Rebel: House of Fae: A Dark Fae Paranormal Romance

by Rosemary A Johns

  Felix’s brow furrowed in the way that always meant he was thinking more intently about things than I’d ever managed. “To celebrate the Night of the Beltane because it’s both on the Wicked Bucket List and a distraction.”

  I admired the way that Beau trusted us enough not to even question the plan, but rather simply said, “What you’re asking for is a way to convince my father who hates Belenus to allow you to hold an ancient tradition that he’s banned.”

  “Hey, you didn’t see our longer list, which involved dancing pink hippos and the Dean in a dress.” Felix winked.

  That image wouldn’t be going away without serious therapy. As long as it was with Emerald, I could live with that.

  Beau grimaced like he was as equally disgusted by Felix’s suggestion. “You’re essentially saying that you want father to reward you.”

  I cocked my head. “You make it sound so simple. Except from, oh yes, he’s never rewarded us.”

  Beau wrapped his wings around himself. “Please, he spends his life finding ways that he can reward you. He always has. You force his hand to discipline you, but he never wants to.”

  I shook my head. “He just sobs into Lincoln’s feathery wing every time that he orders us into the Kneel of Shame.”

  When Beau marched up to me like onto a battlefield, gripping me by the lapels, I froze. “Just because Court Fae don’t dance in bare feet doesn’t mean that inside he doesn’t feel. Father punishes me because I can never be the woman who he loved and lost. But you…?” He broke off, stroking my crumpled coat in apology. “All I ever heard about was the progress and talent of the Hostage Lords and his duty to foster you. He did everything to save you from the Queen’s wrath after the Love Rebellion. Your brothers’ deaths broke him. Father isn’t cruel because he hates you but because he loves you.”

  I stroked down Beau’s cheek, but it was me shaking. I was back in the tiny room that’d been my cell, but I also remembered all the times that Wells had saved me from the Countess’ discipline as a kid.

  How could Wells bond me to her now?

  “Would he truly kill us on Saturday?” I asked.

  Beau’s anguished gaze met mine. “Don’t you see that he’d have no choice? He’s exiled here just the same as you.”

  My breath caught. Why had I never realized it before? How could Wells have hidden it?

  “Was it his punishment for standing wing by wing with us and begging the Queen for another punishment apart from execution?” Radley asked.

  Beau nodded. “If you don’t reform and return to be bonded to Court Fae, then father can never return either…or me. He made the bargain to save all the young fae of your tribe.” Beau’s gaze darted between all of us. “I no longer fantasize that father is noble or that I shall ever become the son that he wishes. Yet whatever plan we devise, I shan’t hurt him.”

  At last, I understood why our Head of House was so complex because nothing was as simple as Forest fae vs Court or professors vs students.

  Real life wasn’t like that.

  “So, how’d I get him to reward me with something as major as a Beltane Dance?”

  Beau shot me a sly smile. “That’s simple. Give him what he wants: let him think that he’s won.”

  Suddenly, Apollo flapped his wings and wailed worse than Ms. Farah’s banshee scream. “This is your swan alarm system, Your Lordship. The Countess is arriving from the east and Emerald from the west. I may have those mixed up because for a bird, I have a terrible sense of direction.”

  I spun on the spot.

  On one side of the dining hall entrance, Emerald strolled, clutching a bundle of files. I smiled at the sinuous way that she moved, even as she appeared lost in thought. My magic flared at the sight of her.

  On the other side, however, the Countess stormed towards Emerald. I called out, but of course, I was muffled by Tom’s spell. The Countess’ hand closed around Emerald’s arm, yanking her away from the dining hall. Emerald’s files tumbled to the ground.

  Startled, Emerald stiffened. The Countess’ grip tightened. Even at a distance, I knew that it’d bruise; I’d been held in her claws often enough. Emerald gave a smile that was forced and frightened and nothing like the beautiful ones that lit me up inside.

  The Countess frogmarched Emerald towards a line of trees.

  Why hadn’t I guessed that the Countess had been behind Emerald’s fear? She’d been the reason for my every childhood terror. But I wouldn’t let her wreck the woman that I loved.

