Ember (17 page)

• • •

Allura took me on what seemed like a wild goose chase. We did a little serpentine in the trees. Up, down, right, left, diagonal. Had I not become more familiar with leaping through the trees, I might have stopped to puke.

“Are you trying to lose me?” I called up to her.

“Just keeping thing interesting,” she called over her shoulder.

“Sometimes it scares me how much you are like your brother.”

“There’s no way Kai is as amazing as I am.”

I chuckled.

She slowed and I followed her through an arch in the trees that opened up into an alcove. A sparklingly clear body of water set under an idyllic waterfall flowed before us. Boulders wrapped around the lake mingled with multicolored vines and foliage. The towering trees framed the lake like a landscape masterpiece.

“We have this, and the Harvest Borough is your favorite place to be?”

“It’s pretty gorgeous. I know.” She shrugged out of her vest and shimmied out of her shorts. Luckily, fae underwear looked more like bikinis than underwear, though not as supportive, it was still comfortable. Her flawless swan dive into the lake didn’t give me the confidence to follow suit. I cautiously climbed over the rocks and eased into the water.

“Yeah … I’ll probably be coming here every day.” I waded across to her near the waterfall.

“I come here to relax. It’s quiet. It’s far enough away that no one really comes here that often.” She turned and sighed. “And it’s still in the confines of Kai’s idea of a secure boundary.” Her eyes rolled, but I saw the glint of affection in her eyes when she said his name.

“Man, he really does like to keep a close eye on you.”

“It gets a little obnoxious. But I know why he does it.”

I nodded and dipped my head under the fresh water. When I came back up I confessed, “I spoke with Brokk and Raina yesterday.”

Her face darted to me. “And?”

“And what is there to say?”

“What did you say to them?”

I exhaled and let my body float on the water. If I hadn’t wanted to talk about it, I shouldn’t have brought it up, but it was eating me alive from the inside out. “I forbid them to see one another in private anymore, and I ordered them to bond within their own colony.”

“Brutal,” she breathed.

“I had to be,” I shot up defensively. Wasn’t it Declan and she who told me that I had to do it?

“No, I mean brutal for you,” she quickly amended. “I can see what a romantic you are. That must have been a really difficult conversation to have. I’m sorry.”

My shoulders sagged and I nodded. “Thanks.” I needed a shift in gears. I needed mindless girl chat. “Allura, what do you know about the Royals?”

“Which ones?” She let her dreads soak under the waterfall.

“I don’t remember all of their names. The ones Evan expects me to bond with.”

Allura contemplated my question with a finger to her lips. “Though I don’t know all the ones Evan wants you to bond with, I do know of quite a few attractive Royals waiting to be bonded. At least they should be in line for bonding by now.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Allura,” I chuckled. “I don’t want you to play matchmaker; I just want to know for the future what I’m getting myself into.”

“I would
never
play matchmaker.” She smirked.
What a horrible liar.
“But you’ll be expected to bond soon. You’re at the ripe age, and I would not complain if you needed me to help you. Maybe we should have a line up and we can pick my favorite.” My eyebrows lifted, and I shook my head in amusement. “Or …
your
favorite. Here … how about we compromise? We can pick
our
favorite.”

“Allura!” I playfully splashed water at her.

“It would be so much fun. We could have a tournament! Categories: The Greatest Hunter, The Fastest Leaper, The Strongest Protector. Oh, I’m enjoying the image of these challenges already.”

“Oh my gosh …” I blushed and sunk under the water to cool off.

Watching Allura babble on made me think of Lia. I had to push back the thought of her face; it made me miss her too much.

I resurfaced and Allura continued, “In all seriousness though…Tomas from Callastonia always thought he was the greatest gift from the Fates. He’s gorgeous, but he totally knows it. I’d steer clear.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. It would have been useful to talk to you before the Awakening. He thought it was appropriate to ask me to bond with him after one dance. It wasn’t even just a no, but a no-way-in-the-history-of-all-faeries no.”

She laughed then her mouth twitched to the side as she contemplated further. “There is Marcas of Oraelia. He knows his way around a bow and arrow. Definitely an attractive trait.”

