A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 1)

You’ve kept us in great shape, she thought. Our body has great tone and dexterity. Nice job.

Kinda had to. Wild boar would have been the death of me otherwise. Bastards.

She hit an animal trail and turned right, putting on another burst of speed. I caught Nyfain’s delicious smell, the effect vibrating through my person.

Yummm, she purred.

He took me prisoner. He’s the enemy.

That just makes it hotter.

I was really annoyed that I couldn’t roll my eyes.

We burst through a wall of thorny bushes, scraping our skin. She growled in challenge.

It’s a fucking bush. Don’t challenge a bush.

You can hold a machete, can’t you? It won’t be a bush for long.

Again, it would really be helpful to my overall wellbeing if I could roll my eyes.

Nyfain bent within yet another small field of everlass, nude from having shifted, brushing one plant gently before moving on to the next. He plucked a couple of dead leaves and checked the soil before brushing this plant as well. I’d always been labeled weird for how much I babied the plants. Compared to him, I was nothing. I wanted to stop and watch, to soak the sight in, but Hadriel wilted on our shoulder, giving in to the darkness.

Hurry, I thought, covering the distance between the bush and the everlass field in a few quick strides. Nyfain hadn’t looked our way. Why doesn’t he hear us? Or smell us?

He is clearly lost to his thoughts and has nothing to fear out here. He is the predator.

I wondered what those thoughts might be, causing him to act with such gentleness and ease when he was usually rough and surly. I quickly shifted my attention, though, as we laid Hadriel carefully onto the ground, his lips turning blue.

In a moment I was totally myself again, my animal slinking back so I could take control.

“Nyfain!” I yelled.

His head snapped up. He stood in a rush, withered leaves sprinkling from his hands. In a moment, he quickly picked his way to us.

“I think it’s the magical gag,” I said as he crouched beside us. “My animal took over. She brought us to you.”

He studied me for a second, and it was hard to breathe within that intelligent golden gaze.

He nodded. “Ease her out. Just enough that you can maintain control.”

I took a deep breath and did as he said, ready for the onslaught of lust when she emerged. It didn’t come. The fire I’d grown to realize was her power coursed through my blood, but her focus was solely on Hadriel.

We glanced at Nyfain, needing direction, and for the first time I could feel his beast. Raw need, desperate desire, and something so strong I couldn’t quite define…

The world tilted. Everything inside of me tightened up. I felt my presence shoved down, but it only took a moment for me to push my way back into myself.

“Work with me,” Nyfain said urgently, holding out his hand.

I watched as we took it, mine so dainty in comparison. He put his other hand on Hadriel, who’d gone still.

Fear and sorrow ricocheted through me.

“Please,” I said to no one in particular. “This is my fault. Please, he needs to live.”

I spun, looking at the everlass.

Nyfain used our joined hands to yank me back around. He leaned closer, his eyes claiming my focus.

“You have been using some of your power all your life without knowing it. You can heal. You are life. You don’t need the plant right now. You just need me for strength. Pull him away from the demons’ magic. Think of what your soul wants and will it. Take from me, Finley. Use me. I am yours.”

Pull him away from the demons’ magic.

The thought echoed through my mind. My animal pushed power into me.

Together we focused on Hadriel, and our power continued to build, pulling up from my roots, bubbling and turbulent.

“Now,” Nyfain commanded.

For the first time, I didn’t push back.

I sank myself into the thought: Breathe. Please, Hadriel, breathe!

A shock of power reverberated within me before blasting out. I could feel Nyfain’s power swirling and merging with mine, becoming a tidal wave of force that stole my breath. Then, to my shock, it swung back around and slammed into my middle. I nearly fell back from the force. My vision wavered and my animal roared, bucking and jumping within me. My skin prickled and fire rolled over it. It felt itchy, somehow, my skin. Like it was stretched too tightly. I needed to shed it.

“Easy now,” Nyfain commanded, his rough voice washing over me comfortingly. “Take it easy. Use the power, but not to shift. You cannot shift with the curse in effect. I will not let it disfigure you as it has done me. Just settle into the power. Push anything you can’t handle back into me. Use me, Finley.”