Door in the Garden of Shadows

by April Canavan

  Instead, he surged forward with a snarl on his lips. His bloodlust took over, undoubtedly scaring some of the more reserved fae in the room. No one stood in his way intentionally, and those that did not know better than to stand in his way were met with the angriest look he had ever felt. His eyes felt like fire, the blood in his veins turned to ice; and he was sure that if looks could kill, then he would be dead. Not once did his lying little angel remove her eyes from his. Not once did she turn away. It took him thirty seconds to reach her, and she didn’t run. She stood there, silent as stone among the crowd that stood before her sister. They all grew quiet as he approached, and the look on Jessica’s face told him that she knew. They were in it together.

  “Stop.” Her voice was like a douse of cold water on his intentions. There was nothing that could stop his temper, though.

  “You don’t command me; and you,” he spit the word at the small fae princess. “Your Highness. You should have made yourself known in our court. You would have been shown every convenience of a fae spy, I mean emissary. I’m sure Dante would appreciate that much, at least.” He had killed another vampire for this woman, thinking that she was helpless. She was standing before him, a master in all forms of magic. Still, she let Dante take her. He was probably telling the truth, too stupid to know any better when enchanted by the fae princess. They had all been taken in by her story, her pathetic human look. He had held her against his chest, the treacherous angel.

  She still looked at him with those human eyes. “You can stop with the glamour anytime you want, princess.” He was disgusted with himself for caring about her. “I’m sure we’re all tired of the lies, and I bet your courtiers would like to see you as you are meant to be.”

  Mykah reached a hand out to him, despair bright in his eyes. “Tyler,” she whispered.

  “Don’t. You don’t get to address me. You don’t mean anything to me.” The look of hurt that crossed her face did nothing to him. Or at least that’s what he tried to tell himself.

  “Tyler.” Anna’s voice washed over him, bringing with it an ethereal sense of calm. “We can explain.”

  “No. Anna, don’t bother. If any of you knew about this, you’re no friend of mine.” Even as he felt the calm that came with her touch leave him, the anger and hate swept back in. They all knew. No doubt Jackson’s laugh was about this. They must have thought him a fool, to let another woman get so close to hurting him. The anger flashed into dangerous areas, and for a moment he wished that he had allowed Anna to calm him. He couldn’t let her take this from him. He needed this, he needed to remember this betrayal so that it never happened again.

  “Tyler, calm down. Please, I can explain. Please.” Her voice caressed him, shaking with timbers screaming that she was human into his blood. That’s when she made a mistake by reaching out and touching his arm.

  Before he could think about it, or anyone else could react; he grabbed her. He pulled her to his chest and turned away from the growing crowd of gawkers and swept her onto the dancefloor. He squeezed her with as much force as he could muster, daring her to move. He had no reason for holding her to his chest. No reason for grabbing her, except that she called to him at his very core.

  “Show your true self, princess. I want to see what you really look like.” He hated that she was still disguising herself with magic, and he couldn’t even feel it.

  “This is what I look like, and my name is Mykah. Please, you’re hurting me.” Her voice almost passed as pained, her magic did an excellent job of hiding her fae lines.

  “I know your name, princess. I think I should be able to call you what I want. I’m glad that you’re in pain, you deserve to be hurt. You cost Dante his life. Why use your magic to deceive us? We are allies. The Blood Court would have welcomed you with open arms and allowed whatever perverse entertainment you had arranged with Dante.” He could hear the disdain in his voice, and he knew that her betrayal would follow him for the rest of his existence if she did not answer for her actions.

  “Please, just let me explain.” She turned to look up at him, and he was shocked by the blatant honesty in her voice. He felt the anger ebb away slowly, and he nodded for her to go on.

  She told him then, while they danced. She told him of what had happened to her father, what had happened after. The trial, and her subsequent exile into the human realm. She spoke of her first human boyfriend, what it was like to have to live and work. She wove a fantastic story about life as they danced. What seemed like hours passed while she told him everything, and when she got to the night they met, he could feel his heartbeat pick up.

  She told him of being kidnapped, of the beating that Dante had given her before he arrived. She spoke of her real fear, of not recognizing any of them. In fact, he hadn’t recognized her either. She hadn’t spent any time at the Blood Court that he knew of, so it was understandable. She was just too similar to a human in appearance. She would have been eaten in the old days. He listened in silence, and when she got to the part about going home, she stopped leading him to think her story was going to be over.

  It changed nothing. She was fae, fae royalty at that. She was also cursed. She was going to die to restore the power that she drained when she used blood magic to almost eliminate their power source. That meant that he could do nothing to save her, but if that were true then why did the Court give him the vision it had. He thought about telling her of the vision but didn’t. He couldn’t trust her with it, she was fae. They had different priorities. Still, he felt like his entire world had suddenly shifted.

