Succession Page 3
He chuckled. “I guess we are. Though I would argue that my imagination is not quite as fertile as yours.”
“Actually,” Harley said. “I was referring to the fact that you were once… well, you were strictly 40
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) human at one point, and well… I’m half human and half fae.”
“Oh,” Stephen said, his gaze suddenly growing solemn.
“You managed to overcome the limitations of being a simple human,” Harley went on, hoping to show her interest in his dark side. “Sometimes I feel like I’m still very much limited by the part of me that is human. You are in an enviable position and I can’t help but wonder how it came about.”
“Yes. Human beings are quite limited,” he said.
“I don’t mean to pry,” Harley said tentatively.
“But how can it be that a mere human could come to have the powers of a dark fae? How is it that you went from a human to an all-powerful fae?”
“Is this the kind of power that you think might interest you to have?” Stephen said, his brow arch high.
Harley nodded. “It’s not something that I would have ever guessed I could be interested in, but, yes. I want to know all that these dark fae powers have to offer. I want to see the dark fae 41
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realm. I want to experience it now more than ever.
I want to know what it has to offer.”
And above all, Harley thought, she wanted to know if she could go to the dark fae realm on her own, find Kingsley and Oak, and, more importantly, could she find her way back on her own?
Stephen smiled and reached out to pat Harley’s hand. “I’m glad to see that your mother, the Queen of Spring, didn’t smother you with her inane assumptions of the dark realm. She did always have such a depressing and limited view of the dark side.”
Well, Harley wondered sarcastically. I wonder why.
“When you were very young… that is to say, when I was still allowed to take part in your life, to be your father, you mother was very… well, we can call it overprotective. Though I could easily call it overbearing. You don’t remember this, but when you were a baby, I would go into your room every night. I mean, literally every night. If you were awake, I would pick you up and bring you to the window to point to that full moon. Even as a baby, 42
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) you were enamored with that white orb. If you were asleep, I would watch you for a while, and, on occasion, I would wake you up. I just couldn’t resist sharing that moment with you.”
Harley smiled, and this time she sincerely felt the warmth and happiness of that smile. “I don’t remember that, but it sounds charming.”
Stephen stood and brought the plates to the kitchen. Moments later he returned with two smaller plates, each with a generous slice of pecan pie and a small dessert fork.
“Let’s see if you have an appetite for this,” he said as he set one plate in front of Harley and the other in front of him. “I was always fond of pecan pie as a human. Couldn’t help it as I once grew up on a pecan plantation.”
Grinning, she picked up the small fork and dug in. “You can never say no to pecan pie.”
“You know,” Stephen said as he sat down and looked at Harley. “I’m glad you ended up in the human realm. I’m glad you were raised by two normal, level-headed humans. Now, don’t get me wrong. I missed you terribly. I hated the fact that I 43
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couldn’t be there to watch you grow up. Believe me, every full moon, I thought of you. On many such occasions I would go out into the mountains and wonder if you weren’t out on some other ridge doing the same thing. There were even a few times when I thought I saw you, sitting there on a rock gazing over the valley.”
“My adoptive parents did do an awesome job of raising me,” Harley said. “And yes. There were many times that I went out to see the rise of the moon. At the time I don’t really think I knew why I was doing it. My memories of you at that time were non-existent. But I guess the time I spent with you had a lasting effect on me whether I knew it or not.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Stephen said. He took a bite of his pie and chewed thoughtfully before addressing her again. “You know, the dark fae world isn’t as bad as you might think.”
Harley simply looked at him and wondered where he wanted to bring the conversation.
“When I decided to join the dark fae world,”
Stephen went on, “I was actually trying to right a 44
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) wrong. In fact, I was trying to right many wrongs…
the wrongs of the fae kingdoms.”
Frowning, Harley looked at him. “What wrongs? Haven’t the fae kingdoms always been on the side of the light fae?”
“I’m sure that in their minds they were always doing the right thing, but the truth is that they were always greedy and selfish. Greed pushed people towards wars. Everyone wants more. Over the past years, each kingdom has become more and more closed off to the others. They only want what is good for their own kingdom as opposed to working to make everything good for all the kingdoms.”
“I see.”
“The fae realm should be united. It should act as one. It is stronger as one.”
“And that is why you left the light fae realm to go to the dark side?” Harley said.
Stephen set his fork down and crossed his arms on the table in front of him. He looked at Harley with sad eyes. She had never seen him like this and was instantly concerned.
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“It’s not easy being a parent,” he said softly.
“I’m sure it’s not.”
“As much as one wants to fill their child’s life with joys and wonders, there are times when the cold hard truth about the world around us comes crashing down… and we have to face that truth.”
