Dark Promise by Talia Jager (free novel 24 txt) 📖

they did that, but decided not to. He was taking me home. I didn’t want him to lead him on any more than I already had.

And I was scared that I had feelings for him.

They weren’t like the feelings I had for Adam, but they were definitely there. I loved Adam, but I was obviously attracted to Kallan. Something in me had awakened, and I was frightened I wouldn’t be able to make it disappear.

“We should find a place to sleep,” Kallan suggested.

“Okay.” I didn’t argue. My legs were aching and sleep sounded wonderful. If Kallan thought we were in a safe enough spot to camp out without anyone finding us, I trusted him.

I watched as his serious blue-green eyes scanned the forest. Pointing to the right, he said, “There’s a place that way where we can spend the night.”

He held out his hand, and I took it without much thought. It just seemed natural. He led me down a narrow path, which opened into a small clearing.

I hadn’t even noticed that Kallan had a backpack on until he tossed it on the ground. Kneeling beside it, he pulled out a gray and black blanket and spread it out on the ground. Suddenly, I felt very shy as I lowered myself to the blanket. We lay on our backs, looking up at the moonless sky. The stars were entrancing. I could stare at them for hours. There was a heat radiating between us, and it was hard not to respond to it. I just kept thinking of Adam and how much I loved him. I couldn’t betray him again…I wouldn’t.

I stole a peek at Kallan. He turned towards me at the same moment. I laughed nervously, but his face was serious. For a long moment, his gaze met mine. I wondered if he was going to kiss me again. Instead, he sighed and turned to his side.

“Kallan,” I whispered

“Yes?” He turned back over to face me.

“I know what my power is, it’s not mind control. They were right, it’s dangerous—well, it could be.”

His face went blank. “Tell me.”

“I can use the ability of another faery I’m near. I absorb what their ability is. But only when they’re close,” I whispered softly. I knew I shouldn’t tell him, but I felt I owed him that much. He was risking himself to get me home.

He was silent for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Remember how I can control your mind? I tried it on others, and it wouldn’t work. After trial and error, I realized I could use whatever ability they had. When I’m with Lena, I can heal. There was a cook in the kitchen, and with her, I could use mind speak.”

“Wow.” He placed his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky. “That is definitely something people would kill over. I wonder what happens when you’re around more than one faery at a time?”

Good question. I hadn’t thought of that. Oh, the possibilities…I could very well be dangerous.

“You’re not going to tell your father, are you? Or take me back?”

“I will get you to your home, Rylie. I swear to you.” His lovely eyes met mine. “As far as my father, if he asks me directly, I have to tell him. Lying is not an option in our world.”

I kept forgetting about that. It was such a foreign concept to me. “I understand. I guess he’ll find out eventually anyway.”

“Hopefully not anytime soon. He won’t give up until he has you under his control.”

I knew he was right. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“You’re welcome.” He turned away from me without another word.

It took all my self-control not to wrap myself in his arms. Just the feeling of his body next to mine was almost too much to bear. I was very grateful that Kallan wasn’t a mind reader. The entire situation was embarrassing enough without him knowing how I felt about him being so near.

Eventually, I dozed, but the next thing I knew, Kallan was shaking me awake. He had a finger to his lips telling me to be quiet. I looked around, trying to understand what was going on. The forest was still dim, but the rose hints of dawn had begun to filter gray through the branches above us. I rubbed my eyes, still groggy from sleep, but didn’t see anything unusual.

He pointed to his ear. I strained to listen, and I could faintly hear the murmur of voices in the distance. My eyes widened and my heart raced.

They’d found us.

Kallan grabbed my hand. Run, he mouthed.

We barely made any ground before a voice shouted into the still morning, “Over there!”

Kallan pulled me behind him and whispered, “Make yourself invisible.”

I closed my eyes and willed myself invisible. I had no idea if it was working, but when I looked over at Kallan, he was gone.

Loud laughter erupted from the search party. Varwik. I would know that evil laugh anywhere. If I survived, I’d probably have nightmares about it.

“Son, I know your aura anywhere,” Varwik called, as if he were hailing a disobedient dog. “You can’t possibly think you can escape me.”

Silence. I pressed against the trunk of a tree, wishing I could merge with it and remain safe.

“Show yourself now.”

Silence.

“Really, son, must we do this? Where are you?”

Kallan appeared and glared at his father.

