Loving fae, p.4
Loving Fae, page 4
“Oh. I didn’t realize—” Immediately I stood, making my way toward the boys’ bedroom.
I could hear my mates talking behind me, but the moment I neared the room, Brielle stuck her head out, relief softening her gaze.
“Maize!” Brielle leaned forward and pulled me into a hug—completely unexpected from the normally sullen woman, but absolutely welcome. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I offered her a small smile as she pulled back, her large green eyes filled with a haunted edge that had softened only slightly in the days I’d known her.
She had been through so much, and despite her delicate appearance, it was becoming clear she was anything but. Her caution and defiance had allowed her not only to survive and protect her sisters but to stand beside a team of wizards from the Earth realm who were known to be utterly ruthless.
“Better than ever,” I assured her as she pushed her red hair off her shoulder and stepped aside, revealing the office that had been turned into a bedroom for the boys, each of them claiming their own corner. All four were asleep, and Brielle’s two sisters sat quietly in the center of the room, playing a card game on the floor.
“How are they? I can’t imagine that magical surge or the fight with David did anything good for their magic,” I murmured.
“Actually, it seemed to feed their magic,” she said softly. “I know little about the boys’ abilities, but they seemed to grow stronger with the violence outside. They fell asleep easily after eating. I don’t know if they’ll have questions when they wake up, but they seemed fine overall.”
Fascinating. Though if Cethlenn was correct about the nature of their power and them being the Four Horsemen…well, I supposed that violence feeding their magic made sense.
“One of them isn’t sleeping as well as the others,” Eirlys, the middle sister, said before offering me a serious, speculative look. “He keeps talking in his sleep.”
“Harland,” I murmured, noting where her attention had strayed.
Adeena, the youngest, let out a yawn before rubbing her eyes and placing her hand of cards down. I offered Brielle a small smile. “Take them home. We’ve got it from here.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “We can stay—”
“You’ve done more than enough,” I assured her. “Go get some rest.”
As the three of them left, I walked into the room and made my way to Harland. He’d started to toss and turn, and I let out a long sigh as I sat on the floor, my back against the bed. The firelight down the hall cast shadows that danced along the walls, causing my eyes to grow heavy.
For the first time since Oberon’s voice had clawed through my head, the house felt safe. But safety was an illusion. It always was. And when the boys woke, I’d have to find the right way to explain why we had people hunting us.
CHAPTER 5
MAIZE
I couldn’t tell you how long I stared out the window between Harland and Lyric’s beds, my thoughts tumbling over one another until they all blurred together. Long enough for the conversation in the other room to shift from frantic and worried to clipped and strategic. Long enough for my magic to stir restlessly, enough to make Harland blink awake and sit up, his tiny brow furrowed in concern that shouldn’t exist on someone so young.
Then again, the kid was war incarnate. I doubted dreams of blood and battle made for peaceful sleep. Brielle hadn’t been exaggerating about his power increase—even half-awake, the air around him thrummed.
“You’re okay,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. His huge blue gaze—half his face, honestly—locked on me as he clutched his stuffed hellhound to his chest. “But there was so much blood and anger outside. I could feel it.”
Maker.
I offered him a small, hopefully comforting, smile. “The guys handled everyone outside, and extra wards are being placed around the house to keep us safe. And yes, I’m fine. I just needed a long nap.”
“Cannon said you were stuck with a god.” Lyric said from across the room as he padded over, wrapped in an oversized robe and pajamas. “Like Mom and Dad?”
“Not exactly,” I admitted. The thoughtful gleam in his eyes was unmistakable—the kid lived to know why. With the stack of books around his bed forming a makeshift wall, I knew that if I didn’t explain, he’d dig until he found the answer himself.
I still didn’t quite understand how famine fit into his magic, but it was hard to imagine any of these boys as the world-ending beings they were destined to become.
“Then who?” he asked, sitting on the floor across from me.
“Oberon.”
The name made the air ripple with power and recognition. Cairo and Relic stirred, both blinking sleepily before joining us. Cairo slouched against the wall, expression unreadable, his silence turning assessing. Relic, on the other hand, darted to my side and wrapped both arms around one of mine, his small face pinched with worry.
Cairo being death itself made sense—his stillness carried the kind of weight that would one day silence a battlefield. But Relic, pestilence? That one didn’t sit right.
In mere days, I’d become extremely protective over them, unable to see them as dangerous and powerful creatures destined for a future they couldn’t control. Maybe Cethlenn had been right to send them here.
“The fae god?” Cairo asked finally.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “The fae god. But I won’t let him hurt any of you. I promised your mom I’d keep you safe—”
“Our mom,” Relic corrected. “We’re your brothers. She’s your mom too.”
My breath caught. The way he said it—so simple, so certain—left me reeling. I exhaled slowly, staring at him. They didn’t have the answers I needed, but one thing was clear: I was going to need a talk with Cethlenn, and soon. The elephant in the room had turned into something much, much larger.
“Where are the others?” Harland asked, rubbing his eyes. “The girls who were playing with us—they were nice. They told us stories before bed.”