  He no longer thought about saving her, but about preventing the same thing from happening to Sarah. If the power source of their homes was drained, no wonder it was absorbing everything it could from the Blood Queen. He was going to have to work with her, but that had to be all. He couldn’t touch her; she was poisonous to him, to his way of life. Fae, they could never have a future together. It didn’t matter how human she looked. She could never sit at his side in the Blood Court.

  Before he felt himself stumble down the rabbit hole any more, he pushed away from her. “This isn’t a good idea. Whatever it is that’s happening between us.” Tyler turned and left her in the middle of the ballroom. He saw the curious looks of his companions standing next to the furious Jessica and knew that they had been the reason she had not torn him apart for his behavior. He nodded curtly in her direction and left the floor.

  By the time he made it back to his rooms, he was shaking. Walking away from the fae princess was physically painful. He wanted to be back at her side. For some reason, it viscerally hurt him that she had not made a jab at him or called him a marshmallow. What happened to the warrior spirit he had met in the Blood Court? He should be angry; he should be spitting fire at the thought of her. Yet all he could think about was having her in his arms. Her story had made sense, it was almost the same as what he had found out on his own, albeit more detailed. She had been telling the truth the whole time, and she was going to die.

  When he closed his eyes and welcomed sleep, he found himself transported home. He was sitting in the throne room that night, watching what had happened through the eyes of the Court. He had seen the power leaving her body and flowing into the floor where she stood. It wasn’t only her land that was destroying her, but any magical land. She was wilting before his eyes, and the Court saw it. He thought about the vision of her dying, giving herself for the children to live.

  “You have to do something.” The voice sounded closer this time but still held no identifying marks.

  “How can I stop it; she was sentenced by the mother of magic itself. She is going to die, but not how you showed me.” He was talking to his dream, his imagination. Any time now he was going to go crazy.

  “You must help her; you must break the curse. Her puzzle can be solved. She needs time, the answer is within. Sacrifice one to save the other. The key was spent, but the puzzle remains. And the door is locked. You must save her to open the door, or all magic is lost.” The
voice faded, and then there was nothing. Once again, he was sitting in his mind in a gray haze, waiting to come to his senses.

  It was too realistic to be a dream; vampires didn’t dream at all. When Tyler opened his eyes, he knew that he was going to have to do something about his angel. Sighing, he threw off his blankets and got ready for the day’s work. He was going to have to hunt that little brat down and make her work with him. He knew that he might have to make her forgive him first, though. He had just turned his back on her in the middle of a party, and they had undoubtedly been the center of attention.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  She watched him walk away, effectively turning his back on anything they could have had. She wanted to punch something, but she knew that there was plenty she could be doing on her own. She didn’t’ need his dumb marshmallow ass. Mykah turned and found herself staring into her sister’s eyes. Jessica had the look of a frightened child.

  “Don’t worry, he’s not going to be an issue. I can do this with or without his help.” Mykah’s words held far more confidence than she felt.

  “First, little sister, enjoy the party. I want you to remember what you’re trying to save. Why the puzzle needs to be solved so badly. You need to know what the existence of the puzzle prevents you from being able to do. Take the night, at least. Just be yourself, I’m sure your friends missed you. Those tomes will hold until tomorrow, and then you can drown yourself in all the magical history that you want.” The plea was clear as day in her sister’s eyes, Mykah couldn’t turn her down.

  “Of course, love. Anything for you.” In that moment, she would have given her sister anything in the world to place a smile on her face.

  “Mykah, I love you. We will solve this.” Jessica pulled her into a tight hug, and for a minute Mykah was transported back to the rose gardens they had played in as children. Her sister smelled just like the sun–kissed roses that had surrounded them. Then the moment was over, and her sister was turning away to mingle with the guests who had come so far to celebrate her coronation.

  She watched Jessica fade into the crowd, and after she couldn’t smell roses anymore, Mykah turned to find some amusement of her own. Instead, she was less than fifty feet from the party that had come with the Blood Court. They were deep in conversation, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

  “You don’t know that. No one really knows why the court is draining my power. Even if we could figure it out, there’s no guarantee that we can fix it. You warned me that giving me the gift of immortality would come at a steep price, and it seems like I’m paying it now. I knew that was a probability when I said yes.” The vampire queen was looking spectacular. Her dress was charcoal in color and accentuated the multitude of tattoos she had. The one in the center of her chest was remarkable. Two black ravens adorned each of her collarbones with intricate ribbons stretching between the two of them. Splashes of color and shapes took up what would have been blank space. She was standing with Winter, and she could feel so much power coming from them that it was hard to believe that they had ever been anything but royalty.

  “Sarah, if there is something we can learn from the fae princess…” Winter’s words faded into silence at the look on the vampire queen’s face.

  “No. Winter, Tyler may not want to admit it, but that girl is going to have him tied up in knots for a long time. We can’t put him through that if he’s determined not to. Even if she will be the one to save his soul in the end, there’s nothing we can do to force the issue.”

