Beside me, Nathan tensed. “The vampires are monsters. They’re planning to destroy everything. In the end, they would’ve turned against King Peter.”
I nodded, glad he had found a way to circumvent his vow. “Does anyone have a bag I can put the crown in?”
Caleb removed a leather sack from his shoulder “Here you go.” His eyes were vivid once again, filled with hope. Soon, he’d be reunited with Peony.
“Thanks.” I packed the crown into the sack and rose on my Pegasi, ready to finish what we’d started.
The Pegasi flew us back to the borderlands. Nerissa and Nathan shared one since I didn’t want to get the crown near anyone with noble blood. I held the crown, still encased in the leather sack, to my chest. The burning was still there, but not as bad now that there was a protective layer between me and the source of the Summer land’s magic. As we flew, the sky brightened, and an early afternoon sun gradually materialized out of the dark. The stars vanished and the trees below shifted from green to yellows and oranges. Pines mixed in with the forest below and soon took over as the first patches of snow appeared, and the air cooled. I exhaled. After seeing what had become of the Summer Court, the borderlands no longer seemed drab but rather peaceful.
The Pegasi lowered us toward the circle of trees where we had set up camp. Our tent came into view as we landed, and Blair, who was sitting outside in the sun, jumped up and darted toward us. “You’re back!”
She tried to hug me after I slid off my Pegasus, but I held up the sack. “Careful. I have the crown.”
She beamed at me. “I knew you could do it.”
“That’s not all we did. Nerissa, Caleb, and Nathan freed everyone trapped at the Vasara.”
“That’s amazing!” Blair high-fived Nerissa, Caleb, and Nathan, who seemed confused by the gesture but went along.
“How long before the students get here?” I asked as Nerissa fed the Pegasi magic carrots.
“On foot and without breaks, a day or so,” Nerissa replied.
I bit my lip. “Do you think they’ll make the crossing okay?”
“I trust our spy,” Nerissa said. “She knows how to remain unseen. The students were able to arm themselves before leaving Vasara. I gave Kalvin the key to where the vampires had locked all the weapons.” She winked.
My shoulders dropped, and I linked my hand with Nathan’s. “Who’s going to stay behind and greet the students once they get here?”
Blair crossed her arms, sticking out her lower lip. Clearly, she was done staying behind.
Nathan tightened his grip on my hand. “I’m going with Virgie.”
“I’m needed in the wastelands. As an heir of the Summer Court, I’ll combine my power with Onyx’s,” Caleb said. “Father shouldn’t sense me wearing the crown in the wastelands. Even if he does, he’s not going to come after me.”
Despite the strength of Caleb’s words, hurt lurked between them. No, King Peter would not even think of rescuing Caleb, and we all knew it.
Nerissa stepped forward, her angelic glow intensifying. “I will remain here. The students are my responsibility. I’ll protect them in case the king’s soldiers or vampires come after us.”
Nathan nodded, relief flooding his features. I leaned against him. Even though I was terrified of the wastelands, I was also excited to go. The wastelands would finally break Nathan’s draconian vow to King Peter. I just hoped the price of breaking his vow wouldn’t be too steep.
I turned my face into Nathan’s and kissed him for a long time, allowing the others to melt into the background as Blair muttered something about us getting a room.
At last, we separated, and I faced the others. The time to venture into the wastelands had come.
21
Virgie
Nerissa embraced Nathan, her eyes shining with worry. Nathan whispered something into her hair, and she nodded, her throat bobbing up and down.
Nathan separated from his sister and stepped toward Caleb, Blair, and me. “There’s no need to worry,” Nathan said, slipping back into his role as High Commander. “With our combined skills and the Shield, we’ll survive the wastelands.”
I squeezed his hand, hoping that Onyx hadn’t gone anywhere near Petra. Even when Petra had to be on her best behavior, taking on Mrs. Rutherford’s form at Nocturnal Academy, she’d been very unpleasant. The wastelands had probably only honed her anger and mercilessness.
“I have trust in all of you.” Nerissa glanced from Nathan, to me, Blair, then Caleb. “I’ll take care of the students. Together, we’ll break this reign of terror.”
