“They are banned from me. Wings represent freedom, and I have none.”
“But how? How did they do all of that?”
His look was sardonic. “Why, with the help of Equilas, of course. She will use me for the good of the realm, but as she does, she will revel in my struggles. They all will. Some will invent ways to make my suffering greater for their own amusement. They are ever so bored, the gods—they desire entertainment almost as much as they need our worship and devotion. Sometimes…they get greedy for the former. As I said, I am a pawn. Titles mean nothing to me now. They are empty brags of birth.”
“So you’re…you’re a…?”
“My birth name and title is Tarianthiel Drystan Windryker, Prince of the Diamond Throne, High Sovereign and Sworn Protector of Faerie, Guardian of the Fringe, Keeper of Balance, Brought Forth with the Dawn, Commander of Dusk, and Blessed with Ancestral Magic of Sevens. I added more titles as I completed each stage of my training, but you get the gist. I hadsuch pride in them all, and now…they are useless. I am a ghost. My memory was stripped from the minds of the people I love. I did not die…I ceased to ever exist. My king—my father—and my court do not know me. My brother, who nearly succeeded in rooting me out of the royal line of succession, has no idea of his betrayal. My brethren, the Celestials, with whom I trained, drank with—now they try to kill me on each fringe crossing. All but ten of my friends—who allowed their wings and social standing to be stripped by Equilas so they might help me—don’t know who I am.” He paused for a beat. “Who I was. It was made clear that there would be no help for me. You are my only way out, Daisy. You are my only means of salvation. A human—who must play the games of the court against magical fae—is my only hope. On my end of things, the deal wasn’t a great one…”
She was struck mute. She hadn’t been able to process the whole chalice thing, and nowthis? This was way beyond her. She’d need a cup of coffee and a quiet room for a few hours to make sense of any of this. It was all too massive in scope to take in. To comprehend. A Celestial?This was only a fraction of his magic?
ACelestial?!They were nearly gods themselves, fierce and beautiful and terrifying. Then again…wasn’t that always how she’d viewed him?
“Have no fear,” he murmured, sliding his thumb along the edge of her jaw. “You’ll forget all I’ve said ina few moments, like everyone else. It will be plucked from your mind by the magic trapping me. Soon I’ll go back to being a hollowed-out, princely assassin and thief, the mockery of a filthy, out-of-balance court where evil continues to flower and corrupt and twist the minds and magic of its inhabitants.”
She remembered all his memories from Celestial training—how much he knew about their kind. How much he revered the position and the value he placed on their duty to protect the realm. Those were his values. That washisway of thinking. It now made so much more sense why he’d make any kind of deal at all. Why he’d fight, and toil, and hold himself above the rest so he could accomplish what he needed to in order to save his beloved Faerie.
He’d be doing this, deal or no deal. She didn’t know him well, but she knew that much. She would do anything to save her family, and he was the same, except his family was the whole of the realm.
She let out a slow breath. “This is a lot to take in.”
“As I said, you’ll forget. I am exiled from my home and trapped, but I have myFallen.I am not alone, or maybe I would’ve gone mad, as the Obsidian royals desperately try to get me to do. But yes, I have a duty to these lands. I will help these people. It is my birthright.”
Some fucking birthright.
She shook her head for the millionth time. A god saved him, only to trap him in horror, expecting him tothen save the realm? To sacrifice himself to do it? What kind of fucked-up donkey show were these dipshits running here? If a god had done that to her, she’d desecrate a temple or two. If the court mocked her for it, she’d fuck up the whole place so they’d be trapped just as much as she. Fuck ’em, there were other ways to play the game besides hunting down relics and hoping a magic-less human could get you out of a deal gone wrong…
A smile worked at his lips.So adorable,he thought softly.
“But yes, that is the nature of our gods,” he added. “They delight in torment. They give you a boon and expect repayment in blood. Faerie is worth it, though. You’ll see. Within the brutality exists the truly magical. Even if it were a shithole, though, your family would be worth the sacrifice, would they not?”
Her gut twisted as she remembered what it had felt like to touch that diamond orb. What it had felt like when she’d been next to him at the door of the shanty, feeling the magic run through her. She very much believed him. If she was forced to hold on to that diamond orb, the effects would rip her apart.
But what was the alternative? Regardless of his issues, the Faegate was letting more fae and their magic through. If the Diamond Throne had unrest—and with meddling gods looking for entertainment, that would continue—that would get worse. It would endanger herhome. It would put her family at risk, just like she had already.
She let out a slow breath, trying to still the nervous fear running through her body.
“How do I know you aren’t lying to me?” she asked.
“I told you, I cannot lie to you now.” He opened his mind to her, letting her feel the truth of his claims. His determination and his pain. His mortification at the life he was forced to live in the Obsidian Court and how he hoped to right that wrong. She could also feel the niggling fear deep down, something like what she was feeling right now. He didn’t know if he could accomplish his destiny, as he thought of it. He worried his failure would damn them all.We are all mortal with the right wound.
To even use Daisy as a chalice, he first had to free himself from the Obsidian Court. He wasn’t sure he could. He’d need her help to do it, and she was incredibly unqualified. She wasn’t arguing about that assessment, either. The other issue was that any fae could use the crystal chalice. She could help anyone boost their magic. The second they knew what she was, they’d seek to kill him and use her for themselves. Given they wouldn’t put the time and effort into learning how, they’d kill her while trying. The death would be grisly, and she wished she hadn’t learned that last bit.
“So, fuck, this is just a really shitty situation allaround, then,” she surmised flippantly, pushing away from him and turning. Looking out at nothing. Letting her mind wander.
He thought this was a long shot, from start to finish, which was just a little funny in a dark, “I hate my life” sort of way, because she had a lot of experience with long shots—leaving her care home when she was too young to look after herself, helping keep a roof over their heads, keeping Mordie alive, and the big one…helping one Demigod overthrow his crazy dad with half as many forces and a sliver of the experience level. She’d been down this road before. She had faced, and helped beat, insurmountable odds. Every time, she’d done it to help her family. This time would be no different. Hell, maybe this time she’d be their savior.
Suck on that, Mordie. Your no-magic sister is going to save the magical people’s fucking day. Go ahead and tell Lexi I swore, too. I’d welcome a punch in the face right about now. It would feel better than the thought of what’s in store for me.
She sighed. He’d absolutelyhatethis for her. It would tear him apart. But she also knew he’d step up right beside her if he were here. He’d walk into the twilight with her without looking back. Any of her family would. In the same situation, each and every one of them would step forward.
“If I help you,” she said, “I want your guarantee that it will strengthen that Faegate. That it’ll keep my family safe. I want to strike a deal.”
They didn’t leave for another hour, hammering out the particulars. But once they did, she felt the gravity of the situation. She felt the uncertainty of the games yet to come.
Only one thing was left.
“So this feeling between us…” she said. “It is magic. Right? It’s because of the chalices and everything?”
