Chapter 1
Lana
My grip on Onyx’s reins tensed as I doubled over, fighting back the nausea and pain that had become a near constant companion on this hellish escape.
Sweat beaded against my forehead as the ache pulsed somewhere deeper than any physical wound could travel.
Images flashed in my mind. Kade. My Kade. Crawling across the stone floor to get to me instead of paying attention to Thames materializing into this world.
“I love you, Illiana.”
I whimpered, not from my own pain, but from imagining what Kade was going through.
A strong hand wrapped around my own.
But it wasn’t the hand I wanted.
Still, a now familiar heat flickered across my tight grip, urging it to loosen.
I inhaled through my nose, sharp, staccato sounds as I fought the torrent of emotions flooding me. Ones of pain. Of frustration. Of anger.
My name is Illiana Dresden, the rightful Queen of Brookmere, and I am stronger than the darkness threatening to overtake our world.
I managed to inhale one steady breath. Then another.
The warmth traveled upward from my hand, dulling the pain enough to allow me to sit straighter. I glanced at the man beside me, who wore the same haunted emotion distorting all of our features.
At first Storm reassured me Kade would be all right, but after a day and a half of lending his strength, even his began to wane.
I closed my eyes before pressing my knees into Kade's horse to urge him onward.
A day and a half. That was all it had been since we escaped the palace at Mount Legion. Since Kade killed his father. Since I accidentally released Thames back into our world.
Since Kade had been overtaken with the darkness.
I rubbed my chest, despite knowing the aches were not something that could be magicked away. Only one thing would soothe this and he wasn’t here.
I will not lose him.
After being told mates hadn’t existed in a thousand years, I learned not only that they did, but that I had found mine.
Only to have him immediately ripped from my fingers.
The bond connecting Kade and myself as mates stirred with a vengeance in my soul, reacting violently to my rage and demanding I return to his side.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I pushed past the jabbing pain in my chest, refusing to succumb to it, as we rode under the cover of night. All it would take was one misstep for me to give in and run back to Kade’s side.
Something else rumbled angrily, right alongside the gnawing pain. Something foreign and itching to consume me.
My magic.
I possessed magic.
Years of torture produced not one single drop of power, and yet it all came down to a prophecy I never believed in. With lover’s touch she shall ignite. My mate ignited it. Kade unleashed it.
I had to return to him but not yet. Not when he’d given us time to run, even if it was the last thing I wanted. With distance from Thames, we would devise a plan.
We would save him.
Through a complicated network of passageways, we traveled toward a secret safe house. One unbeknownst to Kade, formed while he was competing in the marriage trials for my hand; Jax and Raya had been anything but idle while left behind in Mysthaven.
Storm rode beside me, stress lining his features.
Most of his injuries sustained from Dargan’s torture were healed enough, but deep purple and blue bruises still marred his arms. His nose sat at an unnatural angle where one of the guards broke it.
In due time he would heal himself, or we would find a healer to expedite the process.
We had no idea what battles lay ahead of us, so it seemed pointless to waste energy on such a menial task.
All of us needed to be fully rested if we had any hope of making it out alive.
“We have to find Cassandra.” Anger laced my tone as I finally broke the silence.
Pent-up energy coiled and simmered below the surface of my skin, eager to be let free.
“She knows too much and has told us far too little. She needs to tell us everything. No more riddles, no more ‘what the fates will allow’ bullshit. All of it.”
When no one responded to my outburst, I snapped more forcefully. “We need to know.”
“It’s not much farther,” Jax murmured, ignoring my outrage, as he once again adjusted Raya’s semiconscious body in the saddle to keep her from falling. “We can talk when we know it’s safe.”
“Nowhere is safe, Jax.” The indignation in my tone left nothing to the imagination.
“Now that Thames is free, the dark ones will continue to spread. Andras has already overtaken Brookmere, no doubt with Casimir by his side, spreading evil across the kingdom. We’re going to be fighting on all fronts, completely blind. ”
I ran a hand over my neck, breathing deeply, trying to calm my racing heart.
To stop from screaming at everyone that we should go back to save Kade and forget everything else.
“We at least have to warn Ian and the others. They are working on building an army, but they aren’t prepared for the absolute hell that has been unleased with Thames’s release.
