A smug grin curled my mouth.
His nose flared with frustration, sensing I knew something he did not. He reached out, grabbed my throat, and squeezed down, cutting my oxygen. I had a funny way of inciting the demons I had encountered to physically touch me instead of using their powers. Wonder what that said about me?
“Whatever you think you have over me—” His nails dug into my skin, his lips brushing my ear. “You don’t. I have been planning this for decades. Trapped in that hole. I had nothing else but to plot my nephew’s demise. There isn’t anything I haven’t prepared for. I will always be five steps ahead of you.”
“Of course,” I replied complacently.
He snarled loudly.
In the world of fae, information was power, both revealing or hiding it. But I was going to keep this secret to myself. Stavros didn’t need to be forewarned on what was heading for him.
The Stone of Fáil would make its presence known.
“You can’t rattle me with your false self-assuredness, Druid.” He took one step back from me. “I have seen and lived through it all. I am the most powerful fae alive.”
“Oh, it’s not false.” I cocked an eyebrow. “You might be the most powerful fae alive.” The stone was not technically alive or fae. It was Druid made.
Irritation lined Stavros’s forehead. “I’ve had enough of your mouth,” he snapped. “I can think of better uses for it.” He nodded to a strighoul. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one pull out a gag.
Fuck. No.
Straining against my captors, a dark spell worked its way up my throat.
“No. Mummy. Don’t.” Piper’s voice rang out, but it was too late, the hex gushing over my tongue like a river. With a crack, power emitted from me, crashing into everything in its path like a trolley, slicing huge wounds and tossing people as it barreled forward. Every figure in a hundred-yard radius, collapsed back down to the ground with a chilling crunch, not discriminating between good and bad.
“Piper!” I screamed. My gaze snapped to where she had been standing. Bodies scattered over the forest floor, the smell of blood tickling my nose. Oh my gods. What did I do?
Her frame stood exactly where it had been, untouched by my magic. My hand went to my chest, a relieved cry breaking from my lips. It took me a moment to realize a ripple of energy surrounded her, protecting her.
My mouth dropped open.
Holy shite. Was she doing that? She was five. How did she know spells? Or was her magic that ingrained in her genes? It would protect her even when she wasn’t aware of how to do it?
“Piper…” I took a few steps toward her. I knew Marguerite and Nic were hurt from my spell, but getting to my daughter was my first goal, selfish or not.
“It’s supposed to happen this way.” She hugged a small toy doggy clipped onto her backpack zipper in her hands, as if it gave her comfort. “I’ve seen it, Mummy.”
“What are you talking about?” We didn’t have time for this. Stavros and his men were starting to get up, limiting my window of possibilities to get out of here.
“You will see.”
Her statement baffled me for a moment, but my instinct to protect her overrode whatever she was trying to tell me. My legs carried me to where she stood, my hands reaching for her.
Bam!
A body rammed into mine, taking me to the ground. Stavros growled, pinning my arms with one hand, covering my mouth with the other.
Did he think that would stop me? We had clashed before. I fought him both times as close to death as I was capable. “You are making this so much easier.” He snarled as blood squirted from the wounds in his chest, dripping down on me. “You are my property now, Druid. I will enjoy torturing you very much. But I need you to do a job for me first.”
I snorted into his hand; my glare narrowed in on him.
“Not only will you do this for me, but you will do so quickly.” He leaned in closer to my face. “Betraying one you love for another. I simply get giddy at the idea of Lars’s expression when he realizes it’s you who has deceived him.” His grip strangling my wrists, he inched even closer, whispering. “You will bring Lars and Ember to me. And you will do it without a fight because your daughter’s life is balancing on what you do next.”
A guffaw went through his fingers. I shook my head.
This time Stavros lifted his eyebrow, his mouth curving with condemnation.
“Take the baby Druid away.” Stavros didn’t take his eyes off me as he spoke to his men. “She will be a great asset.”
