by Nissa Leder
Scarlett remembered how intoxicating he’d been on the dance floor before the attack. If the Darkland creatures had stayed far away, what would have happened later that night? She had a few guesses, none of which involved clothing.
She could ponder the what-ifs of that night later. For now, she had other things to worry about. “I want to contact Maeron.”
Kaelem rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “That should be easy enough. He said to text him. So, we can just visit the mortal world.”
Scarlett thought of Ashleigh. It shouldn’t take too long. Her sister would be fine. “Okay.”
Kaelem reached out his hand, palm up, and a cell phone appeared. “I knew having a mortal phone was a good idea.”
“Does it actually work?” Scarlett asked, wanting to be surprised that he had one but knowing it wasn’t actually that shocking.
“Not here. Unfortunately, magic interferes with mortal cell signal. The Unseelie fae have their own types of phones, though. But they connect through magic, not radio waves.”
“You know how human cell phones work?”
“Of course,” Kaelem said. “I watched a documentary on the development of human communication last week.”
She should have figured as much.
Scarlett stepped away from the television. “Well, let’s get to somewhere we can text Maeron.”
“Very well, darling.” Kaelem stood and extended his hand. “Grab on.”
Scarlett twined her fingers with his and felt herself moving through the air.
They appeared in the middle of an alley. Two cats poked out their heads from behind a trashcan.
“Classy,” Scarlett said as the scent of garbage overwhelmed her.
“Maybe I could have been a little more specific with my evanescing directions,” Kaelem said, stepping away from the smashed plastic cup at his feet. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. “But hey, we get cell service.”
“Fabulous.” Scarlett started to walk toward the street. “But let’s text him somewhere that doesn’t stink.”
“Fair enough.” Kaelem followed behind her.
When they exited the alleyway, they stepped out on the sidewalk of a busy street. Cars, buses, and taxis zoomed by in between the tall buildings above.
“Where are we?” Scarlett asked as she reached for the cell.
Kaelem pulled it back. “Do I at least get a please?”
Scarlett used her magic to guide the phone to her hand. “Thank you.” She grinned.
“We’re in San Francisco,” he said. “I’ve never been here but Carol plans to take her boss on a vacation here.”
“Carol?” Scarlett tried to unlock the cell, but a code was required. “What’s the passkey?”
“Carol. The woman on my soap opera who was about to confess her love, which you so rudely interrupted,” Kaelem said. “And oh, it’s locked, is it? Maybe if you’d have asked nicely...”
He was driving her mad. She’d left her sister back at the Unseelie Court and wanted to get back as soon as she could, and he was slowing her down over manners?
She felt a knock at her mental shield and lowered it.
You need to relax, darling. You’re going to get high blood pressure, Kaelem said in her mind.
She didn’t think she even could get high blood pressure as a Sidhe, and if by some miracle she could, then it wasn’t like it could kill her. But he was right. The darkness stirred at her frustration, and if she lost control of that darkness, it wouldn’t end well. With a deep breath, she asked, Can I have the passcode, please?
9-0-2-1-0, Kaelem said.
“Like Beverly Hills?” Scarlett shouldn’t be so surprised.
“That’s where the soap opera is set.” He shrugged.
Scarlett typed it in and brought up the texting app. She had memorized Maeron’s number, which was so much easier with her Sidhe mind than it would have been as a human.
This is Scarlett, she typed. I need to see you.
“Now, I guess we wait,” Scarlett said.
Kaelem stepped toward her. “We could distract ourselves until he replies.” The side of his mouth lifted into a half-grin as his lust-filled eyes met hers.
Before Scarlett had time to contemplate the proposal, the phone dinged in her hand.
1259 Maxwell Street, San Diego, CA. Noon tomorrow.
Kaelem slouched, dropping his lower lip into a pout.
“Maybe next time,” Scarlett joked as nervousness tickled her skin.
