Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
I curled my concentration inward, cringing at what was about to happen. The last time I’d done such a thing was when I was a teenager and had learned the hard way what would happen if I defied the collar, but at the moment, if I wanted to escape, I had no choice.
I squeezed my eyes closed and delved my focus down to my magic. Down to my bottomless depth of power.
Down .
Shadows unfurled within me, my lorafin essence cold and writhing. My magic swirled, growing more potent with every breath.
Rattling, my collar zapped against my skin, the sharp sting a clear warning of what would come if I continued.
“Elowen?” Jax said, confusion evident in his voice.
But I didn’t stop. I didn’t douse the power that was rising inside me. I called to it, crooned to it until it heeded my command.
Painful pulses of electricity emitted from the collar again, and again, and again. They grew sharper and more acute with each zap that was emitted.
I steeled myself for the inevitable punishment and demanded that my magic venture me to the Veiled Between.
My magic sang in response. Darkness. Power. Might.
I was the princess of shadows.
The walker between the veils.
The enchantress of the semelees.
I was a lorafin by birthright, and I would one day be the maker of my own destiny.
A shout came from behind me. A firm grip on my shoulder came next. Someone spun me from where I sat as more voices came, but I didn’t stop, and I wouldn’t.
My soul shot through the galaxy until the Veil appeared in the darkness, a wispy fog that called to me. Come to me. Come to me, my creatures. I was so close. I reached toward the Veil, and my fingertips parted the cool mist. The semelees on the other side stirred, sensing my presence.
I entered the Veiled Between, and a semelee swam toward me. You’ve come, Daughter of Darkness. What do you seek?
An electrifying zap skated along my limbs, nearly jolting me back.
For a moment, I hung suspended, pain ricocheting through me, but the second I regained control, I pushed myself farther through the Veil and clenched my teeth with each inch that I won. The semelee watched me, waiting for my command, but instead of demanding anything, I pushed farther, which triggered my collar even more.
Another paralyzing sting of magic slashed from my collar, so strong that for a brief moment, the Veil disappeared, and I saw stars.
Another bolt skittered along my nerves, setting me on fire. I screamed, and the collar unleashed a third explosive array of whips.
Its triggered magic zoomed through my system as the mist disappeared, and then I was falling. Falling once again into my body as the Veiled Between fell to the great beyond.
Burning sparks of lightning shot from the magical device and ignited my nerves. Scorched flesh encircled my throat. My body convulsed. My eyes rolled back in my head. The collar’s dousing effects, on top of the pain I’d already been dealing with following the callings yesterday, made agony rip through me.
“Elowen!” Jax roared.
I seized in his arms, jerking so violently that I tipped to the side, but the collar didn’t stop its punishment. It wouldn’t. I’d gone too far.
Jax grabbed me, halting my spasms, but then I was on the ground, my limbs under the control of the collar. Legs and arms jerked out, contorting at impossible angles. Bones cracked. Flesh burned. A scream of pain escaped me as the collar punished me severely for using my lorafin powers without permission.
But it wasn’t until terrified eyes stared down at me, pulling me into their impossible sapphire depths, that blessedly, the collar at last calmed.
I slumped to the side, my body broken and my mind bruised.
“Elowen!” Jax yelled again.
He held me in his arms, eyes wide with shock, as grass tickled my cheek.
Sheer agony sizzled through me. Everything burned and ached so potently I could barely breathe, but it didn’t stop the small triumphant smile that parted my lips.
We’d stopped, and Jax and all of his friends had shifted back into their fae forms with looks of horror coating their faces.
It was the last thing I saw before everything went black.
I awoke to the sound of footsteps pacing by my ears. Someone was walking back and forth, back and forth. The scent of the Wood came next, that musky and damp fragrance that always reminded me of dewy mornings and curious wildlings scampering through the trees.
“What in all the realms happened, Jax?” a male asked .
Pain still barreled through me, but I forced my breathing to remain even, and my eyes closed.
“I don’t know,” the Dark Raider snarled. “She was just sitting with me, and then all of a sudden she began to tremble, her magic began to rise, and then out of nowhere she just”—his breath sucked in—“ broke . I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Do you think she’s sick?” Phillen asked, his deep voice easy to distinguish from the others.
“I thought lorafins didn’t get sick,” another of the males replied in a monotone voice. It was someone I hadn’t heard before, so I had no idea who it was.
