Page 1 of Beneath Swan Lake (Deadly Endings #2)

8 Years Ago, Odette

In the shadows the nightmares hide,

Where secrets come to die.

When the nightmares return again,

We’ll see the reign's final end.

–The Shadow Man

It’s the coppery taste of blood that greets me as I wake. Blinking, it takes several moments to realize that the darkness isn’t from having my eyes closed, it’s just dark.

One hand raises above my hand but I can’t quite see it in the inky blackness. I can feel the tremble, and the more aware I become, the better I’m able to register that the cold surrounding me isn’t just the air, it’s splattering across my face.

Raindrops .

The hum around me is the soft sound of rain.

And beneath that, as things slowly come into focus, there’s the sound of… chewing?

I groan when I try to roll on my back, pieces of tonight blurring together. I have no idea how much time has passed since I was last conscious, but I remember that tonight’s suitor wanted to go out for a carriage ride.

It’s my twentieth birthday. I only agreed to put up with the plan because my parents really talked this guy up, and bringing people from across the country for a visit is a big deal. Things are rough between the kingdoms, so I agreed to do my duty for just one night.

Pain explodes across my forehead, and those thoughts scatter to the wind. I lift a hand and press it to the spot on my forehead, feeling a gash there and the stickiness of blood. I’m not sure how that happened, but something definitely struck me hard.

Blinking against the rain, I try to focus despite the sounds of chewing nearby. Where was I? My suitor… I can’t for the life of me recall his name right now. He has shaggy hair and an easy-going smile, and he was so sure we could cross through this little turnoff in Ravens Wood and be just fine.

My breath catches at a snapping noise, ripping me from my scattered thoughts. My gaze lifts from the dark ground, slowly able to pick apart things in the dim night. The rain continues to fall like a dreary symphony around me, and I squint my eyes when a flash of lightning crosses the sky.

I choke on a scream, wide eyes staring at the scene in front of me. It flickers in and out in an instant, but not before I see the flowery, torn face of a daisy brought to life. There’s Flowerborne here.

And this one hangs limp from the mouth of a massive beast. Another streak of lighting shoots across the sky, illuminating the nightmare before me once again.

It’s a beast, a monstrous bird like I’ve never seen in these lands. The mouth is streaked in what I assume must be blood, and that horrific chewing sound that carries over the rain and thunder must be the beast eating the Flowerborne.

It’s going to turn. Eating the Flowerborne that stampede over the lands makes creatures turn into monsters. The plants from Wonderland need to stay in the Red Woods so things like this don’t end up happening. The Flowerborne traveled a great way to end up here in Ravens Wood.

Swallowing a whimper, I scoot back on the earth. My ankle aches when I try to move, and the longer I’m awake the more aware I am of the pain exploding all over my body. I can’t focus, and thinking about the logistics of why a Flowerborne is all the way out here won’t save me from dying.

My father would make a tutting noise, reminding me to remember who I am. I’m a princess, the firstborn and only heir to Swan Lake. I’m the Swan Princess, and I should stand proudly in the face of all obstacles. I’m not going to turn into some beast’s midnight snack.

But my head, my face… gods almighty, it feels like I’m dying.

Forcing the pain away again, I struggle and scoot backward until something large slides into my vision, the edges barely tangible in the dark. Getting away from the scene feels like the right move, but my body isn’t responding to me. I don’t hear my suitor or the guards who traveled along with us from Camelot and Swan Lake, and that’s not a good sign.

We were just supposed to be out for a carriage ride. I warned him that going into Ravens Wood was a bad idea - there are ogres and beastly things out here. I’ve never heard anyone mention whatever that thing is, chewing on the Flowerborne like it’s nothing.

The beast is one thing, but the Flowerborne is another. They are mimics, so the beast either doesn’t care what it consumes or it ate the flower for mimicking something else. The monsters don’t like to tread across the property line for Swan Lake where the trees thin and the grass is greener. My parents warned me to not cross the border for this exact reason. Outside of Swan Lake they have no power, and I’m left to the mercy of monsters in the dark.

