Fates Divided: Halven Rising

Since Keen was in such a sharing mood about her family, Elena grilled him on the way to the brick building portal. It was nighttime, so no one should see them, and this portal was closer to her apartment than the Physics Hall entrance to Emain.

“According to Deirdre, my mother is a New Kingdom princess. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

The fact that Keen was freely sharing information disconcerted her about as much as it had when Leo had opened up to her earlier. It was like getting more of those last rites. They really didn’t think she’d come out alive, so in a sense, the Fae had nothing to lose by giving her all the information she asked for. And that was scary.

“While my mother and father were together, she went by the name Theda Rosales, taking my father’s last name after marriage. My family said they knew little about her. She didn’t share much about where she came from. No one knows her maiden name, and my father refused to speak of her after she left. How do I find her?”

“Your mother was born Theodora Joelle Rainer, daughter of Sihtric Rainer, king of New Kingdom.”

A shiver ran down Elena’s spine and she gripped her elbows. Her mother and grandfather’s names sounded old-school, and totally foreign.

“When your mother returned to Tirnan, they imprisoned her. She resides isolated within the New Kingdom castle.”

Imprisoned? Leo said her mother had been punished, but he hadn’t mentioned how.

“Rainer valued his only daughter, but he lost all trust when she ran away and married your father. She has no freedom within her land. The king keeps her near, though no one knows exactly where. The castle is vast. Finding her will be difficult. The advantage you have is that few people in New Kingdom possess Derek’s ability. Newlanders are not likely to recognize the signs of his transformation. His mental powers dominate in Old Kingdom, while elemental powers are prominent in New Kingdom.”

“Are you sure they won’t see the shimmer? It seems pretty obvious to me.”

Keen eyed her. “It is unusual for a Halven to see a Fae once they’ve gone into the elements. Only a Fae of pure blood who knows what to look for may identify the disguise.”

“Do you think it has something to do with my family and where I came from?”

“Yes,” he said, his eyes distracted. “They do not speak of Halven with royal blood. The gentry strictly regulate bloodlines, mating for the sake of the kingdom. Rainer is one of the oldest Fae—and one of the closest to the original angels. Perhaps his line passes our magic more purely than others. It would explain your powers as well as your late uncle’s.”

“Speaking of angels, where are they? Why aren’t they saving you from the disease? You’re like their children.”

He smiled wryly. “All life originates from the heavens, even human life, and the angels do not save you.”

“I agree we all come from the same place,” she said with emphasis. “But some of us—cough, cough—believe themselves above others. I figured if you were as superior as you claim, the angels would save you.”

“It is not what I believe, it is truth. Some of us are more pure.” He held up his hand at the look on her face. “Let us not argue the point; we haven’t the time. In response to your earlier question, several millennia ago, the angels returned to the holy realm. No one has seen or heard from them since. Not even Fae may enter the holy realm.”

Keen stopped in front of the brick wall. “Marcus and the other guards will go first. Elena, you and Derek follow. I will enter last.”

Elena figured that was about as much as she was going to get out of Keen before she left for Tirnan. It was more than she’d hoped for.

She watched the guards enter the portal one by one, then she stepped through behind them.

Elena felt the spinning, the suction, and tried to remember Keen’s instructions for a smooth landing. Shockingly, she came out the other end on her feet with only a mild stumble, and considered the effort a success. She waited for Derek, who popped through next as if stepping down a stair, damn him. Keen swept through last, like a ginormous, graceful dancer.

They made it look so easy. She rolled her eyes and turned around.

And was greeted by a wall of seven-foot muscle with semiautomatic weapons pointed at her heart.

Even the Fae guards who’d traveled home with her waited off to the side for instructions.

Keen approached the Fae at the center of the living blockade, a guard with spiked white hair and a protruding brow. Keen seemed to know him, and relayed a message in a language that sounded like a variant of Greek.

The guard nodded, and, without taking his gaze from Elena or Derek, spoke one word: “Leo.”

One of the soldiers in the blockade peeled off and disappeared down the hall. The other semiautomatic-bearers broke formation and allowed them to pass.

Keen took Elena and Derek down a convoluted but quick path through the hallways and one grand Victorian ballroom—where the heck had they been hiding this place?—to the corridor where they’d trained. He stopped at the restrooms with the lockers. “Change into your Fae clothes. The guards will notify Leo of what has transpired. Leo will meet us at the portal to Tirnan.”

Elena and Derek changed, and this time Keen loaded their belts with weapons—mostly on Derek. Apparently, Keen still didn’t trust Elena with the weaponry. Trusted her to save his life, but not her own. Fae were a contradiction.

Elena’s hands shook from the adrenaline surging through her. She was about to enter a deadly realm from which she might never return. The need to leaven the situation before she collapsed in a heap of hysterics had her sticking out her leg with her hands on her hips.

“I’m feeling rather Fae with my uniform and weapons.”

