Page 30

Everetta

I could feel the burning pain coursing through every fiber of my body. Into every inch of skin as I smiled wryly at Fletcher, the man I'd killed. True, I hadn't been in my right mind at the time. If I was being honest, I couldn't even remember the complete details of that day, which was why I wanted to talk to him. To come up with a logical reason as to how everything went down. Then, a blond-haired half-Lion half-Wolf thundered in like the raging snow storms that often hit the Wolf Court. The door slammed off its hinges in Eli's need to get into my room. Rolling my eyes at his dramatics I stared at the half-unhinged door.

"For lords’ sake." I heard Fletcher mutter as I couldn't help but snicker a little at his annoyance.

My hand squeezed his in comfort; our hands intertwined as memories assaulted me.

"Everetta! Y-Your awake. Lucarious- he suddenly popped up in my office and-" Eli trailed off just as the red-headed bastard I sent away just seconds ago winked back at me.

Narrowing my gaze on his cocky grin. The bastard was planning something. I knew he wouldn’t have taken my subtle threat against his sister lying down, it was a gamble to do it in the first place. I knew if I hung his dear little sister on the line he would take the bargain I dealt, no questions asked.

"Yes. I am. Is that the first question you're going to ask me? No hello or welcome back?" I smirked back, masking my fury at the audacity this guy had to come into my room while I was… recovering? No, I don’t even think I can from whatever Luna had injected into my system. Who else could it be? No one else but Fletcher has the skill needed to poison me and Fletcher wasn’t here until… until the ball. Magics I’m such a mess.

"You remember," Eli stated. Not a question, I noted.

I forced the grin to remain on my face. Oh, so he knows what he did was wrong? Yet, he still went through with it.

No, I am sure he'll apologize sooner or later. Eli has always been like that, ignorant, he was my little puppet. It was the whole reason why I never suspected he of all fae would do such outrageous things to me.

"Yep." I popped the p as I sighed, please don’t let this be a long conversation. I was tired as fuck. A few seconds after my wishful thinking Akasuki stumbled into the room clasping her hands over her mouth with Snow, Eli, and Fletcher's younger sister, trailing behind her. Well fuck, this was going to be a long conversation.

"Yep, everyone just barge in. I certainly wasn't planning to have some peace and quiet with Evie or anything. Alone . That's great." Fletcher remarked glaring at Eli and Lucarious as I pressed my lips together as if to say. "Nope, no. No, we are not."

Geez they could let a girl rest a little before she has to come up with an explanation for their current predicament. Of course, by that, I mean who in the magics took our crowns. I have a suspicion but nothing concrete. Let’s just say it had something to do with the vision I had on my so-called journey with Eli to find that witch. Ya, turns out that shit was not a memory. Then again would they even believe me if I told them my theories? It’s a little far-fetched even for me. Plus, I'd still have to do a little more research on it but I'm like 85% sure of my theory.

Silence. I waited, clasping my hands together in hopes Eli would spill the beans already. I certainly wasn't going to speak first.

When silence remained as they all stared at me I sighed, exasperated, “No, sorry?" I cocked a brow staring over at Eli, it should have been obvious that was what I was going for. He was clearly in the wrong. If he said sorry all would be forgiven, I mean I have done far worse to him but each time I made sure to apologize. Now it was his turn.

I’m just joking with you, he’d say sorry and then we would proceed to me taking revenge on him and then we could finally negotiate on ways he could make it up to me.

My brows scrunched together in the still silent room. You could really hear the little chirping insects getting it on with how quiet the room was.

Eli narrowed his gaze back on me just as much in wonder as I was, "What apology? I was doing what I thought was right."

I scoffed, staring back at him in utter shock before I bursted out laughing.

Oh, my magics! Was this his attempt at making a joke? He must have been joking. There was no way he could possibly think what he did was right. It was an invasion of privacy, never mind that it was forbidden .

This wasn't funny anymore.

He really should apologize and get this shit over with.

I was about to tell him just how not hilarious his joke was when Eli's inquisitive eyes turned as cool as ice as he gazed back at me, “You don't seriously expect me to apologize, do you? I was doing what I thought was right. I was protecting you . Why the hell should I say sorry for that?" Eli crossed his arms in front of his chest. His stance firm. He spread out his legs as if I would lunge at him any second now. I might very well do so if my body was up for it. As it was, my body needed a few more minutes to recover from the…situation I had with my other half.

