Deadly Dreams (Fortuna Sworn Book 3)

by K. J. Sutton

  Maybe I could stall once we were inside, then. I gave Gwyn a hard stare, knowing even as I did that she could end me with a single blow. “Don’t forget about our bargain.”

  Her eyes glittered. “Little chance of that, Your Majesty. I have a long memory.”

  Mercy, where are you? Trying to think of another distraction, I started toward that yawning darkness. Fingers bit into my shoulders, so tight that white-hot pain shuddered through my muscles. I wrenched free and spun around. When I saw that it was Laurie, I frowned. “What are you—”

  “Step back, Fortuna,” he said. If I hadn’t been looking at him, watching his mouth form the words, I wouldn’t have believed it was his voice. It sounded like a stranger’s, and as it echoed through my head, I realized why. That ever-constant layer of mischief was gone, as if someone had torn it away. Without it, Laurie wasn’t… Laurie.

  When I didn’t move, he cupped my elbow in his warm palm and forcibly shifted me toward Collith.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded finally, yanking away once again. Internal alarms blared and shrieked. I kept my eyes on Laurie, noting how he wouldn’t meet my gaze. It was one of the few times I’d looked at him and he wasn’t already staring back.

  “Because I’m going to open the door,” he said.

  I frowned and shook my head. “But you heard what Kindreth said. It requires—”

  “I know what it requires, Fortuna.”

  And that was one of the few times he’d used my name. Conscious of Gwyn and Collith watching us, I swallowed whatever arguments I’d been about to use. I stepped closer and tilted my head back. Standing directly in a moonbeam, Laurie’s eyes were brighter than they’d ever been, looking more like water than metal. His pale hair had a wave to it I’d never noticed before. “I can’t ask you to do this,” I said quietly, wishing we were alone.

  “Good thing you’re not asking me, then.” I was still staring when Laurie added, “I only ask for one thing in return.”

  He waited for my response, and in that moment it hit me—I wasn’t going to stop him. The realization sent shame through my veins like fast-acting poison. All my life, I’d been trying to be the protector and fighter Mom and Dad had taught me to be. I paid the price, again and again, driven onward only by my survival instincts and outright stubbornness.

  But tonight I was letting someone else pay it, because I didn’t have the strength to. Not anymore. I raised my face toward Laurie’s, feeling as though I were being ripped apart from the inside. “What?”

  He grinned, but it was a shadow of the real thing. “A kiss,” he answered.

  Pain bloomed in my chest like some dark flower. I let all the disappointment I felt show in my eyes. “I trusted you,” I growled. “I told you about that night at the crossroads. And still you’re willing to destroy our friendship, just for one unwilling kiss?”

  “Would it really so unwilling?” Laurie murmured. “Tell me it isn’t, and I’ll never darken your doorway again.”

  I opened my mouth to do exactly that… and the words stuck in my throat. Son of a bitch. He had me, and we both knew it. Laurie was a faerie, so he would sense a lie. Unless you were a psychopath, your body always reacted in some way. A drop of sweat, a leap in the pulse. There was no point denying it. Yes, I was attracted to Laurie, and there were other things about him I was drawn to. His humor. His intelligence. How I never knew what he was going to do next.

  I swallowed and looked up at him again, tempted to punch the faerie in his stomach. “Sometimes I genuinely do hate you.”

  “I know,” he said. From the sympathy in his voice, he really did. But there was no hint of that sympathy in his eyes as they dropped to my mouth. I looked at his, too, and something deep inside me fluttered.

  Collith. He was here. Watching us. Hearing every word. Flushing, I turned around and forced myself to meet his gaze. He must’ve seen the truth in my eyes—that I was going to kiss the King of the Seelie Court—because his expression darkened. He looked down, his lovely face losing all expression, like wiping a pane of glass with cloth. I glanced at Gwyn, thinking she’d be observing our little drama with her usual amused smile. But her head was tilted and she stared at Laurie with something akin to… interest.