She wasn’t sure how much longer they had before another attack or how strong Morta and her army had become. She hoped Maeron had a lead that could help them find a way to defeat her and bring about the peace Dana had sacrificed everything for her people to someday find.
But Scarlett would have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Scarlett and Kaelem returned to the Unseelie Court.
As she’d grabbed his hand to evanesce back, a slight tingle swam through her. Had she had time to consider his suggestion to kill some time, would she have agreed?
It was pointless to deny how much her body wanted him physically. Even touching his hand made desire flutter through her. But with too much talk of war and strategy, such feelings didn’t seem important enough to act on.
Once they were back in the palace, Scarlett found Ashleigh with Aria in the theater room.
Aria paused the movie on the screen. “Welcome back. Was my brother a good boy?”
“As good as he usually is,” Scarlett said as she sat in one of the chairs of the large sectional that curled around the back wall. “Wait, how did you know we went anywhere?”
“Kaelem told me,” Aria said. Likely seeing the confusion on Scarlett’s face, she added, “Mind magic. It’s convenient like that. Great for conversations nobody else knows about.”
Scarlett felt heat rise on her cheeks as she thought of her conversation with Kaelem on the dance floor. “Oh, right.”
The room was fancier than any theater she’d ever been to. The plush seating was as comfortable as she imagined clouds would be if they could support actual weight. There were drink holders between each seat, and the sectional was even heated. A large screen hung on the far wall of the windowless room, with surround sound speakers attached to the wall behind the seats.
She almost felt like she was in some rich human home, not a fae palace.
“Did you do what you needed?” Ashleigh asked.
Scarlett slipped off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the couch. “Yes. We leave tomorrow to meet with Maeron with hopes he has found out some strategy to help us against Morta.”
Ashleigh glanced at Aria, who nodded encouragingly.
“What?” Scarlett asked.
“Well,” Ashleigh turned toward Scarlett, “I was thinking about it, and I want to go back to visit my friends at school for a few days.”
“No way,” Scarlett said. “That’s too dangerous. There are no protection spells there.”
“Nowhere is safe, Scarlett. I was attacked in your castle, that was supposed to be under all sorts of magical barriers.”
“I know, but they made them even stronger.” Scarlett didn’t like the fact that her sister had been hurt in the one place she should have been safest.
Ashleigh lifted her arm up, a red-beaded bracelet around her wrist. “Aria made us each one of these. They’re made of special plants and protective charms to keep us from being tracked. No one will ever know I’ve left the fae or Sidhe worlds.”
Scarlett looked at Aria, who was nodding.
“It’s strong magic. Not even Morta can get around these. And I’ll be with Ashleigh the entire time. I’ll even walk her to the bathroom if that’s what it takes. We can evanesce away at the first sight of trouble,” Aria said.
No one would ever think Scarlett would let Ashleigh leave again. Could hiding her in plain sight really work? And even if it was dangerous, where wasn’t? Scarlett had been in the same room as Ashleigh and she couldn’t stop her from getting slas
hed by an edimmu.
But what about her wound? She wouldn’t be able to have Galena dress it and keep it from getting infected if she was back in the mortal world. And if anyone saw it, what would they think?
“Okay,” Scarlett said as a smile rose on Ashleigh’s face. “But you need to let me heal your wound.”
Ashleigh’s mouth snapped shut. “No, you can’t use your dark magic. It’s dangerous.”
“And if your wound doesn’t keep getting magical treatment, it could end up dangerous. I can do it. What’s the point in having the darkness in me if I can’t even use it to help those I love?”
Scarlett wasn’t budging this time. It was one thing when she could keep an eye on the wound, ready to heal it if needed. But Scarlett would soon be too far away from Ashleigh.
“Fine,” Ashleigh said, her voice quiet but not angry. “Just promise you’ll stop if it’s too much.”
“I promise,” Scarlett said as she stood.
