by Lynn Landes
Reese steps close pulling her into his embrace, “What kind of existence is life without trust? We give our hearts, our souls and what we get back is immeasurable. I lost my wife, my children, and my freedom. It took the loss to clarify what is important. Now that I have found you, I will keep you safe, Ariana.” Softly he kisses her damp cheeks.
Katie watches the intimate moment with tears in her eyes. “I do not know why I am here, but I am glad to know you.”
Reese smiles at her. “You are here to help us protect our people and yours. I believe that everything happens according to our Creators plan. We will keep you safe, Katie. I failed you once, I will not do so again,” he says fiercely.
She glances at the ocean and turns her back to him. “I don’t know exactly what I saw, Reese,” she begins and speaks softly. “They wait in silence beneath a mountain of fire and ice. They are Fae like you, yet different. Some have Elven features; others are like creatures I have only seen in my nightmares.” Trembling with fear she continues. She starts to pace, “There are angels with them, but they are not beautiful like Morgan, they are... are...”
“Demon, Kathleen. They are called demons.” Morgan says hovering beside the balcony.
Katie backs up towards Reese and Ariana in shock and terror. Her fear stuns him.
“Surely you do not think I am fallen?” he asks landing lightly on the balcony.
“I, I, I do not know what to think!” she says shaking uncontrollably. “This is crazy, can’t you see that? I AM HUMAN!” She yells at him. “I do not know what most of these creatures are!” Grabbing her head, she turns on Reese, “It is not what I see clearly that worries me. There is a threat in the shadows that I cannot define! There are eyes are glowing red, I feel them. Powerful creatures that I worry will be the death of you all! They have a craving, a thirst, and a hunger for Angelic blood! None of you are safe! Take what you need of me,” she cries out in desperation.
Reese touches her temples and Ariana takes her trembling hands. Together they search the images and what they see stuns them. Vampires!
Reese is the first to move away. “Thank you for your gift, this will help all of our people. I can ease your pain, Kathleen. Let me help you.”
Crying she shakes her head, “No. I need… Morgan. Help me, please.” She implores him. Immediately, he moves to her.
“Leave us,” he demands of the others needing to be alone with her.
Ariana takes Reese’s hand and they walk inside together. Surrounded by his scent Kathleen finds some peace.
“Close your eyes, Kathleen,” he commands as he lifts her gently into his arms and she sighs resting her head under his chin. Her fear, confusion, and exhaustion beat at him.
“I chose to retreat by the beach to allow you to heal. I searched your mind and found your soul yearns for the ocean. Why is that?” he asks softly.
Katie smiles listening to the timber of his deep voice. “When I was young my parents brought me to the beach. It was my last memory of us all together. It was my safe place,” she tells him thinking of the sand castles and hot dogs.
“It is time for you to rest Katie, keep that memory close and trust me to protect you,” Morgan asks.
“No,” she says lifting her head her blue eyes meet his. “Give me a new memory to hold close when we are apart,” for she senses he will be leaving her soon. “Take these images so they will serve a purpose and help you.” Her cool fingers brush against his sculpted cheek. She knows what she wants, and she prays he will not reject her.
Her breath catches as he dips his head and kisses her, his lips are soft and tender. She smiles against his mouth and tangles her fingers in his hair. Morgan holds back afraid he will scare her with the force of his passion for her. She pulls back a little and hums in frustration. Her pink tongue darts out licking his firmly closed lips and she smiles as he shudders, tightening his grip on her.
“Kathleen,” he growls, “You do not know what you ask of me!” She presses a kiss to the side of his mouth her hot moist breath daring him to take her.
“It’s just a kiss, Morgan. What harm could come from one kiss?” she asks softly biting his lower lip.
He groans and leans down taking her mouth with a possessive intensity she isn’t expecting. It is a dominant kiss as if he is claiming her for all time. Katie pulls back and stares into his dark eyes and finds a passion and desire that echoes hers.
