Unleashing the Shadows (Nine Kingdoms Book 1)

by Ann Bakshis

  “And Lycus would be able to do the same thing?”

  “If Moyra teaches him, yes.”

  “Would you mind if I have a look at the book Henry brought up earlier? I’m interested in knowing what else it says about these types of creatures.”

  “Sure,” Aliza says. She stands and crosses the room to a small bookshelf by a table set for two, then hands it to me. “Why don’t you stay here while you read it? I’ll call for you when dinner is ready.”

  I smile and nod, then she leaves, closing the door behind her.

  I turn to the page showing the picture of Moyra and study it carefully. I see a lot of Lycus in her, especially with the red hair and striking brown eyes. She may perhaps be around my height, but he’s quite a bit taller than I am so he must have inherited that from our father. Moyra has been around probably for a millennium, but only in Reynes, since the gate was sealed several centuries ago. I guess being a magical creature you’re afforded an extraordinary long life span, which makes me wonder how old Henry and Aliza are in reality because they look to only be in their sixties, though I suspect they’re much older than that.

  I’m surprised the book doesn’t mention where exactly Moyra comes from, other than referring to the kingdom of Toorkuns where she draws her powers. There has to be an exact location where these types of creatures reside. She didn’t just appear out of thin air, she had to have come from another realm perhaps. Henry and Aliza should know that answer, but they only mentioned Toorkuns, which makes me wonder if they’re still hiding important facts from everyone. I can’t understand why, because it might help us defeat Lycus and Moyra. I’ll see if I can confront them about it later.

  I move on to the paragraph that explains what Moyra is and her purpose. A succubus’ main goal is to seduce men to do her bidding. She mainly makes contact with them while they sleep, but she can also do it while they’re awake, except her powers aren’t as strong during that time. Her strength lies in the dream world and according to the book it takes a tremendous amount of resilience and self-control to ward off her advances. The one way to end her influence while you’re sleeping is to wake up as that’ll automatically sever a succubus, an incubus, or a cambion’s connection. But you’d have to realize it’s a dream in the first place and that’s hard to do. The lasting mental effects of their intrusion can linger for days after the encounter, which would explain my dour mood since normal dreams have never affected me in such a way before.

  I turn the page to read more. The next paragraph talks about the succubus’ ability to transport material objects into the dream world, though it also says they can’t remove anything they didn’t bring with them. Lycus wants the Pelheim medallion and I’m sure he noticed me wearing it last night, but even if he visits me again, he can’t take it with him. On the other hand, if he wanted to harm either Evan or me, he could do so very easily. I’m not worried about me because Lycus needs me, but I’m nervous that he might try to do something to Evan or have Moyra attempt it. Hopefully neither of them has enough of their powers left to conduct a dream walk, as Aliza called it, but I’d feel better if Evan had the protection shield on him.

  I skim through the rest of the book, finding information on things known as dwerg-reuses—which is what Argus is, a sea monster called an afanc, elfai, a scitalis, the amarok, griffins, various types of dragons, giants, leimakides, and a creature known as a kilpwese. Somehow, I feel like this book is incomplete, but I don’t see any fraying along the spine on the inside to suggest pages have been torn out. I wonder what makes me so suspicious about that. I was hoping this book would answer some of my questions about my true nature, but I only find it producing more.

  I set the book on the rocking chair after I stand and retreat to the kitchen. Aliza is busy finishing up and tells me to go ahead to the dining room, and that Henry has gone to summon the others. I take my seat alongside the head of the table like I did this morning as everyone slowly joins me, all in sullen moods, as the air is heavy with Job’s passing. Very little is said as we eat, which only adds to the depressing state of the day.

  “What time is the service tomorrow?” Caster asks when we’re almost done with our meal.

  “Nine in the morning,” Henry replies, refilling our wine glasses.

  “Have you been able to add your protection shield to the town yet?” Evan asks.

