Royals and Realms (Vampires of Crescent Cape Book 4)

by L. Danvers

“What?! She’s dead? Hey—”

  “Give me that thing,” Xander said, snatching the mirror out of Grace’s hand, making the image go wibbly-wobbly until he held it up in front of his own face. “What happened?”

  “She was dead when we got here.” I turned the mirror around so that he could see for himself.

  “Ugh. Gross.”

  I nodded. “I guess I should tell you, too, that your sister drank some of her blood. She’s out of commission for the time being, but Julian thinks she’ll be okay once the effect wears off.”

  “Well, that’s great.”

  “Can you put Grace back on, please?”

  I heard a huff and the image in the glass rolled a few times as he tossed the compact back to her. “I’ll track you guys down, okay?”

  “Sounds good. Just look for the hut with a trail of blood leaking down into the stream. Can’t miss it. Xander will smell it when you’re getting close.” I swore... the words that came out of my mouth sometimes...

  “Okay, so follow the smelly stream to the house of horrors? Got it.” She winked, trying to lighten the mood.

  I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

  “See you soon.”

  “Be careful,” I warned her. I put the compact away and hugged my arms around my chest. “I guess now we wait.”

  Keo dragged his fingers from his forehead to his chin, moaning. “We need to start working on a backup plan. Your friend Grace—she’s a witch. Maybe she could create a portal.”

  Julian shook his head. “She only came into her powers a few months ago. Granted, she’s freakishly talented—a given, since she’s a Carlisle. But to create a whole new world? She’d need years of practice to pull that off. Even to create a portal to other worlds that are already in existence would require an insane amount of studying on her part. It would—” He stopped mid-sentence as his sister let out a bone-chilling gasp.

  In a flash, Charlotte sat upright, knocking Julian off-balance.

  His brows knitted as he examined his sister. Placing his hand on her back, he said, “Charlotte, are you okay?”

  She clasped her hand over her chest, panting. Not from lack of air, but from terror. She swallowed hard and shook her head, wiping at her eyes, practically clawing the tears away.

  “Charlotte,” he said again. “It’s okay. You drank faerie blood and went all glazed-over on us, but we’re here. You’re okay.”

  Warily, she scanned the room, piecing everything back together. She pressed her fingertips to her lips, but there was no more sign of blood. Julian and Keo had cleaned her face while she was incapacitated. She let out a heavy breath.

  Blinking, she uttered, “I saw what happened here. I saw everything.”

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Julian asked, helping Charlotte to her feet. “What did you see?”

  She pressed her palm to her forehead, wincing. I’d never seen her so out of sorts, and seeing her looking so disturbed only rattled my already shaken nerves even more.

  Her eyes fell on the photograph on the floor. She bent down to pick it up.

  She frowned at the image of the two women. Holding it, she explained, “The faerie’s blood was filled with magic. When I drank it, I saw everything. Felt everything. These faeries,” she said, staring blankly at the photograph, “were sisters. They had just sat down to enjoy a breakfast of chamomile tea and lemon cakes when an intruder burst in.” Sure enough, there were two plates with half-eaten pastries on top. I hadn’t even noticed. “They knew him—or had once. Jareth, I think. Her ex, from what I gathered.”

  The coldness in Charlotte’s voice made me shiver.

  Julian arched an eyebrow. “Aurora had an ex?”

  Keo shrugged. “I tried not to ask too many questions.”

  Charlotte shook her head as the memories of her vision played out in her mind’s eye. “He said he’d broken free from the dungeon. Killed the high guards. Had come back for her.” Charlotte placed the picture on the breakfast table and folded her arms across her herself. Turning away from us now, she continued, “She screamed for him to leave her alone. It all happened so fast. One second they were arguing, and then...” She didn’t have to finish her sentence.

  “That’s awful,” I said.

  Keo had a strange look on his face, like he was conflicted between being relieved at finally being free from his tormentor and saddened to hear of her terrifying end.

