Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

The Archangel Chronicles

H.G. JOHNSTON
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 This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are fictitious products of the
author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is
solely coincidental.
Copyright © 2024 by H.G. Johnston
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To the darkest minds and the sinful hearts of this world. The corruption is horrific, let’s show them
how much scarier we can be.

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Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

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 A uthor’s N ote
Thank you so much for picking up this book! It means so much to me and
my dream of becoming an author!
In my books, I have introduced the concept of a multiverse. A tear in
the fabric of space and time that connects the stories, but also makes them
their very own. Because of that, there are two versions of this specific story.
On one timeline, there is a world where these characters are teenagers.
They live in Seattle, Washington, going through life as young magic-users.
No violent language, no explicit scenes. It is YA.
The second version of this book, this one, rides a timeline in another
world in which these characters are adults. Trigger warnings are listed on
the next page.
Thank you once again for your support and love, and please don’t forget
to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other site.

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 TRIGGER WARNING
This book is a dark fantasy romance and contains triggering situations
such as, but not limited to:
Murder, graphic violence, breath play, talks of suicide, self-harm, knife
play, edging, consensual non-consent, somnophilia.
Each book in this series will be darker than the last, containing exploration
of different kinks, torture, even more graphic violence, suicide, and more.
Please consider this before starting the first book in this series.

Your mental health matters.

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 Gods and Goddesses
The Human Court
(Terigard – Capital, Therian)
The Priests:
Reldron, Drake, Sorell
The Fallen Court
(Oridian – Capital, Arkalious)
The Archangels
Michael, Gabriel, Enoch
The Fae Court
(Phaidras – Capital, Aelyria)
The Five Goddesses
Ahree, Masha, Tallian, Briel, Feyre
The Warlock Court
(Sarivos – Capital, Ephraim)
The Keepers
Genesis, Calypso, Matiyou
The Pixie Court
(Perinix – Capital, Sarick)
Hellions
Shade, Amrax, Reni
The Vampire Court
(Sanguinary – Capital, Perlium)
Goddess of the Moon
Nyxeil
Knights of Oblivion
Giselle, Arius

Preface

I wasThe
sick.
things I wanted. The things I craved. It was disgusting. I
deserved to be punished for the fantasies I had.
I couldn’t blame anyone for running. If I could outrun it, I would too. I
hated myself for them. For these twisted thoughts.
 It wasn’t normal. I wasn’t normal. I was a freak.
A sick freak.
But gods.
Gods.
Sometimes I just wished that there was someone out there as fucked up
as me. Then maybe, just maybe…I could explore.

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 1
My Bible, Chapter 1, Verse 1
Never submit.

Kyra
With wild laughter on my lips, I hit the edge of the Forest of Malice,
skidding to a halt just yards away from the edge of the cobblestone streets.
I turned back towards Therian, panting as the castle guards stopped, not
daring to cross that tree line.
They didn’t want to risk it. Being killed by a demon was a torturous,
excruciating death, one they wouldn’t face even on the High King’s orders.
The precious High King could never waste resources on such a petty
thief. Even if that thief was one who had been haunting the city since she
was 8 years old.
I lifted my chin, daring them to come after me. I knew they didn’t have
it in them and there was no harm in taunting them. They would never catch
me no matter how hard they tried.
The men grumbled and huffed, the one closest to the woods even lifted
his spear and pointed the tip at me. A promise.
I merely leaned back against a tree and waited. I would not turn my
back on them. Cowards or not, I knew they would waste a weapon just to
kill me, even if that did get them in trouble with Raphael Gerodia.
Seconds turned into minutes. When twenty had passed, they finally
gave up and turned away from the woods, shouting obscenities at me that
went in one ear and out the other.
I waited until they had disappeared before finally shoving away from
the tree and heading deeper into the woods.
The demons that roamed these woods were misunderstood. They only
attacked when their way of life was threatened, it wasn’t any different than
the kings and their armies. Besides, they had owned these woods longer
than Terigard had been its own continent.
But perhaps it wasn’t just the demons they were afraid of, maybe it was
the silence too.
 For my entire life, there hadn’t been even a rustle of movement, not
unless it was a demon trying to make itself known, which they did from
time to time. There weren’t deer or birds. There weren’t any insects, not a
single one.
Everything I knew about the animals had come from the library. Unless
I traveled close enough to the castle to see a bird, or I just so happened to
run across a stray dog or cat rummaging through trash bins.
Other than that, not a sound.
I had read once that crickets used to fill these woods. Over a thousand
years ago, long before the Fall, the little insects would sing through the
trees in competition with the birds that gifted their beautiful songs to
anyone who would listen.
I’d never heard a cricket before, I could only imagine the music it
would make.
Some days I wondered why the gods and goddesses had allowed the
demons to be here. Back then, they had still been alive, but then again, they
never cared about the people they had created, so I very much doubted they
would have done a single thing about it.
The Forest of Malice was dark. The trees were so thick, the branches
overlapping enough that the sun couldn’t get through save for a stray ray
every once in a great while.
Maybe that’s why I liked it so much. As a thief the shadows were my
friends. An ally. The demons? Not so much. They needed respect, which I
gave willingly so long as they respected me.
Beautiful, dark creatures, delicate emotions, fierce hearts, and
incredibly dangerous if they were wronged. I loved everything about them.
I had seen them enough that I was able to document those who chose to
remain within a five-mile radius of me. They allowed me to draw them, to
study them, but in the last year especially, I had been able to sense them
following me.
It was a dark presence. A chill on the back of my neck, a shiver down
my spine, a feeling of being someone else’s prey. Because I was. I was their
prey, and they left me alone out of respect.
I wandered into these woods at only 9 years of age. It was the same year
I had found the Impossible Street. Ket, my best friend at the time, had
nearly wet himself when I dragged him in here. He was 11 at the time. He
begged me not to go, but I was searching for something. Something
important. Something desperately important.
Something I hadn’t found wandering onto that street, but I had found it
here. I remembered that day as if it were yesterday. He had whimpered the
entire time as I stalked through the woods, red eyes flaring from the deepest
depths of the shadows, threatening in their silence.
A fawn. That’s what I was to them. A fawn barely able to walk. Sure, I
was scared, but I was more scared, more angry, of what I had left at home.
That day is when we came across the cottage. Abandoned in the middle
of the woods, not a soul to be seen. Not even the demons had neared it.
It wasn’t until I was 14, half a year before Ket left, that I decided it was
time to fix it up. To get it ready, fill it with knowledge and food.
Why?
Because my mother had become pregnant, and I couldn’t let what
happened to me happen to that baby.
This was the year I was going to move him out. He was turning 11
soon, eight weeks. December 13th. That cottage is going to be this year’s
birthday present.
I just had a few finishing touches before it was completely ready, but I
wanted to be sure. Absolutely sure. The winters here weren’t as terrible as
they were in Sanguinary, the continent where the vampires lived, but they
were rough. I couldn’t have him freezing to death because I couldn’t handle
the situation.
The walk from the streets of Therian to the cottage was about 45
minutes. I stepped around a large tree, through the vines, already losing
their leaves, and into a small clearing. It was one of the very few clearings I
had discovered in these woods.
The cottage sat against a cliff. It was a comfortable two-bedroom
building made of clay, stone, and moss. There was a hot spring behind it,
and an oak tree right outside of the front door, garden beds surrounding it.
Prepared for when the ground next thawed.
At the moment, the clearing was bathed in red and yellow oak leaves,
rows of chopped wood running along one side of the cottage. It had two
windows. One above the sink, pointing towards the entrance of the clearing
and the hot spring, and one in my bedroom, which was closest to the front
door, a perfect view of the oak tree and the woods beyond.
Almost ready. It was almost ready.
I headed for the front door, a well-worn path through the dying grass I
had planted five years ago, leading to where the stepping-stones started.
The stones led right up to the rusty red painted front door, the only entrance
and exit to the building.
Sometimes I dreamt about what might have been had Ket never left. If
he had stayed, helped me rebuild, and all three of us had moved in. Our
own little family. People would question it. Wondering if Mark was ours,
and once I got him out of the grips of my mother, perhaps I would have
claimed him as my own, but this was a different life now. A life without
Ket. A life I was trying to carve out for my brother and my brother alone.
I pushed through the front door and inhaled deeply, the light scent of
Fall and parchment whispering by me.
Every single wall of this place was covered in research. In drawings and
snippets of stories that had come to me in dreams. On the floor were stacks
and stacks of books, many written by me, others stolen from the Impossible
Street. Knowledge that I had collected, truths I had hunted down so that I
could help Mark understand a world that only saw evil.
Maybe that’s what everyone would always see. I wasn’t setting out to
convince him that the bad didn’t exist. I knew more than anyone that that
wasn’t true, I just wanted him to see that it wasn’t all as terrible as the High
King portrayed. There was beauty and nightmares. A balance of light and
dark. The High Kings and High Queens weren’t always right, but that didn’t
mean they were completely wrong either.
We had been bred to fear. Which, in some cases, was smart. The
humans didn’t have magic or claws, teeth or venom. We had swords. The
Nightwalkers: the Fae, vampires, pixies, werewolves, warlocks, witches,
and the Fallen, they were our threat, our predators, and we should hate them
all.
I didn’t believe they were all bad, but we would always be prey.
Therefore, living in fear was something we had adapted to do. Even now,
when Raphael slaughtered anyone of magic blood that stepped into our
territory, when he killed anyone who sympathized with them, we still had to
live in fear. Because at any moment, any one of the other species could
come to this Court and kill us all without trying.
Sometimes I wondered why they hadn’t just to avenge the deaths of the
magic-users Raphael had killed, but I couldn’t even pretend to know the
thoughts of the royals. Trying to figure out why they did or did not do
certain things would drive anyone insane.
 Inside the cottage there was a counter that lined the far end of the living
area, a sink, a bathroom, cupboards, a large oak table fit for six, a redone
couch in front of a brick fireplace, and a wooden coffee table I had built.
The cottage was perfect for us. Perfect for him.
I had everything I needed except for a handful of items for the winter.
Once I collected those, I could show Mark, and we could leave Mom for
good.
I set my things down on the table, careful of the papers and journals
spread out everywhere. I would never claim to be a professional at
organization, but I at the very least knew where everything was. It counted
for something, at least in my mind.
I fell into a chair, pulling off my black veil that kept my identity hidden
from the world, slid back my hood, and pulled my journal forward.
Hey Ket,
I managed to steal some gold earrings today. I’ll hock them this evening
when I go to the Impossible Street. I need more Asilos Root. And a few other
things, I guess, but mostly Asilos Root.
I’ll be 25 in nine days, which would make you 27 now. Sometimes I
wonder what kind of man you’ve become. What would our lives look like
now if your father hadn’t stolen you away.
I wish we could have loved each other a little bit longer.
A weight settled around my shoulders. It was more likely the memory
of a weight. I had long since moved on from what could have been with us,
but even so, the memory of it still hurt from time to time.
I wish you hadn’t waited until that last day to make love with me. I wish
we had more time to not be so new at making love. I wanted to learn more
with you, not with strangers.
Maybe I wouldn’t be so fucked up in that area if you had stayed.
Maybe I still would have ended up that fucked up and you would have
left anyway, that would have been…I’m getting off track.
Once Mark gets here, I’ve decided I have to stop taking such terrible
risks. I have to be more careful, at least until I can teach him how to survive
in the shadows like I have.
How easy is it to stop cold turkey? Cut off an addict from the thing they
love the most?
I’ll be fine. I don’t need to take stupid risks. But I suppose addicts don’t
need their drugs either. I’ll be fine.
 I don’t think you would recognize me now, Ket. Maybe that’s a good
thing. The people we were 11 years ago, maybe they were never supposed to
survive.
I have to go now, before the sun sets, but I’ll be back, I always am. See
you later.
Ket had known more about me than anyone else in the world, but he
never knew it all. I had wondered in the last few days if he would even like
the person I had become. If he would yell and scream and throw things
because of the choices I’ve made towards the Court, towards my own body.
Even so, I suppose it didn’t truly matter. The only thing that mattered
now was surviving my mother and keeping Mark safe. Not only from Mom,
but from the world as well.
The High King hated magic so much, he hung anyone even suspected
of it on the crosses in Condemnation. They starved to death or died of
exposure, sometimes they were even stoned to death.
I had risked everything to get those Nightwalkers some food or water.
Had traded off important things to get untraceable magical sleep agents
from the Impossible Street just to make their deaths easier, and it changed
nothing.
No one could keep magic completely away from an entire Court, not
even the great Raphael Gerodia. There was magic hiding in the very seams
of Therian, the court so fractured, they were blind to it. The Impossible
Street was a secret I would keep until my bones were nothing but ashes in
the wind, not just for me, but for them. For the Nightwalkers living there
even if they never trusted me completely.
With a sigh, I shut my journal and started rummaging through my
cupboards. I was sure I only needed Asilos Root, but there was always a
chance I used more than I should have elsewhere.
After I was satisfied with my search, I emptied my satchel of the other
items I had stolen that day. Gloves, socks, a bowl, and a couple more
journals. There was always more information to be found, which meant that
I could never have enough journals.
At the moment, I was trying to smooth out the hierarchy in each court. I
knew the names of every High King and High Queen ruling now, save for
one, but I didn’t have the names of the members of their courts.
Raphael had made it a point to erase all history from the libraries of
everyone save for the humans. It was almost impressive how well he had
managed to do it, but also incredibly annoying.
Luckily for me, there was a bookstore on the Impossible Street that I
used as a resource. It didn’t have much, but the people, after they had come
around to trusting me, filled in a few of the gaps.
Sometimes I felt like a failure with what little information I’m able to
gather in one day, but when I look around the cottage, I’m reminded that I
know thousands of years of information most everyone in the world either
refused to remember or were never taught about.
There was a lot of darkness in the past of this world but a lot of light
too. It’s all about where you choose to look. Mark was going to see it all.
His eyes are going to be wide and while not all seeing, pretty close to it.
That was my main goal. After all, the stars cannot shine without the
darkness of the night.
~~~

Trick
Blood dripped down my face, soaking my clothes, my skin, drenching my
hair.
Cole always lectured me about being so messy, but I liked the mess.
The mess settled something deep and unrelenting in my bones, but not for
long. Never for long.
I looked down the alley as my shadows whispered a warning of
wandering humans.
In a few moments, they would come across yet another pile of their
own kind, dead. They would be horrified at the dismemberment, at the
blood covering the walls of the alley, and they would investigate, coming
up with one possible conclusion; there was a serial killer among them.
It was just tragic that they would never know who it truly was.
“Tragic,” my magic chuckled. “Let me out and I’ll show them tragic.”
I rolled my head on my shoulders and pushed my hair back. Not yet. It
was too soon.
Besides, there was a little Angel I had to visit. I had to make sure she
wasn’t getting into any trouble.
My beautiful, sweet little addiction that I had stumbled across one
evening while dismembering another group of men on the other side of the
city. Well, a group of men and a couple of deranged women.
 Humans weren’t the only species I did this with. I wasn’t racist. I killed
anyone who deserved it, the humans just…they held some truly bad apples.
But her?
She was far from it and lately I had found myself becoming drunk on
her presence.
It had started out as a mere curiosity. I had seen her scaling the top of a
building with the grace of a feline.
I followed her for some time, watching her steal things from the
unknowing with a grin on her face. The risks she took set fire to my soul.
She laughed at them, at how slow they were. She cackled.
There were lines I didn’t cross. I hadn’t yet gone into either of her two
houses. I only knew her by one name, Astraea, the name she gave those
Nightwalkers on her secret street. I even spoke to her once. Just because I
needed to hear her speak to me.
She had replied with a simple yet irritated ‘hello’ that had set my teeth
on edge, set fire to my skin. The low, husky voice of a seductress.
I couldn’t stay away now.
I was completely obsessed. I was utterly owned by this woman and
soon, she would understand that she belonged to me.
And I wasn’t some sort of psychopath. I didn’t believe that destiny had
brought us together. I didn’t have a painting of her that I fucked every
second of every day.
All I wanted was to shatter her in every way a person could be shattered
and then take those pieces and swallow them whole until there was no me
and no her, just us.
Until she understood that I craved her beyond rationality. Beyond hope,
beyond reason.
She was mine. And if anyone challenged that, I’d show them exactly
what my shadows could do.
It’s been almost a year since I first set eyes upon my beautiful little
addiction. 355 days to be exact, and I felt myself slowly losing my carefully
constructed control. It wasn’t something I was used to. In fact, I almost
loathed her for it.
It would take time to convince her that this thing between us was all-
consuming, but it was time I claimed what was mine.
~~~
 Kyra
The Impossible Street was exactly 53 steps down an alley that no one else
could see.
I had questioned it since the second I found it. Questioned how the
people there had remained safe from the tyranny of the High King.
Questioned why the other High Kings and High Queens allowed them to
come here. If they knew of its existence but no one said a word about it.
I wondered what people saw if they ever caught me slipping down the
alley. Would they see a girl stepping through a brick wall, convincing
themselves that they hadn’t eaten enough that day? Or perhaps there was a
strong magic surrounding it, casting a spell to protect me long before I even
approached the street.
Or maybe the people of Therian just didn’t care enough to wonder.
Whatever it was, I always felt a sort of thrill when I finally stepped
forward. A thrill that sang through my body and caused a shiver to run
down my spine. It only lasted a second, but it was a second of pure and
absolute bliss.
I sent a covert glance up and down the street before slipping down the
alley. It looked like every other alley in this city, but this one was far more
important. It didn’t just protect me from the guards or the merchants trying
to chase down their stolen goods, it saved me from this life. Just for a
moment. For a single second, I was free.
Despite the orange glow of the setting sun, the street was alive and
teeming. There were pixies selling cursed potions, Fae showing off their
Elfhaven forged blades, warlocks looking for binding deals, and wolves
discussing their latest hunts.
I inhaled deeply. The air was different here too. More familiar. More
like a place I wanted to belong to rather than the one I was born into, but
what wayward woman didn’t dream of running off to a magical place every
now and again?
I felt the tension in my shoulders ease on the exhale. I had once asked if
this place was the only one of its kind. I never got an answer, so the stories
in my head began to grow. Maybe it had been a safe haven created by the
gods so their people could be safe during the wars. Or maybe powerful
magic-users had created it to get out from under the noses of their rulers.
Perhaps it was far simpler than that. Perhaps it was built simply for
traders to trade to whomever they pleased.
The street was always beautiful. Stone buildings, blooming gardens,
moss breaking through the cobblestone, despite the chilling weather. The
Fae did their best to keep things growing up until the very moment the first
snowflake fell, and then everything shifted into a beautiful winter
wonderland.
I started down the sidewalk, pulling my hood further over my head,
running my fingers across my veil to make sure it sat securely over my
nose. I hadn’t always worn it. At 8 years of age, it hadn’t been a thought in
my mind, but by the time I had turned 10, the veil had become a permanent
part of who I was.
Many of the people here had a good idea of what I might look like
because of that, but thankfully they never said a word.
I adjusted my satchel and tossed over small smiles at those passing by,
admiring how they looked. The regalness of the warlocks, the ruggedness of
the wolves, the undeniable beauty of the Fae. How could anyone look
around at the Nightwalkers and believe they were so evil?
Yes, there were some who made terrible decisions, the royals especially,
but the decisions of the kings meant nothing about their people.
Just like the cottage, the Impossible Street had only one entrance and
the same exit. That alley. Which made sense. Everyone here had magic.
They could portal, open magical doorways, Jump out of here. They didn’t
need an entrance.
Madam Levine’s Shop sat right up against the wall that blocked the
very end of the street, an ancient structure leaning up against a seemingly
impenetrable force. It was my favorite shop on the whole street. I visited
every time I came here and was always met with a devious smile.
I pushed open the door, the light chime of a bell sounding through the
old store, spice, and something sweet filling my nose.
The shop was made of rotting wood, held together by the iron-clad will
of the old woman. The creaking of the wooden floorboards was music to
my ears as I gazed upon the rows of wooden shelves filled with all sorts of
curious objects.
The light, struggling to come in through the murky, dusty windows,
gave a sort of halo to the things lining the shelves.
I made my way slowly down one aisle, running my fingers over the
edge of the shelf sitting at eye-level. Jars of strange moving goops, glass
figurines, a trumpet, a throwing star.
Madam Levine had told me once that everything in this shop was magical.
Some cursed, some blessed, she would never reveal which was which. It
was almost like a game. I had considered from time to time purchasing
something at random just to test it out, but I needed the resources for my
cottage, my brother.
“…something of that power isn’t real.”
I slowed at Madam Levine’s old but strong voice, peeking between an
hourglass of living gold and a bowler hat with a purple brim to get a better
look at who was speaking to the old wolf.
“He killed a village filled with his own people, Minerva, and all for this
single item? No king in their right mind would do that.”
“No one ever claimed that man was anything other than a true monster,
I don’t see how that is a surprise.”
Madam Levine was sitting at the front desk, speaking with a tall, black-
haired man wearing a top hat crookedly on his head. He held a cane in his
right hand, beautiful, black twisting roots with a strange looking dragon’s
head on the top that changed color with every breath of motion. He didn’t
look old enough to need a cane, but age was but a number in a world filled
with immortals.
“I don’t have it,” she sighed when the man didn’t reply. “The
information you seek does not exist, especially here.”
He was searching for information? I had plenty of information.
“I don’t know why in the world you would ever think of coming to
Therian in search of an answer to what that male is doing anyway. I don’t
even know how you managed to find this place or why you’re taking such a
big risk in coming here. It’s idiotic.”
The man frowned.
“And even if I did have what you were looking for, what could you
possibly do about it? If this preposterous story has any truth to it, then
nothing, not even your egotistical, wretched High King, could stop him.
I’ve been telling everyone for decades that the War of Ruin wasn’t the end
of it, and here we are.” She clicked her tongue in bitter disappointment.
She was right. The War of Ruin had only been step two. But most
refused to acknowledge that.
Whomever they were speaking of, it sounded serious. I had to know his
name. There was no choice in it.
 “I don’t believe in being doomed,” the man stated, lifting his chin. “My
source led me here. I understand that there is no magic allowed in Therian
which is the very reason I came. This street is a mystery in and of itself,
how could I possibly stay away?”
Well, he had her there.
“However, all I’ve gotten are dead ends. Something must have
interfered with my magic.”
Madam Levine pressed her lips into a tight line, wrinkles on top of
wrinkles only making her look older. “You warlocks and your conspiracy
theories. You obviously got the spell wrong, but I understand that your egos
are—”
“No, no, that’s not it,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.
She frowned deeply. “Delicate,” she finished.
Warlocks were immensely proud creatures, but I supposed most
Nightwalkers were. Especially the Fallen. Warlocks were proud and cocky.
The Fallen were proud and incredibly territorial. Pixies were just plain evil.
Fae wore their confidence like crowns. I’d have to say they were the best
species when it came to pride. The wolves had aggression issues when their
pride was challenged, and the vampires? Well, they were just uptight. They
had rules and there was absolutely no breaking them. It was ridiculous.
I didn’t have time to stand around any longer. Warlocks weren’t known
for being careless killers, so I was decently safe in this one’s presence.
Unless he was having a bad day.
I stepped out of the shadows and lifted my chin. “Afternoon, Madam,” I
announced, allowing a soft smile, despite the fact that she couldn’t see it.
The two turned. Levine offered her best smile, knowing and
mischievous, while the warlock looked on as if he had found the most
curious thing in his presumedly long life. “Astraea,” she greeted.
I spared the warlock a glance if only to get a better look at him. I had
never seen him on this street before. His pointed ears peeked out from his
thick, dusty black hair, his eyes were the color of red rubies, his skin just on
the rich side of tawny as all warlocks were. He looked regal, perhaps
directly from the capital of Sarivos, Ephraim.
“What brings you here today?”
I walked up to the counter, catching the slight frown that paired the
warlock’s curious expression as I looked away. “Running low on Asilos
Root again,” I explained evenly. I loved meeting new people, I didn’t love
the things that came with meeting new people. Talking, mingling,
discussing lives. I’d rather have my head in a book or my writing than talk
with others, but, unfortunately, being alive meant having to communicate.
She clicked her tongue again, pushing herself to a trembling stand. A
foot shorter than I was and covered in hellish wrinkles, it was almost
impossible to see her beautiful blue eyes and light red painted lips. “You’re
going through it too quick, girl. What are you doing in those haunted
woods?”
I shrugged. “They aren’t haunted, just home to some dark things.”
“Dark things indeed,” she chuckled as she walked up to the endless
shelves behind her, searching the various jars and containers for the root I
needed. “How much longer will I be receiving this?”
“Five weeks,” both the warlock and I answered.
She glanced back.
I kept my expression neutral. I had forgotten we weren’t alone and I
could feel his eyes drilling into my skull with questions.
“Hmm,” she pondered, turning back. “Well, you best be careful then,”
she warned, stepping onto a small stool. “How much do you want?”
I pulled out the golden earrings I had managed to steal and placed them
on the counter. “Real gold,” I told her as she looked back. “Half a pound?”
“Hmm,” she mumbled again, eyes narrowing as she took in the
earrings. “A little less. Prices have gone up.”
Damn. That wasn’t good.
“Fine,” I said on a huff, earning a stern look, to which I rolled my eyes.
“Human.”
I felt a slight tinge of fear stab through me at the tone in his voice when
he released that one word. Hatred? Not quite, but something close to it.
“I am,” I replied calmly, finding his eyes. Showing weakness would
only make me a target, so it didn’t matter that fear trickled down my spine
in the form of sweat at this perfect stranger, showing it wasn’t an option.
Luckily for me, warlocks didn’t have the same scent glands as most every
other species, so he couldn’t smell the fear, but Madam Levine probably
could.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
I allowed a small shrug. “I could say the same for you.”
His eyes were kind, that much I could tell. Behind the careful
consideration, the intrigue, there was kindness in them, which allowed my
shoulders to fall if only an inch. “Why?” He didn’t mean harm. He was just
a curious warlock looking for answers.
“Your spell,” I answered easily. “It was wrong. Your magic doesn’t
work like that. Maybe the Fae or the pixies would have had a problem with
faltering magic but you?” I shook my head, turning back to Madam Levine.
“No.”
He released a breath of disbelief, if I had to guess. “You can’t possibly
know that.”
“Don’t underestimate this one,” Madam Levine stated, rejoining us.
“She knows a lot of things. So much, it terrifies even me from time to time,
but you get used to it.”
She hadn’t. Madam Levine had lectured me on many occasions when
she thought I was simply being a know-it-all. Maybe I was, but I’d rather
not die a terrible death because she mixed up two jars of flowers. One for
healing, one for poison. It had been a stressful few minutes during that visit.
“How did you get in here?” the warlock asked, still watching me like a
dog would watch a cat.
“I walked in,” I answered sarcastically.
Madam Levine laughed.
But the warlock was unimpressed. “There is a spell over this street. It’s
not a place you can simply stumble upon. I had to use a spell myself to get
here.”
The old shop owner picked up the earrings and inspected them with an
eyeglass older than the world itself, I was sure.
“Recheck the spell,” I told him, watching her carefully. They were real
gold, I already checked. “And if you’re old enough not to have learned this,
you should definitely look into learning Sarivosian. The translations are
horrendous. If the spell was originally written in the old language, it’s better
to just learn and read it in that language than this one.”
Madam Levine gave him a look.
“Translations?”
I couldn’t help the look of confusion I gave him. Did he not know about
the translations? “Yes. I’m not claiming to have perfect Sarivosian, but they
got a lot wrong. I’m actually quite shocked your High King hasn’t caused a
global catastrophe because some of those spells are absolutely terrifying.
Maybe not as bad as Forbidden Magic, but still incredibly deadly.”
Madam Levine slid a small jar over. Smaller than I wanted. “She’s
right.”
I stared at the jar for several seconds, doing the math in my head. Shit.
It wasn’t great.
With an inward sigh, I slid the jar into my satchel and gave her a
grateful nod. “See you soon.”
“Not too soon, girl.”
Yeah, not too soon. I couldn’t keep using the Asilos Root for myself. I
would just have to deal with whatever injuries Mom gave to me. Everything
else had to be for Mark.
All of it.
I pushed open the door, the weight of the warlock’s gaze easing the
slight fear still lingering in my spine. I just needed to ignore him; it was that
simple. He wasn’t a threat on this street, not really.
Although, I feared every single day I walked onto this street. Everyone
around me made a choice not to hurt me, but they easily could, and I would
have no way to protect myself.
I would always be the prey.
My gut warmed at the thought, in the kind of way it shouldn’t. In the
kind of way many partners had gagged at once they found out one of the
many secrets I kept locked tightly away.
Pretty soon, I just stopped asking. Stopped talking to them about it. I
went through the motions just to ease myself, but it did little good, not
when what I really wanted was—
“Excuse me.”
Shit.
I glanced back, slowing just a step, to meet the ruby-red eyes of the
warlock.
I turned back towards the street, heart picking up. Okay, I drew
attention when I shouldn’t have. What would he do? What would the people
of the street do? Was he going to kidnap me, take me to Satarmore Irsch?
Would anyone try and stop him?
Probably not if he was from the Court itself.
I couldn’t panic. I did leave a note for Mark, just in case. “Therian has a
curfew,” I explained, flexing my hands at my side. Not everyone was an
enemy.
Something flashed in front of me, forcing me to stop, watching a sheen
wash across what I assumed was an invisible wall.
 My heart slammed, people glancing over, but none slowing. I had
gained not a single ounce of sympathy after all these years. Not one.
“I only had a few questions,” the warlock began from behind me.
I swallowed, wondering if those on the street with good noses were
getting off on the fear that wafted from me.
When I didn’t respond, the male appeared to my right, his steps slow,
careful, his eyes searching. “I’m not keeping you prisoner,” he explained,
the invisible wall disappearing in a flash of red sparks.
My eyes lifted to his, my spine rigid. “I found the street at 9,” I told him
carefully. “Everyone was apprehensive, but I was a kid, so easily
manipulated. They allowed me to stay. Not everyone likes that I’m here, but
I remain quiet, unobtrusive, and they leave me be. That’s it.”
He straightened. “How old are you now?”
I glanced towards the alley, still about 20 buildings away. “24. How old
are you?”
His expression softened. “356. My name is Talaroe, but some of my
closest friends call me Tally.”
He was trying to get on better terms. Why else offer up that bit of
information? I lifted my chin. “I would have guessed 863,” I replied evenly.
“Astraea.”
“Beautiful,” he commented with a small smile. “Do you know what
your name means?”
I knew why I picked it, yes.
At my look, he nodded. “A human on this side, one without malice? It
seems hard to believe.”
I shrugged. “And yet here I am.”
“Here you are,” he confirmed. “Why wear a mask if you’re so
unafraid?”
I was fucking terrified. Anyone on this street could change their mind at
any second and I was gone, but there were things here I needed. Things my
brother needed. I didn’t have another option.
“While I don’t believe that the Nightwalkers are as wicked as Raphael
proclaims them to be, that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. You can be
kind and still want revenge.”
“Do you?”
I glanced towards the alley again. I had to leave. The sun was getting
too low. “I search for understanding before I serve my judgment.”
 “Is that why you learned Sarivosian?”
I turned back to him, studying him. He was asking me all of these
questions; I needed answers for myself too. “Why is a member of the High
Court here in Therian? What are you looking for?”
He was quiet a moment, his eyes growing distant. After some time, he
finally released a quiet breath, and with it some weight from his shoulders.
“The High King of the Fallen, Trick Michael, was in search of a stone. The
color of auburn, the look of glass, no bigger than your palm. It’s called the
Eye of Orion, that is why it’s important. He killed an entire village of his
own people to get it.”
My brows pulled together. “He slaughtered an entire village for this
stone? Why?”
Talaroe shrugged. “Why does any king or queen do what they do?”
“Power?” I suggested.
“The corrupt ones,” he half agreed. Talaroe snapped his fingers, a door
of gold rimmed in red appearing before us. “I have to get back to
Satarmore, he gets testy when I’m late.” He stepped up to the door and
glanced back at me. “How curious, a human wandering among monsters.”
With that, he stepped through the door, disappearing from view.

OceanofPDF.com
 2
My Bible, Chapter 23, Verse 62
It breathes deceit within the treacherous waters of adversity and morality. Infinite does not exist
within the constructs of this life, but only within the gasps of breath in the next.

Talaroe
N o,berries,”
Merinda, I will not make a deal with you for a payment of root
Satarmore was saying as I stepped through the door into my
brother’s throne room.
She was whimpering. “It’s all I have,” she said on her knees, holding a
small sack stained on the bottom in blue. “Please.”
Satarmore, with his golden crown sat crookedly atop his head, waved
her away, his golden rings catching the fading light of the day through the
windows above him. “If you’d like me to murder your husband, I require
more. The audacity that root berries would be enough payment is just…”
He released a breath. “You’ve given me a headache.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line as I leaned on the cane. I didn’t need it,
but it was a treasured gift from Penny, given to me long ago, a memory of a
better time and a reminder of my true father; Luke Brachius, an old warlock
who had adopted not only my brother and I, but Penny, Eric, Aeron, and
Phillip as well. He was a good man, the best I knew.
The woman shoved herself to a stand, clearly displeased if not a little
inebriated. “Fine, I’ll go somewhere else to find someone willing enough.”
Satarmore placed a hand over his heart in the most dramatic way. “Oh
no, whatever shall I do without your deep and pulsating need for revenge?”
Merinda huffed, flicked her wrist, and stepped through a portal she had
created. A pixie. Interesting. Her glamor had been good, better than many I
had seen over the last handful of years.
Satarmore shoved himself up from his throne with a grunt not meant for
one looking so young. 36, to be exact, unless I decided to add another year
to my looks, then Satarmore would do the same. An older brother through
and through.
“I do hope you’re here with answers and not more problems,” he
sighed, walking down the dais to his scotch cart. “I don’t need another
headache. Root berries? To brutally murder a cheating husband? Pathetic.
Pennies to dollars. Pennies to dollars.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Wrong world. There was no such
thing as pennies and dollars here, but Satarmore and I had gotten in plenty
of fights over the correct verbiage over the years that I let it go.
Rather, I lifted my chin. “Why do you insist on wearing that crown? It
makes you look—”
“Kingly?” he offered, pouring himself a drink. “Well, I am a King. A
High King, to be exact. Far better than the titles in our old world, don’t you
think?”
I made my way over, once again wondering why I ever agreed to help
my big brother when I could barely stand him for more than a few minutes
at a time. Satarmore was best left experienced in small doses. “That spell
did lead somewhere. A street.”
Satarmore spun on me, eyes widened, drink sloshing. “Golly!” he
breathed out. “A street? Let us rejoice! There are streets in Therian!” He
took a drink of scotch, his sarcasm drifting into irritation.
I frowned deeply, hand tightening around my cane. “One of magic.
Where Nightwalkers live and shop. Raphael doesn’t know about it.”
The warlock king’s eyes filled with intrigue. “Hmm. That would
explain why the spell led you there. Was there anything useful?”
I shook my head, knowing exactly where this would lead. “Nothing
important except for one thing. There was a girl.”
Satarmore inhaled as if it were his last breath of sanity. “Go bed her
then. I don’t want to hear about your conquests.”
The exhaustion slipped through just as Satarmore turned away from me.
It wasn’t often I saw it, but I knew it was there. The toll of a king was
unending.
“She was human,” I stated, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“She’s been visiting since she was 9 years old, and she knows Sarivosian.
She knows a lot more than that too, but she keeps her identity hidden.
Perhaps that’s why the spell led me there. Maybe she holds some key as to
why this is happening.”
Satarmore’s shoulders had tightened, his cup frozen halfway to his
mouth, his expression hidden from view.
Seconds ticked by until he finally took a drink, finishing his glass. “You
are to leave her alone.”
Shocked by his retort, I straightened, my own interest in the girl
growing. “We could use her, Satarmore. You wanted answers, I’m giving
you—”
“That’s an order from your High King.” With that, he headed for the
doors without another word.
I watched after him until the doors shut behind him, confused and lost.
It wasn’t a normal reaction, even for him.
I snapped my fingers and stepped through a door into another throne
room, this one made of sky-blue, the walls covered in beautiful paintings.
A pair of sky-blue golden eyes sparked in joy as they met mine. “Tally,”
she greeted from where she sat at the table in the center of the room. “That
was great timing, we were just finishing dinner.”
And in fact, they had just finished. Empty plates and full stomachs
filled the table. Part of me felt a slight bitterness towards Satarmore for
assigning me this task. I loved family dinners.
“He always has good timing,” Eric said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m
still not convinced he can’t read minds.”
I gave the immortal human a look. “You know I don’t have that power.”
“Yes he does!” Phillip cheered, jumping up from the table, sprinting
across the room, and lunging into my arms.
I caught the 10-year-old with ease, although my old bones groaned.
“Oh, good evening, Phillip.”
He jumped back, shaking out his light blonde hair, his blue eyes
shining. “What are you doing here, Uncle?”
The boy worried me greatly, worried everyone. He was only seven
years younger than Penny and Eric, but he had yet to allow his body to age
since the war that took our world, sending us here. It was something we had
talked about at length, but Luke continued to remind us that some trauma
was just more difficult to work through than others, especially for a boy as
young as Phillip had been when the war started.
“I’ve come to speak with Penelope,” I answered, eyes lifting to the
High Queen.
Her eyes darkened ever so slightly. “Please give us the room,” she
stated to her family.
Eric glanced between us and, with little hesitation, stood. “Come on,
Phillip, let’s go brush our teeth.”
Phillip studied me, his brows furrowing. The boy could sense a shift in
the room better than anyone I knew, but this wasn’t meant for others.
Satarmore was a touchy subject and Eric and Phillip didn’t need to know
what was going on in his personal life. “Okay,” he finally said.
I watched after them until they disappeared down the hall.
“What’s going on?” Penny asked, clearing the dinner table with a wave
of her hand.
My eyes shifted, taking in the beautiful woman. Her shoulders were
dropped, her hand was reaching for the necklace Eric had given her on her
17th birthday, not long after we had met. “You look tired.”
She nodded. “The tensions are growing in the West. Lia is planning
something, and I can’t figure out what.”
Lia Seeker, High Queen of the Pixies. When we had dropped into this
world, we all received memories as if we had always been here. Penny had
memories of her old life and a life of being Erson’s daughter. Just as
Satarmore and I had memories of our old lives and memories of growing up
here with our parents.
Even our parents in this world believed that we had always been here.
It had given us all horrible headaches for weeks but settled eventually.
Lia had had arguments with Penny’s father about Penny taking over. We
believed she could feel the truth even if she didn’t completely understand
why. When Erson perished not a year after we arrived, she had no choice
but to take the crown.
Lia had been causing problems ever since and as the years continued,
the problems had gotten worse. The last I had heard, Lia was taking the Fae
and torturing them before spreading their limbs across the Western most
shores of Phaidras. Not unlike what Trick Michael liked to do. It stopped a
year ago, but if it was happening again, Penny would have no choice but to
act on it.
“Has she made any moves?”
Penny shook her head, her shimmering golden hair bouncing in her
ponytail. “No, but I can feel it across my skin. Anyway,” she waved off,
“it’s not important. What’s happening?”
It was important, it was serious. She cared about her people more than
anything else in the world, this meant something, but if she didn’t want to
discuss it, I wouldn’t push. “I was running an errand for Satarmore, and it
led me to this girl. A human.”
She straightened, her eyes hardening. “What did she do to you?”
I smiled at the worry in her eyes, the fierceness. “Not to worry,
Penelope, not a hair out of place. What was strange was what happened
when I reported back to him.”
Her panic eased, but only just. The humans in this world knew about us,
the Nightwalkers. Hated us. Killed us. In the old world, the humans had no
idea we had even existed, so it was something we had had to get used to
since arriving over two centuries ago. “What do you mean?”
“I told Satarmore of what I had found, and he immediately shut down.
In fact, he ordered me to leave her alone and then he left.”
Her delicate brows pulled together. “He was angry?”
I nodded. “Bitter, upset. All of his normal emotions except far greater.”
Penny gripped her necklace a little harder as she considered my words.
“Who was she? Where did you find her?”
“She called herself Astraea,” I answered. “Wearing a veil, her hood
covered most of her face. She was in hiding.”
She nodded, not pushing for the information I hadn’t given. It wasn’t
something that needed to be told, not yet, not with everything else on her
plate.
“Well,” she finally decided, “Satarmore has never cared about anyone
like that, so maybe just do what he says for now. If this girl means
something to him, we don’t want to be the reason harm comes her way.”
As much as I wanted to push for answers, I knew that she was right.
Satarmore never cared about anything or anyone, so if he was showing any
sort of emotion towards someone, it was best to respect it.
To an extent, I supposed, although it was still curious.
“She may have the answers he wanted me to find,” I explained
carefully.
“Did he tell you to stop looking for these answers?”
“Just to leave her alone.”
Penny chewed her lip carefully. “Just…just be careful then, okay? Tread
lightly.”
I sighed and nodded. “I’ll do my best.” Despite the way the humans
acted here, they were still souls that deserved a chance, but trust? No, I
might never trust them again. Satarmore wanted answers, I would get them,
if that meant speaking to this girl again, then fine, but I would do my best
not to get her into trouble. Or myself, for that matter.
I walked over and kissed her head. “Thank you.”
She offered a small smile. “You’re welcome, Tally.”
 ~~~

Kyra
I sprinted for the cottage, the jar of Asilos Root thumping against my thigh.
My head was pounding, my left eye pulsing from the punishment I had
gotten from being home too late last night, but I had bigger things on my
mind.
Much bigger things.
Mark had questioned why I had been in such a rush this morning.
“Because winter is coming, little fox.”
In truth, I had stayed up all night thinking about what Talaroe had said.
The Fallen were a mystery to me. Far more than any other species. I hadn’t
even known about the High King’s name until yesterday.
Trick Michael.
His name somehow fit the very few stories I had heard.
Rape, murder, torture. Kidnapping people from different courts and
taking them back to Oridian to do with what they pleased. Some of the
Nightwalkers had even gone into detail about what the Fallen did to their
victims, and it was enough to give even me nightmares.
If anyone went missing in any court, it was their doing. That’s what the
stories claimed. I still remembered the stories my mother had told me when
I had been a babe of the Fallen creeping in the shadows, stealing souls,
limbs, tongues. It was one of the main reasons why Raphael implemented
the curfew. It was to protect his people.
It didn’t surprise me that he had killed a village of his own for this
stone, but why? What was he planning? Why didn’t I recognize the name?
Eye of Orion.
I knew about weapons. The Archangels each had a weapon of power.
Michael and his sword, Gabriel and his bow, Enoch and his shield, all lost
when the gods and goddesses perished in the War of Ruin.
The Staff of Elder, which had aided in creating each species, was a
powerful weapon that the Goddess of the Stars had created after the gods
and goddesses had requested to create something for themselves. It hadn’t
been made as a weapon, but the witches had altered that during the first
war.
But Orion? She had been one of the three goddesses of the Nephilim, a
species that had been eradicated, along with the dragons, during the Fall.
They had no powerful weapons. None that I had ever heard about.
Seraphane, Akira, and Orion. The latter had represented the Fates in the
Order.
An Order which was now represented by the Kings and Queens of each
species.
Lia Seeker, High Queen of the Pixies.
Raphael Gerodia, High King of the Humans.
Penny Rain, High Queen of the Fae.
Satarmore Irsch, High King of the Warlocks.
Belgart, High King of the Vampires.
Tyler Marshal, who was currently missing, High King of the wolves.
And finally, Trick Michael, High King of the Fallen.
There was another species, the witches, but they were supposed to be
under the reign of Satarmore, so there was no official High Queen. If there
was a title available, it would belong to Evanora Fairshield.
The Fall happened 1,212 years ago, bringing an end to two amazing
species, the dragons and the Nephilim. 648 years ago, the War of Ruin
brought the end to the gods and goddesses along with separating Caduto,
the largest continent in the world, which had contained each territory. It had
broken into nine continents, each of which held a territory owned by one of
the royals.
In the aftermath of the War of Ruin, the High Queens and High Kings
appointed themselves as the new Order.
After the Nephilim died, it was rumored that the Fates slipped into a
permanent silence to mourn the loss of their people. They disappeared,
walking the world like wraiths. Had they left a powerful object lying around
out of neglect? Had the loss of their species made them uncaring of the
others?
And why had I never stumbled across the information? Not one person
had mentioned it? It seemed highly unlikely.
I jogged into the cottage, panting. I tossed my things onto the table and
hit my knees in front of the stacks I had on the Nephilim, searching for my
book on the gods.
It took me seconds to find it. A handwritten journal about the Fates and
all the information I had been able to find on them.
I sat back on my heels, skimming through pages, chanting ‘Eye of
Orion’ over and over again. It had to be here. I had to have found something
on it. Anything.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Not—
I gasped and flipped back a page. “There,” I mumbled, skimming the
words.
Just one line. One line in an entire book of information.
“The Eye of Orion will be used to stop Death.”
I frowned, rereading the entire page, front and back just to make sure I
hadn’t missed anything. That couldn’t be it. There had to be more. The
Fallen were immortal, and from what I knew of the High King of the
Fallen, he was the oldest immortal alive today, why would he need
something to stop death? His own death? Maybe he had fallen ill. Maybe he
wanted to remain a tyrant for the next couple thousand years.
I chewed on my bottom lip, going over the options. It could be
rhetorical.
My mind started racing, trying to find the answers only to stop abruptly
when I remembered my goal.
I snapped the book shut. My goal was to get the last remaining items I
needed for Mark to move in. I couldn’t be going off on trails. Even if the
trail was the most interesting thing that had happened to me in months.
With a shake of my head, I slid the book back and shoved myself to a
stand. Sure, I had just solved the mystery of the name of the High King of
the Fallen, I discovered a new weapon, a new mystery to solve, but there
were more important things to accomplish than collecting information.
I needed to focus.
Focus on the task, not on this.
I emptied my satchel, trying to clear my head. It would be an
unnecessary risk. Even at the thought, my heart skipped, but I couldn’t take
part in it. I had to focus on my brother.
Why would the High King need something like that? And why were the
warlocks interested? And why had Talaroe’s magic led him to Therian? To
my street?
What was happening out there that Raphael Gerodia was keeping from
us? Did he know about it? Should he?
I glanced back at the stacks of books. Whose death was that stone
stopping?
~~~
The woods held a cold bite to them today. I could feel the winter’s grip
tightening around Therian, but it was more than that.
Today, the grip felt…different. The hairs on the back of my neck were
up, persistent goosebumps across my skin, causing my nipples to tighten,
digging against the rough fabric of my shirt. The demons were stalking me
today. It caused my steps to be nothing but a breath, my spine rigid, the grip
on my bow so tight, I could feel the smooth wood biting into my skin.
I could barely breathe, this presence was so thick. A nightmare come to
life.
I smeared my lips together, wincing as the cut on my top lip reopened. I
lifted my fingers to my lips, the silk of the veil against the bruises on the
back of my hand nearly excruciating. When I pulled them back, there
wasn’t much blood, just a drop or two.
Maybe that’s why they were stalking me today. They could smell the
blood behind the healing wounds. I tried my best to clean them up after
getting back from the city, before coming out here, but people made
mistakes.
I slowed to a stop, heart pounding as I searched the darkness. I was
being hunted and some part of me, some sick piece of me, loved that.
Was turned on by it. I squeezed my thighs together, rolling my
shoulders. Gods, this was wrong, it was so wr—
A rustle echoed through the woods, and the silence that followed roared
in my ears. Never had a demon been that loud. Not once.
Before the rational piece of me could speak up, I took off, my steps
silent as I flew through the trees. There was something else out here. An
animal? Something I could bring home besides the rabbits I stole from the
market. Something big. A deer.
My heart skipped in excitement as I skidded to a stop, straining my
ears. A deer, I couldn’t even imagine.
Seconds ticked by like hours when a grunt finally sounded off towards
the East and I was off again, imagining the stews I could make, the meals.
Mark would eat so much, he’d finally plump up.
I slowed sometime later and slid behind a tree. I pulled an arrow out
and nocked it, centering myself before hopping from one tree to the other
until I finally stopped, the sound of struggle clear as day.
The chill of the wind was almost painful now, biting at my hands,
slithering under my hood, around my neck. The goosebumps spread across
my stomach, sliding down between my thighs, reverberating up between
my legs, straight into my soul.
My stomach warmed as I momentarily closed my eyes, allowing myself
to sit in this fear and excitement. From prey to hunter in a matter of
seconds. Perhaps they were still hunting me. Many of them could climb,
some could fly, but nothing in this world, not even the deadliest of them,
would stop me from getting this meat.
Another grunt sounded, followed by the sound of a tree cracking.
I wasn’t sure what a struggling deer sounded like, but perhaps a demon
had already found it. That was fine, so long as it didn’t pierce the flesh
before I got there. If it did, I would only need to cut carefully around it. I
was sure I could save enough meat to be worth it.
Even a bite of meat would be worth it.
I lifted my bow, drawing the string back, and leaned around the trunk to
get a peek at what I would bring home for the family.
Mom would finally be proud of me I was sure of it.
There were several demons surrounding it. Verlacs. Their talons and
saliva were poisonous, so I wouldn’t be able to get anything for the hide,
but that was fine.
These demons were more dog-like, the size of a large, non-magical
wolf. They had sharpened ears, long whip-like tails, talons like a vulture.
They were vicious and relentless. Once they had their sights set on
something, they would hunt them until they died.
Maybe they chose to hunt me today too, another pack. Maybe that’s
why I still felt this relentless feeling in the pit of my stomach, warming my
soul.
I swung my arrow over, trying to find the deer. I couldn’t see it. Not
even a flash of brown fur. Maybe the books were wrong, maybe they had
different colored…
I paused and straightened, lowering the arrow an inch, my face twisting
in confusion. Not a deer. That was…it was a man.
My breath caught as sparks from the verlac strike filled the air, lighting
up his clothes long enough for me to realize that they weren’t clothes but
armor.
 Dragon armor. Colored black just like the…just like the Dragon Riders
used to wear. The Nephilim. That armor was proof of the dragons the riders
were bound to. This was impossible.
I lowered my weapon, watching him swing his sword, slicing through
the closest one.
A guttural noise filled the woods, the other verlacs roaring in rage.
My heart slammed as I watched them, unable to move, to react.
A Nephilim? Alive? No. No way, that was impossible. They died over
1,000 years ago, if they were still alive, there would be mention of them.
Someone would have mentioned them.
The male slammed his sword into the skull of another, tainting his silver
blade in black blood.
He was killing my fucking demons.
I snarled through my teeth and carefully ran to another tree closer to
where this was happening. This was stupid. This was so incredibly reckless,
I knew Ket would hate me if he were here.
But the demons respected me and at this point, they had to have known
I was here.
I inhaled deeply and straightened, my mother’s voice taunting me.
“That’s right, go get yourself killed. You deserve this.”
The verlacs deserved to live.
And part of me was curious about the male.
I centered myself and with a racing heart and steady hands, I stepped
out from behind that tree and slowly made my way towards the group,
arrow pointed directly at the male.
The remaining five verlacs froze, twisting around, ears perked.
They were relentless in their hunt, but hopefully seeing me would
change that.
“That’s a lot of confidence for a stuffed pig.”
I shook the thoughts away and focused, meeting the pair of navy-blue
eyes so deep, they reminded me of the night sky.
The male was panting, staring at them, sword up, ready to deliver
another blow.
Besides the panting, he was still as stone, waiting.
One of the verlacs sniffed the air around me, growling as he turned back
to the male.
The male’s expression twisted in confusion, his eyes flicking from the
demons to me. “They listen to you?”
I hadn’t said anything to them. In fact, respect was one thing, but their
feral need to attack and kill was another. They could still kill me, but I
prayed they wouldn’t.
He looked exhausted. So while his abilities far surpassed mine, I had to
believe that I could release the arrow before he even took a step.
But gods was he beautiful. Brunette hair, darker than mine, fell to his
shoulders in slight waves. According to his stance and well-formed body, he
was a warrior. He stood tall, so a proud warrior. One whose body had been
trained to kill.
He looked from the demons, who had turned back to him, to me. “Tell
them to leave.”
An order.
I hated when people tried to tell me what to do in my own fucking
woods.
I moved my arrow a hair, aiming for his left eye, the good one. Besides
the chiseled jawline and beautiful skin, he had been hit by one of the
verlacs. A jagged cut from right temple to the left side of his jaw. Blood
dripped down his face, the meat from under his skin clear as day from
where I stood.
Good little demons.
It looked excruciating, yet he seemed fine. He wasn’t reacting at all to
the pain, wasn’t even worried about it. Didn’t even notice.
“Put the sword away,” I ordered him instead.
He scoffed. “They’re going to kill me.”
I rose a brow, challenging him.
He watched me carefully before finally sheathing his sword, the verlacs
snarling at the movement.
I stared at him for a second longer before letting out a sharp whistle,
calling the verlacs to attention. “It’s okay, he won’t hurt anyone else.”
They huffed and snarled, digging at the earth.
“But I give you full permission to tear him limb from limb if he tries
anything again.”
The male frowned deeply, eyes darkening.
One of them turned to the others, releasing a strange string of yips and
barks.
The other yipped back, snarling.
 The first lunged for it, stopping just short of an attack.
Finally, the remaining five turned away from us and disappeared into
the darkness.
I kept my arrow fixed on the male as he watched after them.
“You saved me,” he finally said, turning back to me.
“Sad that I had to save a soldier.” I prayed those demons wouldn’t run
too far. He looked exhausted, but he was still a Nephilim, and whether he
was the last of his kind or not, the Nephilim always lived with the Fallen.
Which meant he was a Fallen by association. He could still have their
tendencies.
“Is it the armor?”
It was everything. “Why are you here?” I demanded.
He lifted his chin, his shoulders relaxed. Why wouldn’t they be? He
probably spent the last chunk of his immortal life slaughtering people like
me. I’d be relaxed too if I were him. “Why is your scent covering these
woods?”
My lip curled. “You. First.” A dangerous game, but a necessary one.
Although, I couldn’t ignore that sick little part of me that was rejoicing over
something like this happening to me. Something exciting. Something
different. Something thrilling.
He studied me carefully, his own eyes guarded. “My High King sent me
here because of the demon infes—”
There were enough Nephilim for there to be a High King? Who was it?
Was he apart of the Order? How long had that been a thing? Why had no
one on the street mentioned this? “It’s not an infestation, you prick,” I
interjected. “And it’s hardly believable that your High King would give a
shit about what’s going on here of all places. These demons have lived in
these woods longer than you’ve been alive, so try again.”
A cocky smile lifted one corner of his lips. “Thank you. I’ve been trying
out some new moisturizers—”
I took a step toward him, the tip of the arrow less than a foot from his
eye. “How many of you are there?”
He didn’t even glance at the arrow, his eyes filled with light. “Just me.
My High King has faith that I could handle this on my own.”
“Nephilim,” I snapped. “How many of you are there?”
His smile finally dropped as he glanced to his armor and back, his dark
brows pulling together. “The Fallen warriors have been wearing these since
the Nephilim passed. There are no more Nephilim.”
My heart slammed against my ribs, my grip faltering on my bow, eyes
widening. Fallen.
That fear hit me so hard, I had to fight the sway. My head spun; my
breathing became shallow. His High King, Trick Michael, sent him here.
The day after Talaroe spoke to me about the stone his King had stolen.
That couldn’t have been a coincidence. I swallowed against the dryness
in my throat. “Why did he send you here?” I asked carefully.
“You fucked up this time, Kyra,” the rational part of me whispered.
“I wonder how well the Fallen fuck,” the fucked up part of me chided.
No! Pay attention. You’re missing something.
I took him in again quickly, my mind working over the problem swiftly.
His wings. If he were truly a Fallen, where were his wings? The Fallen
had mighty wings. Beautiful wings that carried them across worlds some
stories claimed. This man didn’t have any.
“To inspect the demons,” he said again.
I snarled.
“And,” he went on, holding up a finger, “on business.”
“To kill you for knowing what the warlocks knew.” I was a human. I
could tell the High King about what Trick Michael had found. I was a
liability.
“Business I couldn’t start because—”
“You disrupted the demons,” I offered coldly. Today was it. Hunted by
the demons and now targeted by the Fallen, all because I had made one last
trip to the street last evening. Stupid, stupid girl.
The male shook his head. “No.” His eyes narrowed. “Why do you care
so much about the demons? Why do they care about you?”
“For the same reason you care so much about your High King.”
He rose a brow, slight shock in his eyes. “They rescued you from a
basement?”
I straightened, confusion growing. “What? No.”
He released a breath of relief, placing a hand on his chest. “Oh good,
because that would have been a bit unsettling.”
Taken aback by his reaction, I lowered my arrow an inch and studied
him. His shoulders were down, his stance relaxed. If he was going to kill
me, it didn’t look like he was going to do it now, which could either be
really good or incredibly bad. “If you’re really a Fallen, where are your
wings?” I finally asked, finding his eyes again.
He rolled his shoulders as if I had reminded him of the discomfort it
was bringing him. “Trick likes to hide them when we do things like this. It
makes us inconspicuous.”
Right, and wearing that scaled dragon armor was the epitome of
blending in. I glanced to his shoulders and back. “Hide them?”
He nodded. “And it worked. You had no idea what I was. You would
have thought I was human if I hadn’t worn this armor.”
He was wrong. He didn’t look anything like a human. He was beautiful
in an almost godly kind of way. The humans could never achieve that.
I lowered my bow and arrow, my arms getting tired. “Your cut isn’t
healing, why is that?”
His eyes hardened, his lips pulling down in a frown. “It’s something I
hadn’t expected. My magic stopped working a few miles from here, which
is why I’m walking through these woods. I’m somehow mortal.”
Mortal?
What could stop magic? I hadn’t read about something that could do
anything like that. He could be lying, but…what if he wasn’t? Why would
he need to lie about something like that?
Was my street still there?
I watched the blood drip down his face, his neck. He looked ragged,
probably due to the venom now flooding his veins. He had no healing, no
magic, supposedly. He was helpless in Terigard.
Was I truly considering taking my possible murderer back to the
cottage?
I couldn’t very well just let him die. Not if I wanted to study him and
know more about the Fallen.
Shit.
I lifted my chin. “Are you going to kill me?” A stupid question. He
could lie. He could kill me as soon as he saw the cottage, but if I just turned
and walked away, he could kill me then too. I could either take my chances
with helping him, giving me more time to figure out what to do next, or I
could walk away, taking a chance at being killed in a handful of minutes.
The former seemed the better option in this moment.
He shrugged, flicking some fur off his armor. “Wasn’t planning on it.
Do you believe me?”
“No,” I answered flatly. How many had he killed?
 He smiled. “Back to square one then.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and straightened. With a sigh I shoved my
arrow away and slung my bow over my shoulders. “I know a place, let’s
go.” With that, I turned away from him, heading back for my cottage,
wondering what kind of insane person would do something like this.
He was most likely lying, but I wanted to take notes and I couldn’t let
him just die out here. The risk was worth it, in my opinion. Besides, I’d
rather die by his hands than his High King’s. I was sure his High King
would take his time on me. This male might just make it swift.
“Cole Lorily, High General,” he introduced, following after me.
General. His steps should have been lighter. “When did the magic give
out?” I questioned, readying my mind to remember any scrap of
information he was willing to give me.
“About an hour’s walk from here,” he answered, joining my side. “The
demons ambushed me as if they knew I was coming.”
Of course, they knew. These were their woods. “It’s sad you’re not
trained to fight without magic.” I’d have to visit the street again today or
tomorrow, just to check. To make sure everything was fine. Maybe it was
just a fluke. Maybe Cole Lorily just had incredibly weak magic and the
venom of the verlacs was causing his brain to forget things.
“We are trained to fight without magic. You just caught me at the end of
the fight. There had been about two and a half dozen of them when I got
here. I was doing well, but I hadn’t expected them to spit venom at me.”
I kept my expression clear, kept my pace the same. He had slaughtered
my verlacs. Killing that many of them would put a dent in their population.
It was no wonder they wanted him dead.
It made me want to kill him.
We walked in silence for only a few seconds before Cole looked over.
“You didn’t answer my question from earlier. Why do you care about
them?”
I flexed my hands at my sides, trying to keep my anger at bay. “Just
because something is different doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong here,” I
answered evenly. “The Goddess of the Stars gave us a magic tower that
exploded, creating the world, the gods, the animals. Just because the Veil
didn’t appear until Aurora Fairshield started messing around with Forbidden
Magic doesn’t mean that it didn’t come from the Goddess too.”
The Obelisk they had called it. The beginning of everything. A symbol
of new life. I had drawn my own depictions of what it might have looked
like, but no one truly knew, not even the gods. A mystery no one in the
world, alive or dead, could solve save for the Goddess of the Stars herself.
“How do you know about that?” Cole asked, trying to catch my eye.
I rolled my head, trying to stretch out my neck a little. “I’m not in the
mood to answer,” I replied, tossing a look in the direction the verlacs had
run. They had lost so much today when they shouldn’t have. I hated it. I
should be trying to help them not Cole Lorily.
“I want them anyway,” he pushed. “I want to know how you know
enough about the Nephilim and Fallen to recognize me. Why you smell so
different.”
I sneered. “Stop smelling me. It’s an invasion of privacy.”
“Can’t help it, you smell good. Like…citrus and stories.”
I couldn’t help but look over at that, studying him. Big, dried blood
cracking on his neck, around his mouth, dirt creased into the lines around
his eyes when he smiled. I wondered how old he actually was. He currently
looked around 30. “Stories?”
He nodded. “As in writer. You write, don’t you? Citrus, parchment, ink,
and something else I can’t quite put my finger on.” After a moment of
consideration, he shrugged. “I’ll figure it out eventually, Talons.”
I frowned and turned back to the path. “Come on, I just want to get you
healed up and on your way. I have stuff I need to do.” Like maybe have a
moment to myself in the bath where I could release some of this tension,
some of the energy from being hunted and then saving the demons.
Even at the thought, I rubbed my hands on my thighs. I was fucked in
the head, but I still needed it.
“Human remedies won’t…” his words trailed off as my pace quickened.
“You know that already.”
I tossed a look back. “I know a lot of things. We’re almost there.”
~~~

Cole
Curious. Why advocate for the demons? Why help me?
The humans hated the Fallen. They hated all Nightwalkers. They
tortured and killed them on display for all to see, I had seen it. Seen the guts
of the magic-folk slipping from their rotting bodies, pinned to those crosses.
 I met all kinds of humans. The corrupt politicians, the liars, cheaters,
thieves. The torturers. The children. But never a kind human. One that cared
about other species’.
She was beautiful, from what I could see of her, at least. Bruised,
working hands, nimble fingers, beautiful curves, thick. I preferred women a
little bit thinner, but she did have something about her that drew me in. She
was also athletic, it would seem, from how easily she moved among the
demons, how easily she stayed ahead of me without trying.
I followed her through the Forest of Malice, remaining behind her
because she clearly didn’t want to be around me. Or doing this, yet she was
doing it anyway. Another curiosity about her that intrigued me.
“You live in these woods?” I finally asked, tired of the silence.
There shouldn’t have been anyone living in these woods, but Trick
hadn’t prepared me for coming here anyway. It had been a last minute
drunken decision. Trick never drank, but last night? He had held firm to his
decisions this morning though. Why he had suddenly taken an interest in
the demons was beyond me, but who was I to argue with such a prestigious
High King? High King of Dicks.
“In a cottage,” she answered, her voice unemotional. “We found it years
ago.”
We. She had a partner. Perhaps she saved me because she had thought I
was that partner, and now she was stuck with the consequences. “And you
both thought it’d be a good idea to move in?”
She glanced up to the graying skies. “Yes,” she answered simply.
Not one for many words.
I followed her gaze up through the branches, studying the little bits of
sky I could see though the leafless branches. “Winter?” I asked, turning
back to her. “You aren’t moved in yet,” I realized. “You’re trying to get it
ready before winter, aren’t you?”
She inhaled deeply as if it were the last thing she wanted to discuss with
me. “It’s just around the bend,” she replied flatly.
No, Trick hadn’t mentioned anyone living here, but even if he had
known, this woman was trying to be kind. Alone in this forest, it almost
surprised me that she still held a shred of kindness. If I had run into a
stranger in the woods, I would have killed him on the spot. Maybe she felt
like she had no choice.
Maybe she was working with the High King of Terigard and had other
plans for me.
Maybe she was doing the same thing I was doing but for Raphael
Gerodia. If that were the case, then this just became a sort of race, and I had
some catching up to do.
My hand rested on the pommel of my sword as we followed the path
around a particularly thick group of trees. I strained my hearing, examined
every breath I took. My senses were dulled, but not by much, it was my
magic that took most of the hit.
It felt strange, being without magic. My body felt empty of something
vital, but I could live with it. Hundreds of years of training taught me to live
with this. What I found most curious about what she had said so far was her
mention of that partner. Only her scent dusted the air, I could smell no one
else.
Whoever this partner was, he wasn’t around often enough to leave a
trail which only made my theory of her working for the High King stronger.
Perhaps he was the partner. Perhaps they were lovers.
Around the bend, the path led straight into trees so thick, I couldn’t see
between them. There was a perfect archway carved into the overgrowth,
curtained in vines that were slowly losing their leaves.
How beautiful this place would have been in bloom. At the moment, it
felt haunted. Nothing but the bones of trees left. A graveyard.
The woman carefully pushed the vines to one side long enough for me
to slip through before she quickly made her way across the clearing.
I started after her but slowed when I saw what lay before me.
A meadow holding a small cottage against a cliff-face. There were
garden beds, stacks of wood, a hot spring, and every tool she would need to
take care of the place leaning up beside the wood-stack.
It was impressive, to say the least.
Raphael didn’t seem like the kind who would help with this, so perhaps
her partner was someone who worked for the High King. An isolated
cottage in the middle of demon-infested woods. It was perfect for whatever
Raphael wanted her to accomplish. No one would find her here,
accidentally happen upon her.
I kept quiet as I continued after her, following her down a trail to a
faded red door, the leaves crunching under my boots.
My questions were answered once I stepped inside.
Information. She kept this place to store her information. Papers coating
the walls, stacks of books piled high everywhere, even the stars were
mapped across the ceiling.
Just from a glimpse of it, I found information on history unspoken for
decades. Real history, lore, myths, legends. This had to have taken years.
All of it. Years.
She had to have been working for the High Court. “What is the research
for?” I finally asked as she set her things on the table.
“For me,” she answered easily, something I had expected. “I don’t have
much time, there are things I need to get done before sunset.”
My eyes fell at the lie on her lips, but the accusation died as I watched
her pull out two jars from her cupboard. One with Asilos Root and the other
filled with chunks of Allure Antler.
She turned, setting one jar down and opening the other. “Here,” she
offered, pulling out a piece of antler. “Sit down and chew.”
I glanced towards the chunk she set on the table and back to her as she
turned back to the cupboards and pulled out a mortar and pestle from under
the sink.
If she was working for him, she was taking a huge risk keeping this
stuff here. So maybe she wasn’t working for him. Maybe this was just her.
If that were the case, what was the point behind all of it? Who was her
partner?
I slowly walked up to the table and picked up the chunk, inspecting it
carefully before I placed it on my tongue flinching at the bitter taste of it.
Seconds would pass before it became any softer, but Allure Antler was
supposed to help with infections, and it should have been impossible to get
here.
Allures lived in Aelyria, protected by Penny Rain. She had issues in the
past with people poaching them, so she made poaching punishable by death,
a punishment of rarity for the High Queen.
The only way to get their antlers now is if the Allure died of natural
causes or someone happened upon their sheds in the woods.
Where had she gotten it?
I took a seat in the chair as she opened the jar of Asilos Root and pulled
out exactly the right measurement, as if she had been working with it her
entire life. “Where did you get these?” I dared as she began working the
root carefully into the mortar.
“Those are my secrets,” she answered, turning to the sink.
 One of many, I guessed. Asilos Root was only found in the Wilds of
Sarivos, a place Satarmore had sanctioned off for the warlocks who were
outliers of the law. They remained under his ruling, but their laws were
nearly nonexistent. It was the High King’s way of trying to control the
murders, rapes, and attacks of his people.
Getting the root was impossible for magic-users, let alone a human.
I leaned back, watching her put in a perfect amount of water, mixing it
up as any great healer would.
Her movements were fluid, precise, everything done with a purpose. A
fighter. That’s what I saw, a fighter.
When she was done mixing the water and Asilos Root, she turned to
me, stepping between my legs, allowing me to get a closer view of the
beautiful being that she was.
She was a little malnourished by the sight of her flaking, cracked
fingernails and sunken eyes. I couldn’t see much past her hood and veil, but
I could see her eyes. Hazel. Gold around the pupils, sliding into green, and
then a ring of shadows around the iris.
Whoever this partner was, he or she was lucky. She was beautiful for a
human, someone I would bed without thought.
“Stop studying my face,” she requested. Her voice was low, husky. It
reminded me of the kind of voice women in brothels used to seduce their
clients.
“And if I am?” A mission. I was here for a specific purpose but perhaps
there was something else I could occupy my time with while I was visiting.
By the quick crease of her brow, something that disappeared between
one blink and the next, I knew that she hadn’t expected that from someone
like me. A Fallen. The enemy, in her eyes.
“Stop,” she frowned and started carefully putting the muck on my skin,
freezing at first only to warm a moment later. Her touch was as gentle as
Rose’s had been, although her fingers weren’t as graceful. “You have a lot
here, when will you and your friend be moving in?”
She carefully slid the muck over my cut, into it, the soothing of the icy
pain nearly instant. “He left.”
Why would he leave her alone? “Another friend then? Or have you
decided to move in alone?” Brave, staying out here alone, surrounded by
demons. A risk taker.
“You talk a lot,” she noted, moving slowly across the gash, forcing me
to close my eyes.
I smiled, pulling slightly at the cut, holding back the wince if anything
just to impress her. “Someone has to fill the silence.” A beautiful woman
alone in the middle of a demon infested forest, maybe she wanted some
company. Maybe I could convince her that I was perfect company.
“Silence fills the silence.”
“People feel more comfortable among strangers if one of them is easy
to get along with,” I explained, feeling the Asilos Root begin to tingle
across my skin.
She had made it to my nose, almost making me sneeze. “Hmm.”
So, maybe she just didn’t have it in her to talk. That was fine, we could
sit in silence.
Minutes passed when she finally stepped back and admired her work.
After another second, she turned for the sink. “Ten minutes and we’ll wipe
it off. It’ll scar, but I’m sure it’ll get you all the girls you want.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is that what you think we do in Oridian?
Fuck girls.”
“No,” she replied, setting her things in the sink. “I think that’s what
those apart of the High Court do. Any High Court, not just the Fallen.”
She wasn’t completely wrong. We had all had our fair share of pussy
and cock. Before Rose, I had been a bit of a whore. After her? It took me a
while to jump back into the game, but I did. I had never had human pussy
before. “Why do you believe that?”
She flicked on the water. “Because that’s what you do. You’re powerful,
you have money, you have all of these people fawning after you day and
night. I don’t know why you do it, but I know it happens, whether they want
it or not. I’ve spent plenty of time studying the inner workings of the basic
High Court. I watched mine. It’s no secret that ‘monogamy’ doesn’t exist
among the wealthy.”
Monogamy existed if we chose for it to exist, most just liked to have
their fun. I was one of them. Not with Rose, but now? What was the point
in allowing myself to be consumed by one person when I could enjoy them
all for a while?
Not forever, just…just for a bit. Just until I could get Rose out of my
head. It wasn’t right to commit to someone if I couldn’t truly commit to
them. “The world has changed,” I explained, slightly offended. “If you want
monogamy, all you must do is ask. At least that’s how it is among us.”
 She turned at that, something like quiet disbelief in her eyes. “No, it
hasn’t.”
And the way she said it made me pause.
“You need to stop moving your face,” she instructed, straightening, her
tone clipped. “Don’t move.”
I tracked her into one of the bedrooms. I wanted to know more about
her. I needed to know how she had gotten all of this information, why what
I said made her so upset. Why she was living here alone. Was she working
with Raphael? Who was moving in with her? Why did she need this
information?
I wanted answers.

OceanofPDF.com
 3
My Bible, Chapter 7, Verse 8
True salvation only comes from your willingness to bathe in blood. From your willingness to allow
something or someone to consume you in ways you cannot comprehend.

Kyra
I went to the bathroom and closed the door behind me, releasing a slow
breath, trying to get my head right.
I knew what he was doing. Trying to get information from me. I was a
mark now. Maybe not before, but after he saw what I had to offer, I had
easily become one. A woman alone in the woods with a cottage filled with
information, how could I not be?
Would I fuck him? I might, just to see what it would be like. Maybe he
could help me reform into a better state of mind. Something not so sick and
twisted.
If not, then at least I could say I fucked a Fallen. I don’t know who I
could tell that too, but I’d have it to tell someone if I ever had anyone to
tell.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. Gods, what was wrong with me? I
was hungry and horny and not in the right space for this.
But he smelled of peppermint and fuck, those arms.
With a sigh, I shoved away from the door and walked over to the sink,
carefully peeling away each sleeve, revealing the poorly wrapped marks I
had left on myself the night before.
Another terrible habit people ran from as soon as I took my clothes off.
It was fine though. I had this one under control. I was in control of it. I
could stop whenever I wanted, I just didn’t want to right now. Not yet.
I carefully wiped the muck I had scooped up into my hand and hid from
the General onto my own wounds, unable to put it on most of what Mom
had left.
When my hands were washed and dried, I pulled my sleeves down and
inspected my bruised hand. She had slammed an iron skillet down on it.
Asilos Root wouldn’t help it, but Mersine Berry would. However, it was
something that only existed within the Fallen Court, Arkalious, and couldn’t
be obtained even on my street.
 Luckily none of the bones were broken, just bruised.
I flexed it carefully, tears springing to my eyes at the pain. It was going
to be a while before I could do anything with it without shaking, which was
frustrating, but fine. I could handle it.
Okay, so on to the next issue. I had a Fallen General in my cottage who
had been sent here on some business by his High King who had just
slaughtered a village full of people for a mysterious yet powerful rock, and
now he wanted information.
What next?
I had to focus on getting the last remaining things for the cottage, but
what would I do about this? I couldn’t just ignore it. He was here and he
knew I had information.
One breath at a time. Maybe that was the best advice I could follow
right now.
I met my eyes in the mirror, took another settling breath before heading
back into my room and into the living area.
I found Cole sitting exactly where I had left him in the exact same
position. At least he knew how to follow rules.
“Are you admiring me?” he asked as I walked across the house.
He was something to admire but, “no,” I answered evenly, finding my
way to the sink. “I have things I have to do, so if you absolutely need it, you
can stay, but I won’t be back until morning.”
I prayed he wouldn’t stay, but there was no point in kicking him out and
telling him to stay away, I knew he’d come back. He’d probably bring his
High King too. My cottage was no longer mine, but this was better than
what awaited me at the house.
“You may read what you want, but don’t go into my rooms. You’re a
warrior, so I expect there to be something honorable in you, despite your
species.”
He was quiet a moment as I rinsed out the mortar. “You’re not worried
about keeping me here? So close to the city?”
If it had hurt him, he didn’t show it.
I turned off the water and dried my hands. I knew what the
repercussions were, and it didn’t scare me. There was a kind of excitement
in almost being caught, but the guards would never come here anyway. “I
live by my own rulebook,” I finally said, turning to him. “The first rule is
that the sins of the king are not the sins of his people so don’t judge before
you understand.”
His eyes shimmered, a seriousness growing in their depths.
If he was going to steal information, maybe I could change his mind
about a few things too. “Everyone deserves a chance to be understood. I
don’t know what your business is, I don’t know what your plans are here,
what I do know is that you’ve seen all of this already, and I very much
doubt you or your High King can resist the urge to rummage through my
things. There is no point in saying no when you won’t listen.”
He lifted his chin. “Isn’t that you judging us?”
My eyes narrowed. “Were you going to come back and rummage if I
told you to leave?”
He remained quiet.
I pressed my lips together and nodded. “I can easily read people, that’s
what happens when you spend your life studying everything. So, you can
stay,” I repeated, gathering my things, “whatever you use, you need to
replace. Honor comes to mind with that too.”
I could feel his eyes on me as I finished filling my satchel with the
things I needed.
“Do you hate us?” he finally asked.
I adjusted my satchel and met his eyes. “Hate is too strong of a word to
waste on someone I don’t know. Keep out of my bedrooms.” With that, I
headed for the door without looking back.
I couldn’t look back. I couldn’t admit what I was doing. Leaving a
General of the Fallen surrounded by information he could use in thousands
of cruel and dark ways.
I was fucking stupid.
~~~
I stood outside the rusting red door with a large rock in my hand.
The street had still been there. Bustling as usual. Not an ounce of fear in
the air. Everything had been normal.
Which meant the dick sitting in my cottage had lied. Of course, he had
lied. Magic doesn’t just disappear. If that were a real problem, more people
would know about it.
It was comical what I was thinking of doing. What was a rock to one of
these beasts? Nothing. He was a General. If he hadn’t fought in the last
great war, he had fought in hundreds of battles waged by his sick High
King.
But all I had was a rock, so it’d have to be good enough.
I inhaled deeply, knowing he knew I was out here, and pushed through
the door, the rock biting into my skin painfully.
The first thing I did was look around, inspect every inch of the cottage.
Nothing was out of place, not a single piece of paper.
But the Fallen had amazing memories, they could recreate something
within nanometers of its original form. Which is something I wished I had
but it also proved to be a problem in this situation.
“Is that rock important for something?”
I found his eyes from where he sat at the table reading a book. Not a
history book or a book of politics, but a fantasy. One I had written.
Fuck, that was humiliating.
“Yeah,” I answered, remaining where I was near the door. I couldn’t run
as fast as he could, but I could get a head start on him if he decided
anything.
Maybe.
“Why are you lying about your magic?”
He set the book down, his brows pulling together in confusion. “What
would be the benefit of lying to you? You’re human. I could get what I
wanted from you without trying, lying just adds extra steps.”
You’re human.
He said it as if it was a curse. As if it was appalling that I had the
audacity to be born as something so weak.
“I know you want information,” I said evenly. “It’s the only thing you
want from me. Lying would be pointless, but you people love your games.”
“Us people? The Fallen?”
“Magic-folks,” I countered. His scar had turned out nice. It wasn’t too
angry or jagged, just a puffy pink line from his temple to his jawline. It
hadn’t even distorted his eye or lips. Even without magic, their healing was
better than a human’s.
“What happened to understanding before judgment?”
“I understand that every species loves playing their games. Pixies do it
to torture, warlocks do it to get the best, most twisted deals. Vampires do it
out of excitement. And the Fallen do it for fun. I couldn’t find much on you,
but I have enough. It’s engrained into you, these games.”
He lifted his brows. “And the other species? Fae, witches, wolves? Why
do they do it?”
The Fae didn’t. I had misspoken on that one. The witches’ entire lives
were based around the game, the wolves however? I couldn’t be absolutely
sure about them. They seemed true. No nonsense. They lived off of instinct
alone.
When I didn’t respond, he pushed himself to a stand. “You came all the
way back from your errands believing that I had lied to you about my
magic,” Cole stated. “Why?”
I took a step back as he rounded the table. “I know things,” I answered,
watching as he leaned back against the table and folded his arms across his
chest. “I know how to get information.”
He studied me carefully, not even glancing at the rock in my hand. Why
would he? It was just a rock. He had faced all kinds of monsters, none as
terrible as the man he worked for. Why would he be afraid of a rock when
his people used far worse to torture others? “I’d like to make a deal,” he
finally decided.
If he were a warlock, I would say absolutely not, but a deal with a
Fallen? There were pros and cons to that.
I could get more information from him, like I had wanted. I could study
them, add the information to my books.
But he could kill me. He could steal me away, take me to Arkalious.
Rape me, torture me. He could hand me over to his High King.
Something cold dripped down the back of my neck, spreading through
my lower back. “What kind of deal?” that feeling pushed me to say.
“Stupid, reckless girl,” my rational voice whispered.
“Do it. One last reckless thing before you become boring for the rest of
your life,” that irrational voice whispered through me.
I was supposed to stop taking risks. I was supposed to break that habit
before Mark moved in, but…some habits were hard to break.
Just one last reckless decision. It couldn’t hurt, could it?
A smile touched his lips, as if he knew he had gotten me. He had won.
Maybe he had.
“We can help each other,” he offered, sliding his hands to either side of
him, gripping the edge of the table. “I help you finish stocking your home,
and you let me stay here and tell me what you know.”
I wondered if I was making up the lithe threat I heard in his tone. “I
know a lot, I don’t need a lot,” I negotiated.
 A light sparked in his eyes. Excitement that I was playing his game, I
guessed. “I can offer you information on the Fallen.”
A counteroffer I wanted. “Whatever questions I want?”
He thought about it and shrugged. “Sure.
“Hmm,” I mused, considering his offer. I searched his eyes and saw
nothing but truth in them. I didn’t have to give him everything. I could give
him just enough to leave him satisfied and hope he didn’t go through my
things.
“Fine,” I finally decided, lifting up my chin. “It’s almost curfew, so I
need to leave. I’ll be back in the morning and tomorrow afternoon we’ll go
to the city.”
His brows lifted in slight shock. “You’re going to take me to the city?
That’s a big risk.”
I allowed a small smile. “I know how to disappear. You’ll be the one
caught and hung if you don’t play by the rules.” I turned for the door.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“Why are you trusting me?” he asked just before I reached the door.
I paused and looked back, finding that he had taken a step after me. “I
don’t trust anyone, but kindness is so rarely given these days, even more so
received. I’m giving you a chance to prove to me that your species wasn’t
actually derived from the nightmares of this world.”
He released a breath. “Are those the stories?”
I nodded once. “Michael, Gabriel, and Enoch plucked the nightmares
out of the minds of those already created, pressed them together, shoved
them through the Staff, and birthed you. It corrupted the Staff. Everyone
created after you has a shred of darkness in them because of that, but you?
The Fallen? You are literally what nightmares are made of.”
With that, I shoved out the door, heart racing, unable to release the rock
until I passed the wood pile.
I just made a deal with the Devil’s righthand man. What the fuck did
that say about me?
~~~

Trick
It was the most I had heard her speak since I had first found her, and she
spoke of games as if she lived to play them herself.
 Okay, Angel. I hear you.
I inhaled, shivering deeply at the way her scent filled me, the way my
cock hardened because of it.
Fuck.
Every fucking inch of her was mine. Mine to take, mine to claim, mine
to fuck.
Because I would. I’d fuck her until her cum spelled my name on my
lips. I’d fuck her until she was as consumed with me as I was with her.
Until her skin begged for more, until she worshiped me as her new god.
I Jumped into the cottage, my cock painfully hard at how fully this
place smelled of her. Strands of her hair dusted the floors, her fingerprints
left on every surface, and in that room?
My eyes shifted to the room she had claimed as her own. I could smell
her cum dusting those blankets. This cottage wasn’t made for just storing
information. She had her fun here too. Alone.
She had never once fucked a male here. She liked doing it in the city,
seconds away from being caught. She loved the thrill of it. She would never
know it, but those men who thought they left her satisfied went to bed at
night only to be filled with such terrible nightmares, they didn’t leave their
homes for weeks afterwards.
I hadn’t started off giving them nightmares, that would have been
psychopathic. It wasn’t until these last three months that I truly started
diving off the deep end. Punishing those men who had no idea a claim had
been made. I would need to fix that, and soon.
This place, however, was untouched by a male and I wanted to change
that. I wanted to be the first male to claim her in this place she called
sanctuary.
“You told me the humans were cruel, evil,” Cole stated icily. “You told
me they weren’t worth saving.”
I cracked my neck as my eyes slid to his, my tendrils of shadows
drifting around me, as agitated as I was. If he had truly been paying
attention, he would have remembered that I had said that about every
species, but not every person, just the worst of them. Every species did
contain people not worthy of being saved. It was nature.
“Why are you wasting your time here?” I asked him, allowing my rage
to drip through. I could smell the arousal on him. The arousal towards what
was mine.
 “That’s okay, Angel. If you want to fuck him, fuck him. Just know there
will be consequences.”
Cole held out a hand, gesturing to the cottage as if he had some sort of
ownership to it. “She has information we could use. Why are you still
hanging around here? Have you not returned to Oridian yet?”
No, I had to study how she reacted to Cole, how she reacted to having
something else in her life to do other than steal and study. Unfortunately, I
would have to return today. “Sorry, Angel, but soon, you’ll never leave my
side. You’ll never want to.”
I turned towards the wall between the two bedrooms. This wall was
filled with dragons and everything that came with them. Something I had
admired since the first moment I had seen one. Ridden one. I may have had
wings, but riding a dragon was far different than flying through the skies. It
seemed to me she loved them too, for they took up the most amount of wall
space comparatively, aside from the child’s drawings hiding within
everything else.
“Don’t question me, Cole,” I said coldly. “You have your business, I
have mine.” Business I made up to kill two birds with one stone. Cole
hadn’t stopped talking about the witches for several centuries and I wanted
to get closer to her. This made my job easier and satisfied his incessant need
to be right, a well placed right, but fuck it was irritating.
Cole took a single step towards me, just one. “Did you know that the
magic stopped working here?”
Yes, but mine still worked, just not at full capacity, so it wasn’t my
problem. “Your job is to study how deeply the witches are engrained into
this society,” I told him, lifting up one picture, finding another underneath.
She had a skilled hand. I wondered how that hand would feel wrapped
around my cock. How skilled it would be then.
The rage rolling off of Cole burned my nose, causing my face to twist.
Hundreds of years under me and he still hadn’t learned. Some things were
best left unsaid. I had my reasons for keeping my secrets. My Court didn’t
need to know everything. If they did know everything, they wouldn’t be
able to hold such anger towards me and then what would occupy their time?
Certainly not work.
“Why aren’t you more worried about this? The witches are clearly
behind our magic not working, you should be more worried.”
I inhaled deeply. I truly didn’t like being told how to feel or what to do.
“I’m not worried, Cole, because there aren’t supposed to be any magic-
users here. Focus on—”
“She has Asilos Root,” he interrupted, causing my shoulders to go rigid,
“and Allure Antler. She’s getting it from somewhere. She’s getting this
information from somewhere. There is more happening here than what you
thought.”
The shadows tightened around me in warning. “Focus on your mission,
Cole. If you want to gather information, fine. I can’t stop you, but you need
to focus on your job. If you cannot complete that job, I will have Danika
replace you. Do not make me kill her because you can’t keep your cock soft
for a full day.”
If I dropped my shield, he would know the deep secret I carry. That
smelling her only caused my cock to harden so fucking fully, I fought the
urge to go fuck her now.
Cole laughed something cruel. “You’re a fucking prick.”
No denial.
“If it gets in the way of your job, I’ll kill her.” I could never kill her. I
could never cause her any true harm, but I would see how far I could push
my control before it completely snapped.
Perhaps that thing inside of me wouldn’t be able to help itself. Perhaps
I’d have a General I would need to replace soon.
I Jumped, stretching out my wings as I hovered above the Forest of
Malice, so high, I could see Therian with ease. See the castle. “Go,” I told
one of my shadows, my most loyal one. “Don’t leave her, even for a
moment, and if you find yourself in the position to help her find a little
satisfaction,” I smiled as that tendril drifted in front of me, “I urge you to do
it. Report to me once a day, hmm?”
It nodded in the way only shadows could and darted off towards my
little addiction’s home. Oh, how I wished I could be there instead, but this
was enough.
For now.
She had no idea how many laws I was going to break. How many lines
I was about to cross for her.
My sweet Angel, my little addiction. She was all fucking mine. Whether
she wanted it or not.
~~~
 Kyra
Cole was like a new journal. Full of possibilities, but very insistent on the
information I had to give. Information I had to vet before releasing it to
him.
Yes, he was nice to look at, nice to think about when all the lights were
off, but I couldn’t be too careful around him.
I shook the thoughts of him away and instead thought about that
morning and how peaceful Mark had looked sleeping in his bed. I had
kissed his forehead before sneaking out of his room only to be met with a
rage already burning in the kitchen.
I couldn’t be sure why she had been angry this morning, but afterwards
Mom had requested meat today.
It would have been fine, gathering meat for the family, had the market
not been closed today.
I adjusted my satchel, trying to avoid the bruise on my shoulder. It
wasn’t the only bruise I had gotten, but it was the most inconvenient. I
hoped Cole’s need for information dulled his observation abilities. I didn’t
need to be dealing with that right now.
I found my heart racing as I stepped into the clearing, a chill running
around my neck, down my spine. Would he even still be here? Would my
cottage be empty of everything? Would I have to start over?
That fear was different. It didn’t get me worked up, it didn’t cause my
spine to tingle or my stomach to warm. That fear I could feel in my bones.
I couldn’t start over. Ten years of work. Of building and accumulating.
If I had to start over then…I might as well just kill myself.
“Just like dear old mom wants, right?”
I gripped the strap on my satchel as I made my way to my front door,
my heart slamming against my ribs. My breathing became labored the
closer I came to that front door. I couldn’t feel my fingers. If Cole had taken
everything and left and I found that I didn’t have the guts to end my life,
then I’d spend the rest of it hunting down every Fallen alive and kill them.
I reached for the door, my hand trembling, betraying me. “Stop,” I
threatened, an icy pain biting at my fingertips.
It took several seconds before the shaking slowed enough to push open
the door.
A blast of warmth rushed by me, causing my skin to immediately
dampen.
I stepped into the cottage, that icy breeze from the impending winter
trickling into the too warm room. It touched every inch of bare skin it could
before the fire crackling in the fireplace swallowed it whole.
Everything was in its place.
I shut the door behind me just as Cole sat up from the couch, revealing
human clothes and damp hair.
“Good morning,” he greeted, swinging his feet towards the floor.
I glanced at the fireplace and back. “You went into my bathroom,” I
accused, frowning deeply, all of this pent-up energy having nowhere to go
now that my fear was eradicated.
He shook his head, setting a book down. “Bathed in the hot spring.
There’s just something about walking around nude on a cool winter
morning before jumping into scalding water.”
He went into my hot spring nude? The fucking audacity. I would never
be able to swim nude in that pool again because of not only his presence,
but the fact that he had put his Fallen balls into that water.
“You didn’t think I might see you?” I asked, lifting my head.
He shrugged, a cocky look shining in his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d
mind. Perhaps you might have joined me.”
Maybe.
“Absolutely not,” I responded, stalking to my table, a shiver running
over my skin, spreading goosebumps in all the right places. “Whatever logs
you burned, you’ll need to replace. There’s an ax outside, but part of me
thinks your male ego will force you to try and impress me by knocking
down those trees without one.” I eyed him.
He chuckled, following after me. “Would it impress you? Because it’s
something I am capable of doing.”
I rolled my eyes, inspecting my table slyly, but it was useless. “Take
your over-inflated male ego somewhere else, I don’t appreciate that here.”
“And what do you appreciate, Talons?”
I’d like for there not to be a Fallen male in my home, but some wishes
just weren’t worth voicing. “I like my men like I like my books, fluffy and
filled with information.”
A lie.
What I liked was illegal here in many different ways. It was sick and
twisted and if voiced to the wrong person, could very likely have me
committed.
Would he ever know that? No.
If the two of us were going to fuck, he would do it the way he did with
every other girl. The best way to know what a guy truly likes is by letting
him do what he does best. Then you’ll know if you can train them or if you
should just let them go.
“What happened?”
I turned to him in confusion. “What?”
He gestured to my legs. “You’re favoring one side. What happened?”
When I fell this morning, Mom had slammed her foot down onto my
ankle. It was painful, but manageable. “I twisted my ankle walking here this
morning. Come on, you want information, I have something that I’ve been
unable to find much on.”
I wanted to go before I changed my mind. It wasn’t huge in my mind,
but it was something he would want to know, I was sure.
“You shouldn’t be walking on a twisted ankle,” he told me.
My eyes lifted to his. His navy blues were calm, even trusting, I would
say. Was he honestly worried about my ankle? I very much doubted it.
“Come on,” I started heading for the door, “it’s a bit of a trek and winter
doesn’t wait for injuries to heal.”
Cole grabbed my arm as I passed him, forcing me to stop.
My heart skipped a beat, and I prayed he didn’t smell what that did to
me.
“Keep going,” I wanted to say. “I ignored you. Lied to you. Fucking do
something about it.”
But he released my arm at my glare and frowned. “Your hand was
bruised yesterday and today you’re avoiding putting too much pressure on
your shoulder and your ankle is hurt.”
My glare turned deadly. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I snapped, hating
that piece of my mind that wanted more. “I don’t owe you any explanation
of the injuries I get while thieving. Am I to assume your scars didn’t come
from battle? Why would you assume mine came from anywhere but
thieving?”
Something flashed through his eyes. “You don’t want me asking
personal questions? Fine, but while I’m here, it’s my job to protect you, to
trust that you’re not going off to the High King and blabbing about why I’m
here.”
 I laughed. “Newsflash, if I tell him about you, I tell him about this,” I
gestured towards the walls. “I don’t need your fucking protection. Now, do
you want to go and get your information for your precious High King, or do
you want to stay here and relax on your vacation?”
His brows lifted. “Vacation? This isn’t a vaca—”
“You’ve been sitting on your ass reading and swimming nude in my hot
spring. Sounds like a vacation to me.” With that, I turned for the door.
“Let’s go. I still need to go to the city today and my ankle is slowing me
down. Not to mention the fact that we’ll probably be hunted from here on
out by the verlacs you decided to kill.”
He followed after me. “You’re not a very trusting person, are you?”
I shut the door behind him and headed for the woods. “I just don’t like
you. Maybe stop acting so cocky and I’ll warm up to you.”
“Maybe stop acting so defensive and I wouldn’t be so cocky.”
I wasn’t being defensive.
Was I?
So what if I was? For all I knew, he was the man behind the stories of
rape and slaughter that came from Oridian. How many girls had he raped?
How many people had those hands killed?
Those strong hands, capable of wrapping around a throat and squeezing
until—
“No!”
What in Reldron’s name?
I shook my head and jerked my hood forward, making sure he couldn’t
see even an inch of my face. “Just follow me,” I told him flatly. Maybe I
should relax a little. Not much, just enough to get this tension out of my
shoulders. For all I knew, he really was trying to be friendly. Whatever that
meant in his Court.
The weather was nice this morning. The leaves, covered in frost that
coated the world, were so damp, they didn’t even crunch under my
footsteps.
It was the perfect hunting weather.
One day I would actually get to hunt. Find some real meat to bring
home to the family, and not something from the market that was rubbed in
this and salted in that. One day I would hear the songs of the birds and the
howling of the wolves.
For now, I was fine with the silent stalking of the demons. Their
prowling. Maybe that’s what got me started on this wretched train of
thought. Being stalked every single day by things from another world, I
should have thought about what that would do to me sooner.
Or maybe I was just born like this.
Born to get aroused by—
“Stop, you have company.”
I knew that. Rationally, I knew that.
It was cold today. So cold, I could see my breath through my veil. My
hands were so cold, the pain from the bruising was gone. It would be a
colder winter than most this year. I could feel it in the air. Which meant I
had to be extra careful picking out gloves and boots for Mark. And I would
need to collect Gigi Fern.
Gigi Fern was nearly impossible to get, even for Madam Levine. It only
grew in the Frozen Lands in Sanguinary. But it was the best cure for
frostbite.
Maybe I could find something to bribe Madam Levine into finding a
good source for me. What would that cost? A handful of gold?
Maybe if I got Cole good enough information, he would pay for it.
I wasn’t sure what kind of information he could gather from where I
was taking him, but I knew it would be of some importance to him. It had to
be. The dragons were friends of the Nephilim, but they were allies of the
Fallen too. So, this had to mean something.
Even thinking about the fact that, at one point in time, the dragons had
been so close to my cottage, it was enough to bring a smile to my face.
1,000 years gone, and they still had marks left around the world to be
discovered.
Gods, what would it have been like to have a dragon living so close to
me?
Maybe I would have died, but I would have died happy. So incredibly
happy.
~~~

Trick
I let the shadow slide up his throat and out his mouth, the screams cut off by
the sound of gurgled choking.
Blood splattered across me as he coughed before it started dripping
down his chin. The shadows were my favorite tool to use because they were
fluid. They could take away or add anything to their form, making for some
interesting weapons of torture.
This man just experienced a thousand millimeter-sized thorns growing
around the one that exited his body.
Not enough to kill, but enough to fuck up his esophagus for the
foreseeable future.
He gasped when the shadow finally released him. Struggling for air that
felt like glass every time he breathed in. “Please,” he begged, the blood
streaming down his chin, his voice nothing but a rasp. “Please, I swear, I
have no idea where he is.”
I lifted my chin, watching him closely. We had been at this for a few
hours. I had removed his fingernails, chunks of his scalp, and a few toes. I
had torn up his insides with my shadows, his wrists melted from where my
tendrils wrapped around them, pinning him to the chair.
Maybe he was telling the truth.
Or maybe I needed to take something far more vital to his way of life.
After all, the Fallen did have a far higher pain tolerance than most.
Black fire snaked around the palm of my hand as my eyes lifted to his
brown spotted wings. “Did you enjoy your last flight, Tiriel?”
His eyes widened to saucers, his wings tightening behind him, his body
shaking. “Please,” he breathed, shaking his head. “D-don’t take my wings.
Please.”
Meeria and Nick wouldn’t be too happy about this, but that wasn’t of
my concern right now. I needed to find someone, and I would find them no
matter the cost. “Tell me where Felix is, or I’ll take them both.”
The fear in the room was enough to make me want to go fuck my girl
until she was crying my name.
I drank it up, reveled in it, my magic almost satisfied with what I was
giving it.
Almost.
I couldn’t lie, there were times when my magic scared even me. I
fought against it every single day, not just with what it wanted to do, but
with what it wanted to become.
There were times I couldn’t stop it. Where I couldn’t stop the shift that
was to take place.
“You love me,” it whispered through my veins. “Let me out so I can
finish this up. Do what you’re too afraid to do.”
I clenched my jaw, shoving it back to the deepest pits of myself. “I’ll
count to three,” I finally said, slowly walking around the man, his
whimpering music to my ears. “If you don’t tell me where Felix is, you’ll
lose your wings and then your cock. If you’re still alive after that, I’ll take
an arm and then a leg.”
“Please,” he whispered over and over again.
“One.”
“Please!”
My shadows swirled around me in anticipation. “Two.”
“I don’t know where he is, why won’t you believe me?” he pleaded, the
entire chair trembling.
I stopped behind him, admiring those wings. Beautiful color. Strong.
Perhaps in another life he could have been a warrior. “One.”
“Okay!” he panted just before I released my magic.
I pressed my lips into a line and sighed. I had hoped I could go a little
longer, just to take out some of my own frustrations. “Where is he, Tiriel?”
Panting, he looked over his shoulder, eyes wide. “The last I saw him, he
was in Gasha, just North of the Port of Nightmares.”
Far North. Clear on the other side of the continent. “What was he doing
in Gasha?” I asked, walking back around him.
Tiriel swallowed, wincing at the pain. “H-he found someone,” he
revealed. “Another mark. She h-had just turned 21. A Fallen this time.”
I smiled and leaned down, grabbing his chin hard enough to crack a
human’s jaw. “Thank you for giving me what I wanted, but you harbored a
serial killer. You enjoyed his presence; you may have even indulged
yourself with his marks.”
“No,” he breathed. “No, I swear.”
“I found your cum inside of her,” I confessed as I straightened.
Something in his eyes changed then. As if he had finally realized that
there was no getting out of this. That I had no plan in releasing him. His
eyes turned to ice, his trembling easing. “You should have heard her scream
for her mother. ‘Please, no, don’t. Mommy.’ It was so…” he shivered in
pleasure, a smile spreading across his face. “Good.”
I offered my own smile. “I don’t fuck girls who don’t want to be
fucked,” I told him. I stepped forward and wrapped a hand around his
throat. “Give my thanks to whoever runs hell.” I felt his bones turn to dust
beneath my hand, his life leaving his body just like that.
Fuck, I needed to see my girl.

OceanofPDF.com
 4
My Bible, Chapter 17, Verse 45
The only ‘god’ you will serve is yourself. If someone else is reading this, the only god you will serve
is me. I am your god now. Get on your knees and pray for the mercy I will never give.

Kyra
W e walked for a while before I saw the first sign of movement.
Well, the truth was that I saw it only a second after Cole reached
for his sword. My heart slammed and I grabbed his arm, nails digging into
his shirt. A warning.
He found my eyes, glaring.
I glared back. “Don’t you dare.”
“You told me the verlacs would be after us.”
“If it was a verlac, oh mighty General, we wouldn’t hear it. Take your
hand off that blade or I swear to the gods, I’ll let whatever it is eat you
alive.” A half lie. I would let them eat him alive if they weren’t all
herbivores, but something told me that neither he nor his High King knew
that about the demons.
No one did.
He gave me a look, which I had to give him credit for. He’d kill
whatever it was before it got close, but I stood by my half-threat anyway.
I straightened, pulling my hand away. “Demons are one of the most
intelligent species in the world. I don’t just mean that they can understand
us, I mean that there is a very real possibility that they can understand
things even the gods couldn’t. So, stop acting like a brute, take your hand
off the weapon, and do me a favor.”
“What?” he asked tightly.
“Listen to me,” I demanded before turning back to the woods. “You
didn’t even know that the verlacs were venomous,” I told him, searching as
I continued walking, steps silent. “So shut-up and do as I say, or the deal is
off and you can go tell your boss that some human girl put you in your
place.”
It was dangerous the game I was playing, but the demons didn’t deserve
to be hunted by some egotistical male with a complex.
Cole was quiet for a moment, but by the release of tension in the air, I
knew he was listening. Minutes passed with no other sound save for the
sound of our own breathing. Finally, Cole said, “Talons suits you.”
To which I rolled my eyes. “Kiena Talons was an idol. A Nephilim
goddess by some standards. You barely know me, and you won’t listen.
That’s hardly enough to give me a name like that.”
Cole released a husky chuckle. “You know of Kiena Talons?”
I nodded, rolling my shoulders to try and force the tension out, my
hearing strained. “The war was called Rectify. She led a small army, a
group of women, towards what is now the Desert of Bones. There was a
small group of rebels summoning creatures they shouldn’t have been,
similar to what happened during the Fall, I suppose. They were killing a lot
of people, which is how that desert got its name. Many believe it’s haunted.
Going there was death sentence even then, but she went anyway.”
I actually really loved her story and had based several characters off her
and what she had done. She was an icon in my eyes. Strong, brave,
unrelenting, but I supposed the Nephilim and the Fallen had so many people
like that who had done similar enough things that they held no pride for her.
That was fine, I held enough pride for all of us.
“And they all died,” Cole finished, slight shock in his tone. “But they
took every single rebel with them. She and the rebel leader, Ark, were the
last two standing. Bloodied, exhausted. It was a horrible battle, but she
prevailed against all odds, killing Ark, ending the battle, only to die from
her injuries among her people. You found that story here?”
I finally caught another flash of movement in the distance, my steps
slowing. “I like to read.”
“But where did you find a book about Nephilim?”
I stopped, holding my breath. “Can’t remember.” I stole it from a
bookshop on the Impossible Street. If they knew I took it, they never
mentioned it. It was still my most read book, even to this day.
“You’re scared.”
I was always scared walking through these woods, it’s part of the
respect. The demons haven’t hurt me. Yet. But they still could. They could
tear me limb from limb without thought, and I would never see it coming.
That alone deserved respect. I couldn’t believe that he was still acting like
he shouldn’t respect them. It was their home. He was being stupid acting
like he owned even the air he breathed.
“It’d be stupid not to be,” I responded. Verlacs weren’t this loud, this
careless. Neither were the tycrons or the zalins.
My mind ran through every single possibility, falling short until…
“Maaaaahhhhh.”
It was slow, high in pitch, lazy, raspy, but it was a sound I very much
recognized.
My eyes widened, my heart skipping, jaw dropping.
No. Fucking. Way.
I took off, sprinting through the woods, only to skid to a stop behind a
large tree moments later.
Cole stopped beside me. “What?” he breathed, reaching for his sword.
I slowly leaned around the tree, trying to hold in my laughter, my joy.
They had long, pointed, floppy ears, and cream-colored tusks sticking
out from their bottom jaw, growing up in a curl above their heads.
Their tails nearly dragged the ground, thin and furry with a little tuff at
the end, and their fur was thick, a winter coat, and the color of a
thunderstorm, the same variation as most all the demons.
They had hooves too, split down the middle like how cows had been
depicted in the history books.
They were back.
I couldn’t believe they had come back!
I turned back around and leaned against the tree. I pulled out my journal
and a graphite pencil, quickly opening my journal to a blank page.
They’re back. The nargs are back! – October 16th, 6385 L.R.
“Why are you excited about demons?”
I snapped my book shut and shoved it away, turning back and watching
them chew slowly, leaves hanging out of their mouths. “They aren’t just any
demon, they’re nargs,” I smiled. “They only roam this close to Therian
every three years, usually they’re miles and miles deep.”
“Nargs?” he questioned, causing my smile to fall. “Verlacs?” I turned to
him. “Where do you come up with these names?”
I frowned deeply. “I make them up.” With that, I turned on my heel and
stepped around the tree only for his hand to wrap around my wrist, pulling
me to a stop.
“What are you doing?”
I huffed, jerking my wrist out of his hand. Gods, I hated that. He was
acting as if he had some sort of say in what I did. “I’m going to pet one.”
His eyes sparked. “They aren’t pets, Talons, they’re demons.”
 “And I’m a human bred to hate magic, and you’re a Fallen whose High
King just slaughtered a village of people for a rock. So, either stay here like
a pussy or come pet a demon with me. Your choice oh mighty High
General.”
With that, I turned around and headed straight for them.
“Talons.”
I ignored him and continued for the herd. They were beautiful. The
kindest demon I had ever met. So far. I had often wondered if there were
others similar to this one. Calm, docile, but out of the dozen or so I had
been able to record, these ones were the only ones that truly let me
approach them without any sort of threatening snarl.
“Talons!” he snapped.
“Maaaaahhhh.”
I stopped, his tone startling some of the nargs into retreating a few
steps.
I gripped my hands at my sides and turned to him. “What?” I asked
through my teeth.
He stepped out from the shadows, his navy blues near black now, his
shoulders tense. He honestly looked like a General in this moment. A
warrior capable of killing me without breaking a sweat. “Where did you get
that information?”
Fear slid down my spine at the look in his eyes. “Why?” Did he not
know? How could he not know? He was the General.
“Where?” he repeated evenly.
I watched him carefully, suddenly afraid of being alone with him. A
rational fear I should have had since the moment I had first met him. “A
warlock. I won’t tell you his name, and I won’t divulge where I met him,” I
stated bravely. I couldn’t give him Talaroe’s name. I wasn’t going to be the
reason a war broke out between the two species. If he wanted that
information, he would need to do his own investigating, as for me? All I
wanted in this moment was to pet a narg.
His eyes narrowed. “Then how can I trust your source?”
I lifted a hand and dropped it, feeling a little irritated that his line of
questioning was keeping me from these magnificent beasts. “You wanted
information. There it is. If you don’t trust it, you should go back to your
precious little High Court.”
A muscle in his jaw feathered. “What rock?”
 I shrugged. “I don’t know, an important one, I guess.”
“Name?”
“No.”
His nostrils flared. “Don’t fucking lie to me now. If my High King
decimated a village for it, I need to know why.”
I hated that. I hated it more than anything else in the world. “Stop
smelling me,” I ordered, hearing the nargs retreat at the sound of my
heightened voice. “Go ask him yourself if you want to know so badly. He’s
your king.”
He bared his teeth, but his anger was falling. After a moment, he rolled
his shoulders. “Tell me about them,” he jutted his chin towards the demons.
I wouldn’t allow him to see the relief I felt at his relaxing, but I was
sure he already smelled it. “Are you done acting like I’m the enemy?” I
challenged.
His shoulders relaxed even more. “Only if you’re done too.”
I sneered. “You are the enemy, Cole.”
“What happened to—”
“Stop bringing that up,” I snapped. “I am trying to understand you, but
what you need to understand is that no matter how much I learn from you, I
will still be human. Soft and fleshy and easily killable, and you will always
be an immortal warrior with wings and magic, honed to kill. Everyone is
the enemy of the fly. Everyone. I’ll understand you, I’ll even listen if you
give me proof that you’re not just some evil bastard here to decimate us, but
you’ll always be the hunter and the humans will always be the prey. That’s
just how it is. So get over it.”
He studied me for a moment before releasing a breath and rolling his
eyes. “So, the nargs?”
Gods above. With a sigh, I turned back to the demons, my mood soured.
“They’re gentle. Herbivores, like all demons—”
“Demons are not herbivores,” Cole stated, joining my side.
I wanted to move away from him. I didn’t want to feel the warmth from
his body or smell the peppermint wafting from his skin. At the moment, I
wanted nothing to do with him. “Yes. They eat berries, leaves, bark, grass,
bushes, but never meat.”
“The verlacs had sharp teeth, Talons. They were trying to eat me and
there are no animals left in these woods.”
I leaned away from him subtly, flexing my hands. “Not because they
were eaten. And don’t question me about the evolution of demons. That’s an
immortal’s job, not mine. They like to hunt for fun, but they don’t eat what
they kill. It’s a game. They love games.”
He looked over. “Why do you have a bow if you can’t hunt?”
“Hope,” I replied, taking a slow step towards the nargs once I saw that
they had calmed again. “I know how to use it well, and I hope one day the
animals will come back.”
“Maaaaahhhhh.”
“They’re like giant teddy bears,” I went on, calming myself, finding
peace in reciting my own knowledge. “They move slowly, and they fall
asleep spontaneously. When they do, you’ll know because they’ll just flop
over onto their sides wherever they are. It’s actually comical.”
Cole remained where he was. “And you think that means you can touch
them?”
I rolled my eyes, almost within reaching distance of a narg. “I can touch
them because they’ve approached me,” I explained, looking back. “And
once they know you, they know you. It’s for life. I think it’s like that with
all demons. The bond you create with them, it’s forever. Unless you betray
them, they will never betray that bond. I’ll introduce you,” I offered,
looking back, the irritation from before faded. “But you can’t show any sign
of malice, you can’t get tense. I’ve never seen them get violent, but that
doesn’t mean they don’t have it in them.”
Cole rolled his shoulders. “I don’t get tense.”
I gave him a look. “Come on.” I turned back to the narg and slowly
reached out my hand. Seconds later, my fingers brushed by its fur. Coarse
and thick, like straw.
It glanced up but never faltered in its chewing.
I smiled, moving my hand up to its head. “Come on,” I pushed, looking
back to Cole to find him standing in the same spot. I shook my head,
laughing. “Baby.”
He frowned deeply, adjusted his shirt, and started for them. “I’m not a
baby.”
Several of them looked up.
“Stop,” I ordered, shaking my head. “Stop acting like they’re something
to be feared. Relax.”
He paused, rolling his shoulders once again. He inhaled deeply and
exhaled before starting for me again, his steps slower.
 The narg I was petting looked up through droopy eyes, watching him.
I held out my hand for Cole’s, the narg watching each movement
carefully.
Cole placed a hand in mine, staring at the narg evenly.
His fingers were warm, calloused from years of working. The hands of
a man that had slaughtered thousands.
“Imagine what they would feel like inside of you.”
No. No, I would not. It wasn’t the time or the place for thoughts like
that.
I pulled him over and very gently placed his large hand on top of the
narg’s shoulder, ignoring the pool of warmth that flooded through my
stomach.
Cole tensed.
“Stop,” I ordered, poking his shoulder, shutting out every other thought.
The narg found my eyes.
I smiled at it. “This is Cole Lorily.”
It looked over to Cole for several seconds, taking him in lazily before
turning back to its chewing.
I beamed and turned to Cole. “He likes you,” I smiled, only to realize
how close I was to him. My breath caught as his peppermint scent swept
over me. He smelled good. Better than any man here, and his arms? No
human male had arms like that. Not even the guards. It was a true wonder
how Raphael managed to strike fear in men like this.
I turned back to the demon, pressing my thighs together. Gods, there
was something severely wrong with me.
Cole didn’t seem to notice my shift in demeanor as his eyes were
focused on where his hand connected with the narg. He looked confused,
lost.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I was proud of the moment. Finally,
someone else in this world could see the truth about the demons. They
weren’t something to be killed, they were something to be cared about,
respected. Liked. Maybe even loved.
I patted the narg’s head myself a few more times, excited to tell Mark
about it. I could already see the excitement in his eyes. The last time I had
spoken about them was when he was 7. He would be thrilled to know that
they were back and maybe by the time they came back again, he would be
out here with me. He’d be able to see them. “Come on,” I finally said,
stepping back. “It’s this way.” I wanted to spend more time with them, just
sit in their presence, but it was October, and the days were getting shorter.
We had to go.
With one last look at the beasts, I finally started back through the
woods. It was a memory I would record tonight before I fell asleep.
The day I made a Fallen pet a demon.
When the scent of sulfur hit my nose, I knew we were close.
This place wasn’t a huge secret, not like the Impossible Street, but I
knew it was important. What I didn’t know was if it was the right thing to
show him.
Maybe I should have asked him before hiking all the way out here. I
had no idea what kind of information he needed, but I supposed now was as
good a time as any to figure out what exactly he was looking for.
“You want information,” I finally said, careful of where I stepped. “But
you never told me for what.”
The forest became a lot more mangled the further in I walked. More
roots, the trees were larger, the ground far more uneven, and looking up at
how tangled the branches were, I had to wonder how the dragons had
managed to get in here. It felt less like a forest and more like a cave made
of trees. The trees were so large and so close together now that there was
hardly any earth to walk on, and with the world covered in frost, walking
across the roots proved to be more difficult than usual.
Cole shrugged, easily managing the forest floor. “Anything.”
I looked over. “How do I know what I give you is worthwhile if you
don’t tell me what you want? What if I have the exact information you
need, but I don’t give it to you because I don’t know that it’s what you
need?”
We walked a few more moments in silence, his eyes trained ahead of
us. “I can’t divulge what the mission is,” he finally said as I turned back to
the invisible path ahead. “Anything you have on any species of Nightwalker
will help.”
So he was investigating a species of Nightwalker. It had to be the
witches. They had been engrained in this court longer than anyone would
willingly admit. Otherwise, he would have gone to another continent on this
‘mission’, I was sure of it.
The witch thing had only been a theory, but now? All of my theories
were confirmed in that one sentence. The witches truly were in Therian. I
had been right. They had been involved in both wars, holding the reigns of
the Human Court all these years. They wanted more power. It was always
about achieving more power.
“I found this place while tracking one day,” I explained, wondering if
he could sense how relieved I was at the information he had unwillingly
divulged. “I’ve studied the ruins, but there’s so much overgrowth and
everything has crumbled so much, all I can really tell is that it had once
been some sort of building. Not very big, maybe for a couple of people.”
Cole looked over, confusion pulling his brows together, the shadows
sharpening his jawline. “This far into the woods?”
I chewed at my lip, tasting the blood from where my skin had come
away. “It wasn’t built by humans.”
The air seemed to thin. “Who built it?”
There it was, the voice of a General. A commander. A man who was
here to gather information and nothing more. “My guess is the Nephilim,” I
answered, wondering what it would have been like to be under his
command. Was he a good leader or a merciless one? Did his warriors like
him or hate him? He seemed good, deep down, but I had only known him a
day, and I truly wasn’t the best at judging a man’s character. Anyone’s
character for that matter.
“The dragons were here, so Nephilim is my best guess, but the demons?
They seem drawn to the place for some reason.” In fact, I could already feel
their presence. Cold, the forest quieter than usual. They were watching us.
Stalking us. Wondering what we were doing so close to this magical place.
The first time I had come here, I thought they would kill me for going near
the ruins, but they only watched from a distance. Always watching.
“Dragons?” Cole asked, shocked. “This has been here for over 1,300
years?”
“At least. You’ve been around magic long enough, maybe you can tell
me who built it.” Maybe give me some answers. I desperately wanted to
know more about it. Maybe this would benefit both of us. “Here we are.”
It was completely shadowed by a canopy of trees, the temperature
dropping as soon as we stepped into the small clearing.
In the center of it sat a half-standing stone structure covered in thick,
dying vines and bright green moss, grass as tall as my knees struggling to
stay alive. I could see where parts of the wall had crumbled into pieces,
where some of it was still half-standing. It was beautiful and tragic, this
place. I had attempted drawing it in the past but could never quite capture
that feeling.
“Michael’s sword,” Cole breathed as I slowed to a stop. “You just
happened upon this place?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, a long time ago. Years.” Ket had been there when I
had first stumbled upon it. He was on the verge of death with the panic
attacks he was having being this far away from civilization, surrounded by
demons, but he had been intrigued about it too. He had even asked some
questions that I had never considered. Why was it this far out? Why so
secluded? Why weren’t there other places like this anywhere near here?
Why just one?
I had spent years studying the place and I still had no answers to those
questions. Whatever it was, there was only one of its kind here in Therian.
“There are two things here I wanted you to see,” I told him, heading for
the right side of the structure, the side that was most intact, Cole on my
heel. “This way.”
~~~

