A Dance Of Twilight: (A Fae Dark Fantasy Romance Stand-Alone )

Chapter 63

“Brother, I need to stop. Just for a few moments,” Vanessa shouted over the roar of the waves.

We’d taken the route around the mountains towards the sea’s edge. Morgana suggested this route as she tried to use the small link she’d managed to pick up from Ornella during that ritual. It was fading fast. We had to keep up, trying to close the gap behind her and her abductors.

“We will rest when we arrive,” I shouted back.

“No! We must rest now!” Vanessa replied as she pulled her horse”s reins to stop.

The horse protested at the sudden pull. Morgana slowed in front of her and then April, leaving me in front a few paces. Sighing with anger, I slowed my horse and turned back towards them. Vanessa was already off her horse and heaving the contents of her stomach back up.

“Nicholas, if we do not stop for some respite we will be no use for you,” April said gently as she rubbed Vanessa’s back.

We’d not stopped for two days, riding solid throughout the day and night. Only stopping to relieve ourselves. We had to get back to Ornella as fast as we could. She needed me. I needed her to live. To be beside me.

“Fine. Ten minutes.”

Dismounting my horse, I headed towards the waves as the sun rose above the horizon. Breathing in the fresh salty air, I ran my fingers through my dishevelled hair. Failing to calm my anxiousness. I couldn’t be like this when I got her back. She needed me to be strong, calm, and level headed. I needed to centre myself and be the Fae Ornella knew and trusted.

“We will get her back, Nic,” Morgana murmured softly, standing beside me.

“We may not make it back in time,” I muttered.

“You know as well as I do, no one will stand a chance against the four of us. Ornella will be in your arms this time tomorrow. I promise you.”

She patted my forearm gently before turning to face our sisters.

“Vanessa just needs a few minutes to drink some water and she will be fine in no time.”

“What about you?” I asked, out of concern.

I knew they were all pushing themselves. None of them were used to using their magic to this extent. Vanessa kept us covered by weather, hiding our very beings. Morgana continued to use her magic to track Ornella. April kept scouting ahead, taking down any enemy soldier she found with mind control.

“Do we know how they got through the barrier?” April asked as she and Vanessa joined us.

“I have some ideas. Nora being one of the main reasons. Ourselves and Nora were the only ones who could pass through without being harmed. Perhaps she found a way to use her blood and create a spell,” I replied, sitting down, letting my legs rest.

“But that doesn’t explain how the others could come through. And what of Ornella? Surely she wouldn’t have been able to cross back and forth?” Vanessa asked, handing me her bottle of water.

I contemplated for the last few days if I should tell them what I suspected Ornella’s blood could do. It obviously could open the portal. What if it could also do other things, such as walk through the barrier or any spell created by my family”s blood?

They deserved to know. If they were helping me rescue her and risking their own lives, they should know the full truth.

“Ornella is able to open the portal underneath the castle.”

Silence. All three of them shared the identical look of shock and horror across their faces. April’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me, thinking rather loudly why I’d kept it a secret and how I’d managed to keep it away from her finding out.

“How—How is that possible?” Vanessa asked, stunned.

“I’m not sure, I have a theory though.”

I handed the bottle to Morgana who refused it, simply handing it to April.

“The deal and our blood bond. When we made our deal, I sealed my life with her’s. She was only partly able to open the portal. Thankfully, I arrived before anything broke through the cracks. However,” I paused, wondering if I should go on. “I think since our wedding day. No, I will rephrase that. I know since our wedding day, we have been bound together. Our blood mixed as one during our vows, but I think it was before then. Even since that ritual they forced her to do, I have felt this emptiness in the pits of my soul as if something is missing. I believe that’s Ornella.”

“That’s impossible,” April muttered as she got up, walking away suddenly, her mind a whirl of thoughts and questions. “If this were true that would make you,” she turned suddenly.

“Mates,” Morgana interrupted.

“Mates don’t exist. They are just fairy tales we were told as kids,” Vanessa argued.

All three of them looked at me with the same wide eyes as before. More secrets, more truths, more things I’d suspected for some time now.

“They do exist, Vanessa, there”s documented proof. Mother always said, her grandparents were destined to be together and they died at the same time as one another,” April spoke up, rubbing her forehead from frustration.

“Nicholas, if she is blood bound to you, if she is your mate, that means she will be able to open the portal fully. Whatever is hidden behind it will be unleashed on all of us.”

“That is why we must get back to the castle before that happens. I suspect that is what Lord Dorian is trying to do.”

“Wait, who is Lord Dorian?”

April read my mind, her face dropping and tears flooding her eyes as she saw the horrors I saw. The things Dorian did to Ornella. Those memories weren’t just her’s, but also mine now. Locked away in my mind from when I took them from her. I could no longer keep them hidden away if I were to be honest with my sisters, telling them everything. They only knew he’d tormented her. I managed to keep them from knowing the full details of it all.

“Dorian will die for his crimes against our queen,” April snarled as her hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

Dark shadows surrounded her with bolts and strikes of electricity running throughout. It made my lips turn up at the edges in a wicked smile. April and I were close in magic more than anyone else. We shared some of the same abilities. It”s why if I was unable to be king or take on my responsibilities, the role always fell to her. Not because she was the second oldest, but because I knew she would protect this kingdom and its people with her life.

Morgana and Vanessa shared a look with each other before they stood up, watching April, feeling the energy and power roll off her. I stood up in awe of them, my amazing and powerful sisters.

“We will do as you command, brother,” they all said in unison.

Placing their hands on either of my shoulders, I felt their magic mould and shift with my own. We were of the same blood, cut from the same cloth and we had a job to do.

To protect our home, our people, and our queen.

My shadows shifted outwards, surrounding the four of us. Morgana’s eyes transformed into blinding white light as her magic manifested into large electrifying whips. Vanessa’s storms roared across the sea and towards us, bringing with it a wave large enough to cover the entire world. Thunder and lightning followed as her hair whipped around her, almost as if the wind controlled its movement.

“After you sisters.”

Pushing my hand out, a mist of smoke flowed through my fingertips, trailing across the sand before it thrashed it up and began to create a circle in the air. A mixture of darkness, lightning, bright light, and sand. A doorway back to our home.

We were done racing.

We were done playing catch up.

We were going to bring the fight to them and get my wife back.