“No!” The word tore up my throat as I kicked and struggled against him.
“Stop, Fionna,” he ordered. “I will kill her right now. Or maybe I should just kill you instead?” You will be no use to her dead. Keep it together. “Do as I say and she lives. Take your pick.”
A tiny whimper gurgled in my throat. When it came to my daughter, there was no choice.
“Procure the whore. I know he is one of Lars’s pets. He will also come in useful as a spy,” Stavros motioned to Nic, who was being lifted up by strighoul. The wounds, my uncontrolled magic that had slashed across his body, still gushed from his stomach. I lay in horror, watching a handful of the vile creatures move Piper and Nic farther away from me. Stavros grabbed my jacket and roughly tugged me onto my feet.
Panic thumped in my ears, curling around my throat. I couldn’t let this happen. I growled, my eyes still on Piper, her head turned back to me. Her eyes were calm, and I saw her mouth move. It’s okay, Mummy.
It was far from okay. I had given her up so this kind of thing wouldn’t happen, but the moment I took her back, promised to keep her safe, my worst fears came true.
“You will bring your lover to me here, along with my niece.” Stavros’s mouth curved in a cruel smile and straightened my jacket, brushing me off, as though I were his doll. His superiority mocked me at every breath. He had me this time. The spell Piper had thrown around herself clearly didn’t protect her from people or weapons, only magic. I also didn’t want to trust it wouldn’t happen again. Her safety was my main priority.
“If you hurt her—”
“You’ll what, Fionna. Spank me?” He gripped my jacket lapels, tugging me in closer. “More time for that later. Just bring my gifts to me within two weeks and I assure she will go unharmed.”
At his last words, I felt energy enter my head, filling it until I cried out in pain. I dug my fingers into my scalp. An invisible hand punched into my throat and stomach, snapping me forward, gasping for painful bits of air. The pressure intensified and I clawed at my throat, my vision blurring. My knees hit the ground, more agony climbing my spine.
Stavros stood over me laughing, but I barely noticed him, my darkening gaze on the little form being taken away from me.
Nooooo. I cried in my head. Piper.
I had let her down. Again.
She remained turned toward me until she disappeared behind a tree with Nic. My body slumped forward, my face hitting the leaf-covered ground, the sharp smell of damp dirt ramming into my nose.
Marguerite might be dead. Nic and Piper were now prisoners. And I had to convince the Stone of Fáil, which had claimed Lars as its own, to give itself over to a tyrant. And that wasn’t even covering the fight to get Lars back from the stone. If that was possible.
As unconscious grappled for me, pulling me down into its web, my mind didn’t go to Piper or Lars.
It went to my sister.
A force built inside me before I was lost in nothing.
“KENNEDY!” I cried into the last bits of light. “Kennedy! Help me!”
With a snap, the wormhole closed, and I floated away into oblivion.
Chapter 2
Kennedy
“KENNEDY! Kennedy! Help me!”
A scream tore from my throat, and my torso jackknifed up from my slumber. Pictures and scenes ran through my mind so quickly it was hard to grasp the threads as they slid from my head. My heart battered against my ribs, as if it desperately
wanted to be freed. Sweat trailed down my temple, my lungs frantic for air.
“What?” A figure jumped beside me, sitting up. “What happened?”
My hand went to my chest, confusion and terror choking my breath. The voice echoed in my soul, shredding every nerve up my spine, leaving me raw and at the edge of tears.
“Hey. You’re okay. You’re home, li’l bird.” The man moved closer to me, his hand rubbing my back. “This is real.”
My head snapped to the silhouette beside me. Moonlight filled the room. My body instinctively knew and responded to him. It felt like a lifetime ago that Lorcan had come back from his afternoon hunt, not just a few hours ago. The moment he returned, he pulled me out of a meeting, made love to me on our balcony and then on the bed, before I passed out from exhaustion. Okay, making love sounded too nice for what we did. Though he was still mostly beast, I was the one shrieking like an animal.
