by A. K. Koonce
“Cameron was not going to die,” I say, my fingers picking at my bottom lip as I remember the way his magic shook through the earth itself.
“What the fuck did she just say?” Nollix tilts his head toward me. On slow steps he stalks up to me. He stops me in my tracks and forces me to look him in his fuming eyes. The color of his gaze is like a shadow over the deepest part of the ocean. They’re beautiful, but always shining with more anger than I can handle “You can talk? I’ve watched you mouse around us for three years and this whole time you could talk?” He looks me up and down like he’s never really laid eyes on me. “We just weren’t good enough to talk to?” His height is intimidating, the sharp angle of his tightly held jaw is intimidating. Every single thing about this Fae is intimidating.
But it doesn’t stop me from shoving past his arrogant ass and continuing my thinking.
What will my father do to me?
He already sentenced me to a life of death. What more can he do?
The five of us wait in the empty hall. Jeriko, Link, Nollix, my newly acquired soul, and myself are waiting while my father discusses real problems. The glossy ebony tile floor nearly bleeds into our black boots, the lighting is brighter than I’m used to. I’m used to the warm sunlight and soft stars. Not electricity invading my sight and highlighting every natural flaw I possess.
“What will happen to me?” Cameron asks, his attention shifting over the walls of the hallway.
He tried to run. They always do. But something always pulls them right back to us. It’s a magnetic thing, like their souls are drawn to death once their bodies no longer ground them.
Cameron is a little different. I hear his heart almost as loudly as I hear my own. He’s solid, not at all a blinding apparition. Still, the guy can’t make it five feet away from me without stumbling back like a pleading ex-boyfriend. It’s amusing if I’m being honest.
“I’m really just surprised you’re alive right now.” Link arches a brow at the interesting little soul. “I never knew what would happen if we laid a hand on the living before. You’re tied to Violence but you’re still alive.” His eyes narrow as he considers Cameron. “You should count yourself lucky.”
“But what will the King do to me? Will he imprison me here in the castle?” Cameron’s tone isn’t as fearful I thought it would be. It’s steady with a simple hint of curiosity.
“You’re about to go face the man you stole from. What do you think will happen to you?” Jeriko asks with a knowing grin.
The heavy doors swing open and silence drops down on us. My shoulders square, a natural habit I’ve always had when in this castle. Confident steps carry me into the room. High white ceilings glitter above while dark tiles reflect my features below. I hear Cameron stumble after me like a dawdling pet on a leash.
A thin Fae with a serious expression steps forward.
“I present Miss Violence Starling, Jeriko Niles, Linkin Skyforth, Nollix Forester, and Cameron Crows.”
Echoing steps follow me toward the center of the towering room. Hundreds of eyes are on me. Familiar peers from a lifetime ago look down on the five of us.
And there, seated front and center on the throne he’s sat upon for the last five hundred years, is my father, King of the Court of Darkness, the Mad King, leader of the city of Fallen, Keeper of our Faith, Ruiner of my Existence. Yes, dear old Dad holds a warm place in my heart.
Just under a thin layer of hate.
Goddess, why am I so fucking bitter? A healer would be astounded by my daddy issues.
“Violence, why must we keep meeting, my child?” His long, graying beard sits lazily against his bare chest as his emerald eyes stare down on me. He’s older than I remember. He’s frail and tired looking, but powerful nonetheless. I imagine the conflict between our kingdom and the kingdom south of here is weighing on him, aging him into an early grave. “I sent you away to keep you out of trouble, not throw you in to it. I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.”
He must not realize that three years have passed since I’ve seen him or anyone else for that matter.
“My apologies, Your Highness.” My hands are held tight behind my back and I don’t dare look away from my King.
Quiet assessments are done of the people standing before him. His eyes trail over each of us. I don’t need to look to know the others of the Wild Hunt hold a stance just like my own. Total respect and unyielding strength is all we show our King.
As for the stray soul at my side, he keeps gazing around the room as if he might clip the chandeliers while no one’s looking.
“Stop fidgeting,” I say through clenched teeth like a breeze in the wind.
Cameron straightens and tips his head high to see the Fae King seated several steps above us.
“You did bring me the thief, though. I wish it had been his soul you brought rather than his life itself.” King Melic leans forward in his golden throne. The light streaks across it, glittering against every jewel pressed into the chair.
I’ve never killed anyone. Connecting my life to Cameron’s is the worst I’ve ever done. He isn’t dead, so it’s not completely terrible. That’s the only positive excuse I have for what I’ve done.
“Come forward, Cameron.” My father points to a spot on the stairs, only a few feet from him.
Cameron holds his gaze as he strides toward the man who holds his life in his hands.
But he only makes it a few feet before staggering back. His hands flail and he falls hard against my boots. A groan shakes from his mouth when he hits firmly against the tile floor.
A choking gasp rattles the audience, a few whispers and giggles pass. I stare down at my poor little soul with a smile tipping my lips.
His dark hair is longer on top and the ends of it lay against the toe of my boot.
The prisoner who seems permanently attached to me clears his throat as he looks up to meet my gaze.
