Blood Tithe (The Lost Cove Darklings Book 2) Read online

  Fhaescratch cleared his throat, pulling Tristen from his thoughts. He slapped him with a look of warning. “Do not cross the line, and do not make me regret this.”

  “Understood,” Tristen said.

  Fhaescratch jerked his chin toward the door. “Get out.”

  As Tristen strode down the hall toward his chamber, he allowed relief to wash over him. He wasn’t free to love Felicity, but he could make sure she was safe. There was no question that Felicity could take care of herself, but if a Seelie Fae used magic against a Laltog, self-defense or not, even the king would be unable to protect her.

  As he rounded the corner, Tristen came face to face with the source of his unrest. Elder Conlan froze in the middle of the hallway, bending into a deep bow. His dark hair fell over his face, but Tristen didn’t miss the way his expression had twisted in disgust when he looked at him.

  “Your Highness,” Conlan said.

  Tristen nodded to acknowledge his gesture and kept walking. As he passed the first Elder, the musty odor of dried flowers wafted from him like a dense cloud.

  Hunger.

  Chapter 3

  Lyric studied the parchment Spraff, her favorite owl, had delivered early that morning. She had believed the abductions in the Southeast region had started with Seth Erwin. She was wrong.

  “More?”

  Lochlan, dressed in the black fighting leathers of the Unseelie guards, crossed the room and sat down across from her, examining the parchment and paper scattered across the small table in their quarters.

  She nodded. “These date back a year, and all of the missing persons are within a two hour radius of Lost Cove. They all share the same attributes. Fhaescratch has been stealing humans.”

  Her husband leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and examined a few of the reports.

  “Fhaescratch said all the humans in Lost Cove were there of their own volition,” Lyric said. “Maybe they are, but these numbers are shocking.”

  Lochlan scoffed. “Fhaescratch said ‘nearly all’ the humans in Lost Cove were there of their own volition, not all. And we cannot take his word for it. He is a notorious liar and master manipulator. We found him after all these years, and he used our daught—” He cleared his throat. “He used Felicity to make sure he stayed alive and escaped the consequences for the last uprising.”

  Lyric felt the tears pricking her eyes, but she pushed them down. “And he’s still using her. I realize he needs a Mage to keep Lost Cove hidden, but he doesn’t need a powerful Fae royal for that. There’s something more we’re missing, and I cannot wrap my mind around what it is.”

  Lochlan thumbed through more of the pages, his brows wrinkling. They’d done nothing other than investigate Fhaescratch’s activity since King Padraic offered them sanctuary in the Unseelie Realm two weeks ago. Because she was exiled, Lyric could not return to the Seelie Realm, and because of what had happened with Seth Erwin and Felicity, they couldn’t remain in the human realm. So Padraic and Juliet had opened their home to them, tasking them with leading the initiative to discover what the Laltog King was doing with the humans he stole and forced into his tiny realm.

  What they had discovered was an increase in the amount of missing teens and young adults within a two hour drive of Lost Cove, all of them between the ages of sixteen and twenty, equal numbers of males and females. Ten humans from Erwin, Gatlinburg, Telford, Mountain City, and Elizabethton had been reported missing from Tennessee. Fifteen were reported from Asheville, Burnsville, Cherokee, Blowing Rock, and Maggie Valley in North Carolina. One per month went missing, and no bodies were ever recovered or charges pressed. The humans feared a serial killer, though they had no evidence to support their claim, other than proximity and frequency. According to the small band of Unseelies they had sent to investigate, all those who had gone missing were strong, healthy, and athletic, most of them members of high school and college sports teams.

  “I find it hard to believe that this many young humans would be so unsatisfied with their lives that they would volunteer to leave their realm for another,” Lochlan said. “We have to explore all the alternatives.”

  A mixture of fear and dread coiled in Lyric’s chest. “Juliet swears that human blood is not more potent or valuable if the victims are in better physical health. It doesn’t seem likely Fhaescratch would risk exposure of taking humans who would clearly be missed, like Seth Erwin.”