Trick
“Did your friend see it?”
“Yes,” she answered easily, not a single hitch in her voice.
I remained where I was, leaning up against one of the trees near the
edge of the small clearing, watching her carefully. My scent, my presence,
shielded from Cole as similarly as the shield I had put around her.
I couldn’t shield her completely or Cole would know something was
wrong, but I did shield it enough to where he couldn’t tell if she was
aroused, lying, angry, or not. Why should I let him know those things? She
wasn’t his to claim, she was mine. Not to mention that she had asked him to
stop. Would I have stopped? No. But that’s because it was a game between
us. Cole should have respected her; he was doing it simply because he liked
to be in control in a different kind of way than I did.
Cole was controlling in a way that set women’s teeth on edge. He
needed to be right. He needed to be heard first. He needed to be put above
her. I was controlling in a way that gave them the most amount of pleasure.
What I needed was to worship her. I needed to hear her cries of pleasure. I
needed to be the tower she climbs until she realizes just how powerful she
truly was.
With her I would be the best version of myself in the darkest way I
knew how. I would give her everything and anything she wanted,
everything and anything she desired, craved, hungered for. She would want
for nothing in any way, shape, or form. Not forever, at least.
Knowing how curious she was, I still found myself shocked that she
had found it. This place of nightmares and death. I wondered if Cole would
realize the truth of it or if he would come to me about it later.
Another lie I would have to tell the people closest to me, but they didn’t
need to know.
“Sure they do. They should know just how fucked up you are.”
I shoved my magic down, the rumbles of it uncomfortable as it clawed
under my skin. Even the death of Tiriel did nothing to ease its true desires.
“He was terrified of being eaten, and then he believed we would be
cursed.”
He. Something twisted in my gut at the thought. I had never met
another male in her life that she would have been willing to bring out here.
Most were too weak to even handle the nightmares I gave them after
touching what was mine. Whoever he was, he must have meant something
to her.
“Cursed?”
She nodded, looking back. “An old collapsed building in the middle of
the woods, surrounded by the smell of demons? Cursed.”
Curses were real, but this place wasn’t cursed, just filled with
nightmares.
Cole offered a small smile, his eyes drifting a little too low as she led
him around the building. “Clearly.”
I cracked my neck, the rage burning under my skin as his eyes lingered
on her beautiful ass. He wasn’t supposed to be doing this to fuck her. He
was supposed to be gathering information.
“I don’t think that the person who built this knew it was here,” she went
on, walking around the only standing corner of the building that remained.
She was right. What she was showing him hadn’t been there before.
Cole joined her side as she pushed the vines away from the wall,
revealing a plaque carved into the stone.
I walked around the edge of the clearing so I could get a better look at
it, although I had been here enough to know what it said by heart.
 Cole leaned in, and I watched as she caught a whiff of him. Inhaled
even, causing my lip to sneer. “Go ahead, Angel, give me a reason to touch
you.”
Cole traced his fingers over the three deeply embedded claw marks left
in the concrete as he studied the words. “Dragon language.”
Would he come to me and ask me to translate it? I was the only one left
in the world who spoke the language. Or maybe he would keep it to himself
until he and Nick could figure it out together. Normally I wouldn’t like him
keeping the information from me for that long, but I would be glad that he
was at least attempting to learn another language. Working in the High
Court, every single one of them should have known how to at least speak
the languages of the other species’. Cole had neglected that.
All he had been doing since a year after Rose’s death was fucking
people. He neglected his tasks, according to Nick and Meeria, neglected
everything. I couldn’t blame him completely. Everyone mourned in
different ways, but it was time he started focusing on his job again rather
than the next lay. Especially if that lay was my girl.
“That’s why you think the dragons and Nephilim were behind it?”
She didn’t answer. In fact, she had leaned away from him just an inch. I
doubted he noticed, but I saw it.
“Good girl,” I smiled.
“I can’t read it,” Cole finally decided, leaning back. “Learning that
language was before my time, but there should be books about it in our
libraries. I can write it down and take it back to Nick to translate.”
And perhaps while he was there, I could get to know my Angel a little
better.
She rolled her eyes as if she too had expected him to be able to read it.
“It says ‘When the stars find the night sky and the night sky the stars,
Kraljica will be born’,” she said without hesitation.
My brows lifted.
Cole turned to her equally as shocked.
How did she know that?
“The claw marks and the words aren’t as old as the building,” she went
on as my heart ceased. “That’s what has me questioning a lot of things.”
Oh, fuck. A low growl left my throat. I was impressed. I wanted to give
her something. Anything. A gift for how proud I was. “Good job, baby,” I
mumbled, taking a few steps towards her, the shadow I had gifted her
carefully caressing her cheek, causing shivers to cover her skin before the
shadow retreated back to mirror her form on the ground.
She never stopped surprising me, and I loved it. I loved that she kept
me guessing, kept me wondering. How much did she truly know in that
beautiful dark mind of hers?
“How do you know that?” Cole asked in disbelief.
My shadows tightened around me, the one following her growing
darker.
She looked up, her eyes scanning the woods as if she could feel a
presence around her. As if she could feel me watching her.
I hope she did.
I hope she felt it in the very depths of her fucking soul.
“I taught myself,” she answered distantly. “I wanted to know what it
said, so I found what I needed.”
Cole tried to catch her eye. “You taught yourself an entire language?”
She turned back to him, and in that flash of movement, I could see the
goosebumps on her hands along with another bruise. She had gotten them in
the past, bruises, but recently they seemed to be happening more often.
Either she was getting careless in her thieving, or someone was hurting her.
“I also taught myself Aelyrian and Sarivosian,” she told him, although
the pride she should have felt did not reflect in her voice. “I dabble in Erini,
but pixies are tricky, even in their language.”
My own pride for her flourished, but my rage pulsed under my skin too.
“Did somebody touch you?” I wanted to ask.
“Another person to slaughter,” my magic chanted.
I felt the snap of a bone in my leg and forced it back trying to control
the snarl of pain that worked its way through me. No. Not yet, I wasn’t done
here.
“Remind me to never introduce you to Nick,” Cole spoke, impressed
himself.
“Impressed?” she asked, gesturing for him to follow her back around
the corner.
“It’s incredibly impressive, Talons. You’re so young, learning how to
speak three languages in such a short time? Anyone with a brain would be
impressed, I’m sure of it.”
Talons? I sneered. What a terrible fucking nickname.
“Thanks,” she mumbled half-heartedly.
 My brow furrowed at her response. She suddenly sounded tired. I
wondered why. How much had she eaten today? How much had she slept
last night? Her health was important to me. As important as claiming her as
my own. I wanted to have her for as long as possible, losing her early for
health reasons wasn’t an option. It was why I always sprinkled a little
Brealick in her food whenever she finally decided to eat. Once every few
days wasn’t enough, I had to make sure she had all of her vitamins, her
nutrients, keeping her at a healthy weight. Soon I would be able to make
sure she was eating three meals a day, but in the last year, this was as good
as I could do.
Cole followed her around to the front of the building and stepped onto
what was left of the concrete pad. “It looks like a box,” she told him. “No
rooms, no windows, just the four walls. And these.” She kicked at the rusted
chains lying on the ground. Thick and bolted down.
I could still feel them wrapped around my wrists and ankles, around my
neck. I still had scars.
“There are also claw marks on the walls, the floor. Different from the
ones across the note.” She glanced back. “I don’t know how long those
have been there, but a lot of them have blood buried within them. Red, so
not the demons.”
My little detective. Her observation skills were better than most I knew.
“A prison,” Cole said after several minutes. “This was a prison.”
She walked over to the corner and turned to him, her eyes darkened. “It
was one of my theories. Here.”
I followed them, watching them closely, studying what she was
showing him.
She hadn’t missed one thing, not yet.
Cole walked over and crouched down to a piece of concrete covered in
foliage. He brushed it to the side, revealing what she wanted him to see.
Dozens of scratch marks doused in dried blood.
“This world will know true darkness. Not by witches or demons or evil
gods. I will show them what true nightmares are made of.”
And I held true to that promise.
Cole straightened, his expression dark, cold. “The prisoner mentioned
the witches specifically. Why?”
Kyra shrugged, walking over. “I don’t know.”
She had lied. I could smell it wafting from her skin, but why? What did
she know? What did she believe?
She passed him, clearly done with the trip. “Come on. You’re going to
help me thieve today.”
I smiled at how controlling she was, but she needed a break from it. She
needed to let go, feel freedom for the first time, and I would make her do
just that.
Cole looked after her. “That’s a big risk, taking me into the city.”
She looked back and rose a brow. “Scared?” A daring look only
interrupted when the ankle she had been limping on gave out and she fell.
Cole caught her before she hit the ground.
“Careful, Angel, I can’t promise I won’t burn the ground that hurts you
too.”
But as I watched them, I found my eyes narrowing as he helped her
stand, their eyes locking, her breathing growing shallow as she looked at his
lips, clung to his shirt.
It was instant, the smell of their arousal. I could smell the way it grew,
hear her heartbeat skip, his thud.
I bared my teeth, watching as Cole got her feet under her but didn’t
move away. “Do it,” I dared them, my voice a low snarl. “Fucking do it.”
There was hesitation in her eyes, doubt, questions, confusion.
Cole wasted no time as he slid one hand around her waist, the other
sliding down, as if he had been waiting for a second to make his move. All
he needed was a single opening. He didn’t even need to smell her arousal,
proven in this very moment. He was so desperate to fuck the human first
that he didn’t care if she was aroused or not, he’d make her aroused.
In our younger years, he had taunted about it. About fucking someone
from each species. It became a sort of game for him until he decided to fuck
Rose.
But since her death? It was like he had no ambition. He didn’t want to
be with her, he just wanted to put another notch in his belt, win a game no
one else was playing.
I didn’t care about that particular game. I never wanted to be a part of it,
and Cole could fuck whoever he wanted, play whatever game he wanted to
play. But my girl? He was adding my Angel to that endless list of aimless
conquests?
“Punish him,” my magic snarled. “Rip his ribs out one by one and slide
them up his fucking ass.”
 Another snap of my bones.
I jerked my neck to one side, gripping my hands so tightly, I felt the
skin break. I forced my eyes open and watched them. Stalked around them
so I could get a better view of her.
Whatever he made her feel, I’d make her feel more. When I was done
with her, sex would be ruined for anyone else for the rest of her fucking life.
She would never forget me. She’d beg for more. She would be so fully
consumed by me, there would be no ounce of need left towards anyone else.
No memory of anyone she had been with.
I would own every fucking piece of her. Past, present, and future.
I would ruin her.
She was still considering everything as she wrapped an arm around his
shoulders, the other clinging to the shirt at his chest as he reached down
between her legs. No build up. No kissing because all he wanted was to feel
her wrapped around him. I knew what kind of lover Cole was. I had seen it
time and time again. He was gentle, caring, but sometimes he forgot the
most important part.
You had to play a bit before it happened. He was selfish in his pointless
conquests. He wanted what he wanted, and that was it. He didn’t take the
time to learn about what his partner wanted. Never made sure they were
responding to him.
She was still questioning everything, but I could smell it in the air.
Smell her want for more. She wanted to be more aroused than she was. She
wanted to feel this.
When I claimed her, there would be no question, no hesitation. She
would beg me for more. More. More. She would be selfish and I would
indulge.
I Jumped behind her, so close that her hood moved with each of my
ragged breaths. “It’ll be underwhelming, Angel. Just tell him to stop.”
But her head fell back a bit, her eyes closing as if she had just resigned
herself to the position she was in. Cole was now supporting much of her
weight as he pressed up against her pussy.
I walked around and stood behind Cole as he undid her pants and
shoved his hand inside, a soft gasp coming from her lips. “You better enjoy
this, and you better thank whatever gods you pray to that he was once a
friend of mine. That I care about him. Because if it had been anyone else,” I
said through my teeth, “I would have killed him right now.”
 Cole’s fingers slid inside of her, known only by the way her breathing
changed, by the way her hips moved.
“I would have gutted them while their fingers were inside of you. I
would have made them finger-fuck you while I dismantled them slowly and
I would have made you cum while doing it.”
She moaned softly, clinging to his shirt as Cole watched her, eyes wide
open.
I didn’t know how he was enjoying it. Her hood and veil hid all but her
closed eyes.
Her brows were creased a bit, her shoulders tense. She had to focus, I
realized as she moved up and down on his fingers.
I couldn’t help but smile wide, laughter leaving my lips. “Oh,” I said,
voice feral. “You want it deeper? He’s not doing it for you, is he?”
I walked to her right side, looking down at where Cole’s hand
disappeared into her pants, my own cock hardening as I imagined what I
would do to her. “You want it deeper, don’t you, baby? Harder?” My cock
pulsed against me, the pain welcome. “Do you like it rough?”
Another soft moan and my eyes lifted as her delicate brows furrowed
even more, the muscles in Cole’s arms moving easily. She released his shirt
and grabbed his arm, pushing at it, trying to communicate what she wanted,
but Cole was ignoring her. Ignoring her or unaware of what she was trying
to put across. Compared to us, humans were weak. Their punches were like
feathers drifting across our skin, but even so, he should have been aware
enough to realize what she was pushing for.
Kyra dipped her head back, and I caught a glimpse of her neck. Creamy
and smooth, untouched. This clothing was her shield against eyes, against
the sun. I wondered how long it would take me to make her come out of her
cocoon. How long would it take me to make her see that she had nothing to
hide from. How long would it take me to convince her that me killing
anyone who looked her way was a good thing?
I leaned in until my lips brushed her hood. “You need me, don’t you,
Angel? You just don’t realize it yet.”
I stepped back enough to see them both, my eyes trained on her. Cole
was a good lover, but he wasn’t her cup of tea. “Help her,” I said quietly.
The shadow I assigned to her melted away from the forest floor and
drifted up to her boot. It slithered up her pantleg, a shiver rolling through
her, goosebumps spreading across her body.
 I smiled.
A gasp escaped her, and I knew then that my shadow had gotten inside
of her.
Her entire body shuddered. “Fuck,” she moaned, encouraging Cole to
work fast.
Her hands dug into him as the shadow worked its magic. She stopped
moving up and down, her entire body tensing.
I could smell her arousal dripping down her leg now.
“Fuck, Talons,” Cole breathed out, looking down at his own hand as if
it was his doing. As if he could ever pull this reaction from her.
No one was going to make her cum like I could. No one.
The orgasm shook through her in waves, but I was disappointed to learn
that she suppressed her cries. She didn’t allow herself to feel it fully. Why?
Why would she do that to herself? Why deny herself the feeling of a full
release?
Denying was my job, not hers.
I took another step back as my shadow slithered down her pants and
rejoined the forest floor.
She shuddered and opened her eyes, unable to look at him as he pulled
his fingers out carefully.
She stepped back, immediately reaching for the ties on her pants as she
turned away.
“Gods, Talons, you feel so good.”
I sneered at him. I didn’t need to hear that from him. Not like that. It
wasn’t how that was supposed to be said, and certainly not to her back. I
turned away from him and walked around to see her face. As hidden as it
was, eyes could tell it all.
She was already searching the woods, her gaze cold. Regret?
Confusion? She didn’t like it. Didn’t like what he had done. Or perhaps my
shadows had left a little present in her mind. They liked to do that from time
to time during torture sessions, maybe they had done it again.
“Don’t worry, Angel. I’ll make you forget all about this. Until next
time.”
~~~

Cole
I found myself watching after her again as she headed off into the woods,
satchel full, the limp only slightly alleviated due to the inappropriately
small piece of antler I had finally forced her to take.
She was good at what she did, thieving. I wondered if even a vampire
could hear her with how quietly she moved.
When she disappeared between the trees, I lifted up my hand and
sanded my fingers together. I could still smell her on me. Beautiful, tight. A
little softer than the pussy of the Fallen, but still pretty good. I hoped I’d get
another chance at her soon. If she decided she had had enough, there were
plenty of other people in the city I could try and seduce, she just seemed the
safest.
The temperature in the room dropped, a chilling breeze whispering
through the air, warning me of what was coming. I rolled my shoulders,
readying myself for whatever Trick needed.
“I’m glad to see she hasn’t killed you yet.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to face the High King, bitterness coating
my skin like the dew of fresh rain. “She isn’t a killer. She’s kind.” After I
got around the defensiveness and persistent irritation, she did seem kind and
incredibly smart. I was lucky it had been her to save me from those demons.
“Yes,” he nodded, adjusting the cuffs on his all-black suit. A signature
look for the all-powerful Trick Michael. “Cocks do have the power to shift
your focus from missions to pussies.”
“I haven’t fucked her,” I replied bitterly. “And while I wasn’t fucking
her, I did get some information from her like I said I would.” I explained
everything I had seen in the woods today, including the translation of the
words carved into the stone and the mention of the witches.
By the time I had reached the end, Trick hadn’t moved an inch. His
hands had gone into his pockets, his back was rigid, his jaw set, and those
tendrils of shadows that had been around him since long before we had met,
had darkened.
It was bad. This information meant something terrible, and I knew
which piece of it caused this.
“You wanted me to investigate the witches because you’re worried
they’ll start another war, aren’t you?”
He said nothing. He only stared at that wall between the two rooms.
My lip curled up. “So, I was right and none of you believed a word I
said. Why is that?”
 Trick lifted his head ever so slightly. “Because I told them to ignore
you.”
Betrayal pierced my stomach like a Fae spear. Had they believed me
and simply ignored me because of Trick? Because of the order he had
given? “Why would you do that and then send me to do this?”
“Because it’s fun,” he replied coldly, enunciating the last word.
Rage sparked under my skin, and I could feel where that thing blocked
my magic. Feel the way it clawed, trying to come out. “What is wrong with
you? All you do is disappear and come back only to disappear again. You
were gone for four years, Trick, and since you’ve returned, all you’ve done
is mutter commands under your breath and slaughter our people for a
fucking rock. Now you suddenly want me investigating the very thing I’ve
been trying to tell you all for centuries? What changed?”
Trick’s shadows tightened around him as he turned his head just enough
to show that cruel turn of his lips. “Who told you of the rock?”
My mind spun. I had hoped it wasn’t true. I had hoped Talons’ source
had been wrong, that she had lied only because of how much she disliked
us, but of course, it was true. Why wouldn’t it be? Our High King was a
monster. “What was it? Obsidian? Some rare Sky-Stone? What was so
important that you had to kill them for it?”
He turned to face me, but only just. “Are you angry because I’m living
up to the rumors people have whispered about me?”
If they had been just rumors, he made sure they weren’t anymore.
Yes, our race was terrible. We had done some awful things, but all of
those rumors about rape and murder, about torturing people? That was all
Trick. Trick’s legacy had become the Fallen’s story, written in history
books, spread around the world for all to hear.
Trick had always been fucked up, but over the last few centuries it had
only gotten worse. Now the only thing the Fallen were known for was what
he had turned them into.
Talons may have been right about how we were created, but we weren’t
all this dark.
“I am angry because I had once looked up to you,” I told him, clenching
my hands into fists. “I’m angry because 1,114 years ago, a man and his
sisters saved some kid with featherless wings from a basement and gave
him a home. I’m angry because that man I strived for years to become is
not the man who stands before me today.”
 Trick huffed. “It’s not my fault you built me up into a man I never was.”
I was shaking with rage. “I’m angry,” I started again, “because Rose
died still hoping that you’d be that man again, and rather than fighting
harder, you gave up completely, abandoned your people again, and left the
Fallen Court in the hands of your sister who was still mourning the loss of
your little sister,” I hissed.
Trick turned back to the wall, his face void of all emotion.
There was nothing left. Nothing left in his eyes, in his expression, no
hint of humanity at all. Just darkness.
Maybe he was right. Maybe the man I had seen a lifetime ago never
actually existed. Maybe it had simply been the overly hopeful eyes of a
tortured boy from long ago that had seen what he needed to see to survive.
I straightened, forcing my emotions down, knowing they were
pointless. “I’ve recruited her to help me complete the mission you assigned
me. She can give me what you want on the witches, I’m sure of it. If you
want to come collect progress reports, fine, but you will not come here
threatening her life just because you hate humans.”
Trick turned to face me completely then, a cruel, cold smile gracing his
lips. “At least I can revel in her scent.” His eyes flicked to my hand, and
then he Jumped.
I cursed under my breath, clenching my hand into a fist. We all had our
own shields to prevent that from happening. Trick could still wear his but
me? I should have tried harder to wash it away.
I snarled under my breath and lifted my eyes to the stars above. “I’m
trying, baby but I just can’t do it anymore. He’s gone. Whatever you saw in
him, that person is gone. There is no saving him because there is nothing
left to save. I love you, Rose, but I can’t keep fighting for someone that
doesn’t want to be saved. Trick Michael is a lost cause.”

OceanofPDF.com
 5
My Bible, Chapter 2, Verse 8,
Pain is how you thrive. It is the lifeblood that flows through your veins. Without pain, there is
nothing. No life, no death, just emptiness.

Kyra
I wasFocus
trying to focus.
on why that message had been left on that prison. Focus on
why the High King would need that stone.
Focus on what Cole’s mission might be.
Focus on the fact that Mark had grown out of his winter pants so now I
needed to find another pair to compensate.
But all I could think about were those eyes.
Bright green surrounding a pupil so black, it absorbed every ounce of
light there was. The color of dew-covered grass on a fresh Spring morning.
The color of a green wine bottle on the beach, the sun beating through it
relentlessly.
The color of life surrounding the color of death.
Would I have orgasmed like that, or at all, had those eyes not popped
into my head? Predatory, rageful, all-consuming, and familiar. I was sure I
had seen them before, I just couldn’t place where.
No, it was impossible to orgasm to a pair of eyes, wasn’t it?
“Talons?”
I blinked, turning from my drawing to find Cole’s navy-blue eyes.
“Hmm?”
“What are you thinking about?”
My face twisted ever so slightly. Had we reached that? Did he think that
just because he had his fingers inside of me yesterday, that I came on him,
that I would answer that?
I wish I never would have let him do that. I wish that I had been less
desperate for human contact and more desperate for finding the answers to
these stupid questions so I could get back to focusing on what I needed to
focus on.
I lowered my pencil, hiding the eyes that I had been drawing, although I
was sure he had already seen them. “I have very little information on the
Fallen,” I finally told him, watching his eyes darken. “Murderers, rapists,
torturers. I don’t know if they’re true or just rumors spread by a hateful
species, what I do know is that the fear in this world towards them is very
real.
“What I do know, Cole, is that the type of fear this world feels about
you cannot come to be without proof. You had your fingers inside of me,
but that does not mean we are friends. It doesn’t mean we are going to have
moments. You clearly needed something and I…” I laughed and shook my
head. “I’m just that fucking lost. Got it?”
I could still feel her. Feel her fist slam into my jaw again and again.
Feel her spit land on my cheek. Hear the words she spoke to me
reverberating off my bones.
Useless.
Worthless.
Pathetic.
I didn’t have it in me to pretend today.
Cole’s eyes had turned black. “Yeah, Talons,” he nodded. “I got it.”
I closed my journal and leaned back in the chair, pulling my knees up to
rest my shins on the table. “Have you told your High King your mission
report? I suspect he’ll be grateful for the things I told you.”
He searched my eyes, as if trying to read me, trying to figure out why
my reaction was so severe.
It was an answer he would never find. I didn’t need friends. Even if I
wanted them, I wouldn’t go searching for them within the Fallen species.
Not until I knew more about them.
After the nightmares last night, reminding me of their history, I woke up
this morning realizing how stupid I was letting him get so close to me so
soon. Yes, I needed to understand them more, but I could do that without
riding his hand into mediocre oblivion. Especially after only a day of
knowing him. That was just—
“Pathetic,” Mom’s voice chided.
Yeah, pathetic.
“He lied about something he shouldn’t have,” he finally told me.
I lifted a hand and dropped it. “Did he lie about something he shouldn’t
have, or did he lie about something you think he shouldn’t have?”
He didn’t like that question. “What’s the difference?”
“Opinion. People lie for all sorts of reasons. To protect someone, to
protect themselves. Unfortunately, being a ruler means that you have more
secrets than the average person and that the people, meaning you and
everyone below the ruler, don’t need to know everything. That’s part of
wearing the crown. Part of being a General is holding your tongue. No
matter what it costs you.”
“Even if it’s your will to live?”
If it had been anyone else, I’m sure they would have flinched back at
how bluntly he stated that, but I understood it. I still did on the more
difficult days. “Yes,” I answered quietly. “You’re a General, if keeping
secrets from your second means saving the lives of your warriors but losing
the life of him, who would you chose? The one or the many?”
He lifted his chin.
“The one.”
“The many,” he replied evenly. “Always.”
I blinked, shaking my head, looking behind me as a shiver ran down my
spine. It sounded like the wind, that whisper. Something deep and dark. The
low purr of a demon carried through the walls.
“Talons?”
“Hmm?” I asked, turning back to him.
“Did you not like my answer?”
I swallowed, gripping my journal. “No, um…” I shook my head again,
trying to clear my suddenly muddled thoughts. “Sorry, I thought I heard
something. Choosing the many is rational,” I went on. “It’s what any good
leader would do. And you would keep secrets from your men too, wouldn’t
you? If it protected them.”
Cole nodded once, his eyes cast down as if he were suddenly too
ashamed to look me in the eyes.
“Then how can you blame him for doing the same thing you would do?
That’s a hypocrite and that’s worse than being a murderer.”
He frowned. “You can’t be serious.”
I shrugged and shoved myself to a stand. “If you’re a murderer, people
know it. A murderer isn’t a person someone looks at and thinks ‘yeah, I
could trust him on a dark night in the middle of the woods’. But a
hypocrite? You think you can trust them, you do favors for them, listen to
them, get advice from them, and then they go behind your back, break their
word, and nothing’s the same. It’s almost easier to trust a murderer because
at least you know he’s a killer. You can trust he’ll kill again. But not a
hypocrite. Never a hypocrite.”
I turned away from him and headed for my room. “I just need to do a
few things and then we’ll go back to the city. If you want to read what I
have on you, that’s the book under the sink. If you want to read what I have
on witches, let me know and I’ll grab it for you.”
“I can’t go through it myself?”
I had assumed he already had in the last three days. “No.” I stopped at
my door and looked back. “I assumed you were reading history books. If
you haven’t been reading those, what have you been reading?”
He picked up the book he had just been reading. “This one is called The
R. Harem. Haven’t figured out what it means yet, but I’ll get there. You tell
good stories.”
My cheeks burned bright red. Fucking fuck. “Great,” I said and
disappeared into my room.
I shut the door behind me, cursing myself. I should have put all of those
books in the gods-damned fire. Stupid, stupid girl.
I shoved my hood back and ripped my veil off, needing just a second to
breathe without them. I itched my head and headed for the bathroom. Why
hadn’t Cole gone through my things? Why was he aiming for trust?
I didn’t need trust, I just wanted him to get the information and leave.
He was ruining everything just being here. Bringing Mark here now would
be incredibly stupid. The sooner I got Cole Lorily out of my house, the
better.
I splashed some water in my face and looked up to the mirror,
wondering if I could play nice long enough to—
Bright green eyes met mine, surrounded by darkness.
I saw nothing but the shape of a man standing in the doorway of my
room, everything doused in moving, living shadows. I couldn’t see anything
distinguishable save for those eyes.
Like dew covered grass on a beautiful Spring morning.
My heart slammed to a stop, eyes widening.
I spun around and there was nothing.
Fear pounded through me as I jogged into the room and looked around.
No one was there. The window was shut, nobody outside.
I was alone. Utterly alone.
“What the fuck?” I breathed, rubbing my chest as the fear dripped down
my spine.
 I closed my eyes and shook my head. No, no this couldn’t be
happening. When did I last eat?
Breakfast yesterday.
Some of the tension left my shoulders at the thought. More than a day I
had gone without eating. Almost the same for drinking anything. I needed
to consume something, anything, just to get my head back on my shoulders.
This wasn’t a great state of mind for anything, let alone thieving.
I inhaled deeply and on the exhale, released that spike of fear in my
stomach. It was because of the nightmare last night, the lack of food, and
what happened yesterday at the ruins. That was the only reason I had seen
anything. That’s why he had been shrouded in shadows, because I hadn’t
created a face for him yet. All I had were eyes.
Just eyes.
I set my journal on my pillow and grabbed a cloak from my closet. It
was old, worn. The black more of a dirty gray now, but it was enough.
I pulled my hood on, pulled my veil on, then tied the cloak around my
neck and pulled the hood of the cloak on.
The weather was getting far too cold for just a jacket and hood. It would
give me a new lease on life until everyone remembered that Therian’s Thief
was still alive and well, just blending in a little easier.
After another calming second, I finally headed for my door and walked
over to the table, grabbing my satchel, easily sliding it under the cloak only
to pause when I realized that I had put the cloak on a step too early.
I rolled my eyes and took the cloak off, slid my satchel on, and retied
the cloak on before meeting Cole’s eyes, only to find him smiling.
I glared death at him. “I’m having a bad day. Let’s go. If we lose
anymore daylight, I’ll cut off one of your limbs to feed the family.”
He shoved himself to a stand. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
We both knew I was incapable of doing it, but the heart behind the
threat was true.
He pulled up the hood on the jacket I had let him borrow, one I had
gotten Mark for the later years, and smiled from the shadow of it. “Let’s
go.”
~~~
Two days passed and Cole was getting pretty good at helping me thieve.
I was successfully turning a praised General into a common thief, and I
found decent satisfaction in that. However, when Condemnation
came into view today, horror filled me at what I saw.
Cole ran into me, whispering an apology as I turned to him, the narrow
alleyway only wide enough for us to walk one in front of the other. Which
meant he hadn’t seen what I had.
Not yet.
I had come into the city at a different point today, closer to my target.
Condemnation is usually where I enter and exit the city, but I hadn’t today. I
had missed this. I shouldn’t have missed this.
Stupid, idiotic girl.
“Have you ever actually been to Therian?” Did he know what my High
King did here? Did he really know?
I suppose even if he didn’t know, it wouldn’t be a huge shock to him
with what they did in Oridian, but he still deserved to be warned. It was the
decent thing to do.
Cole’s eyes flicked behind me and back, suspicion growing. “I know
about Condemnation, but no not since before the War of Ruin. Trick usually
takes care of business here.”
Yeah, I had found plenty of stories of the Fallen kidnapping humans to
torture and dissect. Those stories were far more gruesome than this but
reading it and seeing it were two completely different things.
I glanced back towards the alleyway entrance. I had written stories with
things like this within them. Describing them forced me to desensitize to it
so that when I was able to help those hanging on those crosses, I could do it
without them seeing the fear in my eyes. But this?
I closed my eyes and turned back to Cole, only opening them again
when I knew I would find his. “You wanted information, so I’ll give it to
you. I’ll show you what my High King does. It shouldn’t be too big a shock
because it’s exactly what yours does, but you can’t react. We are thieves.
Drawing attention to ourselves is a death sentence.”
He nodded once and only once. “Understood.”
I searched his eyes for another second before turning to the alley
entrance. There were a lot of eyes here, but every pair was focused on
Condemnation, so we would be fine.
Even so, crowds scared me. They were as easy to get caught in as they
were to get lost in. We would have to stick to the sides of the buildings, try
to get a glimpse through the people what lay before us.
 I walked up to the entrance just to get a quick look to make sure no one
was paying attention before I slipped into the crowd, Cole at my heels.
A crowd had flooded the streets around the crosses, people whispering,
talking, but no one shed a tear, the guards placed around the area made sure
of that. If anyone even looked like they felt bad about what happened, they
would be deemed a Sympathizer and theirs would be the next body hanging
on those crosses.
When I found a small empty spot, I finally turned to what lay before us.
Condemnation held five crosses embedded into the concrete. The beams
six inches on each side, wrapped in barbed wire.
People were nailed up with iron nails, and sometimes, if their hands
broke free of those nails and they were still alive, the people of the city got
to watch as the guards replaced the nail, driving it into their wrists instead.
Three people were hanged today.
A warlock.
A Fae.
A wolf.
Cole stopped beside me, the anger falling from him so palpable, I felt it
just as I felt the crowd ebbing and flowing around us.
He either actually cared about the other species’ in this world, or he just
hated Raphael that much.
My blood had turned to ice, my stomach twisting with the fear I felt.
The Fae, a male or female, I couldn’t tell, had been skinned alive. I
could see the tears in its wrists, see its bones, from where it had struggled to
get free.
The warlock, a male, had only been partially skinned, but by the chunks
of charred flesh, I assumed he had been burned as well. His ears had even
been docked. He was missing fingers, half of his right leg, and they had cut
a hole into his abdomen where his guts now trickled out to the ground
below.
He might have been alive earlier today, but there was no way to truly
tell now.
The wolf, I had to force myself to look at her. Her ribs had been broken
and splayed open to either side of her, showing the crowd her still beating
heart. Her legs and arms had been snapped and twisted in grotesque ways,
to show the world what she was. It was Raphael’s clever way of showing us
what species hung before us.
 She was still crying, whimpering, begging someone to help her.
Nailed to each of them were signs.
The Fae’s sign read ‘WAR’.
The warlock’s sign read ‘IS’.
And the wolf’s sign read ‘COMING’.
“This isn’t normal, is it?”
I shook my head, keeping in my emotions, keeping my expression clear
of any anger or fear I felt. “No,” I said evenly. “No, this is not normal.”
Why? Why make such a declaration? Were the humans declaring war on
those species’ specifically or were they declaring war in general?
If so, why? We couldn’t survive a war. We had nothing. We were
nothing compared to any other species in existence.
Nothing.
Which led me to wonder why none of the other species had tried to
attack after hearing what we did to their people. They had to have known
about the witches, at least one person had to have known about the witches
or I was sure someone would have attacked Terigard by now.
How long had the magic been malfunctioning here though? And if it
had been like that for a while, allowing Raphael to kill these people, why
hadn’t Cole known about it? Why were people still coming here?
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t need his apologies, his sympathy. Especially coming from a
man who had probably done this to a considerable amount of people
himself. It meant nothing.
Condemnation had come to be after the War of Ruin. The Gerodia
family would have never instilled it if Caduto hadn’t shattered into different
continents. There was too much room for others to come and stop them, but
once Caduto fractured, this is one of the many horrible things that had come
from it.
Everyone in the world knew not to ever step foot in Terigard or Oridian.
Maybe they hadn’t come here.
What if they had been hunted down just like how the Fallen hunted
others down?
My theory was looking more and more plausible with each passing
second, but that didn’t answer the blaringly obvious question; why wasn’t
anyone doing anything about it?
“People of magic or people who break the law end up here,” I
whispered, rubbing my chest as my heart threatened to escape.
Puzzles. I loved solving puzzles. When the pieces started to align, I got
a sort of high from it. The same feeling I got when my fear spiked. Maybe a
little less. “I think that these people were hunted down.”
He looked over, his expression hard, unwavering. Too much of a
General for where we were standing. “What does that mean?”
I shrugged, trying to act as if this entire thing wasn’t going to give me
nightmares tonight. “Everyone in the world knows that magic isn’t allowed
here. Everyone knows that Raphael slaughters those with magic blood.
Even the best of magic-users have been caught, but there hasn’t been a
magical person on those crosses in the last six months because they know
not to come here.”
I’ve known my entire life that humans were nothing compared to
everyone else in this world, so why hadn’t I figured out long ago that I was
asking all the wrong questions?
If we were so weak and we were killing so many of them, why not just
destroy us? What were they so afraid of that they wouldn’t stop Raphael?
Cole lifted his chin, nostrils flaring as if he were a hound who caught a
scent. “Humans can’t just break into the other courts, not without magic,
and even then, they would be caught immediately.”
Yeah, exactly.
My heart was thundering as I grabbed his hand, trying to regain his
attention, to see the truth in my words. I had to tell him. I had to tell
someone. “The witches never left,” I breathed out just as a scream rang
through the city.
Not one.
Dozens.
Coming from the direction of the castle.
My head whipped back towards the alley and before I could think, I
was running, sprinting straight for the town square.
My cloak whipped behind me as I darted from alley to alley, keeping to
the shadows, uncaring if Cole was on my heels or not.
What was I doing running straight into trouble like this? I should have
been thinking of Mark. I couldn’t be taking these risks.
But I had to know what was happening. I had to find out why there
were people screaming near the castle.
What if there had been an announcement and something had gone
wrong? What if Mom and Mark had gone there to hear this announcement?
What if Mark was one of the many people now screaming for help?
It was enough to propel me faster. I didn’t slow until I got to the edge of
the town square, people shoving past me. I gasped for air as I searched the
panicked flood of people, unable to see any kids in the throng.
But what I did notice had my fear growing. There were people in white
robes walking calmly through the panicked crowd, their hoods so low, I
couldn’t see their faces. Blinding gray light was swimming from their
hands, wrapping around people, lifting them up, the magic sliding into
every single orifice they had.
My eyes widened.
Cole grabbed my arm, pulling me back, sword in hand.
I jerked my arm out of his, taking a step away from him. “Forbidden
Magic?” I gasped, my heart suddenly too calm. “No. No, this wasn’t
supposed to happen.”
“You said the witches have been here,” Cole stated, looking like a target
with that stupid sword gripped in his hand.
I nodded, searching the crowd, an icy chill circling around my neck.
“The witches were behind the wars,” I spit out quickly, my mind on my
brother. “They haven’t been in Sarivos for a very long time and they’re
finally making their third move.”
“Not so subtle this time,” he commented without question.
He knew about it too. “But why would they care?” I hissed, looking
over, sweat trickling down my neck. “I’ve been over this a thousand times.
First the dragons and Nephilim, then the gods and shattering us into pieces?
What else is there?”
Realization hit me like a fucking brick wall as soon as I said it. “Gods
above.”
“What?”
I turned back to him, eyes wide. “It’s your fucking High King. Your all-
powerful, egoistical High King. The only other person in this world who
has a chance at beating them.”
His eyes were flaming with such anger, I swear, his sweat turned red.
Cole turned back towards the square, to the knights who were standing
on the stairs of the castle doing nothing as the people of Therian were being
consumed and tortured by this gray magic.
I never knew his name, but I knew his power. It was one of the many
common denominators in every Fallen story. The present High King was
the most powerful one that had ever sat on a throne. Not just in his Court,
but in all others.
Some even compared him to a god, which was probably why he thought
he could get away with everything he did.
If someone challenged him?
I couldn’t even imagine. This world would be turned to dust. Either that
or Trick Michael would win. A fate worse than death.
“I can’t stop them,” Cole finally decided, turning back to me. “Not on
my own.”
He had considered trying to help, which I had to give him credit for.
“I’m not going to leave people to be slaughtered.” I couldn’t abandon my
brother. If he was here, I had to find him.
“I can’t do anything, Talons,” he said coldly. “Not without accidentally
killing an innocent or alerting people of the fact that I’m here.”
My heart had started racing again. So fast, I was sure it was about to
implode. I wasn’t breathing, my mind had stopped. “I have to save my
brother.” And I slipped into the crowd before he could grab me again.
Was I sure he was here? No. But that doubt was enough to fuel me.
Avoiding being run over by scrambling people was easier with the years
of experience I had thieving. The only problem was there was no pattern in
a crowd this size.
People were predictable until something like this happened. Their
patterns changed. Before they would have gone right, now they were going
left. Multiply that by a few hundred, and I kept running into people, kept
getting shoved back, pushed around, hit.
It was horrible.
Everyone was trying to avoid those in white robes, but why white? And
what were they doing to the people they captured?
I couldn’t stop long enough to study, I had only one goal and then I
would leave.
“Mark!” I called, looking around frantically. There was a chance he
could have gotten away. A chance Mom hadn’t even brought him. She hated
crowds. It was the one thing we had in common.
But what if she had decided to come today? “Mark!”
A scream sounded to my right. A child’s scream.
I skidded to a stop, someone running into me at full speed causing me
to land on the side of my ankle, flaring up the pain that had only just gotten
a little better that morning.
I spun around, breathing through it.
Through the darting people, I saw her. A little girl, no older than six,
screaming and sobbing.
Not Mark, but still an innocent kid. I couldn’t just leave her.
With a quick look towards the throng, a simple scan for a boy with wild
hair, I started my way towards her, shoving and stumbling, no one caring
about anyone else. “Hey,” I finally said, crouching down in front of her.
“Hey, where are your parents?”
She sobbed, gasping, choking, unable to give me an answer.
I forced my breathing to calm as I pushed my hood back enough for her
to see my eyes clearly. I wasn’t going to leave her, just as I hoped that if
someone found Mark, they wouldn’t leave him. “Do you know of the shop
two blocks down? Desiray’s Ice Cream Parlor? Ever heard of it?”
She sniffed, wiping under her nose, eyes flicking behind me.
“No,” I instructed, reaching out and gently turning her face back.
“Don’t look at them, look at me.”
Her big blue eyes found mine again.
“Do you know of it?” I asked again, trying to keep my voice light and
gentle.
She gave me a nod, still whimpering, but calmed down enough to
communicate.
“Good, that is so good. I’ll tell you a secret, okay? But you can’t tell
anyone else, understand?”
She nodded, her interest growing.
“Desiray and I are friends. She helped me a long time ago, so I know
that she’ll help you too. So, if you run straight there as fast as you can, not
only will she keep you safe and help you find your parents, but she’ll give
you a big ‘ole bowl of ice cream too.”
The little girl straightened. “Ice cream?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. But you have to run there fast and don’t
look back, not for anything. Tell her that Therian’s Thief sent you, okay?
You’ll be safe.”
She sanded her hands together nervously. “I’m scared.”
I nodded, wiping away a stray tear. “I know, me too, but that’s okay. It’s
okay to be scared. I’m gonna tell you what I always tell my brother, okay? I
tell him that fear doesn’t have to make you weak. Fear can make you so
strong, you just have to flip that switch. So run as fast as you can. Just run
and you’ll see your parents again before nightfall.” I prayed to the dead
gods that it wasn’t an empty promise.
She watched me a moment longer before finally nodding, albeit
hesitantly. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I breathed out in relief and stood. “Go. Don’t look back.”
She nodded once more and spun around, sprinting off through the alley.
She reminded me of me when I was younger.
Only when I saw her disappear did I turn back to the crowd, my ankle
throbbing now. There were people on the ground, bleeding from their pores,
the witches wandering as if they had no reason to hurry. Their magic flew
and people ran, and the screaming was Therian’s new anthem.
I didn’t let it get to me, not now. Not as I scanned the crowd, straining
my eyes, forcing myself to look at the scene before me as I searched every
face for Mark.
And then there was Cole, slaying down witches with that glinting
sword, using moves I didn’t think were humanly possible to avoid being hit
by their magic.
He slammed his blade into the neck of a witch so deep, her head almost
came off. Blood spread across her robe, staining the white like ink spilled
on paper.
I swallowed and forced myself to turn away. “Ma—”
Something cold slammed into me, knocking me to the ground, my
hands sliding against the rocky cobblestone, the pain slicing up my arm.
I shivered, the chill so deep, it sank into my bones. A blast of gray
magic flooded the world above me.
My eyes widened as I pressed myself into the cobblestone and looked
up just as the magic hit a man climbing over bodies, trying to escape.
The magic wrapped around him, seeping into his eyes, his ears, cutting
off his screams as it slithered down his throat. His body went so rigid, his
knuckles turned white. Seconds passed like hours before his body went
completely limp and crumbled to the ground.
Fear slammed through me unlike anything I had felt before as his eyes
found mine. Wide and unseeing, staring straight into my soul.
His eyes were red, blood dripping from them, from his nose, from his
mouth. His sweat turning red, his expression frozen in a paralyzing scream.
 I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All I could see was his lifeless eyes.
“Talons,” Cole said, skidding to a stop beside me.
I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t break eye contact. I felt nothing coming
from him. His eyes were so… empty. There was nothing. This man, this
stranger, who had once had a life, a family, he was void of everything that
had made him him.
“Talons,” Cole barked, grabbing my upper arm and jerking me up
painfully. “Are you okay? Were you hit?”
“Um…” but words failed me. Everything was failing me.
Cole looked me over as I looked around, realizing what was left of the
meeting in the town square.
Bodies. Dozens of bodies lying scattered across the square. All human
except for a handful of witches that Cole had killed, the rest were gone.
Why?
There were still people scrambling away. Why let them live?
What was the point of it all?
Bile crept up my throat. I couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t I breathe?
“Mark,” I choked out, hands shaking. “Mark, we have to save Mark.
Please,” I begged, finally meeting his eyes. “Please.”
His eyes softened and he nodded, pushing his hair back, his hood long
since fallen. “Okay, we’ll start—”
A chilling wind wrapped around us, black smoke rising from nothing,
whirling, and pulling at my cloak.
“Shit,” Cole muttered, and he grabbed my hand. “Hold your breath.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
We were sucked through a tear in space and time. Folded, twisted, bent,
spinning into nothingness until I felt solid ground under my feet again.
My mind spun as my hand tightened around Cole’s, my balance
unstable, my stomach twisting, threatening to eject what little I had
consumed.
“You dick.”
I grabbed my head, trying to breathe through the nausea. Trying to force
those dead eyes out of my head. Unseeing, missing some vital shred of light
that told the world of a lifetime of stories.
Gone.
My eyes lifted, the bile creeping up my throat once again only to find
myself frozen in place at what—who—stood before me.
 He was a god.
A god with bright green eyes and charcoal black hair, just barely curling
around his pointed ears.
He had a sharp jawline, angled up, a look of cold, dry anger reflected in
his features, his lips turned down, although that could have been from the
pale white scar that stretched from the corner of his left eye, through the
center of his lips, stopping just at his right jaw, almost the exact same one
that Cole had, and now looking at the him I had an uneasy feeling that Cole
may have done it on purpose.
His hands were at his sides, shoulders tense, wearing a black suit that
had to have been half a size too small with the way his muscles pulled at it.
But what caught my attention the most, besides those eyes I swore I had
seen that morning in my room, were the tendrils of shadows that drifted
around him almost lovingly.
Beautiful and elegant and most likely deadly.
But what the fuck were his eyes doing in my head yesterday? In my
nightmares last night? In my bedroom this morning?
“Such foul language,” he said, his voice like midnight oceans and
snow-capped mountains in the depths of winter. “I did save you.” A low and
sultry voice, as if nightmares and demons had fucked and made a love
child. That’s what his voice sounded like, and it crept over my skin like hot
tar.
Cole scoffed, pulling his hand out of mine so he could shove his sword
back into its sheath. “There were marks on their necks, just like last time.
Something you chose to ignore. None were successful as far as I could tell,
but I wasn’t there long enough to get a better read on the situation, thanks to
you.”
And the anger I felt building under my skin tasted bitter. All of that fear,
that adrenaline shifting into a rage I could burn down worlds with.
Why had he been in my room?
Why had I been brought back here when my brother could still be
missing?
“I’m sure you gathered enough information. How many died?”
“Too many to count,” Cole replied icily. “I saw half a dozen witches in
white robes, clearly direct followers. I saw Evanora disappear into the castle
right before it started. They also hung people this morning, plastering a
warning to the city of a war to come. It’s almost as if I had predicted this
years ago.”
“Bitter resentment is an ugly beast, isn’t it?” the male mused, and I
wondered if the burning in my skull was from the building headache or the
fact that he was staring at me while he spoke to Cole. “Satarmore must be
proud.”
I wasn’t going to do it, challenge a High King, but what the actual fuck
was his problem?
I lifted my eyes to his.
He had been staring at me and now I was staring right back. Looking
into the depths of a nightmare come to life. Of Death reborn. How dare he
blame Satarmore for what Evanora had done. How dare he.
An idea formed in my mind, and it took everything I had not to smile. It
was going to be the worst decision I had ever made but fuck it. There was
too much shit rolling around in my mind to be making rational decisions
right now.
I turned away from him, searching the ground for that rock I dropped
days ago. It didn’t take me long to find it.
“Satarmore had nothing to do with this,” Cole said, defending the High
King of the Warlocks. “The witches haven’t lived in Sarivos in centuries,
which is something I told you years ago.”
The hatred in the General’s voice was clear, and I couldn’t help but
wonder why he remained working under such a man if he hated him that
much. Maybe he was as afraid of Trick Michael as the rest of the world
was.
“They can all use magic, and you can’t,” the High King stated as I
picked up that rock.
Oh, this had to be the most idiotic thing I was ever going to do, but I
needed to do it. I had to do something. I felt too much anger in my blood to
just sit here and listen to these men talk.
“You can’t deny what you’ve already admitted to, Trick,” Cole told
him. “You know why the magic isn’t working here. Why won’t you tell
me?”
I tested the weight of the rock in my hand, feeling his eyes on me. I
wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was wondering if I had the guts
to do it.
I did.
And if I died Mark would be fine. Me? Well, I was never going to live
that long anyway.
“It’s a puzzle,” the High King stated. “You need to solve it.”
Cole snarled under his breath. “Why? Why are you doing this? Why
even save her if you hate the humans so damn much?”
I took a step back, angling myself as I lifted the stone high in the air.
“Now that’s my puzzle, isn’t it?”
I met his eyes again.
He was watching me evenly. I wondered if he had ever looked away.
There was challenge in his eyes. An unspoken threat.
“Do it,” I heard the wind whisper through me, that guttural purr of the
demons. “Do. It.”
“You have no idea how close I am to leaving the High Court, do you?”
I flung the rock forward with everything I had.
It slammed into the center of his forehead with a sickening crack, but he
didn’t move, didn’t flinch. Didn’t block it with the magic he so clearly had
use of.
Cole’s eyes widened, his head whipping around to me. “Talons, what
are you doing?”
I straightened, my heart thundering against my ribs as I watched a thin
trail of blood slide down his face from that three-inch gouge in the middle
of his forehead.
His lips flicked up in a smile as if he had won.
I bared my teeth at him. “Fuck yo—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he had me up against the wall of my
cottage, hand wrapped around my throat, wrists pinned above my head by
those chilling shadows, so cold they burned my skin.
Every hair stood on end, a shiver of fear spreading through my body,
forcing me to press my legs together as his eyes searched mine, bright and
wild. Feral.
He smiled, tilting his head slowly from one side to the other, so close I
could smell the scent of rain drifting from his skin.
My stomach warmed in rage. My knees buckling as his hand tightened
around my throat, so large, his fingers dug into the stone and mud of the
cottage behind me.
“Such a dirty little mouth you have,” he mumbled, his voice dripping
fire down my skin.
I glanced behind him, Cole slamming his sword up against an invisible
wall. A shield. I was alone in here, utterly alone.
Trick slid his hand up, gripping my jaw, forcing my eyes back on his.
“You look at me now, Angel. No one else.”
His eyes were steady, unwavering. “Let me go,” I grunted, pulling at the
restraints only for them to tighten painfully.
He chuckled and gods-damn if that didn’t worsen the fear dripping
down my leg. “Never again,” he whispered threateningly.
Trick shoved my face to the side and leaned in, inhaling me from where
my hood had fallen away from my neck. He shivered and released a sort of
animalistic groan. “Oh, you smell more delicious than I had imagined.”
My eyes widened as he leaned back, and I found his eyes again.
“You’ve been following me?”
“For a year four days from today,” he admitted without shame, that
blood sliding across his lips, running the length of that scar.
I inhaled a shuddering breath, heart racing. A year? “Why?”
“It started out as a curiosity, but the more I watched you, the more I
realized how terribly you wanted to be seen. Now I see you. Now you’re
mine. My little plaything, my toy. My Angel. My little addiction.”
My eyes widened, my entire body frozen in terror. No, no, this couldn’t
be happening.
His chin lifted, his eyes flicking to something else on my face.
The bruise around my eye.
He stilled. “Who hurt you?”
I inhaled sharply, my expression shifting from terror to pure hatred. Had
he watched it happen? Did he get off on watching humans beat the shit out
of other humans? Or maybe he just liked how weak it made me look.
“Shouldn’t you know that?” I spat. Whatever it was, I hated him more for it.
“As much as I want to dedicate my entire life to you, I simply can’t yet.
I’ve got other business.” A tendril of shadow drifted up, carefully grazing
over the edge of that bruise, cold, but not chilling like the others. “All I
need is a name.” His eyes found mine again. A request as if I owed him
something. As if we were comrades.
Instead of answering, I did exactly what I loathed my mother for doing.
I spit in his face.
He didn’t even flinch. Didn’t wipe it away. In fact, I think he might
have enjoyed it and that horrified me even more.
His smile widened, revealing his perfect teeth, stained red from the
blood. “Do it again, I liked it.”
I snarled, fighting against the restraints only tiring myself out. “Fuck.
You,” I hissed vehemently.
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “I won’t keep you waiting long, I
promise, but unfortunately I do have things to do, so be a good girl for me
and don’t let anyone else touch you. If you do, well…” He inhaled deeply.
“You’ll force my hand.”
I swallowed against his hand, too hot against my skin. “You can’t
control me. I don’t even know you.” I knew of him, and the stories were not
good. Not even a little bit.
“Oh, I can, and you’ll enjoy it. Every second of it. You’ll beg for my
control. You just don’t know it yet.”
I shook my head, tears threatening my eyes, but I forced them back. “I
won’t.” Is this what he did when he kidnapped people? He sends his High
General ahead of him to scout out potential victims with some stupid story
and a week later, he swings by and scoops them up?
Gods, I was so fucking stupid. So stupid.
What was I supposed to do now? He knew where I lived. If he truly had
been following me for a year, he knew where my brother lived too. He
knew I had a brother. He knew our names, what I did to survive. He knew
everything.
I swallowed again and shook my head, switching to something I knew.
Something that would hopefully calm me enough to think straight again.
“Satarmore Irsch knows the witches aren’t there,” I began evenly, even
though my insides were shaking.
His eyes flashed. “You want to give me information?”
“That’s what you’re here for, right?” I asked. “That’s all you people
care about. What I can do for you.” I just needed to get away so I could get
home. I needed to check on Mark.
He shook his head, rage burning in the depths of his eyes. “No.”
“Malaki signed a contract with Aurora after Elrikant,” I went on.
“Stop,” he ordered, his hand returning fully to my throat.
Immediately my air was cut off, but I kept going. “So long as the
reports were true, there was no need to bother them. There are enough
witches, Evanora only had to leave enough behind to write those reports.
Satarmore kept receiving them, there was no point in checking them. He
knows, he just doesn’t care.”
 He pressed his hand tighter, until I saw spots. Until my vision began to
narrow. “You don’t get it, Angel, you are my new little addiction. My
newest obsession—”
“In a long line of them, I’m sure,” I choked out.
“Wrong,” he whispered, his eyes flaming.
He didn’t like to be interrupted. Noted.
“I have never been consumed like this before. You are mine and you
will be consumed by me in every way a person can be consumed, however
long that takes, but,” he went on as something cold, something heavy,
formed around my neck just below his hand, “I don’t think it’ll take long.
Not with what I smell dripping down your legs.”
I hated myself more in that moment than I had my entire life. I hated the
way my mind worked, what my body responded too. I hated all of those
men for running away and keeping quiet rather than telling the guards
exactly what I liked. Telling them that I should be locked up, reformed.
I was sick. And this man was playing right into it.
The self-hatred in me grew.
And grew.
And grew.
He pulled his hand back, and I coughed, gasping for air, pulling at my
restraints on instinct to grab my throat.
I felt something cold and heavy now strapped around the middle of my
neck. Tight enough to stay in place but loose enough to prevent it from
pinching my skin.
Trick smiled in a way that would make grown men run in fear. “The
perfect accessory for my dark little Angel.”
Trick took a step back, leaving my body far too cold, and he looked me
over. His eyes slowly taking me in from head to toe and back, as if
memorizing what I looked like for the restraints he was about to build for
me.
His eyes finally found mine again. “See you around, Kyra.”
And he disappeared in a blast of shadows and nightmares.
The shadows disappeared from around my wrists, causing me to fall
back against the wall, knees weak.
Cole ran over, the shield finally gone. “What did he say to you?”
I reached for my throat, my eyes falling to my other wrist only to find
them clear of burns.
 But my fingers brushed something metal around my neck. A thick,
smooth chain, connected by a large circle, hollow in the middle. Just a
simple ring connecting both sides.
My eyes lifted to Cole’s, my lips parting in horror as Cole inspected the
necklace, his hands hovering, never touching. “He fucking collared me?” I
whispered, shaking with fear and anger. “What does that mean? What is he
going to do to me?”
Cole was shaking his head, the confusion in his eyes enough to tell me
that he had no idea what his High King was planning. “I don’t know,
Talons. He’s never done this before.”
He reached out, probably to touch the necklace, but I jerked out of his
reach, hissing as I put weight on my injured ankle. “Don’t touch it,” I
snarled and stormed for the woods.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m fucking going home,” I shouted. “I still have no idea if my brother
is alive and if I stay here, I will try to kill you.”
“You can’t kill us, Talons.”
I spun around, just at the edge of the trees. “I know I can’t kill you,
Cole, I’m not that stupid!” I snapped back. “Doesn’t mean I’m not stubborn
enough to try. It’s a stupid gods-damned flaw. And I swear to the gods, if
you let your High King anywhere near my cottage, I’ll spend the rest of my
days finding a way to end your stupid immortal life.”
He didn’t look frightened. In fact, he looked annoyingly calm. Why
wouldn’t he be? He was used to this. To Trick Michael targeting people,
taking them away, doing all sorts of…
I pressed my legs together and snarled between my teeth, wanting
nothing more than to crawl out of my body. “I hate you,” I told him. Trick
Michael. Whoever. “I hate you so much, it makes me want to vomit.”
Cole frowned then. “I don’t control him.”
“Someone needs to. Fucking murderers.” With that, I turned on my heel
and headed for home.

