Mark of Truth (Wicked Kingdoms Book 1)

by Graceley Knox

  I make my way past the guards and into the hallway heading back to the main hall that we’d eaten breakfast in. I don’t have to wait long until everyone joins me. We don’t bother with words as we all follow Axel to where he’s taking us. Each of us keeps an eye out for any followers while we pretend to just be hanging out together and joking around.

  We walk to a small shed used for planting flowers and circle up.

  “Kirin you got the door? We clear? Keep an eye out.”

  At his nod, I don’t bother with any bullshit and get right down to it. I trust my uncle to take care of the situation that will best suit the crown. What I don’t trust is that everyone I love will come out unscathed, which is unacceptable to me. I clench my fists in frustration.

  “I’m calling a ‘fuck this shit’ moment on us not ensuring Cashel is out of the picture ourselves. I’m not willing to risk anyone else’s safety on anyone else’s say-so but my own.”

  The guys all nod, but Eryn purses her lips. I take a deep breath and try to calm down so I can listen to her reason for hesitation rather than recklessly flying off the handle.

  “Spit it out, Eryn. Poke holes in the idea. Let’s do this shit right so we don’t have to do it again.” I wave my hand.

  “I’m not sure our brightest idea is to break into the Light Elven Kingdom. Which I’m assuming is what the plan will involve?” She pauses for a moment, making eye contact with each of us. “Yeah, I thought so. We’d need to figure out how to get in there, and I don’t see that happening, as you are the only one who has been in there, Ever. We can’t sift in there without possibly ending up in walls. We also don’t know the incantation to breach the doors, and none of us are packing the sheer magical juice to do so.”

  “Damnit, Eryn,” I whine, frustrated that she’s right. “I just want to break into the Light Elven Kingdom and take care of the problem. But no… you have to make sense and shit.” I grin at her and nudge her shoulder with my own.

  She rolls her eyes at me. “Seeing as how I don’t see us getting into Elven, we’re going to need to bring him to us.” Her tone is grim, and her lips are pursed.

  “Brilliant!” I grin.

  “Fuck no,” Doyle says.

  “No way in hell.” Kirin scowls.

  “Not going to happen.” Axel shakes his head.

  Flipping them all the bird, I pace. They all continue to shake their heads. We all know they’ll go along with whatever plan we all cook up. The best part is that they’ll do it with smiles on their faces. We’ve all started to get a bit itchy sitting around doing nothing. It’s been too long between assignments.

  We decide to use me as bait to lure Cashel the Asshole and take turns watching the door and plotting.

  “What about Anarchy and Chaos and Arela? We need to have plans in place for them.” I tap a finger on my chin.

  “What about keeping Anarchy and Chaos locked in your room so they can’t follow us?” Eryn asks.

  “Good idea. And what about Arela? I won’t leave her here again. I made a promise to her and I’m going to keep it.”

  Eryn nods. “Leave a note tied to Anarchy or Chaos’s foot telling her what to do if we aren’t back in a certain amount of time. One of us can get another note to Arela so it’s not left in her room where anyone can see it.”

  “Okay. Let’s do it. Eryn, can you get the note to her?”

  “On it. See you guys at home.” She walks out of the shed to set it up and I look at the guys.

  “Right, we know how we were going to get out of Goblin. Sift out and pray they’re slow to catch on and their best trace tracker is on vacation.” I tick off everything on my fingers.

  “I’ll take care of smudging our trail as much as I can while you guys bounce around a few times to keep anyone tracking us busy.” Kirin rubs his hands together.

  I nod. “Then we set up at the house. Play it casual like we don’t have a care in the world.” The house we all share is in the middle of nowhere in the country and the perfect spot to avoid any innocents getting caught in the mix. “Cashel doesn’t know us that well, and he’s already underestimated me once.”

  His willingness to do anything to get me is what I’m counting on. I’ll use that to keep everyone safe if I need to.

  “The only thing left to do is ensure that my uncle gets wind of what’s happening and can hear Cashel fess up to everything. Ideas? I’m more than ready to make him sing like a canary and admit everything he’s done. But if I’m alone with him, it’s ‘he said, she said.’ and I’m leath cine.”

