Read The Darkling Lord: Court of the Banished book 1 (Annwyn Series 4) Online
Authors: Shona Husk
D
arah stood
in front of the casino. Dusk was darkening the sky. Like the first time she was going to keep tabs on Henry for the King; this time she knew what she was getting into. She knew the rules and she knew Henry.
In trying to put distance between them he’d been trying to protect himself. Perhaps she should’ve told him that she cared about him and not just what he was doing, but those words were hard to find and harder to say. To admit to being in love went against everything she’d ever learned about surviving at Court.
This Court was different.
She walked through the doors and glanced around. The casino was still closed for business but a few Greys were playing at the tables. She knew where she’d find Henry if he was here. Although for all she knew he was at one of the gardens and checking out the progress they’d made.
As expected he was sitting at a table in the bar talking to his informal Council. Only Marlis was missing. It was a shame she hadn’t lived long enough to see Henry become the Darkling Lord. Penn and Kaid glanced up. Henry turned and looked at her.
Would he invite her to sit or would he try to exclude her? No, he wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize his plans. That meant he had to be civil—that didn’t mean that he had to play fair.
After a moment he beckoned her over. As she crossed the floor he said something to Kaid and Penn, and they both stood. Both gave her a nod and then left. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. What was clear was that she’d missed a meeting.
Henry turned and rested one elbow on the table. She sat opposite him. They were totally alone.
“We have about an hour. Then there will be a meeting for everyone so I can make various announcements.”
“Were you going to wait for me?” Or was he going to make her job as hard as possible? She’d hoped that they could at least work together. She wanted more.
“How long do I need to wait?” He didn’t hide the tension that formed on his face or the echo of pain in his dark eyes.
They weren’t talking about work anymore. “You were the one who told me that it was never going to work, and who stayed up cavorting while I slept alone.”
“That was just sex you were offering. You said yourself that sex means nothing between fairies. I don’t want that. I want more than that with you, but relationships never work when only one person is willing to take the chance.”
“And you are the expert?”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “I have had more real relationships in my short life that you’ve had in your long one. I know what it’s like to care about someone and lose them. I’ve been willing to let myself feel. I’m not sure you know what that even means. We might both belong to Annwyn, but we are as different as the moon and the sun. As much as I love trying to guess what’s going on in your mind, I can’t live like that.” He paused and looked away for a moment. “I might be a darkling, but I deserve more than scraps.”
Did he really think her heartless?
He went to stand and she put her hand over his. “I pleaded your case with the King. I helped Kaid keep things going while you were in Annwyn. I
kissed you
in the Hall of Mirrors.”
“That wasn’t some kind of fairy game power play?”
She could tell from his expression that he didn’t get it. That was a public declaration, but in his mind he though she was still playing games. She shook her head. “I wasn’t afraid of people seeing that I was with you.”
“I love you isn’t that hard to say, Darah.” He reached out and touched her cheek.
It was though, as it meant putting her heart on the line for Henry to scar. “I want you, I want you to succeed. I didn’t ask for this job, but I want to be here with you. I was prepared to give up being on the Council to be with you, but you told me you didn’t want me.”
“You looked happy to be in Annwyn. I never expected you to choose.”
“Of course I was happy to be in Annwyn. It’s my home. But I don’t have to live there to be happy. Being with you makes me happy.” She didn’t dare breathe as she waiting for him to react. If he turned her away again now, it would hurt twice as bad.
He sighed and smiled. “If you can’t say it, how about you show me?”
“Are you sure you want me now?” Her pride wasn’t going to let him gloss over his previous rejection.
He pulled her onto his lap then gripped her hips and pulled her closer. “See how much I want you?”
“Are you sure it’s not just sex?”
“Are you?” He held her gaze.
“Yes. I want to be with you.” She placed her arms around his neck and kissed him, slowly as if learning the feel of his lips against hers all over again. She may not be able to say what he wanted to hear yet, but she could certainly show him how she felt. “How long until that meeting?”
