Chapter 10

I f I’d thought the carriage ride the day before had been tense, I was wrong. Today was infinitely worse. Whatever moment we’d shared the night before seemed to widen the gulf between us rather than soften Stryker toward me like I’d hoped.

He’d hadn’t spoken a word to me that morning when we’d woken, and barely looked in my direction. After yanking his shirt and coat back on, he’d shackled me back to the support pole in the tent and then left. I was just glad he’d removed the wrist cuffs first. A maid appeared a few minutes later to help me wash up and get into a new dress.

I didn’t see Stryker again until I reentered the carriage to find him sitting on the bench seat with a tense jaw and his arms crossed over his chest. He hadn’t so much as flicked his gaze toward me when I took a seat across from him, or since then for that matter. I’d tried to engage him in conversation more than once, but the most I’d gotten out of him were a couple of grunts. He’d been a veritable statue for hours.

I occupied myself by looking out the window. Stryker’s land was breathtaking. On our way to the Jewel Spring Mountains we passed fields of red tulips, buttery daffodils, and pink peonies. Their fragrance wafted through the open window of the carriage, creating a heavenly scent. The cherry blossom trees that lined a good portion of the road were dripping with so many white and pink blooms that it was a mystery how the fragile limbs weren’t stooped all the way to the ground. The colorful lightness of the Eastern Kingdom contrasted so acutely with the demeanor of its lord, it was hard to reconcile that Stryker ruled over this land.

But even the beauty of his lands couldn’t lift my spirits and I went over the night before in my head again and again, trying to figure out where I’d gone wrong. I replayed the evening before and I struggled to devoid myself of emotions. I’d been attracted to the dark lord, it wouldn’t do me any favors to lie to myself about it. But I would have betted my life, my very court, on the fact that he’d been affected as well. So why was he ignoring me now?

My plan to get back my dagger and use it to cut out Lord Stryker’s heart relied on my ability to seduce the cold lord, but the sad truth was, I was no seductress. Surely someone skilled or trained in this way would know how to break through this barrier he’d put up between us, but as it was, I was clueless.

Will you even be able to kill him? My mind whispered quietly to me, causing doubts to swirl and a rock to settle in my stomach.

I wasn’t an assassin any more than I was a seductress. But it didn’t matter what I was or wasn’t, so I hardened myself and deadened my heart.

I had a job to do, and one way or another when all was said and done, I would hold Stryker’s heart in my hands, or die trying. Lives depended on it.

The carriage came to a sudden stop and I jolted forward, face planting into Stryker’s broad chest. Embarrassed, I mumbled an apology as I tried to right myself, only to somehow get my hand tangled in the fabric of his coat and fall more fully into him. I was practically sitting on his lap now, and I felt my cheeks heat as I remembered how adamant he was in the carriage the day before about not wanting to touch me.

As I tried to clumsily extract myself he set his hands on my biceps and gently, but firmly, moved me off him and back to my own seat. His hands lingered on me a moment longer than necessary, but then he cleared his throat and removed them. Now I was the one who couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, and I was surprised that he cared, let alone asked.

“No. I just wasn’t prepared for the stop,” I said by way of explanation.

When I finally looked up it was to see him staring back at me for the first time that day. I thought I saw a touch of vulnerability on his face before he shuttered his features. Breaking our stare he leaned to the side and yelled out the window, asking the driver what had happened.

“I’m sorry, m’lord,” the driver responded. “There are some beggars in the road. I’ll get the whip and clear them out.”

“No!” I shouted.

A whip! How barbaric.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I’d gotten up and reached for the carriage door to stop the driver. The problem was I’d forgotten I was shackled to Stryker and so I only made it to the first step before my leg pulled out from under me. My momentum kept my body moving forward and I shrieked as I tumbled head first out of the carriage.

I squeezed my eyes shut, putting out my hands, bracing myself for the pain of the fall, but rather than connecting with the packed dirt below something wrapped around my middle and halted me mid-fall.

When I cracked my eyes open it was to find I was hovering in the air, my body horizontal to the ground. It took me a moment to realize that Stryker’s rope-like shadows were wrapped around my waist and chest, keeping me suspended in the air.

