Broken by Daylight (Beasts of the Briar, #4)

by Elizabeth Helen

However, Dayton’s relationship with Farron and Rosalina has reminded him there are things worth fighting for—especially now that Dayton has found his fated mate in Wrenley, the beautiful young acolyte. Unfortunately for Dayton, he’s not in love with her and has yet to break his curse.

“Do. You. Mind?!” the woman snarled and turned. Their eyes met and the man blinked. Her expression was filled with anger but to him it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Her nose twitched with her scowl, brown eyes flashing golden in the sun. Had he seen her before? No, and yet, it was as if she’d lived within his mind for all his life. Like every piece of him was crying out, I’ve been waiting for you! He was in love. That had to be it. What else could it be? Love at first sight. He’d thought such a thing only a silly idea from children’s fairytales. But this felt as it had when he uncovered his first ruin. Like sunlight hitting a place that had been hidden in the dark for a thousand years. Magic.

for time stilled between them. Then she whispered, “You’re in my light.” With a certainty he had never felt in his twenty-five years, the man replied, “You are my light.” Yes, this was true love, and she felt it, too⁠— The woman burst out laughing. “Excuse me?” The man stopped. Caught himself. You are my light? What does that even mean? Heavens to Betsy, I’ve been in the sun too long.

She laughed again. It was brash, a donkey’s bray. It was the damned most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. “This site doesn’t belong to anyone. How can you own history? How can you own the languages and the religions and the past that is carved into this stone?” She turned around. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m quite busy actually discovering something useful, instead of just carving up rock to shove in a glass box.”

“Wait!” the man cried. “Will I see you again?” Her voice was light, as if she knew something wonderful that he didn’t. “Oh, you won’t be able to keep me away.”

pillars. I know I should get back to my lodgings, but it’s so different now without Farron. With just her⁠—

“Another update on your sister. A sailor reports that he saw her ship around Veritas Bay, not two days past.” My relief at Delphia being sighted alive mixes with the worry of her being so close to the capital. Don’t come back, Delphie. There’s nothing you can do. Stars, there’s nothing I can do. We learned that Delphia had escaped with Farron’s sister, Eleanor, when Kairyn first attacked the city. Reports said they initially tried to fight back, but between his fleet of airships and three armies, Summer hadn’t stood a chance.

“Any news on the Golden Rose?” Claudius tilts his head, giving me a sad smile. “Nothing besides the whispers of hope. There have been no sightings and the guards won’t talk. If she’s in Summer, it’s a place even I don’t know about.”

He doesn’t think she’s dead. We know Kairyn and his crony, the Nightingale, have used suppressant magic like this before but the scary thing is, he hasn’t felt a flicker, not for the three months we’ve been here. My hands curl into fists. I’ll find you, Rosie. I promise.

Everyone’s burned up on contact with it. The only way to wield the bow is to wear the Queen’s token, and that was lost five hundred years ago when she left the Enchanted Vale.

To demand to know where Rosalina is. Order him to let her go. But I’ll be no use to Rosie dead. “There is already a savior here, child. I will keep you safe the way your loathsome Prince of Summer never could. I have restored Spring to its former glory, and Summer is next.” Kairyn tilts his owl helm at the child. “All you need to do is kneel.” He says the words as if he knows I’m here. I stagger farther back into the crowd.

But Kairyn isn’t the only High Prince not hindered by a curse. Farron. Farron will find a way to save us. He always does.

But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to call a place home if she’s not there. It’s been three months since I last set eyes on my mate. My last image of her—screaming and crying in pain as Ezryn was marched through the streets of Florendel—is etched into my mind. After that, I’d lost my wits to one of Kairyn’s corrupted plants.

Saved me, as he’s always done. But he’d had the help of . . . My fangs gnash together, and a growl rumbles through my chest unconsciously. I don’t want to think about Wrenley right now. Every fraction of energy I have has to be focused on the power of my legs, the strength of my paws. The will of my heart.

I’ll find you, I say through my numb bond. I won’t ever stop. Your love is my guiding light through the darkness. No force in the Vale can keep us apart.

I’m not the only one with a mate bond. The image flashes through my mind: Wrenley, holding the will-o’-wisp to her chest. The beam of light shooting straight at Dayton. Logically, I knew this was bound to happen. I always knew I couldn’t keep him. That he didn’t belong to me. So why does it feel like my heart will rip out of my chest every time I think of the acolyte’s hand on his?

Or maybe he wants to be with her. Maybe I was just in the way. Stars, they could be mated already, for all I know. He might have decided it was time the minute I left.

A soldier spots me, eyes wide with awe. He raises his spear and lets loose a triumphant cry. A few goblins turn to stare at me, terrified looks flashing across their faces. But it’s too late for them to escape. I swing my flaming paw, knocking them aside. My maw is a torrent of heat, snapping necks and tearing heads from spines.

“Where’s Rosalina?” “Gone,” I whisper. “The enemy has her. I’ve been in Summer trying to⁠—” “They say Hadria’s fallen and the Golden Rose has been kidnapped. Is it true, then?” my father interrupts. His eyes shine, and I realize he’s holding back tears. “What’s happened to our Nori?” I take a deep breath. “There are still fae resisting Kairyn’s rule. Word is Delphia escaped on a ship. No doubt she’ll have taken Eleanor with her, too.”

