“Should we catch up with them?” Neva asked.
“Nope. We’ll let them rush into what could be another battle first. If there are guards still waiting, I’ll hide you in a tree and join them,” I replied.
“I’m capable of helping, you know?”
I nodded. “But you’re still innocent, and if I can help it, your hands will never spill blood.”
She regarded me for a moment longer than I was comfortable with, so I stared blankly back at her, giving her no sign of emotion. We weren’t going to get deep in conversation when we had no idea what waited for us ahead.
The stench of burning flesh and unnatural materials became stronger with every step we took, but I still didn’t hear any shouts. We continued, picking up speed a little more with each step.
Once the farmhouse came into view, or what should have been it, my heart sank. All of the special items I’d collected while on Earth were gone. Burnt to a crisp.
Finn’s jaw was tense as he stared at the rubble, Maddox nowhere in sight.
“Where is Maddox?” I asked.
Finn glanced around. “Shit. He was just right next to me.”
I really didn’t want to use my magic to hunt him down in case that would alert the king in some way, but having Maddox causing mayhem around the island could be just as bad.
Neva nudged me before I could make a move. “There he is.”
The fae was coming out of the bunker, or at least the entrance. The shed that hid it before was also gone.
“Bunker is somewhat intact, but there’s no hiding in there any longer,” Maddox said, having no idea we were all thinking he’d left us.
“They burned the guards we’d killed. The bastards hadn’t even taken them home for a proper burial so their families could say goodbye,” Finn spat.
Neva stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry about your home.”
“It’s just stuff. We can replace most of it,” Finn replied, but I could hear the underlying hurt in his voice. I didn’t know how to comfort him as I took in the rubble that was once his home. Charred pieces of framing, metal pipes, the kitchen sink, and the stove were the only things recognizable.
As I moved around the area, searching for anything that could be salvaged, I caught sight of a paper pinned to the stove. Stepping carefully, I walked through what used to be the kitchen and snatched it.
The others waited for me, staying on the dirt as I walked back already reading the note.
Surrender yourself, Lucinda.
Every day you make me wait is another the girl is tortured.
You have the chance to end this.
Are you going to be a disappointment to everyone around you?
I didn’t need a signature on the note to know who had left it. Zephyr had chosen his words carefully. Direct and to the point, just the way I preferred things. Little did he know, his words couldn’t hurt me any longer. His manipulative ways didn’t hold the clout they once did.
Finn held out his hand, and I gave him the note, watching all their faces as they read the words. If they thought I should surrender myself, I’d walk away. Not to give up, but to do this on my own. This was the moment that would show me how important I really was to Finn.
Maddox took three steps back, unfurled his wings, and let loose a burst of sorrowful power that nearly knocked me over, but I wasn’t concerned with him. I didn’t remove my sights from Finn.
He finally glanced up at me. Determination like never before set in his tense face. “We’re going to kill him. I don’t care who does it, but the first chance one of us has, we take it.”
As much as I wanted to demand I be the one to take Zephyr’s life, I had to agree. I couldn’t let my desire for revenge get in the way of what needed to be done. Especially not when neither of them had asked me to turn myself in just so Ivy could be safe.
That meant more to me than even I had expected.
“I agree. It doesn’t matter who strikes, just make sure you do it with everything you have,” I said, watching Finn crumple the note and throw it in the rubble of his home. Though, I was already picturing myself taking possession of the sword again and slicing Zephyr’s head off in the next instance.
“What now?” Neva asked.
“We find the Renegades. Isn’t that what Mosi said? Aren’t we supposed to be trusting him?” Maddox snapped, his fury still rolling off him in waves that couldn’t be ignored.
Finn placed a hand on his shoulder. “Easy, brother. We had to know if there was anything left here. We will search for the remaining Renegades now and see what they know. Information from them could be invaluable to getting Ivy back.”
“Like you even care. You have her now,” Maddox sneered and shoved Finn away.
Finn moved swiftly, knocking Maddox to the ground with a push of his own. “I might have Lucinda, but Ivy is still my sister. I will fight for her until my last breath. You are practically my brother. I will fight for you as well, but don’t you ever doubt how much I love my family again. That’s a line I won’t let you cross, no matter how much you’re hurting.”
They glared at each other for several painfully long moments until finally Maddox gave the briefest of nods.
“Let’s go, then. No time to be wasting. The sun is finally coming up, and I’d like to stay within the trees as much as possible,” I said, taking no offense to Maddox’s little outburst.
“The last place I’d met Edgar at when he’d been trying to get me to join him was South Island. The guards didn’t use to patrol that area much since the lands are dying, but I’m not sure if that has changed in the last few days while they’ve hunted for us as well,” Finn said after he got up.
Maddox disappeared without warning, and Finn followed with me and Neva right behind, barely catching their trail. When we reappeared, Finn had his hands on Maddox’s shoulders as he bowed his head, chest heaving. Finn was doing his best, but I wasn’t sure if that would be enough to keep Maddox from screwing everything up for us.
