by Jaymin Eve
Once I was dry, Rose handed across underwear and a dress. Ignoring the silky and expensive feel to each piece, I just pulled them on and dropped the lilac-colored shift dress over my head. It was old-fashioned, falling to my knees and draping across the rest of my body. The straps were thin, with lace edging.
I reached up and ripped the lace free, the material giving away easily. I hated lace. At least there were no ruffles. Rose said nothing as she sat me in front of a large, ornate mirror and pulled a wide-toothed comb through my black hair. It was getting longer now, falling in a dark cascade to my mid-back. As it draped around my face, the blue highlights made the dark blue of my eyes pop.
“We really need to ugly you up a bit,” Rose said as she looked over my head. “The king likes pretty things. He’s going to be even more obsessed with you now.”
I snorted. “My mouth’s not pretty, and he’s sure as hell not going to like what comes out of it.”
Rose’s expression was scrunched, her thin eyebrows drawn together. “He’s a dragon shifter. They like fire. They like fight. Maybe you’d be better acting like me. Invisible.”
We both stared at our reflections. The contrast between us was strong. I wasn’t sure I could tame the fire inside of me. I too was a dragon, and a wolf, and both of them were wild.
“I’m going to beat him,” I said to her. “I’ll figure out how to break the marked bonds, then I’ll kill him. We’ll be free one day.”
Her scrunched expression did not ease, and I knew she had given up hoping a long time ago. My words meant nothing to her.
When I was groomed to her satisfaction, she ushered me toward the door.
“Why do you think Larky took you from your family?” I asked as we paused before the barred doors. “There must have been a reason he helped your village. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of supernatural to just offer his services out of the goodness of his heart.”
What had he wanted from them?
“For a long time I wondered the same thing as you,” she said, a spark of fire lighting up those dull eyes. “Then one night I woke and found him in my room. He was draining my blood and life force. I believe that for some time he’d been sneaking in, spelling me to sleep and stealing from me. The sleep elixir must have been weaker that night. I was able to hear some of what he said. He spoke of how my blood worked the best in his spells, that it was the closest thing he had to the blood of the shining ones. My father always told me we were descended from fey, and I think that was what he needed in my blood.”
So not totally human after all. Probably why she had adapted so easily to this land. The shining ones were the gods of Faerie, and if what she said was true, her blood would hold elements of their power. Blood was used a lot in spells. It was filled with life and essence; its strength was unparalleled. I wished Jacob was here, he’d know more about this than me. Faerie secrets were well guarded.
Hell, I really needed all of my boys. Most probably they were locked up right now for rampaging, pillaging, and killing stupid fuckers who wouldn’t tell them where I was. I stumbled then as the full-body ache of being away from my pack crushed in on me. Rose mistook my fumble as weakness from hunger.
She touched my arm. “Come, you must replenish your strength.”
I didn’t understand this girl. Sure, I had no real experience with humans, although she wasn’t really human, but she didn’t seem to hate or love Larky. It was almost as if she was indifferent, which was a coping mechanism I had noticed in some of the long-lived members of our races. They had endured through so much that eventually they just shut down their emotions. Of course, there were always exceptions to that rule. Louis, my powerful sorcerer friend, had proven that by finally coming back to the land of the living after the death of his chosen mate.
Rose grabbed her basket and moved across to the door. Her cotton dress swamped her slender frame and looked easy to pull on and off. Why couldn’t I have worn that style instead of this lace number? I swear to the gods, if Larky’s eyes lowered to my boobs for even a second, I would forego all of my fake calm and rip his head off.
Rose knocked a few times on the door. There was a pattern to it; I guessed she was alerting the guard on the other side. My sensitive hearing picked up the click as the magical locks released, then the door swung open soundlessly. Rose didn’t seem concerned to have her back to me. She was either stupidly trusting, or she had already sensed that I was not going to attack her.