OceanofPDF.com
 6
My Bible, Chapter 11, Verse 3,
Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap that is this world. Lies are threaded within the seams of vile
words and treacherous vows. Keep your head above the waves of glass and bleed the truth until
someone sees.

Trick
I had tasted the forbidden fruit and was now condemned to a life of all-
consuming addiction for my Angel.
I wanted to stay. Play her little game, see how long it would take me to
make her writhe under my hands, but unfortunately, I had other business I
needed to take care of before I allowed myself to drown in her presence.
I didn’t care, however, if I was on the verge of realizing my life’s
mission and she called for me, I’d drop everything to be there for her. Even
if she didn’t realize that she had called for me.
Like today.
I had a new life mission now. My old one so far forgotten, I couldn’t
even remember a single letter within the line.
It was all about her.
“Now, where were we?” I asked, stepping out from the shadows and
into the light.
Felix lay in his own shit and piss, bleeding on the concrete floor,
pleading to whatever gods would have mercy on him that they would let
him live.
It was sad he hadn’t realized that I was the only god left and I didn’t
know the meaning of the word mercy.
“I’m sorry,” he gasped as I crouched down in front of him, thankful for
the shield my magic placed around me, keeping me from inhaling that
putrid scent. “Please. I won’t do it again, I swear.”
I shook my head, scanning over this pathetic waste of space. “No, you
won’t,” I stated, eyes settling on what rested between his legs.
Felix looked down, his eyes widening. “No. No, please. You’ve already
taken my wings, don’t take that too.”
I stood. “I took your wings to keep you from trying to escape. Your
cock is what’s causing the damage on those women.”
 “Please!” he screamed, snot and tears dripping down his face. “Please,
I’ll do anything. A-anything. Please.”
I paused then, studying him. “Anything?”
He nodded vigorously, grasping at whatever would give him the best
chance at life. “Anything, I swear. Whatever you want.”
I smiled then, picturing those beautiful hazel eyes staring right at me.
Challenging me. How fierce they had been. It made my cock ache for her.
“Unfortunately for you, there’s only one thing in this world I want, and you
can’t give it to me.” I slid my hands in my pockets and watched as my
shadows slithered for him, like snakes hunting their prey.
“Please,” he begged, screamed. “Please!”
There truly was nothing like the sound of a flaccid dick being severed
from a male body. Nothing like the screams that followed.
But I wasn’t done yet. Not even as he slowly bled out at my feet. Felix
was one cog in the machine, not even an important cog. There was an entire
substructure of people like him living within this world. Filled with every
species there was.
They called themselves the Congregation, and I finally knew for certain
that there were five heads to this organization. Five people in charge. Once
I killed them, the rest would be nothing.
I didn’t have time to deal with Evanora and her attempt to change
humans into weapons in the middle of Therian.
But something told me I wasn’t going to have a choice. Not if I wanted
to earn Kyra’s loyalty. I’d have to play along. Rather than sending Cole on
pointless missions for both our sakes, I would have to actually do
something about the witches.
I wondered what the world would think if they found out someone like
me was going to try and stop the war. A monster. A creature born of
nightmares, getting involved in a war to win over a girl who had already
consumed me so completely.
“What have you gotten me into, Angel?”
~~~

Kyra
“What’s that?”
I smiled, taking Mark’s hand gently, moving it away from my slowly
bruising face. “Do you really want to know?” I asked, pushing as much
excitement into my voice as possible.
His little chin lifted, his silver-blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Yes,”
he replied, taking his hand back so he could push back his mess of brown
curls.
“Okay,” I hummed, making it a game. I pulled him into my side and
scooted us down into the bed. “Here goes, but I should warn you, if you
have nightmares, it’s not my fault.”
He puffed out his chest, trying to act as brave as he could. “Deal.”
I hated these games the most. Lying to him, but I had to. It was the only
way to protect him. Just a little over a month and we’d be okay. We’d be
safe. No more lies, just a good life.
A good life after I figured out how to get the Fallen out of my life for
good.
“There I was,” I began, shutting his face out of my head, “walking
through the Forest of Malice.”
Mark gasped.
“Hunting for rabbits,” I went on, hugging him tightly.
“The ones you brought home today?”
The ones I had stolen out of the window of a home just blocks from
where we lived. I had grabbed them on my way back, just so I didn’t have
to come home empty handed. “The very same. So, I had my bow in hand,
arrow nocked. I was as quiet as the shadows, as stealthy too, and I was
weaving in and out of the trees, following the tracks of a particularly fat
rabbit.”
“What?” he said dubiously. “You can’t tell how fat a rabbit is by its
tracks.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I smiled. “Then how do you explain the fat rabbit I brought home
today?”
His brows furrowed, probably trying to remember what the three rabbits
I had brought home looked like. Finally, he huffed. “They weren’t that fat.”
I laughed, pinching his sides, only to shush him a moment later when he
dared an octave higher. “Fat enough for you. Now, where was I?”
“Tracking a fat rabbit,” he said confidently.
“Oh, yes, thank you,” I beamed, poking his nose. “I was tracking the
rabbit and I walked around this large tree, leafless, and the fog began to
settle. The air chilled several degrees, and everything went deathly quiet. I
suddenly felt miles away from anyone and anything, but I knew that rabbit
couldn’t be too far ahead of me, so I turned back to the tracks and snap!”
Mark jumped.
“A twig broke just in front of me. My breath caught, my heart was
racing, sweat trickling down my spine, but did I back away?”
“No!”
“And why is that?”
Mark looked up, love shining in the depths of his eyes. “Because you
would face any type of monster for me.”
I nodded. “That’s right, little fox. Any type of monster in the whole
world.” I kissed his head. “So, I needed that rabbit. I inhaled deeply,
gathering up all of my bravery and strength, and I went forward. Fear
wouldn’t stop me, not when I had you to take care of. Arrow nocked, all
alone, silent woods, and what do I find behind that tree?”
“What?” he whispered, eyes wide.
“A Tree Giant!” I rushed, shaking him for added effect. “A baby one, no
bigger than me.”
He gasped in excitement. “No.”
“Yup. He was lost,” I explained, trying to keep my smile from hurting
my cheeks. “Scared, and when I jumped out at him, boom! He hit me right
in the face.” Tree Giants would never actually do that. Their movements
were slower than most, and they weren’t easily startled, but Mark didn’t
have to know that. Not yet.
Mark clicked his tongue. “But you were there though, he just didn’t
know that when you’re around, he doesn’t have to be scared. Not of
anything.”
I smiled softly, brushing his hair back. “He needed to find his way back
to Phaidras, to his family. I told him I would help and in return, he would
help me catch the rabbit. So, we went hunting and he told me all about his
mom and dad, how they told him not to run off, but he didn’t listen and
ended up walking through a stray portal right into the Forest of Malice
where not one single tree could talk.”
Mark cuddled deeper into my side. “How did you get him home?”
“I found that stray portal. It was waiting for him as if it knew he didn’t
belong here.” I kissed his head again. “Be kind, be brave in the face of fear,
and help when you can, always. It’s really important. Fear doesn’t have to
make you weak, it can make you so strong, right?”
Mark yawned as he nodded. “I know, I know, sheesh.”
I chuckled. “I love you, little fox, sleep well.”
“I love you too. Are you gonna be gone when I wake up?”
I didn’t want to be. Part of me never wanted to go back to that cottage
again. “Yeah,” I whispered, crawling out of bed to tuck him in. “But I
promise that I won’t be gone forever.”
“Okay.”
I stayed until his heavy eyelids fell shut before I finally left his room,
my shoulders falling, the weight of the day settling around me.
Mom hadn’t meant it. I had made a stupid mistake. It wasn’t her fault. I
should have fought harder to get home sooner. I should have kicked the
High King in the dick or something. I shouldn’t have let him do that to me.
I padded silently to my room, closed the door behind me, and sank
down to the floor where my blankets were. I leaned back against the wall,
sitting there for a long time, staring at nothing, my thoughts pressing up
against the walls I had built up between the girl Mark knew, and who I
really was.
My throat closed as the entire day came rushing back. The dead people
scattered across the town square, the man’s eyes, Trick Michael. My head
fell to my bandaged hands and the quiet sobs shook through me.
I was so tired.
Just unbelievably, overwhelmingly tired.
And I needed everything to just…stop.
When I was empty of everything, every emotion, every thought, every
feeling, I took off my jacket, wadded it up, and shoved it under the few
other clothes I used as my pillow. I reached under the very edge of my
bottom blanket and pulled out a small, sharpened knife.
It was a special knife. The knife that helped me release some of that
pressure in my mind. In my body. The body that had betrayed me today.
I held out my left arm, taking in the lines I had put there over the years.
Punishments, cravings to feel something, and some for deeper reasons even
I couldn’t understand.
I would have to go back to my stomach soon, but for now, my arm
would do.
I stared, unblinking, as I pressed the blade into my skin until blood
welled up around it.
One.
Two.
Three lines.
Another for reacting the way I had today.
A fifth because part of me liked this.
And a sixth to punish me for liking what Trick Michael had done to me.
I watched the blood drip down to my blanket as I slid the knife back
under it. I’d have to clean it later.
I scooted down into my blankets, letting the pain erase whatever was
left in my head. The last man to see me naked had vomited when I had
taken off my shirt.
Vomited.
That should have pushed me to stop, but I couldn’t bring myself to do
it.
This was my addiction.
At the very word, those green eyes slid into my head, my hand drifting
up to the collar I now wore around my neck.
“A gift from a friend,” I had told Mom and Mark at dinner.
Not a gift. Not a friend. I would get it off. I had to get it off.
My hand slid an inch up and tightened around my throat as my eyes fell
shut.
I hated him. Hated him for what he did, for what he made me feel.
Hated myself for how I reacted.
But…
Would it be so terrible to use that?
My eyes flashed open, my heart already racing. I forced my hand down
and turned onto my side, pressing my fingers into my fresh cuts, the pain
clearing my mind again. Yes. Yes, it would be absolutely putrid of me to do
that. Absolutely vile.
He was a monster. The things he had done? And now I was his next
target. I wouldn’t give him or my body that satisfaction. It was fucking
disgusting.
I was disgusting.
~~~
 Cole
I stood just inside an alley facing out into the town square where just hours
ago dozens had died.
The moon was high, casting a blue glow over the world, over the
pristine cobblestone. There wasn’t even a drop of memory remaining of
what happened today, yet I could still feel the blood on my skin, still hear
their cries.
I could still see the fear and brokenness in Kyra’s eyes as she stared into
the eyes of the dead man.
Kyra. Her name was signed on the book I had been reading earlier
today. She must have forgotten she had signed her name on the back cover.
It was hard to remember that not everyone had seen the type of things I
had. Especially not here.
The look in her eyes made my chest tighten. It had been her first true
taste of a death like that, and Trick had made all of it worse with his stupid
games.
What was he doing? A collar? Although it was beautiful, it was
unbreakable. His magic was unbreakable. I wondered how hard Kyra would
try and get it off before she gave up.
I released a breath, carefully scanned the area, listened, and when the
coast was clear, I took a step out of the shadows into the town square.
“What are you doing?”
The annoyance I felt was immediate. “If you want to fix your brother’s
stupid mistake, her house is that way,” I gestured in the general direction of
Therian.
Lora was quiet a moment. “Well, I don’t have any idea what you’re
talking about, but I don’t get into his business. Not anymore. I’m here to
speak with you, Cole.”
I turned to face her, meeting her electric blue eyes, her wings of light
gray folded tightly behind her. They looked alike. She and Trick. The same
black hair, the same eye-shape, the same walls built in their eyes. Although
her hair had been shaved on one side of her head and the long ends that fell
to her jawline had been dyed bright blue. It suited her.
Rose had gotten every ounce of kindness their parents had to offer.
Every single ounce of it. Why had she been the one to die? It should have
been Trick.
 “He’s made some sort of sick claim on the girl I’m getting information
from.”
Lora rose a brow. “Oh, you mean the one you’re trying to lay with
because we all made a stupid bet hundreds of years ago and now that you’re
single again, you think it’s okay to mark a few more boxes? You mean that
girl?”
I huffed and turned back to the square. “She isn’t a box, she’s kind. She
tried to save me from a pack of demons, she gave up her healing remedies
to heal my face, she let me eat her food, sleep at her house. She is good, she
just has a hard outer shell, not unlike everyone else in this world.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever you need to tell yourself to make it
sound like it’s not what it is. Cole, you’re a good person who is still in
mourning and making terrible decisions. Don’t take that out on her. It’s time
to move on, to figure out who you are without her.”
I wasn’t taking anything out on anyone. She wasn’t a box. In fact, she
was one of the better people I had known since Rose had died. Why
couldn’t I just make a new friend?
A friend who had no correlation with the High Court. With the Fallen
Court in general. It would be nice to just have a friend. No politics, no job,
just…just a friend.
It had been a little bit of a game to me until Trick had trapped her
against that wall. Until I couldn’t get to her, keep him from touching her.
Kyra was defensive, but defensive didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t
good.
Tomorrow was a new day and I wanted to start over. Treat her the way I
would have before my heart had left this world.
Lora was right about that, I supposed. I needed to figure out who I was
without her. It was just…I was struggling and Trick playing these stupid
games wasn’t helping.
“Why are you here, Lor?” I asked, crouching down, searching for any
small little shimmer of Forbidden Magic. How had they cleaned up so well?
Lora remained where she was, still concealed by shadows. “Trick’s
changing paths. He’s still going after ‘the Congregation’, but he wants to
focus on what’s going on here too.”
I stood, turning to her. “You still don’t believe it’s real?”
“No, Cole, and neither should you. All he is is a cold-blooded killer. He
just needs an excuse to torture people and I’m done fighting him on it. I
can’t stop him, but that’s not the point. He wants you to actually study the
witches. So, have at it,” she shrugged, nonchalant.
My anger grew. “You’ve agreed to this?”
Lora sighed. “Yeah, I have. Why?”
I lifted and dropped my hands. “Because every single one of you
refused to believe me when I told you years ago what was happening here.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t our deal, Cole.”
My eyes widened. “It wasn’t our deal? They killed us too!” I hissed.
“They slaughtered the Fallen right alongside everyone else! We felt the
effects of the last two wars just like everyone else!”
Her eyes flicked to the castle and back. “Keep your voice down,” she
warned.
I huffed, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you. I’ve wanted, for years,
to take care of this, but Trick had to wait, why? Because he wanted them to
grow enough in power for it to be a real fight?”
She shook her head, clearly over the conversation. “I’ve tried my entire
life to understand him, Cole, I’m giving up. He did what he did. Now we’re
here and he wants us to look into it, so look into it. That’s your job here
anyway, right? Just do it. We have to take what we can when he gives it to
us, or we should just leave.”
I released a breath in disbelief and stalked up to her. “Just leaving is
sounding pretty good right about now.” I brushed by her, heading back
towards the cottage. I was exhausted and there was nothing here. There was
no point in staying.
“This girl he’s claimed,” Lora called after me. “What’s so special about
her?”
“Nothing,” I answered back. “She’s just an ordinary human who
decided to show some kindness to me. That’s it.”
“Well, if she has any information on the Book of Silence, get it. Trick
wants us to find that too.”
My lip curled. Perfect. He wants us to find a book that some human had
supposedly taken before the Fall and used to start the war. No one had seen
it since.
No one was even sure if Colby had actually gotten his hands on it, but if
anyone knew the truth, it’d be Kyra.
~~~
 Kyra
I wasn’t sure which bruises on my body were from what happened
yesterday and what Mom had done this morning, but everything hurt.
I tried to catalog everything so that I knew how to cover it up. Two
black eyes, a bruise around my wrist, my scraped-up hands, another bruise
around my upper arm, a large bruise on my right side over my ribs, a
medium sized bruise on my left hip, and one on my lower back.
Along with the scraps I had gotten on my hands from falling yesterday
and my sprained ankle, I was shocked I hadn’t just collapsed.
Everything could be covered up though. I wouldn’t let Cole touch me
because my body was sore from the crowd, and someone had kicked me in
the face during the attack yesterday, the bruise showed up this morning. He
should believe that no problem.
Perfect.
Easy.
The one that hurt the most though, was the one that wrapped around the
back of my neck.
Mom had tried to break off the collar this morning before I left. I was a
whore for wearing it rather than trading it off to the highest bidder for some
gold. She would never understand how badly I wanted it off too. I might
have thanked her if she had managed to break the chain, even if it did mess
my neck up for the rest of my life.
She had grabbed the front of it, slid her fingers through the ring, and
pulled and pulled and pulled until I couldn’t stop the tears from spilling
down my cheeks.
My neck hurt now, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t manage.
I flexed my hand, pulling at where the bandages stuck to my healing
wounds on my left arm. The pain cleared my head almost instantly.
The last time I had fucked someone had been two months ago. After he
ran away vomiting, I swore to myself I would change. And I would, it was
just…taking longer than I had hoped.
Especially after yesterday.
I didn’t feel great today. Not physically, but in my head. I didn’t want to
fight or argue or be awake.
So, I forced all of my own feelings down and focused on the task. The
sooner I could get Cole what he needed, the sooner I could get rid of him
and move Mark in.
If I could move Mark in before Trick killed me, then my job would be
done. Mark would be safe, and Trick could do with me what he pleased.
Today, I had a list. I had heard Cole mention something about marks on
the necks of the victims yesterday. Just like last time, but they hadn’t been
successful. I needed to know what that meant. I also wanted information on
the magic situation. Trick could use his magic, the witches could use theirs,
and the street was fine, but not Cole? Something had to be going on.
It wasn’t a long list, but it’d probably take a while to talk about.
I pulled my hood tight as I walked across the clearing and I ran a finger
down my veil, making sure all was in place as I headed for the door.
My attention was pulled when I passed the rock from yesterday. Trick’s
blood was frozen on one jagged edge of it. I felt a zing of pride fall down
my spine at that. He may have let it happen, but I still hurt him.
Ha.
When I finally shoved into the cottage, my head a little higher, I found
Cole looking over a stack of books, his brows furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sliding my satchel off.
“Hmm,” he replied as he straightened. “Oh, there was one book I
wanted to read but I can’t seem to find it. The Secret of the Crime.” His
eyes found mine. “Do you remember that one?”
Yup. Yeah, I did, it was…it was not suitable for anyone to read. Ever. I
should have burned it, and I’m glad I misplaced it because I knew for a fact
that I would never live that one down.
“That’s tough,” I told him as I set my satchel on the couch.
A smile touched one corner of his lips, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“You didn’t want me reading it, did you?”
I shrugged.
“You can tell me which of your books are off limits, you know that,
right?”
“What would you do here if you couldn’t read?”
His brows lifted. “You don’t want me reading any of them?”
I gestured towards the table, watching as his eyes flicked to my hands.
“Some books aren’t meant for anyone else. I fell during the fight,” I told
him. “Remember? You found me on the ground.”
He walked over, his eyes scanning carefully. “You’re walking as if
you’re in pain.”
 “There was an attack,” I enunciated. “I got hit by a bunch of scrambling
people who were trying to escape the horrible things happening. Just
because you don’t bruise easily doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone
else. I’m human. That comes with a long list of downfalls.”
He didn’t look like he believed me, but I truly didn’t care. “What did
Trick say yesterday?” he asked as he took a seat across from me.
“Does it matter?”
“He only says things he knows he can follow through on.”
Great.
“So yes, it matters.”
I watched him carefully as I gripped the back of my chair. “What did he
say before he abandoned you during both of those world-altering wars?”
Something flashed by Cole’s eyes before his walls went up. “I wasn’t
alive during the Fall.”
“And the War of Ruin?”
“How do you know about that?” he countered, leaning over the table. “I
thought you couldn’t find information about us.”
I glanced towards the cupboards under the sink. I had a single book
there dedicated to the Fallen. One book, only half-filled. With a sigh, I
turned back to him, wondering why he hadn’t been curious enough to at
least read that one. “I have some information on your species, not a lot,” I
reminded him. “I know he disappeared during those wars. Each for a
duration of 10 years. If he means what he says, what did he say then?”
I needed to know it wasn’t true. I needed to know that he said things
just to say things like every other person in this world. I needed to have a
shred of hope that my life wasn’t going to end in a concrete prison, chained
to the ground, being tortured and raped by that man.
I needed something. Anything.
“High Kings are allowed to keep secrets. You told me that.”
I worked my jaw, but the stiffness in his eyes was unwavering.
Whatever he had told them, Cole wouldn’t reveal it now.
I straightened and shook my head. “He didn’t tell me anything of any
substance,” I lied. “He wanted information and didn’t know how to ask
nicely, so I gave it to him. I told him about the contract signed by Malaki. I
reminded him that so long as Satarmore was still getting reports from a
witch living in Sarivos, he didn’t have to care about what the others did. It’s
not his problem.”
 Cole’s nostrils flared and then his brows pulled together. He leaned
back in his chair, pondering over what I had said before finally shrugging.
“He doesn’t do anything ‘nicely’. It shouldn’t have ended like that. Like,”
he gestured to the collar he couldn’t see.
Luckily, my hoodies and shirts covered most of it, and with my hood
up, it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye unless someone was
looking for it.
“Have you tried getting it off yet?”
I slammed the door on the memory of what Mom had done and shook
my head. “Nothing that comes to mind. How powerful is he?”
Cole sighed. “Powerful enough that no one will be able to get that off
with their magic.”
I shrugged again, already planning on going to see Madam Levine
about it. “Then I just have to figure out what the source of your magic
dysfunction is and get close enough to that where his falters. Which leads
me to one of my questions. Why is it that the witches magic worked
yesterday and yours still has issues?”
“My guess is that they’re controlling it. Which makes sense. Trick is
just too powerful to be affected by it.”
Which reenforces my theory of the witches going after him.
“Your brother, Mark?”
My breath caught.
“How was he?”
I chewed on my lip, trying to come off as nonchalant, but it did shake
me to my core that he now knew my brother’s name. Of no fault of his own,
I suppose.
Cole leaned over the table. “He’s the one this is all for.”
Not a question.
I found his eyes again, pulling at my fingers. “Hmm-mm. He was…” I
cleared my throat. “He was fine. He is fine,” I corrected.
Cole smiled softly. “Well good. Tell me about him. This man who has
your heart.”
My brows furrowed. “You want to know about my brother?” My eyes
narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”
His eyes only shined. “Because I want to know more about you. No
strings attached.”
Or he needed information to give his High King, who was probably
working right now and couldn’t stalk me.
“He’s a boy,” I stated, placing my hands on my hips in defiance. “He’s
underfed and fully loved, and absolutely no use to a Fallen General or his
creepy High King.” Only partially a lie. I fed him plenty, just…just not
enough to grow like he should, but I was trying. I was doing everything I
could to get him to gain weight.
Mom didn’t believe me because of the medical condition I had. Some
sort of issue within me that allowed me to gain weight but kept me from
losing it. Which was why on the outside I looked like I had three meals a
day, healthy, curvy. But on the inside, I had only had two meals in the last
three days because I needed Mark to eat more, which was why I was feeling
a bit dizzy today, but it was fine. He needed it more than I did.
“I don’t want to take him, Kyra, I want to know about what you love
most in this world. You could have died for your brother yesterday, yet you
didn’t think twice about it.”
My eyes widened and I took a step back, hands dropping to my sides.
“How do you know my name?”
He placed a hand on the book he had been reading yesterday. “You
signed your name. Kyra Skye. It’s a beautiful name.”
It wasn’t a big deal, him knowing my name. In fact, I had forgotten that
I had never told him. It just felt personal, and I didn’t like that. “What did
you mean yesterday when you said ‘it wasn’t successful’? What wasn’t?
What happened before?”
The light in Cole’s eyes dimmed a bit as he sat back. He inhaled deeply.
“The witches, years ago, were experimenting with turning people into
mindless drones. We call them Soldiers. The people they try and change get
a mark on their neck, the base of it, an eight-pointed star. It was never
successful until they realized how to make it successful. Humans. The
vessel needed to be empty of magic before they were changed.”
I finally sat down, my motions slow. “What?” I whispered in shock.
“They’re changing people? Into what? I mean what are they actually doing
to them?”
“The Soldiers are basically hosts to a magical parasite. This parasite
gives them the ability to use magic for an incredibly short period of time.
Humans aren’t meant to have magic in their bodies, so as soon as Forbidden
Magic shifts them into Soldiers, the magic starts to rot them from the inside
out. It’s a very slow and painful process, but once they use it, they have
about an hour left to live.”
I leaned over the table, intrigued and horrified by the information. “Can
they feel it?”
He shrugged. “Nobody knows. No one has cared enough to ask, and
even if we did manage to trap one long enough to ask it if it feels anything,
chances are, they’d try to kill us and then die before we got anything out of
them.”
It sounded terrible and incredibly interesting. “So, Evanora would have
to create thousands and thousands of them just to get an army?”
Cole nodded. “If she wants a bigger army, then yes.”
Why wouldn’t she? With the war she declared looming, she was
probably going to try again. I searched his eyes and leaned back. “What do
you know about the witches?”
His eyes narrowed as he matched my movements. “What do you know
about—”
“No, don’t do that,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “Your
High King sent you on some secret business in Therian, and then the
witches declare war on probably everyone, they didn’t specify, so is that it?
You’re studying the witches?”
He huffed. “Yes.”
I couldn’t help the smile that touched my lips. “You didn’t think I
would guess that did you?”
He shrugged, shaking his head, suddenly reminding me of Mark
throwing tantrums. “Didn’t cross my mind, no.”
I laughed lightly.
A small smile spread across his lips. “Okay, fine,” he said, holding up
his hands. “You guessed it, so I won’t be breaking any promises telling you.
Trick didn’t want anything to do with this,” he gestured in the general
direction of Therian. “He didn’t care about what was going on. Had I
known that, I never would have come, as it is, I’m here. He wanted me to
study the demons and find out more about the witches.”
“Why does he care now?” I asked. “What changed?”
“I think it’s a game now, and he likes his games,” Cole stated bitterly.
Yeah, of course he did. “Did you know about the witches?”
Cole nodded. “I’ve known for centuries about them, but no one listened
because he ordered them not too. He didn’t want to bother.”
I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant.”
 “You have no idea,” he sighed, leaning over the table. “What do you
know about them?”
I grabbed the table and shoved myself away. “Well,” I sighed, standing,
“a lot.” I walked over and started thumbing through my stack. “So, we all
know that the Fall began with rumors of Colby Atmos who was out
searching for the Book of Silence.” I pulled out a few journals and stood.
“Which hasn’t been seen since then,” he added.
I shook my head, setting the books on the table. “No.” I grabbed one of
the books and flipped through the pages. “As we all know, wars begin with
meetings. Here,” I said, sliding the book over.
Cole leaned over it. “’High King Jakob Gerodia met with Evanora
Fairshield and then later her mother, Aurora, joined.’” He straightened.
“Okay.”
“Colby’s name isn’t mentioned at all before the war, yet he was, as
people believe, the main part of it. Well, my belief is that Colby was only a
scapegoat to keep the Gerodia name out of any records, which failed
horribly because you have to keep records of what happens within the
castle, but do you remember how Malaki Irsch bound Aurora’s powers after
Elrikant? I think that made her crazy. Which is what started all of this.”
“My magic has never been bound, but I assume you’re correct. Magic-
users have to use their magic. If they don’t it’s like over-filling a balloon.
Eventually, it’ll pop. Too bad it didn’t pass through the generations, huh?”
I shrugged. “Malaki was a good High King, but he didn’t think ahead
too much, which isn’t necessarily his fault. Nobody thinks about the
generations that come after them. Especially if you’re immortal.”
Elrikant was a war of power, as most wars were. Aurora had decided the
warlocks had too much power, so she started dabbling in Forbidden Magic,
which stole something from her soul, darkened it. It turned her heart to
stone. The Keepers, the gods of the warlocks and witches, disowned the
witches because of this.
Aurora had gotten angry and continued to prepare for war, ignoring
Malaki’s pleas to stop. The war was brutal and bloody, lasting only three
days, and it only ended when most of the witches had been executed.
Aurora ended up surrendering, and Malaki made a deal with her. Bind her
powers, set up a contract, and she could remain in Sarivos undisturbed.
No one had guessed that Malaki wouldn’t have bound the magic of the
entire Fairshield line, so when Aurora had a daughter, Evanora, she kept the
girl a secret, raised her in a cave learning Forbidden Magic, and here we
ended up.
I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest. “Three years after that
meeting, Aurora started looking into Black Magic. I can’t figure out the
importance in that because as far as I can tell, Evanora only uses Forbidden
Magic, but I keep all of the information I find just in case.”
“Wars take time,” he spoke almost to himself. “A lot of time.”
I nodded. “I don’t know if their initial plan was to kill off the dragons
and Nephilim, but if it was, that takes an insane amount of work and
planning. There’s not much in this world that can take down a dragon, let
alone an entire species of them.” I slid another journal over, flipped to a
specific page.
He skimmed the words. “The Staff of Elder?”
It was a theory, but it was my best one, so I put as much confidence in
my voice as I could and said, “it’s the only thing in this world that can take
down something that powerful, I’ve looked. I know it wasn’t created as a
weapon but it is something of insane power. It created every species in this
world, it would be poetically tragic for it to destroy those very same things.
They used it to kill the dragons while Ryker took care of the Nephilim, of
course they wouldn’t stand a chance.
“No one would have considered a human, witch, Nephilim, and
something from beyond the Veil to be working together. This is what
irritates me the most about all of this; people truly thought that Colby, even
with the Book of Silence, would have the mental and physical capability to
open up the Veil and summon something from another world to bind to him
and use in a war like this? It’s hard to believe people are that easily
swayed.”
Cole ran his hands through his hair as if this were something he had
been thinking about for his entire life and I had finally given him some
form of validation by simply speaking. “Okay,” he finally said, “we’re on
the same path then. You believe the witches were behind both wars.”
I nodded, despite the fact that it wasn’t a question. “They’ve been
controlling the humans for over 1,200 years. Now we have actual proof.
That first meeting led to a deal of immortality and power. Aurora trained
Evanora well enough to open the Veil. Somehow, they managed to get the
Staff of Elder, all while the world focused on Colby and his search for the
Book of Silence.”
 “Why Colby?”
“Colby was a member of Jakob’s High Court. Jakob convinced him to
take the fall to protect his court, and in return Colby would get immortality.
They retrieved the Staff, Colby may or may not have actually gotten the
book, and the rest is history.”
Cole threaded his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars I had
drawn. “So, five years from meeting to war. Aurora sent her daughter to
Therian, Evanora convinced Jakob, Jakob convinced Colby, they recruited
Killian, promising power, Aurora taught Evanora how to use Forbidden
Magic while she was growing up, and she opened the Veil and summoned
Ryker, binding him to her blood.”
It was a messy history, but it was so obvious. I couldn’t believe no one
else knew about it.
“Who used the Staff during the Fall?”
I shrugged, wondering if he was actually asking me since his eyes were
still trained above. “Had to have been Evanora. Colby wouldn’t have been
able to use it, even if he got the Book of Silence.”
We slipped into silence then as we both thought over the wars.
I couldn’t believe how conniving the witches were. From going after
Malaki because he had too much power, to destroying entire species’
because they didn’t have enough.
Now they were going after Cole’s High King, and here I was
considering whether or not that was entirely bad.
Finally, I inhaled. “So, this is what I have on the witches.” I exhaled.
“The other books are bloodlines and small battles, written from the
beginning. I think this is what you’ll find most impressive.”
“Do I have your permission to read the others if I see fit?” he asked as I
stood.
I glanced at the stack, going through the catalog in my mind. There was
nothing there that I thought would destroy the world if he got his hands on
it. “Sure.” I walked over to a particular stack of journals against the wall of
dragons and plucked one off the top.
“Do you like dragons?” Cole asked as I headed back for the table.
“There’s more on the walls about them than there is anything else.”
I nodded, taking my seat again. “They’re my favorite. Something that
powerful and that beautiful roaming this world? It’s hard not to obsess over
something like that.” I grabbed a pencil and leaned back, finding his eyes.
“Now it’s your turn.”
Cole glanced to the book and back. “My turn for what?”
I smoothed out the brand new page. “Time for you to tell me about the
Fallen. You can read all night if you want, I only have a couple of hours a
day to interview you before I have to do my job. So, your turn.”
He studied me for a moment before shoving himself to a stand.
My brows furrowed. “What are you doing?”
He gestured to the chair beside mine. “Gonna join you. If you’re going
to interview me, I’m going to make sure you write down what I say.”
I frowned deeply. “You think I’ll construed it into something
nightmarish?”
“You hate our species enough.”
“I don’t—” I grasped the bridge of my nose. “If you people didn’t make
it so easy to believe the stories told, I wouldn’t have ill feelings towards
you. As it is, I would never construe anything. I need Mark to believe in the
good and bad of every species. The truth,” I pushed as he sat down beside
me. “If you tell me about something good, I’m going to record that too.”
Cole angled his chair towards me and pulled over the witch books.
“You tell your brother about us?”
I rolled my eyes. “I tell my brother everything.” Not everything but
everything that mattered. “I want him to see this world as it is, not as any
High King or High Queen make it out to be. Especially now.”
“Why?”
I lifted and dropped my hand against my thigh with a slap. “Because
everyone in this world deserves to believe that there is at least one person
out there who knows the truth. That they aren’t all bad. Stories are told from
enemies slain. Told by parents to scare their kids into behaving. I don’t do
that. The Fallen just haven’t given me anything good to write about so,” I
tapped the paper. “Prove the world wrong.”
Cole glanced to the paper and back, searching my eyes. “Okay,” he
finally said, leaning back in his chair. “How about this for a good one; I’m
half-Fae.”
I rolled my eyes. “Can we please be serious? I was completely truthful
with you, I deserve the same.”
Cole smiled and shrugged. “I am. On my mother’s side. She lived in
Obscura. Never got the chance to meet her, but I heard from a few nameless
Fae that she was beautiful, kind. Good. My father? Not so much.”
 After several seconds of challenging him, I finally nodded, hoping that
he wasn’t just making something up for me to put down. I didn’t need his
history anyway, but it was something, I supposed. So, I wrote down his
name.
“Age?”
His smile widened. “1,134.”
I scratched it down. He looked good for that age. “Wing color?”
“Black,” he answered, “with an outline of red.”
I paused, eyes lifting. “What?”
Cole nodded. “The stem is black, and around the edges of the feather
it’s a dark red.”
Interesting. “Primarily the wings of the Fallen are one color. Does that
stem from your Fae blood?”
“Unless I have a deficiency somewhere, then yes,” he chuckled.
I wrote it down quickly and lifted my eyes. “Okay, start from the
beginning.” This was nice. This is something I knew how to do. Ask
questions, take notes. Learn. It came easy to me, and learning more about
Cole in particular might help me better understand why he was the way he
was. Maybe we could even become friends.
Friends with a Fallen, I could have laughed.
Cole nodded, turning partway to me, one of his legs brushing against
mine, causing me to tense, only to relax a second later. His leg was warm,
strong, unwavering. I didn’t have to be afraid of that.
“My father was Fallen,” he began evenly. “A warrior working for
Trick’s father and then Trick a long time ago.”
My fingers stumbled writing that name. It was stupid, the fear I felt at
just the name, but it was there, trickling down my spine, warming my neck.
So, I wrote down ‘High King’ instead.
“Trick sent him on a mission to the Fae Court to inspect something that
had been happening there at the time. The Rains didn’t know about it.
Sutten, I believe, had been the High King at the time.”
Sutten Rain. Good, fair, but unrelenting. He had been a lot tougher than
his granddaughter, Penny Rain, was. A lot harsher, but not cruel. Never
cruel.
“My mother specialized in shadow magic, just as Penny’s husband
does. You know about that, right?”
I nodded, writing almost as fast as he was talking. “Yes. There are
several different kinds of Fae,” I started, mostly because I was in that state
of mind. Information. Studying, preparing for something I couldn’t put a
finger on. “They all have their basic magic. Glamor, Jumping, all that, but
they also specialize too. Earth, water, shadows, healing, and wind. And then
there was the Unseelie Court, which resided on the Southwestern side of the
Fae Court when it still existed.”
Cole was quiet a moment, but I didn’t mind, it gave me the second I
needed to catch up. “Right,” he finally said and then cleared his throat. “My
father, he was a bad man, but Trick didn’t realize that at the time, or at least
that’s what he told me. He was still young, still learning, and it hadn’t been
too long after the Fall, everything was still temperamental, and he was still
healing. So, he sent my father and a few others to seek out and kill the
creatures out there that were similar to Ryker.”
I looked up at that, my brows furrowing. “Wait, there were others?” I
hadn’t read about that anywhere, it seemed like an important fact to just
leave out of the history books.
Cole smiled. “There’s probably quite a bit you don’t know about the
world, Talons. You’ve gathered a lot, you know more than anyone I’ve met,
besides Nick, but you can’t know much about us with what Trick and
Raphael have done.”
Instantly my gut twisted. “What did he do?” I asked, my tone clipped.
He didn’t seem surprised at the bitterness in my voice. “Raphael
destroyed all of your books, Trick collected all of ours that remained
outside of the Fallen Court, and put them in our library. The Hall of Death.
Did you know about that?”
Did I know about that. What a stupid question. I knew about every
library in this world. Especially the great ones. “How many were there?”
Cole’s brows lifted. “Books? Um…” His face twisted. “There had to
have been bill—”
“The creatures,” I half laughed. “The things you were hunting.”
“Oh, whew,” he breathed out causing my smile to widen. “Had me
sweating there for a minute.”
I rolled my eyes.
He laughed. “Countless,” he went on, bumping his knee against my leg.
“We still get reports from time to time, other than the demons. They all
came from the same place, you know? But none of them are as serious as
Ryker was.”
 Interesting. “Okay, go on.”
“So, they were doing their job,” he continued. “They had found three of
those creatures, killed them silently, no ruckus, no mess, but on the way out,
he spotted her, my mother, and he decided then that he had never slept with
a Fae, so…he did. He didn’t get permission, consent, anything, he just took
what he wanted, and that was it, which is why I don’t like…certain things in
the bedroom.”
And yet he hadn’t abandoned his High King after everything he had
done. Cole’s father raped his mother and now his High King was going to
rape me. I wondered what he would say if I told him. But I couldn’t bring
myself to do it and I didn’t know why. Part of me hated myself for it. The
other part of me, even knowing how horrible it must have been for his
mother…
“Gods, you’re so fucking disgusting.”
He looked away, his expression hardening as if he had heard my putrid
thoughts. “I could never do anything like what he did. I’m not like him. I
don’t ever want to be compared to him, not in any way, shape or form.”
Guilt filled me, that self-hatred, and I shoved it down as far as it would
go, trying to rid myself of every ounce of feeling I had before he could
smell it on me.
“Worthless, fucking piece of shit. Thinking like that? His mother
suffered. Suffered and you fantasize? You’re so fucking horrible.”
I swallowed, my grip tightening around my pencil.
“When Sutten found out about what my father did,” Cole went on,
having no idea what thoughts had just whispered through my mind, “my
mother was already three months pregnant. Fae only carry for four months
before birth. Sutten wasn’t a cruel man, and he didn’t need trouble between
the Courts, so as soon as she had me, he took me from my mother’s arms
and dropped me at my father’s doorstep.
“Trick didn’t find out for two decades. That man hated me. He hated
what I was, hated that I existed.” Cole swallowed, the anger and resentment
clear. “But when Trick, Lora, and Rose found out, they didn’t hesitate. I
remember the day they came. I remember hearing the door explode open,
hearing my father shout and snap, demanding what they were doing, and
then I remember seeing shadows slide under the steel door, down the
splintered wooden steps, to my blankets below.”
Those cruel things that had burned my skin without leaving a mark.
 “I watched them slither like snakes over to me, and I was terrified.
Terrified because I had no idea what they were. No idea who they belonged
to, but when they stopped in front of me, watching me like a snake might
watch its prey, I realized something; what could possibly be worse than
what I was going through?”
I knew that feeling all too well. I understood exactly what he had felt in
that basement. The anger, the loneliness, the hatred. I understood it
completely.
“The door opened a moment later and there wasn’t a big terrifying man
standing at the top of the stairs, but a woman. A woman with beautiful
golden blonde hair and burning light green eyes. She was wearing the same
armor you found me in, and she had the most beautiful snow-white wings I
had ever seen.
“I was jealous. My wings were near featherless, weak, unused, tied
behind my back because I was a Fae, and I didn’t deserve to have the wings
of a Fallen.”
I flinched back at the pure hatred in his tone, but I knew exactly what it
felt like.
“Rose floated down the stairs and crouched down in front of me. She
smiled, and with a flick of her wrist, the restraints fell away. ‘We already
have a room for you’, and that was it. They took me home and I never saw
that man again. I think Trick may have killed him. After that, I worked,
joined the warriors, built up my strength, and decided I would never let
anyone treat me like that again.”
And so became the High General of the Fallen Court.
I caught up with where we were in the story before finding his eyes
again, seeing him in a slightly different light than before. “Your magic?”
His past made him defensive just like what mine had done to me. We were
the same in a sense.
I suppose it didn’t matter what species you were born in to, some things
just didn’t change.
Cole shrugged, looking anywhere but me for whatever reason. “It’s a
mixture of Fallen and Fae. My father was a Great Fallen, and my mother
was a Great Fae, so I’m pretty strong. Which makes me a great asset for
Trick to have. It’s also why I have pointed ears.”
My brows furrowed, eyes lifting to his ears. “What?”
He pushed his hair to the side, showing off his sharpened ears, slightly
shorter than that of a pure Fae. “I keep them covered, but yeah, pointed ears
just like Trick. Although his is definitely a genetic defect because both of
his parents were full Fallen.”
I truly didn’t care.
“Do you specialize like the Fae do?”
Cole shrugged, letting his hair fall back into place. “Not that I can tell.
The only difference is the way it looks. My magic comes out red, but Fallen
magic is usually a golden-yellow, and none of the Fae have red magic, in
fact, I’m pretty sure only warlocks have known cases of red magic.”
Yeah, usually their magic matched their eyes, which ranged in color.
I scribbled down a few more things and nodded. “Hybrid. First known
case. It’s something.”
Cole smiled, knocking his leg against mine once again. “Not the only
one though. Trick is a hybrid, we just don’t know of what.”
My eyes lifted. I didn’t care to know anything about the High King, but
it was important to the information I was gathering, so with an eyeroll, I
waved him on.
He must have seen my irritation because he laughed. “Lora said her
parents called it Shadow Magic, which does exist in the Fae species but not
in ours. There’s never been anyone like him, and they were never sure why
he got it, where it came from or if it could be inherited by his children.”
I had flipped to a new page and scrawled down the information. “How
old is he?”
“1,306.”
Even though I expected him to be old, hearing the number was
shocking. “His parents?”
“Aden and Uriella Michael.”
I scrawled it down quickly, wanting nothing more than to move on. “Is
he really as powerful as the world claims?” I asked, finding his eyes.
Cole nodded, a look of slight fear in his eyes. Fear covered by a lifetime
of being the High King’s General. “As far as I can tell, yeah, but it’s hard to
know where the fear comes from. People could believe that he really is as
powerful as a god, or they could just fear him because of what he’s done.
Once enough years have passed, it’s hard to decipher a certain kind of fear.
It all just becomes the same.”
I wrote down ‘think’s he’s a god. Might actually be one’ before finding
Cole’s eyes again. “There is this theory,” I finally said, “about convergence.
Where everything kind of lines up in the world, creating these really
powerful people to help fight off a really powerful force. Have you ever
heard about it?”
Cole nodded. “You think this is that?”
I shrugged, shutting the book, wanting to be done for the day. “I can’t
be sure. You kind of seem like maybe you’re a good guy—”
“Thanks,” he smiled.
I gave him a look. “But that doesn’t mean anything because your High
King is what the gods hoped for when they created your species. So, the
only way to prove the theory is to see how it plays out. I don’t trust you
because you might be untrustworthy, I don’t trust you because of the man
you work for. I understand that the decisions of the king aren’t the decisions
of his people, but working under a man like that? You’d have to follow his
law or…or he could just put you back in that basement.”
Cole watched me for a long time, something in his eyes shifting.
It might have crossed a line, but a small part of me wanted to push him.
I wanted to see if there was a potential for friendship. Maybe with
something else, but it’d be nice to just…to have another adult to talk to
about the things that happened in this world.
Suddenly, he reached out for my journal and took it out of my hands,
setting it on the table. “I’m sorry he scared you,” he told me, my heart
picking up as his eyes darkened.
Reldron’s paper skin. Now was not the time for this. I had to focus. I
had to get back to the city. I had things I had to deal with.
I pushed myself to a stand. “I’m not scared of your High King, Cole,” I
replied, walking over to a random stack just to busy myself. “He’s just a
jerk on a power trip. So long as he waits to kidnap and torture me until after
I get Mark here then…” I shrugged. Not wanting to finish that sentence.
“He’s not going to kidnap you,” Cole replied, his chair scraping across
the floor.
I crouched down, thumbing through the journals mindlessly. “That’s
what he does, Cole. If I know that better than you already, then maybe you
need to get another job.”
“He won’t kidnap you,” he repeated carefully. “He’s not going to lay a
finger on you, I won’t let him.”
I huffed, pretending I hadn’t found what I was looking for, and stood,
turning to face him. “So, if he tells you to let it happen, you won’t do what
he says?”
“No,” he stated, walking up to me. “I won’t.”
I rolled my eyes, folding my arms across my chest. “Your entire job is
to listen and do what he says. I’ve come to terms with it, you need to as
well.” I hadn’t come to terms with it, but I didn’t have the time to have a
mental breakdown right now, so this was all I had to give it.
He grabbed my chin, his touch gentle, warm. His fingers calloused,
scratching at the skin he managed to touch around the veil. “I won’t let
him.”
I searched his eyes, wondering if he could see what surrounded mine.
Even if he had dull senses, he should have noticed, yet he hadn’t questioned
it yet. Not once.
Maybe he had seen it and chalked it up to the attack yesterday. That was
good, it’s what I had wanted.
He wanted to have sex, a blind person could see that, and maybe I
should. Despite his High King’s threats, maybe getting a release would help
me feel better or feel something different than what I was feeling now.
Besides, we were the same in several aspects. Maybe that’s what I needed
to break myself of these terrible thoughts. Fuck someone like me. See how
he healed and follow his example.
He had already said he couldn’t do certain things, that was perfect. It
was exactly what I had been looking for.
“There are rules,” I finally said, placing a hand on his chest as he slowly
moved forward.
Cole paused, his eyes locked on my veil, on where my lips were. I
wondered if he could see through it. And if he could, why did he not say
anything about the cut on my lip the other day? Not that it mattered, but…it
did a little. Just a little. “Rules?”
I nodded as his hand slowly moved under my veil, sliding up my jaw,
but making no move to push it away. “Clothes on, veil on, no kissing.”
He rose his brows finally meeting my eyes. “No kissing?”
I wanted to kiss. I needed to kiss. Kissing, deep, passionate kissing got
me going in a way nothing else could, but I couldn’t do that right now. My
lips weren’t healed, my face was bruised. So today, it had to remain basic.
“You want to fuck me, you play by my rules,” I told him confidently
although something like fear trickled down my spine.
Fear and excitement. The High King had made his rules clear too, and
maybe that’s why my stomach was warming. Because I knew it would piss
him off. Me fucking his High General. I could prove to him that he wasn’t
as terrifying as he thought he was. That I still had freewill. I was still in
control.
It was the perfect excuse to let Cole rail me.
Cole smiled softly and shrugged then, his other hand sliding around my
waist. “I can live with that this time.” He pulled me against him, my breath
catching as his hot breath soaked into my veil.
I swallowed, scanning his face for only a moment before I jumped up
and wrapped my legs around his hips, feeling his already hardened cock
fighting to break free. I guess he had been wanting this for a while.
Good.
I grinded against it, closing my eyes, digging my nails into his back,
trying to focus.
Focus on him. On how he felt against me, on how his hands traveled
from my waist to my thighs, on how his fingers dug into me.
He carried me over to the table and sat me down, leaning back just
enough to pull at the ties on my pants.
I reached out, pulling at his, focused solely on the act. On how the
outline of his cock pressed against his pants. I needed this. I needed this to
happen. I needed to get out of my head, to erase what I was thinking.
I needed this to give me a release so that I could be reformed. I needed
to be reformed. Soft and loving, not violent and sickening.
Soft and loving.
Soft and loving.
Soft and lo—
He sprang free from his pants and the first thing I thought was
“Definitely larger than the males here.” Maybe that made me selfish, but
damn. Damn.
Cole shoved my pants as far down as they would go in the position I
was in, grabbed my legs just under my knees, and yanked me forward.
I found his eyes, but his were cast down. Which was better. If I looked
too long, I’d want to kiss him. For right now this is what it needed to be.
This is what it had to be.
I panted as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself
closer, hooking my chin over his shoulder.
“Soft and loving,” I chanted as I pulled myself up and slowly, carefully,
eased myself down on top of him.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on how it felt to be stretched out by
him. I hadn’t prepared. Hadn’t worked myself up, so it was a little painful
for the first few seconds until his precum worked its way around him.
I swallowed as my ass hit the table again. Cole slid his hands around me
and jerked me forward again, a grunt escaping me as a chill ran down my
spine.
Gods, he felt good. This felt good.
My eyes opened as Cole pulled out to the very tip and shoved himself
back into me.
And I froze, fear growing and growing until my entire body was formed
from it. Carved from it.
Trick watched me from the center of the room, not feet from us. He was
shrouded in darkness, wearing a hood all his own, looking at me from the
shadows, nothing alight but his bright green eyes and that sickening, daring
smile gracing his lips.
Oh fuck.
Cole pulled out and slammed in again, groaning. “Fuck, Kyra, you’re so
fucking wet.”
No.
No!
Soft and loving not this.
I gripped into his shirt, tightening my legs around him as he slammed
into me, my stomach buzzing, spine tingling.
Trick’s shadows drifted around him lazily, his eyes locked onto mine,
such a feral rage in them, it made tears prickle at the corner of my eyes.
I groaned, grinding against Cole, unable to help myself.
Cole went harder, the table moving under us. He released me and
grabbed my arms, pulling them out from around him.
Trick just watched, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he would do.
He couldn’t very well kill his High General, but maybe he would. Maybe I
had just gotten Cole killed over some sick fascination his High King had for
me.
He guided me back, pushing me down until I was on my back, and I let
him, wanting nothing more than to get Trick out of my line of sight.
I stared up at those stars as Cole grabbed my legs and jerked me
forward again, crumpling the papers underneath me.
 He was going to kill me.
Cole’s hands wrapped under my legs, and he carefully eased both legs
up until they rested against his shoulders before he started slamming into
me again.
“Soft and loving,” I chanted and slowly angled my hips up until he hit
that that perfect little spot.
I groaned deeply, my back arching as I reached up and grabbed hold of
the edge of the table on either side of my head.
“Do you like that?” Cole grunted.
I could feel it building in my gut. “That’s right. Let it go. Let this take
you to your end. You don’t need any of those horrible, sick things, this is all
you ne—”
A chill swam over me.
I didn’t want to open my eyes, but some force beyond my control
forced my hand. When I did, there he was. His hands were placed flat
against the table on either side of me, his face hovering above mine, those
shadows threatening.
I gasped, my heart picking up, the fear shifting into something gross
and vile. Could Cole really not see him?
I bit my lip until I could taste the blood, trying to keep my moans in,
but fuck, my body shook with it. With the pleasure, the need.
No, no, no.
One of his shadows drifted over, slithering over my waist, a chill
spreading through me. I looked down and watched it creep up my body.
I cried out from fear and pleasure and tried to wipe it away, but my
hands were locked in place.
I looked up again, this time to my hands, willing them to move, but it
was useless. He was doing something to me. He had locked my body. I
couldn’t move.
I couldn’t move!
I struggled, pulling at my hands, as the fear grew. I turned back to the
shadow tendril, watching as it traveled up, up, up, slithering between my
breasts, up to where my jacket met my neck, and it slid under my clothes.
Tears filled my eyes as the painful chill of it drifted down to my breast,
circling it, nipping at the soft skin, my peaked nipples seen even through
my hoodie.
My eyes lifted back to Trick’s, tears sliding into my hairline just as the
shadows flicked my nipple, pain slashing through me.
I groaned, arching back against it, needing more friction, hating every
fucking second of it.
Cole pounded harder into me, faster.
But I needed more.
I couldn’t have more.
“You disgusting whore.”
I know, I can’t stop it.
Trick leaned down then as his shadow burned my skin, pinched my
nipple and then slithered slowly down the center of my body.
He stopped only when his breath touched my ear where my hood had
fallen back. “I warned you,” he purred, and pressed his tongue flat against
my neck, slowly trailing it up to the base of my ear, liquid heat pooling
between my thighs.
“Oh, fuck,” I moaned through my teeth, falling off the ledge just as his
shadows touched my throbbing clit.
The orgasm shook painfully through me, Cole’s release nothing but a
muffled moan through the roaring in my own ears.
Cole pulled out as soon as he was done, which was punishment in and
of itself, honestly, because I wanted to ride this out. I wanted just a few
more seconds, but it was over, and I collapsed onto the table, trembling and
panting as I opened my eyes and found Trick gone, the presence of his
shadows gone.
I sucked in my lips and sat up as he turned away to tie his pants. I
quickly wiped my tears and pulled my hood back on, crossing my legs
together once my pants were fixed, shame filling me.
What the fuck was wrong with me? Was I even able to finish without
that…that shit? I almost did, didn’t I? I had been so close, hadn’t I?
“Fuck, Kyra,” Cole said, turning back to me.
I immediately wiped my expression, forcing my back to relax, forcing a
smile on my face. “Good, huh?” I winced at how forced that sounded. I
would never know. Maybe I just didn’t have the ability. Maybe I just had to
never fuck again. Become celibate. It seemed like a decent plan.
Maybe.
Cole nodded, sliding his hand up my thigh. “Maybe next time we can
take it into the bedroom,” he suggested softly.
I brushed his hand off my knee nonchalantly and slid from the table.
“Maybe.” What had I done? Testing a High King? Of all the stupid, idiotic
things to do. I needed to stay alive long enough to get Mark settled and
testing the patience of the most dangerous man in the world was not going
to help me do that.
What now? What was going to happen now?
“I’m going to clean up and then I have to go to town,” I told him,
already heading towards my room. “You read, get your information.”
I shut the door behind me before he could reply.
My heart was slamming, my hands shaking, as I ran into the bathroom,
shutting the door.
What the fuck was wrong with me? I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have
enjoyed that.
I ripped off my veil and tore back my hood, getting to the toilet just in
time for me to eject everything that was in my stomach. Water. A few
berries.
My stomach convulsed, trying to force more out of me, but there was
nothing left.
When it finally realized that I had nothing left to give, I was able to
force myself to stand and clean myself up, keeping the tears back.
“You sick fuck,” an unknown male spat in my ear.
“No sane woman is into this,” another hissed.
“Disgusting bitch.”
“Fucking horrifying.”
“Pathetic.”
I shook my head, gripped the sink counter, heart racing. I tried. I had
really tried this time.
I sniffed, finding my eyes in the mirror. My eyes were red, my cheeks
blotchy, my lip split apart again.
The bruises around my eyes looked angry, so dark purple, they almost
looked black. Cole had had his eyes closed the entire time, but his High
King?
He had to have seen them.
I straightened, my brunette hair, lighter than Cole’s, fell back as I
looked down. With trembling hands, I unzipped my jacket and pulled up my
shirt, tears filling my eyes as I saw that this time, his shadows had left their
mark.
Deep purple bruises resembling hickies surrounded my breasts, my
nipples.
And part of me liked that. Part of me loved being claimed like that.
My eyes filled again and I angrily jerked my shirt down. “I fucking hate
you,” I said to the void, hoping he heard me. “I fucking hate you,” I snarled
through my teeth.
The chuckle sounded through my bones, the cackle of a demon. “We’ll
see.”
I spun around, searching the room, but he wasn’t there. He was
nowhere to be found.
I turned back to the mirror, eyes falling to the collar around my neck.
Almost as black as his shadows. A permanent reminder of him.
That’s when I realized something. He was one of the more powerful
beings in the world and that voice I had been hearing, it was no demon. It
was him. It had to be him.
Which meant that he…he was in my head.
He was in my fucking head.

OceanofPDF.com
 7
My Bible, Chapter 18, Verse 3,
Souls are meant for those of holiness. I am not holy. I am the embodiment of vengeance and
retribution. I was born of sin and I will die in sin.

Kyra
T hefloorbellbelow
chimed above me as I stormed into Madam Levine’s shop. The
me didn’t even have a chance to creak as I stalked through
the small store and slammed my hands on the counter. “I need help.”
Madam Levine looked over from where she was helping a fellow wolf.
“Someone forgot their manners,” she lectured.
“It’s from the male who stole the rock,” I stated evenly, knowing it
would get her attention immediately.
Her eyes furrowed and then she straightened as much as an ancient wolf
could straighten. She pressed her lips together. “Run along, Todd. Go tell
your pop that I’ll need another piece of silver for that, eh?”
The pup shot me a glare before scurrying off.
When the bell chimed again, Madam Levine trudged her way over.
“What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now, Astraea?”
I leaned back and carefully pulled down my shirt and hoodie, revealing
the collar. “I need something to take this off. I’ve been told it can’t be done,
but I’m hoping for the best.”
She leaned forward, squinting her eyes, inspecting it. After a moment,
she found my eyes again. “And what does this have to do with that
wretched man?”
“He put it on me,” I said through my teeth.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly. “What?”
I put my clothes back into place, thrumming my fingers on the counter.
“He put it on me,” I explained, enunciating each word carefully. “Yesterday.
And now, I can…can hear him in my head.” Anything else could be written
off as starvation or dehydration. Lack of sleep, but I was sure now that this
was the cause of it.
Levine leaned back, eyeing me. “Why did he do that? What makes you
so special?”
It wasn’t a good special, I could see that much in her eyes. She knew
the stories too. Knew what Trick Michael did to his victims. “Nothing,” I
lied. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Does he know you know about this street?”
I lifted and dropped my hands. “He hasn’t said anything about it.” He
had to have known about it. Fuck! I hadn’t even considered that.
“What has he said?”
If he knew about the street, then nobody here was safe. Should I warn
them? He hadn’t done anything yet, but what if Madam Levine had a
solution and I did manage to get the collar off? Would that kill them all?
“He’s said…” I turned away from her if only to hide my own shame and
frustration. “I don’t know…nonsense,” I finally spit out, walking over to the
nearest shelf. “Stuff that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh, dear, it always means something. You need to listen. I’ve been
telling you that for years.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just tell me how to get it off.”
“I can’t,” she said, causing my heart to fall. “Astraea, he’s rumored to
be one of the strongest, if not the strongest magic-user alive. No one can
break his magic. No one.”
I turned back to her, my hope quickly diminishing. “I have to get it off,
Madam. I’m not ready to die.”
Sympathy filled her eyes. “Then you’ll need someone far more
powerful than anyone on this street to help you. I don’t have your answer.
You’re the one usually bringing me answers.”
I waited, praying that if I just stared long enough, she would give me a
better answer. It didn’t take me long to realize that there was no other
answer.
She had no ability to take it off. None. And I didn’t know of anyone else
who would help me. Shit. Cole was right.
With a huff, I turned on my heel. “I have to go.”
“Who gave you those black eyes, Astraea? Was it the High King?”
“I’m a thief, Madam Levine, it’s part of the job.”
~~~

Cole
I flipped the page, reading the words carefully. It was just history. Things I
had learned simply by being alive, but if there was something she had found
out that wasn’t included in the history books, I wanted to know.
I was on the third book when I felt the temperature chill.
I looked up, the fire going out like a candle in a storm. With a roll of the
eyes, I shut the book and waited for the dramatic entrance to subside,
revealing Trick in all of his arrogant glory.
He didn’t even bother cleaning up this time, and I was glad Kyra was
gone for it. Coming back from a Session, as he called it, made for a
gruesome sight when done.
Trick was missing his suit jacket. The top few buttons of his blood-
covered white shirt were undone, revealing the markings underneath. Black
markings that covered his entire chest, shoulders, back, and arms in varying
designs. He had blood caked in his hair, dripping from his face, his hands.
There was even brain matter on his neck.
I set the book down and leaned back in my chair. “Who was it this
time?”
“A rat,” he answered easily. “I’m still looking for the five-headed
snake.”
A rat in which court? A rat in any court was terrible, but one in our
court? I had to admit, I was glad he or she was dead. “Is that how many run
this society you’ve been after?” I couldn’t be sure if it was real or not. Lora
could be right but admitting that meant admitting that we had all just been
letting him travel to different courts, killing innocent people.
Some days it was just easier to believe that it was real. The guilt would
eat me alive otherwise.
“That’s the number the rats gave me,” he stated. “I’ve come to retrieve
you. It’s been a few days and—”
“No,” I stated, standing.
Trick rose a brow. “It’s been a few days,” he repeated quietly,
threateningly. “You haven’t left this place more than a handful of times, a
few of those times to replace the wood you’ve been using. You’ve failed in
your mission and you’re to return to Arkalious. I have another mission for
you to handle.”
I flexed my hands and shook my head. “I’m not leaving. I still have
work to do here. Books to read.”
“Take the books then. Your mission is over.”
“And what of the others? Why can’t they do this mission?” I wasn’t
ready to leave. I wanted to know her better. I wanted to spend more time
with her. I needed more time with her.
“They’re busy,” he said simply.
I snarled. “You said you wanted to be a part of this. You had Lora come
and tell me that we were going to do something about the witches. Are you
giving up on that already? A pretty quick turnaround, don’t you think? One
day.”
Trick ran a hand through his hair, the blood still damp enough to keep it
back save for a few strands that fell into his eyes. “I’ll give you an
ultimatum then, Cole. You either come with me now, or I kill her before she
has a chance to step off of that pretty little secret she’s standing on right
now.”
I slowed then, eyes narrowing. “What secret?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret now, would it?”
I straightened, quickly counting his shadows, that familiar rage
steaming through me. “You’ve been following her.” A statement. There was
no need to ask. He was missing a shadow tendril. “Why her? Why have you
put such a claim on this one? She’s just some ordinary human. There’s
nothing special about her.”
Something deep and dark flashed in Trick’s eyes. “You have five
seconds to make a decision or my shadow stops her heart.”
I searched his eyes, the truth clear. There wasn’t a point in arguing with
him. In fighting for her. I didn’t need anyone else to sleep with, so I
shrugged. “Fine. Let’s go. I’ve checked her off my list anyway.” A lie. A
complete, outright lie. I hated myself for even saying it.
Trick snarled and before I could blink, he had me pinned against the
wall, a blade at my throat, his teeth bared.
I heard his bones snap, and I knew what that meant, and it terrified me
more than any monster I had faced during the War of Ruin. During my
lifetime.
I turned my head away from him, gritting my teeth, heart pounding as
Trick snarled in a way that was more animal than Fallen.
“You’re lucky,” he said, his voice not his own, “that I don’t have fun
with you like I have fun with anyone else who crosses me.”
I swallowed, leaning my head back against the wall. I was used to this. I
was the only one who questioned him, the only one who pushed him this
far. Why? Because Rose had promised me that the real Trick was still
somewhere inside of this thing that took his place.
 But I knew the truth now. This monster held no memory of the male
that had once stood in the doorway of our home and reassured me that I
would fly again. This male held no memory of the man who took the crown
so Lora wouldn’t have to. Who tried to rebuild Oridian after the Fall.
That man did not exist anymore.
Only a monster remained. A God of Nightmares.
“You can’t claim people, Trick,” I said, my voice as steady as it had
been on the battlefield during the War of Ruin after we got word that the
gods had all died. That we were alone.
“I can and I did,” he replied coldly. “Be friends with her. Be her
shoulder, her informant, her fucking brother, but if you ever,” he seethed
quietly, “touch her again. I’ll string you up by your femurs and I’ll skin you
alive. Is that clear?”
I nodded, glaring at the wall to my right. “Understood.” Fuck! I hated
him. Some days I really, truly hated him.
Trick breathed down my neck for another heartbeat before he shoved
away, the blade disappearing before I got the chance to see it.
It was a sacred blade, rumored to be the blade of Michael, but no one
had ever seen it. Trick rarely used it, and when he did, it was so fast, no one
could actually see what it looked like.
He grabbed my shoulder and met my eyes. “I’ll return you when the
time comes so you can collect more information.” His shadows swirled
around every book that was titled ‘Witches’. “Until then, we’re going back
to Oridian.”
Fine. I couldn’t argue. If he wanted it, he got it. I sent a silent prayer up
to Rose as the shadows took the books and disappeared. Kyra didn’t stand a
chance.
Either her body would die or her soul would.
~~~

Kyra
I pushed into the cottage, my satchel weighing on my shoulder, only to stop
just inside the doorway, the door falling shut with a ‘whoosh’.
It was eerily quiet.
My brows furrowed. “Cole?”
Silence.
 I winced as I took off my satchel, dropping it at my feet. “Cole?” I
called again. I walked over to my room and opened the door, then the
bathroom door. Empty.
I jogged over to the window above the sink. He wasn’t in the pool
either.
I frowned and turned to the fireplace. Not even an ember. It had been
out a while.
He must have been out getting wood or something.
I rolled my eyes, walked over, and picked up my satchel. Fine, so long
as he was replacing everything he used, I didn’t care.
I unpacked my satchel. I managed to get another pair of gloves today,
some dried meat, and jarred peppers. I even collected a few silver coins.
I put the gloves in the dresser in Mark’s room, the dried meat and
peppers I put in the bottom cupboards below the counter, and the coins I
stuck in an old tin can I had found years ago.
It was the fourth one I had managed to fill. I could finally start on a
fifth. It wasn’t much money, but it was enough. Once Mark moved in, I
would see if I could get a real job, put thieving behind me. For now, I just
had a handful of things I needed to get, so Therian’s Thief would live on.
I sat at the table and pulled over my journal.
Hey Ket,
I got a few more things today. Not much, I had…I had other things to
get done.
I stared at the words a few seconds and sighed.
I fucked up, K. I haven’t had the chance to tell you this, but I did
something really stupid. More stupid than anything else I’ve ever done.
I saved some demons from a Fallen.
A Fallen General.
His name is Cole Lorily. He’s arrogant and an asshole, but I think he’s
good. Deep down.
The only problem with that is that by doing so, I invited the devil into
my life. Some people call him the God of Nightmares, but his real name is
Trick Michael. High King of the Fallen.
He put a magical collar around my neck, it looks like a necklace but
let’s just call it as it is, you know? Shackles. I don’t know why he’s chosen
me, I’m nothing, but it hasn’t detoured him. Apparently, he’s been following
me for a year, but now he’s making contact. I don’t know what’s changed,
but I hate it.
I need to hate it. Rational people would hate it.
He…he warned me not to have relations with anyone, and I was stupid,
a thrill seeker, so I tested him. I tested the High King of the Fallen, how
fucking stupid was that? Now that I’m writing it to you, I just want to go
back in time and punch myself in the face.
My mom’s already done enough of that though.
I rolled my eyes and scratched the last sentence out.
I pushed Cole to have sex with me. Not really so much pushed him as
allowed him to push me, I guess. I don’t know. I didn’t…Cole is very
attractive. Muscles and an amazing smile, and he makes me smile. He tries.
I think we have a real chance at being friends.
Could you imagine? Gods, I haven’t had a real friend since…well, since
you. It’d be nice, you know? To have a friend.
I tapped my pencil, rereading the words, remembering how I had felt
being with Cole. What my body had wanted, what the High King had done
to me.
Tears welled in my eyes.
Is it rape if you like it?
Not just have an orgasm, I know that’s just a response. I know you can’t
always control it, but I mean really like it?
Is it…is it rape if you want more of it?
Can I call it that if it’s what my body responds too?
I’m so fucked up, aren’t I? Gods, this is why I needed Cole. Maybe…
maybe if I can just…maybe if I tell him, we can go somewhere else and
fuck. He can reform me. He can make my body realize how fucked up I am
and maybe I can fix myself.
Gods, I wish you were here. But I suppose if you were, we wouldn’t be
having this conversation, huh?
Maybe you’d be able to fix me. You were always so soft. If you had
stayed, maybe I wouldn’t have become such a…such a…freak.
I shut the journal with a finality and shoved away from the table. I
needed to get home. Before dinner this time.
~~~

Trick
I hadn’t been to see my Angel in seven days. It felt as if I had been without
water for years.
But I had a job to do.
I used the tool to pull off another toenail, the man screaming through
his lips as his nailbed gave, the skin tearing.
It’s all he could do after I stitched his lips shut. I had considered
stitching his eyes shut too but opted for removing them altogether. If he
couldn’t see, his eyes couldn’t leer on any new victims.
Although he was never walking out of here again, the point of it was to
give him just a little hope. If they still had hope, they still had something to
fight for.
But hanging upside down from a chain on the ceiling, the tendons in his
wings severed, one foot gone and the other being slowly torn apart, I
wondered if he had realized yet that he was never going to leave.
Cole stood across the room, unable to look, but ever the faithful soldier.
It was one thing I could never help him with: looking people in the eyes. He
did it from time to time without wavering, but more often than not, unless
he was commanding his warriors, he couldn’t hold a stare.
I blamed his father for it, and had he still been alive, I may have
allowed Cole to aid in the torture, but that putrid animal had been dead for
over 1,000 years. It was the one session that Cole had approved of without
hesitation.
In that moment, I had thought he had it in him, to help. But he was a
warrior, not a torturer. His honor prevented him from stooping this low and
I respected him more for it.
“Did you want to have a go?” I asked him, holding the tool out to him. I
still asked from time to time, just to see how much I had worn him down.
Cole turned to me, looking from the bloodied tool to me. “Do I want to
torture this man to find more just like him? No, I don’t. This mission of
yours is pointless. You could have had any grunt here to boost your ego.”
I shrugged, lowering my hand, allowing just a hint of pride to seep
through, although I doubted he would ever see it. “Yes, but then you’d be
flying around Oridian weighing the risk of returning to Therian, and I can’t
have that now, can I?”
Cole sneered. “No, your pathetic jealousy couldn’t handle that.”
I chuckled, turning back to the male. “You’ve never burned for anyone
like I burn for her, have you? Not even for my sister.” It was more than that
though. I craved her. My heart beat for her. My lungs filled for her.
“Wow, so it takes wanting to fuck someone for you to even bring her
up? That’s sad, Trick. Even for you.”
My lip curled. “I couldn’t talk about her to any of you,” I said, tearing
off another toenail, the screams echoing around us. “You went from grief to
filling the void with pussy. Nick stopped talking altogether, Meeria’s too
busy with Nick to give a damn about anyone else, and Lora?” I tore off the
last one. “She won’t even look at me without some pathetic whimper of
‘poor us’ which has since shifted into just pure hatred and resentment.
There was no room for me.”
Cole stalked forward three steps. “You fucking left,” he seethed. “Every
time something gets hard, you bail, and then show back up years later
without so much as a ‘hello’. You come back darker and more fucking
insane every time, and then you pull shit like this,” he gestured towards the
male bleeding out before us.
“When will you just give up?” he asked, straightening. “When will you
stop acting like you’re in control? You’re not in control. You don’t run this
Court. You find every excuse not to run it. It’s pathetic and arrogant and so
fucking psychotic that I can’t even comprehend how you haven’t been voted
out.
“Oh, wait,” he went on, the sweat prickling the back of my neck. “It’s
because everyone is so fucking afraid of you, they can’t breathe when
you’re around. We’re all just waiting for the next big thing. Waiting for you
to drop this act and run because that’s what you do. It’s what you will
always do. Big bad High King, God of Nightmares, running scared like the
pathetic rabbit he is.”
My spine popped and snapped, the pain welcoming as it ricocheted
through my body.
“LET ME OUT!” my magic roared.
Instead, I just smiled calmly. I walked up to the male and slammed my
fist through his chest, his body jerking.
Cole tried to keep eye contact, I could see how hard he was trying, but
he ended up looking away anyway.
I squeezed his heart until it popped beneath my fingers before I ripped
my hand out and walked up to him. “Here,” I said, my crown appearing in
that blood covered hand as if I had yanked it out of the male hanging from
the ceiling. I shoved it against his chest. “I revoke it.”
 I Jumped to the cottage before I could see his reaction, the moonlight
shining in through the window, casting a beautiful silver light across the
table.
I inhaled deeply, trying to relieve my shoulders of the tension only to
pause. My brows furrowed. I turned to her bedroom door. What’s this?
I walked over and slowly pushed the door open, my heart skipping
when I found her asleep in her bed. She had never spent the night here
before.
Something had changed.
I slowly stepped in, wondering what could have made her stay here
tonight. Away from her brother, away from the house I refused to enter just
yet.
Shutting the door behind me, I slowly, silently, made my way up to the
end of her bed. It was as if she wanted me to see her again. As if she was
accepting the game we were both playing. The game we had been playing
since the beginning of time.
She was lying on her back, one hand above her head, the other pressing
into her cheek. Her legs had fallen apart under her blanket. One blanket. So
thin, goosebumps covered her skin.
Why hadn’t she lit a fire?
It was the first time I had seen her without her armor. No veil, no hood.
She had long, luscious brown hair with bits of deep red, thick. Enough for
me to grab onto, to jerk back. Her jawline was soft, her lips plump, but…
I walked around the edge of the bed, my shadows drifting over her,
careful not to release their own chill. I leaned down and reached out. I ran
my thumb across the very edge of her eye-socket, leaving a streak of blood
in its wake. Two fading black eyes, a swollen lip, a cut across her left
cheekbone.
It was getting worse. I wasn’t just making it up in my head, something
was happening to her. She had been thieving since she was 8 years old, this
wouldn’t have happened because of that. She was too careful, to good.
In all of her journal entries, she bragged tirelessly about how good she
was, yet she cataloged the injuries she received. I had wondered if the lists
were to help her get better, but they kept getting longer and longer. She
never once mentioned who was causing it.
Whoever was doing this, I would find them, and I would do what I
promised myself I would never do. Every time this person died, I would
restart their heart and begin again. Even death would not bring them peace
once I got my hands on them.
I straightened, taking her in. I had a choice to make tonight. I could take
what was mine or I could leave her be. She might not come back if I give
into my needs now, but if I waited, I could see her again just like this.
My eyes trailed slowly down her body. Long sleeves, covering all of
her, the thin blanket pushed down to her waist. She did good collecting
what she needed for this cottage, she should be proud of herself.
No, I wouldn’t take her, not yet. It wasn’t the right time.
My eyes lifted to the window just above her bed, the dark woods
several feet further. She liked the thrill of the demons watching her. She
loved being hunted. She just hated to admit it, but everything about the life
she had chosen pointed to it. Even when I hadn’t read through her journals,
there were signs. She loved what I did, but her journals were wrought with
denial, with self-hatred. I’d have to break her of that, and I would. I didn’t
care how long it would take; she would know what it felt like to be
shattered completely and put back together piece by painful piece.
“Why are you here?”
My eyes flicked to hers.
Her hazel eyes, more green now, were glaring right into mine. She
wasn’t afraid to challenge me. Fuck, I loved that.
I lifted my chin, straightened my spine. “I had a bad day and I wanted
to see my girl.” I could smell the fear dripping from her, the arousal. I could
see the denial in her eyes, the anger. That shield had kept Cole from
smelling any piece of her, and he hadn’t questioned it, not once. I wondered
if the people on her secret street questioned it. Questioned who was keeping
her scent a secret or if she had simply found something that suppressed it.
One day I would tell her. For now, no one else needed to smell what I
could.
The fear turned her on. The thrill got her off. But denial? It was both of
our biggest flaws.
“I’m not your girl,” she said icily, “and I don’t care who the fuck you
are, get out of my gods-damned house.”
I smiled softly. “Naughty little girl,” I hummed. “I’d love to play
another game tonight, Angel, but I wasn’t lying when I told you I had a bad
day. I’ll leave the list on your table. Dream of me.”
Her lip curled. “I’d rather not have nightmares tonight.” She pulled her
blanket up and scooted back into bed. After a moment of silence, she
sighed. “What list?”
“My rules,” I said, taking a step towards the bed. “I told you I had
rules.”
She pulled the blanket up to her chin, showing me nothing save for that
beautiful head of hers. “Fuck your rules. I don’t need to follow them.”
“No, you have a choice. That’s just a bad one. Don’t worry, Angel, I
won’t hold you too accountable until after you sign your name, but there
will still be some consequences.”
She glared death at me. “I’m not signing anything.”
“You will,” I smiled, allowing a slight bit of arrogance to shine through.
We both knew she would sign. We both knew it’s what she wanted, I just
needed to push her a little more. Show her that what she felt was nothing to
be ashamed of. Show her that I loved it, loved the way she reacted to my
phantom touch.
Kyra rolled her eyes, but I could see the exhaustion in her them that
prevented her from pushing the subject. “Did you kill him?” she asked
instead, her voice holding a little less bite.
My smile fell, my magic burning under my skin at the mention of the
male she had chosen to fuck. “Unfortunately, you chose one of the two men
in this world I couldn’t kill.”
A flash of relief shone in her eyes, less than a second, but it was there,
and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “Good. Send the other one so I can
fuck him too.”
She was pushing me. Pushing me at the worst possible time, but she
didn’t know that. I couldn’t punish her tonight because I’d had a bad day.
Equal amounts pain and pleasure, that’s what she deserved. Control,
someone to release her from her cage, but remind her who she belonged to.
I couldn’t respect her the way she deserved, so I had to stay away.
I snarled under my breath, trying my best to control my own frustration
at her reaction. “The rules are on the table. I keep a tally.”
She shook her head and flipped over on her side. “Everyone has bad
days, you aren’t that special,” she muttered icily.
I stalked up to the edge of her bed and leaned over until I could hear the
shivers of her skin. “I’ll teach you a million different ways how false that
statement truly is.”
She had stopped breathing.
 Good.
I turned away once more only for her to stop me at the door.
“Whose blood is that?”
I glanced back, her eyes still on the window. My own fell to my
bloodied hands, dripping blood on the floor below. Curiosity. It was a step
in the right direction. “I tortured a man tonight in my attempt to find more
like him.”
She was quiet a moment. “What did they do? Insult your suit?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No, Angel, they kidnap, torture, and
rape girls on their 21st birthday. I can’t be having that in any court, not even
this one.”
I Jumped to the kitchen and flicked a list into view, adding a few
contingencies just in case she decided to try and get rid of it. I added
something else as well, something that might make her smile.
Tonight wasn’t the night, but soon. Soon I would claim her as my own.
Soon her tight little pussy would be wrapped around my cock, so desperate
for more, her body couldn’t resist the urge to grind.
I shivered and sent a smile back towards her bedroom. I could feel her
staring at me through the door. “Goodnight, little addiction.”
~~~

Kyra
There was frost on the windows when I finally woke up. I decided to light a
small fire while I got ready for the day. Only a few logs, easy enough to
collect more of before Mark moved in.
I couldn’t let what happened last night detour me. No matter what
happened, Mark and I were moving into this place before his birthday.
I’d deal with the High King if I had to, but this was the safest place for
Mark. As far as I knew, killing children wasn’t apart of the Fallen’s forte so
he would be fine.
It was relieving to hear that Trick hadn’t killed Cole, but I didn’t linger
on it for too long. I had other stuff to worry about besides whether or not a
perfect stranger had died because I decided to fuck him.
Besides, I didn’t need that much testosterone clogging up my cottage.
However, my mind did wander as I went through my mundane morning
routine. He had killed someone worth killing. Someone who had raped
someone else. I wasn’t sure how to take that. Wasn’t he a torturer? A rapist?
Wasn’t he a kidnapper? Why was he worried about others of his kind?
Why couldn’t I get the image of him covered in blood out of my head?
My eyes found my own reflection, my toothbrush slowing, toothpaste
frothing around my mouth. Bleary eyed and still half-asleep, I had woken
up to him standing over my bed, dripping with blood, his suit jacket gone,
his sleeves pushed up his forearms, revealing black markings on either arm.
Blood had splattered across his face, his white shirt covered in it, his tie
slightly undone. He had even touched me. Left a streak of blood across my
eye-socket.
Liquid heat filled my stomach.
I immediately shook my head and spit out my toothpaste. No. Gods,
what was wrong with me?
When the fire was started, I finally made my way to the table. He had
left me a list of rules I would never follow, but I was curious. I found my
steps slowing, however, when I saw what else sat in the center of my table.
A crystal vase filled with blooming roses.
They were my favorite flower.
My brows pulled together as I closed the distance, seeing my books, all
nine books that I had written, each one incredibly dark and dirty, spread out
with a note across the center one reading:

Your fantasies are darker than mine, Angel

Happy 25th Birthday, baby.
Sorry I was five days late, it will never happen again.
I frowned and crumpled it up. They were fiction and fiction meant false.
They had no truth to them. At least none I would admit too.
I finally turned to the other note which he had placed just below the soft
arch of my books.

The Rules
1. No one is allowed to touch what is mine. If
you allow it, I will send you their dick in a
 box, wrapped with a pretty little bow. If you
don’t allow it, they’ll disappear from this
world without a trace.
2. You are not to hide yourself from me. In any
way, shape, or form. This includes
physically and mentally.
3. No lying, and I will never lie to you.
4. No masturbating, Angel. Not even to images
of me, unless I am watching. Unless I order
it.
5. Your body is mine to claim wherever,
whenever, and however I want to claim it.
When I want to fuck you, I will fuck you.
6. Eyes on me. Always.
7. Communication is key, Angel.
8. You are not to cover that beautiful necklace
up. It’s proof of who you belong to. Even if
they don’t know who put it there, they will
know a claim has been made.
9. I understand this rule will take time, which I
am willing to give if you prove that you are
trying to overcome it. You will not feel
shame for what you like. You are not broken.
You are not sick or a freak. Everyone has a
dark secret, Angel, this is yours.
 10.
I keep telling you that you are mine. In the
same respect, Angel, I am yours. Mind,
body, and spirit. No one in this world owns
me but you.
11.
Lastly, for now, is this; there is a word,
Angel. A word you are allowed to use if you
think I’m pushing you too far. This is
important, and I need you to understand it
very carefully. If ever you feel like it’s too
much, like what I’m doing is too much, all
you must say is Eleven.

Sign your name and your soul is

mine. X
If you don’t follow these rules, you are subject to a
punishment of my choosing. Whenever, wherever,
and however I want it.
If you follow these rules, you will be rewarded.
Your one and true God.
I sneered, trying to ignore the strange thump in my heart or the way my
shoulders fell just an inch. “My one and true god indeed,” I muttered just to
drown out my own thoughts.
I slid my satchel over my shoulder and walked over to the fire. I tossed
the paper in and headed for the door.
 “Fuck you and your ridiculous rules,” I said. Bullshit. It was all just a
load of bullshit. He wasn’t in charge of me, and he never would be.
~~~

