by Amy Sumida
“I'm sorry, Dad. I know I said I'd get vengeance for Aideen—”
“No, no, no.” He held up a hand. “I'm not calling to chide you. Every warrior needs a break from battle; I'm glad you were able to have one, Seren. In fact, I've had Killian cover for you a bit longer.”
“What do you mean?” I leaned closer to the phone. “Is there a problem with the warrant?”
“There can be no warrant as yet,” Keir said. “The Councils are meeting to decide on new laws concerning selling magic to humans, and regarding sorcerers, in particular.”
“They can't give a warrant without proving that Barra is breaking the law.” I sighed.
“Exactly.” Keir nodded. “You can have all the proof in the world—in both worlds—that Barra is a horrible person, but he hasn't broken the law.”
“But what about Ned? He will testify that Barra plotted to kill me—a fairy noble—and several teams of extinguishers,” I pointed out.
“Testify,” Keir said the word like it would explain everything.
It did.
“They won't issue a warrant on someone's testimony alone,” I muttered.
“That's a good thing, Seren,” my father chided me. “Otherwise, we could have fairies being killed simply because someone accused them of a crime. Punishment is harsh for fairies in the Human Realm—there is only death or banishment. So, isn't it best that the Council be certain before they take action? If you look at this as they must, you'll see that there has yet to be absolute proof of Barra's involvement in any of this. It is all circumstantial evidence.”
“Of course you're right.” I sighed. “The Councils' integrity is what comforted me every time I had to make a kill.”
“So, at this point, they have issued an order to arrest Barra so he can be taken to trial,” Keir added.
“But apprehending him will be far more difficult than simply killing him,” I muttered. “That's why we didn't move on him before.”
“I'm aware.”
“What about the sorcerer shops and all the evidence we collected?” I asked. “Isn't that proof of conspiring to murder fairies?”
“Barra didn't harvest any of those fairy parts,” Keir said in a frustrated tone. “They can only get him on distribution, and only after they deem the sale of such items illegal and then prove that Barra was responsible for opening those shops.”
“How long will all that take?” I asked.
“Who knows?” Keir shrugged. “But while that's been happening, Killian has been working with a team from Gentry to find the redcap who attacked Aideen.”
“A team from Gentry?” I lifted my brows.
“Our people are better equipped to track a fairy, and they don't have to wait for a warrant.”
“Good point.”
“Killian found the redcap,” Keir went on.
“What? Already?”
“Yes; he's waiting for you to arrive before he questions him.” My father smiled viciously.
“All right.” I glanced out the window. “I'll leave at sunset, with the next round of twilight.”
“You should scry Killian and tell him when you'll be arriving,” my father suggested. “He's just sitting at Gentry; probably getting drunk on my stash of fairy wine.”
“Yeah, okay; I will.”
“One more thing, Seren.”
I lifted my brows.
“Make that bastard suffer, but make sure you get the name of his boss before you kill him.”
“I will, Dad,” I promised.
Keir nodded, and his face faded from the phone. I quickly scried Killian and told him my plans.
“No worries, Twilight,” Killian said. “I got it covered until you get here. That son of a bitch is in one of Gentry's holding cells, and those things are hardcore. Did you know your dad had them here?”
“Holding cells?” I blinked. “No; I didn't.”
“Well, they're big enough to fit a giant, have magic-suppressing wards woven into the walls, and the only way in is through a steel door that's has an iron panel welded to the inmate's side. No fairy or human could break out of them.”
“Well, damn,” I huffed. “My father never ceases to surprise me.”
“Me either.” Killian chuckled. “See you soon, Twilight. The cells are on the third subterranean level. I'll meet you there.”
I nodded and cleared the phone. Then I turned to Tiernan.
“Yes; I heard,” Tiernan murmured and then sighed. “Sometimes I miss being one of your guards.”
“Raza has joined me recently,” I said. “If you want to come along, I wouldn't mind. Technically, you never left the Star's Guard.”
“I wish I could,” he said with a smile. “There's too much to do in Seelie. I've already put off several meetings so I could come here with you. I can't go gallivanting through the fairy undergrounds as well.”
“I don't think I'll be gallivanting, but I understand.”
“I wish we had more time here.”
“I can't leave until twilight hits again,” I reminded him. “And that's hours away; plenty of time to show me the ways you have of making me scream, Lord Hunter.”
Tiernan began to smile.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sky was just starting to darken to pumpkin-pink when twilight hit Taigh na a'Grian. I kissed my husband goodbye and then hovered off the ground with my Guard. The magic filled us and took us through the In-Between, depositing us before the rath in Gentry Technologies. I looked up into the wispy sunlight, just starting to brighten with the rising of the Sun. It came from an unknown source above the grass-covered mound, and I thought I might be able to spot it in the low light... maybe it was a sunstrip. But no; I still couldn't see how the Sun was shining below Gentry. Also unknown to me was how the grass grew without rain, but these were minor miracles in the world of the Fey. They had become second nature to me, or perhaps Nature squared; something a step beyond the natural.