  Instantly, my mates and I prowled towards them. No one hurt our bonded. Apollo flew above our heads with a determined beat of his wings.

  Yet just then, a gang of vampires rushed for their lunch in an excited crowd. Unable to see us, they tripped and stumbled, flailing and snapping with their fangs at their unseen assailants.

  Beau howled as a vampire ripped through his wing. Radley snatched Beau to his chest to protect him. Felix rolled to the floor to avoid the blows.

  I shoved one startled vampire to the floor, but another caught me in the mouth with a wild punch. I gasped, as blood coated my tongue, and I was also knocked to the ground. I panted at each heavy boot to my body.

  Yet I never took my gaze off Emerald and the Countess, until they were swallowed by the darkness of the wood.

  I had to follow them.

  Why had Emerald been kidnapped?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Wicked Reform School, Main Campus

  Thursday 29th April

  I crashed through the wood, stumbling over fallen logs and catching my wings on low hanging branches. My tutor would be disgusted at my lack of grace in the pursuit of Emerald. Yet all I could think about was the bond that burned my lungs, which drove me to save her…save her…save her.

  Ah yes, and my tutor was the bitch who’d kidnapped Emerald.

  My swollen lip throbbed, and my pulse thudded in my temples. Why hadn’t I pushed harder to find out what was troubling Emerald? I’d known that she was frightened and hiding behind her glamor.

  What if she truly was a prisoner here as much as I was?

  I shuddered at the memory of the Countess’ hand biting into Emerald’s arm.

  I’d kiss over every bruise.

  Behind me, my mates darted between the trees with greater agility than me, although Radley hadn’t stopped growling from the moment that he’d helped us all out of the vampire scrum. Beau was an emerald blur, speeding beneath the cool shadows.

  Beau had skills.

  All of a sudden, I stumbled into the edge of a glade. I pulled up short in the startling sunlight, resting my hand against a trunk to catch my breath.

  I could hide it from the others but not myself. It was close to the Beltane now, and my magical illness had become many times worse.

  Great Shining One, I ask only that I survive until the Day of the Wicked. Let me free my people before… Allow me to complete what my brothers started.

  My mates barreled into my back, and then Radley’s arms were hauling me upright and steadying me.

  He never let me fall.

  Apollo landed on the branch above my head.

  In the center of the glade, the Countess circled Emerald in silence. The women appeared to be weighing each other up.

  I paled. “Do you want to drive the gold from my wings? Let’s get in there and kick the Countess’ scrawny ass, until she never lays a hand on our bonded again.”

  “That should be my line.” Radley’s arm tightened around me.

  I struggled. “Let go. I bite, you know.”

  “I bite harder,” Radley warned.

  “I bite even harder.” Felix tugged Beau by the hand into the glade, and I gasped. “We’re invisible, remember?”

  Okay, right that.

  Radley led me after Felix, and in turn, we circled the Countess. If she intended to hurt Emerald, then she’d find that ghosts were brilliant fighters, and even better, couldn’t be identified for punishment. Because kidnapper of counselors or not, the Countess was st
ill a member of staff, and injuring a staff member meant twenty-four hours in the Detention Center with flesh eaters.

  After meeting the Dean, I now believed that rumor.

  “You wanted to find out the truth,” Beau said, coolly. “This is your chance.”

  Why did it feel wrong to violate Emerald’s privacy like this? We were meant to be watching her to keep her safe, as well as to find out her secrets, but this was eavesdropping, rather than rescuing.

  “I should’ve just asked Emerald why she wore a glamor,” I admitted.

  Beau’s expression softened. “I assure you that it’s hardest to remove your mask to the ones you love.”

  When the Countess wove closer to Emerald, I stiffened. “Why does the hostage boy love you?” The Countess stroked over her swan badge. “At first, it was fascinating to see the way that he fell so quickly under your spell, but now it seems I must remind you that he belongs to me.”

  The Countess’ face was hidden behind her veil of black swan feathers; I could only catch flashes of her eyes, but they blazed with a fire that I’d never seen before.

