I laughed, patting myself on the back for the dig at the elder. Her actual power was with fire. That was why she was an elder—fire was a dangerous power, showing strength. I’m pretty sure some wildfires that happened around the mountain near us were due to her quiet tantrums. But Elder Thomas had a way with words; he just knew so much and knew how to spin words to make you listen to what he would say. To the young children, he was our storyteller. To the adults, he was a historian—knowing the past could tell us about our future.
He coughed into his fist then straightened his spine toward A.J. The second trial was starting.
“I will say the words once and no more.”
A.J. nodded and waited, complete attention directed at the older gentleman.
“I can bring tears to your eyes, resurrect the dead, make you smile, and reverse time. I form in an instant but I last a lifetime. What am I?”
Chapter 11
A.J.
Huh.
A riddle.
As long as there weren’t any time restraints, I would be fine. Riddles took time to figure out.
“You have one hour to complete your task,” the elder added, and the arena once again disappeared to surround me with a dark forest. Well, shit.
Nothing like haunted-looking trees to get the brain rolling.
I took a few breaths and churned over the words.
I can bring tears to your eyes. The first line could be anything. Onions, bad day, pain, happy tears.
Resurrect the dead. Time? That was the only thing I knew that could bring back the dead, as the heroes had done before with Dorian and Asher.
Make you smile. Sex did that, and brought tears to your eyes. I wasn’t sold on the resurrection part, but maybe the joy of fucking could bring someone back to life.
And reverse time. I form in an instant but I last a life time. What am I?
What am I?
That creepy feeling, like something was near me, skittered up my spine, making it harder to concentrate. I tried to ignore it, still sifting through the clues in search of their meaning.
My skin tingled, and my body went on high alert, telling me I needed to move.
Of course, just solving a riddle was too easy—they were gonna send a ghost or something after me. I was up and moving instantly, trying to get out of range of whatever was giving me creepy vibes in the woods.
Reverse time. So the answer wouldn’t be time, then—but what else could bring back the dead and make you smile? Those seemed almost mutually exclusive.
A grumble echoed through the trees, stopping me in my tracks. A monster, no doubt, or something that wanted me dead.
“Figure it out, A.J.,” I murmured to myself, walking quicker on the crunchy leaves beneath my boots. Fuck, I had to win this trial. I needed it so badly, and this riddle was only getting in my way.
“Be calm. You’ve got this.” For twenty minutes, I walked far with no clue where I was going. Still hadn’t figured out what the riddle meant, and I was running out of time.
That grumbling in the forest had followed me, constantly taking my attention from the riddle to survival. The sound was much closer now; there were possibly only minutes before whatever it was showed its cards, and my trial would be over. So I stopped walking, ceased using the brain power to move, and put it all toward solving that riddle. I was a genius, for Christ’s sake. I should be able to figure this out.
A crunching of leaves reverberated through the quiet woods to my right. A snarl followed, and I willed my body to turn slowly to face what had finally found me.
With pointed teeth and brown eyes looking, a bear took a giant step toward me. Fuck, that was a big bear.
“Answer the riddle. What am I?” I tried to focus on the task and less on the impeding gutting this bear was going to give me. I was out of time. I’d failed Lana, and everyone in the Hero Society.
The bear rose onto its hindquarters, swatting at me aggressively, claws sharp and long. I could fight it, could take it down. The moves I’d make were running through my mind, showing me what to do. A memory of Lilith teaching me how to take down opponents bigger than myself, even ones with animals. People with powers like Echo, who could become any creature she chose.
I laughed in the face of the bear. At least I’d go down swinging.
Then it hit me—the answer to the riddle—just as the bear charged.
I rolled out of the way, unable to speak the word that would end it all. Survival instincts had taken over completely. The bear scrambled and came at me again. I managed to punch it in the head, mostly just pissing it off further. My body still hurt like hell from the first trial’s beating. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to fight back.
I had two minutes before my trial was up. I could do this. I could win and face whatever else they threw at me. Renewed confidence and strength powered up my muscles.
The bear attacked again. I ran, leaping against a tree to use as leverage to land on top of the roaring beast, taking it down onto its paws for a few seconds before it was up and trying to shake me off. My arms banded around its throat, feeling the vibration from its enraged roars.
It fell to the ground, struggling to breathe. I could end it, right now.
But it was done, and I had only a minute left to win this trial.
A knife appeared on the ground next to the suffocating bear.
Kill the bear to make sure it didn’t kill me? Or leave it and end the trial?
Thirty seconds.
“A memory!” I shouted, as my arms let go of the bear and I jumped off, readying myself for it to come at me. I wouldn’t kill it. For whatever reason, it was here in this arena, and had come for me. A test in itself. I just hoped I had made the right decision. Someone wanted me to kill the bear, and I didn’t mindlessly do what people expected.
