"What's the difference?" Briar asked, though the warmth in her chest was already pulsing with dread, as if it knew the answer would be terrible.
"Destroyed things stay dead," Karse said. His claws had extended slightly, catching the firelight. "Sealed things can be released."
The fire in the hearth popped, sending sparks up the chimney. Everyone flinched.
"They were fae once," Sian explained, her voice barely above a whisper. "The Night Court. But they changed, became something else. Something… wrong. They fed on humans first and then—" She stopped, swallowing hard.
"Fae," Eliam finished. "They began to hunt and consume their own, they discovered that blood could enhance their magic exponentially, but it was temporary and each time required more to satiate their growing hunger. They stopped being fae as we understand it and became what we called the Unseelie."
Briar's hand rose to her throat, to the marks that still carried the memory of Malus's feeding. The warmth in her chest contracted violently.
"The other courts united against them," Arion said. "The only time in our history all the courts worked together. It took everything we had to seal them away."
"And the Forest Court holds that seal," Eliam said. The shadows at his feet had spread to touch the walls now. "Has held it for centuries. It requires Forest King magic to break it—but not just any Forest King's magic. The seal was designed to need more power than any single ruler could possess."
The pieces clicked into place with sickening clarity.
"That's why he needs your magic too," Briar said, understanding. "Malus has his own Forest King power, but it's not enough. He needs both."
"That's insane," Halian said immediately, but his voice cracked on the word. "Even he couldn't be that—"
"My brother has always been fascinated by dark and dangerous things," Eliam interrupted. "By power. When he approached me about releasing them, when he tried to convince me that the Unseelie deserved freedom, that we could control them—" His jaw clenched. "I refused. When it became clear he wouldn't stop trying, that he'd been collecting old texts, seeking ways to break the seal, I had no choice. I imprisoned him."
"But imprisonment wasn't enough," Thaine said slowly. "He was looking for other ways."
"The ritual he mentioned," Briar said, her mind whirling with possibilities. "Could have have been trying to steal your powers to open this seal?"
"And I stopped him," Eliam said. "Barely. The ritual was already in progress when I arrived. I couldn't prevent it entirely, only—" He stopped, jaw clenching.
"Only save a fragment," Briar finished. "By hiding it somewhere he'd never think to look. Inside the human woman you were making a bargain with."
"But that shouldn't be possible," Sian said, her brow furrowing. "Humans can't hold fae magic. It burns them from the inside out."
"Yet, she's held it for twenty-five years," Arion pointed out, his gaze intense on Briar.
"The warmth," Briar said quietly. "It's been getting stronger. Ever since the Wild Hunt, it's been... changing. Manifesting in ways it never did before."
"What kind of ways?" Halian asked.
"Giant thorns… golden blooms…" She pressed her hand against her chest, feeling the warmth pulse. "It responds to danger, protecting me… or maybe protecting itself."
"That's not just stored magic," Thaine said slowly. "That's magic that's learned. Adapted."
"Or merged," Karse said, straightening in his chair. His amber eyes were sharp, calculating. "Twenty-five years of fae essence sitting inside human flesh. Like leaving metal in water until it rusts, except..."
"Except instead of destroying either element, they've combined," Eliam said. His voice was carefully controlled, but Briar felt his tension through the warmth. "The fragment didn't just hide inside her. It's been slowly transforming her."
"Into what?" Briar asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
Silence stretched through the room. The fire had burned lower, casting long shadows that seemed to reach toward her.
"Something new," Sian said quietly.
"That's why Malus was so fascinated when he fed from you," Arion said, understanding dawning. "He could taste it. Not just the fragment, but what you're becoming."
"She's not just carrying Forest Court magic anymore," Thaine said, his dark eyes wide. "After twenty-five years of it seeping into every part of her…"
"She IS Forest Court magic," Karse finished. "In a form Malus can use. Not quite human, not quite fae, but something between. Something that could help him break the seal."