To save my boys I would destroy anyone, but if I was the only one to think of, I could be more altruistic. Besides, I would have plenty of opportunities to escape. No doubt king dickhead would make a wrong move sooner or later.
My bare feet padded silently behind her, the floor cool but not uncomfortable. Like most of Faerie, the weather here probably did not change – not to mention everything here was infused with magic, so the floating castle and its surroundings would just respond to Larky’s will.
Rose led me back to the kitchen area, and then off into a large round room. The stone floor merged into a thick, warm carpet and my feet sunk into the luxuriousness. Despite my fatigue and hunger, I remained focused on my surroundings, cataloguing windows and doorways. Noting that the large wooden table was ornately set.
“This is where I leave you. Please take a seat and someone will be with you shortly.”
Rose nodded at me once – there was that spark of something in her eyes again – then she was gone. I watched her leave before refocusing on the table. It was made from what looked like a single slab of wood. It wasn’t perfectly square; the shape mimicked the natural stretch of the tree it had been cut from. It reminded me of the stunning wooden piece in the boy’s house in Stratford, the one that had been lovingly carved by Braxton. My dragon was talented with his hands, in more ways than one.
The ache crushed in on me again and I had to reach out a hand to steady myself. I knew I would struggle being away from the Compasses, but this felt so tangible, as if the partial mate bond between Braxton and I was actually causing me pain. Or was I feeling Braxton’s pain? Shit. I really hoped it wasn’t that. Nothing would make me lose my mind faster.
“Hello, Jessa. You look lovely.”
I froze, my hands clawing into the back of the chair. I took a few deep breaths, and by the time I turned to face him I’d reeled my emotions in and schooled my face to show nothing but indifference. Be nice. False sense of security. I had to repeat it more than once, my fist already clenched in preparation of punching that smug face.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice bland, monotone. I wasn’t going to go as far as acting enthusiastic – he knew I wanted to kill him. Better for him to think I had simply resigned myself to this fate.
He waited for me to take a seat at the table. There were at least twenty settings. I chose one furthest from the door. I wanted to be able to see who was coming at us. Larky sat across from me, and involuntarily my body leaned back. The width of the table top was at least two meters, but we were still way too close.
My eyes lowered to the setting in front of me. There had to be a hundred pieces of white and gold-trimmed dining ware, not to mention an array of silver objects which looked like old-fashioned cutlery. Nothing which would work as a weapon though – not that I needed one. Couldn’t stab him to death unfortunately. I needed to break those magical bonds first, and I had no idea how to do that.
“I really love you in purple. Your eyes almost look lavender.”
Really? He had to be shitting me.
Be nice, I repeated to myself again, but before I could stop myself my hand smashed out and crashed into the stack of white and gold plates – stupid perfect pieces of his life. They clattered to the floor. Some broke, but the soft carpet protected the rest. Of course, once I started I couldn’t stop. I launched myself out of my chair and kicked out, upending the entire table. It was heavy – felt like it weighed a ton – but I was a shifter so I barely broke a sweat. The wooden top crashed to the floor, chairs and plates flying around
the room. Larky had shifted himself back a little, but still sat in his chair, staring at me with that stupid friggin’ grin on his face.
I screamed long and loud before launching myself at him. We collided and his arms went around me, but I was having none of that. My elbow whipped out and cracked him in the jaw, splitting it wide open. I avoided the spatter of blood, hating when any of his essence touched me.
The grin finally fell from his lips, and deep emotion lit up those stormy gray eyes. He lifted up a hand as if to slap me.
Bring it, bitch.
His hand jabbed out. I managed to deflect it, before returning the favor with a punch in the gut. Either he wasn’t that hot at hand to hand fighting – I supposed in his day it was probably more about swordplay – or he was again just humoring my little rebellion. Stupid Ass. I was so ready to bail.
