Chapter 36
Rowan
stare at Logan, my mind spinning as I try to process what I’ve just
witnessed. The man I thought I knew, the one who had teased and
taunted and even pleasured me, stands before me now, his hands stained
with blood, his eyes glowing an inhuman gold. And peeking out from the
thick mop of raven black hair are the signature pointed ears of an immortal
fae.
“Rowan,” he says softly, taking a step toward me. “Please, let me
explain.”
But I can’t focus on his words. All I can see is the wolf. The fae.
I twist to Kai—as much as Kyrian’s grip on me allows—desperate to
find him with a weapon in hand. With shock and outrage and a plan. But
he’s not looking at me. His attention is fixed on Ellie, his hand clamped
firmly over her mouth as he holds her close to his chest. There’s a
gentleness to his touch, even as he restrains her, that makes my stomach
twist.
“What’s going on?” I demand, my voice shaking. “What are you?”
Logan looks down at his hands, as if seeing the blood for the first time.
He wipes them on his pants, leaving dark streaks against the fabric. “We’re
not going to hurt you, Rowan. I swear it.”
“You’re fae,” I whisper, the truth finally too real to be denied as the
many small moments click into place. The way the triad has always seemed
too perfect, too strong, too fast. The preternatural beauty and power and
experience that never truly matched a handful of twenty three year old
cadets. The auric steel arrowhead, one that was never dipped in any poison
but my own, stealing everything from Kai.
The way they had played with my heart and my body. The good parts
that had seemed too good to be real. Because they weren’t. It’s always been
a game to them.
Kai finally looks at me, his icy blue eyes unreadable. “Yes,” he says
simply. “We are.”
He exchanges glances with Logan. Then, as if rehearsed, they let the
rest of their glamours fall away.
Kai’s blond hair gains a brush of shimmering silver, as if little flecks of
starlight now play between the strands, his ears tapering to delicate points.
Beside him, Logan’s golden eyes become even more pronounced, and he
brushes the tip of his tongue over the sharp points of his elongated canines.
I can’t see Kyrian, but I feel a tiny tickling brush of magic pass over him
and know that he too has changed. Subtly. Going from strangely, brutally
beautiful to immortal. Perfect.
I realize I’m not breathing and force air into my seizing lungs. The
numbness of surprise is giving way to fear and fury.
“I apologize for the deception,” Kai says, his voice melodic but hard.
Shadows flow from him, twisting around his body. And even the apology is
tempered. Like he isn’t truly sorry at all. “But we had no choice.”
Of course they didn’t. Not if they wanted to make their way into the
heart of Eryndor defenses. Into our training grounds. To gain access to
everything that gives humans an edge in this war.
Immortal fae against all too mortal humans. It was never a fair fight.
Both our ancestors knew it, knew that no matter what noble intentions any
one leader might have, the power balance between our species would
always prove too much temptation for the immortal predators. That’s why
the wards had been set up to keep fae magic out of the human realm, why
the deadly Mystwood forest was grown and populated with creatures even
the fae could not survive.
But the wards did not last. They’d been corroding for hundreds of years
and failing outright in the recent decades.
So the universe had shifted to adjust. Enchanters have become more
common amidst my people, especially in Eryndor, which is on the edge of
Flurry, the most aggressive of the fae courts. Humans able to wield magic.
And occasionally, rarely, so rarely that it would take penetrating into the
very heart of a Spire Command and remaining there for years just to have a
chance of encountering one, an alchemist would emerge.
A human capable of making auric alloy. The one element that levels the
playing field with the fae.
“I was your target all along,” I whisper, the horrifying realization
crashing over me like a bucket of icy water. Every interaction, every
moment of banter and flirtation and seduction, all of it orchestrated and
calculated to get close to me. To gain my trust. So that when Kai told me to
follow him into a forest, away from the Eryndor army, I’d idiotically follow.
I feel violated. Used. Utterly betrayed. Hot tears prick at the corners of
my eyes but I blink them back furiously, refusing to show even a moment of
weakness before these monsters wearing the faces of the men I’d come to
trust. To care for, despite every attempt to keep my walls firmly in place.
I struggle against Kyrian’s hold, but he only tightens his grip, pressing
me back against his chest. “Please, chaos,” he murmurs. “We’re not going to
hurt you.”
No, they probably won’t. Not yet. Their enemy is all of Eryndor, not
just me, and they’ll want to milk that advantage to the fullest. Somehow.
Just denying our army one alchemist would be a win for the fae, but they
probably could gain an even greater edge with me alive and forced to dance
to their tune.
Logan takes a step closer, his movements fluid and graceful.