If Raya was coherent enough…she could speak to Ian. ”
Jax’s eyes narrowed on me. I didn’t think him capable of delivering such malice to anyone, let alone me.
“When Raya is awake and responsive, we will see if she even feels up to talking to Ian,” Jax stated bluntly, “but only after we give her time to rest. We don’t know what she will be like when she finally comes around. ”
“Lana isn't suggesting we do it this instant, brother,” Storm said, placating his friend’s unusual anger. “While we wait, we can come up with a plan. A realistic plan that doesn’t get us all killed.”
I took a moment to breathe in through my nose and held it, slowly releasing the air as a distraction before I said something I would regret.
A pained groan escaped Raya’s lips and her body jerked in Jax’s arms. We halted, stopping completely as our worried gazes rested on her. Jax wouldn’t let her go, not since carrying her out of the palace. In all fairness, I hadn’t made it easy for Storm to haul me out either.
We’d hoped Raya would’ve been able to heal herself, especially now, since Dargan’s death meant she’d escaped his control.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t managed to stay awake for more than a handful of minutes during our journey.
None of us knew the lasting damage of mind manipulation, or how Raya would recover after what she had endured.
The longer she remained unconscious, the more our fear grew.
“Ia—” Raya coughed, unable to finish even one word. She didn’t talk anymore, but her head rolled from side to side as she fought to sit upright in Jax’s grasp.
Jax murmured in her ear as he slowed his horse. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
Did she say Ian? I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d been able to speak, even in her semiconscious state. It seemed absurd to think they could, but Fates, I had magic, so right now, anything seemed possible.
Jax’s brows furrowed as Raya laid the back of her head on his chest, her breathing shallow and erratic. He shook his head at Storm in some sort of silent communication I couldn’t understand.
“We’re almost there,” Jax said. “We probably only have about thirty minutes left until we reach Canyon City. The safe house is on the outskirts. We need to stop and see if she’ll drink something.”
Storm looked around us, giving Jax a sharp nod in agreement.
With the horses settled and nibbling on dried pieces of grass, I grabbed a canteen and a small piece of bread from a folded satchel on the side of Storm’s horse as he moved to help Raya down.
Jax propped up a sack from his own horse and helped Storm lean her against it. He brushed the damp braids from her neck, just as Ian would’ve done for me. Jax’s loyalty to his friend shone through with every action.
Hurrying, I twisted off the top and handed him the canteen. He tilted it to her lips. Most of it spurted out of her mouth when another cough racked her body.
“Come on, Raya, you need to do this,” he murmured.
She refused to look at him but drank a few sips.
My mind reeled at how broken she must be feeling, the anguish of her friends seeing her so vulnerable. I’d seen those looks on my friends too many times throughout the years.
Jax stood and stepped to the side, Storm following his lead.
“We have to get somewhere where she can lie down,” Jax croaked. “She needs rest. Somewhere she isn't being jostled around constantly.”
I hadn’t known Jax for long, but the lack of playfulness in his gaze, in his tone, threatened to snap the minor amount of sanity I clung to.
Everything was going to shit.
“It’s not much farther, we can let her rest for a few minutes,” Storm conceded.
I kneeled in front of Raya, examining how much water was left in the canteen. “Do you want anything else? More water?”
She turned her head away from me.
“Raya?” I asked, reaching out toward her, but she tensed, jerking away from me like I was going to hurt her.
I swallowed, leaning back on my heels. “You need to get your strength back, we can’t do this without you,” I said. “We have to get in touch with Ian—”
At his name, Raya hissed, a pained sound that, based on her widening eyes, she didn’t mean to make.
I reached for her arm, but she pulled away again, toppling over with the movement.
Jax ran over, lifting her from the ground. “I said after she had time to rest, Lana.”
“I was trying to help, I wasn’t pushing,” I argued.
He pulled her body closer, and Raya’s expression looked so hurt, my heart broke. What was she going through? What tormented her so much that she couldn’t stand looking at us?
“I’m sorry.” I stepped back.
Jax scowled, storming off back toward the horses.
Yeah, everything was shit.
The bond between Kade and I tightened, so much so I glanced behind me, swearing I’d see his shadows beckoning for me, desperate for my touch.
