by Nissa Leder
Scarlett and Kaelem could have become Winter Court prisoners.
Next to him, Scarlett rested her head on Raith’s chest.
He ran his fingers through her hair.
Eventually, she dozed back off and he gently laid her onto the bed as he stood. He needed to clear his head.
When he entered the dining room, he found Kaelem sitting at the head of the table.
“I want to thank you,” Kaelem said. A chair next to him scooted backward. “Sit, please.”
Raith obliged. “It wasn’t for you.”
Kaelem smirked. “I figured as much, but I’m grateful nonetheless.” He crossed an ankle over his knee. “I can feel your connection to her.”
“And?” Raith checked his mental shields. He didn’t want the Unseelie King prying into his thoughts.
“There’s care and lust and something else. A fae bond connects you two, which must mean she’s still your second.”
How would he know that? Raith could have surrendered and lived.
“There’s something about her, something alluring.”
Raith clenched his jaw. Had Scarlett and Kaelem been intimate? The Unseelie King was a ganacanagh, a creature made for women and men alike to throw themselves at. And Raith had seen Kaelem high off of attention. Had he also developed an interest in Scarlett?
“Before you imagine the worst, my relationship with Scarlett was business…mostly. I can’t deny I see her intrigue, but my mission was to save my sister, and, thanks to you and your woman friend, I succeeded.”
Raith had never seen Kaelem so sincere. His love for games was well known, but at that moment, Raith didn’t feel like a pawn in some scheme. He felt true gratitude exuding from the Unseelie King. He wasn’t sure if he should be honored or scared.
Sage had returned to the Autumn Court. She offered to help Raith search for more information, and he planned to take her up on her offer someday after Scarlett had healed.
“I don’t like to owe favors, so I will tell you everything I know about your mother, and then we will be even.”
Kaelem glanced at the dining room door and it swung shut. “When I was visiting the Autumn Court last fall, I had an unusual encounter with one of the castle servants. I usually don’t invade the minds of a servant, but I saw a shift in her expression when the Autumn King mentioned the deterioration of the Summer King.
“With no mental wall to speak of, slipping inside her thoughts was easy. I saw an image of the Summer Queen, only a much younger version than Kassandra’s current age. She was dressed in simple clothes, no jewelry, and stood inside a hut of some sort.
“My interest was piqued, so later, after the meeting, I found the servant again. She tried to keep me out of her mind, but of course, she stood no chance. Her memories were mine for the viewing. I learned that Kassandra was not raised in the Summer Court. She grew up far outside the castle with her sister, your mother.”
Kaelem paused.
Raith replayed the words. How could it be? Kassandra was his mother’s sister? How come no one had ever told him?
Kaelem continued, “When your mother died, the king found Kassandra to share the news of her sister’s passing. When he came back to the castle, Kassandra was with him. The servant recognized her, as your mother had taken the servant with her to see Kassandra the week before.
“At first, the servant said Kassandra seemed distraught at the loss, but before long, she had her grips on the mourning king. The servant was cleaning the king’s chambers when she heard Kassandra’s voice outside the door. She hid under the bed. Kassandra and the king entered the room. The king complained of being tired. Within moments, the room was silent and another fae man entered.
“The servant heard Kassandra instruct him to erase any part of the king’s mind that knew Kassandra as the former queen’s sister. When it was done, they both left, the king still fast asleep on the bed. The servant was the only other person to know of the connection. She knew her memory would soon be taken, so she fled.”
The story seemed so unreal, yet Raith couldn’t deny how much sense it made. Even as a child, his gut told him not to trust her. He hated how quickly his father had fallen for her. Raith had always felt an extra sense of jealousy from Kassandra. He had felt the love his father had for his mother when he saw into his memory, but he’d never felt the love between him and Kassandra.
“You knew this all along and you sent me on some fucking wild goose chase?” Anger boiled inside of Raith. He’d almost died from the wolf bite.
