Midnight Magic, page 51
Kayden’s eyes widened. “You both are mates?”
I nodded.
Daleigh went on. “Yes. You see now why it was so hard for me to let her go?”
Kayden stared at me and I felt like squirming. “You’re proving to be much different than expected.”
“I told you, I’m not like my father and my brother,” I said. “They hated me, and I hated them. All I want is to be different from what they were.”
The wheels in her mind were turning, I could see that much, I just wished she would say something.
Kayden turned to her father and handed him the gem. “Put it in the vault.”
Her father took the item, and with two guards, he exited the throne room through the back.
Kayden rose from her throne. “I’ll confess I expected to hear from Daleigh that he was having trouble containing you, that you tried ditching him—not to save him, but so you could wreak havoc in the human world.” She paused, her eyes hard. “Twyla, you have surprised me.”
“I hope in a good way.”
Kayden nodded. “Indeed. Because of the recent events, I’ll allow you some grace. You’re welcome to stay in the fae realm, if you wish.” I stared at her, stunned. “And since you were willing to fight for humans you didn’t know, you can also join the Frost army, or Lord Daleigh can create another position for you, so you can fight beside him, should the need arise.” My heart swelled. “Let’s call it a trial period. Prove to me you’re doing well here, and you’ll be allowed to stay forever.” A hint of a smile stretched across her lips.
“Thank you, Queen Kayden,” Daleigh said, the relief clear in his voice.
The queen sighed. “Now, if everything is taken care off, can I go back to my chambers? I was about to get a deserved massage.”
I chuckled.
Farrah grinned. “Of course, my queen.”
We bade her good night, and she left through the same door she had come in. The guards stepped back, and I was able to walk to the front of the palace without escorts besides Daleigh, Farrah, and Wyatt.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was—a carriage waited for us and took us directly to the Frost Manor.
CHAPTER 17
Daleigh
* * *
Once more, the carriage ride to the Frost Manor was silent. I could see in my sister that she was dying to ask questions, but she held her tongue. There were things Twyla and I hadn’t talked about yet.
When we arrived at the Frost Manor, Farrah said, “I’ll go fix us some supper. I’ll call you in about an hour.” She grabbed Wyatt’s hand and went to the kitchen. I smiled at her back. We had maids, cooks, and servants. She could just ask one of them to take care of supper, but she wanted to give Twyla and me some quiet time.
In the foyer, I turned to Twyla. “Come with me.”
We went up the stairs, turned right on the second-floor landing, and went into the dormitory wing. Before, Farrah had shown her a bedroom on the other side of the house, where the guest bedrooms were. But Twyla wasn’t a guest anymore.
I opened the door to my chambers and gestured for her to go inside. I followed her in and closed the door behind us. She looked around the room, and I tried seeing it as she would for the first time. A large rectangle with a king-sized bed to the right, two nightstands, a low loveseat to the right with a table, and in the center, closer to the large windows overlooking the property, was a small round table and two chairs—everything in white, silver, and dark blue. The few decorations in the room were metal pieces here and there and a handful of silver-framed paintings of beautiful snow landscapes.
A door to the left led to the walk-in closet and the bathroom with its claw-footed bathtub and standing shower.
I dropped my bag to the side but didn’t advance. I didn’t want her to feel like she didn’t have a choice here.
Twyla spun around and faced me. “I like your room.”
“Thanks.” I ran a hand over my long hair. “I’m glad Kayden is allowing you to stay, but I know that wasn’t your first choice. I don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to.”
She stared at me, those dark eyes shining. “It wasn’t like I had a grand plan before. I didn’t want to stay here if I wasn’t welcome.”
“You’re welcome now.”
She nodded. “And I like her idea of having me in your army.”
Did that mean what I thought it did? “So, if you became Lady of the Frost Court, you could also become some sort of honorary captain, and you could train like a soldier, if you wished. Or you could help me run this kingdom.”
“Or both,” she said, a small smile hinting at her lips.
“Or both.” As long as she stayed beside me, she could do anything she damn well wanted. “Does it mean you’re staying?”
She shrugged, but I could see the mischievous glint in her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m not sure there’s anything here for me.” She took a step closer to me. “Is there?”
By the snow …
I reined in my excitement. “Twyla, I meant what I said before. We can take this slow. You can start by training with the army and become the kingdom’s lady after, in the distant future. If you want it. We can take one day at a time. As long as we stay here, we have all the time in the world.”
“We do.” She took two more steps toward me. It was hard to stand still and wait. “And I appreciate how considerate you are. I didn’t have any real prospects in the human realm. There’s nothing holding me there.” She halted in front of me. “But here … there’s something I want very much.”
Snow above. I tentatively reached for her and she didn’t stop me. In fact, when I touched her waist, she closed the distance between us and glued her body to mine.
