Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  Katenia felt the murderous rage rip through Nathan, and she reacted without thinking. “Stop!” she screamed, darting around him and putting herself in front of her father. Her arms flew out to her sides in a futile effort to protect the man she loved. “Please,” she begged, tears welling in her eyes and spilling over, “please don’t hurt him, Father.”

  “You.” The look he shot her was so full of scathing disgust she felt something inside of her wither. “You protect that filthy animal.”

  “Listen here, you tiny little asshole—”

  Katenia’s magic pulsed out, planting Nathan in place before he could do something to get himself killed. She lifted her chin, meeting her father’s icy gaze head on. “I love him.” With her arms still outstretched, she took a step toward her father. She’d loved him all of her life, had looked up to him and worshipped him, all while fighting to accept his failings and prejudices. He was not a cruel man. She knew it. His family had been broken by humans once, and he’d protect his children from that fate to his dying breath. Even if it made him a bastard. “I love him,” she said again, her voice stronger this time. “He saved me, protected me, clothed me, fed me…”

  “Used you.”

  “Loved me,” she corrected softly. “That’s why he’s here; he risked his life to save me from the people that took me—his own family, Father.”

  Behind her, Nathan growled, his voice tight with more fury than she’d known he could possess. “Katenia, unlock me, right now.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head as she turned to glare at him over her shoulder. “I’m not going to let you get yourself killed after everything you’ve done for me.”

  He gritted his teeth, a vein in his throat throbbing. “So help me, Katen—”

  As she stared up at him, taking in the savage beauty of him as the storm raged around them, she felt her heart actually break. There was so much desperation and terror and need in his blue eyes that she would have given anything—anything—to be able to walk into his chest, wrap her arms around him, and never, ever let him go. Whether he’d admit it or not, he needed her.

  “Let him go,” her father snapped. “If he thinks he can save you, let the human try.”

  Impatient, he waved his hand, undoing her magic with an easy of a flick of his fingers. In the next instant, Nathan had set her behind him and was charging her father. And for the first time in her life, Katenia saw fear flash over her father’s face as Nathan grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet. He slammed him into the ground, his knee on Paetyr’s chest as his fingers tightened around his neck.

  “Now you listen to me, you bastard. I know all about your plans to banish her, or use her as a broodmare to keep your blood line sanitized.” He grit his teeth again, his jaw clenched so tight she thought she heard his jaw crack, and when he spoke, his gruff voice was laced with pain. “I will walk away if you promise to protect her. Promise she’ll choose her own future, and stay in the valley and be adored and taken care of, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

  Her father laughed. “You have nothing to barter with. I have no reason to promise you anything.”

  “True.” Nathan nodded, his hand tightening around her father’s throat. “But I have your life in my hands, and if breaking your neck won’t kill you, I’m sure I can find a way.”

  “Nathan, what are you doing?” she whispered, pain spreading across her chest.

  “Letting you go home.”

  As if to prove he’d held all the cards all along, her father flicked his fingertips, sending Nathan sprawling backward into the mud. Paetyr got to his feet and casually brushed the grime off his backside. When he was as pristine as he could get himself, he turned to Katenia, and lifted a silver brow. “Daughter, what do you want?”

  Confused by the question, though not by the answer, she lifted her chin and met his gaze without any hesitation. “Nathan.”

  “You just met him.”

  * * *

  She swiped her fingertips over the tear tracks on her cheeks, and let out a watery snort. “So? Father, he’s my life-mate. I’d have him until the ending of time, if there was a way.”

  His always imperious face twitched once. “He’s human, and mortal.”

  She lifted her chin again. “Then I will become mortal, and live in the human world with him.” It occurred to her that they were stuck in her world at the moment, but he’d asked her what she wanted, and she was telling him.

  “His family brought danger upon you.”

  To her surprise, her temper ignited like a firestorm inside of her. She took a step forward and drilled her finger into his chest. “You would have me banished, or used as a sex slave good only for bearing children. You don’t get to judge, Father.”

