“The only way for a hunter to kill another hunter is to behead him. I do not care to behead you, Pete, but I also do not care to let you keep your life after all you have done. So I will show you mercy by asking Ace Wood to drive his sword of gassen through your black heart.” Kajika stroked the man’s scar. “Even though you deserve far worse than a quick and painless death.”
My brother squared his shoulders. Had he expected not to be involved in the outcome?
“You might want to get out of the way, then. Wouldn’t want to nick you with my sword.” He glanced over his shoulder at me, then focused back on the hunter. “Lily would never forgive me.”
Kajika smirked, and then he released Pete and shoved him toward my brother, whose sword was already brandished. Ace extended his arm, and the blade slid right through Pete’s chest.
When blood gushed, I spun my face away, stomach lurching just from the slick sound. When the smell reached me, I dropped back into the Valley, landing in a crouch beside Cat.
“They killed him?” she asked.
I gritted my teeth to hold back the vomit burning my throat.
Cat stroked my hunched spine. “Who killed Pete, Lily?”
Who’d killed him?
I did, I signed.
“What are you talking about? I was watching you… You didn’t take out your dust.”
I’d brought this upon Pete, the same way I’d brought this upon my brother and Kajika. Had I never gone looking for Daneelies, blood wouldn’t have been spilled.
Cat knelt beside me. “What happened up there?”
Hands scooped me off the ground, then nestled me against a warm, wildly beating chest. “I told you to stay by Gwenelda’s side, ma mika. I knew this would not end well.”
I swallowed back my bile. This is all my fault, I whispered into his mind.
“Lily—” he murmured.
I should never have gone looking for people who didn’t want to be found.
His eyes reflected the stacks of stone ledges tufted with long grass. “Men like Pete…they do not turn evil overnight. There was evil lurking within him. Trust me, I experienced it firsthand. He took immense pleasure in butchering my body.”
I scrunched up my nose, still not feeling very blameless even though his words did ease some of my guilt.
“And, Lily, if people do not want to be found, they hide better. Perhaps we caught them unawares, but they could have left Lake Superior. They could have left the country, settled somewhere far. They did not.”
I bit my lip. He ran his thumb over my mouth to dislodge my teeth. “Do not blame yourself.”
“So, how do you like my kingdom, ventor?” My brother had landed beside us.
Cat rushed over to him, a black blur of hair and swimsuit. When she arrived, she looked at Ace and touched his face as though to make sure he was whole. He kissed her forehead, then draped an arm around her shoulders.
“It is not without pleasant surprises, pahan.”
My brother’s lips kicked up into a grin. “Wouldn’t want it to get to boring around here, or you’ll leave, and my little sister will hold me accountable.”
Color must’ve returned to my cheeks, because Kajika deemed me strong enough to be set down.
He laced his hand through mine. “Except I would leave with her.”
“In order to leave, you’d need a portal stamp. And I know just the man who can make that happen. Shall I go introduce you to him? I think you two will hit it right off.”
Cat turned on him. “He saved your life today, Ace. Be nice.”
“I am being nice. I’m offering him a way to come and go as he pleases.”
Kajika studied my brother’s expression. “This is not a trick, pahan?”
Ace’s smile fell, and he grew so serious that I suddenly saw my father in him. “Kajika, you did save my life back there. And you’ve saved Catori’s a few times also. I may not seem grateful, but I’ve been keeping track. Not many people on Neverra or on Earth can claim their king owes them something, but you can. I do owe you tremendously. But that debt vanishes if you break my sister’s heart, got it?”
Slowly, the hunter’s lips bent into smile. “Got it, masseen.”
“It’s massin, not masseen. Just stick to Ace? At least you don’t butcher that word.”
I looked at Cat, and she at me, both of us confused by this peculiar exchange.
“Cat, why don’t you give Lily a tour of our water villa and organize some lunch for the four of us?” Ace cocked his head toward the wariff, who was debriefing the lucionaga. “I’ll go introduce Kajika to Gregor.”
