Trial of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 1)

by Stacey Trombley

  Her lip curls into something like a snarl. Something is definitely not right.

  “I saw Ca—the betrayer, run that way,” I say. “The way we’re supposed to be running. So why are we going off track? Unless you have another motive.” My heartrate picks up.

  Her face falls. Fear, confusion—panic? I’m not sure.

  “Oh, I swore I saw her go this way.” Her voice is calmer now. “Sorry, I’ve been on edge for a while.” Her shoulders slump. I’m still not sure what to make of her. What to make of this detour she tried so hard to push us into. Rook hasn’t said a word, his face blank.

  “You do want to kill her, right?” Brielle whispers.

  I sigh, ignoring the tightness in my chest. “Yes.”

  She nods sharply and turns back the correct direction. “Let’s go.”

  “That challenge really screwed us up, huh?”

  “You too?”

  I nod. “I wish you’d have talked to me. Now’s probably a bad time to work through it.”

  “Or maybe it’s the perfect time.” She smirks.

  “Do you think what they showed us was real? Or just what was meant to screw with us?”

  Her eyebrows pull together. “What did you see?”

  I open my mouth to speak but shut it. “Something really screwed up that I’m not sure was real. Then it made me kill her,” I say, which is a slight fib. I didn’t have to kill her, I don’t think.

  “That’s who you stabbed?”

  I nod.

  “How did it feel?”

  “Not as good as I would have thought.”

  Caelynn

  I sprint ahead, fast enough to pass by Rev and his friends but not Drake and Kari.

  I find the perfect place to jilt left like Drake suggested, but I continue on. Drake thinks he’s controlling this whole thing. He’s setting it up for himself, using everyone’s own desires against themselves and manipulating every piece of this game.

  But I’m not going to let him do it.

  He very well may be setting me up for a swift fall. So, no, I’m not going to follow his plan. Let him think I was too stupid to follow his instructions. Oops.

  Brielle follows the path I noticed but didn’t take. Rev and Rook follow.

  Uh huh, they’re definitely in on this plan, and it’s coming into fruition with or without me. My mind is still spinning through so many things.

  Do I follow Drake’s scheme and let the fae prince—who openly wants to kill me—die? The Night Bringer would sure be pleased with me.

  But what will happen even if I do? Five of us turn against Rev at the well. Then what? Kari said they’d negotiated a truce on my behalf. Until when? When Rev is dead?

  Maybe that was Drake’s plan all along. First, he achieves his goal of getting Rev out of the picture. Second, he earns a handsome award and appreciation from some High Court official.

  And lastly, with Brielle one hundred and fifty percent against me, there is no way I can swing to another side, I’d be forced to continue my alliance with Kari and Drake or lose.

  That would make it three against two.

  Once Rev is out of the way, Drake has the power to take down the rest of the reigning alliance. Then, it’ll be easy picking the two weakest champions off.

  Drake may be a condescending dick, but he’s smart.

  If I let his plan play out, not only would I have to kill Rev and double down on the tear in my soul, but I’d put myself in a position of fighting Drake and Kari on my own. Maybe Tyadin would finally consent to aligning with me but that’s a big “maybe,” and even then, we’d be even at best.

  But what are my other options? Turn against this alliance of five and save Rev?

  I’d like to be that person. I like the idea of redemption in that form but... he hates me. I’m not sure which he’d choose: working with me or death. Which would be a bit of a problem for this strategy of mine to work out.

  So, my choices are stick with Drake’s manipulative plan and hope for the best. I probably won’t win the trials, but I’ll likely live to tell the tale.

  Or risk my life to save someone who will slit my throat the first moment my guard is down.

  A third plan comes to mind—run away. That’s something I’m rather good at, actually. I could complete the task while they’re distracted, let the big-bad fae alliances work out their own damn issues and weaken themselves in the process.

  I sprint faster. That’s as good a plan as I can come up with.

  A prickle on the back of my neck reminds me that inaction is as bad as performing the evil.

