by Leder, Nissa
Her mother rocked Scarlett. “She’s beautiful no matter what courts she’d belong to in your world.”
“She doesn’t belong in my world. It isn’t safe for any of you to return.”
“But—”
“I’ve been reckless. I should never have brought you into my world. My position at the Seelie Court could get all of you into trouble. I’ve hidden Scarlett’s nature the best I could, but there will still be those who can see through the magic I’ve placed over her.”
“Will she have magic?”
“Her magic will be blocked as long as she remains in the mortal realm.”
“Realm?”
“My court resides in your realm, hidden from wandering mortals, but there is another realm, one where many fae live.”
“How do I keep her away from there?”
“It isn’t a place where many mortals go, so she should live a normal life.” He smiled. “I will miss you.”
The vision dissolved back into the present. Ankou’s fingers remained on Scarlett’s forehead. A surge of magic flooded her. She’d never felt such power.
Or such rage.
Laik was her father—and, like her, part Unseelie—and he’d abandoned her mother. If he’d have come back, he would have realized she wasn’t well anymore. Maybe he could have sensed that magic was the cause. Maybe he could have fixed her.
Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe.
The maybes didn’t do any good.
“You can make him pay. You can make anyone who’s hurt you pay. Join me, and we will destroy anyone who dares stand in our way. My daughters are attacking the Seelie castle as we speak. Those who don’t join me will fall. ”
The anger inside of her flickered liked fire. Thinking of her mother ignited it more. She deserved revenge.
But Laik hadn’t been the one to torture her or to kill her. That was the Fates, daughters of Ankou. If she embraced the darkness, could she destroy them?
Or would it destroy her?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Morta, who seemed to be the leader of the Fates, spoke to Cade and Nevina. “We can only take six others with us. Two with each of us.”
“My advisor will come,” Nevina said. “And two of my guards.”
Since the Seelie Palace had protections up to prevent outside evanescing, they would rely on the Fates ability to bypass the invisible magic, but the Fates could only carry so much burden with them. Nevina’s demands left room for only two additional travelers.
Ajax and Cade were those two since, as rulers, they were the most powerful.
Poppy placed her hand on her hip, annoyance clear on her face. “I can’t protect you if I’m here.”
Cade hated to leave Poppy behind, but he didn’t know what would happen. The Seelie Queen was strong and usually heavily guarded.
And Cade still didn’t know which side they actually stood on. He couldn’t bring her into his deceit any more than he already had.
“It’s settled then. Decuma, see where the Seelie Queen is.”
Decuma vanished then reappeared a few moments later. “She’s in the her throne room with her advisor and the Unseelie King. No other guards.”
“Perfect,” Morta said.
“Kaelem is the second most powerful fae,” Cade said. “Shouldn’t we wait for him to leave?”
“It will be nine versus three, and we can get rid of both the mortal realm rulers tonight.” Confidence set in Nevina’s eyes. “They will pay for what they’ve done to us. Since I’ve orchestrated this whole thing, I will take control of the Unseelie Court. You two can flip a coin for the other.”
Cade wished he shared her optimism, but he knew underestimating Genevieve and Kaelem wasn’t wise.
Cade turned to Poppy and took her hands in his. “We’ll be fine.”
She reached up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. “You better come back to me.”
Heat rushed to Cade’s face. Reluctantly, he released Poppy’s hands and walked to Decuma.
“You two are adorable.” Decuma touched his shoulder and they evanesced to the Seelie Court.
They landed directly in the throne room.
Genevieve sat on the throne. Confusion flashed on her face, but as quickly as it had come, it disappeared, replaced with a cold stare.
Kaelem and Laik, both standing in front of her, turned to face the group that had just arrived.
Cade met Kaelem’s gaze. The necklace kept him out of Cade’s head. He couldn’t hear the thoughts racing through Cade’s mind.
Which side should he choose?
He tried to think of every possibility, but with so much unknown, it did no good.
Cade would have to trust his gut.
As tempting as the possibility of taking over the Seelie kingdom was, he didn’t want to be on the same side as Nevina and the Fates. Not for real, at least.
His father was a good king, and he wanted to be a worthy successor.
Even if he decided to side with Kaelem, he didn’t know what to do. Did he turn on the Fates right then and there? It would make it four versus eight, slightly more even odds, but still not great.
And he’d blow his cover.
Despite not truly wanting to join with the Fates in the upcoming war, he wanted his full power.
Maybe he could have both. If he kept the ruse going, he could help Nevina, they could regain their power, and, if he played it right, could also keep Kaelem safe.
“This is a surprise.” Genevieve rose from the throne and moved between Kaelem and Laik.
“It’s convenient to find you both here. It must be our lucky day.” Nevina stepped forward.
Her advisor kept close.
“Yes, quite lucky,” Genevieve said. “To what reason do we owe this uninvited visit?”
“We’re here for the power your ancestors stole from us. No need to make this harder than need be.” Nevina created a ball of ice in her hand.
Kaelem stepped forward. “I expect this from Nevina, but you Cade?”
“Sometimes we have to make choices,” Cade replied.
