Tempting The Dark King [Enchanted World Series Book 2]

Chapter 2

“Here we are.” Eva entered the room with a steaming bowl of soup and some freshly made bread. The aroma was mouthwatering as she passed across the room and placed the tray on Lyrah's lap. She frowned at the sudden silence in the room and turned to her brothers. “Is everyone okay?”

They all muttered yes and assured her they were alright.

“We are on duty in a few minutes so we better get going.” Herik stood up and bowed down. “Lady Lyrah.” then he marched out with his brothers.

Eva smiled lightly as she settled down beside Lyrah. “My brothers are the only family I have left. They always do the honorable thing. When the king came to the city and asked for the volunteers to watch over for the Ghouls, my brothers were the first to step forward and pledge alliance with him. At times I feel sorry for the burden the king has.”

Lyrah wished she could say the same but she remembered the evening she saw him battle with her brother in the gardens of their fortress in Agore, city of the Mage. He was darkly handsome with long black hair that was braided tightly on his temples and black slithering tattoos on his back and arms. He looked like a killer but her heart instinctively recognized him as her mate. He was a force to reckon with and now she needed him more than ever.

The Lord Mage already had alliance from the Realm of Fire. The Fae were still reluctant even though their king was safely returned to them by the Lord Mage. The Realm of Water wanted nothing to do with the Lord Mage now that their queen died under his watch. The Realm of the Dark was the only Realm that didn't even voice out their decision. Lyrah hoped to change King Rhol's mind and have him align with the Mage.

“Have you seen the king, Eva?” Lyrah couldn't help but ask.

Eva nodded her head lightly. “My brothers and I have lived with him for a while, my lady. He practically raised us until we were old enough to live somewhere else on our own. I hardly saw him but he is very handsome...very dangerous and brutal.” she added then smiled sadly. “I think my brothers feared what could happen if I got closer to him so most of the time they refused for me to leave the quarters where we lived—but every once in a while, I escaped into the library and I would meet his warriors and his helpers along the way. They are beautiful people.”

Lyrah couldn't help but smile at the young woman's dreamy face. “I know the feeling with a brother of my own.”

Eva's eyes widened a little. “The Lord Mage!” she sighed softly. “He must be a handful.”

Lyrah couldn't help but laugh. Though looking at Eva's sad face made her heart ache, she was a very expressive girl. “Oh, he is. I'm glad he has a queen now and so he pays little attention to me.”

But that wasn't the case for long, especially when he discovered she was gone. Lyrah pushed the dreadful thoughts aside and began to eat.

“Well, please try to eat enough and get some rest. You have good blood in you. Your wounds are healing fast.” Eva stated as she checked at the angry grooves on Lyrah's leg. “A few more days and you'll be good to go.”

“Thank you very much, Eva. I'll always remember your generosity.”

This time Eva smiled without reservation at Lyrah and got up. “Anything to help a friend of the king. He saved our lives and he owe him more than you can ever imagine.”

Lyrah smiled lightly as the young woman bobbed and raced out.

She finished the soup and placed the table on one of the side table before cuddling deeper into the warm covers. She was little tired but she couldn't help but wonder about what was happening. She felt the cold dread in the forest, Tatiana did too. It was like a big cold snake coiling around her and making it hard for her to breath. Others felt it too. This was information that could be useful later when she returned home, she thought, but now she needed to rest.

Rhol's greatest nightmare was coming true. He feared this day was going to eventually come but he didn't think it was going to be so soon.

More of the Ghouls' frenzied attacks were reported everyday. They attacked everything from hunting dogs to stray horses to unknowing people. It was too much and it was only a matter of time until they found their way into the cities and slaughter his people.

The descending of darkness in the Realm came with fear and horror as the night creatures came out to hunt. It was happening again, just like how it had happened several thousands of years ago. This was the indication that something evil was rising and that the enchanted world was in grave danger.

He had been here before with the ancients of the five Realms...well four now that Queen Seranis was dead.

This was beyond what they first thought. This was not about Ron or Kruk. The chain of events were orchestrated by a mastermind, the puppeteer behind the mass killings, the hatred and the greed for power.