  His eyes widened as he stared at her for a long moment, before he turned his attention back to Nathan, who was just getting back to his feet. Blood dripped from a wound on his temple, but there was no hesitation when he gently lifted her and set her firmly behind him again, protecting her from the perceived threat. Her father raised a brow. “You know what you are facing if I send you back to your world. You think you can protect my daughter from a witch? That you could keep her safe and happy in a human world?”

  “I think I would die trying,” Nathan said simply, quietly. “No one will get to her without going through me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her happiness.”

  “Including giving her up.”

  He set his jaw, and nodded. “Yes.”

  “Including threatening her father.”

  Nathan barked out a laugh. “That wasn’t a threat. Threats are for people who don’t want to have to go through with it. That was a promise.”

  Paetyr nodded. “Then it’s all I need.” He started forward, only to snarl when Nathan blocked his path before he could get to Katenia. After one heart-stopping moment, Nathan finally moved to the side, and before she knew what was going to happen, her father wrapped her in a hug. Even more confusing, his shoulders shook. “Take care, my daughter. We will see each other again.” He shifted his gaze back to Nathan. “The witch has promised your uncle power in return for my daughter. Protect her from that, and you will have my blessing.”

  Nathan growled. “Great. How do I stop a witch?”

  “Love.” He grinned suddenly. “And this.”

  He tossed Nathan a long, sheathed blade. With one last look at Katenia, he clapped his hands, and suddenly, she and Nathan were human-sized again.

  EIGHTEEN

  THE STORM SILENCED, leaving nothing but their own heartbeats, and sending unease rippling down Nathan’s spine. He gripped Katenia’s hand and pulled her in close to his side. “Stay with me,” he murmured quietly as he turned in a circle, trying to get his bearings.

  She tightened her hand in his and gripped his forearm with the other one as she tucked herself in close behind his arm. “Not going anywhere. What’s going on?”

  Hell if he knew. He spotted the house in the distance, darkened and spooky, and dragged her toward it. It wasn’t the safest place in the world, but it would be out of the elements. “I think Rhiannon is playing games.”

  “What about your aunt and uncle?”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head as they climbed the porch, letting go of her hand just long enough to unsheathe the knife her father had given him. It was a long, lethal-looking blade, words in a language he didn’t recognize etched into the silver. “None of this makes any fucking sense.”

  A breeze carrying the distinct scent of roses and madness brushed over his skin as he struggled to kick the back door open. “Give me the fairy slut, Nathan, and come home with me. Then this will all be over.”

  He grit his teeth against the disembodied voice, full of softness and promises, floating across the air. He lifted his head. “Call her a slut again, and I promise you will beg me for death before the end of this.”

  Katenia’s finger drilled into his ribcage as he slammed his shoulder against the door. “Sto
p antagonizing the crazy woman, Nathan!”

  The storm picked up again with so much force the rain bit against their skin, lashing down to the bone. Katenia screamed against the pain.

  “Enough!” Nathan bellowed. He let go of his fairy’s hand and stepped forward into the heart of the torrential downpour. “You want me, Rhiannon, come face me, bitch. Come and get me.”

  He kept his face calm, his demeanor and personality hardening into sheer ice. He didn’t know if Rhiannon was to blame or Katen, but the beast he’d fought his entire life to keep chained deep inside of himself was tearing free of its walls with his need to keep the woman he loved safe. If he had to destroy Rhiannon to do it…

  So be it.

  “You were supposed to love me! Me!” She screeched. “I gave you everything, and you were supposed to be mine!”

  He let the gust of wind knock the knife out of his hand. When he crouched to retrieve it, his knuckles brushed against a fake rock. He palmed the key underneath it. “I tried. It just didn’t work, Rhi.” He straightened, and moved back up the back porch stairs. The second he slipped the key into the lock, he opened the door and shoved Katenia inside. “Run,” he murmured. “Don’t stop until you get to the red door across the kitchen. It leads to the basement. Get in there and bolt yourself in. Don’t open it for anyone but me.”

