Fates Divided: Halven Rising

Derek sank into a squat and locked his hands behind his neck, taking in deep breaths. A part of him had always wondered who his true parents were. Never had he imagined this.

Elena rested her hand on his back and rubbed his spine up and down, her touch warm and comforting. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

He shook his head.

“Do you really think the king would help us if he thought Derek was his son?” she asked her mother.

“There is a chance I am wrong and Derek is not who I think he is. Either way, it is safer that you do not alert the king to the possibility of Derek’s identity. Unless all hope is lost.”

Theda paced a few steps. “The Oldlander king is self-absorbed and greedy. He’s been known to show little or no mercy toward others. He has searched for his son at great length.” Her face filled with compassion. “I’m sorry, Derek. If he discovers you are his child, he will not easily release you.”

Derek slowly raised his head and unfolded his body. The muscles in his jaw tightened as fury built in his chest. Elena needed him. The Oldlander king was mistaken if he thought he would ever leave her.

Which meant Derek needed to keep his identity a secret, even if they were caught. “It’s getting light out. I’m assuming we have a long way to travel. We should go if we want to rest before it’s dark.”

Minutes later, Derek Blended with Elena in his arms and followed Theda and Samuel through a secret passageway. The four of them slipped out of the palace and beyond the cement wall that protected New Kingdom castle.

They traveled at a brisk pace while the sky slowly lightened, the strange red stars disappearing against the blue.

Theda explained before they left how few people traveled at night, but that they rose early with the sun. The roads in Tirnan didn’t have modern highway lighting, so commoners kept to country hours, rising early and returning home before twilight.

It would be bright out soon, and in a little while they would have to stop and hide for a few hours, which would give Elena time to sleep. Derek couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept for long. A lot had happened since then. She needed her strength.

Hidden in the forest, Samuel’s team of twenty of the queen’s trusted soldiers guarded Derek, Elena, and her mother from afar as they traveled. They joined the men in the forest to rest when the sun rose too high in the sky to go any father without being seen.

Derek sat against a tree and Elena leaned into him, her head against his shoulder. She was asleep in seconds, but his mind spun. He couldn’t stop thinking about his true father and what it all meant.

He must have dozed, because the next thing he knew the soldiers were departing and Theda was speaking silently to Samuel. She drank from a leather pouch and appeared to point out a path through the woods.

Elena rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She brushed off the needles clinging to her clothing and approached her mother.

“We must go,” Theda said. “It is still light out, but the sun grows low. We will remain along the forest edge and tread carefully. The bridge is only a few miles away.”

The sky darkened as they made their way through the woods close to the road. Their pace was slower, but eventually, they saw the bridge off in the distance.

Derek could tell something was different about the Bridge of Fates. It may have looked like a crusty old brick arch, like something from an Irish pasture, but a powerful force drifted from it. The force brushed in sizzling waves against Derek’s skin, sending the distinct message that this crusty old bridge was not to be messed with.

Theda made a sharp left, heading deeper into the woods, and they soon arrived at a whitewashed two-story cottage.

“The Gatekeeper’s Hovel,” she announced.

The hovel looked as ancient as anything Derek had seen while traveling through the Irish countryside with his parents years ago.

“This dwelling resides on our land,” Theda explained, “but during the peace accord, a gatekeeper lived here and collected a toll to cross the bridge. As you would expect, the hovel is abandoned now. We are safe here to go over the plan again and eat before you venture across the bridge.”

They followed Theda toward the hovel, but about ten yards from the old building, the hairs on the back of Derek’s neck stood at attention.

He stopped and looked around. “Are you sure no one’s here?”

Theda gave him a reassuring smile. “Few remember the existence of the Gatekeeper’s Hovel, and those who do are too busy fighting the disease to worry about an abandoned house.”

Despite Theda’s words, something about the place seemed off. He made certain to enter the building before Elena, and stood in front of her while he took in the space.

Samuel closed the door behind them. The air in the center of the room shimmered. That was when Derek knew his instincts had been right.

A liquid wall dropped from the ceiling like a heavy velvet drape, a dozen soldiers standing armed and ready for battle on the other side. Along with Portia.

Elena tried to step around Derek, but he put his arm out, forcing her to stay behind.

“It’s about time you arrived,” Portia said.

Derek glanced out the windows. More armed Fae surrounded the house.

Portia smirked. “I’m surprised you didn’t sense the glamour that hid my team, Theda. Then again, glamours are my specialty. And my daughter’s.” She stared at Derek. “You remember Beatrice, don’t you, Derek?”

