Night Fae by Meg Xuemei X.
Chapter 24
Pain cleaved into my mates like a blazing blade, and ancient, brutal power bombarded them in an unforgiving storm. Multiple voices boomed in their heads, coaxing and compelling them to murder me, offering them a way out—hunt and slay me, and their excruciating pain would go away.
My mates fought to rise to their feet even as the power kept bearing down on them, intent on crushing them. Baron and I had separated. I’d put my pants back on, and he’d zipped up his fly.
“Fuck off. I’d rather die than harm my mate.” Baron let out his lion’s roar and fought the urge to shift into his beast form. His lion might lose control, and the Summer King wouldn’t risk it.
I stood by my mates while they mentally fought against the force of the Wild Hunt, my hands on their shoulders to lend them my strength. Hundreds of ideas rushed through my mind, yet I couldn’t find a solution to help my mates.
My team and my brother filed out of the cave and gathered around us anxiously.
“Is the trial over yet, Commander?” Nox asked.
“The hunt should have ended by now,” I said, my jaw tightening as a feeling of foreboding lanced through my middle.
“We challenged the hunt,” Rydstrom said through clenched teeth, then he raised his head and roared into the sky, “Princess Ileana, the rightful queen of the Dawn Court, took on impossible fights and won in the arena of the Wild Hunt. Release her and her companions!”
“As King of the Summer Court, I call to end the hunt and declare Princess Ileana, the rightful queen of the Dawn Court, the victor!” Baron bellowed. “Let her go free. Violate your own rules and you’ll pay dearly!”
Tense silence stretched in the air until a dark purple wind rose from underground, eerier than any elemental force.
My mates stood firm on either side of me, and we presented a united front, but my companions staggered back a few steps at the force of the wind.
Joy had returned, guarding my brother diligently.
As the chilling, violent wind dropped, five figures—three Furies, my evil sister, and the Winter King—materialized before us.
“The hunt is over, Furies,” Rydstrom said. “Let my mate and her friends go. Now.”
Fury #1 arched a brow that wasn’t really there. “But you haven’t brought us the final prize.”
“We’ll never hunt our mate,” declared the Summer King. “You tried to compel us and failed. I’ve formed the mating bond with Princess Ileana. A bond between true mates is stronger than any force in any realm. So, be my guest and bring the argument to any judge or any power in any part of the universe and check the results.”
“You would destroy the Wild Hunt tradition for one woman?”Fury #1 hissed. “You used to be a great sport, Summer King. Change your ways before it’s too late, before the worst happens. You can always find other women; there’d never be any shortage for you.”
“The Wild Hunt can die with you for all I care,” Baron said. “My mate isn’t just any woman, Furies, so mind your tone when you refer to Queen Ileana. Pay her respect or you’ll be sorry. Let her out of the hunt. We’re done.”
“You may not realize it, King Baron, but the Wild Hunt exists to balance the forces and powers of the galaxies,” Fury #2 chimed in, as if he held the very meaning of the universe.
“The galaxies can burn to ashes,” Rydstrom snarled. “No one touches my mate. Admit it, Furies, your plan backfired. Deal with your shame on your own time. We’re out of here.”
Fury #3 clicked its tongue. “There, there, Queen Brigantia. You called for the Wild Hunt. You struck a deal with us. And Princess Ileana answered the summons. All seemed well, but you threw a complication into the mix by having her fated mates hunt her down. The trio found a loophole—they completed the mating ritual to counter the blood demand of the Wild Hunt. Instead of hunting her, they mated with her. They used sex to replace violence, and sex is a greater force, as it creates life. You failed to detect the mating bond that already existed between the King of Nightmares and Princess Ileana before she agreed to be hunted in the Wild Hunt. Both of these self-centered and selfish Fae kings overcame their bloodlust and rejected our persuasion to keep hunting their shared female, shielded by their mating bond, which had no precedent. Regretfully, the hunt must end.”
No one had ever survived the Wild Hunt, but my mates and I had beaten our immortal foes and the unshakable, eons-old system.
Brigantia shrieked in rage. She could no longer steal my power. Nor could the Furies harvest my magic.
I grinned, drinking in my enemies’ bitterness, and flipped the bird toward my despicable sister. “Next time, we hunt you, usurper bitch.”
She lunged for me, and I raised a handgun, aiming at her head.
