by E Hall
“That must be why Isa had this diary,” Corbin says. “When she left, breaking her fae vow, she must’ve lost her voice.”
I nod and skip ahead. “‘When her fae sisters discovered Lila was gone, they sang a long and sorrowful lament. When the king learned about the travesty, he vowed to have vengeance against human men, instructing the fae maidens to sing their lament in the light of the full moon, calling it the cry of the fae and making it so the sound would rob woodsmen of their lives as they lean in for a kiss so deadly.’” As I read, the hair on the back of my neck lifts, and I inhale sharply. “She goes on to say how close she came to the Initiation. If it weren’t for Alden being bitten, she’d have taken his life.” My heart aches at the thought. I couldn’t bear hurting Corbin.
His hand slides to my hip, holding me firm.
“She wonders if she was like Lila. Whoa. Listen to this. ‘I realize she wouldn’t have been able to form the bond with the human against her will. During the ritual, I had to make the choice to give up my voice in order to bond with Alden. I had to speak the words, sealing us together. Lila would have had to do the same. Lila must’ve still had her voice when she left the forest. Meaning it was her choice,” I finish.
“This confirms Melchior has been lying.” Corbin’s nostrils flare with anger.
“She wrote, ‘As we close in on the next full moon, I think of my sisters, and all those who will undergo the Initiation in the next hundred years. I consider returning home and putting a stop to the violence, but how?’ Our question exactly.”
“So many lives needlessly lost.”
We know much of this already so I skim ahead to the section that now has the missing pages. “Corbin. You need to hear this. It says that Melchior used grim magic to make Visalia a mate with a wolf.” I pause as a thin sweat dots my forehead. “He knew there would eventually be an Alpha Call-Out and the winning Alpha would move into position to join the Council—the group the fae king created to trick magicals into obeying his will. Fast forward to now.”
Corbin’s wolf growls as he gains understanding. “The Alpha Guardians and Warriors was a sham along with the Articles of Accord. He lulled everyone into thinking these things were for the greater good. Meanwhile, we forgot everything that came before the spell.”
I follow the words with my finger and a knot forms in my stomach. “‘He did this to draw out the Alpha’s future mate...and Isa’s successor.’ Me.”
“How could he have known?” Corbin asks.
“Maybe grim magic, a prophecy, fate,” Pepper guesses.
Corbin’s copper eyes flash. “He’s the puppet master and has been pulling the strings all along.”
Chapter 16
Corbin
The wind howls outside. Autumn and winter overlap this far north. It’s common to see snow before the end of October. Sleet streaks the stained glass windows.
I get to my feet and scratch the layer of scruff growing along my jaw. “We know Melchior is a bad dude. We have two of the three Triad Jewels to complete the scepter. Best of all, we have a dragon.”
Pepper smirks.
“I want to know what happened to Isa,” Kenna says, perusing the diary. When she gets to the end she gasps. “Isa wrote that neither war nor treaty can stop a woman scorned. She wants true love and will do anything, even wait two-hundred years, to get it.” Kenna’s smile illuminates the room. “Isa hid the scepter.”
“But Alister found it,” I say.
Kenna lifts her finger in the one-minute symbol. “She writes that she countered Melchior’s curse of forgetting aka the Accords spell with a spell that will destroy him should he obtain the scepter.”
“The curse of forgetting. Yes,” Pepper says as though recalling something. “I’ve seen him on the map learning grim magic.”
“Do you see how to reverse the curse?” Kenna asks.
“The Klave?” Pepper’s voice laces with uncertainty.
“We were told that it’s an object. Not a group of people, like we originally thought, meaning Amanda and Visalia were working together, which makes more sense. Any idea what it is though?” Kenna asks.
Pepper squeezes her eyes together and then shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. Typically, these visions come to me from the past. I haven’t figured out how to summon them at will. Luckily, I have a photographic memory and recall everything I’ve seen.”