I drew on my wolf speed, and took off for the door. I had pieced together the basic layout, and this floor was definitely my best bet of getting out of the castle. It was ground level. I just had to find a window to smash or a door to break down.
I reached for my dragon. Come on. I needed her now. She was strong enough to crash through the damn brick if required.
King asshole’s voice followed me as I ran: “Jessa, you cannot escape from me.”
Still tooting that tired old trumpet. I focused on escaping and blocking out his energy.
My dragon and I continued to smash against the wall which separated us. Why the hell was this so hard? Shifting into dragon should be natural for me.
I crossed through the large room with all the beautiful books and paintings. The windows were high and barred; there was no escape from here. I took another hallway, one which I had not been down before.
“Follow me,” said a soft familiar voice. I caught a glimpse of shiny brown hair and knew it was Rose.
Following her scent, I zoomed along even faster. Straight, left turn, right turn, and then left again. It was a maze of halls and I had to hope like hell Rose wasn’t directing me on some wild-goose chase. I slowed as she came into sight, her petite frame before a large arched entrance, that low, unnatural yellow light of Faerie pouring through.
“I see you did well with the laying low and false sense of security thing,” she said. A grin lit up her unique features, making her look extra young and pretty.
I shrugged. “What can I say. Guess it’s not in my nature to lay low.”
She nodded, not looking at all surprised. “You have a chance to escape now. I crisscrossed the path many times to confuse our scent, but you don’t have much time.”
“Are you going to be okay?” I knew she was forbidden from helping me, and I hated to think Larky would follow through on that torture thing.
She swallowed. “I’ll most likely be punished for helping you, but I don’t care. I feel you are the one chance for … for all of us trapped in a world of living but who do not truly live.” She handed me a small brown sack which I had not even noticed her carrying. “Go now, find your family and break the bonds of the marked. It can be done. The answers lie on the island of the shining ones.”
“The castle is in the sky. How am I supposed to escape?”
She gave me a bit of a shove then. “When you reach the end, take a leap of faith.”
What the hell did that mean? She wanted me to just jump off? She gave me another push, and with a shake of my head I clutched the soft material of the bag – it was surprisingly heavy – and took off. I was loath to leave Rose behind, but she was tied too closely to the king. He’d be able to find her in a moment. I was hoping he didn’t have the same direct tracking beacon to the rest of the marked.
Rose’s exit from his castle led out into what looked like a courtyard garden surrounded by a stone wall about six-feet high. Damn, I wish I wasn’t in this dress. The draw-string pack in my hands had straps, so I quickly threaded my arms through them and secured it across my back. I was going to need both hands to make it out of here. If I could have touched my dragon, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but no, we still had a wall between us.
I sensed my beast’s frustration too. Smoke was pouring from her nostrils as she struggled to reach me. I forced my focus outwards again; the gardens were filled with low bushy plants, twirled brambles of thorny vines and lots of flowers, most of which I had never seen before. Crazy things grew in Faerie, that was for sure. As I was closing in on the wall I heard shouts from back at the castle and knew that Rose’s crisscrossed path had been discovered. I never looked back. I was not returning to the castle. I was not spending one more second with the king.
Avoiding most of the deadly looking flowers, even with their very tantalizing scents, I traced a path across the large courtyard garden. As I closed in on the wall, which was taller than me by quite a bit, I leapt up and landed cleanly on the large sandstone surface which lined the top of the barrier. On the other side of this wall was nothing but clouds, a massive expanse of white.
Well, eff me.
The breezes were buffeting me, and since I couldn’t see more than a speck of land below, I knew there was no way to survive a drop this high. Sure, I’d done it once before in Faerie, but that had been when the dragon marked were indestructible. Now that the king had returned we could very easily be killed. My only choice was to “take a leap of faith,” or return to the castle.
Trusting in Rose, I stepped off the side.
I stifled my scream, but thankfully only dropped for about three seconds before a mist swirled around my waist, and then, just like that, I was on the ground.
