The Erlking pressed his mouth into a thin line and grabbed Tabitha’s arm, jerking her forward roughly.
Arden was taken aback. He wasn’t seriously just going to throw her in, was he? After all of the pomp and circumstance, she sort of expected, well, more. It couldn’t be as simple as tossing a human into the water and letting those things, what, eat her?
Tabby struggled against the Erlking’s hold to no avail, and from his place on the shore, Cole attempted to rouse himself to help.
Seeing them snapped Arden out of her daze, and she shot forward before her brain could list all the reasons why this was an epically bad idea. Tabby was now ankle deep in the water, but Arden was forced to pull her gaze away when the first Unseelie spotted her.
Her sudden movement distinguished her from the crowd, and the assembled fae realized who she was. A cry of outrage rang up, and Mavek snapped his head in her direction. A sick part of her wanted him to see what she was about to do next, so she didn’t slow when the Unseelie attacked.
He came at her from the side, moving almost too fast for her to see who he was, to make out any details aside from his brown hair. In a flash, she yanked out the blade tucked in her right boot and angled herself at the last second, impaling him. His mouth gaped open wordlessly as she twisted the handle.
Arden shoved him off and spun back toward Tabby, cursing when she saw that the water was now up to her shins.
The grotesque water fae hadn’t moved an inch, waiting instead for the tithe to be brought to them. In a way, that was a relief; Arden had a little more time, which she needed, because another two Unseelie were already rushing toward her.
She’d been careful not to select the iron dagger—murdering faeries in front of their regents didn’t seem like a good plan—so the one she’d stabbed wouldn’t be down for long. Claws raked across her right leg, but not deep enough to draw blood. Confusion almost gave her pause. She was slow; he should have done damage.
She twisted and evaded the attacks of the others, slipping beneath swinging arms and legs. As a human, she wasn’t nearly as fast as they were, and so it was obvious that they weren’t trying to kill her.
Mavek was probably to thank for that, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of even looking at him.
Fortunately, she’d place herself close enough to where the regents had all been standing that she only had ten or so feet before she reached them. Without further hesitation, she trampled into the water, only getting her shoes wet before a strong hand yanked her back hard enough for her to cry out.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mavek glared at her, and took a step back, about to drag her from the water.
So she punched him.
His head snapped to the side, and his eyes widened in shock. Even knowing that it was her intent that hurt him more than the blow itself gave Arden a twist of satisfaction. Served him right for putting them in this situation in the first place.
Using his surprise against him, she bolted toward Tabby, out of his reach, faster than he could recover. She was merely acting on instinct, panicking really. The clock was ticking down to midnight.
“Stop,” the Erlking was holding Tabitha knee deep now, but he growled the order out to Arden. “This no longer concerns you, little girl.”
She tossed the dagger like she’d done back in the woods.
He caught it.
A hush seemed to fall over the entire crowd, which was the first indication that she’d seriously crossed a line. The second was when he paused in his struggle to get Tabitha to the creatures, almost as if he’d forgotten how important completing the Tithe was. His eyes gleamed with fury, and his nostrils flared as his hand tightened around the hilt.
“I knew from the very start that you were more trouble than you were worth,” the Erlking said, voice low and threatening. It rumbled over the water. “And useless,” he added in a sneer, “given that you were also the first to fall in the challenge. Pathetic. But then, the Midnight Prince was always a fool for a pretty face. No matter how empty the shell.”
Arden would have laughed at the pathetic insult if she hadn’t been so worried about what he’d do next. Her eyes wandered over to Tabby, who was still struggling against the hand he had clenched around her arm. Behind them, the water faeries seemed to be growing restless.
“Mavek,” Titania hissed from the shoreline, “get your Heartless in line.”
“She’s not my Heartless anymore,” he reminded her coolly.
Arden wanted to see his face, but she couldn’t risk tearing her gaze away from the Erlking. She remembered what Brix had told her—she didn’t want to be the Erlking’s next victim, despite her apparent suicide mission.
“The key is getting the soul with the most will, right?” she said, formulating a plan as she went—a stall tactic until she could think of something better. “I came all the way here, even knowing that it was a long shot.”
“Arden,” Mavek growled her name and she heard him take a step into the water.
“It is a sacrifice, human,” the Erlking drawled, as if she really was the stupidest creature he’d ever met. “That means pain, and theft, and loss. What would taking you bring? The reason we use the loved one, the one the Heartless fought so hard to protect, is because of those layers. The soul’s tainted with them, and they’re broken in a way. A delightfully delicious way. You wouldn’t understand. Not you, who thought this was about duty.”
The clicking of the water fae turned into annoyance; they wouldn’t wait much longer. Hearing them, the Erlking began to turn, so Arden blurted the first thing that came to mind.
“I broke the law!” She waited for him to meet her gaze. “I did. I fell in love and broke the law. It should be me who’s the tithe.”
