by Leder, Nissa
“I’m not lying.”
God, her persistence was annoying. Of course, no one had altered his memory. He would know if that had happened.
He followed the Fates because…Why did he follow them? His brother had left him for dead, and his mother had abandoned him as a child. Why wouldn’t he side with the Fates?
But he hadn’t had a choice. That much he remembered. He didn’t care that the choice wasn’t his, but a small part of him knew that was odd. He should care.
“They warned me you’d try to get in my head.” His irritation grew heavy.
Scarlett reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Visions flooded him. Scarlett outside the Summer Palace. Them dancing together at the ball. Sealing a bargain with a kiss—the scent of roses and vanilla on her lips. Training for the Battle of Heirs.
So many thoughts raced through his mind as the visions continued.
When an image surfaced of them tangled together, naked inside his Summer Court tree house, he jerked himself away from her.
“Lies,” he said unconvincingly. He didn’t remember any of the visions, but something about them felt true just the same.
Anger filled him. Without thinking, he took Scarlett’s face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, obviously unaware of what was to come.
With his fingers resting on her temples, he took every memory he’d just seen from her mind.
If he couldn’t remember their time together, then neither could she. When he was done, confusion filled her face.
“Get away from me,” she said.
The satisfaction he thought he’d feel wasn’t there. Instead, a knot filled his stomach. He should be happy. Now neither of them had the memories of the past. It was even, as if they’d never happened.
But what he’d done was irreversible, and what if someday he regretted it?
* * *
Kaelem evanesced to the bottom of the Seelie Court grounds. His eyes rapidly blinked as they adjusted to the bright sunshine beaming down at him.
Everyone seemed to think endless darkness would be awful, but there was no way Kaelem could handle eternal sunshine. The sun was hot and blinding and gave him a headache.
Since there wasn’t an event going on, he had to wait until Laik arrived at the gates to grant him entrance. The guards kept their gazes forward as Kaelem tapped his foot.
Finally, Laik arrived and welcomed Kaelem into the grounds.
“This is a surprise,” Laik said as they rode a carriage to the palace. “An unexpected visit from the Unseelie King is almost unheard of.”
“We are headed for war. I imagine we’ll all experience many things we haven’t yet experienced.” Kaelem tilted his body toward Laik. “I know you know more about Scarlett than you’ve let others believe. Somehow you knew her mother, who conveniently ended up dead.
“Scarlett had Unseelie and Seelie blood, something your court, in particular, has forbidden. Many like to suggest that my court is the most ruthless, but we both know how unforgiving your queen can be.”
A vision of Kaelem’s mother’s head rolling on the ground surfaced. She’d wanted to protect his father. The Fates’ prophecy had stated that if he wasn’t careful, the Seelie Queen would kill him. The Unseelie Queen figured if Genevieve was dead, she couldn’t kill anyone. She’d glamoured herself as one of the queen’s ladies and tried to poison her. It might have worked but the Fates had tipped Genevieve off and she caught Kaelem’s mother. The price for attempted murder of a Seelie Queen was death.
It wasn’t that the Seelie Queen had broken any law or sought out an attack on the Unseelie Court. But she understood his mother’s love blinded her. Another punishment could have done the job or she could have pardoned his mother as a sign of good will. She had options.
Despite promising his father he’d stay home, Kaelem snuck out to attend the execution. The Seelie Queen made it a public event. Thousands of the Seelie people watched as his mother was pulled to the stage and forced down, then a guillotine severed her head.
Only sixteen at the time, Kaelem watched his mother die to a cheering crowd. And he saw the satisfaction in Genevieve’s eyes.
“My queen has made the choices she needed to make in order to protect her people,” Laik said.
“Perhaps. We all must live with the choices we make, but you can’t deny that your queen has her own dark side.”
Laik lifted his chin. “And what is your point?”
