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The hooded figure reached out to grab her as Kes appeared. He wrapped Anin in his arms and drew his sword. Ciaran stepped out with his sword also directed at the hooded figure and said, “You seem to have been caught stealing from my cousin. Do show us who has been so foolishly bold.”
The being paused for a moment and then began to chuckle as he lowered his hood. Ciaran, Kes, and Anin all gasped in surprise.
“You!” Anin seethed. “Of all the beings I expected to get their hands dirty, I would have never expected you – the King Consort of the Day Court!”
She muttered something about Day fae and someone getting anyone to do their bidding. Suddenly, off in the distance, there was a great explosion of raw power aimed up into the sky. It sounded like the loudest crash of thunder Ciaran had ever heard. He immediately took to the sky to see if he could pinpoint a location. He knew that had to have been Etain, their mate bond feeling electric inside him. He was no longer questioning what kind of bond he shared with her. There was no doubt in his mind she was his fated mate, and he would never fail to protect her again.
He took off into the night sky above the trees to search out the place he had seen the power pouring from in the distance. He checked the bond once more and was relieved to feel her relaxed. He didn’t even spare a glance back at Kes and Anin and left them to face the king of the Day Court alone. He cared for nothing besides having his mate safe in his arms, and he would not let anyone stand in his way of reaching her.
Thirty Two
Aninhadnotbeenlooking where she was running. She only knew she needed to get away from the hooded figure who was quickly approaching, and she desperately needed her wings. She nearly screamed when she collided with a rock hard body, its arms snaking around her. Then she looked up into the face of the one being she wanted to see most, and her would-be scream became a sob. Whatever happened, she knew she would be safe now.
Kes immediately unbound her magic, and Anin felt whole again as he pushed her behind him. She was surprised to see Ciaran had come as well. She would have thought he would not leave Etain on her own. She couldn’t believe her eyes when the wagon driver lowered his hood. Reminold, the King Consort had stolen her away from the Night Court. She was shocked the king had been sent; the Day Court mustreallywant her dead.
They were all momentarily distracted when they heard what sounded like an explosion off in the distance. Ciaran immediately took flight and headed towards the general location of the loud boom, leaving her and Kes to deal with the king. She used her power to get rid of the rope around her body and groaned as she stretched her crumpled wings. The sound seemed to awaken the violence which was always simmering in Kes. He began his attack as Reminold shed his cloak revealing his large white downy wings and his glowing golden body.
The two beings were well matched, each having their own advantages and very few disadvantages. Anin knew she would need to get involved to tip the scales and send the king running back to the Day Court. She called upon her vines and had them sprout up under Reminold’s feet. The king was working hard to keep up with Kes’s thrusts of his sword and block any magical attacks with his own power and magic. Unfortunately, as king of the Day Court, he could easily control the vines as well and used them to trip Kes instead. She was feeling frustrated and uncoiled the vine that wound around her arm at all times, lashing out to whip the king across his face.
Roaring in pain and outrage, he grabbed the vine and yanked her towards him. She stumbled, but managed to stay out of his reach. He lunged for her again; his desperation was making him sloppy. Anin twirled gracefully out of the way while Kes pushed his attack even harder. Neither were trying to kill the king, because to do so would be all the reason the Day Court needed to openly declare war. Anin knew the queen, the most powerful being of the realm, would never stop until she avenged her mate.
Reminold began to look visibly tired as he tried to stave off the attacks coming from all directions; Kes and Anin circled him. He gathered his strength, and Anin saw his attack coming too late. He came towards her and grabbed for the thin strand that shimmered around her as she twirled.
She had completely forgotten about the collar that was still around her neck and the lead that was attached to it. The king thought to grab hold of her lead and would attempt to fly away with her. Anin tried to pull the shimmering strand back, but it had practically fluttered into his open hand, as if he had willed it there at that moment.
The second his hand wrapped around the lead, he pulled on it, but then dropped like a stone to the ground. Anin stared at his unmoving body in shock.
“Please tell me you didn’t have the collar spelled tokillanyone besides you if they touched it. He’s just under a spell, right?” Anin said to Kes with panic in her voice.
If Ciaran didn’t manage to come into his full power soon, the Night Court would not stand a chance against the queen of the Day Court.
“Well, shit.” Kes swore. “He shouldn’t have touched what’s mine. I can’t say I’m all that upset with his death, just disappointed it wasn’t by my hand.” He began to laugh maniacally. “What are the odds something so delicate would take out the king of the Day Court? How embarrassing.” He began to laugh hard and tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. Anin couldn’t help but join him; his laughter was contagious, and he did have a good point. What were the odds a forgotten piece of what was basically a glorified bit of jewelry would be the unmaking of a king.