  “But he’s always been power hungry to the point of delusion,” Lochlan pointed out. “Maybe he simply thinks he will continue to get away with it, especially now that he has Felicity. When she comes into her full power next year, Fhaescratch could feasibly take whomever he wanted, however many he wanted, without consequence.”

  Lyric folded her hands and rested her forehead against them. “We have to get her out of there. We have to get them all out of there.”

  Lochlan reached across the table and took her hand. She raised her head. His expression was like iron to her soul. “She chose to stay. Barrett made an Incorruptible Vow with Fhaescratch. We cannot rescue Felicity without killing her father. If Felicity ever leaves Lost Cove, I’m afraid she’s going to have to save herself.”

  There was no stopping the tears that flooded Lyric’s eyes. They poured over, freezing to her cheeks like diamonds in a surge of Winter magic. She missed Felicity. She missed Raven and Nan. She only hoped that her imaginings were far worse than what her family was enduring at the whims of Fhaescratch.

  Chapter 4

  Felicity had always thought she could never be more of a freak than she had been at Prosperity High. Clearly, she hadn’t anticipated pointy ears and a lame uniform. She stared in the mirror, just as horrified by the total ensemble as she had been two weeks ago when Agnes Dunn, the school headmistress, had delivered uniforms for her and Raven. Felicity eyed the knee-length skirt, which was a dowdy gray that made the centimeter of skin just below her knee appear even paler. It was paired with a white long sleeve button-up shirt with a scalloped collar that poked out like butterfly wings over the black sweater vest.

  Well, at least it wasn’t khaki. And there was no tie.

  But the knee socks?

  Felicity was convinced the knee socks had been delivered straight from the bowels of hell. She felt like a twelve year old. Apparently, the humans on the Lost Cove school board had decided that their daughters’ bare skin needed to be protected from view at all times. Thus, the stupid uniform. When not in school, girls in Lost Cove wore long, plain dresses, Amish in style, that hung mid-calf in muted colors of gray, pink, and light blue. They were at least more comfortable than the uniform, but Felicity hadn’t been able to decide which style was worse. She’d give her right kidney for her tartan rocker pants, but girls in Lost Cove didn’t wear pants. It would be “unseemly.” Gag.

  “Still hate ‘em?” Raven poked her head in their bedroom door, smirking at Felicity’s look of disgust.

  She tugged at the sock’s elastic top, which was digging into her flesh. “They itch, they’re uncomfortable, and God forbid I show even a sliver of my lower leg.”

  “Don’t forget about your ankles. A woman’s bare ankle is sure to ignite universal lust among all the male students.” Raven stepped inside and sat down on the edge of her twin bed, cradling a plate of eggs. “Nan made breakfast if you’re interested.”

  Felicity’s stomach grumbled. She’d grab a muffin on the way out.

  “Knee socks aside, you look amazing,” Raven said. “Everything’s been so crazy, I don’t think I’ve told you that.”

  Felicity turned and looked at Raven, the uniform looking much better against the amazing backdrop of her friend’s darker complexion and thin frame.

  “My boobs are too big to be wearing a collar this high,” she grumbled. “Or a sweater vest.”

  Raven shook her head. “You’re in a mood today. How was your walk home with His Highness?”

  Felicity blew out a frustrated breath. “Not nearly long enough.”

  “That�
�s what I figured,” Raven said, “which totally explains your mood. But I mean it. I know you look in the mirror and see an outcast, but you are absolutely gorgeous. You always have been, but even more so now. It’s like...I don’t know...Now, you look like you were always meant to—if that makes sense.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” Felicity said. She plopped down beside Raven. “Sorry I’m being a bitch. I just really hate this uniform.”

  “And you really don’t hate His Highness.”

  “No,” Felicity said. “I really don’t.”

  Raven wrapped an arm around Felicity and squeezed, nearly spilling her half-eaten plate of eggs. “For the record, I really hate these fucking knee socks, too.”

  “I feel like I’m in some kind of Amish novel,” Felicity said. “You know, where the virginal maiden bares her shoulder and trembles with forbidden lust when the wholesome hottie happens to turn a corner and see her.”

