2. Lira
2
LIRA
I ridescent swirls circled my body as I tried grasping something. But each time, my hands came up empty.
What the fuck ?
The swirls vanished, but I continued to drop. Cold air wrapped around me, and my hair blew into my face. A strangled scream caught in my throat as I realized this was the moment I died.
That was what I got for hoping for a fucking New Year’s kiss.
Now I understood what true terror felt like.
My hair whipped my face, stinging my eyes, but I saw I wasn’t the only one falling. Tavish was right above me, dropping faster and catching up with me. Even though he was also tumbling to his death, he had a huge grin on his face.
His comment that I should fear him the most replayed in my mind like a tornado siren, but the red flag had come way too late.
“What’s wrong, sprite?” He laughed, reveling in the fall. “You scared of a little drop?”
Of course, the first guy I was attracted to would happily watch us crash to our deaths. Now I wanted to go back to not feeling a damn thing for anyone.
I’d at least fucking die with dignity.
I spun so my back was to him, expecting to see the ground I’d crash into, but we seemed to be tumbling into an abyss. My stomach lunged into my throat, and I wanted to vomit. The anticipation of death had to be worse than the real thing. At this speed, death would be quick and painless.
Then hope sprang into my chest, clenching my heart.
Maybe this was a dream.
The same eyes I dreamed of each night and falling infinitely like this couldn’t be real life. I just needed to wake up.
I pinched myself, and pain shot up my arm.
Worse, I was still falling.
“Almost there, sprite,” Tavish teased as he caught up to me and fell beside me.
We tumbled toward something , but only one of us was fearing for our lives.
The wind turned cold, and a dark blob appeared below us, with glowing red places surrounded by what appeared to be water.
My heart raced as the wind pressed against my chest. I struggled to breathe, and my ears popped from the altitude change.
“I must admit, this moment is more exhilarating than I expected.” His gaze remained locked on me like my fear made dying worth it. “All these years, yet your horrified look is nothing like what I anticipated.”
“Are you serious?” I yelled, trying to glare at him.
I hated that, despite the morbid joy written across every inch of his cold face, he had become more breathtaking since I … well … fell. With my back against the trunk of a huge -ass oak tree, I hadn’t seen what had happened to me. “This is the first time we’ve met, so what the fuck are you talking about?”
The land underneath us grew larger, and I could see sharp, jagged, mountainous cliffs, numerous volcanos, and dry, cracked ground peeking through darkness and fog. I feared one of the sharp tips would deliver my death.
“Ah, we’ve met before.” He winked. “In fact, we spent much time together when we were younger.”
The hairs on the nape of my neck lifted, and I wasn’t sure if it was from that gesture or the below-freezing air. “I’d remember you. That’s not possible.”
“Don’t worry, sprite. You’ll remember soon.”
I had no idea why he kept calling me by the name of a soda, but dammit, I wouldn’t remember anything after we hit the ground.
Something exploded from his back, and before I could comprehend what I saw, he’d closed the distance between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me against his chest.
My body jerked with his as our descent slowed, and understanding crashed into me.
He had wings .
I blinked, taking in his massive wingspan. The leathery onyx wings glistened magically, reminding me of the glitter on Eiric’s cheeks.
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, everywhere that my body pressed against his buzzed, feeling way too nice and chasing the cold away, his presence comforting me.
It sure as hell shouldn’t do that.
I placed my hands against his chest to get away from him. The last thing I wanted was to feel safe with a man who wanted me dead. “Let me go . ”
He laughed, his chest rumbling against mine. The sound was deep and genuine and had my stomach doing flips all over again. “Are you saying you’d rather fall to your death than have me hold you?”
Was I? That did seem rather extreme. “Yes. Yes, I am. Let me go so I can get my suffering over with, short and sweet.” There was no telling what his sadistic ass had planned for me.
“Aw. Where’s the fun in that?” His arms tightened, keeping me in place. “I have plans for you. Your parents will answer for their crimes against mine.”
The fight left me, and I tensed, more confused than ever. “My parents ? My dad’s a security guard, and Mom works for an optometrist.” There wasn’t a damn thing they could have possibly done to this man … a man who had wings. Maybe sleep deprivation had caught up to me.
He laughed again, dark and hateful. “If that were true, you wouldn’t be here with me.”
A lump formed in my throat. Did he mean my birth parents? My parents had adopted me when I was ten years old, and I couldn’t remember anything from before I moved in with them. It was as if the first ten years of my life didn’t exist, and when I was younger, I’d wanted to know why. As I got older, I decided that the best thing for me was to let those memories remain forgotten. My mind had to be protecting me from something.
