by Leia Stone
Rowan walked in. “I have opened the doorway to the Summer Court. It’s time.”
My chest tightened and I bit back the words that would stop Blaine from leaving. He was still staring at me, those intense green eyes locked on my face.
“Thanks, Rowan,” I murmured. “We’ll be right there.”
She nodded, and then left the room. Standing again, I approached my old friend, and a million unsaid things drifted between us in a single look. “Be careful.” I swallowed hard. “Report back to me via the flowers and magical mirrors whenever you can.”
He gave me a firm nod, acting all business-like, until his arms swept around me and I was pulled into a tight hug. “Please don’t die, Ari. I can’t live in a world without you.”
I let myself relax against him again, forgetting in that moment that I was the queen, with all the weight of my people’s lives on my shoulders. Being with Blaine felt — at times — like stepping back to a more carefree Arianna.
After he left, I knew I was on the verge of freaking out, so I started to do some work. Which was the reason I told Kade I was going to my office in the first place. Catching up on some of my queenly duties.
Despite being late at night, everyone was busy. Working.
The magic born were working on the spell to find the dark crystals, Kade was dealing with his bear-king duties, and I was about to make multiple conference calls with other pack alphas, coordinating battle and attack plans, mobilizing our armies.
Sometimes it felt like being queen was all paperwork and phone calls.
Finn joined me at one point, resting his head on my thigh as I dealt with another set of worried alpha wolves. By the time I hung up, my head was pretty much on my desk I was so tired.
Get your butt to bed, My Queen. Kade’s voice in my head was a welcome relief, and I decided it was time to rest. A lot had happened today.
On my way.
Kade was in the room when Finn and I entered. I knew he’d only made it back just before me. “How did everything go with the bears?” I asked, kicking off my shoes as I walked. They flew across the room in different directions, but I was way too tired to care.
He met me halfway across the massive suite, his eyes dropping to my shoulder. “More importantly, how’s the wound?” A murky energy still floated around him. I assumed it was lingering aggression from the fight.
Reaching up, I rubbed at it unconsciously. “It feels … okay. Nothing too crazy. I’ll live.”
I received an exasperated smile in return. “You better live. And the bears are all good now. We just had some disputes about who was in charge of the different dens. You’d think in times of war that sort of stupid shit would stop, but unfortunately it seems nothing ends the internal squabbling.”
I almost laughed. I’d been dealing with similar things too, all the time wanting to tell them to get their acts together. My diplomacy was pretty much gone at the moment.
“You need to sleep.” Kade’s voice startled me, and I realized I’d drifted off.
I nodded. “Yes, sleep.” I stumbled toward the bed, coming to a grinding halt. “Shoes! I need my shoes.”
Kade didn’t ask why. He found a pair of tennis shoes for me, which would be the easiest to sleep in. I also kept my jeans on, and strapped a blade to my thigh.
I wasn’t going to let the Dark Fae Lord get the drop on me again.
Kade’s voice washed over me: “Sleep. You’ll heal faster. I’ll keep watch.” He stroked my injured arm, which felt amazing as I sank into a deep sleep.
It was dreamless at first, but all too soon the cold seeped in. Awareness returned in gradual increments until my eyelids snapped open. My feet slammed down onto the frozen lake at the same time I heard Kade yell my name.
I sensed the fae before he spoke. I was halfway through turning around when his voice washed over me. “I’d be careful with that book if I were you.”
The dark fae stood tall, his antlers dripping black oil, a sneer on his face.
“Don’t worry about me. Watch your own back,” I spat, readying to break the spell and send myself back.
He held up a finger. “This is your last chance. Join me and I will spare your people.”
I unhooked the dagger from my thigh sheath and he grinned as if it excited him.
“For the last time, no. I will never join you. And if you bring me here again I will cut those horns off with a blunt knife.” I gathered up my fae magic and the Dark Fae Lord bared all of his teeth.
