Loving Fae (Lost In Fae #4)

Chapter 1

MAIZE

Warm breath brushed the side of my neck. A shiver of pleasure chased across my skin as a soft sigh slipped from my lips. My eyes felt heavy, but the golden light pressing through my lashes coaxed me toward waking. The arm around my waist tightened, its heavy heat anchoring me to the bed.

“Wake up, teacup.” Maddox’s voice rumbled against my ear, low and rough with sleep.

I reached back, tracing my fingers over the solid length of his arm that rested around me. The warmth of my mate—the steady rise and fall of his chest—made my heart ache in the best way possible.

This. These quiet, stolen mornings tangled in their arms… This was everything.

That thought brought on a tidal wave of recent memories that danced behind my closed eyes.

Flashes of running with Cannon through the woods echoed through my mind, alongside the snapping of branches underfoot.

I could hear Chait whisper against my ear that what I was experiencing, what I was seeing, was the truth: that the eight of us had become a true family.

I could practically smell food being made in our warm, lived-in home, the place that made me feel like I finally belonged somewhere.

Then the whisper of my familiars danced through my head, and the soft warmth of the morning faded into—

Silence. Static silence.

It buzzed in my ears, as if my mind refused to remember what had happened next.

What had happened next?

My eyes blinked open and the world instantly tilted, shifting into something colder and darker. The familiar body pressed against me was gone, leaving me chilled and completely alone. A single light from somewhere far above me highlighted the stone floor. My breath hitched in panic.

A heavy weight pulled at my wrists—iron chains. What the hell was going on? Where was I? Why did I feel so confused, so…lost?

My brain whirled as I tried to remember how I’d gotten here. Had I been captured by Zagan again? Attacked by David and his allies in the Horde’s SE? None of that felt exactly right, and the harder I tried to remember, the more my head pounded.

My magic felt drained, exhausted, my familiars utterly absent. All of this had something to do with them, I knew that, but I couldn’t remember how.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I tried to take in the space around me. The rocky floor was damp, and I could hear the faint drip of a leaking pipe coming from somewhere in the distance. Around me, spaced five feet apart in every direction, were iron bars.

Their outline was familiar—too familiar.

This place felt just like the dungeons Mario had imprisoned me in.

My gaze lifted toward the void that served as a ceiling, squinting as I tried to peer past the mysterious source of light.

The bars could have stretched up miles, and I would never have known.

“Hello?”

I expected my voice to come out raspy and weak, to echo through the open space. Instead it floated softly, like waves pushing back the darkness. Ribbons of purple and blue magic surged through the air as if they had been waiting for my command.

Why was my magic floating around me instead of inside me? I supposed that explained why I felt so damn drained.

My wings twitched against my back, aching to release, but I kept them tucked away for now as my magic morphed from ribbons into butterflies that flitted through the room, slipping between the bars.

My jaw tightened in disgust as I realized that beyond my cell were even more cells lining the stone walls. Except they weren’t as new as my father’s had been—these were overtaken by ivy and greenery, sharp crystals jutting dangerously from the walls.

Obviously I was in a prison, but whose? My heartbeat thundered, frustration surging through me.

Was this my existence? Constant captivity?

I wouldn’t—couldn’t—accept that. No. I deserved more than this.

I had more than this. My mates had proven it to me time and time again. I just had to get back to them.

The jingle of keys snapped my spine straight, every nerve in my body on alert. Someone was coming. My magic, as if terrified, vanished into thin air.

“Ah, the Obsidian Butterfly wakes.”

That voice—the smugness, the ancient texture of it. An accent you couldn’t quite place, but you could feel how old it was. His magic gathered in the air, thick with rot and earth, rising beneath the soft sound of wings shifting.

My eyes squeezed shut as I was hit with a violent torrent of memories, so different from the ones filled with pure joy. Memories of releasing my familiars, their warning of what they’d been forced to protect me from. Memories of being dragged inside my own mind and into…this. His prison.

“Oberon.” My voice dripped with disgust.

He appeared at the bars of my cell, his form shifting with the currents of the air.

