Mykah’s smile grew mischievous as she approached the bed. “What are you thinking of, little princess?”
“Oh nothing, just about how you are going to hate the fact that I cuddle…unless you aren’t staying.” The smile died on her lips and doubt clouded her eyes. He would have to fix that.
“As long as we’re naked, I’ll cuddle all you want. Now get over here.” He leaped from the bed and scooped her into his arms. She giggled, and he could tell that she was smiling into his chest. He carried her back to the bed and knew that he would do anything to have her stay every night in his arms. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know her, nor did anything else. All that mattered was the fact that they might not have forever, so he was determined to make the time they had count.
Tyler watched as Mykah curled into his body, noting that she fit perfectly against him. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and let it sit against her, absorbing the warmth radiating from her body. She was asleep in a matter of minutes, but Tyler couldn’t bring himself to move.
She whimpered in her dreams a few times, and Tyler instinctively brought her closer to his chest, wishing to take away the nightmares.
“Please.” She cried. “Please don’t take him.” Mykah clutched his arm with both hands and turned her face up to his. “He didn’t do anything, please. I love him. Just let him be.” She muttered a few words that he couldn’t make out, and Tyler brushed a few locks of stray hair from her face.
He kissed her forehead, and couldn’t help but answer her. “Don’t worry princess, I won’t let anything happen to you. I give you my word.”
And he meant it. With every ounce of his soul, he would keep this little princess safe. Even if she didn’t want him to.
CHAPTER NINE
Mykah started waking up, and she was pretty sure that she drooled on his arm while she was asleep. She was also naked, and she knew there was no use pretending. Tyler would know that she was awake because of the change in her breathing, so she opened her eyes. At least he had the decency to not be staring at her while she slept.
“Morning, angel.” His voice was low, and instantly she was turned on again. Tyler turned to stare into her eyes, “Did you dream of me?”
“Ha. You wish you big marshmallow. Now, are we gonna get to this?” Yawning, she looked at her bedside table for the clock that was usually there, and then remembered they were in the fae land. “Ugh. What time is it?”
“Around two in the afternoon.” He mock–yawned and then laughed at her. “You’re up early, go back to bed.”
“I can’t, pretty soon there are going to be about ten people walking through here. Let’s go. Up and at ‘em. Time to get dressed.” With that, Mykah slipped out of bed and was surprised that he let her go. She looked down and immediately blushed. “Hey. You. My eyes are up here.” He was looking at her exposed body with unashamed hunger in his eyes.
“Yeah, well I’m not going to stop staring, get used to it.”
With that, she threw a pillow at him and turned to her closet. Getting dressed would be the easiest part of her day. She picked a pair of jean leggings and a torn sweater and pulled them on. Sighing, she leaned against the wall and processed everything that had happened the night before. Sharing the events of her father’s death with the people who had grown up with her was extremely hard, but Tyler had been there.
He had given her exactly what she needed and hadn’t run away after. Maybe he was okay with the idea of spending time with her after all. Even though she felt her immortality slipping away every second, she felt alive when she was around him. And maybe they could get through the information in the books in a day or so. With all of the concentrated knowledge of the families, the histories should be a dense read, filled with useless facts surrounding a little bit of information.
She put her face in her hands and rubbed it vigorously. She pushed herself off the wall and walked out of her closet prepared to face the day. Tyler was dressed and watching her closely with a confused look on his face. She looked down at herself, thinking maybe she had forgotten some clothes, but she was covered all the way. Her hair was undoubtedly messy, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. He was crazy.
“What’s wrong?” She had stopped walking a few feet from him and was curious as to why he would be confused.
“Nothing, you’re just the most beautiful person I think I’ve ever seen.” Tyler’s face lit up when he said it, and she could see that he meant every word he was saying. “I don’t think you understand; it has nothing to do with you being fae. You’re amazing, every inch of you.” He stepped forward and brought himself to stand right in front of her. Mykah had to lean back and look up to see his face. “I plan on making sure that I can look at you like this for eternity, Mykah. I just want you to know that what I said last night when I said you were mine, I meant it.”
“Oh shut up. It was sex, it can’t be anything else.” Her palms had started to sweat, he was saying too many beautiful things to her, and she turned to walk away from him before his words began to sink in.
Tyler didn’t say anything until she had walked almost through the door, “You can run, but we both know I’ll be here when you get back. I have just as much invested in finding an answer as you do.”
Mykah didn’t turn back to see if he said anything else. She let the door close behind her and made her way to breakfast. As her plate was loaded with eggs, bacon, and an assortment of fruits that she might never finish, her thoughts drifted to the task at hand and everything that she would have to do.