“More,” he demands capturing her lips with a primal kiss, while he drops her legs, flipping her around so she can wrap her legs around his waist. Her nails sink into his neck as she holds his head close and he growls a low feral sound deep in his throat. His lips capture hers and the first stroke of his hot tongue causes Katie to moan into his mouth. She can’t breathe, can’t think, she can only feel.
“Morgan”, she moans.
He pulls back and draws a shaky breath, “Kathleen, we are out of time. I have to go soon.” Slowly he slides her body down the length of his until her feet touch the ground. She looks away from the heat in his eyes as a tear forms. Kathleen knows she will never be the same again.
“Take what you need of me Morgan, where you be leaving me?”
“I will leave you somewhere safe and you will be guarded by another angel until this is over,” he promises as he softly blows across her forehead. Once again, her head falls back, and he struggles with the intensity of his craving for her. He finds the images and he stores them away, sending her to a peaceful sleep. When she wakens, they will be gone, and she will be safe. He flies her to his sanctuary and calls on the Angel Saul to watch over her.
Chapter 17
Morgan looks at Reese like he has sprouted two heads. “You are daft if you think I could pass for a girl. You be the girl!” He says shoving the green dress back at the Fae.
“Seriously, Morgan? It makes more sense for you to be the girl, I will play me, you must be Ariana, besides green clashes with my eyes,” Reese insists trying hard not to laugh at the mountainous Angel.
“Ariana’s power has been drained. She’s not strong enough to face an army of Dark Fae. I need your help, friend.” Reese implores him to understand.
“This fight was begun when your King chose a human Queen, why should I help you?” Morgan asks holding the dress away from him in disgust.
“I know we ask too much, Morgan. If he wins, the first person he will come after will be Kathleen. Will you be able to protect her twenty-four hours a day?” he asks feeling guilty for pulling such a low blow.
Morgan snarls and stomps to the balcony, thinking of Kathleen tucked away. He needs time with her to explore these feelings. Angels do not find, mates but twin souls, the other half of their being. The fact that she is human, complicates things. He is not sure his brothers would accept a human either.
“If you can’t handle it, I’m sure, Ariana will try to face this challenge at my side. I do not know if I can protect her and fight this threat, Morgan.”
He listens to Reese but does not hear him as his brother calls him. “She is in pain again shall I wipe her mind.”
“NO!” he says connecting with Katie’s mind. He finds her waiting for him.
“Morgan” she sighs in relief.
“Tell me what’s happening?” he asks.
“I don’t know, just pressure, voices, they are fighting over you! They want your blood, Morgan. You can’t possibly fight them all,” she whispers with fear.
He feels her fear for him, and it lifts his soul. After all, she has been through her worry is for his safety. He opens his brown eyes and looks at Reese. “I will fight for her.”
“She is still connected to Colin, what happens to her, when you destroy him?” he asks Reese.
“I can shield her, but she needs to be asleep to minimize the damage to her mind when he is killed,” Reese tells him.
“Done. I will not risk her life anymore. She will be safe.” He sends Katie to sleep and Reese casts the spell of protection.
“Now tell me what you f
ound in her visions.” Reese demands. They talk and plan the battle agreeing to leave in a few hours.
Reese is nervous. He has to convince his Queen that he knows what’s best for her. She has to stay behind. At his side she would just be a distraction. Standing on the balcony overlooking the beach he turns at a sound behind him.
Her flaming red hair flows freely around her shoulders and her violet eyes sparkle with laughter. She wears a forest green dress. The very dress Morgan and he were fighting over. “Surely, my King, you can agree that no one looks better in this dress than I?”
His mouth goes dry as the need to claim her. He forces himself to meet her eyes. “Ariana, you will listen to reason!” he demands.
Sexy, full, red lips curve in a smile as she walks towards him. His powerful muscles are bunched tightly with repressed emotion. His hands shake and his jaw is clenched hard as he fights the urge to take. Ariana slides her hands up his muscular chest feeling them jump beneath her touch. She studies his Fae features, flawless and masculine. She runs a hand through his blonde hair saying, “I find reason goes out the window when I am near you, Reese.”