Trick
“You revoked?”
I wrapped the towel tightly around my hips and shut the glass door
behind me, water dripping down my skin. “Come in,” I said with sarcastic
blandness as I walked over to the mirror.
Lora folded her arms across her chest, standing in the doorway of my
bathroom. “Cole puts you in your place and instead of fighting back, you
decide to revoke your crown? That seems a little childish, don’t you think?”
I wiped the steam away from the mirror and grabbed my toothbrush.
Three hours of restless sleep before I forced myself up to take a shower. If I
had had the option, I might have slept another few hours, but unfortunately,
I didn’t get that luxury. Not yet.
“You can’t just ignore me and hope I go away,” she stated flatly.
“I can try.”
Lora stalked over, grabbed my shoulder, and spun me around, her eyes
as fierce as our mother’s, holding the color of our father. “Do you have any
idea the amount of paperwork you just buried me in?”
I pulled my toothbrush out, glaring down at her. “Yes.” This was all just
theatrics and we both knew it. Ever since the last war, Lora had been pining
for the crown I had taken for her to keep her out of this bullshit. Her lack of
belief in me would hurt my soul if I had one.
She gaped, obviously offended. It was too bad I didn’t give a fuck. “Do
you know what you’ve just opened us up to? What’s going to happen when
word spreads that you have stopped protecting your people?”
I watched her for a moment before turning back to the sink, spitting out
the toothpaste, rinsing off my toothbrush, and wiping my mouth. “Up until
this very second, I’ve been told I’m doing nothing to protect my people.
Nothing to save them. In fact, all I do is kill, rape, and destroy. Maybe you
can change that. I’m too busy to keep fighting this battle.”
“So you’re running?” she asked as I walked past her into my room.
“You’re running away like you always do? Mom and dad didn’t raise you
like this.”
 “No,” I said, pulling my towel off to dry my hair, “they raised me as a
weapon to protect Oridian. I did exactly what they asked of me, and nobody
has shut up since.” I tossed the towel to my bed and grabbed my pants.
“You should be happy, all of you. I won’t be giving you orders, I won’t be
in your way.”
“No, you’ll be hunting down a society of rapists and stalking a random
human girl until you can live up to your name.”
My magic cracked under my skin, my shadows darkening as it
whispered in my ear. “Kill her.”
I worked my jaw, shutting it out. “I don’t rape people, Lora. I kill those
who do. I was trying to fix our name, not destroy it.” Did she truly think I
raped people too? She was my sister, she should have been on my side. But
years of pining after Cole destroyed that, I supposed.
“You failed, Trick, and now you’re running away on the cusp of another
war. I should have known you’d pull something like this as soon as you
decided to pay more attention to it. Go, do whatever it is you need to do. I’ll
figure this out myself, but Cole, Meeria, and Nick? They’re mine now. I’m
in charge of them. If you need them, come and ask me, but you don’t get to
just take them anymore.”
I waited until she was gone before I let the magic go just enough to
breathe.
My bones snapped and pulled at my skin, and I cracked my neck trying
to keep my body from fighting against it.
“Let me out,” it begged, scratching against my ribs. “Let’s prove to
them just how monstrous we can be.”
I flexed my hands, trying to force my muscles to relax. Maybe just for a
few hours, I decided, glancing to the floor-length mirror leaning against the
far wall. Just enough to take the edge off.
My magic laughed as my body began to shift, every bone breaking, the
sound ringing through my ears. That thought was all it needed to force itself
on me.
I snarled, sweat pouring down my skin as I was brought to my knees.
The pain was unbearable, but it felt so fucking good.
Just for a few hours.
“Keep telling yourself that,” my magic taunted as my body contorted,
the bones reforming into something that didn’t resemble any sort of
humanoid form. “Keep telling yourself how much you hate this. Maybe one
day, denial won’t be your biggest lie.”
~~~

Kyra
I had almost made it to the door when Mom stopped me.
It had been two weeks since the High King had left me that list of rules.
Three since Cole had been punished for fucking me.
I had tested it. That list. Not three days after Trick Michael had left it, I
found some older male while I was thieving and decided to try it out.
I had to admit, the thrill, the fear, it helped. He didn’t show up during
the act in the middle of the alley, there had been no box wrapped in ‘pretty
ribbon’ left at either my cottage or my house.
So, I tried again.
And a third time.
On the fourth time, I wondered why I was even doing it. He wasn’t
coming. He had lied just to scare me.
Good. I was glad he was out of my life. Glad that he had gotten bored
of such an ordinary human being. I could finally focus.
Mark’s birthday was a month and three days away and I still had just a
few things I had to find. The jacket was difficult, as were the boots, but I
would find them, even if I had to steal from one of the wealthier families in
Therian to get them. I would get them.
“You got a letter.”
My eyes fell from her hazel gaze to the letter she held in her hand.
“From who?”
She shoved it into my chest painfully. “Perfect, I raised an illiterate
child. It’s no wonder your womb will dry up before a man decides to marry
you and give me a grandchild.”
I took the letter, and she jerked her hand back as if my fingers had
burned her.
I had never gotten a letter before. I didn’t even know who would…
My eyes widened, but I tried my best to keep my expression clear. Ket.
It had to be from Ket. He had finally written to me after all these years.
“Thank you,” I told her before slipping out of the house.
The last month had been the shittiest month of my life, but this? This
would make up for it. This would make up for the fear of the High King
stalking me. It would make up for Cole leaving, for the emotional back and
forth I’d been experiencing since saving those demons from the General.
Nothing else mattered if this was truly from Ket.
I kept my head low, hood tight, veil in place, as I walked through the
streets, heading for the rich district of the city. I had to get those boots
today.
As I walked down the street, I slid my hand under the edge of the
envelope, easing it open. I wondered what he would tell me. Maybe he had
gotten a job. Maybe he was traveling, seeing all of Terigard like he had
always talked about. Or maybe he had met someone.
Someone normal and sane and beautiful.
That would be good. It would be great. It would be so great.
The parchment I pulled out was crisp, but the handwriting wasn’t
familiar. Which was to be expected. We had both grown so much since the
last time we had seen each other; I didn’t expect his handwriting to be
exactly the same.
Dear Kyra Skye,
By order of the High King—
I froze mid-step causing someone to run into me.
A chill ran down my spine as the person cursed at me, questioned my
sanity. Not Ket. Definitely not Ket.
You are hereby requested to make an appearance in front of the High
Court at mid-morning. Do not be late.
Raphael Gerodia
My heart slammed, my jaw dropping. Oh, shit. This wasn’t good.
I had been caught.
My eyes lifted to the city before me as if they could see it. As if they
could see the words written across my face. As if they knew.
They couldn’t have known, but in that moment, it felt like they did.
I had been caught and I had no time to prepare. I couldn’t go back and
see Mark, I couldn’t contemplate what I would say, all I could do was go.
Gods, please let Mark find that letter.
I shoved the letter away and sprinted for the castle, mid-morning
already coming up far too quickly.
By the time I got to the alley across from it, my heart was threatening to
explode from my chest, my hands were shaking in fear. This would be it.
The next time I walked through this city would be on the way to
Condemnation, I was sure of it.
I could run, I supposed, but if this letter had come to me, that meant that
he had to have already alerted the guards. I could evade when no one was
putting any effort into finding me, but if every guard in the city was
searching for me? If I went in now, maybe my death would be swift. Maybe
I could die of a quick snap of the neck, not starvation.
I quickly took my satchel off, my veil, and pushed my hood back. I
unpinned my hair, shaking it out. My black eyes had healed to a dull yellow,
my lips were healed. I had no visible bruises they would ask about. Perfect.
Everything was fine.
Maybe I could convince them that they got the wrong girl. I didn’t look
like a thief. I just looked like a girl living in the poorest part of town. I was
a good liar too. I had lied to one High King, I could do it to another.
Everything would be fine.
Sure.
I carefully placed my satchel and veil behind a nearby trash bin, praying
no one would find it, and finally turned to the castle.
Okay, what could go wrong?
No, don’t ask that. Never ask that, you stupid, stupid girl.
It seemed endless, the walk across the town square. I could still picture
the attack as clear as day. People screaming, blood pouring from every
orifice.
It had been a true nightmare, but after that day, everything had gone on
as normal. As if no one could remember that dozens of people had died.
Or maybe they were just too afraid to remember.
I felt like I was walking over souls. Cold death wafting around me like
a friend who wouldn’t let go.
The pearl-blue steps reminded me of a winter castle, the double doors at
the top had pictures carved into them. So intricate, I could spend all day
staring at them if they hadn’t been the entrance to the most terrifying place
in all of Terigard.
The knights at the top of the stairs straightened at the sight of me,
tightening the grips on their spears as if I posed some sort of threat against
anyone in the castle. “State your business,” the one on the right demanded.
I held out the letter as I approached them. “I received a letter from the
High King.”
The knight took the letter, skimming it. He grunted once before opening
the door for me.
I swallowed, mouth dry. Okay, that was easy enough, I could manage
this.
I stepped inside the castle, the smell of green apples wrapping around
me as tightly as the fear wrapped around my spine.
It was grand. The walls covered in tapestries, lined with artifacts, a
staircase before me. I felt so small standing in this room, out of place. I had
never been around anything like this. Not even close.
“This way.”
I looked over to find the same knight who took my letter walk by me,
heading for the stairs.
I counted each breath, each step feeling like I was making my way
closer and closer to those crosses. And with each step a question formed in
my mind.
If he had found out about Cole, about Trick, would I tell Raphael about
them?
I would give up the High King in a second, but Cole? He had been
good. Kind. Could I give one up without the other?
By the time we stopped in front of a pair of double doors, I was
sweating and the carvings of the Priests, Sorell, Drake, and Reldron,
brought me very little peace.
The street would remain safe. Cole and the cottage would remain
protected, my only prayer was that Mark wouldn’t see me on that cross and
that eventually he would find that cottage and protect it like I had tried to.
The knight opened the door, taking one step in and bowing. “High King
Raphael.”
I followed him, mirroring his motions, my lips pressed together. I felt a
sort of peace wash over me knowing that this very well could be my last
few minutes of freedom before they hung me up to die.
I had kissed Mark, told him I loved him. It was a sunny day, warmer
than it should have been this close to winter. Maybe Cole would find Mark
for me if he ever did return. Maybe he would show my brother what I had
created.
Maybe the demons would like him as they had liked me.
It was a meeting room, or at least that’s what it looked like to me. There
was a large table that could seat 12 set in the middle of the room under a
giant skylight. The room was bathed in gold, the ground a mosaic of white
and gold stones, painted to look like the Priests standing around the world,
hands locked together. Like protectors.
I felt my shoulders relax, my thoughts slowing, stomach growling as it
caught scent of the feast spread out before the High King.
Gods, I was starving.
Raphael chewed slowly, not an ounce of emotion in his studious gray
eyes. He couldn’t have been more than 45, his salt and pepper hair
absolutely pristine. He was handsome, but the stress lines across his
features were clear.
He gave one nod towards the knight, dismissing him. “We are not to be
bothered.
I refused to look back and watch him leave. They must not have thought
I was any threat. Why would I be? A starving girl from the streets. All
anyone had to do was hit me hard enough and that would be the end of that.
Raphael gestured to the seat in front of me as he set his fork down and
politely dabbed his mouth.
That cloth napkin, I realized as I took my seat, looked thicker than the
blankets I had at the house, and he was using it to wipe his mouth.
“Do you know why you’re here?” he finally asked, setting his napkin
down in exchange for the wine.
I shook my head once, forcing myself into good posture. “No, your
Highness.”
“Hmm. Well, I suppose there’s no easy way to go about this, so I won’t
waste any time. You do understand that you and your brother have different
fathers, don’t you?”
My brows furrowed, taken off-guard by the subject. “Um…y-yes, I
know that.” Why start with that? What did this have to do with my
thieving?
“Very good. Have you ever spoken to your mother about who your
fathers are?”
I tried once. She beat me so badly I didn’t see Ket for an entire month. I
hadn’t been able to walk, hadn’t been able to hardly breathe. It took a while
for me to be able to leave the house again. “No,” I answered evenly.
“Okay,” he said watching me carefully. Several seconds passed.
Seconds of tense silence. Seconds of staring. Not moving, not eating, just
staring. Finally, he said, “I’m his father.”
The words didn’t register at first, and when they did, I laughed.
Laughed. I laughed at the High King like the lunatic I was. “No you’re not.”
His expression didn’t change.
I felt my smile fall, my chest tighten as the seconds ticked by, his
expression unwavering. “No, you’re not,” I said again, irritated that he
hadn’t replied.
Nothing.
There it was again, that pure, unrelenting fear. So real, so palpable, I
could taste it in my mouth. Every other thought drained from my mind, my
sole focus on his words. “Mark isn’t…I don’t believe you.” An important
rule in any court was that nobody should ever question the High King, but
how could I not? There was no possible way Raphael was his father.
“I’ve heard we have the same eyes.”
The same eyes?
I blinked as my mind registered the color of Raphael’s eyes. Gray, but
not just any gray, he was right. If Mark were standing here, they would have
the exact same shade of gray eyes. The same shape. And if I were being
completely honest, the shape of their lips was the same too.
Which meant that my mom and the High King…
I shook my head, heart slamming against my ribs. “No. No. Why am I
here? Tell me why I’m here, please.” The air felt a little thinner, my lungs
weren’t inflating all the way. I couldn’t catch my breath. Couldn’t breathe.
Why couldn’t I breathe?
It took every ounce of strength I had to find any air. Every ounce of
strength I had to force my hands to remain down rather than grab my chest,
to keep myself from shaking.
“It’s simple, really,” Raphael began either not seeing or not caring about
my reaction. “He’s my son and I’d like him back.”
The world fell out from under me. Back? “You never had him,” I heard
myself say. It was sort of an out of body experience. I wasn’t in control.
“You can’t have him back if you’ve never had him in the first place.”
“The grammatical structure of my sentence means very little to anyone,
Kyra. It doesn’t change what I’m saying. He’s my son, and he’s getting to
the age where he needs to start learning how to run the Court. He needs to
come home.”
I opened and closed my mouth, the world spinning around me. “You…
you have a son,” I managed to spit out.
The High King’s eyes were emotionless. More so than Trick’s. Trick
was angry. His eyes were filled with rage on a constant basis, but
Raphael’s? He was dead inside. He was completely dead inside. “I don’t
want him on the throne, I want Mark.”
I could feel the icy sweat trickle down my spine, breathing becoming
more and more difficult with each passing second. Mark Gerodia? No, no,
that wasn’t right. He didn’t belong here. It wasn’t right.
“He would have a warm place to live,” that rational voice whispered.
“He would have clothes that fit him, a soft bed. He will never want for
anything again.”
I wasn’t enough for him, was I?
“You never have been.”
But this Court?
“I’ll need an answer by December 13th,” Raphael said, pulling my
attention back.
His…birthday? That had to be a coincidence.
The roaring grew louder as my nails dug into the chair. “He’s my
brother,” I gasped, my voice barely a whisper.
“Why are you fighting this?”
“He’s my son,” Raphael stated quietly.
“B-but I’ve taken care of him,” I forced out. “I raised him.”
“And now you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“N-n-no, no, I love—love worrying about him,” I stumbled. “He’s…
my…I can’t—I can’t do that. Please.”
He wouldn’t even look me in the eyes. “You have until December 13th
to give him to me, or I will simply take him.”
And there it was. The demand behind the request.
He picked his fork back up and I knew that was the end of this meeting.
There was no arguing. There was no begging or pleading. Raphael wanted
Mark and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I stared at him for a long time before I forced myself up and headed for
the door.
I didn’t remember grabbing my things and putting them back on. I
didn’t remember the walk through the city back to the house. I didn’t
remember what Mom shouted at me on my way to Mark’s room.
All I remembered was pulling him into me and hugging him tightly as
his questions went in one ear, turning into numb excuses sliding from my
lips.
What could I do?
How could I stop this?
Should I stop this?

OceanofPDF.com
 8
My Bible, Chapter 3, Verse 1,
Worship me with your tongue. Praise me with it. Run it along the shaft of my holy cock and find
salvation you’ve never known.

Kyra
I rotting
instinctively held out my hands, trying to keep my head from hitting the
wooden floor. But in doing that, splinters filled my skin, blood
dripping from the corner of my lips from where she had just punched me.
She was smaller than me in weight, and sometimes I wondered how she
was able to have the strength to do this kind of damage to me. It seemed
impossible.
“You worthless piece of shit,” Norella barked at me, spraying me with
spit. “You should have told me they were going to take my son!”
I swallowed, blood coating my mouth, my throat. My stomach turned.
All I had consumed in the last day was the blood I was swallowing now. It
was fucking painful.
“I was summoned, Mom. I couldn’t just not go,” I tried, my arms
struggling to keep me up.
I had spent the entire night crying, wanting nothing more than to sleep
with Mark, hold him all night, never let him go. I could keep him safe, I
could. I had done it all his life, I could keep doing it. I could take care of
him.
“But this is for the best. He deserves this. Money, warmth, all the food
and clothes he could ever wish for.”
But I could…I could do it.
“No, you can’t. Look at you. Pathetic. You can’t even stand up to your
own mother.”
“This is all your fault,” she went on as I forced myself to a stand,
ashamed at how my legs shook. “If I lose him, you will never take another
breath of air again.”
My hand shook as I wiped the back of it across my mouth, my stomach
lurching. “You fucked the High King,” I dared, finding her eyes. “This is
your fault, not mine.”
She stepped forward, slamming her hand against my cheek.
 Tears sprang to my eyes, another wave of blood coating my mouth as
my cheek split against my teeth.
“You disrespectful whore. You never cared about that boy.”
I choked on the sob, trying to keep it down. “I love him,” I said,
shaking my head, my hands gripped so tightly at my sides, my nails broke
through my skin. “I loved him more than you ever did.”
She laughed. “I’m his mother. No one loves him more than I do. You
barely spend any time with him, always out galivanting around, doing
whatever it is you do because it’s certainly not gathering food for us.
Yourself, maybe, but you’re not bringing any home for us.”
I felt the tears fall down my face and I hated myself for it. Hated myself
more than anything else in the entire world for showing her that kind of
weakness.
She scoffed, shaking her head as if I were the most embarrassing thing
to have ever happened to her. “Go, you worthless girl. Bring home seeds or
roots. I’m sure that’s all that will be left after you’re finished shoving it
down your throat.”
I worked my jaw, tied my veil on with shaking hands, and left.
The freezing air stung my skin as I left the house, but it only sharpened
my senses.
It would have been better if they had just hung me. I wish they had just
fucking killed me.
~~~

Trick
I hadn’t intended to stay away this long, but when my magic got ahold of
me, it wasn’t so willing to let go.
It had taken some time, but I had finally come back, and the first thing I
was going to do was pay my little addiction a visit.
She had broken so many rules, it was time I collected her penance.
Starting with those boys my shadow informed me she fucked.
I Jumped to the clearing just before dinner. I wasn’t sure she would be
here, if not, I’d have to pay her a visit at her house in the city. Perhaps catch
a glimpse of the brother that so clearly stole her heart. I needed her to know
what she had done. That she had forced my hand, and in no less than an
hour, I would return with those cocks wrapped in pretty little bows. Just for
her.
My magic snarled as soon as I landed, my hair standing on end, and I
didn’t realize why until a moment later.
My eyes lifted to the cliff above the cottage. The rain was pelting the
ground, creating puddles and lakes where the ground was uneven. On the
edge of that cliff was a pile of scraps. To any human eye, it would have
been disregarded as trash, but I would have known who it was from a mile
away through a blizzard.
I Jumped to the cliff, crouching down beside her. The stench of blood
burned my nose. She wasn’t even shivering. Lying in the snow, being pelted
by rain, her clothes soaked through, and she was as still as stone. Why had
she come up here? It wasn’t her path. Her path led her straight from her
house to the front door of the cottage, why come up here?
Her heartbeat was too slow, her breathing thin.
I carefully pulled back her hood and felt nothing but a cold, calm rage
as I took her in. Broken skin, swollen eyes and lips, blood soaking through
her hair.
A shudder fell down my spine as I knelt in the mud and snow, my magic
too weak to even attempt at forcing a shift. I took her chin gently and eased
her head up enough to meet her swollen eyes. “Who?” I hummed.
Her heart thudded once, only once. “Go away.”
My lip curled, but there wasn’t time to argue about this. I’d get it out of
her soon enough. For now, she needed Cole and I needed to find the four
dicks brave enough to come inside of my fucking girl. If those were the
only names I had, then unfortunately, their punishments would be far worse
than originally planned.
I let her chin go, placing a temporary shield over her to keep the rain off
of her until Cole got her inside.
I Jumped back to Oridian, interrupting some meeting Lora was having
with members of her army.
She looked up, her brows pulling together in anger. “Trick? What are
you—”
I grabbed Cole and Jumped back to Kyra’s side. “Do not leave her
side,” I ordered, not bothering with his wings. He wouldn’t need to hide
them because he wouldn’t be leaving the cottage. Not tonight.
Whatever arguments Cole had prepared died on his lips at the sight of
her. He hit his knees at her side, peeling back the hood, his back going rigid.
“Who did this?”
“Go away,” she mumbled again, pulling her shoulder away from him.
I would have smiled had it been any other situation. As it was, I
couldn’t bring myself to even breathe right. “I’ll be back.”
~~~

Cole
She looked worse in the light of the fire. Her lips were swollen, split in two
places, her cheeks were swollen, my guess was that she had split the inside
of those too.
Her right eye was nearly swollen shut, the left getting there. She had a
cut on her cheek, a handprint too.
Her hands were filled with splinters, swollen, and covered in blood, and
all of this was just what she allowed me to see.
She wouldn’t take off her wet clothes, she wouldn’t even look at my
wings, comment on them, she just sat there silently, staring at the fire.
It was the first time I had seen her without a veil or a hood, and I was
horrified.
I stood once the fire was roaring and turned to her. “What is it you
need?”
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, her throat swollen shut. From blood or from
something her attacker had done, I couldn’t be sure. If Trick hadn’t made
his sick claim on her, I would have pushed to be out there searching for the
male who had done this. As it was, I knew Trick would kill everyone he
even suspected of hurting her, which brought me some sort of quiet peace.
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll get what I think is right then.”
I made it halfway to the kitchen before she spoke up again. “Asilos
Root and Antler.”
I knew she had more than that in her cupboards, but if that’s all she
wanted to use, fine.
I gathered the items, letting the water warm up before I filled a bowl,
grabbed an empty one, and picked up a rag. With everything balanced in my
arms, I headed back for her, wondering if Trick had gotten a name.
If he had, I hoped he didn’t ease his blows. I hoped this torture session
was long and brutal. I had never hoped that for any of his victims save for
one, but this was Kyra. She didn’t deserve this.
 I set the things down on the coffee table and pulled it forward. Opening
a jar of Allure Antler, I pulled out a good chunk, much more than she had
spared for me, and held it out for her.
She eyed the piece, probably thinking through how long it would take
her to gather more.
“I’ll replace it,” I assured her. Despite my race, I was friends with
Penny. Not so much friends, I supposed, then acquaintances. We were
friendly. I held no doubt that Penny would help if I asked.
Her eyes lifted to mine, that gray ring around the iris so black now, I
wondered if Trick’s shadows hadn’t infected her.
After another second, she finally took it and carefully placed it in her
mouth, wincing at the small movement.
What would she tell her brother when she went home tonight with
bruises? Surely, he wouldn’t believe that she had earned all of this by
thieving.
I began washing out the cuts on her face. Washing away the blood,
mud, and dried tears. She didn’t flinch once, not even when I started
spreading the Asilos Root across her open wounds.
Her pain tolerance was incredible for a human, and I couldn’t help but
wonder in that moment how often her bruises had been from thieving and
how often they had been from someone else.
How long had this truly been going on?
I set the bowl to the side and found her eyes. “I’m sorry, but this is
going to hurt.”
She nodded again, revealing nothing in her eyes.
I picked up the tweezers and began removing the splinters.
When the seven largest chunks were on the table, I began to spread the
remaining root on her hands, the color turning a brownish green as it mixed
with the blood. The rest of them would come out with the mixture.
She hadn’t said a single word, and I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t
handle the silence that overpowered this. I couldn’t handle thinking about
how this person was walking around Therian thinking he had gotten away
with this.
“The first time,” I finally began quietly wanting to give her something
else to focus on, “that I ever talked about what my father did to me, it was
with Rose. It had been six years after they had given me a home. She had
never asked about it, no one did. I knew they wondered. Wondered about
the scars they had seen, but no one ever asked.
“When I was finally ready to tell her, we were having dinner at this
little place called Ophelia. I found myself unable to eat, just staring at her.
She had been talking about something. I can’t remember what it was, all I
remember was suddenly feeling this…overwhelming emotion. Like a dam
ready to burst, and I just…told her.
“She stopped talking, didn’t get angry, wasn’t irritated that I had cut her
off. She simply gave me her full attention. In that moment, her eyes were
the only thing keeping me from disappearing into those memories. People
always say that talking about it makes you feel better, but I realized then
that it truly doesn’t. It doesn’t change a single thing.
“When I was done, I didn’t feel better. The weight hadn’t eased, nothing
had changed except for the fact that my best friend now knew the truth of
what happened, and I was angry. I was angry that I still felt alone in my
pain.”
I cleared my throat, picturing Rose as clearly as if she were the one
sitting before me. “She didn’t apologize, she didn’t try and comfort me.
Because what can you say in those moments? I actually feel bad for the
people you confess to because their default is ‘I’m sorry’, but you both
know that it means nothing. You both know that there isn’t anything you
can say or do to make it better.
“Rose,” I went on, moving to her other hand, “she just shrugged and
shook her head, eyes glimmering. She always felt things on a deeper level
than most. You two are the same in that sense.”
Kyra’s breath caught. It was the only emotion she had shown since I
had picked her up and part of me felt extreme relief at that. It wasn’t much,
but it was something. It meant something.
“Rose, all she said was ‘that really sucks’,” I chuckled, remembering it
fondly, missing her more than I could ever describe. “It wasn’t sarcastic or
in that funny manner people usually say it, she meant it. She meant it from
the very depths of her heart. ‘That really sucks’. And then she ordered
another round of drinks.
“The point of this is that if you don’t want to talk about it because
you’re afraid of our reaction, that’s acceptable. No one can blame you for
that, but one day, that dam will break, and I just need you to understand that
it’s not going to help anything.”
My eyes finally lifted to hers and I willed her to understand, to really
listen. “But eventually, saying it out loud will help in whatever way the
gods choose for it to help. For me, the confession led to a stream of events
that eventually made me General, able to help hundreds and hundreds of
men and women learn how to fight for themselves. It led Rose and I on a
path that I will never regret, not for anything in the world, and if I’m being
completely honest, confessing those horrible nights led me to this moment.
To meeting one of the most interesting and surprising people I have ever
known.”
Kyra’s throat bobbed and she rolled her eyes. “That could have
happened anyway,” she finally said, voice hoarse.
I gave her a small smile. “Maybe, but maybe not. I think telling Rose
gave me the self-confidence I needed to take the leap into General training,
especially so early on. Six years as a warrior? Most spend decades,
centuries, as a warrior before they even think about taking the test for
anything higher. I did it in less than a decade.”
She gave me a look. “Arrogant.”
I chuckled and poked her nose. “I earned that arrogance.”
And right then, just for a moment, a smile ghosted by her lips before it
fell not a second later.
Kyra’s gaze fell to her hands after that, as if she hadn’t wanted me to
see that smile. As if she hadn’t wanted me to see that I had gotten through
to her. So, I didn’t mention it. I simply gathered my things and stood.
“When it’s dry, we’ll wipe it off, okay?”
She didn’t speak again until I had made it to the sink. “Rose, you loved
her?”
I slowed as I reached the sink, my heart thudding in a way it hadn’t in a
long time. “More than anything else in the world.”
“What happened?”
I slowly put the things in the sink, eyes lifting to the storm outside.
“She…she died five years ago. Something horrible was growing around her
heart. The healers couldn’t fix her.”
Kyra was quiet for a long time after that, which I didn’t mind.
Remembering those days hurt like hell, but the pain was important. It meant
that I was still living, still breathing, still healing.
Finally, she spoke again. “Why are you here?”
“I was in a meeting when Trick showed up and brought me here. Did
you yell at him? He seemed adamant not to stick around.” It was bait, I
knew that, but I wanted to know more about what she thought about this
situation. What she felt about what Trick was doing to her.
I ended up turning back to Kyra when she didn’t speak, only to find her
staring at her hands, watching the root dry. “Why did you leave?”
I watched her for a moment longer before turning back to the sink. I
flipped on the water and began washing everything I had used before I
spoke again. “I think Trick was punishing me for fucking you. I don’t know
what’s happening, Talons, but I know he’s become obsessed with you, and
I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it happened, but I don’t know how to stop it.”
She remained quiet.
I could feel the tension in the air as I put the clean utensils on the rag to
dry. I dried my own hands and started for her again, her eyes having lifted
to the fire.
“I had a dream last night,” she said as I bent down to scoop up the
splinters. “About all of you.”
I slowed, finding her eyes. “Us?”
She nodded once without looking over. “The Staff of Elder, it shattered
during the war. What happened to the pieces?”
My brows furrowed. Why was she having dreams about the Staff? “We
have them all in the depths of Custodes Sepulchra.”
Custodes Sepulchra was a type of sinister labyrinth made to protect
sacred objects. It was filled with rooms of horror, hallways and doors that
led nowhere, a maze of walls made of bones, all leading down 50 meters
underground to this cavern where the statues of the original Orders towered
100 feet tall, all surrounding a dais where the pieces of the Staff of Elder
sat, wrapped in ancient magic. No one could access it. I didn’t even think
Trick had the power to access it even if he did manage to get past
everything else.
“They used it to kill all of you,” she went on as if she hadn’t heard what
I had said. “The High Kings and High Queens standing on the thrones
today. They killed all of you.”
I felt my back go rigid as my wings tightened behind me. “Who?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Them. You said you wanted to be a part of
whatever the witches were doing, so…there it is. There is…” She inhaled
deeply as if it took every ounce of strength she had just to talk. “More
information for you.”
I studied her for a long time before I tossed the splinters in the fire and
sat down in front of her again. “Why don’t you move into the cottage?
You’re stocked. You and Mark can move in and—”
“Don’t say his name,” she snarled viciously.
My brows pulled together at the sudden pure rage in her eyes. It wasn’t
like it had been before, this was deeper. This was feral. “Something
happened to Mark, didn’t it?”
Kyra shoved herself to a stand, grunting at the pain in her side, an
injury she wouldn’t let me see, and headed for the kitchen. “Please leave.
Please just go away.”
It was such a sudden shift in mood, I wasn’t sure quite how to take it. I
stood, walking after her. “Kyra, what happened?”
She flipped on the faucet and began rinsing her hands. “Nothing you
need to worry about. Go back to your stupid fucking Court. This,” she
gestured wildly, flinging water everywhere, “has nothing to do with the war
or whatever pathetic mission you’re on. You have my books, you have your
stupid god allowing you to proceed in doing something about the war the
witches have declared. You don’t need me anymore. So leave! Just fucking
leave!”
~~~

Kyra
I couldn’t breathe. There wasn’t enough air in this stupid cottage.
This useless, pathetic, ugly, worthless cottage.
I gripped the edge of the sink, my heart thudding against my ribs, the
Asilos Root pulling at my skin where I hadn’t rinsed it off.
I couldn’t breathe. I hated this. Why couldn’t I breathe? What was so
wrong with me that I couldn’t even breathe right?
I closed my eyes and shook my head. My lungs hadn’t been damaged,
this…this thing that caused this was just getting worse. Why couldn’t I
make it stop?
I grabbed my chest, smearing the muck across my still wet clothes,
shivering so hard, my teeth chattered. Cole had stopped talking, thank the
gods. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate what he did, I just needed…I needed
to think.
I needed to figure out how to breathe again.
I wanted to not talk about Mark. To not think about him. To not hear my
mother’s voice whispering in my ears.
“You never did anything for us. You pathetic child. Worthless, useless
child. You did nothing. You are nothing. Weak and spineless and unable to
provide. Mark is better off without you.”
Better off without you.
Better off.
Better o—
My knees shook, threatening to collapse. Cole was wrong. I didn’t need
to talk about anything, I just wanted it all to fucking stop!
A hand wrapped around my throat, jerking me back against a solid
force.
It took me no time to know who it was.
Petrichor burned my nose as Trick pinned me tightly between the
counter and him, his arm trapping my hand against my chest, his shadows
pinning the other hand to the counter as his breath moved my hair away
from my ear. Hot and heavy.
I continued to gasp for air as his hand tightened around my neck,
cutting it off completely, my nails digging into the sink, tears already
pouring down my cheeks, creating trenches into the root Cole had applied
to my face.
I released a struggled sob. “I c-can’t breathe,” I wheezed out.
“Yes, you can,” he said, his voice somewhere between commanding and
angry.
I shook my head, spots dancing in front of my eyes, my heart racing so
fast, I wondered if maybe I had already died. “No, I can’t.”
He turned his head ever so slightly until I could feel his lips pressing
against the side of my head. “You don’t listen very well, do you?”
The fear that trembled in my gut, I wasn’t sure where it came from.
Him or whatever was happening to me.
He lifted his other hand, a crystal cup held between his fingers, the
purple liquid sloshing. His hand, his sleeve, it was covered in blood.
“Do you know what this is, Angel?”
I tried to focus through the tears and spots, tried to see the juice through
the crystal, tried to smell it through the bitter scent of the Asilos Root and
copper.
“Focus,” he demanded gently.
My nails dug into my chest, into the cold steel of the sink. I could just
barely make out chunks floating in the liquid. Chunks of blue, swirls of
black.
I inhaled a shaking, broken breath. “Um…”
“That’s not an answer,” he half sang.
I shook my head, swallowing against his hand. “It’s…” I cleared my
throat and closed my eyes, forcing myself to smell it. He was holding it out
less than a foot away, but the smell was pungent. Sugary, sour. “I-it’s...” My
eyes opened as the name popped into my head. “M-Mersine Berry Juice.”
What? Why would he bring me that?
Trick twisted the cup around as if trying to get the crystal glass to catch
the light that was no longer there. “And what does it do?”
“It, um—”
His hand tightened.
Anger found me at his reaction. I was allowed to use that word.
“Egotistical prick.” My eyes narrowed as I pulled against the restraints. “It
rids the body of b-bruises,” I told him, my voice still a little raspy from the
amount of blood I had swallowed. “Paired with—with Asilos Root and
Allure Antler, you’d be almost good as new.” Almost.
“Good,” he stated easily. “Now drink,” he told me, bringing it to my
mouth.
I kept my mouth shut tightly. He had poisoned it, I was sure.
When he realized what I was doing, Trick pushed me into the counter
until I felt my thighs start to bruise. “Drink,” he threatened, his voice a low
growl.
I shook my head.
He pressed my head against his chest until I could no longer move, the
liquid coating my lips.
Trick leaned down and sank his teeth into my skin, the bite so sharp, I
couldn’t help but gasp.
He poured the liquid down my throat, causing me to cough, half my
mind focused on that spot on my neck where he started to suck.
I gulped down the too sweet liquid, trying not to choke, my nails
digging into my own chest as his teeth nipped painfully at my skin.
He lowered the cup and ran his tongue over the bruise he had just left, a
shiver falling down my spine, my stomach churning. “Good girl,” he
mumbled against my ear, causing something in me to simmer in a way I
loathed. My eyes rolled back in my head, arousal dripping down my thighs
as my hips pushed back into him, feeling his hardened cock press against
my ass.
Trick pressed his tongue flat against my neck and licked up to my ear.
“Now I have to cleanse you.”
My eyes flashed open, rationality taking over. I shook my head, gritting
my teeth. “Let. Me. Go,” I ordered, the window completely steamed up.
Where was Cole? Was there a shield between us and him? Would he be able
to do anything if there wasn’t?
“You broke every rule, Angel. I told you what the consequences would
be.”
I used every ounce of strength I had to shove back against him,
although it did very little good. “Not every rule,” I spat back.
He smiled against my skin, a chuckle sounding deep in his throat,
causing a shiver to slide down my spine. “So, you did read them.”
Over and over and over again. Because every time I tried to get rid of
the parchment, it reappeared.
I set it on fire, buried it, threw it in the river, fed it to the pigs, ate it. It
always showed back up within an hour of me getting rid of it.
The roses hadn’t been as durable.
“Fuck you,” I hissed.
“You will,” he mumbled, causing my teeth to grind painfully together.
“But first.” He lifted his free hand and dropped something into the sink.
It didn’t take more than a second to realize what they were.
I gaped, my stomach twisting as my eyes fell to the sink where four
severed dicks now rested. He had killed them. All four of those men, he had
held true to his word.
I screamed through my teeth, fighting against him. Pushing, thrashing,
the pain from my own injuries piercing through me.
“Kyra,” he sang in a way that made the very hairs on my skin stand on
end.
I stopped, feeling his heartbeat against my spine, my own heart
slamming painfully against my ribs. I could feel his cock pulsing against
my ass. He was enjoying this. He loved it.
“I marked you,” he said, carefully easing the grip around my throat,
“but the Mersine Berry cocktail I just gave you will erase it, unfortunately.
Meaning I’ll have to do it again. Very soon.”
I swallowed against his hand, unable to look at the appendages in my
sink. “Why would you help me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
And despite myself, I felt my muscles relax just a hair.
It was enough for him to notice. He adjusted his grip around my throat,
easing back from the counter enough to return blood flow to my legs,
causing them to tingle. “Have you realized the truth yet?”
I nodded, staring at the steamed-up window, the water still running,
Asilos Root dripping down my face, my hands, bloody cocks in my sink.
“Yeah,” I breathed out, realizing only one thing.
I only had a month left with my brother before I lost him forever.
“I realized that you’re a cock-sucking, egotistical, arrogant, big-headed,
psychopath who gets bored of his own wealthy, lavish life and thinks to
himself ‘you know what’ll be fun, singling out a worthless, pathetic, fat,
ugly, piece of fucking shit woman who has nothing in this life except for
her overactive imagination to have as my own’. Until, that is, you get bored
enough to move on.” Which I was shocked hadn’t happened yet.
Trick laughed a cruel, dark laugh and shoved away from the counter,
my hand releasing from the edge of the sink.
He spun us around, releasing me to stumble back against the table, his
shadows growing larger, darker.
I grabbed onto the table to steady myself, panting, as his eyes sparked
in an animalistic kind of way.
“You’ve got it all wrong, baby.”
“You?” I bit.
“No, you,” he snarled. “You’re a fucking masterpiece. You are
artwork.”
My breath caught at the feral way he spoke, at the words he said.
“You are the fire I want to die in, a craving I can’t satiate. You are every
throb of my hardening cock, every beat of my blackened heart, every breath
of my immortal life. You are a goddess among fucking men. And you. Are.
Mine.”
My heart thudded, my mind memorizing those words against my will,
memorizing the way he looked while saying them, the way he stood,
breathed, the way his eyes flamed.
He was telling the truth.
Why was he doing this?
Why me?
 “You want to play games, Angel?” he asked, hands clenching at his
sides, his magic swirling, pulsing, vibrating around him. “Then run. No
magic, no wings, no innate abilities of speed or scent. If you make it out of
the Forest of Malice, I leave you alone for the night. If I catch you, I punish
you for the rules you chose to break.”
My eyes widened, that zing of fear spreading down my spine, across
my lower back, followed by a whisper of thrill. “And if I say no,” I
breathed out.
One corner of his mouth lifted up. “Baby, you’ve already consented.”
I couldn’t breathe in the best possible way.
“Run.”
A one-word command I wouldn’t ignore. I spun around, jumped over
the table, landing on trembling legs, and sprinted for the door.
I lunged through the door and towards the trees. No magic, no wings,
no innate abilities of speed or scent. I had a chance. I knew these woods,
knew the demons.
I had a chance.
I ran as fast as I could, heart stammering, trees blurring as I passed
them. I didn’t know if he was actually chasing me, but I was sure he would
keep his word.
And that was…it was fun.
A smile dared my lips as I glanced behind me only for a second before
taking a sharp left. Opposite my strongest side. Maybe it wouldn’t detour
him, but any normal person wouldn’t have guessed it. Humans, by nature,
follow their strongest side.
Right.
Goosebumps spread across my skin, the thrill bubbling in my stomach,
warming it.
Everything was falling apart.
Mark was leaving.
Mom hated me for failing.
The last ten years of my life were meaningless. Building something for
my brother that he would never see.
I was pathetic. My Mom had been telling me that for my entire life.
Useless. Nothing.
Now I was being hunted. Not by a demon or by the castle guards, but
by something so much older, so much darker, so much more sinister than
anything else in the world.
And I liked it.
I shouldn’t like it. I should be terrified, and I was. The rational part of
me was terrified of being caught, but then there was a deep, dark, irrational
part of me, the part I hated so fucking much that some days I wished I could
just cut it out of me, that part was laughing maniacally, wanting him to try
harder.
I rubbed my face, the remaining Asilos Root muck flaking away,
clearing my vision a little more as my hair whipped behind me, the rain
pelting down through the trees. It was pitch black outside. The sun had
already set, the moonlight drifting through the breaks in the branches above.
I had run a long time, taken multiple left turns, a few right just to throw
him off hopefully.
I finally saw freedom come into view. The edge of the city, the
cobblestone street. I had taken the long way, trying to get closer to my
house so it’d be less likely for the guards to see me, but I found myself
skidding to a stop at what I suddenly saw before me.
My eyes widened, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I tried to force
myself to quiet.
It wasn’t Trick I saw waiting for me just on the other side of the
treeline, it was a woman with beautiful red hair, accompanied by two white-
robed people on either side of her. They were speaking to a pair of knights
in hushed tones.
I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to breathe, to slow my heart.
I was fine. I was still in the woods; they couldn’t see me.
“…well why haven’t you caught this person?” the woman asked the
guards. A witch. She had to be a witch. Evanora? It would explain the lack
of robes. Shit. If that was Evanora Fairshield, I needed to go. I needed to
run far away from here, find another point of entry.
“They seem to be an expert at evading us. All they leave behind is
blood-splattered walls and piles of bodies. There’s no weapon, no signature,
no anything.”
“Hmm,” she sighed. “Well, alright then.” She glanced to the robe on her
right. “We have no use for them.”
A hand slammed over my mouth.
My eyes widened and I grabbed the arm, digging my nails into the
person’s flesh. The fear pounded through me, dripping down my legs with
the rain. I slammed my foot back into them, struggling against the firm grip.
“Shh,” Trick mumbled, the warmth of his body searing against my skin.
“I found you.”
Despite my fear of him, I relaxed a hair because at least it wasn’t a
witch or guard. At least it was someone I knew even if he was insane.
The Forbidden Magic swam from the hands hidden under the robes,
consuming the two guards in seconds, leaving them as nothing but husks of
what they had once been.
I fought against him, tried to get away if only to get deeper into the
woods, to hide.
“They’re talking about me,” Trick whispered, his voice guttural.
“They’re talking about how many people I’ve slaughtered in this city in the
last year I’ve been here. They’ve found those four men that fucked you.”
My eyes widened. Mom had spoken to us about those deaths. The serial
killer going around brutally dismembering people in the city within the last
year. I hadn’t put it together. How stupid did a person have to be not to put
that together?
“If you had wanted to get away,” he began quietly, “you would have run
straight for the city. But you took the long way. You wanted to be caught.”
I swallowed, shaking my head. No, that wasn’t true. I was trying to get
back to my house.
“Do you have a weakness for me, baby?” he breathed out, my stomach
warming, the fear dripping down my legs. “Is that why you took your
time?”
I sneered and opened my mouth, biting down on the meatiest part of his
palm until I tasted blood.
Trick roared, jerking his hand away.
I slipped away, sprinting through the trees again, back from where I had
come. They had to have heard that.
I didn’t make it a few feet when an arm wrapped around my waist, and I
screamed, kicking, digging trenches into his skin, forgetting Evanora and
the witches as I fought for my life.
“You don’t want to break free, do you?”
I did.
“No,” my inner voice cackled. “You want him to fuck you and he
knows it. He read your books. He knows the truth. You want his cock to fill
you up. To consume you.”
 He slid his arm up my body, his hand wrapping around my throat as the
other slid around my waist, sliding down. Down. Down.
“Shh, they might hear you.”
He would never allow that. He wouldn’t allow anyone to interrupt this.
We both knew it. I was never in any danger of being found by Evanora
Fairshield. Not here.
I gasped as he pushed my head back against him. “You gonna fuck me
now?” I asked, my voice a bare whisper over the roaring rain. Maybe I
could just piss him off enough to let me go. “I know you want to.”
“You don’t want him to let go. You want to suck his cock until you’re
drowning in his cum.”
Trick chuckled in my ear. “Are you going to pretend your every pore
doesn’t want me to fuck you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t. I don’t want this.”
“Gods,” that inner voice groaned. “Fuck me until I can’t see.”
My eyes widened. “Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up!”
He turned his head, using his nose to push my soaked hair back, until
the corner of his lips grazed my neck. “I can smell it on you, Angel. I can
smell it dripping down your legs.” He slid his hand between my legs with
enough confidence to take down an army.
I went still. Even the smallest of movements in any direction caused a
reaction I couldn’t control. “It’s called rain, you sick fuck,” I growled
through my teeth.
“Denial is the worst attribute, don’t you think?”
I hated my inner voice more than I hated the things I craved the most.
“Hmm,” he purred and so gently he placed a kiss on my skin. “No, no,
no,” he sang and bit down, sucking at my skin so hard, I could feel the
bruise forming.
I bit my lip, my body arching back into him, my feet slipping in the
mud, causing me to fall an inch.
His fingers tightened, two of them in particular. “Don’t slip. You may
find yourself in so much denial, you’ll be sick with it.”
“Is this what you like?” I spat, trying to ignore the feeling between my
legs. “Fucking helpless victims. Forcing them to love you.”
He smiled. “But you’re not helpless, are you? I’ll listen, Angel.” His
lips found my ear. “Tell me to leave and I’ll leave.”
I shivered, my eyes falling closed as his fingers curled up just a bit. It
changed the pressure just enough that a moan slipped from my lips.
He chuckled, shivers falling down my spine. “Now, are you going to be
a good girl for me and take your punishment or are you going to fight it
every step of the way?”
My eyes opened, and I stared into the black abyss, and I swore the
shadows smiled back. “Fuck y—”
He tore through my pants without trying and slid two fingers straight
into me.
I groaned, grinding against his hand as he tightened his grip around my
throat, cutting off my air, my blood supply. A man who had tortured enough
people to know just where his hands needed to go to cause the most amount
of pain and pleasure.
He sank his teeth into my neck. Over and over again. Leaving painful
bite after painful bite as his fingers worked inside of me, teasing, curling,
slamming into me.
I shoved back against him, but he didn’t move. A solid wall to support
me as he added another finger, as he made me writhe.
“Fuck,” I grunted, feeling his hardened cock press against my ass.
“He wants you too. Why are you fighting this?”
Trick smiled, the pressure building through me, spreading across my
bones, down my legs. He finally took a step forward. And another, and
another until I felt his shadows wrap around my wrists and pull my hands
up.
I opened my eyes, finding a tree before us, and I watched in a mixture
of horror and pleasure as my bound hands lifted up above my hand and
finally pressed into the damp bark of the tree.
His shadows tightened around them, pulling my hands into the tree.
I pulled at them as he gently probed an ankle with his foot. I looked
down, he wanted me to spread my legs further.
I pulled at the restraints again, trying to fight off his pushing, but as he
curled his fingers in again, my legs began to wobble, and I had no choice
but to do what he suggested.
He spread my legs out until they were just over shoulder-length apart
and then he pressed me up against the tree until the bark bit into my
forehead, his hot breath spreading over my neck, causing me to shiver.
I was unable to keep my cries in as he grabbed my clit and pulled at it,
flicked it, pinched it.
 Tears poured down my cheeks, my body trembling in the need for more.
“Fuck,” I whimpered, grinding back against his hand, his pulsing cock.
“Do you want me to stop?” he mumbled against my skin. A half snarl.
He was about to lose it himself, I could feel it.
I shook my head, my nails digging into the tree. I didn’t. I needed him
to keep going. I needed him to—
“Good.” He pulled his fingers out and pressed me against the tree in a
way that kept me from moving.
My eyes widened, and I was in such shock, I let him hold me, my entire
body so strung out, I felt like I was going to implode. “What are you
doing?” I breathed, heart pounding against my ribs.
He nipped at my ear rather than answering and found my neck again,
kissing the soft skin just above that black chain collar gently before sucking
on it so hard, my breath caught.
I closed my eyes as his legs spread mine a little more, the craving for
any type of friction so overwhelming that I was nearly sick with it. I needed
him.
I pulled at my hands again, my fingers tingling, my body shivering
from the cold, his cock pressing against my ass. There was no give
anywhere. There was nothing I could fucking do.
I snarled. “You wanted to do this,” I spat. “You wanted me so badly that
you made it a game. And now?”
He smiled against my neck, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many
bruises he had left. “And now you’re being punished.”
“How is this a punishment?” I bit.
He pulled his hands away, sliding one back into my hair, and sliding the
other back between my legs. “The best way to punish someone in denial,”
he purred, “is to leave them wanting more.”
I snarled between my teeth as his hands caught on my soaking hair,
pulling my head back. “Fuck you,” I muttered icily and shoved my ass back
into his cock. If he was going to taunt me, I could taunt him too.
“It’s not taunting if you want it too.”
I wanted to fucking scream.
He chuckled darkly and slid his fingers back in.
I groaned, shoving back against him again.
“Careful,” he taunted, his voice thick, “or I might start to get the wrong
idea.”
 He didn’t take his time and build up this time, and I hadn’t yet cooled
off from last time. He slammed his fingers into me, the sound of my own
arousal echoing through the storming world. How was he this good at using
his hands? I mean, fuck, I had never been sexually attracted to hands, but
this?
My eyes opened, falling to where his hand worked through me. Thick
and beautiful. Black ink I hadn’t noticed before trailing across his thick
forearms, across part of his hand. Gods, his hands were so…
Hot.
“Are you gonna cum for me, baby?” he asked against my ear, his hand
nearly ripping my hair out.
I bit my lip, my entire body trembling as I watched his hand. I was. I
was going to cum so fucking hard, but would I tell him? No. Because I was
terrified he would just take it away again.
I felt him smile against my ear. “Oh,” he sang. “You can’t lie to me
baby, I can read your body better than you can.” He pulled his hand out
again just before I fell off the edge.
“Fuck,” I whined, despite myself.
This time, Trick carefully untangled himself from me and stepped back.
His shadows retreated slowly, giving me the chance to regain proper
footing before I collapsed back against the tree and turned to face him.
It was difficult, trying to catch my breath, my body was weak, still
craving, filled with overwhelming frustration as my hands dug into the tree
if only to keep me standing.
Trick stepped a couple feet away and slid his fingers into his mouth
with this cocky smile touching his lips. “Fuck, baby. You taste like fucking
goddess.”
My mouth was dry, rain dripping from every inch of me, the cold biting
into my skin. “Why?” I found myself asking like some pathetic,
whimpering child who had just had a lollipop taken away from them.
He slid his hands into his pockets and lifted his chin. “You broke the
rules.” He turned away from me, but not before I caught a glimpse of the
outline of his cock, still rock hard under his pants. “Remember rule 4,
Angel.”
I ground my teeth together and shoved myself away from the tree,
shaking from how cold I was now, made even colder by the humiliation I
felt. “Fuck you,” I spat, shoving my hair back. “I’ll fucking masturbate if I
want to. I’ll break every rule if I want to. I haven’t signed shit yet, so I don’t
need to abide by any of your sick and twisted rules.”
He stopped and turned back to me, his eyes flaming. The game. He
loved his fucking games. “Do you want to cum for me, Kyra?” he asked
again, his voice cutting through the roaring of the rain like a hot knife
through butter.
I shook my head, but gods if those words wouldn’t stick with me. “No.”
“That’s rule 3,” he noted, looking me over.
I gripped my hands at my side. “Will you?”
His eyes flashed, so dark, they were nearly black. “Will I what, Angel?
Say it. Will. I. What.”
I swallowed, my hands shaking. “Will you…” My heart fluttered, my
arousal soaking through my pants.
“Don’t say it.”
“Fucking say it you coward.”
Oh gods. “Will you cum for me, Trick?”
Whatever color had been left in his eyes disappeared when I said that,
and I could have sworn he shivered when I said his name. It almost made
me want to say it again. Almost. “Not yet, baby,” he answered.
I scoffed. “You can break rule 3, but I can’t?”
“I don’t break those rules,” he stated. “I will never lie to you.”
He started turning away again and I found myself taking a step after
him. “You like your games? How much will you like them if I stopped
playing?” I challenged, albeit weakly.
He smiled. “You can’t stop playing. You like it too much.”
I shook my head again, my entire body trembling from the cold. “You
don’t know me. You have no idea who I am, what I think. You can’t
possibly know that.”
Trick watched me carefully before walking up to me again. “I know
enough. I know the denial you live in. I know how much you hate yourself
for craving certain things. I know how deeply that hatred is ingrained into
your soul. And I know exactly what it’s going to take to convince you that
there is nothing wrong with you for liking certain things. I know a lot more
too, but it doesn’t pertain to this specific conversation.”
I straightened, my arms going slack at my side, my lips parting as I
finally put together what I hadn’t before. “How do you…” My eyes
widened. “Did you read my journals?”
 “You keep a lot of secrets, Kyra, even from yourself. We’re not doing
that. Rule. 3.”
Rage boiled under my skin. So much, so fully, that I couldn’t control
my body as I raised my hand and slapped him with everything I had.
The slap rang through the forest as if we were in a canyon, the echoes
vibrating through me, the pain sparking down my arm.
Trick kept his eyes locked on mine.
I panted, my heart hammering, any good feeling he had given me
earlier, gone.
“You catalog your injuries,” he stated evenly and without a hitch. “But
I’ve searched, I’ve watched but not even my shadow will tell me who is
hurting you.” His eyes darkened. “I don’t know why. In fact, I’ve
contemplated destroying it too. If you don’t tell me who is hurting you then
—”
“Then what?” I snarled, hot tears cutting through the rain. “What will
you do, Trick? Keep pushing me to the edge of cumming and then cut me
off? I’ve experienced so much worse. There is nothing you can do, nothing
you can say, to get me to tell you who is doing it.”
“Why?” he half-growled. “Why protect him?”
He truly had no idea. Not a single clue. Because she’s my mom, and I
need her to love me. “Why does it matter to you? I’m just another thing to
you, aren’t I? A little plaything to fuck and discard. To play with, leave
whimpering in the woods, and disappear. A war is coming, right? Everyone
in the world knows what Trick Michael does when a war approaches. That’s
what I’m waiting for,” I said, trying to ignore how icy the world had
become. “It’s just a matter of time before the great High King disappears
for another ten years. I won’t even be alive by the time you return,” I spat.
“There is no bigger ‘fuck you’ than that.”
He leaned in then, slowly, like a predator who knew his prey didn’t
have the guts to run.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have the guts, I was just too stupid to back down
from this particular fight.
“Are you threatening to kill yourself, Angel?” he whispered in my ear
before leaning back just enough to meet my eyes.
Our noses were less than an inch apart. I could feel each breath he took
touch my lips and I hated it so much my hands shook. “I’m stating a fact.”
“Hmm,” he mumbled, glancing to my lips. He ran a tongue over his
bottom lip and lifted his eyes slowly back to mine. “Then you leave me no
choice.” He released a sharp whistle and straightened.
A tendril of shadow broke apart from him and shot towards me. Before
I could do anything to shield myself, to run, it slid into my mouth and down
my throat.
I coughed, grabbing my throat, gasping for air, the chill spreading
through my body, swirling in my stomach, stretching out to every toe, every
finger, every nerve-ending.
It lasted seconds. I shuddered, my eyes jerking up to his, fear slamming
through me. “What the fuck did you just do to me?” I demanded, sliding a
hand over my stomach as if I could touch the thing that now lived inside of
me. His magic that now pulsed through my veins.
There wasn’t an ounce of light in his eyes, no hint of that evil smirk.
“I’m sure you’ve heard my voice once or twice since I locked that collar
around your neck. Allowing my shadows to become a part of you will
amplify that. It’s uncomfortable giving up two shadows to you, but there’s
no one else in the world I’d rather make the sacrifice for than my sweet
little addiction.”
My eyes widened, heart pounding against my ribs. “What?” I
whispered. “Take it back. Take them back.”
“No,” he answered easily. “I can’t read your mind, but I can hear you if
you choose to speak to me. I’ll feel it if your heartbeat becomes too fast or
too slow. It works both ways too, with the speaking thing. You aren’t versed
enough to know how to tune into my heart yet, but soon you will be. Go
home, Kyra. Don’t break anymore rules.”
I screamed through my teeth as he turned away from me. That asshole!
He looked back as if hearing my thoughts. “And I’m not going
anywhere. Not this time. Not unless you’re with me.”
“I will never go anywhere with you,” I spat venomously.
He took me in one last time and then smiled softly. “We’ll see.”
My panic exploded as soon as he started disappearing into the shadows.
“Wait,” I called. Despite my absolute disgust in him, I was terrified of being
alone tonight. “Evanora,” I said, hating myself for needing his sudden
reassurance. “The witches.”
He glanced back as the shadows swallowed him whole. “You’re safe.
Go home. Have wet dreams about me and then deny them,” he smiled. “See
you soon, Angel.”
 I stared after him until I couldn’t see him anymore before I turned to the
city, terrified. But a small piece of me believed him. He said I was safe and
I…I trusted that.
God, what the fuck was wrong with me?

OceanofPDF.com
 9
My Bible, Chapter 6, Verse 23,
There are true monsters in this world. Monsters who wish only to see it destroyed. The world may
see me as such, but that is only because they cannot see the truth. Let me open your eyes for you.