Craning my neck, I peered over my shoulder to see Stryker exit the carriage behind me, his hand lifted to control his shadows. With a flick of his wrist my body shifted vertically, and as Stryker descended the steps my feet also touched down on the ground beside him. I was about to thank him for saving me from the fall when the crack of a whip rent the air.

The beggars!

Before I could take off again, Stryker reached down and scooped me up with an arm under my knees and another behind my back as he tucked me into his chest. There was just enough slack between our shackles that he could carry me in his arms comfortably.

With purposeful steps he strode forward, barking at his driver to stand down. Once we rounded the horses, Stryker set me back down and snatched the whip from the driver’s hand.

The fae beggars were huddled together in the middle of the road with their heads together and backs facing us. They were green-skinned unseelie with delicate transparent wings. They looked like a family: a father and mother with two small children, and with horror I realized the driver had already struck one of them. The one I assumed was their father had a rent in the back of his shirt, right between his wings, that was turning red with welling blood.

The children were crying hysterically and the man and woman apologized to them, trying to steer them off the road and out of danger. Without thinking of the repercussions, I sent my magic out, blanketing the whole family with calm, trying to make them feel safe and less frightened. The children stopped their hysterics almost immediately.

Stryker’s accusatory gaze swung to me, but I refused to feel guilty for helping them. The poor fae were traumatized so I just raised one eyebrow as if challenging Stryker to tell me not to use my magic.

“It’s okay. We won’t hurt you again,” I said in a soothing voice as I stepped toward the family.

Stryker moved with me so that I could comfort them better, but even with my calming magic on them, the family shrunk away from me, keeping their faces hidden.

I looked at Stryker with a troubled gaze. The fae that was whipped needed help. As a royal I healed quickly, but not all fae did.

Thousands of times as a child I wished that my royal healing would extend to my heart, but my heart was not an injury that could be healed. It was a defect I was born with. And these fae were vulnerable, some could die from infection before a wound healed.

“Do we have a physician with us, or a healer?” I asked. The latter was rare but some of the Ethereum lords were known to employ them, according to Master Duncan.

Stryker pressed his lips into a hard line. I couldn’t read his expression, but then he turned his head and barked an order, calling for bandages and healing ointment. That must mean there wasn’t a physician or healer with us, so it was up to me.

Bending over, Stryker opened the shackles at our ankles, separating us. He gave me a look that I interpreted to mean that he wasn’t letting me out of his sight, but that was fine because I was just grateful to be able to move freely.

One of Stryker’s men came running with the bundle of supplies he’d asked for. The family had moved off to the side of the road, and when Stryker and I approached, they tried to shuffle away from us.

“We’re so sorry, m’lord,” the father said with his face still turned away. His body shook, probably from the pain of his wound. “We didn’t realize it was you. We came down from the Northern Kingdom to stay with family but were robbed while we slept last night. We just wanted to ask for some coin to get to my brother who lives a few towns over. Please grant us mercy to leave you in peace.”

When I looked at Stryker, his brow was knit. He seemed lost for words.

“You’re not in trouble,” I said, speaking for Stryker. “We’re sorry for what happened with the driver.” I pushed more of my calming magic on the family, trying to help them feel peaceful and safe. “We only want to help. Would you please let me dress your wound?”

I thought for a moment he would refuse, but the soothing emotions I was pouring on them must have finally started to work because the family broke apart and turned to us, each of the children clutching one of their parents.

I gasped when I got a look at them. Black veins webbed out from their eyes, weaving across their faces and disappearing under their clothes. The father was by far the worst, but the mother and both children showed signs of a similar ailment, whatever it was.

“The plague,” one of Stryker’s guards shouted behind me and then I heard their feet running in the other direction. The plague? Like the one from the letter sent from Stryker’s brother Roan?

I tried to move closer to the family, these fae needed help, but Stryker’s arms wrapped around my stomach and he hauled me back into his chest.

“What are you doing?” I complained as I squirmed against him.