Clearly, that was the case, but now I wished I’d let the therapist my parents had sent me to look for those answers. Maybe then I’d understand why this guy hated me enough to save me one moment and kidnap the next.
“If my parents hurt them, why do you need me?” I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his eyes and ignoring the way the land underneath us moved swiftly as he flew … somewhere.
“You’re going to break them, sprite.” His slate eyes met mine, all warmth gone. “You’re going to bring them to their knees.”
I snorted, the sound like sandpaper against my throat. “If you think my sperm and egg donors care about me, you’re wrong. They gave me up when I was ten, and I haven’t heard a word from them since. I don’t even remember them. Your best bet is to take me back home or just kill me and get it over with.”
“Oh, death isn’t in your imminent future. That fate would be too easy.”
Terror dug its sharp claws into my chest, and even though the fall was no longer pressing the air out of me, I still couldn’t breathe. If this wasn’t a nightmare, I could only imagine the terror and panic Eiric and our parents would experience when she came to find me after midnight.
Eiric would blame herself for my disappearance even though it wasn’t her fault. I’d encouraged her to leave me alone with him. But I had no doubt she’d carry the burden for the rest of her life.
Maybe that was for the best. Would he have tried to take her, too, if she hadn’t left to visit with her friends? I’d rather she live with that guilt than be part of whatever hell would be my future.
Something cold hit my cheek, pulling me back to the present. I glanced up to see bits of snow falling from the sky through thick, stormy clouds and gasped.
We’d been in Savannah moments ago, and it wasn’t nearly cold enough for snow.
Where the hell were we ?
“Ever seen snow before?” Tavish asked. His breath warmed my ear.
Goose bumps pebbled my skin, but they had to be from the snow. Not him . The bastard.
“Yes.” I refused to tell him I’d only seen it once, and it hadn’t even been a dusting. The jackass didn’t deserve to know anything about me.
“You don’t seem to enjoy it. That’s unfortunate.” He nodded to his right. “There’s snow here year-round and not warmth like you’re used to.”
I flinched and turned my head to see what he meant. My eyes widened.
A gigantic castle as dark as the sky towered on a jagged mountain peak. It didn’t seem to have a single light on within, though I caught a few glimmers in the houses nestled at the bottom of the slope. They were made of the same dark material and continued down the land near the edge of the water that crashed against the shoreline.
Snow covered the ground, and a steady flow drifted from the sky.
No one stood on the streets, giving the town an eerie vibe. I’d never seen or heard of this place before. “Where are we?” If I got a location, maybe I could escape and get back home.
“Somewhere you’ll never leave.” He sneered. “Unless I allow it.”
Wow. He was confident and cocky. I’d give him that. “Then you won’t be afraid to tell me the location.” I arched a brow, trying to come off as confident as him, though I didn’t feel that way at all. I was truly at his mercy, and I hated that.
Eiric had told me countless times that always thinking the best of people would get me into a shitload of trouble. She must have fortune-telling abilities because if she could see how far I’d fallen, she’d say she told me so.
“Are you sure you want the answer to that query?” He tilted his head. “I don’t want to overload that pretty head of yours too much in one night. I can’t have you breaking down until I permit it.”
My stomach almost fluttered at his compliment, but I shut that shit down. I refused to feel any more attraction to this pompous ass. “Try me.”
“You asked for it.” He lowered us toward the buildings. “Welcome to the new Unseelie lands.”
I snorted. “Unseelie, as in fae ?” I wanted to dismiss his words as a joke, but he had wings, and I’d fallen through a tree. All of that defied the physics of Earth.
“Of course fae.” He smiled ominously. “That was an asinine question.”
His gruff words hurt, but I straightened my back, refusing to let him see it. The movement pressed my chest into his more, increasing the pleasant buzzing of my body, which was hugely problematic. I didn’t want to feel any sort of nice feelings toward him.
I swallowed, not wanting to aggravate him more. I was his prisoner for now, whether I liked it or not.
Forcing my attention away from him, I turned back to the castle and noticed a man standing in the darkness of each open window. They wore dark armor and also had wings, each pair a different shade of gray, from very dark to nearly white.
Tavish flew to the far end of the castle, snow falling in his hair and on my face. The white flecks contrasted with his dark hair and nearly blended in with the paleness of his face.
