Court of Nightmares and Ruin

Chapter 34

Icelyn

I stared at the map for so long that my eyes started to blur. Jen and I had ventured down to the river and are lounging on the grass in a nice secluded spot while I try to devise a plan. I finally threw the map down on my lap.

"Maybe I can go to the Day Realm and try to reason with the king..." I shrugged in defeat.

There had to be a way to convince him to help me. It seemed simple enough, go to the Day Realm and convince a psychotic, iron-welding king that I needed his help obtaining a magic book without him killing me. Seemed simple enough.

"Oh sure, and Kohl is going to magically agree to that." Jen rolled her eyes in sarcasm.

"Kohl doesn't need to know anything about it," I hissed.

"I know everything, my little Snowflake."

I jolted upright as Kohl's deep voice invaded the peacefulness of our hiding spot. Kohl stood over me threateningly, and I could feel the anger radiating off his body.

"I told you to stay in my room." He turned to Jen. "And I told you to keep away from Icelyn."

I jumped to my feet and used my body to create a barricade between Kohl and Jen.

"Don't yell at her. You know just as well as I do that this is the real Jen. She wouldn't hurt me even if her life depended on it."

"Exactly." Jen jumped to her feet, a move I wished she hadn't made. She was now within arm's length of Kohl.

"When I give you an order, urchin, I expect it to be followed." Kohl pushed by me as if I wasn't throwing all of my body weight against him. I hated this stupid, weak body.

"Kohl, stop acting like a Neanderthal and look at what Jen found."

Since I couldn't physically stop him, I tried to draw his attention from Jen in another way. I waved the map in front of him, and he took it, glanced over, and then ripped it to tiny shreds in a swirl of mist.

"Kohl! What have you done? That could be my only salvation!"

I reached down to pick up the remnants of the map, but Kohl stopped me by pulling me protectively to his side.

"I don't need a map to find something I banished myself."

I froze instantly. "You mean to tell me that you put the book in the mortal realm?" I'm hyperventilating, a sensation I had never experienced before.

"Yes," he answered simply with no other explanation. This was just great!

"Why didn't you say anything about it? Especially if it can turn me back into a fae?"

Kohl's eyes softened as he pulled me a little closer, but I was pissed and, truthfully, a little hurt that he would keep something this substantial from me, so I pulled away.

"That book is dangerous. The last time it was in Gregorian, it nearly destroyed our entire world. That book is even more powerful than me or any other fae. It can't be destroyed, so I sent it to the mortal realm, where its powers are useless."

"I understand." I tried to smile but couldn't force happiness in my distress.

It would be selfish of me to bring a dangerous book into Gregorian just to turn me back into my old self. I felt a tear of desperation slip down my face, and Kohl quickly brushed it away with his thumb.

"Without knowing who did this to you, that book is the only other way to return you to normal. The magic in the book is so powerful, it can undo any spell, no matter who cast it...so I have decided to go get it."

I stared at him momentarily, trying to ensure that my ears heard him correctly. A lump formed in my throat.

"I can't let you do that, not if that book is that deadly. I will not be responsible for lives lost of the innocent just for my selfish gain."

"And that's one of the reasons I love you." He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I melted into his arms. I guess I'll just have to get used to being like this.

"As long as we do not allow that book to fall into the wrong hands while it is here, it shouldn't be a problem. The witch that nearly destroyed the world with it is dead, so I will risk bringing the book here. I will change you back and then banish it back to the mortal realm long before anyone else knows it's here."

I felt a slight flutter of hope in my chest. This may work; if the evil witch was dead, who else would even know of the book's existence? I smiled, but then my face fell as I remembered the other clause to getting the book.

"Is it true you need the Day Realm king to get the book?" Kohl's eyes darkened, and I already knew the answer.

"How do you suddenly know so much about the book and what it takes to retrieve it?" His eyebrows rose in questioning.

I quickly glanced at Jen but decided to keep her and her crazy story about a mirror fairy out of the line of fire.

"That's not really important. What is important is how will we convince the Day Realm king to help us?"

"There will be no us. I will go to his court tomorrow and speak with him. I'll drag him kicking and screaming to the mortal realm if that is what it takes to save you."

This conversation was far from over if he believed he was going without me, but this was neither the time nor the place to discuss it. Instead of arguing, I nodded my head in understanding. Kohl reached for my hand, Jen's, and whisked us back to his bedroom. Jen quickly bid us goodnight and left the room.

"Where are you going? You are staying here?" Kohl stopped me as I reached for the door.

"I have to have something to wear. I'm not sleeping in my training uniform." Before the words left my mouth, he had already waved his hand, and I was in my nightgown.

I crawled into bed and waited for him, but he never followed me. He leaned against a column, observing me.

"Please tell me you do not intend to stand guard over me all night?" I huffed in frustration.

"If that is what it takes to keep you safe, then yes."

I turned down the sheets on the opposite side of the bed and threw daggers at him with my eyes. "You can watch over me just as well from here."

Once he saw that I would not relent, he kicked off his boots and pulled his shirt over his head, giving me a full view of his perfect, chiseled chest and the deep V of his lower ab muscles as they disappeared below his pants. My mouth was watering as he climbed into bed next to me.

He laid down on his side of the bed and propped his hands beneath his head with no intention of touching me. His indifference cut me to the bone, and I had to turn to hide the emotional quiver in my lip. I swallowed my jilted pride and climbed on top of him, refusing to be dismissed so easily. My heart lightened when his body responded to me instantly.

"What are you doing?" His voice was low and gruff as he gripped my hips.

"You are mine to do with what I please." I smiled as I pressed my upper body to his and kissed him.

He pulled back, gripping my wrists as my hands traced a pattern along his chest. My eyes instantly misted over as he rejected me again.

"You no longer desire me the way I am now?"

Try as I might, my voice cracked with emotion, and I moved to get off him before embarrassing myself further. He surprised me by increasing the pressure on my hips, grounding me in place.

"I desire you in any form. That is why this is so difficult for me. I don't want to hurt you, Snowflake. You are smaller and more fragile in this form. I would never forgive myself if I caused you any harm."

My heart lept at his declaration so he was not disgusted by me. He was just afraid of hurting me.

"It causes me even greater pain to keep what is rightfully mine away from me."

He growled softly as I kissed him again. This time he responded to my touch with vigor. He doused all the lights in the room with a flick of his hand and claimed me for the second time, and it was just as sweet as the first.