16. Alana

SIXTEEN

“Finn...” I catch his elbow as he stalks away into the cover of the trees. It’s approaching nightfall. He was gone all day and didn’t tell us where he went that prompted such a decisive change in his demeanour.

“Finn...” I repeat myself, fluttering in front of him to block his path.

He glowers at me. His body is taut with adrenaline. Like a tiger that needs to kill a deer in order to expel the bloodlust from its body.

It was the vision. Of course, it was.

While it embedded sadness deep into my bones, and the bones of the others, for some it left simply rage.

Molten rage.

As if he can’t control it any longer, Finn turns and slams his fist into a nearby tree. He is panting, his wings fluttering, the bells chiming.

I put my hand on his shoulder, then his wing. I trace the tips, gently, softly.

His breathing slows.

“How did you do it?” I ask, leaning forward to kiss the soft underside of his wing tip.

Finn sighs and puts his palms flat on the tree trunk. His knuckles are red and sore. He presses his forehead to the trunk as I continue to kiss him, because it is the only thing I can think of to bring him back down to himself.

“The vision.” I wrap my arms around his waist and slide one hand just beneath his waistband. “How did you do it, Finn?”

“The elves gave me the spell.” He is muttering, lost in the feel of my touch and my kiss.

“Elves?” I frown, caught between questioning him further and paying attention to the warmth building between my thighs.

Finn mumbles an agreement. “They are going to help us. They hate Eldrion as much as we do.” He looks at me over his shoulder, then. “You do hate him, don’t you, Alana? I know he infected your mind, but you see what he is?”

I swallow hard. A rush of arousal beats a hard pulse in my core at the mention of the fae lord’s name. And I hate myself for it more than I hate him.

“I always hated him. I always knew what he was. You have to believe me, Finn –”

Finn turns around, grabs me, and switches positions, so that I’m pressed up against the tree. “I believe you,” he breathes, planting delicate kisses on my throat, then allowing his teeth to gently graze my skin. “I believe you will do whatever it takes to help us.”

I sigh into his touch and spread my legs as his hand finds my wetness. He touches me for only a second before pushing my underwear aside, pulling down his pants, and driving his cock into me.

My eyes widen as he slams my hands up above my head.

He keeps my gaze, arousal swimming in his eyes.

Holding onto me, as I wrap my legs around him, he fucks me hard and fast. The energy flowing from his body to mine drives me wild. He cups my face with his hand, kisses me hard, and fucks me so hard my back and wings scrape against the tree trunk, leaving claw marks of bark that will still be sore tomorrow.

When he hooks his fingers into my mouth and tells me to suck them, I moan onto his hand. He tilts his pelvis, and finds the spot that drives me wild.

I have wrapped my arms around him, and my legs, and I’m crying out as pleasure threatens to swallow me whole, when my vision blurs.

“Good girl, come for me while he fucks you.”

It’s him. His voice. In my head.

Is he watching me?

My eyes fly open, but I can’t stop the sensations rolling down my spine, curling in my limbs, making my skin flush and my legs shake.

“Come for me like a good little fae.”

I look at Finn. I don’t know if it was him speaking or if I heard the voice in my head.

“I’m going to come for you,” I breathe through gasps that nearly drown out my words.

Finn’s eyes flash wider. “Come for me, Alana.”

“You too.” I cup his face with my hands and stare into his eyes. I want to watch him come, I want to stare at him like this so I know he is here and I am with him and that we love each other.

No matter what.

He grabs hold of my waist as if he cannot get close enough to me or far enough inside me. “Fuck,” he breathes, still holding my gaze with his.

My wings start to flutter against the bark. It is rough. It scratches and threatens to tear their thin, fragile fibres. But I don’t care. I would bleed for him. I would die for him.

“Good girl . . .”

As the voice overwhelms me once more, a volcano of hatred erupts from my chest. “I want him dead,” I cry, eyes boring into Finn’s so he knows I’m telling him the truth. “I want him out of my head, and out of this world. For good.”

Finn grins at me, then kisses me with a passion I’ve never felt before. His tongue searches for mine, he nibbles my lower lip, and then he cries out, “Come with me, Alana. Come with me.”

My back arches. My wings beat against the bark. My legs tremble. I tilt my head back and call his name as an orgasm spreads in tsunami-like waves through my body.

When Finn comes, too, it is hard and quick. I feel him grow harder and bigger inside me. His body stiffens. He yells, and holds onto me tight, pressing his forehead against mine as he fills me up.

As we come down from our high, sweat-laced bodies pressed against one another, panting, holding hands, he whispers, “Did you mean it?”

I meet his gaze.

“Will you really help me kill Eldrion?”

I brush my thumb across his lips. “Yes,” I whisper. “I meant it. I want him gone, Finn. Gone from our lives. Forever.”

