by Skye Horn
First, there was Kieran—her winged savior.
Then there was Faylon—her unicorn companion.
And last, there was the entire world around her. This winter buzzed with something deeper than a natural weather occurrence. There was magic pulsing through the air—magic that buzzed directly through her core.
How could she continue to deny the insane facts laid out in front of her?
Hold on, he told her, surprising her out of her thoughts as he climbed one of the larger hillsides.
Thea’s eyes widened as they neared the top. Miles of forests and plains stretched out around them, separated by what looked like villages of buildings, but the most magnificent beauty of it all was that the entire landscape was blanketed in white.
This is Grimwalde, Faylon explained to her as she closed her slightly parted lips. To the Northwest you will find Gimmerwich, and to the Southeast you’ll find Blackmire.
“Ethel said there were four Kingdoms,” Thea commented, looking toward the Castle of Grimwalde, which she could just glimpse beyond the village. She’d seen the ruins of many castles on her journey through Ireland, and yet this one appeared whole. Even from a distance, Thea could tell that this castle wasn’t abandoned, but rather inhabited—probably by the king of whom Iris had spoken.
The fourth kingdom, Ivandor, lies Northeast of us, Faylon’s voice was gentle as his eyes turned fiercely toward the Northeast. Thea followed his gaze. That is where you were born.
“How do you know that?” Thea asked, unable to hide her shock.
Because I was born there as well.
That explanation told Thea all she needed to know about his troubled look. She slipped from his back, praying for grace, but stumbled as her feet hit the ground. A cold breeze teased Thea’s bare legs where her dress had torn during their journey, but she ignored the chill and leaned her head against Faylon’s neck, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
“Why did they send me away?”
She didn’t expect an answer from her companion. Just because he’d been born there didn’t mean he really knew anything about her past. The answers to her questions remained at the cottage where Kieran abandoned her. If she’d only stayed, maybe he could have told her about her birth parents, but she’d run, just as she always did.
A sigh escaped Thea’s lips as she stroked Faylon’s muzzle, shivering. She wouldn’t survive nightfall in these conditions. It was too cold, too wet, and she was too human. Kieran had warmed her back in Ireland, but she had no idea how he’d done it. He’d taken care of her, kept her safe, and she’d run away from him.
“What am I supposed to do?” she said more to herself as a fear of the unknown crept over her. Her rash decision-making had consequences she would now suffer. If she were lucky, Faylon would know the way back to the cottage and Iris would allow her to stay, but what did that mean about her life back home?
What life? a cruel version of herself asked. Your parents are dead. Marcus will never forgive you for what you did to him, and even if he did, you don’t want to marry him.
It was the brutal candor she’d been avoiding. She’d left Colorado in search of answers, but what happy ending had she really expected? Crawling back to Marcus was the worst imaginable thing Thea could imagine. Regardless of how sweet he’d been to her during her grief, she needed to find out who she was without him and without her old life. How could she go back now and pretend none of this had ever happened?
You can’t, Faylon said, listening to her inner turmoil. She didn’t mind his ability to know what she thought. In fact, she found it semi-comforting to have someone else in the chaos of her mind. I’m sorry that this is how you found out the truth, but nothing will make this go away. King Malachi knows where you are now. It is only a matter of time before he comes after you again. You’d be putting everyone you love in danger if you returned.
Thea didn’t know who King Malachi was, or why he wanted her, but the seriousness of Faylon’s tone made a sense of absolute dread pull at her already tight muscles.
Why does he even want me? To kill me? Use me? What have I done to deserve any of this? Desperation seeped through her thoughts, but how was she supposed to wrap her mind around putting everyone in danger, if no one would even tell her the reason she was in danger?
“Princess Thea,” came a tense whisper of her name across the wind. A soft thump echoed behind them, interrupting their conversation, and Thea spun around to meet the source of the familiar voice.
Kieran stood a few feet away, folding his wings back against himself as he glared at her, clearly furious. This was the first time that Thea had really seen Kieran. At the Hill of Knockainey, he’d been little more than a tall shadow, but now every detail she’d missed before became crystal clear, and her mouth had become as dry as cotton.
His tousled brown hair reached the tops of his shoulders, and although it was partially pulled back, a few strands fell against his stubble shadowed chin, framing his face. Her hand twitched at her side, wanting to brush the tousled hair away from his endless green eyes. However, she kept her feet planted and her face composed, mentally scolding herself for the incredibly embarrassing thoughts that left her feeling completely exposed to him. Her eyes shifted slowly to the silky black wings he no longer hid from her, and she noticed the feathers twitch beneath her gaze.
“Hello, Kieran,” she finally replied in a small voice that didn’t sound like her own. Her fingers clenched into fists as another wave of trembling cold overcame her. Her toes felt frozen in the simple leather flats, and her dress fluttered against the wind while his eyes drifted down to see the bare skin peeking out from beneath.
It brought a flush of color to Thea’s cheeks and she pulled the dress back over her legs, attempting to keep it in place, as their gazes finally met.
