Guardians of Fire (A Dark Faerie Tale #8) Read online

  Kilara’s smile remained on her face, but it appeared stuck, like she wasn’t going to let it fall. It was a mask. “I’m not waiting for your approval. I need to speak to Shade and her alone, not some mortal who has nothing to do with what’s going on. Take me to her, or I’ll find someone else who’ll be much more willing than you to do my bidding.”

  I crossed my arms. “Go right ahead and try. Like it or not, you get in on my say-so. If I decide you can’t be trusted, you won’t get anywhere near the caverns, and Shade won’t wait for you forever.”

  She briefly glanced at Isolde, but to the girl’s credit, she gave her an unyielding glare in response.

  “I’m actually a bit underwhelmed,” I continued, deciding to see if she could be at all rattled. “You have nothing on my sister, and I barely recognize that you both are made of the same stuff. Well, maybe. I’m not quite sure, now that I’ve seen you up close. Shade is much more agreeable, wittier, more intelligent….” I smiled, trying to convey the impression that Kilara didn’t scare the begeezus out of me. She did. Any of the Ancients were no joke to go against. I wasn’t willing to face off with any of them. The only reason I was feeling so bold was because whether she liked it or not, Kilara needed me… for the moment.

  Isolde threw me a warning stare, trying to get me to shut up. She was my equal in every way. Maybe that’s why we were so attracted to each other. We were so alike, but it could also work against us too. We’d bumped heads often.

  “Maybe your girlfriend here would be more willing to help me, then. Or someone like Iana.” She snickered, knowing that the name of the recently discovered witch, Soap’s mother, would probably set me off. She obviously didn’t care about Iana one bit. Maybe she’d never even met her. It was all fine and dandy because she was majorly wrong. Her knowledge of Iana wouldn’t be enough to shake me. In fact, I’d calmed down a lot after the war while hunting scads of banished Unseelie who’d infested the human realm. I’d taken out my aggression out on them. With everything else happening, especially after my sister Anna had been taken to the Unseelie Castle to wed an Unseelie king, I had pretty much given up on fighting lost battles. This war was still waging, but not in the way people thought.

  The war inside me had calmed to a serenity no one could disturb. Not anymore. There were so many things that were out of my control, and I found that getting angry and losing my top would get me nowhere.

  “I see what you’re trying to do, Kilara,” I answered, cool as a cucumber. “Not going to work with me, just to let you know. Neither I, Shade, Iana, nor even Isolde here are ever going to fall for your treachery again. You tried to kill us in The Withering Palace. You tried to harm us multiple times to gain power over us. But you failed. You failed over Rowan too. Oh, by the way, do you even care to know what has become of your sister Rowan? Do you even wonder what she’s up to nowadays?”

  Kilara peered at me as curiosity flashed across her face before a faint fear ignited within it. What was it with this woman and the other Ancients? Note to self: I’d have to involve Corb—and possibly Rowan—in my future dealings with Kilara. Returning to fetch Rowan at Stone Rock Island would be the least of my favorite tasks, but we might need her help defeating her sister if it came down to it. She and Corb might be our only recourse against this psychopath who obviously had cruel intentions.

  “You’ve seen Rowan?” It was less a question and more an astute observation. I nodded, throwing her a wicked smile, hoping it would throw her off some and make her think I had something up my sleeve. “How is that strange little pixie? Never one to be much help, even when required. Still, she could always see right through me. There’s not much that gets past Rowan, even though she seems quite childlike. But actually doing anything… that’s always been her problem. Try not to involve her in things much too serious for her to deal with. She has nothing to do with Shade and me.”

  “Oh, but you chose to include her in your treachery against all of the land of Faerie though, right? Tried to steal her magic, thinking your dunce of a sister wasn’t quite right in the head. She’s more there than you are.”