“I have a theory. Somehow, the Seelie Queen found out about Scarlett’s existence and she sent you to learn more. And somehow, it ended with Scarlett’s mother crazy and eventually dead.”
“If your theory is true, then what? If my queen and I are monsters, why are you here?”
“That's the thing, I don't think you’re like the queen. Maybe it's the freedom of not being a ruler, but I’ve sensed your concern for Scarlett. Perhaps you feel guilty for past mistakes.”
“My role as advisor hasn't come without sacrifice, but you are correct. I possess a fondness for her. Though each in our own way, we share that with one another.”
As they reached the top of the hill, the horses slowed. The castle—in all its gaudy glory—stood tall in front of them.
Kaelem hesitated before they reached the door. “I've come to ask your queen for aid. Scarlett is missing and we have reason to believe Ankou has her. We don't know a lot about him, but we assume he means her harm.”
Laik stepped closer to Kaelem. “She won't help. There's too much animosity between our courts. Even if she thought your cause was just, she will deny you.” He paused as if contemplating something deeply, then whispered, “She won't protect Scarlett.”
“I have to try. If she refuses to join with me now, she will become an enemy to the Unseelie Court in this war. But you can still help.”
“What makes you think I'd be any use?”
“You don't stay advisor to the Seelie Queen for so long without good reason. My guess is you're the second most powerful fae in the Seelie Court, and if I can't have the best, I'll settle for the next greatest thing.”
Laik chuckled. “You'll settle for my help. How flattering.”
“I aim to please.”
They continued into the palace, heading straight to the throne room.
Genevieve leaned back in the throne with her right knee crossed over her left. “Back to my court already? I don’t think an Unseelie King has ever visited twice in such a short period before.”
“I’m not sure about the ones before my father, but executing their wives probably isn’t the best way to encourage frequent drop-ins.”
“And if such wife didn’t commit crimes against the Seelie Crown, she wouldn’t have lost her head.”
Kaelem clamped his jaw shut. He was here to create an alliance, not to pick old wounds. He could never forgive Genevieve for what she’d done, but he couldn’t deny that his mother had dug her own grave.
She’d done it all for love and all for nothing. His father died anyway. Rulers shouldn’t rule from their hearts. But here he was, desperate for help to save Scarlett.
Was it love? He couldn’t take it that far. But his fondness was a fog to his judgment.
He told the Seelie Queen about Scarlett’s disappearance.
“If what you say is true, she made a choice. Why would I risk my court to save her?” Genevieve asked.
“We have been the lions of the fae world for so long we don’t know what it’s like to be a gazelle. I believe Ankou will be the new king of our jungle if he gets whatever he needs from Scarlett.”
“Perhaps, or maybe you’re giving him too much credit. If he was so powerful, how are we just now hearing about him?”
“Are you threatened that Scarlett might be a more powerful queen than you?”
Genevieve’s eyes narrowed and her fingers curled. “Scarlett shouldn’t even exist.”
Guilt seeped from Laik.
Was Kaelem’s theory true? Had Laik been instr
ucted to kill Scarlett?
“Yet, she does,” Kaelem said. “And let’s suppose you’re right, and Ankou is truly not a threat, why not help me rescue Scarlett and get rid of Ankou for the hell of it?”
The Seelie Queen’s mouth curved. “I hadn’t realized your affection toward her had you so desperate. You’re very much your mother’s son.”
Kaelem contained his emotion so no one else could sense the anger coursing through him. He wanted to attack her and tear her heart from her chest, but even if he somehow managed to accomplish it, it would be an act of war and would only bring him further from saving Scarlett.
Genevieve lifted an eyebrow as if waiting for Kaelem to strike. “You're smarter than her, though, and your father.”
“Thank you for meeting with me.” Kaelem bowed, his emotion still held tightly.
He couldn’t be the one to kill the Seelie Queen, but he would shed no tears if someone else did.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A hole had appeared inside Scarlett. An emptiness lingered, but she couldn’t say why. She’d come to the Darkland to attack Ankou and the Fates, but she’d also come to save Raith.
