Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3)
Contents
TITLE PAGE
Synopsis
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
Also by Katerina Martinez
About the Author
Copyright
MARKED
The Coldest Fae
Book Three
By Katerina Martinez
In the frigid woods at the edge of a storm, I’m going to find myself or die trying.
I’m a fugitive of the fae city of Windhelm, framed for a murder I didn’t commit. I only made it out of their dungeons by luck, and now I’m on the run—but so is the Prince.
Nobody knows where he is, but my instincts pull me toward the Veridian; a roaring tempest of dark magic that roams the land of the winter fae.
Our trip through the forest is cut short, though, by a group of fae that seize our carriage and bring us to their village as their prisoners. The mark on my hand, the mark of the white wolf, is the only thing that keeps them from killing us outright, but if I can’t prove my mark is real, I’m only prolonging the inevitable.
I don’t have time for these people. I need to find Cillian before he does something stupid, but I don’t have a lot of options.
CHAPTER ONE
“Anybody else freezing their tits off?” I asked.
We were all sitting in the carriage’s front seat, the three of us bunched together, encased in as much fur and wool as we had been able to bring with us. I didn’t find it fair that one of us had to drive the carriage while the other two got to sit inside. Plus, it was way warmer for the three of us to be sitting snuggly together anyway.
We had travelled through the woods for two days, but the Veridian seemed constantly out of reach. Our large, fluffy white elk, which we had endearingly named Ollie, kept a steady pace along the winding road through the trees, carefully negotiating the occasional cliff-edge and steep hill.
So far, we had seen no one and nothing save for the odd snowy rabbit. Mira was only happy to snipe them with her bow from the seat of the carriage, and Melina was more than capable of cooking them into something tasty.
In truth, we were all getting a little sick of rabbit, and sleeping in a cramped carriage, and of the cold in general. It was way colder out here than it had ever been in Windhelm, but there wasn’t much else to complain about. I, in any case, could complain about nothing considering just how useless I felt on this trip.
Mira, for all her prim and properness, had been brought up with the same level of basic skill as Melina. They were once commoners in this land, and despite being raised in a castle, they knew how to hunt, how to cook, and even how to repair their own clothes, among other things.
I knew how to sew, and I could also brew a great cup of tea… sometimes.
That was it.
“If I had tits,” Gullie said, her teeth chattering, “They’d be freezing too.”
“You have tits,” Melina put in, “They’re the size of peanuts, but you have tits. I’m also kind of jealous of your bright green hair.”
“Have you been examining my tits and my hair?”
“Okay, everybody needs to stop saying tits,” Mira said.
“Spoil sport,” Gullie grumbled.
“It’s my fault for saying… it,” I said.
Mira side-eyed me, an eyebrow cocked. “Just because we’ve been in the woods for two days doesn’t mean we can throw out all manner of decorum.”
“Yeah, what is it with that? Shouldn’t we have made it out of the forest by now?”
“This forest is old,” Melina said, “And deep. Also, we’re riding carefully on a carriage being pulled by an elk. We’re not exactly on horseback.”
“I don’t just mean that. I mean, doesn’t it look like it’s getting further away?”
“The storm is always on the move,” Mira said. “It is a storm without end, it doesn’t cease, it doesn’t fade. It only moves, and some say it moves intelligently.”
“Intelligently?”
“As if it could direct itself, tell itself where to go.”
“You think that’s true?”
“I’m not sure. I would wager there is an intelligence behind the force of nature that is the Veridian, but I don’t think the storm itself is sentient. Then again, I could be completely wrong.”
“That’s big of you to admit,” Melina said. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Ooh, burn!” Gullie put in.
Mira sighed. “When I started this journey, I was a bright-eyed custodian looking to elevate my own status and that of my family. Now I am a fugitive of the crown, fleeing Windhelm on a carriage through the southern woods. The most dangerous of the forests around the city, might I add.”
“Yeah, someone could’ve told me that back at the crossroads,” I said. “The choice back then was between going to a city where we’d likely get recognized or go through a forest to find the moon children. Nobody told me it was the most dangerous forest in the area.”
“Have we run afoul of nasty beasts?”
“Don’t jinx it. For all we know, they’re watching us from the dark right now.”
“Sizing us up,” Melina said, “That’s what I would be doing, if I wanted to eat us. I would be lurking in the shadows, following us, trying to get a measure of our strengths. Weaknesses. Blind spots.”
“For two days?”
“A convoy like ours? It could feed a family of Vrren for a week.”
“Vrren?”
“Horrid things,” Mira said, “Wild animals that look like hairless wolves, with stubby snouts, and longer limbs. It’s said they like eating their prey while they’re still alive, so they never go for the killing blow—they always aim to injure and cripple.”
