Fae Mistaken (Fae 0f Ballantine Book 4)

by Serena Meadows

  Fae Mistaken

  (Fae of Ballantine)

  Serena Meadows

  Copyright ©2020 by Serena Meadows - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Also By Serena Meadows

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Jamison

  The sound of boots pounding down the dormitory stairs woke Jamison abruptly from a deep sleep. For a second, he wasn’t sure where he was, but he quickly scanned the room and his desk came into focus in the dim light of dawn. Since his brother Colin had left a few days ago with his best friend Keaton to help their cousin Reese in Loughmore, he’d been grabbing a few hours’ sleep at a time in his office at the barracks.

  His father had insisted that he was overreacting, but with all the trouble they’d had with the Unseelie, he wasn’t taking any chances. The Seelie had been too sure of themselves and it had nearly cost them Ballantine. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  “Riders approaching the gate,” he heard the guards shouting up and down the halls as they scrambled out of the barracks and to their posts.

  Throwing his feet over the side of the cot, he got up and quickly made his way to the door, threw it open, and stepped out. The halls were empty, the barracks as silent as it should have been on a full alert, and he couldn’t help but smile. Of all the things that were changing in Ballantine, the improvement in the guard was the only one that brought him happiness and a sense of security.

  The first rays of sunlight were just coming over the mountains to the east when he stepped out into the courtyard, to find his parents already waiting for him. Their eyes were trained on a group of riders making their way through the streets of Ballantine, their slow progress making it clear that they were exhausted. He heard his mother gasp, then saw that Colin had a cloth-wrapped body in his arms, and he was filled with a strange mix of emotions.

  Heat stained his cheeks with humiliation when he realized that one of those emotions was relief: relief that his brother’s wife might be dead. But the feeling passed so quickly, he was able to pretend he’d never thought it, no need to examine the terrible truth it had just exposed about himself.

  Straightening his shoulders, and pushing away the sour feeling in his stomach, he searched the riders again, spotting Darby riding right behind his brother, next to Rainie. They made a strange pair, Rainie’s impressive height making her tower over the smaller Fae, but he knew that Darby was anything but weak thanks to the witchcraft that mingled with her Fae blood.

  There was another rider with them, a very petite blonde who couldn’t have been Fae; even for a common Fae, she was too small. As he watched her, he knew that there was something familiar about her, that she reminded him of something. And then it hit him: she looked like a Pixie. Knowing that was impossible, he turned his attention back to the body Colin was carrying, wondering who or what they were bringing into Ballantine and wishing his brother would have just stayed the errant playboy he’d once been.

  Colin didn’t even wait for a greeting when they finally made it to the courtyard in front of the castle. Instead, he started shouting orders. “I need a room made ready, and get the doctor from the village,” he shouted as soon as he could be heard, and the courtyard was suddenly filled with commotion.

  He stood momentarily stunned that his brother had taken over with only those words, but he felt invisible as everyone rushed to fulfill his wishes. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me what’s going on?” he asked as his brother pushed past him, forcing him to follow along behind him.

  “I’ll fill you in as soon as we get Miranda settled,” Colin called over his shoulder, then began barking more orders at the staff.

  Jamison watched his brother disappear into his wing of the castle, wondering again what might have happened if his brother hadn’t finally come to his senses and become the leader his parents had wanted. He’d come so close to finally getting what he deserved after all the years he’d spent doing exactly what his parents demanded from him, and then overnight, it was all taken away.

  He hadn’t even been his father’s first choice to lead the guard, Keaton had, and now he was following Colin down the hallway as if he belonged there, as if he’d never turned his nose up at protecting Ballantine and the royal family. Of course, his cousin Reese and the petite Pixie-like woman had already marched past him as if he didn’t even exist. It was nothing new, but somehow it hurt even more than it had when he’d been a child.

  But then Keaton stopped and turned around. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked. “We’re going to need you.”

  Jamison pushed himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against. “I’m right behind you,” he said, a bit pacified.

  When he got to the room the staff had chosen, Colin had already laid his bundle on the bed, and now Jamison could tell that it was a woman. A long strand of black curly hair was sticking out of the bundle, and he could just glimpse a pale cheek though a gap in the blanket. He didn’t realize that he was holding his breath as Colin slowly unwrapped her, but when the woman’s face was fully exposed, it came rushing out of his lungs in a whoosh.

  For several long seconds, he wasn’t able to breathe, and he understood for the first time what it felt like to be stunned. When he could finally breathe again, he staggered back a few steps, his body humming with desire for the pale, raven-haired beauty whose face seemed emblazoned in his mind. Closing his eyes, he tried to get control of himself, still slightly shocked by his reaction to a total stranger.

