Page 36 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
The assassins in the audience stand, but they don’t swarm me. Instead they clap and cheer.
I turn around on the spot, taking them all in as confusion rolls through me. Then three Nightmares race toward us, and I am sure they will attack me in small groups, hacking at me in turns until I am drained of magic, blood and life.
But they race right past me.
To Dante.
They crouch before him, sharing the smoke and shadows of their bodies until his wounds close up. I stare at them, then at the crowd, with absolutely no idea what is going on. The Mistress is making an announcement from her stand, but I cannot follow her words. Is she ordering them to swarm me? Will they turn it into a sport?
I jolt as Dante limps toward me. He is back in his humanoid form, with a massive slash down his chest that is now mostly closed. It looks like it bloody hurts. “Fuck, you are unhinged, Aldrin.”
I put space between us and hold my sword at the ready. “Why isn’t the audience trying to kill me yet?” I yell over the noise of the crowd.
Dante scratches his head awkwardly. “Yeah, I did tell you that, didn’t I?” I growl an animalistic sound and he shrugs and points to the Mistress, who is still speaking. “Listen.”
I force myself to calm down enough to do as he says, allowing Keira back in. She has been clawing and fighting against the block I put on our mate bond.
“With the survival of his final trial, and such an impressive fight at that, we have deemed Aldrin, exiled King of the Spring Court, to have passed the Trials of Belladonna and been initiated into our order!” she announces in her musical tone. The crowd goes wild.
I turn on Dante. “They aren’t going to swarm me because the sand ran out before I could kill you?”
“Nope.”
Energy bleeds out of me all at once as relief washes over me, so strong my legs almost give out. In the distance of my mind, Keira sobs.
“They were never going to…” I let my words trail off.
Dante places an arm over my shoulders, then cringes with pain as the movement pulls on his wound. “Aldrin. Do you honestly think a member of the Wild Hunt has to die each time a candidate passes the final trial? We would have practically no one in our order.”
I narrow my eyes at him and shove him off me. It is obvious now that I have not been dragged into an arena to fight for my life with a hungry crowd calling for my blood. “Why lie, then?”
He lets out a long breath as another Nightmare approaches him to share his darkness. They must be giving him their biomatter to help him heal. “The candidate is to try to kill a member of the Wild Hunt and put their all into it. I needed you to be desperate enough to show your best face. To come at me with brutality and not hold back from a killing blow, even though I know deep down you really like me.”
“Not anymore,” I grumble.
“Trust me, Aldrin. A candidate can survive the final trial until the sand runs out and still be put down afterward if the Mistress is not impressed with what she sees. She is ruthless enough and has done it before.” He slaps me on the back. “Congratulations. You passed. We should celebrate.”
He leads me out of the arena. I’m in a daze, head spinning, disconnected from my body as the roars of the crowd die away. The shock of this last trial was too much.
Keira’s chest heaves and shudders with sobs she cannot stop. Her eyes sting from the salt of the tears running uncontrollably down her face, but her heart rate has settled.
I’m still here, dear heart.My whisper coils through her.I will come for you soon. I will be there to hold you and kiss away your future tears. To protect you and make sure no one can hurt you again.I just need you to hold out for me.The connection between us is so deep, it feels like I can embrace her quivering form and kiss the warm skin of her forehead. We share the shiver that runs down her spine.
All her grief and fear is suddenly eaten up by a black rage.Don’t you dare ever block me out again. It was the most terrifying moment of my life when our connection went cold and I couldn’t reach you.
I stumble, almost missing my step.If they…you didn’t need to see it.
Never. Again,she growls.And don’t give me that “in another life” bullshit. I want you inthislife! The gods know we have both worked hard enough for it.
I can’t help smiling. Despite the wrath of her words, the tidal wave of love behind them is so potent it washes everything else away.
The double doors to my chambers slam open. They bounce off the walls with a loud crack as they are thrust apart with a volley of air magic. I suck in a sharp breath, my heart leaping into my throat as I drop the book in my hands and stand.
What is the fucking point of having a lock if they can do that?
Torin stands in the entrance without a single strand of his long black hair out of place. Wisps of the air wields still curl around the fingers of the guard behind him who opened the doors.
Violent shakes have coursed through my body for the entirety of the afternoon since I was certain Aldrin was going to die. While the tremors have lessened somewhat, they are still evident in my hands. The chill that settled into my bones hasn’t receded despite the number of blankets I piled on myself.
