Faery Revenge Read online

  Also by Donna Joy Usher

  The Chanel Series

  Cocoa and Chanel

  Goons 'n' Roses

  Tess's Tale

  Billy

  Goons 'n' Roses PLUS Tess's Tale - Books Two and Three in The Chanel Series

  The Chanel Series: Books 1-3 (The Chanel Series Box Set One)

  Two Weddings and a Fugitive

  Two Weddings and a Fugitive (Book 4 in The Chanel Series) Plus The Seven Steps to Closure

  The War Faery Trilogy

  Faery Born

  Faery Forged

  Faery Revenge

  The War Faery Trilogy: Books 2-3

  The War Faery Trilogy: Books 1-3

  Standalone

  The Seven Steps to Closure

  Faery Revenge

  Donna Joy Usher

  Lush Publications

  Perth

  Faery Revenge Copyright © 2016 by Donna Joy Usher.

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  FREE BOOK OFFER

  Previously in The War Faery Trilogy...

  1. Down the Rabbit Hole

  2. Order in the Court

  3. Birthing Pains

  4. The Chosen

  5. Stranger Danger

  6. Stories

  7. Assassin

  8. A Choice of Two Worlds

  9. Home, Sweet, Home

  10. Do or Die

  11. Gods and Giants

  12. The Beginning of the End

  13. The Trap

  14. The Final Battle

  15. Endings

  16. Betrayed

  17. Mia

  18. Happily Ever After

  Thank You

  About Me

  FREE BOOK OFFER

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my loyal fans for your emails, tweets and Facebook messages. Your kind words make the late nights and hard work worth it.

  Thanks also go to my editor, Felicity Kay, for her tireless work, her in-depth grammar lessons and her sparkling company, and to my cover designer, Derek Murphy, for another amazing cover.

  Last but not least, I would like to thank you for following my story and for buying Faery Revenge. I truly hope you enjoy it.

  FREE BOOK OFFER

  As my thank you to you for entrusting me with your entertainment, I’d love to give you one of my books for free. Please find my free book offer at the end of Faery Revenge.

  Previously in The War Faery Trilogy...

  Our tale begins in Faery Born when Isadora Scrumpleton (Izzy) is finally found by her familiar. The only problem is that he is a dog, an unprecedented event in the witching world. But even though his presence gives her access to her magic, she is unable to control her powers.

  When the Faery Queen, Eloise, comes knocking on her door, Izzy learns that not only is she half-witch, half-faery, but that she is a dream-walker who roams the dreamland Trillania while she sleeps. In Trillania, she has been dating the scrumptious Aethan, a Faery Prince, and son of Eloise.

  Unlike other faery dream-walkers, she has no knowledge of this because her witch-half, which is dominant in her waking hours, allows for no memory of these night-time dalliances.

  After goblins crash her eighteenth birthday party, Izzy joins the faery Border Guard and starts officially courting Aethan. Galanta, the evil goblin Queen, takes a personal interest in her and her relationship with Aethan. Izzy eventually realises that Aethan has been trapped into courting her by his Border Guard binding, a spell that prevents them from talking to others about Trillania.

  Humiliated, Izzy runs away from him during an expedition into Trillania and calls Emerald, a dragon, to her. She rides Emerald into battle against the goblins, but is overcome and captured. Galanta tortures her, but an unexpected effect of the torture enables her to access her powers and escape.

  After she has healed, Aethan reveals his true feelings for her, but is immediately kidnapped by Galanta. Izzy rides with the Border Guard to the Black Mountains in their bid to save him. There, they encounter a barrier that only she and her arch-nemesis, Isgranelda, are able to pass.

  She and Isgranelda traverse the mountain and find Aethan unconscious, but alive. Isgranelda sheds her shape-shifting guise to reveal she has been Galanta all along. A vicious battle erupts between the two, but Galanta escapes before Izzy can kill her.

