Haelan’s Desire (Walk Through Shadows Book Four)

When Em was seven years old, her parents took her and Jason to see fireworks. The four of them had spent a wonderful evening weaving through the crowds to watch street performers, having their faces painted, and gorging themselves on hot dogs and sweets from the food vendors at the event. Their mother even let the siblings share a bag of cotton candy.

Overall, it had been an evening filled with laughter and fun, until the little group settled onto the blanket Em’s father had spread out near the river bank. When the fireworks started, Em did not react well to the booming explosions. As the surrounding crowd watched the colourful display with exclamations of Ooooos and Ahhhs, Em buried her face in her father’s neck, seeking an escape from the noise. While she cowered, Jason grabbed her arm with excitement and yelled, “you’re missing it, Emmy!”

The day after the bonding ceremony, as the group soared through the sky nearing the midpoint of the borderlands, the misty grey clouds that had been coalescing in that area seemed to boil upward suddenly. The first crack of thunder rolled up at them, and Em remembered that moment. Like it had happened only minutes before. Jason’s little hand, still sticky from the cotton candy, his exuberant laughter as he tried to get her to turn her face skyward. Her heart recalled the terror that gripped her. But, this time, her father’s arms weren’t there to pull her close and wrap her in a cocoon of comfort. All there was to yank her attention back to the present, was Sable’s voice. Telling her to get down a split second before his body turned sharply and suddenly the world was on its side.

Shortly after they had left the Wynbell home that morning, Em had followed Captain Cedarshadow’s instructions on loosening the straps on the flight leathers, and had been sitting up for most of their journey. It should have been safe to do so, considering it was the middle of the afternoon by the time the group crossed into the borderlands. The clouds hanging in the area were low enough that the faeries had plenty of open sky to fly through without having to dip into the mist.

Sable’s abrupt change in direction didn’t leave Em with enough time to do as he commanded. She grabbed for the loops on his shoulders but missed as his body flipped to the other side. Below them, the other guards were ducking and weaving through a mass of lightning spider-webbing its way across their path. Above them Haelan yelled Em’s name as Sable straightened himself out then shot upwards. Em scrambled to catch a hold on the back of his jacket, but the sudden climb jerked her weight backward. The strain was too much for the centuries old leather.

Sable’s body whipped to the right, as he narrowly avoided being struck by a blast of lightning. The two straps holding Em in place snapped, and she slid down his back. Her fingers caught one of the broken straps briefly. Sable angled up sharply, and Em lost her tenuous grip. He tried to level off, but as soon as he was somewhat perpendicular to the ground, her weight forced her body between his legs.

Above them, Drem and Beamard crashed into the invisible barrier twenty feet apart from each other. “Get to the ground!” Beamard bellowed. Elmas and Taveon dodged streaks of superheated light as they dropped into the clouds. Faine, who was carrying his mate, and Faerwald, who’d immediately gone to his brother’s aid, had begun their descent before Em broke free from Sable’s back.

Haelan roared Em’s name as he streaked through the chaos to get to her. Sable halted his momentum, preparing to dive toward her when something shot through the space under her feet. She watched, a panicked scream clawing its way up her throat, stretching her hands up to him, as a huge puff of feathers exploded from his left wing and a ragged hole appeared. Just as his lips smashed together in a grimace of pain, Haelan caught her from the side. His arms wrapped around her chest and pulled her close.

“Hold tight,” he commanded in her ear. She threw her arm around his shoulder and looked up, searching for Sable. The guard was diving into the clouds with a very noticeable wobble. “Elves,” Haelan said as they dropped into the mist. The surrounding clouds lit up with flashes of lightning, the monstrous claps of thunder pummelled them from every side. As they got nearer to the treetops arrows, flying out of the dense greenery, joined the pandemonium. Haelan’s hand cupped the back of Em’s head protectively as they flew into the range of the arrows. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her knees slid under the bags he was carrying. Haelan made a quick dodge to the left as an arrow zipped past them. A second later, he swung back and spotted the elf who’d shot at them. He was already reaching for his quiver. Haelan pulled his leg back as they approached him. When they were close enough Haelan let his foot fly out, the toe of his boot caught the elf under the chin, hard. His scream, as he plummeted to the ground, melted into the noise of the boisterous storm. Em closed her eyes and pressed her face to Haelan’s shoulder as the leaves closed around them. Haelan’s chest jerked against her and he sucked in a harsh breath. “Don’t let go,” he said in a growl of pain. Em didn’t respond, other than to twist in his arms and get her other arm around him. Her hand landed just under his wing. He grunted as she tightened her grip.

