WELCOME BACK
20
- ALANIS -
I t takes five days of nonstop travel to get back to Percius as quickly as possible. My ass is numb from the countless hours on horseback. Worse still, they’re hours spent pressed up against Malakai. With each day that passes, the hurt from Kailu leaving me fades a little more. I didn’t know him long, but in the short time I did, he came to mean something to me. The fact that I didn’t mean as much to him still stings.
Malakai and Kailu are similar, yet so different. Both protective down to their very core. But where Kailu is rigid and strict, Malakai seems to be wilder. He reminds me of a forest fire, all-consuming.
I’m sitting on a rock watching him get a drink from the stream. He’s been shirtless for the past half hour due to the abnormal heat wave in mid-autumn. Sweat glistens on his chest. I can’t peel my eyes from the black tattoos that swirl across his chest and down to his stomach. My particular favorite is the one that leads towards his V and disappears into his trousers.
I might actually be drooling. What is wrong with me? Here I am, just ogling him while he is unaware. I’m no better than a perverted man catcalling a woman. Guilt seeps in because I was just looking at Kailu like this not long ago.
I try my best to look away, I really do. But my eyes find him again and again and I can’t help but wonder where else he has tattoos. At the moment, he leans over, splashing his face with water, his perfect ass on display. Is there anything about him that isn’t annoyingly perfect?
My thoughts are thrown off track by the clearing of a throat. I turn and see Hannah. I give her a bright smile as she sits down.
She smirks. “Sorry to interrupt. Quite the view, huh?”
I shush her. “You know how these Fae are with their hearing.”
Hannah giggles. It feels good to have this time with her. I didn’t realize how badly I needed girl time.
“What’s up with you and Siveral?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she wants to smile.
“Do you like him?”
“I do,” she says, peeking at me with bright eyes, “but it’s complicated. Right now, I’m fine just getting to know him and spending time with him.”
I nod in understanding.
“How are you with everything?”
I take a deep breath and vent about Kailu, letting all my frustration out, and in that moment, make the decision to leave the hurt behind. I am going to hypothetically bury it on the bed of this stream and move on. I don’t have the energy to allow it to fester inside me anymore.
Hannah gives me a reassuring hug accompanied by a sad smile. “I’m sorry he did that to you. I wish we knew why. I thought he really liked you. My Gods, he always seemed to be keeping an eye on you. Although, there’s another Fae who hasn’t been able to look away from you for long since the second he laid eyes on you, either.” She nudges me with a wink.
I roll my eyes, even as my cheeks grow warm. “He’s different. I have no doubt he’s used to getting what he wants, but underneath the bad boy looks and hard exterior he shows everyone else, he’s really sweet.”
She scoffs. “Sweet? That’s not how I would describe him. He just swindled half the group out of a month’s pay on a game of dice with no remorse. Not to mention he’s scary as hell.”
“I haven’t noticed that.”
“Probably because you’ve been too busy noticing other parts of him.” She waggles her eyebrows at me.
“Hannah!” I laugh.
I notice Malakai peek over his shoulder towards us. Gods, I hope he can’t hear us.
“What! I don’t blame you,” she whispers. “I think you should climb him and see just how bad he can be.”
My cheeks somehow grow hotter as I smack her shoulder. “Shut up!” I hiss.
“Girl, don’t tell me it didn’t cross your mind.”
I smile at her; she knows me too well.
“Seriously, though, that male looks at you as if you are the answer to all the world’s problems.”
I don’t take my eyes off Malakai’s back. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
She gets up. “All I’m saying is, if anyone looked at me the way he looks at you, I wouldn’t be looking for happily ever after anymore. I would have already found it.”
She moves towards the horses, leaving me there with too many thoughts running rampant through my head.
- MALAKAI -
We’re only a day and a half ride from Percius, and my back is killing me. But having Alanis pressed against my bare skin is heaven, no matter how sweaty I am.
I didn’t have the heart to let her know I heard everything she talked about with Hannah. I felt like a creep eavesdropping on their conversation, but I can’t help my sensitive hearing.
The past few days I have done nothing but think about what she said. They’ve been on a constant loop. When she’s pressed against my back, I can do nothing but remember her reactions to Hannah’s words. Her little gasps, like she was outraged, but I could hear her heart rate pick up in excitement. I dream about those gasps, imagining me as the reason those little noises come from her mouth.
No one who has ever met me has described me as sweet—not even my family. I am apparently a real softy when it comes to Alanis, and it keeps me up at night in my tent, thinking about her when I should be sleeping. I’ll be busy when we get to Percius tomorrow afternoon, yet I can’t help but hope that at least sometimes I’ll be able to see her.
A sound breaks the hush outside the tent and I hold my breath, but hear nothing beyond the breeze and the crickets. I am about to brush off the noise when I hear it again.
Footsteps, large and padded like those of an animal. It’s then I hear the sniffing sound, as if the animal is searching out its next meal.
Slowly, I move to untie the flaps of my tent. I was trained from a young age how to remain unseen, I put those skills to use now, freezing when I step outside. My gaze trains on the snow leopard prowling the grounds.
The animal turns. Its green eyes meet mine.
I move towards the edge of the wood, away from the campsite.
The animal follows.
Once I’m far enough away from camp, I speak: “How kind of you to return.”
I hear a grumble, and when I turn, I’m face to face with the male. He has bruises littering his face and cuts down his chest.
“What the hell happened to you?” I blurt.
A rumble in his chest tells me he isn’t happy. “Fucking ghouls.”
He looks around and then shakes his hair out, which has grown longer and hangs in his face. “Been in animal form for a while?”
