Betrayals of Spring (11 page)

- Dark Sorcerer
-

I left the warrior’s body quickly as
soon as I became discovered. I stick to the shadows as I make my way through
the palace. I should have known that bitch Calista would sense me around, and
what’s worse is that when Meliantha got near I could feel their power
intensify. Their other sister was there, too, and I could see the light shining
inside of her, meaning that the power of the Four is growing. Her power will be
ready for the taking very soon, but it’s not her time yet. All I need to do now
is keep the girls separated so their power can’t track me as well.

By now Meliantha has probably figured
out that it wasn’t the real Kalen that betrayed her before. She may have turned
her heart into stone all these years, but with this revelation she’ll probably
go running after the Prince like a bitch in heat. That works out just fine with
my plan. It’ll make everything that much better when she’s forced to kill her
one true love. Not only will I get her power, but it’ll ruin all chances of
their union once he’s dead. The Land of the Fae will be closer to being mine.

Poor Meliantha will be useless when I
take everything away from her. I silently laugh to myself thinking back to all
the times I fucked her and she didn’t even realize it was me. I might just have
to find a way to get back between her legs somehow. She had a fiery temper in
the bed, and I know I lost control on several occasions. Her fool of a lover
had no clue I was using his body to have my way with the princess.

I arrive at my destination and appear on
the other side of the door in my true form. I notice the box I brought earlier
is on the bedside table and my vixen is already dressed for the ball. She’s
standing motionless by one of the windows with a blank expression on her face.
Her eyes go wide as she sees my reflection in the window. She turns around
abruptly.

“Alasdair,” she says. “I wasn’t
expecting you so soon.”

“Neither was I, but I came to inform you
of the recent developments,” I add, agitated. She furrows her brows and waits
for me to continue. “The Summer fae know I’m here and I’m sure they are going
to spread the word. Meliantha most likely knows already that it wasn’t Kalen
that broke her heart over five years ago.”

Her eyes go wide and she puts her hand
over her mouth.

“What’s the plan now?” she asks. Her
voice sounds muffled coming from behind her hand.

“Act like nothing is wrong when Kalen
finds you and warns you of my presence. Give him his gift as soon as you can.
Now that they know I’m here they will expect me to go after Meliantha. Their
focus will be on her, so they’ll never believe I would go after the prince.”

She nods her head and agrees.

“OK, I will give him the gift as soon as
I see him. Is there anything else I need to do?”

“Yes, I need you to give Kalen and
Meliantha a little time together to speak before our plan goes down tonight. Do
what you have to, but make sure they get together. As soon as Meliantha and the
prince talk to one another, they’ll realize the past five years were wasted on
false betrayals. He’ll most likely call off the engagement once he finds out
and that will put Meliantha exactly where I need her.”

Breena goes completely still and
clenches her jaw until she’s red in the face. Her anger strikes me as odd. I’m
beginning to wonder if she has developed feelings for the Winter Prince. How
could she be so stupid to fall for the man she has been hell bent on
destroying?

“He’s never loved you, Breena,” I snap.
“No matter what you say or do he’ll always love Meliantha. After tonight your
prince will be dead, so get the hell over it. He’s used you all these years,
and I would think you would want payback for that.”

She lifts her chin defiantly and wails,
“I do want payback, and the reason I’m mad is that I hate being second best.
What does that Summer bitch have that I don’t?”

A million things for starters, I think
to myself. Her attitude is starting to seriously infuriate me. I can feel the
heat of my anger rising to my face, and if I didn’t need her in one piece, I
would put her in her place right now. Her petty little jealousies are not going
to ruin my plans. I use my power to force her down on her knees.

“First off, you worthless bitch,
Meliantha has fifty times more power than you will ever have, and she’s also
one of the Four which makes her valuable beyond belief. Second, you have no
redeeming qualities other than being a filthy whore that will sleep with anyone
and anything to get power, and third, she’s much better in bed than you.”

She’s crying uncontrollably now and I
bend down to grab her chin hard between my fingers. I jerk her face up to where
she’s looking me straight in the eyes.

“I’ve been patient with you all these
years, and I didn’t wait this long for you to fuck it up over an adolescent
jealousy.” I grip her chin tighter and she hisses in pain. “We are almost at
our goal and if you screw this up, I’m going to make sure you join your
precious prince in the Hereafter once all things are said and done. Are we
clear?”

The tears run down her cheeks in
rivulets and her body shakes uncontrollably. Her voice catches when she
replies, “Yes, Master.”

“Good.”

I stand up and move away toward the
door. I’m going to hang back during the ball and try to make some appearances.
As long as the Four are not together, I’m sure I can have a little fun. I’ve
worked too long for my plan to fail now
.

It took everything I had to walk away
from Meliantha. The pull drawing me to her refused to budge, so I went against
all instinct and moved my feet in the opposite direction. Thankfully, Ryder was
with me, and it made things somewhat easier. I thought I was going to die with
laughter when I saw Meliantha’s warrior fall flat on his ass. Ryder scolded me,
like the older brother he is, when we made it inside my cabin. I flipped him
off and said some distinctively aggressive words back to him.

He left me to raid my kitchen cabinets
in search of my famous mead. I can brew a mighty good mead and I make it potent
as hell. Two tumblers will put a man on his hands and knees. I’ve been that way
plenty of times and with the Solstice Ball being tonight, it might not be such
a good idea to get drunk. I decide against going to the kitchen, so I can stay
and watch Meliantha through the window. I notice there’s something strange
going on, but I can’t tell what.

I can see both Meliantha and Calista
look stressed by their worried postures and the frowns upon their faces. If
something is wrong with Meliantha, I have to know. I make my way to the door,
but Ryder steps in my path.

“What the hell, Ryder, get out of my
way. Something is wrong out there and I need to find out what it is!” I roar.

He shakes his head and puts his hands on
my shoulders.

His voice sounds distressed when he
speaks, “She’s not your concern, Kalen. Have you forgotten that you’re engaged
to be married?”

I take a step back and hang my head. Why
did I ever agree to marry Breena? I was so mad over the news of Meliantha and
Finn that I did the most drastic thing possible. One of my downfalls is acting
before I think and I think it just bit me in the ass.

I step away from Ryder because I don’t
want him to see the shame in my eyes when I confess, “I don’t love Breena,
brother. I never have and I never will. I fell in love with Meliantha the
moment I saw her, and as soon as I saw her today, those feelings magnified
ten-fold.”

I hear Ryder chuckle behind me and he
grabs my shoulder to turn me around.

“Are you saying what I think you’re
saying?” he asks, delighted.

I look him in the eyes and say the only
word that manages to escape my lips. “Yes.”

Ryder slowly smiles and looks up at the
wooden beams of the ceiling.

He chuckles before looking back down at
me and points out, “How you manage to get into the worst pile of shit every
time a woman is involved I will never know. You cause more trouble than you’re
worth, you know that?”

I smile genuinely at him before tearing
my gaze away to look out the window. It looks like everyone has gone inside the
cottage since there’s no one in sight. I don’t know how I’m going to handle
this evening with the engagement announcement. I don’t want to embarrass Breena
with refusing her, but I know I don’t want to marry her. I need to find a way
to talk to Meliantha and explain before anything happens tonight. Recalling
what Ryder just said, I do believe I am a magnet for trouble.