“The agreement was I’d tell you what I knew, not everything I knew.” Kaelem shrugged. “You should be more careful with your bargains.”
With a deep inhale, Raith released his rage. It would do him no good.
“The servant may still be at the Autumn Court,” Kaelem suggested. “I had thought you would have found her eventually, but now I’ve saved you the searching. You helped me in the Winter Court and now I’ve told you all I know. We’re even.” His gaze locked with Raith’s.
Raith nodded. “Agreed.”
He didn’t need any more favors from Kaelem.
Quietly, Raith snuck back into Scarlett’s room. She was awake and sitting up, with color returning to her face.
Uneasiness sat in the pit of Raith’s stomach. “I need to leave again.”
Scarlett smiled. “I could feel something from the bond. Is everything okay?”
Raith told her everything Kaelem had just told him. “I can’t explain it, but I need to know about my mother.”
Sadness coated Scarlett’s face. “I understand. Truly.”
He promised himself not to ask, but he couldn’t resist. “You could come?”
Scarlett frowned. “I can’t. I need to get my sister out of the mirror and figure out how to protect her.” She pushed the blankets off of herself and stood.
Raith approached her and pulled her into his arms. “I’ll come back and help you as soon as I can.”
Scarlett wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.
He would find out what he could and come back to her.
Cade hovered outside the door to his mother’s bedroom.
She’s remained in her bed since their return to the Summer Court yesterday, recovering. Kassandra hadn’t shared what exactly had happened to her, but he guessed her pride was hurt worse than her body.
After Raith, Scarlett, and their group had left the Winter Court, Cade and Poppy had gone straight to the dungeon. Guards were scattered across the floor like confetti, all dead. Further into the dungeon, Cade found his mother and the Winter Queen, both passed out but alive.
It took an hour for them to wake, and when they did, they were both fuming. Icicles shot from Nevina’s palms when Cade told her about the guards.
Still weak, Kassandra requested an immediate return to the Summer Court. The cold of the Winter Court weakened Summer fae, and it would take Kassandra much longer to heal if she stayed.
With a groan, Cade entered his mother’s room. One servant added wood to the fireplace while another filled Kassandra’s teacup.
“Mother,” Cade said.
“Leave us,” Kassandra snapped.
Both servants stopped, set down the wood and teacup they were holding, and bolted.
“How are you feeling?” Cade asked as he approached her bed.
Her coloring had returned to her face. She’d been so pale when he’d found her on the dungeon floor.
“I’ll survive.” She grabbed the teacup from her bedside table and sipped. “I’ve been confused, though.” She set the cup back down.
“About?”
“How Kaelem and Scarlett were able to get through the guards alone. As the Unseelie King, Kaelem is powerful. But as it was the Solstice, the guards were at their height. And Scarlett is newly fae. It’s unlikely she had much power left after she entered my mind.”
Cade kept his face calm. She was fishing for information. Did she think Cade had come to their rescue? “I wasn’t there. I do no
t know how they escaped.”
It wasn’t completely a lie. Cade wasn’t in the dungeon, but he knew they received reinforcement when Raith and the warrior woman showed up.
“Where were you, son?”
“Poppy and I were attending the ball, as we’d come to do.”
Kassandra’s eyes searched his expression for signs of dishonesty, but Cade let nothing show. He knew his mother didn’t like Scarlett and would lose no sleep if she were to die. But if she knew Raith had survived, Cade wasn’t sure he knew what she would do. He was ruler now, not her, and only he would decide the fate of his brother.
He’d wondered if letting Raith and the woman in to help and allowing everyone to leave without a fight were the right choices. When he’d seen his mother lying on the ground, he worried she’d been killed and it was his fault. But they’d spared her, a kindness he doubted she’d have shown them.
The bond between Cade and Poppy was as strong as ever. With Raith still alive and not conceding his right to the throne, the Battle of Heirs still continued. But he couldn’t let Kassandra know that.
“I need more rest.” Kassandra closed her eyes.