“Twyla,” I said through gritted teeth. I wanted her so bad it hurt.
“Like you said, we have all the time in the world. But right now … how long did your sister say dinner would take? An hour.” She rose to her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, “I think that’s plenty of time. Make love to me, Daleigh.”
I groaned and clasped the nape of her neck gently. I pulled her head back, until she was facing me fully, and tasted her lips.
In no time, our clothes were on the floor, leaving a trail to my bed, where I pushed her down and crawled over her. I stopped right over her and looked into her eyes.
“My feelings are real,” I told her. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Twyla smiled brightly. “Me too, you idiot.” She wrapped her legs around my waist. “Now, please!”
“My pleasure.”
I leaned over her and made love to her until Farrah was screaming downstairs for us to join her and Wyatt for dinner. We ignored her. If I had my way, I would spend eternity holding Twyla. It was right here, it was perfect, and I wouldn’t ever let this go. As long as she would have me, I would never let her go.
* * *
Thank you for reading!
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The Shadow Fae is a story in the Rite World, a universe with several lightly interconnected paranormal series (and lots of cameos!). Find out more about the Rite World books:
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If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy...
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The Vampire Heir (Rite World 1)
The Darkest Vampire (Rite World: Vampire Wars 1)
The Demon Kiss (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy 1)
The Night Calling (Rite World: Night Wolves 1)
Heart Seeker (The Fire Heart Chronicles 1)
Destiny Gift (The Everlast 1)
ABOUT JULIANA HAYGERT
While USA Today Bestselling Author Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. She resides in North Carolina and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.
WOLF CURSED BY KATE RUDOLPH
COPYRIGHT
Wolf Cursed © 2022 Kate Rudolph
Edited by: Gray Feather Press
WOLF CURSED
Only her fated mate can save her from a witch's curse.
When a curse threatens Nora, a wolf shifter and bodyguard, she’ll need Julian’s help if she’s going to survive. He’s a healer, a witch, and a former client. Which means Nora needs to keep her hands to herself.
She doesn’t mix business with pleasure.
But as danger dances ever closer, she can’t resist the captivating man. Lifting the curse that’s killing her should be the end of things, but as magic and peril swirl around, they’ll need to rely on each other to survive.
PROLOGUE
Julian raced after the werewolf pack, but Nora held back. She was in her wolf form, but she had to think about this like a human. The other wolves were on the edge of running wild. If she didn’t keep her faculties, they could all die.
This could be a trap. She’d had a bad feeling about this job from the beginning, and now all of her instincts were screaming at her that they’d been right.
Those instincts needed to shut up. She had work to do.
Her fellow bodyguards were unconscious in the cafeteria, and most of the coven she was here to protect was knocked out right alongside them. The only witch still standing was Julian, and she was struggling against her wolf. Her stupid wolf wanted to grab him and lock him up somewhere to keep him safe.
But he wasn’t the one in danger. Audra Palmer, the leader of Julian’s coven, had been taken by the head of a rival coven, and shit was going down.
It was Nora’s job to stop it.
When she reached the edge of the clearing where a fire roared and the evil witch, Rosalie Sutton, spat her vitriol, Nora kept clear. She’d been right to hold back. Rosalie had hired her own shifter bodyguards, but those men had turned on her, and now she was holding them in place with her magic.
The job was getting harder. Julian had joined the fray and was shooting magic as fast as he could summon it.
And in the middle of it all was Audra Palmer.
Nora stayed in the shadows. She had to time this right. She didn’t have magic or a gun, so she couldn’t keep her distance and take Sutton out with a well-timed shot. No, she’d have to do this like the wolf she was.
Sutton did something with a flash of magic, and Nora knew this was the last moment she had to act. So she didn’t think.
She charged.
There was another flash of magic and she went flying back, pain searing through her as magic fizzed in her veins and blossomed within her. She fell to the ground, losing her grip on her wolf form and changing back into her human skin, naked under the moonlight.
It felt wrong.
It was like tar was flowing through her veins, and her head was fuzzy. She reached for her wolf, trying to switch back to that safer form, but she couldn’t. The magic hit had been a doozy.
It was okay. It had to be okay.
Nora shivered in the cool night air and felt eyes on her. She realized that the tide had turned. Rosalie Sutton was unconscious. They’d won.
Julian wasn’t looking at her.
That was fine. He was being polite. Normally Nora would think it was a good thing that a guy wasn’t staring at her tits while she tried to do her job.
But her feelings were all in a jumble when it came to Julian, and she couldn’t examine them too closely right now. When the job was done, she’d take the time, but not a moment sooner.
Nora forced herself back to her feet and nodded like she wasn’t in excruciating pain. The sooner they got back to camp, the sooner she could find some clothes.
