“Not if I take us through the new gate I constructed with Vek.”
Anna blinked. “Did you forget I’m not Felshreh? Dria said it was only for your kind.”
Fen turned to face her, his eyes fierce embers. She’d never seen him like this, although his intensity didn’t bring fear. No, it was an echo of her own resolve. She didn’t know how, but they would bring Maddy home.
“I didn’t forget.” Fen gathered both of her hands in his and brought them to his lips. “We’re mates. I have taken your blood, and you have sipped some of mine. I think that if we merge minds, I might be able to pull you with me through the blood portal, and if it doesn’t work, you can drive to the shop and wait for Dria to create a gate.”
“What if this is the wrong choice?” Anna asked softly. “If Vek can’t help, we’ll waste a lot of time.”
Fen’s eyes practically blazed over the top of her hands. “It isn’t. Vek won’t let me down in this. I feel it in my soul.”
His conviction resonated within Anna until she felt it, too. She nodded and closed her eyes, letting the link between them deepen until their thoughts began to merge. Then there was no her.
Only them.
When the knife tipped against the edge of Maddy’s hand, she flinched in surprise. It seemed like she’d been healing for hours, easing the blade free bit by bit as she repaired the organs and blood vessels in its wake. Still, she was only half done. The knife was free enough that the hilt was overbalancing it, but there was a lot left to check.
Even though it would allow more blood to pour free, Maddy plucked the knife from the wound and set it aside. If the damned thing kept tilting, it would cut into undamaged flesh, and then she would have more work to do. Sweat already trickled down her face and between her shoulder blades from exertion as it was.
She settled to her task once more, trying to ignore the growing weakness in her body as she expended her energy. It was working. She was healing instead of hurting, and she’d only come close to losing control once. Maybe she wasn’t hopeless at this.
But before Maddy had knit much more of the injury, a crash sounded behind her. Startled, she glanced over her shoulder in time to see a group of Seelie Sidhe soldiers pour through an open door with swords drawn. She lifted her hands out of reflex, her magic sputtering out without her conscious command.
A good thing, really. She could kill as well as heal, and she would never have forgiven herself for accidentally hurting one of the guards—provided these were the good guys.
They swept around her and Meren in a circle, and a woman in golden armor settled her sword at Maddy’s throat. Afraid to even blink, Maddy stared at the elaborate engravings on the soldier’s leg-guards and tried to calm her pounding heart.
“State your name and purpose,” the warrior demanded.
What should she say? If Meren had brought her to one of his bases, then the less information she gave, the better. But if this was the palace, then these were the queen’s guards. Telling them everything would be the most prudent.
The soldier eased the blade a touch closer, almost breaking the skin. “You have been found in the company of a known traitor. Your silence does you no service.”
The queen’s guard. If a sword hadn’t been at her throat, Maddy would have sagged in relief. “I am Maddy Carden. Well, I guess that would be Maddy a Shayan of the Cairdai? Not that my father’s family will claim a half-blood like me.”
Perfect. Now she was rambling.
The sword didn’t ease, and the legs in front of her didn’t shift an inch. “And your purpose here? Even if you are of the blood, you have not been given permission to enter the inner palace.”
Being right about her location usually would have brought more satisfaction, but not this time. Her father had petitioned to introduce Maddy to the court several years ago, but the request had never been granted or denied. That meant she was technically trespassing, even though she hadn’t arrived by choice.
Worry began to edge out relief. “I’m not here by my own power. I was defending myself and my mates from Meren when he crashed into me. Then I woke up here.”
“Look at me,” the warrior commanded.
Carefully, Maddy tilted her head back, fighting the urge to swallow with the blade pressing into her throat. The soldier’s harsh expression did nothing to ease the fear coating Maddy’s mouth. Couldn’t the woman see her innocence?
“Do you deny healing Meren a Nuall, traitor to the crown?”
