Whims of Fae - The Complete Series

by Nissa Leder

  No. She didn’t want to see it again.

  Her body shook as her rage suffocated her. “You tortured her and killed her.” Her mother hadn’t taken her own life. “You made her sick, too.”

  “Mortal minds are fragile things,” Morta said.

  Decuma laughed.

  Nona was the only one who didn’t shine with accomplishment.

  “Time to go.” Morta grabbed the rope that bound Scarlett’s hands together.

  The Fates escorted her to the pit on the side of the castle. Fire burned between all but two of the gargoyles surrounding the pit. When the Fates and Scarlett walked through, the fire spread and closed the opening.

  Ankou waited in the middle—cloak hood pulled up and chin tipped down—behind a black cauldron sitting on a pedestal.

  Scarlett kept her gaze high. She wouldn’t show him the fear swimming through her. If she died, she’d do so with as much dignity as she still had.

  Ankou lifted his head and met her gaze. He smirked. “You look like hell.” He walked in front of the pedestal.

  “Maybe because I’m in it,” Scarlett said.

  Morta yanked Scarlett forward by her tied hands and pulled her down to her knees in front of Ankou.

  “This is a nice view,” he said.

  Scarlett—with as much saliva as her dehydrated body could muster—spit at his feet.

  These people were wicked murderers. They used their gift of seeing the future to manipulate it to their desired outcome. They killed her mother because they needed Scarlett.

  “Why didn’t you just take me?”

  Ankou titled his head and sighed. “I told you to bring her to me, not to waste time showing her visions.” He looked to the Fates. “Leave us. Please do your next task without deviating.”

  They vanished.

  “Some alone time.” Ankou winked.

  Scarlett kept her face still. She wouldn’t let him get to her.

  “Stand,” he said.

  She didn’t.

  “No need to make this more difficult than it has to be.” Ankou groaned.

  Scarlett’s body levitated from the ground. Her legs unbent themselves until she was standing.

  “Better.” Ankou glanced at the sky. A white moon hovered above them. “It’s time.”

  He pulled Scarlett’s hand over the cauldron and, with a knife he plucked from his pocket, sliced the center of her palm.

  He twisted her wrist so that the blood dripped into the liquid already in the cauldron. The elixir bubbled, changing from white to blood red.

  Scarlett tried to move, but her body was paralyzed.

  A wine glass appeared in his hand. Liquid from the cauldron rose in a stream and poured into the glass until it was full. Ankou lifted the glass. “Cheers.”

  He tipped it to his lips and drank. The red liquid dripped from his mouth and down his chin. He didn’t stop until the glass was empty.

  Ankou exhaled a long breath. His brows furrowed as he stared at Scarlett. Then a grin spread across his mouth. “I was wrong.”

  Still unable to move, Scarlett couldn’t respond.

  He continued, “You aren’t just like Dana. You’ve tasted the darkness, the lure of its power.”

  The book. Scarlett had known the magic wasn’t the same as the magic the tree had given her. Was it the same as Ankou’s?

  He released his grip on her and said, “You liked the strength it gave you.”

  “No,” Scarlett lied.

  “The world could be ours. No one could stop us.”

  “I won’t become you,” Scarlett said. “I’d rather die.”

  “Oh, silly girl. I’m not going to kill you. I can’t exist without you or you without me. You’ll be kept here in the Darkland, trapped forever where I can keep you safe.”

  Ankou touched her forehead and sent a vision to her mind.

  Her mother, much younger, sat on a blanket underneath the shade of a tree as she held a baby—Ashleigh—in between her legs. One moment they were alone. The next, a man appeared near to her.

  It was Laik.

  “Hello,” her mother said. “We’ve missed you.”

  Laik picked Ashleigh up. “Her father is gone for good?”

  “Yes.” She turned to him. “I have something to tell you.”

  Concern set in Laik’s eyes.

  “I’m pregnant.” She watched for his reaction. “And the child is yours.”

  The vision fizzled into a new one.

  A toddler Ashleigh played with toys in their living room. Their mother held a baby Scarlett in her arms, wrapped in a pink blanket.