  Keo was a good man. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even Aurora. None of us would.

  “What about the sister?” Julian asked.

  “After he attacked the first one, he told the other his work was done here. He fled. She chased after him.” Charlotte turned back around to face us. “I don’t know what happened after that.” She gestured toward the body on the floor. “I could only see what she saw. She must have died shortly after they left.”

  “Do you think they’ll come back here?” I asked. “Maybe we should leave.”

  “The others will be here any minute,” Julian reminded me. “As soon as they get here, we’ll head back for the garden together and portal back over to the Kingdom of the Silver Seas. If it’s okay with Keo, we can lay low at his place for a bit while we sort out a plan.”

  A splash of warm light poured in from around the corner.

  “Speak of the devil,” Keo said, waiting for the others to join us.

  My hearted knotted when a figure emerged from around the corner.

  Startled, I stepped back.

  It was a woman. She looked like she’d been to hell and back. She smelled of dirt and blood with a hint of that same alluring faerie scent that already filled the room. Her icy blond hair was a mangled mess, so much so that I could hardly see the violet eyes peering out from under it. “Excuse me?” she said with restrained rage, her image flickering ever so faintly before my eyes.

  Keo’s eyebrows scrunched together. Stepping out from behind Julian so that he was in her view, he said, “Aurora? Is that you?”

  Her face fell. “What are you doing here?”

  “We came looking for your help. But we thought you were...” He swallowed.

  “Are you okay?” Julian asked.

  “Don’t pretend to care.” She pressed her lips together, agitated. “You should leave.”

  “Do you need us to help, uh...” Keo said, gesturing toward Aurora’s sister’s body.

  The emotion completely drained from her face. I supposed it was better than rage, yet somehow it scared me just the same.

  She managed to nod.

  Together, Keo and Julian carried her sister’s body out of the house and brought it to the backyard. Aurora retrieved a book from one of her many shelves and brought it outside. She pulled her hand out of the pocket of her gown and asked that they set her sister’s body down.

  As they placed her in the grass the carpeted the land, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. The rest of us stepped back, giving her some space.

  I didn’t understand the words Aurora recited from the book—they were some other language. But even I could tell they were solemn and sad.

  She bowed her head and placed her hand on her sister’s chest where her heart would have been. She spoke some more words, a spell, and pulled a crystal vial out of her pocket. One hand still on her sister, she held the vial high in the air. The sunlight bounced off of the grooves, casting little rainbows all about.

  All at once, her sister’s body vanished. A plume of faerie dust was all that was left.

  We watched in amazement as Aurora caught the dust with her vial, tears streaming down her cheeks. With a flourish of her hand, strands of gold sprang out from the vial. She fastened it around her neck.

  Wait... was that where faerie dust came from? Was it the remains of dead faeries? Why was there so much faerie dust floating around that stream? My face started to twist in confusion as questions popped up in my head, but I quickly changed my expression, afraid to risk insulting Aurora. She’d already found us trespassing, surrounding her sister’s re
mains. It was best not to push our luck.

  When the vial was secured, she rose. I couldn’t help but notice there were others.

  Another swish of her hand, and the stains and blood and dirt lifted from her body and disappeared altogether. Her hair looked freshly washed, her long locks cascading over her shoulders and down her back.

  She glided across the grass and stopped in front of Keo. Craning her neck, she asked, “Why did you come here? You said you needed my help.”

  “I tried reaching out to you,” he said, tapping on his forehead, “but I didn’t hear anything.”

  She nodded, understanding. “I was preoccupied with chasing down my sister’s attacker.”

  “I’m sorry.” For as much as he despised that woman, he sounded sincere. “Did you—?”

  “He’s dead,” she answered before he’d even asked. “The high guards will be searching the realm for him in no time. So, make this quick.”