  “I think all of you should leave the room and give her some more time to recover; she’s been through a big shock and needs to rest,” Darby said, gently pushing everyone toward the door. “The rest of you could use some food and sleep yourselves.”

  Jamison turned, all too happy to flee, but Colin said, “Jamison, I’d like you to stay.”

  ***Miranda***

  Miranda woke slowly, the sound of voices different now, and tried to open her eyes, but nothing happened. She tried to move her arms and legs, but they felt weighed down, like something heavy was covering her. Realizing that it was fruitless even to try, she concentrated on the conversation going on around her instead, hoping to understand what had happened to her.

  She seemed to be floating in a world of darkness, but every once in a while, there was a glimmer of light in the distance, just a flash in the complete blackness, but enough to show her the total emptiness of the space around her. Fear threatened to consume her, but the sound of a soft, soothing voice broke through the jumble of other voices, calming her and allowing her to drift off to sleep again.

  Around her bed, three people sat watching and waiting for some sign that she was going to survive, but only one was horrified and slightly frightened by her presence in the castl
e. “Tell me again why you thought it was a good idea to bring not only a witch, but a Pixie that the Unseelie want, back here to Ballantine, because frankly, I can’t see how this is going to turn out anything but bad,” Jamison said, then got to his feet.

  Darby turned and shushed him, then reach up and smoothed the hair away from Miranda’s face. “Do you have a better suggestion?” she asked quietly. “Loughmore isn’t prepared for an attack by the Unseelie, and we are.”

  Jamison snorted derisively. “I’d like to point how just how wrong that statement is, but I’m not going to bother; someone like you couldn’t possibly understand what it takes to defend a place like Ballantine.”

  “I think that’s enough, Jamison. I asked you to stay hoping that you’d see this was our only choice, but clearly that’s not going to happen,” Colin said, “If you plan to stay, do it with your mouth closed.”

  When Miranda woke the next time, it was to silence, and she started to panic, but then the soothing voice she was coming to love floated through the darkness to her. Still unable to move, she floated in the now-familiar blackness, the occasional flashes of light brighter than before, but anything but soothing. This time she sensed a presence in the light that made her uncomfortable, a feeling she knew she’d felt before.

  She tried to identify the feeling, but it was vague, shrouded in mist like all her other thoughts, but then the light began to come closer to her and she instantly knew what she was feeling. If she’d been able to run, she would have turned and fled as the light approached, the feeling growing until it blocked any other emotion.

  When the voice came to her, she wasn’t prepared and let out a little scream. “Miranda, I’ve been looking for you,” her mother said, “I’ve been so worried about you, sweetheart.”

  If she’d been able to, she would have cringed at the false sweetness in her mother’s voice, but all she could do was wait silently, afraid to answer her mother’s call. “I know you must be confused, but you have to come with me,” her mother said when she didn’t answer. “It’s the only way we can stay together, darling.”

  Floating there in the darkness, the only light in the vast wasteland that had become her existence suddenly tainted by her mother’s words, she felt the pull of something else, heard the soft whisper of something warm and inviting. She focused on it, feeling it pull her harder, and the light began to fade, but then suddenly, it was back and brighter than before.

  Stunned by the brightness, she lost the connection and felt her mother’s presence seeping into her, felt it taking hold and her will beginning to fade. But instead of giving in as she’d been trained to do, she fought, pushed her mother away with a strength she didn’t know she had. Her mother’s shrieking scream was the next thing she heard, and for a second, she felt like she was going to split into a million pieces, but the feeling passed when she thought of the warmth waiting for her somewhere out there.

  Focusing on the feeling, she felt herself spinning through the blackness, the bright light getting farther and farther away, her mother’s screaming voice becoming fainter. When she made the connection with the feeling of warmth again, it pulled her through the emptiness, bringing her closer—to what, she wasn’t sure—but she knew instinctively that it was something she wanted.

  When her soul slammed back into the motionless body on the bed, Miranda passed out, but not before she opened her eyes to see the smiling face of Darby who had leaned over her. It would be hours before she woke again, but deep inside, the warmth was there, filling her with an emotion she’d rarely experienced in her short life, and as hope took root deep inside her soul, the wounds of a lifetime of cruelty began to heal.

  Chapter Two

  Jamison

  Jamison had nearly drifted off in the chair he’d sat down in when the small form on the bed began to whimper. Instantly awake, he started to get to his feet, every nerve suddenly on edge, but Colin glared at him and he sat back in the chair.

