Accacia’s Bite Read online

  Accacia’s Bite

  Sisters of Hex

  Bea Paige

  Contents

  Accacia’s Bite

  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

  Epilogue

  THE END

  Sisters of Hex Series

  Fern’s Decision

  Books by Kelly Stock

  Author’s Note

  Accacia’s Bite

  Bea Paige

  Sisters of Hex - Book Three

  Copyright ©: Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige

  First Published: 27th January 2018

  Publisher: Kelly Stock

  Cover by: Arizona Tape

  Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold 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. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  As a kid I was plagued with nightmares filled with monsters and strange creatures. Today, those nightmares have turned into these stories I write. For that I am grateful.

  So, this book is dedicated to my younger self, that fearful kid who woke up in the dark. Without you, none of this would be possible.

  Chapter One

  I am standing at the edge of the Light fields. This time the sky is dark, so dark that not even the stars or moon are shining. Yet I can see clearly, as though it were daylight. I feel different. Strong. There is a clarity within me, a certain kind of power. It feels familiar and alien all at the same time.

  I sense Clover before I see her. Her light footsteps are loud to my ears. Her earthy smell is comfortingly familiar now.

  “The darkness is getting stronger, Accacia. It’s up to us to stop it,” she says as she walks up beside me.

  I don’t look at her, my attention is drawn to something gathering in the distance. Something infinitely darker than the night. A chill runs over my skin.

  “Do you see it?”

  I nod. “Yes, I see it.”

  “Queen Adrielle is gaining power. Time is running out for all of us.”

  “I feel it too,” I say, and I do. A coiling, splintering, dark magic is gaining momentum. It is coming for us.

  “Devin cannot be lost to the dark. His soul, your soul, they are fated to one another. Rhain has Claimed your body, Ezra your mind. To complete the circle, you must bind permanently with Devin, but this you know already.”

  “Yes.”

  “He doesn’t have long before the light disappears for good. You cannot wait a moment longer. It will take a great sacrifice to save Devin from the darkness, to save us all. Are you prepared to make that sacrifice, Accacia?”

  This time I turn to look at my friend. The woman I once knew has gone and in her place, someone far more powerful stands before me. I feel that power, just like I can smell her scent and hear her heart beat in the pulse at her neck. Her long, red hair blows in the breeze, entwined within it the same ivy that is tattooed around the length of her arm.

  “I am willing to do whatever it takes to save the man I love. Just like I did with Rhain and Ezra.”

  “I knew you would.” A smile appears, a little of the old Clover shining through.

  “Did you make the change, Clover? Are you okay?” I am referring, of course, to the fact she chose to become fae.

  “What do you think?” Her face lights up, the light behind her eyes illuminating the iridescent green within.

  “I think I am going to miss you,” I say, knowing that I won’t be seeing her any time soon, and not at all should we fail to break the curse.

  She steps closer and pulls me into her arms. “And I you. But with the others, we can save them all.”

  “Be safe, Clover,” I whisper into her hair.

  “You too,” she replies. Her voice is carried by the wind as she disappears from my arms. Beyond, the darkness gathers and pulls at the horizon, building momentum. I shudder, just as the vision slips from my grasp.

  * * *

  I sit up in bed. It’s pitch black, and unlike my dream I am unable to see in the dark. I hear the soft breath of Ezra beside me. He is as familiar to me now as I am to him. I reach down, feeling the firm muscle of his arm and the warmth of his skin beneath my fingertips. He turns over.

  “Accacia, are you okay?” he asks, the pull of sleep softening his voice.

  “I am now.”

  “I hear your heart thundering. Are those nightmares plaguing you again?”

  “Not strictly, no. I don’t think it was a dream, more like a vision. Except I was different…” I bite my lip, not sure how to explain. “Clover came to me.”

  Ezra sits up, placing an arm around my shoulders. He pulls me towards him. “Like before, you mean?”

  “Yes. She is fae now.” I press my cheek against the bare skin of his chest. His heartbeat is sure and loud. At least I have him and Rhain, but my heart aches for Devin. For the danger he is in, that we are all in.

  “I see.”

  “There’s more, Ezra.”

  “Tell me.” He draws me closer, his fingertips trailing up and down my arm. He does it to comfort me, knowing instinctively that comfort is what I need in this moment more than anything else.

  A crack of light emerges as the door to my bedroom opens. Rhain walks in. He sees Ezra holding onto me. His eyes flick to mine.

  “What is it?” he asks. He has a tray filled with food. Even though it is night-time, this is my breakfast, the start of my day. Just like the vampires I’d read about and the movies I’d watched as a teenager, we sleep during the day and awake at night.