  It was the same way she looked at me sometimes. She’d seen something in the Seelie King that she hadn’t expected. And she was wondering if there was a way she could use it. All the more reason to make sure we trapped Gwyn of the Wild Hunt forever.

  This train of thought came to a screeching halt as Laurie drew closer. Any remnants of playfulness had left his silver eyes, and his alluring scent surrounded me now. Let’s get this over with. Hoping to gain the upper hand, I closed the gap between us and kissed him like we’d done it a thousand times before. But I didn’t count on Laurie’s almost-instant recovery—his mouth slanted to mine, and he responded with skill, knowing exactly when to tease, to brush, to be more assertive. The hand on my neck tightened, and when I started to press closer, I remembered myself and jerked back.

  Our eyes met for a shocked, breathless instant… and then Laurie was kissing me again. His tongue flicked at my lips, a silent request for entrance. After a moment of breathless hesitation, I answered it by opening my mouth to his.

  He responded by pulling me fully against him. I immediately sensed that, despite our audience, the king didn’t plan to hold back. He knew this would be our first and last kiss, and apparently, he didn’t intend to waste it.

  Though his hands didn’t wander to dangerous places—one tangled in my hair while the other lay flat against the small of my back—Laurie devoured me. There was no other word for it. He tasted sweet, somehow, but I couldn’t think straight enough to put a name to the flavor. Despite my vow to be unaffected, to resist the charming Seelie King, I kissed him back with a desperation I never could have anticipated. I knew I’d agonize over it later, but for now, I allowed myself to forget everything else but him.

  At last, though, I found the willpower to put my hand against his chest and give it a light push. Laurie stepped back instantly. My heart rivaled a herd of wild horses, thundering across plains and racing the wind. I stared at him. His mouth was swollen, his hair mussed, and his eyes had never been so bright. They shone like stars.

  “There,” he whispered, smiling faintly. “That’s what I wanted.”

  “Yes, you got your kiss. Good for you,” I managed, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.

  Laurie’s eyes never left mine as he shook his head. “No. I wanted you to admit that you feel something for me.”

  “I didn’t say a thing,” I retorted. There was a tremor in my voice I hoped he wouldn’t notice.

  He flashed a grin. “You said plenty, Your Majesty.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Just name the time and place, Firecracker, and I will. Gladly.”

  My hands became fists, and once again, I imagined what it would be like to punch him. I swung away, suddenly eager to get this night over with. Gwyn was leaning against a tree, her arms crossed, a smirk hovering around her red lips. Heat crawled up my neck, but I ignored her and looked for Collith. There was no sign of him.

  When I looked back at Laurie, his focus was on the tomb. “‘I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing’,” he murmured.

  It took me a moment to place the quote. Of course he had read Moby Dick; it was so typical of Laurie to reveal another layer, another depth within himself, just when I wanted to hit him most. I opened my mouth to say something I’d probably regret, and then something else occurred to me.

  “Wait, how do you know what book I’m reading?” I hissed, glaring even harder. “Goddamn it, Laurie, did you snoop while you were in my—”

  I cut short with a gasp of pain. I glanced down, stunned at the sight of blood running down my arm. The panic slowed when I saw it was just a shallow cut, slightly above my elbow. I lifted my head to shout at Laurie, but he was already walking away, a dagger in
his hand. The tip of it glistened with my blood—exactly what he’d need to undo the spell. A moment later, the darkness swallowed him whole.

  I stood there, straining to hear something, anything, but the air held only silence.

  Gwyn was talking now, but my phone chimed into the stillness. God had to exist, because it seemed impossible I’d gotten a signal out here. Collith reappeared at the same moment I pulled my phone out. A text from Mercy. I stopped breathing as I unlocked the screen to read it. Received word on Savannah’s whereabouts. Won’t be able to help you take down the ancient bitch. My apologies.

  I felt like I was about to vomit.

  I raised my gaze and stared into the cave. Whatever Laurie had scarified, he’d done it for nothing. More time for me to say goodbye, maybe, since technically I’d upheld my end of the bargain with Gwyn, but that wouldn’t be worth his loss. I could feel Collith’s eyes on me as I stood there and swallowed a scream of frustration.

