He pressed his lips together and focused forward.
I said nothing.
“Did we just have our first fight since realizing we’re soulmates?” he asked after a ridiculously tense minute.
I glared at him again, he looked away to stop from laughing, and we continued our ride in silence.
5
Selena
Soon the country villas were gone, and the path was nothing more than barely trodden upon grass along low rolling hills.
The tension was so thick between Julian and me that the storm inside of me swelled and gained strength. He glanced over me and smirked every time electricity flashed across my arms and chest, which only pissed me off more.
“You’re getting a rise out of this, aren’t you?” I finally asked.
“I can’t help it.” He smirked again. “You’re hot when you’re angry.”
The intensity in his gaze sent a thrill of pleasure up through my stomach.
Stop it, I told my traitorous body. You’re supposed to be mad at him.
Yet, that didn’t stop me from wanting to guide my horse closer to his, bring them both to a stop, and kiss that smirk right off his stupidly perfect face. Especially because judging from the way he was looking at me, he would welcome it.
So I did exactly that, leaning forward and kissing him with all the anger inside of me.
He tangled his fingers through the roots of my hair and pulled me closer, his tongue probing my lips open as he kissed me back so hungrily that we were eventually forced to stop to catch our breaths. His eyes swirled with desire for more, and I was sure mine looked the same.
His lips curved up into a small smile. “I guess that means you forgive me?” he asked.
My mind was spinning so much that I didn’t quite remember why I was mad at him in the first place.
“I guess I’ll have to forgive you at some point,” I said with a sigh. “Since you’re my soulmate and all.”
“Don’t you forget it,” he said.
As if that was in the realm of possibilities.
I forced myself away from him, centered myself on the saddle, and squeezed my horse’s sides to get her moving. Julian did the same with his, and we rode parallel again.
“So,” he said lazily, looking mighty satisfied with himself. “When we were in the arena, you said you were convinced that the Holy Wand exists because of a prophecy.”
My heart raced, and I looked around for buzzing orbs.
Of course there were none.
I supposed spending so much time in that villa had made me paranoid. It was going to take time to adjust to the fact that my private conversations were truly private, and weren’t being broadcast for the entire realm to see.
“Before I was born, Avalon’s prophetess had a vision about four queens who would each play a vital role in winning the war against the demons,” I said. “The Queen of Cups, the Queen of Swords, the Queen of Wands, and the Queen of Pentacles.”
“What the hell’s a pentacle?” he asked.
“I’ve always wondered that myself,” I said. “But hold on. I’ll get there.”
He nodded for me to continue.
“My mom’s the Queen of Cups,” I said. “She has the Holy Grail. She uses it to turn deserving humans into Nephilim, so they can fight in our army.”
“I think I’ve heard you mention that army a time or two,” he said, his eyes teasing.
I laughed, because yeah, I did mention the Nephilim a lot. “Then there’s the Queen of Swords,” I continued. “Raven. She has Excalibur—the Holy Sword. When she uses it, she fights better than anyone. Even better than you.”
“No way.” He frowned. “That impossible.”
“You’ll believe it when you see it,” I said, since the Queen of Swords was scary as hell when she wielded Excalibur.
“And the other two queens?” he asked.
“They haven’t risen yet.” I shrugged. “But since the Queen of Cups has the Holy Grail—which is a giant cup—and the Queen of Swords has the Holy Sword…”
“Then the existence of a Holy Wand doesn’t seem implausible,” he finished.
“Yep.”
“Interesting,” he said, and from the pensive look in his eyes, I knew he was thinking something he wasn’t saying.
I wanted to ask what it was. But after weeks in Vesta’s Villa together, I knew he’d only share when he was ready.
So we rode in silence for a few minutes, although this silence was companionable, unlike the one before.
“Do you think you could be this queen?” he finally asked. “The Queen of Wands?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “My mom earned the Holy Grail from an angel in Heaven, and Raven was the only one who could pull Excalibur from the stone in Avalon. When we find the wand, we’re giving it to the Empress so we can win the Faerie Games. So perhaps the Empress is the Queen of Wands, and I’m the messenger sent to fetch it for her.”
“You’re more than just a messenger,” he said. “You’re the first ever—”
“Chosen champion of Jupiter,” I said. “I know. But that doesn’t mean I’m the Queen of Wands.”
Silence again.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. “But if you end up being the Queen of Wands, would that make me the King of Wands?” His tone was teasing—I could tell he was just making conversation to pass the time.
“My dad’s official title is prince,” I said. “So I don’t think it works like that.”
“Oh well,” he said. “I suppose Prince Julian will do.”
“All right, Prince Julian.” I smiled and looked out at the weathered path. There was still no apple orchard in sight. “Race you to the next hill?”
“You’re on,” he said, and then we were off.
6
Selena
We only stopped once to refill our water bladders at a stream. The sun was almost set by the time we reached the orchard, and pale green shimmers of the aurora already danced in the sky.