But there was nothing there.
“Run, Little Rebel. Please don’t let me catch you.”
We left him. I left him.
I stared out across the reddish terrain, glowing in the setting sun.
I took one step, then another, fully facing the direction we’d come from, my resolve to leave him wavering.
Turning back like this lessened the pain.
It had to be the right thing to do. Besides, turning back meant I could be with him, and those shadows that I longed to feel again just to reassure me he was safe.
Storm shouted my name, but I ignored him. Everything would be all right if I could just get to Kade. My light could help him, and he’d be free.
“Lana, you can’t,” Storm yelled, and in my trance-like confusion, he had moved and somehow stood in front of me.
I shoved him, needing to run. That agitated power inside of me simmered beneath the surface, urging me onward.
“Lana,” Storm shouted, this time so close to my ear I flinched. His arms folded around me before I could move, holding me back from my escape.
I blinked a few times and my body slackened. I stared down at my trembling hands, clawing at his still-bruised arm.
“Fates,” I yanked my hands away, guilt coursing through me.
I hadn’t even registered what I’d been doing. Storm was right. This power inside of me, though, refused to listen to logic as it writhed, begging to be set free. All I could do was shake my head before a tear fell down my face.
“Look at me,” Storm whispered.
I raised my head, turning to face him, as I met his gaze. It wasn’t just my eyes exuding desperation and exhaustion, but his as well.
“We will get Kade back,” he said firmly. “We will win this war. You will see your mate again. I will be with my brother again. But for now, we have to get somewhere safe.”
My gaze dropped, feeling as heavy as my heart.
“It feels so wrong leaving him there with that kind of evil. The real Monster of Mysthaven. What if when we finally come up with a plan, he is too far gone to be saved? What if I’ve lost my mate before I’ve even had a chance to tell him that I know? That I love—” I choked on my words.
Storm took my hands in his. “In the short amount of time we’ve known each other, I have seen you fight for your people.
Save them time and time again. I have no doubt in my mind that you will save Kade, save your people, and hopefully, save our world.
” He chuckled dryly. “I’d expect nothing less from the Queen of Brookmere, let alone Kade’s mate.
Fates help us once the world has been restored. You two will be unbearable.”
I couldn’t help the smile peeking through my distress. “You act as if Kade and I are incapable of acting with proper decorum.” I sighed, but before I could continue, Storm spoke once more.
“For all of us, my future queen. Let us give ourselves the best shot at you leading not just Brookmere, but all of Atheria.” He squeezed my hand one more time before walking away toward Jax and Raya.
I looked at the horizon again, inhaling the dry, gritty air before allowing Storm’s words to settle. He was right. I could do this.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it alone.
“I will see you soon,” I vowed my promise into the breeze, as if it could carry my words straight to Kade. “And I’ll hold my dagger to your throat until you swear to me you’ll never do something so reckless again.”
I returned to Onyx, brushing a hand over his mane before mounting him for the final stretch of today’s journey. Storm pressed his hand to Raya’s arm. “Hold on just a bit longer, my friend. We will get you the help you need.”
Raya took a deep breath, coherent enough that Jax relaxed his grip around her waist slightly, and with a nod of his head, we were back on track.
The sun dipped below the skyline as we crested the last hill and entered one of the side streets of Canyon City.
I couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time I was here. The Fae who had been “murdered” by Kade’s shadows. This time when we entered, we tried to escape death, not be the ones supposedly causing it.
Lanterns illuminated the dimming night sky around the strangely quiet city.
An anxious energy filled the air as we made our way down the alleyway toward the center of town.
A sole scream echoed in the silence. Instantly, my heart raced, triggering my defenses.
Reaching down, I brushed my fingers over the dagger resting on my thigh, preparing to unsheathe it if need be.
Out of the corner of my eye, a woman in tattered robes ran toward us but stopped short to hide between some barrels.
“Opal?” Jax said.
Even from here I saw her shake her head and bring a finger to her mouth.
“What the hell?” Storm questioned, dismounting from his horse and staring around the far too empty streets.
“Well now,” a booming voice echoed through the square. A Guardian appeared, rounding a corner and twirling a sword in his hand. “What do we have here?”