by Tasha Black
“That’s really nice, sir,” the boy said. “So, a small black coffee?”
“Piping hot,” the man replied with satisfaction.
Jessica smiled to herself, glad that the man was happy, after all he’d been through.
She knew the man he was talking about, the fancy guy who had touched his shoulder, was Cullen. She had seen him do it. But Cullen thrived on pain. Why would his touch make someone feel better?
Was he really thriving on inflicting pain?
She thought back to her injury at the hands of the hag in the forest, the way Cullen touched her forehead and the pain receded.
And there was the troll under the bridge. Cullen had injured him, but the creature’s cry of pain ceased the moment Cullen brushed his head with his fingers on their way past.
And now this man, who had lost his brother, felt his pain recede at Cullen’s touch…
“How can I help you?” the man behind the counter asked her. He wore a name tag that said Carl.
“Hi there,” she said. “I’d love a coffee.”
“Well, you came to the right place,” he said. “What can I mix for you?”
She blinked at him for a moment. Mix for me? What did that even mean?
“Um, just a medium, please,” she said.
“Caff? Half-caff? No caff?” he asked. “Macchiato, latte, espresso?”
Half-caff? Machi-what?
“Um, one coffee with caffeine please,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”
“Want to make it a double?” he asked knowingly.
“Oh no, just the one coffee,” she replied.
“I meant a double shot of espresso,” he said.
“Yes?” she said, tentatively.
“Woman after my own heart,” he said. “Any flavorings? Cream? Or milk, soy, almond, or coconut milk?”
Did almonds have milk now? What all had she missed?
“Uh, extra cream, please,” she said.
“I’ll have it for you in a jiffy,” he said brightly.
She nodded and turned to see if the man in the cap was still there.
He had gone, but Miranda and her friends were still by the window. From where she stood, Jessica could see they had pushed two tables together.
And they needed as much space as they could get. Miranda was very tall, like her father and maternal grandfather. Her two girlfriends were more normal height, but the three men with them were positively enormous. Jessica had truly never seen a man that size, other than Cullen.
One of the women was on what looked like a tiny, cordless phone. She ended the call, looking perturbed.
“What’s wrong, Tabitha?” the third woman asked.
“That was Tim from the museum,” the one called Tabitha said. “He says a patron thinks she saw a dinosaur in the woods by the mansion.”
“A dinosaur?” Miranda sounded fascinated.
“What if something else is out there?” one of the men said. “What if we missed something?”
Suddenly, the six of them were leaping up from their chairs and heading for the door.
Jessica turned back to the counter just in time to prevent them from noticing her.
A dinosaur by the mansion?
They had to be heading right for Cullen.
Suddenly, it all clicked into place for her.
Those men reminded her of Cullen because they were the adoptive brothers he’d told her about - the ones he was about to enact his revenge on. And Miranda was with them. Heading right up that hill toward Cullen.
Right into danger.
He would never forgive himself if their daughter came to any harm at his hands.
And Jessica would set the whole world on fire to prevent it.
“Here you go,” Carl said, handing her the coffee with a bright expression. “Enjoy.”
“Thanks,” she managed, taking the warm paper cup and sliding over some of the cash Cullen had left her with.
“You look a little familiar,” he noticed. “Is this the first time you’ve been in?”
She nodded, hoping he wasn’t noticing that she looked like Miranda.
“Well, don’t make it the last,” he said.
She headed out as quickly as she could.
She had to make it back to Cullen before Miranda and her friends did.
Three cars were already peeling out of the parking lot when she emerged.
She jogged to the parking area in the back and pulled Cullen’s key from her pocket.
It was an unfamiliar looking thing. But she managed to unlock the car by pressing the button with the picture of the open lock.
Once inside though, she was at a total loss as to how to start the thing.
She put her coffee in the console and examined the key. It didn’t look like a key at all.
Get it together, Jessica, she told herself. You can figure this out.
But she couldn’t help but notice that too much time was passing, and Miranda was going to make it up that hill long before she could.
Hang on, baby, I’m coming…
20
Cullen
Cullen stood between a pair of ghostly sycamores.
Power seethed all around him, darkness extending in wiry tendrils to create the giant shadow dragon that floated in front of him.
The beast rose up as high as a four-story building, shimmering with onyx scales. Wings the size of hot air balloons flapped occasionally, kicking up a wind that had long since sent the birds and squirrels scurrying away.
He’d heard a scream from of one of the people working on the mansion. Now it was only a matter of time before his treacherous brothers and their queens arrived.
Ironically, the worst betrayal of all was Miranda.
His brothers had seen only his competitive side all these years. It made sense for them to hate him. It was like a very intense form of sibling rivalry, even though they were not bound by any blood relation.
But Miranda was a different story. He had lavished time and patience on her for some time.
