The elven star, p.1
The Elven Star, page 1
Brotherhood of Blood ~ Wildwood
The Elven Star
by
Bianca D’Arc
Copyright © 2023 Bianca D’Arc
Hawk Publishing, LLC
New York
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Author.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
www.biancadarc.com
OFFICIAL BIANCA D’ARC NEWSLETTER
Cameron is a fey prince who has chosen to live in the mortal realm, sworn to fight evil wherever he finds it.
Sir Cameron le Fey is on a mission to track down the final dryad granddaughter. He has to get to her before the enemy does, but when he finds her, she surprises him. She’s not really like the others.
Kaleen is an unexpected power with knowledge far beyond her years.
Kaleen Fairchild doesn’t think she’s in any danger when Cameron shows up in her back yard, but she begins to believe when she’s attacked in her own garden by a mage up to no good.
Together they will find a rare and special love, rediscover forgotten magic, and do their best to free the trapped dryad.
They will face danger together and bond over shared magic. He’s never met anyone like her and she finds herself attracted to him in ways she’s never felt before. Together they will join with the others to perform the Elven Star spell to try to help Leonora. After that, only Fate can tell where they wind up. Each has a legacy of magic and duty, but they will have to choose where that legacy leads them -- to their family duty in the fey realm, or to battle evil in the mortal one? Together or apart, they need to decide where and when, and if their feelings can last through all their immortal days.
DEDICATION
To Mom and Dad.
I miss you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
About the Author
Other Books by Bianca D’Arc
PROLOGUE
The dryad Leonora had been stuck inside a willow tree for a very long time. She’d asked to be put within by choice. It had really been the only thing to do after she’d been shot by a poisonous silver bullet. Her old friend, the vampire Master Dmitri, had given her a few drops of his immortal blood in order to stave off the poison, but she knew the amount of magic—and the particular kind of magic—needed to save her life would be hard to gather.
She had asked her newly discovered many-times-great-granddaughter to find the others like her. The descendants of Leonora’s daughter, Marisol, who had been lost down through the generations. Those women, together, might have a chance at restoring Leonora to the land of the living. If nothing else, it would be a good exercise for Sally, the former police detective who had just mated with the local wolf Alpha.
Leonora’s cottage was within the wolf Pack’s territory, and she had long had a good relationship with them. She liked werewolves. She especially liked to watch the little ones play and frolic through the forest. They were such happy creatures, and they took good care of the land they lived on, which meant so much to Leonora.
She’d been hanging out in the willow tree, suspended between life and death, the mortal realm and another place where time didn’t matter quite so much. She tried not to worry too much. She tried to just drift a bit and let Fate do as She willed. Leonora trusted in the Mother of All to do whatever was the right thing regarding her own continued existence. If she was meant to live on, Sally would be successful in finding her long-lost kin. If not, well, Leonora had been alive a very long time, and perhaps it was time to move on to the next realm.
She wasn’t really sure where earth elementals like herself would move on to when their time was done in the mortal realm, but she wasn’t afraid of it. She would miss her friends, though. Leonora was aware of them, sometimes, visiting her resting place.
She was aware of Dmitri, keeping his promise to help protect her resting place. He would come at night, sometimes with his mate, sometimes on his own. Sally visited too. And she brought other women, as she found them. Leonora was really impressed by how many of her descendants Sally was finding.
And then, one day, some lunatic took a chainsaw to her willow. There was a commotion that she couldn’t really see from her vantage point, but there was a great deal of magic in the vicinity of her resting place, and then, everything ceased.
Leonora only found out what had actually occurred when Cameron le Fey bridged the place between where Leonora rested and a few of the others. Leonora was thrilled to meet a few of her descendants, but also glad to see Cameron. She’d known his parents in the old days and hadn’t seen him since he’d been just a lad. He was a warrior grown now, with potent magical abilities. Somehow, he had become involved with the wolves and Sally’s quest to find Leonora’s lost descendants.
“Could this be young Cameron? Child of my friends Liandra and Berwid? How fare your parents? You have grown in the many years since I saw you last,” she’d said when she’d seen him.
“My parents were well the last time I was in the fey realm. I will tell them you asked, dear lady. Please allow me to make the introductions.” He turned smoothly to the two women he’d brought with him. “These are but two of your descendants.”
“I’ve been aware of some, but tell me,” Leonora asked, “how many has Sally found?”
“Five have been found, briefed, and have agreed to help,” Maria said. “I’m Maria, by the way. I was the first one Sally found, and I mated with Jesse Moore. I live here now.”
