My Fair Traitor Read online

  “I know you are worried about me. I know this has been a lot to handle.” He tightened his hold on me and I found myself relaxing even further within his secure embrace. “Please trust me when I say I will protect you no matter the cost.”

  “I do trust you, Jareth. I trust you’ll do whatever it takes to keep me alive, and that’s the problem. What else will you have to sacrifice to keep me safe when you’ve already given up your kingdom?”

  “I think having you in my life is a better alternative.”

  “That’s because you’ve never dealt with me when I’m on my period. You may not think so highly of me after surviving that scenario.”

  Jareth chuckled into my hair. “As much as I love how open you are with me, it’s probably best not to announce such personal details in Nuallan’s presence.”

  “You two must believe me both deaf and dumb,” Nuallan said in a raised voice. “The walls in this odious dwelling don’t offer much in the way of insulation.”

  “Nuallan,” Jareth said, “I think you ought to occupy yourself with that slang dictionary in my bag.”

  I let out an embarrassed giggle and allowed Jareth to turn me to face him. His smile faded into something far more serious.

  “Crysta, I know we discussed waiting to get married until we arrived in the Fae realm, but I’m very concerned about this latest attack. I know our relationship has moved fast for you, but in order to protect you, we need to complete the fated mate bond and perform the marriage ceremony. It will leave us both less vulnerable.”

  “Will you still be able to die if I’m killed?”

  “Yes. I can’t undo what I’ve done, and I don’t wish to, but once we’re married, my father can’t find a way to compel you to break the link. No one will be able to. At least that threat will be neutralized. One less thing to worry about in regards to your safety.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded, knowing what he said made sense.

  “I thought you wanted me to learn a few more defensive skills with my magic.”

  “You’ll still need to do that, but you’ll find it much easier to harness your powers in our world. I’m so sorry, Crysta. I wanted you to be more prepared to enter the Fae realm and take over your throne than you are now, but it is unwise to ignore this latest threat. You’ll be safer within the walls of the Unseelie Court. It will be nigh impossible for our enemies to reach you there.”

  When all was said and done, I knew he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but marriage at the age of eighteen still rubbed me the wrong way, and I had my own demons to battle from past wounds that hadn’t quite healed over. Wounds I hadn’t felt ready or prepared to talk about with Jareth.

  There really hadn’t been much time. Engaged to a faerie after a week or so of knowing him.

  Fast. It had happened very fast.

  Yet at the end of the day, I had to remind myself that more time wouldn’t have changed my feelings for him. Time would have given them deeper roots, and in the long run it didn’t change our level of commitment to one another. Marriage simply solidified and strengthened what we already had. Still. There were a lot of things we needed to learn about each other, and a lot of things I needed to be willing to talk about. I was not looking forward to that particular conversation.

  “Okay. So how do we get married here? I’m assuming a regular civil marriage won’t cut it.”

  Jareth gave me a loving grin and lifted my hand to his where he planted a soft kiss.

  “No, but I know someone who can…er…cut it.”

  “You dork,” I said, playfully hitting his chest.

  My nerve endings tingled as his eyes took on a darker shade of blue. Always a sign that he planned to kiss me for a very long time. His warm lips lightly brushed against mine and then he deepened the kiss, enfolding me in his arms and making all my worries and fears seem silly in the face of his unfailing love.

  “I can hear the disgusting sounds of you two exchanging passionate kisses,” Nuallan said. “According to this slang dictionary, I’m supposed to command you to…um…ah yes…get a room. I do hope you’ll comply.”

  I broke from the kiss and let out a soft laugh.

  These faeries were absolutely hopeless.

  “Ms. Vivian?” I said as Jareth, Nuallan, and I huddled in a darkened alley just across the street from a large apartment complex. “How is my ballet teacher supposed to help us get married?”

  Jareth had traded his massive, magical sword in for a small dagger. He held it at the ready and peered around the corner of the alley.

  “She’s a high priestess and still capable of performing Fae marriages even if she did decide to make her home here in the human realm,” he stated still studying our surroundings.

  I sighed and turned to Nuallan.

  “Is there a reason you both seem prepared for battle here? It’s making me super nervous.”

  “We don’t know when the next attack on your life will be,” Nuallan stated. “Entering the building and using the elevator to ascend to the fifth floor is risky.”

  I tried to stick my head out the alley to see if I spotted anything suspicious, but Jareth blocked my way.

  Kill joy!

  Due to their supreme paranoia, I had left Nala with my neighbor, Mrs. Armijo, until we came back. We had no idea if faerie assassins would show up at my apartment while we were gone and randomly kill my cat. For all I knew, there were probably faeries who ate cats for breakfast.

  “Is there a reason we can’t just apparate within her apartment?”

  “She’s put wards on it. Believe me, I wouldn’t risk this if it weren’t absolutely necessary,” he whispered.

  “You know you could just call her, right?”

  Nuallan and Jareth both paused in their diligent “guarding” to give me a bemused look.

  “Call her?” Nuallan asked. “Do you really believe she’d hear us from our location? Not to mention the attention we’d draw to ourselves by shouting at the top of our lungs.”

