Savage Beauty(49)

chapter nineteen




PHILLIP

Ember padded toward the door, but she looked back when I spoke. “Ember, wait. I’m going with you.”

I knew Luna needed a rose from Aura’s garden, but there was no need for Ember to die since I had already been poisoned by them. The damage was already done. I could pluck one and bring it back, and if I became too weak to make the return trip, Ember could bring it back to Luna without being subjected to the toxins the blooms could expel while on the vine.

I prayed I was right about that, and that they couldn’t hurt Ember once plucked. Malex told me there was a way I could help Luna, and a way he could help me. He’d handed me a vial of his blood…



“This is my blood. If you feel like you’re dying and you decide you’d rather live, drink it.”

“What will happen when I do?”

“You’ll become fae.”

I digested that for a long moment. “But I’ll live, right? I’ll be able to come back to her?”

He nodded. “You won’t have power, but you’ll be alive. Immortal.”

“How do you know this’ll work?”

“Because I’ve done it once before. The transformation will be excruciating, but you’ll survive it.”

“This sounds an awful lot like vampyre lore.”

Malex smiled. “Vampyre lore was born from fae fact.”

“Does Luna know?”

“I told her before she left. She wants to try to kill Aura and see if that works to kill the toxin in your body, but in the end, she’ll leave the choice up to you. I just wanted to give it to you early in case that choice is stripped away today. I know what you’re about to do.”

“How?”

“You have a determined gleam in your eye; the gleam of a man who’s about to save the day or die trying. You love her.”

“I do.”

“Then help her. This’ll help you if you need it.”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked shrewdly. “I know you want her.”

“Luna will never want me if she knows I had the chance to help you and didn’t. Besides, she still owes me a favor, you know.”

Of course I knew. And I knew that Malex would have her if he truly wanted her. She’d blindly given her word in exchange for his help.

“Besides,” he added, “if she kills Aura and decides that being queen isn’t for her, someone will need to see to Virosa’s people.”

Malex was strange, but Luna trusted him, I reminded myself. And he was right – I was determined. If this would help Luna, I would retrieve the bloom. Apparently Malex couldn’t cross the barrier he and Luna made to trap Aura inside of Virosa’s palatial grounds, but I could.

And if worse came to worse, I could turn into a faery.

I couldn’t believe I was really contemplating changing into a faery, but there it was. It wasn’t the life I would have wanted before coming here. I would’ve thought it a curse, but now? Luna meant everything to me.

I tucked the vial into my pocket, patting it to make sure it was secure.

“Don’t break it,” Malex warned. “It’s your only chance if Aura finds you. And know that if you use it inside the barrier, inside the garden, my blood will change you, but you’ll be bound inside as well.”



Two things I knew for certain: One, I didn’t want to die. I would drink Malex’s blood and turn into a fae if it meant staying alive and being with Luna. Two, there was something I didn’t trust about Malex. Maybe it was how he vacillated between wanting Luna & wanting the favor she owed—the one he never let her or anyone else forget about—or how he admitted to wanting Virosa now. His motivation for helping Luna just didn’t seem to add up. Also, there was the predatory way he watched everything. Maybe it was a trait all the full-blooded fae shared. I wasn’t sure since he was the only one I knew, but it made my hair stand on end.

I shook my head and stepped onto the porch, the sun warming my face and skin, and Ember and I set out for Virosa. “I need you to lead the way to Aura’s garden,” I told her. “Stick to the woods for as long as you can.”

The walk would be long, and I already felt the effects of a fever coming on, but Luna needed the rose. Without it, she’d never escape Aura. I pushed my body forward, through the heat of the day that still left me shivering. Through brush and trees and creeks and bogs.

By the time we arrived at the edge of the woods surrounding the palace, it was midday. The sun was high. I needed to pluck a rose and get out of there as quickly as possible. “Stay here, Ember. If I need you to take the rose, I’ll yell for you. Be on the look out for Pieces.”

Ember rubbed her face into my hands, a peculiar sadness in her eyes. I stood up from where I crouched and wiped the cool sweat from my brow. At first I was worried I wouldn’t know where the original barrier was that kept Aura inside these grounds, but upon seeing the palace I noticed a stone fence surrounding the manicured yards and the roses from the forest. That was where Luna would have separated her sister from the world. With the additional barrier spell, Aura was trapped inside the palace now, unable to roam the grounds. But she’d know I was here if she bothered to tap into my mind or whatever she did.