by Jayne Faith
I wasn’t sure why my mind kept going back to him. He was sworn to Periclase, and as far as most were concerned, he was still just the bastard son of the Duergar king. He’d come to my aid multiple times before, but I couldn’t expect him to take such a risk again. He was just a soldier in the Duergar military. Neither of us could fix what had transpired between our two realms.
My heart felt like a stone as we were forced around a corner and then back inside to the fortress’s lap pool. New Gargs didn’t have a great affinity for water, and our dense bones made us ill-suited for swimming, but Marisol insisted that every young member of the Order learn to swim. She’d always wanted us to face our weaknesses so others couldn’t use them against us. But it seemed she’d miscalculated.
I looked around, expecting to see a doorway similar to the one the Undine had formed in the courtyard fountain, but there was no watery arch. There was, however, something strange happening to the pool near the shallow end. It churned and stirred as if blowing in a storm.
The trident men took us up to the edge.
“What is that?” Nicole asked, her voice cracking with dread. She looked over at me with wide, terrified eyes.
One Undine man grabbed her upper arm, yanked her to the edge of the pool, and began whispering words in his language. He moved his trident, and I recognized the motions—he was drawing sigils in the air.
“A doorway,” I said to my sister. “Just close your eyes, and it will be over in a few seconds.”
He stepped off the edge, pulling Nicole with him. She screamed as they fell into the water, except there was no splash. They passed through the shimmering surface and disappeared.
I was treated to two Undine guards, with one of them repeating the same magic ritual to take the three of us through the doorway. I knew we weren’t really jumping into the water, but just the same, I took a deep breath and held it. We fell into the void of the netherwhere.
Chapter 24
WHEN MY BODY and senses returned to me, I was standing outside the Duergar palace. We weren’t at the grand front entrance, but in the back somewhere. The smell of smoked meat drifted by, which helped to orient me. We weren’t far from where I’d come into this kingdom to save Nicole after Periclase had kidnapped her from the Earthly realm. Ironic, considering our current predicament.
Nicole and her Undine guard stood a few feet away, and relief crossed her face when she saw I’d arrived. I gave her a nod and what I hoped was a reassuring look. Ending up back here as the captive of Periclase once again probably felt like a living nightmare.
It was early evening, the sun out of sight behind the palace but probably not yet set, judging by the light remaining in the sky. I half-expected the trident bearers to take us to the bunkhouse where Periclase had kept Nicole but then thought better of it. He wouldn’t want us to appear to be prisoners. No, we were objects of value, to be prettied up and auctioned off in return for whatever power and standing we might gain him.
Except that wasn’t going to happen. No fucking way. I’d die first.
I curled my fingers, scraping my nails over my palms and wishing more than anything in the world that I had Mort. The need to physically fight back gnawed at my gut. But I’d have to bide my time. Wait until the Undine didn’t have their damned lightning rods pointed at me.
We drew stares from the palace workers as the trident men moved us across the grounds. The Duergar gave us a wide berth, eyeing the Undine with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. The commoners, at least, didn’t seem to give a crap about the two new princesses in the kingdom, and that was fine by me.
I tried to take in all the details of the things we passed inside the palace, filing everything away for later. You never knew what might prove useful. The Undine had escorted us into the belly of the palace, and we passed a few landmarks I recognized from my previous visits. We marched up eight floors and finally arrived at a door in a corridor that reminded me of a hotel. Sure enough, when I was prodded inside I found myself in a well-appointed suite. My Undine guards slammed the door, and when I rattled the knob, I found it locked, as expected.
I pressed my ear to the door and listened until I heard another door slam. It sounded like they’d taken Nicole to the suite next to mine. I went into the sitting room and banged my fist on the wall that was between two suites.
“Nicole?” I shouted. I banged and hollered again when there was no answer.
“Petra?” My name came out as a muffled wail of despair.
I cupped my hands against the wall, trying to project through it. “This place is full of secret passages,” I said. “See if you can find any in your rooms.”
“Okay.” Her voice perked up a little.
I doubted Periclase would be stupid enough to put us in rooms with easy escapes, but it was worth checking. When I made it around the sitting room without finding a single loose panel or hollow-sounding section of wall, I suspected we weren’t going to find a simple way out. I completed my check of the rest of the suite just to be sure and didn’t find evidence of any secret passages.
The windows were barred on the outside with decorative bronze designs. Even if I could get through, it would be a death dive to drop eight floors to the ground. Well, probably not deadly for a New Garg, but two broken legs wouldn’t exactly aid my escape.
I pushed my hands into my hair and swore, cursing Periclase and his bloodline three generations backward and forward. I stopped when I realized that technically I was cursing myself, too, and went back and tapped on the wall between my rooms and Nicole’s.
“Any luck?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “You?”
“Same here.”
I began going through the entire suite, looking in every drawer, under the mattress, on every shelf, searching for anything useful. There wasn’t so much as a toothbrush or a spoon.