“They can wait…we’re involved in very complex negotiations.” His fingers slipped under her shirt and traced over her skin.
Darah smiled and undid his shirt. “Very complex…although I’m sure we’ll both be happy with the outcome.”
D
ear Reader
,
Thank you for reading The Darkling Lord. I hope you enjoyed Henry and Darah’s story. If you are looking for more
Court of Annwyn
stories, there are several others in the series:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/87490-court-of-annwyn
I
n order they are
:
The Changeling Soldier (novella)
The Tenth Life of Vicki Torres (short story)
The Darkling Lord
Singer of Death
Taming the Assassin
R
eviews are
the online word of mouth and I appreciate all reviews readers leave.
I
f you’d like
to find out when my next book will be out you can sign up to my new release newsletter
http://mad.ly/signups/119074/join
, follow me on twitter @ShonaHusk or like my Facebook page
www.facebook.com/shonahusk
A
list
of my other titles in other genres follows as well an excerpt from The Changeling Soldier (Court of Annwyn 2.5). Singer of Death and Taming the Assassin will be out in 2015
T
hank you
!
Shona
I
saac was never
ready
for the biting cold or the exhaustion of this dream, even though he must have experienced it hundreds of time. Snow was falling, dusting his clothes, and the battleground was silent. Battles weren’t silent. They were noisy and confusing as hell.
He drew in a breath, the cold cutting his lungs, and took a moment to orientate himself. His palm rested on the snow where he was kneeling. His other hand was wrapped around the hilt of a sword; the blade was coated in blue, sticky gore. That he was holding a sword didn’t bother him now, but it still felt wrong in his hand. He was used to guns. There were no guns here.
The blue was more concerning. Blood? It smeared skin and leaked from the wounds of the other fighters. It had to be blood even though people didn’t bleed blue. It wasn’t human blood, though. It was fairy blood.
The sword grew heavy in his hand, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold on to it for much longer. Exhaustion and cold seeped through his body. As he exhaled, his breath clouded. He glanced around looking for a change in the dream, but everything stayed as it always was. He knew this place and had fought this battle all his life, yet things were clearer, sharper now. When he’d been a child, the death had been hidden from him.
He squinted against the glare of the sun on the snow. The battle was over. Around him were the bodies of the fallen. Their pretty faces would never smile again. They looked so young, too young for this. Everywhere he looked, bright blue stained the snow.
Usually he’d wake up now. He waited for the jolt, but it didn’t come. Panic made his heart beat faster, but he was familiar with adrenaline and didn’t let it take over. He’d wake up…eventually.
Obviously there was something new to be revealed. That was how this dream worked.
People…fairies—that was what they were—gathered around a woman on a white horse. The battle had been stopped on her command. He stood and took a few steps forward, his feet sinking into the snow.
Both sides waited. The only thing distinguishing one side from the other were the ribbons tied onto their clothes. Purple or yellow. He checked his arm and saw he was wearing purple. But he didn’t know what that meant, only that it must be important for him to know.
Who had he been fighting for? He searched for a point of reference, or a clue about what was going on. Behind him was the castle made of trees. He saw other fairies, with purple armbands. Some nodded as if they knew him. He felt himself returning the gesture but had no idea who they were. He was glimpsing the future, but not yet part of it.
Isaac shivered. This was the only dream or vision he’d ever had that hadn’t yet come true. How could it? Humans didn’t fight in fairy battles. Hell, most people didn’t believe in fairies. Most people had never even seen one.
Again he didn’t wake. What else did he need to learn?
Every time he was here he treated it as a chance to gather intel. To memorize faces, landmarks and weapons. Today he hadn’t dreamed of the actual fight, and yet he knew if he picked up a sword while awake he’d know how to hold it. Some dreams felt like training exercises, but not today. Today it was all over.
