Rise From the Embers (Lightness Saga #4) Read online

  Rise from the Embers, Copyright © 2018 Stacey Marie Brown

  All rights reserved.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and her crazy friends. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It cannot be re-sold, reproduced, scanned or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Cover by Dane at Ebook Launch (https://ebooklaunch.com/ebook-cover-design/)

  Developmental Editor Jordan Rosenfeld (http://jordanrosenfeld.net)

  Edited by Hollie (www.hollietheeditor.com)

  Layout by Judi Fennell at www.formatting4U.com

  ALSO BY STACEY MARIE BROWN

  Contemporary Romance

  Buried Alive

  Shattered Love

  Broken Love

  (coming Summer/Fall 2018)

  Monster’s Ball

  (coming October 2018)

  Paranormal Romance

  Darkness of Light

  (Darkness Series #1)

  Fire in the Darkness

  (Darkness Series #2)

  Beast in the Darkness

  (An Elighan Dragen Novelette)

  Dwellers of Darkness

  (Darkness Series #3)

  Blood Beyond Darkness

  (Darkness Series #4)

  West

  (A Darkness Series Novel)

  City in Embers

  (Collector Series #1)

  The Barrier Between

  (Collector Series #2)

  Across the Divide

  (Collector Series #3)

  From Burning Ashes

  (Collector Series #4)

  The Crown of Light

  (Lightness Saga #1)

  Lightness Falling

  (Lightness Saga #2)

  The Fall of the King

  (Lightness Saga #3)

  Dedicated To:

  Ember, Zoey, Kennedy, and Fionna

  For being such strong women who inspire me to be a better person.

  Eli, Ryker, Lorcan, and Lars

  For being the reason I’m single.

  Damn you all for being such sexy beasts!

  Why can’t you be real??

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About The Author

  Chapter 1

  Fionna

  Sirens wailed through the air, and I bolted up from the suitcase laid out on the bed, fear shooting through my veins, a folded blouse in my hands. Evening descended into the room, casting shadows over the unmade bed. The sheets were still tangled from when Lars and I had explored each other all night.

  We had only shared the bed once before everything went wrong. Before he was taken from me.

  My heart pounded in rhythm with the loud hammering sirens. We were under attacked.

  Lars was no longer himself, but his blood was, so the shield would have let him back in without warning. But this was someone else…

  I knew in my gut who that someone else was.

  Stavros.

  The new King had come to take what he felt was rightfully his: his throne, this house, and whomever was in it.

  “Shite!” I thought we’d have more time. It had been only a few hours since the stone had seized Lars. I hadn’t even had time to call my sister.

  Terror thumped through every nerve, and fear curled in my throat as I ran down the hall, my feet smacking against the wood floor. “Piper!” I screamed. My only thought was getting to my daughter.

  “Mummy?” she cried as I burst through the door to her room. She sat on her bed next to an already packed suitcase, covering her ears. “I saw a mean man, Mummy.” She rubbed her head. “He looked sort of like Darz. Where is Mr. Darz?”

  “Piper.” I ran to her, cradling her to me. “You know that trip we talked about earlier?”

  She nodded, cuddling me. Giving her up for adoption was the hardest thing I ever did, but now she was back in my arms, I was never going to let her go. “We have to go now.”

  “But Mr. Darz… We can’t go. What if he can’t find us?”

  My lids squeezed together at the sound of shouting inside and out, cutting through the protective shield alarms. We had to go. Now. Stavros would not be kind to me. At best, I could hope for torture and a cruel death. If he felt how much power Piper already had, he would make her one of his slaves.

  “He will come back to us. Lars will find us again.” I tried to comfort her, but it felt more like I was saying the words to myself. It hadn’t even been two days since we returned, but she’d already forged a strong attachment to Lars, as though she’d known him before she ever met him. Perhaps, in a way, she had. Similar to my mother, who was a strong seer, Piper already had visions at the young age of five, though Druids didn’t usually come into their own until much later.

  “Ms. Fionna! ¡Niña!” Marguerite yelled from down the hall, her footsteps already leading her to this room. Her short plump figure filled the doorway, her face screwed up with worry and distress. “Ms. Fionna… He is here, isn’t he?” I had filled them all in on what had happened abroad and what we had to do. What Lars made me promise.

  I nodded, helping Piper off the bed. “Hurry, put on your backpack.” I kissed her head.

  Bang!

  Gunfire boomed outside, and Piper ducked. She didn’t cry or scream, but her eyes were wide with fear, triple the size of mine.

  “We have to go, Marguerite. Now.” Time might already be against us getting out of the compound safely.