  Rhain places the tray down on the small table in the corner of the room and approaches the bed. He is wearing a pair of slacks, and nothing else. The bare skin of his chest and the dark smattering of hair has my heart beating faster for another reason altogether. Ezra presses a kiss into my hair, noticing the change and reassuring me he is okay with it.

  “She has seen Clover in her dreams, brother. The Changing has occurred, Clover is fae now.”

  Rhain settles himself beside me, and places his hand on my bare thigh. “There is more to it than Clover becoming fae, isn’t there?”

  “Yes,” I say, pulling away from Ezra. He releases his hold on me so I can sit more comfortably between them both. “Devin is running out of time…” My voice wavers over the possibility of losing him but I swallow the panic I feel, trying to shake off the after-effects of the dream and the coiling darkness that lingers over me still.

  “I have to Bind with him permanently, before it is too late for him, for all of us. There is a dark magic coming, the Queen is gaining power. We have to play our part, so the other sisters can play theirs.” I grab bot
h their hands, pulling them into my lap. “I understand your need to protect me, but you must understand my need to protect you all. Devin needs me. I will not wait a moment longer.”

  Rhain squeezes my hand. “Then it is just as well, because Lissandra has arrived. She has news, Cia. News of Devin. You may wish to get dressed.” His eyes meet mine, then his gaze trails downwards to the bare skin of my chest before lighting with the usual desire that sparks between us always.

  Ezra slides off the bed and stands. “Then let us greet her, together.”

  Chapter Two

  “How bad is he?” Nostra asks Lissandra.

  “Bad enough.” She glances at me briefly, her grey eyes worried. I am taken aback by how young Lissandra is. Barely in her twenties, by the look of her. Yet she holds herself with a core of strength that can only come from living a difficult life. I recognise a small part of me in her gaze.

  “Please don’t hold back on my account. I can take it,” I say. “I don’t want to be kept in the dark, not where Devin is concerned.” Lissandra hesitates. Clearly, whatever she is about to say isn’t going to be good.

  Damn it, Devin, why won’t you answer me?

  I know it is fruitless to reach out to him. He’s been gone for two days. I know the Binding would have worn off even if he hadn’t been poisoned by Ilana, but it doesn’t stop me from trying to reach him. I’ve tried every hour since he’s been gone.

  As I stand in my kitchen, waiting for Lissandra to give me news of the man I love, the dream lingers still. I haven’t been able to think about much else from the moment I awoke half an hour ago. I understand why Rhain, Ezra and Nostra didn’t want to go steaming into the castle the moment we found out he’d left. I understand their logic. I learnt my lesson after our visit to the Forbidden forest. Yet, even before the dream, I’ve had this awful feeling deep in the pit of my stomach and I can’t ignore it any longer. I won’t. Devin needs me.

  “Accacia needs to hear what you have to say, however difficult it may be,” Nostra says, approaching Lissandra who is still hovering by the front door. Thank goodness Nostra managed to get word to her. She is our eyes and ears within the castle. This is the first time we have met, and I wish it was under better circumstances than this. Our eyes meet, and an understanding passes between us.

  He lays a hand on her back, gently guiding her forward. Something lights up in her eyes at his touch. I recognise that look and wonder whether Nostra is aware of her feelings for him.

  “Please, Lissandra. I know we’ve only just met, but I need to know what’s going on,” I say.

  Lissandra’s gaze flicks between Rhain, Ezra, and me before finally settling back on Nostra.

  “Devin has taken up his old position within the South tower…” her voice trails off at the look on Rhain’s face. She pulls at a thread hanging from her plain, grey dress.

  “Lights damn it!” Rhain exclaims. Ezra steps up beside me and takes my hand, squeezing it gently. I daren’t look at him.

  “What position? What happens in the South tower?”

  Nostra’s face pales. “The South tower is where the Queen’s prisoners are held, Accacia.”

  “And?”

  “And they never get out alive,” Ezra says softly. A sickly feeling explodes within my stomach as he faces me. Behind him, Rhain can barely look me in the eye. I swallow the growing unease I feel.

  “Tell me what happens there,” I say. “I need to know everything.”

  Ezra nods. “As you know, Queen Adrielle has many enemies.”

  “Yes, more than even she is aware of,” Lissandra says. We catch each other’s eye and I see determination, courage, and grit staring back. I think I’m going to like her.

  “Anyone who crosses her, or doesn’t do as she wishes, is either killed immediately or sent to the South tower to be tortured. In the early days, when Devin first turned, he was lost to the darkness that infested him, to the bloodlust. He revelled in the power he had over human life. He was one of the Queen’s Punishers used to torture her prisoners. His past is dark, very much so.”

  I flinch at Ezra’s words. My Devin, the man I have grown to love - to hear he has reverted to the monster he once was is soul destroying. In Devin’s case, quite literally, it would seem. I remember the falling petals on his back and a cold desolation creeps into my thoughts. Devin? For a moment I think I can feel him, but the strange feeling flitters away.