  I pinched my eyes shut and slapped a hand to my forehead. Then I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and found Ms. Vivian in my contacts, dialing her number while my dumbfounded protectors watched with mystified expressions.

  She answered the phone as if she’d been expecting my call.

  “There have been stirrings in the Fae realm, Crysta. I’m assuming those stirrings have to do with a certain Winter faerie being soul-linked to a certain Summer faerie.”

  “How did you know about the soul link?” I wondered.

  Ms. Vivian’s husky chuckle crossed the line.

  “Tell our fair prince I’ve lowered the wards for him.”

  Then she hung up.

  Well, she certainly didn’t waste time with needless chit chat. Never did get warm fuzzies from the woman.

  I put my phone back in my pocket as I said, “She’s lowered the wards for us.”

  My attention went back to my companions when nothing but silence met my announcement. Jareth stared at me with a chagrined smile while Nuallan looked as if he’d been bowled over by a shot of magic.

  “Did you two seriously never consider the fact that Ms. Vivian might have her own contact information after all these years?”

  Jareth let out a chuckle and then wrapped both his arms around me, transporting us into Ms. Vivian’s apartment before I had a chance to prepare myself.

  Chump.

  I clung tightly to him as the world righted itself. Lifting my eyes to his, I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips.

  “You do that on purpose.”

  “Of course I do. It’s another opportunity to get my arms around you.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

  “How very sweet,” Ms. Vivian said, amusement tinging her words.

  Nuallan suddenly appeared next to us. My ballet teacher’s eyes widened and then narrowed.

  “Well, I wasn’t aware there would be more of you. I’m assuming you’re the best man?”

&nbs
p; “The best man?” Nuallan asked. “Not at all. I believe that accolade is reserved for our prince.”

  Ms. Vivian rolled her eyes. “This is why I can never go back to the Fae realm. So much is lost in translation.”

  “You know why we’re here?” I asked.

  Ms. Vivian nodded. Her white hair floated down her back in attractive waves, softening the normally hard lines and ridges of her face. She wore ballet flats, yoga pants, and a light-weight jacket. I’d never seen her looking quite so comfortable. It was a little jarring.

  “Your soul link is at risk so long as you two remain unwed. I’m happy to perform the ceremony, but there’s no telling what will occur once your core magic is bound together.”

  I raised my hand in an attempt to stop what I suddenly felt was a situation I didn’t have a handle on.

  “Wait a second. I thought the marriage made our soul link unbreakable and that our elemental magics would mingle. No one said anything about cores being bound together.” I turned to Jareth, concerned that he was yet again risking his life in an attempt to save mine. “You said I couldn’t combine my core magic with the Stargis king’s core magic.” I pulled the amber stone from the safety of my pocket. Ms. Vivian gasped in surprise when I held it out to Jareth. “You said it would kill me. How is this situation any different, and who is truly at risk here?”

  Jareth’s jaw line grew firm and unyielding, a sure sign he was about to argue with me without being willing to give me all the necessary details concerning our current predicament.

  Ms. Vivian approached and reached out to touch the stone, but stayed her hands just above it without making contact. I’d never seen her lose her composure before, but the core magic I held in my hand had done more than that. Her wide eyes and heavy breathing let me know just how crazy it was for me to be in possession of this magic.

  “Where did you get that?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

  “The Stargis king gave it to me right before he died.”

  Her sharp eyes shot from the stone to Jareth. Her eyebrows narrowed in consternation.

  “Explain, Prince Jareth, and don’t leave a single thing out.”

  Jareth went into great detail about the attack in the library, the warning the Stargis king gave us, and the way he’d killed himself to place his core magic in my care.

  Ms. Vivian visibly shook as she took a few steps back from the stone.

  “It shouldn’t be possible for her to even touch the stone. It’s one thing to combine your cores together. There’s a chance no one will be hurt since you are fated mates. The fact that your souls are meant for one another has the potential to turn all that we believe about elemental magic on its head, but she has no such bond with the Stargis king.”

  “I thought she was able to hold it because the king essentially made her its caretaker until the heir can be found.”

  “I think you’ll find that the king’s decision to entrust his magic into her care is far more significant than that.”

  Her eyes fixed on me for a moment. All sorts of thoughts, impressions, and conclusions were being made in that sharp mind of hers, but her expression soon smoothed into something completely unreadable. I knew I wasn’t going to get any answers from her when it came to the core magic I held in my hand.

  She motioned for me to put the core back in its resting place and didn’t come near me again until it was out of sight. I wondered if she was afraid of touching it or being exposed to it for too long.

  “Since we have no way of knowing how this is going to play out, might I suggest that your friend here step back several paces?” Ms. Vivian said.

  “I’m not afraid,” Nuallan stated. It was obvious her suggestion had completely offended him. “I’ll remain by my prince.”

  Ms. Vivian rolled her eyes a little, but didn’t do anything else to change his mind. Since I had no idea what to expect, I didn’t really know what he should be protecting himself against.

  “Crysta and Jareth, please face one another, raise your right hands, and place them on each other’s chests where your core magic resides.”

