UNFOLDING SECRETS
39
- KAILU -
I wait while the matriarch pulls herself together. The king stands to the back of the room, not saying a word. I saw the brief moment between him and Alanis. I was so baffled by the force behind her magic, I almost missed the little interaction. If I’m not mistaken, our king helped during her water torture of her grandmother. My chest swelled with pride, the emotion clear on the king and Malakai’s face as well.
Her strength is that of a queen. Gods, she is something else.
I’m about to head to the bar when I catch my little sunshine climbing the final set of stairs. Sprinting up the steps, I turn her and push her back against the wall. Her eyes are wide, her breath comes in pants. Not in fear, though.
No, I can smell her.
She knew it was me the second I touched her, I have no doubt.
I cover her mouth with one hand, her eyes growing heavy.
Sliding my hand into her pants, I feel just how wet she is. I tease her with my fingers, making her whimper and rock her hips into my hand. The hallway is silent save for the sound of her heavy pants. I move my hand slightly, cupping her jaw and sliding my thumb into her mouth. She sucks on it, making all the blood in my body rush south. My cock is so painfully hard that I have to think about anything else other than the woman in front of me.
I remove my hand, intending to take her back to our room and drive her insane with my tongue, but my little Witch has other plans. She drops to her knees, making quick work of the buckle on my trousers. The sight makes my heart stutter.
She licks her palm and drags her hand up and down my length, bringing goosebumps to my arms, making me slap one palm to the wall to keep myself upright. Her tongue licks up the underside of my shaft, stopping at the tip to lick up the moisture beading there. I grasp her hair with my free hand, and when she opens her mouth, I can’t hold back. I thrust all the way to the back of her throat, making her gag.
I pull back, guilt swarming my mind. I went too far, too rough.
She digs her nails into my ass, forcing me to stop my retreat. I look down into her eyes. The only thing I see is lust.
She guides me into her mouth and doesn’t stop until I’m in the back of her throat. I groan. Gods, this woman will be the death of me.
She pulls all the way off, her lips making a popping sound. I almost whine at the loss of her mouth on me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, pushing her hair out of her face.
She licks her lips. “Harder.”
Holy shit. My knees nearly buckle, taking all of my strength to remain upright.
Her big blue eyes stare up at me. Who am I to say no to her desires?
I tap her cheek with my painfully hard dick. This time when she opens her mouth, I thrust in and don’t stop. She keeps her mouth open wide, her eyes locked with mine. The little gagging sounds she makes almost make me finish down her throat before I’m ready. Tears leak down her face, and I swear in this moment she is the sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Malakai’s rough voice breaks into our moment, and Alanis moans around me. His voice makes me shudder as I quickly pull out and throw her over my shoulder. Her squeals of delight reverberate through the hall.
“Just having some fun!” I call over my shoulder. “Care to join?”
I slap her ass hard through her breeches, throwing her on the bed as soon as we enter our room. I move towards her head, thrusting back down her throat the instant she drops her mouth open for me. I watch as Mal rips her clothes to shreds, leaning forward to bite her shoulder as he thrusts into her. Watching him take her at his brutal pace is almost too much, made even more tenuous when his eyes meet mine.
Her breathing grows ragged. She’s so close. I’m not going to last any longer. I need her to come with me. I reach down, twirling my finger over her tiny little bud, my fingers grazing Malakai as he pushes deeper into her. He shudders and her back starts to arch. I feel lightning shooting up my spine. I pinch her clit just as my orgasm crashes into me.
She screams around me and my vision blurs with how hard my release tears through me. When I collapse next to her, we are both sweaty and out of breath. Malakai slowly pulls from her to lay next to us, breathing hard. Turning my head, I caress her face. I love this woman more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.
“Alanis?”
She opens heavy eyes to look at me. “Hmm?”
“I love you.”
She smiles softly, half asleep. “I love you, too, Kai.”
My heart aches. When her grandmother told us how long a loophole would take to create, my heart seized in my chest so badly that I wondered if I was having a heart attack. Alanis’s heartbeat skyrocketed, but she didn’t fight. It’s like she just accepted it.
She accepted that she will die.
I meet Malakai’s gaze above her head, his eyes reflecting the same sadness I feel.
He places a kiss to her brow. “I will love you through this life and the next, firecracker.”
My heart seizes in my chest, knowing that soon I may lose them both.
- ALANIS -
I wake with a soreness between my legs. Malakai and Kailu sleep soundly beside me, and I smile at the memory of our dirty encounter. Gods, every time with them just gets better. I quickly bathe before heading down to grab breakfast. I’ve just reached the kitchen when I catch a glimpse of Elion, ducking around a corner. I follow behind him silently.
He’s acting cagey. He takes the corridor to the cellar and I pause at the bottom step. His footsteps have halted. I peek around the corner. He is just standing in the dark, cold basement.
I feel the shift in the air before I see her. The Banshee.
She comes forward, softly touching Elion’s face. “I don’t have long.”
Elion groans. “I hate this, I hate that you have to go back to him. I hate that I can’t figure out how to fix this. I hate that I can’t free you from this damned curse, or learn who cursed you.”
My heart constricts at the pain in his voice. Something he said catches my attention, though. I step out from the stairway and both sets of eyes flick towards me.
“Lani, I can explain.” Elion looks panicked, as if he fears I’ll be mad at him. The Banshee looks at me with keen eyes, observing every emotion I show.