Apparently, the conversation was over.
Cade left, retreating to his chambers. There, he was greeted by three women he’d only heard legends about: the Fates.
“Hello, Prince,” they said in unison, their dark hair hanging over their pale faces.
He shut the door behind him so no passing ears would overhear.
Why were they there? And they’d called him prince, which must have meant his suspicions were accurate. He wasn’t actually king.
Yet.
“Why are you here?” He watched them suspiciously.
“We’ve come with a warning: war is fast approaching. The fae world is shifting. New alliances will form.”
“With who? What will happen to the Summer Court?”
Their heads cocked to the side, dark eyes watching him curiously. “That is yet to be decided.”
“What can I do?”
“She who is one of many will hold the power. Betray her, and rain will fall. Help her, and the sun will rise again.”
“Who?” he demanded.
A cacophony of laughter burst through their lips. “We have no answers, only advice.” Their eyes fluttered with knowledge, knowledge they wouldn’t share with Cade, not today. “The Summer Court will need a ruler or it will fall.”
“But I am its ruler,” Cade tried to tell them, but before the words escaped his lips, they had vanished.
Who was the woman they spoke of? How could Cade get her on his side if he didn’t even know who she was?
They denied him any real answers, except for one; Cade wasn’t truly king.
He couldn’t protect his people without being the leader they needed.
Next time he saw his brother, he couldn’t let him go.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Scarlett stood in front of the window in her room in the Unseelie Court, staring out into the bright lights of the city sparkling in the everlasting darkness.
It had been a week since they’d escaped the Winter Court. With the help of Unseelie magic and, most of all, Scarlett’s healing abilities, Aria was on the road to recovery.
Scarlett, too, had regained her energy, but she had yet to gain the courage to face her new truth: she could never have a normal human life.
A knock on the door caused her gaze to move.
May I come in? Kaelem’s words spoke in her head.
Since learning of her mind powers, he’d spoken to her a lot that way. He said it was to help her practice at gaining control.
Sure.
Kaelem entered, a mirror in his hand. It was the mirror that held Ashleigh. He’d offered to release her the day they’d returned to the Unseelie Court, but Scarlett asked him to wait.
She’d wanted to regain her energy first. Once she had, she wanted time to decide what to tell Ashleigh. Day after day passed, and still, she couldn’t bring herself to tell her sister the truth.
Scarlett was officially a chicken. After everything she’d been through, nothing scared her more than telling Ashleigh the truth about everything.
“You can do it,” Kaelem said aloud. “It won’t ever be easy, nothing ever is, but you’ll work it out.”
Scarlett glared at him. Who was he to tell her what would happen? It was his fault. He trapped Ashleigh, stealing her from her human life. She could have been left alone, cuddled next to her boyfriend watching Netflix. But instead, she’d been missing from her life, failing her college classes, and Scarlett didn’t know how to explain to her that she couldn’t go back. That world was no longer safe for Ashleigh.
But neither was the fae world.
“I am sorry,” Kaelem said. “I shouldn’t have taken her like that and blackmailed you into helping me. I was desperate.”
Scarlett stared at the mirror.
Kaelem continued, “But she wouldn’t be safe in the mortal world anymore. Not once Kassandra found out you’d survived and were now fae.”
He was right. Scarlett’s decisions hadn’t just altered her own future, but they’d altered Ashleigh’s as well. Crying and fuming about it wouldn’t change anything.
Although Kaelem still flirted with her and was skilled at getting under her skin, something had changed in him during their stay at the Winter Court. A new sincerity showed itself at times.
“Can we stay here in the Unseelie Court until I can figure out how to keep her safe?” Scarlett asked, hating the request as she spoke it.
“Of course. For as long as you need.”
She took a deep breath. She would tell Ashleigh everything. Together, they’d figure out a plan. They’d have no choice.
“I’m ready,” Scarlett said. “Let her out.”
