HEALER OF KINGDOMS OMNIBUS

He needs my help, but he’ll be my downfall.

A prince by morning.
A cretin by noon.
A beast by nightfall.

There is a curse on his blood, an ailment that, if revealed, could destroy his kingdom.

The only one who can help him is me, a human with average healing abilities. It’s what the Envoy told him, and her word is law.

I’m his only hope.

He sends his blue-blooded friends to kidnap me so I can join their quest to Mount Ruin, the only place where I can heal him.

The path is dangerous, and I don’t know the entire truth. The prince is hiding something from me. To make matters worse, he isn’t always proper. A Fae prince isn’t supposed to lust for a human, especially when she’s his prisoner. And a human girl isn’t supposed to burn for someone so out of her league.

The quest might kill me, but it’s my heart I’m worried about.

The prince would choose to save his realm.
But the beast would follow his heart…

To me.

After I saved his life and kingdom, Kalyll let me go, choosing duty over the passion that burned between us.

Though his death was written in the stars, I found a dark, impossible way to pull him back, to anchor his soul to the world of the living. Still, that wasn’t enough to win his heart.

Now, the force that lives within him gives way to his darker nature, and for a second time, I’m kidnapped and made prisoner—this time in a high tower in the Seelie capital of Elyndell.

With good and evil fighting within him, both his kingdom and heart stand at risk. He can’t have it all, and his attempts to do so may be the end of all he and I hold dear.

In a void suspended in time, I find myself trapped in an abyss of darkness and despair.

With every ounce of strength, I fight to free myself from this suffocating sleep, while Kalyll, consumed by a fierce determination, searches tirelessly through the realm. His sole mission: to exact revenge upon those responsible for bringing me to the edge of death. No one shall escape his wrath, for everyone in his path will suffer the consequences.

Yet, the fate of his kingdom teeters precariously as his treacherous brother, Cardian, schemes to plunge the realm into all-out war. Cardian’s alliance with the heartless and ambitious Unseelie King threatens to shatter the fragile peace that remains.

In a cruel twist of fate, Kalyll falls into the clutches of his enemies, leaving the specter of war looming ever closer.

As time runs out, can I wake from my dark slumber and restore the light before the darkness consumes us all? The final battle looms, and our love hangs in the balance.

The Fae realm was supposed to be safe for humans.

Yet, here I was, backed into a corner, facing three snarling males.

My heart hammered out of control, and my messenger bag hung heavily from my shoulder. It was full of the healing ingredients I bought at Yalgrun’s Wares a moment ago, supplies I couldn’t get back home.

Just a few hours ago, I’d left my condo in St. Louis, walked to Forest Park from my house on Art Hill Ave, and traced my transfer rune on the wooden railing of Steinberg Bridge. The Fae rune was a symbol assigned only to me, which granted me passage to Elf-hame, specifically to a trading post in the small, bustling town of Pharowyn, a town I’d visited safely a thousand times.

But now, in front of me, was the evidence that the sense of security I’d felt during my previous visits was as false as my nonna’s teeth. If only I’d sensed something was wrong, I might have returned home and wouldn’t be facing the chilling looks of the three very tall, very buff Fae who were eyeing me as if I was about to become their next meal.
Suddenly, I felt as if I were in no-man’s-land and not the fairyland that maintained a diplomatic relationship with my realm.

“What do you want?” I demanded, as my back hit the wall behind me.

I tried to run out of the tightening circle they’d formed, but the male to my right—a Fae whose pointed ears were quite visible thanks to his platinum-blond cropped hair—blocked me.
“I’ll scream if you don’t let me pass,” I threatened.

The male on the left smirked. He had skin the color of mahogany and eyes like warm honey. His face was framed by a couple of long braids that fell from his otherwise short, coiled hair. A glint in his gaze told me no one would help me, no matter how loudly I screamed.

I cast a glance through the gap between my assailants’ muscled arms and caught a glimpse of a woman on the other side of the street. She had paused and was looking at me as if I deserved whatever was coming my way.

Really? Why?

Did she think I was a trouble-making human? Was I? Maybe I’d inadvertently done something wrong, committed some faux pas I wasn’t aware of. I mentally retraced my steps since I’d arrived and couldn’t find anything.

After tracing my rune on the bridge, I appeared in a quaint tavern at one of the many tables assigned for that purpose. Appearing and disappearing wasn’t exactly what happened. No one could really do that. What the rune did was break the membrane between one realm and the other, transferring one’s reality to a Fae location that occupied the same time and space. It was all very technical, and I’d learned all about it in high school, though I’d forgotten most of it. Healing magic was my jam, mages like my brother, Leo, could concern themselves with those other details.

It was early on a Saturday morning, and the tavern had been buzzing with an assortment of Skews, which was what humans with no supernatural abilities were called back home—not that the Fae used those terms. To them, there was the Fae, and then there was everybody else. The point was that the tavern was crawling with people from my realm, as well as the Fae servers who worked there.

I got up from the table where I’d appeared—they were supposed to be left empty to allow others to transfer by using their own runes—and took a seat at a small, round table for one.
A slight Fae, thin as a rail, rushed toward.

“May I serve you, respectable lady?” he asked in a lilting accent. He wore a green tunic with carved buttons and cropped brown pants. His bare feet were stuffed in thin leather shoes that molded to him perfectly. Two small horns protruded from his forehead, and a garland of wild flowers rested on them.

“Good morning, Abin Cenael,” I said, calling him respectable sir in return. “I would like a cup of jasmine tea and a honeyed bun with goat cheese.”

