Isaac (The Clan Legacy Series)

by J. S. Striker

  Beside her, the Winter King frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. Then she sneezed. “Forgive me, but it must be the cold weather.” She attempted a laugh, which turned into a cough. “I…I really feel bad for ruining the atmosphere.”

  “You didn’t ruin it,” he clipped out, though his tone said otherwise. It was obvious he was displeased, and even his generally cold attitude couldn’t hide it. The Winter King was known for his organized parties, and he didn’t like interruptions.

  “Perhaps I can excuse myself and heal myself in my room?” she suggested lightly.

  “That would be great,” he said.

  She almost screamed in relief at being dismissed so easily, and Roxie didn’t wait anymore as she walked calmly towards the hall’s back exit. In about two hours, she knew Isaac would be removed from his cell again and tortured for their playful experiment.

  There were no guards at all, probably because no one dared attack Asha as he celebrated with his guests—though for Asha, it was a matter of protecting the castle from anyone trying to get in, not anyone trying to get out.

  Roxie used the lights to guide her way, but she stuck to the shadows as she went to the southern side of the castle where the prison cells were located. No guards at all, and she was standing in front of Isaac’s cell in no time.

  The panther shifter looked up, those light blue eyes piercing hers.

  “You said yesterday.”

  She froze for a second at the intensity of that gaze, then shook her head impatiently. It looked like he was back to his old ways now that he was healed.

  “I couldn’t get away,” she muttered. “Stop complaining.”

  “I wasn’t complaining.”

  The ice bars disappeared with her magic, and she waited. His body slowly unfolded until Isaac was standing, and her breath caught in her throat as she remembered again how tall and powerfully built he was. His clothes were filled with blood, so she tossed him a white cloak.

  “They should take better care of their prisoners,” she muttered. Isaac walked over to her, his body tense with uncoiled power. She braced herself for defense in case he still shifted and killed her, anyway.

  He didn’t. Instead, he stood beside her. “And now?”

  She nodded. Then she knelt down and removed the icicle chains from his ankles, then his wrists. She took his wrist, a warm contrast to the cold, and pulled him out. “Now we walk out.”

  He didn’t budge. “We walk out?”

  “Yes. They’re busy.”

  “Are you insane? Or are you just an idiot?”

  Somehow, her patience always ran thin with him, and this was no different. “Can you stop questioning my decisions and just come with me?”

  “Can you actually come up with a plan?”

  “You come up with one,” she shot back, then realized how petulant it sounded. She took a deep, calming breath. “We go out the back. Now stop arguing and let’s go. Asha thinks I’m in my room, sick.”

  “Pretty impressive,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Okay, he was still mad. She glared at him once and let it go, walking ahead.

  After a few seconds, he followed.

  *****

  It was impossible to stay quiet when the man basically contradicted everything she said or did, but they managed to get out of the castle unscathed. The winter was harsher at night than she expected, and by the time they’d gotten out of the huge clearing and into a forest area, even her small storage of magic could no longer sustain her. It had been a big risk to heal Isaac fully with what powers she had, and she banked on her magic to be back in a few days’ time. But apparently her magic just couldn’t keep up, and she used the last of her reserves to remove the icicle bars and chains, leaving only a bit to open up a portal for them to get out of.

  By the time they’d cleared the forest, she was shivering. She let it be and pretended she wasn’t affected, knowing they still had problems coming.

  Just because no one was stopping them on the way out didn’t mean they wouldn’t notice Isaac’s absence when they went to take him. And if they were smart, they’d also find her absence and put two and two together.

  Her eyes widened when she felt something warm hit her shoulders and back. She looked down, surprised, to find the cloak she gave Isaac now on top of her own cloak. Then she stared at him as he removed his clothes and started clawing on the ground, where he buried them. Her cheeks heated as she saw him in all his naked glory all over again—all long lines, all those hard muscles and glistening skin, and his large —

  “You need that more than me,” he said abruptly. “I’m shifting. Stay by my side.”

  In an instant, his human form was gone, replaced by his panther form. She remembered the last time she’d seen him in all his black, sleek glory, the power exuding from him so raw. It was the same power now as he stood past her waist and looked around, large paws and long claws ready to strike at any second.

  They kept walking. They entered another clearing, and Roxie placed a hand on his fur to communicate that they needed to stop here. He stilled at her touch. She snatched her hand away, unused to his strong warmth. She was about to speak when he began circling the area, and she realized he actually understood her even when she hadn’t said anything.

  Not wasting any time, she closed her eyes and called out her last reserve of magic. A trickle came flowing out, vivid and faint, and she held onto it tightly. Her concentration was disrupted when a growl came from the panther’s throat.

  Then everything happened too fast for her liking.

  Guards came—the same white-coated guards that they’d seen when they first entered the ice castle. They surrounded them in unison, holding up their arms to attack with ice.

  But Isaac was too fast for them.

  He went at them in a blur, striking one, then another, and leaving blood flowing freely on the snowy ground. The smell permeated the air, thick and cloying and making her unsteady on her feet. She swallowed the dizziness off and closed her eyes again, concentrating on pulling the magic out with all her might. It came fast now, desperate, and she imagined herself forming a mirrored circle and envisioning where she needed it to lead to.