“Would you mind accompanying me over there?” It’s a casual question. Almost like he just asked me to dinner. He nods toward the throne and I arch a brow at the ridiculousness of our lives now.
I lower my hand to him and he takes it. The warmth of his palm sears over my skin when I help him stand.
It’s a trivial thing; skin on skin contact. The sensation of another person warming you. But it makes my heart soar more than anything.
The two of us walk forward. I take the steps without hesitation, getting closer and closer to the King as Cameron trails behind me.
“That is enough, Violence.” My father’s words clip out as I stand just an inch from him, daring him to show his authority. His glaring eyes swing to the man at my side. “What is the point of this little show? Can you not meet a King without an escort?” The scowl my father gives my little prisoner is one that makes my insides knot up.
“No, I cannot, my King.” Cameron’s lips purse together as he holds his head high, refusing to bow to my father’s anger.
“Are you so foolish as to make a joke?” The echoing roar of my father’s voice sounds around the room but I remain unflinching.
“It isn’t a joke. His soul seems tied to me even if he still owns it himself.” I wish this would just end already. I wanted so badly to be among the living, and now that I am, I can’t wait to shove myself away into solitude once again.
It’s all so exhausting.
The shifting eyes of the King pass from me to Cameron and then back again.
“How could you do something so stupid, Violence?”
A tightness fills my jaw but I keep the swirling anger deep within me.
“I sent you to the Wild Hunt knowing how much they’d benefit from your power. Your actions make me look foolish,” he says on a quieter breath.
A silence pushes through the room as he seems to think about the mess I’ve made.
“And you,” he swings his attention to the poor soul I dragged into this, “death is the price for stealing from a king.”
I cock a brow at my father.
&nbs
p; I just told him this man’s soul is tied to me. Not going to pause and consider if his death might be tied to my death as well, Dad?
A shuffling of feet pulls my attention momentarily away from the King. A woman with deep red hair and sweet eyes smiles down at me as she rushes to King Melic’s side.
A sad feeling weights my stomach as I look at my mother.
“My love, what if her life is tied to his? If he dies, will she?” She whispers the question in a rush as her hand lightly settles over his.
It’s hard for me not to roll my eyes at the simple question that should have crossed his mind, but I do manage.
A gruff sound emits as my father clears his throat and pulls his attention back to the thief. “Return what I know you stole and you will be pardoned. And never forget the kindness I’ve shown you today.”
The smile of relief touches my mother’s eyes as she averts her daughter’s near death sentence.
The quiet whispers aren’t quiet enough. The hard eyes of our King assess his murmuring pupils before he rises from his seat and storms from the room.
I shake my head at the dramatic exit and begin trailing down the steps to the three men who are waiting for me. It takes a second before I hear Cameron stumbling after me.
“Violence.” My back stiffens from the sound of my mother’s gentle voice. I haven’t heard her say my name in years. The sound of my name seems to break right through my chest. “Stay for dinner tonight.”
I release a small pent up breath before continuing away from her. It’s hard to look at her. Hard to even speak to her. So I don’t do either.
I keep it all pent up inside.
The men of the Wild Hunt hold a much more careless posture than they did when my father was staring down on them.
“We finished here, Princess?” Nollix asks, folding his arms across his wide chest.
The use of my title isn’t something he normally taunts me with. It sets me on edge. It makes me want to slap him for such low name-calling.
Instead, I hold his gaze as I jar my shoulder into his. The magic storming through me releases on impact and he staggers back.
Nollix’s heavy steps echo behind me, his palm grips my wrist but Link pulls him away.
“Do you really want to have a pissing contest with the most powerful woman in the Court of Darkness? We get it, your dick’s bigger than hers. Let’s move on.”
The deep blue in Nollix’s eyes flashes with refrained magic, turning the pretty color into a darkness that threatens to black out the whites of his eyes. The evil that lays hidden away within him flashes through his inky gaze. What Nollix doesn’t tell people, is that he’s half Demon. Half Fae, half Demon. It makes for a dangerous man.
I wait for him to make his decision.
When the tension in his body relaxes, and Link’s hand falls away from his friend’s shoulder, I walk away from them.
This is how our lives have been; Nollix and I circling each other, waiting for the other to make a move and lash out, while Link works hard to keep a sense of peace within our little group.
For the last three years I’ve been quiet but not passive.
And don’t even get me started on how many times Jeriko’s accidentally tried to end my life.
At least this is normal. As normal as I can get, I suppose.
Chapter Four
The Lap Dog
“What are we supposed to do with him?” Link asks as we step out into the cool night air.
I pause and look back at my shadow. Cameron trails behind me and I watch him as he empties his pockets on the steps of the Dark Palace. A guard at the door quietly monitors the scene.
Coins clatter to the ground. A ruby necklace clinks hard next to the money. A few skeleton keys fall as well. Folded documents drift through the night air as he tosses them down. Deeper he digs until two golden forks tumble out of his jeans. A dagger engraved with swooping letters hits hard against the pavement. Three watches, an encrusted goblet, my mother’s favorite pearls, and a serving saucer rolls down the street as he empties his pockets.
“Guess that’s all of it,” he says with a nod.
