Undying Hate~ Book Three

The panic blossomed in Sylvie’s chest as Claudine killed the engine.

“What’s happening?” Rosie asked with a yawn.

Claudine unbuckled herself from her seat slowly as if listening for something, and Sylvie leaned in, too, despite the only sound in her ears being the roaring of her heart in her ears.

“The mind link is noisy. Something about blood on Rowan. It’s so confusing...”

The instant she mentioned Rowan and blood, Sylvie ripped her seat belt off and scrambled for the door handle. Somehow the child lock had engaged, and her breathing quickened to the point of hyperventilation.

She had to get to him.

She had to.

Her marks felt fine besides mild confusion, but it could’ve been wrong. She screamed in frustration as Claudine rounded the car and opened the door for her.

Tumbling out, she tried to catch her breath to look for her mates, the path to the house seeming far longer than she remembered. Rowan ran towards her, drenched in viscous black blood, and her panic exploded. Visions of Natalie and Rosie drowning in their blood filled her mind, and her heart squeezed as if she were about to have a heart attack.

“Rowan...”

“I’m okay, baby, breathe.” When his hands touched her shoulders, she jerked away as his blood-coated hands stained her skin.

It was cold.

So cold.

“They’re panicking, Alpha. Get the faery.”

Claudine appeared at her side, Rosie tucked under her arm. “come here,” she said, softer than Sylvie had ever heard her speak.

“Fuck-” Rowan’s growl made her jump, tears filling her eyes as she struggled to draw a full breath.

Receeding footprints only increased her nerves until Claudine gripped tightly around her shoulders.

“Focus on your breath, Alpha. Everyone is safe. It’s just a misunderstanding. Your mates are safe. You are safe. Breathe.”

Their harsh breaths filled her ears then, and the world disappeared.

“Rosie. We’re home. Look. Look up, Rose. Fates be fucking damned. Breathe!”

Rosie hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, an animal growl passing her lips.

“Don’t let her run,” Kian’s voice broke through Sylvie’s haze. She raised her head, blinking as he lay a hand on Rosie’s forehead, her body responding immediately, relaxing into Claudine, leaving Sylvie to stand alone.

“Princess?” his voice wobbled, uncertain, and her face crumpled as she threw herself into his arms. She begged for his healing touch, which he gave through the gentlest kiss on her forehead. Her breathing eased to a steady rhythm, and her heart slowed again.

Only once her panic passed did she notice his strange demeanour. His body remained tense despite her draping over him, and when she pulled back to peer at his face, it was pinched.

“What is it?”

He exhaled, his jaw working as he searched her face.

“Uh,” he swallowed. “It’s my mother. She’s dead.”

Ice rushed through her as she processed what he said. Dead. How?

“Kerensa killed the Vampire that did it. That’s where all the blood came from.”

“Dead? She’s- Vampire? What do you mean, Vampire? Oh, Kian, I’m so sorry.”

“Princess-”

“How long before we have to go?” She decided to go with him back to Evergreen before he could ask or tell her to stay behind.

“Sylvie.”

“What?”

Kian sighed and took her hand, pulling her towards the house. “Elias is ten minutes away. When he gets here, we go.”

“Okay.”

“Rowan isn’t coming.”

Sylvie froze dead on the front steps, a frown marring her face. “What do you mean? We all go everywhere together.”

“Not this time. With the deaths in the pack, he needs to stay grounded. Besides, it will only feel like a short time for him anyway. It’s you we’re worried about.”

“I’m-” she stuttered slightly before composing herself. “I’m fine. Is- is Rowan mad at me?”

“Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“’Cause I freaked out when I saw him.”

Kian’s face took on an expression of understanding bordering on pity. “He, more than anyone, understands what you’re going through. All I sense from him is a concern for you. He’s not mad.”

“Okay. I- can I say goodbye? Are you okay?” She nibbled her lower lip as they entered the living area. The room was colder and dark, like life had been sucked from the place.

“I’m fine, my love. Fae experience emotions like grief differently. I’m okay. We’ll talk more when we get there. For now, say your goodbyes with Rowan.”

She nodded and headed straight for the bedroom, feeling the pull in that direction. As she entered, the door to the bathroom opened, and Rowan walked through, towel wrapped around his waist and water droplets beading all across his tattooed chest.

He used another smaller towel to dry his hair and offered her a strained smile.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Sorry for-”

Rowan sighed and pulled on a shirt and a pair of pants. “You have nothing to apologise for, Sylv. I should have warned you what happened before you got back.”

She clasped her hands and walked over to the bed, sitting slowly. “What did happen? Why were you all bloody?”

“Kerensa. She fell on me portalling here, and she was so drenched I thought she was a vampire for a second.”

“Is she okay?”

“Fine. She just wanted to change in her sleep-out cabin.”