“Father,” Harley said. “What are you saying?”
“Years ago I was taken in by the Dark Fae King.”
Harley wasn’t all that surprised by the revelation and simply looked expectantly at her father.
“I’d been injured… seriously injured, near death, and the king took me in and ensured that I was mended.”
“How were you injured?” Harley said.
“Were you in an accident?”
“No,” he said. “No accident.” He looked up at Harley, his eyes barely concealing his anger. “I was injured during a war.”
Harley shook her head in disbelief. “What war?”
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“I’m guessing that your mother neglected to tell you about that one.”
“She never mentioned anything about a war, much less the fact that you participated in one.”
“I’m not surprised,” Stephen said with a long and tired sigh as he pushed his pie away.
“What happened?”
“A small dispute between kingdoms turned into a bloody mess,” Stephen said. “And as the Spring army retreated, I was left behind to die on the battlefield.”
Harley gasped. “I don’t believe you.”
“That’s your prerogative, but it’s the truth.”
“But surely the Queen of Spring had no idea what had happened to you,” Harley said, hoping to find some reasonable explanation.
Stephen snickered. “Oh,” he said as he held his fork up to the light and examined it with a cool eye. “She knew. She knew exactly what she was doing.” He turned his attention to Harley. “You see, by darling daughter, your dear mother is the one who convinced me to go to that godforsaken battlefield. She was the one who assured me that a 47
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full-fledged army would be there to back me up.
But they had already begun their retreat.”
He set the fork down and leaned back in his chair as he looked up to the ceiling.
Shocked, Harley could have sworn she saw a tear form in the corner of his eye.
> “I loved your mother,” he said after a long moment. “I really did. I guess in many ways I allowed that love to blind me to what she really was.”
“I’m sorry,” Harley said, not quite certain what she was sorry about.
Forcing a quick smile, Stephen lowered his head and looked at Harley. “Well, that is all part of a very unpleasant past,” he said as he slammed his palm on the table. “Let’s move on to happier times.”
“Yes,” Harley said. “Let’s.”
“Bloodied and muddied, I was found on the field and brought to a charming castle where, after a few days of semi-consciousness, I met the Dark Fae King. Say what you will about the man, but he took me in, and treated me like one of his own. He 48
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) treated me like his own flesh and blood.
Unfortunately, the king had issues with his own kingdom, his dark fae citizens decimated, and he was then banished from the Fae Realms and left to wander aimlessly.”
“And you went with him?” Harley said.
“Not at first,” Stephen said. “The king realized that with no land to claim as his own, with no territory to protect or defend, he was lost. But most of all, he was powerless. He needed to find a way of harnessing some fae magic and with that, some power. He ultimately found himself in the human realm. Here he discovered that a dark fae could gain strong powers by feeding off the fears of humans. It was an incredible discovery.”
“And where did you fit in.”
“Crossing to the human realm wasn’t easy.
In time he came to realize that it was much easier if he had a human being with him. I became that human being. I was his conductor to the human realm. Little by little, the dark fae king established himself quite comfortably in the human realm. But 49
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of course, once your mother heard about it, she was determined to put an end to it.”
“Oh,” Harley said simply.
“You see, she and the previous Dean of Fallen Fae Academy banded together in an attempt to prevent the Dark Fae from settling into the human realm.”
“Did she succeed?” Harley asked.
“Not quite,” Stephen said. “But as she busied herself with the task, I rushed back home to the castle I had shared with your mother. You were sound asleep when I arrived. I bundled you up in your favorite blanket and stole you away…you of my own flesh and blood.”
“Are you the one who brought me to the human realm?” Harley said.
Stephen nodded. “I had to get you out of there. I had to do something to ensure that you would grow up to be a sane and healthy woman.
And I sure am glad I did. Just look at you.”
“Thank you,” Harley said.
“But now, after all these years, it’s time that you learn about your true fae heritage…that of the 50
Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) dark fae side. It’s time that you realize your full potential as the daughter of the Dark Fae Wizard.
As my heir, I will teach you everything that I know.”
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Chapter 4
Kingsley
Kingsley looked at Oak from across the small cell they shared. He knew that Oak was just as cold, hungry and angry as he was. For days now, they had been rotting in the small cell with the dirt floor, stone walls and low ceilings. A narrow slit in the center of the cell served as its only window. It barely allowed any air to flow in and allowed even less daylight.
The sky was overcast, but that hardly mattered except for the added humidity the low clouds brought to the already damp cell.
It was a miserable circumstance to be in.
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“We need to find a way to get a message to Red and Zed. This dark fae magic has limited our magic so we can barely use it,” Kingsley said as he looked at his oversized cellmate.
