Fae's Fate: Fated Mates of the Fae Royals (Summer Court Book 7)

1. Ciara

One would think I’d be nervous about going to Earth for the first time. I wasn’t. Deep inside, where little eddies would circle my stomach whenever nerves arose, there was nothing but calm. I’d packed my travel cases with clothes and books from my bedchambers inside the palace. I spun slowly in a small circle, taking in the bed made from the silvery wood of the tallest trees in the Summer Court. Pale yellow sheets and pillows decorated the mattress. Rugs woven into the shape of flowers in delicate golden hues lined the timber floor. My sister Roisin’s paintings of the library hung on the walls. She understood my favorite place was the library. I’d live there if it was possible, but being a princess meant I had to live in the palace and protect the Spring of Life as was our duty as a Fae royal.

An inadequate job we’d performed of late. The spring had almost ceased to flow. Father, the Fae King, had on the sly been using his powers to keep our magic spring alive, and now he was suffering the consequences of his actions. My brother’s mate was a witch, and she’d made Father a sleeping potion to ease his decline. We’d failed to see Father’s deterioration because we were too focused on searching for a cure. I spun again before tears welled in my eyes, recalling Father lying so still in his bed. My focus went back to what I might need on this trip. I’d packed everything. Considering I had two travel cases the size of me, and one was full of my most prized books, what else might I need?

A cure to our spring’s problems.

A way for Father to live.

For all of us to live.

Nodding my head, I promised myself I would be the one to find the cure. I’d searched for years, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t find a cure. Each book I’d read meant I was one book closer to finding what we needed. I swung a cape around my shoulders. My other sister, Aislinn, said Ireland was cold, and we needed to look like we were human to fit in with the town. We’d never fit in with our flower crowns in our hair. Plus, the seamstresses in the Summer Court made our clothes from the finest Fae materials. My yellow dress shimmered in the sunlight streaming in through the windows as though made from the beams of light themselves.

So at odds with my power over the shadows and darkness. Sometimes I chose lighter colored dresses to alleviate the way I’d feel dark too. Other times I worked with the mood and dressed in navy blue and black dresses, much to my mother’s despair. My siblings always complained when I snuck up on them, but I didn’t always do it on purpose. My powers seemed to escape on their own and cover me in shadows, concealing my presence. It had made for an enjoyable time when I was younger, creeping up on all my older siblings. I’d learned a lot because of my sneaky ways, too.

I left my bedchambers after setting my bags by the door for collection and walked along the marble hallways. My bare feet padded without a sound. There was no one to sneak up on, though. Everyone was with Father, watching over him. Well, they had been when I’d left to pack. Perhaps they’d left too. We couldn’t sit around and do nothing while he was dying.

“Ciara!” Malachi, my best friend, called out to me as he turned into the same hallway I was walking along. “I found something.”

A beautiful smile graced his face as he came closer to me. He held up a brown leather-bound book, hands shaking a little with his excitement.

I rushed toward him, my calm stomach giving a little jump at the sight of Malachi as I clasped the edges of the book. “What?”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his smile dropping and his strawberry blonde eyebrows tugging inward as he frowned.

I shook my head, swallowed the emotions building in my throat, and whispered, “Father.”

Malachi placed his warm hand on top of mine. “What about him?”

I nodded toward the closest door, which led into our library in the palace. No matter where I went, books surrounded me. Malachi opened the door, and we slipped inside, shutting the solid timber door behind us. Thankfully, the room was empty. I slumped onto a settee. Malachi joined me and tapped his knee into mine, sending a tingle of awareness through my limb that I shouldn’t have for my friend.

“Tell me,” he said, more of a question than a demand from my closest friend.

I drew in a deep breath. “Father has been feeding his power into the spring and it’s killing him.”

His sapphire blue eyes widened. His sensual lips parted, but no words fell out. Then his arms wrapped around me, and he drew me into a comforting hug.