Neva began to say something, but a flutter of green caught my attention from inside the dying forest. Leaves were sparse, and seeing through the trees was easier, but the flash of color was gone before I could fully focus.
“Did you hear me?” Neva asked, but I still ignored her.
“I’ll be back.”
I spread my wings and took off into the trees. I had to catch whoever that was. They’d seen us, so I needed to see them.
Chapter 12
My wings moved swiftly until I heard a deep roar coming from Finn. Shit. I’d done it again. I was pretty sure taking off like that wasn’t something I was supposed to do, but my instincts had kicked in. There was nothing I could have done to stop my actions.
As I considered slowing, I caught sight of the green again and couldn’t find the will to halt my movements. Even if I’d felt the tiniest bit of guilt as I flew further away. The others would catch up and it would be fine.
Whoever was out there was fast. They darted in and out of the trees, making it impossible for me to track them or even tell if they were man or woman. The only positive part was that they weren’t trying to escape, or at least it didn’t seem that way to me as we moved in a big circle.
We continued to play a game of cat and mouse, moving in and out of the dying foliage. Just when I thought I was getting close, the fae disappeared and I could hear Finn right behind me.
I finally slowed so he could catch up. Clearly, after five minutes of chase, I wasn’t going to get the bastard on my own.
Just as I turned around to face the direction Finn should have been coming from if I was sensing him correctly, a hard body slammed into mine and blasted me with power.
Son of a bitch. I hadn’t seen that coming.
Magic surged from my hands, and I shoved the fae off me before charging at him. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
Emerald gossamer wings flapped rapidly behind the newcomer as his eyes widened. Then, he held up his hands
and fell to his knees just as I was about to strike him again.
“I’m so sorry, Lucinda. I didn’t know it was you,” he said, eyes pleading with me.
“How do you know who I am?” I asked, still ready to strike except Finn beat me to it.
My mate stormed into the clearing and crashed into the young fae. He was barely full-grown, his power strong, but fresh as if he’d just turned ten and made his first transition.
Finn pinned him down, knees holding the fae’s arms and one hand pulsing magic at his throat. “Who are you?”
The fae was terrified, and something about that bothered me.
“Finn, stop,” I said, surprising not only him, but myself.
Finn didn’t budge. “Excuse me?”
“I know him.” That wasn’t a lie. I just didn’t recall how I did.
Finn slowly moved, not once taking his eyes off the fae as he joined my side. “Who is he?”
The boy saved me from continuing to try to figure it out myself. “I’m Ash.”
“Well, Ash. Why were you running from us?” Finn asked, a little calmer than moments before.
He pointed between the two of us. “You don’t have any magical presence. I didn’t know who you were, and neither did the trees.”
Holy shit. He was the boy I’d seen the last time I was here, but that had only been a couple weeks ago. He was just a small child then. “How are you so big? You were maybe seven the last time I saw you,” I said.
He nodded. “My power is different from yours. The trees needed me to be bigger, so that is what I became.”
Finn gaped and glanced at me. “You knew he existed and didn’t tell me?”
I shrugged. “To be honest, I kind of forgot about him. He was just a kid before.”
Finn sighed, taking a step forward. “Can you heal the trees now that you’ve entered your prime years? This forest has been dying for far too long.”
Ash’s blue eyes met mine, bright and full of hope. “I can protect them for now, but she is the only one who can save them.”
My eyes narrowed. “You said that before. What do you mean?”
Maddox and Neva joined us but stayed quiet while we waited for an answer. Ash seemed hesitant. I wasn’t sure if it was because there were four of us and one of him, or another reason entirely.
Ash ran a hand over his face and into his chestnut hair. “I’ve been raised by these trees, but even I do not understand their reasoning. All I know is I am to help Lucinda the best I can if she needs it, but I cannot leave this island, or they will die.”
“Well, unless the Renegades are here or you have information about what’s going on at the castle, then I doubt you can really help us,” I stated.
“The Renegades? Who are they? I’ve never heard of them,” Ash said.
“We need to keep moving. This child can’t help us,” Maddox stated.
He was probably right. Ash would be powerful one day, but the trees couldn’t teach him how to channel his magic. Whatever they’d been doing so far wasn’t anything we could use. Plus, I had no idea how I was supposed to save the trees. Possibly by killing Zephyr?
Whatever the reasons were, I couldn’t get anything accomplished by standing in a forest. “Well, Ash. Stay safe, and we’ll see you around.”
He reached out and stepped forward to grasp my arm. Ash’s eyes closed, and power pulsed from him. “What you seek isn’t here,” he said as I jerked away.
“Then, where is it?” I asked. Whatever was happening in our world was bringing out all the crazy in our kind, and I wasn’t going to dismiss the kid so easily.
Finn moved closer, and the young fae’s power continued to grow, but it didn’t feel threatening, so I stayed put and let him grab hold of me once more. He hummed and nodded several times before refocusing his eyes. “The people you need to find are on North Island.”
Damn, we were just there.
Finn tried to pull me closer, but Ash didn’t release my arm. “You must come back when you are free. This island will not survive without you.”
