Enemy and rivals, p.1
Enemy and Rivals, page 1
Enemy and Rivals
Fae Wilds Series, Volume 5
W.J. May
Published by Dark Shadow Publishing, 2022.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
ENEMY AND RIVALS
First edition. December 26, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 W.J. May.
ISBN: 979-8215101544
Written by W.J. May.
By W. J. May
Copyright @ 2022 by W .J. May
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Copyright 2022 by W.J. May
Enemy and Rivals, Book 5 of the Fae Wilds Series
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Have You Read the Kerrigan Series?
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
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How hard do you have to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past?
Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed.
Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter?
As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future.
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Fae Wilds Series
Twist & Turns
Curse of the Fae
Force the Truth
Crown & Glory
Enemy & Rivals
Light in the Dark
... THE SERIES CONTINUES...
Enemy and Rivals
The only difference between an enemy and a rival is one tries to hurt you and one motivates you to grow...
What do you do when you’re trapped in hell with a handsome captor who just happens to be a part-time monster?
If you’re Gilly of the Fae, you put a ring on it. That little band of silver bends the monster to her will, but will it be enough for her to escape back to the Fae Realm and the family she just managed to reunite?
And how long will it be before the monster slips his leash and punishes her for what she’s done?
If that weren’t enough trouble for one Fae to handle, she’s about to uncover a secret that could send shockwaves through the multiverse.
Gilly’s ready to handle what the Web gives her, but is the Web ready for her?
Contents
Have You Read the Kerrigan Series?
Beginning’s End Series
The Queen’s Alpha Series
Find W.J. May
Fae Wilds Series
Enemy and Rivals
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
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Light in the Dark
Fae Wilds Series
Find W.J. May
More books by W.J. May
Prologue
The clash of blades echoed through the immense stone chamber, making it hard for Lina to focus. And that wasn’t the only thing playing havoc with her senses. She’d been expecting to materialize in a dry, dusty desert, not inside, within walls that were composed of smooth, shiny black rock. Nor was she expecting to face a half-dozen misshapen beings in red livery who’d leapt forward to attack moments after they’d arrived.
Lina covered her ears with a grimace at the sound of a roar so massive it shook the walls around her, causing dust and grit to fall from the ceiling far above them. Gigantic footsteps sounded in the distance, and Lina turned in their direction, readying a spell for whatever had made the noise.
“Duck!”
She did as Braken yelled, dropping to her knees and rolling out of the way. In the space where she’d just been, a demon landed, slashing with claws and gnashing his teeth, including the two discolored tusks protruding from beneath his bottom lip. Braken followed, his rapier blade flashing, and the demon’s head toppled to the ground in a spill of blood both black and thick.
Her attention diverted, Lina tugged the dagger from her boot and looked for a target. “Where in the hells did the Eye put us?” Braken growled, his anger evident in the violence with which he hacked at his opponent before kicking it in the chest and knocking it to the floor.
“One of the hells, if the demons are any indication,” she replied while slashing at a one-horned monstrosity that lunged in her direction. “But is it the right one?”
The Eye had been her father’s suggestion. The king’s strike force of magic users was headed by a merciless female Fae known as Torva the Heartless, and the Eye was her associate. A demon himself, the creature had powers of perception beyond the average being. He also had the ability to teleport himself and others between realms.
The one-eyed, gray-skinned creature had agreed to aid them on their mission to rescue her twin sister. Kidnapped by the self-styled Empress of Spiders, Gilly had been enslaved in a hell realm teeming with demons.
And worse, Lina thought as the roar sounded again, this time much closer. Her attention was diverted again when a pair of muscled demons teamed up to face off against her. Both hands lit with energy, and she thrust them in the direction of the beasts, making them pulse in pain with her lightning.