  Laik stood over her and looked down. “I’ve done what I could to hide her heritage.”

  “What’s so wrong with her being part fae? There must be many others like her.”

  “It isn’t encouraged for my kind to mate with mortals.” He blushed. “Most of the time, it’s overlooked, but my parents were of rival courts, which is forbidden in the court in which I reside. If others found out about her, she could be in danger.”

  Her mother rocked Scarlett. “She’s beautiful no matter what courts she’d belong to in your world.”

  “She doesn’t belong in my world. It isn’t safe for any of you to return.”

  “But—”

  “I’ve been reckless. I should never have brought you into my world. My position at the Seelie Court could get all of you into trouble. I’ve hidden Scarlett’s nature the best I could, but there will still be those who can see through the magic I’ve placed over her.”

  “Will she have magic?”

  “Her magic will be blocked as long as she remains in the mortal realm.”

  “Realm?”

  “My court resides in your realm, hidden from wandering mortals, but there is another realm, one where many fae live.”

  “How do I keep her away from there?”

  “It isn’t a place where many mortals go, so she should live a normal life.” He smiled. “I will miss you.”

  The vision dissolved back into the present. Ankou’s fingers remained on Scarlett’s forehead. A surge of magic flooded her. She’d never felt such power.

  Or such rage.

  Laik was her father—and, like her, part Unseelie—and he’d abandoned her mother. If he’d have come back, he would have realized she wasn’t well anymore. Maybe he could have sensed that magic was the cause. Maybe he could have fixed her.

  Maybe.

  Maybe.

  Maybe.

  The maybes didn’t do any good.

  “You can make him pay. You can make anyone who’s hurt you pay. Join me, and we will destroy anyone who dares stand in our way. My daughters are attacking the Seelie castle as we speak. Those who don’t join me will fall. ”

  The anger inside of her flickered liked fire. Thinking of her mother ignited it more. She deserved revenge.

  But Laik hadn’t been the one to torture her or to kill her. That was the Fates, daughters of Ankou. If she embraced the darkness, could she destroy them?

  Or would it destroy her?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Morta, who seemed to be the leader of the Fates, spoke to Cade and Nevina. “We can only take six others with us. Two with each of us.”

  “My advisor will come,” Nevina said. “And two of my guards.”

  Since the Seelie Palace had protections up to prevent outside evanescing, they would rely on the Fates ability to bypass the invisible magic, but the Fates could only carry so much burden with them. Nevina’s demands left room for only two additional travelers.

  Ajax and Cade were those two since, as rulers, they were the most powerful.

  Poppy placed her hand on her hip, annoyance clear on her face. “I can’t protect you if I’m here.”

  Cade hated to leave Poppy behind, but he didn’t know what would happen. The Seelie Queen was strong and usually heavily guarded.

  And Cade still didn’t know which side they actually stood on. He couldn’t bring her into his deceit any mor
e than he already had.

  “It’s settled then. Decuma, see where the Seelie Queen is.”

  Decuma vanished then reappeared a few moments later. “She’s in the throne room with her advisor and the Unseelie King. No other guards.”

  “Perfect,” Morta said.

  “Kaelem is the second most powerful fae,” Cade said. “Shouldn’t we wait for him to leave?”

  “It will be nine versus three, and we can get rid of both the mortal realm rulers tonight.” Confidence set in Nevina’s eyes. “They will pay for what they’ve done to us. Since I’ve orchestrated this whole thing, I will take control of the Unseelie Court. You two can flip a coin for the other.”

  Cade wished he shared her optimism, but he knew underestimating Genevieve and Kaelem wasn’t wise.

  Cade turned to Poppy and took her hands in his. “We’ll be fine.”

  She reached up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. “You better come back to me.”

  Heat rushed to Cade’s face. Reluctantly, he released Poppy’s hands and walked to Decuma.

  “You two are adorable.” Decuma touched his shoulder and they evanesced to the Seelie Court.

  They landed directly in the throne room.

