The Circlet

By JE Hunter

Aurora Daniels has been kicked out of Avalum, a deadly world ruled by a deadly sorcerer. But her best friend, Ivy, remains behind as a prisoner. Aurora must work with Ivy's brother, Garret, to free her friend before time runs out. The only problem is that Aurora hates Garret. Touching him makes her ill, and spending time with him puts her into a murderous rage. But for one hour a day, Aurora remembers that she loves Garret with all of her heart, and that the hatred she feels for him is part of an evil curse placed on her by the unlawful ruler of Avalum. Can Rory save her friend and break her curse, or will she forever lose the man she loves?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JE Hunter
• Release date: May 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463176207

JE Hunter

J. E. Hunter lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, and began writing as an excuse to stay inside during the cold winters. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch was born from the author's love of the ocean, which she didn't see for the first time until she was eighteen. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch is the first book of the Black Depths series.

Book preview

Prologue

She was in a cage . She could tell from the feel of the cold, round bars beneath her hands. The floor was solid, but it swayed. The cage was hanging, it had to be. Which meant she was in the air. The only question was: how high up was she? She swallowed a shaky mouthful of meagre saliva. It had been days since she’d last drank, or at least it felt like days. But in her cage, in the pitch black darkness, there was no way to tell. She couldn’t even see her hand if she waved it past her eyes.

Two days, four days, what did it matter anyway? She would die here, in the cage, alone. Her plan for vengeance had failed. She had no way out. No skills. Her uncle would have been thrown from Avalum and they would not let him return. And that was if they had kept their word and let him live… Either way, she would never see him again.

Yet, she was not dead.

She had been abandoned, but not slain. Maybe they would let her die of starvation then, and hang her bones as a warning. Part of her wished to die, if only to escape the eternal blackness. But there was something else in her, something that beat along with her heart, something unknown within her soul that kept her going.

Her stomach cramped in hunger. If it was to be starvation, then she hoped it wouldn’t take long. She laid down on the floor of the cage, curling into a ball just small enough to fit. Her back pressed uncomfortably against the grating. She watched the visions that came to her in the dark: vestiges of dreams, memories, images of the outdoors, of light and sun and cloud and rain. She watched as the images formed into feathers, each a single ray of hope. The feathers of hope began to float away from her, further and further into the blackness. But then, just as they were about to disappear, there was a blinding crack of light from below.

The last feather halted its retreat and dropped back down to the floor of the cage. She picked it up and tucked it into her heart where she would do everything she could to keep it alive.

1

Iwoke up on the hill in the dark. I was lying next to Garret. I jumped up, brushing my arm where it had rested against his.

Rory? he groaned, rubbing at his eyes.

I’m not going back to Edinburgh, I said, crossing my arms firmly over my chest. We need to go back for Ivy.

How? We’re banned from Avalum. The portal will be guarded. Garret pushed up to his feet.

I looked up, and realized that at some point, likely when we’d been sleeping in the middle of nowhere, the fog had rolled in. The stars were no longer visible, which meant the portal would be open. The memory of the past few days rolled over me: leaving my home in Saskatoon to travel with my best friend and the man I thought was her brother to Scotland, all to free him of a curse. It’s been hours. The guards have probably left. We can sneak back in and get her. We can’t leave Ivy there. Don’t you love your niece? Or is it your sister?

Garret dropped his arms to his sides and glared at me. You know she’s my niece.

I glared right back. Does Ivy know the truth?

Garret sighed, then reached up and rubbed a hand over his buzz cut. She found out about two years ago, when she began getting suspicious and Gil decided she was old enough to handle the truth. She had become a less willing pawn. When Gil told her that he’d killed her parents, that he would kill her, kill me, if we didn’t do what he wanted, she became more willing to help again. Obviously she had her own plans. Now, come on. It’s at least another hour before we get to the car.

I shook my head. My stomach soured. How could Garret be so willing to leave his niece with the evil king in a long lost land? I still couldn’t believe that Gil, who I thought was Garret’s strange and creepy assistant, was the king of the druids. Who knew what would happen to Ivy in Avalum? No. We’re not going to the car, we’re going back for Ivy.

Garret sighed and turned on his foot. With what? We don’t have swords, we don’t have guns, we don’t even have a knife! You know nothing about Avalum. How are you going to rescue Ivy?

