Bindings of Lore (Fae of Legends & Lore #2)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

The realm spun around me in mist and shadows, air and wind. During the magical transport, I barely felt Kole, the male who had once been the stoic warrior I’d grown smitten with but had ultimately betrayed me.

Yet I knew he was there. He was taking me back to the Imperial Council headquarters, or wherever they deemed it “safe” to imprison me, despite the fact that I’d committed no crime.

Even during his mistphase—the magical ability to transport near instantaneously across the realm—it felt as though my heart was breaking. Kole had taken the Stone from me upon the Council’s orders, and because of that, my uncle would either die or turn into whatever creature he was becoming.

A memory flashed through my mind of my uncle’s pale, taut skin and the fangs that parted his lips. Even in the mistphase, a shudder racked me, and just as the mistphasing winds began to calm, despair hit me like lightning because all of my work had been for naught.

The Stone was supposed to have saved Timith, my one wish returning him to a healthy fairy. Yet even though I’d found the Wishing Stone, and its single wish was rightfully mine, Kole and the Council hadn’t allowed me to cast it. They’d stolen the Stone from me so the Council could use it.

My feet hit the ground in a jolting halt, and the realm solidified around me.

The second my line of sight cleared, I frowned in confusion.

I’d been certain that Kole would be mistphasing me to the Council’s headquarters, but we’d materialized in a hallway that was more decadent than anything I would expect to see in a warrior’s residence.

But perhaps such extravagance was how they lived.

The Council was secretive enough that nobody outside of the Council actually knew.

Beside me, Kole stood rigidly, his huge sword strapped to his back. Midnight dark hair was tousled atop his head, as though the mistphasing winds had blown it into disarray. His sharp blue Solis eyes peered around the hallway, but as usual, his face was impossible to read.

However, since he didn’t immediately whisk me away somewhere new, I figured that this strange hall was indeed where he’d intended to take me.

Silence filled the space between us. Heavy, charged silence. It was just the two of us since Kole’s fellow warrior, Jamie Axthrower, had gone elsewhere with Verin, the servant who the Council suspected wasn’t an innocent servant at all.

A tremble shook my frame. I still had so many unanswered questions. So many.

Giving Kole my back, I completely ignored him and wrapped my arms around myself even though wherever we’d landed wasn’t cold. If anything, it was warm and comfortable.

Head canting, I studied the residence more.

Tapestries lined the hallway’s stone walls.

Bright fairy lights were suspended from the ceiling.

Wealth was apparent in the artwork that hung in golden frames.

And high above us, streaming through the windows lining the hall’s length, was silvery moonlight.

Given how bright the moonlight was, I guessed all three moons were out, but I’d lost track of the time. We’d left Silventine Wood just after sunset and had arrived back at my aunt and uncle’s home, but so much had happened since then.

Too much.

My heart twisted anew because everything had gone wrong.

I eyed the warrior coldly. “Where are we?”

Kole’s throat bobbed, and his irises blazed as violently as a deadly storm churning over the Adriastic Sea.

“I’ve been instructed to bring you to these chambers,” he replied gruffly and nodded to a closed door that stood right in front of us in the impressive hallway.

I rubbed at the blue shackle encircling my wrist. Its tingling magic was designed to suppress a fairy’s ability to access their internal power. Kole still didn’t know that it did nothing to me. It was no different than a fairy’s Shield. My unique magic was immune to those too.

I fiddled with the blue cuff more, swirling it around my wrist. “You really won’t tell me?

” Despite trying to keep my voice steady and cool, my tone sounded as hurt as I felt.

“Not even in this, Kole? Not even after you stole the Stone from me and told me that my uncle—” My throat tightened, and I couldn’t continue.

Swallowing my grief down, I rasped, “Couldn’t be saved? ”

A huge surge of energy rose in the warrior’s aura, but his face remained impassive. No emotion leaked through on his features. Absolutely nothing.

The grief inside me tripled. Before, I’d found his hidden emotions an endearing trait, but now . . .

Now, it was like a blade to my heart that twisted nonstop.

I’d been so stupid to think that I could trust him and that perhaps he truly cared for me.

The attraction that had sizzled between us while I’d been hunting the Stone had felt real, but I’d been a job to Kole, and even if some part of him had genuinely wanted me, his allegiance was to the Imperial Council.

