Out of the Mountain (52 page)

“I’m sorry. I love you,” I said softly, apologizing for the slap. His eyes met mine, and his grip loosened as they turned back to their soft honey color, and a small grin lifted the side of his mouth. My heart sped at the sight.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he rumbled, bringing his lips down on mine with a crushing force that drew need from the deepest parts of me. My hands were loosed as his pulled me closer into him, and I tangled them into his hair. Our relief and joy intermingled, his kiss became more languid, and I felt him returning to himself. The beast was being tamed, the man taking charge again.

“I love you, Vinnie.” He sighed into my mouth, and I hugged tightly to him. We lay there together like that for a while, just holding each other, content with being. I groaned when there was a loud knock at the door, but Rowan smiled at me, and my heart swelled. He was already returning to his normal self. I sat up and set to straightening my clothes as he walked to the door and pulled it open.

Briony squealed as she bounded through the door and across the room, hitting me with a hug that knocked me back with its force. I laughed at her enthusiasm and shed happy tears right along with her. Luca smiled at me as he entered the doorway, followed by Malachi and Tamora.

Tamora looked ill. She had lost a considerable amount of her bulk, and her hair was unkempt. My heart ached when I remembered the loss of her twin sister. She shared a nod with me and averted her eyes to the floor. Malachi swept me up into his arms, his hug crushing me tight as he spun me around.

“You’re going to make me ill,” I complained, and he sat me back on the ground. A brilliant smile lit his face, and I returned it in kind.

“I am so glad to see you join the land of the living again, babe.”

“I am so glad to see you too, all of you,” I said as I looked at them in turn. The happy-go-lucky expressions of the past were dampened, some more than others. These losses had taken their toll on everyone.

“You saved my life, all of our lives,” Briony sobbed, now tucked under Luca’s arm.

“I saw you on the floor at Rowan’s feet. I thought you had . . .” I began as the memory of that night flashed in my mind. She nodded, holding her hands to her belly.

“I was dying. A creature got a claw past my guard . . . sliced out with its claws.” She cringed at the memory. I flinched.

“I am so sorry that happened to you, Briony,” I said, crossing the room to grab her hand.

“I felt the life seeping from me, knew my time was coming. I was trying to tell Luca . . .”—her voice broke off before she continued—“and then there was a bright flash of light. I sighed in relief as the pain slipped from me. When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t believe what I saw. My dress was shredded, blood covered me and the floor, but I was completely healed! You saved us all, Vivi.” She hugged me again, and I patted her back while meeting Rowan’s eyes and saw pride there.

“I only wish I would have been able to do that sooner,” I admitted, sharing a look with Tamora that sent her out the door. Did she blame me for her sister’s death?

“It’s been hard on her. Her sister was a bitch, but they hadn’t ever been apart. They shared a special bond, and it was ripped from her. She has been trying to figure out how to cope with that,” Malachi mumbled after his friend.

“All of this because someone felt she was entitled to something that was never hers to begin with,” I growled thinking of Narissa. “I need to see her,” I said desperately, meeting Rowan’s eyes and holding them. I needed to see that she was locked away. I needed to know she wasn’t going to cause any further harm to the ones I loved. He nodded and reached an arm out to me. I blinked in disbelief . . . that was too easy.

“You are more than capable of handling Narissa, Vinnie. You have already proven as much.” He chuckled, almost sounding normal. I grabbed onto his arm and let him lead the way.

***

When I stood in front of Narissa’s cell, she sat facing the wall. Her white hair was a mess of tangles and knots, and her clothes were rumpled. A tray of food sat on the cell floor, untouched. She was babbling manically at the wall, and I shuddered. It was an unpleasant sight.

“Narissa,” I said firmly, and she froze and quieted instantly. A moment passed before she turned to face me. I fought a gasp as I took in her wilted form. Her body was a mass of black marks, scars from blood-magic use that were no longer hidden by glamour. Her eyes were sunken and dull. Her hair had been ripped out in patches around her face, and she was playing with it in her hands. Her eyes took me in and gave no immediate reaction. I stepped forward, anger and disbelief filling me.

“It’s me!” I growled, pushing myself flush against the bars. There was no recognition on her face but instead surprise lit there.

“I had wondered what you would look like. Of course you would look like her . . . her blood runs through your veins, and she always wins.”

“I . . .what?” I asked confused, and she laughed.

“Kieran must have been successful in his part of the plan if you are here . . . He will be so angry with me. I lost the staff, you know. I don’t really care, though . . . Would you like some?” she asked, thrusting her hand full of hair toward me. She was making no sense. They were right; she had lost her mind. I wanted to see for myself. I grabbed her hand in mine, and my vision blanked.

“Crying, that’s all it does, Kieran! The sooner we deliver it to Ambrosine, the better. It will be easier to manage when it is capable of thought. Look at it, so helpless and useless,” Narissa complained as she looked down into the tiny bundle in her arms.

