Reign of Ice (Forever Fae series) (26 page)

I STRUGGLED TO
stay awake as Merrick held me in his arms. I remembered him lifting me up off the prison floor and carrying me away into the dark destruction of the Black Forest. My brother and Sorcha did a lot of damage with their fire and frost, but it wasn’t enough to deter the sorcerer’s army. When Alasdair got back, there was going to be vengeance to pay. I would have to work quickly to stop him before he could attack.

Merrick laid me down gently on the bed in
Gothin’s home and knelt beside me on the floor. He wiped the tears away from my face and the hair from my eyes before whispering, “Sleep, Ariella. Tomorrow will be the day we take back what’s ours.”

Before falling into the peace that sleep would bring me, I smiled at him and held onto his hand. “At least I’m not alone,” I cried.

“You will never be alone.”

My eyes stung with fresh tears, but I closed them and shut myself off from the pain. Brayden said those same words to me not too long ago. Slowly, and with my eyes steadily falling shut, I slipped into the dream realm and envisioned my life back home.

The snowy cold was welcome against my skin as I walked through the forest toward the icy retreat I could see up ahead. It was the place where Brayden and I had completed our bond and became one; the place that would always stay with me for the rest of my life. Opening the heavy, icy door, I stepped inside to find it dark and lonely.

The fire that once burned in the fireplace was no more; Brayden wasn’t there to lend his flame or to help heal my heart. I walked over to the blankets that were the same ones Brayden and I made love on, and carefully lowered onto them. I could smell his scent as I wrapped myself deeper into their warmth and laid my head down. I stared at the frozen fireplace as the tears began to freeze across my cheeks, except it wasn’t long before everything changed and the room lit up with fire.

The fireplace exploded with the blazing heat of Brayden’s fury and I knew it was his fire because I could feel it. His anger flowed through our connection to me and I could tell he was close … so close. The second I stood from the floor was the second the door burst open.

My
heart beat a thousand times a second as I gazed upon the man who was my mate, my lover, and my king. He stalked inside, never taking his eyes off of me, as he stormed his way to me, taking me by the shoulders.

“Why?” he demanded. “Why would you deceive me like that? I came there to take you back and you let me go thinking I had you in my grasp.” His voice broke with those last words and it tore me down in the process.

Instead of saying how sorry I was or why I did it, I burst into tears and fell into his arms. He knew why I did it he just didn’t understand. His emotions ran wild through my blood and mine were doing the same to him. He held me tight and kissed the top of my head as I sobbed against his chest.

“I had to do it,” I cried. “I had to get you out of there before anyone got hurt.”

He huffed, “I don’t care if I get hurt, angel. I just want you home safe. As soon as the sun rises in the morning I will be back for you.”

I shook my head and held him tighter. “It will all be over by then,” I whispered.

He pulled me away and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean it’ll all be over? Why do you insist on doing this when I know there are other ways to defeat him … together?”

Sadly, I smiled and took his face in my hands, saying softly, “Because there is no time. When the sorcerer comes back he’s going to have his mortal army ready to attack. I have to kill him before he sends them to our doors. You won’t make it here on time.”

“So what am I supposed to do now? Just let you save the world and go on with my life? How am I going to do that without you in it?” he argued.

I couldn’t argue with him on that because I wouldn’t know what to do if the situation was turned. Also, I didn’t want to spend what could be our last few moments together fighting. Taking
Brayden’s hand, I lifted it to my lips and kissed him softly on his palm. “You have me now, Brayden,” I said soothingly, hoping to calm him down. “I’m here right now at this very moment with you. Whatever happens, I will always be by your side and in your heart.” I paused and leaned up to kiss him. I missed the way his lips felt on mine and the way his hands would tenderly touch my skin. He tensed, his anger still coiled underneath the surface of his skin.

“Please, let me love you,” I pleaded. “I need this, Brayden. I don’t want to fight.”

He sighed and leaned his forehead to mine, his muscles beginning to relax. “I don’t want to fight either, but this feels too much like a good-bye,” he whispered against my lips.