“Dear Maria,” Leonora said, looking at her. “I’ve felt your presence nearby many times. It’s good to see your face, finally. You take after my daughter Marisol, just a little, around the eyes.” Leonora was touched by Maria’s expression, which held such wonder and compassion. She was a gentle soul.
“And I’m Pam. I just mated with Arlo, and I’m probably going to be living here as well,” the other girl said, drawing Leonora’s attention.
“Arlo? He’s a nice boy. I’m glad to hear he and Jesse have found mates, and I’m especially happy to hear they’re part of my extended family now through you two. It’s wonderful news! Wonderful!” Leonora was truly happy for the first time since taking refuge inside the willow. Her line would live on, and these two girls, and Sally, were beautiful and kind-hearted.
They talked more about the others who’d been found and where they were living and who they had mated. Leonora was pleased to hear that all of the girls Sally had tracked down so far had found their mates along the way. It boded well for the continuation of dryad energy in the world, even if no full-dryad had been born in eons.
Cameron stood by and watched the proceedings, adding what he knew here and there, but overall, he was just watching them, keeping the spell that allowed this communication active. Leonora hoped it wasn’t too tiring for him to hold them all in this hazy half-realm. He was a full-fey warrior, but even he had his limits.
“Fear not, milady.” Cameron tried to comfort her as he drew the conversation to a close. “I go now to retrieve the last of your descendants needed to perform the Elven Star ritual. I will guide the magic, and with any luck, it will bring you back into the mortal realm hale and hearty and ready to go another thousand years. Woe be to your enemies, who harmed you so greatly.” His smile was almost feral.
“I am in your debt,” Leonora replied. “In all of your debt. Please tell the others. I am so grateful for your efforts on my behalf. I cannot wait to walk among you in the forest that is our home.”
“And we can’t wait to see you there, where you belong,” Pam said.
“For now, we must go. Rest easy, milady. Though your resting place was attacked today, it will be guarded much more closely from this moment on. The wolves will keep watch by night and day, now that we know the enemy is aware of your plight,” Sir Cameron assured her.
“Tell Master Dmitri that I enjoy his visits, though we cannot speak. I have sensed his presence almost every night. He is a strong ally who keeps his word, and that is much appreciated,” Leonora told them.
“I’ll be sure to tell him,” Maria volunteered. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said with feeling that was clearly reciprocated in the dryad’s expression.
&nbs
He had given her hope. So much hope. Although her energy had faded over time, Sally had found six more of her descendants, and when all seven of them had gathered, there might just be enough dryad energy to bring Leonora back to the land of the living.
CHAPTER ONE
Early spring was one of Kaleen Fairchild’s favorite times of year. The extensive garden of her parents’ suburban home was just starting to come out of its winter slumber, and signs of new life were everywhere.
The crocuses were just finishing, and the daffodils were waving proudly in the brisk air. Tulips were just starting to bloom here and there throughout the large backyard, and trees were starting to form tiny leaves or flowers, each according to their nature. A very old and large oak had pride of place to one side of the wide backyard, with an old swing hanging from its lower branches. There were bushes dividing up the space and an old boxwood hedge along one side separating the rose garden from the rest of the expanse.
Kaleen remembered her father spending many hours out here, coaxing the garden into just the shape and design he wanted. She missed his puttering about back here. Had missed it since she was a child when he disappeared one night, taken by folk from another realm. She’d spent many hours out here ever since, weeding and tilling the soil and planting things in his memory…and in her mother’s as well.
They weren’t dead. Just gone. And she wasn’t sure she’d ever see them again. But she held the hope that one day they would all be reunited, and then, her father would be pleased with how well she’d kept his garden, and her mother would come to enjoy the pink dogwood tree Kaleen had planted just for her. Kaleen’s mother had always claimed the pink dogwood—much rarer than the wild white variety—was her favorite.
It was a bright, sunny day, and the garden was truly waking up. Kaleen was alone, as she always was. The big house was empty, and the garden was her solace. Even on the coldest of days, she always spent at least some time out here among the trees, who were her only friends.
It wasn’t a bad life, though it did get lonely at times. Her parents had left her very well off with a big house in a quiet neighborhood. The house was sort of a mansion, really. If a small one. Her nearest neighbors weren’t all that close, and they tended to keep to themselves.
Kaleen had been alone here since the day after her eighteenth birthday, though her mother had formulated plans for Kaleen’s higher education and set the wheels in motion for Kaleen to attend a nearby college. The money had been there. Plenty of it, actually. Her parents had left her wanting for nothing…except their presence.
