Copyright

Shadowborn Royals © 2020 G. Bailey & Scarlett Snow

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Formatting by Champagne Book Design www.champagnebookdesign.com

Editing by Niki Trento-Spencer

Title Page

Copyright

About This Book

Map

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Excerpt from Shadowborn Academy (Dark Fae Academy Series: Book One)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Appendix i—LOCATIONS

Appendix ii—PRISON LAYOUT

Appendix iii—CHARACTERS

Appendix iv—WARDEN RANKS

Appendix v—THE BOOK OF ZORYA

About G Bailey

About Scarlett Snow

The light is my prison…and I can’t escape.

I’m Izora Dawn and this is the second prison I find myself locked in for something I didn’t do.

The fae world is at war and nothing I can do will stop it.

But the gods have different ideas.

But to win the war, to keep my family and lovers safe, I will embrace the dark.

But in the dark lie the secrets that made this prison.

And no one can escape them.

Shadowborn Royals is a crossover spin-off to Shadowborn Academy. You do not need to read the latter to follow this series. One thing is for sure—not even the shadows can be trusted in this Enchanted Forest…

18+ Reverse Harem Dark Fae Prison Romance.

Meira

Nineteen years ago

Twirling one last strand of my silver hair into the clip, I stand back and look over my appearance just to make sure I look pretty enough to pass for a fae tonight. Silver paint is drawn in swirls around every part of my skin that my white dress or pink cloak cannot cover. The dress is tight, made for seduction, and I hope my mate loves it when he sees me.

It’s been three long months since my mate was called to King Ulric’s side to be one of his personal guards, but tonight I am invited to the castle for a royal ball. Sitting at home was never for me. I long to be near my mate and if we can have only this night, then so be it.

The whole of the fae kingdom rejoices and celebrates the Night of Life, a traditional day for love and life. The night was said to be born from Selena’s love for the sun and the bright light it shines down on the kingdom. The Light Fae King’s ball is meant to be utterly beautiful, enchanting in every possible sense. I’ve dreamed of seeing what I have only heard of.

Smiling at myself, I step through the mirror’s magic and out into the corridor of the castle. The throne room’s light music calls to me, but I turn away, sensing my mate somewhere else in the castle. My heels click against the floor as I head down the corridor and around the corner. The sense gets stronger when I get near a room. The latticed door is closed, but music seeps out. I slowly inch the door open, just in case he is with the king, but that’s not what I see.

My mate—the man I thought loved me—in bed with a fae woman, his hands buried in her fiery-red hair, his soul betraying mine. They move against each other, clearly unaware I’m watching them, and the sounds of their lovemaking sear through my heart like a hot blade. Numbly, I close the door and then my feet take off as fast as they can. I run as though trying to outrun what is now burned into the recesses of my mind.

The castle flies by in the blur. I have no idea where I am going. It’s not until I crash headfirst into a hard, muscular body do I stop, but by then we are both toppling onto the floor.

“My King!”

A male voice shrieks, and through my tear-stained eyes I look up to see King Ulric holding himself above me. He is enchantingly handsome, his long white hair held back by complicated braids on the sides of his head, which just makes every feature of his face so much more prominent and beautiful. Gold royal garments wrap around his body like a second skin. Fear and desire pound into me, but he doesn’t move.

He simply holds a hand up in the air, shushing the guards into silence.”Why are you crying at my celebration?” he softly asks, leaning closer and wiping a tear away with the pad of his thumb. “One as beautiful as you should not cry.”

“My mate has betrayed me,” I tell him, shaken by my honesty. Something about what I said seems to draw compassion out of the king. It’s almost like he understands this kind of betrayal and how it cuts deeper than any sword ever could.

“Come and dine with me. Two lost souls whom Danica has brought together this night can not simply walk away from each other.”

Lost to the desire I find in his gaze, I don’t notice the magic clouding the air around us, pushing us together to a fate we can’t avoid. As children, both fae and magics are told that the Zorya Sisters have woven a path for our lives and no matter which way we go, we always end up on the same one. Some moments are simply chosen by gods for a purpose. Sculpted by magic.

“Why are you lost, my king?” I breathlessly ask, and he smiles at me, though it looks pained.

“Because fate has given me everything but yet I have nothing I want and desire,” he whispers before leaning up and offering me a hand.

Taking Ulric’s hand is my way of sealing my fate, but I don’t care anymore. Danica has brought us together and I want to find out why.

The king stares at me as we stand in front of each other. The rising sun flickers over the sky, which is meant to be the start of the celebration.

“I’ve always loved the dawn,” I whisper as he steps closer to me. The sunlight catches the brilliance of his eyes, highlighting his strong jawline and high cheekbones. The fae king never looked as beautiful to me until this moment, captured by the sunlight bathing his kingdom.

“My middle name is Dawn after my great-grandfather,” he tells me, the smile returning to his lips. “Now, let us seal our fate with a kiss.”

Before I can answer, the king presses his lips to mine, and for one night I forget the world waiting for me outside of the castle. I forget the mate who betrayed me. I forget everything, and nine months later, I am given the greatest gift of all—a child born at dawn’s first light.

“Move it,” one of the guards hisses, the sound of his taser cutting through the silence.

I spin around to see Axel and Luke being dragged off by two armored guards. My heart stutters in my chest. Shoving the Light Fae castle and being in the Fae kingdom to the back of my mind, I focus on my friends who need me. “Where are you taking them?” I snarl at the guard standing by the gate.

He just laughs behind his helmet, his white overalls rustling as he follows the others out.

“We will find you soon,” Luke shouts over his shoulder. “Be careful, jaybird!” Luke’s voice carries to me and I run to the gate, grabbing the iron bars between my fingers.

I watch helplessly as they shove my guys down a corridor and everything turns deafeningly silent. Panic creeps into me as I sweep my gaze around the outside of my cell, searching for a way out. But it’s just a bland room constructed of white walls and squeaky clean floors. The only way out is the corridor the guards forced my guys into.

My pulse accelerating, I look around again, this time more desperately, wishing I could see something, anything to give me a clue as to where I am or how to escape. My wings flutter behind me and I stare at them like they aren’t really here. I reach back to stroke the sparkling, almost see-through tips of them.

I’m a Light Fae.

No matter how many times I repeat the sentence in my head, it doesn’t make a difference. I still struggle to believe it.

Lifting my shirt, I look for any sign of the injury I had, but I don’t find any.

Shit. What happened to me? Why are we in the Light Fae kingdom?

The last time I saw these wings, I was strapped down to a bed with a bunch of wardens looming over me. My magic ended up killing them. I wonder if I can use that power again?

I hold my hands out and try to call my power like I would for my shadowborn magic, but nothing happens.

Fuck, I’m so screwed.

Sucking in the sweet-smelling air, I hear heels clicking on tiles in the distance, but slowly they sound nearer with every step and a grim feeling settles into my chest. Never one to ignore my instinct, I back away to the corner of the room. I don’t have any weapons, my powers aren’t working, and I’m locked up again. I am not going down without a fight.

To say I’m shocked when a woman I’ve only seen once at a distance stops in front of the bars of my room would be an understatement.

Eva, the Princess of Helios, stands with her hands on her hips. A white cloak hangs off her light pink clothes, spilling onto the floor around her. Knee-high white leather boots, which I kind of like, stomp the floor twice and a guard hurries to open the door for her to step in.

I remember seeing Eva at a Light Fae Parade that Willow and I had sneaked into the city to watch. She sat with the king and five of his mistresses on a carriage pulled by twenty white stallions over pathways littered with glitter and white roses. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and how jealous I felt that I couldn’t be her. The kingdom loved her. They cheered for her but I’ve heard that has all changed recently, ever since what Princess Eva changed into. The once white-haired, stunning princess has an aura that stinks of darkness, and her pale skin almost looks grey. Darkness veils her eyes, though I suspect she hides it well when the moment arises.

“You know, I’m curious. Was it a surprise to learn Corvina was your sister?” I ask her, a grin tugging at my lips. The crazy-ass princess already has me locked up, so I might as well piss her off. I’ve learned that angry people spill more secrets than drunk idiots. “I like Vina. She will make a good queen.”

Eva’s odd laugh fills the room and icy dread fills me. I feel like I’m missing something. “I saved your life and you’re trying to vex me already? Tut. Tut.”

“You saved my life? Seriously?” I cross my arms as Eva runs her eyes over me slowly.

“Yes, seriously,” she replies just as sarcastically, waving a hand in the air. “Your mother begged me to. As she is my lead scientist, and a good friend, I granted her the wish. My magic unlocked the hidden side of you that was just itching to come out. With your light fae revelation, I was finally able to find the right cure for Shadowborns,”

My head swims with the words. My mother is Eva’s lead scientist? And Eva saved me? I don’t know how to process any of this, not that I really believe her. The royal fae lie and cheat for breakfast despite their claims, and I won’t play into whatever game she has going on here.

“Cure?” I croak out. Dammit! Show no emotion, Izora.

She smiles sweetly at me, stepping close enough that her arm brushes into mine. “Shadowborns have always been a blight to society, much like dark fae, but at least the latter are magic created by the gods. Shadowborns are nothing more than dangerous accidents and finally—finally I have a cure.” She grins at me wildly, and with a casual wave of her hand, steps through the gate. “You are the cure. Your blood holds the key to changing shadowborns into light fae and my magic can activate it. Together, we can eradicate shadowborns once and for all.”

I smile at her, and she relaxes, just like I want her to.

Time to cut a bitch.

In two swift movements, I grab her neck, spin her around and slam her body into the wall with all my strength. I punch her hard in the stomach, tightening my grip on her throat as I lean my face close to hers.

“You’re a fucking liar, Princess Eva, and shadowborns don’t need a cure! My mother would have never, ever had anything to do with this!”

Eva lets out a grumbled laugh, her piercing blue eyes latched on mine. I will give her her dues, she isn’t scared, and she just seems like she is happy to let me hurt her.

What is wrong with this psycho bitch?

“Let the princess go this instant! I did not bring you up to be a killer, Izora Dawn!”

My mother’s voice vibrates through me and I drop Eva to the floor like a kid caught red-handed with a bag of forbidden candy. Turning around slowly, with Eva’s gasps for air ringing out in the background, I look at my mother standing in the doorway like nothing is wrong.

“M-mum?”

My mother looks like she’s just got home from work and is about to ask my stepdad what he wants for dinner. Her appearance shocks me more than her just being in this place.

She’s here, in prison with me, but it’s very clear who the captive is and who is not. Her silver hair is pulled tightly into a bun that reflects the light pouring down on her from the spotlights on the ceiling. Her pale blue jumper looks soft and loosely hangs over a tee-shirt and skinny jeans. For a long moment, she stares at me before we both seem to remember the princess on the floor at my feet.

Mother rushes to her with bright red cheeks. She picks her up and checks if she’s okay, but Eva waves her off.

“See you around, Izora Dawn,” the princess laughs like I’m once again missing the joke.

Gods, I hate this bitch already.

She skips her way to the door like a creepy doll that’s just come to life.

“Don’t forget to tell her the new rules,” she says to my mother. “Izora is just what I expected her to be.”

If my mother agrees or disagrees with her, she doesn’t voice it. I don’t bother looking at Eva for a second longer as I watch my mum, studying her features closely. She’s always been good at schooling her features and this time is no different.

“Rules?” I question once Eva leaves, narrowing my eyes on my mum. “How about you start explaining what you’re doing here.” My voice is hard, the question more of a demand.

“It’s a long story,” she replies and I arch an eyebrow. It’s hardly like we have anywhere else to be. She steps closer and a flicker of emotion shows on her face, a hint of concern. “I’ve been a High Warden for so many years, as you well know, but I have always hidden the extent of what happens at my work. Every single day I pass judgment on shadowborns for terrible crimes they have committed.”

“And you decided to turn them into Light Fae by using me?” I snarl at her, venomous emotion pouring out of every word. She’s my mum, someone I always thought was on my side, but it turns out I was wrong about that.

I can’t trust her, that much is clear.

She’s a fucking traitor.

My own mum!

“No, no, no,” she says, placing her hands on my shoulders. “I never wanted them to touch you, or even know about you! You have to believe that! I made a plan with Gold to get you out. Even your warden was hired by me and was part of the escape plan, but… it went wrong.”

Hearing that Luke and Gold were in on all this makes me even angrier. Tears of rage and pain sting my eyes. I thought they just liked me. Turns out they were paid to be on my side. By Selena, can I trust anyone anymore?

“I can see that,” I dryly respond, rubbing my arms which feel sore for some reason. I pull away from my mother and take a few steps backward until my wings graze the wall. “Why are you here?”

After a moment, she takes a sharp inhale and parts her lips. “Shadowborns are a curse on this beautiful forest and they need to be cured. We are finding the cure, and with Eva on the throne, a Light Fae army at her back, we can change the Enchanted Forest for the good.” Her eyes brim with so much hope and joy as she looks at my wings that it makes me sick. “We are so close.”

“You think I’m a curse? That I need to be cured?” I spit out, shaking my head. Who the fuck brainwashed my mother? I never thought she’d be one to follow the herd. She was always so strong-minded. But now I see it was just a facade. She was right up there with the front of the herd all along.

“No!” She steps closer to me and I try to move away, my back hitting the wall again. It’s crazy to think that for the past year all I’ve wanted was to hug my mum, tell her I love her and that I was going to escape the Shadowborn Prison somehow, but now I don’t want her near me.

This…this isn’t the mother that I know. She sounds like a monster.

“When you became a shadowborn,” she says in a whisper, “that was the worst day of my life. It never should have happened.”

“If I wasn’t a shadowborn, I would be dead,” I remind her.

“Yes, well, now you are exactly who you were born to be. A light fae,” she proudly states and I cough out a laugh, backing away towards the door.

“Shadowborns are not in need of a cure,” I all but shout at her. “Being a shadowborn is something I will always be proud of because there is a lot of good in the shadows. Without them, there wouldn’t be any light. You just aren’t seeing it because you’ve been brainwashed and I doubt anything I say now will help change your mind.”

A whole race of people is not a curse. It’s impossible to think like that. I was once scared of being a shadowborn and going to the academy, but it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. My soul knows I was meant to be born in the shadows, to die in that water, and be reborn as a shadowborn. But now all of that is gone. I’m just light now and I don’t know how to feel about that. Violated, betrayed, and pissed off are a few that spring to mind.

“You say that now, but without my cure, you would be nothing more than a slave to the magics world and we both know that,” my mother snaps, her cool facade breaking as an ugly snarl twists up her face. “Without my help, you could never have been anything. You were not born to be nothing!”

The tears I’ve been holding back spill from my eyes, but they’re not from pain or sadness. They’re from pity—pity for all the magics who think like my mother. She genuinely believes what she’s saying is true and just.

“I’d rather be a slave and free with my shadow magic than a slave for you and your experiments. You’ve changed who I am without my permission and now I’m locked up again! Your plan to get me free didn’t work so well, it seems. If anything, you’ve made everything worse. Good going, Mother.”

She sighs at my words and crosses her arms. We are both as stubborn as each other, but it seems one of us is on the crazy train and the other is never getting on board. The sooner she realises that, the better.

With a nod, my mother steps back. “Eva’s army needs training and I have no doubt you can hold your own in here. Besides, we need you alive and safe so you are better off in here than out there.”

I humorlessly chuckle, walking to the door as a flicker of memory comes back to me from when I was injured. Turning back, I catch my mum’s eyes. “Why did you tell Gold and Luke that you should take me to the light fae king and he would heal me?”

“That’s just one more thing I lied about to keep you safe. I’ve lied my entire life to make sure you could live, and I don’t regret it. I never will regret one moment.” Her own tears fall as I try to make heads or tails of what she just told me.

“Tell me the truth, Mum. Help me understand,” I whisper and she goes to speak when a loud buzzer shrieks somewhere in the distance. Its presence seems to make her remember where we are.

She wipes her eyes and straightens her back. “This prison has similar rules to the old one, but this is a private room and corridor for you away from the others. Stay safe and I will see you tomorrow.”

I almost scoff at that. A private room and corridor in a prison she’s helping to keep me locked up in? Gee, thanks. I step out of the room so she can follow me out.

“You’re really just leaving?” I ask when she starts to walk away. But then she turns on her heel and pulls me into a tight embrace.

“I love you, Izora. This is all for you. Please remember that,” she whispers in my ear. “And don’t trust Gold. He is only out to protect himself now.”

Before I can reply, she lets me go and rushes away, her clicking heels ringing in my ears while I’m left wondering what my next move is. I look up at the glass ceiling above the corridor as light brightly beams down on me, warming my skin. The glass flickers with magic and I know there is no way I could just break it and escape without magic. One thing is for sure, though, I’m getting out of this place.

I’ve had enough of the lies and secrets.

And like hell am I going to be a test subject for Eva.

Despite what my mother said, I need to find Gold, because if anyone can make a plan to get us out of here, it’s my gold dragon.

The layout of my new prison is strangely like the last, and I’m not talking about a few similarities. Almost everything is exactly like Shadowborn Prison. The only difference is that this place is blindingly white. Not a splash of colour anywhere apart from the steel gates and doors, yet still they are equally bland. Even the solitary confinement boxes are made of glass, except they’re in a huge hallway now instead of in the mess hall for everyone to see. I feel like whoever blew the prison up just plucked it out of Zorya and dumped it here in Vasili.

Déjà vu creeps over me as I follow the guard down the confinement hallway. The prisoners inside each of the transparent cages are all light fae, though I can’t tell who was born that way or turned into one like me. I do recognise some familiar faces from the last prison, including Tyler, whose eyes cut into me like I’m a piece of meat.

At the end of the hallway, we emerge into an echoing hall that reminds me of the arena. My eyes immediately land on Gold, slouched in a chair as if it’s a throne, his hands resting on the armrests. His gaze finds me as soon as I enter, despite all the other prisoners huddled around me. The guard who brought me goes to stand at the back with the other guards. My heart racing, I waste no time and march straight up to Gold.

“Zavier, what in the name of Selena is going on?” I hiss in a whisper.

He doesn’t even look at me, his eyes focused on the crowd. “Go stand with the other prisoners.”

I frown at him, my heart sinking to my stomach. “What are you saying?”

For a moment, he looks at me and in his eyes, I swear I see the man I was falling for, the man I trusted to stand beside me and fight for me, but it’s gone so quickly I could almost think I imagined it.

The muscles in his jaw clench hard as he continues scanning the others. “I’m saying… Leave. Me. Alone.”

Every word is gritty, and the vein in his temple thrashes with barely contained rage. Still, I reach out for his hand, but he swats me away as if I just stung him. The shock and confusion at his coldness wraps around my neck until I can hardly breathe.

This isn’t Gold.

He’s looking at me as if I mean nothing to him—as if I am nothing, only the enemy.

“I just want to talk in private,” I say around the lump in my throat. “Please… I need your help, Gold.”

Now he looks at me, his eyes narrow into molten slits. “But I no longer need you. Go stand with the others where you belong.”

His cruel reply really hits home that my mother was right about Gold, and possibly even Luke. They never loved or cared about me. They were just being paid to pretend. I react to all this before I even register what I’m doing. Lifting my hand, I slap Gold in the face, and his head snaps to the side from the impact. A bright red handprint swells on his left cheek and a tinge of remorse fills me. I never imagined I would ever hit one of my guys, but this betrayal, this heartache shattering me into pieces… is completely devastating. How could he do this to me? How could I have been so stupid to let my guard down and think he wouldn’t?

Hands seize my shoulder and pull me away before I can hit him again. Guards rush over to Gold, who waves them off with his eyes pressed only on me. Gods, I want to smack some sense into him!

“Calm down,” Axel whispers in my ear, muffing my face to his chest. His familiar scent grounds me and my anger fades. “Take a deep breath for me, cutie. That’s it. I’ve got you now.”

My tears seep through his black t-shirt. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he answers, running a hand soothingly through my hair. “I’ve no fucking clue what’s happening.”

I look up to see his wings moving softly behind him. “We’ve all been turned into Light Fae, Gold’s acting as if he doesn’t know me, and the Princess of Helios is parading around like a fucking peacock. We’re in hell, Axel, that’s what I think is happening!”

A burst of deep laughter rumbles in his chest. “Well, at least we’re together.”

“Got room for one more?” a familiar voice asks.

I pull away from Axel and leap into Professor Mune’s arms.

He holds me close, his hand falling to the small of my back, and his lips press lightly to the top of my head. He’s the only one in this room who doesn’t have wings. Letting me go, he turns to Axel with a smile on his face. They pat each other on the backs as though they are old friends or something.

“You know each other?” I ask, watching their exchange.

Scott slaps Axel fondly on the shoulder. “This is my baby brother.”

“Oh…” I glance between them, kicking myself for not noticing how similar they look until now. “Oooh. So Axel is the one who got falsely convicted?”

The Mune brothers laugh at my surprised expression, and for the first time since this nightmare began, I laugh too. It’s quiet and short, but it’s something that gives me hope in all this madness. Before I can say anything more, a buzzer sounds overhead and Gold stands from his chair.

“Listen up. Things have changed around here. Shadowborn Prison was your tester, but this prison is where you’ll get no second chances or a way out. Do not bother showing those around you mercy when none shall be given to you. It’s every man for themselves here, as your new governor, Princess Evangelina, is about to explain. Please give her a warm welcome.”

Not a single person claps when Princess Psycho Bitch appears. She sweeps her gaze around the room, her sickly sweet smile making me want to vomit.

Or punch it off her face.

Definitely punch it off her face.

The sight of Ronan behind her churns my stomach even more. That bastard betrayed my friend and by default betrayed me. He better pray he doesn’t come near me or I’ll kill him. He looks my way and smirks. I’ve changed my mind: I’m going to find a way to kill him, regardless.

“Changes have also been made with regards to the Blood Trials. This time, we are going back to their ancient roots. They will no longer be voluntary. Each of you will compete to display your skills to me. Those who survive will live to see another day, and those who perish deserve no place among greatness.” She doesn’t even falter when she continues, “May only the dangerous survive.”

As she walks away, followed closely by her faithful mutt, Memphis appears at my side.

“We’re all fucked,” he says.

Yeah. I think he could be right this time.

With Her Royal Bitch now gone, I turn to Memphis in hopes to distract myself from this fucked up situation.

“You took your sweet time getting here,” I tell him.

He throws his big arms around me and pulls me in. “I missed you too, kid.”

I smile into his chest, grateful to see my friend again. But I notice not all of us are reunited. After sweeping my eyes around the hall, I turn back to Memphis.

“Where’s Luke?”