Reese snarls at her as his blue eyes go black, “This is not a game, Ariana, and I am Shadow!” Ariana presses her body against his willing him to touch her. He loves how she feels against him, her body teasing him sends his heart beating wildly. Ariana pulls his head down and hesitates, her mouth close to his whispering, “Yes, you are My Shadow, My Mate.”
He hears her heart racing against his and he makes his choice. “I will never let you go, Ariana,” he says firmly as his mouth finds hers with an urgent demand. Heat meets heat, as he ravages her mouth, his hands are everywhere. Every sense comes alive, she tastes him, feels him, smells him, and craves him!
He rips his mouth away, eyes glittering with lust. Her violet eyes spark with impatience, “Nor I you, My Shadow King. I will fight at your side where I belong! I will never let you go, Reese!” she promises. When he moves to jerk her back into his arms Ariana stops him with a hand to his chest and sends a small pulse of power through to jolt him.
“Neither will I be treated as less than, because I am female.” Shock shows on his chiseled features as she continues, “I was a Queen once, Reese. They are my people too and I will fight for them with or without you. The next time you think to try to sweet talk me or trick me, remember that!” With a toss of her red hair, she turns stalking out of the room and all he can do is watch in surprise as her beautiful figure walks away from him.
Chapter 18
Silent in their advance, the army moves beneath the Black Mountain. Nyssa leads the way into the mountain she once called home. She knows the Shadow King will return here to retrieve his crown and when he does, she will be ready for him.
The army continues its advance as Nyssa moves on. She carries a sword of iron, made with a special handle just for her. He crafted the scabbard and hilt out of white gold. The blade was pure iron. It is a Fae killer made to destroy any who dare to get in her way. She slithers her way through the tunnels seeking the entrance to the top of the mountain. Reese made a special vault on top of the mountain to protect his treasure, the crown given to him by the angels. Stupidly he did not know she watched from the shadows. She promised the crown to the Fallen Angels and they have come to claim it.
She smiles as she steps out onto the Kings platform. It is where he spends most of his time looking at the stars, thinking of his dead wife.
“Fool of a Fae could have had me! Now he will have the cold edge of my blade instead.” She snaps as she moves swiftly to the enchanted rock. He trusted way too easily she thinks as she murmurs the spell and the rock slides open to reveal the Kings crown. Her red lips curl into a smile as she reaches for the treasure.
Hot searing pain explodes in her back. She looks down at her chest and watches as a blade pushes its way through her chest and blood erupts.
Colin whispers in her ear, “Thank you. You have served me well.” He shoves her aside and she drops to her knees with the blade still protruding from her chest. The iron burns its way through her system, and she rages, swinging her sword wildly at Colin. “Easy, it will go much faster if you don’t fight it, my love,” he says laughing and jumping out of reach. In his hand, he holds the King’s crown.
“Why, Colin? I have done everything you asked of me!” she cries falling to the ground. Her red blood pools around her body. The black poison snakes out quickly up her chest and neck into her face and eyes. She coughs blood and starts to crawl towards him rasping. Too weak to continue she tries to claw her way across the rock.
He looks at her with growing disgust sneering, “I find I have found a taste for humans. I had a better offer. Pretty Katie will be my new pet.” Colin holds the crown up and lowers it to his head. “Ahhh, fit for a King,” he says laughing and walks away without looking back. He leaves Nyssa to die a slow agonizing death.
Colin returns to his army wearing the stolen crown. At his return the vampire’s hiss at him. Their red eyes glow with impatience.
“Where is this Angel you promised us, Fae? We delivered your army of Vampire Fae, now we demand payment!”
“Patience, my friend. They are going to be walking right into our trap! My source tells me they are moving at night fall. In a few short hours, you will have your reward and I will destroy the Vale and every Light inside of it. You will have an archangel named Morgan.”