“We will.” I pulled out the crown from the leather sack and started to hand it to Caleb, but he shook his head.
“If I touch it, my essence will merge with the crown and Father will know where it is and thus, where we are. We must wait until we reach the wastelands. You’ll have to wear it while I open the portal.”
I nodded, swallowed, and braced myself. Slowly, I lowered the crown onto my head. Burning magic seeped into my scalp and made my ears buzz, but I forced my face to remain relaxed as I took Caleb and Nathan’s hands. Blair joined us. Spots danced in my vision, and my skin prickled. There was no way I could tolerate wearing the crown for long. I wanted to tell Caleb to hurry, but held back. Rushing him wouldn’t help us.
With our hands linked, we faced the open space in the middle of our group. Orange light from the sunset filtered through the trees and fell on us.
Caleb chanted in Latin to open the wastelands. He repeated the same words that had banished Onyx. The pain in my skull grew stronger as the power of the crown flowed through my body, making my heart race. I channeled the power flow from the crown into Caleb, who jolted at first, but adjusted quickly, doing much better with the immense, ancient magic flowing through him.
Obey Prince Caleb Kallan, I ordered the portal and the crown. He is your future king. Slowly, with my prying, the prickling heat flowing through me intensified, turning from a sharp drip into an intense avalanche of heat. I gasped and almost let go of Caleb, but I didn’t. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. I couldn’t let Nathan see what I was going through, or he would try to shoulder the burden and subsequently alert King Peter.
“Virgie, are you all right?” Nathan asked, knowing me too well.
“Fine,” I bit out, my eyes still squeezed shut. “Just need to focus.” Nearby, I sensed a magical pit, sucking the magic from this place. The wastelands portal had opened. We were almost there. The heat in my body scorched my organs. My brain throbbed and melted. I let my jaw drop as weakness jabbed my knees.
“It’s done,” Caleb said, his voice filled with triumph and wonder. “Everyone, get in! I can’t hold this open for long.”
I opened my eyes to glimpse a dingy, gray-rimmed portal and the dead granite of mountains on the other side. It was the size of a large mirror. I stepped forward but the pressure and heat in my head exploded so much, I stumbled back, my head lolling.
“Virgie.” Nathan grasped my neck, propping me up. Had he touched the crown? The possibility was enough to propel me back into action, no matter how great the pain.
Everything turned gray as I stepped into the dead lands, Caleb and Blair in front of me, Nathan behind me, their hands holding me up. I tumbled through a void the color of slate. My head spun, my chest seized. The burning of the crown and Nathan’s grasp were the only things grounding me.
“Who the hell is she and why is she wearing the Summer Court crown?”
An unfamiliar voice rang above me as I stirred, hand brushing cold stone. My body ached like I had run a marathon, and the ground itself seemed to be sucking the life out of me, draining me. I groaned. Beside me, Nathan did the same.
The crown’s magic continued to thrum through me, but less intense than it had before. It seemed to be joining my magic in getting pulled toward the dead ground. If this strange thing wasn’t happening, would I have died from the crown?
“Remember our vow,” someone hissed, and that voice I recog
nized. Onyx. We had made it. “You promised not to hurt me while we work together.”
“I’m not hurting you,” the nasty woman replied.
“Shut up, Petra.” Another familiar angry voice. Peony.
Someone coughed, and I forced an eyelid open. Above me stood Peony, still wearing her yellow dress. It was tattered and somewhat faded, but she seemed fine. A wall of mountains rose behind her. Beside me lay Nathan, his long hair covering half of his face.
“Caleb,” a tall blonde woman sneered. No, not a woman, but Petra, Princess of the Summer Court. “I should’ve known you’d be part of this machination against the Summer Court.”
Caleb gave her a smile that was more of a grimace. “Petra. I missed you too.”
That’s when the severity of the situation sunk in. Shit. Onyx had found Petra. Petra hated our guts and wanted us dead. Instinct took over as I snapped to full awareness. I tried to sit up, but a foot came down on my wrist. Petra’s bleached gown swung into my view as her foot slowly crushed my wrist bones. “You have something that belongs to me, fae. Better hand it over.”
