Deciding Her Faete (Beyond the Veil Book 2) (12 page)

But April feared that if her and Erica’s combined healing power didn’t work, nothing else would work either. She closed her eyes, trying not to let the darkness overtake her at the thought of losing her mates.

Chapter Eighteen

April held her mates’ hands in the back of the truck as she tried to send them reassuring thoughts through a link that was becoming narrower with each painful gasp of breath that they took. She tried to shield them from the rage that was quickly spiraling out of her control when she thought about what Kheelan had done to Jason and Donovan. Whatever that bastard had infected them with was moving quickly through their system. The angry looking bite marks now had ash gray skin all around them.

When the truck finally skidded to a stop in the driveway in front of Gabe’s house, the rest of their group quickly helped her and her mates out of the back seat. Her men were barely conscious now, and when Niall dragged the bloodied guard out of the second vehicle, a smug look crossed the Fae’s face along with a low chuckle.

“Looks like they’re almost out of time,” he said looking directly at April.

And that was all it took.

She didn’t even realize that she had leaped towards him screaming, separating him from Niall’s clutches. Her nails searched out the parts of his body that would inflict the most damage. She wanted to take
everything
from him—his hatred, his fear, his blood, his very
soul.
She wanted to leave nothing of him behind, and she felt like she could actually do it.

Everything around April took on an eerie gray tint, and she heard Erica’s loud gasp from somewhere behind her.

“April, no!” Erica yelled as she grasped April’s arms. “You cannot use your powers like that!”

“He deserves to die, Erica,” she wailed as she tried to reach for him once again. “He’s killing my mates, and I won’t let him!”

“Everyone inside,” Erica ordered the rest of the group as she held April in a vise-like grip. “I’ve got this. Corrine, do what you can for them. I need to speak with April alone.”

“What?” April snapped at Erica when she finally released her. “I need to be with Jason and Donovan.”

Erica just stood there looking at her. Her distraught expression made April cringe at the tone she’d used.

Finally, Erica spoke. “You’re very powerful, April. You found by instinct what took me a long time to figure out about my own abilities, but you must respect that these gifts are given to us by the Goddess herself and they are not to be used lightly or abused. I know you are terrified for your mates, and we will do everything in our power to save them, but you had begun to draw the life-force from that Fae just now, and that isn’t something I can let you do.”

“I heard that that’s how you and your mates were able to defeat the King, and I felt your powers shaking the entire castle when I was in the dungeons. Seems a bit hypocritical saying that you won’t let me use my powers like that, doesn’t it?” April finished her last sentence through gritted teeth and regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth, especially when she saw the look of hurt on Erica’s face.

“Oh, I’m sure you
could
very easily kill that guard, April,” Erica began, “but what I’m trying to tell you is that misusing your gifts
always
comes with a price. Using your powers to harm another should only be used as a last resort, and only in self-defense. The ability to draw another’s life-force comes from your healing energy and that comes at an even bigger cost, possibly even your own life. I may have survived, but don’t think for a moment that I haven’t paid for using mine to end Alefric’s reign of terror, because I have. I’ve paid more than I ever imagined I could.”

The strain in Erica’s voice while uttering the last sentence was painful to hear. April was afraid to ask her what had happened, but when Corrine stepped out of the back door and placed her hand on Erica’s arm, her friend broke down in a tortured sob.

****

“Tell us, Eyrica,” Corrine held her, letting her cry. “She came to you? What was the price our Goddess demanded of you, child?" 

Erica took a moment to wipe the wetness from her face, and then she stared off into the open sky as she recalled every second of her vision from the Goddess.

“She came to speak to me in a dream the night after we had won the battle. She was more glorious than I ever could have imagined, Corrine,” she said with a sad smile. “Has she ever come to you?”

Corrine smiled and nodded.

“The feeling of utter peace and love I felt while in her presence, April, I can’t even begin to do it justice. It’s inexplicable. She surrounded me like a warm blanket on a cold day. Her voice sounded like a soothing summer stream, though the words she had said to me were anything but soothing.”

Erica took a deep breath before she continued to tell them the rest of her dream, a dream that crushed her soul in the end.

“My child, I needed to bring you this news face to face. I couldn't be more proud of how you stood up to Alefric, to end his terror of my people, but you had to know that the healing gift I have blessed you with was never intended to be used for harm. And when you open your soul up to the darkness like that, there is always a cost.”

"I know, my Goddess, but as the True Queen to my people, it was my duty to bear the burden of punishment." Erica lowered her gaze in respect to her Goddess.

