9. Welcome to Hell
9
Welcome to Hell
Aliza
T he sun had risen and a colourful swarm of fairies were humming around a clump of wildflowers by the time Idris finally stirred, blinking awake beside me.
I offered him a wan smile. “Morning, sleeping beauty.”
The hours of rest had worked a magic all of their own, restoring him to his full fae glory. The peridot eyes that peered up at me were bright, and no shadows lingered on his glowing skin. A frown line appeared between his dark brows as his gaze flitted away from me. He sat up as suddenly as a vampire rising from a coffin, free of the stiffness and aches that would have plagued me after a night on the forest floor.
“It’s daylight.” His tone was accusatory as he glared at the fairies as though the sun was all their doing.
“Correct. Well spotted.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
I shrugged, trying to smile again. “You needed the rest.”
If I was being honest, the last thing I felt like doing was smiling. With nothing to distract me, my altercation with Jacques, the things he’d said, had chased around my mind all night. I didn’t need a mirror to know I was pale, and that Idris’ beauty was not reflected in me, fae or not .
Idris rubbed a hand over his face before staring around the woods, no doubt looking for the glaring sign of imminent danger that I’d missed. Despite my miserable mood, a bubble of smug triumph swelled in my chest when he failed to find anything.
“I suppose I did,” he finally conceded. “All quiet?”
“Well, I fought off a pack of wolves and battled a vampire, but nothing worth waking you for.” My attempt at humour came out in a monotonous grumble.
“Is everything alright? You’re not still shaken by the nightmare?”
“A little bit.” I gladly seized the excuse for what was shaping up to be a foul mood. “You could cheer me up by telling me your powers have recovered enough to teleport.”
His low chuckle rumbled down my spine, leaving shivers of the best kind in its wake. It was unlike him to laugh as easily as that, and the rare sound was made all the better when I’d been the cause of it. “You don’t know how to give up, do you?”
“Not when something really matters to me.” The prospect of dragging that case for another step was almost as bad as the thought of vampires spilling into the unsuspecting, unprepared human world. People on my side of the rift just didn’t string garlic around their doors the way they used to, and this world had failed to understand the need for accessible infrastructure.
“Fortunately for you,” Idris said with a sly, close-lipped smile, “I feel a lot better this morning.”
“Really?” Hope jolted awake inside me. “Does this mean you can take us back?”
Not that I particularly wanted to be back at Nairsgarth, surrounded by the people who lied to me and used me, but where else could I go? At least I’d have a proper bed and a wardrobe. Not to mention hot water. Besides, something had to be done about Maelgwyn, which meant putting aside my grudges and working with the people who had betrayed me.
The warmth of the new day didn’t quite manage to seep into my soul. My little pocket of respite was almost at its end. After this, my old life would be well and truly over, and the new, scary one would begin. I wasn’t ready, but even here in immortal-ville, time waited for nobody.
“Let’s have breakfast first. You know my charming twin is going to be at our throats the moment we set foot in the entrance hall. I can’t deal with that on an empty stomach.”
“You have yourself a deal.” I grinned as Idris eased to his feet and set about retrieving our provisions from the holdall. A vampire infestation seemed much easier to deal with now I knew I didn’t have to traipse halfway across the realm first.
Much to Idris’ delight, Mum had packed us an impressive spread for breakfast. We barely spoke as we worked our way through home-baked granola bars, a fruit salad, and a multipack of pain-au-chocolate. Idris devoured most of them with the intensity of a starved predator stumbling upon a fresh carcass. Mum had also thought to pack a tin of instant coffee, but after Idris’ reaction to my suggestion of a fire the previous night, I only gave it one longing look, resolving to wait until we arrived at Nairsgarth. At least it wouldn’t be a long journey.
“How is this going to work then?” I asked, extricating myself from my hoody. With the sun easing higher into the sky, the lingering chill of night was fading away.
“I’ll take you back first, right to the castle gates,” Idris explained, packing away the tupperware boxes. “Then I suppose I’ll be coming back for the bags.”
With the last traces of our picnic packed away, Idris turned to face me. My nerves jangled. I hated teleporting. It might be preferable to dragging my case, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t dreading it. The awful sensations might feel like an eternity, but in reality, they only lasted a few seconds. The nausea that came afterwards was more persistent.
As Idris stepped close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin, as I looked up into his beautiful eyes, my dread eased, replaced with tingling anticipation of his touch, however brief it might be.
“Ready?” he asked, his voice low.
I gulped and nodded.
The prince took my hand, engulfing it in his massive one. “Hold tight.”
