Dark Bound

by Kim Richardson

  And when my gaze rolled around the gathered faeries, I couldn’t help the disquiet that wrapped around my middle. They weren’t even paying any attention to me. Their eyes were fixated on Ugul. But it wasn’t just that they were staring at him, it was the way they were staring, with a desperate feverish hunger. Every single faerie in the hall wanted him to die, were anxious for him to die. But why? It couldn’t be just because of the queen’s son’s death. Something else was going on here. I just didn’t know what.

  My pulse throbbed in my thigh and I shifted my weight to my other leg. “This is wrong,” I continued, feeling a trickle of sweat dripping in between my breasts. “Killing him won’t bring your son back.”

  “You broke our contract,” the queen shook her head. She seemed taller now standing on the dais than I remembered, taller and much skinnier than me. “And that will cost you.”

  “What?” I said defiantly. “You’re going to kill me too?”

  “The thought did cross my mind.” The queen sighed as she stepped around the platform, moving with crisp, precise motions.

  “I’d like to see you try. How about a one-on-one good old fashion cat fight?” I prompted. “Just you. Winner takes Ugul. Yes?”

  The queen threw back her head and howled, the sound terrifying almost like the cry of a banshee. No one else in the hall made a sound. That was creepy.

  Isobel closed her eyes and breathed deeply, as though she was trying to suck in my energy and fear like a drug. “I like you, Rowyn. I really do. A real pity when someone with such talent dies so young. I could have used someone like you in my court.” The queen flashed her teeth. “But you’re no match for me, darling. You’re just a child.” She laughed, as if I was a simpleton. “Barely a woman. I would end your miserable life with a snap of my finger,” she added with a wave of her hand.

  “Maybe,” I said and shifted with my anger. “Or maybe I’ll make you eat that butt-ugly crown of yours and you’ll be shitting teeth for the rest of your life?”

  “Rowyn,” warned Tyrius. “I like where you’re going with this—but—and this is a big but—this is pointless. She’ll never give him up. Look at her. She’s bleeping mad.”

  I nodded. “I don’t doubt that,” I whispered. “That’s why we can’t abandon Ugul.”

  The queen’s face twitched. “He killed my only son. Do you know what that feels like?” her black eyes rolled over me as she moved towards the edge of the dais, and I felt my skin tingle, like she was trying to see past my skin, into my soul. Her eyebrows lifted. “No. You’ve never been a mother. I can see that. You cannot understand what it is to lose a child when you, yourself, are still just a child.”

  “I’m sorry you lost your son.” No, I’m not. “But Ugul had no other choice but to use lethal force to defend himself from your son. Why? Why was your son even there? Why was he trying to kill him?” My throat tightened at the pain I saw on the goblin’s face. The entire front of his shirt was soaked in blood.

  “You sent your son after Ugul. Didn’t you?” I added, remembering the goblin had told me the queen wanted something from him. “Because he has something you want, right?”

  The queen regarded me steadily and said, “Yes, I sent my son after the faerie, but I never ordered him to kill him. That was a mistake.”

  “Sure it was.”

  Isobel’s face twisted into a feral smile. “My son died trying to get something for me. But I must thank you, Rowyn. Where he failed, you succeeded.” She pressed her hands against her hips. “You know, I’ve had my eye on you for quite a while.”

  I gave her a bitter smile. “You’re not my type.”

  The queen’s brows rose playfully, and the smile she gave me was truly serpentine. “When I heard of your grandmother’s misfortune, I knew you’d be persuaded to do anything to help her. And just like the good granddaughter you are, you did. You brought me the faerie. You made this all possible, Rowyn Sinclair. His death is your gift to me.”

  My face heated and I made to move forward a step, only to be stopped by Jax.

  “Don’t,” he hissed. His fingers gripped my elbow so hard it hurt. “She’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”

  “It’s working,” I seethed, yanking out of his grip, but I stayed where I was.

  “Don’t be stupid, Rowyn,” said Jax, and I felt my anger rise.

  Guilt assailed me, sending my heart pounding against my temples and giving me a headache. She was right about one thing. This was my fault.