Cole
W hat did you do to her?” I snarled upon Trick’s return.
“Nothing she didn’t need,” he stated coldly. “We’re going to pay a
visit to the High King,” he went on, causing me to stop in my tracks.
I wanted to question him further about Kyra, but I knew it was
pointless. He would never give me the truth. Not about her. “Why?”
Something had happened with her to cause this, I was sure of it. If I
couldn’t figure out what happened to her, maybe I could find out what she
had done to cause this. Trick hated meetings. He’d never willingly go to one
without a good reason.
“Because we’re here, Cole,” he stated, his clothes changing in a swirl of
shadows to something more presentable of a High Court. “We need
information about what the witches plan on doing, and I don’t see my
beloved sister planning any meetings.”
I frowned. That wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting, but it made
too much sense to distrust it. “That’s because she’s been catching up with
the paperwork you decided not to do. There’s a lot of it.” Among millions of
other things he hadn’t been taking care of over the years.
“I hate paperwork,” he said simply. “You can earn some points with the
new High Queen if you come with me.”
“I don’t need to earn points, Trick. Where is Kyra?”
“Going home. Would you like to accompany me to see Raphael or are
you going to let me go alone and then scold me later for not behaving?”
I sneered. If I didn’t go with him, there was a chance he’d simply take it
upon himself to kickstart this war before anyone had time to plan for it and
with everything Lora had to deal with in the court, this couldn’t be piled on
top, so I resigned myself to go. “Fine.”
“Great.” He walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t
mess this up for me, Cole, I need to make a good impression, or they may
think I’m not a suitable enough enemy to defeat.”
 This wasn’t going to end well, I was sure of it.
We Jumped, landing in the middle of Raphel Gerodia’s dining room.
It was the middle of dinner, yet the only person sitting at the large table
was Raphael.
His chewing slowed as his gray eyes met mine and then Trick’s. He
didn’t act surprised, didn’t call for guards or anything in that manner. In
fact, he simply swallowed his food, dabbed his mouth, and picked up his
wine glass. “Had I known I’d be feeding such large warriors, I would have
set another place at the table.”
“You can tell your knights to stop searching for the person killing all of
your civilians,” Trick began, shocking me. “I’m doing it.”
I was forced to keep my expression clear, but I already knew why he
was doing it. He must have believed they were part of the Congregation.
The Congregation that didn’t exist anywhere but in his sick and twisted
mind.
Raphael nodded. “May I ask why?”
Trick inhaled deeply. “Unfortunately, the people I’m hunting stretch far
and wide. Some of those people lived here. I disposed of them. As for the
four I slaughtered today? That was just for fun.”
The High King of the humans took a drink of wine. “I’ll assume those
you kill were for a good reason. In that case, I suppose thanks are in order?”
“No need.” Trick lifted his chin. “I heard about what happened here
nearly a month ago now,” he went on, almost bored, “I’ve come to ask you
why you’re deciding now to admit to the world the truth everyone knows
but is too scared to admit.”
Or was ordered to ignore, I wanted to add myself.
Raphael took a small sip. “We never tried to hide it.” He set his wine
glass down. “But people choose for themselves what they’ll see or not see.
It’s not my fault that the world collectively chose to put on masks.”
Every decision they had made during the last two wars proved different,
but this was Trick’s conversation, not mine. Whatever he was doing, I
needed to let him do it and just report it back exactly as it happened so Lora
could prepare.
Raphael gestured to Trick. “What are those things, anyhow?”
I glanced over, watching as his shadows drifted gently around him. My
brows furrowed. Was he missing another one?
“My friends,” Trick answered easily and then looked around casually.
“Will Evanora be joining us?”
“I run this Court.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“Hmm,” Trick mused. “Well then, I’ve greatly overestimated the
damage you’ll do during this coming war.”
Raphael’s eyes hardened. “You think I cannot cause damage?”
Trick smiled easily. “You’re nothing but a sack of bones, Raphael. I
could kill you without moving from this spot. You think Evanora will save
you before I kill you, but you’re wrong. You’re as expendable as your
grandfather and your grandfather before him. The only reason you still
breathe is because you still have some use for her, although I can’t see
how.”
Raphael chuckled. “You know, I’ve heard the rumors about you. God of
Nightmares, a beast from beyond the Veil, a true demon in the shell of a
Fallen. But I look upon you today and all I see is a male underestimating
how powerful Evanora has become. Every step we take, every word we
speak, every blink has been carefully written out and planned by the gods
themselves. Even you, Trick Michael, stand no chance against what’s to
come.”
Trick inspected his nails, his shadows shuddering around him. “Well, if
Evanora isn’t going to show her face, I suppose I’ll go.” He inhaled deeply
and found Raphael’s eyes. “I love games, and you should know that I’ve
never lost a single one. I’m not planning on losing now.”
Raphael lifted his chin. “No one ever plans to lose, Trick. They just
lose.”
The High King of the Fallen offered a bare smile as he took my
shoulder. “They do indeed.” We Jumped.
~~~

Kyra
A week.
A week I spent in that house. Playing with Mark, telling him stories,
crying myself to sleep at night, wondering what side-effects came from a
shadow infecting a person.
I was on edge all the time. I couldn’t write, couldn’t eat, couldn’t
punish myself for the decisions I was making.
 The decision I couldn’t even bring myself to tell Mark about yet.
But we were running out of food, and I needed to go to the castle and
tell Raphael what my decision was. What the best thing for Mark was.
I couldn’t put it off anymore.
So, I got dressed and snuck out of the house before Mom had gotten up.
I felt empty as I headed for the town square. A numb kind of empty, and
I wasn’t sure if it was due to lack of sleep or the fear that now fueled me,
but I couldn’t make it stop. I needed to hurt myself, the need was burning
through me. I needed punished for this, for what I was doing. Giving up on
my brother, handing him over to Raphael Gerodia and Evanora Fairshield.
It was fucked up.
I was fucked up. But I couldn’t give him the life Raphael could. I would
never have that kind of money. All I could do was hope that how I raised
him, what I taught him, would help him push through their hatred. Maybe if
he did get on the throne, maybe he would have a chance to change
something.
Unless that was, Trick Michael won this war. With his terrifying
obsession over me, wouldn’t that mean he would try and keep Mark alive
too? I hoped so.
I needed to believe in that. I had no choice.
I stopped in the alley across from the castle, people teeming despite the
chilled weather and newly fallen snow. Therian was actually beautiful
during the winter. Everything had a new sheen to it, and the holidays
immediately caused everyone’s mood to lift.
Mark would move into the castle just 12 days before Christmas. I
wondered what they would buy him.
Over the years, I’d gotten him a handful of toys along with some much
needed winter clothes, but nothing truly unnecessary. Nothing like what the
High King would give him.
“Turn around.”
A demand, not a request.
It was the first time I had heard his voice in my head in weeks. The first
time I had heard his voice at all since the night in the woods.
I wasn’t sure if he had been giving me space or if he had been watching
me through the windows of my house, or if he had just gotten bored of me
and left, which obviously wasn’t the case. Whatever it was, he was back,
and I truly wasn’t in the mood to listen to him or his arrogant speeches. I
needed to focus.
But he wasted no time. A second after he made his demand and realized
I was ignoring him I felt a cool chill start creeping up my legs slowly. A
familiar chill.
I looked down and saw nothing. I wasn’t imagining it. I knew that. I
could feel him standing feet away from me and whether that was my
survival instincts or whatever magic he inserted into me, I knew it wasn’t
exaggerating.
My eyes lifted back to the castle, and I willed myself to ignore it.
Ignore it even when it drifted over my panties. Ignore it even when I felt it
tease my entrance.
No, I wouldn’t let him win.
I took a step towards the town square and froze, fighting against the
moan as that magic bit the inside of my thigh, just to the right of my already
dripping pussy.
I closed my eyes, hand finding the wall, nails digging into the bricks as
I pressed my lips together tightly. No. No. I had much bigger things to deal
with than letting him take advantage of me ag—
The shadow slithered inside of me.
It slithered deep inside of me, caressing me, expanding.
“Hmm,” I whimpered, my hand clenching into a fist. Shit.
It moved and pulsed, slithering down and wrapping around my clit,
getting colder and colder—
I gasped and fell back against the wall, pressing my thighs together as it
began to work slowly inside of me. In and out, in and out, never releasing
my clit even as I spasmed around it.
My eyes flashed open as I grinded against nothing. It felt weird, not
having anything between my legs. Nothing to straddle, nothing to press up
against. I needed something. Anything.
Trick stood across the alley from me, hidden in the shadows, watching
me carefully.
The shadow, feeling as solid as the real thing, widened, stretching me
until it hurt only to soothe it with ridges and warmth.
I groaned, biting my lip, trying to hold them in.
Another tendril broke away from the shadows around Trick and drifted
over. It easily undid my veil and pushed back my hood, allowing him to see
my expression, my struggle, the redness I could feel burning my cheeks.
 The shadow within me started slamming into me a little harder, a little
faster, changing shape in a way that set my soul on fire.
My legs wobbled, giving a few inches. I gasped, gripping the wall.
“Someone is going to see,” I panted.
That little voice inside of me laughed. “You’re not even trying to tell
him to leave anymore. Where is the denial now, Kyra?”
It’s weak and I was honestly desperate. Although I would never admit it
to someone like him.
Trick melted out of the shadows, his eyes trailing over me slowly before
returning to my own. “Let them see. I’ll kill whoever looks at you with lust
in their eyes.”
I swallowed, a small, horrible voice in the back of my mind daring
someone to walk down this alley. To see. I knew it wouldn’t scare Trick off,
but I would never voice the other option to myself. Never.
I groaned through my teeth, closing my eyes, trying to breathe against
the building warmth pooling in my stomach.
“No,” I heard him say and his hand wrapped around my jaw, lifting my
chin up. “Eyes on me, Angel.”
I forced them open, my hands automatically finding his shirt. The
overwhelming craving for something to hold onto filling me to the brim.
He gazed upon me with this look that set my soul on fire in the best and
worst possible ways.
“I need—” I started.
He shook his head. “Focus, baby. On me, on what I’m doing to you. On
the way my shadows are fucking you right now.”
I swallowed and shook my head, the burn so fucking painful, it made
my back arch against the bricks. “I can’t, I have to—” I gasped as his
shadow twisted inside of me. Fuck.
“You have to listen to me.” He stepped forward until his body was mere
inches from mine. He tilted his head down, opening his mouth, his lips
hovering above mine, his air falling into me, his breath becoming my
breath. “Baby,” he half moaned.
“Fuck,” I groaned, my mind spinning, my heart racing. I wanted to kiss
him. I needed to kiss him.
But this was wrong.
It had to be wrong.
“I’m your God now,” he mumbled, tilting his head from one side to the
other, brushing his nose by mine, getting close enough to give me an idea of
what he would taste like. “You belong to me.”
My eyes fell shut again. I was on the very fucking edge, and I needed to
fall off.
“You will always belong to me.”
I gasped, gripping into him, feeling the end. I could see it, taste it.
“You are not a coward,” Trick said, his shadows slowing. “Get what
you need, don’t give them an inch.”
His presence disappeared as soon as it had come, the shadow burning
my clit flashing away from me just before I tipped over the edge.
I collapsed back into the wall, panting, my heart racing, sweat trickling
down my spine, my legs shaking.
I bit back the scream of frustration.
I grabbed my chest, trying to calm my own breathing, letting the rage
settle in my bones.
It took a while before I was finally able to think straight. I snarled as I
forced myself to straighten. “I fucking hate you!”
A chuckle sounded deep within my soul, and I swore, I could see him
smile in my mind’s eye. Gods, why the fuck couldn’t I stop him from doing
that?
“Because you don’t want to.”
That voice was so clearly mine, and I hated myself for it.
I harnessed that rage, that frustration, and fixed my appearance before
finally stalking across the town square. My steps were a bit wobbly at first,
each step causing pain to shoot up my spine, but by the time I got to the
steps, the pain drove me more than hindered me.
Next time we were in the same room together, he was getting another
rock to the face. Or slap. Or something. He wasn’t going to keep controlling
me like this.
The knights at the door stopped me just as I reached the top step.
I looked between them, chin held high, shoulders back. “I don’t have a
letter this time,” I told them, “but the High King has requested an answer
and I am here to give it.”
They exchanged a glance and the right one stepped up. “No letter, no
entrance,” he declared just as someone opened the door.
A pair of silver eyes met mine, watching me with a coldness that chilled
me to my bones. They reminded me of the steel of a blade, just as
unemotional too.
The Prince.
Raymond Gerodia lifted his chin, wearing nothing but the most
expensive threads money could buy. He had soft features, a lean frame, and
slightly paler skin than the average person. His silver hair was pushed back,
arrogance in every movement. It wasn’t even the type of earned arrogance
that Cole or Trick wore, this was the kind that only gold could buy. “Who
are you?”
My skin crawled, my gut twisting. “I’m here to see the High King. He
should be expecting me.”
He looked down his nose at me, twisting his lip in disgust. “Unafraid to
look me in the eyes? That’s quite interesting for a common street rat.”
My cheeks burned in anger, but before I had a chance to think through
my response, the weight around my neck made itself more known than it
had since the moment I was collared.
“Prick,” I muttered to the High King of the Fallen. “I lower my gaze
for no one. Especially those who have not earned my respect.”
“How dare you—”
Raymond held up a hand, quieting his knights. “Careful of your tongue,
girl. I can hunt you for the rest of your life.”
I almost laughed at that. “I’ve been hunted by worse and far more
terrifying things than a boy with too much money.”
Raymond’s eyes narrowed to slits. “If my father weren’t expecting you,
I’d drive a sword through your skull myself. Perhaps I’ll still have that
opportunity before you leave.” With that, he turned and started through the
castle.
I rolled my eyes and followed after him. There were a few different
kinds of arrogance, and I’d met three versions of it in the last two months.
I didn’t think I could handle anymore versions of the same crude male.
“I’m sure this is all overwhelming for you, the beauty of it but if I find
even a single thing missing, I’ll have you hung on the crosses.”
Yes, one small thing in here could get me enough to fill up three more
cans of silver, at least, but I wouldn’t dare, not with Mark’s life on the line.
Raymond led me straight into the same room I had been in the last time
I was here, but when he opened the door, it wasn’t just Raphael sitting at the
table. There was another and she looked far more beautiful in the light of
day than she had in the dark of night.
 Evanora’s red hair hung to her waist, as straight as a board and her eyes
were as blue as the moonlight I had first seen her in.
Her face was made up of sharp angles, makeup extenuating her lips and
lashes. She was lithe, beautiful, someone I expected to be sitting in a
position of power.
She was incredibly attractive, a seductress in her own way. If I had been
a Gerodia, I wondered if I would have hit my knees at her feet too.
Raphael stood from the head of the table. “Excuse me.”
“Who is this?” Evanora asked, lifting her chin.
“Mark’s sister,” he answered, making his way around the table.
Raymond turned on me, taking me in again, disgust clear in his eyes.
“This is his sister?” He scoffed. “And you want him to run my Court? How
do you expect that to work when his sister looks like this? We can’t have a
fat, ugly King sitting on our throne.”
I fought the urge to touch my stomach. I wasn’t fat. I had thicker
curves, but I was not overweight. I could outrun, out maneuver, out steal
any thief on the street.
“Enough, Raymond,” Raphael ordered, joining us. His eyes found
mine. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Wait, wait,” Evanora called, pulling my attention. The witch dabbed
her red painted lips and stood, her features holding nothing but kindness. “I
have yet to meet her.”
I remembered how angry and terrified I had been when I had first met
Trick, yet I had still thrown a rock at him. I don’t think I would have had
the same guts with Evanora.
I guess that said something about me.
She came to a stop in front of me and extended a dainty hand, her nails
painted red, rings on nearly every finger. “Evanora Pensin.”
I wondered if she assumed nobody in Therian knew who she was. Why
else introduce herself with a different last name?
I took her hand and nodded ever so slightly. “Astraea.”
“Astraea,” she greeted without a hitch. “What a beautiful name. I’ve
heard so much about your brother, and I look forward to meeting him.”
“Evanora,” Raphael spoke softly. A quiet, respectful warning.
She covered her mouth, eyes shining as she took a step back. “My
apologies, it’s still in discussion. Go, speak about it. I’ll finish breakfast
with my darling little Raymond.” She slid her hand over Raymond’s
shoulder and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
My skin crawled. Something about the gesture felt too intimate.
“Come,” Raphael gestured towards the door.
I didn’t hesitate to follow him. I’d rather be with him than linger with
the Wicked Witch of the Human Court.
We walked in silence through the winding halls, knights, and servants
everywhere. I hated this place. It was filled with people, but it felt lonely.
No one even looked at Raphael as they bowed to him when they passed.
There was no talking, no sign of comradery. It was horrible.
Finally, he led me to a glass door, and through it I could see a thick
garden filled with flowers and vines. Thriving.
He opened it for me, the scent refreshing, the air cool. I took in all of it,
feeling true awe. “It’s beautiful,” I mentioned as he shut the door behind us.
“Thank you.” He started down a near hidden path, his hands folded
behind him. “I pride myself in my gardens.”
I followed after him, wondering what his plan was. Wondering if I had
just led myself right into a trap or if he truly wanted to speak alone. “I
apologize if I interrupted your breakfast,” I said, trying to have some kind
of conversation. Maybe there was a way I could somehow negotiate this in
my favor. A way where Mark wouldn’t be corrupted, and I didn’t lose my
family.
“I wasn’t eating much anyway. I assume you’re here to talk about your
brother.”
I nodded, taking in the daisies, the roses, wondering how they had
gotten them all to grow while it was so cold out. “I just wanted to know
what the details were.” I couldn’t wait until the Spring. I had planted roses
along the pathway leading up to my front door. They would start growing as
soon as the ground thawed.
Part of me wished I hadn’t set fire to the ones Trick had brought me.
They had been so beautiful, and I had just burned them in anger. I regretted
doing that now.
“You want to make sure he is safe,” Raphael confirmed. “A good sister
through and through. I assure you, he will be well taken care of, safe, warm.
He will get three full meals a day, whatever clothes he needs, lessons in
history, language, politics. He will grow up strong and healthy.”
I felt my lungs start to shrink again, the room closing in around me. It
sounded like a really good life for him. I had to let him go. I had to be
strong enough to let him go. “My mom?” I choked out, sliding my hand
over my stomach, trying to hide the trembling. This was good. It was for the
best. Him living like a King and not like a pauper. I would be selfish
keeping him with me, I knew that.
Raphael sighed, staring only at the path ahead. “Both of you will have
the option to move in, but unfortunately you will not be a part of the meals
or his training. You won’t be a part of anything. You may live here, but that
is all it would be.”
Despite my trying to rationalize it, my heart wouldn’t slow. “That’s
kind of you,” I whispered, the roaring growing in my ears. It was fine. Mark
deserved that. He deserved full meals and a soft bed.
Raphael was quiet a moment. “I understand that this is hard for you.”
No, he absolutely did not.
“But I can promise you that any life we give him will be a good one. I
promise you that I will do everything in my power to raise that boy in a way
that will make him a far better fit than Raymond. He was…” Raphael’s
walking slowed, his head dipping.
I stopped, taking in the true age in the lines of his face. He looked like
he hadn’t slept through the night in decades.
“I will personally raise him, Kyra, I promise,” he finally said, turning
away from me. “I will do everything in my power to keep him from turning
out like Raymond.”
Hatred.
I could see it plain as day, feel it like burning liquor across my skin. He
hated his first born. “Sir—”
“Raphael, please.”
Even his words were heavy, each one carrying more weight than the
last. It made me forget my own issues as I focused solely on him.
“Raphael,” I corrected, trying to catch his eyes but he wouldn’t meet them.
He was gripping his hands tightly behind his back, his shoulders tense.
“Something is wrong,” I finally whispered, daring to push him. “Isn’t it?”
Why else would he word it like that? Why else come here to speak alone?
Something had happened. Something had changed.
He looked up, not at me, but at the room, looking around as if searching
for something. Someone. After several seconds, he finally turned to me,
eyes sparking in fear, the burning liquor shifting to burning sugar. “I’m a pri
—”
 The door opened, causing me to turn. “Raphael?”
Evanora?
I turned back to the High King, finding nothing in his eyes again,
nothing in his expression, as if a switch had been flipped. “I will take good
care of him, Astraea. I want for you to have a choice, but you don’t. The
time limit is a lie,” he whispered quickly, so quiet, I almost missed it.
“They’ll destroy him.”
“Ah, there you two are,” Evanora sang as she came around the corner
wearing a smile.
My heart skipped as I wiped my expression clean, my skin crawling in
prickles of fear.
“Have you two made a decision about Mark?”
I hated that. I hated his name leaving her lips. I hated it so much I
couldn’t breathe. “No,” I decided evenly, shocking even myself. “I haven’t
made my decision, but that doesn’t matter, I know that.” I shouldn’t have
said that. What was wrong with me?
Evanora’s smile remained sweet. “Did Raphael tell you that you could
move in? We’re not breaking you up, sweetheart.”
I wanted to slap her just for calling me ‘sweetheart’. I wasn’t her
sweetheart.
I glanced towards Raphael again, but his eyes were cast down. A beat
dog waiting for orders. He had done what he could, by warning me. I
wanted to thank him for it, but then there was still that little voice
whispering to me about how selfish I was. That no place in this world was
better than a castle.
“I understand that him living here would be good in the fact that he
would get food and a warm bed, but I can’t understand how he would be
raised in a way that is fair and good,” I explained, seeing the absolute
emptiness in her eyes. She didn’t mean anything she said, and I didn’t know
why a witch would target my brother, but clearly that’s what was
happening, and despite my belief in understanding before judging, the
witches seemed to be the exception.
Stay with me and starve or stay with them and pray I had taught him
enough to not be destroyed as Raphael had suggested.
“And your life gives him that?” she challenged.
“My life gives him a choice,” I countered, Mark’s laughter filling my
mind, his eyes, his smile. He was happy. I couldn’t understand why, but he
was. We could figure everything else out later, couldn’t we? Didn’t we still
have a chance? Once we were free of Mom’s grip, if I just worked a little
harder, pushed a little more, couldn’t I give him some semblance of a better
life? Maybe nothing like this, but something better.
“Starve or freeze to death?” Evanora offered.
“Don’t respond,” the rational voice in my head begged.
“You are not a coward, don’t give them an inch,” that irrational voice
hummed. The one that craved chaos, that needed a thrill.
The rage took control in that very moment. “Equality,” I stated coldly,
my hands tensing at my sides. “Learning and understanding before you
judge people based on where they came from. I don’t even understand how
any of this,” I gestured around us, “works. The Human Court was born to
hate magic, hate anyone with magic, we’ve been groomed for it by hanging
anyone with magic in their veins, and yet here you stand. You’ve always
stood here. A powerful witch, the High Queen, alive and well while others
die because of where they were born.”
Evanora laughed lightly. “Oh sweetie, it’s politics.”
“It’s murder,” I shot back. “It’s genocide.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word, child.”
I worked my jaw. “Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number
of people from a particular nation with the aim in destroying that nation.
Except you’re wanting to eradicate all magic to what? Save your own? Is
that the goal? So you can become the strongest power in the world?”
Her eyes darkened, a power crackling through the air, causing the taste
of copper to coat my mouth. “I’d watch my tongue if I were you.”
That’s what it was. That’s always what it would be. Everyone in this
gods-damned fucking world always needed more power.
That little chaotic voice in me cackled, urging me to keep going, to
push and push until there was nothing left to find.
“You’re not me though, that’s the problem. If you were me, if you
hadn’t been raised in a cave, brainwashed by your mother, you wouldn’t
even be here. None of us would be here. You cannot expect me to give my
brother to someone who wants to rule the world like some kind of all-
powerful High God.”
The slap came out of nowhere, but the feeling that followed took its
sweet time. It felt like a shock of ice running down my spine, sparking
every nerve, my cheek so cold, it burned.
 I fought the urge to grab my face, feeling the chill like an icy kiss of
death. It was different than Trick’s magic. In fact, Trick’s magic felt warm
compared to this.
“Goddess,” Evanora spoke, the sweet, kind features gone for something
sharp and wicked. “And don’t speak of what you know nothing about. We’ll
fetch your brother when we’re ready. If I were you, I’d say my goodbyes.
Now, get out of my castle.”
My jaw worked, the tears burning the back of my throat, the pain
almost unbearable. “This castle belongs to the Gerodia’s. To Raphael.
Anyone else is just clawing for the power he has, and newsflash, magic
doesn’t matter, loyalty does. Strike fear in whoever you want Evanora, there
will always be people loyal to the true crown.”
“They hate their High King.”
They hated what she made them believe their High King was, but I
didn’t think that was true. Something was wrong here. Something was
pulling at my gut, but by the way my bones started to pop, it was time to go.
“How does that saying go?” I asked, lifting my chin, my spine cracking.
“It only takes one.” I turned to Raphael and placed my fist across my chest,
bowing at the hip, the sounds reverberating through me. “High King.”
I straightened and turned to Evanora. “It’s just politics.”
Her eyes flamed in rage, but she made no move to say or do anything
else, so with that, I turned on my heel, and headed for the door.
~~~
I stumbled through the cottage door, shivering, my veil too tight, crystals
growing where my breath hit the fabric, the cloak pulled around me like a
blanket, the edges frosted.
I couldn’t stop shivering, my head spinning. My vision was blurred,
black around the edges, my thoughts a jumbled mess. My bones felt as if
they were as thin as the ice coating the puddles on the streets, my lungs
freezing solid. I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes, in fact, I was sure they
were already black. “Forbidden Magic,” I grunted, the veil turning to ice on
my exhale.
I took one step forward and my legs gave out.
Trick Jumped to my side, catching me before I hit the ground. His
hands burned through my cloak. All I wanted to do was curl into him, the
scent of petrichor fighting to get through the ice building up inside of my
nose. “What happened?” he asked as he carefully peeled my veil away, Cole
quickly joining us.
I curled into him. I could feel my blood turning to sludge, my heart was
pounding too hard, my nostrils filled with ice, my throat slowly closing.
Everything was screaming in pain.
Move, move, move! My instincts screamed. Moving was the only way
to warm up, but I couldn’t. I was freezing alive from the inside out.
My mouth opened, unable to shut now as the ice crawled up my throat.
I couldn’t breathe. “She slapped me,” I tried.
“Cole,” Trick started as he lifted me. “More wood on the fire.”
His heart thumped against my shoulder steady and unwavering.
Unafraid.
“What happened?” he asked his High King.
“Evanora slapped her. She was injected with Forbidden Magic. She
doesn’t have much time.” Trick carried me over to the fire and crouched
down, the heat from the flames doing nothing to satiate the freezing
temperatures.
My fingers dug into his shirt as my eyes slowly lifted to his, black lines
shooting across my vision. “I can’t breathe. It’s crawling up my throat.”
He nodded, his eyes melting. He wasn’t the cruel, wicked thing from
the woods anymore, no, this man, I was sure, wasn’t seen often. “Cole will
keep you warm until I return.”
Cole appeared at my other side again, his hands slowly sliding under
Trick’s. As soon as my weight shifted, he disappeared right from between
my black fingers, now frozen in the shape of me gripping onto Trick.
I fell into Cole with a thump as he carefully turned me back towards the
fire and spread his beautiful wings, forcing every ounce of heat to be
directed right at me.
I loved his wings. I loved the way the black faded into the red on each
feather. It was tragic and poetic and amazing.
My vision slowly went black, Cole’s face disappearing into
nothingness. I tried to get air, but the ice was growing in my throat,
expanding. I was going to die.
Exhaustion swept over me. I was unable to move, my heart had slowed,
I was suffocating slowly. At least Mark could make his own choice. He’d
find that letter. He would find out about the cottage, and he could make the
choice himself, and I would be happy. Whichever he chose, I would be
happy.
I had to be happy.
“Talons?” Cole asked.
But he’d be in that castle all alone. “If worst comes to worst,” I thought
at Cole, praying he would somehow hear me, “take Mark to Aelyria. He’s
allergic to lemons. Take him to Aelyria.”
If he was in Phaidras Mom would never find him. The castle was
dangerous, and if he didn’t like the cottage, he deserved the choice to go to
Phaidras. He deserved it. There were Tree Giants and Allures, and he had
always loved the Vigils. He would thrive there.
“Kyra,” Cole tried. “Keep fighting. You have to keep fighting.”
If I could, I would have taken him, just to visit, but in this case, maybe
abandoning the cottage and moving to the Fae Court was just the best
option.
“Trick,” Cole said, at least that’s what I thought he said. There was ice
building in my ears.
A hand found my face, this one so warm, it burned. Warm and calloused
and so large, it nearly encompassed the entire of my head. “This will hurt.”
His voice was clear as day.
A warmth started to grow where his fingers touched my skin, spreading
through my jaw, my cheeks, my eyes, and lips. It didn’t hurt, in fact, it was
relieving.
“What are you doing?” Cole snapped. “You’ll kill her.”
My jaw broke free of the frozen cage, the warmth sliding over my
tongue and down my throat, thawing everything it touched.
I tried to inhale, but my lungs still wouldn’t work. I was still dying.
“You have to eat this. It’s the heart of the Delya Owl.”
Something that counteracts all magic. Rare too. Delya Owls were only
found in the deepest parts of the Desert of Bones. Unreachable by all.
Unless you were a god, I supposed. “Okay,” I responded without fight.
I felt the warmth of it touch my tongue, the bitter flavor of blood
spreading across my mouth. My skin felt as if it were ripping apart with
each slow chew, but I kept going. Chewing it thoroughly, forcing myself to
swallow.
A violent shiver washed through me before I felt the instant relief start
to spread, my body slowly relaxing into Cole’s.
My eyes fell shut, the warmth of the fire finally penetrating through my
freezing clothes, melting the frost across my skin, thawing my bones as
exhausted relief trickled through me.
Trick ran a thumb over my cheekbone. “It’ll take about an hour to feel
normal again,” he explained gently. “But you should be able to stand, talk,
and walk again in the next few minutes.”
I was too exhausted to respond, so I ignored him, concentrating on my
breathing.
His presence disappeared a moment later, Cole’s wings casting shadows
across me as he pulled me in tighter.
It took me a few minutes to open my eyes again. I looked at my fingers,
the purple fading to white and finally to bright pink.
Well shit. Now I owed him something. I was sure that would come back
to bite me in the ass.
I ran my tongue over my lips and looked up to Cole’s wings, my
muscles sore. Part of me wanted to touch them, but the other part of me just
wanted to sleep for the next few weeks.
I found myself relaxing into him for several seconds longer. Listening
to his heartbeat, which brought me just an ounce of comfort.
I had gone into that castle today with the sole purpose of giving Mark a
life I could never give him. A better life, and I left telling Evanora
Fairshield that he was mine and I wasn’t giving him up, on the sparce
advice of a corrupted High King.
I put a target on his back.
So, what did that make me now? Was I still selfish? Was I a monster?
Was I a good sister for standing my ground or a terrible one for giving him
such an uncertain future?
After another minute or two, I finally flexed my toes in my boots, tested
my fingers, and once I decided I could feel them all, I forced myself to try
and get up.
Cole remained where he was, folding his wings back, offering me a
hand which I gratefully took as I got up with the grace of a newborn fawn.
The Fallen General got up with ease, still holding my hand, my other
gripped into his shoulder. “Take it easy,” he instructed as I stared at my
trembling legs.
I hadn’t felt this weak since last winter. It was frustrating.
What was even more frustrating was the fact that the two strongest
males in the world, probably, were watching me as I proved to them that
humans were the weakest species on the planet. I understood that to be true,
but I also felt demeaned.
I released Cole with finality and forced myself to stand on my own, the
world spinning around me. I flexed my hands at my sides and turned to find
Trick standing in front of my favorite wall, shoulders relaxed as if he
belonged here. “What are you both doing here?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
My cheeks were burning. Whether that was from the heart or my own
humiliation, I wasn’t sure.
Not two hours ago, I had been seconds away from cumming in an alley
outside the castle because his shadows had fucked me, which I hadn’t
known was even possible. I had wanted to kiss him. To feel his hands all
over my bare skin.
He had done that within seconds. He had changed my mind of him
every single time we were within shouting distance of each other, and I
hated it.
I had the will of a shrew, and he loved exploiting that.
But I liked when he exploited it too, so what did that say about me?
“Cole mentioned a dream you had while we were away,” Trick stated
without looking back. “About ‘them’ killing all of the High Kings and High
Queens with the Staff of Elder.”
My brows furrowed at that, and I turned to Cole, irritation growing.
“Why was that something that needed to be relayed?” This irritation had
nothing to do with him, and I recognized that. I was angry at myself and at
Trick, not Cole. Cole had done nothing wrong.
He walked by me towards the table. “You told me it was more
information. Some information needs to be shared with the man who sent
me here to gather said information.”
“It was a dream,” I stressed, annoyed at the way he had replied. “I
didn’t actually think it meant anything.”
“It did,” Trick stated evenly. “Do you not record your dreams?”
I ignored him and made my way to the sink, wishing it was just Cole
and I. My steps were slow, trudging, my bones cracking with each step, but
I didn’t feel so weak anymore, which was nice.
If I had had the ability, I would have had a stockpile of Deyla Owl
hearts in my cupboards, but not only were they in that impossible location,
they were also endangered. There weren’t many left. Probably Trick had
destroyed a little owl family by saving me and that was enough incentive to
add a little bit of anger to my already fuming hatred towards the male.
I turned on the hot water and looked out of the window. It had started to
rain again. Maybe the snow wouldn’t come fully for a while. The rain, I
could handle, but the snow was difficult without proper clothes.
Mark, he would have proper clothes, but I had been neglecting the ones
I needed to gather for myself. I could deal with those later.
“Talons, are you okay?”
I rolled my eyes and turned to the steaming water. “Fine. The heart is
working.”
“Why were you at the castle?”
I reached out to the water, only to pause when one of the shadow
tendrils drifted slowly between me and the stream. I frowned, watching it.
“Can you return to your High King so I can warm up my hands please?”
The shadow ignored me, although I wasn’t sure if it even understood
me. There was no information on what language, if any, shadows spoke.
Rather, it drifted to the knob on my sink and turned it to the right just a hair
before drifting to the edge of the sink and settling.
“I wanted it hot.”
“That one is yours,” I heard Trick say, his voice closer than before.
“The water was too hot, and you were going to burn yourself.”
My lip curled as I flung my hands under the water. It was perfect.
“Maybe I wanted that.” I held my trembling hands under the water without
moving them for a long time, thinking back to what Raphael had said. Tried
to say.
“I’m a pr—”
My first guess was obvious, but maybe I had misheard. Only it would
make sense. The Gerodia’s had been working with the witches for centuries,
maybe there was some sort of blood contract there. But wasn’t their whole
deal for freedom? Freedom and money, possibly immortality, I wouldn’t
think the records would be completely inaccurate on that part of history.
But maybe I had been too on edge. Maybe the word had started with
‘br’ or ‘dr’. He was whispering, and I was distracted.
“Maybe this will push you to be more truthful,” I heard Trick say,
pulling me out of my thoughts. “After Cole told me about that dream,” he
began as my eyes lifted to the window again, “I went into Custodes
Sepulchra to check on the Staff. It was gone. Every piece.”
Why wouldn’t it be? If Evanora truly wanted to destroy him, then she
was going to need the Staff of Elder to do it. That seemed overly obvious.
I shut off the water and dried my hands, turning to the two males in my
cottage. Cole was sitting in a chair on my side of the table, half-turned
towards me, and Trick was standing on the other side of the table, watching
me, challenge in his eyes.
I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t think now was the time to play any sort of
game.
I leaned back against the counter and met his eyes evenly. “Not to
humiliate you in front of your General, but after the last two wars, I would
have kept guards everywhere. I would have checked on the Staff every
week, every day. I would have—”
“It’s easy to say what you would have done from there,” he stated.
“Without a crown, you couldn’t possibly know how some things may slip
through cracks.”
I smiled coldly. “Hmm, right, so should we talk about the fact that
rather than running your Court, you’ve been out murdering people? Is that
something we’re allowed to bring up, or is that an off-limits topic because it
makes you look bad? Can’t have that, can we? Mr. All-Mighty looking
bad.” I clicked my tongue.
His eyes flashed, his jaw feathering. “For the last 800 years, I’ve been
hunting down people who defile others. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles. I
catch them, torture them, and spread their limbs across their court. Six years
ago, I stumbled across a society of them. They call themselves
Congregation. They are spread across every court. Every time I kill one,
three more pop up. A year ago, I found out that the humans were involved
in this too. That’s what brought me here. To you.”
Gods dammit. That was a decent excuse.
“A year ago?” Cole asked, turning to Trick. “You disappeared for four
years and came back only when you found her?”
Trick didn’t break eye contact, but I nearly did. He had disappeared for
four years? Five years ago his sister had died. So…he just abandoned his
people again? Just like that?
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Trick told Cole icily.
“Yes, you do. Where were you? Why did you only return when you saw
her?”
He sneered, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly as if he were fighting to
bare his teeth at his High General. “She was worth coming back for,” he
finally said.
My eyes widened. “No. No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to
put that amount of pressure on me because what? When you finally get that
I don’t want you, you’re just going to leave your people again? No, I don’t
want that on me. I don’t need that on my shoulders.”
Trick laughed something cold and cruel. “I told you, baby, I’m not
going anywhere unless you come with me.”
A shiver ran down my spine at his smile. Sinister and dark. Something
only the King of Hell could do.
“Trick, answer my question,” Cole demanded. “Where were you?”
His eyes finally shifted from mine, falling to the Fallen Warrior. “You
don’t get to use this as an excuse to get what you want.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and opened my mouth to spit out some
sort of retort that would hopefully piss him off, but the words died on my
lips as a movement behind Trick caught my eye.
My gaze followed that movement and I found a woman standing behind
him, near the door. She was beautiful. Curly auburn hair, bright blue eyes,
freckles smattering across her nose, rosy cheeks. She had her hair braided
back intricately, keeping it away from her face, and the armor she was
wearing was a combination of fur and steel.
My brows furrowed as I straightened. How had she gotten into my
home without Trick or Cole hearing her?
“Time is running out,” she told me, her edges shimmering in and out of
view like a pond disrupted by a rock. “Wars take time, but this one is
coming far quicker than the others. It’s time to snap out of it.”
Confusion filled me. “What?” I whispered more to myself than to her.
Trick turned, but the woman was gone between one blink and the next.
He turned back to me, looking me over as if assessing my well-being.
“What did you just see?”
My eyes found his, the word ‘nothing’ wanting to roll from my tongue,
but I swallowed it back and relaxed my shoulders, opting for just ignoring
him completely. “I assume that you’ll just find my journals about my
dreams and read them anyway, so I’ll save us both the trouble.” I nodded
towards my room. “Under my bed. Have at it. But if I find your cum on my
books because you just couldn’t control yourself, then I’ll have a fucking
problem.”
His eyes went so dark, they were almost black.
 Cole’s eyes widened as he looked from me to Trick, waiting
expectantly.
Trick’s eyes didn’t waver. “The only place my cum will land, Angel, is
on or inside of you.”
My heart skipped, my grip tightening around the edge of the counter.
Cole sneered, his invested amusement drowned in disgust, which only
made me feel so incredibly dirty. “Gods, Trick, you’re so disrespectful.”
But he knew what he was doing. He knew just what that statement did
to me, the way my knees weakened. I couldn’t believe Cole couldn’t smell
it, but I was grateful.
Trick’s challenging eyes wouldn’t break so I wouldn’t break either, no
matter how gross I felt with Cole’s judgmental eyes on us. “If they got into
Custodes Sepulchra,” I finally began, “then they’re more powerful than I
thought.”
“They were powerful enough to take out—”
“I know that,” I interrupted Cole, irritated not at him, but at this entire
situation. “I know, but they had help then. They had Aurora and Ryker,
Killian. In the War of Ruin, they had the Gerodias, and they managed to
find the Staff after it was supposedly lost. They have another partner, and
they needed the Staff again. Maybe they used that same partner. There’s no
way to tell, but it’s kind of neglectful on your High King’s part,” I went on,
still staring into those deep green eyes, “that he didn’t guard the Staff better.
Maybe he should have been there instead of doing whatever it is he does on
his off time.”
It was bait. I was baiting him for both me and Cole. I wanted to piss
him off in a space where he couldn’t do anything about it. Because he
wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do anything with Cole sitting in with us. Even if he
did decide to go invisible, however that worked, Cole would be suspicious.
Or maybe he would, and I severely messed up.
It was a dangerous game, but gods, it felt good.
“I know what you’re doing,” his voice drifted through me. A demon’s
growl. A warning. “I wanted to ask you about the Obelisk,” he said out
loud.
That shocked me, snapping me out of whatever game we were playing.
“What?”
“There was an attack in Arkalious. One of our own was looking for it.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line and shoved away from my counter
with an eyeroll. “One of your own people was looking for a 400-foot-tall
tower of power? The one that shattered thousands and thousands of years
ago to create the world? Come on,” I half-laughed, making my way over to
a stack of books. “I didn’t realize the Fallen had crazy conspiracy people
too.”
The tendril, my tendril, as Trick had stated, was doing nothing to hide
itself now as it followed me to where the stack was.
It twirled around my wrist as I thumbed through the books. “So, your
people are turning against you?” I asked daringly. I was still owed
information, and what I was giving them was good, so the least they could
do was answer my questions.
“Karious Lord of a territory in the far North,” Cole explained as I
pushed my hair behind my ear. “It’s nothing new, but like Trick said, he was
asking about the Obelisk. If we had it, if we knew where it was. He wanted
it.”
Karious needed to be committed. I finally found the book I was
searching for and stood. I walked over to the table and sat down next to
Cole. “The Obelisk was created before the Staff of Elder,” I began, forcing
myself to fall back into my own comfort zone.
Several seconds passed before Trick joined us, sitting directly across
from me. His shadows drifting around him, my single tendril drifting
around my hands almost lovingly.
“You both know about the weapons in this world, right?” I asked,
opening the journal to the list of weapons I had written down. “The Staff of
Elder, Michael’s sword, Gabriel’s bow, Enoch’s shield, the Book of Silence,
which although isn’t necessarily a weapon, it could be used as one,” I went
on, meeting Cole’s eyes. “And finally,” I scrawled down the last one. “the
Eye of Orion. While those aren’t all of the ‘powerful weapons’, they’re the
ones I know about now.”
I inhaled deeply and leaned back in my chair, balancing the pencil
between my fingers, part of me wondering if Trick had that rock on him
now, the other part of me falling deeper into my own rhythm. “The Staff
technically isn’t a weapon either, but it can be used as one because of the
power of the gods being stored within it from when they all touched it to
create us.”
I waved my hand aimlessly. “That’s not the point. No one has ever
asked where they came from. No one knows exactly how this world came
to be, right? They all just assumed the gods and goddesses were always here
and suddenly just wanted some more fun, creating us with the Staff.”
I hoped that wasn’t completely true, because if it was, then there were a
lot of uneducated people in this world, but from the questions I had asked
on the street, no one had ever truly cared to learn how this world came to
be. They knew of the Obelisk, just not what it had done for us.
“But this world started before they ever came to be,” I went on, finding
Trick’s eyes again. “Something older than the gods, older than the world we
stand on, older than the stars.”
His shadows drifted towards me slowly, and I wasn’t irritated about it. I
was actually interested in learning more about them too. About how they
worked. Clearly, they were sentient to some degree, I just didn’t know how
far that went.
So, when his shadows met mine before drifting over my hands, up my
arms, I didn’t do anything to shoo them away, especially when I caught that
bit of shock in his eyes. There and gone before anybody who wasn’t paying
attention could see it.
“The Obelisk,” I continued, letting them do their thing. They weren’t
harming me. They weren’t teasing me. They almost reminded me of cats
just doing what cats did best. “A tower of pure magic that stood in the
center of everything, gifted to us by the Goddess of Stars, the very first gift
she ever gave us.”
My eyes lifted to the ceiling, drifting across the map I had created,
tracing the stars as they had been before Caduto had shattered into the nine
continents there were now. “The Staff of Elder is a conductor, which few
people have actually put together, but the Obelisk? It’s the power. And not
just power, but the power. The be all and end all of everything.”
I stood then, setting my things down to follow the stars all the way to
Mark’s room. “’Here is a gift for the children of my children, the lord of my
lords, the gods of my gods. May it bring you light in the darkness and
darkness in the light’,” I quoted. It was a poem I loved. Something about it
just made my skin tingle with excitement.
“Everyone believes it’s one thing. A tower that reaches far into the sky,
pointing to where she now resides,” I went on, stopping less than a foot
from Mark’s closed bedroom door. “Lost when the gods were born, or so
the stories go. Stolen, given, hidden away. Lost in the memories of
memories of memories. And so the knowledge becomes stories, becomes
legends, becomes knowledge.”
I stopped, staring up at those perfect constellations I had spent years on.
“No one ever pays attention to the words,” I went on, more to myself than
anyone else. “The Obelisk disappeared when the gods were born. What else
could that mean besides what it states?” Stars. I loved them. I had a strange,
deep sort of obsession with them. More than I did the dragons or
knowledge. If I had the time, I could spend nights just staring up at them,
trying to understand what they were trying to tell us. Because they were
always trying to tell us something, we were just too loud to listen.
“It broke apart,” I heard a voice say almost distantly.
I looked over, taking in the God of Nightmares with ease, too relaxed to
care about what he had done not hours before. “It became something
better,” I explained, turning back to that spot. “Every world contains equal
parts of the same things. Darkness and light. Good and evil. Balance. You
cannot have one without the other. Shadows desperately need stars and
stars? They cannot shine without the darkness of the night.
“The Obelisk was a physical representation of that until it wasn’t. Until
it became the Archangels, the Keepers, the Hellions, the Goddess of the
Moon, the Five Goddesses, the Fates, the Priests, the Knights of Oblivion,
and Khaleesi. Until it became the shield, the sword, the bow, the Veil, the
Eye. Until it became the stars, the sun, and the night sky.”
I could feel him suddenly beside me. Feel his heartbeat, his breath. I
could hear his life, and I had no idea what that meant, but I found peace in
it.
I stood up on my tiptoes and pointed above me, still too short to touch
the ceiling. “Third star to the right,” I said. “The brightest star in the night
sky. What people fail to realize,” I went on, falling back on my heels, “is
that nothing ever goes away, not really. The Goddess of the Stars simply
said ‘see you later’.” Something Ket and I used to say to each other.
Something I cherished.
I shrugged and turned back to them. “I’m not sure why it chose there. It
fell a long time ago but before the War of Ruin, that star wasn’t above
Sarivos, it was above—”
“The Night Flowers,” Trick stated, something sparking in his eyes.
I frowned, irritated that he had the audacity to interrupt me and then
answer wrong about the layout of his own court. “No, it was above what
was the Fallen Territory before the Fall. You’re the High King, shouldn’t
you know the layout of your own Court?”
He offered the barest of smiles and turned to Cole. “I need to go.”
“I’d like to stay,” Cole stated.
Much to my shock, Trick nodded and Jumped, disappearing from view
with far less theatrics than last time.
I folded my arms across my chest and turned to Cole, irritated. Not even
a thank you? “Ungrateful little pr—”
Trick reappeared, my chin already in his hand, causing my heart to
stutter.
He lifted my chin and leaned in.
My entire body melted in less than a second, only for his lips to grace
my forehead. “Thank you,” he mumbled and disappeared again.
My entire face burned hot, my heart thundering in my ears. Gods
dammit. How does he do that?
Cole rose a brow at me.
I shot a glare at him and stalked over to the table, gathering my papers
just to make it seem like I was busy with something.
I could feel his eyes on me, burning through my skin. After several
seconds, he leaned over the table, trying to catch my gaze. “You like him.”
Another layer of fire spread through me. “No, I don’t. He infuriates me.
He’s an arrogant prick who expects everyone to fall to their knees before
him, and his respect for anyone else doesn’t exist. So no, Cole, I don’t like
him. I like you.”
He searched my eyes. “Then how come you’ve been straightening the
same four papers since he left?”
I shot him a glare. “It’s been five seconds, you absolute dick. It takes
longer than that to get a stack of papers straightened.”
He smiled, and I knew what he was doing. Goading me. He was a
goader.
Cole leaned back, smiling, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s
unhealthy.”
“You’re unhealthy,” I spat back. I know that. I knew that more than he
did. I didn’t need him telling me how unhealthy it was because I knew.
He chuckled lightly. “How did you put all of that stuff together?”
I set the stack of papers down randomly. “I wrote a book about her
once.” I straightened, studying him carefully, watching the way his wings
moved with his spine. After another few seconds, I gestured at him. “Can I
study you?” I asked, picking up my journal of the Fallen.
His brows rose. “Study me?”
I nodded and gestured to his wings. “I’ve yet to study them. I’d like to
draw them out, write down some information. May I?” I might as well get
something out of this horrendous day.
He glanced back at his own wings and then turned back to me. “Sure
thing.” He pushed himself to a stand and walked around the table.
I took a few steps back and tracked him as he walked to the center of
the room and carefully spread his wings out, his back facing me.
I quickly drew out a sketch of one of them before walking over. “Two
and a half your height, right? And you can use them to shield yourself?” I
asked, running my fingers over the edge of them. Gods, they were so soft. I
couldn’t imagine being wrapped up in them. How comfortable that would
be. “They can deflect almost anything, right? Except for obsidian and
dragon magic?” I asked, finding his eyes.
“Yeah,” he replied, taken aback. “Where did you find that out?”
I shrugged, gently bending it ever so slightly, watching the feathers
easily glide over each other. “Some of the Fae have wings and so do the
dragons. I know they’re all slightly different, but it’s the same essential
idea. The Fae can use their wings as shields against anything except for
iron, obviously, iron being their weakness. They don’t have wings as big as
yours, but they don’t need them. Dragon wings aren’t exactly two and a half
times their length, some are, but not all.”
I walked over to his spine, running my fingers over where the wings
connected to his back, slits torn into his shirt, probably his king’s doing.
“The dragon wings are beautiful too. More like bat wings than the Fae are
to bee-wings. Some are feathered though. The membranes are thin, but
incredibly strong. You can see sunlight through them, and the only thing
that can tear through them is either an Angelic weapon, dragon talons, or a
blast from magic darker than they have. Forbidden Magic, for example.” I
paused, my hand flat against the space between his wings, his heartbeat
strong. “Your High King’s magic, I would think, but I don’t know much
about it.”
Cole glanced back, raising a brow.
I needed to know more about it. “No offense, but dragon wings will
always be superior,” I smiled, finding his eyes.
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I take great offense.”
 I smirked, taking note of how they moved. “They’re connected to your
spine, right? Because of how you were built?”
Cole nodded, tightening them with ease. “Directly. If you press your
hand down a little more, you’ll feel the bones.”
So I did. I added just a little bit of pressure to my fingers, moving them
around until I could finally feel where the bones attached to his spine.
“Fascinating. What happens if you break something right here?” I asked,
pressing against the joint that connected to his spine.
“It can be dangerous. Either you can’t fly for about a week while you
heal, or you lose the ability to fly and possibly even walk altogether. It
depends on the break, but it hasn’t happened to me that I can recall.”
“It would take a great amount of force,” I agreed. “The Fae have a thin
layer of magic shielding their wings. Kind of like the layer on birds’ wings
that allow them to get wet for a short amount of time. Do you have that?”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “We do. For a girl who didn’t have
access to that much information about us, you sure know a lot.”
I shrugged, stepping back. “It’s all about the questions.” I scrawled
down a few more things as he turned back to me, my mind drifting back to
the street, to the people who had given me that information.
I chewed on my lip, and found his eyes. Maybe it was time to show him
the street. Just give him an inch of trust. Trick already knew about it, but he
hadn’t asked about it yet. Maybe Cole could help me figure out why it was
there or where it came from. Maybe it would help him figure out why his
magic wasn’t working. And I definitely needed something to distract me
after today.
Even as the thought graced my mind, Cole’s wings disappeared from
view, and I frowned, fighting the eyeroll because I didn’t need Cole giving
me shit about Trick being in my head along with everything else. “I don’t
need your permission.”
A chuckle fell across my shoulders. “No, but you can’t very well take
him if his wings are visible.”
I sneered as Cole glanced from his shoulders to me in question. “That
was strange.”
My frown deepened and I shook my head, trying to shut my mind off
from accidentally contacting the High King. “Um…” I cleared my throat
and turned for the table, closing my book slowly. “There’s something else I
can show you,” I said, sweat already gracing my brow. “But you have to
swear on your life that you won’t tell a soul,” I said, turning back to him.
“I’ve never been more serious about anything, Cole.”
His brows pulled together. “Will it help?”
“If not in one way then it will help in another.”
He studied me carefully. “You want me to swear not to tell a single
soul?”
I nodded once. “It’s the only way I can show you.”
He considered the offer and finally nodded. “I swear on my life that I
won’t tell a soul about what you’re wanting to show me.”
I studied him a moment longer before releasing a breath. “Okay, dress
down. We’re going to the city.” I sent up a prayer to the gods that this
wasn’t a mistake. That this would help, not harm, our future, but the only
way to know for sure was to do it.

OceanofPDF.com
 10
My Bible, Chapter 14, Verse 5
Never lie. Never take my name in vain. Make them see the light. Even if it blinds them.

Kyra
I looked over as he joined my side at the mouth of the alley, gauging his
reaction. “What do you see?”
He inspected what sat before him, face twisting in contemplation.
“Didn’t know there would be a test.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, wanting to join in with his playful
banter, but I was far too nervous. “Nervous?” I asked, hoping he would say
yes so I didn’t feel like such an idiot.
He inhaled deeply, giving me a look. “Can’t work under pressure,
Talons, gods.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured towards the alley. “It’s not a trick
question, I promise. What do you see?”
Cole eyed me for several more seconds before turning back. “I see an
alley.”
Relief swam through me almost overwhelmingly so. “What do you
smell?”
He inhaled deeply. “Humans,” his face twisted. “Garbage.” At my
frown, he said, “but it’s a lovely alley. Beautiful. I would live in this alley.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes. “It’s not the alley that’s the important
part. I mean, it is important, but that’s not exactly what I wanted to show
you.” I sanded my hands together. “It’s 53 steps from one end to the other,”
I explained, taking a step into the alley. “Tell me if something changes. I’ve
had a lot of questions for a long time, maybe you can answer them and
hopefully find some of your own answers along the way.”
Cole rose a brow, looking down the alley again. “You counted the steps
it takes to get from one side to the other?”
I nodded as I made my way towards the other end, Cole joining my side
seconds later, his cloak brushing by mine. “I found this place when I was
nine,” I explained unsteadily. “I was curious about a lot of things. I showed
Ket not long after that, but I had to hold his hand for him to see it.”
 “See it?”
I looked over. “Hmm-mm. No one else can see this place. All they see
is a brick wall.”
Cole glanced back to the entrance. “Really?”
Another nod. “I don’t know why I can see it, so I call it the Impossible
Street. You’ve been wondering where I get all of my stuff from, my
information. This is it. It took a while for them to accept me, due to me
being human, but I’d like to think we’re amicable now.”
“Hmm,” Cole pondered. “How long—whoa,” he shuddered, nostrils
flaring. “Ancient magic.”
I glanced back from where we had come, then towards the Impossible
Street. “Halfway? I wonder why no one sees anything then. Dead end alley
or something would have made more sense.” I looked over. “What does
ancient magic smell like?”
He rolled his shoulders and smacked his lips. “Tastes like moldy bread,
smells like cheese.”
I sneered, glad, for once, I didn’t have the heightened senses they did.
“That’s gross.”
He chuckled. “It’s ancient, old. It makes sense. So, you’ve been coming
here since you were nine? That’s a big risk for a nine-year-old.”
I pulled at my sleeves, unable to stop myself from wondering what
Trick had felt following me down this street. “We needed food.” Had he felt
the same thing Cole had felt? Or was it much deeper for him because of his
power? Did he recognize it?
“You weren’t afraid of them?”
I thought about the question, thought about how I had felt so long ago.
“I don’t know,” I finally shrugged. “I heard what everyone was saying, but
as a kid you’d like to believe in the impossible. In magic and mayhem and
madness. I needed a place to escape. Somewhere good and wild,
somewhere free. When I found the alley, I was starving, when I wandered
onto the street, the first person I ran into was a Fae. She avoided me. A lot
of them avoided me, but I was hungry, so I kept walking while they stared
and talked.
“Eventually I found this old wolf who gave me some bread. She asked
me why I was there. Where my brain was, why I wasn’t afraid like the other
humans, and after I got some food in me, when I was thinking straight
again, I told her that I guess I was more afraid of becoming a thing of hatred
than I was afraid of the people of the unknown.”
“How long did it take them to stop being apprehensive?”
I thought about it. “I think most relaxed after a year, but as you know,
not all are as trusting.”
Cole looked over. “Does it bother you?”
“It bothers me more that they feel they can’t relax around a species that
shares this world with them. You said it’s old magic, can you tell what
kind?” I wanted them to trust me. I wanted them to be able to relax when I
was around, but I understood how they felt and why they felt it.
He inhaled again. “It’s from a god, I would guess, but I couldn’t tell you
which kind. Being in Therian, my immediate guess would be the Priests.”
Which meant that they had wanted peace too. I wondered if the original
founders of the Human Court knew about that. Knew that the Priests
wanted comradery between the species and not animosity. “I wonder if the
Gerodia’s just turned their backs on the Priests all together after the War of
Ruin. I mean, the Fall was terrible too, but it’s like the hatred was palpable
after the War of Ruin. Once Caduto shattered, that just gave that hatred
more room to grow.”
“The magic wasn’t outlawed here until Raphael took the crown,” Cole
reminded me. “His father never did anything like that.”
“No, but hatred is learned not bred. Seeds were sown centuries ago; it
just takes the right person to water them in the right way. I don’t know what
this street will bring you, but I can show you what it brought me.”
He looked over, looking at me through those long dark lashes. “All of
your research?”
“People are willing to talk, they’re just afraid,” I explained. “You would
be amazed at the things you can hear when you’re just some nobody. I want
to know more about the Soldiers,” I went on, shifting subjects if only to
keep me distracted from what was to come in the minutes that followed.
“Most of the people here don’t even get enough food to be strong enough to
work, let alone are trained to fight, and even if they could fight, what would
they be up against? Your army? Fae Knights and their Vigils? Warlocks? I
don’t see how Evanora believes she can win with that.”
“It’s about numbers, Talons not power. We burn out eventually. If there
are enough Soldiers along with the witches, they could push us to the end
and then take over simply because we’ve got nothing left to fight with.”
“Burning out doesn’t mean you can’t fight, right? You said it yourself,
you are trained to fight without magic.”
Cole smiled. “Your intelligence is vast, and I love that,” he
complimented, causing my cheeks to warm.
“Yes, we can fight without magic, but losing magic is different than
burning out. When a magic-user burns out, they’ve lost every ounce of
strength they had. Meaning that we can’t even lift a sword, let alone try and
combat those types of forces.”
Oh. That part I hadn’t read about. “Does that happen to your High King
too?”
He hesitated half a second before he nodded, but I caught that and
wondered why. Why the hesitation? What caused it? “He’s burned out once
before that I’ve seen. I’m not quite sure how and he doesn’t talk much
about his personal life, but it made him sick for a while. The more power
you have, the more time it takes to recover once you hit that wall.”
Curious. “How long did it take him?”
“A month.”
My brows lifted. Shit, I was impressed. “Seriously? How long does it
take you?”
“A week.”
Shock and a bit of fear fell down my spine. “Holy shit.” That’s the man
who was stalking me? Someone so powerful it took him a month to
recover? My mouth went dry. I had to admit, I was terrified and irrationally
excited at the thought.
He smiled that cocky smile. “Scared?”
I gave him a look and gestured for him to follow. “Come on, I want to
introduce you to someone. I’m not sure how she’ll react, but she’s been
good to me since that first day.”
He joined my side quickly as I stepped onto my Impossible Street.
“That old wolf?”
I glanced around, already feeling the tension growing in my shoulders.
“The very same. Her name is Minerva Levine, Madam Levine. She’s
reaching the end of her lifetime, I think.”
“Well, wolves aren’t technically immortal, they just have longer
lifespans than humans—”
I tossed a smile over, causing him to stop. “They live on average about
50 to 100 years longer than us. It’s still sad. She has a good heart,” I went
on, noticing the way people were starting to stare, “and a lot of neat stuff in
her shop that I’ve always wanted to know more about.” I straightened, a
thought popping into my head at the looming danger. “Do you have your
magic back?”
Cole held out his hand, a spark of red swirling in his palm. “Yeah.
Michael’s armor, that feels good.” He stretched as if he had been confined
to a small closet most of his life. “Why? Nervous?”
My eyes lingered on his arms a beat too long as the memory of the
woods started sliding into my mind. “Apprehensive,” I answered too
quickly as I shut the memory out and reached for my bow. “Whenever I
mention the Fallen, trying to find information about anything at all, it never
turned out well, and then the warlock came asking questions about the Eye
of Orion,” I went on, lowering my voice, nocking an arrow. “I don’t know
how far that information has gotten either.” What was an archer to a street
full of magic users? Nothing, but would I still try and defend a High
General from these people? I’d give it my best shot.
“The Eye of Orion is a powerful weapon used to contain magic, so I
would assume most everyone has heard about what happened by now.”
I slowed and looked over, brow furrowing at his words. “What? No.
No, my research says that it’s used to stop death.”
He huffed a laugh. “Cryptic. It’s used to stop people from dying,” he
clarified. “There have been instances in history when people were born with
more magic than they could handle, which ended in a lot of fatalities for
them and for the people that came in contact with them. Orion created a
stone that could help control that magic.”
And all I had managed to find was a stupid cryptic sentence? “A
conductor? Like the Staff of Elder?” How much other information had I
gathered that had only given me that? I prayed not a lot.
Cole nodded, taking in his surroundings as any trained warrior might.
“Sort of, but it isn’t used in the same way. The stone gives your body the
space you need to store that extra magic, so it doesn’t give you any adverse
side-effects.”
My confusion only grew. “I don’t understand. Why would Trick kill his
own people to get that?”
His eyes darkened, hands tensing. “Nick wasn’t sure either, but it’s said
that some of her magic resides within it, along with whoever’s magic was
stored inside of it when it was last worn. Similar to the Staff.”
I released a breath, my fear spiking under my skin. “Why would he
want more power?” Of course. Everyone always wanted more. No one
could ever just be satisfied with what they had.
Cole looked over, his eyes locking on mine. “He won’t tell us.”
I chewed on my lip, thinking this over. “Technically, you don’t have the
right to know,” I said, knowing he might not like that.
He frowned at that, clearly unhappy with that specific truth.
But I didn’t have time to respond because a Fae girl had stepped in front
of me, one I knew well. Carissa.
Bright blue hair, sharp features, long neon nails, and a nimble frame. I
had always thought she looked more pixie than Fae, but Madam Levine
swore on her mother that Carissa was, in fact, a Fae.
Carissa looked from Cole to me, her brows furrowed, betrayal in her
eyes. As if we had ever been friends. “You brought a Fallen to the street?”
I instantly felt a sort of protectiveness over the High General, and my
back straightened, chin lifting. “I help those who need help.” Maybe I still
didn’t quite understand the Fallen, but I understood Cole. I understood him
enough to know that he was good. Kind. He had flaws, but he was still
honorable. A General through and through.
I understood him enough to know that he, at the very least, didn’t
deserve what was about to happen.
Her betrayal only deepened. “Why would you ever help one of them?”
Well, I actually helped the demons, but I couldn’t say that now.
“Because he’s good.”
“Good?” she breathed in utter disbelief. “Good? They rape us. They
kidnap us in the darkest parts of the night and torture us, and if they don’t
do that, then they charm their way into our lives. Convince us that they love
us and destroy everything about us until we rely on them to survive, and
then they kill us. They just stole four more Fae from their beds last night.”
My mother’s voice chuckled through me. “That’s what he’s doing. He’s
convincing you that his heart burns for you. He’ll keep going until you
believe him and then he’ll kill you. How could anyone like that love
something like you?”
I didn’t react, didn’t think, didn’t breathe. I knew that. Rationally, I
knew that.
“So why are you allowing him to slither through your mind? Why are
you allowing him to slowly consume you?”
I wasn’t. No, I wasn’t.
 Carissa released a breath, shaking her head when I didn’t respond. “I
thought you were one of us. I thought you were different, but you’re just
like the rest of them.”
“A freak. A savage. A sick, twisted little girl with sick and twisted
fantasies.”
Rage fell down my spine, my hands tightening around my weapon,
moving of their own accord.
“Talons,” Cole warned as I pointed the arrow directly at her eye.
She laughed. “You gonna shoot me now?”
“Talons,” Cole tried again, his voice hard.
I took a step forward, ignoring him, but also wondering why I was
pointing my weapon at her. She didn’t deserve that, not yet. “If basing
people off the mistakes of their predecessors is what you do, then no, I was
never one of you.”
“It’s in their blood!” she shouted. “It’s who they are!”
My blood was boiling, my vision turning red. Why now? Why did she
bring this response out of me now? I had dealt with worse. Why was this
my reaction now?
“You don’t have to defend me,” Cole mumbled.
It wasn’t him I was defending, not anymore.
“Yeah, don’t defend him, he knows what he’s done,” a male called.
I spun around, finding a crowd gathering before us and I felt that anger
rage through me as my arrow lowered.
My hands shook with anger, with desperation for them to see what I
saw. I felt betrayed that after all these years, they still hated me just as much
as I hated me.
I sneered and shook my head, forcing myself to disarm, wondering why
I had immediately resorted to it. That wasn’t who I was. “If you want to
compare war stories, then fine, let’s compare war stories,” I replied
venomously and turned back to Carissa as she joined the group. “Carissa,
shall we talk about the night Zekerios Rain slaughtered the entire Unseelie
Court because one man said the wrong thing, convincing him that they
wanted to take him to war?”
Her eyes turned to glass, her magic sparking in her hands. “War was
coming. That threat was real. All they’ve done is murder and rampage. Rape
and torture.”
My lip curled. “408 years ago, Garith Lorde of the Unseelie said he
wanted to unite the two courts. He wanted peace and Zekerios gave him
war because Dem misheard Garith. Dem thought Garith said he wanted to
fight. So, in your thought process, that means that your species is cruel and
evil and should be condemned too. If we’re blaming the people now for
what the species did long ago, that’s what that means, right? According to
you?”
“It is not the same thing,” she stated, voice shaking in anger. “They
have an entire history based in blood. They were bred of nightmares and
darkness.”
“We all share blood, you people are just too fucking ignorant to admit
it. Our royals want us to forget every bloody truth unless it benefits their
cause. Wars and battles and secret massacres. Just because Penny Rain
wears a smile and kindness as her crown does not make that any less true.
That’s the cost of the crown. No one can escape that. The wolves and the
slaughter that happened just 200 years ago. The slaughter of an entire pack
of their own, circumstances don’t matter.
“Or how about we talk about the warlocks and Sacrent Merkice? The
vampire Jace Orin? Or shall we bring up Quence Hezy? He was a great
pixie lord, wasn’t he? Drowned over a dozen Fae ships in the Frozen Sea,
killing men, women, and children. Oh, I know, let’s bring up what Brent
Balverez did. How about we talk about him? Since you want to keep
bringing up their rape and murder,” I gestured to Cole.
Carissa’s eyes sparked. “That wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
I lifted and dropped my hands. “But he was Fae, right? The Fae who
murdered dozens of women in their beds over years. Who wasn’t caught
until some kid managed to Jump from his house to the High King and tell
him what was happening. Stop judging people for the choices of the few
and stop basing an entire race off the blood in their veins. Hypocrites. All of
you.”
Carissa was shaking her head. “You think you know everything because
you’ve asked us a lot of questions, because you’ve read our books, but you
don’t, Astraea. You have no idea the truth behind our people, what we stand
for. You have no idea the truth behind theirs,” she gestured to Cole. “The
Fae are better than the Fallen. We are good. We are light and life. The
Fallen are savages, born and raised in blood. Killed in wars. He’s the
General, no? Ask him. Ask him his body count and then I’ll tell you Karim
Patell’s and we’ll see who the true monsters are.”
 I laughed, but the sound was chilling even to my own ears. “It’s not
about the number of kills, it’s about why. The Fae may be born of light, but
that means shit in this world. Light can set fire to the world, shadows can
cool it off. It’s not about titles, labels, stories, it’s about perspective.”
Carissa scoffed. “Well, we can all clearly see where you stand now.
You’ve clearly fucked them. A Fallen Sympathizer. It was a mistake letting
you onto our street.”
“Sympathizer, Sympathizer,” my mother’s voice sang. Taunted. But
why was that so bad? That I sympathized with other species’? It couldn’t be
bad.
“You only sympathize with them because you fucked them.”
No, no, that wasn’t right. That was false. “Wasn’t your mother Georgia
Melonk?” I asked, trying to drown out my own inner voice. I shouldn’t
have done it. It was cruel, cowardly, some might say. I should have kept the
name to myself, but I was so angry.
Her eyes widened as several people turned to her.
“Who is Georgia Melonk?” someone asked.
Carissa’s eyes shined, her anger shifting to pleading. “Don’t.”
“Why?” I asked, hand tightening around my bow. “Afraid they’ll judge
you for the sins of your mother?”
“Shut-up,” my rational voice begged of me. “Please!”
She tossed a hand at Cole. “They are evil.”
“And your mother was a serial killer.”
Wind erupted around her hands, swirling down from her elbows,
meeting in the palm of her hands, rage in her eyes.
A shield slammed down in front of me, a sheen of red washing over it
just as a deeper sort of red magic wrapped tightly around Carissa’s hands,
preventing her from using her magic.
Cole had stepped up, standing half in front of me, his hands glowing as
the crowd parted to reveal a familiar ruby-red-eyed warlock.
“Now,” Talaroe hummed, several people mumbling around us, “do you
really want me to report this to Penny? I haven’t visited her in a bit, and I
suddenly miss her dearly.”
Panic touched Carissa’s eyes. “You heard what she said. She has no
right—”
“I heard hard truths people refuse to hear. Astraea is right. If you’re
blaming them for their wrongdoings, you can’t be angry when they point
out yours. Are you finished with your tantrum?”
“I know I am.”
I turned, hands shaking in anger, finding Madam Levine standing
outside of her shop, clearly having been there for some time.
Shit.
“Unless you people want to spend some money, get off my doorstep
with your nonsense. We don’t need any more trouble on this street. Carissa,
you are wrong. Talaroe, let her go. Astraea and you,” she gestured to Cole,
“the hot one in the cloak, come in. You clearly want to talk.”
I turned back to the dispersing crowd, Talaroe watching us, Carissa
gone.
His red eyes flicked from mine to Cole’s, and I followed them, finding
an unreadable look in the High General’s eyes. Of course, Cole would know
him. If Talaroe really did work in the High Court, the two would have met
in the past.
Cole dropped his shield and turned to me, his expression softening.
“Are you okay?”
I flexed my hand around my bow. “Feel like I want to hit something,” I
answered before gesturing to Talaroe. “How long was he standing there?”
“The whole time,” he replied evenly.
I turned back to him at the tone in his voice, his sudden change in
demeanor. “You’re angry, aren’t you?”
“I’m not,” he assured me, but my worry didn’t ease. I could see his
irritation, feel it. “Do you know him?”
I glanced towards Talaroe and back, the warlock holding a hardened
look as well. “I do.”
Cole assessed my expression. “Is he the warlock who told you about the
village?”
They were enemies, weren’t they? And now I was going to have to pick
a side. I had always admired Satarmore Irsch, always swallowed up every
piece of information I could find on the warlocks without thought, but Cole
was my friend, wasn’t he? “Yes,” I whispered, wondering if this would be
the end of the one friendship I had had since Ket.
“Are you angry?”
“You’re pathetic for even asking that.”
Cole searched my eyes before glancing back to Talaroe. Finally, he
gestured towards the shop. “Come on, I have a feeling this will be an
interesting talk.”
Shit.
That familiar bell seemed ominous this time as Cole and I entered the
small shop.
I felt partly as if I were about to get lectured, punished, for what I had
just done, for crossing a line. Being human on this street was already
dangerous, and now I put an even larger target on my back being so…
reckless.
“Why did you bring your bow today?” Madam Levine asked as the bell
chimed again. “Were you planning an attack? Lock it please.”
I heard the lock flip as Cole gazed at the magical items on the shelves.
Madam Levine was busying herself with something I couldn’t quite see as I
made my way to the counter. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I
grabbed it without thinking.”
“Did you bring a Fallen General with a weapon onto the street because
you weren’t thinking too?”
“No, that was on purpose. I wanted some answers.”
“From us?”
I frowned deeply. “Yes, Madam Levine, I brought him on here to torture
the answers out of unsuspecting victims.”
She clicked her tongue in disappointment. “You do realize how much
they fear you, right?” she asked gently.
Irritation filled me. “I don’t see why. They’re the ones with powers. All
I have is a bow.”
She tsked me again. “You also have the ability to walk on both sides.”
She carried a stool around the counter. “You mustn’t forget that, dear. We
must trust that you won’t decide one day to tell your High King about us.
Just as you trust that we won’t dismember you on any given day.”
I lifted and dropped my hand. “I’ve been coming here for years.”
“And how long did we all live in peace before the witches convinced
the world that the humans caused the Fall?”
I sighed. “I know, but—” I froze, eyes flicking up. “Sorry, what?”
The old wolf smiled. “I may be old but I’m not stupid. Sit.”
I shook my head, my thoughts whirling. “No, no, I assumed no one
knew about that.”
“Sit,” she enunciated, pointing to the chair. “Of course, people know,
they just don’t like talking about it. Especially around a human.” She eyed
me.
All these years I thought people were just ignorant, blind, refusing to
admit the truth. “If people know about it, why isn’t anyone doing anything
about it? If people know that the witches are using the humans as their own
pawns, why does everyone hate them so much? And why isn’t anyone
saying ‘no, enough is enough’?”
Madam Levine lifted a brow, still standing beside the chair.
When she didn’t answer, I frowned and walked over, dropping into the
stool with a huff.
She quickly headed over to the shelves, content with my forced
decision. “I can’t speak for the world, but I can speak for myself and those
on this street. It doesn’t matter who is running the show, what matters is the
power. No one in this world has the power to confront the witches and deal
with the matter at hand, not even Trick Michael.”
Cole looked over, raising a brow.
I pressed my lips into a thin line.
“Now, Talaroe, I assume you’ve shielded the shop.”
“I have.”
Madam Levine appeared in front of me with a small bowl, the too sweet
scent of Mersine Berries touching my nose, quickly reminding me of the
last time I had had some.
I frowned, finding her eyes. “You said you didn’t have those.” My
stomach started to fill with heat, but I forced it to shift into disgust, hatred,
irritation. I shouldn’t have liked what he had done to me that day. Nobody
normal would have.
She smiled devilishly. “I don’t. This was a gift, stolen from the Fallen
Court by a handsome sea captain.”
“Stolen?” Cole asked accusingly.
Madam Levine shushed him. “Now, put your bow and quiver on the
counter. Take your veil off, let’s get them all if we’re going to take care of
them.”
Cole frowned, causing me to smile as Talaroe came to a stop at the
other end of the counter.
“Cole,” the warlock said.
The High General sent a glance towards Talaroe before turning back to
me, and after a soft nod, he went to join the warlock.
I stared at their backs for a moment longer before setting my things on
the counter only to hiss when my bow stuck to my hand.
The bow clattered to the counter, causing Cole to look back, and I
quickly pulled my hand to my chest, giving him a reassuring smile.
He studied me for a moment longer before turning back to Talaroe.
Once his eyes were off me, I looked down, lifting my hand just enough to
see the burns that covered the entire underside of it.
I gaped, gripping it back against my chest. What the hell?
“Astraea,” Madam Levine warned.
I swallowed, thinking back to when I could have possibly burned my
hand but there was nothing between going to the castle and now that would
have caused this.
Perhaps it was a side-effect of the Forbidden Magic. Yeah, that had to
be it. It had to be. Nothing else would make sense.
“Astraea,” she warned again.
I flinched, forcing my hand against my thigh while reaching for my veil
with the other.
“Hmm, bruises on top of bruises then.” She started grinding up the
correct amount of berries for what she saw. “Any fractures? Breaks?”
“No,” I answered, trying not to reveal the sudden aching pain in my
hand. “Do you know what their relationship is?” I asked, if only to distract
myself. The only bruises I should have had was the one Evanora had given
me, and the few on my arms where Mom had grabbed me a little too hard.
Other than that, it had been a decent week. I was fine this time around.
“Hmm,” she said again, glancing up to the duo. “Not a good one if they
have one,” she answered, a metal strainer appearing out of seemingly
nowhere. “Most people within the High Courts have very little amicability.
It’s the cost of politics.”
“Who is he in the High Court?”
She strained the Mersine berries into a glass on the counter.
“Satarmore’s little brother,” she replied, earning a wide-eyed look from me.
“Although, from what I know of the relationship, there isn’t one. I did
wonder why he sent his brother rather than someone else, but I’ve heard he
doesn’t actually have a High Court.” She paused and eyed me. “Does he?”
There was no record of Satarmore having any sort of family. “Boris
Percy is his High General, other than that, I haven’t found the information,
and the warlocks here are testy here.”
Madam Levine chuckled. “Ah, yes, they’re all a bunch of grumps. She
held out the cup. “Drink. All of it.”
I gave her a soft smile and took the glass. “Thank you,” I said before
tipping it back, remembering the moment when Trick had forced it down
my throat. I could feel his hand around my jaw, his body pressed against
mine, pinning me to the sink—
I shut the thoughts off, shaking them away as I finished the glass. No.
Carissa was right. This is what they did, Trick Michael was only playing an
impossible game.
Madam Levine took the cup. “So, how did you come across the High
General, hmm?”
“By being reckless,” I replied, wiping my hand across my mouth. “He
was getting into trouble. I had to do something about it.”
“Oh,” she beamed. “Something worthy of bragging. Here,” she handed
me a cup of cold water. “Drink.”
I gulped it down thankfully, leaving enough so that she wouldn’t take
the cup back. I subtly wrapped both hands around it, the relief on my left
hand nearly overwhelming. I studied Cole’s back, wondering what the two
were talking about. “Did you hear about the attack?” I dared, turning back
to Madam Levine. It had been a few weeks, so I was sure she had to have
heard about it by now.
A weight settled on her shoulders, darkness in her eyes. “Hmm. We all
did. The vampires went out that night, long after curfew, the town square
was clean, but they overheard Evanora speaking of what had happened.
How successful it was,” she seethed.
Sorrow filled me, but also interest. Vampires must have had the type of
magic that wasn’t affected by whatever was affecting everyone else. I’d
have to remember to write that down later. “I’m sorry,” I apologized,
despite there being nothing I could have actually done to prevent it.
“There was nothing you could have done, dear, as much as you might
wish you could, some things just can’t be stopped.”
I searched her old eyes, centuries of pointless knowledge falling
through me in waves. “Sometimes the tongue is sharper than the sword,” I
explained. “I’m by no means a fighter, and I couldn’t hold a sword to save
my life, but I’d like to think I know things that may make a difference, even
if that difference is just in my brother.”
“You have good intentions, but talking cannot stop death.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not, but it can postpone it if done right. Death will
always come, wearing different colored cloaks and wider smiles, but that
doesn’t mean we should just give up.”
“Sometimes the threat is not worth fighting for.
“And sometimes there is an old wolf in a creepy shop who decides to
treat you with kindness despite your species. And sometimes there’s a
cocky Fallen High General who loves to make people laugh. It’s not about
the greater presence, it’s about those grains of sand who refuse to give up.”
Madam Levine smiled, her eyes shining. She leaned in, mischief in her
eyes. “And sometimes there is a troublesome little human girl who shouts
out truths in the middle of the street surrounded by people who could kill
her without trying, hmm?”
I laughed lightly, my cheeks burning. “Maybe.”
She chuckled, picked up my veil and carefully tied it on. “People don’t
like hearing truths, Astraea, because they’re afraid. Yes, what you said was
true, but in a world like this, people need someone to hate, and a man like
Trick Michael? It’s easy to hate him.”
My brows pulled together at her words, thoughts turning. Easy to hate
him?
Easy to hate him.
I looked over. “Because everyone believes he’s a monster?”
She straightened my veil, making sure no hairs were pulling. “Because
he doesn’t make sense, and things that don’t make sense cause fear in
people most don’t understand. I remember the last time people feared
something that didn’t make sense. That thing wandered onto this street 15
years ago in the form of a beautiful little girl with big eyes and an
adventurous heart.”
She leaned back, admiring her work and I took in her wrinkles, her
calming presence. “Are you scared?” I dared.
Her smile became weighted. “You’re old enough to understand that all
adults get scared. We’re not as emotionless as we want the kids to believe,
hmm? Yes, I am. No, I wasn’t around during the last two great wars, but
that doesn’t mean I don’t see the effects. I had hoped I would be able to live
in peace during my time in this world, but alas, sometimes the Goddess’s
ears are too full of death to hear our pleas.”
Yeah, it seemed to be a trend among the gods.
“Witches turning humans into creatures?” Madam Levine shook her
head. “Humans may have caused a lot of damage in the past, but not every
human is as evil as the High King, you’re proof of that. No one deserves to
have something like that happen to them. No one. Now, enough. I don’t
care about politics, I’m just an old wolf running a business. Don’t go
getting anymore bruises unless your handsome counterpart decides he
wants to gift an old woman some more Mersine Berries.”
I smiled. “He’s just a friend.”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, well I may not look like it, but I am much younger
than him. A little pep in my step. I wouldn’t mind a night with him if you
wouldn’t mind asking.”
I laughed because despite the stories of the Fallen, here Madam Levine
was still trying to get laid by the hot Fallen lingering in her shop. “I’ll put in
a good word for you, I promise.”
She chuckled, turning to the two men for a moment before turning back
to me. “Is he good?”
I turned to Cole, seeing the tension in his shoulders, his own veil still
on, despite the company. “He’s not like the stories,” I decided, finding her
eyes again.
But I couldn’t lie to myself and say that I wasn’t easily swayed. It was a
blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse these past several weeks.
She nodded. “Yes, well, the thing about stories is that more often than
not, they hold more fiction than truth. I know you, did you ask him about
his High King?”
I thought about her question before shaking my head, the weight of the
collar around my neck clear. “I don’t much like politics either.”
Her eyes flicked to that collar as if she were reading my mind. “Do you
trust him?” she asked, her eyes lifting back to mine.
I inhaled deeply. “Um…I don’t know, trust is a big word.”
“And a sneaky snake,” she smiled. “If you are out on the streets of a
place you grew up, defending a man the world hates, that says something. I
trust you,” she stated, touching my shoulder. “So, if you’re doing all of this
to protect him, then he is someone worth protecting. And that collar, is it as
terrifying as it once was?”
I thought about it. “I…I haven’t decided yet.” The answer should have
been yes, but the word caught in my throat, and I hated it.
“Hmm, well, I suppose if someone like Cole works for someone like
that man, maybe his stories aren’t so truthful either.”
Before I could respond, Cole appeared at my side, sliding his hand over
my back and leaning in. “Talaroe wants to speak with you,” he mumbled in
my ear.
I shivered and leaned back, finding his navy blues. I looked around him
towards the old warlock. There was a seriousness in the warlock’s eyes, but
a soft light too. I wasn’t sure what to feel as I stood and set the cup down,
my hand instantly getting too hot.
Before I left them, I stood up on my tiptoes and whispered back into his
ear. “Madam Levine wants to sleep with you.” I fell back on my feet,
shooting him a smile as his own smile became sly, arrogant.
“Really?” he asked, straightening his shirt.
“I believe in you,” I whispered back, earning a playful wink.
“He looks like he just won some gold.”
I glanced back to the duo as I joined Talaroe, finding Madam Levine
giving Cole bedroom eyes while he leaned against the counter, flexing his
arms. I laughed as I turned back to Talaroe. “Madam Levine is interested.” I
took in his relaxed demeanor and felt my own shoulders relax. “You came
back?”
“There was a mystery here I couldn’t ignore,” he answered, his eyes
finding mine. “Does he know you lie about your name?”
I shrugged, not at all surprised that he had figured it out. “I didn’t know
you were the High King’s little brother,” I said rather than answering his
question.
He pressed his lips together, expression drying. “I try to out-age him,
but he won’t allow it. Very annoying. Did you not know that before? It isn’t
something I try to hide.”
“There’s no information about Satarmore Irsch having a family. I mean,
I know that he had parents, but not biological in the sense that you both,
along with others, came here from another world.”
His eyebrows lifted in shock. “How did you know that?”
I gave him a knowing smile. “I know things. Not everything. Like the
brother thing. I know that Penny, Aeron, a few members of their High
Court, and a vampire all came from the same world that you did, and I
know that Luke Brachius is said to be from that world too, but that one I
can’t confirm.”
He smiled as if remembering something fondly. “Yes, he came with us.
He was a big name in our world, and he didn’t want that here. He’s our
father. He adopted all of us, actually. Everyone who came from our world.”
 Oh, I wish I could have pulled out my journal without being too rude.
“Did you all work together there? Did the species intermingle?”
“All the time. Not all the vampires were kind, and there was no such
thing as Fallen in our world, but yes, we were friends. We lived among the
humans too, although they didn’t know we existed. It was more of a hidden
world. We called it the Nascasto.”
Nascasto. My smile grew at the new information. “That is…that is
fascinating,” I beamed. “Did you have High Kings? High Courts?”
His eyes were alight as if talking about his old life was something he
loved to do. It made me want to sit down with him and talk for a few hours
about his life. “Just Kings and Queens. It was messy a lot of the time, but
good. I did have a question for you too if I may.”
My fingers itched for my pencil. “I don’t know anything about the Eye
of Orion. I had very little research on it, I apologize.”
But Talaroe was already shaking his head. “It’s not about the Fallen, it’s
about the warlocks.”
I straightened, my intrigue growing. “Oh, well, I do have a lot of
information on them, but you’ve been here for over 200 years, shouldn’t
you know enough about your own species by now? Why ask me?”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “It’s not for me, it’s actually about my
brother.”
My eyes narrowed. “Your brother? I doubt I know more about him than
you do.”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Cole knew more about him
than I,” he replied. “I was simply wondering if you had ever met him. In
person.”
I knew the answer instantly. “No, no, I would remember meeting
someone like him. Why? Does he think I have?” I felt my heart flutter at the
question. I had always wanted to meet him. Yes, I knew the rumors
portrayed him as a grump and prankster, but his life was so interesting. To
sit down and speak with him would be a dream come true.
Much to my disappointment, however, Talaroe shook his head. “I was
only curious.”
My shoulders fell as suspicion filled me, but I let it go. There was no
need for my fanatics to get back to the High King of the Warlock Court. I
didn’t need the attention of yet another royal on my shoulders. Maybe one
day. Or maybe that’s just something I could write about in my fictional
books.
“Cole brought something to my attention,” Talaroe went on and I
watched as his eyes fell to my neck where the collar was hidden as
thoroughly as I could manage.
I fought the urge to touch it, the familiar irritation touching me. “What
did he tell you?” He shouldn’t have told Talaroe anything. Yes, I wanted it
off, but it should have been my choice to divulge that information to
someone like Talaroe.
“That it was put on by a powerful entity, my guess is his High King.”
I worked my jaw, making a note to stop discussing things with Cole.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I shrugged, trying to work through the irritation. “I don’t know,” I lied.
“But I can’t get it off. Do you think your brother can? I know his magic is a
powerful one.” I already knew the answer.
Talaroe nodded towards the collar. “May I?”
I glanced back to Cole and Madam Levine who were in the middle of
gross flirtation. “Yeah,” I said on a sigh, and turned back to him. I carefully
pulled away the collar of my hoodie and revealed the black chain to him.
Talaroe stepped up, touching it, inspecting it. “Hmm,” he pondered.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s Trick Michael’s magic,” I muttered.
He nodded and stepped back, allowing me to pull my hoodie back up.
“I guess I hadn’t expected his magic to feel so…empty. I will bring it up to
Satarmore, but if the rumors are true, I don’t think anyone but he can
remove it.”
I hadn’t expected him to have that power, honestly. So instead of
showing my disappointment, I changed the subject. “Am I allowed to know
what you two were talking about?” I asked, gesturing to Cole.
The old warlock straightened. “Unfortunately, not from my standpoint,
but maybe from his. I must be off. Politics, duties, older brothers to annoy,”
he smiled. “It was good to see you again, Astraea. Your speech was
refreshing.”
My cheeks reddened despite his proud smile. “If I humiliated anyone
—”
“No, far from it, in fact, you reminded me of Penny.”
My lips parted in absolute shock. It was the highest compliment I could
have received. “Penny Rain?” I breathed.
Talaroe smiled. “The very same.” He grabbed the rim of his hat and
gave me an informal bow. “Until next time.” He straightened, looking
above me. “Goodbye, Minerva.”
I turned when there was no response, finding Cole still putting the
charm on the old wolf. I smiled.
Talaroe laughed. “A matchmaker,” he joked. “If I was available, I may
have required your services, alas, my heart fully belongs to my daughter.
Have a good day, Astraea.”
I gave him a small wave, watching after him for only a moment before
his words clicked. “Oh wait,” I called after him.
He paused, looking back.
“You have a daughter? That’s not recorded anywhere either.”
A sadness touched his eyes. “Not many people know anymore. She was
lost on her 18th birthday. I’ve been searching for her for 157 years. My wife
died of a broken heart, and I live because of mine.”
Sorrow filled me and I wondered if maybe I had any information on a
missing warlock girl. “I’m so sorry, Talaroe,” I breathed, my heart breaking.
His smile was weighted. “Don’t be, I haven’t lost hope.”
I watched after him for only a moment before I turned to Cole and
Madam Levine, my heart a bit heavier.
Cole took Madam Levine’s hand and bowed at the hip, kissing it. “It
was a pleasure meeting you.”
She giggled, her cheeks red. “You are welcome any time, Mr. High
General.”
I smiled, rolled my eyes, and turned for the door. Mr. High General. He
would never let that go.

OceanofPDF.com
 11
My Bible, Chapter 25, Verse 1,
You are my slave. Body, mind, and soul. Whenever I give you a command, you will follow it or you
will suffer.

