by Chani Feener
“Give it another moment,” he told her, “you changed while you were asleep, but your waking mind needs to adjust. I heard it’s a lot like getting drunk and trying to take an IQ test—nothing makes sense even though you can read the words clearly.”
“What are you talking about?” And why was he making the strangest analogy she’d ever heard? “Just… help me, Mavek. Tell me what’s going on.”
He stilled over her, searching her face, but she didn’t know what he was hoping to find. A second later he licked his lips. “We separated to find your friends. I wanted to make sure they couldn’t hurt you; I didn’t want the Erlking’s death vision to come true.”
“Skip ahead,” she ordered, starting to grow antsy. She had a bad feeling, and it wasn’t because of the vision. “If I found Cole, did you—”
“Eskel is fine. I arrived in the woods only a few minutes too late to stop Finch from hurting you. I never went after your human. He seemed the lesser threat; I know how he feels about you, even if I hate it.”
It was a relief to know he was safe, but that feeling didn’t last.
“Finch asked me to tell you something,” she said. “Something about blood not being easy to wipe off.”
“This was his revenge for Herla. For costing him his position in the Underground.”
“What do you mean?”
“His younger brother used the switch up at the Tithe to petition against him. He stole his place as Crown Prince. Finch blames us for that, and you have to admit, he isn’t entirely wrong. This was his way of punishing us for it. By taking from us what we desperately wanted, the same way we took the throne from him.”
“I don’t…” When he’d told her that Cole was probably dead, Finch hadn’t sounded pleased about it. That didn’t seem like part of his plan, so that couldn’t be what Mavek was referring to now. “Explain. It’s something bad. I can tell. It’s written all over your face.” The tear tracks were still visible, and she recalled what he’d said to her when she’d first come to. She swallowed the lump in her throat, dread washing over her. “Why are you sorry?”
“I lied,” he confessed. “There was a way to turn you back, to revert the change and make you human again.”
She zoned in on one word, and this time she was the one clutching him, fingers tightening around his almost to the point of pain. “Was?”
“It’s gone, Arden. Finch ensured that when he killed you. Your human-self died. This version of you is all that’s left. There’s no going back.”
She shoved him, moving faster than she’d ever been capable of before, hardly noticing. One second she was lying in his lap, and the next she was kneeling on the bench next to him, hands gripping the thick material of his jacket. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I tied your change to the Tithe,” his voice was even, despite the threatening way she held him. “I was aware how you would react, and hoped that I could convince you to forgive me. I assumed seven years was enough time for that, and if that time came to pass and you still couldn’t return to me… I’d let you go. But you had to keep your human heart until then, and now—”
“That asshole killed me.” She slumped, the rush of adrenaline she’d felt only a moment prior gone as quickly as it’d come. “He really killed me.”
It was probably safe to assume all that talk about needing Mavek’s blood and his rose petals to revert the change had been a lie. But why even bother, if this was what he’d intended to do in the first place? To distract her?
Or…
Finch’s comments about Eskel came back to her.
He’d known she’d chosen Eskel over Mavek. That’s why he did this.
“This is revenge,” she murmured, tears pricking at her eyes. Hopelessness overtook her and a pained sound slipped past her lips before she could stop it. She didn’t even have the strength to push him away again when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. Instead, she lost it, sobbing against his shirt, clinging to him as if somehow he could make this better.
He couldn’t make anything better. He was the reason this was happening in the first place. The angry, bitter part of her wanted to punish him for it. To lash out right now and make him feel even a tiny bit of what she currently felt, but the rest of her was just distraught.
The last time she’d felt this way, like the world was ending, Mavek had been there for her. He’d been the one to pick her up, piece her back together. Give her hope, as false as she now knew that to be.
“I don’t want to ask you for help,” she cried, the words practically unrecognizable through her tears. She didn’t. But now that she was an Unseelie, she needed him. That much was obvious.
“Think about why Finch did this,” Mavek told her softly, cradling the back of her head soothingly. “If you have to tell yourself that you’re merely ensuring he doesn’t get what he wants by asking me for help, then I’ll pretend it’s true too.”
Finch took away her chance to be human because he wanted to hurt both her and Mavek. He was hoping that she’d still turn away from the Midnight King, that she’d blame him and hate him forever. She gulped. If she was an Unseelie, Eskel would eventually die and she’d be forced to continue on without him.
“I don’t want to pretend anymore,” she said, but her voice wavered with doubt. “I don’t want to let other people win, either.”
“So don’t,” he suggested, gently pulling her head away from him so that he could peer down at her. Carefully, he untangled strands of her hair that were stuck to her cheeks, brushing them off to the side. “Stay with me, Arden. Let’s show them all that they shouldn’t have challenged us. Let’s show them what we can do, together.”
She paused, staring up into his familiar hazel eyes. He made it sound so simple, and maybe it was, maybe that would be all it took to get back at Finch for his crimes. To set that part of her life right. Mavek was strong––stronger than most––and if he was to be believed, now she was too. Together, they stood a chance at taking out a faerie prince, especially one whose own family was after him.
