by Gwen Rivers
Aiden stands and stares out into the trees. He closes his eyes and breathes in, searching for her scent. He finds it nearby, though it is old, almost stale. He shifts to sparks, the wolf’s instincts demanding he find its source.
The trees grow close together, their bark almost black. He flits over the land until he spies a small clearing. His body reassembles on the ground and Aiden takes in his surroundings.
It’s a house, a stone cottage though it is crumbling to the ground. The scent of Nic is stronger. Along with a whiff of fear.
This place, where the fate Lachesis had abandoned her at six-years-old. If not for Liam and his pack, she would have starved to death long before the hiker had attacked her.
He stares at it for countless moments. Imagining what caused that terror.
“I should never have left her,” he growls at the same time as his wolf. His hands clench into fists. His eyes growing stronger in the low light of the moon.
“You didn’t have a choice.” Another voice says from beside him.
He turns to see Harmony step out from between the trees.
“I thought I’d find you here.” She looks to the cottage and pulls a face. “Ick, not exactly a summer vacation spot. Is it?”
“No.” He lets out a shaky breath. “I know this place. Have heard about it from Nic.”
Without conscious thought his feet carry him to the crumbling structure.
He can hear Harmony following closely behind him, but she doesn’t speak. His mate’s scent grows stronger, along with the echo of fear. She’d been left here. Her memories wiped by one of those cursed fates. He steps past the door which is hanging on its hinges. Vines snake up through the stones, the mortar crumbling, the roof all but a distant memory. It had been over a decade, but somehow, he knows the structure hadn’t looked any better during Nic’s sojourn here.
“She was attacked.” He stoops down and picks up a small, rag doll that has buttons for eyes. “That bitch left her alone here and she was attacked by a full-grown man.”
Harmony’s hand brushes his arm. “She survived.”
He turns to face her. “Did she? There are times I wonder.”
She shakes her head. “Isn’t there enough suffering in this world without you going out to look for trouble?”
“I left her with them, the Fates.” He shakes his head.
“It was a smart choice.”
“You don’t understand. I could have stayed with her, used magic to keep her hidden from Brigit. But I was so angry about what she’d done.” It’s the first time he admitted it out loud. That he had chosen to leave his unprotected mate when she’d been most vulnerable.
Because he hadn’t been able to stand the sight of her.
“What did she do?” Harmony asks.
“The seer doesn’t know all?”
She waits patiently and he feels like a prick for lashing out at her. Time has barely scabbed the wound. “Nicneven deceived me. Forced my hand and tricked me to get her way. I left her alone and she and our babe died. And then when Laufey brought her back, merged her soul with that human child, I had a choice. To stay with her and protect her myself or find someone else to do it. I chose to leave her. If I’d known she’d be different….”
Harmony moves to stand in front of him. “Aiden, you may have been born of the gods but your heart is human. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you didn’t love Nic until she became human, mate or no.”
He pulls in a deep breath and stares down at the doll in his hands.
“She forgives you, for all of it. She loves you.”
He frowns. “It’s odd, to hear you defending her.”
Harmony shrugs. “I figure you’re going to be with her whatever I say. I want you to be happy, brother.”
His eyes fill with tears. “Thank you.”
She squeezes his shoulder. “I wish I could have known you sooner.”
“As do I, little sister. As do I.”
She smiles but then her face goes blank, eerily so.
“Are you all right?”
She doesn’t answer. He drops the doll and reaches for her, intending to shift them both to sparks and take her back to Liam’s den when she blinks.
“Was that a vision?”
She nods. “Yes. I know where Nic is. We have to hurry before it’s too late.”
Evil Insight
“Well well, what do we have here?” Pharaildis smiles at the bedraggled pair of females Rodrick’s fey guards deposit at her feet.
“Exactly what is your problem?” The giantess Laufey shoves the Unseelie who’d been manhandling her to the side with enough force that his body leaves a dent in the hewn stone of the dungeon wall.