“Here,” my warden answers, weaving through the inmates. He’s dressed like the other guards in this place, only his helmet is tucked under his arm. Unlike them, Luke looks positively miserable. Though the clear changes of the Light Fae magic made him that much more…gorgeous. The white wings rest down at his back, but the glow of them spreads over his high cheekbones and golden skin. Luke’s eyes watch me with the same interest. We are the same…but so much more now. Eva might have made us change, but we aren’t on her side. We fight for each other. “I got my job back.”

His gaze zeroes in on Memphis’ arms cradled around me, and his misery darkens.

Untangling myself from Memphis, I leap into the warden’s arms, and a lump swells in my throat as he holds me to his chest. His scent wraps around me and for a moment I am lost in it.

Another buzzer goes off and the guards begin herding everyone out. Reluctantly, Luke lets me go.

“Time for lunch, children,” Scott says, winking at me as if we’re still at the academy and everything is okay. By Selena, it isn’t. Not even a tiny bit.

Luke motions for us to follow the others to the mess hall, which we do because what other choice do we have.

“So does this mean you’re my warden again?” I ask him.

He holds the door to the hall open and nods.

“You don’t seem too happy about it,” I add quietly.

Pausing in the doorway, Luke glances at me, his eyebrows drawn together. I can’t quite read his expression. His eyes dart to the other guards in the hall and I suspect he’s being careful and will answer me later.

I follow the guys to the food station. When I see it’s Tyler serving, my appetite vanishes.

He slides his eyes over me slowly, an almost predatory glint in them, and I scowl as fiercely as I can. With a smirk, he slaps mashed potatoes onto my plate, followed by a runny beef stew, and hands it to me.

I’m surprised he didn’t throw it over me. I’m surprised I don’t throw it back at him before seeing if the plastic fork on my tray can puncture a good hole in his neck. I bet it can.

I take the plate from him, but his grip lingers on it. Gods, I want to punch him, just like I did when I first met him. I feel the guys watching me, ready to step in, but with a grin I let go of the plate and the food spills all over him. It’s an improvement, really. I lean in, grabbing some fruit while he stands there covered in stew, his body shaking with anger.

“You’re fucking welcome,” I say with a smile, then I march away with my guys howling with laughter behind me.

Dishes fall and smash on the floor.

I glance over my shoulder to see Tyler lunging over the servery toward me, but he’s held back by Luke and a pair of guards. I walk over to an empty seat, take a huge bite of my apple, and watch the scene unfold like I’m at the movies.

Axel drops onto the chair at my left, Scott takes my right and Memphis sits across from me, all their eyes pinned on Tyler.

“Should’ve known they’d bring a sick fuck like him to this place,” Axel mutters.

“Has anyone seen Coen?” I ask, a little part of me wanting him to be here. I’ll have a chance to kill him once and for all if there are truly no exceptions made in the new Blood Trials. I still need to avenge Abbie and her brother Kenneth. Killing the pack alpha is the least I can do for them.

“Not yet.” Memphis turns to face me, his jaw clenched. “But either way, kid, you need someone around you at all times from here on out.” He looks between the Mune brothers. “We protect her at all costs.”

“I don’t need protection,” I say, watching the guards pin Tyler to the floor and taser him. “Not at least from scum like him.”

If the guys disagree with me, they don’t quite voice it.

“Be that as it may,” Scott adds, breaking the silence that stretches between us, “Memphis is right. We will all stay together, especially during the Trials. At least I’ll be able to put my healing abilities to some good use there.”

I blink at Memphis, watching him turn a little green around the gills. He lost his fiance, Eliot, in a duo Blood Trial and I know it still affects both him and Axel.

“You’re entering?” I ask, my voice just above a whisper.

He nods. “Got no choice, kid.”

I set my apple down, suddenly losing my appetite. I’ve been so caught up in things that I never stopped to think about how my guys feel. I reach for Memphis and Axel’s hands, smiling at Scott, and swallow the lump of emotion that swells into my throat.

“No matter what, we’re going to get through this,” I tell him.

Scott wraps a hand around my waist and presses a kiss to my temple. “Together,” he says.

I grin at him. “Damn straight.”

Axel rubs the back of my hand while Memphis gives my other one a light squeeze.

Luke appears before the guards who helped restrain Tyler march to our table.

“I’ll handle this,” Luke growls at them, then grabs me off my chair. The guys rise to their feet, pissed by the way he’s handling me like a ragdoll, but I know from his expression alone that he’s putting on a front for the guards. He’s just doing his job, which protects both of us. I trust him.

I flash my guys a wink as Luke escorts me from the mess hall. He doesn’t speak the entire way to what I can only assume is the staff quarters. He swipes his pass on a white door at the end and waits for me to enter first.

The layout of the apartment reminds me a little of the one Gold had. But everything inside here has been taken straight from my home. When my mum said she got me a room here, I never imagined she’d quite literally taken everything from my childhood bedroom.

I sweep my gaze over the rustic furnishings, the fluffy blankets draped over my tartan bedding, the faux fur rugs on the floor. Even my white vanity that has pictures of my family on it.

The room should make me feel comforted in this time of darkness, but it doesn’t. I feel weird in here, like stepping into a ghost town. This is all just a reminder of what my life used to be like—the lie I was living under my mother’s roof.

Luke stands in front of me and gives me a quick once over. “Are you all right?”

I smile at his concern. “You were just stepping in before the other guards did.”

His lips spread into a grim line and a crease forms between his brows.

“Plus,” I add before he can protest, “I don’t mind a bit of roughness every now and then.”

His features soften, and he runs a knuckle down my cheek. “I just don’t wanna hurt you even if it is to protect you.”

I take his hand in mine, saying softly, “You never could hurt me.”

And then I press onto my tiptoes and softly kiss him on the lips. His hand threads in my hair and he lifts me off my feet, practically molding my body to his own. His tongue spears my mouth and I lean into his arms, thankful that despite everything, I still have him and my guys. Nothing in all the realms will take either of them from me.

My growling stomach interrupts the tender moment.

“You’re hungry,” he whispers, setting me back on the ground.

I shake my head at him. “Honestly, the last thing I want to do is eat right now.”

He frowns again. “Well, even so, I’ll get you somethin’ later.”

“Okay, but for now…” My cheeks heat up as I trail off and glance longingly at the bed. All I want at this moment is to be wrapped in one of my guys’ arms and feel safe again, even if it’s only for a short while.

As if sensing my unuttered question, Luke lifts my chin and searches my gaze. “Do you want me to hold you, jaybird?”

I smile bashfully at him. “Yes, please.”

He takes my hand and guides me over to the bed. I watch him pull back the lush bedding, strip the top half of his uniform off to reveal his lean, muscular chest, and then pull me into his arms underneath the covers.

I press my ear to his chest, listening to his heartbeat lulling me to sleep, and finally, I am safe again. How I wish the moment to never end.

Like an old movie, everything around me slowly flickers to life until it’s so clear I wonder if I’m dreaming at all. I’m sitting on a wooden bench, looking over a park full of human children running around, their laughter filling my ears along with the sound of birds chirping away. The hot sun shines down on me and I swear I can feel its warmth like I’m actually here.

I know this park, it’s not just a random place. My stepdad took me and Willow here a few times, and I never knew exactly why. He made us play with the human children and then took us for ice cream before telling us the reason one day. He wanted us to see that humans are just like us. I remember my mother being so angry at him and after that day, he never took me with him and Willow on their adventures. And our relationship never grew from that point; it festered into something cold.

I suddenly flinch, lost in my thoughts when a woman sits down next to me on the bench. I turn to look at her, and I nearly jump away. I’ve seen this woman in one of my dreams not long ago, and I know in my soul I would never forget her.

She is enchantingly beautiful with her golden hair, pale skin, and curvy body wrapped in a silk white dress that clings to her body. As much as she is stunning, her eyes make me believe she is a goddess of some kind because I’ve never seen eyes like hers. It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope toy when I was a kid. Her eyes are millions of sections of light that resemble butterflies. So beautiful and otherworldly.

“I have a secret I never told you when we met last time,” she starts, and then she giggles so softly that I can’t help but laugh with her.

For some reason, being around this…whatever she is…makes me feel happy and free.

“You told me the Titans are going to be free and you are a gift to them. What does that mean?” I question her and she smiles.

“My secret is that my name is Kaelah and I am your saviour as much as you are mine,” she says and picks up my hand. Her touch feels like touching the sun, but somehow I’m not in pain, I’m not burning. “And time is running out. I want you to know I’m here throughout all this.”

“Throughout what, exactly?” I demand, but she laughs again. The anger and confusion I felt for a moment flicker away into joy and I find myself laughing with her…even though I don’t know what is funny.

“There are five keys that lock the realm of the Titans, the only cage in existence that can hold them, and I am one of the keys. When you collect the other four…which are literal keys hidden in the Enchanted Forest…you must free me and we will lock them away together.” She leans in and lowers her voice as if telling me a secret. “We will fly together, Izora Dawn.”

My head swims with the words. Titan keys? How in the name of Selena is Kaelah a key?

“Who are you, Kaelah?”

She lets go of my hand to place her palms on either side of my head. “Once I was human, but then I became so much more…”

Her voice fades as she disappears and a slew of images blasts into my mind in rapid succession. Each image shows a pretty blonde human girl born in a human village, many, many years ago. Back when they had cabins as homes, and campfires burned in the centre of the tiny village she was from. The girl grows into a beautiful woman who the village folk say belongs to the gods.

One day, a goddess comes to her and with a single touch, sends her into a portal where ten titans catch her and she is lost forever from the human world. I freeze when I see the goddess with long black hair and eyes that remind me of the moon with how silver they are. She is familiar and yet I can’t seem to name her.

When the last image fades, I open my eyes to see Kaelah smiling at me.

“I am the gift given to the Titans, and I love them. But when they are in this world, they become monsters that I cannot stop. Power corrupts even the purest soul. You must understand that.”

“Where can I find these keys?” I whisper, feeling my eyes fill with tears as I’m suddenly sadder than I ever have been before. Kaelah’s pain siphons into me. As she cries, I realise I’m feeling her emotions, from her joy to her pain. How is this even possible?

“The keys will call to your soul when the titans are free. They call to all of the House of Dawn because the Dawn bloodline is meant to protect the forest and therefore the power lies in your souls.”

“I don’t understand.” I furrow my eyebrows and reach for her, but she lets me go and stands.

“You will know your place in the world soon…and then the world will need you and your sister to save it,” she says in a whisper.

Why would Willow help me save the Enchanted Forest? I doubt she would want to help anyone, even if she was forced.

“I don’t think we can save anyone,” I tell her. “I’m not the saviour you need.”

Kaelah laughs as the dream fades away.

“You were created on a night full of hope and light. You were born at Dawn and you are far more than you know, Izora.”

“Wake up!”

Eva’s voice snaps me back to reality. I blink my eyes open and see her face way too close to mine. I follow her arm resting on Luke’s chest to the dagger she has pressed under his neck. With her other hand, she slips a needle into his arm and I freeze, knowing with one move she could kill Luke. Panic flares through me as I watch the serum getting pumped into his body. What the hell is she injecting him with?

“Behave or I will take pleasure in killing him,” she warns in a hiss. “I simply gave him something to help him sleep as we both know he wouldn’t let you go.”

Very slowly, she pulls the dagger away from his neck and I finally feel like I can breathe.

I climb off the bed, always watching her because I’m not stupid. Princess Psycho Bitch might be crazy, but she is a trained killer and is the one in charge here.

Eva better watch her back, though, because I swear I will stab her in it the first second I can.

She glides to the door and holds it open, pausing to look back at me. “Are you coming or not?”

“Do I have a choice?” I question.

“Fae like us do not get a choice. We are born to follow orders,” she replies, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I wasn’t born fae. Those wardens turned me into one.

Looking back at Luke, watching his chest rise normally for a moment, I know I don’t have a choice. I could kick and scream, and most likely get a chance to punch the princess, but it won’t do me any good and I’m worried what she’ll do to Luke in retaliation. I also need answers and a way out of this place for us all. The best shot I have at that is with Eva.

Holding my head high, I follow her out into the corridor and she leads the way down to a blank wall at the end where there isn’t anything. Eva taps the middle of the wall and a screen appears out of nowhere. Quickly, she types in nine digits, and I catch the first three. Five. Six. Nine. I mentally repeat them a few times so I remember, and watch as the wall slides to the slide to reveal a lift on the other side. Eva presses the button and the lift comes up, making a dinging noise as the doors open and we step in. The second the door siphons shut, Eva’s hand rests on my shoulder and she purposely digs her long nails into my skin.

Her eyes, filled with darkness and cruelty, lock onto mine. “When the lab is done with you, I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you slowly, painfully, and we won’t be alone. I’m going to make your parents watch as you bleed into my hands.”

I grin at her even though I feel rattled inside. I’d never let her see that, though. “You can try, princess.”

Her laugh fills the lift as she lets me go and I flatten my shaking hands to my sides. In the world of the fae, death threats are amusing it seems.

And I don’t believe either one of us is joking.

“You really do look like her,” Eva says after a moment of staring at me in silence.

The lift jerks to a halt, and Eva slips through the doors before I can reply. Her cryptic comment shouldn’t surprise me. This bitch be hella crazy. But I can’t help but wonder who she thinks I look like. It’s not like I have any siblings, or even cousins for that matter.

I follow her down the long shapeless hallway, only the sounds of our footsteps for company. Guards flank a gated entrance at the end. They open it as soon as Eva arrives. My heart bangs against my ribs as I follow her through. To my surprise and unease, the room I step into is a laboratory. Everything is clinically white, much like the rest of this prison, but there are strange kinds of machinery in here, incubators and fume hoods, and research devices littered over the steel countertops. Yet even more startling than the equipment are the familiar faces I see.

Doctor Frank, the man who wanted to take me for ‘testing’, and Gold, who couldn’t look more disinterested to see me if he tried. For once he isn’t wearing a suit. A black shirt hugs his torso, the sleeves rolled up, and gold braces stretching over his shoulders. His pants and shoes are a similar black, but it’s not really his clothes that catch my attention. It’s the huge gun he’s loading with strange-looking cartridges.

I glare at him, a silly part of me hoping he’ll acknowledge me, but of course, he doesn’t. He whispers something to the doctor that I can’t quite pick up. Whatever it is, the doctor looks over at me and motions me to come hither.

Eva waits, watching as I follow him to one of the beds. My focus zeroes in on the six needles lying on the cart by the bed. My heart thrashes so violently that I struggle to hear what he says to Eva. I don’t say anything to them. I look only at Gold.

“What are you doing?” I spit out.

The edge of his lips curl and he looks over at Eva. She arches a paper-thin eyebrow at him, then the two of them chuckle like they’re sharing the best inside joke in the fucking world. Tears sting my eyes and I peel them off Gold to look down at the needles. My palms turn sweaty as I struggle not to show any weakness.

They can’t know I’m afraid.

That’s the kind of bullshit Eva gets off on.

She’s not the kind of fae to fight her opponent in battle. No, Eva would rather watch those fight to the death for her so she doesn’t need to get her hands dirty. She knows nothing about honour or integrity. She’s a damn coward.

The doctor wraps a rubber band around my arm and prods around for a vein. A slight relief fills me when I realise he’s just going to take some blood. The doctor fills two needles with blood, then picks up another and hovers it by the edge of my left wing.

Panic flares through me. I twist on the bed and reach for his hand on instinct, digging my nails into his pale skin. Gold clicks his tongue and shifts over, restraining my arms so the doctor can take blood from my wings. A sharp pain grips me when he injects the needle. After a moment, he sets the needle on the cart and the liquid inside is silver. I snap my hands away from Gold and glare up at him.

The tears I’ve been fighting to hold back get the better of me and slip from my lashes. I feel so utterly betrayed by him. Why would he do this to me? I thought… I meant something to him. But clearly I was wrong. I don’t mean shit to Zavier Gold, otherwise, he wouldn’t be putting me through this.

“Very good.” Eva snaps her fingers at me. “Come.”

And with that, she skips toward the door at the other side of the room. I cast Gold a generous glare as I slide off the bed and follow her, my wings throbbing in protest of the pain. Just as I step through the door, I catch a fleeting glance from Gold, an almost pained look on his face, but he looks away as soon as I meet his gaze.

I really mean nothing to him.

It shouldn’t hurt me as much as it does, considering he’s the one who betrayed me, but the pain takes root inside of me, spreading to every valley of my body. I’m angrier at myself for letting my guard down and developing feelings for him. How could I have been so stupid?

The air catches in my lungs when I see what’s inside the room. My mother hunched over a panel of flashing machinery and computers, and a girl floating in a glass tank. It’s not just any girl, either.

It’s Sage Millhouse.

One of my friends from the academy.

She’s hooked up to a bunch of tubes that siphon into her, yet her expression is calm as if she’s merely cast under a sleeping spell. Her pink hair floats and wraps around her outstretched arms.

“What the fuck?” I hiss in a whisper, more to myself than anything.

My mother turns to smile at me. “Hello, darling. I see Her Highness has decided to reveal what we have been working on all these years.” She points to Sage. “The first of her kind, Sage will soon become a full-blooded light fae instead of shadowborn. Isn’t this marvellous?”

Bile rises into my throat. “What…have you done?” I barely manage to get the words out.

“I am healing her,” my mother answers, her tone unaltered despite my obvious distress. “I am fixing her.”

“You say it so pleasantly,” Eva drawls, dragging me over to the tank. “I much prefer the gory details. Did you know that a fae can endure several weeks of torture before their body can no longer heal them? It is rather fascinating. By the third week, I can manipulate their cells into a state of metamorphosis, which has, at long last, almost resulted in the cleansing I’ve desired my whole life. This right here”—she places her hand to the glass—“will soon be the end of all shadowborns. Now comes the Age of Light. Those who swim in darkness will have no place among us.”

I look between them, stunned for words. They are both fucking crazy, and this is my own mother! I knew she was fucked up and had gone to the ‘dark side’, but I guess I deep down I secretly hoped she’d see the light again. Now she’s merely using the light as a way to conceal her darkness. I no longer recognise the woman standing before me. She’s as much a monster as Eva and anyone else who particulates in this ‘research’. It’s just another word to justify the torture they’re doing.

Before I can even think about what I’m doing, I slam Eva’s face into the glass. A tiny fraction of it shatters, but my satisfaction at seeing Eva in pain is short-lived. She lifts her hand and I’m lifted into the air, an invisible grip tightening around my throat.

“Please, Your Highness, I beg of you!” My mother stands between us, her face ashen. “She is still my daughter. Please?”

For a moment, I think Eva is actually about to kill me, until she lets me go. I fall to the floor, gasping for air and tears gathering into my eyes. Gold appears at my side and lifts me to my feet. I try to shrug him off but he holds me like a vice while I try to catch my breath.

“Take her back,” the princess orders, turning to Sage again. “I have all that I need for now.”

Gold drags me out of the laboratory, his breathing harsh and rapid, and shoves me into the lift. The doors were barely closed when suddenly he’s pushing me against the wall and his lips crash against my own, snatching my breath away until all I can think and feel is him.

Roughly sinking my hands into Gold’s thick, soft hair, he presses me harder into the wall. His lips explore mine with a fevered passion that makes me dizzy. Every ounce of heartache I felt before momentarily vanishes. Gods, I hate and love this man. And I’m so fucking confused, but I know that right now, at this moment, I want more.

I will always want more of Gold.

It’s why I was so devastated by his rejection, but from this kiss alone I know that he never rejected me. He was merely playing Eva’s twisted game. However, if he thinks I’m letting him off easy for the pain he’s put me through, he’s got another think coming.

He breaks the kiss first, brushing my lips with his one last time. It’s a teasing and almost painful kiss that makes me desperate for more. As soon as the kiss ends, reality comes crashing back down, and with it my list of questions.

“Why the fuck did you pretend I’m nothing to you?” I ask, shoving him back and stepping away, needing the space to clear my thoughts.

Gold looks at me for a moment in silence. “I have a son,” he finally says, “and if I don’t do everything she says, Zander will be killed.” I freeze, turning back to him, and he continues. “I never knew about the child. His mother was a one-night stand years ago.” His eyes darken a little, filled with pain. “Fuck, the goddess gave me a son who’s life now depends on what I do here. It’s a cruel irony if ever I’ve seen one.”

A tinge of jealousy slithers into me, the kind of jealousy that burns up in my soul. It disappears as quickly as it arrives and I suck a deep breath of relief. Gold was protecting his son? This changes things a little. It makes me less angry with him and more sympathetic. Still, I wish he’d told me sooner because it would’ve saved me so much pain. I can understand why he didn’t, though. Holy shit…Vina’s Zander. The shadow warden is in love with her. I only met him once or twice in the academy, but he seemed like a good guy. I guess the dragon eyes he has makes a lot of sense.

“I met him in the academy,” I say. “He’s in love with my friend Corvina. He is a good guy as far as I know.”

“This is messed up. You’ve met my son before me.” He almost humorlessly laughs, though the smile on his lips doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I thought I’d have to knock some sense into you for being on that crazy bitch’s side.”

Gold surprises me by laughing this time as he steps closer. I take his hand and rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He’s warm to the touch and pressed this close to him, I can hear a low rumble that must be coming from his dragon side.

“I thought you would hate me,” he whispers.

“For protecting your kid?” I look up at him. “Never. You did the right thing even if it makes it harder for us. I’m just glad I was wrong, and that you weren’t the one who hated me.”

He runs his hand through my air. “I could never hate you.”

I let out a breath I wasn’t aware I’ve been holding, relieved to hear those words.

“The lift is the only space we have that the cameras don’t see. Be careful what you say in your room or any open space,” he warns me. “And I will find ways to secretly help you in the trials. I will never let you die in there.”

“Until our next lift journey then,” I say as the elevator jolts to a stop and he backs away from me, his expression turning from the Gold that I know to the cold man who everyone else sees. I just have to remember we are all playing a game and I know who is going to win.

Me.

The doors spring open and I step out, but Gold doesn’t follow me. I turn my head back as I walk away, Gold’s eyes connecting with mine. A second is all we need to say goodbye before the door shuts and I squeeze my eyes shut. Breathing out the anger and pain this damn place causes in my chest, I steel my back and open my eyes before rushing to my room. Luke is still laying on my bed and I rush over to him. I sit on the edge and shake his shoulders a few times, which slowly brings him out of his sleep. His groggy eyes find mine, and even without words, he knows something is wrong.

“What happened?” He shoots up, rubbing his neck where Eva injected him. I give him a brief rundown on everything, except for in the lift with Gold. The way Luke glances at my lips when I say I was in the lift with him and the flash of anger in his eyes lets me know my puffy lips are giving too much away.

“I feel fucking helpless in here,” he growls, standing up too quickly.

