. Then I slid open the window, and it creaked up. At last, I’d pulled it open high enough to slip through. It opened onto a narrow London street, on the opposite side of the building from the other Shadow Fae. Night had fallen, giving me a little cover of darkness.

  I’d found myself once again on the run, heading for one of London’s rivers.

  Chapter 50

  My sodden clothing dampened the seat in the narrow canal boat. I glanced up at the stars, breathing in the clear air as I steered the boat. In the dark, I cracked open another Budweiser—not my favorite beer, but it would have to do. I hadn’t found any food in the boat, so the calories from the beer would have to fill me.

  Rivers made it hard to track a person. While the creepy doll had screamed into the shop, mimicking my voice, I’d had just enough time to escape before the Shadow Fae noticed anything amiss. I’d run south to the Thames. Then, I’d let the river carry me east until I reached the River Lea.

  From there, I’d swum north against the current, until I reached an abandoned canal boat.

  Now, I was sitting in someone’s boat, drinking their beer. I shoved my hand into my bug-out bag, desperate for food, but found only a few crumbs of sugar. I pulled out my headlamp and flicked it on. I needed to snatch a few hours of sleep.

  Someone would likely report the boat stolen, which meant I’d have to abandon it, but it was working for me for now.

  I knocked back the rest of my beer, then slowed the propeller as I reached a stony mooring point. Using the tiller, I slowly steered it in.

  I had no idea where I was, but I’d been moving north of London for a few hours. Oak and maple trees lined the canal.

  With the boat safely moored, I stepped off into the soft grass, my body aching from my long swim through the rivers. My muscles burned.

  My wet clothes clung to my body. I lay down beneath an oak tree, and I closed my eyes. As sleep overtook me, I found myself walking through an apple grove, dressed in nothing but a short, silky dress—cream-colored. Moonlight silvered the leaves and fruit around me. A man stood at the other end of the orchard, dressed in a black cloak. I couldn’t see his face, but his dark magic whipped the air around him, and violet eyes pierced the darkness. My skin began heating, breasts peaking under my silk dress. I could imagine how his hands would feel cupping between my legs.

  As I crossed to him, my pulse raced, and I pulled off the dress…

  When I awoke, a wave of horror slammed into me. I was no longer in the park. Somehow—while I’d been sleeping—I’d returned to the Palatial Room. The rough stones bit into my back, and my bones ached.

  What in the seven hells?

  A layer of grime covered every inch of my skin and my damp, black clothing. How in the gods’ names had I ended up here? I wanted to scream, but screaming would do me no good.

  A guard stood directly across from me, chewing tobacco. He spat onto the sludgy ground. It was the guard who’d threatened to cut our tits off. The one I wanted to punch in the dick.

  At this point, all I really knew was that it had not been a successful escape.

  I swallowed hard, my mouth dry. When a shadow loomed over the cell, my heart sank. Ruadan’s violet eyes burned in the gloom.

  “Arianna.”

  “You threw me in the dung hole again,” I snarled. “How did this even happen?”

  “You ran. Did you really think you could outrun me?”

  “Did you really think I wouldn’t try? I’m facing my execution here.”

  He slid a key into the lock, and the door creaked open. “Come with me.”

  My legs were shaking as I stood, my stomach turning in flips. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to face Grand Master Savus. He believes you should die.”

  I clenched my teeth. It was just as I’d thought—the betrayal felt like a death blow. “You dragged me back here just to kill me. You could have just let me go,” I hissed. “What difference would it make to you?”

  As we walked up the stairs, he slid his gaze to me. “The Old Gods don’t want you to die.”

  “But I failed the task. I thought I had to keep winning in order to demonstrate the approval of the Old Gods.”

  “Did you fail?”

  I frowned as we moved up the stairs. “I slammed a hook
into the gwyllion’s throat while she was feasting on my worst memories.”

  We reached a metal gate at the top of the stairs, and Ruadan unlocked it. It swung open into a vaulted corridor.

  “I noticed that,” he said. “She is quite dead.”

  I had no idea what he was talking about. All I knew was that my heart was racing. Despite Ruadan’s assurances, I felt as if I were on my way to my own execution.

  My mind was flailing out of control, blood roaring. “How did I even end up here? I don’t remember anything after I fell asleep under the tree. How did you find me? I traveled in the rivers.”