Oh, fuck. She hadn’t even though about that aspect of her actions. “No. He fell on my knife. But I wasn’t trying to help a criminal. I just couldn’t sit and—”
“Silence,” the solider snapped. A general, actually, based on the symbol Maddy could see engraved upon the breastplate. Double fuck. “Maddy a Shayan, you are under arrest for illegal entry into the palace’s inner sanctum and for aiding a wanted criminal. You may save your pleas for the queen and the court.”
There were so many things Maddy wanted to say in her own defense, but she could see from the general’s harsh gaze that they would do no good. Unfortunately, there was one point she couldn’t resist making. “I didn’t finish the healing. He still needs help.”
The general’s lip curled in scorn. “Your lover’s health is no longer your concern.”
“My what?” Maddy almost gagged at that conclusion. “You’ve got to be kidding. Why would I have tied him up if we were together?”
“I have no reason to believe anything you say, half-blood. I will leave it to the queen to judge.”
Before Maddy knew it, her arms were bound behind her back with enchanted chains, and a thick hood was shoved over her head, blocking her sight. Her magic cut off, severed from her control by the bindings, and a sword tip nudged her back.
Her muscles trembled with terror as she stumbled forward between the guards. The only reality in her world was the stone floor beneath her feet, the blade at her back, and the hands on her arms guiding her movements. By the time they started down an endless flight of stairs—one laborious step at a time—she almost wished they’d just stabbed her and been done with it.
She hadn’t been this afraid when Kien’s minions had kidnapped her, and they’d been the bad guys. But as the hands holding her shoved her forward into nothingness and slammed a door behind her, Maddy thought her heart was going to pound itself to pieces. Was she alone? She couldn’t use her magic to scan the area, and there were no physical clues she could discern.
Maybe they’d left her in a cell, bound and helpless. No telling how long she would stay that way, either.
She was so very, very screwed.
It took longer than Fen liked to follow the link to the blood gate, but it wasn’t a magic he’d used before beyond that one time with his uncle. But the combination of the blood link and his connection to the fluorite he’d brought forth did the trick. With the last surge of his magic, he held Anna close and pulled them both through.
Only Anna’s hold kept him from crumpling to the cave floor in an ignoble heap. They swayed together until he was certain he was going to fall anyway, taking her with him. Instead, she helped him lean against the wall until he could slide into a more dignified cross-legged position.
His head spun, and he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t throw up. “That’s going to take more practice.”
“Don’t give me that,” Anna said. “I told you that you didn’t take enough energy. Does my water worry you that much?”
Fen’s hair caught against a rough edge in the stone as he shook his head, but he didn’t have the energy to care about the nip of pain. “Didn’t want to weaken you. I’m dangerous when I’m low.”
She knelt beside him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve accidentally pulled too much before.” Too exhausted to explain, he sent her a quick mental image of his foster mother on the floor. “Ends badly.”
“Oh, Fen.” She caressed the side of his face, and her lips pressed softly against his.
He reached for her hand, tugging until she settled against his side. “You were a kid, right? You won’t do the same thing now. Stop torturing yourself and take more energy.”
“Waiting for Vek.”
Her hurt reached him through the mate link, and his own heart twisted. “So you won’t let me take care of you?”
Fen pulled her more closely against him. “It’s not… Save yours for helping Maddy.”
Fortunately, she seemed to understand what he meant, since he couldn’t make a solid sentence to save his life. Again. As Anna settled her head against his shoulder, Fen used the last of his precious magic to call for Vek in the off chance his uncle hadn’t detected his arrival. What had they added into the shielding again…?
The sharp taste of familiar blood hit his tongue, and only then did he realize that he’d drifted almost to sleep. Vek. Without hesitation, Fen took the power he required, halting as soon as he sensed it would weaken his uncle to take more.
Vek hadn’t had to stop him.
That revelation rang in Fen’s head as he opened his eyes. Danger, weakness, fear for Maddy—none of that had mattered. He’d followed his instincts, and it hadn’t ended in disaster. His uncle stared down at him, perplexed but not harmed. No one was drained or unconscious on the floor.