He almost stumbles before I reach out and catch him. Before he can do anything, I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest, hearing his heart beating so fast, just like Gold’s. I don’t know why, but there’s something comforting about listening to their heartbeats.

Luke doesn’t move and I fear he’s going to push me away before his shoulders drop. Instead, he wraps his arms around my shoulders and holds me to him, and I know he needs me as much as I need him to calm down before he gets himself fired.

The fact of the matter is, we need to escape this place, and a guard is useful to have on the inside.

Our life can’t be just stuck in here.

“I keep having dreams of a woman,” I tell Luke, wanting to tell someone I trust. “She’s a goddess named Kaelah, and she talks about Titans. I was going to ask Scott what he knows about them, but do you know anything?”

He looks down at me, his hand stroking my back. “Do you think these dreams are real?” There’s a note of tension in his voice, but at least he’s calmed down.

“Yes. I feel like she is real. It’s not just a dream. I need to find out what the Titans are.”

“Why don’t we head for breakfast and look for Scott there?” Luke suggests, pulling away from me and drifting his hands down my arms. My whole body shivers and the smirk on his lips makes me shake my head. Why are the men in my life so good at teasing? Luke leans closer, so close I can feel his hot breath on my ear. “Later.”

One word and my knees instantly go weak, my body springing to life.

Later indeed.

We quickly clean up and I get changed into new clothes, the same as before, and find a hairband to tie my hair up before following Luke outside. I’m still worried about him considering he was knocked out, but he seems to be okay as we head straight for the common area. There aren’t many people around, but the group that is here is not one we wanted to see.

Tyler sits in the middle of a bunch of thugs, at least by the looks of them, and he has a dagger in his hand. The dagger is vaguely familiar to me, and my body locks up when I realise why.

It’s the dagger that Coen used to stab me.

The sadistic bastard holds the weapon to his throat and winks at me. Luke steps forward, his hand reaching for his taser, but I put my hand on his chest to stop him.

“Careful, Tyler. You wouldn’t want to slip and stab your stupid ass, would you?” I say, my lips curling into a snarl.

Tyler lowers the dagger and grins at me. “The only thing that will be slipping is when I slide this dagger into your chest and dig out your heart. I will enjoy seeing your eyes fade from all life in the Blood Trials soon.” He runs his tongue across the flat side of the dagger, his gaze pressed on me. “I will enjoy tasting your sweet blood on my blade more.”

Creepy much?

“Tyler, you don’t have a girlfriend, do you?” I tilt my head at him. “Because your skills with women sure need a lot of work.”

Luke chuckles and I must have hit a nerve because Tyler’s face turns a deep red. He steps forward, his eyes darkening. His thugs move with him like trained pups and I brace myself for a good fight when footsteps register in the distance. I turn to see Scott, Memphis, and Axel walking through one of the doors. They look ridiculously hot like they’ve stepped out of a fantasy romance book or something and they’re here to fuck shit up. My guys—because that’s who they are to me now—surround me.

“Is there a problem here?” Axel’s mouth twitches, his arms folding over his chest.

Tyler glances at his guys before resting his eyes on me. He knows a straight-up fight, even when he has the only weapon, is not going to end well for him. His thugs might be big, but they don’t look like good fighters to me. Not compared to my guys.

“Be seeing you in the Trials, Izora,” Tyler growls with a smirk that I want to punch off his face. He then turns and clicks his fingers. His little pups follow him out to the common area, which is now filled with inmates making their way to the mess hall.

“Death threats before breakfast,” Scott mutters at my side. “Welcome to the Light Fae prison.”

Death threats are the least of my worries right now. My heart hammers in my chest at the sight of the double doors leading to the next phase of the Blood Trials. I barely finish breakfast when the guards usher everyone outside and into a steel hall at the back of the prison. My breath fogs as I rub the chill from my arms and my gaze locks on Eva. It’s not just her that catches my attention, but the Shadow Warden at her side.

Warden Kyle stands tall with his arms clasped behind his back, the buttons on his black uniform gleaming. He scans the hall and smirks when his gaze lands on me.

Out of all the wardens who could’ve been on her side, why him? I guess it makes sense when I think about it. He was the one who brought me to this hellhole, and the sight of him makes me even more certain I was framed. It’s all making sense now. Eva’s the one who’s been orchestrating this shit show all along with her minions like Warden Kyle at her side, doing the dirty work for her. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that she got the wardens to abduct me from the academy in the first place.

I glance over the hall at Luke standing with the other guards.

He’s looking back at me as if he, too, is realizing what I am. A crease forms between his brows as he looks between me and Warden Kyle.

Axel’s hand wraps around my waist and I look up at him, hating the pained expression I find on his face. Memphis hasn’t said a word since we got here.

Scott, on the other hand, has been going over strategy plans.

“Are you and Memphis okay?” I whisper, ignoring Eva’s spiel about how great and honorable the Blood Trials are. “I know you both lost someone you cared about in the Trials.”

“Eli.” Axel nods, his eyes flicking over to Memphis and then back again. “I’ll be okay, cutie, but I’m not so sure about the big guy. Losing his fiance the way he did… he was never the same after it.”

My eyes sting with tears at the thought of Memphis’ pain. I can’t imagine how traumatic it must’ve been to lose his loved one. It makes me all the more determined to protect my guys as much as I can and make sure I don’t lose any of them.

I move beside Memphis and take his hand in mine, giving him a reassuring smile. To my delight, he returns it, though he sniffs and clears his throat as though he was choked up.

“Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for.” Eva sweeps a hand to the doors towering behind her. “I’m sure many of you will be familiar with the Blood Trials, for those who are not, listen up and listen well.”

With a nod from Eva, Warden Kyle unclasps his hands and crosses his arms over his chest. “The object of the Trials remains the same: try not to fucking die.”

“Now isn’t that reassuring?” Memphis mutters, winking at me.

“And remember that King Ares is watching,” Eva adds, giving us all that sickly sweet smile of hers, “so put on a good show. Again, may only the dangerous survive, and good luck.”

When the doors open and everyone is herded through them, I say to Memphis, “We’re going to be okay, you know?”

He stops for just a moment and looks down at me. “Yeah,” he says, his lips tugging into a smile. “We will be, kid. There’s no way any of us are dying before that crazy bitch does.”

Despite the fear clogging my throat, I laugh at that and repeat the words ‘we will be’ through my mind like a mantra, mostly to convince myself into believing them. Memphis is right. After everything I’ve been through, I’m not dying before I see Eva’s corpse rotting on the ground.

Once we are through the doors, the guards separate the men from the women. I find myself alone as I hurry into the locker room and open the one with my name on it. I’m surprised to find a familiar white jumpsuit inside. Although when I slide my fingers over the material, it’s cotton instead of leather. Maybe it’s suited for a certain climate. Whatever the reason, I’m kind of glad it’s not leather. As I pull it out, a pair of goggles and a thick black scarf tumble out and land by my feet.

I look around at the other girls and watch some of them wrap the scarves around their faces. A few other girls tie them around their waists and necks. I decide to hang mine over my neck once I’ve slipped into my jumpsuit and pulled my boots back on.

Unlike with previous Trials, the weapons aren’t stacked in piles around the room. They’re hanging inside the lockers as if they’ve been specifically assigned to us.I find a collection of small throwing knives and two canteens filled with water. At the back of the locker is a golden bow. I gently remove it and run my fingers over the smooth wooden limb, surprised to find my name inscribed there. The handwriting is distinctly Gold’s, a smile curves my lips. He did say he would look out for me.

Weirdly, I don’t find any arrows in the gold quiver, but I throw it over my shoulder anyway. Hopefully, the bow is magical, or else I’ll be screwed. Once I sling the bow onto my back and hang the weapons on my belt, I slam the locker before hurrying into the next room.

The guys are already waiting for me, equipped and ready to go with their scarves over their mouths.

Axel and Memphis have swords, some of them sheathed in scabbards on their backs while clenching another in their hands.

Scott is holding what looks like some kind of tranquilizer gun, and gods, he looks sexy holding it with his tattooed arms on display. Their dark clothing clings to their muscular bodies, showing off every well-defined muscle. With the three of them on my team, the others would be insane to get in our way.

I train my gaze on the endless doors that run in a vertical line. I can’t see what’s on the other side, not with the orange light shining through, but something tells me they’re portals. Hopefully, when we step through them, it won’t be like jumping through the holes back at Shadowborn Prison.

As soon as I stop beside my guys, a deafening buzzer sounds overhead and everyone steps forward to claim a door. Memphis takes the one on my right while the Mune Brothers take the two on my left. With a deep breath that makes my heart stutter, I tie the scarf around my nose and mouth and step into the blinding light.

The hot, dry air hits me first. It slams into me and knocks the wind from my sails as I suddenly start to fall. I instinctively reach out to dig my hands into the sand around me, but gravity pulls me until I roll to a stop at the bottom of the dune.

One by one, my guys land beside me, followed closely by all the others. Everyone falls down the same hill, but they don’t waste any time once they reach the bottom.

Inmates shift into various animals, some of them fighting each other, before running off.

My guys form a protective circle around me and I use the moment to take in my surroundings. There’s nothing out here for miles apart from an endless red desert stretching toward the auburn horizon. I hold my hand to my forehead and squint my eyes against the sunlight, just managing to make out the escarpments in the distance.

“We should go there,” I say, pointing at them.

Memphis tackles a wolf that lunges forward, killing it with a single swipe of his sword. “Then let’s go.”

Axel turns to Scott. “Brother, can you shift?”

“I might not be fae but I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Scott says, and in the blink of an eye, he shapeshifts into a huge white eagle with beautiful slate-grey wings. He chirps at me and then takes to the sky.

We’re quick to follow, and thank goodness, because once my feet leave the sand, Tyler lunges forward in his wolf form. If I’d lifted off the ground a second later, my foot would now be snapped between his jaw. I can’t help the smug grin that spreads over my lips at the sight of him snarling up at me. Why the idiot isn’t flying, I have no idea… until we reach the halfway point.

“Fuck! It’s a flight field,” Axel grumbles, jutting his chin toward the veil of magic protecting the escarpments. “Motherfuckers.”

“What’s a flight field?” I ask, landing on the ground beside him.

“It’s a magical barrier that prevents anyone and anything from flying. They used the same bullshit during the Fae Tryouts.”

“Well,” Scott says, shapeshifting back, “we should hurry up if we need to walk the rest of the way.”

And so we do. The instant I step through the barrier, a gold arrow appears in my quiver. I nock the arrow and shoot it a few feet into the desert to test it. The arrow hits the sand and then materalises back inside the quiver. Thank the goddess the weapon is indeed magical. With an even greater determination, I follow the guys across the desert, and we soon figure out why we can’t shift by the time we reach our destination.

What I thought was escarpments is actually an enormous maze with towering red-stone walls. They tower over us and cause shadows to stretch over the desert around us. The inmates who arrived before hurry through one of the entrances and I can already feel myself tensing up at the thought of being trapped in a maze. Way too claustrophobic for my liking.

“Looks like we gotta split up,” Memphis says, then glancing at the other inmates not far away, adds, “and soon. Won’t be long before they catch up.” He looks back and grins at me. “Not that I’m above spilling some wolf blood.”

“Well, before you get happy trigger with that, we need to decide who stays with Izora.”

The guys all look at me, their expressions equally determined as the last. I’d rather not get separated but there’s two entrances so we don’t really much of a choice. We need to keep moving through the maze if we want to get out.

I look up at Memphis and Axel, who both hate the Trials more than anyone. They can also take care of themselves and I’d rather not stress them out more with having to look out for me.

“Me and Scott will take the right door,” I say, nodding at the professor. “Is there a way for us to find each other if we get lost?”

Scott steps beside me. “There’s a lost and found charm called vrísko̱.” He holds out his palm and waves his other hand over it. In the palm of his hand, four silver pins appear. “These will bind us for the duration of this Trial. When either of us gets lost, we simply rub the pin and repeat the spell. A light will flare into the sky and your pin will glow the closer you are until it’s reunited with another pin. You repeat the process until all four are returned. Only those who wear the pin on their clothes can see the light.”

We each take one.

Scott pins his to the collar of his black t-shirt and whispers the incantation.

“Hidden far or near, I call for Selena’s moon to guide us here.”

I pin mine above my heart and nod at the guys. “Okay, let’s go.”

With Scott at my side, we enter the maze and the sun is immediately blocked out by the narrow walls. My heart squeezes at the thought of being separated from Axel and Memphis. I know they can handle themselves, but I still hate that I won’t be there to help. The thought of Tyler and his wolf cronies attacking them boils my blood.

Scott falls into step beside me. “Once this is all over, I want to cook you dinner.”

I blink up at him, surprised by the random comment. “I’d like that,” I say, looking around for other inmates. So far so good. “Plus, food is totally the way to my heart.”

“I know. You always liked to snack during my class.”

My cheeks heat up as my lips spread into a smile. “Damn. I thought I was sneaky eating those chocolate orange bars. Sorry. I used to get really peckish after all the braining.”

Scott chuckles and runs a hand through his white hair. “I didn’t mind since they’re my favourite. Perhaps I can bake you a chocolate orange cake for dessert.” He holds out his hand and pulls me back from the side of the wall. “Watch out for those vines. They’re poisonous.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

His grip stays on me even once we pass the vines and make our first turn.

I arch a brow at him, grinning. “So this cake thing. Are you asking me out on a date, Professor Mune?”

He nods, using his sword to cut the vines from our path; they slither aside, hissing at us. “Of course I am. As soon as I get you out of here, I’m going to be treating you like the goddess you are.” His gaze lands on me, his eyes blown with desire. “You will never go hungry or suffer under my watch. You’re mine to protect, to serve, and to love. I plan on doing just that once we’re free again.”

My heart skips a beat at his words, half accelerated by love and the other half fear. “Isn’t it crazy when you stop to think about everything that’s going on? It feels like yesterday I was totally not checking you out at the academy.”

Scott scratches his trimmed beard, his eyes pressed on me. “Things will never be the same as that again. Even when I do get you out of here, I’ll never teach at the academy again.”

Now my heart does a stupid little dance in my chest. “Why not?”

The ground starts to tremble, scattering the sand underneath our boots.

“Because the only place I want to be is at your side. Wherever you decide to go, I’ll go.” He pauses for a moment, then looks down and to the side, flashing me a wink. “Besides, I doubt the new headmistress will hire me back after seducing one of my students.”

“Naughty professor,” I grin at him. “Okay, I tell you what. You can stay at my side for the rest of eternity so long as you let me bake that cake with you.”

He returns the grin, making my pulse speed up. He’s so damn sexy. “Can you cook, Izora?”

“No, but I would like to learn.”

“Then I will teach you. There’s something beautiful about cooking delicious food with the one you love. It’s why I enjoy cooking so much. It brings people together and creates memories that will last a lifetime. It’s why I started doing it after so many years fighting in the war.”

“You fought in the Sans Enfant war?” I gasp, but I’m not totally surprised. He looks every bit the alpha military man.

“For six years,” he answers, his expression hardening. “I’ve seen our lands spilled with too much blood. I try to avoid it now if possible.”

I love how badass and yet sweet Scott is. It’s the perfect, lethal combination. I smile up at him, however, it fades once I look ahead. A nest of humongous plants slither across the dead-end wall, snapping the air around them with razor-sharp teeth.

“Uhh, I think we’ve got a problem.”

Scott follows my gaze and mutters under his breath. “Dead end. Damn it!”

“That’s not the only thing,” I say, watching the wall of plants claw towards us. It takes me a moment to realise they’re not clawing but rather the maze is narrowing, pushing the plants in our direction. They snap and hiss like rabid animals, and I really don’t fancy getting swallowed by one. At least not until I’ve tried that cake. Oh and killed Eva, of course. “I think we should run.”

He takes my hand and nods. “Good plan!”

And then we’re off, running through the maze with the same urgency I usually feel during the Blood Trials.

The walls close in on us and the screams from trapped inmates being crushed is harrowing to my ears.

I grip Scott’s hand as tightly as I can and run with him through the endless stone hedges. The sun is stifling in the auburn sky, beating down upon us with the wrath of a cracked whip. Despite the futility of it, I try to use my wings and find myself panicking when they don’t work. It’s not like I didn’t know, but now that I really know, I’m starting to worry about how the hell we’re going to get out of here.

“This way,” Scott says, leading me into a wider pathway.

I glance over my shoulder, and at the bottom of the path we just escaped the plants spit out acid that disintegrates a couple of inmates. Their entire bodies dissolve into thin air, yet the plants suck at the venom residue as if they’re still there. A shudder wracks through me and I grip Scott’s hand tighter.

Okay, so the vines are poisonous, and the plants dissolve human bodies.

Got it.

The wolves howling in the near distance stops me in my tracks. Something blocks out the sunlight above, and when I hold my hand to my forehead and look up, I see a wolf running along the tip of the hedges. It leaps over them and then down toward us, blocking our path.

I nock the arrow and pierce its chest just as it lunges forward, but the wolf continues running.

Scott stands in front of me and punches the wolf with his bare fist.

I grin at the sight of it falling to the earth and shaking itself before retreating through another wall.

The female cries from the other side twist my stomach and I realise that Tyler and his wolves aren’t interested in winning the Trial. They’re interested only in the killing, otherwise they’d run through the walls straight to the prize.

Before I can suggest hunting them down, the ground shakes again and this time sand blows overhead. I lift my scarf and cover what I can of my face without obstructing my vision. The sand sweeps around us like a wave for five whole minutes. It takes another fifteen for the sandstorm to return, which it continues to do so at quarterly intervals. As if the Blood Trials didn’t suck enough.

Scott holds my hand the entire way through the maze. More dead ends await us, each one containing a creature that will kill us if we don’t kill it or escape it first. It’s like Eva’s created this huge sandbox to keep all her twisted creations in. As I fight off the other inmates and try to find a way out of the maze, I imagine how entertaining it would be to watch Eva trapped in her own little sandbox. I’d pay good money to see how she fared. This thought alone is enough to keep my momentum as I hurry through the maze. A blue light shooting into the sky grabs our attention as we reach a hedge with three paths.

“One of them is lost,” Scott says, glancing at his pin. Neither his nor mine is glowing, which means whoever has gotten lost isn’t close by. “We should continue and look for them on the way. It had better not be my brother or he’ll get a hard kick to the nuts.”

Footsteps slam behind me, I spin around to see Axel breathing heavily. “What… what was that, brother?”

In spite of his torn shirt, bloodied fists, and dirt-covered face, Axel looks to be in one piece. Relief fills me and I pounce into his arms, pressing my lips to his. He snakes his hand around my waist and pulls me closer.

“Hate to cut in,” Scott says, a tinge of annoyance in his tone, “but we’ve got the Blood Trials to survive.”

I pull back from Axel and smile sheepishly at Scott. “Sorry.” Then turning back to Axel, “Where’s Memphis?”

He juts his chin toward the sapphire light in the sky. “Dumbass got lost. Well, he found a tomb, then he got lost trying to find me. What a fucking idiot.”

“Do you know the way to the tomb? Is that where we’ve to go to get out of this cesspit?” Scott asks firmly.

Axel snorts and shakes his head. “Yeah, it’s where we have to go, bro, if the orbs are anything to go by. Thought you professors were smart? Anyway, I saw a kid grab one, then they were out. Easy as that.” He points at the left path ahead of us. “I reckon Memphis went back to the temple which is thataway.”

In reply, Scott punches him lightly on the shoulder and I can’t help but grin as I follow them. Unfortunately, another sandstorm sweeps over us the moment we step into the next pathway. By the time it passes, we’re surrounded by other inmates who, for the first time since I entered the Blood Trials, don’t try to kill me. If anything, they’re just trying to survive like us.

My guys tense up at the sight of them, but they calm a little when they realise they don’t mean us any harm. Yet. You can never be too sure in this place.

I wipe the sand from my lashes and follow Axel into what I assume is the core of the maze. Surrounded in acres of red-desert sand is a stone temple flanked by columns shrouded in fire. Memphis stands by the entrance, cornered by an enormous pack of wolves that prowl toward him. I notice Tyler at the front of them, snapping his teeth at Memphis, and my instincts kick in as I charge forward. Axel holds me back with his hand and I glare up at him.

“What’re you doing? Our friend needs help!”

“Trust me, he doesn’t.” Axel trains his focus back onto Memphis. “Let him handle this one himself.”

Confused, I look back at Memphis, and I’m stunned to see how effortlessly he takes the first couple of wolves down. More of them lunge forward and every strike of Memphis’ sword is frenzied by an unmistakable fury that I’ve never seen from him before. Axel, sure, and even Scott when he gets all intense, but not Memphis. As intimidating as the man looks, he’s more like a big friendly giant to me. It’s like the rage he’s kept bottled up for so long is finally seeping out and he’s no longer trying to suppress it. Even the inmates who catch up with us stop to look before braving their luck to grab one of the orbs hanging outside the temple.

Blow after blow, Memphis hacks into Tyler’s wolves, his entire body stained with blood. I’d feel remorse for those he’s killing, but as I look at each corpse hit the ground, I feel nothing but satisfaction.

Tyler and his wolves have slaughtered magics since before this nightmare began, and it’s about time they get their just desserts. An eye for an eye. If they’d shown even a hint of remorse, I’d consider stepping in, but instead, I stand back and watch as karma is served. If revenge is a dish best served cold, then karma should be served steeped in traitorous wolf blood.

“Axel, Scott, can you help keep the wolves distracted while I grab the orbs?” I ask, watching as the wolves turn fleetingly from Memphis to kill the inmates trying to get an orb. “Distraction seemed to work with the natives last time.”

Axel nods, rolling up his torn sleeves. “Time to play with some puppies.”

“You hate dogs,” Scott counters, following his brother.

“Hold up now. I don’t hate. I’m just more of a cat person since all these damn wolves started chasing me all the time.”

I hear Scott laughing before they fearlessly jump into the chaos and join Memphis. While they’re distracted, I pull out my arrow and run across the sand toward the temple. I shoot multiple arrows at the wolves and inmates who spot me and try to stop me.

Luckily I only have one close call, and I’m not surprised when I find it’s Tyler. His wolf chases me just as I manage to reach the temple. Before I can pull out my dagger or reach for another arrow, Axel shoves me behind him and kicks Tyler right in the face.

My back hits the sand as Axel lifts his leg again, but he’s not quick enough this time. Jaws snap around his shin and Axel lets out a scream I’ve never heard from him before; not even when he was attacked in the last Blood Trials. His blood trickles between Tyler’s fangs and he shakes his head, hauling Axel’s leg from side to side.