  “Your dreams.”

  “My dreams,” I repeated. He had an amazing knack for answering things in a way that elucidated nothing.

  “I can see them in my mind, and hear them. They vibrate, like a song, each with their own signature. If I tune into your dreams, they beckon me.”

  I’m not sure what horrified me more—the fact that he could track me so easily, or the fact that he might have witnessed my sex dream starring him. If I remembered correctly, we’d gotten to know each other really well up against the trunk of an apple tree.

  “When you say you can see my dreams—”

  “The orchard, yes.” He kept his gaze straight ahead.

  My cheeks burned. “That’s very intrusive, do you know that? You shouldn’t spy on people’s dreams.”

  “It was a beautiful dream.”

  I snarled, my face heating. Suddenly, I’d forgotten about my possibly impending death. “That’s not the point. The point is that it was mine. You shouldn’t pry.”

  It wasn’t until I realized that we’d entered Grand Master Savus’s hall that I focused again.

  On his throne of rock, Savus loomed over us. His crown looked even more withered, now a dark gray. The other mentors stood in the hall—along with Maddan. As the only remaining novice, he beamed with pride. His golden crown gleamed on his head. And here I was, literally covered in filth from the dung hole.

  But Maddan wasn’t the worst of my problems. A low, rocky slab rested on the floor by my feet. It took me a moment to recognize what it was—an execution block. At the sight of it, my hand began to twitch, and an icy chill licked up my spine.

  Death is coming.

  My heart beat like a war drum. I felt as if I were falling, my body becoming weightless. I felt unmoored, dropping through space. An icy wind gusted through my hair.

  Savus nodded at one of his guards, who held an iron sword in the air. The guard crossed to Ruadan, who gripped the sword by the jeweled hilt. The world felt unsteady beneath my feet.

  Would he execute me here?

  Deep inside, I felt myself plummeting. My fingers twitched again, and a song of death sang in my veins. A yawning void opened within my chest, and a phantom wind tore at my hair. Weightless.

  It’s happening again. Death is coming.

  They didn’t know what I really was, that I’d be the one person to make it out of here alive.

  “Kneel,” Savus commanded. “You couldn’t live with dignity, but perhaps you can die with it. Rest your neck on the block.”

  I wouldn’t kneel for him again. I would kill him. My cold gaze slid to Maddan, who was staring at me expectantly, waiting to witness my death. In a few moments, he’d be lying on the floor, bleeding from the mouth.

  I no longer felt as if I were on the earth at all, and I slid my gaze to Ruadan. “You betrayed me.” My voice didn’t quite sound like my own, and it scared even me.

  But Ruadan’s eyes weren’t on me. No, he was still staring straight ahead, looking at Savus. Icy wind surged through my veins. I was plummeting in a void. Did they realize they were all about to die? It didn’t seem that way.

  “I don’t know what you’re giving me the sword for,” said Ruadan. His voice was calm, subduing. “She completed the task, just as she was supposed to. Clearly, the Old Gods continue to favor her.”

  That was all it took to feel that I was back on the earth. The whisper of death left my mind, my feet meeting the stone floor with a lurch.

  But what the hells was he talking about?

  Ruadan looked at me, his powerful magic pulsing off his body. “You have the teeth, don’t you, Arianna?”

  I shoved my hand into my damn pocket, feeling the jagged, broken teeth. I’d nearly forgotten about them. “I do.”

  I pulled them out, showing them to Savus. My hand was shaking so hard I could barely keep them in my palm.

  But as I held them out, the cogs in my mind began to turn. Maybe I had done what Savus had asked.

  Endure the mental torment in the shop for as long as she delivers it.

  Savus steepled his fingers, staring at Ruadan. “She slaughtered the gwyllion.”

  “She endured the mental torment for as long as the creature delivered it. She did exactly what was asked. She ceased enduring the torment when the gwyllion ceased to deliver it.”

  Savus now gripped the edge of his throne. His silver crown began to slide from his head, and he pushed it back up again. He gritted his teeth, his face paling. “That was not what I meant and you know it.”

  Ruadan’s magic iced the room. “Look at your crown, Grand Master Savus. You know in your heart what the Old Gods want.”

