Dark Promise, Talia Jager [i like reading books .TXT] 📗

“Oh, please. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” Lena smirked. She grabbed my arm again and yanked me from the tub, tossing a towel at me with her other hand. “Enough relaxing. It’s time for your meeting.”

My head whirled. “Meeting?”

“I’ll lay a dress on your bed,” Lena went on, ignoring my question. “Don’t get any bright ideas. I’ll be waiting right outside the door for you.”

“Why are you here?” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

Lena turned to face me. “Much like you, I don’t have a choice. Varwik fancies me. He collects things he finds beautiful.”

“You’re here against your will?” My jaw dropped. “But the barriers… How did he get you here?”

“When we enter the human realm, we put ourselves at risk to be taken. It’s my own fault for being naive and thinking nothing would happen to me. Varwik likes the power of having light faeries in his castle.” There was a note of disgust in her voice. “It makes him feel superior.”

“What a jerk,” I said honestly. “How long have you been here?”

“Enough with the questions,” Lena snapped. I dove right out of sympathy and into annoyance at her tone. “Get dressed and hurry up. He doesn’t like to wait for anyone.”

I stood with my towel, gently patting myself dry, and watched as she walked back into the bedroom. She went to the closet and yanked out a formal, pale yellow dress with a long, gauzy train. She threw it on the bed and silently walked out the door.

Left alone, I noticed everything I needed was in the bathroom: brushes, perfume, and even items for my hair. Very strange since I was being held captive.

I had a feeling I didn’t want to make this dark faery angry, so I hurried to get ready. The dress was sleeveless with a V-neck, classy and tasteful. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt as if someone else was staring back at me.

The door opened, and Lena called, “Get out here—now.”

I glanced around for shoes, but when I couldn’t find any, I ran out barefoot. For the first time, I felt like a faery.

Lena looked me up and down. “Much better. Varwik will approve.”

She walked quickly, leading me down the massive hallway. I practically had to run to keep up. My mind raced. I had no idea what I was about to walk into, and that scared the hell out of me. I should have let Azura in when she came to me. I should have talked to her. There was so much I didn’t know, and it was my fault. I had been stubborn and selfish, and now I was paying the price.

Lena stopped in front of wooden double doors that filled an entire wall from ceiling to floor. They were unfamiliar, a vivid red that I would have recognized. We must have been in a new part of the fortress.

The doors flung open on their own, and Lena walked forward, her head held high. She carried herself like a queen, with no fear or worry etched on her beautiful face.

Meanwhile, my hands were shaking so hard I had to clasp them in front of me to disguise the tremors.

It appeared to be a dining room. The walls were sky blue, made even brighter by the ever-present skylights that flooded sunlight into the hall. Bushy tropical plants flanked the walls, their scent intoxicating, and a wall of glass doors led out to a private verandah.

The biggest table I had ever seen sat before us, and at its head was a very large faery. He stood gracefully as we walked in. His hair was black as coal, his skin pale, and his face much younger than I had expected. He had the most beautiful black and purple wings, and I wondered how wings that gorgeous could be on such an evil being. He was stunning.

He studied me for a long minute, making no move to come around the table. “Oleander—what an interesting turn of events this has turned out to be.”

He paused, but I had no idea what to say in return. Until recently, I hadn’t known anything about certain “events.”

“I knew your father long ago,” the man continued, stroking his dark goatee with a finger and thumb. “You were aptly named—lovely yet deadly.”

Gritting my teeth at his pretense of familiarity, I said, “Well, I didn’t know him, and I don’t understand any of this.”

“Of course.” The faery inclined his head toward me in acknowledgment. “They hid you well from me.”

“Why am I here?” I demanded.

The faery began a slow stroll around the table as he spoke. “It’s such a rare treat when an Aurorian faery is born. This is a special faery, one with stronger than normal abilities. This child is born with a birthmark, like the one you have.” His gaze lingered on my mark. “When you were born, we made a deal with your father: You for access to our magick, something we knew your father wanted. He was greedy and gladly made the deal. But when we came for you, Azura produced a dead baby and made us believe that baby was hers. That was the end of it until Lena saw you yesterday. She knew immediately who you were and came straight back to me with the news.”

His voice was more pleasant than what I had expected; not evil in the least. Almost mesmerizing. He pulled out a chair, gesturing for me to have a seat, and I lowered myself into it. He returned to the spot across from me and sat, folding his hands on the tabletop.

I swallowed hard. “Why can’t you just let me go? What do you want from me?” I met his cold blue eyes with as much bravado as I could muster. Despite his handsome face and kind demeanor, this was an evil man.

“We want you on our side, of course!” His tone was incredulous. “What better than to have the most powerful faery with us? Just in case we ever go into battle.”

“But I don’t even want to be a faery.” I knew I sounded like a toddler, and frankly, I didn’t care. “I want to go home.”

“What you want and what is reality are often two different things. If you don’t want to join us, I’ll have to kill you. Level the playing field,” he said in a deadly calm voice. “I can’t have the light faeries getting ahold of your ability.”

“My father isn’t even around anymore.” I was grasping at straws. “He can’t get your magick.”

“A deal is a deal. You are ours. If he ever shows his pathetic face again, he can have access to our magick.”

“And if he doesn’t show up again?”

“You’re still ours.”

He obviously had no idea that I was completely harmless. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. For now, it was something I would keep to myself.

“We have been waiting a very long time for your arrival. You are even lovelier than your mother.” Varwik smiled. “My son will be pleased.”

Shock made my hands tense up. “What does your son have to do with me?”

He chuckled. “Oleander, your tone of voice is not appreciated. It would be unwise of you to get on my bad side. You have put me in a very difficult position. Be grateful I haven’t decided to kill you outright.” He paused. “You will marry my son on the autumnal equinox, therefore joining our people. It’s the only way I see out of this quandary. If you marry a dark faery, you cannot use your power against us.”

“What?!” I jumped out of my chair, knocking it over and stumbling away from the table. I banged my knee on the upturned leg, but barely noticed the pain. “I’m only sixteen. I am not marrying anyone!” He couldn’t be serious…could he?

“Sixteen is a common age to marry in our world,” he told me. “I’m sure you will find that my son is not a bad mate.”

I looked over at Lena, my eyes wide, hoping for some kind of sign, but she just stared blankly at me. No help from that quarter.

Turning back to Varwik, I seethed. “You can go to hell. I’m not marrying your son or anyone else right now.”

He sighed. “I was afraid we were going to have to do this the hard way.” He turned towards Lena. “Lock her in her room and bring her just enough food to keep her alive.”

As Lena was dragging me away again, I overheard a familiar voice: the man from earlier, when I arrived. The one Lena had called Kyro. He questioned Varwik. “What are you doing with her?”

“She’s been promised to us. Last time I checked, I was in control of this land. If you dare question me again, it will be the last time.”