  “Trust me,” Raven said. “As the book expert, these skirts are way too short for an Amish romance.”

  “And not nearly short enough for a steamy paranormal.” Which is totally what Felicity would have preferred.

  “Can’t argue with you there.” Raven released her and stood up. “Ready to head to school?”

  Felicity leaned back against the mattress, supporting herself on her elbows. She raised an eyebrow. “Any reason you’re in such a hurry to get to class?”

  When she and Raven had walked into their lit class last week, her bestie had come face to face with a blast from her foster care past. Felicity’s lips twitched as she tried to suppress a smile. Raven didn’t have crushes all that often because she was really skeptical of...well, everyone...but Felicity had never seen her so flustered over a guy.

  “Shut up,” Raven said. She turned, fluffing her curls in the mirror. “But do I look okay?”

  “Hot enough for Dante Zamora?” Felicity rolled her R to accentuate his general hotness.

  “I’m leaving,” Raven said, grabbing a pillow and hurling it at Felicity.

  Laughing, Felicity scrambled after her, swiping her backpack from the floor. Raven had met Dante in eighth grade during a brief stint in the children’s home in Bristol, and they’d made out a couple of times. After Raven had been placed with another family, they’d kept in touch, but before summer, the calls, texts, and emails had stopped. He was a year older, and Raven had assumed he’d lost interest. Ironically enough, he was still interested. As it turned out, he’d been recruited to come to Lost Cove for a better life.

  When they stepped outside, Nan was in the garden beside the house, pulling weeds from the patch of white sage that lined the brick bed. She waved them off as they headed along the path that wound around the Laltog’s castle and down the hill toward the human settlement. The scent of smoke from last night’s fire still lingered in the air like campfire. But even a massive fire wasn’t enough to cancel school. Felicity groaned.

  Lost Cove Academy was a large two-story stone building across from Dr. Shelton’s medical office. The campus was at the edge of the tree line in front of one of the steep ridges that surrounded their little cove. Both humans and Laltogs attended the school, and while everyone behaved with a sort of restrained politeness, the humans and the Laltogs didn’t exactly mingle.

  From the top of the hill, Felicity spotted the humans heading out of their homes and making their way toward the school. Behind them, the Laltogs were walking down the steep stone stairs of the castle. As usual, Felicity and Raven were caught in the middle, treated with equal parts skepticism and caution by both factions. Only Seth Erwin and Dante Zamora had been openly friendly toward them. Seth’s disappearance totally made sense now, and in Lost Cove, he was surprisingly less of an asshole than he had been at Prosperity High. Maybe with the sudden realization that Felicity probably could shrivel his dinky winky as she had pretended to do a few weeks ago, he hadn’t sent any more paper airplanes bearing inappropriate illustrations zooming toward her. She still despised him, but he was more tolerable now that he actually had to follow rules.

  On the Laltog side, Tristen and his friend, Luca, had treated them with cordial respect—very distant cordial respect that Felicity hated. The other Laltogs kept their distance.

  Everyone else treated them like they had the plague.

  Kyla, who was a few years older and out of school already, had worked double-time to poison the humans and Laltogs against Felicity—and Raven by association. If she had thought Libby Tinker, Seth’s old girlfriend, had been a mean girl, she was nothing compared to Kyla. Nan and Tristen both had warned her and Raven to keep their mouths shut and steer clear of the fallen princess. Kyla was angry, jealous, and unpredictable, which meant Felicity had to stay on her guard. In Prosperity Glen, she’d had to beware of other girls trying to rip her hair out. In Lost Cove, the price would be blood.

  “Good morning, ladies.”

  Felicity jumped at the familiar voice, whirling to see Tristen and Luca trotting down the path behind them. Her stupid little heart gave a genuine pitter patter at the sight of her Laltog Prince in his uniform. Where she looked like a frumpy twelve year old, Tristen looked like a runway model—much hotter than anyone should be allowed to look. Raven elbowed Felicity.

  “Morning,” she blurted. “Your Highness. And Luca.”

  Luca laughed openly at her awkwardness while Tristen’s lips did that twitchy thing he did when he was fighting off laughter. She groaned internally.

