by Lia Davis
Only these tears were happy. I framed his face in my hands. “You changed back.”
He frowned and stared down at my neck. Shaking his head, he scrambled off me and put several feet of distance between us. “I…attacked you. Gods, I’m so sorry.”
I rushed to him, hugging him close. “Doesn’t matter. I cured you. Your theory is correct. It is my magic and emotions.” More tears rolled down my face. “I thought I lost you.”
He sighed and tightened his arms around me. “We need to get out of here and find the princess and the others.”
I nodded and pulled out of his arms. Moving to the cell’s door. I broke the lock with my magic and slid the door open. Cyron was behind me.
“You’d think they’d know better than to leave me in there with my powers. That’s the third lock I’ve broken.” I was trying to make a joke of it, but I wasn’t feeling like laughing.
“Maybe they were counting on it.”
I stopped halfway down the hall and turned to him. “She knew I’d cure you.”
“I’d guess, yes. But why? Is she bored?”
Maybe. Footsteps echoed down the hall, kicking my heart rate up. I scanned the area and noted a solid wooden door like the storeroom I found during my last escape. I took Cyron’s hand and tugged him into the room and closed the door.
I was right. It was a storeroom. Not the same one, but similar. Cyron drifted to a desk in the corner while I searched the supplies. Stacks of the itchy blankets filled one shelf. The one below that had small towels and other types of linens. There were also canned foods and other random items I thought was odd. Then again, the room could be used by familiars. Which in that case, we needed to get out before one came in.
I glanced at Cyron and he was sitting at the desk flipping through a book. Curious, I drifted closer and glanced over his shoulder. It was a journal with handwritten spells and magical notes and symbols.
“Those are the elements.” I pointed to the page. “Looks like a ritual.”
Cyron nodded. “It’s a resorting of energy ritual. I think.”
I looked closer and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” As I read the notes following the instructional part, I gasped. “This can restore the positive energy of the Hollow by using the elements. We need the power of four element fae to do it.”
“Where are we going to find four?”
“We already have three. You are fire. We can find Tae so I can change him back. He’s air. I’m technically water, or close enough. If we combine our efforts we could connect with earth. Nate can anchor us since he’s human.” I picked up the book and moved to the door.
Cyron was there, his hands on my arms. “Are you sure? We should look for Crystal and try to change her. This book could be a fake. It doesn’t make sense that it’d be down here and not locked away in her chambers.”
“It might not be Crystal’s. The familiars could had taken it off a witch they brought in.” Rising on my toes, I kissed him quickly on the lips. “The whys don’t matter right now. We still need to make a few allies before facing her.” And I needed to know if Nate was alive. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. “I’m scared. What if I’m not strong enough?”
He kissed the top of my head. “You are more than strong enough. You freed me.”
Pulling away, he cupped my cheek and kissed me. His tongue swept inside my mouth, tangling with mine. Desire swirled in my soul. I didn’t want to end it, but I had to. We needed to get moving before we were discovered.
Just then the door flow open and familiars stormed inside the room. Quickly, I grabbed Cyron’s hand and tugged him to the door of the other side. We crashed through it only to come face-to-face with more familiars.
We were trapped.
I wasn’t going down without a fight. Not this time.
21
Back to back, Cyron and I crouched, waiting. I gathered my power in the center of my heart. If it worked on Cyron, I was willing to test it out on the familiars. “I’m going to try to change them back. If it doesn’t work have your fire power at the ready.”
I felt Cyron nod. He reached back and squeezed my hand. Shock radiated through me at the feel of his fire magic running wild in him. I wasn’t expecting the intensity of it. Usually, he was so reserved. Not now. He was in battle mood. I found it oddly arousing.
A smile lifted my lips as I focused on the familiars closing in on us. I wasn’t sure if I needed to touch them for my magic to reverse them. But if I sent a test to one from a distance, it would set the others on alert and they’d crash into us.
Crap on a snowflake. Okay, I had to take the chance. Because I couldn’t possibly touch all of them at once. Taking a deep breath, I opened my heart to the love I held for my family—Mom, Dad, Tae, and Ameria—and for Cyron, Nate, and Landon. Then added in my love for life, the sun, the snow, and all things positive. When I exhaled, I filtered that love and passion into the power I gathered moments ago.
I raised my hands and the familiars froze around me. Tiny snowflakes drifted around us and ice crawled up the walls and along the floor under our feet. Yeah, boys, I held as much power as Crystal.
Until I saved Cyron, I hadn’t realized how powerful I was. I’d trained all my life to control it. Had I contained it? Not letting it out. Now that it had its chance to run free, I feared it was too much.
“Don’t fear it.” Cyron’s voice broke through the cloud of doubt. “Feel with your heart. Show them there is love and passion in the world.”
With a single nod, I squashed all my fears and believed this had to work. I lifted my hands overhead, pressed my palms together in a clap, then sliced them down, separating them. A blast of white powdery snow shot out around me, slamming into everything and everyone surrounding us.
I whirled around to check on Cyron. I hadn’t thought about trying to shield him from my blast. His mismatched gaze met mine, and his lips lifted. Relief flooded me. Glancing around, I noted the familiars were changing. Their white hair melting into their natural color and their eyes shifting from red to the color they were before.