  It terrified me.

  Emerald didn’t back down. Her eyes glittered with equal fire. “Trust me, Lord Spring doesn’t belong to anyone. You’re the guys who hired me to mesmerize the Hostage Lords and bring them to heel.” She hadn’t done that, had she? Radley outstretched his wings in fury, and Felix sheltered underneath them. “Didn’t you want me to wreck them? Emotions training, right?”

  The Countess’ scarlet lips thinned. “I’ve known those wicked boys since they were children at Court. Do you think I’m a fool?”

  Emerald cocked her head. “I think you’re a bitch. Is that the same?”

  Despite the way that my heart ached like she’d squeezed it along with my balls, I still laughed.

  The Countess shook, before stroking her lace gloved hand down Emerald’s cheek; Emerald flinched. “Then he’ll reform on the Day of the Wicked, and you’ll delight in watching me bond with him. I hope you’ll visit us often because I wish to show you what he’ll look like when he’s truly wrecked.”

  Beau let out a cry, wrapping his arms around my neck like that could stop the Countess.

  Yet I’d always known what bonding with her would mean. I guessed that Emerald hadn’t by the way that she hissed, transformed in the instant from prey into predator.

  Emerald wrenched back from the Countess so quickly that the Countess stumbled. Emerald’s tail ripped out of her dress like a whip, snapping across the Countess’ back with a crack that was startlingly loud in the glade.

  I twirled with a grace that would’ve impressed the Countess, spinning Beau in my arms, so that the Countess didn’t fall into me.

  The Countess yelped, smacking into the hard earth. Then Emerald was on top of her, pinning her down and smashing her face into the mud.

  Wow, was that a satisfying sight.

  “And though she be but little, she is fierce,” Felix breathed.

  Apollo flew across the glade to watch from the air. “She’s a warrior, My Lord. At least, when she’s protecting you. I’m honored to be bonded to a princess who fights like a devil for those she loves.”

  Emerald whipped her tail across the Countess’ ass, and the Countess hissed. “I’ve decided that I’ve had enough of this school’s games. I’ve assessed a bunch of the fae now and not one of them should be in this dickish place. They don’t need reforming; the professors do.”

  “You’ve forgotten why you’re really here,” the Countess gasped. “Don’t forget that I know why the Dean is hiding you. You’re lucky to have friends in such high places. But interestingly, so do I.”

  When Emerald’s tail became limp with fear, I longed to stroke it.

  Had the Countess been blackmailing Emerald?

  “Drop the threats.” Emerald raised her chin, defiantly. “I want the fae to be freed on Saturday, and that means being allowed to return to Hope Forest and not imprisoned in your Court. Reformed should mean that their sentence is over and not that another one begins.”

  I exchanged a glance with Radley.

  Emerald was helping us like we’d planned. It didn’t matter that she’d been hired to entrap us. She loved us enough to risk everything to free us.

  Yet that placed her in danger.

  “How sweet that hostage boy told you about Hope Forest.” The Countess spat a leaf out of her mouth with a grimace. “You must’ve got under his skin. What you don’t understand, Princess Laurel, is that I chose him as my bonded the moment that he became a Hostage Lord. I exiled myself willingly to ensure that I didn’t lose him to this ridiculous school. If you try and intervene further, then I’ll reveal who you are. Then you’ll be returned to your own Court and forced to bond with incubi. I don’t understand why you’re against it because from what I hear, your mother selected a delectable harem.”

  My breath hitched, and my hands balled into fists. The Queen of the Succubi had been forcing Emerald…okay, not Emerald anymore, Princess Laurel… into a bond, just as I was being forced into one.

  Was that why she’d run away to hide in this school that was cut-off from the rest of the supernatural world? Why she wore a glamor to mask who she was?

  It was a smart choice. Almost no one escaped this prison once they were inside, and it was as warded as a fortress.

