When we reached the designated lounge, we knocked on the door. Surprisingly, the queen herself opened the double doors. Behind her, the room appeared empty, save for the king, two servants, Sam, and Andre.
“Won’t you please come in?” she asked.
We acquiesced, and when she gestured to a circle of chairs surrounding a heavy table made of blue-gray stone, we made our way over there. I stifled a groan as I fell into the chair. After hours of riding, sitting in a regular seat with cushions had never felt so good.
The queen took us in. “I know that you have slept little, and would probably like to wash up after such a long journey. I’ll make this quick, I promise.”
She snapped her fingers, and the servants stepped forward and placed two boxes on the table. Gracefully, the queen leaned over and opened one of them.
In the box, a dozen blades glinted up at us from a bed of green crushed velvet. I sucked in a breath, recognizing the wavy ornamentation of the metal.
“Demon daggers,” Andre whispered, and pulled his own blade that the prince of the Snowcap Court had given us from his scabbard. His was smaller than the ones in front of us, although no less deadly.
Demon daggers, also known as hell blades, were weapons made of metal forged in Hell. They were powerful equalizers, able to kill all levels of demons, and could be wielded by magicals and humans alike.
“Yes, demon daggers, made from the same supply of metal as yours I believe.”
I blinked in confusion. “But Queen Tially told us that one of their citizens journeyed to Hell and brought the hell blades back.”
Queen Aquatia nodded. “That’s true. But he didn’t go alone. Many of the neighboring Faerie courts sent one or two citizens. It was a coordinated effort. Not all returned, but the blades that they brought back were split evenly amongst the participating courts.”
She gestured to the box and the closed one next to it. “There’s an equal number of blades in that box. They’re yours, if you so wish.”
We all stared at her.
“What if you need them?” Eva asked after a few moments of stunned silence. “What if we fail, and you end up needing these to protect your people?”
What she wasn’t saying was obvious. We witches could use spells, albeit very difficult spells, to kill demons. But unless they were aether-blessed, and there weren’t many of those, the fae had no such talent. Their only saving grace was that demons couldn’t cross over into Faerie.
Then again, if we failed, if the demons grew in power, even that might change. And then all the fae courts would be in peril, just as our world was at that very moment.
“I’d still like for you to take them. If you fail, and I hadn’t given them to you, I would always wish that I had.” She paused and swallowed. “Plus, you saved Halad. You saved my son’s life. Nothing can repay that, but I hope that these blades might come close.”
The room stilled as her words sank in, true and heavy. And just when I thought none of us might ever speak again, Alex leaned forward and plucked a dagger from the box.
“Thank you for this gift.” His blue eyes seared into the queen’s green ones. “I promise we’ll put them to good use.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Two days later, we were still waiting for Amethyst’s parents to return with ghostly tributes. During that time, I slept a lot. My friends took their fill of much needed rest too, and when we were awake we made it a priority to teach others the druid spells.
A handful had actually mastered the freezing spell, and when I learned that they’d never used the killing curse for greater demons, I was happy we’d taught them. Personally, I would fall back on demon magic, but they didn’t have that option. And the more tools people had, the better.
Once they tired from practicing the new spells, we insisted that those who would fight with us work with the demon daggers. There might only be twenty-four hell blades, but as far as I was concerned, as many people as possible needed to know how to wield one.
Despite keeping busy, by lunchtime on the second day, the minutes dragged like hours.
“When do you think they’ll come back?” I asked as we lunched in one of the castle’s three solariums.
Dad chuckled. Patience had never been my strong suit.
“There’s no telling, honey.” Mom picked the cucumbers from her salad and placed them on my plate. “The ghost plane is different from our world. Obviously, I don’t know firsthand, but I’ve heard stories. It’s large and easy to get lost there, even if you belong.”
“We can’t wait long. I wonder if we could have found a more experienced spirit walker faster in the human world?”
“Faster isn’t always better, pea.” Dad set down his fork. “I’d like to kick those devils out of our world as much as you, but we have to do it right. Our sources say that they’re still manipulating world governments left and right, preparing to make a big move.”
“What do the humans think?” I couldn’t imagine being on the other side of this—oblivious and unsure as to why the world was changing for the worse.
