Tragically Yours (Fae Kings of Eden #3)

Chapter 1

THIRTEEN YEARS OLD

Fawn never caused trouble, but in that moment, she deemed violence worth whatever punishment her teacher might hand down. She curled her hands into fists and considered the best way to break Robert’s nose.

“If your teeth were any bigger, they’d cut through your bottom lip,” Robert taunted. She pictured blood spurting across his smug grin, the gasps of classmates feeding her like fuel.

Her front teeth were big, but her mother said hers had been large at Fawn’s age too.

Her tongue pressed against them now, oversized tombstones that seemed to announce her every flaw.

Fawn would grow into her teeth, her mother assured her, just as she had.

Hopefully . She didn’t know if punching someone would get her expelled, but today seemed like a great day to find out.

Being half-human and half-fae—plus those too-large front teeth—put a target on her back. Sometimes she swore she could feel that target, hot and prickling between her shoulder blades whenever the other kids laughed.

“Hey, William, do you think Horse Teeth here is pretty?” Robert asked one of his friends.

Heat shot up her neck, settling sharp in her ears, but her pride screamed louder than her shame.

William sneered. “Pretty? With hair the color of a barn mouse? Her hair is the color of a barn mouse.”

Fawn struggled to suppress the tears forming behind her eyes.

It didn’t escape her attention that none of their classmates watching came to her defense.

She clenched her hands tighter. “Maybe I’ll knock your teeth out,” she snapped.

Her nails dug crescents into her palms to keep from crying.

The thought of his toothless smile brought her a sick kind of joy.

She pictured it and shifted her target to his mouth. What would his friends think then?

Robert’s face split into a nasty grin. “I’d like to see you try.”

A chorus of fear and disbelief rose from the crowd of students, and Fawn looked around. What are they yelling about?

“Where are your teeth?” one of Robert’s friends asked, stepping back.

“My teeth?” Robert poked at his mouth. “What do you mean?”

Fawn’s brows drew together. His teeth looked fine. Not for long.

“Oh my gods,” another girl exclaimed, staring at Fawn. “Are you using glamour?”

Glamour? Only fae had the magic to glamour, an ability that allowed them to create illusions only effective on humans and animals.

Fawn didn’t have fae magic, nor could she see through glamour like other fae.

Her father explained that since she didn’t grow up in the fae lands, her magic never developed.

Fae drew their power from the fae lands, and until they’re thirteen, they’re advised not to leave the magical lands, lest their magic weaken.

It was why the gods bound the royal heirs to their respective kingdoms. Royals couldn’t leave their kingdoms until they turned twenty-five and their magic fully manifested. Being infinitely stronger than non-royal fae, the royals took longer to fully come into their power.

Fawn’s father insisted that having no magic kept her safer in the Human Kingdom. A lot of humans feared fae, and her father often glamoured his slightly pointed ears to look rounded in public so strangers thought he was human.

Being half human, Fawn already had rounded ears.

The chatter around her swelled; curious, wary eyes pinned her in place.

“I can’t glamour,” Fawn said defensively. “I don’t have fae magic.”

She wanted to scream it, to carve the truth into their skulls—she wasn’t special, not chosen, just a mixture of species.

A few students ran inside the school building. “We saw it,” Cheryl, another classmate, accused. “You said you would knock his teeth out, and they disappeared!”

I would know if I had glamour, right? She tried wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt, but the feel of the cloth against her clammy skin made her shudder.

Their teacher appeared from the school building and looked from Robert to Fawn. “Did you glamour Robert?”

Fawn shook her head. “No, Miss. I don’t have fae magic.” Every year, her parents informed her teachers she had no magic. Why were they questioning her now?

The teacher turned to Robert and studied him. “He looks fine.” She addressed the others. “Lying to get another student in trouble is wrong.”

“I swear, Miss Cadence. He teased Fawn about her teeth,” one of the girls said, shooting Fawn a sympathetic look. “She said she would knock his out, then his teeth disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later.”

Their teacher studied Fawn carefully. “Have you ever been to the fae lands?”

Fawn’s eyes widened. “Only once for a couple of weeks last year.” She’d stayed with her grandparents while her parents took an anniversary trip.

Miss Cadence sighed. “Everyone back inside. Outside time is over.” Placing a gentle hand on Fawn’s back, she guided her to her office and lowered her voice. “I’ll have to send for your parents. It’s possible your trip to the fae lands infused you with a bit of magic. We’ll perform a test to see.”

