by Burke, Brynn
I can’t lose her, not again.
As the substance enters the air, I know it’s only a matter of time before it completely takes me out. Hadley is trying to stay strong, I can see it in her eyes except they keep closing for long moment and opening like she is trying to force her eyes to continue opening.
“We’ll be okay, Hadley. I promise.” I soothingly say to her before her eyes close for good.
My eyes start to do the same. Closing for long moments, but I’m ready. I want to get a good look at the person whose done this to us so I can remember his face.
It takes too long for the culprit to come forth and as I open my eyes the last time, I see four legs standing right in front of me.
They were not legs at all, but hooves rather.
Then the black oasis consumes me, dragging me deep within its darkest dungeon.
Heart’s Desire
Otherworld
Book #3
Brynn Burke
Coming Spring 2019
Prologue
Calico
King Lucius sent word a couple days ago that he requested an audience.
I hated that man, hated him more than I hate half the men in my crew.
At least with them, I knew that they were nothing but scum and were always in it for themselves… well that, and the gold.
Greedy bastards.
With Lucius I had no idea what his end game was… he is just as selfish as my crew but there is always something more with him. He is not a man whose bad side you want to be on, but honestly… I don’t think he even has a good side. All I can say is that I am lucky that instead of killing me like her did to my whole tribe, he took me in as his squire.
At the ripe age of eleven, I was doing a kings bidding. I just thank my fucking lucky stars he didn’t feel the need to slaughter me with the rest. As a squire I learned how to read, I learned of the dealings between one place to another, which lords and ladies were at war with one another and which lands were ready for the picking. King Lucian started asking me what I thought, my advice on specific details which included gold, castles to seize and battle plans.
Little did he know that yes, I have always been grateful that he took me in instead of killing me… but I could not forget or forgive what he did to everyone I had ever known, my family. I also would never forget about all the things he had done to me when I was but a lad. I hated him and one day I would get revenge for all those innocent people and myself, I just needed to wait my time. Wait for the perfect opportunity.
At the age of twenty-three, the king told me that I was released from my duties… but he had another task he wished for me to do. He wanted me to gain complete control of the trading seas. To acquire all of the goods shipped from one kingdom to the next.
I was to be a pirate, stealing anything and everything for the greater good of the one and only true Kingdom in Otherworld, the Raven Isles or as I like to call it… Dark Kingdom.
Since the light fae kingdom was overthrown and millions of Queen Vesna’s people were murdered, where the Dark and Light once ruled the north side by side is now just Dark. With no light fae around to brighten things up with their sunshine, flowers and rainbows, Raven Isles and everywhere in between are now completely cloaked in gloom. A darkness the never ceases.
This fucking place is a complete nightmare and I would rather be absolutely anywhere but here right now.
As I walk by all the nobles, I can hear their whispers and sneers. It has never bothered me and it sure as hell isn’t going to now. I have always been different, looked down upon and with my pirate garb and a large scar on the left side of my face on my cheek… I am nothing but scum to these people. They can kiss my ass for all I care.
As I stand here in a hall waiting to be summoned, I feel a pang deep in my chest. It feels as if I am being poked through the chest with a spear or arrow. It hurts and I want to peel over, but I can’t. This close to the king… I can’t show any sign of weakness. Weakness is what gets a person killed these days, so instead I bite my tongue until my mouth fills with blood.
“Calico of the Grimalkin lands, the king will see to you now.” A man in robes and a bald head says. His robes signify he is a Eunuch, a man who has been castrated.
Poor fucker.
I follow him through the doors and see Lucian sitting on his throne made of bones.
When I am within a distance that is close but not too close, I bend at the waist.
“Your grace.” I say with the proper greeting to a king. He waves his hand in the air dismissing my bow.
“Do you know why I have requested your presence Calico?”
“No, I do not your grace.”
“Accusations have been made that you are stealing from the Kingdom, is this the truth?”
“Pardon me your highness, but what the actual fuck?” Everyone present in the room gasps at my outburst, little do they know it’s not an outburst at all… I just have the mouth of a sailor.
“Calico!” The king shouts and slams his goblet down upon the table.
“You talking to your king like that could be considered treason.” I palm my face in hand and then rub them down into my beard, collecting my cool.
“Who dare make these accusations against me and my men.”
The king moves two fingers in a come-hither motion and out comes a woman or rather… a whore.
I know exactly who this wench is.
This little slut is the one who I caught stealing from my chambers on the ship. She begged for mercy as I pulled her hair in an unforgiving grip with one hand and held a blade up to her face with my other. No one would ever purchase a whore who was covered in scars from head to toe. I was two seconds away from fucking her up when she claimed that she had children to feed and how sorry she was. I should have trusted my god damn gut instincts. The woman is nothing but a liar, a thief, a cum guzzling body who is only good for thing, a hole to get a man’s cock wet. I promised to flay her fucking face if I ever saw her again and I never break my promises.