“You can’t be the tithe if you broke the law,” Titania reminded. “Love between mortal souls is too strong. Your soul wouldn’t pass through the gate to the Underground. That is why it’s forbidden. Besides, we tested that theory, Arden Archer. You are not in love with Thomas Montgomery. If you had been, my manipulation would not have worked on him, and you would not have been capable of partaking in the Tithe challenge.”
“I’m not talking about Eskel.” She shook her head and tried to keep her voice steady when she admitted, “I fell in love with the Midnight Prince.”
The Erlking’s jaw clenched; he knew where she was going with this. His fingers dug deeper into the pale flesh of Tabitha’s arm and she let out a strangled sound that made Arden move another foot closer.
“That is not against the law,” he disclosed.
“To you it is,” she took another step, “that’s why you murdered your last Heartless, isn’t it? Because you caught him in a compromising position with one of your Unseelie, and realized that they were in love with one another.”
“Everett Montgomery’s fate was an accident,” Titania corrected, though she didn’t sound as certain anymore. Arden was surprised that the queen had ever believed it at all—that she actually hadn’t been privy to every bit of critical information in the fae world.
Or was Arden simply falling for more of their tricks? If it was true, then that meant there was a chance Mavek didn’t know either. That he’d believed the same thing Titania had. That a Heartless had been killed accidentally.
Which sounded ridiculous.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and quashed the tiny inkling of hope that had arisen. None of that mattered right now anyway.
“You’re broaching topics that you shouldn’t.” The Erlking did not seem pleased. “Whatever you’ve been told, it doesn’t matter. I am not in charge of reprimanding you; you are not my Heartless. What you and Mavek did in your own time has never been a concern of mine. It only meant that I had a better chance of winning. And look,” he held out his free hand, “I did. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Tithe to complete.”
Arden felt a rush of energy hit her all at once, like a surge of electricity. She’d had adrenaline boosts before
, but this was different. It felt different somehow, but she didn’t have the time to contemplate it. Instead, she reacted, as she had back in the woods with Victor, only this time she was close enough to her target that she didn’t need to throw her weapon.
Shooting forward, she pressed a palm against the center of the Erlking’s chest, catching him off guard. She managed to shove him a half a foot away, loosening his hold on Tabitha’s arm.
Mavek rushed toward her, she could hear him coming, and without looking, she twisted Tabby around and pushed her friend behind her. He and Tabby collided and he was forced to catch her, momentarily distracted by the task.
The Erlking was frowning at Arden, fingers rubbing at the place she’d shoved him like she’d actually left a mark. Which was impossible, and didn’t merit dwelling on. He’d discarded the silver dagger she’d tossed at him, but just because he didn’t appear to be armed didn’t mean he wasn’t.
“Stop,” Mavek’s order rang out behind her, and a second later the sound of approaching footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Arden had been so distracted by the odd glint in the Erlking’s eyes that she hadn’t even noticed that another Unseelie had been coming for her. Of course, he had lots of subjects here. Even if she did somehow manage to—to, what? stop him?—there was no way she was making it out of this alive.
Arden felt a pang of regret. For not getting to know the woman her sister had become this past year. For not getting to tell her how much she loved her, and why she’d done this crazy thing in the first place. For not being able to save Tabitha, or even Everett. For not listening to Cato and Brix from the very beginning. For believing Mavek’s lies that first week when her mother had been slowly slipping into insanity.
For not getting the chance to fall in love with Eskel.
That last one surprised her a little. She’d realized that she was developing strong feelings for him, but hadn’t considered how far she truly wanted them to go. Now, knowing that it wasn’t ever going to happen, she took a moment to think about what it would have been like.
She’d avoided relationships because of what she was—a girl cursed with the sight. But Eskel already knew about the Unseelie, had already been hurt by them. He knew what they were capable of, and he’d stuck by her anyway. With him, she could have been one hundred percent herself, with no fear of judgment or doubt.
An entire army of Unseelie amassed at her back, and an ancient faerie at her front. So, okay, she wasn’t getting out of this alive. She took a deep, calming breath. Despite all of the reassurance she’d given her friends over the course of the past few months, Arden had always known the truth. Death had always been on the table. If she lost, she’d go mad—or so she’d always believed—and die anyway. If she won… After her conversation with Mavek during the supermoon, she knew that he had no intention of letting her slip out of his world.
The Unseelie were dangerous, and she’d been in bed with them practically her whole life, so, yes, death had always been a possibility. At least this way she could go out with meaning.
But they’d tear Tabitha apart as well, unless Arden could give them a good enough reason not to. Put them back into the good mood they’d been in before she’d crashed their party. There was only one way to accomplish that.
The corner of her mouth tugged upward slightly at the irony. She’d wanted to be the tithe, it’d been her one big wish these past fourteen months.
Careful what you wish for, she thought. And then she lunged.
Arden dove toward the water fae, hoping, given their obvious impatience, that they would take her instead. If she literally fell into their laps, why wouldn’t they? She was only a few feet closer to them when the Erlking’s solid form slammed into her.