He had time to say, “You better pray you find that second stone before I do,” before I threw my magic at him and the spell shattered, sending me shivering and gasping into Kade’s arms, back in Manhattan.
“Did he hurt you?” Kade was inspecting me. I shook my head, too cold to talk. Finn crawled in on my other side and I threaded my fingers through his fur. I sensed my familiar was too furious for words, but just having him close was comforting.
Eventually, I rolled away and said to Kade, “He knows about the other stone. He’s looking for it, too. It might be what they are waiting on to attack. We need to do that spell. Now.” I sprang into action, climbing off the bed.
Kade remained where he was, no doubt trying to calm his rage. My poor mate; nothing worse than feeling helpless. Especially for someone used to taking charge.
Finally he said, “He already has one crystal. Why does he need another?”
Good question. “More power?”
Kade shook his head. “I think this is about the winter queen.”
Isalinda. Of course. It actually made perfect sense. She was never satisfied with her lot in life, always wanting more. More power. More control. The dark fae wanted the Fall Court and the Earth side of the mecca. That I already knew, but I had never asked what the queen wanted. I assumed it was just his help in the war. Help to take me down. I also thought she was going to kill him after she got that help. But maybe what she wanted all along was some of the dark power.
“We can’t forget that he sees us through the crystal, knows what we do.” That unnerved me the most.
Kade stood and I could see the heaviness in his body from lack of sleep.
“Get rest. I’ll come to you with news once I have some,” I urged him.
He shook his head. “I’m fine. Just need some coffee.”
I could have pushed further, but I knew it was futile.
“Alright, then. Let’s wake the magic born.” There was no way I was letting this creepy bastard get to the dark crystal before me.
Chapter Seven
Dark can taint the strongest light.
We found the four magic born sprawled out across the floor of the main library, looking like they’d fallen asleep mid-research. I’d had all of the spell books transferred there, since it was a larger space to house everything. I felt a weird sense of relief having all of our resources in one place, like I could occasionally make a decent decision as an adult and queen.
We’d shut this room off to the rest of the staff at the estate as soon as all the books were inside, which no one seemed to mind. Seems the Red Queen had rarely let anyone in here anyway.
There were only a few lamps lit; it was early morning and dark still. I hit the switch for the main lights, sending bright beams of illumination down the many rows of books.
“What the freak?” Violet was up, the pitch of her screech probably killing some of the pigeons outside. She had both hands out, and was breathing deeply, like her heart was beating a million miles an hour. When she saw me and Kade, her hands slowly lowered. I realized she had called magic to them when she initially jumped. Even in her sleep she was ready for an attack.
“Sorry,” I said, my brow creasing as I walked toward her. “I should have … been more considerate.”
In my impatience I forgot that Violet was recovering from an attack, and that the other three were no doubt as exhausted as Kade and me. “I just had some news to share, and hopefully you have some for us.”
Baladar, Nikoli, and
Rowan were up then too, all of us turning as a cheerfully humming Calista entered the library. She was wheeling a large tray covered in food and coffees. “Good morning. I thought we might all need some breakfast.”
Was this woman a secret magic born? How had she known we were up? She had to have known before I even woke to have time to fetch a tray of food. She better not have security cameras in my suite. I wouldn’t put it past her.
As she passed me, I got a firm hug. “Glad to see you’re feeling better today.”
“How … how did you know we were here?”
She just shook her head, her beaming smile in place. “Never underestimate me, Ari. I see all.”
No doubt my guards had reported to her, but still, she was amazing.
Her eyes flicked to my shoulder and I rubbed at the dull ache unconsciously. “I’m fine.”
Some of her joy dulled, but as Baladar hurried over to her, declaring in a booming, desperate kind of tone that he loved her, she was soon back to her jolly self.
She let out a small snort-laugh, which was totally unlike her. “Those declarations of love would mean a lot more if you weren’t staring at the coffee pot when you said them.”
