Chasing Faete (Beyond the Veil Book 1) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

“I don’t know if I can,” Erica whispered. She stared down at the broken woman who lay in the Alpha’s arms. “But I will try.”

For the second time, Erica drew from within herself, pulling her healing energy to the fore. She felt the warmth of her power surging through her, traveling down her arms and into her palms. She held them over Corrine and called on the gods to help her. This was not how it was supposed to end. Erica had survived the battle with Alefric. She had stood up to him and had been willing to end her own life in order to give her kingdom and her people the future they deserved.

Corrine had faced so much and given so much of herself, it seemed unfair that the gods deemed it necessary for her to be taken.

“Fuck that, and fuck them!”

Erica drew on her own life force, pulling as much of it forward as she could, feeding it to Corrine, sending her prayers and thoughts, begging her to stay with them. Gabe still cradled her against his chest.  For a moment, Erica felt a responding warmth within Corrine, almost as if her spirit were reaching out toward Erica, determined to stay with them. But then it faded back into nothingness.

“No,” Erica sobbed, forcing even more of herself into Corrine. Erica knew there was not a lot left within her to call upon. Fighting Alefric had almost killed her, and this … well, this might just finish the job, but she refused to pull back. If Corrine was to slip into the afterlife this night, then Erica would do everything in her power to stop that, including taking her place and making the journey for her.

No sooner had that thought formed than Erica felt a surge of power within her. A power and strength she had never felt before. It came with a sense of protection and anger at her own thoughts, and that was enough to have it dawn on her that this newfound energy was coming from her mates. They were fighting for her and with her for Corrine. She had no clue how it was possible, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing hold, harnessing their power and pushing it into Corrine.

With the additional strength, she reached for Corrine’s fading spirit, pulling her from the dark and dragging her toward the light. When it seemed like an opposite power pulled Corrine back into the afterlife, Erica growled.

“Oh, hell no. She’s ours!” Then with one last surge, she pulled Corrine’s spirit into the light.

Erica collapsed back as she settled the healing energy back within her. She leaned heavily against her mates, who were both kneeling behind her, cradling Erica against their chests, as she desperately gasped for air. Her entire body felt heavy, and the thought of even lifting her head felt impossible.

“Erica?” Ben asked urgently, and Erica patted his knee, not quite able to form words. She blinked a few times to focus and looked down at Corrine. She was still wrapped tightly in a relieved Gabe’s arms, staring right back at her. She did not look happy.

“Eyrica, what were you thinking?” Corrine’s voice was barely a whisper. “You could have been killed.”

Both Leo and Ben growled behind her, and Erica rolled her eyes.
“Quenya,
you could have kept that little snippet to yourself. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Leo barked a laugh. “Oh hell, pixie, you were already in trouble. Did you think Ben and I wouldn’t catch your purpose along our bond?”

Ben tightened his arm around her, hugging her tighter. “We knew your intention as soon as you thought it. If you’d gone over, we would have gone with you.”

“I couldn’t just let her die. And no way in hell would you have gone over anywhere!”

“That goes ditto for you, baby.”

“You are one of the bravest people that I have ever met, and that is why you aren’t in
too
much trouble,” Leo growled with pride in his voice against the sensitive skin of her neck, making Erica shiver, “but we will be turning your ass red as soon as the opportunity presents itself, mate.”

Erica felt goosebumps form along her skin at the heat in Leo’s tone and knew it was no idle threat. But to be fair, the thought of being spanked by her mates wasn’t much of a punishment. The idea thrilled her to no end.

“I gotta say,” Ben began, “that’s a pretty amazing power you have there—the ability to cause earthquakes.”

“I had no idea I could do that.”

“You tapped into something very powerful, Eyrica,” Corrine said somberly. “Dark Elemental magic is both powerful and dangerous.”

“April!” a man’s voice roared from just beyond the entrance to the throne room, putting a halt to their discussion. Erica’s startled gaze looked to the door, just as Donovan flew into the room, practically dragging a badly injured man with him. “April. Someone took her!”

“Donovan! What the hell is going on?” Gabe shouted back. As soon as Donovan saw his Alpha, he ran toward him. The man he carried moaned but moved as fast as he could. “Goddess of mercy, is that Jason? What the fuck happened to him?”