He flew us in through a low window while the guard moved aside to allow us entrance. When Tavish landed, he released me and took several steps back like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
Unfortunately for me, my traitorous body wanted to chase after him. I already missed the buzzing from his touch, and I needed another fix, like a drug addict. I made sure my feet stayed planted and glanced around the room for exits.
Darkness clung to me and soaked into my bones, chilling me. I didn’t want to stay here.
All I could see was a long-ass hallway, but every ten feet, lanterns radiated dim light.
“Your Majesty.” The man bowed, dark-blue hair hanging over his shoulders. “I see you found the—”
“Woman,” Tavish interjected, his irises darkening to match his wings. “Yes, I have. Do you have the room ready for her?”
Your Majesty . Oh my goodness, please tell me I heard him wrong . I didn’t need some powerful fae royal wanting to torture me.
The guard straightened, his golden eyes meeting mine. He nodded. “It’s prepared as you requested.”
“Good.” Tavish lowered his wings and pulled them close to his back. “Come, Lira. It’s time to show you your new home.”
There were so many things I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. I had no clue how to get out of here or what Tavish wanted from me. I needed time to form a plan before I said or did something foolish and made my situation worse.
Tavish strode down the hallway, not bothering to check whether I followed, but his guard growled at me when I didn’t move, so I begrudgingly obliged .
After a few steps, faint light from a nearby room caught my eye, and Tavish stopped at the open barred-gate doorway. He turned to me and gestured inside. “Welcome.”
When I glanced in, I wanted to cry. The room was dark except for one light right over a small, thin bed pressed against the stone wall. A fuzzy blanket lay on it, but no pillow and a bucket sat in the corner. It looked worse than a prison cell in my world.
“What’s wrong, sprite?” He smirked. “Not to your liking? I thought keeping you in a holding cell would bring things full circle.”
I wanted to scream that I didn’t understand, but he already knew that. My confusion was getting him off, and I refused to give him any more pleasure. The urge to flip him off surged through me, but I gritted my teeth and said, “It’s fine, nightmare .”
His head tilted back, and he grinned. Those irises lightened to a stormy gray as if he had let a little light in. “Then off to it. And if you use the bucket, you get to empty it in the morning.”
My stomach dropped. The bucket was for the bathroom. Lovely. I’d rather sleep with a full bladder than use it, especially as any guard could see through the barred door while I was relieving myself, which must have been his intention. He wanted to humiliate me. “Noted. Thanks.”
His head tilted back. “I’ll let you have that one because you don’t remember not to thank a fae. Next time, I won’t be so kind, and you will owe me.” He stalked out of the room and shut the gate with a clang. He didn’t look back as he walked away.
Shit. I’d have to break that habit fast. And even worse, I felt terribly alone when he was gone, even though I was safer with some distance between us .
I walked to the bed and lay down on it. I could’ve sworn they’d placed rocks underneath the mattress. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had.
I turned to face the stone wall, not wanting any guard to see me come undone. Placing my arms under my head for a pillow, I let my tears break free and stream down my face. Pressure built in my chest as a sob tried to escape, but I refused to let anyone hear my breakdown.
Instead, I swallowed the noise and closed my eyes, picturing Eiric’s and our parents’ faces. I pretended to be home, safe in my bed, with the calming sound of the ocean playing in my earbuds to help me drift off to sleep.
Soon, the darkness took me.
A boisterous laugh startled me from my sleep. I spun around, despite my back and head killing me, to find a menacing man opening the door to my cell and barging in, the blue-haired guard from last night right behind him.
“So this is the thornling,” the tall, muscular man with white wings said as he reached down and grabbed me by the neck with one hand. His eyes were as white as his wings, and a deep scar marred his cheek.
I tried to push his hand away, but his hold tightened, cutting off my air supply.
“That’s what King Tavish said.” The blue-haired guard nodded. “She was crying all night, and it was damn exhausting.”
“Sounds like we need to toughen her up.” He smirked. “I’m more than willing, seeing as her people gave me this.” With his free hand, he caressed the scar. “Time to return the favor. ”
He lifted me up by my neck, and I choked, my ears ringing. My heart raced as I realized this man wasn’t as controlled as Tavish. Still trying to pry his fingers from my neck with my other hand, I reached for my dagger, but I couldn’t get to it.
With his free hand, White Eyes drew a sword. “I’m thinking I should cut her from cheek to neck. It only seems fair that her scars be worse.”
As the edges of my vision darkened, I could only think of one thing I could do. I drew back my foot … and kicked the guy in the crotch.
My toes met metal, and I felt something snap.