I blinked still in shock as my mouth hung a gap, “You took my memories, Eli. If anything, that's the least you can do." I deserved a pat on the back for how deadly calm I was. Because who wouldn't be flying out of their bed right now to stab the man in front of them. He was so lucky I didn't have my arrows on me right now . Eli only scoffed back at me. I heard Fletcher shifting beside me as he called out my name.

"Everetta maybe you guys should discuss this some other time?" Fletcher began as Akasuki tried doing the same with Eli. Shaking my head I shook off Fletcher's calming hands. I knew what he meant. My rising temper was not helping my body heal. It was building up magic that my body couldn’t handle at the moment, what with the poison that witch drugged me with.

"No! You owe me a damn apology. You fucking messed with my brain Eli!" I could already sense the magic coursing through my hazardous body. I needed to calm myself. If not, I would only further hurt myself. I tried but the next words out of Eli's lips destroyed any chance I had at soothing my inflating rage.

"An apology? I owe you no such thing. I did what was best for you . For us ."

His words were like coals to my flames. The rising embers grew like the infernos of hell. A blazing red like a sun ready to burst.

"What was best for me ? For us ?! No, you did what was best for you! Did you even think of the pain you were causing me? Did you ever think of the repercussions? For magics sake Eli, this isn't some minor parlor trick you perform in front of a crowd!” I reprimanded as it hit me.

"How the hell was I supposed to know you weren't going to kill yourself? All I knew was that if you woke up and found out that Fletcher was dead by your hands might I add. You'd just end your life right then and there. So excuse me if I was trying to save you!" Eli snarled, not a hint of guilt in his voice. His brilliant blue eyes like the cool icebergs of the Wolf Court glowed through the freezing room.

"Oh, this is getting interesting." A mocking drawl echoed from the door frame.

"Shut up!" Eli and I both roared back at the King of Blood and Fire. Both our gazes burned bright in the cool dark room. Half the side was warming up. While the other half was cooling to freezing temperatures.

"What in the magic is your ability?" I muttered before repeating it louder against the confusion that seemed to be etched on Eli's face.

"I beg your pardon?" Eli queried his brows scrunching together.

"What in the magics is your ability?!" At this point, my fingers had dug into my palms nearly drawing blood. I closed my eyes hoping that he would at least tell me this. In all the years that I've known Eli, he's never spoken about his abilities. Everyone knew his gift was ice but what about his abilities? He's never once told me, not in the millions of eons that I've known him. When I've asked he'd always change the subject. Which I had found suspicious but I never would have expected this.

His silence was all I needed to know. I turned looking up at his brother. Shifting to get a view of everyone in the room. The only one who showed the slightest inkling of knowing was Snow. The small shift of her pupils as she looked away from me. Everyone else was frowning, staring back at Eli. But all that mattered was that no one else knew. How Snow figured it out, I had an inkling I already knew.

I have been alive for eons of years after all. It would be weird if I didn't know. Which is why I was particularly peeved and curious as to how Eli's kept his abilities hidden for so long. Most fae would jump at the chance of using such a skill. They’d boast about it for years until everyone got sick of it. I would have thought Eli would too. Well, then, I guess this isn't going to be all too fun for Ellie is it.

" You can read minds," I uttered in sheer horror as the pieces started clicking together. I'd never figured it out before because he hid it so well. He never used his ability before; he always used his gift. He always used the ice. But if you pieced them together. If his ability had something to do with the mind, reading them or something similar. Then he could also just use his gift of ice to essentially freeze someone's mind or in my case my memories. Just like how I use my light magic to create new spells allowing me to use different abilities and magic.

Everyone else's heads turned from me and then back to Eli. It was almost creepy with how in sync everyone was as we stared at Eli's cool icy gaze.

He didn't deny it.

I felt the floor rip out from under me as I let the betrayal and heartbreak from this secret tear me to shreds.

"Get. The. Fuck. Out. Now !" I bellowed as the room shook as if there was an earthquake. I did not need this man who could essentially fuck up my head, when it was already pretty fucked up at the moment, anywhere near me.

The shelves rattled. Books began to thump onto the floor. The walls curled in on themselves as Eli and I stared at one another.

Neither of us wanted to back down.

His glowing blue gaze locked against my shining golden irises. Silence. For a moment no one spoke. It was as if they were all just waiting for one of us to explode. Before Akatsuki finally sighed in exasperation. Walking over to Eli she rolled her eyes as if to say "Really guys?"

"Eli, please let's just go." Akasuki pleaded. Her hands ripped soft against his arms urging Eli to leave. The stubborn bastard just kept staring back at me. Ignoring Akasuki's pleas.

I smirked.

He sure was brave.

