Knights of Souls and Shadows, Book 1

by Kristie Cook

  I circled the battle, searching for Maeve, though I didn’t expect her to actually be here. It depended on her motive, though. I didn’t know why Winter Court had attacked the elves. I knew Maeve hated them, and her brother probably did, too, but I didn’t think they were still actively at war. Tor’s man had blamed Maeve for this—not her brother, the king—which had made it feel personal to me, but I honestly couldn’t fathom why. After all, if it was about me, why didn’t she just attack the Shadow Lands?

  I didn’t see or sense Maeve anywhere, but I did notice two figures engaged off to the side from the rest of the battle. One wore a cloak, a bright blue against the snow, a quiver of arrows and an unused bow slung over his back, and a deep hood hiding the warrior’s face. The other was a female fae dressed in silver armor with Winter Court’s runes marked all over it. They were both skillful sword fighters holding their own, and I began to circle away when there was a shout and what almost sounded like a sonic boom. When I turned back, the Winter fae lay on the ground, a large crack in the ground between them.

  Then a dozen Winter soldiers swarmed on the cloaked figure.

  I looked over at the others, Tor, Saoirse, and all of the Shadow fae fighting with more Winter troops. I was closest. But did I want to get involved? When a scream came from below me, that same sensation from before jerked at me, tugging me downward. My intuition once again taking control.

  Releasing my sword into one hand and a throwing star in the other, I dropped in front of the cloaked warrior, who lay prone on the ground, Winter surrounding him. Whipping weapons and magic, I fought as they turned their attention to me. One down. Two now. Another ran away. Numbers four and five tried to take me at the same time, but I easily parried their blows and blasted them with fire, melting the snow around them. They ran, too, but then three more attacked at once. They were stronger than any of the others and used their own magic to block mine.

  A sword swung out, carving a decent gash below my ribs, and I shouted in anger before stabbing him in the neck. My flesh began to heal immediately, but the other two pounced before I could free my weapon. Creating a tornado of snow around one, I blinded him. The other, though, circled my throat with large hands and squeezed. I kicked out, landing a hard blow to the groin, but the armor protected him while intense pain shot through my foot. He lifted me into the air, and taking advantage of it, my wings beat, trying to free me from his gasp.

  Then suddenly he was shouting, releasing me to grasp at his own head, falling to his knees. The others around us did the same, blood pouring from their eyes and ears. The screaming was horrific, blood-curdling, nightmarish . . . and then over. Silence falling as the battle ended.

  The only sound that could be heard were Tor’s warriors panting. I looked up at them, standing several yards away among a half dozen dead bodies, him glaring at me with hard aqua eyes. I shook my head. That hadn’t been me.

  Then came the only other sound from behind me. A familiar female voice. One I thought I might never hear again.

  “Elli?”

  Chapter 20

  I spun, my breath hitching. The cloaked warrior was not a male but a woman. She stood in the snow, her hood thrown back, revealing long blond hair and electric blue eyes. Oh, those electric blues that I missed so much, that had haunted my good dreams that snuck in between the nightmares.

  “Sadie?” I choked out, and I immediately burst into a run. She ran for me, too, and we crashed into each other’s arms, falling into the snow. “Is it really you?”

  She grinned at me. “Is it really you?” Her gaze seemed to be drinking in my face as her fingers reached for my wing. “It is. It’s really you,” she whispered, and I nearly came undone at her touch.

  Then I remembered we weren’t alone.

  I sprang to my feet, turning back toward the others, and when I saw Tor watching us with a bewildered expression, my whole body froze. Shit. Fuck. Damn. Well, this certainly complicated things.

  “You know each other?” Tor asked, suspicion clear in his tone.

  “She’s—yeah, from school,” I said, knowing how lame it sounded and not at all the full picture. I hurriedly added, speaking too fast, “We knew each other in school. In the earthly realm. Well, a different earthly realm than mine, where I was when we had to escape and hide. Well, you know, I told you all that.” I clamped my mouth shut as his brow raised a notch higher with each word.