The first branch they ran into caught Em’s back with a bang. They dipped several feet and ran into another. That was when she noticed the wing near the hand she had on his side was not moving with the same power as the other. Haelan was fighting to slow their descent and keep them from striking more branches, but there wasn’t enough room to maneuver the way he needed to. They were in a crazy, haphazard fall. Finally, when it seemed like they’d been stuck in an insane life or death pinball machine for hours, the space between the trees cleared and they fell the last nine feet onto the spongy ground.

Haelan somehow got them twisted sideways in their last drop so he didn’t crush Em under him. The impact knocked her breath out of her. She tried to flop onto her back, but Haelan’s body held her in place. Carefully, she pushed him more onto his side. When she could get out from under his arm and suck in several deep breaths, she frowned. Her hand felt wet. She brought it up to her face and her eyes went wide. Her fingers were covered in blood. She flipped her hand over quickly; the skin was unbroken; it wasn’t her blood.

“Haelan,” she whispered. He didn’t respond. She scrambled to her knees and brushed his hair from his face. “Haelan, you’re hurt.”

His eyelids fluttered. “My left side,” he hissed. His lips pressed together tightly as he drew in his next breath. “The other’s?”

She looked around quickly, then shook her head. “I can’t see them.”

“Sable wouldn’t have been able to fly, he must be behind us—” Haelan’s voice dissolved into a series of coughs that left him gasping for breath and blood spattered along his lips. After a moment, he pushed his upper body from the ground and grabbed the amulet from the collar of his shirt. He murmured the incantation. Once his wings had disappeared, Em hurriedly pulled the bags off and dumped them to the side. Her eyes went wide as he turned to push himself to his knees, and she saw the end of an arrow protruding from the left side of his chest. She flinched as the sky lit up with another round of flashes and the accompanying thunder rained down on them. “The others may be ahead of us, who knows how far.” He closed his eyes for a moment as his healing magic inched down his cheeks. When he opened them, the soft yellow mixed with the mating magic, creating a beautiful green. Em grabbed for his arm as he moved to stand. Once he was upright, he caught her arm and pulled her forward into his left shoulder.

She looked up at him, but he wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were fixed on a point over her shoulder. “What’s—”

His gaze moved to a spot to the right of where he’d been staring, then back. “Lass, Sable will be northwest of us—”

“I don’t understand,” she whispered as she tried to turn to see what he was looking at.

“Straight ahead and to the right.” He tightened his grip on her arm and held her still. “The arrow is near my magus node. I can’t control the magic while you’re so close, and I’m going to need all my strength in a moment.” His eyes flicked to the left, then back to the same spot he’d been watching. He reached behind his back with his left hand, tugged a dagger free, then held it, blade up to her stomach. “Take this—”

“Haelan, what’s happening?” she murmured as she took the weapon with shaking fingers. The combined magic seeping from his eyes had reached his hands and crept onto her arm.

“Go back the way we came, find Sable—”

“I’m not leaving—”

“He’ll keep you safe.” Em fell silent as she watched his eyes. The warm brown that had always held a look of caring for her had flattened. There was no trace of the gleam of happiness that had infused them in the last week. “Don’t look back—”

“Come with me,” she whispered.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

“Promise?”

He pulled her closer, kissed her quickly, and shoved her behind him. “I swear it! Now Run!” His shout was followed by the distinct sound of his swords being pulled from their scabbards. Her body froze for a second. “Emmeline, go!” She lurched forward, then stumbled around a tree and stopped.

You can’t leave him! Half of her brain screamed.

Do as he says. The other half said quickly.

Em turned to go back, and the clang of metal on metal made her hesitate.

You can’t help him. The reasonable side urged.

“But the others can,” she murmured, then turned away from the fight, scanning the trees for any signs of the other faeries. She flinched as another peal of thunder rumbled overhead, then straightened her shoulders and ran. She choked back the scream of frustration that was strangling her throat as the distance between her and Haelan increased. While she dodged around tree trunks, that stood like silent witnesses to the scene unfolding in the forest, her gaze moved constantly, searching.

She almost tripped over the body of the elf Haelan had kicked, careened to a stop and turned slowly. Sable had to be close and, if she was lucky, one of the others may have gone to his aid. There were no other living beings in the immediate area, so she starting moving around the trees and cast her gaze upward, looking for broken tree limbs. There was nothing.

“What do we have here?”

