Jewel of Darkness

  Ours, his beast rumbled again.

  Always, the man agreed.

  Jewel watched as Dalton left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. She was a tad shell shocked. She didn’t know what had happened. First, she’d been determined to keep distance between them, and then the next thing she knew she was caving to his every whim. She’d let things go too far when they kissed and had watched as the magic Volcan cast began to work. But what could she do? The damn stubborn wolf was going to do as he pleased, and it’s not like Jewel could do anything to stop him. She’d just have to try and be more careful. Dalton had told her that he wanted her by his side, and that was exactly where she wanted to be and would be. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t set some boundaries for them in order to keep him safe.

  Jewel readied herself for bed, brushing her teeth and hair. Then she crawled in between the warmth of the sheets. Her eyes drifted closed and her mind was filled of thoughts about Dalton, Volcan, and what was to become of them all. As sleep pulled her under, she swore she could hear the evil fae whispering in her ear something about one of the other healers and sharing the gift he’d given her. Jewel gave up trying to understand what he was saying and decided it had to be a figment of her imagination. She knew that post-traumatic stress disorder was a common occurrence for people who’d been through very horrible experiences, and they could hallucinate as a result, so she chalked it up to that and fell into a deep slumber.

  Anna rubbed her arms as she stood at the entrance to Adira’s home. Her skin was tingly with the anticipation that something was coming. At first, she thought it was the wolf who would be her mate, eventually. But as the feeling grew more and more ominous, she knew it wasn’t him.

  “Everything okay?” Adira asked from behind her.

  Anna turned slightly so she could see the pixie but still see out as well. “I just can’t shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

  “Have you ever had premonitions before?”

  Anna shrugged. “I wouldn’t call them premonitions. I mean, I’ve had feelings when something big was going happen. I don’t really know how to explain it. Like there was this time when I just knew something was going to happen to the business across the street from our shop. Every time I looked at it I would get this sick feeling. Sure enough, three days later it burned. The fire department was able to save some of it, but they suffered considerable loss. I felt like I should have warned them somehow. But how do you tell someone, hey, something bad is going to happen to you? People would look at me like I was crazy. So I just kept my mouth shut.”

  “Did you ever tell your mom about it?” Adira asked.

  “Once,” Anna said and smiled. “She, of course, claimed it was my gypsy blood. At the time I thought she was crazy.”

  Adira stepped up next to her and looked out into the forest. Anna glanced down at the woman and wondered why she didn’t fly more. If she’d had wings, Anna would have been flying everywhere. She didn’t want to offend Adira so she kept her question to herself.

  “Of all the people to show up here,” the pixie suddenly growled.

  Anna followed her gaze and saw a male pixie flying toward them. He held out his hands in a pleading gesture. “Wait, Adira. Please I have important news,” the male begged as he dropped to the ground in front of them.

  “Ciesel, why does your face look like that?”

  That was when Anna realized that this was the king’s brother. And his face was back to normal.

  “I found someone who could help. But before you curse me again,” he hurried. “I’m here to try and redeem myself. Jewel has been released by Volcan.”

  Anna’s heart pounded in her chest. “What?” she breathed out. “Is she okay?”

  Ciesel nodded at her but his eyes were wide as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was saying was true.

  “So can we leave?”

  “That’s what I’m here to tell you. Adira is supposed to take you back to Peri’s realm. They need all the healers back together,” he explained.

  Anna was both excited and afraid. She wanted to see everyone again, but she knew that it probably meant meeting him as well. She let out a resigned sigh. It wasn’t like she could hide from him forever.

  Adira’s eyes narrowed on the male. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

  “Do you think I’m dumb enough to stir your ire again?” Ciesel asked her.

  Adira seemed to think about it for a moment before finally shaking her head. “I would hope you aren’t that dumb.” She then looked up at Anna. “Do you think we should go back to your group first or go straight to Peri’s?”

  “The group has already left,” Ciesel quickly added. “That’s why they sent me to tell you.”

  “Why didn’t one of the fae just flash here?” Anna asked.

  “They apparently have a lead on where Volcan is hiding, and so the fae all jumped to there.”

  Ciesel’s explanation was valid, but at the same time Anna felt like it was somehow off. But she wanted to see Jewel, so she’d just have to take her chances with the information Ciesel was giving them.

  “We need to go,” Anna told Adira. “Regardless of whether everything he says is true or not. I need to see Jewel.”

  “Is this one of those feelings again?” the pixie woman asked.

  Anna thought about it. Was it a feeling or did she just really want to see that her friend was okay? “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  Adira nodded. “Sometimes we just have to act on faith. Let’s be off then.”

  Anna followed her out of the shelter of her home and into the forest. This time, Anna noted, Adira was flying.

  The pixie paused and looked back to Ciesel, who stood just outside the entry to her home. “After you informed us that Anna was to return to Farie, what were your orders?”

  Anna thought it a peculiar question, but then figured Adira had her reasons for asking.

