Wild Lands (Savage Lands Book 2)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “What do you mean?”

  “You haven’t guessed what the main components in these pills are?” His violet eyes burrowed into me like he was trying to excavate into my brain and pluck out what was hidden in there. “What is giving these humans this ability?”

  I didn’t answer, my jaw locked tight. Dread swirled in my stomach because deep down, I was afraid I might already know. And I’d have to face how naïve and blind I had been when it came to Istvan. What he had been doing.

  Fury flickered in Killian’s eyes. “You look at us like we are the monsters when it’s been you humans the whole time. Who forced us into hiding for centuries, who slaughtered us by the thousands, who denied our existence. Because in truth, humans have always been jealous and wanted to be us.”

  Oxygen clogged in my airways. “No.” I shook my head, denying what I feared was coming.

  “There is only one way to get fae essence like this.” He snarled, moving closer. “By harvesting it from fae and half-breeds.”

  Sucking in sharply, the cascade of his declaration cracked over me.

  “And you know what I found even more interesting?”

  “What?” A hoarse whisper came from my throat.

  “You.”

  “Me?” I pointed at myself. “Why me?”

  “Because, Ms. Kovacs, every test subject has responded in the same exact way, until succumbing to it. Every. One. Of. Them... except one.” He slid his hands into his pockets, stepping up to me. “Subject Number One.”

  “And where is Subject One?”

  He smirked. “Standing in front of me.”

  Chapter 3

  “Wha-what?” I rasped. A flood of burning ice stabbed through my veins, terror flushing through my body.

  “You, Ms. Kovacs, were my first subject. For two weeks, you have been taking the pills, crushed into your meals.”

  I couldn’t move my limbs; my lungs struggled to take in any air. The drug causing these people painful deaths had been in my system for weeks now?

  “While nothing happened to you, the other subjects became more fae-like before they started to falter and die. Organs failed. Some faster, some slower, but in the end, all their minds would bend, taking orders before perishing.” His shoes hit my covered toes, and he leaned over me, his brows wrinkling, his voice threatening. “But not you. You have become even more guarded to fae glamour.”

  My brow furrowed.

  “Tree fairies are very sexual. Almost equivalent to sirens in carnal energy. If a water or tree fairy targets you, no human can resist. Most fae can’t.” He picked up a strand of my hair, playing with the end. “I told Willow to focus all her magic on you. My fae guards were about to fuck you on the spot. I was—” He broke off, swallowing. “But you didn’t break.”

  I almost did.

  He laid the end of my hair down, his fingers brushing my collarbone. “You are not fae. But no human has survived yet. Around thirty have come after you, Ms. Kovacs, and seventeen of them are dead. But not you. Why is that? What makes you so special?”

  “Nothing,” I whispered, my head spinning with this truth. “I’m an ordinary human.”

  “Lie.” He inched in closer, his mouth hovering over mine, sliding the same strand of hair behind my ear. “You and I both know you are far more than that.” His bright eyes searched mine. For a brief moment, he let down his walls, letting me see a softness in his look, making my throat tighten.

  “Then what am I?” I swallowed, terrified, but not for the reasons I should have been.

  “I don’t know.” His voice was low as the screaming and muttering from the cages tapped against the bubble we seemed to be in. “I just know you bewitch and intrigue almost everyone you come into contact with.” His fingers slid through my hair. “You can block fae glamour, and, it seems, our essence.” The last word curled around me with sexual energy, pulsing around my thighs.

  My lungs pumped, frozen under the fae lord’s attention.

  “I am the most powerful fae in this country. I don’t like not knowing something,” he spoke. His voice held irritation, but his eyes still moved over me with open interest. “Either I figure it out or…” His head tilted as if he was going to kiss me, oxygen sucking through my nose.

  “Or?”

  “I crush it.” He turned around and strode out, the door slamming behind him. He left me gasping for breath, my head spinning, feeling like I had been hit by a wave—crushed, flipped, and flattened. Killian ripped the ground from underneath me, letting me float out to sea.

