Chapter 1
Cambria
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Someone tried to killthe Queen, and they’re blaming you.
Rickon’s voice echoes around my skull, each reverberation damning me more than the last. I hear the words, but my shock prevents me from fully absorbing them. Not that someone would accuse me, but that someone had the balls to try and assassinate the woman that birthed me. Beyond that, they managed to get away from the attempt scot free, throwing me under the bus. With my mother’s abilities, that should have been impossible.
“What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, Rickon is wrenched away from me by a furious Lucien. Atlas and Dorian are still bound and I have no idea how he managed to get free, unless Rickon is slipping in his manic state.
Lucien lands three solid hits, one breaking Rickon’s nose. Blood steadily flows down the guard’s face before he finally has enough, using his abilities to manipulate the vegetation to restrain Lucien once more.
“Control your pets,” he spits at me, eyes narrowed and furious. “We don’t have time.”
I’m exhausted and my energy is nearly depleted, but I’m not going to let him kill the guys without a fight. “Let them go and explain what the hell you’re talking about.”
He scoffs. “You’re in no position to bargain, Cambria.”
Yet still, he releases the guys. They close in around me, prepared to lash out, so I put a hand on Atlas’ shoulder to stop him from advancing. I have no clue what the hell is going on with the perpetual thorn in my side, but he didn’t have to let them go. He also hasn’t tried to attack or restrain me besides the tackle that knocked the wind from my lungs.
“So you, what? Want to kill me before they can? Land a few blows before claiming the reward for dragging me in?”
He gives me a withering look before his eyes return to scanning the area. “Damn it, Cambria, just shut up and listen!” He runs a hand through his blonde hair, agitated and twitchy, while looking at me earnestly. Wiping blood from his face, his eyes plead for me to understand, and that in itself has me struggling to breathe as much as his words. “I didn’t want this, alright? Cody was my best friend, but I was there that day; it was a fucking accident and you were a kid that didn’t know what you were capable of yet. I saw the way his death tore you apart and the way they treated you afterward.”
I gape at him in disbelief before scoffing. “If that’s true, then what? Your sympathy died the next day?”
Dorian steps closer behind me, placing a reassuring hand on my hip. It helps to ground me so I don’t snap and do something I’m not so certain that I’ll regret. He doesn’t say a word, just lets me know that I’m not alone this time while facing one of the causes of my nightmares.
“Do you have any idea how fucking hard it was to be the one that got assigned to you when you left?” Rickon growls. “But your father never thought one person was enough and always insisted on multiple guards. If I had treated you with a modicum of kindness, you think they wouldn’t have removed me from the position? Replaced me with someone ten times worse? It’s been a shit situation for decades, but I did my damn best with what I had to work with to protect you!” His chest is heaving at this point and my anger deflates, replaced with sincere confusion.
“What about the guards that were with you when she slipped up?” Atlas demands, itching for a fight that I’m not sure is coming anymore.
“I killed them,” he retorts succinctly. “And blamed it on an animal attack.”
He shoots a quick, worried glance over his shoulder and grabs a duffel bag from his feet, tossing it over. Lucien’s hand snakes out to snatch it before I can, unzipping it and frowning. He pulls out an envelope, revealing thousands of dollars inside.
“Your money,” Rickon sighs.
Lucien pins him with a glare. “You’ve been planning this for years? Helping her escape?”
Rickon sneers at him, but ultimately nods. “I knew there’d be no second chances once she tried to run, so I needed time to come up with a solid plan, but we’re out of time.”
Something dawns on me and I interrupt. “My mark, did you do something to it? Something that made the other fae not see me in the human realm?”
His eyes alight with manic excitement that makes my stomach roil. “It worked then?” I nod, and he strides forward, but Dorian draws me back a step.
Rickon growls, snapping, “Then let me recharge it! It will likely only last a month or so at best, but anything that can give you a leg up right now, you can’t turn your nose up at.”
I don’t step any closer despite his insistence, trying to wrap my head around everything. When there’s shouting and the scent of smoke starts to reach us, there’s no more time for questions. Rickon blurs forward, shoving Atlas out of the way in his haste.
He pierces the mark on my chest, digging his nail in until he draws blood. I hiss, but don’t shove him away. I can feel the harsh rush of energy flooding into my system now, far more intense than the trickle he imbued me with last time. All the while, he rattles things off in haste, barely giving anyone time to get a word in edgewise.
“You should be fine human side until this wears off, but after that you’re going to need to watch your back there too.” He grabs a photo out of the duffel bag, shoving it in front of my face. “Memorize it! The next time you need to step through a ring to come home, youhaveto go here; nowhere else will be safe. They’ll have guards monitoring all of the rings you would have seen on the Queen’s land, waiting for when you’re forced to return.”
“Where is this?”