“Are you deaf, Petra?” Onyx charged forward and shoved her aside. I breathed a sigh of relief as the pain lifted from my wrist, then I took in Petra. She was a female version of Percival and Peter. She had the same cold green eyes and the same straw-blonde hair. Despite her sickly thinness and disheveled appearance, she wore a cocky smile.
Next to me, Caleb stood and helped Blair rise, who had landed ten feet from me. I took Nathan’s hand. Together, we managed to stand. Only then did I notice a suited man with a long beard and a withered ice crown a few feet away from us. He leaned against the wall of a mountain, bags hanging under his eyes. Nothing lived in his pupils. King Olwen. I shuddered, not wanting to think how the wastelands would affect us if they had sucked the life out of the former King of the Winter Court.
“Why does this nobody have the crown of the Summer Court?” Petra crossed her arms. Her eyes were sharp and calculating.
Caleb extended his hand to me, and I gladly removed the crown and handed it to him. The pain that remained subsided, and some of the tension seeped out of my shoulders. However, a wave of something knocked into me, like a wall of weakness, shoving the breath out of my lungs. I stumbled, my knees giving out, but Nathan caught me.
“Virgie, what’s going on?” His eyes were wide with terror.
“The crown protects the bearer from the wastelands,” Onyx said calmly.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, catching my balance. I’d adjust soon.
“Keep telling yourself that, roadkill.” Petra chuckled, just as much of a psycho as her father.
Caleb began to put the crown on his head, but I held up a hand “Is it safe?”
Caleb’s gaze turned steely. “If my father sensed it and decided to come here, it might be to our advantage.”
I nodded. We might have a better chance of destroying King Peter here.
I studied Caleb, trying to read in his features how he felt about killing his own father, but Caleb’s gaze was glued to Peony. It must’ve cost him a lot of power to hold back and not reveal how much Peony meant to him in front of his monstrous sister.
Peony and Onyx stood on either side of Petra, who looked like the only reason she hadn’t torn us apart were the two women framing her. Onyx and Peony must’ve forced Petra into a vow. But how? What had they promised her in return? Didn’t matter. We still had to be careful. I knew firsthand that it was possible to cheat vows. Petra was determined to kill us. She’d take any loophole. I reached out to her mind. A shield was there, but like her appearance it was frazzled, allowing me to get through it.
You don’t want to hurt any of us. We’re all in this together. Remember your deal. To my shock, Petra uncrossed her arms, but then her gaze turned to Nathan, and her jaw tensed anew.
“Caleb I would’ve expected,” Petra said in a low, dangerous tone, “But you, Nathan Bitterbay? How dare you turn against my father after everything he has done for you?”
Nathan smiled grimly, and I knew that at last, he was free of his vow. “Your father was a respectable king once, but he has turned into a destructible madman, Princess Petra. I do not wish to serve someone who has allied himself with the vampires, our enemies.”
At his words, Onyx flinched, and I sent her an apologetic smile and a telepathic message. Nathan knows Thorsten is different.
Onyx’s lip corner curled upward. Thanks. Still the diplomat, I see?
I grinned. It was good to see Onyx again. After all of this was over, we could finally be openly friends. What vow did you make Petra swear?
Even though I had asked telepathically, Onyx responded out loud. “Petra has promised not to harm me and help us return the wastelands to their previous state, so that we may exit this dimension.”
I waited for Onyx to explain what she had promised Petra in return, but she didn’t. Given the savage glint in Petra’s gaze I knew it was nothing good.
What was the price? I asked silently, but Onyx simply shook her head, not ready to share. Fine. I pushed more of my power into Petra, urging her to stay calm, and a familiar stabbing started in the back of my skull. Wonderful. Keeping control of Petra while the wastelands drained me of my magic wouldn’t be easy. Dots appeared in front of my eyes, but I blinked them away. I would stay strong. I had to.
Caleb moved to Peony, and she met him halfway before they collapsed into an embrace, unable to hold back any longer. I turned my face into Nathan’s chest, wanting to give them some privacy.