“He’s the one with the really short black hair?”

“Yes. Quite the hunk. The strong, silent type.”

“Kai seemed unsure of him.”

Allura looked at me, clearly amused. “Kai’s unsure of everyone.”

I pursed my lips, agreeing with her. “Where’s Oraelia?” I think I had asked Sakari, but I had forgotten.

“Australia.”

“I can’t believe that through the Oak we can go nearly anywhere in the world. I’ve always wanted to travel the world.”

She smiled. “It is nice to get out every once and awhile.”

“What do you know about Sakari?” I let the name roll off my tongue. It seemed so natural now. He was the one that kept coming back to me. Not one other Royal stood out to me as a legitimate choice.

“I do remember he didn’t really get along with Kai,” Allura commented.

“Does anyone
really
get along with Kai?”

She gave me a knowing look and snickered. “No one aside from Declan.” She paused. “And you.”

“You obviously haven’t spent much time with me and Kai. Or were you not just present for our most recent conversation?”

“Calliope.” Allura was the only one in Faylinn who never tried to address me formally, and I liked her that much more for it. “Kai spent two cycles of the moon away from home for you. It wasn’t because of a lack of important things to do here. Don’t get me wrong … though it scared me to death, I know he made the right choice by sticking his neck out on the line for you, but he didn’t have to. He wasn’t the one ordered to kill you. He didn’t even know you existed until almost a year ago when he followed Declan and demanded to be involved.”

“Demanded?”

“What? You think he was about to let Declan have all the fun in defying Favner?” She chuckled lightly. “That kid was determined to take Favner down. And if it meant protecting a pretty girl in the process … it was like drawing a moth to a flame. He couldn’t help himself.”

“He didn’t say that,” I contended.

She raised her eyebrows. “That you were pretty? He doesn’t have to. It’s written all over his face whenever he looks at you, Calliope. I know my brother. He fails miserably at keeping himself composed around you.”

“Is Kai your older brother or younger?” It wasn’t exactly the thought floating around in my head, but I needed something to say before Allura saw everything written all over
my
face.

“Why? Do I seem so much more mature?” She tossed her wet dreads over her shoulder.

I chuckled. “I really just can’t tell.”

“I’m younger. By less than a year.”

“Big, over protective Kai.” I chuckled to myself. “Does he pull the overbearing brother card with all the boys you have liked?”

She dramatically exhaled. “More times than I can count. Why do you think I’m here with you and not with some hot Sower? He’s scared them all off.”

I didn’t doubt that. I let my body float to the surface and relaxed above the water on my back, watching the clouds pass above the interwoven branches.

I was lost. The idea of someone new was exciting in theory, but I didn’t want someone new. I was beginning to realize my heart knew exactly who it wanted, but my mind was determined to shove him farther and farther back until the possibility of him was nonexistent. Because it was impossible for me to have him.

A rustle in the bushes alerted Allura and me, our faces turned toward the sound. Everything went suddenly quiet. The only sound was the trickle of the waterfall.

“Hello?” Allura prompted for a response. It took a moment, and then slowly two fae I only found vaguely familiar emerged from the foliage.

“Jaryn, Tag,” Allura greeted, but I could sense some unease in her voice. “What are you guys doing here?”

The taller of the two stepped forward with a smile that rubbed me the wrong way. “We just thought we would come take a dip. We hadn’t realized we’d run into you two.”

Allura began wading toward me. “We were actually just leaving, Jaryn,” she said.

“That’s too bad,” he replied, creeping closer to where we would be getting out. The other followed in his footsteps. “We would have enjoyed the company.” His eyes traveled over to me. “Your Highness, I almost didn’t recognize you with your wet hair.” He bowed his head, but it was as if he was mocking me.

I didn’t say anything back. I merely nodded to acknowledge him and held my head a little higher. If I were to speak, my voice might shake. His wandering eyes unnerved me.

“Is there any way we could convince you to stay?” Jaryn asked, removing his leather vest.