  Ciesel motioned back toward the direction that Anna had come from when she’d followed Adira home. “I’m to report back to my brother.”

  Adira stared at him a few seconds more before saying, “I really hope you aren’t lying to me.” Then she turned and started off again.

  Anna quickened her pace to keep up with the pixie. Neither of them spoke. Anna was too busy worrying about Jewel and the possibility of meeting her future mate. It was becoming less and less odd to think of him that way ― as her mate, not her boyfriend or husband. She wondered why that was. Perhaps, she was becoming more acceptant of it than she realized. She still had reservations and fears, but maybe they could move slowly, like a snail’s pace slow.

  “You’re going to have to keep up or we won’t get there until next week,” Adira called out.

  Anna’s attention snapped back to the present and she realized that she had slowed to a near crawl. “Sorry, just thinking about some things.”

  “Well think faster, and then maybe your feet will move quicker.”

  “Thanks for the suggestion,” Anna retorted dryly. She picked up her pace, pushing away all her worries and focused on getting back to Peri’s house as quickly as they could. Her stomach suddenly dropped at the thought of being back at the fae’s home. She was definitely having a feeling this time and the feeling was telling her that whatever waited for her in Farie was extremely dangerous.

  Gustavo surged to his feet as he felt the pull of the mate bond being stretched. It grew less and less until she was just an ache in his gut again.

  “She’s gone,” he growled.

  “What? Who’s gone?” Adam asked as he too stood up.

  “Anna,” he said through clenched teeth. “She’s not in this realm any longer.”

  “How can you tell?” Kara asked.

  “I can feel her distance through our bond. It feels like it did when I was at Peri’s home and she was here.”

  “Where could she possibly be going?” Crina wondered out loud.

  “Do you think something’s happened t
o her? Like someone’s taken her?” Stella spoke up next.

  Gustavo considered the question but then shook his head. “I didn’t feel any alarm from her. If she’d been in danger I would have felt it. Her fear would have been strong enough to come through the bond on its own.”

  “Why on earth would she just suddenly decide to leave? And not even tell us?” Heather asked.

  “Maybe she knows something we don’t,” Stella pointed out.

  “Can you flash to Peri’s?” Gustavo turned to Adam. His wolf was growing impatient with all the talk, wanting some action.

  Adam nodded. He looked at his mate. “Should I take all of you?”

  Gustavo let out a low growl and he was sure his wolf was peering out of his eyes. “There is no time for discussion. Please just flash us there. You can come back for the others.”

  Crina gave her mate a slight nod. “Grab on,” Adam told him as he held out his arm.

  Gustavo took the offered arm. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly in an attempt to get his wolf under control. He didn’t want the first thing Anna to see when she met him to be his agitated beast. After several heartbeats, he opened his eyes and saw all of the same eyes that had been staring at him still there. “Why are we still in the pixie realm?” he snapped as he looked over at the fae.

  Adam’s eyes were wide. “I don’t get it. I’m trying, but it’s like there is a barrier. I can’t force my magic through it and therefore I can’t flash.”

  “Are you telling me we’re stuck here?”

  “You could try the veil,” Crina quickly pointed out.

  Just as they started off in the direction of the veil they were brought up short by Ainsel and several of his guards. Gustavo could tell by the grave look on the king’s face, he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear.

  “I’ve just been informed that our realm is sealed. The veil has been closed.” He looked up at Adam. “Could you go to Peri’s?”

  Adam was already shaking his head before the king could get the question out. “I’ve just tried flashing. My magic isn’t working.”

  “Wait,” Kara said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She and the other girls had been pleasantly surprised to find out the fae magic could be used to charge their phones without electricity. “Why don’t we try calling someone?”

  “Do you have anyone’s cell numbers?” Crina asked her.

  “I’ve got Sally’s.” Kara attempted the phone call while Gustavo and the others watched eagerly. But their hopes were quickly dashed when the young healer pulled the phone from her ear. She looked at the group and shook her head. “It won’t make the call. I choose the number and nothing happens.”

  “It only makes sense that since fae magic can affect the phones, whatever this magic is could as well,” Adam pointed out.

  The pixie king let out a string of expletives. “Volcan must know that some of the healers are here,” he said as he glanced around their group as though looking for them. “Are they all safe?”

  “Stella, Kara, and I are present and accounted for and so bored we’d almost take some bodily harm just for the adrenaline dump. Anna, however, seems to be off on an adventure of her own,” Heather offered as Kara and Stella guided her over to the group.

  “Anna?” Ainsel’s brow dipped low. “Is Anna the healer that is your mate?”

  Gustavo heard the caution in the pixie king’s tone. He knew a predator when he saw one. “Yes,” the wolf gritted out. “She is with one of your people.” It sounded like an accusation, though Gustavo didn’t mean it that way, or at least he didn’t think he did.

  “Yes, Peri mentioned that Adira was hosting her. Adira is a powerful pixie. She will be able to help keep your Anna relatively safe.”

