I turned around to say something when I noticed the hound standing by Ariel. She nuzzled against his head and said, “Thank you.”
“Do you have any idea why he helped us?” I asked, pointing to the hound.
“Before we left the castle, I asked one of the guards to get a message to him. I told him where I’d be and he came to help.”
“But why?”
She smiled at him. “I hope it’s because he loves me.”
I thought back to what she had said at the Ball. “Wait, the guy you’re in love with is a Gabriel Hound? What? I really didn’t see that coming.”
And just when I thought the surprises were over, the hound shifted back into his mortal form, which happened to be a completely naked—and very ripped—curly, brown haired Latino guy. I looked away as he searched for some clothing inside the cabinets.
“You can turn around now,” he said. He’d found a pair of black drawstring pants. There was a riot of cuts and burns across his chest. One of his wounds was seeping blood—it must’ve been deep. “I’m Marcus, by the way.”
Ariel got right to work on the injuries with some kind of liquid antiseptic. As she cleaned each one, he flinched. “Stay still while I patch you up.”
Then something Rowan had said clicked in my head. “You’re Rowan’s best friend, aren’t you? The one who tore off his—”
“Yes, I am.” Marcus lowered his head. “It was the worst moment of my life.”
I looked at Ariel. “Why didn’t you tell me about—?”
“Because of me,” Marcus interrupted. “I asked her not to tell anyone about us. I didn’t want her parents to find out.
I returned to Rowan. He appeared as if he hadn’t moved a muscle. I curled up next to him, careful not to touch his body. I bit my lip when all I wanted to do was scream and cry.
Ariel, as if reading my mind, said, “No matter how bad you think this looks, you saved all of us. They would both be dead by now if it wasn't for you, Kalin.”
Then it hit me. All this time, I had been burying my feelings because I had to be strong. Those emotions bubbled into my throat and I could barely breathe. I sat up and tried to pull my knees into my chest and I winced in pain. I definitely had broken ribs. Burying my face in my folded arms, I released the tears I’d been holding back. Ariel sat next to me, placing her arm around my shoulders.
Marcus sat in a chair next to Rowan’s bed. He squeezed his hand and said, “I shouldn’t have left you, brother. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but I’m here now. I’ll never leave you again.”
Seconds went by like hours without any response from Rowan. The only sound in the room was the intermittent drops coming from a leaky sink. A cold chill filled the room and I rubbed the pimpled bumps on my arms. Each time I blinked, my eyes felt swollen and burned from the tears. Ariel never said a word, squeezing my shoulder to let me know she was there.
I heard a strained whimper. Marcus waved us closer. A second later, Rowan twisted onto his side. I crawled up next to him and his eyes opened. Relief immediately spilled over my shoulders. I pushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of his face. Rowan reached up and squeezed my hand.
In a weakened tone, he said, “Can't keep your hands off me, can you?”
Marcus laughed. “Some things never change.”
I rolled my eyes. “You're incorrigible!”
Rowan smirked. “And, sexy. Don't forget sexy.”
Ariel giggled, patting me on the shoulder. “Since you seem to have this under control, we'll go check on King Taron.” She pulled Marcus away.
I turned around and squinted at her but she was already at Dad's bedside.
Rowan winced when he tried to sit up. He took an exaggerated breath, closing his eyes. “I'm fine,” he said, but I wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure me or himself.
His normal skin tone had returned, but his body was decorated with dried blood-covered cuts and bluish-purple bruises. “Yeah, that's exactly how I would describe you.”
“Whatever Ariel gave me is working. I'll be healed in no time.” The corner of his lip curled into a half smile. The type that made my legs feel like wet noodles.
“In all seriousness, I’m just glad you’re okay.” I swallowed hard. “When I saw you lying on the ground, I—”
“Hey, none of that.” Rowan tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “The worst of it is over and we all survived.”
Flashing images filled my head; the combined air and woodland courts, leading an assault against the fire court. I was sure the war had started by now, and Valac was sitting back somewhere waiting for the right moment to initiate his own attack. I had managed to hurt him during the attack, but I seriously doubt he was dead.
“It’s far from over.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Forget it!” Rowan shook his head. “There’s no way you’re going without me.”
Ariel watched silently from Dad’s bedside. She had diligently checked his heart rate and breathing every five minutes. He was stable, but he still hadn’t woken up yet. Based on his wounds, she guessed it might be hours before he was conscious. His time in the mortal world may have also affected his power to heal.
“I don’t have a choice. Ariel must stay here with Dad.” I scanned Rowan’s body. He was healing rapidly—thanks to Ariel’s herbs—but still peppered with deep cuts and bruises. “And, you barely survived the last go around. Marcus and I will go.”
Rowan slid his legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor. “There’s no way I’m letting you two walk into a warzone without me.” I opened my mouth to say something and he held his hand up. “Discussion over, I’m going.”
“I think she’s right, man. You really do look like shit,” Marcus added.
Rowan ignored us as he removed his torn, bloody shirt. Without his glamour, the dark scars on his back were visible, but only for a second because he found a white shirt in one of the drawers.