  Izzy drips blood onto the rock where Aethan sleeps, releasing him from Galanta’s spell. The rock splits in two and, as a strange wind blows around her, her two sides merge and her memories of Aethan return. He wakes as she kisses him, but when he opens his eyes and looks at her he has no memory of her.

  The rest of the Border Guard arrives as goblin drums begin beating. They flee down the mountain and back to Isilvitania. Izzy returns to her home, quickly falling asleep so that she can access Trillania to see what Galanta is up to. She is horrified to see Galanta weaving a spell over the rock on which Aethan lay.

  While Izzy watches, Galanta sacrifices a little girl, releasing her blood onto the rock. A shape begins to emerge, flowing out of the rock until a man has formed. As the man speaks, Izzy is horrified to realise that Galanta has released Santanas Gabrielle, the mad War Faery, from the stone he was imprisoned in 12 years ago.

  The story continues in Faery Forged when Orion asks Aethan to forge an alliance with the dark faeries by traveling to their land and bringing him home a bride.

  Aethan chooses a small force to travel with him, and even though he still has no memories of her, Izzy finds herself a part of it.

  Disaster strikes when they are discovered while trying to cross goblin lands. They are forced to flee but are separated when they jump into the river dividing the goblins’ lands from the giants’.

  Izzy ends up with Isla and Aethan, but they find that the rest of their band has been captured by giants. With the help of a friendly giant, they are able to rescue their friends and continue onto the home of the night faeries to carry out their mission. They are surprised when King Arracon offers up his own daughter and heir to the throne, Princess Ebony, to be Orion’s bride.

  With Santanas’s power growing, their return trip proves to be even more treacherous. They are pursued by monsters as they race to take Ebony to Orion. Samuel, Ebony’s personal slave, leads them to a safe place, but Wilfred is attacked and dies as they arrive.

  Samuel has led them to an ancient place of worship and, while Isla weeps for her lost love, he prays to the Goddess Ulandes. She emerges from a statue and brings Wilfred back to life. The payment for this is that Wilfred and Samuel must reside with her in her land.

  They continue to Isilvitania without Wilfred. Shortly after they arrive, Izzy overhears a conversation between Grams, Aethan and Rako in which she discovers that she is not what she seems. Before she can find out exactly what she is, goblins attack.

  When Izzy risks her life to save Orion, Aethan declares his love for her. And although they are able to save Orion, they are horrified when they realise his good friend Legas has been taken to be sacrificed in a black magic ritual.

  Orion insists on coming with them as they ride to save Legas. They follow the goblins to The Henge, arriving as the sun is about to rise.

  Orion and Izzy fight their way to Legas, but when they get there, she finds it is not Legas strapped to the rock, but Orion himself. The Orion they have been traveling with is none other than Galanta, the shape-shifting Queen of the goblins.

  With the use of Izzy’s blood, Galanta is able to perform the spell that bonds Santanas into Orion’s body. Izzy and the newly-resurrected Orion fight, and with her new-found knowledge that she is a War Faery, and the help of the narathymia, Mia, Izzy is able to maim Or
ion enough to allow them to escape.

  They return to Isilvitania where Queen Eloise takes her pain from losing her son out on Isla. As the faeries prepare to seal the veil for a thirty day mourning period, Izzy takes Isla home with her. The last thing they see before the veil is shut, is Ebony being presented as a bride to Aethan, the new heir to the throne.

  Now, read on to see what happens next…

  1

  Down the Rabbit Hole

  Emerald. Down to the left. The wind whipped my hair, lashing it out behind me like a cat o’ nine tails as Emerald banked towards our prey.

  Goblins. A lot of goblins.

  Lightning bolts flew from my fingers as fire roared from Emerald’s mouth. We skimmed over the top of the goblin horde, leaving death and destruction in our wake.

  I glanced over my shoulder as we rose back into the sky and saw Isla leap from the cover of the trees. Almost too fast for my eyes to see, she pulled an arrow from the small quiver on her back, fitted it to her bow string, and released it into the nearest warrior. I saw Mia launch herself from Isla’s shoulder, her claws extended as she sailed towards the nearest goblin.

