by Lili Zander
Men’s voices murmured in the barracks. Someone was telling a story. Lars probably. He finished, and the others laughed.
I sat up, reaching for my weapon and my helm, feeling relief. I was alive, along with many of my warrior brothers. But as I moved from my bunk to join them in breaking our fast, I still smelled the sick scent from my dreams and heard the buzz of flies, feasting on the dead.
CHAPTER THREE
Yseult:
The spell ripped and wrenched me. I cried out as it prised me apart. Vision swirled away, the stars dying, my ears filled with the roaring of time, the oncoming dawn.
The blast drove me into blackness.
I woke with sunlight soft on my face. I’d fallen on my back and my body ached. When I turned my head, flowers tickled my cheek. A blue sky overhead, a field full of wildflowers all around. No fog or cursed stench. My witch sisters were gone, along with the fire and barren trees.
The spell had done its work. It had sent me… somewhere. Could this be the place the ancient ones meant to send me?
As I lay, ears straining, I had the feeling I was missing something. As I watched the wind rustle the new growth on the trees, I realized what was wrong. A day like this should be filled with song, but there was only silence. Where were the birds?
Voices murmured nearby. Male voices. Slowly, I sat up.
A castle stood at the far end of the field, its great walls dwarfing the trees. A few figures moved in the shadows, but they were far enough away to be no threat to me.
My more immediate concern were the two warriors winding their way through the thick grasses. Their weapons clinked as they came closer. A few steps and they would easily see me.
I reached for the raven’s form, waiting for the familiar rustle of feathers to prove I’d transformed. I could easily take flight and be out of reach, winging my way to a perch where I could spy on this unfamiliar land. Once I got my bearings, I could see about my mission.
The warrior’s murmurs grew clearer, their chain mail rattling a warning.
Come, I reached for my power, whispering the spell.
Nothing.
My fingers groped the ground, clutching frantically as if the earth could rise up and hide me. Still the raven form didn’t come. I felt tired, a little dazed, but not so much that I could not work my magic. But when I went within to draw on my magic, I felt nothing.
Numb, heart beating faster, I sat frozen as the warriors came closer.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ivar:
I caught the scent as soon as I stepped out from under the shadow of the king’s stronghold. Sweet as a flower, but foreign. My feet started towards it almost immediately, and though I didn’t mention why I wanted to cross the field in front of the castle, Lars was in a good mood and it was easy to convince him to fall into step with me.
“Fine day,” Lars remarked, using his sword to hack off a few daisy heads. I grunted my agreement, keeping our path in line with the scent while pretending I had no aim.
“You’re quiet,” my fair headed brother elbowed me.
“I dreamt again last night.”
“You’re always dreaming.”
“This was different,” I murmured. The closer we got to the grassy dip before the trees, the stronger it was, and the more my head cleared.
“The woman? You must go down to the village and find a woman.”
“I want no woman.”
Lars scoffed. “No, just a phantom creature. A fantasy of lonely nights. A good lay will exorcise this foolishness.” He glanced at me when I said nothing to defend myself, looking a little guilty. “How many times have you dreamed of her?”
“It is more than a dream.”
Lars snorted again and turned to tease me, but stilled, his mouth falling open. He’d caught the same scent.
“Do you—”
“Come,” I said, hastening my steps, now that I knew I was not imagining it.
And I saw her. A bare-armed maid. Pale, with white gold hair crackling about her face. She sat haloed by flattened field grass, stared up at me with wide eyes.
“What is here?” Lars strode forward, holding his weapon. I caught his arm before he could attack. The woman didn’t even glance at him. She was too busy staring at me.
I felt as if I opened my mouth, her name would appear on my lips. For we had never met, but I’d seen her a thousand times. The maid in the grass was the lady from my dreams.
CHAPTER FIVE
Yseult:
“What is here?” the warrior barked. It took me a moment to decipher the words. The language cadence was unfamiliar, the words coarse and guttural. Before I could up and flee, a boot pinned my hip.
I tried to roll, and the warrior’s growl reverberated through me. I went still as a bird cowering in the grass before a predator.
“Who trespasses?” The fair one bent over me. His rough hands seized my arm, set me on my feet. I called my magic to me, grasping frantically. But where my power once resided, there was emptiness.
“A woman.” The bearded warrior’s dark eyes pierced through me. I shuddered as if stabbed.
Closing my eyes, I called again for my power and felt... nothing.
“No more than a maid,” blunt fingers pushed back my hair. I flinched from them. Goddess help me.
Then I felt it. Pulsing, pushing against me, a familiar stench. It was faint, but it came from the fortress. I’d recognize it anywhere. The Corpse King made his home here.