When I look at this woman in the eyes… she cowers. Good… I hope she is so afraid that she shits herself because I do not tolerate being mad a fool of.
“Do you deny these accusations Calico?”
“Hell yeah I do. Are you honestly going to sit here and listen to these words spoken by a whore? A woman who will do anything for a bit of gold? I would never steal from you my king, you should know that by now. You have my life and I would do nothing to dishonor you.” I speak loud and clear, so every single word is punctuated, especially when I spoke of the woman because I say it with utter and complete disgust.
King Lucian stands from his throne, looking at one of the members from his king’s guard he says, “Take the girl. Put her in a cell until I can deal with her.” Then she dragged off screaming bloody fucking murder.
“Calico, walk with me.” The kind demands and his wish is my command.
I nod my head and follow behind him with my arms crossed behind my back.
We walk throughout the castle until we reach the gardens. I breath a bit easier once outside of that stuffy castle but the gardens aren’t fairing any better. The only thing that draws a person’s attention are the fountains, but I don’t speak my mind. Some things are better left unsaid if I wanted to keep my tongue.
“Calico… I wanted to speak to you about a few things. First, I need you to find something for me. I asked for you specifically because it needs to be done with discretion and I know with the merry men you travel with, they will keep their mouths shut as long as they get paid a pretty penny for it.” He reaches into a pocket of his golden attire and hands me a rolled-up paper with the kingdom’s crest. A crow with a black wax.
“That is a map of where I need you to go. Also, there is a trader out there, someone who is betraying me… stealing from me. I want their head, bring it to me. Don’t disappointment Calico.”
I give him a once head nod, “Leave at dawn. You’re dismissed.”
I bow t
o him again and say, “Your highness.”
I have just been given a mission, but I still had one thing to do here before I left.
That woman who spreads her legs for a living needs to be taught a lesson.
I’m just the person to do it.
Chapter 1
Oksana
I awaken and my head feels as if it’s going to explode.
It hurts something fierce… like I was knocked about the head.
My shoulder is sore, and I start shivering because I am absolutely freezing.
This is all a sense of déjà vu, I’ve been in a situation like this before.
Cold, freezing, naked… locked in a dungeon with no nothing and no one.
I start to panic, scared to open my eyes. I start thinking of all the terrible things done to me, but then I remember that I got my revenge. I served my own kind of justice.
I peak my eyes open and even though it’s not very bright, the light seeping through burns my irises. The ground that I am laying hard and rough, unforgiving. I am on are rocks, and everything is damp.
I take a look around and from what I can tell I am alone. It gives me the strength to sit myself up. I promised myself I would be strong, capable of protecting myself and never let anyone put me in a predicament where I would end up as I have in the past. A slave, a pawn, a toy and or a fucking Rabbit. I am far from a meek little bunny anymore. I have ways to protect myself and one thing I am not is scared to use them.
I try to stand by grabbing a large bolder, lifting myself up but my legs are all wobbly and I am once again dizzy. If I knew this world was going to fuck so much with my head I would have passed on stepping through the portal.
I gather my baring and first thing I do is look for an exit. There an exit, but I would have to pass for what I can only assume is a waterfall. The water is flowing fast and hard, since my body is still weak from just being released from Monster’s captivity, I know that I would not be able to handle such a feat. That leaves me only one option… find another way out.
I have been so consumed with trying to find a way out of this place that I didn’t even think about my men, or Hadley. It makes me feel like such a terrible person and so selfish. I ridicule myself for it but… I also don’t. It’s all very contradicting. I have been alone for so long, only worrying about if I were to survive this day or the next. A little less than forty-eight hours isn’t going to change the things integrated inside my head. As grateful and blessed as I am to have so many of these people in my life now, survival is a way of life I don’t ever thing I will be rid of.
Still… I needed to make sure that everyone is alright.
I open my mind.
“Wyatt…”
“Killian…”
No response.
I don’t know how this whole telepathy thing works exactly.
Sometimes they would hear me and all my thoughts, and other times they wouldn’t.
Why the hell can’t they hear me?
Officially I am mated to both of them… well that’s what they claim.
So why is this stupid thing not working?
I huff out an irritated breath and kind of stomp my foot in frustration.
If I cannot reach them the way I want, I’ll just have to get out of here and find them all my damn self.
I’m a wolf now, and by experience I have a great sense of both smell and direction… If only I was that inclined as a human… or whatever it is that I am now.
As I stand, I look around and see what looks to be a tunnel leading to the back of this cave. It seems to be man-made because it’s carved in a way that would not be created by the elements surrounding. There is a rounded arch at the top of the tunnel, with a flower detail carved within the stone. I reach out and touch the beauty of it. It must have taken ages to etch such a thing.
I put one foot in front of the other and march forward. I have no idea what to expect, but I know that I need to take this path, something within is driving me to continue on.
The path is wrapped in a complete darkness for the first hundred feet that I need to hold onto the wall so I would know as to where I am going. Then I see a light in the distance, a flame. As I get closer, I notice that it is a torch. I take it off its rightful place on the wall and bring it with me as I venture on.
