A Heart of Midnight (Dark Fae Academy Book 2)

by Jenna Wolfhart

  Something sharp sliced through her skin, sending new shockwaves of pain through her back. The sharp, tangy scent of blood filled the air. Her blood. It was spilling onto the ground all around her as the beast sunk its claws into her flesh.

  The world began to grow distant and tears leaked down her face as she thought of everyone she had failed. Everyone’s fate had been in her hands. Taveon’s, Rafe’s, Dagen’s. Only she and Eurig could have stopped the curse from taking its hold on the Dark Fae forever. But they had failed. They had both fallen prey to this beast. And, after tonight, there would be nothing left of them but their blood on the creature’s feathers.

  Just as the world dimmed into nothing more than a dark tunnel, Bree heard a different kind of roar. This one was deeper, darker, and much more powerful. And she had heard it before. It was the last thought she had before everything winked away into darkness.

  When Bree awoke, the scent of cooked meat filled her nostrils. Sharp pain lanced through her entire body, and her head rang from the sounds of her own distant screams. She groaned and tried to push up onto her elbows, wincing as the world tilted sideways.

  He was beside her in an instant. Eurig. The male fae outposter who she could have sworn at one point couldn’t care less whether she lived or died. “Whoa, there. You took quite a beating. You need to rest. And give your body time to heal.”

  “What happened?” Bree tried to think back to those last moments, to that distant memory where she’d heard Eurig’s unmistakable roar cut through the bloodied night. He had attacked the beast, but she could have sworn the beast had taken him down first. If the blood hadn’t been his…

  “While I was hunting, I found some travelers. Or, at least the remains of them.” Eurig’s face clouded over, his eyes growing distant as he stared at the fire. “And then I heard your scream. I got to you as quickly as I could. The Hawkborn is a vicious kind of creature, but he is no match for my lion.”

  “And he wouldn’t have been a match for my beast either,” Bree mumbled as a new wave of pain lanced through her. “But I couldn’t shift, and I have no idea why. These past few weeks, I’ve gained so much control over my shift. It just left me tonight.”

  “The creature has the ability to control magic. He prevented you from shifting. Hell, he could have forced me to shift back into my fae form, too, if I had not caught him by surprise.”

  Bree cut her eyes his way, and her cheeks warmed. “Thank you. For coming to my rescue.”

  Eurig stiffened, clenching his jaw as he kept his gaze focused on the fire. “I did not rescue you. You would have survived, even without me. With Taveon’s powers running through your veins, it could not truly harm you, at least not permanently.”

  Bree stiffened, her heartbeat flickering wildly. How did Eurig know that? Even at this distance, she and Taveon were still bonded together. The beast’s attack would not have killed her, though it had felt like it the time. Eurig shouldn’t have known that though. There were only a few people in the realm that knew about Taveon’s immortality, and as far as she knew, Eurig was not one of them.

  She was tense as she glanced his way, but she tried to hide the intensity of her wariness. “What do you mean?”

  He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “Now is not the time to play coy. As I said before, Taveon and I are old friends. There are things about him that I know, things that no one else knows, except maybe you. And Rafe, of course.”

  Bree would not speak the words aloud, just in case he was referencing something completely different than what she thought. “Okay, so maybe you’re right. The bond we share gives me strength. The kind of strength that protects me. That said, the beast might have had trouble killing me, but it sure as hell hurt me far more than I’ve ever hurt before. And I don’t know about you, but I prefer not being an intense agony.”

  “I have seen Taveon in intense agony before,” Eurig said quietly with a nod. “So, I understand. And I would save you again and again, even knowing that you would not die.”

  Bree shifted toward Eurig so that she could gaze into his face, even if he still refused to meet her eyes. “One day, I hope you’ll tell me what links you so strongly to Taveon. I know you say it is not your story to tell, but it sounds as though it is your story, too.”

  Eurig’s jaw clenched tight, rippling the muscles in his face and neck. “I am surprised that you have any interest in hearing it.”

  “Of course I’m interested. Whatever happened in the past has obviously made you into the fae you are today.”

  “Last time I checked, you were not particularly fond of the fae I am today.”

  “Stop being so bristly. You just came to my rescue. Don’t think I don’t understand that you put your life on the line just so that I would not have to suffer. Maybe I wasn’t that fond of you when we first met, but people can change their minds.” Bree reached out, slowly, as if she were about to touch a snake. The very tip of her finger grazed his arm. Eurig stiffened, and finally he shifted to face her.

  “You would have done the same.” His golden eyes glittered as he stared at her, and Bree’s breath caught in her throat. He was impossibly gorgeous. She couldn’t help but see it now. It was as though her eyes had seen one thing all along, but her mind had seen another. And now they were finally linked, coming together to reveal the full truth of him. And the truth was…he was one of the most breathtaking creatures she’d ever seen, his dark hair, those bright glowing eyes, and those muscles that could rival the largest tank.