“Where is the girl?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see her.” He laughed bitterly. “I cannot lie, if I do not know. Why can’t you just let her go?”

“You know why. This is our land, and we must protect it. Don’t blame me because you could not get Oleander to care for you.”

Fury filled his eyes, and Kallan drew back and swung at his father. Two goon faeries were on him before the punch could connect.

“How dare you raise a hand at me!” Varwik growled.

I was so surprised by the exchange that I forgot to keep ahold of my invisibility glamour. Faster than I realized I was visible, strong hands were on me, and I was being dragged towards the evil faery king, kicking and screaming.

Kallan thrust a hand into the abdomen of one the guards. When he pulled back, I realized he had a dagger in his hands. He turned to the other guard and slashed. Both guards went down, clutching their stomachs.

Several dark faeries closed in on Kallan. I tried to think of a way to help, but I was next to useless. I had no fighting skills. Then it dawned on me. I could use Kallan’s ability.

Let me go, I commanded the guards who held me. They immediately released me, both with identical expressions of shock.

Standing on the outside of the circle that surrounded Kallan, I started commanding Varwik’s men to stand down. One by one, they obeyed, falling to their knees around us. I kept my face stoic—I didn’t want to give away what I was doing.

Kallan stood across the clearing from me, his chest heaving from exertion. When his eyes rested on me, there was a tilt to his mouth that suggested he knew exactly what I was doing.

Before I knew it, Varwik had Kallan by the throat. “Stop using your ability,” he told him. “You have overstepped your bounds, my son. Desist at once.”

I couldn’t use mind control on Varwik, and I didn’t know what else to do. I felt helpless—Kallan was being punished for my actions. His face was a dark shade of red, almost purple. Would Varwik really kill his own son?

“Lena!” Varwik’s voice boomed through the forest.

Lena appeared as if out of nowhere. I wanted to feel sorry for her, always at that monster’s beck and call, but everybody had a choice.

“Heal them.” Varwik pointed to the guards on the ground, the ones felled by Kallan.

She nodded and bent over their bodies.

Varwik dropped Kallan to the ground, drew back, and kicked Kallan in the gut, causing him to cough and double over. Varwik began kicking him over and over. “How dare you disobey me!” he spat. His eyes were those of a crazy man. He had lost control.

“Stop!” I screamed. Tears poured down my cheeks. “Leave him alone!”

Varwik looked up and stalked towards me, a sword drawn. “You had your chance.” He raised the sword high in the air.

I closed my eyes. Peace fell over me. This was it—I would die, here, at the hands of the leader of the dark faeries. I thought of my parents losing not only one, but two daughters. Of Sierra and Adam who would never know what happened to me. Of all the dreams I had.

But above it all, I couldn’t shake an image of Kallan.

“Don’t!” Kallan’s shout was like a gunshot.

I opened my eyes, face to face with Varwik’s sword. Behind the leader, I watched as Kallan tried to push himself to standing, but he stumbled back to his knees with a grimace. “Father—I love her.”

The sword drifted down to Varwik’s side, tip resting on the ground as he turned to face his son. My heart had stopped as if I were in a free fall. Not only had I almost died, but Kallan had just declared his love for me.

“You what?” Varwik and I questioned at the same time.

Kallan finally stood tall, one hand pressed to his stomach as he stumbled a few steps forward, and met his father’s eyes. His shoulders were square and confident, not a flicker of hesitation. “I love her. Please, don’t kill her.”

For once, Varwik was dumbfounded. After a long silence, he said, “Why do you think that matters?”

“You were in love with my mother,” Kallan said softly, and there was a hint of pain in his voice. “You know what that feels like.”

“That was a long time ago.”

Lena had jumped to her feet when Varwik charged me, and now she came to stand beside him, touching his arm. “There is another way, my lord.”

Varwik turned his attention to Lena. “If you have a solution, speak now.”

“What if she promised to return when she is eighteen, when humans are considered adults? She would still be promised to your family, but able to be with hers until she finished school.”

I watched as Lena touched Kallan, healing him while Varwik considered her idea.

Varwik rubbed his chin. “Interesting. I suppose I could live with that. If Oleander agreed to be promised to Kallan and return when the time comes. She could do us no harm if she was promised to Kallan.” He turned to face me. “Would you agree to those conditions? We allow you two more years with your precious humans, and then you return to us and join our family.”

I thought of the sword that almost ended my