Whims of Fate
Chapter One
Scarlett rode up the elevator with a tray of breakfast in her hand. She'd adopted the role of servant today in hopes of getting Ashleigh to speak to her. Breakfast in bed—a perfect bribe.
It had been over a month since they'd returned from the Winter Court. The first weeks had been filled with fear that the Winter Queen would retaliate. But, there had been no attack, nor news of one.
Scarlett had decided it was best for her and Ashleigh to lay low at the Unseelie Court. Kaelem had offered them each a room in the palace—with every luxury imaginable and people to wait on them day and night if they so chose. But none of it won over her sister. Although the palace provided the best food, pools to swim in, the highest definition televisions, and the comfiest beds, it lacked the one thing Ashleigh wanted: her boyfriend.
Carefully, Scarlett balanced the tray with her right hand and used her left to turn the doorknob to Ashleigh’s room.
With her legs pulled against her chest, Ashleigh sat in a chair overlooking the city. She had pulled all the window curtains open. Normally, natural light would be pouring into the room at this time of day. But this court was a never-ending night.
Bright lights filled the castle, but Ashleigh had kept the lights off. Scarlett used her magic to switch them on.
“I've got pancakes,” Scarlett said as she set the tray onto the unmade bed. Ashleigh always made her bed, even as a kid. “With extra syrup and whipped cream.”
No response.
“C’mom, Ash. You need to eat.” Scarlett hovered behind Ashleigh, who’d kept losing weight ever since Kaelem released her from the mirror.
Scarlett hadn't forgiven him, but she understood his willingness to do whatever it took to save his own sister, and Scarlett had few options when it came to safe residence these days, so she’d dealt with Kaelem.
“I'll eat later,” Ashleigh said, her gaze unwavering. Once she’d realized she’d been trapped in a mirror, and, worse, couldn't go home, she hadn't even looked at Scarlett. She spent most of her time staring out into the sparkling city.
“Please do.” Scarlett clamped her jaw. She’d done everything she could to ma
ke amends, but she was sick of the cold shoulder. Scarlett wasn't the one who kidnapped Ashleigh and trapped her in the mirror. Ashleigh could hate Kaelem for all Scarlett cared. It wouldn’t keep her from sleeping at night. But the anger Scarlett felt pouring from Ashleigh made her nauseated every time she sensed it, which was every time she visited her sister.
Scarlett groaned, frustration oozing from her and into the air.
She might as well give up. I will never forgive her.
The thoughts stole Scarlett’s breath. They weren’t hers; they were Ashleigh’s. The better sense inside Scarlett told her not to do what she was about to do, but she ignored the voice of reason. Scarlett reached her mind out and grabbed on to the only living thing in the room: Ashleigh. Scarlett slipped through her sister’s broken mental wards like water sneaking through a crack. Maybe it was easy because her sister was human. Or maybe it was because what Scarlett found inside her sister’s head was as fragile as glass, threatening to shatter at any moment.
Pictures of Ashleigh’s boyfriend swirled with flashes of Ashleigh’s college friends, her apartment, and her room at home. The first flicker of Scarlett and Ashleigh’s mother stabbed Scarlett’s chest like a knife to the heart. Their mother smiled, eyes squinted and head leaned slightly back.
Then Scarlett’s face appeared in her sister’s thoughts. It was a memory from when Scarlett returned from Faerie. A sense of peculiarity struck Scarlett—Ashleigh’s reaction to seeing her for the first time after her fae nature took control. Although Ashleigh hadn’t known what had changed with her sister, she’d sensed that something was different. But she was too relieved to worry about it. Her sister had come home.
A new memory appeared in Ashleigh’s mind. This time, Scarlett’s face appeared in her new form: true fae. Scarlett recognized the memory. It was right after Kaelem released Ashleigh from the mirror. Confusion tickled Scarlett’s senses—the confusion Ashleigh had felt when she realized her new reality. As the truth sunk in, rage took hold. Ashleigh saw Scarlett for what she now was: inhuman.