She could still see the anger on his face, but if she wasn’t mistaken, she’d also glimpsed a flash of desire that he’d quickly hidden away. The silence was deafening, and yet, she didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t say she was sorry for running away, because she wasn’t. Her instincts had told her to run, so she’d done so. She also couldn’t say she was ready to go back, because what would that mean for her life?
“How did you find me?” she ended up asking him.
“Why did you run?” he retorted, and a flash of anger sizzled through her.
These people can’t just answer a question, can they? She thought with annoyance. Instead of answering him, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the snowy ground, pressing her lips into a straight line. She would just refuse to talk until he gave her answers, as childish as that made her feel.
The crunch of snow beneath boots told her he was walking toward her, but she didn’t dare look up. Thea felt the same pull she had felt the night that he found her in Ireland. It called her to him, begging her to meet his gaze, but if she did that, she was sure she would crumble right back into trusting him.
“You could have been killed,” he said, his voice softening. Thea thought he almost sounded guilty, and she nearly looked up. “What if Malachi had been here?”
This captured her attention. It was the second time she’d heard the name Malachi in less than an hour, and now she was sure that was who had sent Amara to kill her. But if that were the case… The thought stung.
“Who is Malachi?” Thea asked, finally meeting Kieran’s eyes.
An agonizing guilt that stunned Thea had replaced the look of anger in Kieran’s eyes. She hadn’t expected to see such an emotion on his face. Kieran seemed like the type of person who would always have his emotions under control, but here he was, an open book for her to read. Her arms uncrossed slowly and he reached out to touch her cheek with his hand, surprising her further.
“I think you already know who Malachi is,” he said. Thea thought he sounded sad as he spoke the words—his face most definitely reflected that sadness—but she didn’t want to admit the thoughts she’d been piecing together in her mi
nd. His callused hand warmed her cheek, rough against her soft skin, and yet, it was as gentle as someone who was stroking a timid animal.
He believes you might run again, she thought, searching his eyes for the answers she desperately wanted. Her eyelids lowered to hide the fear that threatened to bubble up to the surface. She didn’t want to believe what she was about to say, but she needed to know for sure. So she spoke slowly, her voice dropping to a monotone.
“He’s my father.”
There was no question at the end of her sentence. She’d put the pieces together. Amara had tried to kill her; Kieran had demanded Amara return to her father; Amara had claimed to be Thea’s sister, which meant Thea’s father was trying to kill her, or at least capture her.
But, why?
“Yes,” Kieran responded.
He placed two fingers beneath her chin and lifted her head to meet his gaze once more. Thea saw him studying her face, taking in every aspect of her appearance in the light, but she didn’t hide herself away from him. Instead, she watched the way his skin tightened across his squared jaw, and the rise and fall of his Adam’s apple. He wore a long-sleeved tunic shirt tucked into a pair of black leather pants and a weapons baldric strapped across his chest with a variety of blades attached to it. Her eyes flickered across each one, remembering the dagger she’d tucked away in her corset, but she didn’t fear his swords or daggers.
“You scared me,” he said, eyes darkening with an agony that made Thea’s breath catch. “I thought...”
Thea reached up to take his hand from beneath her chin and gave it a gentle squeeze, not knowing where her courage was coming from, but needing to make that darkened look in his eyes disappear. It hurt to see him look at her like that.
“I’m sorry that I ran.”
She’d been so sure that running away was the right thing to do, but now, seeing the torture she’d brought to him, she wondered if she’d been wrong. Should she have turned around as soon as she realized Ethel and Iris weren’t lying about her not being in Ireland anymore? Should she have waited for his return? She knew she couldn’t change the past, but she wished she could make at least one right decision today.
“When Ethel told me you left, I went looking for you, but I didn’t see you until he brought you onto the hilltop. If you hadn’t come up here, I probably never would have found you.” His voice trembled over each word, as if the very thought of never finding her might tear him to pieces. It broke Thea’s heart, although she was unsure why he felt such a deep need to keep her safe.
“You knew,” she mumbled, directing her gaze to Faylon. He stood picking leaves off the branches of a dying tree nearby, but he glanced at her as she spoke, lowering his head as if in apology. “That’s why you brought me here—not to show me the kingdoms.”
“It’s his job to protect you,” Kieran said, stroking his thumb over the back of Thea’s hand.
“What? Why?” Thea asked, looking back at Kieran, but his eyes lingered on the goosebumps that decorated her skin. It was mid-afternoon, but her ruined dress and wet feet sent a chill through her entire body.
“I’ll explain that later,” he said and his wings spread wide, wrapping around them both. Before she could gape or react at all, he pulled her against his chest and a flood of warm air surrounded her. His wings shielded her from the cold, and his chin rested against her hair. A slow tremble overcame her as the warmth spread from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, but she welcomed it happily, letting her eyelids flutter closed as the magic kissed her skin.
Magic, she repeated in her head, trying to make sense of the word. She’d seen so much of it lately. Between Kieran’s arrival and what had happed with Faylon, she couldn’t keep denying its existence. So, she embraced it as she lifted her head to look at Kieran once more.