“What is true is there hasn’t been sight of hide nor hair of him. Keldarion was here about three months ago. He’s since returned to Frostfang.” “What? Kel went back to Winter?” “Aye,” my father says, and a mischievous twinkle appears in his eye. “Word is, the High Prince of Winter is pissed.”

“My latest plan didn’t work.” I see it then, the weariness on his face. I cross to the hearth and place a hand on the mantle. “The council advised against my request to march our army to Summer. As High Ruler, I don’t need their support, but I’d lose what little control I have here. My people don’t trust me.” “Kel.” Caspian stands. “If you march your army out of Winter, Sira will invade. She’s watching Winter closely.” “Then

“I can’t even feel her, Cas.” I shake my head. “Do you have any idea what that’s like, to know she’s out there, but not be able to reach her?” “I can imagine.” “I don’t know if she’s scared or hurt or⁠—” “She’s alive,” he says. “I know. You’d feel it otherwise. No magic suppressant could block out that pain.”

“That I need to do what I should have done a long time ago. I’ll go to Summer and find her myself.” Caspian is in front of me in an instant, his brow furrowed. “You can’t. You don’t even know she’s there.” “Then I’ll tear Kairyn apart piece by piece until he tells me where she is.”

“Then you better be close by.” “I can’t,” he says, voice as silky as the shadows caressing us. “Can’t?” Without meaning to, my teeth nip at his neck, hard enough to bruise. “Or won’t?” “Kel,” he whispers, and the sound is so desperate, so full of want, it almost consumes me. His voice is dangerous, and it’s dangerous to trust him. But for Rosalina, I will do anything. I let his shadows and thorns pull us through the Vale. We’ll find her. If he doesn’t find her first. Even though he hates me, even though he lost his power, I know there is no length Ezryn will not go to in order to rescue our mate.

I take off across the sands, cutting south for the capital of Summer. I don’t care what they call me. I don’t care if they’re right. I am the Prince of Blood. Every waking minute since I left Florendel has been spent searching this godforsaken realm for my mate. Now, I finally know where to find her. If I have to tear the mountains from the earth, the clouds from the sky, the water from the sea, I will do it. Nothing will stop me from finding Rosalina.

“You messed me up,” I say dully. “Now, I have to start over.” A. Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. B. Bridget Jones from⁠— Kairyn grabs my chin, the leather of his gloves warm against my cool skin. It’s hard to feel warm six hundred feet under the sea. “How many times must we do this, Rosalina?” Kairyn sighs. The usual timbre of his voice takes on an exhausted tone. “Tell me what I want to know, and we can stop these little visits.” “Why would I want to stop them?” I ask, unable to bring any emotion to my voice. “After all, you’re such good company compared to the fish.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Rosalina,” he says softly. My name in his mouth makes me want to gag. I can still feel his vines wrapping around my body, squeezing the breath out of me. “I know how lonely it must be here. No freedom. No magic.” He gives a long exhale. “No mate bonds.”

But every day, it gets harder and harder. As if the sea is swallowing me whole. I sink to my knees.

With a roar, I throw my body against Kairyn’s, sending him backward. “Go to hell, you monster!” I clamber over him. He’s so much bigger than me and stronger, and he could call an entire unit of guards in at any second. I won’t win my freedom by doing this, but that doesn’t matter. I just want him to feel the pain he’s caused me, caused my mates, just for a second. Just to remind him he’s not dealing with a dandelion. He’s dealing with a fucking Queen. Pinning his shoulders down with my knees, I wedge my hands under his dark mask. There is no greater shame for a royal of the Spring Realm than to reveal their face to anyone other than their fated mate. A shame he forced upon my own mate. A shame I will make him endure.

“Get off!” Kairyn jerks his torso, throwing me to the ground. He staggers to his feet. His whole body shakes as he places his hands on his helm to wedge it back over his chin. I draw my head back and spit. A glob of spittle lands right on his bare skin before he can slam his helm back over it.

“Where is the moonstone necklace?” D. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. “Where is Summer’s token?” E. Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games. His voice rises in pitch, growing raspy, near hysteric. “Where is my brother?” I flick my eyes open and stare at him, bent down only an inch in front of my face. “Rot in hell, asshole.”

I have no idea where any of them are. Where Dayton is. Where Caspian is. It’s just me and the fish.

I drift my gaze past him to the schools of fish outside my window. I suppose I’ll come to miss even this tiny bit of light when I’m rotting beneath the surface. The brilliant colors swarm past the glass in frantic motions. I blink. There’s something else out there, in the deep water. Not a fish. A girl.

Despite being an acolyte, she knows how pretty she is, with her sapphire eyes and wavy brown hair. I often notice people’s lingering glances on her the few times we venture out together. It would be so much easier if I was the one who couldn’t look away.