"That's enough, both of you," Fletcher shook his head exasperated as he took a stance in front of me cupping my face in his hands. His eyes pleaded with my own to just let this matter go, for now. I might have listened. I would have given in to his request but what Eli did was just wrong. All I was asking for was a damn apology.

"Evie-" He began but I knew he wouldn't finish that sentence. He didn't need to. I knew what he wanted to say. He was warning me without outright saying so. My magic, I needed to calm down or find a way to release it.

The downside of having too much power I guess. If my emotions were too built up it increased the rate at which my magic replenished itself. Ever since I was young I trained myself to manage my own emotions because of this.

In normal circumstances, I would have found a way to release it. When I was young and naive I would release my magic unconsciously through my rage. Even now, if my body had too much magic to contain it would leak out, hence the involuntary peeling of the wallpapers. Most powerful fae did this too. This was why whenever Eli, Fletcher, or their younger sister Snow got angry the room temperature would drop or frost would cover the area. For Lucarious on the other hand his magic would alter his eye color to black. Each fae handled their own rage-induced magic leakage differently.

With the current poison running through my body, having too much magic in my system could kill me. Maybe it was my pride as a queen or it was simply me being a fae, perhaps a ROYAL . But I wasn't going to back down.

"Evie" Fletcher sighed as he tried once again just as Akasuki spoke Eli's name.

"Eli, please let's just go."

The floor was freezing over in ice as the ceiling started splattering paint against our faces. The drip drip of the wallpaper melted off the ceiling and onto our faces. I could feel the spikes of frost coating my blanket as I stood my ground. At this point, I'm not even sure if I could move my feet voluntarily. Our magic was blending together. Some spots of the room were melting while other parts were freezing over. It did that sometimes, magic bleeding together when exposed against one another for long periods of time or blended through a spell.

"For lords’ sake. You're both going to destroy this room. Eli, you've just been crowned king not mere days ago. What would people think about having their king blow apart a part of his own castle? As for you, it's pretty obvious your body hasn't fully recovered yet. I suggest you take it easy on your magic for now." With a snap of her fingers, Snow had efficiently snapped everyone out of my room leaving nothing but the humidity of my magic with me and Fletcher behind.

"You need to leave Fletch. I- I need to let my magic out. I can't contain it for long.” I had to pop myself somewhere safe so I could let my magic loose. I have no clue why Snow didn't send Fletcher off with the others. Didn’t she care for his safety?

A firm but gentle grip on my wrist stopped me as I turned, narrowing my eyes on the man I loved. "Fle-" I began trying to make him understand. But he spoke before I could.

"I know a place we could go. I'm not leaving you like this. Not because I don't trust you. I'm fully aware that you could handle this. But- please, I'm just worried." Fletcher reasoned as I closed my eyes. Opening them back up I stared into the cool blues of the Wolf Court. I nodded reluctantly agreeing with his request. ?"Fine, but hurry," I gritted through my teeth as I felt the pounding against my head. Gripping my hands to withhold it.

' She ' was trying to break out. I couldn't let her, my conscious half. Or I guess now she was the unconscious half seeing as how I am back in control of my body now. But the more unhinged my magic becomes the more likely she would be able to break free from the bonds I'd chained her in. The more magic I was building up would put a strain on my body both physically and mentally as I tried to keep the magic from ripping my body in two.

After the whole walk down memory lane, quite literally might I add. I tied myself up, the one that didn't need to grow up in the Griffin Court, in magical bindings. To keep her from taking back control of this body, or at least until I could effectively kill that side of me without damaging my soul. I hadn't yet told Fletcher what I was going to do with my other side but this was the only way. The memory spell should have joined us back together but I forgot to take into account experiences too.

I had lived through those experiences, I was the one who felt firsthand what it meant to live in the Griffin Court, she wasn’t. She saw what happened, she watched as the scenes of my life unfolded. Watching and living through those experiences were two different things, I had forgotten the difference in my haste to come back.

She lived a life where a mysterious boy rescued her from a mundane life. Where he showed her the adventures of magic and the Fae Realm. Where he had betrayed her and ignored her. She didn't get to experience the games I had played. She only got to watch the gallant balls filled with venomous tongues and poisonous teeth. She never lived through it all.

Fletcher teleported us out onto an open field. I frowned. Since the King of the Wolf Court had never changed hands the lands didn't deteriorate like other parts of the realm. The gray-tinged black skies and dense leafage of the winter lands were all I saw at first. That was until a chilly breeze brushed along my arms spreading goosebumps all over my body. It was enough to warn me that something was wrong.