The haunted forest and the bear faded into the arena once more. I looked to where the bear had been lying on the ground and saw a naked woman instead. Echo.
Rage roared inside my body, pulling me toward her as I ripped off my shirt and laid it over her naked body.
“Why?” My hands trembled as I asked her why. Why the hell would she do this?
“Because I believe in you and knew you’d make the right choice.” Her voice was shaky.
“Good job, A.J.,” she panted through a hoarse breath. I could have killed her. My friend. My family.
I looked at the elders with hatred as I turned to face them. Everyone was silent in the arena.
“Did I pass your fucking trial? This bullshit where people die and get hurt because you have sticks so far up your asses that you just can’t let people who love each other be together? Fuck your next trial. Lana is mine, and I’m hers. Not a damn thing you can do to stop me from being with her. I fucking dare you to try.” I. Was. Livid. I had half a thought to pick up the knife that was still on the ground near me and chuck it at them.
They were quiet. Not one of them took their eyes away from me, their lips sealed. Finally Elder Matti, the bitch who started all of this, stood.
My hands were shaking with anger.
“You have proven yourself with strength of your body, your mind, and your heart. You’ve passed all three trials. You are worthy.” She smiled at me, but the gesture looked forced. It took a few seconds before her words clicked inside my head. It was over. I passed. When was the third trial?
“The third trial was of your heart. You did not kill the bear, even realizing that it could have cost you the second trial. It showed more strength inside you than we saw. You are worthy.”
I wanted to tell her where she could shove that worthiness, but I kept my mouth closed, instead turning to help Echo pull the shirt over her head, and stand.
The elders were leaving the arena, and only then did people start to cheer in celebration.
“Proud of you,” Asher said to me before sweeping Echo into his arms and walking away with her. I was still shocked that either of them had been okay with Echo being a part of this trial. I cou
ld have killed her.
The rest of my hero family descended the stone steps to embrace me, showering me with congratulations and compliments. I didn’t need to prove to them that I belonged with the Society, but I needed it for myself.
Lana came running to me, and I swept her into my arms. This woman was the reason I did all this, and I couldn’t wait to start my life with her.
“Take me home, hotshot. All that pent-up energy is going to feel amazing being released when you fuck me,” she purred against my ear, licking my neck.
“I didn’t need to hear that,” Mina groaned near me, but there was a smile on her face.
“Excuse me, heroes. My mate needs a thorough fucking, and I am hers to command.” I winked at my crew and left. They understood completely. I needed to celebrate my win in these barbaric trials with my lady.
“You’re really mine now,” she whispered. I could feel her relief that the trials were over and there would be no problems between her coven and me.
“I’ve always been yours. Just been waiting to lick it and claim it all these years.” Her chuckles filled my ears and kept me motivated as we drove home on this very merry Christmas.
The End
About Jessica Florence
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Chapter 1
I watched the Fae inside the club, dancing and celebrating the coming holiday like they didn’t have a worry in the world, when they should. Mages were thicker now than ever before. Not even the druids ignored the threat. Not with the walls of every world failing and allowing monsters to slither into ours.
I palmed my weapons and turned away from the club, lifting the hood of the jacket I wore and pulling it tightly around my head to protect me from the biting cold air that nipped at my flesh.
“They’re preoccupied,” I informed the Paladin watching my slow approach.
“For how long?” he questioned.
“If you like, I could ask them?” I snorted as I stopped mere feet from where he stood in pristine armor that glinted in the moon’s gaze.
“I am your superior, Erie,” he snapped coldly.
“So you are; still doesn’t change that I cannot foresee when they will finish for the night, Arthur,” I grumbled.
“And the Guild; is it empty?”
“I am not a seer,” I chided softly so as to not upset his superiority complex. “I cannot tell you it is if I am not inside it, now can I? If you’re afraid, I can go with you.”
“Drop the tone, druid,” he ordered as he crossed his arms and stared down his nose at me.
I knew what he was after, but I also knew it was no longer hidden within the Guild anymore. When the Guild fell, we’d taken it. They wanted what was ours, and even worse, they wanted to use us to obtain it. As if druids were no more than the creatures who bowed at the feet of the ancient Knight Order.
I crossed my arms over my chest to ward off the chill; little puffs of steam and smoke expelled from my lips as I stood in the garbage-strewn street waiting for him to decide if I had to go play fetch.
“I will retrieve it myself; you’re dismissed,” he said as he slid his faceguard into place and slowly slithered back to the shadows from which he’d come.
I exhaled the breath I’d held as his power reached out to touch against mine in a show of force and strength. A warning of who was stronger.
As much as they hated us, they needed us. We helped them keep the balance. There was also the little issue they had with a curse placed upon them for meddling where they shouldn’t have. They couldn’t procreate without female druids. The problem with that? I was the only female druid ever born. And I loathed them with a capital L.