She was an ideal executive assistant, wise beyond her years, calm and cool, and she had a wicked sense of humor. She had always reminded him a little of Jessica in that way.
Cullen had hoped to watch Miranda rise in the ranks. That was why he had taken her under his wing, and why he had named his mentee to manage his assets in his living directive.
And she had thanked him by falling in love with his stupid adoptive brother and giving away all of his money to charity.
Yet it was hard to wish her ill. She could have spent his fortune on herself, and she had chosen not to. At least this way he would have ample write-offs and a powerful goodwill campaign for the company when he took it over once more.
Maybe when all this was over, and Bron and the rest of his brothers were in the midnight loop, she would come to her senses and would come back to work for him again.
He heard footsteps through the brush up near the mansion.
They were coming.
The sheer size of the beast he had created would block him from their view. They would have no idea it was Cullen until it was too late.
He could hear their voices, high and excited.
One of the women said something about missing a creature.
“No, I’m sure there was no dragon.” That was Dorian’s voice. “But it surely doesn’t belong here.”
He lost track of their voices as the power surged within him, begging for release.
He prepared for the battle.
Predictably, Tristan struck first. Cullen could feel his light shooting toward the dragon.
He braced himself and allowed his magic to slide outward.
The light bounced off the surface of the great dragon.
Tristan made a sound of surprise.
The sky darkened.
Dorian was pulling a cloak of midnight around them, obscuring the view.
Now Cullen could move out from behind the dragon to watch his opponents. They would be focused
on what they thought was a magical beast, and midnight would cover his approach.
Dorian’s queen held a mirror before her. It looked like a woman’s compact - it wasn’t a shard from the big mirror.
But it was a clever idea.
Though being trapped in a solitary mirror was a horrifying proposition. He shuddered at the thought and sent another pulse of magic into his dragon. It didn’t matter. The makeshift trap would serve him well, and once his brothers were inside, they would belong to the Queen of Silence, sealing the bargain for good.
Miranda clung to Bron’s arm. It was clear she didn’t want him to risk using his powers in battle again.
After what had happened last time, Cullen was frankly amazed Bron was fighting again at all.
The soft outline of a stag was beginning to form around Bron’s shoulders. His youngest brother’s heart animal was never far from the surface. And Cullen’s bond with his brothers allowed him to see the animal shapes that would have been invisible to anyone else.
He glanced over at Tristan. To his delight, the form of an owl shimmered like a halo around him.
But Dorian’s form remained hidden.
Cullen closed his eyes and called on his power.
Flames licked from the dragon’s maw, blasting from between jagged teeth.
Everyone but Dorian leapt back.
Instead, Dorian closed his eyes to send a wave of cool darkness into the dragon’s mouth, extinguishing the flame.
When he opened his eyes again a flock of shadowy crows were just visible around his shoulders.
Cullen smiled.
It was time.
Cullen expended a bit more of his magic, making the dragon appear to stagger backward. He had to make them feel like they were winning.
In truth, his store of power was finally beginning to dwindle. Cullen felt the zap of each fresh use.
“Now, Sara,” Dorian cried.
The woman with the mirror stepped forward, holding the tiny silvery circle in front of her like a shield.
“You flew your world on onyx wings,
To seek new realms, to eat new things,
Above our forest green you fly,
But if you stay, you’ll surely die,
Puny prey that will fight back,
Using weapons when you attack,
Modern bombs and bullets will fly,
Ancient dragon soon will die,
Back to the mirror you now shall roam,
Back to safety, back to home.”
Cullen reached for another pull of power and bent the dragon’s mighty head to the mirror in Sara’s hand.
She smiled at her victory.
Soon she wouldn’t be smiling.
But he was finding it hard to take joy in that.
It pained him to admit it to himself, but there was something admirable about the teamwork and bravery of his brothers and their wives.
If he were honest with himself, the biggest pang he felt was not betrayal or revenge, it was jealousy.
But he had always felt that.
His brothers had never really liked him. Even in childhood they had excluded him from their games. He was the teacher’s pet, the favorite. But that hadn’t helped him make friends with his new brothers.
When he joined his new family with Dorian and Tristan at the big castle, he thought maybe their friendship excluded him only because they had been there first.
But when Bron came along, and was pulled quickly into the fold while Cullen was left in his room, studying to distract himself from the loneliness, he knew the truth of it.
They resented his power.
But how was it his fault that more practice made him more powerful?
If he had been playing in the woods with his brothers instead of studying, he would not have bested them so often in the classroom.
Forget all that. Focus on the plan, on Jessica.
But he had seen that look in her eyes today. The look of a person who saw through his exterior to the cold, exacting thing beneath.
There was no point trying to change. He would always be the King of Pain.
