by Leia Stone
Which is why I had to go to them first, take them by surprise. I was just opening my mouth to explain the assassination plan, and why I wanted to try to talk to the Red Queen again, when Violet got distracted by the stone. “Its call is not as strong. It feels … more stable.” She took a step closer, placing her hand right onto the faceted side.
Her eyes fluttered closed. “The power is addictive,” she murmured.
When she opened her eyes again, she blindsided me with a question. “What if this delay is more than just the fae lord finalizing his plan to puppet our shifters to form an army? What if the winter queen is afraid of taking you head on? She knew something about your power, something which made her want it really badly.” Her gaze turned very shrewd. “Did you do something to the darkness inside of Kade?”
I should have known I wouldn’t be able to hide that from Violet. She’d clearly put all the information together, and reached a logical conclusion. Pressing my lips tightly together, I wondered how much I should tell her. Judging by the look on her face, I wasn’t going to get away with a half answer.
“I don’t know what happened, Vi. It kind of seemed like I somehow pulled the dark energy into myself and dissolved it, but … I’m not sure if that’s right or not. Which is why I didn’t mention it. I don’t want everyone to think I can eat dark energy. I want them to all be cautious around the dark fae and his power.”
Her expression didn’t change, but her eyes widened. “I have never heard of someone being able to dissolve energy like that … good or bad. Energy can be shifted, but it never disappears.”
I nodded. “I know, which is why there has to be another explanation.”
She reached out and almost grabbed my hand, stopping at the last second. We were too close to the mecca stone to have our powers bouncing off each other. “We need to explore this further.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes, I know. But right now I need some advice from the most ruthless leader I have ever known.”
We both turned to the stone, and with a deep breath I reached out and placed my hand on it. A burst of familiar mecca power crashed into my center and I felt it swell up within me. I sent my essence into the stone, and from there I could feel all of the lines that connected the mecca to the other stones across this world and the Otherworld.
They were strong and powerful. No more frail, power-drained connections.
“Ignore those lines,” Violet advised me. “Search for the heart of this mecca stone. This is the one she tied herself to, this is where the Red Queen is.”
The heart? How was I supposed to find that? I brought my focus back to the stone itself, to the point where all lines converged. There was a small shimmery center there, which had caught my eye before. I didn’t hesitate; there wasn’t time for any sort of uncertainty. I reached out and grabbed Violet’s hand, both of us jerking at the shock of power that zipped between us. I was trying to figure out how to plunge myself into that center when something tugged on my energy. It was not a gentle tug either; it whipped me forward, and with a popping sound, a veil of purple washed over my vision. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing on the mecca beach, Violet at my side, our hands still clasped together.
“Holy shifter gods, I’m in a freaking mecca stone.” Violet’s wide eyes were unblinking as she spun to take in the full scale of the purple landscape. Purple clouds of mecca were washing through us. Waves of purple water crashed on the white sandy beach to my left.
Knowing time was of the essence, I called out, “Red Queen!”
“Ari, maybe—” Violet was cut off by a vision of red coming towards us. The queen looked regal in her flowing red silk dress. The train must have been ten feet long, billowing out behind her. It was a different dress than last time; she clearly had some control over her appearance.
As she got closer she smiled. “You came back,” she breathed. I realized then how lonely she must be, stuck here for eternity.
Violet just watched her, mouth agape.
“Yes. I need your advice,” I told her honestly.
She was close enough that I could smell her lavender perfume. Everything about her seemed so real. It felt as if we were both alive, just standing on a beach having a conversation.
She reached out as if she wanted to touch me, but then pulled her hand back at the last moment.
“Tell me, child.”
I jumped right in. “The winter queen and the Dark Fae Lord have teamed up. They want to take over the Earth-side mecca. We have been waiting for their attack, preparing for a war, but they haven’t made a move yet. This is worrying me. I feel as if we are giving them time to set some huge plan into motion.”
The Red Queen’s face went from ethereal beauty to enraged monarch in seconds. That look was more like the woman I remembered. “How long have you been waiting for this attack?”
“Almost a month,” I told her.
A cunning light flickered across her eyes. “You cannot give them any more time. If they are taking this long, then they have much more than a battle planned. You need to go to the Otherworld. You need to take them out first before they succeed at whatever they are working toward.”
I wasn’t shocked by her advice. It had been what I was thinking all along. I had needed her reassurance, though, that I wasn’t acting rashly, that my actions would not end up making it worse for everyone. I wasn’t the same sort of ruler the Red Queen was, but that didn’t mean her years of experience were not valuable. If she thought seeking to take them out first was a viable option, then it was one worth considering.
Violet paled, as if that was possible, and I could feel her shaking next to me. “No! There has to be another way. We can’t go back there! That land is…” Her voice cracked.
Violet went through some horrific torture at the hands of the winter queen. I had seen some of it in our dream sharing. But, in moments like this, with pain and fear shining in those pale eyes, I saw the true depth of her scars.
I wasn’t sure if I should touch her or not, but my arms ached with the need to comfort her. “It’s okay, Vi. You don’t have to come. I would never expect you to go back there again. You have spent enough time in that world.”