Desperation claws at my throat. I have to get away. I have to warn
someone.
“Let me go,” I demand.
Kyrian does no such thing.
“Let me -!” I start to shout but Kyrian’s hand clamps over my mouth to
stifle the words. I thrash in his arms but it’s like fighting against a statue. He
doesn’t even flinch. Summoning every ounce of strength I have, I kick back
against Kyrian’s shin.
He grunts in surprise, his hold loosening for just a fraction of a second.
But it’s enough.
I wrench my head free of his hand and scream with all my might.
“HELP! SOMEBODY HEL-”
Kyrian’s hand clamps back over my mouth, muffling my cries. I thrash
and bite, but this time nothing works. Kai is saying something, his tone
urgent, but I can’t make out the words over the pounding of my own heart.
And then, through the chaos, I hear a familiar voice. Collin.
How in all the hells had I forgotten about Collin?
“Rowan!” he shouts, staggering to his feet a few paces away. His face is
a mask of blood and terror, but there’s a determination in his one good eye
that gives me hope. And he has his crossbow back in his hands. Thank
fucking gods. He is a narcissistic power hungry asshole, but he is loyal to
Eryndor and he has had enough wit about him to stay down and stay quiet
and listen despite his pain.
With a burst of adrenaline, I manage to tear my face free one more time.
“Collin!” I gasp out. “Get the commandant! Tell her the truth! Tell her
they’re fa-”
Kyrian’s grip shifts, a final harsh adjustment against my rebellion. One
hand clamps firmly over my mouth while the other pins my arms to my
sides. He lifts me off my feet, my legs kicking futilely in the air.
Collin is already moving, his auric steel crossbow the only protection
against the fae. But he is putting Eryndor first now, bellowing the truth at
the top of his lungs. Even if the triad kills him now—and I know he’d get
an arrow into one of them in the process if they tried—the message will be
delivered.
I struggle with every ounce of strength I possess, just as Ellie is doing
now, but we are like mice fighting mountains. My back flush to Kyrian’s
front, his arms a vice around my torso. I feel his heart beating steadily and
strong, a sharp contrast to my own erratic pulse. His breath is hot against
my ear as he leans in close and whispers, “I’m sorry, chaos. But we can’t let
you go.”
There’s a note of genuine regret in his voice, but it’s overshadowed by
grim determination. I realize with sinking dread that no amount of fighting
will free me now. Kyrian’s hold is absolute, inescapable.
“Fae agents taking the alchemist,” Collin keeps shouting with each hard
won breath as he hauls himself back toward the main camp.. Determined to
deliver the message even if the effort will kill him. “The triad are fae. The
fae have Rowan.”
A signal horn blows three sharp notes. An emergency acknowledgement
of dire intel. The commandant has heard Collin’s warning. My mother
knows the truth now. The triad’s game is up. Whatever happens, everyone
now knows.
Kai curses. “We move, now.”
The order is sharp and confident. A warrior used to command. How had
I not seen it before? The experience, the sheer power that’s coiled inside of
him that’s too great for any mortal to carry?
Logan and Kyrian respond immediately. No longer concerned with my
silence, Kyrian throws me over his shoulder—just as Kai is now doing with
Ellie—while Logan shifts with a flash of light into a dark large wolf. Just
like the one in my nightmares.
The wolf howls once into the night and then takes off running, leading
the way through a forest so dense and dark that it would kill any human
trying to follow at speed. Ellie and I don’t even slow the males down as
they navigate the treacherous terrain with ease, leaping over fallen logs and
jagged rocks, ducking under low-hanging branches that would have taken
my head off. Their steps are sure and swift, propelled by the power in their
immortal muscles. And I know in my gut, there is no way for any of my
mother’s soldiers to follow them.
Kyrian’s shoulder digs into my stomach with every bounding step, the
discomfort nothing compared to the sinking despair that fills my heart. I’ve
stopped struggling, knowing it’s futile, and instead focus on memorizing the
route we’re taking. But it’s impossible.
Beside us, Kai matches Kyrian’s pace effortlessly, Ellie bouncing on his
shoulder. Her face is twisted in fear and anger, tears streaming down her
cheeks, but like me, she has stopped fighting. There is no point. Not against
these fae warriors who outmatch us in every way.
Hours pass. I don’t know how many. The males seem impervious to
time or fatigue. So when they slow, I know it’s not for any reason I’d like.
And I’m right. As Kyrian swings me off his shoulder, my body aching
from the relentless jostling, all I can do is stare at the fae encampment
sprawling across a dawn kissed field.
And in the distance, silhouetted against the fading moon, are
unmistakable shapes of draken soaring through the sky