  “Kill. Kill. I must kill them. That’s the only way.” A voice drew my attention back to a cell. The younger man, Mr. Petrov, muttered over and over, his arms twitching and moving like he’d lost control. “Purify the world. They must die.”

  “Who? Who must die?” I took a step to the cage.

  His head started wagging, his arms flailing. “Die. Kill.” He started to rock, not appearing to hear or see me. I stared down the row at each one, my chest heavy with sadness and fear.

  I could have been one of them. Why wasn’t I? What made me different?

  A scream belted from the last occupied cage, the skeleton-like figure who had been wrapped up in a ball let out an anguished wail, spinning me around. Blood gushed from her nose and eyes. Her mouth opened, her bony hand reaching out through the bars to me, her eyes vacant and clouded over. She barely resembled a human, but I still wanted to help her. Fear thudded in my ears, but my feet moved to the cell, where I crouched down next to her.

  “I’m here. You are not alone,” I said softly. Pushing against my disgust, I took her hand. I couldn’t tell if she understood or even knew I was there, but I held her hand, feeling her life drain from her, blood pooling underneath her head. And then she stopped breathing.

  “I’m sorry.” My throat clotted with emotion, thinking of the pain and fear she must have gone through. It was all my fault. I brought this to Killian’s door, and I also felt guilty for surviving when they didn’t.

  Emotion filled my chest. These were people, ones I met at Kitty’s like Rosie, or my maid, Maja’s, kids, trying to survive in the Savage Lands, doing what they thought was the best for their families. A surge of heartache and grief cracked against my ribs.

  Suddenly the woman sucked in a violent gulp of air, lifting her head. Her emaciated fingers clutched painfully at me, digging into my skin. I jerked back with a shriek. I scrambled away as the woman’s head dropped back to the ground, her body still while blood oozed from her mouth and nose.

  Dead.

  Gasping for air, I slumped into the wall, my body trembling. What the fuck? I knew near death your muscles and nerves could pulse out one last surge, but it didn’t make it any less frightening to experience.

  “Ms. Kovacs?” At the sound of a male voice, I looked to the left. Iain, the young guard, stood there. “Time to return to your cell.” He held up a pair of cuffs.

  I nodded, shakily standing up, numbly watching him restrain me and walk us back to my cell.

  Just because the pills had not affected me yet didn’t mean they wouldn’t. I could have been down here, taking the place of the woman, muttering to myself, waiting for my brain to become liquid.

  I had to get out of here. My gaze drifted to the Iain, his eyes trained ahead, but I saw his cheeks blush under my scrutiny.

  He liked me.

  And I was going to use that to get free.

  “Damn it, get your finger out of her nose.” A voice hummed through my dreams, walking the line of semiconsciousness. The familiar tenor dredged up the only happiness and safety I had felt at Halálház, making me cling to the dream.

  Chirp.

  “No, I don’t think she secretly likes it.”

  Chirp.

  “That’s a lie! I do not.”

  Chirp.

  “You promised to never speak of that incident again. I did not enjoy it there either,” the voice hissed, sounding very real, rousing me from sleep. My lashes blinked away something gummy
as I skimmed up to consciousness. My blurry eyes opened on two faces only a breath away from me, and I realized one had a long finger up my nose.

  “What the hell?” I mumbled, jolting back, my head ramming into the stone wall as my brain tried to take in the bright colors exploding against the dull gray.

  “Ah, little Fishy is awake.”

  Chirp.

  “You’re the one who woke her up. Don’t blame me.”

  My mind scrambled to make sense of what I saw. Was I still dreaming? Was I still in Halálház and everything after had been a nightmare?

  No… my gaze drifted around. I was still in the palace’s cell where I had been living for weeks. The cot and lumpy pillow were the same, but the figures in front of me did not fit in this new terrain.

  “Opie?” I gaped at the familiar figure holding a broom. The brownie with his heart-shaped face, large nose, slightly pointed ears, brown eyes, brown hair, and beard stood before me. On his back, a tiny, large-eared creature flipped me off.

  Bitzy.

  “Hey, Fishy.” He grinned, brushing back the gold tassel on his head.