"And bear it you will,” the Goddess said with sadness. “Your soul was corrupted when you nearly drained Aelfric dry of his life force. I am afraid this means you will never know the gift of creating a life yourself, my daughter."

Erica told Corrine and April of the shock and pain that had rolled through her when she awoke. She had felt as if her heart would shatter into a million pieces. Tears had streamed down her face and her body shook as Leo and Ben had tried to get her to share what had upset her, but it had taken her weeks to find the courage to finally tell them what the price had been for defeating their enemy. She felt the guilt of not being able to give them the family she knew they’d been dreaming of, weighing heavily on her chest. Of course, her mates did not fault her for it, though they had all lost a future barely yet imagined, a powerful bloodline that would have been important to both Fae and shifter kind alike.

Erica would never feel the miracle of a life being created inside of her, furthering the proof of their undying love for each other. No joyful trilling of a child’s laughter dancing through their home. No little boys with Leo's serious gaze, or with Ben's playful nature. No daughters that looked just like their mother. She would never hold her babies to her breast, never rock them to sleep in her arms, or see them grow and blossom. This was the price she and her mates would all pay for their service to their people. This was the price of being a Queen.

The looks of pity and sadness on Corrine and April’s faces once she had finished her tale, was one of the reasons Erica hadn’t told the rest of the pack about what had happened. There had been no need to spread such pain, but now she had no choice. Erica simply couldn’t risk the same thing happening to April. There was no way to undo her own sacrifice to stop a tyrant, but she would make damn sure that April didn’t pay the same cost especially not out of a blind need for revenge.

“Oh, Goddess. What did I almost do?” April’s whisper was almost inaudible as her hand came up to cover her mouth.

“You didn’t, April,” Erica said. “That’s what matters.”

“We will find a way to fix what Kheelan has done with his hatred and greed,” Corrine promised. “Your mates need you now more than ever, April. Come now, both of you.” Corrine took April’s hand and led her back into the house, Erica walking beside them. They found the rest of the group gathered around Jason and Donovan in the den.

Erica noticed that a bluish paste now covered the almost identical bite marks on each of their arms and figured that Corrine had administered it to them when she had gone inside when they’d arrived. She could see no visible change in their condition, however.

Chapter Nineteen

A sound of desperation and loss burst from April when she entered the den that was currently turned into a makeshift infirmary. The sight of her mates lying so still on the cots that were lined up side by side in the middle of the room almost dropped her to her knees. Both men had some thick blue paste on their wounds that Corrine had concocted. The blood that had been leaking from their noses and eyes had finally stopped, and the evidence that there had been blood in the first place was cleaned up. April had a feeling, though, that the blue paste was only a Band-Aid, not something that would cure them of whatever poison Kheelan had infused them with through the Fae’s bite.

Everyone in the room looked somber, and no one would meet her gaze as Corrine and Erica led her forward. April swallowed the scream she felt building, refusing to let her emotions erupt again.

“Don’t lose faith, April,” Corrine whispered. “Both your men are still alive. I sense that they are fighting to stay with you, but they are going to need your help to do it.”

April took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm the hysteria that was rapidly building inside of her. “What do I do?”

Erica guided her to stand in the small gap between the beds. “Try healing them again. I will help if I can, but I have a feeling that this one is going to fall solely on you.”

April stared into Erica’s eyes and nodded. Her heart still bled for the woman who had lost so much all in the name of protecting the ones she loved. It all seemed so unfair.

Closing her eyes, April reached a hand out to lay against each of her mate’s chests. She had to fight the urge to draw her hands back when she encountered the cool feel of their skin, completely at odds to the heat that usually radiated from them. Closing her eyes and calling forward her powers, she sent her healing life force out and into the men she was so desperate to save.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately knew that something was wrong. She wasn’t looking at their injury or purging them of the poison they had been inflicted with. This was different. She found herself standing alone within a barren landscape, something that reminded her of images she had seen of the desolate frozen tundra far in the north. The light was dim, the air thick with the acrid smell of sulfur that hurt her nose and had her eyes watering almost immediately.

The moment was so unexpected, it startled her and made her lose the connection. She found herself standing back in the den at Gabe’s house, staring into the concerned faces of the people around her.

“What the hell was that?” Her voice trembled in shock.