  “I never gave him over to you. You took him,” I challenged. “He was free to go. I wasn’t going to give him up. I was never going to hand him over to you.”

  I looked at Ugul, and my breath caught at how pale his skin was. Damn. If I didn’t get him out now, he wasn’t going to make it.

  Isobel glared at me, but when her gaze fell upon Ugul, she smiled broadly, sweetly. “Any last words before you die?” The queen moved to stand before the goblin.

  “If you do this!” I yelled, aware that the Dark Arrows had nocked their arrows and were all pointing at my head. “If you do this,” I repeated, my pulse pounding, “there’ll be hell to pay. You hear me, Queen! I’ll kill you!”

  The queen’s black eyes met mine for a moment, and she smiled. “No, you won’t.”

  “Ugul!” My scream echoed against the high ceilings. “Ugul!” The goblin’s eyes were still closed, but his face was scrunched up in pain.

  I’m sorry.

  I writhed as agony sang through me. Every nerve ending pulsed into a burn. A guttural sound escaped me—pain and determination. Fear cascaded over me in a giant cold wave. If I moved, I was dead. My friends would die. I couldn’t do anything. All I could do was watch as an innocent faerie was murdered. Because of me.

  Isobel leaned to put her face inches from Ugul’s, watching him with a twisted sense of delight. Under her impassivity was a growing excitement.

  Daegal jerked Ugul straighter, and blood trickled below the knife at his throat.

  “No!” I screamed, expecting to see the commander of the Dark Arrows slash Ugul’s throat.

  But Daegal never moved.

  In a flash, the queen slashed at the goblin’s chest with her nails, gutting him as though she’d used a sword. Nausea hit me as the goblin’s moan of pain was the only sound in the hall.

  “What in the hell?” cried Tyrius, clearly shocked and appalled.

  Bile rose in the back of my throat as the queen plunged her hand inside the goblin’s chest until her hand was completely submerged by the goblin’s guts. After a moment, the queen yanked back looking both triumphant and slightly off her rocker.

  And in her hand was a brilliant white stone.

  23

  A new energy spilled into the hall, cold and fast. It hummed and cracked like an electrical storm, and my body tingled, from my center to my fingertips. I’d never felt anything like it before, and it scared the hell out of me.

  The queen’s face shone with dazzling white light, making her skin sparkle and amplifying her features until she looked like an ice queen.

  My breath caught. I’d seen that light before. It was the same light Ugul had used on the veth hounds and on me. Crap.

  Tyrius swore. “Rowyn. We need to leave. Like right freaking now.”

  I stood frozen as Isobel’s victorious smile lit her face. She turned to the gathered crowd and raised her fist.

  Daegal discarded Ugul’s body like he was throwing away something disgusting that had soiled his fingers. The goblin hit the platform with an echoing thud, his lifeless eyes staring right at me, accusing me for his fate. This is my fault.

  I watched, unable to move as Daegal clapped his hands once. A door swung open to the left of the platform and two male faeries emerged, dragging a human female between them. Strands of her brown hair stuck to her wet face, and her eyes were red and wide. She looked about my age, mid-twenties, but shorter. And the terror on her face stilled my heart.

  Fear hit me in a cold wave as my knees shoo
k. My mouth opened and closed. “What’s going on?” My words were barely audible for the clattering of my teeth.

  “Nothing good,” came Tyrius’s voice as he leapt off my shoulders and landed next to me on the ground.

  The faeries shoved the woman to her knees at the foot of the dais facing the queen.

  I glanced at the assembled faeries. “They can’t just kill her. They know the rules. They touch a hair on her head and there’ll be hell to pay.”

  “Seems like they don’t give a shit,” said Jax and I pulled my eyes away from him to look at the platform.

  “This isn’t right. We can’t let them kill another innocent person. We have to do something.”

  I started forward. Jax caught my arm and yanked me back hard against his chest. “Don’t.” His hot breath on my neck and the side of my face sent a warm pulse through my middle. “It’s what she wants. The queen wants you to screw up so she can tear you apart. I’m not letting that happen.”