Words bubbled around him but he couldn’t make them out clearly, no matter how hard he tried to listen. His visions didn’t come with clear audio. He wished they didn’t come with the cold, or the sweet smell of blood and the bone-aching tiredness that must come from fighting in snow that went up to his calves. Even the air tasted different. Cleaner. It lacked the acrid burn of L.A. smog.
None of that was new. But he gave himself a moment to enjoy the crisp cold and the beauty of a place that existed only in his dreams. Maybe this one would never come true.
Cheering broke out, but he couldn’t be sure if he’d fought on the winning or losing side. Why was he fighting at all? This battle wasn’t his fight, he wasn’t a fairy.
The snow stopped falling, not gradually, but suddenly as if it had been switched off. He almost expected the snow on the ground to melt and vanish. But it didn’t. He wiped and sheathed his sword as if he’d been handling one all of his life.
A woman ran toward him.
Isaac jerked awake. He reached for his gun, wondering what had woken him, only to find his bed empty. His heart hammered and he blinked, disoriented. It took several breaths before he remembered he was in L.A., not Afghanistan. The battle in his mind had woken him, not gun shots or explosions.
He lay back down and tried to find calmness with slow breathing, but he’d been having that dream for long enough to know that wouldn’t happen. It always brought a rush of excitement. His skin tingled as if warming up and his heart was beating fast as if he’d just fought the battle.
He pulled the blanket over him to warm up. It wasn’t all in his mind. With his eyes closed he went through every detail that had been different, or new, to make sure he remembered.
The woman.
He tried to picture her, but all he got was the impression of dark hair and clothes. There was no doubt that she wasn’t human. She was one of them—fairy.
Useful, really useful. He knew what a fairy was as he’d seen a few growing up. He’d researched them as a teen—which was when the dream changed the first time. Since then it had become more detailed and more real whenever his life took a new direction. Soldiering had given him the dreams filled with the grim reality of a fairy battle fought with swords. He knew what it felt like to swing a sword and have it bite into clothing and flesh. To block a blade aimed at him. He clenched his hand beneath the blanket.
The dream was no longer occasional, or once a week, but every night. That it was becoming more frequent bothered him as it was harder to brush aside, harder to pretend it meant nothing.
Perhaps he was finally losing it and failing to adapt to civilian life.
No, he knew he was failing. He was bored, waiting for something to happen. He’d almost considered rejoining the army. But he’d never fit in there either. Not really. There was always something…
He opened his eyes and checked the time. Sleep wasn’t going to return and it was almost five; he’d go for a run. A long run, and enjoy the summer morning to put the snow and fairies behind him. But this time the cold and the feeling of expectation didn’t entirely leave. His dreams were never wrong. Something was about to change.
Arcane series
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Dark Vow
#1 and
Dark Secrets
#2
Decadent Moon series
:
Lunar Exposure
#1,
Lunar Reunion
#2,
Lunar Dancer
#3
E
S Siren series
(written with Mel Teshco and Denise Rossetti):
Yours to Command
,
Mine to Hold
, Ours to Save
Shadowlands series:
The Summons
#0.5,
The Goblin King
#1,
For the Love of a Goblin Warrior
#3
C
ourt of Annwyn series
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The Outcast Prince
#1,
Lord of the Hunt
#2,
The Changeling Soldier
#2.5,
To Love a King
#3,
The Tenth Life of Vicki Torres #3.5, The Darkling Lord #4
Singer of Death #5, Taming the Assassin #6
S
ex with Strings series
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Kissing Phoenix
#1,
Tasting Thanatos
#2,
Sharing Sirius
#3,
Enchanting Absinthe
#4
I
n a Bottle series
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Boyfriend in a Bottle
,
Temptation in a Bottle
,
Lover in a Bottle
, Rogue in a Bottle
Secret Confessions: Housewives of Sydney—Meagan
F
ace the Music
Out of Rhythm
Out of Place
Out of Time
Out of Chances