“That’s a typical dragon trait.” I pick up the objects in the room, wondering if any of them are the Klave.
“These pages look like they contain words to songs.” Kenna’s soft hum weaves into a fae song.
I recognize it by the tug deep in my heart. Like a lonely wind, a second voice joins hers, breaking into a sad, eerie lament like fog over water.
When the song is over, a tear struggles loose from Kenna’s eye and then another. “It’s Isa. She’s in the diary.”
A smooth female voice echoes from the pages of the book. “You sang with me. You’ve summoned me. You deserve the truth. For tearing me from my beloved, I traded my physical form for the words to curse Melchior’s hand should he ever try to use the scepter. It was the fae king who deceived Alden. Who broke us. Who broke the magical world.”
“I’m Kenna, Greyson’s daughter,” she says loudly as though speaking into a cell phone with poor reception.
“I know who you are. Your voice is beautiful.” Isa’s is soft yet strong.
“We read your journal. Why were pages torn out?”
“Because your father wanted to fix the magical world and needed to prove it was broken.”
“We want to too.” Kenna’s eyes light with determination.
“Then you must find the Klave he created.”
“We thought it was a group of people.”
“The Klave consists of magic from Borea. It’s inscribed with our history and our future.”
“How will that help us break the curse?”
“It’s also potent with the power of the truth. Only the truth can overcome deceit. The scepter must then be used to restore peace,” Isa says, confirming what Ivan told me.
“The dragons hid the jewels. We have two. We need the Wolf Jewel.” Desperation enters Kenna’s words.
“Then you must find them,” Isa says.
Kenna grumbles. “I wish I could take back what I said about the scavenger hunt.”
I sniff the air. “Speaking of hunts, I sense fae nearby.”
“Are you saying they’re hunting us?” Pepper shivers.
Isa’s voice comes again. “Kenna, you are my descendent and you will do well to learn the songs I’ve left in this diary before you have to make a choice.” Isa sings a different song and then her voice fades into silence.
Kenna sits so still it’s as if she embodies the quiet. I suppose this is a lot to digest.
I gaze at the stained glass window, sensing for the fae nearby. Their damp scent offends my wolf nose and it twitches. “We should make sure everything is secure. We’re the warriors. Pepper, you’re a guardian. Stay here—look after the jewels. Kenna and I will scout the perimeter.”
We exit to the hall through the hinged painting of Greyson. A familiar figure stalks toward us. I halt. The fae I scented was Clove, returning here.
“Are you alone?” Kenna asks.
In the dim light of the hall, his scowl bruises with anger and disdain. His eyes are fierce with vengeance. As he nears, his magic crackles like he’s tempted to punch us with it.
My wolf growls inside. My hatred for him at betraying us snowballs but does nothing to chill my boiling blood.
Kenna stares as though locked in Alister’s ghost magic again.
A purple mark discolors his cheek and a scab slashes the otherwise unblemished skin along his jawline as he shoves past us.
As if she cannot stuff the words back in, Kenna blurts, “Clove, what happened?”
He flinches and stops, but doesn’t turn. He utters the word, “You.” It echoes down the hall in his wake.
/> Kenna’s breath catches in the silence that follows.
I’m ready to tear loose and rip him apart.
She grips my hand, sensing the call of my shift.
“Clove, what are you doing here?”
“Same as you. Trying to rid the world of a tyrant.”
Kenna staggers back. “But you want the scepter too. You said you wanted the keys to the kingdom.”
He stalks toward us. His expression is fire. Volts of fae magic roll over his skin. “I said I wanted the keys to the kingdom. I didn’t say how I was going to use them.”
“You said you wanted to finish what our father started.” Kenna’s free hand lifts to her lips, and she shudders as if she realizes where the blemishes came from.
Clove points to his face. “These are my debts, not yours. If you have any sense, you’ll stop meddling. As it is, the fae king is messing with magic and therefore nature. If you haven’t noticed, not all the forests are changing with autumn.”
