Under Twilight: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Fearless Destiny Book 3)

by Debbie Cassidy

  Irina’s laugh drifted back to us on the wind and then we were out of the palace grounds and hurtling into the night. We had a hundred miles to go before we hit the forest, and from there we’d continue on foot. The forest spanned the edge of the capital, which touched upon the boundaries of Twilight. The two capitals sat almost side by side, but the Black Forest was a beast in itself, or so Davin had explained. It was a place that would eat you up and spit you out in a heartbeat—filled with the dregs of djinn and Twilight society, creatures that preferred the dark canopy beneath monolithic trees to the sunshine and meadows of their respective worlds.

  By Erebus and Irina’s calculations, the journey would take a night and most of the next day, but if we timed it right then it would still enter the forest in daylight and emerge at dusk. There was a tavern just over fifty miles from the palace, our first stop for the night.

  I raised my voice to be heard above the clatter of hooves and whistle of the wind. “Shouldn’t we slow down? Won’t the mounts tire?”

  Erebus’s chest rumbled in laughter. “They’ll tire,” his breath was warm against the shell of my ear. “But they have several miles in them before slowing down is required.”

  Irina was still in the lead, but barely by a length. Erebus’s thighs flexed behind mine and our mount surged forward, overtaking Irina smoothly.

  She laughed again, a sultry sexy sound.

  Why was I clenching my teeth?

  Long minutes ticked by, and then with a tug on the reins Erebus instructed the mount to slow its pace.

  His lips brushed my ear. “You’re tense.”

  Shit, I was. Forcing my body to relax, I leaned into him. “I’m fine. Just anxious about our mission.”

  He was silent for a long beat. “Ibris had many wives. Do you know why?”

  “Um, I assume it’s the djinn way?”

  He chuckled. “No, it was Ibris’s way. Efreet are highly sexed. Ibris was a man with great needs, and to fulfil those needs he needed many wives. Love may have come into it with one or two of them, but for the others it was a purely physical arrangement.”

  What was he trying to say? My neck heated as suspicion bloomed in my chest.

  Erebus’s thumb brushed the top of my hand. “You are part efreet, Kenna. Now that you have the flame inside you, you will feel the fire, and you will need to quench it either on the battle field or in the bedroom. But being monarch means the battlefield is forbidden so …”

  He was saying I needed to fuck. Yeah, didn’t I know it, and as soon as Baal got back I’d get right on that. There was nothing I could do about it now. My dream came back to me, Dante’s taunts and Erebus’s tortured responses. She’d goaded him into fucking her—used him as a fuck buddy to ease her fire. But he’d wanted her too. It had been evident in the way he’d touched her, the way he’d kissed her. And then she’d fallen for Baal. But it was just a dream, right? My imagination? Wasn’t it? But they had been shacking up. Had Erebus been hurt when she’d moved on to Baal? Was that why Erebus had been so easily seduced by another—the woman who’d lured him away from the palace, allowing the slaughter of my family?

  “If you need relief, then you may call on me,” Erebus said.

  Relief? As in sex. Oh god. He was offering himself to me, and for a split second I contemplated it. What the heck was wrong with me?

  “I’m fine.” I bit out the words.

  He chuckled. “If you say so.”

  He’d felt my need through our bond. Damn. He’d probably felt the aftershocks of my dream orgasm. But there was no denying that he was on to something. My body felt different. It had started when my alters had assimilated, but really kicked into gear once the throne had accepted me. As if something inside me had clicked into place. My true nature had risen to the surface and seeped through my mortal skin, coating it in a sheen of otherworldliness. I was efreet. And if this heightened sex drive was part and parcel of how I was, then it needed to be addressed. But taking multiple lovers was out of the question. My heart belonged to Baal, and my body’s cravings would be his to sate.

  Irina sidled up to us and addressed Erebus. “You were letting me win, weren’t you?”

  “I enjoyed your enthusiasm, and the view,” Erebus said, a light tone to his voice.

  Oh god, was he flirting with her? And why did I even care?

  Irina laughed throatily. “Well, enthusiasm is something I have in abundance.”

  Now she was flirting back. This was too weird, but pointing it out would make me look like I gave a damn, which I didn’t. We still had a good few hours of riding ahead of us, time to switch off. Closing my eyes, I allowed their conversation to wash over me, blocking out the chest rumbling seduction and sultry tones. If those two were going to get it on, then I didn’t need to know. The lulling rocking of the mount, Erebus’s warm body pressed against me, and the trusted circle of his arms, made it impossible to resist the lull of sleep.

  ***

  “Kenna, we are here.” Erebus’s lips grazed my earlobe, waking me with a shiver.

  Cracking open my eyes I squinted at the blood red sky.

  “Dawn approaches,” Irina said. “We must get inside before we are spotted.”

  Erebus lifted me from the mount, but didn’t set me on my feet, instead he carried me cradled against his chest, into a tumbled-down shack and gently lowered me onto a wooden chair.

  The cabin was threadbare but clean. “I thought we were stopping at a tavern.”

