Unwanted Fates~ Book Two

“Nothing to say, brother?” The man that looked exactly like Sylvie’s mate quipped with a look very unlike Elias. His effortless charisma and arrogant aura made her step back, her body bumping into the real Elias.

He pushed her to Kian, who tucked her beneath his arm, a subtle rage rolling from him. His out-of-character emotion fueled Sylvie’s fear as the movement captured the feline gaze of the man.

“Aren’t you a treat?” he said with a sharp grin. In seconds he was in front of her, his finger curling under her chin and tilting it. He licked his lip, red eyes flashing when Rowan growled at his side.

A noise between a hum and a chuckle escaped his lips as he moved his hand from her face raising them placatingly. “Nice doggy. I was only teasing.”

“Enough, Hayes,” Elias snapped.

“Oh, you speak, do you? I thought my brother had turned mute.” Hayes’s smile held just enough genuine humour that it disarmed Sylvie a fraction.

“I apologise,” he addressed her then. “We are scarce on fresh blood these days. Most of us are forced to sustain on animal blood. It’s not often we smell such divine nourishment.”

He sniffed deeply and bowed his head with another lazy smile, spinning on his foot and gesturing with his finger for them to follow. Her mates moved imperceptively closer, their temperatures drawing anxious sweat from her body.

“I assume Elias has shared with you about our turned-vampire problem?” He looked over his shoulder, waiting a fraction, seeming to lap up their confused expressions before chuckling.

“No? Well, the first wave was fine, fairly intelligent, and retained most human qualities besides a lethal allergy to the sun. The Vampiresses wanted offspring, their kindreds dying out in the war before the first division.”

He sighed, turning left down another empty corridor. “It was after those turned ones began turning others...” he paused, leading them through a set of double doors, a slight muscle twitching along his jaw.

“Well, those monsters kill indiscriminately.”

Hayes lead them the rest of the way in silence, a few Vampires passing them, bowing at Hayes and then almost losing their eyes, bugging at Elias. Did they not know about him? How long had Elias been away from home?

Elias cleared his throat as if preparing to speak when Hayes raised his hand and turned to face them.

Sylvie couldn’t get over the similarity; it was like a mirrored image. The only difference was Sylvie was not attracted to him at all.

He was objectively good-looking, but the sensation she felt as he cast his curious eyes down her body was closer to disdain.

“I’m guessing these are your-” he pursed his lips, looking to Elias to fill him in.

“Pets.”

“Mmm, quite a collection. Realm shifter descendants explain your ability to get here. Though I am surprised you brought the rest of them. It must be quite serious,” he said with mock- sincerity. “Oh well, I’m a busy man; I’m sure you can find your quarters. I haven’t touched it since you abandoned me.”

Hayes winked at Sylvie and disappeared in a whirlwind of cool air.

Abandoned?

“Come,” Elias grunted, taking Kerensa and Rowan by the elbow and handling them roughly.

Sylvie swallowed the lump in her throat as Kian pulled her after them, ascending a flight of shimmering silver stairs and entering a room hidden behind two elaborately decorated metal doors.

A familiar pattern framed in the centre of each door made her gasp, her fingers jumping to the crimson mate mark swirling on her chest—his room.

The sight behind them took her breath away. The tapestry-lined walls danced in the softest breeze from an open window, while the ornate rugs drew the eye to the colossal canopy bed in the centre of the room.

A perfectly made bed, big enough to fit ten people, beaconed her. This is what she needed back home.

Kian untangled from her as she craned her neck to the high cathedral ceilings. Three crystal chandeliers with giant bulbs reflecting purple light were suspended from their apex.

“UV,” Elias spoke at her side. She leaned against him and hummed. “Hayes must have added them after I left.”

“I wonder what else he left,” Kerensa grumbled, running her hands along the walls directly opposite Kian, who appeared to be mumbling words.

Before she could ask what they were doing, Elias stroked her face and shook his head, placing a finger to his lips.

Rolling her eyes at that moment wasn’t the smartest, and Elias checked her with a rough ass-grab. She squeaked as he tugged her closer before lifting her and using his forearm like a seat. She felt childish sitting there, but as her feet swung back and forth, she realised she liked it.

Before she grew too comfortable, he shifted his grip and threw her onto his bed, the soft mattress sinking under her giggling body.

When she sat up, breathless, Rowan’s slightly wide eyes were the ones she saw first until he turned away, apparently interested in one of the tapestries on the left wall.

“Bathroom is through there,” Elias said, gesturing past a huge ancient-looking wardrobe, the golden knobs shining as if just polished.

“I suggest you get comfortable, as none of you is safe to leave this room. Do you understand me?” Sylvie could tell the question was mainly directed at her, so she nodded and laid back to ogle at the thick, velvety canopy above her. Getting comfortable sounded like a great plan.