“Come at me, viper,” I goaded her, Netherbane in my other hand.
I wanted to feed all the bullets into her deformed face and cut her open from navel to head, but I wouldn’t make the first move. I didn’t trust these Fury fuckers. If I initiated the violence just when the Furies announced the end of the Wild Hunt, I might trigger another hunt. But as soon as the bitch touched me, I would be allowed to pull the trigger, and then I’d bury my blade in her black heart.
My mates seemed to be thinking along the same lines. They shifted positions to shield me, their swords ready to impale Brigantia.
Brigantia halted and stepped back, and the Furies nodded.
“After our arbitrating,” Fury #3 said, “anyone who draws the first blood would be trapped in the Wild Hunt.”
“However,” Fury #2 offered in an eerily singsong voice, “Queen Brigantia, you still have one option left, if you haven’t realized it. You brought the kings in as your champions to participate in the hunt, but they didn’t fulfill their obligation. The Wild Hunt can no longer hold them responsible, but you can. The kings cheated you out of the commitment the four Fae courts shared. It’s come to my attention that the kings aren’t aware of every clause in the ancient pact their ancestors swore regarding joining and forming a bond in the Wild Hunt when it is demanded. The pact still binds all the monarchs in Elfame. They found a loophole to end the game. We can’t punish them. But, Queen Brigantia, you may curse them for refusing to hunt your designated prey.”
I glared at the Furies, and they flashed me identical, creepy smiles.
A spark of malicious understanding formed in Brigantia’s inky eyes, and she came alive like a shark smelling fresh blood.
“Night King and Summer King, I’m giving you one last chance,” Brigantia pronounced. “As my champions, I command you to put down Ileana like a rabid dog, or I’ll enforce my right of vengeance and curse you for eternity for defying the faerie law of the Wild Hunt.”
“To hell with you all, gremlins!” Baron roared. “I’ll never hurt my mate! May Hell burn your rotten bones for eternity.”
Vicious lines formed around Brigantia’s thin lips, and hatred blackened her eyes. Her demonic heritage flickered into sight for a second before she controlled her transformation.
“I’ll wait for the day I can feed you piece by piece to my worst nightmare creature,” Rydstrom said mercilessly.
“Then I curse you!!” Brigantia screeched, throwing up her hands and starting to chant the curse.
I raised my handgun and fired at her. I’d take down the bitch even if I had to go down with her. I no longer cared that I’d kick off the hunt again. I wouldn’t let that viper curse my mates.
But an invisible barrier arose in front of my evil sister, and my bullets vanished before hitting her shield. I lunged at her, thrusting Netherbane out in front of me, but a force threw me back. My mates charged her at the same time, but a violent purple wind descended on them and confined them. To my horror, I watched the oily black curse take form and wrap around my kings like a cocoon before sinking into them.
That was a most unforgiving violation.
I roared in red rage, and icy fear for my mates penetrated my soul.
The Summer King and Night King stared at me with blank expressions, no recognition of me in their eyes. In a heartbeat, they turned into the hard, ruthless, and heartless kings they’d been before they met me. Their callous gazes passed through me as if I no longer existed, as if they no longer knew who I was and what I meant to them. Even our mating bond couldn’t rouse them out of the haze of the curse.
While my bonds to the Summer King and the Night King sank like stones to the bottom of an icy lake, another bond that I’d tried to sever pulsed like a tiny spark trying to rise from the ashes. That bond came from the Winter King.
Rowan stood beside the usurper, a flicker of icy fire lurking in his cold blue eyes. His perfect, marble-like face remained cold, distant, and unreadable. While my true mates didn’t recognize me, the Winter King had no issue with that.
His gaze met mine, and our mating bond suddenly flared hot, searing me. I staggered back, stunned, not understanding what had happened. But for a flicker of a heartbeat, I saw intense longing, remorse, rage, and desire burning through the Winter King’s eyes, and then he was an impassive glacier again.
I roughly shoved away the unwanted surge of connection between us. The Winter King didn’t matter.
The only ones who mattered were my Summer and Night mates.
The hollowness in my true mates’ eyes shattered my heart. Nothing was crueler than surviving the Wild Hunt only to lose my beloveds.
“Baron, Rydstrom, know me! See your mate, please!” I screamed their names and cried and pleaded, ramming into the invisible barrier that separated us, ignoring the agony impaling me.