Cullen let go of another wave of power, and the leathery pelt and shimmering scales of the dragon gave way to smoke.
Cullen released his brother’s heart animals into the mix, simple toys he had taken from their rooms, about to become the most important things in their world.
The crystal owl, stuffed deer and crow book floated along in the smoke.
“No,” Dorian cried, realizing at once what was happening.
But it was too late, his mate had already started the chain of events that would doom him.
A cloud of shadowy crows emerged from his silhouette, following the book into the mirror.
Dorian bellowed and strained, but he was drawn toward them, closer and closer to the mirror.
“Dorian,” Sara cried, lowering the mirror.
But it made no difference.
Next, a barn owl made of sunlight joined the crystal owl, shooting into the mirror with Tristan dragged behind it as Sara wailed.
Miranda clung to Bron, a determined look on her pale face.
“No,” she said firmly. “I can’t lose you again.”
But he smiled at her sadly as his stag pulled him closer to the mirror.
Cullen found his heart aching with sympathy.
He expected to draw fresh power from this pain. Instead he felt bereft.
Something crashed through the woods, heading their way.
He looked up to Jessica running toward him.
“Cullen,” she cried.
All eyes turned in his direction, finally noticing him.
“It’s Miranda,” she called to him. “Please don’t do anything to harm these people.”
“I know it’s Miranda,” he told her. “I cared about her, looked out for her. She was my assistant.”
“She’s your daughter, you idiot.” Jessica said, reaching him at last, grabbing his arms in a surprisingly strong grip.
“Sh-she’s what?” he asked.
“She’s our daughter,” Jessica sobbed. “Please don’t take the man she loves from her.”
Our daughter.
It was true.
The whole thing hit him like a sledgehammer.
Jessica’s sudden disappearance, the years between, the way Miranda’s smile reminded him of Jessica, the intuitive way he had felt protective of his new assistant from the moment they met…
His eyes went to the mirror.
It was too late.
His brothers were being drawn inexorably into his trap.
Miranda, his daughter, held her king’s face in her hands, following him as he was pulled from her. He saw her lips form the words I love you.
Cullen’s heart was jerked back in time to the day Jessica disappeared.
That day, and every day until he found her again, was a hollow agony.
Her loss had changed him, made him into a true monster.
He could not let that happen to Miranda.
“I will avenge you,” Miranda cried to Bron.
The words chilled Cullen to his soul.
He could not let her follow his dark path.
He had to send his daughter back into the light, no matter the cost.
He had only one tool left at his disposal.
21
Jessica
Jessica watched in agony as her daughter’s face was transformed by loss.
“No,” she cried, but in the rush of wind sucking the men into the mirror she couldn’t even hear her own voice.
She turned back to Cullen, desperate.
The expression of cold determination on his face frightened her. He ripped the hourglass from around his neck and smashed it onto a stone below.
Instantly, the wind went still and his brothers landed on their feet.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to Jessica. “It was the only way to stop them from going over.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she ra
n to him, taking his hands in hers.
“Cullen,” she sobbed. “You made the right decision. We’ll be happy there in the little cottage with the flowers and the fairy fruit. We’ll have each other and that’s all we need. I don’t mind going back, if it helps Miranda.”
But he gazed at her with an expression of terrible sympathy.
“Oh, Jessica,” he said, his voice deep and sad. “You were never a part of this bargain.”
She gaped at him. Could that be right?
She thought back to his bargain with the Queen of Silence. Somehow, he had left her out of the deal.
“You can stay,” he told her with a sad smile. “You’ll get to know our daughter. I’ll be happy knowing you’re together. It will all be worth it.”
Pain cut through her, threatening to destroy her heart.
But a hush had fallen over the forest, and she could speak no more.
Cullen was fading, a strange after-image like a fox gathering around him.
But instead of dragging him into the mirror, it was fading, too.
Before her eyes, Cullen blurred as if he were moving, ripples of color sparkling all around him, so bright she had to close her eyes against the sight.
“Jessica,” he said.
She opened her eyes and he was before her again.
Instead of his usual clothing, he wore a flame-colored cloak. A golden crown wove itself around his head. The aura of the fox surrounded him, and a healing warmth emanated from him.
He looked down at himself in confusion.
At least she wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand what was happening.
The air beside him wavered and suddenly, the Queen of Silence stood in their midst.
Her clothing was as resplendent as always, but her beautiful face was set in a mask of disgust.
“I hope you’re happy,” she said flatly. “I can’t believe I fell for your cheap trick.”
“My trick,” Cullen echoed, for once looking like he was at a loss for words.
“The King of Pain will serve as the King of Midnight for triple his brother’s sentence if he fails to bring back the kings of Darkness, Light and the Wilds by the time the sand in this hourglass runs out,” she said accusingly.
