Land of Monsters (Savage Lands #8)

Chapter 3

The strong ?uic? burned down my throat, my head buzzing from the alcohol. Tipping back in the chair, I continued to stare at the curled-up figure sleeping soundly on the mattress just a few feet from me.

Her silky brown hair, knotted and tipped in dried blood, had slipped over her eyes like a shield. The urge to lean over and brush it out of her face was strong, making me wrap my fingers tighter around my cup.

Fatigue finally took her down, the need to sleep overpowering everything else, including jumping in the shower. I should’ve been sleeping too. Healing. I couldn’t.

I scoured my head, a small grunt forming in my chest. The last twenty-four hours were slowly sinking in, my brain acknowledging everything that came to light. And how utterly fucked I was.

Of all people in the world, my path had to cross with the princess of the Unified Nations at the bar a month ago. If I had only known, I would’ve run from that place so fast. Or I would have handed her over to the UFN without hesitation. Her family was far scarier than any Mafia out there.

Looking at her, I struggled to see the rich co-ed I first assumed she was, running off with me for shits and giggles. I’d thought her life boring and sheltered, figured she needed a thrill.

Fuck.

She might be young, but she’d already gone through so much. It was a lot to take in.

There was stress enough with her being with me before I knew the truth; now it was like carrying a fragile bomb, and with any bump, it might go off. My mission was to deliver the bomb back to the parents before they arrested me for kidnapping the niece of the Unseelie demon king and the only daughter of the queen and her consort, the hired assassin, Lorcan Dragen.

And with Lorcan came his brother Eli and all her other uncles and aunts, who could string my guts up before I could even make a sound.

I was so fucked.

My eyes trailed over the shape of her face, the way she tucked in on herself, looking so vulnerable. I couldn’t deny she was stunning. That had never been the issue, but now I could so clearly see the resemblance to her mother and father. Lorcan had the same color eyes and a similar mouth, but most everything else was her mother. Raven was a blend of both with her own uniqueness.

Uniqueness… yeah, this girl had it in spades. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever come across a Druid and a dark dweller. The rarity of her and her twin was up there with dragons still existing. Yet, here she was, all five foot three of her, teeming with powers no one could fathom or understand. And when people don’t understand something, they fear it, hate it, want it destroyed or controlled .

I downed my last swig on that thought, rising from the chair, my body and mind restless. I needed air. I needed to think without her in my face, making me doubt everything I knew I had to do.

Stepping outside, I fell against the side of the dome. Snow darkened the sky, the day already winding down. As I took a deep breath, the sudden craving for fairy dust sprang up, causing my lids to shut with agony. Just a little, just enough to take the edge off. The weak-willed part of me nibbled at my thoughts . I had been so good, but the craving would always be there—the need to forget, to not feel.

But this time, it wasn’t from the raw pain of losing Kek and Lukas. It was the thought of losing her . Either to one of the many groups after us or… myself.

She would hate me, but it was the only wise thing to do. I had to return her home. She didn’t belong in this world. She didn’t belong with me.

Though her ex was a moron for not seeing how incredible she was, she should be with someone like him. Someone part of the royal world. I was about as far from that as you could get. She deserved someone who wasn’t on a death crusade.

I froze, realizing I had just put myself among her suitors. What the fuck ?

“She should not exist.” A deep voice jerked my head to the side. The tall African Druid stood a short distance down the path, the shadows hiding him in the shrubs.

I pushed off the wall, staring at him, anger building up my spine.

“You are a tree fairy.” His African accent was more noticeable. “You know this to be true. Black magic goes against nature. It is evil and should be cut out like a disease.”

“Is that a threat?” Stepping closer to him, I kept my tone even, but every muscle in me tightened, ready to fight. “You lay one finger on her, and you will find out who the evil one really is.”

His dark eyes went to me, his face expressionless, but I could feel the surprise. Tree fairies were known to be pacifists, to love all—literally and figuratively. We were peace-not-war types.

I wasn’t normal either.

He stepped back, his gaze still intently on mine.

“She will not only be your downfall, but ours ,” he clipped. “Leave now.” At his last words, he barreled away, leaving me vibrating with fury.

My emotions were already wrenched high. I felt like crawling out of my skin, ready to combust. There were only two ways I could relieve energy like this.

Sex and/or drugs.

The thought of the first one had me struggling to breathe, imagining taking every one of my fears and stresses out on someone so fucking ruthlessly they begged me to stop.

Not someone.

Her.

“Fuck.” I squeezed my lids shut, my cock becoming stone as I pictured walking back in and what I would do to her over every countertop, every surface.

She’s a princess, Ash! And like a little sister…

My depravity laughed right back in my face, shoving the vision of her fucking that kid into my head. Her tits bouncing, her head back, groaning, while he bellowed under her, his hands kneading her naked flesh. The high they must have felt right before. Raven riding him so hard he probably already felt like he died in utter bliss.