The man with Donovan must have been his brother Jason. It was difficult to see any family resemblance in the two men due to the fact that his face was a complete mess. Swollen and misshapen, blood both dried and fresh adorning his chin, it told a frightening story.

“Alpha, please,” Donovan pleaded as he dropped to his knees beside them, his brother collapsing beside him. “I know I have disgraced myself in your eyes, my actions not those of the man I know I can be. But please, you have to help us. April, our mate, she is missing.”

Erica gasped. “Missing? She’s not in the dungeon where she was being kept?”

Donovan and Jason both turned to look at Erica, and she could see the desperation in their eyes. “No, she wasn’t,” Jason rasped, his voice cracking. “Just after Donovan got to me, we heard her scream. She was calling for h-help.” The man’s voice broke on that last word.

“Someone took her,” Donovan continued for his brother. “They came into the dungeons and took her. We have to find her. Please, Alpha, help us find her.”

“Why would someone in this realm want a human woman?” Corrine asked, her face a mask of confusion.

“This must have something to do with the missing humans,” Leo informed. “We’ve been tracking so many reported cases as of late.”

Erica remembered Ben and Leo telling her about this at breakfast, that for the past six months, they along with other Enforcers of their pack, had been tracking the large number of Fae entering the human realm and also the missing humans they were responsible for taking. She knew Fae traitors had been after her, but she wondered what they could possibly want with humans. April was actually not even human though, at least not fully, something the woman had apparently been clueless of herself. The question remained, who else knew of April’s mixed heritage or had figured it out?

The answer that came to Erica was as impossible as it was horrifying.

“Kheelan!” Erica pushed out of her mates’ arms, desperately searching the floor behind them. Corrine had run the fucker through with her blade, but had anyone stopped to check if he was actually dead? The spot where his body should have still been was empty save for a pool of blood. It looked as if someone had dragged his body away.

“Kheelan’s not dead?” Corrine asked in a small tone, and Erica heard Gabe growl low. She didn’t catch what the man said to Corrine, but whatever it was it had an instant calming effect.

Erica groaned as she pushed to her feet, desperately searching the carnage around her for his body, hoping that he’d only managed to crawl some distance away before succumbing to death. Her dread began to increase when there was nothing. No sign of him. No one would have bothered moving him if he were dead.

“What would he want with a human?” Leo asked as he wrapped an arm around Erica’s waist.

Erica turned to look at the two men that called April mate. They both stood and stared intently at her as she spoke. “Because she is not human. She is Fae. And she is a healer.”

Gasps of surprise rang around the room at Erica’s revelation before everyone finally sprang into action. By the lack of surprise on Jason’s face, however, he seemed much more informed. He also looked like he could use some much needed rest before recounting everything he knew and what that bastard, Kheelan had put him through. Erica was the true Queen of the Fae, and right now her duty was to clean house, to find any traitors who escaped, to punish those who had already begun to surrender, and to welcome all who had always remained loyal.

“We will find Kheelan,” Erica vowed to both Donovan and Jason. “And he will be brought to justice.” She just hoped they would be in time to save April, discover what had been done to the other humans, and why they were taken in the first place.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ben had had enough. He watched as Erica immediately took up her diplomatic role, speaking with the packs, trying to both comfort them and thank them for their aid. There were wounded on both sides, but fortunately not many of the shifters had perished.  Erica looked dead on her feet and still very weak from nearly having the life force drained out of her. When she almost stumbled trying to get to one of the injured bear shifters, Ben intercepted her.

“You’re getting some rest … now!” he commanded.

There would be plenty of time for her to take on her new role as Queen, and he and Leo as Kings, apparently. He already knew that this would be what had to happen somewhere in the back of his mind, but the full force of it had just hit him. He and Leo briefly discussed their new roles, and Gabe had reassured them that even though they would no longer be Enforcers, they, along with Erica, were forever part of the pack and would still be privy to all pack matters.

Big changes were coming, that much was definitely clear. The packs would be working alongside the Fae now to keep the peace among both realms, but without the big threat hanging over them, they had time to figure things out.