I went back to the window. Maybe I would have to go out that way after all. I drew magic and covered my arm with armor. Then I turned sideways and bashed my elbow into the glass. It shattered, but not too noisily, thank Oberon. I knocked the shards out of the pane. One layer of barrier gone. But the bronze scrolls were designed in tight curls, spaced so that I couldn’t possibly squeeze through.
With a grip on one of the curlicues, I braced a boot against the wall and pulled back. It bent, but only under the force of my full strength. I kept at it, bending the metalwork until I was panting with effort. Pausing to wipe sweat from my temple, I surveyed my work. The opening wasn’t yet big enough to shimmy through, but I could at least get a look around before the late evening gave way to total darkness.
Minding the jagged edges of glass, I stuck my head through the opening. This side of the palace faced an orchard. Swallows were swooping above and around the trees, hunting insects. Pleasant scene, if it weren’t for the fact that I was a prisoner. It was a sheer drop straight down, with not a ledge, balcony, or drainpipe to help the descent. I twisted to peer upward.
My brows rose with interest. Directly above was some sort of cornice design protruding from the side of the palace. Above that, a window ledge. If I could make it up to the cornice and stand on it, I could probably get to the ninth-floor window. As long as it wasn’t barred as thoroughly as mine, I’d be able to get inside and then find a way out.
I ducked back in, swiped my arm over my forehead, and gripped another bronze bar. A few more pulls and I’d be able to fit through. Just as I was positioning my foot against the edge of the molding for leverage, there was a noise from the hallway.
I left my little demolition project to check it out. I started to lean in to press my ear to the varnished wood when the lock mechanism clicked softly. I reflexively drew magic to my skin to form stone armor, even though it was useless against the Undine lightning magic.
But it wasn’t the trident bearers at my door. It was a lithe young woman with long white-blond hair.
Bryna. Unclaimed bastard daughter of Periclase. Feisty little asshole who’d tried to kill me w
ith a wraith.
I could do nothing but stare as she slipped inside and then closed the door.
Wait. Daughter of Periclase. Oh, damn. Bryna was my half-sister.
I closed my gaping mouth. “You’re literally the last person I expected.”
“Nice to see you, too,” she said. She looked past me at the mess I’d made of the window. “Looks like I interrupted something.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m breaking you out.”
I blinked. “What? Why?”
She rolled her eyes. “Your bestie forced me into it. She knows how to play dirty.” She huffed a soft laugh, and for a second, I thought I saw a glimmer of admiration in her eyes.
“Lochlyn sent you?”
“Yeah.” She brushed past me and went to look at the destroyed window. “This is good cover, actually. Makes it look like you got out on your own.”
“Is Lochlyn here?”
“She’s nearby.” Bryna faced me. “You wanna get out of here, or what?”
“Yes.” Oberon’s balls, yes. “But there’s another prisoner next door. I can’t leave without her.”
Bryna crossed her arms and a look of irritation came over her face. “Oh, right. The other princess.” She practically spat the word.
I cocked my head, peering at her. “Are you jealous? You are, aren’t you, because dear old pops won’t put you on the official Duergar registry of royals. Well, you’re more than welcome to my spot.”
Her lips twisted, and I could tell I’d hit a nerve. “I repeat, do you want out of here or not?” she demanded.
“I already said yes,” I shot back. “But not without Nicole.”
“Fine,” she ground out. “Then, maybe the three of us can have a slumber party, talk about our secret crushes, and do each other’s hair.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
I made a face at her back. It was immature, but I was having a hard time swallowing that I was actually related to this person. She was just so . . . unpleasant. Not to mention murderous.
Bryna went back to the door, and for the first time, I noticed she held a golf ball-sized glass orb in one hand. It gently pulsed with yellow-green light. She started moving the fingers of her free hand over the sphere.
“Trust me, I’m not any more excited about you than you are about me, sis,” I said. “And I know you don’t want to be here, so let’s just get this over with and we can go our separate ways.”
She paused what she was doing to shoot a glare in my direction and then went back to her glowing bauble.
“What is that thing?” I asked, stepping closer.
Ignoring me, she continued moving her fingers. The glass ball rose from her palm and hovered in between her hands.
I drew in a breath as I recognized the strands of green and yellow. “That’s human magic.”
Fae magic came from the blood of the Fae, originating in the heart of each one of us and pumping through our veins. Faerie itself nourished our power. Human magic was drawn from the elements—primarily earth, air, fire, and water. But I’d been sure that Bryna was Fae—more than one source had confirmed she was Duergar-Spriggan.
“That’s an earth and air spell, isn’t it?” I asked.
Bryna gave me a withering look that clearly expressed what she thought of my powers of deduction. I took it as a yes to my question.
She lifted her hands, the orb still floating between them, and flicked her fingers at the door. The object flashed brightly, and then in a blink it shrank and disappeared through the door’s peephole. I frowned, trying to figure out how she was using a human-magicked object. Usually, human charms were useless to Fae.
“Okay, let’s go,” Bryna said. She opened the door with no hesitation, not even checking first to see if there was anyone out there.
I was still trying to figure out how the hell Bryna was using human magic when I followed her out into the hallway and right between two Undine men.