She froze in place, and after a breath, turned to face the owner of the voice. He was dressed in mottled green leather, masked, and clearly a sun elf. His long light blond hair hung in a neat braid that reached halfway down his chest, leaving his pointed ears on full display. Above the fabric covering the lower half of his face, sky-blue eyes regarded her.

She swallowed back the tightness in her throat. “Hello,” she said stiffly.

“You know you’re supposed to scream and run, don’t you?”

She lifted her chin a little higher. “Let me guess, now you’re going to drag me off somewhere and do unspeakable things to me.” His eyes narrowed. “Fabulous, can’t wait to do that again.” His head tilted slightly and the way his eyes crinkled near the corners implied a smile under the mask.

His gaze flicked over her shoulder. Em turned to look and found a pair of what appeared to be male elves standing about ten feet away from her position. They were dressed in the same kind of green leather as the first one, though not as new if Em had to guess. The colour had faded in several places and the laces holding the breeches together along the sides looked frayed.

“I’ve been told humans can be feisty,” the first elf said with a laugh.

Em eyed him for a second, saw his eyes dart toward his companions, and took off running in the direction she’d been going. Behind her, the elves started after her. They hardly made a sound as they moved. Em certainly couldn’t hear them over the noise she was making as her feet pounded the dead leaves that carpeted the forest floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of one of them catching up on her right side and angled away from him.

“Sable!” His name came out of her mouth in one long scream that ended when she tried to look over her shoulder to see how close they were. It was a futile attempt and when she turned back, she almost ran directly into the elf that had spoken. He caught her left arm and yanked her off her feet. She landed sideways on the ground. “Let me go!”

“Now why would I do that?” He squatted down to get a better look at her, saw the gleam of the dagger still clutched tightly in her hand. He wrenched it away from her and tossed it aside. “Capturing Prince Haelan’s human courtesan will give weight to our demands.”

Her nostrils flared as she stared into his eyes. “I’m a mixed breed,” she said through her teeth.

One of the others leaned down and grabbed her chin to tip her head back. Em grabbed his hand and ripped it away. “Human mixed with what?” he asked.

“Based on the look in her eyes, I’d say dragon,” the first elf said with a chuckle.

“Is that possible?” Em asked as she batted the second elf’s hand.

He was trying to grab her face again. “No,” he said. He reached for the back of her head and caught her ponytail, then used that hold to keep her still. “Well, maybe,” he murmured absentmindedly. “There have been rumours.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” She reached back to pry his fingers from her hair.

“Hold still.” He tightened his grip and leaned in so close she could see the flecks of deep gold in his blue eyes.

“Careful,” the first elf said as he got to his feet. “Don’t want to get a blast of dragon fire to the face.”

Em’s eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t turn her head to glare at the first elf. “Not dragon, star elf,” she said in a huff. “I’m one of you.” She tried to tug herself away from the elf endeavouring to study her face.

“If what you’re claiming is true, I should be able to see it,” he said and tilted her head back a little farther.

“Sir,” the third elf said softly. “The faeries could be upon us at any moment.”

“Just a—” The second elf went silent and squinted at what he saw in Em’s eyes. He shifted her head to the left slightly, inched closer, paused, then released her, and looked up at the first elf. “She’s telling the truth.”

Em sat up, then scrambled to her feet. “So you’ll let me go?”

“I didn’t say that,” the second elf said.

“You have an interesting heritage, but you’re still Prince Haelan’s lover,” the first elf said. “And therefore valuable to us.”

She shook her head. He reached behind his hip to a small leather bag hanging there and pulled out a length of rope. Em took a quick step back. He nodded towards her and the other elves closed in on her sides, blocking her escape. Each one took an arm with a bit of difficulty as she tried to hold them to her sides and pulled her closer to the elf holding the rope. He began to loop the rope around her wrists.

As he moved, all the desperation she’d managed to stuff down after she left Haelan behind came raging to the surface of her brain. She twisted in their grips, kicked at anything within reach, threw her elbows toward the elves trying to hold her in place, and screamed, “No!” over and over. Every exclamation was filled with the weight of her frustration. She smashed her elbows and feet into the elves several times, but it wasn’t enough to shake them off. Her voice melted into a wordless howl that rose in volume with every breath.

She was wrenched to the side as one elf was torn away from her. The first elf tried to look past her to see what had happened, but Em had a hand free. She drew back her arm, then drove her fist right at the centre of his mask. His head snapped back, and he stumbled out of her reach as his eyes filled with water. She twisted around, slammed her knee upwards, and watched with wild eyes as the last elf doubled over, cupping his injured genitals. The first elf lunged for the rope dangling from her wrists. She yanked it out of reach, turned, and tried to run.