  During one of those evenings on the balcony after dinner, I’d divulged to him where Brielle and I had been when we’d “disappeared” and his father couldn’t find me. It’d be impossible for him to figure out exactly which earthly realm we’d been in unless he found Dorian’s gate, which there was a fat chance of that because Dorian kept that very well hidden. Not even the Daemoni knew where it was. I had to give Dorian credit for that, at least. Still, I needn’t say more than necessary. Especially not now, with Sadie in the picture. I had no idea what this meant, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it changed a damn thing. In fact, it’d be best if nobody knew about us, our relationship. It would only endanger her, too.

  “And you are . . . ?” Tor prompted, turning his attention to Sadie, who’d risen to her feet next to me.

  “Princess Sareirdre Angrec,” she said, and I turned slightly toward her, still unable to believe she was here, that I was really seeing her next to me. She sounded so different, stating her full title and name with an accent I’d never heard from her before.

  “Angrec?” Familiarity filled the prince’s tone. “As in King Angrec.”

  “Yes, he is my father.” Sadie’s gaze flickered over the other soldiers—mostly Tor’s but a couple of elves, too—before coming back to Tor’s face. She tilted her head and gave him a significant look, sending him an unspoken message. “I’ve been sent to seek an alliance. The queen, my mother, specified I speak with you and only you.”

  Saoirse stood just behind Tor, watching Sadie closely. As they stood so closely together, I saw the resemblance for the first time. Besides the black hair, their eyes were different colors, but had the exact same tilt; all fae’s eyes tilted up but the angle of theirs was identical. More than that were their noses and chins. The cut of their cheek bones didn’t match, and their lips were different, too—Tor’s full and Saoirse’s uneven, the bottom full but the top thin—so I’d never really noticed before. And then I looked at Sadie, her lips like Tor’s, her nose like both of theirs . . . The fae earlier had told Tor that Sadie claimed relation. She’d once told me back at school that she suspected her father was not actually her father.

  Holy shit. I tried to keep the realization to myself, because it was not my secret to divulge, but—fuck. What did this mean?

  Tor lifted his chin as he strode toward us, studying Sadie’s face carefully. I wondered if he saw the similarities like I did.

  He looked over his shoulder at Saoirse. “I’ll take care of these two. You lead the others back.”

  She gave him a curt nod, then turned toward the troops, lifting her hand and twirling a finger in some kind of signal. What it meant I didn’t know, because Tor wrapped his hands around both Sadie and me and sifted us away.

  We appeared in his office at the Court of Souls, and he immediately rounded on Sadie.

  “Explain,” he demanded. His voice was calm, but I could feel his dark energy swirling just under the surface.

  Sadie looked at me with those electric blues, and I swore she was trying to tell me something, but then she turned back to Tor. “My father requests an alliance with the Shadow fae. A, uh, permanent one.”

  Tor’s slanted brow rose. “I see. But you came to me and not the king?”

  She nodded. “As I said, my mother insisted that I see you first. She believes that you would understand . . . that you would . . . that she knows . . .” She stammered under Tor’s demanding gaze, wringing her hands together. “Um, oh—” She swore something in Faelic or perhaps Elf, which made Tor chuckle. She looked up at him in surprise, as did I. His features had softened s
omewhat, which must have been enough for Sadie to relax to spit out her truth, which she most definitely did. “I cannot align with anyone in your family permanently, because I am part of your family. The Shadow king . . . my mother . . . he . . . he forced—”

  Tor lifted his hand, stopping her. “You needn’t say more. I remember meeting your mother at the Court of Shadows many years ago. The Elven king showing off his newest bride, so bright and fresh. Of course, my father couldn’t allow her to leave unsullied.” He shook his head, sorrow clear in his eyes, the downward turn of his mouth. “Your mother was right to send you to me. I’ve been looking for my half-sisters and had suspected I had one in the Elven Lands.”

  Sadie heaved a sigh of relief, her shoulders dropping and her whole demeanor changing. She gave him a tentative smile. “I’m Sadie. It’s nice to meet you, brother.” Then she added under her breath, “I hope.”