She fell silent, wrapping her arms around herself while she looked down at her feet. A pure sort of fury ripped through me. This was what abuse did. It crushed strong and vibrant people into quivering shells. The winter queen did this! She broke the light within my most cherished friend. She would do that to all of my people if I let her, her and the Dark Fae Lord. They would break them all down, crush their souls and spirits. I could never let that happen.
I looked up at the Red Queen and gave her a tight smile. “Thank you. I agree with you, this is the best plan. I must take her out before she has a chance to bring her plan to fruition. Before she has a chance to harm any more of my people.”
I would never let them touch my city. My mecca. My shifters. I was going to kill them both. I didn’t take murder lightly, but I had to do this for my people. To save us all. Violet shifted her gaze from her feet to the ocean, arms still wrapped around herself. As soon as we got out of here, we were going to have that long conversation. It was time for her to share the burden.
I turned back to the Red Queen. “Thank you for your advice. We must go now. I have an assassination to plan.”
Her face was smooth again, but dark shadows slithered across her eyes. I found myself asking, “Are you happy here?”
Some of the passivity faded from her face; she blinked rapidly as if trying to compose herself again. “I thought I would be. To live forever, even if in this state, but…” She let the sentence linger and I nodded.
“If I can find a way to free you … to set your soul free, I will.” I didn’t love her. I didn’t know her well enough to love her, but she was my biological mother. And she had done more than I realized for me in my life. She had loved me in her own weird way.
She looked taken aback, an expression I had never seen on her face be
fore. I marveled at how different she appeared to be … less robotic … less cold. Maybe being stuck here had given her time to reflect on who she was. It was a shame our people couldn’t have seen some of her warmer side.
Sucking in a deep breath for fortitude, I turned to Violet. “It’s time to go home, Vi.”
She pulled her gaze from the ocean, returning from whatever horror was holding her captive in her mind. Her eyes were shadowed and haunted, but she didn’t hesitate to reach out and touch me. When her hand came around my forearm, we were pulled back into the mecca crystal room.
Without a word, Violet turned and walked away from the stone, disappearing out into the library room. I followed her.
“Violet,” I said, but she continued walking fast toward the door. “Violet!” I shouted this time. She paused, her back rigid as her shoulders shook. Finally she turned to face me, tears spilling down her cheeks.
My heart was aching so hard it felt like someone had punched my chest in. “Tell me,” I begged her.
She bit her bottom lip and stared at me, those tears still silently tracing her porcelain cheeks. When her breathing turned into ragged gasps, I stepped forward and pulled her into my arms. She collapsed against me, her body shaking so hard I almost couldn’t keep her upright. Our energy crashed together, but for once neither of us cared.
“I still see it in my head,” she said in a broken whisper. “Every time I close my eyes, I have to relive the days I spent in the Otherworld.”
I rubbed her back gently, pulling away so I could lead her to two high-backed armchairs. When we were sitting, facing each other, I reached out and grasped her hands. “You don’t have to talk about it, Vi, but … I’m here, and it might help. Maybe part of the reason you’re being haunted is because you’re holding it all inside. Pretending it didn’t happen.”
She swallowed hard, stray tears still sprinkling her eyelashes. “I thought if I just acted normal, then eventually I would feel normal. And to a certain degree that has worked. I’m genuinely happy with Nikoli, happy when I’m around you and Kade, and all your overabundance of love. But … at night, I can’t escape. I’ve barely slept since we got back.”
I waited, sensing she had more to say. Her next words came out in a big rush.
“The winter queen tortured me, which was fine. The physical cruelty barely even bothered me. I have a high tolerance for pain, as you well know.” Her breath caught in her throat as she choked out the next part. “But, it wasn’t just physical torture. She’s an expert at the psychological too. She got in my head…” A ragged whisper of words: “You, and Blaine, and Winnie … you died, over and over again, in a different way every day. Nothing I did could ever save you. There was no way for me to tell it wasn’t real. I had to live it, it was … I also died a million times, holding your bodies in my arms.”
Oh, holy gods. If I had to live through Calista, Violet, Winnie, or Kade’s death even once, I would have lost my mind. Ben and Derek’s deaths had almost broken me, and they were not quite the same level as the other four. I had no idea how she had stayed so strong for so long. But I had even more respect and love for her.
I moved forward to pull her closer, wanting to reassure her that I was here, but she put out a hand to stop me. “By the end, when you came to rescue me, I couldn’t tell what was real anymore. The only thing which kept my mind from shattering completely, was my one goal of preventing her from taking your fae essence.”
Tears were splashing down my cheeks as I witnessed my friend crack into a million pieces. All of her broken parts were out in the open now, the pain she held inside her heart finally revealed.
“I wish I could take all of that away from you,” I said, my words husky with emotion. “I would have taken your place if I could. You should have never had to go through that.” She had protected me, almost at the cost of her own sanity. “I love you,” I choked out. “And I am not going to let her win. I will destroy the winter queen.”