Though, I know she wonders why I’m not motivated to break my curse. Why I haven’t even kissed her. How can I get to know her, really? How can I even think about her when my realm is occupied? My sister is a runaway, Rosalina is missing, and I bloody miss Farron so much it hurts.

“Where you go, I go,” she says softly. I force a tight smile. “Once we figure this out, we’ll figure us out. I promise.” “I’ve waited years for this, Daytonales. I can wait until you’re ready.” “Thank you.” I look out the small window to the peek of blue beyond. “At dawn, we head to sea.” As I stare at the horizon, I feel like it’s calling me in a way it never has before. A tether drawing me deep beneath the blue waves.

Kairyn lets loose a bellow. “Guards! Deploy the outer defenses!” He rounds on me. “Treachery! I knew you were lying. You would not so easily give up your mates.” Of course I wouldn’t. I would die before I let this monster touch one of my men again. Though, his choice of wording is wrong. Dayton isn’t my mate, as much as my heart wishes him to be.

But I don’t have a tool like she did. I would need something strong to crack it open. Something like Spring steel. “Hey, Kairyn,” I whisper. “That armor looks heavy. Ever tried swimming in it?” He tilts his helm at me, and I strike. I grab him around the shoulders and push. He’s huge, but I use the force of his body against him, sticking out my leg so he trips over me. With a roar, I shove his stupid owl helm straight against the heated glass. The sound is a sickening crunch as the helm smashes into the weakened barrier. Shockwaves ripple through my hands. I stumble back and so does Kairyn. We both take a breath.

But I see another girl first. She looks about the same age as the first, not more than sixteen. She has long, straight auburn hair, pale skin, and golden eyes I would know anywhere. In a deadpan voice, she says, “Hi. Glad you’re alive.” “Th-thanks?” I stammer. The girl turns to my rescuer, who’s wringing out her black curls, the bubble around her face now gone. “So, how’d the Autumnfire drill work?” “Perfectly,” my rescuer responds. “First time I’ve ever said that about one of your experiments.”

Now, I know. We have met before. With all the adrenaline coursing through me earlier, I hadn’t been able to place her. But the confidence I saw in her just now has assured me of it. I was rescued by Dayton’s little sister, Delphia. The steward of Summer.

Though my magic has long been empty, my heart stirs. Just as Kel is most at home in a frosty wasteland, this is where I belong. Salt on my tongue and a whole horizon to tame.

black flag snaps back and forth painted with a horse’s skull over crossed bones. Though I’ve never seen the flag before, the ship I recognize instantly. How could I not? “That’s The Trident’s Glory,” I say. “The fastest ship in Summer’s navy.” Though, the name has been scrawled out. I close my left eye to get better focus with my right while looking in the spyglass. Yes, there’s paint smeared over the name. I can barely make out the new letters: THE DEATHLY SKY DANCER. “Who the fuck renamed it?” I growl.

I adjust the spyglass, focusing on the helm. A smile breaks across my face. There she is, shouting orders and holding tight to the wheel as if she were some grizzled old sailor. My baby sister, Delphia.

I’ve spent these last three months trying to be as numb as I possibly could, not wanting to feel the loss of Rosie, the hopelessness for my brothers, or the guilt of not being what Wrenley needs. But all of that numbness fades away as I set my sights on Kairyn.

That bastard took Rosalina. He mutilated Ezryn. He betrayed us all. Now, he’s coming after my sister. Not if I get to her first.

“We have to get those bastards away from my sister’s ship! Let’s get this boat moving. Hard to lee! Full to the wind!” Wrenley blinks her giant blue eyes at me. “What?” “Hard to lee—don’t you know? Your father was a fisherman, for stars’ sake!” Anger cuts through my words as I rush to the stern to do it myself. “Doesn’t mean he paid any attention to me,” she snaps. “Just make sure the ropes don’t get caught. We need to catch The Trident’s Glory.” “I thought you said it was the fastest ship in Summer?” I flash her a grin. “The fastest ship is whichever one I’m sailing.”

As we get closer, voices ring out over the waves. “Secure the hatches! Enemy fire incoming!” my sister cries. Her voice is so young, still in adolescence. Leave it to Delphia to have a whole ship at her command while also still sleeping with a stuffed doll. Another voice rings out louder. Kairyn has stalked to the bow of the ship and points a leather finger toward my sister. “Send that piece of junk to the bottom of the sea!” “You’ve got the boat, Wren!” I snatch the fishing harpoon and tie its line to the sturdy cleat on the front of the ship.

Kairyn’s finally going to learn that no one fucks with my family. The armored bastard himself runs over, watching as his cannon screeches across the wooden deck, pulled by the force of our skiff. “Someone get this harpoon off!”

“The cannon’s incapacitated! What’s next, Day?” Wrenley yells. I let the line go and stare down at my shredded hands. “I’m going to kill the High Prince of Spring.” She reaches for me, but I shirk away. “It’s too dangerous!” I grab the second harpoon. “For him.” “Forget the cannon!” Kairyn’s screaming at his men. He storms back and forth across the deck. “Catch the princess and bring back my prisoner!” “The idiot!” Wrenley cries. “The damned fool!” “I couldn’t agree more. Now, get to the tiller.”