Horizon

by Christie Rich

  Several minutes passed without even a hint of a response. At this point my feet were killing me. Stupid boots. I wished I was back in Ignis so I could snag a pair of the self-adjusting things I’d worn before. Even though the heels had been high on nearly every one of the shoes they’d put me in, they were balanced as if I’d been wearing sneakers.

  I found a fallen log and slumped onto it. Using all my strength, I chucked the boots into the trees. What had I been thinking? Even if I could find him, there was no way Luke would help me now.

  “Throwing things at me isn’t exactly the best way to get me to answer you.”

  I whirled around. “Luke!” He dangled a black boot in front of him. I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around him faster than my brain could catch up to what I was doing. He didn’t return my hug. Instead, he grabbed my forearms and extricated himself from my embrace.

  “Sorry,” I said, embarrassment creeping up my neck. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  He gave me a wan smile. “Unless you’ve come here to proclaim your undying devotion to me, I really don’t want to hear what you have to say.”

  I gave him a regretful frown. “I think I get it now. Why you feel so desperate. It’s Valen, right? He’s kept you down for all these years?”

  He clenched his teeth then gave a short nod. “The only time I have a chance in the tournament is when he is not bound. With the way he siphons Elemental energy, that isn’t very often. I heard rumors of his latest detachment, but I could hardly believe it.”

  “Oh believe it,” I said, taking a step closer to him. Somehow this knowledge made all the difference for me. I understood desperation now that I was immersed in it.

  I gulped then continued, “I need your help.” When he laughed, I tried to not be offended. “I’m sorry. I really am. I can’t help who I fell in love with, but I don’t think that really matters all that much to you anyway.”

  Shaking his head, he crossed his strong arms over his chest. “You have no idea what you’re asking me.”

  He was wrong about that. I got it, but what did he have to lose? “Treason, right? Aren’t they already after you for that? What if I could help you? What if I could make things right in your realm? What if I could find a new home for your city?”

  Cerulean blue eyes snapped to mine. “Why would you? You have no reason to care about us.”

  His words pierced my heart. My voice came out soft. “As long as my heart still beats, I will always care about you. I don’t like what you did to me, or how you went about things, but I understand a little bit better now.”

  He frowned at me. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”

  “You don’t,” I said. “How do I know you won’t try to bond with me again?”

  He scratched his scruff. “Point made. What do you want from me?”

  “Do you know how I can leave the realms?”

  He huffed. “Still shooting for impossible things I see. Even if I could get you to the borderlands before anyone caught on you were missing, it wouldn’t do us any good. They are an extension of the realms. They will not let you out.”

  I grunted. “But I thought there was some kind of secret passage into the human realm.”

  He glanced at me sidelong, pushing his hair behind his right ear. “Running won’t help you, you know.”

  I should have known talking to him would be pointless. “I have to try. I have to do everything I can to save my family. I don’t know why, but I feel this urgency inside me that attacks me whenever I try to sleep or have a moment to think. I need to do something about this.” He was evading. I gritted my teeth then asked. “Are there other ways out of the realms or not?”

  “There are two,” he said, matter-of-factly.

  Fantastic. A sigh escaped me. “Where are they?”

  He gave me a wan frown. “Don’t get too excited yet. One lies in Uldran. The other is in Altasia.”

  Made sense, but I didn’t want to go to either place even if I could get there.

  “It is no use,” Ainessa said behind me. “They have her bound to Lombarda now.”

  Ice snaked up my spine. I whirled around. There she stood, my arch nemesis, merely three feet away from me. I called my power forward, lighting my body and the forest floor.

  “Impressive,” she said. “Do you do birthday parties?”

  I cocked my head at her. “Funny, aren’t you?”

  She gave a slight shrug. “I’d like to think so.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  She rolled her eyes and tossed her long blond hair over a shoulder. “My brother would have you believe I am the devil in a red dress.” She laughed, swishing her skirts around her ankles. “He may not approve of my methods, but he and I are after the same thing.”

  I smirked at her. “Yeah, I kind of got that you wanted my power.”

  “I don’t care about your power, Rayla. I care about my people. Your power was a way for me to help them.”

  Her declaration was what she should have said the first time I met her, yet I could not believe her sudden devotion. “You use people. In fact, I’m quite sure you don’t know how to feel.”

  She took a stance close to Luke, or tried to. He snapped his head toward her and she stopped abruptly. “You’re partially right,” she admitted, giving him a once over that should have melted his shoes. “I have closed off my emotions. I don’t want to feel anymore, not when all that’s left for me is pain.”

  I gave her a hard stare, not letting any part of me get comfortable. “Trying to buddy up to me again won’t work.”

  She smiled. I still couldn’t quite grasp how beautiful she was. It was like my mind couldn’t process her perfection. “I had hoped to be friends with you. When I offered to bond with you, I wanted so much to change things. I see now that was a fool’s errand.”

  “What do you really want?” I asked, looking first at Ainessa and then to Luke. I didn’t care which of them answered. They were both mysteries to me.

  “Valen has ruled our courts for a very long time,” said Luke. “We both feel he needs to be replaced.”