He gives me a grim smile. “Since I left for Vrolstead, so about a week and a half. I ran into a friend of mine who took Zephyr back to Percius. He’s getting old, all the travel was catching up to him.”
I nod, avoiding eye contact.
The silence becomes tense. “How is she?”
I release my breath and let him know about the missing soldier we found and my thoughts on who her mother might be. Kailu looks shocked at that little detail.
“I’m worried, Kailu. The longer we go without finding her brother, the more hope she loses. I’m scared she is going to lose herself to grief, and if she goes too far, we might not be able to get her back. You should have seen her when we found the soldier in Bone Valley. It was like she was there physically, but mentally she was somewhere else.”
He runs his hands through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know what to do. She is your fated, even if she doesn’t know it yet. She belongs to you, heart and soul. The Gods have deemed it so, we all saw the proof.”
“What the fuck did you just say?”
We both whip our heads to the tiny human standing only a handful of feet away. How she snuck up on us, I have no idea, but by the look on her face she heard enough to be pissed.
“Let me get this straight,” she says slowly. “You left me because you think Malakai is my mate? That’s what all that was in the cave? You both knew, everyone knew, and no one told me a damn thing.” She points to me and I can feel my heart cramp at the pained look on her face. “ You knew. I asked you point blank what that was in the cave and you wouldn’t tell me.”
“That isn’t necessarily what that means,” I rush to say. “It could just mean the Fates have tied us together for some other reason. It doesn’t mean we’re mates.”
Kailu scoffs and Alanis gives him such a livid look that I’m shocked he doesn’t catch fire.
“Let me ask you this,” she snaps. “Is that common for people who aren’t mates?”
Kailu and I exchange a glance.
He steps forward and Alanis takes a step back, shaking her head. Kailu exhales but doesn’t speak. I grit my teeth in annoyance and take one for the team.
“It isn’t common, no.”
She raises a brow at me and waits.
“The mating bond tends to show up in different ways with different mates. Hearing each other’s thoughts, feeling the emotions the other has. It could be any number of things that reveal the bond.”
She looks to Kailu and I see the understanding in her eyes, the knowledge that I so easily read her emotions, like I have a direct line to them. Kailu doesn’t know this; I didn’t have it in me to break his heart further.
She swallows and looks to me with a small nod. The tears in her eyes make my heart spasm in pain for the second time in a span of minutes.
She nods again, not to anyone in particular, but more to herself. As if she is accepting the cards that the Fates have played.
“If you thought I was your mate,” she says, “why didn’t you say something? Why did neither of you say anything?”
I exhale slowly. “You were dealing with a lot. I know you think no one can hear you when you cry every night, but we can. I do. I hear you, and I didn’t want to make anything worse.”
She grits her teeth, barely concealed anger brimming just beneath the surface. “Why are you here, Kailu?” Her tone is cold, so different from how I’ve ever heard her speak before. It’s like she is emotionless, detached.
Kailu flinches, but he still says, “I found some information when I was visiting the towns in the Shadow Territory that led me to the Shivering Lake. Turns out it’s another portal that ghouls are coming through.”
His injuries make sense now. “Where are the other soldiers who went with you? The humans?”
His teeth clench. The pulse in his neck picks up speed. “Dead, save for the one they took with them.”
Alanis gasps.
Well shit.
“We should probably get some sleep,” I say. “We can head out in the morning, since we need to get to Percius as soon as possible. I can fill you in on the details as we travel.”
Alanis doesn’t look at either of us before turning on her heel to return to the campsite, ducking into the tent she shares with Hannah.
Kailu shifts back into animal form, moving to lay down near the fire.
It’s later that night, or early the next morning, when anxiety thrums alive in my veins. I’m not sure if this is a warning sign of what’s to come, or just my body coping with the stress of everything, but my heart is beating so fast it makes me lightheaded, and it seems impossible to take a deep inhale of breath.
- ELION -
My body is beaten and bruised because the cloaked man visits me every day, as if I’m little more than amusement, a toy to pass the time. I’m sure he will be here soon.
A glimmer in the corner draws my attention to the Banshee. She visits me every day after the male leaves to heal the worst of my injuries, careful not to heal me so much that he notices. Today she sinks down to the floor, offering me company.
“Where is he today?” I ask.
She shrugs. “He disappears frequently, but can’t stay away from this place long. This is his home, and he is cursed to remain here. If he travels too far or stays away for an extended time, he becomes weak. I’m sure we don’t have long.”
It’s then I notice her tear-stained face. “What has he done to you?” I whisper, wishing my hands weren’t restrained so I could reach out and touch her.
She sniffles. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Her dark brown eyes meet my own. “All manner of things. He forces me to kill innocent people…” Her breath goes ragged, as if memories assault her. “I didn’t want to—he made me. He sent me into the Lower Shrol with a handful of Witches. There was a woman there he wanted for his own pleasure…” She shudders. “He made me kill her husband. I swear I didn’t want to. Gods, their poor children were screaming . I tried like hell to fight his power, but I just couldn’t. I’ve never been able to. They watched me murder their father, and then watched as the Witches dragged their mother away.”
“This is not your fault,” I whisper, scared to speak too loudly.
She sniffles again. “How is it not? I did that. I orphaned those children!”
“You did not. He did. He forced your hand.” I watch as she digs her nails into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped indents. “I’m assuming the wife is now dead?”
She nods solemnly.
Exhaling, I glance at the ceiling. “What is it he wants?”
“To be the most powerful creature to exist. He wants control of the whole realm.”
“But why?”
She shrugs. “Who knows why any evil person does the things they do? From the way he rants, I would say at one point he was made to feel inferior and is now trying to prove he’s not.”