  AFTER AN HOUR OF RUNNING, my mouth is dry and my legs burn terribly. I usually relish the pain and simply seek more of it. But right now, I’m not sure what’s coming around the corner.

  I take a sip of water and catch my breath, the sun beating down on me like a new and salacious enemy. It’s like Reahgan attacking me with his paralyzing light again.

  He’s like a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass. I might have snuffed out his life—a fact I am sickeningly proud of, which is another reason aligning with Rev would be an awful idea—but his grip has been crushing my windpipe since I was an adolescent. His spirit haunts me more than the wraith ever could.

  I swallow, my throat still dry, but I want to conserve the water, so I center my thoughts away from the panic and instead harness the rage.

  That’s why I need to win the Trial of Thorns. To prove Reahgan was wrong about me—I’m not no one. I’m not unimportant. I’m not just a doll to be played with, used, and then tossed in the trash.

  I am powerful.

  And I’m ready to show them all.

  Rev

  After our quick and pointless detour, our trek through the desert is smooth. We come across a few poisonous snakes, but Brielle singes them while at full stride. Although, she does slow her pace as we go on. I swear she’d usually be willing to go much faster.

  Not for the first time, I wonder where her loyalties really lie. I wish I had the chance to ask her what she saw in that orb. I’m not even convinced it showed the truth. And what if she saw something entirely false that turned her against me?

  I can’t shake the pit in my stomach that tells me something is wrong.

  We come to a set of sand dunes, and my thighs burn as we march up the steep slope. At the top we look out at the sea of red sand before us.

  “I need some water,” Brielle tells me. So we take the moment to rehydrate before beginning our journey anew.

  “I can see it.” Rook points out to a flash of red, just on the horizon.

  “The Ruby Well,” Brielle whispers. “I never thought I’d see it”

  “You’ve heard of it?”

  She nods. “It’s legend. It’s said to give those who drink from it one desire. Not always the one you ask for, but something in your heart that you secretly want.”

  “That sounds dangerous.”

  “Oh, it is. The stories surrounding the well are... tragic at best. But still, it’s something only a select few have seen with their own eyes.”

  I swallow. Some of the desires in my heart are dark and terrible. I’m not sure I want that well to choose what to give me. I’d rather take none of them.

  Brielle shoves her water canister back into her bag and is the first to take off, charging down the steep slope. Rook smirks at me, a challenge, before he and I both race after her.

  Brielle seems to have gained a new vigor, and I happily follow suit, glad to be able to pick up our pace. I’m surprised there has been no outright brawls yet with murder entirely allowable in this trial. Other than Brielle following a ghost of Caelynn, there’s been nothing.

  As we approach the Ruby Well, its red light glowing in the distance, my unease grows to an extreme. A cold sweat drips down my back, hair on my arms standing.

  What in the world are my instincts trying to tell me?

  Dammit, what am I supposed to do? Accuse Rook and Brielle of conspiring against me? Stop them and demand an
swers? I don’t know. Because I don’t even know what the unease is about.

  I slow down, and for a moment, Rook and Brielle continue on as if they don’t even notice I’ve fallen behind.

  “What are you doing?” Brielle hollers, annoyance lacing her tone.

  I look around. Deep in the distance to the west is a set of brown mountains covered partly by white fluffy clouds. To the east is wide open desert, flat for as far as the eye can see. For the several miles around us in every direction is flat desert. There are a few dunes, wind-swept sand piles that shift and swirl but not enough to conceal any enemies.

  But then again one of my enemies has earth powers. Can she move sand at will?

  The wind can move sand. Drake can control the wind...

  “Something doesn’t feel right.” I slow to a walk, and Brielle rolls her eyes dramatically.

  “You’ve been huffing and puffing about my slow pace all day, and now that we’re here, you’re stopping?”

  “Where are the others?” I ask suddenly. Nearly all of them ran ahead. The only champion behind us is the dwarf. Have they really all completed their tasks and moved on so far they’re entirely out of sight? Were we really that slow?