Trick
I stared at the glowing piece of Obelisk, a fallen star of sorts, as my magic
wrapped around it. Layer upon layer, hardening, creating an armor so
thick, no one would taste it, smell it, sense it.
The Night Flowers had protected it all this time from my people, now it
was my turn. I couldn’t be sure if there were other pieces out there, but if
there were, I would find them and keep them safe.
Kyra would need rewarded for what she had given me. Something
worthy. Something she would want, even if that want as unwanted at the
moment.
When the soft steps of the High Queen of the Fae met my ears, I slid the
wrapped bit of magic into my pocket and turned, smelling the fear wafting
from her skin long before I could see her. It smelled of simmering sugar
over hot fire.
I hadn’t spoken to the High Queen since the beginning of her reign. I
knew of her story, of how seamlessly she and her family had slid into this
world, but nothing more than that.
I would have prepared myself a bit more, asked Meeria how she had
been handling the relations with the Fae, but my sister didn’t need to know
of what I was doing. There was no need for questions to be asked. I could
handle this just fine.
Penny’s sky-blue eyes, pupils rimmed in gold, were clear, the eyes of a
High Queen. She carried herself as unafraid from the outside, a shield
around her which was not noticeable to anyone but me that hid her nerves,
her fear. A good idea, I thought, to hide her fear from her people. There was
no need to alert them of who was here.
Her Familiar, something that only existed in her world, stood beside
her, ears pinned, death in his dark eyes. A wolf, only slightly larger than the
Vigils and werewolves, but one with the ability to speak to she, Aeron, and
Landon, the other two who had been blessed with Familiars before they left
their world and came here too.
“Will your dog bite me?” I asked as my shadows swirled lovingly
around me, warning me of the Fae Knights that stood all around the outside
of this room. Smart, but if I wanted Penny dead, she’d be dead. No one
would be able to save her, let alone measly little knights.
“Yes,” Penny answered, her voice steady and clear, her crisp blonde
hair falling around her in gentle waves.
The beast wouldn’t get the chance. I glanced around the room. It was
much lighter than the meeting room within the mountain. Rose would have
liked it.
“Why did you request a meeting?” Penny asked when I didn’t respond.
“Three centuries and I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting Meeria Valium.
Why not send her?”
“I like doing things myself from time to time. How is your little tiff
with the pixies going?” It was more than a tiff, but I was curious, and
perhaps I could get information from her while I was here.
Penny frowned deeply. “Why are you interested in the politics between
the Fae Court and the Pixie Court?”
Because I was sure that one of the people in charge of this group of
people I’d been hunting was a pixie. “Awe,” I cooed. “Are you worried I’ll
steal her attention away from you.” I clicked my tongue. “Cute.”
Her cheeks burned with anger. “Take your shadows and leave.”
“Touchy,” I sang. “But I’ll have to decline as I have a question only you
can answer,” I revealed before she had the chance to turn away. “It’s
imperative to me that I get the answer today.”
Penny took me in, studying me carefully. Maybe she was sizing me up,
memorizing me for later. Not many people had the pleasure of looking upon
me. This was her chance to realize that even she and her strange power
could not end my life.
She finally lifted her chin. “What?”
“Don’t let her see the truth,” my magic taunted. “She’ll steal your
precious pet away. Claim her as her own.”
I slid my hands in my pockets, ignoring the voice. “I’ve come across
someone who has requested that upon her death her younger sibling would
be brought here. Why?”
Her eyes narrowed, confusion touching them followed by curiosity.
“What species is she?”
 Curiosity was a nasty partner. Even in the most dangerous of
circumstances, she’ll force you to stay. To satisfy her. It’s what kept my
Angel coming back for more. “Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
I sighed, my own frustration growing. This wouldn’t end well.
“Human.”
There it was again, that fear. Dripping down her spine, filling the air.
“Human?” She glanced towards the wolf, silent.
Yes, they must have assumed I was raping her. Removing body parts,
filling her mouth with my seed only to make her scream in pain a moment
later. She must assume that her prayers to the dead gods were a last attempt
at forgiveness before her death found her.
Why else would I know something so intimate about such a weakened
girl.
But Kyra wasn’t weak. She just didn’t know it yet.
Seconds ticked by before she finally nodded and turned back to me.
“When I first took the crown, I put in place a new law,” she explained
calmly. “One that was to never be spread by anyone other than the
breathings of my wisps. It was a refugee law. If anyone were in dire need of
help, of a safe haven, the wisps would visit them in the middle of the night
and give them a word, explain to them in whispers and songs of an option
they would have to come here.”
A promise of true safety. Noble. “And you’re claiming a human has
never been in dire need of help?” If that were the case, and the wisps found
her anyway, what did that mean of her situation? It made me hate whoever
was touching her even more. So much, in fact, that the Eye burned into my
chest as my magic clawed against my skin.
“The wisps don’t tell me who they visit,” Penny explained. “I only
know of the ones who make it here. No human has ever stepped foot in
Aelyria, not since I’ve been here.”
Well, I couldn’t very well blame them. “How would a human get here if
they did decide to come?”
She shrugged. “I suppose like everyone else. They would need to find a
magical being to help them.” She searched my eyes. “Is she a prisoner?”
“Yes,” I lied with ease, watching as she shifted on her feet, clearly
uncomfortable. “If the wisps didn’t speak to this sibling and only spoke to
her, would that sibling still be welcome?”
 Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, her nostrils flaring only for her
eyes to narrow when she realized that she couldn’t smell me. “If this sibling
knew the word the wisps had given to her then yes.” Worry touched her.
“My wisps came to a girl imprisoned by you and you want to save her
family? Why?”
Just before I was about to answer, I heard it. An echo of a story not yet
told. Familiar and beautiful and unknown to the person speaking it.
Penny glanced towards my shadows as they darkened, my shoulders
tensing. “Does that mean you’re angry?”
My spine cracked under my skin, the Eye searing into my chest. In that
moment, I was grateful I decided to wear it full time. Grateful I had put it
on before I sought out the shard of Obelisk. “Be not afraid, little Fae Queen,
it’s not you who’ve angered me. Not this time.”
She pressed her lips together. “Aeron’s eyes do the same thing when he
gets angry. It’s strange seeing it reflected in your magic just as it is in his.”
She meant unsettling. “Your answers will suffice.”
Her back straightened. “You’re welcome.”
I Jumped, landing outside her bedroom door. It was the first time I had
allowed myself in the same home as her brother, but I couldn’t ignore the
cries of my Angel.
I simmered through the narrow bedroom door into a room half the size
of the one in the cottage.
Her quiet sobbing filled the space, filled my mind, as my eyes found
her. She was sitting on a pile of scraps, her knees pulled up to her chest, her
body shaking as she sobbed into her wadded-up cloak, trying to muffle the
sound.
Her beautiful chocolate hair curtained her, blood staining several
strands, the smell coating the inside of my nose.
Another bone cracked.
“That’s it,” my magic purred, pacing under my skin like a panther. “Let
me in. Let me take over. I will give these filthy rodents exactly what they
deserve.”
It took every ounce of strength I had to ignore it. All I had to do was
hold on for a few more minutes, then it could have me, but my Angel
needed me, and that was worth the pain of fighting back.
I walked over, crouching down before her. This. I had never seen this
before. She was defiant, challenging, fierce, insatiable, but this? I had read
about the horrors in her mind, but watching them overcome her, it broke
something deep within me seeing her like this.
“Angel,” I said, fingers itching to touch her, comfort her as her shadow
drifted around her, trying to do the same. “You are not alone.”
She would never know it, never hear it, but her shadow was weeping
for her, with her, just as my shadows began to hum the song of the stars for
her.
This room was not worthy of her. Why was she staying here if she had
such a beautiful little home in the woods, surrounded by the things she
loved? Why did she remain?
I lifted my hand, watching as my shadows drifted around my fingers,
the song as comforting as my mother’s voice. “The amazing thing about
shadows is that no matter how far you go or how lost you are, they will
always be with you.”
Kyra inhaled sharply, her choked sobs painful as she leaned back, her
head falling against the wall, heart racing, breathing labored.
There it was again, that quiet rage, my magic whispering through me,
begging me to let it take over. Not to help her, but to do what it did best;
destroy.
It was worse than before. A split and swollen lip. A broken nose,
bruised jaw, a cut just under her hairline where the blood soaked into her
hair and dripped down her face. Even her teeth were red with blood. She
must have taken a chunk out of her tongue.
I felt that shift roar through me, bones cracking, teeth grinding, skin
tearing. I snarled under my breath, using my hand to balance myself as I
tried to fight against it. “Shit,” I muttered as the sweat soaked my clothes.
“What do I do?”
My eyes lifted, my body straining, the Eye setting fire to my skin.
Kyra was looking up, tears falling, her voice hoarse, nose plugged. Her
shadow drifted around her neck, across her cheek, trying to comfort her.
Whispering to her of that collar, trying to remind her that I was around if
she needed me. “Please,” she begged, nose dripping with blood and snot.
“Please, just tell me what to do. Someone.” She was quiet for a moment as
she turned back to her room, seeing right through me, searching. “Anyone.”
I wanted so badly to reveal myself, but my body was shaking, distorted
as my bones continued to grow and snap. I stood and stumbled back a step,
waving into existence a cup of Mersine Berry juice, a bowl of prepared
Asilos Root, and a piece of Allure Antler.
Kyra sniffed as she looked over to the corner of her room where the
things now sat, her eyes widening, her body shaking in fear. “No,” she
whispered, her shadow drifting towards the ingredients. “You told him?
Why would you tell him? Everything is fine, I’m fine.”
The shadow shook its head, but I couldn’t remain any longer. I Jumped
to the Island only a millisecond before I exploded.
~~~

Kyra
I found myself walking down the alley to my Impossible Street, my bow in
my right hand, satchel and quiver slung across my chest.
I had spent the entire last week with Mark, my nerves constantly on
edge, always searching for guards, flinching at every sound. He questioned
me. Questioned what was wrong, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.
Not yet.
Not when I could have just another few seconds of his laughter, his
smile, before I told him that he would be either hunted for the rest of his life
or he would be raised to be the new High King.
Trick had been leaving me Mersine Berry juice, Asilos Root, and Allure
Antler in the corner of my room every evening, and I wasn’t sure what I
hated most. Him knowing what was happening to me in my own house, or
him thinking he needed to take care of me.
A High King.
I think I hated him more for that than I did for anything else.
This morning wasn’t as bad as it had been in the days prior. A black
eye, a swollen lip, and a few bruises on my arms, nothing serious.
I hadn’t been back to the cottage in a week. If I had caught a whiff of
Cole around Therian, I avoided him. I didn’t have the mental capacity to
speak with him. I only needed to focus on Mark.
My shadow, a female I determined because I didn’t want to keep calling
her ‘it’, swirled around my neck once before rejoining my own dim shadow,
cast across the pavement by the pale sun peeking through the gray clouds.
She had tried to comfort me every night this last week, but wasn’t it just
Trick? It was his essence, his pity. I didn’t need that.
I really didn’t.
 Even so, I suppose her presence did help a little.
I pushed into Madam Levine’s shop ten minutes later, the chime of the
bell causing me to flinch against my better judgment.
“Thank you,” I heard a woman say.
“You’re very welcome. Have a good day, Lottie,” Madam Levine
replied. “Don’t be going through that too quickly now.”
I slowly walked down one aisle, listening to the woman walk through
the shop, hearing her steps slow when she spotted me through the shelves.
She scoffed in disgust. “Filthy human.”
I looked her up and down as I passed her. “Warlock?” I smiled
something wicked, although I felt dead inside. “I know Talaroe Irsch
personally. If I were you, I’d watch my tongue.” I didn’t care who I hurt
now. I just wanted to get what I needed and get back to Mark.
Only a flash of fear sparked in her eyes before the hatred doubled and
she headed out the door.
I headed for the counter, Madam Levine giving me the eye. “You and
Talaroe aren’t friends.”
I shrugged, setting my bow on the counter. “We could be.”
She chuckled, shaking her head. “Reckless girl. What do you need
today?”
“Havi,” I answered, sliding off my quiver. “I’m trading in these.”
She looked at the bow and quiver filled with arrows. “No.”
I frowned. “What? Why? They’re in perfect condition, sharpened,
treated. They should get me a good amount of Havi. I don’t see why you
won’t take them.”
“Because a reckless girl needs a weapon to be reckless with or the
chances of her dying due to that recklessness goes up. The answer is no.
Especially because you are throwing a tantrum, and I don’t accept that from
someone of your caliber.”
I glared at her and snatched the weapon off the counter, slinging the
quiver back over my shoulder. “Digory will take them,” I countered bitterly.
“Astraea,” she called as I turned on my heel, only to stop when I found
a pair of ruby-red eyes staring back at me.
Speaking of the warlock. “Good day,” I nodded before passing him.
A flash of red hit the door just as I reached it, causing me to stop. Okay,
so maybe that woman had known Talaroe too. He hadn’t seemed like a
cruel man but using him to threaten someone else may have crossed a line.
 Just breathe.
“Why did you lock me in?” I asked without turning back.
“Because I’ve been coming here every day looking for you since the
day you put the Nightwalkers in their places.”
I closed my eyes. All I wanted was to get enough shit so I could go back
and play with Mark. They would send guards any day now, any second.
Being here, talking, arguing, it was wasting time. “Well, I have to go, so
it’ll have to be another day.”
Silence followed and then a snap.
I opened my eyes just as the red sparks lit up the doorknob, but as I
reached for it, Talaroe said, “You remember the attack on the square that
day yet no one else seems to.”
I stopped, hand on the doorknob, heart beating steadily.
“Just leave,” that rational voice whispered. “Go be with Mark, please.”
But it was a question that had been tickling my thoughts ever since that
very day. Why did no one else remember? Why would Evanora make them
all forget if her goal was to strike fear into the world? Why did I remember?
Shit.
I turned to him, straightening. “And? You saw who I was with, maybe
he helped me not forget.” A blatant lie, but maybe he would believe me.
“I also noticed how my magic failed as soon as I crossed over to that
side.”
I adjusted the grip on my bow as he tilted his top hat back. “I don’t
know why you’d be stupid enough to go to that side after what they did to
your people on those crosses.”
“I’m used to blending in with the humans,” he replied. “Why do you
remember when they don’t?”
I took a deep breath, trying to silence my own demons for the first time
in months. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Why can I see the street?
Why did I decide to help a Fallen General? I don’t have your answers,
Talaroe.”
“A certain wolf told me that you’re the girl with all the answers.”
I found Madam Levine’s eyes, only for her to busy herself wiping off
the counter. I wished she would stop telling people that. “Not these ones. If
you’re not going to tell me, I need to go.” With that, I turned on my heel
and pushed out onto the sidewalk, snow falling gently from the grey skies.
Gods, I hated winter.
 “You don’t care to know the answer?” Talaroe asked, quickly joining
my side.
I headed across the street. “Didn’t seem like you wanted to tell me.”
Digory wouldn’t give me as great a deal, I only hoped he’d still work with
me after the last time I was here.
“Are you curious to know about what’s happened in Sarivos?”
My interest grew, but I kept myself calm. “A war is coming,” I replied,
looking over. “Strange things are going to start happening everywhere, and
since this one will be worse than the others, shorter than them too, I have no
idea how any of us will survive. I’m trying to make the best out of it with
what little time I have left before the witches enslave us to you people, so if
you’ll excuse me, I’d like to enjoy my freedom before it’s stripped away
from me.”
I wasn’t sure if that’s what she would do, but what else would the
humans be good for after the war? We were perfect little slaves, and we
were expendable. It didn’t seem like a huge leap to make.
“Us people?”
I stopped on the edge of the opposite sidewalk and turned to him, tired,
the demons in my head screaming so loud, I could barely think. “Yes, you
people. The Nightwalkers. The magic-users who have no ability to
understand or take off their hatred-colored glasses. The Nightwalkers who
have every right to hate the humans for what they have done, but don’t
realize that just as not all warlocks are bad, not all humans are bad either.”
“Not all of us believe that,” he stated gently, not an ounce of malice in
his eyes.
I straightened, unable to understand what he was saying. “Look around
you, Talaroe,” I finally said, lifting my arms to either side only to drop them
a moment later. “I’ve been coming here my entire life and I’ve only told
two people in all those years. They know Ket, and Cole is a magic-user who
would have ended up finding this place anyway after Trick sent him on his
bullshit mission.
“I’ve kept the secret, risked my own life, paid what I needed to pay,
traded, helped them. I’ve taken care of people Raphael has hung on those
crosses, bought things with money I didn’t have just to ease their suffering,
and I’m still seen as one of them? Why? Because I tried to stand up for a
Fallen? Because I spoke a truth to people who wanted to live in their hatred
and not have to admit to themselves that the world isn’t actually that terrible
of a place?”
I shook my head, laughing this cold type of throaty laugh, my eyes
burning from all of the emotions swirling in my stomach that I couldn’t get
rid of no matter how hard I tried. “People need something to hate. People
can’t survive without a seed of hatred, why? I don’t know. I really don’t.
People can’t handle the thought that another species is equal to them.
Someone always has to be worse, but you know what? Every single Court
has a murderer. Every Court has had a corrupt King or Queen. Every Court
has had pointless wars and senseless killings. Every Court has darkness, but
they all have light too.
“We wouldn’t have the plants without the Fae. We wouldn’t have some
of the world’s most life-saving potions without the warlocks. We wouldn’t
even know about some of the parasitic bugs that can hop species’, killing
any and all of us without the help of the vampires. We wouldn’t know about
some of the rare species of animals that live deep in the depths of this world
without the wolves. We wouldn’t know true strength without the Fallen.
“We each bring something to this world, and everyone seems to have
forgotten that, yet no one cares. All they care about is what others say about
their species and how much power they can get before they inevitably get
dethroned, meanwhile they ignore the toxicity amongst their own while
ignoring the good in everyone else’s.”
I inhaled deeply, exhausted, only wanting to get back to Mark. “What’s
the point in fighting to be accepted in a world that is so wrought with
poison, they can’t see that the antidote is in the hands of people they are so
desperately trying to hate?”
Talaroe searched my eyes, pain in his own. He looked around him,
searching for something unknown to me. Finally, he inhaled deeply, his
eyes finding mine once again, his shoulders weighed down by decades of
sorrow. “I know a girl who, at 17, brought two entire Kingdoms together
without trying. Who saved multiple people because she believed that
everyone deserved a second chance, no matter how cruel they seemed to
be.”
I honestly felt bad for him. Having that much optimism must have been
tiresome. “That’s great for her, but this world is beyond saving.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh yeah?” I challenged. “Well, what if I told you the antidote was in
Trick Michael’s hand? Do you think anyone would put aside their hatred
long enough to learn how to make it? Because I don’t think I could do it and
I don’t believe anyone else could either.”
“We’ve done it before,” he pointed out.
I laughed. “During the War of Ruin?”
“During both wars.”
I worked my jaw, hand tightening around my bow, the anger causing
my skin to burn. “No, we didn’t. Your history is wrong.”
But Talaroe shook his head. “I’ve read—”
“He lied,” I interjected. “Dawson Irsch, just like every other royal, lied.
They destroyed the books that made them look bad and kept the ones where
they were victorious. If you want to know what really happened, here it is;
Killian went to the Nephilim Court and told his father what was happening.
The Nephilim and the dragons went to war with Ryker and the witches, no
one else actually stepped in. Why? Because it had nothing to do with them.
Even the Fallen, cousins of the Nephilim, turned their backs on the dragons
they so desperately loved, and the people who shared their Court. Had
anyone stopped long enough to ask for help, to speak to anyone else rather
than just run in, swords blazing, they’d realize that the Book of Silence that
Colby was looking for was written by the Fates, which meant no other
species in the world would have been able to understand it without the help
of a god.”
Something in my mind clicked.
I straightened as I kept going, my mind working completely separate
from my mouth. “During the War of Ruin, the only reason people fought
was because the war was everywhere. They had no choice but to fight. They
never fought together though. No one allied. No one called in
reinforcements from other species. Everyone was fighting, but not together,
which led to the perfect separation of Caduto, and after that? Why work
together when they finally had their own territory?”
Aurora and Evanora couldn’t have understood the book without a god,
and I knew that nobody could get past the security of Custodes Sepulchra
besides maybe Trick himself, and unless he was playing some sort of sick
game, which honestly was likely, then he didn’t take it. The only other
possibility would have to be a god, but that wouldn’t make sense this time
around. All the gods were dead.
“But let’s for a second imagine,” I went on, “that Satarmore and Trick
actually liked each other and decided to ally. They’re working together now,
what would stop the hatred in their people? Would Satarmore’s people and
Trick’s people actually work together or is the hatred just too deep to ever
forget?”
Talaroe gripped his cane, the snow dusting his top hat, his hair, his
jacket. He looked regal. Important. A man worth listening too. “I don’t have
that answer,” he finally said, finding my eyes again.
“That’s because it’s the people who need to change. People need to
decide that this hatred and this psychological war on each other is pointless
and that it’s the reason we’re falling apart. People need to understand that
the only reason the witches were able to do what they did was because
everyone is only in it for themselves. Why else would the Nephilim not tell
the Fallen before they went off to war? They lived within a hundred miles
of each other, yet the stories of them together are as rare as the
understanding in this world.”
There was sympathy in his eyes. “People can change, Astraea.”
I gestured to the street. “Look around you. They decided they hated me
after all this time because I brought a Fallen onto the street, because I spoke
of history they wanted to forget. It’s been centuries.” I looked towards the
crowd that had gathered, seeing such hatred and disgust reflected back, it
made my stomach twist. “They aren’t going to change.”
I had known that. I had always known that. It didn’t matter what I did,
the people on this street would always hate me for the blood in my veins. It
didn’t matter how hard I fought, Mom wouldn’t change her ways. She’d
always find an excuse to punish me. It didn’t matter how much I taught
Mark, he was going to become a Gerodia. Maybe he wouldn’t be as bad as
they are, but he wouldn’t be who he was now.
Would he be a prisoner too? Just like Raphael. Was Raymond a
prisoner? If I ran and they hunted us down, captured him, would he be
treated worse even though it was my decision?
“The Sehrsaws came back,” Talaroe finally said, pulling my attention
back.
My brows pulled together, and I shook my head, trying to get over the
sudden whiplash of subject-change. “What?”
He nodded. “Hmm-mm. Three days ago.”
The burning across my skin eased with my anger as I shook my head
again, trying to understand what he was saying. “No, they went extinct.
You’re wrong.” Sehrsaws were a type of carnivorous bird. They were
flightless, the size of Labradors, colored brightly, impossibly fast. They had
disappeared hundreds of years ago. I thought for sure they had gone extinct.
“Seems not. A child spotted a flock of them near The Refuge. It seems
they were looking for safe haven and thought it safe enough to finally make
the trek from wherever they were hiding to The Refuge.”
Holy shit, was he telling the truth? “Did Satarmore let them in?”
“As soon as he found out,” Talaroe answered. “They are now a
protected species. Anyone who decides to kill one will be sentenced to life
in whatever way Satarmore chooses.”
Risky. He was cruel, smart. He’d make them walk on the tips of their
toes for the rest of their life or have them cut their fingernails to the beds,
just past the point of getting them to bleed, and they’d have to keep them
that way forever. If they had cavities, he’d make them eat sweets for the rest
of their days, which sounded good, but gods, it would be painful.
“Is that what you wanted to tell me? That the Sehrsaws are back?”
Talaroe shrugged. “You know everything, care about everyone. I
thought you would like to know.” He straightened, sorrow filling those
ruby-red eyes. “It’s sad to think that you’ve lost your hope. Lost your way.”
He snapped his fingers, opening a glowing door. “Sometimes it’s the
darkest of times that bring out the best in people. I suppose we’ll see. I
think your path is clearer than you want to believe,” he told me. “I think
you’re scared even if you don’t know you’re scared, I think that’s what you
are, but that’s okay, I’ve lost my way from time to time.”
My chest tightened at his words, my grip on the bow lessening. “And?”
Talaroe smiled softly. “He may be annoying, but my brother has never
failed in helping me find my way back, even if he didn’t mean too.” He
grabbed the brim of his hat between his thumb and index finger and dipped
his head. “I hope.”
“For what?”
His eyes shined brightly. “I just hope. See you later, Astraea.”
~~~
I released a breath before pushing open the door to the house. Mom and
Mark were sitting at the table, Mark drawing, Mom writing a letter.
I closed the door behind me, pulling my veil down, my heart already
racing in anticipation for whatever she felt I deserved this evening. “What
are you writing?” Her shoulders were tense, her spine rigid. She was angry.
 I had left my bow and arrows in Madam Levine’s shop before grabbing
some strips of old fabric from her to wrap around my hands. They were
burned again, and I had no idea how, but it didn’t matter right now. Nothing
mattered but the hard look on Mom’s face.
“A letter to the High King,” she said, tone clipped. “He deserves to
know that Mark has decided to move in with him.”
A dizzy weightlessness filled me as my eyes found Mark’s. I couldn’t
panic. I couldn’t react because I didn’t want to scare him. If he wanted that,
then he deserved my support. I had just selfishly hoped he wouldn’t want to
go. That I would have to convince him that it was the best thing for him.
I didn’t want him to want to go. “Really?” I asked, tears burning the
back of my throat. “I didn’t know you knew about that.” Yes, I should have
told him sooner. Way sooner, but I couldn’t find the words. I couldn’t bring
myself to tell him. It was so selfish. So selfish.
He continued to draw. “Mom told me after you left.”
He was angry. At me? I should have told him sooner, but I had a plan.
She was trying to make him hate me before they left, that’s what it was, I
was sure of it.
“He wants nice beds and clothes without holes,” Mom put in. “It’s what
he deserves and it’s more than you can give us.”
The pencil he was using broke, pulling my attention back only to find
Mark glaring, his face twisted in anger.
Guilt filled me, shame. I should have told him sooner. He shouldn’t
have found out from Mom. “Mark,” I tried.
He shoved himself up from the table, ripped the paper in half, and ran
for his room.
My heart broke.
I started after him, only for Mom’s hand to wrap painfully around my
wrist. I stopped, looking down, feeling my skin pinch, my circulation cut
off.
I looked down at her, wanting more than anything to run after Mark, to
grab him and apologize.
She gave me this familiar look and said, “Let me make a few things
very clear, you rat. You will not be joining us in that castle. You will never
see Mark again. You will never break his heart again. Once those knights
come to get us, you can go kill yourself for all I care. It’d be better for
everyone if you were just dead. Is that understood?”
 I swallowed, my heart, which at this point was just a paper-thin bag
filled with broken glass, cracked a little more. I gave her the nod she
wanted. It hadn’t been the first time she had told me that, and it wouldn’t be
the last, but gods, today just wasn’t the day to hear it.
It was several seconds before she released me, and it took everything in
me not to grab my wrist as I ran for Mark’s bedroom.
I pressed my hand against his door, grabbing the handle with my other
hand. “Mark?”
“Go away.”
I always promised I wouldn’t do this, but I had to. I pushed open the
door, despite his request, and stepped in, finding him sitting on the edge of
his bed, arms crossed, hair hiding those beautiful eyes of his.
“I said go away,” he stated, turning his head away from me.
I shut the door behind me, dropping my satchel against the wall. “I
know you want me to, but we need to talk.”
“No, we don’t, Mom already said all the things you were supposed to
say, and I need to pack.”
I fell to my knees in front of him, sliding my hands over either side of
his legs, trying to catch his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
He ignored me, picking a spot on the other side of the room to glare.
I swallowed, throat swollen shut, eyes filled with tears. “Little fox,
please.”
Big tears slid down his cheeks. “Mom said you don’t want me anymore.
That you’d rather send me to the High King then see me again.”
I hated her. I hated her so much, part of me begged me to call Trick.
Pleaded me to do so. “She lied,” I whispered, my voice thick. “I love you. I
love you more than Ket, more than writing, more than dragons.”
Mark’s glare softened a bit at that, his eyes flicking to mine. “More than
dragons?”
I nodded, feeling the tears fall down my own face. “Way more than
dragons, I promise.”
He wiped his cheeks, taking in my face. “Why are you crying? You’re
Kyra, you don’t cry.”
And after this moment, he would believe that until the last beat of my
heart. “Because you thought I didn’t love you.”
He frowned. “I thought you didn’t want me. I never thought you didn’t
love me. Different words, different meanings. Shouldn’t you know that for
your books?” His eyes narrowed. “Are your books even good?”
I laughed, wiping my cheeks. “I think so. I hope so.” I searched his
eyes, his tears already drying up. Thank the gods. “Mark, I wanted to tell
you. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I didn’t know how.”
“You just tell me that I have to move in with the High King,” he replied,
frowning. “Doesn’t seem that hard.”
I sniffed, shaking my head. “No, no I guess it doesn’t. I’m sorry. I
talked to a warlock today, and he gave me some good advice,” I went on as
he straightened. “I was coming here to tell you the truth about everything.
To tell you that you would be okay, that I would still fight for you, even if I
wasn’t with you.” Because it was the best option, in the end. Better than
him being hunted. I couldn’t protect him from the witches. I couldn’t
protect him from the High King. All I could do was hope that letting him go
would save him.
Mark’s eyes were wide, not a tear to be seen. “Where did you meet a
warlock?” He gasped, leaning over. “You have to tell him to run. You have
to save him like you save everyone.”
“Who have I saved?” I wanted to ask, but kept my mouth shut. “He’s
safe, I promise. I met him somewhere secret. Somewhere nobody else
knows about. Nobody except for Ket and the Fallen General.”
“Ket? You’ve had this secret for longer than I’ve been alive?”
I nodded, reaching up to flick his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve had this
secret since I was 9, and now it’s your secret, and one day I’ll take you
there to visit, but for now, this is all you get to know, okay?”
His shoulders fell, his lip poking out. “Because I’m not a good secret-
keeper.”
I smiled, sniffing. Gods, he was so cute. “You are the best secret-keeper
I know, little fox, but you’re going to be living in the castle soon, and even
though I know you would never tell anyone in the castle our secrets, I
worry…I worry they’ll get them anyway.”
Worry filled his eyes. “How?”
I sucked in my lips and leaned back onto the heels of my feet. “What
did mom tell you exactly?” She couldn’t have known there were witches
there too, could she? Maybe she did. She and Raphael had had a son
together. She had to have known.
He thought back. “She told me that Raphael was my dad and he wanted
me and her to move in with him so we could be a real family.”
 Ouch. “And what do you think about that?” I didn’t want to scare him,
but he had to know, didn’t he? It was the right thing to do, right?
“Well, I don’t want to go,” he replied with a shrug. “I’d rather live in
this place with you then some castle with a guy who kills our friends.”
Our friends. Nightwalkers, Fallen, and human alike. Our friends. “Even
if it’s what’s best for you?”
“I don’t know much about a lot, but I do know that you’re my sister,
and staying with you is best for my heart. Isn’t that more important than my
well-being.”
Gods, he was going to make me cry again. “It’s important to be
healthy.”
“It’s important to be loved,” he countered. “And to feel loved. I feel
loved by you, not because you give me presents, but because you’re tired all
the time, and you still go out to get us food. How can you be healthy if you
don’t feel loved?”
My bottom lip trembled, eyes filling. “I don’t know, little fox.”
“Do you know what I really want?” Mark asked, pushing my hood back
only to grab my braid and pull it over my shoulder, inspecting the chocolate
and dark red strands.
“What’s that?”
“I just want you to be proud of me.”
Tears slid down my cheeks. “Yeah, I’d like that too.”
“I want to be brave like you. I want to save people like you do, even
though most of the time, you just save them in your stories, it still means
you’ve got the heart to save them. I want to be strong like you.” His eyes
lifted to mine. “I want to act fearless even though I’m really scared. If that
means going to the castle, I guess I can do that, but I’d rather grow up and
learn from you then from some people in metal suits.”
I wiped my cheeks, grabbing his knees. “You are so good, and I am so
proud of you.”
He sneered. “Why?”
I smiled. “Because you are kind. Because you care about people even
though you’ve never met them. Because you want to protect the Tree Giants
even though they’re the size of castles and can protect themselves.”
He frowned. “They’re made of wood, Kyra. They can’t protect
themselves from forest fires, can they? It’s a serious situation.”
I giggled. “I know.”
 His expression relaxed, his fingers still playing with my hair. “Maybe if
I do go, I can get the crown and change some things.” He smiled. “I can tear
down Condemnation, get rid of those stupid laws about magic. We could
create a safe haven like Penny did. Couldn’t we?”
I swallowed, nodding. “That is a really great idea, but listen, Mark, the
reason I worry about our secrets is because…because the witches live in
that castle too, so I don’t know what’s really going to happen when you
guys move in.”
He froze.
“Evanora is there.”
He glanced to the door and back, as if terrified someone would overhear
us. “You were right?” he whispered. “The witches were behind both wars,
weren’t they? And they’re still here? Why has no one stopped them? Why is
Raphael killing people of magic if they’re letting the witches stay here?” He
gasped. “The General. The witches will find him. Kyra, you have to protect
him. You have to keep him safe.”
Yeah, I had to keep him safe. It was laughable. “He’s okay, and those
are questions I can’t answer, but that’s why I can’t tell you this really
important secret. Do you understand?”
He looked to the door again before his eyes returned to mine, searching,
his fear growing. “I don’t want to live with the witches, Kyra. I want to stay
here. I want to stay with you. Please,” he begged, jumping into my arms,
flinging his own around my shoulders. “Please let me stay. I don’t want to
go. I’m big enough, I can start going out with you, I promise. I can help, but
please don’t make me go there.”
I hugged him tightly, tears slipping down my cheeks as I found that
window just at the end of his bed, the sun gone for darkness. “Shh,” I
hummed, that shadow tendril appearing in my line of sight, watching me
carefully, and I could have sworn I heard it whisper to me exactly what I
needed to do. “It’s going to be okay, little fox. I’ve got you.”
~~~
I went out at night very rarely. The curfew scared me, but even more than
that I was terrified of the possibility of vampires lurking through these
woods because despite the fact that most were terrified of these woods, I
couldn’t say the same for vampires. Could they eat demons? I couldn’t be
sure. It’s a question I’d like to find the answer to one day.
 Tonight was different though. I needed some fresh air. I needed
answers. I needed to know what Trick was planning. If he was planning on
killing me, well then Mark would have to go to the castle. He wasn’t ready
to keep the cottage stocked on his own.
But if Trick was just using me to throw me away later, then Mark could
come with me. I’d deal with Trick, keep Mark out of it, and we’d go from
there.
But I needed answers. I needed the truth.
Once I reached the tree line, I took off my veil and pushed back my
hood. I took in the streams of moonlight kissing the snow that covered the
forest floor. Even now, after all these years, I found myself shocked at how
many tracks appeared at night.
The demons were more active when the sun went down despite how
dark the woods were during the day.
Mark would love it out here. He’d be scared at first, nervous, but he
would love it. He had talked about meeting the demons before. Talked
about how cool and terrifying it would be.
He would love how fresh the air was out here too. He would love the
stars and how many he could see when the trees broke up enough to catch a
glimpse of the sky. He would love all the new trails to explore. Ones I had
been down time and time again.
I looked up to the sky, this part of the forest thinner than that around my
cottage. The sky was clear of the clouds from earlier, but I had a feeling it
would snow again before morning.
People still talked about the gods. Prayed to them, worshipped them in
their homes, in temples. I didn’t understand it because they had never done
anything to earn that type of love. They never stepped in during the wars, as
far as anyone knew about, never helped the species’ get along. Never tried
to ease tensions. The Original Orders failed their own people, and when
they died and the New Orders were named, they failed too.
I supposed I couldn’t truly blame them. They inherited a world that was
already screwed, but after 600 years, they at least could have created some
sort of friendship between the Courts.
I didn’t want Mark to wear that crown. I didn’t want him to be
considered an Order. I didn’t want him to carry that burden, to be locked
into a contract with Evanora, but if he did go to that castle, eventually that’s
where it would lead.
 He had a good heart now, would that remain after seven years of living
there?
He did deserve the good bed, the clothes, the food, but he didn’t deserve
living with those people.
He didn’t deserve the life I had either.
I didn’t want to let him go, but I couldn’t condemn him. I felt like there
was no good option here.
“Trick?” I called out into the abyss. I felt so stupid, so humiliated, but
this was for Mark not my pride. “Hello?”
Nothing.
I rolled my eyes, sanding my hands together. “You’ve been stalking me
for a year and now that I actually need you, you’re going to ignore me?”
Silence.
I frowned deeply. “I just need to ask you a question.” Several seconds
of silence ticked by. I rolled my eyes again, releasing a huff. “Please.”
Nothing but my own heartbeat answered back.
I half-laughed, only out of frustration. “So what? You only come when
you want to torture me? Which means that you truly are just using me.
That’s great. You’re a real prick, you know that? I just…” I closed my eyes
and groaned. “Gods, I need to know if you’re going to kill me or not. It’s
important. Please.”
A soft step in the snow had my heart slamming against my ribs.
I turned towards the sound and searched those shadows, eyes straining,
heart picking up. “Trick?”
Silence.
“Trick, come on, I know it’s you. I’m not in the mood to play games,
can you just…can you please just come out?”
Nothing once again.
Gods, he infuriated me. “I hope you know that I will never say please
ever again. I won’t sit here and beg for your help again. So if this is just a
game, it’ll end tonight.”
I stared into the abyss, heart slamming in my throat.
“Tr—” but the shout died on my lips when a pair of glowing red eyes
appeared within the darkness.
Fuck, not Trick. Definitely not Trick.
It was a gods-damned demon.
Its eyes were five feet off the ground. There were only a handful of
demons that stood that tall, and with my luck, it was a tycron that stood
before me.
Oh, for the love of all that was death and darkness, please don’t let that
be a gods-damned tycron.
A beak appeared, ashy gray feathers, the front two feet of a bird.
I straightened, my panic lessening only slightly. “Zalin?” I whispered as
it lowered its head, stalking forward slowly, tail flicking behind it.
It wasn’t as big as the full-grown ones I had seen not two months ago
just a few miles outside my cottage. A teenager, I would guess, but they
grew up fast. Going from hatchlings to kits to full-grown in less than six
months.
It stepped into a ray of moonlight, lifting its head, its beak opening and
closing, its head twitching to one side. A very bird-like movement.
I watched it for a long time before I allowed myself to relax completely.
Maybe not completely, but I couldn’t have it smelling any sort of stress or
fear. It would only incite it. “Why are you alone?” I asked it, trying to look
behind it without moving too much. “Where is your family?” Zalins weren’t
violent creatures, and I had been around enough of them to know that they
did remember me. They knew who I was and where I lived. I had even seen
some in my clearing before, but I had never seen one without many more
behind it.
They were pack animals, they needed each other.
A soft chirp left its beak.
I turned back to it, studying it. “I know Sarivosian, dragon, Aelyrian,
and some Perinix, but there are no books on demon language. I can’t
understand you.”
It sniffed the air, eyes falling to my lips as it took a slow step forward,
another.
I forced my breathing to remain normal as it inched closer and closer. I
hadn’t been this close to many demons. It was exhilarating. And as excited
as I was being this close to a zalin, I had to remain calm. I didn’t want to
scare it.
It chirped again, twitching its head from side to side until it finally
stopped feet away, stretching out its long neck, trying to sniff me without
getting too close.
I let it, waiting patiently until it straightened up, tilting its head to one
side, its eyes flicking to the veil around my neck.
 I touched it. “I use it to keep myself from being easily identified by the
guards.” Holy shit. This was definitely getting recorded.
It hissed, its feathers puffing up around its neck, its wings folding in a
way that made it look bigger than it was.
It took everything in me not to take a step back. “I hate them too,” I
agreed, my hands tensing at my sides.
It snapped its beak several times and shook itself out. I looked it over as
its feathers slowly flattened, my heart racing. “Okay, it seemed like you
understood that. Maybe we can communicate. Can you understand me? One
chirp for yes, two for no.”
Almost immediately, it chirped once.
Excitement exploded through me, and it took everything in me to
remain calm and composed. “One chirp for male, two for female.”
He chirped once again.
I nodded, fighting against the smile. “Male then. You are a very
handsome male.” My absolute shit day was slowly getting better.
He lifted his chin, strutting in a circle before coming back to a stand in
front of me.
I laughed lightly. “Your family,” I went on. “One chirp for near, two for
far.”
He chirped twice.
My brows furrowed then, worry filling me. “You should be with them,”
I told him, glancing around the trees. “There was a tycron attack a while
back. It attacked one of your kits. I think staying with your family is what’s
best for now.”
I had heard it and stupidly I had run towards the sound. It had been
horrible. Tycrons weren’t even supposed to be here until the end of Winter,
but there it had been, attacking a beautiful little kit. I shot it straight through
the eye and I used some of my Asilos Root to try and save the babe, but I
never knew if it had actually lived.
Tycrons hunted all kinds of demons just for fun. Usually, the demons
disappeared for a while after the tycrons returned. The forest didn’t return to
normal until late spring. Even I avoided wandering during those months.
Why this one was alone was beyond me.
He shook himself out, ruffling his feathers, and turned to the side. He
looked back to his side and lifted his wing, showing me the three long scars
left behind from an attack.
 My eyes widened, my heart thudding erratically. “Gods above,” I
breathed as he found my eyes again. “You’re…you’re the zalin that was
attacked?” Okay, having the knowledge that they grew that fast and seeing
it for myself, it was a world of difference.
He chirped, beating his wings as he turned back to me.
I half-laughed, running my hands through my hair in disbelief. “You’re
alive and…and huge.”
He jumped up, landing with a huff, his feathers puffing out as if he were
proud.
Besides the nargs, he had to be the friendliest demon I had ever met.
As he continued to strut around me in a large circle, I found myself
giggling, admiring him. “Yes, you are very pretty.” He truly was. I wanted
to draw him. Record this moment the best I could.
He cried out, flapping his wings.
A playful demon. It was a first.
I studied him, taking in how his back curved, how his body transitioned
from part bird to part beast. I couldn’t believe he had found me. It had been
four or so months since that day, I had nearly forgotten about it. “May I?” I
finally asked, gesturing to his body.
He walked forward without hesitation, without fear. I was actually
taken aback by how confident he was, especially around a human.
I myself felt nervous. An excited type of nervous. The gentle scent of
sulfur dusted the air as he came to a stop in front of me. I found his eyes
again before looking to his neck. Slowly, I reached out and gently placed
my hand against the side of his neck, his body cool. “Your feathers are
coarse,” I noted, dragging my hand down to his shoulder. “I’ve never
touched a bird, never seen one, but I assume birds’ feathers aren’t coarse.
Probably similar to the Fallen.”
He chirped lightly, watching me inspect him.
I could feel his muscles move under him. The muscular features of a
horse, that much I knew. “Do you know if your bones are hollow?” I asked,
finding his eyes. “Once for yes, twice for no.”
He chirped twice and I found myself slightly disappointed. Of course,
he wouldn’t know if his bones were hollow, that was ridiculous.
I slid my hand down his shoulder, gently lifting his wing, feeling how it
connected to him. It felt different than Cole’s. Cole’s wings were thick,
muscular, but the zalin’s wings felt almost frail. It didn’t make sense with
him being so much bigger than Cole. “Can you lift them up?”
He lifted them, stretching them high into the air, the tips of them
reaching for the stars.
“Wow,” I breathed, watching the moon glisten against his gray feathers.
“You are beautiful.”
He straightened, standing tall.
I laughed, turning back to his abdomen. I stepped forward, running my
fingers over the line where the feathers shifted to fur. Coarse feathers to
coarse hair. It was almost seamless. As if the feathers were melting into the
fur. “Your skin is black,” I noted, inspecting those three scars. “Is that for
all of you demons? Just like you all smell like sulfur?”
He chirped once.
“Interesting. It almost seems like all of you were created in the same
image.” I stepped back, allowing him to fold his wings back against his
body. “Do you have a god? A creator? Someone who ruled over you?”
His feathered ears folded back, head lowering, pain in his eyes.
No, not pain.
“Fear?” I asked, shaking my head. “I don’t understand. Why would you
be afraid of your creator?”
He chirped sorrowfully, but it was something he couldn’t answer, not to
me anyway. Gods, why hadn’t there been a book on demon language?
“Okay, well,” I took him in again. “How about a name then? Can I give
you a name?” It only seemed right at this point.
He straightened, those cute little ears perked. “Name?” the motion
seemed to ask.
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Everyone needs a name. How about…” I
thought about it for several seconds. “Oh, Letak. How about Letak?”
He chirped loudly, kicking his front feet up, dancing around, causing
me to laugh. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” I just named a demon. I
befriended a zalin and I named him. I couldn’t wait to tell Mark about this.
He jumped and pranced, kicking up snow like a child. Gods, he was
beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Mark would love him more than anything
else in the world, I was sure of it.
Letak stopped suddenly, going as still as stone, ears pointed to the dark
woods where the moon couldn’t reach.
My heart immediately slammed, my breath catching. Oh shit. Please for
the love of the gods, let it be Trick. I could handle that.
 Probably.
I could convince him not to kill Letak.
But please, please don’t let it be a tycron.
The forest was far too quiet. So quiet, that my breathing seemed like an
explosion. I couldn’t hear anything.
Nothing.
Letak turned to me, chirping wildly as he danced on his front feet,
looking between me and his back.
I looked to the woods, heart racing, eyes widening. “You want me to get
on you?” I whispered, realizing what he was doing.
He looked to the woods and back, flapping his wings, chirping,
screeching.
Oh shit.
I glanced towards the woods again. I had spent my entire life wanting to
fly. But not on a demon, on a dragon.
Letak screamed.
But he seemed terrified, and he wanted to help.
So, without thinking, I ran over, grabbing a handful of feathers, and
flung myself onto his back, almost falling off the other side.
He started running before I was able to get myself settled, my cloak and
hair ripping back behind me as I, in a panic, tried to tuck my legs under his
wings, tried to find a good place to settle before he—
He launched into the air.
It took everything I had in me not to scream as he pushed himself
higher and higher.
I leaned into him, my knees squeezing into his sides, my hands gripped
tightly into his feathers. I even felt some come loose, but I couldn’t bring
myself to apologize.
He pushed and pushed, galloping on unseen platforms as we flew
higher into the sky.
I hadn’t realized I had closed my eyes until Letak finally slowed,
chirping back at me.
It took longer than I wanted to admit to force my eyes open, and even
longer to force myself to sit up, finding a world below me. A world of trees
and snow and endlessness.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, and I found myself unable to force
my legs and hands to relax. This was absolutely terrifying. Far different
than what I had imagined in my head.
My teeth chattered as I looked up, lips parting, heart thundering in my
ears. I had never been this close to the stars in my entire life. All I wanted
was to go higher. To go so high, I could touch them, capture one even. If I
could just grab hold of one, I would never let it go. I would keep it safe for
the rest of my days.
Starkeeper, they would call me.
I paused, a smile breaking out across my face. An idea formed in my
mind for another book. My fingers already itched for my pencil.
Letak chirped, interrupting my thoughts.
I turned back to him, finding him gesturing to the ground below. I
followed his gaze as we hovered and found the reason he had run. It wasn’t
a tycron, far from it. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see what he saw without
letting the bile that started to rise reach my mouth.
But I couldn’t see that far. I couldn’t figure it out, so I sat back and
looked around me. Looked at the ocean of trees, and in the distance, the
rolling hills that led up to the Emaris Mountains. They weren’t as rugged as
the ones nearer to the Cursed Lands, which was furthest West in the Human
Court, but they towered above the world just the same, already covered in
snow.
Just beyond the Emaris Mountains was Emore, the Holy City. That’s
where the Priests’ temple resided. From what I could find of that city, it was
filled with people called the Devout. People who were solely devoted to
worshipping the Priests.
I had seen so little of the world. I knew what it held, knew the magic
that ran through the veins of it, but I had seen none of it.
My terror eased as my thoughts raced.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t sure where to go or what the future
held for Mark. It was terrifying, but if Trick wouldn’t answer me, I knew
who would.
I leaned forward, patting Letak’s neck. “Take me to the cottage.”
Letak nodded, sniffed the air, and then banked left, his movements
smooth, quiet.
I took the short flight to take in everything around me. To take in the
white fire of the moon, the glowing stars, the sky that the dragons used to
kiss and make love too.
I hated it when we landed. Hated when he folded his wings in. Hated
when I dismounted, my cloak falling around me because for those few
minutes after the fear had lifted, I finally felt free. My thoughts had
stopped, my pain, my anger. For just a few minutes, I felt weightless.
I placed my hand on his neck, finding his eyes. “Thank you, Letak. Stay
clear of them, whoever they are, I’ll send someone out to inspect, okay?” I
couldn’t let whoever it was remain. Whether it was witches, humans, or
something else. If it was Trick just lurking around then I would find out
soon enough, but until then, I had to be sure.
He purred and carefully bent his right foot under him, bowing his head.
I stood back and watched until he took off, back to the skies. Maybe it
was just something demons did. I couldn’t be sure, I had never seen it
happen before, but then again, I had never befriended one outside of the
nargs.
I hadn’t seen Cole in a week, but I saw the smoke leaving the chimney
that he was still there. I’d need to adjust the vent I had put up there to
disperse the smoke enough not to pull attention.
My tendril of shadow appeared before me, watching me carefully.
Waiting as if it knew what I needed.
I inhaled deeply, looking back to the woods. If he had ignored me
earlier, I doubted he would listen to me via shadow, but I had no choice, not
when I needed to speak with the other magical being I was friends with.
“Show him what we saw,” I told her, finding her again. “I can’t be sure
what they were, but something in my gut tells me they aren’t human.”
She nodded once and darted North, in the direction of the Fallen Court.
I watched after her long after she disappeared before finally turning
towards the cottage.
Cole was watching the door when I walked in. He was leaning back
against the counter, hair down, the fire the only source of light besides the
moon he was blocking behind him.
He reminded me of the father I never had, ready to scold me for staying
out so late.
I shut the door, his eyes nearly black in the light. “His name is Letak,” I
said, remaining where I was.
Cole studied me for a moment before pushing away from the counter.
“You both looked happy.”
I shrugged, glancing towards the wall next to the fireplace where my
drawings of demons hung. “Are you angry?” I had drawn zalins before, but
I wanted to draw him too. Letak specifically. The look in his eyes was
different than the others.
“You looked defeated before you disappeared for a week, and when you
do return, it’s on the back of a flying demon and you’re smiling. A real
smile. How can I be angry?”
I pulled my veil from my neck. “You look upset.”
“I was worried,” he confessed. “Trick’s been missing for the last week,
you never came back after revealing to me a secret you’ve kept for your
entire life. I thought they had killed you until I went to the street, and they
said they hadn’t seen you either. I went to the city every day looking for
you, but,” he shrugged. “You’re a professional at disappearing.”
Years of practice. My heart stuttered in a strange way as the other words
clicked into place. “Missing? The war—”
“We’re not going there yet, but it’s something we’re used to, something
we’ll deal with.” He walked around the table, gesturing to the couch. “It’s
after sunset. You were out past curfew.”
I would never admit out loud the way my heart thudded at never seeing
that man again, but my chest did ache.
I took a seat on the couch as he pulled over the chair. “I needed to ask
him a question.” Would the shadow tendril find him? She had to. She was
his magic, she had to find him. “I thought he would…” I rolled my eyes. “I
thought he’d come when I called.” It sounded so stupid when I said it out
loud. I had tried to get the attention of a crazy man who was obsessed with
me and then I was upset when it didn’t happen. Gods, maybe I was the
crazy one.
But what if he was gone because of the threat of war? Would he truly
abandon his people for a third time? Even if there was a possibility of
Evanora going after him next, she would just go after his Court if he
couldn’t be found.
“Must have been something really important for you to willingly call
him.”
I pushed my hair back and started chewing on my lip, hearing Mark sob
into my shoulder until he finally fell asleep. “Yeah, when he didn’t come, I
came here. You know him better than anyone, and I just…I need the truth.”
My eyes found Cole’s again. Deeper than the night sky, watching me
without judgment, without impatience.
“I don’t think anyone truly knows him,” Cole confessed, but a moment
later, he loosed a breath. “About what?”
I swallowed, pulling at my fingers, my heart picking up. “A bargain
with a witch, it’s worse than a bargain with a warlock, isn’t it?”
His brows pulled together, that worry turning hard. “Did you bargain
with Evanora? Kyra why—”
“Mark’s Raphael’s son,” I spit out, forcing my expression, my
emotions, to remain neutral. The only way to get the true answer was to
give him a truth, I knew that. He needed the whole story, so that’s what I
gave him.
He froze, shock twisting his expression. “What?”
I nodded, looking to my wrapped hands, picking at my nails. “The day
Evanora slapped me, I was going back to tell Raphael that he could have
him, but something changed. Raphael started to say something, but we were
interrupted by Evanora.”
Cole leaned over his knees, trying to catch my gaze. “Raphael has a
son, Talons, why does he need your brother?”
I shrugged. “Because Raymond isn’t right for the throne,” I half-
laughed. “That’s what he told me. I had made the decision, you know, but
then I changed my mind, and they said that if I didn’t turn him over, they’d
hunt us down and take him. Some irrational part of me was fine with that,
but then I started doubting again. Back and forth, but while I was gone
today, Mom told Mark the truth.”
Sympathy filled his eyes. “You never told him?”
The guilt grinded through me. “I was going too, I just…it wasn’t the
right time, and I didn’t know how to bring it up to him.”
He was quiet for a moment. “How did he react?”
“He wanted me to come with him,” I answered, finally meeting his
eyes. “But I needed him to know the whole truth. So, I told him about the
witches and after that? He obviously doesn’t want to go, but he’d have a
better life there than he would here, right? He’d have a great life there.”
Cole straightened, face twisting in confusion. “You built a cottage for
him, you built a life for him here.”
“And Raphael has better beds, clothes that fit, enough food to feed three
Courts.”
“It’s enough,” he argued desperately. “Food can be found, clothes made,
but that kind of love? Kyra, you only get a couple of those in a lifetime, you
can’t give this one up because you’re afraid that what you’ve done isn’t
enough. Bring him here. They won’t find him. We can keep him safe.”
I swallowed, glancing towards the kitchen. “That’s what I was going to
ask Trick.”
Cole’s brows pulled together. “If he’d protect you?” There was
hesitation in his eyes. “I don’t think—”
I shook my head, finding his eyes again. “What his plans were. If he’s
just…if he’s planning on killing me, fine, whatever, he can do what he
wants, but I want to leave Mark with Raphael or have you take him to
Penny’s Court if that’s the case. I need to know, Cole. I need to know what
Trick’s plans are so I can plan for what I need to do. So I can make a
choice.”
He straightened, shaking his head. “I can’t answer that.”
“Try.”
“Kyra—”
“Cole, he’s not ready,” I stressed, eyes burning. “He’s not ready to do
this on his own. He can’t—I haven’t trained him to thieve. I haven’t
prepared him to live and gather and work. I haven’t…if Trick’s going to kill
me, just tell me. It’ll be fine, I can handle that. I really can, but I cannot
leave Mark to do this alone.”
Cole released a breath. “Planning is pointless, Talons. You can plan all
you want, go through all the strategies and outcomes you can think of, but
once you get there,” he shrugged. “All you’re doing is fighting for your life
and the lives of your people. One step at a time. One man at a time. One
breath at a time.”
I searched his eyes, seeing the passion in them. Mark would be safe, but
I needed him to understand that this was different. It was different than war,
than men lost in battle.
So, I leaned forward and took his hand in both of mine. It was far
bigger than mine, warm, calloused. The hands of a warrior.
“He needs to be safe,” I told him carefully, putting as much emotion as I
could in every word. “Mark is all I have, okay? My entire life belongs to
him. Every breath, every beat of my heart. If I bring him here and your
High King kills me…I need him to live. Whatever happens, okay? Mark
needs to be okay.”
“Kyra, I give you my oath, he will be okay.”
It didn’t make me feel any better, but I couldn’t stay here too much
longer. “If he kills me, and you are willing enough, I need you to take him
to Aelyria.”
“What?”
“Take him to Penny. He’s prepared for that. He knows what he needs to
say, just take him there. I’ll bring him here, but that’s what I need. Promise
me that. Promise me you’ll take him to Penny Rain if he kills me.”
Cole searched my eyes carefully before he finally nodded. “I promise.”
So that was it then…I was bringing him here. I was bringing him home.
We had enough, I could quickly find the other few things before the real
snow came, I was sure of it, but there it was.
An early birthday present, I supposed. Finally, I straightened, pulling
my hands back. “I should get back.” My heart was thundering, a buzzing
shooting through my veins. Holy shit. This was it.
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night?” he asked as I stood.
I shook my head. “No, I want to see Mark in the morning. I’ll see you
after sunrise if you’re still here.”
“I quite literally can’t leave unless I hike out, not to mention I’m in the
middle of this book that has got me by the wings.”
I forced a strained smile, hoping it was enough to convince him that I
was truly fine. In reality, I felt like I was going to throw up. “Okay, see you
in the morning.”
“See you and Mark just after first light,” he replied, giving me a small
wave.
Me and Mark. Both of us. Together. Cole would finally meet the boy
who truly stole my heart.
“Oh, before you go, you said you named him Letak. What does that
mean?”
I opened the front door and tossed a look back. “Flyer.” My hands
wouldn’t stop shaking.
Cole smiled. “Good job, Talons.”
“For what?”
“For giving a chance to something everyone else wanted to rid the
world of.”

OceanofPDF.com
 12
My Bible, Chapter 30, Verse 9,
Pain is what this world was bred from. Agony is what the stars sing on the nights they cannot see
their precious little creations, and pleasure is what you’ll feel when I show you the balance between
them all. I will rewrite your very definition of emotions.

Kyra
I crept through the house, gathering a few things into my satchel before
tiptoeing to Mark’s bedroom. I shut the door behind me, set my things
down in the corner, and walked over, climbing into bed with him.
He groaned, turning onto his side, his eyes opening only a crack.
“Kyra? What are you doing? It’s like…the butthole of dawn.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Butt-crack,” I corrected. “But also don’t say
that.”
He grumbled again. “Go away.” He flipped the covers over him
violently.
“Shh,” I whispered, snuggling down into the bed with him, pulling the
blankets over both of us. “Keep your voice low, okay?”
He scooted over, giving me more room as I twisted onto my side. “Have
they come for me?” he asked, his eyes filling up almost instantly.
I shook my head, reaching over to tuck away a strand of unruly hair. “I
need to tell you something, okay? Something really important.” My heart
was racing. This was it. This was the end of it all. The beginning.
“Are we running away?”
I smiled, my own eyes prickling with tears. “Smart little fox, huh?”
His eyes widened, suddenly wide awake. “Are we running away?” he
asked more seriously.
“We’re getting out of here,” I confirmed, seeing the hope and relief fill
his eyes, filling my own heart, goosebumps spreading across my skin. “You
and me, we’re going on an adventure, okay? We’re going to pack up all of
your things and we’re going to go.”
His eyes began to fill again. “Really?”
I nodded, the excitement and hope finally hitting me. We were leaving.
I was finally getting him out of here. No more sleeping on the floor, no
more hiding what happened from him. It would just be the two of us, living
in the cottage, safe and free. Everything else I could figure out on the way.
“Really really, and guess what?”
“What?” he asked, so excited, he was shaking.
“I made a new friend, and I think you’re really going to like him.”
He gasped, covering his mouth to try and keep himself quiet. “Is it a
Tree Giant?”
I giggled. “No, a demon. A zalin.”
Mark’s face twisted in concentration. “The bird-horse things right? As
big as a horse?”
His memory would be better than mine, I was sure of it. “Exactly. He
let me fly him high above the Forest of Malice tonight.”
“No way.”
I nodded, still in disbelief myself. “Yup, and his name is Letak. He’s
only a couple of years older than you in demon-age.”
“Letak,” he said, his smile so wide, it hurt my own cheeks. “I love that.
It means Flyer, right?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, imagining Cole’s reaction when I told him
that my baby brother knew the translation when a 1,000-year-old General
didn’t. “Exactly right.”
“Will I get to fly on him one day?”
Worry instantly filled me, but I nodded anyway, despite the fact that I
barely knew the creature. “Of course, but the first flight needs to be with
me. Promise?”
He wiggled excitedly in bed. “Promise! I promise!”
I beamed, loving how adorable he was. “He’s going to be as excited as
you when—”
The blanket flew back, and a sharp pain ripped through my skull as I
was dragged from the bed and hit the ground, disoriented.
My hair was released, Mark gasping as I rolled onto my back, finding
Mom standing above me with a cast iron skillet in her hand.
Anger filled me. She had never hurt me in front of Mark. It was an
unspoken rule in this house, and I would never forgive her for breaking it.
As I pushed myself to a slow stand, I glared at her, putting every ounce
of hatred I had into it. “You don’t care if he sees now?” I asked, putting
myself between her and the bed. “Careless.”
“You’ve ruined him,” she spat, her eyes wild, hair coming out of her
usually pristine bun. “With all of your bullshit stories. You’ve probably
convinced him not to go to the castle haven’t you?”
“I’m not going,” Mark said, his voice trembling.
I held out my hand, looking back at him, seeing the anger in his own
eyes, the tears filling them. “Quiet.”
“Why is she doing that? You’re her daughter.”
My chest tightened in sorrow. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m okay.” I
turned back to Mom, letting the anger be my shield as I straightened. “He’s
not going.” Why was I more afraid of standing up to her than I was Trick
Michael? That didn’t make sense. Nothing about it made sense.
She laughed. “You think you can stop the High King? You’re just a
worthless little thief. What is a thief to a King?”
Fear spread across my bones, followed by a chill I recognized. That
shadow within me that belonged to Trick. Maybe he was gone, but I still
had a shred of that devil living inside of me and I could use that.
I had to use that.
“What is a King to a God?” I countered, folding my hands into fists.
She scoffed, shaking her head. “The gods are dead.”
“Or maybe they’re hiding out of shame from creating people like you,”
I bit. “Mark is coming with me. I can protect him. I’ll keep him safe.” As
safe as I could keep him.
“You have nowhere to take him.”
I took a step back, my legs hitting the bed. “Anywhere is better than
here.”
And she must have seen the truth in my eyes because she swung that
pan with everything she was.
I turned away from it, covering my head, only to feel it slam into my
shoulder. It took every ounce of strength I had not to cry out, but I had
made a promise to myself a long time ago. I would never cry out. I would
never let her hear me scream. I would never let Mark hear me that weak. I
had trained myself to be silent, even in my agony.
“He’s my son!” she screamed.
I looked over to Mark, finding him cowering on the bed, my arm numb,
my fingers prickling. “Run,” I whispered, eyes flicking to the window.
“Run and hide, I will find you, I promise.”
But he shook his head, his fear blanketing me. “I can’t leave you,” he
whispered. “Be brave in the face of all monsters, not just some of them.”
Gods above, I loved him so much. “This isn’t goodbye, okay? This isn’t
goodbye. You have to run, Mark. Run.”
He watched me for a long time before he finally nodded, giving me
only a slight sense of relief. “See you later.”
I sent a silent prayer up to anyone who was listening as I turned back to
my mom, shoulder pounding in pain. “You shit him out of your uterus, but
your role ended there. I’m more of a mother than you have ever been. He is
mine, and you will not touch him.”
“Let him run, Raphael will find him soon enough,” she stated coldly,
not even sparing a glance towards him as he crawled out the window. “But
you? I never wanted you in the first place.” She lunged.
I jumped to one side, stumbling into the nightstand.
Mom had already readjusted, slamming the pan into the back of my
head, knocking me to the ground, my head hitting the edge of the nightstand
as I fell.
“Kyra!” Mark cried.
My head spun, dots dancing in front of my eyes. I couldn’t remember
how to move, how to breathe. “Go,” I tried, the taste of copper filling my
mouth.
Blood dripped from my lips as I tried to push myself up. I had to keep
her from getting to him. He just needed to make it to the woods. Just to the
edge of the woods. Cole would find him. He would smell him, sense him,
hear him. He had too.
The pan slammed into my spine, and I collapsed under the force,
coughing, feeling something snap inside of me as my vision sparked in
black.
“Don’t get up,” Mom ordered. “Mark and I will be moving into the
castle without you.”
“Run,” I choked out, unsure if he already had. “Run.” It’s all I could
say, all I could think.
Mom slammed her heel into my calf, breaking through the thin pants,
sliding straight into the muscle, ripping a snarl from the depths of my soul.
I twisted around, pulling at my calf until I found her eyes, until I could
show her just how much I hated her.
Mom tore her heel out of my leg, and I hissed through my teeth, turning
onto my back and collapsing. It was all the strength I had just to do that.
“He will never remember you when we’re finished with him,” she growled,
slamming her pan into my chest.
 Gods, she looked more animal than human now.
“He won’t remember what you looked like.” She slammed the pan into
my ribs, another crack vibrating through me. “He won’t remember your
stories or your laugh.” Another slam. “He won’t remember your name.
Kyra.” Slam. “Gabriella.” Slam. “Skye.” Slam.
I coughed, shaking violently, the world spinning as my eyes rolled up,
taking in the ceiling, praying I could see the stars just one last time.
The pan slammed into me again, and my body jerked. “You worthless,
unwanted, unlovable, beast!”
A tear slid into my hairline as my mind numbed the pain, the taste of
copper consuming my tongue.
Mom hit me again, something in my hip shattering. A sack full of
fragile bones. Someone on the Impossible Street said that to me once. Now
I wasn’t sure if he had been commenting on that because I was starving or
because he had seen something I had been too naïve to see.
A roaring filled my ears as I coughed again, blood splattering up, hitting
my face a moment later. Mark needed to be okay. He had to be safe.
A force shoved me onto my side, the pain forcing me onto my stomach.
I couldn’t breathe anymore, nothing in my mind but fog and darkness.
I could see the hall from where I lay, my vision going in and out of
focus, the black growing. I reached out for it. I didn’t want to die in this
house. Anywhere else, but not this house.
She got on top of me and flipped me back over, the pain beating
through me with each breath.
Sweat poured down her red face as she held up that pan. She grabbed
the necklace and jerked me up several inches. “A good whore should die
full,” she spat and shoved me back down.
My brain was foggy, my limbs not moving right. Nothing was
responding the way it needed to.
She reached for the ties on my pants, pulling at them.
What was she doing?
Blood spurted from my mouth, bile creeping up my throat. I think a rib
may have punctured my lung, but I couldn’t feel it.
She jerked down my pants. My underwear.
What was she doing?
I gasped for air.
She spit on the pan handle, wrapped her hand around it and stroked it
up and down before finding my eyes again. “Let’s fill you up before I
finally rid the world of your pathetic existence.”
My eyes widened, the fear washing over me in waves. “Mom,” I tried
as she shoved a leg to the side. “Mom!” I choked.
“Stay still,” she grunted.
I couldn’t hold it in. I screamed, grabbing her wrists, tears streaming
down my face. “Please,” I begged, but the words were garbled. “Don’t!
Please, mom!”
She pinned my thigh under her knee and slammed the pan into my
hand, breaking my wrist. “Stay. Still.”
I sobbed, trying to spit out the last hope I had, but I could no longer
form words, the blood choking me. “Trick,” I tried, my vision going from
black to white to color. “Please.”
The tip of the handle touched my entrance just as a chuckle filled the
room, the house, the world. “Oh, you pathetic little human,” that voice of
sex and death purred through me. Familiar, god-like, proud.
Mom stopped, her head whipping towards the door.
My head rolled to the side, finding black shadows and smoke flooding
across the floor or maybe across my vision. Maybe it was blood dripping
over my eyes. I couldn’t be sure.
“Who is that?” Mom demanded as she dropped the pan and shoved
herself to a stand. “Show yourself!”
“I’m the last God,” he said, his voice sliding through me like a snake.
The shadows swirled over me, cooling my skin instantly. Not my
vision, not blood. The shadows had come.
Mom hesitantly stepped into the hall, my blood dripping from her hand,
and I watched as every ounce of color drained from her face. “Wh-what are
you?”
That chuckle that fell through my soul touched some deep, unknown
part of me I never thought existed. “I have many names, but you may call
me the God of Nightmares,” the male said, his voice changing to many.
A form of shadows ran up to her, four long talons sliding through her
stomach, bursting out the other side. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he said
before the shadows consumed her.
I turned back to the ceiling, struggling to breathe. There was no
inhaling, no exhaling, there was only copper.
It’s okay though. It would be okay. Mark would find the cottage, Cole
would take him to Penny. Everything would be fine.
A struggled grunt echoed through the room, and I wasn’t sure who it
belonged to. Mom, me, or the thing in the hall, it could have been any of us,
I supposed.
The shadows converged above me, a pair of flaming green eyes
emerging from their depths.
Trick formed a moment later, as if made of shadows himself. There was
something dark and unreadable in his expression, sweat pasting his
beautiful hair to his deathly pale skin, exhaustion in his eyes. It almost
seemed like he was scared of that thing too. I couldn’t imagine him being
scared of anything.
“Angel.”
I convulsed, my coughs filled with blood. “Mark,” I tried.
“Cole will find him,” he said, his shadows blanketing me.
Tears welled, spilling into my hairline, a sob suffocating me. “You
came.”
He slid his hand over my cheek, his skin damp. “Every time, baby.” It
sounded more like a threat then is did anything else.
~~~

Cole
I ran back to the cottage, keeping to the shadows until I hit the Forest of
Malice where I broke into a full sprint.
I was able to cover the distance in 15 minutes without shuffling Mark
too much, but honestly, my mind was on Kyra and whether or not she was
alive.
I jogged through the door, breathing without a hitch, and saw her lying
on the table, blood soaking her clothes, dried on her skin, around her mouth,
in her hair, burn marks and bruises everywhere. “She’s alive,” I said,
glancing towards the sleeping Mark in my arms.
Trick nodded, leaning back against the counter, watching her carefully
as his shadows swirled around her. All of them.
There was Asilos Root and Restri saliva smeared across every inch of
visible skin, but I knew just by the looks of her mangled, beaten, and
broken body that it would take some time for her to heal, for her to feel
normal again, even with the magical remedies.
 Only a hint of relief touched me. At least we had gotten them both.
“Three broken ribs, broken right hip, broken wrist, 16 fractures, deep
bruises, some burns. She might not have seen it, but there was Forbidden
Magic at work when I arrived too.”
He said it more to himself than to me, I realized. I wasn’t even sure if
he truly realized I was there. Not until Trick looked up and saw Mark in my
arms. “Did Mark see you? Did anyone?”
I adjusted him in my arms as I made my way to his bedroom. “He was
hiding in a nearby alley behind some trashcans. He never saw me coming.”
I set him carefully in his bed, the boy far too small for being almost 11.
I closed the door and found Trick beside the table now, gazing down at
Kyra with this unreadable expression. He didn’t look like some monster
obsessed with some girl. He looked like a lover gazing upon his soulmate.
But he had always been good at switching his masks.
“What do you want to do, Trick?”
He was quiet for a long time before he finally straightened, sliding his
hands into his pockets. “I suppose you want answers.”
I felt the anger beat through me, not all of it directed towards him, but a
good portion of it was. “She called for you last night to ask you some
questions. Why didn’t you answer?”
“I couldn’t.”
It was probably the best answer I would get, but I couldn’t let it go.
“Mark is Raphael’s son. You are obsessed with her, stalking her, taunting
her, and she finally decides to reach out, and you ignore her? This wouldn’t
have happened had you not disappeared for a week. Where were you,
Trick?”
His eyes filled with ice and death. “I’ll be back. Keep an eye on her.”
My lip curled as he Jumped away, leaving all but one of his shadows to
watch over Kyra.
“Fucking prick,” I muttered, walking up to her. I looked her over,
memorizing what that woman had done to her. Her own mother? Why
hadn’t she left? Why keep Mark in that environment? Why not tell
someone? Anyone.
“I should have made you stay,” I told her, finding her bruised and
swollen face. “I had a dream while you were away. I should have told you
last night. I know who you are, Kyra and I’m on your side, forevermore.”
 ~~~

Trick
I waited in the shadows of the far corner of the room as Norella began to
wake up.
It had taken no time to heal the wounds my magic had given her. Maybe
I should have been sleeping, resting after a week of uncontrollable rampage,
but this was important.
This woman had hurt my girl.
Over and over and over again.
Had tried to rape her with a fucking pan.
I couldn’t let anyone get away with that, let alone her own mother.
Norella Skye jerked, pulling at the chains around her wrists, pinning her
to the concrete chair built in the center of the room.
There was only one light hanging from the ceiling above her, blood
crusting the walls, even a few bones scattered around. If Norella was brave
enough to beat her own daughter, then this should be no problem. She
should be able to handle anything I threw at her.
But abusers were fucking cowards. They were weak. Pathetic. They
were the scum of the earth and this one? This one was about to understand
every single rumor she had ever heard about me. I had used a lot of magic
too, so she would get me at half strength, maybe less, but it wouldn’t be like
this forever. Once I had my strength back, she would know what it was like
to anger a god. She would understand exactly why the world feared me.
She struggled against the restraints, her breathing labored, her eyes
wide with fear as she searched. “Help!” she screamed, looking for a way
out. “Help!”
I stepped out of the shadows, even my steps exhausted. “No one is
going to help you.”
She gasped, her head whipping around, her hazel eyes locking with
mine. She pulled at her restraints again. “Who are you? Where am I?”
I couldn’t even bring myself to give her a taunting smile. All I could see
was her hand wrapped around the pan she was about to shove into my
fucking girl. “Trick Michael and you are the woman who made a brave
decision. Harming what’s mine?” I clicked my tongue as I came to a stop in
front of her. “It was a bad choice.”
“What?” she breathed, her heart pounding, her fear filling the room.
“Are you speaking of that bitch who stole my son? She deserved it.”
I waved my hand, a tray of human tools appearing beside her, causing
her eyes to widen. “Did you know that she cataloged every single injury
you gave her?” I asked, reaching for the pliers. “Every single one. She was
very diligent, and I intend to maintain that diligence,” I informed her, a
journal and ink appearing on a separate tray. “Out of respect, of course.”
Her panic grew as she fought and struggled, her eyes wild. “She’s no
one. She’s not even my fucking daughter!” Norella cried as I walked up
behind her. “Why do you care? Why does it matter what happens to her?
Her own parents didn’t even want her!”
I pulled her head back until I could look her in the eyes again. “You’re
not blood?” Well, that was an interesting development, and we were only
thirty seconds in.
“No!” she screamed, staring at those pliers. “I found her in the woods
when I was 19! I didn’t even want her, but I couldn’t leave her alone. She
was just a baby. Please, please, don’t do this. Please.”
I felt nothing. No remorse, no sympathy, no anything. “Well, now that I
know you’re not blood related, whatever worry I felt for her hating me for
this is gone. Open up.”
She screamed.
My hand gripped her jaw as the other carefully slid the pliers into her
mouth. It took no strength at all to rip out one of her teeth, blood
immediately pouring from her mouth.
I was going to revel in this, I decided as I dropped the tooth to the
ground with a click. I wanted to make her bleed. I wanted to make her
scream until her throat was so shredded, she could never speak again.
My longest Session had been Cole’s father. I had been inexperienced
then. Most of the time had been caused by trial and error, but this one? She
was human, so my goal was three weeks. Three weeks of sleep deprivation,
starvation, torture. I was going to bleed this bitch dry, bring her back from
the dead, and start all over again. Three weeks minimum, but I was going
for an all time record.
“You shouldn’t have touched her,” I stated coldly, trading the pliers for
a knife. I pointed the tip at her eye. “You shouldn’t have fucking touched
her.”
She was already sobbing, the smell of piss meeting my nose. “Because
you’ve put some sick claim on her? On a fucking whore?”
 She was so fucking weak.
I shook my head, although that was most of it. “Because she’s a person
and she didn’t deserve that.” I slid the tip of the knife into her eye and
twisted.
~~~

Kyra
I inhaled sharply, the fear slamming into me like a ton of bricks.
Without thought, I scrambled up, hearing a voice far off in the distance
as the roaring grew in my ears.
Mark.
I had to get to Mark.
Pain screamed through me as I spun around, only to fall straight off a
table onto the chairs and then tumble to the ground, the chairs coming with
me.
I grunted in pain, my head pounding.
There was my name again. Spoken miles and miles away.
Breathing was difficult. Moving was impossible. “Mark,” I rasped, the
world spinning as I grabbed the edge of the counter and forced myself up. I
didn’t know how I was alive. Maybe I wasn’t.
Maybe I had died, and this was just what hell was.
Pain and confusion and a voice that I couldn’t focus on.
A hand touched me.
I jerked away, my grip on the counter vice-like to keep me from falling.
I looked over, eyes wide, the black spots fading, the spinning slowing.
A pair of navy-blue eyes slowly came into focus, the male’s hands up in
surrender. His lips were moving but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
I shook my head and focused on the counter as I forced my legs to
straighten. Mark, I had to get to Mark.
I looked up, blinking hard, trying to clear the confusion. Where was I?
Where were we? The room started coming into view as my breathing
slowed, although it still felt like my lungs weren’t filling up all the way.
Stacks of books came into view. Papers covering the walls.
The cottage.
We were at the cottage.
I turned towards Mark’s bedroom door. He had to be in there. Please let
him be in there.
Cole appeared in front of me again, trying to catch my eyes. “He’s
asleep, Talons. No scrapes, no bruises. He’s resting.”
The tears burned my eyes, closed my throat. Resting. My arms shook as
they tried to hold me up. Mark was resting.
“You have to sit down, Kyra,” Cole tried. “You’re not healed all the
way, you had fractures, severe breaks. You have to take it easy.”
“B-broken?” I mumbled, looking down only to find tendrils of shadows
drifting around me. I was covered in dried Asilos Root and something else I
didn’t recognize. I was wrapped up in bandages, although none of my
clothes were removed.
Had he seen me?
My eyes lifted back to Cole’s, my mouth dry, the taste of copper still
coating my tongue. “Did you…Did you do this?”
He shook his head, and I felt my world crack. “Trick did. His mother
was the best healer in the world, his sister just after that. He learned a few
things.”
The tears filled my eyes and I hated myself for feeling it. Feeling the
hatred, the anger, the disappointment. This was good, wasn’t it? That he
saw me. Maybe now he wouldn’t be so obsessed. Maybe now he would
leave me be.
But that didn’t even matter right now because I had fucked up. Mark
had seen everything, he had to have. He saw what Mom had done to me and
I failed in protecting him from that.
I failed.
And he would suffer those consequences for the rest of his life.
I couldn’t breathe. My throat felt like it was closing. He had missed
something. My lung. He hadn’t healed it properly.
I grabbed my chest as Cole stepped up to me, inspecting me with worry
in his eyes. I couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t I breathe? He missed
something. He had missed something.
“Kyra, you have to calm down,” he tried.
My grip on the counter tightened, my nails digging into my shirt,
feeling the bandages underneath. I was gasping, shaking my head, my panic
rising. “I—I c-can’t br…”
“Yes you can,” he said, his eyes unwavering. “You—”
“You missed…s-some—thing.”
 He shook his head. “He didn’t miss anything. Rose and their mother
were healers, Talons. He learned from the best.”
I gasped for air that wouldn’t come. He had failed. I was going to die.
He inhaled deeply and straightened. “Kyra, I promise you. Rose and
their mom were the best healers in all of Oridian. Lora, his older sister, was
pretty good too, but the healing gene took well in Trick and Rose. Their
parents died during the Fall. He took the crown in respect for them. He and
Rose were close up until the last decade before she died.” He was acting as
if he didn’t want to speak of them, of Trick’s family. “He left after she died,
for four years he had gone missing. The first time we saw him after that was
just over a year ago. About the same time, I learned, that he started
following you.”
I wondered why.
“Can I wash the muck off?” Cole asked, gesturing to my hands.
I looked down, staring at those shadows carefully. “No,” I finally said,
my heart slowing, my ragged breathing evening out.
Trick had lost most of his family. I wondered if he had been there when
they died, his parents. Or maybe he had been gone. Why would he stay
away if he had known?
I detached my hand from my chest and studied the tendrils as they
drifted. They were carefully keeping their distance from Cole.
One tendril in particular made its way up, caressing my cheek, my neck.
I’d like to believe it was mine. “Why don’t they let you touch them?” I
finally asked when Cole didn’t respond.
He glanced down at the shadows, his body still tense as if he were
waiting for me to collapse, which could very well happen at any second.
“They burn me,” he answered with a slight bitterness in his voice.
My brows furrowed, but I remembered how it had felt the first time
they had wrapped around my wrists. They had seared my skin but hadn’t
left any markings. “He can control that,” I noted.
Cole shrugged, leaning a hip against the counter. “If he does, he doesn’t
stop them from hurting us. Trick’s magic is…different. Those shadows,
they weren’t there when he was a kid. Rose said that when he came back
after the Fall, they had just appeared. Like a shield. They wouldn’t let
anyone near him. He claims he doesn’t control them, but he has to.”
Yeah, he did. I refused to believe that these things just enjoyed pushing
me to the edge like they did.
 Even so, they were beautiful, elegant. I wondered where they had come
from.
My eyes found Mark’s bedroom door again. I believed Cole when he
said that Mark was sound asleep. He needed rest, there was no reason for
me to wake him just because I was scared. “I’m going to take a bath,” I
decided, looking down at my legs. Could they make it to my bathroom?
They had to.
“Do you need help?”
I shook my head and eased myself away from the counter, testing each
leg individually before I finally decided to let go. My entire body shook,
everything sore and screaming in pain. “I’m okay,” I said through my teeth.
I wasn’t, this was the worst pain I had ever been in, but I was fine, I could
handle it.
Once I took a searing hot bath, I would feel better, I was sure of it. After
several pain-filled seconds, I forced myself to step away from the table. I
could make it to the bathroom. “Just come get me if he wakes up.”
“Okay.”
I flexed my hands at my side and took another step. It wasn’t going to
be the shortest bath I ever had but I knew I would feel better. “Thanks,” I
mumbled and started for my room.
~~~
When I finally walked out of the bathroom, I felt physically better.
The soreness had dulled, although my bones still ached. It would take a
few days for me to heal completely, but for now, I would just deal with the
pain.
I let my damp hair fall in strands around my face, wearing a fresh set of
clothes, leaving the others on my bed to be washed and sewn up later.
I had discarded the bandages, brushed my teeth, dug out the blood and
grime from under my fingernails until nothing of the encounter remained
save for spotty memories, sore bones, and the images that haunted my
mind.
I finally pushed open the door, limping into the living area only to slow
when I found Trick standing in front of that wall again, hands in his
pockets, sleeves pushed up his forearms, revealing black markings all over
them. Not in any particular design it looked like, but my vision was still
slightly fuzzy.
 Mom had always said only the worst types of people got markings like
that. Some were just random designs, others pictures. From what I could
tell, it almost just looked like his tendrils of shadows had been replicated on
his flesh.
He looked over, expression unreadable, eyes glowing as he took me in.
If anything, seeing me like this should discourage him. No fight, no
game, just a weak little human, fresh from being beaten.
I didn’t know if it was humiliation or hatred I felt, either way, my
stomach turned.
When his eyes finally met mine, it was a fight not to stiffen. Bright
green and glowing. I saw a flash of him sweating, panting over me while I
died. Had he saved me? Was he the one who brought me here and then
healed me like Cole claimed?
It didn’t seem real.
“They were pixies,” Trick finally said, turning back to the wall. “They
were testing the boundaries of whatever is taking away the magic.”
So my shadow had found him. Wherever he had been.
“Pixies?” Cole asked just as a creak met my ears.
My heart slammed as I stepped around Trick, finding Mark’s bedroom
door opening slowly.
I quickly limped over, taking him in as he stepped out. Puffy red eyes,
exhaustion clear in his face, cheeks red and blotchy.
I hit my knees, the physical pain nothing compared to what I felt in my
chest.
He inhaled sharply when he saw me, tears welling in his eyes. “You’re
okay,” he cracked, his entire body shaking.
I nodded, my own eyes filling as I ran my hands over him, checking
every inch for any sign of damage. “I am, little fox, always.” I sniffed,
trying to keep my own sobs in. “Are you okay?”
He slid his small hand over my cheek, his bottom lip trembling.
“Not a scratch on you,” I determined, finally finding his eyes. “That’s
good,” I smiled, relief filling me, the tightness in my chest easing. “That’s
so good, you’re such a brave boy. I’m so proud of you.”
But his eyes had fallen and with them my smile. I looked down, finding
the fading bruises around my neck, my collarbone, my hands. There were
probably still traces of the ones on my face too. I needed more Mersine
Berry juice.
 “Mom did all of this, didn’t she?”
“Mark—”
“And all of those bruises you made up stories for. The Vigils, the Tree
Giants, the wolves. It was because of her, wasn’t it? You didn’t save any of
those creatures, did you? She’s the one who left all of those marks.”
My throat closed painfully as I slid my hand over his, kissing his palm
before I pressed it to my cheek. “I’m okay, I promise,” I tried, my voice
breaking. “You don’t have to worry about me, okay? It’s my job to worry
about you, it’s your job to have adventures and laugh at my terrible jokes.
I’m okay.”
A sob cracked through him, those big tears pouring down his cheeks
once more. “She hit you with a pan,” he sobbed, his breathing becoming
short and shallow. “Moms are supposed to love us, and she hit you with a
pan! I hate her! I hate her!” he screamed, causing me to flinch back. “Wh-
why would sh-she do that? You n-never did nothing w-wrong.”
“Shh,” I tried, wiping away his tears, my stomach twisting in pain at the
hatred in his voice. Hatred I had tried so hard to keep out of him. “It’s okay,
Mark. It’s going to be okay, I swear.”
Mark glared at me, ripping his hand from mine and taking a step back.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I’m the—I’m the man of the house. I’m suppo-
sed to take care of you. Someone has to worry about you. Someone. You
should have told me!”
There was such rage there that I felt my own heart break, and I began to
doubt every choice I had ever made. This was selfish. I was selfish. I should
have told him something, right? It would have been the right thing to do,
wouldn’t it have been? “And you’ve done such a good job,” I whispered,
voice thick with tears. “Come here, please? Please.”
“No!” he shouted. “You lied to me! You told me everything was fine!
You said you were going out on adventures, helping people, helping the
Tree Giants and riding demons! But you lied! It was all a lie! Are demons
even real? Have you ever even seen a Tree Giant? You lied to me! You’re
such a…a…fricking jerk!”
I flinched back as if he had slapped me, clutching my chest as he
sprinted back to his room and slammed the door so hard, the pictures on the
wall shook.
A sob caught in my throat. “Mark,” I tried, shoving myself up only to
collapse.
 Cole caught me with ease, lifting me back to my feet.
I shoved away from him, falling back into the wall. “Don’t touch me,” I
seethed.
He held up his hands again, his gaze soft. “Let me go talk to him,” he
offered. “You need to sit. I’ll go talk to him. Man to man.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to shove through that door, grab Mark, and
explain to him why I had done it, that I was trying to protect him, but I was
shaking, and I knew me going in there now would only make things worse.
Finally, I nodded, glancing to the bedroom door, my heart thudding.
I pushed away from the wall, but not without effort, as Cole turned for
the door. “Don’t lecture him on name calling,” I said just before Cole
knocked. “He’s just angry. He’s never done it before, so don’t bring it up.”
Cole nodded and knocked on the door three times. “It’s the High
General, may I come in?”
Silence.
“General of what?” a small voice bit after a few seconds.
Cole looked back at me, face twisted in confusion. “Is there another
General you told this child about?”
I frowned deeply.
“High General of the Fallen,” Cole finally said giving me a look.
Silence.
“No girls allowed.”
He slid his hand over his chest as if he were making sure he hadn’t
magically sprouted tits. “I’m a man,” he confirmed.
Mark was quiet for a long time. “Fine.”
Cole finally pushed open the door, slipping into the room, and shutting
it behind him.
I stared at the door, feeling those emotions well up inside of me,
pressing up against my bones, my lungs, my mind. I had failed.
I had failed as a daughter.
As a sister.
As a friend.
I made up all of those stories to help him and now what? Now he hated
me too.
I fell back against the wall, gripping onto the papers just to keep myself
from floating away.
Maybe I should have told him the truth. Maybe he needed to hear it.
Maybe he could have handled it, and I was just being selfish,
overprotective. Maybe all of this was my fault.
“You did the right thing,” Trick said softly.
I looked over, his eyes locked on the wall, hands still tucked deeply into
his pockets. “And you know because you’ve been stalking me for the last
year?” I snarled.
He was quiet for a moment, his expression unreadable. “Kids are the
same across all species. He thinks he could have prevented it. He believes
he could have protected you as a boy would his mother.”
I turned my glare to my freshly wrapped hands, my anger easing a hair
at his confession. “He couldn’t have,” I said and shoved away from the
wall.
“Doesn’t matter. He believes he could have.” I felt his eyes on me as I
made my way to the nearest chair. “But keeping from him the horrors, the
truth of what happened, he deserved that. You didn’t.”
I lowered myself into the chair, which had been turned slightly towards
Mark’s door as if Cole had been watching it while I had bathed. “Didn’t
what?”
“Deserve to keep the truth from someone.”
He appeared in my line of sight and I watched as he walked around the
table to the counter. He leaned back against it, watching me carefully, his
one shadow drifting around him. I wondered if it was lonely.
“And you’re what? Going to punish me now because I lied?”
“Is that what you want?”
I laughed and shook my head, my hands trembling in rage. “Now
you’re asking? What happened to taking what you want? What happened to
not caring what I say? Oh, I get it, now you know the truth. I’m just some
beaten kid covered in scars, damaged goods. You don’t care enough to keep
up with your games.”
His eyes turned to ice. “How many scars did she leave on your body?”
I scoffed and shook my head. “You didn’t count when you bandaged me
up?”
“Magic, my little addiction. I saw no more of you than is revealed right
now.”
My eyes found his again, narrowing in anger. “Liar.”
His eyes flamed. “I. Have never. Lied. To. You.”
I rolled my eyes, pulling at the bandages on my hands. If he was telling
the truth, then that was a bad thing, wasn’t it? That meant he hadn’t seen the
truth yet. He wasn’t disgusted enough to leave.
Maybe that’s all it would take. For me to strip in front of him. I wanted
him to leave, didn’t I? So what was stopping me?
He searched my eyes for several seconds before he spoke again. “I
understand why you need to control everything. I’m not challenging that.”
I gaped. “Are you fu—”
“Sometimes the best way to remain in control is to let it go.”
I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into the bandages. “I’m
not playing games with you right now. I do not have it in me.”
There was something dark and sad in his eyes as he shook his head.
“I’m not playing a game, Angel.”
My mind slowed at the heaviness in his voice and for just a moment, I
let myself wonder how heavy the burden on his shoulders was. Then to lose
his parents and his little sister on top of everything else? It didn’t excuse
anything he had done, but in that moment, part of me wondered what
percentage of the stories I had heard were real and what had been formed
by minds terrified of a magic they didn’t understand.
At that thought, my eyes fell to the shadows drifting around me. The
ones that avoided Cole because they didn’t want to hurt him. Why were
they worried about hurting Cole when they touched me so freely?
“Explain them to me,” I demanded, my eyes finding his again. “Tell me
about your magic.”
Something flashed through his eyes before disappearing. “So you can
understand what you saw in the hall this morning?”
I couldn’t remember seeing anything in the hall, I only remembered
him. “So I can understand,” I replied evenly. “So I can figure out for myself
what you are.”
“A monster, the world has already spoken,” he said bitterly.
I held up a shaking hand, watching as a tendril drifted around my
fingers, my wrist. “You’ve been following me for a year, Trick,” I said,
meeting his bright green eyes. “You should know that the only stories I
listen to are the ones I write myself.”
I needed to know. I needed to know the truth. I needed to know
something. Even if learning this information led me nowhere. Even if this
was futile and I found out he truly was nothing more than a beast of the
night. At least it would distract me.
 At least it would keep my thoughts busy.
“Darkness can be beautiful,” I went on when he didn’t respond, “and
darkness can be nothing but evil. Mom, Evanora? They’re evil. You?” I
shook my head, seeing something in his eyes shift. “Sometimes hurt people
don’t know how else to show people they’re hurt than to act out. You get so
angry, you kill people. I get…”
“Controlling,” he offered.
My eyes narrowed to slits. “Armor is still armor no matter what it looks
like.”
His eyes iced over, his shoulders stiffening. “You’re changing your
tune, Angel. Have you realized my obsession is nothing to fear?”
I think I would always fear it. Wanting something that much? It was
terrifying because things can be taken away. Everything and anything can
be stolen. No one in the world could stop that, not even the great Trick
Michael. “You still scare me,” I admitted. “Just not in the way you should,
and I think that scares you. Behind all of this…” I waved vaguely.
“Bravedo. The shadows and growling and teeth, there’s something inside of
you that is scared that I’m not scared like I should be. I challenge you. I
fight back. Me, just some…measly little magicless human. And once I stop
caring, you’ll move on because it’s not a challenge anymore, I’m not a
mystery.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “You still don’t get
it.”
“I get it.”
“No, Angel, you don’t. I don’t care how scared you are. I don’t care if
you piss yourself out of fear. I don’t care if you scream and beg for me to
disappear. I don’t care if you grow numb to what I am and you stop caring,
you are mine. You have always been mine, and you will be mine until the
last star goes out. That will never change. No matter how hard you pray or
beg or scream, it will never change.”
I shook my head, trying to ignore the stutter in my heart, the warmth in
my stomach. “Has anyone in this world ever told you no?”
He curled his lip and Jumped to my side of the table. He grabbed the
edge of my chair, spun me around, and slammed his hands down on the
table on either side of me, his face inches from mine, my heart racing.
“Yes,” he growled, the sound vibrating through me, “and I killed them for
it, but you? You’ve never told me no. Not once. You’ve never told me to
stop, to take myself out of you. You’ve never asked me to take my shadows
back. You want me. You want me so bad your pussy drips for me even now.
Even after seeing the truth of what I am.”
I swallowed, sweat trickling down my spine at the way he towered over
me. “What truth?”
His brows furrowed and then he laughed. “Your mind let you forget,
didn’t it? Because I was so fucking terrifying you couldn’t handle it.”
I shook my head, a roaring sounding in my ears. “You don’t scare me.”
What had I forgotten?
“No,” he mumbled, his eyes falling to my lips. “I don’t scare you like
the monsters under your bed, but I do scare you because of how badly you
want me.”
I bared my teeth at him. “You are too arrogant.”
“Am I?” he asked.
He grabbed my jaw suddenly and leaned in until his nose passed mine,
until my lips parted, his hot breath dusting them. “Then why am I hearing
you beg me to kiss you?”
My cheeks burned hot, lungs freezing. “You’re not.”
He smiled, his eyes locking with mine, so close, I could see the darker
flecks of green and black that dusted his iris’s. “You’re in such deep denial
you can’t even hear your own inner voice, can you? Focus, baby. You’re
screaming.”
I forced my eyes closed, gripping the edge of my chair so tightly, the
wood bit into my skin.
“Just do it already,” I heard that little irrational voice say. “Fuck me
until I can’t remember my own name. Kiss me until I forget where I am.
Make me forget everything but the way you fe—”
I shut my thoughts off, my eyes opening to find his still inches away.
His eyes fell to my lips again, his shoulders relaxing as he stared at me
as if I were some sort of masterpiece. “I am happy that you still draw breath
into those pretty little lungs of yours,” he mumbled, so quietly, I almost
missed it. “I am relieved that your heart still sings my song. I had to fight to
get to you,” he whispered, eyes lifting back to mine. “Fight against myself,
and I…hated it.”
My head spun at the low snarl in his words. A pool of liquid heat grew
in my stomach, my legs squeezing together tightly as my pussy throbbed.
Shit.
 “Call me, and I will come. Say my name, Angel, and I will find you.
That is a promise and a threat.”
I couldn’t breathe for entirely different reasons now. “A threat? To
who?”
He chuckled, but there was no light in his eyes. “To the thing your mind
made you forget.”
I wanted to know more. I needed to understand what that meant, but
before I could respond, Mark’s bedroom door opened.
I looked over, my head spinning, every other thought draining from me
as I found Mark standing in the doorway, his eyes cast down, cheeks red,
the anger gone. “Mark,” I whispered, Trick’s touch, his presence towering
above me, disappearing.
Mark sniffed, wiping under his nose aggressively. “The General said—”
He inhaled sharply. “Said that you can’t keep every bad thing away, you
just have to do your best and hope that you’ve trained them enough to leave
on their own. He said that you’ve been doing that to me, and that you
believed that you were protecting me, and protecting people sometimes
means keeping bad secrets.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Yeah?” I asked, finding Cole’s
eyes.
“Yeah. Mom shouldn’t have hit you,” he went on, making his way over,
“but he said he would teach me how to fight so that no one ever touches
you again.”
My brows lifted, my lips tightening. “Did he now? Did he say he’d do it
with real weapons?” I asked, finding Cole’s gaze once again.
Cole rubbed the back of his neck, mouthing an apology.
Great!
I turned back to Mark as he stopped in front of me. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“I shouldn’t have yelled. Or called you a jerk. Or cursed.”
I slid my hands over his cheeks, wishing I could just wash away every
ounce of pain he was feeling. “I’m sorry too, little fox, but I’ll tell you
what. I promise that I’ll be better about letting you know about the scary
things if you promise to eat your broccoli.”
He sneered. “Ew. That doesn’t seem like a fair trade.”
I managed a bare smile and pinched his side, causing him to laugh.
“We’ll smooth out the details later.”
When he was finally done laughing, he glanced towards Cole and then
leaned in, holding up his hand as if that would keep his words just between
us. “Who are these people?”
I yawned as I straightened. I needed some sleep. Some real sleep. “The
High General, his name is Cole Lorily, and…” my eyes found Trick who
was watching me with an unreadable expression. “That is—”
“Wait,” Mark interrupted, pulling my attention back. “What are those?”
I followed his finger to the shadows swirling carefully around me,
trying to avoid touching him. “These?” I asked, lifting my hand, watching
them swirl. “They’re shadows, and this one,” I went on, the one around my
neck slithering over to my palm and stretching up, much like a snake would
do, “is mine. She doesn’t have a name yet, but she’s been with me for a
while now.” Against my will, but I’ve learned to like her.
“Whoa, cool,” he admired. “I’ve never seen it.”
I smiled because despite my thoughts on Trick and his actions, now I
had to look at this through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy. “It’s a shadow,
Mark, you wouldn’t see it. The rest of them belong to him.”
Mark looked over to Trick.
Trick watched him the way a rabid dog might watch a kitten.
My brother cowered ever so slightly. “He’s kinda scary looking.”
Cole snorted.
Trick’s eyes flicked to mine. “Shall you tell him, or shall I?”
I felt the weight of that collar, but this time it felt reassuring, and I
wasn’t sure how much I liked that. “Cole saved you when you ran, and
Trick saved me. He’s a High King.”
His expression melted. “He saved you from Mom?” His eyes found
mine as he looked me over. “Did he do it right? Asilos Root mixed 80/20
with water? No clumps. The antler? That’s important for infections. And the
Mersine Berry juice. I know you said it’s rare to find, but Cole’s a High
General, right? He could find it.” Mark looked worried. “High King’s don’t
know much about stuff like that. Healing stuff.”
My own gaze softened. There were wounds Mark would never know
about because of Trick. “This one does. He is…he is very smart.” Th
compliment tasted like acid on my tongue.
“Thank you, baby,” he hummed smugly.
It took everything I had not to glare.
Mark looked over to Trick, studying him as if he didn’t believe me.
After a second, before I could stop him, my brother ran straight for him.
 I shoved myself to an unsteady stand. “Mark,” I called, leaning heavily
on the edge of the table.
Trick straightened, eyes wide.
Mark ran straight into him, wrapping his arms around Trick’s waist in
the fiercest way he could.
The High King looked up, finding my eyes, looking almost scared that
this boy was hugging him.
And in that moment, it was the first time Trick had ever looked…well,
human. The anger and pain were gone from his features, the ice melted in
his eyes. Right then, he looked like a man unsure of what this small creature
was doing hugging the most terrifying man in the world, unafraid.
Mark stepped back seconds later, shoving his messy hair out of his face
wildly. “Thank you for saving her, sir.” He bowed at the hip.
My hand found my mouth as I tried to hide the smile that threatened to
grow. Trick looked so uncomfortable at the sight of my brother bowing to
him.
“You’re…welcome.” He winced.
I forced my hand down as Mark spun around, leaving Trick questioning
everything. “This place is so cool. What is it?”
I spared the High King a second’s glance before looking around the
cottage. “Well,” I said on a breath, finding his eyes. “It’s our home. Yours
and mine.”
His eyes rounded. “This place is mine?”
I nodded. “Happy early birthday, little fox.”
He gasped as he finally took in the entirety of the cottage. “Those are
yours!” he cheered, pointing to the pictures on the walls. “All of your
stories and pictures!”
I nodded, following after him as he sprinted across the house. “What
did you think I was doing with all of them?” I asked. “I had to put them
somewhere. Look over here,” I gestured to my wall of dragons. “This one is
my favorite. Can you guess why?”
Mark skidded to a stop in front of it, grabbing his chin, eyes squinting.
“Hmm.” He was quiet for several seconds. “There’s a lot of dragons here.
Those are your favorite.”
I nodded again, trying to put more weight on my left side. “Hmm-mm
but look a little closer.”
Mark was quiet as he studied the wall, my trained eyes finding each and
every one of his pictures threaded within my research. I had them
everywhere, but this wall held the best ones.
Trick walked over and held out a glass to me while Mark studied the
pictures.
I glanced over, his eyes locked on mine.
“You need this.”
He assumed I wouldn’t have taken it, but I knew I needed it too. I took
the Mersine Berry juice from him with a small nod. “Thank you.”
He gave me a small nod in return and turned away from me. I watched
after him only for a second when Mark called me to attention again.
“Wait a minute,” he said, and I turned back to the wall. Mark walked
over and lifted up a piece of paper gently, his lips parting as he stared at a
drawing he had made for me years ago. “This one is mine,” he realized,
looking back.
I shrugged, sipping at the sweet drink. “I had to make it ours. Your
pictures are everywhere too but look. This wall is special.” I joined him,
finding my favorite dragon, an Astrogee, drawn in charcoal. I lifted one
corner of it, revealing the entire picture that sat just behind it. “This picture
was the very first picture you ever drew for me. The very first thing I put on
these walls.”
He stared at the picture for a long time, his expression unreadable.
“Wow,” he finally breathed. “I sucked.”
The laughter bubbled out of me uncontrollably.
Mark frowned. “It’s not funny. You’re like a real artist and look. That’s
a butt picture.”
I pulled him to my side gently. “We all sucked at drawing when we
were that little. Come on, I’ve got a lot I want to show you.”

OceanofPDF.com
 13
My Bible, Chapter 4, Verse 76,
Every piece of you, every ounce of blood, every particle of bone, belongs to your new god. Relish in
the fact that you will never be alone again. Relish in the fact that I own you.

Trick
S hethe yawned again, but her smile didn’t falter as Mark pulled her across
clearing to the steaming pool.
It was the most I had seen her smile since first spotting her. This small
child had stolen her heart years ago. I almost felt jealous because that piece
of her heart would never belong to me.
Almost.
Mark deserved it. He deserved every piece of that beautiful heart of
hers. I could handle having the scraps if that’s all she had left to give.
“It’s more than just some sick obsession, isn’t it?”
Kyra stopped as soon as Mark let her hand go. From here, I could see
her favoring one side, rubbing her wrist, her ribs, wincing because they
were still healing. She should have been resting. Laying down, sleeping.
Her bones weren’t completely healed, not all the way through, and if she
pushed too much, she’d cause them to heal off-center, but…I couldn’t go
out there and tell her to stop.
She was finally free. She had gotten out. She had gotten Mark here, and
they were both alive.
She was free.
And I had almost lost her because of my magic. I would never forgive it
for that. My shadows had tried. Tried to force me out, but that…monster
under my skin wouldn’t let me go.
“You like the power.”
I didn’t want more power. I didn’t want any power. Not if it led to this.
To her with that fucking pan being shoved into her—
I clenched my hands into fists so tight, my knuckles threatened to tear
through my skin. I needed more time with Norella. I had lost control, and I
couldn’t get it back.
“Did she tell you how long she has before Evanora starts hunting him?”
I asked, trying to force my mind to calm, to focus.
 Cole was quiet a moment. “No. I can ask her if—”
“Did you know that she’s not biologically Norella’s?”
Another pause, this one filled with confusion. “How do you suspect
that?”
I could still feel Norella’s blood dripping down my arms. She was still
alive. Soiled and covered in blood, missing several things from her
structure, but still alive. Death would be a mercy and at this point in my
life, when it came to my little addiction, I had none to give. “The burns on
her hands, have you asked her about those?”
“Burns?” Cole appeared at my side. “No. Didn’t you say Forbidden
Magic was involved?”
“It wouldn’t have caused those.”
“Well, what did Norella use to hurt her?”
My magic, although exhausted and in need of a rest, cracked my spine
at the thought. It may have wanted me to stay away, but it couldn’t fight
against my most primal instinct. Protecting her. “A pan. There was no fire
involved.” A pan that was now lodged into Norella’s thigh. If she moved,
the weight of the pan itself would shift the handle around. Currently, it was
using her femur as an anchor.
Cole was quiet for a long time, and I took that time to study her. While
Mark was on his knees, sticking his hands into the steaming spring, Kyra
was looking down at herself. Her hands, her stomach. There was pain clear
on her face.
She glanced back towards the woods, searching for several seconds
before she turned back to the house.
Her eyes locked with mine as if she had known all along that I had been
watching her.
“What?” she asked, her pain disappearing for irritation.
I smiled softly. “You should be resting.”
Kyra rolled her eyes and forced herself to straighten. “I’m fine.”
I rose a brow expecting her to glare back, but instead, her expression
twisted to worry.
She looked down to where her once broken hand gripped her once
broken ribs. “I can’t thieve,” she confessed, even her inner voice was filled
with shame. “Not for at least a week.”
My brows pulled together. “You have plenty of healing remedies here. It
won’t take a week.”
 Mark jumped up, throwing his hands up, spinning in a circle before he
ran up to her and grabbed her right hand. “Show me more! What’s up
there?”
She hid the pain far too well as her eyes lifted to the roof, and she
smiled. “Let me show you.”
I frowned. “You shouldn’t be climbing.”
She shot me a glare.
A deep growl sounded against my chest, but I couldn’t do anything. Not
with that boy out there. She had found herself a nice new suit of armor and I
highly doubted she would release it anytime soon.
“What else would cause those burns, Trick?”
I inhaled deeply, irritated at the line of questioning, at the way Kyra was
ignoring her own health. “Why won’t she use the things she has here to help
herself heal faster?”
Kyra followed Mark around the side of the house. “Shouldn’t you know
that?”
I rolled my eyes and looked over. “Just answer the question.”
Cole frowned. “She doesn’t like using anything on herself. She needs it
for him.”
Devoted through and through. It made me want her that much more. “I
need to go.”
His brows pulled together. “What?”
“Don’t let her go to the city.” I had work I needed to take care of. Just
because I didn’t hold the crown, didn’t mean I wasn’t in control.
Word hadn’t spread about my revoking yet, and even if it had, I was
still a god among men.
“Where are you going?”
“Away.” I Jumped.
~~~