  “Aliza and I will be handling that after dinner, since it’s best if we do it during the night,” Henry answers. “It’ll raise fewer questions when the image appears, as there will be fewer people outside at that time.”

  “Will the shield extend to the castle?” I ask.

  “No,” Henry answers. “Aliza and I are working on alternative methods to protect you four before the night is done in case we don’t have enough of our magic remaining.”

  After dinner and some additional wine in the solar to toast Job’s life, Evan and I decide to go to bed before everyone else. Tomorrow is going to be a long day with the funeral procession through the town, the mass in the cathedral, and then the private burial. As Evan closes our bedchamber door, I step up to the open window that overlooks the town and notice two bright lights hovering in the center of Latrest. They fly up into the air and then slam into the ground causing everything to shake, including the castle. I’m hoping it’s Henry and Aliza applying the protection shield. A small shockwave travels out from the area and stops just short of the castle grounds. I turn my attention away from the window as I take off my robe and place it on the ottoman that sits at the foot of the bed, then get under the covers with Evan sliding in next to me. He wraps his arms around me, pulls me tight against his chest, and whispers how much he loves me. I kiss him hard and in no time we’re wrapped around each other. When we finally tire, I lay with my head against his chest and listen to his heart as I fall asleep.

  I know I’m dreaming. I’m not sure how I know, but I do, and I sense there’s someone in here with me. I glance over at Evan to find him asleep on his side. I lie on my back staring up at the thick blue canopy overhead.

  “I know you’re here,” I say in a hushed tone so I don’t wake myself, or Evan.

  “How?” Lycus asks from somewhere across the room.

  “I felt you enter my dream.”

  “That’s not possible,” he says coming up to the bed and standing beside me. “No one can tell when someone like me is around. Not even someone like you.”

  “And what am I?” I ask, glaring at him as moonlight filters in through the window by the bed casting odd shadows across his face.

  “Nothing important,” he grumbles.

  “You’re such a horrible liar.”

  “I’m a liar!” he shouts as he jumps on the bed, pinning me down. “You’re the worst offender here, my love. What lies and secrets you keep from the two men you love and claim as your husbands. Why did you marry him?”

  “He surprised me with it,” I reply. “What was I supposed to do, say no? Besides, it’s how I got the medallion you so desperately want.” I stare hard into his eyes. “Are you fucking your mother behind my back?”

  Lycus’ face grows pale as a startled expression crosses his brow. “How…how do you know about her?” he asks, and begins to tremble.

  “I saw it in a book,” I answer through gritted teeth. “I know all about her… and you. Is that why sleeping with your sister is so easy for you? Because you’ve been doing it for years with Moyra? How sick and twisted do you have to be to think that’s acceptable?”

  He flattens himself against me and raises a dagger I didn’t know he had up to my cheek, pressing it just under my eye. “She filled my needs until I could get to you,” he says, seething. “I know what my frailties are as a cambion, my dear sweet sister. What’s your excuse?”

  I keep my mouth shut since I honestly don’t have an answer.

  “I know you crave me like I thirst for you,” he says, relaxing his grip on the weapon slightly. “But you’re not one of my kind. You’re something much darker and
more dangerous than I’ll ever be. We need each other to survive, my love, so there’s no point any longer in keeping Evander around now that you have what we need.”

  Lycus sits up, raises the dagger, and is about to plunge it into Evan’s chest when I grab his wrist to stop him. The bed shakes as we grapple for control over the blade. I notice Evan beginning to stir, so I get my legs under Lycus and shove him off the side of the bed. He has a hold of me and drags me onto the floor with him. I scream from a sharp pain, which wakes me up, disconnecting Lycus. I find myself on the floor of the bedchamber with the blankets wrapped around my legs and feel a burning sensation in my left arm. Evan is quickly beside me when I notice a long laceration across my bicep that’s bleeding badly. Caster bursts into the room carrying a longsword, so I have to quickly cover myself up since I’m exposed.

