Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3)

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  He opened his eyes. “You can. And you can do it quickly.”

  “And what if Charlotte can’t help? What if she locks me up, and I die without you?”

  His eyes darkened. “I will not let that happen.” His lips crushed against mine, as he pulled me against him. I slipped a hand underneath his shirt desperate to feel him, to feed the desire welling inside me.

  We removed our clothes in a blur, and before I knew what was happening James hovered above me. “I need you one more time before you go.”

  I nodded, needing him as much as he needed me. I reached up and pulled the full weight of him down on me just as he thrust into me.

  I closed my eyes this time, trying to savor each moment of our connection. He moved inside me as his lips attacked my neck and his hands explored me. I opened up to him, understanding this would be the last time for a long time. I soaked in every taste and sensation as he pushed me over the edge.

  He reached his release and stayed inside me for a few moments, before suddenly pulling away and leaving the bed. He got dressed quickly. “If I do not leave now, I never will.” He kissed me lightly on the lips before hurrying out of the room.

  I got dressed in a daze, still trying to figure out which way was up. Leaving James was terrifying, but all I needed to do was remember the look in his eyes as he almost choked Gregor to death. Staying was out of the question. I had to stop Blake.

  I wasn’t leaving James. I was leaving the man he was going to become if we could not stop his father. We would stop him. It wasn’t just my life and James’ that hung in the balance. It was everyone I had ever known or cared about. I didn’t doubt the destruction Blake’s power could unleash.

  I opened the door and hurried down the steep steps of the tower. James wasn’t the only one who needed to worry about changing their mind.

  James was nowhere in sight as I reached the ground, and I ran right for the woods. I had no clue where I was going, but I wasn’t going to wait around for Gregor. Whether he thought it would strengthen me or not, the guy had thrown me in the lake. He had enjoyed it. He’d enjoyed watching me suffer, and that in itself was terrifying.

  I dashed into the woods with no clear direction in mind. The trees were dense with long vines wrapping around the trunks of many of them.

  I had to find a river and someone that would lead me to Icentris. I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Talen hadn’t exactly been a fan of mine, and he was likely the friendliest of the bunch.

  I spent the first few minutes getting as far from the tower as possible. Leaving James wasn’t fun, but I wanted to get my trek over with. I wasn’t sure what to think of Charlotte anymore, but she was from my world. She had been nice to me before, I had no reason to believe she wouldn’t be now. Well, aside from the fact that she’d locked James up. That was a pretty big reason to be worried.

  I didn’t stop moving until the light had all but disappeared. I wasn’t sure if the sun had set or if it was because of the thick canopy of trees, but either way, I wanted to get out of the woods.

  I narrowed my eyes and looked for anything resembling a river. All I saw were trees and rocks. Neither of those were going to help me. They all looked the same, and it wasn’t like James had given me any clues about the landscape.

  Once I accepted my eyes weren’t going to help me, I stopped. I stood there completely still, straining my ears. I listened for running water. Anything to serve as evidence of what direction the river was in, but I heard nothing.

  I sighed. I was going to die. Either the poison running through my veins would kill me, or someone or something else would. This was hopeless. I wasn’t exactly an outdoor survival expert, and I was going to need to be one if I wanted to make it to Icentris.

  I thought about all the times I’d complained about the lack of public transportation in Charleston. At least we had cabs there. I wasn’t going to find anything like that in these woods.

  With no idea of what direction was the right one, I picked one that seemed to lead in the opposite direction of the tower. James had put way too much faith in my sense of direction.

  It got darker and darker until I could see almost nothing in front of me. I wrapped my arms around myself wondering if I’d made a mistake. Maybe it would have been better to stay. The only thing I had going for me now was that the haze had lifted. Just like the voice had said. I really was crazy. I was trusting voices in my head. But then again everything in my life was hard to believe.

  Including James. Yet I’d just had sex with him. Again. My body had a mind of its own. That was the only reason I’d fallen into bed with him again. My body warmed thinking about it. Great. Now I was stuck and lost in the woods and in the mood for him. I needed to stop. I had to clear my mind and forget about James and those needs until I was in a safer place. But how could I even trust James? One minute he was promising he’d never leave my side, and the next he was telling me to run. That and the fact he claimed he’d been taken over by his father’s darkness. I was so confused it wasn’t even funny. And now I could add being lost to that list.

  I walked into a small clearing and sat down on a large boulder. I closed my eyes. No thoughts of James I repeated to myself. I opened my eyes, stood, and continued walking in a direction I hoped was right. My ankle got snarled in something and I panicked. I reached down at my ankle expecting to find an iron clad root wrapped around me. I didn’t. Instead I found only a vine. I pulled it off. It wasn’t a crazy moving tree.

  I walked until I reached another clearing. This one also had large boulder. It jutted out in exactly the same way as the one I’d sat on before. That was it. I was going in circles. It was the same boulder in the same clearing. I fell to my knees in the dirt. Giving up wasn’t going to help me but walking in circles wasn’t either.

