Wings of Ruin: A Young Adult Fantasy Romance Novel (Kingdoms of Faerie Book 3)

by Skye Horn

  “Come on, we can talk about it over food. Please.” Thea could hear Adrian’s stomach growling and rolled her eyes. Until he had food, she imagined she wasn’t going to get any answers out of him. “Anyway, you can’t just waltz in and ask the Goddess of Death for a weapon that could harm her, Thea.”

  The warning in Adrian’s voice was clear, but Thea lifted her chin a bit higher, not caring. Frustration sweltered over his face, turning it crimson as Haven came back from putting the staffs away.

  “What if we are asking Kieran the wrong questions?” she interrupted quietly. It appeared her own anger had diffused; she was back to playing mediator between Thea and Adrian.

  “What do you mean?” Thea asked, tilting her head at Haven. “You think we shouldn’t be asking him what Ainé is planning?”

  “No, but I think he physically isn’t able to give us that information.” She looked at Adrian. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but if someone makes a magically binding oath, that would stop them from being able to do certain things, right?”

  Adrian’s brows furrowed, but eventually he nodded. “Yes, oaths that are bound in magic tend to be near-impossible to break.”

  “And Kieran shuts down every time we ask him about Ainé’s plans… right?” Haven continued, returning her attention to Thea.

  She nodded, gears turning within her own head as she put together what Haven was saying.

  “So then, maybe we are asking the wrong question. He’s obviously tied to the Goddess—to what lengths we aren’t fully sure—but shouldn’t we assume that she’s made him take an oath? What other reason would she have for allowing him to remain in this prison for so long? She’s sure he cannot hurt her from here, so she leaves him.”

  “From a strategic point of view, it makes sense,” Adrian agreed, running his fingers through his uncombed hair. “That would mean if we ask the right question, and he’s willing to answer, we can assume he’s telling the truth?”

  “Never assume anything that comes out of his mouth is true,” Thea said, eyes looking toward the door, toward Kieran, who had been locked in a dark cell for weeks. The muscles in her stomach twisted as she remembered the last words he’d spoken to her.

  Adrian seemed to understand where her thoughts had drifted and frowned. “What I’m saying is, he’s been adamant about not telling us anything so far. Maybe Haven is right and we should take a different approach now.”

  “Fine, but when this doesn’t work and he lies to us, we are going with my plan. Understood?” Thea leveled her eyes with both of them, not liking the team they were creating.

  “Okay,” Haven said with a sigh. Adrian looked just as enthused about the idea, but nodded his head in agreement as well.

  “Good. So we have a plan. That’s more than we could say for the last few weeks.” Thea’s shoulders relaxed. She didn’t like the idea of seeing Kieran again after what he’d said to her, but she was going to have to face him at some point. “Now we just need to come up with what we are going to ask him.”

  “After breakfast and training,” Adrian said, walking past Thea toward the door. “You’re not getting out of training just because Haven beat you up.”

  He ducked out of the room before Thea could find something to throw at him, and Haven stifled her laughter as she threw an arm around Thea’s shoulders. Their wings crossed effortlessly, as if they were made to walk together, but Thea glared as Haven commented, “That’s what you get for sleeping with him,” and led her out of the room.

  Thankfully, the dining hall was empty when they arrived. Thea sat across from Adrian and Haven, but for the most part they ate in silence.

  She had too much on her mind to think about food, but knowing that training would exhaust her without some sort of energy, she nibbled on fruit while the other two finished full bowls of porridge.

  If she was going to see Kieran again today, Thea knew she needed to get her head on straight. He’d told her to move on, while also admitting that he was sorry he was causing her pain. She didn’t know what to make of that. If he was such a lost cause, how could he be sorry? She wanted to throw her apple across the room in frustration, but instead, she took another bite and tapped her foot beneath the table.

  “Where is everyone?” Haven asked, stuffing her mouth with too much bread to ever be considered lady-like. It made Thea smile.