  Tor rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s late. You’ve been traveling for days, from what I understand.”

  “The Shadow Lands are not easy to find,” Sadie replied.

  “For a reason,” he said. “I will provide you a room for tonight. You will need to meet with me and my council in the morning and explain everything you know. They can be trusted. Whether the same can be said about you is yet to be determined.”

  Sadie dipped her head. “I understand.”

  “Saoirse will show you to your room.”

  As though she’d been standing right outside the door, the female fae threw it open and hurried Sadie out. I turned, a million things to say to her and not knowing when or if I’d see her again, but Tor stopped me by magically shutting the door in my face.

  “You know her well?” he asked me.

  I gnawed on my lip while staring at the door for a long moment, deciding what to tell him—and what he didn’t need to know—before turning back to him. “I do. We were . . . close. I thought I’d never see her again.”

  “You trust her?”

  “With my life,” I replied with no hesitation, then, remembering what he’d once said, I added, “And with my secrets. She knows things about me that not even my twin does.”

  One side of his mouth tilted upward as he nodded slowly, processing this. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

  “Yes, it does,” I agreed. “It means everything to me.” I left it at that.

  My twin was the other half of my very soul. I wished I could say we shared everything, but there were some things I couldn’t admit to her out of fear of what she’d think about me. I’d shared some of these secrets with Sadie, though. I didn’t know if that meant I didn’t care what she thought about me—which didn’t feel right—or if I just knew in my heart and soul she wouldn’t judge me. I did know that she hadn’t told a single person. At least, not at school. If she had, it’d definitely had gotten back to Brielle or Charleigh, who would have been all over me about it.

  “You will not seek her out tonight,” he said, making me rankle. He must have sensed the change in my energy because he lifted a finger. “I know you trust her, which already leads me halfway there. But I ask that you honor my request. I must know more myself and so does my council. If she passes our inquiry in the morning, which I believe she will based on your word, then you can see her after. I imagine you have much catching up to do. You can give her the good news.” He gave me a wicked smile.

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. But please don’t make her leave without at least letting me say goodbye. It would mean a lot to me.”

  He nodded. “Very well. Good night, Elliana.” His tone wasn’t dismissive, but I got the message anyway. As I reached the door, though, he added from behind me, “We’ll discuss your blatant disobedience of my command later.”

  My spine stiffened, and I turned on him, seething. “My disobedience?”

  “Or now,” he muttered on a sigh. “I am the commander of the Skaelach, the Court of Souls army. I also command the Court of Shadows troops when my father so directs. As a warrior yourself, it is absolutely imperative you recognize that for all of our sakes.”

  My anger immediately dissipated. Shit. I hadn’t even considered that—how I’d undermined him, what kind of message that sent to his men. I averted my eyes and apologized.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured.

  “Still didn’t catch it.”

  I looked up at him to find him grinning at me. The same grin that made my knees weak when no other male had come close.

  “Elliana Knight apologized to me? I shall write about this in my diary.”

  “Asshole,” I snapped. His grin widened. “Wait. You keep a diary?”

  “Well, someone will need material for my historical biography one of these . . . centuries, will they not?” The light tone remained, so I couldn’t tell if he was being serious, arrogant, or teasing me.

  “Good night, Tormentor,” I said before walking out the door. I tried not to feel too guilty for throwing that nickname in his face, understanding now how much he hated it.

  I couldn’t possibly sleep, knowing Sadie Angrec was under the same roof as me once again. Every single cell ached to find her, to hold her in my arms, to feel her lips against mine, but I wouldn’t jeopardize anything. I especially didn’t want to put her at risk because I couldn’t control my hormones. But holy hell. My Sadie was here.

  Here, at the Court of Souls. Here in the Shadow Lands. Where I’d already made a deal to marry a prince—and one I thought I could, in time, actually love.

  But could I now? Knowing Sadie was just in reach? I couldn’t be with her. I knew that. Not if I wanted to keep my deal and protect my sister and the rest of my family. Could I overcome my feelings for someone who was very real when I thought she’d only be a nice memory and fall in love with Tor?