I stand on instinct and gather my bow, shooting the arrow with shaking fingertips. The tip just misses Tyler, but Scott appears and grabs Tyler’s ears while Axel pries his jaw from his leg. The sharp copper tang of my injured mate sends tendrils of fear around me. I nock the arrow again, my hands glowing with sapphire flames, but Tyler lets go of Axel’s leg and Scott throws him several feet across the desert.

Throwing my bow down, I lift my hands and let my fire out. There’s no way I’m letting these wolves hurt my guys anymore. Memphis might’ve wanted to tackle this fight on his own, Axel wanted to protect me, and Scott wanted to keep my guys safe, but I’m not standing by and watching these wolves rip them up into pieces. My magic siphons onto the sand, creating a wall of fire between us and the wolves. Their eyes gleam at me through the flames, but I hold myself tall, lift my chin, and make a point of looking directly at Tyler before I smile and turn back to my guys.

We won, motherfuckers! Take that!

Axel’s pained groans pull me back into reality and I hurry over to him. Memphis grabs four orbs from the wall while Scott bends down to inspect Axel’s wound. Thank goodness he’s a healer. From the amount of blood Axel has lost, and is still pouring out from just under his knee, this could’ve been fatal if Scott wasn’t here to help us. I’ve never been more relieved to have my professor here with me than I am right now.

Memphis hands me the orbs and nudges my shoulder playfully.

“You did good out there, kid.”

I beam up at him, trying my best to ignore the amount of blood that covers him. “All in a day’s work.”

Our light-hearted moment is interrupted by the sound of Scott snapping at his brother.

“Quit your fucking moaning.”

Axel’s eyes nearly burst out from their sockets. “Quit my moaning? My kneecap was nearly ripped out by a fucking werewolf. I can moan all I want.”

“You still act like a baby whenever there’s blood,” Scott mutters as he waves his hand over Axel’s knee.

Axel grumbles something intelligible under his breath.

“I can stop the bleeding and soothe the bone until we get back, but you’ll need surgery as soon as possible. You should be fine in a couple of days since nothing was broken, only scratched.”

“Oh, only scratched. Well, that’s alright then, isn’t it? Dickhead.” Axel grins and winks at me when he says this, but I can tell from his pale expression that he’s in a lot of pain and deeply worried. If he breaks his leg, he won’t be able to protect me, or himself for that matter, and I know that’s all he wants to do in this place. “Just help me stand up, brother.”

When he’s on his feet again, albeit supported by Scott and Memphis, I hand him an orb and kiss him briefly on the lips. It doesn’t appear enough for him. He grabs my neck and pulls me down for another kiss, a deeper, more passionate one.

“Let’s get you the fuck out of here,” he says once we pull away, and then we’re all pressing our orbs that return us to the light fae prison.

Lying on cold grass, the long strands brush my neck as I look up at the clear blue sky above. White clouds in various shapes float past me and I smell nothing but the flowers in the nearby field with the wind blowing through the trees. It’s so peaceful here, so relaxing and beautiful, and with every moment I lay here memories of the prison and the Blood Trials drift away. They seem like a distant version of myself now, because in these dreams, I’m okay. I’m not trapped and helpless. My mother didn’t betray me. My life isn’t the fucked up mess it’s become.

“When I was a small child,” Kaelah says as she comes to my side and lays next to me, “I used to lie in these fields and gaze at the clouds. I would try to guess what they were pretending to be and create stories for them.”

I turn my head to look at her as she watches the clouds, and she almost looks like one of them; beautiful and enchanting yet so far away.

“I would search for horses. They have always been my favourite animal. But my brother, he loved ducks.” A pained smile spreads over her lips. “Strange boy, he was.”

“You had a brother?” I sit up and instantly see a group of boys playing together, the images so real I could almost touch them. Three young boys chase after a ball, shouting and calling out to each other. Two of the boys have brown hair, but one has silver hair with piercing blue eyes.

Kaelah nods to him. “My brother is your ancestor, Izora Dawn. Your mother’s ancestor.”

I keep my eyes on the boy and watch him kick the ball into the trees. All of them are laughing as they chase after it, leaving us alone in the field. I suspect they never saw us here, anyway. “I was not the only special child in my family.”

“So we are related?” I ask Kaelah and she nods only once.

“Yes. But you are the first of your bloodline with the power my brother had. He was the God of Dawn. Your father’s and mother’s blood was a perfect combination. Their child would have always been incredible, and your birth was written in the stars right next to your sister’s. Next to mine. Next to all the gods.”

Her words resonate with something deep inside me, something that brings tears to my eyes. But I find myself shaking my head despite how badly I want to agree with her.

“I’m nothing but a prisoner,” I say, quietly. “You have the wrong person. My name doesn’t belong up there with the gods.” Now my disappointment twists into frustration. “You come to me in my dreams, tell me I’m meant to be something amazing through cryptic words, but in real life, I couldn’t stop my friends or lovers from getting hurt. I couldn’t stop Eva. I’m nothing special.”

Kaelah chuckles. “Oh, Izora, you must believe in yourself! The day is coming and you will realise who you are.” She takes my hands in hers. “And when you find out the truth, you will claim your name. You will claim your power and no one will hurt you ever again. Nor you destined mates.”

When I wake up, I’m clinging onto the bed sheets crumpled up in my hands. I breathe in some air and it takes me several moments to realise where I am. I’m not in the Blood Trials anymore. I’m back in my own bed with Luke sitting beside me, his head bowed and quietly sleeping.

I place my hand on his knee, and he snaps awake, yawning as he lifts his arms. With the Trials still fresh in my mind and Kaelah’s cryptic words, I move to his side and snuggle into him without a word.

“How do I not feel like shit?” I question, still exhausted from the Blood Trials. “I swear I’ve still got sand in my hair.”

“The magical meds your mum gave you afterward would be the reason,” he explains to me. “They did a good job.” At the same time as he says this, he slips a note into my hand and places a finger to his lips. I unravel the note in between us and recognise my mother’s handwriting:

Luke reads it with me and we frown at each other, the unspoken question stretching between us. What day is coming?

“How is Axel?” I ask, unsure if it’s safe to talk about it here. “Can we go and see him?”

“Breakfast first, then yes. I’ve heard he is recovering well thanks to his brother and your mother.”

Even though my mother is messed up in so many ways, I’m thankful to her. I will always love her, she’s my mother after all, but it doesn’t mean I agree with everything she has done and is doing. I really don’t and I’m not sure I can forgive her for it. It’s all just so complicated. It’s like no matter how much I want to cut ties with her completely, I can’t bring myself to.

“Thank you, Luke.” I lean up and kiss him softly on the lips. The kiss turns into anything but gentle as he tugs me onto his lap and deepens it, his hand threading through my hair. We kiss right until the doors open and the prison comes to life with noises. Another day in hell, here we go.

As soon as Luke gives the go-ahead, I put my breakfast down and hurry after him to the infirmary. It’s strangely quiet when we enter the ward. The only doctor I see is one I don’t recognize, which in a way puts me at ease. Of course, Doctor Frank works here too, but I don’t like the thought of him being anywhere near Axel.

“I’ll wait here,” Luke says a few doors down from Axel’s room. “You’ve got about an hour, jaybird before the nurse comes back.”

I stand on my tiptoes and press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for doing this.”

His hand lingers on the small of my back before he lets go and watches me enter Axel’s room. I find him lying in bed with his leg draped over the pale blue blanket and buoyed on a pillow. Relief fills me when I see he’s safe and well apart from his small injury. It was small, but if Scott hadn’t healed him, he would’ve died in the Trials.

Half of me wants to slap Axel for risking his life for me. The other is glad because I get to spend more time with him again. I met him on my first day in prison and I really can’t see him not being a part of my life from now on.

He looks my way when I enter the room, and I twist the lock behind me.

“There she is,” he says, a great big grin spreading over his lips. “How you doing, cutie?”

“Don’t worry about me. You’re the one who was hurt.” I walk over and sit on the edge of his bed, my gaze drawn to his leg. The bandaging is quite thick and there’s no blood seeping through. Again, I thank Scott for his quick thinking, otherwise, I’m not sure I’d be sitting here right now. “You saved my life, Axel.”

He shrugs as if it was nothing. “Just doing what I had to,” he says.

My heart squeezes. “I don’t want you to do anything because you have to especially if it’ll cost your life.”

He reaches over and takes my hand in his big one. “I’m just flesh and bone, babe. All these years I’ve thought about what I’d do once I was free again, and you know what? I started to think I was better off rotting away in prison.” His lips tilt ever so slightly. “Until I met your feisty ass. You’re what matters to me now and I’ll do anything to protect you. Simple as that.”

“I matter to you?” I whisper, my breath hitching. I may not have known Axel for long, but this is pretty much his way of saying that he loves me.

“Damn straight you do,” Axel smirks, his eyes gleaming. “Now bring those sexy lips over here and kiss my wound better.”

“You hurt your leg, not your mouth,” I say with a smile.

He silences me with his lips, his strong arms pulling me over his chest. I practically melt into him, my hands threading through his hair, my body covering his. Thank the gods I locked the door.

“You want me to kiss your wound better?” I grin against his lips, straddling his hips to look down at him. He arches a brow at my removal but doesn’t say anything, only nods. “Then let me do that for you. You’re not just flesh and bone. Not to me.”

“Oh, yeah?” His deep voice is gruff, lowering to that sexy level that drives me wild.

“You’re my Axel.”

His cheeks dimple into a smile that makes my heart skip a beat. Fuck, he’s handsome. He could literally crush me with his bare hands and yet there’s a softness about Axel Mune that I get to see in rare moments like this. It’s addictive.

I lean down and kiss his cheek, his jawline, then I trail my lips down his throat. A groan rumbles in his chest and vibrates against my lips. Gently I nibble his skin and leave a trail of kisses all the way down his arm to the bottom of his hospital gown. He sucks in a breath when I near his groin, but I move farther down to his leg and softly kiss the bandage that covers his knee and part of his shin.

He groans, staring down at me with lust-filled eyes. “You’re killing me here, cutie.”

While I continue gently kissing around his bandage, I reach under his gown and slide my fingers around his thick cock. He’s already hard and the moan he gives when I stroke him is deeply erotic. I work my way back up and pull the blanket around me so that the cameras can’t see what I’m doing. Axel’s hand slips under the blanket and holds my head while I take him into my mouth, swirling my tongue around his cockhead. He groans when I slide my tongue over his slit.

“Fuuck yeah…”

His moans of endearment quicken my pace and I take him to the back of my throat. His hand pushes on the back of my head and holds me there for a moment, forcing me to breathe through my nose and gag only slightly. His throaty moan is worth the momentary discomfort. He strokes my hair and I bob up and down again, sucking every inch of him until his legs twitch and his grasp on me tightens.

I will never get tired of this, our bodies together, transmitting our feelings for each other through movements, taste, and sound. Axel’s hand slides down my back and lands on my hip with his other one. With a sharp pull, he rips my leggings between my legs and pulls my panties to the side. His fingers trace my lower lips while his thumb plays with my clit, circling and flicking until I can’t bear it anymore.

Lifting the blanket and pulling it over us, I carefully position myself over him and slowly slide down onto his cock, my face pressed to his. We kiss the instant he fills me for the first time and I’m lost to the sensations, unable to restrain the moans that tear from me. I was terrified of losing Axel yesterday, and I thought for sure that I had. Now that he’s here, albeit a little injured, all I can think about is how much I need him.

How much I love him.

Without him and the guys, I’d be losing my mind in this place.

But the only thing I’m losing here is control. Blissful, spine-tingling control as my orgasm builds like a crescendo.

“Axel,” I breathe, my forehead falling to his. “Oh, gods…”

“Let go, baby,” he whispers, slamming my hips down hard on his cock. “Let go and let me feel you cum around my cock.”

I kiss Axel to smother my cries of ecstasy as pleasure soars through me in waves. He’s not far behind, and when I clench around him, he moans into my mouth as he spills into me.

After a moment, he pulls the blanket down but keeps it draped over our waists. We stay like this for a long moment, pressed to his body with his cock still inside me. With our bodies entwined like this, I wish we could stay this way forever. But the reality is quick to dawn on us when a hint of magic creeps into the air and the door unlocks. Not a second later, Gold stands in the doorway, his gaze locked on us, the edge of his mouth twitching.

“Izora Dawn,” he grits out, his eyes narrowing into molten slits. “The Governor wishes to see you. Get yourself cleaned up. You’ve got two minutes.”

Gold doesn’t say a word during the long walk to the lift. When the doors close and seal us inside, I look up expecting him to speak, but he doesn’t. His hands clench into fists at his sides and he keeps his focus on the dial slowly working its way down. Once it almost reaches the last floor, I slam my palm against the emergency stop button. The lift jolts as I spin around to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I demand, folding my arms over my chest.

His gold eyes cut right through me like metal shards. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Uh-huh. Then why do you look like you want to kill someone?”

At that, he trails his gaze up and down my body; the muscles working hard in his face. “I’m just annoyed I don’t get to spend time alone with you. And whenever I do see you, I’m unable to protect you as I wish. The other men do not seem to have this issue.”

My chest tightens at his pained expression. “You’re doing what you can to protect not only me, but everyone else in this prison. You have a lot on your plate, Gold.”

He looks away. “It’s not enough.”

I cup his hand in mine. “It’s all any of us can do right now.”

If Gold agrees or disagrees with me, he doesn’t say. Instead, he reaches out to run his knuckle down my cheek and slides his fingers under my chin, tilting my head up. I always forget how mesmerising his eyes are until I’m this close looking into them. I can see my reflection in his vertical iris and my breath hitches when they dilate, intent on me.

“Soon this will all be over,” he whispers, rubbing his thumb across my cheek, “and I’ll get you out of here. Perhaps you should enjoy your time away from me, because when I’m alone with you again, I will not be able to stop touching you.”

A smile slides over my lips. “Are you feeling a little possessive over me?” I ask, recalling how livid he looked when he saw me with Axel. “You do know there’s room for only one dragon in my life, and that’s you.”

Ever so softly, Gold leans down and brushes his lips over mine. I savor the warmth of him against me, the feel of his hand wrapping around my waist and pulling me to him. For a long while, we stay like that. It’s not until his watch beeps does he let me go with a frustrated groan. He brushes my hair behind my ears, then reaches for the emergency button and reactivates the lift again.

“If I didn’t have to keep up this pretense, I’d lay you on this floor and make love to you so passionately that the air will be fucked out of your lungs.”

Heat rushes into my cheeks as I grin up at him. “You know what? I think I’d like that.”

He kisses me again before the doors open, and like the flick of a switch, his soft expression hardens into ice. He’s all business again as he leads me down the hallway and past the guards into the infirmary. My heart picks up its pace and only intensifies when I see Doctor Frank whispering into Eva’s ears.

Her eyes slice through me the instant I enter the room. “Izora. How good of you to join us.”

I roll my eyes and follow Gold over to her side. “Didn’t have much of a choice.”

She ignores me and turns to the doctor. The door at the other end of the room, the one where Sage is being held, opens and my mother walks in. Her feet root to the spot upon seeing me and I meet her gaze, surprised by how ghostly pale she looks. My mother has always had a milky white complexion, but now she looks deathly and it’s made worse by the dark bags framing her eyes.

A hint of smile graces her lips, but it falters when I don’t return it. Turning her attention back to Eva, my mother sweeps across the room.

Doctor Frank pulls out a drawer in one of his many cabinets and slaps on a pair of latex gloves. When he turns back around, he’s holding a tray with a familiar syringe, and my stomach clenches.

Gold stands at my side and watches the doctor approach me. I flinch at the size of the needle again. To my surprise, Gold presses a hand on my shoulder, and while it looks firm to the untrained eye, I know he’s just trying to support me.

While Doctor Frank slides the needle into my wing and extracts blood, I grind my teeth and snap my head toward Eva, more to distract myself from the pain burning through me.

“What are you even doing with my blood? I’m obviously not that important to you”—I glance at my mother pointedly—”otherwise you wouldn’t have me running around your playground trying to survive. So what’s the deal?”

I hiss when the doctor yanks the needle out and Eva smiles at me. Turning to my mother, she says, “Meira, would you care to show Izora what her blood has accomplished?”

My mother hesitates briefly before moving to the computer. I watch her scroll through the touchscreen, type in a series of passwords, then tilt the monitor towards me. Thousands of names chase each other across the screen. I don’t recognise any of them, but something tells me whatever the names mean can’t be good.

“Many have died in preparation of the Age of Light,” Eva says, nodding at the hundreds of names marked in red font. “But with your blood, and the blood of someone like you, we have been able to erase the infestation that is shadowborns by transforming them into light fae.” She turns to me, her smile widening almost manically. “It was thanks to you, Izora. You helped us achieve what I have longed for my entire existence. No more shadowborns.”

“Bullshit.” It’s all I can say as I shake my head in disbelief. “There’s no way you’d be able to do it. In your fucking dreams, more like.”

Eva doesn’t look at me. “Go stand by the door,” she snaps at Gold, making my blood boil. She then looks back at me. “If you don’t believe your own mother’s research has been successful, why don’t you follow me?”

I glance at Gold before following Eva and my mother into the other room. He’s looking right at me, his eyebrows drawn tightly together, and gives a reassuring nod. It helps as I walk into the next room to see what horror awaits me. Or rather, what horror has been done to my friend.

Sage is still trapped inside the water tank, but there’s one major difference this time: she’s fae now. Silver wings float softly behind her along with her pink hair.

Horror twists my stomach in realisation of Eva’s success. She has killed hundreds of innocent shadowborn just to get this. And what for? Because she hates us?

“It has taken me multiple prisons to achieve this,” the princess says, standing beside me with her eyes on Sage. “But your blood has made their deaths worth it. There’s no sacrifice I am unwilling to make to protect the Forest from shadowborns.”

“Why?” My voice comes out small, and I’m unable to take my eyes off Sage. Tears sting my eyes at the thought of her being tortured. She doesn’t deserve this. No one does. “Why do you hate us so much?”

Now Eva looks at me, her smile vanishing. “It’s funny how you shadowborns were born from darkness and yet it was people like me who lived in your shadows.” Turning back to Sage, she says, “All my life, I lived in the shadow of a girl my father wished I could be, even before I was born. When the light is put up against that depth of darkness, there is no way to triumph without falling into the darkness yourself. In essence, I had to become what I am today to be seen.”

“So you’re doing all this because of your daddy issues with King Ulric?” I laugh at her, much to the distress of my mother. “You’re a psycho bitch, but I’m not buying it. No. There’s more to it than that.”

The black veins darken and pulse underneath Eva’s flesh. “I am doing what I need to do to ensure the safety of my kingdom. Shadowborns are a virus that must be stopped from spreading. It was a shadowborn who destroyed my life long before I was born. It is only fair that I return the favor by wiping out the very species she comes from.”

I swallow the fear rising into my throat. “Corvina.”

Eva nods. “Long has her existence haunted me, however that is all about to change. I’m going to put an end to Corvina, then I will crush every shadowborn that gets in my way.” She steps closer, bringing her nose inches from mine. “And guess what, Izora? It’s because of you I will be successful in doing that. I suppose I owe you my thanks. You are the one who made this happen.”

My mouth opens to reply, but at first, no words come out. It’s like they’ve abandoned me as much as my mother has.

“I won’t let you hurt Corvina or anyone else I love,” I tell the princess, looking her dead in the eyes.

Her smile returns, even more patronizing than ever. “You already have.”

At breakfast, a girl in a dark grey jumpsuit and wings like my own hurries past my table. Just as I stand to leave, she slides me a note and rushes off before I can ask her anything. I frown down at the parchment before quickly reading it while Luke puts my untouched food away:

I barely finish reading when a guard kicks the side of my table.

“Give me that,” he growls, snapping his fingers.

I fold the note and look him up and down. I haven’t seen this guard before. Then again, it’s hard to tell since they all look the same with their uniform and helmets. However, based on his build, I’d say this the first time I’ve come across this delightful asshole.

He pulls his taser out. “I said give me that, scumbag!”

“Oh, look,” I say, ripping the note and blowing the pieces at him. “Magic.”

I’m expecting his hand when he reaches out to slap me, allowing me to jump to the side. What I don’t expect is the boot that collides with my stomach and knocks the air from my lungs. I stumble back onto the table, gasping for breath while tears spring to my eyes.

Sonovabitch got me right in the gut!

Before I can react—because of course, my stupid ass wants to fight back—the guard is tackled to the ground. All six-foot of Axel hits the guard and his fist smashes down again and again until the guard’s face is covered in blood. Everyone gathers around to cheer.

Guards rush to separate them. Luke included, though I see him kicking the guard in the nuts while trying to drag Axel off him. Everything’s happening so fast at first I don’t see the tendrils of smoke wrapping around Axel like a bullwhip. They pull him away from the guard and hold him immobile in the air.

Another tendril snaps around the guard’s wrist and pins him to the floor.

I look across the hall to see Gold standing with his hands raised, a look of murder burning on his face. His eyes move to my stomach, back up to my face, and then down to the guards.

“Stand back!” Every guard in the room falls back at the sound of Gold’s voice. “Arrow, take that trainee to the infirmary and then bring him to my room. I’d like to have a little chat with him.” His words, dripping with venom, make me smile.

I watch one of the helmeted guards, Arrow, drag his colleague off the floor and out of the mess hall. Hoping the asshole doesn’t fall and break his neck with all his stumbling.

Gold releases Axel and sits back in his throne, his knuckles blanched white from clenching so hard.

I’m okay, I want to shout at him, but I know I need to pretend to hate him. So I glare at him instead.

“You should be resting,” I shout at Axel, marching over to check on him. I’m more concerned than angry to find him away from the infirmary.

His face still flushed, the muscles working hard along his jaw, fluttering like crazy. “Now I’m glad I decided not to.” He spits blood out and wipes his swollen, bloodied hands down his white shirt, leaving a dark red streak.

Luke stands in front of me and pulls me to him before I can speak. He holds me at arm’s length, studying me with narrowed eyes, and my heart stutters at the look on his face. His eyebrows are drawn together with a harsh crease etched between them, and the way he’s looking at me as I’ll disappear at any moment is unsettling me. I’ve never seen him so…vulnerable before.

“What am I going to do with you, jaybird?”

I frown at him, admittedly embarrassed by lashing out at the guard. If I didn’t do that, he probably wouldn’t have hurt me, and then Axel wouldn’t have got involved.

“I’m sorry,” I say, my cheeks heating. “What’s going to happen?”

Just as Luke opens his mouth, Gold stands from his chair and motions more guards over. He’s holding a scroll in his hand wrapped in scarlet ribbon. In the far corner of the hall, I spot a white wolf looking at me. Its lips pull back into a snarl. Don’t tell me Eva’s got a wolf messenger now? Gods, I wouldn’t be surprised. She probably has a white one just to piss me off since it feels like an eternity ago that I last shifted into my wolf form.