  “The tavern is a mile up ahead. But this is safer,” Erebus said. “It’s a traveller’s lodge kept stocked by the tavern. Employees of the crown—messengers, emissaries and the like—use it. Irina is stabling the mounts, and then she will place a cross on the placard outside to let other travellers know this lodge is taken.”

  So the fact I was here would remain a secret, and our mission with it. “Good plan.” My stomach rumbled. “What is there to eat?”

  I made to stand but he gently pressed me back into my seat.

  “Let me take stock.”

  “Where? There is no kitchen.”

  He laughed and pointed at the huge pot hanging over a wide hearth. “That is the kitchen. I will go check the larder.”

  He wasn’t gone long, and when he returned his face was a stormy frown. “It seems like the tavern has been neglecting its duties.”

  “Or maybe no one’s been this way in a while?” I shrugged. “With Kai in power for so long there’s been no official crown. This could have been the villager’s way of snubbing a cuckoo king.”

  Erebus sighed. “Yes. But it means we have no food.”

  Irina entered the cabin, her gaze going from Erebus’s annoyed expression to my resigned one. “Do we have a problem?”

  “No food,” Erebus said.

  Irina grinned. “Just as well I brought my bow. I’ll go catch us something. There’s a brook not too far back if you wouldn’t mind fetching some water, and your majesty, do you know how to light a fire?”

  A week ago I’d have said no, but since assimilating with my alters I had a host of skills at my disposal. “Sure, I can do that.”

  Irina left us to our tasks and ducked out to hunt.

  Erebus picked up the bucket by the door. “You’ll be all right with the fire?”

  “Will you be all right fetching water?”

  His lips twitched. “Testy, aren’t we?”

  I growled in exasperation. “Just go fetch the damn water.”

  He headed out, his laughter a low rumble that left me aching. Fuck this efreet shit. Focus Kenna. Time to build a fire in the hearth and ignore the one building inside me. We’d be at the Black Forest soon enough, and maybe I’d get to vent some aggression there. Great, now I was hoping to get attacked.

  A few minutes later, fire started, I sat back on my heels in triumph. Yep, I could have done that in my sleep. I’d probably done this hundreds of times over the course of my many lives. Dwelling on it now was a mind-fuck. Time to explore.

  The lodge
was small and cosy, two bedchambers, a bed in each room, and a washroom with an ancient looking pump, that yep, did nothing. Erebus would have to make another trip to the river for water to wash in, cos perspiration and was not a cool scent on me.

  The door opened, and as if summoned by my thoughts Erebus strode in, Irina at his back. They were both flushed, and the remnants of laughter lingered around their mouths.

  That dark twisty feeling was back again. “How long does it take to get water?”

  Erebus hung the pot over the fire, unfazed by my tone, but Irina faltered, blinking at me in confusion.

  Shit I needed to rein it in. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Sorry, I get snippy when I’m hungry.”

  Irina smiled warmly. “Well we can certainly do something about that.” She held up three dead rabbits. “All skinned and good to go.”

  “I’ll chop them up,” Erebus took them off her. “Have you got herbs?” Irina pulled a bunch of leaves from her pocket. Erebus looked them over. “Yes, they should do it.”

  He could cook too?

  Irina shrugged off her coat and joined me at the table. “We should go over the plan one more time. I think we need a new contingency plan.”

  “What? You don’t like the if-we-get-caught-run-like-hell plan?”

  She didn’t crack a smile and her golden gaze remained speculative. “You use humour to mask your unease.”

  “Yeah, it’s called being human.”

  “But you are not human. You are djinn and Twilighter. Humour will not save us.”

  “Honey, if we get caught, nothing will save us.”

  She tucked in her chin, her gaze on the dark grains etched into the table. “If we are caught, if the Twilighters discover us, then Erebus and I will distract them. We will give you every chance to escape and you must do so. Promise me.”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not leaving you guys and running.”

  She grabbed my hand and squeezed so hard I had to stifle a yelp.

  “You will run, and you will survive, because if Baal returns and you are not safe in the palace, then anything the Twilighters do to me will pale in comparison to what he will do.”

  “You’re afraid of him.”

  She shook her head. “No. Just of what he will become if he loses you, and what he will do to those responsible. I promised to keep you safe, but you are my queen and I am obligated to follow your orders, which is why we are here, and why Baal is unaware. But as a friend I beg you to grant me this one request.”

  The earnestness in her expression, the tension in her body sent a shiver through me. “Okay. I promise I’ll save myself.”

  She exhaled, and released my hand. “Well, now that is decided I feel the stew could do with a touch of magic to speed it up.”

  She walked off to join Erebus at the hearth.

  Baal was going to be so pissed when he found out about this. But I couldn’t make all my decisions based on how he’d feel about them. Being a good queen meant putting the people first. Their needs must come above mine. And they needed a queen. Cold fingers of doubt slipped around my throat. If I died, then the realm would be back at square one—torn apart by lords fighting over the crown—and the hoard would rapidly gain strength. Had I been wrong to ignore Irina and Davin? This was what he’d been trying to impress on me. This would be Baal’s argument. They’d both be right. But by then we’d be back. We’d be safe. The dark djinn would be free, and we could chalk it all up to experience. It was too late to be questioning my actions now, but maybe it was time to stop thinking like a Fearless officer. My stomach flipped at the thought of standing on the side-lines and letting others risk their lives. It wasn’t in my nature to hang back. But then once this was done, once we’d squashed Orin’s takeover plan, there would be peace. There would be no need for Fearless.