As we stand there, our bodies still intertwined, Finn’s expression grows serious. He brushes a strand of hair from my face.

“Alana,” he says, his voice low and urgent. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something important. If you’re going to be a part of this, I want to be honest with you. You need to know everything.”

I frown, a flicker of unease stirring in my gut. Kayan’s words echo in my head. Don’t trust what they say.

“What is it?”

He takes a deep breath, as if steeling himself for what he’s about to say. “My plan... it’s not just about taking down Eldrion. It’s bigger than that.”

I tilt my head. “What do you mean?”

“I want to destroy all the Sunborne,” he says, the words tumbling out in a rush as excitement glistens in his eyes. “I want to reinstate equality in Luminael, in the entire kingdom. No more oppression, no more suffering. A fresh start for all fae.”

For a moment, I’m speechless. The sheer scale of his ambition takes my breath away. To not just overthrow a tyrant, but to upend the entire social order... it’s a task that seems almost impossible. Especially for a race of fae with no magic.

“Finn,” I whisper, my heart swelling with a mixture of admiration and fear. “That’s... that’s a lot.”

He nods, determination burning in his gaze. “We have to, Alana. We can’t just remove one piece of the puzzle and expect everything to change. We need to tear down the whole damn system and build something new in its place.”

I bite my lip. “But how?” I ask tentatively. “The Sunborne are so powerful, and we... we don’t have any magic of our own.”

Finn smiles then, a smile that’s equal parts reassuring and mischievous. “That’s where you’re wrong. We have the elves on our side, and the Leafborne, and you.”

“Me?”

Finn grasps my hands. “Perhaps Kayan’s death wasn’t in vain. Perhaps everything that happened was to allow your powers – his powers – to be set free so you can help us.” He squeezes tighter, kissing my forehead. “Think of what you did when you got us out of there, Alana. The others might not see it, but I do. You saved us. We’d never have survived the tunnels if it wasn’t for you.”

I step back from him, adjusting my clothes. “And what of the elves?” I ask, my mind swimming as I try to picture myself coming head-to-head with Eldrion again. “They have always been neutral, always stayed out of fae politics.”

“Not anymore,” Finn says. “Don’t get me wrong, they are completely self-interested. They aren’t helping us because they believe in our cause, merely because they want positions of power in the new order.”

Order. Power.

These are not words that sit well with me. They make me feel... uneasy.

Finn stalks over to me, fastening his belt, then leans in close, his forehead pressing against mine. “The elves, and you, and the Leafborne. Plus the Shadowkind’s determination and will to fight.” He grins at me. “We’ve got this. We can do this.”

I close my eyes, letting his words wash over me. The idea of it, the sheer audacity of his plan, is both terrifying and exhilarating. To be part of something so much bigger than myself, to fight not just for my own freedom, but for the freedom of all fae...

“How do you know we can trust them?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “The elves, I mean. How do you know they won’t betray us?”

Maybe that is who Kayan was talking about. Don’t trust them.

“They’ve already shared knowledge with me, spells and incantations that I never even knew existed. They want this just as much as we do.”

He squeezes my hands. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I know it seems impossible. But Alana, we have to try. And now is the time. While Eldrion is...” He trails off.

I open my eyes. “What? What is Eldrion doing?”

Finn shakes his head. “I don’t want to scare you.”

“Do not patronise me, Finn. You can’t want me as your star player in this battle, then refuse to share information with me. Especially if it’s concerning me.”

Finn’s lips twitch into a smile. “I love it when you’re forceful,” he says playfully. When I do not smile back, he adds, through gritted teeth, “Eldrion is looking for you, Alana. The elves tell me he’s obsessed. He can think of nothing other than stealing you back.” Finn’s eyes darken. “I think he knew all along what you were capable of.” He scratches his chin and begins to pace up and down. “I think that’s why he had me follow you, why he bought you at auction. Because he knew what you were. Because he wanted your power.”

“My power?”

“Think about it...” Finn is speaking quickly now. “If he could somehow have access to your powers, and learn to absorb the power of other fae, he could destroy everyone. The Leafborne, the Mountainside fae... He could have complete control over the entire kingdom.”

As Finn speaks, my blood runs cold. I lace my fingers together and squeeze until my knuckles whiten with the pressure.

Perhaps this is what Eldrion is trying to do in the dreams he sends me. Perhaps this is his way of trying to infiltrate my mind.

“He will never have me,” I snap. “Never.”

Finn meets my gaze. “So, I can count on you? You’re with us?”

I square my shoulders and tilt my chin. A glimmer of the way I felt in those tunnels, and when I bent the waterfall to my will, and took away the Leafborne’s pain, flickers in my stomach.

“Lord Eldrion has no idea who he’s up against,” I say darkly. “And he has no idea what he’s about to lose.”