Luke snaps his head to the side as if listening for something. It’s then I realise he’s got an earpiece in.”No matter what, jaybird, I’ll protect you.” He says this as if he’s never going to see me again.

I don’t get a chance to ask him what he means because a group of guards rushes around us, pulling me away from him. They drag me and Axel from the hall before we can even ask what the hell is going on.

“Where are you taking us?” I ask after several minutes of walking, my arms twisted behind my back.

The guard holding me doesn’t answer as he drags me down a series of hallways and into what feels like the basement of the prison. The lights switch on when we arrive and I realise it’s not the basement.

It’s solitary confinement.

Fuck!

Opening my eyes to see I’m completely underwater is a good reason to freak out.

I spin around; the salt burning my eyes as I finally see the surface. I swim up, pulling my body to the top of the water and crashing onto the surface.

A tiny island made of sand stands before me and a familiar woman sits on the edge of the shore, the waves crashing over her legs as she watches me. I swim to her until I can walk through the water and sit down at her side.

“Is there a reason this dream started with me underwater?” I ask Kaelah. “Being a shadowborn, water freaks me out. I died in it.”

“The water saved you. You should enjoy it.”

I sigh at the answer and drop down beside her, my fingers buried in the sand. I miss the beach, even if I don’t like the sea. I miss having the freedom to visit it.

“Watch the creation of the Titans,” Kaelah says, “for this is where they were born.”

“Here?” I look around at the endless sea stretching toward the horizon.

The ground shakes beneath me, slowly at first, before building up until it stops. Water shoots up from the surface of the ocean as a green sphere rises from the depths, shimmering in the sunlight. The waves crash harder against us.

I stand up, watching the sphere rise higher and higher until the cloud itself hides it.

“They were born of water and pure magic. They traveled the world, blessing the earth with magic and gods to protect it. They loved the earth until it became too much. The power corrupted them, the gods betrayed them and they lost themselves here,” she whispers, but I hear every single word. “Don’t let evil corrupt your soul, Izora. You are far stronger than anyone before you.”

“I won’t let Eva turn me as evil as she is. I just want to be free,” I tell her.

“And do you want your people, the light fae, to be free?” she asks me.

“Why would that be my choice?” I ask her and she secretly smiles, placing her hand on my arm.

“Secrets always come out, Izora Dawn. Always.”

“Wake up, scum!” a light fae guard shouts into my face, his hand shaking my shoulder.

On instinct, I grab him and turn his hand back, hearing his fingers break just before he screams and falls away.

Two more guards step into the room, pulling out guns and tasers from their side holders.

“If I shoot you with this, it will fucking hurt,” comes one of their snarls. The tallest guard steps forward, picks his friend up, and shoves him out of the room, looking back at me. I can’t see anything about him through his helmet, but he makes me curious. Guards usually hit first and ask questions later.

“Why don’t you then?” I ask, standing up off the bed. If he is going to shoot me, I’m better off standing and taking my punishment.

“One, he was wrong to wake you that way,” he starts, sliding his gun back into his holder. “Two, I know who you are. I overheard Princess Eva talking. I won’t make your containment here worse than it needs to be. No one will hear about the guard’s broken hand.”

“What did Eva say?” I ask but he shakes his head, stepping away and walking out of the room. Why would he do that? Why would Eva say something that would make a guard pity me and not want to hurt me?

Fuck, this prison is giving me a headache. I throw my clothes on, brush my hair, and slip my shoes on before taking a much-needed step out of solitary confinement. The three guards, including the one holding his sore hand, surround me and guide me down several bland corridors until we get to a locked door. The guards unlock the door before pushing me back into the common room.

I glance around, not seeing any of my guys and more than a few enemies. Shit, I need to find someone in case one of the idiots here tries to fight me alone. It’s totally not because I’m worried and need to see if they are okay. Gods, who am I fooling? It certainly isn’t me.

I head to the training room, hoping Axel or Memphis will be in there, but it’s empty. Just as I’m about to leave, the restroom opens and Scott walks out. He doesn’t see me as he walks right up to a punching bag and starts smacking the shit out of it. Every hit is filled with frustration and anger, and I feel each hit like an arrow to my heart. I know how he feels.

“Scott,” I gently call for him, wondering how lost he is and if he can snap out of it to see me. He stops almost instantly, fist held in the air and his eyes turn to me. His hand drops as he walks straight to me and I crash into him at the same time. His arms hold me tightly to his tank top, his thick muscular arms holding me like he never wants to let go, and I get it. “I’ve missed you too.”

“I feel fucking powerless to save you in here. You were just taken from me. Gone, Iz, and I couldn’t do anything to fucking save you.”

“Look at me,” I demand, cupping his cheeks to draw his gaze to me. “I’m alive, I’m safe. I’m with you and we will not live the rest of our lives here. By Selena, we will escape.”

“I love you, Izora,” he softly tells me. “I fucking love you and I will get you out. I promise.”

“I will get us all out,” I tell him. “And I love you more.”

“By Selena, I don’t think that is possible,” he tells me and kisses me, pouring all of his frustration and love into every single kiss. He picks me up, carrying me to the training room door and pressing me against it. “Let me make you come, I need to feel you.”

“The cameras,” I whisper as he kisses his way across my neck and I slowly almost forget we are being watched.

“Fuck. Wait, I have an idea.” He picks me up, carrying me with him, and I can’t help but chuckle as I kiss his cheek.

Scott kicks open a door and then places me on the floor. I watch as he turns four of the shower heads on and they immediately push out hot water onto the tiles and soon fills the room with steam.

“Now they can’t see,” Scott says while walking up to me, and I notice each and every step. I suck in a deep breath as he stops right in front of me, a sexy grin on his lips. “I’ve wanted to taste you since we met, Izora Dawn.”

“No one is stopping you now,” I breathlessly say.

The way he looks at me is almost too much to handle.

His eyes burn with a fire I feel underneath my skin as he pulls my top over my head. He kisses me from my jaw all the way to my stomach, his hands running over my hard nipples as he lowers himself to his knees. Pulling my trousers and panties down, they pool at my feet and I step out of them just before he kisses me right on my clit.

I moan as he dives in, using his tongue to drive me crazy and so close to an orgasm. Throwing my head back, I roll my hips against his face as I come hard and fast, my legs shaking with the sensation.

Scott picks me up, pushing my back against the wall as I work on his shorts, pushing them down and taking his cock out. Lining up at my entrance, he cups the back of my neck as he slides inside me.

“Fuck, Izora. You’re so damn tight.” He groans against my lips as he thrusts in and out of me. We feel perfect together, so damn perfect. Feeling another orgasm building up, I kiss Scott harder, deeper as we move against each other, both of us close to the pleasure we know is so near now.

I come, tightening myself around him and he stills inside me, filling me with his come only moments later. Breathlessly, we stare at each other and I grin, the water feels cold as it falls down on us.

“The next time we do this, we will be out of this place and free,” Scott promises me.

I wish I could believe him.

But hope in this prison feels like it’s dead before it’s even begun.

“This isn’t good,” Scott whispers to me as we stand on our own, watching the double doors slide open for the next Blood Trials. There is a new kind of tension between us all, and as I glance around, it looks like everyone has a smile on their lips except for me and Scott. We are on our own. Scott isn’t a good fighter, but a brilliant healer. It still means I will be fighting a good deal of the horrors awaiting us while trying to keep him alive. If I had Axel and Memphis again, or even Luke…this would be a little easier to win. I know going in with only one good fighter is a death sentence.

Some inmates already see this as a perfect time to try to kill me. Fuck.

“I know,” I say, clasping his hand tightly in mine.

I refuse to show how scared I am. If I’m going to die this time, I’m going to go down fighting and without a trace of fear in my eyes.

Eva’s heels click as she steps out of the double door as they slowly open. Gold stands at her side, too close in my opinion, and his eyes search the crowd, locking in on me and Scott alone. His lips narrow into a thin line as Eva smirks at me.

“Good luck today. I am very interested in the results of this Blood Trial,” she says.

I bet. Bitch.

“I’m bored,” Gold announces, stretching his thick arms above his head. “A Blood Trial and a bit of murder would be a fun way to wake me up.”

“I haven’t allowed you to battle,” Eva snaps as he steps forward.

Gold looks back, and they stare at each other for a long moment before she nods. Looking very pissed off, Eva clicks her fingers and turns around, walking back into the room with her entourage of guards.

Walking to my other side, Gold joins us and I hear a light whisper under his breath that I’m sure he didn’t mean for me to hear.

“Fuck, I’m a shit father.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper when we step through the doors. He looks down at me, his eyes speaking a million words he won’t say here with everyone around to hear them.

Gold loves me. I know he does. There’s no other reason he would risk his son’s life to fight in the Blood Trials with me, to save my life. I wish I could tell him I feel the same way. That I will always fight for us. But the words catch in my throat and all I can do is nod at him as if to convey my understanding.

“But thank you,” Scott says, breaking the silence. “We haven’t formally met. Scott.”

“Gold,” he shakes his hand in front of me, just before we get to the lockers. We each head to a separate locker and in mine I put on my white leather jumpsuit, clipping various daggers and one large sword onto the holders at my waist and back. Two blue stones rest in front of me and I tuck them into my side pockets, not having a clue what they are for but I’m sure they are useful in whatever shit show we are walking into.

I plait my hair with one of the hairbands and head into the next room. A shimmering wall of water lies in front of us, and many of the prisoners stand next to it, not touching it.

“Why does it always have to be water?” I mutter, wishing it was anything but.

The water isn’t still, it moves like a storm is just above the water, pushing strong currents in more than one direction. The magic ward holding the water up starts to crack the second Gold and Scott step out of the lockers. The cracks get worse as they come to my side and take my hands. We all know the water is going to slam into the room the second the last prisoner comes into the room.

I glance up at Scott, just as it breaks, and cold water blasts into the room. I gasp in water, coughing on it as the force of the currents pulls my body in every direction, making me feel sick. Gold’s and Scott’s hands slip from the mine at some point and soon I blackout, praying to Selena I don’t drown.

It feels like only seconds before I’m waking up, coughing salty water out of my mouth onto the rough surface I’m lying on. Crawling to my feet, I balance on the back of an old car. I rub my eyes as I look over the ruined city I’m in front of. What once might have been London, is now a mixture of high rises and old buildings that have been smashed into pieces. The water isn’t deep here, but the sea is slowly pushing waves of water into the city. It won’t be long, maybe a day, before the bottom part of the city is underwater. That means I don’t have long to find Gold and Scott and get to high land.

I don’t even know what the aim of this Trial is since the bitch didn’t bother to tell me.

I’m sure it’s a hide and seek. Or survive until the city drowns. Who the fuck knows? I check my weapons before choosing to shift into my wolf. She can smell the guys out. I shift quickly and my wolf instantly tracks down Gold and Scott further in the city. She jumps off the car and into the water, swimming to the shore and running fast into the city, jumping over wrecked cars covered in ivy and bikes that nature has taken back.

Every window of the buildings are smashed, making it harder to stay hidden as we go around the corner. A cry escapes my lips as something slams into my leg and I shift back instantly, looking down to see an arrow in my leg. I pull it out, but before I can move, an arrow slams into my wings, stopping me from flying away and causing incredible pain. I cry as I pull the second one out, searching for the shooter. Another arrow lands in the middle of my legs and I slide backward until I get to a turned over van and hide behind it.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Coen shouts, spiking fear into my chest.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“I’ve come to play a game with you, Izora. Didn’t you miss me?”

“Not one bit, you self-righteous asshole,” I shout back, slipping out my dagger as I try to stand up against the van. Pain snakes down my leg and I can’t put any weight on it. This is really bad. I’m alone and I can’t run.

“Names already?” he tuts. “How unladylike of you, Izora Dawn.”

Knowing he is going to find me sooner or later, I choose not to be hiding like a coward when he does. I hop out from behind the van to face him. The bastard who stabbed me and now has shot me.

By Selena, I want to kill him.

He smirks, lifting his bow with an arrow nestled and ready to shoot. “Give me a reason not to shoot,” he teases. “Come on, beg for your life.”

“Shoot me. I will never beg for anyone or anything ever again,” I say, holding my head high.

He laughs like I’m the funniest thing in the world, but he doesn’t drop the bow.

Suddenly Gold jumps off the van, right in front of me. He lands in a crouch, before straightening up and covering me completely from view.

“Coen, long time no see,” Gold says, his voice colder than ice. “Arrows, really? What a cowardly and shitty way to fight one on one.”

Coen’s creepy laugh fills the silence and I hear the sound of the bow dropping on the floor.

“Drop your sword then. Fight me like a man,” Coen demands.

Gold looks back at me, winks once as he drops his sword at my feet. “With pleasure.”

His reply makes me smile as I lean against the van, needing to rest my leg as it drips blood on the ground. I watch as Gold charges forward, expertly dodging Coen’s fist that is heading for his face, but ends up hitting him hard in the stomach. Coen nearly doubles over, but in that second, Gold is on him. He reigns punches down on Coen until he falls limp to the floor, and then he looks over at me.

I nearly scream when Coen uses this distraction to kick Gold’s legs until he falls. And then he jumps on top of him, punching him in the face, so swiftly that I hear his nose break from over here. Gold finally fights back, knocking Coen off him with a swift kick to the groin. He punches him again and again, reigning down hit after hit until he is smothered in blood, soaking his dark brown hair as he hangs over his forehead.

I hop over, which takes a lot longer than I thought it would until I get to Gold’s side.

Coen is dead. There is no way he can be alive under all that blood, but Gold hasn’t noticed yet. He is in a frenzy, so lost he doesn’t hear me shouting for him.

“Gold! Come on, we need to get out of here. It’s too open!” He still doesn’t snap out of it. “GOLD!” I scream and it finally makes him halt, fist in the air.

“He needs to suffer. He nearly took you from me!” Gold roars, his eyes burning with so much anger and power it would frighten most. “He nearly took you!”

“And he won’t again. No one ever could,” I reassure him, wiping the blood from his cheeks with my hands. “We both bleed together. Me and you. Get me out of here, Gold.”

“Together,” he whispers, the look in his eyes as he whispers that single word which means so much is not a look I will forget anytime soon.

Gold nods, standing up and picking me up with him. He holds me in his arms as he jogs us away from Coen’s body and through the city.

“Have you seen Scott?” I ask Gold, and he shakes his head once.

“The current was too fast. I managed to get out near the city but I saw no one,” he explains to me.

“Shit,” I mutter. “I hope he’s okay.”

“We need to find him. You need a healer,” Gold growls. The blood coming from my wing and leg is dripping onto the ground, mixing with the water with every step he takes.

“Scott is more than just a healer to me, Gold,” I warn him and he chuckles.

“Quite the collection you have going on, Iz. A governor, guard, teacher slash healer, and whatever the fuck Axel is.”

The perfect collection, if you ask me.

“You’d like them if you tried to get to know them,” I tell him and he mutters something I don’t quite manage to pick up on.

We walk for what seems like ages, but most likely is only half an hour, before we stop, hearing a strange noise nearby. Gold gently puts me down on a broken cart which is almost floating in the shallow water. Shit, the water is rising fast and I can’t fly. Neither can Gold nor Scott.

We are sitting, well floating, ducks compared to the other prisoners. Gold peeks around the corner, just as a prisoner goes flying across the water in front of us, passed out.

“Thought you said he couldn’t fight?” Gold asks me as Scott steps out of the alleyway and halts, blood dripping down his hands.

He grins at Gold for a moment. “I don’t fight, but that doesn’t mean I won’t defend myself and those I love,” Scott answers, wiping blood from his knuckles. “I believe there are better ways to handle things than violence.”

“Not in a blood trial,” Gold sourly replies as Scott walks over to me.

“What happened to you two?” he asks and I sigh.

“Why don’t we find high ground and I’ll explain as you heal us,” I ask and he nods, picking me up, pressing a kiss to the side of my head as Gold finds us somewhere safe.

Well, as safe as we can get in a sinking city made of magic.

“The water is rising quicker than it should,” Gold points out, looking out the broken window down at the city. We are in one of the three biggest highrises and we have hidden in here for a good five hours. My leg and wing are still hurting, but Scott has done a good job of healing me up. I can fight now, which is all that matters. I move to his side, Scott following and look down. I almost wish I didn’t when I see the water has smothered all the small buildings and is halfway up the tower. Now only five towers are left above water and soon they won’t be.

“What is the aim of this trial?” I mutter.

“An orb. It’s always an orb to get you out,” he explains. “And I think I know how this trial plays out. I heard Eva and Ronan laughing about how the orb will only reveal itself underwater and there is a five in one chance.”

“Five towers?” Scott points out. “We should split up, each of us going to a new tower.”

“It’s too late and far too dangerous for that,” Gold points out and I agree. “See the old telephone cables connecting all the towers?”

I follow his gaze, seeing that some wires have wood panels fixed under them. You could walk across them…possibly. “When the water comes up, if we are in the wrong tower, we should be able to see the right one. The orb will be bright, I’m sure of it,” Gold adds.

“I’m a shit swimmer, guys,” I admit and they both look at me. Like they just remember I’m a shadowborn, I see the pity in their eyes. “But I will be fine. I’ve survived worse than this.”

“We won’t let you drown,” Scott counters, and I look down as my feet feel wet. Glancing out the window, I see the water has risen even faster. “We should climb, water is filling this room already. We have less than an hour, I bet.”

“Let’s move,” Gold agrees. I’m glad we had this time to heal and clean up after Coen. I smile, so thankful that the bastard is dead. One more asshole off my list. Dozens to go. We climb up the broken staircase, using the ivy to climb higher until we get to the roof. The water chases us and by the time we have looked around, the water is covering our feet. Gold and Scott stay by my side as we float in the water, watching the roof, but nothing happens. Suddenly the water sucks us down, throwing us on the roof and shooting higher than we could swim. Oh, my Selena.

Gold grabs my hand, pointing it at another rooftop where some prisoners are swimming into the glowing gold orb, which is big enough to get one person at a time in. Not wasting any time, we all swim to the edge of the building, rolling the telephone cable across to the other building. I grab it a few times as the current threatens to push me away, but I manage to stay on track. My arms burn with every movement after a while. Gold and Scott are ahead of me, swimming better than I am. My lungs start to burn with the effort to not breathe and I instantly remember the last time it felt like this.

When I died.

When I became a shadowborn.

I panic, gasping in water and swaying my arms around. I’m going to die. I’m so going to die. Hands grab mine and lips press against mine, pushing air into my lungs. I open my eyes to see Scott kissing me and he lets go, and Gold kisses me next, pushing more air into my mouth. They both hold me, calming me down and I have to admit it’s ridiculously sexy. They take one of my hands each, pulling me through the water, and I use my legs to kick as fast as I can. They push me through the orb first and I slide across the wet floor, my back hitting the lockers as Gold and Scott fall through next. I cough out water, breathing in sweet air as more prisoners come through the orb.

I hate the blood trials.

But I love that I have the best fae in the Enchanted Forest to save me.

When I’m thrown back into solitary confinement, Princess Crazy Bitch is standing waiting for me. Her lips peel back into a smirk as she gives me a slow once over. I glare right back at her. I practically sway on the spot from exhaustion, but I cross my arms and lift my chin, refusing to back down. Whatever Eva’s about to do can’t be good, and I need to stay on guard around her. Gods, I want to punch that smug look off her face. Her eyes narrow on me as if hearing my thoughts.

“Come with me, Izora.”

She clicks her fingers and leaves the room without a backward glance. The tension in her shoulders doesn’t escape my notice as I follow her out. She’s usually always skipping around the place like a damn child. Maybe she’s pissed about me still being alive and how well we performed in the Blood Trials. I don’t think she planned on Gold joining in on the fun.

It’s strange because he seems to hold some authority over her. Well, not authority, but Eva could’ve easily prevented him from fighting with me. There’s obviously a part to Gold that I haven’t got to know yet, and it’s that part that has made him the king of this prison and the one who’s secretly looking out for us all.

It doesn’t take me long to realise where Eva is taking me. My heart clenches at the sight of the laboratory doors and my wings ache with the memory of what happened the last two times I was here. Guards flank the entrance and they open it as soon as Eva appears. With everything that’s gone on lately, I don’t think I can stomach more of my mother’s brainwashed nonsense and I inwardly hope she isn’t in there.

Once I follow Eva inside, I scan the room for her, relieved to see only Doctor Frank and another guard leaning against a medical cart. The doctor bows at Eva and continues typing away on his computer, the fan behind him billowing his white coat. That’s when I realise my mother isn’t the only one missing.

“Where’s Gold?”

Eva slides me a veiled glance over her shoulder. “Resting. He had an exerting day.”

“Yes, he did perform rather wonderfully,” I smirk at the scowl that drops over her face as she leads me toward the lab room. “Gotta hand it to the dragon, he can kick ass when he wants to.”

“Doctor Frank,” Eva calls over her shoulder, once more snapping her fingers. “I would like to get this over with promptly.”

The doctor hurries into the room after us. The air seems to get trapped in my lungs when my gaze lands on Sage. She’s no longer floating in the glass tank and hooked up to all those horrible tubes. Now she’s strapped down to a chair and the fear on her face profusely mirrors my own. Her pink eyes widen when she sees me and a trickle of sweat runs down her forehead. My instincts say kick everyone’s ass and get her the hell out of this room, but I know I can’t. I’m powerless.

Even if I did manage to overpower Eva and the doctor, I’d never get past all the guards. And with Gold not being here, the fear kicks in and I struggle to breathe over the tightening in my chest.

“Izy…” My friend barely gets my name out. Her throat sounds dry and my pulse spikes at the thought of them hurting her.

Eva signals the doctor again, her eyes pressed on me. “You may say hello to your friend once I extracted more of your blood.”

In two swift movements, I’m pushed into a chair beside Sage and my wrists are strapped down. For once, I’m not even looking at Eva. All I can focus on is my friend, almost like I’m trying to convey a silent message to her: I’m going to get you out of here. But when I try to say the words, even just whisper them, they don’t come out. And I’m terrified it’s because a part of me knows I might not be able to.

“Leave her alone,” Sage spits when the doctor approaches me with a syringe. She thrashes and screams in her chair, and my heart breaks for her. “You psychopaths better leave her alone!”

“I’m okay,” I whisper, giving her a wobbly smile. “Sage, don’t worry about me. Please?”

She stops thrashing, her cheeks stained with tears. “But they’re torturing us, Izy. We need to get out of here.”