Ashleigh spun around and faced the back wall, propping herself up on her knees with her heels to her butt. She slipped off her shirt and unlatched her bra.
The wound looked awful still, scabbed but deep. There was no pus, but redness had spread around the edges of the cuts.
Scarlett hovered her hands over the wound and closed her eyes, searching for the darkness within.
Anger washed over her as she let the darkness push out the light.
Images surfaced: Natalie and Teddy tied up, staring at her with scared eyes. In the scene that followed, Scarlett watched her friends die all over again.
She let the movie in her mind continue as they slumped forward, lifeless.
Next came a picture of her mother, sprawled on the floor. But instead of letting the darkness pull her deeper into her rage, she thought of Ashleigh. She remembered how excited her sister had been when she showed her the dress she’d designed for Scarlett to wear to the ball. How they laughed about the homecoming they’d gone to together during Scarlett’s freshmen year.
Kaelem’s eyes flashed in her mind. The way they’d inhaled her on the dance floor before everything went wrong. The urge to move her hands all over his body, finding his most sensitive places.
Scarlett opened her eyes to look at Ashleigh’s wound, which had vanished completely.
“That was crazy,” Aria said, mouth gaping.
Ashleigh looked over her shoulder. “It doesn’t hurt at all anymore.”
Although Scarlett’s tattoos still tingled, she didn’t feel ready to snap like she normally did anytime she’d used the dark magic.
What if she accepted the darkness instead of always pushing it away?
Could she find a way to use it without letting it be the one to use her?
Chapter Ten
It had taken him hours to actually fall asleep, but once he had, Raith slept like the dead.
When he awoke, he saw Cade sitting on the bed with a book in his hand. “I didn’t know you liked poetry, brother.”
It was a book of children’s poems Raith’s mother had given him before she’d died—or he’d thought she died, that was. She used to read it to him before bed. He couldn’t even remember the countless number of times he’d read it as a child after she was gone. At first, he thought he could hear her voice, but eventually, his memory of it faded too.
Cade closed the book and set it on the bedside table. “What do we do now?”
“There were so many soldiers guarding the castle’s perimeter yesterday, it gave me an idea,” Raith said. “They must be going in and out of the front entrance. So, if we use our glamour and disguise ourselves as soldiers, maybe we can slip in.”
Cade’s gaze drifted as he pondered Raith’s suggestion. “But the guards can see through glamour.”
“They can see through common glamour, but can they see through your glamour? Kassandra might be sitting on the throne, but you are the true king. Your magic should be stronger than theirs.”
“True,” Cade said. “But what if it isn’t?”
“Then we hope to hell that we can get away and evanesce ourselves out of here before we’re taken as prisoners.” Raith shrugged. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but he thought it was a pretty good one. “Unless you have a better idea?”
“Your plan it is.” Cade stood.
Raith told Cade everything he remembered about the soldier’s uniforms. They needed to be convincing if they wanted them to pass as real. “They’re similar to the old uniforms, but now they have a crest with a wilted black rose.”
When they were ready and, thanks to Cade’s glamour, dressed in the Summer Army uniforms, Raith climbed the ladder and used his magic to create a peephole in the door. There was no one in sight. “I think we’re clear.”
“You think?” Cade asked from below.
Raith looked down at him with a huff. “I can only see what’s in front of the tree, so I’m as sure as I can be.” He creaked the door open slowly then stepped out into the sunshine.
Cade followed behind him.
They walked deeper into the forest before turning and taking a path heading toward the castle entry.
A group of four soldiers approached them.
Cade’s glamour not only had them wearing uniforms, but also created masks over their faces. Cade was the more recognizable of the two, but plenty of soldiers had watched the Battle of Heirs and might remember Raith. There was no room for carelessness.
“Where is the rest of your group?” a male soldier asked, his long copper hair falling to his shoulders.
“Just behind us,” Raith said, hoping it was believable.