  She nodded, her face turning stern. “I ready, Ms. Fionna.”

  The pounding of feet snapped my head to the doorway. Nic, the sexy Spanish incubus, stood there in a T-shirt and jeans, his forehead lined with furrows. “Are you guys all right?”

  “Uncle Nic!” Piper ran to him, her rucksack bouncing on her back.

  He picked her up, set her on his hip, and kissed her temple. His face was impassive, but I knew he was just trying to act calm. “Hey, squirt.”

  While Lars and I were abroad finding the lost Cauldron of Dagda, one of the four treasures of Tuatha Dé
Danann, Piper had become especially close to Nic and Marguerite. I felt both grateful and envious of my daughter’s attachment to them. Over the weeks, she had come to rely on them, trust them. Love them. She and I were still strangers. Her trust would grow over time. Hopefully along with my forgiveness of myself.

  The shrill of the alarms stopped, halting us in place. Our gazes found each other. What did that mean?

  “Nic! Marguerite! Get the Druid out of here now,” a man bellowed up the stairs. I recognized the voice as Travil, one of Lars’s right-hand men. “Stavros has broken through the shield.”

  My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth with dread. Stavros was King now. The shield bent to its new ruler.

  “Shite,” I whispered.

  “Come on, Ms. Fionna. Follow me.” Marguerite motioned out the door, starting to jog down the hallway.

  Good thing I had prepared earlier to leave.

  “Go, take Piper.” I nodded to Nic, running for Lars’s bedroom. “I need to grab my bag.” It was not a change of clothes I was desperate to retrieve. No, my bag held four extremely important items: The Spear of Lug, the Sword of Nuada, the Cauldron of Dagda, and one more. I thought Lars had taken the Stone of Fáil, but Travil had found it laying near the front door. Either the stone had discarded it when it entered Lars’s body, or it had fallen from Lars’s pocket when he attacked Nic on his way out.

  It was merely a rock now. Useless. Empty.

  All the treasures were uninhabited and void of their powers because the Stone of Fáil had drained the remaining gems of energy after it worked its power on Lars, claiming his body. I still wouldn’t take the chance of letting the items fall into Stavros’s hands. He could probably find a way of reviving them or using them to take over the world. Besides protecting Piper, Lars had made me promise to take them and run to Eastern Europe, where the King did not rule.

  I planned to head to Budapest in the morning, settling in Piper with Marguerite and Nic before I came back and fought to get Lars back. No little rock would take the man I loved from me.

  Shoving my feet into my boots, I grabbed the bag and strapped the sword to my back, masking it with a spell. People would not be able to focus on it; their eyes would look away.

  Clangs of metal and gunfire assaulted the house, slicing at my chest. The noises moved closer, sounding right outside the door.

  “Ms. Fionna!” Marguerite yelled my name from below with desperation. My feet skimmed the stairs, jumping down the last four. I rounded the corner to see her waving me to another set of stairs. I knew how far Lars’s underground kingdom went, built with rooms to hold enemies both inside and out. But if Stavros was taking over the house, locking ourselves in a room would be stupid.

  “No.” I shook my head. “We need to get away from this house.” I peered around. “Where’s Piper?”

  “With Mr. Nic.” She nodded to the stairs and grabbed my hand. “Trust, Ms. Fionna. I get us out.”

  Crash.

  The front door splintered, and the piercing cry of strighoul broke through. My heart plummeted. Directing Marguerite down the stairs, I zipped after her, shutting and locking the door with a spell. It would only hold for a while.

  Being a powerful Druid trained in black magic was useful, but it came with faults, especially against a High Demon King. I had to pull my magic through the earth, asking for its permission, which took a lot out of me. Black magic used even more. It wasn’t natural and went against the laws of Druidism, which were grounded in nature. My body paid the price, and I’d almost died on a few occasions.

  We knew Stavros would take over the house; we just hadn’t thought it would be so soon. I wouldn’t waste my fight on this. If I was alone, I might take the chance. But now I had Piper to think of and to get Marguerite to safety.

  Lars was the one I’d tear apart my soul for. And soon I’d be going after him to do whatever needed to save him.

  Our feet echoed down the passage, Marguerite leading the way into the section deep in the earth. She reached a wall and pushed at some hidden button. I gasped as the wall swung open, leading into an underground passage. Torches lit the dark passage.

  “Mr. Lars always has a way out.” Marguerite pointed for me to follow.

  I stepped into the room after she closed the door behind us. Silence dripped in my ears, vacant of any struggle or fight happening above. I could hear only my breath and heartbeat pulsing in my ears. Softly Marguerite pattered ahead. For a woman of her age, she was fast and nimble, like a ninja.