It was dark, and I couldn’t see that far in the fog, even with my flashlight. But I felt like I didn’t need to see, because I could feel Avalum calling. I could feel it tugging on my soul. Now I understood how Garret had found the portal the day before. He must have been able to feel it, too. We can’t leave her there. For all we know, Gil’s going to kill her. I turned and headed back down the hill. Back into the Scottish highlands and toward Avalum. I didn’t know much about that strange land, but I knew enough, and I cared enough to break my best friend free. After all, she was the only thing I had left.

Rory! Rory, stop! Garret yelled after me, but I broke into a jog. I could feel the portal calling. I knew I’d be able to find it. I knew it would be open, waiting for me to return to the mystical land we’d just returned from. I couldn’t just go back to Edinburgh like nothing had happened. I couldn’t go back to the hotel and pretend that Ivy was fine, that she would somehow find her way back to me. I didn’t care for Garret, so I didn’t care if he came with me. I would rescue Ivy on my own if I had too.

Garret caught up with me. He grabbed my arm and pulled, making me stumble and then stop. You can’t go back there.

Let go of me. I hate you. You’re such a coward, I spit at him. She could already be dead. Garret was a few inches taller than my five foot ten, but I started up at him like it didn’t matter.

She isn’t dead. Garret’s face hardened. His lips were pressed into a perfectly smooth line.

How do you know?

Because I know Gil. I was his prisoner for eighteen years. I know what he does to the people he captures. What can I say to convince you?

I pushed Garret away. You can’t say anything. It’s what you can do. Garret held my gaze, then relented, and a half hour later we were back at the portal.

This is a mistake, Garret said as I stood in front of the sparkling, murky doorway.

Just the night before, I’d hiked through the hills with my best friend and the man I thought was her brother, who turned out to be her uncle. Garret had been cursed by Gil to live like a vampire. While Garret hadn’t aged for eighteen years, Ivy had grown up. Ivy had become my best friend when I’d had none. I couldn’t leave her behind now.

There won’t be any guards, I said.

In that case, why don’t you go first and then come back and get me once you’re sure. You know they’ll kill me if they see me, whereas you might be lucky enough to get a second chance.

Garret’s words made my mouth dry. Was this stupid? Was it pointless to even try? I shook my head. If I didn’t try, I’d hate myself as much as I was beginning to loathe Garret. He’d been the one to put Ivy in this position when she was just a baby; it was his fault she was a prisoner, and now he was too much of a coward to rescue her.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the portal. I felt the pull on my body and the tingle on my skin, but the next moment, I was in Avalum. It was daytime, and the white sun burned brightly overhead, illuminating the violet sky.

Three guards dressed in red leather stood across the clearing. One of them saw me and laughed.

Well, look here, men. This one thinks she’s queen of the forest. I looked at the man who spoke and recognized his crooked smile. Linth. The man who had dragged me to Avalum City like a prisoner. He held up his bow and pointed it straight at my heart. I’ll give you ten seconds to get back to your world, lass, and then I shoot. And just so you know, I don’t miss.

I glanced around the clearing. There were tall, dead black trees and long, dried red moss hanging from the branches. From the view, I could tell I was hours from Avalum City, where Gil ruled over the Dru. I looked back at Linth. The other two guards drew their swords. With a twist in my gut, I knew Garret was right. I was wrong; a complete fool. There was no way I could take on Linth and his men. Even if I ran for it, Linth could capture me in a heartbeat. I turned and went back through the portal, but not before a sharp lance of pain ripped through my right thigh.

You’re lucky that Linth was feeling generous, Garret said to me as I sat on a rock, giving my leg a much needed rest.

Linth had only grazed me. The arrow had ripped open my jeans and the first couple layers of my skin, but it had missed the muscle and all of my major veins. Still, Garret had had to fashion a bandage for me from his t-shirt. And our progress back to the car was slower than it could have been.

But the worst was my feeling of complete hopelessness. Garret was right. Linth could have easily killed me. What was I thinking? I couldn’t go back to Avalum, not until I was prepared, trained, and knowledgeable. I stood up and pushed on, walking ahead of Garret so he wouldn’t see my tears. Ivy was lost to me, at least for now. What if I never saw her again?

I shut my eyes tight and pushed onward, through the pain and up the hill. With every step, I told myself I would see Ivy again. No matter how hard I had to work or how long it took, I would get my best friend back.

