by JL Madore
Creed
A cool breeze blows at me, tickling my face with my hair. It’s incessant. Annoying. I want it to stop. I just can’t seem to lift my arm at the moment to wipe my hair out of my face. What. The. Fuck.
It takes a few tries, but after a long while, I manage to pry one eye open wide enough to take in the scenery.
Stars. Outdoor furniture. A mountainous, scaled form curled up next to me. Huh. It’s not every day you wake up next to a sleeping dragon.
I roll my gaze toward the two-mooned sky above and correct my thought. It’s not every night you wake up next to a sleeping dragon.
As my mind fog clears, the pieces start to fall into place. We’re on my parent’s private verandah atop the king’s tower of Thornebane Castle.
Rhy must’ve flown us home before he passed out. Smart male that Rhylan. He opted to land here where no one would see us rather than go through the corridors of the castle with a very drunk king.
Fuck, lying on the stone patio is bruising my ass. I’m uncoordinated as I roll to my side and push up to my knees. Shit, I’m still really fucking drunk.
I need to—whoa.
With rubber legs and the world spinning, I won’t make it back to my suite. I rest a moment and rethink the idea of relocation. My head lolls to the side and I eye the outdoor couch.
Now that I could probably manage.
“I’m polluted,” Rhylan mumbles into the stone of the verandah floor.
I glance back and he’s no longer a dragon. He’s a naked heap of a man. “You and me both. How did we get here? The last thing I remember is us fucking in that washroom.”
Rhylan musters some strength and rolls onto his back. He stares bleary-eyed up at the two moons and rubs his hair out of his face with sloppy hands. “I’m not surprised that’s where your memories crash to a halt. You climaxed like a beast and then immediately proceeded to pass out. Do you know how hard it is to dress a guy when he’s out cold and you’re drunk as shit? I deserve a slecking medal.”
I try to remember but I’ve got nothing. Nothing except being bombarded by my failures. Nothing but drowning in grief and regret when I realized that husk of a female was my beautiful Bloom.
“Shit, this hurts, Rhy. It feels like Laryssa cracked me open from beyond the grave and ripped my heart from my chest.”
“I’m not in much better shape. Only it was Shadowcaster and my slecking twin who hollowed me out. You know that disc you asked me about earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s an exile disc. It means I’m no longer considered a dragon of honor. I’ve been excommunicated from my brood. Annnd to cut the wound deeper, Vikarus volunteered to serve it to me. He slecking volunteered! He wanted to be the one to wreck me.”
Fuck that’s cold. “I’m sorry, Rhy. I never meant for us to cost you—well, everything.”
We lay there in silence for a bit before the collision of my two worlds starts to invade. Pain oozes from my chest like I’ve been stabbed and am bleeding out. On a reflex, I move a sloppy hand over my chest to make sure I’m not covered in leaking plasma.
Nope. It’s all a cruel illusion.
“Rhy?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
“Which she are you asking about, Bloom or Keyla?”
Motherfucker, why not twist the knife? “I meant Keyla, but you’re right… I failed them both.”
“You didn’t fail either of them. There was no way for you to know the Blood Witch had Bloom and no way to help her if you had. And as for Keyla… she loves you and is committed. She’ll forgive you for a moment of madness. If she’s truly your mirrored-self, she should know exactly where you’re coming from.”
Good. That’s good. I fist my hand and hold it in the air for a symbolic bump.
Rhylan crawls across the stone and drops back down next to my head. “As soon as you can stand upright, I’ll get you back to your suite and you can apologize. It’ll be fine. I promise.”
With Rhy’s reassurance in the air, I give up my effort to get to the couch and decide to sleep it off a bit more before confronting my mistakes. I close my eyes and reach out on our private channel.
I’m sorry, Little Wolf. Please forgive me.
The King’s Tower isn’t far from the suite where Honor and I live. She should’ve heard me.
Maybe I’m too drunk…
Or she’s too angry to respond.
Fuck. I wish I was sober enough to get her… to make her understand….
Doc
The eight of us are through the portal gate and back in our realm before dark on the human side of the portal. Keyla’s putting up a solid front, but it’s just that—she’s fronting. Still, with everything that happened so fast with Creed, stepping back and touching base with our lives before isn’t a bad idea.
“Hello, Pennsylvania,” Calli says, waving to the FCO crew as we emerge into the clearing on the earth side of the portal rift. “Hello, Mallory.”
The hulderfolk male Hawk brought from the FCO Manhattan office grins from ear to ear. He stands and rounds his desk opposite the gate exit, his tail swishing behind him as he rushes to greet us. “Welcome home, sirs and ma’ams. I do hope your trip to StoneHaven went well. Is everyone well?”
“Very well,” Hawk says, extending a hand to the guy. “But, I admit, it’s good to be back. I see things are advancing nicely with the portal hub.”
They are. When Creed and I passed through the rift a week ago, the energy was simply a power rift in the open air. Now the gate opens up into a thirty-by-fifty foot atrium with a station for the portal controls and an office area for Mallory, our realm security officer.
“This place looks amazing,” Calli says smiling up at the ceiling high above. “How did you get a building in place already?”
