Reign of Ice (Forever Fae series) (27 page)

“HOW DID YOU
find the scroll? There’s no way you could have found it,” he roared. “I have it hidden and only I know where it’s at.”

“We never let it go,” I told him, rolling my eyes. “If you would’ve been smart and looked at the paper
Sorcha gave to you, you would see that it was a letter to Drake. So who is the foolish one now?”

Before either of us could make a move, the floor beneath us started to tremble and shake. The last time the land felt like that was when Alasdair brought over his mortal army. Not this time, though. My people were coming and they were getting close.

Alasdair laughed, still locked in my tight grasp and unmoving. “Ah, Ariella, the martyr. I bet your precious lover didn’t take too well with you coming here, did he? How does it feel to know you sentenced them all to death? I’m sure that’s why they have come … to get you. They will get a shock when they see what awaits them.”

“They already know, but this will all be over before they get here,” I spat. “It ends now.”

He chuckled. “It will never end, Your Highness. No matter if I’m here or not, there will always be a part of me that will come back. Just wait and see,” he remarked with an evil glint in his eye. “But you are more than welcome to try.”

Gladly,
I thought to myself.

I jammed my knee into his groin, and when he bent over in pain I backhanded him the way he did to me out in the middle of the village. “That’s payback,” I hissed. “It wasn’t your troll you hit out there in front of everyone, it was me. You should thank me for putting him out of his misery.”

Alasdair got to his feet and his chest heaved up and down with his rage. His eyes were no longer gray, but almost midnight black as he glared at me, ready to strike. His power magnified and pulsated throughout the room, and almost immediately I was thrust against the wall by an invisible force. I screamed as the dagger dropped out of my hand and I had to face the realization that I was trapped.

I tried to fight against the restraints but I couldn’t. Alasdair chuckled and pointed the iron blade at my chest as he stalked closer. “Oh, what should I do first?” he wondered, tapping the iron blade against his palm. “Maybe I should take you outside and gut you in front of your people when they come. I think that would make an excellent show. The look on your lover’s face would be priceless.”

“You’re a sick, pathetic bastard,” I hissed. “When you die, this land will be rid of your filth. You’re not going to win this.”

Alasdair smirked and narrowed his eyes menacingly. Taking his iron dagger, he grazed it across my neck all the way down to the tops of my breasts. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut against the pain. I would not scream … I refused to scream. My cold
Winter blood oozed down my chest and dropped on the floor, staining the wood where it landed. My dagger glistened in the light, and as soon as my blood dripped onto its blade it lit up the room like a thousand suns.

Alasdair shied away from the light and covered his face with his arm. The beams coming from the dagger were beautiful, in all shades of color, and they didn’t affect me at all. The invisible force holding me to the wall broke and I was free. Immediately, I bent down to grab the dagger and held it in my hands as the glow traveled across my body and surrounded me. It wasn’t my magic doing this, but someone else’s. There was someone else here helping me.

Who could it be?

The time had come to end it all. It was over and I knew it. I could feel the poison of the iron spreading through my body from the gash across my chest. When he cut me I didn’t realize how deep it was. I didn’t have long now. I opened up my mind and found Brayden right there, just behind the surface.

“Good-bye, my love,”
I whispered quickly in his mind.
“I love you. You will all be safe now.”

Alasdair pulled his arm away, and as he did he saw the exact moment I smiled and raised my dagger. “It’s over,” I growled. “I hope you rot in Hell.”

The talisman gleamed around his neck so I took the dagger and plunged it into the bloodstone straight down through his heart. I had only one second to see the terror in his eyes and to know that I succeeded to end his evil existence when the end finally came. In a rush of light, it was over.

The blast from the power surge felt like a thousand sharp knives penetrating every surface of my skin as I was thrown into the sky. It almost felt like I was flying, but all too quickly I landed and tumbled on the ground below, breaking every single bone in my body.