Once we got back to the car, I slept and let Garret do the driving. When I woke, my leg ached, but I inspected the wound and I was pretty sure it would heal over in a week or so.

How are you feeling? Garret asked me, his eyes on the road.

The sun was up, shining directly through the windshield. I turned my head from the blinding light. Tired, I said. Sore. Foolish.

It isn’t your fault. There was an edge to Garret’s voice.

You’re right. At least it’s not all my fault. You’re the reason we went to Avalum in the first place. But I should have remembered to include Ivy in my bargain with Gil. I don’t know what I was thinking trading the torc for safe passage for only you and I. And going back to the portal… I’m sorry for that. But Ivy’s my best friend, I had to try. After letting her down like I did, forgetting to bargain for her safety, I had to try. I muttered the last words and turned my head away from Garret, looking out the passenger window where I watched the Scottish countryside glide by.

Garret let out a long, slow breath. You don’t remember why you forgot Ivy?

I turned back to him, my brows furrowed. What’s that supposed to mean?

Well, you were preoccupied with the torc.

The past week had been a torrent of difficult decisions. When Garret first told me he needed my father’s golden torc—a treasured possession he’d discovered and stolen from one of his archeological digs—I thought there was no way I could betray my father. Yet I had. I’d seen the pain in Ivy’s eyes, saw how much it hurt her to be at Gil’s beck and call. So I had carried the torc to Avalum, after stealing it from my father’s vault, and traded it for my friends’ lives. I didn’t care about the torc, I said, shaking my head. All I cared was that Gil wanted the torc, and giving it to him was supposed to free you from your curse, which would free Ivy from being a pawn. I guess I just assumed that she was included. What an idiot I am.

Garret shook his head, but he didn’t make eye contact. You’re not an idiot. It was a tense situation.

Well, at least you aren’t cursed anymore, I said. I don’t think I could handle your creepy blood fetish anymore, no offence. Garret didn’t respond to my comment. Just like he’d never apologized for attacking me back when he was cursed. The memories I had of those incidents were foggy, at best, and that was probably a good thing. All that loss of blood seemed to have affected my memory. I knew Ivy loved her uncle, but I wasn’t into vampires who would kill me for my blood.

Garret rounded a curve and I saw a sign for Edinburgh. We’d be back in the city in a few minutes, maybe because of this neither of us spoke again.

When we arrived back at the hotel, I stayed well away from Ivy’s moody guardian—no wonder she’d been so keen to get away from the estate most days—and drank a few cups of tea with milk and just a hint of sugar. I redressed my leg with the contents of a first aid kid Garret brought me. He offered to help but I told Garret I could do it by myself, and I did. Once I’d finished up, I propped my leg up on a pillow and began researching Avalum. I researched, I googled, and I researched some more. But there was nothing to be found on the internet about Avalum. After hiking all night I was tired, so I laid down and had a nap until I woke up hungry around supper time.

The one thing I really liked about the hotel suite Garret and I were staying in, was that we each had our own bedroom, separated by a small sitting room. The second thing I really liked was the room service. I ordered a chicken pie, and answered the door when it was delivered.

Garret appeared to have locked himself in his bedroom on the far side of the suite. I could vaguely hear him talking on the other side of the door, and assumed he’d returned to managing his business. I paid no attention to him and retreated to my own room. I ate my dinner and watched a movie, too tired to research anymore, too worn out to do anything at all. I was about to go to bed, to attempt to sleep for the night, when I felt it. It was like a vacuum pulling the real me back into my body. It was a powerful, unstoppable force that flooded me with memory, with truth, with love.

I pushed the comforter off my lap and climbed out of the bed, my leg aching but I didn’t care. I ran through my bedroom and into the main part of the suite, not caring that I was only in my nightgown, not caring how skimpy it was, or how messy my hair was, or that I wasn’t invited. All I cared about was Garret. Because I’d suddenly remembered that I loved him, and the love was like a grenade in my heart, ready to explode.

Garret!

He opened his bedroom door like he’d been waiting for me. I leapt up onto him, wrapping my legs around his waist. He held me tight. Tucked his head against my shoulder as I pressed myself to him, smelling his freshly washed skin, still scented with his minty soap.

I’m sorry, I gasped.

For what? he said, almost laughing.