“It is of no fault but your own, and since you let the other child die, hopefully we can use this one to some benefit when it grows.” He grimaced at the drool leaking from the infant’s mouth.

“Here, take it. I have done all of the work thus far. I carried it for nine months, allowed it to take over my body like the parasite it is. Now you take it to her!” Narissa hissed, pushing the bundled baby into Kieran’s arms.

***

Narissa was pacing the floor, waiting for Kieran to return. He burst through the door, worn and weary. She had no time for that.

“So? How did the exchange go?”

“Ambrosine was happy to accept the girl until her maturity as payment of your past debt.”

“It wasn’t my fault that the pixie nest was near my chosen spot for our home. I had to get rid of them,” she nagged, and he rolled his eyes.

“She will keep the baby and raise her as she sees fit. As long as she does no harm to Ambrosine and serves her obediently she will keep her part of the bargain. The deal was easily struck.”

“Good, now that’s one less thing we have to worry about,” she groused.

I blinked, returning to myself, and saw Narissa’s look of confusion. Her eyes had cleared for a moment, and her nails dug deeply into my arm.

“You,” she shrieked, and I sent a pulse of magic toward her that knocked her back and left her screaming. Her shrill ear-piercing screams, reverberated over and over, as she curled into a ball on the floor. I rushed from the room, head spinning from what I had just seen. When I burst through the door into the main room of Guard HQ, the others were all waiting. I didn’t waste any more time.

“They have a daughter! Kieran and Narissa gave their daughter to Ambrosine as payment of a past debt. It’s not an object Kieran went to retrieve; it’s a person!” I blurted out, and the room froze. Rowan slunk into a chair, head dropping into his hands. He would know what that was like all too well.

“The list of bad guys just keeps growing,” Malachi complained, and Rowan’s head snapped up to attention.

“The girl is but a victim!”

“I hardly think any child of theirs could be any sort of victim, and I doubt being raised by the Fae has helped her any,” Adelaide scoffed.

“You have no knowledge of what you speak. She is clearly intended to be some kind of weapon. We cannot allow her to be used any further. I will retrieve her myself if I have to,” he growled, and I jumped to my feet.

“No! No way!”

“Vinnie—”

“I will not allow it.”

“You could not stop me if you tried,” he rumbled, and fury flew through me.

“Bad choice of words, mate,” Malachi stage-whispered in an ineffective attempt to break the tension in the room.

“If anyone goes, it will be me. Not you, not Farran, not anyone. This girl is my family, my responsibility.”

“Absolutely not!” Rowan slammed his fist into the table, cracking and splitting the wood.

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried.” I returned his sentiment and received a glare in kind.

Farran appeared beside me and took in the tension in the room. Malachi quickly filled him in on the problem in a much brusquer way than I would have, and he was gaping in disbelief at the mention of yet another niece.

“Well, this certainly adds another layer to the news I just received, then.”

“What news?”

“Kailen reported that during one of their celebrations, a girl had stolen many items from Her Majesty Ambrosine’s personal collection before killing everyone on staff who tried to stop her from leaving and making an escape into the badlands.”

“Sounds like a peach,” Adelaide pointed out, and I hated to agree.

“To have escaped . . . she must have been very clever,” Rowan said thoughtfully, and jealousy prickled me.

“She also stole, murdered, and did any number of other unimaginable things to manage it.”

“You do not understand what it is like there. You could not comprehend it,” he complained, and I bristled further.

“Kailen also said that upon Kieran’s arrival, he agreed to clean up the mess the girl had made if they were to ever leave with their lives. Kieran is actively seeking her out, but the badlands are a tricky place. All the outcast Fae are sent there. He hasn’t had any luck finding her thus far.”

“She is under the protection of someone,” Rowan said as he and Farran shared a look that bore knowledge they were keeping from us.

“Among the things that she stole was the amulet.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” I complained. Another person who could potentially use it to do harm had it in her possession.

“Afraid not,” he said, taking my hand.

“There’s no choice, then. We are going to have to find the girl and retrieve it ourselves. I cannot allow my people to be overtaken by an object that was created for the good of them and warped to the will of the evil. They have barely regained their footing after all that happened.” I sighed, and the others shared looks of agreement. Something would have to be done. We couldn’t wait for the fight to come to us this time. We would take preventative measures.

“It seems our next journey will be into the forest . . .” Malachi sighed.

“So it seems,” Rowan agreed, and the planning began.

Thank you so much for reading. A lot of time and love went into this book, and I truly hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought! Stay tuned for book two:

Into the Forest: A Royal Bloodlines Novel

Violet Chastain was born and raised in Small Town, West Virginia. She is the mother of two (awesome) kids and the wife of a man with the patience of a saint (which is tested often and thoroughly.) When she isn’t writing and/or plotting out events for some sort of story in her head, you can usually find her with a book in her hand.

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