Their cries echoed those who were writhing in agony at her father’s feet, thanks to the fireballs lobbed at them by the Fae King. Lyr’s face was expressionless as he sliced his way through the horde intent on pulling him down. A spark of pride filled Lina’s chest at the sight of the man who’d become her father. His drive to reclaim her twin matched Lina’s own, and her chest filled with warmth at the rays of hope dawning there.
Then the chamber throbbed with the ear-splitting roar of the creature who’d been stalking them. Lina turned to see it finally arrive, ducking its enormous head through the archway and surging forward, its imposing feline body both sleek and sculpted. It was the largest lion she’d ever seen, maybe the largest lion to ever exist, and its golden eyes were filled with a glowing rage that struck fear into her fast-beating heart.
Those golde n eyes were filled with an intelligence that made Lina’s blood turn cold. It’s him, she realized, readjusting her hold on her dagger as her hand started to tremble. A Prince of Darkness in his alternate form, a feral beast whose massive paw could break every bone in her Fae body with one swipe.
She’d dug up what she could on the Princes of Darkness, evil beings with dominion over worlds filled with demonic creatures, but Lina had found precious little information about them before her arrival on a hell world controlled by one of their number. Neither the Crone’s shelves or the Royal Fae Library in Exeria had provided much other than rumors and myths. What she did know, that there were five of them, and they had shapeshifting abilities, wasn’t of much help now.
The Eye had provided little in the way of useful information as well. She’d worked up the courage to ask him about the princes while they were readying for the rescue attempt, but the exchange hadn’t gone to plan. At her query, the demon had glared at her with its single steely eye. When he answered, his words had seemed to have no bearing on the princes at all.
“Fate works in its own time,” he’d told her, his lip curling into a snarl. Lina wasn’t sure he was aware of his expression, so thick was the vitriol in his tone. “But what begins will end. It is inevitable.”
He’d stalked off, and she’d lost him in the small crowd gathered in the palace. Now Lina wondered if they were naïve trusting the hellspawn to bring them to the right location. If a Prince of Darkness is here, then this massive obsidian structure must be his palace. She took a step back, gauging their increasingly terrible odds. We’ve somehow landed in the exact place we need to be, which is also the most dangerous spot in the entire realm.
How did the Eye put us here? Her sister had informed her of the limitations of teleporting in Ahriman-abad, and Lina had counted on having to stealth their way for fifty miles before reaching the palace due to the prince’s magic, which was supposed to inhibit all teleportation in the vicinity of the palace. Instead, we’re inside the very same palace, staring at its extremely angry owner.
The cat roared again, and Lina covered her ears, wincing in pain. Braken was beside her, his demeanor protective as always. “What in the Web is happening?” His eyes were round, his ears drooping. “We fell right into an ambush. But how?”
Lina’s eyes shot around the chamber, looking for any sign of the creature who’d put them in this situation. But the Eye was nowhere to be found. She located Torva, leading a contingent of Kingsblade toward their feline adversary, but the heartless one’s pet demon was missing. Fear poured over her, turning her skin to ice. If our demon ally is gone, how will we get back to the Fae Realm?
All questions were knocked out of her head at the impact of one of the gigantic lion’s paws against a nearby column. A loud crack followed, and the column dislodged from its footings and crumbled, causing a spray of debris from the ceiling. Kingsblade fell like dominos, and Lina winced as she watched Torva dragged by dagger-sized claws toward the drooling maw of the cat.
Braken pulled her into a quick embrace, holding her head against his chest to protect her from the sight of Torva’s demise, but her sensitive ears still picked up the crunch of bones and the scream of agony from the powerful Kingsblade. Their magics seemed to have little effect on the prince in his lion form, and it was clear to Lina that it wouldn’t be long before their entire Fae contingent, herself and her father included, were wiped out.