  In the meantime, it was my job to stay alive.

  ***

  Irina’s breath was slow and even beside me, but sleep was being a bitch and refusing to take me. The sting in my veins and turmoil in my head didn’t help. Back in Lindrealm, I’d have taken my bike and gone for a ride to clear my head. Maybe a walk in the fresh air? No. We were meant to be undercover, and getting spotted was not part of the plan. But lying here staring at the ceiling was a pretty shitty substitute. Slipping out of the bed Irina and I were sharing, I padded out into the main room. It was lit with an amber glow from the fire which still burned cheerily in the hearth. I’d sit and watch the flames until—

  “Kenna?” Erebus stepped out of the shadows to my left.

  I jumped, hand on heart. “What the fuck? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  He chuckled. “I was preparing some herbal tea.” He held up a kettle. “Would you like some?”

  “You drink herbal tea?”

  “Only when I have trouble sleeping.” His eyes glinted in the gloom as they raked over my sleep attire, which consisted of loose pants and a vest, not revealing at all, but under his heated gaze I may as well have been naked.

  I parked my butt on the rug by the hearth and held out my hands to the flames, absorbing the delicious heat. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  Erebus hung the kettle over the flames and then joined me. “And what look would that be?”

  His shoulder brushed mine, and I shuffled to the side, breaking contact.

  “The one where you caress me with your gaze.”

  “Do you think I want to sense your every mood? The last few days you’ve been projecting your emotions and your desires like a beacon. I can feel your need like it was my own. It is impossible to ignore.” His regard was a warm breath on my cheek. His tone dropped an octave, alluring and enticing. “I could satisfy your body’s needs.”

  Damn him and his tempting offers. I blew out a breath and turned my head to lock gazes with him. “Like you did for Dante?”

  His expression shuttered, and his silver eyes turned to flint. “I see you’ve been listening to rumours.”

  “So, you guys weren’t intimate?”

  He focused on the flames. “Dante was an efreet. She was passionate and wild and sexual. It was what made her a formidable warrior. But the blade wasn’t enough.”

  “And you provided the extra?”

  His jaw ticked. “Yes. And I would do the same for you. Dante was my princess, and you are my queen.”

  How could he say that? Did he honestly think he was worth so little? A cock to service his queen?

  I laid my hand on his forearm, the skin taut and smooth under my fingers. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ve been feeling different lately. The efreet thing is probably happening to me, but I can’t just have sex with people to satisfy my needs. Fair play to the efreet that did things that way, but it’s not for me. Maybe it’s the humanity in me that makes me cringe at the thought. But even if I was to consider it, you mean too much to me to use you like that. You deserve better.”

  His breath caught. “Better?”

  “Yeah. Someone who loves you.”

  “You loved me once.” His words were a whisper.

  Wow, had he really just gone there? “I honestly didn’t expect you to say that.”

  He snorted. “Yes, neither had I.”

  I swallowed hard. I had loved him, still did. Just not in the way I loved Baal. Baal’s face came to mind, his piercing green eyes and indigo hair, so soft and silken between my fingers. And then there was his wicked smile that made my heart race and my chest. But sharing my feelings with Erebus would be cruel. There was a time, not too long ago, when hurting him would have given me satisfaction. Not now. It was strange how living in this world for a while had changed my point of view, how it had given me a deeper understanding of the first djinn I’d fallen in love with.

  Erebus sat up and reached for the kettle. “The tea is ready.”

  We drank it in silence, and then went our separate ways. Hopefully my silence was answer enough for his unspoken question.

  7

&n
bsp; The Black Forest stretched out before us, a vast expanse of darkness waiting to swallow us whole. Irina dismounted and led her leoequise to the edge of the forest. She patted its beastly head and whispered something into its ear.

  I gripped Erebus’s shoulders as he helped me dismount. “What is she doing?”

  “Thanking it for the ride and asking it to wait for her.”

  “It understands?”

  “Leoequise are highly intelligent creatures. They work with me because they chose to. They seem to have taken a shine to Irina.” His lips curved in a soft smile.

  There was so much about this world I needed to learn. Riding was one of them. I made a mental note to add that to the top of my to-do list, under save Lindrealm, protect the fifth dimension, and kill Orin.

  Erebus strapped on his sword. The rest of the supplies would remain here with the mounts. Together we ventured forth into the forest. It was like stepping into a cave. The temperature drop was immediate, and the sun vanished. The environment was damp and musty and gloomy. Tall twisted tree trunks dotted our path, their branches entwined like a dying lover’s desperate embrace. The leaves and flora were black or dark brown, and not a sound penetrated the thick, heavy silence.

  “This is unsettling,” Irina said.

  “We have just over a mile to go and then we will reach the river,” Erebus said.

  A mile of this? Yeah, this would be fun. “Let’s hope we don’t come across any inhabitants of this place.”