  Laurel’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not the same as you. I don’t want a harem who have no choice but to be mine. I’m not that kind of asshole. I’d do anything to stop myself becoming like my mom, and that’s why you can just go ahead and screw-up my life if you want, but I’ll tell the Dean what you’ve been doing. He already hates you or didn’t you know? With you gone, I’m betting that the Duke of Wells will risk helping the fae because deep down, he cares about them just the same as me.”

  The Countess stilled, and her lips pulled back to reveal her razor-sharp teeth. “Do you know who my friend is at your Court?”

  Laurel pushed herself to her feet. “A dick?”

  The Countess swayed to her knees, brushing down her uniform. “The Duchess.”

  Beau edged around me; his hand slipped to the hilt of his scimitar. “The Duchess has dined with father and me. She’s cruel, controlling, and treats her bonded worse than pets.”

  “Ah, the perfect guest.” Felix’s eyes narrowed.

  The Countess wiped mud off one hand and then the other. “She had to send one of her bonded incubi to Rebel Academy because he broke…or she broke him. So, she’s looking to bond with another. Hmm, perhaps I’ll suggest one of your pretty brothers…?”

  “Don’t,” Laurel said, horrified.

  When Laurel shook, I’d taken a step forward before I caught myself. Invisible wings stroking her would’ve been more of a shock than a comfort.

  The Countess slunk to her feet. “Keep to our agreement, and I won’t.”

  I couldn’t look at Laurel.

  I knew what she’d say but I couldn’t watch as she abandoned my mates and me. Yet I understood. I didn’t want her to reject her brothers. She loved them.

  “I won’t betray the fae.” Laurel’s tail whipped side to side “But seriously, you’ve no idea how much I’m going to kick your ass, if you go after my brothers.”

  She was still going to help us…?

  Despite the threat from the Countess, joy thrilled through me.

  The Countess’ eyes flashed. “And you have no idea how much danger you’re in now, silly girl.”

  All of a sudden, a buzzing like a swarm of bees grew from the trees.

  Nope, it wasn’t bees, it was myrmidons. But they weren’t meant to come into the woods this close to the main campus. The Dean could be a dick to the creatures who lived on the grounds. Why would they risk it, unless they were hunting…?

  Had they been following my mates and me, Emerald, or the Countess?

  I squinted between the shafts of sunlight. Wings glittered and the tips of spears.

  If the myrmidons were hunting, then this w
ould be a fierce battle.

  The Countess' eyes narrowed, and she stumbled against a tree. "What have you done? How are you controlling these killers?"

  Laurel arched her brow. "Hey, I have no problem with the myrmidons. I think the question is: what have you done to turn them against you?"

  The Countess raised her hands to cover her head, as a purple and orange wave burst from the branches of trees. The myrmidons' transparent wings glistened.

  I stepped forward at the same time as Radley because who knew if the warriors decided to attack Laurel as well, but to my surprise, the myrmidon who was leading the swarm, swiveled his head like he could see me.

  When the myrmidon leader pointed at me and then looked like he was waiting for an answer, I realized that he truly could see through our invisibility spell. Could all the paranormals who lived on these lands, before the Dean had stolen them to build the school?

  After all, they were more magical than we were.

  When the myrmidon nodded his head, and his floppy ears wagged, I got it. He was waiting on my blessing: The Countess had stomped on the Chief Myrmidon, and this was their perfect chance for payback.

  I did an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Go for it. Just make it interesting. But only her, or you'll be next squished under my boot, bug-face."

  The bug shook his spear at me defiantly. A moment later, however, he turned to the Countess. Then she was lost under a sea of warrior insects.

  The Countess screamed, flailing and dragging at her hair. The myrmidons, however, bit and struck at her with their spears. They pricked her skin with their poisonous tips. Instantly, the drug made her stagger and rip at her clothes. She gazed around like she was surrounded by the fears that she’d threatened me with as a kid.

  "Don't just stand there," the Countess wailed, "help me!"

  Laurel leaned against a tree, examining her nails. "Why would you need my help? I'm only a silly girl. I don’t risk my life for folks who threaten the men she loves or her brothers."

  "I take it back," the Countess gasped, staggering to the edge of the glade like flesh eaters were after her.