Ascent: The Return of the Elves, Book 7 (EBOOK)

A download link for each ebook you buy will be emailed to you after purchase.

You can have your ebook sent to any ereader, or you can read your book directly in the Bookfunnel app.

• Found family
• Fated mates
• Different worlds
• Accidental pregnancy
• Tortured hero
• Enemies to lovers
• Second chance romance
• Friends to lovers
• Polyamory (MFF – one book only)
• Unrequited love
• Anti-hero
• Single parents
• Twisted mate bonds
• Mental health struggles
• Recovering from loss
• Finding one’s place
• Star-crossed lovers
• Fish out of water

Chapter 1

A muffled shriek sounded through the door just as Fen shoved his key in the lock. With a quick burst of magic, he scanned his uncle Vek’s house for any sign of danger. The place should have been empty, but—no. Vek and Dria were there. Another shriek echoed through the wood, and the cry didn’t sound like it was made in pleasure.
Vek might do many unusual things, but torturing his mate wasn’t one of them.
After another sharp twist of the key, Fen finally got the damned lock to budge. He barged through the door, ready to mess up anyone who dared to attack his family, only to freeze. His keys dropped out of his hand with a clatter.
This was…not what he was expecting to see.
On the television on the far wall, a banshee darted around a decrepit building, and another piercing scream filled the room. Vek cursed, his fingers struggling to find the correct buttons on the game controller as the banshee headed straight for his avatar. Beside him, Dria let out a wicked laugh as her own character blasted the enemy with a stream of flame.
“Thank the gods for that mana potion,” she said. “Too bad Lial can’t mix one of those up in real life.”
Fen’s mouth dropped open. Those fuckers were playing his copy of the new Death’s Curse 3. The very game he’d bought yesterday so he could continue his gaming marathon with Maddy and Anna. Not that he was going to tell his uncle that part. Vek teased Fen too much about his possible mates already, and that was without knowing how much Fen had been hanging out with them—despite neither woman having a clue about their potential three-person bond. He’d barely managed to tell Maddy that she could be his mate. He hadn’t been brave enough to reveal the whole of it.
“What the hell?” Fen yelped. “I hadn’t even opened that yet. That’s bad gamer etiquette, Vek.”
His uncle didn’t even have the grace to look away from the screen. “You wanted me to introduce Dria to human technology.”
“And you thought my new game would be the way to go? Seriously?” Fen snatched up his keys before slamming the door closed. “You could have picked literally anything else. There are at least ten other games that aren’t shrink wrapped, for starters. Hell, there’s a whole world of human technology out there.”
“This game was on top.” Vek shrugged before casting him a meaningful look. “I wanted her to relax and take her mind off her duties at the outpost. According to you, this is the best way.” The banshee let out another scream, incinerating Vek’s avatar. “Not sure I see the appeal.”
“I’ll avenge you,” Dria said cheerfully.
But the hint of sadness around her eyes bellied her tone, and Vek’s actions suddenly made sense. It had only been a couple of weeks since her friend Gessen had died defending her and Vek during an attempted invasion of the underground elven outpost. There hadn’t been any further attacks, but that also meant there were no distractions.
“I didn’t think you could leave the cave for very long,” Fen said. “What if something happens?”
“We brought Fedah through so she would know where to build a portal if necessary,” Dria answered.
Fen’s steps slowed as he neared the couch. His uncle was unlikely to appreciate his suggestion, but he was going to offer it anyway. Because portals might be a quick way to travel, but they were a terrible way to notify someone of an emergency. And not even Delbin, the strongest telepath among them, could send a mental warning from the cave to Vek’s house.
“You guys should get cell phones,” Fen said as he sat down on the other side of the L-shaped couch.
Vek’s eyes narrowed on the screen when Dria’s character was defeated and both their avatars respawned. “Let’s cut down the alley this time,” Vek said to Dria.
Fen assessed the scene and grimaced at the mistake his uncle was about to make. Decrepit buildings? Check. Creepy ambient lighting? Double check. There was probably awesome loot down that alley, but there would also be about a million mobs. A pro could do it, but Vek? When it came to gaming, Vek had noob written all over him.
“I don’t think that’s a—”
A loud shriek made all three of them jump. Three banshees floated from behind a dark, graffiti-covered trash container, and a pair of vampires dropped from the roofs on each side. At the end of the alley, countless red eyes glowed through the gloom. They were so screwed.
Dria’s avatar blasted light at the vampires, a bold move considering how much power those spells took. But she’d already accessed her inventory for a potion and downed it before Vek even got his character moving. His giant warrior barreled down the alley like a modern Leroy Jenkins.
The wolves at the end of the alley charged, and despite Dria’s quick spell-casting, she and Vek were defeated in moments. As the spawn point popped up on the screen, Vek cursed and smacked his controller down beside him. Huffing, Dria dropped her head against the back of the couch.
“What were you trying to say before I got us killed?” Vek grumbled.
Fen smirked. “I was trying to warn you not to go down that alley. Gotta say, Dria has promise, but you may be hopeless. You hadn’t even drawn your sword.”
