by K.N. Lee
She ran her hand along the trimmed rose bushes that lined the path toward the lake’s shore. Once she reached the water, she sat down and took off her boots. She let the water lap at her toes and fixed her white hair over her bruised eye and shoulder.
She rested her chin on her knees as she watched him come up for air, his short golden hair matted to his head.
Emory noticed her, his bright blue eyes meeting hers, and the corners of his lips turned into a smile that still seemed to send butterflies free within Mila’s gut. She breathed in, already regretting what she came there to do.
Pushing those feelings aside, she held up Emory’s clothes, a grin on her face.
“I should take these and hide them,” she called to him.
Emory pushed his hair out of his face and swam toward her.
“It’s not like you’ve never seen me naked before,” he said with a grin that made Mila bite the side of her lip.
Laughing, she tossed his clothes to him and he caught them in the air. It felt good to laugh again, and she blushed at seeing his naked body. She turned away and cleared her throat.
It was a secret that they would never be able to tell, a moment of rebellion that could get them both killed if discovered. Emory was the proud owner of her virginity, and despite the danger, she wouldn’t change it for all of the riches of the world.
A lord could have whomever he wanted, just not a sorceress…especially if the lord in question was a shifter.
Magic and shifting did not mix in Veruth, and Mila knew that such a law would be moot as magic would soon be eradicated entirely. She’d heard what the High Fae king, Cosimo had planned, and what he’d already done to secure his supremacy in a world of chaos.
“You’d better hurry and get dressed, or else someone might see and get suspicious,” Mila whispered, shielding her eyes so that she couldn’t see him, though she was tempted to take another glance.
Her cheeks reddened as she remembered their one magical night days before her mother sold her off. She’d thrown away all of her fears to be with him, and the beauty of it lingered in her mind every night that she slept in the stuffy bottom level of the manor with the other servants.
A few hours in Emory’s bed were better than an eternity in the duke’s castle.
“No one will say anything, even if they do suspect what happened between us.”
Mila’s smile faded. There wasn’t a day that had gone by that she hadn’t dreamed that her life had turned out different. She’d give anything to be free to wed Emory, as he’d asked her numerous times, knowing it was impossible.
She shook her head. “I doubt that. Shouldn’t you be packing or something? Why are you out here swimming in the cold?”
“It will happen,” he assured her as he pulled his shirt over his rippled chest, his abdominal muscles slick with water. “I’ll throw some stuff into a big chest before bed. Why? Going to miss me?”
“I’ve missed you for almost a year now.”
“Mila, I tried to stop you.”
“You didn’t try hard enough.”
Silence passed between them as Mila contemplated how she was going to get the words she’d came to say out.
She’d of been happy to have him actually do something about it. He had more power than most men in their village. He could have married her.
Mila frowned and shoved her resentment aside. With a sigh, she looked to him. “Well, I came to say goodbye.”
“Where are you going?”
She finally faced him, her shoulders slumping as she titled her head to reveal the bruise on her face.
Emory reached down, taking her by the hand and pulling her to her feet. He cupped her face in his large hands and gently stroked her cheeks before hugging her tight to his chest.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in his scent of pine and honeysuckle. He must have shifted and had a run through the forest before his swim.
She’d miss that scent.
“What happened?” Emory asked, his voice deepening, the smile lines in his face vanishing as he searched her eyes.
Mila pulled away, the front of her shirt soaked with the water from Emory’s wet clothes.
Her face became serious as she looked him in the eyes. “I left.”
“They’re going to hunt you down for that.”
She swallowed. This was every bit as hard as she’d imagined.
“There’s not much that can be done now. The deputy is going to come after me, and make me go back to my master.”
“No, he’s not.” He snatched his boots off the ground and shoved them onto his feet. “We are leaving. Now.”
Mila put a hand on his shoulder, her heart racing. “What do you mean?”
“We can travel outside of the kingdom. I have contacts in Carpathia.”
She shook her head. “No. You have a family and responsibilities. Don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”
“Tell me one thing that matters in my life more than you.”
Mila’s bottom lip trembled. She looked to the sky and shrugged. “Your family.”
“No, Mila. There is nothing that I love more in this world more than you. My family can take care of themselves. Our bloodline is one of the purest in Veruth. They don’t need the ninth son to protect them from anything.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pressed his lips to hers and lacing his fingers into her hair.
“Emory,” a voice called from behind them.
Emory’s face went ashen and Mila turned to see an older woman in a lavender dress standing there.
Emory took her hand into his own and cleared his throat. “Mother.”
Chapter Five
Lady Dalton stepped from the garden, her hands folded before her gown as she looked Emory and Mila over. As always, she looked regal. Her gown was made of expensive silk, and her black hair was stacked high above her head in a tight bun wrapped by a band of tiny crystals.
While short, she also looked young for her age, with lines only around the corners of her mouth and large amber eyes.