  “Control her. Whip her. Beat her into obedience. Whatever it takes. Or you will no longer be welcome here at the Institute, Ruadan.”

  Ruadan straightened. He didn’t answer, but his dark magic whipped at the air around him like a hurricane of shadows.

  Maddan’s face had gone bright red. When he turned to look at me, he held out his hands in a grip suggesting he was going to choke me to death. I’d welcome the chance to fight him hand-to-hand.

  Maddan had no idea how close he had come to losing his life, just moments before. Death was a power I couldn’t control, but I was starting to think it rose within me when I thought I was about to die.

  Ruadan turned to walk out of the hall. I faintly heard the words on his lips as he leaned down to whisper to me, “You’re staying with me, now.”

  Chapter 51

  I sat at the stone table in Ruadan’s room, dressed in one of his black shirts. Since Savus’s crown had begun to wither, something had shifted between him and Savus. A change in the balance of power. But how long would that last?

  I took another bite of the steak in front of me, the texture so soft it seemed to melt in my mouth. I leaned back in the chair, closing my eyes as I ate it. Gods, it tasted amazing.

  As I finished the steak, a question burned in my mind, and I had to ask it. “Grand Master Savus’s crown is literally wilting before our eyes. Could another Shadow Fae usurp his powers?”

  “Without the approval of the Old Gods, we are no longer beholden to a magical hierarchy. Physically, I could kill him now. But there is another force keeping him in power, and the Shadow Fae High Council would not tolerate such an assassination. They would send knights from all across the world to dispatch the usurper.”

  I swirled the wine in my glass. “Even if the Old Gods strip him of his power?”

  “We would need proof of wrongdoing. A crime, a betrayal of some sort. A semblance of a trial.”

  “You told me that you have a history with Grand Master Savus. You said that Savus would want to crush anyone that you might favor just to get to you. That’s why you were dragging me over the stones and calling me a gutter fae.” It was a classic Baleros move—use others to get to your real target.

  “That’s right.”

  “Considering that your ‘favor’ resulted in bruises on my arse and far too much time in the Palatial Room, I think maybe you could shed a little light on that history.”

  A long silence stretched between us, heavy as wet soil.

  Darkness consumed the light around him. “He is my mother’s cousin. Fifteen years ago, she was killed. Savus blames me for failing to protect her. He loathes me.”

  The weight of his words pressed on my chest. “He blames you for your mother’s d
eath? That must be incredibly painful. Has he really said that to you?”

  “In his own way.”

  “What an arsehole,” I snapped, anger roiling. I wanted to snap Savus’s little neck. After a few moments, I asked, “What happened to your mother?”

  No response, just a flash of silver in his eyes. So…he didn’t want to talk about it. Fair enough—I more than understood the desire to keep the past hidden. “Never mind. Neither of us want to dwell on the torment of our personal histories. We have that in common. Best to keep the nightmares locked in their cages.” The wine tasted delicious, and I let the berry flavors roll over my tongue. “Incidentally, that’s what Baleros used to say about me.”

  Ruadan had gone still as the stone walls. “You have a nightmarish side. You thrive in chaos.”

  “Well, haven’t you heard? According to Baleros, chaos is an opportunity to remake the world the way you want it.” I arched an eyebrow at him, my mind flickering with the memory of that execution block. Ruadan had no idea how close he’d been to death. “There’s something I’m missing. Why is Grand Master Savus so eager to kill me that he’s willing to let his crown and his power wither? It can’t just be the convenience of having a fae prince among the Shadow Fae.”

  “You’re right, and I don’t know. His behavior is irrational. He’s driven by a strange compulsion to hurt you and perhaps kill you.”

  I frowned. “When you captured me on the boat and brought me back to the Palatial Room, were you certain I’d survive? That you’d found a loophole?”

  “I’m not sure what’s driving Savus, but he is defying the will of the Old Gods. I will not let anyone kill you.”

  I loosed the breath I’d been holding. I wanted to ask if he was protecting me because of the will of the Old Gods or because he actually liked me, but I reminded myself that it didn’t really matter. As long as he was helping to keep me alive, I didn’t need to know his motives.

  I frowned at him. “You really had to leave it to the last moment to let me know you weren’t going to cut off my head? You could have explained that a bit better on the way up the stairs.”