“Indeed.” Kaelem nodded.
Nevina tossed the ice back and forth. “Why make this harder than it needs to be? Give us our power back and we can leave.”
Cade wondered if that was true. Would Nevina and the Fates really just take the power and go?
He doubted the Seelie Queen would concede.
Either way, just how far was he willing to go?
* * *
Of all the times Kaelem decided to randomly visit the Seelie Court, of course he’d picked the time that Nevina and her allies staged an ambush.
Thanks to his brilliant idea to give Cade a magical necklace, he couldn’t see into his mind. Instead, he tried to read his emotions. A slight hint of nervousness was all Kaelem could feel.
Nervous because he was secretly on Kaelem’s side or nervous because he’d changed his mind and now his allegiance belonged to Kaelem’s enemies?
Kaelem reached his mind out to Laik, who allowed him in.
They’ve created some sort of block and we can’t evanesce out, Laik thought.
Figures. Whatever power allows them to evanesce in must allow them to keep others from leaving.
Laik scanned the room. There’s only one exit and it’s behind them.
“No one is coming to your rescue,” the leader Fate said. “The door is sealed and evanescing in or out by fae is temporarily prohibited.”
“So, you’ve come for a fight?” Laik asked.
There was no way Genevieve would hand over the power. It had kept the Seelie and Unseelie Courts the strongest for too long.
The odds weren’t terrible. Normally, three-to-one would be nothing to Kaelem. But he didn’t know what type of power the Fates possessed or how to fight it.
Cade, the Winter advisor, and two Winter guards had swords, but the Fates and Nevina appeared weaponless—minus their magic, of course. Ajax, the Autumn Prince, had daggers. Had the Autu
mn King chosen to side with the Fates after all?
Neither he, Laik, or Genevieve was armed with any physical weapons.
What do you suggest we do? Kaelem asked Laik.
I suppose now’s our chance to see how well we fight together, Laik thought. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts batting together.
“Last chance to surrender,” Nevina said.
Genevieve was the first to attack. She created a thin thread of light and threw it, lassoing it around the Winter advisor’s neck and yanking it to the right.
The advisor’s eyes bulged as terror washed over his face. His head fell sideways, a perfect sever, as his body crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around him.
Now, it was three to eight.
Kaelem entered one of the guard’s minds and shattered it, while Laik sent out a light orb to the other guard’s chest.
Genevieve’s light rope moved to Nevina, who slashed it with her own strand of ice then shot out three ice daggers toward the Seelie Queen.
Cade stepped to the side as Laik lunged for one of the Fates.
Kaelem dove into a somersault toward Cade. When he rolled back onto his feet, he created a shadow, blocking him and Cade from the rest.
“King-to-king, where is your loyalty?” Kaelem spoke quickly. His shadow blocked out sound but would only temporarily hold.
“You,” Cade whispered. “But if you want them to trust me, I have to join them in this battle.”
Kaelem hesitated. Cade could be lying straight to his face and he’d never know. Without seeing his thoughts, Kaelem would have to take him at his word. Call it a hunch, but he believed the Summer King. Maybe watching so many mortal soap operas had finally altered his brain, but he trusted Cade’s honor.
Kaelem nodded. “Draw your sword and slash my shoulder.” He pulled the shadow back.
Cade unsheathed his sword.
With a flick, Kaelem snapped his shadow at Cade’s right, barely missing him.
This was the moment of truth. Kaelem would allow Cade to strike him. If Cade was lying, he would have the perfect opportunity to kill him.
He sliced at Kaelem. The tip of his sword nicked through Kaelem’s suit and broke enough of his skin to cause him to bleed.
It was a perfect swing—just enough to look real without preventing Kaelem from being useful in the rest of the fight.
Kaelem raised another shadow. “We can’t keep fighting each other or they will catch on. You take Laik. You should be able to keep him busy enough without hurting him.”
“I’ll do what I can to play nice, but if it comes down to him or me, I’ll do what I must.”
“Fair enough.” Kaelem threw the shadow into Cade, knocking him backward then attacked one of the Fates while Laik threw light magic at Ajax and knocked him down.
Ajax stayed on the ground, either dead or unconscious.
Kaelem swirled his shadow lasso over the Fate’s head like a cowboy. He’d stumbled upon a televised rodeo once while flipping through the channels after his favorite soap opera was over. The Fates seemed close enough to cows to try out cowboy tactics.
He aimed at her head like Genevieve had done to the advisor, the but Fate slashed through his shadow rope, chopping it in half.
“You aren’t the only one with dark magic,” she crooned. “My father makes your magic look like child’s tricks.”
“Ahh, but your father isn’t here.” Kaelem tested her mind. A block was in place, but it was weak. He could find a way in. “Are you daddy’s favorite? Or is it one of them?”
Shadows burst from each of her hands, wrapping around Kaelem and holding his arms tightly against his body. They constricted, squeezing the air out of him.
With a deep breath, he yanked his arms away from his body, snapping the shadows.
The Fate looked confused.