Taking care of Erica was his and Leo’s top priority now. Erica didn’t protest when they led her out of the battle room and away from all of the carnage. And she didn’t protest when Ben lifted her in his arms in a cradled position when they reached a flight of stairs, Leo beside them, and carried her up. She directed him past several rooms before instructing him to stop at one of the alcoves, where she revealed a secret passageway. 

“I don’t think that these rooms have been tainted by Alefric or his followers,” she said when at the end of the passageway they came upon four rooms. Erica explained that these rooms were built in case they were ever under attack. The royal family and their staff could hide here for a while and escape to the outside when the coast was clear.

“When I was a child, I used to play in these rooms.” She laughed quietly as she thought back. “My parents never knew that I would bring some of my forest folk friends here to have tea parties and play. Those were happy times.”

“We have a lifetime of happy memories ahead of us to give you, love,” Leo promised, and Ben agreed.

Ben carried Erica over the threshold of one of the rooms before gently placing her down on her feet and taking in all of the surroundings. Strange that a room that had sat empty and secret for so many years looked vibrant and lived in. No dust on any of the dark cherry furniture. The bright blue curtains and matching bedspreads looked as if they had been laundered, the bed freshly made, and the pillows fluffed.  Ben vowed to himself to make an effort to understand how the magic in this realm worked.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Leo suggested, and the three of them began toeing off their shoes and shedding their clothes along the way to the en-suite bathroom.

Ben was in awe when he stepped into the large room. The toilet and sink looked like the kind they had in the human realm, but the large stone tub in the center of the room looked like hot springs you’d find among the wooded wilds. He turned on the brass faucet and watched as the tub filled in minutes, steaming and bubbling as it did. The bottom of the tub felt soft against his feet when he stepped in, like moss at the bottom of a lake.

But what awed him the most was the brave woman now sitting snuggled in between him and Leo. They could have lost her today and missed out on all the wonderful years that lay ahead of them. He was beyond grateful that they hadn’t.

“You will never do that to us again, Erica.” Leo tried to be firm, but instead, he almost choked on the words.

“I’m so sorry that I hurt you both,” she said looking from one to the other. Ben knew her words rang true. Being separated from them, thinking she would never see them again no doubt cost her as much as it did them. “And, well … the whole sleeping death thing … maybe we could just overlook that one?” she added sheepishly.

“Oh, no, no, pixie,” Ben tsked. “You can bet your red bottom we won’t be overlooking that one.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the deer in the headlights look she gave him.

“Something tells me you’ll enjoy a good spanking,” Leo winked at Erica, “but for tonight, let us just take care of you.”

Ben watched as Leo pulled their pixie in close for a passionate kiss, and he followed suit as soon as Leo had released her. By the time their kiss ended, all three of them were panting heavily. They needed to slow things down a little. Although Erica’s strength was quickly returning, largely due to the fact that Leo and Ben had fed her some more of their energy, she needed all of her strength for what they had planned for her. If she was up to it, they would take her together tonight, solidifying their mating bond.

“Oh, I am up for it,” Erica replied seductively when Ben told her of their plans. “I want you both so much. Please, make me yours fully.”

The three of them quickly bathed, washing away any trace of the earlier battle and any debris left over from the massive quake Erica had produced. Ben had her giggling when he informed her of a different way she would feel the Earth move tonight.

At first, Leo had insisted that Erica get some rest beforehand and Ben had to agree, but when she adamantly protested against it, Ben knew he could no longer keep from touching her.

He stepped out of the hot springs tub taking Erica with him. Leo grabbed them each an oversized fluffy towel from the cabinet above the toilet. They both dried Erica off first, despite her protests that she could do it herself.

“Where’s the fun in that, love?”

When they were dry, Leo hoisted Erica up into his arms, and she eagerly straddled his hips as he carried her into the bedroom. He then gently placed her in the middle of the bed. Ben soaked in her naked body with ravenous eyes, trying to calm the wolf within. They needed to go slow, although, in truth, he wanted to as well. He wanted to savor this moment, the moment they first took her together, and forever burn it into his memory.

Patience, wolf. She’ll be fully ours tonight.