“Can’t you see?” he snapped. “They’re diseased. Contagious.”

I glanced back at the family and they’d shuffled even farther away, cowering from us.

“You don’t know that,” I said to Stryker and then called out to the family. “What happened to you?”

The father and mother exchanged a glance.

“We’re not contagious. We’re cursed,” the father said, once again speaking for his family. “All the unseelie in the Northern Kingdom have been struck with it. Those of us with stronger magic have been hit the hardest: some unseelie have been in a coma-like state for months. None of our healers have been able to help, and every day we grow weaker. It won’t be long until I’m unable to provide for my family. My brother lives here in the Eastern Kingdom and offered to shelter us.”

A curse? And just in the Northern Kingdom?

“Has this curse spread to anyone in the Eastern Kingdom since you crossed the border?” Stryker asked, his voice sharp with concern.

Fear flashed over the unseelie’s face, but he shook his head. “No. It only affects unseelie who were within the boundaries of the Northern Kingdom when the curse hit on the night of Lord Zander’s marriage to Lady Dawn. I swear it.”

That reminded me of how the curse on Faerie started in the Summer Court and only passed through the realm one court at a time. Could the Northern Kingdom curse be somehow linked to the same curse on Faerie, or was it just a coincidence it had only struck one of the Ethereum kingdoms?

“And you say only the unseelie have been affected?” I asked.

He nodded.

I glanced over my shoulder at Stryker. “Let me go,” I demanded. “I’m in no danger.”

He looked down on me with tight features. “We don’t know if what he says is true.”

I could make him tell us the truth, but there was no time for that. Even now I worried for the fae because his green skin had gone deathly pale. He was losing blood, and curse or no curse, he needed someone to tend to his back.

“Well, if he’s lying I’ll just be one less problem you have to worry about,” I snapped and then ripped out of Stryker’s grasp. I had no doubt he could stop me with only a flick of his magic, but he allowed me to cross to the family.

The father let me tend to his wound and I was relieved to see that even though it had bled a great deal, the cut wasn’t as deep as I feared. After cleaning it the best I could, I slathered ointment on it and used the small strips of tape as stitches to pull the cut together. Then I covered it with clean bandages and gave the leftover supplies to his wife, who accepted with profuse thanks.

I couldn’t really do anything to help this family. I knew nothing of this curse or how to stop it, but I hoped my kindness helped in some small way. I was about to turn to leave when Stryker appeared next to me holding a bulging pack.

“Some clothes to replace your own, food, and coin,” he said as he handed over the bag to the father. “I will also lend you one of my horses. Just set it free when you reach your brother’s home and it will know how to find me.”

He snapped his fingers and one of his guards leapt off his horse and handed Stryker the reins.

“Thank you, m’lord,” the father said, his forehead practically touching the ground with how deeply he bowed. When he straightened there were tears in his eyes.

Stryker nodded stoically and then laid a hand on my arm. “We should continue our journey so we can reach the inn by nightfall.”

We’d done all we could for the family, so I nodded and after bidding them farewell, followed Stryker back to the carriage. I peered up and noticed that the driver had been replaced. I don’t know what happened to the first one, but I hoped he was punished in some way. The man who had given up his horse for the family now rode next to the new coachman on the bench seat.

We settled back into the carriage and Stryker rubbed his bottom lip as we started forward once again.

“Do you instruct your men to whip beggars often?” I couldn’t help the growl that escaped me.

Stryker gave me a pointed look. “Last time a group of ‘beggars’ ambushed our carriage, I got this.” He lifted his shirt to showcase a nasty puckered scar on his gloriously chiseled abdomen. “Sometimes beggars are raiders, but he never should have whipped an unarmed man with children.”

I nodded, satisfied with that answer.

“Do you think the family can be cured somehow?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “If the illness is a result of a curse as they claim, I don’t think there’s much anyone can do for them.”

His voice was even and his face expressionless, but I still felt as if seeing his brother’s people for himself had deeply affected him. But perhaps that was just wishful thinking. How much empathy could a monster really have?