  Couldn’t agree more. “By whom?”

  Ainessa gave me a saccharine grin. “You…and whoever you ultimately bond with.”

  My mouth gaped. “I’m already bound to your brother. You should be happy about that, for your people.”

  She shook her head. “Ammon is in no condition to lead. His heart still belongs to that twit that started this whole mess.”

  Faine. One woman I still didn’t understand. “So who do you want me to bond with?”

  She sliced her arm sideways. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about all of them, and I don’t trust one of them to be able to withstand the power.”

  Her answer seemed a bit too convenient for my liking. She might as well have said as she tapped her chin and batted her eyelashes at me, Oh, I don’t know who you should bond with…um maybe me? Right.

  “What do you mean,” I asked, just to see if I had come close to the mark. No amount of sticky sweetness was going to get me to trust her, or Luke, for that matter.

  She held out her hand and her ring flared to life. I stared, mesmerized, all thought of anything else fleeing my mind. “Do you feel it?” she asked. “The call?”

  “It’s impossible not to feel,” I said, working to make myself breathe.

  She laughed. “To a small degree, you are like this germ. You have the potential for unlimited power, and under the right control, you could do magnificent things. But like this germ, if left to the wrong person, you could implode and take the entire solar system with you.”

  My eyes snapped to hers. “What?” I’d joked about doing just that, but was she really telling the truth?

  “I’m sure you’ve seen some of Tabitha’s doomsday visions.” Her green eyes glowed with intensity. “She showed you what she thought would motivate you. Your weakness and your greatest strength will always be your caring for humans and your family. For me it i
s the loss of what I have worked so hard to provide to my people.”

  “People aren’t important to you,” I scoffed.

  “Think what you will, but I ask you. Is your society any different than mine? Women are treated like chattel even now in many areas of the planet. They are forced to hide their face. They are kept ignorant of the workings of men. Many are still sold as sex slaves and used until they are no longer desirable. Humans turn their faces away from what is uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean the problems are not there.”

  My eyes widened at her subtle revelation. “You told me women are the true rulers of Faeresia. Were you lying to me?”

  She smiled then shook her head. “Haven’t you learned? Fae cannot lie. I may have embellished our situation, but we have gained some ground. Valen threatens to destroy all we have achieved. He loathes having to answer to a woman. You saw how he treated Tabitha, and she is our mage. Think of how he would treat you as bondmate.”

  “He won’t have me,” I hissed.

  She drew closer, her voice luring me like the pied piper. “I admire your conviction,” she said. “But sometimes conviction cannot overcome compulsion.” Her tone grew softer with each step. The sound barely resonated above the wind. “He is a master, even better than I.”

  I shut my eyes tight, focusing to keep her out of my mind. “He’s tried—”

  “You see what he wants you to see,” she said, still whispering commands to me. “As I have done with Ammon, so has he done with you. He’s planted your mind with catalysts, each connected to the other. All he has to do is wait for the right moment. Once one goes off, a chain reaction will start. There is no stopping such an assault.”

  “You’re lying,” I said, backing away. The last thing I would let her do was touch me.

  She shook her head. “You do not listen. Fae are not allowed to lie.”

  I huffed. “You can manipulate the truth to cover a lie.”

  Luke stepped closer. “Listen to what she has to say, Rayla. Her plan could save both our worlds from destruction.”

  I took another step back. “I won’t let you erase the population.”

  She frowned. “Lambert displeases me. I no longer wish to work with him or any of his counterparts. Once we have your brother, we will have all the pieces we need to start over. You can wipe the Order from the planet with a single command. All other humans will not be harmed.”

  Even though it was a total lie, her words hit me like a hammer in the chest. I’d always wanted a sibling and she was using that desire against me. Anger coursed through me until I thought I might combust from it. How dare she say such things. I leveled my gaze with hers and said, “I’m an only child.”

  She laughed. “You know nothing of your beginnings. You haven’t even begun to understand who you are and what you are capable of. In fact, I doubt even Valen knows the extent of your power.”

  I shook my head, glancing behind me. I wanted to bolt so badly, my legs ached. “You’re wrong. I don’t have a brother.”

  Her eyes glistened with her smile. “Think about it. You know who he is. You’ve felt the connection your entire life. I’ve seen your memories, quite touching at times.”

  “No,” I breathed. “I would have known.”

  She smiled at me again, sweet and innocent, all but her eyes. Those beautiful, terrible, green eyes pierced into my soul. “But you did know. Words can never deny what the heart confirms.”

  Travis. She was saying that Travis was my brother. The thought crashed over my mind again and again. My brother. I have a brother.

  Elation and fear hit me at the same time. No wonder I had been so agitated to get to him. No wonder Aunt Grace and Uncle John had freaked out about his disappearance.

  Not once had an Elemental born a male child, in all of history. It was an impossibility. “How?” I breathed.

  Ainessa looked me up and down. A small smirk twisted her lips. “The answer, my girl, lies with your sire.”

  I threw my hand over my mouth as an image suddenly solidified in my mind. Travis had my mother’s blond hair, but his dark eyes could only belong to one man. I couldn’t believe it, but it totally made sense to me now.