  I let him tug me closer and felt the heat from his chest seep through my clothes. “She’s going to kill her,” I seethed, but I stayed where I was. The comforting feeling of another body against mine seemed to pin me to the spot—or the bastard had spelled me. It was a reminder of how lonely I was. I breathed in the scent of soap, aftershave, and his natural musk. God, he smelled nice.

  “Maybe not,” said Jax, his lips brushing against my jaw, soft and warm. “Maybe she just wants to scare her. I don’t know. Just wait.” I felt his other hand slip around my waist, sending tiny shivers of pleasure down into my core, wild and burning.

  My entire world constricted to the touch of his hands on me. My pulse accelerated, and I could barely breathe.

  God help me.

  “And if she kills her?” I asked, aware that I was panting. My face flamed as my cheek brushed up against his.

  “Then we’re witnesses to the murder,” said Jax. His voice rumbled, making me shudder. “Hers and Ugul’s. It’s enough to alert the Gray Council. She’s going to pay for this. Trust me.”

  I wish I could believe him, but there was something utterly disturbing about the stillness of the room and the manic expression on the queen’s face.

  “Your new life awaits you,” Isobel drawled, gesturing to the kneeling woman. “Of course, if you ask me, I’d say it’s a tremendous improvement. Though, given your human history with murdering our kind, I do believe I’m offering you a gift. You should consider yourself… very lucky.”

  “Please don’t kill me,” cried to woman. “I don’t want to die. Please. Please don’t kill me,” she sobbed.

  I stiffened, and Jax’s arm tightened around me. Still I let him hold me like that, so close, so unyielding.

  Isobel’s smile was like something from a wraith. “Kill you?” she laughed and the two fae males laughed harder. The queen clicked her tongue. “I’m not going to kill you, silly human.”

  I tilted my head and shared a look with Jax.

  “I’m offering you a gift,” continued the queen. “A gift so special, so precious, that no other human has ever had.” She looked down at the woman. “You, little human, are the first. The first of many.”

  The woman shook. “I—I don’t want your gift,” she stammered. “I just want to go home. Please, just let me go home.”

  The queen never lost her smile. “This is your new home now. Get used to it.” She lifted her hand, and the white stone shone like a thousand flashlights into one. The assembled fae and vampires all waited, and I heard the intake of their collective breath as the queen reached out to the woman with her free hand.

  “Don’t,” the woman begged. “Please don’t!”

  Someone in the crowd wept. But it wasn’t the sad lamentation you’d hear before an execution. This was an elated cry, a sick and blissful weeping. They wept of joy.

  The queen was grinning with wild, triumphant glee as she gently touched the woman’s cheek.

  At first nothing happened, and I almost sighed in relief. But when the queen withdrew her hand, the human woman cried out and collapsed to the ground. Her screams echoed in the hall as she thrashed violently on the floor while the gathered faeries’ eyes were pinned on her.

  This was sick. I was going to vomit.

  The queen took a strained breath, her face creased with effort and her complexion blotchy, but she recovered quickly and straightened as she watched the writhing woman with a delighted, victorious expression.

  It had been fast, but I had seen it.

  The woman stopped thrashing and was still. For a horrible second I thought she’d died. My pulse quickened as I watched the human woman pull her knees towards her chest. Then she picked herself up slowly, standing up on shaky legs. She drew herself to her full height. She was as tall as the queen now.

  My lips parted. “What the in hell—?”

  The woman seemed to have heard me. She turned around and met my gaze, and I cursed. The eyes that watched me were nothing of the wide, terrified woman’s eyes a moment ago, but dark and alight and eager. Her features were more pronounced, sharper, her narrow chin high and her eyes glinting. Her stance was domineering and predatorial. She brushed a strand of hair back with her long, thin fingers behind her pointed ears.

  The woman wasn’t human anymore. She was a faerie.

  “Damn it all to the Netherworld.” I felt my bowels go watery at the look of confusion on the new faerie’s face as she stared down at her longer self. But she wasn’t frightened anymore. Hell, she looked happy.