  “Sleeping in?” Adrian shrugged, glancing around the room. He had a piece of bacon hanging out the corner of his mouth and quickly washed it down with orange juice.

  “Gross,” Thea mumbled, watching him, but his eyes sparkled with amusement as he opened his mouth to show the half-chewed food. Both Thea and Haven pretended to gag and dissolved into quiet laughter.

  “It seems weird that everyone is sleeping in on the same day,” Thea muttered, eyes drifting around the empty room. “Is this normal?”

  Adrian looked up to meet her eyes with a gaze that said she was overthinking the situation, but she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling of being in the empty dining hall. In all the weeks she’d been here, there had never been a day when they were this alone. Sure, sometimes there were fewer people here, but it was never empty.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Haven assured her, but she looked just as skeptical as Thea. “I did wake you up pretty early.”

  Thea didn’t respond as she finished her apple and dropped the core onto her plate. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that she just couldn’t shake. “I think we should find Caden. Something isn’t right.”

  She stood, preparing to leave without them since they hadn’t finished their breakfast, but Adrian sighed and shook his head.

  “Caden is in the caves,” he said quietly.

  “By himself?” Thea asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “He showed up while you were sleeping last night. I was supposed to go with him but, well…”

  He didn’t need to finish his sentence.

  “Okay, so if he’s been in the caves all night he probably won’t have a clue what is going on.” Thea frowned. “Adrian, does Morrigan leave the castle often? She hasn’t since I arrived in Blackmire.”

  Adrian paused mid-bite. “You think this has something to do with her being gone?”

  “Don’t you?” Thea tilted her head. He was usually extra suspicious of everything. Why was he so blind about this? Her mouth felt dry. Something was definitely going on that they didn’t know about, and she hated being out of the loop.

  “The message just said that she’d be away from Blackmire for a few days. Obviously, she didn’t share any details, and I was just happy she’d be gone.” Adrian rubbed the back of his neck.

  “This feels like more than an impromptu departure from the castle,” Haven said, voicing what Thea had already been contemplating. “Plus, you didn’t think it was weird that she was leaving without her prize possession? Morrigan has been training Thea for weeks. Why leave her out of whatever this is now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, if she isn’t even in the castle, then obviously my plan is out of the question, and I’m not wasting my time with training this morning. I let you have your breakfast, but now we are going straight to Kieran. One of you needs to go find Caden to fill him in on what little we know.”

  There was a note of command in Thea’s voice that surprised even her. Adrian looked at her in surprise as the queen she’d been suppressing for weeks showed her face. Whatever Morrigan was up to, Thea didn’t want to be the last one to know. They had to move while they had the chance. Maybe the Goddess being gone would end up helping them, but it still didn’t explain the lack of soldiers around. That fact left Thea’s nerves unsettled.

  “I’ll go,” Haven said. “I can get to the caves faster.”

  Thea nodded and turned to Adrian. “You and I are going to the dungeons.”

  Without another word, she turned and strode out of the dining hall.

  Haven would find Caden, and Thea could hear Adrian’s footsteps jogging to k
eep up with her. The castle felt extremely quiet, though, even for how early the morning was.

  When they reached the two guards at the door of the dungeons, Thea didn’t even bother to slow down, never mind paying them off. She pushed past them as if she owned the place, listening to Adrian grumble apologies he didn’t mean behind her, and started running toward Kieran’s cell.

  Like always, the dungeons smelled musky, and every shadow danced across the wall under the candlelight. She’d grown used to the strange noises that came from the neighboring cells to Kieran’s, but there was a new smell among the normal stench. She scrunched her nose at the rusty scent that raised goosebumps on her skin.

  “Thea, wait!” Adrian called from behind her, but the foul odor was assaulting her senses now, causing her eyes to water. She didn’t hesitate as she turned a corner that would lead to the end of the dungeons—to Kieran’s cell.

  But he didn’t call out for her like he normally did.