  When Laurie emerged seconds later, he looked pale and shaken. Trying to hide my frantic worry, I examined every part of him, just as I had for Collith minutes ago. I didn’t know what I was searching for, exactly—a wound, a missing limb, a spot of blood—but I could see pain in his eyes and knew it had to originate from somewhere. “The spell is broken,” was all the Seelie King said as he came toward me in strangely slow strides.

  Without a word, Gwyn sifted.

  You’re welcome, I thought darkly. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve said it out loud. But Laurie’s bleak eyes created a lump of guilt in my throat, making it impossible to say anything. I knew this was the part where I showed him the text on my phone. My hand wouldn’t move, though. Collith appeared next to me a second later. I glanced at him, expecting that he’d be looking back. Instead, he was staring at Laurie, wearing an expression I’d never seen on his face before.

  Before any of us could speak, a cry rent through the stillness. It was coming from the tomb. I bolted, knowing Collith and Laurie would be right behind me. I plunged into the darkness without a second thought.

  To my surprise, there were torches burning on the walls—they must’ve been spelled by the same witches who put Creiddylad here. I pulled my gaze from those dancing flames, curious about this place in spite of myself. Like the rest of the forest, it was vastly different from what I’d seen in my dream. Besides the lack of growing things and rich scents, the tomb was larger than it looked from the outside. I couldn’t see the creek, but now that I was closer I could hear trickling water again—in these temperatures, it should’ve been frozen. Maybe the magic had something to do with that, too. The walls on either side were covered in dead vines. The earth beneath my feet was dry and crunched with every step. This place felt forgotten, like a corner of the world that had been suspended in time, unnoticed and forlorn.

  It was toward the back of the cave, partially hidden in shadow, that Gwyn knelt beside her cursed lover.

  “What happened? Why did you scream?” I demanded as I reached them, my voice instinctively hushed. There was something about the air in here—it felt like I’d stepped into a cemetery. As if the ground itself was full of sorrow and death.

  Gwyn didn’t answer or spare me a glance. Her entire being was focused on the woman she was lifting from a stone slab. A modern Sleeping Beauty. I glanced behind me, expecting to see Collith and Laurie. Instead, they stood at the entrance to the tomb. Collith was frowning and Laurie’s mouth moved, as though he were saying something, but no sound emerged.

  “What the hell is this?” I muttered. “Gwyn?”

  When I turned back, she still didn’t acknowledge me. Something in her face stopped me from voicing the question again, and I couldn’t help but stare at Creiddylad now. She bore no resemblance to the beautiful person in my dream. Her skin looked like it was made of papier-mâché. The gown she wore may have been colorful once, but time and decay had reduced it to bits of gray lace. I could see every part of the body beneath it, and the sight made my stomach churn. Creiddylad was more skeleton than human. The only thing that had kept her alive—if she was alive—was the cruel spell placed on her.

  As I watched, Gwyn cupped the back of Creiddylad’s near-bald head and murmured in a language I couldn’t place. Her voice was more tender than I’d ever heard it. Startling me, Creiddylad looked up at the huntress with pale, overly large eyes. Her features were so gray and haggard it was impossible to decipher whether she recognized the one holding her. Was she about to say something? I hardly dared to breathe.

  Then, in a movement so swift my eyes couldn’t track it, Gwyn plunged her hand into Creiddylad’s chest and yanked out her heart.

  I thought I made a sound—a gasp or a croak—but I couldn’t be sure. Gwyn lowered the corpse back to the stone slab, still holding Creiddylad as though she were made of glass.

  “You killed her,” I said dumbly, staring at the faerie’s hand. It should’ve been dripping. The heart she held should’ve been large, red, and bloody. But the thing clutched between her fingers was shriveled and gray. More like a clump of dust than the organ that caused so much agony and euphoria.

  “I set her free,” Gwyn countered. However cool she seemed, I saw pain in her eyes, an ancient sadness that had been unearthed along with her lover. She put the heart inside her pocket and stood. “And now no one will ever control me again.”