We’ve got to find a way out of here, find a way to regroup. All thoughts of rescuing her sister were now taking a backseat to the need to escape, to live to fight another battle. It wasn’t the first time Lina had made a recalculation of this kind. It seemed like much of her life had been about shifting priorities in the face of challenges that seemed as ubiquitous as the air around her. Within several months, she’d lost her memory and undertaken a journey to reclaim it, a journey that had resulted in the discovery of a twin sister from whom she’d been separated for a decade, a mother she’d hardly known, and a plot by a mysterious sorcerer with the moniker ‘the Eater of Worlds’ who’d threatened to destroy the Fae Realm and the family she’d finally managed to reunite.
But it stung Lina to know she was once more on the back foot, that as far as she’d come, she was still struggling against overwhelming odds. And Gilly’s the fighter. I’m more of a...well, I’m still figuring that out.
Lina looked up to her sister’s confidence and capability. She’d seemed able to juggle her position as the Crone’s powerfully magical acolyte and her command of the wildlings’ forces. Gilly was unflappable, or had seemed that way until she’d been abducted by the Empress disguised as one of their own.
Now it was up to Lina and her family to bring Gilly home. Her sister had been outmatched, as surprising as that was, by a creature known as a Dev, a mortal enemy of the Faekind, according to her mother, who had shivered at the mere mention of the word. During their last meeting, when Lina had come to her sister in a dream, Gilly had urged Lina to hurry, warning that they’d be arriving at the prince’s palace soon. Lina had been certain that they’d had time, allowing her father to organize the rescue with the Kingsblade.
I should have listened to the urgency in my twin’s voice. We should have come right away, as she said, instead of letting the preparations drag on. Guilt bloomed inside her, but fear strangled it, grinding it down to dry dust that blew away and left Lina feeling hollow inside.
The lion charged forward, a menacing growl coming in a low rumble from its broad chest. The sound was powerful enough that she felt it inside her chest. The big cat crouched lower, elongating its form as it crept forward, its golden eyes fastened on her.
Braken stood in front of her, blocking her with his bulk, staring down the enemy like the hero she knew him to be. His rapier held in front of him, he was a picture of calm that Lina envied. “Stay back,” he spat at the creature, his voice booming through the chamber. “Stay back, or I’ll cut off your whiskers and drive my blade through your eye socket.”
The cat hissed at him, its lips curling back to display blood-caked fangs. Lina knew that Braken stood no chance of defeating the beast. She also knew he’d never stop trying, only wanting to protect her. But she couldn’t let him sacrifice himself. Eyes closed, Lina took a deep breath, drawing on as much of her power as she could.
With a gentle touch on his shoulder, Lina walked around Braken, giving him a smile tinged with sadness. His eyes widened. “Whatever you’re about to do—”
His words were cut off as the chamber filled with blinding light.
Chapter One
The roar seemed closer. It echoed off the rocks in the distance, muting as it reached the vegetation that ringed the outer reaches of the marsh. Gilly looked back, catching the sun as it rose over the stony ridge they’d just climbed down. There was no sign of the prince yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he overtook them.
“Keep walking,” Solomon said, drawing her attention. “The only chance we have is hiding ourselves and hoping he can’t smell us.”
“Smell us?” Gilly made a face. “I’m sure a powerful gentleman like the prince has better ways of seeking out his enemies than by smell.”
Solomon eyed her. “You’ve proven to me that your knowledge of hell realms is woefully inadequate, but it seems you’ve missed the clues that were right under your nose at the palace as well. What’s the matter, Fae? Getting tired?”
“What are you talking about?” she said, her tone peevish as she slapped back a wayward branch that was in her path. “What clues?”
“The giant statue in the audience chamber for one,” he replied, then frowned at the tendrils of mist that were making their way onto their path.
“The lion? I assumed it was the symbol of his house, his lineage. It was on all the livery as well.”
“And with good reason.” Solomon was now waist-deep in the mist, his form disappearing. Gilly picked up her pace, moving closer as he continued. “Each of the Princes of Darkness can take an alternate form. It is one of the powers that comes along with being an Archon of Shayatan. Ahriman’s form is a desert lion.”