We fell into silence once again. I couldn’t say exactly what occupied Stryker’s thoughts, but my heart was heavy as my mind swirled with thoughts of curses and black hearts and the piercing gray-blue eyes of a particular Ethereum lord. I no longer knew if I could kill.

* * *

We reached the inn at nightfall. We were staying at the base of the Jewel Spring Mountains in the small village of Blackrock below the ruby mine. The same ruby mine that Eli had said would be stripped of its riches.

Stryker wanted to interrogate people immediately to ferret out who was trustworthy, but the mine foreman was able to talk him out of it. The mines were closed for the day and ripping people from their beds would not be seen as reasonable.

After a warm meal, Stryker walked us upstairs to a room at the inn with only a single bed. I crossed my arms and gave him my most seductive glare even as my stomach tied in nervous knots.

“Stryker, if you want to share a bed you can just say so. You don’t need to invent excuses.” I jingled the cuff on my leg that connected to him.

The left side of his mouth quirked as if he wanted to smile but thought better of it. “Oh, have no fear, we won’t be sleeping in the same bed.”

I glanced around the room again, confused because there was definitely only one bed in the room.

When I turned back to him he wasn’t even trying not to smile anymore. Humor shone clearly in his eyes at some joke I wasn’t privy to.

“There’s only one bed,” I said, stating the obvious.

He nodded. “I’ve asked that a bedroll be brought up for you. I’m sure you’ll find the floor quite comfortable.”

“The floor!”

The ground was worn hardwood that at least looked clean. I’d certainly slept on worse since arriving in Ethereum, but still. Phantom pains shot up my back just thinking about a full night on the hard surface, but maybe the bedroll would make it manageable.

Someone knocked on the door and when Stryker opened it, the innkeeper was there. He handed Stryker a bedroll, a thin blanket, and the most pathetic-looking pillow I’d ever seen.

“Seriously?” I asked with a frown when the innkeeper left and Stryker shut the door. I planted my hands on my hips and gave him my most haughty stare. “A true gentleman wouldn’t allow a lady to sleep on the ground while he lay on a soft bed.”

He looked over his shoulder at me and his gaze raked over me in such a blatant way that there was no disguising the hunger in his eyes. Immediately heat bloomed low in my gut.

“I never claimed to be a gentleman,” he said, his voice as rough as gravel.

The breath caught in my throat. I was wholly unprepared for the sensations igniting in my body and tried to take a step away from him, but the shackle prevented me from going too far.

Stryker bent over to spread the bedroll on the ground, breaking our stare, and I finally felt like I could breathe normally again.

I suddenly felt very glad we weren’t sharing the small bed. The floor would be just fine.

Clearing my throat, I willed my body to calm down, praying he hadn’t seen me blush in the low light.

After arranging the bedroll for me, Stryker straightened, looking weary. “I’m tired, can we not argue and just go to sleep? We’ll both have a long day tomorrow.” As he said it he pulled out the hand cuffs and slipped the cool metal around my wrists.

I rolled my eyes, annoyance chasing away any longing still pumping through my veins. “Do you really think after today I would try to strangle you, or something?”

He just stared at me, as if that’s exactly what he thought. Great.

Stryker kicked off his boots, and I pulled my shoes off as well. He dropped his heavy coat and shirt to the floor and slipped into the tiny bed, the chain that tethered us tugging on my ankle.

Even lying in the bed alone he hardly fit. His feet hung over the end and he was practically falling off the edge. I had to admit the both of us never would have fit unless I lay right on top of him.

Unwanted, a vision of myself sprawled across Stryker’s chest rose to my mind. Our bodies pressed together and mouths only inches apart.

The image was so vivid that it stole my breath with its intensity. It took a long moment to bat it and the sensations it caused away, which concerned me.

Seduction was shaping up to be a bad idea. I was too inexperienced to pull off something like this. I had no clue if it was even working on Stryker, but all this play-acting only seemed to be confusing me more. Perhaps I needed to come up with a different plan?

Exhaustion pulled at me, and I decided to make that a problem for my future self. What I needed now was a good night’s rest to get my mind back on track.