Ket
I gasped, sweat pouring from my brow, shivers wracking through me. The
only reason I could even stand in this moment was due to my vice-like grip
around the sink.
If not for that, I would have collapsed, and I probably would have
stayed there forever.
 My head lifted, feeling like a ten-ton weight on my shoulders, and I
found silver eyes staring back at me.
Not my eyes. No, they hadn’t been my eyes in ten years.
These were the eyes of the boy I had to murder.
“I am Ket Thomas,” I told myself. “I am human. Kyra Skye is my best
friend. George Thomas is my father. I am Ket Thomas.”
“Sweetheart, are you done in there? I’d like to speak with you.”
I sneered, seeing the hatred reflected back at me. Screw witches. Screw
magic. Screw the gods-damned world.
I straightened, pushing back my sweat-soaked hair, fixing Raymond’s
expensive jacket, and I turned for the bathroom door.
Evanora was sitting on my desk waiting for me.
“Yes?” I asked tiredly.
She smiled sweetly and slowly parted her legs, her dress falling to cover
herself. “You don’t have to use such a tone with me, it’s just the two of us
now.”
I gave her the most hatred-filled glare I could muster up as she leaned
forward, placing her two hands between her knees, gripping the edge of the
desk. “How much longer am I to do this?”
17. That was the age I tried so desperately to hold onto. The last time I
had been me. Whatever secrets they had, whatever their true agenda was,
they were using me to accomplish it, and I hated them for it.
Killing my father in front of me, forcing me to kill Raymond, and then
forcing me to wear his skin because the prince had been too weak for this. I
still had nightmares about it. Still wanted to claw myself out of this…flesh
prison.
“Until we get that boy and his sister to the castle. It shouldn’t be hard to
get her to comply. Maybe we could offer her up a roasted pig to lure her in.”
She wanted me to come over. Wanted me to fuck her on the desk in
celebration of Mark coming to age. I hated her for that, loathed her for it.
She still wouldn’t tell me why Mark being 11 was important. Why they
had waited so long to claim him, but it didn’t matter because even if they
did manage to rip him from the unyielding grips of Kyra, I would do
everything in my power to protect him until she got him back.
Evanora held out a hand expectantly.
She would be the first to die. I swore to the dead gods, if I ever escaped
this place, I would become the greatest witch hunter this world had ever
seen.
I walked over and took her hand, letting her pull me between her legs.
“Anyway,” she sighed, sliding her hands over my chest, “she and her
brother are running around somewhere in Therian. Her mother is gone,
abandoned them, and our job,” she went on, pulling at my collar, “is to lure
them back here. You’re going to act like a perfect little prince, maybe even
convince her to fall in love with you. Hmm? If that doesn’t work, we can
figure something else out.”
If that meant getting her close enough to tell her the truth, then fine, I
would do whatever she wanted, but she was greatly underestimating Kyra
and her love for that boy. She would destroy this world, leave it in nothing
but ash and fire if it meant Mark was safe.
But Evanora didn’t need to know that, so for now, I would play her
perfect little fuck toy, do what she needed me to do in order to get more
information, and I would wait.
Wait until my time came.
Until I could slide a blade through Evanora’s eye.
She smiled and tilted my chin up. “My sweet baby boy,” she crooned,
and pulled my lips to hers.
~~~

Cole
Trick would be angry when he found out, but I knew Kyra and Mark were
fine for the time being, so I hiked back through the woods until I was able
to Jump to Arkalious.
I walked across the glossy black stone of the throne room. Set in the
center of a mountain, I actually loved coming here when it wasn’t to attend
long, drawn out meetings.
There were large stalactites hanging from the ceiling and a chandelier
as large as the cottage hanging in the center of them. It had diamonds, white
lights, and black chains decorating it. A marvel for all those who entered.
Mainly because it was one of the last bits of dragon magic that remained in
this world.
There were pillars too, carved in stone and growing from the floor to
the ceiling high above. They were carved in the shapes of beautiful women
holding up the walls of the cavern.
 The room had been built by dragons, carved out by them, made for
important meetings between the dragons, Dragon Riders, the High King of
the Nephilim, and the High King of the Fallen.
Nowadays Trick used it for all of his nightmarish things. To scare
people. There were even rumors that he had hidden tunnels leading down to
rooms where he preformed his most brutal Sessions.
I couldn’t imagine. I had gone to many Sessions with him, I saw what
he did. I couldn’t imagine what he would have to hide from us.
Lora was sitting at the large table on the far side of the room, opposite
Trick’s throne. In the center of the table was a map of Oridian, the new
map, carved out in incredible detail. After Trick had shifted around the
mountains, the rivers, the cities, he had had a new table made, the old one
long gone.
To this day, I had no idea why he had changed the geography of the
continent after it shattered from the others. It had been the first thing he had
done after returning when the war was over. It was what turned most of his
people against him for years.
“So, I see he finally let you return.”
I shrugged, unable to be exactly angry at him for keeping me away for
so long. “It was important. How is everything going?”
Lora sighed as she leaned back in her chair, the table covered in
paperwork. “It wouldn’t be so bad if my brother stopped stealing me High
General away from me.”
I stopped across from her and shrugged. “I don’t have magic in Therian,
Lor, and I certainly can’t control what he does.”
“No, but I don’t think you want to.”
My brows pulled together. “What?”
She shrugged. “You wanted to have sex with a human, you got her.
Listen, if you and Trick have some sick threesome going on, I don’t need
the details, but she’s just some human girl. How did she manage to
brainwash the two strongest people in my court?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. According to she and Trick, he wasn’t
apart of this Court anymore. “I’m not going to speak on Trick’s sadistic
mind, but we certainly don’t have a twisted love triangle going on. She’s
my friend, she didn’t brainwash me.”
Lora folded her arms across her chest. “Did you fuck her?”
I released a breath in disbelief. “I don’t need this.”
 She laughed. “You don’t need this?”
“No, I don’t,” I snapped. “I came here to apologize for being gone for
so long, but I don’t need to be lectured about the choices I make regarding
who I sleep with. Kyra and I are friends and the information she is giving
me on the witches is good information. I don’t see why you’re so angry
about this.”
She straightened, shuffling around some papers mindlessly. “Well,
that’s what I’ve been wanting to speak with you about. Everyone else has
already met, but being as you were willingly or unwillingly kidnapped, I
vetoed your vote. We’re not pursuing the claims the witches have made
anymore.”
My eyes widened, slightly shocked at her decision. “What?”
“There’s no need.”
“What are you talking about? They want to go to war,” I stressed. “War
includes everyone, Lora.”
She shook her head. “As far as I can tell, the only reason they would
want to come after us is if they actually want Trick dead. It’s not confirmed,
but since there’s a high possibility that that’s the case, I’m considering it
accurate. However, he’s no longer the High King and once they find that
out, they’ll leave our species be.”
I gripped the back of the chair, my magic sparking under my skin.
“You’d abandon your own brother?” I hated him, but even I knew that was
cold. We didn’t abandon our people, not even the monsters that lived among
us.
“He abandoned us the moment he revoked the crown.”
I shoved away from the chair and turned away from her, rubbing my
hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe this. Why would Meeria and Nick
agree to this? It wasn’t like them.
“You seem torn up over this decision. I thought you hated him. I
thought you claimed he was a monster and there was no hope for him.”
I turned back to her, eyes wide. “He’s done some fucked up shit,” I
began angrily, “some horrible things, but at the end of the day, he is still our
family. Your blood. If Evanora is going after him, we owe it to him, to Rose,
to help him.”
I hated this. I hated situations like this because up until this moment, I
wanted nothing more than to leave him to fend for himself. But I guess deep
down, the truth was that he was still family. He was a dick, arrogant, a
psychopath, a stalker, a murderer, a torturer, but he was still family.
He was still Rose’s brother.
“A changed tune,” Lora mused. “What changed your mind?”
I threw my hands up. “I’m just as psychopathic as he is, I guess,” I all
but shouted. “Do you really not care about the other species’?”
“There can’t be a war if no one fights,” she said evenly. “They’ll take
Trick, do whatever they need to do with him, and we’ll be safe from yet
another war that would very well cripple us into oblivion this time.”
“And if they kill him?”
There was no emotion in her eyes as she stood, tightening her wings
behind her. “Then I’ll be glad my crown was earned via him revoking it
rather than him dying because of it. Have fun with the girl while you can
because soon, you’ll be busy. We’ve still got our own battles to deal with.
Like Karious and his precious followers.”
Despite my rage, my opinion on this entire subject, I lifted my chin.
“What followers?”
“You really thought Karious was the end of it?” She scoffed. “We’ve
got an entire rebellion on our hands, and where is Trick? Gone. Again. Like
he always is. So go. Spend time with your pet. Fuck her enough to fill up
your quota, and then come back for good. We’re dropping the witches and
we’re focusing on our own species from here on out.”
She Jumped before I could get in another word.
I snarled, my magic sparking at my fingertips. I couldn’t ignore the
witches. I wouldn’t. Not when Mark was being targeted. I may hate Trick,
but Lora? She was making an incredibly poor decision and I had to tell him
about it. He had to know.
~~~
“And then the Vigil howled at the stars,” Kyra said, her soft voice drifting
into the living area. “She sang her song of thanks, grateful that they had
listened, that they had sent her this mighty warrior to help her find her
family. The stars, in response, folded that song within the depths of their
souls and every year, on that very night, the wind carried that Vigil’s song
across the world for all to hear.”
“Why?” Mark asked around a yawn.
“Because sometimes people lose hope,” she told him, “and that’s a
terrifying place to be. Hearing the song of the Vigil thanking the stars for
their answers could reignite hope in some hearts. Maybe not all, but some.”
I leaned back against the edge of the table, watching Mark’s cracked
door, the sound of shifting blankets meeting my ears.
“Do you have hope?”
She was quiet for a beat too long. “I have you,” she answered instead,
causing my shoulders to fall. “Be kind always, my little fox, be brave in the
face of fear, and always help when you can. Fear doesn’t have to make you
weak, fear can make you so strong.”
“Is that why you’re so strong? Because you were afraid?”
She thought about it. “I was strong because I had someone to be strong
for,” she finally decided.
“Kyra?” he asked around another big yawn.
The bed creaked as she stood. “Hmm?”
“Thank you for keeping your promise.”
She paused then. “What promise?”
“About facing any monster for me.”
I worked my jaw.
“What monster did I face, Mark?”
Another too big yawn. “Mom.”
Her breath caught.
“You taught me that some monsters wear smiles. I never woulda
guessed we would be living with one, and you faced her every single day
for years. You kept your promise even though I didn’t know it.”
She kissed his head. “You’re not supposed to know about every fight.
Sleep well, we’ll have a good day tomorrow, and every day after that.”
Kyra’s steps neared the door.
“Kyra?”
“Hmm?”
“This place is the best birthday present in the whole world, and I never
said thank you, so thank you. Do you think you can ask Letak or Mr. Cole if
they’d take me on a flight tomorrow? Tell him I’ll be turning 11, I know
he’ll do it then.”
I fought the smile.
“Okay,” she smiled herself. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
I straightened, adjusting my shirt as Kyra stepped out of the bedroom,
closing the door softly behind her, the shadows still drifting around her, one
tendril resting around her left wrist.
It had been a week since I had spoken to Lora. A week since Trick had
disappeared on another secret mission, and during that time, Kyra had
pushed herself to the brink of collapse. She played with Mark, told him
stories, ran around with him. She went to the city a couple of times to
gather items no matter my protests. She smiled and laughed, and never
wavered. Not once.
Today, however, today I could see it. Today I could see the weight
drowning her.
She turned only to gasp, clutching her chest.
I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m pretty sure we made direct eye contact as
you walked out of the room.” At some point during the week, those
shadows had split in half. Half of them had gone back to wherever Trick
was, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was all Trick’s doing that his
shadows had stayed with her or if it was his magic. It still confused me,
despite Rose trying to explain it to me.
His magic was sentient, but it wasn’t. I didn’t understand how it could
be both and neither at the same time, but I suppose it wasn’t something I
was meant to truly understand.
She glared. “You’re very silent, don’t judge me.”
I chuckled. “You won’t find any judgment here.” I nodded towards
Mark’s door. “When is his birthday?”
Her shoulders relaxed a hair as she headed for the table to pick up the
papers we had scattered that day. “12 days from now. December 13th. He’s
been asking if you or Letak will take him up. I haven’t seen Letak since that
first night, but if you don’t want to, he’ll understand.”
“What kind of Uncle would I be if I didn’t take him for a completely
unsafe ride 1,000 feet up in the air?”
She smiled, her brow lifting. “Uncle?”
I shrugged, walking to the other side of the table to help her straighten
up. “Has a ring to it. Uncle Cole.”
She rolled her eyes and slid a stack over. It wasn’t seconds before her
smile started falling, her eyes going distant.
I straightened, studying her. She never talked about what happened
when her mother had attacked her or anything before then. I didn’t think
‘talking’ was something she actually did, not about the painful stuff, but I
knew it would help because it helped me. “You’ve been drifting off a lot
more these last couple of days,” I finally said, and her motions slowed.
“Mark’s noticed.” Maybe if I could just push a little. Rose hadn’t pushed
me, but nobody was exactly the same. Maybe she needed that. Just a small
push.
Her throat bobbed. Kyra straightened her stack and set it on the edge of
the table, hair falling to curtain her face.
“Talons, what’s going on? I’m here to help, you know that, right?”
She nodded, her smile strained. “I know. You’re here helping me
despite the fact that you’re the High General, and you should be in
Arkalious with Trick, working. Trust me, I think about it every day.”
I heard the bite in her tone, and it caused my brows to pull together.
“Are you angry that I’m here?”
“Nope, no. I’m not. That’s…” She ran her hands back through her hair
before finally meeting my eyes. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Just forget it.”
But I was worried. I dealt with this a lot in my warriors, it was no
different here. “Have I overstayed?”
“No,” she snapped and then shook her head again, releasing a frustrated
breath. “Just…don’t worry about it, okay? Everything is fine. I’m fine.”
She walked over to the coffee table, organizing books stacked there too,
fixing the blanket and pillow I had used the night before when I had slept.
“Kyra, you should take a break.” She had been going nonstop. Keeping her
mind busy so she didn’t have to think about what happened. About what’s
next. That’s what it was, I realized. She hadn’t stopped.
Kyra worked her jaw, her motions becoming sharp and deliberate. “I’m
fine,” she bit. “I’m fine, everything is fine, and I’m a good sister.”
And a small voice in the back of my head whispered, “There it is.”
She cursed under her breath shaking her head.
I slowly made my way over. “No one said you weren’t.”
“I don’t need a break,” she said evenly, shoving things from one side of
the coffee table to the other. “I’m fine.”
“Tal—”
“Gods above, Cole!” she shouted, spinning on me. “What is it you want
to hear? Do you want to hear that you’re right? Do you want to hear about
how I went back to the house and found nothing but ruins? Did you want to
know about the dead humans hanging on the crosses with threats written
across them? What is it you want to hear? Because I don’t want to play this
game, I really don’t. So just fucking tell me!”
 My eyes widened, not having expected that. “What?”
She laughed and shook her head. “I expected more from Trick, by the
way. It’s kind of pathetic that he just burned the house down. With all of his
obsessive talk, I truly expected something dark and twisted. That was just…
that was just so mundane.”
But I was sure Trick hadn’t been the one to burn the house down.
Setting fires isn’t something he did.
“I guess that’s what pushed Evanora to nail a bloody sign to one of the
bodies threatening us too,” she went on. “She was probably angry that she
didn’t get to set that fire because all anyone in this whole fucking world
wants is more power. More control. More. More. More. No one can ever
just be fine with what they have. Nobody.”
“Kyra,” I tried as she turned on her heel and headed for her bedroom.
“They won’t get him,” she said, ignoring me. “I’ll kill all of them if I
have to, and I’ll do it on my own if that’s what it takes, but they will never
get my brother.”
“Of course not,” I replied, walking after her. “Of course not, we’ll
protect him.”
“And do you want to know what the worst part is?” she asked, pausing
in her doorway to look back at me. “There was another note to me. I don’t
know what the game is, but it claimed that she wasn’t even my real mom.
Like…” she laughed, lifting and dropping her hands. “What is even the
point of that? What does that have to do with any of this?” she gestured
wildly.
I shook my head, my shoulders falling. “I don’t know, Ky.”
Tears filled her eyes as she shrugged. “All it means is that Mark isn’t
my blood.”
I closed my eyes at her words. Shit. “That doesn’t mean any—”
“Why did she even keep me?” she went on, her voice thick. “She told
me all the time how much she hated me. How much she wanted me to just
go kill myself, why keep me? She hated me so much, but she chose to bring
me home. She punished me for her decision, and I miss her. How…how
fucked up is that? How twisted is that? She beat the shit out of me every
day, hated me, wanted me dead, and I miss her. All I ever wanted was to be
good enough for her. All I want is to be good enough for fucking somebody.
I need to be a good sister, it’s all I have left.”
“Kyra, you are a good sister.”
 She rolled her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks, her lips pressed
into a thin line. It took her several seconds before she spoke again, inhaling
sharply before she said, “is that enough talking for tonight?”
My heart thudded numbly. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed her. “Yeah,
Talons.”
Kyra nodded once angrily and wiped the tears away. “Great.” She shut
her door with a finality.
Shit. What now? What were the next steps now?
“I still love her.”
I turned at the small voice to find Mark standing in his doorway, his
gray-blue eyes darker in the dim light of the fire.
“Mark,” I breathed, walking over, “you’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Shit. He shouldn’t have heard any of that.
He pushed open the door a little more as I took a knee in front of him.
“I had to go to the bathroom.”
I glanced to Kyra’s bedroom door, knowing that she needed at least a
few minutes to gather herself—
“I don’t have to go anymore.”
I turned back to him, worry filling me. “What…what does that mean,
bud?”
“I have a bucket,” he whispered. “Don’t tell her. She told me a few days
ago not to use it.”
It took everything in me not to laugh. “I won’t tell, I promise.” I had
done far worse in my younger days. “How much of that did you hear?”
“All of it,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “Did Mr. Trick really burn
down our house?”
I sighed. Shit. “I don’t think so, it’s too clean. He would…he would
have done something much worse.” I had wondered what he had done to
Norella. Where she was, if she was alive. Part of me wondered if that’s
where he had been the last week, but I wasn’t going to say anything about it
unless I knew for sure.
Mark sighed as I stood. His eyes found Kyra’s bedroom. “You should
know something about her, it’s important.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, gently leading him back towards his room.
“She doesn’t like to listen,” he explained as I guided him back to bed. “I
mean she does listen. She listens when I tell her about my dreams or when I
tell her about my day, but when I tell her that I love her or that she’s smart
or beautiful or that her stories are the best stories I’ve ever heard, she
doesn’t listen. It’s frustrating. Really frustrating. Sometimes I repeat things
like a thousand times, and she just rolls her eyes at me, which is annoying,
but she never hears me.”
I nodded, pushing back his covers. “Some people are like that.”
“Yeah, but I think she will listen eventually. She’s just not ready yet. I
think it’s Mom’s fault, she was really mean with her words. I just don’t
understand why she believes Mom, but she doesn’t believe me.” He scooted
down into his bed. “Do you know? Because I’ve never lied to her about
anything more important than eating my veggies. Sometimes they’re just
gross.”
I shrugged, pulling the blankets over him. “Sometimes it’s easier to
believe the bad things people say then it is to believe the nice things they
say.”
Mark yawned. “Maybe Trick can compliment her. I think she likes
him.”
I rose a brow. “Yeah? And why do you think that?”
“Because they touched hands.”
My expression twisted to confusion. “What?”
He smiled. “Yeah, the other day when Trick handed her the drink while
she was showing me her cool wall, she took the cup, and her hand brushed
his and she made eye contact with him.” His cheeks were bright red in
excitement. “I’ve heard enough stories to know what that means.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Okay, you may be right, bud, but it’s time
to sleep. Goodnight and I’ll see you in the morning.” That wasn’t good. It
was dangerous. Kyra wanted to protect Mark, but falling for Trick was the
complete opposite of that, especially knowing how it would end. I couldn’t
let that happen. For Mark’s sake.
He nodded. “Goodnight, Mr. Cole.”
I headed for the door. “Goodnight, kid.”
~~~

Kyra
I read The Rules over again, staring at that little dotted line as I had done
every night this week.
I didn’t know why I was doing it. Considering it.
 Maybe I was just angry because he disappeared again.
He said he had been following me for a year, but had he? Because since
‘discovering’ him, it seemed like he was gone more often than he was
around.
But why did I care? Why did it matter? I still had no idea what his true
intentions were.
“He’s made it clear.”
I shook my head, looking towards the window. He was a liar. He was
the High King of the Fallen, obviously he can lie whenever he pleases.
He struck me as the type to lie until I was caught in his web. Until I was
consumed by him, and then he would take me back and kill me.
I felt the burning on my left wrist at the thought.
I wasn’t sure why the shadows hadn’t tattled on me. Maybe they had
and he just didn’t care. It didn’t make sense, but maybe I just hadn’t pushed
enough to warrant them to fetch him.
That had to be it.
Although that couldn’t really be true either.
If I took off my clothes now, people would think I went through a
storefront window. There was a reason my shadow curled around my wrists
or my hips.
She had tried to stop me at first, but I guess she gave up because she
had stopped fighting me.
What was wrong with me?
Was it because Mark was safe? Was it because Cole knew what to do if
I died?
Was it because I had been on death’s doorstep, and I hated Trick for
keeping me alive?
I chewed my lip as my eyes fell back to the parchment.
If he was going to kill me and I wanted to die, what would be so wrong
with signing my name? Cole would take Mark to Aelyria, and he’d be safe.
But…I…I didn’t want to keep doing this anymore. I was selfish. I kept
fighting for so long and Mark saw Mom almost kill me, which scarred him
for life. I had failed.
I should have died that night. I…I wanted to die. I want to die.
I was just so exhausted, and I didn’t want to keep fighting. I wanted,
needed, everything to just stop.
I read through the words again and again, but I already had them
memorized. I knew what this would entail. I understood the rules. My only
question was how long would it be until he was convinced I was consumed
by him. Until he finally took me away to kill me.
I swallowed and reached for my pen. Mark would be safe. He would
have so much fun in the Fae Court. He would love it there.
So, I released a breath and signed myself away to the High King of the
Fallen.
~~~

Trick
I picked up the parchment she had left on her nightstand and stared at that
signature with a racing heart.
Why?
Why now?
My eyes fell to where she slept, her blanket pulled up to her neck, her
mouth slightly parted, her snoring soft.
Her shadow slept by her head like a cat would, the other shadows
resting over her stomach, watching me, waiting for a command, a request,
and although I wanted so terribly to take advantage of her signature, I
couldn’t.
Not tonight.
Not when I didn’t understand why she had signed it.
It wasn’t out of defiance or craving, it was something else, I could smell
it, I just couldn’t put a name to it.
I spent the last week in the depths of Perinix hunting down those pixies
who had stalked so close to the cottage. I found them, but pixies were hard
to break. Two of them were already dead. I had one left, barely holding onto
life, but I was contacted by Lia Seeker.
I wasn’t sure how she had managed to put together that I had taken her
three little pixies, but she wasn’t happy about it.
I’d deal with it later. As far as I could tell, Lia had nothing to do with
the Congregation, but perhaps while I was dealing with her, I could
question her on why she felt it necessary to continuously go after Penny for
something she had no control over.
Penny Rain had dealt with the pixies for long enough, it was time Lia
let go of that grudge.
 For now, all I wanted on my mind was my little addiction.
It seemed she might need me too, although I doubted, even with her
signature, that she would ever admit that.
Carefully, I sat on the edge of her bed, whatever she had stuffed in the
mattress giving under me, causing her to lean towards my body.
Kyra snorted and groaned, turning onto her side, causing me to smile.
When she was settled again, I reached out, gently sliding my hand over
her flushed cheek.
She squeezed her eyes shut before they fluttered open, finding me
instantly as if she could sense my presence beyond reason.
She didn’t jerk away, didn’t give me a startled expression, in fact, she
simply laid there, slowly waking up as she searched my eyes.
I ran my thumb over her cheekbone. Gods, she was so beautiful.
“I signed your stupid list,” she finally said, her voice husky from sleep.
I nodded, pulling my hand back as her eyes found the nightstand. “I saw
that.”
“So are you here to collect then? Been gone for a week but now that it’s
hunting season, you’ve come cocked and loaded.”
I would always be ‘cocked and loaded’ for her. “I’m not going to fuck
you, Angel,” I told her softly.
She rolled her eyes and shoved away from me, turning onto her other
side, staring out the window. “Then go away.”
I could smell the disappointment rolling off of her, and I wondered if
she knew she was disappointed. That alone almost made me lose control.
But at the moment, it wasn’t about my near uncontrollable urges. It wasn’t
about her deep, unlit animalistic desire, it was about why she signed that
parchment and why her room smelled so strongly of blood.
She wasn’t going to answer any questions truthfully though, I knew
that, so maybe I would try a different approach.
I pushed myself up from the bed and as I walked across the room, I
heard her shuffle, I could feel her eyes on me.
By the time I reached the other side and turned around, she was looking
out the window again.
I leaned against the wall and slowly allowed my eyes to trail over her
curves. Fuck, I wondered if she would ever know how fully she owned me.
Before I touched her, before I had read her journals, knew her innermost
thoughts, she owned me in a way I still couldn’t understand.
 “I was going to reward you,” I finally said, sliding my hands into my
pockets.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled silently. “Great.”
Why did she smell like blood? Why did the scent trail lead into the
bathroom? Under her pillow? I wanted to push to know and while pushing
is something she needed, right now I needed to push in a different kind of
way.
I shook the thoughts away and released my own calming breath,
allowing myself to fall into my own mind. I hated doing it, but for her? If
she asked it of me, I’d let that monster take control. I’d slaughter entire
worlds if she requested it. I’d soften myself in quiet moments no matter
how painful, if it helped her.
“Close your eyes, Angel,” I instructed, lowering my voice until it was
nothing more than the whisper of a shadow.
“You’re going to tell me a fairytale?” she asked bitterly. “That’s not
really your style.”
One corner of my lips lifted. “You could call it that. Close your eyes
and listen.” Armor is still armor. I suppose we were the same in that sense.
Anger was what I wore. Doing this? I was uncomfortable in this space, but
it was worth it. She was worth it.
She was quiet, the sound of her heartbeat filling the room.
Seconds ticked by when she finally snuggled down a bit. “Fine. They’re
closed.”
I fixed my eyes on her, my thoughts, my entire being. I focused on that
trail of shadows that connected us through that collar, through the shadows
she had absorbed into her skin, through the consent that came with that
signature.
“I want you to imagine something for me, baby, just for me.”
She needed to focus too. It was something I had noticed a long time
ago. She had a difficult time pausing her thoughts. I enjoyed making her
forget everything just by how I made her feel. I drew pleasure from it.
“Are you going to use your special shadows to help me?” she muttered
angrily.
“You’re using your imagination with this one. I won’t touch you unless
you beg for it.”
She scoffed and pulled her blanket up to her chin.
I laughed a breathy laugh. “Imagine yourself drifting off to sleep—”
 “I was already asleep before you attacked me.”
I rose a brow. “Angel,” I warned, but the smile wouldn’t disappear.
Attack was a strong word for touching her lightly.
Kyra released a huff, wiggled her body deeper into her bed. “Fine, fine.
My eyes are closed. Keep going with your twisted fairytale. But if the
villain doesn’t end up fucking the hero, I don’t want it.”
I chuckled then, unable to help myself. “You’re drifting off to sleep,” I
began again, watching as she complied this time. “Everything is becoming
heavy, hazy, laced in the euphoric hum of the night. Your body falls into
your mattress, muscles relaxing, your breathing becoming even as your
heart slows. My voice calms you, soothes you, brings you a dark kind of
peace that you’ve never known before. Listen to it sing for you. Let it carry
you into oblivion.
I watched it happen before me. Some of the tension released from her
shoulders, her spine curving against the lumpy mattress. Something I would
need to upgrade for both she and Mark soon. Her waist dipped further, her
hips and chest becoming more defined. Her breathing slowed, her heartbeat
steady.
All I could imagine was how she would look bathed in the moonlight,
not a scrap of clothes on her, my cum coating her skin, healing her,
cleansing her of any wicked touch that wasn’t mine. Fuck.
“There’s a man in your room,” I began, watching her ribs expand and
deflate with each breath. “Made of shadows and death. He had been
watching her. From the darkest depths of hell, he craved her more than he
craved justice for stolen lives. He craved her more than he craved air, more
than he craved blood. He craved her in a way that didn’t make sense.
“Death stood in her doorway, watching her as she slept. Watching each
breath she breathed because her breath was his. Her heartbeat was his.
Every piece of her, every hair on her head, it belonged to him now. He had
waited so long. Watched her speak with other people, wanting it to be him.
Watched her eyes light up with every reckless decision knowing that he’d
be the next one she would make.
“Death was done watching. The hunger he felt in his bones to touch her
was too much for him now. He was losing control, and he hated that. Hated
what this beautiful creature did to him. He was ready to claim what was his.
No matter the consequences.”
I heard her swallow, but she remained still. I could feel her focus on me
now. Every single ounce of it. Every fiber of her being was on me, and it
caused a shiver to fall down my spine. If she looked at me now with lust in
her eyes, I would have fallen to my knees.
“He walked over to her bed, his steps silent, slow. If he was going to
take her tonight, he would take her, but first, he wanted to savor this
moment. Death neared her and gently pulled back her covers, a shiver
rolling through her, causing her skin to tighten.”
Kyra shivered, stretching just enough to give her whatever relief she
was looking for.
My own heart thudded. “She was wearing too many clothes, so he
pulled out his knife and easily cut down the length of her body. When the
air touched her skin, she shivered again, but still did not wake. He used the
tip of the knife to push aside the scraps, revealing her bare skin from
shoulder to thigh. He let the tip of the knife graze over her beautiful scarred
skin—”
Her eyes flashed open.
“Scars from a lifetime of fighting,” I went on, wondering why that
made her lose her focus. “Untold stories he wanted to bless. He may have
been death, but she was his salvation, and he would worship every inch of
her skin as if it were the only thing saving him from an eternity of pain.”
Salt touched the air and I wanted to address it, but I knew she wouldn’t
talk. I felt it in my soul, so I kept going.
“He flicked his knife down her sleeve, across the top of her pajama
bottoms, so all fell away, before finally sliding his knife back. After tonight,
if she wanted to wear pajamas, she would wear only that which gave him
the most access, but tonight, this would have to do. Death ran his finger
down across her ribs, her waist, her hips, her thigh, and finally, he gently
nudged her over until she rolled onto her back.
“His beautiful little darling relaxed into the bed, one leg falling to the
side, her hands falling to either side of her, her nipples peaked, one breast
still covered by her shirt the other visible to the world.”
Kyra squirmed just enough for me to notice. She pressed her thighs
together, pulling her knees up, but she didn’t make a sound.
I watched her with bare hunger. If she turned around now, she would
see me with my hands fisted into my pockets, my cock hard against my
thigh. I wouldn’t touch myself though. Not tonight. Perhaps it was my own
version of a punishment. Something I felt I fully deserved.
 “He would indulge himself, but maybe not completely. Not yet. Perhaps
he would wait, deny himself and focus only on her. Death carefully pushed
her hair out of her face, running his fingers down her jawline, down her
neck, over her breast, teasing her nipple just enough to pull a tired groan
from her lips before he continued down her stomach and watched as her
body contracted against his touch.
“She squirmed as his fingers trailed down to her pretty little pussy, half
exposed in the blue light of the full moon. Her beautiful lips dripping for
him while she was asleep. Begging for him, even unconsciousness. He
gently ran his fingers up her slit, not entering her, just teasing. Just getting a
taste of what she might feel like.”
Kyra let her leg fall to one side. I could smell her arousal fill the room. I
could see what the story was doing to her, and I wanted her to finish. I
wanted her to touch herself, to feel what I could do to her even with just a
few words.
“But,” I went on, watching her slowly roll onto her back, “maybe he
couldn’t wait. Maybe he really would take what he wanted.”
She thought I wouldn’t notice, or maybe she just didn’t care as she
made herself comfortable. She let her legs fall apart, her eyes closed, and
under the blanket, I could see her hand curving between her legs.
I swallowed, dragging my eyes from her hand to her face. Her blanket
had pulled down, revealing that collar. She stilled as if waiting for me to go
on.
It took everything in me to remain where I was, but tonight wasn’t
about me. Tonight was all about her.
“Death looked up to her face as he pushed his fingers in a little more.
Her face twisted in desire, her back arched. She wanted him. Even in sleep,
she needed to feel him inside of her.”
Kyra’s left hand dug into the sheets as her right slid inside of her and I
wondered how wet she was. I wondered if she dripped with need for me.
I couldn’t help myself. I pushed away from the wall and pulled my
hands out of my pockets. I slowly walked up to the edge of her bed.
“He slid his fingers deep inside of her, curling them up every time he
drew out only to slide them back in.”
Kyra arched ever so slightly against her bed, her breathing hitched.
My heart thundered, that primal urge in me pounding through me as my
hands itched to help her. My shadows were shaking with need to touch her,
to consume her. I needed to feel her.
“She groaned, her body shuddering against his hand as he watched her
expression. Watched it melt, watched her lips part in breathless moans.
Either she had awakened, or she was having the best dream of her life.”
Kyra bit her lip and I wanted to force it out from between her teeth. She
was holding back. I didn’t want her to hold back. I wanted to know exactly
how I affected her.
I added another layer to the shield I had already cast around this room.
“Death made sure no one else could hear her,” I explained, watching that
trapped lip tremble. “It was she and him alone in the world.”
She finally released the bed and reached for her chest.
Fuck.
“While Death worked her throbbing pussy, his other hand found her
pretty little neck. Feeling her heartbeat pulse under his fingertips only
reminded him who that heart belonged to. His grip tightened, cutting off
that which gave her life so she would never forget who had the real control
here. Who would always have control.”
Kyra squeezed her own breast, pinched her own hardened nipple and
my shadows shook in need. My heart slammed against my ribs, my cock so
hard it fucking ached. I needed her. I fucking needed her.
“Her eyes finally opened. Fluttering and tired, half-asleep, and they
locked with his,” I went on, my voice a low growl now. “But she didn’t
scream. Seeing him didn’t take him out of the dream, in fact, it made it
better.
“She moaned, digging her hands into the sheets as she grinded her hips
against his hand. Death felt his cock cry out for her as he worked his hand
inside of her, giving her exactly what she wanted. More.”
Kyra released a breath, pulling her knees up, digging her heels in. “Oh,”
she moaned.
Sweat dampened my skin. “She reached up, wrapping her hand around
his wrist, but she didn’t pull it away, she kept it in place as he worked.”
Kyra opened her eyes, finding mine, and they were so black, it nearly
stole my breath away.
I flexed my hands at my side, fighting the overwhelming need to grab
myself. “Death wanted her to cum. He wanted her to soak his hand so
thoroughly that he would smell her, taste her on his fingertips for the rest of
his days.”
 I could feel through the shadow bond her end nearing. I could hear the
whispers of her mind. “Let me finish.”
I intended to do just that. “Death pinned her into that bed, the sheets
soaking with her arousal, her nails digging into his wrist, blood dripping
down his wounds.”
Kyra moaned, arching into her own hand. Her eyes trained on me.
“Is that what you like, baby? Drawing blood?”
“She was nearing her end, he could feel it in his very bones. It was all
he wanted. To claim her pleasure in such a way, she would be ruined
forever. To claim her in such a way that she knew she would never find this
with anyone else. Death slammed his fingers in once again but this time, he
stopped on the way out and grabbed her clit between his fingers.”
Kyra groaned, her heart racing, her breathing labored as she stared into
my very soul. Fucking me with her eyes.
I wanted to fuck her more than anything else in the world. Nothing else
existed but this. My cock begging to be inside her, my hands pleading to
wrap around that pretty little throat of hers.
I couldn’t stand it. I took a step towards her.
She gasped, eyes closing, body convulsing—
“Is she having a nightmare?”
It wasn’t often I was taken off-guard, but in that moment, Mark truly
scared me.
I spun around, eyes wide.
Kyra jerked wildly. “Mark!” she gasped, shoving herself to a sit.
Mark rubbed his eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked as I took several steps
away from the bed, my heart pounding, head spinning. Shit. Fuck!
Kyra swallowed, shuffling her blankets around, trying to fix her
pajamas, I assumed, but I couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t breathe. “Yeah,
little fox, I’m okay.” She cleared her throat. “What are you doing up?”
I turned away from him and rubbed my hand over my face, looking
down to my bulging pants. Fuck.
“I had to go to the bathroom,” he mumbled, walking over.
I took another step away, closing my eyes, trying to catch my breath. I
had never been taken by surprise. She had consumed me so fully that I had
been unaware of my surroundings, of everything but my need for her, and
she would pay for it.
“Was it like the others?” he asked, climbing into her bed.
 “No, Mark.”
“Why was Mr. Trick checking on you? I could have checked on you.”
I glanced over as she pulled him close, her eyes immediately finding
mine, still slightly dilated, but nothing compared to what they had been
seconds before. “He just heard me struggling,” she said, turning back to
Mark. “He thought I was in trouble again.”
Mark nodded and turned to me. “Thank you for checking on her, but I
got it from here.”
I didn’t have it in me to reply. Rather, I nodded and found her eyes once
again before Jumping to the woods outside the cottage.
I ran my hands through my hair and shook my head. Fuck.
Fuck!
There was no way I was sleeping now. Not after seeing her like that.
A cold calm fell over me as my shadows drifted around me. I suppose I
had time to do a little more hunting tonight before sunrise. Anything to
release this pressure from inside of me.
I cracked my neck and Jumped to the caves.

OceanofPDF.com
 14
My Bible, Chapter 7, Verse 8
The only way to gain access to my Kingdom is through me.

Kyra
I could still hear that low, soft growl of Trick’s voice even as I stood in the
alley across from the castle.
My body still shivered remembering how hungry he sounded. Hungry
for me. Seconds before Mark had walked in, I half thought he would lose
control. I thought he might have…
I swallowed, shoving the thoughts away, trying to calm my heart.
How long had it been since I had actually finished?
A month? I couldn’t remember. Whenever I let those strangers fuck me
while Trick was gone. I finished with two of them.
But since?
I had considered helping myself to find my own end after Mark went
back to bed, but the mood was gone. Trick had left, and my thoughts went
back to the cottage. If I had enough. Feeding Cole, Mark, and myself, I was
going through food too quickly.
My thoughts had also drifted back to Evanora’s threat.
“Bring me the boy or we’ll hunt you to the ends of the world to capture
him ourselves.”
I remembered what Raphael had said too. How they would destroy
Mark if they got their hands on him.
How could I find my release with that on my mind?
Now I stood across the town square from the castle, staring at those
looming double doors, wondering what Madam Levine would think of me
now. Out of all of the stupid, reckless decisions I had made, this had to be
the worst.
When I went into that castle, there was a chance I would never leave,
but I wanted to make it clear to the witch that I wasn’t giving Mark up, and
she could hunt him down all she wanted, she would never find him.
I would make sure of it while I was still here. When I disappeared, Cole
would take him to Penny’s Court, and I was sure, beyond a shadow of a
doubt, that Penny would never let anyone harm him.
It was part of her law. He would be safe forever.
“What are you doing?”
Even the sound of his voice had me forcing myself not to press my
thighs together.
I honestly hadn’t expected to see him today. I truly hadn’t and I had to
admit that I was slightly annoyed that he had come.
I stepped back into the shadows and turned to him. He was wearing all
black today, save for his blood red tie. He stood in the darkest parts of the
shadows, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. He could choose who saw
him, he didn’t need to hide like that.
“I’m going to speak with Evanora,” I replied, folding my arms across
my chest. “What are you doing?”
His eyes were hard, icy, so far away from how he had looked last night
that it almost took my breath away. “I’m wondering why you’re wanting to
go back.”
“Yeah? Well I’m wondering why you’re even here,” I countered,
looking him over. I didn’t need him distracting me, not while I was trying to
be strong and unwavering.
“Where else would I be, Angel? You’re here.”
I shrugged, bitter about last night. “You usually disappear for a week or
more after teasing me. Shame, I assume, but I truly didn’t expect to see you
until next week.”
His eyes narrowed and he melted away from the shadows. “Shame?” he
breathed as if it were the most preposterous thing I could have said. “I don’t
feel shame, especially when it comes to you.”
“Hmm,” I nodded, and turned back towards the castle. “Can you
summon the rest of your shadows? Evanora didn’t sense Aniya, but I don’t
want to take a bigger risk than that.” Aniya was a good name for her, I
thought. It fit her.
“You’re angry because I’ve left? Did you miss me, Angel? Is that
why?”
I scoffed. “In your dreams.”
“Don’t lie to me now,” he warned, his voice deadly.
I swallowed, my spine tingling at the threat in his tone. “Just take your
shadows and go do whatever it is you do for the next week. I’ll see you
when you return to collect a half-finished orgasm again.” I didn’t want him
to go, but I would never admit that to him. Ever. It was pathetic. Desperate,
and wasn’t I supposed to be playing prey? I couldn't let him know that I
wanted to be caught. It’d boost his already over-inflated ego too much.
Between one breath and the next, Trick had me pinned against the wall,
one hand gripping my waist, the other settling above my head.
He was so close, I had to look up to meet his eyes, one leg trapped
between both of mine, my hands instinctively on his chest.
I had a vision of grabbing that tie and forcing him to kiss me, but I
remained still, glared at him even. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction he
continuously denied me. It wouldn’t happen.
“Your jealousy only turns me on, Kyra,” he murmured, his eyes
tracking my lips. “Knowing you want me so bad, the thought of me being
elsewhere drives you crazy.”
It took everything in me to hold onto that anger, that frustration. “It’s
not jealousy, Trick, it’s anger.”
“Because I’ve denied you?”
“Yes.”
My glare turned deadly. “There’s nothing to deny.”
He chuckled, the sound reverberating through me. “Then why are you
so angry?”
Rather than answering him, I countered his question with one of my
own. “If you’re so desperate for a good fuck, why haven’t you fucked me
yet? Why not kiss me? I saw how hard you were last night. You wanted it.
Why are you denying it?” Shit, I hope that sounded as threatening as I
needed it to sound.
“I’m denying myself, not you. I haven’t even touched myself since you
saved those demons from Cole. I haven’t cum since that day.”
My brows pulled together then because I could very clearly remember
the outline of his cock last night. It must have been painful. I couldn’t
imagine him not finishing. “You’re lying.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t lie to you, Angel.”
I released a breath. “You have to be. Why would you do that?”
“I told you, the only place my cum is going is inside of or on you.”
“But why?” It didn’t make any sense. He could go back to Arkalious
and fuck anyone he wanted. He could have anyone. I was sure there were
plenty of people who would love to be his five-minute release. Why not just
take advantage? In fact, I was positive that every time he disappeared, that’s
where he had been going. To fuck someone willing enough to fuck.
His eyes lifted to mine, searching, glowing as bright as a demon’s in the
night. “Because when I stuff you with my cock I will never stop. Because
you and I will be so addicted that nothing and no one else will matter but
the feeling of your pretty little pussy wrapped around my pulsing cock, but
you haven’t consented yet.” His eyes flicked to my lips. “Not fully.”
I felt breathless. “Wasn’t signing that stupid set of rules accepting this?”
He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know why you signed those
rules, but it wasn’t out of acceptance.”
I frowned.
“Are you upset that I won’t kiss you?”
Yes. Yes, I was, but rather than answering, I shoved him away from me,
and much to my surprise, he allowed me too.
I turned away from him, straightening my shirt, my hoodie, just to give
me something to do with my hands. “Why do you think Raymond isn’t
good enough for the throne? Why do you think they suddenly want Mark
now?”
“There could be plenty of reasons,” Trick answered easily as I found his
eyes. “Some people just aren’t meant to wear a crown. As for Mark?” he
shrugged. “11 is considered ‘coming of age’ when living within the royal
family. In magic-users, that’s when magic would truly start to emerge.”
Confusion touched me at his statement and at how easily he had moved
on from our previous conversation. “Magic-users are born with their magic.
I’ve heard stories of parents having to deal with their babies Jumping and
levitating, and all of that bullshit babies do.”
He offered a small smile. “I was a nightmare,” he confessed, much to
my surprise. “They have bits of their magic, but they don’t fully come into
their powers until 11.”
I couldn’t picture Trick as a little nightmare child, but I’m sure he was.
I’m sure his parents both had white hair before he even turned 11. “Okay,
well that’s stupid,” I finally muttered, turning to the castle. I studied those
doors carefully, remembering the last time I had been through them. I
touched my cheek absentmindedly, feeling the chill of Evanora’s slap as if it
had happened yesterday.
“When Raphael was speaking with me last time, he was using very
specific words,” I finally said, looking over. “Never ‘we’. It was always
‘I’ll take care of him’. It was like he was trying to give me solace. He
started to tell me something. ‘I’m a’. I thought he was trying to say
‘prisoner’.”
Trick considered my words. “The Gerodia’s have been under the thumb
of Evanora for hundreds of years. Perhaps Raphael is the first one to want
to get out.”
I chewed on my lip, turning back to the castle. Okay, but then what? He
was just a human. Was there a way to save him? To protect him? Was there
hope?
“What is your goal today, Kyra? What do you want out of this?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…I guess I just want them to know that
Mark’s life isn’t theirs for the taking. I know that a human is nothing to any
of you, but I can’t just stand back and let them do whatever it is they’re
trying to do without a fight.”
Trick was quiet a long time, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he
was thinking. “Have you considered how quick the death will be if they
decide you’re of no use to them? How long they could make it.”
I nodded, pulling at my fingers. “Aniya will find you and then Cole will
take Mark to Phaidras. He’ll be fine.”
“No, he won’t be.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t do that,” he stated, the coldness of his voice pulling my attention
back to him. “He’s your little brother, Kyra,” Trick went on, his eyes
burning into mine. “It doesn’t matter how little you think you’ve done for
him, even if all you did over these last 11 years was talk to him, you’d still
be his hero. Considering everything you’ve sacrificed for him, everything
you’ve given him. Losing you would destroy that boy. It would destroy him
in a way you will never fully understand.”
I could see it in his eyes, and I wondered how deeply the loss of his
sister had affected him. I wondered if he and Cole had ever spoken about it.
The loss of a lover, the loss of a sister.
I cleared my throat and shook my head, turning away from him. “It
doesn’t change anything. I still have to do this. Besides, if you’re still
around, I could just summon you,” I tried at a joke, but as I touched that
collar, the comfort I felt was very real.
“That’s right,” he said, a tendril of shadow carefully lifting my chin and
turning my head until my eyes found his again. “You can. Any time of day
or night, whatever the case, I’ll come right to you.”
 His tendril fell away, but my eyes remained locked on his. “Be brave,
do what you have to do, but if you even, for a second, believe that you are
in danger, call me.”
“Evanora will be there. She’ll know I have a secret weapon.”
Trick smiled, the light touching his eyes. “Is that what I am to you,
Angel? A secret weapon.”
I shrugged. “You’re obsessed. Might as well take advantage.” And I
hadn’t realized how true those words were until I spoke them out loud.
He chuckled, the smile real, filled with light. It made my heart sing.
“I’ll see you later, Angel.”
I felt the smile touch my own lips as I nodded. “Okay.”
Trick lingered for a second longer before he Jumped away in a swirl of
smoke and shadows. Something, I learned, he didn’t have to do. The swirls
and gusts of his magic were just theatrics. He could have simply vanished
without all of that, but why? He was a High King. Might as well make a
statement.
I inhaled deeply and turned back to the castle. Okay. I could do this.
Just go up to them and tell them no. Just say no.
I was safe. Trick was waiting. He knew what I was doing. I was fine.
I’d be fine.
The zing of fear shot down my spine, warmth spreading through my
stomach as a shiver overtook me. I shouldn’t have been this excited to walk
up to my death.
I glanced over to Aniya, the only remaining shadow tendril I had, and
gave her a nod.
She swam across my cheek before slithering down and melting into the
shadows on the ground below me. I wasn’t alone.
I wasn’t alone.
Okay. With a spinning mind and a buzzing heart, I started across the
town square, up those steps, and to those doors.
The knights looked irritated to see me again. “What?”
“I’m going to see the High King,” I stated evenly, although my heart
was beating erratically.
The one on the right laughed. “You’re going to? She’s going to,” he told
the other knight. “When did these bitches step so far out of line? Unless the
High King has requested your appearance, we ain’t letting you in.”
I sneered. Ain’t? They seemed a bit old to be talking like that. “He’s
requested that my brother move in. He’s killed three humans, hung them on
the crosses, and painted in red a threat towards us that if I didn’t bring him
here then he would hunt us down and slaughter us. Do you really want to be
put in the middle of that?”
The knights exchanged a look, clearly frustrated. After a silent
conversation, the one on the right stepped to the side and opened the door
for me. “If I had it my way, you’d already be dead,” he told me as I walked
forward.
“Not before I fucked you though,” the left hissed, leaning in a little too
close. He made a slurping sound. “Love me the stench of the unclean.”
Gross.
The scent of green apples surrounded me as I stepped into the castle.
I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth as I headed
for the room I had been taken to the previous times before.
The servants and knights glanced my way, but no one stopped me, and
when I finally reached the door, I was really starting to question the actual
security of Terigard.
I took another settling breath before I finally pushed open the door to
the dining room and found the High King, Evanora, and the prince sitting at
the table eating away like the perfect little family they were.
All three of them looked up, Evanora smiling, Raphael shocked, and
Raymond wearing an unreadable expression, silver eyes darkening at the
very sight of me.
“Well,” Evanora smiled, dabbing her painted lips. “Kyra, welcome.
Don’t you look like a vision today.”
So, we weren’t pretending that we didn’t know each other’s name
anymore? Fine. I could handle that.
I turned to Raphael, keeping my expression neutral, but allowing my
tone to hold a bit of ice to it. “I expected more from the great High King
than the murder of three people with a threat painted in blood.”
“I asked you nicely,” Raphael began, setting his silverware down. “I
informed you that it would be willing or unwilling. When we went to
collect, we found your house in ashes, no bodies to be found. What else
were we supposed to do?”
I lifted and dropped my hands. “You had no interest in your ‘other son’
until you realized how badly you fucked up on that one,” I gestured to
Raymond. “Why would I give up on my family just because you gave up on
yours?”
“Perhaps we should hear her out,” Raymond said, shocking me.
Raphael ignored him. “That is not how you should be addressing your
High King.”
I lifted my chin. “Being a High King would imply that you actually
have some say in how this place is run. From what I can tell, Evanora is the
one with all the power and you’re just a bitch wearing a collar. Mark is
mine, and you will not take him from me. Hunt me down to the ends of the
world if you want, Mark will remain with safe.”
Raphael’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Raymond was looking at me as if he cared.
“I have a question,” Evanora stated evenly. “It’s not a big deal, I just
expect an honest answer, Kyra.”
I turned to her. “What?” I snapped.
“How did you survive my magic?”
I froze. Gods-dammit. How is it that the great and all-mighty Trick
Michael didn’t bring that up before I stormed in here? “I guess you’re just
not as strong as you think you are,” I responded coldly. He certainly didn’t
forget. It must have been another one of his games. I just didn’t know why.
Her smile was cold, evil. “Or perhaps you have your own precious
secret, hmm? Perhaps you are harboring your very own magic-user.”
I narrowed my eyes, challenging her. “We’re discussing magic? Okay, I
have a better topic of discussion then. How about we discuss the absolute
hypocrisy bred within these very walls? Or how about we discuss your
greed and obsession with vengeance?”
Evanora chuckled and lifted her hand, whispering a few words under
her breath, and a moment later, a swirl of gray magic began drifting around
her fingers. “If you are harboring someone, that’s behavior that will need to
be corrected. We can’t have people like you breaking the law now, can we?
It sets a bad example for the sheep.”
I nodded. “And here I thought that a witch running the Human Court
was what was actually setting the bad example. Or maybe it’s just the fact
that our High King shows no empathy when he hangs people from the
crosses with their guts falling from their stomachs, ribs broken, warning the
world of another war. I’m sure the children will learn great things from
that.”
She tilted her head to one side. “So, you’re interested in the war then?”
 Warning grew in my stomach as she stood.
“Go on, Kyra, speak up. It’s not polite to ignore those above you.”
Without responding, I turned back to Raphael. “Mark would not be a
good High King,” I told him. “I didn’t raise him in hatred and blood. I
raised him with a good heart and a good conscious. You can’t weaponize
that. You can’t turn him into your little doll. Raymond seems capable
enough of listening to you to ensure his place under the crown is a good
one. You don’t need my brother.”
“It seems to me that you’re assuming how I want to run this world,”
Evanora stated sweetly as she made her way towards me.
Raphael’s eyes flicked to the witch and back. It seemed he was done
speaking for the day.
Fine. “You’ve been doing it the same way for the last 1,200 years. My
understanding is that this war is meant to be your last before you attempt
full control. Once all of the powerhouses are dead, there will be no one left
to challenge you. Why would you need Mark for that? If you’re going to
take the crown above all crowns, why put Mark under this one?”
She laughed quietly, looking me over as she circled me. “Look at you, a
learned little human, aren’t you? Well, if it makes it easier to give him up, I
suppose I can share with you some…insights,” she whispered, sliding her
hand across my shoulders, her touch painfully cold.
I remained still. I was not alone. The weight of the collar was evident.
One thought. Just his name was all it would take.
Evanora stopped in front of me, her hands at her sides, the silver magic
widening, growing. “But,” she began, her smile turning wicked, “the thing
is that I don’t know what magical being you have hoarded away, so how
can I tell you what you want to know if you don’t tell me what I need to
know?”
The rational voice inside of me begged me to stop, but in the last week,
I cared less and less about whether or not I survived, which was a
dangerous state of mind to be in. “I don’t care what your plans are,” I
explained evenly. “I don’t care about your displays, who you kill, when you
kill, all I want is for you and your pets,” I spat, jutting my chin towards the
Gerodia’s, “to stop going after my brother.”
She chuckled lightly. “That just isn’t going to happen. Raymond, come
here please. Kyra, from the kindness of my heart, I will give you one last
chance to change your mind, or the consequences will find you soon
enough.”
Raymond joined us, his eyes softer than they had been the last time I
had been here. “Hello, Kyra.”
Confusion filled me. I pulled my eyes from him back to the witch. “Do
whatever you need to do,” I explained, Trick’s name at the top of my mind.
“You will never get my brother.”
Evanora lifted her hands in resignation. “Very well.” She turned to
Raymond and nodded before heading back to her seat.
My eyes found Raymond’s just as he stepped forward. He slid his hand
around the back of my neck, grabbed my hand, and jerked me forward
painfully.
His lips slammed against mine.
My eyes widened as his lips worked against mine, too cold to feel real.
I grabbed his tunic, trying to shove him away, but it was like he
suddenly had super-human strength. His hand kept my head in place as he
forced my lips open and shoved his tongue into my mouth, the taste of
green apples coating my tongue.
I growled, trying to slam my foot on his toes, only to find that my feet
were planted. I couldn’t move.
Why couldn’t I move?
Panic filled me as he deepened the kiss, real panic. What the fuck was
happening? I slammed my teeth down, blood exploding across my mouth.
Raymond snarled, ripping his mouth away. “What the fuck?” he
snapped, wiping the blood away from his bottom lip.
I wiped my lips aggressively, heart slamming. “What was that?” I spat,
looking at Evanora. “You can’t have him fuck me into giving up my
brother!”
She was smiling. “Have a good day.”
The dismissal was clear, and I had no problem listening.
I spun on my heel and headed for the door. “Mark will never be yours,”
I tossed back and stalked out.
It took everything I had in me not to run. I couldn’t run, that would be
weak. They would know they had gotten to me, I couldn’t run.
“Trick,” I called as soon as I hit the alley.
He appeared so quickly, part of me questioned if he hadn’t been there
the entire time.
As soon as he saw the blood, rage filled his eyes, his shadows so black,
they sucked up any sort of light around them.
I spit out what I could. “It’s not mine,” I told him, wiping the back of
my hand across my mouth again.
He slowed, studying me, but I had to admit, that rage did something to
me. “What happened?”
He reached out for me, and I let him take my chin. I let him carefully
run his thumb under my bottom lip, the anger diminishing quickly at the
way he looked at me.
“I told them they couldn’t have Mark,” I explained, his eyes lifting back
to mine, “and then Evanora had Raymond kiss me.”
Trick’s eyes turned near black with rage again. “Raymond kissed you?”
I swallowed, the copper bitter. “I couldn’t move. I think Evanora did
something to me, so I bit him.”
His eyes softened ever so slightly. “Hmm,” he mused and finally
released my chin. “Is that what I have to look forward to? You biting me?”
I searched his eyes for a moment before mine narrowed to slits. “Yes.
Are you going to kill him?”
He rose a brow. “Do you want me to kill him?”
“Mine first,” I pushed, feeling the anger finally ease, my heart slowing.
I was safe again. As safe as I could be standing in the presence of the God
of Nightmares.
One corner of his lips flicked up. “What exactly do you want to know,
baby?”
I felt my skin buzz, his promises of truth whispering through me. I
honestly wanted to know what he would do. I didn’t know why, but some
sick and twisted part of me just…I wanted to know what he would do to the
Prince of Terigard after forcing a kiss on me.
“Would you wrap him up in a pretty little bow?” I asked, my cheeks
warming. I felt embarrassed as soon as the words left my lips, and that
embarrassment forced my eyes away.
Trick grabbed my chin and tilted it back up. “Don’t look away from
me,” he commanded softly. “Your darkest thoughts are my deepest desires,
Kyra. Never look away from me when you speak them.”
I swallowed, the heat in my stomach growing, everything fading from
my mind at the look in his eyes. “Tell me,” I demanded, my voice a bare
whisper.
That hunger filled his eyes once more, and I didn’t know why or how,
but I felt him barely holding onto his control. “It would be slow,” he purred.
“He’d be begging for an end before I even began. I would pick up where
you left off so he knew exactly who I was doing it for. I’d grab his tongue
and pull it out. Slowly. I’d keep pulling and pulling, listening to his screams
as they filled the room, and I wouldn’t stop until I felt it tear away from the
hyoid bone.”
My mouth went dry as his eyes bore into mine.
“And then I would use a knife,” he went on quietly, his eyes falling to
my lips, “and carefully peel his lips from his flesh. How did he hold you?”
I cleared my throat, pressing my thighs together. “Um, he grabbed me
around the back of my neck and around my wrist.”
His eyes flamed. “So then I would move onto his hands,” he continued,
stepping closer. “I’d rip each fingernail away slowly. When his nails are
gone, I’d use a blade and make little slits across the tips of each finger and
then I would begin the slow and painful process of peeling back his skin.
After that, I’d begin removing his bones.”
Trick reached over and took my right hand. He lifted it up between us,
spreading out my fingers, taking my index finger gently. “I’d begin at the
top,” he said, “and work my way down. There are 27 bones in each hand. It
would last me about five minutes, ten if I really took my time.”
I tilted my head ever so slightly, my heart racing, my skin far too hot.
“Just because he forced himself on me?”
“Because he thought he could take what was mine,” he mumbled and
then kissed the tips of my fingers. “Do you want me to kill him?” he asked
again, voice deadly.
“Yes,” the sick voice in me said.
“No,” the rational voice in me begged.
They would know who I was harboring though, if I said yes. They
would come after us without hesitation if they found out that the man they
wanted dead was obsessed with the sister of the boy they wanted on the
throne.
That would put Mark in even more danger than he already was, and I
couldn’t risk that.
I shook my head, despite every bone in my body begging me to let him
do it. “I can’t.”
Trick’s thumb grazed over the palm of my hand. “Very well. We need to
go back, Angel. You have two children wondering where you are.”
 My eyes were drawn to his lips, my heart thundering through me. Just
like that, he wouldn’t do it. Just because I said no. “Would you…you would
really kill him just because he kissed me?” I asked again, eyes lifting to his.
Trick slowly slid my hand over his cheek. Warm, soft but prickly at the
same time. “I’d wrap up his dick in a pretty little bow just for you.”
I searched his eyes, seeing the truth in their depths. Holy fuck.
“Take me to the cottage,” I finally said, running my thumb gently over
his cheekbone. “I can’t have the children rearranging my things.”
He smiled as if he saw a shift within me, and we Jumped.
~~~
I watched from the roof as Cole and Mark threw snowballs at each other
two days after standing up to Evanora. It was the first real snow of the
season and seeing them playing together made it worth the stress of finding
him the last few things I needed for winter. Besides, it didn’t seem like the
guards were still hunting for me. I wasn’t sure what her game was, but it did
make things a little better when I went out.
“What are you drawing?”
My cheeks burned as I slowly slid my hand over the small picture. “A
person,” I answered without looking over. Him. I had been drawing him.
Why? Because his shadow tendrils were fascinating, and I loved the way
they moved around the world. Like snakes with invisible wings and the
personality of cats.
Trick lowered himself beside me, close enough for his arm to brush
mine. “Angel—”
“Wasn’t a lie,” I said, shutting the book, watching as Mark hit Cole
directly in his face.
The High General gaped as if the boy had taken him off-guard, but I
knew for a fact that he had done it on purpose.
He chuckled. “Your defensiveness makes me want to steal that little
book of yours.”
I gripped it tighter.
“Take it as a punishment already earned,” he replied easily. “The
rewards you’ve earned are still yet to come.”
I didn’t…I didn’t want any rewards or punishments or anything. I
wanted this moment not to end. The laughter, the joy. That’s what I wanted.
That irrational part of me laughed.
 I rolled my eyes, pulling my knees up to my chest. I didn’t need all of
this back and forth, it was exhausting.
“I wanted to give you something,” Trick said, pulling my attention back
to him. “Two things, but this one is specific.”
My brows pulled together as I looked over, finding him holding a small
black velvet pouch in his hand. “A gift?” I asked, finding his eyes.
He nodded and held it out to me without another word.
His expression was unreadable, his eyes trained on the sight below, so I
reached for the pouch, taking it carefully from him.
It had weight to it, I realized as I set my journal on a corner of my cloak
to avoid it getting soaked by the snow. I pulled at the dark green ribbon
around the top and tipped the contents into the palm of my hand.
My breath caught at what fell. A bracelet. Made of braided black
leather, as dark as his magic, with a small charm on it. The stone was
smooth, dark, and in the center of it was a small, glowing blue light. A star.
It looked like a star.
I turned it around in my hands, inspecting it, when the light caught an
inscription on the back of it. Until the last star goes out – T.M.
I swallowed, my eyes burning. “Is this a star?” I asked, my voice barely
above a whisper.
“Although I will forever hold onto the fact that you believe I’m
powerful enough to harness the stars, it’s the piece of the Obelisk you found
for me.” He was quiet a moment. “I suppose it could be classified as a star
if you’d like it to be.”
My bottom lip trembled as I ran a thumb over the soft leather. Holy
fucking shit.
“Happy birthday, Kyra.”
I sniffed, my chest tightening. I couldn’t remember the last time I had
gotten a gift other than Mark’s special drawings. “You can’t give this to
me,” I finally said, looking over, my heart racing in my chest.
Trick, who had been watching me for some time, I supposed, frowned.
“Why?”
I wiped under my nose and held it out to him. “It’s the Obelisk, Trick.
People are out hunting for it. You should keep it somewhere safe.
Somewhere where it can be more protected.”
He took it from me gently, working his thumbs over the soft leather.
“The Staff was in the safest place in this world, and it was still taken.
This?” he asked, picking up my right hand gently. “This will be in the most
protected hands this world has ever seen.” He carefully tied it on, Aniya
twirling around our hands as he did. “No one in this world is more protected
than you.
“And anyway,” he went on, his hand sliding from the bracelet into mine
as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “nobody will sense it. They
can’t smell it, feel it. My magic is too tightly wound around it. That along
with the shield I have around you, it will never be found.”
My brows furrowed, although my heart was beating erratically at how
his thumb was grazing over the back of my hand. “Shield around me?” It
was stupid how such a small amount of gentle affection caused me to
puddle where I sat.
He smiled. “Can’t have the world knowing how aroused you get when
you’re in trouble. That’s only for me.”
My cheeks burned brightly. “I’m not…”
At his look, my words trailed off.
I frowned and looked back towards the boys. Dick.
Trick chuckled. “I still have something else to show you.”
Before I could comprehend his words, we Jumped into the cottage.
I stumbled a bit, falling into him slightly as the world righted itself.
“Warning next time,” I said, jerking my hand away only to slow when I saw
what he had left on the table.
My lips parted as I took in the brand new winter coats, gloves, boots,
and hats that were set perfectly across the table.
I released a breath and walked up to them, picking up the coat that was
so clearly Mark’s. “You got him this?” It wasn’t used. There were no holes
or marks or tears. It was completely brand new. Straight from the store.
“I checked the city,” he explained, joining my side. “In the last couple
of weeks, nobody has been selling winter clothes except for the wealthier
shops. I know you’re a thief, but stealing from a wealthy shop now? You
would have been caught.”
I knew that. It was something I had been trying to figure out since the
day Mark and I had moved in. Most of what I had been doing in the city
lately was watching those shops, trying to find a way to sneak in and out
without being caught, but the guards were on high alert now. It never would
have worked.
I set the coat down, eyes filling, and before I could stop myself, I turned
and stepped into his arms. I had never felt so grateful in all my life.
Trick was tall. I had to stand up on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around
his neck, but when he wrapped his arms around me, it didn’t make me feel
shrunken, it made me feel safe.
His arms slid around my waist with ease, pulling me against him, my
body melting into every piece of him. Hardened from centuries of training
to be this deadly weapon. A man capable of slaughtering anyone he wanted
and all I felt was safe.
Petrichor flooded my nose as I tilted my head down, feeling his heart
beat against my ribs, his breath moving my hair. I felt something inside of
me just…melt. I felt light, like the butterflies in my stomach were lifting me
up, up, up.
His arms tightened, his head dipping into the crook of my neck. It
wasn’t a teasing gesture. I didn’t think he was trying to start anything, but
part of me did wonder how long it had been since he had been hugged.
For me? Besides Mark, the last time I had hugged someone my own
height, my own age, had been Ket the day he had left.
I wanted to stay here forever. I really did. Because I felt safe. I felt
wanted. I felt…
I didn’t want to leave.
“Kyra?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting that to have not happened, but at
Trick’s slight squeeze, I knew it was time.
With an almost silent breath, I forced myself back, my cheeks burning
hot as I turned right to the door, finding Cole and Mark standing in the
doorway.
Mark was beaming, which made me even more embarrassed.
Cole was watching Trick with an unreadable expression. “Letak is out
there.”
“Is he your new boyfriend?” Mark basically shouted to the world.
My eyes widened, humiliation flooding through me. “Let’s go see
Letak. Out,” I ordered, rushing over to them without looking back. “Out,
go.”
Cole’s eyes flicked from me to Trick and back. “Be careful,” he warned
me on my way out. It wasn’t bitter or out of malice, just the advice of a
friend.
“He’s right,” that rational voice whispered. “Don’t forget what Mom
told you.”
I shook the thoughts away and focused on Mark.
“Uncle Trick,” Mark tested out. “Sounds cool.”
Gods above, I would never hear the end of this. “Ready to meet Letak?”
“You like him,” Mark teased as my eyes lifted to the edge of the woods,
Letak peeking out from behind the trees, watching carefully.
“Mark, please stop.”
“You wanna kiss him,” he sang.
I rubbed my face as Letak jumped out, wiggling his butt like an excited
dog. He chirped, bucking up. “Hey, Letak,” I smiled, grateful for his blaring
presence. “This is Mark. Mark, Letak.”
Mark giggled. “Okay, okay, I won’t tease while the demon is here.”
Brothers!
“So, this is a zalin,” I introduced, stopping yards away, letting Letak
sniff out the world. “Letak, this is Mark, my younger brother.” The subject
was dropped. For now, but I wasn’t looking forward to the next time we
were all together.
Mark’s eyes grew wide, forgetting about Trick altogether as Letak
lowered his head and sniffed the air. “Can I pet him?”
I walked over to Letak, touching his neck gently, rolling my shoulders
to ease the tension. Letak lifted his head, nudging my arm lovingly. I smiled
and nodded. “Yeah, Mark, you can pet him, but careful. He’s still a wild
animal, right?”
Mark nodded, matter-of-factly. “And wild animals even though they can
show friendliness are still wild. They’ve got instincts, and if they’re
spooked and they hurt us, we can’t blame them because it’s their nature.”
Letak looked at me, ears up.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on his face. “He’s a kit, I
have to teach him too.”
He watched me until he felt another hand on him.
Letak’s head whipped around, causing Mark to pull his hand back and
find my eyes in worry.
“It’s okay,” I explained as Letak chirped loudly, excitedly, causing me
to step back. “He’s only a few months old. That would make him around
your age in demon years, remember?”
Mark’s eyes widened. He had definitely forgotten. “We’re the same
age?”
 “Roughly,” I shrugged, turning back to Letak who was getting more and
more excited as the seconds ticked by. “You two can play, if you want.”
The two exchanged a glance, and then whipped around to me. Mark
clapped excitedly while Letak flapped his wings.
I laughed again, shielding myself from the onslaught of soft snow Letak
was blowing up. “Okay, okay, but no flying unless I’m with you,” I
lectured, finding Letak’s eyes sternly.
His ears folded back and he huffed.
Mark touched the zalin’s shoulder. “It’s okay, you can show me all the
tricks you do. Kyra says you’re super smart, so prove it.”
Letak puffed his chest out in playful challenge, and then found my eyes
again. He released a soft chirp.
I nodded, despite not knowing what it could be. “Just remember that we
don’t have talons,” I said, showing him my hands. “No talons, no wings.” I
pinched my skin hard enough to leave a mark. “Soft.”
Letak studied my hand carefully.
“We can get hurt easily,” I reminded him.
After another moment, he nodded and straightened, speaking in clicks
and chirps. He gestured to the entrance of the clearing.
I stared at it for a long time, my heart thumping, Mark waiting
expectantly. Let him into the forest? I turned back to Letak, glancing to the
scars I could see peeking out under his wing.
Letak looked over, his ears folding back. He found my eyes again and
chirped gently, nodding.
I searched his eyes and after another moment, I sighed. “Promise me
you’ll keep him safe,” I said, hearing Mark cheer under his breath behind
me. “Promise me. If you hear or sense anything, you bring him back to me.
No flying. None. Your feet remain on the ground. Okay?”
He nodded once and stepped forward, rubbing his head against mine.
When Letak stepped away, Mark ran into me, causing me to stumble
back a step. “Thank you!” With that, he and Letak headed for the entrance
at a full sprint. Letak looked back at me once before they disappeared into
the woods.
My entire body felt like a live wire as I stared at the entrance. It was
fine. Letak was smart. He had kept me safe the other night when those
pixies had come, and they had been nowhere near us.
Everything would be fine.
 “He seems responsible enough.”
I rubbed my arm, my other hand hooking into the circle on the collar.
“Demons mature incredibly fast. Zalins grow from kits to mature adults in
six months. It’s not that I don’t trust him, but…”
“It’s Mark,” Cole said, looking over. “They’ll be okay.”
I looked over. “You think?”
He shrugged. “Mark seems far more mature than I was at 11. Even
trapped in a basement, I was trouble.”
I felt my heart tighten. If I could erase his terrible beginning, I would
have. He didn’t deserve that kind of pain.
“You and Trick?”
I rolled my eyes, dropping my hands at my sides. “I don’t want to hear
about it,” I said, heading back for the cottage, assuming Trick was gone if
Cole thought he could bring it up so brashly.
“Kyra, you’ve only known him two months.”
“And I’m not declaring my undying love for the guy,” I shot back. “I’m
not even fucking him. He gave me a gift and I thanked him for it. What’s so
wrong about that?”
“He was stalking you for over a year,” Cole said as I stepped into the
cottage. “This isn’t healthy. You are new and shiny and once he gets bored
he’ll find someone else to play with. He’s done it again and again.”
Did everyone think I didn’t know that? Of course, I knew that. I’d said
as much to Trick. I’d let him woo me until he got bored. That was the plan.
By then, Mark would be old enough, maybe Penny could let Letak go with
Mark to the Fae Court. He would love that.
“Talons,” Cole tried.
I snatched Mark’s things off the table and turned to him. “I know,
alright?”
He slowed, his brows worried.
“I know he’s dangerous. I know he’s evil. I know you all claim he’s this
horrible monster. I know. I know the history the world believes about him,
but does that mean we’re not allowed to be friends? If that’s the case then
you and I shouldn’t be friends either because what the world says about
him, they say about the entire race. Rapists, torturers, murderers. That’s all
of you, not just him if you haven’t forgotten.”
“You haven’t seen what he’s done to the women.”
“I don’t want to know about it,” I hissed back. I spun on my heel and
headed for the room, my heart skipping. I couldn’t know about it.
“Why? Because you’re afraid you’ll tell him to leave and he will?”
Because I was…I was fucking jealous, and some horrible, sick part of
me understood why he murdered those four guys because I wanted to
murder the women he fucked before he met me. It was irrational and it
didn’t make sense, but there it was, and I hated it. I hated that what he told
me before this all started was right.
He shouldn’t be right about it.
This was all just so…fucked up.
“Talons, stop,” Cole said as I hung up Mark’s new coat. “Trick is going
to kill you.”
There was the confirmation I needed, but that was fine because that was
the plan.
“Why don’t you care? Why are you falling for his games? They’re just
words.”
I slowed, staring at the clothes hanging before me. They weren’t
though, not to me, and maybe Trick knew that. Maybe he knew that nothing
like that had ever been said to me. In my entire life, those words had never
been said to me.
I crave you.
My cock throbs for you.
You are a fucking masterpiece.
You’re mine, Angel. Forever.
It was like one of my books vomited on this world, releasing him.
I knew they were just words to Cole, but not to me. Maybe that’s why
Trick caught so many women in his web. Because he knew exactly what to
say to get them to latch on.
Maybe I was just another in a long line of playthings, but gods, it felt
good. Wasn’t I allowed to feel good for just a few minutes?
“You deserve nothing,” my Mom spat. “You should have just fucking
died.”
After another second, I stepped back and found Cole’s eyes. “Can you
run to town and get a rabbit for tonight, please? I can’t go with Mark out
there.”
Cole’s shoulders fell and after a moment, he nodded with a sigh. “Yeah,
Ky. I’ll be back in a few hours. I just…I want you to be careful. I don’t
want you to die at his hands.”
 “Thank you.” The joke was on him though, I guess, because I was
going to die. Whether it was by his hands or mine or Evanora’s, I was going
to die. I wanted to die.
~~~

Trick
I wanted to take the afternoon to confront my sister about some of the
things I had been hearing since Cole’s visit a little over a week ago.
When I Jumped back to Arkalious, I found Lora in the study, reading
over laws I had created centuries ago. Good for her, doing that kind of dirty
work, but changing a law was more than just scratching out the old and
writing the new. She would need to tell the entire Court about it. Retrain the
warriors. Make sure that everyone had some leeway before she truly put her
foot down.
Centuries of habits were hard to break. I knew that better than anyone.
Her eyes met mine for a brief moment before she went back to her
work. “I thought you were gone for good.”
I shrugged, sending a glance around the shelves of bookcases. This
room had once been our father’s. Centuries after his death, and I could still
smell him with each step across the dull red carpet.
It’s why I had never visited more than a handful of times.
“One of the leaders of the Congregation is a pixie. I’ve confirmed it.”
“Hmm,” she mused, setting a book down on the desk before taking her
seat. “Congratulations. Six years in the making, right? You should be proud
of yourself.”
I knew she hated what I did. She had always preached that I should pay
more attention to our Court. To our people. But the world was filled with
more than just Fallen. Sometimes I wondered if the other High Kings and
High Queens had forgotten about that.
“I’ve heard you stopped looking into the witches.”
“Yes,” she confirmed without looking up.
“And that there are rebel forces growing among the Fallen.”
“A lot of people hated you, Trick. Now I have to deal with that,” she
stated blandly.
I nodded, uncaring of how difficult this was for her. “Have you thought
about announcing your new position or are you just going to keep that a
secret from the world until…” I shrugged. “After the war?”
Lora sighed and looked up. “What do you want, Trick? You don’t care
about what happens here, that’s why you revoked the crown. You care more
about chasing tail than you do helping your own people, you made that very
clear years ago. So, what is it you want?”
Being around her was always so much fun. “I’ve always cared about
what happens here, but nobody believed what I had to say.”
She stared at me for a long time before huffing and returning to her
work. “You kill hundreds of innocence every few months and then you let
Karious go home with a bare warning. Now I’m dealing with the
repercussions of that. He’s gathering people. Berkly, Hunri, Jaz. They’ve all
joined him. Our territories in the North, South, and West.”
Not all of them.
“And they want to take us to war over something that doesn’t even exist
anymore.”
Well, it did exist, it just wasn’t accessible.
“The Fallen Court is shattering, Trick, it’s been shattering for centuries,
and you don’t care.”
I inhaled deeply. “The Congregation has been rooted into our
civilization since long before the War of Ruin—”
“Gods above, Trick, I don’t care,” Lora snapped, slamming her hand
down on the table. “I don’t care about your stupid imaginary court of
nightmares.”
I watched her dryly. “Every Court has been shattering for centuries,
Lora. Every crown has fractured, and because of that, because of the cracks,
sinister things have been slipping through and everyone chooses to be blind
to it.”
She laughed. “Sinister? You’ve just been looking for an excuse, haven’t
you? To make it all make sense. Your magic, that…thing that lives inside of
you, the creepy tendrils that act like your weird little minions. It will never
make sense, Trick. You were born a monster, a creature that doesn’t make
fucking sense. A creature that will never make sense to anyone.
“You are a thing,” she went on coldly, “and no amount of searching for
darkness, no amount of monsters you kill will ever make up for the fact that
you shouldn’t exist. I don’t care if you keep searching for this imaginary
Congregation to make an excuse for murdering the people you murder. I
don’t care if you find some conspiracy written in the soil where Caduto
shattered, and I certainly don’t care about whatever it is the witches are
planning because the truth is, if they are going after you, they’ll go after
you. You’re not a part of this Court anymore so my people are safe. Now, if
you will,” she gestured to the door.
My magic snarled and snapped under my skin, my hands gripping into
fists at my side. “Let me out. I’ll fucking rip her to shreds.”
I worked my jaw, shoving the rage away. “Good luck with your
rebelling, Lora.” And I Jumped.
I hovered above Oridian, my own anger snarling and snapping this
time. From here I could see from shore to shore. It was beautiful, but it
wasn’t filled with innocents like Lora believed, and I was so tired of
waiting for everyone to see the truth.
The witches wanted power, the Fallen wanted a fight, and I wanted the
true fucks of the world to stop hiding. It was time for everyone to come out
and play.
“Let them feel me. Let me out.”
All this world wanted was war. Every soul, no matter how good they
thought they were, all they wanted was war. They lived and loved and
bathed in hatred.
Fine. No one could ever claim that I was an unfair god.
My magic crackled and snarled under my skin, glee filling me.
I closed my eyes, letting the dark grip tighten and flex, my shift falling
through me, pulling, snapping, breaking, until I was nothing but the magic
that pulsed within me. Until I was a monster. A thing. Something other.
I opened my eyes, vision brighter, senses stronger. I could smell the
dead of the Unseelie Court from here, buried yards below the earth in their
mass grave. I could smell Belgart sleeping in his cave. I could smell the
prisoners in The Prison rolling in their own waste, wailing for their gods to
save them.
I lifted my arms, magic swimming from my fingertips, flooding through
the world.
I felt the strain as my magic poured freely from my body. As the world
shifted, land grew, waters divided. The cold power froze over my bones,
wrapped around my heart. I had done this once before, changed the
geography of the world.
Of the Fallen Court.
It hadn’t wiped me of my magic, building those mountains, creating
those rivers, but it had tired me out. Made me ravenous with a hunger I
couldn’t satiate.
I had to be careful, but I wanted to make it easier for them to fight. Give
them indestructible bridges between the landmasses on which to converge.
Each continent connected to the last.
Caduto was bigger now, connected by bridges and mountain passes
from one territory to the next. Whole once more. Easier access for every
species. Either they would finally get along or they would fight to the very
end. Either way, this world was going to change. It had no choice now.
My arms fell, heart slamming, sweat trickling down my leathery spine
as exhaustion flooded over me. Three hours.
It had taken three hours to do what I had done, the shadows had
darkened the skies, rain pouring around me, screams of confusion and fear
flooding the world. My wings struggled to hold me up as I looked around
me, new mountains and bridges as far as the eye could see.
My magic was overjoyed.
I wouldn’t be able to use it again for a while. Especially not in Therian,
but it was well worth it. Let them destroy themselves while I plotted and
planned. Let them cower, fight, bleed. As for me? I needed my Angel to
help me satiate this ravenous hunger. Days, weeks perhaps. She would cum
until she had nothing left to give, and I’d fill her so fucking full of me that
she would drown in—
Kyra screamed.