Baladar focused on her completely then, his icy eyes filled with shots of magic. Calista lasted all of two seconds before she was in his arms, getting her morning kiss. Those two made me happy. Turning away from their PDA, I noticed Violet still seemed a little twitchy. I plucked up a pink iced doughnut, which was one of her favorites, and passed it to her.
Some of her tension eased as she breathed in the sweet bread smell and took a huge bite. “Pink donuts are the best kind of fruit.”
I snorted, because she had a crappy diet and she just did not care. And I was one to talk. Wrap it in bacon or smother it in mac and cheese and I was in love.
Kade, who had made himself comfortable in a large wingback armchair, was already on his second cup of coffee. He had some bagels on a plate too. I was glad to see some of the fatigue fading from his face, but with everything that was happening, him being attacked and partly-shifting, he was not even remotely getting enough sleep to restore his energy. I would have to make sure he slept first tonight.
“So, Arianna, what do you need to tell us?” Baladar looked completely unruffled, holding his mug in a refined manner.
I wasted no time on pleasantries, telling them everything about my unexpected kidnapping and what Kade and I thought the Dark Fae Lord wanted that second crystal for.
After I had finished, Baladar said, “What would you like us to do first?”
“First, some type of blocking spell. He sees everything we do, and if we’re going to beat him to the stone, that has to stop.” I paced the library as the magic born stared at me.
“It would be too hard to spell the entire royal estate and all of our energy signatures,” Baladar started slowly.
My wolf rose up and the growl ripped from my mouth before I could stop it. Dammit. There was no way for us to plan anything if he could just see straight into our world.
Kade stood. He had finished his food and coffee now, and was looking alert. “Well, we’ll just have to focus on us, and not the castle.”
Baladar rubbed his chin. “Intriguing … explain further.”
“Well, I’m no magic born, but what if you could spell some jewelry or something and we could wear th—”
Violet leapt up. “Yes! It would take very little magic that way. We don’t bother to hide the castle. We spell necklaces to shroud our energy signature from magical prying eyes. It will be simple. That way, if the Dark Fae Lord spies on the castle, he won’t see what we’re doing.”
Baladar nodded. “We can hide the important people, and leave enough of the others around so he doesn’t get too suspicious.”
Yes, this was a plan I could work with. “He’ll wonder where we have gone, and that should get him nice and nervous. Maybe he’ll make a mistake.” I pointed to Violet and Baladar. “Can you two please start on the necklaces? Nikoli, Rowan, and I will continue with the spell to find this dark crystal. We have to get to it before the dark fae.”
No one argued. For once, they all acted like I was actually their queen, and hurried off to follow my orders.
Kade cleared his throat lightly. “I think you’re forgetting someone.”
I turned around and placed two hands on Kade’s muscular chest. “You, My King, need to get a couple hours of sleep.” His alertness would fade soon enough. He couldn’t survive on coffee forever. “We have a crystal hunt to go on when you wake.”
After a long pause, where he scrutinized me closely, he finally nodded. “Two hours. Not a minute longer.”
I smiled. “Okay.”
After Kade retreated out of sight, I sat down next to Rowan and Nikoli. “Okay, first thing. Can we do a temporary spell to hide us and this conversation?”
Rowan let out a chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about it. This library is covered in fae magic. I’m not sure why, but long before we used this room, someone was hiding it from sight.”
I echoed her chuckle, even though I knew exactly why this room was spelled. The Red Queen and Daddy Dearest. Pushing my parents back into the box of things I was never dealing with, I focused on the task.
“Alright, since our conversation should be private here, explain this magic to me. Why can’t we find this other crystal? Can we just read the book? It’s supposed to contain all the information we need to find and control the energy, right?”