Sylvie nodded as Rowan rounded the bed and stood between her legs, taking her face in his giant hand. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone and smiled. “I’ll miss you.”

She coyly smiled back and turned to kiss his palm. “It’ll only feel like hours for you. I’m the one who’ll really suffer.” She groaned and threw her head back onto the mattress. “I’ll miss you too, Ro.”

“Ro,” he scoffed and flopped on top of her, forcing the air to whoosh from her lungs with a hysterical laugh.

“Rowan!”

“No, no. I like Ro. Say it again.”

“Get off me, you giant moose!”

He laughed and tickled her ribs as she squealed and squirmed until Elias stomped in and cleared his throat. He jumped off her like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and pulled her up. “I guess it’s time then,” Rowan said, burying a grin.

Elias nodded and tilted his head, gesturing Sylvie to follow him. “One sec,” she said, climbing onto Rowan’s lap and kissing him. She poured every ounce of love and desire into the kiss, hoping he could tell how much she loved and would miss him.

He moaned against her lips and pulled back first. “Do that,” he started huskily, “and I won’t be able to let you leave.”

She bit her lip and pushed him back on the bed, kissing him suggestively on the space where his shirt lifted, exposing his taut abdomen before heading for Elias.

“I’ll see you soon,” she said, taking Elias’ hand and following him to her next task.

The woman walked down a long and lonely stone-walled corridor, the rainbow prisms from the glass ceiling above illuminating her back. Her face remained in shadow, but Sylvie just knew that even if she were to grab the woman and gaze upon her face, there would be nothing there. No features. Nothing but a milky, blank space.

“Where are you?” The woman’s melodic voice called to an unknown man whose footsteps echoed after every heavy footfall.

“I’ve done everything you asked of me.”

“Yes.” The sound escaped like the hiss of hot oil on a pan. “But one thing still evades you. Why have you let me down again?”

The man never left the shadows, his pleading voice echoing as if he were made up of them instead. “Forgive me. Forgive us. She will be yours. She will die-”

Sylvie shot upright, her breathing uneven as she oriented herself. She was in Evergreen, in Kian’s suite, with Elias and Kian lying beside her awake, presumably from her less than gentle exit from the land of psychotic dreams.

“Sorry.”

“No more apologising. You are in Fae court now.”

“I know, ugh.” She rolled her eyes at Elias’ serious expression and snuggled back between them.

“What was the dream?”

“Weird.”

Kian poked her in the ribs, and she grunted. “Fine! It was down a stone corridor, with a woman without a face and a shadow man talking about killing someone. Another woman, I think.”

“You?”

“Probably.” That would explain the sinking feeling in her belly and the cold sweat.

“Nothing else?”

“Not really. It’s already fading.” The images had, but the dread only built as she lay between her two mates, both eventually drifting back to sleep while she stared at the swaying plants wrapping around the bedposts.

The Evergreen court looked pretty similar to her last visit, the plants and grounds well kept and fae as beautiful as ever. She barely caught a glimpse of them as they shifted late at night, and Kian suggested they rest before the funeral the next day.

She still hadn’t seen Kerensa, and her stomach turned. She knew where her room was. Maybe she could just-

Before she finished the thought, her body was moving. She stood, grabbed the top strut of the bed canopy and swung herself over Kian’s body before dropping silently on his ornate rug. She blinked at her sneakiness and held her breath, expecting one or both of them to roll over and ask what she was doing. But they didn’t. Neither stirred, and she held in a small chuckle as she tiptoed from the room and down the hall to Kerensa. She heard angry sighs long before her hand hit the doorknob.

Knocking softly, she paused in case Kerensa was naked or something and pushed it open when she heard a familiar grumble.

“Hey.”

“What do you want, Hart?”

“Just to check on you.” Then, crossing the room, she perched herself on the edge of Kerensa’s bed.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Here.” She slid up the bed and patted the pillow beside her. “Lay down and talk to me.”

“Why?”

“I can’t sleep, and I care about you.”

Kerensa sighed and slunk over, flopping on the covers and avoiding eye contact by staring at the ceiling. “You don’t need to get all sentimental on me, Hart. Fae don’t feel grief the same way humans do.”

“I know that Kian already told me. But something’s wrong. Isn’t it?”

Kerensa groaned and turned her head to look at Sylvie. “It’s Kol. I don’t believe he’s capable of taking over as King.”

Blinking slowly, Sylvie’s expression turned into a frown. “After all that time he’s been gone, he can just take over like that? Wouldn’t you be a better option?”

Kerensa just offered a hard stare dripping with annoyance and rolled back over. “It doesn’t matter how it should be,” she said. “It only matters what is."

“I guess.”

The air between them filled with nothing but their slowing breaths, and a peaceful sleep finally took them far away.