I whirled around, drawing power. Rock armor sprang over my skin.
“For the love of Oberon, relax,” Bryna said with an exaggerated eyeroll. She gestured with one hand. “We’re in the middle of an invisibility spell. They can’t see or hear us.”
I blinked, my heart thumping hard, and then noticed the glow surrounding us. We stood in the middle of what appeared to be a blob of greenish plasma.
Shaking my head, I followed her to Nicole’s door. “How in the hell did you get this magic?” I whispered, still paranoid that the trident bearers would hear us.
First a wraith, then an extremely powerful piece of human magic that she was somehow able to command. Wraiths could be commanded by Fae, but human-magicked charms . . .
My eyes widened, and I stopped short as the realization hit me.
“Your mother is human,” I said.
Bryna had pulled a small wallet from her pocket and opened it to reveal a lock-picking kit. “Ding, ding! She solved the mystery. Give the Faerie princess a prize,” she said loudly.
She knelt down right between the Undine men who were standing guard at either side of Nicole’s door. They didn’t seem to have the slightest inkling we were there.
I shot a glance at the Undine men. Still no reaction from them.
“But Morven told me you were Duergar-Spriggan,” I said.
“He’s right,” she said. “Mom’s mother is full Spriggan. But my mother isn’t. I’m a quarter human. Probably less, I don’t know. I’ve never had my blood divined. I guess I have some New Garg blood from Periclase, too.”
Things started to click into place in my mind. Human blood was considered inferior to Fae blood. Plenty of Fae cavorted with humans, but Fae rarely wanted to own up to producing a part-human child. It was an unattractive fact of Faerie culture. The prejudice against the children of such dalliances, called halflings, ran stronger in some Faerie kingdoms than others.
I grunted. “So that’s why Periclase won’t claim you as his daughter.”
“Gee, thanks for rubbing it in,” she said, working a couple of implements in the door’s lock.
“Sorry,” I muttered. I closed my trap and watched her work.
Many halflings preferred to keep their human blood secret. Halflings who were magically barren were barred from Faerie. For the halflings who had no magic and could pass for human, it usually wasn’t too problematic for them to live out their lives in the Earthly realm. But for halflings with strong Fae features but no magic, it was a struggle to carve out a normal life. Most didn’t fare well. Bryna was actually one of the lucky ones, as she could pass for full Fae.
Bryna muttered an expletive under her breath, but it wasn’t directed at me. She was focused on her task. She exchanged one of her lock-picking tools for a different one and made a soft sound of triumph as the locking mechanism clicked with the snick of the bolt sliding back. Bryna stood, tucked her kit away, and reached for the handle. When she opened it, Nicole stood there wide-eyed and brandishing a chair with the legs pointed outward, as if ready to fend off a wild animal. When she saw Bryna, Nicole’s forehead wrinkled in puzzlement, and then her attention shifted to me and her brows lifted.
“Bryna wanted to get together for a little family reunion,” I said wryly. Nicole and I hadn’t previously talked about the fact that we were related to Bryna, but I saw the realization dawn on my twin’s face.
Nicole looked back and forth between the two of us for a second and then slowly lowered the chair to the floor.
She shrugged. “As long as Dad isn’t invited, I’m good with whatever. He’s turned out to be a world-class prick.”
I let out a sharp laugh. Bryna even cracked a smile before she could pull it back into a scowl. Maybe there actually was one thing all three of us could agree on.
With admirable nonchalance, all things considered, Nicole set the chair down, straightened her shirt, and sauntered out to join us. She gasped when she saw the Undine men standing only inches away, guarding her door.
“They can’t see us or h
ear us as long as we stay in the magic bubble,” I said.
“Oh!” Nicole lifted her hand, sweeping it around in the yellow-green magic that surrounded us. “Wow. That’s amazing.”
“Just tell me when you’re ready,” Bryna said with annoyance, jutting out one hip and crossing her arms. She looked back and forth between me and Nicole.
“Sorry,” Nicole said. “We’re ready.”
Bryna pointed to the right. “This way. Stay close and do me the favor of keeping quiet so I can concentrate.”
She took off, and my twin and I stayed on our half-sister’s heels as the three of us hurried down the corridor past the unsuspecting Undine men.
Chapter 25
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I’m wasting an invisibility charm on the two of you,” Bryna muttered irritably as she led us at a swift pace through the hallways of the Duergar palace. “Do you have any idea what this thing costs? It’s not even legal in the Earthly realm. I may never get my hands on another one.”
“How much was it?” Nicole asked.
Bryna shot a murderous glare over her shoulder, as if the question were an affront to her very existence.
“Geez, you’re the one who brought it up,” Nicole mumbled. “I was just curious.”
“You’re not able to actually cast human magic, are you?” I asked.
“Um, no. If I could wield human magic, I wouldn’t be running around rescuing you. I’d be much too busy leveraging the use of two magic systems into a fortune.”
“And then what?” Nicole piped up, genuinely interested. I could see she wasn’t trying to provoke Bryna but nevertheless seemed to fuel her bad mood. “What would you do with the money?”