He ran his hand through my hair, touching my ear. “What do you smell?”
That one question brought me instantly back to the present.
Lorcan.
Our bedroom.
Castle.
Vision.
“Ken, what do you feel? Hear?”
For once I didn’t want to answer his questions, my gut twisting in my stomach. This vision was different. I didn’t want to escape it. I wanted to remember every detail, crawl back into it, as if someone were calling for me. Needing me desperately.
“Ken?” Lorcan brushed a strand of hair over my ear.
“Something’s wrong.” My hand still knotted between my bare breasts, as if the secret were locked under my ribs.
“Must be Tuesday.” Lorcan rubbed his face, waking himself up.
“No.” My brow furrowed. I shook my head and tears sprang into my eyes. Emotions I couldn’t seem to fight stirred in my gut. “This feels different.”
“Different how?”
“As if someone is calling for me. They need me.” I shoved the covers off, standing up, needing to move. Bits of the dream zipped through me, like one of those flip books, but they were going too fast for me to understand the whole story. All my visions were important, but this one jabbed at my gut like a woodpecker in a tree. I reached for a T-shirt and leggings.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know…but I need to move.” I started to pace the room, my hands rubbing fiercely at my skull, trying to remember my vision.
A man who looked similar to Lars flashed into my head, a cruel smile curling his mouth.
“Ken.” Lorcan got up, his naked and unbelievable physique strutting over to me. “You need to breathe. Relax.”
“I can’t.” I scrubbed harder at my head.
Lorcan grabbed my hand, stopping me from drawing blood. “The more you try, the more the images are going to slide away from you. You need to meditate. Or have sex. It helped last time.”
I glared at him. Normally I would be all for that, but not this time. I hurt inside. Not physical pain, but as though I had lost something dear to me.
I cared about a lot of people, but there were very few I would destroy everything for. One was the man standing in front of me. My best friends, Ember and Ryan, came next. And my sister, who had returned home the day before.
My sister and I were so newly acquainted we were still strangers really, but a bond existed I couldn’t deny. A connection.
A gasp clotted in my throat, almost choking me.
“Oh my god.” Adrenaline punctured my heart, speeding it up with terror rushing through me. The voice came in solid this time. Kennedy, help me! “Fionna!” I yelled, my legs already aiming my body for my door.
Visions.
A man who looked like Lars but wasn’t.
The compound taken over by strighoul.
A little girl and Nic at knifepoint.
Marguerite bleeding on the forest floor.
Fionna calling for me.
I hear you, sister. I’m coming, I shouted back in my head. I doubted she would hear or feel it, but it made me feel better.
“Torin!” I bellowed to the soldier standing guard outside my door. I felt Lorcan come up behind me, and I knew he was still naked. He didn’t care about being “appropriate.” Being naked was as normal as breathing to a dark dweller. But here in my wobbly kingdom, he was already a source of gossip and ridicule. Normally, I’d have him throw on some pants, but my mind was solely on my sister.
“Majesty?” Torin jerked to his full stature, bowing his head to me.
Things were still extremely awkward between us. Torin had expressed his love for me not so long ago, but there was no way I was getting rid of him. He was one of the only people I trusted in this castle. I hoped we could eventually get back to being friends. Torin’s eyes slid to the figure behind me, his lips thinning with disgust. Yeah. Probably not.
“I need you to get a troop to Lars’s. I think it’s being attacked. My sister...”
He nodded again, not hesitating before he barked into his walkie-talkie. He had grown used to my visions and responded immediately to them, no questions asked, another thing I adored about him. He really had my back. I hoped someday he would find the happiness he so desperately sought and deserved.
More of my guards ran into my outer chamber. The only one missing was Castien. He was on wall watch tonight, making sure the spells and security were set for the night. Castien was the only guard with permission to live off grounds. He and Ryan lived with Lily and Mark in a large cabin next to the dwellers’ ranch.
Dwellers.