A lump swells into my throat after seeing her cry. I’ve never, in all the months I’ve known Sage, witnessed her shed a single tear, let alone cry like this. I’ve seen her try to tear our teacher’s head off on the first day of school, but never cry. Sage just didn’t seem like the kind to get all emotional, so it kills me to see her like this. I try to muster every bit of strength I possess to come across as brave.

“Hey, you know me,” I say, smiling at Sage, “there’s no way I’m letting these crazy motherfuckers have their way with us for long.”

“Such a touching reunion,” Eva scoffs and motions the doctor to hurry. “Don’t mind me. After this final blood sample, my work here will be done and I can return to my kingdom. I’m growing bored with this little playground of mine. I think it’s time for a change of scenery.”

“Well, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Sage growls at her.

A smirk tugs at my lips as I snap my head to Eva. “You’ve already turned us into light fae. What more could you possibly want?”

All the wicked amusement normally found on Eva’s face vanishes.”I already told you what I want. Your kind”—she points at the two of us—”to be cleansed from the Enchanted Forest once and for all. It is really that simple.”

Sage laughs. She just laughs at Eva like this is all a sick joke. Unfortunately, I know it isn’t. There have been times when I wish I could just close my eyes and then open them again to find this has been a nightmare. But I can’t and it isn’t.

The doctor moves behind me and reaches for my wing. With Sage’s pained laugh echoing through my head and Eva’s cold, dead eyes latched on me, it’s like I’ve slipped into shock. I feel the needle piercing my wing, but I don’t register any pain. A cold chill sweeps over me instead, turning the blood in my veins to ice.

None too gently, Doctor Frank yanks the needle out and marches out of the room. The guards enter, one of them holding a silver dagger. Eva takes it and prowls toward me, the look on her face like that of a predator about to pounce on its prey. I’ve never been the prey, always the predator. This bitch will regret ever ruining my life and hurting those I care about.

She twirls the dagger in her hand and tilts her head at me, almost like she’s wondering what to cut off first. And then she hops to the side and leans over Sage, grabbing her cheek until her sharp fingernails cut into her skin.

“Don’t touch her!”

Eva smiles at one of the guards and then flicks her chin toward me. Not a second later, a gloved hand sinks into my shoulder. The other turns my head so that I’m forced to look at my friend. Eva drags the tip of the blade down her cheek, pressing until a droplet of blood surfaces from under her caramel skin. The sharp copper tang permeates the air, but it’s black, not red.

What the fuck has Eva done to my friend?

Unlike me, Sage feels the pain and screams out. The blood oozes down and Eva catches the droplets in a crystal vial. She grins at me when she places the lid back on.

“We are done here,” she says, waving a hand at me in dismissal. “Guards, take her away. I think another week in solitary confinement will do Izora the world of good.”

By the time I get back to my room, almost everything has been cleared out. Now all I’ve got is a mattress on the floor and a plastic bucket in the corner, which I’m too horrified to look at. A nervous feeling of dread cuts through my stomach like hot knives at the sight of them. Still, I blow out a whistle as if impressed by the transformation.

“Whoa. Nobody told me they were redecorating,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at the guard.

Without uttering a word, he shoves me into the room and then slams the door. I flinch at the sound of the latch clanging against the metal. I’ve hated every inch of this prison since I was brought here. As I look around my windowless room, the dread twisting my stomach turns into fear. It’s like I’m just now realising how fucked up this situation is. My mother has betrayed me, Sage is being tortured, my guys are fighting to the death just to protect me, and there’s nothing I can do to help any of them.

There’s nothing I can do to help myself.

I slide onto the floor and wrap my arms around my legs, pressing my forehead to my knees. The cold tiles caress my back and tears well into my eyes. I let them fall, reminding myself that it’s not weak to cry. I’ve gone through so much shit recently it’s a wonder I haven’t cried before now. I’m not just crying for myself, but for my guys and friends and all the other fae locked up in here.

My tears race down my cheeks until I’m all dried up, and there is no more left to shed. For once, I don’t feel ashamed about crying or letting myself be vulnerable like this. I need to let it all out, because once I get out of here, I’m going to kill the Princess of Helios. Eva will regret the day she ever imprisoned me.

“Eat,” a guard snarls, waking me up with a nudge of his steel-capped boot.

I wipe my eyes with the balls of my palms and straighten on the mattress. The guard glares down his nose at me, a plastic tray clenched in his hands. It’s the same one he’s brought me every day for a week. Or maybe it’s just been a few days. Time has no meaning in this place and I’m beginning to lose my mind, but I keep hanging on. Eva wants me to break, wants to see me suffering, and I refuse to give her the satisfaction.

The guard sets the tray down beside me, grabs my bucket, and then leaves, his keys clanging with every step. I know I should be hungry, but when I look down at the burnt chicken breast slapped over a pile of claggy rice, I can’t find it in myself to eat anything. But the last time I refused, she didn’t feed me anything the next day, and I felt like I was going stir crazy with hunger.

If I’m to get out of here, I need to keep my strength. It’s for this reason alone that I force the disgusting food into my mouth, as I do right now. I swallow until everything’s gone and then finish it off with the glass of foggy tap water.

With nothing else to do, I lay back on the mattress and try to sleep again. I haven’t any more tears to shed, and I don’t plan on crying again, anyway; Eva has had enough of my tears. I need to find a way out of here because as much as a small part of me hoped otherwise, my guys aren’t coming to save me. They can’t. It’s me who needs to get myself out and return to them.

I’m not playing Eva’s games anymore. There’s got to be some way we can get out of this prison. We might be in the Light Fae kingdom, but if we can get out of this building, I’m sure we’ll be able to find a portal back to the academy.

A ray of sunlight bleeds through the hole in the corner of the wall. It’s the only gap I have to the outside world. I stand on the mattress, push onto my tiptoes, and peer through the tiny hole. All I can see is the back of the prison where they keep all the carriages and the chain-link fence that surrounds it. There’re trees on the other side, bathed in the auburn light of the setting sun, and I so badly wish I could be out there among them. It feels like a lifetime ago I felt the sun against my skin and the wind blowing through my hair.

“Izora?”

I jump at the sound of my mother’s whispered voice. I haven’t seen or heard from anyone since the guard brought me here, and my mother was the last visitor I expected to see. I spin around, my eyes locking on the door, and instead of feeling relieved at hearing my mother, I tense up.

“You will open this door immediately, Warden,” my mother snaps.

The clanging of metal keys carries to my ears, followed by the latch lifting up. My mother steps into the room with a box in her arms. Her complexion is worryingly pale and dark heavy bags underscore her eyes. She looks gaunt and tired, nothing like the proud High Warden who raised me.

As soon as the door slams behind her, her features soften a little and a smile tilts the edge of her lips.

“Darling, how are you?” she asks quietly.

“I’ve been locked in here for goddess knows how long and you’re asking how I am?” I cross my arms and glare at her. “I suppose I’ve been better, Mother, all things considered. Thanks for asking.”

The smile fades as quickly as it appeared. “I do not have long, darling, but I thought you could do with some company.” She holds out the box and the muffled sounds inside catch my interest. “I’m afraid Her Highness has insisted on keeping you in here for another two weeks and my hands are tied.” Tears threaten her eyes, but I don’t feel any sympathy or love for her, only anger and betrayal. “I hope this will help to pass some of your time.”

My mother bends down and gently tips the box. Ozy tumbles out, sniffs the air, and then his big brown eyes land on me. With an excited ‘oink’ noise, he trots over, his floppy ears moving around him wildly. Seeing his adorable face should bring me joy, but to my surprise, it just makes me want to cry. I kneel and sweep him into my arms, my lashes glazed with tears.

“Where did you find him?”

I look up at her as she scans the room with an apparent look of disgust. “The Shade came to me in my lab. There’s something about him that reminds me of Phoebus. Do you remember him?”

At the mention of my childhood pet, I look away from my mother. The last thing I want to do right now is reminisce about the good old times before I was turned into a shadowborn. That life is dead and gone as far I’m concerned, just like the woman standing in front of me. This isn’t the mother who raised me. This is another of Eva’s puppets—a puppet who can’t even protect her own daughter.

“I do miss those days,” my mother says, her voice uncharacteristically small. “Perhaps once this is all over, you can bring the Shade home with us.”

In reply, I can only laugh at her. But then I see the serious look on her face and add, “You can’t possibly think I’ll go back with you after all this?”

A quiver catches my mother’s lower lip. “One would hope… with time… you may learn to forgive me.”

Lifting Ozy into my arms, I straighten off the floor and look hard at my mother. “Don’t hold your breath. You’re the one who wanted all this.” I sweep a hand around the room, indicating the prison. “So you’re the one who needs to face the consequences. As far as I’m concerned, you and me…” The lump swelling in my throat pools into my eyes, and tears drop despite my efforts. “We’re done.”

She closes her eyes. “Izora, please…”

I wipe my cheek with my shoulder and tighten my grip on Ozy, who’s determined to lick away my tears. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what to say to my mother, but now that we’re alone and she’s standing before me, I struggle to find the right words.

“You chose your side,” I say, my heart lurching in my chest, “and I’ve chosen mine. The good one. The side that doesn’t hurt people.”

The door opens, dragging our attention away from each other. My pulse spikes at the sight of Luke in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest and his face wiped clean of emotion. When he looks at me, there’s a flicker of anger in his gaze at the sight of my distress, but he hides it when he looks at my mother.

“I’ve been ordered to take Izora back to her room. Gov’s orders.”

My mother’s thinly plucked eyebrows lift. “Her Highness is releasing my daughter?”

Luke shrugs at her, and I know in the past, my mother would’ve admonished his disrespect. Honestly, I don’t blame him. I lost all respect for my mother the moment she confessed that she worked for Eva. She’s just a pawn like all the other guards in this place. Gods, even we, the prisoners, are simply pawns now. But my mother? She’s not a pawn. She’s a snake, and I meant what I said. She’s not my mother anymore.

“Looks like it,” my warden answers calmly. “You can ask her yourself once she’s back from Vasili.”

My mother watches me strut past her with Ozy. “At least someone’s on my side,” I say to Luke, but I look over my shoulder at my mother. She’s too busy looking at the floor with beet-red cheeks to notice me. I turn back to my warden. “Let’s go. I really need a shower.”

Luke nods and motions for me to go first. This time, I don’t look back at my mother. My every footstep is heavy and laden with a hurt I never expected to feel at disowning my mother. I thought I’d be too hurt and angry at her to be filled with instant regret, but I had to do it. I had to let her go for what she did and is doing, in this place.

Just like I have to get the prisoners out of here.

Sometimes the prison itself is a Blood Trial.

I watch as a girl about my age falls to the floor, blood pouring from her stomach as the guards rush to stop the fight. I didn’t see the start of the altercation between the three girls, but I heard the noise as I came to get my lunch and I’ve been watching ever since. It’s hard to look away, their fighting style is so brutal. I don’t feel anything as I watch them try to kill each other, which would’ve horrified the old me.

The old me.

The girl who liked to get drunk at Shadowborn Academy on the weekends and hated magical lessons with elements, would have been horrified at this.

Now, it’s just a pebble in the ocean of the disturbing and bad shit I’ve seen.

Axel’s hand clamps hard on my waist, making sure I don’t get involved.The prison is filled to the brim with guards rushing in from every door, the alarms blasting so loudly in my ears that I miss whatever Axel asks me. My eyes stay on the girl as the life leaves her eyes, she goes still, blood spreading around her sparkling white wings.

Death is nothing here, and the thing is, under all the light magic and white wings, our souls are wrapped in shadows.

Nothing is going to change that.

We are shadowborns.

“Come on,” Axel tugs me away from the room and drags me into the training area where Scott and Luke are working out, and it’s far quieter in here. Figures everyone is watching the fight for some sick amusement in this place. I watch Scott and Luke practice against each other, almost wrestling on the floor at this point, Luke dodges a punch to the face like a pro. With a long kick, he throws Scott across the room. Scott slams into a padded mat on the floor with a groan.

“Nice move,” I say as I walk over and pull my hair up in a ponytail. “I wanna try. Come on.”

I wave a hand to instruct him over to me and he smirks in such a sexy way it nearly distracts me when he hits out, nearly knocking me over. I duck under his arm, grabbing his shoulder and pulling myself around his body. Climbing onto his back like a monkey in two moves, I hold my hands around his neck. He doesn’t resist as I hear Axel and Scott laughing.

“I win,” I say and he shocks me by flipping me over his shoulder, catching me mid-air and pulling me against his chest.

His lips descend on mine, kissing me sweetly for just a moment. “Did you?”

My smile is incredibly wide as the doors slam open and five guards walk into the room, followed by Eva in a ridiculous pink dress.

“Izora, I have something to show you. I believe you will enjoy it,” she says.

Luke softly drops me to the floor in front of him while Axel and Scott appear at my side. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

With Eva’s warning in my head, I release Luke’s hand and meet each of my guys’ eyes as I walk away from them. The tension flickering off them could set the world on fire and I find it harder than ever to leave them at this moment. Gold steps to Eva’s side, and it makes me feel a tiny bit better to see him here… especially in a suit. A white tux covers his muscular body, the fancy silk material suiting him perfectly. In his pocket is a black lacy mask, just sticking out enough that I can see what it is.

I scan over Eva, spotting a pink mask hanging from her side.

“Do you like my dress? It’s the first of the night for me,” she sweetly says. “And tonight, we go to a ball. Are you excited?”

“Are you fucking crazy?” I ask her, tugging my hand from hers. “We are not friends and I don’t want to go to a ball. Why would you let me leave?”

“Oh, I’m not letting you leave. You will wear this,” she holds up a silver bracelet and pulls my hand out. She snaps the bracelet on my wrist and I feel it’s magic snap into me. “And if you go more than a mile from where I am, say leave the building and run, you will die from the poison it injects you with. So stay close and you will need to change. Oh, and it cancels out your magic.”

She snaps her fingers and one of the guards hands steps forward, handing me a white puffy garment that looks like a wedding dress. A silver mask rests on top of it.

“Go or I will start cutting one of your lover boys,” she threatens, her eyes looking over me to my guys. I sneer at her as I rip the dress and mask from the guard’s hands and try to walk away, but she snaps her fingers, making me stop. “Strip here. I don’t want to risk you sliding anything into that dress to hurt me with.”

I look at all the guards and Gold in turn, giving them a look that makes them each turn away from me. I pull my top and leggings off, leaving them on the floor next to my boots. The dress is easy to put on as it’s backless, my wings not bothered one bit and zips at the side by my ribs. I undo my hair, letting the locks fall between my wings and slide my boots on. Lastly, I tie the mask over my eyes; the feather flickering past my ears.

“Happy?” I sarcastically ask her. She stares at me for a moment in a trance and her mouth drops into a frown. I can’t read what she sees as she walks up to me and I jump back as she lifts her hand.

“Why does Selena love you both and not me? Why was it never me?” she asks and again I’m completely lost to what the fuck she is talking about.

“Maybe if you didn’t destroy her people and her forest, you would be blessed by her too. Gods love those who fight for good. Can you really say you do that, Princess Eva?” I ask. Her hand smacks hard across my cheek, snapping my head to the side and I taste my blood in my mouth.

She turns around and walks to Gold. “You watch her until I am ready. If she escapes, I will kill you next,” she warned him, and as he nods, I see a similar silver bracelet as mine on his wrist.

Gold walks to my side and places his hand on my lower back, leading me out of the room behind Eva and her guards. We take several turns through the prison and I try not to look at anyone when I feel their eyes on me.

When we reached a locked door, two of the guards place their hands on the metal, changing it. The metal melts away into a white portal that shows a much grander corridor on the other side.

Eva walks in first and two guards follow, whereas the others wait for us. I walk through next and Gold follows me. The first thing I notice is fresh air. The sweet-tasting fresh air whips around me and it’s warm, and my cheeks heat up. Music drifts to my ears, followed by the sound of women laughing and children’s squeals.

“Tonight is a ball to celebrate the new children in the kingdom. The ballroom is full of women and their children. Did you know my father cannot have any more children after someone poisoned his tea with a flower that curses the male?” Eva tells me as we follow her down the silver and gold corridor towards two large glass doors. “I was only five when it happened. I remember how upset he was…I’m sure he was planning to remarry and produce a male heir. But there was only me.”

“Interesting,” I sourly reply.

She eyes me with humour but I don’t get the joke. “Do you know the rumours of the bastard baby of dawn?”

I shake my head, done with her stupid games.

“Many light fae whisper that the tea wasn’t the reason my father went infertile, that instead, the goddess above set a curse on him because he refused to claim his own bastard born baby who was born at Dawn’s first light,” she whispers to me. For some reason, I shiver. “Many call the bastard baby of Dawn a true heir, that the curse for my father was actually a blessing for her or him. They sing songs about this bastard.”

“Is the bastard child Corvina?” I ask. She could have been born at dawn’s first light for all I know.

Eva laughs like that’s the funniest thing in the world. “No.”

She looks away from me as the glass doors open and she walks inside. I have no choice but to follow, thanks to the bracelet. The room is a huge dome made of pure glass and tiny little lights bounce around the ceiling, reflecting circles onto the floor. Children with white glittering wings and pretty dresses run around chasing the moving spots of illumination. The side of the room is full of sweet-smelling food and I can’t help but admire how lovely this place is.

Compared to the prisons, this is amazing.

“Be right back,” Eva offhandedly says,all her guards follow her, but Gold stays at my side, looking cold and impassive as always.

“I’m debating whether chopping my arm off is worth the chance to escape,” I tell him. “But I do like my left hand,” I muse.

His lips twitch. “I would not advise it. This is the light fae palace, and it is heavily guarded. They would catch you.”

“Damn,” I say with a smile, watching the couples dance to a woman singing and a man playing piano. I think they are human, they don’t have wings nor can I sense anything odd about them. The woman’s voice is enchanting though…a gift if I have ever heard one. “I wish we were here under different circumstances. Maybe we could even dance as they do.”

“I don’t dance,” he grumbles. “Let me show you something.”

“What about Eva?” I question, seeing her with a man with long white hair. I pause as she smiles up at him sweetly and picks up his hand. Like she can sense me looking, she looks over and a cruel smile places on her lips.

I don’t get why she thinks I would care. Focusing on the man, he is elegant and beautiful like all light fae are, yet there is something so familiar about him.

Gold clears his throat, snapping me out of it, and I follow him past the food to another door. We step through it into a dressing room of some sorts. A long wooden plank rests under a massive mirror covering the wall. Two women are in here, fixing their makeup.

“Get the fuck out!” Gold snaps.

They squeal, grabbing their things before running out of the door.

Gold clicks the lock when they leave and I suddenly feel nervous as I turn to face him.We really haven’t been alone for a long time.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he all but whispers, taking two long strides and then I’m in his arms. Any nervousness drifts away when I remember how right it feels to be held by him. He kisses me deeply, picking me up and placing me on the counter before stepping between my legs.

Our kisses get desperate as he pushes my dress up and I undo his trousers, needing to feel him inside me for however long we have left. I’m ridiculously turned on as I take his cock out of his trousers and he pulls my ass to the edge of the counter. Pushing my underwear to the side, he slowly inches his way inside me.

My head drops back from the sheer pleasure and how fucking incredible he feels.

He pulls back and then thrusts all the way back into me, cupping the back of my neck and drawing my gaze back to him. I kiss him with all the built-up frustration and desire that we have been hiding for so long as he thrusts in and out of me, getting me closer and closer to the edge.

My orgasm smacks into me and I cry out for a second until Gold covers my mouth with his hand and bites down on my neck.

He roars as he comes with me. We both breathlessly stare at each other as he drops his hand and kisses my neck once.

“I’m in love with you. Fucking hell, I would die for you, Izora Dawn,” he says, his soft tone rare for him.

Tears wet my eyes as I lift his hand and kiss his knuckles once. “Whatever games the fae play, we will play them better because I love you, too. We have to survive this.”

“We will,” he says firmly, kissing me one more time. I wrap my arms around his chest, holding on tightly like he might disappear at any moment.

We both have so much to lose and I have a terrible feeling the games haven’t even started yet.

I’ve been here before.

The rays of auburn skimming the trees normally shrouded in darkness is a familiar sight as I enter the Enchanted Forest. Pine needles crunch underneath my feet and the sun bleeds over them in streams of gold. The cool night air caresses my skin and lifts my hair behind me. I know where I’m supposed to go before I even realise it.

The Fountain of Mene peeks between the trees, and Kaelah stands beside it, dressed in the same white gown as me. Her complexion glows like a beacon of silver light, more goddess-like than ever before. She looks at me with an almost pained expression when I reach her side.

“What’s wrong?” I ask quietly.

Kaelah’s lips tilt into a smile, but tears collect on her lashes. “I’m afraid it’s time for me to leave.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

She looks up at the rising sun. “The dawn is calling me home.” Then turning her gaze back to me, she reaches out and takes my hands in hers. “You must send the Titans back, Izora. Only you wield the power to do so.”

The silver glow of her skin fades, and panic flares through me. “I don’t know how to send them back!” I shake my head, my words catching in my throat. “Please, I’m not the person you think I am.”

Her smile depends. “Of course you are. You are descended from the God of Dawn. Your fate was etched in the stars long, long before you were born. Saving the Enchanted Forest is in your blood.” Slowly she leads me over to the fountain, her hand still clasping mine. “Look into the water and tell me what you see.”

She leads me over to the fountain. Everyone in the Forest knows that the Fountain of Mene is what connects us to the gods. Without their blessing, there would be no water running here, and subsequently no magic. The Faerie Pools would be shriveled heaps of dirt instead of powerful sources of magic.

I peer into the water, but only my reflection stares back at me. It’s not until Kaelah squeezes my hand when I see something. A gold key cuts through the moon’s reflection, shimmering ever so softly, and behind the object is the Throne of Helios. A black key appears not a second later and replaces the image with the Throne of Luna. Each of the images shimmers and then merge into each other until they change again. The black key becomes blue and the background Draconia, the kingdom of dragons. A fourth and final key, a yellow one, displays a land I’ve never seen before. If it wasn’t for the centaurs running across the mountainous land, I’d completely miss that it was Kyllaros.

“These four keys are the only way to send the Titans home,” Kaelah says, her body fading again as the sun claws its way into the sky. “You must collect them. It’s the only way my loves will be returned to me and the Enchanted Forest kept safe from their destruction.”

As soon as the dawn light touches her, Kaelah vanishes, and my eyes shoot open. I’d say I’m getting tired of these dreams, but for the first time since I started having them, a sense of loss fills me when I open my eyes. I straighten on the bed and look around, surprised to find I’m in a private room inside the infirmary. Flashbacks from the Blood Trials flood my mind, but they’re superseded with visions of Kaelah, and I swallow a lump in my throat I didn’t expect to feel.