Cade stood silently next to Raith, a grimace on his lips. Raith recognized his guilty expression. Cade was too used to following the rules. As children, any time they’d do something they weren’t supposed to, Cade would panic. He didn’t possess Raith’s skill of lying or carefully stretching the truth. Thankfully, as the soldiers stared at them, Cade kept his aura sealed tight. If he let the guards see his nervousness, it might blow their cover.
The soldier nodded. “They better hurry or there won’t be any breakfast left.”
Raith chuckled. “More for us.”
When the soldiers continued down the path, Raith let out the tension he’d been holding. They’d made it past the first obstacle. “Now, we just need to get past the guards.”
Raith had a backup plan. If no one was watching and he could get close enough, he could alter the guards' memories to forget that he and Cade slipped inside the gates. But then, if they ever had to leave the grounds again, they’d have to do that every time and that would be risky.
After the brothers took a bend in the path, the castle entrance appeared. Two guards stood outside the gates, each holding a staff in his hand and a sword and scabbard at his side.
It had been a day since Raith had eaten any food, but he didn’t think it was hunger cramping his stomach as they approached the guards.
Cade walked next to him, silent.
The guards didn’t move an inch as Raith and Cade drew closer to the gates.
Then, as if in answer to a prayer, the gates swung open.
Cade glanced at Raith, concern in his glamoured brows.
Every step felt heavy as they stepped through the threshold between the forest and the castle courtyard.
They’d done it. Cade’s glamour had worked.
Raith exhaled his relief. Step one, done.
Two female soldiers walked around the outside of the castle grounds. The two appeared to be opposites. One had dark skin with cool blond hair. The other had pale skin and dark hair. They laughed at something the dark-haired one said. The other glanced back and when she met Raith’s eyes, she grinned.
Cade chuckled. “Too bad she’s smiling at your glamour, not you.”
“Hey, now,” Raith said. “Maybe she senses the pure power in me.”
Cade shook his head.
Joking with each other felt foreign. For so many years, they’d spent any conversations they had gett
ing under each other’s skin. Raith couldn’t remember the last time their banter was this light-hearted.
They followed the soldiers around to the northeastern corner of the castle grounds where charcoal-colored tents were set up in rows.
The same emblem on the uniforms was on the roof of every tent.
“Must be Morta's symbol,” Cade said. “My mother wouldn’t want anything remotely dying for herself.”
That sounded about right.
“What do we do now?” Cade asked.
Raith hadn’t thought this far ahead. He was too worried about actually getting into the camp to think about what to do once they had. As he pondered the next step, Jaser stepped out from one of the outer tents and looked right at them.
His forehead wrinkled as he stared at Raith and Cade.
Shit.
If the guards hadn’t been able to see through Cade’s glamour, there was no way Jaser could. But clearly, something about them drew his attention.
Had they made a mistake on the uniforms?
As Jaser approached them, Raith urged himself to remain calm and hoped Cade was doing the same.
“Hello,” Jaser said. “I’m afraid I don’t think I’ve met either of you.”
Raith lowered himself into a bow. Cade did too.
“I’m Grey and this is Cai. You must be the infamous Jaser we’ve heard so much about,” Raith said. Flattery seemed like a good strategy until he remembered who he was talking to. Jaser had never had a big head.
“Let me walk you to your tent.” Jaser glanced to the camp. “Which one is it?”
Cade, who still hadn’t said a word, tilted his head to Raith.
Raith didn’t have to look at him to picture the irritation in his expression. It wasn’t like Raith’s idea had succeeded so far or anything. Oh wait, it had. This was just a small hiccup they needed to get past.
“Or do we have spies in our midst?” Jaser brought his hand to the hilt of the dagger at his side.
Cade glanced at his sword.
Now that they were in the castle grounds, they couldn’t evanesce away. Well, maybe Cade’s magic was stronger than the barrier, but Raith doubted it. Protection spells were always powerful.