I didn’t know what to say, so I said the most obvious thing that came to mind. “Rowan, this is too dangerous. We all know you’re not one hundred percent.”
His sinful blue eyes met mine with a soft intensity. He strolled over, cupping my face in his hands and pressed his mouth against mine. For a few moments, everything around us faded away. Our lips moved in unison. His arms overlapped around my arms and his fingers came to rest around my waist. I wanted to stay here forever. I wished I could be a simple teenage girl, just enjoying a kiss from a guy she liked.
But that wasn’t my life now, and it never would be.
“Hello?” Marcus said, interrupting the moment. “We’re still here.”
I hated pulling away. If Rowan had been disappointed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he silently prepared for battle, part of me was relieved. If I had any remote chance of stopping this war, then I needed as many soldiers as I could gather. Even if Rowan wasn’t a hundred percent, he was still one of the most dangerous warriors I’d seen. I had faith he would be able to get us through the battle and find King Orion. My stomach twisted into knots.
No matter how impossible it seemed, I had to convince the woodland king to end this nonsense before the fire court was destroyed.
After we collected as many knights and weapons as we could find, we took a portal to the edge of the fire territory.
The scent of rotting flesh filled the air and I held my hand over my nose and mouth. The dark lands were covered with stone mountains and deep valleys, but no foliage of any kind lived on them. The ground was dry. The skies roared with thunder. Within the gloom, an unusually large cloud of smoke hung over a hill less than a mile away. Screeching metal and pained cries could be heard in the distance.
The knights drew their swords. Marcus shifted into his hound form. My sword trembled in my hand. After all the training I’d gotten from Rowan, why hadn't I asked him to teach me sword fighting? I guess I never imagined I would be standing on a battlefield trying to end an all-out elemental war. If we failed, the elements would remain out of ba
lance. It was only a matter of time before this spilled out into the mortal world. Tiny pearls of sweat formed on my forehead.
We trudged up the hill, I swung the sword a few times to get used to the feel of it. It was heavier than I expected, making a swooping sound each time I slashed the air.
Rowan slipped his hand inside my arm, pulling us closer together. “Regardless of what you see or what happens, I want you to stand behind me. If someone comes at you, use your air magic to keep a distance. I don’t want you taking any chances by fighting.”
“Are you doubting my mad sword skills?” I joked, trying to hide the fear.
He raised an eyebrow. “There’s nothing about you that would surprise me at this point, but I know this can go bad quickly.” He entwined our fingers. “Please promise me you’ll stay with me.”
His concern over the situation didn’t help my nerves, but we had no other options. “I promise.”
We reached the top of the hill and peered down into the valley. Judging by the amount of carnage, the battle must have been going on for a while. Shriveled gray bodies burning to ash surrounded the fighting. Elementals from each of the remaining courts slashed and sliced their swords at each other. Some fought in bloody hand-to-hand combat. Smoking fire pits were scattered throughout, creating a fog all around us.
We headed downward.
I kept my eyes on the ground, hopping over puddles of black ooze, abandoned iron weapons, and decomposing bodies. The dead woodland faeries dried at a rapid pace until they turned to piles of dirt and dust.
A few of the fire court elementals at the outer edge of the warfare noticed us heading toward them, they threw two lit torches in our direction. Our group broke up into two parts to avoid the flying flames. We scattered and I stayed close behind Rowan. Others turned around, and suddenly, the battle was right before us. There was no white flag, no time to try to explain why we were here. We ran into the crowd with our swords raised, pushing our way through.
Rowan attacked with fluid motion, like he was performing a deadly dance. Marcus was taking out fire elementals three at a time. I was really happy he was on our side. Out of the corner of my eye, several fire court elementals ran toward me at an incredible speed. My power surged and I pushed them back using my wind magic. I tried to keep them away, but my energy slowly weakened with every thrust of wind. I couldn’t keep it up, so I gripped my sword tightly and went into defensive mode.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I had no choice. A fire elemental, double my size, came at me and our swords clashed with a loud scrape. He pushed his bodyweight into me, knocking me backwards. The weight of my armor caused me to lose my balance. I tripped over something on the ground and fell back. He stood over me with his sword raised above his head. I twisted on the ground as I tried to get away, but his foot was pressing into my chest. I was trapped. He smiled and was about to plunge his sword into me when a sword pushed through the middle of his chest. My attacker collapsed at my side.
Rowan stood above me with his hand held out. “I could've sworn I told you to stay behind me,” he said, shaking his head.
I stood. “I did, but if you haven't noticed, we're kind of in the middle of a war.”
Rowan positioned himself in front of me again as we made our way back to the other air elementals. At some point, some of our air court knights found us and helped to form a circular barrier around me. Aching screams of pain rang out, but my wall of protection blocked most of my view.
The knights in front of me came to a halt, and I bumped into the back of one of them. “What’s going on?”
Rowan pointed to a clearing where I saw King Orion surrounded by a group of his own knights. They stood, examining one of the dead bodies. Then, a loud horn sounded. The fighting abruptly ceased. “That means the fire court is retreating. Something's happened.”