Kaelem hadn’t been sure it would work. Normally, shadows were binding, but since he had shadow magic, their effect on him was weakened. Which meant his wouldn’t be as strong against any of the Fates either.
A necklace dangled around her neck. Instead of a pendant at the end, a vial hung from the chain, black smoke swirling inside. Kaelem recognized it. It was the same vial she had when they had convinced Raith to join them to protect his mother, where whatever it was they took from him was trapped.
He shot out a shadow and gripped the necklace, tightening its chain around her neck.
She choked as it pierced through her skin. Her hands tried to pull it away but couldn’t.
Something hit Kaelem from behind, causing him to jerk his shadow away, breaking the necklace.
The vial dropped to the ground and shattered. The smoke inside vanished.
Kaelem turned to see Nevina about to drive an ice dagger into his back.
He blocked her attack then another.
Fury flashed in her eyes. “I owe you for stealing from me.” Nevina created another ice dagger and slashed it at him. “Revenge will be sweet. Maybe I’ll go after your sister next.”
Kaelem pushed against her mental wall, desperate to find an opening. “You’ll have a hard time finding her if you’re dead.”
He used his shadows to block her swings, but his magic wouldn’t last forever. If he’d have known they’d be attacked, he would have been sure to replenish his supply as he was sure they had. A physical weapon of his own would be useful right about now.
How long would their magic keep everyone else out?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Pain pulsed through Raith’s head. He stood outside of the pit where Ankou performed the ritual with Scarlett, instructed to clean up after he’d finished.
His chest tingled. Something was happening.
Visions attacked, rushing through his brain faster than he could comprehend, but when they stopped, the truth hit him.
The memories he’d given up to save his mother returned. He remembered everything before he’d made the bargain.
And everything after.
Fuck.
What had he done?
Not only had he acted like a complete ass to Scarlett, but he’d forcefully taken away the memories of their fond times together. With his memory back, her memories swirled with his, making the reality of stealing them from her hit even harder.
And now Ankou was using Scarlett to break a curse that Dana had placed on him, trapping him in the Darkland.
He needed to help her.
But how?
* * *
The darkness rushed through Scarlett like water through a river.
The lightness remained, but it felt far away, a distant star flickering in the night sky.
She could embrace the dark and be filled with power.
“Yes, allow it in,” Ankou said.
Her eyes were closed, blankness consuming her mind.
Scarlett’s arms tingled. When she opened her eyes, the white tattoos that had covered her skin had turned black.
“No,” she said. She didn’t want the dark magic. “I won’t choose the darkness."
Ankou laughed. “You already have.”
What had she done?
Fury—at herself, at Laik, at Ankou and the Fates—permeated through her. She unleashed it by throwing a black ball into Ankou’s chest.
He fell backward, unconscious.
This was her chance. She needed to escape.
She tried to evanesce, but the fire surrounding her blocked her in. She’d have to get around it on foot.
With concentration, she pushed enough of the fire away to sneak through. When she crossed the barrier, Raith blocked her way.
The bites from the creature still blocked her light magic, but the dark magic remained.
Another ball appeared in her hands. She’d come to save him. He was an ally. But he worked for them now.
Something told her she shouldn’t be considering it, but maybe killing him now was mercy?
Raith lifted his arms up. “Scarlett. It’s me. Raith.”
“Yeah, I fell for that last ti
me.”
“No, something happened, and I remember it all.”
Scarlett didn’t have much time. She raised the magic up. She wouldn’t get another chance. If she let her guard down and he captured her, she’d spend a dark eternity in this gloomy place, constantly bitten by the creatures to keep her magic subdued.
“I’m sorry.” She bent her arm backward, readying to throw when something yanked her feet out from under her.
Her face slammed into the ground, stealing her breath. As something pulled her, she twisted her body to face the sky. Blood, metallic and warm, dripped down her face and into her mouth. She spit it out.
Ankou, wild-eyed, reeled Scarlett toward him with a rope made of shadow, back into the pit, like a fish from the sea.
She created her own shadow and cut his in half. The darkness inside of her bubbled.
The circle of fire closed again, trapping her inside.
“You almost had me.” A ball of fire appeared in Ankou’s hand. “I had wanted to be as gentle as possible. Not anymore.”
Scarlett threw a ball of dark magic at him, but, no longer unprepared for an attack, he easily dodged it. She’d lost the surprise factor.
“You got the better of me once. It won’t happen again. You might have dark magic, but you aren’t its king.”
He was right. She couldn’t beat him at his own game. That was a terrible strategy.
She searched inside and felt a flicker of light. Not enough to do anything, but if she could keep him occupied for a bit, maybe she’d generate more and could use it against him.
“What do you want from me?” Scarlett asked, hoping it would buy her some time.
Her head ached from slamming into the ground. She touched her forehead. When she removed her fingers, they were covered in blood. It wasn’t healing.
“I’ve already gotten what I wanted. Now, if you refuse to join me, I just need you out of my way.”
“To what? Take over the world?”
“Basically.” He shrugged. “Now, I admire your stalling tactic, but I’ve already waited too long. Come with me the easy way or I’ll make your last few days seem like a fairy tale.”