by May Dawson
“What keeps Turic from declaring himself king?”
“Fae like to think we’re powerful, but we’re all bound by magic and ancient rituals and old shit that makes no sense,” she said. “He can’t declare himself king. He needs the spring magic to recognize him, and for that he needs the High Delphine. She refuses to declare the Heir dead, so he can’t take the throne—or the magic that comes with it.”
“That old woman who was so entertained to watch Tyson fight that ridiculous contest?” I demanded. I didn’t feel very fondly of her at the moment.
“That old woman,” she confirmed. “She’s our highest religious figure, so perhaps you could sound less dismissive.”
“Sorry,” I said.
She waved her hand. “Anyway, the Delphin promises that sooner or later, the heir will rise.” She leaned in toward me mischievously. “I’ve been looking for him myself.”
“You’re going to get yourself in trouble.” Arlen said, wading through the water toward us. It rippled around his powerful frame.
“I hope so,” Raura said sweetly. She clutched her hands together and pressed them against her cheek, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked toward Arlen. “Maybe you’ll come rescue me.”
Arlen looked away, as if he were trying not to react to her. Lake hid a smile.
Arlen dove under the water, barely making a splash despite the size of his powerful body, and swam to the other side of the enormous pool without surfacing. Only the faintest ripples across the surface of the water gave him away, and then he rose on the other side, pushing his hair back from his face.
“You’d think he was part of the sea court,” Raura muttered. “Don’t mind him. He’s dreadful, but he can’t help himself. You know the type—all dark and broody and broken.”
“Shut up, Raura,” he called, all the way from the other side, and she pulled a face. They did have really good hearing.
“Why’s that?” I asked anyway.
“He’s part of the winter court. Well. What’s left of it,” she said. “Which is really nothing more than memories and relics and a few scattered survivors.”
Arlen dove under the water again, and I wasn’t sure if it were for exercise or so he wouldn’t have to hear us.
“A few years ago, there was a massive war between the Fae courts,” she said. “The summer court emerged victorious. The winter court was the last holdout. Turic claimed to be by their side. He betrayed them, and the last of their court was destroyed.”
I searched the glistening surface of the water, but Arlen was still below. “What happened to his family?”
“The nobility of their court was murdered,” she said. “Including his parents and his older brothers and sisters. He escaped and made his way to Fenig.”
“Some escape,” I muttered, when all these unwanted children were pressed into service fighting monsters. I wondered how many of these kids they buried. There certainly weren’t many old knights around beside Fenig. “It’s not much of a happily-ever-after.”
“This isn’t that kind of fairy tale,” Raura said, something sad in her smile, as Arlen broke from the water’s surface.
He gasped as if he’d pushed himself too far, then climbed the steps from the pool.
“Spring court seems all light and beautiful,” he said without looking behind him, water cascading down his broad shoulders and naked back. “But it’s perhaps the most debauched and bloody of them all.”
He padded down the hall, leaving us all behind.
For a few seconds, the room was silent except for the faint lapping of the water against the edges of the pool.
“Raura,” I said. “What are the odds we’re all going to get out of here alive?”
Instead of answering, she gave me a mischievous smile and dove under the water herself, as quick and agile as a fish.
I stared around at my men, feeling darkness wash over me, no matter that the setting was beautiful and bright.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tyson
“Hey,” I said quietly to Rafe, and he paused, turning back to me. His face was expressionless, but that was probably because it was a mass of bruises. The sight would’ve made me wince sympathetically, but Rafe would’ve been annoyed by my pity.
The two of us lingered in the stone hall as the others headed away. Lex and Rafe exchanged one of those looks—just the briefest glance—before Lex headed away with the others. I knew he’d make sure we had a few minutes without those long, pointed Fae ears listening.
“I saw something in those caves,” I said. “It wasn’t just another rip. There were runes—this rip was man-made. A portal, built to last.” The rips were natural, but magicians could control them—although it would take a lot of power to keep a portal open like that. Silas or Maddie could probably do it, but I doubted any of the rest of us could.
The shifter academy might include magic in the curriculum, but I knew they’d never start teaching us how to rip through the fabric of the universe into adjacent worlds. It was too dangerous. Some believed the fabric between the worlds was growing ever thinner and more tattered, and that we were on the verge of an apocalypse.
But when I imagined us sealing our world away from the others, one universe alone seemed small and lonely now that I knew there were others. There were worlds like this one, full of magic and danger and strange charm.
“One of the Fae created it,” Rafe said slowly. “Who do you think?”
“The way they talk about Turic, I wonder if he knows it’s there.”
“Could be useful information,” Rafe said. “Let’s keep it to ourselves for now.”
“I want to talk to Fenig about it,” I said. “She’s willing to get us safe passage to the Hooksbane.”
Even when we should be alone, I wouldn’t mention the temple that was our true destination.
“We don’t need to get involved unless that information buys us some favors,” Rafe warned me. “We need to finish our mission and get out of here. We’ve already been waylaid enough.”
“I know. I’m not talking about getting involved. I’m talking about cementing Fenig as an ally.”