  “I might have done the same. Or I might have run screaming in the other direction, which...was exactly what I did when he came charging after me.” Bree tried on a smile, doing her best to see the humor in the situation. Because if she couldn’t laugh at herself, who could she laugh at? She might be brave at times, but she wasn’t perfect. And seeing that terrifying bird lion had made every last shred of courage disintegrate into nothing more than ash.

  To her relief, Eurig cracked a smile. It made his entire face light up, a fact that was highlighted by the fire that had begun to burn bright before them. She tried her best not to stare at him, though that was next to impossible. Now that she had opened her eyes to the full sight of him, it was like her mind could not shut it out. She stared at the slick skin of his neck and how his body curved perfectly over his muscles. Swallowing hard, she glanced away.

  “Well, after such an eventful day, it is probably time for us to get some sleep,” Eurig said, breaking the silence between them. But Bree did not want to sleep. She’d only just woken up after passing out from the attack. She knew that she needed to continue resting, as pain still lanced through her back. But she yearned for companionship. She and Eurig had only just begun to break through the barrier they’d both erected between them. Bree had a strange feeling that if she let herself drift off to sleep, everything would go back to how they’d been before the attack.

  And that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

  Chapter 16

  Eurig

  Eurig could tell that Bree was fighting off sleep, but it didn’t take long for her body to give into the need for rest. The poor girl had been through a lot, and it had been a hard road so far. When they had first set out on the mission together, he’d felt more than a little annoyed by her lack of experience and knowledge when it came to Underworld. But that wasn’t her fault. He could see now that she had thrown herself into learning everything she could about this realm. A place that was not even her home.

  With a deep breath, he stood and strode over to her side, gazing down at her peaceful expression. His heart lurched in his chest, and he had to grit his teeth against the growing affection he felt toward this female.

  She was off-limits to him, as much as he hated to admit it. Bree belonged to Taveon, and he was fairly certain she also belonged to Rafe. She had no room in her heart for an outposter, let alone one like him who had been banished from his own home.

  But that didn’t stop him from noting her beauty and her stren
gth and her ferocity, a combination that could make the strongest male quake in his boots.

  He leaned down and brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. She was everything he’d ever thought he wanted, but she would never be his. If only he could have been the first to meet her. Perhaps everything would have turned out far differently than it had.

  Chapter 17

  Bree

  The next morning, Bree was awoken by the sound of horses. They were neighing and stomping their hooves on the ground. Bree jerked awake fast, jumping to her feet within seconds. She whirled towards the animals, who were yanking at the ropes that had kept them safely inside the clearing at the edge of the forest.

  Bree turned to Eurig, confusion and panic rippling through her. What the hell was going on? What had spooked to the horses? Eurig was staring at them with a frown, his hands hanging limply by his sides.

  “What’s gotten into them?” Bree asked. There was no one else around. There was nothing she could see that should have caused this kind of reaction in them.

  “They started acting like this when the moon began to rise.” Eurig’s voice was edged in worry. I have done a sweep of the perimeter, checking to ensure that there is nothing lurking nearby that would cause the horses to be so afraid.”

  Bree raised an eyebrow. “There was nothing?”

  Eurig gave a quick shake of his head. “Nothing at all. No beasts, no fae, nothing. I worry that they will bolt as soon as we untie them.”

  Bree frowned and glanced toward the forest. Eurig was right. The horses were so spooked that there was no way they could get them to ride on, not like this. And then a strange realization dawned in her head. She glanced at the forest, at the moonrise, and then at the horses.

  “They know that we intend to ride into the forest this morning,” Bree whispered. “And they are afraid. Not that I can blame them.”

  “But how could they know?” Eurig asked, his eyes slightly widening.

  “They just know. They can see the moonrise, and they understood that we camped out here last night. The horses in the fay realm are smarter than many would believe. I saw it with my own eyes, back in Otherworld. My friend, Nora, was able to communicate with them. They understood her, and she understood them. They knew far more about how the world worked than I ever would have imagined.”

  Eurig let out a heavy sigh. “If that’s the case, then we truly cannot continue forward. Not on horseback anyway.”

  “Then, I guess that means we have to walk.” Bree knew how it sounded even before she spoke the words aloud. Crazy, especially considering the beasts that haunted this forest. But Bree had started this mission, and she was determined to finish it. She had to find answers, and the only way to do that was to keep moving forward.

  Eurig didn’t respond, but he didn’t argue either. Instead, they gathered up their supplies in silence, taking what they needed from the bags slung across the horses. Strangely, it was if the animals understood their change of plans, as they ceased their neighing and their stomping and fell still and silent while Eurig and Bree collected everything they could carry themselves. When they were ready to leave, Bree untied the horses and took a step back just as they stormed away from the perimeter of the forest. She could not blame them really. Bree might have Taveon’s power of immortality, but the horses didn’t, and she did not want a single creature to perish needlessly.

  “This is going to be one hell of a walk,” Eurig said as they finally stepped foot into the thick forest that held so much darkness and fear. “The village is probably two more days on foot from here. We could have reached it within hours on horseback but now we will have to camp at least one more time in the middle of this web.”

  “Luckily, you have me,” Bree quirked with bright grin that didn’t match the turning in her stomach. “When beasts attack, I can use my powers of screaming and running away to fight them.”