I shook my head and gazed into his soft, brown eyes. “There will never be a good-bye for us, my love. We are together, always and forever.”

“Always and forever,” he repeated quietly.

Knowing this was the last night I would spend in his arms and not knowing how long I had in the dream realm, I crushed myself to him and pulled him down to the floor. He ripped away my clothes, exposing my bare flesh, just as I did with him. There was no stopping
us and there was no going slow. I needed him and he needed me. The weight of our fate loomed heavily in the air, but for one last time I wanted to feel his love … I needed it.

He spread my legs and covered his body with mine. There was no going gentle
tonight, there was no wasting time. It was just me and him, starved for each other’s love. He lowered his lips to mine and claimed me with his mouth before pushing himself inside of me, taking my body. Never once did we stop tasting and making love to each other with our mouths and our bodies. I couldn’t let go and I didn’t want to miss a single moment.

He kept his eyes open, gazing into mine the whole time. I could see and feel the love and passion in his heart for me, but I could also feel the fear and rage below that. The fear was what got me. He was afraid for me, of what was going to happen to me without him being there to protect me. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so instead I let the tears fall down my cheeks as I let his feelings flow through my body.

Gripping me tighter, he pushed inside me harder until we were both gasping for air and on the verge of release. I felt him shudder and growl low in his throat as my body clenched around him and I called out his name, demanding that he not stop. We came together, him releasing his seed inside of me and me trembling in his arms as our love making came to a close. I had never felt so complete.

“Me either,” he replied to my silent thought. “You make me feel complete.”

We lay there, joined as one … always as one. It wasn’t until the dream realm started to fade that I panicked. It was over, and it was too soon. With wide, tear-filled eyes, Brayden held onto me tighter, almost bruising me as he shook his head and shouted, “No, this can’t be happening. Stay with me, angel. Don’t let go!”

It didn’t matter about letting go because I had no choice. The hands I held to his face started to fade and disappear. I could no longer feel his
Winter skin beneath my fingers or the beat of his heart against my chest. This was good-bye.

“I love you, Brayden,” I murmured. I didn’t know if he heard me because one minute I was staring up into brown eyes, hoping that I didn’t have to let him go, and then the next …

The ground trembled and shook, jolting me out of the dream and into the hell I had awoken to. Merrick ran to the window and I immediately scrambled to join him, gazing out at what could be the cause of the disturbance. What I saw was way worse than what I could have ever imagined.

Coming through a portal in the middle of the village were not just a few mere mortals, but hundreds
; marching one after the other. When they all made it through, there was one person who had yet to enter. Alasdair stepped through with a grin on his face, but it swiftly disappeared the moment he saw his village and the destruction that lay within.

“Oh no,” I whispered, horrified at the sight before me. “How am I going to do this?”

Merrick placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. “I don’t know, Ariella, but you’re smart and cunning. You’ll think of something. I have faith in you.”

I had to think of something fast because the sorcerer was furious and angry … and he was headed toward
Gothin’s home. The place where I was standing.

“DAMMIT,” I HISSED quietly. “If he comes in here he might see Gothin’s ashes. I can’t let him come in here.”

Dismally, Merrick sighed and nodded. “You’re right, he can’t.”

Taking a deep breath, I knew what I had to do. Making sure my dagger was hidden at my back, I took the form of Gothin and headed for the door. Alasdair was coming closer because I could feel his anger pulsating all around him. Gripping the handle of the door with all my might, my fingers began to turn white and go numb. I could do this.

“I will be right there with you,” Merrick promised. I nodded and took another deep breath before opening the door.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t look back at him, but kept my head held high as I walked toward the sorcerer. He was dressed in all black armor with his long brown hair pulled back at the nape and his iron blade secured in his belt. I had to stay away from it.