The fair-haired warrior hauled me close, and I bowed my head, letting my hair hang over my face again, hiding from the dark one’s gaze. “Come, little captive. The commander will want to question you.”
He pulled me forward, and before I stumbled, his companion caught my arm. Together they dragged me towards the great wall and the pulsing evil within. The closer we got, the more my head throbbed.
Goddess help me, I prayed again, and hung my head in the silence.
The spell had worked in its own, awful way. It had delivered me to the Corpse King. I’d woken at the foot of his fortress. His warriors had me in their possession.
But, whether by the spell or the mage’s defenses, I’d been stripped of my abilities. I was powerless.
Whatever the next day and night brought, I would face it without my magic.
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Books by Lili Zander
REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE
Night of the Shayde
Blood Prophecy Series
Dragon’s Thief
Dragon’s Curse
Dragon’s Hope
Dragon’s Ruin - coming soon
Dragon’s Treasure - coming soon
SCI-FI ROMANCE
Adventures of Suzie and the Alien
Adventures of Suzie and the Alien (Episodes 1-5)
Which includes:
Episode 1: The Alien, the Doctor and the Virgin
Episode 2: The Alien Trains the Virgin
Episode 3: The Alien, the Virgin and the Warrior Queen
Episode 4: Tentacle Monsters and the Virgin
Episode 5: The Virgin Returns Home
BOOKS BY TARA CRESCENT
MÉNAGE ROMANCE
The Playing for Love Series (Ménage MFM Romance)
Betting on Bailey
Gambling with Gabriella
Playing with Piper
Wagering on Wendy
Messing with Miki
The Dirty Series (Ménage MFM Romance)
Dirty Therapy
Dirty Talk
Dirty Games
Dirty Words
The Cocky Series (Ménage MFM Romance)
Her Cocky Doctors
Her Cocky Firefighters
Standalone Books
Dirty X6 (A MFMMMMM Menage Romance)
BDSM ROMANCE
Standalone Books
Mr. Banks (A British Billionaire Romance)
Teaching Maya
The House of Pain
The Pr
ofessor’s Pet
The Audition
The Watcher
Dominant - A Boxed Set containing The House of Pain, The Professor’s Pet, The Audition and The Watcher
Nights in Venice Series
A Thief in Venice
An Heiress in Venice
A Starlet in Venice
The Assassin’s Revenge Series (Romantic Suspense)
Assassin’s Revenge - The Complete Series
Found (Book 1)
Bought (Book 2)
Freed (Book 3)
Claimed (Book 4)
The Doctor Dom Series (BDSM & Medical Play)
Triage (Doctor Dom Volume 1)
Observation (Doctor Dom Volume 2)
Diagnosis (Doctor Dom Volume 3)
Relapse (Doctor Dom Volume 4)
Recovery (Doctor Dom Volume 5)
Or, buy the collections for a discount…
Doctor Dom Series Sequence One (Triage | Observation | Diagnosis)
Doctor Dom Series Sequence Two (Relapse | Recovery)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
The Drake Family Series
Temporary Wife (A Billionaire Fake Marriage Romance)
Fake Fiancee (A Billionaire Second Chance Fake Marriage Romance)
Standalone Books
MAX: A Friends to Lovers Romance
A Touch of Blackmail
A Very Paisley Christmas
Boyfriend by the Hour
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Books by Lee Savino
The Berserker Saga
Sold to the Berserkers – Brenna, Samuel & Daegan
Mated to the Berserkers – Brenna, Samuel & Daegan
Bred by the Berserkers (FREE novella available only by signing up to my email list) – Brenna, Samuel & Daegan
Taken by the Berserkers– Sabine, Ragnvald & Maddox
A Berserker Birth novella (available only by signing up to my email list)
Given to the Berserkers – Muriel and her mates
Claimed by the Berserkers – – Fleur and her mates
The Berserker Brides
Rescued by the Berserkers FREE – Hazel & Knut
Captured by the Berserkers – Willow, Leif & Brokk
Kidnapped by the Berserkers – Sage, Thorbjorn & Rolf
Bonded to the Berserkers – Laurel, Haakon & Ulf
Tamed by the Berserkers (coming soon!)
Owned by the Berserkers (coming soon!)
The Draekon Series (Exiles on the Prison Planet) with Lili Zander
Draekon Mate
Draekon Fire
Draekon Heart - coming soon!
The Bad Boy Alpha Series with Renee Rose
Alpha's Temptation
Alpha's Danger
Alpha's Prize - coming soon!