Wherever Kaelah has gone, I feel her absence nestled inside me like the sun dipping behind the clouds. I’m cold now without Kaelah’s light to warm my skin and tears sting my eyes. Luke startles beside me on the bed, and I lean over and press my mouth to his, grateful we’re alone. His eyes flutter open as I straddle his hips, needing that comfort, that presence to fill the void.

“Jaybird?” Luke whispers against my lips, his voice groggy from sleep. His hand falls on my shoulder and holds me back from him, his eyes studying me in the near darkness. The moonlight filtering through the window casts the two of us in a soft silver glow. “What’s wrong?”

A solitary tear slips from my lashes, and Luke watches it fall, landing on his chest.

“What happened?” he growls out, his voice hardening. Suddenly he’s very alert as he scans the room for any signs of threat. His dick is hard, however, and I so badly want to touch him. “Who do I need to kill?”

I chuckle despite the tears threatening to fall again. “No one. At least, no one just yet.”

He looks up at me and brushes the water from my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Tell me why you’re you cryin’, jaybird. Are you still hurtin’?”

I shake my head, afraid if I talk I’ll just cry. I’m not sure why I’m so emotional over Kaelah leaving. Perhaps it’s the meaning behind her departure that’s got me so worked up. Titans and keys and destiny… it’s all so much on top of everything else. I don’t even know how I’m going to get out of this prison, let alone find the keys. Gods, I don’t even know if I’ll survive the next Blood Trials.

“Please, Luke,” I whisper, reaching down for his cock. “I need a distraction right now. I need you.”

He groans and closes his eyes when I slide my hand into his boxers. I watch his expression go from concerned to content as I stroke him with slow, languid movements. He’s already hard for me, but I want to feel him, to be consumed by him so that distant ache inside me fades away.

“Izora.” My name is barely a whisper on his lips. “Oh, shit…”

“Does that feel good?” I whisper, gazing down at him through my lashes.

His eyes open and he looks up at me. “Fuck yeah it does, jaybird. But what’s going on—”

“Sshh.” I press a finger to his lips. “No more talking.”

He grins against my finger but says nothing. There’s something super hot about being the one in charge. I scoot down and bring my mouth to the tip of Luke’s cock, wrapping my lips around him. He jerks into my mouth as a deep, throaty moan leaves his lips. I take him to the back of my throat and suck and bob until his thrusts and moans grow more urgent, and I know he’s close.

Peeking up at him, I pull back and straddle his hips again. He places a hand on my waist and pulls me down until I’m sliding onto his cock. He bites his lip and closes his eyes for a moment. A groan builds in the back of his throat as I take him all in, right to the base of his shaft, and gods, he feels amazing inside me. I clench around him and he opens his eyes, a wicked grin playing on his lips.

“Thank the gods I locked the door,” he says, his sapphire eyes gleaming. His hand on my waist moves to lift my gown over my shoulders. When I’m naked before him, he skims his gaze over me slowly. “Let me see you for a moment.”

A blush creeps into my cheeks as I steady myself on his cock. Luke trails his fingers over my stomach and up to the valley between my breasts. Softly he tweaks my nipple and then grips my breast with one hand, gently squeezing me.

“Fuck, look at you. You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

I lift my hips and slowly rock back and forth. “You imagined me naked? Pervert.”

He gives a lopsided grin. “Since the day I saw you at the party and I ain’t ashamed to admit it.” He tweaks my nipple again, making me moan. “Every guy at the party wanted you, but only I get to have you, and guess what, jaybird?”

“What?” I grin, my heart skipping a beat.

“I’m never lettin’ you go.”

His grip on my waist tightens, and he slams me down onto him, as if emphasising his point. He moves his hand from my breast to the nape of my neck and pulls me down, smothering my moans with his lips. The pleasure siphoning between us has my breath hitching and my toes curling until all I can focus on is our bodies moving in sync with each other. Everything melts away. The prison, the Titans, the Blood Trials, even Eva—they all disappear and I cling to Luke as if trying to hold on to this blissful euphoria washing over me. But no matter how slowly I take him in, how desperately I want this moment to last forever, my orgasm gives way and I’m screaming out his name.

Luke isn’t far behind before he’s letting go. He looks up at me as he comes, and I take in his moans with my lips. His hand twists through my hair and he pulls me closer, thrusting into me slowly before stilling. Our foreheads press together as we try to catch our breaths. The moonlight bleeding over Luke’s features, his cock still pulsing inside me, gives me exactly what I needed—an escape from reality. In those moments I was able to switch off entirely and pretend that I was somewhere else, that it was just the two of us and no one else.

“What are you thinkin’, jaybird?” he asks me softly, running his fingers up and down my back.

“Nothing much,” I whisper, lifting my head to look at him. “Just that I love you and I’m not letting you go either. You’re stuck with me, Shadow Warden.”

Luke brushes the hair from my face and smiles up at me. “I’m lucky to be stuck with, and to love someone like you. As Selena is my witness, I’m gettin’ you out of here no matter what it takes.”

I settle back in his arms with a contented sigh. At first light, I’m gathering all my guys and telling them about the Titan keys, then we are going to get out of this prison once and for all.

“Wake up!” Kaelah shouts at me, shaking my shoulders with urgent eyes. She cries out, her body fading in and out like an old movie. Cracks cover her appearance, almost like she isn’t here as she cries out one more time. I don’t know why, but I laugh and push her away from me before I carry on skipping through the beautiful fields of flowers. I run my hands over the purple, orange, and red flowers as I pass by, giggling in delight. Kaelah appears in front of me once again and I come to a halt, frowning at her. “I’m sorry about this.” Her words do nothing to slow her down as she hits me hard across my cheek and I stumble to the ground.

“Why?” I ask, not understanding. I was having such a nice dream, everything was good and bright. The world here is peaceful.

I don’t want to wake up.

“It is time. This is when you find out everything, and I am going to help you. Tell me the spell your mother gave you. Eva is ready now. She has her army under the spell she placed on you all last night so you will fight her war with no clue what you are doing. Empty shells, that’s what you all are to her now, but you must wake up.”

I only think of it, and she nods as though she read my mind. It doesn’t shock me that she can do that.

“Why?” I question again.

“You need your destined mates and I will wake their minds for you. Until they can help, you must distract her!” She takes my hands in hers. “Don’t let her break you. Please save my titans. We need you, Princess Izora Dawn.”

“Princess?”

I wake up with a jolt, realising I’m not on the hospital bed anymore. I’m standing in a line with numerous other Light Fae, all dressed in prison uniforms. They each carry swords that are the exact same white metal with a silver handle. I nearly drop the sword in my hand when I look behind me and see the endless rows of prisoners standing in the common area, silently waiting.

“What the fuck?” I whisper to myself, noticing the strange white film glazing their eyes.

Dark, dark magic stings the air around me, and around all the others. The kind of I have never once sensed before and immediately I fear. I must have been under the same spell as them, and that’s why Kaelah told me to wake up. I don’t know how I got here, but I need to find my guys, Sage, and Memphis, and then get the hell out of here.

Eva’s laugh drifts to my ears and I duck under the prisoner’s wings in front of me, coming out to the front of the rows of prisons. A large portal, shimmering with dark magic, takes up the wall and in front of it is Eva in her full princess gear, looking like a psychopath in pretty clothes that do little to mask her darkened soul. Next to her is Ronan, dressed like a prince in full uniform and with deadly weapons at his side. His dark wings don’t suit him and being fae has not made him any less an asshole. He sees me first, a dark smirk stretching across his lips as he leans closer to Eva, whispering in her ear.

Her narrowed gaze falls on me and the smile she had melts away. “Of course you would resist the spell. I told your foolish mother you wouldn’t be so easy to control like my other warriors. She is so desperate for me to accept you, for my father to accept you, that she would do anything, even defy me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I walk right up to her, a steady grip on my sword.

Her eyes flicker to the weapon and then back to me. A grin curls the edges of the lips. “I’ve been trained my entire life to fighting scum like you. I’m the crown princess of Helios. Do you really think you stand a chance?”

“Come at me then, princess. Someone needs to put you in your place in this prison,” I answer, knowing that I’m going down with a fight. I still remember Kaelah in my dreams…and if she is right, my guys will be backing me up soon. Then we can jump through that portal and get the hell out of here. Eva gives a dramatic sigh as Ronan hands her a sword and bows. I make sure his eyes lock on mine as I point the tip of my sword in his direction.

“I know what you did to Corvina and you’re next!”

For a moment he turns a little pale around the gills, but Eva just laughs, almost sounding sweet.

“How funny it is that you both met and bonded at Shadowborn Academy,” she says, her smile turning into a sneer. “You don’t even know who you are to each other.”

She uses my moment of confusion to attack me but I’m quick, blocking her hit and shoving her a distance away. We circle each other as she spins her sword in her hand in a fancy way that I’m sure is meant to impress someone. It just makes me want to beat her even more.

“Friends?” I answer with a smile. “Something I’m positive you have no experience in having.”

Eva charges, our swords meet in the air. I have to give it to her; she has the skills and the strength needed to hold a sword. The second we are close enough, I elbow her hard in her face and she screams, stumbling back and holding her bloody nose. Unfortunately, she’s fae, which means she’ll heal quickly. But I take more pleasure from seeing her bleed.

The psycho bitch deserves it.

“That is not how to properly fight,” she shouts at me, looking close to having a tantrum like a little kid. If this is what royal fae are made of, it’s a wonder they still rule.

A sword presses against my neck and I follow it down to see Ronan holding it.

“I guess we weren’t brought up the same,” I dryly reply. “In my world, this is a coward’s way to win a one-on-one fight.”

Eva laughs, though there’s nothing joyful about the sound. “If your mother had her way, you would have been brought up as my sister and played the same games as me to get attention.”

I freeze at her words, wanting to believe she is making it up, but fragments of my life that long confused me click into place. Eva seems to register this from my expression alone.

“Dear sister, you look…shocked.”

“NO!” my mother screams, running out from behind Eva. Before she reaches me, Eva turns swiftly and slams her sword into my mother’s stomach.

A strangled cry tears from my throat and Ronan chuckles before releasing me. I run over to my mother as she falls on her side, the sword still embedded in her flesh. All I can hear is Eva’s laugh as I numbly pick up my mother’s head and rest her on my knees. I can’t heal her, not in here.

“What do I do?” Tears leak from my eyes as I whisper the question. They splash onto my hand that is cupping my mother’s cheek. “Mum…”

She takes a struggling breath before parting her lips. “You are a princess… Izora Dawn… created on a night of light and born at first dawn. Your father wanted you safe so… so he forced me to hide you.” She coughs, blood splattering from her mouth, and I can’t help the sob that escapes from me.

“I don’t care who I am,” I whisper brokenly, my vision clouded with tears. “I only care that I’m losing you.”

Even in spite of everything she did, I don’t want my mother to die.

“You are everything the light fae kingdom needs. Everything, Izora, my sweet girl.” She lifts her hand, covering my own on her cheek. “I’m sorry I lied, but I am not sorry for your creation. You will do the most amazing things…I love yo-u-u.”

My choked back sobs burst into screams when her hand falls from my own and her head rolls to the side. I scream even as Ronan locks my hands in cuffs and pulls me to Eva’s side. I only stop when we are right in front of the portal and my throat is so sore that it hurts to breathe let alone swallow.

Eva tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and then tilts my head, forcing me to look at it. “Are you ready to see our father, little princess?”

I yank my head away from her and peel my lips back into a snarl. “By Selena, you will pay for this, Eva. You will die for this!”

Her laugh is all I hear as she drags me through the portal and into the world of the light fae I’ve been hidden from my entire life.

The first thing I see is more light. Thousands of crystals gleam and shimmer around me, dazzling my line of sight. I squint my eyes against them and sweep my gaze around the hall.

Light fae guards, covered in blood-stained gold armor, litter the floor around me like dolls in a dollhouse. But this isn’t some game. Their blood trickles down a set of double doors made entirely of glass and as the light reflects through them, the room is almost smothered in pretty shades of pink light.

I can’t see through the doors from the amount of blood splatters that decorates them and nothing but fear chokes me.

Eva tightens her grip and I thrash in her arms, her painful touch dragging me from my stupor as her nails dig into my skin, no doubt making me bleed.

“Let me go, you crazy bitch!”

“Ronan, be a dear and restrain my sister,” Eva commands, her fingernails slicing into my shoulder deeper.

Ronan shifts to my side and handcuffs me in two impossibly swift movements.

I yank myself from Eva’s hold, causing my metal handcuffs to clang together. The most terrifying thing is that I can’t move my wings. It’s like the handcuffs are suppressing them.

Anger flares through me in waves. “I’m not your fucking sister,” I scream at her, my voice bouncing off the crystal walls. “And if you’ve brought me here to play happy family with you, you’re even more psychotic than I thought.”

An amused smile slides over her lips. “Happy family? Why in the name of Danica would I wish to do that?” She steps closer, bringing her nose inches from mine, and holds up a blood-stained dagger. “You mean nothing to me because you are nothing. Yes, we may share the same father, but I, unlike you, am the future ruler of this kingdom. A pureblood royal destined for greatness while you are merely destined for weakness. So be a good little girl, Izora, and keep that pretty mouth of yours shut or I will gladly shut it for you.”

“Now, isn’t this a touching moment?”

I don’t look away from Eva at the sound of an unfamiliar female voice. However, in the corner of my eye, a dark figure emerges, and she isn’t alone. A pack of black wolves walk closely beside her, their snarls and gnashing teeth echoing around the hall. It’s only when I hear them do I look away, and the blood drains from my face when my gaze lands on the Dark Fae Queen. Her plum dress trails the ground at her feet as she glides forward, the jewelry adorning her body glinting in the crystal lights.

There’s a white wolf among the pack with piercing blue eyes. I instantly realise it’s the wolf from the prison mess hall. It’s got to be that one. A laugh escapes me when I realise that I was right: Eva was copying the Dark Fae Queen all along. Even now, she wears a similar shade of purple and her eyes are nearly black like Narah’s.

The Dark Fae queen stops beside us, but she doesn’t so much as look my way. “The dagger,” she says, holding out a pale hand.

Eva extends the weapon and Narah holds it up to inspect it. The blood on the blade looks fresh, making my stomach churn with dread. I hope Eva didn’t use it to torture Sage again. Or any of my guys. Where are they?

“It appears you were successful,” Narah says, a tinge of surprise lacing her dark tone. “The Sacred Stone has blessed this weapon, which means we can put an end to him.”

Eva frowns, almost like she’s displeased by her praise. “I also unleashed the Titans. They are awaking as we speak. Not only was I successful, but victorious.”

My pulse spikes at the words. Eva did it. She actually managed to release the Titans and I don’t really even know what they are yet. Either way, they can’t be good if they want to use them to take over the enchanted forest.

It’s no secret the dark fae queen hates the light fae king, but I thought they at least made it work for Corvina. It’s been months since I found out who she is and now it’s personal. Corvina is my sister.

Once I get out of here and find my guys, I need to find the keys Kaelah showed me at the Fountain of Mene and stop the titans. It’s the only way to stop them. I wish the gods or Kaelah had chosen someone better than me. Anyone other than me. I can’t stop the royal fae from starting a war. It’s clear I’m powerless and alone. No more than a dot in their way or a toy to amuse Eva.

“Victorious indeed,” Narah drawls, her crimson lips tilting into a smirk. “Then what are we standing here for? The king awaits our presence. Come. We must go and pay him the respect he deserves.”

Eva mirrors the queen’s smile, though it’s not quite as venomous. “He’s already in the throne room.” Her eyes flick to me and then back to Narah. “Shall we say hello? My sister is just dying to meet him.”

The Dark Fae Queen chuckles and turns around, the train of her dress whipping around her heels.

Eva follows suit and Ronan tightens his grip on me before hauling me in her wake. Just as we reach the gilded doors, another door at the end of the hall opens and more fae prisoners are ushered inside, some are nobility and consorts while others are clearly palace servants. They all look equally terrified. The shackles latched around their ankles and wrists clang as a court of Dark Fae with heads that ever-burn herd them through the hall.

I’ve read about the Courtlins creatures in the Book of Zorya but they’re even more terrifying to look at in person. It’s rumored that Narah cursed them for betraying her, and now that I’ve met the fae in question, I believe it.

There’s a darkness within Narah I have never seen in the Enchanted Forest before. It would make sense since she is the Dark Fae Queen, but I can’t believe she’s also Corvina’s mother. When Scott told me, I thought he was joking, but now that I look at the queen, I can see the similarities. Except, any light the queen once possessed was clearly passed down to Corvina. Her mere presence alone makes the darkness glimmer.

“It is time,” Narah says, sliding Eva a veiled glance as they stop in front of the doors. With a wave of Narah’s hand, tendrils of dark magic seep out from her and kick the doors open.

My eyes land on King Ulric first and foremost. He stands in the middle of the room and lifts his head high, holding himself with the utter grace and dignity of a ruler always in control. From his long white hair to his surprisingly disheveled robes, his beauty far succeeds the paintings and sculptures I have seen of him. Even that one time I saw him at a distance at the ball, and he looked right through me, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful he is. How can it be possible that this fae is my father? He’s a descendant from gods, and despite his distressed appearance, he embodies it perfectly.

Behind the king, standing in front of a portal upon the Throne of Helios, is my friend Corvina Charles. She clutches the king’s crown to her chest, her features completely ashen. I’m hidden by the other prisoners and part of me is thankful because I don’t want her to see me imprisoned like this. I pray to Selena that she steps through the portal and escapes before things turn even uglier.

Hurry up, Vina.Get out of here!

But my friend, no sister, freezes and watches Narah glide into the room. Everything from the moment she enters happens too quickly. One minute she is walking toward them and the next she’s in front of King Ulric.

A strangled cry escapes me when I watch her plunge the dagger into his stomach. Every fiber in my body screams at me to run and help him, but Ronan holds me like a twin vice, even when I try to thrash and kick him. I’m powerless as I watch Narah kill my father. Nineteen times she stabs him, and nineteen times my heart shatters into a million little pieces. She then drops him to the floor and turns to us as the king bleeds out at her feet.

“Your king is dead,” she shouts clearly and confidently. “Princess Eva is the Queen of Helios and my future heir to the Throne of Luna. All will bow to us or die.”

At first, the light fae merely glances between themselves. A few of the females weep tears for their king, but mostly they start to get on their knees one by one. Anger and a sense of betrayal flood through me at the sight of them.

I root my feet to the spot, refusing to get on my knees. My only instinct is to reach my father and try to heal him. I need to do something. Tears leak furiously from my eyes, and the moment I lift my leg to kick Ronan between the legs, Eva grabs my hair and drags me to the front of the prisoners.

“But I thought you wanted to meet our father?” she hisses, grabbing my jaw between her fingers and forcing me to look at him. My anger is replaced with panic at the sight of the pool of blood around him. He’s dying. My biological father is dying before I’ve even had the chance to meet him. “I suggest you say hello while you can. Go on now. Don’t be shy.”

Eva replaces her hold on me with magic. An invisible, dark force snakes into my body and forces me to my knees beside the king. His blue eyes cut through me and his blood-covered lips part, letting out a struggling breath. He tries to speak, to say something, but only blood comes out.

A scream claws its way from my own lips. I’ve always wanted to meet my biological father, but not at the moment of his death. The cruelty of all this has me screaming even as Eva’s scathing laugh and the sound of Corvina’s portal closing carries to my ears. I hold the king in my lap, his blood soaking through my clothes. Again he tries to open his lips and fails until eventually, a single word comes out.

“D-daw…n….”

My screams turn into sobs as I press my forehead to his. “Yes, it’s me. I’m home, Father. I will avenge you and protect the city. I will save our people from her!”

His lips spread into a weak smile before his eyes close and he no longer moves within my grasp. Slowly his body transforms into feather-light stone and cracks spread over him like a shattered sculpture.

Eva stands beside us, her stiletto heel pressing into our father’s chest, and with that touch alone the stone caves in on itself and he shatters into a pile of gold dust. The particles float around me and lift to the air in the form of butterflies that slowly vanish.

My grief twists into a molten rage that sends me flying to my feet and tackling Eva to the ground. For the short time in which I have the upper hand, I slam my fist into her face. Blood pours from her nose and mouth and fragments of her features break like porcelain. I keep going, needing to see more of her blood… needing to kill her. If not for the wolf seizing my ankle and dragging me off her, I’m sure that I would’ve.

The wolf hauls me back and pins me down to the floor with its gigantic white paw. Ronan helps Eva off the ground while Narah, now sitting on the Throne of Helios, merely chuckles and smiles at me. Despite all of this, I’m glad Corvina is safe and went through the portal. I just hope she didn’t see her… our father die in my arms.

“I am not done with her yet!” Eva’s shriek bounces off the walls around me. She shoves Ronan aside and wipes her cracked and bleeding face with her sleeve, her incinerating eyes burning into me. “This one is still of use. Stand down.”

The wolf slackens its hold on me but doesn’t move away. Its saliva dribbles onto the floor beside my cheek as it snarls at me.

“You will never be queen,” I scream back, craning my neck to glare up at her. “All the fae in the forest will see you hanged for what you’ve done! No one will bow to you. No one will ever love a monster like you, and no matter what it takes, I will see that you suffer for what you’ve done.”

A sickening snarl tugs at Eva’s lips. “Oh, really? And just how are you going to do that, sister?”

“Because I’m from the House of Dawn,” I say, my own snarl spreading into a smile laced with unwavering conviction, “and the House of Dawn never surrenders.”

Her smugness falls off her face like melted snow. She glances at the white wolf, her face now considerably paler, and swallows hard before giving them a series of orders.

As Ronan drags me up and pushes me out of the throne room behind the wolves, I make a silent vow that I will do whatever it takes to get out of here and find the Titan keys. But more than that, I will avenge my parents, and help my sister, Corvina, win the upcoming war. With Selena as my witness, I will destroy Eva and then claim the throne that now belongs to me.

I’m the rightful Queen of Helios, and no psycho bitch is going to take that away from me.

Not anymore.

The End For Now. Pre-Order the final book here.

New to the Shadowborn World? Buy the first book in Corvina Charles’ journey at the elusive Shadowborn Academy!

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Excerpt from Shadowborn Academy (Dark Fae Academy Series: Book One)

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ABOUT THIS BOOK

My fate is in the dark,

And my shadow there is real…

The darkness likes to play in this world.

It also likes to deceive.

In the Enchanted Forest, secrets thrive and one girl desperately needs to find answers before it’s too late.

That girl is Corvina Charles, a powerful Shadowborn—a human who touched dark magic and became something else.

Something dangerous.