  “I’ll get word to him and tell him to come in force with his guards.” Axel steps forward.

  “That could work. But timing is everything. We can’t send the message too early and have Caddox show up and spook Cashel.”

  “I’ll handle it.” Axel nods.

  I smile. “Let’s rock and roll then.”

  The only things left are to ensure Anarchy and Chaos are safely locked in my room and to make sure Arela’s safe and knows that we aren’t abandoning her. Eryn’s handling the logistics on that, and she’s handling Arela.

  I’m ready to get everything done and over with so I can get back to living my life. Whether that means we’ll be in our house outside of Indianapolis or in the Goblin Kingdom, I don’t care. The one thing I do know is that this shit needs to end today.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY

  I have the radio blasting some unknown song while I sit on our front porch in shorts and a tank top. I’m showing as much skin as I can in hopes that I throw Cashel off. I’m not sure Cashel is smart enough to tell if I’m carrying any concealed weapons, so I’m unarmed.

  “Do you want steak tonight for dinner?” Eryn yells over the music.

  I lean back in my chair. “Steak sounds good to me!” I have my doubts that our bait tactic will work effectively as Cashel has to know that he’s a hunted man now. My gut tells me to keep my guard up, and I always go with my gut.

  The tingling awareness of being watched sends a shock of adrenaline through my system, and I keep myself from tensing in my chair. Maybe we can be done with this prick nice and quick. Honestly, I’m in awe of his stupidity. It’s a miracle someone hasn’t killed him already.

  I look over my shoulder. Eryn has started chopping carrots which is the signal that Cashel is here. She’s got one hand moving the knife, the other under the counter top, probably texting Axel, telling him to go grab my uncle. I swing my bottle of soda between my fingers in a circle, and give them the signal that I’m ready to go.

  Footsteps sound, but I continue to pretend to chit chat with Eryn about what I want for dessert later.

  “Nah, I want something chocolate. What’s this strawberries and cream shit?”

  Cashel clears his throat, and I take a deep breath to slow my pounding heart.

  Slowly I turn to face him. Eyes wide, mouth dropping open, I hope I’m as good an actress as I think I am. I lean forward and slam the front legs of my chair back down to the deck, and I hope that it has the added effect of drama I’m looking for.

  “Wh-What, are you d-doing here?” I stammer, pretending to trip over my words. Gods, if all else fails, I can become an actress and win an award at this point.

  Cashel smiles, and he gazes around me, not meeting my eyes directly. I look back to Eryn and check that she’s okay. She is. Just his normal crazy look then. I give him my full attention and wait for his response.

  “I’ve come to bring you back to me, my Ever.”

  His tone is saccharine sweet. It makes my skin crawl. He runs a hand through his golden hair, which only adds to the creepy vibe he has going.

  “Bring me back to you?” I look more closely at him. His hair isn’t gleaming in the sun. It’s greasy, and his clothes appear to have smears of dirt on them. He’s been hiding out from someone or something since I last saw him. He’s no longer polished and put together. Slumming it like the slug he is. Fitting.

  “Yes, my love, back to me. You belong with me
. By my side. How can you not know how much I love you? How much you mean to me?”

  “How much do I mean to you?” I ask while trying not to gag at his words. I need to keep him talking so I lean forward and dip my head down before looking up at him through my eyelashes. Resting my elbows on my thighs, my soda between my fingers, I slowly twirl the bottle in circles to let my team know I’m okay and don’t need back up.

  “I have done so much to ensure we will be together, my Ever.” He sighs and runs his hand through his hair again.

  I prepare myself for a long drawn out tale of his trials and tribulations about murdering and blackmailing people to get what he wants. My pulse slows down as I wait for him to make a move, but my senses are still on high alert as I hear each and every creature in the forest around our house moving about.

  “You mean the thing with my mother?” I tilt my head. I’m going for my best dumb bimbo tone, but I’m not sure I can make my voice squeak enough to get it right.