  Genevieve sat on the throne. Confusion flashed on her face, but as quickly as it had come, it disappeared, replaced with a cold stare.

  Kaelem and Laik, both standing in front of her, turned to face the group that had just arrived.

  Cade met Kaelem’s gaze. The necklace kept him out of Cade’s head. He couldn’t hear the thoughts racing through Cade’s mind.

  Which side should he choose?

  He tried to think of every possibility, but with so much unknown, it did no good.

  Cade would have to trust his gut.

  As tempting as the possibility of taking over the Seelie kingdom was, he didn’t want to be on the same side as Nevina and the Fates. Not for real, at least.

  His father was a good king, and he wanted to be a worthy successor.

  Even if he decided to side with Kaelem, he didn’t know what to do. Did he turn on the Fates right then and there? It would make it four versus eight, slightly more even odds, but still not great.

  And he’d blow his cover.

  Despite not truly wanting to join with the Fates in the upcoming war, he wanted his full power.

  Maybe he could have both. If he kept the ruse going, he could help Nevina, they could regain their power, and, if he played it right, could also keep Kaelem safe.

  “This is a surprise.” Genevieve rose from the throne and moved between Kaelem and Laik.

  “It’s convenient to find you both here. It must be our lucky day.” Nevina stepped forward.

  Her advisor kept close.

  “Yes, quite lucky,” Genevieve said. “To what reason do we owe this uninvited visit?”

  “We’re here for the power your ancestors stole from us. No need to make this harder than need be.” Nevina created a ball of ice in her hand.

  Kaelem stepped forward. “I expect this from Nevina, but you Cade?”

  “Sometimes we have to make choices,” Cade replied.

  “Indeed.” Kaelem nodded.

  Nevina tossed the ice back and forth. “Why make this harder than it needs to be? Give us our power back and we can leave.”

  Cade wondered if that was true. Would Nevina and the Fates really just take the power and go?

  He doubted the Seelie Queen would concede.

  Either way, just how far was he willing to go?

  Of all the times Kaelem decided to randomly visit the Seelie Court, of course he’d picked the time that Nevina and her allies staged an ambush.

  Thanks to his brilliant idea to give Cade a magical necklace, he couldn’t see into his mind. Instead, he tried to read his emotions. A slight hint of nervousness was all Kaelem could feel.

  Nervous because he was secretly on Kaelem’s side or nervous because he’d changed his mind and now his allegiance belonged to Kaelem’s enemies?

  Kaelem reached his mind out to Laik, who allowed him in.

  They’ve created some sort of block and we can’t evanesce out, Laik thought.

  Figures. Whatever power allows them to evanesce in must allow them to keep others from leaving.

  Laik scanned the room. There’s only one exit and it’s behind them.

  “No one is coming to your rescue,” the leader Fate said. “The door is sealed and evanescing in or out by fae is temporarily prohibited.”

  “So, you’ve come for a fight?” Laik asked.

  There was no way Genevieve would hand over the power. It had kept the Seelie and Unseelie Courts the strongest for too long.

  The odds weren’t terrible. Normally, three-to-one would be nothing to Kaelem. But he didn’t know what type of power the Fates possessed or how to fight it.

  Cade, the Winter advisor, and two Winter guards had swords, but the Fates and Nevina appeared weaponless—minus their magic, of course. Ajax, the Autumn Prince, had daggers. Had the Autumn King chosen to side with the Fates after all?

  Neither he, Laik, or Genevieve was armed with any physical weapons.

  What do you suggest we do? Kaelem asked Laik.

  I suppose now’s our chance to see how well we fight together, Laik thought. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts batting together.

  “Last chance to surrender,” Nevina said.

  Genevieve was the first to attack. She created a thin thread of light and threw it, lassoing it around the Winter advisor’s neck and yanking it to the right.

  The advisor’s eyes bulged as terror washed over his face. His head fell sideways, a perfect sever, as his body crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around him.

  Now, it was three to eight.

  Kaelem entered one of the guard’s minds and shattered it, while Laik sent out a light orb to the other guard’s chest.