She got three steps away before he latched onto the back of her jacket and dragged her to the ground. She pulled herself forward with her elbows and kicked out at him with her feet. His weight suddenly lifted from her. She pushed herself onto her knees and began crawling forward. Behind her was the sound of bodies striking the leaves, loud grunts as blows connected. Just as quickly as they started, the sounds stopped, which drove her to move faster. She scrambled to her feet. Hands grabbed her arms from behind.

“Em! Stop!”

She lurched forward. “Let me go!”

“Em! It’s me.” He hauled her back and arched his wing forward so she could see it. Her eyes took in the sight of the chocolate brown feathers. It was Sable. The fight went out of her in a rush. He turned her around by the shoulders, then released her. “You’re—”

Her eyes went wide as he was yanked backward. “Shit!” He hadn’t been pulled completely off his feet, but as he caught his balance, two of the elves landed blows to his midsection. He swung back and connected with one of them. The elf went to a knee with a grunt. Sable took advantage of the opening by pulling a dagger from the sheath on the back of his belt. Em knew there were two blades hidden there, but he only had one hand free since he was holding an elf off with the other one. A few feet away, the first elf had finally picked himself up from the ground, where Sable had tossed him. Em stepped back fearfully, but the elf was focused on Sable.

The dagger in Sable’s hand was knocked free with a well-placed kick from the first elf. It sailed toward Em and landed in the leaves to her left, close to where she was standing. She sidled towards it while trying to keep her eyes on the fight and working the rope from her wrists.

Haelan had described his guards as some of the most well-trained fighters in the realm, and it was clear that he hadn’t been exaggerating. Sable was giving just as good as he was taking, but there were three of them and he was injured. Besides the torn wing that happened at the outset of the attack, the left side of his face was coated in dried blood. Somewhere in the chaos, he’d been struck in the head. She turned away from the knot of beings trading blows but no matter where she looked there was no one else to help, just her. As she spun back, her toe bumped against something in the leaves. She bent quickly, fished around for a second, and pulled Sable’s dagger out.

So far the elves had prevented Sable from pulling his sword and were slowly gaining the upper hand. Sable was completely surrounded. She stepped forward as Sable took a hard punch in the back and dropped to a knee. The first elf pulled out a short sword from the scabbard secured between his shoulder blades.

Em rushed forward while lifting the dagger over her head. She aimed for the elf’s back and swung down with all her strength. The blade skated off the thick leather of the scabbard. She yanked it back and swung again, aiming higher, and caught the side of his neck. She jerked it free and scurried back as he lurched sideways at her. His free hand clasped his neck, trying in vain to stem the tidal wave of blood that was pouring from the severed artery. The sword dropped from his other hand as he fell toward Em.

By then Sable had regained his feet. One elf went flying back. A second later, the other one fell to the ground with Sable’s remaining dagger buried in his chest. Sable stalked to where the other elf had landed, pulled out his sword, and drove it through the elf’s throat. After a moment, he tore it free and turned to search out the remaining elf.

His gaze swung over Em and landed at her feet. The elf had not moved from where he’d fallen. Sable stumbled over and knelt down to check for a pulse. There was none. He looked up at Em. She was splattered with blood, still holding the dagger, and shaking.

“He was going to kill you,” she whispered.

Sable stood with a wince, took the dagger from her hands, wiped it on his pant leg, and shoved it into its sheath. “Are you alright, lass?”

Her gaze crawled up his chest to his face. “I killed him,” she said in a horrified whisper.

“You saved my life,” he said gently. She sucked in a breath. “Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.” As she said the words, she grabbed for her wrist, and winced as she touched the abrasions left behind by the rough rope. “You saved me.”

“And then you saved me,” he said with a little smile.

She nodded absentmindedly. “I’ve never killed anyone before.”

“It was justified.” He moved to take her arm and swayed unsteadily. “We should go before any of their friends come along.”

She gripped the hand he had on her arm with her free hand. “We need to help Haelan.”

“Where is he?”

She looked away and pointed. “He sent me to find you.” He took a step in that direction. “Are you okay?” she asked quickly. When he moved, he had wavered toward her.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” she muttered and grabbed his arm to pull it across her neck.

He tried to step away, but she tucked herself into his side. “Lass you can’t—”

“Fuck chivalry,” she exclaimed. “We don’t have time for it right now. You’re hurt, I can help you—” He groaned as she threw her hand around his waist. “I know I’m not much, but I can keep you from running into a tree or something.” She nodded her head in the direction they needed to go. “I can get you to Haelan so you can help him.”