  She stumbled down when pain hit her right knee, then her left. Her eyes snapped open and found the portal right in front of her. But another shot of pain came as someone stabbed her stomach from behind, and she choked on her own blood. She no longer had any power left to fend anyone off.

  A loud shriek came, followed by the deadliest growl she’d heard in her life. Then she was being dragged off.

  Then darkness came.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The portal wasn’t rightly done, but Isaac made do with its narrow path as he took hold of Roxie’s limp body and hauled her ass off inside it. Unlike portals in his world where there was an icy sensation coating you, fairy portals were all about pain, and he had to wonder if that was their way of discouraging others from traveling too much. He gritted his teeth through it and didn’t let her go, finally seeing a light at the end of the colorful tunnel and leaping for it with all his speed.

  Voices were on the other end, but they were immediately gone as that end of the portal closed off, and darkness tried to catch up on them. He was just in time as they crashed to the ground and the other end of the portal became smaller and smaller until it winked out of existence.

  The pain was immediately gone, and the only pain left was the damn icicle magic those bastards had used on him. They had landed on something soft—a grassy field, which he was thankful for because he didn’t think he had enough energy as it was should they have landed on…well, a cliff or a spiked path.

  He used his senses to check out his surroundings and felt no immediate threat. Isaac shifted to his human form and just lay there, catching his breath for a second or two. Then he immediately turned to his side, where Roxie lay.

  She was bloodied and injured, with a thin icicle trail running through the s
ide of her stomach. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of him again, and he almost barked out a laugh when he realized she was more concerned about his nakedness than her own wounds. He stifled the laugh and reached out for her.

  Then he removed the icicle in one swift pull.

  Roxie yelped. Then she sat up and cursed the air blue with words he couldn’t understand, filling it with magic that smelled like freshly cut grass. Blood still trickled out of her, but it slowed down enough as her wounds immediately closed. Last he deduced, she didn’t have any magic inside her anymore and couldn’t even defend herself from that winter guard’s attack.

  “So, cursing makes you regain your magic back?”

  She cursed again, then glared at him. Those tilted rose-gold eyes were shooting off sparks, and he realized the temper she was containing in that Winter Court was now pouring out in spades.

  “No,” she snapped. “We’re in a field of flowers. The Spring Court flowers are good at healing or poisoning.”

  Wait, what?

  “And there was no need to pull that icicle out so quickly,” she huffed, folding her arms. She removed her second cloak and threw it at him, a silent order to cover himself up. Refusing to do so, Isaac glared instead.

  “Hold up. Why are we in the Spring Court? I thought we were escaping to your home.”

  Roxie stood up and scanned the flower field, ignoring his question. He stood up as well and towered over her, looking as threatening as possible. She didn’t care—in fact, she kept ignoring him and muttered under her breath, making him think that perhaps she had gone crazy from that icicle’s impact.

  That theory was shot out immediately when she threw her hands up in defeat. “If you must know,” she said haughtily, “We cannot create portals to go to whichever fairy court we want. We need to follow the seasons: winter, spring, summer, autumn. It’s a clockwise cycle and can’t be done in reverse or randomly. So, it’s just our luck that autumn is at the very end of the cycle. Happy now?”

  Sarcasm dripped from her. He smirked. “Very happy.”

  Then he walked off and left her to run after him.

  *****

  They bickered like children the whole time, and she didn’t let up until he finally wore the cloak around his waist. A few hours of walking, they both realized how hungry they were and reluctantly worked together to find food, which they did find in the fruit trees in a forest ahead. Unlike the white trees and snowy landscape of the Winter Court, the Spring Court was all about colors—flowery fields, rainbow trees and puffy clouds in the sky that were like cotton candy. It was beautiful and innocent at the same time, and Roxie didn’t have to tell him not to be deceived so easily. He already learned that lesson.

  The fruit they ate was brown and tangy, but they kept eating until it filled them up considerably. Roxie made a makeshift bag with her own cloak and filled it with food for their journey, then tore off the bottom of her dress to wipe down whatever blood remained on her skin. He noticed her aversion to blood and noted it down for future reference, then ignored her for the rest of the travel.

  Until he grew bored.

  “So, where’s Spring Castle?”

  She shrugged. “I haven’t been here yet. The Spring Court doesn’t really mingle since that whole winter fiasco.”

  “Winter fiasco?”

  She began to explain about how the Winter King had tried to take over before a new queen was established here. It only confirmed to Isaac how power-hungry Asha was. The image of the man looking cool and impenetrable while Isaac was being tortured for fun flashed in his mind, and he tried to erase it. Asha’s time would come, but now, he needed to focus on escaping first.

  “Bastard,” he muttered when Roxie finished her story. Silence followed, and he could feel her staring at him. “What?”

  “Wouldn’t you do the same? I thought all royals were hungry for power. My mother is.”

  “Has the Spring Court tried to usurp anyone?”

  She frowned. “Well, no.”