At the age of eighteen, Corvina and her best friend are swept away to the Shadowborn Academy, the one place where magic and darkness coincide.

It’s also where pupils go missing, teachers don’t play by any rules, the therapist is hot, and boys with dark magic love to seduce your soul.

With death becoming a game at the academy that not even the Dark or Light Fae seem capable of winning, Corvina’s love life should really be the last thing on her mind…especially when one of the boys just so happens to be her teacher!

Shadowborn Academy is a Dark Reverse Harem Paranormal Fae Romance for 18+. In this world, not even the shadows can be trusted…

The moonlight bleeding through the trees creates flickering shadows that dance around me. I should be afraid of them like all the other children are, but I’m not. These shadows are safe. They’re not like the ones watching me from the treetops, waiting to snatch me off the ground.

No, these shadows are different.

They’re my friends.

The faeries hiding in them follow me like they always do when I come into the Enchanted Forest. I can’t see them but I can hear them giggling and whispering in my ear. They flick my dark curly hair over my shoulders and play with the ribbons on my light blue dress, then the frills of my white socks with the little bunny rabbits on them. It’s their way of saying hello and it makes me giggle as I skip through the forest, humming to the song Mama always sings to me before I go to sleep.

Mama and Papa warned me not to follow these faeries. They said they’re not like the rest and I’ll be in deep trouble if I ever go out to play after dark. That’s when the faeries come out. They sing to children like me and promise us things beyond our wildest dreams, but nobody ever sees them again once they follow the faeries into the forest. Mama said it’s because they gobble them up for supper. I don’t believe her. I mean, how horrible would that be? I don’t think we taste very nice.

Pitch said the real reason the children don’t come back is magical.

He told me that they grow wings and go to live with the faeries. He said I can do that, too, once I make my wish. I’m so excited. I can hear him singing to me and I start humming along to his favourite song, the one about the raven and the wishing well. I follow his voice, excited to play with him again and eat snacks and tell each other stories. No one else can see or hear Pitch apart from me and the faeries. Although we’re the same age, he doesn’t look like any of the boys from my village. He’s extremely pale with glowing amber eyes and long ebony hair that sways around him like the shadows do in here. I know he’s different and that’s why I like him.

That’s why I’m following him.

Now that it’s my eighth birthday, Pitch is going to let me make a wish in the well he sings about. He says only special humans—the chosen ones—get to make a wish here. Sometimes he says funny things like that and I don’t understand him. All I want is a pair of shiny blue shoes, the same ones as my dolly. Pitch says the faeries are going to give them to me, and then I’ll finally have the same outfit as my little dolly.

The faeries guide me to the edge of a clearing which is bright from the moonlight shining down. I wave goodbye to them, even though I can’t see where they are, then I continue humming and skipping after Pitch.

I can see him now, sitting on top of the well, and my heart soars as I race through the clearing. Once I reach the well, he lifts me onto the stone with him. It’s wide enough that the two of us can stand together without falling into the hole.

“It’s time to make your wish,” he says, and my stomach fills with butterflies. “Are you ready to be born again?” I don’t know what he means by that; I just want the lovely shoes. I nod anyway, and Pitch smiles at me. “Then close your eyes.”

When I do this, I hold my breath, too excited to breathe.

My heart feels like it’s going to burst out from my chest. I feel dizzy and sick and excited.

“Do you remember what we talked about?” Pitch asks quietly. “What you do once you make your wish? It’s very important that you don’t forget that part.”

“I won’t forget,” I tell him firmly, peeking through my eyelashes. “Can I say it now? Can I make my wish?”

He giggles and lets go of my hand. “Go on, Corvina. Make your wish and make it count.”

I let out an excited squeal, then I scrunch up my little face and think really hard because I don’t want to mess this up.

—Hello faeries! Please can I have the same shoes as my dolly? You know, the sparkly blue shoes with the pretty bows on the silver buckles? I would like them very much. Thank you.—

With my wish uttered, I open my eyes. Pitch is gone just like he said he would be and I’m alone on the well. I look down into the tunnel of darkness stretching before me. A loose pebble falls away from the edge and drops into the well. It takes forever to splash through the water at the bottom, and I gulp, my palms turning sweaty against my dress.

For my wish to come true, I need to go down there.

Pitch said he’ll be waiting for me and that the faeries will even give me wings so that I don’t hurt myself. I’ll be just like the other children who followed the faeries into the woods and lived happily ever after. Maybe I’ll even be able to see my friends, Bella and Michael and Agnes.

We’ll all be faeries together, like we used to talk about.

I turn around and spread my arms out like wings, smiling at the thought of seeing my friends from school again. Taking a deep breath and holding it in my chest, I close my eyes and fall down into the well, praying that Mama and Papa were wrong about the faeries, and about Pitch, the monster hiding under my bed…

Before I plunge to my death, I wake up with a gasp for air, clutching my thin bedsheets in my hands. Pitch wasn’t waiting for me. There was nothing but pain and misery at the bottom of that stupid well and my innocent ass didn’t know any better back then.

I fell into magical darkness, and as everyone here tells me, that’s when I became a shadowborn.

But that’s not the part that haunts me every night in my dreams. Oh, no. It’s what happened after the pain and misery—after I drowned in all the magical water, my eight-year-old body absorbing it like it was sugar and I was a starving kid. When my heart started beating again and I opened my eyes, I lay floating on my back as the moon drew closer and closer to me. I remember crying and thinking I had been turned into a bug instead of a faery, but it was just the water healing my shattered bones and floating me up to the surface.

The second my feet touched the earth again, my power exploded and I destroyed everything in a five-mile radius, including all the houses and the people inside them.

Including my parents.

And the only living thing was me, covered in ash, lying on the forest floor as the sun rose into a blood-red sky.

Talk about a birthday to remember.

After that, I was picked up by the Shadow Wardens, protectors of the magical world, and thrown in a shadowborn foster home with all the other children that are like me. Only they didn’t kill hundreds of people and not one of them in here see their powers like the curses they really are.

“You having those dreams again?” Sage asks, sitting up on her bed next to me and staring at me, the moonlight highlighting her beige skin and curly pink hair that isn’t at all messy even though she just woke up. Sage Millhouse is the only bit of this foster home that I’ve ever cared about and I’m certain it’s the same way for her. We came here on the same day, two scared kids who wanted nothing more than to escape this hellhole and the new powers we have. Sage got her power the way most of the kids here did, by being bitten by a shadowborn in their animal state. One bite is enough to infuse any soul with shadow magic, and all it took for Sage was a bite from a fox in her garden.

The fox was never seen again, and Sage nearly died, only to survive and be taken from her parents to come and live here.

The foster home is full of those stories, and it’s the main reason I don’t talk about my past.

“Always.”

It’s all I need to say for Sage to get off her bed and head out of the room. I follow her, the old wooden floorboards creaking under my bare feet with each step. Sage holds the timber door open and we head outside into the garden. The cool air is refreshing for only a second before it’s nothing but cold nipping at my skin.

“Ready?” I ask her as I stare up, the darkness and shadows comforting me like they always do.

Sage doesn’t reply, though I’m unsurprised as she isn’t one for words. That’s why I like her. I watch her bright purple eyes as she disappears in a cloud of black smoke. The darkness. It’s become a blanket of sorts to people like us. As the blackness fades away, there is nothing more than a hawk sitting on the ground, its lavender eyes staring up at me. I grin as I close my own silver eyes and do the next best thing in the world.

I let the darkness take me, creating me into something more.

Something so much better than I already am.

My body disappears into the darkness but my mind always stays, loving the comfort as I shift into a raven and follow Sage into the skies of Blackpool.

“We should head back,” Sage suggests around a spoonful of ice cream.

I watch the sea lap at the steps beside the shore and the sandbags lined at the top of them. The skies are grey, eerily so, like they can sense what a crap day this is going to be for us. The sea smells of salt and I can almost taste it over the bubblegum lollipop I’ve just finished off. Over the sounds of the waves, the seagulls make themselves known with loud squeaks, and in the distance, some children ride bikes down the front.

“Why? I have nothing to pack and neither do you. The wardens aren’t coming until nightfall,” I remind her. She eyes me carefully and I try to pick up on her emotions. Is she as nervous as me? Unlikely. The Shadowborn Academy is our next home, starting from tonight. We both have known we would attend this year, on the year we turn eighteen, since we aren’t classed as kids anymore. The academy is meant to teach us control and endurance, to accept our new life and fit into their society of normal magics.

What if you don’t want to fit in?

I asked our warden that once, and she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“They might not come for us at all. Wouldn’t that be nice?” she replies, and I smirk at her, leaning back on the bench. I chuck the stick of my ice lolly in the bin and go back to people watching the streets.

I love people watching, and so does Sage. We have spent days on this bench, making up stories for random strangers we spot. Our stories are unlikely to be right, but it gives us an escape into a normal world—a world where our nightmares cannot reach us. We can almost pretend we’re just two teenagers skipping school instead of what we really are.

“Do you think Keeper Maddox will miss us?” Sage asks, her voice dripping with humour.

The Light Warden runs our foster home and she’s the fourth one since I came here, as all the others quit. No one likes looking after dozens of kids with shadow powers, and all of whom want their parents back. These poor wardens would literally prefer any other assignment in the magics world. It’s depressing, but Keeper Maddox isn’t the worst of the lot.

“I doubt she will even notice us leave. She prefers the younger ones,” I reply.

They’re easier to control.

As for me and Sage?

We’re damaged goods and a waste of air. Or so we’ve been told by previous wardens. Sometimes late at night, when my demons catch up with me, I almost believe them.

“And you have your book? In the name of Selena, do not forget that book, child,” Keeper Maddox warns me later that day, giving my opened trunk an assessing once over. Spotting the old, tattered book beside my trunk, she nods. “Thank the Gods. You mustn’t forget it. Always have your book with you—”

“—from the instant you enter the forest,” I tersely interject, having endured this spiel many times before now. “The book is our bible. We get it, Miss Maddox.”

We’ve had no choice but to.

I’ve read the Book of Zorya a million times already. I don’t know why she’d think we’d leave here without it. It’s practically the map to our new home. A home neither of us wants to be part of.

Well, Sage says she doesn’t, but I have a sneaky suspicion she’s excited to use magic beyond the mediocre level we were taught here. The wardens never wanted us to learn more than needed since we were supposed to be part of the mortal world.

The mortal world.

After ten years, it still feels odd to not be quite human anymore. I had human parents, lived in a human village, before I was…changed. Now I’m just a shadowborn, and I must go to this academy to learn the tricks of the trade. Part of me should at least feel excited, but I’m not. I’m more terrified than anything else. The last time I entered the Enchanted Forest, my whole world was taken from me.

“Very well, then,” Maddox starts, gesturing to my trunk. “Your luggage should arrive at the academy by the time you arrive. Why don’t you go stand outside with the others?”

She leaves without waiting for a reply.

I look out the window above what used to be my rickety bed. Sage is sitting on her tire swing in the back garden, looking down at Little Nessa’s grave. She was a kid who used to stay here before she lost control of her power. Sage and I shared a room with her, and we always managed to calm her down when she had nightmares. But that night we went out for a fly, and when we came back, they were carrying Nessa’s small body out. I remember looking at her and thinking how peaceful she looked, as if she were just sleeping. But that’s the thing with shadowborns. Our magic feeds off the darkness residing within us, and often it takes over.

Our fears, our heartaches, our pain… anything that affects us negatively, the magic pulsing through our veins latches on to them and grows stronger with every fruitless effort we make to fight them.

Some of us learn to control our dark sides, at least for a while. Others, like Nessa, never stand a chance from the moment they were turned into a shadowborn. This is why the academy exists: to teach magics like me how to accept our demons instead of hiding from them. Running, avoiding, suppressing, all these things merely worsen our condition. I learned that a long time ago, and I managed to accept my demons.

The darkest one of all is named Pitch, and he’s also my shadow.

Speaking of the devil, which he might be for all I know, Pitch doesn’t always talk to me. I guess he doesn’t really need to. His thoughts are my fears and my fears are his thoughts now. No matter where he goes, I can always sense him without looking. It’s inherent, not because I want it to be, but because we’re soul mates.

Literally.

The night that I died, I was the only light left within his swirling darkness, and he latched on to me by tethering my soul to his so we could both stay alive. He never meant for either of us to suffer and die. Only a child himself, he merely wanted to grant my birthday wish.

I never quite bought that either in the beginning. But despite all the anger and pain I felt towards him for many years later, I’ve come to accept that without him, without his darkness nestled around my heart, my soul would be incomplete. He’s a part of me whether I want him to be or not, and any time we’re apart, a gut-wrenching longing takes over me, and it burns right through to my core.

I turn back, seeing a shadow of a figure in the corner of the room, sitting on an empty bed. Sometimes Pitch looks like a man with broad shoulders, thick black hair, and alluring amber eyes. And sometimes, like this, he is just a shadow that blinks away before I can ask why he’s even here.

Clearing my throat, I leave and head down the corridor, my navy boots announcing every footstep in the dark, dimly lit hallway. Pushing the door open, I step out into the moonlight as Sage stands and turns to me, clutching her copy of the Book of Zorya in her hands. This is how I know she’s excited to go to the academy—she’s forever reading that damn book.

“Is it time?” she asks, and I simply nod. Hooking her arm in mine, we leave the garden and head to the front of the house. We walk outside, sitting on the brick wall, watching the stars in the sky.

“They say it’s so dark in the enchanted forest, and unless you have the blessing of the sun and moon, you can’t see where you walk,” she half-jokes, but I can tell she is nervous.

I roll my eyes at her. It can’t be that bad. “You need to stop reading that book. Wait and see. We will be there soon.”

She opens her book and starts reading, ignoring me completely.

“In the beginning, Aphrodite and Persephone decided to create a magical forest for all manner of creatures. They appeared in their natural form, unearthly beautiful and fae-like, and brought with them their favourite stars—the Morning Star and the Evening Star. They each placed them in the sky, and one became the sun and the other the moon,” she reads out, her voice being carried by the wind to poor unsuspecting humans who don’t want to hear a fairy tale like this.

A fairytale that quickly became a nightmare.

“I know, I know. Then monsters came to the forest. Blah, blah, blah,” I drone but she ignores me once more and carries on reading.

“Aphrodite became known as Danica, Goddess of the Sun, and she created the Throne of Helios where she would reign over her part of the forest. Persephone became Selena, Goddess of the Moon, and she created the Throne of Luna, again where she would rule her half of the forest. To their kingdoms, they became known as the Zorya Sisters…” She stops, turning the page and pausing in whatever she’s reading.

“I’ve heard the thrones are cursed and that’s why all the royal fae are crackers,” I whisper to her. Keeper Maddox and every keeper I’ve met talk like fae are these holy creatures and to speak badly about them is as forbidden as murder.

“Rumours, all rumours, Corvina,” she sighs, snapping the book shut. “Aren’t you excited to see a fae student? They’re meant to be very alluring and beautiful.”

Alluring and beautiful is exactly how I would describe Pitch.

But often those things just hide a person’s true nature like a cloud of smoke.

When I finally focus on Sage, her all too knowing eyes are watching me closely. “I know you’re scared. It’s okay to admit it to me, Corvina.”

“Since I became a shadowborn, I’ve been scared, Sage, but I’ve learnt that running from it only gives the fear more power. It’s better to face the darkness than run from it because one thing is for damn sure…” I pause as I see something coming down the road. “In our world, the darkness never lets you go.”

Buy here.

(as mentioned in the book)

Zorya Kingdom

THRONE OF LUNA

Capital City: LUNA

Ruler: Queen Narah

DEADLANDS

Inhabits: Cimmerians, Draugers, Deserters, Bandits

THE BLACK HARBOUR

THE WISHING WELL

SKULL CAVE

aka Howling Hollow Cave, Statue of Aeon

THE GORGON LAKE

FAERIE POOLS

DEVIL’S DROP

SHADOWBORN ACADEMY

SHADOWBORN PRISON

DRACONIA

Capital City: Emeria

Ruler: King Cyrus, Naraah’s brother

Queen Valessia

Prince Drusus (triplet)

Prince Draco (triplet)

Prince Drakon (triplet)

Princess Kaida

ZORYA INN

Helios Kingdom

THRONE OF HELIOS

Capital City: VASILI

Ruler: King Ulric

Princess Evangelina

LAKE LUMEN

HELIOS ACADEMY

AURORA BAY

PEGASUS TAVERN

FAERIE POOLS

KYLLAROS

Ruler: Chiron

Prince Elias

GROUND FLOOR

Entrance/Security

Armories

Processing Room

Visiting Centre

Wardens’ Staffroom

Education

Therapist

Library

FIRST FLOOR

Girl’s Wing > showers, leisure area

Boy’s Wing > showers, leisure area

Mess Hall

SECOND FLOOR

Solitary Confinement

Training Room

Green Room

THIRD FLOOR

Blood Trials Arena

Infirmary

Morgue

Laboratory

THE TOWER

(located on the third floor, upper left)

Governor’s chamber

Izora’s new cell/room

Staff quarters

INMATES

Izora Dawn, arena trainer

Axel, trainer, chef

Memphis, arena trainer

Coen, arena pack alpha

Tyler, arena pack beta

Sharon, Blood Trials committee member

Abigail

Kenneth, Abigail’s brother, deceased

STAFF

Zavier Gold, Governor of Shadowborn Prison

Shadow Warden (Derek) Luke, Izora’s Guard

Lieutenant Warden (Nathaniel) Kyle, Blood Trials Enforcer, Luke’s uncle

Gage Michaels, Therapist, also teaches at Shadowborn Academy

Scott Mune, Education Teacher, also teaches at Shadowborn Academy

OTHERS

High Warden (Athena) Greene, Izora’s mother

High Warden (Ezekiel) Greene, Izora’s step-father

Willow Greene, Izora’s step-sister

Emma Greene, Ezekiel’s former wife, Izora’s deceased nanny

Corvina Charles, Izora’s friend, Shadowborn Academy student

GODS & GODDESSES

Selena, Goddess of the Moon, Persephone

Danica, Goddess of the Sun, Aphrodite

OTHER GODS

(not featured in this book yet)

Hades, God of Darkness

Ares, God of War

Aeon, God of Life

Eris, Goddess of Chaos and Discord

Grand Wardens—royal advisors, supreme judges, head of the High Table, the most powerful of all the wardens

High Wardens—member of the High Table that govern certain fractions of the forest and human world (like mayors)

Shadow Wardens—law enforcers, highly trained and skilled, powerful

Junior Wardens—still powerful, will advance up to a Shadow Warden

Keepers—protectors of Shadowborns and magic users, never really advance

(how the Enchanted Forest came to be)

In the beginning…

Aphrodite and Persephone decided to create a magical forest for all manners of creatures. They appeared in their natural form, unearthly beautiful and fae-like, and brought with them their favourite stars—the Morning Star and the Evening Star. They each placed them in the sky, and one became the sun and the other the moon.

Aphrodite became known as Danica, Goddess of the Sun, and she created the Throne of Helios where she would reign over her part of the forest.

Persephone became Selena, Goddess of the Moon, and she created the Throne of Luna, again where she would rule her half of the forest. To their kingdoms, they became known as the Zorya Sisters.

As the Almighty Goddess of the Moon, Selena, walked through the forest at twilight, admiring her many creations, she came across a shard of glass gleaming on the forest floor. She used this to create the Fountain of Mene which allowed her to see whatever her heart most desired, and to guide her down whichever path she sought in darkness. Selena often used it to see her husband Hades and their children.

The Dark God, Hades, used this fountain to send her a cloak of darkness on their anniversary, which Selena wove into a blanket of stars that became known as the night sky. Now the moon had stars, and Selena told her people to use them as guides and sources of light within the darkness, for neither of them should be feared since they cannot exist without the other; just like how Selena’s kingdom cannot exist without Danica’s.

Many decades later, a strange presence crept into the forest. Eris, Persphone’s half-sister, had grown envious of this Selena and Danica and she planned to spoil their New World.

First, she unleashed monsters into the forest.

Darkness.

The creatures of dark spread like wildfire, breeding chaos everywhere and anywhere they could. Danica tried to chase them back whence they came, but Selena pitied and grew to love them. Some even became her loyal servants. While she became occupied with her new settlers, Eris sent Danica the golden Apple of Discord, a feigned gift from Ares, which poisoned her.

Hearing of her sister’s illness, Selena rushed to her side. Nothing could be done to save Danica. Eris watched from the shadows as Danica’s light faded and her sun waned. But then Selena ripped out her own heart and pressed it into Danica’s chest. This allowed Danica to live, but Selena faded and died in Danica’s arms, before she joined the stars in the sky, and because of her sacrifice, she became one with the Evening Star and the Moon.

When Hades learned of what happened, his anger shook the realms. He used the fountain as a portal and managed to kill Eris, but without his wife to bring out the good in him, Hades’ grief drove him to insanity. He partnered up with Ambrose, the God of Life, and they waged war on the kingdoms. Hades killed Eris, but now that Danica had her powers and her sisters, she was able to severely injure him so much that he had to retreat back to the underworld and was stripped of his ability to return.

Peace settled among the forest for a time, and Danica gave the Throne of Luna to Ares, who was quick to succumb to the allure of darkness and he became the first Dark Fae—Queen Narah’s four-times great-grandfather.

G. Bailey is a USA Today bestselling author of books that are filled with everything from dragons to pirates. Plus, fantasy worlds and breath-taking adventures. Oh, and some swoon-worthy men that no girl could forget. G. Bailey is from the very rainy U.K. where she lives with her husband, two children and three cheeky dogs. And, of course, the characters in her head that never really leave her, even as she writes them down for the world to read!

About me?

I love tea. (Maybe a little obsessed but what Brit isn’t?)

Chocolate and Harry Potter marathons are my jam.

I own way too many notebooks and random pens.

Please feel free say hello on here or head over to Facebook to join G. Bailey’s group, Bailey’s Pack! (Where you can find exclusive teasers, random giveaways and sneak peeks of new books on the way!)

Scarlett Snow comes from a big family in a small Scottish town and has always strived to prove that if you are passionate about something, no one can stop you from chasing your dreams. She lives with her wolf dog and kitties and is unashamedly addicted to coffee.

If you’d like to join her newsletter to be kept updated on her books, you can do so here: www.scarlett.katzesnow.com

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Scarlett also writes under Katze Snow (Dark M/M Books)

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

About This Book

Map

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Excerpt from Shadowborn Academy (Dark Fae Academy Series: Book One)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Appendix i—LOCATIONS

Appendix ii—PRISON LAYOUT

Appendix iii—CHARACTERS

Appendix iv—WARDEN RANKS

Appendix v—THE BOOK OF ZORYA

About G Bailey

About Scarlett Snow