Though the king Fae was found, Ron was still elusive. Kruk's pack reigned war on the Realm of Spells killing Queen Seranis, stealing the Coral Spear and injuring several.

Rhol's tattoos hissed in contempt. Didn't anyone else see the repetition of the past? Was he the only one who knew exactly what was happening? He stayed away from everyone else because he was investigating to see if what he believed was happening was true and he came to an obvious answer; the past was rising up to bite them in their asses again. No one else saw that. They pointed fingers at each others, blamed each other for all the wrongs occurring in the enchanted lands and refused to see what was really happening.

Rhol was sure that the disappearance of the Coral Spear was just the beginning of everything. Soon the all the five Mortal Locks would disappear and the evil will rise and unleash its terror on the lands once again.

“More attacks close to the Shalarian District, my king.” Rhol's second hand entered his office and announced. “It is getting worse by the day and the Ghouls are teaming up in great numbers. We have sent reinforcements this afternoon.”

“Tell me something I don't f*****g know.” Rhol grunted softly and sighed.

“It was Lady Lyrah, my king.”

Rhol's heart jerked in his ribs as he eyed his commander with menace. “Is she...” his throat closed up and he couldn't add a single word.

“She barely escaped but she's alive and recuperating in Shalarian.” The commander added. “We got the information from the Aryan brothers. She is in their care as we speak.”

“What about her escorts?” Rhol snarled. He couldn't begin to imagine what was could do to them for not protecting her better.

The commander hesitated for a moment. “She—she had no escorts, my king.”

The tattoos on his body shrieked in protest and darkened dangerously. His skin rippled in fury as he got up. The fury was directed straight at Lyrah for foolishly venturing into placed unprotected. She was a small fragile woman and he couldn't even begin to contemplate the kind of death she would have had from the Ghouls.

He remembered her dark eyes when they first laid on him. She was terrified and he could smell that sour acrid scent from a mile away along with her scent of wildness and sun. What was she doing so far from home? Tyran had no idea his sister was gone or he would have locked her in one of his many towers in his fortress.

“Get my convoy ready for Shalarian.” He barely voiced out the words.

“Yes, my king.” The commander bowed and went out.

Rhol smashed his fist on the crystal desk and red energy pulsed inside it on impact. What was she thinking moving around alone. Did she come by car? He doubted it very much because if she did then she would have been able to surpass the Ghouls.

Cold rage seeped into his veins and thickened his blood with unshed violence. How could she be so careless with her life? He knew as much as she that they were mates. He saw the realization sink in her big dark eyes when she watched him the her balcony. He heard the stutter of her heartbeat, tasted the slight sweetness of her curios arousal laced with the honey and cream of her excitement.

Everything in him screamed that he went up there and took her away with him...but then, Tyran threatened to take his head off.

Even though so much was happening around the Realm, Rhol could never get Lyrah's face from his thoughts. She haunted him day and night like a restless spirit seeking refuge in the depth of his mind. The stories were true. Her beauty and her light were nothing like he'd ever seen. She was strong-willed if she managed to travel across the lands to his Realm but he saw her a weakling. She was a female after all.

Not only were they a weakness to themselves but also a weakness to their mates. Rhol saw the way his warriors and his Court members changed when they became mated. They lost their viciousness and became...soft. He didn't want that weakness in him. Not now when he discovered how dangerous the enchanted world had suddenly become. He wasn't going to claim her even though she made his blood boil. He was collect her from Shalarian and send her back home the moment he had the chance.

Lyrah didn't know for how long she had been asleep but she was suddenly awoken by a disturbance in the room. The room was dark and cold and something was stalking her in the darkness. Fear choked her as she tried to get to lamp on the side of the bed. She heard the silent hiss of warning and bit into her lip to stop herself from screaming. The Ghouls had found her. She just hoped Eva was alright.

Her hand trembled as she touched the foot of the lamp and switched it on. Bright light flooded the room but it was not enough to get rid of all the shadows in the corners.

One corner in particular had her skin crawl.

“You are far from home, dirani peeta maiyan.” A familiar voice purred from that same corner she eyed cautiously.