“Roshia?”
The familiar voice brought tears to my eyes as I turned and saw my father. “Dad!” I flew to him, hugging him tightly.
He curled his arms around me, lifting me off my feet, and kissing my temple. “I knew you could do it.”
I pulled back to scan his face. My heart filled with hope and love. Dad was okay. He was back. “I need to find Tae and Crystal.”
Dad’s brows dipped. “Do you have enough energy left?”
“Yes. Oddly, I do.” I glanced at Cyron staying off to the side with the rest of the men I changed back. They were a mix of human and fae. “Dad, I want you to meet Cyron.”
My dad turned to Cyron and nodded, then glanced back at me. “I’m not ready to know yet.”
I bit my lip. Of course, Dad would know I’d fallen in love. He didn’t know about Nate or Landon. That was going to be a fun conversation for later. Right now, we had a hollow to save. “Come on, I have to get close enough to the princess to change her evil heart.”
Turning to the others, I raised a brow. They all nodded and moved aside as if allowing me to lead them. Great. If we failed, it’d be my fault.
Cyron fell into step with me, taking my hand and linking our fingers. Hope and strength filled me as we rushed down the hall. When we reached the end, I opened the door and moved to the left. A touch on my elbow drew my attention to my dad.
He pointed in the other direction. “That way.”
“You lead, but don’t go into the throne room right away.”
He paused and studied me for a few moments. After a little while, his lips lifted a fraction and he nodded. It was a good thing my dad knew me well enough to understand I had a plan.
Dad led us through several hallways and a couple of hidden doors until we ended up in front of the entrance of the throne room. Only this was a back-way in. Stopping at the door, my dad faced me. I spoke soft enough Crystal wo
uldn’t hear me, but loud enough the men around me did. “We will pretend you found us escaping and now taking us to her. Those of you who are fae, use your glamour to change your appearance to look like a familiar and come in with us. The humans can stay out here until she calls me out on the illusion or I change her.”
Everyone nodded, but they wouldn’t meet my gaze or speak. Their hesitation had a lot to do with trust because I was an ice fae. Whatever, I didn’t have time to win them over.
I met my dad’s gaze as his glamour shimmered into place, turning his dark hair white and his eyes crimson. One by one, the other fae followed suit. Once everyone looked like the princess’s minions again, my dad gripped my arm while two others took hold of Cyron’s arms. Then they burst through the doors.
Crystal was on her throne talking with some of her guards. Tae sat on his knees at her feet. It angered me that Crystal treated him like a disobedient pet. Cyron jerked and cursed beside me, making it look like he was trying to fight off the two men holding him. I focused on Crystal.
Her ice blue eyes narrowed as she studied us. Then her lips twitched in amusement. She rose to her feet and descended the steps toward us. “I see you figured out just how powerful you are. I’m proud of you.” She stopped inches from me. “What do you have planned next?”
Lifting my chin, I locked gazes with her. “I figured I’d play with his emotions a bit. Maybe let you change him again.”
Cyron jerked again and spat out, “You bitch. I can’t believe I fell for your act.”
I ignored the pain of his words. He didn’t mean them, but man, he made them sound real. Instead, I waved a hand at him and continued to speak to Crystal. “You are right. You and I can make a hell of a team. We could freeze the ocean and cross over to the other Hollows. Take them one at a time.”
Greed and satisfaction lit Crystal’s gaze. Swirls of silver moved with the blue of her irises. “The other hollows, ruled by my sisters, aren’t my concern.”
“You mean you don’t seek revenge for your mother sacrificing your life to create this Hollow?”
Crystal hesitated. It was brief, but I saw it. I also saw for a quick second, sorrow in her depths. She almost appeared completely fae and not the evil-consumed princess set on destroying everything in her path.
Hope filled my heart. She wasn’t totally lost to the darkness. I held out my hand to her. “It is what you want, right?’
Her gaze hardened again and her smile was wicked. She took my hand. “It is.”
I linked my fingers with her and poured everything I’d been holding inside me into her while wrapping my other arm around her waist. I held on tightly. Crystal’s eyes widened as she realized what I was doing. She started to fight me but couldn’t get a good hold on me.
Cyron moved to the other side of her, sandwiching her between us. Then I felt Nate move in, and then Landon was there. Tears streamed down my face. I didn’t know how my other two guys got there, but I didn’t care. They were with me.
My magic along with my love and passion flowed into her. “I see the good still in you. Fight the darkness and remember what it was like to love, to live.”
I kissed her forehead and she began to cry. She sagged into me, not fighting my magic anymore. My guys and I held on to her, and I could feel Cyron’s fire magic flowing around us, healing and warming.
Suddenly the ice covering the floor and walls of the castle melted away. Warm blues and cool whites and yellows of the walls, floors, and paintings around the room replaced the drab, cold ice.
The familiars all changed back to fae and human. I released Crystal and tears formed in my eyes again. Her white blond hair had streaks of gold and flowed down her back. Her features held a positive magical glow. She’d returned to the princess everyone loved before her mother sacrificed her to create the Hollows and the evil settled in her heart.
