It was hard not to act. Not to storm through the walls the humans had built and shatter any sense of security they had created for themselves while I rescued my own people.
But I needed a plan. Needed my friends’ and Teddy’s input. I needed Finley to kill those who’d harmed my own. While I’d try not to kill the civilians, their death couldn’t matter to me.
Not when I had a kingdom in mourning.
“Do you trust him?” Alastor asked, sidling up to me so quietly I hadn’t heard him.
Trust, I’d come to learn, was a pathetic and fickle thing. While I trusted those closest to me, I didn’t trust anyone else. How could I when my own parents and the Elders I’d once prayed to had fed us lies we’d swallowed without question?
I trusted people’s selfishness, though. Trusted them to look out for themselves, trusted that Sebastian wanted his family safe enough to betray his own people.
“I trust his desperation to take care of his family,” I replied.
“I believe he’s hiding something. I know he said he didn’t want his people’s death on his hands, but I wonder if there’s another reason he didn’t want to take us to the compounds,” Alastor added, scanning the trees with quiet assessment.
I wasn’t sure if I agreed. Taking us to the compounds and watching us slaughter his people, knowing he had a direct hand in leading us, would give anyone pause. Still, I trusted Alastor and his instincts.
“Do you think one of the lirio can watch him without his notice?” When he nodded, I continued. “He has a phone in his pocket. I’d like to know if he uses it to call anyone before we make it to Niev.”
“Consider it done.” Alastor turned to where the lirio had blended in with the trees. Although he didn’t speak, they seemed to understand each other. The lirio I recognized as Koa stepped forward before he dashed through the woods in the same direction Sebastian had gone. “Koa will shadow him once he and his family reach the tree line, but unless you put his family in the woods, he won’t be able to trail them once we step back into Niev.”
I nodded in understanding. “I appreciate it. Why is it you use Koa the most?”
“He likes Teddy,” Alastor said simply. “The other lirio are skeptical of you, but Koa steps up and would protect you if needed because my cousin has shown him and his family a basic kindness those who live outside your borders haven’t experienced.”
Unsure what to say, I simply nodded, but I wondered how much of Koa’s willingness had to do with Alastor’s hold on him. Leonora had once been able to control the fae and creatures that lived outside of Niev’s borders, but that control had transferred to Alastor when his sister died. That was why our realm now experienced a peace we’d never had.
“The orb you keep in your inner pocket of magic,” Alastor said.
It was the same orb Leanora had used to siphon magic from fae to store so she could absorb it as she needed.
“My sister stored all manner of magic in there,” he said, his fingers grazing his chin. “Perhaps it has something that could tip this war in our favor.”
I only considered it because Alastor was the one to bring it up, but I loathed the idea of using someone else’s magic. The idea was made worse when I considered whether Leanora had killed the fae after depleting them of their magic.
“Are you able to absorb specific magic from the orb?” I asked.
“Leanora was able to pick and take from the magic she needed, but I don’t know how,” he said. “I would have to question the living book.”
The magical book the mages left behind for Alastor and his siblings to teach the triplet younglings the way of mages so they could one day right the wrongs of my parents.
“It’s something to consider,” I said after a few beats.
I considered George, but although he was a seer, his magic only gave him small, oftentimes vital glimpses of the future for those he was closest to. I didn’t want his attention on something that wouldn’t prove fruitful when I needed him concentrating on Niev.
“You didn’t make the unbreakable bargain with him.” He paused to search my face. “Why?”
I almost let my exhaustion show before I thinned my lips and forced my expression to something I hoped resembled neutrality. “We’ll have his family in our realm. He must know that if he betrays us, they’re the ones who’ll suffer.”
“Would you really harm his family?”
I hesitated and was saved from answering when I heard footfalls and heavy breathing near us.
A female who appeared to be the same age as Teddy walked toward us with two young boys on either side of her. I raised my head, taking in quick breaths through my nose so I could better scent them to see if they carried iron on their bodies. Alastor nodded, seeming to draw the same conclusion as me.
Where Sebastian came to us wearing iron, his family had none.
When they stopped in front of us, Sebastian carried two small bags while the boys huddled behind their mother. It reminded me of the first time I’d seen Victoria and the way she’d clung to her mother’s legs, not knowing her mother would soon abandon her.
