Page 60 of Dark Fae's Secrets
Hundreds of followers… you won’t see it coming.
Can I trust food that someone else made? I feel paranoid and ridiculous, but Jerrick wouldn’t be dramatic about stuff like that. It’s not his style. He is blunt and doesn’t believe in beating about the bush.
Ignoring the plate, I Puffport outside to the Palace Orchard.
I shiver as the snow has stopped but settled quite firmly over the lands. It’s not good. My feet crunch on the snow as I head towards a random tree and pick a random low-hanging fruit. I bite into it as there could be no possible way anyone could have poisoned it, knowing that I was coming here.
Finishing it, I walk over to another tree and reach up high, using the magick that Savenir gave me to make an apple zing to my hand from the highest branch I could see.
I smile and bite into it. I realize as I eat that as ‘Mother Nature’, I should be able to grow an apple tree from this core.
Crouching down, I dig the snow away from the soil with my hand. I make a hole and press the core into it. Then, I hold my hand over it and think about it growing into a huge, flourishing apple tree.
Within seconds, I can see the shoots poking through the ground, and then it’s bursting up, making me scoot back. I hold up my hand next to it as it keeps growing, bigger and bigger, and then it flourishes with leaves and flowers and fruit as it grows bigger than any other tree in the orchard.
I laugh in delight and amazement. There is also a shred of relief. If I have destroyed the crops on our land with my snowstorm, I can simply grow more.
Feeling light and in spite of Jerrick’s idiocy and the fact that he could be locked up awaiting trial right now, I hastenback to the Palace table to help the small smile on my face at my accomplishment. I Puffport back inside to the room that Rath talked about. I have no idea what happened in here, but whatever it was made Gramps angry enough to destroy it. It’s perfect for us, though. We need somewhere that no one will bother us. This is heavy, dark magick and not something that the entire Kingdom should know about. They will all want a boost, and Rath will become a target.
“Hey,” I say as Theo, Trey, and Rath look up at my arrival. Trey is glowering at Rook, who is sitting slumped against the wall, while Theo and Rath are on their knees working on the ritual.
“Hey,” Trey says and takes me in his arms to give me a kiss. He is really touchy-feely at the moment. Ever since he came up with the notion that I’m pregnant – which I’m sure I’m not – he has been tetchy but needing to be close to me. Not that I’m complaining. I adore having his arms wrapped around me. “What the fuck is up with the raven?” He glares at Rook.
Staring over at Rook as well, a sadness that overwhelms me. “He is struggling right now. Ever since I brought him back, he hasn’t been the same. It’s altered something deep inside him.” I turn Trey’s face towards me. “You told me that you had a darkness that crept over you, but you fought it. Please help him. He needs someone, and he won’t talk to me.”
His face softens instantly. “Of course,” he murmurs. “Also, we need to come up with a better plan than me feeding the Vampire. Not that I mind, and all that, but fuck. I can’t walk around with a permanent hard-on.”
His smirk makes me laugh, and I press my hand to the bulge in his pants. “Hmm, semi at best,” I tease.
He gives me a look of mock outrage. “I’ll give you a semi!” he retorts, but then we go serious.
I sigh. “I’ll think of something. But please be there if he needs to feed, okay?”
He nods and then pulls back from me to stalk over to Rook. He crouches down in front of him and starts talking.
I turn from them, giving them some privacy and look over at the budding lovebirds. I watch them as they seem as at ease with each other than I have ever seen either one of them. I guess, even though he says not, Theo is missing his sire and having Rath fill that role is satisfying to him. As for Rath, he was imprisoned for so long that having someone other than me to connect to is making him happy. He is patient and kind in his instructions to Theo. It’s a side I’ve rarely seen on him. It’s then that I fall headlong in love with him. I can’t stop it, and I don’t want to. I think he feels it, too, as he looks up and smiles at me before he lowers his eyes back to the concoction in his hands and murmurs something to Theo.
“Fuck you!” I hear Rook snarl and Trey’s muttered, “Listen up, asshole.”
I spin around and stalk over to them. “Raize, please. Let him help you,” I implore him.
“Have you Shifted yet?” he snaps, glaring up at me.
I shake my head hesitantly. “Not yet.”
His face crumples, and his shoulders slump even more. He reaches out to Trey and grips his shirt. “Help her. Please. Help her to Shift. I need to see it.”
He falls to the floor, his eyes closed, and I cry out, dropping to my knees and stroking his face. “Raize!”
His eyes flutter open, full of sadness. “Shift for me. I need to see that you are like me now. It’s important, please.”
I nod. “Raize, please, don’t give up.”
He is dying. I can feel his pulse is faint, and his breathing is labored. He died, and I brought him back, but I wasn’t supposed to. Now, it’s destroying him.
“Trey, talk her through it…”
I look up at Trey helplessly. I don’t know what to do. Time is running out for Jerrick, but I can’t not do what Riaze wants. I’m torn, and it’s hurting me.