  “She’s never been quite right. I’ve had to help Rowan out of so many messes; you’d never understand our bond.” She laughed out with a malice that made my skin turn frigid. “Even so, something’s wrong with Faerie, and I intend to find out what it is. Rowan will be needed eventually, but not now. Now, I have favors to ask of your sister, and she will comply. Take me to her, mortal, before I lose my scant patience.” She turned away, dismissing Isolde and me without so much as a nod. The next move was ours.

  Kilara waited quietly, her eyes roaming over the land, along the forest’s edge, across the grasses to the sky. This silent, whimsical state of hers was odd and awkward for me, and I glanced at Isolde for guidance. She threw me another sharp glare, shrugging and motioning for us to leave. Maybe she was right. Something had happened to Kilara, and only Shade was equipped to deal with it. Not us. That woman was all kinds crazy, and when she stared off in the distance, a twinkle of madness fluctuated in her pupils that couldn’t be denied. I didn’t want to provoke it any further.

  “All right,” I said. “Shade’s waiting for us. For you. Let’s get out of here.”

  I hoped Shade knew what she was doing with this crazy Ancient. If not, we’d need all the worldly help we could get—even otherworldly, for that matter. Good thing we had a few big guns on our side back in the Teleen Caverns. Even Isolde’s newfound Nephilim powers might come in handy sooner than I could imagine.

  Chapter Three

  Soap

  “I’ve waited an eternity, and I don’t plan on waiting one minute longer. I must speak to Shade. Now.”

  Dylan eyed me back, straining as he kept his lips tight, his glare narrowed at me. I knew he would have choice words for me after this, but I didn’t care. There were things I needed to tell Shade before Kilara showed up and sucked up everyone’s time with her nonsense. If I waited, I wouldn’t be able to get an audience with Shade again for who knew how long. My patience was gone, and staring back at her husband as I challenged him to turn me down made me feel more confident as the seconds ticked by.

  Would Dylan relent?

  He and I had a lot to quarrel about, especially when it came to Shade. I wanted her, and he was married to her already. But he knew I’d loved her first. He must have known that she and I had left much unfinished, and if I really wanted to be a dick, I could always point out that Shade had partially married him to stop the courting of the Teleen men endlessly pursuing her. It’d been the catalyst for her asking him to marry her.

  If only she’d asked me first. I’d have married her in a heartbeat. Instead, I now had Dylan to contend with.

  Dammit.

  “Why do you have to be here?” Dylan’s voice cracked and I whipped my gaze back toward him. His gunmetal eyes were gleaming with a hint of anger. He ground his teeth as he waited for me to answer. Was he holding something back? Was that hurt and pain seeping out?

  My doubt crept in. “I—I… what do you mean?” I was suddenly caught off guard.

  “I have a good thing with Shade, yet here you are. Always there. A wedge in everything. If it weren’t for you—”

  “Dylan? Who’s at the door?”

  And just like that, Dylan blinked before squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling a long, centering breath. He straightened and blew it out slowly before turning toward his wife.

  “Shade, Rylan’s here. He said he needs to speak to you.” He turned back toward me, eyes full of fire as he pushed past me. “I was just leaving.” He ran his fingers through his long dark hair, shoved the door open wider, and disappeared into the hall without looking back. Shade, who was heading our way from the bedroom of their apartment, caught a glimpse of him as he rushed off. I stared after him, baffled at his sudden fury and harsh words. But I knew why he was mad. He knew what I was about to do, and it was crushing him.

  There was one inevitable thing about all this. The talk we s
hould’ve had after the battle with Iana, my mother, was long overdue. In fact, it was now most definitely too late to even try.

  “Hey, Soap.” Shade smiled and reached out to pull me into a tight hug. She smelled of honeysuckle and forest. The longer she stayed in Faerie and didn’t return to the human realm, the more faery she became, which included the wild, foresty smell that came along with us. I didn’t mind, though her human scent still lingered beneath the surface. It only made her that much more enticing.

  “Hi, Shade.”