A snort. “Bollocks, Lander. Everybody gets sick at some point.” That voice sounded like the blond—Trivan. “And now our time with her will be delayed even more. She can’t perform a calling like this .”
“But I thought lorafins were magically superior,” Lander replied in the same monotone voice. “You know, how they have their own type of magic, which can also mend themselves, unlike most fae in the kingdoms?”
“They are incredibly powerful and can heal rapidly,” Jax growled, “but I’ve never heard of them breaking like she just did.”
“Do you still want to keep her?” Trivan asked. He sighed, the sound carrying a hint of annoyance. “Maybe it’s not worth it. We could find another way without her because there’s a reason lorafins are allowed to be slaves. If they’re a danger to others, as she very well could be, then their guardians have to prove they can control them.”
I bristled inwardly.
“Of course, we’re keeping her,” Jax snapped. “We still need her.” More pacing came from above my head, and it hit me that it was Jax I was hearing walking frantically in the Wood.
A bird song trailed through the air, then the sound of more voices. Distant voices. Ones I’d never heard before. My ears pricked toward that sound. Fae were talking , not far from where we were. And they weren’t my captors.
My eyes flew open.
The Wood still surrounded me, and all six males were covered once more in black clothing and masked faces. A faint green sky shone through the trees’ canopy above.
Pain shot through me anew when I pushed to sitting.
“Whoa, she’s awake.” Phillen startled from where he sat.
Jax was immediately at my side, crouching down in the tall grass from where I lay at the base of a babbo tree. “Elowen?”
But I didn’t pay him any attention. My gaze whipped about, even though a hiss parted my lips from that frantic movement. I searched for the sound of those distant voices. I needed to find them.
There.
Through the Wood, a group of fae were walking. Nothing impeded them. No vines, trees, or roots. They had to be walking on a road, a road , which meant that civilization wasn’t far away.
I cried out, raising a desperate hand in their direction, but the second I uttered a sound, a heavy palm clamped over my face.
I screamed, or tried to, but Jax muffled the sound.
In a blurred move, he had me hauled against his chest and us hidden behind the massive babbo tree. His other arm wrapped around my waist, pinning me to him. “Stop. Stay quiet,” he whispered into my ear.
For one crazy, asinine moment, I considered biting him as hard as I could and then screaming at the top of my lungs.
“Don’t,” he hissed. “Don’t be foolish.”
I breathed heavily through my nose. My chest heaved, and my heart was thundering. Vibrations began along my collar again.
Jax groaned. “Elowen,” he said on a low whisper. “ Please . I’m not going to hurt you.”
Every fiber in my body ached and burned, but the damage that had been done to me by the collar—the broken bones, burned skin, and fizzled nerves—had mostly healed, but the effects lingered. Lander was right in one aspect. I rarely got sick, and most of my injuries healed quickly, but not the mental ones, and not the ones from a calling.
I attempted to thrash, but Jax tightened his grip, and I whimpered.
“Elowen, please, stop.” His voice turned gruff. “I mean it. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ll be left with no choice if you continue.”
Realizing I wasn’t going to win this, I slackened in his grip.
His arms loosened slightly. “Can I trust you not to scream?”
I knew that I could scream my head off once he removed his hand. But if I did that, the fae on the road would likely come to my aid, and then they’d happen upon the Dark Raider. While I knew that Jax’s violent nature was reserved for the truly vile in our realm, I also knew that he didn’t have any qualms with killing those to get what he wanted. He’d done nothing less to all four of Guardian Alleron’s guards. So if I screamed for help now, and those fae came running, Jax would be forced to kill them to protect himself, and then they would all be dead, and their deaths would be on my conscience.
I shouldn’t have called out to them in the first place. It was an impulsive thing to do.
Shoulders slumping, I accepted my defeat and nodded.
Jax slowly removed his hand while the other five formed a half circle around us. As before, I could barely discern any of their features since their disguises were in place, but Phillen hunkered down at my side.
The others were looking toward the group traveling on the road and were whispering to each other.
“Jax?” one of them called quietly. Lars signaled him over, then said something quietly in his ear.
Jax’s attention whipped toward the travelers. Eyebrows slanting together, I tried to see what all the fuss was about. Through the trees, a few features in the group became apparent. Snouts on two. Hooved hands on one. A long tail on another. Yet they all walked on two legs and had partially siltenite bodies.
Half-breeds.