“They went home,” I said gently. “And the guys are in the kitchen.” I hesitated, then added, “We might have some visitors in the morning, though.”
No doubt Queen Gray and Vegas would both want to stop by. After this last incident with David, this wasn’t something we could handle alone anymore.
“What about Zariyah?” Relic’s small voice piped up, filled with honest worry. “Did the bad guys hurt her too?”
I drew in a breath before shaking my head. “No, buddy. No one hurt her. They aren’t after Vegas or her daughter, I promise.” I paused, choosing my words carefully. “But—”
The rest caught in my throat. These boys were woven into a prophecy older than most gods, one that named the heredis auguratricis—the daughter of the sorceress—as the one destined to die to save our entire world.
And my brothers believed that individual was Zariyah.
I didn’t understand why Cethlenn had handed them such a heavy burden at such a young age. It was truly unfair when they were so small, still finding their footing in a world that expected them to become something terrible and divine all at once.
“I think it’s best we don’t…” I trailed off once more, unsure how to finish that sentence. What was I supposed to say? That they couldn’t ever see her? Couldn’t ever talk to her? They were children—just babies, really. We didn’t need to drag them into world-ending prophecies yet. This was fucking insane.
“We don’t what?” Cairo asked.
“Nothing, never mind,” I said finally, forcing a smile. “Let’s just focus on keeping ourselves safe for now, okay?”
Harland nodded, clutching his hellhound toy tighter, as Cairo offered me a confused expression. Lyric leaned against Relic’s shoulder.
And as the room fell quiet, I promised myself again that I’d keep them safe, no matter the cost.
“Is everything okay in here?” Philip asked, poking his head around the door, his smirk softening when he saw the kids clustered around me.
“Yeah, just talking.” I offered him a small smile, though I knew he could see right through it. The concern still lingered in my features, no matter how hard I tried to hide it.
He tilted his head, reading me easily. “Right. Well, we just finished making pasta and pizza, and—”
He didn’t get to finish. All four boys bolted for the hallway at the word pizza, the soft thump of their bare feet echoing down the corridor.
I couldn’t help the small surprised laugh that escaped me. “Guess that answers whether they’re awake enough to eat.”
“I have a feeling we’ll need to buy double the groceries with them under our roof, maybe triple,” Philip teased. His voice dropped as he looked over me with concern. “And you? How are you doing, little rose?”
I sighed and crossed the space between us, sliding my arms around his neck. He folded me into his chest without hesitation and for a few quiet moments, we just stood there. The chaos of it all felt a little smaller with his heartbeat against my ear.
Finally, I leaned back and whispered, “I don’t even know what time it is right now, let alone what to do about this Oberon shit.”
“It’s late,” Philip said, brushing a hand along my jaw before kissing my forehead. “Come on. Let’s eat—I know you haven’t eaten all day.”
He was right, if only because I’d been trapped in my own brain and then unconscious. And I was absolutely starving now that the scent of food was floating around the house.
Together we wandered back toward the kitchen. The boys were already at the table, sauce smeared across Harland’s cheek, Lyric earnestly explaining to Relic that cheese was technically magic, and Cairo pretending to agree just to keep him quiet. The sight made my chest ache in the best possible way.
When I followed Philip into the adjoining living room, I dropped onto the couch beside Valerio and stretched my legs across Cannon’s lap. He immediately began smoothing a hand over my calf, as Philip tended the fireplace.
“We need to find him,” I said. “Before he can break free.”
Valerio tensed. “That’s walking straight into his damn trap, Maize.”
Cannon exhaled, leaning forward. “She’s right, though. Sitting still gives him time to break out. We should reach out to Raziel again, see if there’s anything else we can learn from him and his brothers and if they’ve managed to get a sense of where Oberon could be.”
Raziel. The ancient fae who lived in the Nightmare Forest. Wonderful.
“I agree,” I murmured, thinking of Raziel’s mate I’d heard my mates mention in passing after their last visit. “And maybe this Kendahl he lives with will know something too. If nothing else, we could just ask Oberon, but I would much rather he be taken off guard by our arrival.”
Cannon nodded in quiet approval. “Then we send word to him tonight, and tomorrow while we wait we’ll go to the castle archives to research where he could be.”
Charm brought me over a plate of pizza seconds later, and the conversation and mood of the house settled into a more comfortable, relaxed patter. When the laughter from the boys started to fade and they walked off to their room, I found myself growing tired.
That was when a sharp knock at the door came. Valerio strode to the door as I felt a familiar surge of power.
Cirdan stood in the cold, his hood tugged up as he offered both of us a long look. “Maize, you’re needed. Valerio, I would have only one or maybe two of you come with us. Queen Gray is requesting her.” Something in his tone made my stomach tighten uncomfortably.
I guess we weren’t waiting until morning for a visit.
I rose without a word, exchanging a quick look with Valerio. His calm mask slipped into place as he placed a coat around my shoulders and turned to tell the others our plan. I tugged on my boots and stepped out the door, the warmth of the living room instantly vanishing into the night. The air was biting, icy, and as my gaze tracked through our front yard I could see splatters of blood.
The bodies had been removed though, so that was good.
