Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (45 page)

I
knew him,
knew
him.
My
memory fought to make sense of it. He was a stranger, yet somehow
the closest person to my heart. A foreboding sight, and the most
welcoming thing I had ever craved.

“
Gale,”
he called down to me, sinking through the air without fear of
falling. “I never imagined I would—”

The
explosion of blue fire flew close to my skull, missing me by a few
feet, skidding past Nethiun by only a fragment. He vanished,
flickering back in closer to the castle.

Spinning
around, my hair whipping my skin, I saw Valenforth had his palm
raised. “Ethlyn,” he growled, “go after him before
he messes everything up!”

“
Wait!”
I cried, my emotions flaring.
This
doesn't feel right!
“Don't
attack him, he's—”

“
He's
on
her
side, Gale,” Valenforth said. I hadn't seen him so worked up,
but now, his eyes were wide and fierce. Reaching out, he snatched my
arm. “Ethlyn, go already.”

The
long haired twaelin said nothing, he simply jumped past us both.
Flying into the air, he dove after Nethiun with calm precision.

Gasping,
I yanked to get away, but the grip Valenforth had on me was iron.
“Let me go, I need to go stop them!”
They're
fighting, again, this is... is this déjà vu?

“
No,
you need to come with me. Nothing can be solved until the Queen is
dead.”

“
I
want—”

“
You
want to get killed,” he snapped, pulling me forward down the
path. “You can't do anything here, Gale. Think about what
you're saying.”

Gritting
my teeth, I looked off into the sky, watching the eerie black and
azure bursts as the pair battled. “This
has
happened before, hasn't it?”

He
didn't answer me. When we hit the edge of the ground, I stared down
at the abyss below.

Easily,
he pulled me into his arms, a position I didn't desire. Being
cradled by someone like the Corpse King made my blood twinge.

Quickly,
he flew us upwards; aiming for the front of the knotted, twisted
castle. “Valenforth,” I said, trying to look behind us.
“I know Nethiun, I
know
him. Why is that, of all things, gone from my brain?”

We
landed gently on the front step of the granite pathway, stone roots
coiling all around us. “Nethiun serves the Queen. It's no
doubt part of why you don't recall the murder. When she's dead,
you'll remember everything. I promise.”

Why
do I have all this intense, emotional lust for him? For who
Valenforth claims is my enemy?

He
set me down, the two of us standing before the hole that bore deep
into the fat orb in the sky. “She's in there,” he said
quietly. “Are you ready?”

Shaking
my head, hearing the sound of the fighting above us, I didn't fib.
“No. Not at all.”

Together,
reluctantly or not, we entered.

Nethiun

When
I sensed her energy, saw her face, heard her voice... everything
inside of me illuminated. In that moment, rejuvenated by the
confirmation of her existence, I knew I could take on anything.

Nothing
could possibly stop me from being with Gale Everette. Not Ethlyn,
not the Corpse King himself.

Nothing.

Dodging
easily around another blast of blistering indigo, I let my smile
shine. “You're off tonight, Ethlyn.”

“
Shut
up,” he mumbled, chasing me across the stretch of endless sky.
Dodging around some floating bits of debris, I flickered out, then
behind his sluggish form.

My
kick was solid, sending him into the biggest of the rocks. His growl
of pain sounded exhausted. Turning, he leaned on the landmass,
eyeing me with disdain.

“
If
I had to guess,” I said, floating closer. “You're not
sure what you're fighting for anymore.”

“
Quiet.”
He threw a haphazard ball of energy at me, I didn't even need to
dodge. “Just stop talking, I don't care.”

“
Then
why fight me at all?”

He
looked away, the corners of his mouth dragging down severely. “The
same reason you were alright with killing the girl you love. I have
no choice but to obey my Master.” His voice dripped with
disgust.

Baffled
by his comment, I paused in the air. “How do you know about my
instructions?”

“
Valenforth
told me, he learned about it from Gale's memories. When he revived
me, he told me he removed the parts about... about what I did to
her. He explained, too, how you were going to murder her under the
order of your Mistress,” he spat.

