Page 57 of Wrath of the Fae

She watches as the very first piece of black ink forms on the back of my hand. It swirls as it forms, creating a twisted knot of what looks like thorns over my skin.

A promise. A vow to her that she will have her revenge. It’s the least I can do, considering all the times she’s taken my pain away and forced herself to make room for it inside herself, along with the horror of what has happened to her. I pull my hand away, but she grips me tighter, keeping me there.

I wait, but she just stares. Her face contorted with conflicting emotions. She hates me. Always has and always will. But we share in this. We share the pain of being abused and helpless.

‘I can’t sleep,’ she whispers, her hand tightening on mine. ‘And when I do, the nightmares are so real.’ Her eyes bore into mine. A desperate need to fix this pain screams from them. A pleading. ‘I swear, I feel his hands on me. I smell him. I hear his breathing in my ear.’ My knuckles crack in her grip, but I don’t move an inch. ‘I wake up, and I see him looming over me. I can’t sleep. I can’t focus. And I’m so angry all the time. Angry or scared. And I just… I can’t sleep!’ She shudders and blinks. ‘You know. I know you do because I feel it when I take your pain away. When I put it with my own, I feel that same fear there. How did you get over what Jonah did to you?’

‘I’m not sure I’m over it. But I’ll tell you what helped.’ I lean over the table and rest my other hand over hers. ‘I killed the mother fucker,’ I tell her. ‘Cut his fucking face off and left him to bleed out at my feet. And I swore to protect others from men like him.’

She nods and swigs from the bottle. She then hands it to me.

‘Get drunk with me. Blackout and ridiculously drunk.’

‘Why the fuck not,’ I sigh. ‘It’s not like I’m allowed to go out there to do anything worthwhile.’

The arch is ahead of me. A giant structure made of sandstone.

At the edge of the cavern, bodies litter the floor. Blood splatters the walls where their skulls connected after the blast I set off here last time. Those who stand around it now nurse broken bones and deep gashes. Four Fae men and two humans are all that remains of the group.

And they are trying to fix the arch again. They slide in a single chunk of stone and it groans.

‘Raven! Hey, wake up, will you?’

I feel a sharp slap across my face and open my eyes.

Oh, Goddess. What the hell has happened?

The light is too bright. It hurts to open my eyes. And when I try to move, my head feels like my brain has come loose and is swilling about inside my skull.

‘Oh fuck…’ I groan, regretting trying to sit as my stomach churns and the world spins. ‘Oh shitting hell. What the fuck…’

‘I second that,’ Tessa groans, helping me to sit. ‘I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling like shit.’

I lift my head and try to focus.

‘Where are we?’ I ask, swallowing the urge to vomit and tasting nothing but wine.

Tessa has buried her face in her hands and is almost whimpering.

Getting to my feet is a struggle, but I manage it. I look around.

The ground is more stone and slate than dirt. The sky is dark but not night. More shrouded in thick clouds. I smell sulphur in the air. We are both in the shadow of a rocky ridge. I start to climb it, heaving the hem of my dress with me and noticing it is thick with mud and torn to shit. When I reach the ridge, I stare, open-mouthed, at the sight of a great volcano in the distance. A steady stream of lava runs down its side. It’s miles away, but the smell of it is potent. To the right is a city. Great boulders have been hollowed out to make homes, and a grand mansion sits atop a hill in the very centre.

Tessa pulls herself up beside me.

‘What the fuck…’ she whispers before looking at me. ‘Why have you brought us here?’

‘Me?’ I laugh. ‘I didn’t bring us here. Where even is here?’

‘That,’ she hisses, nodding at the city. ‘Is Ardeat Soul! The Eleventh Kingdom.’

‘Ardeat Soul?’ I repeat. ‘What kinda name is that?’

‘I don’t know. Something about eternally burning souls.’ She whacks my arm hard. ‘Why did you bring us here?’

‘I already said. I didn’t!’

‘Well, we sure as hell didn’t just walk here…’ Her face scrunches up. ‘Oh… wait…’ She takes another look around. ‘I think I remember.’

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