Pharaildis raises an eyebrow? “Were my guards too rough?”
Ignoring her, Laufey kneels over the body of her lover. “Fern, darling? Can you hear me?”
Fern doesn’t respond.
Pharaildis crouches beside the giantess. “Tell me where he is and I’ll heal her.”
Laufey glares up at her, hatred burning in her leaf green eyes. “I will never tell you and you won’t lay one of your perverse fingers on her.”
Underhill sighs and then rises to her feet. Why must they always be so difficult? She moves around the pair bleeding on the floor as if they are nothing but mongrel dogs. “I have no quarrel with you, giant. Nor with her. I only want what is mine.”
“My grandson isn’t yours.” With great tenderness, Laufey brushes some stray hair off of Fern’s cheek. “And neither is Nic.”
Pharaildis pauses at that. She hadn’t anticipated such resistance from the giantess. Her encounters with Laufey and her kind had been limited in the past, they’d always been mutually beneficial.
She raises a brow at the giantess. “Do you really want to see the fey continue to rule this realm?”
“Better than having the dead overrun it.” Laufey gestures to the window. “It’s nothing but a blackened husk of what it used to be. You were the first dreamer here, Pharaildis. You know what this land could be. And yet you desecrate what you once held sacred.”
Rage, hot and quick, surges through Pharaildis at her words. “They did this to me. Those accursed Fates. I have one of them lurking just beyond that door.” She stabs a finger at the adjacent cell.
“You’re not the first to have a beef with your destiny.” Laufey lifts her chin. “I sympathized with you when you were imprisoned here. It was neither just nor fair.”
Her gaze falls to Gleipnir, the unbreakable chain that binds Pharaildis’s ankles and tethers her to the fey realm. “You killed your lover when he spurned you. Given the chance, I would have done the same.”
Pharaildis’s hands clench into fists. “History has it wrong. John the Baptist was a letch, no better than any mortal. He came to my bed, made me a promise. And then when he found out about her, he abandoned me. When I called for his head, those…Norns dump me here like refuse to serve the fey. I have spent hundreds of thousands of years, trapped and alone. Powerless in the dark. I will get my vengeance. I will be set free.”
Something like sympathy flits across the giant’s face. “It isn’t just. But neither is it just that you punish them all for the acts of a few. The One True Queen is destined to end your reign of terror and blood.”
Pharaildis lashes out with her stolen fire. The giantess throws up a magic shield and the flames wrap around her and her lover, incinerating the guards behind them. Their screaming echoes off the solid walls of the Unseelie catacombs.
Breathing hard, Pharaildis lowers her hands. “I have no interest in justice any longer. I will catch your grandson and when I do, I will use him to set Loki free. And you my dear giantess, will help me do it.”
“Never.” The hardness is back in Laufey’s eyes. “I will never help you on this quest.”
Calm suffuses Pharaildis once more. She holds the winning hand. “You will. Or, you will watch your lover die.”
I surge up out of my latest nightmare, clutc
hing the bedspread and panting. I grunt as all the aches and pains from the car wreck make themselves known. My healing has slowed along with all my other abilities.
A knock sounds and a moment later Chloe slips inside.
“I had a dream about Laufey and Fern,” I say.
“Are they all right?” Chloe sits on the end of my bed.
“They were.” Though I don’t know how long they’ll stay that way. I think back to everything I’d seen. “Tell me about the prophecy of the One True Queen.”
Chloe’s red gold eyebrows shoot up. “Where did you hear that?”
“It was in my dream. Angrboda said it, too. What does it say?”
“In essence, the One True Queen will rule the entire Unseelie Court. She is destined to repair the Veil and unite the two halves of the courts into one mighty kingdom.”
She sighs. “And, if she joins with the One True King, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts will come together as one. But it’s never been possible before.”
“Why not?”