Rydstrom responded first, then Baron. They woke up from the spell, roaring my name in rage and angst. The kings hadn’t forgotten me. They’d come around, knowing I was their mate.
They jabbed their swords into the invisible barrier, but it held them like an unbreakable cage. The curse was already in them, binding them to its dark power.
We met at the edge of the force field, only to be thrown back and separated again.
Brigantia cackled like a crow. “Enjoy it while you can still see the faces of your unlawful lovers, little sister. Soon the curse will eat away every memory they have of you. Have you heard of the phrase ‘you won the battle but lost the war’? Soon, I won’t need to take you down because the Night King and the Summer King will beg to do just that. They might have refused to hunt you in the Wild Hunt, but when they can’t remember who you are, they’ll hunt you to the corners of the universe. Poetic, isn’t it? Do you still think you can have them?” She snorted. “They’re mine. They’ll always be mine. You can no longer steal them from me. After they snuff out your pathetic life, they’ll have their reward and become my consorts. I’ll then unite all four courts and rule the mortal realm as well, as the prophesied queen. Run, Ileana. Run now. But then where can you run to? When my king consorts rip you apart, I’ll be there, relishing every moment of fun.” She huffed out a sadistic breath. “You thought the hunt was over, didn’t you, little sister? But the real hunt has just begun.”
“Believe your own shit all you want, you old hag,” Baron spat. “You stole my mate’s throne and murdered her mother. You’ll never be the prophesied Fae queen. That is my mate’s birthright. And a worthless crone like you will never have me or my brother.”
He’d just called the Night King his brother. The century-old blood feud between them was resolved.
“You’ll change your mind, your heart, and your attitude toward me, my dear Summer King,” the usurper sneered. “And I guarantee you that when the time comes, you’ll crawl at my feet and beg to warm my bed.”
A vein throbbed on Baron’s temple as the Summer King raged, revulsion churning in his fiery golden eyes.
“Don’t rise to her bait, brother,” Rydstrom said. “She’s nothing. Let’s give the rest of our time to our true mate. We still have until midnight before the curse takes over our minds. Meanwhile, we’ll find a way to lift the curse and purge that piece of foulness from the Earth.”
Baron nodded and turned to the Furies. “Open the path. We won’t stay here one more second.”
“I’m afraid you two can’t go with Princess Ileana, since Queen Brigantia has bound you to herself with a geis,” Fury #2 said, smirking with glee and spite.
Wrath rained down on me, but revenge could wait a few more minutes.
“Let my companions and my brother go,” I said icily. “I survived the Wild Hunt, as did they. They’re going home. Now.”
The Furies hesitated.
“Kill all of the mortals,” Brigantia shouted.
My companions paled, anger and fear rolling off them.
“You rigged the game, Furies,” I continued. “As the Keepers of the Wild Hunt, you’re no longer deemed worthy or qualified for such a role. You’re a disgrace to the Wild Hunt, and thus I’m calling the ancient force—”
“There’s no need for harsh words.” Fury #3 cut me off. “Your companions are irrelevant in the hunt. They’re free to leave the arena.”
The Fury waved a hand, and in an instant, my team and my brother vanished through a spinning tunnel. Nox screamed for me. As his shouting faded, I knew that he and my team had returned to the mortal realm. They were safe now.
It was finally time to wreak havoc and raze this fucking place to the ground.
Lucifer had offered me words of power in the ancient angelic tongue before I’d been taken. The archangel spell might counter the Wild Hunt if I challenged the Furies for abusing their power.
After all, there was more than one dominant force in the broad universe.
Lucifer was called the Father of Lies and Deception among other things. He might also be a great manipulator, but he was my biological father, and he wanted me to survive.
I leveled Netherbane and sliced its sharp blade across my palm, then let the blood of my powerful and formidable bloodline drip onto the soil beneath my feet.
By chanting the ancient archangel spell, I acknowledged the other half of my heritage. I was claiming my birthright as the heir to the most powerful archangel, even though he was a fallen one. I didn’t know what this would bring, and I couldn’t care less now.
All I wanted was to take down my enemies, and I was confident that whatever unholy power rushed through me and blasted out of me, it would not harm my true mates. But my kings would figure out what I was. Angst filled me. I’d have lost them either way, but I would at least try my best to free them from that evil bitch and her curse.
