Broken Prince (The Broken Ones) (19 page)

Chapter 22:

Power of the
Fey

The power of three Fey coursed through her.

Fire. She burned from the inside out. Her vision
blurred and she stumbled as the trees swayed around her.

I’ve lost him.

She had to think a moment before she understood the
Fey Garen had been chasing had eluded him. Blinking again, she shook her head,
trying to clear it. She needed to get rid of the power, like she’d always done
with Kei. Let it go…

"Aro!"

The urgency in Bo’s call shocked her back into focus.
A hand grasped her arm and she looked up at Kei. His fury had gone and he
looked worried more than angry.

"Prince."

"Rot!" How could she have forgotten he’d
been injured? How bad was he, to have Bo call for her so sharply? She raced
through the trees, Kei catching her arm and righting her balance when she
stumbled more than once.

Finally she found them and slid to the ground where Bo
knelt, Prince on his side in his arms. Before she could open her mouth, Bo
tilted his unconscious body, revealing the Elf’s back.

Through the dark red of blood she saw the slashing
wounds crossing his back from shoulder to hip. Claw marks.

"What? When? How?"

Bo shook his head. "I don’t know. But they’re
deep and he’s lost a lot of blood. He won’t wake."

"Rot!" She leaned forward, lowering her head
to look at Prince’s face. Had she ever seen him so pale? His lips were tinged
blue. Fury overcame her. She shouldn’t have tried to save the Fey. They’d
killed her Prince. They–

"No!" Sitting back, she pressed her fists to
her temples and squeezed her eyes closed. Now wasn’t the time for hysterics.
Prince needed her. Pushing through the rage roaring within her, she struggled
to think…

"The horses," she said quickly. "We
need the supplies. Go," she snapped. Kei stood, and she held out her arms
to take Prince from Bo.

He snorted at her commanding tone, but slipped Prince
onto her lap.

"Hurry! Get Garen to look, too!"

She pulled Prince close to her, wrapping her arms
around him and pressing her face against his. "Don’t die!"

How long would it take to find the horses? She let out
a snarl of frustration. She couldn’t think! If only the rotting Fey power wasn’t
roaring through her!

A gasp nearly choked her. Leaning back, she gently
brushed the hair from his face. "You’re not going to be happy with me,"
she whispered.

Dipping her head down, she pressed a kiss to his
forehead.

It took only a moment to settle him against her. Her
hands pressed over as much of the seeping wounds on his back as they could.

Inhaling a deep breath, she then let it out slowly,
pushing the wild power within her down her arms and through her hands.
Resistance was brief. The power flowed sluggishly at first and then her rage at
the wasting time pushed it through faster and faster.

Heal, my prince. Heal quickly. I won’t let you die. I
won’t!

He didn’t answer, and she feared the power wouldn’t
work. Perhaps she’d been too late.

His body jerked suddenly, and then again. She leaned
over him, holding him more tightly, and continued to push the power and fury
into him.

The scream that ripped from his lips startled her. She
flinched back, releasing him as his back arched against her hands. He slid from
her lap to the ground, curling in on himself.

Power and fury remained within her. She hadn’t given
it all to him, and wondered if she should continue. Reaching out, she stopped
when he flinched away from her touch.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me."

Pain from his words brought anger instead of tears. He
lived, because of her. She should have learned by now not to expect any thanks.

Sound behind her interrupted her mental rant. She
swung around.

The missing Fey froze, eyes blazing as he regarded her
a moment. Baring his fangs, he snarled and then bolted away through the trees.

The fury within her reared up, demanding she follow.
Pressure lanced through her chest, pulling her to get up and run. Before she
could think about it, she did, racing through the trees after him.

For a moment she worried for Prince, but if he was
well enough to snap at her, he should be fine. Then all her thoughts focused on
the Fey she chased. When she caught him… she wasn’t sure what she would do.

Everything became clearer, her hearing sharpened, and
strength soared through every part of her. If she hadn’t been focused on her
quarry she might have given all of that more thought. Instead she pushed the
thoughts aside and ran. Her feet pounded across the forest floor as she weaved
through the trees. Silence was not a priority. Catching the Fey stole all of
her attention.

Soon she caught sight of him again and pressed herself
even harder. He wasn’t breathing hard, yet neither was she. Glancing over his
shoulder, he snarled at her and veered to the right. She followed, carefully
tracking his movements as he tried to lose her.

He feinted to the left. With a burst of energy she
flung herself forward to the right. Not noticing she hadn’t taken the bait, he
ran into her path and she hit him hard in the back, sending them both tumbling
to the ground.

Twisting and rolling, she avoided his claws, finally
coming to her knees beside him and smacking her hands down on his chest. The
strange action took him by surprise and that brief moment was all she needed to
steady herself and begin to pull his wild power and fury into her.

He didn’t fight her, but she didn’t slow down or trust
him. Prepared to dodge or fling herself away at any sign of aggression, she
kept her eyes locked on his until the red faded down through the colors and the
light finally died.

The Fey stared up at her in shock, his eyes
the normal golden color of his kind.

She pushed back from him. "You’re free
now. Go." His fury bombarded her senses. Dizziness blurred her vision as his
power surged through her. "Go! Go, go!"

The Fey scrambled to his feet and fled into
the trees.