  A laugh burst from me as Scruffy darted out of the forest with Grams hot on his heels. She wore camouflage pants and a khaki t-shirt, and had a black balaclava pulled over her face. A heavy pair of military boots completed her outfit. She seemed to be enjoying herself immensely as she drew her sword and ran at the nearest goblin.

  Shall we go down? Emerald asked.

  In answer, I tightened my heels on her flank and bent down low over her neck. With one powerful stroke of her wings we were racing towards the ground. She pulled her wings flat against her body and straightened herself out like a spear, and I felt our speed increase.

  ‘Wooooohooooo,’ I screamed as the wind tore at my hair.

  Just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. She thrust her wings out to either side and pushed her legs forwards. I slammed into her neck, gravity holding me a prisoner until my acceleration matched hers.

  As she touched down, I leapt from her back, pulled my sword from my scabbard, and raced towards the fight.

  I leapt over a goblin, turning a full somersault in the air, and as I landed in a crouch I swept my blade out at his legs. Muscle and sinew and bone parted like butter and he toppled to the ground.

  ‘Take that,’ Grams shouted.

  I spun to face a goblin behind me, thrusting my blade up under his ribcage and out through his back. Mia landed lightly on my head before propelling herself back into the air.

  Scruffy appeared by my side, his lips pulled back to expose his fangs as he attacked the ankle of a goblin.

  Isla leapt into the air and fired arrows into three luckless goblins, before landing on the back of the fourth. She pulled a dagger from her belt and thrust it into the side of his head.

  Emerald batted at a goblin like a cat at a mouse. It flew into the air and landed about thirty metres away.

  ‘Isadora Scrumpleton.’ My mother’s voice bellowed around the meadow behind our house. It froze me in the act of breaking a goblin’s neck. ‘Stop this right this instance.’

  My blood lust and adrenaline faded away as I looked around at the field, seeing it for what it really was.

  Goblins made of straw and sticks lay on their sides. Chopped into little pieces or still burning from Emerald’s and my initial attack. It had taken us all morning to make enough of them so that all of us could have some fun. I resented having to stop.

  What was the point of being a War Faery if you still had to do what your Mum said?

  ‘ISADORA.’ If I had thought she’d been angry before, it was nothing compared with now. When she got like that, it wasn’t worth defying her.

  ‘Phooey.’ Grams pulled off her balaclava and threw it onto the ground.

  Isla sighed and unstrung her bow. She pulled an arrow out of the straw man closest to her and slipped it back into her quiver.

  Emerald lay down where she was and put a wing over her face.

  Emerald. Disappointment tinged my thoughts.

  She shrugged a shoulder and mumbled into my mind, Last time we got in trouble she wouldn’t roast me any meat.

  You have fire for breath. You can roast your own meat. I walked over to her and shoved her flank.

  Yes, but when I do it, it’s all burnt on the outside. When your Mum does it… She stopped thinking in words and, instead, a picture of a roast, so tender it was falling off the bone, popped into my head.

  I sighed. Mum’s roasts were almost worth being good for. Almost. And that was part of my problem. I hadn’t found anything worth being good for since I had come back through the veil.

  ‘Oh come on,’ I said to Isla and Grams. ‘We’d better get up there before she has an apoplectic fit.’

  The two of them followed me as I traipsed from the field. It was only the fact that they were behind me that stopped me from kicking my feet in childish rebellion.

  Mum was waiting for us in the kitchen. Her crossed arms and her tapping foot made it clear her mood had not improved in the last few minutes. Sabby stood next to her in an identical posture, but I knew her foot was tapping for a different reason. I hadn’t invited her to our little ‘party’ because I hadn’t wanted to distract her from her study for her first year exams. I could see now that that had been a mistake.

  ‘Sit.’ Mum pointed at the kitchen table. My former teacher, Radismus, was already there.