  My insides quivered with her near. Her presence was a delicious confusion that flooded me with sensations I couldn’t bear to live without. If there was an inkling of a chance that she felt the same way, I had to take it, even at the risk of Dylan despising me beyond hatred for all eternity. It was now or never, and I was going to take the chance thrown at my feet.

  I fingered the platinum ring in my palm. It dug into my skin, reminding me of the promises the gleaming, faceted metal represented. In Faerie, especially in the Teleen clan, it wasn’t uncommon for a woman or man to marry multiple partners. Though it wasn’t ideal, Teleen had adapted to the idea of sharing a wife, for there were not too many females with an affinity to fire.

  “Shade… I came here because I can no longer keep this to myself. I know we’ve had our differences and you’re already married, but please, hear me out.” I slipped my hand into hers and slid to one knee, holding out the ring before she could decide to bolt away.

  Shade paled but kept her eyes on me. She didn’t pull away or panic, almost as if she’d been expecting it. Curious, I continued, hoping she’d hear me out.

  “I love you. I have from the moment I met you. We never got to explore our full potential before your marriage to Dylan, and I get why things didn’t pan out between us before, but I’m of Faerie, and the fey love forever. I cannot be without you. You are breath to my lungs, blood in my veins. I will not deny these feelings any longer. I want to marry you and be your second husband. I cannot be apart from you any longer. There is no one else in my heart and never will be. You must understand that by now.”

  I held the ring up, and its brilliance sprayed tiny cuts of light across my fingers and over her blue dress. The color made her dark hair shine even more obsidian. Though it was a dark brown in color, the light of the caverns made it appear almost black. Her eyes also shone as I watched her dark irises gleam with a dab of unshed tears. I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her close to my stampeding heart and keep those tears at bay.

  The thought of her saying “no” had occurred to me. What then? If she turned me down, it would be devastating and I would have to get away if I were to ever breathe again.

  “Rylan, I—I love you too. I always have. But I cannot do this to Dylan. It’ll shatter his heart.”

  “But you know the Teleen are raised to understand marriage is not a one man-one woman union. We cannot risk such exclusivity in our race. It’s all right to marry more than one man here, Shade. It’s encouraged. Let me be your husband as well. I beg you. I cannot live without you any longer. It’s unbearable.”

  Shade’s dusty rose lips quivered, but her fingers felt warm, hot even. I could see the struggle and indecision swirling beneath her features, and I wanted to reach up and take her face into my hands, comforting her before she swayed in the wrong direction or collapsed into my arms from the strain. Her breath was shallow, and she struggled to gain composure.

  Here was the young teenaged woman I’d first met on the journey to the Santiran Fountains, more unsure about herself than anything else. But she no longer had spirit guides whispering encouraging thoughts into her ears. They had long since vanished as her magic had grown. She did, however, have her grandmother coaxing her on with memories and words of reassurance only an experienced monarch could give. What was she saying to Shade? I prayed it would sway her in my direction.

  “Dylan. I have to ask him first. I can’t marry another without his consent, can I?”

  “You can marry whoever you like, with or without the consent of your current husband. It would be better if he did consent, but it’s not required. That is the Teleen way.” I kept my tone neutral, for I didn’t want to sound desperate, even though I was more than that inside. Each day without her touch, her body next to mine, was a torturous battle. She had to know this. I could see the same restraint in her eyes when she looked at me.

  Or had I imagined it?

  Shade peered at the ring, studying it before she took it from my fingers to scrutinize it further. It would go well with Dylan’s ring; I’d chosen it with that purpose in mind. If she donned it, it would fuse the three of us together as one—a triumvirate of power and love.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “What’s going on here?” Dylan’s voice echoed from the doorway, and we both turned at the same moment. His searing eyes were more pained than anything else, and I swallowed the growing lump in my throat.

  I straightened. “Dylan. I’ve asked Shade to marry me as well.” I wondered if Dylan would fight me when it came to his wife. He very well could, even though in Teleen culture it was discouraged to fight over a woman. The woman had the choice to marry multiple partners if she wished, and the men had to keep the peace or suffer the punishments dealt by the ruling monarch of the Teleen. Dylan appeared to be considering this as his face reddened and his eyes darkened.