Shock billowed through me. There were so many of them—fae of both wildling and siltenite descent. Usually, their kind remained hidden. They were scorned and looked down upon throughout the kingdoms, and most didn’t often call attention to themselves. But the group traveling on the road was at least a dozen strong.
How odd.
“I’m glad you’ve decided not to do anything stupid.”
Phillen’s comment snapped my attention back to him. I arched an eyebrow as Jax continued whispering with the others.
Phillen scoffed lightly, and I guessed I’d communicated my silent, sardonic response quite effectively.
His brown eyes raked over my frame, but my limbs were already back to normal, the unnatural angles gone after the collar had broken my bones. The fact that I was already healed meant I’d been passed out for at least a few hours. A few hours. A sliver of triumph skated through me. I’d truly delayed them and was one minute closer to a potential rescue.
Eyes narrowing, Phillen asked, “What happened when you were riding me, Elowen? Are you sick? ”
I contemplated my response. I didn’t know if my plan would work. I had no idea if I’d just doomed myself to even more misery, but there was only one way to find out.
I gave a slight nod.
His eyebrows shot up. “You are?”
I kept my voice small when I replied, “It hurts.”
“Jax?” Phillen called quietly. “She’s still hurt.”
In a heartbeat, Jax was at my side, his whisperings done. “Where?”
“Everywhere.” My voice came out raspy and raw, and that wasn’t even faked. The skin on my neck was still tender, and it smarted every time the collar rubbed on it. I knew if I looked in the mirror, a fresh burn mark would still be apparent, the skin red and angry. Burns could take hours to heal if they went truly deep.
The concern in Jax’s eyes grew. “Can you move your limbs?”
I made a show of trying to but winced. Once again, I wasn’t pretending. Fire raced up my veins from my still-frazzled nerves, and even though my bones were no longer broken, they hurt .
“Dammit,” he muttered under his breath.
“So, she’ll be in a bit of pain when we travel.” Trivan shrugged. “Big deal.”
But a growl from Jax had his nonchalance evaporating. “No, Triv...it is a big deal. She’s of no use to me like this. This will prolong my calling even more, and she’ll be even worse off when we get there if she doesn’t heal completely. I doubt that intense travel will make her better. She needs to be fully healthy to venture to the Veiled Between for me. We can’t keep going like this.”
A flare of hope fired through me, and I said in a stuttering tone, “I just need some rest. Usually, when this happens, I...” I sniffed and took a shuddering breath. Goddess , the damsel-in-distress act was embarrassing, but if it worked, I’d do it to all three moons and back if needed. “I...I need a few days of sleep and recovery. That’s all. Then I’ll be able to ride again.”
“ Days ?” Bowan—the male with light-brown skin, the earring, and a jovial-sounding voice—raised his eyebrows. “But we’re supposed to be in?—”
“I know.” Jax cut him off. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the Dark Raider shot me an accusing glare. “How in the realm did this happen anyway?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes, it just does.”
But Jax didn’t look away, and his eyes narrowed. For a brief moment, I thought he was going to call me on my bluff, but then he began pacing anew. “How far is Lemos?”
Lemos? I tried to keep my eyes from bugging out. If we were near Lemos, we were traveling much faster than I would have thought possible. And that also meant we were heading north, in the direction of Stonewild Kingdom.
Is that where he’s taking me? I supposed it made sense if most of them were shifters.
“It’s not far off.” Lars nodded toward the road .
Trivan crossed his arms. “It’s likely where that group was coming from. If we stick to the trail, we can probably be there within the hour.”
“How are we gonna move her?” Bowan leaned against a tree, regarding me, and with a start, I realized he had green eyes, like me.
I twisted my hands in my lap. “My guardian usually uses an enchanted carpet.”
Phillen snorted. “I’m afraid we don’t have one of those, lovely.”
“We can get one.” Jax turned to the redhead. “Lars, shift and head to Lemos. Buy a carpet and bring it back.”
Lars’s eyebrows rose clear to his bandana.
“Go,” Jax growled.
Another thrill ran through me. Venturing to Lemos to find an enchanted carpet would take at least an hour. Dealers of the magical forms of transportation could be hard to find.
I leaned my head against the tree, not even having to feign fatigue, but I made sure to wince again and act as though every breath pained me.
“What are we going to do in Lemos?” Trivan asked shrewdly. The lean blond cast me an annoyed glare.
Jax paced again in the grass. “I guess we’ll find an inn, get a room, and let her rest for a day. But that’s it. After that, we’re getting out of Faewood.”