My body shook with need, craving it more than air. The intensity, that thrill. It was why I usually had more than one person. What I desired was a lot .

I forced the memory of meeting the dark dwellers, her father, out of my mind, trying to remind myself she wasn’t some girl I met in a bar, a random fae who got tangled up in my life. She was the daughter of someone important.

A royal princess.

Producing a strangled grunt, I forced myself away from the tent, not trusting myself if I walked in. I needed something to bleed me of all this magic building inside.

“Looks like you could use some of this,” a sensual voice purred in my ear.

I turned to see Celeste lounging on a bench by the main fire, her see-through t-shirt doing nothing to hide her hard nipples or the fact she wore nothing else underneath. Her half-lidded eyes were hungry on me, a rolled joint between her fingers. “Think it will ease the tension.” She took a hit, then held it up, offering it to me.

Oddly, my first instinct was to say no, to go back to Raven, but I stopped myself. Why? I wasn’t with Raven, nor did either of us want me to be. We were just stuck together until I could get her safely back home. Celeste was exactly what I needed. Uncomplicated sex. A release of energy, and it would help me heal. Win-win.

Except I still hesitated.

“Come on…” She jumped up, strolling toward me with a suggestive grin on her face. She tapped the end of the joint between my lips. “It will make you feel so much better.” She rose on her toes, her teeth grazing my neck. “And I can make you feel better too.”

I took a hit off the roll, the herbs instantly billowing a cloud in my head, easing my shoulders.

“See?” Celeste grinned, encouraging me to take two more drags. Stress slid off my back, my head feeling wobbly, and I identified the sensation. Mushrooms.

A snort huffed from me. Mushrooms always made me laugh now; Bitzy and Opie would be forever linked to them. That cranky imp would love this one—it was strong and smooth, and she’d get high as fuck off a hit.

“What?” Celeste took a hit before handing it back again.

“Nothing.” Just miss my friends . “It’s good.”

“We have two gardens dedicated to mushrooms and herbs.”

Bitzy’s heaven.

“I might not leave now.”

A hungry smile curved her mouth, and she slipped her hand to the waist of my pants, tugging me through a curtain into a room off the main one. It was a small, dark meditation room.

Celeste pushed me against the wall. The powerful herbs were starting to mess with my mind, my body disconnecting, though I could feel this need to push back. To fight the fall. To stop this.

“Celeste—”

“Shhh.” Her finger brushed over my mouth. “Let me make you feel good.” She lowered herself to her knees, light escaping through the curtain glinting off her blonde hair.

Blonde… It’s supposed to be brown.

She unbuckled my trousers, the sound of the zipper scraping through my head like a warning.

You’re not doing anything wrong . You need this.

Next she tugged down my pants and briefs.

“Gods…” She breathed out in a groan, her hand wrapping around my cock. “Den ?r enorm!” It’s huge!

My head hit the back wall, my eyes closing. I wanted so badly to let go. To lose myself in the bliss for a moment.

Her tongue slid up my vein before her mouth covered me.

My body jerked as visions of Raven walking in and seeing Celeste sucking me off sprang to my mind. They were so real, I knew I muttered out her name.

Celeste groaned, taking me deeper.

“No.” The drugs befuddled my mind, and instead of feeling good, I felt agitated. “Stop.”

“What?” Celeste gasped when I pushed away, my head wagging. “What is wrong?”

“I-I can’t.” The statement came out before my brain had any clue what I was saying.

“You’re a tree fairy, no?” Confusion wrinkled her expression. “I don’t understand.”

Tree fairies weren’t at all monogamous, nor did they turn down sex. It was who we were.

“I don’t either.” I pulled my pants back up, buckled them, and left the room. The world around me morphed into sharp sounds and colors, everything making me more anxiety-ridden, needing to get back to the tent. Like it was my safety. A place I could breathe again.

Stumbling down the path, I burst into the healing tent, and my chest eased seeing Raven curled up, still sound asleep. Guilt for leaving her washed over me, spinning my head.

Discarding all my clothes, I crawled down onto the bed. I climbed in behind Raven and snuggled up to her back, wrapping my arms around her frame and pulling her into me.

I heard a heavy sigh escape me, and for a moment, I felt like I was out of my body, looking down at us.

The man lying there, his eyes closed, nose snuggled into her neck, looked content. At peace.

Peering down at the guy in the bed, I knew he was doomed in so many ways.

The truth was plain to see.

?

Light drifted between my lids, pulling me from a deep sleep. The rumble of my stomach, crying out for food, forced my eyes open to a cloudy day. I could tell by the sky above it had to be midday. My system shut down for over twelve hours. I hadn’t slept so long in years.