  “Summer Court?”

  “Fine. I get your point.”

  They passed by another field and forest, and Isaac found himself getting tired of the floral scenery. It just didn’t feel natural to him, and a pang shot straight to his heart when he realized he was missing his home and was worried. Isabella was bound to hear from Simon’s and Robin’s mission report about what he’d done and would figure it all out, unless Dylan kept the reports private even from her. He doubted it. But if she didn’t hear about it, then Urban could be trusted enough to take care of things.

  Hopefully.

  “How much longer until we travel to Summer Court?”

  Roxie shook her head. “I can’t find their ripe spot yet. It should be a ripe spot, and it’s something only fairies can sense.” She looked up, and so did he. The cotton candy clouds were still there, but they were turning steadily darker.

  “We might need to get some rest and continue traveling tomorrow,” he suggested. “If it’s safe enough to rest here.”

  “As long as we don’t encounter any fairies,” she replied. “They can be…devious.”

  “No need to remind me. Your kind always is.”

  She shot him a look but didn’t comment on it. Instead, she explained that they shouldn’t stay in the forest because the spring fairies liked playing there at night. They found a spot in the middle of a field, where some bushes and tall, blooming flowers grew. They both lay down and covered themselves, then listened to the silence that surrounded them.

  “We take turns sleeping,” he said.

  “No. There’s no need. Spring fairies won’t bother you if you’re quiet. Do you snore?”

  “No. Do you?”

  “No.”

  And that was that. Isaac watched as she turned her back on him, and he decided to do the same. Despite her clothes, he was surprised to find that she was warm against him. Almost human. Curious, he voiced out the question that had been swirling in his head since he’d last talked to Pine.

  “Do you know who your father is?”

  Her head snapped up, and her spine stiffened. Touchy subject, he supposed. He watched her shake her head. “He’s dead. My mother found out he was married and killed him.”

  “And that makes you feel nothing?”

  “I didn’t know him. And she’s my mother,” she said softly. Her voice didn’t sound all that convincing, and he doubted she believed what she was saying. But he let it go and stared up ahead.

  “You talked to my mother?” she asked.

  “Yes. She…graced my cell with her presence. Didn’t you?”

  “No,” she bit out. Then she went quiet, and for a second he thought she would cry or lash out. But her steady, soft breathing indicated that she was fast asleep.

  Isaac sensed around for any movement again, found none. Then, deciding that she knew this place more than he did, he closed his eyes.

  Then he followed her to sleep.

  *****

  He dreamed of flowers and colors that popped in his vision, then girls of all shapes and sizes dazzling him with their touch and kisses. A wonderful feeling came over him, tingly and exciting at the same time. He heard husky voices teasing him, enticing him. Then he heard a shrill voice penetrating the colorful fog.

  Isaac woke up with a start. He sat up, where he found Roxie already on her feet and shrilly ordering someone to step back and stop bothering them.

  He looked around and found the most beautiful spring fairies surrounding them, giggling and waving.

  Something fragrant permeated the air, and he sniffed. It filled his senses and made the tingle come back, and soon he heard the voices again inviting him to come closer. Dazed, Isaac stood up.

  Then he went closer.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  This was a disaster.

  Isaac was entranced, Roxie wasn’t, and the fairies were all watching him with hungry eyes. There were about five of them surrounding them when she woke up, and she knew immediately what their
purpose was when they started approaching: to get to Isaac and seduce him into falling for their charms.

  They’d been quiet as they slept, but maybe the fairies had seen them already and had been biding their time—something Roxie hadn’t anticipated in her already tired mind.

  Her body had been so tired despite the flowers healing her wounds, and it was only now that she figured out why: those same flowers that healed her also took her strength bit by bit until all she was feeling was the drowsiness. It was no wonder she wanted to rest up instead of finding that ripe spot, when her usual self would have gone on traveling well into the night without giving up.

  And Isaac? He’d been agreeable—sort of—because the flowers had sapped his strength, too.

  This made them susceptible to the air around them, particularly the magic of the fairies. Roxie felt it wash over her now like an addictive drug, but she held on and used her own magic to fight it back as she fended them off with some choice words. They weren’t listening, laughing as they watched Isaac in fascination.

  Then he was stepping forward.

  Her mind ordered her to scream and fight, but she knew she couldn’t get him to her side, anyway, with their magic stronger here. So she swallowed it back as they flocked around him, hands caressing his bare chest like they owned it.

  A surge of irritation came over her, and she swallowed that back, too. One of the fairies finally turned to her and shot her a come-hither look. Pretending to be fascinated, she stepped closer.

  “Can we keep your friend?” she cooed, fingers touching Roxie’s cheek. Magic seeped into her skin, and it was intoxicating. Heat shot up Roxie’s spine and spread slowly, and she could only imagine the effect it had on Isaac.

  She forced the happy thoughts back as she watched Isaac’s light blue eyes glaze over, his will completely leaving him as the fairies tugged at him. She smiled at the fairy standing in front of her.

  “You can keep my friend if you show me something in exchange. Is there any chance you know where the ripe spot is?”