Not me.

Eyes narrowing, I focused on the Wishing Stone shining through Kole’s pocket. The Stone glowed right through the material of his pants, as though a sun lived within it.

Magic surged inside me at the sight of it, but I took a deep breath and tried my best to suppress my pain and anger. I also stopped myself from verbally lashing out at Kole.

And even though the temptation was there, I didn’t enter his mind and read his thoughts. Nor did I take control of him entirely and command him. I didn’t overtake his free will because I’d promised my aunt and uncle that I would never do such a thing.

And I intended to honor that promise, especially since it was the last thing I could do for my dying uncle.

I let a long sigh out. “So now what? What’s to be done with me since I won’t be saving my uncle? Are you going to lock me in this chamber?” I pointed to the closed door.

“I’m sorry.” His eyes blazed as brightly as the Stone’s emitting starlight. “By the gods, Prim, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about everything, but I have to. My orders are to see you safely inside.”

I stilled. It was the first hint of any remorse he felt, other than the guilt that had pounded through him when he’d taken the Stone from me.

Hope twisted my heart, and I gazed up at him pleadingly. “You could choose not to follow that order, Kole. You could return the Stone to me and let me return home.”

Since it was the first time Kole and I were alone following our night together in a Stonewild cave, maybe, just maybe, he would choose me and not the Council, especially now that he didn’t have Jamie breathing down his neck.

“Please, Kole. You could choose to give me the Stone. You can return what’s rightfully mine. You have the ability to do that, and if you ever cared for me, you would.” I held my breath and willed him to do the right thing.

Kole’s entire body turned rigid, and his hands fisted. Anguish distorted his features. “By the gods, Primelle, I wish I could do that, but things aren’t as simple as they seem. I’m sorry.” He placed his hand on my lower back, and the feel of him touching me again caused my magic to respond.

It tingled and vibrated inside me, wanting to connect with his. Disgust rolled through me that he could still create a reaction in me, after once again refusing to do what was right.

I sidestepped him, and my heart broke all over again because he wasn’t going to choose me.

He wasn’t going to let me save my uncle.

And that hurt so much I could barely breathe.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to take deep breaths. Enough, Prim. Stop hoping you were anything but a job. You never were more than that, and you were a fool to have trusted him.

Opening my eyes, I replied in a wooden tone, “I suppose I have my answer then.” It felt like the final nail in my coffin.

His breath left him, and his eyes blazed. “I can’t even tell you how sorry I am.”

But his apology fell on deaf ears. I refused to look at him.

Energy soared in his aura, pounding from him in violent waves. He opened the door to the chambers, standing stiffly as he waited for me to enter.

Since I’d made up my mind about not commanding him, I stepped inside the room but stopped mid-stride.

A beautiful bedroom chambers spread out before me.

A huge bed with an elegant crimson duvet and a mountain of pillows sat against one wall.

The large one-room chambers also had an opulent sitting area and a vanity.

And in the chambers’ corner, there was also a private bathing room and a decadent wardrobe.

I faced the warrior again. “Here? Truly?”

Kole still clenched the door handle, and he held it so hard I feared the handle would crack. “Yes, this is where they want you.”

They. Once again, whoever they are.

I huffed, and a muscle ticked in Kole’s jaw.

From the hallway, a pattering sound of feet came, and a wildling in a servant’s attire came to a careening halt in the doorway.

Panting, she smiled at me. She was an imptus wildling, evident given her blue skin, four arms, and six-fingered hands.

Like me, she walked on two legs and had a face that looked startlingly similar to a siltenite’s.

However, instead of fae-tipped ears, hers were rounded and placed lower on her head.

Imptus wildlings often held serving positions since they could work much faster than other wildling species. The extra hands definitely came in handy.

I nearly snickered at my internal joke, and under better circumstances, I would have, but I was finding it difficult to grasp my usual cheer and positive outlook.

“Good evening.” The wildling dipped into a curtsy. She was still breathless from her run, and her chest rose quickly. “Lady Hollaran, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Betsee. I’m to be your lady’s attendant.”

“My lady’s attendant?”

“Indeed. I’m truly sorry I wasn’t here to greet you when you arrived, but I only just received word that you’d breached the—”