The dining hall was huge, like everything else in the Malice Court. Other people were filtering in and getting food as well. No one questioned where it came from, but Mykah could feel the magic in the air thick with the desire to feed the masses that were staying on the grounds. She was thankful for the necklace that she wore, and absentmindedly touched it. Although there wasn’t a way to tell how much time she had left, the key around her neck gave her a sense of peace while she looked for a solution. The mass of different magical beings littered across the room reminded her of what she was fighting for. The puzzle was complicated and made more so by the fear in her heart. She didn’t want to die; she didn’t want to sacrifice herself for a world that wouldn’t remember her. It seemed like there was much more going on than she initially thought.
Why would the Blood Court put its queen in danger? It chose to accept her and allowed her to take the throne beside her husband. Why would the sprites have attacked her father in the first place that night? There was something wrong with the magic between the worlds, and Mykah was beginning to wonder if the problem could be solved by finding a solution to the more significant issue. There was bound to be some information in the texts about the origination of the magic for all their realms, and with a renewed sense of determination the fae princess got up.
“Did you know that fairies used to actually have wings?” With a thud, Ben dropped a heavy book in front of Mykah tearing her out of her reverie. “I didn’t know you could actually fly once upon a time; shame you can’t keep up now.” With a laugh, he sat down across the table, and Mykah looked into the dragon prince’s eyes.
His skin was light brown, smooth and the scar on his cheek was faded and added to his ethereal beauty. Although he had his father’s skin tone, his eyes held the French beauty that was known only to his mother. Green, with a reptilian slit of yellow flowing through them on the edges, his eyes were the only thing that could identify his species. One of the many reasons that dragons were able to walk among the realm of man without being hunted to extinction, they had learned to adapt.
“It’s a side effect of the fading magic. The last of the wings faded into nothingness a long time ago. Interesting read?” She smiled at his response and pointed at the ancient text in front of the prince, and motioned for him to slide it to her.
A simple depiction of fae wings was branded into leather, and as Ben slid it across the table, Mykah could see that it was, in fact, an old history of
her people from the dawn of man. It would undoubtedly tell the tale of fae meddling in the lives of ancient Scottish and Irish families to amuse themselves. When they could still bend light, and when traveling through time was a possibility.
“Honestly, the power of the fae has been fading for a long time, since before my father could remember. There’s something wrong.” She gently ran her fingers over the brand that had once represented her people. “I can’t think about that right now, though. One problem at a time.” Mykah felt a tug in her chest, a piece of herself fading away. Absently, she let go of the book and squeezed the necklace in her hands in a silent plea for strength.
“It’s not just the fairy magic that is fading. Why do you think I’m here? My father grows weaker by the day, and my siblings are waiting for the chance to tear out his throat. I need to have the support of the other families if I intend to take the throne.” Trouble passed through his face, and Ben physically shook himself out of it. “Well.” He coughed a few times and stood up. “We better get to the library. I’m sure the others will already be there. I wanted to get a hug from you, little princess before the crazy takes place.”
He held out his hand, and Mykah placed hers into it. Ben pulled her up and into his arms like he had when they were children. He was tall, like everyone else but he was built like a rock from years of taking abuse from his younger siblings trying to get his place in the royal line. She let his strength surround her, thankful for the friendship that she had with not only him but with the rest of them.
After he let her go, the dragon prince picked up the book he had brought and walked out without looking back. Mykah followed him back to her room and then into the library. They didn’t need to have a conversation along the way, each of them deep in their own thoughts. All she wanted to do was find a solution, and everyone else had jumped right into reading while she had been sleeping with a vampire.
She would make it up to them, to herself. As she walked through the halls and into her room leading to the door of the library, she knew that it had to be more than just helping a childhood friend for them. She watched a familiar scene unfold in front of her, reinforcing the idea that had been brewing in her mind. Her friends were looking for escapes of their own as well. They each had stresses that she would never understand.
Peyton and Adam were wrestling on the floor, the werewolf clearly besting the forgotten king. She was covered in colorful tattoos of different animals. The wolf girl had neon red hair in a pixie cut that was spiked, and the top of her head was peeking out from between Adam’s arm where he was trying to keep her in a chokehold. Despite that, she was getting the best of him, and laughing about it. Her sharpened incisors very visible as she broke Adam’s hold on her body and jumped to her feet, howling with laughter. The others were sitting on the backs of chairs and scattered around the room. As she took a bow, Maddox started a slow clap.
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t have felt bad for not getting a jump start on reading last night and this morning.” Mykah wasn’t the slight bit annoyed, but she wanted to give them a hard time.
“Shut up.” Adam lobbed a pillow at her, but she threw herself on the floor to avoid it.
This was where Mykah was finally at peace. With this group of people, each of them with their own lives and stories. Still, they chose to come together and help when she needed it. They were her family. They were dressed in various sleepwear and comfortable clothes prepared to spend time relaxed and reading. This was where she wanted to spend the last of her immortal time. Reaching across the floor, she snagged a pillow and pulled it under her head and waited for everyone else to get slightly comfortable before they started their mission.
“Here, little princess. You can start with this one.” Maddox was sitting above her and was holding a leather–bound book out to her. Sighing, she grabbed it and opened to the beginning.