“Will one of you please tell me what in the world is going on?”
Prince Anwir’s voice, identical to his brother’s, shuddered with fury. I itched to sidestep closer to Idris, to shelter beside his massive form, safe from the accusing glares of his twin, and Granny.
It was the latter who had me quaking in my boots. The old matriarch of the coven, withered and bowed by great age, skewered me to the spot with pale, watery eyes. She hadn’t said a word since we’d teleported to the gates of Nairsgarth and been frog-marched before her, nor had she risen from her winged armchair. It was like being brought before the headmistress at school. Not that I’d ever put a toe out of line, but this is how I imagined it would feel. If only she’d look away, giving me a moment to summon some of the indignation I’d felt toward Anwir before leaving without a word in the dead of night.
My skin prickled, and I knew Idris was trying to catch my eye, but I didn’t dare look at him. We’d agreed that Anwir would accept the truth easier if it came from me, but now the moment had arrived, my throat was dry and tight.
I forced a brittle cough as my gaze flickered from Granny to Sage, second in command and the biggest liar of them all, and then, finally, to Anwir. I’d never seen him so furious. His features were tight, his eyes glaring. He didn’t look nearly as handsome as he once had.
“It’s a long story,” I began, my voice high and wavering.
“Then I suggest you make a start!” Anwir snapped.
Just like that, my fear snapped too, springing away like a broken elastic band. Anger rushed to fill its place. Who did he think he was, to speak to me like that? This was the male who’d planned to trick me into loving him, just so he could use me as a royal broodmare, while he counted down the days until he could be rid of me. Maybe once I hit the menopause I’d have taken a mysterious tumble down a flight of stairs, snapping my neck and leaving him a widower. How long would he have waited before bringing his witchy love out of the shadows to take my place? Before his actions proclaimed to all the world that my life had been nothing but a lie? That he’d lied. Used me. Robbed me of free choice.
“I’d suggest you shut up and listen,” I bit back, and though Anwir’s face whitened with shock, Idris gave a tiny huff of amusement, steeling my courage with that little reminder that he was on my side. Granny hooted with glee, head snapping to Sage, but the younger witch did not seem to share her superior’s feelings. Her face remained impassive, giving nothing away. I fixed my glare on the scheming prince.
“I know,” I said through clenched teeth. “I know you’re a liar. I know how you planned to use me. I know everything, so don’t bluster around like the injured party.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Aliza, but I can assure—”
“Your assurances are bullshit, so don’t bother. For the record, I was never going to let you anywhere near me.”
Anwir’s jaw worked furiously for a moment before he turned his attention to his brother. “You! You told her!”
“Eyes on me, dickhead,” I snarled, and Anwir snapped his dumbfounded focus back to me. “He didn’t tell me anything. You left your door ajar like an idiot, and I heard you with my own ears. I wasted all that time trying to free you, and help you, and you… ” I shook my head in disgust. “You’re despicable. I did what I should have done a long time ago. I left.”
“You left with him ,” Anwir said petulantly, and I saw him exactly as he was. A jealous little brother, coveting everything his sibling had, and refusing to share his toys.
I had half a mind to let him believe whatever he wanted, but Idris spoke before I could do anything but give a smug smile.
“No. After you and I spoke, I realised you were never going to do the right thing and tell the truth. I went to tell her myself, but the vampire got there first. After we were released from the ward, I tried again. I found her gone. I went after her. Then I told her the truth. ”
“Truth,” Anwir sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. “What do you care for the truth?”
“Careful,” Idris warned, his voice laced with venom.
I glanced at him for the first time since entering this interrogation. His brows had lowered as he stared down his brother, younger by minutes. One wrong word and Sage and Granny would know they’d swapped places. They’d know Idris was supposed to be the king.
“Oh please,” Anwir scoffed. “They know.” My eyes darted between Sage and Granny, neither of whom seemed confused by the turn our chat had taken. “Do you think half the realm hasn’t already figured it out, thanks to your little display?”
Ah, there it was. The crux of the problem. Anwir didn’t care about me, not beyond a bit of jealousy over my alliance with his brother. He cared that Idris had exposed his powers in his efforts to save my life. Everyone knew that the first-born prince, the heir to the throne, possessed lightning, and ever since the swap, both twins had been careful to hide their powers, knowing it was the one difference that would give them away. When Idris saved me with his magic, he’d let the whole world know that he was the true prince. Anwir would sooner have let me die than out himself.
“It was necessary,” Idris said carefully. His spine was rigid. He didn’t want the truth to come out any more than Anwir did. Idris would make the better king, but he wanted to be free.
