A Curse of Silver Ruin: Silver Fae Games Book One Read online

  A Curse of Silver Ruin

  Silver Fae Games Book 1

  KB Anne

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously.

  * * *

  Published November 2021

  Copyright © 2021 by K.B. ANNE

  All rights reserved.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  * * *

  Published by Gripping Tales, LLC, Pennsylvania.

  * * *

  Cover Design by Anika Willmans, Ravenborn Covers

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Join K’s Koven

  Also by KB Anne

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Wide Awake: The Goddess Chronicles Book One

  The Prophecy

  1. Glitter-Farting Unicorns

  Chapter One

  Di

  “Let the Games begin,” Starr said with a dramatic flair reminiscent of Sami, pre-Vampire, born mean girl. Before we could react, let alone reply, Sir Kenneth, top ranking Shadow Knight, appeared and whisked her away from here. Here being the Faerie Realm. More specifically, the infamous Silverlain Dungeons beneath the ruling family’s castle. Dungeons so well-guarded and protected no one had ever escaped from. Sami served as Exhibit A-Z.

  We sat in stunned silence. How else were we supposed to react after our friend delivered what felt like a death sentence?

  From the low cut silvery blue dress revealing her curves to the bright red lipstick to the bitchy attitude, Starr was not herself. Further proven by the way her skin glowed in the dungeon’s darkness—though I attributed that more to her Silver Fae nature rather than anything more cynical. The energy surrounding her aura troubled me the most. It was impure and corrupted. Had she embraced her Jessalyn Silverlain's side completely or was it the influence of the Greater Demon, and if so, how did we get rid of it?

  “What in seven hells did that mean?” Frank whispered from the cell next to me.

  I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. My sight grew fuzzy, and my knees wobbled. I fell against the cell bars for support. Frank, sensing I was slipping into a vision, grabbed hold of my arms through the bars. His touch grounded me to this space as my mind visited somewhere much different.

  Hundreds of Fae stood on a long starting line that stretched for miles. A loud bell echoed through the enormous outdoor arena, and the contestants took off at a speed that would make Usain Bolt envious. At first glance, the race seemed harmless enough with a predictable outcome—the fastest person won.

  My new gift proved helpful during our quest to rescue Starr from the Faerie Island, but I couldn’t slip into random visions that had no bearing on my team’s current situation. I fought to yank myself out of it.

  That’s when I saw her.

  This time Starr wore a silvery blue spandex outfit that highlighted every dip and curve of her body. Her lips were stained with the same shocking red lipstick she had on this evening. She swept past the other competitors as if they stood still. The iron cross prevented her wings from emerging, but it didn’t hinder her speed or her ability to dodge scary-ass beasts out of a messed up fantasy tale now attacking the other contestants. A silvery white wolf caught up to her. She shook her head, pointing her finger at him. “Naughty, naughty.”

  Her lips slid into a mischievous smirk. My stomach roiled. I had a terrible feeling something awful was about to happen. Sadly, Starr did not disappoint.

  She stomped her foot against the ground then leapt into the air. As her feet lifted, a giant crevice formed and splintered outward at an alarming speed. It would soon swallow the rest of us whole.

  The wolf leapt across it with ease. As it landed, it shifted back into a man destined to protect all people. Christian shouted to the other competitors to stop, but he was too late. Dozens fell into the growing chasm from running to fast or getting pushed in by the other participants either by accident or on purpose—I couldn’t tell.

  The fallen’s screams grew distant as they dropped to whatever hell Starr sent them to.

  As for the aforementioned princess, she grinned. Freaking grinned. Her once blue eyes filled with black malice standing at the finish line.

  The vision pulled away from her and the crowd roaring in applause and swept over the remaining contestants. Somehow, Frank, Ben, Coda, Rebecca, Jovie, and I made it across the gaping hole and carried, pushed, and dragged each other across the finish line. Our tattered, smoking, blood stained clothing hinted at what we went through to get there. We ignored whatever pain we felt and clung to each other as family should.

  Sami, Thomas, Jude crossed soon after much the worse for wear. The three refused to help each other or us during the race. They were lucky to survive. In these games, the lesson of teamwork was brutally clear.

  A second loud bell echoed through the arena. “Round One, complete.”

  I groaned, pulling out of the vision.

  “What did you see?” Frank whispered.

  “I think the Summer Solstice Games might be a mashup of the Olympics, Gladiator Battles, and Hunger Games, but far more brutal and dangerous, and it was only the first round.”

  “Why does she want us to compete in them?” Ben said.

  “To keep us alive,” Christian sighed.