  “Your mother is one of the final parts I needed to make my plans work. It was not easy to get the information that would force her to help me in obtaining your hand in marriage.” He huffs and looks toward the trees. “I had to track down that maid she had dismissed at the time of your birth and threaten her family in Elven. Then I had to find that maid in the goblin manor who was willing to get you to me by any means necessary. I had to kill those who were going to expose me myself.” He looks down at his hands before rubbing his palms on his pants like they’re still stained with blood.

  “You’ve gone through a lot of effort to get to me,” I say, not sure what else I can say to his ramblings other than, you’re crazy as hell guy.

  A gasp sounds behind me and I tear my attention from his face. I jump to my feet. Glass shatters when I drop my bottle of soda. An elf is behind Eryn, holding the knife she had been using to chop carrots to her throat. His arm around her chest keeps her arms pinned to her sides, and his other hand is tangled in her long hair, keeping her head back and still.

  I whip my head back and forth between Eryn and Cashel, unsure what move to make first. Go for Cashel and subdue him, trusting that Eryn can take care of herself, or do whatever it takes to get that knife away from her neck? I’ve got a better chance of besting Cashel once I’m in his clutches, so I turn slightly, still keeping Eryn in my line of vision but giving most of my attention to Cashel.

  “What do you want?” I ask, my lip curled in hatred.

  “I want you to divest yourself of weapons. I know you have some, so don’t pretend you don’t. Then I want you to walk over to me slowly with your arms out.” He keeps eye contact with me as he gives his instructions, his gaze never wavering from my own.

  I reach into my boot and remove my hidden blade. Carefully, so I don’t startle him or the elf holding Eryn, I reach behind me, removing the second blade clipped to my belt. Arms held wide, I turn in a circle, showing Cashel that I’m no longer armed.

  I jerk my chin up at him. “Let her go, and I come over to you.”

  He shakes his head. “Oh, my Ever. You must really think I am stupid.” He sighs. “You walk over to me. Don’t even think about trying anything. Once I have you in these”—he holds up a pair of cuffs between his fingers—“my friend over there will remove the knife from her throat.”

  I watch him closely as his face twists. The cuffs must be dipped in cold iron. Elves have issues with iron. Should I make him wait a little bit longer while he holds the cuffs? Will it zap his strength enough to give me the tiniest advantage I need? I’ve never had any problems with iron despite my mixed heritage. I can’t risk Eryn getting hurt if my stall tactics piss him off. I’ll figure out a way to get out of them. I walk toward him and keep my eye on Eryn.

  “Don’t do it, Ever!” Eryn shouts at me.

  She struggles against the large elf holding her. He loosens his hold on her and leans down and says something in her ear. The music is still on so I can’t make it out, but Eryn renews her efforts, struggling harder.

  Eryn goes still, and a trickle of crimson blood trails down her throat. That bastard nicked her.

  “Eryn! Stop struggling. It will all be okay.” My voice waivers on the last syllable as helplessness washes over me.

  Doyle and Kirin are hanging back and are ready to help us as soon as they can, once Cashel is in the woods with me. Logically I know that Eryn will be okay. We have back up. But at the moment I feel completely alone in dealing with the situation at hand. My instincts scream at me to kill Cashel and take out his man, but I can’t do it all at once by myself. I’m good, but I’m not that good. No one is. My shout must have pierced through the music because Eryn stays still, and her wide eyed stare locks with mine.

  I step forward and hold my wrists together in front of me. “Cuff me. Let’s get this over with.” As soon as the metal touches my wrists I wince for effect. I need Cashel to think that the cold iron has the same effect on me as it does a normal elf. The last cuff clicks into place, and I stand there, only steps away from him. Steps away from being able to end his existence. I wrangle my hatred and lock it down tight for now. For now, I’ll play his game so Eryn will be okay.

  “Now, Eryn. Let her go, or I go nowhere.” I narrow my eyes. This entire scheme was my idea and I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her.

  Cashel motions to the man. The man keeps his hand firmly on Eryn’s arm before he jerks her into him, the knife now held in front of her stomach, the tip of the blade pointing toward her.

  “You said you’d let her go!” I jerk my head from one direction to the other, not sure who I should keep my focus on.