“It was your display,” I insisted, turning back to Anwir. “It was you who saved me. Wasn’t it.”
Confusion clouded his eyes, once so beautiful. I supposed they still must be, identical as they were to Idris’, but I couldn’t see it anymore. Not in him .
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that when you learnt of my capture, you came to my aid. You saved me. Didn’t you?”
Anwir’s gaze darted between me and Idris. “Me?”
“Who else has lightning powers?”
Anwir stared at me for a long moment, looking as though he’d been bopped on the head with a plank of wood. The temptation to do exactly that was growing with every interaction I shared with him. “Nobody,” he managed at last.
I nodded. “Exactly. It was you who used your power that day. You who saved me by turning me immortal.”
“And it will be you who wears the crown,” Idris added.
My guts curled in on themselves at his statement. As much as I understood Idris’ reasons for not wanting to take the throne, I couldn’t bring myself to believe that Anwir was the better choice. He was selfish, manipulative, and false. And now, as he’d proven, an overgrown toddler. Idris, on the other hand…
I peered at the prince’s exquisite profile from the corner of my eye. Brave. Selfless. A good heart. He would make a perfect king, but it wasn’t my place to interfere or question his choice to abdicate.
Anwir sighed, dragging a hand through his shoulder-length, raven locks. “Alright, fine. I can work with that. But why has it taken you so long to come back? And why did you have to make her immortal?”
I bristled, but Idris spoke before I could, his voice little more than a warning snarl. “It was the only way, you insolent little prick. She was dying, and I wasn’t willing to let that happen.”
“You just… gave up your gift? For someone you barely know? ”
“I did what you should have done. I repaid her for saving the two of us. I gave her what she’d been promised.”
Promised, but never really wanted. Even so, Anwir’s words sailed uncomfortably close to my own misgivings. What if now the rifts were open, Idris met some mortal woman worth keeping? What if he wanted to use Rhodd Anfarwol on her, making her immortal, but couldn’t, because he’d wasted it on me? I shuffled my guilty feet. I was an imposter, through and through. Nobody really wanted me here. Even Idris had tried to help me get home, but now I had nowhere else to go, and these people were stuck with me, whether any of us liked it or not.
The twinge of regret shooting down the bond, deeper and more painful than my own, didn’t help. Could Idris occasionally feel my emotions in the same way I felt this? Did he wish that this meaningless link between us could be severed?
Anwir paced behind Granny’s wing-backed chair. The witches ignored him, Sage with all the indifference of a black cat, while Granny inspected Idris and me with a keen eye.
“Where have you been, Aliza with an A?” the old woman asked in her reedy voice.
I blinked, unused to being addressed so directly.
“Don’t act dense, girl. The lightning incident was almost a week ago. It can’t have taken you that long to get back.”
“Oh. I went home for a bit.”
“You crossed the rift?” Anwir snapped, coming to an abrupt halt.
“Is that a problem? ”
“Of course it is! You two unleash absolute chaos and disorder, set half the realm whispering about the succession, and then instead of reporting back at once, you disappear to that human shithole?”
Would anyone try to stop me if I took it upon myself to hurl the prince out of the window and into the churning sea, far below? “Fuck off, Anwir. I’ll do what I want. And for the record, letting my parents know I’m not dead is more important to me than your fucking succession.”
“This is not about you!”
I huffed a cold laugh. “No, it never has been, has it? You could have taken me home the moment the curse was broken, but you convinced me to stay. You lied through your teeth, all so you could get what you wanted. You didn’t give a shit about me or my family, as long as you got to wear a fucking crown and sire some royal babies.”
Sage’s glorious mane of blonde hair gleamed as she whipped her head to Anwir. “What?”
“Go on, deny it.” I folded my arms. “Deny that you were keeping me mortal so you could get me pregnant, and then dispose of me once I’d served my purpose. Your stupid little fertile human queen.”
“I never intended—”
“Oh, just stop lying, for god’s sake. I heard you, and guess what? I don’t care. All I wanted was to go home, but you tricked me, and now I’m stuck here. This is the only place that’s safe for me. That’s the only reason I’m back.” I turned to Granny, bypassing Sage in the chain of command. “You owe me. You all lied, you all used me, so the least you can do is feed and shelter me.”
Granny raised her bald eyebrows. “Mother above.”
“I’ll keep my old room. I hope you’ve had the door fixed. ”
I turned on my heel and stalked away, half expecting someone to seize me and force me to stay, but I reached the corridor unhindered.
As I wrenched the door shut behind me, I heard Granny say, “She’s certainly spirited. I’ll say that much.”