His face is so close to hers, my hands tighten into fists. I’m only sorry that I wasn’t the one to give him that bruise.
Kenna shakes her hand loose. “We want to help.”
Clove rocks his head back and laughs low and dark. “You’ve done enough to hinder.”
“We’re looking for the Klave.”
I shoot her a warning glance. The less Clove knows the better.
“Good luck. I’ve been searching for years.”
“What if we help each other?” Kenna tries.
“I don’t need your help.” Clove glares.
“He doesn’t want our help,” I say at the same time.
Kenna throws her hands in the air. “Don’t you get it? Melchior wants to keep us apart. Divided, we’re helping him move closer to his aims.”
“I don’t trust him,” I say.
“You didn’t trust Pepper either.”
The fae imposter brightens a shade. “Is she here? Is she helping you?”
“None of your business,” I grind out.
At that, Clove’s expression creases like he was struck all over again. “You can hate me all you want, wolf. But you have no idea what it’s like for me. You have your pack. Aside from the fae king, I’m the only male fae. Melchior eliminates every male baby. I just want to be among my people, to be part of a family. Is that too much to ask?” His voice barely registers over a husky whisper.
I can’t tell if he’s playing us again, or if he’s being sincere.
Kenna squeezes my hand. In the wolf-way, she says, He’s my brother. I have to give him a chance.
She lifts her gaze to mine. I instantly get lost in those smoky gray eyes of hers. She knows I’ll do anything for her even if I’m hesitant. The best I can do is answer with silence. But I squeeze her hand back, prepared to turn the rest of Clove’s face into hash if he dares to betray us again.
“Have you seen Alister?” Kenna asks.
He shakes his head.
Pepper bursts out from behind the painting holding an iron key overhead in triumph. “I found it. I found the Klave.”
Chapter 17
Kenna
“Well, I found a key. I think it unlocks the box that holds the Klave.” Pepper waves an iron key.
“But we still don’t know what the Klave looks like,” I say.
As though belatedly realizing it, Pepper takes a step backward when she spots Clove in his usual tweed jacket.
“It’s alright.” I think. It’s probably foolish to trust my brother. He’s very Loki-like.
Clove’s eyes rake Pepper up and down. In one swift motion, he snatches the key and takes off, sending a blast of fae magic over his back, incinerating a curtain.
I don’t look at Corbin to know he wears an I told you so expression. Instead, I burst into my wolf. For a moment, I’m floating in midair then smoothly land on all fours.
Clove throws himself through the nearest window. I race outside after my brother. It’s storming and the greedy wind snatches my bark of warning. I repeat the call, prepared to take him down for betraying me again. Then the wind suddenly slows like the weather put its tantrum on hold.
Clove drops face forward into the mud and the key flies from his hand as though he tossed a hot potato. I step back and catch it between my teeth. The fae in me winces, but my wolf is resistant to iron in the way fae are not.
I stand there, waiting for Clove to attack, to retrieve it. Instead, he gets up slowly and shuffles backward before turning and running toward the driveway.
I shake out my fur and remain in wolf form. Corbin is right behind me as his gray wolf. His eyes scan the horizon for Clove.
Let him go, I say the wolf-way. For now. We have the key. Let’s figure out what it goes to.
We head inside where Pepper waits exactly where we left her, eyes wide and slightly stunned. “Wow.”
I shift back to physical form. “You’ve said that.” But I smile, wanting to assure her that everything is okay. She’s probably only seen a shift in her visions.
Corbin comes in shortly after me, carrying the box of pastries. “I figured you’d need these.”
I kiss him on the cheek. “You know me so well.” After devouring a raspberry tart, I’m ready to dive back into saving the world. “We shall not speak of Clove. We have to focus. So where’d you find the key?”
Pepper points to a shelf.