  “Um, Ainsel,” Crina spoke up. “Words like relatively safe aren’t helpful when talking to male wolves about their mates.”

  Gustavo could feel his claws digging into the flesh of his palms. It had been so long since he’d lost so much control of himself that he began to involuntarily phase.

  The king paled as he took in Gustavo’s barely contained rage. He had every right to be scared. King Ainsel had an unbonded, Alpha, male wolf stranded in his realm, while his unbonded mate was in another realm. Yes, the pixie king definitely should be afraid.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” the healer named Kara whispered. “But I’m thinking boredom is a thing of the past.”

  Chapter 12

  “Come away with me, sister. Let us dance through the night. Feel the magic with me sister, so real and so right. Open your soul to me sister. Give the darkness your heart. Join with me sister. It’s time to play our part.” ~Jewel

  Jewel’s eyes snapped open just before she could watch herself lick blood from her hands. It was a nightmare, but it had felt so very real. Even as she laid there, attempting to slow her heartbeat, she could feel the sticky blood coating her skin. Jewel lifted her hands and held them in front of her face. It was still dark, so she had to give her eyes a minute to adjust before she could finally see that there was no blood.

  The worst part of the nightmare hadn’t been watching herself lick blood off of herself, though that was pretty bad. The worst part had been watching Anna lick blood off her own hands and then seeing her smile with red stained teeth. Why she was dreaming of Anna, she didn’t know. But she didn’t like that the other healer had suddenly taken a starring role in her nightmares. Jewel knew that it had something to do with the magic and blood that belonged to Volcan, yet flowed through her veins. She was beginning to grasp just how much control the dark fae had over her.

  “What are you up to?” she whispered into the dark room. Jewel shook off the remainder of the bad dream and closed her eyes. She forced herself to picture anything but what had happened in the dream. The first thing her mind grasped was him. It was always him. Thoughts of Dalton could chase away the darkest dream and reminded her that she wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to face what was to come on her own.

  Jewel once again let the exhaustion of her mind and body pull her into a deep sleep, all the while hoping that with Dalton at the forefront of her mind, perhaps, he could keep the nightmares as bay for the remainder of the night.

  Dalton watched as Jewel poured herself a glass of orange juice. She seemed very contemplative this morning, as though she were trying to figure out a puzzle but didn’t have all the pieces. He’d asked her if everything was alright and then realized what a stupid question that had been. Of course, everything wasn’t alright. But he couldn’t fix it, at least not right then. Subconsciously he’d been hoping she would answer with a problem that he could immediately solve. So far, she’d been perfectly capable of fixing herself breakfast and a drink. Her sleep had been restless and several times he’d nearly gone in to check on her, but she always seemed to settle down pretty quickly so he’d refrained. It was beyond frustrating that he couldn’t fight tooth and claw against her enemy because her enemy resided inside of her own body. But eventually he’d have Volcan before him. Then he could release his beast onto a physical foe.

  “Have you already eaten?” Jewel’s voice broke through his mental destruction of the dark fae.

  He shook his head. “Not really hungry this morning.”

  Jewel tilted her head slightly and pursed her tempting lips. “A few years ago I would have told you that you shouldn’t skip breakfast because, as we’ve heard repeatedly, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

  She was doing it again ― giving him random facts of information. For some reason that eased a bit of the tension he’d been feeling. Dalton had noticed for the past couple of days that Jewel hadn’t been tossing out knowledge like it was candy. The fact that she was doing it now made him feel that she was okay, that, perhaps, the blood flowing through her veins didn’t have as much control over her as she feared.

  “And now?” he asked.

  “New studies are actually suggesting that skipping breakfast might help weight lo
ss. It’s very controversial, though. Considering how everyone, including the U.S. president’s wife, has harped on healthy eating and three square meals a day, a scientific study challenging their position hasn’t gone over well.”

  Dalton gave her his own curious look. “Where do you learn all this stuff?”

  Jewel shrugged. “I just remember things I hear or read. Even if it’s just something in passing on the news, it just sticks in my brain. It’s almost like I have a filing cabinet and a spot for everything. and I can just open it up and pluck out the information I need when I need it.”

  “And it’s never too much?”

  “Considering I’m still able to store info, I guess there’s still room.”

  They sat in comfortable silence as she ate her cereal and toast and he watched her, unable to take his eyes off of her. Dalton honestly hadn’t known if he’d ever see her again, but here she was and he just wanted to soak up every second they spent together.

  “What’s the plan for today?” Jewel asked him.

  A smile formed on his lips. “I told you I was going to court you. I checked with Peri and as of right now she isn’t going to make a move on Volcan. She wants to check on the healers in the pixie realm. So we have a free day. I’m taking you on a date.”

  “Alone?” she asked as she sat up a little straighter.

  It amused him that she was nervous to be alone with him, as though he might ravish her at any second. And because he wasn’t a fool, and definitely wanted to ravish her, he’d secured a chaperone.