The snarl on his face and the fury in his eyes made me want to kill him right then, but with his mortal army gathered all around I wouldn’t be able to strike. However, it didn’t stop the sorcerer from striking me. I saw his hand flying, but I knew I had to take it. The pain from the blow to my face vibrated throughout my body as I collapsed onto the ground. Merrick yelled for me to keep focus, to concentrate on what I had to do and to keep my glamour. It was so hard to get past the pain, but I couldn’t fail now.

“Ariella, what happened? I can feel your pain,”
Brayden shouted in my mind.
“Whatever is going on you better hold on. I am coming for you.”

I couldn’t answer him yet because Alasdair grabbed me by the neck and hauled me to my feet. “What the fuck happened here?” he hissed in my face.
Brayden’s cries and shouts in my head were so loud I almost thought the sorcerer could hear him. All that came through our bond was my grunts of pain.

Gritting my teeth, I wiped the blood from my mouth and took a deep breath.
Gothin wouldn’t talk back to him, which meant I couldn’t. Wincing at the pain, I held in my anger and replied, “We were attacked, Master. The dragons came in unexpectedly and destroyed everything.”

He squeezed my neck, cutting off my air, and suddenly threw me back onto the ground. “Why didn’t you summon me? I would have destroyed them all!”

Hanging my head, I pretended to be the obedient servant, but inside I was raging, ready to end his miserable existence by shoving my dagger in his chest and watching him die. “There was no time, Master. By the time we heard them coming it was too late,” I informed him.

“Ariella!”
Brayden called.
“Answer me!”
Over and over he yelled my name, but I forced myself to concentrate and block him out as best I could.

Merrick placed a calming hand on my shoulder and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Calm down, Ariella. Patience …”

Alasdair pointed a finger at me and snarled, “Get the army prepared and ready to leave. This ends now.” He turned on his heel and stalked off toward his dwelling. When I watched him disappear behind the door, I gazed out at the army as they salivated for the taste of blood.

“Yes, Alasdair, this ends now,” I said to myself. Brayden and my people were coming; they were going to fight. I couldn’t let that happen. There was going to be no more killing, no more destroying my land, and no more of his poisonous ways. The day for his evil to be stopped was now, and I was ready.

Storming my way to Alasdair’s dwelling, I looked over at Merrick and told him, “Brayden and our people are on their way. I have to do this now or many will die. I can’t let them come in here with all these mortals and their weapons.”

He nodded solemnly and blew out a shaky breath. “I agree. Do you want me to come up there with you?”

I shook my head, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay and my voice from cracking when I said, “No, it’s okay. I need to do this alone. Thank you for being here for me. I don’t think I would have kept my sanity if it wasn’t for you.”

Sighing, he pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “You were always so brave, Ariella.”

I laughed and squeezed him tight. “I honestly think I got it from Drake. He was the one who always pushed me to do the things I did. Without him I wouldn’t have had the courage to do what I’ve done. My whole family has helped me be who I am today. They are all a part of me.”

“Yes, they are,” he stated honestly. “I can see all of them in you, or at least when you don’t look like a troll.”

I smiled and smacked him in the arm. “Leave it to you to make a joke in a time like this,” I teased. He grinned back, but I knew our time was up. “I have to go,” I said, backing away from him. “Tell them all I love them for me.”

Merrick swallowed hard and nodded. “I will, Ariella. Be careful up there.”

I opened the door to the sorcerer’s dwelling and glanced back at Merrick with a smirk on my face. “I am never careful, Merrick. That’s what makes me dangerous.” Taking a deep breath, I waved him farewell and shut the door behind me.

Once I got inside I wasn’t expecting to look up and find a mile long staircase winding its way to the top. I groaned and began climbing. One after the other I ascended the stairs, knowing I was one step closer to ending this.

“Brayden?”

“Please tell me you’re not about to do anything foolish? I know that tone, angel.”

I was up one flight of steps and had a few more to go.
“If you consider killing the sorcerer foolish then yes I am.”

“We will be there soon! Don’t do this without me,”
he roared.

“And that is exactly the reason I’m going to do it. He brought over the whole mortal army, Brayden. We have magic, but all it would take is one hit by their bullets and it would be over.”