Gabe stepped forward, concern written all over his face. “You know, you took the words right out of my mouth, except mine contained an expletive or seven. You totally zoned out on us there, April. You were physically standing in the room, but mentally you weren’t here. Where did you go? You got this strange damn glow about you that had my wolf going crazy. What—”

“Please, Gabe,” Corrine interrupted him, and Gabe turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed in displeasure, obviously not happy at being cut off. “Perhaps instead of asking a thousand questions and not letting her speak, you could just let her tell us what happened?”

Corrine turned back toward April, ignoring the now growling Alpha in the room. “I have a feeling you saw something you weren’t ready for. Tell us.”

April hadn’t removed her hand from Donovan and Jason, and it felt as if their skin had cooled even further. “I sent my powers and my consciousness out of myself, in search of the poison to try to purge it from their system, but it felt as if my mind and body were hijacked and transported somewhere. A place that was cold and filled with ice, and so very unforgiving. It was dark, not like it is at night, but more how it is at dusk during a storm, with not a star shining. And the air was thick with the smell of sulfur.”

April gasped as Corrine said the last word at the same time. Corrine’s face had drained of color, and when she lifted a hand to push her hair from her face, April noticed that it trembled. “The Shadow Realm. How in the hell did he open the Shadow Realm?” Corrine whispered almost as if only to herself.

“Corrine, what is the Shadow Realm?” Gabe asked.

Corrine sighed and moved closer to April to place a hand first on Donovan and then on Jason. As soon as she connected with both men, she gasped and pulled her hands away as if burnt.

“Corrine!” Gabe yelled as he stepped forward and pulled the Fae woman back against his chest.

“I’m okay, Gabe.” Corrine calmed the large man by sliding a hand over the arm he had wrapped around her waist. “Somehow, Kheelan has drawn April’s mates into the Shadow Realm, a place that exists between this life and the next. It is a place of desolation that can consume the souls that end up there, and if he has locked Donovan and Jason within it, then he has used some very old and very dark magic to drag them into it through that poison he created.”

“Okay, but how do I get my mates back from there?” April asked impatiently, not liking the look on the Seer’s face.

“I don’t know,” Corrine said in a tortured whisper. “The people who were able to access that realm have been lost to us for a very long time. I’m not sure if there is anyone who can tell us how to get them back.”

April stared at the woman in disbelief. “No, I refuse to accept that. There is some way to get them back because I fucking will not have it any other way. Do you hear me? My mates are hanging on, waiting for the people who care for them most in this world to come and save them. They will not remain in that hideous place. So torture, flay, kill whoever you have to. I don’t care. Just find me the answer to saving my mates!”

“April, I think you need to—”

“No!” April yelled, cutting Erica off. She knew she sounded crazy, but she didn’t care. “I am not listening to anything else that does not have to do with getting my men back.”

“April!” This time, it was Gabe who raised his voice, trying to get her attention. He inclined his head towards Donovan. “I am not sure if this has anything to do with getting your men back, but it is certainly concerning. Does it look like Donovan’s tattoo is moving to anyone else?”

****

Donovan dropped to his knees on the ice, his breaths coming way too fast, and his heart felt as if it might burst right from his chest. Running was second nature to wolves and as natural and easy as breathing, but here, where he and Jason had been locked in this fucking hellhole of a place for what felt like an eternity, even walking required some effort. For the briefest of moments, though, he had been certain that he’d felt the presence of his mate. They took off in the direction they had felt her, only for the sensation of her presence to disappear before they could reach her.

“Fuck!” Jason roared from beside him. Donovan turned to look at him, only to find his brother also on his knees, clutching his own chest.

When they had first woken up in this strange and frozen barren landscape, they had searched for any other sign of life but found nothing. They scaled one rocky outcrop to get an idea of where they might be, but there was nothing beyond it but more land and ice as far as their eyes could see. It seemed to go on forever. The place felt altogether surreal, and it made Donovan wonder if this was all a dream or if they had been pulled into some sort of other dimension. He saw no signs of a sun or moon, no stars in the sky that remained a constant dark gray, and the stench that hung thick in the air was becoming increasingly more painful to his highly sensitive nose.

And yet, the longer they stayed, the more
real
it all started to become, as if they now belonged in this place. The air also gradually started to feel colder, and the smell of the sulfur began to increase and burn their noses. Donovan was starting to worry. If they were becoming more corporeal here, wherever the fuck
here
was, what was happening to their bodies back in the real world?

Despite how bleak their situation seemed, it got even worse when they both reached for their wolves, and found them gone.

“What in the hell do we do now?” Jason asked.

Donovan shook his head while looking straight ahead. He rocked back on his haunches, drawing air into his lungs, and fought to remain calm. “I have no idea.”

