The Summer King Bundle 3 Stories - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,4

by the faint, twinkling Christmas lights. I recognized the for sale sign in front of the empty antebellum home. We had another two blocks to go.

“Mom,” I whispered, heart pounding in my chest as I started walking again, dragging her along with me. “We need to—”

They seemed to come out of nowhere, moving so fast they were nothing more than shadows at first, surrounding us.

A scream built in my throat as I saw them. Silvery skin. Eyes filled with hate. Four of them, and they were on us before the scream could even part my lips.

Chapter 2

Sunlight.

That’s what I felt on my skin and tasted on my lips. Sunlight. Its warmth seeped through my skin, buzzed through my veins, and settled into my muscles and bones.

Was I lying outside? That wouldn’t make sense, though. It was December, and not nearly warm enough to sunbathe, but I knew I had to be lying close to the sun. I could feel its touch on my cheek and my lips still tingled from the closeness.

I opened my eyes, but I didn’t see the sun. I saw a form… a shape of a man. The features blurred, but I knew the man. It was him.

The Prince….

But that also didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Confusion crept into the fuzz crowding my thoughts. Something was off. I tried to lift my hand, but my arm felt like it was weighted down. Something was wrong, very badly wrong, and I needed to remember—

Sleep.

The desire to slip away hit me hard and fast, obliterating the confusion and consciousness, and I slept. I slept for what felt like years and then I heard a steady beeping. It intruded on wherever I was, becoming so loud, so obnoxious to me, that I had to pay attention to it. A part of my consciousness zeroed in on the sound, clung to it, and I followed it back, tethering myself to the rhythm. With each passing second, my surroundings became clearer. Footsteps. I heard footsteps. Whispers. There was the sound of hushed voices. I dragged in a deep breath, and a shock hit my system. The breath hurt. Like my chest and ribs were too tight and a simple deep breath was too much to take—

Mom.

I saw her in my mind, as clear as day.

I saw her lying on her back in the darkness, her eyes wide and fixed on mine. There was nothing behind those eyes. No life. Nothing.

The beeping sound sped up.

The horrifying image of my mom faded like smoke, replaced by luminous skin and bloody smiles and taunts and…

Pools of blood. Actual pools of it. The ruby-red liquid spilled across stone, forming rivulets that ran between the spacing in the pavers. Why had there been so much blood? A vague feeling of wet warmth bubbling up my throat and choking me swept through me.

“Bri? Are you awake? Brighton?”

I recognized that voice. Ivy. She was speaking to me, and I took another breath, relieved to discover it didn’t hurt as bad as the first. But my… my body felt weird. My face felt weird. Like it was swollen and stretched too tight. It was the same with every inch of my skin.

My eyes felt like they were glued shut, and it took forever for them to open. Hours maybe. But when they did, I found myself staring at a drop ceiling and florescent lights.

“Bri.” Ivy spoke again, and her fingers lightly brushed my left hand.

Slowly, I turned my head toward the sound of her voice, to my left, and I saw her pale, drawn face. All that bright hair was pulled back in a bun. Her eyes were red and swollen and full of sympathy.

And I knew.

I remembered.

The fae had come out of nowhere, surrounding Mom and me. They’d dragged us into the courtyard of the empty house. There hadn’t been four of them. I’d been wrong. There’d been five and one of them had been an Ancient.

I swallowed, or tried to, but the motion hurt my throat. Everything hurt. My legs and face, but especially my stomach. That felt like someone had dug around inside and pulled everything out.

Ivy’s fingers curled around mine. She squeezed gently. “Are you in pain? I can get the doc.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, and I saw flashes of teeth and razor-sharp claws. The fae didn’t need to use their teeth to feed, but they liked to use them to cause pain.

“Mom,” I croaked out, and Ivy’s hand spasmed around mine.