  Genevieve’s light rope moved to Nevina, who slashed it with her own strand of ice then shot out three ice daggers toward the Seelie Queen.

  Cade stepped to the side as Laik lunged for one of the Fates.

  Kaelem dove into a somersault toward Cade. When he rolled back onto his feet, he created a shadow, blocking him and Cade from the rest.

  “King-to-king, where is your loyalty?” Kaelem spoke quickly. His shadow blocked out sound but would only temporarily hold.

  “You,” Cade whispered. “But if you want them to trust me, I have to join them in this battle.”

  Kaelem hesitated. Cade could be lying straight to his face and he’d never know. Without seeing his thoughts, Kaelem would have to take him at his word. Call it a hunch, but he believed the Summer King. Maybe watching so many mortal soap operas had finally altered his brain, but he trusted Cade’s honor.

  Kaelem nodded. “Draw your sword and slash my shoulder.” He pulled the shadow back.

  Cade unsheathed his sword.

  With a flick, Kaelem snapped his shadow at Cade’s right, barely missing him.

  This was the moment of truth. Kaelem would allow Cade to strike him. If Cade was lying, he would have the perfect opportunity to kill him.

  He sliced at Kaelem. The tip of his sword nicked through Kaelem’s suit and broke enough of his skin to cause him to bleed.

  It was a perfect swing—just enough to look real without preventing Kaelem from being useful in the rest of the fight.

  Kaelem raised another shadow. “We can’t keep fighting each other or they will catch on. You take Laik. You should be able to keep him busy enough without hurting him.”

  “I’ll do what I can to play nice, but if it comes down to him or me, I’ll do what I must.”

  “Fair enough.” Kaelem threw the shadow into Cade, knocking him backward then attacked one of the Fates while Laik threw light magic at Ajax and knocked him down.

  Ajax stayed on the ground, either dead or unconscious.

  Kaelem swirled his shadow lasso over the Fate’s head like a cowboy. He’d stumbled upon a televised rodeo once while flipping th
rough the channels after his favorite soap opera was over. The Fates seemed close enough to cows to try out cowboy tactics.

  He aimed at her head as Genevieve had done to the advisor, the but Fate slashed through his shadow rope, chopping it in half.

  “You aren’t the only one with dark magic,” she crooned. “My father makes your magic look like child’s tricks.”

  “Ahh, but your father isn’t here.” Kaelem tested her mind. A block was in place, but it was weak. He could find a way in. “Are you daddy’s favorite? Or is it one of them?”

  Shadows burst from each of her hands, wrapping around Kaelem and holding his arms tightly against his body. They constricted, squeezing the air out of him.

  With a deep breath, he yanked his arms away from his body, snapping the shadows.

  The Fate looked confused.

  Kaelem hadn’t been sure it would work. Normally, shadows were binding, but since he had shadow magic, their effect on him was weakened. Which meant his magic wouldn’t be as strong against any of the Fates either.

  A necklace dangled around her neck. Instead of a pendant at the end, a vial hung from the chain, black smoke swirling inside. Kaelem recognized it. It was the same vial she had when they had convinced Raith to join them to protect his mother, where whatever it was they took from him was trapped.

  He shot out a shadow and gripped the necklace, tightening its chain around her neck.

  She choked as it pierced through her skin. Her hands tried to pull it away but couldn’t.

  Something hit Kaelem from behind, causing him to jerk his shadow away, breaking the necklace.

  The vial dropped to the ground and shattered. The smoke inside vanished.

  Kaelem turned to see Nevina about to drive an ice dagger into his back.

  He blocked her attack then another.

  Fury flashed in her eyes. “I owe you for stealing from me.” Nevina created another ice dagger and slashed it at him. “Revenge will be sweet. Maybe I’ll go after your sister next.”

  Kaelem pushed against her mental wall, desperate to find an opening. “You’ll have a hard time finding her if you’re dead.”

  He used his shadows to block her swings, but his magic wouldn’t last forever. If he’d have known they’d be attacked, he would have been sure to replenish his supply as he was sure they had. A physical weapon of his own would be useful right about now.