I’d worn a lighter dress today, one I could sleep in, so I lay down on the bedroll, grudgingly admitting to myself that it was surprisingly soft. The pillow was indeed abysmal though.

With a deep sigh I released all the tension I’d been feeling and snuggled under the scratchy blanket. I rolled on my side and stared up at Stryker’s profile as the moonlight filtered through the window and illuminated his face. He was already asleep, his breath slow and even.

He was a frightening man. He had shadow powers and kept people bound in a dark dungeon. But he also gave that family a horse today, and coin and clothing. He gave his brother aid when asked for but refused to take the credit for it.

He was a complicated fae, but I wasn’t sure he was the evil monster Queen Liliana had told me to kill. To carve his heart without ever letting him speak? It sounded cruel, but maybe that’s just because I had let him speak and now I was under some spell. A spell that made him insanely attractive and morally grey.

It was a long time before I slept.

* * *

“My lord!” A gruff voice woke me.

I screamed when I noticed a guard looming over the bedroll.

“What is it?” Stryker’s voice called from the bed beside me and everything came rushing back to me. I was at an inn. Sleeping on the floor next to Stryker.

The guard stepped back as Stryker sat up. I quickly scooted off my bedroll to get out of the way and then Stryker got to his feet.

“One of the security guards we posted at the ruby mine is dead. We sent someone to relieve him and found his throat had been slit.”

The room was plunged into a supernatural darkness.

“Who did it?” Stryker growled.

The guard was now obscured by shadows, not even any moonlight illuminating him. “W-we don’t know yet.”

“Put on your shoes,” Stryker said to me as he undid my hand and ankle cuffs. I did as I was told, too tired to argue.

After unshackling us, Stryker hooked his elbow into mine and yanked me toward the door. Within a few minutes we had gotten onto a horse, me hanging onto Stryker’s waist, and then we took off up the mountain with a dozen of his guards.

As we rode, wisps of shadow rolled along the trail beside us. Stryker’s magic was terrifying and impressive all at once.

I clung to his waist as the horse we rode on galloped up the mountain on a well-worn path that had been covered with bricks. It was wide enough for a cart.

Within a half-hour we had reached the top and the sun was beginning to rise. I wanted to take a moment to admire the sight, but Stryker dismounted quickly and then, grabbing my waist, he yanked me forward and off the horse as well. The shadows amassed around us as we walked, undulating menacingly.

A guard rushed to meet us, sweating and red-faced. “I’ve woken the inventory clerk and he says half the rubies are gone.”

The shadows that had been trailing us converged into the shape of a four-legged beast that grew until it was almost twice Stryker’s size. It clawed at the ground and snapped its teeth in anger and then tipped its head back and howled at the sky as Stryker balled his fists.

I began to back away, but Stryker glanced over at me and I froze.

Stryker’s dark magic was even more powerful than I imagined, and for a moment I almost didn’t recognize him. But upon seeing my face his own softened and a look of what might be regret or shame flashed across his features. As quickly as the beast had materialized, it dissolved into wispy shadows and was gone.

Stryker turned back to his guard, his body still taut as a bow. “How long do we suspect they have been gone?” His voice could cut glass.

“Two to three hours, sir. Maybe even four,” the lead guard said. “What do you want to do?”

Stryker took in a deep breath as if trying to steady himself. “We ride to the south. To capture these thieves in the black market they are no doubt going to sell my jewels in.”

Before anyone could speak Stryker grasped me by the hips and I yelped as he tossed me onto the back of his horse. He came up behind me this time and tore down the mountain like a rabid animal.

I didn’t say a word, the truth was my heart hurt for the Ethereum lord. No wonder he didn’t trust anyone, no wonder I’d become so valuable to him.

The truth witch.

Everyone was trying to take advantage of him, steal from him, plot against him, and why? Because he was rich? That wasn’t fair.

Once we got to the inn we were packed up and ready to go within thirty minutes. Stryker sent a messenger ahead to inform his brother, Adrien, the Ethereum Southern lord, that he would be coming to his lands and why.