But…
Mavek must have seen the hesitation written across her face, because he frowned. “He impersonated your friend and possibly got him murdered because of it. Who knows where he is now, or whom else he’s trying to manipulate dressed as Cole? More importantly than all of that, he took away your one chance, Arden. This is it. Who you are right now is who you’re going to be for the rest of eternity.”
Yes, yes it was. But all those sleepless nights these past few months had given her one thing: time.
Time to come to grips with the possibility that she’d become an Unseelie.
Time to figure out how she’d go on with her life if that happened.
Time to decide what it was she truly, unequivocally, wanted.
If she was going to be the same person from now until forever, she wanted to be an honest one. Starting with being honest to herself.
“I love Eskel,” she whispered.
Mavek’s eyes widened and he paled, shocked by her major revelation. Once he’d gotten a hold of himself, he started to move away, but she grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
“I’m in love with Eskel Montgomery,” she repeated, firmer this time, with more assuredness. She needed him to know that. She needed him to understand that she meant it. The next thing she was about to say, she wasn’t divulging because of the truth curse he’d placed, but because she wanted to. “But I need you. I admit it. I know I do. So,” she searched his gaze, shock the only emotion greeting her, “help me, Mavek.”
He started to shake his head, roughly tugging his arm free only to have her latch onto his other one before he could make it a foot off the bench. His eyes narrowed in a glare, all the anger and the hurt finally flashing across his face.
“Do you love me?” she asked, before he could try to get away again. “Do you?”
Thanks to the new curse he’d placed on them, it was impossible for him to lie. She watched him stru
ggle to conceal it, saw his jaw clench, knew that he was experiencing the same suffocating sensation she had back at the manor when she’d attempted to withhold the truth from him.
Knew all she had to do was wait for him to give in.
“Yes,” he said roughly a moment later. “Yes, I love you.”
She recognized the same humiliation and anger in his eyes that she’d felt the first time he’d forced her to answer that very question. She should have felt guilty for turning the tables, for stooping to his level. But she didn’t.
“Then prove it,” she ordered.
“I just did.”
She shook her head. “No, not with words this time, even if they are true. Show me, Mavek. And not the way an Unseelie shows it.”
“I am not a human,” he stated coldly.
“Sure, but up until a few hours ago, I was.” She still would have had a week until she would have changed fully—if that part of Finch’s story had been true anyway, and she wasn’t sure. But she knew that she’d still been human this morning.
“Help me. Even though there might not be anything in it for you. Even though I’m in love with someone else. You’re right, Finch did this to the both of us. So let’s make him pay for it. Together.”
“You say that,” he said, “while simultaneously telling me you’re choosing to be with someone else. My plan made sense, Arden. I never truly took away the choice you were always so desperately going on about, not really. You know that now.”
His definition of choice was murky at best, but this wasn’t the time to argue with him over the same old thing. She was very aware that part of her was still in shock, despite having mentally prepared herself for this possibility. She felt different. She wasn’t the same as she’d been only hours ago––knew she never would be again––but saying she was okay with turning into something else and actually being okay with it were two different things.
Arden was an Unseelie now.
Arden was going to be an Unseelie forever.
At the first pang of undiluted fear, she steeled herself, eyes narrowing on Mavek. She needed to keep the conversation on a safe topic.
“That doesn’t change the way I feel,” she told him. “It doesn’t change the things you’ve done, and it doesn’t change where I am right now. Back in the greenhouse, you told me you’d beg, remember?”
“I asked if that would help,” he corrected, but the spark of hope in his hazel eyes frustrated her. All this time, and she was only now recognizing that he would never really understand. Which of them was the fool, really?
“Fine,” she sighed, “you want to know how you can beg for my forgiveness? Help me ensure Finch doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
“Your humans, you mean.” He tilted his head. “You haven’t yet realized that there are more important creatures that require your attention now, have you?”
It wasn’t a question, so she frowned but didn’t say anything.
“I told you, I made you my equal,” he elaborated. “That comes with responsibilities. Finch is a threat to far more than a handful of mortals. Especially since his younger brother is after him and he’s lost claim to the throne. The longer he remains in this world unchecked, the more dangerous he becomes.”
“Does that mean you’re going to help me?” she asked. “Or are you telling me you’re going to stop him, but it has nothing to do with me at all?” Was he trying to save face? His pride wouldn’t let him aid her for nothing, so he was making excuses for himself?
Not that she didn’t believe what he was saying was true, but even with the curse he’d placed upon them both, she was smart enough to know the truth could still be twisted.
Suddenly, the sound of Arden’s phone going off filled the room, breaking through the momentary quiet like a lightning strike. She struggled pulling the device out of her back pocket, then stood and paced a few feet away when she saw Eskel’s name on the screen.
“Where are you?” She didn’t bother with a hello. “Are you alright?”
Behind her, Mavek clucked his tongue. “I told you I didn’t touch your human pet.”