Rafe hesitated, shoving his hands in his pockets, then gave a curt nod. “Use your discretion, Ty. I trust you.”
He might trust me, but he hated relinquishing his leadership role to me. Still, he’d suffer it, for the mission.
I clapped his shoulder as I passed. “Don’t worry. Before you know it, they’ll realize I’m not actually the one who’s in charge.”
“Mm,” Rafe said, his tone wry. “But will you remember it by then?”
The two of us caught up to the others, just as Arlen doubled back as if he were coming to check on us. Penn walked beside him, keeping up a steady patter, and Arlen had a tortured look on his face. Penn would’ve made sure that if we were still deep in conversation, we knew they were coming before Arlen could sneak up on us.
“Were you lost?” Arlen asked.
“It’s pretty much a straight shot.” I indicated the long stone hall we were in.
“I’m never surprised by the stupidity of shifters,” he said, reminding me of how badly the Fae had treated their own shifter population.
“And I’m never surprised by the pettiness of the Fae,” Penn said lightly.
Arlen turned on him, peeling back his lip to reveal long white teeth, his canines more wickedly sharp than any human’s—a reminder that they weren’t quite like us.
“Enough,” Rafe ordered, his tone commanding. He told Arlen, “We’re quite appreciative of the hospitality of your people.”
Penn ducked his head, hiding a smile. Arlen gave him a disgusted look, then strode ahead of us toward the others.
“What?” I asked Penn.
“I just admire how Rafe can scold everyone in a ten-foot proximity with what seems like a simple declarative sentence,” Penn said. “He’s efficient.”
Rafe scoffed. “I’ve had to be.”
The three of us went back up to the
cells. Even though my wolf was dead, I could’ve sworn that when I walked into the small room where Maddie and I had slept tangled in each other the night before, that I still smelled her. I paused and inhaled that scent, breathing in the faint citrus-and-salt tang she carried, that reminded me of sunshine and freedom.
God, I’d missed her. The thought of what I’d almost lost overwhelmed me. What I could still lose.
Which must be why I’d done something so reckless as take something I found in Fae lands, something that didn’t belong to me, on a whim. Maybe I’d been too flush with victory for sense.
I reached into my pocket for that damned jewelry. It was a death sentence if the Fae realized we were stealing their relics. We had come here for one particular relic, and it wouldn’t go well for us if they realized we were the thieving sort before we got our hands on it and flashed out of here.
Suddenly, it made me feel like a jackass, coming here and taking anything from these people. Stealing from Turic and his men wouldn’t bother me, but Fenig, Raura, Lake, maybe even Arlen…. I already liked them.
I stared down at the pendant I’d pulled out of my pocket, which glittered even in the dim of the cell, and the ring that had come out with it. I hid the pendant and the ring, wrapping them in the dirty clothes I’d worn to fight the Feddlewig, then shoving them back into a ziplock bag before I stowed them in my backpack.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about the ring, though.
Lex stopped by my room, carrying an armful of clothes. “Hey. We don’t want to attract any more attention than we have to tonight, so we’re taking the Fae up on their generous offer.”
I smiled at that—it was Raura’s offer, Arlen didn’t seem particularly invested in our well-being—and took the clothes that Lex threw at me.
As I dressed in the Fae’s garb, for some reason, I had the strange feeling that maybe I’d lost that damned Fae ring, which could damn us all. I had to see it, to know it was safe, and I rooted through the bag and pulled it out again.
It didn’t look like anything too special. It was silver or maybe white gold, and there were Fae words engraved into it that I couldn’t read. We’d used a spell before we left to make sure we could understand the Fae, but reading their language was still hard.
I slid the ring onto my finger. It fit as though it were made for me. I looked down on it, and my vision blurred. For a second, I could’ve sworn I was seeing someone else’s hand.
Then it burned.
As if it tightened on my finger, it was suddenly too tight, cutting into my circulation. I tried to slide it off again, but it was too late.
Then the fire raced through the veins up my arm and swept through my body. Suddenly I was so hot that my body felt as if it had dried out instantly, and I seemed to teeter on my feet, as if I would collapse.
Then the fire and the pain faded.
But something had happened. Something magical.
I needed answers, before I went to Rafe and Lex, and I hoped Silas might have them.
I reached to pull the ring off and hide it.
It wouldn’t come off.
I frowned as I twisted at it; it was perfectly comfortable on, it wasn’t tight. But I couldn’t seem to get the damn thing off my hand.
Increasingly agitated, I thrust my hand into my pocket and headed out into the hall, looking for Silas.
“What’s up?” Penn asked as I rushed past him.
“Nothing,” I said. “Have you seen Silas?”
Irritation flashed over Penn’s face before he shrugged, but then annoyance was Penn’s usual reaction to far deeper emotions. Something had happened with Silas that was bothering him.
I’d been a shitty friend for a while now, too wrapped up in my own issues. But I was going to be a shitty one for a while longer, because I had to get this damned ring off my finger before I got us all in trouble with the Fae. They’d be back any time now to take us to that damned dinner. I would cut my own finger off if I had to—my heart was pounding in my chest.