“We can speak now. The room is warded,” Kerensa said with a sigh, sitting in the corner of the room on a velvet upholstered armchair. From Sylvie’s position, she could tell the Fae’s skin was a few shades duller, the warding on top of the realm travel taking its toll.

“What are we going to do?” Rowan growled, pacing across the rug. “I cannot stay here; my pack needs me.”

“What about the ones that are here?” Kian reminded him.

“We don’t know that they are! I can’t fucking feel them at all.”

Kerensa groaned, thumping her boot on the floor. “Where else would they be?”

Their voices rose until Sylvie’s eardrums throbbed.

“How will we search for them if we’re trapped here?”

Elias stood in front of Rowans rage filled form and stared him down. “I will search for them.”

“You could not find them the last time you were here. What makes this time any different?”

Sylvie groaned loudly, turning it into an exasperated scream at the end.

“Stop yelling!”

Kian chuckled while Elias raised a brow, and Rowan looked away, hiding flushed cheekbones and a deep scowl.

“You’re the one yelling, princess.”

Kerensa stood abruptly, the chair legs scraping the floors. “I’m just gonna make it abundantly clear that I do not wish to see, hear or smell any of you breeding and if I even sense you lot giving each other the eyes, I’m portalling back to earth without you all.”

A crimson flush rose to Sylvie’s cheeks as she sat up and folded her arms indignantly. “Shut up. All of you. How long before you can portal us out of here?”

Kian flicked his gaze to Kerensa and gnawed on his inner cheek. “A week at the next solar eclipse. It will give us enough time to heal and search for the shifters. Even then, though, the portal back will be gruelling.”

“So we have a week to find them. Elias and I will-”

“No, you won’t,” Elias cut her off. “I go alone.”

Frowning, Sylvie stood from the bed and stormed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. If he was going to treat her like a child, she would act like it.

Much like the bedroom, the bathroom transported her back in time, the fixtures and fittings all intricate and dark, the sink, toilet and basins all encased in heavy, carved wood.

She swallowed and padded to the back of the room, praying she’d find a shower, but only a giant clawfoot tub appeared available to wash. Typical.

With a bit of fiddling, she managed the taps and climbed in once the tub filled. Soon after her aching muscles began to relax, Elias let himself in the room and closed the door behind him, a pile of clothes and towel in hand. Placing it next to the sink, he turned to face her, cracking his knuckles like a movie villain.

“Did you think you would get away with that?” he asked, stalking closer. Sylvie sunk into the water, pressing painfully into the side of the tub.

“You were treating me like a child.”

“I treated you like someone who knows nothing of this place, and you slammed my door.”

The heat of the water and her embarrassment flooded her face with colour. “I- I- What happened with your brother? Why did he say you abandoned him?”

That seemed to floor him a bit, the expression of heated retribution fading only to be replaced with discontentment.

She thought he wasn’t going to tell her, but he moved closer and sat on a wooden stool beside her. She was within arms reach, but the time for punishment had passed.

“I abdicated.”

The foreign word slipped past her understanding when Elias elaborated. “I was born first. I was supposed to be king, but the tutors could never tell us apart, so we both learned our responsibilities together.”

Sylvie hung on every word; the answer of him being the rightful king strangely didn’t surprise her at all.

“I learned fairly early, after watching my mother and father suffer the responsibility of the crown, that I didn’t want to be king. Hayes did, though. While he was erratic and sometimes cruel, he had the innate drive to lead.

“Unfortunately, the people did not see my logic like I had hoped and would not bow to Hayes when he was crowned. So I left. I gave them no choice but to accept Hayes and gave him no ammunition to use against me.”

“You would’ve been a good King.”

His eyes snapped to hers after her gentle statement, and his mouth twitched in a downturned smile.

“But then I wouldn’t have met you.”

Sylvie blushed and leaned over the tub towards him. He met her halfway and kissed her mouth, pulling her lips between her teeth to nibble them.

“Ouch! Argh-” she screamed as he whisked her from the bath and flopped her body across his thigh. “Elias!”

“Did you think your little diversion would stop your punishment?”

“But everyone will hear,” she said, strangled.

“Only if you can’t keep quiet.”

With that, he plunged a thick finger inside her, curling against her front wall and holding her squirming body with the other arm. She bit her lip as he moved faster, pulling out to circle her clit until her body tensed in anticipation, and then he stopped.

Right on the edge of bliss, he lifted her to her feet and stood, leaving the bathroom without a word while she panted furiously. Then, just as her hand dipped to finish the job, his head poked back through the door, making her jump a foot off the floor.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said.

She snatched a nearby towel and grumbled as she dressed and exited the bathroom. Everyone had a tense aura and disgruntled demeanour as she padded to the bed, drying her hair. “What’s everyone’s problem now?”

Kian approached, taking the towel and kissing her cheek. “We’ve been invited to dinner.”