Maybe he could trust himself.
“What’s going on?” Vek demanded, clearly not noticing Fen’s epiphany. “Where’s Maddy?”
Fen rubbed his eyes. Now wasn’t the time for self-reflection. “She disappeared with Meren after Anna did some kind of water spell. A Gwragedd Annwn lady showed up to help Anna, and then we decided to come here.”
It was a truly shit explanation, but Vek nodded anyway. “I sensed Meren not long ago and was preparing to go after him. I need only trace his blood for the exact location.”
As awareness fully settled in, Fen scanned his uncle and noted the red leather armor and sword belted to his side. The sword—the one specifically designed to harvest energy from the blood of those Vek struck, a powerful artifact his uncle didn’t bear casually. Good. If they caught Meren, the asshole would pay.
Anna stood, brushing dirt from her pants before she straightened, and Fen followed suit. Now that the haze was clear from his thoughts, urgency was taking its place. What was happening to Maddy? Had Meren hurt her? Surely Fen would know if she’d been killed. Would he sense something like that through their bond?
“Do it,” Fen said. “We need to go.”
Vek’s gaze grew distant as he began to follow the link, and it was all Fen could do not to tap his foot and demand answers as the silence lengthened. His thumb found the ring on his left finger, the symbol of their bonding, and he spun it impatiently as he waited for his uncle to speak. To give them a target.
The ring. It was supposed to deepen their connection and ease communication. Could he and Anna use theirs to contact Maddy?
“Impossible,” Vek whispered, and for a second, Fen thought he was somehow answering the question about their rings. Until his uncle continued. “The bastard wouldn’t be that stupid. And yet I’ve never tracked wrong before.”
Anna took a step forward. “Where are they?”
“The inner palace of the Seelie Sidhe.” Vek’s hands clenched at his side. “The restricted portion where high-ranking nobles and royalty live. Unless he’s planning a coup now…”
Fen frowned. “He wasn’t in any kind of shape for that. Last I saw, he was unconscious. Anna’s blast took him down hard.”
Vek cursed, low and viciously. “He had a recall spell, I wager. One designed to take him to safety if incapacitated.”
“That doesn’t sound like safety,” Anna said.
“Maybe he forgot to change it after his betrayal was discovered?” Fen spun the ring faster as he tried to beat back hope. “If so, Maddy is likely okay.”
Vek sighed. “I’ll have to approach the Seelie court to check.”
“You?” Fen scowled at his uncle. “Are you trying to take over shit for me again? Because Anna and I can find a way to—”
“Get arrested by the royal guard for intruding?” Vek asked, his tone turning incredulous. “I understand pride, but this level of stupidity is baffling. Why refuse needed help for your own ego?”
Though his uncle had a point, Fen ground his teeth in frustration. “She’s our mate.”
“Technically, you’ve renounced your place as heir to the Unseelie throne, and as such, your position is nebulous. You could barge into the Seelie court as prince and heir, but without that exalted position, you will not be granted entry. Force the issue, and they’ll throw you in prison.” Vek lifted a brow. “Are you ready to claim your full heritage? Because that is what you will need to demand audience with the queen.”
Fen’s stomach dropped. How could he claim anything when he obviously didn’t know the rules of either court? Honestly, he would have marched up to the palace and asked about Maddy, consequences be damned. But then, he had two conceptions about castles: people liked to go to foreign countries to visit them, and the one the Unseelie inhabited was weird as fuck.
“There has to be another way,” Fen said, uncaring that his voice broke on the words. “I’ll try to contact Maddy for more information. Our rings…”
“Oh, yeah.” Anna’s expression brightened. “Let’s try that. Maddy’s father did say they should help us speak over distances.”
Vek’s lips thinned in displeasure, but he gestured toward the chamber entrance. “Fine. Let’s go to the meeting room, and you can give it a try. But consider my earlier words, Fen. You can’t live in limbo forever.”