She ignored him. “Listen, you and Tabby need to stay away from Cole. He’s—”
“He’s here right now,” Eskel cut her off. “That’s not why I called though.”
“Is this about my texts? Mavek isn’t who you need to worry about at the moment. You need to come up with an excuse and get away from Cole. Where are you? I’ll head that way now and—”
“Arden,” when he said her name like that, she finally noticed his voice sounded strange, ominous almost. “I’m at your place right now and… there’s a girl here claiming to be your sister.”
“What?” All the air whooshed out of her and she felt the world come to a screeching stand still for the millionth time that day.
“Give me that,” a familiar voice spoke a little away from the phone. A second later, it was loud and clear. “Hey, hurry up and come home before I steal your boyfriend—or whatever he is.”
“Ainsley—” The call disconnected and Arden sputtered.
That was definitely her sister’s voice, but what the hell was she doing here? She was supposed to be with their aunt halfway across the country. Ainsley and Eskel—and Cole.
Someone dropped a hand on her shoulder and she instinctually flinched away, only feeling a modicum of relief when she spun and saw Mavek. She’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Your sister is here?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. Still, she nodded frantically, and he sighed, staring off into the distance briefly before running a hand through his dark hair. “Alright, heart.”
“Cole is at the house with them,” she stated, mind reeling. She needed to get home, fast. “What if he hurts her?” She reached up and tentatively touched the spot on her chest where she’d been stabbed. There was no trace of the wound now, but the sharp memory caused the pain to linger when she thought about it.
“I said alright,” Mavek repeated, easing closer. Gently, he gripped her arms, waiting for her eyes to meet his before smiling softly in an attempt to be reassuring. “I’ll help you. We’ll take care of Finch together. I won’t let anything happen to your sister, I know how much she means to you.”
“What about Eskel?” she couldn’t help but ask, even though she shouldn’t push him. When she thought about it though, she felt the same level of fear for them both.
She loved her sister. But she loved Eskel too.
Mavek’s expression tightened, but he gave a single curt nod of his head. “We’ll protect them both, from the prince at least. Agreed?”
That left a lot of other things to chance, including Mavek himself––who was easily a threat to Eskel as well––but she didn’t really have time to argue over semantics.
“We have to go.” Mind made up, she twisted out of his grasp, latching onto the cuff of his jacket so she could pull him after her, partly afraid he’d change his mind. She raced them across the grounds to the front of the manor, then turned, about to search his pockets for his car keys only to find he already had them out and in his hand.
They got in silently, the engine roaring to life and the tires squealing against the pavement as he backed out of the driveway and onto the road. The ride across town was a blur, Arden too distracted by the thoughts circling her head to pay attention to anything other than her growing fear and anxiety.
The first thing she noticed as they approached her house was the front door, and she was already jumping out of the car before Mavek brought it to a stop on the street. She ran across the front yard, already calling for her sister, not bothering to mask the panicked note that rang clear in her voice. When she reached the door the sharp tang of copper assaulted her, and she paused, stopping so quickly she almost fell backward, bracing herself on the doorframe with both hands.
One of them landed on something wet and sticky and she froze, inhaling deeply once more, hoping she had it wrong. Slowly, she pulled her right hand away, turning it so that
she could stare down at her palm.
Blood was now smeared across it.
A cry worked its way up the back of her throat, a wounded sound that had her shooting back into motion and stepping under the threshold to enter her house.
The living room was a mess, torn couch cushions and broken picture frames littering the floor. The TV had been smashed, the end table overturned, and bits of plastic from the remote crunched beneath her boots as she moved closer to the chaos. Fortunately, there weren’t any other signs of blood. However, it was becoming clear that there was no one else in the house.
They’d broken the speed limit getting here and they still hadn’t made it in time.
Bitterly, she realized they were never going to. Finch must have known Eskel was calling her. Had probably waited until they’d hung up to strike, just to mess with Arden.
To play with her.
Mavek finally entered behind her, and she clenched her hands into tight fists, observing the destruction no doubt caused by Finch.
“He’s goading you,” Mavek told her quietly.
“He’s got Ainsley and Eskel,” she was almost surprised when her tone came out even and hard, giving away none of the swirling emotions she was feeling inside. This morning, that bastard had killed her. Now, he was screwing around like this was all some sort of game between them.
Slowly, Arden turned so she could face Mavek. The Midnight King had only walked halfway into the house, still standing more in the foyer than the open living room. His hair had been tossed wildly by the wind, his skin pale as moonlight. He was dressed all in black, from the charcoal jacket to the shin-high leather boots he wore, and even as he remained still, allowing her perusal of him, she saw the flicker of danger in his eyes.
“You look like the day we met,” she told him, and then took a single step closer. He watched her unblinkingly.
She’d known from first glance what he was––had gleaned that while he was beautiful, he was also scary and deadly and threatening. That she should avoid him at all costs, even as her curiosity had gotten the best of her and she’d allowed him to approach.