I yanked my arm from his grip once more. My eyes stared directly into his. We were about the same height, but his face still held a child-like innocence to it with the roundness of his cheeks and pouty lips. “I already told you I can’t heal the trees, kid.”
“Just please promise to come back,” he pleaded, reminding me of the fearful child he’d been the first time I met him.
“Fine, I’ll be back,” I said.
“Promise me,” Ash insisted.
It was as if he knew I couldn’t back out if I promised. Just because I didn’t consider myself good, didn’t mean I lacked standards.
“Fine, I promise I will be back when we’ve killed the king.” I couldn’t commit to anything else until our job was done.
“Thank you. Hurry to North Island. The trees said fae hide in the deep forest, beyond the farms, but furthest from the beaches. You will find them where you least expect.” Ash released me and fluttered his wings before disappearing, once again leaving me with a cryptic message.
“Well, that was informative,” I deadpanned.
“It actually was,” Finn said. “North Island is the biggest within our realm, so there are plenty of places for the Renegades to hide. The forest area is miles wide and deep, but there were clues in his statement. I have a few ideas.”
Finn turned to Maddox, and they began talking about landscapes and making plans for several locations to check before we took off. I glanced around, keeping my eyes out for any guards. I wasn’t as worried about seeing them here as I was when we had to go back to North Island, but still. We couldn’t be too careful, no matter where we were.
Neva stayed by my side, quiet and watching as well. She was taking her part in all this seriously and I wished I’d forced her outside of her comfort zone sooner.
After my third pass of searching through the trees, Finn and Maddox finally had their plan formulated.
“We are going to head into territory that isn’t usually monitored, but we don’t know how desperate Zephyr is. Everyone needs to be alert. Lucy, follow my trail and stay close. If you see something, don’t dart off, please.” Finn said the last part with exasperation, but I made no promises.
Instead, I unfurled my wings, shook my feathers out, and grabbed on to Neva. “Ready whenever you are.”
He sighed, nodding to Maddox who seemed better now that we had an idea of how to find the Renegades. Whatever Mosi had meant about us knowing what we needed to do after that better be something that smacked us in the face and not be something easily ignored.
Whatever it was, I was just hoping it brought us to the castle by nightfall.
Two frustrating hours later, we were no closer to finding the Renegades than we’d been before, and we were all at each other’s throats. Well, except for Neva. The poor elf was just trying to keep the peace.
“Screw this. Mosi is just some old dude with shiny wings. I’m not waiting anymore. Ivy needs us, in case you’ve forgotten,” Maddox spat at Finn.
Finn shoved him. “She’s my sister. Of course I haven’t forgotten.”
“Will you two idiots shut your damn mouths? We’re going to be spotted from a mile away with as loud as you’re being,” I grumbled.
Maddox glared at me, pointing. “You’re the reason we’re in this mess.”
Neva held her hands up. “You guys, this isn’t—”
I laughed, cutting her off. “Right, because Ivy was doing just fine on her own before I got here. She was living her best life and still wanted to get married. Oh, wait. No, she didn’t. She’d broken up with you.”
Maddox snarled and lunged for me, but Finn grabbed him. “Don’t you dare touch her.”
“Or what?” Maddox snapped, breaking free from Finn’s hold.
Neva stepped between us again. “You guys need to—”
“I can handle my own fights, Finnigan. Why don’t you worry about yourself?” I said, moving around her to get closer to Maddox. He n
eeded to pay for his little attitude.
Neva stomped her foot, the sound much louder than it should have been, and power I’d never sensed from her before knocked all three of us on our asses.
“I said stop,” she snarled.
Each of us glanced at the others before giving the elf our full attention.
“That’s better. Now, listen to what I’ve been trying to tell you. You three are being tricked. There is a powerful fae hiding in these woods.”
Fury rose within me as her words fully registered. I didn’t like being manipulated.
“Where?” I seethed.
“I don’t know, but I sense the power. It doesn’t seem to be working on me because I’m not fae. At least, that’s what I think.”
“And when were you going to tell us you were packing all that power?” Finn asked while I glanced around and got up.
“Nobody ever asked, and I don’t like to use it, but the three of you were acting like children and left me no choice. Now, before you become bickering idiots again, follow me.” Neva waltzed past us and further into the trees. She was vibrating with power, and I was intrigued.
I knew there was a reason I’d saved her. She was a closet badass.
Maddox and Finn followed at my flanks. I could sense my frustrations beginning to rise again, but I did my best to focus on Neva. Whatever trap the fae had planted in these trees was strong, and I was impressed, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep us from finding them.
“There.” Neva pointed to a burgundy house with cream-colored shuttered windows and a green wraparound porch.
“There what?” I asked.
“That’s where the magic is coming from, and I would bet that is where the remaining Renegades are,” she replied, her power lessening by the second.
This was certainly where I’d least expect them to be hiding out.
Before we could move in, the door opened, and a lady walked out with silver hair and dressed in navy just like the king’s guards.
Well, that wasn’t good.
Chapter 13
Dark Fae Freed (Broken Court Book 2) Page 9