But why?
He’d chosen her as the second for the fae battle, and she’d saved him. And then he’d searched for the power with her before the Fates had taken him. She remembered these things, but couldn’t understand what had made her want to save him so badly.
Her body ached everywhere. The bite marks scattered up her arms and neck burned. Her hunger had become nearly unbearable.
The plate of food called to her, but she refused to eat it. Ankou could take his food and shove it.
Part of her hoped she died of hunger and messed up whatever his plan was, but most of her still prayed she could find a way out of the mess she’d made for herself.
The venom from the creatures had weakened Scarlett. Sitting up had become too tedious. Instead, she curled into a ball on the cold ground.
Eventually, the Fates came to Scarlett’s cell as Raith had said they would.
“Get up.” Decuma kicked Scarlett in the stomach, causing her to bite her tongue.
The taste of iron filled her mouth as she pushed herself from the ground to her feet.
“We don’t have to take her to father right away,” Decuma said. “We can have a little fun.”
“Father said to bring her to him, not to do anything else,” Nona said.
“You’re no fun, Nona. As long as she’s still alive, he won’t mind.”
“Let’s play with her mind.” Morta touched the center of Scarlett’s forehead with her index and middle fingers, sending her into a vision.
Her house in the mortal realm appeared. A floral couch and matching love seat sat against the walls in her living room. They’d gotten rid of that furniture when Scarlett was six.
Her mother entered the room from the kitchen with a plate of cookies. Her hair was long and wavy and her skin held a glow Scarlett hadn’t seen since she was a child—before her mother’s hallucinations started.
She placed the cookies on the coffee table then found the remote and turned on the TV.
“Ashleigh, Scarlett,” she yelled. When they didn’t come, she sighed. “Playing with their dolls again, I’m sure.”
When she turned toward the hallway, she froze. When she turned back toward the television, three black-haired women stared at her.
Scarlett instantly recognized them: The Fates.
“What do you want?” her mother asked.
“She isn’t surprised to see us,” the Fates said in unison.
“You aren’t welcome here. Leave.” Her mother glanced to the hallway.
“He tried to hide her,” they said. “But she couldn’t be hidden from us.”
“You can’t take her.” With a few backward steps, her mother blocked the hallway.
“If we wanted to take her, she wouldn’t be here.”
“What do you want?”
“To make sure she ends up where we need her to be.”
Her mother screamed as she grabbed the side of her head. She dropped to her knees. “Make it stop.”
They kept going. For minutes, her mother shrieked as she pressed her palms into her temples until she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The vision dissolved into a new one.
Her mother wore the outfit Scarlett found her dead in and picked up a knife from the ground. It was the rest of the vision the book had shown her.
She tried to pull away, but she couldn’t leave the memory. The view shifted to the Fates standing in front of her mother.
“You’ve served your purpose. Your time is up.”
The knife dropped from her mother’s hands. “No.”
Morta picked it up.
Scarlett’s mother reached for her head again. Tears dripped from her eyes. “Not again. Please.”
There was no mercy in Morta’s expression. Scarlett’s mother screamed in agony until, again, she fell to the ground.
Her body slid, with magic, to the middle of the room. Morta slit vertical lines in Scarlett’s mother’s upturned wrists.
Scarlett gasped as the cave reappeared around her. A wave of nausea washed over her. She bent over and heaved as the image of her mother on the floor flooded her brain.
No. She didn’t want to see it again.
Her body shook as her rage suffocated her. “You tortured her and killed her.” Her mother hadn’t taken her own life. “You made her sick, too.”
“Mortal minds are fragile things,” Morta said.
Decuma laughed.
Nona was the only one who didn’t shine with accomplishment.
“Time to go.” Morta grabbed the rope that bound Scarlett’s hands together.
