Page 22 of Stone Heart
Chapter 8
Rhodack stared at Solana from the other side of Rina’s bedroom. Hours before, when Rina had collapsed, he’d flown across the room and kept her from falling to the floor. He’d scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to her suite.
She laid in the bed beneath the covers, still unconscious. He didn’t like how still she was. She’d lost what little color she’d had in her face and was extremely pale. Her blonde hair, spread out on the pillow, surrounded her head, giving her an angelic look.
Solana remained by her side, unmoving as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“How has she lived here on Earth for so long and no one found out?” His voice broke the silence.
He was livid that the Fae King hadn’t informed him he was stashing his only child in Rhodack’s territory. This was something he should’ve known. There were many enemies of the Fae King, and that put the Terra realm in danger. There had even been an agreement in place that no Fae could come to this realm until the war was over.
“I’m a strong witch. My powers were able to contain hers for years. But as she grew older, her powers became stronger. Her headaches were a result of her energy demanding to get out,” Solana whispered. She delicately shifted a lock of hair from Rina’s face.
“Why did you not tell her?”
“It was forbidden.”
“But why?” he demanded. His gargoyle pushed to come forward. His beast was a fierce fighter and wanted to protect Rina. Rhodack took the safety of this realm seriously. If something was coming for Rina, then he wanted to be ready.
Solana turned to him with a small smile on her lips. Sadness clouded her eyes as she glanced back at Rina’s still form.
“I had been living in Faery when she was born. I was employed by the royal family. The queen came to me and asked a favor. One that I could not turn away. Take her child and bring her to the Terra realm to raise her as my own.” Solana turned to Rhodack with tear-filled eyes. She sniffled and pushed her midnight hair over her shoulder. “I had never been blessed to have children of my own, but here was the queen asking me to take her only child back to my home realm and raise her as mine and to protect her. She was desperate, and Rina was nothing but a babe of eight years old. How could I tell the queen that I wouldn’t help her save her only child? Save the future queen of Faery? So at the bidding of Queen Roshi, I placed a spell over Rina and brought her here. It was forbidden for me to ever tell anyone that Larina was here on Earth to keep her safe.”
“Who would go after a child? Why would they want her?” he demanded to know.
He moved toward the bed so he could ensure he’d hear every bit of the story. He flicked his eyes to the still body of his mate. He’d fight to the death if he had to, in order to ensure that Rina would survive. He’d crush whoever tried to bring harm to her.
“The necromancers. They want the power of Faery,” she murmured, lovingly staring at Rina. “In their realm, they grow restless and more powerful. They’ve caused such destruction in their own realm that they grow hungry to move on and take other realms. They cannot leave that realm. If they get out, there’s no telling what type of destruction they’d bring to Faery. If they were to get their hands on —”
“There’s no way the necromancers made it from the Forged realm,” Rhodack cut her off. He shook his head, knowing that was what was written in the history books. “All portals from that realm were sealed by Khantar’s father. It’s not possible for the necromancers to be able to escape from the Forged realm.” Rhodack shook his head.
Five hundred years ago, a war that had gone down in the history books had taken place between the Fae and the necromancers. Khantar and his father gathered their forces and invaded the Forged realm. It was a realm that harbored the most sinister of evil.
The mighty Fae army invaded the hostel realm to defend not only their realms, but all of humanity. The Fae warriors defeated the necromancers in their own realm. The Fae had escaped from the Forged realm and sealed all exits from the dark realm.
“They found a way. That’s why we had to move Larina. The necromancers had grown in power and numbers. They escaped their realm, invading Faery. They just didn’t expect Khantar to be as strong as he was without his father. By this time, Khantar was king. When we escaped to the Terra realm, they were able to hold off the necromancers to allow us to leave without being detected.”
Rhodack knew the Forged realm was a violent place with no laws, no honor, and harbored the blackest of magic. Necromancers were powerful beings that had no business on Earth.
If it was the necromancers who’d made their way into the Terra realm, this would be a code red emergency amongst gargoyles across the world. There was no way they could allow the necromancers to cross over.
“And how does Rina play into their quest to take over Faery? If she didn’t know she was from Faery, why would they track her here?” he asked and swiveled his gaze to Rina.
Her chest slowly rose and fell as she breathed deeply, still in a slumber.
“She’s the future of Faery. She’s the most powerful Elf, more powerful than her mother. And even more powerful than her father. If the necromancers get their hands on Larina Omaris, they’ll drain her powers, and Faery will fall.”
A growl escaped his chest as he moved to the side of the bed. Solana scrambled to block him from approaching Rina. Her eyes were wide, and she used her body to shield Rina from him.
“Something crossed over. A mist was sighted going after her. Vikuth said it morphed into a dark figure. What was that?”
Solana’s eyes widened farther. “Demonic spirits. They’re controlled by the necromancers. They were probably sent here on a tracking mission. If they saw her, then the necromancers will know she’s here and will come for her.”
“I wouldn’t hurt her,” he said, growing pissed that she would think he would. She should know that as the protector of the realm, he wouldn’t hurt a helpless female. “No one will touch her as long as I draw breath.”
“Why would you make such a promise? We will leave Earth at once. I will contact her parents and inform them that she may have been discovered. They will come for her—”
“She’s my mate,” he snapped. His gargoyle rose. His skin crawled as the small tendrils of his beast tried to break through.
