“Even if they run the risk of exposure to humans?” I was over my juvenile jealousy of Newton, but his smug know-it-all attitude grated on my nerves. Not that Caitlin or I were behaving much better.
He shrugged. “I know royals. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking fairies or vampires. Royals are royals. They think they’re indestructible and above everyone else. It would never enter their heads that anything could befall them without asking permission first. Plus, do you really think they don’t have protections and security set up somehow?”
“You know, you seem to know an awful lot about this place and the Vampire Cathedral. You wouldn’t be part of their protections and security, would you?” Caitlin took a step toward Newton, her fingers splayed, spell readied.
Newton rolled his eyes. “Yes, the Vampire Cathedral demanded Finn join them in Costa Rica and then sent me to make sure I throw him off the track. You got me!” He looked over at Schwint before turning back to us. “Your new friends aren’t much better than the fairy royalty that has ostracized both our families. I’d think you’d choose better.” He turned away, his wings materializing, shockingly bright in the afternoon sun. They fluttered a couple of times, sending prisms of color over our faces. “If I’m not good enough for my own race’s royalty, what makes you think the vamps would have me?”
With a couple of beats of his wings, he lifted several feet into the air. He looked down at Schwint. “I’ll be at the hideout. Let me know when you’re ready for me to come and get her.” With that, he darted off into the forest and quickly disappeared behind the trees.
I felt my face flush with embarrassment. Time to pull my head out of my ass.
Caitlin turned on Schwint, her voice once again the quiet whisper that made me want to run as far away as I could. “Come and get her?”
“Thanks a lot, Pewlet.” Schwint rubbed his forehead, then looked at Caitlin. Quickly, he looked over at me, then decided it was best to meet the fury head-on and returned to Caitlin. “I was hoping to ease into this conversation, but I guess there is no real way to bring this up without setting you off.”
“Well then, don’t hold back, set me off.”
“Newton and I were talking and trying to come up with what we thought the best plan would be, the one that would have the highest likelihood of success…”
Caitlin placed her hands on her hips. “And?”
“And it seems to make sense if we take advantage of there being four of us now instead of just three. It might be in our best interest,” he rushed on, “inCynthia’sinterest, if we split up.”
“You want us to split up?” I couldn’t believe my ears.
Caitlin cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Let me guess. Your little groups don’t involve you and the fairy-reject scouting around while my brother and I go save our sister, do they?”
Whatever nervousness Schwint had been experiencing, he seemed to shake it off as he met Caitlin’s angry gaze. “You and Finn will help save Cynthia, but no, I don’t think it makes sense to send both of you in at the same time.”
Caitlin’s voice chilled to an even icier tone. “So, when exactly did you become the leader of this rescue mission? You’re not family. You don’t get a say. You’re just a last-minute addition, and don’t even get me started about Newton. I couldn’t care less what his opinion is.”
“If you and Finn walk in and instantly get thrown into some cell, what good will you be to Cynthia then? Even worse, what if they enslave Finn and kill you?”
She didn’t even balk at Schwint’s words, though they sent spikes of fear through me. Fears that had been playing on an endless loop in my mind, but ones I’d managed to deny solidly until now.
“And what will you do, fairy? My spells are more of an offensive power than yours. What are you going to do? Make flowers grow out of their hair?”
“Can you do this?” Without warning, Schwint disappeared in a small explosion of silver-blue sparks.
Caitlin flinched, her eyes wide, then narrowing. “Oh, wow, making yourself invisible. Even my nephews can do that, fairy. Show me something with real magic.” She jerked away and swatted at her cheek, and then I saw it. A little silver bug zooming at her face, darting though her flicking hands and whizzing toward her eyes.
“Fuck, first spiders and now gnats. This place sucks.”
“Cate, it’s not gnats.”
She glared at me. Then she let out a growl. “Perfect, Schwint, you can turn yourself into a bug. Like we didn’t already know you were a pest.”
With another silvery flash, Schwint was back, his sparkling dragonfly wings beating so hard he hovered half a foot off the ground. “I didn’t turn into a bug. Although, now that you mention it, that might work too. I just shrank myself.”
“You really are Tinker Bell, aren’t you?” Caitlin still looked annoyed but didn’t appear to be as close to trying to murder him. “How is shrinking yourself supposed to help Cynthia?”
He stared at her, like the answer was obvious. As much as I hated to defend Caitlin, I didn’t see the connection either. “If things go wrong, I can get out of there. Before they can even react.”
“Oh, what a relief. Stellar plan. If things go wrong, abandon both my sister and my brother to the vampires. Forgive me if I want to see what’s behind door number two.”
At his words, I realized the answer was obvious. “Wait, Caitlin, I think he has a point.”
“Of course you do. You always have to agree with your boyfriend.” She glared at me. “Do you really not have any more pride than that? You’re okay with him turning tail and running while you’re trapped there?”