When Donovan looked at Jason again, his jaw dropped at what he saw standing just over Jason’s right shoulder. Jason looked at him in confusion before he turned his head to see for himself what got his brother’s attention. Had Donovan not been in such a state of shock, he would have laughed as Jason cursed and fell backward onto his ass.

Standing before them, wearing an unearthly-looking white dress embroidered with gold lace, was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, startling blue eyes, and when she smiled at them, dimples appeared in her cheeks. Whether it was the lighting in this strange world or frostbite seeping into his brain that had his eyes playing tricks on him, Donovan could not tell, but there was an ethereal glow about her that had him thinking perhaps she was an angel come to guide him and Jason to the other side.

He shook his head at the stranger, locking his gaze with hers. “No! Not happening, angel.”

Her smile grew wider. “What’s not happening, Donovan Olson?” Her voice was just as he suspected it would be, soft, feminine, and celestial.

“We aren’t going with you. I don’t care if we have to stay in this forsaken barren world of ice for the rest of our lives, we are not going on to the next life without our mate. She lives, we live. Simple as that.”

The angel tilted her head to the side, her expression almost quizzical. “Don’t you remember me coming to you before, young wolf?”

Donovan frowned for a moment before a memory struck him. “You’re the woman in my dream, the one who told me to get my tattoo.” Donovan held out his arm, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to show her he had done as she had asked. “You are Ilyra, April’s mother.”

Jason cursed, then slammed a hand over his mouth, but the angel nodded with a smile. Tears formed in the woman’s blue eyes as she whispered her daughter’s name in the Fae tongue. Ilyra took a deep breath, her gaze falling to the tattoo on Donovan’s arm.

“I foresaw what would happen to my beloved daughter and her mates, and what would be needed to release you from this realm. Our family had already lost so much because of that monster, and I could not bear Apriell losing anymore. Your tattoo will serve its second purpose to assist you now in escaping this prison.”

“How?” Jason asked. “Do you know what this place is?”

“You are in the Shadow Realm. It is unnatural for you to be here, lost in this place that exists between the darkness of the otherworld and the light of yours. You need the tattoo to save yourselves.”

Donovan pushed up to stand before the angel, shocked at how weak he felt. “Save ourselves from what? What’s coming for us here?” Donovan reached down and helped Jason to his feet.

The angel’s eyes turned sad, and Donovan suddenly didn’t want to hear what she was going to say. “Save you from death, young wolf. Even now the poison draws you and your brother further into this realm. Eventually, you will cease to exist in your realm, and you will be lost. I cannot let that happen.” Ilyra gave them a small smile. “Apriell deserves a chance to live a life of love and happiness, and that will only occur if the two of you are by her side. To give her that life, you must survive this attack, and you must fight for her. Another battle is coming. She and your pack will need your help to win it.”

“And we will give it,” Jason promised as he swayed on his feet.

Donovan could feel the poison spreading through his now ice cold veins, Ilyra’s words about dragging them further into this realm ringing true. He nodded. “Damn straight we will. Now, tell me how to get this ink on my arm to work its magic. Jason and I are done with this place. We want to get back to our mate.”

Ilyra reached toward Donovan’s tattoo but paused before she made contact. “Tell my daughter that I will love her forever and one day we will all be reunited. Oh, and give a message to my sister. Tell her that time grows short. Her fate is bound to them, and she must act soon.”

Donovan and Jason agreed to pass along the message, though Donovan had no clue what she was talking about in reference to Corrine. Ilyra touched the ink on Donovan’s arm, and he felt a stream of fire burn beneath his skin as if the flame had been set to the ink itself. It burned a path all along the tattoo. He heard another voice chanting, one as familiar to him as his own, but he was in too much pain to seek her out. Suddenly, it became difficult for him to draw breath, and his heartbeat quickened, the sound of it thumping, thundering in his ears. The world of ice beneath him shattered. He could have sworn he heard a man in the distance scream with rage, moments before he and Jason were pulled through the shattering ice.

Donovan felt as though they were falling fast through a vortex of ice. The air felt so thick and heavy around him that made it hard to draw any oxygen into his lungs. Just when he felt like he would suffocate, he tried to use his last remaining breaths to utter his mate’s name, but instead of saying her name, he drew in April’s scent and the smell of fresh air.

With a growl, he sat up, searching for the source of the sweet scent. He found himself sitting in a bed in the middle of Gabe’s den with several confused-looking shifters and Fae women all staring at him and Jason.