  In fact, there was a strange noise coming from the direction of his cell, a mixture between a growl and a whimper, and the slow drip of liquid against metal.

  “Kieran—” Thea started to say, but Adrian had caught up with her now and snatched her arm, pulling her behind him.

  “I smell blood,” he growled, not letting go of her.

  Blood. Yes, that was the scent Thea hadn’t been able to place before. Her stomach rolled, but she fought down the nausea rising into her throat.

  “Whose blood?” Thea said, voice hardly audible.

  Another groan came from Kieran’s direction. It was more animal than man.

  Thea’s heart sputtered as she forced past Adrian. She reached the bars of Kieran’s cell and choked back a scream as she focused her senses on his body.

  He was curled up in the fetal position on the floor. His wings were bent in multiple directions and blood soaked into the dirt beneath him. Some of it has congealed, but some still dripped off his wings.

  Feathers were scattered around the cell, and his eyes were shut.

  “Get me the key!” she screamed at Adrian, wishing she could break through the bars.

  Adrian reached out for her, but she shoved him away, never looking away from Kieran’s crumpled body.

  Was he breathing? The sounds coming from his chest assured her panicked heart that he was, but there was so much blood.

  “Hold on…” Thea whispered to him, but he made no indication that he could hear her. Instead, his body convulsed. Thea could do nothing but grip the bars harder and stare as he writhed on the ground.

  When Adrian returned with the key, her hands shook too much to unlock the cell.

  “Are you sure…” Adrian said, but whatever look Thea’s eyes held silenced him. He took the key and let her in without another argument.

  Thea didn’t hesitate. She ran to Kieran in the middle of the cell, tears streaming down her face as she saw his broken wings. Whoever had done this to him had meant to hurt him. They’d come here to break him.

  “Kieran, can you hear me?”

  No response.

  “You have to help me get him to the gardens,” Thea said, looking at Adrian with pleading eyes.

  His face was clouded with worry as he stared between Thea and Kieran.

  “Why—”

  “Just help me help him,” Thea begged, blinking furiously to clear her vision through the tears.

  She snatched the keys from Adrian’s hands and after a few attempts managed to unlock the rusted cuffs from around Kieran’s feet. They were the only ones that bound him to the cell, so she left the restraints on his wrists just in case. Her mind swirled as she shouldered him into a sitting position, knowing that every time she moved him she was causing him pain.

  He was hardly breathing, though, and she hoped that by some miracle he couldn’t feel the lacerations that she saw through his wings and body. His clothes had been ripped apart. His chest was exposed and long strips cut through his skin like he’d been whipped. Thea felt as if she might vomit at the sight of the torn flesh, but there was no time to be sick.

  “We will never get past the guards,” Adrian murmured, looking helpless as he went to Kieran’s other side, placing himself under Kieran’s arm for support. Together they hauled him to his feet, but his head hung limp, jaw to his chest. Blood dripped from everywhere Thea looked on his body. His bare feet were blistered and torn, and dragged along the ground as they headed out of the cell because of his and Thea’s height difference.

  But she could fix that. She could fix him.

  They just needed to get to the gardens.

  Putting all of her energy into holding Kieran up, she and Adrian carried him toward the only exit the dungeon had—the way they had entered. She knew the two guards wouldn’t let them past, but it was two against two.

  They could take them. They had to.

  Chapter 25

  Both Thea and Adrian were sweating by the time they got Kieran to the entrance.

  “Let’s put him down here,” Thea said, indicating the grime-covered wall. “We’ll take out the guards and come back for him.”

  “Thea—”

  “Are you with me or not?” She stared at him, unsure how he would reply. She wanted to imagine he would do this for her, but what she was asking could get him killed. If the king found out, which he likely would, they’d both be in trouble. Adrian would lose his chance at the position he’d been working hard toward for years, and Thea would be thrown in one of these dungeons. However, there was no doubt in her mind what she would do next.