“I can’t keep running away,” she whispered, her voice no longer trembling with fear, but rather with a desperate need for answers about the past. Every rational part of her screamed that none of this was possible, but she refused to deny what was right in front of her any longer. She wanted the truth. She needed the truth.
Time felt slow as Kieran studied her face. Perhaps he wasn’t sure if she could handle it yet. Perhaps he was still angry that she’d run away. Thea wasn’t sure, but she didn’t look away.
“What do you want to know?” he finally asked and anxious relief rolled over her, releasing the tension between her shoulder blades.
“Tell me everything.”
Chapter 5
Kieran realized that telling her everything wasn’t an option. They’d be sitting on this hillside long past nightfall if he started down that path. However, she deserved an explanation if he hoped for her to stay. Having her in his arms was distracting his thoughts, though. She’d been in his embrace before, but the situation had been different then. For one, she’d been half-unconscious. For two, their lives had been in mortal danger. Now, there were no real distractions from the feelings that stirred within him as she pressed closer for warmth, nor from the softness of her small mouth just inches from his own.
“I don’t know where to start,” he admitted. Her slight tremble didn’t go unnoticed by him as the feathers of his wings brushed against the bare skin of her leg. Her dress had ripped almost completely up her thigh during the ride, and he spent an impressive deal of time forcing himself not to glance at the exposed skin. However, when his feathers brushed against her, his control felt like it might shatter. There could have been explosions in the sky or war on the plains below, but Kieran wouldn’t have noticed or cared. He wanted to stay in this moment forever. He wanted to hold her in his arms for an entire lifetime. He wanted—and that was the problem, because he couldn’t have what he wanted if it was her.
Her lips parted slightly as she prepared to answer him, exhaling a breath of sweet air into the space between them. The temptation to taste that sweetness tortured him, but that was why he needed to stop before that same dangerous desire reflected any further on her face. Kieran needed to take control of the situation, because if he didn’t, they’d both walk away broken. His body was not as rational as his mind, though. He imagined pressing his lips to hers or raising his fingers across her exposed skin, but he suppressed that longing.
Her braid had loosened during the ride, and he wanted to release it so that her hair would fall untamed around her shoulders. However, he settled for tucking a silky strand behind her ear instead.
“What are you?” Thea asked for the second time since he’d found her. Her eyes looked away from his now, but they examined his wings. She reached her hand toward them, then looked at him for approval. Swallowing hard, he nodded his head as her fingertips traced along the veins of his feathers with deliberate gentleness. He was thankful the feel of his wings distracted her, because he didn’t trust his face to hide the torturing desire he felt at her touch. He’d allowed no one to touch his wings before. Sensitive nerve endings lined them to help him navigate the skies, but beneath her fingertips they had an entirely new purpose.
“I’m a Fae,” Kieran finally choked out, regaining Thea’s full attention. Whatever look she saw on his face made her eyes widen in surprise, but it didn’t deter her from continuing her gentle caress as Kieran fought to regain his control. “And so are you.”
“Like Tinkerbell?” Thea asked, but Kieran had no idea what she was talking about. He reached out and took her hand, unable to undergo any more of her unbearable teasing. His breath caught, and he swore he saw her smile at his sudden reaction to her touch. He wanted to let her continue, as well as do far more, but the consequences were too great.
“The Fae are a species born from the love between a Goddess and a human,” Kieran explained, but he didn’t let go of her hand. “The legend says that Ainé, The Goddess of Life, had a human lover. When they bore children they created the Fae.”
“I read about her in Ireland,” Thea said. “The Celtic call her the Queen of the Faeries.”
“Well, they aren’t wron
g,” Kieran replied, stroking his thumb across the back of her small hand. “She’s the reason we exist. Without her, we wouldn’t have access to the elements—to magic.”
“So, is she here too?” Thea asked, seeming at least momentarily distracted. “And why did my parents send me to a land with no magic if I’m a Fae?”
Kieran watched as she tried to put the pieces together, but her brow was only furrowing with deeper frustration. This story was so much more than just a mother sending her daughter away. This was the story of an ancient war between Goddesses, a battle between good and evil, but how was he supposed to tell her centuries of legends without overwhelming her?
“Ainé isn’t the only Goddess in these lands. She has a sister who goes by the name of Morrigan, but our people call her the Goddess of Death.
“The legend says that Morrigan was angry when Ainé brought humans into their lands through the magical doorway we now call the Threshold. Morrigan believed that humans would bring death and destruction to nature, but it was Morrigan who turned into a monster. Her jealousy over her sister’s affection for the humans drove her to do horrible things. She started wars, murdered villages of innocent humans, and eventually, built up her own following of Fae.”
“But if she eliminated the humans, then wouldn’t there be no Fae at all?” Thea asked.
“No, it actually turned out that the offspring of two Fae were always magical, but the offspring of a Fae and human could be either species.
“When Morrigan realized this, she built an army of Fae who believed we should keep the species pure and they sought to eradicate humans from the Land of Faerie. Morrigan started a war that rages on until this day between the elitist Fae and the humans, but more importantly, she made an enemy out of her sister.”