I got the impression by the way he spoke to the messenger that he hadn’t talked to his brother in a long time.

Once we were in the carriage, Stryker secured the shackles around our ankles once again. We rode in silence the first few hours, the carriage bouncing wildly as we tried to make good time.

“I don’t blame you,” I said suddenly, and Stryker startled a little as if he’d forgotten I was there. He was staring out the window at the morning sun, lost in thought.

“For what?” There was a vulnerability in his voice, as if he were begging me not to go too deep.

“For who you are. Why you don’t seem to trust easily, how tight your security is. I can’t imagine living with someone always plotting against me in my sleep.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Are you plotting against me in your sleep?”

I smiled. “Maybe at first, not anymore,” I answered truthfully and his face went slack as more of that vulnerability showed itself.

He sighed, staring wistfully off into the mountains and giving me a full view of the scarred lines on the side of his face. Lines that, according to Eli, were given to him by a lover who had betrayed him. In truth, when I looked at his face I hardly noticed them anymore. I didn’t see a scarred man. I only saw Stryker, a devastatingly handsome fae who was starting to inch his way into my heart.

My heartbeat fluttered. This was bad. So bad. How could I save my kingdom if I grew attached to the man I had to kill in order to save it?

The simple answer was that I couldn’t. I couldn’t kill him. Couldn’t save my kingdom.

“I would give it all up to have a normal life,” he said suddenly, and I sat up straighter at that. “The riches, the castle, the lordship.” He flexed his hands. “Even the power.”

My heart shattered in that moment. “Why don’t you?”

He peered at me, shaking his head. “An Ethereum lord is chosen by the magic in our bloodline. It chose me when my predecessor passed. There was no question, no ceremony, no consent. I have black blood, therefore I am destined for this.”

We sat in silence for a moment. Both of us trapped by the weight of our titles and responsibilities.

“I guess I could give you back your dagger and then you’d free me from this life, but the burden would only fall to one of my nephews.”

A single tear slipped down my cheek. I tried to swipe it away quickly, but it was too late. He saw and cocked his head to the side in interest. When our gazes locked, I knew with a certainty that I wasn’t looking into the eyes of a monster, of a dark evil being beyond reach or reason as I had been told, but simply those of a man.

We had been lied to growing up. If everything he said was true, then we had.

“It’s not much different from a Faerie princess. I have no say, I am royal by blood.”

It was true, and yet I loved my people, my palace, my duties.

My people.

“My people are going to die,” I said, because even though it had been at the back of my mind, it was at the forefront now. A few more tears slipped over onto my cheeks. “And there is nothing I can do.” I tried to control my emotions, not wanting Stryker to see me like this.

He watched me like you would watch a cat playing with a ball. Curious as to what I would do next. “My brother and his witc—wife said something about finding another way to help her people,” he said and I perked up at that.

She did? Dawn was looking for another way? Of course she would if she’d fallen in love with the Ethereum Northern lord. She wouldn’t have been able to kill him either. And she wouldn’t just abandon our people. I should have known that.

“Or you can always seduce me into giving you the dagger and take my heart,” he mused.

I stiffened, because damn he was good at reading me. Then I shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea a few days ago. Now I’m sure I couldn’t have done it.”

He went still. “Seduce me?”

I gave him a small smile. “Carve out your heart. Even to save my people, I can’t take your life. I’m not a killer, Stryker. I’m just a bookworm with a weak heart.”

The energy in the carriage felt charged. Stryker’s chest heaved slightly and I could see the pulse in his neck throbbing.

I leaned closer to him, wanting to reach out and touch him, but thought better of it. “Maybe you can help me? Get word to Dawn and I can try to find another way to save my people.” I would do anything for there to be another way to break the curse. A way that didn’t involve killing a man I was getting more and more attached to everyday. “I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else, but I can’t give up on them.” There was a pleading in my eyes.

Stryker swallowed hard, shaking his head as if dislodging his own thoughts. “I need some air,” he said.

Reaching down he unlocked his shackle and then before I could say another word, he leapt out of the moving carriage and onto a cloud of waiting shadows.