His golden skin flickered between green and blue, his long hair parted by antlers as he offered a terrifying grin—his teeth lethally sharp.

I grunted at the sudden pressure of his power pressing down on me, crowding me from every direction.

Oberon’s magic was wrapped around my cell—I could feel that now. I was weak from his magic suppression, but worse, he was blocking me from connecting to my familiars and my mates. Maddox had only been here for moments before Oberon had—

“What did you do to Maddox?” I demanded, remembering how my mate had tried to follow me into my head—to help me, to save me.

Oberon chuckled, the sound thick with delight.

“Your mage escaped—for now. Even now, they all stand around you, fearing this will be your funeral, that you won’t wake.

I’ve made it so you can’t feed off their essence, interrupted your bond so that they truly can’t tell if you’ll return.

They’re right to worry. I don’t plan on releasing you until we reach a compromise. ”

I swallowed hard, discomfort crawling up my throat. I hated that he understood my magic so well. After Mario, after Zagan, he knew exactly how I fed through my bonds. Worse still, he knew I was poisonous to the touch. That was probably why he’d kept the bars between us.

“They know I’ll come back—”

My words were clearly what he’d been waiting for, because his power withdrew like a tide, a violent current tearing free.

I was gut-punched by the rush of rage, agony, and fear from my mates, the weight of it twisting my stomach until I gagged.

I gasped when he slammed the bond closed again, and for a heartbeat, I felt victorious.

It had been awful, but it had also been something. Something they could have felt. Especially Maddox, with his psychic reach, and Philip, who could walk my dreams.

“You’re an idiot,” I choked out between breaths. “You don’t think they felt that surge of power?”

Oberon’s laughter cut off into a guttural growl—the kind that sent chills down my spine.

When I looked up he was gone, swallowed again by the shadows.

Heavy footsteps echoed, each one vibrating through the dungeon.

When I finally caught sight of him, he’d grown—his frame now three times its previous size, monstrous in the dim light.

Fuck. I had to be careful. After all, this was my head, and I was starting to realize he could do a fuck ton of damage in here.

My lips pressed together. I wanted to demand my release, but it was clear Oberon wanted to speak.

Less than a minute later, the monstrous creature approached the bars.

Light surrounded him, a sickly green glow pulsing in time with the heart visible in the center of his chest, caged by twisting trees.

I had no idea what his true form was; it seemed to shift with his moods, and right now, he was unstable.

A primal growl rumbled from his chest, completely at odds with the serene expression on his face.

“What do you want from me?” My tone stayed even as I met his flashing gold eyes, anger burning behind their calm.

“A simple agreement—a compromise.”

I could have laughed, but I didn’t. He was being serious.

“And what’s that?”

“If you come to me willingly, I will not harm your mates or the Horde.”

Shit. I tilted my head, trying to understand why he wanted me at all. Despite the seductive tone curling around his words, it didn’t feel carnal.

“Why do you want me to come to you?”

Fire erupted through the prison, bursting from the walls as his fury took physical form. The roar that followed shook the ground. Obviously the wrong question.

Except he answered me.

“I need to feed. And after I taste the magic of the Obsidian Butterfly, I will release you. You’ll go on as if none of this ever happened.”

I nearly snorted. He wanted to drain my magic—truly drain it, not some temporary draw.

Somehow, I doubted I’d survive without the power that flowed through my blood and bones.

Still, I masked my disgust. Pretending to agree might be the only way to break free of this prison he’d built inside my mind.

The comfort of quiet strategy grounded me as I considered my next move.

“Tasting my magic? Is that truly what you plan to do?”

I kept my voice neutral, though fury clawed at my ribs. Not just because he wanted to rip away another piece of me—a recurring theme in my life—but because he thought I was too stupid to realize his intention.

“Taste—taste—taste.” Oberon suddenly shrank to half his size, pacing in jerky, manic strides. His form flickered back to what I’d seen before as he clutched his horns, muttering under his breath.

“Feed—I want to feed.” His snarl was sharp enough to cut. “My magic has decayed while imprisoned. I’ve been forced to consume myself again and again. Death. Rebirth. I need to feed on true power—on true magic.”