Considering Fae in Emain were extremely pale and almost all light-haired, there was no way she fit in, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tweak Keen’s cool façade one last time.

He looked down her, his gaze returning to her face, eyes reflecting an emotion that could only be described as fear. “Do not get killed.” He turned on his heel and stormed down the hall.

Elena couldn’t get past the expression on Keen’s face. If he was scared, they were truly screwed.

Keen stopped at the top of a long flight of stairs. A massive bronze door stood at the bottom, engraved with the allon tree and inlaid with leaves of what looked like polished turquoise, lapis lazuli, and other natural stones.

“A last word of advice,” he said, looking from her to Derek. “Fae from Old Kingdom and New Kingdom, as well as Sunland, come together in Emain to educate themselves for the advancement of our people. It is the only place where we treat each other with immunity. In Tirnan, borders cannot be crossed without dire consequences. Should you pass into Old Kingdom, Elena, they will not only see you as a Halven abomination, as will those from New Kingdom, they will see you as an enemy of the state. Your chance of survival in New Kingdom is precarious. In Old Kingdom…” He let the unspoken words hang there.

A few more words of advice from Keen and all hope of survival would be lost. Elena swallowed and clamped her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. “I think I’ve got it.”

He pulled out small, thin packets from a black satchel. “Food. Bland, but they provide the necessary nutrients.”

Derek stared at the packets Keen handed him. “You got any more of these—like, say, twenty?”

Keen arched a brow.

“I’m growing,” he said.

Keen nodded and pulled out two dozen more packets.

Enormous food consumption must be a male Fae thing. Come to think of it, it was kind of a young guy thing, because Mateo fit the rule as well.

Keen showed them where to attach the food beneath their uniforms. “You have three days’ worth of packets. That is all the time you can spare in Tirnan before Marlon expects Elena for the exchange. Use the time and your powers wisely.”

After a short pause, Keen’s gaze slid to Marcus. “Leo should have arrived by now.”

A silent message passed between the two guards, and then Keen’s nostrils flared. Marcus pulled out a crossbow and Keen unlatched a gun from his belt. He edged Elena down the stairs toward the door. “We cannot wait for—”

A group of unfamiliar Fae descended the steps, crossbows raised.

Arrows sang before Elena could figure out what was happening, one of them stinging the top of her shoulder.

Keen shoved Elena behind him and Marcus fired arrows at Fae at the top of the stairs.

“I thought this was neutral territory!” she shouted, pressing a hand to the light wound and small slice in her shirt.

“Given Beatrice’s betrayal”—Keen fired two shots from his gun—“there was a breach. You must leave. Now!” He reached behind and pried the bronze door open while Derek blocked her with his body.

“Wait! Keen, if I don’t come back, promise me… Promise me you’ll save Reese.”

He gave one swift nod and shoved her through the door.

Disoriented by the lights and color, Elena spiraled through the portal. She tripped, and landed on her rear on top of gravel in the dark of night, a mix of pine and peppermint filling her senses.

Elena looked up, and red stars stared down at her.

Tirnan. The place she’d known only in her dreams. She was actually here.

She breathed in the crisp, clean scent, blinking in wonder. And then Derek crashed down on top of her. Their limbs tangled, and one of Derek’s hands shot out and caught her head before it slammed into the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked breathlessly, his dark blue eyes inches from her face.

She tried to move. “I think so. You’re a little heavy.”

“Sorry.” He eased onto his knees, scanning the area, his expression as mystified as hers had been a moment ago. Then he looked over her head and his eyes widened. He sucked in a deep breath. “We gotta go.”

Shouts rang out in the distance.

Elena started to turn, but Derek fell on top of her and kissed her, his teeth biting into her lip. The tingling sensation of Blending passed through her limbs. Her heartbeat slowed, and then they were rolling.

Derek shifted her on his lap, and she caught sight of what had frightened him. A terrified squeak erupted from the back of her throat.

Dozens of Tirnan soldiers in dark uniforms ran toward them with their crossbows raised.

Arrows arched into the night air and Elena’s heart raced as she vividly recalled her brush with an arrow minutes ago inside Emain. But she and Derek were no longer solid. The arrows whizzed right through them.

Still kissing her, Derek braced her legs around his waist and secured one arm to her back. He deftly lifted her and ran.

Elena tucked in close, holding her breath as he rounded the soldiers. She’d had only a few seconds to take in the place she’d dreamed of before they were being attacked. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the soldiers found them so quickly.

After a moment, she brushed a swath of hair from her face and glanced to the side, lips still connected to Derek’s.

A towering rectangular building, about a city block in length, stretched before them. The structure stood sharp and imposing, with ornamental pillars, the entire thing protected by a tapered cement wall. The wall modified what might have been a leisure palace into a fortified castle.

And Derek was running straight for it.

Elena slammed her eyes shut a second before her skin zapped. When she opened her eyes, they were on the other side of the wall in some type of courtyard.