“I’m so sorry, Ciara,” he whispered into my ear.

“Me too,” I whispered back, sensing the tears building in my eyes. I drew back and opened the book he’d given me because I needed to be strong. I needed to find a cure to help Father. “What should I read?”

He flicked through the book and pointed at a drawing. It was a picture of a pillar with a face carved into the stone.

“Do you think this is what Rian and Sophia saw at the top of the waterfall in Crystal Creek?”

“I’m guessing yes, but we’d have to ask them. They’re in Mother’s and Father’s bedchambers.”

“They’re not in the Amazon jungle?”

“Everyone is here.”

My eldest brother Rian had found his fated mate Sophia on a trip to Earth while searching for a cure for our problems. Sophia was a jaguar shifter and the queen of her people. They spent most of their time in the jungle now.

“Let’s go ask them.”

“You can. I’m leaving.”

“You’re leaving?”

I nodded. “I’m going to Earth. Aislinn and her newfound fated mate Fallon discovered the location where our Spring of Life connects the two worlds.”

“This is incredible news.” Malachi stood with his excitement, then noticed I wasn’t as thrilled as I should be.

“It is, but it won’t fix our problems. They found a secret society, too.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read about them in our library. “They protect the fountain on Earth. Aislinn said they have an extensive underground library, too. They might be able to help us.”

Malachi stared at me as if I’d grown taller in the space of a second, and it was impossible.

“You’re going to Earth? And you weren’t going to tell me?”

“I was coming to find you. We have little time. Everything is a mess.” I stroked my fingers along the spine of the book. “If these humans have books that can help us, then I need to go. I’m the one who understands them.”

“You’re not the only one. I understand them too. I’ll go with you.”

“It’s too dangerous.” I shook my head.

“But not too dangerous for you?” He scowled and folded his arms over his chest.

“I’ll have guards with me.”

“Good, but I’m still going. You’re my best friend. We look out for each other.”

“I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

“But you’ll risk me turning mortal and dying if I don’t help.” He huffed out an exasperated breath.

“Since you put it like that…” I stood and tucked the book under my arm. The warm leather was a familiar sensation against my skin. “Go home and pack. I’ll talk to Rian and Sophia. Meet me at the tower.”

He smiled. Every time I saw him smile because he’d gotten his way with me yet again made the special place in my heart for him glow. A few years ago, when the spring’s problems began, Mother and Father told us to choose a mate since there’d been so few fated matings since Father locked the Veil into the Summer Court. I’d considered asking Malachi to be my mate. We were best friends, had the same interests in books, and loved each other unconditionally. I was attracted to him more than I should be for a friend. But there was always the notion in the back of my mind that one day I’d find my fated mate. I’d find the one man meant for me and me alone. When the day arrived, I wanted to be free to experience all the love that arose with a fated mate.

I’d seen the way Malachi gazed at me sometimes. The way he couldn’t meet my eyes when he read sexual passages in the books. I always felt my cheeks heat when I read those books around him. There were times when my skin ignited from a brief touch of his fingers while passing books. He’d occasionally snatched his hand away as though he, too, felt it. He might not have been averse to the idea of us mating. We’d be a good couple.

“Malachi,” I said, making him pause at the door. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He blew me a kiss, opened the door, and strode into the marble hallway, vanishing around a corner.

If we were fated mates, we would have already had years of happiness together. Now, with the spring drying up, I might never experience the joy of having a chosen mate, let alone finding a fated mate, or the ecstasy of being with one in every way. Before the spring dried up in its entirety, I would ask Malachi to be my mate. The idea wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good either. When Fae marked each other, they exchanged memories, too. The problem was, I was a part of all of Malachi’s memories and he was embedded in all of mine. There would be no learning anything about each other.

If I chose Malachi, then I needed to be certain. I wouldn’t force him to give up on finding his fated mate, either. He deserved happiness as much as me.

I had to be certain we wouldn’t save the spring.

Certain our end was near.