  “You’re being paranoid,” Rook says, putting his hands on his hips, but he sends a glance at Brielle that shakes me to my core. My blood runs cold, suddenly certain of my suspicions.

  “Come on,” Brielle says. “Let’s get this done with so we can get to the mountains before dark.”

  “Mountains?” I ask her. No one has said anything about heading to the mountains.

  Her eyes flare for a moment. More evidence of her deceit. She’s been getting information from someone else. Was it her pixie spy? If so why didn’t she tell me?

  “It’ll be safer to sleep there while we wait for the next task.” A good cover, but I know a liar when I see one. She shifts nervously.

  “You guys go ahead.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I still see nothing out of the ordinary, but my gut is screaming at me to run. How could I run, though? My task is right there, only five hundred feet ahead. I still have a few hours to complete the trial, but even if I ran off, I’d have to come back at some point.

  A form appears far to my right, a dark rippling like she stepped out of shadow, and my stomach sinks.

  Caelynn stands with her arms crossed, her face a perfect mask of indifference. Her white tunic ruffles in the gentle wind. Always confident, never unnerved. Although, now that I look closer, her expression is one of vague annoyance. She’s annoyed I didn’t fall for whatever trap she’d set?

  Just feet behind her, the sand shifts oddly, catching my attention. There’s a ripple. A slight movement beneath the ground like... wind.

  I pull out my sword and curse again, but Caelynn holds her hands up in a show of temporary peace.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I seethe.

  She steps forward, hands still up. Brielle is sneering at her, but she’s not surprised. Not remotely surprised.

  Dammit, I really want to know what’s going on.

  I look between Brielle and Caelynn. “You’re working with her,” I say, my voice void of light. How? Why? I don’t even have the breath to express those questions.

  Caelynn steps forward again, her blond hair waving in the increasingly irritated wind. “Come and get me,” she says, with a wink. But her expression tells me she knows I have no intention of doing any such thing. Not right now.

  She slides her foot forward, shifting the sand ever so slightly. My gaze darts down to her boot that she very specifically doesn’t put pressure on.

  Wood. There’s a plank hidden beneath the sand.

  I let out a breath. Did my betrayer just expose the trap purposefully? Because it sure as hell looks like it.

  My heart is pounding.

  “I’m going to kill her,” Brielle tells me. Well, that’s the truth. I can see it in her eyes.

  “No one cares,” the murderer says off handedly. “This is between me and Rev.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “Don’t call me that. Only my friends call me that.”

  Her eyebrows flick up in surprise. “I wasn’t aware. These two call you that name all the time. And, well...”

  She doesn’t complete the sentence, and I hear a huff behind the now obvious shifting sand a few feet back. I have no doubt who’s behind it. All five of them against me?

  Or is it four?

  Time to run and figure out the rest, but just as I tense to sprint away from my pursuers, a vine sprouts from beneath the sand and grips my ankle. I grit my teeth and use my light to shoot the vine away, but Rook and Brielle have already shifted behind me, blocking my retreat.

  The sand behind Drake spins and swirls into a small cyclone and laughter erupts. Kari and Drake march to stand beside Caelynn.

  The thought crosses my mind for one instant: I’m going to die.

  Then, I act. I spin, my blade flying into my closest enemies—Brielle and Rook. A roar of fire greets me, searing my forearm, but I ignore the pain. A groan of rage tears from my lungs as my blade flies at Rook. He parries with his own, and I spin toward Brielle, her eyes red with anger and determination. I slice toward her face, but Rook reaches me first. The sound of flesh ripping wide registers first.

  Then the silver glint of a blade through my stomach.

  My face whitens as I feel the warmth of blood growing over my middle. I blast white hot light from my body, holding nothing back—I have nothing left to lose. Panic wells in my body. My own death pressing down on me.

  Not like this. I never expected it to happen like this.