Bristling,
I moved quickly to grab him, to shove him against the rock so hard
he cried out. Bits of gravel floated off, dangling in the air,
defying the rules of physics. “He told you that,” I
whispered, “but not the bit where I promised Gale I
wouldn't
do as my Mistress commanded me?”

Ethlyn
was riveted on me, wincing with the pain of being crushed against
the sharp stone. “You were going to defy your Queen? You'd
have ended up destroyed, doing that.”

“
Maybe,”
I admitted. “But it was a risk I was going to take. Don't
claim to have no choice in this world, Ethlyn. Especially when you
tried to tell me
you
didn't
choose
to murder Gale, either.”

That
got to him, I felt his body vibrating. His hand flew forward, hot
energy right beside my cornea, ready to burst.

Ducking
low, I released him in order to avoid the blast. It was close, but I
was quicker.

“
Shut
up!” He screamed, slamming his fist into the rock, making the
island shatter entirely. “It was an accident, I couldn't—I
couldn't stop myself! I was out of my mind, driven by
something
I didn't understand! She
pulled
me to her!
”

“
I
don't care,” I said, moving sideways around him. “You're
missing the point. If you claim to not want her harmed, you're on
the wrong side now.”

“
Valenforth
will kill your Mistress, the person who sentenced Gale to death in
the first place.” He studied me, hands at his sides in tight
balls. “Then she'll be free of this awful tragedy, with the
rest of us gone.”

“
You
trust Valenforth, the monster who's manipulated you into thinking
I
would
kill her, who's tricked
Gale
into thinking my Mistress was the one who ended her life and not
you... you trust
him
,”
I said bluntly, “to not harm her in the end?”

His
eyes twitched, lucidity sinking in. “Here's a question for
you, Nethiun. Do you care if your Mistress dies?”

Lowering
my hands, my voice soon followed. “I only care that Gale
lives.”

Floating
there in the tempest sky, that wicked place, we sized each other up
in silence. It was the first real glimpse of understanding between
the two of us.

For
him, the realization I was so in love with the girl that I would
not, ever, hurt her.

And
for me, grasping that what had transpired between them was something
born out of a dark place burning with insanity and
misunderstandings.

Truly,
we both wanted the same thing.

We
wanted to save Gale.

That
was the moment we felt the world shake, heard the scream of despair
that shook us to our cores.

Gale
Everette

She
was a creature both lovely and terrible. I'd never stood before such
grace or beauty, it took my tongue and made it mush.

The
Queen of Dreams reclined in her throne, red eyes watching us like we
were a curious brand of insect.

If
I'd ever been brave before, it was a feeling that was now very far
away. Standing there, feeling the power that emanated from her
radiant body, I was sure she would speak and we would simply die.

She
shifted, unfolding her bare legs. Her voice was all smoke, hot and
wispy. The throne room, the first place I'd smelled anything in that
odd reality, seemed fitting with its clouds of cinnamon and
charcoal.

“
Valenforth,
good to see you.” She smiled at the Corpse King beside me,
then rolled her crimson orbs onto me. “And you, Gale Everette.
I know you well.”

Licking
my dry lips, I fought to speak. “You... you know me?”

“
Oh
yes,” she breathed out gently. “You've haunted my
dreams, my grisly dreams, for a long time. You and your dread,
always sinking into my marrow.”

Staring,
I gave my head a weak waggle. “That can't be right, I wouldn't
haunt
anyone, or their dreams! I don't understand.”

Like
standing was an effort, she gripped the arms of her throne, rose
onto her bare feet. Around her, the silken strands she wore drifted
like seedlings in a breeze. “I portended you would bring death
to me, Gale Everette. I am the Queen of Dreams, the only twaelin who
sleeps. The one who swims in the world of fate. I've predicted many
things in my life, but never have I seen my own death.”

The
shiver shook me down to my knees, the muscles in my body going
slack. This energy around her, it reminded me of the time Valenforth
had given me a hint of what he could do.

My
belly ached, I placed a hand over it protectively. “I never
wanted to kill you, or anyone,” I pleaded. “Never!”