  I looked back at Laurie and Collith, wondering what was keeping them outside. Kindreth had told us how to break the spell… but she’d never said the effect would be permanent. What if Gwyn and I were trapped in here forever? A hysterical laugh lodged in my throat. Now that would be irony.

  “They can’t help you,” the huntress told me, bringing my attention back to her. “One of my hunters is a witch. I had her work a spell to give us some privacy, since I didn’t want to be interrupted by your pretty kings. Alas, it will only last a few minutes. We’d best get started, yes?”

  Her voice was too calm, too casual. It sent goosebumps racing over my skin, and suddenly I understood Jassin’s fascination with her—Gwyn was the furthest thing from human I’d ever met. My gaze flicked to Creiddylad’s emaciated body and back to the faerie’s cold expression.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Your Majesty. Someday you will know what it is to choose between love and power. Someday you will be just like me.”

  “I will never be like you,” I snapped, itching to reach for the Glock.

  The faerie tilted her head and studied me. Then she grasped the hilt of her sword, and a ringing sound cut through the stillness. “You’re right,” she said, admiring the long blade. It flashed in the firelight. “You won’t live long enough to see that day.”

  “Naevys told me there was still some good in you,” I blurted, holding out one hand, as if that could stop her. My heart beat so hard it actually hurt. I tried to gather my power, to channel the Unseelie Court, but I only felt fear. “It was the last thing she said before she died. I don’t think Naevys would’ve wasted those words on a lie.”

  “You keep surprising me,” Gwyn remarked. She was staring again, and I stared back, wondering if I should say something else. Say anything that would make her reluctant to cut off my head.

  Then Gwyn moved in a blur again. Before I could blink, she had her hand in my hair. I crashed to the ground, crying out at the pain that flared through my shoulder, but she was already on the move. She must’ve discarded her sword, because it wasn’t in her other hand as she dragged me deeper into the cave. She’s taking me to the water, I realized. Was she going to… drown me?

  Knowing it would be pointless to claw at her hand, or resort to my abilities as a Nightmare, I used the faerie’s distraction to get my Glock… but it was gone. I wrenched around, searching for it in the dirt, but Gwyn’s fingers sank deeper into my scalp. I screamed and fumbled blindly for the knife in my boot. There. I pulled it out, flicked it open, and jammed the entire blade into Gwyn’s calf.

  She laughed. Then, with a strength I hadn’t known she possessed, Gw
yn pushed me beneath the freezing water and held me there. I forgot everything I’d learned as a fighter, as a Nightmare, and let the fear take over. I clawed at her wrists, screaming, and immediately choked on the rush of water.

  It didn’t take long after that.

  There were a lot of theories about what happened when someone died.

  I’d been high a few times in my life, and death was fairly similar to that sensation. A feeling of… dreaming. Uncertainty toward what was real, not physically, but of concepts themselves. Time, exhilaration, peace.

  Despite the theories I’d heard, I didn’t think about all the things I should’ve done or what I wish I had done differently. I did think of the people I loved, but their images were faint, surrounded by wisps of contentedness. They were safe. They would be okay.

  With a faint smile, I closed my eyes, and I felt my fingers loosen from Gwyn’s wrists. At last, I could rest.

  And then I died.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Not once, in my entire life, had I been tormented by questions about what came after death. Being Fallen meant knowing what, exactly, awaited you on the other side. We were living proof of Heaven and Hell.

  There was also no question of which one I deserved.

  When I opened my eyes again, I fully expected to be facing a demon or a wall of flames. Instead, I was lying in a cave. At least, I thought it was a cave. The walls and ceiling were made of jagged rock. Suddenly I was having trouble remembering why I was upset. What had I been thinking about a few seconds ago? Why was I here?

  “…don’t bring her back, I will remove every inch of your skin and force you to eat it,” a silky voice said.

  “Calm yourself, pretty prince.” This was from a person hovering above me. I looked up at her and couldn’t recall ever seeing that face before. “It is prince, isn’t it? Now that you’re no longer a king? ’Twas my plan all along to revive Fortuna. Why else would I drown her?”