  Scruffy’s bottom hit the floor and he sat to attention. Isla and Grams slid meekly into their seats. I pulled mine out and flipped it around one hundred and eighty degrees before straddling it. My elbows rested on the top of the chair back while I investigated my nails.

  I saw Sabby shake her head, a small smile quirking the corners of her mouth as she took the chair next to me. Mia let out a little mew and scampered over the table to Sabby. She hissed down at Sabby’s familiar, Phantom, and then climbed up Sabby’s arm to her neck. Sabby winced as Mia’s paws started running through her hair. I pulled a face in sympathy. Mia’s grooming, while sweet, was normally very painful.

  Radismus stood and crossed to Mum’s side. He pulled her stiff body into his arms, whispered something into her ear, and then planted a kiss on her lips. I was still getting over the shock of finding out that the two of them had become an item.

  ‘I’ll be off,’ he said, looking around at the rest of us. The smile he was trying to hide was starting to break through. No doubt he wanted to get out of there before Mum turned her bad mood onto him as well.

  Mum waited till he had left before she began. ‘What in the Great Dark Sky did you think you were doing?’

  I stared at her in sullen silence. I mean, it had been pretty obvious what we’d been doing.

  Grams raised one hand in the air and, when Mum looked at her, said, ‘We were having some good, old-fashioned fun.’

  I felt a smile part my lips but Mum was not amused. She raised her eyebrows at Grams and turned her gaze to Isla.

  ‘Ummm, generating a huge amount of noise and generally causing the villagers to panic.’

  Mum’s foot stopped its tapping and her expression softened. She had taken one look at Isla that awful morning we had come home and had easily slipped into the role of mother hen.

  ‘That’s right, Isla.’ Mum reached behind her and picked up a plate of cupcakes. ‘You can have one of these.’

  Isla smiled and leaned over to take one of the cakes. From the smell of them they were still warm.

  ‘Double-chocolate, choc chip?’ Grams licked her lips.

  Mum nodded as she offered the plate to Sabby.

  ‘Yes, well, I’m awfully sorry about the racket. I can see now, in retrospect, how it could have caused quite a kerfuffle on the main street.’ Grams’s eyes were glued to the cakes. ‘It’s not every day that a dragon performs a full attack on your village.’

  Mum still held the plate out of Gram’s reach.

  ‘I don’t see why it was such a shock,’ I sa
id. ‘Emerald’s been here for a fortnight.’ Our minds had collided as soon as I’d come back through the veil. Her arrival, an hour later, had created quite a ruckus. ‘You’d think they’d be used to her by now.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think it was her they were worried about,’ Mum said, giving me a meaningful look.

  I shifted on the chair. It always looked so cool when other people sat like this, but the hard edge of the wooden back was beginning to dig into my forearms. ‘It was just a little lightning.’ Oh great, now I had something stuck in my eye as well. It was going to look like I was trying not to cry. And I wasn’t. I mean, I really wasn’t.

  Mum crossed to my side as the tears escaped, rolling down my cheeks. I pulled back from her for a second before giving into the crushing warmth of her embrace.

  She had broken me again. Every time the pressing force built inside me, tearing and clawing and ripping until I couldn’t handle the rawness of the pain, she would let it out. And for a few, short, blissful minutes I would be whole again.

  I sighed and pulled back from her, wiping my face on the back of my arm. ‘Sorry,’ I croaked. I let my body relax as I enjoyed the emptiness inside me. It wouldn’t be long before the despair found me again.

  ‘Here.’ She held the plate of cakes out to me, waiting till I had taken one before offering them to Grams.

  I took a bite of the cake, chewed a few times and then swallowed. ‘How bad was it?’ I asked.

  ‘Well, I only know what happened at the Cupcake Café.’ I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Mum was fighting a smile. ‘Agnes Hedge was entertaining her friends from London. Two of them jumped up and ran away, shrieking as if they were being chased by goblins, and the third slid clean off her chair.’