The Fates escorted her to the pit on the side of castle. Fire burned between all but two of the gargoyles surrounding the pit. When the Fates and Scarlett walked through, the fire spread and closed the opening.
Ankou waited in the middle—cloak hood pulled up and chin tipped down—behind a black cauldron sitting on a pedestal.
Scarlett kept her gaze high. She wouldn’t show him the fear swimming through her. If she died, she’d do so with as much dignity as she still had.
Ankou lifted his head and met her gaze. He smirked. “You look like hell.” He walked in front of the pedestal.
“Maybe because I’m in it,” Scarlett said.
Morta yanked Scarlett forward by her tied hands and pulled her down to her knees in front of Ankou.
“This is a nice view,” he said.
Scarlett—with as much saliva as her dehydrated body could muster—spit at his feet.
These people were wicked murderers. They used their gift of seeing the future to manipulate it to their desired outcome. They killed her mother because they needed Scarlett.
“Why didn’t you just take me?”
Ankou titled his head and sighed. “I told you to bring her to me, not to waste time showing her visions.” He looked to the Fates. “Leave us. Please do your next task without deviating.”
They vanished.
“Some alone time.” Ankou winked.
Scarlett kept her face still. She wouldn’t let him get to her.
“Stand,” he said.
She didn’t.
“No need to make this more difficult than it has to be.” Ankou groaned.
Scarlett’s body levitated from the ground. Her legs unbent themselves until she was standing.
“Better.” Ankou glanced at the sky. A white moon hovered above them. “It’s time.”
He pulled Scarlett’s hand over the cauldron and, with a knife he plucked from his pocket, sliced the center of her palm.
He twisted her wrist so that the blood dripped into the liquid already in the cauldron. The elixir bubbled, changing from white to blood red.
Scarlett tried to move, but her body was paralyzed.
A wine glass appeared in his hand. Liquid from the cauldron rose in a stream and poured into the glass
until it was full. Ankou lifted the glass. “Cheers.”
He tipped it to his lips and drank. The red liquid dripped from his mouth and down his chin. He didn’t stop until the glass was empty.
Ankou exhaled a long breath. His brows furrowed as he stared at Scarlett. Then a grin spread across his mouth. “I was wrong.”
Still unable to move, Scarlett couldn’t respond.
He continued, “You aren’t just like Dana. You’ve tasted the darkness, the lure of its power.”
The book. Scarlett had known the magic wasn’t the same as the magic the tree had given her. Was it the same as Ankou’s?
He released his grip on her and said, “You liked the strength it gave you.”
“No,” Scarlett lied.
“The world could be ours. No one could stop us.”
“I won’t become you,” Scarlett said. “I’d rather die.”
“Oh, silly girl. I’m not going to kill you. I can’t exist without you or you without me. You’ll be kept here in the Darkland, trapped forever where I can keep you safe.”
Ankou touched her forehead and sent a vision to her mind.
Her mother, much younger, sat on a blanket underneath the shade of a tree as she held a baby—Ashleigh—in between her legs. One moment they were alone. The next, a man appeared near to her.
It was Laik.
“Hello,” her mother said. “We’ve missed you.”
Laik picked Ashleigh up. “Her father is gone for good?”
“Yes.” She turned to him. “I have something to tell you.”
Concern set in Laik’s eyes.
“I’m pregnant.” She watched for his reaction. “And the child is yours.”
The vision fizzled into a new one.
A toddler Ashleigh played with toys in their living room. Their mother held a baby Scarlett in her arms, wrapped in a pink blanket.
Laik stood over her and looked down. “I’ve done what I could to hide her heritage.”
“What’s so wrong with her being part fae? There must be many others like her.”
“It isn’t encouraged for my kind to mate with mortals.” He blushed. “Most of the time, it’s overlooked, but my parents were of rival courts, which is forbidden in the court in which I reside. If others found out about her, she could be in danger.”