I ran toward the woodland king and screamed out, “King Orion, I need to speak with you immediately. My father—”
“Will be returned to you shortly,” Orion said, pointing to the crumpled body in front of him. The body was charcoaled. I watched in horror as what was left of Liana burned into ashes at my feet. “The fire queen is dead. We will invade her castle and find Taron.”
Bitter cold ran through my veins as if my blood had frozen over.
This had played out exactly as Valac predicted. I came to stand in front of the king with my sword pointing down at my side. “You have no idea what you just did.” I snarled. Marcus growled. Orion’s knights circled tighter around him. “My father is safe in our castle. We rescued him, but not from the fire court. Everything Ariel told you was true. Jarrod was the traitor.”
King Orion shook his head in disbelief. “Liana was responsible. What you’re saying is absolutely impossible.”
I didn’t expect him to take my word for it. “Send your knights back to your territory. You can come with me and see for yourself.”
“Very well, Kalin. The battle has been won regardless.” Orion headed in the opposite direction with his knights. Most cheered for a victory they thought they had won.
Dead bodies, in various stages of decomposition, peppered the ground. I leaned over and put my hands on my knees. A minute later, I threw up.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The woodland king, along with the remaining members of the air court council, stood speechless at my father's bedside. After a while, I walked out into the hallway. Leaning back against the wall, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“They are going to need some time to figure this out.” Rowan's voice was soft, comforting. He leaned against the wall next to me with his arms crossed.
“If this little voyage into crazy-town has taught me anything, it's that I can't count on the council.”
He turned, facing me. “Yeah, but Taron is back now. They will figure out their next move soon.”
I met his stare. “How?” My voice came out more panicked then I intended. “The water court has abandoned the council, and Liana is dead. Who knows how that will affect the air and woodland courts? Once Valac recovers from his injuries, I’m sure he will make the most of all this.”
“What about Selene? Did she survive?”
I thought back to the last time I saw her. “She did, but there’s something I think you should know.”
“What?”
“While you were passed out, Selene didn’t support Valac after he said he planned to kill you. It seemed like she was unaware of that part of his scheme.” I shrugged. “It isn’t much, but I thought you should know.”
His raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised. “Selene has always been the mediator between us, but I’ve never heard of her going against him. This could be a good thing.”
“It could mean nothing if Valac’s already in control of the fire court.”
“As long as I’m alive, he can’t make a claim to the throne.”
“Well, that's comforting.” I rolled my eyes.
Rowan ran his fingers across my cheekbone, then down my jaw line. “You don't have to worry about me. I can handle myself.”
I wanted to have faith in him, but his family had proven to be brutal. We still didn’t know how many fire elementals they had on their side. I put my hand over his, staring at him. “But, what do you plan to do?”
Rowan straightened his back. “I plan to do what I should've done from the beginning. I had to protect you, but I also needed to protect my court. None of this would have happened if I had stopped my mother years ago.”
In my heart, I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it. “What does that mean?”
“I'm going to return to my home and reclaim the throne.”
Marcus appeared out of nowhere, placing his hand on Rowan’s shoulder. “And I’m going with you.”
I leaned against the frame of my father's door for several minutes watching him sleep. Eventually, I crept inside and knelt at his bedside. The silver bowl still sat on the nightstand with bloodied water and cloths in
side. The dried blood and dirt on his face and neck were gone, but dark bruises remained. I intertwined my fingers with his, resting my head on top of our joint hands.
With my eyes closed, my mind raced. Knowing I had Dad back gave me some relief, but it wasn’t over. With Liana’s death, Rowan was the last member of the House of Djin—the only fire elemental with a true claim to the throne. Valac would not rest until he was dead.
Dad sighed and I jerked. With his free hand, he rubbed the side of my cheek. “Oh my sweet girl, this is far from the vision I had of our first meeting. I am so sorry you were faced with such danger.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Were you afraid I wouldn't come?”
He winced as he tried to lean onto his elbow. I helped him adjust into a sitting position. I perched on the corner of the bed. Once comfortable, he said, “I thought I was protecting you.” He hung his head. “Obviously, that was the wrong choice.”
After everything we’d be through, I couldn’t be angry with him. I thought about the nights when we walked together in my dreams. Back then, he made everything okay. I yearned for that security. He slipped his arm around me and I let my head sink into his chest. My eyes closed as he ran his fingers through my hair. Concentrating on the warmth of his hands, the rest of my worries melted away.
I sat up. “Dad, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
There was one thing that was gnawing in the back of my mind. With all the craziness, I really couldn’t consider it until now. “Dad, do you believe I’m the next akasha?”
He jolted as if I had shocked him. “I’m not sure I can answer your question. There are tests we can perform, but nothing is one hundred percent accurate—”
“Prisma tried to have me killed. Why would she have risked a war between our courts if she didn’t have some kind of proof?” There was an awkward silence for at least a minute. I squeezed his hand to get his attention. “Please Dad, tell me truth. Do you think I’m the next akasha?”
Mortal Enchantment Page 18