His body tensed. Her daughter? How long had Portia been planning to betray them? From the beginning?

“I planted men in area farmhouses as well, but I figured this would be the most likely place for you to bring the Halven. You always were predictable, Theda. Until you ran off with that human.” Disgust oozed from Portia’s words.

“When they told me Halven had come through one of the portals, I’d hoped it was one of Marlon’s disciples, and that they’d do my job for me and have you killed.” She gazed at Elena. “It seems it was only your daughter.” Portia shrugged, her mouth twisting in a happy little grin. “Ah well, I wanted to get rid of her too. Kill two birds with one stone, as the human saying goes.” She tapped her chin. “You know, I’ve come to appreciate the human metaphor. Very clever.”

Theda slowly shook her head. “Why? We took you in and treated you as one of our own after your grandfather escaped Old Kingdom. We built centuries of trust between our families. Was it all a lie?”

Portia’s smile faded, replaced with cold malice. “Had my grandfather remained in Old Kingdom, I could have been a princess—a queen! Yet it was you who were given every privilege imaginable, only to waste yourself on a human.” Her mouth puckered. “There is no accounting for taste.”

Samuel shifted. It was subtle, but Derek caught it. And so did Portia, apparently.

“Ah, ah, ahhh.” She wagged her finger and waved a guard forward.

The guard stripped them of their weapons.

Portia fingered the hilt of a knife strapped to one of the Fae guards beside her. “I walked among you, Theodora, but I was not one of the great New Kingdom nobles. When I heard of your disgrace and what you gave up to be with that man, I knew my time had come.”

“You were given the same privileges I was. Why betray your leader? The palace cared for you and your family.”

Portia’s nostrils flared. “My ancestors are only once removed from our ancient forefathers, and I was treated as second best to you. What makes you better than me? Nothing, I tell you! I am more clever, more powerful than your silly ability to speak with the animals.” She turned her back to them, seemed to compose herself, then spun back around. “It’s more about what should have been mine. New Kingdom royals needed a change of blood. A cleansing, if you will, and my line is the one to replace the line you’ve tainted. You are not fit to rule.”

“That is not your decision to make,” Theda said. “Not even I can make that decision. The angels did when they bestowed the kingdoms and land upon us.”

Portia raised her chin. “Our forefathers are gone and have left us to rule our land. And rule we shall.” She looked at Derek. “It was simple to convince your insane but brilliant Halven mentor to create the virus for us. He, like so many, would do anything to gain access to Tirnan. Of course, he may have been misled as to the power he’d wield here, but he’ll discover that soon enough.”

She sighed dramatically and stared directly at Theda. “For now, no one but me and a few select Fae know how this will play out. Of course, I would never have sanctioned the creation of such a virus unless I could immunize those I wanted to keep around. But you’re not one of them.”

Derek’s mind raced. Portia had the antivirus. Her own blood must contain the antibodies. But weaponless and surrounded, they were in no position to do anything about it.

“You are alive, Theodora, because of the irony of life. The isolation imposed on you for your misdeeds spared you from the virus. Until now.” The guards behind Portia raised their weapons. “You will die today, and I and the leaders I’ve chosen will control New Kingdom, as is my destiny.”

Derek caught a movement in his peripheral vision. Theda had lifted her hands. She held them cupped around her mouth, as if to call to someone at a great distance.

Portia chuckled humorlessly. “Don’t bother trying to beckon the others with your silly communication ability. The soldiers hiding in the woods have already been disposed of.”

Theda’s eyes narrowed on Portia, and then her chest fell as she let out a burst of breath into her palms, a faint puff of powder escaping the gaps between her fingers. Only then did she lower her hands to her sides.

Portia glanced up as if exasperated. “You know, before I smite you, I must say, your daughter and her Romeo were an interesting twist.”

She turned to Derek. “I hadn’t planned on your involvement. I considered it best to keep you out of it with the knowledge you possessed of Marlon’s work. But then you insisted on following Elena the day we sent for her.” She shook her head.

Elena was still partially hidden behind his back, though she kept trying to change that and inch around him. Stubborn girl. He was trying to protect her, and she chose now to get feisty? No matter how hard she pinched him to get him to move aside, he didn’t budge.

Portia swept her gaze across them. “The three of you have given me no small measure of amusement, but I’m afraid the fun must end.” Portia signaled, and the guard in front of Derek raised his crossbow.