She slipped, falling into the water with a loud splash, her skull connecting with the rocky bottom before rebounding painfully back to the surface. She sputtered, quickly flicking water out of her eyes, just in time to see him looming over her. Frantically, she tried moving backward, but her hands kept slipping in the sand. Changing tactics, her fingers stretched toward her boot and the one remaining weapon she had.
He leapt for her, and in a panic she threw up her hand, and he practically thrust himself against the iron blade she was holding. It slid through him like a stainless steel thermometer into a turkey.
A little resistance, and then a slight puncture sensation.
Arden felt bile rise up the back of her throat and almost upchucked the coffee from Willow’s. She glanced up to find the Erlking staring down at her, glancing slowly from the blade in his gut to her face.
What had she just done?
Iron was poisonous to their kind, but because she’d missed the heart, there was still a chance he’d survive. He needed to be treated immediately, the poison purged from his system with faerie magic, but that shouldn’t be a problem. His entire court was currently watching from the shore, after all.
Everyone had stilled, same as Arden, and she felt a shadow drifting through the crowd.
The only sounds came from the water fae, splashing through the water violently, as if angered by this turn of events. Or maybe their patience had completely run out and they were hungry.
Arden still didn’t know how it worked. Would they eat her or…? She didn’t really think there was anything worse than being torn to bits and eaten alive.
Her hand still gripped the end of the iron dagger, and with a sickening slurping sound, she pulled it free.
The Erlking gasped and stumbled back a step, reaching for the wound just as a gush of crimson blood began spilling forth. It slipped through his fingers, plopping into the knee-deep water to mix with the murky black.
The creatures splashed again, snapping Arden out of her stupor. She still didn’t have a better plan than to sacrifice herself, and now that she’d stabbed a faerie regent, she didn’t see either the water fae or the others on shore disagreeing with her now apparent plan.
She tossed the iron dagger as far away from the water fae as possible, not wanting them to get the wrong idea when she started moving closer. They watched her out of their bulbous eyes, and she gritted her teeth against the chill of the water lapping up against her thighs, and then higher.
She’d kept a wide berth between her and the Erlking, but apparently he wasn’t going to give up that easily. All the fake bravado she’d mustered rushed away when he grabbed her, and she let out a yelp.
With his right hand, he dug his nails into the back of her shoulder, his left hand still desperately putting pressure on his wound. His eyes shone in the moonlight, and she caught sight of her reflection in them, her messy hair and pale complexion.
She didn’t look brave at all, she thought disappointedly, right before the wind was knocked out of her.
Their surroundings changed, altered in the same swirling manner as when Eskel’s form had undergone all those contortions. The stars above twisted and mixed with the water, and the crowd at the Erlking’s back disappeared in a flash of blinding light.
Arden blinked through her confusion, noting the warm beat of sunshine on her back, and the slight hint of sweetness to the air. Instead of water, she was standing in a field of tall grass, the smooth green stalks waving around her knees in the light breeze. The sky above was clear, and it seemed more like the middle of spring than it did autumn.
The Erlking was gone, and as far as she could tell, she was alone. Still a bit dazed, she slowly began to turn, taking in the woods in the distance. They looked familiar, so perhaps she was still in town. That had to be a good sign, even if she couldn’t recall how she’d gotten here.
She was moving to get a better view of the forest to the right when someone’s hand slammed into her shoulder, jolting her. Before she could fully turn to see who it was, a sharp pain lanced between her breasts.
Everything froze, and it took her a second to process what had just happened, to gather up enough will to glance down.
A blade, very similar to the one she’d just used
on the Erlking, was sticking out of her chest, hilt deep. Blood was already welling around the wound, trickling, one tiny drop at a time. Still, she could feel the tip of the metal, even through her shock, could feel the way it burned inside her.
Her eyes focused on the hand still holding the weapon, a male hand, strong. There was a ring on the middle finger, heavy old metal.
An eye and antlers.
Her gaze was already wandering up the owner’s arm, but then the swirling happened again. Green trees and light blue sky twisted like everything was going down a drain. She gasped, slammed a hand to her chest where there was no longer a knife buried deep, and staggered backward.
When she came to, she was standing in the water once more, shivering, covered in a cold sweat that caused strands of her hair to stick uncomfortably to the back of her neck and sides of her forehead. Her stomach lurched violently, and she bent over, heaving, though nothing came out.
“You forgot, Arden Archer,” the Erlking said, reminding her that he was there, that what she’d just seen wasn’t real.
Or wasn’t real yet.
Her brain was still scrambling to grasp what he’d shown her, so she barely noticed that he was passing by her. He came close enough that she felt the puff of his dispelled breath against her cheek when he spoke next.
“We dark things are not satisfied with mere physical revenge.” He smirked.
She frowned, her mind still too confused with what he’d just shown her to process what was happening in reality versus the vision in her head. A part of her could still feel the sun on her back, even though it was freezing and well past midnight by this point.
“I’d underestimated you before, I didn’t realize you wanted so badly to be one of us. I thought you comfortable in your finite skin.” Blackish lines were starting to streak across his face, no doubt from the iron. Still, he made no motion toward shore, no move for help despite the agony he was in.
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