She turned onto her hands and knees,
fighting the rising wave of nausea. Too much power. Too much fury. Though she’d
given much from the first three to Prince, she hadn’t given it all. This one,
he had been strong, maybe too strong for her. Her skin itched and burned. The
urge to rend and kill and destroy pushed to overwhelm her. Yet wrapped around
the fury came the need, the yearning, to have a focus for it. Was that what the
queen did? Provide that control and focus?

"Arowyn!"

She started at Prince’s unexpected cry. He sounded… furious.

"Rot it all…" Struggling to her feet, she
found her own tracks and broke into a run. Not quite the wild dash she’d just
had, but fast enough.

She’d given Prince a good dose of power…and fury. She
hadn’t known how to separate the two when giving it to him. In her haste to follow
the other Fey, she’d forgotten to drain the fury part out of him.

She’d known he’d be furious with her for giving him
Fey power. Having actual fury within him as well…she didn’t know what he’d do.

"Arowyn!"

By the time she neared where she’d left him he’d
called her name so many times she lost count. His insistence didn’t help her
own fury. She needed to disperse it, and the Fey power, as well. Prince called
again and she stopped abruptly. He’d moved. She turned east, slowing her speed to
listen for him. Finally she spotted him and slowed to watch him.

Like some wild thing he crashed through the underbrush
ahead of her, not even bothering to try to go around the thicket in his path.

His hair framed his face in a dark tangled mess,
tatters of ripped cloth hung from the back of his bloody, ruined shirt. The way
he twisted and turned, he seemed to at least have used the power she’d given
him to heal.

Moving forward warily, she used the time to try to
calm herself so she could get rid of the fury within her. The raging emotions were
distracting, and she would rather talk to Prince without having unnatural anger
fueling her words.

"Arowyn!"

"I’m here," she forced out quietly.

Spinning to face her, his eyes narrowed. Suddenly he
charged toward her and she scrambled backward, not expecting such a reaction.

"What have you done?"

Banging her back up against a tree, she winced at his
roar. She didn’t try to escape, she needed to touch him and drain the fury. She
needed to deal with the consequences of her actions.

However, the look of violence on his face, and that he
didn’t slow as he approached, changed her mind and she ducked to the side.

"Let me explain!"

He spun and sprang at her again. "No! You gave me
Fey power. Fey!"

"You were dying!"

"I am quite aware of that," he snarled. "You
should have let me go."

She shook her vehemently as she evaded him. "You
know I can’t do that."

"First you use Were magic to bind me into a pack
and now this? Do you know what you’ve done?"

"It will fade. If you’ll just stop I can take the
fury away."

He froze in mid-step. "You have done this before.
With Kei. How…" He shook his head.

"I don’t know how, just that I can do it. It’s
fine–"

"You foolish girl!"

A growl of frustration rumbled out of him and she took
a step back at the sudden rise in anger. His words made her own fury spring
forth again and she gritted her teeth against it.

It distracted her enough she only had time to raise
her hands as he darted forward. Grasping her wrists, his momentum carried them
back until she hit another tree.

"Foolish, foolish child! You have no idea the
powers you are playing with."

"I’m not playing," she snapped. Raising her
chin she glared up at him. "I needed him. Like I need you. I do what I
have to do."

His head bowed down, closing the distance between
them. "Says the little human girl. You understand nothing of our ways or
of magic. Always the child–"

"I am not a child!"

His glowing red eyes stared heatedly into hers. "No,"
he finally said his voice soft and husky. "You are not, are you?"

Her brow furrowed at the sudden change, but she didn’t
have a chance to reply. His head dipped down and his lips pressed to hers,
forceful and demanding.

Surprise froze her for a moment. He was kissing her?
After everything he’d said? The fury within her rose in a frenzy, a whipping
mass of red. She kissed him back, pushing against him, trying to push him away.
Trying to get closer.

He shifted, pinning her hands above her head against
the tree and then he pulled back. His blue eyes hid behind the faint red glow
of the fury.

"I should not be doing this."

She gasped for breath, her gaze dropping to the angry
line of his mouth. "I don’t care."

"You should. Nothing will come of this. This
is…nothing."

His words cut through her like a knife. Pushing
against him, she tried to break free of his hold. "You rotting–"

Lips covered hers, silencing her. As his tongue traced
across her lips she twisted, trying to break free but kissing him back at the
same time because she simply couldn’t stop. Finally she found leverage. Jerking
her arms down, she pushed her knee into the side of his leg and tried to escape
to the side.

His foot shot out, tripping her, but he didn’t let go
of her wrists and she pulled him down with her. Hitting the ground hard, she
twisted and turned and kicked, trying to get away. Too easily he overpowered
her. When had he gotten so strong?

She tried to scream in frustration but then his lips were
on hers once more, his tongue pressing for entry. Parting her lips, new
sensations sent tendrils of heat through her body. She finally understood why
people kissed like this. Melting beneath him, he finally released her hands and
she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed her until her brain felt like it had melted
and when he finally pulled back she fought to find her breath.

Red eyes once more glared down into hers. "Do you
understand yet, Aro?"

She shook her head, having no idea what he was talking
about, not even wanting to try to understand. Her fingers tangled in his hair
and she pulled, trying to bring him back down to her.

"It matters not what I may or may not feel for
you. This will never be."

She frowned, pulling her hands from his hair and
bringing them down to rest on his shoulders. "Will you stop with all of that?"

"No." He kissed her again, a soft press. "Do
you wish to come home with me?"

She blinked up at him in confusion. "But, you
said…"