  “What happened?” he asks as he brightens the oil lamp closest to him.

  “I fell out of bed and cut myself,” I reply.

  “Let me get a cloth to clean the wound,” Evan says as he stands, grabs his robe, and disappears into the lavatory.

  “What did you cut yourself on?’ Caster asks, kneeling beside me to examine my injury.

  “I don’t know. I was asleep when I fell.”

  “Were you dreaming?”

  “Yes,” I answer as Evan returns and begins to tend to my wound.

  “About Lycus?” Caster asks.

  I feel their eyes boring into me. “Yes,” I begrudgingly admit. “He had a dagger with him. I tried to fight him off and when we fell out of the bed, the blade must’ve cut my arm. My scream woke me up, which stopped him from being able to hurt me anymore.”

  “How was he able to attack you with a weapon if you were dreaming?” Evan asks.

  “Because it’s something he and Moyra are capable of doing,” I reply. “They can bring things with them into the dream world, though they can’t take anything from it.”

  “Where’d you hear that?” Caster asks, perplexed.

  “I read it in the book Henry showed us.”

  “Go get him and Aliza,” Evan says to Caster.

  While he’s away, Evan finishes cleaning my wound and wraps a bandage around it so I can put my nightgown and robe back on before the others join us. I sit on the ottoman while Evan paces in front of me, chewing on his fingernails which I’ve never seen him do before.

  “Nervous habit,” he says, even though I didn’t ask, but he must have noticed the expression on my face. “I don’t get it. First, he kidnaps you, then when you’re back here he now tries to kill you? If all he wanted was you dead, why didn’t he do it while he had you in Longemere?”

  “I don’t know,” I reply.

  Evan kneels in front of me and places a hand on my cheek. “I’m going to murder him once tomorrow is over with,” he says, infuriated. “Hey, your eyes are dark green again. Perhaps it was the lighting that made them look slightly brown the other day.”

  Lycus has run out of power, that has to be why my eyes are back to normal. He used up the last of it trying to assassinate Evan. Then what’s his next move? Probably a full invasion now that I know the truth about him and his mother. It’ll take them two days to reach Latrest, but that’s only if they leave right away. We may have three, maybe four days before the Geron Vagter arrive.

  “What’s happened?” Aliza asks, rushing into the room, nearly knocking Evan out of the way to get to me.

  “Lycus tried to kill her,” Evan says as Caster and Henry enter.

  “He only nicked me. I’m fine,” I say.

  “We need to get those shields on us,” Caster says.

  “We can’t,” Henry says. “It took everything we had just to cover the main parts of the town and we haven’t been able to come up with anything else to protect you.”

  “You’ll need to leave the kingdom and find another Dewin to apply it,” Aliza says.

  “Where can we find one?” Evan asks.

  “You can’t,” Henry says.

  “They have to find you,” Aliza adds. “But we have something in our room that’ll help them identify you as seekers of knowledge, that way they’ll trust you.”

  “But they won’t at first,” Henry continues. “It’ll take them time to determine if you’re true seekers or are simply after them for their powers.”

  “You don’t know where any are, or are you just refusing to tell us?” Evan asks harshly, which surprises everyone.

  “Both,” Aliza answers curtly. “We know where they used to be, but they tend to move around, unlike the two of us.”

  “Then can you at least give us a hint as to where to start?” Caster asks.

  “There’s a traveler’s camp three days west of here. I’d start there,” Henry says.

  “Let’s all try to get some sleep,” Caster says. “Hopefully Lycus is too weak now to attempt another attack tonight.”

  I bite my tongue because if I confirm Caster’s suspicion, they’ll want to know how I’m certain about it.

  Everyone heads back to their rooms while I dim the oil lamp as Evan secures the bedchamber door. I leave my robe on as I get under the covers and wonder if now that Lycus’ abilities have been depleted if I’ll still find myself wanting him as much as I did before, or if it was strictly his doing that made me feel that way. Somehow, I suspect Lycus has nothing to do with how I feel about him, that it’s all me and whatever the hell I am.