I gaped at my brother. We were going to have lunch, all four together? When I’d gone through the portal, I’d assumed we would claw at each other’s throats, and it would end in tears…not in a home-cooked meal.
“Gregor and I are already old friends,” Kajika quipped.
“I forget you are even older than I am.”
“I thought you forgot nothing.”
Ace chuckled as both men began to stroll through the Valley toward the wariff.
We listened to them banter—yes, however unbelievable, they bantered. The layer of frost that had wedged itself between them the minute they’d met had finally thawed. It was as though Pete’s death had brought them together in some strange, perverted way.
And perhaps it had.
Or perhaps it was my guilt attempting to turn something horrible into something good.
Cat clasped my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed it right back.
Epilogue
Family isn’t always fashioned from rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes it’s forged from spilled blood and peculiar alliances.
This was how my family came to be.
We were a curious mix of people. The only thing we had in common, besides all of us being faeries, was that we would lay down our lives for each other, like Kajika had done for Ace that day and like my brother would do for him someday in the future.
Because our futures stayed intertwined.
I’d always longed for a happily-ever-after, because I was told that’s what happened at the end of faerie tales. Not even in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that my happily-ever-after would rise from a rowan wood casket one dark, wintry night.
Afterword
One last book is planned for this series: Reckless Cruel Heirs, available summer 2019.
If you don’t want to miss it, make sure to sign up for my LOST CLAN Newsletter here.
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Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments are the most extraordinary thing to write for they signify two great accomplishments in an author’s life. The first is: I wrote an entire book (it still seems unreal to me each time I put that final period on a manuscript, and Raging Rival Hearts is my ninth book! Will this feeling ever cease, I wonder?). The second is: I have many people to, as this part is called, acknowledge.
First and foremost, thank you to you, my readers, for your devotion, support, and enthusiasm. Cat, Ace, Lily, Kajika, and I are extremely grateful and lucky to have you.
The others to whom I am forever thankful are my brilliant editor, Jessica Nelson, my awesome proofreader, Josiah Davis, my incredible cover designer, Andreea Vraciu, my squadron of kick-ass beta readers, my author friends whose advice is always invaluable, and my family, who allow me to hide out in my writing cave (even on weekends).
Even though the story has come to a close, I have one last book in store for this series: Reckless Cruel Heirs. It will feature a certain little baby from this book (fully-grown by the time you’ll meet him) and another faerie baby (can you guess whose?). I cannot wait to write it!
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date on all the happenings.
SIGN UP HERE (http://oliviawildenstein.com)
Also by Olivia Wildenstein
YA URBAN FANTASY
The Lost Clan series
ROSE PETAL GRAVES
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ROWAN WOOD LEGENDS
RISING SILVER MIST
RAGING RIVAL HEARTS
RECKLESS CRUEL HEIRS (coming 2019)
A Pack of Blood and Lies series
A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES (Spring 2019)
A PACK OF VOWS AND TEARS (Summer 2019)
A PACK OF LOVE AND HATE (Summer 2019)
YA MYSTERY
Masterful series
THE MASTERKEY
THE MASTERPIECERS
THE MASTERMINDS
THE MASTERPLAN (coming 2020)
YA STANDALONES
GHOSTBOY, CHAMELEON & THE DUKE OF GRAFFITI
HARSHVILLE (Spring 2020, Macmillan)
About the Author
USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City, the daughter of a French father with a great sense of humor, and a Swedish mother whom she speaks to at least three times a day. She chose Brown University to complete her undergraduate studies and earned a bachelor’s in comparative literature. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for a laptop computer and a very comfortable chair. This line of work made more sense, considering her college degree.
When she’s not writing, she’s psychoanalyzing everyone she meets (Yes. Everyone), eavesdropping on conversations to gather material for her next book, baking up a storm (that she actually eats), going to the gym (because she eats), and attempting not to be late at her children’s school (like she is 4 out of 5 mornings, on good weeks).
oliviawildenstein.com
[email protected]
Raging Rival Hearts Page 28