  Jude grunted. “How do you figure that?”

  A long silence followed. I assumed Christian deemed Jude’s questions unworthy of an answer, but the rest of us deserved one.

  “Christian, why?” I asked.

  “Jude swore Sir Kenneth said we would be dead by morning.”

  “Yeah, and?” Jude grunted.

  “Starr just gave us a stay of execution.”

  An image of the six of our battered, burned, and bruised bodies entered my conscious mind.

  Or she wants to prolong our misery… though I was careful to keep that comment to myself.

  “What was with the red lipstick?” Coda asked.

  “All the better to kill us with,” Sami said. Her bitter tone tainted the already stale air of the dungeons.

  “Didn’t you ever hear jealousy was unbecoming?” Jovie said.

  “Jealous? I’m not jealous of her.”

  “Right,” Jovie snorted. “First, we find out she’s heir to Silverlain Chocolates. Then a Silver Fae princess and now, in her full Fae form she’s the most stunning person any of us have ever laid eyes upon—probab
ly whoever existed, and you were jealous of her when she was just plain old Starr Bishop of Webster High.”

  “And you weren’t?” Sami snapped.

  The tension between Starr’s former friends thickened, but was it enough for our team to trust Jovie, or would she turn on us as she had on Starr?

  At the Faerie Island, Starr told us we could trust Jovie. Let’s test that theory.

  “Starr believed her looks were a curse,” I said.

  Jovie sighed. “She did. I’ll admit at times I was envious of her beauty, but she never acted like she was better than anyone else or used her looks to get guys.”

  “No one took the time to know her before they fell for her or passed judgement on her,” Frank said.

  Sami snorted. “Call the kettle black, Frank. Call the kettle black.”

  “I knew Starr, the real Starr, and for a long time, I thought I was in love with her.”

  His confession hurt me more than I cared to admit, but I grasped onto one word.

  “Thought?”

  Frank reached through the bars and cradled my hands in his. “Yes, thought. Someone else hid in the shadows for a long time, and now that she’s emerged into the light…” My chest tightened and a lump lodged in my throat. “She owns my heart.”

  Sami groaned. “I never should have made you a vampire. You were too passionate as a human, too emotionally attached. Now, you’re a freak.”

  “We’re all freaks here,” Coda said.

  I couldn’t argue with that logic.

  Chapter Two

  Starr

  The woman sat cross-legged on the table in front of me. A long, slender finger tapped her pursed lips as her large brown eyes bore into mine. I felt like Luke when Yoda crawled across the table with his face all scrunched up and assessed whether the light side or the dark side of the force was more dominant in young Skywalker. At least J’Tia didn’t smell like swamp, but she had been at it for hours. She believed Master, formerly known as Jerry White Senior, now transformed into his true form, a Greater Demon, controlled me. She refused to accept I followed Master willingly. He saved me from my grandparents. He rescued me from Treadwell. I owed him my life. The least I could offer was my allegiance.

  Another wave of annoyance surged through me. Each time she got too close or poked at my brain with her intense eyeballs, I lost control.

  “Have you figured out that nothing’s wrong with me?”

  She double-tapped her finger against her chin in answer, which was no answer at all.

  Sir Kenneth, Captain of the Shadow Knights, stood behind her, also staring at me. “Do you think we can extract the toxin?”

  They think Master poisoned me when we were at the Faerie Island. I drank the wine. I made the choice.

  J’Tia cocked her head to the side. “Perhaps, but we’d need pure Silver Fae blood to cleanse her.”

  My blood ran cold with a new type of rage. “I will not drink anyone else’s blood.”

  Sir Kenneth scratched the whiskers on his chins. It was out of character for the knight to appear in front of others in less than perfect—it showed how long the two had kept me prisoner in J’Tia’s cottage.

  “With some persuasion, the Queen might agree, but it would terribly weaken our defenses. With our recent return, I’d rather not risk it.”

  Weakened defenses caught my interest. Master could take the crown in a halo of flames.

  J’Tia squinted at me. Shoot, I’d given too much reaction. It would upset Master. “That’s just what the demon wants.”

  “You will call him Master,” I growled.

  Sir Kenneth frowned. “Could he be listening?”

  J’Tia leaned closer, her face inches from mine. “I don’t believe so. I doubt he wield’s the amount of dark magick required for such a spell, although the hold he has on her is extraordinary.”

  I no longer felt like Luke. I was a squashed bug under a microscope and she was poking at my internal organs, and it pissed me off.

  “I’m right here, and my name is Jessalyn Silverlain.”

  I shed Starr Bishop when I accepted my rightful position at Master’s side.