She glanced down at Emory’s hand around Mila’s and a flicker of a smile came to her lips.
“You’d best be wary of such shows of affection, Emory,” she said, her voice soft and sweet like a child’s. “Your father will return home soon, and we all know that he isn’t as understanding as I.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should. Not only is it against the law, but Mila is a kept woman.”
“Not anymore,” Mila said, her face flushing.
Lady Dalton pursed her painted red lips. “What do you mean, dear? What happened?”
“I left,” Mila replied before Emory could elaborate.
Lady Dalton gave Emory a look. “Is that so?”
She didn’t reply. She looked down at her shoes.
“Dear, for a human, the only way to ensure survival is to pledge oneself to a High Fae master. You know that.”
Frowning, she looked back up at her. Her brows furrowed as she shoved painful memories into the dark recesses of her troubled mind. “I do, my lady. But, do you have any idea what its like? You have your manor, and your family, and good name. You’re a shifter. Life is easy for your kind. But, me and the other women were in a daily fight for our lives.”
“That may be true. But, Emory is betrothed to Lady Chastain. Has been for the past six months. You know she comes from another pure bloodline. Wealth. Beauty. Very accomplished. He cannot protect you.”
Mila looked up at Emory, frowning.
Why hadn’t he told her?
She sighed, realizing that he didn’t owe her anything. Still, it bothered her that he was willing to leave another poor girl that probably looked forward to being engaged to one of the few decent lords left in Veruth.
“I can,” Emory said. “And, I will. I technically never agreed to it the arrangement.”
“That’s beside the point.”
Mila swallowed as she looked from mother to son
.
“I am leaving with Mila,” he said, firmly.
Mila’s face paled as she heard his words and watched his mother’s face. “He’s joking. I was just leaving.”
Emory held onto her hand, his fingertips digging into her flesh. “No. I am not joking.”
The tension made Mila’s stomach churn.
To their surprise, Lady Dalton nodded and turned her back on them. Mila and Emory shared a look.
“Come with me,” she said.
The trees swayed with the wind as Mila and Emory stood outside the gate that faced the east.
Lady Dalton clasped her hands before her.
“Nine boys and you’re the only one with a mind of your own. I used to be that way. I had dreams, and yet I was arranged to your father. My dreams were never more important than strengthening the bloodline.”
Emory reached for his mother’s hand through the gate.
She shook her head, sucking in a sharp breath. “No. I fear that I’ll change my mind and make you stay if I touch you. You are my darling baby boy. My youngest and most unique.”
“Your favorite,” Emory said, smirking.
Lady Dalton chuckled. She took his hand and kissed it, pressing her red lips to his knuckles as tears fell.
“See. I was right. I’m already starting to regret this,” she said, her bottom lip trembling. “Go.”
“I love you, Mother.”
She covered her mouth with a gloved hand. “I love you, Emory. Go now, before I change my mind.”
She turned and walked quickly back down the worn dirt path toward the manor. “Don’t get caught,” she warned over her shoulder. “Get as far away from Veruth as you can.”
Emory looked down at Mila.
“Remarkable,” he said. “I never thought she’d give us her blessing.”
“I wouldn’t call that a blessing,” Mila murmured. She sighed and looked toward the dark woods.
A mixture of fear, joy, and disbelief filled her veins. By her side was the man she loved. Waiting in the trees above was her best friend.
Somehow, she was delusional enough to think things might just work out.
“Did you ever think we’d be leaving Veruth together?”
“Only in my dreams.”
Emory grinned. “This may very well be a dream.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “It better not be.”
“We can find new homes in another kingdom, where no one knows my name or family. I can write books and you can raise our little hybrid children.”
Mila laughed. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, sir,” she said before lifting onto her tiptoes and kissing him.
She had to admit, his vision of a life together did sound nice.
“Let’s go,” she said. “Kellan knows of somewhere we can go to wait out the brewing storm.”
“What storm?” Emory asked, looking to the sky through the tree cover.
“A psychic storm,” she replied, hopping onto one of the horses his mother had provided for them.
“Are you serious? Why now?”
Mila nodded, watching him climb onto his favorite black horse.
“Shifters and humans aren’t affected by them, but those with magic are. I fear witches will never be free to live in this world, not with it trying to kill us every way it can.”
“We need to find shelter then. Lead the way,” Emory said.
Kellan flew above, leading them through the thick dark woods to a side road.
She hadn’t traveled down that road in years. It led to Old Camden—a ghost town. Witches of all kinds used to live there.
Gooseflesh crept onto Mila’s arms as they rode through the dark. She knew what was coming—what the Spell Slingers had fought for centuries.
She glanced back, making sure no one followed them.
She shuddered when all she saw was darkness. She knew what that darkness harbored.
High Fae—and not the ones from the old storybooks. In this new world of darkness, they were free to roam the earth in night and daylight. As the darkness stretched above, she knew what was coming.
“Let’s hurry,” Mila shouted, making her horse gallop.
