Page 89 of Marked By the Dark Lord
If Korr’ok came for me and found his old flame as well … what would he do? Would he still want to take me with him? Or would a full-blooded Fae be more to his liking?
“You wonder why I haven’t left,” Fahll’ok said, misinterpreting my body language.
“Well, yes. That’s one thing I’m wondering.”
“At first, it was my family. He took my sister and infant brother and threatened to kill them if I left his side.”
“Bastard,” I snarled, fury renewed at Korr’ok’s piece-of-shit brother.
“But then he got a child on me,” she whispered. “I can’t leave. Not until I have my son with me. So, I stay.”
The misery Fahll’ok was suffering couldn’t be ignored.
“Hopefully, you won’t have to stay for much longer,” I said, trying to keep the resignation from my voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Korr’ok is coming,” I said.
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
What remained to be seen, what was currently throwing everything I thought I was figuring out for a loop, was which one of us would be leaving with him.
Soon enough, I would find just how hereallyfelt about me.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like the answer.
Chapter Forty-Two
Korr’ok
By the time I arrived outside the gates of House Duloke, I had gathered quite a crowd. Word had spread during my walk up the long, sloped hill that rose to the seat of all power in Duloke. People emerged from their houses to line the street. None spoke, but all eyes watched me as I went past, shoulders straight, head held high. They stared, and in their eyes, I read an eagerness. They knew why I was there. There could only be one reason to approach like that in the open. And they looked forward to it.
I didn’t. It wasn’t what I wanted, not at all. I would have been more than content to take Mila from Lady Mirgave and leave Faerie behind forever. But now, returning to the place that had long been my home and seeing the hope on their faces, I knew there was no way I could turn back. Not from them …
And not from Mila.
That blue-eyed, half-Fae firecracker who never strayed far from my mind. Her death had hurt me, and in that pain and the realization of her true nature, I’d sought anger. A place I’d sought refuge many times before. My fury protected me from many things, but it couldn’t protect me from her. By being angry at her, I had only hurt myself.
She deserved more. Deserved everything I could ever give and more. I just had to hope it would be enough to win her back.
The gargoyle-topped walls of House Duloke loomed large over me, a reminder of the obstacle in my way. There was a step I had to take before I could, hopefully, take Mila as my own. Not just her forgiveness either. No, first, I had to do something I’d sworn to myself for ages I didn’t want. Something Istilldidn’t have any desire for.
The crowd peeled back as I stepped up and wrapped my hands around the Faerie steel, the cool metal set into the stone walls on either side, blocking the path of any who tried to enter. For as long as I’d lived there, the gates had stayed open. My father had been willing to meet with anyone to offer a favor.
Duloke had been a good place to live under his rule, and as a power, we’d grown into the strongest House in all Faerie. Lord of lords, my father had been. A Fae, no less, unafraid to rule with an iron fist, to trample his enemies beneath his feet, and the best trickster that lived. Always able to turn the wording of any agreement in his favor.
Living in Fae was not anidyllicplace by any means. But we had livedgood. There was food aplenty, and the only enemies were the Fae around you. War was not a threat.
Now, looking through the gates, the entire House seemed to sag under the soft violet light that illuminated all of Faerie. It looked worn and old. Vulnerable.
Kraw’ok was scared, and the building reflected it.
“Coward,” I growled, reaching up to take hold of the gates. The wards cast upon them unloaded their magic into me. I threw my head back and howled as red magic cascaded down into my arms, etching lines into my arms and down my back. The energy built and built, coalescing into a glowing ball of incandescent red energy half a yard across in front of me. All around, the air turned an opaque red, hiding me from external eyes.
The pain was nigh intolerable, and my body took a pounding from the magical assault, but I hung on, bellowing my defiance back at the gates while shunting every ounce of power I could into the ball.