  He’d been trying to avoid looking at the woman lying on the bed, the knowledge of what she was at war with the stirrings he felt deep inside every time he looked at her. Instead, he’d been staring at the floor, letting his anger at his brother simmer in his blood, one disastrous scenario after another playing out in his head. It didn’t matter that his brother had explained at great length what had happened in Loughmore; he wasn’t about to trust a witch.

  Nor was he going to trust the Pixie, Sarah, even though she’d killed one of their biggest enemies and sent the Unseelie reeling; Pixies, like witches, couldn’t be trusted. The fact that there were even still Pixies alive had been a tough bit of news to digest, then to discover that Reese was in love with her had almost been too much for him to handle. He was more than disgusted by the entire situation and blamed his brother for turning everything they’d ever known upside down.

  But now Miranda’s pale face was scrunched up in fear, her small body was trembling, and he was filled with a deep need to help her. The feeling shocked him, and he gasped, then shifted in the chair uncomfortably, hoping it would go away. He tried to look away from the trembling form, hoping to break the spell that had suddenly come over him, but she began to thrash, and the feeling only increased.

  “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, his voice coming out harder than he meant it to.

  Darby looked over at him, her face full of concern. “I don’t know,” she said, turning back to Miranda. “I think her mother might have put a binding spell on her.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked, suddenly alarmed. “Is she going to bring her mother here?”

  “In life, the binding spell would have made Miranda her slave; she would have had to obey her mother no matter what she asked,” Darby explained, her voice low. “In death, it means that she can pull Miranda into the underworld with her, but she’s fighting it.”

  “Can’t you help her?” he asked, wincing when Miranda cried out. “You’re a witch; do something.”

  Darby sighed. “I’m doing all I can,” she said, “I’m more Fae than witch, Jamison; this is some very strong magic we’re dealing with here.”

  When Darby began reciting the spell she’d been whispering under her breath, he mouthed the words with her, feeling ridiculous but desperate to help Miranda. She turned and looked at him, her face full of surprise but never missed a word, even when she gave him a quick smile.

  Around him, the air in the room began to feel heavier, and he was reminded of the night they’d sent the storm demon back to the underworld. He’d been trying not to think about that night, tried to block the terrible things he’s seen from his mind, but sitting there in the room right then, it all came rushing back. When he heard Colin’s voice joining Darby’s, he shivered as the air got heavier, but soon, his voice joined theirs in the cadence.

  The air in the room got heavier still; then it began to swirl above the bed as Miranda threw her head back and forth on the pillow, moaning no over and over. “Come back to us, Miranda,” Darby shouted above the sudden noise in the room. “You don’t belong on that side; wonderful things are waiting for you here.”

  There was a bright burst of light above the bed, blinding him momentarily and forcing him to close his eyes. He sat with his eyes closed, listening to the sudden silence in the room, afraid to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see. But when he opened them, Darby was smiling down at Miranda, who had her eyes open and a slight smile on her face.

  Her eyes fluttered closed again almost at once; her body went completely limp, and for a second, he wasn’t sure that she was breathing. When her chest rose and fell, he discovered that he was holding his breath and let it out in a whoosh, suddenly exhausted, and more than a little scared by what he’d just witnessed. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the fragile form on the bed, and for a long time, he just sat, stunned, watching her breathe.

  When he was sure that she was only sleeping, he stumbled to his feet and headed for the door, desperate to get away from the witch who’d done strange t
hings to him. Out in the hallway, he leaned up against the wall, feeling like a coward as he took deep gulping breaths of air. Colin came out of the bedroom door, closed it behind him, and leaned up against the wall next to him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, looking over at him. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

  “What did you think would happen?” he asked, focusing on the anger he’d been feeling earlier. “Did you think she’d just wake up and everything would be fine? She’s the daughter of the witch who tried to destroy us. I warned you this was a mistake, and I was right.”

  “She’s going to be fine, Jamison,” Colin said, shaking his head. “She broke the spell; Darby’s sure of it.”

  “And if she didn’t? What if this is all just an elaborate plan to get her inside Ballantine?” he asked. “She’s a witch, Colin, and she can’t be trusted.”

  “I thought we’d moved past this,” Colin said, “Darby has certainly proven that she can be trusted.”

  Jamison couldn’t disagree with that, but he wasn’t ready to accept that the old ways were a thing of the past. “No, we haven’t moved past this,” he said, “Your marriage to Darby is against the law, a disgrace to the crown, and I intend to see that it’s annulled. I’ve already contacted the high council.”

  A look of sadness spread across Colin’s face. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m not going to give Darby up,” he said, “Do what you feel is necessary, but all you’re doing is trying to hold onto the past, Jamison, and the past hasn’t worked all that well for us.”