  “Ezra was the one who pulled him from the darkness, who saved him before,” Rhain says.

  “It wasn’t easy. He was consumed by the bloodlust. Devin has always walked the line, Accacia, between the darkness and the light. It took a long time for me to bring him back. When this happened before he lost some of his memories. There is a chance he has forgotten you…”

  “Forgotten me?” My heart squeezes painfully in my chest. Even now, even when I hear the words, it is hard for me to really comprehend the beast he harbours within. The fact that he may not remember who I am hurts my heart. Devin, the peacekeeper. The man who kept me steady, grounded, who supported me when I needed him. Now I am losing him to the rising darkness.

  “I am sorry, Accacia.” Ezra lets my hand go and instead wraps his arm around my shoulders. I lean into him, savouring his comfort.

  “This is Ilana’s fault, and the fae king’s. Both will pay for it,” Rhain says, his voice laced with hate. He paces up and down, too angry to remain still.

  Lissandra shakes her head. “No, that’s where you’re wrong. The blame lies with Queen Adrielle. She is the poison that rots Ever Vale, rots the goodness within people. She is the one to blame. Ilana is just another victim of this situation, as is the fae king. They have become twisted and dark, just like Devin these past few days. That’s what she wants. It’s all she’s ever wanted.”

  “So you’re saying that they should just get away with what they’ve done to him?” Rhain accuses.

  Lissandra sighs. She looks exhausted, the kind of exhaustion that runs deeper than just the lack of sleep. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. You of all people should know that Queen Adrielle thrives on the fighting between the clans. It is what she does best, pitting us against each other. Your focus must remain on the prophecy and breaking the curse, everything else is a waste of time.”

  Rhain stops pacing. “The last time we met you were not interested in helping us, you thought it was a fool’s errand. As I recall, you thought we were all a bunch of egotistical maniacs.”

  “I still think that,” she says, a smile pulling at her lips. “And yet I helped you because I knew it may be the only chance for us. I am tired of this life, I want more than this. Is that so hard to understand?”

  “No, it is not,” I say.

  “You already love Devin, don’t you, Accacia?” Lissandra asks me. She has a determined look upon her face, one I admire greatly. Not only that, she is seemingly wise beyond her years. There is something very special about her.

  “Yes. Yes, I do,” I say with a sure heart.

  “Then the hard part has already been done.” Lissandra walks over to the armchair by the fire and takes a seat. There are large shadows beneath her eyes, and her skin is tinged grey. She is thin, painfully so.

  “Don’t be so sure. If Devin cannot find his way back into the light, this is all over,” Rhain says. He steps up beside me, gripping my free hand in his. “But I have faith in your love for him, in his love for you.”

  “He found his way back before,” Nostra says, handing a bottle of blood to Lissandra. “And he shall do so again.”

  Lissandra murmurs her thanks, pulls out the cork and swallows the contents quickly. Colour immediately blooms on her cheeks just as her teeth drop down. It is strange to see that drinking blood has the same effect on her as it does Rhain, Ezra and Devin. She catches me staring, and a look of shame passes across her features.

  “It has been months since my last feed. It is not by choice I take blood,” she says.

  “You’ve no need to explain yourself to me
. You need it to survive,” I say, trying to reassure her.

  “This blood is my own and willingly offered,” Nostra admonishes. I raise my eyebrows at that. Nostra doesn’t seem like the kind of man to give his blood away to just anyone.

  He rests a hand on Lissandra’s shoulder. “I’ve told you before, Lissa, there is no need to wait as long as you do between feeds. It will only put you in danger, and raise suspicions with my sister. You know what she is like when it comes to the Bloodletting. I am surprised she has not noticed your…” Nostra’s voice trails off at the look on Lissandra’s face.

  “Queen Adrielle has been preoccupied of late. My appearance isn’t top of her agenda right now.”

  “With your friend, Sebastian? He’s still her plaything, I take it?” Nostra asks gently.

  “No. She tired of him a few weeks ago. Though it matters not, he still pines after her. The Queen’s hold over him is still intact. She hasn’t released him from her spell, even though she’s moved on to her next victim.” Lissandra sighs. “She does it to punish me.”

  “Why?” I ask. It is a stupid question, I know, but I ask it anyway. Lissandra looks up at me.

  “Because she can. Because she knows I care for him. Because she’s cruel.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? It’s not your fault. I have been in the Queen’s employ since I was a child. I have witnessed her do many cruel things. I am used to it,” Lissandra says, staring into the fire. I watch her for a moment, and notice the slight tremble of her lips before she presses them together in a hard line. Nostra notices it too. His face softens briefly. I observe how he reaches for her, before his hand drops away.