Portia’s guard aimed his weapon at Derek’s chest, and the faint sound of angry dogs barking snapped Elena from her fear-induced paralysis.

She didn’t think. She acted.

Elena jumped on Derek’s back, ripped his shirt down, and said, “Run,” a split second before she bit into his muscled shoulder.

Derek jerked at the impact, but quickly wrapped his arm behind her, at the same time the sensation of Blending took over.

Elena tasted the copper flavor of his blood running over her tongue, and felt the whiz of arrows and swords through her Blended body as Derek ran for the opposite wall. They passed through weapons, Portia, the guards, and anything else that stood in their way. Her flesh zapped like static electricity as they swept through live bodies, but finally they made it to the outer wall and beyond.

The sound of dogs barking grew louder outside, but Derek didn’t stop. Not even when a flash of fur swept past her.

Teeth embedded in his flesh, Elena rolled her eyes to the side. Dozens of—not dogs, something else—passed them. Their bodies resembled stout, hairless pigs, held up by powerful, heavily muscled legs. The muzzles were shaped like those of a pit bull—all jaw—with long, sharp teeth like a lion. The beasts sniffed the air, seemingly sensing her and Derek’s presence, but they didn’t stop to attack. They continued on toward the Gatekeeper’s Hovel.

Seconds later, high-pitched squeals rang out, the kind an injured animal makes.

Theda had said she could speak to animals. Had she summoned the beasts? Would they protect her?

Her mother could survive injuries, but there were so many soldiers and they’d taken her weapons.

Theda and Samuel were trained to fight. She had to remember that and not think about worst-case scenarios, or fear would freeze her like it had inside the hovel.

She peeked over Derek’s shoulder, careful not to loosen the tenuous connection she had to him. They were almost to the Bridge of Fates, and suddenly all the warnings to not cross the bridge pummeled Elena’s mind. She sucked air in through her nose, holding on to Derek as tightly as she could, her eyes closed. She felt him sprint up the cobbled slope, oblivious to her fears, and jump off the other end.

When she opened her eyes, they were on the other side of the bridge. In Old Kingdom.

Derek raced toward the forest Theda’s soldiers were supposed to have used to divert the guards. Her mother’s men would have looped around south and crossed the bridge back into New Kingdom, but Derek ran at a northern angle toward the castle, delving deep into the forest until the dense canopy of trees choked off the sunlight.

Elena didn’t dare look back. She kept her teeth lodged in Derek’s shoulder, blood running down her chin. It was a crude way to create a physical connection, but it was the best she could come up with while a crossbow was aimed at Derek’s chest.

She couldn’t see or hear anyone, her view narrowed to the small slit above and slightly to the side of Derek’s shoulder, but Theda had said the castle would dispatch soldiers as soon as they entered the land. She and Derek wouldn’t be alone for long.

After what seemed like ten miles of thick forest passing them by, Derek slowed and stopped in front of a tree with a large hole at the base. The tree resembled a huge pine, with a trunk like an upside-down mushroom.

He turned them solid and Elena unlocked her teeth from his shoulder and slid down his back. Her jaw had cramped and a spasm of pain shot down her neck.

Concerned about his shoulder, she held his T-shirt away and watched as the wound stopped bleeding, the edges slowly knitting together.

Her body would heal this quickly too. The pain in her jaw was already ebbing.

Derek turned to face her, his breathing slightly elevated.

“Sorry about the bite.” She wiped blood from her chin. “It looks like it’s heal—”

Before she could finish, Derek grabbed her waist and pulled her close. He buried his face in her neck, running his mouth along her jaw, kissing her skin in desperate brushes of his lips until he reached her mouth, coming down hard. His tongue dipped inside, and his hand cradled the back of her head.

Elena’s heart raced and she tangled her tongue with his, desperate for the connection and comfort he offered.

If she had acted one second later inside the hovel…

Derek raised his head, his breathing elevated. “I appreciate the improvisation, but I think I prefer your kisses.”

Elena sank into his arms and he tightened his hold on her, tucking her head in the crook of his neck.

He dipped his face into her hair and breathed in through his nose. His body trembled. “Elena—”

For a moment, she just stood there, allowing his unspoken words to seep through her skin along with his warmth. They had almost been separated in the most permanent way imaginable—and the idea had desperation bubbling up inside her.

She wanted to tell him how she felt, that she loved him, even though he could be bossy and overprotective. But telling him now while their lives were in extreme danger might not come across as genuine. And her feelings for him were the one sure thing inside the mercurial world of Fae and magic that had become a part of her life.