  She shook her head at him. “Nathan—”

  “Go!” he roared.

  She ran, Rhiannon’s howl of fury following her. “Do you think I won’t be able to find her?” she screamed.

  Nathan barked out a mocking laugh. “You’re too afraid to even show your face. I’m not worried about you finding her.”

  “You lie!” she hissed. “Thad will find her and bring her to me. Drop the knife and come willingly, Nathan, and I promise to make her death quick.”

  “You know,” he started conversationally, leaning against the porch railing and flipping the wicked knife, catching it perfectly each time. “I’m getting really tired of being threatened. You know me, Rhiannon. You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep someone I love safe.”

  Thunder rattled the earth, shaking the house to its foundation. “You were supposed to love me!”

  “Gee,” he drawled, “with this temper, I can’t imagine why I don’t.” He straightened, all pretense of easiness gone. “Show yourself!”

  His heart clenched as she stepped out of the shadows across the wide back yard. She was dressed in blood-red from head to foot, her dark hair piled on top of her head. There was fear glittering in her eyes, but it was overshadowed by a madness he’d somehow overlooked for more than a decade. Had she always been this insane? How had he missed it? He shook his head because no matter his regrets, it was too late. He could handle her threatening him, but there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Katenia.

  “Me.” She said it simply as her hand flicked out, a brush of power hitting him in the chest and sending him sprawling back into the kitchen. “How dare you reject me!”

  She threw another bolt of power at him before he could get to his feet, this one throwing him into the cabinets. He felt the crack in his ribs, and had to grit his teeth against the sharp pain. It wasn’t the first time his ribs had been broken, but damn if the pain didn’t threaten to knock his knees out from under him as he struggled back to his feet.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He tightened his grip on his knife as he pulled himself up and leaned against the counter, watching her as she stepped over the threshold and into the kitchen. “You never did fight fair.”

  With a swipe of her hand, she sent everything in her path flying out of her way. “Why do that, when I can make you kneel?” she asked, putting her hand out, palm down. Excruciating pressure started in his skull, until he was on his knees and doubled over from the pain. “Beg,” she snapped. “Beg, and I may let you live.”

  “Please.” The word gritted out through clenched teeth, as the pain in his head threatened to shatter his skull. Still, he got to his feet again, and summoning all the strength he possessed, he staggered toward her, acknowledging the triumph in her eyes with the barest nod of his head. He reached out for her, hooking his arm around her waist and yanking her into his chest. He knew the second she thought she won, only for the look to turn to utter confusion as he shoved the knife into her belly. When she would have jerked away from him, he sliced upward, the knife cutting through bone and tissue and organs as easily as moving through water. He shoved her away from him. “If you loved me, Rhi, you’d have known I don’t beg anyone.”

  “What did you do?!” Thad screeched as he ran from the direction of the basement, Katenia’s arm clutched in one hand. He crashed to the floor next to Rhiannon, tears streaming down his face as he stared into lifeless eyes. “It was all supposed to be mine.”

  With his focus on the bruise forming on Katen’s jaw, Nathan wrapped his arm around his waist and moved forward slowly, using his uncle’s distraught distraction against him. “What was supposed to be yours?”

  “The power,” Thad sobbed. He yanked the knife out of Rhiannon’s chest and got to his feet, turning on Nathan, stopping him in his tracks. “You did this!”

  Nathan couldn’t help it. He laughed, despite the staggering pain in his ribs. “That seems to be the theme of the day. Let her go, Thad. I killed Rhiannon. I will kill you, too.”

  But his uncle was beyond reason. He lifted the knife to Katenia’s throat, the serrated edge biting into the tender flesh. “I want what I was promised!”

