If not this, then it would have been the fact I’m falling for a demi-god who can’t date mortals like me. Or an alpha hellhound shifter who no doubt has a mate out there somewhere that he will leave me for when he goes to rule hell. All shifters have mates. I’m not even going to think about my demon overlord and how his demon might kill me if I were to mate with the hellhound, and then there is Sebastian.
The prince who stood and watched as I was captured.
The prince who didn’t step in when I needed him the most.
“Been better,” I finally answer. And even that is a sort of lie. I want to tell her I’m falling apart inside and there is nothing she can do to help me.
I want to tell her I’m so fucking sorry she is dragged into this mess with me.
But I bet she knows all this from one look at me. Poppy knows me, much like I know her.
“You haven’t spoken much since you woke up mostly because you’ve been in and out of it but also because you won’t talk. I don’t blame you, but we need to make a plan now. I need some hope. Or something. Anything. What exactly happened?” she softly asks me. “Where are we?”
“What do you remember?” I question, wanting to understand her side of the story. I almost feel bad for being a zombie in this cell for a while. I should have snapped out of it sooner.
She folds her arms and looks up at the cracks of light shining in through the stone ceiling. “Nothing important. I woke up hearing smashing in the living area and Mossy shouting.” She pauses as I feel like daggers cut into my chest. Mossy? “And some sort of magic hit me before I could get to the door, and knocked me out cold.”
Seelie magic no doubt.
If anyone, including this damn Seelie king has hurt Mossy, I’m going to kill them. Slowly.
“The queen found out what I am, and the Seelie Fae King was there...,” I drift off. “The Seelie king has been visiting my dreams, and in each one, he killed me. The dreams started when I came to the academy, but I suspect he just managed to sense me as I was closer to the Otherworld than ever before. He wants the cursed rune, and apparently I have it. It also means I can’t die, but he will probably figure out a way soon. I just have to kill him first, and I’m going to, Poppy. One way or another, he is dying soon.”
“What is the cursed rune?” she asks me with wide eyes. Laelia is silent, staring at me in confusion as I try to remember the word the Seelie king used to make the runes appear.
“Lāsts.”
The runes burst to life all over my skin like a wave of water touching every part of me. The runes shine purple, lighting up the room, and I stare at the one on my hand as I lift it in the air, turning my hand over once. The rune is beautiful in its design, but not knowing how I ended up with it or why I am suddenly immortal because of it is another matter.
The runes slowly fade away, and I’m left in the silence of a million questions that I don’t have the answers for.
I’ve been running from the magic of this world for so many years only to find out the worst of the magic was within me the entire time.
“The Seelie king said my mother was promised to him and stole the rune. He suggested I am going to be his bride.” I snort out a laugh. “Little does he know I’d be the most stabby bride ever. I would spend our entire marriage figuring out how to kill him, and considering I’m immortal, I wouldn’t even care if he tried to kill me back.”
“Daesyn, this is serious,” Poppy sternly tells me. Like I don’t know that. “The Seelie king is known as a cruel and evil person. He might not be able to kill you, but why do you think he has us here?”
I grit my teeth. “Because he knows I will protect you.” I pause and look at her sister. “But my loyalty doesn’t stretch that far. He got it half wrong.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” Poppy softly replies. A long pause drifts between us. “Why didn’t Sebastian stop his mother?”
I’ve thought about this for a long time down here, the betrayal not far from my mind. Near enough every time I fall asleep, I think of Seb and his actions. I close my eyes for a second. “His sister. Seb told me once he would always protect her, and I got the impression their mother doesn’t care for her much. Or he just hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” Poppy delicately replies.
“I for one could see how someone could hate you,” Laelia interrupts. Whoa, she never turns off her bitch switch.
I don’t even glance at her. “Your sister just wants to be punched, doesn’t she?”
“It is looking like it,” Poppy grimly replies, and Laelia starts crying. I roll my eyes and focus back on the outside of our cell.
“I hope Ryker, Seth or even Finn have found Mossy,” I reply, watching the shadows dance around. “He must be so worried.”
“They will come for you,” Poppy whispers back. “I get the impression there is little that would stop them.”
“Yes, Torfinn will come for me and my sister. He would do that for us,” Laelia whines around a sob. I shake my head and rest back, wishing that she was in another cell. The shadows of the corridor start to burn away into the light, and then I hear footsteps. Heavy boots slam against the ground, three pairs if my hearing is any good. Slowly two men in brown armour with silver helmets covering their faces come into view, and right behind them is none other than the nightmare king. The Seelie king’s black cloak brushes against the stone floor with every step, and he slowly comes to a stop outside of our cell. The guards move to his side in perfect formation, and I take in the king of the fae. His greying blond hair falls to his shoulders, parts tucked behind his ears, and his eyes glow a strange purple colour that seems so pale it could almost be silver. His black clothes are filled out by his muscular form, and everything about him screams control and power.
He is intimidating.
But I’ve been intimidated by ugly ass demons, terrifying monster creatures, undead souls in hell, and even an alpha werewolf shifter before and survived it.
The Seelie Fae King will not scare me.
He looks down at me with a confident smile, as if he is expecting me to be in tears like Laelia currently is. Part of me sees the likeness to Sebastian, but not by much. The Seelie king is nowhere near as good-looking as his son.
No wonder the king doesn’t like him.
“I can see why they sent this one to the academy with you and not her.” He points at the sisters. “But I do wish we had found their parents for their punishment. They have so far eluded me.”
I see Poppy and Laelia’s instant relief, and oddly, I feel the same way. They are good people, even if they are a little messed up letting Poppy go to the academy and saving the bitchy twin instead.
But for Poppy, it was a good thing. She has changed a lot and for the best, in my opinion. It’s a shame she won’t be doing the rest of the academy test.
Poppy would make a brilliant reaper queen.
“What makes you think you will ever find them?” I ask as I pull myself to my feet, forcing myself not to react to the pain in my stomach. The very knife he stabbed me with is clipped to his belt, alongside two other blue blades. I’m going to steal all of those and stab him right back with them. “In fact, what makes you think you will get anything you want?”