Dark cold eyes shone at her as the menace stepped out of the shadows and had Lyrah's heart leap into her throat. A quake moved down Lyrah's spine as she stared into his eyes.

“Rhol.” She breath softly as the massive and heavily muscled Jinn stepped even further into the light until she could make out every contour of his uncovered torso and every chiseled plane of his brutally handsome face. His skin was bronze and it glowed faintly in the light. Dark purple tattoos slithered around his shoulders and arms, changing shape every now and then.

His thick legs were covered in a lynak pair of pants and he had black boots that came up to his knees. He looked every bit the lethal predator that he was and Lyrah wondered if he was truly there or if it was just a dream.

Dirani peeta maiyan; my little mate. Something clenched deep in her stomach at the words. It was an unfamiliar feeling that made her irritated and uncomfortable.

“It just goes to show how hard it is to get hold of you.” She tried to suppress her fear of him but couldn't hold back the ripple of her skin as his smoldering eyes settled on her lips and lingered there for a moment. She fought the urge to lick them and added. “I'm glad that I finally caught your attention--”

“You dared to venture into the Realm without escort, you endangered your life and you did all  that to catch my attention?” His voice purred with enough malice to snuff out any hopes she had of getting on his good side.

She swallowed visibly and clutched the sheets for strength. “I had to get here somehow. I would have come straight to the Fortress if this hiccup didn't deter my plans.”

Lyrah wasn't prepared for the soft rumble of laughter from the King but eyes were crystal hard on her that she wanted to squirm and look away. Instead she raised her chin a little to assure him that he could never look down on her no matter how scary he appeared.

The tattoos hissed again and Lyrah watched in awe as they darkened and became agitated.

“This hiccup that you speak of would have cost you your life. The Ghouls are far more dangerous than before and they would not hesitate to shred you into pieces. How did you get here?”

Lyrah fought between telling him the truth or lying. It was obvious that either way she was going to have him even angrier. Lyrah never envied her sister-in-law, Queen Noelle, when she got reprimanded by her brother and now she too was going to taste what Queen Noelle had to go through.

“Answer me, dirani peeta.”

Little mate! She had the privilege of learning several languages when she was studying and one of them was this magical ancient Jinn tongue. She wanted to snort at that  endearment. She had a name but she was going to air that later when she wasn't so angry. “Tatiana brought me here.” She raised her chin up defiantly.

Rhol's eyebrow arched up slowly, almost intimidatingly. “I take it that Tatiana is the name of your horse?”

“Unicorn.” Lyrah corrected him feeling her fear giving way to her anger. She couldn't believe how much he was belittling her. “And a warrior in her own right.”

“Horse, unicorn, I don't care. I, however, have a lot to say about your actions and I think your brother will too.”

Lyrah paled visibly as she eyed the angry Jinn. “The Lord Mage doesn't know that I'm here.”

Rhol moved around the bed. “But he will when I send you back to him with escort.”

Lyrah wanted to protest but Rhol scooped her off the bed. His tattoos automatically circled themselves around her hands. They were warm and made her body shiver deliciously. They were almost caressing her and she hated what they made her feel, especially for a heartless male like Rhol. He stalked out into what looked like a lounge where Eva stood looking pale with worry and her brothers concerned but respectful. There were several other Jinns in the room and Lyrah could tell they were Rhol's close warriors.

“Say your goodbyes, dirani peeta.” He instructed her darkly, his hot breath washing over her ear and sending prickles throughout her body.

Lyrah fought the tears wanting to overwhelm her. She didn't go all the way there only to be sent back home empty-handed. Her arms tightened around Rhol's thick neck as her body trembled with unshed tears. She didn't want to cry in front of all those people.

“Eva, thank you for your hospitality. Herik, Leon and Stef.” She turned to the three brave males. “I can never repay you for what you've done for me. I can only pray for your safety everyday as you go out there and face the Ghouls.” She tried to smile but she trembled so hard that a shudder ran through her body.

Eva bobbed softly while her brothers bowed and before she could say anything, her entire world went smoky black and the room and everyone inside it disappeared.