As if Fen could avoid thinking about his position among the Unseelie. It haunted him all the way through the cavern tunnels. Could he rise from a homeless, troublemaking failure to the heir to the throne? He’d learned to trust in himself somewhat, but that much? By the time they reached the meeting room, he still didn’t have an answer.
Chapter 31
The guards hadn’t abused her, but Maddy had no doubt she looked like they’d beaten her anyway. She’d refused to simply stand there awaiting her mysterious fate, and so she’d spent the last eternity exploring the room—sometimes with her face. Her nose still throbbed from where she’d run into something that might have been an unlit wall sconce.
Her cheek had discovered bars straight ahead from where she’d entered, but best she could tell through the stifling hood, no air passed around the rails. If the little opening had once been a window, it was probably blocked off. Now, she eased sideways along the wall, moving slowly in case she encountered more obstacles. So far, there hadn’t been any furniture. For that matter, her feet hadn’t caught on a pallet or bedroll. No bucket, tray, or toilet.
Maddy reached the corner she thought was nearest to the door and stopped to suck in a calming breath. She rubbed her fingers against the unnaturally smooth stone behind her. Aside from the sconce and the bars, she’d found nothing to hang on to, literally or figuratively. Would they simply kill her here and then wash the blood away without a thought? This didn’t seem to be the kind of cell a person would stay in long term.
The royal guards didn’t mess around.
Her arms were numb enough from her bindings that it took her a minute to realize that her ring finger had heated up. Maddy rubbed her finger against the gemstones and jolted at the hint of power that filled her. It wasn’t her magic—that was blocked by the chains—but it connected to something deeper.
Anna and Fen.
Maddy concentrated on the indelible power of that bond, picturing her mates as she pressed her thumb as hard as she could against the ring. Worry and hope filled her first, followed closely by fear and doubt. Yep. Anna and Fen. Despite it all, she found herself smiling against the rough fabric.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked.
“Well…”
Then Fen. “Did Meren hurt you?”
Pain slammed into Maddy’s head as she struggled to hold their mental connection through her bindings. The spe
ll’s talons hovered over their link, ready to grab at any moment.
“No,” she tried to explain. “But the Seelie royal guard is holding me prisoner. They think I’m working with Meren. Oh, and apparently, I trespassed. Like I wanted to be brought here.”
Stunned silence.
“Why would they think—”
“Prisoner? Like torture? Please tell me you’re in a nice room or something.”
Maddy winced at Anna’s question as her mates’ words tangled in her head. “No torture.” Except sensory deprivation, but no need to mention that now. “But I wouldn’t call the room nice. I’m not really sure what’s going on.”
“I can feel your hurt,” Fen said.
“It’s hard to hold the link.” No need to talk about the pain she’d inflicted on herself by running into stuff. “Call my father. Not sure his rank’s high enough, but I’m going to need the help.”
“Maddy…”
She rolled the side of her head against the wall to try to ease the building agony, the only thing she could do without hands to rub at the ache. “I can’t hold this any longer.”
Fen’s and Anna’s voices wove together with their last words. “We love you.”
Maddy’s tears dampened her hood as the connection faded, and her sobs sucked at the oxygen inside until her head spun.
With each endless moment, the chance of seeing them again dimmed in her heart.
Anna glared at Dria’s back as the woman dug through a trunk while muttering curses. She wanted to be on the move, but instead, Vek and Dria were playing dress up. Did it really matter what they wore while Maddy was in the Seelie queen’s dungeon, her fate uncertain?
Dria straightened, a bundle of blue fabric in her hands. “Thank the gods. I have it.”
“Great,” Anna said, doing her best to stifle her temper. “I’ll hurry up and change.”
Dria’s lips twitched, but she shook out the cloth to reveal a robe embroidered with swirls of periwinkle and baby blue—an idealized version of water for sure. “I’m not trying to slow you down, Anna. In the Seelie and Unseelie courts, appearance plays greatly into power. Or at least the perception of it. They will not listen to someone who shows up in human clothing.”
Ascent Page 31