I couldn’t move and I could barely breathe. I did, however, know that I succeeded. Before I fell into darkness and away from everyone I loved, I got to at least see what my bravery and courage did for the land. Instead of being surrounded by inky black trees, it was instead open meadows of nothing except green grass. There was no trace of the Black Forest, Alasdair, or anyone in his army. It had all vanished.

“I did it,” I whispered to myself. Tears fell down my cheeks, except I was too weak to wipe them away.

“Yes, you did,” a voice called out, soft and angelic. It was a voice I didn’t recognize. “And now it’s time to take you home.”

Yes … home.

The land started to fade away, and instead of the darkness one would see when they fell asleep, I was seeing the brilliant shades of a light from a new land. It was beautiful, but it wasn’t the bright shades of the snow or the icy court I belonged to. This was somewhere different. I had never seen this place before, but there was no mistaking where I was. From the glowing bright sun above to the ethereal glow of the land, there was no denying that I had crossed over to another realm, one that had always and forever been known as the heaven for my kind … the Hereafter.

I was dead.

I DIDN’T KNOW
how long I yelled her name or how the pain coming through the bond didn’t kill me on the spot. All I knew was that Ariella was hurt, she was dying, and there was nothing I could do to save her. I yelled for Sorcha to go faster, to push harder, but when Ariella’s life began to slip out of my hands my whole world was lost. I held onto our bond, our connection, trying to will my power into her body … to keep her alive.

“Dammit, you hang on,”
I shouted in her mind. She was still alive, but only barely. I had to get to her before I lost her for good.

I was riding in the air on
Sorcha’s back—my army and the others were riding on the ground below us—when the whole Land of the Fae lit up like a thousand suns. The blast from that exposed power blew us back into the air with its raw force, but Sorcha kept fighting, pushing her wings to the limit knowing we needed to keep going. I couldn’t see a thing as we flew straight into the light.

Once the light slowly dimmed down and my eyes adjusted, it took a while to figure out what I was seeing. What was once the Black Forest below us with its dark oily trees and stench of death was now replaced with green meadows and a sense of life. There was no sign of the sorcerer or his army, or his evil for that matter. It all felt clean … and pure. However, there was something down there, something lying still in the grass.

“Sorcha, look!” I hollered, pointing down at the figure in the meadow.

Hope surged through my veins and each second we got closer to the ground, the more I could tell it was definitely my Ariella lying down there. As soon as
Sorcha got close enough to the ground, I jumped off her back and ran straight to Ariella. With my heart racing and my lungs burning, I collapsed onto the ground beside her and scooped her into my arms.

“Ariella? I’m here, angel, open your eyes,” I demanded.

Her body was so still, so broken. The gash across her chest was black with inky veins protruding from the wound, and as soon as I placed my hand against her heart, my world ended when all I got was silence. I could no longer feel her heart beating or the life that used to course through her blood.

She’s gone.

“No!” I roared, holding her tight.

I yelled her name over and over, but she never opened her eyes; those same ice blue eyes that were the most beautiful shades of blue I’d ever seen and could see straight through my soul to the good. Never was there a time I let my emotions get to me, but the void in my heart from
her loss was too much to bear. I couldn’t hold it inside, the pain became too much. As I rocked her in my arms, I let the tears fall freely from my eyes.

“Brayden,” a soft voice sounded behind me. I could barely hear it because of the pounding in my ears. I didn’t want to hear anyone’s voice other than
Ariella’s. Nothing else mattered.

A light hand touched my shoulder but I was too numb to actually feel it.
Calista knelt down beside me, and with tears in her eyes she squeezed my arm that held Ariella tightly to my chest. “We need to get her home to Elvena, Brayden. There has to be hope since her body is still here and not into ash. It’s time to go,” she said softly.

Was there still hope?
All I knew was there was no home without her, but I had to believe in something.

Getting to my feet, I carried Ariella over to
Sorcha who was still in dragon form, hanging her head as I approached. I ignored all the pitying stares as I walked past my warriors and only concentrated on the angel I had in my arms, the angel who had also taken my heart. Sorcha held out her claw and I climbed up, never letting go of Ariella.