  “You dare ask my wife for her hand without consulting me first? Your treachery goes deeper than I ever imagined. How could you?”

  Shade shook her head. She knew she didn’t need his permission, but it was breaking her heart to see him hurting. My own insides felt like a knotted ball of mush as I grasped for the words to explain to him my reasons why.

  “Dylan, I mentioned it before. I told you how I feel about Shade.”

  Dylan dropped his eyes to the ground. A single tear slid down his cheek, but he refused to break down. I could tell he was avoiding looking at me, but in that moment, I wanted him to fight, yell, scream, punch me. Anything to make my own guilt vanish. Maybe the tear was for me. I didn’t know. Or maybe it was our fragile friendship that made this so hard. I wanted to be friends with him. I’d looked up to him my whole life, and to see him reject me so hurt worse than any punch he could have thrown my way.

  A moment later, I was on the floor, with Dylan sending another fist toward my face. I managed to block him and get a leg under his torso to push him off. He landed against the edge of a table and shoved it away, sending it toppling onto its side.

  “Stop! Dylan, please!” Shade’s scream was forgotten. Dylan was seeing red, and I was ready for another round.

  “Dylan, I’m sorry. I had to ask her to be my wife. I can’t live without her. You know I love her.”

  “You’ve never loved anyone but yourself.” Dylan reached out, grabbed hold of my tunic, and slamming my back against the wall. My shoulder bumped the side of the mirror, sending it crashing down to the floor, where it shattered into a thousand tiny shards which glittered under the torchlight.

  Shade gasped as her eyes scanned the shards and she backed away.

  “No….”

  Dylan turned toward her, my tunic still in his grasp, as he noticed Shade’s distress. She’d backed away toward the opposite wall and had slid down until she sat on the cool stone floor, wrapping her arms around her knees.

  “I told them to remove the mirror. I forgot and didn’t notice it last night,” she whimpered, closing her eyes as her memories of mirrors and fighting brought her distress.

  Dylan snapped his eyes back at me then down to the slivers of broken glass. His own memories shot through him, and he let go of my clothes.

  “Dylan, I’m sorry,” I said. “Please. Please consider it. She loves us both.”

  He shook his head and stepped back, his fingers clenching and loosening as his eyes faded into a faraway thought. “You’re right. It’s not my decision. Not mine at all.” He muttered as he kept stepping backward before glancing at Shade. �
��I’m sorry about the mirror. It was my oversight.” He abruptly sped out the door so quickly that by the time I got to the doorway to try and stop him, he was long gone.

  “Dylan!” I called out for him, but there was no answer. Turning back toward Shade, I saw rubbing her temples, her eyes still closed.

  “Leave him,” she whispered. “He’ll come back.”

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  “He will. I love him just as much as he loves me. He will come to understand and accept this one day. Just not today. Please call the servants to clean up the shards. I can’t sleep here tonight.” I helped her up, and she edged herself toward the door, holding on to the wall and refusing to look at the mess inside the room.

  At the door, she held up the ring and gave me a tiny but sad smile. “Rylan, I accept your proposal of marriage.”

  My breath seized before I managed to let it out of my lungs, relieving the strain against my heart. “You accept?” I could hardly believe it.

  She nodded. “I do. My rational mind says that it will only create more problems, but there’s something inside… something telling me that this has to be done, no matter how difficult it will be for Dylan… and for us. Don’t ask me to explain, because I hardly understand it myself. All I do know is that bad things tend to happen when I ignore these instincts. I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but we can find out together.”

  “I’m okay with that,” I said. “We will plan a ceremony after we return to the Scren Palace.” I grinned. I couldn’t have been more elated.

  “Yes, of course.” She smiled back at me despite the sadness still lingering in her eyes.

  I brushed it off. Dylan would come around. How could he not?

  “I love you so much, Shade. You will never regret this.”