Betrayals of Spring (32 page)

I’ve enjoyed doing things in the mortal
realm, but this surely doesn’t qualify as one of those times. I groan as I step
through the portal when the icy air blows across my cheeks. Why can’t I get
away from the cold? Aki follows me through, but Prince Ashe stays behind. Once
I step back through the portal he will be right there where I left him. Portals
are easy to make because all you do is summon your magic and it can separate
the veil between realms. Humans have been known to step through portals so we
try to make them in not so populated areas, or at least most of us do. The
Tyvar do this frequently in hopes of human women stumbling through. I don’t
approve of these ways, but there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

I look around at my surroundings and
once again I’m in a place surrounded by snow. There is, however, a light up
ahead that appears to be coming from a cabin. I know the dark sorcerer is doing
this to mess with me and to wear me down. Following him to a cabin in the snow
is supposed to remind me of Kalen, and it does, but I’m not going to let it
distract me.

Aki follows close by me as we approach
the cabin. We are a couple hundred yards away when I notice two sets of
footprints in the snow. Aki sniffs around and growls low. One of the sets
belongs to a Redcap, and the other no doubt belongs to the dark sorcerer in
Kalen’s body. This Redcap must be one of the ones that turned traitor when the
dark sorcerer went through their village.

The closer we get to the cabin I see the
Redcap standing guard outside the door. Blood is staining the snow and my heart
fills with sadness at the thought of innocent mortals coming to their death by
a Redcap. The terror and fear they must have felt had to be phenomenal. I wish
I could have been here to help them. I clench my teeth while the anger begins
to build inside me. I reach for my bow making sure I am as quiet as can be. The
Redcap may a bit farther away than I am used to, but I know in my heart I will
not miss. I load the arrow and I take a deep breath. I stretch my bow, pulling
against the resistance, and I sight my aim for the Redcap’s heart. He’s
standing perfectly still, eyes trained forward, and not knowing there is danger
in his wake. I release the arrow and it flies swift and straight piercing the
Redcap right through his armor and into his heart. If I wanted to surprise the
sorcerer I think I just messed up. The heavy thump of the Redcap falling dead
to the ground shakes the earth below making my appearance known.

Once he turns into ash I peer around
cautiously before walking towards the cabin. Aki makes his way beside me when I
approach the door, and I see that it has been torn off its hinges and lying on
the floor across the room. I take light steps while searching through the house
knowing very well that this is going to be a trap. All that matters is that
Kalen is here and I have to save him. Aki perks up at the same time I hear
Kalen screaming my name.

“Meliantha! NO! It’s a trap! Get out of
here, now!”

My adrenaline spikes at the sound of
Kalen’s voice. This is the true Kalen screaming at me. He has to be crazy if he
thinks I’m going to leave him here. I hear the dark sorcerer’s evil laugh and
the anger it spurs inside me fuels my venom. I load my bow with an arrow while
following the sound of his evil laugh.

 I kick open the door and I’m
momentarily shocked at what I see. Kalen is sitting there strapped and chained
to a chair, and my heart rate instantly spikes when Kalen’s ice blue eyes find
mine. The dark sorcerer is nowhere in sight, but I know he is here because I
heard his laugh. I lower my bow and I rush over to Kalen.

“Kalen,” I whisper as I stare into the
depths of his eyes, drinking him all in. These are the eyes of the man I love,
and not the evil ones of the dark sorcerer looking back at me.

“You need to get out of here, Meliantha.
He’s here and he’s not going to stop. The cuff is still on my arm which means
he can take me over at any time,” he pleads.

It feels so good to see him again, but I
know I have to hurry. I frantically search his body looking at the chains
holding him to the chair. They’re bound tight, but I think I’ve found a way to
undo them at the base of the chair. I move to the front of him quickly and I
run my hands over his hair and face for my own assurance. I lean down to give
him a quick, chaste kiss.

“I’m not leaving here without you. I
didn’t go through hell just to fail now.”

He looks at me concerned and asks, “What
happened to you?”

“I’ll have to tell you later, but right
now I’m going to get these chains off,” I answer with haste. His feet are
finally free from the chains so I continue to move up his legs, unwinding as I
go. The hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand up and the sense of dread
settles in the pit of my stomach. I don’t think we are alone anymore. I move
quicker and now Kalen is free above the waist. Just a few more unwinds and then
I will have access to the cuff around his arm to take it off. Only another few
seconds and he will be free…

I freeze in place, chain in hand, at the
sound of laughter. It’s not coming from behind me, but... in front of me. I
look up slowly and the dark sorcerer is looking back at me through Kalen’s
eyes. That evil bastard.
I was so close to having Kalen in my arms, and
now it’s all over.

I grab my bow and jump to my feet. He
laughs the whole time as he makes his way out of the rest of the chains. He
drops them to the floor and looks at me with a smug smile on his face. I scowl
at him and narrow my eyes. He hasn’t bested me yet, and I plan on making it
known.

“I wouldn’t be smiling like that if I
were you. If I am not mistaken, I have made it through all your little games
unscathed. You haven’t won yet, sorcerer,” I snap.