  Bree meant it as a joke, but Eurig didn’t seem to find it funny. He pressed his lips together, the pink skin turning white with the pressure. “You are only invincible because of the bond you share with Taveon. We do not know how far that bond stretches. Don’t get too cocky. We don’t want to find out the hard way that your connection to him only works when you’re in close proximity.”

  “So,” Bree said with a wince, desperate to change the subject. “We didn’t have a chance to talk about those travelers you found. How did they look when you came across them? Were they…aware, awake?”

  “You mean to ask if they’d been affected by the curse.” Eurig shot a sideways glance her way, hoisting the heavy bag higher onto his shoulder. “I had wondered the same thing when I came upon them. It could be the answer we need, without going further into the forest. Unfortunately, their bodies were too mutilated by the beast for me to tell whether they’d been alive and awake when he’d come upon them.”

  “Damn.” As horrible as the incident had been, it could have given Bree and Eurig some insight into how far the curse had permeated throughout these lands. She should have known when he’d said nothing about it, when he’d insisted they keep moving forward with their plan to trek through the forest that held so many dangerous creatures, creatures that Bree did not know how to fight.

  “That said, they were not merely helpless travelers. They all had swords and bows and arrows. As far as I could tell, not a single arrow had been fired. It did not look as though they had tried to fight back, which would suggest…”

  Bree tightened the grip around the bag handle that dug heavily into her shoulder. “It sounds like they were affected by the curse.”

  “There’s no way to know for sure, but it certainly seems that way.” Eurig suddenly stopped, wrapping his strong hand around Bree’s arm and yanking her close to his side. Her heart trembled, but not from fear. She couldn’t help but notice that his hands were so large that his fingers encircled her arm completely, the tip of his thumb curling over the tip of his shortest finger. She could feel the warmth of his touch through her thin tunic, lighting up a fire that blazed right in her belly.

  “What is it?” Bree asked, her voice more ragged than she’d intended.

  “I thought I heard something,” Eurig said, cocking his head. “Did you not?”

  Bree stiffened and scanned her eyes across the thick forest, but the trees were far too tightly clustered for her to see anything more than bark, branches, and brush that weaved together into a tapestry of green. “No. But when I became a Light Fae, I wasn’t lucky enough to get some of the more enhanced powers, like a better sense of hearing. If you heard something far away in the distance, then unfortunately I wouldn’t have been able to myself.”

  Eurig stayed frozen for another solid minute before shaking his head and letting go of her arm. Bree stared down at the place where his fingers had encircled her skin, and a strange part of her yearned for that hand to be on her once again. “It’s probably nothing. This forest is home to a million different sounds and smells. If it was something dangerous, then we would definitely know by now.”

  Bree shivered, even with his reassurance that nothing was wrong. Just the idea that something might be out there, watching them, was enough to send chills deep into her bones.

  Eurig and Bree continued onward for what felt like years. The entire forest looked exactly the same. Tree after tree after tree, leaves all glowing with silver and green. They managed to make it all the way to their clearing without any incidents or any sign of dangerous beasts. Eurig got started on the fire while Bree gathered some more wood to last them through the night. He was insistent that nothing would bother them, not as long as they kept the fire going. But Bree wasn’t convinced. That half bird creature had attacked when she’d had the fire blazing behind her. What was to stop another one from doing just the same?

  Still, she did what he’d asked. And once the fire was going and they’d settled in on the blankets with swords in their hands, Bree finally felt her body relax. Eurig mysteriously pulled some meat from his bag, and Bree
did not want to ask where it come from. Because deep down inside she knew. He had killed the half bird creature who had attacked, and he’d prepared the meat while she’d been resting. Together, they got to work on roasting the bird, and Bree hesitantly reached out through the bond toward Taveon.

  She loosed a sigh of relief when he was waiting there for her on the other side, just as vivid and as real as he’d felt back at the castle. So far so good. Their bond still stood tall, keeping them linked together even across this distance.

  “Bree,” Taveon whispered down the bond, his voice caressing her frazzled nerves. “Where are you? Are you okay? Have you healed after the attack?”

  Bree smiled at him, hoping he could read her expression. “I know you don’t need to ask me those questions for you to know the answers. I’m fine, Taveon. Our bond kept me safe. So did Eurig. He killed the beast before it could do any more damage.”

  “I want you to come back. This is far too dangerous. I do not want you risking your life for me.”

  “Taveon, I…”

  “That is not a request, Bree. It is in order. From your King.” Taveon’s voice was hard and full of ice, a tone he’d rarely used since revealing the truth of himself to Bree. It was the tone he liked to use when he wanted to hide his true emotions from whoever he was talking to. He’d used it with Bree when she had first arrived in Underworld, hoping that his harshness would push her away. But he should have known better by now. He was not harsh, he was not hard, and he was not cruel. Behind his words, she could feel the truth of his emotions through the bond.

  He was scared as hell, and he did not know how to help Bree other than to use his status as King, hoping she would listen to his order.

  “Taveon,” Bree said gently. “You know I’m not going to turn around now.”