“Your magic is based on the air. In order to rule year-round an Unseelie Queen must be able to wield fire as well.”
I put a hand over my stomach. “Fire, like what she will inherit from Aiden?”
“Exactly. That’s why Brigit had you murdered in your last life, to avert the prophecy of the One True Queen. It wasn’t just jealousy—the One True Queen can sit on both thrones and overthrow the previous ruler. Brigit wanted to keep her power. And Underhill will be even more ruthless if she knows you are with child.”
So Addy didn’t fight to get me free only for my sake. She used the deception so that this baby would be born in safety. “She knows.”
Chloe grasps my hand. “Underhill will be hunting you now. You and Aiden both.”
I toss the covers to the side. “We need to get out of here. It’s not right to put them in danger from not just the FBI, but Underhill as well.”
“Nic, think this through. The pocket realm is safe. No one can enter without a giant and there are less than a dozen on this side of the Veil. The baby is draining your magic. Your only defense is your goodnight kiss.” She gestures to the scrapes and cuts on my arm. “You’re not even healing properly. You need a safe place to convalesce.”
“Look me in the eye and tell me that Sophie, Garret, and Tate will be all right.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to ensure their safety.” Her gaze shifts to the side. “Addy is stronger with mystical protections.”
I reach out and clasp her hand in mine. “I’m sure she’ll get free. Knowing Addy, she’s looking for a way to free the rest of our forces before she makes her move.”
Chloe nods, though doesn’t hold my gaze. “You’re probably right.”
Another knock on the open wood doorframe. “Nic? Are you hungry?”
I gesture for her to enter. “Come in, Sophie.”
She does, offering a hesitant smile as she sees me sitting up in bed. “You look better today.”
“I feel better.” I smile in appreciation.
“Chloe tells me that you are a vegetarian.”
Technically I am but the smell of something delectable, which I fear is animal-based, reaches me. “Um, well usually. But… not entirely?”
Way to be decisive, Nic.
“No need to explain.” Sophie comes into the room and shuts the door. “I had unusual cravings during my pregnancies, too.”
Chloe blinks. “You told her?”
Sophie shook her head. “She didn’t need to. If you’ve ever tried to hide a pregnancy, you know the signs. So, pancakes or waffles with your sausage?”
Pancakes make me think of Aiden, how he’d made some the night he’d agreed to drink the unbinding syrup and severed the oath he’d made to me. How would things have been different if he hadn’t done that?
I can’t think about Aiden without feeling sick again. Gods, how will I tell him? Will I get the chance to tell him?
“Waffles,” I say. “Can I help with anything?”
She shakes her head. “Be ready in a few.”
We listen to her footsteps recede.
Chloe rises from the foot of the bed. “See why I always told you that you have good in you?”
“I do.” There is a stray thread at the corner of the bedspread and I fidget with it. “Chloe, do you know where Aiden is?”
She glances away. Confirmation.
“Tell me.”
“Right this moment, I don’t know. But he was in Asgard.”
“Asgard? The realm of the gods?” As far as I know, Aiden hasn’t been back to Asgard since he was changed and his father had been imprisoned. “What’s he doing there?”
Chloe looks pained. “Don’t ask me, Nic.”
I narrow my gaze on her. “I don’t like your tone. Tell me, is he in danger?”
She shakes her head, red-gold curls bouncing. “No. In fact, the gods are worried that Underhill is hunting Aiden so she can release the trickster.”
Then at least he would be safe. Unless that cursed pantheon turned on him again. “I’m worried about these dreams, about what they mean.”
She frowns. “What’s the common thread you’re seeing?”
“My mother.”
We both know I’m not talking about Sophie.
“You’re in charge, Nic. But you have the heirs to three of the four thrones. From the message the ghost sent, the fourth, your pal Taj, is in the Vanir lands.”
“We can’t trust Nightweaver. She’s reporting back to Underhill.”
Chloe’s eyes go wide with alarm.
