Wolf Shifter Diaries: Lies Tamed (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 2) by E. Hall (13 inch ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“Likely story.” Clove’s lip curls.

“No, he truly didn’t. We think your mother, Jana, used a spell on him. She ensorcelled him.”

He snorts, but a subtle twitch in his eyes suggests a crack in his composure.

The foul stench of rot wafts through the cold air. The pair who abducted us gurgle a laugh.

“Corbin wasn’t supposed to be a character in this chapter of our little adventure. This was supposed to be down to us. Brother and sister. But he had to go and be your mate.” Clove kicks Corbin in the side.

He hardly flinches.

“With his ability to track you, I couldn’t take any risks and captured him too.”

“What do you want, Clove?”

His face lights up. “I want it all. The keys to the kingdom, as it were. I’ve spent years searching, studying. Well, it turns out that you’re the key.” He chuckles.

“We could have been family,” I say, trying to appeal to a part of him I hope is inside.

“Family? Something like that. It works differently in our world than it does for humans who get married, settle down, and have kids. Sure, you’re a mutt, being part wolf and vampire, but the fae in you owes a debt.”

I fight to get to my feet. I’m tired of lies and confusion. For once, instead of asking questions, I’m ready to give answers. They’re no and no and no. I don’t accept it. Fate or not, I choose what I do and who I do it with. A growl presses against my lips.

Corbin’s eyes flash open and widen. “Kenna,” he says as Clove casts a tendril of icy white magic, freezing me in place.

I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the way anyway since I’m still bound.

A strange feeling fills my thoughts—it’s not a smell or taste or event exactly. But it is familiar and deeply sensory. I’ve been in the presence of that particular magic before. My breath catches in my chest.

Beside me, Corbin strains and bucks against the bonds. At least he’s awake.

I go deep inside, searching for a way to loosen Clove’s hold or at least find my voice. I call upon my wolf who wants nothing more than to howl and bite. The vampire inside is ready to scream and pound. But the fae within me knows how to release Clove’s hold. It takes a moment before I can speak.

It’s like the electrons and neutrons in my blood suddenly contract and then begin to expand, threatening to release a gigawatt of electricity or magic.

My breath moves deep. My heart pounds.

Then I say, “You were there the night Amanda attacked me in the woods. The night she died. I recognize your magic, Clove.”

He tips his head back and laughs. “You’re clever, I’ll give you that.”

I shudder a breath. “What did you do?”

He tilts his head side to side. “I just helped you along. Your magic is untested, untamed. It was easy to draw it to the surface. Of course, you were defending yourself, but I made sure the power surrounding you was strong enough to ensure that you dealt the deathblow.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Why?”

“Because Amanda had something I wanted. Something I’d been searching for.”

“The cloak,” I say.

“Ding, ding, ding. You win the prize this round.”

“I don’t want to play your games or win any prize from you.”

He stabs the air with his finger. “Ah, but you are the prize.”

I shake my head, not understanding. “Melchior selected our grandmother, Isa as consort, the highest honor a fae can receive. She ran away, fell in love. Had she not, we wouldn’t be here. Be that as it may, you’re here to pay her debt.”

As the words breach his lips, my heart sinks. This time not in flame but like it’s filling with water, drowning in fear.

Corbin starts to move. Clove fires off more magic nearly freezing him, but Corbin jerks out of the way.

“You killed Tatiana too,” Corbin growls.

“You said you were friends.”

“We were friends, yes. She taught me many useful things, including creating Runes of Power. It turned out that she had the red cloak. Unfortunately, Amanda and I went after it at the same time.”

Corbin’s eyes flash with recognition.

“I couldn’t very well let Amanda have it after the years I’d spent in search of it. But I missed my mark, and Tatiana took the fall.” He tsks.

“No, stop, Clove. Whatever you have planned, surely we can figure something out.”

“We’re well past negotiations.” He wrinkles his nose in distaste. “They tend to be long, drawn out. No, the fae king has something I want. I’m using you to get it. Plain and simple.”

I recall my father and me discussing the magical items—the diary, cloak, and scepter.

“The scepter,” I whisper.

Clove smiles. “Can’t get anything past you, can I, sis?” He laughs darkly.

I prickle at his use of the term of endearment.

What I think is the male goblin comes near, ready to whack Corbin and me both with a wooden block. His needle-like teeth pierce his leer and slime oozes from his mouth.

A female goblin hovers above and slurps a strand of slime back into her mouth as she twiddles her fingers.

“What should we do with them, sir?” the male gurgles.

The female strokes my cheek.

I flinch, trying to get away from her cold, dead, fishlike grasp. “Get away from me.”

She kicks me in the side, and I roll onto my back like a stranded beetle. Through the window, the sun starts to set.

“Take them to the woods. It’s time to meet the fae king.”

Corbin scowls. “You’re a lying, backstabbing, piece of—”

“No, wolf. You have me all wrong. I’m making things right.”

“If this is what you call right then—”

“As I