Dropping my arms, I turned and found Callaghan watching me from the shadows. Another Knight? What the hell had I done to piss off the Gods? I bared my teeth as the male approached me, his gait surefooted and cocky as he moved towards me.
“Erie, as beautiful as ever,” he murmured. His tone was as cocky as his stride. “Arthur needing assistance, or do you get off on sending men to their untimely demise?”
“The Fae would not dare,” I replied coldly. “Play with him, yes. Kill him? No. They have enough war to deal with. I don’t think they’d ignite your wrath as well. You’re all so over dramatic as is. The entire world knows it.”
“You are a mere druid, Erie. Born of the magic of the cauldron of drahgar to serve us and this world,” he said silkily.
“I serve no man,” I grinned impishly letting him see the whites of my teeth.
Callaghan was unlike the other Paladins he served with, but his pride was a bane not even he could ignore. His bloodline was pure; his heart, on the other hand, was a lost cause. He had it stolen long ago in another time by someone who had wanted to break it. Now, now he worked with the Fae King and Queen to serve the Order’s needs.
His ocean blue eyes slowly trailed over the skintight suit I wore with a look I couldn’t name. Lust? His silver-blond hair glinted beneath the full moon as he slowly perused my body without care. My eyes rolled once, and then unbidden, they roved over the unique tattoos that covered his neck and slipped below the tight t-shirt he wore. My gaze dropped to linger at the amulet he wore that amassed power, pulling a constant flow to him for use.
“Like what you see, Erie?”
“You are rather pretty,” I admitted. “What do you want?” I asked, tearing my gaze from his to stare at my chipped nail polish.
“You are aware of the prophecy in which you were created for.” He stepped closer, invading my personal space. “Your time is near. You will be mine whether you like it or not. It’s time we do our parts to protect our people.” He continued talking as he backed me up until I was pressed against a brick wall. “Them or me, Erie,” he growled huskily. “If you’re mine, they’ll never dare to touch you. I will lead them one day; they respect me. You’re running out of time, and they are running out of patience. Do you know what Arthur seeks tonight?”
“He seeks the witch’s cauldron,” I snapped as I shoved him away from me.
“He seeks an amulet we created, one that controls free will,” he corrected as he turned to watch me as I distanced myself from him.
“So what, he can get some will of his own? We both know he could use some.”
“That’s not how it works. It removes the will of the one it is on. He was told to retrieve it so that it can be placed around your pretty little neck. As I have said, they’re done waiting. They want to make you into an incubator, Erie. With that trinket, they can do it and you’d never be the wiser.”
I shivered, anger mixing with fear as his words shook my confidence. Too late, I realized he’d seen what his words had done to me.
“You could be mine, carry my sons and remain at my side as my equal,” he said softly as his fingers trailed through his hair as he stared at me. His eyes captured mine in a silent plea, and I watched the darkness inside of him peering back at me.
“They have to catch me first,” I retorted.
“Arthur called you to him tonight, and what happened? You came. Your mother was from the Order, as pure of blood as my own was. In all reality, you should be one of us, but you’re not. You’re a druid; did you never wonder how that happened? You were handed to the druids to be trained and then returned to us when the time came. That tattoo on your wrist? I put it there. I placed ink into your flesh to bind us together; you and I, Erie. You were born a druid for a reason, and that was to be mine when the time was right. It’s here now, and so
am I: to collect you.”
“You branded me like cattle?” I demanded.
“I gave you my signet to protect you,” he clarified as if it made it any better. “You have my seal, my name on your arm in our language. You’ve worn it since the day you were born. When the witches cursed us, you were created to be our fix that breaks the curse they placed to end our races. Every curse has a fix, and you are ours. If a Knight isn’t born once a century, we cease to exist. We serve the same cause, Erie. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. You won’t ever want for anything. I won’t hurt you as the others intend to do. I will leave you the use of your mind and that smart mouth of yours.”
I swallowed the scream that threatened to let loose from my lungs. “When was the last Knight born?” I pried.
“Ninety-nine years ago today,” he announced, and my stomach dropped to my feet as I looked up into his eyes.
“I won’t be yours or anyone else’s incubator, Callaghan. This is my life! I’m not something you just claim or drop this kind of shit on. I’m not even old in druid standards, I’m an infant!”
“You’re not young, Erie. You’re beautiful; you are ready to do what you were created to become. I’ve waited for you to be ready for me. I’ve given you ample time to come into your powers, you’re ready,” he returned softly, silk lacing every word.
I turned around and closed my eyes against the multitude of emotions that assaulted me at once. When I felt him closing in on me, I turned, stared into his eyes, and smiled coldly as he winced and looked between our bodies, where the blade protruded from his heart. His eyes snapped to mine as his hand grasped for me, only to find air where I’d stood.
Such Violent Delights: A Holiday Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 15