“I forgot the button.” Vek glared at the controller as though it was supposed to do everything itself. “But that’s not what I meant. You said something about a phone?”
“It seemed like a good idea, but now I’m not so sure.” His uncle’s scowl deepened, increasing Fen’s amusement. Vek might know a great deal more about their heritage and blood magic abilities, but Fen was the master when it came to the human world. “There are a lot more buttons on a phone.”
Straightening, Dria chuckled. “He’s not that bad. He showed me how to game, after all.”
Vek scrubbed his hand across his pale face. “Something like that. Why do you keep playing this stuff? The story isn’t even accurate. The Bean Sidhe do deliver harsh news, but they don’t go out attacking people like that. Honestly, many of them live perfectly normal lives outside—”
“Cut it, Captain Buzzkill.” Fen’s grin widened at his uncle’s blank stare. “Stop ruining the fun. It’s fiction. FIC. TION.”
“Stressful fiction,” Vek muttered. “Anyway, I am no idiot. I can learn to operate a cell phone.”
Of course his uncle could, but that wouldn’t stop Fen from pestering him. “Maybe,” Fen drawled. “If you can get past all of the controls, it would be useful. I bet you could both learn the spell to boost a cell signal. Or I could help set something up throughout the cave system. A call or text would be much faster than creating a portal to come find you.”
“Sounds good to me.” Excitement lighting her eyes, Dria leaned forward. “How difficult is it to acquire one of these phones?”
Fen shrugged. “An hour or two, probably. Damned store is always slammed.”
Dria’s shoulders slumped. “We have to be back at the outpost soon. Kezari is traveling from Moranaia for a few hours to help fortify our protections against earth magic, and I believe she wants to scan for evidence of dragon magic after that report of a dragon sighting in the place called Scotland.”
“Is she flying over there?” He’d met the dragon in passing a few times at the outpost, and she was…interesting. Though she was usually shifted into elven form when he saw her, he would never mistake her as one of the Moranaians. “Because Scotland is on another continent.”
Dria’s eyes widened, but she didn’t comment on the distance. “I suppose that’s a dragon problem.”
“Well, I can’t help with that,” Fen said. “But I can run by the wireless store and grab a couple of phones for you. It’ll cost me more to add a family plan, though. Turning good hasn’t been great for my bank account.”
Vek waved a hand. “I will ensure you have ample wealth. Enough, I might add, to pay back those you have stolen from in the past.”
Heat climbed up Fen’s neck. He’d been joking, but obviously his uncle thought he’d lived a life of crime. Sure, he’d done some fucked up shit after he’d made the mistake of joining Kien’s group, but he had never stolen anything he hadn’t needed for survival. Even that had been when he was far younger.
“Not cool,” Fen said softly before shoving to his feet. “You know what? You can get your own damned plan.”
His uncle grimaced. “Forgive me if I caused offense.”
“I’ve actually earned my own money for years, you know.” Fen set his shoulders. “Odd jobs here and there. Selling gems I mined and shaped with my own talents. But if you’d like to throw money at random grocery stores in my hometown, I guess you could pay them back for the food I stole when I first hit the streets.”
“Fen—”
“Sorry. Just…” Fen took a deep, calming breath. He’d been unusually sensitive since meeting his mother in person for the first time. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Just drop it. It’s been a long day, and I was hoping I could pop open my new game to relax.”
After inviting Anna and Maddy over—but he sure as hell wasn’t mentioning that.
His uncle’s somber expression didn’t fade at the weak attempt to lighten the mood, though he didn’t press for more discussion or waste time on another apology. Instead, Vek lifted the controller and jiggled it at Fen. “Fine, then. Come show us how it’s done.”
With a slight smile, Fen complied. Dria wasn’t the only one who needed a distraction. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have a head start on the game before he faced the girls. He might even manage to win a match next time they did player vs. player. Anything was possible.
#
Maddy braided her long hair and then scrunched her nose at the result. How could her hair be both oily and frizzy at the same time? With a huff, she tugged the strands loose and grabbed the dry shampoo. Late summer in the South, that was why. She could go a week without washing the mess, and the humidity would still send little fly-aways sticking in the air like the spines of a red cactus.
Fifteen minutes later, she snapped the elastic band around the end of her braid, surveyed the results, and gave up. Most of the full-blooded fae she’d met were fastidious about their appearance, and Maddy had seen nothing to indicate that the Moranaian elves were any different. She was not going to negotiate with one of their healers while looking like she’d been electrocuted by a lightning spell gone wrong. A glamour it was. With a quick burst of magic, she smoothed the pesky stray pieces out of sight until the plait was as smooth and lovely as her full-blood Sidhe grandmother’s finest coiffure.
“What’s taking so long?” Anna called from the other room.
After wiping her damp palms along her jeans, Maddy headed out of their small bathroom. Anna stood beside the bedroom door, and Maddy couldn’t help but give her girlfriend an admiring glance. Anna’s uniform might be serviceable, but it did little to hide her gorgeous curves. Too bad they both had things to do.