Oak remained seated in the corner, staring up at the ceiling. “Sure,” he said with a non-committal shrug. “Whatever you say. Let’s try to get some message out.”
“Maybe they’ll know what happened to Harley.”
At the mention of Harley, Oak looked to Kingsley.
“I know you’re just as concerned about her as I am,” Kingsley said.
“I can’t stop thinking about her. I keep going over everything that happened when I last saw her and wonder where she is, what she’s doing… how she’s doing.”
“Same here,” Kingsley said with a nod. “All the more reason to find some way out of here.”
“And you think that Red and Zed are the answer?” Oak said.
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Again, Kingsley nodded. “I’ve been zoning in on them since I woke up this morning. If they’re in the vicinity, they should be able to pick up on my call for help.”
“And if they’re not in the area?” Oak said.
“What do we do then?”
Kingsley was reluctant to admit that he didn’t have an answer to that, but he looked Oak in the eye as he considered another possibility. “At the very least, I would like to have them go and check in on Harley. But, honestly, I think that Harley is working to free us.”
“How do you figure that?” Oak said with a frown.
“You’ve known her as long as I have,”
Kingsley said. “Do you really think that she would allow us to rot in a prison cell for long? Not if she can help it. I’m sure that she is negotiating our release as we speak.”
It was an optimistic thought, but he clung to it.
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) He heard movement from out in the hall and stood to look through the crack in the heavy wooden door.
“Great,” Kingsley muttered. “And here comes the welcome wagon.”
“Cici and Ashley?” Oak said, also getting to his feet.
After some heavy clanging of metal on metal, the door swung open.
“Don’t even think about fighting your way out of here,” Cici warned as she peered inside the small cell.
Behind her were four beefy guards armed to the teeth.
“We’ve brought refreshments and snacks,”
Ashley said in a chipper tone that would have been more appropriate for a picnic rather than a prison cell.
“Ew,” Cici said as she entered the small space carrying a tray of food. “What is that smell?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Oak muttered.
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“Well,” Ashley said, still overly chipper.
“No matter. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the meal we brought you.”
“We’d appreciate it more if you would let us out of here,” Kingsley shot back.
“Oh, honey,” Ashley cooed as she brought her hand to his cheek. “I wish I could. I really do.
But it really is safer for you in here.”
“Yeah,” Cici chimed in as she set the tray on the dirt floor. “You have no idea what it’s like out there. Things are just going wild. The campus is now being run by some dark fae tyrant and his crazy daughter.”
Feigning a surprised gasp Cici looked at Oak then Kingsley. “Oh,” she said. “Did I say that out loud? I’m sorry. I’m guessing you guys don’t really know what your little girlfriend is up to these days.”
Kingsley pressed his lips together in frustration.
“You know, that little girl isn’t as innocent as she lets on,” Cici said. “I saw it for myself. She is in deep with that dark fae and he is teaching her everything he knows.”
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) Ashley shook her head and tsked. “It’s actually quite surprising to see just how quickly she took to the dark side. She is his daughter after all.
It’s in her genes to be like him.”
As images of his hands on her throat crossed his mind, Kingsley remained silent. He knew there was no point arguing with the
m or questioning them on Harley. Every word that came from their mouths were lies.
“Well,” Cici said as she turned on her heel.
“I can’t stand the stench in here any longer.” She nudged Ashley with her elbow. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
They sauntered out and the heavy door was quickly closed and bolted shut behind them.
With the girls gone, Oak and Kingsley looked at the tray of food they had set on the floor.
“Would it have killed them to bring us something a little more appetizing?” Oak muttered as he leaned back against the wall and slid down to sit on the dirt floor. He picked up a stale piece of bread and dunked it into what looked like broth. He 57
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examined the chunk of bread a moment before finally taking a bite.
“How is it?” Kingsley said.
“Depends on how hungry you are,” Oak said as he forced himself to swallow the bite.
Kingsley sat on the other side of the tray and tried his best to eat something. He knew he had to keep his energy level up, but the stale bread, rancid broth and chalky water didn’t help much.
“Do you believe what they said?” Oak said after a long moment. “About Harley…”
“No,” Kingsley said plainly.
“Stephen is her father,” Oak said. “It’s possible that he has that much influence over her.”
Kingsley looked at him. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter who he is, and it doesn’t matter what he says to her. Harley will never go to the dark side.
She might fake it for a while, but she will never, ever go to the dark side.”
Oak smiled. “Good,” he said. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”
Hey, guys… can you hear me?
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Succession (Fallen Fae Academy #6) Frowning, Kingsley looked at Oak. “Was that you?”