“Explain what? You owe me no explanation, Eli, when it comes to someone you love.”
His mouth drops open, and I swear the Banshee’s cheeks redden.
“I overheard your conversation. Your curse…” I look at the Banshee. “Do you remember when you were cursed?”
She shakes her head. “When someone is cursed to become a Banshee, their memories are wiped away. They forget everything, everyone, they were prior. I get glimpses here and there, but nothing solid. Nothing that can help me or give you any type of information.”
“Is there a chance that Iclas himself cursed you? What if he didn’t capture you like the rest of the creatures?”
Elion grabs the Banshee’s hand. “Why, though?”
I look at the Banshee, studying her, taking in every detail of her human face, similarities sticking out to an old sketch I found hidden in a journal not so long ago. “What if she represented something he lost? What if he took her as revenge and cursed her as a form of torture for someone else?”
They both look at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Lani, what do you mean?” Elion asks.
“What if Paliri and her husband had a child? It is safe to assume that, if Paliri was pregnant, she would shelter in the castle, scared of Iclas finding out. Paliri had to know Iclas was still alive. They were mates. She would have felt if he died, whether she accepted the mating bond or not. So what if Iclas found out about the child when he kidnapped Paliri? The child would have been older by then, an adult. What if he took the child as a way to get Paliri to come peacefully? When Paliri wouldn’t willingly choose him or love him, he cursed her child.”
The Banshee looks at me quizzically. “Is there a way to find out that information?”
I nod, a smirk growing on my face, excited by this development. If I must die at the hands of this prophecy, I will free the woman my brother loves first. “Castle records. Maybe once we can figure out who you are, we can pinpoint where your bones are to free you.”
The Banshee disappears, presumably back to the Isle. I find the others, relaying my thoughts to them. The king joins us, but walks slower than normal. I peer at him, wondering if he overexerted himself when helping me yesterday, but he merely shakes his head.
Hannah and Siveral have a weird tension around them, with Hannah glancing at him every once in a while, but Siveral completely ignores her. I’ll have to ask her what the hell happened.
Kailu is scanning through a stack of papers when Malakai jumps up. “I got it.”
Her Royal Highness Paliri Blackburn and His Royal Majesty Grekor Niru welcome a baby girl into the world by the name of Leonora Ambrosia Niru Blackburn. Born at midnight on the eve of the Festival of Dragons. Leonora, crowned Princess of the Primal Realm at birth, will otherwise be known as Leena Ambrose, in order to protect the future heir of the realm.
Malakai takes a breath. “Festival of the Dragons. Each century, there is a new festival to celebrate a powerful creature. The last one to celebrate dragons was shortly before dragons completely disappeared from the realm. If the Banshee is Leena, she would have been roughly a hundred years old at the time Iclas snatched her.”
I quirk a brow. “Real dragons, not Fae who can shift into dragons.”
Kailu’s booming laugh fills the room. I stick my tongue out at him. He sticks his out right back.
“Could this be the dragon that the prophecy talks about?” I ask. “Does this part tie into the Banshee’s curse?”
Malakai’s eyes grow wide at my question.
Biting my lip, I think out loud: “I wonder, if I set her free, if that would be unleashing the dragon? Since that is when she was born and I am blood of the Shadow Vale Coven that is represented by the crescent moon.”
Kailu cocks his head. “That might be a strong possibility.”
I lean forward, nudging Hannah’s arm. “Are there any records of a Leena Ambrose?”
She quickly searches through the records, then stops abruptly and slides a sketch from a folder. You could hear a pin drop with the silence in the room. Staring up at us from the sketch, with chocolate brown eyes and deep ebony hair, is none other than the Banshee herself.
My smile grows wide. We did it. We figured out who she is. No matter if she is part of the prophecy or not, I will free her.
Elion quickly leaves, presumably to summon Leena to let her know of her identity. Malakai gives me a swift kiss, informing me he has to talk to his father in private about battle plans. I watch as the two filter out, everyone else slowly following after some time, leaving me alone.
I sift through the boxes, looking for anything I can to find Leena’s bones. A ripped parchment catches my eye. It smells of char, as if someone tried to burn it at some point, but was unsuccessful. The writing is faded, the parchment obviously ancient. Near the bottom is a sketch. It looks to be some sort of house, but not one I know.
What catches my attention is the room to the back. Drawn in the corner of it is none other than a throne. I search everywhere for a record of a third royal holding in the realm, other than Percius or the Isle of Rimoldi.
With each document I start to lose hope.
I focus back on the blueprint until my eyes water. I rub my temples, trying to relieve the tension headache that consumes me. I trace my finger over the blueprint. It’s weird that the main room of the house is completely bare, with nothing drawn inside it save for a circle. Something seems familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.
I sift through the scattered papers, something niggling at me. A map of the Primal Realm is below a batch of papers. I scan it for any clues.
No.
That’s not possible.
I look again.
Fuck .
Iclas would never take the chance of Paliri or Leena having easy access to her bones. He would have hidden them somewhere and ensured Leena couldn’t enter. He needed Leena on the Isle; it would have been impossible to guard her bones there. But if he found a secure place, then he could place a spell to keep her out.
Leena believed her bones were at a throne. But it isn’t a royal throne.
It’s a dais.
And the blueprint doesn’t show a house at all.
It shows the Hallowed Temple.