“Fem Tor Mayan Shawn Flave Von!” I spat the words of power.
The Furies’ shaded faces paled at the phrase, and their formless eyes burned with horror and hatred.
“What are you doing, Princess Ileana?” all three Furies screamed at once. “We don’t welcome that power in the Wild Hunt!”
“Fem Tor Mayan Shawn Flave Von!” I shouted, my chanting getting louder as I felt a dark, otherworldly force sweeping into me like a hurricane.
Forbidden hellfire and formidable heavenly fire burst in my veins, setting my blood ablaze.
“No!” Brigantia cried, her voice laced with desperation. “Father would never give you this gift, you thief! You aren’t his heir! I am!”
“Hear my plea!” I roared, throwing up my hands toward Heaven as blood kept flowing from my palm and seeping into the soil. “Take my offering of archangel blood. The Furies rigged the trials and abused the power of the Wild Hunt by making a pact with the usurper queen of the Dawn Court. I now demand the justice that is owed tome. I demand the integrity of the ancient, sacred, and barbaric Wild Hunt. I call for the true force of the universe to strip the Furies of their rank, power, and life essence, and I demand that the usurper queen of the Dawn Court be struck down for having compromised the Wild Hunt.”
I felt the rushing of the force as the final word fell from my lips. It was so dark, ancient, and terrible that no one ever should have called it. It was better to face death than this force, but I didn’t regret summoning or challenging it. I stood my ground and knew that my father’s spell would shield my mates and me.
A bonfire of light and lightning rolled across the sky before plunging in our direction. Before I could cry out a warning to my mates, the force struck.
But we weren’t the target. The lightning twisted around all three Furies.
“You dishonored the Wild Hunt,” a voice announced. It sounded like thunder under deep water. “You brought the outsiders’ scorn and judgment.”
The Furies screamed as the lightning constricted into an endless black hole and devoured them.
Brigantia staggered back, fear in her eyes.
“Clean your own house, Lucifer’s daughter,” the thundering voice said. “We took care of our problem, but we won’t do your dirty work.”
The black hole vanished, and the ancient force behind the Wild Hunt departed with it.
My mates’ eyes snapped toward me, filled with fire. I stumbled back as if I were being whipped.
Brigantia sneered in glee. “Now you know what she is, my kings.”
Agony, worse than being crucified by burning iron nails, infused my every inch. What was happening?
My mates rammed into the force field that still trapped them, again and again in their desperation to reach me, despite knowing what I was now—the one they should hunt and slay. They roared my name, but their voices were drowned out by my own scream of excruciating pain and horror and disbelief and regret.
My Turning had come. It had been triggered when I channeled Lucifer’s power.
Raw force thrummed through my body, hot and cold and hellish.
It was darker than Hell yet as divine as Heaven. The fallen archangel’s power, more ancient than Earth or the stars, burst in my veins. It tore through my Fae body, scorching every fiber, as I wasn’t exactly like my father who came from Heaven.
The power of a burning star was too much for me.
I screamed and screamed, my arms reaching out toward my mates. I needed them now more than ever, but they couldn’t come to me, even if they were still willing, even if they didn’t want to slay me.
The force sent me spinning into the air. A time vortex formed around me, recognizable to me through the genetic memory of my fallen angel bloodline.
“No, no!” I wailed. “Don’t take me away from my mates. I need them! I must return to them!” I’d expected this power to destroy the Wild Hunt and my evil sister and set my mates free, but it’d turned only on me.
Baron and Rydstrom miraculously broke out of the force field and lunged toward me, desperate to pull me back to them. Horror, grief, longing, passion, and rage burned on their handsome faces.
But I was beyond their reach now, as they were beyond mine.
When and where I went, for the first time, they couldn’t follow.
Fury beat in my veins. Fire ignited my blood, and no ice in the galaxy could cool this flame forged from both the brightest and the darkest place.
If I thought I knew what formidable power and horrific agony were, I was wrong.
I was TURNING.
I was set ablaze by the Heaven and Hell fires, both at once.
Agony warped my mind until my mates’ roars pierced the torment that occupied my every thought and charged my every cell.
“Ileana, we’ll come for you! To the end of the universe, we’ll find you!”
Ileana Evie and her mates’ story concludes in
DARK FAE KINGS BOOK 4: BLOOD FAE
Coming March 2021
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