by Maya Daniels
It took two days for Ivy to heal Raphael and another two days for Artemis to feed him her blood and take care of him until he was finally allowed to get out of bed. Fern disappeared sometime between the death of Lazarus and Artemis bringing Raphael to Ivy’s room. The Fae that sided with Lazarus scattered throughout the realm, licking their wounds, while the rest took up residence within the palace walls. Patrols were sent out daily to check the perimeter for anything out of the ordinary.
Artemis didn’t care much about what Lazarus said before he died until Ivy confirmed that something more sinister than he was lurking in the shadows. For centuries she had been looking forward to the moment when her mother’s killer would die by her hand, but Artemis didn’t feel the closure that she expected. So many things were left hanging in the air, many unknown things still lurked, waiting to bite them when they least expected it.
She watched Raphael’s face as he slept. His long lashes cast shadows on his cheekbones as they fluttered gently while he dreamed. His eyes moved restlessly under the closed eyelids, and she pressed her lips gently on them. Ever since the fight with Lazarus, he kept waking at odd times to watch her sleep or pull her tightly to his chest and hold her like someone was trying to take her away. It warmed her heart to feel the love he had for her, not just through their bond but through his actions as well. The light knocks on the door made him snap his eyes open and grab for her to cover her with his body. Artemis smiled at him as she cupped his face.
“It’s probably Ivy, Raphael.” Artemis waited until his green eyes focused on her face. “She’s been the only one coming here to check on you since you almost decapitated the guard that was bringing food.” She chuckled softly, making his lips twitch at the corners.
“You were naked,” he mumbled, looking at her beautiful face with her violet hair spread around her head like a cloud while her eyes glowed slightly, like jewels. His eyes dropped to her full lips. “I don’t like anyone else seeing you naked!”
“Yes, you still hold onto a barbaric human trait,” she drawled. “We made sure everyone in the palace knows.” She grinned at him as he opened his mouth to say something but the knocking started again.
“Go away!” Raphael growled loud enough that the knocking stopped.
He was bending his head down to capture Artemis’s tempting lips in a kiss when the door flew open and banged off the opposite wall. Raphael pushed himself up, flipping around in midair and bared his fangs at whoever was stupid enough to enter. Ivy stood at the door with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him as her golden glow sparkled as if agitated. She almost looked like a mother frustrated with her disobedient child. It made Artemis press a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud at both of them. A snort escaped, and Raphael turned his head to glare at her. Unable to stop herself, Artemis laughed.
“Don’t be angry with me, I’m just an observer,” she chuckled and lifted her arms in surrender as his glower deepened.
“He can be angry some other time!” Ivy snapped “We have a problem!”
“What kind of problem?” Artemis jumped off the bed, all laughter gone.
“The portal room started glowing not long ago, but nothing’s coming through.” A frown pulled Ivy’s eyebrows down, wrinkling her forehead. It looked strange to see her like that, but urgency spurred them on when she mumbled, “It’s still not time!”
“Let’s see what’s going on.” Raphael didn’t wait to hear what else she had to say and pushed his way past her, wearing only loose sleep pants sitting low on his hips while he was bare-chested. The muscles on his broad back kept Artemis mesmerized as they bunched and jumped with each movement he made and she stood there for a second before snapping herself out of it. Artemis hurried after him with Ivy following them both.
As they neared the portal rooms, Artemis and Raphael stopped in their tracks, almost causing Ivy to collide with them both. Voices were coming from there, and as they heard it, they looked at each other. Raphael’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline, but Artemis couldn’t help but smile.
“Get your stupid hands off me, you ape! I don’t care who you are, I will fry your ass!” Iris snapped over her shoulder as she ran out of the room, trying to dodge the grabbing hands. She bounced off Raphael’s chest and with a loud ‘oomph’ dropped on her ass at his feet, her long hair covering her face before she flipped it over her head hurriedly.