  Jax swore deep and low. “What kind of dark magic is this?”

  Daegal moved to stand next to his queen, his face twisting, and with sly delight he bellowed, “Behold Isobel, Queen of the Dark Court. For she has given us this gift. Darkness is no darkness, for the night is as clear as day. Kneel before your queen!” he shouted.

  The sudden noise of a thousand bodies moving was an assault after the eerie silence. As one, all the faeries in the hall kneeled—to my surprise even the vampires and the Dark Arrows, whose attention was now fixed on the queen with admiration.

  My heart throbbed as if trying to find a way to burst out of my chest, but my muscles had gone slack. I was having a panic attack.

  “What the hell was that?” I found myself saying, not even realizing that I had spoken the words out loud as I wiggled myself out of Jax’s tight grip.

  “The sign we’ve been waiting for to get our asses the hell out of here,” commented Tyrius.

  “I know what that is.”

  I turned to the sound of concern in Danto’s voice. Vicky and Keith both sported the same terrified expression, their faces ashen.

  The vampire met my gaze. “It’s called The White Grace.”

  “I’ve heard of The White Grace,” said Tyrius up between me and Danto. “It’s a magic stone, and a very powerful one at that.”

  I kept my eyes on the vampire as Jax leaned in next to me.

  “It’s why the name Ugul sounded so familiar to me,” the vampire said quickly, leaning his body towards the exit, getting ready to run. “I heard Isobel mention his name once when she didn’t know I was listening. Now I know why. She must have found out he was its protector.”

  I felt numb. “Never heard of it,” I said, my eyes on the dais, on the white stone carefully clutched in the queen’s hand. How could it be in Ugul’s chest? Had he swallowed it?

  “It’s been gone for thousands of years, disappeared,” rushed Danto. “Its powerful. You’ve just seen what it can do.”

  I moved my eyes back to the queen. “But why does the queen want to turn humans into faeries?”

  “There hasn’t been a half-breed child of any kind in over a millennium. Procreating is nearly impossible. Our numbers have diminished greatly over the years. But with this, with The White Grace…”

  “Holy hell,” I said as it all fit into place. I, for one, had never seen a half-breed child, and I was shocked that I had never given it much thought. “No wonder he was hiding in that cave. He had been protecti
ng it… and I gave it to her.” The last part came out of me in a desperate whisper. I was a fool.

  I looked into Danto’s eyes expecting to see the I-told-you-so look, but there was only misery and fear. There was no blame in the vampire’s expression.

  “And now the crazy-ass Tooth Faerie has it,” said Tyrius. “You know what that means?”

  Danto’s face tightened. “Isobel can create her own army, thousands of new faeries just with that stone. And she’s going to use humans.”

  I moved my gaze back to the dais. The faerie queen still held the stone in her hand. With her features bathed in the light of The White Grace, for a moment she almost looked beautiful. But her eyes were steady and hard as she cast them over the bowed fae and vampires.

  “If there was a better time to get the hell out of here,” urged Tyrius, “it’s now, while the faerie-freakshow is still happening.”

  My hand shook as I gripped my death blade. “This isn’t over.” I was going to get that stone back.

  “Fine,” said Jax. “But right now we need to leave!” He gripped my arm hard again as if to shake me out of my misery. “He’s gone. Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here before we end up like him!”

  Jax pulled me with him into a run. Danto, Vicky and Keith slipped past us with their vampire speed and hurtled towards the exit. My legs were numb and stiff as I ran across the hall, past the double doors, and down through the corridor, Tyrius galloping like a miniature cheetah next to me. My vision was plagued with tears, so the vampires were just a moving blur ahead of us.

  Together, we slipped through the gap in the door and ran into the night.

  24

  Tyrius sat on the edge of the bed, his blue eyes flashing. “That’s going to leave a scar.”

  I jerked and tried not to curse as Pam expertly clipped the arrowhead from the second arrow in my thigh and carefully dropped it in a glass jar. “Scars are just reminders of what I do. I’m a Hunter. I like scars. It just makes me more badass.”