Regret fills me. I wish I told him how I felt and explained the love filling my chest. I had been hesitant. Love is not something given freely in this world I was brought up in, but he gave me his. I saw it in his eyes, felt it in his every touch each time he held me, each time he made love to me. He loves me, and I love him.
He’s my mate. We were planning a life together, but now that seems so far away.
After I hear Theo leave, I wait for Mother and Father to retire to their rooms before I sneak out. I know they will have guards on the doors, but I bet they are not expecting me to try to escape again, so I creep downstairs to the back door and look out. I was right, there are no guards here. Do they really think I’m that obedient?
Keeping low, I creep along the side of the house and peek around to see the royal guards outside. Stern and unyielding, they look like they are protecting the future queen, but I know the truth. They are here to make sure I stay inside and become the good little future fae queen.
I begin to move away when I hear them whispering, so I freeze. Pressing my back to the wall, I listen carefully, trying to catch their words on the wind. “Did you hear there is to be another royal ball tonight?”
“I wonder who the queen will kill this time,” one of them replies.
Fuck, I know.
The profanities slip out, even in my head, and I smile as I think of Slate and how much he has changed me. It will be him, she will make an example out of him, and although she can’t kill me, she will surely punish me for my disobedience. I can’t let this happen, I only have today.
I need to find a guard I can bribe so I can get into the cell and free him. I stand there for a moment, and then I remember some of the guards patrolling the slums are easily bribed. The lessers do it, and I did once when they caught me healing those who needed it.
Chin high, I duck away and rush into the shadows of the glittering court. I make my way down to the slums with determination in every step. She will not hurt my mate. He is mine, she doesn’t get to take him from me. I’ve lost enough in this long life, and now I have finally found something worth fighting for.
I reach the lowers without running into any issues, but then I’m unsure how to find a guard. If I walk around searching for one, I might get caught by the wrong one and dragged back to the house, and then the punishment will be worse. I slip between the huts and hesitate near the forest, searching the fields and the dirt for a guard I recognise.
I spot one in the field, but he’s too far away, and his requests are usually sleazy, but just then I see one walking through the huts, laughing and joking with the children. If he was caught, he would get his head cut off, but he’s nice, always has been—he’s the one I need.
I hide behind the hut and wait for him to reach me. A noise has me frowning and peering into the dark forest I once feared more than anything, but now I ache to escape into its shadows with my wolf. The sound comes again, the cracking of branches and the whispers of voices, but they are inside the forest… That’s impossible, isn’t it?
Unless it’s the queen’s guard? I look around quickly, panicking, and spot a barrel near me, so I rush to it and crouch there, my dress in the dirt, not that I care. I peek around it to see, holding my breath. Their voices get louder and then I see them.
Flashes of red catch my eye first as two women crouch at the edge of the forest. One has dark, blood red hair and is wearing all leather, and there is a man in a suit standing behind her, looking at the dirt as if it has offended him. The other red-haired woman is in an almost see-through gown, with bright green eyes and pale skin. She’s held against a long-haired dark, brooding looking man. Two others emerge behind him—a man taller than all the others with darkness in his eyes that makes me shiver in fear, and a small girl with long brown hair.
Who are they? What are they doing here?
They aren’t fae. I can feel magic joining them together similar to how Slate and I are joined. True, powerful magic, the strength of which I’ve never felt before. It swirls around them with purpose. I can’t look away, even as they survey my people. I should warn the guards. What if they are here to attack us? But I don’t feel malice, more like confusion and wonder.
Who are they?
And why…why do they remind me of my wolf?
While they watch the fields, I cover the short distance to the treeline, and on silent feet, I am welcomed back into the forest. The trees protect me, and the ground cushions my steps, making me silent. My power surges, causing my skin to glow in warning as I step behind them.
“Who are you, and why are you in my land?” I demand, chin tilted high, eyes narrowed. I am ready to attack if they are here to hurt my people—the innocents out there working, not those up in court.
They all turn, and the big man snarls, his body appearing to vibrate before the woman stops him. The woman in the leather steps forward and watches me curiously, but it’s the other red-haired woman in the pale dress who stills me. Her green eyes lock onto me as she bursts from the man holding her hand. She seems to dance across the ground and stops inches away, tilting her head back to meet my eyes. Her pale hand reaches out, and for some reason, I don’t stop her as she cups my cheek.
“It’s you,” she murmurs. “I feel your heart breaking, glowing one, you are the one who called me. You are who we are here to find.”
“This is her?” the brown-haired girl queries, moving forward and smiling softly at me.
“Little one,” the tall man snaps, and she rolls her eyes.
“Ignore them, they are protective.”
The other red-haired woman moves closer, stripping off her gloves, and hovers her palm over my arm as she looks at me. “May I?” she inquires.
I glance between them, unsure what she’s asking, but society demands I accept, so I incline my head. She grins and closes her eyes, dropping her hand onto my arm with a loud smack, and we all gasp. All of us girls fall to our knees as my mind is flung between us. Memories are shared, pain flows through us, and love too, connecting us in a circle—an incomplete circle, I feel it.
I jolt backwards and stare at them from a very unladylike position on the ground. “Who are you all?” I ask breathlessly.
“Are you okay, Temptress?” the long-haired man asks, helping up the redhead with the see-through dress, glaring at me like I did it. I hear thunder crash overhead and shiver.
“Love,” the one in the suit growls, as the other red-haired woman gets to her feet.
She has tears in her eyes as she stares at me. “I’m fine,” she murmurs to him, waving him away as our eyes meet. “I’m sorry,” she offers, and I frown. “For everything you’ve been through, for being alone and suffering for so long. I can’t imagine the pain you’re feeling. You’ve lost so much, endured it all…” She moves forward. “We all have.” She shares a look with the others. “You are not alone anymore, I promise you that, Alejandra, goddess born.”
I step back, trying to call my magic, but it swirls through my body as if it senses no threat, which settles me. “Who are you?” I demand again. “How did you d-do that?” I stumble over the question, and she winces.
“A gift from the goddess,” she scoffs. “Not as cool as your gifts, I’m afraid.” She looks at the others. “She can heal, but that’s on the surface, she’s the one we need.”