  The sound of approaching hooves had me back on my feet. I dashed behind a tree, but I realized that wasn’t going to help. Whoever it was could probably see far better than I could.

  The hooves stopped.

  “You can come out now. I will not hurt you,” an unfamiliar male voice called. My heart beat a million miles a minute. The voice sounded friendly enough, but it was a stranger in the middle of dark woods in Energo. He couldn’t be too welcoming.

  “Come on, now. It is late and these woods are no place for you.”

  I said nothing, not sure if I would be better off if the guy found me or not.

  “Fine then. I will get you myself.”

  I hurried away in the direction I thought was the opposite of the voice, but something grabbed my shoulder.

  I froze before my body was turned around, and I squinted through the darkness to see the figure in front of me.

  “I told you not to be afraid.” The man’s face was hidden in the shadows, but he looked human in size and shape.

  “Who are you?” I asked in the strongest voice I could muster, and it wasn’t a particularly strong one.

  “Elron. And who are you?”

  I answered without thinking. “Ainsley.”

  “And why are you in these woods?” There was concern in is voice, and I hoped that would work to my advantage.

  “I am trying to find Icentris?” I asked almost as a question.

  “Icentris?” He asked with surprise. “Why in all the worlds would you want to go there?”

  “Because I need a guide to Belgard.” I had no idea why I was admitting all of this to a stranger, but I saw no other choice. I had nothing. James had sent me running into danger.

  “Belgard. Now that seems like a more normal choice, but you are nowhere near there.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “Look. I don’t want any trouble. Could you please direct me toward Icentris?”

  “No.” He squeezed my shoulder. “But I will take you to Belgard.”

  “You will?” I asked with surprise.

  “Yes.”

  “I can pay you back.” I dug my hand into my empty pocket. I had no wallet on me. Not that my money would mean anything
in Energo. “I think.”

  “But first you need to explain to me how you came to be out here.”

  “I wish I could.” It would help if I understood it at all.

  “You can. I assure you I am a good listener, and I speak many languages.”

  “I don’t actually know where I am. I was taken here by—” I stopped. James was the one person I didn’t want to talk about. “By someone.”

  “Someone you know?”

  “Yes, but it is a long story.”

  “Then we can discuss it over dinner. Come along now,” he urged.

  “Wait, dinner?” That word sounded almost too normal considering the circumstances.

  “Or have you eaten already? Either way I need to eat.”

  “Where are we eating?” I held back the idle worry in my head that I was going to become someone’s dinner. It was too dark to see who I was dealing with. By the feel of his hands and what I could see of his face, he was humanoid, but considering the wolves had seemed normal on the outside, that didn’t actually mean much.

  “To my home.”

  “Uh, yeah about that.” I glanced around debating whether to try to make a run for it. The forest was dark, and I had no idea what else could be waiting for me deeper in the woods.

  “I will not hurt you, but other things in these woods might. We need to go.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Whether it changed anything or not, I was going to ask questions.

  “A choice?” He leaned in.

  “Yes. If I said no, would you leave me?”

  “No.” He tightened his grip on me. “I could not in any good conscience leave you here.”

  “Because I’m a girl?” Sexism was alive and well in Energo.

  “Because you are a powerless human girl.”

  “And there you went and said that. Now I know I shouldn’t go with you.”

  “Why?” There was a hint of genuine surprise in his voice.

  “You called me a human. That implies you are not one.” I sighed. “Great.”

  A loud humming noise came from behind, and my heart started to race. I figured that humming wasn’t coming from anything good. When it was followed by a low growling, I was even more certain. I glanced all around me searching for the source of the sound, but it was too dark to see much of anything.

  “And being non-human means I am bad?”

  “No. Just dangerous.” Very dangerous to me.

  “Why?”

  “Because.” I continued to glance around. Something else was out there with us. I knew it.

  “You cannot fear something simply because it is an unknown.” He said it completely matter-of-factly.

  “Yet I will. I still don’t know why you are in the woods in the middle of the night.” The growling got slightly louder, and I hoped Elron had a plan to get us out of there. Going with him was seeming like a better and better option.

  “I had a vision.”

  “Oh yeah? I have those too.” Too often now.

  “You do?” He took in a sharp breath.

  “Yes. And there I went. Too much information.”

  “You are a far more interesting human than I expected to find.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “I do not know. Maybe an unhappy girl running from her betrothed? But I do not think that is you.”

  “My betrothed?” I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, not exactly.”

  “Either way I would take you with me. Will you walk or should I carry you to my horse?”

  “What is with men here and thinking I can’t walk?” It was getting increasingly annoying.

  “It is dark, and you cannot see.”

  “Yet you can. Interesting.” Not really. Just scary.

  “You already know I am not human.”

  “What are you?” I jumped as I heard another growl.

  “I will let you see for yourself.”

  “Wonderful.” But not at all surprising; however, I preferred his mystery identity to the mystery of the growling.