Soldiers poured out of the main gate behind them, presumably after her and Derek, whom they couldn’t see, while other Fae swept the courtyard, weapons raised. It was dark out, and what Keen had said about Derek’s Blending not being visible in low light was holding true.

Derek sprinted to the side of the building a football field away. As he rounded the corner, he skidded to a halt. He turned to the side as if to go back the way they’d come, and that was when Elena saw what had stopped him.

Soldiers approached at a fast clip from the opposite end, swords in front of them.

One Fae raised his hand and threw what looked to be a small fireball, only once released, the sphere expanded and grew to the size of a bowling ball before slamming home a few feet to their right. The ground vibrated, heat from the fireball slamming into them.

What if the fireball had hit its target?

Derek must have had the same thought, because he squeezed her waist, darted for the castle wall, and leapt through it. Elena experienced the sensation of being airborne, before he crashed to the ground and she lost her hold on him. They were ripped apart, her body skidding in a bruising heap across smooth, pale stone.

Shouts echoed off the cavernous walls inside the castle, and the end of the hallway filled with soldiers.

They could see Elena and Derek. Because the crash landing had torn them apart, their bodies no longer Blended.

Derek jerked Elena toward him by the arm and grabbed the back of her head, slamming his mouth to hers. He picked her up and transformed, running in the opposite direction of the soldiers rapidly approaching. At least these Fae didn’t appear to see them while Blended. No one had thrown fireballs yet. Either they didn’t know what to look for, or they didn’t want to incinerate their palace.

At a speed that made her eyes water, Derek tore through the hallways, heading to what appeared to be the back of the building. They came to a narrow flight of stairs and he climbed the steps three at a time.

On what must have been the fifth floor, a Fae in dark livery carrying a tray entered the stairwell.

Derek shoved Elena into a corner. His tongue dipped into her mouth as he kissed her deeply. Her body shook, and it wasn’t from the Blending or the fear of being caught. There was real emotion behind this kiss, and it stole her breath.

She opened her eyes, which she hadn’t realized she’d closed, to find Derek staring at her, his pupils dilated, his irises rimmed in navy. He held her like that for a moment, waiting for the servant, or whoever, to leave, but his gaze and firm grip on her waist said he’d felt what had passed between them too.

The servant’s footsteps faded, and Derek tipped his forehead to hers, but only for a moment. In the next instant, he was climbing again, taking them up two more flights of stairs to the top of the building, which appeared deserted.

Poking their heads inside each door they passed, Derek scouted out the rooms on this level. Several of them seemed to have been recently occupied, but eventually they came to a few with unmade mattresses and dusty antique furniture. All of the rooms were simply furnished: a bed, dresser, maybe a nightstand—what might be found in a servant’s wing.

Derek walked through the wall of one of the empty rooms and transformed to solid state before breaking their kiss. He set Elena on the mattress and sank next her, his breathing only mildly elevated despite the running and climbing he’d done. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, you?”

He nodded and gave her a weary smile. “That was close.” He glanced around. “This room’s abandoned. If I go alone, I can scout quickly before they search the entire castle. I don’t want to leave you, but…”

“No, it’s best. You can Blend easier without me. I’ll wait here.”

He studied her for a moment before nodding. “I’ll only be gone a few minutes.” He smoothed his hand down her hair where it lay on her back in a mass of waves.

Such a simple gesture, but it made her insides melt.

Standing, he unhooked one of the guns from his belt and handed it to her. “Take this, just in case.”

She stared at it with a sense of unease. “Guns won’t kill them. If I use it, they’ll only come at me more pissed.”

“Yeah, but it’ll slow them down.” He wrapped her hand around the handle, his large palm engulfing her fingers. “I’ll feel better if you have it. Use your knives if you need to. Do whatever it takes to remain safe. And don’t leave unless you hear someone approach.”

“Okay, Keen,” she teased, but his eyes held too much worry to smile back.

“I’ll search for your mother and return in ten minutes. You should be okay until then.” He rubbed his forehead, as if reconsidering.

“I will be,” she quickly reassured him. “But you need to go. They’ll find us if we stand still too long.”

He glanced at his phone. “No cell reception, but our phones work. We can keep time. If we get separated—”

“I’ll send a signal.”

“Elena.” His voice had dropped a notch, a warning that had the opposite effect, sending a sultry shiver down her spine.

She smiled. “A teensy-weensy signal to let you know I need you. What’s the point of my ability if I don’t use it?”

Derek breathed in through his nose and stared at the ceiling. “Because everyone will know where you are.” He peered down again. “They’re already onto us. Don’t use your powers unless you have to. Fae sense your magic, remember? That’s how they found you at Dawson to begin with.”

Good point. “But my powers have grown. How will they know if it’s me, or someone else here? We’re in my ancestral castle. Their powers are similar to mine.”

He seemed to consider her words for a moment. “Maybe, but don’t use your ability unless you absolutely have to. And be careful.”

“Aren’t I always?” she said sweetly.

“No.” He dipped his head and planted a kiss on her brow.