I opened my mouth, turning my head to Lorcan.
“Already on it.” Lorcan tapped at his temple. “Already have Dax and Dom heading there now.”
Damn, I loved this man.
The dwellers communicated through a mind link. To be closer to their leader without being associated with me, Lorcan’s group lived in a house deep in the forest, just bordering my lands, close enough for their links to still work.
“Gonna head out there with them.” He moved closer to me.
Be careful, I said to him through our mating bond, which grew stronger every day. His notorious bad-boy grin hooked the side of his face up.
“Now, what’s the fun in that?” He leaned over, his hand clasping the back of my head fiercely, his lips finding mine. The kiss was quick but stuffed full of promises for later. Heat pricked down my body, flushing my stomach with fire. I didn’t seem to be getting any less immune to the power he stirred in me, even with a simple kiss. Lorcan didn’t do anything half-assed or without passion. Killed. Loved. Hated.
He nipped my bottom lip before he whirled back to the bedroom, rushing out the glass doors. A few moments after he disappeared, a howl tore through the night, heating my flesh. My body had become conditioned to the sound of the beast, which turned me on. I knew what he was like when he came back from a hunt.
“My lady?” At the sound of Torin’s voice, I whipped back to him. His eyes still lingered on the door from where Lorcan had left, his face strained with anger. This had to be hard on him. Torin and the Dragen brothers went far back, their hatred for each other steeped in history. Torin’s enemy had taken away the woman he thought was meant for him. His mate. Not once, but twice. First Ember and then me. Ember was even once his betrothed. That had to sting. And every day he had to see and hear Lorcan and me together. My heart went out to him.
“What else would you want me to do?” Torin’s gaze finally came back to me.
I took a deep breath and began to move without responding.
“My lady?” He trailed after me, switching the direction of the other guards heading for us. The activity roused people from their activities. They poked their faces out of doors and down hallways with curiosity. At least this time I was dressed in more than my underwear.
They followed me to the communications room. Against all the hope I felt, I wanted to try contacting Lars’s compound. I clicked on the line that went directly there. It buzzed with its version of
a ring. We were supposed to be getting an updated mobile prototype soon, putting the walkie-talkies out to pasture. Something told me it was now on hold for the unforeseeable future.
Nerves flickered at the base of my neck, and with each ring my heart skipped a beat, waiting for someone to pick up. The longer it rang, the more fear sank in my stomach like a rock. No matter the time, someone was always on duty at Lars’s. Business, threats, and situations didn’t stick to nine to five. I still hoped my visions wouldn’t come true, but with every moment that passed, the truth set in.
“Majesty. I don’t think anyone is go—” Sturt, the ginger-bearded guard, stopped talking when we heard a click.
“Oh good, is my order for a hot little queen on her way? I hope you got my requests. She needs to get on her knees and call me King.” A deep, unfamiliar voice came over the device, sounding delighted with himself. “I prefer them feisty, but you should know when to bend over and take it. You must understand who is master.”
My mouth parted, my feet automatically stepping back from the gadget, as if he could see me. He laughed in my silence.
“You’re a delicate thing, aren’t you? I apologize for my crude words. I thought it best for me to be up front about my wants…before our relationship progresses any deeper.”
“Who-who are you?” I stepped back up, rolling my shoulders. “Where is Lars?”
“Did your sister forget to tell you about me? I’m hurt. Let me introduce myself. I’m Stavros, the true Demon King. Lars is no longer here, but you can leave a message after the beep.”
What? What does that mean Lars is no longer there?
“So your sister really didn’t mention me?” he said, then sighed. “Thought I made more of impression on her. Not to mention me at all is simply inconsiderate. Well, I’m pretty sure I made an impression this time. She might be a little brain damaged now. Dammit, I’m always too rough with my toys.”
Bile burned up the back of my throat.
“What did you do to her? If you hurt her—”
Rise From the Embers (Lightness Saga #4) Page 2