  Neither one acknowledged me, which further pissed me off. The iron wraps that bound my arms and legs prevented me from punching the table in anger. I bounced the entire chair instead, but neither one of them so much as widened their eyes at me.

  Sir Kenneth stepped closer. “Did you know such dark magick existed?”

  She sat back and rested her hands on her legs as if she was a yogi.

  Yogi, Yoda. Same difference.

  “It is very old, more ancient than I am. Long ago, when I was a girl, there were murmurings about such dark power from my,” she stopped and looked at me, “coven.”

  “Coven? So you’re a witch pixie? Explains a lot.”

  My comment fell on deaf ears once again, as if they didn’t hear me. I wasn’t gagged. Did J’Tia placed a silencing spell on me?

  Stupid witch pixie.

  Her lips raised as if she read my mind, and my thoughts had amused her.

  “Is it possible the Greater Demon came from the Dimension of Darkness?” Sir Kenneth whispered as if reluctant to even suggest the idea.

  She inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled as her eyes studied mine. I waited for her to say, “Possible, it is,” but instead she said, “It is possible.”

  His jaw pulsed with agitation. He stood for a long time with his legs wide and his arms crossed, studying me. “He broke through.”

  “I believe so.”

  “So the prophecy is true.”

  It wasn’t the first time I’d heard mention of a prophecy. I didn’t know how it affected it me or why it mattered, but if Master could emerge from the shadows, from this Dimension of Darkness, I was thankful for it.

  “Perhaps.”

  “The Queen believes The Chosen will open the realms, and the Queen will rule them all.”

  J’Tia tsked as she shook her head. “Lofty views with hungry appetites.”

  “She’s allowing her to participate in the Summer Solstice Games.”

  J’Tia’s head snapped to his. “While she is under the Greater Demon’s control? It is a risk I would not take.”

  Memories of my grandparents explaining the essence of the Summer Solstice Games came rushing back to me. I asked if the games included badminton, soccer, and kickball. Grandfather nearly choked to death on his wine—I wished he had. It would have saved me the trouble of killing him. I’d only be left with offing my Grandmother. Then I’d open the portal to let Master in. Of course, I could open it with them alive, but my grandparents complicated matters. I liked to stack the odds in my favor.

  Grandfather likened the Summer Solstice Games to the Olympics from my former realm.

  “Except with axes, swords, and animals that would make tigers quiver in fear,” Grandmother added with glee.

  “The Queen will chance it. She doesn’t want to wait until the next Games to get the Final Artifact,” Sir Kenneth said.

  I leaned forward. What was this talk about an artifact? If my grandmother wanted it, Master must have it.

  “Evelyn was impatient as a child. Her parents overindulged her, as did her aunt and uncle. Little has changed since she competed in the Games,” J’Tia said.

  When I asked if I could compete in the Games, my grandmother laughed at me, as if the idea was preposterous. Impossible even. Her refusal made me want it more. She finally conceded with great reluctance (or so it seemed) when my grandfather protested against my participation. My grandmother didn’t like people telling her what to do—We shared that trait, but apparently it was all a ruse. A trick to get me to compete in the Games.

  Well played, Queen Evelyn. Well played.

  Throughout my childhood, I always thought my grandfather made the decisions. That he ruled from his high and mighty silver throne. I assumed it was him who negotiated with Treadwell for my release. That he was the reason Treadwell ordered the hit on my dad when he tried to take bac
k the Organization. It was my grandfather who took back control of the Shadow Knights—that meant he ruled, right?

  Although… come to think of it, when my grandmother made a decision, Grandfather rarely, if ever, argued with her. When I shed my first iron cross, Treadwell suggested my new one get bolted through my shoulders—Grandfather disagreed. He left the dungeon instead of watching the fitter install the new one. I figured he couldn’t stomach the painful process. My grandmother went along with Treadwell’s suggestion and stayed to watch.

  My grandfather didn’t want me joining in on the Summer Solstice Games, but when my grandmother finally agreed to it, he kept his mouth shut—which was unlike the man I remembered from my childhood.

  But he wasn’t a man at all, was he? My grandmother didn’t involve herself in the tedium of making everyday decisions in a realm she didn’t care about. She only ruled on matters she deemed important.

  Huh, how very interesting. How very closed-minded of me. As a powerful woman, I knew better.

  “How far did the Queen get?” Sir Kenneth asked snapping me out of my revelation.

  J’Tia breathed in and out. “Far enough to ensure her crown.”

  So I was right then. My grandmother ruled this realm.

  “And The Chosen will obtain the Final Artifact and ensure the safety of all the realms?”