Echo (Bound to the Fae Book 2) Read online

  Echo

  Bound to the Fae Book 2

  © 2020 J. Kearston

  All rights reserved

  No part of this work may be duplicated, reproduced, or transferred by any means, without the written approval of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual people (living or dead), places, or events is purely coincidental. This series is meant for adults and contains sexual scenes (positive and consensual)

  Please note: This series deals with some darker things that some may find triggering, including ptsd flashbacks, depression, as well as graphic scenes of blood and violence later in the series. While I would love for you to read my work, never do so at the risk of your mental health.

  *Cover by Nichole Witholder at Rainy Day Artwork*

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1 | Cambria

  Chapter 2 | Dorian

  Chapter 3 | Atlas

  Chapter 4 | Cambria

  Chapter 5 | Lucien

  Chapter 6 | Dorian

  Chapter 7 | Cambria

  Chapter 8 | Lucien

  Chapter 9 | Atlas

  Chapter 10 | Cambria

  Chapter 11 | Dorian

  Chapter 12 | Lucien

  Chapter 13 | Atlas

  Chapter 14 | Dorian

  To be continued in Rhapsody- mybook.to/Rhapsodyfae3 | P.S. Please don’t hurt me.

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  Chapter 1

  Cambria

  Someone tried to kill the 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, you have to 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?”

  I study the photograph, frantically committing every shadow and leaf to memory. Three seconds later, he’s pulling out a lighter and my eyes race over it one last time before he sets it aflame, burning the evidence.

  “Shadow court.” My look must betray my confusion, because I have no fucking clue what he’s talking about. “Exactly,” he whispers conspiratorially. “Illiah was busy before his ‘vacation’.” I have ten thousand questions, and no time for a single one because he’s already shoving me back towards the ring. “Use a different one to cros
s back in case they know what town you’re shacked up in.”

  The smoke has turned into an inferno as they burn their way in, since Rickon sealed off the entrance. At this point, there’s no way they’ll think he doesn’t have a hand in my escape.

  “Why aren’t you coming with us?” I hesitantly ask.

  I don’t just suddenly trust the asshole guard after years of abuse, but I don’t want to see him die if he’s trying to help me survive. I’m aware that I’m obviously missing some key information here, so if I can convince him to come with us for at least a little while, maybe I can get some answers.

  “I was going to,” he admits quietly, so low I’m not sure he meant to say it aloud. But by the way Dorian’s hand tightens on my hip, I know I didn’t imagine the words. “Someone needs to give you a head start since you have the humans weighing you down,” he snaps, sounding more like himself. “Go!”

  Before I can second guess myself or throw away the advantage, I grab Atlas’ hand, Dorian already spinning with me, and start running back towards the fairy ring. As soon as the four of us are inside, I start visualizing the place from the photo, screaming it in my head.

  As I feel my body start to fade, I risk opening my eyes one last time. Rickon stands there, jaw tight and eyes hard, but full of fire. The smoke bellows around him, beginning to obscure his features, but there’s no missing those piercing green eyes radiating pain.

  “Fly free, little Lark. Don’t come back.”

  Chapter 2

  Dorian

  I scan for threats, finding none. No people, not so much as a sound. It’s dark, only lit by bioluminescent plant life, making everything glow in an eerie way. We step out of the ring, eyeing everything warily.

  Shadow court.

  “Okay, this makes sense,” I mutter, looking around with hesitant appreciation.

  Despite how brutal and terrible the fae world is, it doesn’t make it any less beautiful. It’s every bit as magical and amazing as I fantasized about over the years, and despite the complications that came with it, I can’t help but feel lucky that I was able to see a place like this in person, to have confirmation that something so amazing really exists.

  It created Cambria after all, so I refuse to believe this world is completely evil. Good and bad, everyone and everywhere has it; balance. So it makes sense that if there’s a shadow court, the one Cambria hails from is the light court. Two sides to the same coin.

  “Nothing about this makes sense,” Atlas seethes, anxious and hostile.

  I shake my head, walking forward a step, but not any further into the dark woods we arrived in yet. “It does, actually. The concept of dark fae isn’t anything new; dark to balance out the light. What I don’t understand is what he was talking about with Illiah being busy. I could argue a case that Cambria was kept sheltered and ignorant, restricted to the Queen’s territory or the human world, but that’s not what he was implying.”

  Lucien’s hand is on the small of Cambria’s back, one eye on the ring like he’s waiting for someone to appear and shoot us. “I agree. That was the one that could mind wipe if I recall correctly, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he was alluding to tampering with the memories of people in town.”

  Cambria groans, pressing her fingers to her temples in frustration and massaging them. “So does that mean I never knew about this place, or that Illiah fucked with my head? Why would my mother kill him instead of keeping him around for the future?”

  Atlas starts coming around, settling down a bit now that the immediate threats are gone. “If you want a secret kept, you tie up all the loose ends.”

  “But Rickon still knew what was going on?”

  Cambria takes a few breaths to compose herself, starting to dig around in the duffel bag to see if there are any more clues inside. “Illiah and Rickon were friends. So if Illiah knew something bad was going on, I wouldn’t put it past him to pretend to take Rickon’s memories. And if what he was saying is true, then this would be a pretty safe place when we have to come back here.”