There they were, by the dense thicket of trees. Hundreds upon millions of werehound-like things. They were nothing like the monsters Eli and I had first fought in this life. Among them, however, were… shadows? What I saw couldn't be right. Werehounds were untrainable. They were monsters in all sense of the word. No mind of their own, an uncontrollable blood lust. They kill anything and everything they see.

A shiver slid up my spine as I watched the monsters turn their white hollowed eyes on me. Backing up a little I turned over as I watched Fletcher's face grimace. "I came here one day to pick up some herbs. Since they don't grow close to the city. I found a rider while I was out.”

Fletcher said, pointing to one of the shadows that sat atop a giant fifteen-foot-tall werehound.

Was that the “ rider ” Fletcher was talking about? I gulped.

"I did warn Eli but maybe he was just worried about you. Or the title of king got to him, all he said was that he would deal with it later. He must have thought it was nothing. You know how my brother is. If he can't sense their magic they aren’t a threat. Normally you can sense a werehound but these… they have some way of hiding their energy. I did try explaining this to him but my brother isn’t a very reasonable man. He gets his mind set on one thing and it's bloody hard to get to change it. I've even spoken with Akasuki but it was odd , when I came here with her they were gone. Evie- there's something... not right with them." Fletcher ended as the confusion and horror gripped my already overfilled cup of magic.

"We need to kill as many as we can, then- then I'll figure something out. But you're right, this is… odd ." I started but just as I lunged for the beasts Fletcher halted me. I turned back around glaring at the man I loved, my teeth bared in a growl. Sue me, I was ready for a fight, ready to release the magic piling up in my system. I get that this might be dangerous but it was either get killed by my magic or have a chance at surviving by killing the beast and releasing my magic on them. Didn't he understand that? No, this was Fletcher we were talking about. Of course, he understood the situation. So, what did he want?

Lifting his chin at the fifteen-foot werehound Fletcher shook his head, "They have no weak spots. Everetta this isn't your normal hound. You need to be more careful."

Pausing, I sighed scanning my surroundings again. He was right, as exasperating as it was. I needed to think about this first. Every other werehound seemed normal. They all still had the little red target marks at the center of their foreheads. But as for the shadows that don't, how do I kill them without absorbing their magic? Because any more and I would die for sure.

You can kill them by taking away all the magic that allowed them to remain in that shadow form. Or a fae could use a weapon made with light or enchanted with light but as I had witnessed from my other side's encounter with these new shadows that won't work. But why?

That bastard shouldn't have kept my memories like he did. I would have found a reason why by now if only I wasn't so focused on trying to steal back my memories from him.

With a nod from me to Fletcher he let me go.

I'll take out the werehounds that seem normal first as I try and figure out how to kill the altered ones. Casting a dagger in my hands I used my magic to quicken my pace, to strengthen my muscles. Lunging six feet into the air I slammed my dagger down into their weak spots, just as the monsters began charging at us. Fletcher must have been using some sort of concealing spell to hide us from them in the meantime as we observed them before. It was odd how they weren't attacking us even when we had been so close.

Dodging against a clawed paw I pierced up with my magically enchanted dagger. This enhancement would allow for it to cut deeper than it would normally. Slicing the werehound in half I tried to figure out a way to wipe out the shadows.

Wait, the answer was so simple. Why didn't I think of this sooner? Magics, maybe Fletcher was right. We fae are too reliant on magic. I was no better than Eli.

It was simple if I couldn't kill them using light magic I could just kill them the old-fashioned way. I could cover myself in shadow magic so I could touch them and then kill them by twisting their necks off, or with my dagger cloaked in dark magic.

Maybe the fae were too reliant on using their magic to kill. We often only think about using spells and things like ice pillars and twisting their guts inside out. We don't often think of the huma n way to kill things. This way, I could also hit them back instead of just taking the beatings and dodging. Because if you can't cloak yourself in shadow you essentially couldn't hit back against a shadow. It was just logic after all. You can't punch a shadow if you're not a shadow. The shadows would be the only ones able to land a hit. They have the ability to go corporeal and incorporeal?. ?

How was I able to use dark magic when I have light magic you ask? Well, that's simple. My ability is creation ?so I could create a spell using my light magic that would allow me to use dark magic. By combining spells such as a timer spell, to ensure that my shadow magic isn't permanent. Then a conversion spell. For example, one that you would use to say turn an apple into an orange. Finally, a sort of containment spell to hold my light magic. Then a couple more spells to tie it all together and make it possible. Don't get me wrong, a normal fae can't simply use a conversion spell to grant them dark magic. Because one you must already have some dark fae lineage in your system else the magic would corrupt you. Dark magic isn't necessarily evil but it does convert fae who don't use dark magic to become evil. At least I’ve never seen a shadow be good . Then again is anyone in the Fae Realm really good?