OceanofPDF.com
 15
My Bible, Chapter 29, Verse 27,
I will offer you this, sometimes the only way to win is to become the darkest, cruelest player of them
all.

Kyra
I screamed, unable to keep it in as Letak dropped, soaring through the
demons flooding through the air. Letak cried out, his voice being
drowned out by the rain and thunder and the roaring of the other demons as
he tried to keep us safe.
Mark clutched on, sobbing.
I leaned over him, terrified, unsure of what happened as the rain
assaulted us from above. “It’s okay, hold on. Don’t let go for anything,” I
tried, fear pounding through me. “It’ll be okay.”
Snarls, cries, and screeches came from all around us, demons pounding
through the woods below, wings beating the air around us, lightning
lighting up the world.
“I don’t want to die,” Mark cried.
“You’re not going to die,” I whispered as Letak took a sharp turn. “I
won’t let that happen.”
I had felt the world shake under me moments before I heard Letak
scream from the clearing. Without thought, I had grabbed my bow and
arrows and sprinted out the door, Mark on his back, eyes wide with fear.
“Something is happening,” he said, tears filling his eyes.
Letak had screeched and gestured wildly to his back.
I had wasted no time, but now we couldn’t get out of the way.
Now we were in the middle of a battle for the sky, and I was absolutely
terrified.
Letak cried out, coming to a sudden halt in mid-air, chirping, his
muscles tensing.
I looked up, holding on for dear life, finding three tycrons in front of us,
watching us with feral hunger.
The tycrons were the most terrifying demon I had ever encountered.
Covered in leathery skin, they had two bird-like legs, their arms connected
to large, leather wings, their three fingers tipped with five-inch claws. Their
faces were bat-like, ears pointed straight at the sky, and their spines
protruded from their back painfully.
They had always terrified me, and after I had killed that one to save
Letak, I had had this palpable fear that they would one day come after me.
Today was that day.
My eyes widened. “Mark,” I said as Letak beat his wings steadily.
“Don’t let go. No matter what happens, you don’t let go.”
“What are they?” he asked, voice thick with tears.
“They’re the demons I saved Letak from.”
The middle one roared and dove.
Letak pulled his wings in, tilting forward, dropping like a stone towards
the world below.
It took everything in me not to scream as Mark’s screams overpowered
the rain.
Letak dropped and dropped before spreading his wings again, jerking
up, sending my stomach straight to my ass, bruising my inner thighs.
He fainted left and then took a sharp right, the tycrons racing after us as
Letak pushed himself through the storm.
Everything was going to be fine. This was fine.
“We’re going to have some hot tea when we get back,” I told Mark as
Letak continued to dodge attacks. “A hot bath.” My heart was slamming in
my throat, I felt like I might puke.
“Where is Uncle Cole? He has weapons.”
“Yeah, he…” I straightened a bit and looked down, finding my bow and
quiver strapped to my chest.
Holy shit. I had a weapon. I had forgotten! Stupid, stupid girl.
I gaped and looked up to the back of Letak’s head. Gods above, this
was going to be so stupid, but I also couldn’t ignore that zing of excitement
that slammed through me too. “Letak, I can shoot them.”
He looked back, his glowing red eyes fierce, lethal. A true demon. He
watched me for a moment longer before nodding and turning back, taking a
sharp right.
“Mark, hang on, I’m right here, okay? But I have to let go.”
He looked back, terror in his big doe eyes. “Don’t, Kyra, please.”
I smiled, despite my own fear. “It’ll be okay. I won’t leave.” I could do
this. It was fine. I wanted to become a hunter, this was my chance. For my
brother. For Letak. I could do this. I could protect them both.
 After another second, he slowly nodded and turned back, leaning into
Letak, gripping onto his feathers with everything he was.
I released a slow breath, praying to the gods, to the stars, to anyone, to
keep him safe, and then I slowly let go, straightening. I carefully pulled my
bow off my back and nocked an arrow. “Okay, Letak, get me a shot. Mark,
whatever he does, hold on. Don’t let go.” I felt like I couldn’t say it enough.
Like he couldn’t hear me.
“Don’t let go.”
“Don’t let go.”
“Don’t let go.”
“Okay.”
Letak dove, turning in a wide circle, and I could see them, all three
chasing after us, fighting to get to us first. They were clawing at each other,
pushing themselves around, but Letak was faster.
Only just, but enough.
I aimed as Letak continued to keep his distance, giving me the best shot
he could. I released one, and it flew through the air, sharp and fast, lodging
itself into the eye of one of the tycrons.
Holy shit, I got him.
He dropped.
I almost laughed as the adrenaline swam through me. I got him!
The other two watched after it, and I managed to get another arrow
nocked before they looked up, more enraged than before.
Letak dropped again, causing me to grab hold of him. I turned forward,
seeing another hoard of flyers flooding through the air.
Letak cried out, turning away, pushing himself hard, flying up and up
and up, until the trees were little more than a memory.
Gods, if we hadn’t been so close to death, this would have been so
much fun.
I looked back, the tycrons gone. Shit.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
I straightened, letting go again, getting my bow and arrow ready,
searching. I had lost demons before, tracked them, found them again, but
this was different.
There was nothing to track in mid-air. No prints, no sounds, no moving
branches.
I looked around, searching the hordes of demons slowly. They were
dissipating. Whatever had them spooked was easing. “I can’t see them.
Letak, where are they?”
Letak cried out this horrible, mangled, angry cry, and reared up.
I slipped, the whole world slowing as I watched Mark pull one hand
away from Letak, Letak crying out, Mark looking back at me, screaming
my name.
There was a breathlessness in me, as if my body was suddenly filled
with air. My heart was calm as I stared at them, my mind confused. What
had happened? I couldn’t see a reason why Letak would have reared.
The zalin screamed, pulling his wings in, diving straight for me.
Mark looked like a warrior as he leaned into Letak. His eyes were
fierce, and suddenly, I saw him twenty years from now, all grown up,
trained like Cole, riding his mighty steed into battle to save people like me.
Damsels.
I never wanted to be a damsel. Weak, unable to fend for herself, yet
here I was, about to die as one.
Letak screeched again, extending his claws. He was so close.
I reached out my hand, if only to touch Mark one more time. I couldn’t
show him that I was afraid. I was fine. Everything would be okay.
Everything would be okay.
Letak whined as he wrapped his talons around my forearm, such trust
and loyalty shining in his eyes.
It’s okay, I wanted to tell him. It’s okay.
His grip was tight, secure. He slowly started uncurling his wings so as
not to jerk me, I guessed, but then he was gone.
I felt a sharp pain explode through my arm as I watched in slow motion
Letak being overrun by a tycron.
He screamed.
My eyes widened.
Lightning cracked, covering Mark’s screams.
Something hit me then, ramming into my side, the night sky wrapping
tightly around me, hurdling through the air, shadows and smoke and stars.
I blinked.
“…old of me.”
I blinked again, green eyes filling my vision.
“Angel,” Trick snarled, “grab hold of me.”
No, not the night sky.
 I looked over as his wings unwrapped around me, spreading far and
wide, as if they were what I had been staring at all these years. Feathers as
black as night, stars interweaved within them, shining, flaming.
“Angel.”
I blinked again, finding his eyes, water drenching both of us, his arms
warm, strong. My brows pulled together as I took in the paleness of his
features, the exhaustion, the feralness. I lifted my hand, running my fingers
across his cheek, leaving a trail of blood that quickly washed away. “It’s
going to be okay,” I whispered.
Shock filled his eyes and then pain. A type of pain that was so familiar,
I ached for him.
His throat bobbed and that pain shifted into fire. “You’re bleeding,” he
stated. “Where?”
I tore my eyes from his and looked down, finding my sleeve shredded,
my skin beneath it just as bad. “I’m fine,” I replied, turning my arm inward.
“Mark.”
“Cole,” he responded evenly.
Cole. Good. Cole would get him. He’d be okay. He had to be okay.
When we landed, it wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be. I thought
he would land with as much grace as he walked, but rather Trick stumbled,
wings disappearing, but he managed to get me on the ground before he
completely collapsed into the mud and puddles of water.
I stumbled forward, barely catching myself, and turned back, the rain
flooding the clearing, leaving three inches of water over the snow and grass.
“Trick?” I asked, taking a step forward.
He forced himself to his knees, panting. “Worried about me, Angel?” he
asked, flipping his hair back.
Just that motion alone caused heat to build in my stomach, and he must
have known because he smiled.
Smiled.
“Do you like seeing me on my knees for you, baby?”
I swallowed, my mind spinning. “Yeah,” I answered and then my eyes
widened. “About being worried,” I quickly corrected as I crouched down in
front of him, studying him. Why was he so pale? He looked just as he had
the morning he had saved me from Mom. But before I could get a word out,
another voice cracked through the air, just as loud as the thunder.
“What did you do?” I heard a female equivalent to Trick demand.
 I looked over, finding a beautiful woman standing yards away, another
male and female standing behind her, all of their wings hidden, the
lightning lighting up their features, making them look every bit as terrifying
as the stories had claimed.
At the rage in her eyes, I found myself standing up and stepping
between he and them. “Who are you?” I had no idea what I was doing, not a
single clue, but I was running off of adrenaline, fear, and worry. I couldn’t
stop myself even if I wanted to.
She stepped closer, her eyes finding Trick’s. “Stay out of this.”
Something feral came over me as I held up my bow and arrow, pointing
it at her head, causing her to stop in her tracks.
My hands were steady, my mind on my brother, on my friends. “Take
another step and I’ll put a fucking arrow in your fucking eye.” The blood,
my blood burned against my skin, each flash of lightning lighting it up like
jewels. The blood was flowing with ease. I was going to bleed out if I didn’t
take care of it soon.
She looked at the arrow and back, such rage reflected in her eyes, I
probably should have backed down, but I couldn’t. Something else had
taken over. “Do you even know who I am?”
“No, but I assume you’re about to tell me.”
She lifted her chin, her eyes flaming. “I am Lora Michael, daughter of
Uriella and Aden Michael, High Queen of the Fallen, and my brother
deserves to be reprimanded for what he has done. Step aside.”
Well shit.
Wait. High Queen?
That wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right.
“I don’t recognize you as High Queen,” I stated, “and I don’t recognize
your orders.”
Lora looked to the tip of the arrow and back. “He revoked his title, and
I claimed it. I’m the High Queen now, and you will do as I say.”
I laughed, laughed, and shook my head. Must have been the blood loss
because this wasn’t just reckless, this had crossed over into absolute
stupidity. “First, you’re not my High Queen, and second, even if I were a
Fallen, I think I’d rather follow the God of Nightmares then some woman
who shows up and rather than asking questions, she immediately blames
her brother for whatever it is that’s happening.” What was happening? What
would cause the demons to do this? What would cause the High Court, to
show up here?
She took another step closer, hatred in her eyes. “I have no obligation to
defend my actions to you.”
Blood dripped to the water below, my mind spinning. “I just hit a
demon in the eye a thousand feet up off the back of another demon in the
middle of a blinding, torrential downpour. Killing you would be nothing to
me.”
Magic sparked in her hands. “Do you even know why he’s on his knees
right now? Because he wiped himself out building bridges to connect the
nine continents again. To piece Caduto back together.”
It took everything in me not to reveal how shocked I was. That was
more powerful than I had ever imagined. “And why is that so terrible?” I
challenged icily. “Oh no, he was trying to bring us all back together, let’s
kill him for it. Because that’s rational.” Nothing about any of this was
rational!
Lora narrowed her eyes to slits. “He did it for his own hateful reason.
Tell her, Trick. Tell her the truth. Tell her that you did it because you were
pissed at me.”
A sigh sounded behind me. “Arrogance has never looked pretty on you,
sister. It’s time the world see the truth of the corruption simmering in the
hearts of the people in this world. This has nothing to do with you.”
I found Lora’s eyes again and shrugged. “And?” But his words stuck
with me, bled through me. What corruption? What could he see that others
couldn’t?
Shock filled her eyes, and I felt pride in that. “You stupid, pathetic
human. We are trying to do everything in our power to prevent a war, but of
course, you are all the same.”
I flinched back against my own will, my heart picking up, fear dripping
down my spine.
I released a shuddering breath, trying to shake the memories out of my
mind. Memories of a raised hand, of sharp words.
Aniya appeared out of seemingly nowhere as a growl sounded behind
me.
That growl was enough to cause Lora to flinch, her eyes now trained on
that solitary shadow. “That’s not how it works,” I began evenly, forcing
myself to find her eyes again, hating myself for reacting like that. “No one
can prevent a war. Not even the gods. You can postpone it, but you will
never stop the inevitable. Hatred runs as deep as the magic in this world and
sometimes, the only way to make it stop, to make people see, is to show
them the truth.
“I’ve seen this before,” I spat. “People like you. People who assume the
worst before asking questions. Before understanding. You have hatred in
you too, we all do. What that hatred has turned you, Cole, and probably
them,” I gestured to the other two, “into are people who blame and judge
before they ask, but the thing is sometimes the world just needs a fucking
villain.”
I straightened, lowering the arrow mainly because I couldn’t feel my
fingers anymore. “We’ve tried everything else. We’ve tried the bargains, the
meetings, the bribes, but what we haven’t tried, is letting the world
succumb to it. To the anger and hatred and rage. Sometimes, people just
need someone who will kill you if you step out of line. A true monster.”
Lora scoffed and shook her head. “He fucked you into submission,
didn’t he? You fell for his little ruse of poetic words and romantic gifts. You
should know he does that with all of his little pets. Every single one.”
I felt a hollow pit in my stomach grow. The one that started after what
Cole had told me not hours before. “It’s pathetic that you’re blind to what
he’s trying to do.”
“No, what’s pathetic is you believing everything he’s told you. Has he
mentioned the Congregation? An excuse to kill whoever he wants because
all he craves is blood. That thing is a beast created in my mother’s womb by
something from beyond the Veil. I am trying to warn you of what’s coming
for you before you make the biggest mistake of your life.”
“How kind,” I spat and took a step forward, the arrow less than a foot
from her eye. “Call him a fucking beast again.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “That collar looked better on Sarah.”
My breath caught, that hollow pit consuming me.
“Talons!”
I fell crashing back into reality at the sound of his voice.
I spun around, dropping the arrow, watching as the lightning lit up the
black and red of Cole’s feathers. “Mark? Where’s Mark?’ I asked, taking in
the black blood covering him.
Cole turned, looking back towards the cottage.
I followed his gaze, finding Mark standing under the overhang of the
cottage roof, dripping with water, shivering. Relief filled me, tears burning
my eyes as I turned back to Cole and nodded my thanks.
He pressed his lips together and returned the nod.
I looked around him, back towards the trees, hopeful. “Letak? Where is
he?” I asked as he joined me.
Cole’s eyes darkened, glancing towards Lora and back.
The air left my lungs at that. My eyes widened, horror and panic filling
me. “No. No, tell me he’s fine. Tell me he’s in the woods.”
Cole’s wings tightened as he shook his head, water droplets flicking
everywhere. “I lost him in the fight, Talons. I think he wanted me to get
Mark so he could stay.”
My jaw dropped. “And you let him!” I cried. “You idiot!”
“Talons—”
I spun on my heel back towards the woods. “Make sure Mark gets
warm,” I shouted back, stalking by Trick. “Get him tea, I’ll be back later.”
Trick grabbed my hand gently, stopping me in my tracks.
I looked back, giving him the deadliest look I could muster up as I
jerked my hand from his. I hated myself as the thought filled me. It filled
me so much, I nearly choked on it. “Who is Sarah?”
“You’re bleeding,” he said quietly, eyes boring into mine. A warning.
“Don’t.”
Don’t ask. He didn’t want me to ask about it because he knew he would
break rule 3. “He saved me,” I stated coldly. I wondered which week it was.
Which time it had been. I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was, and I
hated myself for it.
“And now I’m trying to save you,” he replied evenly.
“I don’t need fucking saving,” I stated coldly. “Letak!” I shouted,
heading for the entrance to the clearing. “Le—”
A cracked chirp sounded to my left.
I spun around just as he landed and collapsed to the ground.
I sprinted for him, skidding on my knees to his side, the hard ground
slicing through my pants. “Letak,” I tried, looking him over. “Letak, what’s
wrong? What’s wrong?”
He released a weak sound, head falling to the ground, beak completely
submerged in the water that pooled around me.
I shook in fear. “Mark! Cole!” I called, trying to lift his head while I
searched for visible wounds.
They appeared in seconds.
 “Mark, come here, come here, please.” I motioned for him to sit at
Letak’s head. “Here, keep it up, away from the water so he doesn’t drown.”
Mark nodded, carefully sliding his legs under Letak’s head without
hesitation. “He’s going to live, right?”
I nodded, although I couldn’t be sure if it was a lie or not. “He’ll be
fine,” I replied distantly. “Cole, get me Asilos Root, Varian, Muskes, and
the jar of Lop eggs, now. Letak, it’s gonna be okay,” I whispered, petting his
neck, trying to meet his eyes. “You’ll be okay.” He had to be okay.
I looked back to the Fallen still standing in the clearing. “Can someone
please help me?” I asked desperately. “Please. He won’t hurt you, I swear
on my life.” I didn’t expect much. I honestly thought they would have left
by now, but the girl with thick chocolate hair braided down her back
hesitated for only a second before she jogged over, Trick close behind,
barely able to keep himself standing. “Hey,” she smiled, her husky voice
unwavering. “What do you need me to do?”
She was a gods-damned goddess.
I wiped my hair from my face. “I don’t know much about wings,” I told
her, looking them over. “His wings don’t attach to his spine, and they don’t
have as bulky of muscles as yours do, and I think his bones may be hollow,
but I’m not sure. Can you work with that?”
She nodded, walking over to his other side to inspect his wings. “I can
sure try.”
Trick collapsed beside me, nearly falling into me, clearly weak. “What
can I do?”
I wiped under my nose, searching Letak’s chest. “He bleeds black. I
can’t find his wounds. I can’t see his wounds,” I whispered, running my
hands over his feathers, over where his feathers melted into fur.
“Kyra.”
I looked over, finding Cole with all the things I wanted in his arms. I
sniffed, cursing the weather as I reached up for the things, only for him to
pull away. “No.”
“Cole,” I snarled.
“Let me take care of your arm and tell them how to help him.”
“Cole,” I warned. “Don’t do this.”
Cole’s look softened as he knelt beside me. “We can do it. You have to
trust us to do it, Talons. We’ll help him, I promise.”
I watched him for a long time, not trusting him in the slightest. My eyes
flicked to Trick’s. Seconds passed before I finally pushing myself away. “I
can do it,” I snapped when he went to follow me.
I took a bit of Asilos Root from him and went feet away so I could heal
myself without anyone seeing the truth.
Cole hesitated for only a moment before he joined Trick’s side, the
woman still working on Letak’s wings, her hands working meticulously.
“Have you found it?” I asked, quickly mushing the root between my
fingers. “Trick?” I called when he didn’t answer. “Did you find it?”
He was still running his hands up Letak’s stomach as Cole checked his
legs.
“His right elbow is shattered,” Cole said, looking back. “You didn’t tell
me to get the antler.”
“It’ll kill him, demons are allergic to magical creatures save for those
that live in water. It’s lethal to their blood. You have to cut it open. Letak,
Cole has to cut you open, okay? You have to stay still.”
“Will he listen?” Mark asked, petting his head.
I nodded. “Yeah, Mark, they’re one of the smartest creatures alive. He
can understand all of us. Talk to him, reassure him like I reassure you,
okay? Think you can?”
Mark looked up. “But you lie. That’s what adults do, right? They lie
about that stuff because you don’t actually know if it’ll be okay.”
The woman, Cole, and Trick all looked to Mark and then over to me,
waiting.
I only smiled, my heart thudding, my motions weak, hands shaking.
“It’s a good lie. You knew it was a lie, but it made you feel better anyway,
didn’t it? Because you trusted me. Because you knew I would do everything
in my power to make sure you would be okay, so now it’s your turn. You
have to comfort him.”
Mark watched me for a moment before turning back to Letak whose
eyes were slowly closing. “Hey,” he whispered, leaning over him, “Kyra
won’t let anything bad happen to you. Don’t be afraid. Be kind always, be
brave in the face of fear, and help when you can. Fear doesn’t have to make
you weak, fear can make you strong. She taught me those. Pretty good,
huh? So, you don’t have to be afraid because she’s the smartest person in
the world. She knows everything.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and turned back to Cole.
“Um…” I shook my head, my mind fuzzy. “You have to cut it open, Cole,
and put the Lop eggs directly onto the bone, and then you have to seal it up
with the Asilos Root.”
“I found the injury,” Trick said, voice steady.
I started rubbing the Asilos Root on my own arm, my eyes finding
Trick’s. “What is it?”
“Deep gash,” he explained. “His intestines are close to spilling out.”
My stomach twisted as Letak cried out, Mark’s voice getting louder.
“How long?” I asked, making sure Mark was okay.
“Eight inches.”
“Is there any bubbling? Any rancid smells?”
“Just sulfur.”
“Okay,” I breathed out, turning back to Trick. “Good. That’s good. Take
the Muskes and Varian and carefully squeeze each of them, let the drippings
fall into his cut. It’s gonna sting.”
“I don’t think he will mind, Angel.”
“No, not him. It’s gonna sting you,” I told him. “They’re both
incredibly acidic, found in the depths of the Conery in the Vampire Court.
Midst of the Frozen Lands.” I shook my head. He didn’t need to know that
right now. “It’s going to burn.”
Trick eyed me before he turned back to the wound and held the
vegetable and the fruit above the gash, one in each hand. He squeezed,
immediately snarling when the juices dripped through his fingers.
“Don’t be a baby,” Cole chided.
Trick shot him a glare, the vein popping from his temple.
I looked back to my own wounds, the rain preventing the root from
drying. “Shit,” I mumbled.
“Here.”
I gasped, looking up to find the male standing above me holding out a
quickly dampening cloth. I jerked my arm to my chest, heart racing. Shit.
Shit.
The male, his eyes a little more blue than Mark’s, were kind, soft. “I
won’t tell,” he promised.
I swallowed, but I couldn’t hesitate. The cloth would be soaked soon, so
I quickly took it from his hand and turned away, muttering a thank you as I
turned back to Letak. It was fine. I didn’t know him. It meant nothing.
I ran the cloth up the length of my arm, watching as the boys got to
work, the woman still carefully inspecting his wings. “How are they?”
 The woman gently folded the right one in, leaving the left spread out,
unable to fold it in with how Letak was laying. “I think he’s just tired. How
long was he flying in the storm?”
“Since the beginning of it,” I explained as she stood. “The demons were
spooked, and they all took off. We were up there for some time, dodging the
flyers, but the tycrons, they weren’t supposed to be here until the end of
winter. They’re the ones that attacked. Something is causing their habits to
shift. Those three scars, a tycron attacked him when he was a kit, I killed
that one.” Again, they didn’t need to know all of that, but I couldn’t stop
rambling.
“You killed one up there too,” Mark beamed. “You shot him right in the
eye from the back of Letak! Mr. Cole, how cool is that? She killed a tycron
from Letak’s back in the middle of a storm! Isn’t that amazing?”
Cole turned to me, looking quite impressed. “That is cool, Mark. You’re
cool, Kyra.”
I glared at him. “Are you done?”
He smiled brightly. “With the injury? Yes. With the childish awe?
Nope.”
My glare fell as I tried to see Letak’s leg. “Are you sure that you put
enough Lop egg in there? You got enough root? I know Talaroe, I can get
more. Use all you need.”
Everyone looked up at that, giving me different expressions of
confusion and question. “It’s enough,” Cole assured me. “I even wrapped
his leg.” He pushed himself to a stand, ruffling his feathers to shake away
the droplets, although it was useless. “Thanks, Nick,” Cole nodded behind
me as he walked over. He crouched down beside me. “How are you doing?”
So that was the infamous Nick? I had pictured him more like Cole, but
by his few words, he seemed much quieter, much more refined. “Fine,” I
answered, looking around him to Letak whose eyes were now closed.
“Mark, Mark,” I said in a panic. “Is he okay? How’s his breathing?”
Mark looked over. “He’s still making noises, he’s just tired.”
“Kyra,” Cole tried.
“Can you go over and shield him from the rain, please?” I asked. “I
don’t have much Fersy left to combat colds.”
Cole searched my eyes for a moment before kissing my head and
standing. “No problem, Talons.” Gods, I wished he wouldn’t do that.
Trick glanced over but I ignored his look. Ignored the way he now
tracked Cole. I couldn’t focus on that right now, I had to focus on Mark and
Letak.
Mark looked over as Cole spread his wing over him, keeping the rain
off him. There was such love in Mark’s eyes, such fear as he continued to
pet Letak. “I’m happy you’re alive,” he told me, silencing the world. He
turned to Trick who was now closing Letak’s wound. “Thank you, Mr.
Trick, for saving her again.”

~~~
I could feel him.
I knew exactly where he was.
Trick was standing against my bedroom door, watching me with a
burning gaze that I felt through my blankets, through my pajamas, through
my skin.
I kept staring out the window, watching Letak as he watched the sky.
He and I wouldn’t be getting sleep anytime soon. Not after today.
After Letak started healing, I had finally taken Mark inside. Refusing to
look at any of the five Fallen that remained in the clearing.
Mark had gone silent, which was fine because I didn’t have it in me to
speak. To explain anything.
We just listened as they argued.
I didn’t hear Trick shouting. Only Lora, the other female, and Cole.
After getting Mark to bed, I went into my own room, ignoring Cole as
he watched me, and took a bath.
I wasn’t sure how long I had been laying here, staring at Letak. I
wondered what he was looking for. I wondered if he was afraid for his
family. I prayed they were okay.
“Are you going to ignore me now?” Trick finally asked, his voice just
as dark as the shadow that lay beside me. He sounded exhausted.
He should be. Reforming Caduto, that was…I was impressed. More
than that. He had built entire mountain passes, I had heard Cole scream.
Every continent was connected now, and while no one could be sure what
exactly would come of it, everyone had agreed on why Trick had done it.
He wants to see the world burn.
But maybe that’s the only way this world could be reborn.
I wasn’t truly sure how to feel about it, but I couldn’t ignore the buzzing
in my stomach at realizing how powerful he truly was.
 No one in history, save for a god, could reform entire pieces of land. No
one.
Maybe he truly was a god.
And maybe I would never tell him that for fear of inflating that already
over-sized, power-tripping ego.
“Now is not the time to test me, Kyra.”
A threat.
I didn’t care.
His words were as hollow as the pit in my stomach, and I hated that
more than anything. I should hate him. He followed me. He inserted himself
into my life against my will, why did I care about who he was sleeping
with? “Go fuck Sarah,” I spat venomously.
A whisper of air was the only warning I had before the blankets were
ripped from me.
I gasped, jerking around, but he was already climbing into my bed.
Panic shot through me as he came from behind and wrapped an arm
around my waist, wrapping his other hand around my neck. I scratched at
the back of his hand, drawing blood as he pulled me against him, wrapping
his legs into mine until I could no longer move. Until I was nothing more
than a trapped animal.
He jerked my head back against his shoulder, my heart racing under his
grip. “Letak!” I shouted desperately.
“Useless,” he hissed, his body pressed fully against mine. “I’m using
the last ounces of my magic to make sure that we are alone. No
interruptions. No eavesdroppers.”
I panted through my teeth, nails digging into his flesh, his blood
warming my hands. “Angry that I found out your dirty little secret?” I
hissed instead.
He dipped his head, his lips pressed against my ear. “I’m angry that you
believed my sister so easily, that you believe anyone so easily..”
I struggled against his grip. “She doesn’t have a reason to lie. You have
all the reason in the world.”
“Your jealousy enrages me, Kyra,” he growled, the vibrations of his
chest sliding down my spine, pooling between my thighs.
“I am not jealous,” I seethed, fighting against him again only to feel his
hunger pulsing against my lower spine.
He laughed a throaty laugh, sending goosebumps across my skin. “I’ll
keep saying this until we are nothing but wisps of memories, do you
understand me?”
“Say what?”
Without so much as a single hesitation, he slid his hand into my pants,
under my panties.
I gasped, eyes widening as his fingers grazed my sick truth.
Trick shuddered against me, my entire body tightening against his. “I
am yours,” he growled, and slid his fingers in.
I bit my lip, trying to force myself to shut off. I didn’t want to give him
the satisfaction. I wanted to stay angry at him. I wanted to hate him. I
should have hated him.
He pulled his fingers out to the very tip and forced my head around
until his eyes were locked onto mine.
They were bright, feral. “You’re making me break my own fucking
rules, baby,” he half-panted, his skin flush. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
My eyes widened. “What rules?” He looked almost manic and that
should have terrified me, but it only made me throb in need.
“Remind me to write them down when I’m done ruining you.” He
slammed his lips against mine at the same moment he slammed his fingers
back inside of me.
I groaned into his mouth, arching back against him, the taste of rain and
shadows filling me.
My mind stopped working in that moment, something else entirely
taking control as his tongue slid into my mouth.
My body melted into his as his hand worked inside of me, faster, harder.
Fuck, his fingers. I couldn’t help the way my hips grinded against his
hand, the way my ass pushed against his cock, the way my body writhed
against his.
His hand tightened around my throat, cutting off my air, my blood. I felt
like I was going to suffocate. I tried to tear his hand away, tried to break
away from the kiss, but he was too strong.
“No,” I heard him whisper through me, “you don’t get control with me.
The sooner you learn that the better.” He curled his fingers in, my body
convulsing against his, tears springing to my eyes. Something dark and cold
started biting my nerves, twisting around my bones, the feeling in the pit of
my stomach growing and growing in a way I had never felt before.
His magic was doing something—
 Trick moaned into my mouth, his grip tightening, and something about
that reaction told me he hadn’t expected whatever was happening inside of
me either. That shadow that had infected me, that connected us, it connected
us in this too.
He finally ripped his lips from mine only to curl around me, to pull me
closer.
I inhaled sharply, nearly choking on the groan that tried to force its way
up my throat. “What is that?” I rasped, grinding into him, needing more.
Needing everything.
“Fuck, baby,” he growled as the ice spread.
I saw the ledge, felt it, and I was ready to fling myself off, mind, body,
and fucking soul. “Trick,” I grunted.
He sunk his teeth into my neck, shoving his hips against mine. “Don’t
you dare hold back,” he threatened, his heart slamming against my spine.
I released a sob, instincts fighting against primal urges.
He sucked at my skin, the pain spreading across my neck, down my
shoulders. “I want to hear you,” he snarled. “I want to hear it when you
realize that you are mine.”
“Oh, God,” I gasped.
He chuckled. “I’m here.”
I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop his name from ripping out of my throat
when I fell over the edge, his hand releasing my neck, allowing the blood to
rush through me.
“Trick!” I screamed, and he kept going as the ice spread through me,
prickling and pulsing and vibrating against every nerve. He kept slamming
his fingers into me until I was pleading for him to stop, until my body was
nothing but a soaking puddle of arousal.
When he finally decided he had tortured me enough, he pulled his
fingers out and lifted them up to his own mouth. He wiped them across his
lips and pulled my own back to his. “Taste that?” he asked, working his
lips slowly against mine. “Taste what I’ve done to you.”
I twisted towards him, deepening the kiss myself, sliding my hand over
his cheek, feeling his hands slide over my waist. I wanted more. I want—
“Take off your clothes.”
And just like that, the craving slammed into a wall of fear. My eyes
flashed open as I broke the kiss and found his.
They were black with need, and I understood that, I did. I could feel it
in my soul. I needed him inside of me. I needed it more than I needed air to
breathe.
“It wasn’t an option, Angel.”
I knew that. The utter command in his voice told me that we weren’t
playing around anymore, but I was frozen. Frozen in my own hatred and
denial.
When I didn’t move, he reached for my pants.
I grabbed his wrist, fear slamming through me. “No,” I said before I
could stop myself.
His eyes flared.
Before I could blink, he was on top of me, knees on either side of my
ribs, his hands pinning my wrists to the bed. “I’m done wa—”
“Eleven,” I spit out, the fear causing my voice to shake.
Trick froze.
My heart slammed against my ribs, my breathing labored as I stared at
him wide-eyed, unblinking.
His eyes narrowed to slits. “That is not a game, Kyra.”
I swallowed, nodding, the regret of saying it and the fear of not saying
it causing my stomach to twist and turn violently. “I know.”
He searched my eyes, his lips curling back from his teeth. “Why?”
Because my body was covered in the marks that had not yet healed.
Because I still had to peel away my clothes. Because I still hissed when the
hot water touched them.
Because I wasn’t ready for him to leave, and I hated that he did that to
me.
When I didn’t respond, Trick snarled and crawled off of me, leaving me
feeling empty and filled with guilt. “I’m s—”
“Do not say those words to me,” he stated as I forced myself to a sit.
I chewed on my lip, tears burning my eyes. “I’ve disappointed you.”
He turned back to me, filling up the room like a true god would. “You
have never once disappointed me, Kyra. Not once.”
I sucked in my lips, eyes falling to his clearly outlined hardened cock. I
didn’t want him seeing me naked, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t return the
favor.
My eyes lifted back to his and I found an animal in his place.
“Angel,” he warned, his voice guttural.
Without breaking eye contact, I slid off the edge of the bed and hit my
knees.
“You will not have an ounce of control. Not one,” he reminded me.
My mouth watered, a response on my lips, but honestly, I was still
dripping for him. I was still riding the euphoria. I needed him inside of me,
and although I wanted it somewhere else, this would have to do.
I straightened and reached for the button on his pants. My hands shook
ever so slightly, and I couldn’t even guess what it was from.
The adrenaline.
The excitement.
The orgasm.
There was no good way to figure it out.
As soon as his button was undone, I managed to zip his zipper down
only partway before he sprang free, and my mind went blank.
Completely and utterly blank. It was…definitely not human.
“Don’t just stare at it, Kyra, take it.”
I swallowed at the demand in his voice. It was something I couldn’t
ignore, not now.
I wrapped my hand around it, feeling a liquid heat grow in the depths of
my stomach again. My fingers didn’t even touch. That alone had me
slightly terrified, not to mention the length.
There was no way in hell I could take all of that anywhere.
But fuck me if I didn’t want to try.
I felt his hand thread into my hair at the crown of my head. He grabbed
a fistful of it and held my head in place.
My heart slammed as I looked up, my eyes locking with his. The pure
lust in his eyes had me weak in the knees. In fact, had I been standing, I
might have collapsed from that alone.
I turned back to his hardened cock and ran my tongue over my lips
before finally leaning it.
I wrapped my lips around it, earning a deep groan from Trick’s throat. I
swirled my tongue around his tip before slowly taking it in.
Trick’s hand tightened in my hair, pain sliding down my spine as
another breathless moan met my ears.
I was doing that.
I was pulling that sound from him.
A kind of arrogant confidence filled me then as I forced myself to take
more. I relaxed the back of my throat, taking him until a horrid sound
escaped me.
When I went to pull back his hand kept me in place.
I grabbed his thigh in my free hand, eyes prickling with tears as he held
me there. I tried to hold it. I tried to let him have as long as he wanted, but I
couldn’t keep the gag back.
Trick finally let me lean back and I gasped for air, my eyes lifting as a
string of drool laced between us. “Have you had enough, Angel?”
I shook my head. Honestly no. No, I hadn’t.
Without warning, he turned my head back to him and I had just enough
time to open my mouth before he was shoving himself in again.
He used my head as his own little fuck toy. Over and over. Deeper and
deeper. Harder and harder.
I moaned around him as I tried to take back control, but his hand was
steady.
“Fuck, Kyra,” he groaned. “Don’t break the rules on me now.”
What rule?
Oh, shit.
I lifted my eyes finding him staring directly into my soul.
“Good girl,” he purred, his voice raspy, on the very edge of his own
release.
I pressed my thighs together, rubbing my hand over one. Fuck.
He tilted his head ever so slightly and then smiled smugly. “Do you
want to touch yourself, baby? Does seeing what you do to me make you
want to cum?”
I hollowed out my cheeks, sucking harder in answer.
The muscles in his jaw feathered. “Fuck,” he snarled.
At that sound, I couldn’t help myself. I slid my hand back between my
legs, my pajama bottoms soaked in my own arousal. My fingers slid in with
ease. I started working myself again, pinching my clit, flicking it, watching
him slowly lose it, his eyes locked on mine.
Gods, it was so fucking hot.
My skin sang, that chill spreading over me again, a shiver running
through Trick as sinful words left his mouth.
My legs trembled, my eyes going cross-eyed as I rode my own hand
and took as much of his cock as I could.
“Fuck, baby,” Trick moaned.
“You made a promise, Trick. I expect you to keep it.”
 He snarled, slamming himself into me. Over.
And over.
And over.
Until he exploded into my mouth, ropes of warmth sliding down my
throat.
I groaned, falling over the ledge at the sound of him finishing, at his
taste. He grinded into me until he was empty. Until I was a whimpering
mess, needing to collapse on the ground.
Trick finally pulled out and I fell back against the bed, trying to inhale
deeply without choking. I hadn’t comprehended how different it would be.
A human and a Fallen, but fuck. He even tasted better.
He crouched down, his eyes glowing in the pale light of the high moon,
something in them I had only seen once before.
I couldn’t find the word, but I did find myself feeling special under his
gaze and I wondered if he had ever looked at anyone the way he was
looking at me now.
My heart skipped as he reached out. He took my hand and slowly slid
my fingers into his mouth, his tongue swirling, lapping up my cum. He
pulled them out a second later and took my chin. “I want you to taste how
perfect we fit together,” he said, and pressed his lips against mine.
His tongue met mine hungrily, our cum swirling together in perfect
harmony. Fuck, I loved the way he kissed me. Greedy and feral, and he was
right, we tasted divine.
When he finally pulled away, he carefully wiped a thumb under my lips,
the look of intoxication swimming through his eyes. “10 years ago, Sarah
and I met. We were together for six months.”
I swallowed as he trailed his hand down to that collar, admiring it. This
was how we were ending this? Talking about previous conquests? If that’s
how it was going to be then—
“She cheated on me,” he confessed quietly, my heart thudding. “Over
and over and over again until I finally left her. Lora favored her, said she
would be the least likely of the women I had fucked to give me monster
offspring. Her genes were strong, Lora believed Sarah’s would overpower
mine. She never forgave me for leaving her. Neither of them did.”
I frowned as he slid his hand up, gripping my throat just under my
jawline. It was a gentle squeeze, a teasing one. “Your babies wouldn’t be
monsters.”
 “Our, Angel,” he said, his eyes dragging up from my throat to my own
gaze. “Our babies.”
He thought. “Your children wouldn’t be monsters because you’re not a
monster.”
He smiled softly, resignation in his eyes, as if he had already accepted
his fate. “I am, Kyra.”
And I hated that. I hated that they had all convinced him that he was
nothing more than a monster. “Just because you’re different doesn’t make
you a monster,” I argued.
His smile fell, his eyes growing soft. He searched mine for a long time,
and I wondered what he was trying to see.
After another moment, he leaned in until his lips just barely grazed by
mine. His breath slid into my mouth, causing my mind to spin. “Baby, I am
a monster, and I will get you naked, whether you want to show me or not.
Now drink some water and be a good girl for me.”
He Jumped.
I shivered violently, the chill of the world settling into my bones.
I released a breath as Aniya drifted in front of me, watching me closely,
and it took all of five seconds to feel the guilt wash through me.
Shit. I really shouldn’t have done that.
“You like his darkness because it sings with yours,” the irrational part
of me whispered.
“You are such a pathetic freak. Go kill yourself already.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to force the thoughts away, but this
time, a headache graced me with that irrational voice.
It pushed into my temples like picks of ice, and it sounded so familiar. I
couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew that voice.
Gods, I needed more sleep.

OceanofPDF.com
 16
My Bible, Chapter 31, Verse 1,
If all else fails, which it will, kill them all.

Kyra
I troom.
took me longer than I wanted to admit to gather the courage to leave my

I even waited until I heard Mark laughing with Cole to leave, which
was embarrassing in and of itself.
When I finally pushed into the living area, the fire was going, the smell
of breakfast filling the air.
I looked over to the stove, seeing Cole teaching Mark how to cook the
eggs and bacon I had gathered not a few weeks ago.
The first thing I noticed about the scene was Cole with his wings visible
and when my eyes shifted to Trick, I saw that his were still hidden.
My cheeks burned red as I made my way towards the table,
remembering every single detail about last night. Remembering the way he
had looked at me while I sucked his cock and the way he had looked at me
afterwards.
Just at the thought, my skin started to warm, and his eyes lifted right to
mine.
“Shall we excuse ourselves?” he taunted quietly.
I frowned deeply, but I had other things on my mind. Aniya had been
gone when I woke up this morning. At first I had thought Trick had simply
recalled her, but there were no shadows around him either. None.
In fact, his hair was lifeless, his eyes dull. “What happened to you?” I
asked as I pulled out a chair directly across from him.
“Good morning, Ky,” Mark called happily.
I gave him the best smile I could manage, but I was exhausted too. Not
just because of the events from last night but because of the nightmares.
They were horrible and I don’t think I slept more than an hour after Trick
had left. “Good morning, little fox,” I greeted.
“I had a long night.”
I gave him a look. “You lasted less than an hour. It was unimpressive.”
 A brow lifted. “Is that the game you want to play, Angel?”
My spine tingled. “Why are you hiding your wings?” I asked instead.
Where had he gone after leaving here? What constituted a ‘long night’ for
the High—ex High King?
He lifted his chin, even his smile exhausted. “They’re very large,” he
answered and turned back to the book he had been reading. “This book is
called The Founders of Mesi, and there’s a scene in here that I think I’d like
to give you a taste of.”
My heart skipped, eyes widening. Shit. “Which one?”
His eyes sparked. “There’s more than one?” he asked and then dipped
the book forward just enough to show me how far he had made it.
I’d say he was within the first 100 pages. I swallowed, my mouth going
dry. “It’s fictional.”
His eyes flicked back to the book. “It was.”
Gods-dammit. I really should have burned all of those. “You are going
to die if you keep using your magic on something as stupid as hiding your
wings,” I snapped, perhaps a little too harshly.
His eyes lifted to mine again.
Cole looked over, confusion coating his expression.
Mark popped up on Trick’s left side out of nowhere. “She’s right.”
He looked over, confused at the small human that managed to appear
out of thin air.
“She told me all magic-users have a limit, and you’re looking awfully
sweaty. Pale too. I know you’re not sick because people can’t get sick
overnight. So, it has to be the magic.”
They could get sick overnight, but I let that one go.
“So you should do what Cole’s doing. It’s good for you, and also, I
haven’t gotten to see your wings yet, and that’s a little unfair of you.”
Trick watched him for a moment before turning to me and raising a
brow.
I pressed my lips into a thin line, refusing to give him any more than
what I already had.
“Hey, what’s that?”
My eyes shifted back to Mark who was now staring at my neck. I
touched the collar gently, my face heating at the weight of everyone’s
stares. “I already told you—”
“No, not the cool necklace, the black marks on your neck.”
 My eyes widened and shot to Trick. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “I have to claim what’s mine, baby.”
But before I could respond, another voice piped up. “Are you kidding
me?”
My eyes lifted at Cole’s irritated tone to find him looking between us,
accusatory.
I felt a spike of irrational anger at that. “They came from the flight,” I
told Mark, giving Cole a warning glare only to see his nostrils flare just as I
turned back to Mark. “When Trick caught me in mid-air, he jostled me a
little and I ended up getting bruises everywhere. It’s no big deal, little fox.”
“Trick, can I talk to you?” Cole asked, placing a plate in front of him.
Before I could say anything, Mark held up a hand. “No, Mr. Cole.” He
straightened and met Trick’s eyes, hands on his hips. “If you’re gonna be
rescuing my sister, you will be more careful.”
I sucked in my lips, trying to hide the growing smile.
“Is that understood?”
My eyes lifted to Trick’s expectantly.
Trick became serious and he nodded once, much to my shock. “I’m
sorry, but I can’t promise it won’t happen again.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Cole’s eyes found me, the heat of anger palpable.
My cheeks burned bright red. “Trick,” I warned.
Mark held up a hand to me without breaking eye-contact.
“Mark,” Trick began, his voice gentle, “bruises have to happen. Bruises
mean that you’re still alive.”
“Mom left bruises,” he said sternly, “and I won’t have no one else
leaving bruises on my sister. Not even the High King.”
“Don’t correct him,” I warned.
Trick’s eyes flicked to mine. “I wouldn’t dare.” He turned back to
Mark. “I plan on saving your sister from every poorly chosen reckless
decision she makes for the rest of her life—”
I frowned.
“—and if I’m going to do that, if I’m going to protect her just as you’re
going to protect her, sometimes that means leaving bruises. Has Kyra ever
accidentally left bruises on you?”
My eyes widened, horror filling me. What?
Mark thought about it.
 What!
After a moment, his shoulders fell, and he nodded.
My chest tightened, my breathing becoming shallow as I gripped my
chest. No. No, that…no, I wasn’t my Mom. I wasn’t—
“I was running across the street, and she grabbed my arm and yanked
me back,” he went on, the irritation fading from his voice. “She got a bruise
just like it the next day. She said she rescued a kitten from the street, but she
wasn’t so fast.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. Mom had punished me for letting
Mark run into the street. It hadn’t been that big of a deal. I couldn’t believe
he remembered that. He had only been four.
“She was protecting you. Not all bruises are bad.”
Mark looked over, his eyes finding my neck again, my face heating. He
searched my eyes for a moment before turning back to Trick. “Are you
going to hurt her?”
“Yes,” Cole answered before Trick could reply.
Mark looked up.
My head whipped around, rage filling me. “Cole,” I warned.
“He will, Mark, he’s going to—”
I shoved up from my chair. “Get outside,” I ordered angrily. “Now.”
His eyes darkened. “Kyra—”
“Now,” I bit.
With only a second of hesitation, Cole put another plate down and
headed for the door.
I gave Trick a warning look before meeting Mark’s eyes. “I’m going to
speak with Mr. Cole. You make sure Trick knows the rules. He loves rules.”
With that, I spun on my heel and headed out after Cole.
As soon as the door was shut behind me, I snarled through my teeth.
“What are you doing?”
Cole turned back towards me, his wings tightened behind him. “I’m
telling your protective and loving brother the truth.”
Letak shoved up from the ground, stretching as hard as he could, a
sharp groan escaping his beak.
“He’s 11, you absolute prick!” I snapped, “and you being 1,000 years
older than him means that your maturity level should be up here,” I said,
holding my hand up above me. “How dare you tell him that Trick will hurt
me, how dare you!”
 “It’s true.”
“It’s only true because that’s all you people want to believe!” I shouted,
my voice echoing around us in the cold chill of the morning. It had snowed
last night. The rain frozen in sheets of ice, my breath coming out in puffs. I
was freezing, but fuck all if I was going to allow Cole to stand in there and
say things like that in front of my brother.
“He shifted continents to bring the war here sooner, Kyra. Every
woman he has ever fucked has been used and thrown away. He will break
you.”
“Then let him fucking break me! You don’t get to have a say in how I
live my life, Cole. If I want to let the High King of the fucking Fallen rail
me into my own fucking grave, then that’s what I’ll do, but you will not
bring bullshit like that up in front of my brother. Ever. Is that understood?”
Cole worked his jaw. “Ex.”
My eyes widened, disbelief filling me in such absolute waves, I thought
I may fall over.
“Ex High King, which is important because he revoked the crown when
I challenged—”
“I. Don’t. Care,” I said angrily. “I don’t care about your stupid, fucked
up politics. I don’t care about your fucked up dynamic. I don’t care about
what the fuck is happening in your shattered High Court. What I care about
is Mark and how he’s raised. I have spent my entire life making sure that he
stays out of adult issues and I will not let you ruin that because you have
some dark agenda against the guy who put you in the position you’re in.
Control yourself or stay out of my house.”
With that I turned on my heel and headed back into the cottage, shaking
from the chill and the adrenaline. The gall that man had, I swear.
When I pushed open the door, I found Trick and Mark shaking hands.
I rubbed my arms, trying to warm myself up as Mark stepped back.
“What was that about?” I asked, hearing Cole walking in behind me.
“Mr. Trick agreed that we would share protecting you,” Mark
explained, taking a seat beside him, careful of his wings. “I’m your brother,
so I come first.”
I nodded. “Obviously.”
Mark grinned. “And Mr. Trick will pick up wherever I can’t because
let’s face it Kyra, you are pretty reckless.”
“I’m trying not to be,” I told him, taking my spot again. “You’re here
now, I don’t want to take such big risks anymore.”
Mark rolled his eyes and laughed. “Yeah right, that’s who you are.”
Trick leaned back in his chair and shrugged, agreeing with him.
I shook my head but didn’t argue. I wanted Mark to believe whatever he
needed to believe to know that I was safe. Because I was. As safe as I could
be, I guess. “And your wings?” I asked, finding Trick’s eyes.
Seconds ticked by before Trick finally pushed Mark’s chair over a little
and then released his magic with a shudder, his wings falling into view.
My eyes were pulled from his gaze to his wings, the stars shining
brightly in the black of his feathers. They were darker than his shadows
were. Darker than anything I had seen before, but those stars shone as
bright as the sun and gods, were they beautiful.
“Whoa,” Mark breathed, immediately grabbing hold of Trick’s right
wing as I gazed upon the four-inch talons that graced each apex of them.
“Look how black they are! Cole, did you see it? Did you see it?”
Cole placed the last few plates on the table and quickly joined Mark’s
side, crouching down to inspect the feathers as if it were his first time ever
seeing them. “Whoa,” he hummed, back to his normal self. “That’s pretty
black.”
I swallowed, eyes falling to my plate, the steam rising from the food.
The first time Trick and I fucked after me signing that contract was
supposed to have been a relief. I was supposed to feel relieved because it
should have been the first step to Trick killing me. And now?
Now I wasn’t so sure. The doubt was still there, the fear, but then there
was something else. Something much deeper.
“What was that? Last night, I mean,” I finally asked without looking
up.
Trick was quiet a moment. “That collar had an invisible leash on it. It
connected you to me lightly. A thread I could use to speak with you
whenever I wanted. The shadow that you took down your pretty little throat
so nicely,” he went on, causing my skin to grow hot, “was supposed to turn
that thread into a chain. Every little kitten needs its ever loyal master.”
I frowned into my food.
“Apparently it took to you a little too well. The leash goes both ways,
which I hadn’t expected.”
My eyes lifted, my brows pulling together.
Trick watched me carefully. “I told you that you own me just as much
as I own you. I suppose it’s only fitting that my magic took that seriously.”
I rose a brow. “Then where is your collar?”
A smile just barely touched one corner of his lips. “Would it make you
wet seeing me with a collar around my throat, Angel?”
“I read a book,” Mark announced proudly as he adjusted the seat right
beside Trick, being careful of his wings. “It was amazing, and you are all
going to listen to me talk about it.”
Without waiting for confirmation, he went on. “Cherishing Fractals,”
he told Trick, forcing the High King to listen. “Kyra wrote it. Based off a
true story, she claims,” he eyed me.
I forced a smile to my lips, my mind whirling with what Trick had just
told me. A leash? Connecting us for how long? Forever? Until I died? So,
we could hear each other and feel when the other was…
My eyes flicked back to Trick’s. “How does it work?” I asked rather
than answering his question.
“I don’t know, Angel. It’s brand new to both of us. I haven’t experienced
anything new in centuries. Not until I met you. You’re making me feel
everything again for the first time. Why else do you think I made such a
deep and unrelenting claim on your soul?”
I shivered at the snarl in his voice.
“You made me feel everything and now I can feel how I make you feel
and vice versa. You can’t deny how you feel towards me when it consumes
me every time I make you cum.”
I swallowed, pressing my thighs together. Fuck. I wanted to leave right
then. I wanted to disappear into the bedroom and—
“I can still smell you, Kyra,” Trick rasped.
His eyes darkened and my cheeks warmed. Oops. I froze. “Wait…You
don’t have any magic left. Can Cole—”
“I have enough to hold that shield, but nothing more,” he answered.
“Don’t worry, your little secret is safe with me.”
Despite myself, relief filled me. Thank the gods.
“It was a story based off the man Odiss. He was a pirate,” Mark
continued easily, neither he nor Cole sensing what transpired between Trick
and I.
Although I was pretty sure that Cole was just stewing.
“Pirates don’t really exist anymore, but a long time ago, they had. Most
of them were evil, stealing gold from other Courts, not belonging to any
Court except for their own where the laws were their own. You know, no
laws but the laws of the sea.” He frowned deeply and turned to me. “What
was the sea called then?”
I pushed my eggs around, not truly hungry. “The Aragone Sea, after—”
“I’m telling,” Mark barked, waving me off. “It’s called the Aragone
Sea,” he told them, turning to face Trick completely. “It was called the
Aragone Sea, past tense. Aragone was a feared pirate lord, and I guess back
then people could just name things and that’s how it went. No records or
nothing.”
I cleared my throat.
Mark huffed and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Anything,” he corrected
with as much attitude as he could muster up. “No records or anything.”
Cole chuckled, despite his mood, and took a spot next to me.
I saw Trick eye him with a glare that would drop most men, but Cole
ignored him, used to it.
I did my best to breathe, to not let on that I was as angry as I was, but I
knew for a fact that Trick had to have heard the entire thing.
Pride. It was my worst attribute.
“Anyway,” Mark went on, “so Odiss, this other pirate, said to be related
to Aragone, no proof, was traveling the Aragone Sea towards what is now
that continent with nothing on it.” Mark leaned towards Trick, raising a
brow. “You know the one?”
Trick nodded. “I do.”
Mark turned to Cole.
Cole smiled. “I know of it, yes.”
Mark nodded and straightened. “He was looking for this rumored City
of Power. It’s legend, not real, but might be real. Kyra said we’d go there
some day and search for it when I get older.”
I felt Trick’s eyes on me but kept mine on my food. I couldn’t be sure if
it was real or not, but if it was, it would be interesting to go and see. I
couldn’t even imagine what kind of secrets a place like that would hold.
“Odiss was so close to getting to that part of Caduto, like he could see
the shoreline, and then boom!” Mark shouted, throwing up his arms. “The
ship disappeared. I think it got taken by the sea creatures. The ones no one
talks about because they don’t want to admit that there’s actually another
Nightwalker species out there.” Mark gave Cole a pointed look.
I set my fork down, trying to hide my smile. It was made easier by the
small headache that started to bloom behind my eyes again. It had only
gone away during the short amount of time I had managed to sleep, I had
hoped it would be gone for good, but there it was.
“Might be more,” Mark shrugged, leaning back in his chair and picking
up his fork. “No one has actually explored the sea so you should keep that
in mind.”
“Me?” Cole asked, eyebrows lifting into his hairline. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the High General,” he answered as if it were the most
obvious thing in the world. Mark looked over to Trick and scoffed. “This
guy.”
Trick tried for a smile, but it was far from reaching his eyes.
Cole frowned at Mark’s attempt at teasing. “Alright, alright. What
happened next?”
“Then,” Mark went on, looking up to the stars, “and this is where it gets
good, the City of Power, whoever lives there, sent up this signal right where
the ship went under. That signal was so bright and so powerful, it left a
group of stars in the sky.” Mark searched for a moment, leaning over the
table, trying to see the whole map I had drawn. “There,” he finally said,
gesturing into oblivion.
“Apparently, he was the first and only person to ever get that close to
that specific shore. They wanted to honor him, but after the War of Ruin
when everything split and the oceans drifted in the wake of the Staff
explosion, it ended up right above Perinix, in the center of it. It was a cool
story. You guys should read it.”
“I already have,” Trick finally said just as Mark took a bite.
He beamed, but at a warning look from me, his response was silenced.
Nobody could talk with food in their mouth, not even in response to the
High King.
“Kyra?”
My brows furrowed and I turned towards the front door at the familiar
female voice, finding a pair of familiar blue eyes. The woman looked
terrified this time.
My headache grew, and it felt as if something was pushing at a wall in
my mind, pushing and pushing and pushing.
I shook my head, blinking hard only to find her eyes again.
The woman walked forward as if she had a mission she had to
accomplish. “My name is Seriena Vellacore. The laws of the Veil limit me,
but I’m trying to do what I can. Listen to your dreams, I’ve been pushing
them through for years, they’re important, you have to talk about them.
He’s coming, Kyra. He’s coming. They know him, you all do. He’s coming
and you need to prepare or there is no hope. For anyone.”
Before I even had time to comprehend what had happened, she was
gone.
“Kyra?”
I rubbed my temples as I turned back to the table, the three boys
watching me carefully.
“Are you okay?” Cole asked, his voice laced with worry despite our
disagreement.
I swallowed, looking between the three. “Um…” I glanced back
towards the door, Seriena gone. Prepare for what? The war? She had to be
speaking of the war.
“Mark,” I finally said, turning back to the table. “Go outside and play,
okay? Cole will be out in a few minutes.”
He looked from me to Cole and back. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded, smiling. “Everything is fine, I promise. Maybe go check on
Letak,” I offered, his eyes lighting up. “No pushing him to fly though. He’s
awake, but still sore.”
He scarfed down a few large spoonfulls of food and was up and flinging
open his bedroom door within seconds.
Only a few seconds passed before Mark was on his way out. He kissed
me on the cheek. “I love you!”
“I love you too, little fox,” I told him, smiling. “Have fun.”
I waited until the door was shut before I turned back to the two men at
my table, and I prayed they wouldn’t call me crazy because honestly, that’s
all I felt in the moment.
I shoved my plate of food away and leaned back, Trick frowning. “You
need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I returned, pushing my hair back, the headache
persistent. “This woman named Seriena Vellacore has been appearing to
me. Has appeared to me,” I corrected. “Twice.”
She was real. She had to be real or else what? I had finally just
snapped? I wouldn’t accept that. Not yet. There had to be an explanation for
it. There had to be.
“Appearing how?” Cole asked as Trick eyes changed. They hardened
and cooled until nothing remained but the High King the world told stories
about.
I thought about it, trying to find the right words to describe what she
looked like. “Like…smoke,” I decided. “An apparition. Fuzzy around the
edges, solid in the middle. She told me just now that there was a limit on
what she could tell me because of the laws of the Veil, but that ‘he was
coming’.”
“Who is ‘he’?” Trick asked, voice now cold. Familiar and oddly
comforting.
I leaned over the table, feeling guilty for not thinking about asking her
any questions. “She said we all know him.”
When Trick didn’t say anything, Cole asked, “Laws of the Veil? Is she
from beyond?”
More guilt. “I don’t know. That’s all she said, but I would assume so.”
Years of interviews, of asking questions, and I failed when it truly came
down to it. It was frustrating.
“Hmm,” Cole pondered. “I never put much thought into whether or not
that place had laws. I can look into it though. I’m sure Nick has something
on the Veil, if not, Penny should know, it resides in her territory after all.”
I nodded, my eyes shifting back to Trick. She wanted me to talk about
my dreams, which I could see the importance in after the Staff one had been
true.
Last night had been a collage of dreams. Bits and pieces that didn’t
really make sense but had definitely kept me up. “Can I ask you a question?
It’s political, but I feel like it might be important.”
“Of course, Talons,” Cole replied, just as Trick opened his mouth only
to close it again.
But it was more Trick that I was aiming for, if I was being honest.
“Why does no one ever mention the last Order?”
Cole glanced to Trick and back. “The last? There’s only the Old and the
New.”
I started playing with the charm on my bracelet as I shook my head.
“Not the Order, but someone who was supposed to be on the Order but has
never actually been included.
“The Knights of Oblivion, remember? They weren’t considered gods,
not in the same sense the others were. They never created anyone, they
aren’t really mentioned in history. Not even during the War of Ruin, you
know? They were called the Order, but no one ever mentioned them. Arius
and Giselle, they’re the Forgotten Order, I guess, which would be a great
title for a book, but I digress. Would you know why?”
Trick leaned back in his chair, adjusting his beautiful wings, clearly
uncomfortable. His eyes became distant, studious, and part of me wondered
what it would take to make the chairs more wing friendly. If they were
going to be here, shouldn’t I accommodate them?
I remained quiet, watching him work through whatever he was working
through.
While he thought, I found my hand drifting from my bracelet to the
collar. There wasn’t really anything to hold onto, not unless I hooked my
finger through that ring, but touching it brought my mind some comfort as I
waited.
“Before the war, I met with the gods,” Trick explained, causing Cole to
straighten.
“What?” he asked, interrupting what I was about to say. “You never told
us about that.”
Trick’s eyes hardened. “Because the next day I left, the war started, and
nothing else seemed that important after that.”
I closed my mouth, looking between the two boys, feeling the tension
become humid and thick. I honestly wondered if there was anything left to
heal between them. Trick, Rose, and Lora had saved him, pushed him to
become this great man. Wasn’t that worth hanging onto?
Although I guess I couldn’t imagine being around someone for 1,000
years. The fights, the arguments, the disagreements. Maybe there was just
too much history for there to be anything to salvage.
“The Knights of Oblivion weren’t there,” Trick finally said, pulling my
attention up. “I can’t be sure which one represented the Order, but neither
were present.” His eyes flicked to my hand and back, something settling in
them.
“Was it just the Order or all of them?” Each species had multiple gods,
save for the wolves and vampires. I didn’t think anyone knew which of the
Knights represented them in the Order.
“Just the Order.”
I nodded, glancing to his wings, watching the stars glisten. They looked
familiar, the pattern, but I couldn’t quite place why. “Um…” I cleared my
throat. “This is going to sound strange, but were there any…any snakes at
this meeting?”
His brows pulled together. “Snakes? I don’t remember, why?”
I shook my head, embarrassed that I had even asked. “It’s not
important. Can we talk about the other territories then? This is also going to
sound crazy, but I…last night I had a bunch of different dreams all at once.
I saw war, the war maybe, and I saw division. It wasn’t just the Courts, it
was their territories. People rebelling against their own Courts. Fae against
Fae, Fallen against Fallen, and so on, but the thing I remember most is
that…the humans were the ones leading it.”
“Leading the war?” Cole asked.
“Leading all of them. Including some of yours. Not the witches, the
humans, and they didn’t look like Immortals, they looked…normal. Just
before I woke up, there was this image. Mark was sitting on the throne, but
Raymond, he was the one wearing the crown.”
Trick’s eyes became troubled.
I kept my eyes locked on his, feeling as if I were falling, terror filling
me, and I wasn’t quite sure where the feeling was coming from, but he was
the only one keeping me from spiraling. “Raymond, he had hazel eyes, not
silver, and they were…they were really familiar. Evanora, she and
Raphael’s arms were bound together, his right, her left, and she was smiling
at him, but he looked…” I swallowed, the image filling my mind again.
“He was pale, there was nothing left in his eyes. I think he might have
been dead. Mark was holding something in his hand too. Something silver.
He had this serious look in his eyes, it was so unfamiliar and cold, and I
was scared. I was scared of him.”
Trick’s brows pulled together. “What was in his hand?”
I shrugged and shook my head. “It kind of looked like a swo—”
Mark screamed and Letak roared.
I was across the cottage before Trick and Cole had even gotten up, both
having to follow me because neither had magic now.
I sprinted out the door, around the edge of the cottage, slipping on the
ice, nearly falling over as I skidded to a stop, eyes widening at what stood
before me, my heart slamming against my ribs.
Letak unconscious near the tree line.
Evanora, hands flaming in silver magic, over a dozen Soldiers behind
her.
Raymond on her left with a sword in hand, and on her right?
 “Mom?” I whispered, stomach twisting violently.
Norella smiled, although it was cruel and wicked, twisted and deformed
by the amounts of charred flesh that covered her body. She had no hair left,
no eyelids, it looked like I could even see her muscle in some places, I was
sure. “Hello, creature.”
Bile rose in my throat as my eyes shifted back to Raymond because
wrapped up in his arms was Mark.
He whimpered as Raymond tightened his grip into his hair, the sword
poised over his jugular. “Kyra, help me, please.”
I held up my hand towards him, such a rage filling me, my insides
sparked and pulsed, my skin burning. “It’s gonna be okay, little fox, I
promise.”
“Oh, don’t lie to the boy, Kyra, it’s a horrible thing to instill in him,”
Evanora ordered.
I found her eyes, feeling the presence of my boys standing behind me.
Trick on my right, Cole on my left. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel
them. I could feel the temperature chilling on one side, warming on the
other. “What do you want?” I asked, voice clear, despite how my gut
twisted and lurched.
Evanora smiled, looking from Trick to Cole. “Oh, so the magic-users
you were harboring are Fallen. Well,” she chuckled, “this changes things.”
“Answer the question,” I snarled, taking a step forward.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the witch sang as Raymond pressed the sword into Mark’s
throat.
I watched as a boil of blood appeared on that silver blade and my hands
shook with rage.
I ground my teeth so hard, I was surprised they didn’t crack. “Don’t you
hurt him,” I warned.
“I told you, Kyra, I told you to let him go.”
My eyes found Mom’s at her words, fear overlapping the anger. “And I
told you that he was mine. How are you alive? Trick killed you.”
“The benefit of having magic that works,” Evanora bragged. “You can
bring anyone back from the dead.”
“No, you can’t,” Trick stated, his voice as chilling as the winter wind.
“She’s not real, Kyra.”
My brows furrowed, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the scene
before me. “What?”
 “Your mother is alive, yes, but she’s somewhere deep underground,
currently being kept alive by my healers. I’ve been torturing her for what
she did to you. This woman is not your Mom.”
What the fuck?
Evanora chuckled. “So the truth comes out. I’ve been practicing my
magic, isn’t it beautiful?”
I looked from Mom to Evanora and back, panting. Forbidden Magic
broke every rule of the book, and I hated it.
My eyes shifted back to Evanora’s. “What do you want?” I asked,
hands clenching into fists. “Truthfully, because I know it’s not just him. It
can’t be just him.”
“Oh? Look at you, a smart little human, but,” she went on, her smile
tightening, “I’ve met smart little humans before, and they’ve all found their
end in the same way. By doing something they thought was smart and
getting themselves killed.”
“So, you’re just going to tell me that all of this,” I gestured around her,
“all of these theatrics, it’s all just to take Mark back to his true father?
Something tells me you aren’t that kind.”
“Well, I suppose you’re right about that,” she laughed. “I do hate
humans more than I hate my own mother. Norella, dear, why don’t you tell
her why we’re here.”
My eyes shifted to the thing wearing my mother’s skin.
Norella bared her teeth at me. “They wanted all of us in that castle,” she
said hoarsely.
“Why?” I asked, turning back to Evanora. “Why do you want me?”
“Not all rivers run red, sweetheart, but I need mine to. Trick, you’re
looking mighty shadowless today. Is something wrong? Perhaps you wiped
yourself building all of those bridges? Smart move, makes things easier for
us.”
“You need Kyra’s blood?” Cole asked before Trick could answer. “Is
that what you’re getting at?”
“Oh, look at you, High General, not so useless after all, hmm? Yes, I
want her blood, and I’d rather have her alive for that, but if you force my
hand, dead works too.”
“Kyra,” Mark cried, voice cracking.
“Shh,” I said, meeting his eyes. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
“Don’t lie to him,” Norella spat. “That’s how we got into this mess.
Lies, lies, lies! You are a filthy, selfish, liar!”
I shook my head, the snow melting before it touched me. “No, I’m not.
He will be okay, that’s not a lie. I saved him from you once, I’ll save him
again. I’d face any and every monster to keep him safe.” I turned to
Evanora, pain erupting in my hands. “Even you.”
“You won’t get the chance,” Norella snarled.
Evanora turned to Trick as she lifted her hand.
I felt my entire world slow as I watched her hand come down.
~~~

Cole
I had been in countless battles before, a war, I had heard the cries of the
anguished, the exact moment someone had lost a loved one, my own cries
after losing Rose, but this?
Maybe it was the explosion that came with it. Maybe it was because I
knew Mark was all she had left, but as soon as his blood hit that snow, as
soon as something shot from Evanora’s hands straight at us, I knew that her
scream would haunt me for the rest of my days.
It tasted of ice and freedom, the white magic that exploded from Kyra.
She screamed loud and long, snow exploding in a harsh wind, her hair
whipping around her wildly. The sound echoed around me, something else
behind it, something I couldn’t quite distinguish, something ancient and
forever. She lifted her hands as if she were going to shoot an arrow, but she
had brought nothing out with her. Her weapons were still inside.
“White magic?” I shouted above the roaring, looking over to Trick, but
Trick was looking back towards the trees, up at the sky, eyes confused,
troubled, shocked.
It was something I hadn’t expected with him being so obsessed with
Kyra. I had expected more. I had expected him to die to reach that boy and
it enraged me that he had done nothing.
I turned back to the scene before me, Evanora’s magic flaring, Mark
laying in the snow, and Kyra?
My eyes widened. Her hair had changed color. Once a beautiful brown
with reddish strands, her hair was now the color of snow. A silver-white,
those red strands now looked like blood dripping from root to tip.
She was now holding a bow of glistening white, pulling back a string,
an arrow popping into place out of thin air, the tip exploding in black
flames.
Evanora laughed in unhinged glee.
Kyra released the arrow, but it wasn’t aimed at the witch, rather, it
slammed straight into Norella’s head.
I expected her to wither and collapse, but instead her skin started to
crystallize, hardening, starting from that impact all the way to her fingers
and toes, and then she shattered, crumbling to the ground in a pile of
sparkling dust.
I felt my jaw drop, heart pounding as my eyes lifted back to Evanora
who suddenly looked terrified. She had known Kyra had magic, that much
was clear, but it seemed to me that the witch hadn’t realized how powerful
Kyra would be.
It explained the burn marks, but I couldn’t comprehend what was
happening.
A blast of magic shot towards Kyra, a shield with a sheen of black
appearing in front of Kyra only to disintegrate as soon as the power hit it.
I looked towards the Soldiers, one dropping, and then I turned to Trick,
finding him looking at his hand, rage sparking in his eyes.
No magic, but the Soldiers only had one good blow. That was easy to
dodge.
No weapons, but that was fine, I could—
“Cole, don’t.”
I turned back to my former High King, Trick’s eyes wild. “Why?” I half
growled, ready to fight.
Trick nodded back towards Kyra.
I followed his gaze.
Kyra was releasing arrow after arrow, one replacing the last in less than
a second. She downed every Soldier without trying, Trick throwing up a
shield every time one got a blast of magic off. He was wasting too much
energy, but so was she.
Finally, Kyra turned to Evanora and continued her firing.
Evanora blocked each hit one after the other, worry sparking in the rage
in her eyes.
Kyra started forward, shooting, shooting, shooting, snarling.
Evanora gasped, her magic lagging.
“Kyra,” Trick snarled, walking after her. “You have to stop. You’re
going to burn out.”
But she didn’t, she wouldn’t. Why would she? Evanora took the one
thing from her that she had left. Her last reason to keep fighting.
I turned back to the first pile of dust, the one closest to Kyra now and
froze.
“Kyra!” Trick shouted.
“We’ll see each other again, Kyra,” Evanora finally said before waving
open a swirling portal of gray and white. She stepped through, Kyra
managing to get one arrow through it before the portal disappeared.
“Kyra,” Trick snarled again as she stopped just at the edge of the
massive pile of dust. “You have to stop using it or you will die.”
But she was already swaying on her feet and dropped her hands, the
bow disappearing as soon as her hands released it. The electricity in the air
disappeared with the weapon as she searched for her brother in the ashes.
“Mark?” she called, dropping to her knees. “Little fox, where are you?”
She was barely holding herself up, but she wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t
slow.
I would have run to her at any other time. I would have, but now?
“Trick,” I said, turning to him.
He had the same look in his eyes that I felt, along with shame and
anger.
“Mark?” Kyra called again, her voice barely a whisper as she sifted
through the piles, only to collapse a moment later.
Trick walked over to her, crouching beside her, sweat plastering his hair
to his neck, his own motions shaky. “Angel.”
She was still trying to sift, her hands coated in that dust. “I have to find
him,” she quietly sobbed, her skin as pale as Trick’s was. “He’s mine to take
care of. Mine.”
“Trick.”
I turned at the familiar voice, finding Lora standing yards away,
concern in her eyes, whether it was real or not, I couldn’t tell, and I honestly
didn’t care. “Lor? What are you doing here?” She shouldn’t have been here.
Why the fuck was she here?
“I got a message,” she answered, walking over.
My brows furrowed. “From who?”
“It doesn’t matter. If you want her to live, we need to go.”
Trick straightened, such a rage in his eyes, I didn’t have to wonder if he
would have shifted had he had the power. “You’re not taking her to
Oridian,” he said coldly. “I’m not going to Oridian.”
Lora paused, that anger touching her eyes. “I don’t care if she lives or
dies, Trick, but I’m sure you do. So either let me take you or leave her here
to rot with the rest of them.”
He snarled, but we both knew there was no other option. Hiking
through these woods for an hour would only waste time, Lora was the only
way we could make sure Kyra lived. “Take us to the Vaserax Mountains.”
Lora rose a brow. “You want me to take you and this dying girl to the
snowy mountains out of what? Spite? She will not survive that cold, Trick.”
I turned back to Kyra who was trying with all her might to dig through
a large pile of ash, her eyes nearly closed, her words nothing but a whisper.
“That’s where I want to go. Take me there or I’ll use what magic I have
left to take her there myself.”
“And kill yourself too?” She scoffed. “That’s real smart.”
And then Kyra stopped. Stopped talking, stopped moving.
“Lora,” he growled.
“It’s a stupid idea, Trick, just take the hand and let’s go.”
I walked over, hitting my knees, grabbing Kyra’s head. I lifted it, my
heart thudding. “We have to go. Now.” She was unconscious. Eyes closed,
lips blue.
Trick snarled this feral sound and picked Kyra up without effort. “I’ll
take her myself.”
Lora sighed dramatically, clearly frustrated. “Gods, you are so gods-
damned stubborn.” She grabbed his arm and met my eyes. “You hopping a
ride or cleaning up?”
I looked over the pile of ashes and then back to Letak, studying the
demon carefully, my heart weighing when I couldn’t see him breathing.
“I’ll stay,” I decided. “Clean this place up. Come get me later.” This cottage
meant too much to her to leave it like this.
Lora nodded. “I’ll be back in a day.”
I nodded once before finding Trick’s eyes, seeing something else flash
through them, something deep and dark, fearful. Whether it was real or not,
he was her only hope at surviving. “Make sure she lives.”
Trick’s lip curled up. “She doesn’t have a choice.”

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 Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to my readers for believing in me enough to pick this book
up! It’s only because of you that I have gotten this far.
Please don’t forget to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon!

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 Glossary/Pronunciations

Aelyria –
El-ear-ee-ah
The Capital of the Fae Court where Penny Rain rules.
Allure –
Al-lou-or
A magical glowing blue deer-like creature that lives in the Fae Court. It
has antlers with healing abilities when chewed. They are illegal to hunt for
they were brought to near extinction due to the price of their antlers.
Asilos Root –
Ah-sigh-los
Found in the Wilds of the Warlock Court, it is used to make salve that
can aid in healing almost every cut. When used, it burns and then freezes,
always leaving a scar.
Black Magic –
It is not as powerful as Forbidden Magic and it doesn’t break the laws
of nature. Can only be used by Greats.
Brealick –
Bray-lick
Most commonly used as a powder, Brealick derives from the bark of a
Brea Tree, located in the far South on a continent inhabited by Fallen, Fae,
and warlocks.
Delya Owl –
Del-ya
Found in the heart of the Desert of Bones, the creature is rare and
almost impossible to find. Eating its heart will counteract all magic. Nearly
hunted to extinction before the War of Ruin.
Dex Leaves –
Similar to the Mint Plant
Eye of Orion –
The Eye of Orion was created by the Nephilim Goddess Orion for those
with too much magic within their bodies. It is used to create ‘extra space’
for that magic to reside, but once the wearer takes it off, traces of their
magic, along with traces of Orion’s magic, remain within it.
Fae Pregnancies –
Fae are only pregnant for four months before they give birth.
Fallen Weapons –
Forged in the Underwater Flames of the lake Dragon Tears. Most of
their weapons were forged using something that had to do with dragons.
Fersy –
A plant made into tea to combat colds. Can be found in the Fae Court.
Forbidden Magic –
Forbidden Magic breaks every law of nature, the power comparable to
Archangel magic. It turns the user’s heart to stone, snapping every ounce of
moral thoughts that person is capable of.
Gan Flower
Gone
In the past, this was used to keep Fallen Warriors awake to fight longer
in battles. It was used for a long time until the Michael’s ultimately
outlawed it.
Gigi Fern
Used to treat frostbite. Found in the deepest parts of the Frozen Lands
within the Vampire Court.
Kyra –
Ky-rah. Daughter of Norella, sister of Mark.
Klopsy Slime –
Slime from a fish from the sea around the Fallen Court. Used to help
Mark with his allergy to lemons. Must be mixed in warm water and
consumed, every drop.
Lop Eggs –
Used to heal demons due to their allergic reaction to any healing
remedy that contains animal byproduct save for aquatic creatures.
Meeria Valium –
Mere-ee-ah Val-yum. Nick Valium’s twin. Emissary of Trick Michael’s
court, and carries the Silent Guardians mark. Two crossed swords, wrapped
in vines. Identical to her brothers.
Mersine Berries –
Mer-sine
Found in the Fallen Court. Used in liquid form to heal bruises and
internal bleeding.
Mesripes –
Mez-ripes
A lumpy, blue berry taken once a month to prevent pregnancies and
ease period symptoms.
Mother –
The Goddess of the End. The witches began worshipping her after the
Keepers abandoned them for what the Fairshields had done.
Muskes –
A very acidic vegetable used to help heal demons. Found at the bottom
of Conery Lake in the Frozen Lands of the Vampire Court.
Narg Demons –
Nargs resemble the Ox with tusks that grow from their bottom jaw.
They stay clear of cities ecept for once every three years when they get
close enough to Therian for Kyra to study.
They are gentle and slow creatures, and to accept you, they must smell
and lick you, leaving black saliva coating your hand. To wipe it off would
be an insult.
They spontaneously fall asleep, falling onto their sides.
New Orders –
Raphael Gerodia
Penny Rain
Lia Seeker
Tyler Marshall
Satarmore Irsch
 Belgart
Evanora Fairshield
Trick Michael
Night Flowers –
Indigenous to the Fallen Court, these flowers grow in valleys. The
petals are black, all cupped, tips pointed to the sky, those tips a glowing
white. In the center of the flowers are three black stems sticking out of
beautiful golden liquid. Once a year, these flowers release that liquid, and it
rises like stars into the sky. These flowers glow blue at night.
Obelisk –
A tower of pure magic that stood in the center of the world before
everything else. Gifted by the Goddess of the Stars. It was lost when the
gods were born. Stolen, given, hidden away. No one truly knows the
answer.
The Obelisk was a physical representation of darkness and light, until it
wasn’t. Until it became everything else.
Obsidian –
A rare stone to find. It is the only thing that can penetrate a dragon’s
hide.
Old Orders –
The gods and goddesses of the species’:
Sorell (Priests; Drake, Reldron. Humans.)
Ahree (Five Goddesses; Masha, Tallion, Briel, Feyre. Fae.)
Shade (Hellions; Amra, Remi. Pixies.)
Khaleesi (Dragons.)
Genesis (The Keepers; Calypso, Matiyou. Warlocks.)
Nyxiel (Goddess of the Moon; Vampires and wolves)
Orion (The Fates; Seraphane, Akira. Nephilim)
Michael (Archangels; Gabriel, Enoch. Fallen.)
Arius (Knights of Oblivion; Giselle)
Rave –
Elk-like creatures who once were used to fight battles, ridden by the
Nephilim without dragon marks. They now roam free in the Fallen Court,
something Trick declared after the Fall. Fierce, loyal, and kind. Their saliva
can be used to heal burns.
Satarmore –
Sater-more
High King of the Warlock Court.
Sarivos/Sarivosian-
Ser-eh-vos
The native language of the warlocks. Rarely spoken by any warlock
now.
Sehrsaws –
A type of carnivorous bird, flightless, the size of a medium sized dog,
colored brightly, impossibly fast. They had disappeared hundreds of years
ago. Thought to be extinct, but now they reside in The Refuge in the
Warlock Court under Satarmore’s protection.
Staff of Elder –
Used as a conductor by the gods to create each species.
Tycron –
Stands less than six feet tall. It has webbed wings, twice its height. It
has long bony legs with feet like a bird. (Three talons, not four.) It has pale,
sickly green leathery skin with a long, sharp tail. Pointed ears, bald head,
smashed face. Rows of sharp teeth, and Wyvern type appendages. Usually
travels in hoards at the end of winter.
Varian –
An extremely acidic fruit that can be used to heal demons.
Verlac Demon –
Dog-like, the size of a dog, sharp pointed ears, whip-like tails, talons
like vultures. They have venomous spit and poisoned claws.
The Wilds –
A place on the Eastern most side of the Warlock Court where warlocks
who chose not to live by the laws of society reside. Satarmore put up a wall
between they and the civilized warlocks to keep everyone safe.
Zalin –
Zah-lynn
 A demon the size of a werewolf. They have the wings, front paws, and
head of a bird, while their back half resembles a dog. Storm-grey feathers
that shift into coarse fur.

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