  Luca picked up the pace and started talking to Raven about their Algebra homework, while Tristen hung back with Felicity. He was careful to avoid contact with her, but he leaned close, scanning the area for eavesdroppers.

  “Watch yourself.” He spoke low and fast. “Stay out of Kyla’s way, and avoid Elder Conlan like the plague he is.”

  Felicity stared straight ahead, her fluttery heart turning fearful. “He was following me yesterday near the creek. I was trying to circle back to the cottage when Luca showed up.”

  “He was tracking you,” Tristen said.

  “Tracking me?” she whispered. “Why?”

  “Because you smell a thousand times better than any human he’s ever encountered.”

  As his words sank in, Felicity shuddered, considering what that meant. Laltogs couldn’t turn Fae into vamps, but they sure as hell could go on a blood bender. Fhaescratch had explained that Fae blood was sweeter and more satisfying than human blood and recommended she keep her guard up. When she had noticed Elder Conlan creeping behind her in the woods yesterday, she was a little unsettled, but clearly, she hadn’t taken the threat seriously enough.

  “But I’m the Mage,” she whispered. “They’re not allowed…”

  Tristen stopped, turning toward her, looking around once again. “Felicity, when it comes to following rules, Laltogs aren’t that much different than humans. Especially when they think they’re above the law and beyond punishment.”

  Felicity could feel her eyes widen. Being the Mage had made her feel safer, had made her feel like she could protect herself and use her position to help Nan and Raven. But Tristen was telling her that even though the law said she was untouchable, the reality was much different. He was right. Tristen himself had broken the law because he was attracted to her. If another wanted her blood badly enough, what was to stop them?

  “Tell me you’ll be careful,” he whispered. “Promise me.”

  Felicity nodded. “Yeah, I promise.”

  “Catch up with Raven. We can’t be seen talking together for much longer.”

  Feeling suddenly vulnerable, Felicity cast a final look at Tristen before hurrying down the path where Raven and Luca were waiting.

  Chapter 5

  Raven blew out a heavy breath as she walked through the main doors of Lost Cove Academy with Felicity. It was an ancient building with zero air conditioning or electricity. But there were a lot of windows, which were almost always open to allow the crisp autumn breeze inside, so things could be worse.

 
She still couldn’t believe she was living in a society run by supernatural creatures, but here she was—like a character in a paranormal novel. Raven had told Felicity she was safer in Lost Cove among fanged monsters than in the human realm with Joe and Amy Rice, her crazy foster parents, and she’d meant it. Here, she shared a home with Felicity and Nan. Here, she didn’t have to lock her door at night, praying no one crept into her room…

  “What was that all about?” Raven asked, forcing her mind from the dark memories. Felicity and Tristen had been walking together, their voices low and serious.

  “I was being warned to watch my back against certain individuals who might not think they have to follow the rules.”

  Felicity’s expression was bleak as she scanned the crowded hallway. Lost Cove Academy was nowhere near as big as Prosperity High, but there were still roughly a hundred students, ranging in ages from twelve to eighteen. All the other kids were schooled at home by their parents or Laltog tutors until middle school.

  “That’s always great to hear,” Raven said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “I know, right? I mean, why can’t anything ever just be simple?”

  She hated it for Felicity. None of this was fair. But in Raven’s experience, nothing about life was ever fair, especially when it came to adults with the power to make decisions. It wouldn’t be any different here. The Laltogs were just a different kind of caseworker, deciding what the humans did or did not have the right to do. Still, she’d rather face down a thousand fanged vampires with Nan and Felicity than an aloof caseworker who assumed she was lying every time she opened her mouth.

  They climbed the stairs in silence with a few minutes to spare before classes started. The halls were quieter here than Prosperity Glen, and there were no bells. Teachers dismissed classes when they were finished teaching, rather than when the clock chimed the hour. And there were so many books in the academy library she had never read or studied. Truthfully, she loved it here, despite the fact that she couldn’t leave, or that the Laltogs could turn on them at any given time. For once, Raven had it good, so she was determined to keep her head down, her eyes open, and her mouth closed.