Quiet by nature, Kaleen had gone through with the plans her mother had left, getting a degree in accounting. She had a few private clients and did per diem work for a firm in town. All in all, it kept her busy and got her out of the house, but it wasn’t exactly fulfilling work. It was just a job that helped her manage the large estate her parents had left behind.
She had been working hard until last week. The April tax deadline had passed, and now, she finally had a little breathing space. The per diem work peaked around the various tax deadlines throughout the year, and her own clients were all set for now. She had taken the next few weeks off, though she would still answer the phone if anybody wanted to talk to her. She just wasn’t going to be focusing on work as much as she had been since mid-January.
It was a great time to be out in nature, and she felt it calling to her. She’d discovered some unique abilities after her mother had gone, but she had nobody to ask about them. She’d just experimented a bit on her own, playing around out here in her favorite place, making things grow and talking to the trees and bushes.
She knew there was magic in her blood. Her mother had lots of it, after all, but her mother had never told her about listening to the song of the leaves or being able to make things grow just by touching them or the earth around them. That had to be some artifact of her human side, she guessed, but again, she had nobody to ask, so she didn’t know for sure. Someday, she might find out. If her parents ever came back.
That melancholy thought came all too often, even after so many years. She missed them. She missed being loved and being able to tell them she loved them. She missed so much about having a family, but she didn’t really know how to fix it. As far as she was concerned, her situation couldn’t be fixed. She was in a limbo sort of place where she couldn’t be with the people she loved unconditionally, and she didn’t know how to find others in this world whom she could trust and love just as much.
Which was why she was still alone. She’d tried making friends, but they inevitably let her down. She’d tried dating but had never fallen in love. Lust, certainly. But not love. Much to her regret. She sighed and touched a tulip, causing it to bloom, which made her smile. Her mother had loved tulips.
“Kaleen Fairchild?”
The deep voice jolted her out of her reverie. Kaleen looked up to see a giant of a man staring down at her with intensity in his deep blue eyes. He was tall and lithe, but powerful in the extreme. She jumped to her feet and faced him.
“Who wants to know?” Annoyance peppered her tone.
She wasn’t going to be snuck up on in her own garden. How in the world had he managed to do that? Nothing and no one was ever able to enter her domain without her knowledge.
“Permit me to introduce myself. Sir Cameron le Fey, at your service.”
Shock colored her expression, and she backed up a step involuntarily. “You’re fey?”
Cameron tilted his head in question. That wasn’t the usual response from those in the mortal realm. He looked at her more closely.
Long blonde hair. Clear blue eyes. Her hair was just a bit darker blonde than usual in fey and her eyes a little darker blue. Still, she had the delicate look of the fey realm, but there was an earthy quality about her too. Could she be part-fey? Half-fey, maybe? Only one way to find out. He had to risk being rude and ask.
“What do you know of the fey realm?”
“Nothing good.” She shook her head. “The fey stole my father away.” That last was in a whisper that was tinged with both deep sorrow and festering anger.
“Timothy Fairchild. That was your father’s name, right?” Something was off here. Something Cameron was puzzling to figure out. This child of the earth should have no knowledge of the fey realm or its denizens.
She looked even more alarmed than when he’d told her his name. “How did you know that?”
Cameron tried to get the conversation back on track.
“I came here at the behest of your cousin, Pamela. Your father’s sister’s child,” he explained patiently. “She sent me here to find you. To put the two of you in contact with each other. And to see if you had inherited your father’s earth elemental gifts.”
“My father’s what?”
She sounded as if she didn’t know the first thing about her father’s dryad power. Cameron supposed it was possible, given the stories he’d heard about the other part-dryads the Wyoming wolf Pack had found so far.
“Your father had a way with plants, didn’t he?” Cameron asked, trying to sound nonchalant but watching her reactions carefully.
“He liked gardening, yes, but I don’t see how that—”
Cameron cut her off as gently as possible. There was too much to say and do and too little time to convince her. “Forgive me. Time is of the essence. Your cousin sent me to find you. The rest we can discuss later, but first, I need to pass on her message.”
“If what you say is true, why didn’t she come here herself?” Kaleen’s little chin was stuck up in the air in challenge. Cameron found it endearing, though it wouldn’t do to let her know that, just yet.
“Since you seem to have some knowledge of the magical world, have you ever heard of the ancient order known as the Venifucus?” Cameron asked in return.
Slowly, she nodded. “An evil order formed by the followers of Elspeth the Destroyer, thought to have died out after she was banished centuries ago.”
“I’m very sorry to say, they did not die out. They went into hiding and have recently emerged, still intent on returning Elspeth to this mortal realm. In recent months, they have been targeting those with dryad blood.”