  Keo dipped his head. “We need your help. The witches of Crescent Cape lowered the boundary spell—not just the one concealing that kingdom, but all kingdoms. Phoebe helped them. Gave them a Silverleaf sapling. Anyway, when it happened, my friends burned the castle in Crescent Cape to the ground to get rid of the evidence. But they found a picture of Julian.” He glanced over his shoulder at Julian, who gave him a nod of encouragement. “His face is all over the news. There’s nowhere safe to hide. And uprisings have started all over the world. Supernaturals are being rounded up and taken to who-knows-where. And witches are threatening to—”

  She held up her hand to silence him. “So, you came to make a deal with me.”

  “The faeries built this realm. We were hoping you could create another. A safe haven for the supernaturals who no longer wish to live in the mortal world.”

  She eyed him with suspicion. “You know there will be a price. A rather steep one. This is more than a simple favor you’re asking for. You understand that?”

  “I do.”

  It was then that Grace, Xander and Ben appeared in the distance. The conversation paused briefly as we waited for them to reach us. We waved them over, and it was clear that they were confused as to who we were speaking with, given that we’d told them Aurora was dead. But they didn’t question it when Keo introduced her to them. They simply nodded along. They knew we’d fill them in on the details later.

  “As we were discussing,” Aurora continued, starting to lead us back in the direction of the faerie garden that housed the portal to the human realm, “this is going to take a great deal of magic. Likely everything I have.” She dangled the crystal vials hanging from her neck, making them clink and clank against one another.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, completely lost. “I thought faeries had their own magic.”

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “Of course we do, but just as witches must rest to replenish their powers, so must we. For spells like the one Keo is asking for, it would take a great deal more magic than any single faerie has within them at any given time.”

  “Oh.”

  “When a faerie dies,” she continued, speaking slower now, “the magic within them is left for the taking. Hence, the faerie dust.” She walked on for a while more without speaking, thinking of her sister. She thumbed her newest vial, lost in her thoughts.

  Blinking, she shook her head as if to snap herself out of it.

  Drawing a long breath, she waved for Keo to catch up with her ahead of the group. “Anyway, we were discussing a deal. You know, there is one thing I have wanted from you for a very long time.”

  “I know.” He hung his head. “But I—”

  She silenced him with a look. “Don’t. I’m not going to make you give me an heir.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “Seriously?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not after everything that happened today. Jareth, the one who...” She hesitated, unable to say it out loud. “Anyway, he and my sister were betrothed once. But he was controlling. Some might even say obsessed. He was extremely jealous, too. Always accusing her of being unfaithful, even though she wasn’t. He caught her having tea with one of her oldest friends, Eliot. Slaughtered him on sight.” Aurora’s skin paled. I hurried to keep up with her to hear the rest of the story. “Isobel screamed so loud that the high guards who had been patrolling the woods heard and came to investigate. He was seized and taken to the Crystal Palace, where he was thrown in the dungeon. He sent her letters, blaming her for what happened to him. Swore he’d get his revenge.” She gulped. “I guess, in the end, he kept his word.”

  Keo mulled over her story as he walked by her side. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Anyway, it seems there’s not much of a reason to return to the human world, given what you’ve told me. The Kingdom of the Silver Seas used to be my home. But now that the humans know about the supernaturals living among them, I’m not sure I care to return.” She gave him a sideways glance. “No need to return, no need for you.”

  He looked at her in disbelief.

  “I know you fear me,” she said. “As you should. But, I don’t want to put you through what Jareth put Isobel through. Here,” she said, turning to face him. He stopped, and you could see the hesitation in his face when she placed her palm on his chest. His chiseled muscles rose and fell as his breathing grew unsteady. Aurora’s violet eyes closed, and the rest of us exchanged worried looks, unsure of whether we needed to intervene. As if sensing our concern, she announced, “I’m not going to hurt him.”

  “Then what are you doing?” Julian demanded.