  He chuckled before sweeping me into his arms. “You are very entertaining. That might make the long trip to Belgard worth it.”

  “I’m not entertaining. I’m boring.”

  “You my dear, are anything but boring.”

  “And that’s how I know that you don’t know me at all.”

  9

  James

  I needed her. I regretted my decision the moment I realized she had actually listened. I had kept Gregor distracted, and part of me expected to find her waiting for me in the tower afterward.

  But she had listened. She had run into the woods toward places she barely knew all based on my assurances. It had been the right decision, but not the one I wanted.

  I could still taste her. Hours later I could still taste her on my tongue, and I wanted more. I wanted her with me. I wanted to know she was safe.

  I had been rash to send her away. Maybe she would have forgiven me after all.

  That was not my thought, and I knew it. That thought was my father’s. Ainsley had no thirst for power. She only wanted a happy life. And answers. She always wanted answers. Answers I could not give.

  I looked out into the woods. She could not have made it too far yet. My body warred with me to follow her. To bring her back where she belonged.

  The darkness was taking over. I could feel it in the increased strength running through my veins and in the thoughts in my head. I was angry. Angry that she listened. Did she really think I wanted her to leave?

  But there was nothing I could do. And she was safer. A small part of me still understood the choice I made even if the rest of me did not.

  I would have her back one way or another. But for now I had other things to contend with.

  “Is she sleeping again?” Gregor joined me where I stood in the clearing.

  I looked off into the forest. “When I left she was awake.” I was getting far too skillful at these half-truths.

  “She will thank you when this is all over.”

  “Maybe she will.” Although I had little confidence in that outcome. “Either way we have no choice.”

  “You seem different.” He watched me.

  I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead trying to ignore the stare that was clear even in my periphery. “Different?”

  Gregor walked in front of me. “Yes.”

  I met his eyes since I no longer had a choice. “I am done fighting my father.”

  “It is about time. You are lucky. He gave you the power.” There was a wistfulness to Gregor’s voice that I completely understood. That did not mean I agreed with his words.

  “There is no luck about it.” Every decision of my father’s was calculated. What I wanted meant nothing. He had chosen to use me for a reason.

  “I am his son as much as you.”

  “So it seems.” I searched Gregor’s face for any signs of familial resemblance. He lacked the blond hair I shared with my father, but there was something about his eyes that reminded me of the man who had raised me.

  “You will get power once we achieve our goals.” I would tell him what he wanted to hear, even though I had no plans to share power with him.

  “Waiting is unwise. It is far too great a power for one man. It will likely destroy you.” Gregor had little concern for my well-being, but he was searching for excuses.

  “Our father survived with it.” I would never give such destructive and limitless power to a man who threatened Ainsley. Blood or not, he would never earn my trust.

  “You are not our father.” His eyes locked on mine.

  “Yet he gave me the power. He believed I could hold the weight of the Cipher.”

  “He was wise, but even the wise can be misguided.”

  “The Cipher is never misguided.”

  “Yet it must be. Choosing you was a colossal mistake. As was choosing that girl. Royal blood or not, she is not strong enough to handle what she must.”

  “Do not speak of Ainsley.” When Gregor talked
about me I felt little but annoyance at it, but when he talked about her, my anger grew.

  “I will speak of her whenever I wish. And we need to wake her. We have no time to waste.”

  “You will stay away.”

  “Or what?” He stepped toward me. “What would you do?”

  “Would you like a reminder? The only reason you survived our last confrontation was because of her. She is not standing here to save you.”

  “No because she is thinking about wanting to be in my bed.”

  I did not think. I swung at him and knocked him to the dirt floor. I was blinded by rage as I choked him. This time there was nothing to stop me. But then a thought raced through my brain. I released his neck. Gregor struggled for breaths as I stepped away.

  He had wanted me to attack him, and that had to have been for a reason. Gregor was not suicidal. His motivation was entirely different.

  10

  Ainsley

  Riding a horse with a man other than James felt wrong. Maybe that was silly. Maybe with everything else going on I shouldn’t have even been thinking about that, but I was. I was missing James more and more, and this kind of missing had nothing to do with my body craving him. I peered out into the dark night. I tried to stay confident, but I was terrified. I was out in the dark with a male creature I knew nothing about.

  “Are you ill?” Elron asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “I can feel your energy fading. It is a slow depletion, but it means something is wrong.” He touched my shoulder gently.

  “You can feel my energy depleting?” That was a new one.

  “Yes. It is a skill of my people.”

  I waited for him to expand on the statement, but he didn’t. “Maybe I need a nap.”

  “I am not speaking of that kind of energy, but yes, sleep is important.”

  “Are we almost there?” I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to arrive at his house, but sitting up on the horse was taking effort. The haze had lessened, but I was exhausted and uncomfortable sitting so close to a man I didn’t know who had already confirmed he wasn’t human. That was strange even in the context of the last few days. Some things took a long time to get used to.