  With his heart in his throat, Nathan dared a glance at Katenia, and nearly smiled at the fury flashing in her eyes as she glared at him. There was fear in her, but she was damn furious with him.

  “Can I?” she asked.

  He didn’t have to ask what she meant. He nodded as he barked out a laugh. “Go for it, babe.”

  Her temper lashed out of her, coursing from inside of her and into Thad, who still gripped her arm. He screamed at the current boiling through his bloodstream, and Nathan was on him the next moment, wrenching the knife away from him. Without a single hesitation, he plunged the knife into his uncle’s heart, anchoring him to the hardwood next to Rhiannon.

  He barely managed to get back to his feet when a small fury of motion hit him, the slight body slamming into him with so much force he stumbled backward. Pain radiated from his ribs to every extremity, and he couldn’t give a shit less. His hand dove into her hair as he leaned up and fused his mouth to hers, greedy and desperate as relief and horror washed over them.

  “I love you,” he murmured, “I love you.” It was a chant in his heart, the intensity of it too much for him to keep inside, until it had no choice but to escape him on a desperate chant. “I love you, Katenia.”

  “I know.” She straddled over him, shoving his shirt up as she kissed his throat, his abs, his face. “I need you, Nathan.”

  He groaned as she unzipped his pants, freeing his aching cock. “Gentle, baby, I’m hurt.”

  “I’ll do all the work,” she promised as she lifted the skirt of her dress just enough to be able to slide him into herself. The tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned down to kiss him again, her hands splaying against his ribcage. His moan of pleasure turned to a hiss as the pain in his ribs intensified for a single heartbeat, before the pain dulled to a vague ache. The second he could move, he reared up into her, delighting in the arch of her body as she accepted him, urging him on faster, harder, until they came together, her scream mixing with his roar.

  He’d barely collapsed against the floor, with her curled on top of him, when the presence of another prickled along Nathan’s skin. He was snarling as he sat up, the knife clenched in his hand, only to go still at the fairies fanned out in front of him. “Ah, Katenia, I think you have visitors.”

  She swung around, her mouth dropping open. She scrambled to her feet and put her back to Nathan, her arms flying out as if to shield him again. “You cannot have him.”

  Her father floated forward, amusement glintin
g in eyes as silver as his wings. “Calm down, we’re not here to hurt him.”

  Nathan tucked himself back into his jeans and stood up, defiantly wrapping his arm around Katen’s waist, hauling her back to his chest as he stared down each and every fairy, from the regal woman with the silver hair on one end, to the skinnier version of Katenia on the other. Though he knew the kind of havoc they could wreak even in their small size, he was finding it hard to be intimidated at the moment. “What do you want?”

  “We come with a gift,” her father said.

  It was on the tip of Nathan’s tongue to tell him to shove it, but the last gift the fairy had given him, had kept his Katenia safe. Still… “What is it?” he asked, warily.

  “I have come to the decision that I will not watch my daughter wither and die in the human world.” Even as Nathan’s heart dropped, the man continued on. “So I am granting you the gift of immortality.”

  Nathan blinked, even as a slow, beautiful smile lit Katenia up from the inside. “Father, I—”

  “Hush,” he snapped. “I am not done yet.” He nodded when she snapped her mouth shut. “Now, I would like to know my grandchildren, and their children. So, since your aunt Mellie protected my daughter at her most vulnerable, the Council has decided to make her garden neutral territory. She has the spell to turn my daughter and her offspring into their fairy sizes, so they can learn their heritage.”

  Katenia tore out of his arms and darted forward, gently grasping her father in her cupped palm. It surprised Nathan to see the tears in his eyes as he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

  The smile on Nathan’s face died at the shimmer of magic that spun around his fairy and her father, but before he could give voice to the terror, the magic faded, and his heart slammed violently into his chest. For the first time in his life, tears stung his eyes at the final gift her father had granted her—he’d somehow tattooed her beautiful wings onto her back, so she’d never have to be without them again.