“Oh no?” he taunts raising his eyebrows.
“I think I have won a lot, Princess. You may have gotten through the Tyvar and
the Redcaps, but there is still
one
thing I know will haunt you for the
rest of your life.” I stiffen because I know exactly what he’s going to say. He
bites his lip while looking at my body up and down. “That’s right Princess.
Knowing that I fucked you long and hard all those times will be embedded in
your mind every single day.” He looks at me with a gleam in his eyes and
smirks, “But that isn’t the only way I know I’ve won…”

The sense of danger spikes my adrenaline
and I quickly raise my bow when I see him reaching behind his back. “Easy there
Princess,” he mocks with a devilish grin on his face. He pulls out two black
gloves and begins sliding them on his hands. Why is he putting on gloves? My
body trembles in fear because I can only think of one reason why he would need
gloves being in a fae body.

“You know you’re not going to shoot me,
Meliantha. If you do you’ll kill your one true precious love, but then again,
it would save me the trouble of doing it myself. Or better yet, you could
always join me. I could stay in the prince’s body and it would be like nothing
ever happened.”

“I would rather rot in hell, and
besides, I’ve seen what you do with your women,” I hiss.

He shrugs his shoulders, “Breena deserved
it, and I would say she fits in perfectly with the Tyvar. I’ll admit that I’m
surprised you left her there. With the way you like being a martyr I figured
you would do anything you could to save her.” I keep my attention focused on
him and I still have my bow at the ready. I feel the warnings in my gut
screaming at me that something is about to happen.

I shake my head, “I’ll do anything to
save the people I love. She was going to die anyway either by my hand or
someone else’s.”

He nods his head and narrows his eyes at
me. “You’re a lot stronger than I thought. I’m going to give you a choice,
Princess. Either come with me now and your prince lives, or you can deny me and
he dies. Which choice do you want?”

“I told you before. I would rather rot
in hell!” I roar with venom in my voice.

“Then I guess you’ve made your choice,”
he decides.

The dark sorcerer pulls out the iron
dagger from behind his back. With the gloves on Kalen’s body they’ll be
protected from the iron, but if he cuts him with it, it’ll spread in his blood
and kill him in a matter of minutes. I’m frozen in place as the realization of
what’s about to happen hits me like a ton of bricks. Deep in my soul I think
I’ve always known he would never leave Kalen’s body, but I just wanted to
believe that I could save him. The dark sorcerer lifts the dagger high facing
it downwards. All he has to do is thrust it down and it will go right into
Kalen’s heart. I begin to panic and the tears begin to fall as desperation
consumes my body. I struggle to breathe as the thought of losing Kalen
overtakes my mind. A life without him will be no life at all. I can’t lose him
now, not when he’s right here in front of me. My power is strong, but I don’t
know if it’s strong enough to save him from the iron poisoning if he were to be
stabbed.

“Would you like to give Kalen a kiss
goodbye?” He asks with a sadistic grin. “I know I would love to taste you
again.”

 Knowing he’s been intimate with me
disgusts me to the core. The memories will stay with me forever and yes he was
right when he said they’ll haunt me. I just always thought Kalen would be there
to help me through it. I ignore his last question and close my eyes, taking in
a deep breath. I have no choice with what I’m about to do because if I don’t,
Kalen will die. I can’t leave him at the mercy of the dark sorcerer anymore. I
believe in myself and in my power… I can do this. I
will
save you,
Kalen, and this I promise you,
I vow to myself wishing with all my heart
that he could hear.

I grip my bow tightly and take aim for
Kalen’s chest. The dark sorcerer looks at me incredulous and laughs. “How does
it feel to know you failed, Meliantha? I’m going to enjoy watching you scream
when I take your prince away from you.”

Even though I’m torn inside, I give him
an evil grin and shake my head, “That’s where you’re wrong. Your game made me
stronger instead of breaking me. I didn’t fail…you did! I hope you rot in the
Black Forest!”

The dark sorcerer’s eyes go wide and
then everything begins to move in slow motion. He takes the dagger and begins
to plunge it down into Kalen’s chest, but my swiftness with the bow beats him
to it. Before the arrow hits, he looks into my eyes one last time. The roar he
lets out is full of venom and malice when he’s thrust out of Kalen’s body with
a vigorous force. The real Kalen screams in pain when he is returned to his
body. He looks down at the arrow protruding out of his chest in anguish. I drop
my bow and run over to him. I catch him in my arms before he falls to the
ground, and I hastily remove the cuff around his arm. I throw it across the
room before lying him down gently on the floor. He looks at the arrow and then
back up to me with pain in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Kalen,” I sob, tears
streaming down my face. “I’m going to make you better. It was the only way to
get him out of your body. He was going to kill you if I didn’t do it myself.” I
pull the arrow out and he screams in pain. My hands are shaking uncontrollably
as I place them over his chest. I concentrate with all my heart and soul on healing
his wound. My arrows do not contain iron, but they still have the components of
mine and Ashur’s blood making it a lethal weapon. The warmth of my magic builds
inside my body until it is ready to burst forth. It flows from my fingers into
Kalen’s chest and I can see the light of my magic being absorbed into his body.

He reaches his hand up and places it on
my cheek. His voice sounds raspy and weak when he whispers, “Thank you for
saving me, Meliantha. Just know that I will always love you.” His skin color is
turning white and his eyes are beginning to cloud over. No! This can’t be
happening. I’m sending my power, but it looks like he’s getting worse.

“Damn it, Kalen! You stay with me, you
understand? I am
not
going to let you die! Stay with me…” I plead,
screaming. I close my eyes to concentrate and I use every ounce of energy I
have to search into the deepest depths of my magic. My true power is there and
I can see it glowing bright and ready for the taking in my mind. I have finally
found what I need to save Kalen. I grasp that power with all my heart because
all that matters to me is healing Kalen no matter the consequences. He has to
live.