Emory was quick on her trail as they cut through the woods with great speed, jumping over fallen trees, animal carcasses, and traps set by hunters.
Out of the darkness, Mila thought. She didn’t want to meet what waited, what had seemingly haunted her since childhood.
Chapter Six
The village was abandoned. The dirt road hadn’t been ridden through in months. The humans feared that area, and for good reason.
After most of those with magic had been killed when the High Fae took over the kingdom. Immortality didn’t take kindly to those with magic—those who could threaten their superiority.
While there were some who simply wanted to survive, there were others who thrived off the pain and suffering of others.
Energy stealers—psychic High Fae—who needed your very life’s energy to recharge their power.
Now that the plague had ripped through half the kingdom, it was a perfect place for psychic fae to gorge themselves on the sorrow of the humans.
Kellan led the way, shifting back to his human form, tall and slim like a shadow in the center of the empty road.
“They really made a mess of things,” Emory said, tying his horse to the hitching post. “Stealing the essence of these poor people.”
Mila did the same. “One day they will be forced to account for their evil deeds.” She stroked the horse’s brown hair and glanced over at a skeleton that hung inside the stable before her.
She rubbed her arms and turned to follow Emory and Kellan through the town.
As they surveyed their surroundings, she decided to get something off of her mind. Something that had plagued her despite the ever emerging danger that lay ahead.
“Were you going to tell me about the lady you were betrothed to?” Mila asked as she walked beside Emory.
He glanced down at her. “I never agreed to it. Why do you think I was leaving for the army? They cannot make me marry someone I don’t want to. I am with you, Mila. When will you forgive me?”
Mila frowned, looking ahead. She should feel flattered, but she didn’t.
“I’m sorry I asked,” she muttered.
“That house over there will be a good place to hide for the night. It’s the cleanest of all of the homes,” Kellan said, returning from surveying the town. “Only two bodies. The other places have loads more.”
“Great,” Mila said, rolling her eyes. “We will have to clean the bodies out first.”
Emory froze, and warnings sparked in her belly.
“High Fae,” he said, sniffing the air, his eyes turning black as he did so. “Coming this way.”
“Just perfect,” she grumbled.
Kellan folded his arms across his chest. He tilted his head toward the black mass of bats that flew toward them.
“Indeed," Kellan said, stretching his neck. "Just the one, at least."
Mila shot him a glare. “Never underestimate them.”
Emory shrugged and shifted to his wolf form. He was one of the biggest wolves she’d ever seen at nearly five feet on all fours. Thick black fur covered his entire body, and bright blue eyes looked to her as he barred his fangs.
The High Fae drew his sword, and pointed it at them.
Mila shielded her eyes against the glow of the High Fae. He released a puff of smoke from his lungs. It burnt the hairs on her arms, sending heat throughout her entire body.
She blew out air between her puckered lips and winced.
Then, he flashed a toothy grin at her.
“Well, look at this," he said, outstretching his arms toward them. “Are you lost?”
She gulped. It had been ages since she’d practiced using her magic. Always in secret. Despite that fact, Mila’s mother had taught her well.
Mila pursed her lips, shaking her hands out, and warming them up. This
would be good practice for the journey they had ahead of them. “We are just passing through,” she said. “Seems a plague has destroyed this poor town.”
“Aye,” he said. “But, I have a warrant for a pretty little mixed blood who has escaped from her master. Allow me to introduce myself. Sheriff Modivici, at your service.”
As he bowed to her, an ear-shattering cry filled the air as two clouds of black bats darted across the sky and landed beside the Sheriff Modivici.
She gasped as two more materialized into a female and a male. They all wore black armor, and the man carried a sword while the woman gripped two daggers, her gray and blue hair flying with the breeze.
The High Fae sheriff laughed again, blowing Mila’s hair away from her face.
She could feel his power, and it was strong.
Emory and Kellan both took a target, and she yanked her dagger from her belt.
You can do it. You can do it.
Her jaw tensed.
Before she could blink, the High Fae darted across the dusty road toward her. Green eyes resembling those of a cat appeared right before her face.
Backing away, Mila gasped as he drew a dagger from his boot, kicked it into his hand and ran to slash it across her belly.
There was barely enough time to think, but one spell came immediately to mind.
She held her hands out, her thumbs connected, and formed an air shield that blew him back down the road.
It was time she needed--time to think of a way to kill him before he killed her.
A scream ripped from her throat as an intense pain filled her head. Her eyes blurred and she began to fall to her knees as something thumped just inside her brain, behind the flesh of her forehead.
An energy drain. Every vein and inch of her skin stung and she fell face first into the dirt.
“Mila!”
Kellan’s voice resounded in her ears, but seemed to come from far away.
The sound of footsteps vibrated along the ground, and before the High Fae was upon her, she could smell the stench of death on his clothes.
He kicked her and she rolled onto her back, dazed.