Anin sobered and thought about the wrath that tiny bit of jewelry was going to bring down on them in the shape of the Day Queen. Anin sent a prayer out to her goddess. She had to trust the goddess had a plan that was already set in motion making sure everything came to pass the way fate intended. That didn’t mean Anin would not worry, and this likely meant her truths were going to be revealed no matter how hard she tried to run from them.
She looked over to her mate and wondered if he had figured out the bond between them was a mate bond and not just the blood oath. Either way, she wasn’t going to be the one to spell it out for him, because she kind of enjoyed the looks of confusion that would flit across his face when he was particularly thoughtful towards her. Though those moments were usually followed by an overly sensual display of wickedness. It was as if he needed to show her he was in control; she smiled at the thought. There was no controlling a mate bond.
She walked up to Kes and wrapped her arms around his waist. He paused, caught off guard by her sudden display of affection, and his laughter cut off abruptly. Gently, he raised his arms to wrap around her. It was as if a wall had broken down between them. He held her as close as he could and nuzzled his face into her neck, breathing her in deep.
Anin knew in that moment, no matter what the future brought, she was no longer alone. Kes would always come for her and she would always be there for him – no matter the cost.
Etain startled awake and everything came crashing back. She looked around the now much larger clearing and saw the debris from the trees that had exploded under her power. Seamus was also spread everywhere.
She had done that. She had killed a man with her uncontrolled power. He was an awful man and deserved to be held accountable for his actions, but did he deserve death? Such a gruesome one at that? Etain felt rung out, as if her body had been running for days. She looked around at the devastation her power brought; it was sobering.
Suddenly, she was acutely aware of how Seamus was…all over everything. She felt hot, as well as sticky, and looked down to see she was covered in gore, with several large splinters sticking out of her. Luckily, the splinters looked fairly shallow. She wondered if her power had somehow slowed them down to be more bruising instead of bloody. Considering how warm Seamus’s blood still was on her body, she must have only been out for a couple minutes. Etain began to freak out at the thought of Seamus’s blood.
She had just killed a man, or more accurately, her power had killed him – a power she could not control. She had killed a man and now he drenched her, the evidence to her crime. She felt the overwhelming urge to be anywhere but in that clearing any longer. She stumbled away before promptly heaving the contents of her stomach. Once she stopped retching, she took off running into the woods as fast as the obstacles of the forest and her decimated body would allow.
She desperately hoped she could find a stream or lake to rinse off in, but then she wasn’t sure if she should trust a body of water in this realm. She had heard stories about creatures who pull unsuspecting people into the depths of their dark waters to drown their prey. Etain didn’t think she wanted to risk such a death. She needed to find her way back to the capital, but she had no idea which way it was. She wouldn’t have a sense of direction until the moon set and rose again, though she had no way of knowing how long that would be. She supposed she could find a clearing to see the moon, wait for it to set, and then reset. If she was going in the wrong direction and the moon was still hours off, at least she wouldn’t be any further away. She felt antsy at the idea of sitting still in these woods for any number of predators to hunt her, even though her body was screaming at her to rest. She decided at least to slow down and walk. Hopefully, she would make less noise to not draw any more attention to herself.
Etain had walked for what felt like an hour when she came across a beautiful crystal clear lake. It was surrounded by trees. Above the little lake, there was the perfect break in the canopy of trees which allowed the moon to light up the water, making it look like it glowed and was filled with moonbeams. She stood there, marveled at its beauty, and was completely lost in appreciation that she almost didn’t see the creature rise out from the water.
She could not be certain what they were, because they appeared to shift form constantly until settling on a handsome human man. Etain screamed as he approached her; he screamed back and clutched at his throat. The shapeshifter opened its mouth to speak, though Etain was already running into the woods. She was not going to let them drag her down to the bottom of that lake, even if it would be a lovely place to die.
She was lucky her scream caught the being off guard, and she was able to get away. It never occurred to Etain that she actually might be terrifying to the creatures of the woods, dressed in black and blood with bits of wood stuck to her, as she screamed like a banshee.
Etain slowed to a walk not long after she ran from the lake, because her body was going to make the decision to rest for her soon if she didn’t slow her pace. She found many beautiful views all over the forest. For a while she walked next to a giant dark rock wall which shot straight up, far further than she could see. It was covered in millions of tiny glowing flowers. She found if she said anything they would mimic her voice and light up creating a chain reaction. It sounded like an echo down the wall, with a wave of multicolored lights. If she hadn’t cursed a branch she tripped over, she would’ve never witnessed the amazing blooms.