The tunnel is winding, and longer than I expected but finally I come across what looks to be a chamber or a bedroom. There is a somewhat high sitting rounded bed, piled with silks and furs. It looks very inviting with everything that has happened lately… I just wanted to climb into this bed and forget the world. But alas… my life is not that simple and being in a world I do not understand or know the rules of… that is just something I could not do.
I continue to look around. Eying all the beautiful plants and décor placed this way and that. Nothing seems to gain my attention except all the weapons lining the wall off to my right and the armor that seems just a tad bit too big to fit a human.
I have no idea what kind of being fills that armor out and I don’t think I want to find out.
Before I leave the room, I run up to the wall and grab a small dagger placing it in the side of my pants facing downwards. I didn’t want it to be too obvious and I also didn’t want it to cut into me. If I didn’t have time to change into my wolf, I needed another means of protection, this is just perfect.
I keep moving… out of the room back through the halls. I come across another room with looks to have a slightly smaller waterfall and naturally formatted pool for bathing. This room is definitely not a room I want to remain in. Bathtubs were not and will never be my friend.
I get the shivers just thinking about the last time I was in one.
Never again.
As I turn to exit the room, I bump into something both hard and soft and fall to the ground. I dropped the torch but lucky for me the thing I bumped into has one in hand. As I look up…
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I say astounded.
Standing above me is an honest to god thing of myths, legends.
Half horse, Half man.
The being standing above me is none other than a Centaur.
Marked
Fated to a Lachlan
Book #1
Brynn Burke
Coming Summer 2019
Prologue
Skylar
I startle awake by the shivering of my body, eyes popping wide open. I fully expect to see the wooden ceiling and walls that make up the cabin I’m staying in, but trees and snow are what I get instead.
How the hell did I get out here?
Where is here exactly?
Actually… I know where I am, clearly in the woods, but I can’t pinpoint exactly where.
Even with my confusion, there’s something else that doesn’t feel right. I don’t understand why I don’t feel well.
It feels like I’m either still drunk or got hit by a bus. I can’t decide on which one it is, but they both suck majorly.
I stay laying prone on the ground, trying to recall the events that led up to this, but my head is all fuzzy. I lift my arms up slightly and rub at my temples.
Hmm… got it!
I remember leaving Jay-Cee’s house. We had a movie marathon, ordered pizza and we might have downed a few bottles of wine. It was a simple, yet a fun filled night. One that I so desperately needed. In the early hours of the morning, I bundled up in numerous layers of clothes to head to the little cabin that was on Jay-Cee’s property. It was less than half a mile so… I didn’t think twice about walking. I remember shutting the door but not too loud, Jay-Cee was knocked out on the couch and I didn’t want to wake her. I also remember thinking about how beautiful I thought the snow looked against the dark, night sky and how I’ve never have seen that much snow in my entire life. That’s it... nothing else. How is that possible?
I remove my hands from my head and place them on the ground, attempting to sit up. My body isn’t even a quarter of the way up when a bout of quea
siness hits me full force. I know I need to get up, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. If I do, I’ll vomit and that is the absolute worst. I hate the lingering taste of yak in my mouth. If I don’t brush my teeth immediately after hugging the porcelain god, I’ll continue puking up stomach bile for hours upon hours on end.
Yuck!
I think I just need to lay back down until it passes. If it doesn’t, well then, I will give myself a little pep talk and eventually make it happen.
I close my eyes and slowly lay back down. A few moments go by and when I open eyes again, I see the beauty and wonders of the night through the trees. It is a full moon, slivers of light peeking out through the canopy, so I am not surrounded by darkness. I somehow feel as if the moon has captured me in some sort of trance and I just couldn’t pull my gaze away, but there is one question that is constantly plaguing me…
How the hell did I get out here?
I peer down at my body and gasp. The bulky winter clothing I remember layering myself in are shredded, practically torn right off. Pieces of cloth lay sprawled all around me. It looks as if I’ve been mauled by an animal. The clothes are torn like some sort of bear of wolf used their claws to rip them off. Only a few shreds cover my body and I am so exposed to the elements, especially in this weather condition, the snow has started to pick up and it’s almost close to looking like a tundra… but I don’t feel cold, anything but actually. I can feel beads of sweat forming upon my forehead and the snow on the ground around me starts to melt.
A tantalizing scent makes its way up to my nose. Without having to look down I know the odor is coming from the remaining parts of my clothing. It’s a distinctive scent. One that smells just like it tastes; like old rusted pennies.
Blood? Why the hell do I smell blood?
I never remembered being able to smell blood so vividly before, not like this. The scent is so strong, I can taste it on my tongue. I start to pat my body down, feeling around for the source of blood. Some kind of scrape or cut but I don’t seem to have any. Now I’m starting to think such horrible scenarios. They rush forth in a whirlwind.