Lust echoes in the eyes of the Vampire Lord, “Archangel? Truly?” Nothing is purer and stronger than the blood of an archangel.
Colin laughs, “If you need a snack to fuel your thirst, how about a lesser angel? He should be here any minute.” He says removing the crown from his head.
“Ahhh, I hear him coming.” He turns to greet his guest as the vampires fade back into shadow. He enters the cave holding something wrapped in a blanket. Saliva pools in Caius’s mouth as the scent of angelic blood fills the cavern. A low growl rumbles from his chest and his red eyes watch the exchange.
“Colin, I have brought what you asked for. Where is the crown?” he asks desperately to see it. Quickly he snaps him wings close to his body.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!” Colin says with a laugh. Saul pulls the blanket back, revealing the treasure within.
“They made it easy for me, she sleeps under a spell cast by the Shadow King himself. Probably for the best. She does not have fond memories of you.” Kathleen sleeps unaware she is the bargaining chip between two demented souls.
Colin inhales her sweet scent and frowns. “She smells of another!”
He smiles sarcastically, “You didn’t say you wanted her cleansed first. She is Morgan’s pet. His scent is all over her. Give me my crown, Fae!” he spits out.
“Here it is, as agreed upon, my friend.” He holds up the crown and watches as his eyes light up with undisguised desire. “Put her down on this cot.” He says leading the way. The luminous glow from the Angel fills the cavern with an incandescent light.
He tosses the human on the cot, never taking his eyes off the prize. The crown of the Shadow King, it should never have been given to a Fae! The power belongs to the angels! Greedy for it, he does not see the vampires stalking him.
Just as he reaches out to the crown, they fall on him like wolves on a deer. His screaming fades away as Colin places the crown on his head and walks over to inspect his treasure. He ignores the ripping, grunting, slurping sounds from behind him as they feed. He only has eyes for her. “My Pretty Katie, time to wake up.” He whispers stroking her cheek.
Chapter 19
Samantha and Duncan move silently through the woods stalking the enemy, they count the numbers and gather information to give to the King. The Black Mountain they call home is overrun with Dark Fae and Demons. “Wait, Duncan! I feel them close” she tells him. He stops and inspects the area for danger. They are a few miles from the north side of the mountain when he senses it to.
“Call him!” she orders her mate.
; Duncan closes his eyes and smiles, “He comes, but not alone!”
Landing softly in the grass, the Archangel, Morgan smiles. Reese enters followed closely by Ariana. Samantha falls to her knees in reverence at the sight of the former Fae Queen. Duncan bows as well, offering his sword, “My Queen, My King. It is good to find you well” he says softly.
Ariana pulls Samantha to her feet, “Please, I am a queen no more. I am shadow now.”
“That’s not what you told me last night,” Reese says sarcastically.
Her violet eyes snap to his, “Oh, bug off Reese.” She says smiling.
“So, this was your task, my King,” Duncan asks gesturing to the Queen.
“My Queen, your brother sends his best wishes and orders you home as soon as possible. He also told me to give you this,” Duncan pulls the bronze dagger from his pack and offers it to her.
With a tear in her eye, she stares at the blade and remembers the pain. She turns away so they do not see the fear in her eyes. “It no longer belongs to me. I can’t accept it. Reese…” she whispers turning to him.
“Ariana, it belongs to you until you can return it to your brother. He sent it as a reminder that you are still a Queen! Carry it for your people and show the betrayers what they are dealing with!” Reese orders.
“Yes, my King.” She says softly accepting the Khae-tri from him.
“Reese,” Sam says, “Colin has joined with the vampires to create a hybrid Fae. They are powerful beings, immune to iron with a ceaseless desire for blood.”
“Only fire or sunlight can stop them,” Duncan tells them. “The inside of the mountain is crawling with Dark Fae. They all want your crown! I also estimate about five hundred vampires have gathered, for one reason, Morgan’s blood.” He says turning to look at the Angel.