“Let’s go,” I called, holding on as
Sorcha took off into the sky. We were followed by Drake, who roared and whimpered, gazing over at the sister he’d lost. “Please come back to me,” I cried, wiping the tears angrily away from my eyes. I wanted to be furious at her for going against me and doing what she did on her own, except looking down at her angelic face I couldn’t begin to feel anything except how much I loved her, and how empty and lonely my life was going to be without her.

The ride back to the Winter Court felt like an eternity, but if there was any hope left, I sure hoped
Elvena could find it. If there was anyone who could it would be her. When Sorcha landed at the palace steps of my home, I jumped off and rushed Ariella inside.

As soon as I entered through the doors I yelled as loud as I could, “I need someone to find
Elvena, now!”

Quickly, I carried Ariella to our room and kicked open the door. I gently laid her on the bed and sat down
beside her, shaking from impatience. I wanted Elvena to hurry and say that she could find a way to save her. I wanted to hear those words come out of her mouth and know that everything would be okay.

“Hang on, Ariella. I’m going to bring you back,” I cried, kissing her limp hand. It was the same hand that held my ring … the ring I gave to her.

Shouts and shuffling feet echoed out in the hallway, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than Ariella and her frozen body. By the time Elvena made it to the room and to my side, I hadn’t realized that everyone had already joined in behind me. Tears were all I could see as I gazed at everyone’s faces. Calista and Meliantha were holding onto each other as my brothers comforted them by their sides. My sister had Drake, my parents had each other, and so did Ariella’s parents. I was the only one, standing alone, and doomed to live the rest of my life in misery.

How was that fair? Ariella sacrificed her life to save the Land of the
Fae and this is what she got … what we got. How could a land that loved its people so much not protect her when she had her own blood spilled to save it? If she didn’t survive, I wasn’t going to be a part of it anymore; I refused to be a part of it.

Elvena’s
chin trembled as she gazed upon Ariella with a hand over her mouth, trying to keep in her sobs. “How is she still here?” I asked. “She has to still be alive somehow, right?”

She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I don’t know, child. I can’t feel her presence, but she is still here. From the wound in her chest she should’ve been ashes a long time ago.”

“What can we do?”

She sighed and hovered over Ariella, narrowing her eyes in concentration. “Let me take a look and see what I can find. There has to be an explanation somewhere.”

I moved over so Elvena could get closer to her, watching as she placed her hands on Ariella’s head. Closing her eyes, I could feel the energy spike in the room as Elvena mumbled a chant in the Old Fae language. I knew the language well, but even with my enhanced hearing I couldn’t tell what she was saying.

She travelled her hands down
Ariella’s body, hovering about an inch above until she reached the place above her heart. She choked on a sob and sucked in a ragged breath before continuing on down. At that point I knew it was no use. The despair flowing off of Elvena was answer enough. Ariella’s heart had died, and with it mine as well.

I couldn’t take anymore.

I took one last look at my angel, my love, and my wife. Forever will she stay engraved in my mind, but there was only so much loss I could take. Turning on my heel, I dug my nails in my palm to keep my mind focused on the physical pain and not the pain of losing my love ripping my heart into shreds. I ignored everyone as I passed them, and for the first time ever, my brothers even knew to stay back.

Before I could get out the door,
Elvena’s command stopped me, “Brayden, wait!”

I turned around slowly and met her sorrowful brown eyes. My throat closed up and it felt like I couldn’t breathe from the weight pressing down on me; I didn’t want to breathe. By the look in her gaze I knew what she was about to say would only tear me apart more. I thought about just walking out, but I had to know.

“I know why she’s still here,” she uttered sadly, looking only at me.

She hung her head and took a deep breath before meeting my eyes again. The next words that came out of her mouth were not what I was expecting at all. The force of it slammed into my chest and took every ounce of happiness I had ever felt and shoved it into the pits of despair. Grief consumed me and I got lost in it, falling until I knew I would never find my way back.

I didn’t want to find my way back.