  The tunnel was made of old stone, similar to the one I had gone into in Prague and Scotland, with curved ceilings and torches lighting the way. I wasn’t surprised Lars had built tunnels here. Most leaders of the world had ways to escape if anything grave ever happened.

  Shadows lingered heavily through the passage, my head jerking at every slight noise. Finally, we reached a staircase that led up to ground level. A door leading out was slightly ajar.

  “Nic and Piper.” Marguerite tipped her head, telling me they had already gone through this way. The need to see my daughter waiting for me on the other side kicked my legs into overdrive. I leaped up the last few steps and shoved my shoulder into the heavy metal exit.

  It moved easier than I thought, and I stumbled into a forest, my boots crunching on pinecones and leaves. “Nic?” I called out softly. I had no idea how far we were away from the house. The door was embedded in a boulder so seamlessly that walking by it you would never know it existed. “Piper?”

  Anxiety caught in my throat, clumping in my stomach. My skin itched, the telltale sign of magic brewing, informing me something was wrong. I took a few more steps, my head jerking in every direction, Marguerite right on my tail. I skimmed my bottom lip with my tongue, my mouth watering with a spell.

  “You utter one word and I will gut this adorable little version of you as I squeeze her babysitter’s brain into mush.” Amusement colored a deep familiar voice, and my throat tapered to a sliver.

  No. Please. No. But my tiny strand of hope died when Stavros stepped from the trees with a group of strighoul. One held Nic at knifepoint, another had Piper.

  My whole world tipped over, spinning me until I thought I would vomit. My hand twitched to grab the sword, to strike him. But Piper’s life was too important. I would take no chances.

  Strighoul moved around me, knives bumping against my skin. My muscles locked down, fear pumping through me. The one thing that could kill the Unseelie King was at the bottom of my bag, empty of its power. Worthless. The Spear of Lug. One of many secrets royals liked to deny was that the sword ended a queen, and once upon a time the spear had killed the High Demon King, Balfor. It could do the same to Stavros.

  “My attack on the front was a distraction. Sent the vermin running out the back.” Stavros shook his head. He looked stronger, younger, and healthier than when I had seen him last in Scotland. Now Lars’s magic coursed through his veins, giving him vibrancy. Stavros’s yellow-green eyes glowed with hunger and power. His long jet-black hair was tied back, and he wore slacks and a button-down shirt, which was half open like some cheesy billionaire on a yacht. It still appeared sloppy and ill fitting, as if he were dressed for a role. He was skinnier and a lot less muscular than Lars, but you couldn’t deny the striking resemblance.

  Except he was nothing like the man I loved.

  “Let her go,” I pleaded. “She’s merely a little girl. Innocent in this. Take me.”

  “Oh, Fionna. You greatly disappoint me. That was so cliché and expected.” Stavros’s mouth quirked up with amused malice. “Makes me have to retort with something just as formulaic. And I hate that.” He sighed heavily. “But here it goes; hopefully my delivery will be less trite than yours.” He cleared his throat, preparing for his delivery like an actor. “You know I won’t do that. This little one?” Stavros reached over, running his finger over Piper’s face. She flinched but didn’t cry; instead she glared back at him. Nic, Marguerite, and I all jerked for her, but the knife on her th
roat dipped in until she whimpered. A drop of blood slipped from her neck. Stavros leaned over, catching it on his fingers, taking his hand to his lips he licked it off. His eyes darted to me, growing serious. “My. My. You’ve been holding out on me, Druid. I thought having you as my prisoner would be…stimulating…but she is going to be even better.”

  A guttural cry throbbed in my throat, coming out as a grunt. What could I do? If I tried a spell, Stavros would kill Piper and Nic before I could even summon the energy.

  “Just think about when I find my great-niece. That dae. What fun I will have.” He rubbed his hands together smugly. “Ember is my next reward. Soon I’ll have a whole collection of the most powerful fae. And yes, that includes you and your sister too.” He winked. “I don’t want you to feel left out. Now, where is my nephew? I thought he’d be cowering with you.”

  “He’s not here.” I pressed against the hands holding me, smirking at him. “You’re too late Stavros. Lars is out of your reach now.”

  His lids lowered and he searched my face as though to assess a lie. I could see the slight confusion in his eyes, and my mouth twisted with satisfaction.

  “Something claimed him first. Much more powerful than you,” I spat through my teeth, enjoying stabbing each word into his gut. “You may take the throne, but it won’t be for long. He will come for you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Stavros stepped close, looming over me. “He has no power to fight me anymore. I will kill him. When the coward is ready to face his fate like a demon. It’s only a matter of time.”