“Sorry,” Maddy said, following her down the hallway. “I’m just nervous. I don’t want to look awful when I talk to the healer.”
“As if that’s a possibility.” Laughing, Anna skimmed her gaze down Maddy’s body. “Yep. Beautiful as always.”
Maddy grinned as they wove between the coffee table, couch, and dining room table to reach the front door. Their snug condo was just enough for the two of them. Barely. “It’s a glamour. Not even the best hair products are a match for river air in the summer.”
As if in agreement, the humidity closed around her in an unwelcome embrace when she stepped outside. Anna’s chin-length hair outdid both product and glamour, though it hadn’t always been so smooth. It had to be her newly awakened fae blood. Water didn’t seem to react to her the same way, and enough energy swirled about her that Maddy worried it might be causing her problems. But Maddy hadn’t pushed her to talk about it since Anna clearly wasn’t ready.
There was no sign of turmoil on Anna’s face as she slid into the passenger seat. “I hate that you have to go out of your way to take me to work,” Anna said. “At least the repairs on my car won’t be too much.”
Maddy plopped her purse onto the center console. “I told you that my father would—”
“You know how I feel about that.” Anna’s bottom lip turned down in the way that never failed to make Maddy want to kiss her. Not the effect her girlfriend was going for, but that didn’t seem to matter. “Maybe after we get married. Until then, your family shouldn’t pay for everything. It doesn’t seem right.”
With a sigh, Maddy put the car in reverse and carefully backed out of the driveway. It was an old argument, and one that wouldn’t be won today. Even so, she was tempted to try. So what if they’d only lived together for ten months of the eighteen that they’d been together? If Anna wasn’t so stressed about paying half the mortgage on the condo, she could work at the restaurant part time and write more. It wasn’t that unusual to let a significant other offer support.
“Then maybe we should pick a date,” Maddy finally said.
Silence stretched between them until Maddy’s chest squeezed in alarm. She tried to figure out Anna’s expression the best she could with a few quick glances, but the traffic was too heavy for her to make a study of it. “Anna?”
“You’re still sure about getting married, right?”
Maddy’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. If it wouldn’t make Anna late for work, she would have pulled over. “Of course. I can’t believe you would even ask that.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But…” Anna shifted against her seat belt. “You’ve been acting funny since you met Fen, and now that we’ve been spending time with him… Look, I know you love me, but are you having second thoughts?”
Maddy nibbled on her lip. She’d been trying to find a way to talk to Anna about Fen, but what could she say? His revelation had stunned her, and she hadn’t figured out quite what to do about it. According to Vek, we could be mates, he’d said. And taking your blood would seal the bond.
How could she tell her beloved that?
Not even Maddy and Fen had talked about it since that day, though sometimes she was certain he was thinking about the unresolved truth hanging between them. How many times had he glanced away from her with a blush in the last couple of weeks? Though come to think of it, he’d stared at Anna with a strange expression, too, and quiet Anna had fumbled her words more than once in his presence.
“You don’t exactly ignore him,” Maddy pointed out. “And you tend to be attracted to guys less than I am.”
Anna surprised her by nodding. “You’re right. Whenever I’m around him, I feel…I don’t know how to describe it. An odd pull, I guess. And I like him as a person.”
“I do, too,” Maddy agreed.
“But you don’t seem like you’re shaking off the feeling the way I do.”
The stoplight turned red, and Maddy eased the car to a halt. For once, she was grateful for the delay, since it gave her the chance to meet Anna’s gaze. “Absolutely nothing could change my love for you. I’m sorry if the last couple of months have made you doubt that. I can’t imagine any relationship that didn’t have you in it.”
“I love you, too.” Anna reached over to squeeze Maddy’s thigh. “So it’s sort of weird that we’re both drawn to Fen. I’m sorry if I worried you, but I had to ask. I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship without you, either.”
A loud honk made them both jump. The light had turned. Maddy forced her attention back to the road and started the car forward. “We can puzzle it out later. I’d better get you to work on time so you can get your prep tasks done before the evening rush. Plus, I want to see how Tamara is doing at the shop before I call Moranaia.”
“Probably a good idea.”
It would be a nice procrastination tactic if nothing else. For two weeks, Maddy had avoided giving the Moranaian healer an answer to his offer to teach her, and there was a good chance he wouldn’t like what she had to say once she did. Yes, her gift needed training. She couldn’t use her healing magic without risking harm to the patient, and the Sidhe, her father’s people, had no interest in teaching her since she was half human. But she couldn’t relocate to another world for a few decades—or centuries—either. No way.
If the healer couldn’t deal with that, she didn’t know what she would do.
After she kissed Anna goodbye in the restaurant parking lot, she straightened her spine and backed the car out with all the confidence she could muster. It wouldn’t stop her from finding a solution if Lial refused to accept her terms. She wouldn’t let it.