My Star's Guard and I climbed the curving staircase and went through a door. It let us out onto a floor full of cubicles. At this hour, there weren't too many employees there; just the dedicated few who came in early. We received respectful nods and soft greetings from them as we passed through the room, but they weren't surprised by our presence. A royal passage through their workspace had become commonplace.
We went to the elevators and headed down again. Floor B3; that was where Killian had said to meet him. I had never been to these floors. Honestly, I hadn't spent a lot of time looking around Gentry. When I visited, it was usually with a purpose, and I went straight to where I needed to be. So, I hadn't even noticed the B buttons on the elevator before, much less pushed one.
The steel doors dinged open on a sterile hallway of white tile and cement walls. Our footsteps echoed through the passage with more noise than I was comfortable with, but it wasn't as if we were in enemy territory. The eye of a security camera followed our progress, and I gave it a cursory glance before striding through the only door, smack dab at the end of the hall.
Sound and silence collided. The echoing quality of the hallway was suppressed while the drone of a television greeted us. Someone shut the door behind us as Killian got up from a leather couch. He hugged me first, then nodded to the others.
“Make yourselves at home, guys,” Killian said to the Guard. “There's food and some drinks in the fridge. Feel free to make yourself something to eat and to change the television channel.”
“Oh, we don't get to be a part of the questioning?” Conri asked on his way to the fridge.
The dining area was on the right side of the room, opposite the lounging area that Killian had been using. My entire Guard followed Conri and crowded in around him as he opened the fridge. Conri snagged some food and shouldered his way out of the hungry huddle.
“No,” Killian said simply.
I smiled gratefully at him. Killian knew things were about to get bad in that cell, and I wouldn't want my Guard to see me like that. Brutality on the battlefiel
d was one thing, but torture and murder were another. Whether or not my Guard agreed with what I did was moot; I simply didn't want them to have that image of me in their heads.
“I assume that you want to get right to it?” Killian asked me.
I nodded.
“Before we do, I want you to know that I love you, no matter what happens in there,” Killian whispered as he led me to a door. “No matter what you need to do.”
“I love you too.” I kissed him softly.
Killian opened the door and led me down a metal hallway. Doors lined the corridor. They were solid except for small rectangles near their tops; open panels with little bars in them. I didn't hear anything coming from the rooms we passed, but a light shuffling filtered down to us from the end of the passage. Killian took us to the last door on the left. There was a black panel on the wall to the left of the door, and Killian punched a code into it. The door clicked, and he pulled the massive, metal handle to open it. I peered into a stark, white room with a single cot—thankfully metal or it might not have withstood the redcap's weight—and a toilet. Nothing else.
“I'll be right outside,” Killian said.
“What? You're waiting outside?”
“We can't leave the door open while you question him,” he pointed out. “And who will punch in the code to let you out, if I go in with you? Unless you want me to question him... or you want to talk to him through the panel?”
“No; I'll be fine with him on my own.” I shooed Killian out.
Killian smirked as he left. The solid door shut behind him and automatically locked, but then Killian's face appeared in the little window. He winked at me.
“I didn't say I wouldn't watch.”
“That's not at all creepy, Killian.” I shook my head as I turned to the redcap... and froze. “I know you,” I whispered. “You...”
“Hello, Your Majesty,” the redcap said softly. “I'm sorry for all of this, but I was acting under orders.”
“You know him?” Killian asked in surprise. “Who is he?”
“He works at Enchantments,” I murmured in a daze. Then I blinked and snapped out of it. “Tell me whose orders you were following.”
The redcap looked a little ill, and very odd without his cap. He rubbed his flattened hair nervously.
“Okay; why don't we start with your name,” I suggested. “I'm sorry, but if we were introduced, I don't recall it.”
“Did you just fucking apologize to this piece of shit?” Killian huffed.
“Killian!”
“Well, fuck; Seren!”
“My name is Fell,” the redcap said.
“Fell?” I asked. “Okay.” I turned back to Killian. “Do we have Fell's cap here?”
“Yeah,” Killian huffed.
“Can you get it, please?”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Killian, I swear to Danu, if you question me every step of this interrogation, I will kick your ass!”
“Fine!” Killian shouted and stomped away.
“What are you going to do with my cap?” Fell asked tremulously.
“Nothing,” I said. “I don't need it anymore; you're right here. So, I'm giving it back to you.”
“You're giving me back my cap?” Fell's eyes went wide and started to glisten with tears. “Fuck me sideways; why do you have to be kind?”
Not quite the reaction I was expecting.
“I'm actually on the verge of tearing your head off for what you did to my friend. Literally,” I said, and Fell's face went white. “But despite what everyone else—and even my own common sense—is telling me, I have this gut feeling about you.”
“You do?” Fell whispered.
“What's going on with all this crap, Fell?” I asked him. “I'm trying to make this a better place for our people, and I'm met with resistance and violence. Tell me why.”
“Your Majesty,” Fell said sorrowfully as he shook his head. “I had no choice. Please know that. Most of us don't. We've left one monarchy for another. Many of us thought we would be free here, but to survive, we can't be. This is how things are. They are too established for you to change them now.”
“The hell they are.”