“Didn’t I tell you Arcadia was a charming place?” Gullie asked.
“I don’t think we ever talked about Arcadia before I met the Prince,” I said. “Feels like a lifetime ago that happened.”
“It was,” Mira said. “You aren’t the same girl I picked up that day. I have to say, I’m somewhat proud of what you’ve become. Thanks to me, of course.”
I grinned at her. “Of course. Where would I be without you?”
“Freezing to death somewhere, most likely.”
“Not already dead?”
“No. I don’t think Arcadia would’ve killed you so quickly. You’re resilient, and resourceful… if a little undisciplined.”
“If I’m undisciplined, that’s your fault.”
“Absolutely not. There are some habits not even I could make you unlearn.”
“I wonder where my custodian is,” Melina said, running a hand through her thick, turquoise hair. “She and I didn’t really get along very well.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, turning to look at her.
Melina shrugged. “Cultural differe
nces.”
“Cultural…? Mira and I were from different worlds. What cultural differences could you have had with another winter fae?”
“You think just because we’re from the same court, we’re all the same? That’s like me assuming all humans are like you.”
“I didn’t mean to imply you were the same, I guess I just don’t know enough about your people.”
Melina nodded. “Well, besides the class divide, there’s also the north and south divide, a spiritual divide, breeding… there’s more to the fae than what court we come from.”
“So, what was the problem with you and your custodian?”
“This was a class thing. She came from a rich family down in Lysa and she wasn’t happy she’d been paired with little old poor me.”
“Sounds like our pairing,” I said to Mira.
“Ours was different,” she said, “You’re human, not poor. That’s worse… but also, I suppose, more entertaining.”
A moment of silence fell where the only sounds for miles were Ollie’s hooves crunching on the snow, the roll of the wheels, and the occasional hoot of an owl. It was so quiet here. It had been like this for days. Our carriage ate the snow and spat out dark tracks that were probably easy to follow. So far, though, no one had come looking for us.
“We need a fifth,” Gullie said.
“Fifth?” I asked.
“There’s four of us, right? All girls.”
“Yes…”
“Right, so, I’m Ginger Spice, Mira is Posh Spice, Mel is Sporty Spice, you’re obviously Baby Spice. We need a Scary Spice.”
“Did you just rank us as Spice Girls?”
“Sure.”
“And why are you Ginger?”
“Because I’m the likeable one. Also—” Gullie shook her hair out and made it turn a deep auburn. “—See? Ginger.”
Another pause.
“What’s a… Spice Girl?” Mira asked.
“And did you just give me a nickname?” Melina added.
“Yeah, like it?” Gullie asked.
“Mel… I do like it. I never thought I’d see the day when a pixie would give me a nickname.”
“Strange times, huh?”
A shiver worked through me, making my back stiffen and my skin prickle. I hugged the furry cloaks a little more closely around my chest. “It’ll be dark soon,” I said. “How long until we reach the moon children?”
“Good question,” Mel said. “Unfortunately, it’s one of those, you don’t find them, they find you types of situations.”
“Are we at least in the right forest?”
“I hope so. I think so. I’ve never met one.”
“So, you don’t know?” Mira asked.
“Not really. They’re a pretty secretive people—for obvious reasons.”
“Which are?” I asked.
“They’re the only fae who haven’t pledged their loyalty to the crown. They never have, despite numerous attempts at invading their holdings and putting them under their thumb, the armies of the winter court never could make them kneel, so an agreement was struck. They could keep their lands if they never came out of their forests and kept themselves out of our affairs.”
“Sounds to me like a bully getting smacked down by a stronger opponent and trying to save face by saying, alright, fine, I didn’t want to beat you up anyway.”
“That’s exactly what it’s like.”
“And why do you think they can help me?”
“Because they’re all supposed to have marks on their bodies like the one on your hand.”
“The Prince said my mark hadn’t been seen for a thousand years.”
“And that’s true. Yours is special. Even I can feel it.”
I could hear Mira’s eyes rolling all the way around her skull. “I don’t want to hear more talk of rumors and myths,” she said, “I want to know where they are. Ideally, I would like a comfortable bed to sleep in, and perhaps a glass of wine.”
“I’m sorry our in-flight service hasn’t been to your liking,” I said.
“In… flight?” she asked.
“You don’t know music, you don’t know planes… I’m gonna have to take you to the human world, one day.”
“No… no thank you. I would rather be repeatedly stabbed in the face with a fork.”
“Quiet,” Mel hissed.
I perked up. “What is it?” I whispered.
“Did you hear that?”
“I didn’t hear—”
Mel stuck a finger against my mouth. “Shh.”