The aurora hadn’t been visible this early in the night for the entire time I’d been in the Otherworld.
Tonight was apparently going to be a strong showing.
The apples smelled so deliciously sweet that it was tempting to stop for a snack. But we didn’t. Because after endless miles of grassy hills, smoke drifted up from ahead.
Chimney smoke.
We hurried across the orchard and spotted a ramshackle wooden home in the distance. It was small, but its chimney was the source of the smoke. There were similar shacks behind it, in the valley between two hills. It looked like a poor, medieval village.
No one was walking around, but Ryanne had said they were farmers. Farmers woke up early. They were probably having their evening meal or getting ready for bed.
“Let’s start with the closest home and work our way through from there,” Julian said.
“Do you think they’ll know who we are?” I asked.
“They should. Even the most remote villages watch the Games through the orbs.”
I sighed, since that wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear. “Hopefully they’re not scared of us.”
“They might be,” he said. “And if they are, it’ll be up to us to change their minds.”
Once we were close enough to the village, we jumped off our horses and guided them behind us with their reins as we walked.
“You should be the one to knock,” Julian said as we got closer to the first shack. “You’re more approachable than I am.”
“You think?” I joked, since there was something undeniably lethal about Julian’s steel wings, lithe body, and intense gaze. A warning that he shouldn’t be messed with. I saw past it because he was my soulmate, but I knew others didn’t.
I handed him my horse’s reins. Then I walked up to the rickety wooden door, took a deep breath, and knocked.
Inside, feet scurried and dishes clattered. Someone peeked through the window—a child with freckled cheeks. Her eyes widened, and her
mouth opened in a circle of shock.
“It’s her,” she said in amazement, looking over her shoulder at whoever else was in the room. “The lightning girl.”
Someone yanked her away from the window.
“Go to your room and be quiet,” a man said. “I’ll handle this.”
More scurrying. Once it stopped, a single set of footsteps marched closer, and a man opened the door.
He appeared middle-aged, although his forehead was already wrinkled, and the hair in his beard was graying. His dark brown tunic and breeches were stained and sloppily mended. He had muscles, but his weary eyes spoke of a life of tedious, manual labor.
“Go away,” he snarled. “You’re not welcome here.”
“Wait—”
He slammed the door in my face.
I stared at it, shaken, then turned to Julian. “Well,” I said. “I suppose that could have gone worse.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “There are a lot more houses. I’m sure one of them will hear us out.”
We continued on our way.
Halfway through the village, it was only door slam after door slam, or no answer at all.
Finally, we reached the largest shack in the center of the village.
Julian handed his horse’s reins to me. “My turn,” he said, and he walked up to the door and knocked.
An older man with a cleanly shaven face and in clothes in relatively good condition opened it.
Julian stuck his foot out to block the door and peeked inside. The house had wooden floors instead of dirt, sturdy furniture, and simple artwork on the walls. It wasn’t much, but the inside was much cleaner than the other houses in the village.
“You’re the leader around here?” Julian asked.
The man glanced down at Julian’s foot. “What’s it to you?”
“I’m Julian,” he said. “This is my soulmate, Selena. We played in the Faerie Games this year, and the Empress sent us to find—”
“The Holy Wand,” the man said. “Do you think we’re so far from civilization that the gods don’t send the orbs our way?”
“Not at all.” I stepped up to Julian’s side and smiled. The horses remained calm behind me. “We didn’t mean to insult you. We’re here because we heard that your village is well-schooled in the ways of the ancient times, when the Otherworld was ruled by queens instead of empresses.”
“And you thought what?” he said. “That we’d tell you where to find the Holy Wand?”
“Well… yes,” I said. “We won’t harm anyone, and we didn’t mean to scare anyone. We were just hoping for some help.”
“Anyone who gives us useful information will be generously rewarded,” Julian added.
“We don’t need charity,” the man spat. “Especially not from your kind.”
“We’re half-bloods,” Julian said firmly. “Just like you.”
“You’re abominations.” He narrowed his beady eyes at us. “Corrupted with magic from the malevolent gods and growing wicked, unnatural wings.”
“It’s not like that,” I said.
“We know what it’s like.” He clenched his fists into tight balls, so angry that he was shaking. “We watch the Games. We’ve seen what your kind always ends up doing to each other. You’re monsters—all of you. You’ll burn our entire village down before any of us raises a hand to help you.”
His cruel words rattled me to the core. “We wouldn’t do that,” I said softly.
“Says the girl who’s cursed with lightning and incinerates everything in her path.”
Julian stepped up in front of me—like he needed to protect me from this feeble man—and stood in a silent stare-down with him.
Neither of them moved.
Finally, Julian removed his foot from the door and kicked it shut, right in front of the man’s face. “Come on.” He took his horse’s reins and continued forward, not looking back at me. “We have more houses to try.”
7
Selena
One final house.