“Any injuries?” one of the wolves, Rowe, asked.
“All good,” his alpha, an older man named Gibson, replied.
“That hurt like a motherfucker, but I’m alive.” Nora put a bit of bravado into her words. The pain wasn’t receding. On the bright side, it wasn’t getting worse. She didn’t know what evil magic Rosalie’s spell had contained, but she hoped it didn’t take.
And if it did… well, Nora would deal with that later.
She just needed this job to be over.
Soon.
*.*.*.*
CHAPTER 1
Rosalie Sutton was one evil witch. Powerful, too. And she was never going to hurt anyone again. Nora rubbed her chest where Rosalie’s final, desperate strike had hit her. It had felt like fire and sewage ripping through her body, turning her veins to sludge.
And then the pain had evaporated like it had never been there.
Everyone was shooting her looks, like it was some miracle she’d survived the curse. To Nora, it was just another day on the job. Bodyguard to the magical world, leader of her shifter pack.
All around badass, not that she’d ever say that part out loud.
You weren’t actually a badass if you had to tell people you were.
Thankfully, this job from hell was just about over. A handful of witches were watching over the evil Rosalie until the proper magical authorities could arrive to take her to witch prison—or wherever it was misbehaving magic users went—and Nora and her shifter crew—Estelle, Enrique, and Shannon—could all go home to upstate New York and take a well-earned break.
She wasn’t happy about being lured out here and nearly killed, and she’d be having words with her client when the invoice was filed. But they’d all survived. More or less.
She was just going to ignore the pesky magic clinging to her like a bruise.
“I can’t believe that bitch spelled us.” Estelle stood outside their cabins and scowled toward the center of camp, where most of their clients were congregating. She was a pretty woman, pale, shorter than Nora and curvy. No one would peg her for a bodyguard. Or a wolf shifter. Her dark hair was pulled back in a serviceable braid, and she wore dark clothes that hid bloodstains. “I tested that food for drugs. It came up clean.”
Nora patted Estelle’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze before she pulled away. “We’re alive. We’ll do better next time. Save your grief for the debrief.”
Estelle gave her a curious look. “You doing okay? I hear you took a fucking big hit.”
Nora grunted. Nothing hurt. Really. “I’m fine. I don’t need more people worrying about me.”
“More?” Estelle’s green eyes lit up. “Who’s worrying about you? The cute witch guy?” She looked back at the clustered witches, trying to pick him out.
“Julian’s a client.” She had to shut this down before Estelle got going. When the woman got her teeth into something, she didn’t let it go. And that was true no matter what form she was in.
Estelle rolled her eyes. “He’s a client until tomorrow. I think you’ve done all you can to respect professional boundaries.” She gave Nora a friendly bump and moved on.
Nora bit back a growl. She was the boss here, she got to decide what professionalism meant. And she wasn’t going to tackle Julian and ride him until sunrise.
She shivered.
Fuck. No, she couldn’t think about that.
“Estelle, wait!” They still had work to do.
Estelle turned around. “What?”
“Do we have a head count on Sutton’s coven? Their numbers are looking a bit sparse.” There should have been twelve witches from that coven. Nora trusted exactly one of them not to be involved in Sutton’s scheme, and that was because that witch, Vi, had been vital in taking the woman down.
“I’ll investigate. One of the cars is gone from the parking lot. And no one has seen Delia Cruz in hours. Might be she took off. I’ll see if she’s the only one.” Estelle left again, and this time Nora let her go.
She didn’t like the thought of Rosalie’s accomplices getting away, but it wasn’t her job to chase them down. This was witch business, and she was a shifter.
Her senses sparked and she scented the citrus and fire scent of her—of Julian Frankfurt before she saw him. He wasn’t her anything. Not anything besides a client, at least. And her stupid wolf needed to get a fucking grip. He didn’t carry the same sense of danger like a mantle, unlike some of the other witches at this cursed meeting. He was more healer than killer, but power thrummed under his skin. He was around six feet tall, pale, with wavy dark hair and cheekbones that could cut like a knife. He was on the thin side, built like a runner, with eyes filled with knowledge. And power.
Nora wanted to know what he could do with that power. She wanted to feel it wrap around her as he sank…
She cut those thoughts off with a mental swipe of her claws. Wasn’t happening.
His dark hair was mussed, and he had shadows under his green eyes. It had been a long night for everyone, and it wasn’t close to over.
“Will you let me scan you?” he asked, his voice a temptation that wrapped around her and made her want.
“I’m fine,” Nora insisted. Her bones felt achy, but that came with the territory. There was no reason to think it was related to the magic whammy she’d been hit with. “If whatever Sutton threw at me hasn’t killed me yet, do you think it’s likely to do so?” Part of being alpha of her small pack meant projecting strength. And shaking off a curse was part of the job.