“How are you even able to get around out there without someone recognizing you?”
he asked.

“Because there are things about me you don’t know, Brayden, and it might be best if I show you.”
I didn’t want to do this, but I sent a mental picture of Alasdair backhanding Gothin across the face, except it wasn’t Gothin … it was me. It was time I came out and showed him what I could do.
“That was why you felt the pain,”
I cried.

I could feel his confusion when he said,
“I don’t understand. Why did I feel the pain of that hit? It wasn’t even you.”

I walked up a few more steps.
“Yes, it was, Brayden. I was the one who got hit. I am the troll in that image.”

“How is that possible?”

I shrugged my shoulders and then realized he couldn’t even see me. We were so completely and utterly connected it was as if he was right there talking to me. I explained,
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but it is. On the day I turned twenty-one this ability came to me. I can shift to make myself look like anyone I please. I knew I could get close to the sorcerer if I could just shift into the one person he trusted most.”

“So that’s how,”
he expressed warily.
“That’s how you were able to leave the palace undetected, too, isn’t it? It all makes sense.”

I had about two more flights of stairs to go.
“Yes, that was how I got away. I pretended to be one of the warriors.”

“What else have you done to trick me? Were there other times you did this?”

“Yes,”
I confessed sheepishly. I figured I might as well be honest with him since I had nothing else to lose.
“On the night you had that visit from Taryn it wasn’t exactly her coming on to you.”

“That was you?”

“Yes,”
I answered.
“I had to see what you would do. I heard of your reputation so I had to test you. I didn’t mean to doubt, but I had to know.”

He sighed.
“And now you are in the shape of the troll to get close to the sorcerer?”

“Yes, he trusts him.”

“Where are you now?”
he asked.

I had finally made it to the door of the sorcerer’s dwelling so I leaned up against the wall and let out a heavy sigh.
“I am in your heart, Brayden. That’s where I will always be.”

Even though he broke down my wall, I had regained enough strength to block him out, if only for short periods of time. It hurt, but I had to let him go; it was time.

Before knocking on the door, I changed into the form that got me in this place the first time. The hair of Meliantha mixed with Calista’s golden blonde, green eyes like Sorcha’s, and the face a mixture of all of us combined. I was dressed in my black leathers without the armor and with my dagger hidden behind my back under my top. It was easier to move around in the leather so I had to be prepared. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door and waited.

After a few minutes of waiting there was no answer, so instead of knocking again I slowly turned the handle and pushed open the door. Everything inside was pitch black, but I knew he was in there, hiding. I could smell the dark magic permeating the air and it slithered across my skin like it wanted to latch onto me and suck my essence dry.

Quietly, I reached behind my back to grab the dagger and crept into the lightless room. I only made it two steps before I felt him behind me, hovering. Even though I couldn’t see, I knew where he would be. He grabbed me by the neck and I could feel the cold bite from the iron blade as he thrust it up against my flesh. However, much to his dismay, I wasn’t the only one in the compromising position. I held him firm in my grasp with my dagger up against the beating vein in his neck, sizzling his skin. We were at a standstill.

“You must be really stupid to come in here uninvited and with a weapon … interesting. Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?” he demanded, his voice a low growl.

Gritting my teeth, I bit back the pain from his dagger digging into my skin and snapped, “I opened the door and walked in you moron, and I happen to consider myself very smart, considering that I got in here undetected.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Who are you?”

“If you want to know who I am then turn on some damn lights,” I countered impatiently. I was ready to get his dagger away from my neck and end this once and for all.

The room slowly began to fill up with a soft light, starting from the ground up. I couldn’t see Alasdair’s face and he couldn’t see mine, but when that light rose above my head …

His eyes went wide and I could see the confusion spreading across his face as he looked down at the dagger at his throat. “It can’t be,” he said, sounding uncertain.

“Yes, it
can,” I retorted, “because here I am, and with the weapon that’s going to destroy you.”