  I did believe he could make it so easy.

  If it weren’t for Sadie.

  “Argh,” I groaned aloud as I rolled over for the hundredth time, my mind and emotions chasing each other in circles. Never would I have thought I’d be in such a predicament. Of course, the smart thing to do—the best thing for them both—was to send Sadie away and keep Tor at arm’s length. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before I broke them both.

  At some point I dozed off, just long enough for the sun to rise.

  “Of course, the day I can’t work with you is the day you decide to get up at a decent hour,” Saoirse said when I entered the kitchen.

  “Like you’re ever up at this hour,” I snipped back as I poured a cup of tea. I missed coffee almost as much as my family, but that wasn’t a thing here in the Shadow Lands.

  “Only if I haven’t gone to bed yet,” she replied on a chuckle. “Except today. Off to find out who this mystery woman is and if she’s truly my sister.”

  Tor must have talked to her after dismissing me. I wished I could be a fly on the wall at the council meeting, but I meandered outside to not so patiently wait.

  And wait.

  And. Fucking. Wait.

  “What the hell is taking so long?” I finally snapped out loud, thinking nobody was around.

  “She went to change,” Tor said from the doorway.

  I jumped to my feet. “And . . . ?”

  He seemed to drink me in, cocking his head as he did. “Something’s different about you.”

  “What?” I shook my head. “Just tell me, will you?”

  “Such demands of your prince.” He gave me that crooked, one-sided smile. “Sadie will be staying with us. Indefinitely.” I sucked my lips in, trying to suppress the huge grin that wanted to fill my face. He could tell, so he was sure to drop his teasing tone, his voice quiet and dangerous when he added, “Unless she gives me any reason to believe she is a threat to me, my people . . . or what is mine.”

  I swallowed, then dipped my chin. “I understand.” I peered back up at him. “What about her father’s—the one who raised her—his desire for a, uh, permanent alliance with the Shadow Lands?”

 
He scowled. “That situation needs my attention. You’ll be glad to know that our ceremony will be delayed for a bit now. I need to find out why Winter Court is suddenly so interested in starting war with the elves again and then figure out exactly how to appease both King Angrec and King Caellach while creating a new ally for my own cause.”

  “Sounds like . . . fun.”

  He chuckled, and a cruel gleam lit up his eyes. “Oh, it will be. The games of kings always are. Enjoy your time with your friend, Elliana, but Saoirse’s been ordered to stay back just for you. Hopefully when I return, you’ll finally be able to impress me. You have two weeks.”

  He turned and strode into the house as I flipped him off.

  Two weeks. Two weeks with no Prince Toridhan to distract me and make me question everything about myself, including my own sexuality. Two weeks of Sadie Angrec, who was an even bigger distraction. Two weeks I never thought I’d have with her—and two weeks to find a way to let her go. Again.

  I’d been watching through the open doorway as Tor’s form retreated farther into the manor when movement from the other side of the room caught my attention. I turned as Sadie slowly walked toward me, pausing in the doorway as she gave me a tentative smile.

  “Elliana Knight,” she said quietly.

  “Lady Sareirdre Angrec,” I replied just as quietly as I studied her face. I’d only seen it by the light of the moon and for a few, brief minutes in the dim light of Tor’s study last night. I hadn’t noticed how her cheek bones looked sharper now, her skin tone, usually a light tan, seemed awfully sallow, and purple smudges circled her eyes . . . and those eyes. An electric blue that always made my heart stop for just a moment had lost some of their flair. My brows drew together as I took in the rest of her—how thin she’d become. “What happened to you?”

  She looked away, toward the mountain face behind me, and lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. Her voice remained low, barely more than a whisper. She sounded exhausted. “It hasn’t been exactly easy since I returned to my world. I told you before about the expectations of me. When Winter Court attacked, it all became very real very fast.” Her gaze came back to me. “It’s been hell, Elli. And it’s nowhere near over.”