Mallory grins. “It’s modular. Mr. Barron told me to spare no expense and get this end of the gate up and running. My wife has a talent for spending other people’s money. She is in her happy place, putting together a welcoming yet impressive hub. I hope it meets your expectations, sir.”
Hawk smiles, taking in the atrium. “Add a couple of reinforced, security-grade skylights and it’s perfect. You’ve done well, my friend. Thank your wife for me and tell her to keep up the great work.”
Keyla
The eight of us make the short walk through the forest and over the newly constructed bridge leading us to the other side of the river. All this land belongs to the corporation of the Fae Concealment Office which is to say, Hawk. The Pixie Queen may have tried to assume ownership of the part where the portal gate is, but my brother and his mates figured that out quickly enough and put a stop to her claims.
“You okay, girlfriend?” Calli asks.
We’re standing at the edge of the tree line waiting for Hawk’s helicopter pilot to finish with his ground checklist. The guys are busy being guys and chatting about guy things and that leaves me and Calli alone for some much-needed girl talk.
“It’s good to be home—don’t get me wrong—but somehow it doesn’t feel right.”
“What doesn’t? Being here or leaving Creed and Rhylan back in Dornte?”
I think about that and answer as honestly as I can. “In my mind, I realize that less than two weeks have passed since Creed and I kicked off the whole chaotic adventure but in my heart and soul it feels like much longer. We’ve been building a life in a different world and I’m no longer in sync with what my life was here.”
Calli hooks her arm through mine, linking our elbows. “I know exactly how that feels. After Hawk arranged for us to take down Sonny and his gang of drow assholes, he took me back to my apartment in California. I needed to settle up with my landlord and pack up a few things I didn’t want to lose.”
“And what happened?”
“It was weird. I felt like a stranger in my own life. The apartment didn’t feel the same. My things didn’t hold the same interest. It was like you said, I was out of sync wit
h my own life.”
“Did it go away?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I asked Hawk to have my things packed for storage and I never went back. The important part is that my life with them felt right and real. I focused on that and then my old life stopped mattering.”
“I get that—I do—it’s just impossible for me to focus on my new life right now.”
Calli offers me a sad smile. “He’ll be all right. Guys need a minute to sort through emotions. He already came to terms with Bloom’s death. To find out she was not only alive but in the hands of his enemies being tortured. It’s a huge blow to his pride, both as a man and a protector. He feels like he failed her and his first instinct was to condemn himself for the happiness he found with you.”
I sigh. “I understand all that and all I want is the chance to help him through it. I feel his pain and it hurts me that he’s hurting.”
“Rhylan’s there with him. They’ll figure it out until you get back to him.”
I look at the helicopter and sigh. “It would be handy if we didn’t have to fly back to Kansas every time something happened. I realize you guys belong here now and Doc and I belong there, but I liked it in the palace and the castle when you were right across the hall.”
“Me too. Your brother’s struggling with that as well. He knows he needs to be here but he wants to be close to you to be available if you need him.”
I squeeze her arm against my side and sigh. “Looks like the universe has a different plan.”
“But we’ll see you all the time when this baby arrives.” She rubs her hand over the bump on her belly. “I never wanted kids, never was around kids, and have no idea what to do with a kid. I’m so lost about what to expect it’s crazy.”
I chuckle. “Well, if you need a break, I’m happy to step in and help. Although, knowing how excited your guys are, I doubt I’ll get much time to play Aunt Keyla.”
Creed
I wake mid-afternoon with my head fuzzy and my stomach churning with eminent upheaval. “Ah, fuck.” Rolling off my parent’s bed, I work fast to orient myself and make it into the bathroom before my night’s poor choices rise in revolt.
My knees throb from crashing into the marble tiles but that doesn’t hurt half as much as the loss and regret I’m still drowning in.
After another couple of rounds of up and out, I groan and rest my head on the cool tiles. My memories drift back to the last time I was in this bathroom. Ironically, I was puking then too.
I was twelve… maybe thirteen and I’d attended my first heir’s event. Satune, the Prince of Travon, got hold of a bottle of haze from the party and challenged me to meet him shot for shot.
I did… until I couldn’t see straight.
Father brought me in here and gave me a lecture. It takes a strong man to rise to a challenge. It takes a stronger man to walk away from one.
My father was a great and wise man.
Big shoes to fill.
I look at myself lying half-dead on his bathroom floor and wince. “All hail, the King of Dornte.”
Closing my eyes I let that sink in. I am a king now. I addressed the citizens less than forty-eight hours ago promising them I would be the leader they need.
I doubt very much they need a drunk asshole puking and fucking up his mating.
As much as I loved Bloom—and I did—I was a posh prince and life was enchanted. I wasn’t the man I am now or that I need to be going forward.
If Laryssa was good for anything, it was how her actions against me, Honor, and my parents taught me the reality that life can be violent and cruel. She forced me to grow up and realize I’m not enchanted after all.
Bloom wasn’t destined to be my forever love.
Keyla is.
And what I feel for my Little Wolf is… I can’t even put it into context. It’s just—more.
That’s part of the reason I’m buried by guilt. It’s more than me moving on while Bloom suffered. It’s me seeing my future in Keyla.