A twig snapped somewhere close. I tried looking around, but the woods were quiet and darkening by the second. There was only the snow, and the trees, and the deepening shadows around us. No movement, no lights, nothing to hold onto. And yet, that sound had been close, and deliberate.
Mira slid her hands out of her furs and quietly clasped them together. I could feel the hum of power starting to build between them as a vibration against the left side of my body. She was summoning her bow, quietly, and that meant she expected danger.
“Stay close,” I whispered to Gullie.
“I’m already in your hair,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ollie slowed and snorted. The carriage stopped. I watched the elk stomp his hooves and blow steam out of its nose. “It’s spooked,” Mel said.
“Is something out there?” I asked.
“We’re not going to wait to find out.” She cracked the reins. “Hyah!” she roared, and Ollie reared, then went screaming down the path through the forest, following the lines of the road as best he could.
The carriage jerked and bumped. It wasn’t meant to go this fast. I had to grip onto the side and back of the front seat just to keep from toppling over. One of the furry blankets picked up and flew off me with the wind, and as my eyes followed it into the trees, I saw them.
Eyes, many of them, moving swiftly in the dark and rapidly gaining on the carriage. Wolves? No, not wolves. These creatures ran on all fours, using long, lanky limbs to propel themselves, but they didn’t have hair on their bodies; they were all cartilage, and muscle, and teeth and claws. I could hear them yipping and growling at each other, the leader commanding his pack, telling them what to do.
Whatever they were, they were coming for us.
CHAPTER TWO
“Vrren!” Mira yelled, and in an instant she was on her feet, balancing one foot on the driver’s seat and another on top of the carriage. In her hands was her large, white recurve bow, an arrow already notched against the string, her white hair whipping around her face with the wind.
After aiming for an instant, she shot the arrow and it zipped into the woods. Something yelped in the dark, making a pained sound that echoed through the forest. Before the sound could dissipate, she was ready with another arrow, her hair flowing wildly with the wind, her body as taut as the string of the bow in her hands.
She looked like an action heroine, dripping with badassery.
“Keep us steady, Mel,” Mira called out.
“I’ll do my best,” Mel said. “Dahlia, hold on, okay?”
“I want to help!” I yelled.
“Help by holding on. I’m going to try to lose them.”
“In this?”
“I’m going to try.”
Ollie pulled the carriage along as fast as he could. The carriage wasn’t meant to be moved at speed even on an actual road. The dirt path we were following only made things worse, and more dangerous. Mel wanted to save the carriage, but it was slowing us down, and at any point, the wheels were likely to fall off or break, and then we were screwed.
Mira continued firing a steady stream of arrows, none of which came from any quiver I could spot. They were real enough, but she seemed to be pulling them from nothing and nowhere. One of the Vrren tried to leap onto the back of the carriage, and Mira quickly shifted her aim to place an arrow right between its eyes.
The creature yelped and fell off the carriage, hitting the ground with a hard
thud and rolling along it. But there were many more where it had come from. Maybe half a dozen, maybe a dozen. It was hard to tell in the rapidly fading dark. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit there, holding onto dear life.
Leaning over the side of the carriage, I noticed one of the Vrren was starting to pull in a little close, giving me a close look at it. I almost wished I hadn’t seen it. It was definitely some kind of doglike creature, but it looked like it was covered in hard ridges and even tougher muscle. Its claws were sharp, its teeth were jagged and large, and many sharp spines jutted out from its shoulders, its back, its elbows.
These things were killing machines, and there were way too many of them closing in fast, but I had to get into the carriage. I swung a leg around the side and placed it the small step jutting out underneath the front seat. Mel immediately caught me and shot me a hard look.
“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled.
“I need to get into the carriage!” I said, finding my grip.
“Why!?”
“I’ve got an idea. Just trust me! Gullie, get into the cabin right now.”
“No way,” she said, “I’m fine right here.”
I looked down the side of the carriage, at the ground racing past beneath my feet, at the Vrren that had now picked up its pace, having seen me dangle off the side. “Alright, fine, but if anything happens to me you take off, okay?”
“No promises.”
Finding my balance, I reached across the top of the cabin and grabbed hold of the railing that went along its length. One of Mira’s arrows flew over my head and struck one of the creatures in the tree line. She wasn’t going to be able to hit the ones getting closest to the carriage, not from her vantage, so I needed to act fast and reach the window.
It was too far to grab with my hand, so I had to stretch my foot out and try to hook myself into it. But the gap between the driver’s seat and the window seemed a lot closer in my head, and I was already having trouble.
The Vrren that was running alongside the carriage finally made its move and turned directly toward me. I was stretched to full extension, my toes just about touching the edge of the open window. I reached a little further across with my hand, dragging myself another couple of centimeters closer to it.