  “No, I said he would remove the knife from her throat. It is no longer at her throat, is it now?” He smirks.

  Gods damnit! I didn’t clarify that part before striking the deal with him. I know better. Shit, shit, shit.

  “Let her go on good faith,” I bargain. “Better yet, take her with us.”

  “She’ll only hamper my plans, and I have great plans for the both of us, my Ever.”

  Groaning, I give it one last shot. “I don’t understand what you want with me. I’m leath cine, for Goddess’s sake! I’m only half elf. I’m useless to you, if it’s the crown you’re after. They would never accept me as queen. You have to know that!” I shake my cuffed hands in front of me, my body tense.

  “They will accept your or be sentenced to death.” His lips twist into an evil grin as he cackles.

  I step toward him, done fighting with his delusions. I glance at Eryn out of the corner of my eye and nod. She knows what to do. I only pray that she takes her captor by surprise and is able to subdue him once Cashel and I are away from the house.

  He slips his hand into the crook of my elbow and leads me around the house toward the woods. The direction he’s taking leads toward our closest neighbor’s house. Our closest neighbor is a solid mile and a half away, giving me plenty of time for backup to arrive.

  “I don’t understand, Cashel.” I huff, dragging my feet as much as possible while he pulls me behind him through the woods. “You can’t kill everyone who disagrees with me. You’ll be king of nothing.”

  I keep my senses sharp as I try to keep him talking in hopes that it lulls him into a false sense of victory. Little does he know that Doyle and Kirin are close by, just not close enough to spot, and Axel is waiting at the road. All of them are probably waiting for us and ready to put a knife in Cashel’s shriveled heart. By now they’ll have been alerted to what’s going on and prepping for what’ll happen next.

  “I will take the throne by force. Caddox doesn’t understand that he isn’t enforcing the declaration correctly.” He spits out our uncle’s name like a curse, his face turning red. “Our grandfather was a fool. He was scared of what would happen. Scared of progress.” He looks around for a moment before continuing on the path we’re on.

  What an idiot. He even has us on a clearly traveled path. I roll my eyes at his stupidity and lack of general survival skills.


  “And what exactly is going to happen? Other than you taking the throne?”

  “The prophecy will be complete, and I will rule all of Elven and Goblin with you by my side, my Ever.”

  I stare wide-eyed at the back of his head in shock. I can’t even formulate a coherent thought. Prophecy? As in, crystal ball, fortune teller prophecy? Rule Elven and Goblin? Like under one ruler? Once again, I wonder if he’s smoking some sort of elf crack because he’s high as fuck if he thinks that will ever happen.

  I mentally slap myself and gather my words together in a sentence I hope sounds intelligent. “And where exactly does this prophecy come from?”

  Cashel mutters to himself, looking back and forth at a fork in the path, scratching his head.

  “Do you want to go farther into the woods or to the road?” I ask out of sheer amusement. He wouldn’t be able to find his way out of a paper bag. His sense of direction is that bad.

  “Road.”

  He jerks my arm to the right after I motion my cuffed hands in that direction. I stumble a bit at his sudden motion.

  Now that we’re on the right track, he slows his pace a bit, walking beside me instead of dragging me behind him like an errant child. A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye alerts me that back up has arrived. Now to keep him distracted long enough for them to get into place.

  “Cashel, the prophecy?” I question again. “Where did you hear of this prophecy? Some witch doctor?” I shake my head, my brows in my hair line, trying not to laugh at his idea of a prophecy that involves me.

  He smiles. “In one of his journals, our grandfather foretold of a girl who would be half-elf, half-goblin who would unite the two kingdoms in harmony. She would be of fiery hair and azure eyes. She would be full of light and illusion.”

  A gasp escapes my lips before I can stop it. I stand there dumbfounded, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. My heart races and my hands shake as I repeat his words in my head. Fiery hair and azure eyes. Full of light and illusion. My hair is fire red, and my eyes are azure ringed in lilac. No, no, no, no, no. Our grandfather was insane. There’s no way any of this is true. Cashel has to be making this all up to go along with his delusions.