  “I’m removing the mark I placed on him.” And like, well, magic, the tattoo peeking out from his collar vanished.

  He placed his hand on his chest, quickly unbuttoning to see for himself. “I’m... I’m free?”

  Aurora’s lips twitched at his choice of words, but she shook her head.

  Danielle

  “I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” Keo said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He and Aurora continued walking in the direction of the garden, and we followed behind. “So,” he continued, “what kind of deal were you thinking of, then?”

  My ears perked at sudden sounds in the distance. Hooves, perhaps? And shouting. Definitely shouting. I spun around, searching for the source of the noise.

  “Danielle,” Julian said, placing his hand on my arm. “What is it?”

  “Something’s happening.” I closed my eyes, trying to zero in on the sounds, picking up bits and pieces of conversation.

  He’s gone, sir...

  Couldn’t have vanished...

  Could be dead...

  Send out a search party...

  I turned back around, now looking at the faerie. “Aurora, I think someone’s looking for Jareth.”

  Her eyes widened. “I thought we had more time. We need to hurry.” She started running, sprinting toward the garden.

  “But he killed your sister,” Keo shouted as he ran by her side.

  “What he did doesn’t matter. Faeries are forbidden from killing our own kind. Any death, no matter how justified, must be punished. When they find out what I’ve done—”

  The stomping grew louder, and the conversation became clearer as the guards rode on. And then the trampling of hooves came to an abrupt stop.

  Finding the sudden silence more alarming than the sound of being followed, I stopped short and looked behind me. When I did, my jaw fell open.

  “Is that Pegasus?” Grace asked, just as shocked as I was.

  “A unicorn,” Aurora answered with a layer of annoyance in her voice.

  “I didn’t think unicorns could fly. And I assumed they were all maroon, like the unicorn hair on Xander’s bracelet.”

  “What does any of this matter?” Aurora huffed. “We need to get back to that portal now.”

  Taking her advice, we darted in the direction of the garden, leaping over rocks and logs as we took a roundabout route in an attempt to avoid detection.

  We ran past another home, and its owner stared at us
in bewilderment as he watched us run for our lives. It wasn’t until after we had passed him that he managed to yell after us, but we were already gone.

  We were going to make it. I was sure of it.

  That is... I thought we were going to make it until a roaring gust of wind knocked us to the ground.

  Spitting dirt out of my mouth, I pushed myself up off the ground, my scratches and bruises from impact healing already. Julian had landed across from me. He crawled toward me and grabbed my hand, but his eyes were on something behind me.

  Morbid curiosity getting the best of me, I looked back.

  Three massive unicorns—easily double the size of the biggest horses I’d ever seen—padded the ground. They were a brilliant white, as if light was radiating from them. Their horns looked like they were made from pearl, making various colors of the rainbow bounce off them depending on which way they craned their necks. The creatures were magnificent—not nearly as terrifying as the creatures that rode them.

  The unicorns knelt, their massive feathered wings tucking neatly behind them, as their riders slid off their backs.

  The faerie guards were clad in forest green and a shade of brown that reminded me of cinnamon. They stalked toward us, their pleated armor making them seem more like humanoid dragons than faerie guards.

  Their eyes were nothing like Aurora’s. While hers were a beautiful yet terrible violet, theirs were slate, like the sky before a storm.

  They clanked with each step, and at first, I thought it was their armor. But then I realized it was the vials hanging from their necks. Too many to count.

  The tallest one loomed over us, his broad shoulders casting us in his shadow. He cocked his head to the side, revealing his knife-sharp jawline. “You aren’t faeries,” he said, disgust filling his tone.

  Aurora cleared her throat as she brushed herself off and stood tall. “They’re friends of mine.”

  He eyed her with suspicion.

  Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. Gesturing toward Keo, she said, “He’s my husband. A werewolf from the mortal realm.”

  Taking Aurora’s cue, Keo stepped closer toward her, even going so far as to put his arm around her.