Nikoli pulled the dark magic book out of the spelled cloth. The moment it was free, I felt its low hum of energy and those slivers of heavy, shadowy magic. It was muted, so whatever Baladar had done to the book was still working, but there was no doubting the strength of this sliver of crystal, or the dark information it contained.
Nikoli placed it between us all, careful not to touch the stone or open the pages.
“None of the magic born have opened the book, because we have no idea what is inside. We also have no idea what will happen if we read the words. This stone is pure dark magic. The only problem is, according to Baladar, the only way to learn how to trace or connect to the dark mecca is to read the spell inside. Only…”
“We don’t want to turn evil…” I said, and he nodded.
“We don’t want to turn evil, so none of us are willing to open the pages or connect to the stone. Who knows what might happen if we did.”
Rowan was silent, staring in deep thought at the stone. “What if it were more … familiar to us? What if we turned the black stone into something we knew, so we could connect with it briefly and read this spell … trace it to its other half?”
Nikoli and I shared a look of confusion, and Rowan grinned like Violet often did. Like she knew something we didn’t. “Mecca powder,” she breathed. “If we coat this stone in mecca powder, it will mingle with the dark magic, temporarily bringing it closer to our purple mecca. That should limit the effect of the words inside, giving us enough time to see what information it’s hiding.”
I wasn’t a magic born, so it didn’t make sense to me, but it sounded like a decent idea. The mecca powder had certainly done some incredible things the times I’d seen it at work. “What are the odds it could backfire and make all of my magic born go dark?” I asked seriously.
Rowan’s shoulders drooped forward a little. “High. That’s why only one of us should do it. Just in case.”
Damn.
Nikoli nodded. “Baladar is too valuable to lose, Violet is too fragile after her time as prisoner with the Winter Court. Queen Arianna and King Kade are way too important to risk … so, I’ll do it.”
“I can do it,” Rowan offered. Her beautiful pixie features were smooth. She didn’t seem too worried.
“You’re our only fae knowledge base. And you are valuable to the Summer Court. We definitely don’t want to upset them by turning their magic born dark.” He shook his head. “No, it has to be me.”
He was confident and sure, unwilling to r
isk anyone else on this task. I was touched.
“Nikoli, you are a treasured friend and magic born. Thank you,” I told him, and he simply nodded.
I stood. “Alright, get ready for the spell. We’ll do it in two hours when Kade is awake to make sure the energy can be controlled. We will all have our magic necklaces by then, so the dark fae will have no idea where we are.”
It was a plan … a sort of scary one, but the best we could hope for. Part of me was worried about Nikoli. We couldn’t afford to lose any of the magic born … Violet especially. But this was war, and there was no way for me to keep my loved ones safe. We just had to hope for the best, and try to wipe those fae out before they got us.
Two hours later, we were all gathered in the basement, the place where I had defeated Selene—twice. The large room would be able to handle a reasonable amount of magical blowback. We couldn’t use the library; Rowan said that whatever magic hid it from prying eyes might interfere in our spell.
We all wore the necklaces. They were simple-looking: a plain brown leather string with a white crystal shard hanging from it. But the moment I touched it, I knew it was anything but simple. An energy bubble had been placed over me.
“So you can’t see my energy at all?” I asked Violet for the third time. Ever since my winter magic had been unlocked, I had been like a shining beacon to her.
“Nothing. I don’t even pick up a human level of energy. It’s like you have ceased to exist … in energy anyway.”
“Will it affect my magic?” I added.
She shook her head. “Nope. Just hide you from prying eyes.”
Whoa. I looked at the little crystal with newfound respect. At least part one of our plan was a success. I tried to stop fidgeting while the others finished setting up the dark crystal spell. I was scared. What if mixing the mecca power with the dark crystal caused some kind of explosion? Or turned all of us dark and we joined the dark fae? What if it tainted the mecca itself? There were so many risks.
Violet reached out and briefly swiped her hand across mine, only enough contact for a fleeting spark between us. “Baladar said it was a good plan. I trust him.”