I shook back my hair, flipping my head up so I could see if the castle was above me. It was. Miles above. But it was as if I’d only fallen a few meters. Was it some sort of optical illusion? Damn, no time to worry about it now.
I took off again. As soon as I had some distance between myself and those pursuing me, I would change into my wolf. I was faster, smaller, and harder to detect in wolf form. Magical tracing didn’t work on my wolf either. Of course, I wasn’t forgetting that Larky was a dragon. He’d definitely track me from the sky, so I had to find some sort of cover – this wide open expanse of grassy plane was never going to work.
I could see undulating hills in the distance and decided to head in that direction. They would limit the dragon’s ability to both track and fly low enough to snatch me up.
The ground was still soft under my bare feet, which helped a lot with speed. I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to be fast enough. Sure enough, when I was only about halfway to the mountain, there was a distinct change in the air around me. Shifter energy lashed out and I almost stumbled at the sheer power. Larky was one powerful bastard – which was really annoying.
I sensed the dragon long before I saw him. Looking up, he was only a black dot in the sky behind me, glints of red and black flashing, yet I still clearly heard the distinct whoosh of wings.
In my dreams the king always had dark, heavy black scales, but in real life his black undertones were lit through with flames of red and orange, the colors shimmering in the light.
I skidded to a halt. There was only one chance for me now. I pulled off my bag and got naked in about five seconds, shoving my clothes into the pack. I called for my wolf, and within a few heartbeats I was changed, the bag in my teeth as I took off. I was at least three times faster in my wolf form – not to mention the dulling of my human fears was a nice relief. The wolf knew we were being hunted, but her emotions weren’t quite as broad, nor strong, as my human ones. She would not panic until she was caught.
I heard the roar behind and there was a tingling heat in the air. The dragon drew closer, but my extra speed was enough for me to make it into the first valley between the mountainous ranges.
Chapter 3
Despite the mountains offering the smallest sense of security and freedom, I did not slow or lose my focus. If Braxton had taught me anything, it was that dragons were relentless. Larky would hunt me forever. He thought I belonged to him, and he would do everything in
his power to retrieve his possession. The bag was a little annoying; its weight pulled at my lower jaw and the string dragged on the ground, but I couldn’t escape without my clothes and what was hopefully food. I could smell varying scents from within and was reasonably confident that Rose had given me provisions.
The air still shimmered with tendrils of energy and lightning power. The dragon king was pissed, like mega pissed, and he was not hiding it. I could tell that here, in this land of pure magic, the dragon was extra potent. So why the hell couldn’t I reach mine?
I could barely even sense her now in my wolf form; there was an even greater barrier between us. The two animals did not hate each other or anything, but it was almost as if one could not be present when the other was. It sort of made sense. It wasn’t natural to have two shifter animals. There was no other shifter in history – even those from hybrid parents – who was a dual like me.
A roar echoed over my head; it sounded so much closer than before. I lowered my wolf muzzle as much as I could whilst carrying the bag, and picked up the pace. My paws were aching from the rocky ground but I was holding up. I’d be doing even better if I had some food and sleep to fall back on.
I was thankful that the valley I’d chosen to take through this mountain seemed to run the entire range. The path was worn, with strange colorful plants dotting the edges, very similar to the ones I’d seen in our jungle adventure here, just less overgrown. Shadows flashed across my head; I glimpsed Larky’s brilliantly-colored sunset dragon through small gaps from above. He knew I was here but was too large to make it close enough to grab me. I really wanted to find a place to lay low until I figured out a way to contact Louis, but I could hear someone on the ground following as well. I was being pursued from all angles.
I needed another plan. They were tracking me too easily like this; I would eventually falter and be caught. Especially since I was not running at full capacity, and I’d already learned multiple times today that there was no real way to fight the king. I had to escape him and find my people again. We needed a plan to sever the ties between the king and marked. Like yesterday.