The bastard was unhinged.

“You’re a literal god,” I reasoned. “How is it even possible you were imprisoned?”

“Because of him!” The fiery explosion came again. “Because he trapped me. Never again. No, no, no. This time I’ll take his bloodline, and it will restore me. All because of you, Obsidian Butterfly. All because of you.”

My mind raced. Oberon believed I was connected by blood to whoever had bound him, forcing him into this endless cycle of apparent self-consumption. He wanted to feed from me to break that curse.

“Who imprisoned you—”

“I WILL NOT say his name! You want me to say it so he’ll come here, don’t you? I’ll never speak it again. You pretend ignorance, but I see the truth. I can reach you for the same reason he could reach us if you call him.”

The sickly light around him pulsed in manic waves.

“I have to gain power. I have to escape before they come. The dark ones are coming. The dark ones are nearly here—” His muttering turned low and frantic as I shifted the chains around my wrists, trying to think. What the fuck was I supposed to say?

I supposed I could just agree. Couldn’t I? Still, it was dangerous to make deals with gods—especially fae gods.

“Where are you, exactly?” I asked, hoping that by pretending to consider his offer, I might draw out more information.

Oberon’s gaze snapped back to me as he crowded against the bars, wrapping long fingers around the iron. I flinched, realizing they’d morphed into claw-like talons. Black, shadowy wings beat behind him, the skin torn and aged.

Not just that—chains clung to his ankles, their rattling echoing through the space.

The sound I’d mistaken for keys was only his own bondage.

Their surfaces flashed white-hot, searing, and the stench of burning skin filled the air.

I had no idea why he was letting me see him like this, but he didn’t look away—just stared, gauging me.

“Why? Do you plan to come to me? Or do you think you can hunt and kill the great Oberon? I cannot die, Maize. Not truly.”

The thick agony in his voice almost made me wince. I didn’t feel an ounce of empathy for this bastard, but his extremes—rage to sorrow, power to pain—were impossible not to react to.

“I’m asking because I’m considering your offer.”

Instantly, the space shifted. The air softened and the chains around me loosened.

Oberon’s monstrous form smoothed into something almost human.

His skin gleamed gold again, his hair fell neatly around his shoulders, and his gaze—dark, watchful—matched the deep green of his suit.

I really needed to get out of my damn head.

This was a disastrous nightmare I couldn’t wake from.

“You are, are you?” He narrowed his eyes. “Or are you trying to leave me?”

“Both. I want to get back to my mates—but I am considering your offer. If what you promise is true.”

His smile made my skin crawl. Perceived victory filled his expression, and though I could practically feel evil radiating off him, I forced myself not to show fear.

“You know I can reach you like this whenever I wish,” he murmured. “If I release you and it takes too long for you to come to me…” He let the words linger, heavy. “I will pull you back under. And I know at least two of them will try to follow you. And as I promised, I’ll melt their minds.”

“Right.” I clenched my teeth and Oberon barked out a laugh, amused by my restraint.

“For now, Obsidian Butterfly, I’ll let you think on that. But remember—I am the one who controls this. So for your sake, I hope you’re not playing a game you can’t win.”

Oberon vanished, dissolving into the air.

The prison collapsed around me with a crash, chains snapping free from my wrists as the iron bars clattered to the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest, a cry of shock tearing free as Oberon’s magic was ripped away. The recoil left me raw, my mind shaking as light fractured through the darkness.

A suction began to pull at my skin, the kind of pressure that warned if I didn’t anchor myself, I’d drift away completely.

My mates. I focused on them—on every face, every heartbeat, every spark of the bond between us. Hot tears blurred my vision as seven brilliant lights ignited beneath my skin.

They were there. They were alive. They were waiting for me.

I let my body soar through time and space, desperate to reach them. Everything else could wait. I just needed to get back to them.

Heat seared across my skin as I pushed outward, the pain overwhelming. The world went black at the edges, and just before everything vanished, I heard Philip’s voice breaking through the void.

“She’s back—she’s fucking back! I can feel her.”