Page 1 of Hidden Kingdoms

PROLOGUE

KAIUS

The magik that flooded my veins crackled with uncertainty as we found ourselves facing a grove of olive trees, their roots so ancient that they twisted over one another, pushing from the ground as though at any moment they would break free of the earth completely. Tangled limbs contoured together until they formed thick ropes of intertwined branches that crawled along every surface.

If it was in a lovers’ embrace or a bitter fight for dominance I couldn’t tell and sat nestled in the centre of them; Nova’s humble abode.

Xol’s rays were unrelenting, beating down on us with a heat so different from home, heating the black fabric of my clothes as sweat beaded on my brow. It was a suffocating thing. A deterrent. This wasn’t somewhere you wanted to stay for long.

The canvas of leaves ahead provided the only offer of shade and with a nod to each other we started forward, apprehension prickling the back of my neck with every step deeper.

Or maybe that was eyes.

Whatever it was, the sun wasn’t the only reason I wasn’t keen on hanging around.

Tentatively, I pressed my magik forward, brushing its touch along the boughs, a gentle call. An attempt to connect with the imposing tangle of nature we were heading towards. A sudden sting raced up my arm ensuring I hastily retracted my power, confusion niggling at me at the rejection.

That was new. And wholly fucking unsettling.

Slashes of faded ribbon were tied around every branch, their frayed edges mixing with the leaves that wove a canopy above our heads keeping off the glare of the sun. The dry floor crunched under our boots, spots of light dotting the ground as they breached the leafy roof. Along with the small dark fruits of olives which peppered the trees, strings of bells hung between the sun-bleached fabric, a wind that somehow never touched our overheated skin knocking against them as we passed through, alerting our presence. The ringing now the sound of our fated destination.

It didn’t really matter about the bells; Nova knew we were here the moment we stepped foot over her boundary.

She was the one who called us here.

Not in the conventional way of ‘let's pick up the phone and see how the guys are’.

No, that was too easy for Nova. She prefers cryptic messages and damning omens that resulted in me having to now triple check every pair of boots I put on in case she’s somehow magiked another dead sparrow inside them. A simple text would have been enough but that just wasn’t her style.

We weren’t exactly friends, though that was no reason to pollute my footwear with avian corpses, other than the sick satisfaction she got from imagining my unknowing foot descending on that poor bird's broken body. She probably watched somehow and then got off on my screams, her cackle bouncing happily through this thicket of trees while she dancednaked under the moon or whatever the fuck sort of rituals it was she did in this place.

Magik felt thick in the air we moved through, its touch grating along my nerves. My lungs burned slightly with every inhale and though that could be the aftereffects of travelling, I was more certain it was the ancient magik that this place was steeped in, attempting to infiltrate my body. The darkness within me stirred at the idea. It liked to add to its well of power, but I was smart enough to know this wasn’t the sort of magik to mess around with.

Deep gouges had been carved into the trunks of the trees, the symbols unfamiliar—runes weren’t my forte—thick sap leaking from each one like a festering wound. I felt Bas roll his shoulders next to me, attempting to throw off the heavy presence of power pressing down on us. The heat and magik combined to a cloying pressure that under different circumstances would have turned us away; today we had no choice but to press forward.

Birds called softly from within the trees, flitting from branch to branch and I wondered if they knew about the owner of this establishment’s proclivity to bird murder.

Did they wonder where their friend was? If they were next?

Boughs creaked in an ominous sigh as we picked our way towards what could be seen of the crumbling stone house. It was probably a good thing that the trees grew so closely, cradling the structure almost lovingly, keeping it from falling to pieces. Though I imagined the magik that permeated this place was helping, too.

I swiped my hand across my damp face, side eyeing my travelling partner who looked all too perfectly put together for my liking. Sure, he ran much hotter than me naturally, which was largely down to his magik, but still, this place was like being in a fucking oven.

The old, warped door swung inwards as we approached, just another example of how this place knew of our presence.

“After you,” I mumbled with feigned respect. He could step first into the unknown. I had his back. He rolled his eyes at me but stepped over the threshold and into the shadowed house. I followed, eyes taking a moment to adjust from the brightness outside and found myself facing the being who had summoned us here.

There was no telling how old Nova was; her face was young and old at the same time. The smoothness of youth and the lines of age shifted between one blink and the other, so fast you could convince yourself it never happened.

Thick black hair hung in a straight curtain down her back, ropes of the midnight strands threaded in beads that rattled slightly every time she moved. Her eyes were large, dark. From here they looked black, no distinction between pupil and iris. I imagined if I was to move closer there would be a subtle difference. Maybe they were a dark navy or a deep brown.

I had no intention of getting closer.

I was content in the knowledge of not knowing. Her lithe, pale frame was draped in a simple dress cut low to show the tops of her breasts, her neck wrapped in strings of coloured beads and what looked suspiciously like tiny bones. Nova’s hands rested flat on the table in front of her, long bony thumbs touching. Her short nails caked in dirt like she had been digging around in the mud. The rest of her was spotless.

This wasn’t the first time I had encountered Nova, but it was the first time I had been here, to her home. Apparently, that was a big deal, an honour.

The room was bare, and I wondered how she could live like this. One chair—that she occupied—sat in the centre of the single room, an empty table in front of her. The trees had claimed the space inside as I had suspected, their branches invading throughany crack they could find. There was no glass left in the few windows and gauzy, white curtains hung across them, blowing in that undetectable wind.

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