Beads of sweat dotted Fawn’s forehead. “How?”

“Make me see something that isn’t here,” Miss Cadence instructed, pointing to an empty spot on her desk. “If I guess what it is, then we have our answer.”

Fawn started to nod, then stopped. “I don’t know how to glamour.”

“Let’s see,” Miss Cadence said slowly as she thought. “Focus hard on what you want me to see.”

Fawn drew in a deep breath and concentrated on the empty space, willing her teacher to see a vase filled with pink flowers.

Miss Cadence gasped, pulling Fawn’s attention from the task. “Flowers,” her teacher whispered. “I saw a bouquet of pink flowers.”

Fawn’s stomach plummeted. Magic wasn’t freedom. Magic was exposure. Every eye would see her now.

She should have been excited to possess fae magic. As a girl, it was all she wanted, but after seeing the reaction of her classmates today, it felt like a curse.

Fawn burst into tears.

The Garden Kingdom prince stood in the middle of his sitting room as anger, shock, and fear churned in his chest. He rubbed a fist over his sternum, wishing he could ease the knot forming there.

He’d never met his mate, but her emotions were as familiar to him as his own. Happiness and humor were the most prevalent, something he himself rarely experienced in his own life, and sometimes annoyance or embarrassment filtered down the bond during the day.

But never fear, and that’s what worried him.

Why is she scared?

Thinking of his mate in distress blackened his bleak mood. He’d already had an altercation with his father, a normal occurrence, and knowing something happened to his mate almost sent him into a blind rage.

If she were here, he would let nothing touch her.

But she wasn’t here. According to the records, she didn’t exist.

When a royal fae turned thirteen, the gods whispered the name of their fated mate for only them to hear. Mates were born on the same day and finding them should be as simple as checking every fae kingdom’s birth records. Yet no record had anyone matching his mate’s name and date of birth.

His father traveled to each of the other fae kingdoms—Mountain, Desert, and Tropical—to double-check the records himself with no luck.

It didn’t make sense.

Dean fought the urge to rake a hand through his neatly styled light golden-brown hair. Anything less than perfection was unacceptable to his parents, and the last thing he wanted was to be locked in his rooms for a week.

What if we never find her?

The intensity of Fawn’s turmoil deepened, and he longed to destroy everything around him to release the growing agitation.

Braddock, Dean’s oldest friend, reached out and punched his shoulder. “Why do you look like that?”

Dean grunted and rubbed his arm. At thirteen, Braddock already towered over most men.

He eyed his best friend. The boy’s bronzed, medium-brown skin and sun-streaked brown hair attested to the time he spent outside training.

Dean glanced at his own lightly suntanned beige skin.

He trained a lot too, but his mother freaked out if he didn’t wear sun protectant.

Braddock’s large hand landed on his shoulder and shook lightly. “Dean?”

Dean gave up and shoved a hand through his hair. “My mate is upset.”

“I can go look for her,” Braddock offered. “I’m a better tracker than anyone in the kingdom.” Dean suppressed a laugh. His friend thought he was the best at everything.

He fell into a nearby chair and stared at the ceiling. “What if we can’t find her?” He cringed at the hopelessness in his voice. If his father had been here to hear it, he would have punished Dean for showing weakness.

Braddock stared out the sitting room window, lost in thought. “You’ll have to marry someone else,” he concluded, wrinkling his nose.

A lump formed in Dean’s throat, but he kept his face neutral. He didn’t want to marry someone else. He wanted his mate. Since gaining access to her emotions, his life had been bearable. Her joy often held his darkness at bay.

Every time Dean felt her laugh, he wondered how she looked doing it. Did she throw her head back and laugh loudly, or did she sound like a teapot? He almost smiled at the thought.

If only she were here. When he found her, he’d make sure she laughed all the time.

“This has never happened before,” Dean admitted, hating that his situation would make history. Another indiscretion in his parents’ eyes.

The gods only blessed royal fae with mates; the magical bond kept the royal bloodlines strong. No royal in the history of Eden had married anyone other than their mate.

“You can marry Cali if you don’t find her,” Braddock suggested with a shrug.

An uncomfortable feeling slithered around Dean’s neck like a too-tight collar. Cali was Braddock’s cousin. She was a pretty girl with medium brown hair just past her shoulders, light olive skin, and brown eyes.