“Are we going to the castle?” Valerio asked, closing the front door before taking my hand.
“No—further into the forest. David was questioned down at the academy’s interrogation center, and now Queen Gray wants Maize to see him before the final decision is made about his fate.”
“You didn’t get a chance to kill him,” I said in soft realization.
It didn’t take much to understand that David had been one of the larger factors in Brielle’s abuse—he had known and never done anything to stop it. If anything, he seemed to encourage it. I could see Cirdan’s fury at the mere mention of the situation, and Valerio squeezed my hand in a warning that I partly ignored.
“No. We were not allowed to kill him.”
Those were the last words Cirdan said as he escorted us away from the academy grounds and deeper into the forest. Snow crunched under our boots and new flakes fell from the sky, coating the ground.
About ten minutes later, we reached a clearing surrounded by torches that flickered in the wind. Outside a spelled circle stood Vegas’s and Gray’s men, along with a handful of Horde soldiers. But within the humming barrier were only the queenly sisters and David.
I squeezed Valerio’s hand and stepped forward, their combined magic brushing against my skin as I passed through.
A flicker of panic rippled through our bond at my distance, but I sent back a calm pulse, a warm reassurance that I was fine. There was nothing to worry about from Gray or Vegas; their magic welcomed me, and I caught Gray’s eyes almost immediately as she straightened to her full height. I nodded once in greeting, ignoring David, who knelt trembling between the two queens.
Gray might have been small, but she was impossible to overlook. Her presence filled the clearing more completely than any army could. The black veil of her hair whipped across her scarred jaw, the torchlight cutting over the mark like a badge of war. Her sapphire eyes burned with quiet authority. She didn’t need a crown to prove who she was—the entire Horde bent around her will.
Across from her stood Vegas, equal in command and entirely opposite in nature. Her silver hair shimmered with hints of lavender, as if her magic coated her protectively at all times. Despite the harsh wind and unfortunate circumstances, her expression softened when she saw me. The smile she gave was warm and alive, utterly at odds with the grim scene and the broken man at her feet.
Side by side, the sisters looked like twin forces of nature. Between them, chained and kneeling in the mud, was David.
I stopped just short of them as the smell hit me first—burnt magic, blood, and decay. His head hung heavy, skin pale and bruised, veins glowing with a sickly green corruption. His eyes flickered open when I approached, just enough for me to see the emptiness behind them.
There was no David left. Only a shell.
Gray’s voice was steady against the harsh wind. “When we started to question him, he turned feral. Something was triggered by our line of questions.”
Just like when we tried to question Commander Richard Flank, Brielle’s father.
“Zagan was watching,” I said quietly. “He knew you were interrogating him and used the connection to strike.” My throat tightened as I looked at David, disgust rising at the sight. “Where did the blood come from?”
“The wizard,” Vegas answered with a soft shrug. “In retrospect, we should’ve let them finish the job, but it seemed important to make sure you had the final say—the right to kill him.”
I actually didn’t think it was my right to have the final say at all.
“He can’t be allowed to live,” I agreed, “but I think there’s someone else who deserves to end him, if you’re both okay with that.”
Gray’s expression turned gentle, and the pressure of the spelled circle loosened as soft footsteps sounded behind me.
“Brielle?” I turned as Cirdan led her forward. I had no idea when she’d joined us, but I was happy she would be here to see this. “Is that something you want?”
“I want him dead,” she said, her voice trembling but sure. “Cirdan, will you?”
The wizard’s eyes flickered with cold triumph. “Absolutely. All of you should back up though.”
I stepped back without question. David groaned as if in pain, his body sinking further against the ground. I would have felt bad for him if it hadn’t been for all the horrible things he’d done or how he’d threatened my family.
A heartbeat later, the air shifted as Cirdan rose a singular hand toward the sky. Lightning tore across the sky, cutting through the night like a blade. Then his hand came down in a meticulous slice.
Power crashed downward, raw and blinding, and struck David dead center. The sound was deafening.
Then nothing.
David’s incinerated body slumped forward, lifeless and decimated. Silence swallowed the courtyard so completely it made my ears ring. I exhaled slowly, the cold turning my breath to mist.
“Rocket?” Vegas called out, and apparently she didn’t need to say anything more. The ground beneath David shuddered and split apart, swallowing his seared flesh and bones whole. The earth sealed itself with a final hiss, leaving only the blackened mark of Cirdan’s power carved into the soil.
Valerio stepped up behind me, the heat of his presence easing the lingering chill that crept under my coat. Around us, everyone exhaled—some in relief, others in silent horror at what had just happened—before attention turned away from David’s fate and back to what waited ahead.
“It’s done,” Gray said, her voice carrying through the quiet like the strike of a bell. “Now to move onto the next problem. Zagan.”
I nodded, straightening. “We sent word to Raziel to see if he knows anything more about where Oberon, and hopefully Zagan, could be hiding.”
Gray’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “And he responded?”
“Not yet,” I admitted. “But we’re working through some options. Oberon contacted me today—well, trapped me in my head is more accurate—while David attacked our home. He tried to convince me to come to him so he could feed off my energy. He wants to escape.”