  I scrunch up my face, mulling everything over with the limited information we have to work with. “But the Queen would still know about it, and likely her consorts. Rickon. Who knows how many others? They might be operating under the assumption you aren’t aware of this place, but after enough time passes with you not coming home, they’ll wonder if you figured it out.”

  Inside of the bag is money, clothes and some supplies, but that’s it. No information, but after the way he insisted on burning the photograph after she saw it, I’m not surprised.

  “If he was planning for years to run off with you, he wouldn’t have wanted any evidence of where you were going or his plans in case someone came across the bag beforehand.”

  As I say it, Lucien tenses, amber eyes promising murder. “He treated you like that for all these years, then just expected you to forgive him for all of it and run away with him? He’s deluded.”

  Atlas joins in his fury, “With the way he was always trying to cop a feel on her, I’m not surprised,” he seethes.

  “But he still stayed behind to give her a chance to escape,” I point out seriously as I watch Cambria’s growing discomfort while she wrestles with her conflicted feelings on the topic. “He didn’t refuse to help her unless she agreed to run off with him, didn’t make her choose between him or turning her over to her family. Despite the scenario he’d been building up in his head, he still ultimately tried to give her a fighting chance while he stayed behind. With the way he sealed off the forest, it’s not like we can pretend they won’t accuse him of treason. Even if we all hated him, at least give credit where credit is due.”

  There’s a heavy pause as my words sink in, everyone taking them how they will. I’ll be the first to say I despised the man for the hell he put Cambria through, and his motivations don’t forgive that in my eyes, but I do understand him better. And I’ll never snub help if it means keeping her safe, especially now.

  All of the torture her family put her through will pale in comparison to what will happen if they catch her. I saw the sheer loathing emanating from her father, Apollo, at dinner that night, witnessed her fear of him plain as day on her face. He will kill her, and I can guarantee he won’t make it quick either.

  “So what now?” Lucien asks quietly, the three words carrying so much weight.

  Cambria sighs heavily. “I need at least a few hours to recoup before we cross back over. If he’s right, we should be safe enough human side for a few weeks as long as we find a different ring to come back through. We’ll have to use that one to go back at least this time until we find another one, though.”

  Atlas wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close, kissing the top of her head. “Alright, so explain to me how those things work while we look around. If we’re stuck here for a few hours, we might as well explore.”

  We start carefully navigating the underbrush, not finding any discernible path. Everything is dark and we trip more often than not, the multicolored glow twining through the foliage not enough to illuminate the space well. It’s like the water the plants take in is made of a glowing dye, so there are haphazard veins of light snaking through almost everything. It’s stunning, no doubt about that, just not very practical. Though I suppose it’s still better than absolute darkness, so I should be grateful.

  Cambria stands a little straighter, latching onto the gift Atlas gave her with that small request. With everything spiraling and so much unknown, just having something she’s an expert on means so much, helps her regain her footing as the world starts crumbling beneath her.

  “Like most fae magic, fairy rings work off of intent. So you have to visualize where you want to go,” she starts explaining, but Lucien interrupts.

  “Then that first day, how did we cross? We’d never seen this world before.” He pushes a small branch out of his way and ducks beneath it as we forge ahead in a straight line, so that it’ll be easier to find our way back to the ring.
/>   “That’d be me.” I raise my hand, grinning. “I was picturing Cambria.”

  She turns to look over her shoulder at me, a sad smile on her face as she tries to hold herself together. “I’m surprised that worked, to be honest. I’ve tried it before, just visualizing a person, and it never worked; I have to actually picture the place. Maybe that’s a difference between human and fae usage.” She shrugs.

  Atlas perks up. “That’s good though, because it means they won’t be able to find us just by looking for you and showing up here.” Cambria dips her head in agreement.

  “So, how do they appear? Or how do we find a new one when we get back home?” Lucien asks, focusing on the facts.

  Cambria taps her chin. “I’ve just always been drawn to them instinctually, similar to how I connect with nature. I’m not sure how they appear; they’ve just always been there.” She sighs. “Fuck, I never really thought on the matter much, never had a need. I just loved that they let me escape this hellhole.”

  We walk for a little longer, eventually a bright glow in the distance drawing our eye. The four of us debate the merit of just going back to the ring to wait out the rest of the time needed for Cambria to recover, but ultimately, we all end up in agreement. If we’re going to need to come back here for the foreseeable future, we need to learn more about this place and any potential dangers that might be waiting for us.

  Atlas stays back with Cambria while Lucien and I trek ahead to investigate, not sure if that brighter glow is a sign of some type of village. We want to keep Cambria off of everyone’s radar as long as possible, especially until we learn if they would recognize her on sight and turn her over to her family.

  We walk for about ten minutes before stopping dead in our tracks, gazing in wonder. Even Lucien looks impressed. The large pond trails off into a small stream snaking through the forest, fed from a larger river, but the trees are dense enough that it obscures the path. From the angle, I have to assume we’re on some type of mountain, or there’s one nearby.