I need to get out of here. My eyes aren’t adjusting to the darkness well, and the flashes of lightning are too scattered to depend on.

More snapping sounds behind me, and my head whips around without thinking. My blonde hair is soaked through from the rain and drags around in a semi-circle as I move, sticking to my body along with whatever blood, dirt, and mud is caked to me.

At first I don’t see anything. Then a new flash of lighting crashes above me, and the scene is enough to make me scream.

Seraphe - Seraphim? - or whatever is left of my suitor hangs from the mouth of another great bird. Maybe it was once a kindly creature, but the bloody teeth and overextended maw opening to show me the crude, bloody remains is enough to snap my resolve. My suitor is nothing but dinner for a monster, and if he’s already gone there’s no reason to think I won’t be next. One monster was bad enough, but two are worse.

Pain be damned, I struggle to my feet and take off running. The blood, confusion, and everything else melts into sheer terror echoing my scream, and I scramble away as fast as I possibly can to escape the slaughter. My ankle cries in protest making my motions uneven, and, flexing my arms, I prepare to give into the swan and shift. I’ll accept the curse for today if it’ll save my life.

Something latches onto my leg, grabbing my thigh, and it takes me down as the dress tears. I feel my body slam against the unforgiving earth, knocking the wind out of me from the force.

A cry rips from my lips as pure agony digs into my leg, like something is taking a bite out of me. I scream against the echo of thunder, uselessly kicking at the thing as the pain overtakes me. I’d roll over to smack it or try and drag myself away, but the pain feels absolute.

The next sound is a gurgle, a rush of blood filling my ears to match the pain. The thing that’s beginning to eat me weighs me down, and fear convinces me that looking back at my death is far too terrifying in the dark.

There’s another crack of lightning, and a figure appears in front of me. As I wail in agony I’m positive that I’m imagining things as I watch the tall silhouette approaching .

Here is my angel of death, coming to drag me home. A dark figure with a cloak and something slung across broad shoulders, the pain edging away into something… less the closer he gets.

Before the shadowy figure can reach me, I’m yanked away from his presence. I scream as someone drags me upward, the searing pain in my thigh suddenly torn away, as if something is being forcibly stripped from me.

I wail, two calloused hands gripping my arms tight, forcing me to stand. The pain makes my head thick and fuzzy, and I can’t get my balance, making it difficult to look at who is grabbing me.

“Morons. They let the goods get damaged. Aren’t you happy to see me again, lovely?” That voice sounds vaguely familiar, and I can no longer tell where the line between delirium and reality lies. Rough fingers grab my chin, something blue and bright illuminating the murderous space around us.

The grip on my chin releases and blue light erupts again near my face. The man looking back at me seems taller than the shadowy figure from moments ago, piercing blue eyes glaring at me.

For a moment, I can’t even make my mouth work. Here’s a face I would rather not see. Pain, fear, and shock steal my voice, and I only manage to whimper out his name. “Dima.”

He doesn’t belong here, not all the way out in Ravens Wood. Dima and his mother belong to my father’s court in Swan Lake, but they are upsetters. They would love to slide into the royal roles in the Kingdom, but my father is not an easily persuaded man. Dima travels to the lake, affectionately named Swanling for all the swans that call it home. Half the time he isn’t even within the walls of the Kingdom, yet he’s all the way down here in Ravens Wood instead.

All that plays through my mind as he stares at me, little waves of blue energy seeming to spark off of him that make me think I’m delusional from blood loss and pain. I haven’t seen Dima in nearly half a year. His methods of control are cruel, and my father was unwilling to work with a man torturing beasts and mortals alike for the sake of knowledge. His mother is a bloodthirsty false Queen, gathering up followers who are more interested in pushing the value of the rich over the needs of the poor.

