Unravelled

Riley’s deep voice penetrated the lingering fog in her mind.

Relief and dread, that’s what she experienced. If he said anything about her presence or current condition, she’d…what? Nothing, probably. Coward.

Not for much longer.

“I was just coming for you, baby. Are you okay?” His strong arms wound around her and gently tugged her to her feet.

“I’m fine. You can let go.” Don’t let go. “Where’s Aden? How’s Aden?” Her lashes lifted, and her gaze met Riley’s. As always, her heart constricted. He was just so beautiful. So much a warrior. But right now, despite that, he looked like death walking. He was shirtless and covered in dried blood. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Come. See for yourself.”

FIVE

MARY ANN EXPECTED TRAGEDY. Death, even. She was braced for the emotional impact, whatever chose to flood her—grief, remorse, sorrow. A combination of all three. What she saw surprised her, and it was happiness and relief that flooded her.

Aden’s room was neat. Clean. The papers on the desk were tidy, and the air was wonderfully sweet, smelling of roses and honeysuckle. Aden lay on the bed, buried under the covers. He was a little paler than normal, with dark circles under his closed eyes, his black hair—with its blond roots—in tangles and matted to his scalp. His body was shaking, but otherwise appeared healthy and whole. She flattened a hand over her thumping heart and grinned.

And yet, Victoria sat beside him, patting his hand, tears streaming down her face. Why the tears? He was alive.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Mary Ann said, burrowing deeper into Riley’s side.

“He reeks of Fae.” Victoria shimmied under the covers and curled herself around Aden. “My poor baby,” she cooed. “You’re so cold. Like ice. Let me warm you.”

Aden, asleep or not, must have recognized his girlfriend, because he turned toward her, slid his arms around her waist and held on tight. Gradually, his shivering ceased.

“What’s wrong with smelling like the Fae?” Mary Ann asked. All she smelled was the roses and honeysuckle. And it was good. She inhaled deeply, savoring, wanting a bottle of the scent to take home and bathe in.

In fact, when she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself twirling in a meadow, thickets of roses stretching toward her, a rainbow of soft, fragrant petals. Warm air. Birds singing. Hazy blue sky, fluffy white clouds. The images calmed her, and her stomach settled completely for the first time that day.

“The stink lingers, and our people will never follow him like this. They will rebel. They will demand a new leader. But to gain one, they will have to kill him.” Tears fell from Victoria’s eyes again. “And he’s supposed to appear before them. Tonight!”

The last was a screech.

“That’s not the worst of it,” Riley said gravely. “I haven’t told you how he came to be in this condition.”

Mary Ann’s eyelids cracked open, the field and colors fading away. So. Weird. For a second, she would have sworn she’d truly been in that meadow.

Riley said something in a language Mary Ann didn’t know, and Victoria paled. “Mr. Thomas to the humans,” he finished in English.

“Who?” Mary Ann asked. “And what did you say? Before?”

“I spoke the name of the Fae prince who dragged Aden into Fairy Tale,” Riley said. “The human tongue cannot pronounce fairy names, and so they use shortened versions while here. Anyway, he once swore a blood oath to destroy every member of Victoria’s family for their part in his brother’s death.”

“Aden is now part of the royal family,” Victoria gasped out.

“As you can see, he’s fine, for the most part, but…there was a fight,” Riley continued. “I was losing. Aden possessed his body, allowing me to kill the—to win.”

Wait. Fairy…tale? “Fairy Tale is…”

“A dimension that coexists next to ours, as well as looking into ours. Meaning, while they’re there, they can see us, yet we can’t see them. Which is why they have all developed God complexes, and consider themselves masters and protectors of this world.”

Another dimension? Seriously?

Why are you surprised? Mary Ann was coming to learn that every creature she’d once thought belonged solely to, well, fairy tales, actually existed. They coexisted secretly. Or not so secretly now.

Victoria looked up at Riley, expression as grave as his tone had been. “Where is the prince now?”

“Still in Fairy Tale. Aden can raise the dead, and I didn’t want a fairy prince zombie on the loose, so I whisked Aden here as fast as I could. There’s a lot of cleanup needed, though, and I have to do it before another fairy discovers the remains—” His gaze skittered to Mary Ann. “I mean, uh, never mind. I just need to take off for a few minutes.”

She knew he feared her reaction to the violence of his nature, to the things he’d done—and would one day do. She also knew war would erupt if “the remains” were found. More than it already had.

So, there was no contest. Whatever he needed to do to survive, she wanted him to do. She released him. “Go on, then. We’ll take care of Aden while you’re gone.”

He’d gone rigid, waiting for her response, and now relaxed. “Thank you.”

After a swift, hard kiss, a whispered, “Be careful,” Riley was striding into the closet, soon gone from view. There was a murmur of falling clothing, then…nothing. Frowning, Mary Ann walked over and peeked inside. He was gone. Vanished. Reeling, she made her way to the only chair in the room and plopped down. Her feet sighed in pleasure, even as her mind continued to whirl.

Was Riley now in Fairy Tale? Was there a doorway in the closet? If so…talk about weird!

“He’ll be okay, right?” she asked Victoria.

The vampire was focused completely on Aden, brushing her fingertips over his face and kissing the line of his jaw. The opal ring she always wore glinted in the light, as if rainbow shards were trapped inside. “Yes. He’ll have to rip open a doorway, which is why he moved out of sight, and then he’ll—”

The bedroom door suddenly swung open. A boy stepped inside, one Mary Ann had never met. He stopped when he spotted Victoria in bed with Aden and Mary Ann sitting at the desk. His eyes narrowed, his mind clearly assessing the situation. He possessed the same dangerous edge as Riley, as if he’d done things—difficult, dangerous things.

“First, how come Aden gets all the hot chicks?” he said, his voice rough. “And second, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?”

Uh-oh. Caught. Aden was supposed to be at school. If Dan, his warden, found out he was ditching, he could be kicked off the ranch. Second, no girls were allowed here. If Dan found out about her, Aden would be kicked off the ranch.

So, either way, he was screwed.

Victoria sat up, her gaze never leaving the newcomer.

“You will leave this empty room and shut the door behind you. You saw no one.” Power wafted from her voice, so much power Mary Ann had to rub her arms to remind herself that she was not on the receiving end of that command. “You will not return today.”

“Empty. Leave. Will not return.” The boy nodded, his eyes glazed. He turned and shut the door behind him.

With barely a pause, Victoria refocused on Aden, as did Mary Ann. He appeared more relaxed, his color higher, the bruises fading.

“He’s healing,” she said, her relief palpable.

“Yes,” the vampire replied without looking at her. Despite the progress, the worry must not have left her.

She needed a distraction. “I’m a power neutralizer,” Mary Ann said. “So how can you use your Voice Voo—uh, command while I’m here?”

“You do not stop Riley from shifting, do you?”

“No.”