  “Opie…” I repeated, my brain not wrapping around what my eyes were telling me.

  Chirp.

  “No. I’m sure she’s not brain dead.”

  Chirp.

  “Hey. I am quite rememberable, thank you very much.” He huffed, putting his hands on his hips, glaring back at the imp. His outfit almost blinded me. His bottom half was wrapped in bright teal handkerchief-like booty shorts. His top half was red and yellow buttons strung together with pink laces, like a bra, and a gold curtain tassel for a hat. His beard was braided with purple ribbon.

  “Oh. My. Gods.” I sat up, my head shaking in happy puzzlement. “Wha-what are you doing here?”

  “What are you doing here?” He folded his arms, quirking up a bushy eyebrow. Bitzy rocked her head in an accusatory expression. “You escaped Halálház, without a goodbye, let me add.”

  Chirp. A finger flew up, telling me off in multiple ways. “To end up here?”

  “Wasn’t my choice.” I frowned briefly, thinking about Warwick’s deceit, but seeing Opie and even Bitzy again had me bubbling with glee, unable to hold on to my anger. “But seriously, what are you doing here?”

  “Master Finn is beholden to Lord Killian.” He swung his head, pushing the tassel to the other side. “And since the prison is in temporary shutdown, we’ve moved here. Which is a million times better. He has much nicer stuff. At first, we were in his upper chambers, but…” He fixed the knot of his shorts. “Once again, I drew the short straw, cleaning the prisoners’ cells down here.”

  My lids narrowed. “Just curious. How many times do you draw the short straw?”

  “Every time! Crazy, huh?” He tossed up his arms dramatically. “Master Finn says I have awful luck for a brownie.”

  Chirp.

  Opie’s smile fell, but he didn’t respond to Bitzy, brushing his broom back and forth on my gray blanket. It had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with Opie not following the norms of brownie behavior. This was their way of ostracizing him. But I couldn’t be more thankful he was here.

  “That’s okay. At least I can get away with not having to really clean.” Opie continued to sweep absently at the blanket, forcing a smile back on his mouth. “I mean, upstairs everything has to be perfect, but down here?” He motioned around with a shrug. “Minus the shit, vomit, piss, blood, or brain matter, it’s the easiest job ever.”

  “Brain matter?” My eyes widened. Was he cleaning the cages down in the lab?

  Chirp.

  “Bitzy thinks you’re an idiot.” Opie skipped over my question.

  I pinched my nose, still trying to accept they were here. They were real. “Shocker.”

  “Do you enjoy being in a cell so much you had to find another?” Opie sighed. “I mean, I’ve heard a lot of women are into being chained up, especially by Lord Killian, but this seems a bit excessive.”

  “Gross.” I gritted my teeth, a flush of chagrin heating my neck. “That man is arrogant, heartless, and—” My mind rolled back to the night before, the feel of his body pressed into me, his power vibrating down my bones. The intensity of his gaze as his finger grazed my neck.

  “Hot?” Opie pipped in.

  Lowering my lids, I glared at him.

  Chirp.

  “What?” Opie peered between Bitzy and me. “Like you two weren’t thinking it.”

  “No.”

  Chirp.

  “You are both full of shit.” He rolled his eyes.

  Chirp.

  “Please, how many times have you wanted to put your finger up his nose or other places?”

  Bitzy blinked, her head tipping in thought.

  “Double gross.” I rubbed my head, sitting back more firmly against the wall, dragging my knees up, yawning. After the traumatic, emotional day before, I pretty much had passed out, my night haunted with cries, blood, and skeletons attacking me. “Any way you can sneak me coffee down here?”

  This place could be considered more ruthless than Halálház; at least there, I could get coffee before lashings.

  “I’m sorry, do I look like a barista to you?” He motioned down to himself.

  “In your outfit, you’d be a good one at Madam Kitty’s.”

  “Kitty?” His eyes bulged, peering around him. “Where? Where?” He crouched down, his arms poised to fight.

  Chirp.

  “I can so fight.”

  Chirp.

  “I did not scream like a peacock and hide under a pillow.”

  Chirp.