Allura made it to my side and discreetly nudged me to get out. “I’m afraid not. Our Queen has some items of business she needs to attend to. I’m sure you understand.” Allura was lying, and that made me even more anxious. She had a reason to feel threatened, and I wasn’t sure why. If I needed to protect myself, I was defenseless. The dagger was in my clothes.

As we attempted to get out they blocked us, towering over the lake side by side. “Not even just one swim?”

Before I could answer, Jaryn grabbed me by the throat and dragged me into the water. “Sorry, Your Majesty, it’s nothing personal,” he said before holding me under. With thrashing limbs I tried to get him off of me, but the water made my movements too slow, powerless. His hold was unrelenting. I was beginning to run out of air. My fingers clawed at his hands, gripping my throat, but it was futile. After everything I had survived, this was how I was going to die.

Chapter Fourteen

M
y name was being called from a distance, but I couldn’t respond. I thought it was a familiar voice, but I couldn’t place it. My name echoed inside my head, churning and clouding my thoughts. Pressure repeatedly pressed against my chest.

“Calliope,” the voice said a little bit louder. I coughed and water burned my throat as it spewed out of my mouth. Someone rubbed my back as I tried to catch my breath. Blinking back the light, I peered up to see Kai hovering over me. “Calliope, oh thank the Fallen Fae.” He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and helped me sit up.

“What happened? Is Allura okay?” I rasped. “Where’s Jaryn and Tag?”

He nodded to the side where two bodies were lying motionless on top of one another, as if thrown like garbage.

I swallowed. “Are they dead?”

He scoffed and grit his teeth. “They should be, but no. It took everything I had not to.”

“Calliope!” Allura rushed toward us, and I felt a weight lift from my chest at the sight of her alive. “I’m so sorry. If I had even the slightest clue I never would have let them near you.” She had a partially healed gash above her left eye. Blood dripped down the side of her face.

“Allura, are you okay?” I cringed just looking at her open wound.

“Tag hit me upside the head with a rock, but other than that I’m fine.”

“Allura, I wasn’t finished. Would you let me finish?” Declan strutted to her side and placed his hand on the cut. He turned his gaze on me, and it was not a happy one. “You and I will talk later.”

“Me? What did I do?” I sat up straighter, but my head rebelled against my sudden movement. I winced and swayed. My hand immediately touched my temple to try and alleviate the throbbing pain.

“Hey, take it easy,” Kai said, bringing me back into his arms to lean back. “No need to get all excited.”

I looked back up to Declan. His face hadn’t changed. He was furious. “You really have to question what you did wrong after I’ve shared my concern with you about not keeping one of us with you at all times?”

“Declan, leave her alone,” Allura implored. “I was the one to convince her to come with me. Blame me. We just wanted to have some fun. I knew the risks, and I took them anyway.”

He grunted, shaking his head. “Let’s talk about this later. I want to get you two back to the castle.”

• • •

After Declan finished healing Allura, Kai left to take her home. I could only imagine how Lorelle was going to react when they got home. Declan stayed behind, and I prepped myself for the scolding that I knew was coming my way.

“What happened to Tag and Jaryn?”

I sat on the window seat while Declan paced the atrium. He hadn’t spoken for a few minutes, and I was biding my time, but he was going to wear a hole in my wood floors if this continued.

He had to unclench his jaw to answer me. He tossed his hand in the air dismissively. “Dugal took care of them. They are being held in a secure chamber below the castle.”

“How did you know to come?”

“As soon as Kai came back and told me where you and Allura were, we came to find you. And obviously not a minute too soon.”

I nodded meekly. “Thank you.”

He set his stance firmly and faced me. “Calliope, why do you think I’ve set up your guard as I have? Especially after the Awakening, you should have known better than to go off alone with Allura. It’s not safe. We have no idea what we are dealing with yet.”

“Kai seemed to think we would be fine. This could have happened at any time.”

“Don’t even get me started on Kai. He knows better. We will have significant words later.”

I stood and walked over to him. “Declan, you can’t blame Kai when I used to get an hour to myself every day. It could have happened on any other day. They just happened to stumble across us today.”