With that revelation in mind, I get my ass off the bathroom floor and rinse my mouth and hands at the sink. After patting my face dry, I check myself in the mirror. Not very regal. “I look like I had an all-nighter and slept in my clothes.”
Which, of course, I did.
Shuffling back out to the bedroom, I take in my parents’ chambers—the royal suite.
Laryssa’s things are polluting the space and it offends everything in me. When my parents lived in these rooms, the space was decorated in gold and black. It was elegant and sophisticated.
Laryssa changed the décor.
She made herself right at home and it sickens me.
I can’t begin to process that with everything else I’m dealing with, so I take a look around for Rhylan and when I’m sure he’s not here, I tuck and straighten as much as I can and head back to my suite.
I practice my apology all the way up the hall, thankful I don’t run into anyone. I’ll get this off my chest, shower, brush my teeth, and when my stomach settles, I’ll make love to her and show her how very much she means to me.
When I get to our suite, I press my hand on the security screen and unlock things.
“Keyla? Are you here, Little Wolf?” Closing the door behind me, I scan the entire apartment for her mental signature.
Nothing.
Maybe… I cross the hall and knock on the door to the Auburn Suite. “Kotah? Calli? Anyone here?”
When no one answers, I let myself inside and my heart sinks. Their things are gone.
Heart hammering triple time I race back to our suite and run full-tilt to my closet. Rounding the corner, I stop dead and groan. Keyla and Dillan’s duffle bag is gone.
“Fuck me,” I hiss, frantically searching the space for something to grab hold of. “Nononono.”
I’m about to go into a full spiraling tailspin when I see the folded note propped against the center pillow on the bed. My feet pound against the floor as I close the distance and launch onto the mattress.
I run a trembling finger over her writing.
Creed
Thumbing the paper open, I’m terrified to read her words. I’m also terrified not to.
Before you panic, I’m gone but I’m not leaving you.
I love you. You are my mirrored soul, remember?
How could you think I’d walk away from that?
I bark a laugh and swipe a hand under my eyes to clear my vision. Closing my eyes, I take a couple of deep breaths and try to restart my heart. “Sorry, I panicked.”
Take the day or two that we’re gone to sort through your regrets and your guilt. You loved Bloom and she deserved better. I understand that. I also know your heart. We’re fine. Yes, I’m hurt, but nothing was done that can’t be healed with you snuggling and spoiling me a little in my grotto.
I chuckle. “I like the way you think, Little Wolf.”
Don’t start the interviews without me. I want to be at your side for all the King of Dornte stuff. I’m all-in. We’re going to rock this quadrant together. But before I can focus on Dornte, I need to be with Kotah to confront Raven and help Mother understand what happened to Father.
Know that my heart is with you and I miss you already. I love you more with every breath,
Evermore, your Little Wolf.
I swipe my sleeve across my eyes and draw a deep steadying breath. To reassure myself, I read her words over twice more to ensure there is no subtext or hidden meaning I’ve missed.
Of course, there’s not. Keyla doesn’t do subtext.
Nakeyla Northwood is the most honest and frank female I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. If she needs you to know something, she speaks her truth and you understand without guessing.
I love you more with every breath,
Evermore, your Little Wolf.
With my heart patched together, I set the note where she left it and head into the bathroom.
It’s time for me to grab the reigns of this quadrant and start being the king my peop
le need.
The king my mates need as well.
CHAPTER NINE
Rhylan
The heat of morning sun sizzles the scales of my wings as I close the distance between me, my humiliation, and likely my destruction. Exile is a no-go in the realm of dragons. Returning to confront my brood is not only stupid, it’s punishable by death.
Still, here I am.
If all goes well, I won’t be confronting anyone. All I want to do is speak to my mom and ask her about something the Blood Witch said. The only way to truly rise to the top is to risk more than others believe is safe.
I’ve heard Shadowcaster say it more than once. A coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t think so.
Shadowcaster was in league with Laryssa and it’s reasonable that he might be in league with the witch too. If that’s the case, my mother being tethered to the man’s side can be used to my advantage.
Maybe I can find out more about where she frequents and who else might know where she is.
Knowing my brood and how hard they party after dark on a week’s end, I’m betting most of them are as hungover and out cold as Creed is right now. If the universe is on my side, I’ll be able to sneak in, speak to my mother, and get out before anyone even knows I’m here.
My dragon growls. Since when has the universe ever been on our side?
Good point. But hey, Keyla and Creed can’t be the only two in the grand design of change, can they? I’m worth a little fae magical intervention.
As I reach the jagged peaks of the Travon Traverse I throw up a glamor and hide my presence. Normally, I do this to protect the location of our brood lands. Today I do it to keep from being seen by my own people.
It’s been two years since I’ve been home.
When Shadowcaster made his deal with Laryssa and sold us into servitude, we were sent off and quickly forgotten. The ill-begotten sons of a traitor.
Knowing that Vikarus ran back to that piece of shit when he found out about me and Creed is a shock.
Was my relationship with the prince a bigger betrayal than our brood alpha’s claim on our mother and the murder of our father?