“Get back here, human!” The guard came rushing out and stopped dead in his tracks at seeing Artemis, his yellow eyes flashing in panic in his porcelain face. “I tried to stop her, but she’s slippery as a snake!” He glared at Iris and pointed at her accusingly.
“It’s fine. She means no harm,” Artemis told him as guilt hit her full force. In her fear for Raphael, she forgot all about Iris. “I’m sorry, Iris, I never thought you’d be able to walk through the portal, or I would’ve told the guards to watch for you.” She offered her hand and pulled Iris to her feet.
“Yeah.” Dusting her pants, even though the floors were so clean they could be used as mirrors, Iris glared at Artemis and Raphael. “Neither did I, until I had no other choice!”
“What happened?” Raphael looked her up and down searching for injuries. “You don’t look harmed.”
“Don’t listen to him, he’s grumpy.” Artemis smacked him lightly on his bare chest with the back of her hand. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
“Your buddy Claude lied!” Iris snarled at Raphael, making confusion cloud his face. “He remembers everything! And he has friends! I’m lucky I managed to open the portal, thanks to this.” Pulling the arrow from her jacket, she waved it in their face until Artemis took it gently from her fingers. “He was going to kill me. I had no other choice!” Iris looked desperately from one to the other. “I don’t know where Fern went. Luckily he woke up, not five minutes before we heard them coming through the front door of the shop. So we ran, but we had to split up. I just hope he finds the portal soon. There were so many of them!”
“Calm down, no one will harm you here.” Artemis gripped her shoulders, making Iris nod as she gulped air to calm herself down. Artemis remembered what Lazarus had said about Fae feeding off human life and dropped her hands to her sides. Praying that she told the truth, she looked at Iris. “We will find Fern and we will deal with Claude.”
Iris stopped panting, and Artemis almost smiled until she realized that that Iris wasn’t even breathing. The witch was holding her breath while looking over her shoulder with green eyes as round as dinner plates. Before Artemis could ask what was wrong, Iris blinked, sucking up a deep breath.
“It’s you!” she whispered as she lifted a shaky finger.
Looking over her shoulder, Artemis saw Ivy smiling wickedly at Iris. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she watched the witch.
“Yes, It's me!” Ivy’s musical voice rang around them. “And finally the ancient line is here so we can find the first secret! A little early from what I thought the timeline would be, which is surprising, but there might be hope for us after all!” She beamed at everyone.
Artemis and Raphael groaned at the same time as Iris looked around confused.
“I had a feeling this wasn’t over just yet!” Raphael rubbed both his hands over his face.
“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport now, Raphael. Think of all the fun we’re going to have hunting!” A wicked smile lifted the corners of Artemis’s lips as her violet eyes bore in the green panicked ones of Iris.
“I should’ve just let that asshole kill me, I think.” Iris groaned as Ivy’s musical laughter rang around the halls.
About the Author
It’s just a joke, it’s not really the end. Don’t hate me, I’ll try my best to finish the second story as fast as I can. Yes, you guessed it correctly! The second book of the “Hidden Portals trilogy” “The First Secret” is Iris’s story. Who do you think is her love interest? You think you can guess? Let me know by dropping me a line on my FB page, Instagram or shoot me an email. I’ll pick one ra
ndom person to receive an ebook when book two goes live! Thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you can. It truly helps authors to be noticed and continue to write the stories that you like! By reading my book you just made my day, and I adore you!
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Also by Maya Daniels
Semiramis Series
Who am I - Prequel of the Semiramis series
Semiramis Awakened Book 1
Semiramis Reborn Book 2
Semiramis The Vessel Book 3
Stand-alone
The Cursed Kingdom
Hidden Portals trilogy
Venus Trap Book 1
The First Secret Book 2 - coming soon
The Obsidian Throne Book 3 - coming soon
The Broken Halo’s series
The Devil is in the Details Book 1
Speak of the Devil Book 2 - coming soon