“You think it’s somehow connected to the Klave?” Corbin asks, brushing the sugar from his fingers after eating a doughnut hole Pepper must’ve tossed in the box.
Pepper tilts her head from side to side as though not sure at all.
“We still don’t know what to do with the Klave once we find it.” Corbin pops another doughnut hole in his mouth.
But I think I know. I skipped one of the diary entries from the torn pages. Isa addressed a message to her descendent, me—It is your duty to protect that which we love so deeply. Each other. The magical world needs your help. You’re unique in being and character. For these reasons, I ask you to break the curse. To do so, you’ll need a Klave. United in song, free the fae. Then, use the scepter—a tool for peace to mend the magical world. It is up to you to restore harmony.
I leave you with this request and the only two things I can offer, my utmost gratitude and love.
Yours,
Isa
Tears threatened when I’d read it, but I held back, worrying they’d blur the ink. Worrying I wouldn’t be able to carry it out. Worrying what would happen if I fail.
Pepper gazes at the key. Her fingers touch her parted lips with surprise and awe. “There are engravings. It’s the same language as the book about dragons. Look, here’s the symbol for the scepter, wolf shifters, and loyalty.” She flips forward in the dragon book and points to a symbol that looks like a ring filled with intricate loops. “It’s all interconnected—all of us, including me. The prophecy of a dragon with golden eyes. That’s as far as I’ve gotten translating. But there’s more.”
I suddenly hear the singing again. “Do you hear that?”
Pepper and Corbin shake their heads.
The diary is quiet. “It’s the song of the fae. It calls to me, sings to me, and like it wants me to turn me against myself. I don’t know if I can resist it. There’s a pull, like the receding tide, drawing me home.”
Corbin takes me in his arms. “You are home,” he says.
I fight a sniffle and melt into him for a long moment. Then I lift my gaze to his copper eyes. “I am.” I go on tiptoe and kiss him on the lips, anchoring myself to this moment with him. It doesn’t last long enough. As soon as we part, once more, I feel unmoored, adrift. Unsure where to go or what to do other than that I must be the one to do it.
“If Clove led the fae here, I’ll—” Corbin cracks his knuckles.
“So will I.”
Pepper’s eyes flash gold. “So will I. Melchior killed my grandfather and my ancestors. He will rue the day I shift.”
The dragon shifter’s determination and feroci
ty draws my shoulders back and lifts my chin with pride. Maybe we stand a chance.
We move to the kitchen and Pepper continues to transcribe the symbols and their definitions into a notebook. It’s slow going, but Pepper has major skills—the memory of her visions help.
We debate what to do with the key until the grandfather clock strikes twelve.
I hop from my chair. “Love, loyalty, and friendship. The Triad Jewels. Red, the Vampire Jewel, represents love. The Wolf Jewel, loyalty—that would make the most sense.”
“And the Fae Jewel—friendship? Unlikely.” Corbin’s Scottish accent turns bitter.
We speculate until I doze off, slumped against my mate.
When I wake, I sniff the air and catch the scent of blueberry muffins.
Following it to the kitchen, I find Alister standing at the sink, cleaning a bowl.
“Good morning,” I say.
“Ah, you’re awake.” Alister dusts off his misty hands.
“And you finally turned up.”
“Finally? You have to summon me,” the ghost says in his genial way.
“I have to summon you?” I ask.
“To be your butler, well, it only seems polite. I have other things to do.”
“You do? Such as? Make breakfast?” I point to the counter.
His misty lips quirk. “It’s hard to break custom when there are houseguests. Your mother loved this muffin recipe.”
“But is it hard to break curses,” I mutter.
“That’s up to you, miss.” Alister speaks with authority.
“What do you know about the curse?”
The ghost dips his head. “That I cannot say.”
“We need your help. We’re trying to break the curse. To make things right. Have you seen Clove? My father?”
“I think there’s something else you need to find and then maybe you’ll know what to do,” Alister says mysteriously.