  We did as we were told. Jareth’s hand felt warm and a bit tingly as it rested just underneath my collarbone. He gave me an encouraging smile and then a wicked smirk. I shook my head and fought my own little smile. This whole wedding thing wasn’t exactly going how I’d always envisioned.

  No engagement ring. No wedding ring. No wedding dress.

  I was wearing jeans and a light blue T-shirt for heaven’s sake.

  But Jareth’s warm touch and the happiness he exuded made all of that seem pretty silly and superficial.

  “Crysta, since you are unfamiliar with these proceedings, I must warn you we will be performing a spell that bonds core magic together. Since Summer and Winter magic does not complement one another, I have no idea if your core will accept Jareth’s or if his will accept yours. I’ll not stand in the way of fate, however, so I will need you to repeat the words I give you in order to complete the spell. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said, never taking my eyes from Jareth.

  “All right.” She placed one hand over Jareth’s where it rested on my chest and then placed her other hand over mine where it rested on his. “Jareth repeat after me. Lucis et amoris in saecula adiuro te animo meo core.”

  Jareth repeated the words and then paused as she continued.

  “Non autem potest hoc magicis undo. Et numquam est duobus diebus.”

  He repeated the words with the sweetest look of contentment on his face. I was so mesmerized by it I almost missed the golden glow spreading from his chest into my hand. I watched in fascination as it covered my hand and remained there for a few moments before traveling down my wrist, over my forearm, up my shoulder, and toward my heart. I noticed it didn’t penetrate my core, simply hovered there. The warm tingles felt like sweet kisses against my skin.

  “Okay, here comes the tricky part. It’s your turn, Crysta,” Ms. Vivian said. “Repeat after me.”

  I repeated the very same words she had given to Jareth. When I finished, I waited for some kind of light to spring forth from my own chest and travel down Jareth’s arms, but nothing happened. Ms. Vivian’s eyes narrowed.

  “Hmm. I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” she mumbled. “Has Jareth’s core magic penetrated your heart?”

  “No.”

  “And you feel nothing from your core reaching out toward him?”

  “No,” I said again.

  “That’s impossible,” Jareth said. “We’re fated mates. Something should be happening.” His eyes held a hint of desperation that mirrored my own feelings. Was it possible we had both been wrong? Were our marks a fluke and our souls never meant for one another? Had this been one monumental screw up by nature itself?

  “It has nothing to do with that, Jareth.” Ms. Vivian shifted and removed his hand from my chest, replacing it with hers. She closed her eyes and whispered a few words under her breath. Within a few moments her eyes snapped open and she took in a sharp inhalation.

  “She’s been sequestered.”

  “What?” both Jareth and I said. I was confused, but Jareth was outraged.

  “A crude term for a binding spell,” she said, directing her explanation to me. Then she turned to Jareth.“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. She was a changeling, Jareth. It’s common for parents to bind their changeling’s magic as an infant. If a faerie is to survive in the human realm they can’t inadvertently use their magic before they are even capable of speech or mobility, and in this case, her parents would have wanted to keep her and her magic hidden from others who would hurt her. Binding her magic kept her from being identified. This is why a faerie is always assigned to a changeling in the human realm. They teach the child who they are and eventually lift the binding spell.”

  “But I can still freeze things,” I said.

  “I don’t doubt that, Crysta,” Ms. Vivian nodded. “I sense you to be incredibly powerful, but what little magic you
do have access to is a mere trickle of what you truly possess. Most likely the binding spell grew slightly weak and allowed you access or your need overwhelmed the spell. Either way, you don’t have access to your core magic, and you won’t until the spell is removed.”

  “That’s going to be impossible,” Jareth said. He barely got the words out through the clenching of his jaw.

  “Why?” Ms. Vivian asked.

  “Because the faerie assigned to watch over her never came forward to claim her once her human guardians were killed. We think that person betrayed the royal family and attempted to kill Crysta.”

  Ms. Vivian shook her head in dismay.

  “This isn’t good, Prince. There are thousands of binding spells that could have been used and various ways the spell could have been locked into place.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  Nuallan spoke up for the first time.

  “Many faeries will create a sort of magical key or magical password that prevents another faerie from gaining access to the fabric of the spell. A spell is a weaving of magical entities. You can undo a spell in the same way you might undo the weaving of a rug, by pulling on the thread and unraveling the whole. Without the password, Jareth cannot gain access to that thread. He won’t be able to figure out how to undo the spell.”

  “I’m going to be bound forever?”

  “No,” Jareth said. “We will find a way to break this, either through trial and error or by finding the person responsible for betraying you. That individual will know exactly how to undo the spell.”

  Ms. Vivian didn’t have much to offer in the way of encouragement.

  “I don’t like the thought of your taking Crysta to the Fae realm with her so vulnerable. You don’t know who the traitor is. You have no way to free her magic, and your inability to marry her leaves your soul link compromised. Crysta is a sitting duck in our realm.”

  “She’s just as vulnerable here,” Jareth argued. “At least within the actual castle she will be protected by her own people.”