Cocooned in blankets and warmth, I woke up alone. Again. I popped my head up in search of Raven, a frown tugging at my lips. An irritated sense of déjà vu rushed over me when I noticed her vacant spot, rumpled blanket, and my empty arms.

Pushing myself up, I ran a hand through my hair, a vexed grunt rolling up my throat. Did she not remember what I told her last time about being on her own here?

Somewhere in my brain, I knew she’d be okay. The people in this place weren’t the fighting type. Even Dubthach wouldn’t hurt her outright; it went against his creed. Yet annoyance rocked me up to my feet, accompanied by my anger at her for leaving this room without me.

Like you did last night?

A hazy memory of Celeste down on her knees flashed in my memory, her tongue exploring my cock. And I had walked away before it went any further.

I pinched my nose with a groan, examining my clothes strewn over the floor, trailing up to the bed, recalling how easily I had stripped and crawled into bed with Raven.

Even after everything that had happened, all my claims, my fears, in my drug-induced state, I ran back here. To her.

Dread kicked like a stubborn mule, knocking air from my lungs. Caring just led to pain. The last time I let myself go down that road, I barely made it through, and some part of me didn’t.

I died with them. I would not do it again.

She didn’t belong here. Not in my fight. She needed to go back home, where they could deal with who was after her. The king and queen were a lot more capable than I was. She should’ve returned home the moment her bodyguard was murdered in that pub.

Why didn’t she? Why did she follow me instead? Drawing me into a situation I never needed to be in? I doubted her family would believe I didn’t know who she was, dragging her to Romania and getting the princess involved in life-and-death circumstances.

They’d hang me.

My emotions turned to ire, pointing at her.

I took the quickest shower ever, needing to get the feel of Celeste’s mouth off me. I dressed quickly and left, moving through the camp, searching for the thorn in my side.

As if I knew where she would be, I headed toward the food tent but came to a halt at the gardens, my lungs hitching. Hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her cheeks rosy and healthy, Raven crawled on her hands and knees through dirt in the plant bed, hands caked in damp soil.

I stood there enjoying the view of her surrounded by nature, smiling as she conversed with an older human woman with graying hair next to her. They chatted away while they picked herbs. Every inch of me got hard, reacting to a kink I didn’t know I had.

Rejuvenated energy and magic thrummed off her. Without the bracelet, I could feel it hum in my bones, making something in my gut flare, then instantly turn to rage.

I was perfectly content before she came into my life. Satisfied to avenge my lovers and be done with it all. Join them in death. It was what I wanted.

She had no right to come along and flip everything upside down, especially because of who she was. Something I could never have. Being here with me was only temporary until she moved on from her ex.

There was no way I would love again, but even if I did, it could never be her… for so many reasons.

I started out wanting her to go home, but now it was my mission. For her safety and for my sanity, I would force her.

“Raven.” I stomped over to the garden, cutting through their chatter like a cleaver. Their heads popped up. Raven’s smile wilted off her face, her eyes taking in my tense attitude. “What in the hell are you doing?”

Her lids constricted. “Gardening.” She returned to digging up mushrooms, her tone combative. “As a nature fairy, I thought it’d be pretty obvious.”

A huff streamed through my nose, her insolence driving a nail through the back of my neck, generating even more exasperation.

I used to be calm and cool. Centuries of living with Warwick set the bar high to invoke turmoil. Pretty much nothing ruffled my feathers anymore. Except her. She had me losing my shit faster than anyone.

“Yes,” I gritted. “I see that.”

“Then why did you ask?” She dropped the fungi into the satchel, brushing back a loose strand of hair with the back of her hand. “Helping Maria make mushroom soup.” She nodded at the woman next to her. The lady smiled nervously at me, her eyes darting between us like she knew she should leave, the tension straining like an out-of-tune violin.

“Raven,” I muttered her name, my jaw tight. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“No.”

“No?” I sputtered in surprise.

“No,” she stated again, glancing up at me with defiance. “Think we said all we needed to.”

“The fuck we did.” I reached over and grabbed her arm, tugging her to her feet and out of the garden bed. “Excuse us,” I said to the woman, pulling Raven with me.

“Hey!” she protested as I dragged her behind the shed out of earshot. “Let me go!”

“Please.” I pushed her up against the wall, catching a flare of red taint her eyes, but I knew it wasn’t from fear or anger. “Like you couldn’t just gut me where I stand if you wanted.”

Her nose flared, a bloom of heat rising off her, seeping under my skin and wrapping around every nerve. My hands curled, my molars grinding, the sensation of her emotions making my eyes water with pain.

The pain I usually enjoyed.

“I’ve asked you this before, but I will ask again.” I leaned closer to her, the satchel full of herbs and mushrooms she still wore padded between us. “Why are you here?”

Her brows furrowed, her head wagging. “What do you mean, why am I here?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, clearly I don’t.”