“I admire your tenacity.” He gave me a tired smile. “And I pray to Danu that you succeed. But I am trapped.” He looked around at the cell. “In more ways than one.”
“Tell me, then,” I said. “At least tell me who trapped you. Who hired you to attack Aideen?”
“It wasn't meant to be an attack,” he said. “I was supposed to capture her. Then those people saw us, and things went to shit. I let the dryad take my cap so that I could find her again. But she went to Fairy, and I couldn't risk pursuing her there.”
“You were trying to capture Aideen?” I asked in surprise. “Then why did I find her branches in a sorcerer shop in Idaho?”
“Figured I'd make a few bucks on the side.” He shrugged. “It's not like I could do anything with them. I was trying to grab her, not her hair. I never thought she'd let me break her branches off before she let me take her.”
“Aideen may not look like it, but she's a fighter,” I whispered. “Strong roots and the ability to bend with the breeze.”
The door clicked and then swung open on Killian's angry face.
“Here's his damn cap,” Killian handed it to me, then paused. “Seren?”
“Thank you, Kill,” I said. “I'm good.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, and Killian eased out of the room, casting looks back and forth between the redcap and me. The door shut and Killian's face once more appeared in the panel.
“Why were you sent to capture Aideen?” I asked Fell as I handed him his cap.
“What the fuck?” Killian growled. “Capture?”
I sent Kill an angry look, and he shut up.
“He knows she's valuable to you,” Fell said. “And he needed leverage; someone to force your hand.”
“Who needed leverage?” I snarled.
Fell swallowed convulsively and rubbed his cap lovingly before he put it on. It went from dry to damp in a few seconds and then started to drip blood down his cheek. He took a deep, relieved breath, lifted his bloody head, and knocked my world down around my ears with three words.
“King Daxon Tromlaighe.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
My empty stomach soured and threatened to spill. I swallowed the bile back down and tried to stop my hands from trembling. All the while, Killian cursed; words that left my ears burning. I just stared at Fell, but he couldn't look at me. As soon as he made his confession, he dropped his gaze in shame. Fell had his hands clasped in his lap before him, and they were turning white with the strength of his grip.
“What does Daxon have on you?” I finally asked.
“He...” Fell swallowed and tried again. “He has my sister.”
“What?” I whispered.
“My sister; she came over to HR about a month ago,” Fell was staring at the floor morosely. “King Daxon gave her a job at Taboo—as a bouncer, but then I went to see her, and she was gone. She never showed up for work. Daxon took her and has been holding her hostage to force me to do these things. I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. Please forgive me.”
“I will forgive you—if you're telling the truth,” I offered. “What's your sister's name?”
“Talie,” he said.
“Okay, I'm going to find her for you, Fell.”
“You are?” He lifted his gaze hopefully, but then he blinked and shook his head. “You'll never find her.”
“I will find her,” I vowed. “And I'm going to find out what Daxon's up to as well.”
“I can tell you that, Queen Seren,” Fell said.
I lifted my brows in surprise.
“King Daxon is trying to take over the American undergrounds with King Barra.”
“What?” I growled.
“They're planning to halve the states,” Fell said. “Daxon will get the West coast and Barra the E
ast. They're going to force out the other rulers and set up stewards in their stead.”
“Is there anything else?” I asked tonelessly.
“No, Your Majesty.”
“All right, Fell.” I nodded. “If the information you just gave me checks out, it will save your life. If it doesn't, I'll be back to extinguish you.”
Fell swallowed roughly and nodded. The door clicked and opened, and I walked through. One foot after the other, very calm; I could do this. Except every breath was shaky, every step uncertain. What the fuck had just happened?
“Seren?” Killian asked as he shut the door. He took my arm and helped me down the corridor, away from Fell's cell. “Are you all right?”
I nodded.
“He could be lying.”
I nodded.
“Don't convict Daxon until we verify this story,” Killian was saying everything I already knew.
“I know,” I whispered. “Just give me a second to think.”
“Okay,” Killian said. “I'm going to tell the Guard. You take all the time you need, and then join us when you're ready.”
“Okay.”
I watched Killian walk away, but I was seeing someone else, someone with indigo hair and tattoos. Could I have been so wrong about Daxon? Or could Fell be lying to me? What was more reasonable; more likely?
I took a steadying breath and nodded resolutely. I knew Daxon; there was no way that he was playing me. I'd seen him cry over me when he hadn't known I was watching. You simply can't fake that sort of thing. No; I had doubted Daxon once already during this underground insanity, and I wasn't going to do it again. I would research Fell's claims before I freaked out.
I walked back into the lounging area, and everyone turned to me with varying degrees of horror written across their faces.
“It's not true, Your Highness,” Torquil said. “There are too many truths about Count Daxon that cannot be twisted, and those truths speak to the kind of man he is. He would not collude with Barra.”
“I agree, Torquil,” I said.
The Star's Guard took a relieved breath together. I hadn't realized how attached my knights had become to Daxon until that very moment. They liked him, and that spoke more highly for Daxon than the truths Torquil had mentioned. The Star's Guard wasn't so easily impressed, and it was even harder to win their friendship. But once you had it, they were a loyal bunch.