“We’re in a hallway with ten glorified closets, how the fuck did we lose Silas?” I demanded, but Silas did always have a gift for wandering off.
“What’s wrong?” Penn asked, his brow creasing in a familiar way.
“Nothing,” I said again, knowing he’d see I was lying, knowing he’d drop it. God, I loved him. I was going to start making up the past few months of asshole behavior on my part, sometime soon.
“Check the battlements,” Lex said, standing in the door to his cell. In his Fae clothes, he looked like Robin of Locksley, but I wasn’t going to criticize. Lex had a look on his face as if he, too, knew there was something up, but he was going to give me time to deal with it before he dug in.
“Thanks,” I said curtly, heading toward the far end of the hall.
I headed up the stairs to the battlements, where I found Silas, leaning against the stone wall. He was tall, slender, like the Fae, and in his dark borrowed clothes and leather slippers, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d turned to me with pointed ears. Silas could probably blend into anyone’s world.
He turned his head over his shoulder to look at me. The breeze ruffled his blond hair.
“I did something stupid,” I blurted out.
“Haven’t we all,” he said.
I knew Silas wouldn’t judge me. I rested my elbow on the wall, letting him see my hand with the damned ring wrapped around my finger.
“Mistakes were made,” I said. “Found a ring in the cave, put it on. It won’t come off. Some kind of magical fuckery.”
“And you came to me.” He gripped my hand, examining the ring. It was strange to have Silas touching me.
“Magical fuckery is kind of your thing.”
“I can’t tell if that’s an insult or not.” He frowned as he twisted the ring around my finger, then tried to pull it off.
“I’m not really in the position to be an asshole to you right now, Silas.”
“I’ve seen you and Penn,” he said, yanking at the ring and I let out a grunt of pain. He didn’t seem particularly sympathetic as he went on, “There’s never a time you can’t be a dickhead to your family. You two have shown me that.”
His words were light, but they left me frowning.
“You’re one of us, Silas.”
“You haven’t been paying attention the past few months,” he said. “but I understand that.”
He took a step back.
“I want to come back to this whole subject,” I said, “but I feel pretty self-centered at the moment. Do I need to cut my own finger off?”
“The ring’s not that ugly.”
“I don’t think we want the Fae to get the notion we’re here to steal from them.”
Especially because we were.
“I can’t remove it without magic,” he said, raising his wrist and the cuff around it. “I’m sorry, Tyson.”
“All good, brother,” I said, clapping his shoulder, despite the sudden nausea in my stomach. “I don’t suppose your magic can re-grow fingers, once we get back?”
He looked at me skeptically, as if he knew I’d just called him brother because I was worried about him. He said, “You don’t need to rush to cutting digits off, you know. We can put a bandage on your hand and say you were hurt fighting the Feddlewig.”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling foolish but trying not to show it. I was being ridiculous—but the magic from the ring seemed to pulse constantly down my finger, through my body, and it felt weird. Unsettling. It was making me lose my mind. “Let’s do that.”
Silas went back for his medical kit while I stayed on the ramparts, debating how nicely I could explain this to Rafe and Lex. Rafe was going to look at me like I was an idiot first year, and that already rankled. But I would never hide something important from the team.
I had a lot of flaws, but I was not the kind of person who would hide a zombie bite… or the kind of mistake that could get us all killed.
As Silas bent over my
arm, wrapping my hand, I asked, “Do you think that going into the Greyworld will get this messy?”
His shoulders went rigid. “Everything back home is messy.”
“Are you Echo back there? Silas? Or someone else?” The memory of the dark-haired figure Silas had appeared as with Maddie lingered with me.
“Silas,” he said. “And someone else.”
“A different Silas.”
“Maybe we should save worrying about the Greyworld for after we’ve survived this one.”
His jaw tensed, his blond hair flopping into his eyes as he bent over my arm. He pinned the gauze with one hand, reaching for the tape in his first aid kit. He looked so young in some ways. Innocent. That was how I’d read him at first when he came to the team, and I’d felt protective of our odd, intense, kind-hearted team mate.
But that was never who he really was.
Now was no time to go into it, though, and we needed him. We needed Silas’s magic—if only it was unbound.
“I wish we didn’t have these damn cuffs on,” I muttered.
“Yeah, me either,” he said.
There was a clink as he accidentally banged that cuff against the stone, and then the cuff fell off his wrist and rolled across the stone wall. He lunged to catch it, and I grabbed his shirt to steady him as he leaned out over thin air.
But the cuff slipped through his fingers and silently dropped into the trees, distant below.
“Fuck,” he said, and then turned to me, his eyes wide. He raked his hand through his hair. “Fuck!”
“It is a really versatile word,” I said, because at first he’d sounded horrified, and now he sounded filled with wonder.
“It might be the ring,” he muttered. “We need to figure out what’s going on.”
There were harsh voices from the stairs. Arlen, from the sounds of it, and Penn snarling back at him, louder than necessary, making sure I knew he was coming, and Lex, his voice calming.
Silas wrapped his fingers around his wrist until his center finger and thumb meet, then muttered a few words, and a second cuff formed around his wrist. But now his magic wasn’t blocked.