Swan Lake is a peaceful land, and Dima’s entire family is the exact opposite. If it wouldn’t cause further issues I think my father might just banish him. But Dima plays with magic, and we have no idea to what end.

Princess or not, I’m in training as I grow older and closer to ascending the throne. And thankfully, each time Dima offers to extend a marriage proposal my parents cut that idea off at the knees.

“The blasted thing bit you,” he continues, speaking as if I’m not there. “This isn't part of my plan.”

What plan?

There were always rumors of Dima’s darkness. He slew a whole group of swans not long ago, letting them bleed across the lake, and it was the final straw for my father. Brutality without reason is just cruel, and there was no question in anyone’s mind that it was a direct jab at the crown and the land itself.

“Now you're ruined,” he continues, his voice growing faint. I think I might be going to lose consciousness but the pain seems to be spreading all across my body, keeping me all too aware. I can't tell where one injury ends and another begins. “That insipid bird wasn’t supposed to bite you yet.”

His words force a sob from my throat, my fears creeping out. I can’t understand why he’s still standing here while monsters eat my what’s left suitor, and probably intend to eat me. But he’s calm and unbothered, as if the gory murder of a man and some of those wretched flowers are nothing to be troubled with.

He lifts a hand, and for a moment I think he's going to strike me. His fingertips are lit with an eerie blue light on his free hand, and I hiss when he drags them across my skin. It burns, and I realize my back, where his other hand rests, is on fire as well. “Perhaps if I only give back parts of the King's daughter he’ll see how serious I can be. All of Swan Lake can be mine.”

There’s no time to ask questions. One moment that hand is trailing across my face, the next it's up near my bloody forehead, trailing down to press into my eye, digging in, forcing my eye to move unnaturally.

I scream, the sound deafening to me as he works the orb out of place. I miss what happens next, unsure if he manages to pop out my eye or not as the pain takes over. The world blinks in and out of focus, the indescribable pain making it hard to focus on anything else.

Am I still screaming, or is that the sound of monsters preying?

At length the tension between my eye and his pull snaps, and I know I’m the one screaming now as he tosses his trophy up in the air before catching it. “A little souvenir for the road.”

Choking, I try to hold a hand over my eyes but I’m not even sure if my limbs are moving. Everything’s gone to pins and needles, like my body can’t decide between numbness and unending pain. Dima drops the hand pressed to my back and I tumble bonelessly to the ground, staring into the dirt.

But his laughter draws my attention, and the determined side of me wants to look him in the eyes as I die. The blue light is enough to illuminate the harsh lines of his face as he chuckles, bouncing my eye in one hand as his other flashes blue. “We’ll see what’s to become of you. Bart! Grab Aggie, it’s time to move. We’ll come back for Swanling’s gift very soon.”

There’s a brilliant flash of blue, then nothing. The madman in front of me is gone, and I’m left with only the company of dead Flowerborne and the beasts eating those cursed plants. My leg screams in agony, reminding me that I might soon be one of the monsters too.

I’m too tired to worry about that reality. I can feel the exhaustion creeping in, and if I pass out from the pain I’ll wake up dead.

Staring off into the darkness, I know I’ve begun to lose my mind. It looks as though there’s a figure not far off, the shadows seeming to shift and swallow him. It’s probably the pain winning out, and I wish the darkness would take me and save me from this half-life.

The figure steps forward, and even though shadows envelop him, he comes into sharp focus. I recognize the silhouette—it’s the same one I saw earlier, something I had convinced myself was just my imagination. Deep black hair, ashen skin and dark eyes. He’s too willowy to distinguish what color those eyes are except for dark.

There’s footsteps in the distance, or perhaps I’m just imagining them. Didn’t Dima mention he would be back for something? I blink and lose focus on the noise, unable to pay attention to much of anything but the man before me. And this certainly isn’t Dima.

He steps forward, and for a moment the terror wreaking havoc on my insides slips away. “No, no, no, dear one. You’re not ready to come with Death. Not yet.”