  She stepped nearer. “Do you know who he is?” Her hands clamped around my arms. “Tell me!” When I didn’t speak up she tore through my mind, pushing at my barriers.

  Just before my walls collapsed, I zapped her with as much juice as I had. She flew backward and smacked into a pine tree. In a tangle of limbs and satin, her body thudded to the ground. When the dust settled she lay there limp and lifeless, just like Zach had.

  Her ring flared to life again, calling me, beckoning me to take it from her. My feet moved forward instinctively until I hovered over her seemingly unconscious body.

  Luke approached me, his hand outstretched. “Fight it, Rayla. You cannot give into the desire.”

  His voice cut the tether her ring had to my mind, and I snapped my hand back before I touched the glowing orb. I stood up then retreated several feet. “What is that thing?”

  “Creation,” he said. He tilted his head. “Or destruction. It depends on the person wielding the power.”

  “Power?” I hissed. “More power? What is it with you people and freaking power?”

  He laughed. “Power runs your universe. It even runs your car. Just because humans have not figured out how to harness Earth’s share of universal power doesn’t mean they don’t live by power too. Think about it. You will see I am right.”

  I took another step back. “Maybe some people, but not me.”

  His mouth twisted into a mocking smile then he pointed at the lump of a woman at our feet. “Tell that to her.”

  She groaned and grimaced. After a few moments, she stood. “The effects are much worse when I am in my own body.”

  What was I doing here with these people? Neither one was trustworthy. If Luke was right and the only way out of Faeresia was through Uldran or Altasia, my plan wouldn’t work. I wanted to slip away unnoticed while the lords fought for me.

  The idea still boiled my blood. How dare they treat me like a thing to control, a thing to own.

  Ainessa laughed. “You become more like me every day. I give you a few hundred years before you will understand.”

  “I will never understand you.”

  Her expression morphed into what looked like genuine concern. “That which you do not understand is always placed in your path of experience. If I were you, I’d try harder.”

  A sickening grimace took hold of my face. “I don’t want to understand you. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

  Her eyes darted toward Luke. It was a subtle movement I might have missed if I had not been staring at her. “That is not true.”

  What was that I saw in her gaze? If I wasn’t mistaken it was longing. Did Ainessa have secret feelings for Luke? My mind sped up, piecing things together like a tattered puzzle.

  Were her motives less complicated than I had imagined? Was she fighting for the rights of fae women because she couldn’t have the man she wanted? She’d told me I could have any man if I joined her, but was that just wishful thinking on her part? Did she think I’d share him with her?

  I nearly blurted it out but pulled back at the last second. Instead I said, “Maybe I have misjudged you in some ways, but you will not convince me that your way is the best course. Humans haven’t done anything to you, yet you want to take their bodies to house your followers.

  She shook her head. “What am I to do? I’ve made alliances based on what I thought was best. If a human dies, they simply move forward. If one of us loses our body, we are stuck in a plane we cannot escape. We are doomed to forever be spirit.” She shivered. “I do not expect you to understand, but mortals take physical form for granted. You hate them. You abuse them. You envy those with perceived perfection. You have no idea what a gift your body is.”

  I cocked my head at her. “Well, unlike you, we weren’t all blessed with perfection.”


  “Ha,” she laughed and turned to Luke. “Ask him which of us he would prefer.”

  Oh, heck no. I wasn’t touching that with a million foot pole.

  Luke narrowed his eyes at Ainessa and she flinched. “You know why I must pursue Elementals.”

  She nodded but looked away. I wondered how many other fae women wanted a man they couldn’t have. A horrible thought hit me. Could they even have real relationships?

  When I stepped closer to Ainessa, she eyed me warily. “So you did lie when you told me fae women are the true rulers of your nations.”

  “We run our government, but there are some things we cannot seem to change no matter how hard we fight.”

  Luke grabbed her shoulders, bringing his face within inches of hers. “This is folly. You have more choice than ever before.”

  She slapped his hands away, and for a moment I thought she’d go for his face next. She glared at him. “I do not have the choice I desire.”

  Wow, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My breath caught in my throat as I waited for his answer.

  “We had an agreement,” he said. “I cannot allow myself to think of you that way ever again. An occasional tryst when I am not bound is all I can offer you.”

  She closed her eyes and a hard mask fell over her expression. When she opened them, the emotionless woman I had learned to fear stared back at me. “Pray you will never be called upon to understand me, girl.” Then she whirled away from us and glided down the path, red skirts swishing behind her.

  “Go after her,” I hissed at Luke.

  His eyes crinkled with sadness. “I cannot.”

  I pushed his shoulder. “Are you stupid? She needs you to comfort her.” I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “She loves you!”

  He stepped away when I went to shove him again. “I must protect her, Rayla. What she desires is not possible.”

  My jaw hardened. “Bull crap.”

  He gave me a stony stare. “You know nothing about the fear we live with every day. She seeks to change something that is immovable.”

  “Do any of you people get married or at least have long term relationships?” I asked, suddenly curious.