One final door slam in the face.
I rested my forehead and hand against the door. “Please,” I begged. “We won’t hurt you. Just give us a chance.”
Nothing.
Julian reached for me and pried me away from the house. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s find a place to set up camp. Maybe we’ll meet someone who’ll be more welcoming tomorrow, when it’s light out.”
I sniffed and wiped a frustrated tear from my cheek. “All right,” I agreed, since what else were we going to do? Threatening them with our magic would hardly gain their trust.
But that didn’t mean it hadn’t crossed my mind.
“We’ll have to walk a few miles to locate a place to set up camp,” he said. “We don’t want them to find us and attack in the night.”
“Why not?” I scoffed. “We could easily take all of them down.”
“Because dead people can’t give us information.”
Tortured ones can, I thought. But Octavia flashed through my mind, and I didn’t say it out loud. These were poor, scared villagers. I didn’t want to hurt them.
At least, I didn’t want to want to hurt them.
We hopped on our horses and headed west, where the hills could hide us. Fifty yards in, my horse stopped in her tracks.
I gave her a light kick in the sides with my heels. “Come on,” I said. “Just a little bit farther.”
She didn’t continue. Instead, she rotated around and faced east, toward a copse of trees in the distance.
In the center of the trees, below their thick branches, a candle flame flickered through a cloudy window.
“Julian,” I said softly. “Look.”
“Hm,” he said, and his forehead crinkled. “I didn’t see that house there before.”
“Well, it’s there.” I urged my horse to continue toward it, and she was happy to comply. “We might as well check it out.”
The house was a shack, and it was more dilapidated than the worst ones in the village. The wood siding was coming up in places, moss blanketed the sagging roof, and the shutters hung off their hinges. If it hadn’t been for the candle in the window, I would have assumed it was abandoned.
“Be ready to fight,” Julian said as we hopped off our horses. “Just in case it isn’t half-bloods who live here.”
“Who else could live here?” I asked. “Surely a full blood wouldn’t live in such squalor.”
“There are more than just highborn fae and half-bloods out here, especially at night in the trees,” he said. “Just be prepared for anything.”
I nodded, ready to call on my magic in a flash.
We led our horses up to the ramshackle door, and I knocked. I held my breath, half expecting that no one would be inside, despite the candle in the window.
But slowly, the door creaked open. It groaned so much that I wondered how it wasn’t rusted shut.
Two old men stood before us, both dressed in rags. The one who’d opened the door was bald with thick scars on his face. The other had long, snow-white hair and used a cane. They were both so hunched over that they were shorter than us, and they had the red tattoos around their biceps that marked them as half-bloods.
The inside of the house was bigger than I’d originally thought. It was in far better condition than the outside, although the wood furniture was sparse and bare.
“Welcome, travelers,” the white-haired man with the cane asked. “What brings you this far so late at night?”
I glanced back at Julian, and he nodded for me to continue.
“I’m Selena,” I started. “This is my soulmate, Julian. As you may know, the Empress sent us on a quest for the Holy Wand so we can prove we’re worthy winners of the Faerie Games.”
The bald man studied us and twirled his short bead. “Yes,” he said. “We’ve heard of the Games, even way out here in the low country.”
Julian stepped up beside me. “We were told that your village is well-versed in the times of the ancient fae, when quee
ns still ruled the Otherworld,” he said. “We journeyed here hoping someone might be able to point us in the direction of the wand.”
“Let me guess.” The man with the cane raised a bushy white eyebrow. “The villagers have been less than forthcoming?”
“That’s an understatement,” I muttered.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I’m also sorry to tell you that we don’t know the location of the Holy Wand.”
“Oh.” My heart dropped. They were so welcoming that I’d thought…
Never mind what I’d thought. My gut told me to trust them. And they couldn’t tell us what they didn’t know.
“But it’s late,” the white-haired man continued. “May we offer you shelter for the night, and pomegranate juice to keep up your strength?”
Julian’s eyes sharpened. “We wouldn’t want to trouble you,” he said.
“Nonsense.” The bald man smiled. “I can’t remember the last time we had visitors.”
I bit my lower lip and looked at Julian. Sleeping with a roof over our heads would be much more comfortable than sleeping in a tent. Plus, these men weren’t threats to us. Even if my gut was wrong, they weren’t anything we couldn’t handle.
“I suppose we can stay,” Julian said, and I smiled in thanks. “But only if it’s truly not an imposition.”
“I wouldn't have asked if it were,” the bald man said. “Let’s tie your horses up, and we’ll get you settled in.”
8
Selena
The bald man introduced himself as Balius, and the white-haired man was Philemon. They quickly situated us at the table and brought over four glasses of red juice.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any food, otherwise we’d offer you supper as well,” Balius said. “But the juice should keep up your strength. It somehow manages to keep up ours.” He sipped his juice, proving it was safe to drink.
The Faerie Wand (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 4) Page 3