Violet’s sobs were loud and violent, and in a move I did not expect, she leaned forward and wrapped me tightly in her arms. “I love you, too. I would take the torture again if it meant you were safe … that you had the power which was rightfully yours.”
I pressed myself into her shoulder, absorbing the strength of her magic, relishing her heart beating so strongly. This was a rare thing, to be hugged so tightly by her. I was going to take every second of it I could get. “I will always come for you. Always,” I told her.
Violet nodded into my shoulder and pulled away, wiping her eyes. We sat in our chairs, staring at each other for a few long moments.
Then she smiled at me, and for a second it felt like everything was right in the world.
She nodded a few times, that smile going nowhere. “Wow.” She breathed, surprise lighting up her wide eyes.
“What?” I asked, leaning forward, drawn to her happiness.
She took in a deep breath and then exhaled. “I … actually feel so much lighter. She’s going to lose her grip on me, if it’s the last thing I do.”
I smiled. “Oh, yes, she definitely is.”
We sat there for a few more moments, in the sort of comfortable silence that had been missing from our relationship of late.
Violet was the one to break it, a quirk of a smile lighting up her wan face. “So … I couldn’t help but think that our trip into the mecca world was a little … unnecessary. You and Calista are the best at strategy. No one beats you at mecca chess. No one. You even have Kade to run things past, and he is hot, smart and built like a linebacker, the bastard. So … was there another reason for this visit?”
Her question took me by surprise, and my immediate reaction was defensive. I opened my mouth to justify myself … I had only been queen for what felt like all of five minutes, and four of those I had been dethroned, so, I wasn’t sure I was exactly making fantastic decisions lately. I was desperately in need of guidance. Still, I couldn’t ignore the part of me that agreed with her.
“I think, maybe, I was looking for an excuse to see her again. Without even realizing it.” I was hesitant, pretty much working out the motivations for my actions as I put the sentence together. But the moment I said it, I knew that was the truth. I finished in a rush: “Ever since I found out she was my mother, it has been this niggling thing in the back of my mind. Because I know she is still sort of accessible to me.”
There was no judgment on Violet’s face. None. The only thing shining from her was a deep understanding. “It would be a lot for anyone to take. You’re handling it all pretty friggin’ well, if you ask me.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, hoping it would ease the roughness in my chest. “I’m just taking it day by day.” I jumped to my feet, needing an ease of the emotion overload. “But, since we now have an attack to plan, I’m quite excited to be moving ahead. I’m ready to have it all be over. I’m ready to end this.”
Violet joined me, determination shadowing the planes of her face. “Right there with you, sister. Let’s go and plan an assassination.” She paused. “Again.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. When had this become our lives?
I faced Kade in the basement. He had the staff in one hand, the other hanging loosely at his side. He wore a look of absolute fury. “Tell me you’re kidding!” His scowl deepened as he stared me down. “No, Arianna, be reasonable. I almost lost you to her once. What do you think will happen if she gets her hands on you a second time?”
I fought to keep my own anger from rising. I knew he was just stressed and worried. I completely understood after just watching him almost die. But I didn’t have a choice.
“We have waited long enough, playing the submissive, waiting for her to attack. It’s time for us to take the fight to her, end this once and for all.”
He slammed the staff into the ground, and by instinct I reached through our bond. The darkness he was handling still worried me. Thankfully, there was only normal purple mecca energy flowing through his body. “Why does it
have to be you, Ari? There are plenty of shifters trained in the art of assassination in both of our packs. Hell, I could have ten here in the next hour.”
I snorted. “Yes, Almighty One, I know you are the king of the assassins.” They had been dormant for a few years, no longer actively training, but bears and wolves both used to have special leagues of warriors specifically skilled in the art of murder. Blaine actually had some of that specific training; it was what made him a lethal warrior. The others were scattered around, lost to time and history. But clearly, Kade thought he could dig them up.
“It needs to be me,” I said quietly. “She has ice magic and so do I. No one else can rival her. I’m also the only one with magic that can counter the Dark Fae Lord, since Earth-side mecca doesn’t work on him. Besides, you know there are very few who can stand against the power of a monarch.” There was a reason I always sent my queen out to battle in mecca chess.
“Except another monarch,” Kade finished.
I nodded. “Exactly. Either they are building up to some big assassination plan of their own, or something more sinister, but now is the time for us to act — before they decide to get really serious about it.”
Kade’s fists tightened on the staff, and despite its power I could have sworn it started to bend. “You won’t go alone. I need to be there, to keep you safe. I can wield this staff. I can take down the Dark Fae Lord.”
I wanted to argue. The entire point of a stealth attack was that you went in quietly and got the job done. But we were stronger as a team, and I was also coming to terms with the fact that I might have been able to fight the fae lord, but Kade was probably the only one who could use the weapon that would actually kill him.
“Okay.” I nodded. “Just you and me. And … I think we should only tell a few people. Keep it under wraps as much as possible.”
He didn’t argue, and his grip eased on the staff as he said, “Maybe we should have Violet spell two shifters, create an illusion of us in the mansion. It would be dangerous for whatever shifter they use, but it’s important the fae spies don’t report our disappearance.”