  “Well, the cat was huge! And I swear it was out to get me.” Opie circled his arms in some generic karate move. “And don’t get all cocky. You hid under the pillow with me. I didn’t see you running out and challenging it.”

  Chirp.

  “Okay.” I broke off their repartee, holding up my hands at them. “What is going on?”

  “You said there was a kitty.” He kicked out his leg. “Come on, fuzz bucket. Come face me now!”

  A laugh burst from my chest. It was like clearing out the cobwebs in an abandoned house, letting light into my soul. The giggles bubbled from my mouth, making me feel lighter. I couldn’t even remember the last time I laughed.

  “What?” Opie peered back at me.

  “There’s no cat.” I held a hand to my mouth, the giggles bursting through my fingers.

  “No cat?” Opie lowered his arms slowly, still gazing around.

  “No.” I shook my head, wiping away a drop of moisture that escaped from the corner of my eye. A tear shed in amusement, not pain.

  “Then why did you say there was?” Opie huffed.

  Chirp.

  Finger.

  “Madam Kitty. She’s a person. She runs a brothel in the Savage Lands.”

  “Savage Lands?” Opie went still, his mouth dropping. “You were there?”

  “I was.” I tipped my head back to the wall, every detail of my time there still vibrant and loud in my mind. “Only for a few days, but it definitely made an impression. I think you’d fit in well where I stayed.”

  “What’s it like?” Opie stepped closer to me, his eyes glistening with wonder. “I’ve always wanted to go, but Master Finn says only the depraved and disreputable brownies go there. We should appreciate what we have and not venture out of our world. We already have the best. No point to see anything else.”

  “The best for who?” I flicked the tassel out of his eyes, hitting Bitzy in the face. She glared and flipped me off. How sad that her gesture felt so comforting to me. “Best is relative, isn’t it? What’s best for asshole Finn might not be best for you.” Damn, if I didn’t sound similar to my old Druid friends. I thought about Tad and Kek a lot, hoping they were okay. That they escaped and were safe somewhere. “I was raised with the same ideals… why leave if what I had was what everyone wanted? But the more I’ve seen, the more I’ve learned…” I sighed, staring off.

  When
I was in the Savage Lands, all I kept thinking about was going home, not realizing the little taste of the outside world had seeped into my bones. Changed me.

  Could I go back to my walled world and be okay with it?

  Keys rattled in the lock, spiking alarm down my spine like a javelin. My gaze darted to the door. Even though it was probably just my breakfast of hot gruel, as it had been every day, my nerves felt thin and raw, as if they had been pulled and worked like taffy.

  My eyes flashed back to where Opie and Bitzy had been. Gone. In a second, they’d vanished. I searched the basically empty room to see if I’d see them scurrying away.

  Nothing.

  The door swung open, drawing me back to the figure strolling in, a sharp inhale pushing me against the wall.

  My breakfast was being hand delivered.

  “Did you sleep well, Ms. Kovacs?” Killian, looking unfairly beautiful, was dressed in a fitted navy suit, a light blue tie and handkerchief, holding a tray with eggs instead of my usual hot cereal. His impact was like a punch to the lungs, and I looked away. Staring off to the side, I tried to ignore his energy bursting around me.

  “Not speaking to me?” He walked up to the edge of the cot, waiting for me to respond. He wasn’t quite what I thought he’d be. I expected the same cruelty as I’d received in the House of Death from this man who designed it. Not for him to display a strange politeness to his captives like he did with me or Adel in the cell below. It made me feel unstable and skeptical, waiting for the whip or his fist to bring me down. “I see.”

  He set the tray down on the end of my cot. The aroma of cheesy eggs, crispy bacon, fruit, buttery toast, and… coffee… curled in my nose, making my stomach growl and my mouth water, beckoning me to fall face-first into the plate, moaning in ecstasy.

  A breakfast fit for a lord.

  My jaw cracked as I turned away again, the smell bringing me to my knees. The last time I had real eggs, bacon, fruit, and imported coffee was back in HDF. Months ago, which felt like years.

  “I assure you, there is no poison in it. No crushed pills.” He stood over me, folding his arms.