“Why did you follow me instead of just going home?”

“Because—”

“Don’t lie to me.” I stopped her. “If you were some ordinary rich girl, afraid for her family, fearing the retribution of the Mafia, I could almost see that. But you are one of the most protected people in the world. If anyone could handle the Russian Mafia and Dimitri, it would be your mother and your uncle!”

Her lips pinched, looking away.

I grabbed her chin, yanking it back to me. “Your bodyguard was murdered in front of you. Your other bodyguard was found to be a traitor tied to the Mafia. The leader of Russia wants you dead. You should’ve gone straight home. Been protected by your family. Yet you chose to drag me into the mix. Why?”

“Drag?” she spit back. “Sorry I have been such a terrible nuisance. Guess sleeping with your hand gripping my pussy all night is such an inconvenience.”

I sucked in, my head rearing back, chagrin shooting up my neck into my face. I had no memory of doing that last night. My brain was addled by drugs and deep in healing slumber. Though, I recalled with perfect clarity waking up the morning before with her in the hut and being in the same position.

I had touched her again? Unconsciously reaching for her in my sleep, like I was guarding what was mine.

“I’m sor—”

“Whatever.” She cut me off, her cheeks pinking, adjusting the satchel across her chest. “I know it’s not a big deal. Tree fairies are touchy-feely.” Except I had never done that to anyone else before, never woken up with any of my lovers with my fingers inside them. And I had awakened next to a lot of people in my life.

“You’re evading my question.” I turned it back on her, not waiting to analyze any of my actions last night. Like why I had turned down Celeste and returned to the very person I was trying to get away from. “Why did you follow me that first night when you should’ve been on the first plane back to your parents?”

She stayed silent.

“Raven?” My hands went to either side of her head, and I fought to keep my temper in check. “Tell. Me.”

“I don’t know,” she exclaimed.

“You don’t know?” I repeated. “Bullshit. Try again, dziubu? .”

Her eyes flickered to me at the pet name little beak , and I realized what I had said, but I kept my expression locked.

“I don’t know!” She pushed at my chest, moving away from me like she needed air. “In all practicality, I should have. I get it. But something had me following you instead. I don’t know why, I can’t explain it… I just felt this…” She tapered off, her hand flattening over her stomach. “I have been accused many times of being pampered and spoiled, hiding behind my mommy and daddy, behind the sea of my extremely powerful uncles and aunts.” She took a heavy, centering breath. “Since I was a little girl, I was trained to fight by the best instructors in the world , but I’ve never once had to protect myself. I’ve been surrounded by bodyguards, babied by family, and protected by the royal house.

“For once, I didn’t want to hide behind my parents or have Uncle Lars start an international war because of me. I murdered the guy. Me. Neither my brother nor anyone in my family was going to suffer because of me.”

“Instead you disappear? Come on a suicide mission with me?” I barked, my head shaking. “You think you’re being selfless? That your family is better off not knowing where you are?”

“No,” she shouted back. “But is yours?”

I stepped back as if she hit me, her words slapping my face when I realized the hypocrisy of my own censure. Was I any different?

“I had no other choice,” I muttered low. “You do.”

“No other choice?” She swung her arms out. “Everything is a choice. And you chose to be here. To pick revenge over your friends.”

“Don’t make this about me!” I dug my index finger into my chest, then turned it on her. “I told you what I was doing, what my plan was. I never lied to you. If anything, I tried to deter you at every turn. You still decided to follow me. Lie to me!”

She folded her arms, her ponytail whipping over her arm as she turned her head away from me, drawing my attention to the band around her finger. Dirt clumped the red stone ring, the same color as her eyes when she shifted. I suddenly had a flashback, seeing the same stone ring on all the dark dwellers when I met them.

A family emblem, stating exactly who she was the whole time. All it did was remind me where she really belonged.

“We are heading to Bra?ov tomorrow.” I copied her stance, firmly stating my decision.

“What?” Her head snapped back. “Why?”

“It’s the best place to find a phone. Contact your family and have someone come get you.”

“No!” she yelled. “You can’t just force me—”

“I should’ve forced you the first time around!”

“No!”

“You’re going home. End of discuss—”

A squawk impaled the sky, a dark form gliding overhead, catching my complete attention. Intuition walked over my chest like death, the brown-winged bird of prey circling the sky right above me and Raven.

“Fuck.” Horror cascaded on me like a tsunami when my gaze fully caught on the bird above, recognizing it as more than the average hawk. “Nyx,” I whispered.

“Who? What?” Raven reacted to my fear, her head snapping up to the bird.

“We need to find Iacob now!” I belted, turning for the main area.

“Ash!” Raven grabbed for my arm. “What’s going on?”

I looked at her, a lump forming in my throat.

“They’ve found us.”