  Brielle and Rook dive out of the way of my attack, leaving one small path out.

  I don’t wait, my brain hardly working. I flee, knowing that I’m too injured to get far.

  Knowing, without a doubt, that I’m going to die.

  Caelynn

  Drake, Kari, and I follow the wounded Rev. A wall of stone erupts from the sand to block his escape and his eyes grow wild with anger and fear. For a moment, I think it came from Tyadin, but I realize that Kari has similar powers. Their courts split into two around the time of the dwarfish civil war. Now, the pure fae bloodlines of the Crystal Court rule over the secondary stone court—the Crumbling Court.

  Rev backs into the stone barrier, hands frantically searching for an escape, all the while keeping his eyes on the enemies in front of him. He’s trapped and injured.

  Maybe if he’d fled the moment he realized something was wrong. Maybe if he’d fled when I exposed the trap. But he waited. He second-guessed. He let the pain of the betrayal get to him.

  Now, there’s no escape.

  Rev is going to die.

  The thought sends a pang of regret through me.

  I’d never spent much time thinking about what I desired for him all these years after I killed his brother, but the image of his scared face as an adolescent—of the pained expression the orb showed me at his brother’s death—rages through me, and I swallow back the pain.

  It’s too late to change my mind now. He’s an injured animal, cornered. He’s done for, and he knows it.

  “Why?” he forces from his lips as he turns to face us, his whole body feral.

  “Animal,” Drake spits, and I roll my eyes. Please. Put Drake in the same position, and I guarantee the spoiled brat would be sobbing and begging for mercy. The insult seems to hit home with Rev, though, and he stands up straighter. His head high but his eyes still wild with pain.

  I clench my fists tighter.

  A raven screeches overhead, crying out. I can practically hear her begging me to change my mind.

  There’s nothing I can do, I repeat to myself. He’s injured, blood dripping down his abdomen all the way to his legs. His face is pale. He’s weakening quickly.

  If I were to try to stop this, I’d be fighting four future fae lords and ladies. Their strength is nothing to be scoffed at. Each of them.

  I could fig
ht one or two easily. Four? I shake my head but I notice how close we all stand together and my mind starts spinning...

  “Why!” he shouts again.

  Drake smirks, crossing his arms, enjoying the game. Savoring his win.

  “Your father put out a hit on you.” My stomach sinks, even though it’s what I’d guessed. “You’d be shocked how much he was willing to pay to get you out of his way.”

  Rev’s lips part, but otherwise he shows no reaction. Is he not surprised either?

  “You were never good enough, Rev. Your father doesn’t want to hand such a powerful court to a pathetic heir like you. He’d rather give it to his bastards. Sad, isn’t it?” Drake laughs. “But of course, he doesn’t want the world to know of your true weakness. He wanted you out of the way neatly. And I agreed to hand it to him.”

  I wrinkle my nose. The fae world is screwed if this jerk is to be their new high ruler.

  “And what about you?” I ask, for the first time turning to Rev’s friends. “What’s your excuse?”

  Tears well in Rev’s eyes. Dammit.

  I hate this. I hate it.

  They’ll blame me for it, I realize.

  When this trial is done, they’re going to tell all of the courts that I’m the one that killed Rev. I know it. I can feel it in the way they look at me. That’s another part of Drake’s plan.

  I’m the fall guy, whether I live or not.

  I pin my gaze to Brielle. “You wanted to kill me for being a betrayer. A murderer. Those are your words. Yet, you stand here, looking your friend in the eye as you watch him bleed out from a wound you supplied.” I say. Rook lifts his chin, unwilling to look me in the eye.

  Brielle sneers. “I want to kill you. But that’s not a secret.”

  “But first... you’re going to kill your friend and become what you hate me for?”

  “He’s not my friend,” Rook says, still keeping his attention elsewhere.

  “He betrayed us first,” Brielle says.

  I narrow my eyes, but Brielle turns away, apparently over entertaining me.