Uh oh. “Have you seen her? Did you tell her where we are?”
She shakes her head. “No, but if she does discover this pocket realm, Underhill will recruit a giant to come in after us.”
Shit. Shit shit shit. “We need to leave before Nightweaver comes back.”
Chloe throws her hands in the air in obvious frustration. “And go where? Underhill is out of the question. As soon as we leave here then Agent Hanson will be up our asses. We don’t have a lot of options, Nic.”
She’s right, I know it and yet after watching Astrid die, I don’t want any more innocents getting caught up in my nightmare.
My aunt rubs a hand over her face. “Think about what I said. Addy didn’t sacrifice herself so that you and your baby wind up in Underhill’s clutches.”
With that, she leaves me to dress.
After breakfast, I follow my brother out onto the beach. Heavy clouds are stacking up to the east and the wind is sharp off the water. I’m happy to be outside though where the breeze can kiss my face and I can breathe in all the scents of the season.
My season. At least it had been.
“Why do you look so sad, Nic?” Tate tilts his head to the side.
“I have some friends who I miss is all.” Nahini, Jasmine, Freda. Aiden.
He nods as if this explanation is sufficient. “Want to see my fort?”
“Sure.” I allow him to take my hand and lead me to a copse of scrubby bushes, where a scraggly looking treehouse is perched.
“Wow, that’s pretty cool.” I smile at the no girls allowed sign. “What do you have against girls?”
“That’s just to keep mom out. She always wants to tidy up.”
He drops my hand and starts to clamber through the brush.
“Be careful,” I say.
“Of what?”
“Snakes?” I suggest.
“They’re all in dens for the winter. It’s okay. I do this all the time.”
Still, nervous knots twist low in my belly as I watch him disappear into the tangle of nature. If I had my magic…no. I need to get used to living without it. I am no longer a queen, no longer able to wield the power of the Shadow Throne or harness the gifts of the Unseelie Court. I’m just plain old Nic. Soon to be an unwed teenage mother with no high school diploma.
Statistics are a bitch.
“Come on,” the small head pokes out through the open door.
> I am wearing jeans and a sweater borrowed from Sophie along with Chloe’s trench coat. I don’t feel like getting snagged in that there briar patch. “What happened to no girls allowed?”
“You’re not a girl,” he waves off my protest. “You’re my sister.”
My heart clenches. Claimed as family, like it isn’t a huge freaking deal. Before I can think better of it, I say, “Okay, I’m coming in.”
Carefully, I make my way up the bramble path and into the fort. It’s not exactly structurally sound but it’s all Tate’s. I can appreciate that. “Did your dad help you build this?”
He gives me a gap-toothed grin. “Yup. He showed me how to hammer the boards together and everything.”
“Tools, very cool.”
“Have you ever built anything?”
I think about it for a beat. “No, I’m not much of a builder.”
“I can show you.”
“Nic? Where are you?” Another voice calls from nearby.
I poke my head out the window and see Angrboda striding across the seagrass from the house. “Here.”
Turning back to the small boy I say, “I gotta go. Thanks for showing me your fort.”
“Wait, I’ve got something for you.” He fishes inside an old metal lunchbox until he comes up with a pretty white and pink seashell. “Here.”
I take it from him, a small smile on my lips. “Thanks, kid.”
I take care climbing out and wipe my eyes when I reach the edge of the brambles at the same time as the giant.
“Have you been crying?” she asks.
“The wind is in my eyes.”
She doesn’t call me on the obvious lie as we fall into step along the line of frigid sand. “I wanted to tell you I’ve put out feelers for where Astrid came from and that boy you mentioned, Declan?”
“And?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing so far.”
I blow out a breath. “I hope Agent Hanson doesn’t know about him.”
“I don’t think they do. I’ve been monitoring their communications since they came for you.”
I don’t ask how, unsure if I want to know all the ways giants go about obtaining information. “And?”