She smiled and hugged me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Pulling back, she held onto my upper arms. “We have much work to do.” She glanced at my guys, then back to me before leaning in and whispering, “You are with child. That is what changed your power. The serum didn’t work on you because you are an ice fae like me. My scientists made it where it wouldn’t turn on me, but they didn’t count on you existing.”
“Why didn’t you kill me with the others?”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I almost did. It was like living with two people inside my head. The evil was dominating, but the real me would intervene. I had hoped you would succeed. And you did. Only I never guessed an unborn child, even though you are only a few days along, would be my savior.”
A few days? She could tell already? Then again, fae had shorter pregnancies than humans, so it would make since that my magic and biology had changed. I laid my palm against my flat stomach then met Cyron’s gaze. He stepped around the princess and knelt and put his head to my stomach. Nate and Landon moved closer, surrounding me, hugging me.
With a sigh, I threaded my fingers through Cyron’s hair. We were going to be parents, a family.
My father kissed my temple. “We should look for your mother.”
I knew where she was. Or at least I hoped she was still there.
Crystal raised her hands over her head, crossed her arms, then spread them wide. “Return the beauty of winter, the life that once was, and the reverse all that was lost.”
The palace walls and ground shuddered. I held onto Nate, Landon, and Cyron to keep my balance. A moment later a squeal cut through the throne room that tightened my chest and made my heart pound in my throat.
Tiny boots pounded on the floor as Ameria ran across the room. She was alive! I stepped out of my family’s embraces and ran to my sister. I scooped her up in my arms and squeezed her close, kissing her face all over.
She was alive! And here. I breathed in her lavender scent.
Just then the doors opened and my mother stood, tears in her eyes. She locked onto us and rushed forward. Tae got to her first, hugging her tightly, before tugging her over to us.
My family was alive. The princess was saved.
And I was going to be a mom.
Suddenly Cyron froze in place and stared at the doors as more people filed in. I recognized Kathleen from the dungeon standing a few feet from a guy who looked similar to Cyron.
The man stared back and his eyes shined with tears. “Cy?”
That voice! It was the man who sat in the shadows in the cell next to mine the first time I was captured. The men met in the middle of the throne room and fell into a tight brotherly embrace.
I glanced back at Kathleen, then held her gaze for several moments. Something familiar brushed against my awareness. Then she turned her attention to my parents. A large smile formed.
My mother rushed to her, wrapping her arms around the other woman. Tae caught my eye and mouthed, “Mom’s friend.” He shrugged as if puzzled as much as me.
Nate hugged me from behind, placing his hands on my belly. “That’s Rick, Cy’s brother and Soora’s husband.”
I nodded because if I spoke I’d break into sobs. Happy, pathetic sobs.
Landon tugged me out of Nate’s arms and wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. “I love you.”
Turning to face him, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you, too. How is my family here?”
A slow smile lifted Landon’s lips. “After reaching the cabin and found you three weren’t there, I knew the familiars got you. I found your mother and brought her frozen body with me. Then freed Nate.”
Nate nodded. “While letting the prisoners go, we found where you hid Ameria. Landon used old fashion fae magic and a few burning lanterns to melt the ice. That was about the time everything started melting.”
I glanced to my family as they embraced each other. Landon pulled me closer, placing his hands on my belly. “Your sister wasn’t dead like you thought. When you froze her, you stopped the spread of the serum. You saved her life. When you spread your
love and magic throughout the castle, you cured her.”
I released a sigh and melted into them. “There is so much I need to help Crystal with, but after that, I’d love to find a quiet home somewhere. Maybe start up our own small village.”
My guys laughed at the idea. Nate kissed my cheek. “Anything you want. Just tell us.”
I kissed each of them and turned to watch Cyron with his brother. My loves. Each one, a piece of my heart.
Our new life in the renewed Crystal Hollow.
THE END
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Marked For Them
Witches of Rose Lake, book 1
By Lia Davis
Hiding out in a mental institution isn’t glamorous. But I call it surviving.
I’m blissfully unaware of the world outside thanks to the hospital’s walls—and spell—that hide me. Until a ghost shows up, talking about his friends being marked by a demon. But not just any demon. The same one who marked me and wants me dead.
My father.
Fearful that Daddy Dearest could be my next uninvited guess, I choose to follow the ghost to his four very alive friends. To my relief, they want Salrus dead just as much as I do. What I’m not prepared for is finding out that Zane—the alpha wolf shifter—is my mate, and the demon mark links the six of us—ghost included—together on a deeper level than I ever imagined.
Teaming up and preparing to face the demon stirs up passion and dark secrets none of us are really ready to face.
Find it at your favorite eBook store: https://books2read.com/u/4N1AdW
About the Author
In 2008, Lia Davis ventured into the world of writing and publishing and never looked back. She has published more than twenty books, including the bestselling A Tiger’s Claim, book one in her fan favorite Ashwood Falls series. Her novels feature compassionate yet strong alpha heroes who know how to please their women and her leading ladies are each strong in their own way. No matter what obstacle she throws at them, they come out better in the end.