Two, conversion spells can't be done by most fae. Only fae with light or dark magic can use it. Most fae with elemental magic like Eli or Lucarious can only cast simple basic spells within the limitations of their gifts. For example, Eli's ability to withhold my memories was a combination of him using his gift to freeze my memories in a way. As for Lucarious, the use of his gift of flame combined with his ability to sweet talk he could essentially " stoke the fires " of any emotions you might have. He mostly uses it to charm people into sleeping with him.

As for me, well creativity works with pretty much any gift. I really won the lottery there. Light and dark magic have the widest frame of spells you could cast, whereas elemental magic, like water, fire, earth, and wind is more limiting. However, once you master your gifts and the loopholes of this realm you can extend your magic usages by a lot. That and there are certain trinkets you could buy in the market to help you navigate your magic in a certain way.

Casting a large ball of light just enough to fit my palm, I wouldn't want to burn away the entire forest after all, I kicked my foot into the gut of the shadow creeping behind me. Again might I reiterate I di d have billions of sun?-cycles in my past life to master how to use dark and light magic at the same time. Which is why I also included a containment spell there. Like I said loopholes. Containment spells aren't only used to hold something permanently they can also be used to hold stuff temporarily.

Pressing the ball of light into the skin of the shadow before me I watched as the ball of light did nothing. Well, damn.

Shrugging the failed attempt off, I launched it through the shadow creature just as he lunged for me. Not even fazed by my magic. Grunting, I staggered back staring down at the claw mark cutting through my flesh, right across my ribs. Blood gushed down my right side. Glaring back at the shadow who cut me I used my magic to heal myself while lunging with my own clawed hands to rip out the shadow's throat. The black mist of the shadow's blood spurted out. It splattered against my face like liquid tar as the shadow dissipated. Before it dropped I spotted a hint of… skin? Suddenly, bright brown eyes stared back at me.

"Help me." It gasped but it was more like a dying croak than anything else. Despite the screeching sound of monsters and beasts all around me, I blinked in horror, speechless at the sight before me. I was only able to stand mortified at the dying shadow, thing, fae in front of me before a sword pierced my spine. Slipping right past all my guts and ribs as I blinked staring down at the protruding thing.

"Everetta!" I heard Fletcher bellow from a safe distance. I have no doubt he just witnessed my epic fail.

The shadows constantly slashing at me.

Why was he just letting me fight on my own standing there you may ask? One he doesn't like to fight. He's more of the passive-aggressive type with his poisons. Two because I needed this. He knew not to interfere. Unless I specifically call for him, he won’t come.

I never entered a battle without making sure my spells of regeneration were cast. Despite the agonizing pain echoing from the point of origin at the center of my stomach, I ripped myself away from the shadow sword.

Seriously, what was up with fae and slicing my gut ?

My body was already closing the hole as I lunged on top of the shadow thing… man? Before I twisted his head clean off. As his body toppled over I hopped down landing in a crouch as I swiped my feet around me in a circle. So frazzled by what I saw I couldn't even think about actually fighting. So when I was getting more cuts than I was dealing out I decided it was time to end this.

No more fun and games.

Tossing my hands into the air I released the last of my remaining overflow of magic. I created nearly a million copies of myself, enough to kill a shadow or werehound of their own. These duplicates weren’t nearly as strong as the one my previous self had cast in the ball, but they were strong enough to deal with these monsters. ?Soon enough the enemies were dropping by the dozens as my body doubles landed their final hits before returning to me. From an outsider's perspective, I guess you could say darkness was oozing out of me before streaming like a river tide back into me. I watched all the monsters fall, still rattled by the scene I had witnessed.

Those damn eyes.

What the fuck did I just see?

I noted that some of the shadows were dying in the same manner as the first one I had killed. The splattering of liquid tar erupted into the air like water geysers. It was then that I saw her. Standing between two trees, deeper into the woods shimmered wings as bright as morning light, or at least half of it was.

Was that? No, it couldn't be.

Our eyes meet her shiny grey pupils staring back at my frozen gaze. A grin so wicked spread across her heart-shaped lips. Her inky black strains of hair were like webs in the wind as she blinked out of existence. The pits she called eyes haunted my mind as I stared horrified to my core.

It couldn’t be.