  “I know what helping me costs you,” Thea said when Adrian didn’t answer, lowering her voice to a gentler tone. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to risk his life for Kieran’s, but that didn’t change what she needed to do.

  “I’m part of the team now, even if that means saving his life…” Adrian frowned, running a hand through his hair with a final decisive set of his lips. “You take the one on the right. Okay?”

  Thea couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips. She stared at him, trying to wrap her mind around how to properly show how thankful she was, then threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

  “Thank you,” she said against his shoulder, knowing it didn’t express her gratitude nearly enough, but needing to say it anyway.

  “Don’t thank me yet.”

  He held her for a little longer, then pulled away and turned toward the door before she could read his expression.

  As planned, as soon as the door opened, Adrian went left and Thea pivoted right, taking on the second guard. She heard muffled groans and the sharp clash of metal instantaneously, but didn’t hesitate with her own guard. His eyes widened as he saw her unsheathe her sword from her side. She lunged at him, meaning to hit him with the hilt of the sword in the head, but he sidestepped, managing to withdraw his own weapon.

  Thea immediately went into defense mode. She didn’t want to hurt this guard. He was only doing his job. But Kieran was just beyond that door, bleeding to death, and whoever had done that to him, these guards had allowed it.

  Fury burst through her in an instant and her sword met the guard with brutal force. Her focused vision watched him falter as her confidence grew. She’d step left then right and then fake left again before striking at him. Back and forth they went, cold sweat dampening the back of Thea’s neck. She groaned under the pressure of his heavy hits, but never faltered. Kieran’s bloodied body flashed through her mind every time she thought she might lose, and the rage returned. Soon Adrian joined her, and within moments the second guard was down, completely unconscious on the floor.

  Something inside Thea begged to strike down this Fae who’d let someone hurt Kieran, but she turned away before that fury could take its hold, fighting it every step of the way.

  “Let’s go,” she muttered, slipping her sword back into its sheath and heading back toward Kieran. The other prisoners called out as Thea and Adrian returned, begging to be taken with Kieran, but she ignored
all of them.

  “Your training has been paying off,” Adrian said quietly as they lifted Kieran back up. Thea groaned under his weight and inhaled sharply, trying to fill her lungs with enough oxygen to keep going.

  “I’ve had a good teacher,” she responded, but didn’t meet Adrian’s eyes. Instead, she focused on the corridor that would lead her to the garden. She could feel Kieran’s heartbeat against his side. It was slow—too slow.

  They needed to move faster.

  “What are you going to do in the gardens?” Adrian asked, but Thea didn’t have time to answer. Haven rounded the corner, sword withdrawn, and came to a rushed halt when she saw them.

  “Caden said something was wrong! And then I heard fighting… ” Her eyes were wide as she looked between the three bloodied bodies.

  “Gardens—” Thea panted, trying to keep Kieran’s weight steady against her.

  At that, Haven came to her side and took her place, holding Kieran up. Thea wanted to protest, but she knew that she needed to save her strength for what would come next.

  “Where is Caden?” Adrian asked.

  “We’ll be coming up on him soon. I’m faster than him.”

  Sure enough, after a few more turns they ran headfirst into Caden. He was panting for breath, obviously having been running, and like Haven, looked stunned to see the state their group was in.

  “Tell me you didn’t know about this,” Thea said, hearing the anger in her voice.

  “I—”

  “Thea!” Adrian growled with warning, but she ignored him. She couldn’t help it. She’d been betrayed time and time again in Faerie. How could her cousin be any different? He could have known what they planned to do to Kieran. The king had to be behind this. Or he could have sensed it and warned them! Thea’s thoughts were a raging storm.

  Why hadn’t Caden warned them? Had Morrigan and him planned this all along? Did they intend for Thea to lose everything?

  She felt herself on the edge of a breakdown and was shocked when Caden cupped her chin in his hand, pulling her face up to look at him directly.