“I love you, Virgie,” he whispered and brushed his lips against mine.
“Ugh, how pathetic,” Petra mumbled in the distance, but I didn’t care. Nathan was finally free, and we had made it to the wastelands. Now, we had to finish the final part of our mission.
22
Virgie
I sweated buckets even as the wastelands mountain pass got colder and colder. Since King Olwen was too weak to fly, we hiked toward the tundra, staying on ancient roads and riverbeds with Peony leading the way. I was glad, since even walking drained all the energy out of me. I couldn’t even imagine learning how to fly and then beating my wings for an extended period of time in this place.
We kept reapplying the Shield spray, but its soothing effects were only temporary and I guessed much weaker than if we’d ingested it. The Shield spray blocked the magic-eating aspect of the wastelands, but there was still something about this place that drained the life from me.
Our hike was exhausting, but at least it was quiet. No disagreements broke out, and Petra didn’t try to hurt us. She must’ve seen reason. Six to one, she was severely outnumbered.
I reached out to Onyx’s mind. What do we do with Petra after we heal the wastelands?
One step at a time, Onyx answered tightly.
She was withholding the truth from me. Normally, I would’ve respected her choice, but too much was at stake. For Petra to have willingly agreed to a vow that was disadvantageous for her, Onyx must’ve paid a steep price.
I pretended to drop the topic and hiked for another half an hour, then I gently prodded against Onyx’s mind again. As I expected, she too was weary, despite the icy crown on her head protecting her. Worse, she was getting weaker the closer we got to the tundra where her power would be drained the most. Even the Shield couldn’t help her much. She’d explained that the tundra’s magic was corrupted, and due to the laws of magic, she and Olwen would be the most affected.
I swallowed hard. Peony had filled me in earlier telepathically that the reason why we hadn’t gone to the desert was because she and Onyx had already tried that spot, by combining their powers. It hadn’t worked and their attempt had used up the ancient magic there. We had no other choice but to venture to the tundra where Onyx would feel her worst and Petra her best.
I glanced at Petra as we turned around a curve of the dry riverbed. Unlike the others, she wore an alert expression, a cat biding her time. She would fight us until her last breath.
Almost there. Maybe an hour or so. We need to break for the night. Can’t let Petra mess this up. If we don't sleep, I’ll have to fight her after the wastelands like this. Not sure I can handle a duel.
I suppressed my gasp. Nathan shot me a concerned glance. I squeezed his hand in reassurance, even as sickness rose within me. A duel. Onyx couldn’t face Petra alone, right after she’d been weakened at the tundra.
Onyx stopped abruptly. “We’re almost here. My senses tell me this is the last mountain before the tundra.” She motioned to the peak behind her as Peony nodded in agreement. “Who’s in favor of doing this now and who’s in favor of resting and finishing this tomorrow?” Her words echoed out of a nearby valley full of jagged rocks.
I bit my lip. Onyx was really ambivalent if she asked for our input.
“Didn’t know this was a democracy,” Petra huffed, then added sweetly, “but since you’re asking, I say let’s get it over with. The less time I have to spend in this company, the better.”
Caleb nodded. “I agree. Let’s get this over with.”
Nathan shook his head. “One night will allow us to rest and be on our best.”
“We should get some sleep,” Blair said, moving closer to Onyx.
“I agree,” Olwen rasped.
“Peony, Virgie?” Onyx asked, a note of impatience in her voice.
Peony hesitated, then gave a resolute nod. “The tundra will still be here tomorrow.”
I swallowed hard, then pressed out, “I’m with Peony.” I hoped it was the right choice, and that spending the night this close to the tundra wouldn’t drain Onyx more.
“Then we rest,” Onyx said, and pointed toward a cave to our left.
We took turns sleeping. Onyx and Blair insisted on taking the first shift. Then it would be my and Nathan’s turn. Peony and Caleb would take the final shift with King Olwen. I had the feeling Onyx had only assigned her father to the duo out of respect. In his current condition, I doubted he’d be of much help in restraining Petra if it came to that.
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