Curse his line forever.
And so, begins the tale of the Black Blood Fae—cruel princes and their mortal mates.
If by another’s hand the chosen dies, then before their blood fully weeps and dries, black will fade to gray, gray to white, and white to never. Never was the darkest taint and never will it ever be. Or take the chosen for a bride, and the poison ceases deep inside.
So it was written. And so it will be.
CHAPTER ONE
Gade
“Gadriel, I see you there at the water’s edge. You cannot hide from me,” calls a girl’s voice, reedy and soft as the breeze.
I can hide, and I will.
Scooping my sword from the ground, I duck behind a tree trunk and tie my belt to my waist. When I look up, she’s in front of me—Aer, in the forest with all her impossible golden beauty.
“Hello, Gade,” she says, smiling and blushing like the maid I am well aware she is not. Far from it, in fact, for she is as old as the land, more lovely than the sky, as tempting as the lake, and more terrifying than the wildest of flames.
“Kiss me,” she breathes, pressing her soft palm against my wet chest.
To balance my powers, I’ve just bathed in the Lake of Spirits—the source that feeds our kingdom, replenishing and rejuvenating our heirs as it will until the end of time. And now the six-pointed star glows brightly on the back of my right hand, fully charged, and Aer’s hungry gaze falls to it and fixes hotly.
“I knew you’d come soon,” she says, the thin straps on her creamy gown slipping below her shoulders. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
An amused smile twists my lips. “Of course not. It has been a month since I last visited. I was weakening.”
She steps closer, crushing pine needles underfoot, the smell heady and invigorating. “How old are you now, Gade?”
Why she must ask when she already knows the answer is beyond me.
“Seventeen.”
Her brows rise. “A man now, and so big and strong. This time, I think you will finally kiss me.”
“I won’t. You’re a mage not a fae girl. It would be like a forest stag trying to win the heart of a princess in the highest tower, the dark sea longing to hold the bright moon in its bottomless embrace. Ridiculous. Impossible.”
The pine trees groan and creak, limbs and twigs snapping as her gold eyes darken with fury. She steps back, fingers curling into fists. “I have long been patient with you, princeling. I have courted, and I have waited, longing and desire my only sustenance these past years. And you repay my dedication, my steadfast love with insults?”
A sour taste fills my mouth as I recall her past attentions, the lavish presents she gifted each celebration of my birth, the conversations, the poems. All the moments I felt her regard, sticky and cloying like I was an insect flailing in a vat of honey. She is a mage. I am a prince. I thought nothing of her lingering touches, her heated stares. Now I am confounded. Baffled. “I cannot comprehend your meaning.”
“Oh, Gadriel, I tire of this game!”
“What game? If you play one, I do not know it.”
Her brittle smile breaks, twisting into a snarl. “Are you really so naive, handsome Prince of Five?”
I am not. It is only with Aer that I pretend to be.
Knuckles whitening, she says, “I am ready to be yours. I will wait no longer for this to be done. But I cannot force you, Gade. You yourself must choose me. It is time.”
My frown grows. “Choose you for what?”
“To be your bride, of course.” Her smile is back, this time slippery and shiny. “No one will ever love you as I do. I will be your forever queen.”
With those words, the first tendrils of real fear snake through my gut.
She is deadly serious, and a deadly Aer is a problem.
I draw a quick breath, then smile back at her. “You are an Elemental mage. It cannot be. What about your sisters? Think of Ether, Terra, Undine, Salamander.”
“What of them?”
“It would put everything out of balance—the whole kingdom. You cannot rule over them. It is impossible.”
Yellow eyes hardening, she strikes, her lips, sickly sweet, coax mine to open.
The air mage has lost her mind.
Taking her shoulders, I push her away, not bothering to be gentle. “I do not want you, Aer.”
“I insist that you do.” Her gown disappears, and she stands before me naked, her body luminous, glorious, and a bizarre contrast to the angry, fierce contortion of her features. Eyes squinting. Brow lined. Teeth bared.
It is such a peculiar and shocking sight that laughter explodes from between my lips unbidden.
Gold eyes turn black as she covers her chest, the gown enfolding her curves once again. “You dare laugh at me? You cretinous child! You ungrateful fae fool. You will pay dearly for your imbecilic ridicule of one who holds your fate in her hands.”
Heart pounding, I shake my head and step backward. “No. You misunderstand…”
A screech—the sound of a thousand wailing harpies tears the air as I fall to my knees, clutching my chest.
Pain. Pain. Pain is all I feel. Agony is all I am.
“Aer…” Words barely form. “What have… you done?”
White fire burns in her eyes, the wind whipping her hair high as though it’s reaching for the treetops. Purple clouds loom above, and then they burst. Lightning strikes. The forest floor shakes.
“I curse you Gadriel Raven Fionbharr and all the heirs of the Throne of Five. In your blood will bloom the blackest poison, bringing the slowest death. You will burn and you will writhe while you pray for love to find you. Your kind and pure heart will turn to coal second by second, moment by moment. You will hate and you will love, but find your true mate you must—or die. And die you will… eventually.”
I struggle to my feet and face her, every muscle trembling, hand crushing my sword pommel. “You must truly loathe me to curse me in this way.”
“No, fair prince, tis the opposite. I will love you to the depths of the underworld and back. This is the price you pay for not returning the sentiment.”
“Punish me if you will, but not the innocent souls who come after me. What will my children’s children have done? It is unjust.”
“All is fair in love and hate. But I am not without mercy. You are the luckiest, for you will keep your power of five. Future princes of your land will rule one element only, yet you will retain them all. Am I not merciful? And you still live, Gadriel. But to continue to do so, you must find the love you reject so vehemently before the poison has run its course. It will not be easy. For she may not even be fae. And she may view you as a monster, as you view me.”
“What do you mean? Other than fae, what else could she be?”
“Perhaps a troll. Perhaps a human.”
“A mortal? No, wait, Aer. Please do not—”
The sky clears as she turns away, robes billowing, dissolving in the soft breeze until only her thin voice remains.
“Farewell, Black Blood Prince. Your suffering will one day cease, but that of your kingdom’s will be endless. This is the curse of the Black Blood poison. And this is your curse to bear.”
Like a volley of arrows, darkness shoots into my veins, my eyes, before finally seeping into my head. Then there is no Lake. No forest. No pure and kind-hearted Prince of Five.