He inclined his head. “Serving you is my pleasure. You won’t have to wait but a minute.”

In seconds, he was back with my breakfast, which I’d enjoyed immensely, though it was now souring in my stomach. After that, I’d done my shopping and headed back toward the tavern with the purpose of returning home.

No, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Despite the female’s mean stare, I couldn’t help the plea that rose to my lips. “Help me.”

She huffed in disgust and pranced away on hooved feet that clattered against the cobblestones.

My eyes flicked back to the males. Who were they? Guards? They certainly were armed to the teeth with swords and daggers. Whatever they were, they appeared lethal and authoritative—not the kind of males anyone would want to cross, especially to help a visiting human.

The one in the middle loomed over me, all seven feet of him. He had long, red hair swept to one side and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds. He wore an elaborate gold-trimmed leather jacket, unbuttoned at the front to reveal a tattooed torso lined with heavy muscles. The hilt of his sword peeked above his head, promising violence.

I fought the urge to lower my gaze, and instead, held my head high. He raised a perfect red eyebrow, appearing mildly impressed by my pluck.

“I will turn you all into horny toads if you don’t get out of my way,” I lied, pretending I was a witch and putting a growl in my voice, though I wasn’t sure it was very convincing. My normal day consisted of communicating with sick children, who always brought out the sweetest side of me. I wasn’t used to dealing with Fae a-holes.

The platinum-haired guy inclined his head and spoke with a purr. “You will find the horny part easy to do, I think. In truth, you probably only need to worry about the toad part.”

“Shut up, Silver,” the redhead snapped, without breaking eye contact with me. “You’re coming with us.” He grabbed my elbow.

“No, I have a date I can’t miss. I need to get home immediately.”

This part wasn’t a lie. I had dinner plans with Ethan Malone, a pediatric neurosurgeon I’d shared a spark with in the cafeteria line. We both worked at Children’s Hospital, and I’d seen him doing rounds many times. He was hard to miss in those blue scrubs that matched his eyes and hugged his perfect butt. I’d been content with looking at him from afar, afraid he would turn out to be an arrogant jerk like most of the other residents, afraid the spark would die after the first date due to lack of chemistry.

He seemed nice and didn’t bat an eye when he learned I was a healer and not an MD. Maybe the fact that he was a talented neurosurgeon would mean he wouldn’t be intimidated by my Skew healing abilities. He was a Stale, a regular human with no magic, and normally Stales in my field resented healers. They said we had it easy, which wasn’t true. I’d gone to college too and worked hard to learn biology, chemistry, anatomy, child psychology, and a slew of other things.

I didn’t want to miss that date. I’d been looking forward to it. I hadn’t been lucky in love like my sisters. They talked about sizzling physical attraction and unconditional feelings, but I’d never felt that after my first boyfriend in college, and I was beginning to think it wasn’t in the cards for me.

The Fae dude didn’t care about my date, though, and tugged harder on my elbow.

I screamed. “Unhand me, you pervert.”

“I’m not a pervert, I’ll have you know. That particular title belongs to that one.” He threw a sidelong glance toward the male he’d called Silver.

Silver—whose name seemed appropriate given his hair color—rolled his eyes. “A much better title than asshole with the stick up his ass.”

The third guy sighed and gave a pointed look at the redhead’s hand around my elbow. “Let her go, Kryn. You know what he said.” His voice was nice and melodic.

My ears perked up.

What who said?

From the sounds of it, someone had sent them to collect me, but I had no idea who. Other than Yalgrun—the store owner where I shopped—I didn’t know anyone else.

Reluctantly, the asshole with the stick up his ass, Kryn, removed his large hand. I shook myself and made as if to walk away. The males didn’t budge.

“Let me pass,” I demanded. “I’m due home, and if I’m one minute late, my boyfriend—he’s a badass vampire, by the way—will come looking for me.” I didn’t have a boyfriend, badass or otherwise, but I had to try something.

“You need to come with us, please,” the dark-skinned guy said.

Silver huffed. “Good luck using the nice approach with this one, Jeondar. I can spot the feisty ones.”

“We’re wasting time.” Kryn looked annoyed.

“Please, Daniella,” Jeondar said, my name on his lips making me shiver, “come with us.”

“Quietly or not,” Kryn added.

“My name isn’t Daniella. You have the wrong person,” I said, barely managing to keep a straight face.

Silver blew air through his nose, looking amused. “Personally, I think she’ll choose or not.”

Jeondar smiled sweetly. “Don’t make this harder on yourself.” He offered me a hand forward, as if to guide me down the sidewalk.

But I knew that if I went anywhere with them, I was done for. I would never go home or see my family again.

I shook myself. “All right, I will...” I threw my messenger bag at Jeondar’s face and ran, ducking under his arm.

It wasn’t even worth the try. I’d barely taken two steps when pain exploded on the left side of my face, and I started going down, though strong arms scooped me up before I hit the ground.

“Shit, Kryn,” Jeondar said angrily. “You didn’t have to do that.”

The world around me whirled, and then I was hanging upside down, my arms and head dangling. Kryn had draped me over his shoulder like an old coat. Shadows gathered around my vision. I fought not to pass out.

“He won’t be happy you hit her,” Jeondar said.

“He can get over it.”

“She has a nice ass.” Silver laughed.

“I wish Cylea would have come instead of you,” Jeondar complained.

“Agreed,” Kryn said. “She wouldn’t let a dick get in the way of getting her work done.”

Silver huffed. “That’s because she doesn’t have one.”

My head swam, and the shadows took over as I spiraled out of consciousness.