“Alright,” he said and took a step with her. Above them the thunder, which had been continuing throughout Em’s dash for help and the Sable’s scuffle with the elves, rolled to a stop. The pair paused in a small break in the trees and looked up. The misty clouds dissipated as they watched. “Magic,” Sable muttered.

“Someone created that?” Em asked as they started forward.

“That is the only explanation,” he said.

“I thought you could feel magic,” she said.

“I can,” he said with a glance up at the sky.

“Then what the hell happened?”

His breath sucked in as she tightened her grip on his waist to prevent him from wobbling away from her. “I was feeling off this morning,” he answered. “I thought it might be from the lack of sleep, or perhaps I had more wine than I realized. I assumed my head would clear with our flight.”

They walked in silence for several minutes while they both scanned the forest for any signs of elves or faeries. There was nothing but quiet all around them. Until ten minutes after they left the scene of the scuffle behind. Sable pulled Em to a stop on the edge of a small clearing. In the centre of the space, dirty grey ash was piled in a small mound.

Em looked around quickly. “Fire?” she asked softly.

Sable took her hand from his waist. When she tried to move with him, he held a hand out to wave her back. “Wait here, lass.” He approached the mound slowly. His brows came together as more ash floated down to the pile. He did not smell smoke. When he reached the pile, he looked up at the sky. High above the clearing, a smudge of greys swirled into the realm’s barrier. It didn’t act like a cloud.

He stared up at it, watching the different shades of grey mix into one another, and felt his heart thump hard with fear. It could only mean one thing. There was a weak point in the barrier.

“Sable?” Em called out. “What is it?” He dragged his eyes away from the sky to look at her. The dread in his expression drew her forward. She rushed into the clearing and stopped in front of him. “What—?” He stumbled back from her and doubled over with both hands pressed to his head. She spun around, but there was no one behind her. “What the hell is happening?” She cried and looked up. Her breath caught as the swirl expanded for a split second, then tightened into itself and disappeared. Unconsciously, she lifted a hand to her chest to press against a spot of heat that suddenly appeared next to her heart. When she turned back to Sable, he had straightened but was still holding his head. “What the fuck was that?” He shook his head slightly. “Did whatever that was hurt you?”

“No,” he said in a husky, pain filled voice.

“So, you’re having an aneurysm then?” He frowned at her while rubbing his temples slowly. “Maybe you have a concussion.”

“It was you,” he said.

“Me?” She threw her hands out to the side. “I didn’t touch you.”

“Your magic.” He rubbed his head one more time, then let his hands drop.

“You definitely have a brain injury,” she said as she stepped closer to him. “I don’t have magic.”

He held up a hand to halt her approach. “Yes, you do.” Em stopped just out of his reach. “I felt it the first time we met. It has grown in the last few days, which would explain why I didn’t feel the magic in the storm until it was too late. It wasn’t the wine that made my head ache. As you came closer just then.” He waved at the sky above the clearing. “As you stepped under that spot—” His gaze settled on her face and she couldn’t tell it his eyes were filled with fear or wonder. “It seemed to awaken.”

She opened her hands in front of her. “I. Do. Not. Have. Magic.” She pointed to the blood on the side of his face. “You obviously got hit on the head somewhere along the line, so of course your head is going to hurt, you’re not invincible.” She stepped closer to him.

He flinched but didn’t move away. “Did you not feel something?” Em almost reached for her chest but jammed her hands to her hips instead. “Anything?”

“No. Now we need to get moving. Haelan was about to fight what could have been a battalion of elves when he sent me away. We’ve got to help him.”

He took a quick step to the side when she went to grab for his arm. “My head is better.” She sighed heavily. “I swear it is.”

“Fine,” she said and started walking. After a minute of watching him from the corner of her eye, she went back to scanning the trees. “I didn’t feel anything,” she muttered.

“You will,” he mumbled. “When it comes fully awake.”

She glanced at him. His expression appeared to be one of relief. “What?”

“We must move faster.”

Ten minutes later they came upon the trees that Em and Haelan had crashed through during their harrowing tumble from the sky. The bags were where she’d dumped them. She rushed past them and came to an abrupt stop. Five bodies were strewn about between the trees. Each one was dressed in a version of the green armour the elves that had tried to kidnap her had worn. She stood in the middle of the carnage, turning her head from right to left, desperately searching for Haelan. There were broken branches laying on the ground, with them, swords and daggers that had been dropped by the elves as they fell under Haelan’s swords. But no sign of the faerie.

He was gone.