  Twenty-One

  Lycus

  I find myself on the floor beside my bed with the dagger still clutched tightly in my hand. As I go to throw it across the room, I notice traces of blood on its tip, which means I must have hurt Ore.

  “Fuck,” I mutter, hoping I didn’t injure her too seriously.

  I toss the weapon aside, stand to dress, then pick up the dagger and take it with me as I storm out of my room and up to my mother’s tower where she’s currently fucking one of my guards. I grab the Vagter by the back of his neck, pull him off Moyra, and throw him across the room.

  “Get your ass back down to your quarters before I have you skinned alive!” I holler at the terrified young man. “Don’t speak about this to anyone, understand?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” he says, trembling as he reaches for his clothes.

  The moment I hear the door at the bottom of the stairs close, I pull my mother off the bed by her hair and slam her against the wall, my one hand holding her by the throat while the other presses the blade of the dagger against her chest.

  “She knows!” I scream at her. “You’ve fucked up everything!”

  I ram the dagger into Moyra’s chest. She shrieks, then falls to the floor as I release her. Blood pours from her wound, dripping from the blade still clutched in my shaking hand.

  “How…how do you know?” my mother stammers as her body works on mending itself.

  “She told me,” I hiss as I pace slowly around Moyra as she quivers on her knees. “I didn’t even need to arouse her in her dream because she already knew I was there.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “How could she have figured it out?” I ask, then grab my mother by her head and yank it back so she’s looking at me. “I blame you for this. You just couldn’t leave Evander alone, and now our secrets have been revealed.”

  “But there still isn’t any way they could’ve figured it out,” she groans. “They would need access to a Dewin journal to put the pieces together.”

  I let her go. “What?” I ask, seething.

  She reaches for a blanket from her mattress and wraps it around herself before responding. “The Dewins kept records of all mythical and magical creatures that have roamed the realms since the beginning of time. They’re the reason we’re trapped here in Reynes and why our powers are now gone.”

  “I thought you destroyed them all,” I say. “That’s what you’ve been telling me my entire life.”

  “I lied,” she says, moving off the floor and onto the mattress. “I didn’t want you thinking I was weak and inept. I
murdered as many as I could to get through their pathetic little kingdom so I could enter Reynes, but there were many of them already living in this realm. How do you think the gate became sealed? It was closed from this side, which is why the medallions are in the kingdoms here and not in my realm.”

  “You’ve lost her for me,” I say, placing the tip of the dagger under her chin. “Honora will never return to me now thanks to you.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Moyra asks. “She needs you in order to survive, Lycus. She’ll always come back to you.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because of what she is. And unfortunately, we need her to maintain our existence. Without her in our lives we’d perish.”

  “What is she then?” I ask, dropping the weapon along my side.

  “A being so powerful that it would take heaven and hell to kill her. She can bend any creatures will with the simple look of her deep green eyes. She’s not only your queen, my son, but mine as well. She’s the reason my realm still lives while I’m trapped here.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Because of who her mother and grandmother were. They didn’t know, but I did which is one of the reasons I selected this kingdom to infiltrate and bed David… as well as Gregor, but only while he slept. You were wrong in telling Honora that David created her just for you because it’s the other way around. I had you for her. The moment I found out Elizabeth was pregnant I knew it was going to be a girl because it had to be in order for them to maintain their familial line. After that moment, I was determined to bear you, so I did whatever it took to get your father to sleep with me.”

  “But Kerron was Elizabeth’s brother. Surely he would’ve been as formidable as you claim Elizabeth and Honora to be.”

  “The power doesn’t follow the males, just the females,” she says, then stands and brushes my cheek with the back of her hand. “This is why you need to have a baby girl with Honora no matter the cost. It’ll link our families together, making both sides the most powerful beings ever to walk the earth. Then nothing can stop us.”