  Mykah turned away before they realized that she was spying on them. She worked her way through the crowd, listening to the music and getting lost in the embrace of the mob until she saw Peyton and Maddox locked in a chess game in one of the seating alcoves. She maneuvered through the crowd and took her time in joining their circle. She didn’t have to see the board in order to know that the female werewolf was going to beat the snot out of the warlock. She usually beat everyone she played. Peyton hadn’t become the emissary of her kind of allowing anyone to get the best of her, especially by losing a strategy game to a warlock.

  They had all grown up together, the people who sat around the dinner table tonight. Except the vampires, they had all spent time traveling with each other for extended periods of time as children. Although each of the families had their own kingdom and ruling practices, they were mostly one substantial magical family. That meant that they went to every event their parents had as well. While the adults had met behind closed doors on those occasions, the future leaders would run away together and had created bonds between them.

  Irina had taught Lachlan how to manipulate the darkness that was everywhere in the Shadowlands long ago. Later, as the ruler of the shades, she had been granted the freedom to wander his lands at will. The goblin had taught Christopher how to wield the blade which was forbidden in the Concord Court. Lachlan had spilled blood as a human long before he had become the Goblin King, and had more battle experience than any of them. Peyton’s father had been the emissary of the wolves before she took his place. She taught them all how to track and survive in the human world if they were ever stuck.

  Maddox had taught them all about magic. Not only the natural magic that was inherent in all of their blood, but also how to manipulate everything around them as well. He taught Mykah how to hide her presence and Anaid how to search for other elementals. In exchange, Anaid gave them the gift of water sight. All they had to do to contact someone was to recite a particular set of words while looking into a body of water.

  Some of the unique gifts that they shared with each other while they were growing up would help enhance their abilities to rule. Mykah was never in line to rule the Malice Court, and she just felt lucky to be included in the fun and games that the others took part in. They had never made her feel as though she was trespassing, though. They shared their knowledge, and Benedict even taught her how to handle fire without being burnt. The scarred oldest son of the dragon king was incredibly handsome, even with the burns on his cheek. His father was demented, burning his son to prove that he was not worthy of the throne. It was only later that he acknowledged that his son and allow him to take his rightful place as heir. Their group may seem blessed to those on the outside, but only those closest to them knew the torment that was their life.

  Mykah had stopped at the edge of the alcove and watched as Peyton beat Maddox in silence. She saw the pride in Maddox’s eyes as he acknowledged her checkmate. He loved Peyton as a little sister, always standing by her side. Mykah recognized the look in his eyes as the same one that Jessica would get sometimes. She coughed, and they both looked up. A smile spread on Peyton’s lips, and Maddox looked pleased to see her. They both stood up and welcomed her into the circle.

  “I’m so happy to see you alive, Mykah. We’ve heard some terrible things.” Maddox, the unofficial warlock king, stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. “I wanted to say something at dinner, but it wasn’t the right time. It was too loud. I missed you, and I’m glad to see you used the magic I showed you. I can’t believe I didn’t even sense you in the mortal world.”

  She pulled away from the warlock, soaking in his magical presence. One of the few supernatural beings that would die eventually, Maddox looked every bit of his twenty–nine years. A fading scar on his chin drew attention away from his striking green eyes. His mousy brown hair hung off his head in a shaggy, unkempt way. He was shorter than the vampires, standing just under six feet tall.

  “I did learn from the best, you know.” She had a smile on her face, and Mykah knew that Maddox appreciated having his ego stroked.

  “Well if you need any help with your current project, you know where to look. It’s pretty much my job to read everything I can get my hands on about magic, including fae magic.” The offer was genuine, and his eyes were shining.

  “Thank you, Dox. That might actually be helpful. I really have no idea where I’m supposed to start.”

  “Why don’t I bring snacks and meet you in the librar
y?” Dox had spent the most time with Mykah out of any of the others. They had spent days in her library, and his offer had her reminiscing about the good times they had together.

  “Sounds like a plan. We can probably work better that way too.”

  “Hey, why are you two leaving me out? This is just like when we were kids.” Peyton, who had been resetting the chess board, piped up with her opinion on things. “I see how it is. I didn’t want to help you anyways.”

  “Come on, it’s not like that. I wasn’t going to ask any of you for help. This is my problem.” Mykah really didn’t want an upset werewolf, but more than that was the fact that she really wasn’t going to ask any of them to be put out.

  “Stuff your hole. It will be just like old times, only now we’ll be the ones behind closed doors.” The werewolf let her eyes shine yellow. She had always hated being left out of the adult world. “I’m going to go tell the others. God forbid that dragon boy or the twins hear that they were left out. Ben has quite a temper.” Peyton turned and ran straight into Christopher’s chest. He had appeared out of nowhere.

  “If you think we’re going to let you do this alone, being in the human world has made you batty.” Peyton stepped around the ruler of the Concord Court and left their alcove. Without a backward glance, she took off into the crowd. No doubt she would be able to find the rest of the royals and convince them to help.