I was horrible to you. Everything I did today, it was completely horrible. But it’s like I’m another person completely, and that other person hates you. My eyes teared up as I remembered everything in it’s true from. I remembered that the real reason I’d gone to Avalum was to free Garret because I loved him, and he loved me, and eventually Gil’s curse would destroy us. Garret had hungered for my blood. He’d been unable to control himself, and if I hadn’t traded Gil the torc, Garret would have eventually killed me.

That wasn’t you. He walked backward to the bed, then laid me down, stretching out beside me. I know you love me.

I reached up and ran a hand over Garret’s face. His hazel eyes were ablaze with emotion: love, gratitude, appreciation. His hair was mussed, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt—all the better to appreciate his abs. I ran my hands over his skin. I couldn’t stop myself, it had never felt so wonderful to touch something before. Garret leaned in, kissing me. My body tingled like I was passing through the portal again. We lost ourselves in the kisses, in touching. Garret ran a hand over the edge of my nightgown, lightly touching my skin. His hand slid down my uninjured leg as I ran my fingers over his short, buzzed hair, which felt like velvet. I shivered when he touched my hip. I moaned as he slipped a finger into my panties.

Closer, I needed to be closer. Slowly, while kissing, we removed each other’s clothes, until there was nothing between us, no spells, no barriers of any kind. I gripped Garret’s waist as he entered me, shivering with pleasure. His body was the heat I needed. Moving as one with him warmed my soul until I was on fire. I never wanted to let him go. I never wanted to forget him, to forget how our bodies shook as we pleased each other. But I knew I would. In one hour, when Gil’s curse on me took over, I would forget that I loved Garret.

Tomorrow, I would break Garret’s heart all over again. I tried not to focus on that. I tried to focus only on the moment. I had so many questions, and I knew my other self wouldn’t bother to ask them, so when we were done, I rolled onto my stomach, staying under the white sheets, and asked them.

Garret, could you— Would you mind telling me what happened all those years ago, with Ivy’s parents? Who were they? Who were you?

Garret sighed. He pinched his eyes shut and then opened them. Ivy’s mother, Marissa, was my younger sister. She was beautiful, long golden hair the same colour as Ivy’s. Garret pinched his eyes shut again, like he was trying not to cry. George, her husband, was my best friend. We grew up in Oakville with our parents and had a normal childhood. A couple years after Marissa and I had both left home, our parents decided to go back to Scotland, where they were from. There was a car crash and they died. Our parents never met Ivy. Marissa and I decided to go Scotland after Ivy was born, to see the place where the accident happened, to see the places our parents were born and where they’d come from, since we’d never had that opportunity before. George came with us, of course. We all loved it here: the land, the hills. We began taking long walks. Ivy was such a good baby; she never complained, even when it rained. I already told you the part about finding the portal. Only I said I was a child. I wasn’t. I was twenty-five, and I made my sister and George cross. We were captured right away. We were brought to the court, before Gil. He was irate at our trespass. He… Garret paused to take a shaky breath. He killed George straight away. Marissa screamed, begged for Ivy to be spared. Gil was planning to kill me next, but when he looked into my eyes he saw something. Gil is very talented at seeing spectrums of the future. I think he saw me and you, and how we could bring him the torc. He didn’t kill me. Instead, he instructed Marissa to hand me the baby if she wanted Ivy to be spared. And then he killed her, right in front of me. Garret’s voice caught and I didn’t push him. I was horrified. To have lived through that. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened to me if I had watched my sister, Willow, be murdered.

The blackmail began right after that. Years of it, of Gil threatening to kill Ivy if I didn’t obey him.

I sat up, pulling the sheet up around my chest. It isn’t your fault.

Garret sat up and turned away from me, looking out the window at the night sky. It is. After all these years trying to protect Ivy, I failed her.

I reached out, placing a gentle hand on Garret’s shoulder. We’ll save her.

Garret nodded and stood, then he went into the bathroom and closed the door. I imagined that after telling his story, he just needed a few minutes alone. A glance at the clock told me I was running out of time, so I went back to my room and dressed for bed. Tomorrow I would start saving Ivy.

During the days, I hated Garret. I remembered nothing about our past, nothing that gave me any hints that I loved him. But each night when I became my true self, I rushed to Garret’s side. Usually I wanted to spend my time wrapped up in his arms, but sometimes he had other plans. Come on, let’s go outside for a walk. I wouldn’t mind strolling through a park or two.

I felt the corner of my lip turn up. Why? The past few nights Garret and I had