“Are we safe?” she whispered.

“I think so. For now.” He raised his head and looked around.

She wanted to yank his face back, to feel his breath in her hair, on her skin—active reminders he was alive and well.

“We’ll wait here until dark.” He peered up through the trees at the dimming light. “Another hour or so.”

He guided her to the hole at the base of the tree, tearing away branches and exposing more of the opening.

Half the trees in the forest were allon, the rest this weird variant of pine.

Derek peeked inside, then turned and gave her a lopsided grin. “Welcome to my Tirnan lair.” He waved his hand across the opening. “Care to join me for some refreshments?”

She smiled weakly and got on her hands and knees near the opening. The smell of dirt, pine, and mildew assaulted her nose. “I hope you have a couch in here.”

“I’ll add that to the list next time.”

He followed her in and covered the hole behind them with the branches he’d removed.

Derek leaned against the wall of the trunk, pulled out two food packs, and handed her one, along with a flat metal water bottle from a strap beneath his clothes.

Elena reached over and pushed up his shirt. “What else do you have under there?”

He cut her a flirty grin she caught now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness inside the tree. “Come closer and I’ll show you.”

He slid her to his side, and she curled into him. They sat like that for a while, neither of them moving.

“Derek—do you think they made it?”

She looked up, and he was frowning at the freeze-dried packet in his hand.

He let out a long breath. “I don’t know. Your mom’s resourceful and strong, and she had Samuel with her. She didn’t expect things to go perfectly, which was why she gave us instructions back at the palace before we even got here. She must have had a contingency plan. The best we can do is continue on to Old Kingdom castle and collect the leaves. We have to create that antidote. Until that’s done, no one is safe.”

He was right. She sat back and opened her food packet. As nervous as her stomach was feeling, the last thing she wanted to do was eat, but she needed the energy. Elena ate-drank the mushy contents of the packet in small increments. The stuff was disgusting.

Derek polished off one of the packets and grabbed another. “The kingdom may know we’re here, but there’s still a chance we can get in and out without them finding us.”

They were at a disadvantage with their presence officially recognized, but that would have been the case no matter what. The only difference now was that Old Kingdom was looking for Derek and Elena instead of her mother’s soldiers, like they’d planned.

“What do you think about what my mother said—regarding your real father?”

Derek’s face hardened. “My father’s in Ohio. If what your mother says is true, the person who donated sperm means nothing to me.”

“So you won’t tell the king who you are?”

“No way. It would only make things more difficult. You heard what your mom said about him searching for his son. If he thinks it’s me…” He shook his head. “I don’t want any part of that.”

He finished the other food packet and started on his third. Derek didn’t seem to mind that it was barely edible.

Men.

He turned to her, their faces only inches apart. “We can do this, Elena. Your mom told us how to sneak past Old Kingdom guards to get to the tree. We grab the leaves and we get out.”

“Blending via kissing instead of biting, preferably.” She smiled.

His lips quirked and he tossed his empty food packages over his shoulder. He leaned in and pecked her lips. “Kissing’s good.” He dipped his head, his nose tickling her neck. “Nibbling’s not bad either.”

Elena leaned back to give him better access, because whatever he was doing sent shivers down her chest and limbs, her skin oversensitized after their brush with death.

It felt good to be in Derek’s arms again. Because he wanted to be there and not because they needed to Blend. She’d not trusted Derek about Beatrice. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

His fingers trailed down the base of her throat, pushing aside the pliant Fae material, along with her bra. He swept kisses and tongue along the delicate skin of her breast.

Elena gripped his biceps and dragged him closer until he was half lying on her. She needed this—needed to remember they were alive and that not all hope was lost. They’d never survive if she allowed herself to doubt even for a second.

Elena’s breaths quickened when Derek rolled them to the side and grabbed her bottom, bringing their bodies together. She ran her hands up his broad shoulders, over his neck and into his hair that smelled faintly of soap. As much as she wanted him, they couldn’t afford to be distracted like this. They should stop before things went too far.

“Derek,” she said, resigned.

He stilled, then groaned. He gave her one last kiss and eased onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes. “I know,” he said hoarsely. “Bad timing. I’ll be good.” His arm dropped back and he slid her a look. “We’re okay, though?”

He was talking about them as a couple, not the team taking down a deadly virus.

“Yeah. We’re good.” She smiled and pressed in close, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and soon Derek’s low, even breathing began to lull her. She couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

She wondered briefly if that would be a bad thing, but before she could decide, sleep took her.