Tuning everything else that was going on out of her head, Mykah delved into the story. Four hours later it was like she was coming up for air when she closed her eyes and put the book on the ground next to her.
It was full of pointless information. Descriptions of useless things and stories of the way that fae life had been long before the world of man had made it to modern times. Ancient races apparently had nothing better to do with their time than to document everything that occurred. Mykah rubbed her eyes, forcing them into focus. The others were at various stages of reading their own texts, and she was thankful that Tyler hadn’t made an appearance yet. She wouldn’t have been able to focus on anything with him in the room, taking up her space.
With a yawn, she pushed herself up and stretched her muscles, forcing them to release some of the tension that had built up in the hours of only moving to turn a page. She was one of the fastest readers in the room, but as she went to grab another book, she noticed that Lachlan was staring at her.
“I think I know what is happening.” His voice was rougher than gravel and enough to get the attention of everyone in the room.
Every pair of eyes was on the Goblin King, and his pale skin flushed under their gaze. He stared into Mykah’s eyes, and she was in awe with how stark gray they were. Almost silver, they were pale under the lighting in the library. They looked at her reflected with hope, instead of their usual desolation.
He motioned to the books in front of them, tearing his eyes away from hers. “What do they all have in common?”
“I don’t know. They’re old?” Anaid, usually the calmest of the group, spoke up. She was sitting in a nest of pillows and had covered her lap with a blanket. The book that she had been completely engrossed in was lying forgotten on her blanket. “I mean, come on. These books are ancient.”
“That’s not the point, Anaid. The point is that they all talk about the way that things were before the magic started fading.”
“The magic has always been fading. Since the beginning. I mean, I’m the last of the water elementals, and the fae can’t fly or shift time anymore.” Anaid pushed her blankets and pillows away and stood up, brushing wrinkles out of her blue pajama outfit.
“Exactly. That’s what I’m talking about.” Lachlan looked around the room at all of them like they were idiots, waiting for them to catch onto the same idea that he had.
When none of the people in the room spoke, Mykah couldn’t help but stare at him with the same blank expression that the others had. As she looked around the room at the faces of her friends, she saw comprehension dawn on each of their faces slowly. It was a quiet few minutes in the library, and Mykah could feel the tension rising, and she still didn’t understand.
“I don’t get it.” She was embarrassed and was starting to feel stupid, except that Lachlan wasn’t looking at her like she was.
“The fae have changed, right?” He asked her, but instead of letting her answer he continued, “I mean, all of the races have changed. The fae don’t shine as brightly as they used to. They can't travel through time anymore, and they don’t have the power over the Wild Hunt like they have in the past. Everything is just a pale comparison to the way it used to be. Not just for the fae but for everyone.”
“That’s just the time changing.” Mykah felt her blood heat with the need to come to the defense of her people. “All of the races are changing. Every year.” It dawned on her as she spoke that the change was the significance. The magical races were changing because they were losing magic. It didn’t explain Mykah’s part in everything. It didn’t explain how she could solve the puzzle. “What about the puzzle, and why is the Blood Court draining Sarah then?”
“I honestly think that they are related. I think that you drained the majority of the magic of the fae lands when you destroyed the elder tree and its grove. I think that Sarah is the only thing that restored the Blood Court. Already, the shades have started to fade, and Lorraine hasn’t been seen in years. They get their power from her.”
“The dragons have started to lose their ability to fly, and some of the younger ones have lost the ability to shi
ft their shape between human and dragon form. My father doesn’t want anyone to know, but there has to be something we can do.” Ben filled the silence that Lachlan had left, and Mykah was starting to understand.
She let the words of the others fade away around her, and concentrated on the puzzle that was inside of her chest, and the necklace that lay around her neck. She knew that those that commanded blood and soul magic had long ago faded from the fae world, but now both the dark fae royals could use them. It was sort of ridiculous to think that there was some sort of magical conspiracy, and everyone knew that magic came with a price. No one could say what the price was for their magic at this point.
Long before humans walked the earth, different factions of magical beings were fighting over land and power. And yet, even with the disappearance of the most potent magic, both the puzzle and the key were a prime example of the ancient forces at work. Something was wrong, the magic wasn’t just vanishing; it had to be going somewhere.
Mykah remembered a story that her grandmother, Moira, had told when they would visit the gardens as children. Moira was ancient now, no longer able to control the magic that had run through her veins. Their grandmother was a princess of the light fae until she had fallen in love with their grandfather. She abandoned her throne and future, and the two of them were going to run away together until they were caught leaving the Malice Court.
Rather than exile the two of them, the two families came together in a celebration of marriage. Moira and her love were granted the freedom to be together, and although the story was full of blood and fighting, it wasn’t important. What was important was the fact that she knew something about what was happening with the magic. She had told Jessica and Mykah stories of the source of their power. She sang songs about magic moving through time and space and taking the world with it on its back; carrying it through what the humans would call the orbit of the planet.
Door in the Garden of Shadows Page 14