I pause, my gaze drifting down to the front of his jeans. They’re tight. If I looked closer, I’d probably see an interesting outline that’d make my heart stumble from the thought of it.
Fuck, maybe the outline would really be a tiara instead of his dick because this thief is in it to win it. He just unloaded more money than I’ve ever seen.
“Are you sure? Nothing else you forgot to return?” Jeriko steps into the man’s personal space, breathing down on him with his hostile demeanor.
“Well, now that you mention it.” Cameron pushes his hand into his pocket and all three of us peer around Jeriko to see what else the thief is hiding. He struggles with it for a moment, seeming to wrestle whatever it is out.
He finally pulls his hand back out of his pocket and raises his middle finger to Jeriko’s brooding face.
“There, that’s the last of it.”
My lips part with a surprised breath just as Jeriko slams his fist into Cameron’s jaw.
With a change of the wind, I swirl in between the two men. It takes less than a second for the magic to filter me into a solid form.
Jeriko’s fuming gaze falls on me as I press my hands against his chest. The tension in his body settles and confusion falls across his face. Cameron’s chest pushes against my back and I try hard not to squirm between the two men.
“That’s enough.” My voice is steady as I glare up into the Fae’s eyes. “My mother expects gentlemen at her table tonight for dinner. She is not used to shit-bag Fae men like I am.”
Jeriko’s jaw tics.
“For three fucking years you don’t talk, and then when you do I feel like you haven’t shut up for an eternity.” Jeriko shifts his weight, waiting.
It takes all my willpower not so sucker punch him like he just did Cameron.
“Yes. I can talk, Jerry. Get the hell used to it. And don’t insult my mother tonight by being an asshole.”
I breathe out a sigh and storm down the empty street.
The moonlight shines against the wet brick and it takes a second for me to realize that Cameron is walking silently behind me. With my arms folded tightly across my chest, I look back at him, his dark eyes meeting mine.
“Not stalking. Not trying to make this weird,” he says with an awkward nod.
I stop in my tracks as I realize where I go he goes.
I’m only a few yards away from the others. I don’t have anywhere to go anyway. Dinner will be ready in an hour.
Slowly, I take a seat on the curb of the road, letting the wet ground seep into my dark jeans.
“Your name,” he pauses and takes a seat at my side, our thighs not quite brushing, “it’s pretty.”
My eyes narrow on him.
Violence is most definitely not a pretty name.
“Of all the things you could have said, you decided to lead with that?”
A smile pulls at the corner of his lips and I almost want to mirror the happiness creeping over his face.
“What? It is.” He shrugs slightly, his arm skimming mine.
“No. It’s not.”
“The term itself is not. But the sound is. It sounds pretty.”
The feel of him, the happiness and life that he holds within him, it’s alluring. I want that. I want to be near him. In a sick way, I wish I had stolen him from the living world years ago.
“You’re not the least bit upset that I stole your life?”
A silence drifts between us as he tips his head up at the white shining stars.
“This wasn’t the first time I’ve stolen. I’m not a thief, but I suppose I’m not a gentleman either. It’s kind of starting to catch up with me. Tonight, a beautiful woman fell into my lap and I didn’t have a clue what it meant. I don’t think the reality of it has really set in just yet.” His gaze drifts across my features, and for a second, I can’t find my breath. “I’m no
t going to lie, I’ll probably have a nervous breakdown at some point.” A quiet laugh shakes through me as his smile widens. He has a smile that makes him look even sweeter. “But right now, being a lap dog to a beautiful—slightly deadly—Princess is an okay gig.”
His shoulder bumps mine, sending a burst of warmth into me.
“Let’s go do this dinner before Jeriko tries to shove his fist down my throat again.” His light and careless demeanor is intriguing.
It’s astounding really.
With reluctance, I stand. As I trail back to the Wild Hunt, they look at me in a new light. The men watch me carefully. They look at me like I’m a real woman instead of a broken girl.
And they look at Cameron like he’s a dead man walking.
Chapter Five
To Love a Huntress
The dinner is filled with unspoken words and half lies.
“How have you been, dear?” A glass of red wine presses to my mother’s eternally smiling lips as she gazes at me with hope-filled eyes.
“Great. I’ve been really great, Mom.” A mimicking smile forms tightly against my mouth.
My eldest sister, Amandria, holds nothing but shining happiness in her gaze. You’d think she was actually happy if you didn’t know her. She sits at my father’s right-hand side with that manic smile of hers. I’d hate to see what dark thoughts swarm her pretty little head. Perfect posture steels her spine and she can’t seem to take her eyes off of me. I meet her gaze every so often but she doesn’t say a word to me.
Nollix’s leg brushes mine as he shifts in the high-backed chair for the third time in half an hour. I peek at him from beneath my lashes, but he eats with his head down, silence clinging to him.
To my other side, Cameron taps his foot anxiously in rhythm with the beats of my heart. Without drawing any attention to myself, I slam the heel of my boot hard onto his restless toes.
A low groan shakes through him.
The relentless tapping stops at once.
My father’s brooding attention falls on the thief. The King’s fork is poised against his lips but he hasn’t stopped glaring at Cameron since we sat down.
